The Presence of the Lord: February 2019
Table of Contents
The Presence of the Lord
One thing that characterized David was his love for the place where the Lord had put His name, where the presence of the Lord was found. Turn to Psalm 26:8: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth." That was characteristic of the whole life of David-a desire for the place where the Lord's honor dwelt. Then, in Psalm 27:4: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.”
Do we prize the presence of the Lord more than any gain there is in this life? How easy it is to allow things to come in that break our communion so that we cannot enjoy the presence of the Lord. That is an irrevocable loss. You cannot estimate what a loss that is to your soul! May God in His infinite grace keep you in such a way that you will always be in a state where you can go immediately into the presence of the Lord like David and learn more of His beauty. Then when trouble comes, for it will come, the Lord will hide you in His pavilion.
A. Barry (adapted)
We Have Seen the Lord
Scripture tells us, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). Our part is to dwell on and rest on the acceptance of that finished work, and then go on to learn more and more of the One who has done the work for us.
If we look at Romans 8, we find that we are made “sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.” It is something too great for the heart of man to conceive. If these truths had full sway on our hearts, the world would be as an idle nothing. Surely we should walk in the consciousness of being in possession of that which is unfading, amid everything that is fading.
In looking forward to the appearing of the “morning without clouds,” the brightest part of it to us ought to be the thought of being the everlasting companions of the Lamb. Our heart is never satisfied; there is a void in it that cannot be filled up by anything except the presence of Jesus.
Post-Resurrection Manifestations
Look at the Lord’s mysterious manifestations of Himself to His church during the forty days after His resurrection but previous to His ascension. They were very varied and intended, I believe, to be descriptive of the way in which, during His absence, He would manifest Himself according to the varied need of His people. Mary was in one condition (John 20:14), the disciples behind closed doors in another, Thomas in a third, but in each condition the Lord met and satisfied them with His presence. How blessed it is to have the Lord so with us as to be able to realize the truth of that word, “Your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22).
The Lord had been taken from these disciples. Mary weeps at His grave; the two are sad while going to Emmaus. They had hung their hearts on Him; they had been attracted by His grace; they owned Him to be the Son of God; whatever they looked for and expected, they expected with Him. But now their Lord, who was their joy, their hope, their everything, was gone! But when the “little while” was over, their “sorrow is turned into joy.” He comes back to be their everlasting companion. We may have trial and adversity of every description, but still the word is, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you” (John 14:18).
The Lord in the Midst
When we are gathered scripturally, we are called on to expect the Lord in our midst. If it is true that the Lord dwells in the midst of us and if we come together in the expectation of His presence, we should be able to say when we part, through the sense of His presence, either in joy or in searching power, “We have seen the Lord.”
Mary waited for the Lord in the garden in much ignorance and obscurity, but her Lord was her object. She would rather have Him dead, than not have Him at all. She wept at His grave, though not questioning about the forgiveness of her sins. We may be washed, cleansed and justified, but if we have not the known companionship of Jesus, we may well weep for that.
It should be equally so in our private communion, or when alone, that we experience the Spirit revealing Christ to us, opening Him to the delight of our hearts, and enabling us to say, “We have seen the Lord.” May we so walk that the promise of the abode of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ may be realized by us daily.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23).
Christian Friend (adapted)
Jesus in the Midst
“Ye seek Jesus” (not as Savior, but as Center) describes a state of soul rarely met with in these days. Such is the confusion of Christendom, and such is our indifference to His presence “in the midst.” “There shall they see Me” is His response to this desire. Those who have gone, how sweetly true they have found it. Conforming to Jesus’ appointment, “they saw Him,” and “they worshipped Him.” Then they received that soul-sustaining word that, notwithstanding the difficulties and the darkness that would ensue, they would have Him “in the midst” even unto the end of the age.
