Meditations on the Call of the Bride
Table of Contents
Meditations on the Call of the Bride: Part 1
Alone, in the secret of the divine presence, separated for a little while from the outer world, and even from the activities of the Lord's work, let thy thoughts be engaged, 0 my soul, with that which will lead thee into the closest and sweetest communion with divine and heavenly things. The inner sanctuary is the true place for thy meditations. There, the sevenfold light of the golden candlestick shines without a veil. There is no need of a veil now; sin has been put away and God glorified. The same stroke that slew the Lamb, rent the veil. But it was rent from the top—from God's point of view—by God's own hand. Christ and His ransomed ones enter into the holiest of all without a veil; accepted in the Beloved; no more conscience of sins; liberty of access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Matt. 27:51; Eph. 1:6; Heb. 10:2; Rom. 5:2.
Such solitude is needful, it is indispensable. Not only -will thy communion be thereby deepened, but thy loins will be afresh girded for work and thy sword whetted for further conflict.
The revelations of God's love to us are intended, as they are fitted, to draw our hearts nearer and nearer to Himself. And where couldst thou find, my soul, a scene of more exquisite beauty than is laid in Gen. 24 and the scriptures which immediately surround it, and form part of the scene? Here we have shadowed forth the Father's purposes of love concerning His Son, the heir of all things, the passing away of Israel, the call of the bride and her heavenly home. But before dwelling on the principal features of chapter 24, thou wilt do well to glance briefly at chapters 22., 23. These consecutive chapters, under the light of the New Testament, are full of Christ, Israel, and the church.
The Typical Death And Resurrection Of Isaac
The house of Abraham being now cleared of the bondwoman and her son, and his own moral condition thoroughly judged before the Lord, he is called to pass through a great trial of faith in the offering up of his son Isaac. But it is most interesting and instructive to observe the Lord's dealings with Abraham in secret before he is called to this bright and public manifestation of his faith, and of his intelligence in the mind of God. Man of faith, and man of God, though Abraham was, we learn from chapter 20 that he had long cherished in his heart a subtle expediency of unbelief as to the specious plea of Sarah being his sister. " And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place where we shall come, say of me, he is my brother." This was false and of Satan; and proved the guilty cause of his weakness and failure again and again. But now, through mercy, the truth is told; the idol is cast out of the heart; the sin is confessed, his soul is strengthened, and he never falls into the same sin again. But, O, pause here a little, my soul, and learn a lesson so needed in the midst of present circumstances.
Mark the danger of allowing an idol a place in the heart; of maintaining a secret reserve there which is dishonoring to the Lord and ruinous to the life of faith; of acting under any guilty agreement with another, though it may have the semblance of truth, while the conscience knows that it is not perfectly right before God. There can be no real blessing, no triumphs of faith, until the evil, whatever may be its form, is judged in its very roots, openly confessed, and given up. This may be humbling work, but it must be gone through. Half measures will never do for God; He must have reality, truth in the inward parts. It was truly humbling, degrading work for Abraham, and that too in the eyes of the world. He was forced to confess his deception to Abimelech king of Gerar, and receive his rebukes. And Sarah too suffers dishonor in the sight of strangers, and is reproved by the king. " Behold he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other; thus she was reproved." So let Christ be a complete covering to thine eyes, the filling up, and satisfying of thy heart. Have Him only. No reserves, no compacts, no idols, have Him only as the covering of thine eyes.
But the Lord. who is full of compassion and tender pity, after all this, greatly honored His servant in the eyes of Abimelech and all his people, and in him foreshadows the exaltation of the Jew over the Gentile in the latter day, to the glory of Jehovah, the everlasting God. Chapter 21:22, 34.
In chapter 22 a new scene opens to us, and a deeper character of events follow. It begins with, " And it came to pass after these things." This is significant as to Abraham's state of soul. It was at bright moment in his history and full of meaning. The Gentile comes seeking protection of the Jew, his blessing on his family and descendants, and enters into covenant with him. The God of glory is now before the mind of Abraham. He is strong in faith giving glory to God—the Lord of heaven and earth. " And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God." Here we see three things—the altar, the grove, and the well: expressive symbols of the millennial day, when Jew and Gentile will be united in peace and blessing. All is joy and happy communion with the mind of God. Ishmael is dismissed, the idol dethroned, and the house of Abraham established in the son of promise. He was now in a fit state of soul to stand the severest test that any saint of God ever passed through. But carefully note, my soul, the immediate connection between prayer and service, between communion in secret and power in public, between Abraham " calling on the name of the Lord," and his readiness to obey the call of God in offering up his son. Scarcity of bread turns him aside from the path of faith when looking to circumstances and listening to the voice of nature, but nothing turns him aside now, or causes him even to hesitate for a moment; his eye is fixed on God, the everlasting God, the God of resurrection.
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lowest, and get thee unto the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave, the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went into the place of which God had told him." Never was faith put to such a test as this; but Abraham, through communion with God, is equal to the trial. He knows God, trusts in God, reckons on God, and is prepared to give up everything for Him; even his son, his only son, Isaac, the heir of promise, the one through whom all blessing was to flow both to Jew and Gentile. He rose up early in the morning; he made haste to obey; accounting that God was able to raise up Isaac even from the dead; from which also he had received him in a figure. (Heb. 11) He had already received Isaac as it were from the dead, and he now lays him bound on the altar at the word of God, in the sure and certain hope that God would raise him up again. The promise was God's, that was enough for faith, though, alas! it is not always enough for the believer. Unless there be simple faith in God Himself, and obedience to His word, the believer may often fail.
