Part 14
best, and can have no claim upon the favor of God. He was saved
by faith as the rest of us must be–and faith, we all know, is
inconsistent with any claim of merit. At least one of his sons we
must set down as being an open and abandoned sinner, and in him
there could have been no ground why God should make a covenant
with him.
We have no reason to imagine that Noah ever sought this
Covenant. He did offer a sacrifice. But we do not know that he
ventured to indulge the idea that God would enter into bonds with
him not to destroy the earth. We imagine that the very first cloud
which swept across the sky would excite the Patriarch's alarm. The
first drop which fell would dampen his comfort. As a preacher of
righteousness he understood well enough that on grounds of justice
he had no claim upon the Most Holy God, and he would not
venture to plead any merit of his own. But out of pure favor–just as
out of the mountain's side the sparkling fountain gushes freely
without the labor of man, so this Covenant of sparing mercy sprang
spontaneously from the overflowing, ever bounteous, and loving
heart of God.
Certainly it is so with that greater Covenant, whereof we strive to
speak. For this was made with Christ, "or ever the earth was." And
as there were no men to supplicate, it could not have been possible
that it was due to their intercession. As there were no men to merit
anything, it could not be bought by their worthiness. Divine
foreknowledge well knew that man would be evil–"only evil and
that continually from his youth up," so no foresight of human
goodness could have suggested it. And yet, because He, "will have
mercy on whom He will have mercy, and will have compassion on
whom He will have compassion," He, our gracious God, whose
heart was swelling like the deep sea with floodtides of loving
kindness, was pleased to strike hands with Christ, our Covenant
and Federal Head. And from Grace, and Grace, alone, He entered
into engagements with Christ on our account.
The Everlasting Covenant, we note, in the next place, was all of
promise. You will be struck, if you read these verses, how it runs
over and over again, "I establish." "It shall come to pass." "I will."
"It shall." "I will." He who knows the difference between, "you
shall," and "I will," is a good theologian. The old Covenant of
Works is, "you shall." "You shall not commit adultery. You shall
not kill. You shall not steal." Death always comes to us by that
Covenant of Command. But the new Covenant is, "I will," and life
comes to us by its promises. The Covenant of Grace runs on this
wise–"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean.
From all your iniquities will I save you." If there is a, "you shall,"
it is not by way of command, but by way of promise.
"I will," and "you shall"! O dear Friends, one's heart rejoices to
think of those potent shalls and wills–those immoveable pillars
which death and Hell cannot shake–the shalls and wills of a God
who, "speaks and it is done." God who, "commands and it stands
fast." I do not see an if, nor a but, nor the shadow of a perhaps in it.
It is all, "I will, I will, I will," from beginning to end. And so when
God covenanted with Christ, it was not, "I will save My people if
they do this," but, "I will," and, "they shall," from first to last–
"It is like a living spring of waters, sweet and clear.
There's not an if to foul the stream nor a perhaps here.
Grace is its fountainhead, the source from where it came–
In wills and shalls of Gospel Grace, eternally the same."
The Apostle Paul is very clear upon this. In that most blessed
Epistle to the Galatians he calls this, "the Covenant of Promise,"
and marks the difference between Ishmael, "the son of the
bondwoman," according to nature and according to works, and
Isaac, "who is the child of the promise and the gift of God, above
nature: not according to the efficacy and energy of the creature, but
according to the will and power and truthfulness of the Most
High." You and I do not stand today under a Covenant which
demands anything of us. Unconditional favors, unlimited mercies
made sure to all the seed by the oath and promise–the shall and will
of God!
Further, I would have you observe that this Covenant has up to
now been faithfully kept. It cheered my heart, when thinking this
matter over, to remember that although I depend upon covenant
faithfulness, I am not alone in that dependence. Every living thing
upon the face of the earth lives by virtue of the Everlasting
Covenant of God. Covenant engagements preserve the world from
flood–were it not for that Covenant, the tops of the mountains
might be covered tomorrow. A covenant tenure is a very sure one,
seeing that these thousands of years the world has never been
destroyed by a flood. Go back to ancient histories and see whether
the deluge God has ever again swept away the race of man with
water, and you shall not even dare to hint that such a thing has
been.
No, the earth standing in the water and out of the water, since the
fathers fell asleep, according to the testimony of scoffers
themselves, abides still the same. And so does the Covenant of
Grace. It has never been removed or altered, nor have its promises
been broken. O Saint, you dwell in tabernacles which shall never
be taken down! God has never failed His people, nor cast away His
chosen. Not one promise has lost its fulfillment, nor one word its
faithfulness–
"This Covenant of Grace all blessings secures.
Believer, rejoice, for all things are yours,
And God from His purpose shall never remove,
But love you and bless you and rest in His love."
Beloved, there is this about Noah's Covenant and about the
Covenant of Grace–they do not depend in any degree at all upon
man. For, if you will notice, the bow is put in the cloud, but it does
not say, "And when you shall look upon the bow, and you shall
remember My Covenant, then I will not destroy the earth." No, it is
gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and frail, but
upon God's memory, which is infinite and immutable! "The bow
shall be in the cloud. And I will look upon it, that I may remember
the Everlasting Covenant." Oh, it is not my remembering God–it is
God's remembering me! It is not my laying hold of His Covenant,
but His Covenant laying hold on me! Glory be to God, the whole of
the bulwarks are secured, and even the minor towers which we may
fancy might have been left to man, are guarded by Divine strength!
Even the remembrance of the Covenant is not left to our
memories, for we might forget–but our Lord cannot, will not forget
the Saints–whom He has inscribed on the palms of His hands. It is
with us today as it was with Israel in Egypt. The blood was upon
the lintel and upon the two side posts. But God did not say, "When
you see the blood I will pass over you." No, no, "When I see the
blood I will pass over you." My looking to Jesus brings me joy and
peace, but it is God's looking to Jesus which secures my salvation,
and that of all His elect.
It is impossible for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety,
and then to be angry with us for sins already punished in Him. No,
dear Friends, it is not left with us even to be saved by remembering
the Covenant. There's no linseywoolsey here–not a single thread of
the creature mars the fabric. Here we have the pure gold, and not an
atom of alloy. It is not of man, neither by man, but of the Lord
alone. We should remember the Covenant and we shall do it,
through Divine Grace. But the hinge of the matter does not lie
there. It is God's remembering us, not our remembering Him.
And therefore, for all these reasons it is an Everlasting Covenant.