Nothing can take from us this unspeakable privilege. It holds good “to the end,” for those who answer to His appointment (Matt. 28). Compare Matthew 1:23 and 18:20. One feels the need to inquire, with deep heart searching, before the Lord, how far are we up to this privilege in the state of our souls. How far have we the subduing sense of His presence, so that we can say as worshippers, as those on the inside with deep and solemn joy, “Surely the Lord is in this place”? Those to whom “the meeting is dry” and “disappointing” belong to the class of whom it is said, “Some doubted.” May the Lord maintain in us a vigorous faith and the ravishing sense of His presence. Is it not a taste of heaven, which that blessed One is pleased to define as, “Where I am”?
F. C. Blount
Draw Near to God
James 4:8 exhorts us to “draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” In this is shown the active dependence of the heart. Thanks be to God, we can draw near to Him! His throne is for us a throne of grace: We may come into His presence without fear, because of His love, and enter into the holiest by the precious blood of Christ. When near Him, we learn holiness; we discern His will; the eye sees clearly in this pure atmosphere. The heart is subject, for the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. We walk with God, but as taught of God, and the whole body is full of light. Then He is with us; He draws near to us, and He inspires us with confidence. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” says the Apostle (Rom. 8:31). It is not only that the strength of God is with us, but His presence produces liberty and confidence in our hearts, for we feel that we have the knowledge of His will, since He is with us. The sense of His presence gives joy, calmness and courage, in presence of the enemy, and in the difficulties of the way we rest in Him. “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Psa. 31:20). The presence of God, a true and real thing for the heart, keeps the conscience awake and the heart filled with quiet confidence. Draw near unto Him.
But to do this, the hands must be cleansed and the heart purified, that in nothing we may be double-minded. God is light, and He will have purity and integrity in the inner man. Full of goodness and condescension, He is swift to help the weak, but He closes His ears to all who are double in heart. He looks for a pure walk and a sincere heart in those who seek to draw near Him. It cannot be otherwise; He holds Himself aloof from those whose hearts are not open in His presence. He sees everything, but for Him to hearken, the heart must be sincere.
J. N. Darby
Communion
What is communion? It is the partaking in common with another of any given condition. The word in Greek, translated communion or fellowship, is used twenty times in the New Testament, and in every case bears this signification. In some passages it is communion of act rather than of feeling, while in other passages the word is applied to feeling rather than to the act, and this determines more distinctly its moral meaning. We first find it in Acts 2:42, where we read, “They continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Thus they expressed, for the first time in the history of God’s people on the earth, the sense that they were interchanging a collective feeling. This is still more fully conveyed in 1 Corinthians 10:16, in the words “communion of the blood of Christ,” which teaches us that we should have a feeling in common with what the blood of Christ indicates and supplies.
The word is used in its very highest doctrinal enunciation in 1 John 1:3: “Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Our feeling in this may be weak and ambiguous, but the fact remains that what we have imperfectly is in common with what the Father and the Son have perfectly.
Introduction Into Communion
Exodus 29 beautifully sets forth the whole subject of communion: our introduction into it and our progress onward to the highest order and experience of it. First there is atonement and washing off all that the soul requires for acceptance, without which there could be no communion. Then there is consecration, conveying that, as accepted, we are now to be introduced into a full, perfect sense of our blessedness, and this as an essential preliminary to service. There were two rams; one is wholly offered up, which typifies our Lord gone to His Father and our Father, His God and our God. The other is the ram of consecration, which is Himself too, but as apprehended by us and presented by us while possessing Him and holding Him in our hands. We have the fat and the right shoulder. The fat speaks of His excellency and the glory declared in resurrection in consequence of His death, while the right shoulder conveys the power of His resurrection. These were presented in company with the high priest and taken up by God as a sweet savor, while the breast was waved by Moses (typifying Christ as the Son of God) and representing the affections of the heart of the sent one—not burned, but eternally waved for us. Third, the residue of the ram was eaten by Aaron and his sons in the holy place.
