DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, DECEMBER 22, 1878,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be
removed, but abides forever." Psalm 125:1.
THIS is the first verse of one of the Songs of degrees. These Songs
were probably sung by the pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem, when
they halted at the various stations or passed certain places of
interest. It is very possible that this Psalm burst forth from joyful
lips at the moment when Zion first came into sight and the worshippers
gazed upon the city of their solemnities. Happy pilgrims! They had left
behind them many a dreary glen and dangerous wood and now they saw in
their full view their journey's end and, therefore, they sang with all
the gathered joy of days gone by. They could not have so exulted if
they had not previously sorrowed. The same truth may be learned from
the use of the term, "Song of degrees"–it warns us that this Psalm
rises out of that which preceded it, as one step of a staircase rises
above its fellow.
David had not sung the 125th Psalm if he had not first learned to sing
the one hundred and twenty-fourth. If he had not been where men
threatened to swallow him up quickly and found in such a case that the
Lord was on his side, he could not have been quite so sure that, "they
that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be
removed." Our experiences are our instructors even concerning
themselves–they shed light upon each other and we learn enough from
one trial to begin to unfold the mysteries of another. The 124th Psalm
must first, to some extent, be passed through so that we see that all
our help lies in the Lord, or we shall never reach to the grand
positiveness of this 125th and sing, "They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion."
We have heard some of the brave expressions of Christian heroes and we
have thought, "I wish I could speak with that man's faith." Brothers
and Sisters, to possess such faith you must take with it, its owner's
trials! You may rest assured that God never gave a penny's worth of
faith to any man that it might be hoarded in a cupboard–faith is sure
to be used and what is more, great faith is not possessed by those who
are untrained in its need and use. It is a sword which is not girt upon
a man till he has come to years and strength to use it.
I do greatly joy in that utterance of Luther when going to Worms. Some
of his friends told him that he would be burned to powder, as Huss had
been before him, but he laughed and said he had no fear. "If," said he,
"they shall build a fire between Wittenberg and Worms that should reach
to Heaven, in the Lord's name I would appear and step into behemoth's
mouth, between his great teeth and confess Christ and let him do his
pleasure." His joy at that time seems to have been overflowing, though
his danger was manifest to all.
Now, this holy boasting sounds well, but it is not to be imitated by
every baby in Grace–this man had passed through a preparatory process
which brought his mind into a triumphant state, in which he was a king
of men, a lion among a pack of dogs! It is not to be forgotten that
there was a subsequent sinking of his soul, as in the case of Elijah,
to prevent his being exalted above measure at the recollection of his
own courage. For this, also, he who would have a right royal faith must
stand prepared. They that do business in great waters must sail in
ships fitted for stormy seas. You and I, perhaps, paddle around the
shores of a quiet lake where our little boat is large enough for most
purposes. We are not tested by great storms, neither is our boat held
by great anchors. Our needs are not of the greatest and, therefore, our
supplies are not like those of the larger craft which sail upon greater
waters.
Still, one would wish to be among the Lord's most useful servants and
to that end would cheerfully accept the great risk. We would not wish
to remain babies, but we desire to become full-grown men and surely
David is one who has drank up the 124th Psalm as a somewhat bitter cup
and then feels that he can dine upon the 125th and rise to bless the
Lord who makes His people to "be as Mount Zion, which cannot be
removed, but abides forever." Note that the
metaphor which is used in the text was drawn by the pilgrims from the
hill before them, or, if the Psalm does not belong to pilgrims, to all
Israel. They took the comparison from that mountain with which they
were best acquainted.
If they might not all see Lebanon, which lay at the northern extremity
of the land–if they might not all behold the excellency of Carmel, or
gaze upon the heights of Hermon–yet once in the year they must all
look upon Zion, "where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto
the testimony of Israel." The emblem was, therefore, a familiar one and
I wish, sometimes, that we were more apt at sanctifying to holy uses
the common objects which are round about us–these streets and houses,
our own country and our own home. I am afraid our eyes are open when we
seek emblems of sadness and we find them on every hedge and in any
garden-plot–but we should also look at home when we need metaphors of
thanksgiving with which to set forth our security and our comfort in
the Lord.
To have a house at all is something. Cold blows the wind, but warm is
our own fireside. And even so, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place
in all generations." All you who love your homes may see in them the
figure and representation of your dwelling in God in peace forever.
