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Divine
Sugar Sticks for December 2002
Need a quick spiritual energy
boost? Here's just what you need ... Divine Sugar Sticks. “Taste and see
that the Lord is good.”
Buddy develops these on
a daily basis. I'll try to keep up with his creations as often as I can,
so check back often for the latest treats of the day.
What's the background behind
Sugar Sticks? Click here to find out.
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Strong Meat!
 | “I fed you with milk and not meat,” 1 Cor 3:2. |
| “Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,” Heb 5:12, 13. |
When Paul uses the emblem of “meat,” he has in mind the idea of the more
profound teaching of the Word of God to those who delight to follow on to know
the Lord in a fuller and richer measure.
Are we among those who are content to paddle along the shores, or are we
in the company of those who love to launch out into the deep?
The Bible is no mere milk and water Book. True, there are parts of It
which are so simple that a little child may understand them, 2 Tim 3:15, yet they contain Truths so profound that the mightiest intellect cannot
fully grasp.
Dwell deep! Jer 49:8.
Bread – The Third Food Product of the Word
| “Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Lord doth man live,” Deut 8:3, Matt 4:4, Luke 4:4. |
| “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” Isa 55:1,
2. |
| “Bread to the eater, so shall My Word be,” Isa 55:10. |
The Lord Jesus Christ sanctified ( set apart) the Scriptures by appealing to
them as He did when implying that the Word was “Bread,” Matt 4:4, Luke 4:4,
also Mark 12:10, John 7:42.
He also spoke of Himself as the Bread of life, John 6:33, 35.
Such a description offers us the Promise of daily sustenance. Ordinary bread
is our staple food. We can do without fancy pastries, so long as we have plenty
of wholesome bread.
What nourishing bread is Scripture!
It is to be hoped that we know what it is to cut off a large, daily slice of
God’s loaf, providing thereby Its strengthening and satisfying qualities.
That is, breaking off a piece of God’s bread. You never slice it.
Honey!
| “How sweet are Thy Words unto my taste, yea, sweeter then honey to my
mouth,” Psa 119:103. |
| “Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb,” Psa 19:10. |
| “Knowledge is pleasant unto thy taste,” Prov 2:10, 24:13. |
| “It was in my mouth as honey for sweetness,” Ezek 3:3. |
This aspect of the Bible suggests the promise of pleasure and delight. How
sweet and delightsome is a piece of bread covered with honey!
| “What is sweeter than honey?” Judges 14:18. |
God satisfied His people of old with honey out of the rock. Psa 81:16.
David could write of the delight he found in God’s Law. Psalm 1:2.
The study of His Word then is pleasurable as well as profitable. Do
you find Bible meditations delightful or is it drudgery?
Honey!
The emblem of honey breaks down however at one point, for one can eat too
much natural honey.
| “It is not good to eat much honey,” Prov 25:27. |
| “Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou
be filled therewith and vomit it,” Prov 25:26. |
But the redeemed soul can not have too much of God’s Honey, His Word. He
furnishes a rich table, not only with necessary food, but also with sweets,
luxuries of such a kind that they cannot make us spiritually sick.
There are still many Promises in the Word Itself which we can lay up in our
souls. They are now listed for the comfort they impart.
“There is the Promise of profit.”
The Word is Profitable!
| “That he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the Words of
the Law and these Statues and do them,” Deut 17:19. |
| “All Scripture is profitable for Doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that a man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” 2 Tim 3:16, 17. |
| “Meditate on the Word day and night, neither turning to the left or the
right, and thou shalt prosper withersoever thou goest,” Joshua 1:7, 8.
|
Thought for the Day!
“What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”
When I was growing up around WW II, this was an important question. If you
didn’t have anything to report New Year’s Day that you did that was special,
well it was like you had committed some great sin. In fact there was a song
written about it which became very popular, “What Are You Doing New Year’s
Eve?”
Well, I had to hide most of the time when it came to New Year’s Eve, and if
you asked me what are you doing this New Year’s Eve? I would have to say, well
I am in my apartment sending out Promises to those who may or may not be
interested.
“What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”
Monday, December 30, 2002
Both the Living Word and the Written Word Are the Sources of Life
| The Living Word. “I am the Life,” John 14:6. |
| The Written Word. “The Word of God is alive and powerful,” Heb
4:12. |
Both are light.
| The Living Word. “I am the Light of the world,” John 8:12. |
| The Written Word. “The Commandment ... is Light,” Prov 6:23. |
Both are truth.
| The Living Word. “I am the Truth,” John 14:6. |
| The Written Word. “Thy Word is Truth,” John 17:17. |
Both are food for the soul.
| The Living Word. “I am the Bread of life,” John 6:35. |
| The Written Word. “Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every
Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live,” Duet
8:3, Matt 4:4, Luke 4:4. |
Both must be received before salvation is possible.
| The Living Word. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God,” John 1:12. |
| The Written Word. “Received with meekness the engrafted Word,
which is able to save your souls,” James 1:21.
|
Both the Living Word and the Written Word Are Associated with Irreparable
Laws
| The Living Word. “If he believe not that I am He, ye shall die in
your sins,” John 8:39. |
| The Written Word. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead,” Luke 16:31. |
Both are despised and rejected by the natural man.
| The Living Word. “He is despised and rejected of men,” Isa
53:3. |
| The Written Word. “Full well ye reject the Commandments of
God,” Mark 7:9. |
Both are able to judge men.
| The Living Word. “He will judge the world in righteousness by
that Man whom He hath ordained,” Acts 17:31. |
| The Written Word. “The dead were judged out of those things which
were written in the books,” Rev 20:12. |
We Now Come to those Emblems Related to “Food,” Indicating as They Do,
the Promise of Sustenance
Job and Jeremiah confess:
| “I have esteemed the Words of His mouth more than my necessary food,”
Job 23:12. |
| “Thy Words were found and I did eat them,” Jeremiah 15:16. |
If only the spiritually-starved multitudes could discover the nourishment
the Bible affords! When an awakened soul cries “I perish with hunger,” then in the Word he
finds food convenient for his soul.
