Part 20
depraved and abandoned! Many a woman, when she has once
begun to trifle with sin, had no idea that her name would be
coupled one day with infamy! Many a young man at his master's
till is scrupulously honest, today, and never dreams that he will one
day be a thief–yet he is about to take a step that will surely make
him so–the first step to evil!
Oh, "where will you go?" I believe that many a man, many a
woman, if they could go back 20 years and be young people, again,
and have their history written, the true history as they lived it,
would say, "I never shall live so. Is your servant a dog that he
should do this thing?" They would have been indignant at the
supposition that they could ever be capable of the transgression
into which they have now actually fallen! "Where will you go?"
Stop! Stop! You who are marching on to evil, stop! In the name of
Him that lives, stop, lest you march to damnation and take one step
that shall be your inevitable ruin, for this is the worst of it! "Where
will you go?" The way of sin is the way of destruction! Men cannot
sin and be happy. The end, the end, the end, the end of it, oh, think
of it! It is not today, nor tomorrow, but it is that dying hour–no, it is
not that only–it is that hour when, up from among the dead, you
shall arise amidst the ringing of the Last Judgment trumpet! It is
that opening of the books, that reading of the several dooms–that
separation of the righteous from the wicked–it is that which hangs
upon this question, "Where will you go?" Oh, go not to the
Judgment unforgiven! Go not to the Judgment to be condemned, to
be cast into the place "where their worm dies not, and their fire is
not quenched." God save you, Sinner! May He save you tonight
instrumentally by the force of those two questions–"Where have
you come from? Where will you go?"
And now let us notice, attentively, having observed the
remarkable season and the home questions, let us notice
attentively–
III. THE DISCOVERY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
The description had been so accurate–"Hagar, Sarah's maid." The
questions had been so pertinent, had stuck so close to her
soul–"Where have you come from? And where will you go?" that
she said, "It is God, it is God that speaks to me." And there came
home to her what she had often heard before, but never felt. "There
is a God. God is not an impalpable somebody up there who has
nothing to do with me, but there is God here, here, and He sees me!
It is God that deals with me–not far away, asleep, or blind, but God
sees me!" Oh, it is a glorious thing when a soul starts up to that
conviction, "I am not alone, I am not friendless, after all. There is a
God and a God who sees me and who takes such notice of note that
He speaks to me." A man is never saved until he gets to feel
something of the nearness of God, God in Christ Jesus, but yet
God. Consciousness of Deity is one of the marks of salvation. Now
Hagar's thoughts must have been something like this. "After all,
there is Somebody that has seen me and marked all my past life,
though I did not see Him. He knows everything that I have done or
thought, or said, and I perceive now that He has spoken to me, that
He cares about me. I thought Abraham did not care for me, Sarah
was angry, and then I said, 'No man cares for my soul, and I will
go away.' Now I see that God was watching me and He has cared
about me, and though He did not interpose to help me just then, just
when I was so bitterly oppressed, yet I know He has cared for me,
for at last, when I was sitting on this well, alone, He spoke to my
soul." Sinner, I pray the Holy Spirit to make just this discovery to
you, that, after all, God does care about you! He who made the
heavens and the earth does think of you! Though you are little, and
less than noth
"Well," Hagar said in her soul, "seeing that He cares for me, He
will interpose on my behalf." The Angel, who spoke, spoke words
of comfort to her heart–told her that there was a happier future in
store for her than she dreamed–sent her away with a comfortable
word ringing in her ears! Oh, Soul, I pray God to do that for you
tonight! You have said, "God has forgotten me." He knows all
about you. It may be this is the Truth of God–I hope it is–that your
name is written on the palms of Jesus' hands! What if it should turn
out that you, rebellious sinner that you are, are one whom God
loved before the foundation of the world? What if you are one of
His chosen, whom the Savior bought with His blood? What if you
are one who shall surely sit in Heaven, wear the white robe and
sing the new song–what if you are a favored one of the Most High?
Oh, I think I hear you say, "If I had half a thought that that was
true, I would not lie down in despair–I would up and bestir myself
and I would have done with my old companions! I would have
done with my old sins, if that were true!" Oh, Soul, I cannot tell
you that it is true–I hope it is–but I can tell you one thing that is
true, namely, that if you will now come and put your trust in Jesus
Christ, and repent of your iniquities,then it is all true! I can only
know your election by your calling! I can only tell your calling by
your repentance and by your faith! And if you should find peace,
tonight, and I pray you may, then you are God's beloved! He who
made the heavens loves you! He who made the earth bought you
with His blood and Heaven would not be complete without you!
What if you have been far off by wicked works, yet still you are a
child and Heaven shall yet ring with music on your return! What if
you have been lost in the filth of drunkenness and all manner of
lasciviousness, yet still a piece of God's precious silver, the house
shall be swept for you and the candle lit, and you shall yet be found
and put into the Savior's treasury! Oh, what hope this ought to
make well up in the poor hopeless sinner's heart! It is not because
of your goodness, but because of His Infinite goodness that He
comes to meet with you, unworthy as you are, for He sees you–He
sees you–with thoughts of love He sees you and tonight He
interposes as He calls you by your name!
Now when Hagar made that discovery, she made another at the
same time. She said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?"–as
much as to say, and probably she had not known it before, that as
God could come to her, so she could go to God. "God has looked
after me, and now I can look after Him." There is not a great gulf
between the creature and the Creator. We can send messages to
Heaven and receive blessings from Heaven. She felt from that
moment that God was real, living, appreciable and that God would
hear her prayers and answer her petitions–and had really and
literally spoken to her. Oh, I do not know anything that puts such
strength into a man, such encouragement, such joy makes him so
patient as the belief that God has spoken to him–that God has
spoken in words of love and promise to him! Why, from that day
poor Hagar would say, "I will go back. I will go back. The God of
Abraham has spoken to me. Abraham may be unkind, but I will
bear it, for Abraham's God has spoken to me. Sarah may be more
cross than ever–never mind, I do not know that I can tell her of it,
but oh, it will be such a joy in my soul–God has spoken to me,
assured me of His favor, given me a blessing!" Now that young
man who thinks he has been so badly treated, if he gets his sins
pardoned tonight, and the Lord speaks with him, he will go back
and say, "I daresay I was as much to blame as anybody, but,
whether or not, I am saved and I can now put up with anything!"