Believing Englishmen, you may especially bless God that your country
gives you an admirable picture of your own security! You dwell alone,
separated by the floods from all other nations–this is the security of
our beloved isle–
"He bade the ocean round you flow, Not bars of brass could guard you
so." They that trust in the Lord shall be as these happy islands which
shall not know the rod of the oppressor, for the Lord has guarded them
with a better defense than walls or bulwarks. Hebrew comparisons were
most fit for Hebrew believers–let us make English figures out of our
own circumstances and surroundings–thus will it appear as if our faith
were less a tradition and more truly a present-day reality!
Thus, also, will true religion wear a more real and homely aspect and
will strike others with greater force. Faith, when she is active and
observant, finds illustrations of her own blessedness all around. Amid
the descending snows of this cheerless wintry day, she says, "Did He
not say that cold and heat and summer and winter should never cease?"
Have we not His Covenant with the earth still fulfilled before our eyes
and may we not rest certain, therefore, that the Covenant with His
people will not fail? Are not these snowflakes tokens of His Word which
comes not forth in vain? Does not this bitter chill assure us of His
Omnipotence of whom we read, "He casts forth His ice like morsels: who
can stand before His cold?" Open your eyes, my Brothers and Sisters,
and look about and as the believing Israelite saw Zion and began to
sing about it, so shall you, also, "go out with joy, and be led forth
with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing."
Now, to come to the text–I have merely touched its angles in this
rough preface. We have in the verse before us, first of all, a lowly
people–"They that trust in the Lord." One talks a good deal about
them, yet they are of no reputation among men. Secondly, a singular
stability in them–"they shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be
removed, but abides forever." And then, thirdly, we shall for a while
consider the evident reason for this stability of theirs.
I. First, here we read of A LOWLY PEOPLE. That which is said of them is
nothing very great in the judgment of human reason–they are merely
said to "trust in the Lord." This is a very simple thing to do. God
gives promises and they believe them. God is at work in Providence and
they trust Him. God invites them to the Mercy Seat and they approach
it. God gives them His Son as their salvation and they believe in Him.
God grants His Holy Spirit as their teacher and they learn of Him and
obey Him. To sum up all in one, they "trust in the Lord."
"That is a small matter," cries one, "any fool can do that!" Just so.
Perhaps more would do so if the most of men were not foolishly wise.
Any child can trust and more would trust in the Lord if more men were
childlike. "Trust in the Lord." It needs no effort of intellect to
trust and it needs no laborious education to learn the way. Trusting in
the Lord is simply depending where there is unquestionable reason for
reliance, believing what is assuredly true and acting upon it. Trusting
in the Lord is taking at His Word, One who cannot lie, or change, or
fail. And certainly this is no great feat if we look at it from the
carnal man's own point of view.
These trusters in the Lord cannot plume themselves upon the feat they
have performed, for to trust in the Lord would naturally seem to be one
of the commonplaces of human thought. Should not a being trust its
Creator? Strange that any creature should think it difficult! It is a
sure sign of the depravity of our race that we not only think it
difficult, but find it so! It is a sure evidence of how much Satan has
bewitched the human mind that simple faith has even become
impossible to unrenewed hearts, though it is, in itself, the easiest
exercise of the mind. Men cannot even understand what trusting in the
Lord means till God, the Holy Spirit, opens their understandings–and
then He must both beget and nourish their faith or they will have none
of it!
To trust in the Lord we have admitted to be a very simple matter, but
at the same time it is very right, is it not? Poor simpletons that we
are, we can even appeal to the wise ones of the earth and let them be
judges in this matter. Should not a man trust in his own Creator? Is it
possible for us to discover a being more worthy of confidence than our
own God? Does He not deserve to be trusted? In what one respect has He
ever played us false? Is there a single instance in which the Word of
the Lord, once given, has been found to fail? When have thirsty mouths
resorted to this Fountain and found it dry? If there is anything
against the veracity of God, let us hear it. Evidence is invited! The
Lord Himself bids any testify against Him who have anything to declare.
Lo, these thousands of years have rolled along and Jehovah has
challenged men to bring forth their strong arguments against Him if
they could, but they have found no cause why He should be distrusted
and His Word dishonored. If, then, there is new evidence, O
unbelievers, you are here to declare it! Let us hear it. There is none!
You know that there is none! Surely it is a matter of clear honesty and
right to any man to trust Him till He has deceived us or afforded us
cause for suspicion. We always say we will trust the bridge that has
carried us safely over. Has not the Lord been faithful to those who
have trusted Him?
