Wherever we turn in the world, we find dissatisfaction. Sin has created a void in man's heart which nothing beneath the sun can fill. Tens of thousands are busy today in the pursuit of wealth and honor and fame; but where is there one among them who is satisfied? Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest of men, discovered that all was vanity and vexation of spirit (Eccles. 2:1717Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 2:17)). It is said of the great Grecian general, Alexander, that when he had conquered the whole known world, he wept, because there were no more worlds to conquer. And you may rest assured that if he had conquered a thousand worlds, the result would have been the same.
Where then is true and lasting satisfaction to be found? The answer is simple -in Christ. Yes, dear reader, in Christ, and in Christ alone. God has found perfect satisfaction in His Son, and also in His finished work as to the question of sin which shut the sinner out from Him. Having believed on Him, we are at peace with God, standing in His grace, reconciled to Him (Rom. 5:1-111Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For 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. 11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:1‑11)). How rich indeed the portion!
Surely the believer may say, "The lines are fallen unto Me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Psalm 16:66The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. (Psalm 16:6). It is beautifully shadowed forth in the blessing of Naphtali in Deut. 33:2323And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south. (Deuteronomy 33:23), pronounced by Moses, the man of God, "O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the LORD." Surely if such is the language employed to convey the blessing of one of the tribes of Israel, an earthly people, how much more forcibly does it express the wondrous and marvelous blessing of the Christian! We stand in the unclouded sunshine of the full and free favor of our God, having access thereinto by faith. This is one aspect of our portion in Christ. The soul that knows this will find perfect satisfaction. Like Naptali, he will be satisfied with favor, the favor of God; this grace (Rom. 5:22By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)), characteristic of the present dealing of God, is the grace (1 Pet. 5:10-1210But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 12By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. (1 Peter 5:10‑12)). And true grace of the God of all he will be full with the blessing of the Lord.
"Satisfied with Thee, Lord Jesus,
I am blest;
Peace which passeth understanding,
On Thy breast.
No more doubting,
No more trembling,
Oh, what rest!
"Occupied with me, Lord Jesus,
In Thy grace;
All Thy ways and thoughts about me
Only trace
Deeper stories
Of the glories
Of Thy grace."
Blessed is the man that can take up the language of the Psalmist, saying, "How excellent is Thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures." Psalm 36:7, 87How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. 8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (Psalm 36:7‑8). And again, "My soul shall be satisfied as with narrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips." Psalm 63:55My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: (Psalm 63:5).
But how little sense many dear children of God have of the rich blessing which is their portion even now! Occupied with themselves, they measure oftentimes the grace of God by the fluctuations of their own souls, instead of taking God at His word, who dispenses His grace toward us according to His delight and satisfaction in the Son of His love, and has made us accepted in Him, the Beloved (Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)). And not only so, but in the ages to come He will show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:77That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)). How sad to see souls always occupied with their low condition, their shortcomings, their failures, their lack of love, etc, instead of rejoicing always in Christ Jesus, and delighting in the riches of God's grace!
It is quite right, of course, to judge ourselves and our ways; but no strength or liberty or joy can be found in self-occupation. Nothing but dissatisfaction can fill the mind, even of the believer, as long as he is occupied with anything or anybody but Christ. May the language then of your soul be, dear reader,
"Taken up with Thee, Lord Jesus,
I would be;
Finding joy and satisfaction All in Thee;
Thou the nearest,
And the dearest,
Unto me."
David, whose soul longings after God are so wonderfully expressed in many of his psalms, says, "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Psalm 17:1515As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. (Psalm 17:15). With the light that he had, which was but little when compared with what has come from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, he longed for the moment when he should be like unto the Lord. Then, said he, "I shall be satisfied." Long ago he passed off this scene, and thousands more of the saints of God. Soon the morning without clouds shall have come, and the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with an assembling shout. Soon the trump of God shall awake His sleeping saints; and the whole of the redeemed, whether in the grave or alive on the earth, be caught up together to meet
Him, hereafter to appear with Him in glory. It is then that the Word of God tells us we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:33And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)). It is then that we shall be conformed to His image, every trace of mortality having been swallowed up, and our body of humiliation fashioned like unto His body of glory (Phil. 3:2121Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)). Then indeed shall we be satisfied, as we see Him face to face, in a way infinitely beyond all human thought. Already-such is God's wondrous grace—a portion is ours in Christ, which satisfies the soul that enjoys it; but this is to faith. At that day—Lord Jesus, come!—eternal satisfaction will be ours.