But the actual moment for faith's unequaled trial has come. Draw near, my soul, and meditate on its brightest displays and its greatest triumphs. It has no parallel even in the book of God. Abraham has reached the appointed place. " Behold, the fire and the wood;" said. Isaac to his father, " but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" What words were these to a father's heart? But mark the tranquil answer of faith. " And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." His eye rested on God, not on his beloved Isaac. He believed God, lie trusted God, all his springs -were in him: this was the secret of his strength and his victories. " And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou past not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son."
The faith of Abraham is now fully proved. God is known and trusted as the God of resurrection; this was the secret of strength in the hour of trial. He could trust God with a sacrificed Isaac; knowing that all he had given up in death would be received back again in resurrection. Thus God was glorified and Abraham justified by these reckonings of faith. But our chief object in referring to this remarkable scene, is not so much the faith of the father as the death and resurrection of the son. " For though he was spared the actual death to which Abraham freely gave him up, the type of death as a sacrifice is fully carried out by the substitution of the ram caught in the thicket and slain by the father." Thus we see the deeper mysteries of the cross shadowed forth in this remarkable type; even the love of God in the gift and in the death of His Son, for whom no ram was caught in the thicket. God " spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.'' And, oh, wondrous, precious, mysterious faith, Christ, the Fountain of life, submits to death by the puny arm He had created. But in faith He died, and gave up Himself on the cross, and all that was dear to Him, into the hands of the Father, to be received again in resurrection. And now we have in Him, as the risen Man, resurrection life, with all its untold and eternal blessedness. God so loved the world that He gave His Son, and Christ so loved the church that He gave Himself for it, so that faith can now delight itself in the fullness of divine love, and personally say, looking up to the risen Man in the glory, He loved me and gave Himself for The cross of Calvary and the altar of Moriah are now seen and enjoyed in the light of a risen and glorified Christ.
Meditations on the Call of the Bride: Part 2
The promises first made to Abraham in chapter 12. are now confirmed to Isaac—the dead and risen boil.—and others are added. There must always be an increase of blessing to the soul in every fresh sacrifice that we make for God. Abraham now knows God as Jehovah-jireh—the Lord will provide—which is a new ground of relationship with God in grace. And Isaac received the promise of a seed numerous as the stars of heaven. Abraham now leaves the sacred mount and returns to Beer-sheba, the well of the oath; and we will pass on to chapter 23.
The Disappearance Of Israel
In the opening of chap. 23, we are again introduced to scenes of trial, but of a wholly different character. Sarah dies, who represents the new covenant of grace, not Hagar who represents the old covenant of law, and Abraham comes before us as a mourner. " And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." But the burial of Sarah and the cave of Machpelah, with all their circumstances of sorrow, only reveal to us fresh victories of faith.. And fail not to notice in passing, my soul, the dignities of faith before the men of the world. Abraham takes his place as " a stranger and sojourner" in the presence of the children of Heth, though he knew all the while that the whole country was his by promise; but he was a willing stranger in the land, for lie desired a better country, that is an heavenly. But knowing that his seed would yet inherit the land, he purchases with the greatest care the cave of Machpelah, that he may make it his own, and have it as his possession for a burying place: there he buried his beloved Sarah, as he had laid his Isaac on the altar, in the faith that God was able to raise up the sacred dust again. He believed in resurrection, and in God as the God of resurrection. This was the secret power of his faith as a heavenly stranger, and of his dignity before the children of this world.
But knowest thou, my soul, in thine own experience, and in the power of divine grace, what this faith is that meets with such calm dignity the ever-varying circumstances of this wilderness life? The subject well deserves thy deepest meditations. " This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Strictly speaking, faith cannot be overcome, it always overcomes—simply because it reckons on God Himself, and trusts to His word, which only governs faith. But the believer, alas, is not always governed by God's word, and therefore he is often overcome by his circumstances in place of overcoming them. When Abraham looked at Sarah and Abimelech and allowed his fears—or rather the suggestions of Satan—to govern him, he sorrowfully failed; but when he was looking to God Himself, and his heart resting on His sure word, we see him rising above, and quietly overcoming one circumstance after another just as they come before him. It must be always so; Ai was too many for Joshua and the armies of Israel without God; but what was Jericho with its high walls and barred gates to faith? Peter could no more walk on smooth water than rough without faith; had the Lord stilled the waves be would have sunk all the same; but had Peter kept his eye fixed on the person of Christ, and His gracious word, " Come" fixed in his heart, he could have walked on the roughest sea as on dry land.
This is a great subject, rest assured, my soul, dismiss it not hurriedly; but see thou and folly comprehend it and firmly hold it. Thou art never right or safe, as a heavenly stranger in this world, except on the ground of faith. This is a dry and thirsty land where no water is, and thou hast to bear in mind that all thy fresh springs are in the living God. The Son of man—the Lord from heaven, found it so, and thou art to walk even as He walked.. God is honored with thy confidence when every channel of relief appears to be entirely cut off. He can form new channels, both deeper and broader than any which thou hast heretofore known. Let God Himself, then I pray thee, be thy confidence—God in Christ Jesus as thou knowest Him—and let His word govern thy every thought, feeling, and action. " Them that honor me I will honor," saith the Lord, and " Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." 1 Sam. 2:30; Psalm 2:12.