What say the trusters of former times, or of this present? Lives there
one who will come forward and say, "I have trusted in the Lord and have
been confounded. I have stayed myself upon the Eternal and I have found
Him false"? No, Hell itself contains not one adversary of God who dares
to utter such a calumny against His Divine faithfulness! Well, Brothers
and Sisters, if we are told that our trust is simple, we will be
reconciled to the statement by the equally manifest fact that it is
right. Moreover, is it not wise? What can be wiser? Those of us who
have tried trusting in God have never found Him fail, whereas when we
have trusted in men we have been disappointed! You who have been
self-reliant must have found self-reliance to be, at certain times, a
terrible mistake! But those who are God-reliant have never found an
instance in which their rest in the Lord has been a questionable
policy.
Would it not be an awfully grand fact if a man should make a failure of
his life and could then turn round and truly say, "Oh God, the cause of
my failure was that I trusted alone in You and You could not, or would
not help me"? As there is a terrible grandeur in the infamous
wickedness of Milton's Satan, so much of grandeur that sometimes the
reader has been made forgetful of the vileness of the fiend in the
greatness of the rebel, so there would be a sort of appalling splendor
about a being who should have implicitly lived to God, depended upon
Him and then should have failed. The idea is next door to blasphemous
and tremblingly I let it pass before you that you may perceive that it
can have no real existence! Borrowing a poetic license, I have shadowed
it, but I know it to be utterly impossible.
See, then, how certain of success is the Believer! How impossible it is
that he should make shipwreck! The mere notion of it has passed before
you and you have rejected it as worse than absurd. It must be wise to
link yourself to Him whose name is Love. To get that little boat of
yours in tow with the Infinite must be wise! To gain some kind of
connection between yourself, the creature of an hour, and the Eternal
who spoke the world into existence and whose glance will return it to
nothing must be wise! It must be a grandly wise thing to be joined unto
the Lord God and there is no link that can, at first, be cast between
God and sinful man but that of simple confidence–be that link ours at
this moment and forever!
Blessed are they that by the Holy Spirit have been led to trust in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ! Let us speak further about these simple
people–these half fools, as the world thinks them to be. They came to
trust in God as a matter of necessity, they could not do otherwise. Why
is it that numbers of people deal with their friends on trust? It is
because no other way is open to them. Matthew Henry says, "All that
deal with God must deal upon trust and He will give comfort to those
only that give credit to Him." We cannot bring the Lord our merits, but
let us give Him our confidence. Because we are poor, let us appeal to
His riches! Because we cannot help ourselves, let us cast ourselves
upon His power!
What else can we do? God is to be trusted–let us trust Him with all
our hearts. Do other trusts invite us? Let us reject them, for we
remember the past heartbreaks which they have caused us. Lord, we trust
in You and come to cast ourselves upon You! To whom else can we go? You
have the words of eternal life! Oftentimes trust is, to a Believer, his
only path, he is shut up to faith–he must believe or die. He is pushed
into a corner; he is bewildered; he can scarcely pray; he cannot
comprehend himself, nor lift a finger. And then trusting is the resort
of his desperation–it is not his choice, but the fruit of compulsion.
Brethren, I feel it a sweet thing to faint away into faith! Did you
ever do that? Were you ever so far gone that at last you have melted
right away from yourself and sunk into God? I believe that this
swooning faintness is the door of faith to multitudes of souls! They
enter into peace, not by strength, but by sheer weakness! They do not
run into the arms of God, but they fall there! There are doubtless some
who run to Christ, for we read of one who came running to Him, but
there are others who must be dropped down before Him upon a bed. It
matters not how they come to Jesus, so long as they come to Him! Yet it
is worthy of note that faith, in many cases, is a child of weakness.
On its human side it is a Jabez, borne with sorrow, the birth of self's
expiring pang. Yet faith which thus arises out of very weakness, like
the phoenix from its own ashes, has a great side to it. It is, in some
respects, the most sublime effort of the human mind. If ever the bright
spirits which stand before the Truth of God test their own faculties
upon the mysteries of Providence, foreknowledge, predestination and the
free will of man–if they ever enquire where the agency of the created
ends and where the Divine is found–if ever, I say, they try the edge
of their intellect upon themes like these, they make an end by
declaring, "We are lost! Our spirits cannot comprehend the infinite,
but we believe in God and are sure that He orders all things aright."
