Jottings

by J. Miller | Category: Jottings | Sept 1944

The great paradoxes of the Christian faith are, that we live by dying, are strong when we are weak, are wise as we become fools, and rise in the measure that we descend; yea, also, with the Christian, "to die is gain." The worldling, when he dies, loses all, for he has no home nor fortune in the heavenly country, but not so the believer.

Paul said, "I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ. liveth in me" (Galatians 2.19, 20). The law exerted its power, maintained its right, and claimed its victim, and Paul the sinner died. The law can claim no more than the execution of the penalty, and that is death. Now having paid the penalty the victim is free. He has both died under the law and died to it. "I have been crucified"; says Paul, "yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me." The sinner dies in his Substitute, and then the Substitute, who has been raised from the dead, lives in him. It is not now the old life of Saul of Tarsus that lives. That life is ended, that man was crucified with Christ. It is now a new man with a new life the Christ life, if we may so call it The old life was educated, religious, refined It had been trained at the feet of Gamaliel it was zealous for the traditions of the fathers it was pharisaical it prided itself in every thing Jewish and things national both ancient and modern But though truly religious it was a life in which God was hated Christ, was despised and His saints persecuted. It was cruel and blood thirsty as a tiger. Saul was a mere religious bigot. This he declared in an unmistakable way before king Agrippa "I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contra to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this I ills" did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my vote against them. And punishing them oftentimes in all "the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities" (Acts 26.9-11).

Here we have a man, religious, synagogue-going, circumcised, and "as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless" (this finding was, of course, by men, not by God) (Philippians 3.6). What improvements are necessary to make him more in alignment with the religion of his times? None at all! Yet he was utterly bad, utterly gone astray. why was it not detected? Because the system of worldly religion. in which he lived and moved was utterly wrong. The mere fashion and externals of that religious system were magnified out of all proportion, and the weighty and important matters of faith, mercy and the love of God were entirely forgotten.

A new birth is what the Lord demanded as necessary (John 3.). Paid said, "Neither is circumcision, nor uncircumcision anything, but a new creature" (Galatians 6.15). No reformation, no veneer of religion to cover the evils of the flesh I The heart must be reached and cleansed by faith and Christ must take up His dwelling place there. No carry over can be allowed of Saul of Tarsus' life to that of Paul the apostle. There must be no mixture of law and grace. Christ and the Devil cannot share the throne of the heart and direct the activities of the subject of God's grace. The law of Christ is death to the old and the creation of a new man. It is not to be the" I "that lives, but Christ that lives. The" I" of Saul of Tarsus is dead, and in the new Paul Christ lives again on earth. Christ fills the throne above, but He also fills the heart of Paul. Paul lives Christ and preaches Him. There is nothing here of-" The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau" (Genesis 27.22). Works must not cancel our words. The preacher's life must be the hammer that drives home the nail he fastens in a sure place (Ecclesiastes 12.11). Let not your preaching fasten the nail and our life pull it out. May we be able to see Christ in each other more than ever

Sometimes we get an uplift and can sing in truth with real spiritual joy

"Though we pass through tribulation,

All will be well;

Ours is such a full salvation,

All, all is well.

Happy still in God confiding,

Fruitful if in Christ abiding.

Holy through the Spirit's guiding,

All must be well."

Too often: alas, we live and act as though the Lord were a long distance off. We nurse our anxiety as though it were a darling child. Paul wrote to the Philippians, in what is one of his prison epistles, and said, "Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4.5). Forbearance here means gentleness. The Authorised Version renders this word " moderation." It may also, as Dr. Young shows, be described as "yieldingness," "pliability." Paul besought the Corinthians "by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10.1). Paul, James and Peter all write of gentleness (Titus 3.2; James 3.17; 1 Peter 2.18).

But won't we be trampled on if we are gentle? Have we not to fight our own battles? Remember Jesus Christ! Think of Him who though He "was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, threatened not" (1 Peter 2.23). Remember, too, that "the Lord is at hand." This is not the same as "the coming of the Lord is at hand" (James 5.8), but it means literally-" the Lord is near." We can leave our battles to Him, and we need not be anxious as to the issue and results.

Indeed the next words of Paul show how we are to act. "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (verse 6). The A.V. says in this verse, "Be careful in nothing." It is right to be careful in another sense, as Paul wrote to Titus, "To the end that they which have believed God may be careful to maintain good works" (3.8). Here it is thoughtful or mindful, but in Philippians it is careful in the sense of being full of care, distracted, anxious, which springs from a mind divided and in a state of unrest, like a troubled sea, in a storm of doubts and fears. God would have His saints to do what they can and leave all with Him, and in that confidence rest. Those who seek to carry all their trouble will darken their brightest days; anxiety makes bitter the sweetest disposition.

"Nothing " and "everything" arc in blessed contrast in this verse" In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer. Anxiety shuts God out, but prayer brings Him into the circumstances of life. Anxiety schemes and plans, but prayer looks to God for help and deliverance. Anxiety corrodes the mind, but prayer enlightens the countenance. Anxiety looks back to Pharaoh's advancing hosts and cries, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?" But prayer listens for words of assurance and hope:

"Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD." It opens a path of escape through a seemingly impassable obstacle to songs of deliverance. Such praying folk are sure to enjoy the blessing of peace: "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."

J. Miller | Sept 1944
Jottings