09.02. PEARLS FROM PHILPOT cont'd
"I will satisfy her poor with bread." Psalms 132:15
What a sweetness there is in the word "satisfy!"
The world cannot satisfy the child of God. Have we not tried, some of us perhaps for many years, to get some satisfaction from it?
But can wife or husband satisfy us? Can children or relatives satisfy us? Can all the world calls good or great satisfy us? Can the pleasures of sin satisfy us?
Is there not in all an aching void? Do we not reap dissatisfaction and disappointment from everything that is of the creature, and of the flesh? Do we not find that there is little else but sorrow to be reaped from everything in this world? There is little else to be gathered from the world but . . .
disappointment,
dissatisfaction,
"vanity and vexation of spirit."
The poor soul looks round upon the world and the creature—upon all the occupations, amusements and relations of life—and finds all one melancholy harvest—so that all it reaps is sorrow, perplexity, and dissatisfaction.
Now when a man is brought here—to desire satisfaction, something to make him happy, something to fill up the aching void, something to bind up broken bones, bleeding wounds, and leprous sores—and after he has looked at everything—at doctrines, opinions, notions, speculations, forms, rites and ceremonies in religion—at the world with all its charms—and at self with all its varied workings, and found nothing but bitterness of spirit, vexation and trouble in them all, and thus sinks down a miserable wretch—why, then when the Lord opens up to him something of the bread of life, he finds a satisfaction in that which he never could gain from any other quarter.
And that is the reason why the Lord so afflicts his people; why some carry about with them such weak, suffering bodies; why some have so many family troubles; why others are so deeply steeped in poverty; why others have such rebellious children; and why others are so exercised with spiritual sorrows that they scarcely know what will be the end.
It is all for one purpose—to make them miserable out of Christ—dissatisfied except with gospel food—to render them so wretched and uncomfortable that God alone can make them happy, and alone can speak consolation to their troubled minds.
How different the religion of a child of God is, from the religion of a dead professor!
begins in self, and ends in self;
begins in his own wisdom, and ends in his own folly;
begins in his own strength, and ends in his own weakness;
begins in his own righteousness, and ends in his own damnation!
There is in him never any going out of soul after God, no secret dealings with the Lord.
But the child of God, though he is often faint, weary, and exhausted with many difficulties, burdens and sorrows—yet he never can be satisfied except in living union and communion with the Lord of life and glory.
Everything short of that leaves him empty.
All the things of time and sense leave a child of God unsatisfied. Nothing but vital union and communion with the Lord of life, to . . .
feel His presence,
taste His love,
enjoy His favor,
see His glory;
nothing but this will ever satisfy the desires of ransomed and regenerated souls. This the Lord indulges His people with.
"If you lean on Egypt, you will find it to be a stick that breaks beneath your weight and pierces your hand." Isaiah 36:6
our own strength and resolutions,
the world and the church,
sinners and saints,
friends and enemies,
have they not all proved, more or less, broken reeds?
The more we have leaned upon them, like a man leaning upon a sword, the more have they pierced
our souls.
The Lord Himself has to wean us . . .
from the world,
from friends,
from enemies,
from self,
in order to bring us to lean upon Himself; and every prop He will remove, sooner or later, that we may lean wholly and solely upon His Person, love, blood, and righteousness.
Poor, moping, dejected creatures
We are, most of us, so fettered down by . . .
the chains of time and sense,
the cares of life and daily business,
the weakness of our earthly frame,
the distracting claims of a family, and
the miserable carnality and sensuality of our fallen nature,
that we live at best a poor, dragging, dying life.
Many of us are
We have . . .
a variety of trials and afflictions,
a daily cross and
the continual plague of an evil heart.
We know enough of ourselves to know that in SELF there is neither help nor hope, and never expect a smoother path, a better, wiser, holier heart. As then . . .
the weary man seeks rest,
the hungry man seeks food,
the thirsty man seeks drink,
and the sick man seeks health,
so do we stretch forth our hearts and arms that we may embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and sensibly realize union and communion with Him. He discovers the evil and misery of sin that we may seek pardon in His bleeding wounds and pierced side.
He makes known to us our nakedness and shame, and, as such, our exposure to God’s wrath, that we may hide ourselves under His justifying robe.
He puts gall and wormwood into the world’s choicest draughts, that we may have no sweetness but in and from Him. No sight, short of this
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree." 1 Peter 2:24
We beg of the Lord, sometimes, to give us . . .
a broken heart,
a contrite spirit,
a tender conscience,
and a humble mind.
But it is only a view by faith of what the gracious Redeemer endured upon the cross, when He bore our sins in his own body with all their weight and pressure, and with all the anger of God due to them, that can really melt a hard, and break a stony heart.
Oh, what hope is there for our guilty souls; what refuge from the wrath of God so justly our due; what shelter from the curse of a fiery law, except it be in the cross of Jesus?
O for a view of Him revealed to the eyes of our enlightened understanding, as bearing our sins in His own body on the tree!
"For God . . . made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6
"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth." 1 John 2:20
The only saving light is the light of God shining into the soul—giving us to see and know "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent."
A man may have the clearest light in his judgment, and yet never have
If we do not have this
be entangled in some error,
plunge into some heresy,
imbibe some doctrine of devils,
drink into some dreadful delusion,
or fall into some dreadful sin, and
have our faith shipwrecked forever.
A false light can but wreck us on the rocks of presumption or despair. But the light of divine life in the soul is accompanied with all the graces of the Spirit. It is . . .
the light of the glory of God,
the light of Jesus’ countenance,
and the light of the Spirit’s teaching,
and therefore an infallible guide and guard.