They doff their coronets before the Throne of their superior King in
reverent confidence in His eternal goodness–this is their grandest
worship, their truest adoration–they believe!
Brothers and Sisters, faith is not of earth alone, but saints and
angels in Heaven believe in the Eternal God! It were a crime to suspect
them of the contrary. The mystery of Jehovah's dealings still manifests
their faith–they remember His unfulfilled promises and they look for
their accomplishment–for they have not as yet seen the Bridegroom
coming to His bride, nor the earth subdued unto His sway, nor the full
manifestation of the creation when the sons of God shall be revealed
and the creature, itself, shall cease from its groaning. Trust is the
simplicity of a baby, but it is the glory of a genius! It is grand in
seraph or in saint–and while it befits a child, it is worthy of an
archangel! Poor fools are these trusters, yet they are near akin to
nobler beings!
Now, can you tell me why is it that if a man trusts in God he is
generally despised by his fellows? If a person were to say, "As for my
getting on in the world, I am trusting to a friend of mine who is
influential with the government," or if another said, "My father was
born before me and he will see me provided for," nobody would condemn
either of such persons as an idiot, but would treat his confidence as
quite legitimate! But if any one of us were to say, "Our confidence, as
for our future in this world is resting in our heavenly Father," there
would be a shrugging of the shoulders, a knowing look of the eyes and
when they got far enough away, our critics would say, "That man is a
fool, or a cant!" Alas, God is nobody to the bulk of mankind and it
seems a ridiculous thing to them to trust in Him!
To trust in God is to the worldly man the next thing to building
castles in the air! The unbelieving laugh because they cannot
understand us–but what is the reason they become angry with us? Why do
they turn, again, and rend us? Other simpletons they let alone, but
those who trust in God become objects of scorn! The Believer finds that
a jest is made upon his faith and mirth is excited by his confidence!
What he says is widely laughed at and more than a little distorted–
and he is looked upon as little better than a natural fool! This was
always so and always will be so till the Lord comes. He that is born
after the flesh persecutes him that is born after the Spirit! The man
who walks by sight cannot understand the man who walks by faith–how
could he? And if we get to trust in God and that trust becomes the
great motive power of our life, as I earnestly hope it may be with each
one of us, then the worldly man will not know how to make heads or
tails of our conduct and he will, first of all, ridicule and then
oppose. Care nothing for the opposition–he who is right has conquered!
Before we proceed further, let us notice how the text includes all who
truly trust in the Lord, both small and great, for it says, "They that
trust in the Lord." It does not say, "They that trust in the Lord with
a highly intelligent faith." It is a good thing to understand much and
to trust in the Lord with growing knowledge, but, dear Soul, if you do
not know much, yet if you are trusting in the Lord, you shall be as
Mount Zion which cannot be removed! The text does not limit the
blessing to only those who have great faith. The stronger your faith
the better–the more faith you can have the richer and happier your
life will be–but the assurance of our text is for those who have any
faith, even a mustard seed of faith! They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion.
And note it does not say, "those who have had faith for many years." It
is a great thing to have had faith for a long time–it ripens and
sweetens–but this promise is made to the youngest as well as to the
oldest; to those who have believed in the Master's Word for a few
years, or months, or days, as well as to the veterans. They that trust
in the Lord, though it was only yesterday that they began to trust,
shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed! Neither does the text
demand a loftiness and heroism of trust–it simply speaks of the trust
itself. Your faith may not be like that of Samson, which slays a
thousand men, but it may be a humble, teachable faith, which sits like
Mary at the Master's feet at home. Well, you shall be as Mount Zion
that cannot be removed. Only have real trust in God and you shall have
the steadfastness of the sacred hill of the Lord.
Some of you may have been so sweetly taught to trust in the Lord that
you can say, "Yes, blessed be His name, I do trust Him, altogether,
unreservedly and without a suspicion." Be you abundantly sure that the
text is your portion this day! I hope there are some of us who can now
trust our Lord in any case. If we do but see the Lord's Word in any
teaching, however mysterious or obnoxious to flesh and blood, our
questions are at an end. We accept unhesitatingly the hard and the deep
things of God. If we see any attribute, or promise, or half a promise
of our Lord to be on our side, we feel more than safe.
