Scripture: "Ferity, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father, in My Name, He will give it you."—JOHN xvi. 23.
        In our Lords farewell discourse (John xiii. 17) He presented the life in the dispensation of the Spirit in all its power and attractiveness. One of the most glorious results of the day when the Holy Ghost should come, would be: the new power that man should have to pray down from heaven the power of God to bless the world. Seven times we have the promise repeated: "Whatsoever ye shall desire in My Name, that will I do (John xiv. 13, 14; xv. 7, 16; xvi. 23, 24, 26). Read these passages over, that you may come to understand fully how urgently and earnestly our Lord repeated the promise.

        In the power of the perfect salvation that Christ accom¬plished, in the power of His glory with the Father, in the power of the outpouring of the third Person of the Godhead—the Holy Spirit—to dwell in the hearts of His servants, they would have the unspeakable freedom to ask what they desired of the fulness of the will of God, and it should be done. Everything was included in these few words: "What ye desire, that will I do."

        During the ten days before Pentecost, the disciples put this to the proof. In response to their continuous united prayer, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended to earth to dwell in their hearts, filling them with His life-power. They received the power of the Spirit that they might impart it to thousands. That power is still the pledge for all time of what God will do. If Gods children will agree with one accord to wait for the promise of the Father each day, there is no limit to what God will do for them.

        O Christian, remember that you are living in the dispensation of the Spirit. That means that the Holy Spirit will dwell in you with heavenly power, enabling you to testify for Him. But it also means that you may unite with Gods children to ask in prayer greater and more wonderful things than the heart has conceived.

Scripture: "I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls; which I have made" (Isaiah 57:16).
        Our heavenly Father seeks our instruction, not our destruction. His contention with us has a kind intention toward us. He will not be always in arms against us. We think the LORD is long in His chastisements, but that is because we are short in our patience. His compassion endureth forever, but not His contention. The night may drag its weary length along, but it must in the end give place to cheerful day. As contention is only for a season, so the wrath which leads to it is only for a small moment. The LORD loves His chosen too well to be always angry with them.

        If He were to deal with us always as He does sometimes, we should faint outright and go down hopelessly to the gates of death. Courage, dear heart! The LORD will soon end His chiding. Bear up, for the LORD will bear you up and bear you through. He who made you knows how frail you are and how little you can bear. He will handle tenderly that which He has fashioned so delicately. Therefore, be not afraid because of the painful present, for it hastens to a happy future. He that smote you will heal you; His little wrath shall be followed by great mercies.

Scripture: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”(Isaiah 54:17)
        This day is notable in English history for two great deliverances wrought by God for us. On this day the plot of the Papists to destroy our Houses of Parliament was discovered, 1605.

        “While for our princes they prepare

        In caverns deep a burning snare,

        He shot from heaven a piercing ray,

        And the dark treachery brought to day.”

        And secondly—to-day is the anniversary of the landing of King William III, at Torbay, by which the hope of Popish ascendancy was quashed, and religious liberty was secured, 1688.
This day ought to be celebrated, not by the saturnalia of striplings, but by the songs of saints. Our Puritan forefathers most devoutly made it a special time of thanksgiving. There is extant a record of the annual sermons preached by Matthew Henry on this day. Our Protestant feeling, and our love of liberty, should make us regard its anniversary with holy gratitude. Let our hearts and lips exclaim, “We have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us the wondrous things which thou didst in their day, and in the old time before them.” Thou hast made this nation the home of the gospel; and when the foe has risen against her, thou hast shielded her. Help us to offer repeated songs for repeated deliverances. Grant us more and more a hatred of Antichrist, and hasten on the day of her entire extinction. Till then and ever, we believe the promise, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” Should it not be laid upon the heart of every lover of the gospel of Jesus on this day to plead for the overturning of false doctrines and the extension of divine truth? Would it not be well to search our own hearts, and turn out any of the Popish lumber of self-righteousness which may lie concealed therein?

Scripture: “Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”(Psalm 100:4)
        Our Lord would have all his people rich in high and happy thoughts concerning his blessed person. Jesus is not content that his brethren should think meanly of him; it is his pleasure that his espoused ones should be delighted with his beauty. We are not to regard him as a bare necessary, like to bread and water, but as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing delight. To this end he has revealed himself as the “pearl of great price” in its peerless beauty, as the “bundle of myrrh” in its refreshing fragrance, as the “rose of Sharon” in its lasting perfume, as the “lily” in its spotless purity.

        As a help to high thoughts of Christ, remember the estimation that Christ is had in beyond the skies, where things are measured by the right standard. Think how God esteems the Only Begotten, his unspeakable gift to us. Consider what the angels think of him, as they count it their highest honour to veil their faces at his feet. Consider what the blood-washed think of him, as day without night they sing his well deserved praises. High thoughts of Christ will enable us to act consistently with our relations towards him. The more loftily we see Christ enthroned, and the more lowly we are when bowing before the foot of the throne, the more truly shall we be prepared to act our part towards him. Our Lord Jesus desires us to think well of him, that we may submit cheerfully to his authority. High thoughts of him increase our love. Love and esteem go together. Therefore, believer, think much of your Masters excellencies. Study him in his primeval glory, before he took upon himself your nature! Think of the mighty love which drew him from his throne to die upon the cross! Admire him as he conquers all the powers of hell! See him risen, crowned, glorified! Bow before him as the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, for only thus will your love to him be what it should.

Scripture: "Is there anything too hard for Jehovah?" (Gen. 18:14).
        Here is Gods loving challenge to you and to me today. He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, worthiest desire and longing of our hearts, something which perhaps was our desire for ourselves or for someone dear to us, yet which has been so long unfulfilled that we have looked upon it as only a lost desire, that which might have been but now cannot be, and so have given up hope of seeing it fulfilled in this life.