But are not all Christians, thou mayest inquire, well acquainted with the nature and power of faith? Was not our whole personal condition as lost sinners fully met by faith at the beginning of our path as Christians? Most surely it was, and no greater victory than this can ever be gained all thy journey through. We then entered into the complete victories of Christ, and shared with Him the spoils of redemption. And were we duly to consider this—the greatest of all deliverances—we should never be overwhelmed by the difficulties of the way. But are there not many who have faith in Christ for the pardon of their sins and the salvation of their souls, who know nothing of the path of faith? True, alas, most true; but such have never entered into the blessings of grace at their conversion. They know not the completeness of redemption, their standing in Christ—the risen man in glory; or the path of faith which becomes their high calling. We know by the word of God that we have been delivered from sin and all its direful consequences; that we have been introduced to a new state altogether in the risen Jesus, beyond death and judgment; that we have peace with God, and acceptance in the Beloved. These are, after all, the mightiest conquests of grace through faith, and surely with these we are most familiar.
Faith," says one, " which has done its first work has done its greatest work. If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.' It is the power of life over death, life in victory, that faith uses. It was such power of victorious life that Abraham possessed himself of by faith. The sepulcher is empty, and the grave clothes are lying there, as the spoils of war. The deadness of His own body, the altar of his Isaac, and the grave of his Sarah, were visited and inspected by a risen man, in the light of the of Him who is the quickener of the dead, and calleth those things that be not as though they were."
We now return to our chapter. The death of Sarah represents the disappearing of Israel after the preaching of Peter at Pentecost. He stood up before the men of Israel, the children of the covenant which God made with their fathers, and boldly testified of the death and resurrection of Christ, the true Isaac, but they would not hearken, they rejected the testimony, their unbelief was complete, and, consequently, Israel disappears for a time because of their persistent unbelief; but in the latter day—after the church is caught up—when God works again in His Jewish people, the new covenant will reappear, and be established forever in the Sarah line of promise. Thus the death of Sarah, the mother, Israel, makes way for Rebekah, the son's bride, the church. Acts 1-7; Galatians iv. 22-31.
In chapter 24, we find ourselves on entirely new ground. Covenant dealings and covenant blessing are for the moment set aside. One who has not been heard of before now appears before us, and becomes the most prominent person in the scene. The call and exaltation of Rebekah are the grand points in our chapter, but every circumstance and event connected therewith are full of interest, and throw their reflective light on our present position, and the ways of God in grace, " who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus." 1 Pet. 5:10.
A new purpose of the father's heart is revealed, and his faithful servant, Eliezer, must go down to Mesopotamia, under the solemnity of an oath, to seek a bride for his son. This is full of meaning as immediately following the sacrifice of Moriah and the burial of Sarah. Typically, we have the death of Christ, the passing away of Israel, the calling out of the church by the Holy Ghost to occupy the new and exalted position of the bride of the Lamb.
We will now examine some of the details of this interesting and instructive chapter. Four, especially, amidst its many mysteries and beauties, thou wilt do well most carefully to consider. 1. The purpose of Abraham. 2. The position of Isaac. 3. The mission of Eliezer. 4. The call and character of Rebekah.
Meditations on the Call of the Bride: Part 3
Abraham, now old and well-stricken in age, is here seen in the full intelligence and power of his position and character as a man of God—as God's man in that place. All he says and does proves this. He had the mind of God. But how beautiful to see an aged pilgrim, fresh, as it were, in his first love. The sight arrests the heart and invites us to linger over it for a moment. He had left country, kindred, and his father's house; he had come to Canaan, but the Canaanites were there; enemies were all around; he was a stranger and a sojourner with his tent and his altar in the promised laud.
Nevertheless, the land was his, the call of God was his, the promise of God was his; and these divine realities dwelling in his heart by faith, gave him to order his house according to the mind of God, and to walk before the people of the land in true moral dignity and becoming independence. Note, in passing, I pray thee, my soul, the importance of this subject in a christian point of view; I mean the call of God: of the heart and life answering to His call. It is only in the proportion that we are under the power of His call that we can take our place in this world as pilgrims and strangers; that we can be content with the promise of God when present things are all against us; that we can walk here as God's hidden ones until Christ come. We know that we have all things in Christ, but the call of God separates us from this present evil world, even as Christ is separate from it. " They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.".... " For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us." John 17:16 Cor. 1:20.
But this is a subject little thought of by Christians generally. It is so painful to nature, so difficult to obey, that we willingly forget that we are under such a call, and feel in nowise bound to obey it. " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred," said the God of glory to our father Abraham, when he dwelt in Mesopotamia. This was separating work; but the call of God is as absolute now as then; the authority of His word is the same. It strikes at the very root of all that we hold dear naturally-. Old and early associations must be given up, or rather left behind. Self must be denied, the voice of God must be followed. And when this is faithfully done, we shall find many of our old associates in nature, in the world, and even in the professing church, ready enough to separate from us, and that with no small feeling of bitterness and opposition. And we may have to pass through many a struggle before we can feel reconciled to all this, or before the authority of God's word is established in the heart. Still, God will wait for us. He waited a long time before Abraham was right in heart, but He must have us so, sooner or later.
