MARCH 1
OVERCHARGING THE HEART
Luke 21:25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36.
HERE is a great peril. Our hearts may be “overcharged with surfeiting, and
drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
unawares.” Our mode of living may send our spirits to sleep. Yes, we may
so ill-use our bodies that the watchman sleeps at his post! We can
over-eat, and dim our moral sight. A man’s daily meals have vital
relationship with his vision of the Lord. If I would have a clear spirit I
must not overburden the flesh.
And therefore am I bidden to “take heed” to myself. I must exercise common
sense, the most important of all the senses. I must put a bridle upon my
appetite, and hold it in subjection to my Lord.
And I must “watch!” The devil is surpassingly cunning, and, if he can, he
will mix an opiate even with the sacramental wine. He will lure me among
the winsome poppies, and put me into a perilous sleep.
And I must “pray!” I have a great and glorious Defender! Let me humbly yet
confidently use Him, and I shall be delivered from the snares of appetite,
and from the benumbing influence of all excess.
MARCH 2
THE POWER OF THE CROSS
John 10:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
I LAY down my life.” In that supreme sacrifice all other sacrifices turn
pale. In the power of that sacrifice the blackest guilt finds forgiveness.
Its energies seek out the ruined and desolate life with glorious offer of
renewal. When the Lord laid down His life the entire race found a new
beginning. Our hope is born at the Cross. It is there that “the burden of
our sin rolls away.” In His night we find daybreak. When He said, “It is
finished,” our soul could sing, “Life is begun.”
And so pilgrims gather at the Cross. Songs are heard there, the “sweetest
ever sung by mortal tongues.” And the power of the Cross never wanes. Its
glorious grace reaches the soul to-day as in the earliest days. It
inspires the despairing heart. It transforms the mind. It remakes the
tissues of the will. There is no shattered power that the power of the
Cross cannot restore. “We are complete in Him.”
“In the Cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.”
MARCH 3
PREPARING FOR THE BRIDE
John 14:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 19, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
OUR Lord has prepared a place. It is the Bridegroom “getting the house
ready” for the bride. And, therefore, the preparations are not made
grudgingly and with slow reluctance. Everything is of the best, and done
with the swift delight of love. “Come, for all things are now ready.”
And our Lord will fetch His bride to the prepared place. “I am the way.”
We become so wrapt up in Him that nothing else counts. I once travelled
through the Black Country with a fascinating friend, and I never saw it!
And we can become so absorbed in our glorious Bridegroom that we shall be
almost oblivious of adverse circumstances which may beset us. Yes, even
this is possible: “He that believeth in Me shall never see death!”
“I will receive you unto Myself.” The last obscuring veil is to be rent,
and we are to see Him “face to face.” And that will be home, for that will
be satisfaction and peace. The deepest hunger of the soul will be
gratified in a glorious contentment, and we shall find that “the half hath
not been told.”
MARCH 4
THE GREAT COMPANION
John 14:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31.
AND so even the road is to have the home-feeling in it. “I will not leave
you orphans.” Yes; there is to be something of home even in the way to it.
I find something of Devonshire even in Dorsetshire; Shropshire gives me a
taste of Wales. My Lord will not leave me comfortless. Heaven runs over,
and I find its bounty before I arrive at its gate. The “Valley of Baca”
becomes “a well.”
And there are to be wonderful visions to speed the pilgrim’s feet. “I will
manifest Myself unto him.” At unexpected corners the glory will break! We
shall be assuming that we have picked up a common traveller, and suddenly
we shall discover it is the Lord, for He will be made known to us “in the
breaking of bread.” And at many “risings” of the road, where the climbing
is stiff and burdensome, we shall be inspired with many a glorious view,
and we shall see “the land that is very far off.”
The one condition is, that I keep His word. If I am obedient, He will
appear unto me, and the humdrum road will shine with miracles of grace.