        That thing, if it is in line with what we know to be His expressed will (as a son to Abraham and Sarah was), God intends to do for us, even if we know that it is of such utter impossibility that we only laugh at the absurdity of anyones supposing it could ever now come to pass. That thing God intends to do for us, if we will let Him.

        "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Not when we believe in Him enough to go forward and do His will, and let Him do the impossible for us. Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked Gods plan if they had continued to disbelieve.

        The only thing too hard for Jehovah is deliberate, continued disbelief in His love and power, and our final rejection of His plans for us. Nothing is too hard for Jehovah to do for them that trust Him --Messages for the Morning Watch

References: Psa 11:4-5 Psa 34:15 Heb 4:12-13 Zech 3:9 Zech 4:10 Rev 5:6 Psa 139:1, 15-16 2 Chron 16:9, 12 Further Study: Psa 139
When the Scripture speaks of the ‘eyes of the Lord’, we are struck by the unfamiliar reference to seven eyes. These seven eyes of the Lord encompass the sphere and scope of His sight. We are reminded that the number ‘seven’ speaks of fullness and completion. We are comforted by the thought that His eyes ‘see’. According to the psalmist, His eyes are upon us. ‘His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked.’ Again, the psalmist is comforted, ‘You have searched me and known me. My frame was not hidden from your sight. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance’. The book of Hebrews reminds us that ‘no creature is hidden from His sight and all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do’. The previous verse refers to the word of God as living and active. It’s like a two-edged sword, piercing and dividing soul and spirit. This proceeding word is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Indeed, the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the earth. The Lord is searching our hearts and nothing is hidden from His sight. In a most poignant encounter, the Lord rebuked King Asa for not relying upon Him. This king of Judah sought out physicians for his help, rather than firstly going to the Lord. However, if we are relying on Him, we can be confident that the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro and they rejoice over us. He desires to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully His.

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References Further Study Amos 3:7 Deut 29:29 Amos 3 Zech 14:9 Psa 25:14 Psa 27:5 1 John 5:7 Isa 45:3 Matt 6:6
The testimony of our Lord is the proclamation of everything that will ever ‘be’ and it cannot be known unless the Lord proclaims it Himself. This testimony is beyond finding out until it is proclaimed. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever. The Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. Let’s say firstly, that the testimony of the Lord is who He is. The word that is proceeding to us is firstly the testimony of Yahweh. Our Lord is one and His name is one. Nevertheless, the testimony of Yahweh has no expression apart from the word of the council of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are Three who testify in the council of Elohim. Every word which They speak is confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses. This word is proceeding as the word of Their council. As Jesus said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’. And by this word He makes known His covenant. King David called this the secret council of the Lord. David said that the secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him. He will show them His covenant. We can go there. This is the place of which Jesus spoke, when He said to go ‘to your Father who is in secret’. In the day of trouble, He will conceal us in the secret place of His tent. He will hide us there. We are very thankful that the Lord has appointed messengers of His word. He does nothing unless He reveals it to them. He gives to us the treasures of darkness; the hidden riches of secret places.

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References Further Study Psa 50:10-11 Hag 2:8 Exo 29:1-28 Job 12:10 Exo 29:24 1Ch 29:14
Before we can consider what it means to make offering, we firstly need to recognise that all things belong to the Lord. We read in the Psalms that ‘every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine.’ The Lord declares, ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine’. All wealth belongs to the Lord, and our capacity to generate wealth is also a gift from Him. Job recognised that the life of every living thing is in His hand, and the breath of all mankind. We cannot make offering until we commit ourselves to the Lord as a slave who is ordained as a priest. It is then, and only then, that He fills our hands. When the priests of old were ordained, their hands were literally ‘filled’ with the ordination offerings. Speaking of the offerings, the Lord said, ‘You shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons’. They then waved them before the Lord, before offering them back to Him on the altar as a soothing aroma. The Hebrew word that is translated ‘ordain’ literally means to ‘fill the hand’. When the Lord ordains us as a priest, He clothes us with priestly robes of righteousness. He fills our hands by giving us seed to sow, and grace to sow that seed. When this seed produces a harvest, we return this to the Lord in the sacrifice of thanksgiving. However, like King David, we testify, ‘Who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.’

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References Further Study Rev 1:4, 9-20 Lev 25:9 Rev 1 Eph 1:10, 23 Rev 4:5 Rev 5:6 2Pe 1:19 Isa 60:1-2 Php 2:15 Joh 8:12 Eph 5:7-8 Num 10:4,7,10 ~221~
Well into his old age, the apostle John found himself in exile on the island of Patmos. The beloved disciple was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day when he heard behind him a great voice like the sound of a trumpet. Turning to see the voice that was speaking to him, he beheld Jesus Christ, clothed in priestly attire, walking among seven golden lampstands. We are reminded that, in the days of Israel, the blowing of the first of two silver trumpets was a call for the leaders to gather. The silver trumpets were used to gather the people for the great Day of Atonement. This is not to be confused with the ram’s horn (shofar), which was blown by the high priest on the Day of Atonement to signal its completion. When the prophetic trumpet blows, our great and merciful High Priest will call leaders in every place to turn and behold seven golden lampstands. The seven lampstands are the seven churches. Seven is the number of fullness, completion and perfection. We know that there were more than seven churches in Asia. The seven lampstand churches in Asia which John saw, symbolically represent the fullness of the church in that region, as the fullness of Him who fills all in all. This is the full and complete picture; an administration suitable for the fullness of times. The purpose of the church, in every age and generation, is to manifest the seven Spirits of God within a lost and fallen world. The church is a lamp in a dark place. We are called to walk in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we appear as lights.

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