DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 27, 1880,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings ha ve You ordained strength
because of Your enemies, that You might still the enemy and the
Avenger." Psalm 8.2.
IN CONNECTION WITH THE CENTENARY OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS
THIS Psalm sings of the grandeur of God as seen in creation. Who has
not been impressed with the sight of the starry sky and the moon
walking in her brightness? Truly, God is great! Who can stand at night
and gaze upward to yonder distant worlds without saying, "O Lord, our
Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your
Glory above the heavens." The Psalm with equal vigor treats of the
condescension of God which is all the better seen when we have a view
of His greatness and Glory. It is not for us to stoop–we are so low
already. We sometimes use the word, condescension, in reference to man,
but worms were never raised so high above their meaner fellow worms as
to be capable of real condescension–that belongs to God alone. "When I
consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the
stars, which You have ordained, what is man, that You are mindful of
him? And the son of man, that You
visit him?"
Because of this Divine condescension great honor is put upon man by God
and the Psalm sings of it, telling of the exaltation of man who, in his
original, was made a little lower than the angels, but by God's
gentleness has been made great and crowned with glory and honor. Hence
the inspired poet sings of the Glory of God in man, for he never thinks
of extolling man. He only means to say that God is glorious on account
of the great things which He has done in and for such a poor creature
as man is. So when he has said that man is made to be the viceroy of
God over this earth and is set over the works of God's hands, he
concludes, not by praising man, but by reverently singing, "O Lord our
Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!"
Mark right well the greatness of God, stooping to the littleness of man
and glorifying itself thereby–the stupendous grandeur of the Highest
bowing down to the lowest and uplifting it into a place hard by itself
and so getting to itself abundant renown. This morning our subject is
the power of God displayed in human weakness–strength out of babes'
mouths–the way He glorifies Himself by using the very least and
causing them to show forth His praise to the confusion of His
adversaries. There is a Glory of God to be seen in creation, but in
redemption there are peculiarly bright manifestations.
In creation there was no opposition. When God framed this world there
was no opposing force to fight against Him–"He spoke and it was done."
Absolute nothingness was no hindrance to the creation. "In the
beginning" neither chaos or darkness were resisting forces in the
framing of the world. "Let there be light," said God, and there was
light. He speaks life and things live! No trace of rebellion is seen.
It is in the sphere of moral and spiritual things that "the enemy" is
met with and here is a labor worthy of God–to overthrow this enemy and
still the evil voice which curses the sons of men. It is in conquering
the opposition of the powers of evil that God gets to Himself a Glory
more remarkable than that which He obtains by the greatest feats of
creative power.
So our first thought is that THERE IS A CONFLICT. Our text speaks of
"enemies" and of "the enemy and the Avenger." We know who the enemies
are. Are they not the seed of the serpent? Are they not the men of this
world, the children of darkness? The enemies of God are all men who
have not been renewed in the spirit of their minds–all who have not
been turned "from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto
God." God has–alas that we should have to say it!–many enemies and,
above all, there is the enemy, that leading spirit, the "prince of the
power of the air,"
who has dominion over the children of disobedience and over those
apostate angels whom he seduced into mutiny so that they revolted, with
him, from beneath the standard of God.
Satan is the enemy who contends against the cause of the Truth of God
and love, which is the cause of God. He is spoken of as "the Avenger"
because he seeks to revenge himself on God. Through his own sin and
folly he was expelled from Heaven. The "Son of the Morning" became the
Prince of Darkness by his own willful deed and he wanders up and down
the universe of God seeking to take revenge upon the just and holy
Judge for the sentence which He has passed upon him. There always rages
a tremendous battle between good and evil, between God and this avenger
and the evil powers associated with him. This battle rages from day to
day and will never cease till the Lord has put all enemies under the
feet of His glorious Son who is manifested to destroy the works of the
devil.
