A Cure For Care

A Cure For Care
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 12, 1862, BY REV. C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Casting all your care upon Him. For He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7.
No one precept contains the whole of a Believer's duty. But usually in
Scripture the precepts rise one above the other, like those stone steps
by which the traveler in Egypt ascends to the pinnacle of the pyramid.
You must first plant your feet firmly upon the preceding duty, before
you shall be able fully to climb to the next command.
Let me, then, call your attention to the precept which precedes my
text–"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that
He may exalt you in due time." You know, Beloved, that there are some
selfish, carnal cares which we must not cast upon God. It were an
insult to Him. It were an act of infamy on our part if we should
venture to ask for His assistance in them. Those are cares which would
never molest us at all if we were obedient to the precept– "Humble
yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God."
This cuts off the head at once of many of those anxieties into which
Christians sometimes fall. For instance, covetous cares–if I desire to
get and grasp more than is absolutely necessary, that I may hastily
grow rich, I cannot, on my knees, ask God to carry this care for me,
because it is none of His sending. He has taught me to say, "Give us
this day our daily bread," and He has given me a blessed example in
Agur, that I may pray, "Give me neither poverty nor riches." But I
cannot go on my knees before God, honestly, as a miser and ask that He
would enable me to add house to house and field to field. That care I
never ought to indulge and I never should endure it if I attended to
the precept, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of
God."
There is, also, the care of ambition, when men desire to attain honors,
eminence and fame. To stand foremost, to be exalted upon the pinnacle,
to be looked up to by all and to be almost adored by some. But if we
allow ambition to creep into our minds, we cannot go to God with it. It
is a care which we dare not cast on God, for that were to empty the
filth of our house upon the altar of God's sanctuary. But then, I say,
it is a care which would never fret us, if our souls were lowly before
the Lord.
There are those cares, too, which we make for ourselves–those
anxieties which anticipate the future–those foolish fears which are
only created in our brain and which vex the head and then fret the
heart. We cannot ask God to take those upon Himself–cares which have
no existence except in our own fancies–we can scarcely cast on God.
For, Beloved, we should never have them if we "humbled ourselves under
the mighty hand of God." Then, in such a state of subjection to the
Divine will and of resignation to the eternal purpose, our soul would
sit quietly and be still–and our spirit would not agitate itself with
frivolities which it has itself imagined, with fancies which have no
origin but in our own imagination.
Oh that you may have Divine Grace to obey the preceding command, and
then I think, without any limitation, I may address you in the words of
the text–"Casting all your care upon Him. For He cares for you." I
repeat, sinful cares we cannot cast on God. But then, obeying the
precept, "Humble yourselves," would uproot such vexations. He that is
down, need fear no fall. He whose soul is even as a weaned child will
fret and cry no more.
In addressing you this morning from so rich a text as this, I would
pray rather that the Holy Spirit may deliver you from anxiety, than
attempt to deliver you from it myself, for I am not even able to obey
this precept myself, much less shall I enable you to do it. Only when
the Spirit of God is upon the preacher can he cast his cares upon his
God and he is convinced by experience, that only as the Holy Spirit
shall enable you, will you be able to do the same.
However, that our word may be the means of your comfort and of your
strengthening, let us speak on this wise. First, for a few minutes, let
us expound this disease of care, giving some description of it.
Secondly, let us manifest the blessed remedy of the text, endeavoring,
in God's name, to apply it. And lastly, let us hold out the sweet
inducement of the second part of the sentence, in order that Believers
may be led to attempt the practicing of the precept, "He cares for
you."
I. First, then, LET US ENDEAVOR TO DESCRIBE THE DISEASE OF CARE. The
care mentioned in the text, even though it is exercised upon legitimate
objects, (and in this it differs from the cares of which I spoke just
now, which were cares concerning wrong objects)–care, even when
exercised upon legitimate objects if carried to excess, has in itself
the nature of sin. This will be clear if you think for a moment that
anything which is a transgression of God's command is sin, and if there
were no other command, the one in our text being broken would involve
us in iniquity.
But it is a precept earnestly repeated by our Savior many times. It is
one which the Apostles have reiterated again and again, and one which
cannot be neglected without involving transgression. Besides, the very
essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God and
the thrusting of ourselves into His place, to do for Him that which we
dream He either cannot or will not do. We attempt to think of that
which we fancy He will forget. Or we labor to take upon ourselves that
burden which He either is not able or willing to carry for us.
