DAILY READINGS IN LIFE OF CHRIST - J.R. Miller (1890)

February 26. What seek ye?

"And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!  And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?" John 1:36-38 

Here we see how easy Christ makes it for those who set out to find Him. When we start to seek Him, ever so timidly and tremblingly, He does not leave us to seek unencouraged — but quickly turns to meet us and to cheer and help us. Then He does not stand apart on some lofty mountain-top far away, or hide Himself out of sight, compelling us to seek alone and struggle through sore difficulties to get to His feet. He sees us when we take our first steps toward Him, and notes the very beginnings of our heart's longings for Him. In the parable, the father was watching and saw his prodigal son as he came painfully and wearily homeward; and when he saw him — he ran to meet him. It is just in this way that Christ does when He sees a penitent sinner turn his face toward Him.

Notice His question also, "What seek ye?" This is Christ's question to all who begin to go after Him. He wants us to know ourselves, just what it is that we are seeking for. Once, when two blind men cried after Him, He turned and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" It is good for us to get our desires into definite form. Many people are unhappy, and know that they need something — but do not know what it is. They are unsatisfied with themselves; they are

conscious of imperfection, of sin, of unrest; they bend their faces toward Christ and begin to pray to Him — but their prayers are vague and indefinite. Then Jesus turns and asks, "What seek ye?" If we will settle definitely what we want — He will be ready to answer.

The form of this question also veils a promise: "Tell me what you seek — and I will give it to you." The question is nothing less than a key to Christ's treasure-house. We need only to be sure that we seek truly — but we must remember that seeking is a very strong word.

 The Close of the Commandments.

"I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth genera­ tion of them that hate Me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments."  Exodus. 20:5-6.

God promises grace and every blessing to all who keep His commandments; therefore we should love and trust in Him and gladly do according to His commandments.

But He threatens to punish all who transgress these com­mandments. “I am the Lord, thy God,” are the solemn words with which He begins the words of His Law to the nations of the world to teach them who He is and to impress upon them His perfect right to issue such commands and to exact strict obedience to them. He also has the power to execute His threats. He adds the words: “I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God.” He is jealous of His authority, vigilant of every conduct towards it, angry at every rebellion against it. And He will visit the iniquity of the fathers, that is, punish the sins of the fathers, upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Him. Many a child is a bodily, mental, and moral cripple owing to the sins and vices of one or the other parent or both of them. If a person could only sin by himself and suffer the punishment alone, matters would not be so bad. But if a person sins, he always harms also some one else besides himself. Here we see the fearfulness of sin. Like parents, like children!

Nevertheless, God is not unjust. We read Ezek. 18:20 - “ The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” We must always keep separate moral responsibility and material consequences, per­ sonal guilt and inherited affliction. An affliction is no disgrace; it rather is a means of leading us to the Savior, as to an open door of grace, to everlasting salvation.

Prayer.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we pray Thee so to enlighten our hearts that in the mirror of Thy Law we may duly perceive our many and great sins and seriously consider the state of our souls. Show us that our whole nature is evil by birth and that out of the evil heart evil thoughts and words and deeds without number daily proceed. Show us the dire consequences and the dread wages of transgression, Thy wrath and displeasure, temporal death, and eternal damnation, that we may learn to look with terror at our sins, sincerely repent of them, and seek Thy grace which Thou offerest us in the Gospel. Amen.

DAILY READINGS IN LIFE OF CHRIST - J.R. Miller (1890)

February 25. The Lamb of God

"And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!" John 1:36

This was the first gospel sermon, and it is a model for all preachers and teachers. The preacher pointed his own followers away from himself — to Christ. This same beautiful unselfishness appears in all of John the Baptist's course. He was only a voice, announcing the coming of a King. He was not that Light — but only one bearing witness to that Light. With throngs following him, the moment Jesus came, John asked the throngs to leave him and go after Jesus. His whole ministry was simply a pointing of people to Christ.

This is what all Christian workers should do; they should preach and teach Christ, not themselves. They should not seek to win attention to themselves — but to get all to see Christ and to love Him. Like John, they should be willing to decrease — that Christ might increase; they should be satisfied to fade away like the morning star in the brightness of the sun's rising.

This name by which John drew attention to Jesus, is so very important. He called Him the Lamb of God. This meant that Christ had come into the world not alone to be a teacher — but chiefly to be a sacrifice for sin — to die in the place of sinners. He was called a lamb, no doubt, because of His gentleness and meekness; but the principal reason was because He was to save us from our sins — by bearing them Himself. Just the day before this, John said of Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

Not only did He take our sin upon Himself; He bore it away into eternal forgetfulness, to be remembered no more forever. Now all who come to Him are safe forever from condemnation. Long ago their sins were laid on the atoning Lamb, and they will never have to be borne a second time. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." 

QUICKENED TO LIFE

 "You hath He quickened." Eph 2:1.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son ofGod: and they that hear shall live". — John v. 25.