Food is of varied kinds. There are four items necessary for our physical and
spiritual maintenance which we can group under the title:
The Bible is as food.
The Bible is as Food
Milk
| “I have fed you with milk,” 1 Cor 3:2. |
| “Such as have need of milk ... he is a babe,” Heb 5:12, 13. |
| “As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow
thereby,” 1 Pet 2:2. |
The Bible is so designed that many of its Truths can be understood by the
youngest. Within Its sacred pages there is much to interest little children.
The apostolic use of the emblem of milk is related to those who are young in
faith and not necessarily to those who are young in years.
Milk stands for the simplicities of the Gospel which the younger believer can
grasp. Paul chided the Corinthians for the carnal condition preventing them from
going on from the A.B.C.s of the Gospel to the deeper, doctrinal Truths.
While milk is the only necessary food for a baby, it would be tragic if it
tried to grow up on nothing else but milk. The day comes when a child is
weaned and is given more solid fare so that he can develop a sturdy human frame.
The Milk of the Word
Too many professing Christians are dwarfed. Separation from the world and
dedication to God have not been thorough, so there is little taste for the
deeper things of the Word.
All the teaching about the great and wonderful Doctrines of God are over
their heads and consequently their souls are not nourished and built up.
They never get away from rudimentary spiritual teaching. It is sometimes
remarked that milk is good for infants and invalids.
“Feasting on the strong meat of the Word,” our minds will never be
corrupted from the “simplicity that is in Christ,” 2 Cor 11:3.
Weary seekers of the best,
We come back laden from the quest.
To find that all the sages said,
Is in the Book our mothers read.
Sunday, December 29, 2002
The Bible as a Mirror!
| “Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” 2 Cor 3:18. |
| “A hearer of the Word ... is like a man beholding his natural face in a
glass,” James 1:22, 25. |
A mirror reveals and reflects. Standing before a mirror we see ourselves
as we are. A mirror never lies unless it is warped like those crazy mirrors
used in shows to give people a humorous distortion of their figure.
The Promise of a perfect revelation of both God and ourselves is ours when
we accept the Bible as the Divine mirror.
People shrink from the Word of God because it tells them the Truth about
their sin and reveals to them not what they think they are, but what It declares
them to be.
| “Guilty before Him,” Rom 3:19.
|
The Bible as a Mirror
A missionary tells the story of visiting a heathen village where an aged
woman was recognized as its head. In order to win his way, the missionary
carried with him a bag of expensive gifts. As he stood before the heathen
chieftainess, he wondered what kind of a present he could give her and thereby
gain her interest. Turning over his gifts he came across a small mirror,
something the woman had never seen.
Instructing her to hold it up and look at it, the missionary soon discovered
his mistake. The woman was horrified as she looked at her face and flung the
mirror to the ground. Poor mirror, it could not help it. It only told the truth.
Are there not those who would destroy the Bible because of the revelation
it provides of their own sinful life? We love the Bible because “It found
us.”
There is no need to fear the revelation of God’s mirror, for what the light
reveals, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ can cleanse.
Within that awful volume lies,
The mystery of mysteries.
Happiest they of human race,
To whom their God has given Grace.
To read, to fear, to hope, to pray,
To lift the latch and force the way.
And better had they never been born
Who read to doubt, or read to scorn.
The Bible is as a Laver
| “The washing of water (laver) by the Word,” Eph 5:26. |
| “Now are ye clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you,” John
15:3. |
| “Sanctify them through Thy Truth,” John 17:17. |
| “Wherewithal shall a young man be cleansed, by taking heed according to
Thy Word,” Psa 119:9. |
| “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee,”
Psa 119:17. |
How full of promised cleansing is the laver of the Word. The very Book, which
as the mirror reveals my sin, is likewise the laver showing me how every stain
can be cleansed.
In the outer court of the tabernacle there stood the brazen altar and the
laver.
After serving at the first, the priest, having dealt with the sacrifice, had
to wash his hands and his feet, and thereby remove all defilement as he sought
to enter the Holy Place to worship God.
| “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord,” Isa 52:11. |
The Bible is the medium of cleansing in that It leads us to the only fount of
cleansing, namely the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:7, 9.
“Be Ye Clean That Bear the Vessels of the Lord”
Too often we maintain the whole round of Christian activities, but nothing
happens. Progress and power are not ours, simply because we are not fit for
God to use us.
It is only as “we keep walking in the light as He is in the light”
that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ constantly cleanses us before He can
be effective through us. 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9.
Because “if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.”
