FREEDOM AND ITS LIMITATIONS

FREEDOM AND ITS LIMITATIONS

"A man's heart devised his way; but Jehovah directs his steps" Prov. 16:9

This is a very profound word. The more carefully it is considered, the more challenging does it become. It recognizes the FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN WILL; and then sharply defines the LIMITATIONS OF THAT FREEDOM. "A man's heart devises his way." That is a recognition of the truth of which we are constantly reminded in these sacred writings, namely that the heart, the realm of desire, is the most potent factor in personality. It is also a clear declaration that conduct is directed by the heart, by desire. That is the measure of human freedom. A man can and does devise his own way under the direction of his heart. If desire be evil and sinful, the way devised is evil. If desire be good, the way devised is good. But that is not all the truth about life. This also is true: "Jehovah directs his steps." Every action of a man, whether in answer to the inward desire of good or evil, is an action in a realm of law from which there is no escape. The steps of evil and the steps of good are directed by Jehovah. THAT IS TO SAY THAT NO MAN CAN STEP OUTSIDE THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD, NO MAN CAN DEVISE A WAY THAT ENABLES HIM TO ESCAPE FROM GOD. The warmth of the fire which blesses is God's action. The heat of the fire which blasts is God's action. I can devise my way with regard to the fire, but the steps I take are directed, governed, by God. I can, if I will, answer the lusts of the flesh, devising my way accordingly; but God will di­rect my steps, and the destruction which comes is the result. I can, if I will, yield myself to the lure of the spirit, devising my way accordingly; but still God directs my steps, and the realization of life which follows is the effect of that directing which arrives at perfection (Jude 24).

MANS VAIN AND FOOLISH THOUGHTS

MANS VAIN AND FOOLISH THOUGHTS  

"Jehovah knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity" Psa. 94:11

This Psalm also is one of praise, but its note is entirely different to the previous two. In Psa. 93 the singer is looking above and beyond the conditions of the hour, and offers praise because Jehovah reigns. In this he is looking at these conditions and they are such as to seem to contradict the declaration that Jehovah reigns. The people are oppressed by tyrants who declare that God is not concerned with the affairs of man. He does not see, nor consider. The singer knows the falseness of these declarations, and his song is the argument for his conviction that GOD DOES HEAR, AND SEE, AND CORRECT. He summarizes all in this statement, that "Jehovah knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." In this song we see how the very things which assault faith, and threaten to produce despair, may be made the opportunity for praise, in the place and act of worship. In the long history of the travail and conflict of faith, how constantly have faithful souls been strengthened to bear and endure, by this very exercise of praise! In catacombs, in dungeons, in places of the uttermost desolation—when it has seemed to sense that the way of God was blocked, that His rule was overcome, that all evil things had gained the victory—these songs have arisen, proclaiming Him King, mocking all the VAIN AND FOOLISH THOUGHTS OF MEN, and declaring His ultimate victory. Thus God has been to such souls a high tower, their rock of refuge, and they have found the strength and courage which have enabled them to endure, in this activity of worship by faith. Read the last of His book and believe those words of grace He has shared through John.

LET GOD DO THE CHOOSING

LET GOD DO THE CHOOSING

"Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art" Gen. 13:14

These words were spoken to Abram when he was in a place of peculiar difficulty. He was now in the land to which he had been sent by God. Moreover he was there after a deflection from the pathway of faith, in which deflection he had gone down into Egypt. An hour had come when domestic difficulties had arisen between him and his kinsman, Lot. It had become necessary for them to separate from each other. With the magnanimity of a great soul, Abram had given to Lot the right to choose the place where he would dwell in the land, and Lot had chosen. The result was that Abram, on that level of human arrangement, was excluded from the best of the country. It was at this juncture that God Communed with him, and gave him this command. The words are seen in their true suggestiveness when they are put into contrast with those found in the 10th verse, “Lot lifted up his eyes." In doing so Lot had chosen upon the ground of personal advantage. When he had gone, God said to the man who had chosen not to choose, "Lift up now thine eyes," and directed him to look "northward and southward and eastward and westward"; that was to every point of the compass and consequently over all the land; including that which Lot had chosen for himself. All he thus looked upon was then secured to him by the covenant of God. The teaching of the account is obvious. Man has no final rights in any possessions other than those which are his by the gift of God. The man who, by faith, leaves the choices of his life to God, is the man who finds his way into possessions of which he cannot be robbed. God makes His choices on complete and absolute Truth and Knowledge based on the past, present and the future He has in store for all mankind.

GOOD MEN AND BACKSLIDERS

GOOD MEN AND BACKSLIDERS  

"The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself" Prov. 14:14

Which simply means that whatever may be within a man, in the deepest region of his personality will sooner or later be wrought out into actual experience and visibility. The BACKSLIDER in heart is the man who, knowing the way of wisdom, does not desire to conform to it, but rather desires the ways of foolishness. The GOOD MAN is the man who, whatever his consciousness of weakness may be, does in the deepest of him desire the ways of wisdom. In either case, that underlying desire is the most potent factor, and sooner or later will gain its victory, and produce its result in the life. It is possible for a man for a long time to conform to the rules and regulations of wisdom and the fear of Jehovah, while yet in secret he desires the forbidden things. Such a man is backsliding in heart, and at last that backsliding will become obvious. It is equally true that a man may falter and blunder, and fail, again and again, while all the time he hates his own shortcomings, and earnestly aspires after the highest things. Such a man is a good man, and ultimately that quest after the highest will be successful; he will be satisfied from himself. The revelation of Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, is constantly urging this truth. We do well to take heed to it. To do so is to be brought to a realization of our personal helplessness, and our need of a Savior. We may say with a great deal of reason that we cannot control our desires. Hence the need for the SURRENDER of ourselves to Him Who can create the clean heart, and renew the right spirit within us (Psa. 51:10).

