Part 18
and He will save you. He asks nothing but faith, and even this He
gives you! And if you have it, all your doubts and sins, your trials
and troubles put together shall not shut you out of Heaven! God
shall fulfill His promise, and surely bring you in to possess the land
which flows with milk and honey. Portions of Scripture read before
sermon–Genesis 15 and Romans 4.
Ge 15:11 • Abram and the Ravenous Birds
ERMON 0420
Abram And The Ravenous Birds
"But when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram
drove them away."
Genesis 15:11
WE might use this text, if we chose, as a picture of the ease with
which faith repels all attacks that are made upon Christ, the great
sacrifice of the new Covenant. Ainsworth tells us that the original
word which we translate "drove" has in it the force of "puffed"
them away. As if with a very puff of breath these kites and vultures
and eagles, were at once driven away from the bodies of the
victims. Faith knows how, when skeptical kites when blaspheming
vultures, when speculative eagles come down to attack the sacrifice
of Christ, to chase them away with but a puff of her breath. "We
know whom we have believed."
Let the earth shake, our confidence in Him cannot move. He is to
us as real a Person as ourselves. No, we might doubt our own
existence, but Jesus, His power, His love, His precious blood, His
prevalent atonement we dare not doubt. One puff of the breath of
prayer and questions and taunts are gone. One puff of the breath of
holy faith in praise and every skeptical attack is scattered to the
winds as far as we are concerned. When these fowls come down
upon the body of Christ, like Abram by faith we "puff" them away.
But I do not intend to use the text with such an object this
morning, though one might legitimately do so. It seems to me to
represent to us our duty when distracting thoughts invade the
sanctity of our holy worship. Here is Abram. He has killed the
victims according to Divine order. He has laid them in their places
according to heavenly rule. He is waiting until God shall over those
victims make and ratify the covenant. But meanwhile the buzzards
and kites and vultures scent the bodies from afar and hasten to
devour the flesh of the bullock and the ram. Abram chases them
away that so his sacrifice may not be spoiled and he may have real
fellowship with God.
Brothers and sisters, we never attempt to worship God without
finding many difficulties in the way.
"What various hindrances we meet,
In coming to a mercy seat!"
We in our assemblies are like the angels in theirs, "When the sons
of God came together, Satan came also among them." We find that
wherever we may be and in whatever frame of mind or with
whatever earnestness we may attempt to worship God, there always
is a servant with us who must be told to stop at the foot of the
mountain white we go and worship God. If not, our offerings will
not be profitable to ourselves, nor acceptable before God.
I shall attempt this morning, in dealing with this subject, first to
enumerate some of those foul birds which come upon our sacrifice.
Secondly, to show the necessity in driving them away. And thirdly,
how we are to do it.
First then, LET US MENTION SOME OF THOSE WELL-
KNOWN INTRUDERS WHICH ARE PERPETUALLY
MOLESTING OUR PEACE AND DISTURBING OUR
SERVICE.
First, there are wicked thoughts–the sons of Satan. These respect
no sacred places. The sanctity of our closet has been violated with
thoughts of lust–the dignity of the mercy seat has not sufficed to
repress the vile insinuations of blasphemy. Wickedness, though it
dwells no more in the heart of the believer, yet seeks to find a
lodging there. And well does it effect its purpose at times for it
tarries like a wayfaring man for a night, lingering there sufficiently
long to mar our devotion and to prevent our having joy in
fellowship with God. Have you not found these thoughts intruding
into your house and on the Sabbath have not unhallowed things
vexed you in the Sanctuary of God itself? Have you not found the
sons of Belial still tormenting you? You would sing God's praise–
perhaps a snatch of some unholy song suggests itself.
You would pray unto God, but in your very access to the mercy
seat you meet some fiend-like doubt. You would listen to the voice
of God with all attention but wicked temptations distract you. You
would thank God with all your soul, but folly comes in to shut your
mouth and prevent your praise. The very best of the saints have
need to hold up their shield to keep off the fiery darts of Satan.
Upon the best ground that ever was plowed with the Gospel plow
Satan will scatter the worst seed. Tares will come up in God's most
fruitful field–there will be spots, even in our solemn feasts–there
will be these birds upon our most hallowed sacrifices.
But we must resolutely resist these harpies. These evil ones are
not to be allowed at any time–but much less in the service of God.
We must guard against them at all times and in all seasons, but
much more when we stand in the presence of Him who says, "Put
off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stands
is holy ground." In company with these foul vultures fly those
ravenous kites called worldly thoughts which spring from the force
of habit. The wheels have been running the last six days in this
direction–it is not quite so easy to reverse the action and to make
them go the other way. We have been sinking, sinking, sinking in
the miry clay of daily business–it is not very easy for the soul that
lies cleaving to the dust to rise at once towards Heaven.
It is no wonder when you have so many things to think of in this
acre of competition that the ledger should lie there in front of the
pew instead of the Bible–and that at times the day-book should
come in when your hand holds the hymnbook, or that you should
be thinking of a bad debt, or of a long account which is rather
precarious–instead of meditating upon the faithfulness of God and
of pardons bought with blood. These traffickers molest the very
temple and we have not always the scourge of small cords to drive
them out nor the commanding presence of the Savior, to say, "Take
these things hence, it is written, My house shall be called a house
of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."
How many a mother comes here with all her tribe of children on
her shoulders? How many a father comes here with thoughts of
where he shall apprentice his eldest son or what shall become of his
younger daughter? How many a merchant comes in and every wind
that makes the windowpanes rattle reminds him of his ships at sea?
How many a farmer is thinking of his land and the fitful gleams of
sunshine and returning showers make him remember his cattle and
his crops? Shops and stalls, bushels and scales, silks and cottons,
horses and cows and even meaner things intrude into your house, O
King of kings! Brethren, how often do some of you indulge in
them? I hope there are none of you who keep your account books
on Sunday and yet how common is this in London!
There are some who shut up their shop in front and keep it open
at the back–as if they would serve the devil and cheat the Lord! If
you register your ledgers on Sunday, why not open your shop? You
might as well be in the shop as in the country house–the sin is just
the same–only you now add hypocrisy to it–by pretending to serve
God when you do not. But how many there are, sure believers in
Christ, who would scorn to look at the ledger on the Sunday–and
yet their mind is hampered with accounts and debtor and creditor
will be striking balances continually in their brain?