"Whosoever he be of you," saith the blessed Lord, " that forsaketh not all that he 'lath, he cannot be my disciple." And again, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26, 33.) These terms of discipleship have often been spoken of as extremely hard and most obscure in their meaning. The passage certainly does not mean that we are to hate our kindred as the natural heart hates; on the contrary, we will love them more keenly and more tenderly than ever. " Without natural affection," is a feature of the apostasy. But the teaching of the Lord does mean, that we must deny self, take up His cross, and follow Him so fully, that to others it would seem that we were neglecting the nearest and strongest claims of kindred. But this may be a greater trial to the one who is following Christ, than to those who are left behind. The ties that would hinder us from following Him must be broken. If Terah hinders Abraham from entering the land, Terah must die at Haran. (Gen. 11:32.) We must acknowledge grace to be stronger than nature. " Come unto me"... "Follow me"... "Abide in me," are the Lord's own words and clearly teach, that it is not enough to come to Him at first, but that we must follow Him day by day, and also abide in Him as our exalted Head in heaven. He is the measure of our separation from the world by faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
But rather, I would say, before leaving this practical point, let thy thoughts dwell on what thou hast gained, not on what thou hast given up. Let all that be left behind as unworthy of thy regret. (Phil. 3:4-10.) The apostle, in writing to the saints at Ephesus, prays, " that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Nothing less than " the riches of the glory of his inheritance," is what thou art called to, and nothing less would suit thy calling. Surely there is enough here to attract the eye and the heart to heaven, and to draw them away from the things of earth; besides, we must not forget that the moral dignity and honor in being the heirs of such an inheritance, should lead us to walk in marked separation from the lowering and defiling things of earth.'Ours is " an holy calling.... the heavenly calling.... the high calling of God." 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 3:1; Phil. 3:14.
We now return to our Patriarch, verse 1-9.
The charges which Abraham gives to Eliezer, clearly show how thoroughly he was in the spirit and power of his place as a heavenly stranger in the land; and how earnest he was for Isaac to be maintained in the same place of separation as he himself had been. All his thoughts and counsels now center on his son. A bride must be sought for the heir. But on no condition whatever can Abraham consent to Isaac's going down to Mesopotamia, or to his being allied with the daughters of Canaan. This is full of instruction to us. " Put, I pray thee," said Abraham to his faithful servant, " thy hand under my thigh; and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac." This was new and strange work for a servant, and he very naturally supposes there may be difficulties in the way.. He had no doubt often carried out his master's wishes, but this was a line of service altogether new.. " Peradventure," said Eliezer, " the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land; must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou earnest?" Abraham's answer is distinct and positive; his purpose is one, whatever the difficulties may be. "And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou, that thou bring not my son thither again."
In all this we have beautifully shadowed forth the eternal purpose of God, confirmed by His word and oath, to glorify His Son as the exalted Man in heaven, and also to bless and glorify the church as associated with Him. Faith falls back and rests, not only on the work of Christ finished in time, but on the very thoughts and purposes of God's heart, as revealed in the divine counsels before the foundations of the earth were laid. Rebekah knew nothing while in Mesopotamia of the counsels of Abraham's family in Canaan; nevertheless, her call and future exaltation were founded on these.
So with the Christian, so with the church; hence we can join with the apostle, and say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who bath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places n Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Eph. 1:3, 4.
Meditations on the Call of the Bride: Part 4
The character of the agreement between Abraham and his servant, clearly reveal to us the position of Isaac at that time. He was with his father in the land of Canaan, and there he was to remain until a bride was found for him. Come what may, one thing was settled, Isaac must not go down to Mesopotamia. This is most significant; it speaks home to the heart—it speaks of the true Isaac. He abides with his Father in heaven while the church is being called out from among Jews and Gentiles to form the heavenly bride, the Lamb's wife. Christ ascended up to heaven before the day of Pentecost, and leaves it not again until the rapture of the saints. The typical Isaac is concealed from our view from the time he leaves Moriah, as dead and risen, until he comes out to meet Rebekah. As in the matter of the altar and sacrifice of mount Moriah, so here, he acts in full accordance with the father's counsels, his own typical character, and appears not on the scene until his first and private interview with the bride of faith.
But what voice, let me ask, has this truth to thee, O my soul? Pass it not lightly over, I pray thee. The voice is plain enough; but the separation from the world which it teaches is too absolute to be easily or willingly understood. Most Christians are so habitually mixed up with the world that they have no practical acquaintance with this great truth. But let me explain. All admit that Christ is the one, true, and only proper object for the Christian's heart. This is clearly taught by such expressions as " Look unto me".... " One thing I do"..... " For me to live is Christ".... " Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth."
Seeing then that Christ has gone to heaven, and that all His associations are heavenly, we must set our hearts on Him who is there, and pursue a path down here in accordance with His mind, if we would live and walk in fellowship with our Head in heaven. It is perfectly clear, that if Christ has no association with the world just now, and we have, contrary to His mind, communion is interrupted, in our not walking in company with Him. This is a grand practical point, and well deserves thy deepest meditations. It affects the whole course of the Christian. All questions, all occupations, all associations, must be examined and estimated in the light of His glory, and of our oneness with Him. There is but one standard for the Christian—Christ in the glory. We must work from Him as our Head, and for Him in all our service. How this, how that, bears upon Him, is the question. He thus becomes, as we grow in the knowledge of Him, our motive, power, object, and portion, as our hymn says,
" 'Tis the treasure I have found in His love,
That has made me a pilgrim below."
Truer lines never were written by a human pen. Communion with Christ in heaven is alone powerful to make thee heavenly, and to make thee feel as a pilgrim and a stranger in this world. Nothing but the treasures of His love could wean thy heart from present things and fix it on things above. Try as thou mayest, and as many have done, to become heavenly in thy thoughts and feelings by much prayer, constant occupation with religious duties, and great watchfulness over thy spirit, thou wilt find all to be of little avail without the knowledge and enjoyment of thy relationship to Him who is at the right hand of God in heaven.
Right as all these duties are—and they ought never to be neglected—their best performance will never make thee a stranger here and at home in heaven. Abstraction from the world, or apparently outside of it, through the diligent discharge of religious duties, and separation from it by faith, are widely different things, though often confounded. The ascetic may take the world with him into the narrowest cell.
