Part 15 (1/2)
[17] I would say a word here, on the opening verses of John x The Lord Jesus presented Hi obtained entrance, called out His sheep that were therein, and then He says, ”Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; the, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one _flock_, and one Shepherd” It is strange that the translators should have rendered this ”one fold,” when the word fold (a????) actually occurs in the same verse Nor is the distinction unimportant
A fold is an enclosure for the separation and safety of the sheep; hence the word is properly applied to the Jewish econoe up of sheep here below But the heavenly Shepherd has called forth His Jewish sheep from the earthly fold, and His Gentile sheep from the darkthem freedom, and committed them into the Father's hand Thus we see the difference between the words ”fold” and ”flock”
Thus, as David's men ithdrawn from all connection with Saul's system by virtue of their association with him, so all those who are led by the Spirit to know their oneness with the rejected Jesus, s, by reason of that blessed oneness with Him
Hence, if you ask a heavenly man why he does not e, his reply will be, Because Christ is at the right hand of God, and I am identified with Him He has been cast out by this world and I take my place with Him, apart therefore from its objects and pursuits All who understand the true nature of the heavenly calling alk in separation from the world; but those who do not, will just take their portion here, and live as others
Many, alas, are satisfied with the iveness of sins, and never think of going further They have passed through the Red Sea, it may be, but manifest no desire to cross the Jordan, and eat the old corn of the land of promise Just as it was in the day of David's rejection; h Israelites, did not cast in their lot in rejection with hi to be with David in the hold Even Jonathan was not there; he still adhered to the old syste David as his own soul, he lived and died in companionshi+p with Saul
True, he ventured to speak _for_ David, and sought his company when he could He had stripped himself to clothe David; yet he did not cast in his lot _with_ him And, consequently, when the names and the deeds of David's worthies are heralded by the Holy Ghost, we look in vain for the name of the affectionate Jonathan; when the devoted co round his throne in the sunshi+ne of his royal countenance, poor Jonathan was loriously fallen, on Mount Gilboa, by the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines!
Oh that all who profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ may seek a more decided identification with Him in this the tie after Hin over us;” and shall we go and associate ourselves with those citizens to forward their Christ-rejecting plans? God forbid
May our hearts be with Him where He is May we know the hallowed fellowshi+p of the cave of Adulla are to be found, embodied in the beloved person of Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood We cannot ith Saul and David at the same time We cannot hold Christ and the world--we race to reject the evil and choose the good, re the sole; for if we be _dead with Him_, we shall also _live with Hin_ with Him; if we deny Hi, the ti afflictions and hardness; we lory David's men were called, by reason of their association with hiht and easy to them; and their names and exploits were recorded and faithfully reotten The twenty-third chapter of 2nd Saue, and will, no doubt, lead his mind onward to the time when the Lord Christ shall reward _His_ faithful servants--those who froy of His Spirit, have performed acts of service for Him in the time of His rejection These acts ht of by men; but Jesus knows thelory Who would ever have known the acts of David's worthies if the Holy Ghost had not recorded them? Who would have known of the three who dreater fro of a lion in a pit, in the time of snow? Just so now: many a heart throbs with love to the person of the Saviour, unknown to all; and many a hand may be stretched forth in service to Him, unobserved by hue of cold formality like the present--sweet to think of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity Some there are, alas, who are not only indifferent to His beloved Person, but who even go as far as to traduce Hinity, and make Him little better than Elias, or one of the prophets But, my reader, we shall not dwell upon these; we have, thank God, a happier theme, and we shall, with His help, pursue it We shall think of those valued men who jeoparded their lives for the sake of their captain, and who, the instant he uttered his desire, were ready, at all cost, to gratify it
Love never pauses to calculate It was quite sufficient for those worthies to know that David longed for a drink from the well of Bethlehem, and they procured it at any cost to theh the host of the Philistines, and dreater out of the well of Bethleheht it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord”[18] Lovely scene! Sweet sa not her life unto the death for Christ's sake Oh that the Holy Ghost may kindle within us a flame of ardent love to the person of Jesus--may He unfold to our souls more of the divine excellencies of His person, that we ether lovely, and be able to say with a true worthy, ”Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus s, and do count the, that I may win Christ” (Phil iii 8)
[18] There is so and beautiful in the above scene, whether we conte the water for David, or David's act in pouring it out to the Lord It is evident that David discerned, in an act of such uncommon devotedness, a sacrifice which none but the Lord Himself orthy to receive The odor of such a sacrifice was far too fragrant for him to interrupt it in its ascent to the throne of the God of Israel