Victory shall crown the strife between good and evil and the cry shall
be heard, "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!" This strife
began–I hesitate to conclude the sentence for the origin of evil is
not revealed, but the first historic circumstance we know of was the
revolt of the angels who kept not their first estate. How they fell we
think we know, but to a large extent our notions are, as a rule, drawn
rather from poetical imagination than from positive history. But we do
know that the devil was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in
the truth (1 John 8:44) and that, "God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to Hell" (2 Peter 2:4). Satan carried the
warfare into this world at the Fall. Finding a happy pair in Eden, he
assumed a serpent's form and seduced them with a lie, leading them to
partake of the fruit of which their God had said, "In the day that you
taste thereof you shall surely die."
From that moment the conflict has never ceased throughout the whole
human family and you find everywhere the seed of the serpent in
conflict with the "Seed of the woman." God leads the armies of the
right and the true against the spiritual wickedness which maintains the
throne of wrong and falsehood. The serpent's seed has continued to
fight against the Lord Jesus and against His chosen ones, using all
sorts of weapons against them–by lying and slandering, by false
doctrine, by soft temptations, by cruel persecutions, by death, itself,
the enemies have sought to destroy the children of the living God! It
is a battle royal here below, even as it was above, for we read, "There
was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought and his angels and he prevailed not; neither was
their place found any more in Heaven."
The day shall come when there shall be no place found for evil upon
earth. But until then the god of this world seeks to destroy the Lord
Jesus Christ and all that are in Him and we must wrestle with him until
we prevail. On God's part, this conflict is mainly carried on by moral
and spiritual means. He does use other means at times and He will, in
the end, use all the resources of Nature for the overthrow of His
adversaries. Remember the song of the Red Sea where God used the great
deep to destroy His foes? Even now I hear the jubilant voices of the
maidens as they answer one another saying, "Sing unto the Lord, for He
has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has He thrown into
the sea." For the most part, however, this battle is not with weapons
of Nature, but with weapons of Grace.
And as far as we have to do with it, it is never with the confused
noise of warriors and garments rolled in blood, for "the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal," though they are "mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds." The warfare of which we speak is the
battle of good against evil, of right against wrong, of holiness
against sin– in a word, of love against hate. And God uses the weapons
of His Truth, of His Gospel, of the love of man and especially of the
sweet life and Divine power of the Holy Spirit to bring men to the feet
of Jesus Christ, "whom He has appointed heir of all things," that He
might reign over them and "reconcile them unto God, even the Father."
This strife goes on every day around us and within us and you and I are
taking one side or the other in it. We are either enemies of God by
nature, or we are "reconciled to God by the death of His Son." We are
under the banner of "the Avenger," or else we follow the standard of
the Redeemer–one of these two. I invite you, at the outset of our
discourse, to earnestly ask yourselves on whose side you are. "Are you
for us, or for our adversaries?" Are you for God and for His Christ, or
are you still at enmity with your Maker, alienated from God by wicked
works? With this fact we have opened our discourse–there is a
conflict.
II. Secondly, in this conflict THE WEAPONS ARE VERY SINGULAR. What are
those weapons? The text replies, "Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings have You ordained strength." Bring here yon sweet babe and
let us look into its lovely face! See that little mouth–it challenges
a kiss! And note with joy that God may use that little mouth as His
conquering weapon against the devil! By men's mouths God's warfare is
carried on and all mouths that have ever spoken
for Him were once the mouths of "babes and sucklings." I have seen many
ancient cannons upon which were molded in bronze the words–"The last
argument of kings." Yes, but the gracious arguments of the King of
kings are sent home by a human mouth–these mouths are fashioned and
framed on purpose to hurl against the enemy the hot shot of the Gospel!
Of our Lord Jesus, Himself, we read, "He went forth conquering and to
conquer," and it is written concerning Him, "Out of His mouth goes a
sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations." O mouth of a
little child, it seems strange that out of you should come the great
strength of God which shall silence His enemies and yet so it shall be!