We know that as long as there is day and night, and summer and
winter, and these shall be so long as the earth stands, the proud
waves can never cover the earth. Forever has God established this
Covenant in Heaven. Even so, the Everlasting Covenant is not
intended to be fleeting and temporary. "Forever, O Lord, Your
Word is settled in Heaven." "He has made with us an Everlasting
Covenant, ordered in all things and sure." "He will ever be mindful
of His Covenant." If it concerns you today, it is, "the same
yesterday, today, and forever." If the Covenant blesses you at this
hour, it shall bless you in old age, in the time of death, at
resurrection and throughout eternity.
No time can change one of its stipulations. You may walk the
centuries and fly adown the ages far into eternity, but you can never
discover such a thing as the change or failure of one single article
of the Covenant of Grace. Its jots and tittles are sure to all the seed–
"He loved the world of His elect,
With love surpassing thought.
Nor will His mercy ever neglect
The souls His Son has bought.
The warm affections of His breast
Towards His chosen burn,
And in this love He'll ever rest
Nor from His oath return.
Still to confirm His oath of old,
See in the heavens His bow,
No fierce rebukes, but love untold,
Awaits His children now."
Would to God you and I studied more the doctrine of this
Everlasting Covenant. Our old Puritan forefathers were accustomed
to preach much about it. Those Scotch Theologians, who were a
second band of Puritans, Erskine and the men of his day, were
always dwelling upon the Covenants. Good Witsius has left us a
marvelously learned and potent treatise on the same, and Fisher's
Marrow of Theology is a valuable exposition of the matter. He who
studies the doctrines of the Covenants is not very likely to make a
mingle-mangle of his ministry, or to preach a yes and no Gospel.
My dear Friends, when you think of the Covenant of Law and the
Covenant of Grace, and remember that they are contrary the one to
the other, and can never mingle, can never be united–so that the
one can dilute the other–it must come out forcibly before you that
we may address the Gospel to the sinner as a sinner, without a
fitness on his part. We may still believe in God's love to the Saint,
even though he has sinned and that notwithstanding all the
misbehavior of any of the chosen people. Since they are under the
Covenant of Grace and not of works, their salvation is never in
jeopardy, never at hazard, so far as God's will and God's power are
concerned.
He that vowed to save them, and loved them in Christ, and has
given them faith, which is the token of His Grace, will most
assuredly save them and bring them to glory. The earth shall be
destroyed, with water, long before one of God's elect shall be
damned. It shall be destroyed with fire, we know, but when, "the
mountains depart," and, "the hills are removed," the Covenant of
His Grace shall still stand. And He will be mindful of all who have
an interest in it.
So much, then, concerning the tenor of the Everlasting Covenant
itself. My Soul, search, and look, and see whether you have an
interest in that Covenant. Can you say from your heart–
"My hope is fixed on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness"?
Then, my Soul, that Everlasting Covenant is yours and you are
safe beyond risk of harm!
II. Secondly, THE TOKEN OF THE COVENANT. The Covenant
needs no token, as far as God is concerned. Tokens are given for us,
because of our littleness of heart, our unbelief, our constant
forgetfulness of God's promises. The rainbow is the symbol of
Noah's Covenant. And Jesus Christ, who is the Covenant, is also
the symbol of that Covenant to us. He is the Faithful Witness in
Heaven.
Briefly upon this part of the subject let us notice when we may
expect to see the token of the Everlasting Covenant. The rainbow is
only to be seen painted upon a cloud. Expect no tokens, except
when you need them. The Lord Jesus, when He can, will trust us to
our faith. For it is, on the whole, more healthy, more strengthening
to us, to, "walk by faith and not by sight." Tokens are helps for our
childhood–they would be unnecessary to us were we men. Tokens,
to men whose faith is in vigorous order, would be as crutches to a
man who is not lame, or as glasses to those whose eyes are perfect.
The Lord is pleased to give tokens when tokens are wanted, I say.
And therefore He gives them, as He gives rainbows, when there is
a cloud. When the greatest cloud which ever gathered upon earth
had covered Calvary with blackness. When the sun himself had
suffered eclipse. When human sin and Divine wrath had made a
tempest so black and terrible that all the earth was in affright–then
on that black cloud was painted the rainbow–for Jesus was lifted up
and amidst that thick darkness. He, the Expiation and the
Atonement, offered up Himself, and poured forth His blood.
When the sinner's conscience is dark with clouds. When he
remembers his past sins. When he mourns and laments before God,
Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the Covenant Rainbow, speaking
peace. And to the Believer, when his trials surround him. When
temptations beset him. When he suffers depression of spirits–then
how sweet it is to behold the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! To
see Him bleeding for us, offered up for guilty men–God's Rainbow,
hung over the cloud of all our sins, our sorrows and our woes.
Look, Believer, when you have a cloud–look for a Token, and be
not satisfied without it. The ancient Church said upon one
occasion, "We see not our signs." And you and I have sometimes to
say the same. But let us hasten to the Rock of our salvation and
beseech Him to bestow upon us a comfortable sight of Jesus, who
shall will the Covenant to our souls again.
Nor does a cloud alone give a rainbow. There must be rain. There
can be no rainbows, unless there are the crystal drops to reflect the
light of the sun. So, Beloved, our sorrows must not only threaten,
but they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ for us if
the vengeance of God had been merely a threat. It must fall in
terrible drops upon Him. Christ, who sets forth to us the vengeance
and the love of God at the same time, had not come to us unless
there had been a real vengeance and a real punishment of sin–until
there is a real anguish in the sinner's conscience, there is no Christ
for him. And until the chastisement which you feel becomes
grievous to you–till the big drops bespatter you, and you feel it is
not a threat, but a real infliction of sorrow upon you, you cannot
expect to see Jesus Christ.
Perhaps, dear Brothers and Sisters, some of us have but slight
views of Christ, and few have visits from Him because we have so
few troubles. And the reason why most Saints in these days do not
live so near to Jesus as they were custom to do in the centuries
gone by may be because we have not so many of those showers of
persecution which fell at that season. Why, when, in the reign of
Dioclesius and in the preceding centuries, Believers were stoned
and dragged into the amphitheatre, or hacked to death with knives!
They saw the glory of Jesus as the rainbow painted on the black
cloud of persecution, while the raindrops fell upon them. It makes
us even long to suffer as they suffered, that we may behold Jesus as
they beheld Him.
But the day is coming when the world shall, "hear of wars and
rumors of wars." The earth shall rock and reel and the pillars of
Heaven shall be shaken. The stars shall fall, the moon shall be
turned into a clot of blood, and the sun shall be black as sackcloth
of hair. Ah, then how glorious will that Rainbow shine to all the
people of God, when over the conflagrations of earth, and the
destruction of men, and the melting of empires, and the blazing of
earth, there shall be seen Christ the Mediator, securing all His
people and ratifying, still, the Everlasting Covenant! There must be
drops of rain, or else no rainbow. Some failings of vengeance, or
else no sight of Christ.