And that man who is so poor that he would hardly dare come even
into this Tabernacle because his clothes were so shabby, and he was
ready to say, "I will give up the battle of life. I will never try
again"–oh, if he were able to say, "I know that God has spoken
with me tonight, brought me to the Savior's feet and blotted out my
sin"–oh! dear Brother, you will pick up the weapons, again, and go
to the battle of life once more, and your poverty will seem to have
lost its edge! The bitterness will have departed! The iron will not
enter into your soul! Get a word from God and know that you are
His child, and you can say, "Now blow, you winds, rage, you
waves, and all you elements let forth your fury–the God that rules
you all is now my Friend! No hurt can you do to me!"
If you notice, it was just so with Hagar when she had heard the
voice of the Lord and perceived that God saw her and that she
could speak to God–then at once she went back. Told to go back,
back she went–submitted herself. You don't find her again
personally–though the old blood came up afterwards in her son–
you don't find her quarrelling with her mistress, but she patiently
bears her lot in the recollection of the blessing that she had
received. This is just the way with men, willful, wayward,
headstrong–but when they get the Grace of God, they bend their
shoulders to Christ's yoke and they become tame and gentle.
Because they are happy in God's love, they are patient in the ills of
this life. Remember the story of the poor raving maniac. They had
often bound him with chains, but he snapped them asunder. He had
left his family and gone to dwell among the tombs. He made night
hideous with his screams and howls. Men dared not pass that way,
for he was worse than a wild beast! He had cut himself and torn his
flesh, torn himself with stones and briars–none could tame him!
But after Jesus had said to the evil spirit, "I charge you that you
come out of him," we spirit is here now, some spirit driven to it by
suffering, by neglect, by injustice from others–and also by its own
personal sin–if the Lord brings you to trust in Jesus, His dear Son,
and see your sin all laid upon Him, then you will, even at this
moment, be a different man! Your wife will scarcely know you, nor
your children, either! You will become another than you have ever
been before. You will go back to your business, back to your
burdens, back to your sufferings and bear them all for the sake of
Him that spoke out of Heaven and saved your soul!
Now the most of this I daresay is not applicable to the most of
you. You know I have been thinking, while preaching, that you
might say I had not been preaching except to some one or two that
were here. Well, I will tell you my excuse. "What man of you, if he
has an hundred sheep, if he loses one, does not leave the ninety and
nine, and go after that which is gone astray?" After that "gone-
astray one" I have gone! And my Master, too! Amen.
Ge 16:13 • Omniscience
ERMON 0085
Omniscience
"You God see me."
Genesis 16:13
THERE are more eyes fixed on man then he knows of–he sees
not as he is seen. He thinks himself obscure and unobserved but let
him remember that a cloud of witnesses hold him in full survey.
Wherever he is, at every instant, there are beings whose attention is
riveted by his doings and whose gaze is constantly fixed by his
actions. Within this Hall, I doubt not, there are myriads of spirits
unseen to us. Spirits good and spirits evil are upon us tonight. The
eyes of angels rest attentively–those perfect spirits regard our order.
They hear our songs. They observe our prayers. It may be they fly
to Heaven to convey to their companions news of any sinners who
are born of God, for there is joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repents.
Millions of spiritual creatures walk this earth, both when we wake
and when we sleep. Midnight is peopled with shadows unseen and
daylight has its spirits, too. The prince of the power of the air,
attended by his squadron of evil spirits flits through the ether often.
Evil spirits watch our halting every instant, while good spirits,
battling for the salvation of God's elect, keep us in all our ways and
watch over our feet, lest at any time we dash them against a stone.
Hosts of invisible beings attend on every one of us at different
periods of our lives. We must remember, also, that not only do the
spirits of angels, elect or fallen, look on us, but "the spirits of the
just made perfect" continually observe our conversation.
We are taught by the Apostle that the noble army of martyrs and
the glorious company of confessors are "witnesses" of our race to
Heaven, for he says, "seeing, then, that we are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and
the sin which does so easily beset us." From yon blue Heaven the
eyes of the glorified look down on us. There the children of God
are sitting on their starry thrones, observing whether we manfully
uphold the banner around which they fought. They behold our
valor, or they detect our cowardice. And they are intent to witness
our valiant deeds of noble daring, or our ignominious retreat in the
day of battle.
Remember that, sons of men–you are not unregarded. You do not
pass through this world in unseen obscurity. In darkest shades of
night eyes glare on you through the gloom. In the brightness of the
day angels are spectators of your labors. From Heaven there look
down upon you spirits who see all that finite beings are capable of
beholding. But if we think that thought worth treasuring up, there is
one which sums up that and drowns it, even as a drop is lost in the
ocean. It is the thought, "You God see me." It is nothing that angels
see me, it is nothing that devils watch me, it is nothing that the
glorified spirits observe me–compared with the overwhelming
Truth–God at all times see me.
Let us dwell on that now and may God the Spirit make use of it to
our spiritual profit! In the first place, I shall notice the general
doctrine, that God observes all men. In the second place I shall
notice the particular doctrine, "You God see me." And in the third
place I shall draw from it some practical and comforting inferences
to different orders of persons now assembled, each of whom may
learn something from this short sentence.
In the first place, THE GENERAL DOCTRINE, that God sees us.
This may be easily proved, even from the nature of God. It were
hard to suppose a God who could not see His own creatures. It
were difficult in the extreme to imagine a Divinity who could not
behold the actions of the works of His hands. The word which the
Greeks applied to God implied that He was a God who could see.
They called him Theos (Theos). And they derived that word, if I
read rightly, from the root Theisthai (Theisthai), to see, because
they regarded God as being the all-seeing One, whose eyes took in
the whole universe at a glance and whose knowledge extended far
beyond that of mortals.
God Almighty, from His very essence and nature, must be an
Omniscient God. Strike out the thought that He sees me and you
extinguish Deity by a single stroke. There were no God if that God
had no eyes, for a blind God were no God at all. We could not
conceive such an one. Stupid as idolaters may be, it were very hard
to think that even they had fashioned a blind god–even they have
given eyes to their gods, though they see not. Juggernaut has eyes
stained with blood and the gods of the ancient Romans had eyes–
and some of them were called far-seeing gods.
Even the heathen can scarce conceive of a god that has no eyes to
see and certainly we are not so mad as to imagine for a single
second that there can be a Deity without the knowledge of
everything that is done by man beneath the sun. I say it were as
impossible to conceive of a God who did not observe everything as
to conceive of a round square. When we say, "You God," we do, in
fact, comprise in the word "God" the idea of a God who sees
everything, "You God see me."