Now, this impertinence, this presumption–what if I say, this
audacity–has in it the very nature of sin, to attempt to know better
than God, to snatch from His hand the helm by which He guides affairs,
to attempt to correct His charts, to re-map His Providence. This,
indeed, is such an impertinence that as the guardian Scripture pushes
back the intruder, it demands of him, "Are you also one of the King's
counsel? What are you doing here? He took no counsel with you when He
made the heavens and the earth and balanced the clouds and stretched
out the skies like a tent to dwell in, how dare you come here and offer
advice to perfect Wisdom and aid to Omnipotent Strength?" There is in
anxious care the very nature of sin.
But, further, these anxious cares very frequently lead to other sins,
sometimes to overt acts of transgression. The tradesman who is not able
to leave his business with God, may be tempted to indulge in the tricks
of the trade. No, he may not only be tempted but he may be prevailed
upon to put out an unholy hand with which to help himself. The
professional or literary man, if he has no firm trust in Providence,
may lend his skill to indirect and unlawful ends. And each man, if he
has no other snare, will be tried with this–to forsake prayer and to
forget the promise in order to trust to the wisdom of a friend, or to
the natural sagacity of some mentor in whom he puts confidence.
Now this is forsaking the fountain to go to the broken cisterns–a
crime which was laid against Israel of old–a wrath provoking iniquity.
Even if it led to no other act except this sin of preferring the
counsel of man to the direction of God, excessive anxiety were to be
reprobated and detested. But think, my Brethren, of the many sins which
our anxieties engender in our hearts–unbelief which makes us doubt our
God. Want of love which is proven by our distrust of love. Want of hope
which puts out our eyes so that we cannot see the clear shining after
the rain.
Think, my Brothers and Sisters, how we fret and mistrust and thus vex
the Spirit of God and often cause Him to depart from us, so that our
prayers are hindered, so that our example is marred, so that we give
ourselves rather to self-seeking than to seeking God. All these things
are sins, the grapes of Gomorrah which grow on the vines of our cares.
These base-born cares are the plentiful mothers of transgressions.
Distrust is the egg out of which many a mischief is hatched. We indulge
in these cares and think, surely we are doing no wrong–whereas the
indulgence in them is in itself a crime–and is besides a tempter which
guides us onward to the commission of other iniquities. The man that
full of care, is ripe for any sin–but he who has cast his care on God
stands securely–neither shall the Evil One be able to touch him.
To proceed further in uncovering this disease–as it is in itself sin
and the mother of sin, we note again that it brings misery. Where sin
is, sorrow shall soon follow. He who would have his spirit bowed down
even to the very earth, has only to fix his thoughts upon himself and
his circumstances, instead of looking to God and His promises. Some of
you are placed in a very happy position in life but, my dear Brethren,
you can make yourselves miserable if you please. Others of you are put
in what the world considers unhappy circumstances–but if God enables
you–you can be supremely blessed.
Poverty does not necessarily involve sorrow, nor do riches in
themselves bring peace or happiness. If any of you wish for misery you
need not go out of your own house–there is no need to travel far for
causes of discontent. You can be surfeited with plenty and be poor. You
can dwell in the midst of peace and be disturbed. You can possess the
richest prosperity and yet be afflicted. We, to a very great extent
make our own position. God ordains Providence and either
Divine Grace makes us happy, or sin racks us with pain. God does not
make our misery. The cause of our trouble lies at our own door, not at
His.
Do you see that Christian, there with the sparkling eyes and the light
footsteps–the man who is swift to run upon his Master's errands? That
man has many troubles but when he wakes in the morning, if he retains
remembrance of them, he bows his knee and leaves them with his God. He
goes home and the day has had much of sorrow in it, but he shakes the
weight from his own shoulder and leaves his burden upon God. That man,
with all his troubles, is more blessed than yonder professor. He is the
one who has very little to vex him except that he vexes himself, by
making every little thing a ground for fretfulness, magnifying every
small mischance into a strange calamity and by losing all patience,
when all things suit not his proud will and dainty taste.
Oh Brethren! It is an ill thing for Christians to be sad. Let them
rejoice, "Rejoice in the Lord always," but they never can, so long as
they indulge in anxious cares.
