Sound Words for Pilgrims

"The love of Christ constraineth us" 2 Corinthians 5:14

Dear suffering Lamb !  Thy bleeding woulds,

With cords of love divine.

Have drawn our willing hearts to Thee,

And linked our life with Thine.

Sir E. Denny

(pp. 133-136, Footprints for Pilgrims)

What was the power that made Levi leave all and follow Christ ? Not the command:  the power did lie in the word itself, but it was the presentation of Christ Himself to Levi.  You cannot get separation apart from the presenting of the Person.  This is the reason of failure in separation -- it must begin with the heart.  If you want to help souls you must present Christ to them.  How should I separate a quantity of steel filings from a heap of dust ? By picking them out ? No, I should only defile my hand.  By holding a powerful magnet to them, and all would instantly be attracted and drawn out of the dust.  It is Christ revealed to us that detaches us from this world.

There is many a Christian who has not reached Christ, and there is the weakness.  There is a larger blessing than forgiveness -- that is, HIMSELF.  Nothing will satisfy Christ but revealing His heart to you, and you will never grow until you know Him.  It is impossible to grow unless you are under the power of His love.

"I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love" (Rev. 2:4, J.N.D.) Nothing can compensate for want of heart for Christ.

"And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught." (Mark 6:30) Surely we could not do better than follow the example of the apostles in this respect.  How much we should learn if we did so, and how gently He would remind us of many a failure to present the truth, or if we presented it correctly, how much we have failed to preach it in the power of the Spirit.  But we have to do with One who loves us, and this gives us confidence in telling Him everything.  It is even so in human relationships, for when we are assured of one another's love we do not hesitate to tell everything.  Much more should it be so when we speak to the Lord.

If we would wash another's feet aright our motive, like that of Jesus, must spring from love.  (See John 13:1, etc.)

The measure of our love indicates the measure of our usefulness.  As the apostle teaches us -- we may spend the whole of our substance in philanthropic work, and yet without love it is of no avail.

"Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifyeth." (1 Cor. 13:1)  I have noticed in small meetings, when love is strongly developed in the Christians, they grow, though there is not gifted teacher among them.

"And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." (Luke 10:35)  Spend anything you like on a child of God, and He will undertake to repay you.

In proportion as death works in us, the divine nature is in activity, and God is love.

Love to Christ is the mainspring of holiness.

--- E.D.

"That He might have the first place in all things." Colossians 1:18 (J.N.D.)

Of the vast universe of bless, The centre Thou, and Sun;

The eternal them of praise is this, To heaven's beloved One;

Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou,

That every knee to Thee should bow !

E. Conder

(pp. 81-84, Footprints for Pilgrims)

Christ is everything.  He is everything to the heart of God, and He desires to be everything to the hearts of His people.  That it may be so with you is the highest blessedness I can desire for you.

There is never any difficulty about guidance when the eye is on Christ, but if other considerations come in then you miss His leadings.

"According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body."  Is it our desire to be able to adopt Paul's language ? Do we hold our bodies as vessels for the display of Christ ?  As we rise in the morning do we look upon the coming day as another opportunity of making Christ great ?

We can present Christ to the hearts of men in our lives as well as by our words.  We may not be able to explain a single passage of scripture, but we can live Christ.  You may teach a Sunday school, or visit among the poor, and that is all right and good, but there is something far better -- live Christ, present Christ.

May the Lord teach us this lesson -- that He is the only thing that is indispensable to us.

There is always a response to the ministry of Christ.

Christ in some aspect is suited to the need of every soul.

The only object of the preacher is to exalt and make much of Christ.  The Spirit's testimony is Christ, and His work is to glorify Christ, and I desire to be in the line of the Spirit, otherwise one could not count upon being used in blessing.

Half the preaching in the world today might be done away with to advantage.  Nothing can meet the need of the people but Christ.  There is nothing worth ministering but Christ.

The truth is not Christ, but Christ is the truth.  You can have the truth without having Christ, but if you have Christ you must have the truth -- all the influences that flow from the truth -- because He is THE TRUTH.

The larger our thoughts of Christ the larger our communion with the heart of God ... The glory of Christ is the one subject that fills the heart of God, and filling His heart it should also fill ours.

A real revival in our hearts is always the revival of the place of Christ in our hearts.

The least bit of allowed self obscures the presentation of Christ.

It always appeals to me that the last sight the disciples had of our blessed Lord was His passing into heaven with His outstretched arms of blessing.  That indeed is His perpetual attitude towards us.  No less striking is their response to what they had seen.  It was, in one word, perpetual worship.  Ah, if we did but worship more we should have far higher conceptions of who He is, and what He had done for us.

