Without Blame in Love - Carrie F. Judd (Triumphs of Faith 1.5)

WITHOUT BLAME IN LOVE

BY CARRIE F. JUDD

“The fruit of the Spirit is love.”-Gal. v:22.

As we need the blessed Spirit of God to impart faith, joy and peace to our souls, so do we need His indwelling presence that we may know how to love “in deed and in truth.” By nature our hearts are selfish and cold, but the Holy Spirit melts them until they are ready flow out in love to God, and in sympathy and love towards even the most wretched and sinful of our fellow creatures.

©Hannah Clark 

“God is love,” and therefore the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Love.” Our hearts must be filled with His Divine presence before we can in the least degree comprehend the amazing manifestation of God’s love in which He appears to us as our crucified Redeemer. Many of us are grieved and amazed at our own stony-heartedness, but if we estimated the sinful natural heart as it must appear in the light of God’s holiness, we would no longer deem it capable of those high and holy emotions which can only be shed abroad in our souls by the power of the Spirit of God.

It is impossible for our wills to be brought in harmony with God’s will until they have been subdued by His love. Whatever discipline He used to bring us closer to Himself, it is always, at last, the realization of His infinite love which breaks our suborn hearts. It is the recognition of the nail prints, and the pierced side, marks of the love wherewith “He loved us to the end,” that conquers our unbelief and makes us cry out with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”

What love passing conception must that love be which the Father bestows upon “His only begotten Son,” Who in all things delighted to do His perfect will, and yet our Saviour’s words to His Father are these, “I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou has loved Me and may be in them, and I in them.”-(St. John xvii:26.)

It is only by the indwelling of Christ in our hearts that we are “rooted and grounded in love,” and are able “to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,” and to “be filled with all the fullness of God.”-(Eph. iii:17-19.)

We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, an the very fact that God requires our undivided affection is a proof of His marvelous love towards us, for it is only when we truly love any one that we are jealous of their affection. “Love is strong as death” (Cant. viii:6) and the holy jealousy of Him, to Whom the Church is espoused, is a manifestation of His love and care over her.

the apostle tells us that God hath chosen us that we should be “holy, and without blame before Him in love.” Blessed privilege! Though our judgment may often prove weak, and erring, though our minds are devoid of what the world might deem wisdom, though we are “the weak and foolish things” of earth, yet we be “holy, and without blame before God, in love.” This is the “way of holiness” in which “the wayfaring men, though fools” may walk and “not err,” for the love which the Holy Spirit implants in our souls makes them steadfastly cling, through every test to Him Who can alone satisfy their heaven-born longings.

It is for those who love God that all things are made to “work together for good,” and it is for those who love Him that God has prepared those wondrous things which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,” nor heart imagine, but which are revealed unto us by the Holy Spirit. Ah! who but those who love God are capable of receiving these blessed revelations, for will not the marvelous joys of Heaven consist in a perfect realization of our Redeemer’s love? And who but those who love god with all their heart could be fitted for the eternal bliss of dwelling in His presence?

“We shall see Him as He is” (1 John iii:2), and this though is abundant joy to those who have learned by faith that He is “altogether lovely,” “the chiefest among ten thousand.” I doubt not that many of us have cried with unutterable yearning, “Lord, let me know Thee by faith,” and to those who persistent love is thus seeking Him, comes blessedly this answer, “He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”-(St. John xiv:21.)

As we rise to fullness of life, “hid with Christ in God,” we begin to realize what love really is that pure fervent love which ‘never faileth,” which “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” O, how much we need this love which “never faileth” when temptation comes, the love which is able to recognize God’s mercy and loving kindness in clouds as well as in sunshine; and how much we need this love which “never faileth,” towards the weak and wandering ones who would exhaust the patience and compassion of any except those who were filled with “the love of the Spirit.”

And when we are being taught in the “faith which worketh by love,” how sweetly comes to us the word of the inspired apostle, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” –(1 John iv:7.)

We must realize that Christ’s word to love one another was given as a command, and must be obeyed if we would be His disciples. This “unfeigned love” was the very badge which would distinguish His followers from those of the world who were still abiding in death. “A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”-(St. John xiii:34,35.)