"The Lord gave the Word: great was the company of those that published
it. Kings of armies did flee and she that tarried at home divided the
spoil." It was the publication of the God-given Word by human tongues
which won the victory! The tongue is the glory of man's frame and by it
the Glory of God is exceedingly manifested and His foes are baffled.
It must greatly anger Satan to think that his craft is not met by
craft, nor his clever devices by the wisdom of the world, but that God
uses the foolishness of preaching to overthrow him! When our Lord sent
out His Apostles, He did not commission them to assemble squadrons of
soldiers, but He bade a tongue of fire sit on each one of them! He did
not charge them to establish His religion by the authority of earthly
princes and seek the endowments of the State for it, but He gave them
the endowment of the Holy Spirit and the power to speak His Gospel! In
them was fulfilled the promise made to Ezekiel, "I will give you the
opening of the mouth in the midst of them and they shall know that I am
the
Lord."–
"What gifts, what miracles He gave!
And power to kill and power to save!
Furnished their tongues with wondrous words,
Instead of shields and spears and swords.
Thus armed, He sent the champions forth,
From east to west, from south to north–
'Go and assert your Sa vior's cause;
Go, spread the mystery of His Cross."' Already the testimony of feeble
men has been used as the great power of God to subdue the nations to
Himself. Satan's kingdom has been shaken and the empire of Jesus
extended by the gracious words which have proceeded out of human
mouths–mouths which once were those of sucklings. See there, fiend of
Hell, the armory of God? Do you see, in yonder infant class, the
weapons which the Lord is preparing against you? The child that sucks
at its mother's breast is born to smite you with the Word of God and,
before long, when the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, he shall
batter down your high places with his proclamation of the Gospel! O
smiter of the human race, the youngest, weakest, feeblest of the sons
of Adam shall yet tread you under foot! God shall make use of
children's mouths to vanquish and silence the enemy and the Avenger.
How are these amazing weapons used? These strangely soft, yet sharp,
feeble, yet mighty weapons–how are they used? They smite the enemy by
prayer. Children pray while they are children and, blessed be God,
their little pleas are heard in Heaven. I like to remember the words of
Luther when things were going very badly. He went into a room and found
a number of children in prayer and he exclaimed, "It is well, for the
children are praying for us: God will be sure to hear them." And so He
will, Brothers and Sisters. He will not let the cries of Samuels and
Timothies remain unheard. Thus, from the heavenward side, the prayers
uttered by children's mouths will bring prosperity to the great cause.
As these children grow older it is by their mouths that they shall
bombard and batter the power of the enemy from the ramparts of prayer
and so shall bring an overthrow upon evil and error and God's Word
shall be triumphant. O blessed power of prayer, nothing can stand
against you! The man, the child, the babe who knows but how to pray
shall certainly prevail with God and "still the enemy and the
Avenger."–
"Prayer is the simplest form of speech That infant lips can try,"
and yet it is one of the most effectual forms of assault against the
powers of darkness. These little mouths, too, shall be used for praise
and that is another powerful blow against the Avenger. For whenever we
praise God we cast down the pride of the great enemy. Praise glorifies
God and that is what Satan cannot bear. In proportion as God is
glorified, he feels himself degraded and, therefore, it is a blessed
thing to magnify the Lord. Little children, when they are rightly
taught, praise the Messiah early and, as they grow up with deeper
voices and fuller volume of sound, but perhaps not, even then, with
truer hearts, they praise and bless the God of their fathers. The
mouths of babes and sucklings are used by God to lower the pride of His
adversaries, while they cry, "Hosanna!" and sing the praise of Jesus'
name.
Nor is this all, for out of man's mouth God sends forth testimony by
His Holy Spirit and this is the sharpest blow of all. The enemy dreads
nothing so much as witness-bearing to the Gospel, for he knows that it
pleases God, "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe." Under the head of testimony I would include all sorts of
speech concerning our Lord Jesus and the Gospel of our salvation,
whether it proceeds from the mouths of men, women, or children. The
testimony of Jesus is strength, however feeble may be the voice which
utters it. Whoever publishes the salvation of Jesus Christ is, with his
mouth, smiting the enemy! When they that fear the Lord speak often, one
to another, about the Glory of God–when they tell again and again,
"the old, old story, of Jesus and His love"–then is God, out of human
mouths, stilling the enemy and the Avenger!
