Part 21
face, Lord, will I seek." None doubt the existence of God when
God has come into contact with their spirit. When we have felt His
power and tasted His love–and known His overwhelming
influence–then have we said, "Jehovah, He is the God," and we
have bowed in solemn worship before Him!
I do not know that Hagar had ever thought of God before, but she
discerns Him now and speaks wisely. No doubt she had heard of
Jehovah, for she had joined in the devotions of Abraham's family,
but now, for the first time in her life, she recognizes in deed and of
a truth that the Lord lives for her and, therefore, she speaks to Him
and calls Him, "TheGod-Who-Sees."
Observe, dear Friends, that she acknowledged His observant love.
She could not help acknowledging it, for it flashed before her eyes!
I do not think when she said, "You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees," that
she meant merely that God is Omniscient and therefore that He saw
her, but she meant this, "You see me with a special observation.
You see me with eyes of tender concern and loving care. You know
me in my adversity." She felt in her inmost soul that eyes of
thoughtful love were fixed on her. "Hagar, Sarai's maid," knew that
she was especially under watchful care. Those holy eyes had
noticed all her sin which had been brought to her remembrance.
Those eyes had seen her duty which she was now willing to
resume. Those eyes had spied out the promise for her, which
promise had brought a warm comfort to her poor, chilled spirit.
"Oh," she said, "what a God You are–the God-Who-Sees, who
knows, who considers and thinks of me!" Now she has a God, not
in theory, but in fact!
You that only know God as One who made the heavens and earth,
do not, indeed, know Him at all. He must be personally a God to
you, or He will not be your God at all. To us, the true God is the
God who sees us. Does not His Law begin, "I am the Lord your
God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage"? His special care is the mark by which we know
Him. It was so in Hagar's case–God's watchful care towards her
made Him real to her. She knew that He must be God! She could
not doubt it, for she had been so strangely found out by Him. In the
extremity of her lost estate, when she had gone to the uttermost of
sin and sorrow, He had found her out and so she calls Him, "The-
God-Who-Sees me."
In the Presence of that God she felt overpowered and ready to
yield. She was so overwhelmed that no rebellion remained within
her. She girds her garments about her and she makes the best of her
way home to the tent of Sarai. Her mistress is hard, but sin is
harder. She will go back and bear the reproach and rebuke, for she
has a promise hidden in her heart to sustain he. She shall yet be the
glad mother of a father of nations who shall dwell in the presence
of all his brethren. She returns surrounded with God. Bathed in the
sense of the Divine oversight, she resigns herself to her work.
Though Abram should not encourage her and Sarai should not
acknowledge her, yet the Lord's eyes would be upon her and God's
favor was preparing great things for her. Her heart was light within
her, because of the Divine favor, and in that spirit she was subdued
unto the will of God.
That is what I want to happen to many a poor soul this morning in
a still fuller and more spiritual sense. Pray, you people of God, that
it may be so! If you are here, this morning, Mistress Sarah, let me
put in a gentle word for your poor maid. If she does come back to
you, do not treat her harshly again. Do not drive her away again,
but receive the runaway and make the best of her. Let the past be
buried. Say, "If an angel has appeared to you, and taught you to
know the Lord, I will gladly receive you and show the kindness of
God unto you."
III. Let me now call to your notice THE MANIFEST
AMAZEMENT of this woman, for in her glad surprise she uttered
a sentence which runs as follows–"Have I, also, here looked after
Him who sees me?" This is a sentence very hard to be understood.
Not because it is hard to make out a meaning, but because it is so
full of meaning! It reads like an oracle. Expositors will tell you that
as many senses may be given to this sentence as there are words in
it–and each one of these senses will bear a measure of decent
defense. I shall not go into them all, but I think I see clearly that
she was amazed that God should care for her. "You, God see me.
Have I, also, here looked after Him who sees me?" Does He see
me? Do I see Him? If I had loved God when I was in Sarai's tent, I
could have understood His following me here. If I had sought Him
when I was with Abram and had known my master's God in
Canaan, I could have understood that He should remember me
now. But I was a wild Egyptian! I would not bow my knee to
Jehovah. No, I had no wish nor thought for the living God–yet has
He looked after me, the slave girl for whom nobody cared? He has
spoken to me concerning things to come."
Brethren, it is a great wonder to me, this day, that ever my God
should think of me. Brothers, Sisters, do you not share that feeling,
each one for yourself? Do you not say, "Why me, my Lord? Why
me"? Sit still in holy wonder and adore and bless the Lord!
I think her next amazement was that she should have been such a
long time without ever thinking of Him who had thought so much
of her. She says, "Have I also here looked unto Him who sees me?"
"What? Have I been these years with Abraham and heard about the
God who has been looking at me in love–and have I never glanced
a thought to Him?" Her ungodliness astounds her! Brothers and
Sisters, when you are brought to God, it will strike you as though a
dart went through your flesh, that you should so long have done
despite to God and heavenly things! Then will you say, "Have I
forgotten Christ? Have I forgotten God? Has He had designs of
love to me and purposes of Grace for me, and yet have I rebelled
against Him? Did He die for me and did I refuse to live for Him?
Did He bleed His life away on the Cross for me and have I been, all
these years, thoughtless and careless of Him?"
It will stagger you! You will feel ready to sink into the dust when
you once feel the folly and meanness of your course. You can
bluster, you can be proud and careless when you know not God–but
when you once fully meet with Him, you will be ready to bite your
tongue to think you could have lived so long in ignorance and
neglect of your God! Hagar was evidently startled as she
remembered that she had never, up till that time, looked to the
observing One.
But next, she is amazed still more to think that at last she does
look unto God. In effect she cries, "What? Has it come to this?
Have I, also, here looked after Him who sees me? Is Hagar at last
converted? When I had bread to eat I never looked after God and
now that I have come into this wilderness, do I seek and find Him?
No creature can hear my call and do I now call upon my Creator? I
am alone, alone, alone! There is nothing here but this well, and lo,
the Angel of Jehovah has found me and spoken with me and now,
in this wild place, I, for the first time, look after the Lord who has
looked after me! Is this the place, the spot of ground where I must
close in with my Maker and know that there is a God and believe
His promise–and begin to live in expectation of its fulfillment?"
It might well astound her! Perhaps somebody has come into this
service this very day, almost driven to desperation. You have acted
so wrongly–I cannot tell how wrongly–and now you are smarting
from the consequences of your foolishness. If God is meeting with
you, this morning, you will cry out in astonishment, "What? Have I
come here to find God? Have I come into this miserable condition
that I might be driven to look after Him? This is surprising Grace!"