Yet, further, we are sure that God must see us for we are taught in
the Scriptures that God is everywhere and if God is everywhere,
what does hinder Him from seeing all that is done in every part of
His universe? God is here–I do not simply live near Him, but "in
Him I live and move and have my being." There is not a particle of
this mighty space which is not filled with God–go forth into the
pure air and there is not a particle of it where God is not. In every
portion of this earth whereon I tread and the spot whereon I move,
there is God–
"Within Your circling power I stand;
On every side I find Your hand–
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God."
Take the wings of the morning and fly beyond the most distant
star–but God is there. God is not a Being confined to one place, but
He is everywhere. He is there and there and there. In the deepest
mine man ever bored, in the unfathomable caverns of the ocean, in
the heights, towering and lofty, in the gulfs that are deep which
fathom can never reach. God is everywhere. I know from His own
words that He is a God who fills immensity. The heavens are not
wide enough for Him. He grasps the sun with one hand and the
moon with the other. He stretches Himself through the unnavigated
ether, where the wing of seraph has never flapped–there is God–
and where the solemnity of silence has never been broken by the
song of Cherub, there is God. God is everywhere.
Conceive space and God and space are equal. Well, then, if God
is everywhere, how can I refrain from believing that God sees me
wherever I am? He does not look upon me from a distance–if He
did, I might screen myself beneath the shades of night. But He is
here, close by my side and not by me only but in me. Within this
heart. Where these lungs beat. Or where my blood gushes through
my veins. Or where this pulse is beating, like a muffled drum, my
march to death–God is there–within this mouth. In this tongue, in
these eyes.
In each of you God dwells–He is within you and around you. He
is beside you and behind and before. Is not such knowledge too
wonderful for you? Is it not high and you cannot attain unto it? I
say, how can you resist the doctrine which comes upon you like a
flash of lightning, that if God is everywhere He must see
everything and that therefore it is a Truth, "You God see me."
But, lest any should suppose that God may be in a place and yet
slumbering, let me remind him that in every spot to which he can
travel, there is, not simply God, but also God's activity. Wherever I
go I shall find not a slumbering God but a God busy about the
affairs of this world. Take me to the green sward and pleasant
pasture–why, every little blade of grass there has God's hand in it,
making it grow and every tiny daisy, which a child likes to pluck,
looks up with its little eyes and says "God is in me, circulating my
sap and opening my little flower."
Go where you will through this London, where vegetation is
scarcely to be found. Look up yonder and see those rolling stars–
God is active there–it is His hand that wheels along the stars and
moves the moon in her nightly course. But if there are neither stars
nor moon–there are those clouds, heavy with darkness, like the ears
of night. And who steers them across the sea of azure? Does not the
breath of God blowing upon them drive them along the heavens?
God is everywhere, not as a slumbering God, but as an active God.
I am upon the sea and there I see God making the everlasting
pulse of nature beat in constant ebbs and flows. I am in the pathless
desert, but above me screams the nature and I see God winging the
wild bird's flight. I am shut up in a hermitage. But an insect drops
from its leaf and I see in that insect life which God preserves and
sustains. Shut me out from the animate creation and put me on the
barren rock, where moss itself cannot find a footing–I shall there
discern my God bearing up the pillars of the universe and
sustaining that bare rock as a part of the colossal foundation
whereon He has built the world–
"Wherever we turn our gazing eyes –
Your radiant footsteps shine.
Ten thousand pleasing wonders rise,
And speak their source Divine.
The living tribes of countless forms,
In earth and sea and air,
The meanest flies, the smallest worms,
Almighty power declare."
You shall see God everywhere–if you see Him not around you,
look within you and is He not there? Is not your blood now flowing
through every portion of your body, to and from your heart? And is
not God there active? Do you not know that every pulse you beat
needs a volition of Deity as its permit and yet more, needs an
exertion of Divine power as its cause? Do you not know that every
breath you breathe needs Deity for its inspiration and expiration
and that you must die if God withdraw that power? If we could
look within us, there are mighty works going on in this mortal
fabric–the garment of the soul–which would astonish you and make
you see, indeed, that God is not asleep, but that He is active and
busy.
There is a working God everywhere, a God with His eyes open
everywhere, a God with His hands at work everywhere. A God
doing something, not a God slumbering but a God laboring. Oh,
Sirs, does not the conviction flash upon your mind with a
brightness, against which you cannot shut your eyes that since God
is everywhere, and everywhere active, it follows, as a necessary
and unavoidable consequence, that He must see us and know all
our actions and our deeds?
I have one more proof to offer which I think to be conclusive.
God, we may be sure, sees us, when we remember that He can see
a thing before it happens. If He beholds an event before it
transpires, surely reason dictates He must see a thing that is
happening now. Read those ancient prophecies. Read what God
said should be the end of Babylon and of Nineveh. Just turn to the
chapter where you read of Edom's doom, or where you are told that
Tyre shall be desolate. Then walk through the lands of the East and
see Nineveh and Babylon cast to the ground, the cities ruined. And
then reply to this question–"Is not God a God of foreknowledge?
Can He not see the things that are to come?"
Yes, there is not a thing which shall transpire in the next cycle of
a thousand years which is not already passed through the infinite
mind of God. There is not a deed which shall be transacted
tomorrow, or the next day, or the next, through all eternity, if days
can be eternal, but God knows it. And if He knows the future, does
He not know the present? If His eyes look through the dim haze
which veils us from the things of futurity, can He not see that
which is standing in the brightness of the present? If He can see a
great distance, can He not see near at hand! Surely that Divine
Being who discerned the end from the beginning must know the
things which occur now. And it must be true that "You God see us,"
even the whole of us, the entire race of man. So much for the
general and universally acknowledged doctrine.
II. Now, I come, in the second place, to the SPECIAL
DOCTRINE –"You God see me."
Come now, there is a disadvantage in having so many hearers as
there is always in speaking to more than one at a time because
persons are apt to think, "he does not speak to me." Jesus Christ
preached a very successful sermon once when he had but one
hearer because He had the woman sitting on the well and she could
not say that Christ was preaching to her neighbor. He said to her,
"Go, call your husband and come here." There was something there
which smote her heart. She could not evade the confession of her
guilt. But in regard to our congregations, the old orator might soon
see his prayer answered, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me
your ears," for when the Gospel is preached, we lend our ears to
everybody.
We are accustomed to hear for our neighbors and not for
ourselves. Now, I have no objection to your lending anything else
you like but I have a strong objection to you lending your ears. I
shall be glad if you will keep them at home for a minute or two, for
I want to make you hear for yourselves this Truth, "You God see
me."
