Harvest of Light, Gladness

Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. (Psalm 97:11)

Righteousness is often costly to the man who keeps to it at all hazards, but in the end it will bear its own expenses and return an infinite profit. A holy life is like sowing seed: much is going out, and apparently it is buried in the soil, never to be gathered up again. We are mistaken when we look for an immediate harvest; but the error is very natural, for it seems impossible to bury light. Yet light is "sown," says the text. It lies latent: none can see it; it is sown. We are quite sure that it must one day manifest itself.

Full sure are we that the Lord has set a harvest for the sower of light, and they shall reap it, each man for himself. Then shall come their gladness. Sheaves of joy for seeds of light. Their heart was upright before the Lord, though men gave them no credit for it, but even censured them: they were righteous, though those about them denounced them as censorious. They had to wait, as husbandmen wait for the precious fruits of the earth: but the light was sown for them, and gladness was being prepared on their behalf by the Lord of the harvest.

Courage, brothers! We need not he in a hurry. Let us in patience possess our souls, for soon shall our souls possess light and gladness.

Plead His Own Promise

Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. (2 Samuel 7:29)

     This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us. Anything which the Lord God has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it at the throne.

     Oh, how sweet to quote what our own God has spoken! How precious to use a "therefore," which the promise suggests, as David does in this verse!

     We do not pray because we doubt but because we believe. To pray unbelievingly is unbecoming in the Lord's children. No, Lord, we cannot doubt Thee: we are persuaded that every word of Thine is a sure foundation for the boldest expectation. We come to Thee and say, "Do as Thou hast said." Bless Thy servant's house. Heal our sick; save our hesitating ones; restore those who wander; confirm those who live in Thy fear. Lord, give us food and raiment according to Thy Word. Prosper our undertakings; especially succeed our endeavors to make known Thy gospel in our neighborhood. Make our servants Thy servants, our children Thy children. Let the blessing flow on to future generations, and as long as any of our race remains on earth may they remain true to Thee. O Lord God, "let the house of thy servant be blessed."

God's Multiplication Table

A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time. (Isaiah 60:22)

     Works for the Lord often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. Feebleness educates faith, brings God near, and wins glory for His name. Prize promises of increase! Mustard seed is the smallest among seeds, and yet it becomes a treelike plant, with branches which lodge the birds of heaven. We may begin with one, and that "a little one," and yet it will "become a thousand." The Lord is great at the multiplication table. How often did He say to His lone servant, "I will multiply thee!" Trust in the Lord, ye ones and twos; for He will be in the midst of you if you are gathered in His name.

     "A small one." What can be more despicable in the eyes of those who count heads and weigh forces! Yet this is the nucleus of a great nation. Only one star shines out at first in the evening, but soon the sky is crowded with countless lights.

     Nor need we think the prospect of increase to be remote, for the promise is, "I Jehovah will hasten it in his time." There will be no premature haste, like that which we see at excited meetings; it will be all in due time, but yet there will be no delay. When the Lord hastens, His speed is glorious.

From Every Sin

He shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

Lord, save me from my sins. By the name of Jesus I am encouraged thus to pray. Save me from my past sins, that the habit of them may not hold me captive. Save me from my constitutional sins, that I may not be the slave of my own weaknesses. Save me from the sins which are continually under my eye that I may not lose my horror of them. Save me from secret sins; sins unperceived by me from my want of light. Save me from sudden and surprising sins: let me not be carried off my feet by a rush of temptation. Save me, Lord, from every sin. Let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Thou alone canst do this. I cannot snap my own chains or slay my own enemies. Thou knowest temptation, for Thou wast tempted. Thou knowest sin, for Thou didst bear the weight of it. Thou knowest how to succor me in my hour of conflict; Thou canst save me from sinning and save me when I have sinned. It is promised in Thy very name that Thou wilt do this, and I pray Thee let me this day verify the prophecy. Let me not give way to temper, or pride, or despondency, or any form of evil; but do Thou save me unto holiness of life, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me abundantly.

"Babes in Christ." — 1 Cor 3:1

     Are you mourning, believer, because you are so weak in the divine life: because your faith is so little, your love so feeble? Cheer up, for you have cause for gratitude. Remember that in some things you are equal to the greatest and most full-grown Christian. You are as much bought with blood as he is. You are as much an adopted child of God as any other believer. An infant is as truly a child of its parents as is the full-grown man. You are as completely justified, for your justification is not a thing of degrees: your little faith has made you clean every whit. You have as much right to the precious things of the covenant as the most advanced believers, for your right to covenant mercies lies not in your growth, but in the covenant itself; and your faith in Jesus is not the measure, but the token of your inheritance in him. You are as rich as the richest, if not in enjoyment, yet in real possession. The smallest star that gleams is set in heaven; the faintest ray of light has affinity with the great orb of day. In the family register of glory the small and the great are written with the same pen. You are as dear to your Father's heart as the greatest in the family. Jesus is very tender over you. You are like the smoking flax; a rougher spirit would say, "put out that smoking flax, it fills the room with an offensive odour!" but the smoking flax he will not quench. You are like a bruised reed; and any less tender hand than that of the Chief Musician would tread upon you or throw you away, but he will never break the bruised reed. Instead of being downcast by reason of what you are, you should triumph in Christ. Am I but little in Israel? Yet in Christ I am made to sit in heavenly places. Am I poor in faith? Still in Jesus I am heir of all things. Though "less than nothing I can boast, and vanity confess." yet, if the root of the matter be in me I will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the God of my salvation.