Wherefore he, very properly and gracefully, allows it to pass hio up to the One who alone orthy to receive it, or able to appreciate it All this reminds us, forcibly, of that beautiful compendium of Christian devotedness set forth in Phil ii 17, 18: ”Yea, and if I be poured out upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all; for this cause do ye also joy and rejoice with e, the apostle represents the Philippian saints in their character as priests, presenting a ”sacrifice” and perfor a priestly ministration to God; and such was the intensity of his self-forgetting devotedness, that he could rejoice in his being poured out as a drink offering upon their sacrifice, so that all rant odor, to God
The Philippians laid a sacrifice on God's altar, and the apostle was poured out upon it, and all went up to God as an odor of sweet smell
It mattered not who put the sacrifice on the altar, or as poured out thereupon, providing that God received as acceptable to Him
This, truly, is a divine race to for to it There would, then, be far less of ”_s”
CHAPTER IV
NABAL AND ABIGAIL--I SAM XXV
It is interesting to observe, as we pass froe of David's history, how different individuals were affected toward his person, and the consequent position assuy of faith to discern, in the despised outcast, the future king of Israel In this chapter we are presented with two striking examples of persons thus variously affected in reference to David's person and career
”There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carreat, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel Now the name of the man was Nabal” This Nabal was an Israelite, and he appears inof Israel, had not where to lay his head, but was a wanderer from mountain to mountain, and from cave to cave Nabal was a selfish s, he had the his greatness with any one else, and least of all with David and his companions
”And David heard _in the wilderness_ that Nabal did shear his sheep
And David sent out ten youngreet him in my name,” &c
David was in the wilderness; this was his place Nabal was surrounded by all the comforts of life The former owed all his sorrows and privations to what he was; the latter owed all his possessions and enjoyenerally find that where advantages are derived froious distinction and profession, much selfishness exists The profession of truth, if not connected with self-denial, will be connected with positive self-indulgence; and hence we may observe at the present day a deterhest profession of truth This is a grievous evil The apostle was uish of it, even in his time ”Many,” says he, ”walk, of who, that they are the enemies of _the cross of Christ_: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shas_”
(Phil iii 18, 19) Observe, they are the enemies of the _cross_ of Christ They do not throw off all semblance of Christianity; far from it ”Many _walk_” This expression shows a measure of profession The persons here pictured would, doubtless, be much offended were any to refuse them the appellation of Christians; but then they do not want to take up the _cross_; they desire not practical identification with a crucified Christ; whatever amount of professed Christianity can be had apart from all self-denial is welcome to them, but not one jot beyond this ”Their God is their belly, and they uilty to the charge of s! It is easy to ion of Christ, while Christ Himself is unknown, and the cross of Christ is hated It is easy to take up the naence and love of the world, which the human heart knows so well how to estimate All this finds its full illustration in the person of the churlish Nabal, who having shut himself up in the midst of his luxuries and wealth, cared not for God's anointed, nor felt for him in the season of his painful exile and sojourn in the wilderness
What was his reply to David's touching appeal? ”Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and ive it unto men whom I know not whence they be?” Here was the secret of this worldly ement of heart; _he did not know him_; had he known him, it would have been a very different matter: but he neither kneho he was nor whence he was; he did not know that he was railing on the Lord's anointed, and casting fro to the need of the future king of Israel
The moral of all this is deeply instructive It demands the clear vision of faith to enable any one to discern the true glory of Christ, and cleave to Hi to be a Christian, as people say, and another thing to confess Christ beforemore selfish than that condition of heart which would lead us to take all that Jesus has to give, and yield Hi in return ”Provided _I_ am saved, all the rest is unessential” This is the secret thought of many a heart, and if thrown into a more honest form would be this, ”If I alory of Christ” This was just Nabal's e he could from David; but the moment David put in his claim for sympathy and aid, his worldly spirit developed itself ”One of the young , Behold, David sent ers out of the wilderness, to salute our ood unto us, and ere not hurt, neitheras ere conversant with them ere in the fields They were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while ith the the sheep” This was all very well
Nabal could well understand the value of David's _protection_, though he cared not for David's _person_ So long as David's men were a wall to his possessions, he would tolerate them; but when they would become a burden, they were rejected and railed upon