The Bible is as Gold or Silver
| “The Law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and
silver,” Psa 119:17. |
| “The Statutes of the Lord are more to be desired are They than gold, yea, than much fine gold,” Psa 19:10. |
| “The Words of the Lord are pure words; as silver is tried in a furnace
of earth, purified seven times,” Psa 12:6, 119:140, Prov 30:5. |
As gold is the most costly metal we have, the reference to the Bible as
“gold” indicates the Promise of preciousness.
Peter speaks of Its “exceeding great and precious Promises,” 2 Pet 1:4.
The believers at Smyrna who loved and kept God’s Word, were poor materially but rich spiritually.
| “I know thy poverty, but thou art rich,” Rev 2:9.
|
“Thou Art Rich”
What real and lasting wealth the Lord has provided for us in the Scriptures. Within
it are riches to which the treasures of earth are trash. But the
tragedy is that with so much gold at our disposal, we yet live as spiritual
paupers.
Heirs of such abundant wealth as the Word contains, we live as children cast
off without a penny to our name.
Oh for Grace to possess our vast possessions in God and in His Word!
Possess your possessions.
The Bible is as a Word
“Words are the garments of thoughts”
While it is true that a thought can exist in the mind without words, such a
thought can only be communicated to other minds through the media of words,
whether spoken or written.
The Bible, therefore, as “God’s Word” is the outer expression of His
inner thought. Scripture is the revelation of the Divine mind.
Because of the widespread use of the emblem of “the Word,” it is beyond
our limits of our space to cite all the references where it is employed.
Over and over again it is found in the Psalms, particularly in Psalm 119.
The Bible as “the Word”
With the aid of a concordance you can trace the passages where “My Word,”
“the Word of God,” “His Word,” “Thy Word,” “this Word” are found
and you will light upon an abundance of Promises revealing the Grace and love of
God.
| “The Word of God is alive and powerful,” Heb 4:12. |
| “In this Word do I hope,” Psa 130:5, 148:8. |
| “To him that trembleth at My Word,” Isa 66:2. |
| “This Word that came from the Lord,” Jer 26:1. |
| “Thy Word have I hid in my heart,” Psa 119:11. |
We have noticed in our study the mystic union between the Lord Jesus Christ,
the living Word, and the Bible, the written Word. It is with profound reference
that we bow before Him seeing
| “His name is called the Word of God,” Rev 19:13. |
The Bible, then, and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Bible, both reveal
and express the mind and purpose of God.
Having and knowing the mind of God, the Lord Jesus Christ was able to declare
in language men could not fail to understand the deep things of God.
The Word of God
Think of all that is promised for our souls in the following combinations. Both
are the expressions of the mind of God.
| The Living Word. “The brightness of His glory and the express
image of His person,” Heb 1:3. |
| The Written Word. “I have written the great things of My Law,”
Hosea 8:12. |
Both have an eternal existence.
| The Living Word. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and
for ever,” Heb 13:8. |
| The Written Word. “The Word of God which liveth and abideth for
ever,” 1 Pet 1:23. |
Both came as God’s Messengers to bless a needy world.
| The Living Word. “God having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to
bless you,” Acts 3:26. |
| The Written Word. “Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and
keep it,” Luke 11:28. |
Both partake of the human and the Divine.
| The Living Word. “God was manifest in the flesh,” 1 Tim 3:16. |
| The Written Word. “Holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit,” 2 Pet 1:21. |
Both are infallible.
| The Living Word. “In Him is no sin,” 1 John 3:5. |
| The Written Word. “Every Word of God is pure,” Prov 30:3.
|
Saturday, December 28, 2002
The Bible is as a Hammer
| “Is not Thy Word like a hammer that breaketh in pieces?” Jer 23:20.
|
| “He that smootheth with the hammer,” Isa 41:7.
|
| “The smith ... fasteneth it with hammers,” Isa 44:12.
|
| “Brake down with axes and hammers,” Psa 74:6.
|
The above references reveal the dual yet opposite function of a hammer. It
makes and breaks.
What a useful implement the hammer is in the hands of a carpenter. With it,
he can unite separate fashioned pieces of wood into a chair, a table, or some
other article.
Does not the Bible as God’s hammer exercise unifying influences? Where
you have a group of people intent on studying and loving the Bible and above all
applying it to their daily life, there you have not merely several
individuals but a united body who are all one in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible as a Hammer
The other function of the Bible, which Jeremiah illustrates, is that of
breaking hard substances into pieces.
Souls and minds are indeed hard. The Gospel and Truth hardened and
endeavors to break them are sometimes slow and discouraging. Yet, in the end,
regular blows tell.
One solemn task is to keep on wielding the Divine Hammer and praying that
God will use it to break rock-like minds.
It was thus that the Word of God acted in the conversion of the jailer. Acts
16:25-34. What a brutal, hard-hearted man he was. He had to be insensitive to
human feelings to retain his position.
He could lash the backs of prisoners till the blood oozed forth and yet never
turn a hair. But the hammer struck hard on that adamant heart, and out came the
broken-hearted cry, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
| “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved,” Acts
16:31
.
|
The Promise then, in this emblem, is that in God’s own way and time the
mighty weapon of the Word will be effective.