“All men shall know,” our Saviour says, and it is indeed noticeable that even unbelievers recognize this bond among true followers of Jesus, without having any conception of the exalted love by which the members of the body of Christ are thus “fitly joined together.”

There can be no schism where love abounds. May we all, as followers of our loving Master, “increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men,” “to the end He may stablish our hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”-(1 Thess. iii:12,13.)

Rivers of Living Water - Carrie F. Judd (Triumphs of Faith 1.4)

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.

BY CARRIE F. JUDD

He cutteth out rivers among the rocks. Job xxviii:10

I know that there are many dear ones thirsting today for more of the “water of life,” and crying in the words of the Psalmist, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.”

Precious, indeed, is the answer which our pitiful Father vouchsafes to His weary children, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring.” (Isa. xliv:3.)

Such an outpouring of God’s Spirit as is here promised is essential to every believer before he can work with power in the service of the Lord: for we cannot give what we do not possess, and we cannot water others unless we, ourselves, are drawing from the Living Fountain. Blessed be God, He “giveth not the Spirit by measure” unto those who will open their hearts to receive Him. It is not His will that we should be limited to occasional dews of His grace, but His unbound mercy reveals itself in the promise of “floods” of blessing “upon the dry ground.”

And why then are we not filled? Why are we not so full of the blessed Spirit of God that His fullness can flow through us, and out of us, refreshing our own souls and all those with whom we come in contact? Alas! We will not take the receptive attitude of faith. Jesus bids us “ask and receive” that our “joy may be full.” We obey His command in asking, but we do not throw open our souls that we may receive. God’s word to us is, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psa. lxxxi:10), yet we do not pause in our cries of hunger to accept what is so freely offered.

The mistake that very many of us make is in asking God to give us holiness of heart as though it were something apart from Himself. We do not realize that Jesus has already been given to us by the Father, and that our possession of His attributes consists only in our possessing Him: “A Man shall be… as rivers of water in a dry place.”-(Isa. xxxii:2.)

This “Man,” Christ Jesus, when “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree” knew what it was to suffer thirst; though He was, and is, the “Living fountain.” He thirsted for our sakes that we might be made to “drink of the river of His pleasures.” We hear Him saying that those words of patient grief, “They gave Me also gall for my meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (Psa. lxix:21), and then in vivid contrast with man’s mocking cruelty we hear the Saviour’s message of matchless grace: “When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will not hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.”-(Isa. xli: 17,18.)

The “cold flowing waters” (Jer. xviii:14) never cease in their beneficent action. They are available for us at all times if we will only receive them, but we must drink by faith, Jesus has said, “If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink,” and the utterance of faith would be, “Lord Jesus, I come, and according to Thy word I do drink now.” And depending on that unfailing word we may rest in the sure conviction that marvelous refreshing will be shed abroad in our souls by that living draught. “The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams.”-(Isa. xxxiii:21.) Not only shall our own souls be abundantly satisfied, but “rivers of living water’ shall flow from us to the reviving of other thirsty souls, and they, and we, shall show forth the praise of the Lord; for “unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”-(Eccl. i:7.)

In Isa. xlviii:21, we read, “He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: He clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.” Dear friends, the Rock has already been cleft for us, and the spiritual drink of love and peace is even now gushing out to satisfy our every need. Shall we in our impatience and unbelief “smite this Rock” which is so ready to satisfy our longing that a single word of appeal shall enable us to partake of  its “living waters”? Shall we continue to carry with thirst when by an act of simple faith we may drink of its abundant outflow? Let us beware lest in our disobedience and lack of trust we fall short of the end of our service, and hear the rebuking words, “Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.-(Num. xx:12)

If we have not wherewith to water the fainting souls around us, shall we not be held accountable by our Master for the unfruitfulness of our service? We read that at the last day the Judge of all the earth shall say unto the unprofitable servants, “I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink…in as much as ye did it not unto one of the last of these, ye did it not unto Me.”-(St. Matt. xxv:42,45.) Solemn words that we should ponder well! For if we fail to drink deeply of Christ’s spiritual drink we shall be without excuse, in as much as the gracious invitation is even now sounding in our ears, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”-(Rev. xxii:17.)