But then, there must be a sun. For clouds and drops of rain make
not rainbows, unless the sun shines. Beloved, our God, who is as
the Sun to us, always shines. But we do not always see Him.
Clouds hide His face. But no matter what drops may be falling, or
what clouds may be present, if He does but shine, there will be a
Rainbow at once. When the blessed Spirit, "sheds abroad the love
of God in our hearts"–when we can say, "Abba, Father," and a
Father's love and a Father's peace are breathed upon us–then we
see Jesus Christ, beholding the Father in the Person of His Son.
It is said that when we see the rainbow, that particular shower is
over. So good Bishop Hall tells us in his, "Contemplations."
Certain it is, that when Christ comes, our troubles are over. When
we behold Jesus, our sins are gone–our doubts and fears subside at
His command. When He walks the waters of the sea, there will be a
calm. But others say that the rainbow is the showery arch and
heralds bad weather. And probably this is quite as true. Certainly,
whenever you get a love token from Christ, you may expect some
trouble. For He brings His people into the banqueting house either
before a battle, or after it. Melchisedek came to meet Abraham
when the kings had all been slaughtered. But sometimes our
Melchisedek brings the bread and wine just before the battle is to
commence.
We are not always to be living upon love-tokens. Our beloved
Jesus would rather make us live by simple faith, and therefore we,
"walk in darkness and see no light." Still, rainbows are delightful
sights, and a vision of Jesus is rapturous and transporting. But we
cannot expect to see Him, I say, unless it is when the storm is over
or when another storm is coming on, or when the cloud is there, or
the drops are falling, or the light of God's countenance is especially
shining upon you. We will say no more about when this token is
seen, but we will now notice briefly, what this token is.
What do we see in our Covenant Witness in Heaven? We see in
Him what we see in the rainbow. In the rainbow we see supreme
Glory and beauty. As one of the works of God, it is worthy to be
sought out by them that have pleasure in them. One might stand
and gaze on the rainbow with wonder and admiration and never be
weary. I do not know whether you have noticed paintings of
rainbows–did you ever see a good one? Will you ever see a good
one? There are one or two in the Royal Academy this year–I am no
judge of paintings, but I can judge that they are as much unlike
rainbows as they well could be.
Rainbows cannot be painted. The thing is impossible. There is
such a melting and blending of colors, that human art shall never be
able to rival the art of God. The Master Painter, with the black
cloud for His palette, and the sun's rays for His brush, paints so that
no artist shall rival Him. If you could gather together a heap of all
the glittering gems and jewels which adorn an Oriental prince, and
build a glorious arch–you could not make such glitter and
brightness of glory as in the rainbow–which is the simple work of a
drop of rain and a ray of light. But shall I compare my Lord Jesus
to the rainbow? I do Him an injustice–
"All human beauties, all Divine, in my Beloved meet and shine."
You never saw a picture of His face which satisfied you, and you
never will. You shall go all over the Continent and see some of the
marvelous productions of the masters put up as altar pieces. And
you will say when you see them, "That is not like Jesus Christ."
They can paint Judas. There are some fine heads of Peter–sweet
guesses at John–John the Baptist to life–all but that little bit of a
cockleshell in his hand. They can paint Mary Magdalene if you
will, but never Jesus Christ. They can never paint Him. No artist
that ever lived can catch His expression or countenance, much less
put it on canvas. And as to the beauty of His Character, must we
not burst out with the spouse in the Canticles, "He is altogether
lovely"?–
"The spacious earth, the swelling flood,
Proclaim the wise and powerful God.
And Your rich glories from afar,
Sparkle in every rolling star,
But in His looks a glory stands,
The noble labor of Your hands–
God, in the Person of His Son,
Has all His mightiest works outdone."
The rainbow has been recognized by ancient poets and bards as
an appointed messenger of God. Homer calls it the messenger of
the gods, and the old mythologies speak of it as the Iris, the
messenger of Juno. They knew not who had sent it, nor what was
the errand on which it came. Still they recognized it as a Divine
ambassador. And surely such is Christ, the Messenger of the
Covenant whom we delight in. God's great Ambassador, who is,
"our peace," "the desire of all nations," who shall yet come and
shall be hailed as, "King of kings and Lord of lords." O blessed
Rainbow, Jesus! When shall Your beauties be beheld by mortal
eyes? When shall all kings fall down before You and yield their
scepters and their crowns to You?
Again–in the rainbow and in Christ, I see vengeance satisfied. Is
not the bow the symbol of the warrior's power? With far-reaching
arrows he draws the string, and woe unto his enemies. But when a
hero hangs up his bow upon the wall, what means he but that
warfare is over and peace is proclaimed? When he loosens the bow
and leaves it without the string and without an arrow, it means that
he will no more go out to hunt his adversaries. His arrows shall be
no more, "drunk with the blood of the slain." He lays the bow
aside, hangs it up on high, and leaves it unstrung, without an arrow.
Such is the rainbow. A bow, it is true, but a bow hung up–a bow
without string or arrow.
And such is Christ, God's Bow. "Your arrows are sharp in the
heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under You."
When He takes the "rod of iron," He breaks His enemies in pieces,
"like a potter's vessel." "Who is this that comes from Edom, with
dyed garments from Bozrah, traveling in the greatness of His
strength?" Jesus, the Arrow of God, the polished shaft in the quiver
of the Most High. But there I see Him–a bow still–still mighty to
destroy–but yet a bow without a string. He threw that away, when
He came from Heaven to earth, and lay slumbering in the manger.
A bow without an arrow!–
"No thunder clothes His brow,
No bolts to drive our guilty souls
To fiercer flames below."
Beloved, Christ is vengeance satisfied. Those wounds, those
bright and burnished jewels of His hands, betoken that God
demands no more of man. The rainbow, yet again, is a token that
vengeance itself has become on our side. You see, it is an unbroken
"bow." He did not snap it across His knee. It is a bow still.
Vengeance is there, justice is there. But which way is it pointed? It
is turned upward. Not to shoot arrows down on us, but for us, if we
have faith enough to string it, and to make it our glorious bow–to
draw it with all our might, to send our prayers, our praises, our
desires, up to the bright Throne of God. Mighty is that man,
omnipotent is his faith, who has power to bend that bow and draw
it and shoot his prayers to Heaven.