An old man in the country was a gracious father and brought up
his children in the fear of the Lord–but his son, while yet a youth,
must see life in London and, therefore, he came to the great city
and plunged into all sorts of sin. He cared nothing for the Sabbath
and even felt glad to escape from the weariness of the Meeting
House to which he had been taken from his infancy. It was no
design of his to ever find God, but God found him in the most
unlikely of all the places in the world, namely, in a low play-house.
A scene occurred in which a mutinous sailor was to be hanged and,
asking for a glass of spirits, he was represented as drinking to his
own health in the words–"Here's to my immortal soul." "Immortal
soul," thought the foolish youth, "Immortal soul!" He had almost
forgotten that he had an immortal soul. It was a shot fired at the
center of the target–it struck him home–he was ready to drop! He
sought the open air and a place where to weep. The next Sabbath
found the young scapegrace at a Prayer Meeting, seeking his
father's God, and, before long he found peace through the blood of
Jesus! He began preaching the Gospel which he had so grievously
abused. God knows how to get at the heart of sinners!
Remember Colonel Gardiner about to commit a foul offense? He
made an appointment and reached the spot an hour too soon. While
he waited, he saw, or thought he saw, his Savior, and heard a voice
accusing him of ingratitude. He fled the place of his temptation,
sought pardon and became eminent as a saint. What a surprise it
must be to rebels to be thus seized in the arms of Grace and
transformed into friends of the King! I ask God that such a surprise
may await souls who are here today! May you, also, inquire in
amazement, "Have I here, also, looked after Him who sees me?"
One other surprise Hagar had, and that was the surprise to think
that she was alive. It was the common conviction of that age that
no man could see God and live. She knew that she had seen Him in
angelic form and she marveled that she found herself alive and able
to look up with hope. The awakened sinner, when he is met with by
the God of Grace, wonders that he has not been cut down as a
cumberer of the ground! If the Lord had met with me in a way of
vengeance and caused me to wither away from the root like the
fruitless fig tree, I could not have wondered–but to bless me in
infinite compassion is a wonder, indeed! If He had sentenced me to
depart to the lowest Hell, I could not have complained. But to meet
me in love–to pardon, relieve and save me–this is a miracle of
Grace! Does the Lord say, "I receive you to My heart, and I intend
to bless you from now on and forever"? Then does He act like a
God! Who but He would speak thus? His Grace awakens an
amazement which is not soon forgotten or easily expressed. The
soul cries in surprise and delight–
"Depth of mercy, can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear?
Me, the chief of sinners, spare?
I have long withstood His Grace,
Long provoked Him to His face.
Tell it unto sinners, tell,
I am, I am out of Hell!"
IV. My time has fled, or I should have asked you to notice HER
HUMBLE WORSHIP. Her humble worship wasexpressed by her
using an expressive name for the Angel of the Lord. She
worshipped God heartily and intelligently, according to her
knowledge. She did not use the first word that came to hand, but
she spoke fitly, thoughtfully and well. She knew that the Lord was
the seeing God, for He had seen her, and so she worshipped Him
under that title, "You-Are-theGod-Who-Sees." We cannot worship
"The Unknown God"–at least, such worship lacks eyes and light
and is fitter for owls and bats than for man.
Yet be it observed that she worshipped beyond her knowledge,
according to her apprehension, for she said, "Have I here also
looked after Him?" As if she knew that she had not fully seen the
Lord, but had only looked at Him as He retreated from her. Like
Moses, in a later day, she had only beheld the back parts of God,
the skirts of His garments–His face she had not seen. The Hebrew
has that force. Hagar felt there was much more of God than she had
seen and, in that belief, she worshipped and adored with lowliest
reverence.
Her worship was wonderfully personal. It is not "God sees," but
"You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees." And it is not, "Has God looked
after His creature?" but, "Have I here, also, looked after Him who
sees me?" True religion is always personal, but it becomes
wonderfully so when a man is specially arrested by Sovereign
Grace, for then he adores as if he were the only man in the universe
and beholds God as if no other eyes throughout all the ages had
ever beheld Him. Oh, it is wonderful to feel alone with the Lord,
while the Lord is searching you through and through!
Remark, again, that her worship proved itself deeply true, for it
was followed by immediate practical obedience to the command of
the Lord. Obedience is the best of worship! She returned to her
mistress and was subject to her. Oh for Grace, this morning, if God
meets with us, not to tarry a single minute in rebellion, but to return
at once to subjection to the Lord! Oh, to cry with Thomas, "My
Lord and my God," and then to live as in His sight! It were well to
keep the finger forever in the print of the nails, that we might never
lose our fellowship with Jesus, nor our joy in the great Father, nor
our subjection to the ever-blessed Spirit of all Grace.
We will conclude by glancing, for an instant, at the well which
became THE SUGGESTIVE MEMORIAL of this special
manifestation and singular experience. That well–we do not know
what it had been called before–but that beer, or well, was
henceforth called Beer-Lahai-Roi, or, The Well-of-Him-Who-
Lives-and-Sees. Will we not all, at this time, drink of that well? It
was a very happy thought to attach a holy name to a well, so that
every traveler might learn of God as he refreshed himself. When a
person comes to drink at certain fountains, he reads "Drink, gentle
traveler, drink and pray." The inscription is most suitable. It is fit
that men should pray when they receive so precious a refreshment
as pure water. It was specially meet that travelers should henceforth
and forever pray at a spot where the Lord, Himself, had been and
had called to Himself a wanderer who had felt compelled to cry,
"God lives and God sees."
Brothers and Sisters, there is a God and we know it. He is not an
abstraction far away, but He is a reality and sees and observes–and
takes care of men and women. Many of us have proven this to be a
fact. Now next time you eat, worship Him that lives and sees! Next
time you drink, worship Him that lives and sees! Let our tables and
our wells remind us of Him who removes our hunger and quenches
our thirst.
Better still, let this very name of God–"The Living and The
Seeing One"–be as a well of water to you for the comfort of your
hearts. By this may your griefs be assuaged. "Mother is dead!"
What a loss is the death of a mother to many a girl and to many a
young man! "Mother is dead" is the token of temptation without
defense. Such a stay and holdfast, Mother often is, that when she is
gone, Satan gets a dire advantage over a young soul. Yet if Mother
is gone, the Lord lives–and all the gentleness and kindness of a
mother are treasured up in Him! God lives–think of that and be
comforted. This well is never dry. Your father is dead, or your dear,
kind brother is dead and you are left alone to bear the buffetings of
a cruel world. Never mind. Let not your heart fail you. Do not run
away. God lives and sees. He in whom is all fatherhood, all
friendship and all kindness, still stands near you, watching for your
good. Come and drink at this well! The waters are cool and clear.