And this infallible pilot will guide the soul to whom it is given safe into the harbor of endless rest and peace.
Jesus is . . .
our sun, and without Him all is darkness;
our life, and without Him all is death;
the beginner and finisher of our faith;
the substance of our hope;
the object of our love.
It is the Spirit who quickens us . . .
to feel our need of Christ;
to seek all our supplies in Him and from Him;
to believe in Him unto everlasting life,
and thus live a life of faith upon Him.
By His . . .
secret teachings,
inward touches,
gracious smiles,
soft whispers,
sweet promises,
manifestations of Christ’s glorious Person and work,
Christ’s agonizing sufferings and dying love,
the Holy Spirit draws the heart up to Christ.
He thus wins our affections, and setting Christ before our eyes as "the chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely One," draws out that love and affection towards Jesus which puts the world under our feet.
From the very nature of the fall, it is impossible for a dead soul to . . .
believe in God,
know God,
or love God.
It must be quickened into spiritual life before it can savingly know the only true God. And thus there lies at the very threshold—in the very heart and core of the case—the absolute necessity of
The very completeness and depth of the fall render the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit as necessary, as indispensable as the redeeming work of the Son of God.
In times of trial and darkness, the saints and servants of God are instructed. They see and feel what the flesh really is, how alienated from the life of God—they learn in whom all their strength and sufficiency lie—they are taught that in them, that is, in their flesh, dwells no good thing—that no exertions of their own can maintain in strength and vigor the life of God—and that all they are and have, all they believe, know, feel, and enjoy, with all their ability, usefulness, gifts, and grace—flow from the pure, sovereign grace—the rich, free, undeserved, yet unceasing goodness and mercy of God.
They learn in
"Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know Him!" Hosea 6:3
The expression, "press on," implies that there are
Sometimes he seems driven, sometimes drawn, sometimes led, and sometimes carried, but in one way or another the Spirit of God so works upon him that, though he scarcely knows how—he still "presses on."
His very burdens make him groan for deliverance—his very temptations cause him to cry for help—the very difficulty and ruggedness of the road make him want to be carried every step—the very intricacy of the path compels him to cry out for a guide—so that the Spirit working in the midst of, and under, and through every difficulty and discouragement, still bears him through, and carries him on—and thus brings him through every trial and trouble and temptation and obstacle, until He sets him in glory.
It is astonishing to me how our souls are kept alive. The Christian is a marvel to himself. Carried on, and yet so secretly—worked upon, and yet so mysteriously; and yet led on, guided, and supported through so many difficulties and obstacles—that he is a miracle of mercy as he is carried on amid all . . .
difficulties,
obstacles,
trials, and
temptations.
We must go down into the depths of the fall to know what our hearts are, and what they are capable of—we must have the keen knife of God to cut deep gashes in our conscience and lay bare the evil that lies so deeply imbedded in our carnal mind—before we can enter into and experience the beauty and blessedness of salvation by grace.
"From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it—but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores—they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Isaiah 1:6
When the Church of God fell in Adam, she fell with a crash which broke every bone and bruised her flesh with wounds which are ulcerated from head to toe.
Her understanding, her conscience, and her affections were all fearfully maimed . . .
her understanding was blinded;
her conscience stupefied;
her affections alienated.
Every mental faculty thus became perverted and distorted.
When Adam fell into sin and temptation—sin rushed into every faculty of body and soul—and penetrated into the inmost recesses of his being.
As when a man is bitten by a poisonous serpent, the venom courses through every artery and vein, and he dies a corrupted mass from head to foot; so did
But it is only as sin’s desperate and malignant character is opened up by the Holy Spirit that it is really seen, felt, grieved under, and mourned over as indeed a most dreadful and fearful reality.
"The whole head is sick—and the whole heart faint."
Every thought, word, and action is polluted by sin.
Every mental faculty is depraved . . .
the will chooses evil;
the affections cleave to earthly things;
the memory, like a broken sieve,
retains the bad and lets fall the good;
the judgment, like a bribed or drunken judge, pronounces heedless or wrong decisions;
the conscience, like an opium eater, lies asleep and drugged in stupefied silence.
"And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him." Luke 15:20
After a child of God has enjoyed something of the goodness and mercy of God revealed in the face of His dear Son, he may wander from his mercies—stray away from these choice gospel pastures—and get into a waste howling wilderness, where there is neither food nor water—and yet, though half starved for poverty, has in himself no power to return.
But in due time the Lord seeks out this wandering sheep, and the first place he brings him to is the mercy seat—confessing his sins and seeking mercy.
O what a meeting!
O what a meeting!
A guilty wretch drowned in tears—and a loving Father falling upon his neck and kissing him!
O what a meeting for a poor, self-condemned wretch, who can never mourn too deeply over his sins, and yet finds grace super-abounding over all his abounding sins—and the love of God bursting through the cloud, like the sun upon an April day—and melting his heart into contrition and love!
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now has come the
The sweetest song that heaven ever proclaimed, the most blessed note that ever melted the soul, is "
To be saved from . . .
death and hell;
the worm which dies not;
the fire which is not quenched;
the sulphurous flames of the bottomless pit;
the companionship of tormenting fiends;
all the foul wretches under which earth has groaned;
blaspheming God in unutterable woe;
an eternity of misery without hope;
and saved into . . .
heaven;
the sight of Jesus as He is;
perfect holiness and happiness;
the blissful company of holy angels and glorified saints! And all this during the countless ages of a blessed eternity!
