Gems for the Week
June 28 - July 4
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
(Matthew 5:7)
There is nothing on which God more takes His stand (as the active principle of His being in a world of sin) than His mercy. The only possibility of salvation to a single soul is that there is mercy in God; that He is rich in mercy; that there is no bound to His mercy; that there is nothing in man, if he only bows to His Son, which can hinder His constant flowing spring of mercy.
It is not only a question of the forgiveness of their sins, but of mercy in everything. It is a blessed thing to hail the smallest sign of mercy in the saints, to take the little, and look for much more.
They will find, not that there is not difficulty and trial, but that though they shall know the cost of it, they shall know the sweetness of it; they shall taste afresh what the mercy of God is towards their own souls, in the exercise of mercy towards others. (William Kelly - Lectures on Matthew)
N.J. Hiebert # 3019
"If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
(Galatians 2:21)
The Epistle to the Galatians is God's answer to this teaching of Christ AND something else.
In our day this teaching is most common. Even as I write a friend has put a book in my hands. . . . This book boldly teaches that salvation is only by the death of Christ AND the Ten Commandments. This is the teaching of the false teachers at Galatia, and God says to all such "Cursed be he!" (Galatians 3:10) How many preachers and teachers in China,* some even true Christian men, tell their hearers to "Believe in Christ AND keep the law!" "Believe in Christ, AND do the best you can!" "Believe in Christ AND Do something besides." A friend told me only last week, "I try to keep the law to be saved, AND I trust Christ to forgive me for the times I break it."
God says to such teachers, "Cursed be he!" Again let me repeat: this is the devil's way of salvation. This ends in the lake of fire. God's way of salvation is this: CHRIST, and CHRIST alone. Christ has done all the work. "It is finished!" There is nothing left for me to do, but accept it, and give thanks to God. (G.C. Willis - Meditations on Galatians)
(*Mr. Willis was a missionary to China)
N.J. Hiebert # 3020
"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."
(Proverbs 4:23)
We must be right ourselves, in our own inner lives, if we would be right towards others. What I am when alone in the presence of God is what I really am. What I am before my fellows should be the outcome of this, otherwise my public life will be largely a sham. (H.A. Ironside - Colossians)
N.J. Hiebert # 3021
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings." (Malachi 3:8)
If I do not get what is mine in spiritual things, I will not give God what is His in spiritual things. If I fail to enjoy my portion, I will not give God His portion. . . You say perhaps in your inmost heart, if I am not enjoying the highest kind of spiritual life, it is my own fault, it is my own loss. No, it is God's loss. He is the loser. What He craves from you is the obedience and worship of a heart which is so full of His blessing that it has got to express itself in worship and service. No, you are not the chief sufferer, not the chief loser. Our blessed God is the loser. "Will a man rob God?" (S. Ridout - Lectures on the Book of Judges)
N.J. Hiebert # 3022
"I have called you friends." (John 15:15)
Who has not longed for an ideal and yet a real friend - one who should exactly understand us, to whom we could tell everything, and in whom we could altogether confide - one who should be very wise and very true - one of whose love and unfailing interest we could be certain? There are other points for which we could not hope - that this friend should be very far above us, and yet the very nearest and dearest, always with us, always thinking of us; always doing kind and wonderful things for us; undertaking and managing everything; forgetting nothing, failing in nothing; quite certain never to change and never to die - so that this one grand friendship should fill our lives, and that we never need trouble about anything for ourselves any more. Such is our Royal Friend, and more; for no human possibilities of friendship can illustrate what He is to those to whom He says, "Ye are my friends." We, even we, may look up to our glorious King, our Lord and our God, and say, "This is my beloved, and this is my Friend!" And then we, even we, may claim the privilege of being the King's companion and the King's friend. (Frances Ridley Havergal - Opened Treasures)
N.J. Hiebert # 3023
"Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee."
(Psalm 119:11)
This, truly, is a wise and safe thing to do. Let us ponder it. Let us understand it. Let us imitate it.
1. What have I hid? "Thy Word." It is not man's word, but the Word of God, that liveth and abideth for ever. This is the thing to hide. It is a treasure worth hiding. No thief can steal it, no moth corrupt it. It increases by being hidden in the way here spoken of. We cannot set too high a value upon the Word of God. So the psalmist thought when he "hid" it. This expression sets forth how intensely he prized the Word. "I have hid it." He placed it out of the reach of every one and every thing that could deprive him of it. May we ponder it - may we understand it - may we imitate it!
2. Where have I hid it? "In my heart." It was not in his head or in his intellect: but in his heart - the seat of his affections - the center of his moral being - the source of all the influences that swayed his entire career.
3. Why have I hid it? For a very weighty reason - a most important reason. "That I might not sin against Thee." It was not that he might have a rich fund of new ideas to talk about and show off upon. Nor yet was it that he might be able to confound in argument all his opposers, and silence them. . . . He had a horror of sin - a holy horror; He knew that the most effectual safeguard against sin was the Word of God. (The Young Christian - Vol. 3)
N.J. Hiebert # 3024
"Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification."
(Romans 15:2)
Maturity is the stage in life when you don't see eye to eye but can walk arm in arm.
N.J. Hiebert # 3025
