The Asia-Pacific Institute of International Studies (APIIS)

Life's Storms

2009-10-14T00:40:00.000+08:00

“There arose a great tempest in the sea.” Matt. 8:24

The disciples had not put out out sea of their own suggestion. Had they done so without Christ’s bidding, they would not have had the same reason to expect protection and deliverance. The lesson we learn here is this — that storms may arise even when we are in the plain line of duty. We should not be discouraged by the difficulty or trouble that comes, and conclude that we are in the wrong path.

We see, too, that Christ’s presence with his disciples does not keep the storms away. There are no promises in the Bible that Christian people shall not meet trials. Religion builds no high walls about us to break the force of the winds. Troubles come to the Christian just as surely as to the worldly man. There are the storms of temptation; these sweep down with sudden and terrific power from the cold mountains of this world. then there are storms of sickness, of disappointment and adversity, of sorrow, that make the waves and billows to roll over the soul.

On the Sea or Galilee travellers say that a boat will be gliding along smoothly over a glassy surface, unbroken by a ripple, when suddenly, without a moments’s warning, tempest will sweep down, and almost instantly the boat will be tossed in the angry waves. Thus many of life’s storms come. Temptations come when we are not looking for them. So disasters come. We are at peace in a happy home. At an hour when we think not, without warning, the darling child we love so much lies dead in our arms. The friend we trusted, and who we thought could never fail us, proves false. The hopes cherished for years wither in our hands in the night, like flowers when the frost comes. The storms of life are nearly all sudden surprises. They do not hang out danger-signals days before to warn us. The only way to be ready for them is to be always ready.

The Other Side

2009-10-13T00:45:00.000+08:00

“He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.” Mark 4:35

Christ is continually saying the same to us, though with varying meaning in his words. He is ever calling us to pass over some line into new fields, with their new experiences, new privileges, new duties, new conflicts, new joys.

He says it to the impenitent when he graciously invites them to become his disciples. He wants them to cut loose from this world, from sin and all their old dead past, and rise up and go with him to the better life which lies beyond. He invites them to His Father’s country, into His Father’s family. It is a land of blessing and of beauty, of plenty and of great riches. True, there is a sea that must be crossed to reach it. No one can reach the glorious country on “the other side” without passing over this sea, and no one can pass over without encountering tempests. There are fierce temptations, sore self-denials, mighty struggles, and many losses and sorrows, before we can reach heaven; but the reward is so great that we should be ready to endure any hardship or suffering to win it.

Then Christ gives the same call and invitation to His people when they reach the end of earthly life and when He comes to take them home. Before them then rolls the sea of death, dark and full of terrors to the natural sense. They shrink from crossing it. Yet there is no reason why they should. On “the other side” glory waits. There is the Father’s house with the many mansions. And however dark and terrible may seem the narrow sea that has to be crossed, there is no danger; for Jesus himself accompanies His people, and none of them can perish. But if we would have this final invitation to come over to the other side into the heavenly glory, we must accept the final call to come over out of the old life of sin into the new life of holiness.

Dropping Seeds

2009-10-12T00:45:00.000+08:00

“The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, … the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it... becometh a tree.” Mark 4:28

Many great histories of blessing may be traced back to a very small seed. A woman whose name is forgotten dropped a tract of little book in the way of a man named Richard Baxter. He picked it up and read it, and it led him to Christ. He became a holy Christian, and wrote a book entitled, A Call to the Unconverted, which brought many persons to the Saviour, and among others Philip Doddridge. Philip Doddridge in turn wrote The Rise and Progress of Religion, which led many into the kingdom of God, among them the great Wilberforce. Wilberforce wrote, A Practical View of Christianity, which was the means of saving a multitude, among them Legh Richmond. In his turn Legh Richmond wrote the book called The Dairyman’s Daughter, which has been instrumental in the conversion of thousands.

The dropping of that one little tract seemed a very small thing to do; but see what a wonderful, many-branched tree has sprung from it! This is only one illustration of marvels of grace coming from the most minute grains of the heavenly seed. One seed planted in a heart, dropped by some very humble worker, perhaps unconsciously, may not only save a soul for an eternity of blessedness, but may start a series of divine influences which shall reach thousands of other lives. A simply invitation from his brother brought Simon to Jesus; and what a tree sprang from that seed!

Let us go on, day by day, dropping seeds into as many hearts as we can. We may not always know what comes of them, but from any one of them may spring a history of blessing which shall reach thousands of souls. The branches of the tree from one seed may spread over all lands.