Three Orders
Based on this type, I would suggest that there are three orders or divisions, so to speak, of our communion, which, though consequent on one another, are still quite distinct. First, we have communion with Christ where He is, even in the heavenlies. Second, we apprehend and enter into His excellencies. Third, we have the consciousness of strength and support derived from Him, for He imparts to us of Himself for our support down here: This is eating in the holy place. These three divisions are set forth in the first ram (wholly offered up) and the two parts of the second (the ram of consecration).
I have said the first order is communion with Christ where He is; the soul has consciousness of participation with Him who is our life and in that place to which He has gone. But the second order is still higher; it is the consecration or filling. The apprehension of the excellency, power and affections of Christ give strength and skill to our souls to judge of and ascertain all the ways of God on earth and make a man what the Apostle calls “spiritual, judging all things.” This is a partaking of His mind, a sharing of His judgment of things.
It is evident that these two orders of communion are very different and quite distinct. In both cases I am, so to speak, in the company of Christ, but I may have a large measure of appreciation of my position without that intimacy with His mind. We may illustrate the two in a lower sense by the example of Peter and John in John 13. Both were in the Lord’s presence, but Peter was ignorant of His mind, whereas John enjoyed intimacy. Thus also with the two disciples going to Emmaus, when their hearts “burned within them as He opened to them the Scriptures.” Though unconsciously to themselves, they were in communion with both His presence and His mind, advancing deeper into it. Many a soul is blessedly conscious of its participation with Him there who does not know that intimacy which enables it to enter into His feelings, tastes and judgments of all things. This is the difference between godliness and spirituality: Godliness refers everything to Him; spirituality feels and thinks with Him.
The Third Division
And now as to the third division of our communion, which is closely allied to the second, it is the residue of the ram of consecration, eaten by Aaron and his sons in the holy place (vs. 32). Here we get the strength and nourishment for our souls from the apprehension and communion typified by the other part of the ram, burned and waved; it is communion with one another, as well as with the High Priest. We feed on it together, for “in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another” (1 John 1:7). It is the effect of understanding with all saints “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,” and the effect is to be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18-19).
In conclusion, this chapter (Ex. 29) sets forth to us in type the means by which we are introduced into this blessed position and experience in our priestly character. The first thing is acceptance; second, communion, of which we have three divisions—first, that of positional participation with Christ, the power of which the soul enters into in the offering up of the first ram; second, that of apprehension of His excellency, mental interchange of thought and feeling, as set forth by the fat, shoulder and breast of the ram of consecration; third, that of strength and nourishment derived therefrom, with Him and with one another, while abiding with Him in heaven, eating the residue in the holy place.
Girdle of Truth (adapted)
Avoiding the Lord's Presence
In the Word of God, we find examples of both unbelievers and believers who did not want to be in the presence of the Lord. Let us look first at unbelievers.
Cain is the most striking example of one who “went out from the presence of the Lord” (Gen. 4:16). We know the story well, how that he was very angry because his sacrifice of the “fruit of the ground” (Gen. 4:3) was not acceptable to the Lord. As a result, he murdered his brother, lied about it, complained that his punishment was too severe, and finally went out from the Lord’s presence. He then went out and built a city, and his posterity began the developments of farming, industry and entertainment. The world that he established remains in principle the world system of today. It is a world that does not want God, but seeks to surround itself with as many creature-comforts as possible in a sin-cursed world. Its horizons are concerned only with the life down here.
Departure From the Lord
We read elsewhere in the Word of God that “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7). Job also summarizes the attitude and lives of the wicked: “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways” (Job 21:14). Our Lord Himself said, “Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:20). Even if a man lives an outwardly upright life, he shuns the presence of the Lord, for unless the Lord begins a work in his soul, God’s presence immediately convicts him, and he realizes that in his natural state, he is not fit to be there. He does not need to be a murderer like Cain in order to want to keep away from the Lord’s presence.