"Then Thy Church will be, Lord Jesus,
The display
Of Thy richest grace and kindness
In that day:
Marking pages,
Wondrous stages,
O'er earth's way."
But now, the Christian, satisfied with favor, an d awaiting that glorious day when eternal satisfaction shall be his, is called to a path of faith and faithfulness. This necessarily brings trial and suffering, and sometimes privation in various ways, as in the early days of the Church of God. The Apostle Paul, who led the van in this blessed pathway, in following Christ, was exposed to the severest trials, and yet was enabled to say, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content"; or, as it has been otherwise rendered, "As to me I have learned in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself." Phil. 4:1111Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (Philippians 4:11); J.N.D. Trans.
How sad to see Christians, often in a path of ease compared with that of the apostles, dissatisfied with their surroundings, and chafed in spirit under their present circumstances, grasping after the uncertain riches and the temporary glories of this vain and fleeting world! The spring of this is in all our hearts alike; but God would have us occupied with His Son, having Him as our goal and prize, pressing on in the course of faith, and, like the Apostle, satisfied in himself. We fear that most of us are but poor scholars in this school; but Paul could say, "I have learned."
Fellow believer, are you in trial or privation? Forget not that the hand of God is over every circumstance—a Father's love tenderly watching over His child-the very hairs of your head being all numbered by Him (Luke 12:77But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:7)). Nothing can occur to your hurt but what He knows. "Even so, Father," the words of our adorable Lord, in His infinitely deeper hour of sorrow, will prove to every heart that enters into them a true and lasting solace when drinking the bitterest cup.
Paul was satisfied in himself. Not with, but in himself. He was not occupied with things around to gather satisfaction from them; had he been so, he would still have experienced the utter vanity of all. No, his heart was captivated and enraptured with the Man in the glory, Jesus, the Son of God's love; and, satisfied with Him up there, he could joy in the midst of suffering, and be satisfied in himself in the midst of privation here. May we, dear reader, seek to learn this same lesson, that Christ may be glorified in us.
And now, last, how blessed to forget ourselves and to look on to a moment when our Lord Jesus Christ shall have the desire of His heart. In patience He is seated at the right hand of God. Soon He will claim His loved ones as His own; soon the Bridegroom shall claim His bride for heavenly glory, and He, who is also the King, deliver His chosen people Israel on the earth. Then shall be fulfilled the word of the prophet, "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isa. 53). "I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me," says the bride in the Canticles; and nothing short of having His blood-bought people with and like Him in the glory will satisfy His heart. "Christ... loved the church, and gave Himself for it." Eph. 5:2525Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:25). She is the fruit of the travail of His soul. Wondrous destiny! The bride of Christ. Now to wait for Him in His patience and share His rejection-soon to be presented to Himself a glorious Church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph. 5:2727That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)), hereafter to be displayed in glory to this wondering world.
"Longing for the bride, Lord Jesus,
Of Thy heart,
To be with Thee in the glory,
Where Thou art.
Love so groundless,
Grace so boundless,
Wins my heart.
"When Thy blood-bought Church, Lord Jesus, Is complete;
When each soul is safely landed
At Thy feet;
What a story
In the glory
She'll repeat!"
Oh, that every Christian reader of these lines may be found thus satisfied in the midst of a dissatisfied world! Surely, being blessed according to the riches of His grace, and our every temporal need His special interest and care, a dissatisfied Christian is a sorry spectacle indeed. But His object is, that we should morally reflect Himself in this world, who trod every step of His pathway here a weary but satisfied Man.