The Words of Jesus Part 4

To complete the picture, we must take in a counterpart description of the _Father's_ love to us;--"_Therefore_ doth my Father love me," says Jesus in another place, "_because_ I lay down my life!" G.o.d had an all-sufficiency in His love--He needed not the taper-love of creatures to add to His glory or happiness; but He seems to say, that so intense is His love for us, that He loves even His beloved Son _more_ (if infinite love be capable of increase), because He laid down His life for the guilty! It is regarding the Redeemed it is said, "He shall _rest_ in His love--He shall rejoice over _them_ with singing."

In the a.s.sertion, "G.o.d is love," we are left truly with no mere unproved averment regarding the existence of some abstract quality in the divine nature. "Herein," says an apostle, "perceive we THE LOVE,"--(it is added in our authorised version, "of G.o.d," but, as it has been remarked, "Our translators need not have added _whose_ love, for there is but one such specimen")--"_because_ He laid down His life for us." No expression of love can be wondered at after _this_. Ah, how miserable are our best affections compared with His! "_Our_ love is but the reflection--cold as the moon; _His_ is as the Sun." Shall we refuse to love Him more in return, who hath _first_ loved, and so _loved us_?

"NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN."

17TH DAY.

"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"--

"Only believe."--Mark v. 36.

The Brief Gospel.

The briefest of the "words of Jesus," but one of the most comforting.

They contain the essence and epitome of all saving truth.

Reader, is _Satan_ a.s.sailing thee with tormenting fears? Is the thought of thy sins--the guilty past--coming up in terrible memorial before thee, almost tempting thee to give way to hopeless despondency? Fear not! A gentle voice whispers in thine ear,--"_Only believe._" "Thy sins are great, but my grace and merits are greater. 'Only believe' that I died for thee--that I am living for thee and pleading for thee, and that 'the faithful saying' is as 'faithful' as ever, and as 'worthy of all acceptation' as ever."--Art thou a _backslider_? Didst thou once run well? Has thine own guilty apostacy alienated and estranged thee from that face which was once all love, and that service which was once all delight? Art thou breathing in broken-hearted sorrow over the holy memories of a close walk with G.o.d--"Oh that it were with me as in months past, when the candle of the Lord did s.h.i.+ne?" "_Only believe._" Take this thy mournful soliloquy, and convert it into a prayer. "Only believe" the word of Him whose ways are not as man's ways--"Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding."--Art thou beaten down with some heavy _trial_? have thy fondest schemes been blown upon--thy fairest blossoms been withered in the bud? has wave after wave been rolling in upon thee? hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious? Hear the "word of Jesus" resounding amid the thickest midnight of gloom--penetrating even through the vaults of the dead--"Believe, _only believe_." There is an infinite _reason_ for the trial--a lurking thorn that required removal, a gracious lesson that required teaching. The dreadful severing blow was dealt in love. G.o.d will be glorified in it, and your own soul made the better for it. Patiently wait till the light of immortality be reflected on a receding world. Here you must take His dealings on trust. The word of Jesus to you now is, "_Only believe._"

The word of Jesus in eternity (every inner meaning and undeveloped purpose being unfolded), "Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest _but_ BELIEVE, thou shouldst SEE the glory of G.o.d?"--Are you fearful and agitated in _the prospect of death_? Through fear of the last enemy, have you been all your lifetime subject to bondage?--"_Only believe._"

"As thy day is, so shall thy strength be." Dying grace will be given when a dying hour comes. In the dark river a sustaining arm will be underneath you, deeper than the deepest and darkest wave. Ere you know it, the darkness will be past, the true Light s.h.i.+ning,--the whisper of faith in the nether valley, "Believe! believe!" exchanged for angel-voices exclaiming, as you enter the portals of glory, "No longer through a gla.s.s darkly, but now face to face!"

Yes! "Jesus Himself had no higher remedy for sin, for sorrow, and for suffering, than those two words convey. At the utmost extremity of His own distress, and of His disciples' wretchedness, He could only say, 'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in G.o.d, believe also in me.'