MARCH 5
THE TENT AND THE BUILDING
2Corinthians 5:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
AT present we live in a tent—“the earthly house of this tabernacle.” And
often the tent is very rickety. There are rents through which the rain
enters, and it trembles ominously in the great storm. Some tents are frail
from the very beginning, half-rotten when they are put up, and they have
no defence even against the breeze. But even the strongest tent becomes
weather-worn and threadbare, and in the long run it “falls in a heap!” And
what then?
We shall exchange the frail tent for the solid house! “If the earthly
house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” When we are unclothed we
shall find ourselves clothed with our house which is from heaven. The
glory of this transition can only be confessed by “the saints in light.”
To awake, and discover that the creaking, breaking cords are left behind,
that all the leakages are over, that we are no longer exposed to the
cutting wind, that pain is passed, and sickness, and death—this must be a
wonder of inconceivable ecstasy!
And “absent from the body” we shall be “present with the Lord.”
MARCH 6
HOME-LIFE IN GOD
John 17:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26.
THE home-life in God is to be a life of perfect union—“I in them, and Thou
in Me.” Home is only another name for union. It is the perfect fusion of
life with life, the harmonizing of differences as many different notes
combine to form the mystery of choral song. And so will it be in the
home-land! Our manifold individualities will be retained, but we shall
“fit into one another,” and in the perfect harmony we shall hear the “new
song” of heaven.
And we are to prepare that union by the contemplation of the glory of the
Lord. “That they may behold My glory.” Yes, and we can begin to do that
now. We can lift our eyes away from the ugly compromises of men and fix
them upon the radiant holiness of the Lord. We can look away from the
dirty Alpine village and gaze upon the virgin snow of the uplifted
heights. “Looking unto Jesus!”
And in that contemplation we shall most assuredly become transformed. “I
have given unto them the glory which Thou gavest Me.” That is our
wonderful possibility. For thee and me is this prize offered, we can
“awake in His likeness.”
MARCH 7
THINGS MISSING IN HEAVEN
Revelation 21:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
WHAT a number of “conspicuous absences” there are to be in “the
home-land!”
No more sea! John was in Patmos, and the sea rolled between him and his
kinsmen. The sea was a minister of estrangement. But in the home-country
every cause of separation is to be done away, and the family life is to be
one of inconceivable intimacy. No more sea!
And no more pain! Its work is done, and therefore the worker is put away.
When the building is completed the scaffolding may be removed. When the
patient is in good health the medicine bottles can be dispensed with. And
so shall it be with pain and all its attendants. “The inhabitant never
says: ‘I am sick!’”
And no more death! “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death.” Yes,
he, too, shall drop his scythe, and his lax hand shall destroy no more for
ever. Death himself shall die! And all things that have shared his work
shall die with him. “The former things have passed away.” The wedding-peal
which welcomes the Lamb’s bride will ring the funeral knell of Death and
all his sable company.
MARCH 8
THE CITIZENS OF THE HOME-LAND
Revelation 7:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
THE citizen of “the home-land” wears white robes. His habits are perfectly
clean. And the purity which he wears is a Divine gift and not a human
accomplishment. It cannot be attained by self-sacrifice; it is ours
through the sacrifice of our Lord. “They have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
And every citizen of the home-land bears a palm in his hand. It is the
emblem of conquest and sovereignty. By the grace of Christ they have been
lifted above self and sin, and the devil, and death, and “made to sit with
Him” on His throne. The palm is the heavenly symbol that all their
spiritual enemies are under their feet.
And every citizen of the home-land takes part in the new song. The
home-folk are therefore one in purity, one in self-conquest, and one in
praise. “Salvation unto our God which sitteth upon the throne!” In that
melody of thankfulness their union is deepened and enriched.
And we, too, can begin now to wear the white robe! And even now can we
carry the palm! And even now we can join in the song of ceaseless praise.
MARCH 9
NEARING HOME!
2Timothy 4:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
HERE is a most valiant pilgrim nearing home! By the mercy of Christ he can
look back upon a brave day, and there’s a fine hopeful light in the
evening sky.