Progress

2009-10-11T00:45:00.000+08:00

“First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” Mark 4:28

We understand this well enough in nature; but do we in spiritual life? The beginnings of Christian life are very feeble and imperfect. We must not expect in young converts the maturity of character we look for in older Christians. Grace begins in a small way. We have no right to look at once for the ripened fruits of Christian experience. But the wheat does not stop at the tender blade; it shoots up into a strong stalk, at last into ripeness. Christian lives should grow; they have no right to stay always at the starting-point. They should grow in knowledge, in power, in purpose, in achievement, until they put forth all the fruits of the Spirit, and grow into the ripeness of Christian experience.

We are to notice here also that while the growth is secret its results are manifest. The processes of spiritual life are invisible, but the results are not. If a Christian is growing in grace, we shall know it by his life. He will wear more and more of the image of Christ, and the “mind of Christ” will appear more and more in his disposition and conduct

Another thought suggested here is that the beginnings of Christian life in young Christians ought to be most gently nurtured by those who are their spiritual overseers. The tender blades cannot endure a frost. Young converts cannot endure the sharp trials and temptations of this world. A clergyman is reported as saying, “I do not dare to bring too many children into my church — but because I do not believe in their sincerity and piety and fitness for church membership, but because there is no provision for their growth and nurture after they are in the church.” Could any sadder confession be made? Something must be wrong with the church when this is true. Let the words stand for the pondering of those whom they concern.

After Many Days

2009-10-10T00:45:00.000+08:00

“The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself.” Mark 4:28

Yet not without certain other influences upon it. If the sun does not shine upon it, and if there is no rain from heaven, the seed will never germinate, however rich the soil. The human heart is the soil in which the seeds of truth grow; but it must have the sunshine and rain of divine grace upon it before it will produce any spiritual fruit.

A gentleman tore down an outbuilding that had stood for many years in his yard. He smoothed over the ground, and left it. The warm spring rains fell upon it, and the sunshine flooded it; and in a few days there sprang up multitudes of little flowers, unlike any that grew in the neighbourhood. Where the building had stood was once a garden, and the seeds had lain in the soil without moisture, light, or warmth all the years. So soon as the sunshine and the rain touched them they sprang up into life and beauty.

So ofttimes the seeds of truth lie long in a human heart, growing not, because the light and warmth of the Holy Spirit are shut away from them by sin and unbelief; but after long years the heart is opened in some way to the influences of the Divine Spirit, and the seeds, living still, shoot up into beauty. The instructions of a mother may lie in a heart, fruitless, from the childhood to old age, and yet at last may save the soul.

When we have sown the heavenly seed, we should continually pray that God would pour his Spirit, like rain and sunshine, upon the heart where it lies to quicken it into life. Then, for ourselves, we should seek always to keep our hearts open to every invigorating influence of the grace of God. We need to pray constantly for the rain to come down, else our hearts will lie bare and sterile, though filled with the divine seeds.

Profitable Hearing

2009-10-09T00:45:00.000+08:00

“Take heed what ye hear” Mark 4:24

This is a very important counsel. “Take heed what ye hear.” The things we hear enter into our souls and become part of our being; they give form and colour to our character. There have come infinite blessings from the printing-press. There are thousands of good books, whose pages are like leaves from the tree of life, for the healing of the nations. But there are also thousands of evil books, whose pages reek with poison, and scatter influences of moral and spiritual death. With all this great mass of books, good and bad, it is vitally important that we take heed what we hear. We would not eat poisoned food; why should we take poison into our souls?

If we open our ears to the evil things that are continually spoken on all sides, and that come to us on vile printed pages, our hearts will become foul and unclean, and our lives will be debauched. We should shut our ears to all that is unholy. Many a now utterly ruined life dates the beginning to its debasement from the moment when an impure word was whispered in a listening ear, or when a vile book or paper was secretly read. On the other hand, every beautiful life has been made beautiful by what it has heard. We are saved by words. Pure, true words are transforming.

The Bible is simply a book of words; but every word contains a revelation of some beautiful thing in character or attainment which we should strive to reach. We should always gladly, because we may always safely and profitably, hear the word of God. Then we must not forget the Master’s other counsel, “Take heed therefore how ye hear.” We should hear thoughtfully, reverently, obediently, letting the good words of God into our heart, that they may transform our life.

Hidden Lights

2009-10-08T00:45:00.000+08:00

“Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed” Mark 4:21

No one would think of doing such a thing. People always set a lamp where it will give the most light. It would be very absurd to cover it up so that its beams could not pour out. Yet that is just what a great many people do with their Christian life. It is a very striking figure, this that our Lord uses when describing Christians. He calls them lights, lamps, candles, which He lights with the fire of His own life when they believe on Him. There is much difference in the brightness of the light in different believers. Some are only little tapers; others are great lights. But even a taper makes one spot a little brighter.