No, more. Inasmuch as it is a bow not black, nor blood-red, but a
bow painted with the colors of holiday and delight, it seems to me
as if Heaven hangs out its streamers of joy, while angels sing,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards
men." They pull the banners from the standards of glory, and they
hang them out across the sky, as we do on our ships upon marriage
days. Heaven hangs out its glorious banners to show that God is so
completely satisfied with Christ and so at peace with man, that He
joys in man's joy, and rejoices in man's rejoicing–"rests in His love
and rejoices in us with singing,"
Look up, Believer, to the Person of Christ. Behold the joy of God,
"the pleasure of the Lord," prospering, "in His hands," and your
soul will be full of ecstasy and delight. Once again, in the rainbow
we see the one color of light, which appears to us to be but white,
broken up, refracted, distributed, blended, harmonized, brought out
in all its distinct elements. There is no doubt that there are more
colors in light than our eyes have ever seen. The spectrum of eye
can only compass a certain quantity of the colors. But beneath the
lowest, and above the highest, there are others. There is infinitely
more in God than you and I will ever be able to see.
One of the best sights of light, as dissolved and analyzed, is to be
had in the rainbow. There you see the colors arranged in their
proper order, and you are able to mark the red melting into the
orange, and the orange into the yellow, and the yellow yet again
into the green, and the green into the blue, and the blue into the
indigo and violet. They are all there–not one put out of place, not
one left out. The Character of God is one, like His Essence. Yet to
us, that we may read it, it must be, as it were, broken up, but not
thrown out of harmony. He that has seen Christ, "has seen the
Father." He that sees the rainbow sees "Light." He that sees Christ,
sees the Father–God's justice meeting and blending into His Truth.
God's Truth melting into His mercy. That mercy melting into His
love, that love in contact with His faithfulness.
And so every attribute standing side by side with its next of kin.
The whole of them absolutely necessary to complete the glory of
that arch, and every one of them necessarily to be put in its proper
place also, to make the arch a harmony and a very music of colors.
Beloved, such is Jesus Christ. If we could but understand Jesus
Christ, we could not make mistakes about God. In Jesus I see
blood-red justice, justice as fierce as if there were no mercy. But
what love I see also! What boundless love! As Watts puts it, we
cannot tell–
The power, the wisdom, or the Grace."
They are all so clearly there. The whole of God written out in
Christ! And yet, I warn you, we can never see the whole of God–in
this life, never. I do not know whether it is quite correct, but two or
three of the older commentators, in glossing upon that passage,
"there was a rainbow round about the Throne," say that it means
entirely round it, and therefore there is a complete circle–that we
only see one half of it, but that, in fact the Covenant rainbow is a
circle.
Now, whatever you may think of that gloss, there certainly is one
circular rainbow in the Bible, for that angel, in the tenth of
Revelation, had "a rainbow round his head." He wore it as a crown
round his head. We may, without straining a point, say the most we
can ever see, even in Christ, as revealed to us, while we are here, is
just a glorious semi-circle of Truth–an arch, like a Divine ladder,
by which we may mount to the very loftiness of God Himself. But
there is another half which you and I have not seen, and we shall
not see it till we get to the Throne of God. Moreover, that rainbow
that is in Heaven differs from ours, for there it is, "like unto an
emerald." The green preponderates. The mild luster of the mercy of
God and His love will seem to triumph over the fiery sardius and
jacinth of His justice.
How ought we to act, dear Friends, with regard to this rainbow
and Jesus Christ as the symbol of the covenant? First, let us act like
little children. Little children run in clapping their hands with glee,
"Father, there's a rainbow!" Out they run to look at it, and they
wonder whether they could find the end of it. They wish you would
let them run till they could catch it. They look, and look, and look,
and look, and when the shower begins to abate and it dies out, they
are so sorrowful because they have lost the splendid vision.
Beloved, let us be children. Whenever we think of Christ, let us be
little children and look, and look, and look again. And let us long to
get at Him, for, unlike the rainbow, we can get at Him.
Pliny, who, by the way, talks a deal of nonsense, declares that
wherever the rainbow's foot rests, the flowers are made much
sweeter. And Aristotle says the rainbow is a great breeder of
honeydew. I do not know how that is, but I know that wherever
Jesus Christ is He makes the perfume of His people very sweet.
"His name is as ointment poured forth," and I know He is, "a great
breeder of honeydew." There is sure to be much more loving
kindness in that man's heart who has seen much of Jesus. I
recommend you to follow that Divine Rainbow till you reach the
foot of it, and till you embrace it and say with Simeon, "Now let
Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Your
salvation." Play the child then.
While we gaze, ought we not praise and admire? One or two of
the nations of antiquity had it as a part of their religion always to
sing hymns when they saw the rainbow. Should not we, whenever
we see Christ? Should it not be a redletter day marked in our diary?
"This day let us praise His name." And as we ought always to see
Him, I may improve upon this and bid you say–
"I will praise You every day. Now Your anger's passed away,
Comfortable thoughts arise from the bleeding sacrifice."
And again, when we see Christ, we ought to confess our sins with
humiliation. An old writer says that the Jews confess their sins
when they see the rainbow. I am sure, whenever we see Christ, we
ought to remember the deluge of wrath from which He has
delivered us, the flames of Hell from which He has saved us. And
so, humbly bowing ourselves in the dust, let us love and praise and
bless His name.
To some of you there is nothing in this sermon, because you have
never laid hold on the Covenant. You have never believed in Jesus.
Remember, that a simple faith in Christ is the evidence of your
being in the Covenant. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with
all your heart, then your name is written in the roll of the blessed.
But if you will not believe in Him, however excellent your
character, however goodly your works, you shall perish in your
sins.
For, "he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. He that
believes not," be he who he may or what he may, "shall be
damned." Believe, and believing you put yourself under the Divine
arch of the blessed Covenant. You shall see its glorious colors with
exultation and delight, and you shall be secure, whatever
catastrophes shall shake the earth, whatever calamities shall trouble
the race of man.
Ge 11:31; 12:5 • Abram's Call; or, Half-way and All the Way
ERMON 2011
Abram's Call—Or, Half-way—And All The Way
"And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran his
son's son and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and
they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the
land of Canaan. And they came unto Haran and dwelt there."
Genesis 11:31
AFTER the Flood, when men began to multiply and increase in
the earth, it was not very long before they began to turn aside from
the living and true God. At first the sons of Noah walked in the
light of Divine knowledge, though even among them was found an
evil seed. When scattered over the earth after the confusion of
tongues at Babel, the earth's hoary fathers carried with them a
measure of the knowledge of God which they had received from
their sires. But after a while, the light grew dim, men began to
worship the sun and the moon and they adored fire as the mystic
symbol of the mysterious and spiritual Lord.
