Sound Doctrine Church » F.B. Meyer

Desiring to Be with Christ

thomas — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:51:24 +0000

“Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterward”—words which our Lord caught up and expanded for the comfort of them all, who now with Peter for the first time realized that they were about to be parted from Jesus, and were almost beside themselves with grief: “Let not your heart be troubled. . . .”

This was paramount. These simple men had little thought of heaven as such. If Christ had begun to speak of golden pavement, gates of pearl, and walls of chrysolite, they would have turned from His glowing words with the one inquiry, “Wilt Thou be there?” If that question had been answered uncertainly, they would have turned away heart-sick, saying: “If Thou art not there, we have no desire for it; but if Thou wert in the darkest, dreariest spot in the universe, it would be heaven to us.”

F.B. Meyer

Comparison with Christ

thomas — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:45:37 +0000

At the end of the best day that we ever spent, when we are not aware of having consciously sinned in act, or speech, or thought, we shall still have need of the precious blood. We may know nothing against ourselves, yet we shall not be thereby justified; because He that judges us is our holy Lord, and the standard by which we are judged is his own perfect character. A piece of cambric looks extremely fine to the eye, but how coarse to the microscope! Sheep look white against the dark ground of the early spring; but how dark if there should be a fall of snow! Our characters seem stainless, only because we compare ourselves with ourselves, or with others.

But, when our eyes are opened to see God, to behold the whiteness of the great white throne, and we stand in the searching light of heaven, we are as those who have just emerged from a ditch. I heard the other day of a woman being proud of having lived without sin for ten years! So we deceive ourselves. No, at the best we are sinful men and women, needing constant cleansing; even though we may be kept from known sin by the grace of Christ. It was at an advanced period in the life of the great Apostle, and when he lived nearest God, that he realized himself to be the chief of sinners.

—F.B. Meyers

Gifts and Offerings

thomas — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:07:21 +0000

We can only give God what is His. And yet, though a wife has nothing of her own, she can make presents to her husband of what he gave her, and which she might have legitimately used for herself, but which she has saved until it grew into a worthy gift for her spouse. Love must give of that which costs her something. There are no gifts so precious in the eyes of the loved one as those which mean planning and self-sacrifice. And think you not that it delights the heart of our Lord to receive at our hands love tokens; precious ornaments and jewels; alabaster boxes, reserved once for self-adornment, but now gladly surrendered; articles of beauty and value, which we had hidden from the light of day, but which we present to Him, to show that our love is strong, personal and self-forgetting? “He is worthy to receive riches.” And the chief zest of such gifts is in their secrecy from all human eyes; a personal transaction between the Master and the loving heart. “That thine alms may be in secret.”

—F.B. Meyer

Psalm 18:1-3 I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

Discipline and Favor from God

thomas — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:15:00 +0000

Few of us realize how much our character owes to the stern discipline to which God subjects us. The only way to keep us healthy and vigorous is to send us many a nipping frost, many a keen northern blast. The bleak hillside breeds stronger natures than the warm sheltered valley. The difference between lands is largely wrought by temperature and soil. The campaign, with its strain on every power of endurance, trains better soldiers than the barracks. As David was a stronger, better man, when hunted like a coney in the rocks of Engedi, so are we braced to a nobler life, when all things seem against us.

Few of us can be trusted with unbroken happiness. God is compelled to withhold what the flesh craves. But where prosperity has shone on your path, be very careful not to abuse it. Consider it as indicating God’s loving trust in you. He would rather convey his lesson in sunshine than in storm. But walk carefully and humbly, looking to Him constantly for daily grace, and never relaxing the sword for battle.

—F.B. Meyer

Becoming Holy

thomas — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:10:15 +0000

There is only one way of becoming holy, as God is: and it is the obvious one of opening the entire being to the all pervading presence of the Holy One. None of us can acquire holiness apart from God. It dwells in God alone. Holiness is only possible as much as the soul’s possession of God; no, better still, as God’s possession of the soul. It never can be inherent, or possessed apart from the Divine fullness, any more than a river can flow on if it is cut off from its fountain head. We are holy up to the measure in which we are God-possessed. The least holy man is he who shuts God up to the strictest confinement, and the narrowest limits of His inner being; partitioning Him off from daily life by heavy curtains of neglect and unbelief. He is holier who more carefully denies self, and who seeks a large measure of Divine indwelling. The holiest is the man who yields himself completely to be influenced, swayed, possessed, and inspired by that Spirit who longs to make us the fullest extent partakers of the Divine nature.

—F.B. Meyer

Stay Here

thomas — Sun, 23 May 2010 23:34:51 +0000

2 Kings 2:2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Three times Elijah spoke to his friend and disciple Elisha, to test him. Perseverance, tenacity of purpose, a refusal to be content with anything short of the best, are indispensable conditions for the attainment of the highest possibilities of experience and service. And perpetually in our life’s discipline these words come back on us, stay here! Not that God desires us to stay, but because He desires each onward step to be the choice and act of our own will.

