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to Him as to our nearest and dearest friend. He "upbraideth not". All we think we might
find in poor humanity (and find not) we can find in Him. Here is a Friend that sticketh
closer than a brother, and Whose love passes that of husband, wife or parent. It is a
thousand pities to wait until "other helpers fail and comforts flee" before we find out His
fullness. In His name we may play with our children. In His fellowship we may enjoy a
holiday, have the blessings of home sanctified to us, as well as suffer for His sake and for
His truth.
Heb. 5: 1, 2 makes clear this same gracious provision in Christ. Every high priest is
taken from man . . . . . for man . . . . . to God and has compassion, for He Himself has
suffered being tempted.
Here is a verse from F. W. H. Myers' Saint Paul that may help:--
"Oh could I tell, ye surely would believe it!
Oh could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can ye receive it,
How, TILL HE BRINGETH YOU WHERE I HAVE BEEN."
Make the act of prayer an act of confidence. It is easier for some to trust the Lord for
eternity than for next week, and while this shows we are indeed human, it makes
"the Man Christ Jesus" a more blessed reality and provision.
#12.
"Whom having not seen, ye love" (I Pet. 1: 8).
pp. 95 - 97
There is, in many of us, a lurking thought that if only the Lord Himself were here
to-day as He was in the days of His flesh, our attitude would be quite a different one. We
feel that love would be spontaneous and unreserved, and that faith and obedience would
be implicit and immediate. Now Peter had known the Lord personally and intimately,
and precious must the memory have been, but nowhere in his writings do we find any
expression to warrant the thought that his communion with the Lord was any more
intimate than that of the humblest believer who had never seen the Lord in person.
Indeed, in his second epistle, he seems to put the "personal" side in the second place. He
is speaking of the second coming of the Lord, and refers to the words spoken on the
Mount of Transfiguration. He was an "eye-witness" of His majesty, and the words
spoken from heaven were heard when they "were with Him in the holy mount"
(II Pet. 1: 18). This statement, however, is immediately followed by something further:--
"We have also a MORE SURE WORD of prophecy, whereunto ye do well to take
heed" (II Pet. 1: 19).
We imagine that many of our readers would not readily endorse Peter's statement, nor
would it be agreed that the "word of prophecy" was of so sure a character and so personal