Mark, God sees you–selecting anyone out of this congregation–
He sees you. He sees you as much as if there were nobody else in
the world for Him to look at. If I have as many people as there are
here to look at, of course my attention must be divided. But the
infinite mind of God is able to grasp a million objects at once and
yet to set itself as much upon one as if there were nothing else but
that one. So that you, tonight, are looked at by God as much as if
throughout space there were not another creature but yourself. Can
you conceive that?
Suppose the stars blotted out in darkness. Suppose the angels
dead. I imagine the glorified spirits above are all gone and you are
left alone, the last man. And there is God looking at you. What an
idea it would be for you to think of–that there was only you to be
looked at! How steadily He could observe you! How well He
would discern you! But mark you–God does really look at you this
night as much, as entirely, as absolutely without division of sight–
as if you were the only being His hands had ever made. Can you
grasp that? God sees you with His eyes, with the whole of His
sight–you–you–you–you are the particular object of His attention at
this very moment. God's eyes are looking down upon you–
remember that!
In the next place God sees you entirely. He does not merely note
your actions. He does not simply notice what is the appearance of
your countenance. He does not merely take into His eyesight what
your posture may be. But remember, God sees what you are
thinking of. He looks within. God has a window in every man's
heart through which He looks. He does not want you to tell Him
what you are thinking about–He can see that, He can read right
through you.
Do you not know that God can read what is written on the rocks
at the bottom of the ocean, even though ten thousand fathoms of
dark water roll above? And I tell you He can read every word that
is in your breasts. He knows every thought, every imagination,
every conception, your every unformed imagination. He sees it all,
every particle, every atom of it–
"My thoughts, scarce struggling into birth,
Great God! are known to You–
Abroad, at home, still I'm enclosed
With Your immensity.
Behind I glance and You are there–
Before me, shines Your name;
And 'tis Your strong almighty hand
Sustains my tender frame."
Can you appropriate that thought? From the crown of your head
to the sole of your foot, God is examining you now. His scalpel is
in your heart, His lancet in your breast, He is searching your heart
and trying your reins. He knows you behind and before. "You God
see me." You see me entirely.
Note again–God sees you constantly. You are sometimes watched
by man and then your conversation is tolerably correct. At other
times you seek retirement and you indulge yourselves in things
which you would not dare to do before the gaze of your fellow
creatures. But recollect, wherever you are, God sees you. You may
lay yourselves down by the side of the hidden brook where the
willows shelter you, where all is still, without a sound–God is there
looking at you! You may retire to your chamber and draw the
curtains of your couch and throw yourself down for repose in
midnight's gloomiest shade–God sees you there! I remember going
into a castle sometime ago, down many a winding stair, round and
round, and round and round–where light never penetrated.
At last I came to a space, very narrow, about the length of a man.
"There," said the keeper, "such-and-such-a-one was shut up for so
many years, a ray of light never having penetrated–sometimes they
tortured him but his shrieks never reached through the thickness of
these walls and never ascended that winding staircase–here he died
and there, Sir, he was buried," pointing to the ground. But though
that man had none on earth to see him, God saw him. Yes, you may
shut me up forever where ear shall never hear my prayer, where
eyes shall never see my misery. But one eyes shall look upon me
and one countenance smile on me, if I suffer for righteousness'
sake. If for Christ's sake I am in prison, one hand shall be upon me
and one voice shall say, "Fear not. I will help you"–at all times, in
all places, in all your thoughts, in all your acts, in all your privacy,
in all your public doings, at every season–this is true, "You God see
me."
Yet once more–"You God see me" supremely. I can see myself,
but not as well as either my friends or foes. Men can see me better
than I can see myself but man cannot see me as God sees me. A
man skilled in the human heart might interpret my deeds and
translate their motives but he could not read my heart as God can
read it. None can tell another as God can tell us all–we do not know
ourselves as God knows us–within yourself knowledge, with all
you have been told by others, God knows you more fully than you
know yourself–no eyes can see you as God sees you.
You may act in daylight. You may not be ashamed of your
actions. You may stand up before men and say, "I am a public man,
I wish to be observed and noticed." You may have all your deeds
chronicled and all men may hear of them, but I know men will
never know you as God will know you. And if you could be
chained, as Paul was, with a soldier at your arm–if he were with
you night and day, sleeping with you, rising with you–if he could
hear all your thoughts he could not know you as God knows you,
for God sees you superlatively and supremely.
Let me now apply that to you–"You God see me." This is true of
each of you. Try and think of it for a moment. Even as my eyes
rests on you, so, in a far, far greater sense do God's eyes rest on
you. Standing, sitting, wherever you are, this is true, "You God see
me." It is said that when you heard Rowland Hill, if you were stuck
in a window, or farther away at the door, you always had the
conviction that he was preaching at you. Oh, I wish I could preach
like that! If I could make you feel that I was preaching at you in
particular, that I singled you out and shot every word at you, then I
should hope for some effect. Try and think, then, "You God see
me."
III. Now I come to DIFFERENT INFERENCES for different
persons, to serve different purposes.
First, to the prayerful. Prayerful man, prayerful woman, here is a
consolation–God sees you–and if He can see you, surely He can
hear you. Why, we can often hear people when we cannot see them.
If God is so near to us and if His voice is like the thunder, surely
His ears are as good as His eyes and He will be sure to answer us.
Perhaps you cannot say a word when you pray. Never mind–God
does not want to hear. He can tell what you mean even by seeing
you. "There," says the Lord, "is a child of Mine in prayer. He says
not a word. But do you see that tear rolling down his cheek? Do
you hear that sigh?"
Oh, mighty God, you can see both tear and sigh. You can read
desire when desire has not clothed itself in words. The naked wish
God can interpret. He needs us not to light the candle of our desires
with language. He can see the candle before it is lit–
"He knows the words we mean to speak,
When from our lips they cannot break,"
by reason of the anguish of our spirit. He knows the desire when
words stagger under the weight of it. He knows the wish when
language fails to express it. "You God see me."
Ah, God, when I cannot pray with words, I will throw myself flat
on my face and I will groan my prayer. And if I cannot groan it I
will sigh it. And if I cannot sigh it I will wish it–and when these
eye-strings break and when death has sealed these lips, I will enter
Heaven with a prayer which You will not hear but which You will
see–the prayer of my inmost spirit–when my heart and my flesh fail
me, that You may be the strength of my life and portion forever.