Judas Iscariot
The other prominent example of one who eventually went out from the Lord’s presence is Judas Iscariot. Like Cain, he knew who the Lord was, and he doubtless admired the goodness of the Lord Jesus and His walk before men. He had a much greater testimony than Cain, for he companied with the Son of God for 3½ years and shared in His earthly ministry. No doubt he even preached and worked miracles in the Lord’s name. Yet his heart remained untouched, and at the end, he betrayed his Lord and Master for money. In John 13, when the Lord had said to him, “That thou doest, do quickly,” it is recorded that “he ... went immediately out: and it was night” (vss. 27,30). He left the presence of the One who loved Him and who longed to be His Savior, preferring the company of Satan. His sad end is well-known, and the solemn words of our Lord concerning him ring down through the centuries, “Good were it for that man if he had never been born” (Mark. 14:21).
It will be a sad end for all who resist the Lord now during their lifetimes, for we read that in a coming day, they will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9). Those who have shunned His presence in this world will in turn be banished from His presence for all eternity. The awfulness of such a judgment cannot be described.
Believers That Avoid God
But what about believers? Can they too, at times, wish to avoid the Lord’s presence? Yes indeed, and we have instances of this in Scripture. Again, two examples come to mind.
The first is Adam and Eve, who, when they had disobeyed God, went and “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). They were not like Cain, who wanted permanently to get away from God’s presence; no, they had faith, but they had lost their communion with the One who wanted to enjoy their company. Judgment followed, and they forfeited the Garden of Eden. But a remedy was provided. They were clothed with coats of skin: Death had to come in, a type of the death of Christ, who would provide eternal salvation. They were restored to communion, and another son, Seth, began the family of faith.
Jonah Fled From the Lord
Another prominent example is that of Jonah, who “rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3). His difficulty was different from that of Adam and Eve, but in principle it was the same thing: He did not want to obey the Lord. He was a prophet, and as such he knew not only the judgment of God, but also His grace. Yet he did not want to see that grace exhibited on behalf of Nineveh. His pride took him away from the Lord, but the Lord’s dealings with him brought him back and taught him that God’s grace was not merely for Israel, but for all men. He too was only a trophy of God’s grace.
We who know the Lord do not run away from God because we fear His judgment for our sins, but there may well be the inclination in our hearts to evade His presence because we are allowing the flesh to act in our hearts and lives. This is why the unfaithful Christian is generally miserable; he does not feel comfortable anywhere. If he goes out into the world, his conscience bothers him. If he comes among faithful Christians, again he does not fit. The only remedy is to get back into the Lord’s presence, confess the sin, and get right with the Lord. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
W. J. Prost
At the Lord's Table
There are times and moments in our history when God in His grace comes very near to us and makes us sensible of His presence and love, when the redeemed soul tastes for a moment a sip of that eternal future that is awaiting it. In no way is this more distinctly realized on earth than in that which was the delight of the church in the beginning: “The disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).
We ought never to lose the sense of His presence with us and of what grace has done. He is always with us, and there is the eternal, and therefore changeless, sunshine of His favor always beaming down upon us. The clouds are not from Him, although He does at times allow them to come. Most of us have times in our lives when it is not God in the fullness of His grace that is prominently before us, but rather the pressure of other things. It is the hour in our history when we are “perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,” and “for a season in heaviness through manifold temptations.” In such a season God often sees there is a “needs be,” as Peter says.
The Lord’s Goodness
But He is the One that lifts up. “God, that comforteth those that are cast down,” does this Himself. The way He deals with us in this has been the manner of His grace to all His people from the first. He makes His goodness to pass before us, and we are bowed by the sight of it before Him. Thus was it with Moses (Ex. 33). When crushed and almost in despair as to the people, he had desired to see God’s glory. The Lord said, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee” (vs. 19). But what would God do for him that he might not be overpowered by that glory? “I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by” (Ex. 33:22). “The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. ... And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped” (Ex. 34:6,8). What could he say, as sheltered there, while he beheld it and heard it all? He made haste, bowed the head, and worshipped. Thus is it always, and thus is it too with us whenever He makes us sensible of His goodness and of His presence.