The Bible is a Fire!
| “Is not My Word like as a fire? Jer 23:29.
|
| “His Word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,” Jer
20:9.
|
| “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He opened to us the
Scriptures? Luke 24:32.
|
| “While I was musing, the fire burned, then spake I with my tongue,”
Psa 39:3.
|
Fire, being a symbol of Divine holiness, Divine hatred of sin, Divine
empowerment, holds much promise of blessing for our cold hearts.
Fire destroys, and the Bible, when believed and obeyed, destroys
everything alien in your life and mine. Fire purges, refines, cleanses, and the
Bible is the medium of purification.
| “Now ye are clean through the Word I have spoken unto you,” John 15:3.
|
| “The washing of the water of the Word.”
|
Is Not My Word Like a Fire Unto You!
Fire energizes. What is the power producing the steam so necessary for the
loaded train, traveling over miles of track? It is the fire around the boiler.
On the day of Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples as fire,
empowering them to turn the world upside down.
Words from their tongues of fire burned their way into the cold hearts of the
multitudes.
Touch them with a living coal the life,
That shall proclaim Thy Word.
And bid us all devoutly keep,
Attention to the Lord.
The Bible is as a Lamp
| “Thy Word is as a Lamp unto my feet, and a Light unto my path,” Psa
119:105.
|
| “The entrance of Thy Words giveth light,” Psa 119:130.
|
| “The commandment is a Lamp, and the law is Light,” Prov
6:23
.
|
| “The more sure Word of prophecy, a light that shineth in a dark
place,” 2 Pet
1:19
.
|
Promises of illumination and guidance are associated with this expressive
symbol of Scripture.
It will be noted that the psalmist uses the double figure of “Lamp and
Light” while we look upon these as one, yet there is a distinction. What is
the use of a lamp, costly and ornamental though it may be, if there is no light
within to radiate forth?
The internal life is necessary to the external lamp. The Bible as a whole
is the external Lamp, but without God the Holy Spirit, the Divine light,
illuminating Scripture and shining through it, it remains dark.
| “They that sat in darkness have seen a great light.”
|
The Bible as a Lamp
The darkness of the natural heart is likened to the chaos that existed on the
earth before light, life, and order were established.
| “But God, Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts,” 2 Cor 4:6, Isa
8:20
, Acts
17:11
.
|
Such gross darkness however, can be dispelled by the unfailing light of
God’s Word.
Like the star in the east, It can lighten those who seem to be further away,
and will lead an honest seeker to the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the seven-branched
candlestick in the tabernacle, it shines with a perfect light.
Sooner or later all earthly lights upon which men are prone to rely, fail.
While God’s lamp shines on more and more unto that perfect day.
“The Word of the Lord Endureth For Ever,” 1 Peter 1:25
The Spirit breathes upon the Word,
And brings the truth to sight.
Precepts and Promises afford
A sanctifying light.
A glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic like the sun.
It gives a light to every age,
It gives, but borrows none.
Guidance and direction were also in the minds of the sages of old when they
wrote of Scripture as a Light unto our paths.
| “The cloud gave light to them by night to these,” Ex 14:19, 20.
|
Just as the fiery pillar marked out the way for the Israelites, so the
Bible lights up the whole pathway of God’s children in their wilderness
journey. And in the light of the life they must walk, “till traveling days
are done.”
This old Book is my guide,
It is a friend by my side.
It will brighten and lighten my way,
And each Promise I find,
Soothes and gladdens the mind,
As I read it and heed it each day.
Friday, December 27, 2002
Showers of Blessings
Such a Promise of accomplishment of the shower of blessings can be found in
these verses.
| “Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many
days,” Ecc 11:1.
|
| “As the rain cometh down, watereth the earth, so shall My Word be that
goeth forth out of My mouth,” Isa 55:10, 11. |
God has declared that His life-giving Word will not return unto Him void.
What authority there is in the declaration!
| “It shall accomplish that which I please and shall prosper in the thing
whereto I send it.” |
Here, then, is a Promise to cheer our drooping souls when we feel that our
teaching of the Word of God is in vain.
| “It shall accomplish.”
|
The Word Shall Accomplish
Then, as to the rain and the snow of which Isaiah speaks. Here we have
wonderful symbols for the Bible, rising like a vapor from the mighty ocean of
God’s eternal love, wafted by the breath of the Holy Spirit over this world of
ours, regarded by men as a dark cloud which only seems to mar their enjoyment.
Yet falling on barren souls at all seasons, with enriching showers from the
bounteous hand of Him who “sendeth rain in the just and the unjust,” Matt 5:13.
How beautiful also to remember that the sun and the rain together make the
rainbow of God’s covenant Promise.
The Bible is as a Seed
| “The Seed is the Word of God,” Luke 8:11. |
| “Incorruptible ... by the Word of God,” 1 Pet 1:21. |
| “That He may give Seed to the sower,” Isa 55:10. |
| “He that ministereth Seed to the sower,” 2 Cor 9:10. |
The symbol of the Bible as a Seed carries with it the Promise of
fruitfulness and reproduction.
Seed sown in good soil multiplies itself. At times we are discouraged for the
Seed seems to fall on uncongenial soil. Sometimes we are guilty of the folly of
scattering the Seed indiscriminately. Yet our responsibility as sowers is
clearly stated. We must never withhold the precious Seed.