Besides this, these anxious cares do not only lead us into sin and
destroy our peace of mind but they also weaken us for usefulness. When
one has left all his cares at home, how well he can work for his
Master! But when those cares tease us in the pulpit, it is hard
preaching the Gospel. When cares buzz in the ear, the music of Divine
Grace is hard to hear. What would you say of your workman who should
come to you in the morning with a heavy piece of family furniture upon
his back? He calls himself your porter, he is about to carry your goods
and you see him going out of the door with your load, which is properly
proportioned to his strength–but beside that he is carrying a heavy
piece of his own upon his shoulders.
You say to him, "My good man, what are you doing there?" "Oh Sir, I am
only loaded with household stuff." I think you would say, "Well but you
are not fit to do my work which you are engaged to do. I do not employ
you to carry your own load, I had you here to carry mine." "But Sir,"
says he, "I am so weak, I cannot carry both." "Then leave yours alone,"
you say, "and carry mine."
Or to use another simile. There was a great king who once employed a
merchant in his service as an ambassador to foreign courts. Now the
merchant, before he went away, said to the king, "My own business
requires all my care and though I am always willing to be Your
Majesty's servant, yet if I attend to your business as I ought, I am
sure my own will be ruined." "Well," said the king, "you take care of
my business and I will take care of yours. Use your best endeavors and
I will answer for it that you shall be nothing the loser for the zeal
which you take from yourself to give to me."
And so our God says to us, as His servants, "Do My work and I will do
yours. Serve Me and I will serve you." Like Peter–Peter is fishing,
Christ needs a pulpit to preach in. He borrows Peter's boat and
preaches in it. What about Peter's fishing? Oh, the Master will take
care of that, for no sooner is the sermon done than He says, Launch
into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Peter gets more
in ten minutes through having lent his boat to his Master, than he
might have done in ten weeks, if he had been fishing on his own
account. Leave your cares with God and care for
Him–
"Make HIS service your delight, Your wants shall be HIS care."
The subject would not be complete if I did not add that these little
cares, of whose guilt, perhaps, we think so little, do very great
damage to our blessed and holy cause. Your sad and miserable
countenances hinder souls who are anxious, and they present a ready
excuse for souls who are careless. "Look," they say, "look, that man is
a Christian man, the whole of the winters of a century have left their
storm rifts on his forehead, and all the winds of ages seem to have
ruffled his brow. He has no peace, no joy–who would be a Christian to
be so miserable?"
Thus the careless man says he will not have Hell here, he will leave
that for hereafter. Even anxious spirits say, "It cannot be that this
religion is true, for if it were really true, one would think it would
be able to support its followers in the troubles of life. If God's Word
is true, that God will sustain His people. Then Christians would be
sustained and Believers would be cheered and comforted. But I see that
they are as much fretful as other men, as impatient as they are and
that So-and-So, who makes a profession, is quite as weak, quite as
easily bowed before the storm as yonder man who has no God in whom to
trust and no promises on which to lean."
Ah, let it not be said so, Christian, through you. Open not the enemy's
mouth to blaspheme! Let not the dragon find food through you, who are
of the seed of the Woman, but rather seek, casting your care on God, to
disentangle yourself of all personal hindrances that you may be avenged
upon your Master's adversaries as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
I close the description of this matter by saying that in the most
frightful manner, cares have brought many to the poisoned cup, the
halter, and the knife, and hundreds to the madhouse. What makes the
constant increase of our lunatic asylums? Why is it that in almost
every country in England new asylums have to be erected, wing after
wing being added to these buildings in which the imbecile and the
raving are confined? It is because we will carry what we have no
business to carry–our own cares. And until there shall be a general
keeping of the Day of Rest throughout England, and until there shall be
a more general resting of our souls and all we have upon God, we must
expect to hear of increasing suicides and increasing lunacies.
So long as the present system of competition in business shall
continue–and there seems no hope that it will ever cease–the signs of
the times suggest that the battle will grow sterner every day. It will
become a more stern duty with each of us to cast our care on God,
unless we would see reason reel and would be howling maniacs in our
cells. Oh, for your own sake, and for your children's sake, for
Christ's sake and for His Church's sake, I pray you spoil not the fair
house which God has built! Cast not out the lovely tenant, leave not
the temple of the Lord to be the prison of madness. Away with evil
cares if you would still be a man.