“Who Am I?”
Thus was it too with David when he went in and sat before the Lord. Words were wanting or died away in silence, the silence of worship, for he too was contemplating God, who had caused His goodness to pass before His soul. “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto? ... What can David speak more to Thee for the honor of Thy servant? for Thou knowest Thy servant” (1 Chron. 17:16,18). This is all he can say. Words and expression both fail while the heart is bowed in worship and thanksgiving, for expression or language are not necessary for worship; often silence marks it. It is as sheltered that we are called upon to contemplate “all His goodness”; “with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,” we see Jesus (who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death) “crowned with glory and honor.” Soon our portion will be to see Him as He is, but the Spirit often causes all His goodness now to pass before us.
Gathered to Break Bread
It is as sheltered and, beyond all, as guests invited to listen and partake of the unfolding of all God’s goodness that we are gathered together to break bread on each first day of the week. May we know how to value the privilege and also how suitably to behave ourselves in the midst of such abounding grace. Here passes in review before the soul the destruction and overthrow of the enemy and all his host in the Red Sea, while the ark stands firm in the bed of Jordan—both figures of the death of Christ. His goodness had passed before these poor slaves of Egypt, and the desert rung again with a song that has not yet died away, nor ever will. It is renewed and understood now by those who sing it in the desert of this world, which is just as barren for us as it was for Israel. The Lord Jesus, who is with us (Matt. 18:20), the One who has come out of death and judgment, says, “My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation” (Psa. 22:25). He sings in the midst of the church—the Leader of the song—and claims us as His brethren (John 20).
To Be Where He Is
How blessed, then, to be where the Lord Himself condescends to be—“where two or three are gathered together unto My name.” Who would, who could, be absent, if there were any possibility of being present? It is the place where He causes all His goodness to pass before us and sends us out (if into a desert) as a rejoicing people, with the song of praise and thanksgiving in our mouths! We are like the disciples of John 20—“glad”—for they saw the Lord and heard the blessed accents of His voice proclaiming, as the result of His death, “Peace be unto you.”
Have we passed into this blessed, this unclouded scene? It is what we declare week by week. Would we change places or be anything other than what God has been pleased to make us, and through Christ, “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ”? Would Israel on the shore of the Red Sea go back again? Would David before the Lord change his circumstances? Would Job, before whom God had in those wonderful chapters (38-41) caused all His goodness to pass, do anything but bow?
And when the disciples have learned and when we have learned that He claims us as His “brethren,” what will the effect be upon us? What will it be, brethren, in each one of us if we are still left here? Will we live for Him, whom the world in its pride still rejects, as a filled and worshipping people? May it be so while we are left here to show the Lord’s death and to wait before Him in the blessed anticipation of His speedy coming the second time, “without sin unto salvation.” “The night is far spent; the day is at hand.”
H. C. Anstey (adapted)
Horeb: the Mount of God
When Elijah arrived at Horeb, the mount of God (1 Kings 19), the word of the Lord comes to him with the searching question, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” The prophet had left the path of service with its suffering and persecution, and he sought a place of safety amidst wilderness solitudes. Now conscience must be probed and account rendered to the Lord for his actions.
How hard it is to continue in the path of service when all apparently ends in failure! Then it is we are ready to flee from our brethren, give up active service, and seek rest in some lonely hiding-place. But the Lord loves us too well to let us rest in quiet places of our own choosing. He raises the question in our conscience, “What doest thou here?” No such question was raised in the solitudes of Cherith or in the home at Zarephath. The prophet was led to the lonely brook and the widow’s home at the word of the Lord; he had fled to the cave at Horeb at the threat of a woman.