Some professors on the Sabbath afternoon will be talking about
the state of the markets and asking, "What do you think of the rise
and fall of Consols?" "When will this terrible American war be
over?" "When is it likely the Manchester factories will obtain full
employment by the arrival of ship loads of cottons," or "How will
Louis Napoleon pay his debts?" When they come up to the house
of God in the evening they wonder how it is they do not get on with
the preacher. The preacher might wonder how he could be of any
service to such hearers. They wonder that the Sabbath is not a
refreshment to them. But how is it likely to be when they still
continue in their worldly employments–giving their hearts really to
the world–though they profess to give their bodily presence to the
service of Christ?
Besides wicked and worldly thoughts, another set of ravens will
be croaking over us. I mean anxious thoughts which are the fruits
of our unbelief. "Oh," says one, "how can I help it? If you knew
my condition in business, you would not marvel that care will
come in today! Loss after loss, continually going backward, though
with energy and perseverance I seek to make progress. A large
family–a once extensive connection–the constant fear of ruin–how
can I hope to chase away anxious thoughts and carking cares on the
day of rest?" My Brother, I make many excuses for you. But while
I make all excuses, let me remind you that it is written, "Casting all
your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
At least today there is no need that you should carry that burden.
Why, it will be none the worse for this one day's letting alone–and
it certainly will be none the better for this blessed day being wasted
in fretting and worrying yourself. What if the burden is heavy? Is it
not enough to carry it six days? Why do you need to carry it on the
seventh? What if the toil is severe–and we will allow that it is–is
not that the more reason why you should shorten the hours of your
labor and not give the whole seven days to it?
On this day pour out before God–empty out your troubles at His
feet and leave in His hands your difficulties and your trials–
believing that He knows them all and knows how to make them all
work for your good. These carking cares must be chased away just
as much as wicked thoughts, for "after all these things do the
Gentiles seek."
But sometimes in our prayers and in our Sabbath worship we are
disturbed by those carrion crows called annoying thoughts, the
offspring of our vanity. I will just mention some of them that you
will think, perhaps, rather odd. But I have no doubt you know
them. We have known, sometimes, a sister come to worship and
she notices–"Why, Mrs. Soand-So is dressed differently from what
she was last Sunday and she had a new bonnet the Sunday before!"
O silly soul, to be allured like a butterfly with colors and flowers!
Then, look at yonder Brother. There is So-and-So sitting in the
opposite gallery that he did not want to see today at any rate, for he
does not like the man and he feels that his very presence is a
detriment and a drawback to the possibility of devotion. Or,
perhaps, my Brethren, as you came in there was some little mistake
at the door or when our friend got to the pew he found it occupied
by somebody else. Or he is not occupying just the door-seat where
he likes to sit. Or, perhaps, he is standing in an inconvenient place.
You know these are all trifles, complete trifles, the most despicable
of things. But how many there are that irritate themselves about
them? And why?
Because they have so high an opinion of their own dignity that
they think these little things ought not to be endured by them. No,
Sir, the aisle should be carpeted up which you walk–there should
be an air cushion always provided, gratis, for you. There should be
treadles on purpose to show you into the seat–and when you are
there–every objectionable person in the congregation should be
removed and everything should be done for your personal comfort!
You say, "No, I am not so foolish as that." I do not know that, my
dear Sir–there is the germ of it in most of us.
We want so many of these little punctilious and if we are not duly
honored we cannot worship with comfort. The thought of seeing
God and enjoying the light of His countenance has not sufficient
power over the carnal hearts of some to make them forget all the
little inconveniences that must occur in vast assemblies and in a
great house like this in which we are gathered. There are some
fretty-tempered souls that cannot worship because some trifle not
worth a moment's notice has disturbed their minds. Now, these
feelings must be striven against–this vanity is not to be allowed in
any one of us.
We must denounce it and chase it out–for it only makes us little in
the esteem of others. And if we could but see ourselves, it wound
make us contemptible in our own sight. Oh, bless His name, when
a soul is hungry, it little matters how it gets its Food. When a heart
is really set on finding Christ, the man will care but little what may
be his comfort or his discomfort. Only let the Truth of Jesus come
into the soul, let him feed on its marrow and its fatness and he will
say, "I would rather be doorkeeper" (and that is a very
objectionable office for anybody–if any of you tried it you would
find it very inconvenient to worship God after having kept the door
of the Tabernacle). "I would rather be a door-keeper in the house of
God, than dwell with comfort and with ease in the tents of the
wicked."
But I will mention a brood of eagles which will haunt Mount
Zion–I mean ecclesiastical anxieties. And what do I mean by these?
Why, that sometimes when our minds should be perfectly free for
worshipping God–Church business, perhaps Church differences–
thrust themselves upon us. The deacon thinks he may worry
himself a little about something that has occurred with the poor.
The elder thinks it would be justifiable to be thinking over the case
of such-andsuch a refractory individual whose case has troubled
him. The member thinks he may be fretting about the dullness of
the minister. The minister thinks he may be groaning because some
in the galleries have not joined the Church. And mark–all these are
good things in their places–but they have no business at all with us
when we come up to God's house to worship Him.
Then these birds, even though they are like the sparrows that
build under the eaves of the altar, must be driven away. Until we
can get rid of them all we shall not find the day of rest such as it
should be nor will our worship be acceptable before the Throne of
God. Nor shall our own souls derive the joy they ought to have
from the service and presence of the Lord.
Probably in this description I have not yet touched your case but I
will not try again, for I think you can yourself remember many
things which haunt you. Many a ship has been built here without a
dry dock. Many a wagonload of corn has been sold here without a
sample bag. Many a broad acre has been planted in this chapel–
many a hundred head of oxen has been sold here. Many a loom has
been set a-going, many a vessel has been navigated, many a new
shop front constructed and many a building erected–when you
might have been worshipping God. For in all our worship there are
those who will be sending their minds gadding abroad over
mountains of vanity when they ought to be sitting still to see and to
understand the salvation of God.
II. I have described the birds. I have indicated the intruders. I
have raised the hue and cry against them. Let me now seek to STIR
YOU UP TO CHASE THEM AWAY.
Distracting cares must be driven away, first, for your own sake.
Brethren, some of us have been alarmed to see how the lunatic
asylums are everywhere needing fresh wings and the number of
inmates so rapidly increasing. If there is one reason above all
others for this, I venture to assert it is the neglect of the Sabbath
Day. No human brain can bear the perpetual toils of business
except it knows how to pause and oil the machinery by turning the
mind in some other direction. Here we have merchants whose
brains are exercised from the time they rise till the time they go to
rest, yes, and their very dreams are disturbed by great schemes and
plans.