WHO are the dead? Alas, we know but too well of them who have been carried from our homes. Their dust lies beneath the grass and the flowers in the cemetery. Their images haunt tenderly our memories. Their influence is woven, in many a golden thread, into our characters and lives. But these are not " the dead " of whom our Lord here speaks. He has reference to those who are " dead while they live," " dead in trespasses and sins," who have no perception of, or love for, or interest in, spiritual things, who do not"live unto God." Even heathen have had some perception of the possibility of spiritual death, present as well as future. "What," said Socrates to his disciples, "What if some of those around us were already dead souls."

It is a terrible thought that even in the midst of the life and beauty of the world, over a vast multitude of souls " death reigns," and corruption is creeping. It may be that we ourselves are spiritually dead, or little better. But "the hour cometh," it is not far away, it "now is," for the dead to arise. Already it is the resurrection morn. Even now the Son of God is calling, and all around us men are coming to life. "Now is the day of salvation." " They who hear shall live." But how can the dead hear? Because he who speaks to Lazarus at the same time gives him the power to hear, and to obey, and to " come forth." O thou who art  "the Resurrection and the Life," dispose us to hear thy voice and awake from spiritual death to life eternal.

(from 'Life's Golden Lamp' - 1888)

 Of Death (F.E. Pasche)

"The wages of sin is death". Romans 6:23.

God said to Adam: “In the day that thou eatest thereof [of the forbidden fruit] thou shalt surely die.” As soon as he and Eve sinned, they were in the power of death. Death always follows sin.

Scripture says of all those who are still under the curse of sin that they are dead in trespasses and sins. Spiritual death is the punishment for all who are born in sin. From this death men can be saved only if the Holy Ghost enlightens them by the Gospel, so that they know Jesus as their Savior, trust and believe in Him, rejoice and take comfort in Him. And after a man has thus been regenerated by a new spiritual birth, let him take heed lest he fall! If he falls back into his sinful state, losing God’s grace, it again becomes true of him that death is the wages of sin; he relapses into spiritual death. But death also ruins man’s bodily life.

As soon as a sinner is born into this life, he is not only spiritually dead, but is also doomed to temporal death. All men must die. This is the punishment attendant upon sin. On account of sin, ruin and destruction comes upon all the children of men. This life with all its pain and sickness, war and worry, is our time of probation, of preparation for death and what follows after death. Once wasted, it never comes back to give us another opportunity; once Death has claimed us for his own, he will never release us again to give us another trial.

We should therefore prepare ourselves to meet death when it comes to claim us. For what comes after death ? “ It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the Judgment.” Man knows that there is a hereafter, with rewards and punishments. But is death also a punishment for the Christian? No; true Christians believe in Jesus Christ, who as their Substitute entered into a con­ test with death. It was for us that He conquered death. For those who believe in Jesus, death has lost its sting.

Prayer.

O Thou faithful Lord Jesus, give us strength to conquer death by virtue of Thy death and not to fear the grave; for Thou hast hallowed it unto us by Thy burial and hast given us the promise that, because Thou livest, we, too, shall live and be with Thee for­ ever. O Lord, we yearn for the repose of a happy death and have a desire for the joyous resurrection of the body. Oh, let us ex­ perience both, and we will forever praise Thee, together with the Father and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Daily Readings in the Life of Christ - J.R. Miller (1890)

February 24. Scripture with Scripture

"Jesus saith unto him: It is also written." Matthew 4:7

Christ is our example in all things. Here we see how He met the tempter so as to conquer him. We see just what weapons He used in His victorious conflicts. He used His Bible as a quiver, and He drew from it the sharp arrows which He hurled so successfully against His opponent. 

We notice, too, that He did not have to get down His Bible and search through it to find texts to use in His battle. He drew them from memory. This shows that He had made the Scriptures a study in the quiet days at Nazareth, and had His heart filled with the precious words, so that when He needed them they were ready. The lesson for us lies on the surface. If we would be ready to meet the assaults of the tempter — we must have our quiver filled with the polished shafts of Scripture. We must have the words of the Holy Book laid away in reserve in our hearts — so that at the most sudden call, we may use them.

There is another thought here. Jesus said, "It is also written." We must compare scripture with scripture, so as to be sure of the will of God. A single text taken by itself may not give us the will of God. A single text taken by itself may not give us the whole mind of the Spirit on any subject; it may be necessary to take other passages, presenting other aspects of the truth, in order to get the whole truth. 

Here the case is very plain and very instructive. The devil had quoted a sublime promise — but had distorted it, omitting the qualifying or limiting words in it. It is very true that God gives His angels charge over us — but it is true also that to get this heavenly care and protection, we must walk in the ways of obedience and duty; the moment we turn away unbidden into other paths and go where God has not sent us — we forfeit this protection. So we must remember always, when we are tempted to expect God's care or blessing in any sinful or willful course of our own, that it is also written, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."