Gems from November 20- 30, 2017

November 20

“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father . . .  Then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

(1 Corinthians 15:24, 28)

Yes,  God, by the Son, made the worlds or the ages.

And when the worlds or the ages have run their course, and discharged their trust; when dispensations have manifested the counsels and the works and the glories appointed them; the Son, as the One in whom they were laid, and by whom they were ordered, may well be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

It is the subjection of office, the subjection of Him who had all things put 

under Him to Him who did put all things under Him. 

That is the character of this subjection.

As to the Person, unlike the office, it is eternal.

The Son is of the glory of the Godhead, as

is the Father, and as is the Holy Ghost.

"Thou art the  everlasting Word, the Father’s only Son;

God manifest, God seen and heard, the Heaven’s beloved One.

In Thee, most perfectly expressed, the Father’s self doth shine;

Fulness of Godhead, too; the Blest, Eternally divine.”  

(J. G. Bellett)

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November 21

The Glittering Toys of Life!

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but 

having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, 

and embraced them, and confessed that they  

were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” 

(Hebrews 11:13)

We are pilgrims—we are strangers in a barren land. 

This world is not our portion—it is incapable of satisfying our 

desires. The glittering toys of life are not calculated to afford real enjoyment.

There is nothing in Heaven or earth that can delight our hearts and 

ease us of the heavy load of sin, but God.

Let us not be satisfied with the groveling pursuits of time—but let us look to the 

unchangeable God for a supply of His soul-refreshing grace. 

How much has God done for us individually!  He has made us partakers 

of His grace and redeemed us from eternal destruction. What

shall we render to Him for this abundant mercy? 

O let our future lives evince gratitude—

and let our praises unceasingly 

flow to His throne.

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain

from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul!” 

(1 Peter 2:11)

(Harriet Newell - Missionary to India) (1793-1812 - B.L.)

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November 22

“For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness,

and show unto you that eternal life, which which was with 

the Father, and was manifested unto us.”

(1 John 1:2)

Knowledge itself—mere knowledge—puffs up; but, being brought low, 

the Spirit of God can act upon the soul and give 

knowledge in communion with God.

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.

The difference between the writings of Paul and John is this, that 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)

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November 23

“And he (Jonah) prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray Thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?  Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil.”

(Jonah 4:2)  

The repentance in man means to “think again,”or a change of thought or a change of mind.

In Samuel 15:29, we read: "The hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; 

for He is not a man, that He should repent.” 

What then does Jonah mean when he says “Thou . . . repentest Thee of the evil”?  It does not mean a change of mind on God’s part, but a change of action caused by a change of mind on man’s part.

God sends warnings to man, in order that man may change his mind, may repent, 

so that God may change His action from judgment to mercy.

God has not changed His mind.

God’s mind has ever been toward mercy: “Thou art a gracious God, and merciful;” but

man’s sin must bring down the righteous judgment of God, even though He 

is slow to anger.  There is only one way of escape, and that  

is by repentance on the part of sinful man.

With this object in view God sends warnings to individuals and to nations.

If they hear and repent, then God may act according to the desires

of His heart, and show mercy.

If man will not repent, there is no other way,

and judgment must fall.

(G. C. Willis)

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November 24

“His flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little 

child, and he was clean.”

(2 Kings 5:14)

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new.”

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

The new creation of the soul does now no less His power display

Than when He formed the mighty whole, and kindled darkness into day.

Though self-destroyed, O Lord, we are, yet let us feel what thou canst do;

Thy word the ruin can repair, and all our hearts create anew.

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November 25

THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

(1 Peter 3:15)

Inspiration is a word that is held very lightly and loosely by men of the world. 

The English word “inspiration” is derived from two Latin words, in spiro—to breathe into. It denotes that secret action of the Spirit on the faculties of a living messenger by which he is enabled to receive, utter, or record, the divine message.

Scripture is the result of that sacred influence, embodied and recorded in a written form.  “The Bible, is the divinely inspired volume in which God has revealed to mankind the truths which make for their highest well-being, here and hereafter; which He has not revealed to them otherwise; and which they could not have discovered by their own reason and research.”

The fundamental claim of the Bible in this matter, is set forth in five passages: 

“He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began” (Luke 1:70). 

“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Corinthians 2:13)

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” 
(2 Timothy 3:16).

  

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). 

“Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).

(The Wonderful Word - George Henderson)

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November 26

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, 

neither shall ye diminish ought from it.”

(Deuteronomy 4:2)

The business world says there’s “no such thing as a free lunch” and they’re right—

someone has to pay, even if the lunch is free to me.

God’s plan of salvation is a free gift to all who will receive it,

though it was very costly to provide.

The unconverted would try to add something of their own good works to God’s work:

baptism or maintaining some church tradition.

The work of Christ is complete—finished!

How dare we seek in our feeble sinful frame to suggest the work of the Saviour

is inadequate and that we must do our part to be saved.