Drink and live!
Did I hear you cry out in anguish, "Nobody cares for me"? Do
you say, "Nobody knows me in this terrible city. Here I am in this
great London as much deserted as Robinson Crusoe on his lone
island"? I know what you mean. London is worse than a wilderness
to many. A man may lay himself down and die in these streets and
nobody will care for him. The millions will pass him by–not for
lack of kindness, but from lack of thought! There is no such
horrible wilderness as a wilderness of men. Yet, take comfort–the
living God sees you! He sees not as man sees, with a mere gaze of
cold notice, but His heart goes with His eyes. You have not prayed
yet, but He hears your affliction. Oh, begin to pray and He will
speedily deliver! Spread your case before Him and He will regard
your petition!
I would encourage you to get alone, if you are in sorrow and sin,
and tell it all out before God and see if He does not deliver you.
Some of us have gone to Him in plights as terrible as yours and we
have ordered our cases before Him–and He has answered us. We
can truly say, "He has delivered us" and, therefore, we encourage
you to seek His face in the same manner. May the Lord bring you
to seek Him at once, for His great love's sake, and then to Him
shall be Glory forever and ever. Amen.
Ge 17:1 • Consecration to God — Illustrated by Abram's Circumcision
ERMON 0845
Consecration To God—Illustrated By Abraham's
Circumcision
"And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared
to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before
Me, and be you perfect. And I will make My Covenant between Me
and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."
Genesis 17:1-2
WE COMMENCED our exposition of the life of Abram with his
calling, when he was brought out of Ur of the Chaldeans and
separated unto the Lord in Canaan. We then passed on to his
justification, when he believed God and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. And now you will bear with us if we continue in the
same subject to a further stage and attempt to describe the fuller
development of Abram's vital godliness in the open and clear
revelation of his consecration to God.
In the chapter before us we see his sanctification unto the Lord,
his ordination to service and purification as a vessel fitted for the
Master's use. All the called are justified, and all the justified are, by
a work of the Holy Spirit, sanctified and made meet to be
afterwards glorified with Christ Jesus. Let me remind you of the
order in which these blessings come. If we should speak of
sanctification or consecration, it is not as a first thing, but as an
elevation to be reached only by preceding steppingstones.
In vain do men pretend to be consecrated to God before they are
called of God's Spirit. Such have yet to be taught that no strength
of nature can suffice to serve the Lord aright. They must learn what
this means, "You must be bornagain," for assuredly until men are
brought into spiritual life by effectual calling of the Holy Spirit, all
their talk about serving God may be answered in the words of
Joshua, "You cannot serve the Lord." I speak of consecration, but it
is not as a first thing, nor even as a second thing–for a man must be
justified by faith which is in Christ Jesus–or he will not possess the
Divine Grace which is the root of all true sanctity.
Sanctification grows out of faith in Jesus Christ. Remember,
holiness is a flower, not a root–it is not sanctification that saves, but
salvation that sanctifies. A man is not saved by his holiness–he
becomes holy because he is already saved. Being justified by faith,
and having peace with God, he walks no longer after the flesh, but
after the Spirit, and in the power of the blessing which he has
received by Grace he dedicates himself to the service of his
gracious God. Note, then, the due order of heavenly benefits–
consecration to God follows calling and justification.
Recalling your minds to Abram's history, let me remind you that
13 years had elapsed after the time in which God had said that
Abram's faith was counted to him for righteousness. And those 13
years, as far as we can gather from Scripture, were not at all so full
of brave faith and noble deeds as we might have expected them to
have been. How sure is that truth that the best of men are but men
at the best–for that very man who had accepted God's promise and
had not staggered at it through unbelief, within a few months
afterwards, or perhaps a few days–was taken with a fit of unbelief!
And at the instigation of his wife, Abram adopted means which
were not justifiable, in order that he might obtain the promised heir.
He used means which may not be so vicious to him as they would
be in men of modern times, but which were suggested by an
unbelieving policy and were fraught with evil. He takes Hagar to
wife. He could not leave it to God to give him the promised Seed.
He could not leave it with God to fulfill His promise in His own
time, but justifies himself in turning aside from the narrow path of
faith to accomplish, by doubtful methods, the end which God
Himself had promised and undertaken to accomplish! How shorn
of splendor is Abram seen when we read of him, "and Abram
hearkened unto the voice of Sarai!" That business of Hagar is to the
Patriarch's deep discredit and reflects no honor at all upon either
him or his faith. Look at the consequences of his unbelieving!
Misery soon followed. Hagar despises her mistress. Sarai throws all
theblame on her husband. The poor bondwoman is so harshly dealt
with that she flees from the household. How much of real cruelty
may be meant by the term "dealing harshly," I cannot tell, but one
marvels that such a man as Abram allowed one who had been
brought into such a relationship with him to be heedlessly chased
from his house while in a condition requiring care and kindness!
We admire the truthfulness of the Holy Spirit that He has been
pleased to record the faults of the saints without extenuating them.
Biographies of good men in Scripture are written with unflinching
integrity–their evil recorded as well as their good. These faults are
not written that we may say, "Abraham did so-and-so, therefore we
may do it." No, Brothers and Sisters, the lives of these good men
are warnings to us as well as examples, and we are to judge them as
we should judge ourselves–by the laws of right and wrong.
Abram did wrong both in taking Hagar to wife and in allowing
her to be so badly used. In after years the child of the bondwoman
mocked the child of the free woman, and an expulsion of both
mother and child was necessary. There was deep sorrow in Abram's
heart, a bitterness not to be told. Polygamy, though tolerated under
the Old Testament, was never approved–it was only endured
because of the hardness of men's hearts. It is evil, only evil, and
that continually! In the family relationship there can be opened no
more abundant and fruitful source of misery to the sons of men
than lack of chastity to the marriage bond made with one wife–
disguise that unchastity by what name you will.
All these 13 years, so far as Scripture informs us, Abram had not
a single visit from his God. We do not find any record of his either
doing anything memorable or having so much as a single audience
with the Most High. Learn from this that if we once forsake the
track of simple faith, once cease to walk according to the purity
which faith approves, we strew our path with thorns, cause God to
withhold the light of His countenance from us and pierce ourselves
through with many sorrows.
But mark, Beloved, the exceeding Grace of God. The way to
recover Abram from his backsliding was that the Lord should
appear to him, and, consequently, we read in our text that at 99
years of age Abram was favored with a further visit from the Most
High. This brings to my remembrance the words in the book of
Revelation concerning the Church in Laodicea: "You are neither
cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. So then because you are
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My
mouth"–a very solemn declaration. But what follows? "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
Me," which means just this–that for recovery out of a horrible state
of languishing and lukewarmness there is no remedy but the
coming of Jesus Christ to the soul in near and dear communion!