They sought out many inventions. And having once begun to quit
their allegiance to the one God they very rapidly traveled along the
downward road till they worshipped strange gods. It was sad that
although the earth produced its mighty hunters and men built city
after city, yet few among them sought after God, or built altars to
His name. Well might the Lord God cry out, "Hear Me heavens and
give ear, O earth–I have nourished and brought up children and
they have rebelled against Me."
A long period passed without a voice from God. Man seemed left
to himself and in danger of being given up to idols. The nations
wandered each a different way but all the downward road. Yet
Divine Grace had not ended its reign. And therefore before the
lamp of God had wholly gone out, the Lord determined to reveal
Himself and establish His worship in the world. He would select a
family to be His peculiar servants. He would manifest Himself to
the father of that family and would make with him a Covenant. He
would reveal to him the great things which He intended to do in the
fullness of time and He would bid him hand down the Revelation
to his children from generation to generation.
This family should grow into a nation and to that nation should be
committed the oracles of God. Out of that nation should come
Prophets and priests and heroes who should believe in God and
maintain the true faith against all comers, even until the Son of God
Himself should come to manifest the glory of God in a preeminent
degree. In the midst of that nation the Lord resolved to set up
ordinances and a settled organization by which Truth should be
taught through type and symbol and by the hallowed speech of
godly men. This, in His wisdom, He judged to be best for the future
of the race.
In the wise sovereignty of His choice, the Lord chose Abram and
his house. He gives no account of his matters and we cannot,
therefore, tell why he took out of Ur of the Chaldees those of
whom Joshua says, "Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the
flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father
of Nachor–and they served other gods." The Lord called Abram
alone and blessed him. He set apart the Patriarch and his seed and
put them in trust with the priceless treasure of Divine Revelation–
this they kept for themselves and for the rest of mankind.
It was needful that the elect family should be led apart and kept
from the contamination of surrounding evil. Abram must come out
from Ur of the Chaldees and all its associations of idolatry and he
must even leave his kindred and his father's house and walk before
the Lord in separation unto prompt obedience and complete
consecration. Thus his separation unto God would fulfill the
gracious purpose of the Most High. The Lord's end and aim was to
keep His Truth alive in the world by means of a people who should
be set apart for that service.
It was therefore essential that the person chosen to be the head of
that family, the founder of that nation, should come right away
from all connection with the corrupt world and walk apart with
God. The chosen nation was to dwell alone and not to be numbered
among the peoples. Hence came that call which said to Abram,
"Get you out of your country and from your kindred and from your
father's house unto a land that I will show you: and I will make of
you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great.
And you shall be a blessing."
At this moment God is working in much the same manner in the
midst of the world by His Church. A Church is an assembly called
out. An ecclesia is not any and every "assembly"–a mixed crowd of
unauthorized persons having no special right to come together
would not be an ecclesia, or Church. In a real ecclesia the herald
summoned the citizens by trumpet or by name and it consisted of
certain persons called out from among the common multitude. The
true Church consists of men who are called and faithful and
chosen. They are redeemed from among men and called out from
among their fellows by effectual grace.
God the Holy Spirit continues to call out and bring to the Lord
Jesus those who are chosen of God according to the good pleasure
of His will. Practically, conversion is the result of the call–"Get you
out from your country." It is a repetition of that searching word,
"Come you out from among them and be you separate, says the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." The Church is a repetition
of the camp of Abram in the midst of Canaan. It is the Lord's
portion among men and it keeps His oracles. The Church of the
living God is the pillar and ground of the Truth of God. And it is
the design of God to find a home for His Gospel in His Church till
the dispensation of Divine Grace shall close and the Judge shall
ascend the throne.
In gathering instruction from the call of Abram, I shall handle the
matter by making three remarks. First, this call is often only half
obeyed. In our first text we find the command of God very partially
carried out. Secondly, this call is of a very special character and I
shall endeavor to show the manner in which it comes to us at this
time. Thirdly, this call, when it is really obeyed, puts the obedient
upon a special footing–they are henceforth peculiarly the Lord's.
May the Holy Spirit bless our meditation!
In the first place, THIS CALL IS OFTEN ONLY HALF
OBEYED. It came to Abram when he dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees.
But though he so far hearkened to it as to set out for Canaan, yet
we read that "they came to Haran and dwelt there."
We do not know how the call came to Abram, whether by a voice
which he heard with his ears, or by a mysterious impulse upon his
mind, or by a dream or vision. But Stephen tells us, in the seventh
of Acts–"The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham."
There may have been given to Abram some such sight of the glory
of God as Job had when he cried, "Now my eye sees You." The
Lord appeared to Abram and made him to understand that he must
emigrate from his country and quit his tribe. Somehow or other, it
was laid home to Abram's heart and conscience that he must go
forth upon a journey he knew not where. He must journey into
another land and no more dwell in city, or town, or village but
become a sojourner with his God, a tent-dweller, a stranger in a
strange land.
His first step would naturally be to tell his friends that he must
leave them, for the living God had called him to go to the land of
Canaan. At once his difficulties began. His kindred could not bear
to part with him. If they had distinctly opposed him and said, "It is
absurd. Your talk is insanity. Yet if you must be gone, go your way
and welcome"–then he would have gone in sadness but assuredly
he would not have hesitated. A man possessed of Abram's
wondrous faith would have torn himself away with great firmness,
although with deep regret at the sorrow which he caused. Had they
opposed him, his course would have been plain.
But he had to meet with a much more insidious evil. His friends
consented to his zeal. Whether they agreed in his reverence for
Jehovah or not, they felt that they could not cut themselves off
from Abram and therefore they resolved to go with him. The word
to Abram was express, "Get you out from your kindred and from
your father's house." But how was this to be done when his kindred
and his father's house clung to him and yielded to him? Very
naturally his loving spirit could see no other way but to bid them all
come with him and yield themselves to God.
Possibly Abram looked for great things from this and rejoiced in
it. It would seem as if his aged father Terah, with that wisdom
which is a near to subtlety, himself led the way in the migration.
For we read–"And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of
Haran his son's son and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's
wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go
into the land of Canaan." The father of the clan leads the way and it
is rather his migration than that of Abram. What was Abram to do?
Instead of meeting opposition from his family, his own father is
leading the way in the journey to Canaan. Did not this make his
obedience easier?
We shall see. Was not this happy union of the household, this
undivided assent to the Lord's bidding, a great cause for rejoicing?
It certainly appeared so. But all is not gold that glitters. What we
think will help may at length hinder. What looks like a work of
grace may turn out to be only the movements of unrenewed nature.