The point of our Lord’s teaching here is that the light is not to be hidden or covered up, but permitted to shine. Yet some people do indeed put their candle under a bushel. They carry it so that it never gives light to others. Sometimes they hide it away under an imagined modesty or humility. They do not want to “put themselves forward,” it would seem presumptuous.

Sometimes it is the “bushel” of timidity or bashfulness under which they hide their light. One cannot rise to say a word in the prayer meeting; another cannot even conduct family worship in the midst of his own household; another cannot talk to a neighbour about his soul; another cannot stand up to make a public confession of Christ before the world; another cannot go to call on a poor family or sick person, or to offer consolation to one in sorrow, all because they are “too backward.” Some again hide their candle under a very imperfect life. Their faults obscure the light of the religious knowledge they possess, as a dirty glass chimney dims a lamp’s shining. There are a great many lamps hidden away under bushels which ought to be shining to some purpose

Golden Grain

2009-10-07T00:45:00.000+08:00

“The sower soweth the word.” Mark 4:14

The human heart is only the soil. Its natural products are thorns and briers. These grow without sowing and without cultivation. We do not need to be taught in order to be wicked. But if good things are to grow in our hearts, they must be sown and cultivated. The seeds must be brought from heaven. This is just what has been done. The words of the Bible are divine seeds. They have a wondrous power in themselves. Like natural seeds, they grow when planted, and produce plants of righteousness. Bare like the desert, or rather grown all over with rank weeds and briers, like neglected gardens, until the Sower comes are our hearts by nature; yet if we receive the good seed with faith and love, our lives are changed, and are made to blossom like the rose.

There is another thought: all of us may be sowers of this good seed. We must take heed that we really sow the “word.” There is no other seed that will yield the harvest of spiritual life. The words of God have life in them. “The words that I speak unto you,” said the Master, “they are spirit, and they are life.” If we get these heavenly seeds into people’s hearts, we shall not look in vain for fruits. It is a holy privilege to be permitted to help the great Husbandman in the sowing of this precious seed. We can carry the golden grains with us, and drop them wherever we go. This we can do by being full of the word, thus having something to give for every experience. We can sow the seed by the judicious giving of tracts and leaflets. We can do it by writing letters to carry to others some truth suited to their need. Then we can live so sweetly that our daily influence will be a scattering of heavenly seed all about us. Then some day we shall stand before the great Husbandman, our bosom full of golden sheaves.

What Are The Thorns

2009-10-06T00:45:00.000+08:00

“Some fell among thorns, and thorns grew up , and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.” Mark 4:7

The thorns had been chopped off, but their roots were still in the ground. Then as the seed began to grow, so did the thorns; and growing faster and more rankly than the wheat, they soon choked it out, so that it came to nothing in the end. What are these thorns? Our Lord says they are “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches.” “Cares” are anxieties, distractions, worries. Martha was in danger of having the good seed in her heart choked out by her distracting thoughts about her household affairs. Many a promising Christian life has been dwarfed and stunted from the same cause. “The deceitfulness of riches:” thousands of spiritual lives have been starved into ghostly leanness by the desire for riches. “The lust of other things entering in, choke the word.” We have all seen people who began well; but as cares multiplied or riches increased, their zeal waned. We need, however, to look to our own hearts, and we shall probably have enough to do if we keep out all the thorns and weeds in the one little garden committed to us.

Jesus did not say these people are not Christians, but that they “bring no fruit to perfection.” The distractions of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of others things, entering in, choke the spiritual life, stunting its graces. They lose the sweet comforts of a healthy faith. The fruits of the Spirit in them are shrivelled. They may go on working in the church, preaching, teaching, praying; but the life is wanting. What is the lesson? This: we need to watch without ceasing these hearts of ours, and let no weed or brier grown there for a day. Sometimes God himself does the weeding. He lifts out of the bosom the earthly object that is absorbing all the heart’s love. The process is sore, but the results are full of blessing.

What Of The Root

2009-10-05T00:45:00.000+08:00

“Because they had no root, they withered away.” Matthew 13:6

A root is very important in a plant or a tree. One may take a green branch from a living tree and set it in the ground, and for a little while it may seem to be living; but soon, under the sun’s heat, it will wither. It has no root. The root is not a very beautiful part of a tree — it is hidden away out of sight, and nobody praises it; yet it is essential to the tree’s life. In like manner there is a hidden part in every Christian’s life. It does not seem to bless the world in any way. It is the heart-life, faith, love, communion with God in his Word and in prayer. No one praises a Christian’s inner, closet life; it is secret, and no one sees it: yet it is the root of the whole strong, beautiful life with men do see and praise, and whose ripe fruits feed their hunger.