Truly it was so with Abram. The Lord would bring him out of his
state of distrust and distance into one of high dignity and sanctity–
and He does it by manifesting Himself to him, for the Lord talked
with Abram–
"Midst darkest shades, if He appears,
My dawning is begun.
He is my soul's bright morning star,
And He my rising sun."
Breathe a prayer, my Brothers and Sisters–"Lord, reveal Yourself
to my poor backsliding, languishing spirit. Revive me, O Lord, for
one smile from You can make my wilderness blossom as the rose."
On the occasion of this gracious manifestation, God was pleased to
do for Abram what I think is to us an admirable and instructive
illustration of the consecration of our redeemed spirits entirely to
His service.
I shall, this morning, as God may help me, first lead you to
observe the model of the consecrated life. Secondly, the nature of
the higher life. And thirdly, its results.
First, then, let us notice in the words of God to Abram THE
MODEL OF THE SANCTIFIED OR CONSECRATED LIFE.
Here it is: "I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be you
perfect." For a man to be thoroughly sanctified to the Master's
service, he must first realize the almightiness and all-sufficiency
and glory of God. Brethren, the God whom we serve fills all things
and has all power and all riches. If we think little of Him, we shall
render little trust to Him and consequently little obedience. But if
we have grand conceptions of the glory of God, we shall learn to
confide in Him most thoroughly. We shall receive mercies from
Him most plentifully, and we shall be moved to serve Him most
consistently.
Sin, at the bottom of it, very frequently has its origin in low
thoughts of God. Take Abram's sin–he could not see how God
could make him the father of many nations when Sarai was old and
barren. Hence his error with Hagar. But if he had remembered what
God now brings to his recollection, that God is El Shaddai, the All-
Sufficient One, he would have said, "No, I will remain true to
Sarai, for God can effect His own purposes without my taking
tortuous means to accomplish them. He is All-Sufficient in
Himself, and not dependent upon creature strength. I will patiently
hope, and quietly wait to see the fulfillment of the Master's
promises."
Now, as with Abram, so with you, my Brothers and Sisters. When
a man is in business difficulties, if he believes that God is All-
Sufficient to carry him through them, he will not practice any of the
common tricks of trade nor degenerate into that shiftiness which is
so usual among commercial men. If a man believes, being poor,
that God is sufficient portion for him, he will not grow envious of
the rich or discontented with his condition. The man who feels that
God is an allsufficient portion for his spirit will not look for
pleasure in the pursuits of vanity. He will not go with the giddy
multitude after their vain mirth. "No," says he, "God has appeared
unto me as God All-Sufficient for my comfort and my joy. I am
content so long as God is mine. Let others drink from broken
cisterns if they will–I dwell by the overflowing fountain, and am
perfectly content."
O Beloved, what glorious names our Lord deservedly wears!
Whichever of His names you choose to dwell upon for a moment,
what a mine of wealth and meaning it opens up to you! Here is this
name, "El Shaddai." "El," that is, "The Strong One," for infinite
power dwells in Jehovah. How readily may we who are weak
become mighty if we draw upon Him! And then, "Shaddai," that is
to say, "The Unchangeable, The Invincible." What a God we have,
then, who knows no variableness, neither shadow of turning,
against whom none can stand! "El," strong. "Shaddai,"
unchangeable in His strength–therefore always strong in every time
of need–ready to defend His people and able to preserve them from
all their foes.
Come, Christian, with such a God as this why need you abase
yourself to win the good word of the wicked man? Why gad about
to find earthly pleasures where the roses are always mixed with
thorns? Why need you to put your confidence in gold and silver, or
in the strength of your body, or in anything that is beneath the
moon? You have El Shaddai to be yours! Your power to be holy
will much depend upon your grasping with all the intensity of your
faith the cheering fact that this God is your God forever and ever!
He is your daily portion, your all-sufficient consolation. You dare
not, can not, will not wander into the ways of sin when you know
that such a God is your Shepherd and Guide!
Following up this model of the consecrated life, notice the next
words–"walk before Me." This is the style of life which
characterizes true holiness. It is a walking before God. Ah!
Brethren, Abram had walked before Sarai–he had paid undue
respect to her views and wishes. He had walked, too, in the sight of
his own eyes and the inclinations of his own heart when he was
allied to Hagar. But now the Lord gently rebukes him with the
exhortation, "Walk before Me." It is remarkable that on the former
Divine visit to the Patriarch (which we tried to interpret last Lord's-
Day), the Lord's message was, "Fear not."
Abram was then, as it were, but a child in spiritual things, and the
Lord gave him comfort, for he needed it. He is now grown into a
man and the exhortation is practical and full of activity–"walk."
The Christian man is to put out and use the strength and Grace
which he has received. The gist of the exhortation lies in the last
words, "Walk before Me," by which I understand an habitual sense
of the Presence of God, or doing the right thing and shunning the
wrong out of respect to the will of God–a consideration of God in
all actions–public and private. Brethren, I deeply regret when I see
Christian men, even in religious societies, in their calculations
leaving out the greatest item in the whole calculation–namely, the
Divine element, the Divine power and faithfulness.
Of the most of mankind I may say, without being censorious, that
if there were no God, their course of action would not be different
from what it is, for they do not feel themselves either restrained or
constrained by any sense of the Divine Presence. "The
transgression of the wicked says within my heart that there is no
fear of God before his eyes." But this is the mark of the truly
sanctified man of God–that he lives in every place as standing in
the presence chamber of the Divine Majesty. He acts as knowing
that the eyes which never sleep are always fixed on him. His heart's
desire is that he may never do the wrong thing–not because he has
respect to worldly greatness–and may never forget the right thing–
not because he is in evil company–but because God, being
everywhere, he is always in company where it would be impudent
rebellion to sin. The saint feels that he must not, dare not transgress
because he is before the very face of God! This is the model of the
sanctified character–for a man to realize what the Lord is–and then
to act as in the immediate Presence of a holy and jealous God.
The next words are, "and be you perfect." Brethren, does this
mean absolute perfection? I shall not controvert the belief of some
that we may be absolutely perfect on earth. Freely do I admit that
the model of sanctification is perfection. It were inconsistent with
the Character of God for Him to give us any other than a perfect
command and a perfect standard. No law but that of absolute
perfection could come from a perfect God–to give us a model that
were not absolutely perfect were to ensure to us superabundant
imperfections–and to give us an excuse for them. God sets before
His servants no rule of–"Be as good as you can," but this–"Be you
perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect."