Spurgeon's Service at Surrey Gardens

     London was all astir with talk of the young preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He lacked the flowery, elaborate sentences of most preachers, but his simple directness spoke to the hearts of his audience. His passion for truth was as strong as the older Puritans he loved and studied, yet there was nothing stale and musty about his preaching. Almost as soon as the nineteen year old began his ministry at New Park Street Chapel on London's south side, the Chapel became too small for the congregation. Though the Chapel could seat twelve hundred, seats, aisles, and even window-sills were overflowing whenever Spurgeon preached.

     A year after he arrived at New Park Street, the chapel was expanded, but the larger fifteen-hundred capacity building was not sufficient for the thousands thronging to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon. For a time the congregation rented Exeter Hall, which seated forty-five hundred people, but it soon proved too small as well.

     As the crowds expanded, Spurgeon leased the Surrey Music Hall in the Royal Surrey Gardens for services. This was London's "largest, most commodious and most beautiful building, erected for public amusements, carnivals of wild beasts and wilder men." Many criticized Spurgeon for leasing a building designed for worldly amusements, but the hall held ten to twelve thousand people and that number packed the building for the first service on this day, October 19, 1856. It seemed at least as many people were outside the building as were inside.

     The service had only gone a few minutes when there was the frightening cry of "Fire! the galleries are giving away, the place is falling!" In the ensuing panic to flee the building, many people were trampled. Seven died and others were seriously injured.

     Spurgeon was tremendously depressed over the event, and his grief was so deep some feared his reason had left him. He spent hours "in tears by day, and dreams of terror by night." Within two weeks, however, Spurgeon had recovered sufficiently to preach again. The crowds were even bigger than before.

     In the spring of 1861, the Metropolitan Tabernacle was completed; this was to be Spurgeon's pulpit for the next thirty-one years. Throughout those years an average of five thousand people attended each morning and evening Sunday service. Spurgeon's was the megachurch of nineteenth century London.

     Though he constantly preached to a sea of faces, Spurgeon trembled at the multitudes who came to hear him. He was aware of the awesome responsibility of giving them the truth and not just tickling their ears. In his last sermon at Surrey Hall before moving into the Metropolitan Tabernacle he urged his listeners, "In God's name, I beseech you, flee to Christ for refuge! Shall there be any of you, whom I shall see on my death bed, who shall charge me with being unfaithful? Shall these eyes be haunted with visions of men whom I have amused, but into whose heart I have never sought to convey the truth?...God avert that worst of ills --unfaithfulness from my head! I pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God!"

What are the letters of Ignatius?

     The word epistle is simply another word for letter, based on the Greek root word that means “to send.” The Letters of Ignatius, or the Epistles of Ignatius, are a set of letters written by early church father Ignatius of Antioch.

     Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus, Greek for “God-bearer”) was born around AD 35 and died sometime in the second century. Some sources have his death as early as AD 107, and others as late as 135. Ignatius was the second or perhaps the third bishop of Antioch in Syria. He is primarily known for seven letters that he wrote in the Greek language as he journeyed as a prisoner to Rome, where he expected to be executed. Very little is known about him other than the information contained in the letters. However, he must have been well-known to Christians at the time, because he was welcomed and ministered to by Christians all along the way.

     

     The churches that Ignatius addressed in his seven letters were located in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna. The final letter was written to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna who later gathered all the letters of Ignatius and disseminated them as a group.

     The Letters of Ignatius are filled with warnings against false teaching and pleas for unity. The style of the letters is similar to that of Paul, and of course much of the teaching is the same as Ignatius is applying apostolic/Pauline teaching to the situation in each church. His letters also demonstrate that a church hierarchy was already developing beyond what is found in the New Testament, with the position of bishop coming to prominence. In the letter to the church at Smyrna (where Polycarp was bishop), he wrote, “Follow, all of you, the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father. Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ Jesus is, there is the catholic [universal] church. It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize or to hold a love-feast.” Ignatius is the first to use the term catholic to refer to the universal church and the first writer outside of the New Testament to refer to the virgin birth (“Ignatius of Antioch: Earliest Post-New Testament Martyr,” www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/ignatius-of-antioch.html, accessed 6/28/02). His letters also prove that, early on, the church believed in the deity of Christ and His resurrection. These doctrines were not the result of legends that were gradually incorporated into Christian teaching but were taught from the earliest days of Christianity.

     In addition to the seven letters mentioned above are several spurious epistles attributed to Ignatius. Three exist only in Latin: the Letter of Ignatius to St. John, the Epistle of Ignatius to the Virgin Mary, and the Letter from the Virgin to Ignatius. Six additional forgeries are found in some Greek versions. These include letters to Mary of Cassobola, to the Tarsians, to the Philippians, to the Antiochenes, and to Hero. Each of the seven genuine letters has a shorter version and a longer version, but only the shorter versions are considered to be authentic.