GOD HATES WAR

GOD HATES WAR 

"He hath scattered the peoples that delight in war" Psa. 68:30

The historic relations of this Psalm are obscure, and definite. They are obscure as to the actual, time of the composition, and as to the particular events in history which are celebrated. They are definite as to the use which has been made of it by men of faith; in the process of the centuries. Kirkpatrick finely says, of it: "To the Crusaders, setting out for the recovery of the Holy Land; to Savonarola and his monks, as they marched to the 'Trial of Fire' in the Piazza at Florence; to the Huguenots, who called it 'The song of battles'; to Cromwell, at Dunbar, as the sun rose on the mists of the morning and he charged Leslie's army—it has supplied words for the expression of their heartfelt convictions." To all of this we may add that, during the years of the First World War, perhaps no Psalm, with the single exception of the 46th, was more constantly used. It is preeminently the Psalm which celebrates the march of God with His people, against their foes and His, to assured and complete victory. The words we have stressed describe that victory in one application, and in a very remarkable way. The whole song is of war; one is conscious all through of the clash of conflict. Yet it is not a song in glorification of war. God is manifested as the GOD OF BATTLES, but His victory is that He scatters the people that delight in war. He does not delight in it; His purpose is to end it and He will with the greatest of battles. Here is the true test of the relation of men of faith to war. If the heart delights in war, God will make war the instrument for the discomfiture and defeat of that unholy passion. If the heart hates war, then He will give victory in war to those who thus fight. Whether that end has been reached, it is not for us to say. Certainly the principle had remarkable illustration in both the first and second world war and with a final one to follow and then war no more. They arm up now for the greatest of all with all nations against the nation that was created for the blessings of all nations as revealed in the previous article (Israel's Purpose for Existence). The nations reveal their hatred of God and His plan (Psa. 2).

ISRAEL’S PURPOSE FOR EXISTENCE

ISRAEL’S PURPOSE FOR EXISTENCE 

"Thy salvation" Psa. 67:2

This phrase constitutes a poetic interpretation of the thought of the one word of which it is a translation. The Hebrew word is one, and signifies quite literally, salvation. It is salvation in the sense of deliverance, aid, and so nationally of victory. The conception in its national significance is very beautifully expressed in the phrase, "saving health," of the Authorized Version. The Psalm is a very brief one, but it breathes the very spirit of a clear understanding of the real meaning of the Hebrew nation, according to Divine purpose. Its opening prayer is that God will bless and cause His face to shine upon His own people, in order that His "salvation may be known among all nations." It’s closing, affirmation is that God will bless His own people, and that as a result, "all the ends of the earth shall fear Him." This is the true interpretation of privilege. THE PEOPLE OF GOD EXIST FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THE NATIONS. (Gen. 12:3) They constitute the illustration of His saving health. Their prosperity is due to His aid, His deliverance, His salvation. The nations, seeing that prosperity, are taught the advantage of His rule. That rule, discovered and obeyed, always produces national health, in all the spacious values of that great word. Health is wholeness, completeness, and full realization of possibility, as it is freedom from all diseases, materially, mentally, morally. God alone is able to rule men so as to insure this state of health. His people, then, are called upon to reveal this fact to men, by the health in which they live. What disaster, if by disobedience to the will of God they reveal to men anything less than health Thus the name of God is blasphemed among the heathen. The privilege is great; the responsibility is grave; the resources in God are sufficient. (Again see Gen. 12:2-3).

DISABILITIES AND ROYALTY

DISABILITIES AND ROYALTY

"Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel" Gen. 32:28

  The centrality of this chapter to the account of Jacob is recognized. In these words we have a revelation of the real meaning and issue of the night, of struggle through which he had passed. Everything depends upon a right understanding of the contrast between these names. Jacob literally meant heel-catcher, and so supplanter. Israel is a compound of two words, Isra, which means ruled, and El, the name of God, and so means Ruled-by-God. This was the discovery made to him that night, and that discovery constituted God's victory. Jacob had contended with men and had prevailed. That had been the account all through, and the effect of his successes upon his character had been that of making him self-reliant, and in that measure forgetful that these very successes had resulted from the fact that all his life was arranged and ruled by God. That was the lesson he had to learn in order that he might be delivered from a self-sufficiency which must inevitably have ruined him. That explains all the account of that night. God crippled him to crown him, revealed his weakness to teach him the secret of strength, and defeated him that he might find victory. His cry, "I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me," was not the strident cry of a man compelling a reluctant God to yield to him; it was the sobbing wail of a man casting himself at last at the feet of a God seeking to heal him (see Hosea 12:4). From that day he halted in his walk, and that halt was the obvious of his NOBILITY. Whatever others thought of it, he knew it was the abiding sign of God's victory, and that he was a man ruled by God. How often apparent DISABILITIES are the signs of ROYALTY, and so of ability!