A good old saint who lately lay dying told her pastor that she was
resting upon the justice of God. The good pastor thought that she had
chosen a strange point of the Divine Character to rest on, but it was
not at all so, for she explained herself. "I rest in His justice to my
great Surety and Substitute, that He would not let Him die for me in
vain." Thus hard, stern Justice becomes a blessed pillow for our
confidence and none can be softer for a dying head! Though Justice is
as a stone, yet he that can use it as Jacob used the stone at Bethel
shall see the ladder which reached to Heaven and angels trooping upon
its rungs! Awkward Providences, too, like stern attributes, we have
learned to use for helps in our trusting. It happened that Rabbi Joshua
was walking up Mount Zion one day with his brother, Rabbi Eliezer, and
as they walked along they startled a fox, which ran out from among the
rubbish.
"Alas, my Brother," said Joshua, "this is a sad sign. Does it not show
us the anger of the Lord against Israel? He has given Zion to be a
desolation and the foxes walk about her." Eliezer replied, "True, my
Brother, but does it not also prove the faithfulness of Jehovah towards
Zion, for inasmuch as He said that the foxes should go about her when
she sinned, has He not also said that He will build her walls again? If
He is thus faithful to His threats, will He not, in due time, fulfill
His promises?"
Brothers and Sisters, you must trust the Lord wholly and entirely in
everything and concerning everything. "Trust in Him at all times." You
must trust the dark side of Him. You must trust in the shadow of His
wings as well as in the light of His Countenance. Some of you have only
learned to trust to the smile of His face–you must learn to trust in
the blows of His fists. God bring us to that! "No," you say, "we can
never come to that!" Surely we can, for did not one of old say, "Though
He slay me yet will I trust in Him"? That is precisely what we mean!
II. Under our second head we shall consider the grand privilege of the
text, THE SECURITY OF BELIEVERS– "They that trust in the Lord shall be
as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abides forever." Mount Zion
had, in David's day, undergone a great many changes and it has seen
many more since, but it has never been removed. There it was when the
Jebusite defied David; there it was when Araunah threshed his wheat;
there it was when the Temple gleamed in the sun; there it was when the
Roman soldier cast the firebrand into the holy place and it is there
now–it has never been removed and it never will be!
God's children undergo a variety of experiences. Today their hearts are
a place of sacrifice and tomorrow a battlefield. By turns their soul is
a temple and a threshing floor–but whatever their ups and downs may
be, they shall never be removed from their ordained and appointed
place–by the Grace of God they are where they are and where they shall
be. They shall never be effectually removed from that place before the
Lord in which infinite love has fixed them. Where, then, are Believers?
We answer first, they are in the place of justification. As soon as
they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, they were justified by faith.
How many years have passed since then? Never mind–"there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
They have not fallen into the place of condemnation–they have not been
driven from the honorable position of justified men, for, "the gifts
and calling of God are without repentance." The Lord has covered them
with the righteousness of Christ and cast all their sins into the
depths of the sea and, therefore, they must and they shall stand in
His favor as long as Zion's famous rock abides in its place. "He that
believes on the Son has everlasting life." "He that believes on Him is
not condemned." The sheep of Christ shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of His hands! The Believer is also in the place of
regeneration and out of that condition he shall never be removed. He
was born again– prove that fact and there is no reversing it! He that
is born again is born again. You cannot take from a man his first birth
and neither can you take from a man his second birth–the thought is
ridiculous, the fact is impossible!
Are you a child of God? You are a child of God and you can never be
other than a child of God, either in time or in eternity. Have you a
child? You may disown him, but he is yours none the less. Your child
may be rebellious and his character may make you sorrowful, but he is
your child for all that. You cannot "unchild" him. Even so, if God is
my Father, which I know He is, since He has taught me to trust in Him,
then I may not question the perpetuity of my sonship since it is an
abiding thing and I shall no more be removed from it than Mount Zion
from its ancient seat! Where is the Believer? He is in the place of the
gracious purpose–"for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son."
Being called, my Brothers and Sisters, you are a Believer, for that is
the mark of the heavenly calling! Therefore you can be sure that you
were foreknown and predestinated, and you can be equally certain that
from this predestination you shall no more be removed than the
mountains shall be torn from their sockets and thrown into the depths
of the sea! You are also in the place of Divine Love, dear to the heart
of God, for the Father Himself loves you and nothing shall make Him
cease to love you! He did not love you because of anything good in
you–when He chose you He knew what you would be–you will never
surprise Him, whatever evil you fall into, for He has foreseen and
provided for it all. And He has said, "I have loved you with an
everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you; for
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."