Are we “athirst”? Then we are invited to drink of this living water, and let us partake so freely that those who have not yet known a “thirst after righteousness” may realize by our fullness their own lack, and be constrained to “ask and receive.”

“Ho ever one that thirsteth come ye to the waters.” –(Isa. lv:1.)

“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” –(St. John iv:14.)

Growth in Grace - H.W.S.

GROWTH IN GRACE

BY H.W. S.

Grow, dear friends, but grow, I beseech you, in God’s way, which is the only effectual way. See to it that you are planted in grace, and then let the Divine Husbandman cultivate you in His own way, and by His own means. Put yourselves out in the sunshine of His presence, and let the dew of Heaven come down upon you, and see what will come of it. Leaves, and flowers, and fruit must surely come in their season; for your Husbandman is a skillful one, and He never fails in His harvesting. Only see to it that you oppose no hindrance to the shining of the Sun of Righteousness, or the falling of the dew from Heaven. A very think covering may serve to keep off the heat or the moisture, and the plant may wither even in their midst. And the slightest barrier between your soul and Christ may cause you to dwindle and fade, as a plant in a cellar, or “under a bushel.” Keep the sky clear. Open wide every avenue of your being to receive the blessed influences your Divine Husbandman may bring to bear upon you. Bask in the sunshine of His love. Drink in of the waters of His goodness. Keep your face upturned to Him. Look, and your soul shall live.

You need to make no effort to grow. But let your efforts instead be all consecrated on this, that you abide in the Vine. The Husbandman Who has the care of the vine will care for its branches also, and will so prune, and purge, and water, and tend them, that they will grow and bring forth fruit. And their fruit shall remain, and, like the lily, they shall find themselves arrayed in apparel so glorious, that that of Solomon will be as nothing to it. –“Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.”

Healing Faith - A.P. Moore (Triumphs of Faith 1.4)

HEALING FAITH

BY A.P. MOORE

The subject of healing of disease and bodily infirmities in answer to “the prayer of faith,” is being

revived and agitated in all the land, and it is so plainly demonstrated by living witness who have been healed without the use of medicine, and when medical skill has been exhausted, that the candid must confess that it is of God.

It is true that all revivals of any of God’s precious though long-neglected truths, have met with the most bitter persecution and persistent opposition even from professed Christians and ministers of the Gospel, but truth is of God, and must prevail in spite of all opposing forces. Those who oppose the healing of the sick in answer to “the prayer of faith,” do so on the assumption that “the age of miracles is past,” and was confined to the Apostolic age. But where in the Bible are we taught this? Is it a greater miracle to heal the sick than to convert a sinner? See a person with murder in his heart, a terror to his family and to all who know him, but let that person get converted by the Spirit of God, and see the great change wrought in him. He becomes peaceful and serene, gentle, loving and kind; his sin is taken away and the whole moral nature changed. He is a new man in Christ Jesus. Truly it is not in the power of man to effect this change in himself. It is a miracle of God for such a heart to be changed.

No Christian will claim for a moment that we are past the age of conversions. But it is by the same power, and through the same agency, that the sick are restored to health.

It is in answer to believing prayer that the sinner is accepted, forgiven, renewed. The promise of Jesus is, “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” This promise extends over the entire dispensation, while Christ is Mediator between God and man, while He is the sinner’s Advocate; and the promise in Jas. v:15, for bodily healing belongs to us now as much as do the promises of spiritual healing through faith in Christ Jesus.

Let us examine the passage in Jas.:v14, 15, and see if physical healing does not run parallel with the forgiveness of sin. “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him.”

Now it is evident that this is not local in its application: forgiveness of sins extends through the entire dispensation, and so does the promise of healing for the sick, in answer to believing prayer.