Has any man ever attained to it? Truly we have not, but for all
that, every Christian man aims at it. I would far rather my child had
a perfect copy to write by, though he might never write equal to it,
than that he should have an imperfect copy set before him–because
then he would never make a good writer at all. Our heavenly Father
has given us the perfect image of Christ to be our example! He has
given His perfect Law to be our rule, and it is for us to aim at this
perfection in the power of the Holy Spirit, and, like Abram, to fall
upon our faces in shame and confusion of face when we remember
how far we have come short of it. Perfection is what we wish for,
pant after, and shall at the last obtain.
We do not want to have the Law toned down to our weakness.
Blessed be God, we delight in the perfection of that Law. We say
with Paul, "The Law is holy, and just, and good, but I am carnal,
sold under sin." The will of God is that which we would be
conformed, and if we who are Believers had but one wish, and it
could be granted to us at once, it should be this–to make us perfect
in every good work to do His will, working in us that which is
well-pleasing in His sight.
However, the word, "perfect," as I have said, bears commonly the
meaning of "upright," or "sincere"–"walk before Me, and be
sincere." No double dealing must the Christian man have. No
playing fast and loose with God or man. No hypocritical
professions, or false principles. He must be as transparent as glass.
He must be a man in whom there is no guile. He must be a man
who has cast aside deceit in every shape–who hates it, and loathes
it. He must walk before God, who sees all things, with absolute
sincerity, earnestly desiring in all things, both great and small, to
commend himself to the conscience of others as in the sight of the
Most High.
Brothers and Sisters, here is the model of the consecrated life! Do
you long to attain it? I am sure every soul that is moved by God's
Grace does. But if your feeling about it is like mine, it will be just
that of Abram in the text, "Abram fell on his face before the Lord."
For oh, how far short we have come of this! We have not always
thought of God as AllSufficient. We have been unbelieving. We
have doubted Him here, and doubted Him there. We have not gone
to work in this world as if we believed the promise, "I will never
leave you, nor forsake you." We have not been satisfied to suffer, or
to be poor–and we have not been content to do His will without
asking questions.
We might often have had addressed to us the rebuke, "Is the
Lord's hand waxed short? Is His arm shortened at all? Is His ear
heavy that He cannot hear?" Brethren, we have not always walked
before the Lord! If one may speak for the rest, we do not always
feel the Presence of God as a check to us. There are angry words,
perhaps, at the table. There is wrongdoing in the place of business.
There are carelessness, worldliness, pride, and I know not what
beside of evil to mar the day's labor. And when we come back at
night we have to confess, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep. I
have forgotten my Shepherd's Presence. I have not always spoken
and acted as if I felt that You were always looking upon me."
Thus it has come to pass that we have not been perfect. I feel
ready to laugh, not the laugh of Abram, but that of thorough
ridicule when I hear people talk about their being absolutely
perfect. They must be of very different flesh and blood from us–or
rather they must be great fools full of conceit, and utterly ignorant
of themselves–for if they did but look at a single action they would
find specks in it. And if they examined but one single day they
would perceive something in which they fell short, if there were
nothing in which they had transgressed.
You see your model, Brethren. Study it in the life of Christ and
then press forward to it with the zeal of the Apostle who said, "Not
as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I
follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus."
II. Secondly, THE NATURE OF THIS CONSECRATION as
illustrated in this chapter. On each point briefly. Genuine spiritual
consecration begins with communion with God. Note the third
verse–"Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him." By
looking at Christ Jesus, His image is photographed upon our mind
and we are changed from glory to glory, as by the Presence of the
Lord. Distance from God's Presence always means sin–holy
familiarity with God engenders holiness. The more you think of
God. The more you meditate upon His works. The more you praise
Him. The more you pray to Him. The more constantly you talk
with Him, and He with you, by the Holy Spirit, the more surely are
you upon the road to thorough consecration to His cause!
The next point in the nature of this consecration is that it is
fostered by enlarged views of the Covenant of Grace. Read on: "As
for Me, behold My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father
of many nations." This is said to help Abram to walk before God
and to be perfect, from which we conclude that to grow in
sanctification a man should increase in knowledge, and also in the
tenacity of the faith which grasps the Covenant which God has
made with Christ for His people which is, "Ordered in all things
and sure."
With your Bibles open, notice attentively that Abram was
refreshed as to his own personal interest in the Covenant. Note the
second personal pronoun, how it is repeated: "As for Me, behold,
My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many
nations." Take the sixth verse, "I will make you exceedingly
fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of
you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and
your seed after you…to be a God unto you, and to your seed after
you."
Thus Abram has the Covenant brought home to himself. He is
made to feel that he has a part and a lot therein. If you are ever to
be sanctified unto God's service, you must get a full assurance of
your interest in all the Covenant provisions! Doubts are like wild
boars of the forest which tear up the flowers of sanctification in the
garden of the heart. But when you have in your soul a God-given
assurance of your interest in the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
then shall the foxes which spoil the vines be hunted to death and
your tender grapes shall give a good smell. Cry to God, beloved
Brothers and Sisters, for strong faith to, "Read your title clear to
mansions in the skies." Great holiness must spring from great faith!
Faith is the root, obedience the branch–and if the root decays the
branch cannot flourish.
Ask to know that Christ is yours, and that you are His–for here
you will find a fountain to water your consecration and make it
yield fruit to Christ's service. Some professors act as if this were
not the case. They foment their doubts and fears in order to perfect
holiness. I have known Christians, when they are conscious that
they have not lived as they ought to live, begin to doubt their
interest in Christ, and, as they say, humble themselves in order to
reach after fuller sanctification of life. That is to say, they starve
themselves in order to grow strong! They throw their gold out of
the window in order to become rich! They pull up the very
foundation of their house to make it stand secure!
Beloved Believer, sinner as you are, backslider as you are, believe
in Jesus–let not a sense of sin weaken your faith in Him. He died
for sinners–"in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Cling to that
Cross–the more furious the storm the more need of the life-buoy–
never leave it, but make your hold firmer! Confide alone in the
virtue of that precious blood, for thus only will you slay your sins
and advance in holiness. If you say within your heart, "Jesus cannot
save such a one as I am. If I had marks and evidences of being
God's child, I could then trust in the reward"–you have cast away
your shield and the darts of the tempter will wound you terribly!
Cling to Jesus even when it is a question of whether you have a
grain of Divine Grace in your hearts! Believe that He died for you,
not because you are consecrated or sanctified, but died for you as
sinners, and saves you as sinners. Never lose your simple trust in
the Crucified, for only by the blood of the Lamb can you overcome
sin and be made fit for the Lord's work.
