From Morning and Evening:
Dwell with the King for His work, and when He writes His chronicles—your name shall be recorded.
If you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus—you do not know Him. You were so lost that nothing could save you—but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you—bow yourself in lowliness at His feet.
A sense of Christ’s amazing love to us—has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt.
Pride cannot live beneath the cross! Let us sit there and learn our lesson—and then rise and carry it into practice.
You cannot with your utmost stretch of imagination, conceive His exceeding greatness; yet there will be a further revelation of it when He shall descend from heaven in great power, with all the holy angels.
Reader, if you would rejoice in Christ’s glory hereafter, He must be glorious in your sight now. Is He so?
In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation—but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us “out into a wealthy place.”
Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life’s song, “He has done great things for us, whereof we are glad!”
Holy Scripture requires searching—much of it can only be learned by careful study. There is milk for babes—but also meat for strong men.
The door of the Word only opens to the key of diligence. The Scriptures claim searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp and imprimatur—who shall dare to treat them with levity?
He who despises them—despises the God who wrote them! God forbid that any of us should leave our Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the great day of account!
God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it—but the Bible is winnowed grain—we have but to open the granary door, and find it. Scripture grows upon the student. It is full of surprises.
The Scriptures reveal Jesus, “The Scriptures point to Me!” No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this—he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Savior!
From Old Paths, chapter 14, Christ's Invitation
“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”--Matthew 11:28
There are four points in the text before us, to which I am going to ask attention. On each of these I have somewhat to say. 1. First. Who is the Speaker of this invitation? 2. Secondly. To whom is this invitation addressed? Thirdly. What does the Speaker ask us to do? 4. Lastly. What does the Speaker offer to give?
The Speaker of the invitation before you is the greatest and best friend that man has ever had. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He is One who is almighty. He is God the Father’s fellow and equal. He is very God of very God. When such an One as this speaks, you may safely trust Him. What He promises He is able to perform. (Zechariah 13:7; John 1:3; Colossians 2:3, Matthew 28:18; Colossians 1:19; Revelation 1:18.) He is One who is most loving. He loved us so that He left heaven for our sakes, and laid aside for a season the glory that He had with the Father. When such an One as this speaks, He deserves a hearing. When He promises a thing, you need not be afraid to trust Him. He is One who never breaks His word. He always fulfils His promises: He never fails to do what He undertakes. He never disappoints the soul that trusts Him.
Where are the labouring and heavy-laden? They are everywhere. They are a multitude that man can scarcely number; they are to be found in every climate, and in every country under the sun. They live in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, and in America.
Everywhere you will find trouble, care, sorrow, anxiety, murmuring, discontent, and unrest. What does it mean? What does it all come to? Men are “labouring and heavy-laden.”
Did God create man at the beginning to be unhappy? Most certainly not--Are human governments to blame because men are not happy? At most to a very slight extent. The fault lies far too deep to be reached by human laws.--There is another cause, a cause which many unhappily refuse to see. THAT CAUSE IS SIN.
Sin and departure from God, are the true reasons why men are everywhere labouring and heavy-laden. Sin is the universal disease which infects the whole earth. Sin is the cause of all the burdens which now press down mankind. Most men know it not, and weary themselves in vain to explain the state of things around them. But sin is the great root and foundation of all sorrow, whatever proud man may think. How much men ought to hate sin!
Is there weight within on your soul? This is the only question you have to decide. If you are, you are one of those to whom Christ speaks.
I will now show you, in the third place, what the Lord Jesus Christ asks you to do. Three words make up the sum and substance of the invitation which He sends you to-day. If you are “labouring and heavy-laden,” Jesus says, “Come unto Me.”
(a) Take notice, that coming to Christ means something more than coming to church and chapel. (b) Take notice, that coming to Christ is something more than coming to the Lord’s table. (c) Take notice, that coming to Christ is something more than coming to ministers. (d) Take notice, once more, that coming to Christ is something more than coming to the possession of head-knowledge about Him.
Coming to Christ is coming to Him with the heart by simple faith. Believing on Christ is coming to Him, and coming to Christ is believing on Him. When a man turns to Christ empty that he may be filled, sick that he may be healed, hungry that he may be satisfied, thirsty that he may be refreshed, needy that he may be enriched, dying that he may have life, lost that he may be saved, guilty that he may be pardoned, sin-defiled that he may be cleansed, confessing that Christ alone can supply his need,--then he comes to Christ.
I will now show you, in the last place, what the Lord Jesus Christ promises to give. The rest that Christ gives is an inward and spiritual thing. It is rest of heart, rest of conscience, rest of mind, rest of affection, rest of will. It is rest, from a comfortable sense of sins being all forgiven and guilt all put away. It is rest, from a solid hope of good things to come, laid up beyond the reach of disease, and death, and the grave. It is rest, from the well-grounded feeling, that the great business of life is settled, its great end provided for, that in time all is well done, and in eternity heaven will be our home.
(a) Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him, by showing them His own finished work on the cross, by clothing them in His own perfect righteousness, and washing them in His own precious blood. (b) Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him, by revealing Himself as their ever living High Priest in heaven, and God reconciled to them through Him. (c) Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him, by implanting His Spirit in their hearts, witnessing with their spirits that they are God’s children, and that old things are passed away, and all things are become new. (d) Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him, by dwelling in their hearts as King, by putting all things within in order, and giving to each faculty its place and work. (e) Rest such as this is the privilege of all believers in Christ. Some know more of it and some less; some feel it only at distant intervals, and some feel it almost always. (f) Rest such as this is within reach of all who are willing to seek it and receive it. (g) Rest such as this is the possession which makes men independent. (h) Rest such as this is the possession which makes men truly rich. It lasts; it wears; it endures.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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