Part 22
would have me do it, but I cannot. I have not the qualifications. I believe I am called to it but it is too difficult for me. I shall not be able to achieve it"?
Have you ever had the disposition, like Jonah, to flee to Tarshish, or somewhere else and to escape from Nineveh and its trials? Have you never pleaded, like Jeremiah, "But I am a child"? Have you never cried, like Moses, "I am slow of speech! Send whomever
You will send, but not me"? Now, at such a time the Lord may well remind us, "I am God AllSufficient, cannot I strengthen you? Weak as you are, cannot I make you strong? Worm of the dust, cannot I make you thresh the mountains? Why do you fear? You are feeble, but I am not. You are foolish, but I am wise. Give yourself up to My guidance. Trust yourself in My hands and you shall achieve marvels! And exceedingly great wonders shall you accomplish by My power and Grace."
It will be sadly sinful if we arrogate to ourselves the right to arrange our own place and alter Heaven's appointments. We are not where we are by chance, or by a freak of fate–as God's servants our work is allotted us wisely and authoritatively. Dare we be wiser than the Lord? Are we also of Jehovah's council? His choice of instruments is wise even when He chooses the weak things of the world to work His purposes. Their insufficiency is of no consequence, for their sufficiency is of God! For them to attempt to shun their duty because of conscious feebleness would be a daring sin against the prerogatives of the King of kings–an impious censure upon the infallible appointments of Infinite Wisdom!
May not this be a word in season to some Brother or Sister here who may happen to be under that temptation? If it is, may the Lord speak it home by His Spirit and a blessing will come of it! Work on, dear Friends, and wait on, for it is no business of yours to correct your Maker's arrangements. He who placed you where you now are knew what He was doing! Look at your infirmities with another eye. No longer allow them to distress you, but the rather glory in them because they afford room and space for the Divine power to rest in you and work by you. Listen no more to the wailings of your trembling flesh, which cries, "Alas, I am weak," but hear the voice of Him who says, "I am God Almighty."
This word may also be useful to those who are trembling under some present temporal trial and affliction. They are dreading what may yet happen. Forebodings of what may soon come are upon them. Sometimes we have before us a gloomy prospect–we know the trial must come and we are afraid of it–and though we have the promise, "In six troubles I will be with you, and in seven there shall no evil touch you," yet we stand trembling. "I am God
AllSufficient"–will not that brace your nerves and enable you to press on, though through a valley as dark as death-shade itself?
Is it poverty? God is All-Sufficient to supply your needs. Is it physical pain?–and some of us dread that beyond anything else–the
All-Sufficient God can put under your aching head such a peacecreating pillow that in the sweetness of celestial love you shall forget the smarts of the flesh and your soul shall be comforted when your body is full of agony! Why, what is it that you fear, O child of God? There can be no lack which He cannot supply; no enemy that He cannot subdue! Slander's cruel tooth, does that dismay you? Is not the Lord sufficient for this, also?
"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper." Have you not His own word for it? "Every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn." Has not He declared it? And does not He know how to accomplish His own purpose? Therefore, I say again, cast your doubts and your fears to the wind, for God as surely says to you, O trembling Believer, as ever He did to His servant Abram, "I am God, Almighty God." O rest in the Lord and be not troubled! He shall, He must appear–only put not forth your hand unto iniquity and do nothing before the time. You have no feeble Deity to trust in–be not a coward, but play the man!
The same may also be applied to each of us when we are under spiritual depressions. Inward tribulations are frequently more severe than temporal trials. The man of God knows this full well.
We look within and we see Divine Grace to be at a low ebb with us–at least we think so. Our corruptions and our natural depravity– these we see clearly enough and we are troubled with the sight.
Neglect of duty, omissions of devotion, forgotten opportunities of usefulness all come up and accuse us–and then we are ready to doubt whether we ever knew the Lord at all! And, perhaps Satan assails us at the same time and we fall under his foot for a while.
O, let us not, even in such terrible times, ever doubt our God, for He is All-Sufficient still! If our salvation depended upon ourselves, it would soon be all over with us. But since it depends upon that arm, the sinews of which can never break–since it depends upon that heart which can never change and never cease to beat with Omnipotent Love–why should we be discouraged? "I am God
Almighty," says the Lord, "Therefore say you unto the enemy, 'Rejoice not over me, for though I fall yet shall I rise again.'"
And suppose, Beloved, you should have temporal troubles and spiritual distresses at the same time? This meeting of two seas is very apt to make the mariner expect immediate shipwreck. But, behold, walking on the waters comes your God to you, saying, "I am God All-Sufficient even for you." Was there ever a storm that was not of His brewing? Therefore cannot He control it? Was there ever spirit that came up out of the deeps of Hell that was not of His loosing?–and can He not hold him in as with a chain and restrain his malignant power? Behold, Jehovah rides upon the wings of the wind and the storm-cloud is His car! Fear not, therefore, the rattling of the wheels on which your heavenly Father rides!
In the midst of the tempest He reigns supreme! Fear not the darkness which is His canopy, or the lightning which is but the glance of His eyes. Trust Him as all times and let no fear cast you down or hurry you into an unbelieving and restless course of action which would defile you and bring dishonor upon His blessed name.
Yes, if there are signs about you of approaching departure–if your body, weakened by long disease, is like a house that is ready to fall about the tenant's ears–yet God, who is All-Sufficient here, will be All-Sufficient on yonder dying bed! He who has been almighty in life will be almighty in death!
Fear not that solemn flight through tracks unknown, or the awful appearance at the eternal Throne. The God of Grace is All-
Sufficient for all the mysteries of eternity. He is All-Sufficient for the thunders of judgment, the terrors of vengeance and the dread of Hell. Fear not the crash of worlds when He shall bid them all dissolve! The Ever-Living Redeemer, able to save unto the uttermost, is All-Sufficient to support your spirit when all created things shall pass away and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. There exists not a conceivable ground of fear to the man who puts his trust in God Almighty!
O Beloved, set this as a seal upon your arm to strengthen you and roll it as a stone upon the sepulcher of your doubts. Never let them rise again. If you trusted a puny man, you might doubt. But resting upon God, how can you be disquieted? If you relied upon changing humanity–if you placed your confidence in a creature that might love today and hate tomorrow–then, indeed, you could be unhappy!
