Comfort in the Depths

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. . .who passing through the valley of weeping, make it a well" (Ps. 84:5, 6).

Comfort does not come to the light-hearted and merry. We must go down into "depths" if we would experience this most precious of God's gifts--comfort, and thus be prepared to be co-workers together with Him.

When night--needful night--gathers over the garden of our souls, when the leaves close up, and the flowers no longer hold any sunlight within their folded petals, there shall never be wanting, even in the thickest darkness, drops of heavenly dew--dew which falls only when the sun has gone.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN ADAM

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."--Genesis 2:7

" Divine inspiration was essential to man's first created state. The Spirit of the Triune God, breathed into him, was that alone which made him a holy creature in the image and likeness of God. Had he not been thus at the first, God in him, and he in God, a true offspring of the Holy Spirit, no dispensation of God to fallen man would have directed him to the Holy Spirit, or ever made mention of His inspiration in man.

"Hence it plainly appears, that the Gospel state could not be God's last dispensation, or the finishing of man's redemption, unless its whole work was a work of the Spirit of God in man, so as to bring the thing itself, or the substance of all former types and shadows, into real enjoyment. Now the thing itself, and for the sake of which all God's dispensations have been, is that first life of God, which was essentially born in the soul of the first man, Adam, and to which he died. This makes it plain that the work of this dispensation must be solely and immediately the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore immediate inspiration is as necessary to make fallen man alive again unto God, as it was to make man at first a living soul after the image of God.

"And continual inspiration is as necessary as man's continuance in his redeemed state. That alone which begins, or gives life, must of all necessity be the only continuance or preservation of life. No life can continue in the goodness of its first created or redeemed state, but by its continuing under the influence of and working with that powerful Root or Spirit which at first created or redeemed it. Because without Christ we can do nothing, therefore we ought to believe, expect, wait for, and depend upon His continual immediate operation in everything that we do, through His Spirit dwelling in us."

Let us pause to consider how little this immediate continual inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the heart of God's child is believed or accepted. And let us, from the very beginning of our readings, make this the one object of our desire and prayer¡Xthe full experience of what the Holy Spirit is meant to be to us.

Pruning for Fruit-Bearing

"Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit"(John 15:2).

This is a precious promise to one who lives for fruitfulness. At first it seems to wear a sharp aspect. Must the fruitful bough be pruned? Must the knife cut even the best and most useful? No doubt it is so, for very much of our LORD's purging work is done by means of afflictions of one kind or another. It is not the evil but the good who have the promise of tribulation in this life. But, then, the end makes more than full amends for the painful nature of the means. If we may bring forth more fruit for our LORD, we will not mind the pruning and the loss.

Still, purging is sometimes wrought by the Word apart from trial, and this takes away whatever appeared rough in the flavor of the promise. We shall by the Word be made more gracious and more useful. The LORD who has made us, in a measure, fruit-bearing, will operate upon us till we reach a far higher degree of fertility. Is not this a great joy? Truly there is more comfort in a promise of fruitfulness than if we had been warranted riches, or health, or honor.

LORD Jesus, speedily fulfill Thy gracious word to me and cause me to abound in fruit to Thy praise!

Morning, August 9

¡§The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it.¡¨(Revelation 21:23)

Yonder in the better world, the inhabitants are independent of all creature comforts. They have no need of raiment; their white robes never wear out, neither shall they ever be defiled. They need no medicine to heal diseases, ¡§for the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.¡¨ They need no sleep to recruit their frames¡Xthey rest not day nor night, but unweariedly praise him in his temple. They need no social relationship to minister comfort, and whatever happiness they may derive from association with their fellows is not essential to their bliss, for their Lord's society is enough for their largest desires. They need no teachers there; they doubtless commune with one another concerning the things of God, but they do not require this by way of instruction; they shall all be taught of the Lord. Ours are the alms at the king's gate, but they feast at the table itself. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there they lean upon their Beloved and upon him alone. Here we must have the help of our companions, but there they find all they want in Christ Jesus. Here we look to the meat which perisheth, and to the raiment which decays before the moth, but there they find everything in God. We use the bucket to fetch us water from the well, but there they drink from the fountain head, and put their lips down to the living water. Here the angels bring us blessings, but we shall want no messengers from heaven then. They shall need no Gabriels there to bring their love-notes from God, for there they shall see him face to face. Oh! what a blessed time shall that be when we shall have mounted above every second cause and shall rest upon the bare arm of God! What a glorious hour when God, and not his creatures; the Lord, and not his works, shall be our daily joy! Our souls shall then have attained the perfection of bliss.

Evening, August 9

¡§He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.¡¨(Mark 16:9)

Mary of Magdala was the victim of a fearful evil. She was possessed by not one devil only, but seven. These dreadful inmates caused much pain and pollution to the poor frame in which they had found a lodging. Hers was a hopeless, horrible case. She could not help herself, neither could any human succour avail. But Jesus passed that way, and unsought, and probably even resisted by the poor demoniac, he uttered the word of power, and Mary of Magdala became a trophy of the healing power of Jesus. All the seven demons left her, left her never to return, forcibly ejected by the Lord of all. What a blessed deliverance! What a happy change! From delirium to delight, from despair to peace, from hell to heaven! Straightway she became a constant follower of Jesus, catching his every word, following his devious steps, sharing his toilsome life; and withal she became his generous helper, first among that band of healed and grateful women who ministered unto him of their substance. When Jesus was lifted up in crucifixion, Mary remained the sharer of his shame: we find her first beholding from afar, and then drawing near to the foot of the cross. She could not die on the cross with Jesus, but she stood as near it as she could, and when his blessed body was taken down, she watched to see how and where it was laid. She was the faithful and watchful believer, last at the sepulchre where Jesus slept, first at the grave whence he arose. Her holy fidelity made her a favoured beholder of her beloved Rabboni, who deigned to call her by her name, and to make her his messenger of good news to the trembling disciples and Peter. Thus grace found her a maniac and made her a minister, cast out devils and gave her to behold angels, delivered her from Satan, and united her for ever to the Lord Jesus. May I also be such a miracle of grace!