How sweet to think, dear Brothers and Sisters, that we never know what
one child's mouth can do! One would like to have seen little George
Whitefield when first he began to prattle. Who would have thought that
the mouth of such a youngster would ultimately set two nations on fire
by its zealous declaration of the Truth of God? I should like to have
seen John Wesley, when he was a little child, on the knee of that
remarkable woman, "the mother of the Wesleys!" Who would have thought
that he would awaken the masses as he did? Out of the mouths of little
George Whitefield and little John Wesley–out of those two babes'
mouths–how grandly did the Lord smite the adversary!
Aha! Aha! O Satan! To be overcome by behemoth or leviathan might make
you angry! But to be smitten out of infants' mouths causes you to bite
the dust in utter dishonor! You are sorely broken, now that, "out of
the mouth of babes and sucklings" you are put to shame! Mouths that
pray and praise and publish salvation are the Lord's pieces of ordnance
with which He defeats His adversaries in the great battle of salvation.
His Son is the Word, but these mouths supply the voices by which the
Word is sounded forth in the ears of men! Jesus is not made known
except through His people–they are His heralds, who cry, "Behold the
Lamb." This agency is "mighty through God" and so it was ordained to
be, for it is according to the Divine ordinance that out of the mouth
of babes and sucklings strength should come.
The Word of God, though it is spoken by the feeblest mouth, is
essential strength, a thing of majesty and might. The Hebrew has it,
"Have You found strength," as if the very foundation of the strength of
the Church lay, under God, in the mouths that God moves to speak. The
preaching of the Gospel is at the bottom of the battle axe and weapons
of everything–holy teachings are war of the Gospel campaign. The
Septuagint, as quoted by our Lord, translates it–"Out of the mouths of
babes and sucklings have You perfected praise." From children's mouths
there will come the highest form of adoration. Praise perfected, which
goes up before the Lord, does not come from cherubim and seraphim, but
from human lips which once were those of infancy! Lips that press the
mother's breast are the instruments of music which yet shall be attuned
to the sweetest of Heaven's own songs! Glory be to His name for this!
Let us bless Him that He graciously chooses such poor creatures to be
the noblest of His choristers above.
III. Having dwelt long enough upon this point, let us notice, in the
third place, that THE WARRIORS IN THIS WARFARE ARE VERY SPECIAL. The
weapons are amazing and the warriors, themselves, are remarkable, for
the text says that God perfects His praise out of the mouths of babes
and sucklings. We may read this spiritually with the guarantee of
Scripture for, first, such as are like babes in spirit are God's
chosen. Their character cannot be better described than by calling
them, "newborn babes who desire the unadulterated milk of the Word of
God." Hear, dear Brothers and Sisters, your Master's own words as He
speaks in the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew–"At that
time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and
earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and
have revealed them unto babes."
Childlike men and women, simple-hearted, honest, trustful, loving
spirits are the chosen of God. Those who are so very wise and know such
a great deal that they feel bound to quibble, pick holes and raise idle
questions–these are not God's elect. He does not choose the wise, but
the foolish things–those who do not know, nor pretend to know, but
take their instruction from the Divine Teacher. As to mere knowledge
which puffs up so many, there are some things which Believers do not
wish to know. There are some difficulties which they do not desire
removed–they are glad to have ample room and space enough for
faith–and though this causes wise people to despise them, they care
little for that, since their names are written in Heaven–and it is out
of their mouths, weaklings as they are, that God has ordained strength!
