This lovely little volume of ministry should be considered a companion volume to The Son of God (reviewed in the June 1998 Christian Shepherd), written by the same author. Together these two rich and precious meditations on the personal and moral glory of our Lord Jesus Christ answer to the upper and the nether springs which Achsah’s father gave her, in response to her request, to sustain her inheritance (Judges 1:1515And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. (Judges 1:15)).
We surely need to be refreshed and sustained by the infinite springs of the person and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, both as the eternal Son of God and as perfect Man in this world.
In this volume, Mr. Bellett has provided that which warms and draws the affections of the heart to the blessed Lord, as he presents Him in the moral glory attaching to His manhood.
In his meditation, Mr. Bellett touchingly writes, “He asked His disciples, in the hour of Gethsemane, to watch with Him, but He did not ask them to pray for Him. He would claim sympathy would have the hearts of His companions bound to Him. But He could not ask them to stand as in the divine presence on His behalf. He would have them give themselves to Him, but He could not seek them to give themselves to God for Him.”
Later the author considers the Lord Jesus in the ways in which He overcame the power of the wicked one, maintaining and displaying in it all beautiful moral perfection. He writes, “Thus Jesus the Son of God was the bruiser of Satan, as He was his binder and spoiler. But He never allows him to bear witness to Him. He would not be helped in His ministry by that which He came to destroy. He could have no fellowship with darkness, in His service, any more than in His nature.”
Toward the conclusion of his lovely meditation he writes, “I have now traced some of the features of the moral glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He represented man to God man as he ought to be, and God rested in Him. The moral perfection of the Man Christ Jesus, and God’s acceptance of Him, was signified in the meat offering (Lev. 2).”
The heart is stirred and warmed in reading this volume, and this is a much-needed antidote in the day of coldness and indifference to the person of Christ in which we live. In meditating upon and enjoying His moral glories, we find delight and satisfaction in communion with the Father as we enjoy the sweet incense and the pure, fine meal of His perfect, holy life of obedience and service. May our hearts be deeply affected and our lives morally conformed to our blessed Saviour!
Ed.