And then, when the first day of the week comes, they are
scheming still. Instead of pulling up and letting the horses of the
mind take a rest so that they may start afresh in the chariot on the
next weekday, it is on, on, on, on–and then they wonder that the
poor creatures at last flag with weariness, or even drop dead upon
the road. Flog them as you will, your minds cannot keep always at
this stretch. We, whose hardest toil is on this day and who find that
the great cares of a Church so large as this will follow us to our bed
and that all the days of the week we are occupied thereby–find it to
be one of our sternest trials to resist the fear that our reason may
reel.
It is too hard for any man, even for the minister of God, to be
always thinking, always working–even though that work be for
God Himself. You know what Solomon says. He says–"If the iron
is blunt and he does not whet the edge, then must he have more
strength–but wisdom is profitable to direct," by which he means to
say if the man would stop and whet his tool, it would be sharp and
he would not need to expend half the strength–and he would do far
more work. But here you have some who think the Sunday must be
all work, work, work. Instead of which, if they were to stop to whet
the edge of the tool, they would do far more in the end, while their
soul would not be half so soon worn out.
You have heard persons say, "I would sooner wear out than rust
out." There is no occasion for either if we would but keep this day
of rest as a perfect rest to our heart and soul. But that we can never
do unless we love Christ for a Sabbath is an impossibility to an
unconverted man. If we would but, as Christians resting in Christ
keep this first day of rest–giving our souls thorough ease–there
would be no fear of the brain giving way. We should labor on, even
to a good old age and then die in peace and our works would
follow us. I cannot expect you to believe me if I should say you can
carry on your business all the days of the week without care,
without diligence, without very earnest thought. We must be
"diligent in business," and you must put both your hands to the
wheel if you would make it go.
But do leave the wheel alone today. Now, have done with it. You
will madden yourself, or, if it come not to so sad a climax as that
you will destroy your comfort, destroy the acuteness of your mental
powers if you do not give them rest today. I am no preacher of the
old legal Sabbath, those who are teachers of the Law insist upon
that quite enough. As for me, I am a preacher of the Gospel and
rejoice that believers are not "under the Law, but under grace." A
worldling is under the Law and it is his duty to remember the
seventh day to keep it holy for so runs the Law which is his
taskmaster.
But I am not under the Law and therefore I keep this day–not the
seventh, but the first day of the week on which my Savior rose
again from the dead–keep it not of Law, but of grace–keep it not as
a slavish bondage, not as a day on which I am chained and
hampered with restraints against my will. But I keep it as a day in
which I may take holy pleasure in serving God and in adoring
before His Throne. The Sabbath of the Jew is to him a task. The
Lord's Day of the Christian, the first day of the week, is to him a
joy, a day of rest, of peace and of thanksgiving. And if you
Christian men can earnestly drive away all distractions so that you
can really rest today it will be good for your bodies, good for your
souls, good mentally, good spiritually, good temporally and good
eternally.
Let me give you a second reason. You will find if you are able to
take a perfect rest by driving away these evil thoughts when you
are worshipping God, that you will do your work during the other
days of the week far better. It was an old Popish folly to try and tell
what kind of weather there would be by the weather on Sunday–"If
it rains before mass, rain all the week more or less." Now, we do
not believe that literally, but we do believe it in a spiritual sense. If
you have a bad Sabbath-Day, you will have a bad week but if you
have a good day of rest you will find it good with your souls the
whole week long. Not that you will be without trouble all the
week–that would not be good for you–but you shall never be
without grace during the week.
Nor if you have peace on the Sunday shall you be without peace
on the Monday. The old Puritans used to say, "The first day of the
week was the market-day." And you know in the country villages
in those times, their being fewer shops than there are now, they
went to market to lay in stock for the week and if the good wife
bought a small quantity of cheese, or meat, why then they were on
short commons the whole week through. So is it with us. This is
our market-day and if we gain but little today we shall have slender
diet during the other days. But if we get the basket loaded well–if
we have reason to say, "The Lord has satisfied my soul with fatness
and caused my spirit to delight in His Word"–you will find that
during the week your peace shall be like a river and your
righteousness like the waves of the sea.
And then let me remind you, in the next place, that the character
of this day demands that you should get rid of these thoughts. This
is the day on which God said, "Let there be light and there was
light." This is the day on which Christ rose again from the dead for
our justification. Christ's finished atonement made an end of sin
and brought in everlasting righteousness on this blessed day. This is
the day on which the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven–the day
on which the rushing mighty wind and the cloven tongues
descended upon the Apostles. Therefore, according to apostolic
custom, do we keep this day as the day of light, the day of
resurrection, the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit the
Comforter.
Now, it is inconsistent with such a day–the day of light–for us to
be in darkness. It is inconsistent with the day of resurrection for us
to be raking in this grave of the world. It is inconsistent with this
day of the descent of the Spirit for us to be thinking of carnal things
and forgetting the things which are above. It was a Romish
tradition that on Easter morning the sun always danced–and to my
mind on this day when Jesus rose and left the dead, if the sun does
not dance, our heart does. And if the world is not clad in sunlight,
yet our soul is. And if today the very sea does not clap its hands for
gladness, yet shall our voices send forth gladsome Psalms.
Oh, this is not the day of bondage. Go under the whip of Moses
who choose it to be so. This is the day of freedom and of delight–
the day of peace and calm and rest and tranquility. Work and
thoughts of work, doubts, fears, legality, selfrighteousness are all
inconsistent with the spirit of the day, for Christ has said, "It is
finished!" So we must cease to work, too, not only with our hands
but with our souls–working no more for life, for that is given.
Working no more for justification–for that is concluded. But today
resting in Christ, for "It is finished!" And finding peace in Him, for
"there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
We must leave all our cares with Him, for "nothing can separate
us from the love of Christ" and then give up our souls to a glorious
and victorious holy day which shall be a preparation for the eternal
enjoyment of the perpetual feast of the glorified at the table of God
in Heaven.
Now, for this reason–because they are so inconsistent with this
day–I pray you get rid of all these obnoxious thoughts. George
Herbert has put all I could say and far more, into two or three of his
quaint verses, which I will give you–
"The other days and you
Make up one man; whose face you are,
Knocking at Heaven with your brow–
The working days are the back part;
The burden of the week lies there,
Making the whole to stoop and bow,
Till your release appears.
Sundays the pillars are,
On which Heaven's palace arched lies–
The other days fill up the spare
And hollow room with vanities.
They are the fruitful beds and borders
In God's rich garden–that is bare
Which parts their ranks and orders.
You are a day of mirth–
And where the weekdays trail on ground,
O let me take you at the bound,
Leaping with you from seven to seven,
Till that we both, being tossed from earth,
Fly hand in hand to Heaven!"