Beloved, if you are, indeed, trusting in God, you are in the stronghold
of the Covenant–God has entered into bonds with you to bless you! By
oath and promise, by two immutable things in which it is impossible for
Him to lie, He has given you strong consolation concerning everlasting
salvation in Christ Jesus and you are like Mount Zion–you shall never
be removed from your place in the Covenant. Although your house is not
so with God as you might desire, yet has He made with you an
Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure. What is your
position? Why, you are in Christ! You are one with your Lord and Head,
a living member of His body! You are a part of the mystical Christ and
none shall dismember the Only-Begotten or rend in pieces the Lord of
All! It can never be that He shall lose a single limb of His own august
body!
Till Mount Zion shall be torn from its eternal base none who are in
Christ shall ever be torn away from Him! In this Truth of God there is
something to feed upon. Here is a downy couch of precious consolation
to lie upon when you are sick–and a garden of delights to walk in when
health returns. Here is meat for men in the strength of which we may do
and dare and die for our Lord! "They that trust in the Lord shall be as
Mount Zion, which can never be removed, but which abides forever." This
shall not only be a matter of fact as to the Believer's actual position
with God, but, to a large extent, this shall be true in his own
consciousness as he advances in the life and walk of faith.
Believers are too often tossed about in their minds and suffer great
shakings and moving of heart because they do not trust in the Lord as
they should. These things ought not to be, for we ought to be steadfast
and immovable. But by reason of infirmity and immaturity many are
tossed to and fro as in a tempest. Still, even in these, deep in their
soul their faith is earnestly keeping its hold and does not permit them
altogether to drift. At the back of a great deal of grievous unbelief,
when we are in a depressed condition, there lives a faith which is not
moved, but in secret takes hold as for dear life, biding its time till
better days shall come.
I remember another story of Martin Luther which may fitly be told in
this place. Great-souled Martin Luther could believe and doubt as much
any man of his time! In believing he could excel the angels and in
horrible thoughts of doubting he could almost match the devils!
Great-hearted men are subject to horrible fits of faintness and despair
unknown to minds of smaller caliber. One day he fell so low in spirit
that his friends were frightened at what he might say or do. Things
were going ill with the great cause and the Reformer might, in his
dreadful condition, have upset everything. So his friends got him out
of the way, saying to themselves, "The man must be alone. His brain is
overworked. He must be quiet."
He rested a bit, and came back, looking as sour and gloomy as ever.
Rest and seclusion had not stilled the winds nor lulled the waves!
Luther was still in a storm and judged that the good cause was
shipwrecked. I will now give you my own version of the method adopted
for the great man's cure. He went home, but when he came to the door
nobody welcomed him. He entered their best room and there sat
Catherine, his wife, all dressed in black, weeping as from a death in
the house. By her side lay a mourning cloak, such as ladies wear at
funerals. "Ah," says he, "Kate, what is the matter? Is the child dead?"
She shook her head and said the little ones were alive, but something
much worse than that had happened. Luther cried "Oh, what has befallen
us? Tell me quick! I am sad enough as it is. Tell me quick!"
"Good man," said she, "have you not heard? Is it possible that the
terrible news has not reached you?" This made the Reformer the more
inquisitive and ardent and he pressed to be immediately told of the
cause of sorrow. "Why," said Kate, "have you not been told that our
heavenly Father is dead and His cause in the world is therefore
overturned?" Martin stood and looked at her, and at last burst into
such a laugh that he could not possibly contain himself, but cried,
"Kate, I read your riddle–what a fool I am! God is not dead, He always
lives, but I have acted as if He were! You have taught me a good
lesson."
It is only by realizing the everlasting abiding love of God that they
that trust in the Lord shall come to feel steadfast as Mount Zion which
shall never be removed. The man of God may know that he is safe and yet
there may be such a rush and tumult in his experience that he may not
be able to understand himself or realize his true position. This may
happen even to more advanced Christians. But as we grow in Divine
Grace, the tendency is to reach a more even and equable condition.
Experienced Believers are not to be put about by every puff of wind.
No, they come, at last, to hold on their way in the teeth of all ill
weathers and, like hardy mariners, make small account of the lesser
storms of life. It is grand to gaze into the face of a Patriarch who
wears written on his placid brow the words, "He shall not be moved
forever. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord."