There is comfort for you, you praying ones, that God sees you.
That is enough. If you cannot speak He can see you.
I have given a word for the prayerful. Now a word for the careful.
Some here are very full of care, doubts, anxieties and fears. "Oh,
Sir," you say, "if you could come to my poor house, you would not
wonder that I should feel anxious. I have had to part with much of
my little furniture to provide myself with a living. I am brought
very low. I have not a friend in London. I am alone, alone in the
whole wide world." Stop, stop, Sir! You are not alone in the world.
There is at least one eyes regarding you. There is one hand that is
ready to relieve you. Don't give up in despair. If your case be ever
so bad, God can see your care, your troubles and your anxieties.
To a good man it is enough to see destitution to relieve it. And for
God it is enough to see the distresses of His family at once to
supply their wants. If you were lying wounded on the battlefield, if
you could not speak, you know right well your comrades who are
coming by with an ambulance will pick you up, if they but see you.
And that is enough for you. So if you are lying on the battlefield of
life, God sees you. Let that cheer you–He will relieve you. For He
only needs to look at the woe of His children at once to relieve
them. Go on then–hope yet. In night's darkest hour, hope for a
brighter tomorrow. God sees you, whatever you are doing–"He
knows your cares, your tears,Your sighs–He shall lift up your
head."
And now a word to the slandered. There are some of us who
come into a very large share of slander. It is very seldom that the
slander market is much below par. It usually runs up at a very
mighty rate. And there are persons who will take shares to any
amount. If men could dispose of railway stock as they can of
slander, those who happen to have any scrip here would be rich
enough by tomorrow at twelve o'clock. There are some who have a
superabundance of that matter. enough to write sense, nor honesty
sufficient to keep him to the Truth, who, therefore, writes the most
infamous libels upon some of God's servants, compared with
whom he himself is nothing and whom for very envy he chooses to
depreciate.
Well, what does it matter? Suppose you are slandered. Here is a
comfort–"You God see me." They say that suchand-such is your
motive, but you need not answer them. You can say, "God knows
that matter." You are charged with such-and-such a thing of which
you are innocent. Your heart is right concerning the deed, you have
never done it–well, you have no need to battle for your reputation.
You need only point your finger to the sky and say, "there is a
witness there who will right me at last–there is a Judge of all the
earth, whose decision I am content to wait. His answer will be a
complete exoneration of me and I shall come out of the furnace like
gold seven times purified."
Young men, are you striving to do good and do others impute
wrong motives to you? Do not be particular about answering them,
just go straight on and your life will be the best refutation of the
calumny. David's brothers said that in his pride and the naughtiness
of his heart he had come to see the battle. "Ah," thought David, "I
will answer you by-andby." Off he went across the plain to fight
Goliath. He cut off his head and then came back to his brothers
with a glorious answer in his conquering hand. If any man desires
to reply to the false assertions of his enemies, let him go and do
good and he needs not say a word–that will be his answer.
I am the subject of detraction. But I can point to hundreds of souls
that have been saved on earth by my feeble instrumentality and my
reply to all my enemies is this, "You may say what you like. But
seeing these lame men are healed, can you say anything against
them? You may find fault with the style or manner but God saves
souls and we will hold up that fact, like giant Goliath's head, to
show you that although it was nothing but a sling or stone, so much
the better, for God has gotten the victory." Go straight on and you
will live down your slanderers. And remember when you are most
distressed, "You God see me."
Now, a sentence or two to some of you who are ungodly and
know not Christ. What shall I say to you but this–how heinous are
your sins when they are put in the light of this doctrine! Remember,
Sinner, whenever you sin, you sin in the teeth of God. It is bad
enough to steal in darkness but he is a very thief who steals in
daylight. It is vile, it is fearfully vile to commit a sin which I desire
to cover, but to do my sin when man is looking at me shows much
hardiness of heart. Oh, Sinner, remember, you sin with God's eyes
looking on you. How black must be your heart! How awful your
sin! For you sin in the very face of justice when God's eyes are
fixed on you!
I was looking, the other day, at a glass beehive and it was very
singular to observe the motions of the creatures inside. Well, now,
this world is nothing but a huge glass beehive. God looks down on
you and He sees you all. You go into your little cells in the streets
of this huge city. You go to your business, your pleasure, your
devotions and your sins. But remember, wherever you go, you are
like the bees under a great glass shade–you can never get away
from God's observation. When children disobey before the eyes of
their parents it shows that they are hardened. If they do it behind
their parents' back, it proves that there is some shame left.
But you, Sirs, sin when God is present with you. You sin while
God's eyes are searching you through and through. Even now you
are thinking hard thoughts of God while God is hearing all those
silent utterances of your evil hearts. Does not that render your sin
extremely heinous? Therefore, I beseech you, think of it and repent
of your wickedness that your sins may be blotted out through Jesus
Christ.
And one more thought. If God sees you, O Sinner, how easy it
will be to condemn you. In the late horrible case of Palmer,
witnesses were required and a jury was empanelled to try the
accused. But if the judge could have mounted the bench and have
said, "I saw the man myself mix the poison. I stood by and saw him
administer it. I read his thoughts. I knew for what purpose he did it,
I read his heart. I was with him when he first conceived the black
design and I have tracked him in all his evasions, in all those acts
by which he sought to blindfold justice. And I can read in his heart
that he knows himself to be guilty now."
If the judge could have said that the case then would have been
over. The trial would have been little more than a form. What will
you think, O Sinner, when you are brought before God and God
shall say, "You did so-and-so," and will mention what you did in
the darkness of the night when no eyes was there? You will start
back amazed and say, "Oh, heavens! How did God know? Is there
knowledge in the Most High?" He will say, "Stop, Sinner. I have
more to startle you yet." And He will begin to unfold the records of
the past–leaf after leaf He will read of the diary He has kept of your
existence.
Oh, I can see you as he reads page after page, your knees are
knocking together, your hair is standing on end, your blood is
frozen in your veins, congealed for fright and you stand like a
second Niobe, a rock bedewed with tears. You are thunderstruck to
find your thoughts read out before the sun, while men and angels
hear. You are amazed beyond degree to hear your imaginations
read, to see your deeds photographed on the great white Throne and
to hear a voice saying, "Rebellion at such a time. Uncleanness at
such a time. Evil thoughts at such an hour. Sabbath-breaking on
such a day, blasphemy at such a time, theft at such an hour. Hard
thoughts of God at such a period. Rejection of His grace on such a
day. Stifling of conscience at another time."