Oh that is the true way of living–leaping from seven to seven,
passing over the six days, that we may get once more to the solid
resting place of the day of rest. Be it so with you, Brethren, so
when the fowls come down upon the sacrifice you may chase them
away.
Another argument. The vain or anxious thought, when we are
engaged in the worship of God, must be striven against because it
must be grievous to the Holy Spirit. How can we expect that we
shall have His presence and His assistance if we give Him not our
hearts? Good Mr. Manton says, "If a man should send to a place of
worship a skin stuffed with straw, it would be thought to be an
insult but he might as well do that as go there himself with his
mind stuffed with vanities." Was it not a crime of old–"This people
draws near to Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me"?
Can you conceive it enough to make long prayers if your minds are
occupied all the while about the widow's house, or courting the
approbation of man?
It is vain for us to bring these oblations unto God, for His
requirement is, "My son, give Me your heart." How can the Lord,
the high and lofty God ever accept the sacrifice where the heart is
not found? It was considered to be one of the worst omens in the
Roman sacrifices if the augurs discovered that the victim had no
heart. So it must always be an ill omen to us, if in our worship our
heart is not set on God and intently engaged in His service. O Spirit
of God! how many of us have lost our comfort and the joy and
peace of our faith because we have not–when we have been upon
our knees or engaged in sacred Songs, or in listening to the Word–
compelled our thoughts to keep at home and bow down to the Most
High?
What do you think? If you were in the presence of a king would
he consider it to be comely or decent if you should forget what you
came there for? If while you offered your petition your mind
should be engaged on other matters? Or if you should turn your
back upon him to gaze out of the windows while His Majesty
spoke to you? And what are you doing when your soul is looking to
worldliness while God's own face is speaking to you and His Word
is being read in your ears? Oh, this is to insult the Most High.
Angels veil their faces and shall our eyes be gadding abroad?
Angels bow themselves before Him and continually cry, "Holy,
holy, holy" and shall we insult the Divine Majesty by coming here
with unholy thoughts, or with unhallowed anxieties, not veiling our
faces, but permitting them to receive all that the light of day can
reveal to us of vanity, of deceit and of care? O God! Give us grace
to know what You are–then shall we understand how You are to be
worshipped in spirit and in Truth!
I shall add once more–these thoughts and cares must be driven
away for if you do not strive against them they will increase and
multiply. This is a growing habit. I have not to complain in this
congregation of any want of attention during the service but I have
had the pain of seeing assemblies where the wandering eye has
been indulged till at last it would be as pleasant and perhaps as
profitable to address a load of bricks as to address the people who
were assembled. They come in listlessly, some of them a half-an-
hour after the service begins. And in some where the habit has
grown worse and worse, the minister generally knows when to
leave off because he sees the friends are coming in to see the others
go out.
They come gradually later and later and become more and more
careless about what is uttered till an angel from Heaven would
scarcely make them keep open their heavy eyes and a Prophet sent
from God could not stir their stolid souls. The force of habit is like
the velocity of a falling stone–it increases in ever multiplying
proportions. If I have indulged one unbelieving thought, there has
always been another to follow it. If I have allowed some little
disturbance in the congregation to cast me down and distract my
thoughts there has been another and another and another–till I have
been in the pitiable condition of a minister who has been half afraid
of his congregation.
And it will be so with you. We must strive against it! We must get
rid of these carking thoughts! We must chase these birds from the
sacrifice! Away with you! Away with you! We cannot have you
here! We must, we will worship God and if one effort will not give
us quiet, we must try again–for it must be done–or else we shall
destroy our peace and render the Sabbath as hard a day as any of
the other days of the week, while the service of God will be to us a
vanity and to Him a vain oblation.
III. I am now, then, in the last place, to try and briefly SHOW
YOU HOW TO DO IT.
And we begin by saying first of all, set your heart upon it, for
when the soul is set upon a thing then it is likely to accomplish it.
Go up to God's house, saying, "I must give my soul to eternal
matters today and I will. My soul cries after God as a thirsty stag in
the wilderness brays after the water-brooks. O God, my heart is
fixed today. I must have done with earth, I must begin with
Heaven, I must say to all cares, sit still and I must say to my soul,
Wake up my glory, wake, psaltery and harp, I myself will awake
right early to praise God. And when the soul is thus set upon the
matter there will be half the battle already fought and the victory
almost won.
But when you have done this, remember next let the preparation
of your heart before coming to the sacrifice assist you when you
shall be there. We are told men ought not to preach without
preparation. Granted. But we add, men ought not to hear without
preparation. Which, think you, needs the most preparation, the
sower or the ground? I would have the sower come with clean
hands but I would have the ground well plowed and harrowed, well
turned over and the clods broken before the seed is cast in. It seems
to me that there is more preparation needed by the ground than by
the sower–more by the hearer than by the preacher.
But this is forgotten–men come to market having made up their
minds what they want to sell and what they will buy–and they give
their attention to how markets go and they act accordingly. But
when men come into these places of worship they do not know
what they want–they come they know not what for. Perhaps it is to
see the place, or hear the preacher–and they go away and they have
no spiritual profit. How could they? What profit would a man make
if he went there without a purpose and stayed there without looking
after his own interests? Prepare your hearts privately by
communion with God and you shall have communion with Him in
public. Meet God in your house and you shall meet Him in His
house. What if the preacher should not profit you?–it is not the
preacher you came after, but his God.
Be but wakeful and you will meet his God in the hymn, or in the
chapter. Your heart must be in a right state beforehand. You know,
Brethren, if you have a lake and the water is all rippled, there may
be a cedar standing on its banks, but there cannot be perfect
reflection when the water is disturbed. But when the water is as
clear as glass, then whatever there is on the bank is reflected. Ah,
you must bring your heart calm and quiet to the house of God or
else there cannot be an unbroken reflection of the image of God
upon your spirits. Oh, seek to come up here as a bride adorned for
her husband–as wedding guests going to the wedding feast with
their garments on–expecting that they shall be made glad. Come
here as hungry ones pleading for food and thirsty souls all longing
for the Water of Life.
But, this done, above all, cry to the Spirit of God for help to make
your spirit rest. You have trouble. He is the Comforter. You have
infirmities. But "the Spirit itself also helps our infirmities." You
have sins. But the Spirit of God applies the peace-speaking blood
of Christ, gives you rest in conscience. Cry unto Him! Cry unto
Him as a little child cries to its parent when it has attempted
something which it cannot perform. Say, "Farther, help me! I would
worship You–O enable me to do so. I would see You–touch my
eyes with heavenly eye-salve. I would hear You–open my ears
today to Your voice and seal them up to all beside. I would feed on
You–Lord, open my lips for You, the Bread of Heaven and let me
feed on nothing save Yourself." This done, He is a God that hears
prayer and He will grant you the desire of your heart.