He has fought well! “I have fought a good fight.” And his has been a hard
field. The enemy has ever regarded him as a leader in the army of the Lord
and against him has the fiercest fight been waged. But he has never lost
or stained his flag.
And he has run well! “I have finished my course.” There was no melancholy
turning back when the feverish start had cooled. There was no shrinking
when the biting wind of malice and persecution swept across his track. On
and on he ran, with increasing speed and ardour, until he reached the
goal.
And well had he guarded his treasure! “I have kept the faith.” He was the
custodian of “unsearchable riches,” and he watched, day and night, lest
any infernal burglar should despoil him of his wealth. He guarded his
gospel, his liberty, his hope, as the sentinels guard the crown jewels in
the Tower.
And now the hard day is nearly over. “Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness which the Lord will give me at that day.”
MARCH 10
EXALTATION BY SEPARATION
2Corinthians 6:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
WHEN we turn away from the world, and leave it, we ourselves are not left
to desolation and orphan-hood. When we “come out from among them” the Lord
receives us! He is waiting for us. The new companionship is ours the
moment the old companionship is ended. “I will not leave you comfortless.”
What we have lost is compensated by infinite and eternal gain. We have
lost “the whole world” and gained “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
And therefore separation is exaltation. We leave the muddy pleasures of
Sodom and we “drink of the river of His pleasures.” We leave “the garish
day,” and all the feverish life of Vanity Fair, and He maketh us “to lie
down in green pastures,” “He leadeth us beside the still waters.” We leave
a transient sensation, we receive the bread of eternity. We forfeit
fireworks, we gain the stars!
What fools we are, and blind! We prefer the scorched desert of Sodom to
the garden of Eden. We prefer a loud reputation to noble character. We
prefer delirium to joy. We prefer human applause to the praise of God. We
prefer a fading garland to the crown of life. Lord, that we may receive
our sight!
MARCH 11
GOOD AND BAD ROADS
Psalm 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
THERE is nothing breaks up more speedily than a badly-made road. Every
season is its enemy and works for its destruction. Fierce heat and
intensest cold both strive for its undoing. And “the way of the ungodly”
is an appallingly bad road. There is rottenness in its foundations, and
there is built into it “wood, and hay, and stubble,” How can it stand?
“The Spirit of the Lord breatheth upon it,” and it is surely brought to
nought. All the forces of holiness are pledged to its destruction, and
they shall pick it to pieces, and shall scatter its elements to the winds.
“I am the way!” That road remains sound “in all generations.” Changing
circumstances cannot affect its stability. It is proof against every
tempest, and against the most violent heat. It is a road in which little
children can walk in happiness and in which old people can walk in peace.
It is firm in the day of life, and it is absolutely sure in the hour of
death. It never yields! “Thou hast set my feet upon a rock and hast
established my goings.” “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
MARCH 12
THE COMING OF THE LORD
Luke 17:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32.
IN a certain very real way the Lord is coming every moment. And the great
art of Christian living is to be able to discern Him when He arrives. He
may appear as the village carpenter; or we may “suppose Him to be one of
the gardeners,” and we may mistake His appearing! He may meet us in some
lowly duty, or in some seemingly unpleasant task. He may shine in the
cheeriness of some triumph, or whisper to us in a message of good news. “I
come again.” And if our eyes are open we shall see Him coming continually.
It is by this perception that the value of our life is measured and
weighed.
But He will also come again “suddenly,” when the soul will be translated
into unknown climes. He will come again in the sable robes of death. Shall
we know Him? Will our eyes be so keen and true that we shall be able to
pierce the dark veil and say “It is the Lord!” This has been the joyful
experience of countless multitudes. When the summons came their souls went
forth, not as victims to encounter death, but as the bride “to meet the
bridegroom!” They had intimacy with Him in life; they had glorious
fellowship with Him in death!