And so onto the end of the chapter and then the awful final
doom–"Sinner, depart accursed! I saw you sin, it needs no
witnesses. I heard your oath. I heard your blasphemy. I saw your
theft. I read your thoughts. Depart! Depart! I am clear when I judge
you. I am justified when I condemn you–for you have done this
evil in My sight."
Lastly, you ask me what you must do to be saved. And I will
never let a congregation go, I hope, till I have told them that. Hear,
then, in a few words, the way of salvation. It is this. Christ said to
the Apostles, "Preach the Gospel to every creature–he that believes
and his baptized shall be saved and he that believes not shall be
damned." Or, to give you Paul's version, when he spoke to the
jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."
You ask what you are to believe. Why, this–that Christ died and
rose again. That by His death He did bear the punishment of all
Believers. And that by His resurrection He did wipe out the faults
of all His children. And if God gives you faith, you will believe that
Christ died for you. And you will be washed in His blood and you
will trust His mercy and His love to be your everlasting redemption
when the world shall end.
Ge 16:13 • Hagar at the Fountain
ERMON 1869
Hagar At The Fountain
"And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her, You-
Are-the-God-Who-Sees: for she said, Have I, also, here looked
after Him who sees me? the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi."
Genesis 16:13, 14
You know the story of Hagar. I am not going to deal with the
allegorical meaning of it–that would be apart from our subject this
morning. I shall speak of the incident simply as it stands, but even
then I shall not use it strictly as a case of sure conversion, for I am
not certain that it was such. I suppose Hagar to have been an
Egyptian woman, probably one of the maidservants who were
given by the King of Egypt to Abram at that unhappy time when
Abram's faith failed him and he went down into Egypt and
requested Sarai to conceal the fact that she was his wife. Sin,
whenever it is committed by the child of God, is sure to involve
him in sorrow. In the long run, the result of any false dealing comes
home to the Believer and it does so in very unexpected ways.
Hagar became the special maid of Sarai. God had promised to
Abram that he should have a son and that thus he should be the
father of nations. That blessing did not appear likely to come to
him, for there were no children born to Sarai, nor did there seem to
be the possibility of any.
Husband and wife were both old and well stricken in years. No
special mention had been made of Sarai in the promise as it then
stood and, therefore, it was not clear to Abram but what some other
might be the mother of the expected seed. And when, in her
unbelief, Sarai proposed that her maid should become his
secondary wife, Abram listened to her. According to the custom of
the times and of oriental nations, this act was right enough, but as it
was not really right, in itself, and showed littleness of faith on
Abram's part. Sorrow soon came of it. Hagar began to behave
herself proudly towards her mistress and her mistress, finding
herself despised, complained to Abram and began, also, to behave
harshly towards her.
The wrong element would not work in Abram's family. It might
do very well for the Canaanites around him, but in a house where
God was feared, it was an evil principle and could not work for
peace or holiness. Hagar's high Egyptian spirit, finding herself
likely to be famous in the house, would not brook the rule of her
mistress, nor could Sarai, the quiet, but queenly matron, put up
with the insults of her slave. The mistress became hard and harsh to
her handmaid. Worked into a frenzy, Hagar flies from the tent and
makes the best of her way on the road to Egypt, where she
originally came. But what could a lone woman do in her condition,
all alone in the wilderness?
Wearied with her journey, she spies a fountain and sits there. It
was the likeliest place for any passing traveler to find her and she
sits down, there, in her proud despair. Perhaps they will send for
her. Abram may repent his yielding to Sarai and send for her. She
will wait there and if no one comes to her aid, she will die rather
than return. She does not appear, at that time, to have lifted up her
heart in prayer to God. She had lived in a godly household, but
possibly, as she thought herself ill-treated, she had conceived a
dislike towards the God of her mistress. Such harsh treatment as
she had received was not likely to incline her towards the religion
of those from whom she had fled! She was godless and hopeless.
Do you not see her crouching at the fountain, half mad with pride
and vexation and, at the same time, stricken with a sullen despair?
She knows not what she is to do, neither does any way of hope
open before her. Alas, poor Hagar!
But although there was no prayer of hers for God to hear, another
voice spoke in His ear. The Angel who suddenly appeared to her
said, "The Lord has heard your affliction." That is a very beautiful
sentence. You have not prayed. You have been willful, reckless and,
at last, despairing and, therefore, you have not cried unto the Lord.
But your deep sorrow has cried to Him! You are oppressed and the
Lord has undertaken for you. You are suffering heavily and God,
the AllPitiful, has heard your affliction. Grief has an eloquent voice
when Mercy is the listener. Woe has a plea which Goodness cannot
resist. Though sorrow and woe ought to be attended with prayer,
yet even when supplication is not offered, the heart of God is
moved by misery, itself. In Hagar's case the Lord heard her
affliction–He looked forth from His Glory on that lone Egyptian
woman who was in the deepest distress in which a woman could
well be placed–and He came speedily to her help.
We have not much difficulty in deciding who the Angel was that
appeared to her. We are sure that this Angel of the Lord was that
great Messenger of the Covenant who was, afterwards, to appear in
actual flesh and blood, but who many a time before He was born at
Bethlehem, anticipated His descent to earth and visited it in human
form. His delights were always with the sons of men and so when
there was a message to be brought to men, that Blessed One, the
Second Person of the Divine Unity condescended to be the bearer
of it! In the present instance I discern foreshadowing of the Son of
Man! I perceive sure traces of the Christ who, in a later age, would
dwell among mankind! Read a little before the text and you will
find it written, the Angel of the Lord "found her"–it is the deed of
the good Shepherd to find a lost sheep! I see before me that Son of
Man who came to seek and to save that which was lost. Surely this
is that great Shepherd of the sheep who goes after His sheep until
He finds it! He has come far into the waste after her and He rested
not until He found her. Great gladness filled His heart, as when a
merchantman finds a pearl of great price. I see high joy in the
Countenance of this Angel of Jehovah. We read in verse seven,
"The Angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water."
Significant place! Can you forget how, when that Blessed One was
here in flesh and blood, He found another woman at the well.
"Jesus being wearied, sat thus on the well. There comes a woman
of Samaria to draw water. Jesus says unto her, Give Me to drink."
Does not this story of Hagar read like a rehearsal of that Samaritan
incident? "He found her by a fountain of water."
This fountain is further said to be "in the wilderness." Note that.