The Seed is the Word of God
| “Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters,” Isa 32:20. |
| “In the morning sow the seed, and in the evening withhold not thine
hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or
whether they shall both be alike good,” Ecc 11:6. |
What we must not forget is the fact that God holds us responsible for the
sowing, not for the harvest. The latter is God’s responsibility.
The Seed is the Word of God
| “I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase,” 1 Cor
3:6. |
The ground, however, must be duly prepared by the warmth of our love and
the tears of our compassion. Then we can claim the Promise of a harvest.
| “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious Seed, shall doubtless
come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him,” Psa 126:6. |
In faith, sow the Seed of the Lord
A blessing He will surely bestow.
And souls shine like stars for your crowning,
You will reap whatsoever you sow.
The Bible is a Sword!
| “The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” Eph 6:17. |
| “The Word of God ... sharper than any two-edged sword,” Heb 4:12. |
| “The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” Judges 7:18. |
| “The Sword ... there is none like that, give it me,” 1 Sam 21:9. |
| “My Sword shall be bathed in Heaven,” Isa 34:5. |
In this militant weapon we have the Promise of conquest, victory, and
dominion.
The Word of God is like a Sword
That pierces souls, thus saith the Lord.
And like a hammer, weighty, strong.
Can break the rocks of sin and wrong.
The Bible as our Sword is the weapon we use as soldiers against spiritual
foes. It was thus that the Lord Jesus Christ used the Scriptures in His
contest with Satan in the wilderness temptation.
In three different ways he assailed the Lord Jesus Christ, but all He did
was to give the enemy three thrusts of the Sword.
The three “it is written” were sufficient to defeat Satan. Matt
4:4, 7, 10.
The Sword of the Spirit, Which is the Word of God
The Word as a sharp Sword in the hand of the good soldiers of the Lord
Jesus Christ can accomplish mighty victories.
2 Tim 2:15. This is the Sword which pierces the conscience and leads to an
awakening. It is the sharp two-edged Sword, meaning it can cut both ways.
If the Bible does not save, then it slays. If it fails to convert, then it
condemns. Acts 2:37, 41; Acts 7:51, 54, 57.
Finally, the Sword bathed in Heaven, signifying its Divine origin, will
smite with an eternal stroke all those who persist in their rejection of the
Word’s authority.
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Psalm 119
| Law. Here is the word setting forth the will of God as a complete
code of duty for all to observe.
|
| Way. This much-used word as it is linked to the Lord Jesus Christ,
Who came as “The Way,” John 14:6, represents the will of God as a
line of conduct, a path which our feet as pilgrims may discern and
tread.
|
| Judgments. Present and final Divine judgments will be according to
our response to God’s revealed will in His Word. This Word, therefore,
denotes His will as a just judicial decision.
|
| Statutes. This further favorite term of the psalmist carries the
idea of the Divine will as a decree with a legal force behind it. A
government statute is backed by the power of enforcement.
|
Psalm 119
| Commandments. Used often, this Mosaic word is scattered not only
through this Psalm, but throughout the Bible as a whole and is a word
implying God’s will for His creatures in the form of a Father’s
instructions.
|
| Precepts. In this expressive term, God’s will is treated as a
charge entrusted to us to keep. Precepts and Promises are closely related.
|
| Testimonies. The Bible sounds forth its own testimony in no
uncertain notes. Such a designation suggests that God’s will is set
forth in human language, and is fulfilled in human experience as it
testifies to the truth and justice of God.
|
| Faithfulness. How all the psalmists magnify God for His
unchanging faithfulness. “Great is Thy faithfulness.” |
It is a most profitable exercise to run over all the references to God’s
“faithfulness” in the book of Psalms.
We have the Promise that God’s will is reliable and eternal.
What a beneficial aspect of Bible meditation is the gathering together of the
symbols It employs to describe Its message and Its ministry, Its sublimity,
simplicity, and sufficiency.
Here are the outstanding and attractive symbols It uses of Itself and which,
taken together, constitute a claim to the Divine authorship of the Bible. How
full of spiritual and practical teaching are these figures of speech.
The Bible is a Critic!
| “The Word of God ... is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
mind,” Heb 4:12. |
While the word “discern” frequently occurs in the Bible, this is the only
reference in which the particular Greek word KRITIKOS, from which is derived our
English word “critic,” is used.
The adjective used signifies that which relates to judging, fit for, or
skilled in, judging, hence, “critic.”
The Bible is critical of our thoughts and intents, meaning Its authority
to discriminate and pass judgment on our thoughts and feelings. Because
of the nature of the Bible, the idea of It as our critic carries the Promise of
criticism which is just and deserved.
Mental attitude sins are the worst. “As a
man thinketh, so is he.”
The Bible is a Critic!
Presumptuous men call themselves “critics” of the Bible and sit in
judgment upon It. They forget that the Bible is the “infallible critic”
of their actions. We recognize that Biblical criticism is of two kinds.
There are those devout and honest Hebrew and Greek scholars who bow before
the authority of the Scripture, and who, with much patience and prayer, search
the ancient manuscripts in order to give us, as nearly as possible, the actual
words used by the inspired writers of old. How we thank the Lord for the
painstaking labors of such scholars. Ours is a debt of gratitude which can never
be adequately repaid for the translations before us.
The Bible is a Critic!
