~Ascensiontide~

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Luke 24:50-53

 See, the Conqueror mounts in triumph; see the King in royal state,

Riding on the clouds, His chariot, to His heavenly palace gate.

Hark! the choirs of Angel voices joyful Alleluias sing,

And the portals high are lifted to receive their Heavenly King.

He has raised our human nature on the clouds to God’s right hand;

There we sit in heavenly places, there with Him in glory stand:

Jesus reigns, adored by Angels; Man with God is on the Throne;

Mighty LORD, in Thine ascension we by faith behold our own.

CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH

            Forty days had now elapsed since the Crucifixion. During those forty days nine times had He been visible present to human eyes, and had been touched by human hands. But His body had not been merely the human body, nor liable to merely human laws, nor had He lived during those days the life of men. The time had now come when His earthly presence should be taken away from them forever, until He returned in glory to judge the world. He met them in Jerusalem, and as He led them with Him towards Bethany, He bade them wait in the Holy City until they had received the promise of the Spirit. He checked their eager inquiry about the times and the seasons, and bade them be His witnesses in all the world. These last farewells must have been uttered in some of the wild secluded upland country that surrounds the little village; and when they were over, He lifted up His hands and blessed them, and, even as He blessed them, was parted from them, and as He passed from before their yearning eyes “a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

         Between us and His visible presence—between us and that glorified Redeemer who now sitteth at the right hand of God—that cloud still rolls. But the eye of Faith can pierce it; the incense of true prayer can rise above it; through it the dew of blessing can descend. And if He is gone away yet He has given us in His Holy Spirit a nearer sense of His presence, a closer infolding in the arms of His tenderness, than we could have enjoyed even if we had lived with Him of old in the home of Nazareth, or sailed with Him in the little boat over the crystal waters of Gennesareth. We may be as near to Him at all times—and more than all when we kneel down to pray—as the beloved disciple was when he laid his head upon His breast. The word of God is very nigh us, even in our mouths and in our hearts. To ears that have been closed, His voice may seem indeed to sound no longer. The loud noises of War may shake the world; the eager calls of Avarice and of Pleasure may drown the gentle utterance which bids us “Follow Me”; after two thousand years the incredulous murmurs of an impatient skepticism may make it scarcely possible for Faith to repeat, without insult, the creed which has been the regeneration of the world…. But the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.  To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever, even until all the Æons have been closed, and the earth itself, with the heavens that now are, have passed away, shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted,

“GOD WITH US.”

The Life of Christ

F.W. FARRAR

On the Shores of Galilee

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.

John 21:1

“And man's forgiveness may be true and sweet,

But yet he stoops to give it. More complete

Is Love that lays forgiveness at thy feet,

And pleads with thee to raise it. Only Heaven

Means CROWNED, not VANQUISHED, when it says 'Forgiven!'"

ADELAIDE PROCTER

        

The evening breeze was fragrant with the myriad flowers of spring. The Lake lay dimpling in the warm sunset.  Boats and nets were to hand; seven of them pushed off from the shore in one of the larger fishing boats and made off for the familiar fishing-grounds. Darkness stole down the mountains, the lights died out along the shore, heaven’s vault revealed its starry galaxies, the silence of the night was broken only by the letting out and drawing in of the nets, or the occasional stroke of the oar; but when the grey morning began to break—they had taken nothing.

The disappointment was hard to bear. But those who have had experience of God’s dealing are well aware that one door is shut that another may be opened, and that our program is arrested in a certain direction because God has provided something wiser and better. He wished them to understand that their livelihood was to be obtained, not by plying their fishing-craft, but by fires that He would light and meals that His own hands would prepare. The lesson is for us all. If our days are filled with consecrated service, we may go to our beds and sleep in peace.

When, therefore, breakfast was over, Jesus repeated the same question thrice: “Lovest thou Me?”

Love to Jesus is the indispensable qualification of service. Only those who love can satisfy the requirements of Christ’s service. Only they can bear the fret and strain of wayward wills and faltering resolve. Love is needed for the gathering of tired and sick lambs to the shepherd’s bosom, for the weary mothers finding the mountain-path steep and difficult, and for the straying sheep, possessed by an incessant tendency to break through gaps, or wander browsing on forbidden pastures. The first, second, and third qualification of the true Shepherd is Love. Therefore the Master asked persistently, “Dost thou lovest Me?” And to the thrice-repeated question Peter returned the same reply, “Thou knowest that I love Thee….”