Remember those words of His when He actually became
Incarnate–"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses
one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after
that which is lost until he finds it?" Again we read, "He found him
in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness." This
wonderful appearance of the Christ before He actually assumed our
flesh, has a likeness to His actual Incarnation of the most delightful
kind. 'Tis He! We are sure it is He! All the tones of the voice and
the modes of the speech are His. That this Angel of the Lord was
God, we also know, for our text says, "She called the name of
Jehovah that spoke unto her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees." The
all-seeing God had veiled Himself in that angelic form! That
Divine One, whom we adore as the Son of God and the Son of
Man, condescended to be the Messenger of mercy to a poor slave
woman who had run away from her mistress!
None but God would have thus condescended. The world had no
pity in those days for slaves of any kind, much less for those who
had left their master's house. Here the Lord of Love found a noble
opportunity by revealing His gracious Nature to a forlorn one. No
eye pities her and no hand brought her deliverance–"Now will I
arise, says the Lord." The Angel found her and it is of that finding
and of what came of it, that I am going to speak this morning. May
the Holy Spirit cause the words to be with power!
In speaking of Hagar, I shall first dwell for a little upon HER
REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE. I pray that to some daughter of
sorrow a similar experience may come. May your case be mirrored
in that of Hagar, as when one sees his face in a looking glass.
Observe that Hagar had outlawed herself. No doubt she had much
to put up with, but she had been insolent and provoking to her
mistress and, at last, she had, in her impatience, deliberately left the
house of Abraham and left the abode of the chosen family.
Whatever that house may have been, it was the best place, then,
upon the earth! It was almost the only spot under Heaven where the
Lord God was known. You might have said of Abraham's family,
"you are of God, little children, and the whole world lies in the
Wicked One." She, an Egyptian, once benighted by the
superstitious worship of her country, had enjoyed the light of the
knowledge of the true God for a while. But now she had turned her
back on it. She could not but have marked Abraham's high
character and sincere devotion. She must have seen his true and
real faith in God and the way in which he endeavored to order his
household aright. Whatever faults she may have perceived there–
whatever errors she may have suffered from–she could not but have
noticed that there was a great difference between Abraham's tent
and the abodes of Egypt!
But now she quits her place of privilege, she renounces the high
hopes which surrounded her and, in her fierce passion, she rushes,
she cares not where! The untamable spirit which afterwards
showed itself in her son, Ishmael, raged in her bosom. So, too, have
we met with those who have deliberately left the ways of God and
the people of God and all semblance of goodness because they
have thought themselves badly used. They have happened to suffer
somewhat and, in the bitterness of their spirit, they have resolved to
take no more of it. They vow that they will have nothing to do with
God, or with His people–they will turn their backs upon everything
that is religious and they will mix with the world in its most
ungodly form. They do not, indeed, care what becomes of them–
they would flee from the Presence of God, Himself, if they could.
Friends, relatives, good men and the circle of blessing they would
quit and roam in a wilderness, hoping to be forgotten. Now their
hand is against every man and every man's hand is against them–
and in their high spirit they are prepared to defy the universe to
subdue them!
While she was there, in the moment of her desperation, she was
found by the Angel. He had come on purpose to seek her out and
find her and He had not failed in His search, as, indeed, He never
does. This was the last thing she thought of. She may have hoped to
have been found by some merchants going towards Egypt, or to be
picked up by certain of the wandering gypsies of the wilderness–
but she had not thought that God, Himself, would come after her!
What was there about her that Jehovah should come out of His
place to seek her? Yet He came in unexpected Grace, as He is
known to do. He remembered the low estate of His handmaiden
and because His mercy endures forever, He found her by the
fountain in the wilderness.
When the Angel of the Lord found Hagar, He dealt graciously
with her. Indeed, this was the objective of His finding her! He came
in pity, not in wrath. His first act was to awaken conviction within
her. He said to her, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, from where have you
come? And where will you go?" This language is singularly like
the Lord Jesus Christ's mode of address. The name of the person is
mentioned. This forcibly brings to my mind the speech of our Lord
when He said unto the woman, "Mary," and she turned and said
unto Him, "Rabboni." He says, "Hagar, Sarai's maid"–His words
are personal words and she cannot mistake them. Is not this the
Lord's way in other cases? Has He not said, "I have called you by
your name"? He adds her description and reminds her that
whatever else she might be, she was "Sarai's maid." How surprised
she must have been! She had never seen the august Personage
before, but evidently He had seen her, before, and knew all about
her, for His words searched her through and through.
Then, further to bring her to her right senses, the Angel asks her,
with touching pathos of tone–"From where have you come?" What
have you left behind you? What have you given up? All your hopes
lie in Abraham's tent and you have left the place. For you, there is a
high destiny, and you are flying from it. You are, after all, a favored
woman and you know it not. You are flying away from that which
will be your blessedness! This is the question of the Holy Spirit to
every runaway rebel. O wandering Sinner, what are you doing? In
fleeing from goodness, God, hope and Grace, do you know what
you are leaving?
Again, He asks her, "Where will you go?" Her crouching form is
before Him. She lifts up her eyes, all red with tears, and she weeps
anew as He says, "And where will you go?" "Will you go further
into the wilderness and die there of thirst and hunger? Will you go
down into Egypt, back to all the cruelties of that benighted land?
Where will you go?" It is thus the Lord meets runaway sinners that
are bent upon their own destruction. He calls to them by name and
asks, "From where have you come? What are you leaving? What
are you losing? What are you rejecting? What are you turning your
back upon? And where will you go? What can be the end of such a
life as yours? Where can it carry you but to destruction? Where will
you go by this course of desperate sin? Can you face the Eternal
and the Judgement Seat and the curse that withers the ungodly?
From where have you come and where will you go?"
It is thus, I say, that the Covenant Angel met with many of us
when He awakened our consciences and made us pause in our
headlong rush of sin. Some of us heard the warning voice many
years ago and we can never forget it–the call rings in the chambers
of our memory even now. It is thus that the Lord met with some of
you a short time ago and you are at this moment filled with
gratitude for the interposition. I believe that this morning the Lord
will thus meet with some who are in this congregation, whom I
know not, but whom He knows right well, for His eyes are resting
on them now and His voice is speaking to them through my voice.
Like as He said of old, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, from where have you
come? And where will you go?" so does He speak at this hour, and
asks you why you are bent upon destroying your own souls!