But His love is everlasting and His power endures forever! Why, then, are you cast down? You have built your soul's hope upon the immoveable rock of All-Sufficiency and you shall prove the truth of that inspired assurance–"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him and honor him."
Why are you cast down, O my Soul? And why are you disquieted in me? Hope in God and cease from trusting man whose breath is in his nostrils. Then shall your light shine forth as the morning and a dew from Heaven shall cause you to bud and blossom with joy and rejoicing. Be glad in the Lord you righteous, and shout for joy all you that are upright in heart, for unto you has He spoken and given this for the rock of your confidence–"I am the Almighty
God."
II. Secondly, our text goes on to speak of our RIGHT POSITION.
The Lord says, "I am Almighty God," and then He adds, "Walk before Me." It is much easier for me to talk about this than it will be to practice it. The meaning is simple–Divine Grace alone can work in us the actual obedience. Come, gracious Spirit, and teach us to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. God is an All-
Sufficient God–then, Believer, never go away from Him–but abide in Him forevermore.
There is a sense in which we always walk before God, for, "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." And He sees us altogether. But that is not what is intended here. It means this– Abide, O Believer, in a constant sense of God's Presence. "Walk before Me, the All-Sufficient God." Do not wander into paths where you will be made to feel, "I have left my God." Have your
Friend at hand–
"Be still, my Heart, near my God,
And my God, still near my heart."
Remember, He is a very present help in time of trouble and strive to realize this as a daily fact. You have not to send for your God in an emergency, but you are to walk before your God believing Him to be always near you.
Hagar once felt the power of that word, "You God see me," but Believers ought to feel it every moment. "Seeing Him who is invisible," is not a thing for now and then, but an hourly exercise!
It should be the general tenor of the Believer's life to live always under the great Father's inspection. A poet puts it–"live as ever under the great TaskMaster's eyes." But I confess I do not like the word, Task-Master.
To live always as under my Father's eyes has all the force of the poet's line, but has much more of sweetness. He is near me whether
I journey or abide at home, whether I sorrow or rejoice. If I wake, His eyes pour sunlight on my face! If I sleep, He draws the curtains and His Presence shades me from all ill. If I rest, I sit at His feet in contemplation. If I labor, I work in His vineyard in His name and for His sake, expecting a gracious reward from Him. "Walk before Me." Not merely, "think before Me," and, "pray before Me," but, "walk before Me." I know many find it easy to cultivate a sense of God's Presence in their study, or in the room where they are accustomed to pray, but the point is this–to feel it in business and in the details of everyday life!
God's eyes are upon me when I am weighing out or measuring the goods. When I am engrossed with transactions with my fellow merchants, or when I, as a servant, am sweeping up the hearth or minding the household duties, He is there! This you should distinctly recognize and act upon. You are to live in the little things of life knowing that God is always with you and always looking at you–you are to do your work just as will please Him. Oh, how we smart ourselves up if there is somebody calling to see us! How we adjust our dress in the presence of those whom we admire! I have sometimes thought I have seen working men proceeding very slowly, indeed, at their tables when alone, but when the master comes by they quicken their pace wonderfully!
That is all wrong. It is eye-service–the custom of a man-pleaser– not the habit of one who would please the Lord! We should feel, "God is always looking at me." There are many words we would not say if we remembered that He would hear them and many an act we dare not do if we remembered that He would record it! Yes, there is the Believer's true place–my God is God Almighty and I am always in His Presence. A person might do 50 things in a certain place which he would not think of doing if he were at court and had just presented a petition to the Queen. There is a certain manner of action which we all observe when we are in such conditions and, therefore, the reasoning is valid when I ask you what manner of persons we ought to be before the King of kings!
We are always in Jehovah's courts and under His royal gaze–"Walk before Me." Live ever as in the court, for remember, O
Believer, you are not like an ordinary person. If an ordinary person sins, it is only a common subject of the King, but you–why, you are a courtier, a favored courtier! You are one that He has chosen to tread His courts! No, more–the Prince Imperial has espoused you to Himself! You are the bride of the Ever-Blessed Bridegroom, the spouse of Immanuel and there is always jealousy where there is much love! "The Lord your God is a jealous God." Whatever He may be to others, He is very jealous of those on whom He has set
His everlasting love. "Our God is a consuming fire." Walk before a jealous God, then, with scrupulous regard to His honor and His holiness.
Oh, it is a great word this–"walk before Me." Its brevity is not so notable as its fullness. Surely it means realize My Presence, and then, in general life and ordinary conversation continue under a sense of it, serious, devout, holy, earnest, trustful, consecrated, Christ-like. But He meant more than that. "Walk before Me." That is, "Delight in My company." True Believers find their choicest joy in communion with God–and if we always walked before God in a sense of communing with Him, our peace would be like a river and our righteousness like the waves of the sea!
Would it be possible for us to feel any distress of heart if we always enjoyed the Savior's love? I think there are no bitters known that would be able to affect our palate if we always had in our mouth the love of the Savior in its ineffable, all-conquering sweetness. "Walk before Me." Do not interfere with God's purposes. Do not, unbelieving, try to help Omnipotence and supplement Omniscience, but rejoice in the Lord and find satisfaction in Him only. Be filled with His fullness and satiated with His favor. Go and do your part, which is to obey and to commune, and leave God's work to God. Walk before Him and attend to that, only. Do not doubt God's power to fulfill His own decrees. Do not doubt that He will keep His Word to the letter and to the minute, but cultivate fellowship with God for this will ennoble you and help you to give glory to His name. "Walk before Me." Does not it mean just this, in a word–"Do not act as seeing anybody else except Me. Walk before Me"?
Now, Abram had walked before Sarah. He had listened to her and much mischief had come of his doing so at different times. The dearest friends we have are often those who will lead us most astray when we take counsel with flesh and blood. She was peculiarly qualified from her fiery excellence of character to influence Abram and, in her unbelieving moods, to lead him away from the glorious absoluteness of his faith. She meant well enough but she was too political in her suggestion as to her handmaid. In the present case the Lord seems to say to him, "Do not suffer Sarah to affect you in these things. Walk before Me." Beloved, mind you keep clear of the unbelieving advice of good people and then you will have less to fear from bad ones!