Two Greek words stand for Love. The one expresses the reverent and adoring Love with which we should regard the Holy God. The other expresses love in its more human and affectional aspect. In His two first questions, Jesus asked His Apostle whether he loved with the former love. This Peter modestly disclaimed. “Nay,” said he, “but I love Thee with the ardor of personal affection.” Finally, our Lord descended to his level and asked if indeed he loved Him thus, eliciting the immediate response: “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee.”

With evident reference to Peter’s boast made at the Supper, that though his fellow-disciples might desert the Master, yet he never would, Jesus asked him if he loved Him more that the rest. But all his braggart boastfulness had gone, and he, by his silence and his grief, confessed that he dared not claim any priority in love. He was prepared to take the lowest seat, and own himself last and least. In this, also, he proved that he was worthy for the foremost place, because he was willing to take the lowest. If only he might fill some lowly office he would be content. He had become as a little child; and our Lord did not hesitate, with the hearty assent of the brethren who stood around, to take him by the hand and place him in the old foremost position which he seemed to have forfeited forever.

F.B. MEYER

Fisherman, Disciple, Apostle

Eastertide 2013

“I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

John 16:22

And it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave to them.  And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him…

Luke 24:30-1

Now let the heavens be joyful!

Let earth her song begin!

Let the round world keep triumph,

And all that is therein!

Let all things seen and unseen

Their notes in gladness blend,

For Christ the Lord hath risen,

Our joy that hath no end.

JOHN of Damascus-760AD

If you come to seek His face, not in the empty sepulchre, but in the living power of His presence, as indeed realizing that He has finished His glorious work, and is alive forevermore, then your hearts will be full of true Easter joy, and that joy will shed itself abroad in your homes.  And let your joy not end with the hymns and the prayers and the communions in His house.  Take with you the joy of Easter to the home, and make that home bright with more unselfish love, more hearty service; take it into your work, and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus; take it to your heart, and let that heart rise anew on Easter wings to a higher, a gladder, and fuller life; take it to the dear grave-side and say there the two words "Jesus lives!" and find in them the secret of calm expectation, and hope of eternal reunion.

JOHN ELLERTON

1826-1893

There are no marks of the crown of thorns upon His Brow, yet He looks more than ever a King!  The placid sunrise is beautiful, but there is not half so much quiet beauty about it as reigns over that ineffably sweet Face.  O look into His Eyes; what a depth of love, what a tenderness, yet what an overwhelming power of love!  In His Easter joy, He thought of us and of our salvation, of each one of us by name and look; He will know that joy again when we come before Him, to rest forever in His presence.

F.W. FABER

1815-1863

March 29, Good Friday

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 26:30

When in distress to Him we cried,

He heard our sad complaining;

O trust in Him, whate’er betide,

His love is all sustaining;

Triumphant songs of praise

To Him our hearts shall raise;

Now every voice shall say,

“O praise our God alway;”

Let all saints adore Him!

Sir H.W. BAKER

Rejoice Today with One Accord

This is the only record of our Lord’s singing when He was on the earth. It is worthy of special notice that it was just as He was starting out to Gethsemane that He sung a hymn with His disciples. It would not have seemed so strange to us if He had sung that night on the Transfiguration Mount, or the day He entered Jerusalem amid the people’s hosannas, or on some other occasion of great gladness and triumph; but that the only time we hear Him singing should be in the darkest night of His life is very suggestive.

It tells us of the deep gladness that was in the heart of Christ under all His grief and sorrows. He knew the agony into whose black shadows He was about to enter. He saw the cross, too, that stood beyond Gethsemane. Yet He went out toward the darkness with songs of praise on His lips. There is a Scripture word which tells us that “for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame.” This was the joy that broke forth here in a hymn of praise. It was the joy of doing the Father’s will and of saving lost souls. We get thus here another glimpse of Christ’s great heart of love.

The secret of Christ’s song here was His looking beyond the garden and the cross; He saw the reward, the glory, the redemption accomplished. If we look only at the sorrow before us, we cannot sing; but if we look on to the joy of victory, and the blessedness of the reward, and the ripened fruits that will come from the suffering, we can sing too as we enter the sorest trial.

J.R. MILLER

1840-1912

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.

VICTOR HUGO

1802-1885

March 23

…Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

Calm me, my God, and keep me calm,

Soft resting on Thy breast;

Sooth me with holy hymn and psalm,

And bid my spirit rest.

Calm as the ray of sun or star

Which storms assail in vain;

Moving unruffled through earth’s war,

The eternal calm to gain.

Horatius Bonar

Every word of this precious verse is golden. And the fact of its standing here as a divine command is a proof not only of what is possible for us to do, but of what God is prepared to enable us to do. His commands are enablings; His words are power words; His light is life. If only you are willing to live the glad, free, carefree life, and dare to step out on the waves of His care, you will find that, with the resolve to obey, there will come from Him the wondrous power that makes obedience possible. 