II. I shall now want your attention to the second part of the subject,
THE BLESSED REMEDY TO BE APPLIED.
Somebody must carry these cares. If I cannot do it myself, can I find
any who will? My Father who is in Heaven stands waiting to be my
burden-bearer. With broad shoulders, with omnipotence as His strength,
He says "My child, roll your burden upon your God." Blessed privilege,
dare I neglect it? Can I be wicked enough to reject it and to bear my
cares myself? Here is the blessed remedy, "Cast your burden upon the
Lord and He will sustain you."
Now in order, rather to apply this remedy, than to describe it, by the
help of God's Holy Spirit I will mention some of those fears, those
cares, which are legitimate enough in their objects but which can only
be relieved by leaving them with God. One of the first and most natural
cares with which we are vexed is the care for daily bread. "I should be
content," says one, "with food and raiment. If I can but provide things
honest in the sight of all men and see my family cared for, I shall
then be happy." "But" says one, "what shall I eat, what shall I drink,
with what shall I be clothed?
"I am without a job, having, therefore, no opportunity to earn my
livelihood. I am without substance, having, therefore, nothing to look
upon by which I may be supported without labor. I am without friends or
a patron who might give me his generous assistance. What shall I do?"
You are a Christian, are you? You must use all diligence, that is your
duty–but oh, if God shall help you, mingle no fretfulness with the
diligence, no impatience with your suffering, and no distrust with your
trials. No–remember what Jesus has said so sweetly to the point,
"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.
"Are you not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can
add one cubit unto his stature? And why take you thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither
do they spin: and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in his glory was
not arrayed like one of these. Why, if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not
much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, take no
thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With
what shall we be clothed? (for after all, these things do the Gentiles
seek): for your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these
things. But seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
And all these things shall be added unto you."
Such a care as that, I say, is natural enough–and to bid a man shake
it off when he is in actual need–is cruelly absurd, unless you have a
sure consolation to offer him. But you can say, "Cast your trial upon
God." Use your most earnest endeavors, humble yourself under the mighty
hand of God. If you cannot do one thing, do another. If you cannot earn
your bread as a gentleman, earn it as a poor man. If you cannot earn it
by the sweat of your brains do it by the sweat of your brow. Do
something for an honest living–sweep a crossing if you cannot do
anything else. If a man will not work, neither let him eat. But having
brought yourself to that, if still every door is shut, "Trust in the
Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land and verily you shall
be fed."
Business men, who have not exactly to hunt for the necessities of life,
are often tormented with the anxieties of large transactions and
extended commerce. The failures of others, frequent bad debts, changes
in the markets, monetary pres- sures, and sudden panics, cause a world
of trouble. Through our fashion of credit in this age, it is very hard
for a Christian to conduct business in the sober, substantial fashion
which a tender conscience would prefer. "Owe no man anything"–if that
could be interwoven into the system of trade, it would, I do not doubt,
cure tens of thousands of ills which now grow out of that credit system
which seems to be unavoidable, but which, I am sure, involves many of
the crimes which are committed and very much of the care which racks
business men.
Well, through the present high-pressure system of trade there is
naturally much care. If any man here can say that he can go into his
office having many in his employ and never at all have care, I should
think he must be a rarity in the world. Surely he might walk till he
dropped with weariness before he would meet with another of the same
order. But if there is a Brother here who has a business so extensive
that he does not sleep at night. One that lies there tossing on his
bed, thinking about this servant who may have robbed him, or about that
vessel that is out at sea, or about the low prices of a certain article
which has gone down since he laid in a large stock and all those little
things which all of you know.
Then I say, "Brother, wait a minute! What are you doing? What are you
doing? Are you sure that in this you have used your best prudence and
wisdom, and your best industry and given it your best attention?"
"Yes." Well then, what more have you to do? Suppose you like to weep
all night? Will that keep your ship from going on the Goodwin sands?
Suppose you could cry your eyes out? Will that make a thief honest?
Suppose you could fret yourself till you could not eat? Would that
raise the price of goods?
One would think if you were just to say, "Well, I have done all that is
to be done, now I will leave it with God," that you might go about your
business and have the full use of your senses to attend to it. Whereas
now you fritter away your senses and then commit blunders, and so you
multiply your troubles by that very fretfulness by which you hoped to
remove them. There–let them alone! We say, "Leave well enough alone."