The epistle of James is address to those “which are scattered abroad,” and blessed promises therein were extended to all. In the same chapter which contains the instructions in regard to the sick, the apostle says, “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (7^th and 8^th verses). This certainly has no local application; neither has the promise in the 14^th and 15^th verses. Healing faith is the same as faith in any portion of God’s Word. It is simply to believe in and rest on the specific promise of healing, just as we come to God by Christ Jesus and rest on His promise of forgiveness and acceptance. It is no mysterious emotion; it is simply to believe that God’s promise for you, as well as for the thousands throughout the land who can today testify to having received this healing.

It is not fanaticism to take a plainly pointed out means for obtaining the blessing of health. It is the height of folly not to take it. “The prayer of faith shall save the sick.” Believe this: God has declared it. Honor Him by believing it. DO not think that you can better glorify God by doubting his Word or His power and continuing to suffer, than by believing His promise, and receiving health. No disease is too great to baffle the skill of the “Great Physician.” Let us claim the blessing so freely offered, and then confess to the glory of God the work which He has wrought in us.

The following lines form the pen of Charlotte Murray so fully express our feelings that we quote them here:

“He healed them all-the blind, the lame, the

palsied.

   The sick in body and the weak in mind;

Whoever came, no matter how afflicted,

   Were sure a sovereign remedy to find.

His word gave health, His touch restored the

vigor

   To every weary, pain-exhausted frame;

And all he asked before He gave the blessing.

   Was simple faith in Him from those who

            came.

And is our Lord, the kind, the good. the

tender,

   Less loving now than in those days of old?

Or is it that our faith is growing feeble,

   And Christian energy is waxing cold?

Why do we not with equal expectation,

   Now bring our sick Ones to the Lord in

prayer.

Right through the throng of unbelieving

scruples,

   Up to His very side and leave them there?

He never health refused in by-gone ages,

   Nor feared to take the ‘chastisement’

away;

Then why not ask it now instead of praying

   For patience to endure from day to day?”

***

God grudges nothing. He Who gave His son, He Whose Spirit is content to well in tabernacles, which, though by His workmanship made fair within, are without badgers’ skins, has not shown how freely He gives. If we can bear it, all is ours; if we have it not, it is because we cannot bear it. Let us, like John, but make our dwelling night to that side cleft for us, seeing in the water and blood shed thence a pledge of those unsearchable depths of love which still remain, and we may drink our fill of love; and as no lack is there, so surely will there be no grudging. –Andrew Jukes

Enough - Frances Ridley Havergal (Triumphs of Faith 1.4)

ENOUGH

BY FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL

I am so weak, dear Lord, I cannot stand
            One moment without Thee!
But oh! The tenderness of Thine enfolding,
            And oh! The faithfulness of Thine upholding,
And Oh! The strength of Thy right hand!
            That strength is enough for me!

I am so needy, Lord, and yet I know
            All fullness dwells in Thee;
And hour by hour that never-failing treasure
            Supplies and fills in overflowing measure,
My least, my greatest need; and so
            Thy grace is enough for me!

It is so sweet to trust Thy word alone:
            I do not ask to see
The unveiling of Thy purpose, or the shining
            Of future light on mysteries untwining:
Thy promise-roll is all my own,-
            Thy word is enough for me!

The human heart asks love; but now I know
            That my heart hath from Thee
All real, and full, and marvelous affection,
            So near, so human; yet divine perfection
Thrills gloriously the mighty glow!
            Thy love is enough for me!

There were strange souls-depths, restless, vast and broad,
            Unfathomed as the sea;
An infinite craving for some infinite stilling;
            But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling!
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God,
            Thou, Thou art enough for me!

                        -From “Loyal Responses.”

Two Mites (Triumphs of Faith 1.4)

TWO MITES

The poor widow who cast her humble offering into the treasury, gave “all the living that she had,” and the “two mites” represent the offering required to each one of us, viz.: our soul and body, to be given to the Lord in a fully and eternal consecration. They are only “mites,” but if we, like this poor widow, cast in of our “penury,” we shall be received by Him who will count us precious in the light of His redeeming love. We are so apt to offer our “abundance,” our self-righteousness and pride of heart, but we must realize our utter “penury,” and  be “poor in spirit” before we can bring fit offerings for our Lord.