No, more than this, not only are such the Lord's chosen, but such are
His witnesses. I want to call attention to that, because in that 25th
verse of the 11th chapter of Matthew our Lord was speaking to His
Apostles. He had been sending them out to preach and the Evangelist
records, "All that time Jesus answered and said." That is to say, at
the very time when He sent out these special servants of His who were,
in the judgment of scribes and Pharisees, nothing better than poor
babes, He thanked God because they were of a kind which He delights to
use! He thanked God that He had not committed the Gospel Revelation to
the wise and to the noble, but unto these child-like ones who had
guileless minds and capacity for believing and nothing more.
These poor men could do little else but speak when they were spoken to
and say what they were told–and that is the best qualification for a
minister that I know of–for him to speak only when God speaks to him
and then utter what God has said to him and nothing more. The Father
chooses just such. See how Paul states this fact in the opening chapter
of his first Epistle to the Corinthians–"For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble, are called: but God has chosen the foolish things of
the world to put to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things
of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and base
things of the world and things which are despised, has God chosen, yes
and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are: that no
flesh should glory in His Presence." See what strange champions God has
ordained for His battle–the very weakest among men, babes and
sucklings in their own esteem. These who are weakness, itself, are to
go forth and contend
for the Truth of God!
Such, my Brothers and Sisters, are those who proclaim the triumphs of
Christ in the world. Our Lord would get little honor from our race if
all children's voices were hushed and all child-like spirits with them.
Scribes and Pharisees never cry, "Hosanna!" they are so busy binding on
their phylacteries, washing their hands and devouring widows' houses.
The first to cry, "Hosanna!" are the children and the next are those
who are like they. Some say, "To shout and sing is children's work." So
it is and it is ours because we are children, too! May God make us to
grow in Grace till we are as little children and are, therefore, ready
and eager to praise our great Father!
Those who are reputed to be wise men do not praise too much–they go
upon the noncommittal principle and prefer criticism to gratitude. They
are always criticizing the weather–if it is good for the turnips it is
bad for the wheat–and if dry for hay-making, it is too dry for
something else. The worldly-wise man never says, "Blessed be God for
this delightful season; nothing can be better; we are highly favored."
No, he thinks he shows his wisdom by finding fault! God Himself cannot
escape from his sage remarks. But if a man is not wise enough to be
forever grumbling and is so foolish as to be happy, so foolish as to
believe the Truth of God, so foolish as to trust in the most
trustworthy of all beings, namely, his God–he is also the sort of man
that praises God and from such hearts God gets His chief praises.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming again, not to ride upon an ass, or upon
a colt, the foal of an ass, but to reign in Glory! And when He comes,
the first to meet Him and salute Him will be those poor, babe-like ones
who did not boast of culture, but believed in God; who knew little, but
yet knew their Lord and longed for His appearing, sighing often, "Oh
that He would come and end the strife! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
These are they who find Him first, as the shepherds found Him at
Bethlehem when the wise men rambled round by Jerusalem. And these are
they who joy and rejoice over Him while scribes and Pharisees quarrel
about Him. The poor have the Gospel preached to them and the babes in
spirit hear that Gospel and live!
Thus have I spoken to you concerning the warriors God has chosen. They
are simple people, trustful people, unaffected people–made so by
Divine Grace–converted into little children. They are ready to believe
their God. They are not wise, or noble, or anything great in their own
esteem and yet out of their mouths God has ordained strength and by
their witness He silences the disputers of this world and all the
wisdom of men.
IV. Now let us note, in the fourth place, that THE QUALIFICATION OF
THESE WARRIORS LIES IN THEIR WEAK SIDE. If it lay on the strong side,
the text would have been written in another manner and we should have
read, "Out of the mouth of men of middle age, in the prime of life–out
of the mouth of wise old men who have gray hairs upon their head,
indicative of their long experience–out of their mouths God has
ordained strength." But He takes men at their weakest and speaks of
"babes," or children who are quite young. The word must not be confined
to infants, for it includes young children who are able to run about
the streets.