Like the mixed multitude which came out of Egypt with Israel, we
may have about us professed friends who may become our worst
foes in the secret of God's Truth and Divine Grace.
In Abram's case the dreaded separation is spared–they start
together for Canaan. So far so good–at least, it looks so. The
traveling is wearisome and many are the murmurings. The huge
caravan has not gone very far before the proposal is made that they
should be satisfied with the move which they had made and remain
at Haran. True, it was not Canaan but it might do as well. Did not
the family reason, "We shall stay here. We have yielded a great
many points to Abram in coming away from Ur. But we cannot
yield to all his demands. We have proved our love to him and our
reverence for the Lord by coming thus far and now we ask for a
fair compromise.
"Abram is very sincere but he must not be bigoted. Surely he will
not be so foolish as to believe in verbal inspiration and insist upon
Canaan, when Haran quite meets the spirit of the command. There
is no doubt that Haran answers every purpose and we mean to stay
here and Abram must stay with us." His father pleads that he is
very old. To be moving continually is hard for aged people. And
there is that broad Euphrates, how can the old man cross that
dreaded flood? "Spare your venerable parent this last bitterness–I
have come thus far to please you–do not press me further."
I think I am not wildly imagining if I suppose that some such
pleas induced the Patriarch to tarry with his kindred at Haran. A
loving and tender heart worked against prompt literal obedience
and for a while the man of faith delayed, the heir of the promises
hesitated. Do you blame him? It will be wiser to look at home.
Holy Scripture describes his conduct and appends no absolute word
of censure. But it does what is quite as significant–it keeps silent as
to anything like a record of blessing, or of communion with God–
while Abram was at the half-way house at Haran.
To a friend of God His silence is quite enough of a rebuke. If my
friend does not smile, I do not require him to frown to let me know
whereabouts I am in his esteem. If my friend no longer speaks to
me, I do not need him to upbraid me–his silence is sadly eloquent
to my heart. Abram and the rest settled down at Haran. He was
conquered, not by open foes but by compromising friends. My
Brethren, take good heed unto yourselves that you suffer not your
feet to be entangled by the men of your own household. He that
would follow the Lamb wherever he goes, must not know his own
kindred when he comes to the parting of the ways.
Honest wolves will not harm us one half so much as those who
look like sheep but inwardly are not so. Our first father, Adam, fell
by the temptation of her whom he loved and the old serpent still
knows how to seduce through our affections and lead into ruin by
the suggestion of friendship. O Man of God, beware! Read my
parable with open eye and practice the lesson thereof.
Let me describe the consequences of tarrying at any half-way
house. To obey the Lord partially is to disobey Him. If the Lord
bids Abram go to Canaan, he cannot fulfill that command by going
to Haran. Haran was not mentioned in the call. You cannot keep
God's command by doing something else which pleases you better.
The essence of obedience lies in its exactness. Although something
else may seem to you to be quite as good as the thing commanded,
what has that to do with it?
This is what God bids you and to refuse the thing commanded,
professing to substitute a better thing, is gross presumption. You
may not think it so but so it is, that half obedience is whole
disobedience. We can only obey the Lord's command as it stands.
To alter it is as great a treason as to make erasures in a king's
statute-book. It is will-worship and not God worship, if I do what I
choose of the Lord's work and leave a part undone which does not
please me quite so well.
Moreover, half-way obedience increases our responsibility,
because it is a plain confession that we know the Lord's will,
though we do it not. Abram had received the call and knew that he
had done so, else why had he come to Haran? He admitted, by
going as far as Haran, that he ought to go the whole way to Canaan.
And so, by his own action he left himself without excuse. And any
of you who are doing in a measure what is right because of the fear
of God and yet are acting in other matters contrary to what you
know to be the Lord's will, you are left without apology for such
neglect.
By the service which you do render to God you admit that He a
has right to your obedience–why, then do you not obey Him in all
things? You call Jesus your Lord and do some of the things which
He says but why not the rest? Is it not clear that you know your
Master's will and do it not? Thus, you see, there was failure in
obedience and increase of responsibility. The result of this to
Abram was the absence of privilege. God spoke not to His servant
in Haran–neither dream, nor vision, nor voice came to him in the
place of hesitancy. The Lord loved him but hid His face from him
and denied him the visits of His Divine Grace.
If we walk contrary to the Lord, He will walk contrary to us.
Abram lived with his father Terah. But he was not living near his
heavenly Father, and therefore he did not hear His voice. How
greatly the true heart dreads this! How earnestly it sighs, "O Lord,
be not silent to me, lest if You be silent to me, I become like them
that go down into the pit"! O my Brothers, let us not, by wavering
and half-heartedness, lose our communion with the Lord our God.
Meanwhile, Abram was rendering an affliction needful. His father
Terah must die that the cord which held Abram might be broken. If
the called one will not come out while the old man lives, death
must do his work and remove the cause of disobedience. If Abram
fears to weep at parting with a living father, he must weep over his
grave. One way or another the Lord will cause His chosen to obey
Him. Oh, that we would be tender of heart and not be as the horse
or as the mule which have no understanding! Whips and rods
would seldom be heard of if we were more promptly obedient.
While tarrying at Haran, Abram was creating cause of future
disquietude by his attachment to Lot. He was told to come out from
his kindred but he clung to his orphan nephew and must needs
accept his company. Lot caused him a great deal of trouble. His
herdsmen created discontent and strife and afterwards Lot himself
was carried away captive and peaceful Abram was compelled to
gird on the warrior's sword and go forth to battle, to rescue his
nephew. Had Abram acted decidedly from the very first, he might
have saved himself many a hardship.
My Brethren, learn well these lessons. I merely hint them–will
you not enlarge upon them? All this while Abram was delaying the
great blessing which God was prepared to give him, he was
keeping out of the promised land and away from the place where
Jehovah would manifest Himself to him and enter into covenant
with him. I fear that some true Believers are depriving themselves
of the richest joy and the most heavenly experience by their
undecided conduct. Some of you have come away from your old
sins but you have not yet entered upon the new life in its fullness.
You have left Ur of the Chaldees–the place of open sin–but you
have not come to Canaan the holy.
You are tarrying in the Haran of a partial obedience, which is
neither here nor there–a sort of death in life, rebellion in obedience,
unbelief in faith. I know many professors who have left their
vicious habits but they are not yet consecrated to the Lord Jesus–
they are not absolutely in the world and yet they are not abiding in
the Lord. Their speech is half of Ashdod and half of the Jews'
language. They dare not be Philistines and yet they will not be
Israelites. They are willing to be saved by the Cross of Christ but
they are not willing to take up Christ's Cross and come right out
decidedly upon His side at all times. This is a perilous state to be
in.