MARCH 13
SICKNESS AMONG CHRIST’S FRIENDS
John 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
AND so sickness can enter the circle of the friends of the Lord. “He whom
Thou lovest is sick.” My sicknesses do not mean that I have lost His
favour. The shadow is His, as well as the sunshine. When He removes me
from the glare of boisterous health it may be because of some spiritual
fern which needs the ministry of the shade. “This sickness is ... for the
glory of God.” Something beautiful will spring out of the shadowed
seclusion, something which shall spread abroad the name and fame of God.
And, therefore, I do not wonder at the Lord’s delay. He did not hasten
away to the sick friend: “He abode two days still in the same place where
He was.” Shall I put it like this: the awaking bulbs were not yet ready
for the brighter light—just a little more shade! We are impatient to get
healthy; the Lord desires that we become holy. Our physical sickness is
continued in order that we may put on spiritual strength.
And there are others besides sick Lazarus concerned in the sickness: “I am
glad for your sakes I was not there.” The disciples were included in the
divine scheme. Their spiritual welfare was to be affected by it. Let me
ever remember that the circle affected by sickness is always wider than
the patient’s bed. And may God be glorified in all!
MARCH 14
“EVEN NOW!”
John 11:17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.
LET me consider this marvellous confession of Martha’s faith. “I know that
even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee!” Mark
the “even now”! Lazarus was dead, and it was midnight in the desolate
home. But “even now”! Beautiful it is when a soul’s most awful crises are
the seasons of its most radiant faith! Beautiful it is when our lamp
shines steadily in the tempest, and when our spiritual confidence remains
unshaken like a gloriously rooted tree. Beautiful it is when in our
midnight men can hear the strains of the “even now”!
And let me consider the wonder of the Divine response. “I am the
resurrection and the life.” A faith like Martha’s will always win the
Saviour’s best. And here is an overwhelming best before which we can only
bow in silent homage and awe. He is the Fountain in whom the stagnant
brook shall find currency again. He is the Life in whom the fallen dead
shall rise to their feet again.
And what is this? “Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die!”
We shall go to sleep, but we shall never taste the bitterness of death. In
the very act of closing our material eyes we shall open our spiritual
eyes, and find ourselves at home!
MARCH 15
JESUS AT A GRAVE
John 11:32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45.
HERE is Jesus weeping. “Jesus wept.” Why did He weep? Perhaps He wept out
of sheer sympathy with the tears of others. And perhaps, too, He wept
because some of our tears were needless. If we were better men we should
know more of the love and purpose of our Lord, and perhaps many of our
tears would be dried. Still, here is the sweet and heartening evangel. He
sympathizes with my grief! Never a bitter tear is shed without my Lord
sharing the tang and the pang.
Here is Jesus praying! “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.”
Then it is not so much a prayer as a thanksgiving. He gives thanks for
what He is “about to receive.” Is this my way? Perhaps I do it before I
take a meal. Do I do it before I begin to live the day? In the morning do
I thank my God for what I am about to receive? Can I confidently give
thanks before I receive the gifts of God, before the dish-covers are
removed? Can I trust Him?
And here is Jesus commanding, clothed in sovereign power: “Lazarus, come
forth!” That is the same voice which “in the beginning created the heavens
and the earth.”
MARCH 16
THE NEMESIS OF BIGOTRY
John 11:46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57
FEARFUL nemesis waits upon the spirit of bigotry. Oliver Wendell Holmes
has said that bigotry is like the pupil of the eye, the more light you
pour into it the more it contracts. The scribes and Pharisees became
smaller men the more the Lord revealed His glory. In the raising of
Lazarus they saw nothing of the glory of the resurrection life, nothing of
the joy of the reunited family, nothing of the gracious ministry of the
Lord! “Darkness had blinded their eyes.”
And it is also the nemesis of bigotry to be bitter, cruel, and violent.
They sought to kill the Giver of life!
It is the ministry of light to ripen and sweeten the dispositions. “The
fruit of the light is in all goodness.” It is the ministry of the darkness
to make men sour and unsympathetic, and revengeful, and to so pervert the
heart as to make it a minister of poison and death.
