Gems for September - wk 3
September 16
"What think ye of Christ?" (Matthew 22:42)
All turns upon - What think ye of Christ? Do you believe on the Son of God? "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:12) The sinner is obliged to face the person of the Son of God, and it becomes an urgent, all-absorbing, eternal question that must be decided by the soul - Do I prefer Christ to the world? Do I prefer Christ or self? The Lord grant that we may be wise, and know how to find in Christ both the salvation and the power of God. For the same blessed One who gave us life gives us power for every practical difficulty. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."(1 John 5:4,5) (William Kelly - Lectures on Matthew)
N.J.H. # 3098
September 17
"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." (Mark 1:35)
Men of communion are men of obedience. It is men delighting to be near the king who are ready to hazard their lives to fetch him a drink of water from Bethlehem's well (1 Chronicles 11:18). And it is men of prayer who have moved the arm of Omnipotence in all ages, while they who seemed to have least need to pray have been the very ones to whom the closet has been dearest. Our great Example was a man of prayer. We read of Him rising a great while before day and departing into a solitary place to pray. Let us follow Him wherever He goes. If He needed the aids of heavenly power to help Him in the evil hour, how much more do we? Then let no uncertain sound be given in this all-important matter. Let secret prayer be urged on God's people as one of the great essentials of spiritual life, without which our grandest services will be barren and fruitless in the eyes of Him who looks on the heart.
Let each one of us ask himself the question, Am I delighting in the secret place, to plead with the Lord, to renew my strength, to have power with God and prevail? If not, let us confess our neglect. God will forgive, and renew our spiritual energy. (Christian Truth - Vo. 21 - January 1968)
N.J.H. # 3099
September 18
"And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man?
And she said, I will go." (Genesis 24:58)
The crucial question is the one that was asked when, in solemn conclave, Rebekah was assembled together with her relatives, in the presence of this Canaanite stranger. This is the question then for each of us to face today. It cannot be avoided by anyone calling himself a Christian. "Wilt thou go with this man?" Will you begin your journey this day in the company of the Spirit of God? Remember, you must be chosen first, and know it, and then the journey only begins if we have affirmatively answered this question. There are many souls around us who will doubtless spend their future eternity with the Lord, who are not spending their present time in the enjoyment of the communion of the Holy Spirit. They are undecided about this question. (H.C. Anstey)
N.J.H. # 3100
September 19
"There came a messenger unto (King) Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-ham-mahlekoth" (that is, the rock of divisions or escape). And David went up from thence." (1 Samuel 23:27-29)
Saul was pressing David very close. It seemed as if Saul had captured his long pursued quarry on this occasion - "Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them" (verse 26).
But suddenly a messenger appeared, saying to Saul, "Haste thee, and come." Saul was called away, and thus one of the spots of David's greatest danger became henceforth a monumental place of divine deliverance; for in all this the believer sees God's intervention in David's escape. Are there not places in our own experience over which we too might write as truly as these Hebrews did, the long and difficult word, "SELA-HAM-MAHLEKOTH"?
God was no more David's deliverer than He is the deliverer in these days of those who put their trust in Him. Let us not forget the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, "The very hairs of your head are all numbered."
(Christian Truth - Vol. 21 - March 1968)
N.J.H. # 3101
September 20
"Whatsoever things are true." (Philippians 4:8)
The Word says of us: "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). If a man constantly thinks of something, the time will come when he cannot stop thinking of it: and woe be it to him, if these thoughts are evil and impure and false.
Our thoughts form us; and it is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And let us not forget that our thoughts are formed by what we read, and look at, and hear. How much about us is superficial, or false. Our newspapers, the radio, the magazines about the house: do these help us to meditate on whatsoever things are true? Do we realize what a terrific influence these things have on our children, as well as on ourselves? And how much of all this is not true, but utterly false, as we very well know. Little wonder the Spirit of God exhorts us to think on, to meditate on, to calculate, whatsoever things are true.
The Word here tells us to calculate. Let us calculate the awful loss to one who does not heed this admonition. It may mean the loss of a soul: if not your own soul, it may be the soul of one you love even better than yourself. It has been well said:
"Light obeyed increaseth Light.
Light refused, but bringeth night.
Who shall give us power to choose,
If the love of Light we lose?"
(G. Christopher Willis - Sacrifices of Joy -Philippians)
N.J.H. # 3102
September 21
"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree."
(1 Peter 2:24)
"The Lord knoweth how to reserve the . . . unjust unto the day
of judgment to be punished." (2 Peter 2:9)
For the believer, the question of sin was settled at the cross; for the unbeliever, it is postponed to the day of judgment. (Sir Robert Anderson - The Gospel and the Ministry)
N.J.H. # 3103
September 22
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father,
and with His Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
"We dwell in Him and He in us." There cannot be anything more intimate.
Although the epistle of John is very abstract, yet it is abstract about things that the very feeblest saint knows in Christ. God is brought down to our nature, for God can come down to us in our weakness in Christ. Paul unfolds to us the counsels of God in grace; whereas John may be called more abstract, because he speaks of the nature of God Himself. The purpose and object of God is to bring us into full fellowship with Himself. (J.N. Darby - 1 John - Lectures)
N.J.H. # 3104
September 23
"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. " (Philippians 3:7)
"But godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6)
- The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin.
- In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.
- To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.
(R.K. - Some Thoughts to Consider)
N.J.H. # 3105