Our Lord says the trouble with these shallow-soil people is, that they have no root in themselves; that is, there is not in their heart that root-principle of Christian life which consists of faith in Christ and love to Him. Where there is such a root no persecution can tear it away, no outward circumstances can affect the permanence of its life. It is not kept alive by any external influences. Its source is in the heart. It feeds on heavenly food. Temptations and persecutions only make the true Christian purpose all the stronger.

But it is no so with this superficial religion. It has no inward life of its own. It is not produced by an unconquerable love in the heart for Christ. It depends simply on external excitement, — revival meeting, some favourite preacher, some special form of worship, the influence of some friend, — something, at least, in the outer circumstances which keeps the emotions in play for a time. But it has no root in itself; and in such a religion there is nothing to carry a life very far through experiences of trial.

Rootless Grace

2009-10-04T00:45:00.000+08:00

“Some fell upon stony places.” Matthew 13:5

There is a thin covering of soil on the rock. The seed sinks in a little way, and the heat radiating from the rock causes it to shoot up at once. This represents a class whose religion is emotional. At first they give great promise. They are easily moved by any appeal. The feelings work immediately to the surface. Such persons always seem most affected by sorrow. They weep inconsolably; but their grief is soonest over. In like manner they appear to be most deeply affected by religious appeals. They begin a Christian life with an earnestness that puts older Christians to shame. They attend all meetings; they weep as they sing and pray; they talk of Christ to their friends; their zeal is wonderful. “Immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth.”

But such quick growths lack root, and cannot endure the heat of summer. The sun soon scorches them, and they wither. In spiritual life, also, the analogy holds. Emotional religion is not apt to be permanent. It bursts up into great luxuriance to-day, but we are not sure that it will be found to-morrow in healthy life. Too often the enthusiasm is but transient. In the heat of trials, temptations, toil, or sorrow, the rootless graces wilt down and die.

Usually the religious life that is most permanent is that which springs up naturally, and grows slowly to strength and luxuriance. It has good soil, and the roots go down deep into the earth, and are unaffected by the frequent changes in temperature, by heat or cold, by rain or drought.

If any one finds that his spiritual graces are rootless, and that there is a hard rock in his heart underneath the surface, he should seek at once to have the rock broken by penitence and prayer, that the plants of righteousness in him may have opportunity to grow.

Heart Hardening

2009-10-03T00:40:00.000+08:00

“And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side” Matthew 13:4

How are human hearts beaten into a highway? A child’s heart is sensitive to every impression. But as it grows older, the thousand influences, feelings, emotions, imaginations, treading over it continuously, trample it into hardness. Every time he feels that he ought to do a certain thing and does not do it, allowing the good impulse to pass, he is left a little less sensitive to good impressions afterward.

The same effect is produced by the common experiences of life. The wheels and carts of business go lumbering over the heart. We ought to have our hearts fenced in, and allow none of these heavy wagons to pass over them. A business man ought to keep his heart soft and warm in the midst of all his business, tender as a little child’s, humble, teachable, loving, trusting. He ought to have a sanctuary in his inner life into which no unhallowed foot, none but the priestly feet of heavenly guests, should ever pass. But too many make their hearts an open common, till they are beaten into a callousness that nothing can impress.

Another way is by the feet of sinful habits. There was an old legend of a goblin horseman that galloped over men’s fields at night; and wherever his foot struck, the soil was so blasted that nothing would ever grow on it again. So is it with the heart over which the beastly feet of lust, of sensuality, of greed, or selfishness, of passion, are allowed to tread. There is an impression that it does young people no harm to indulge in sin for a time, if they afterward repent. No more fatal falsehood was ever whispered by the tempter into any ear. The heart that is trodden over by vile lusts or indulgences of any kind is never the same again.

Covetousness

2009-10-02T00:45:00.000+08:00

“Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Luke 7:15

This is one of the red flags our Lord hung out which most people nowadays do not seem much to regard. Christ said a great deal about the danger of riches; but not many persons are afraid of riches. Covetousness is not practically considered a sin in these times. If a man breaks the sixth or eighth commandment, he is branded as a criminal and covered with shame; but he may break the tenth, and he is only enterprising. The Bible says the love of money is a root of all evil; but every man who quotes the saying puts a terrific emphasis on the word “love,” explaining that it is not money, but only the love of it, that is such a prolific root.