Note, in reading these words, how this Covenant is revealed to
Abram peculiarly as a work of Divine power. Note the run of the
passage, "I will make My covenant between Me and you." "I will
make you fruitful." "I will establish My covenant." "I will give
unto you." "I will be your God," and so on. Oh, those glorious
"wills" and "shalls." Brethren, you cannot serve the Lord with a
perfect heart until first your faith gets a grip of the Divine "will"
and "shall." If my salvation rests upon this poor, puny arm–upon
my resolves, my integrity, and my faithfulness–it is shipwrecked
forever!
But if my eternal salvation rests upon the great arm which bears
up the universe. If my soul's safety is altogether in that hands that
wheel the stars along–then blessed be His name–it is safe and well,
and now, out of love to such a Savior, I will serve Him with all my
heart! I will spend and be spent for Him who has thus graciously
undertaken for me. Mark this, Brothers and Sisters. Be very clear
about it, and ask to have the Divine working made apparent to your
soul, for that will help you to be consecrated to God.
Further, Abraham had a view of the Covenant in its
everlastingness. I do not remember that the word "everlasting" had
been used before in reference to that Covenant, but in this chapter
we have it over and over again. "I will establish My covenant for
an everlasting covenant." Here is one of those grand Truths of God
which many of the babes in Grace have not as yet learned, namely,
that the blessings of Grace are blessings not given today to be taken
back tomorrow, but eternal blessings. The salvation which is in
Christ Jesus is not a salvation which will belong to us for a few
hours while we are faithful to it, and will then be taken away so
that we shall be left to perish. God forbid! "He is not a man that He
should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent." "I am God,"
says He, "I change not: therefore, you sons of Jacob are not
consumed.".
When we put ourselves into the hands of Christ we do not confide
in a Savior who might suffer us to be destroyed, but we rest in One
who has said, "I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand." Instead
of the doctrine of the security of the saints leading to negligence of
life, you will find that, on the contrary, where it is thoroughly well
received in the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, it begets such
a holy confidence in God, such a flaming gratitude to Him that it is
one of the best incentives to consecration! Treasure up these
thoughts, dear Brothers and Sisters, and if you would grow in
Divine Grace and in conformity to Christ, endeavor to perceive
your personal interest in the Covenant, the Divine power which
guarantees its fulfillment, and the everlastingness of its character.
In considering the nature of this consecration, I would observe,
next, that they who are consecrated to God are regarded as new
men. The new manhood is indicated by the change of name–he is
called no longer Abram, but Abraham–and his wife is no longer
Sarai, but Sarah. You, Beloved, are new creatures in Christ Jesus.
The root and source of all consecration to God lies in regeneration.
We are "born-again"–a new and incorruptible seed is placed within
us which "lives and abides forever." The name of Christ is named
upon us–we are no longer called sinners and unjust, but we become
the children of God by faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Note further that the nature of this consecration was set forth to
Abraham by the rite of circumcision. It would not be at all fitting or
decorous for us to enter into any detail as to that mysterious rite,
but it will suffice to say that the rite of circumcision signified the
taking away of the filthiness of the flesh. We have the Apostle
Paul's own interpretation of circumcision in the verses which we
read just now in his Epistle to the Colossians. Circumcision
indicated to the seed of Abraham that there was a defilement of the
flesh in man which must forever be taken away or man would
remain impure, and out of covenant with God.
Now, Beloved, there must be, in order to our sanctification to
Christ, a giving up, a painful relinquishing of things as dear to us as
right eyes and right hands. There must be a denying of the flesh
with its affections and lusts. We must mortify our members. There
must be self-denial if we are to enter into the service of God. The
Holy Spirit must pass sentence of death and cutting away upon the
passions and tendencies of corrupt humanity. Much must perish
which nature would cherish–but die it must–because Divine Grace
abhors it. Notice, with regard to circumcision, that it was
peremptorily ordained that it should be practiced on every male of
the race of Abraham, and if it were neglected, death followed. So
the giving up of sin, the giving up of the body of the filth of the
flesh is necessary to every Believer. Without holiness no man shall
see the Lord.
Even the babe in Christ is as much to see death written upon the
body of the filth of the flesh as a man who, like Abraham, has
reached advanced years and come to maturity in spiritual things.
There is no distinction, here, between the one and the other.
"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." And where a
supposed grace does not take away from us a love of sin, it is not
the Grace of God at all, but the presumptuous conceit of our own
vain natures. It is often said that the ordinance of Baptism is
analogous to the ordinance of circumcision. I will not controvert
that point, although the statement may be questioned.
But supposing it to be, let me urge upon every Believer here to
see to it that in his own soul he realizes the spiritual meaning both
of circumcision and Baptism, and then consider the outward rites–
for the thing signified is vastly more important than the sign.
Baptism sets forth far more than circumcision! Circumcision is
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but Baptism is the burial of
the flesh altogether! Baptism does not say, "Here is something to
be taken away," but everything is dead and must be buried with
Christ in His tomb, and the man must rise anew with Christ.
Baptism teaches us that by death we pass into the new life. As
Noah's ark, passing through the death of the old world, emerged
into a new world, even so, by a like figure, Baptism sets forth our
salvation by the resurrection of Christ–a Baptism of which Peter
says, it is "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good conscience toward God."
In Baptism, the man avows to himself and others that he comes
by death into newness of life according to the words of the Holy
Spirit, "Buried with Him in Baptism, in which also you are risen
with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised
Him from the dead." The most valuable point is the spiritual
meaning, and on that we experience what it is to be dead to the
world–to be dead and buried with Christ–and then to be risen with
Him! Still, Brethren, Abraham was not allowed to say, "If I get the
spiritual meaning, I can do without the outward rite." He might
have objected to that rite on a thousand grounds a great deal more
strongly than any which the hesitating have urged against Baptism–
but he first accepted the rite, as well as the thing which it intended,
and straightaway was circumcised!
And so I exhort you, Brothers and Sisters, to be obedient to the
precept upon Baptism, as well as attentive to the Truth of God
which it signifies. If you are, indeed, buried with Christ, and risen
with Him, despise not the outward and instructive sign by which
this is set forth.
"Well," says one, "a difficulty suggests itself as to your views"–
for an argument is often drawn from this chapter, "that inasmuch as
Abraham must circumcise all his seed, we ought to baptize all our
children." Now, observe the type and interpret it not according to
prejudice, but according to Scripture. In the type the seed of
Abraham are circumcised. You draw the inference that all typified
by the seed of Abraham ought to be baptized, and I do not quibble
at the conclusion. But I ask you, who are the true seed of Abraham?