Then, when you have thus done and you come up to the house of
God, still seek to continue in the same frame of mind, remembering
in whose immediate Presence you are. A Spartan youth was holding
the censor at a sacrifice when Alexander was offering a victim. It
chanced that while he held the censor a hot coal fed upon his hand.
The youth stood still and never flinched, lest by any utterance or
cry the sacrifice should be disturbed. For he said he was in the
presence of Alexander and he would not have the sacrifice
interrupted for him. And thus he bore the pain of the burning coal.
Let us remember that Spartan youth, but adding to what he
said–"We are in the Presence of the Almighty God." Then, if there
is something which annoys us let us bear it unflinchingly, for we
stand before Him for whom it is blessed to suffer and who will
surely reward them that seek Him in spirit and in Truth. It is written
in Josephus that certain of the Jewish priests, at the time of the
taking of the temple, were standing at the altar. They were waving
to and fro the slowed censers and offering their prayers and their
victims. The Romans rushed in, sword in hand. There were shrieks
and cries, murders and deaths.
The pavement was stained with blood. But the priests took no
notice whatever, nor would they turn from their sacrifice till they
were themselves slain. Oh, for something of their devotedness to
God, that even death itself might not interrupt our songs! But when
it comes may we be found wrapped in meditation, high hymning
our great Creator, expecting His glory and waiting for His
appearance. Many instances we might quote of the attention which
the superstitious heathen paid to their worship. Shall we be behind
them in the reality and sincerity of our adoration of the Most High
and Holy God? No, let us, keeping our minds always fixed upon
beholding the face of God, thus seek to chase away the birds from
the sacrifice.
Another means I will give you–take care that your faith is in
active exercise, or else you cannot chase away those thoughts. Rest
in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Be still and know that He is
God. Trust in Him at all times. Pour out your hearts before Him.
Wait on the Lord, be of good courage. Depend upon His power and
His wisdom and thus you shall have no thought to trouble you of
what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or whether you shall be
clothed. But like the birds of the air, the lilies of the valley which
keep perpetual Sabbath, so shall you sing and rest and Christ shall
be glorified in you.
Take care also that you attend a ministry which draws you from
earth–for there are some dead ministries which make the Sabbath-
Day more intolerable than any of the other days of the week. Such
are the controversial ministries in which the brain is set to ivory
and exercised and troubled with questions and dilemmas and
disputes and contentions. I will not say it is wicked to preach such
sermons on the Sabbath-Day. But I will say it is not consistent with
Sabbath rest, for that rest is as much for the soul as for the body.
The Sabbath was not made alone for the animal part of us, but for
the spirit, that it might have a deep, profound calm, the ante past of
the rest which remains for the people of God.
Seek a ministry that is full of Christ, full of Covenant
faithfulness. A ministry not of "of" and "but," but of "shall" and
"will." Seek a ministry which vindicates the Spirit's power. Which,
while it teaches fully the sinner's abject helplessness, dwells much
upon the absolute Omnipotence of God to save. Seek one which
preaches a full Christ for empty sinners, whose theme is death and
resurrection, whose object it is to make Christ precious to your
heart and so to compel you to trust in Him. Thus you shall find it
more easy to rest on the Sabbath-Day than if you should attend
under the legal preaches whose theme is moral duties. Or under the
mere doctrinal preacher whose object is contention and fighting. Or
under the mere experimental preacher whose aim shall be to stir up
the filthy mud of your heart–instead of pouring into you the pure
clean water of the Truth as it is in Jesus.
O my Brothers and Sisters! I know how many there are of you
who look forward all the week long to this day. And there are times
when some of us, when we awake in the morning can spring from
our beds saying, "Thank God, this is the day of rest." Today we can
say, "Now, I am not to go to my toil today–farewell, the
bricklayer's trowel or the carpenter's hammer–I have not to go to
my books today. The high stool and the desk and the pen are put
away. I am not today to look after the servants and the fields and
the barn. Not today to walk along the shop and see how trade is
prospering or how it is receding. It is all over now. Just nail up
those doors and leave them alone–have nothing to do with them.
"Do not tell me that I have a house, or that I have anything to
think of, except Christ Jesus, His Father and the Holy Spirit. Get
you gone, vain thoughts! I cannot meddle with you, keep your
distance, I have had enough of you. You have had your six days
and you have pinched and pained me enough. Now my soul has
passed through the wilderness, sits down at the well of Elim, sends
down its pitcher, draws up draughts of rest, climbs the tree path,
plucks the sweet fruits and enjoys them in anticipation of the feast
before the Throne of God."
Ah, this will be good for your bodies, good for your souls, good
for you in all respects. And my sermon shall not be in vain this
morning if I have made you think every Sunday, "The birds will
come down on the carcasses, but I will drive them away." Nor will
it be in vain if, by God's grace, you will come to look not only on
this one day but on your seasons of prayer and meditation as being
unloading seasons. When the ship that has been sinking in the
water almost to its edge and seems as if it would go down
altogether is unloaded–and rises up and floats higher than it did
before. When the eagle gets the chain untied and leaps from the
rock, up to its own native eyrie in the skies–when your poor
bandaged captive soul that has been lying in the dark dungeon
comes out to perfect liberty and takes its stroll abroad, forgetful of
the prison and the chain.
Oh, for those heavens on earth–those precious queens of days!
Time is the ring and these Sabbaths are the diamonds set in it. The
ordinary days are but the walks in the garden, hand trod and barren.
But the Sabbaths are the beds full of rich choice flowers. This day
is Care's balm and cure, the couch of time, the haven of divine
calms. Come, my soul, throw yourself upon this couch. For now
the bed is long enough and the coverlet is broad enough–rest and
take your ease–for you have come unto Jesus, to a finished
sacrifice, to a completed righteousness and your soul may be
satisfied in the Lord and your spirit may rejoice in the Lord your
God. This is to keep Sabbath-Days.
An unconverted man cannot do this and there are many of you, I
fear, here present who never knew what Sabbath means–never had
a Lord's Day in your lives. In vain do you keep the day unless your
hearts keep it too. Oh, may your hearts know how to find in Christ
a perfect rest! Then shall the land have rest and shall keep her
Sabbaths. May God give you grace to know your sin and enable
you to fly to the Savior and find in Him all your soul wants. May
He enable you to rest in Christ today and then you shall keep
Sabbaths on earth till you keep the eternal Sabbath before the
Throne, "for thus says the Spirit, They rest from their labors."