And it is in the highest degree necessary to obey this precept. So only can we be peaceful and strong. We cannot stand the strain of both work and worry.  Two things come between our souls and unshadowed fellowship with God, sin and care. And we must be as resolute to cast our care on the Lord as to confess our sins to Him, if we would walk in the light as He is in the light. One yelping dog may break our slumber on the stillest night. One care may break our peace and hide the face of God, and bring a funeral pall over our souls. We must cast all our care on Him if we would know the blessedness of unshadowed fellowship. 

There may be pain—but no doubt of the Father’s love, no worry about the issues, no foreboding as to the long future, which to the eye of faith shines like the horizon rim of the sea on which the sun is shining in its utmost splendor while dark clouds brood overhead. 

Care, according to the Greek word, is that which divides and distracts the soul, which diverts us from present duty to weary calculations of how to meet conditions which may never arrive. Fret; worry; anxiety; the habit of anticipating evil; crossing bridges before we reach them; the permission of foreboding fears about the future; all that attitude of mind which broods over the mistakes of the past and dwells on the shadows which coming events may cast, rather than on the love and will of God—this is Care. 

Alas for some! They always spend their lives thus. One long, weary monotone of anxiety—struggling against winds and waves, instead of walking over the crests of the billows; treading a difficult, stony pass, instead of being borne along in one of the twenty thousand chariots of God. 

How infinitely better to cast our care upon the strong, broad shoulders of Christ! Treat cares as you treat sins. Hand them over to Jesus one by one as they occur. Commit them to Him. Roll them upon Him. Make them His. By an act of faith look to Him, saying, “This, Lord, and this, and this, I cannot bear. Thou hast taken my sins; take my cares: I lay them upon Thee, and trust Thee to do for me all, and more than all, I need. I will trust and not be afraid.” 

Let us trust Him. Tongue cannot tell the completeness, the delicacy, the tender thoughtfulness of the care that will gather and shelter us, as the nervous, careful hen gathers her brood under her wing.

F.B. MEYER

Tried by Fire

March 11

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.

1 Peter 5:5-6

Wide open are Thine arms,

A fallen world to embrace;

To take to love and endless rest

Our whole forsaken race.

Lord, I am sad and poor,

But boundless is Thy grace;

Give me the soul transforming joy

For which I seek Thy face.

BERNARD of CLAIRVAUX

12^th Century

         One of the chief signs of the unrenewed spirit is the haughty self-complacency with which it bears itself.  To resent an insult; to stand upon fancied rights; to vaunt superiority; to show “the silver, and gold, and spices, and precious ointment,” in the ostentatious and vainglorious way which brought reproof and chastisement on Hezekiah—this is the manner of the world.

And this insidious sin of pride dies hard in the child of God; nay, it may be questioned if ever we shall be perfectly quit of it on this side of the gates of pearl. Christian men are proud of their houses, and carriages, and wealth, and position.  Christian women are proud of their person, and dress, and rank and children. Christian ministers are proud of their influence, and sermons, and the admiration they receive. A bit of flattery, a newspaper notice, a conscious success, are food enough for pride to grow fat upon, until it begins to fancy that all the world is thinking of it, and feels that the most extravagant praise is but a grudging tribute to its worth.

        

May I not press this upon my readers further, urging each to consider his own character and behavior in the light of these words. We must be convicted of pride before we seek the grace of true humility. Pride is one of the most detestable of sins; yet does it find lodgment in earnest souls, though we often speak of it by some lighter name. We call it independence, self-reliance.  We do not always discern it in the hurt feeling, which retires into itself, and nurses its sorrows in a sulk.

        

The metaphor used in this passage is surely derived from that most touching incident on the eve of the crucifixion, when, though having present to His mind His origin and destiny, our Lord took upon Him the form of a servant. “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.  After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”(John 13: 3-5) What a lovely vesture did that stripping that towel, that lowly attitude, between them make! Not even when He stood radiant on the Mount of Transfiguration did He seem to be dressed so fair.  Surely Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as He.  And so the injunction comes to us all, that we should adopt the same livery, and each one don His garb. “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility.”

        

“His sweet dews and showers of grace slide off the mountains of pride, and fall on the low valleys of humble hearts, making them pleasant and fertile. The swelling heart, puffed up with a fancy of fullness, hath no room for grace. The humble heart is most capacious, and, as being emptied and hallowed, can hold most.” (Leighton)

F.B. MEYER

Tried by Fire