'Believe, only believe.'"

"LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF."

18TH DAY.

"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"--

"Be of good cheer: It is I; be not afraid."--Mark vi. 50.

The Great Calm.

"It is I," (or as our old version has it, more in accordance with the original), "I AM! be not afraid!" Jesus lives! His people may dispel their misgivings--Omnipotence treads the waves! To sense it may seem at times to be otherwise; wayward accident and chance may appear to regulate human allotments; but not so: "The Lord's voice is upon the waters,"--He sits at the helm guiding the tempest-tossed bark, and guiding it well.

How often does He come to us as He did to the disciples in that midnight hour when all seems lost--"in the fourth watch of the night,"--when we least looked for Him; or when, like the s.h.i.+pwrecked apostle, "for days together neither sun nor stars appeared, and no small tempest lay on us; when all hope that we should be saved seemed to be taken away,"--how often _just at that moment_, is the "word of Jesus" heard floating over the billows!

Believer, art thou in trouble? listen to the voice in the storm, "Fear not, _I_ AM." That voice, like Joseph's of old to his brethren, may _seem_ rough, but there are gracious undertones of love. "It is I," he seems to say; It _was_ I, that roused the storm; It is I, who when it has done its work, will calm it, and say, "Peace, be still." Every wave rolls at My bidding--every trial is My appointment--all have some gracious end; they are not sent to dash you against the sunken rocks, but to waft you nearer heaven. Is it _sickness_? I am He who bare your sickness; the weary wasted frame, and the nights of languis.h.i.+ng, were sent by Me. Is it _bereavement_? I am "the Brother" born for adversity--the loved and lost were plucked away by Me. Is it _death_? I AM the "Abolisher of death," seated by your side to calm the waves of ebbing life; it is _I_, about to fetch My pilgrims _home_--It is My voice that speaks, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee."

Reader, thou wilt have reason yet to praise thy G.o.d for every one such storm! This is the history of every heavenly voyager: "_So_ He bringeth them to their desired haven." "_So!_" That word, in all its unknown and diversified meaning, is in _His_ hand. He suits His dealings to every case. "_So!_" With some it is through quiet seas unfretted by one buffeting wave. "_So!_" With others it is "mounting up to heaven, and going down again to the deep." But whatever be the leading and the discipline, here is the grand consummation, "_So_ He bringeth them unto their desired haven." It might have been with thee the moanings of an eternal night-blast--no lull or pause in the storm; but soon the darkness will be past, and the hues of morn tipping the sh.o.r.es of glory!

And what, then, should your att.i.tude be? "Looking unto Jesus"

(literally, looking _from unto_); looking away from self, and sin, and human props and refuges and confidences, and fixing the eye of unwavering and unflinching faith on a reigning Saviour. Ah, how a real quickening sight of Christ dispels all guilty fears! The Roman keepers of old were affrighted, and became as dead men. The lowly Jewish women feared not; why? "_I know that ye seek Jesus!_" Reader, let thy weary spirit fold itself to rest under the composing "word" of a gracious Saviour, saying----

"I WAIT FOR THE LORD, MY SOUL DOTH WAIT, AND IN _HIS WORD_ DO I HOPE."

19TH DAY.

"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"--

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you."--John xiv. 27.

The Dying Legacy.

How we treasure the last sayings of a dying parent! How specially cherished and memorable are his last looks and last words! Here are the last words--the parting legacy--of a dying Saviour. It is a legacy of _peace_.

What peace is this? It is His own purchase--a peace arising out of free forgiveness through His precious blood. It is sung in concert with "Glory to G.o.d in the highest"--a peace made as sure to us as eternal power and infinite love _can make it_! It is _peace_ the soul wants.

Existence is one long-drawn sigh after repose. _That_ is nowhere else to be found, but through the blood of His cross! "Being justified by faith, we _have_ peace with G.o.d." "HE giveth his beloved _rest_!"