But I say, "Leave ill alone," leave them both alone and with both your
hands. For you will want both hands to honor your Master–with the hand
of prayer, "In everything by prayer and supplication, making known your
wants unto God." And with the other hand, the hand of faith, trusting
in God–lift your load right off from your own shoulders and let the
whole crushing weight be left with your eternal God, for "He will
sustain you, He will never suffer the righteous to be moved."
Another anxiety of a personal kind which is very natural, and indeed,
very proper if it is not carried to excess, is the care of your
children. Blessed be God for our children! We do not sympathize with
those who look upon them as afflictions, for we believe them still to
be a heritage of the Lord. But what anxieties they involve! How shall
we bring them up? How shall they be provided for? Will they honor their
parents, or will they bring disgrace upon the name they bear? A child
may be the greatest curse his parents ever had, while he may be their
choicest comfort. "All these," as an old Puritan said, "are doubtful
blessings and may be certain curses, yet I will not have it that there
is any doubt about their being blessings, as God sends them."
A Christian parent must have care about his children and all the more
because he is a Christian, since he will not be satisfied with their
getting on in business, he will never be content till his children walk
in the Truth of God. Mother, Father, you have prayed for your children.
You trust you have set them a holy example. You labor day by day to
teach them the Truth as it is in Jesus. You have travailed in birth for
their souls till Christ is formed in them. It is well. Now let your
souls quietly expect the blessing–leave your offspring with God–cast
your sons and daughters upon their father's God. Let no impatience
intrude if they are not converted in your time. Let no distrust
distract your mind if they should seem to belie your hopes.
I met yesterday with a few verses which sound like the warbling of an
American song writer. They exactly suit my subject and in reading them
in private they have touched my heart. Excuse me therefore, if though I
never read a sermon, I should for once read a part of one–
"The Master has come over Jordan,"
Said Hannah, the mother, one day.
"He is healing the people who throng Him,
With a touch of His finger, they say.
And now I shall carry the children,
Little Rachel and Samuel and John
I shall carry the baby, Esther,
For the Lord to look upon."
The father looked at her kindly, But he shook his head and smiled–
"Now, who but a doting mother Would think of a thing so wild? If the
children were tortured by demons, Or dying of fever it were well. Or
had they the taint of the leper, Like many in Israel."
"No, do not hinder me, Nathan. I feel such a burden of care If I carry
it to the Master, Perhaps I shall leave it there. If He lays His hand
on the children, My heart will be lighter, I know– For a blessing
forever and ever
Will follow them as they go."
So, over the hils of Judah,
Along by the vine-rows green,
With Esther asleep on her bosom,
And Rachel her brothers between
Among the people who hung on His teaching,
Or waited His touch and His word,
Through the ro w of proud Pharisees listening,
She pressed to the feet of the Lord.
Now, why should you hinder the Master, Said Peter, "with children like
these? See not how, from morning till evening, He teaches and heals
disease?" Then Christ said, "Forbid not the children, Permit them to
come unto Me!"
And He took in His arms little Esther, And Rachel He set on His knee.
And the hea vy heart of the mother
Was lifted all earth-care above, As He laid His hands on the brothers
And blessed them with most tender love. As He said of the babes in His
bosom,
"Of such are the kingdom of Heaven."
And strength for all duty and trial
That hour to her spirit was given.
Thus do you and thus inherit the blessing.
But each Christian will in his time have personal troubles of a higher
order, namely, spiritual cares. He is begotten again unto a lively hope
but he fears that his faith will yet die. He hopes he has some spark of
spiritual joy, but there are dark and dreary nights which lower over
him and he fears that his lamp will die out in darkness. As yet he has
been victorious but he trembles lest he should one day fall by the hand
of the enemy.
Beloved, I beseech you–cast this care upon God for He cares for you.
"I am persuaded that He that has begun a good work in you will carry it
on and perfect it unto the day of Christ." He has said, "I will never
leave you, nor forsake you." "The mountains shall depart and the hills
be removed. But My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall
the Covenant of My peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on
you." "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And
through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through
the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon
you." "No good thing will I withhold from them that walk uprightly." "I
give unto My sheep eternal life and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of My hand."
Why, one might keep you all this morning and this afternoon and evening
too, repeating the precious promises of God and we might close them all
by saying–
What more can He say than to you He has said, You who unto Jesus for
refuge have fled?"