And yet, how powerless is bigotry in the long run! It can no more stay the
progress of the Kingdom than King Canute could check the flowing tide!
Bigotry slew the Lord, and He rose again! And so it ever is. “Truth
crushed to earth shall rise again; the eternal years of God are hers.”
MARCH 17
THE COMMONPLACE OF DEATH
Luke 7:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
DEATH is never a commonplace. We never become so accustomed to funerals as
not to see them. Everybody sees the mournful procession go along the
street. A momentary awe steals over the flippant thought, and for one
brief season the superficial opens into the infinite abyss.
And yet, while a thousand are arrested, only a few are compassionate.
There can be awe without pity; there can be interest without service. When
this humble funeral train trudged out of the city of Nain our Lord halted,
and His heart melted! There was an “aching void,” and He longed to fill
it. There was a bleeding, broken heart, and He yearned to stand and heal
it. He found His own joy in removing another’s tears, His own satisfaction
in another’s peace.
“The Lord hath visited His people!” That is what the people said, and I do
not wonder at the saying! And let me, too, be a humble visitor in the
troubled ways of men! Let my heart be a well of sweet compassion to all
the sons and daughters of grief! Like Barnabas, let me be “a son of
consolation.”
MARCH 18
SERENITY IN THE TEMPEST
Job 19:23, 24, 25, 26, 27
PERHAPS I am akin to Job in having experienced the pressure of calamity. I
have felt the shock of adverse circumstances, and the house of my life has
trembled in the convulsion. Or death has been to my door and has returned
again and again, and every time he has left me weeping! All God’s billows
have gone over me! Verily, I can take my place by the patriarch Job.
But can I share his witness, “I know that my Redeemer liveth”? (Job 19:25)
Have I a calm assurance that my ruler is not caprice, and that my comings
and goings are not determined by unfeeling chance? When death knocked at
my door, did I know that the King had sent him? When some cherished scheme
toppled into ruin, had I any thought that the Lord’s hand was concerned in
the shaking? Even when my circumstances are dubious, and I cannot trace a
gracious purpose, do I know that my Vindicator liveth, and that some day
He will justify all the happenings of the troubled road?
I will pay for this gracious confidence. I would have a firm step even
among disappointments; yea, I would “sing songs in the night!”
MARCH 19
DEATH AS MY SERVANT
Revelation 20:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
EVEN now I would rise from the dead. Even now I would know “the power of
His resurrection.” Even now I would taste the rapture of the deathless
life. And this is my glorious prerogative in grace. Yes, even now I can be
“risen with Christ,” and “death shall no more have dominion over me!”
And yet I must die! Yes, but the old enemy shall now be my friend. He will
not be my master, but my servant. He shall just be the porter, to open the
door into my Father’s house, into the home of unspeakable blessedness and
glory. Death shall not hurt me!
I have seen a little child fall asleep while out in the streets of the
city, and the kind nurse has taken charge of the sleeper, and when the
little one awaked she was at home, and she opened her eyes upon her
mother’s face.
So shall it be with all who are alive in Christ, and who have risen from a
spiritual grave. They shall just fall into a brief sweet sleep, and gentle
death shall usher them into the glory of the endless day.
MARCH 20
THE LORD IS AT HAND!
“Ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
—Matthew 24:42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51.
THEN let me always live as though my Lord were at the gate! Let me arrange
my affairs on the assumption that the next to lift the latch will be the
King. When I am out with my friend, walking and talking, let me assume
that just round the corner I may meet the Lord.
And so let me practise meeting Him! Said a mother to me one day concerning
her long-absent boy: “I lay a place for him at every meal! His seat is
always ready!” May I not do this for my Lord? May I not make a place for
Him in all my affairs—my choices, my pleasures, my times of business, my
season of rest? He may come just now; let His place be ready!
If He delay, I must not become careless. If He give me further liberty, I
must not take liberties with it. Here is the golden principle, ever to
live, ever to think, ever to work as though the Lord had already arrived.