(William H. Gustafson)

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling.

(A. M. Toplady)   

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November 27

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with

thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

(Philippians 4:6)

How often care comes between our souls and Himself, and thus 

prevents all possible enjoyment of the Father’s love.

He would have us, in the intimacy of His love, 

to be without reserve before Him—all told out, nothing kept back.

Our danger never lies in telling Him too much, 

but just in the opposite direction. . . . 

He loves to hear the cry of His children, 

for He well knows that it is the expression of their confidence in Him.

It may be, as it often is, a foolish cry, 

but still it is the cry of His own children, and He never wearies of listening to it.

(Edward Dennett)

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November 28

“I Shall Be Satisfied”

“I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.”

(Psalm 17:15)

“I shall be satisfied when I awake”— not only on some future day of days

When I shall hear Him call me, and arise to leave the earth and all its changeful ways;

But now and here, each morning, when my sleep drops from me like a garment of the night,

When with the darkness all its fears depart, and I awake to find that it is light,

To feel the sting of memory’s reproach, the consciousness of yesterday’s defeats, 

How much was purposed and how little done in all its small advances and retreats;

To know a new day waits me, with its tasks, its disappointed hopes, its vain desires,

Its oft-repeated failure to achieve the heights of faith to which my soul aspires,

Its humbling knowledge of my life’s deep need, its weary ways o’er which my feet must plod; 

Yet I am satisfied when I awake, because I see His face, my Saviour God.

(Annie Johnson Flint’s Best-Loved Poems)

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November 29

“Fear not, thou worm Jacob . . .  I will make thee a new sharp,

threshing instrument having teeth.”

(Isaiah 41:14,15)

Could any two things be in greater contrast than a worm and an instrument with teeth?

The worm is delicate, bruised by a stone, crushed beneath the passing wheel; 

an instrument with teeth can break and not be broken; it can grave its mark

upon the rock. And the mighty God can convert the one into the other.

He can take a man or a nation, who has all the impotence of the worm, and by the 

invigoration of His own Spirit, He can endow with strength by which a 

noble mark is left upon the history of the time.

And so the “worm” may take heart.  The mighty God can make us stronger

than our circumstances.  He can bend them all to our good.

In God’s strength we can make them all pay tribute to our souls.  We can

even take hold of a dark disappointment, break it open, and extract some jewel of grace.  

When God gives us wills like iron, we can drive through difficulties 

as the iron share cuts through the toughest soil.

"I will make thee,” and shall He not do it?

(Streams in the Desert)

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November 30

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be

 a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of

faith and of good doctrine whereunto thou has attained.”

(1 Timothy 4:6)

All who minister, whether in the gospel, or in the church of God, should

lean continually and exclusively on the power of the Holy Spirit! 

He knows what soul need, and He can supply it.

We must really get to the bottom of all that belongs to self,

if we are to be the vessels of the Holy Spirit.

It would be a fatal mistake for a man to use professed dependence upon the

Spirit as a plea for neglecting prayerful study and meditation.

Let it ever be remembered that the Holy Spirit is the ever living,

never failing spring of ministry. It is He alone that can 

bring forth in divine freshness and fulness 

the treasures of God’s word.

A man may speak a hundred times on the same portion of

scripture, to the same people, and, on each occasion, 

he may minister Christ, in spiritual freshness, 

to their souls. 

And on the other hand, a man may rack his brain to find out new subjects,

and new modes of handling old themes, and all the while there may 

not be one atom of Christ or of spiritual power in his ministry.

(Food for the Desert)

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December 1

“When he (Peter) saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink,

he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And immediately Jesus 

stretched forth His hand, and caught him.”

(Matthew 14:30-32)  

But if from Him we turn the eye,

We see the raging floods run high,

Our hearts are full of fear;

Lord! we our unbelief confess,

Do Thou our little faith increase,

That we may fail no more—

But fix on Thee a steady eye, 

And on Thine outstretched arm rely,

Till all the storm is o’er.

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December 2

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

(Philippians 4:13)

Apart from Christ we have no power.  The Lord can say, “Without me ye can do nothing”,

but, says the Apostle, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).

It is, then, only as our souls are kept in secret communion with Christ that we shall be able 

to avail ourselves of the power that is in Him.

This being so, all Satan’s power will be directed to putting our souls out of touch with Christ,

and seeking to keep us from feeding on Him and walking in communion with Him.

It may be that He will seek to draw us out of communion with Christ by the cares and duties

of every-day life, or by sickness and weakness of the body.

He may seek to use the difficulties of the path, the contentions among the people of God,

 or the petty insults we have to meet, to depress the spirit and fret the soul.

If, however, instead of allowing all these things to come between our souls and the Lord,

we make them occasions for drawing near to the Lord, we shall learn what it is to 

be strong in the Lord, while realizing our own weakness; and we

shall learn the blessedness of the word —

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall  sustain thee” (Psalm 55:22). 

(Hamilton Smith)

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