What tongue of men or angels can describe the millionth part of what is contained in the word
"But you are . . .
a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
May we never forget that the suffering Son of God gave Himself to purify unto Himself
a people whose thoughts are peculiar, for their thoughts are the thoughts of God, as having the mind of Christ;
a people whose affections are peculiar, for they are fixed on things above;
a people whose prayers are peculiar, for they are wrought in their heart by the Spirit of grace and supplication;
a people whose sorrows are peculiar, because they spring from a spiritual source;
a people whose joys are peculiar, for they are joys which the stranger cannot understand;
a people whose hopes are peculiar, as anchoring within the veil;
a people whose expectations are peculiar, as not expecting to reap a crop of happiness in this marred world—but are looking for happiness in the kingdom of rest and peace in the bosom of God.
They make it manifest that they are
walking in the footsteps of the Lord the Lamb,
taking up the cross,
denying themselves, and
living to the honor, praise, and glory of God.
"I drew them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love." Hosea 11:4
When God draws His people near unto Himself, it is not done in a mechanical way. They are drawn, not with cords of iron, but with the cords of kindness; not as if God laid an iron arm upon His people to drag them to Himself—whether they wished to come or not. God does not so act in a way of mechanical force.
We therefore read, "Your people shall be made willing in the day of Your power." He touches their heart with His gracious finger, and he communicates to their soul both faith and feeling. He melts, softens, and humbles their heart by a sense of His goodness and mercy—for it is His goodness, as experimentally felt and realized, which leads to repentance.
If you have ever felt any secret and sacred drawing of your soul upward to heaven—it was not compulsion, not violence, not a mechanical constraint—but an arm of pity and compassion let down into your very heart, which, touching your inmost spirit, drew it up into the bosom of God.
It was some view of His goodness, mercy, and love, with some dropping into your spirit of His pity and compassion towards you, which
Truth, as it stands in the naked word of God, is lifeless and dead—and as such, has no power to communicate what it has not in itself—that is, life and power to the hearts of God’s people. It stands there in so many letters and syllables, as lifeless as the types by which they were printed.
But when the incarnate Word takes of the written word, and speaks it home into the heart and conscience of a vessel of mercy, whether in letter or substance—then He endues it with divine life—and it enters into the soul, communicating to it a life that can never die.
Eternal realities are then brought into the soul,
How often we seem not to have any real religion, or enjoy any solid comfort! How often are our minds covered with deep darkness! How often does the Lord hide Himself, so that we cannot behold Him, nor get near to Him! What a painful path is this to walk in, but how profitable!
The worse opinion we have of our own heart, and the more deceitful and desperately wicked that we find it—the more we put our trust in His faithfulness.
The more black we are in our own esteem—the more beautiful and lovely does He appear in our eyes.
As we sink—Jesus rises.
As we become feeble—He puts forth his strength.
As we come into danger—He brings deliverance.
As we get into temptation—He breaks the snare.
As we are shut up in darkness and obscurity; He causes the light of His countenance to shine.
Now it is by being led in this way, and walking in these paths, that we come rightly to know who Jesus is; and to see and feel how suitable and precious such a Savior is to our undone souls! We are needy, He has in Himself all riches.
We are hungry—He is the bread of life.
We are thirsty—He says, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink."
We are naked—and He has clothing to bestow.
We are fools—and He has wisdom to grant.
We are lost, and He speaks— "Look unto Me, and be saved."
Thus, so far from our misery shutting us out from God’s mercy—it is the only requisite for it.
So far from our guilt excluding His pardon, it is the only thing needful for it.
So far from our helplessness ruining our souls, it is the needful preparation for the manifestation of His power in our weakness.
We cannot heal our own wounds and sores. That is the very reason why He should stretch forth His arm.
It is because there is no salvation in ourselves, or in any other creature, that He says, "Look unto Me, for I am God, and there is no other."
What am I?
What are you?
Are we not filthy, polluted, and defiled?
Do not we, more or less, daily feel altogether as an unclean thing? Is not every thought of our heart altogether vile?
Does any holiness, any spirituality, any heavenly-mindedness, any purity, any resemblance to the divine image dwell in our hearts by nature?
How then can I, a polluted sinner, ever see the face of a holy God?
How can I, a worm of earth, corrupted within and without by indwelling and committed sin, ever hope to see a holy God without shrinking into destruction?
When we view the pure and spotless holiness of Jesus imputed to His people, and view them . . .
holy in Him,
pure in Him,
without spot in Him,
how it does away with all the wrinkles of the creature, and makes them stand holy and spotless before God.
"
As they come, they weep. They mourn . . .
over their base backslidings,
over the many evils they have committed,
over the levity of mind which they have indulged,
over the worldliness of spirit,
over the—
pride,
presumption,
hypocrisy,
carnality,
carelessness, and
obstinacy of their heart.
They go and weep with a broken heart and softened spirit—seeking the Lord their God—seeking the secret manifestations of His mercy, the visitations of His favor, the "lifting up of the light of His countenance"— seeking after a revelation of the love of Jesus—to know Him by a spiritual discovery of Himself.
Being thus minded . . .
they seek not to establish their own righteousness;
they seek not the applause of the world;
they seek not the good opinion of professors;
they seek not the smiles of saints. But they . . .
seek the Lord their God,
seek His face day and night,
seek His favor,
seek His mercy,
seek His grace,
seek His love,
seek His glory,
seek the sweet visitations of His presence and power,
seek Him until they find Him to be their covenant God,
who heals all their backslidings.
"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory." Romans 8:17
This is the especial blessedness of being a child of God: that death, which puts a final extinguisher on all the hopes and happiness of all the unregenerate—gives him the fulfillment of all his hopes and the consummation of all his happiness—for it places him in possession of "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven."