Three Reasons for Fleeing
Elijah gives a threefold reason for fleeing to the cave. First, he says, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts.” But occupation with our own zeal will always lead to disappointment. Then he complains of the people of God, implying that their hopeless condition made it useless to continue laboring in their midst. Lastly, he says, “I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away.” Hence he had turned his back on them and sought rest and shelter in the lonely cave.
The Lord’s question brings to light the true condition of the prophet’s soul, but the prophet has yet to learn the real motive for his flight. It was not at all because his zeal had failed to effect any change, nor was it because of the terrible condition of God’s people, or because they sought his life.
Never was zeal like the zeal of the Lord Jesus. He could say, “The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up” (Psa. 69:9), and yet He had to say, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain” (Isa. 49:4). Never, too, was the condition of Israel more terrible than when the Lord labored in their midst. But in spite of all this and though again and again they sought to take His life, yet He never for an instant swerved from the path of perfect obedience to the Father. He never sought the safe retreat of some lonely cave. He held on His perfect way in the path of obedience to the Father and unselfish service to men. Do we wish to know the secret of that lovely life? We learn it when we hear Him say, “I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Psa. 16:8). Moreover He did not look at the rough way He had to tread, but at the glorious end of the journey. “My flesh also shall rest in hope. ... Thou wilt show Me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psa. 16:11).
The Lord’s Presence Before Him
Elijah had fled, therefore, just because he had failed to keep the Lord always before him; he looked at the roughness of the way rather than to the glorious end to which it was leading. The failure of his devoted life to effect any change, the evil condition of the people, and the persecution to which he was subjected would never have moved him from the path of service had he kept the Lord before him. And what matters the roughness of the journey if it ends in being brought to heaven in a chariot of glory!
So the Lord again speaks to Elijah, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” Elijah may give many plausible reasons for fleeing to the cave, but the true reason is that he had failed to keep the Lord before him. The secret of the bold witness before Ahab, his power to raise the widow’s son and the power to bring down fire from heaven and command the rain were simply that he moved and acted in faith before the living God. The secret of his flight, on the other hand, was that he acted in fear before a woman. When addressing the apostate king he can say, “The Lord before whom I stand”; when he contemplates the wicked queen, it is rather, Jezebel before whom I flee.
The Still, Small Voice
Elijah has to learn another lesson if he is to be consciously brought into the presence of the Lord. He had seen the fire descend on Carmel and the heavens “black with clouds and wind” at the coming of the rain. He had connected the presence of the Lord with these terrifying manifestations of nature. He had thought that as a result of these mighty displays of the power of God, the whole nation would turn to God in deep repentance, and for the moment, indeed, they did fall upon their faces and own, “The Lord, He is the God.” But no real revival had taken place. Elijah has to learn that wind and earthquake and fire may indeed be God’s servants to awaken men, but unless the “still small voice” is heard, no man is really won for God. The thunder of Sinai must be followed by the still, small voice of grace, if the heart of man is to be reached and won. God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the still, small voice.
“It was so when Elijah heard the still small voice he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering of the cave.” Elijah is in the presence of the Lord, with the immediate result that “he wrapped his face in his mantle.” Away from the Lord he talks about himself; in the presence of the Lord he hides himself. But there is still pride, bitterness and anger in his heart, so again the Lord searches him with the question, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” God will have everything laid bare in His presence. Elijah again unburdens his spirit. All that he says is true as to fact, but the spirit in which it is said is wholly wrong. It is easy to discern the wounded pride and the embittered spirit behind his words, that lead the prophet to speak well of himself and nothing but evil of God’s people. Now he has to hear God’s solemn judgment.