Such men are the pillars of society and help poor trembling, doubting
hearts to hope that there is yet something stable. Let it be our
objective and desire to grow into such confirmed and established
Believers. The promise of God deserves unwavering faith and why should
we not render it and thus become fixed in our repose of soul? Once
more, while it is delightful to consider the actual immovability of the
Believer and most profitable to seek after a growing establishment of
faith, there is one point of which we have already and can never allow
a question to be raised about. As to the Gospel which we believe and
teach, we are once and for all fixed and settled about it–our creed is
not a variable quantity, or a shifting cloud. We know whom we have
believed and are as fixed as Mount Zion as to the eternal verities upon
which our hopes are built.
Since we have trusted in the Lord we have, at times, felt that we did
not just then derive the support and the comfort that we expected from
it, but what then? Shall we leave it and look elsewhere? God forbid! We
are at a pass with all the world of doubters, thinkers, philosophizers
and scientific dreamers! We know enough of the Truth of the Gospel to
be resolved to hold it against legions of their order! We defy, alike,
the council of infidels and the Hell of devils–we never will depart
from the grand old Gospel which we have received! No, my Brothers and
Sisters, at the very worst, our Gospel is better than their modern
thought at the best! I would sooner drink the dregs of the wine vat of
Christ when the berries are sour than I would quaff the sweetest wines
on the lees well-refined which come of the vintage of unbelief!
We are sure and positive in our faith in God and in His Infallible
Word. O unbelievers, we are in no degree moved from the certainty of
our confidence by the depression of our spirits! You may catch us,
sometimes, in the dumps and say, "Now you find the Gospel does not
cheer you as you thought it would." But our answer is ready for you–we
believe the Gospel whether it is yielding us present comfort or not. We
would sooner be God's dogs than the devil's darlings! And we would
sooner feed on the husks of the Gospel, if such there are, than on the
finest of your wheat! Having learned to trust in the Lord, we are as
Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but which abides forever. As to
the essential Truth of the Gospel, we defy the world in arms!
III. Now I have to finish. In the third place, let us consider THE
EVIDENT REASON for all this. Why is it that they that trust in the Lord
shall not be moved? Why, first, because they are trusting in the Truth
of God! They have not believed a lie and, therefore, they shall not be
swept from their foundation. They are trusting in One who will not
deceive them and cannot fail them. They have laid their foundation on
the Rock, have they not? If they had trusted to man, man
would fail or change, but, lo, they are trusting to One who is Truth,
Power, Immutability, Holiness, Justice–why should they be moved? I
cannot imagine a reason! I ask again, why should they be moved?
They are trusting where their reliance is observed and welcomed. God
loves to have many dependents about Him. It is His way of revealing
Himself and manifesting His Glory. In these later ages, do you not know
what the Lord has been doing? He dwelt up yonder a self-contained
God–Father, Son, Holy Spirit–within His own supreme Person,
self-sufficient. He needed nothing more and if He willed anything
beyond, it was that there might be creatures that could trust Him, love
Him, hang upon Him, depend upon Him. He went about in creation and in
Providence and in Grace to make dependents!
A great nobleman with a big house in a wide country is not content to
be all alone, he needs servants and tenants and if he is of a generous
spirit, he seeks the poor. He needs poor neighbors to help and he says,
"This Christmas time I must give something away–is there anybody
needing a round of beef? Is there anybody needing their chimney set
alight with a slab of beef? Is there anybody needing a blanket in this
cold season?" Thus God must have dependents. He must have those about
Him who need Him. He loves dependents and I do not see why He should
cast them away. Why should He? If this is what He desires–if He seeks
such to worship Him who believe that He is and that He is the Rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him–why should He reject them?
It is not the Nature of God to cast away any who rely upon Him. On the
contrary, He is very careful that Faith should never have less than she
has expected. He respects the courage of Faith–He never confounds her.
If you open your back door and a robin comes bravely in out of the
cold, do you drive it out? No, you are pleased with his assurance and
give him a hearty welcome! Even so does God deal with poor trembling
souls when they come to Him. We read of Charles V., the German Emperor,
that when a pair of birds had built their nest among the poles and
lines of his pavilion, he would not allow it to be removed though the
time was come for the camp to be on the march. The birds had trusted to
him and they would not be disappointed! The same zealous care does the
Lord exhibit towards the trembling hopes and feeble confidences of poor
souls that trust in Him! There is, therefore, no reason why they should
be removed, since it is not like the Lord to cast them away.