"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" and you shall have rest. Trust
Him and so shall you be saved and your spirit shall be at ease.
Ge 15:11 • Driving Away the Vultures from the Sacrifice
ERMON 1993
Driving The Vultures Away From The Sacrifice
"And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram
drove them away."
Genesis 15:11
ABRAHAM, when he was childless, received the amazing
promise that his seed should be as the stars of Heaven for number.
This he believed and his faith in Jehovah "was counted unto him
for righteousness." Surely there is more righteousness in trusting
the Lord than in all the works of the flesh! Those who speak lightly
of faith are of a different mind from the Lord, whose judgment is
according to truth.
For the confirmation of the Patriarch's faith, the Lord resolved to
give to His servant a gracious visitation which should be regarded
as the solemn making of a covenant–and also as a prophecy of the
future history of the promised seed. Abram was bid to bring
victims–a heifer, a she-goat, a ram, a turtledove and a pigeon. The
language is peculiar–"The Lord said unto him, Take Me an heifer
of three years old." And then in the next verse we read, "And he
took unto Him all these." Thus God and His servant each took part
in the sacrifice–and so they set forth in symbol the communion
which the Lord God has with His people in the Covenant of Grace,
as they meet together in that one great Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus,
which is the soul and essence of all the outward offerings. It was an
offering taken for God which the Lord accepted, but it was, also, an
offering taken unto Himself by Abraham, who saw Christ's day–
saw it, and was glad.
The man of God obeyed the command of God with great
exactness and deliberation, laying the pieces of the sacrifice in due
order and then waiting upon God until He should be pleased to
further reveal Himself. But what is this? The solemn service is
disturbed by foul birds! The most intense devotion is liable to
interruptions of the worst sort. In the East, if a camel falls dead in
the desert, the air is almost immediately full of winged things.
Vultures that had not been visible before, not so much as one of
them, will suddenly appear, as if by magic, coming from every
quarter and circling over the carcass. "Wherever the body is, there
will the eagles be gathered together."
These and smaller carnivorous birds are the scavengers of warm
countries and do not long allow any flesh to remain uneaten. So,
doubtless, when the victims presented by the Patriarch Abram were
laid upon the altar, they spied the bodies from afar and hastened to
the prey. It was nothing to the vultures, whether they were victims
slaughtered for God, or creatures that had fallen dead on the plain,
for true to their instinct, they discovered the carcasses and flew to
them, even as Job said of the eagle, "Where the slain are, there is
she." Flights of buzzards, kites and carrion crows began to make
their appearance in the sky and they would have swooped down
upon the sacrifices and defiled them, or borne them away piece-
meal, if the Patriarch, who had presented the sacrifices, had not
kept watch at the altar! This he did right earnestly and vigorously,
so that we read in the text, "When the fowls came down upon the
carcasses, Abram drove them away." When we meet with God, we
must be serious and resolute in His worship–and if difficulties
arise, we must encounter them with all our might–resolving that we
will offer to God a sacrifice which shall not be torn in pieces by
distracting influences.
Observe that Abram, when he had done as God had told him, and
had brought the victims and laid them in their places, did not go
home in a hurry and say, "It is near sundown. Sarah will expect me
in the tent." No, he remained by the sacrifice! He did not grudge
the time, nor feel a sense of weariness. He loved the worship of
God and, therefore, lingered at the altar till the sun was going
down. Nothing is to be hurried in devotion! Never is haste more out
of place than in Divine worship! The habit of quiet waiting upon
God, of never being in a hurry to be gone, the willingness to give
time and thought to the service of God is not so common as one
could wish. But when a man is thoroughly devout and God's Spirit
has spoken with him, he is not satisfied to merely give the allotted
time to Divine service or to private devotion, he loathes to be gone!
He would be the first in the House of the Lord and the last out of it.
He can wait the Lord's leisure and not grow impatient, even if,
hour after hour, the converse is not closed. The longer, the better,
when God is near us. And if the blessing seems far away and it
does not come all of a sudden, the gracious worshipper waits until
it does come, for he would not go away without the benediction of
the Lord!
When we are serving the Lord, our holy anxiety must not abate
till we are fairly through with the service. Abram had laid the
victims on the altar, but as yet no fire from Heaven had consumed
them and so he remained on the spot to see that all was well to the
end. The servant of the Lord does not quit his place till he has seen
the matter through. For fear that all should yet be spoiled, he sets
himself to watch. When, therefore, the kites and carrion crows
come down, the waiting Patriarch is there to meet them. Had he
gone away in haste to attend to his ordinary duties, the sacrifice had
been stolen, or polluted. But he waits and does well in waiting. My
Soul, wait only upon God, even as a maid waits on her mistress!
Watch and pray and watch still. "Blessed are all they that wait for
Him."
They that can be at leisure with God, who do not hurry over what
they have to do and who feel that their time is God's time–these are
the true sons of Abraham! If any worldly business would hurry
them away, they will not permit it. They give men the cold shoulder
rather than rob their Lord and, rob themselves, by hasty worship.
Till their appointment with God is over, they are at no man's call.
They cannot break up their interview with God, but must tarry and
wait His utmost time. Lest anything unforeseen should happen and
spoil their service, they will wait till the sun goes down, and even if
sleep overtakes them, they will be where the Lord will meet with
them in the night-watches if He so shall favor them. It is wise to
never leave our devotions till God, Himself, has pronounced the
dismissal by a benediction, has given the blessing to the fullest and
so has bid His servants go in peace.
I think that this staying of Abram to defend the sacrifice when the
ravenous birds came down upon it may be used as a lesson to us in
three respects. First, let us zealously guard the great Sacrifice of
Christ. When the foul birds, which are so numerous, especially just
now, come down upon the Sacrifice, let us drive them away!
Secondly, let us guard that minor sacrifice, the grateful sacrifice of
ourselves. When the birds of temptation come down upon it, let us
drive them away. Thirdly, let us anxiously guard those separate
sacrifices of devotion which come out of our dedicated lives. When
anything comes down to disturb us in prayer or praise, let us
resolve that we will drive it away. Oh that the Spirit of All Grace
may bless this discourse to us, that we may thereby be excited to
holy watchfulness!
