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of the Lord Jesus, and let His great sympathy be our inspiration. "Thy condescension
hath made me great" (Psa. 18: 35).
#23.
Earthen vessels.
p. 79
One of the consolations of Scripture for the servant of God is the fact that the Lord
Who uses us, knows us, and while sin is never excused, or slackness condoned, it is a
consolation to read, "He knoweth our frame, He remebereth that we are dust"--a
knowledge and a remembrance sometimes lacking among His people. It is for our help
that Scripture draws our attention to the fact that "Elias was a man subject to like
passions (or infirmities) as we are" (James 5: 17). Elijah who confronted the king, who
dared the whole priesthood of Baal, who prayed and with his prayer closed the heavens
for three-and-a-half years, was nevertheless mortal, fallible, and feeble in himself.
Scripture not only records his daring, but as faithfully records his flight and his despair.
Abraham for his faith received the enviable title, "The friend of God" (James 2: 23),
yet who does not remember Abraham's journey to Egypt, his equivocation concerning
Sarah? These things are recorded alongside of that most marvelous act of faith and
simple obedience, viz., the offering of Isaac (Gen. 22:). David, the man after God's
own heart, the sweet singer of Israel, type of His greater Son, and victor of Goliath, has
left for all time that confession of sin that we now call Psalm li; truly a man of like
passions as we are!
(To be continued).
#23. (contd.).
Earthen vessels.
p. 94
Paul, chosen vessel that he was, who could say with all good conscience, "for me to
live is Christ", was a man as we are. When not defending his "office" he is careful never
to magnify himself. He had a treasure it is true, but that treasure was contained in an
earthen vessel. He had received a commission higher than had ever been given to man,
yet in the midst of its acknowledgment he says, "Unto me, who am less than the least of
all saints, is this grace given" (Eph. 3: 8), and lest he should be exalted above measure,
by reason of the abundance of revelations he had received, he had a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan sent to buffet him.
Neither Elijah, nor Abraham, nor David, nor Paul give the least warrant for trading
upon our conscious weakness, nor for excusing our slightest fall, but they do, in the midst