In this present earthly life, we have sometimes sips and tastes of sonship, feeble indeed and interrupted; yet are they so far pledges of an inheritance to come.
But this life is only an introduction to a better. In this life we are but children—but in the life to come, we shall be put into full possession of the eternal inheritance.
And what is this? Nothing less than God Himself. "Heirs of God!" says the Apostle. God Himself is the inheritance of His people—yes, He Himself in all His glorious perfections . . .
all the love of God,
all the goodness of God,
all the holiness of God,
all His happiness, bliss, and blessedness,
all His might, majesty, and glory, in
all the blaze of one eternal, unclouded day!
Let us press on by faith and prayer to win this eternal and glorious crown!
"For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink." John 6:55
This food is specially for the elect . . .
blood shed for their sins, and for their sins only;
righteousness brought in for them, and for them only;
love bestowed upon them, and upon them only;
promises revealed for their comfort, and for their comfort only;
an eternal inheritance reserved in heaven for them, and for them only.
The elect are the only people . . .
who hunger after it,
who have an appetite for it,
who have a mouth to feed upon it,
who have a stomach to digest it.
They are the only people whose eyes
are really open to see what "food" is.
All others feed upon shadows—they know nothing of the savory food of the gospel. "I have food to eat
which you know not of." Jesus’ food was . . .
the hidden communications of God’s love,
the visitations of His Father’s presence,
the divine communion that He enjoyed with His Father.
So, for the children of God, there is food in Christ; and this food the Lord gives them a hunger after. He not only sets before their eyes what the food is, but He kindles inexpressible longings in their soul to be fed with it.
God’s people cannot feed . . .
upon husks,
nor upon ashes,
nor upon chaff,
nor upon the wind,
nor upon grapes of gall and the bitter clusters of Gomorrah.
They must have real food, "
"For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink."
"They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that they MUST enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations." Acts 14:22
The Lord has chosen that His people should pass through deep and cutting afflictions, for it is "through many tribulations" they are to enter the Kingdom of God above, and into the sweetness and power of the Kingdom of God below.
But every man will resent this doctrine, except God has led him experimentally into it. It is such a rough and rugged path—it is so contrary to flesh and blood—it is so inexplicable to nature and reason—that man, proud, rebellious man, will never believe that he must "enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations."
And this is the reason why so many find, or seek to find,
Shall the Head . . .
suffer,
grieve,
agonize,
groan,
and die—
and the members dance down a flowery road,
without inward sorrow or outward suffering?
But, perhaps, there are some who say in their heart, "I am well convinced of this—but my coward flesh shrinks from it. I know if I am to reach the Canaan above, I must pass through the appointed portion of tribulation. But my coward flesh shrinks back!"
It does! it does! Who would willingly bring trials upon himself? Therefore the Lord does not leave these trials in our hands—but He Himself appoints a certain measure of tribulation for each of His people to pass through. They will come soon enough; you need not anticipate them; you need not wish for them. God will bring them—in His own time and in His own way.
And what is more, God will not merely bring you into them, but God will bring you through them, and God will bring you out of them! It will be our mercy if enabled to ask the Lord . . .
to bless us with faith and patience under tribulation;
to give us strength to bear the storm;
to lie as clay in His hands;
to conform us to the image of His Son;
to guide us through this valley of tears below;
and eventually to take us to be with Him above!
"
Ministers often seek . . .
great gifts,
great eloquence,
great congregations,
great popularity.
They are wrong in seeking these so-called great things. Let them rather seek real things, gracious things, things that will make their souls blessed here and hereafter.
"The Lord keep you." Numbers 6:24
How we need the Lord to keep us!
Snares and traps are laid for us in every direction.
Every employment, every profession in life, from the highest to the lowest—has its special temptations. Snares are spread for the feet of the most illiterate as well as the most highly cultivated minds. Nor is there anyone, whatever his position in life may be, who has not a snare laid for him—and such a snare as will surely prove his downfall if God does not keep him.
Well, then, may it be the desire of our soul, "The Lord keep me" . . .
keep me in His providence, keep me by His grace;
keep me by planting His fear deep in my soul, and
maintaining that fear alive and effectual in my heart;
keep me waking, keep me sleeping;
keep me by night, keep me by day;
keep me at home, keep me abroad;
keep me with my family, keep me with my friends;
keep me in the world, and keep me in the church.
May the Lord keep me, according to His promise, every moment—keep me by His Spirit and grace with all the tenderness implied in His words, "O keep me as the apple of Your eye!"
My friends, you can know . . .
little of your own heart,
little of Satan’s devices,
little of the snares spread for your feet,
unless you feel how deeply you need this blessing—"The Lord keep you."
And He will, for we read of the righteous, that they are kept "by the power of God through faith unto salvation;" and that "He will keep the feet of His saints."
Have I
Can all the men in the world, by all their united exertions, raise up a grain of spiritual holiness in their hearts? Not an atom, with all their efforts.
If all the preachers in the world were to unite together for the purpose of working a grain of holiness in one man’s soul, they might strive to all eternity—they could no more by their preaching create holiness, than by their preaching they could create a lump of gold.
But Jesus imparts a measure of His own holiness to His people. He sends the Holy Spirit, to raise up holy desires. He communicates a heavenly, spiritual, and divine nature—which bathes in eternal things as its element—and enjoys spiritual things as sweet and precious. It may indeed be small in measure; and he that has it is often troubled because he has so little of it—yet he has enough to know what it is.
Has not your soul, though you feel to be a defiled wretch, though every iniquity is at times working in your heart, though every worm of obscenity and corruption is too often trailing its filthy slime upon your carnal mind—has it not felt, does it not sometimes feel—a measure of holiness Godwards?
