GOD’S WORD FOR OCTOBER 13

We are using Charles Spurgeon book, “The Risen King.”  It’s a collection of well chosen excerpts from Spurgeon’s  “Easter” sermons in devotional form, put together by Jeff Medders.   Pastor Spurgeon lived from 1834 to 1892  in London, England, and had a unique gift of understanding and showing the depth of our faith.  Thus, his reverential title as the Prince of Preachers.   Even though we’re not in or near that season, every day is a good day to focus on Christ’s sacrifice and victory for us!

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JERUSALEM!  JERUSALEM!

Matthew 23:37

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

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It is a marvelous thing that God should stoop to be compared to a hen:  that Christ – the Son of the Highest, the Savior – should stoop to so lowly a piece of imagery as to liken Himself to a hen.  There must be something very instructive in this metaphor, or our Lord would not have used it.

Have you noticed how a hen is like a cover of safety to her little chicks?  There is a hawk in the sky; the mother bird can see it, though the baby chickens cannot.  She gives her particular cluck of warning, and quickly they come and hide beneath her wings.  The hawk will not hurt them now, for under her wings they are secure.

This is what God is to those who come to Him by Jesus Christ – He is the giver of safety.  “He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings.  His faithfulness will be a protective shield”  (Psalm 91:4 CSB)   When we run to Christ and hide under Him, we shall be preserved from the attraction of our old sins or the danger of future temptations.

The hen is the source of comfort to her chicks.  It is a cold night, and they would be frozen if they remained outside, but she calls them in, and when they are under her wings, they derive warmth from their mother.  She will sit so carefully and keep her wings so widely spread that they may all be housed.  What a cabin – what a palace it is for the young chicks to shelter there under the mother’s wings!  The snow may fall, or the rain may come pelting down, but the wings of the hen cocoon the chicks.  And you, dear friend, if you run to Christ, will not only have safety but comfort.  There is a deep, sweet comfort from hiding yourself away in God.  For when troubles come, wave upon wave, blessed is the one who has a god to give them mercy upon mercy.  Whether that is affliction, suffering, loss of property, or sickness, there is nothing needed but your God.  Ten thousand things, apart from him, cannot satisfy you or give you comfort.  If you hide away under His wings, you are as happy in Him as the chicks are beneath the hen.

The hen is also the fountain of love to her chicks.  Have you ever seen a hen fight for her chicks?  She is a timid enough creature at any other time, but there is no timidity when her chicks are in danger.  What an affection she has for them!  but, oh, if you want to know the true fountain of love, you must run to Christ!  The love of Jesus displayed at the cross and maintained from the throne can bring our hearts to overflowing.

Christ gathers us under His wings by making Himself known to us.  When we come to understand who He is and what He is and know something of His love – His tenderness and greatness – then we come to Him.  Ignorance keeps us away from Him.  But to know God and His Son Jesus Christ, is  eternal life so John says in 17:3.  So I urge you to study the Scriptures diligently, and, as often as you can, to hear the gospel faithfully preached so that, knowing the Lord,  you may be drawn towards Him by that knowledge.  These are the cords of love with which the Spirit of God draws us to Christ.  He makes Christ known to us, and He shows us Christ in the wonder of His divine and human nature – Christ in the humiliation of His sufferings,  Christ in the glory of His resurrection, Christ in the love of His heart, in the power of His arm, in the power of His petition, in the virtue of His blood -– and, as we learn these sacred lessons, we say:

“That is the Christ for me.  That is the God for me,” and we are gathered to Him.

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Psalm 91:1-6

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday

Psalm 4:8

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 12:5

“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

Romans 8:37

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Psalm 62:8

Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

Psalm 9:9

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 28:8

The Lord is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

Psalm 36:7

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

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