The other kind of critics are those who represent what is known as
“destructive criticism,” their activities are unlawful and fraught with
the most soul-ruining and God-dishonoring consequences.
These so called “higher critics” endeavor to give us a revived and
improved Bible. Rejecting Divine inspiration, these unworthy critics doubt the
accuracy of the Bible, and they strike out passages as being uninspired and
leave us with nothing better than a piece of patched up forgery.
Such false handlers of Scripture never reveal any of its treasures nor
inspire us to grasp more firmly any of its Truths.
How blessed we are when we refuse to sit in judgment upon the Bible, but
accepting it as a Holy Critic, submit to its mysterious soul-searching power.
The Bible as Tender Grass!
| “My Doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distil as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the
grass,” Deut 32:2. |
| “His Word was in my tongue ... as the tender grass springing out of the
earth by clear shining after rain,” 2 Sam 23:2, 4. |
Here we have a striking symbol drawn from nature of the refreshing and
reviving influences of the Scriptures.
What a Promise of spiritual quickening there is in the Truths of the Bible
being able to revive and quicken our parched souls and the dry barren condition
of the church, just as the continuous rain brings new life to fields and
lawns. How we need these showers of blessings.
Monday, December 23, 2002
Christ is the Incomparable Storyteller
| “Never man spake like this Man,” John 7:46. |
| “I turned to see the Voice that spoke,” Rev 1:12. |
| “Without a parable spoke He not unto them,” Matt 13:34. |
| “Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?” Matt 13:10-16. |
| “He began to speak unto them by parables,” Mark 12:1. |
The parables of the Lord were actually His Promises of accomplishment.
But what a matchless Storyteller the Lord Jesus Christ was. For naturalness,
simplicity, conciseness, and effect, His parables, metaphors, and illustrations
are without equal.
If a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, then the Lord
Jesus Christ knew how to draw from a wide range of subjects – parables so full
of spiritual import.
No Man Ever Spake Like This Man
The story of the husbandman smote the consciences of the Pharisees, who
listened to it with deep conviction. Then knew that the Lord Jesus Christ had
spoken the parable against them.
And had it not been for His popularity among the common people who heard Him
gladly, they would have taken Him prisoner.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s answer as to the question of the tribute caused
the people to marvel and wonder.
Those who are called to teach the Word of life, can learn from the Lord Jesus
Christ as to the art of illustration. He never used stories merely for the
sake of telling them. They were always windows to let the light in.
Promises Related to the Scriptures
An outstanding characteristic feature of the Bible is that It is not only a
Book laden with Divine Promises for Christian pilgrims, but It also contains
a multitude of descriptions and emblems of Itself, each of such being a latent
Promise.
These manifold references the Bible uses of Itself proclaim what the Lord is
prepared to do in us, for us, and through us.
While the prime mission of the Bible is to testify to the Lord Jesus
Christ, It has no hesitation whatsoever in testifying of Itself. The
greatest minds have witnessed to the influence and integrity “of the
impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.”
What will interest us in this study is the remarkable way in which the
Bible extols Its own virtues. It is Its own best advocate.
The Bible’s Testimony of Itself
One of the most prominent portions in which the Bible magnifies Its nature
and power is the marvelous acrostic Psalm – Psalm 119.
Made up of 176 verses, every verse, with the exception of verses 121, 122,
and 132, praises the varied ministry of God’s most blessed Word.
How this long and noble Psalm is devoted to the praise of the Word, and
what a rich aid in meditation it is.
“It is strange that of all the pieces of the Bible which my mother taught
me, and which cost me most to learn, and which was to my child’s mind chiefly
repulsive, has now become of all most precious to me in its overflowing and
glorious passion of love for the Law of God.”
That is what Ruskin wrote of Psalm 119.
The Bible – Its Own Best Advocate
What impresses us about Psalm 119 is first of all Its unique construction. It
is an alphabetical acrostic and certainly the most remarkable of the acrostic
Psalms.
Doubtless It was thus composed in order to aid the saints of old in the
memorizing of the Psalms.
To make it easy to remember, Its contents are broken up into 22 short
divisions or sections – all the verses in each section beginning with the same
letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Another feature of the Psalm is an apparent monotony and sameness in
ever-recurring phrases, which under slightly different expressions state the
same fact.
It is a pleasant and profitable exercise to take up these phrases and
keywords of the Psalm, occurring throughout its texture, and dwell on them in
all the varying lights flashed thereon by the context in each case.
Psalm 119
Here are some of the outstanding terms pastor-teachers could use as sermon
material. The play upon words is conspicuous.
| “Quicken” – verses 25, 37, 40, 88, 149, 156, 159. |
These references indicate the different ways in which the Lord is able to
manifest His vitalizing power through His Word. It is “the Word of
life.”
| “Word.” Unfortunately, one English word is used for two distinct
Hebrew words. |
“Word” occurs 42 times in this Psalm. In 23 cases standing for “DABA”
meaning “Word.”
And in 19 cases for “IMRAH,” meaning, “saying.”
An example can be seen of this in verse 103, which should read,
| “How sweet are Thy sayings unto my taste.” |
Both terms are related to the Word “Promise.”
“As the Word,” there is the thought of the will of the Lord as an
actual utterance expressing the Divine mind.
“Saying.” In this repeated term there is the idea of the will of God
as an actual utterance of the Divine mind.