And there was Hagar–Abram had been a great deal distressed about her–and it was but right that he should feel much interest in her welfare. And there was her son, Ishmael, whom he loved and whom he would have to send away from the household, in the future, with deep regret. God says to Abram, "Do not allow your course to be shaped by regarding Hagar, or regarding Ishmael, or regarding Sarah or anybody else. Walk before Me." I am persuaded that a regard for God, a sense of duty and a straight-forward following out of convictions is the only true style of living! For if you begin to notice the whims and wishes of one, then you will have to do the same with another–and if your course of conduct is to be shaped to please men you will become man's slave and nothing better–and no child of God ought to come into that condition.
If I felt I came into this pulpit to please any of you, I should feel mean, utterly mean and unfit to preach to you. And you would soon know it and find out that God was not blessing me to your souls.
And if any of you, in your course of business, are always trying to catch the eye of this person or cringing and fawning to this other nobleman, or squire, or gentleman, why, you are mean, too! But the man who says, "I try to do right in God's sight. I have not swerved from a sense of conscious rectitude as before the living God"–why, Sir, you have got all the freedom of soul that you can desire this side of Heaven! To walk before God, that is the point! To fear the Lord and no one else–that is the state of mind to aim at! Make this the master passion of your soul, "For me to live is Christ." Make the honor of God your chief motive and the Law of God your rule.
Walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
III. But we must pass on, for there is another point. And that is, as we have considered our sure reliance and our right position, we notice next OUR GLORIOUS AIM–"Be you perfect." Now, the connection shows us that the only way to be perfect is to walk before the Lord. If any man desires holiness he must get it through communion. The way to be transformed into the likeness of God is to live in the company of God! That which you look upon you will soon be like and if your eyes look on God, your character will become like God.
Hence the order of our text is highly suggestive and should be earnestly noted and practically carried out. First, God must be known as All-Sufficient–thus He helps and enables His servant to walk before Him, and then, as a consequence, that favored servant labors to obey the word of command–"BE YOU PERFECT." There could be no walking before the Lord if All-Sufficient Grace did not work it in us. And the command, "Be you perfect," would be mere mockery if Almighty Love did not stand engaged to work all our works in us. To a man who has learned to rest in Almighty faithfulness, the perfect Law is delightful–and with confidence in the energy of the Holy Spirit he is not staggered by its commands.
I desire you to note this for the order of Holy Scripture is always full of reason and weight. Whatever ill-taught divines may do, the Holy Spirit never puts the fruit before the root and never places the pinnacle where the foundation should be. Begin with God's All-
Sufficiency. Go on to the holy fellowship and obedience and then aim at Scriptural perfection and so you will take everything in due sequence.
But we must pass on. As you are aware, our margin reads the text thus, "Be you sincere," or, "Be you upright," and either translation would not be incorrect. Now, child of God, you have been saying, "I do not see how God is to fulfill His promise to me." What have you to do with that? Walk before God and be sincere. He will attend to the due performance of all that He has promised.
Remember–
"Though dark is your way, since He is your Guide, 'Tis yours to obey, 'tis His to provide."
In all things be transparently sincere. Never pray a formalistic prayer or sing a heartless hymn, or prattle out an experience you never felt. Shun first and foremost the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy! Be what you would seem to be. Be down-right, intensely real, thorough–and if you are that you shall never find
God less thorough than you are, nor the Lord less true to His Word than you shall be. If you are wavering and double-minded, you must not expect anything of the Lord. But if you are single-hearted
He will abundantly care for you.
Mind this, I pray you, every day you live. This is the era of plausible sham, the era of superficiality–therefore be unmistakably true before the God of Truth. The margin translates the passage by the word "upright," and it comes to just this. You are fretting about how the Lord will deal with you. Brother, that is no concern of yours. Your concern is that you be upright in business. "My trade falls off," says one. Be upright, Brother! Whatever you do, be upright. "But I have drifted into such difficulties, I am afraid I shall be ruined." Be upright, Brother! Whatever you do, be upright.
"Could not I get away a few of my goods, for instance, which ought to be my creditors'?" Brother, be upright! Be upright.
"Ah, but then, surely, I shall hardly have a rag left." Be upright, Brother, be upright! "Oh, but I must consider my children." "Walk before Me," says the Lord, "and be you upright." "Oh, but a man must take care of himself and his family." Be upright, Brother!
That is the main thing to take care about. It will not matter how poor you are if you do not lose your character. Lose everything else and you may yet be happy. But if you lose your peace of mind who can comfort you? If the worldling can point at you and say, "There is a professor who wronged his creditors," that will be worse than all! No court is so much to be dreaded as the court of conscience– keep all things clear there. Better an honest pauper than a rich rogue.
I am sure your fellow Christians will respect you none the less, however low you come, if you come there fairly. All those whose love is worth the having will cling to you in hearty sympathy and only false friends, the parasites of the hour, will desert you and a good riddance will their departure turn out to be! But avoid, I implore you, those tricks so common among traders nowadays– those rash speculations, those deceptive accommodations, the lying and duping of others which men fly to as a drowning man catches at a straw–a straw that he ought never to touch. Not losing, but cheating is the mischief–and the Lord says to you, "I am God All-
Sufficient: I can take care of you: I can bring you through all this.
Do not touch forbidden things in order to escape from trial, or your trials will multiply and crush you. Walk before Me, as under My eye; and be you upright."
But our version says, "Be you perfect," and for my part, I like it as it stands–"Be you perfect." "Oh," says one, "but how can we be perfect?" I will ask you a question–Would you have God command you to be less than perfect? If so, He would be the Author of an imperfect Law! "The Law of the Lord is perfect." How could it be otherwise? I do not find that He bids us partly keep His Law, but wholly keep it. And so the Lord holds up this as the standard of a Christian–"Be you perfect."
And does it not mean let us be perfect in desiring to have all the rounds of Divine Grace? Suppose a man should have faith and should have love but no hope? He would not be perfect. He would be like a child that had two arms but only one foot. It would not be a perfect child. You must have all the Graces if you are to be a perfect man. I think I have known some Christians who have had all the Graces except patience and they could never be patient.