Once more, for a true Believer to be suffered to perish would be
violation of all the promises of God. He has said to such "I will never
leave you, nor forsake you." His own Word is, "the righteous shall hold
on his way," "He that believes in Him shall not be ashamed nor
confounded world without end." Now then, if these promises could fail,
the child of God could be removed–but it is not possible so long as
God is God, that he who trusts in the Lord shall ever be removed. As
long as there is a God in Heaven, every Believer is safe! Let him go
and rejoice in this–because it brings glory to God to save him, but
for him to be lost would put a slur upon the name of the Most High! The
Lord bring us to a simple faith in Jesus and keep us fixed there. Amen.
__________________________________________________________________
Indexes
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture References
Genesis
[3]4:9 [4]35:1
Exodus
[5]2:24 [6]4:22 [7]4:23 [8]6:1 [9]12:2
Deuteronomy
[10]5:14 [11]6:20 [12]6:21 [13]7 [14]8:12 [15]15:15
[16]24:17 [17]33:27
2 Samuel
[18]7:27 [19]18:29
1 Chronicles
[20]4:23 [21]28:2 [22]28:3
Job
[23]34:7 [24]36:2
Psalms
[25]18:1-31 [26]28:7 [27]63:1 [28]63:2 [29]69:1-21 [30]90
[31]118:22-25 [32]119:6 [33]125:1
Proverbs
[34]4:13
Song of Solomon
[35]5:16
Isaiah
[36]28:16 [37]30:19 [38]48:10 [39]56:8
Ezekiel
[40]3:13 [41]3:17
Hosea
[42]6:1 [43]6:2 [44]13:5-8
Amos
[45]3:6
Malachi
[46]2:17 [47]3:18
Matthew
[48]1:21 [49]5:45 [50]6:13 [51]8:7 [52]8:13 [53]11:6
[54]13:45 [55]13:46 [56]27:61
Mark
[57]3:13-15 [58]11:22
Luke
[59]1:18 [60]1:34 [61]2:28-30 [62]13:10-13 [63]18:17
John
[64]3 [65]9:21 [66]12:28 [67]14:17 [68]16:20-22 [69]17
[70]19:28
Acts
[71]7:4 [72]7:5
Romans
[73]6:14 [74]6:17 [75]6:18 [76]8:15 [77]9:1-5 [78]13:11
1 Corinthians
[79]4:7
2 Corinthians
[80]5:14 [81]6:2
Galatians
[82]3:26 [83]3:26 [84]4:6 [85]6:14
Ephesians
[86]2:11 [87]2:12 [88]2:13 [89]4:82
Philippians
[90]4:7
Colossians
[91]1:5
1 Timothy
[92]1:15 [93]3:15
Hebrews
[94]2:3 [95]4:8 [96]5:2 [97]5:9 [98]11:21 [99]11:23
[100]13:5 [101]13:6
James
[102]4:7-10
1 Peter
[103]2:6
1 John
[104]5:10
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture Commentary
Genesis
[105]4:9 [106]35:1
Exodus
[107]4:22-23
Deuteronomy
[108]15:15 [109]33:27
2 Samuel
[110]7:27 [111]18:29
1 Chronicles
[112]4:23
Job
[113]36:2
Psalms
[114]18:16 [115]28:7 [116]63:1-2 [117]118:22-25 [118]119:6
[119]125:1
Proverbs
[120]4:13
Song of Solomon
[121]5:16
Isaiah
[122]30:19 [123]48:10 [124]56:8
Ezekiel
[125]3:17
Hosea
[126]6:1-2 [127]13:5-8
Malachi
[128]2:17
Matthew
[129]1:21 [130]5:45 [131]6:13 [132]8:7 [133]11:6
[134]13:45-46 [135]27:61
Mark
[136]11:22
Luke
[137]1:18 [138]2:28-30 [139]13:10-13 [140]18:17
John
[141]9:21 [142]12:28 [143]16:20-22 [144]19:28
Romans
[145]6:14 [146]9:1-5 [147]13:11
1 Corinthians
[148]4:7
2 Corinthians
[149]5:14 [150]6:2
Galatians
[151]4:6 [152]6:14
Ephesians
[153]4:82
Philippians
[154]4:7
Colossians
[155]1:5
1 Timothy
[156]1:15 [157]3:15
Hebrews
[158]5:2 [159]11:21 [160]11:23 [161]13:5-6
James
[162]4:7-10
1 Peter
[163]2:6
1 John
[164]5:10