Stay here in Consecration. — “You have given so much; is it not time that you refrained from further sacrifices? Sit down and rest, forbear from this strenuous following after.”

Stay here in the Life of Prayer. — “It is a waste to spend so much time at the footstool of God. You have done more than most, desist from further intercession and supplication.”

Stay here in the attainment of the likeness of Christ. — “It will cost you so much, if all that is not Christ-like is to pass away from your life.”

Such voices are perpetually speaking to us all. And if we heed them, we are at once shut out of that crossing the Jordan, that rapturous joining with heaven, that reception of the double portion of the Spirit, which await those who have successfully stood the test. The law of the Christian life is always Advance; always leaving that which is behind; always reckoning that you have not attained; always following on to know the Lord, growing in grace and in the knowledge of the blessed Saviour. This as well as saying to the Spirit of God, as Elisha to Elijah, I will not leave you.

—F.B. Meyer

Craving for the Word

thomas — Mon, 03 May 2010 03:25:47 +0000

The Philistines were in full flight. The Israelites followed hard at their heels through the wood. It was there that the honey dropped in rich abundance on the ground, and there Jonathan tasted a little, dipping the end of his rod into it. It made all the difference to him, warding off the excessive exhaustion which paralysed the rest of the army.

The Word of God is sweeter than the honeycomb. Luscious to the sanctified taste; enlightening to the dimming eyes; strength-giving to the weary. It drops in abundance to the ground, as though inviting the hand of the Christian warrior or wayfarer to take it freely. If there is no taste for the written Word, it may be assumed that the living Word has not been enthroned in the heart; for where He reigns supreme, there is a longing for the food which alone can fit us for the Christian life.

Where we cannot take much, let us take some. There was not time for Jonathan to sit down and take his fill. He could only catch up some as he hastily passed through the forest-glade; but that little made all the difference to him. So, in the early morning, or at mid-day, if we cannot fill our hearts with Scripture, we may catch up a morsel, which will minister untold refreshment, and clear our spiritual vision.

—F.B. Meyer

Seeking the Good of Others

thomas — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:04:41 +0000

Go about the world seeking the good of people. It does not always mean that you should give them a tract, or a little book. It is much easier to do this than to sacrifice your own good in order to seek theirs. You may be quite sure that some little act of self-sacrifice or thoughtfulness for a weary mother, or crying child, for a sick friend, or for some person who is always maligning and injuring you, would do a great deal in the way of preparing an entrance for the Gospel message. It is thus that the genial spring loosens the earth and prepares the way for the germination of multitudinous life. Count the day lost in which you have not sought to promote the good of some one. Adopt as your own the pious motto, “Do all the good you can, to all the people you can, in all the ways you can.”

Speak peace to people—soothe agitated and irritated souls. Throw oil on troubled waters. There are worried and anxious hearts all around us; a word of sympathy and earnest prayer with them will often remove the heavy load, and smooth out the wrinkles of care. Let the law of kindness be on your lip. Do not say sharp or unkind things of the absent, or allow your lips to utter words that will lead to bitterness or wrath. Seek peace and pursue it. And in order to this, let the peace of God that passeth all understanding keep your mind and heart.

—F.B. Meyer

Comparing Ourselves to Jesus

thomas — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:08:54 +0000

We shall never get beyond the need of using daily the Lord’s prayer. He has bound by the conjunction and the prayer for forgiveness with that for daily bread, as though to teach us that we shall need the one as long as we need the other. At the end of the best day that we ever spent, when we are not aware of having consciously sinned in act, or speech, or thought, we shall still have need of the precious blood. We may know nothing against ourselves, yet we shall not be thereby justified; because He that judges us is our holy Lord, and the standard by which we are judged is his own perfect character. A piece of cambric looks extremely fine to the eye, but how coarse to the microscope! Sheep look white against the dark ground of the early spring; but how dark if there should be a fall of snow! Our characters seem stainless, only because we compare ourselves with ourselves, or with others.

—F.B. Meyer

The Attitude of Jesus

thomas — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:17:23 +0000

Philippians 2:5-8 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

This wonderful description of Christ’s descent to our shame and sorrow is here cited by the Apostle, that it might be a living impulse and inspiration to ourselves, not to look upon our own things, not to hold them with a tight grasp, but to be willing to stoop for others to shame, sorrow, and spitting; fulfilling God’s purpose of mercy to the world, even as Jesus Christ, who became the instrument and organ through which God’s redemptive purpose wrought. ‘Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.’ Think these thoughts. Never look exclusively upon your own interests, never count anything of your own worthy to stand in the way, but always be prepared to the last point to deny yourself, that the redemptive purpose of God may flow through the channel of your life to those that sorely need His blessed help. It is a wonderful thing that, day by day, in our poor measure, we may repeat the purpose and the work of Jesus Christ our Emmanuel.

—F.B. Meyer