"Walk before Me," says the Lord, "and be you perfect in patience."
I have known some others who seemed to have almost every Grace except the Grace of forgiveness. They could not very readily forget any injury that had been done to them.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, get that Grace, the Grace of forgiveness, and walk before the Lord with that or you will remain a mutilated character! A Christian's character is spoilt by the omission of any one virtue. And you must labor in the Presence of God to have all these things that they be in you and abound. Be you in this sense perfect. And as we have all the Graces, so we should seek to have in our lives exhibited all the virtues in the fulfillment of all our duties. It is a very sad thing when you hear of a Christian man that he is a very excellent deacon, that he is a very admirable local preacher or Sunday school teacher, but that he is a very unkind father. That "but" spoils it all. A saint abroad is no saint if he is a devil at home.
We have known men of whom it has been said that out of doors they were all that could be desired, but they were bad husbands.
That "but"–how it mars the tale! It is the dead fly which has got into a very good pot of ointment and made the whole of it stink.
Keep the dead flies out, Brethren! By God's Grace may your character be full-orbed! May God grant you Grace to be at home and to be abroad–to be in the shop and in the chamber and to be in every department of life–just that which a man should be who walks before the All-Sufficient God.
Now, I think I hear somebody saying, "How shall we ever reach such a height?" My dear Brother, you never will do so except you remember the first part of the text–"I am the Almighty God." He can help you! If there is any sin that you cannot overcome yourself, He can overcome it for you. If there is any virtue you have not yet reached, He can lead you up to it. Never despair of the highest degree of Divine Grace. What the best of men have been, you also may be. There is no reason why you should not yet be elevated beyond all the sin into which you may have fallen from inadvertence or temptation.
Have hope, my Brothers and Sisters! Have hope for a higher platform of character. Have hope yet to be conformed unto the image of God's dear Son. Aim at nothing less than perfection. But I will not detain you longer except to notice that last word. It is a very sweet word–"I will make My covenant between Me and you."
How run the words? "I will make My covenant between Me and you." Oh, it is the man that knows an All-Sufficient God and that lives in the Presence of God and that endeavor to be perfect in his life–it is that man that enjoys communion with God such as no one else knows, for, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear
Him."
"There shall be a covenant between Me and you." It sounds so sweet to me–as if He had said, "I will say nothing to the outside world. Neither will you tell them. It shall be with you and Me. We will strike hands together. Abram, you shall be My friend and I will be your Friend forever. You will say, 'My Father,' and I will say, 'My son.' You will put yourself into My hands and I will carry you.
You will ask to see My Glory and I will make My Glory pass before you.
"I will tell you what I mean to do. If I am going to destroy
Sodom, I will come and tell Abram my friend. I will let you speak to Me and I will hear you. Time after time I will stay while you do plead for 50, and for 45, and 30, 20, and ten. 'There shall be a covenant between Me and you.' And I will make it. It shall not be such a one as your timorous faith would make. I will make it after the manner of My bounty, My eternity and My All-Sufficiency."
When the Lord makes a covenant, it will stand! It will be sure! It will be rich! It will be full! And, O, I pray that every one of you may know that covenant and live upon its incomparable blessings!
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," and He will show them His covenant.
But many a child of God walks obstinately and the Lord will not fully reveal the covenant to such. Some of His Peters follow afar off and they get into trouble–they do not enjoy the sweets of Divine fellowship and peculiar manifestation. But this careful walking, this close walking, this keeping near to an All-Sufficient God, this resting solely in Him–O, this it is that brings the sweetness and the joy which are the foretaste of Heaven–which are, indeed, a young
Heaven begun this side the tomb!
I pray the Lord will bring my dear friends all into holy fellowship with Himself! And if any of you have not come to the border of the happy land, I pray you may be led there at once. The way of salvation is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." Faith is both the road to the highest happiness and the way to the first safety–faith is both the highest round of the ladder and its first step–"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." Have done with self-righteous works and come to the trusting. Have done with seeking to save self and accept Jesus alone as your Redeemer! The Lord grant you Grace to do so and His shall be the praise forever and ever! Amen.
Ge 19:12 • A Solemn Enquiry Concerning Our Families
ERMON 0601
A Solemn Enquiry Concerning Our Families
"And the men said unto Lot, have you here any besides? Son-inlaw and your sons, and your daughters and whatever you have in the city, bring them out of this place."
Genesis 19:12
THE angelic messengers of mercy were not only earnest to bring
Lot out of the city, but in their great kindness they reminded him of an important matter which, in the alarm of the tumult without and in the surprise of their fearful tidings, he might possibly have forgotten. They suggested to his distracted heart a loving care for his relatives and friends. His wife and his two daughters were already with him in the house, but he had two sons-in-law to whom his daughters were espoused, if not married. And the angels suggest to him to make an effort to rescue these, also, from the destruction which awaited the filthy city.
In the perturbation of mind which is so usual in the renewed heart at first, it is no marvel if a man should be so taken up with thoughts of his own safety as to forget the welfare of others. Therefore I see a wisdom in the saying of the Apostle Paul to the trembling jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your house." The jailer's question was personal and confined to himself–"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" In this we judge him not–for his own conversion must be the object of the deepest and most earnest thoughts of a convicted sinner. But Paul's answer was large and liberal–"You shall be saved, and your house."
There may be some here who have but lately passed from darkness to light. In the fear lest you should be mistaken, or in the joy of your new-found comfort, it may be you have scarcely begun to think of your wife, your children, or your relatives–is it not time to begin at once? Let this text come, this morning, fresh out of Holy Scripture as though it dropped anew from the angel's tongue–"Have you here any besides?" You are yourself privileged by Sovereign Mercy and singled out for safety–have you here in the land of sin any besides? Have you not some unconverted kinsfolk, some unsaved relative, some who are written in your family register but who are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life?
Come, Friend, think about this and give heed to the question, "Have you here any besides?" My heart is in a blaze with love to souls this morning and if there are no others who care for the salvation of their fellow men, I can truly say I agonize for conversions! Forgive me–in my excitement my thoughts should seem tame and feeble, for I have passed out of the realm of thoughts and am under the absolute dominion of my feelings.
Come, Holy Spirit, come and aid my tongue which is all too feeble to express the language of my inmost heart!