The grand secret, then, and practical power of Christianity; of heavenly-mindedness; of true strangership as to this world; is happy fellowship with a heavenly Christ. He remains apart from the world while the out-calling of the church is in progress; and so should Christians as to their spirit and ways. They are called to be one with Him in heaven, and to be witnesses for Him in the world. But, alas! there are many who do not enter into the truth of our association with Christ; and who attach no definite meaning to such language as " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on earth, for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. 3:1-3.) And being willingly ignorant of those all-influential, truths, they slip into a false position, become worldly, and are false witnesses for Christ both in the church and in the world. Nothing preserves the believer from worldliness, social, political, or religious, but the power of a risen Christ, enjoyed by faith. If, then, the measure of our enjoyment of a heavenly Christ be the measure of our separation from the world, the appalling amount of worldliness which prevails among Christians, can be easily accounted for.
But some will be ready to object and say, " How can we so undividedly set our minds on heavenly things while engaged in business and the affairs of this life all day long?" Impossible, we answer, without an undivided heart for Christ. " No servant," as He says Himself, " can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." This is indeed a searching word, but its meaning is plain—no heart can be true with divided affections. Christ claims an undivided heart. " My son, give me thine heart." Who then, what then, is my object? This is the real question. Not what am I engaged in; not what am I doing; but what is the governing object before me? The Christian has to learn, and constantly to study the divine art of going through all his duties as service to the Lord. Whatever cannot be taken up and heartily performed as service to Him must be laid aside. There is divine wisdom in all this, and great blessing to the Christian's soul; though the path is narrow and can only be traced with the single eye.
The Christian's path through this world is so beset with dangers on every side, that a right sense of his own weakness and great responsibility will make him fear and tremble. And justly so. But this will lead him, not to despair, but to trust in the living God. Where there is no proper sense of weakness and responsibility, there can be no security for christian consistency. Covetousness, pride, vain glory, carnal ease, self-indulgence, are some of the snares that surround the path of worldly prosperity. And the enemy watching our tendencies, knows how to foster and increase them. Hence we may find some who would strongly object to vain display and self-indulgence, caught in the snare of covetousness, and that under the plea of frugality, or even humility. Adversity, too, has its snares. There may be complaining, envy, and discontent, along with our difficulties. But we dwell not on these; rather would we turn to the remedy, by which we may be preserved from every wile of the enemy. Nothing short of personal communion with the Son, who is with the Father, is adequate to raise the soul above the dangers of prosperity and adversity, above self and the world, above the association of nature, and above all the attractions of earth.
The Lord in His great mercy teach us all these lessons of faith, and enable us to manifest the efficacy of His presence as enjoyed amidst the toils and trials of this world.
Meditations on the Call of the Bride: Part 5
Abraham's servant, the steward of his house, having sworn to his master concerning the matter, departed for Mesopotamia, the city of Nahor. (Vers. 9, 10.) Isaac is maintained in the place of separation. and the servant goes forth from the father to seek a bride for the risen heir. He thinks only, speaks only, of the one thing; nothing turns him aside from his one object; his one work. His testimony bears directly on the father and the son. " And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and manservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my master when he was old; and unto him hath he given all that he hath." (Ver. 34-36.) In all this we have a beautiful figure of the mission of the Holy Spirit, who was sent down in fulfillment of the Father's promise, after the Lord's death, resurrection, and return to glory. "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (John 15:26.) Eliezer—as we see through this long and exquisite chapter—sought to win the heart of Rebekah by telling her of Abraham's dignity and wealth, of Isaac his son, the heir of all that he possessed, and by presenting the tokens of his grace. And so it is that the Holy Spirit, by the preacher, seeks to win souls to Christ.
He bears testimony to Him as Savior and Lord, Son and heir of all things. He unfolds the pledges of His love, assures our hearts of being fellow heirs with Him, and thus forms the bride for the heavenly Bridegroom, according to the counsels of God the Father.
But if thou wouldst be used of the Lord, O my soul, as a messenger of mercy, to draw the hearts of sinners to the Savior, thou wilt do well to study diligently, and to follow closely, the example of Eliezer. He is the expression to thee of one who is chosen, fitted, and used of the Spirit—a vessel sanctified and meet for the Master's use. His mission is marked by the continued going up of his heart to the Lord in earnest prayer, mingled with thanksgiving. Thus he moves on, step by step, until he receives an answer in the goodness of God, according to the word of Abraham. It is perfectly beautiful to see his entire confidence in God; his entire consecration to the work he had in hand; and when the object of his mission is gained, and the blessing manifested—a heart surrendered to Isaac—he is filled with the spirit of praise and worship. Note also in thy meditations, what one has beautifully said, that " thanksgiving comes before joy." The faithful servant of Abraham refused to eat or drink with the family of Rebekah until he knew their mind as to the one object of his mission. He thought not of rest or ease or pleasure until he received a decided answer. " Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's. wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard these words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master." Verse 50-54.
THE HINDRANCES OF NATURE TO THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT.
Eliezer, like his master Abraham, rose up early in the morning and hastened to obey. His mind was set on the service he had to perform. Rebekah had shown a willing mind, through grace, to be the bride of Isaac; full decision and action were now expected. But the enemy was lying in wait. He saw how things were working, and he tries one of his most successful stratagems to disappoint the servant and to detain the bride in the country of nature. " And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten [or, as it is in the margin, a full year]. After that she shall go." This might seem very natural, very proper, but it was not of the Spirit of God. The brother and the mother could appreciate the gifts, but not the report. The proposed delay was of Satan, as delays in such matters always are. A willing, ready mind to obey, is one of the Spirit's goodly fruits. The immediate surrender of the heart to Christ when the report is believed, leaves no room for the enemy to work. " The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Satan disappears and the soul is left alone with Jesus. The eye is up to Him, the heart overflows with His praise, and the lips are repeating, it may be with tears of joy, " I know He died for me, I know His precious blood has washed my sins away; I can trust all to Him now." Thus to confess Christ is to triumph over every foe. " For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Both are necessary; both are of God. Zechariah 3:2; Romans 10:10.