How different from the false and counterfeit peace in which so many are content to live, and content to die! The world's peace is all well, so long as prosperity lasts--so long as the stream runs smooth, and the sky is clear; but when the cataract is at hand, or the storm is gathering, where is it? It is _gone_! There is no calculating on its permanency.

Often when the cup is fullest, there is the trembling apprehension that in one brief moment it may be dashed to the ground. The soul may be saying to itself, "Peace, peace;" but, like the writing on the sand, it may be obliterated by the first wave of adversity. BUT, "Not as the world giveth!" The peace of the believer is deep--calm--lasting--_ever_lasting. The world, with all its blandishments, cannot give it. The world, with all its vicissitudes and fluctuations, cannot take it away! It is brightest in the hour of trial; it lights up the final valley-gloom. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." Yes! how often is the believer's deathbed like the deep calm repose of a summer-evening's sky, when all nature is hushed to rest; the departing soul, like the vanis.h.i.+ng sun, peacefully disappearing only to s.h.i.+ne in another and brighter hemisphere! "I seem," said Simeon on his deathbed, "to have nothing to do but to wait: there is now nothing but _peace_, the _sweetest peace_."

Believer! do you know this peace which pa.s.seth understanding? Is it "keeping (literally, '_garrisoning_ as in a citadel') your heart?" Have you learnt the blessedness of waking up, morning after morning, and feeling, "I am at peace with my G.o.d;" of beholding by faith the true Aaron--the great High Priest--coming forth from "the holiest of all" to "bless His people with peace?" Waves of trouble may be murmuring around you, but they cannot touch you; you are in the rock-crevice athwart which the fiercest tornado sweeps by. Oh! leave not the making up of your peace with G.o.d to a dying hour! It will be a hard thing to smooth the death-pillow, if peace be left unsought till then. Make sure of it _now_. He, the true Melchisedec, is willing _now_ to come forth to meet you with bread and wine--emblems of peaceful gospel blessings. All the "words of Jesus" are so many rills contributing to make your peace flow as a river;--"These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace."

"I WILL HEAR WHAT G.o.d THE LORD WILL SPEAK, FOR HE WILL SPEAK PEACE UNTO HIS PEOPLE AND TO HIS SAINTS."

20TH DAY.

"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"--

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."--Matt. xxviii.

18.

The Supreme Invest.i.ture.

What an empire is this! Heaven and earth--the Church militant--the Church triumphant--angels and archangels--saints and seraphs. At His mandate the billows were hushed--demons crouched in terror--the grave yielded its prey! "Upon his head are many crowns." He is made "head over _all things_ to His Church." Yes! over _all things_, from the minutest to the mightiest. He holds the stars in His right hand--He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, feeding every candlestick with the oil of His grace, and preserving every star in its spiritual orbit.

The prince of Darkness has "a power," but, G.o.d be praised, it is not an "all power;" _potent_, but not _omnipotent_. Christ holds him in a chain. He hath set bounds that he may not pa.s.s over. "Satan," we read in the book of Job, "went out (_Chaldee paraphrase_, 'with a licence') from the presence of the Lord." He was not allowed even to enter the herd of swine till Christ permitted him. He only "_desired_" to have Peter that he might "sift him;" there was a mightier countervailing agency at hand: "_I_ have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not."

Believer, how often is there nothing but this grace of Jesus between thee and everlasting destruction! Satan's key fitting the lock in thy wayward heart; but a stronger than the strong man barring him out;--the power of the adversary fanning the flame; the Omnipotence of Jesus quenching it. Art thou even now feeling the strength of thy corruptions, the weakness of thy graces, the presence of some outward or inward temptation? Look up to Him who has promised to make His grace sufficient for thee; "all power" is His prerogative; "all-sufficiency in all things" is His promise. It is power, too, in conjunction with tenderness. He who sways the sceptre of universal empire "gently leads"

His weak, and weary, and burdened ones:--He who counts the number of the stars, loves to count the number of their sorrows; nothing too great, nothing too insignificant for _Him_. He puts every tear into his bottle.

He paves His people's pathway with love!