We would observe, first, that such a question as this APPEALS
TO OUR NATURAL AFFECTIONS. Surely, unless we have lost manhood, we love our kindred and desire their good! We have not yet become like the ostriches in the wilderness which care not for their young. Our flesh has not congealed into marble, nor are our hearts become like millstones. We have a very tender concern for those united to us by ties of nature and esteem them as parts of ourselves. What parent is not glad to see his children in good health? We will watch with them all through the weary night when they are ill and can we not pray for them when they are sick with sin?
It is a singular mercy when our children are born to us without deformity and in full possession of every sense. And it is a great blessing when a man can look round upon a numerous household and see them all full of cheerfulness and hope. Do we care for their bodily welfare and shall we neglect to pray that their souls may prosper? Can we see the deformity of sin without tears? Can we remark the blindness of our children towards Divine things? Can we observe how deaf they are to the admonitions of mercy? Can we discover clearly the depravity of their nature without deep grief and regret? We hasten to the best physicians when we see anything amiss and we spare no cost for their recovery.
Shall we ever be at peace, or know what rest means concerning them until we see their eyes open and the light of Jesus streaming into their souls–until we know that their tongues are loosed to tell of God's mercy towards them–until there is formed in them a new heart and a right spirit? We are anxious to see in our children a due share of intelligence. We are very quick to notice any signs of it.
And perhaps we are over anxious to remark upon their shrewdness and good sense–it is an overwhelming sorrow to a parent to discover weakness or imbecility of mind in his offspring.
But what shall we say if we cannot perceive any knowledge of Christ in our children? Shall the folly of their hearts cause us no anxiety? Does it give us no concern if they put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, darkness for light and light for darkness? Do we seek to have them educated in the various arts and sciences and not desire that they should comprehend with all saints the love of Christ which passes all knowledge? One thing is necessary–all the rest may have a temporary necessity, but the one thing–acceptance in Christ and faith in Jesus is absolutely necessary! Can we be content when we see them neatly dressed, strongly framed and progressing in their learning, while their souls are not clothed with Christ's righteousness and they are ignorant of the power of Divine love?
Can we rest content while their souls are not trained for God, not tutored for Heaven, not educated for eternity? Why, common sense teaches our natural affection that the first thought should be the training of the soul and the highest desire of our spirits should be that they may live before God, whatever may become of them in their education as to the things of time and sense. It is only natural that we should care for the prosperity of our friends and children.
We are grieved if we hear that they meet with any accident. If losses and calamities befall them, I trust we know how to weep with them that weep. We would sooner bear pain ourselves than that they should suffer. We have often felt our own cross to be very light, if we have thereby lifted a cross from the shoulders of those dear to us.
But can we think of their sinning against God and abiding under the anger of the Most High without any emotion? Above all, can we contemplate for an instant their death and their appearance before God unpardoned–their condemnation and their eternal doom–without a horror taking hold upon us? My friend, my sister, my wife, my child in Hell! How can I bear the dreadful thought?
Mother, if your child were running in the streets and there were a fear that yonder wheel would go over it and crush it, your heart would be in your mouth! Can you see your child in danger of eternal destruction without your bosom heaving high with fond maternal anxiety?
If I saw my friend upon the edge of a precipice I would rush to his rescue. And can I be silent when I see so many whom I love walking upon the verge of eternal ruin, utterly unconcerned about their souls? Natural affection, which makes us care for our children and friends that they may prosper, will, if it is rightly trained, make us far more earnest for their salvation from the wrath to come. If there are any who are professedly Christians who nevertheless have no sort of interest in the welfare of their children, I only utter what I believe to be the solemn truth when I say that their profession is a mistake, if not an hypocrisy–they had better give it up! If you care not for the souls of others, you do not know the value of your own!
God's people are a tender-hearted people. Like their Savior, they cannot look upon Jerusalem without weeping over it–they cannot view with complacency the destruction of any, much less can they be careless concerning the condition of those who spring from their own loins–who are united to them by ties of blood! Like
Doddridge, we dare say in the sight of God, that we love the souls of men–
"My God, I feel the mournful scene.
My heart yearns over dying men!
And gladly my pity would reclaim,
And snatch the firebrands from the flame."
I set you down as nearer akin to a devil than to a saint if you can go your way and look into the face of your friend or child and know him to be on the downward road and yet never pray for him nor use any means for his conversion. May God grant that no doctrinal belief may ever dry up the milk of human kindness in our souls!
Certainly the doctrines of Divine Grace, such as election and effectual redemption, will not do so. Error may petrify, but the Truth of God melts. May we feel that no dogma can be Scriptural which is not consistent with a sincere love to men. Truth must be consistent with its Author's Character. And He who has revealed saving Truth is the God of Love–no, He is Love itself! And that cannot be true which naturally and legitimately would lead men to be unloving! May we be such parents, such brothers, such sisters, such children that it shall be the first anxiety of our spirits that our children, our parents, our husband, our wife, our friends, our brothers and sisters should be brought to partake with us of the things of God!
I do think that the query which is suggested this morning, "Have you in Sodom any besides?" is one which forcibly appeals to the natural affections while it does no violence to the judgment. I shall hope, therefore, that in such a congregation as the present, where there are so many loving hearts, my question will drop like a spark upon dry tinder to set the soul on fire or melt into the soul as a snowflake into the sea, to increase the flood of holy earnestness.
My own heart is stirred in its inmost depths by the enquiry and I cannot but hope that yours will be also. You who are friends, I now pray you show yourselves friendly. Parents, be parents, indeed.
Brothers, act a true fraternal part. Sisters, let your tender love find a fitting channel. Husbands and wives, let your conjugal union awaken you to most tender emotions. Let every fond relationship stir us to care for others while the enquiry is made, "Have you here any besides?"
II. In the second place, the question is one which AROUSES
HOLY SOLICITUDE. Shall I stop a moment while you think over the roll of your friends and kinsfolk? "Have you here any besides?"
Are they all saved? Are you quite sure that all of them are rejoicing in Christ Jesus and are washed in His blood? Mother, it was such a comfort to you when your first-born was added to the Church. And what a joy when your fair daughters subscribed with their hand to the name of Jesus! Are there not others who are strangers to the commonwealth of Israel?
