Trust in His Promises

"God...calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Rom. 4:17).

What does that mean? Why Abraham did this thing: he dared to believe God. It seemed an impossibility at his age that Abraham should become the father of a child; it looked incredible; and yet God called him a "father of many nations" before there was a sign of a child; and so Abraham called himself "father" because God called him so. That is faith; it is to believe and assert what God says. "Faith steps on seeming void, and finds the rock beneath."

Only say you have what God says you have, and He will make good to you all you believe. Only it must be real faith, all there is in you must go over in that act of faith to God. --Crumbs

Be willing to live by believing and neither think nor desire to live in any other way. Be willing to see every outward light extinguished, to see the eclipse of every star in the blue heavens, leaving nothing but darkness and perils around, if God will only leave in thy soul the inner radiance, the pure bright lamp which faith has kindled. --Thomas C. Upham

The moment has come when you must get off the perch of distrust, out of the nest of seeming safety, and onto the wings of faith; just such a time as comes to the bird when it must begin to try the air. It may seem as though you must drop to the earth; so it may seem to the fledgling. It, too, may feel very like falling; but it does not fall--it's pinions give it support, or, if they fail, the parent birds sweeps under and bears it upon its wings. Even so will God bear you. Only trust Him; "thou shalt be holden up." "Well, but," you say, "am I to cast myself upon nothing?" That is what the bird seems to have to do; but we know the air is there, and the air is not so unsubstantial as it seems. And you know the promises of God are there, and they are not unsubstantial at all. "But it seems an unlikely thing to come about that my poor weak soul should be girded with such strength." Has God said it shall? "That my tempted, yielding nature shall be victor in the strife." Has God said it shall? "That my timorous, trembling heart shall find peace?" Has God said it shall? for, if He has, you surely do not mean to give Him the lie! Hath he spoken, and shall He not do it? If you have gotten a word --"a sure word" of promise--take it implicitly, trust it absolutely. And this sure word you have; nay, you have more--you have Him who speaks the word confidently. "Yea, I say unto you," trust Him. --J. B. Figgis, M. A.

CHRIST MANIFESTING HIMSELF

"He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall he loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him.." ¡XJOHN xiv. 21.

Christ had promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to reveal His presence as ever with them. When the Spirit thus came, He through the Spirit would manifest Himself to them. They should know Him in a new, divine spiritual way; in the power of the Spirit they should know Him, and have Him far more intimately and unceasingly with them than they ever had upon earth.

The condition of this revelation of Himself is comprised in the one word¡Xlove: "He that keepeth My commandments, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him." It is to be the meeting of Divine and human love. The love with which Christ had loved them had taken possession of their hearts, and would show itself in the love of a full and absolute obedience. The Father would see this, and His love would rest upon the soul; Christ would love him with the special love drawn out by the loving heart, and would manifest Himself. The love of heaven shed abroad in the heart would be met by the new and blessed revelation of Christ Himself.

But this is not all. When the question was asked, "What is it?" the answer came in the repetition of the words, "If a man love Me, he will keep My word"; and then again, "My Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with him." In the heart thus prepared by the Holy Spirit, showing itself in the obedience of love in a fully surrendered heart, the Father and the Son will take up their abode.

And now, nothing less is what Christ promises them: "Lo, I am with you alway." That "with" implies "in"¡XChrist with the Father, dwelling in the heart by faith. Oh, that everyone who would enter into the secret of the abiding presence¡X"Lo, I am with you alway"¡Xwould study, and believe, and claim in childlike simplicity the blessed promise: "I will manifest Myself unto him."

Implicit Trust

"For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in Me, saith the LORD"(Jeremiah 39:18).

Behold the protecting power of trust in God. The great men of Jerusalem fell by the sword, but poor Ebed-melech was secure, for his confidence was in Jehovah. Where else should a man trust but in his Maker? We are foolish when we prefer the creature to the Creator. Oh, that we could in all things live by faith, then should we be delivered in all time of danger! No one ever did trust in the LORD in vain, and no one ever shall.

The LORD saith, "I will surely deliver thee." Mark the divine "surely." Whatever else may be uncertain, God's care of believers is sure. God Himself is the guardian of the gracious. Under His sacred wing there is safety even when every danger is abroad. Can we accept this promise as sure? Then in our present emergency we shall find that it stands fast. We hope to be delivered because we have friends, or because we are prudent, or because we can see hopeful signs; but none of these things are one-half so good as God's simple "because thou hast put thy trust in me." Dear reader, try this way, and, trying it, you will keep to it all your life. It is as sweet as it is sure.

Morning, July 13

¡§God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry?¡¨(Jonah 4:9)

Anger is not always or necessarily sinful, but it has such a tendency to run wild that whenever it displays itself, we should be quick to question its character, with this enquiry, ¡§Doest thou well to be angry?¡¨ It may be that we can answer, ¡§YES.¡¨ Very frequently anger is the madman's firebrand, but sometimes it is Elijah's fire from heaven. We do well when we are angry with sin, because of the wrong which it commits against our good and gracious God; or with ourselves because we remain so foolish after so much divine instruction; or with others when the sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who is not angry at transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing, and no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God himself is angry with the wicked every day, and it is written in His Word, ¡§Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.¡¨ Far more frequently it is to be feared that our anger is not commendable or even justifiable, and then we must answer, ¡§NO.¡¨ Why should we be fretful with children, passionate with servants, and wrathful with companions? Is such anger honourable to our Christian profession, or glorifying to God? Is it not the old evil heart seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it with all the might of our newborn nature? Many professors give way to temper as though it were useless to attempt resistance; but let the believer remember that he must be a conqueror in every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we cannot control our tempers, what has grace done for us? Some one told Mr. Jay that grace was often grafted on a crab-stump. ¡§Yes,¡¨ said he, ¡§but the fruit will not be crabs.¡¨ We must not make natural infirmity an excuse for sin, but we must fly to the cross and pray the Lord to crucify our tempers, and renew us in gentleness and meekness after His own image.

Evening, July 13

¡§When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.¡¨(Psalm 56:9)

It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, ¡§God is for me.¡¨ He was ¡§for us¡¨ before the worlds were made; he was ¡§for us,¡¨ or he would not have given his well-beloved son; he was ¡§for us¡¨ when he smote the Only-begotten, and laid the full weight of his wrath upon him¡Xhe was ¡§for us,¡¨ though he was against him; he was ¡§for us,¡¨ when we were ruined in the fall¡Xhe loved us notwithstanding all; he was ¡§for us,¡¨ when we were rebels against him, and with a high hand were bidding him defiance; he was ¡§for us,¡¨ or he would not have brought us humbly to seek his face. He has been ¡§for us¡¨ in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within¡Xhow could we have remained unharmed to this hour if he had not been ¡§for us¡¨? He is ¡§for us,¡¨ with all the infinity of his being; with all the omnipotence of his love; with all the infallibility of his wisdom; arrayed in all his divine attributes, he is ¡§for us,¡¨¡Xeternally and immutably ¡§for us¡¨; ¡§for us¡¨ when yon blue skies shall be rolled up like a worn out vesture; ¡§for us¡¨ throughout eternity. And because he is ¡§for us,¡¨ the voice of prayer will always ensure his help. ¡§When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies be turned back.¡¨ This is no uncertain hope, but a well grounded assurance¡X¡§this I know.¡¨ I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come, and that mine enemies shall be defeated, ¡§for God is for me.¡¨ O believer, how happy art thou with the King of kings on thy side! How safe with such a Protector! How sure thy cause pleaded by such an Advocate! If God be for thee, who can be against thee?