Sunday, December 22, 2002
The Lord as a Blessed Sanctuary
| “Israel was His sanctuary,” Psa 114:2. |
| “He shall be for a sanctuary,” Isa 8:14. |
| “A glorious high throne from the beginning to the place of our
sanctuary,” Jer 17:12. |
| “Yet will I be to them a little sanctuary,” Ezek 12:16. |
| “The waters issued out of the sanctuary,” Ezek 47:12. |
How good of God it is to promise Himself as a sanctuary. In the Old Testament
He provided a temple for His people. In the New Testament He has redeemed people
as His temple.
But the wonder of wonders is that He is also our temple. How consoling it
is to know that amid all the turmoil of the street, and the busy cares of home,
and the hurry and confusion of our modern life, we have a “little sanctuary”
closer than breathing, and nearer than hands or feet.
A Little Sanctuary
No sanctuary ever surpassed the temple Solomon built. For its marvel and magnificence it was incomparable, yet where is it
today?
But blessed be our Sanctuary. He still abides. While it is fitting to gather
in a house of worship, and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together,
whether it be a simple or cathedral-like structure, the sphere makes little
difference.
Many dear shut-in ones cannot journey to a sanctuary of stone. Yet hidden
from “earth’s eyes, they can take advantage of Him who offers Himself as a
sanctuary.”
Blessed, is it not, to have a Person as well as a place we can draw
nigh to?
A Little Sanctuary
“A little Sanctuary” art Thou to me,
O Lord, Beloved, I live with Thee.
My soul has found its everlasting home,
Its sure abiding place wherever I roam.
“A little Sanctuary” art Thou to me,
No fable shrine, but deep reality.
Thou saidst it should be so when at Thy call,
I rose and followed gladly, leaving all.
The Undiscouraged Christ!
| “Fear not, neither be discouraged,” Deut 1:21, 28. |
| “He shall not fail not be discouraged,” Isa 42:4. |
| “David encouraged himself in the Lord,” 1 Sam 30:6. |
| “He encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,” 2 Chr
35:2. |
| “Wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel,” Num 32:7, 9. |
| “Your children ... lest they be discouraged,” Col 3:21. |
What a most unusual Promise of the Lord Jesus Christ Isaiah gives us.
| “He shall not be discouraged.” |
Because of this virtue is the Lord of all discouragement. The Bible warns us
against discouragement.
The spies, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, “discouraged the heart
of the children of Israel.”
But the One Isaiah portrays will never be discouraged until His final task
is completed, then what satisfaction will be His. Slowly, surely, He is
reaching His goal to set judgment on the earth.
“He Shall Not be Discouraged”
Think of the Lord Jesus Christ while among men. Surely He had enough to
discourage Him. What with the failure of His own and hostile foes around Him,
it would have been human if He had faltered by the way.
But, no, courageously, He set his face toward Jerusalem. No one and nothing could keep Him back.
Presently it would seem that the world is out of His control. But He is
not discouraged, because He knows His day is coming. What an incentive He
provides for those of us who become discouraged.
Marcus Aurelius said, “Be not uneasy, discouraged, or out of humour because
practice falls short of precept in some particulars. If you happen to be beaten,
return to the charge.”
Saturday, December 21, 2002
The Lord as a Compassionate Father
| “A Father of the fatherless ... is God,” Psa 68:5. |
| “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear Him,” Psa 103:13. |
| “Whom the Lord loveth, He corrected, even as the father the son in whom
he delighteth,” Prov 3:12. |
| “His name shall be called Everlasting Father,” Isa 9:6. |
| “I am a Father to Israel,” Jer 31:9. |
| “Our Father, which art in Heaven,” Matt 6:9. |
| “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,” Matt 6:8. |
| “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee,” Mark 14:36. |
| “We have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father,”
Gal 4:6. |
The Bible abounds in Promises of the tender-heartedness of God. How kind,
gentle, and understanding He is. And His gentleness is able to make us great.
The Lord Jesus Christ exhibited His Divine tenderness, especially as He died,
when Grace was His to pray for His enemies.
| “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” |
| “Grace was poured from His lips.”
|
What a Precious Portrait of the Lord This is, “Father”
His tenderness and patience as such carried Him to great lengths to
extricate His wayward children out of trouble. All strength, wisdom, and
provision are His as the “Father of the fatherless,” Psa 68:5.
While in the sense of creation, He is the Father of all, we cannot look up
into His face and speak to Him as our heavenly Father unless the Lord Jesus
Christ is our personal Saviour.
| “We are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” Gal 3:26.
|
“Abba, Father”
The fatherhood of God is based upon the Saviourhood of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Once regenerate, we have the right to cry, “Abba, Father.”
It was His compassion as a Father that led Him to surrender His Son for
the redemption of a prodigal world. Are we resting in a Heavenly Father’s
compassion and provision, and can we say:
I know my Heavenly Father knows,
How frail I am to meet my foes,
But He my cause will ever defend,
Uphold and keep me to the end.