Brother, it has been a great delight to you to see your brother saved. Your heart has swollen high with holy joy to know that a sister has passed from death unto life. But there are others of the family–are they all converted? Are there not some still in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity–concerning whom even in the judgment of charity you are compelled to say, "Lord, have mercy upon them, for they have no mercy upon themselves"? Have you no tears for the unsaved ones? No prayers for those who abide under the wrath of God? In your house you have seen your servants saved. And next to the salvation of one's children, there is no greater mercy than to see one's servants walking in the faith–but are all of your servants saved?
Is there not one in the house with you who still has not given her heart to Christ? You are happy, my Brother, thrice happy, if while I suggest this question you can read down the whole list with sparkling eyes and say, "Yes, I can say, like Noah, they are all with me in the ark–my wife and my sons and my sons' wives with them, they are all secure–and though the deluge sweep over the whole world, in that Covenant Ark of salvation, with my whole household, I hope to float in safety."
But it is not so, I am afraid, with the most of us. We have an Esau as well as a Jacob, an Ishmael as well as an Isaac. To provoke you to earnest solicitude this morning, let me remind you of times when we should be anxious about our friends and children. When first we ourselves look to Christ, we should care for others. Oh, what a joy it is to feel the burden rolling from our shoulders–to be able to say with holy delight–"Great God, I'm saved! The chief of sinners is at last at peace with You! Your enemy is reconciled, my sin is covered, my iniquity is cast into the depths of the sea." What should be the next thought? If this is so sweet to me, there are my sin-burdened relatives–O God, bring them to know this blessedness!
If I leap at the sound of Jesus' name and find it blessed to know that sin is forgiven, O my God, let others whom I love be set free and be enabled to triumph in justification through the blood of Jesus Christ! We would not eat our morsel alone lest it grow stale through our selfishness. The woods drops with honey–we cannot eat it all–let us call others to taste its sweetness. I think, dear
Friends, there can be no better season than the first blush of your newborn piety in which to cry unto the Most High with strong crying and tears, that He would be pleased to pluck others, as He has done yourselves, like firebrands from the flame. "In the morning sow your seed."
Then there are times of Christian enjoyment. When we have been sitting round the table of our dying Lord, we have been made to feast at the banquet of wine with King Jesus–the banner over us has been love and His fruit has been sweet unto our taste. But while we were downstairs at the table, did we not think of those upstairs among the spectators? Will not our hearts wing their flight with anxious desires towards loved ones who cannot unite with us? Do we not hope that before long they will sit side by side with us? Let us remember those at home this morning–at home, did I say? Alas, some are worse than at home for they are now where we were once, spending the Sunday in sin–finding their pleasures anywhere but in the things of God!
A warm fire and a happy family gathering may well make us think of those shivering in the cold outside–I charge you, Believer, forget not your poor unconverted children. Let your highest and most rapt moments of communion with Christ be just the times when your soul shall speak to God as Abraham talked to his Father and his Friend and pleaded for the sinners of Sodom. I think when we are downcast, when our soul is filled with bitter trouble, then also is an appropriate season to pray for others. God turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends, and he may turn our captivity when we do the same. Why, if I who have an interest in Christ, yet feel so desponding, what must be the wretchedness of those who have no Christ to go to?
If we who live on the bread of Heaven, yet complain that our spirit oftentimes sinks within us, what must be the failings of heart–the horror of great darkness–which those must experience who feed upon the wind and would gladly fill their bellies with the husks which the swine eat? Let your own grief help you to arrive at some knowledge of the griefs of unconverted souls and go to the Throne of Grace on their account. It may also help to stimulate this holy solicitude to think of how we shall feel in regard to our children and friends when they come to lie sick. They will be sick as well as others. And when they are in jeopardy of their lives and the physician tells us that their existence trembles in the scale, how shall we feel, then?
Can we gaze upon their pallid countenances without bitter reproaches for our past indifference? I am afraid I cannot say I have had a sick friend concerning whom I could feel that I had done all I ought to have done. I do not know whether you have–happy are you if you feel quite guiltless. When we have seen our friends on their beds of languishing, have we not thought, "Ah, would to God we had over again the occasions and opportunities of talking to them on Divine things, for now they are so racked with pain, so distracted with many thoughts that there is scarcely room to sow the good seed, because of the many thorns." O that the harvest may not be past and the summer ended before we begin our sowing!
Fools lose the spring and then lament in the time of harvest. May Heaven save us from the fool's lament. And what will you think if your children should die unconverted–your wife, your husband, your friend? To lose our loved ones is one of the sore, though common troubles of life. But oh, it can be little trouble to send on those who are ripe for Glory! Go where Glory waits you–we would not detain you here! To think that while we are weeping here they are singing around the eternal Throne wipes the tears from our eyes! But what must it be to bury them without "a sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection"?
To put the body under the sod with this dread thought upon us, that, "we sorrow as those that have no hope"? It is the death of death to fear that our friends have not escaped the second death.
Must you not confess, this morning, that if some of your kinsfolk were to die as they are, you could not, unless you were to stultify your own conscience, entertain anything like a sure hope of their entering into eternal life? Now, as you would wish you had prayed for them, as you would wish you had labored with them, when they are dead, so do now! While there is an opportunity, avail yourself of it for fear you should have to mourn with briny tears that the soul has gone, and that you have never rendered it any help. Before the sun goes down forever, use its light. It is vain to warn after the ship is wrecked. Hell will never give up its prey–nor will your tears mitigate the fury of its fires. It is now or never. Lord, make it now!
Think again, how you would care for your friends if you were, yourself, this morning very near death. O my Hearers, I sometimes think of the time when I shall lie a-dying–when all alone my spirit must cross the black brook of Kedron and leave the city of our solemnities for the other side of Jordan. Then such thoughts as these will surely steal over me–"O that I might preach to this people again! O that I had the opportunity of addressing those thousands once more that I might preach in real earnest and not talk away the time! O that I might deal with their souls, as if they really were immortal and there were a judgment to come! O that I might set before them life and death, Hell and Heaven and plead with them, knowing the terrors of the Lord."