To look about one, one would think a man’s life did consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Men think they become great just in proportion as they gather wealth. So it seems, too; for the world measures men by their bank account. Yet there never was a more fatal error. A man is really measured by what he is, and not by what he has. You may find a shriveled soul in the midst of a great fortune, and a grand, noble soul in the barest poverty.

The first thing is to gather into our life all the truly great and noble things of character. Here are two texts to ponder, because they settle this question:

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report … think on these things”

“Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.” Notice there is no encouragement to think on possessions, no exhortation to add possessions.”

Always On Duty

2009-10-01T12:40:00.000+08:00

“A certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.” Luke 11:37

Our Lord was not ashamed to be the guest of publicans and sinners, but neither did he reject the invitations of the rich and influential. He was ready to go wherever there was an opportunity of doing good, even to social feasts and large dinner-parties. Of course we are safe in following His example; but we must read on a little farther, and then we shall see that He always used these opportunities as occasions of doing good.

We may go to any place where we can do the part of a messenger of God to other souls. We are never to be off duty as Christians, and as Christians we must be always Christ’s servants, ready to bear blessings from Him to others. We are to be sure, before we accept and invitation to any place, that our Master has an errand there for us. Then when we go, we are to improve the occasion for doing good in some way to some who are there.

Christ never went to any such places of amusement as offer their temptation to young people in these days; and yet this same principle applies to these. “Is it right for me to attend the theatre or the dancing-party?” Well, can you go there as a Christian? Can you confess Christ there? Can you talk of him to others? Can you ask his blessing on your going? Can you go as his messenger, sure that he sends you there? It is time we began to look at these matters very honestly and frankly. If was are Christians, we are to be Christians seven days in the week and everywhere.

Then we are to be Christians always on duty. A young clergyman who had been reproved by his bishop for certain unministerial conduct, sought to excuse himself by saying that he was not on duty at the time. The bishop replied: “A clergyman is never off duty.” This is true of every Christian. Wherever we go we represent our Master.

Christ's Relations

2009-09-17T00:40:00.000+08:00

“Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.” Mark 3:35

This seems too good to be true. To be the brother or the sister of Jesus — did you ever try to think out what it means? Then for every Christian to be taken by Christ into as close and tender a relationship as His own mother sustained to Him — did you ever try to think that out, remembering that you are the one taken into this loving fellowship?

Thousands of women have wished that they could have had Mary’s honour in being the mother of Jesus. Well, here it lies close to their hand. They cannot have Mary’s distinction in this world, but they can have a place just as near to the heart of the Christ as she has. How strange it is that sinful creatures can be taken thus into the very family of God, and have all the privileges and joys of the children of God! We cannot understand it, but let us believe it and think of it until it fills our heart with warmth and gladness. We do not begin to realize the blessedness and glory of being a Christian. There is a picture which seen in one light shows a poor, weary pilgrim, lying on a miserable pallet in a dreary garret; but seen in another light the same picture shows a saint of God, an heir of glory, arrayed in white robes, surrounded and carried up by angels to heavenly glory. The first view is that which human eyes see in the Christian; the other is the reality — that which heaven sees.

But we must not overlook the first part of this verse, that tells us who are received into this close relationship, — “whosoever shall do the will of God.” At every point as we go on, we catch more and more distinctly the teaching that obedience to God is part of the faith that saves. We must do God’s will, and follow Christ with loving fidelity, if we would obtain the privilege of being the brothers and sisters of Christ.

A Beacon Light

2009-09-16T00:40:00.000+08:00

“He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness.” Mark 3:29

Few words in the Bible have caused more anxiety and fear than these. Learned men do not agree in their idea as to what it is to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. But not matter about the exact meaning of the words; they stand here as a warning against a terrible danger. They are like a red light hung over a perilous rock. While we may not know just what constitutes the sin, it certainly is our duty to keep as far from its edge as possible.

And surely all wilful and determined resistance to the influence of the Holy Spirit is a step toward this point of awful peril. This utterance of our Lord should lead us to treat with the utmost reverence every appeal, persuasion, or bidding of the Holy Ghost, never to resist, but always to yield to his every influence. We have no other Friend in this world who can guide us home. If we drive him away from us for ever, we shall be left in the darkness of eternal night. How long we may continue to reject Him and not go beyond the line that marks the limit of hope, we know not; but the very thought that there is such a line somewhere ought to startle us into instant acceptance of the offered guidance.

Oh, where is this mysterious line
That crosses every path,—
The hidden boundary between
God’s patience and his wrath?

How for may we go in sin?
How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end, and where begin
The confines of despair?

An answer from the skies is sent:
“Ye that from God depart,
While it is called Today, repent,
And harden not your heart.”