For indeed, He has, and when the veil is rent I shall find Him at my side.
MARCH 21
IN THE GOLDEN CITY
Isaiah 52:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
AND so these are the glories of the golden city. There is wakefulness.
“Awake! awake!” In the golden city none will be asleep. Everybody will be
bright-eyed, clear-minded, looking upon all beautiful things with fresh
and ready receptiveness. “The eyes of them that see shall not be dim.”
There is strength. “Put on thy strength!” There will be no broken wills in
the golden city, and no broken hearts. No one will walk with a limp!
Everybody will go with a brave stride as to the strains of a band. And no
one will tire of living, and the inhabitant never says, “I am sick.”
And there is beauty. “Put on thy beautiful garments.” Bare strength might
not be attractive. But strength clothed in beauty is a very gracious
thing. The tender mosses on the granite make it winsome. Strength is
companionable when it is united with grace. In the golden city there will
be tender sentiment as well as rigid conviction.
And these glories will be our defence. A positive virtue is our best
rampart against vice. A robust health is the best protection against the
epidemic. “The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me.”
MARCH 22
COUNSEL AND MIGHT
Psalm 119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40.
THE psalmist prays for an illumined understanding. “Teach me, O Lord, the
way of Thy statutes.” We are so prone to be children of the twilight, and
to see things out of their true proportions. Therefore do we need to be
daily taught. I must go into the school of the Lord, and in docility of
spirit I must sit at His feet. “O, teach me, Lord, teach even me!”
And the psalmist prays for rectified inclinations. “Incline my heart unto
Thy testimonies.” We so often have the wrong bias, the fatal taste, and
our desires are all against the will of the Lord. If only my leanings were
toward the Lord how swift my progress would be! I strive to walk after
holiness, while my inclinations are in the realm of sin. And so I need a
clean mouth, with an appetite for the beautiful and the true. “Blessed are
they that hunger after righteousness.”
And the psalmist prays for a strenuous will. “Make me to go in the path of
Thy commandments.” He is praying for “go,” for moral persistence, for
power to crash through all obstacles which may impede his heavenly
progress. And such is my need. Good Lord, endow me with a will like “an
iron pillar,” and help me to “stand in the evil day.”
MARCH 23
THE DARK BETRAYAL
John 18:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
OUR Master was betrayed by a disciple, “one of the twelve.” The blow came
from one of “His own household.” The world employed a “friend” to execute
its dark design. And so our intimacy with Christ may be our peril; our
very association may be made our temptation. The devil would rather gain
one belonging to the inner circle than a thousand who stand confessed as
the friends of the world. What am I doing in the kingdom? Can I be
trusted? Or am I in the pay of the evil one?
And our Master was betrayed in the garden of prayer. In the most hallowed
place the betrayer gave the most unholy kiss. He brought his defilement
into the most awe-inspiring sanctuary the world has ever known. And so may
it be with me. I can kindle the unclean fire in the church. I can stab my
Lord when I am on my knees. While I am in apparent devotion I can be in
league with the powers of darkness.
And this “dark betrayal” was for money! The Lord of Glory was bartered for
thirty pieces of silver! And the difference between Judas and many men is
that they often sell their Lord for less! From the power of Mammon, and
from the blindness which falls upon his victims, good Lord, deliver me!
MARCH 24
IN GETHSEMANE
Luke 22:39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46.
SURELY this is the very Holy of Holies! It were well for us to fall on our
knees and “be silent unto the Lord.” I would quietly listen to the awful
words, “Remove this cup from Me!” and I would listen again and again until
never again do I hold a cheap religion. It is in this garden that we learn
the real values of things, and come to know the price at which our
redemption was bought. No one can remain in Gethsemane and retain a
frivolous and flippant spirit.
