It begins in the darkness, amid "wickedness" and "guile" and "hypocrisies," and winds its way through the refining processes of grace, until it issues in the "marvellous light" of perfected redemption.
It begins with individuals holding aloof from one another in bondage; it ends in glorious families, sanctified communities, elect races, "showing forth the excellencies" of the redeeming Lord.
We begin with an indiscriminate heap of unclean and undressed stones; we find their consummation in a "spiritual house," standing majestic in the light of the glory of God.
The building of the house must begin in the preparation of the stones. If the family is to be glorified, the individual must be purified.
A choir is no richer than its individual voices, and if we wish to enrich the harmony we must refine the constituent notes.
From darkness to marvelous light. From scattered units to co-operative communions. From an unclean heap to a spiritual house. And the building begins with the preparation of the stones.
This is why the mornings matter. Not because private devotion is the point — but because the stone must be dressed before it can be set in the wall. Sixty-nine mornings under the chisel. The individual purified so the family may be glorified.
"If ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." That is the basal clause of the entire chapter. Everything begins here.
There must be a personal experimenting with God. We must taste it, and find out for ourselves its healthy and refreshing flavour.
We need a sensitive sense and a vigilant mind.
There is no word which is read so drowsily as the Word of God. There is no business so sluggishly executed as the business of prayer.
They must come to it wide awake, and sensitively search for the conditions by which its hidden wealth may be disclosed.
Jowett's indictment of most religion — and the opposite of these mornings. Sixty-nine days of reading wide awake. The drowsy reader tastes nothing. The vigilant reader tastes everything.
Two weeks ago Jowett said be sober — keep awake, guard against heaviness. Today he shows why: you cannot taste what you are too drowsy to notice. The sobriety was for the sake of the tasting.
"Son of man, eat that thou findest. . . . Then did I eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness."
The only way in which we can eat a message is to obey it. Obedience is spiritual consumption; and in the act of obedience we discern the wondrous flavours of grace.
We shall taste the flavour of reconciliation, the fine grace of forgiveness, and the exquisite quality of peace.
We pass from the corrupt and isolated individual to a redeemed and perfected fellowship.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
Obedience is spiritual consumption. Ezekiel ate the scroll and it was honey. Le reads the chapter and obeys it — and that obedience IS the eating. The tasting is not sentiment. The tasting is doing.
The flavours Jowett names — reconciliation, forgiveness, peace — are not doctrines to be studied. They are tastes to be experienced. The 500 denari soul knows the flavour of forgiveness — not from a book, but from a midnight in Lubbock.
Le brought Psalm 34 — and the psalm answers Jowett before he finishes asking. Taste and see. Not believe first and taste later. Taste first. The seeing follows the tasting.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. The young lions are strong, capable, built to hunt. And they go hungry. The seekers have no such strength — and they lack nothing. Because they are seeking the One who is Himself the provision.
Consuelo wrote it in her own hand: A recompensa de Deus é o próprio Deus, e somente Ele. The seeker lacks no good thing — because the One she seeks is the good thing.
"Obedience is spiritual consumption; and in the act of obedience we discern the wondrous flavours of grace."
J.H. Jowett · Le's Heart · Caldas da Rainha · Day sixty-nine · Taste and see that the Lord is goodThe Preparation of the Stones
The house begins with the stones. The family is glorified when the individual is purified. A choir is no richer than its voices.
The Basal Clause
If ye have tasted. Everything begins here. Not doctrine — a personal experimenting with God.
Wide Awake
No word is read so drowsily as the Word of God. A sensitive sense and a vigilant mind. The drowsy reader tastes nothing.
Eat That Thou Findest
Obedience is spiritual consumption. The only way to eat a message is to obey it. Honey for sweetness.