Sep 12
15
“Jesus said unto them—If you seek Me, let these go their way.” — John 18:8
Mark, my soul, the care which Jesus manifested even in His hour of trial, towards the sheep of His hand! His love for His people is as strong in death. He resigns Himself to the enemy—but He interposes a word of power to set His disciples free. As to Himself, like a sheep before her shearers He is silent, and opened not His mouth. But for His disciples’ sake—He speaks with Almighty energy. Herein is love—constant, self-forgetting, faithful love!
But is there not far more here than is to be found upon the surface? Have we not the very soul and spirit of the atonement in these words? The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep—and pleads that they must therefore go free. The Surety is bound, and justice demands that those for whom He stands a substitute, should go their way. In the midst of Egypt’s bondage, that voice rings as a word of power, “Let these go their way!” Out of slavery of sin and Satan—the redeemed must come. In every cell of the dungeons of Despair, the sound is echoed, “Let these go their way!” and forth come Despondency and Much-afraid. Satan hears the well-known voice, and lifts his foot from the neck of the fallen; and Death hears it, and the grave opens her gates to let the dead arise.
Their way is one of progress, holiness, triumph, glory, and none shall dare to keep them in it. No lion shall be on their way, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon. “The deer of the morning” has drawn the cruel hunters upon Himself—and now the most timid roes and hinds of the field may graze at perfect peace among the lilies of his love. The thunder-cloud has burst over the Cross of Calvary—and the pilgrims of Zion shall never be smitten by the bolts of vengeance! Come, my heart, rejoice in the immunity which your Redeemer has secured you—and bless His name all the day, and every day!-Charles Spurgeon.
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Shall I not drink it? (Newman Hall, “Leaves of Healing from the Garden of Grief” 1891) ”The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11 It was the Savior’s own desire to suffer. To escape would be . . . to falsify Scripture, to renounce His own purpose, to abandon His work of salvation, to contravene the Father’s loving will. My Father has ordained this cup, mingled it, knows every drop in it, presents it—shall I not drink it? My Father is . . . infinite in wisdom, and cannot err; infinite in love, and cannot be unkind; infinite in resources, and would not give it to Me to drink, if His and My own great purpose to save the world could be better realized. It is a cup which, drained by Me, shall procure to countless multitudes . . . a cup of redemption, a cup of consolation, a cup of glory in the everlasting banquet of heaven! ”The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11 And He drank it to the dregs! Let His followers, whenever they have to drink a cup of sorrow, be comforted in remembering this last word of Christ at Gethsemane. He, the sinless One—suffered for us, the sinful ones. By reason of our transgressions, His cup was so bitter. By drinking it, He provided an antidote for the poison which sin infuses into every sorrowful cup of ours. His love prompted Him to drink it all. He has thus removed from us the danger, fear, and sorrow. Our garden of grief, by His bitter cup, has been delivered from its darkest gloom, has been illumined by Divine love and rejoicing hope. He who has thus saved us from sin and death, and ever lives as our sympathizing Brother, will be with us in every trial, and enable us also to say, “The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?”
We know the rest of the story of Peter’s life. He stood at Pentecost and preached the gospel to thousands and the Lord added to His church daily such as should be saved (Acts. 2: 41-47).
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A cup of love! (John MacDuff, “Gleams from the Sick Chamber” 1882) ”But what could I say? For He Himself had sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.” Isaiah 38:15 God Himself has mixed your bitter cup, and led you to your ‘Gethsemane of suffering’. All your sufferings . . . the existence of them, the duration of them, the intensity of them, are appointed by your heavenly Father. ”Though now for a little while, if need be, you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” 1 Peter 1:6 Your heavenly Father can inflict no unnecessary pang. You may presently be pain-stricken, and woe-worn. There is a divine necessity for your present “fiery trial.” No drop in the cup can be spared! “I will correct you in measure.” Your heavenly Father, tenderer and more loving than the tenderest earthly parent, tempers the fury of the flames, saying, “Thus far shall you go, and no farther.” Happy for you, that you can write “if need be” . . . over that severest hour of distress, over every night of throbbing temples, over sleepless eyes, over every fresh thorn sent to buffet, over every heavy cross sent to carry. When we are assured that nothing which is appointed by our Father can come to us wrongly, our cup of suffering becomes a cup of love! ”Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?” John 18:11 ”For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 What verse is more soothing sight for a suffering couch, or for a dying pillow? What verse is more consolatory for a weary, burdened body? and above all, for a weary, burdened, sin-stricken heart? ”God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17 A tearless Heaven will make amends for all!