The sucklings, also, are older children than they would represent with
us, for eastern mothers often nurse their children till they are three
years of age, so that some sucklings speak distinctly. The idea is that
if you take man at his least, out of his mouth God ordains strength. He
regards not man as grown up and strong, but man in his greatest
weakness and out of the mouth of weak man God ordains strength. What
does this teach? I take it that whatever is weakest about man is that
in which the Grace of God glorifies itself most. Man is not only a soul
and spirit, but he is, in part, material and, therefore, a poor
creature composed in part of the lower elements. He is not a pure
spirit, like an angel, but linked on to mother earth by a cumbrous and
hampering body of clay.
He is a worm and yet an angel–half-way between dust and Deity–brother
to the worm and to corruption and yet immortal! Satan is, no doubt,
filled with scorn of man when he looks at him and measures him with
himself. "Is this the creature that is to be set over all the works of
God's hands–made of earth and water, phosphates and metals? I am far
nobler than he! Can I not flash like lightning, while he must creep
about the world to find himself a grave?" Yes, but herein is the Glory
of God's conflict and victory. The Lord intends to overcome the Prince
of Evil by a poor creature like man, who is but of yesterday and is
crushed before the moth! It is glorious, to my mind, that the Lord
should deign to embody His power in weak creatures as we are and in
that way make Satan see that the right and the true in the feeblest
being is unconquerable and that in this form God carries the war into
his own territory and defeats him.
Thus the Lord puts the adversary to a perpetual reproach. He pits a
child against His giant foe and overcomes him. He hurls defiance to
Satan out of a babe's mouth! Go your way, O enemy! You are dishonored
by the victory which feebleness gains over you. God is glorified in
man's grievous infirmity. Man is, at his best, of all creatures one of
the feeblest and there is not so very much difference between
full-grown men and babes. A few years ago we could not help ourselves
at all, for we were abjectly weak in our infancy. But are we much
better now? How did you feel yesterday afternoon in the storm, when the
thunder rolled overhead and the lightning flashed and flamed across the
sky? Did you not feel that you were helpless as a babe?
Put out to sea in a storm and you will soon learn your babyhood, I
guarantee you, and feel that when "rocked in the cradle of the deep"
you are as powerless as a child in its mother's arms! We need not be
ashamed of this, but glory in it because the power of God rests upon
us! The great God seems to say to Satan, "It is by these poor feeble
things that I will anger you, O haughty prince of the air! By such
beings as these I will overthrow your usurped dominion! Though they
suffer, though they are tempted, yet by My Grace they shall triumph
over you." We have the power to suffer and herein lies a great part of
our qualification to do the Lord's service before His enemies. It is
our Redeemer's qualification. He could not save us until He suffered!
He could not redeem us until He died! Not His strength, but His
weakness saved us, for He was crucified in weakness and by that
Crucifixion He redeemed our souls!
Think of the men and women who have glorified God on beds of sickness,
bearing their pains with patience and blessing God all the while. Think
of the many on the rack and at the stake who have there extolled the
Lord their God! Of all the music God ever heard, there is none that can
equal in intense sweetness the cries of His dear, suffering, martyred
people when every limb has been tormented by the persecutor and yet
every particle of their body and every power of their soul had
willingly yielded up itself to maintain His cause and glorify His name!
True music lies not in the sound, but in the spirit of the song and,
therefore, I say none can match, much less excel, the songs of the host
of martyrs! Blessed be God that we can suffer! We should be denied a
privilege if we had not been able to endure the will of God as well as
to do it. Surely of all diadems, that crown which is set with rubies,
the crown which adorns the martyr's brow, is the most resplendent!
Yes, it is man's weak side, his suffering and his dying side, by which
God has shown the enemy that men can love their God even unto death,
that virtue can triumph over all selfishness, that true hearts can make
sacrifices, that mortal man can defy temptation and can, through God's
Grace, follow after that which is good to the uttermost of loss and
pain. Now, dear Brothers and Sisters, dwell on this thought and
meditate on the fact that our power to serve God lies on our weak side.