Do you ever feel a breathing forth of your soul into the bosom of a holy God . . .
heavenly desires,
pure affections,
singleness of eye,
simplicity of purpose,
a heart that longs to have the mind, image,
and likeness of Jesus stamped upon it?
This is a holiness such as the Lord of life and glory imparts out of his fullness to His poor and needy family.
"To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat." Revelation 2:17
Is it not God’s Word applied with power to the heart?
What does the prophet Jeremiah say? "Your Words were found, and I did eat them; and Your Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."
When the Lord is pleased . . .
to drop a word into the heart from his own lips;
to apply some promise;
to open up some precious portion of his Word;
to whisper softly some blessed Scripture into the heart;
is not this manna?
Whence did the manna flow? Was it cultivated by the hand of man? No—it fell from heaven. And is not this true of the Word of the Lord applied with power to the heart? It is not our searching the Scriptures, though it is good to search the Scriptures—but it is the Lord Himself being pleased to apply some precious portion of truth to our hearts—and when this takes place, it is "manna;" it is . . .
sweet,
refreshing,
strengthening,
comforting,
encouraging;
yes, it is angels’ food—the very flesh and blood of the Lamb with which the Lord is pleased from time to time to feed and favor hungry souls.
But, in the text it is called "hidden." Why "hidden"? Because hidden from the eyes of the wise and prudent. Hidden from the eyes of self-righteous pharisees; hidden from those who fight in their own strength, and seek to gain the victory by their own brawny arm; hidden from all but God’s tried and tempted family; hidden from all but those who know the plague of their own hearts; hidden from all but those who have learned the secret of overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of His testimony.
When the Lord leads us to sink down into weakness, and in weakness to find his strength made perfect—to fall down all guilty—and then to feel the application of atoning blood—this is manna.
The children of Israel had to endure hunger in the wilderness before manna fell—and thus the Lord’s people learn the value of the hidden manna—the sweet communications from above—by hungering and thirsting in a waste-howling wilderness.
This is hidden from all eyes except those that are anointed by the Spirit to see it—and hidden from all hearts except those that are prepared to receive and feed upon it.
"I am the living bread who came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." John 6:51
How many of the Lord’s people are continually under bondage to evil! What power the lusts of the flesh have over some—how perpetually they are entangled with everything sensual and carnal! What power the pride of the heart has over another! And what strength covetousness exercises over a third! What power the love of the world and the things of time and sense exercise over a fourth!
How then are they to overcome sin?
By making resolutions? By endeavoring to overcome it in their own strength? No! Sin will always break through man’s strength. It will always be stronger than any resolution we can make not to be overcome by it.
The Lord allows His people to be so long and often
Have not some of you had to learn this lesson very painfully? There was a time when you thought you would get better and better, holier and holier—that you would not only not walk in open sin as before, but would not be . . .
entangled by temptation,
overcome by besetting lusts,
or cast down by hidden snares.
There was a time when you thought you were going forward—attaining some more strength—some better wisdom than you believed you once possessed.
How has it been with you?
Have these expectations ever been realized?
Have you ever attained these fond hopes?
Has sin become weaker?
Has the world become less alluring?
Have your lusts become tamer?
Has your temper become milder?
Have the corruptions of your heart become feebler and feebler?
If I can read the heart of some poor tried, tempted soul here present, he would say, "No! To my shame and sorrow, be it spoken, I find on the contrary that sin is stronger and stronger—that the evils of my heart are more and more powerful than ever I knew them in my life—and as to my own endeavors to overcome them, I find indeed that they are fainter and fainter, and weaker and weaker. This it is that casts me down. If I could have more strength against sin—if I could stand more boldly against Satan—if I could overcome my besetting lusts—live more to God’s glory—and be holier and holier—then, then, I could have some comfort. But to feel myself so continually baffled, so perpetually disconcerted, so incessantly cast down by the workings of my corrupt nature—it is this, it is this that cuts so keenly—it is this, it is this that tries me so deeply!"
My friend, you are on the high road to victory. This is the very way by which you are to overcome. When you feel . . .
weaker and weaker,
poorer and poorer,
guiltier and guiltier,
viler and viler,
so that really through painful experience you are compelled to call yourself, not in the language of mock humility, but in the language of self abhorrence—the chief of sinners—then you are on the high road to victory.
Then the blood of the Lamb is applied to the sinner’s conscience, and the Word of God’s testimony comes with power into his soul—it gives him the victory over those lusts with which he was before entangled—it brings him out of the world that had so allured him—and breaks to pieces the dominion of sin under which he had been so long laboring.
"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true." 1 John 5:20
There is a difference between a gracious, enlightened understanding of the truth of God which springs out of the teaching of the Spirit—and what is commonly called "head knowledge." There is such a thing—and a most dangerous, delusive thing it is—as "mere head knowledge" and it is widely prevalent in the churches.
You may say, "How am I to distinguish between mere head knowledge and this spiritual understanding?"
I will tell you. When a special light is cast into your mind—when the Word is opened up in its spiritual, experimental meaning—when the Holy Spirit seals it with sweetness and power upon your heart—and you not only understand what you read but receive it in faith, feel its savor, and enjoy its blessedness. Is not this
"Blessed are the
None are really
The heart must be stripped and emptied, and laid bare effectually—by a work of grace that goes to the very bottom, and penetrates into the recesses of the soul—so as to detect all the corruption that lurks and festers within.