The Lord is a Rejoicing Bridegroom
| “As a Bridegroom coming out of His chamber,” Psa 19:5. |
| “As a Bridegroom decketh Himself with ornaments,” Isa 61:10. |
| “As a Bridegroom rejoiceth over a bride, so shall thy God rejoice over
thee,” Isa 62:5. |
| “Can the children of the Bridegroom mourn so long as the Bridegroom is
with them?” Matt 9:15. |
| “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,” Matt 25:1-10. |
| “He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom,” John 3:29. |
Here is another gracious Promise and likewise a sacred glimpse into the
tender heart of the Lord.
How does a Bridegroom rejoice over a bride?
In the first place, union is the consummation of love. The Church is the
bride, Rev 22:17, and believers are joined to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, in a
union death cannot break.
As the Bridegroom claims His bride at the altar, so Christ has possessed
us forever. As the Bridegroom promises to endow the bride with all His
worldly goods, so the Lord Jesus Christ makes His own the sharers of all He
possesses.
Bridegroom
For His Church, the joyful marriage of the Lamb is not far away. How
He will rejoice over His bride when He returns for her future bliss.
And what joy will be the bride’s when she eyes not His garment, but her
dear Bridegroom’s face. With His own around Him and eternally united to
Him, “He will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied.”
When the Bridegroom cometh by and by,
When the Bridegroom cometh by and by
Will your wearied heart rejoice
At the sound of the Bridegroom’s voice?
When the bridegroom cometh by and by.
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Christ the Provider of Songs
| “The Lord is my ... Song,” Ex 15:1, Psa 118:14, Isa 12:2. |
| “He hath put a new song in my mouth,” Psa 40:3, 96:1, Rev 5:3. |
| “I will praise the Lord with a song,” Psa 69:30. |
| “Ye shall have a song as in the night,” Isa 30:29. |
| “God who giveth songs in the night,” Job 35:10. |
| “At midnight Paul and Silas sang praises unto God,” Acts 16:25. |
| “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with Grace in your hearts
unto the Lord,” Col 3:16. |
| “When they had sung a hymn,” Matt 26:30. |
Is it not encouraging to have these Promises of singing and of the Lord as
our constant Song? Many of us do not have musical voices, yet we can learn
how to make melody unto the Lord. Eph 5:19.
We know that the Lord Jesus Christ was one of the singing company that went
out to the Mount of Olives. He had just broken bread with His disciples, and having explained the
significance of the bread and the wine, He turned aside from the chamber and
went out with His own into the dark night. Where were their footsteps taking
them?
“When They Had Sung a Hymn”
Their faces were set toward the Garden of Golgotha, but the marvel was that they faced the sorrowful future with a song. Surely
it is not irreverent to suggest that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself led the
chorus that night.
Possibly some of the “degree Psalms,” Psa 120-134, He knew so well,
formed the hymn they sang.
This we know, that we might have songs in the night and therewith prove
that pain need not silence praise.
Paul and Silas in their prison,
Sang of Christ, the Lord risen.
And an earthquake’s arm of might,
Brake their dungeon gates at night.
–Longfellow
Christ is the Ever-Present All-Sufficient Friend
| “The Lord spake unto Moses, face to face as a man speaketh to his
friend,” Ex 33:11. |
| “A friend loveth at all times,” Prov 17:17, 18. |
| “There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” Prov 18:24. |
| “Faithful are the wounds of a friend,” Prov 27:6, 9, 17. |
| “This is my beloved. This is my friend,” S.O.S. 5:16. |
How privileged to be called the Lord’s friends, and to have Him as our
never-absent, all-bountiful Friend.
Promises of His nearness to relieve and bless abound in Scripture. He is
always at hand cheering us, and reproving us as any true friend should.
As the Lord, our Friend, He is the Master of every situation and able
to undertake accordingly.
A Friend Loveth at All Times
How comforting to know that the Lord is with us all. “All.” This
includes you, no matter how simple, ordinary, and inconspicuous you may be.
All He is and has can be appropriated by each and all. How tragic it is
when we neglect to take advantage of the abundant provision of such a constant
Friend. Or, when we become His enemy through courting the friendship of the
world. James 4:4.
One there is One above all others,
And oh, how He loves.
His is love beyond a brother’s,
And oh, how He loves.
Earthly friends may fail or leave us,
One day soothe, the next day grieve us.
But this Friend will never deceive us.
And oh, how He loves.
Christ is Our Unerring Guide
| “He will be our Guide even over death,” Psa 48:14. |
| “Thou art the Guide of my youth,” Jer 3:4. |
| “I will guide thee with Mine eye,” Psa 32:8. |
| “Thou shalt guide me with counsel,” Psa 73:24. |
| “By the springs of water shall He guide them,” Isa 49:10, Psa 23:2, 3. |
| “The Lord shall guide thee continually,” Isa 58:11. |
| “To guide our feet into the way of peace,” Luke 1:79. |
| “He will guide you unto all Truth,” John 16:13. |
| “The Lord guided them ... on every side,” 2 Chr 32:22. |
| “He guided them by the skillfulness of His hands,” Psa 78:52, 72. |
| “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me,” John 10:27. |
Promises associated with Divine guidance are as prolific as they are
precious. How the Lord loves to reveal Himself as a safe and sufficient Guide. All
of which He is.
What more pleasing profile of Him could we have as to step out upon the
untrodden pathway of the future. We have no conception of what tomorrow may hold
for us, but He has.
If we do not know the way, we certainly know the Guide. And with
our hand in His, all will be well. Has He not promised to guide us continually,
even over death?</ |