There may be little intelligence, as people say, but the soul has found something far better than mere intelligence; it has found Jesus—the Savior Himself. Cold, reasoning unbelief, may object and say, " But is there not a fear that such an one may fall away when the excitement is over, and bring dishonor on the cause of Christianity?" While the eye is fixed on Christ, and the heart over-flowing with His praise, there is no fear of the soul falling away. The eye must have wandered from its heavenly object, and the heart must have cooled down, before a wrong step could be taken. With a single eye, the path must be straight.
But on the other hand, when the enemy sees the soul wavering, hesitating, though much impressed and really desiring to be decided for Christ, he assails it with his evil thoughts and suggestions, and fills it with doubts and fears. The soul is unguarded by the shield of faith and exposed to his fiery darts. Nothing is more injurious to souls or more disappointing to evangelists than the excuses and delays of unbelief. They may, sometimes, through the craft of the enemy, have an appearance of prudence or humility, but they should ever be treated as the most ruinous, though the most plausible of Satan's devices. Hence we often hear it said, and said by those who know they are doing wrong, " I would like to be different, to be better, before fully deciding for Christ and making a profession, lest I should afterward be inconsistent and bring dishonor on the Lord, which would be far worse than if I never had professed at all." So say thousands and tens of thousands, and remain where they are.
Not, alas, that they are concerned for the honor of the Lord, but they are unwilling to break with the world in the many ways it has a hold on them. They will own much as to the importance of eternal things—the thought of hell frightens them—and they will confess freely enough as to the wrongness of delay; but when affectionately entreated to receive the truth now, to be decided now, to open the mouth in confession now, another excuse is found, another reason is given, for continuing where they are for the present; still, they intend to be decided at some future time. This is the old story. " Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten, or a full year; after that she shall go." The enemy, it will be observed, did not propose to keep her altogether from going to Isaac, but only for a time. But what mischief might he not have done during that year, and what changes might have taken place both in Mesopotamia and in Canaan before the end of a full year! This is the subtle snare which he sets for the feet of all gospel hearers. Thousands have been hopelessly ruined by falling into it. It is the terrible pitfall of Satan, out of which comparatively few escape. The heart grows harder and the ear heavier through the lingerings of unbelief. But time lingers not, death lingers not; both are hastening on to the end when opportunities will be past, and when the voice of mercy shall cease forever.
Great wisdom and zeal with spiritual discernment are required in the servant to detect the wiles of Satan and the different causes of delay in those with whom he comes in contact. Natural temperament has a great deal to do with the frankness or hesitancy of confession, even where the heart is right; but in most cases, and sometimes underneath the most hopeful appearances, there is a real love of the world at heart and a positive dislike to the Person of Christ, and to the path of separation. Nevertheless the question must be plainly put and pressed: " Dost thou believe on the Son of God?".... " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."'.... " Behold I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage.".... " Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in that my house may be filled." (Matt. 22, Luke 14, John 9, Acts 16) It is perfectly clear from these and other passages, that the servant should endeavor by all ways and means to have the heart fixed for Christ on the same spot where the gospel has been preached; moral compulsion is the Master's orders. But we must leave this subject for the present, and turn to the noble example before us in Eliezer.
" And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away, that I may go to my master." He would consent to no delay;
no putting off; no trifling with a work so important; there must be decision of heart for Isaac; he must have a direct answer, yes or no. The Craft of the enemy now appears in Laban and Bethuel shifting the responsibility from themselves to Rebekah. Perhaps her natural timidity, her love of home, the dreary prospect of a desert to cross, will cause her to hesitate, and at least propose a short delay that she may take farewell of all her friends. This might have proved as dangerous as the other, but grace was working in the heart of Rebekah, and her thoughts were engaged with Isaac, so that she was ready with her emphatic, Yes, " I will go." Every snare of the enemy was now broken. Faith triumphed. " And they said, We will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go." This settled every question: the heart was fixed, Isaac was before her, she must go to him, she is willing to be led across the desert, leaving her father's house, to share the possessions of Abraham with his son Isaac.
Here pause a little, and learn a lesson, O my soul, of rarest, richest value. Wouldst thou be successful in winning souls to Christ? Is there anything thou so much desirest in the Way of service? Dost thou wonder at the immediate results of Eliezer's mission? Thou needest not. Follow his example, and thou too wilt surely see the happy results of thy mission. But mark his spirit of prayer and thanksgiving. And mark, too, his motives. It was not merely seeking a bride for Isaac, but it was doing the will of his master. Nothing could make him swerve from the word of " Abraham. This is the best of all service—meeting the master's mind.
Let thy path then, I pray thee, be characterized by thanksgiving; and forget not the purpose of the Father,. the position of the Son, the mission of the Spirit, the salvation of sinners, and the calling of the church. Surely no service in this world is to be compared with serving the Father's glory in the exaltation of His Son.
Meditations on the Call of the Bride: Part 6. The Call and Journey of Rebekah
(Gen. 22; 23; 24)
The Call And Journey Of Rebekah.
