Christ and His Children...by Spurgeon

January 18

Christ and His Children

When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. (Isaiah 53:10)

Our Lord Jesus has not died in vain. His death was sacrificial: He died as our substitute, because death was the penalty of our sins. Because His substitution was accepted of God, He has saved those for whom He made His soul a sacrifice. By death He became like the corn of wheat which bringeth forth much fruit. There must be a succession of children unto Jesus; He is "the Father of the everlasting age." He shall say, "Behold, I and the children whom Thou hast given me."

A man is honored in his sons, and Jesus hath His quiver full of these arrows of the mighty. A man is represented in his children, and so is the Christ in Christians. In his seed a man's life seems to be prolonged and extended; and so is the life of Jesus continued in believers.

Jesus lives, for He sees His seed. He fixes His eye on us, He delights in us, He recognizes us as the fruit of His soul travail. Let us be glad that our Lord does not fail to enjoy the result of His dread sacrifice, and that He will never cease to feast His eyes upon the harvest of His death. Those eyes which once wept for us are now viewing us with pleasure. Yes, He looks upon those who are looking unto Him. Our eyes meet! What a joy is this!

Cleaving...

THE CHARGE:  But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.--Joshua 22:5

Looking today at Joshua's charge to "cleave unto Him".  I looked up the word cleave in the online Blue Letter Bible and came up with the following definition.

Cleave:  To cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch up, follow hard, keep fast, abide....to adhere especially firmly as if with glue; to be glued...to be attached to someone and lovingly devoted.

It is the Lord, our God, we are to cleave unto.  Look at that definition....it really gives us no wiggle room.  Our God is to be always on our minds....always on our hearts.....always in our sight.  Nothing should interfere with our relationship with Him.

Staying close to our God keeps us safe, protected, blessed and nurtured.   When we stay close to Him, acknowledging His sovereignty and control in our lives, He handles all things that come our way.  We can take shelter in His presence and allow Him to perform all things for us and make perfect that which concerns us.  Staying close to our Lord enables us to hear His voice and keeps us from losing our way.  We can walk in His footsteps and even have His right hand uphold us as we walk.

Clinging to God takes a putting aside of pride and self will.  It was a decision for the children of Israel that really was a no brainer when they looked at the evidence.  Unfortunately pride has a way of getting in the way of rational thought.   It got in the children of Israel's way and it gets in our way, also.   It was the Lord who had driven out the enemy from before them.  It was the Lord who parted the sea.  It was the Lord who fought for them. It was the Lord who enabled them to stand.  Cleaving to the Lord won the battles for the Israelites and it will win our battles as well.  In cleaving is protection.  The Lord will go before you.  He will warn you of snares, point out dangers, and smooth your path.  The Lord will remove those things from your life that interfere with your walk with Him....those things that cause you to lose sight of Him...those things which weigh you down and hinder you from following him closely.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Read Deuteronomy 4:3:


Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal–peor: for all the men that followed Baal–peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. 

The message there:  Stay close to Jesus and live!

In Acts 11:23 Barnabas exhorts the people of Antioch "that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."  I like that!  To purpose in your heart about something is to decide ahead of time to do it no matter the cost.  When circumstances come up that require a choice, your decision is easy because it has already been made.  Purpose in your own heart to cleave unto Him alone.  Purpose to allow nothing to interfere with your relationship with Him.    You have decided that the Lord will be your support....that you will not look to the right or left, but will follow Him.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:9 to "cleave unto that which is good."  That which is good is God.  If you cleave unto Him, you will be embracing goodness and His grace and mercy will be with you and He will work all that occurs in your life...even those things your enemies mean for your harm...together for good because you love Him and have been called according to His purposes.

The God who created the heavens and the earth is nigh to us and is in all things that we call upon him for.  His law and His will for us is perfect and His heart one of love.  Do not let pride interfere with your decision to come to the Lord...do not let it interfere with your decision to stay close to the Lord.  Again pride blocks all rational thought.  Put it aside and get beyond it.  By faith surrender to your Lord...He is on your side....there is nothing to fear.  It is the only decision that makes sense.  It is the only decision that saves you and enables you to live forever with Him.