Right Enthusiam

2009-09-15T00:40:00.000+08:00

“When his friends heard of it, & they said, He is beside himself.” Mark 3:21

Even our Lord’s relatives did not understand Him. His life was so unworldly that it could not be measured by the ordinary standards. Here they could account for his unconquerable zeal only by concluding that He was insane. We hear much of the same kind of talk in modern days when some devoted follower of Christ utterly forgets self in love for his Master. People say, “He must be insane!” They think every man is crazy whose religion kindles into and sort of unusual fervour, or who grows more earnest than the average Christian in work for the Master. Some of Paul’s friends thought he was crazy when he went sweeping over land and sea to carry the gospel to every city. But his answer was, “No, I am not crazy; the love of Christ constraineth me.”

That is a good sort of insanity. It is a sad pity that it is so rare. If there were more of it there would not be so many unsaved souls dying under the very shadow of our churches; it would not be so hard to get missionaries and money to send the gospel to the dark continents; there would not be so many empty pews in our churches, so many long pauses in our prayer-meeting, so few to teach in our Sabbath schools. It would be a glorious thing if all Christians were beside themselves as the Master was, or as Paul was.

It is a far worse insanity which in this world never gives a thought to any other world; which, moving continually among lost men, never pities them, nor thinks of their lost condition, nor puts forth any effort to save them. It is easier to keep a cool head and a colder heart, and to give ourselves no concern about perishing souls; but we are our brothers’ keepers, and no malfeasance in duty can be worse than that which pays no heed to their eternal salvation.

Peace With Pardon

2009-09-14T00:40:00.000+08:00

“Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” Luke 7:5

Saved! This poor, shame-soiled, sin-ruined thing, that the Pharisee would have thrust out of his house into the street — saved! Never to go back any more to her old life! An heir of heaven now, destined to walk the heavenly streets in white! There is an old legend that Mohammed once in passing along the way touched a plant of mallows and it became a geranium, and has ever since been a geranium, pouring fragrance everywhere. No matter about the legend, but Christ did something far more wonderful on the day of our story. He touched this sinful soul, and it was transformed into beauty. That woman has been in glory for eighteen centuries. That is what Christ does for every one who creeps to his feet in penitence and faith.

Peace came with the forgiveness. There could be no peace until she was forgiven. No one has any right to be at peace while the guilt of sin remains uncancelled. But when Christ has forgiven us we should be at peace. Why or of what should we then be afraid? What is there for us to fear in this world or the next?

There is a story of one, in the olden days, who had committed a capital crime. He was the king’s friend and favourite; and when his trial came on, although the case went sorely against him, he manifested no fear. The evidence accumulated. There was no loophole of escape from conviction. His friends had no hope, yet they marvelled at his calmness — he was at perfect peace. He was convicted, and was about to be sentenced; still there was in his features no trace of alarm. At the last moment the secret was revealed. He drew from his bosom a paper, and handed it to the judge. It was the king’s pardon. With that in his possession he had no cause for fear. And with our King’s pardon, no matter how guilty we are, we have no need to be afraid, and may be at peace.

Free Forgiveness

2009-09-13T00:40:00.000+08:00

“When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.” Luke 7:42

All of us are in debt. Of course there is a difference in the amount of our debts. Some have sinned far more than others. But whether our debt be little or much, we have nothing at all with which to pay it. We could not more easily pay the fifty than the five hundred pence. He forgave them both. It is just as easy for God to forgive the greatest sins as the smallest. He forgave them. That is the only way we can ever get clear of our sins.

A king owed a large sum to one of his nobles, but could not pay it. The nobleman made a great feast in honour of his king. A fire or perfumed woods burned on the hearth. During the feast the host brought out all he king’s notes and cast them into the fire, thus obliterating beyond possibility of restoration every evidence of his indebtedness. That is the way God does with our sins. Into the fragrant flames of Christ’s sacrifice he casts them all, and they will never be heard of more.

There is a story of a half-witted boy whose idea of forgiveness was beautiful. He said that Jesus came and with his red hand rubbed out all his sins. A quaint man used to carry a little book, which he took very often from his pocket, and which he called his “biography.” It had only three leaves, and there was not a word written on any of them; yet he said the book told the whole story of his life. The first leaf was black: that was his sin; that was his condition by nature. He would shudder when he looked at it. The second was red: that was the blood or Christ; and his face glowed when he gazed upon it. The third was white: that was himself washed in Christ’s blood, made whiter than snow. His book told the whole story of every redeemed life. Between the black of our sins and the white of redemption must always come the red of Christ’s blood.