They have enough religion to make them miserable, but, I fear,
not enough to fit them for joys eternal. They may ultimately get
into Heaven by the skin of their teeth–at least, I hope so. But they
have no present joy, no immediate peace, no conscious fellowship
with God. Half-way house godliness is wretched stuff–beware of it!
Remember what we read of the mongrels who dwelt in Israel's
land, who had been brought there by the Assyrian conqueror. They
feared the Lord and served other gods and, therefore, Jehovah sent
lions among them. Let all who are of that race remember the lions.
For the Lord will not suffer such double-minded ones to live in
peace before Him.
Thus much, then, upon my first point–the Divine call is too often
only half obeyed.
II. Secondly, THIS CALL, ESPECIALLY AS IT COMES TO US,
IS OF A VERY PECULIAR CHARACTER.
To us, of course, it is wholly spiritual. We are not called today to
leave our country and our kindred so far as our residence is
concerned. But it seems to me that we are called to a much more
difficult position than that, namely, to stay on the old spot, among
old friends and yet to lead a wholly new life. Of course, we are to
quit all evil company. But we are not to leave the society of our
fellow men, nor to go out of the world. Even Abram was not called
to be an ascetic, nor to live in a cave, nor to retire into the desert
like a hermit.
Within the borders of his own encampment Abram was a man
among men and pursued his daily calling as the keeper of great
flocks of sheep and herds of oxen and camels and so forth. Towards
his neighbors he behaved himself with noble-minded independence
and integrity. He was a pattern of what Divine Grace can make of a
really noble man when he moves among those who are strangers to
his God. But yet, Beloved, Abram did, to a great extent, dwell in a
favorable condition. He lived apart from the grosser sort. He was
not wearied with the voices of a city, as Lot was–his own tents and
the many tents of his servants, made up quite a settlement, where
God's name was reverenced and the fear of the Lord was felt.
That canvas town had one over it of whom the Lord said, "I know
him, that he will command his children and his household after him
and they shall keep the way of the Lord." Some of us can almost
seclude our families but many others have a far harder task. They
have to live in the city amid its sins and yet not to be of it. They
have in their earthly callings to come into daily contact with the
ungodly and yet they have to be holy, harmless, undefiled and
separate from sinners. As Abram was no Canaanite, though he
sojourned in Canaan, so are we to prove ourselves to be of a totally
distinct race. This is a very difficult piece of business.
How great a wonder was asked by our Savior's prayer–"I pray not
that You should take them out of the world but that You should
keep them from the Evil One"! Not by difference in brogue, nor by
peculiarity in dress are we to be marked out as the servants of God.
But our lives must be so Christ-like and pure that men shall say of
us, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth, for your life betrays
you." This call, then, is of a deeply spiritual and peculiar character.
My Brother, have you heard it? My Sister, have you heard it? Have
you endeavored to obey it to the full? It means just this–that we are
to flee all sin, without exception and follow after everything that is
pure and holy.
Others wallow in what they call the pleasures of sin–abhor such
things and protest against them. Shun, also, everything that is
doubtful. For, "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." If you are not sure
it is right, it is sin to you. Avoid the appearance of evil. Separate
yourself from all that which Christ would have disapproved. Be so
decided, also, as to leave everything that is hesitating. Be out-and-
out for Jesus. While many will try to run both with the hare and the
hounds, make it your object to abhor that which is evil and to
cleave to that which is good. Make a point of wearing your
regimentals. Be dead and buried to this present evil world with its
frivolities, philosophies and grandeurs.
Regard the world as crucified to you and be yourself crucified to
it. The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Go without the
camp bearing Christ's reproach. In matters of religion follow the
Lord fully, let the Word of God be your sole and sure rule and
nothing else. That religion which is not according to God's Word is
a false religion. Accept neither doctrine nor ceremony for which
there is no Scriptural warrant. Search the Word about it all–"to the
Law and to the testimony–if they speak not according to this Word,
it is because there is no light in them." Follow your conscience, as
your conscience is enlightened by the Spirit of God concerning His
Word.
Follow the Word even in its jots and tittles. Make not too much of
peculiarities in comparison with vital and fundamental Truths of
God. But, still, even with these less weighty matters, take heed that
you do not trifle, lest in neglecting the less you learn to neglect the
greater and so become guilty of the great transgression. Avoid the
world's religion. For if there is one world worse than another, it is
the Christian world. No enemies of Israel were so bitter as their
Brethren the Edomites–Brethren in name only become the fiercest
of foes. Be distinctly removed from the religion which is based
upon self-will, pride of intellect and worldly conformity.
The world's religion is as evil as the world's irreligion. Surrender
to the plain teaching of the Spirit of God and resolve in all things to
follow your Lord wherever He may lead you. Stand alone, if others
will not obey. In your house let there be an altar for God, if there is
not another in the land. Make a Covenant with God through the one
great Sacrifice, even if all others forget the Savior.
See, dear Friends, what the call is, and then remember that it
comes to the Believer from God Himself. The Lord calls His
servants unto the separated life and because of His authority they
are bound to obey. He calls by His Word, either preached or read–it
comes to the individual by an application of the Spirit of God so
that the man yields cheerful assent. He is drawn and therefore he
runs. Such a person feels it a pleasure to take Christ for his
example and to put his feet down in the very tracks of the Lord
Jesus. It is ours to follow the Lord's precept and example with great
care and solemn determination, turning neither to the right hand nor
to the left. It was so with Abram–is it so with you?
Because this call comes from God, it has for us a supreme
authority. We follow our Lord even when darkness is round about
Him–though we know not the way, we know the Lord, and
therefore we follow Him implicitly. To us the Word of God is more
than the decrees of emperors, or the statutes of senators. If this
thing were of men, if this thing were ordained by a learned council,
or a reverend bench, it would be of small account in our eyes. But
when He that made us and redeemed us speaks to us, we can only
reply, "Help Your servants to do Your will–for Your will is our
delight."
My Brethren, if we thus separate ourselves unto obedience, we
must expect violent opposition. Severe criticism will not be spared
us. Of course, some will say, "The man is mad"–others more gently
will murmur, "He is sadly misled." Many will accuse you of a
liking to be singular, or a weakness for going to extremes, or a self-
righteous wish to excel others, or of having "a bee in your bonnet."
Accusers will hint that you are seeking your own in some form or
other. And if they cannot quite see a motive, they will imagine one.
What is the use of imagination if it will not help a man out when
his facts run short? Having once made up their mind that you are
foolish and contemptible they will view all your conduct through
colored glasses and condemn you up and down. Be not dismayed
but endure hardness for the love of Jesus.