The really "poor" man is one who has had everything taken from him—who has had not merely his dim views of a merciful God (such as natural men have) taken from him—not merely his legal righteousness stripped away—but all that kind of notional, traditional religion, which is so rife in the present day, taken from him also—and who has been brought in guilty before God, naked, in the dust, having nothing whereby to conciliate Him, or gain His favor.
"That no flesh should glory in His presence." 1 Corinthians 1:29
Man may glory in himself—but God has forever trampled man’s glory under foot.
"Claiming to be wise, they became
What am I by nature? A fool! All my wisdom, outside of Christ, is nothing but the height of foolishness—and all my knowledge nothing but the depth of ignorance!
Left to ourselves we are
blind,
ignorant,
weak,
helpless, and
utterly unable to find our way to God.
All wisdom which does not come down from the Father is folly. All strength not divinely wrought in the soul is weakness. All knowledge that does not spring from the Lord’s own teaching in the conscience is the depth of ignorance.
We must know the value of the gem before we can really prize it. When diamonds were first discovered in Brazil, nobody knew that they were diamonds. They were handed about as pretty, shining pebbles. But as soon it was discovered they were diamonds, they were eagerly sought, and their value rose a thousandfold.
So spiritually. Until we can distinguish between the "pebble of man’s teaching" and the "diamond of divine illumination" we shall neglect, we shall despise, we shall not value divine wisdom.
There is much . . .
presumption, pride,
hypocrisy,
deceit,
delusion,
formality,
superstition,
will-worship and self-righteousness to be purged out of
But all these things . . .
keep him low,
mar his pride,
crush his self righteousness,
cut the locks of his presumption,
stain his self-conceit,
stop his boasting,
preserve him from despising others,
make him take the lowest room,
teach him to esteem others better than himself,
drive him to earnest prayer,
fit him as an object of mercy,
break to pieces his free-will, and lay him low at the feet of the Redeemer, as one to be saved by sovereign grace alone!
a carnal confidence,
a dead assurance,
a presumptuous claim,
a daring mimicry of the spirit of adoption.
Who that has eyes or heart does not see and feel the wide spread of this gigantic evil?
No brokenness of heart, no tenderness of conscience, no spirituality of mind, no heavenly affections, no prayerfulness and watchfulness, no godly devotedness of life, no self denial and crucifixion, no humility or contrition, no separation from the world, no communion with the Lord of life and glory.
In a word, none of the blessed graces and fruits of the Spirit attend this carnal confidence.
On the contrary . . .
levity,
jesting,
pride,
covetousness,
self-exaltation, and
often gross self-indulgence are evidently stamped upon many, if not most, of these hardened professors.
The husks which the swine eat
All forms, opinions, rites, ceremonies and notions to me are nothing—and worse than nothing. They are
To have the heart deeply penetrated with the fear of Jehovah—to be melted and filled with a sweet sense of Jesus’ dying love—to have the affections warmed and drawn forth under the anointings of the Eternal Comforter—this is the only religion that can suit and satisfy a regenerate soul!
"They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Until they wandered in the wilderness; until they felt it to be a solitary way; until they found no city to dwell in; until hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them; there was no cry.
There might have been a prayer, a desire, a feeble wish, and now and then a sigh or a groan.
But this was not enough. Something more was needed to draw forth loving-kindness out of the bosom of the compassionate Head of the Church.
A cry was needed—a cry of distress, a cry of soul trouble, a cry forced out of their hearts by heavy burdens. A cry implies urgent need—a perishing without an answer to the cry. It is this solemn feeling in the heart that there is no other refuge but God.
The Lord brings all His people here—to have no other refuge but Himself. Friends, counselors, acquaintance—these may sympathize, but they cannot afford relief. There is . . .
no refuge,
nor shelter,
nor harbor,
nor home
into which they can fly, except the Lord.
Thus troubles force us to deal with God in a personal manner. They chase away that half-hearted religion of which we have so much; and they drive out that notional experience and dry profession that we are so often satisfied with. They chase them away as a strong north wind chases away the mists; and they bring a man to this solemn spot—that he must have God to support him—and bring him out of his trouble.
But what a mercy it is when there is a cry!
And when the Lord sends a cry in the trouble, He is sure in his own time and way to send deliverance out of it.
"You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house." 1 Peter 2:5
God’s people require . . .
many severe afflictions,
many harassing temptations,
and many powerful trials to hew them into any good shape, to chisel them into any conformity to Christ’s image.
For they are not like the passive marble under the hands of the sculptor, which will submit without murmuring, and indeed without feeling, to have this corner chipped off, and that jutting angle rounded by the chisel.
But God’s people are living stones, and therefore, they feel every stroke. We are so tender skinned that we cannot bear a ’thread of trouble’ to lie upon us—we shrink from even the touch of the chisel.
To be hewed, then, and squared, and chiseled by the hand of God into such shapes and forms as please Him—
If the Lord, then, is at work upon our souls . . .
we have not had,
we are not now having,
we shall never have . . .
one stroke too much,
one stroke too little,
one stroke in the wrong direction.
But there shall be just sufficient to work in us that which is pleasing in God’s sight—and to make us that which He would have us to be.
What a great deal of trouble would we be spared if we could only patiently submit to the Lord’s afflicting stroke—and know no will but His.
We get no better, but rather worse
"Accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6
We are ever looking for something in SELF to make ourselves acceptable to God—and are often sadly cast down and discouraged when we cannot find . . .
that holiness,
that obedience,
that calm submission to the will of God,
that serenity of soul,
that spirituality and heavenly mindedness,
which we believe to be acceptable in His sight.