He uses not our greatness, but our littleness. You know what the
learned men say is the weak part of some of us–they put it something
like this–"We regret the preacher's total inability to keep abreast of
the times. He has no capacity for modern thought and his lack of
affection for the higher culture which is so much the characteristic of
this marvelously enlightened century." That is our weakness! Yes, and
our strength and, therefore, we glory in it!
"I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified." If all God's servants will come to this, they will secure
far more success than by the pretentious style of so-called "culture,"
which is nothing but the science of growing more weeds than usual. That
which is new in theology is not true! The Gospel was of full stature at
its very birth! No man can add to it or take from it. It cannot be
improved and it only needs to be told out in the power of the Holy
Spirit and it will perform wonders even as of old. Our infirmity we
will glory in, for we have this treasure in earthen vessels and if the
vessel had not been of earth, we might never have received the
treasure. "But," cries one, "surely we need wisdom to guide us!" I
answer, "Jesus Christ is made unto us Wisdom," and we have but to learn
of Him.
We hear much, nowadays, of "great thinkers," but we prefer to be great
believers! Deep thinking is a very shallow affair, after all, when the
thoughts are our own. We only get into real depths when we receive the
thoughts of God. So far as I can see, these "thinkers" generally empty
their places of worship when they preach and the poor souls that most
need comfort get none whatever. Rather than copy their example, we may
well prefer to sing with Paul, "When I am weak then am I strong." We
will believe what God says and take it as a matter of fact, just as a
child does. And oh, what a sweet thing a child's faith is! Many a time
when a dear little girl has come to join the Church and looked at me
with her expressive, believing eyes which seemed to see Jesus, I have
admired and envied her pure, unquestioning confidence.
Knowing nothing about those horrible doubts which are now sown like
thistles everywhere, such as these have the rest of faith without its
struggles! I have desired to be a little child again and wished that I
had never heard of the existence of a quibbler. Those fine books of the
broad school which came from Germany years ago, but which we now
produce at home–it is a pity to have seen the binding of them. Even
doctors of divinity favor us with denials of plenary inspiration and
aid in that form of undermining work–they may have all their books so
long as we can keep our Bibles and God gives us firm faith in Himself.
Let us but know Jesus and lean our heads on His bosom and the learned
men may speculate as they please. Oh, when the Church gets back to her
simple faith in Jesus she shall be qualified for victory! She shall
vanquish the world when she has thrown away her wooden sword of carnal
reason and has taken up the true Jerusalem blade of faith in God! Then
out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God will do what He never will
do out of the mouths of Scribes and Pharisees and wise men. Out of the
mouths of weak people, who believe what God tells them–the mouths of
weak people who have no capacity except the capacity of faith–out of
these will God perfect praise and glorify Himself!
V. That leads me, in finishing, to plead for a loving reverence for
childhood. If the Lord uses the weak side of man and if He is engaged
to win His ultimate victory over the devil by feeble man at his
feeblest, then God bless the children! It seems to me that in the
Lord's battle there is always a babe in the fore-front. The armies of
olden times placed a huge champion in their van, like Goliath of Gath.
But it is not so in God's army–there a babe leads the way! Pharaoh
oppresses Israel and crushes the people down till their cry goes up
because of their sore bondage. God is going to deliver them. How does
the work begin? Here is the opening of the campaign–"And the daughter
of Pharaoh went down to the river to wash herself."
And there she spied a little ark made of bulrushes which she sent her
maid to fetch and there was a Hebrew child within it. "And behold! The
babe wept." Thus was the champion of Israel introduced upon the scene!
The goodly child whom his parents, in faith, had hidden was he by whom
God would break Rahab in pieces! The still loftier story of the battle
of the Lamb opens in like manner–"Unto us a Child is born, unto us a
Son is given." "She brought forth her first-born son and wrapped Him in
swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger." That was the signal for the
heat of the conflict–that Babe led the way! The Holy Child Jesus is at
the head of all our marches! One may well honor infancy and childhood
since this is the case!