The Appointment of Replacements
First the Lord says, “Go, return on thy way.” The prophet must retrace his steps. Then he is to appoint other instruments to carry on the work of the Lord. Had Elijah complained of the evil of the people of God? Now it shall be his sorrowful mission to appoint Hazael king over Syria—an instrument to chastise the people of God. Had Elijah fled from before the threat of the wicked Jezebel? Then he must appoint Jehu to be king over Israel—the instrument to execute judgment upon Jezebel. Had Elijah spoken well of himself and thought that he only remained? Then he must appoint Elisha to be prophet in his room. Had the prophet thought he alone was left and that he was the only man by whom God could work? Then he has to learn that God had seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah had indeed been very jealous for God, but he had not been able to discover God’s seven thousand hidden ones. He could see the evil of the mass, he could see what God was doing in judgment, but he was unable to discern what God was doing in grace.
Silence About Himself
In the presence of this solemn message, the prophet is reduced to silence. He no longer has a word to say for himself. On Carmel he had said before the king and all Israel, “I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord“; on Mount Horeb he had twice said in the presence of the Lord, “I, even I only, am left.” But at last he has to learn the wholesome lesson that he is only one among seven thousand.
Finally, we may notice another touching feature in this incident, and that is the considerateness of God’s dealings, even at the moment of rebuke. Another has said, “God acted towards Elijah as towards a beloved and faithful servant, even at the moment in which He made him sensible of his failure in the energy of faith, for He did not make others aware of it, although He has communicated it to us for our instruction.”
H. Smith (adapted)
Not Dying - I'm Going to Live
The knowledge of the truth, of course, and especially the knowledge of the finished work of Christ, are necessary to the knowledge of Himself, through the teaching of the Holy Spirit. But all these are as means to an end — the full knowledge of Himself. We must know the value of His work, before the heart rises into the one desire of knowing Himself. “That I may know Him,” says Paul (Phil. 3:10), while John says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18). It is the knowledge of His perfect love, a love that has its spring and power in Himself and above the influence of our failures and shortcomings, that delivers the soul from all fear and fills it with a holy boldness under all circumstances. The feeling is no longer what I am or may be, at some future time, but what He is. Will He ever change? Will His love ever cool down? Can He ever lose His place in heaven? Thus the heart finds perfect rest in His presence, being in Him and one with Him; and a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.
These thoughts have been suggested by reflecting on the weary wrangling of reasoners about “full assurance,” “falling away,” and “final perseverance.” Let us look at the triumphant deathbed of a beloved Christian who found her delight in the Person of her Lord. The Christlike calmness and dignity of her last hours may be a better answer to all such reasonings than anything we could say. We give in substance the closing scene.
“She Is Dying”
The usual medical visit was paid. The illness had been long, and no doubt the visits had been many, but the end had come. The change was apparent. Turning to a sister who stood in the room, he quietly said, “She is dying.” He was a friend of the family as well as the doctor and sympathized with the sorrowing friends. But there was one ready to comfort them all. The words, “She is dying,” reached her ear, but they conveyed no alarm to her soul; all was peace. Making a slight effort to look at her doctor and friend, she calmly replied, “Not dying, doctor—I’m going to live; no, not dying; this is living — I’m going to live with Jesus.” And with great presence and composure of mind, she expressed her gratitude to the doctor for all his attentions and kindness and assured him that she felt he had done all that man could do. In bidding him farewell, she prayed that God might bless him and bless his family. “May God bless you, doctor, and may He bless your family” were among the last words of his patient, but they were more than he could stand. He left the room in a state of the deepest emotion. He returned the next day to see her asleep in Jesus and to speak of the blessing he had received.
Her Work Was Done
Her work was now done. Like her Lord and Master, she passed off the scene with hands uplifted in blessing. She had been many years a Christian and moved in what would be called the best society, so that there was no mere excitement in all this, but the calm and solid reality of a well instructed and highly cultivated mind. Of course, it was the grace of God alone which enabled her to bear such a testimony for the truth and for Christ, but it was the sweet sense of His presence with her in that chamber of suffering and death which filled her whole soul with such peace and rest. He was with her, and that was enough. The strength of His arm, the beams of His countenance, as well as the love of His heart, were all her own. She is absent from the body; she is present with the Lord. She has joined the myriad throng above, quietly to wait with them and Him, the day of His coming glory. We shall meet in the morning—that morning of cloudless, eternal joy. Till then may we cease from self, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and seek the blessing of others.