Paul answers in Romans 9:8–"They which are the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the
promise are counted for the seed."
As many as believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they are
Jews or Gentiles, are Abraham's seed. Whether eight days old in
Divine Grace, or more or less–every one of Abraham's seed has a
right to Baptism. But I deny that the unregenerate, whether children
or adults, are of the spiritual seed of Abraham. The Lord will, we
trust, call many of them by His Grace–but as yet they are "heirs of
wrath, even as others." At such time as the Spirit of God shall sow
the good seed in their hearts, they are of Abraham's believing seed–
but they are not so while they live in ungodliness and unbelief, or
are as yet incapable of faith or repentance.
The answering person in type to the seed of Abraham is, by the
confession of everybody, the Believer. And the Believer ought,
seeing he is buried with Christ spiritually, to prove that fact by his
public Baptism in water, according to the Savior's own precept and
example. "Thus," said Christ, "it becomes us to fulfill all
righteousness," as He went down to the river Jordan. At the Jordan
was He sprinkled? Why go down to a river to be sprinkled? Why
went He down into the water to be sprinkled? "Us." Did He mean
babes? Was He a babe? Was not He, when He said "us," speaking
of the faithful who are in Him? "And thus it becomes us to fulfill
all righteousness," that is, all His saints.
But how does Baptism fulfill all righteousness? Typically thus–It
is the picture of the whole work of Christ. There is His immersion
in suffering. There is His death and burial. There is His coming up
out of the water representing His Resurrection. His coming up the
banks of Jordan represents His Ascension. It is a typical
representation of how He fulfilled all righteousness, and how the
saints fulfilled it in Him.
But, Brothers and Sisters, I did not intend to go so far into the
outward sign, because my soul's deepest desire is this, that as
Abraham, by the outward sign, was taught that there was a putting
away of the filth of flesh, which must be, or death must follow–so
are we taught by Baptism that there is an actual death to the world,
and a resurrection with Christ, which must be to every Believer,
however old or however young–or he has not part or lot in the
matter of consecration to God, or, indeed, in salvation itself!
III. I have a third head, but my time is gone, and, therefore, just
these hints. THE RESULTS OF SUCH A CONSECRATION.
Immediately after God's appearing to Abraham, his consecration
was manifest, first, in his prayer for his family–"O that Ishmael
might live before You!" Men of God, if you are indeed the Lord's,
and feel that you are His, begin now to intercede for all who belong
to you. Never be satisfied unless they are saved, too! And if you
have a son, an Ishmael, concerning whom you have many fears and
much anxiety–as you are saved, yourself–never cease to groan out
that cry, "O that Ishmael might live before You!"
The next result of Abraham's consecration was that he was most
hospitable to his fellow men. Look at the next chapter. He sits at
the tent door and three men come to him. The Christian is the best
servant of humanity in a spiritual sense. I mean that for his
Master's sake he endeavors to do good to the sons of men. He is, of
all men, the first to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked–and as
much as lies in him to do good unto all men–especially unto such
as are of the household of faith. The third result was Abraham
entertained the Lord, Himself, for among those three angels who
came to his house was the King of kings, the Infinite One!
Every Believer who serves his God does, as it were, give
refreshment to the Divine mind. I mean this–God took an infinite
delight in the work of His dear Son. He said, "This is My Beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased," and He takes a delight, also, in
the holiness of all His people. Jesus sees of the travail of His soul
and is satisfied by the works of the faithful. And you, Brothers and
Sisters, as Abraham entertained the Lord, entertain the Lord Jesus
with your patience and your faith–with your love and your zeal
when you are thoroughly consecrated to Him. Once more, Abraham
became the great intercessor for others.
The next chapter is full of his pleadings for Sodom. He had not
been able to plead before, but after circumcision, after
consecration, he becomes the King's remembrancer–he is installed
into the office of a priest, and he stands there crying, "Will You not
save the city? Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?" O
Beloved, if we do but become consecrated to God, thoroughly so,
as I have attempted feebly to describe, we shall become mighty
with God in our pleadings. I believe one holy man is a greater
blessing to a nation than a whole regiment of soldiers. Did not they
fear, more, the prayers of John Knox than the arms of 10,000 men?
A man who lives habitually near to God is like a great cloud
forever dropping with fertilizing showers. This is the man who can
say, "The earth is dissolved, I bear up the pillars thereof." France
had never seen so bloody a revolution had there been men of prayer
to preserve her. England, amidst the commotions which make her
rock to and fro, is held fast because prayer is put up incessantly by
the faithful. The flag of old England is nailed to her mast–not by
the hands of her sailors–but by the prayers of the people of God!
These, as they intercede day and night, and as they go about their
spiritual ministry–these are they for whom God spares nations–for
whom He permits the earth to still exist!
And when their time is over and they are taken away, the salt
being taken from the earth, then shall the elements dissolve with
fervent heat–the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be
burnt up–but not until He has caught away the saints with Christ
into the air shall this world pass away. He will spare it for the
righteous' sake. Seek after the highest degree of sanctity, my dear
Brothers and Sisters, seek for it, labor for it! And while you rest in
faith, alone, for justification, be not slack concerning growth in
Divine Grace, that the highest attainments be your ambition, and
God grant them to you, for His Son's sake. Amen. Portions of
Scripture read before sermon–Genesis 17 and Colossians 2:10-15.
Ge 17:1 • The Life, Walk, and Triumph of Faith
ERMON 1082
The Life, Walk And Triumph Of Faith
"And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD
appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God;
walk before Me, and be you perfect. And I will make My covenant
between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."
Genesis 17:1, 2
BELOVED, all Scripture is the Word of God but some Scripture
is expressly so. Much of its teaching comes through inspired men
but some of it was spoken by God's own mouth, directly and
without instrumentality. Such are the Words now before us which
were of old spoken to Abram by the Almighty God. These
sentences ought for this reason to be regarded with peculiar
reverence and considered with double attention. The glow of
Divinity is fresh upon the lines–bend, then, your souls to the
understanding of them.
If a letter were written to you when you were far from home, you
would value every line of it. If your fond mother had asked a friend
to write it in her name and had dictated the expressions which he
should employ–and if there were inserted in the body of the letter
several sentences with this preface, "and your mother expressly
says"–then you would treasure up the exact words and repeat them
to yourself again and again, would you not? All God's Words in
Scripture are pearls, but this is one of the fairest of them! They are
all diamonds, but such Words as God speaks from His own mouth I
may call the crown jewels of Scripture!