" Wilt thou go with this man?" was the question plainly put to Rebekah; and she readily replied, "I will go." This was faith's answer—the answer of a heart that was already under the power of the call of God. She had heard, she had received, the report of what the God of glory had done for the house of Abraham in the land of Canaan. True, she had not seen Isaac, she had not seen the inheritance, but she believed the report, and accepted the jewels as an earnest of the inheritance, and as the gifts of her espousals. Laban, a worldly man, might have an eye to the jewels of silver and gold that were spread out before him; but Rebekah had a heart for the land and the people that were yet afar off. She had faith in the testimony of the Spirit of God, by the lips of Eliezer. It was that which made her willing to leave her country, kindred, and her father's house. Nothing else could have separated her from all that which nature holds so dear. But the solemn question now was, not merely accepting Isaac's hand, or sharing Abraham's wealth, but an inheritance of the Lord's providing in Canaan, or of nature's providing in Mesopotamia?
Which will she choose? The one was present and known, the other was distant and future. A long journey lay between the country of nature and the land of promise. Eliezer was a stranger, Isaac was a stranger, and the people among whom she was to dwell were all strangers to her: nevertheless, the report she heard and believed had filled her heart. Her eye was on the blessing of God, and a portion in the land of promise. Precious faith! Home, country, kindred, circumstances, all became as nothing to her when she believed the report concerning the future to be true.
Such is the way of faith in all ages and in every land; it yields a ready obedience to the call of God. Rebekah was now prepared to act in accordance with her own memorable words, "/ will go." " And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and she rode upon the camels, and followed the man." Her journey through the lonely desert in company with one who had told her all about Abraham and Isaac, and her future dignity and glory as the son's bride in the better land, is strikingly typical of our path of separation through this world, under the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit. She was going onward to meet her Isaac; we to meet our heavenly Bridegroom. She had left all; she had nothing now but Isaac in prospect. Nevertheless, with him before her, the wilderness rejoiced; all around was bright with hope. But supposing she lost sight of him for a moment, and became attracted by some other object, her position was that of a homeless, portionless, stranger in a dreary desert. So it is with the church, so it is with the Christian when Christ is lost sight of.
Isaac waits in patience with his father for the return of Eliezer and the fruit of his mission. He comes out alone to meditate in the field at the eventide. But to his unspeakable comfort and joy, he returns not alone. He meets his approaching bride in the desert, veiled in reverent love and humility. " Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah's tent, and took her, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." Beautiful picture of confidence in the love of one not yet seen, of going forth to meet the Bridegroom, and of the nuptial glories of the Lamb in the house of many mansions.
Lord, hasten that happy day in thine own good time; and meanwhile, preserve us from the attractions and hindrances of the way; and maintain our souls in uninterrupted communion with the mind of Him who is exclusively heavenly.
And now, my dear reader, may I ask, What is thy portion? What is its character? Earthly or heavenly? Faith's portion or nature's portion? Which? This is the one, the all-important question. The one is for time, the other for eternity. The one we leave behind us when we die; the other is waiting and ready for us on the other side of death and the grave. The rich man's palace and purple robes with his sumptuous fare, were all, all, left behind him when he died; and not so much as a drop of cold water could he find in hell. He had never thought on the next world, and had made no provision for it, therefore he had only himself to reproach. But this is his agony—self-reproach; and this his despair—no opportunity of changing his position; the gulf is fixed—fixed by God, fixed forever. The gloom of hopeless despair is the inevitable condition of all who despise a heavenly portion through faith in Christ.
But the poor beggar, who had no palace, no purple robes, no sumptuous fare, no friends; had chosen faith's portion; and when he died he entered into the possession and enjoyment of a rich inheritance on high. There was his estate, there were his palaces, his royal robes, his banquets of love, his feasts of joy, his songs of praise, his Father's house, his Savior's face, his many friends; and all this forever and forever. No cloud will ever interrupt the bright beams of His countenance—the eternal sunshine of that happy land.
" No cloud those happy regions know,
Forever bright and fair;
Nor sin, that source of human woe,
Can ever enter there.
There no alternate night is known,
Nor sun's imperfect ray;
But glory from the eternal throne,
Spreads everlasting day.
Oh may the heavenly vision fire
Our hearts with ardent love,
Till wings of faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above."
Which then, my dear reader, is to be thy future—thy eternal state? Is it to be one of unmingled felicity, or of unmingled misery? Is it to be with the once rich man in hell, or with the once poor man in heaven? This must now be thy first, thy one question. All others dwindle into utter insignificance compared with this. Is it not strange—more than strange—unaccountable; that any in their sane mind should even hesitate for a single moment as to which? Were it merely a question as to this life, we would cease to wonder. The unbeliever may be as comfortable in this life as the believer, and even appear to enjoy it more; but then, what of the future? to say nothing of the Christian's present peace of mind.
Rebekah had no need to leave her own country and people to find the good things of this life in another land. There was no doubt plenty of wealth in Mesopotamia, and all that nature values. She might have found a bridegroom, a home with every comfort in Padan-aram. Why not? The sons of Esau in after years were dukes, the sons of Jacob were shepherds. Though Abraham was rich and Isaac his heir, she gave up what is called position, when she married Isaac. But she valued the blessing of God more than wealth or worldly dignity. She thought of what the Lord had done for Abraham in heavenly blessing; not merely of his temporal prosperity; she was in no need of his riches; it was the report of the God of glory being in some way connected with Abraham and Isaac, and their communion with Him, that. had power in her soul. Nothing else could have led her to give up present wealth, comfort, and position in the world, to be a pilgrim and a stranger with merely a tent and an altar. But she chose to be with the people of God that she might share with them His blessing and the coming glory. The future to her was infinitely more than the present. This was faith—faith in God's word, and one of its noblest deeds, " This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." May God give thee this faith even now, my dear reader, only believe, believe in Jesus now. He is better than the world now; and heaven will be better than hell hereafter.