Away, then with dark suspicions and anxieties! Is it care about past
sin? "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleans us from all
sin." Is it present temptation? "There has no temptation happened to
you but such as is common to men: but God who is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above what you are able. But will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it."
Is it future peril? O leave that with Him, for neither "things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord." If you begin to think always of yourself, you will be
miserable. Why, it is Christ that makes you what you are before the
eyes of God. Look, then, to Jesus in order to find out what you are in
God's esteem. Soul, I say again, look at Christ and not at yourself.
Never let anxieties about sanctification destroy your confidence of
justification.
What if you are a sinner! Christ died to save sinners. What if you are
undeserving! "In due time Christ died for the ungodly." Divine Grace is
free. The invitation is still open to you–rest the whole burden of
your soul's salvation where it must rest. Do not be an Uzza–lay no
hasty hand upon the ark of the Lord. Above all, do not be an
Uzziah–attempt not to offer sacrifices or usurp the priesthood, for
Christ must stand for you–you cannot stand or do for yourself. Cast,
then, your care on Him, for He cares for you.
I shall want your patient attention two or three minutes more, while
trying to apply this remedy. I notice that there are many cares not of
a personal, but rather of an ecclesiastical character, which often
insinuate themselves and plead for life, but which must nevertheless be
put away. I am sorry to confess, that if I do not preach to anyone else
this morning, I shall now be preaching to myself. There are cares about
how God's work is to be carried on. I know a foolish young man who lies
awake many nights thinking about that, and who sometimes by day makes
himself foolishly sad, because with large purposes of heart and with
great designs in his soul, he sees not the way by which they are to be
carried out and has not yet attained the faith which–
"Laughs at impossibilities, And says, 'It shall be done.'"
If any of you are suffering from the same sad disease, let me exhort
you from the words of Peter, to cast the care about God's work upon
God. He never sent us a warfare at our own charge. He never did require
us to do His work– that He will attend to Himself. And we ought to
feel that if God does not enable us to do as much as we would, it is a
blessed thing to be enabled and permitted to do as much as we can. If
we think there are few men to work, or little means with which to work,
we must not be fretful about where the means, or the men shall come
from. We may properly pray, "Lord, send laborers," and with equal
propriety we may ask that He who has the silver and the gold, may give
them for His own work.
But after that, we must cast our care on God. Then, if we get over
that, there will be another anxiety–one which frets me often
enough–the success of God's work. Oh, when there are souls converted,
how our heart leaps for joy. When the Church keeps continually
increasing, how glad we are! But if there is even a little lull, we
feel so sad. If we do not see God's arm always bare, we are ready to
lie down and say, "Lord, let me die, I am no better than my fathers."
When we are in a low state of body and heart, too, that weakening
sickness of unbelief, like the woman's issue of blood, comes over us
and we feel that life is ebbing as success decreases. Now, this is a
care we must cast on God.
Preacher, your Great Employer sent you out to sow the seed–but if no
grain of it should ever come up–if you sowed the seed as He told you
and where He told you, He will never lay the blame of a defective
harvest to you. It is ours to preach–but to convert souls is God's. It
is ours to labor–but the success depends alone on Him. "They that go
through the valley of Baca make it a well"–that is their business, to
dig wells. "The rain also fills the pools"–it is not their business to
fill the wells. And the wells do not get full from the bottom as they
do in our country–it is the rain that fills the pools. The blessing
comes from on High–if we have dug the wells and we have prayed six
times and as yet the rain has not descended, go again seven times and
the rain shall yet descend and the pools shall be filled to the brim.
Do not, therefore, let us have cares about success.
And sometimes there is another care. It is the care lest some little
slip made by ourselves or others should give cause to the enemy to
blaspheme. There are devils besides those in Hell–there are some on
earth. And some of these are too glad to find an opportunity, if there
is a word that is ever so fitly spoken, to wrest it out of its
connection and make stock and capital for blasphemy out of it. It is an
easy task and one which any fool can accomplish–this world is full of
fools who are glad to find dirt to eat, and then having eaten it
themselves, to cram it down others throats.
One is sometimes afraid to walk for fear of breaking something in such
a frail world as this. Afraid to speak, lest we should say something
which might open the enemy's mouth. A careful jealousy is very well if
it leads to caution–but very ill if it leads to a worrisome, weak
anxiety. What have you and I to do with what the enemy may do? If the
Lord does not chain the devil, I am sure we cannot. And if He does not
shut the mouths of liars, I do not know that we ought to wish He would,
for if He lets them open their mouths I have no doubt they are best
open.