First, with regard to THE GREAT SACRIFICE OF OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST. This has been and always will be the great object
of attack by the enemies of God. One would have said, if one had
not known human nature, that the doctrine of the Substitutionary
Sacrifice, Christ dying in our place, would, of all events, have
commanded the loving confidence of every human heart. It is so
wonderful a system, this plan by which justice is vindicated and
mercy is magnified, that one instinctively expects all men to
reverently accept it. It would seem too grave a charge to bring
against our apostate race that they would set to work to quibble at
the Divine expedient–and so pick holes in their own salvation–and
try to contradict the kindest hope that God, Himself, could set
before them!
But so it has been. The preaching of the Cross is to them that
perish foolishness! It is still to the Jews a stumbling block and to
the Greeks, foolishness, though it is, indeed, the power of God and
the wisdom of God. It has happened according to the Word of the
Lord, "Behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense."
Therefore, dear Friends, all of you who by faith approach the
Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and who base your hopes of Heaven
thereon, watch lest the vultures come down upon the Sacrifice–and
be ready to drive them away!
Note well that the sacrifice which Abraham guarded was of
Divine ordination. Jehovah Himself had told him what creatures to
kill, how to divide them and how to arrange the pieces upon the
altar. Abram did nothing according to his own invention–he offered
no will-worship–he did everything as it was prescribed to him.
Because this sacrifice was Divinely appointed, he could not bear
that kites and crows should peck at it and tear it at their pleasure. It
is even so with the Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ–my blood
boils that so many men should dare to assail that which the Lord
Jehovah has appointed! It was God who devised the plan! It was
God who gave His Son out of His own bosom to die! It is God,
Himself, who has commended that plan to our hearts and made us
put our trust in His great Sacrifice! Oh, it brings the tears into our
eyes and the blood into our cheeks, that any should trample on the
precious blood and speak ill of the vicarious sufferings of Christ!
Whoever the men may be, yes, though they were angels from
Heaven, we could not have patience with them! We cannot help
regarding those as worse than carrion crows who would desire to
touch this most sublime, though simplest of all doctrines–that Jesus
Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree. They dare to say
that it is immoral to suppose that our sin could be transferred to
Christ, or His righteousness to us! Thus, to charge the essential act
of Grace with immorality is to profane the Sacrifice of God and
count the blood of Jesus an unholy thing! It is not for us to speak
sweetly of those who deal so with Christ. If they are enemies of
Christ, our Sacrifice, they cannot be friends of ours! We shake the
dust from our feet against those who reject the doctrine of a
Crucified Savior, slain in the sinner's place. They are no brethren
of ours who reject the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world! We are anxious to drive off those who peck at our Lord's
Substitutionary Sacrifice, because that Sacrifice is of Divine
appointment.
Next, we see a further reason for guarding the Sacrifice in the fact
that it is of most solemn import. That sacrifice was so to Abram. It
meant, you know, a covenant. The sacrifice, as Abram had
presented it at God's appointing, was the token of his being brought
into covenant relationship with God. Now, to my mind, it is one of
the most delightful Truths of Scripture, though so much neglected,
that God's people are in covenant with God, by a Covenant of
Grace. An old Scotch theologian was known to say that he who
understood the two Covenants, understood the whole science of
theology–and I believe it is so. The very pith of the whole business
lies in that broken Covenant of Works by which we are ruined–and
in that Everlasting Covenant of Grace, ordered in all things and
sure–by which we are saved. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is
the "blood of the Everlasting Covenant," even as He says to us at
the communion table, "This cup is the new Covenant in My blood."
If you take His Sacrifice away, of course you take the Covenant
away. Those who deny the vicarious Sacrifice have no faith in the
Covenant–in fact, they never speak of such a thing, but place it
among the obsolete terms which their forefathers used, but which
they, themselves, have altogether renounced.
The Covenant is gone from their teaching and when that is gone,
my Brothers and Sisters, what is left? If the Covenant is forgotten,
what remains to be our support when, like David, we come to our
dying beds? Alas for us if we cannot then exclaim, "Although my
house is not so with God; yet He has made with me an Everlasting
Covenant, ordered in all things and sure"! We cannot let the
vultures tear this Sacrifice, for it is to us the token of the Covenant–
and if there is no Covenant of Grace, then is our preaching vain and
your faith is also vain–and we are still under the curse of the
broken Law. If you are still out of covenant with God, what hope,
what safety, what peace, what joy is there for you? Away, you kites,
who are hovering over the Sacrifice with evil intent! You may
pretend to be harmless as doves, but we cannot allow you to
profane the Covenant and peck at the Sacrifice.
And next, we must guard this Sacrifice because there God most
fully displays His Grace. It was at the place of the sacrifice which
Abram had offered, that God was pleased to come and reveal
Himself to the Patriarch as He had not done before. "And it came
to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a
smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces.
In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram." The place
of sacrifice is the place of Revelation. Where the blood is shed,
there Grace is manifested! If you would see God in the wilderness,
you must go to the place where the sacrifices were offered, for the
place of sacrifice was the place where God met His people. The
Mercy Seat, where God displayed His Grace to men, was sprinkled
with blood. It must always be so. God cannot meet with sinful men
except in Him who is the one Mediator between God and man,
whose Sacrifice has reconciled us unto Himself. "Without shedding
of blood there is no remission" and without remission there is no
fellowship. Therefore, as we love the mercy of God, we must
contend for the Sacrifice of Christ, and we must not bear that it
should be ignored, much less that it should be decried.
True religion is gone when the vicarious work of Jesus is
questioned. In the forefront of all preaching must be the Cross. "In
this sign we conquer," as Constantine saw in his dream. There is no
conquest over human hearts except by the story of the death of
Jesus for the sins of men. Deprive us of the Sacrifice and behold an
army which has lost both its banners and its weapons of war! The
gates of hope are closed against the guilty when the Atonement is
denied. The windows through which light should come to the
penitent are sealed against a single beam of hope when once you
take away the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore
will we drive away the ravenous birds as long as we have a hand to
move. As we love the souls of men, we will spend our last breath in
the defense of our Lord's Substitution. Can we bear to see man's
last refuge taken away? God forbid! Away, you evil birds! The
heroes of old chased the harpies from their feasts–much more
would we drive you from the altar of our God!
We will do this all the more because, as I have said to you before,
this is the chief point of attack. Every doctrine of Revelation has
been assailed, but the order of battle passed by the black prince at
this hour runs as follows–"Fight neither with small nor great, save
only with the Crucified King of Israel." If they can carry the
bastion of Substitution. If they can throw down the great Truth of
Atonement, then all the rest will go as a matter of course. The
Cross taken away? Indeed, there is nothing left worth defending! If
the Ark of the Lord is taken, what remains to Israel? Write Ichabod,
for the glory has departed! Therefore let us gather up our strength,
that we may vigorously chase the vultures from the altar of the
living God.