To go forth and lead a separated life will need faith and to have
faith you will need the Divine Grace of God. Believe that God's
command is right and believe that He will justify you in fulfilling
it. Believe that God's promise is true and that He will prove it so.
Abram was bid to go and he went. Look at Abram's case and see
how impossible it was for him to obey apart from faith in God. He
was to go away from all that was dear, from all that was
comfortable and settled. He was to go, he knew not where, and he
was to go to obtain an inheritance for a son that was not born and
that was not likely ever to be born. For he was old and Sarai was
well stricken in years.
Only faith could enable him to obey a call which looked so like a
delusion. We need faith in every step of a holy life. Oh for more
looking unto Jesus, more child-like dependence upon God! If you
believe, you will do the Lord's will. But if you do not believe, you
will refuse to obey and miss the blessing.
Suppose we do obey the Divine call, what then? Will our course
be smooth ever afterwards? Far from it. The walk of the separated
Believer involves trial. The trial of Abram in leaving his country
was but one out of ten which are recorded. It is written, "In the
world you shall have tribulation." In the Lord's vineyard the knife
is used if nowhere else. The Lord tried Abram and He will try us–it
is a part of the process of love by which He prepares us for the
eternal rest. The course of true faith never does run smooth. If you
will obey the Divine call you shall be favored with more trials, you
shall be honored with still greater tests of your fidelity. But then
you shall be known as the friend of God and God, by His Divine
Grace, shall make you to be a blessing to others even to the end of
time.
Mark well what is proposed to you–that God shall take you and
give you His light and His Truth and His salvation–that you may
preserve it for all the ages, until Christ shall come. Are you willing
to accept so high an honor? Will you count the cost and make your
calling and election sure? Will you cry with Esaias, "Here am I!
Send me"? As the Roman consul devoted himself to death in battle
for the sake of the beloved city, will you devote yourself to God
and His cause, and Truth?
In very deed such is my spirit. I wish there were ten thousand
who would say the same. O my Brother, blessed are you among
men if you are set apart for God and Truth. Yes, my Sister, blessed
are you among women, if you are following the Lord fully in the
way of His will.
III. This brings me to my third and last point. THIS CALL,
WHEN IT IS OBEYED, PUTS US ON SPECIAL GROUND.
For, first, God is bound to justify the course which He Himself
commands. When Abram went to Canaan at the Lord's bidding and
remained there, the responsibility was with the Lord. If any evil
had come of Abram's conduct he could not have blamed himself. It
was neither his own wisdom nor his own folly which led him–God
alone was his director. It is mine to obey, it is God's to prove that
my obedience is wise. What peace this brings! O my Hearer, if you
believe in Christ with all your heart and if you become a sincere
follower of Jesus in all things, God will justify you in so doing, for
you do it at His bidding.
If there is any folly in holiness, the folly is not with you but with
Him that bade you be holy. The servant is accountable for any
action he does of his own head but not for that which he does by
the command of his principal. So you, in keeping close to God's
will, are not accountable for consequences. The consequences must
lie with God. As surely as wisdom is justified of her children, so is
God justified of all Believers. Yes, and He justifies Believers, and
their faith is counted unto them for righteousness. Therefore,
Beloved, we stand on the ground of justification when we obey the
call of God.
We cease, also, from that moment to be of the world. God deals
with the world one way but with His separated ones in another way.
"Them that are without, God judges." But those who are within are
not under Law but under Grace. It is the joy of faith that there is no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. There is discipline
now within the House of God–but it is not that of a court of justice
but of the abode of love. The Lord chastens His children that they
may not be condemned with the world. The separated ones are not
numbered among the people of the earth.
When you read of the seven trumpets and vials and plagues, fear
not, for nothing shall by any means hurt you. When the blood shall
flow in the day of vengeance up to the horses' bridles, then shall
not a hair of your head perish, for the Lord secures those who are
sealed to Him. Babylon must fall, that lies hard by Ur of the
Chaldees, from where you came. And all that bear the mark of the
beast shall die, even as Terah died in Haran. But as for you, "at
destruction and famine you shall laugh." No evil shall touch you,
for the Lord is your keeper.
If you are walking in the separated path with God and are setting
Him always before you, you shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. What a condition to be in! First justified, and then
secured from the doom which will surely fall upon the guilty
world. Now, as free Divine Grace has separated you unto God, you
come into an honored fellowship with Him. Abram, in his tent, had
God for his companion. He had near and clear manifestations of
God. He entertained angels unawares, and with those angels was
the Son of God Himself.
If you quit the world to abide with God, God Himself will abide
with you. If you come out from the unclean world, the Lord has
said, "I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be a father unto
them and they shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord God
Almighty." Oh, rest you in this sweet fact, that the Triune God will
manifest Himself to His chosen as He does not to the world. You
shall be one of the people near unto Him.
By coming out from the world and following the Lord closely, we
come under His Divine care and protection. How wonderfully
Abram was screened from evil! Jehovah was his shield. He was a
stranger in the midst of enemies but they did not molest him–an
awe was upon them, for Jehovah had said, "Touch not My anointed
and do my Prophets no harm." Wherever a true saint goes, the Lord
lays His commands on all the powers of nature and all the angels of
Heaven to take care of him. When Abram was at peace, God
blessed him in all things. And if he went to war, God gave his
enemies as driven stubble to his bow.
If we are with God, God is with us. When God's will is our
delight, God's Providence is our inheritance. It is not so with you
all–no, not even with all of you who profess to be Christians. But it
is so with those of you who keep close to God's Word and follow in
will, in spirit, in belief and in act the example of His dear Son. O
Beloved, let us strive after this! Let us aim at perfect conformity to
the will of God, for this will place us in quiet nearness to God.
Henceforth Abram was for God's use only. God treated him as
His confidant, as the receiver of heavenly Revelations and as the
founder of a race. God will also use us if we will come where He
can use us. Vessels set apart for the Master's use must not be used
by the servants. God is a great King. And when He selects a cup for
His own table, He will not have it used by others. If other lips drink
out of the chalice of your life, the Lord disdains you. You must be
for Him only, or you are not His spouse. If you are His from the
crown of your head to the sole of your foot by solemn consecration,
He will honor you yet more and more. Yes, you know not to what
high ends He has ordained you, both in this life and in the ages to
come. But look you well to this, that you be holiness unto the Lord.
One more thought presses itself upon my heart–the man who for
Christ's sake has cut all his moorings and separated himself from
the world to follow the Lamb–has learned how to live but he has