“And there appeared unto Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.” I
know that angel! He has been to me. He has brought me angel’s food, even
heavenly manna. Always and everywhere, when my soul has surrendered itself
to the Divine will, the angel comes, and my soul is refreshed. The laying
down of self is the taking up of God. When I lose my will I gain the
Infinite. The moment of surrender is also the moment of conquest. When I
consecrate my weakness I put on strength and majesty like a robe.
“And when He rose up from His prayer”—what then? Just this, He was quietly
ready for anything, ready for the betraying kiss, ready for crucifixion.
“Arise, let us be going.”
MARCH 25
THE FEAR OF MAN
John 18:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.
AND this is the disciple who had been surnamed “The Rock”! Our Lord looked
into the morrow, and He saw Simon’s character, compacted by grace and
discipline into a texture tough and firm as granite. But there is not much
granite here! Peter is yet loose and yielding; more like a bending reed
than an unshakable rock. A servant girl whispers, and his timid heart
flings a lie to his lips and he denies his Lord.
Peter denied the Master, not because he coveted money, but because he
feared men. He was not seeking crowns, but escaping frowns. He was not
clutching at a garland, but avoiding a sword. It was not avarice but
cowardice which determined his ways. He shrank from crucifixion! He saw a
possible cross, and with a great lie he passed by on the other side.
But the Lord has not done with Peter. He is still “in the making.” Some
day he will justify his new name. Some day we shall find it written: “When
they saw the boldness of Peter, they marvelled”! Once a maid could make
him tremble. Now he can stand in high places, “steadfast and unmovable”!
From the spirit of cowardice and from all temporizing, and from the unholy
fear of man, deliver me, good Lord!
MARCH 26
THE KING OF KINGS
John 18:28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38.
WHAT a strange King our Lord appears, claiming mystic sovereignty, and yet
betrayed by a false friend!
And yet, even in His apparent subjection His majestic kingliness stands
revealed. When I watch the demeanours of Pilate and Jesus, I can see very
clearly who it is who is on the throne; Pilate wears the outer trappings
of royalty, but my Lord’s is “the power and the glory.” Pilate fusses
about in a little “brief authority,” but my Lord stands possessed of a
serene dominion. Even at Pilate’s judgment bar Jesus is the King.
But His kingdom is “not of this world.” And therefore this King is unlike
every other King. He seeks His possessions not by fighting, but by
“lighting”; not by coercion, but by constraint. His servants do not go
forth with swords, but with lamps; not to drive the peoples, but to lead
them. His visible throne is a cross, and His conquests are made in the
power of sacrifice.
And so His armaments are the Truth, and the Truth alone. “For this cause
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth.” When
the Truth wins and wooes, the triumph is lasting. Garlands won by the
sword perish before the evening. To be one of the King’s subjects is to
share His nature. “Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice.”
MARCH 27
THE SILENCE OF JESUS
“He answered him nothing!”
—Luke 23:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
AND yet, “Ask, and it shall be given you!” Yes, but everything depends
upon the asking. Even in the realm of music there is a rudeness of
approach which leaves true music silent. Whether the genius of music is to
answer us or not depends upon our “touch.” Herod’s “touch” was wrong, and
there was no response. Herod was flippant, and the Eternal was dumb. And
I, too, may question a silent Lord. In the spiritual realm an idle
curiosity is never permitted to see the crown jewels. Frivolousness never
goes away from the royal Presence rich with surprises of grace. “Thy touch
has still its ancient power!” So it has, but the healing touch is the
gracious response to the touch of faith. “She touched Him, and...!”
“And Herod ... mocked Him.” That was the real spirit behind the eager
curiosity. And I, too, may mock my Lord! I may bow before Him, and array
Him in apparent royalty, while all the time my spirit is full of flippancy
and jeers. I may lustily sing: “Crown Him Lord of all,” while I will not
recognize His rights on a single square foot of the soil of my
inheritance. And this it is to be the kinsman of Herod. And this, too,
will be the issue; the heavens will be as brass, and the Lord will answer
us nothing.
MARCH 28
THE CHOICE OF BARABBAS
Luke 23:13-24.