This worked in her mind conviction, after a certain sort–and
where the Son of God spiritually speaks to the heart, a deep and
piercing conviction is felt! His Word lays sin bare and open–and
makes the guilty conscience feel that nothing is hidden from God,
but that all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with
whom we have to do. As when the butcher hangs up the body of a
beast and, with a stroke, lays bare the heart and inwards of the
creature, so with a single Word, the Angel of the Covenant reveals
the heart of Hagar. Thus, also, the convincing Spirit deals with the
sinner and lays him bare even to the backbone, till all the secrets of
his soul are revealed and he cries, "You-Are-the-God-WhoSees!"
The Word of the Lord, by revealing the thoughts and intents of the
heart, proves its own Divine origin to him who feels its operation
and thus God, Himself, is made known as speaking by the Word.
When He had thus worked conviction in her, the Angel who had
found Hagar, next gave her an exhortation. He said to her, "Return
unto your mistress and submit yourself under her hands." A hard
message, as it seemed to her in her pride, no doubt. "Return,"
however hard the way! "Submit yourself," however humiliating the
deed! Hagar is not spared–the Angel puts His words very plainly. If
it were kindness to say, "Return," it is still greater kindness to say
severely, but truthfully, "Return to your mistress." Mark, not to
your master, only, but, "to your mistress." He also says, "Submit
yourself under her hands," to show that the submission must be
entire and absolute. Put yourself back into your right place and then
Grace can deal with you. When the Covenant Angel deals with any
man or woman among us, He will say, "Return, return, return.
Repent and be converted. Turn you; turn you. Why will you die?"
The Gospel does not spare the sinner the pangs of repentance. It
calls him to sorrow after a godly sort. You must abhor your sins and
flee from them, or your sins will be your ruin! You must so repent
of your sins as to make such restitution as may be possible. You
must replace stolen goods and recall false words. You must humble
yourself where you have been insolent. You must bow yourself
down before God and submit to man, also, so far as you have
wronged him. God the Holy Spirit, when He deals with a proud,
unrighteous heart, lays justice to the line and righteousness to the
plummet–and sweeps away as with hail every refuge of lies. He
cries, "Return! Submit!" and puts the matter so closely home that
there is no misunderstanding it! He bids the man confess and
forsake his sins and gives him no hope of mercy unless he will do
so. God has not met with you, Friend, if you go on in your sins!
God in mercy has not met with you if sin remains sweet to you and
repentance is unknown to your heart. You must go back to the place
from where you came and you must submit yourself, or nothing
will go right with you.
When the Angel of the Lord had thus spoken with Hagar, calling
her by her name, working conviction in her heart and pointing out
her duty, He then added rich promises–promises which, to her
mind, must have been very unexpected and consoling. She was a
runaway slave girl, but He says to her, "I will multiply your seed
exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude, and you
shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael." That name
signifies, "God hears me," because the Lord had heard her
affliction. The Angel went on to tell her what this child should be
who would be the joy of her heart. Little does a sinner know what
blessings are in store for him, if he repents and submits to the
Lord's will. He is come to the borders of the wilderness of death,
but God intends to bring him back to peace, joy and happiness! Oh,
if only the proud sinner knew what God's Grace will do for him, it
would break his heart to think he had been so rebellious! Oh, if the
obstinate know what a place there is at the Father's board and in
the Father's heart for the returning prodigal and how much he is
still beloved, notwithstanding all his naughtiness, he would quicken
his footsteps and wish to have wings upon his heels, that he might
fly back to his Father's house and his Father's bosom!
O Soul, I do pray that Jesus Christ may find you this morning and
say to you, "Return unto Me, for I have blotted out your sins like a
cloud, and like a thick cloud your iniquities. Return unto Me, for I
have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn you."
So you see, Hagar's experience was a very remarkable one,
although by no means peculiar to herself. Blessed be God, it has
happened to tens of thousands, that where sin abounded, Grace did
much more abound! When they have run away and outlawed
themselves, Grace has followed them, Grace has convicted them,
Grace has admonished them and Grace has made large promises to
them. Their proud heart has yielded and their spirit has become
gentle as that of a little child, as Hagar's spirit was, and they have
returned to the great Father's house and submitted themselves. And
rich blessings have become theirs. Is it not written, "If you are
willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land"? Though
Hagar had banished herself away from the house of Divine favor,
yet the Lord devised means for restoring her and she was restored!
Thus much on her remarkable experience.
II. Now, I want you to notice HER DEVOUT
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. When that which we have described
happened to her, she acknowledged the living God. My text says,
"She called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her, YouAre-the-
God-Who-Sees." She spoke to Him that spoke to her–after this
fashion do we all begin our communion with God. Oh, when God
speaks to you, you will soon find a tongue to speak to Him! I do
not mean when I speak to you in His name–for what am I? You
ought to hear us if we truly speak for God, since it is of His
kindness that He sends His servants to speak to you. But if the
Covenant Angel comes, Himself, and if He speaks to the heart, then
He unstops the deaf ears and loosens the dumb tongue. Men soon
speak to Christ when Christ speaks to them! Did you but know the
power of the Almighty Word of Grace, you would understand that
as darkness gave place to light when He said, "Let there be light,"
so do men's hearts quit their sin when Jesus speaks to them in tones
of effectual Grace. Hagar knew no speaking to God till God spoke
with her, but after He had spoken to her, there was no silence!
What did she say? She acknowledged Him to be God. "She called
the name of the Lord that spoke to her, You-Arethe-God-Who-
Sees." It is one thing to believe there is a God, but it is quite
another thing to know it by coming into personal contact with Him!
They give you books to prove that there is a God–all well and
good–be convinced by them. They tell you to walk abroad and see
God in His works. Do so. You cannot better employ yourselves, for
God is everywhere. His breath perfumes the flowers and His pencil
paints them. But you will not learn God in this fashion if you use
this method by itself. To go from Nature up to Nature's God is a
long step for broken legs–we are so mangled by the Fall that we
never take that step without Divine help. But, oh, if the Lord meets
with you! If He reveals Himself to your heart! What assurance!
What certainty!
Think not I am talking, now, of things that are not–I speak what I,
myself, have felt. God has met with some of us as surely as ever
one spirit has met with another! Men have so spoken to us at times
that we can never forget their speech, but never has human voice
come with such force as that of the Lord of Hosts, the accents of
whose Words we shall hear as long as memory holds her place and
reason sits on her throne! We may forget the words of father,
mother, wife, or friend, but not the voice of the God of Love!
"When You said, Seek you My face; my heart said unto You, Your