There are, alas, at this moment, thousands of believers, yes, and true believers in Christ as the Savior, who cannot, as Rebekah did, give up position in the world for Him. They believe in Him who died for them on the cross, and they are saved, thank the Lord; and many of them are very pious; but they know nothing of taking up the cross and following Him as the rejected One by this world. Multitudes in this country bow down and worship this idol, position, who would be the first to cry out against the grosser forms of worldliness. Their money they will freely give to feed the hungry and clothe the naked: to pay for missionaries at home, or to send the gospel abroad; in works of philanthropy, and in bettering the condition of the world, they love to have a chief place. But speak of strangership here, speak of following Christ as rejected by the world and received up into heaven, and you are not understood; and few indeed wish to understand you. It would take them out of their loved position both in the world and in the professing church. And, as they say, this peculiar path of separation is not necessary to salvation; and further, as they may do a great deal of good in an evil world, without giving up either their social or ecclesiastical position, they endeavor to persuade themselves that it is right to hold it. But this is to remain in Padan-aram. This is to reject the call of God to leave it, and enter upon a wilderness life, looking for the Lord's coming Isaac was the dead and risen heir in Canaan; Rebekah must go to him if she is to be a joint-heir of the father's inheritance. But the waste howling desert lay between the two countries, that must be crossed, there was no other way.
To walk according to the mind of Christ in heaven, would surely make us pilgrims and strangers in this world; and we would love to be so. Communion with our blessed Lord in heaven would destroy all relish for the world. It would soon become as a scene of strange sights and sounds to us. Would this please my Lord? Would this be service to Him? would soon become our test for everything. As Rebekah left all in her own country, both its religion and its world, to walk as a stranger with Isaac in Canaan: so the Christian is called of God to leave, by faith, nature's country, both its religion and its world, that he may walk in spirit with Christ in heaven. Rebekah, like the Christian, may forget and fail, but we must speak of her in leaving Padan-aram, as possessing like precious faith with Abraham and Isaac; and as a noble example in this respect for every Christian to follow.
But one word more with thee, my friend and reader, before parting. We may never meet again in this world. What hast thou said in answer to the beautiful gospel invitation, " Wilt thou go with this man?" Hast thou replied as readily, as decidedly as the bride of old, " I will go?" The Lord. in His infinite mercy grant it. This is all—a plain Yes or No, when the Man Christ Jesus is the object before the heart. And however long the anxious soul may be in a state of uncertainty, it must come to this sooner or later; Yes or No. But an eternity of joy or sorrow hangs on the brief Yes or No. Redemption's mighty work is done; Jesus died on the cross; put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself; glorified God; rose again from the dead; ascended up into heaven; and there He waits in patience for thy Yes, " I will go;" and for the return of the Holy Spirit with the full fruits of His mission; then the marriage of the Lamb will be celebrated according to the purpose of God to glorify His Son.
Thus thou wilt see, that all who are converted now, are not only saved and have peace with God, but they will ere long share in the nuptial glories of that long-looked for day. They will not only be present, but they will form part of the " glorious church;" the bride of the Lamb. They have long known His love as manifested on the cross; now they will know it as manifested in glory, and especially in the relation of Bridegroom. What a day that will be even to heaven—long accustomed to scenes of love and glory! The once poor, pilgrim, Gentile church, owned and honored in heaven, not only as the bride, but as the wedded wife of the Lamb forever. The temporary relation of bride has passed into the permanent one of wife. But the youthful bloom and beauty of her bridal day shall never fade before His eye; and the freshness of their first love, with its untold mysteries of ever increasing delight, shall know no change forever. Wondrous, ineffable, unutterable, unmingled blessedness! Who would not long to be there? Who would hesitate to say " I will go?" This will indeed be heaven—the heaven of heavens to all who believe in Jesus now.
The Lord give thee, my dear reader, to be decided for Jesus now—just now. All depends upon thy yes or no. The dread realities of eternity—the nuptial glories of the Lamb or the flames of hell, quiver in the balance. Thy emphatic " I will go," will be like a solid weight in the one scale, and the other will fly up as lighter than vanity. Oh! hesitate not a single moment Exclaim, " Yes! yes, I will go; I will go!" Think only of the future. Look not around thee. Think not of thy present position, comforts, or friends. Think only of present salvation, and of future glory; of the degradation of being lost; of the honor of being saved; of lying bound with a chain in the depths of hell forever; of enjoying the liberty of the sons of God, in the realms of glory forever; of companionship with Jesus; of the gnawings of the worm that never dies.
How few, as thou knowest, are prepared to give up the world at once for the blessed Jesus! therefore plain speaking is necessary. They prefer, like the profane Esau, a present gratification to the hope of future glory. But their days of pleasure-seeking will soon be past; and then the solemn words of the poet may be engravers on their tomb-
" Thy songs are at an end; thy harp
Shall solace thee no more;
All mirth has perished in thy grave,
The melody that could not save
Has died upon death's sullen wave
That flung thee on this shore.
No God is there: no Christ; for He
Whose word on earth was ' Come:
Hath said, Depart;' go, lost one, go,
Reap the sad harvest thou didst sow,
Join you lost angels in their woe,
The prison is thy home."
Again, in parting, both with the worldly Christian and with the careless sinner; we can only pray, that the fine, bold, unhesitating, ever memorable, " I will go" of Rebekah, may find a happy response in every heart now, and a true reflection in all our ways in future; to the praise and glory of the name of Jesus. Amen.