Let our subject prevent our entertaining doubts about the possibility
of children's conversions–that would be insanity and almost blasphemy!
Do you not know that unless you are converted and become as little
children you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven? Jesus said, "Suffer
the little children to come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is
the kingdom of Heaven." The childlike spirit is no disqualification–in
some respects it is a vantage ground. Christianity is the religion of
children! Other religions, as a rule, aim at older folk and pretend to
mystery. Other religions are not worth understanding, but yet they
affect depth and secrecy–you must be initiated and pass through years
of study before you can hope to derive any advantage from them. But the
religion of Jesus Christ was meant for the poor and for the
lowly. All that which is necessary for the saving of the soul can be
speedily learned and understood, the Holy Spirit being the teacher.
As far as the practical, saving part of Christianity is concerned, it
is the religion of children. If a preacher can interest a child, he can
interest anybody. Is it not all a mistake when we say, "Oh, he is only
fit to talk to children"? If he is fit to do this, he is fit to talk to
Apostles! Let us heartily believe, also, in children's praises. I am
sure you must do so if you are like your Lord, for He delighted in
them. He would not stop the boys when they shouted, "Hosanna!" The
scribes sneer-ingly asked, "Do You hear what these say?" Yes, He did
hear it, and He said, "Out of their mouths God has perfected praise."
Let the children sing and do not despise their hymns because they are
more fit for children than for you. Let the children sing and thank God
they sing. Never despise them. Do not say, "Oh, they are only a parcel
of boys and girls." What if they are? May they not be a better parcel
than some of you? If we were half as free from guile and unbelief as
boys and girls, it would be better for us! If we could get the simple
trustfulness of childhood back, again, it would be a great gain to
character. Let us not undervalue their praises or their service.
My text supports me in the strongest appeal which I can make. Hear it
yet again–"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have You ordained
strength." Let the children serve God and let us put forms of service
in their way. That is a sweet verse–"And Samuel ministered before the
Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod." The child Samuel and
the Lord Jehovah! What an amazing combination! God who fills all things
and Hannah's little boy! God give us to see our boys and girls
ministering before the Lord while they are yet in their frocks and
pinafores! The linen ephod is as suitable for a child as for an ancient
priest. No robe is more glorious than the garment of service and
whether it is worn by old or young, it is a right royal dress.
Last of all, let us expect victory to come to the Church through little
children. It may happen that God will bring the world to Christ's feet
by the children. It is written, "A little child shall lead them." Who
knows how many are led to Jesus by children? This city of ours is
better evangelized by our Sunday schools than by all the rest of us put
together! I don't mean to flatter Sunday school teachers, but I must
speak well of the children. When they go home they find that father is
hardly dressed. He has not been to a place of worship, but he has been
reading the Sunday paper. He does not need any of your singing and
preaching. Little Mary and Tommy come back and they don't ask him
anything about it, but they begin to sing. And when they have their
dinner they talk about what teacher said and, perhaps, they say
something about the sermon and so Father gets more singing and
preaching than he bargained for.
When they go to bed they clasp their little hands and pray for their
father and he is obliged to hear them. Thus he gets praying as well as
singing. The children are missionaries and they enter where others
cannot. The city missionary may be shut out, but Father cannot shut out
Tommy or Mary and they must be allowed to sing or they will cry and
that is worse–so that their witness cannot be silenced! What little
children are doing for London and for our great cities is impossible
for us to calculate! The darlings die and in this they often do more
than by their lives. How many hard hearts have been broken and stubborn
wills subdued by the deathbeds of infants? How many a mother has had
her first desires for Heaven kindled by the flight of her little cherub
up to the bosom of Christ?
They do God's work here below in a wonderful manner. It is true and
will be truer every day, that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
the Lord has ordained strength, because of His enemies, that He might
still the enemy and the Avenger. God's blessing be with all of you who
work among the children. Amen.
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Men Bewitched