"How are we to do it?" one asks. Well, we can, all of us, help in
this struggle. First, by a constant immovable faith in Jesus Christ
our crucified Savior for ourselves. Oh, rest in Him, my Beloved!
Rest more in His great Sacrifice every day–rest more intelligently,
more happily, more implicitly in that finished work of His which
He has worked out for all His people. Looking unto Jesus; coming
unto Jesus; resting in Jesus; following Jesus–let that be a complete
description of your lives! Every day let your own heart be more
united to the well-beloved Bridegroom. Love Him best of all as
you see Him arrayed in wounds and bloody sweat. Are not these
His choicest ornaments? I am sure your hearts are never so stirred
with holy feeling as when you dwell at Calvary and behold the
Surety of the Covenant dying for you! Think more and more of
Him who loved you to the death and thereby redeemed you from
the death which your own sins deserved! Sing a grave, sweet
melody–
"The ever-blessed Son of God
Went up to Calvary for me!
There paid my debt, there bore my load
In His own body on the tree."
Let your own confidence be strong and then very frequently make
an open declaration of your faith in the atoning Sacrifice. I say
"very frequently," for I think the oblation of our confession of
Christ should be presented continually in these days. The more
frequently we bring forward the Truth of the Atonement the better,
when so many are covering it, quibbling at it, or contradicting it.
Many of our Non-Conformist Churches are accustomed to have
communion once a month and think that quite often enough–it may
be so–but we delight to bring before the eyes of men on every first
day of the week, the tokens of the Redeemer's Sacrifice. The
tokens are not objects of superstitious reverence to us, but yet they
are very dear, as sweetly reminding us of His body broken for our
sake–and His blood poured forth for our redemption. As long as
that ordinance is observed, there will be a memorial of Christ's
death of the most instructive and impressive kind.
But whether you can use the emblems or not, declare the Truth,
itself. Let your conversation be full of Christ Crucified and if there
is any question anywhere about this matter, take your stand and let
all know that you have seen that Lamb of God which takes away
the sin of the world! On this point there can be no difference
among really regenerate men! This is one of the dividers of the
chaff from the wheat. This great magnet will not draw to itself any
but the metal which is akin to itself! Take care that there is no
hesitancy about this Truth of God. When the birds come down
upon the Sacrifice, let your childlike faith in Christ–and your clear
statement of the Truth about Him–help to drive them away! Those
who are not in love with the doctrine will not long court your
company. To some of us it is felt to be a duty to make as bold a
defense as we can of this imperishable Truth of God and we would,
if we knew of still plainer words, use them constantly.
"God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world." Stand fast, each man in his place, in the defense of this
central Truth of our most blessed faith. And be prepared, for the
sake of this, to endure all things from the adversary. Abram was an
old man. A vulture–and especially a dozen vultures eager for their
prey–are not easy to deal with. They are very ugly customers–they
show no respect for the sacrifice–and certainly not for those who
would prevent them from dishonoring the sacrifice. Angry and
resolute, and free from every principle of reverence, nothing is
finer play to them than to tear the great Sacrifice of God! If we
come in their way, they will aim at our eyes and tear our faces and
hands. Let them come on–we are prepared for their worst
onslaughts! Be ready to endure anything for the sake of the
doctrine of a Crucified Savior made sin for us though He knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him–made
a curse for us, as it is written–"Cursed is everyone that hangs on a
tree."
The day shall come when he shall count himself most blessed
who died for Christ and earned the ruby crown of those and all
else, so that we may stand forth unquestionably clear upon this
glorious Truth of God, this article by which a Church stands or
falls! As Churches receive it, they stand! As they reject it, they are
outside the pale of the true household of faith. "When the fowls
came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away." To this
work let us give ourselves till the sun goes down and we fall asleep
to behold the vision of God!
II. But now, coming, perhaps, closer home to some of you, let us
apply this example of Abram to ourselves in the matter of THE
GRATEFUL SACRIFICE OF OUR LIVES. It is our reasonable
service that we present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God by our Lord Jesus Christ–and we must guard our
consecration against the temptations which will assail it.
I am addressing tonight many of you who feel that you have
entered into covenant with God by Jesus Christ. You are henceforth
and forever Jehovah's covenanted ones and, in consequence of that
covenant, through the Sacrifice of Christ, you have become the
Lord's. Remember last Sunday night the text which finished, "And
you became Mine"? There was a sweet ring about those words to
my ears, "You became Mine." "You are not your own, you are
bought with a price." You know the sneer about the "mercantile
Atonement," but oh, I love the word, "bought," and, as if to make it
more mercantile, still, the Holy Spirit has worded it even more
plainly, "bought with a price." We take all those reproaches about
the mercantile theory into our bosom and hide them there as greater
riches than the treasures of philosophy! We are not ashamed of the
Words of God, Himself. And now, Beloved, we confess that we
belong wholly to Christ, from the crown of our head to the sole of
our feet–body, soul and spirit, time, talent, thought, substance–all
that we are and all that we have! We have been "bought with a
price" and, therefore, we put in no claim to ourselves, for we
belong absolutely to the Lord that bought us!
Now, now the vultures will come! The carrion crows and kites
will from afar behold this sacrifice and they will hasten to the prey.
You do not see them tonight, perhaps. No, but the traveler does not
see these evil fowls till, all of a sudden the sky seems dark with
them! The horrid, hideous creatures come like lightning for
rapidity, and they are hungry as death when they arrive on the
scene! You that are consecrated to God may expect that though you
do not see them, there are vultures looking down upon the
sacrifice–and you must be prepared to drive them away.
"What sort of vultures will there be?" asks one. Well, there will
come doubts as to eternal things. There will be questions about
your own wisdom in giving yourself up to God. I hope you have
been strangers to such birds of prey, but some of us have not been–
doubts as to whether there is a God to serve; doubts as to whether
there is a Heaven, an eternal future, a blessed reward–doubts as to
whether it is well to give up this world for the next, or not. Drive
them away, Brothers and Sisters! Drive them away! When the birds
come down upon the sacrifice, drive them away, as he did who had
all the riches of Egypt offered to him, yet, "endured, as seeing Him
who is invisible." This is what you and I must do–feel that it is but
commonsense, sanctified commonsense, to be looking out for that
which will endure forever–and to let these temporary things go, if it
is necessary that they go–that we may win the crown that fades not
away!
Possibly there will come to some of you younger folks fond