BARABBAS rather than Christ! The destroyer of life rather than the Giver
of life! This was the choice of the people; and it is a choice which has
often stained and defiled my own life.
When I choose revenge rather than forgiveness, I am preferring Barabbas to
Christ. For revenge is a murderer, while forgiveness is a healer and
saviour of men. But how often I have sent the sweet healer to the cross,
and welcomed the murderer within my gate!
When I choose carnal passion before holiness, I am preferring Barabbas to
Christ. For is there any murderer so destructive as carnality? And
holiness stands waiting, ready to make me beautiful with the wondrous
garments of grace. But I spurn the angel, and open my door to the beast.
The devil is always soliciting my service, and the devil “is a murderer
from the beginning.” Have I never preferred him, and sent my Lord to be
“crucified afresh,” and “put Him to an open shame”?
Again let me pray—for all my unholy and unwholesome choices, for all my
preference of the murderer, forgive me, good Lord!
MARCH 29
MYSTIC ALARM-BELLS
Matthew 27:19, 20, 21, 22,23, 24, 25.
PILATE was warned. Pilate’s wife had a dream, and in the dream she had
glimpses of reality, and when she awoke her soul was troubled. “Have thou
nothing to do with that just man!”
And I, too, have mysterious warnings when I am treading perilous ways.
Sometimes the warning comes from a friend. Sometimes “the angel of the
Lord stands in the way for an adversary.” My conscience rings loudly like
an alarm-bell in the dead of night. Yes, the warnings are clear and
pertinent, but...!
Pilate ignored the warning, and handed the Lord to the revengeful will of
the priests. Pilate defiled his heart, and then he washed his hands! What
a petty attempt to escape the certain issues! And yet we have shared in
the small evasion. We have crucified the Lord, and then we wear a
crucifix. We violate the spirit, and then we do reverence to the letter.
We hand the Lord over to be crucified, and then we practise the postures
and gait of the saints. Yes, we have all sought an escape in outer
ceremony from the nemesis of our shameful deeds.
My soul, attend thou to the mystic warnings, and “play the man”!
MARCH 30
THE VICTORY OF MEEKNESS
1Peter 2:17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
HEN I may be not only the betrayer, but the betrayed. In my inner circle
there may be a friend who will play me false, and hand me over to the
wolves. What then? Just this—I must imitate the grace of my Lord, and
“consider Him.”
There must be no violent retaliation. “When He was reviled, He reviled not
again.” The fire of revenge may singe or even scorch my enemy, but it will
do far more damage to the furniture of my own soul. After every indulgence
in vengeful passion some precious personal possession has been destroyed.
The fact of the matter is, this fire cannot be kept burning without making
fuel of the priceless furnishings of the soul. “Heat not a furnace for
your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.”
There must be a serene committal of the soul to the strong keeping of the
Eternal God. “He committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” This
is the way of peace, as this is the way of victory. If ever the enemy is
to be conquered this must be the mode of the conquest. When men persecute
us, let us rest more implicitly in our God.
MARCH 31
AT THE CROSS!
Matthew 27:38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50.
LET me listen to the ribald jeers which were flung upon my Lord. And let
me listen, not as a judge, but as one who has been in the company of the
callous crowd. For I, too, have mocked Him! I have said: “Hail, King!” and
I have bowed before Him, but it has been mock and empty homage! I have
sung: “Crown Him Lord of all!” but there has been no real recognition of
His sovereignty; mine has been a mock coronation. From the seat of the
mocker, deliver me, good Lord!
And let me stand near the cross while that awful voice of desolation rends
the heavens. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” In that
agonizing cry I am led to the real heart of the atonement. My Saviour was
standing where His believers will never stand. That was the real death,
the death of an inconceivable abandonment. And “He died for me!” He so
died in order that I may never taste death. “He that liveth and believeth
in Me shall never die.”
Every believer will go to sleep, and through a short sleep he will wake in
the glory of the Eternal Presence. But he will never die: no, never die!