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He has given me a cup of deep sorrow to drink (J. C. Philpot, “The Wine of Astonishment” 1862) ”He has filled me with bitterness. He has given me a cup of deep sorrow to drink.” Lamentations 3:15 The Lord’s people have many hard lessons which they have to learn in the ‘school of Christ’. Each one has to carry a daily cross, and are burdened and pressed down under its weight. This daily cross may and does differ in individuals. But every child of God has his own cross, which laid upon his shoulders by an invincible hand, he has, for the most part, to carry down to the very grave. Thus, some of God’s people are afflicted in body from the very time the Lord begins His work of grace upon their heart. Or if exempt from disease, are shattered in nerve, depressed in spirits, and weighed down by lassitude and languor, often harder to bear than disease itself. Some are tied to ungodly partners, meeting with opposition and persecution at every step. Others have nothing but trouble in their family, either from the invasion of death into their circle, or what sometimes is worse than death–disgrace, shame, and ungodliness. Others have little else but one continual series of losses and crosses in their circumstances, wave after wave rolling over their heads. O, view the family of God toiling homeward . . . some dragging along an afflicted body; others a wounded spirit; others carrying upon their shoulders dying children; others with scarcely a rag to their back or a crust in their hand; footsore, fearful in heart, trembling at a rustling leaf, a deep river to pass, and a furious enemy in sight. ”Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength!” Habakkuk 3:17-19
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Christ took your cup! (Octavius Winslow) Christ took your cup of grief, your cup of the curse — pressed it to His lips, and drank it to its dregs! Then He filled it with His sweet, pardoning, sympathizing love — and gave it back for you to drink, and to drink forever! ”May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!” Ephesians 3:19
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THE DYING LEGACY
“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,”
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” — John 14:27
How we treasure the last sayings of a dying parent! How specially cherished and memorable are his last looks and last words! Here are the last words, the parting legacy, of a dying Savior. It is a legacy of peace.
What peace is this? It is His own purchase — a peace arising out of free forgiveness through His precious blood. It is sung in concert with “Glory to God in the highest” — a peace made as sure to us, as eternal power and infinite love can make it! It is peace the soul needs, that is nowhere else to be found — but through the blood of His cross! “Being justified —by faith we have peace with God.” “HE gives His beloved rest!”
How different from the false and counterfeit peace in which so many are content to live, and content to die! The world’s peace is all well — so long as prosperity lasts — so long as the stream runs smooth, and the sky is clear; but when the flood is at hand, or the storm is gathering, where is it? It is gone! There is no depending on its permanency. Often when the cup is fullest — there is the trembling apprehension that in one brief moment it may be dashed to the ground. The soul may be saying to itself, “Peace, peace;” but, like the writing on the sand, it may be obliterated by the first wave of adversity!
But, the peace which Jesus gives, is “not as the world gives.” The peace of the believer is deep — calm — lasting — everlasting. The world, with all its blandishments, cannot give it. The world, with all its vicissitudes and fluctuations, cannot take it away! This peace is brightest — in the hour of trial; it lights up the final valley-gloom. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright — for the end of that man is peace!” Yes! how often is the believer’s deathbed like the deep calm repose of a summer-evening’s sky, when all nature is hushed to rest; the departing soul, like the vanishing sun, peacefully disappearing — only to shine in another and brighter universe! “I seem,” said a Christian on his deathbed, “to have nothing to do but to wait: there is now nothing but peace, the sweetest peace.”
Believer! do you know this peace which passes understanding? Is it “keeping (literally, ‘garrisoning as in a citadel’) your heart?” Have you learned the blessedness of waking up, morning after morning, and feeling “I am at peace with my God!” Do you know the blessedness of beholding by faith the true Aaron — the great High Priest — coming forth from “the holiest of all” to “bless His people with peace?”
Waves of trouble may be murmuring around you — but they cannot touch you! You are in the rock-crevice against which the fiercest tornado sweeps on by. Oh! leave not the making of your peace with God to a dying hour! It will be a hard thing to smooth the death-pillow, if peace with God is left unsought until then. Make sure of it now. He, the true Melchizedek, is willing now to come forth to meet you with bread and wine — emblems of peaceful gospel blessings. All the “words of Jesus” are so many streams contributing to make your peace flow as a river, “These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace.” “I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace unto His people and to His saints.”John MacDuff, 1858.
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Every bitter cup (John Bunyan) ”My times are in Your hand.” Psalm 31:15 Afflictions are governed by God, both as to . . . their time, their number, their nature, their measure. Our times, therefore, and our condition in these times, are in the hand of God. God is in all providences, be they . . . ever so bitter, ever so afflicting, ever so smarting, ever so destructive to our earthly comforts. Every bitter cup is of His preparing! It is Jesus, your best friend who most dearly loves you, who appoints all providences, orders them all, overrules, moderates, and sanctifies them all–and will sweeten them all–and in His due time will make them profitable unto you, that you shall one day have cause to praise and bless His name for them all.
“For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” Heb. 12:6