Many a time, as Christ rode into Jerusalem on the back of an ass, the
truth has ridden into the midst of Jerusalem in triumph on the back of
its most despicable enemies. Beyond doubt, Christ has been lifted up
even on the point of the spear and the light of the Gospel has beamed
like a beacon from the stake where the martyr perished. Well, let us
leave our enemies to do what they will and only stand fast to the Lord
and cast our care on Him.
And then, one is so afraid of being unfaithful at the last, lest the
blood of souls should be on our garments. Oh, that thought has dashed
me on my forehead on the floor many and many a time. This heavy burden
crushes me into the most pitiable state, until the body sympathizes
with the mind so fully, that if you could see me with the tears running
from my eyes and the cold sweat starting from my head, you would say,
"What a creature is that to go forth and preach?" The thought of having
all of you to address and that I must be faithful, or else your blood
shall be required at my hands, is so awful a one that in private I
never dare to think of it, for it utterly unmans me.
But oh, blessed be God, if He has enabled us to do all we can by His
Spirit, we must leave it there. We know that He will not ask more of us
than He has given to us and if He has helped us so far, His shall be
the glory. But if we have failed, even that, too, shall be washed away
through His precious blood and with all his weight of responsibility
the minister shall yet enter Heaven and find a place among the
sanctified.
III. My last point and only a word, of THE SWEET INDUCEMENTS TO
CONVINCE YOU TO LEAVE YOUR BURDENS WITH HIM–"He cares for you."
Believe in an universal Providence, the Lord cares for ants and angels,
for worms and for worlds. He cares for cherubim and for sparrows, for
seraphim and for insects. Cast your care on Him, He that calls the
stars by their names and leads them out by numbers, by their hosts. Why
do you say, O Jacob, and think, O Israel, "my way is passed over from
God and He has utterly forgotten me?" Let His universal Providence
cheer you.
Think next of His particular Providence over all the saints. "Precious
shall their blood be in His sight." "Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His saints." "We know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to
His purpose." Let the fact that while He is the Savior of all men, He
is specially the Savior of them that believe. Let that cheer and
comfort you, that special Providence which watches over the chosen,
"The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him."
And then, thirdly, let the thought of His special love to you be the
very essence of your comfort. "I will never leave you, nor forsake
you." God says that as much to you, as He said it to any saint of old.
"Fear not, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward." Oh, I
wish, Beloved, that the Holy Spirit would make you feel the promise as
being spoken to you! Out of this vast assembly, forget the rest, and
only think of yourself, for the promises are unto you, meant for YOU.
Oh, grasp them. It is ill to get into a way of reading Scripture for
the whole Church–read it for yourselves and specially hear the Master
say to YOU this morning, "Let not your heart be troubled, you believe
in God, believe also in Me."
Think that you hear Him say, "I have prayed for you that your faith
fail not." Think you see Him walking on the waters of your trouble, for
He is there, and He is saying, "Fear not, it is I, be not afraid." Oh,
those sweet words of Christ! Lord, speak them to me! Speak them to Your
poor sorrowing child yonder! Speak them to each one of us! Speak them
to us, and let us hear Your voice and say, "Jesus whispers consolation,
I cannot refuse it, I will sit under His shadow with great delight."
Sinners–ungodly persons here–you know not God. I send you away when I
have said this one thing. What a blessed thing it is to be a Christian,
to have Someone who will take your cares for you! Why, you know you
will have your cares whether you are Christians or not–you are sure to
have troubles even in the world–but then you have no Christ to comfort
you, no God to sustain you, no promise to cheer you. You have the
darkness without the lamp, you have to die without the immortality to
follow. Oh that you knew what a Christian is, and your mouths would be
watering to know the Christian's privilege!
I say to you, cast your sins upon Christ. Jesus Christ can take them.
If you believe on Him there is proof that He did take them of old, did
carry them and suffered for them in His own Person that you might go
free. Oh may we each this morning, saint and sinner, come to the Cross
and to the Throne of Grace and say, "Lord, unload us of our burdens of
guilt and care and give us now to go on our way rejoicing," because
God, all-sufficient, has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake
you."