I can scarcely tell you what must be the sorrow of a dying man at the end of an unfaithful ministry. Then shall every wasted opportunity stuff his pillow with thorns. There shall be no sleep for that aching head, no rest for those weary eyes–he has damned the souls of men by his carelessness and sloth and now he must give his account. He is haunted by grim forebodings of wrath to come and knows not where to turn for comfort. He has insulted Heaven and played into the hands of Hell. What will be your thought, my Hearers, if in your narrower sphere you shall have been unfaithful?
There on the sick bed, though the comforts of complete forgiveness may take away from you the sting of death, which is sin, yet even the blood of Christ will not be able to remove those solemn heart-moving regrets which shall be suggested by a lively remembrance that you had opportunities of doing good and wasted them! And now that you are dying, but leaving unconverted children behind you–dying and the wife is still unsaved–dying, and your father still lives to whom you might have spoken of the way of God, but who now has no loving child to care about his soul!
As you must die, Believers, seek to live like dying men and labor for your sons and daughters and kinsfolk as those who must soon leave them and have no other opportunities of doing them good.
You cannot come back from Heaven! If you have neglected a duty, you cannot leave Heaven to perform it. If there is one thing that can make an angel in Heaven envy a man on earth, it is his power to intercede for sinners, to preach, to woo and to win souls. If there is one thing which a glorified saint before the Throne of God might wish to come to earth for, it is surely this–that he might speak to impenitent brothers, that he might weep over unconverted friends and perhaps bring them to repentance. "Work while it is called today, for the night comes wherein no man can work."
III. And now we turn, seeking the same earnest object, to the third point of our discourse. Such a question as this is calculated to EXCITE US TO ANXIOUS EFFORT for mere solicitude without effort is not genuine. A man must not pretend that he cares for the souls of others so long as he leaves one stone unturned which might be the means of blessing them. It seems to me, then, that if we are in a right state of heart this morning, one of the first things we shall do will be to tell those dear to us of their danger.
I think 1 see Lot going out that night. No very safe place, the streets of Sodom, especially after that wretched scene which had been enacted at his own door–a miracle had rescued him. But yet with his life in his hand, the good old man goes to the door of his sons-in-law. Affection is not always so strong towards sons-in-law as towards those who are of our own blood. Still he goes with all solemnity of feeling, knowing that he, himself, should be rescued, but trembling lest these sons-in-law should refuse the invitation to escape with him.
The good old man finds his way through the winding streets of Sodom and begins to knock at the door with a resolute hand. They look down from the top of the house. "That is the voice of old Lot," says one, "what is he doing, disturbing our comfortable slumber?"
They have but little love for him. They have put on some pretense of affection that they might win his daughters, but Sodomites cannot have much love for righteous men. And consequently they have no care for Lot. "What does the old fellow want at this time of night?" they say. "Why cannot he keep seasonable hours? Besides, what a disturbance there was at his own door just now! Does he not know better than to knock at our door, when he so resolutely shut his own to protect two tramping strangers? What does he want?"
He cries to them, "My sons, this city is to be burned with fire in the morning! Come, get up and flee with me, for the two men who came to me were angels sent from God to rescue me and they have bid me seek you. Come with me!" "Ah," they say. "What next? Old
Lob–that is your name, Lob, instead of Lot–go your way and talk about your silly dreams to men of softer brains and not to us."
"No," says he, "it is even so, by the love you bear my daughters, bear with me. If it is not so it will not matter, you can return. But if it is so, think what it will be to be destroyed with fire and brimstone out of Heaven! I pray you, come."
But they scoff at him–they tell him he is only mocking them–that he has some motive for wishing to get them into the street and they bid him go. And with an aching heart the poor old man goes back, feeling something more than Isaiah's grief–"Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" Yet as he fled out of Sodom, if the sight of his daughters reminded him of their husbands, he would think, "I am clear of their blood. I did plead with them. I did exhort them to escape. And if they would not, why, they would not–and the sin lies at their own door."
It will be some comfort to the Christian, if the worst should come to worst, that he has warned the ungodly. Let us tell them of their danger and never cease to warn until they cease to sin. Having so done, it is the duty of every Christian to tell his friend the remedy.
Plain speaking about Christ is the ordinary means of bringing sinners to repentance. Those ministers most useful in soul-seeking are those who put the doctrine of simple faith in the Atonement in the clearest light. Let not your friend perish through ignorance. Tell him that whoever comes unto Christ He will in no wise cast out– that there is life in a look at the Crucified Savior! Tell him that whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Preach no salvation by works–but preach faith and works only as the fruit of faith.
And let the doctrine that Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost be clearly set before your friend's eyes. Remember, it is not enough coldly to warn them of danger and doctrinally to teach the remedy. There are many who will go so far. But I hold, my Brothers and Sisters, that we are bound to use a constraint with our friends. Do not misunderstand me–only a loving and a tender constraint, such as these angels used with Lot. Press them, plead with them, take them by the hand. Some are afraid to do this. They fear that they should be doing the Spirit's work. My dear Brother, that is the reason why I do it, for I know the Spirit of God works by means and I am in hopes that He will use me to do His own work.
"Well, but we cannot bring them to Christ," says one. That is true and that is false. That is true–you cannot, unless God is with you.
But instrumentality is the ordinary method by which God accomplishes His purpose and therefore you may be enabled to bring sinners to Jesus. I do not, when I plead with sinners, plead as though I pleaded, or as though there were anything in my pleading which could do them good! I plead, as Paul says, "As though God did beseech you by us." This is the position the Christian parent should take up, the position of God pleading with men, "As though
God did beseech you by us." Not man seeking to win a soul, but the Son of Man coming to seek and to save that which was lost.
Do not be afraid, dear Friends, that you will ever violate the doctrine of election or predestination by the most solemn determination you can make in the sight of God that you will wrestle and weep and agonize to bring your children to Himself.
Rightly understood, this doctrine is an incentive to duty and never an opiate for sloth. "Compel them to come in," is the Savior's own command. I remember an old man who was a nursing father to all the young men in the parish where he lived. This one thing he used to do–there was scarcely a lad whom he would not know and speak to and there was a time with most of the lads when he specially sought to see them decided.