Our crooked tempers, our fretful peevish minds, our rebellious thoughts, our coldness, our barrenness, our alienation from good, our headlong proneness to evil, with the daily feeling that
Now the more we get into these dregs of SELF, and the more we keep looking at the dreadful scenes of wreck and ruin which our heart presents to daily view—the farther do we get from the grace of the gospel—and the more do we lose sight of the only ground of our acceptance with God.
It is "in the Beloved" alone, that we are accepted—and not for any . . .
good words,
good works,
good thoughts,
good hearts, or
good intentions
of our own.
And a saving knowledge of our acceptance "in the Beloved," independent of everything in us either good or bad, is a firm foundation for our faith and hope—and will keep us from sinking altogether into despair.
After the Lord has quickened our souls, for a time we often go blundering on, not knowing there is a Jesus.
We think that the way of life is to . . .
keep God’s commandments,
obey the law,
cleanse ourselves from sin,
reform our lives,
cultivate universal holiness in thought, word, and action—and so we go—
When you are in the wilderness
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." Hosea 2:14
no friend,
no creature help,
no worldly comfort—
these have all abandoned you.
God has led you into the wilderness to bereave you of these earthly ties, of these ’creature refuges and vain hopes’, that He may Himself speak to your soul.
If, then, you are separated from the world by being brought into the wilderness—if you are passing through trials and afflictions—if you are exercised with a variety of temptations—and are brought into that spot where the creature yields neither help nor hope—then you are made to see and feel that nothing but God’s voice speaking with power to your soul can give you any solid grounds of rest or peace.
But is not this profitable? It may be painful—it is painful—but it is profitable, because by it we learn to look to the Lord and the Lord alone—and this must ever be a blessed lesson to learn for every child of God.
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16
What heart can conceive or tongue recount the daily, hourly triumphs of the Lord Jesus Christ’s all-conquering grace?
We see scarcely a millionth part of what He, as a King on his throne, is daily doing. What a crowd of needy petitioners every moment surrounds His throne! What urgent needs and woes to answer; what cutting griefs and sorrows to assuage; what broken hearts to bind up; what wounded consciences to heal; what countless prayers to hear; what earnest petitions to grant; what stubborn foes to subdue; what guilty fears to quell!
What grace, what kindness, what patience, what compassion, what mercy, what love, what power, what authority, does this Almighty Sovereign display!
No circumstance is too trifling; no petitioner too insignificant; no case too hard; no difficulty too great; no seeker too importunate; no beggar too ragged; no bankrupt too penniless; no debtor too insolvent; for Him not to notice and not to relieve.
Sitting on His throne of grace . . .
His all-seeing eye views all,
His almighty hand grasps all,
and His loving heart embraces all whom the Father chose—whom He himself redeemed by His blood—and whom the blessed Spirit has quickened into life by His invincible power.
The hopeless, the helpless; the outcasts whom no man cares for; the tossed with tempest and not comforted; the ready to perish; the mourners in Zion; the bereaved widow; the wailing orphan; the sick in body; and still more sick in heart; the racked with hourly pain; the fevered consumptive; the wrestler with death’s last struggle.
a look from His eye,
a word from His lips,
a smile from His face,
a touch from His hand!
O could we but see what His grace is—what His grace has—what His grace does—and could we but feel more what it is doing in and for ourselves, we would have more exalted views of the reign of grace now exercised on high by Zion’s enthroned King!
"And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation." Psalms 107:7
Those very times when God’s people think they are faring ill, may be the seasons when they are really faring well. For instance, when their souls are bowed down with trouble, it often seems to them that they are faring ill. God’s hand appears to be gone out against them. Yet perhaps they never fare better than when under these circumstances of
If their heart and affections were going out after idols—they instrumentally bring them back.
If they were hewing out broken cisterns—they dash them all to pieces.
If they were setting up, and bowing down to idols in the chambers of imagery, affliction and trouble smite them to pieces before their eyes—take away their gods—and leave them no refuge but the Lord God of hosts.
So that when a child of God thinks he is faring very ill, because burdened with sorrows, temptations,
and afflictions—he is never faring so well. The darkest clouds in due time will break, the most puzzling enigmas will sooner or later be unriddled by the blessed Spirit interpreting them—and the darkest providences cleared up—and we shall see that God is in them all—leading and guiding us by the right way, that we may go to a city of habitation.
"We are here for only a moment, sojourners and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a shadow, gone so soon without a trace." 1 Chronicles 29:15
If you possess the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you, like them, confess that you are a stranger; and your confession springs out of a believing heart and a sincere experience.
You feel yourself a stranger in this ungodly world.
It is not your element.
It is not your home.
You are in it during God’s appointed time, but you wander up and down this world . . .
a stranger to its company,
a stranger to its maxims,
a stranger to its fashions,
a stranger to its principles,
a stranger to its motives,
a stranger to its lusts,
a stranger to its inclinations—and all in which this world moves as in its native element.
Grace has separated you by God’s sovereign power, that though you are in the world, you are not of it.
I can tell you plainly
the company of the world,
the maxims of the world,
the fashions of the world, and
the principles of the world,
grace has not reached your heart—the faith of God’s elect does not dwell in your bosom.
The first effect of grace is to separate.
It was so in the case of Abraham. He was called by grace to leave the land of his fathers, and go out into a land that God would show him. And so God’s own word to His people is now, "Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Separation, separation, separation from the world; is the grand distinguishing mark of vital godliness.
There may be indeed separation of body where there is no separation of heart. But what I mean is . . .
separation of heart,
separation of principle,
separation of affection,
separation of spirit.
And if grace has touched your heart, and you are a partaker of the faith of God’s elect—you are a stranger in the world—and will make it manifest by your life and conduct that you are such.