--- E.D.

"Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father ... comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work."

2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17

Let us our feebleness recline On that Eternal love of Thine,

And human thoughts forget; Childlike, attend what Thou wilt say,

Go forth and serve Thee while 'tis day, Nor leave our sweet retreat.

(pp. 41-44, Footprints for Pilgrims)

"Who hath despised the day of small things ?"  We are slow to learn that the importance of any service depends upon God's estimate of it ... that the meanest service ... is worthy of all our devotedness and zeal if the mind and heart of God are upon it, and if He has put it into our hand.

We cannot have power with men if we have not power with God.  The greatest mistake any of us can make is to seek to have power before men without having been in the presence of God.

We are dependent upon God when we speak to one soul as when we preach to a thousand.  I have learnt this by experience; I have gone to see a sick person in great self-confidence and found I had nothing to say.  And then the Lord taught me I must wait upon Him for the message for a single soul as much as when I was going to preach.  May we ever remember this, that there may be no trace of self-confidence remaining in the heart.

The wonder is that the Lord condescends to use anything which He gives one to say, seeing that we so often adulterate it with our own thoughts.

It is so gracious of Him to give us any encouragement in our service, but I am convinced that, in the issue, the fruit of our labours which we have not seen will be far more abundant than that which we have been permitted to know of, and hence it is that we have to scatter the seed in faith.

I am certain that we must leave results until the judgment seat of Christ.  In the meantime our one desire must be to gain His approbation and be content with that.  Nothing else is worth seeking for.

I suspect that we shall see in the future that the meetings we thought the least of were among the best.  We may therefore take courage and go forward in the knowledge that He who can appraise them at their true value is the One who will praise us most for what we have really done for Him.

I am coming to this conclusion, that the more one ministers Christ Himself the more you can count upon divine assistance.  To exalt Christ is to be in communion with the mind of God.  This will be our sole employment in heaven.

One lesson I am learning of late is our absolute dependence upon the power of God every time we speak; it is not our liberty nor our words, but it is the power of God that affects the souls to whom we speak.

A preacher will be so conscious that only divine power can touch a soul that he will rest in God about it.

--- E.D.

"Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live ?"  Hebrews 12:9

A heart resigned, submissive, meek, My great Redeemer's throne,

Where only Christ is heart to speak, Where Jesus reigns alone.

(pp. 29-32, Footprints for Pilgrims)

Faith is a divine plant that only grows out of the soil of a broken will.

Two lessons I have been learning: first, to expect nothing but from the Lord; and, secondly, to take nothing, even though it be that on which you have set your heart, and even if it be brought to you, but to wait on the Lord until He puts it into your hands.  If ripe fruit, for example (I use "ripe fruit" figuratively), be hanging on a branch close to you, do not pluck it, but let the Lord, if it be His will, put it into your lips, and then you may enjoy it.

You are of no use to God until your will is broken.

The calm of a soul which reposes in the will of God is unspeakable.

When you have learnt that your only home is God's presence, and your only happiness is in doing God's will, there is nothing more that I can teach you.

The more subject we are to the will of God the more we shall grow in holiness.

(Luke 22:42, etc.) You cannot expect an answer from God unless your will is gone.  You shut out answers to prayer because you have a will about the thing for which you are praying.

A sister used to say that the only difference she knew in places was where she realized most of the presence of God; so it will be with ourselves when we have no will of our own, and when we have no home but God's presence.

If we knew the heart of God we would never question any of His dealings with us, nor should we ever desire His hand lifted off us till we had learnt all He would teach us.

Paul says, "Through evil report and good report," he did not stop to explain; a true servant of God has not time for that, and to defend yourself only leads to further charges.

We are never to seek to vindicate ourselves when it is a personal matter, but when the Lord's name is dishonoured for His glory we may speak.

You never find the Lord defending Himself.

Your character may not be vindicated down here.  Jesus died under a cloud.

He was never cleared in this world of the false accusations that had been made against Him.

The will of God was the only law of Christ's life.  He was never governed by human considerations or affections. Are we set upon this -- that the will of God should be our only law ?

A soul who is in the secret of the divine mind must be content to be unappreciated and to walk alone.

If we are not in the path of God's will we are not in the path of power.

Our true wisdom is in subjection to the will of the Lord.  To human eyes no plan of taking Jericho could have been more foolish than that which Joshua adopted; but it was God's plan, and hence its complete success.

--- E.D.