Suppose one of them was going away to London? He would be sure to ask him to have a cup of tea with him. "You are going away, John," he would say, "I should not like you to go without spending an evening with me." If it was a fine sunshiny evening, he would say, "You know I have often talked to you about the things of God and I am afraid that as yet there has been no impression produced.
You are going to London and will meet with many temptations and I fear you may fall into them. I should like to pray with you once before you go. Let us walk down the field together."
There was a tree, an old oak tree in a solitary place, where he would say, "To help you to remember my words better, we will pray under this tree." The young and the old knelt together and the old man poured out his soul before God. And when he had wrestled with God and talked with his young friend, he would say, "Now, when I am dead and gone and you will perhaps come back to the place where you lived when a youth–let that tree be a witness between God and your soul that here I wrestled with you. And if you forget God and do not give your heart to Christ, let that tree stand to accuse your conscience till it yields to the entreaties of Divine love."
Now here was a using of what I have styled constraint. But it is not a constraint, you see, such as the Papist would use. And as for physical force, of course that is never to be used–but the constraint of spiritual force, Divine love and earnestness. May I ask whether we have all done our duty in this matter? Here stands one who has not. And if every Christian here who has something to repent of in this matter were to stand up, I question, Brothers and Sisters, whether many of us dare keep our seats.
Ah, if they perish, we cannot say that we wept after them!
Whitfield could say to his congregations often, "Ah, if you are lost, it is not for want of weeping after, not for want of my groans and tears." But I am afraid if our children were lost, or our brothers and sisters were lost, we could not say so much as that. May God forgive the past and may He help us in the future. And from this time forth may we resolve as in the presence of the flowing wounds of Christ and as He enables us we will–
"Tell to sinners round,
What a dear Savior we have found,
Point them to the redeeming blood,
And say, 'Behold the way to God.' "
IV. And now I shall not weary you, I trust, if I continue a little longer. It seems to me that our text FOSTERS A VERY
CHEERING HOPE. It says, "Have you here any besides?," as much as if it would say, "Hope for them all. Why should they not all be brought out of Sodom? Why should one be left behind?"
That was a grand saying of Moses when Pharaoh said, "Go, serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. And Moses said, You must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us. There shall not an hoof be left behind"–the smallest lamb, or the meanest goat–they shall all come out.
So it is glorious when in strength of faith the father of the family can feel that he will give the Master no rest till they age–the most of my children are converted and if one shall perish, I must bear with it as a cross." No! But saying in your soul with humble boldness–
"Lord, I will not let You go,
Till a blessing You bestow upon every child of my loins, upon every brother and every sister and every relative." I say the text fosters a hope that you may yet see them all brought to Jesus!
I stayed some few months ago with a Brother in Christ in a certain town in the midland counties. I might mention his name if I could, He is the banker of the town. I was delighted when staying there, to hear a story from his own lips which is also printed and worthy of your careful perusal. His wife, a godly woman, had been exercised with many thoughts for her husband and children. She did not live to see her prayers answered. She fell asleep, but with a good hope that yet her husband and her children would join her in the skies.
She said that her husband would experience a bad trial, but that it would be greatly blessed to him and so it turned out. Our esteemed friend, that excellent man of God, Mr. Denham Smith, went to preach in the town and the gentleman went to hear him. He did not go with any desire for conversion–he knew not its value–he merely went to hear Mr. Smith as a person well known as an evangelist.
The Word, through Divine Grace, pierced his heart and about the same time it also reached the heart of one of his daughters. He was under deep distress of mind but through the simple teaching of our friend, Mr. Smith, he was led to rest upon Jesus and cast his anchor in the blessed anchorage of the Atonement.
His daughter, about the same time, through the united prayers of her newly-converted father and Mr. Smith, was brought into perfect peace. He thought, "This is a happy season–two of my sons are out on business, but I will send for them to come home." They were brought home–they were asked to go and hear Mr. Smith. One of them found the Savior. The other remained indifferent. The three converted ones began to pray for the others and, to make the story– a blessed story–very short, there were six in the household, sons and daughters, they were all saved, father included!
They had but three domestic servants–Mr. Smith visited them a second time. It had been a subject of prayer that the three servants might be saved and they were so and are now a whole family walking in the Truth of God! Such an instance as this in a somewhat large family should excite the desire of all Christian parents, that they may have the same blessing! Of course we cannot expect it where there are very little children. But we can expect, we ought to expect family conversions. And in answer to prayer we may have it where the children are come to an age in which they are capable of understanding the things of God and knowing the Truth as it is in Christ Jesus. I know that many of you feel your eyes watering at the thought of being able to say, "Here am I, and the children You have given me, for I have no greater joy than this– to see my children walking in the Truth."
Do not think that the conversion of children is a thing unusual or suspicious–look for it and believe in it. You cannot change their hearts, or give them Divine life –it is beyond your power. But it is not beyond the power of your God. And God will refuse His children nothing if they do but know how to plead His promise and ask in faith, doubting nothing. Only let us feel more about this and I am persuaded we shall see better times with regard to our young people. I am resolved, in connection with this Church, as soon as I can get over my many present engagements in the country, in Scotland and so on, that we will devote ourselves to looking more directly and personally after our young people.
We must have special meetings with them. The pastor must commune with them. The elders and deacons must meet them. We must be seeking to bring in more souls. God has dealt very graciously with this Church and for eleven years there has been one long revival. But I want to see greater things than these. I believe that the prayers of the last three weeks are being heard. Last Friday
I met with many of my Brethren, the ministers of London, in this place, to pray. We did pray. Our hearts were knit together in holy love and we prayed for our Churches and congregations and pleaded with God that He would make us better ministers and help us to be free from the blood of our hearers.
And I expect in answer to the prayers of my Brethren that we shall get a blessing. Moreover we have all been pleading–may I not say all? We have been crying, "Will You not revive us again that Your people may rejoice in You?" But we must use the means. I must ask my dear Friends who love the Lord who are scattered about the Tabernacle to begin from this time forward to look after those who sit near them, to look after those who sit in the pews with them. Put questions to them and endeavor gently to lead them to the Savior. Instead of one address from this pulpit, make it a thousand addresses from Christians round about!
Let me give you the nail and the hammer by preaching the sermon–but YOU–as agents in the hands of the Holy Spirit, labor to drive home the Word. And if I can get all of you who love the