Look, then, at the text. We will read it again: "When Abram was
ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto
him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be you perfect.
And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will
multiply you exceedingly." Happy was Abram to have such
intimate communion with God! These sacred visits were the grand
events of his life. But we need not envy him, for God has appeared
unto us in a yet more glorious manner and the appearance is
abiding. Behold, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ the
tabernacle of God is among men and He does dwell among them!
And, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the Believer has
obtained an intimacy with God which none of the older
dispensation attained. The Lord was to the former saints as a
wayfaring man who tarried but for a night–but it is our privilege to
pray, "Abide with us," and our joy to know that wherever two or
three are met together in the name of our Lord, He is there and will
manifest Himself unto them. Permit me, therefore, to encourage
you to pray that the Words of the Lord to Abram may be Words for
you, pressed home upon your own spirit and sounded in your souls
with power, as from the lips of the Lord Himself!
Then shall our meditations be sweet, indeed, and we shall be
blessed with faithful Abraham. O, Spirit Divine, make it so, we
entreat You!
The first thing we shall speak about, upon this occasion, is SURE
RELIANCE. The foundation of it is laid before us in the text. True
confidence leans alone upon God who declares Himself to be
Almighty God, or God All-Sufficient–for such is an equally correct
rendering of the passage. All true faith hangs upon God, as the
vessel upon the nail. Strong faith realizes the all-sufficiency of God
and that is the secret of its strength, the hidden manna on which it
feeds and becomes vigorous.
The Lord is all-sufficient in power to accomplish His own
purposes. He is all-sufficient in wisdom to find His own way
through difficulties which to us may appear to be like a maze, but
which to Him are plain enough. And He is allsufficient in love so
that He will never fail us for lack of mercy in His heart or pity in
His bosom. God is God AllSufficient! Simple as that Truth is for us
to speak and for you to hear, it is a deep, unfathomable mystery and
did we really grasp its Truth and dwell upon it, it would have a very
wonderful effect upon our whole conduct.
Remember that Abram was 99 years old and as yet had no child
by his wife Sarah–yet he had received a promise from God that
there should be a seed which should spring out of his loins. He was
long past the natural term of life in which it was likely that he
would be the father of a son. So, also, was it with his wife Sarah.
Abram, for a while overcome by unbelief, thought it best to take to
himself, at the suggestion of his wife Sarah, her handmaid Hagar.
And now, for some few years, Abram had possessed a son named
Ishmael and it is probable that he thought that this son would
answer God's promise and that somehow or other the blessing
would come through him.
But the Lord had not so determined. He took no pleasure in the
carnal policy which led to Ishmael's birth. The Lord meant the
language before us to be a gentle but unmistakable rebuke for
Abram, for He said in effect, "I am God AllSufficient–quite
sufficient to fulfill My own purposes without your help–quite able
to achieve My own denials without such a questionable expedient
as that of Hagar and her son Ishmael." That is, no doubt, the Divine
intent in the declaration of all-sufficiency. Hear, then, these words
if you, also, have been at any time distrustful–and let them sink
into your souls–"I am God All-Sufficient."
If any of you are tempted, at this time, to do what is questionable
because you cannot see how God's promise to you will be effected
without it, the Lord tells you He needs no help of yours to achieve
His own designs! "I am God Almighty," He says. "Is anything too
hard for Me? Do you think I need your wisdom to set Me right, or
your puny arm to strengthen Me? Do I need help to achieve My
purposes which stand fast as My eternal Throne?" It was a tender
rebuke of Abram's very gross mistake and it is to us a hint that we
are never to put forth our hand unto iniquity, or to do anything that
is doubtful in any shape or form under the notion that we are thus
effecting the purposes of God.
Look at Rebekah. She little understood the all-sufficiency of God.
God had promised her that Jacob should have the covenant-
blessing, but she seems to think that God cannot keep His Word
and cause Jacob to inherit the promises unless she has a finger in it!
Father Isaac has sent Esau out to hunt–to bring home savory meat–
and has promised that he will give Esau the blessing when he
returns. And now Rebekah thinks God will be defeated! The
anxious mother imagines the Most High to be in a dilemma and His
purposes to be likely to fail unless her inherited craftiness can
devise a stratagem to eke out the Divine Wisdom.
Rebekah must tell lies and Jacob must tell lies, too! And poor old
Isaac must be deceived, or else God's purposes will not be
accomplished! O foolish Rebekah! But before we speak and
condemn that gracious woman, let us make sure that we confess
and condemn the same tendency in ourselves! Have we not also
dreamed that we might do evil that good might come? Have we not
followed policy where we ought to have sternly adhered to
principle and all this because we thought it necessary and feared
that otherwise evil would triumph? Has not our judgment been
bewildered by strange Providences and been led to sanction
irregular procedures, or at least to think less severely of them?
Under the influence of blind unbelief have we not been ready, like
Uzzah, to lay our hand upon the Ark of the Lord to steady it, for
fear it should fall–as if God's Ark could not take care of itself
without our sinful hand being laid on it? That lesson learned by
Israel at the Red Sea is still a hard one for us–we cannot stand still
and see the salvation of God! Because we do not believe in the
Almighty God we are eager to make haste! We hurry, worry, fret,
fuss and sin! Fear drives us and self-sufficiency draws us–and the
noble quietude of faith in God is lost. O could we but rest in
Omniscient Love! Could we but know the Lord and wait patiently
for Him–how much sin and sorrow we should be spared!–
"With feeble light and half obscure,
Poor mortals Your arrangements view!
Not knowing that the least are sure,
And the mysterious just and true.
My favored soul shall meekly learn
To lay her reason at Your Throne.
Too weak Your secrets to discern,
I'll trust You for my Guide alone."
Here is the fit place to set in contrast the conduct of David. He
knew that in God's decree it was ordained that he should be king
over Israel yet he took no means to secure the crown. He would not
lift his hand to strike Saul. No, he spared him when he was entirely
in his power. He did not unbelievingly interfere to make a
Providence for himself, but left the course of events in the Lord's
hands–and in consequence, when he came to the throne he had an
easy conscience and no innocent blood upon his hands. May our
faith teach us the same patient waiting and confident repose of
soul. May we believe, to see the Glory of the Lord. The Lord All-
Sufficient will, in the end, clear the darkest Providences from all
question and our souls shall know how happy are those who put
their trust in the Lord alone!
This blessed text, "I am God All-Sufficient," may apply to us in
times when we are inclined to shirk any service for God. Have you
ever felt, in certain seasons, that God's choice of you for a special
labor could not be a wise one for you were so unfit for it? Have you
ever felt in your own hearts–"I cannot do that. I think the Lord