A Broken Spirit

2009-09-12T00:55:00.000+08:00

“Stood at his feet behind him weeping.” Luke 7:38

Those who are familiar with the story of Paradise and the Peri¹ will remember how the banished Peri sought to gain admittance at the closed gate of Paradise. The angel told the nymph that there was one hope — that the Peri might yet be forgiven who would bring to the eternal gate the gift that was most dear to Heaven.

The Peri wandered everywhere, sweeping all the lands with her swift wings, searching for some rare and precious thing to carry up to the barred gate. Amid scenes of carnage she found a hero dying for liberty; and

Swiftly descending on a ray
Of morning light, she caught the last,
Last glorious drop his heart had shed,
Before its free-born spirit fled.

With this she flew up to the gate; but, precious as was the boon, the crystal bar moved not. Next in her quest the Peri came upon a dying lover, over whom his betrothed hung; and stealing the farewell sigh of that vanishing soul, again she sought the gate of bliss: but even to this precious boon the bar swung not.

Again she wandered far, and came at last upon a wretched criminal, stained by countless deeds of shame and blood, but now weeping in bitter penitence. The Peri with job caught up the holy tear of contrition as it fell, and swiftly bore it away to heaven; and the door flew open, admitting her to the blessedness within.

This beautiful Oriental legend is not untrue to heavenly fact. The Bible tells us the same thing. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” No offerings we can bring are so precious as contrite tears. No song on earth rings with such music up in heaven as the penitential cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”

The Friend Of Sinners

2009-09-11T00:55:00.000+08:00

“A woman in the city, which was a sinner, when when she knew that Jesus sat at meat—”
- Luke 7:37

It is wonderful how genuine goodness draws to itself the unfortunate, the troubled, the friendless, the outcast, the fallen. Wherever Jesus went, these classes always found him out and gathered about him. It was because he was the true, disinterested friend of all men. They found sympathy in him. He would listen to their story. Though he was the sinless One, there was yet no air of “I am holier than thou” about him. He was just as gentle to an outcast sinner as to a spotless Nicodemus. No matter who reached out a hand for help, he was ready to grasp it. One of the truest things ever said of Jesus was the prophetic word concerning him, “A bruised reed shall he not break.” He dealt always most gently with sore spirits and with bruised hearts.

Those who want to be useful in this world must have the same qualities. There is a kind of human “holiness” that draws nobody to itself, but rather repels; genuine holiness, however, wins its way everywhere into men’s hearts. The secret of it all is in living “not to be ministered unto, but to minister;” in considering one’s self not too good to serve the unworthiest of God’s creatures. If we stay in this world to be served, we shall be of no manner of use. But if we live to minister to others, yearning to be of service to every one we meet, our life will be something worth. The hungry-hearted and the soul-needy will be drawn to us, and God will love to put work into our hands.

We need, too, to train ourselves to exceeding gentleness in dealing with human souls in their spiritual crises. many earnest people, in the excess of their zeal, so incalculable harm to those whom they greatly desire to help. People with sore and bruised hearts usually need loving sympathy and strong, kindly friendship much more than they need theology.

Waverers

2009-09-10T00:55:00.000+08:00

“A reed shaken with the wind.” Luke 7:24

The picture is of a man wavering and unstable, easily swayed and bent from uprightness. That is what a good many men are. A reed grows in soft mud by the water’s edge. Then it is so frail and delicate that every breeze bends it and shakes it. Jesus did not intimate that John was a man of that stamp, but meant just the reverse. John was not like a reed shaken with the wind. He was a man whom nothing could bend or sway. Rather than preach soft words to please Herod, and keep quiet about sins that the king was committing, John charged home the sins without quailing, losing his head at last as reward.

Yet there are some persons who are like reeds. Instead of being rooted in Christ, their roots go down into the soft mud of this world, and of course they are easily torn up. Then they have no fixed principles to hold them upright and make them true and strong; and they are bent by every wind, and moved and swayed by every influence of fear or favour. The boy that cannot say no when other boys tease him to smoke, or drink, or do a wrong or mean thing, is a reed shaken by the wind. The girl who is influenced by frivolities and worldly pleasure, and drawn away from Christ and from a beautiful life, is likewise a reed bent and swayed by the wind.

They are growing everywhere, these reeds, and the wind shakes them every time it blows. Who wants to be a reed? Who would not rather be like the oak, growing in soil as solid as a rock, which no storm bends or even causes to tremble?