Things New and Old (adapted)
When He Is Present
Jesus only can truly satisfy and rejoice the heart. All the difficulties of earth are nothing when He is present, but heaven itself would be for us solitary and joyless, if He were wanting there.
G. V. Wigram
At the Bottom or the top
If a man has not Christ at the bottom, he is no Christian at all. But even where Christ is in a man and you may find him walking blamelessly, yet, if you speak to him of Christ, there is not an echo in his heart, though his life goes on smoothly. Christ at the bottom and a fair Christian walk at the top, and between these two, a hundred and fifty things that Christ has nothing to do with at all. His life is practically passed without Christ. This will not do. It is the terrible levity of the heart that goes on without Christ, until it becomes the highway of whatever the world pours into it.
J. N. Darby
Circumstances or His Presence
Looking at past failure you will constantly find that it arose from settling things according to circumstances. I cannot settle anything myself; if I am in His presence, I get guidance from the Lord in His circumstances. There is a Man in heaven in the highest glory! He can enter into everything where His people would not be able to move for themselves. Is His heart less occupied, His eye less fixed on me now than it was on Stephen then? The curtain was drawn back for him. It is equally true to faith now!
G. V. Wigram
In Christ - Christ in Us
In Ephesians, “in Christ” has to do with heavenly position, while “Christ in” the believer connects with all the fullness of God! “Ye in Me” tells of deliverance in Romans; satisfaction in Colossians; heavenly position in Ephesians. “I in you” expresses liberty in Romans; hope of glory in Colossians; all the fullness of God in Ephesians.
Christian Friend, 1896
Clouds That Obscure
It is easy for the believer to lose sight of the things of God. The clouds from the world arise to obscure the bright prospect, or the evil haze of the flesh wraps the soul in its embrace. Then the sense of the reality of spiritual things passes away, and the sweet serenity and calm of the uplands give place to the restless fever of a soul out of communion with God.
Things nearer at hand remain in view — perhaps the fellowship of Christians or some service undertaken in the brighter days — but the joy, the charm, the reality are gone; everything seems out of focus, for Christ is not seen as the great central Object throwing everything else into its right relation. Then the question arises as to the reality of these things, for no things are so unreal as divine things to the soul out of communion and under the cloud of what is temporal. It may be the memory remains to increase the unhappiness, but Christ is not a present, living reality.
Under such circumstances, what is to be done? There is but one way of escape, and that is to seek the presence of God. We may go to Him assured that He is more desirous that we should live in the power of divine things than we can be; moreover He, who brought us into them at the beginning, is the only One who can restore the joy of them to us when that joy is lost.
J. T. Mawson
The Lord's Presence
“If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence” (Ex. 33:15).
Savior, lead us by Thy power
Safe into the promised rest;
Choose the path, the way whatever
Seems to Thee, O Lord, the best.
Be our Guide in every peril;
Watch and keep us night and day,
Else our foolish hearts will wander
From the straight and narrow way.
Since in Thee is our redemption,
And salvation full and free,
Nothing need our souls dishearten
But forgetfulness of Thee.
Naught can stay our steady progress;
More than conquerors we shall be,
If our eye, whate’er the danger,
Looks to Thee, and none but Thee.
In Thy presence we are happy;
In Thy presence we’re secure;
In Thy presence all afflictions
We can easily endure.
In Thy presence we can conquer,
We can suffer, we can die;
Wandering from Thee we are feeble;
Let Thy love, Lord, keep us nigh.
W. Williams