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18
What is to be compared with the salvation of the soul? What are—riches, honors, health, long life? What are all the pleasures which the world can offer, sin promise, or the flesh enjoy? What is all that men call good or great? What is everything which the eye has seen, or the ear heard, or has entered into the carnal heart of man—put side by side with being saved in the Lord Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation?
For consider what we are saved FROM, as well as what we are saved UNTO.
From endless wrath—to eternal glory!
From the dreadful company of devils and damned spirits, mutually tormenting and tormented—to the blessed companionship of the glorified saints, all perfectly conformed in body and soul to the image of Christ, with thousands and tens of thousands of holy angels—and, above all, to seeing the glorious Son of God as he is, in all the perfection of His beauty, and all the ravishments of His presence and love.
To be done forever with . . .
all the sorrows, troubles, and afflictions of this life;
all the pains and aches of the present clay tabernacle;
all the darkness, bondage, and misery of the body of sin and death.
To be perfectly holy in body and soul, being in both without spot, or blemish, or any such thing, and ever to enjoy uninterrupted communion with God!
"Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise." 1 Corinthians 3:18
The fruit and effect of divine teaching is—to cut in pieces, and root up all our fleshly . . .
wisdom,
strength, and
righteousness.
God never means to patch a new piece upon an old garment. All our wisdom, our strength, our righteousness must be torn to pieces! It must all be plucked up by the roots—that a new wisdom, a new strength, and a new righteousness may arise upon its ruins.
But until the Lord is pleased to teach us—we never can part with our own righteousness, never give up our own wisdom, never abandon our own strength. These things are a part and parcel of ourselves—so ingrained within us—so innate in us—so growing with our growth—that we cannot willingly part with an atom of them until the Lord Himself breaks them up, and plucks them away.
Then, as He brings into our souls some spiritual knowledge of our own dreadful corruptions and horrible wickedness—
As He leads us to see and feel our ignorance and folly in a thousand instances—and how unable we are to understand anything aright but by divine teaching—
As He shows us our inability to resist temptation and overcome sin, by any exertion of our own—
Upon the ruins, then, of
But only so far as we are favored with this special teaching are we brought to pass a solemn sentence
of condemnation upon our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness—and sincerely seek after the Lord’s.
"For it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:8
We are saved by grace . . .
free grace,
rich grace,
sovereign grace,
distinguishing grace—
without one atom of works,
without one grain of creature merit,
without anything of the flesh.
Oh! what a help—what a strength—what a rest for a poor toiling, striving, laboring soul—to find that grace has done all the work—to feel that grace has triumphed in the cross of Christ—to find that . . .
nothing is required, nothing is needed,
nothing is to be done!
"As
Though we die, and die daily—yet, behold, we live. And in a sense, the more we die, the more we live.
The more we die to self, the more we die to sin.
The more we die to pride and self-righteousness, the more we die to creature strength.
The more we die to sinful nature, the more we live to grace.
This runs all the way through the life and experience of a Christian.
Nature must die, that grace may live.
The weeds must be plucked up, that the crop may grow.
The flesh must be starved, that the spirit may be fed.
The old man must be put off, that the new man may be put on.
The deeds of the body must be mortified, that the soul may live unto God.
As then we die—we live.
The more we die to our own strength, the more we live to Christ’s strength.
The more we die to creature hope, the more we live to a good hope through grace.
The more we die to our own righteousness, the more we live to Christ’s righteousness.
The more we die to the world, the more we live to and for heaven.
This is the grand mystery—that the Christian is always
The death of the flesh, is the life of the spirit.
The death of sin, is the life of righteousness.
The death of the creature, is the very life of God in the soul.
"As
You were bought with a price!
"
How deep, how dreadful, of what alarming magnitude, of how black a dye, of how ingrained a stamp—must sin be, to need such an atonement, no less than the blood of the Son of God, to put it away!
What a slave to sin and Satan, what a captive to the power of lust, how deeply sunk, how awfully degraded, how utterly lost and undone, must guilty man be—to need a sacrifice like this!
Have you ever felt your bondage to sin, Satan, and the world? Have you ever—groaned, cried, grieved, sorrowed, and lamented under your miserable captivity to the power of sin?
Has the iron ever entered into your soul? Have you ever clanked your fetters, and as you did so, and tried to burst them—they seemed to bind round about you with a weight scarcely endurable?
You were slaves of sin and Satan. You were shut up in the dark cell, where all was gloom and despondency. There was little hope in your soul of ever being saved.
But there was an entrance of gospel light into your dungeon—there was a coming out of the house of
bondage! "
"You are not your own." 1 Corinthians 6:19
Remember that you must belong to someone.
If God is not your master—the devil will be.
If grace does not rule—sin will reign.
If Christ is not your all in all—the world will be.
We must have a master of one kind or another.
a bounteous benevolent Benefactor;
a merciful, loving, and tender Parent;
a kind, forgiving Father and Friend;
a tender-hearted, compassionate Redeemer?
or
a cruel devil,
a miserable world, and
a wicked, vile, abominable heart?
to live under the sweet constraints of the
dying love of a dear Redeemer—under . . .
gospel influences,
gospel principles,
gospel promises, and
gospel encouragements?
or
to live with sin in our heart, binding us in iron chains to the judgment of the great day?
Even taking the ’present life’—there is more real pleasure, satisfaction, and solid happiness . . .
in half an hour with God,
in reading his Word with a believing heart,
in finding access to His sacred presence,
in knowing something of His favor and mercy—
than in . . .
all the delights of sin,
all the lusts of the flesh,
all the pride of life, and
all the amusements that the world has ever devised to kill time and cheat self—thinking, by a deathbed repentance, at last to cheat the devil.