There is one apparent advantage in being like a reed: one seems to escape persecution. John would hardly have met the fate he did meet if he had been easily shaken. People who are like reeds do not often lose their heads on the martyr’s block. But they are in danger of losing their souls; and that certainly is worse

The Footprints Of Christ

2009-09-09T00:55:00.000+08:00

“Go your way and tell John what things ye have seen.” Luke 7:22

John wanted to know whether Jesus really was the Messiah or not. Jesus did not present arguments to prove that He was the Messiah, but pointed the messengers to the work He was doing. The best evidence of the divinity of Christ is not any number of proof-texts gathered from all parts of the Bible and arranged in order, but the works that Christ has done and is doing every day. An atheist asked an Oriental how he knew there was a God. The man answered by inquiring, “How do I know whether it was a man or a camel that passed my tent last night?” He knew by the footprints. Then he pointed to the setting sun and asked: “Whose footprint is that?”

Look at the footprints of Christ, and see whether they are a man’s or God’s. Whose prints are those by the gate of Nain, by the grave of Bethany, coming away from the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea? Whose prints are those by the doors of sorrow, along the path where the leper, the blind, the lame, the demoniac waited for Him? Or look around at what you see now — churches, missions, hospitals, asylums, sweetened homes, cleansed sinners, renewed lives, comforted mourners: whose prints are these? These works, wrought by Christianity, are the best evidences of Christianity. Christ wants to be judged, not by His claims, but by His works. The world is full to-day of the proofs of Christ’s divinity.

In like manner we must prove that we belong to Christ, not by getting certificates of church membership, but by showing in our daily lives the unselfishness, the sympathy, the self-denial, the kindness, the love that were the highest proofs on Christ‘s own life of His divine mission. We must be able, when persons ask us if we are Christians, to say: “Look at my life and my works, and judge for yourselves.”

Jesus Always Answers

2009-09-08T00:55:00.000+08:00

“Then Jesus answering” Luke 7:22

John was perplexed, and sent from his prison to ask Jesus if He were indeed the promised Messiah. Jesus patiently answered the messengers. He always answers. Many of our prayers to Him are mixed with doubt; many of them are filled with complaints and fears and murmurings. Still He never grows impatient with us. He never shuts His door upon us. It must grieve and pain Him to have us doubt Him. Joseph wept when his brothers sent a message to him, after their father‘s death, asking him to forgive them, when he had forgiven them years before, and had proved it by a thousand kindnesses; it almost broke his heart to think how they had misjudged him.

Yet that is the way many of us do with Jesus. After all the sacrifices He has made on our behalf, and the blessings His love has bestowed upon us, when some shadow falls upon our heart we wonder whether Christ loves us or not, whether or not He has forgiven us, whether or not He will take care of us in the future, We are half the time perplexed about something — full of worries; and these doubts, fears, and anxieties get into our prayers. They take the joy out of our worship, and the faith out of our supplications, and give a sad tone to our devotions.

Does Jesus never get tired of such prayers? No, no; He listens, and hears all the discords made by the murmurings. His heart must be pained by the too; but He answers us nevertheless. he is very patient with us — He never chides; He remembers how frail we are, and sends the sweetest answers that His love can give. It is wonderful indeed how rich and gentle our Saviour is .Verily

“There is no place where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth‘s failings
Have such kindly judgments given.”

Needless Doubts

2009-09-07T00:55:00.000+08:00

“look we for another?” Luke 7:19

John did not doubt the Messiahship of Jesus that day beside the Jordan, when from the cloven heavens the radiant dove descended upon Him and the Father’s voice was heard in loving approval. Nor did He doubt in any of the bright days that followed. It was only when it grew dark for John himself that he doubted.

That is just the way yet with many people. When everything is bright and sunny they think they have surely found Christ, and they believe He is their friend, and their hearts are full of joy. But when troubles come and things begin to go against them, they wonder whether, after all, they have really found the Saviour. They begin to question their own experiences. “Am I really a Christian? Was that really conversion when I thought I was saved? or is there some other experience that I must yet have?” Christ does not do just the things they thought He would do for them. Their religion does not support them as firmly as they supposed it would. If they are indeed Christians, why does Christ let them suffer so much and not come to relieve them? So they sink away down into the Slough of Despond, some times losing all hope.

See how unnecessary was John’s doubt. Jesus was indeed the Messiah. John’s active work was done, and he was now to glorify God by suffering and soon by martyrdom. Just as needless is all anxiety of Christian people in their times of darkness. Of course we must have some earthly trials. Christ does not carry us to heaven on flowery beds of ease. We must expect to bear the cross many a mile. The true way for us is never to doubt Jesus. Suppose there are clouds, the sun still shines behind them undimmed. Suppose we have failures, trials, and disappointments; Jesus is the same loving friend as when there was not a speck of trouble for us in all the world.