Life's Inevitable Burden
(No. 3355)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1913.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 16,
1867.
"For every man shall bear his own burden." Galatians 6:6.
IN pondering Scripture Truth, we must not strain metaphors, nor use
figures of speech as though they were literal statements. You have an
instance of the truth of this remark in this Chapter. In one verse the
Apostle says, "Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the Law
of Christ," while in the verse of our text, he says, "Every man shall
bear his own burden." Still, he is not contradicting himself. He would
be if he were speaking literally of burdens, but he is speaking
metaphorically and, consequently, he uses the figure first in one way
and then in another. It may be useful to us, Brothers, to learn never
to draw arguments and doctrines from metaphors. Many do and there are
many supposed doctrines which really have no better ground-work than
mere metaphors. I remember hearing one contending against the
chastening of God's people and he urged that the Church was the bride
of Christ and that it was impossible that Christ, as the Husband of the
Church, should in any way chasten or strike His own spouse, which would
be a very reasonable thing to say of a man. If the metaphor ran on four
legs, the argument might have been correct, but as no metaphor is
intended so to do, and is only to be understood in the sense intended
by the person employing it, the argument is fallacious and valueless! I
have heard others say that true Christians are citizens of Heaven and,
consequently, we ought not to exercise our votes in political matters!
This is another piece of utterly illogical reasoning because we might
as well say to Christians that they ought not to eat animal food as
they form the Lord's flock, and sheep must not, and cannot, eat animal
food! The fact is, the reasoning from metaphor is always risky and
sometimes proves quite absurd!
I mention this because I am quite sure that very much of it does
prevail in the Christian world and that people use the language of
Scripture in a manner in which they would not use the same language if
found in other books. The Word of God is, however, not to be treated
with less, but moreveneration in our reading and study of it, and yet
in the same simple, common-sense fashion as that in which we would
treat any other book. The truth is there are burdens which may be
shared and which should be shared. The burden of grief, the burden of
pecuniary need, the burden of heart trouble may sometimes be borne, but
on the other hand, there are burdens which no man can share with his
fellow, nor ought he even to thinkof sharing, but where each man must
stand apart and alone before God–and no one can assist him.
Of these burdens we shall speak tonight, and they shall be our first
point. Then, lest we should become burdensome to you, we shall offer a
few considerations which may tend to take out the weight of the burdens
which we must unavoidably carry, each one for himself. And then we
shall close by endeavoring to find something practical to be done
tonight as the result of the text. First, then, we have to speak of–
I. CERTAIN BURDENS WHICH EACH MAN WILL BE QUITE CERTAIN TO HAVE TO BEAR
FOR HIMSELF.
In speaking of the first three burdens which I shall have to mention, I
shall address myself to you all, whether saints or sinners, for there
are some Truths of God which are common to all men as men. And such is
the first burden–the burden of original sin. The burden of our natural
depravity, the burden of our fallen nature, the burden of our
constitution which is perverted by evil–these we shall, each one of
us, have to carry for himself. It may be said that this is not our
burden, but Adam's–but the burden of the father, if he brings the
whole household into poverty–becomes the burden of the family and each
individual member of it. If the head should ache, it is no use for the
hand to say, "It is no business of mine." There is, too, so vital and
intimate a connection between the whole body of humanity, between Adam
the head, and all the members of the body corporate, that Adam's Fall
becomes ours, Adam's ruin our ruin and the taint in the blood is to be
found in us all. Some of you are "dead in trespasses and sins" and,
therefore, this burden is no more a burden to you than the heavy clods
of the churchyard are to the bodies that lie beneath them. But if ever
you are quickened by Divine Grace, you will soon find that "the body of
this death," as Paul calls indwelling sin, is a very heavy burden to
battle with and you will have to personally fight out the conflict
within your own soul. You will have to call in the aid of Divine Power,
or you will never get the victory, but–mark you–in the conquest of
your own corruption, in the overcoming of your own besetting sins and
of those evils which are more powerful in you than they are in others
because you are constitutionally inclined to them–in that battle you
will have to fight for yourselves! You may get some assistance from
other people's experience, but still, the struggle and the conflict
must be with you.
Young people, never imagine that all the training in the world can rid
you of your evil without an earnest struggle on your own part! Don't
conceive that a mother's prayers will give you tenderness of conscience
unless you also learn of Christ for yourselves. Do not conceive that
the rebukes of a father can conquer that evil temper unless you
struggle against it. And if you habitually have a tendency to pride, do
not conceive that the preacher's homilies against pride can overcome
pride in you! No, in the name of God you must go to the armory and ask
for the sword of the Spirit, that you may personally, girded with
Divine Strength, which you may obtain by earnest prayer, overcome in
your own soul your besetting sins! In this respect, then, you will have
to bear your own burden. I know I have to bear mine and I do not know
that any of you could help me. And I believe that each one of you,
quickened by Divine Grace, must feel there is something peculiar about
your case–some sin, perhaps, which you would not like to whisper into
another's ear– perhaps only a sin of thought, but still it is a
burden. I hope it will become more and more a burden to you, for the
more burdensome it becomes, the more likely are you to conquer it! But
you will have to bear it yourself and in the strength of the Holy
Spirit you will have to conquer it, too, and get rid of it. You will
have to pluck out the right eye and tear off the right arm. It were
better for you, remember, to enter into life crippled and maimed than
to keep these and be cast into eternal Hell! It is for you, in God's
name, personally to do battle with your personal depravity!
Each man must, each man alone can bear his own burden here. Again, each
man must also bear his own burden of personal sin unless, (here comes
in the grand and gracious proviso), unless the sin is blotted out or is
utterly removed! Every man who has sin to carry must bear his own
burden. There is no shifting the sin from you to a sponsor. No fellow
creature can stand for you and take your offenses. The Lord Jesus
Christ did take His people's sins, as He was their Covenant Head,
Surety and Representative–and they who are in Christ are free from
sin–their sin being utterly removed and having ceased to be, having
been cast by the tremendous power of Christ into the depths of the sea,
so that if they are sought for, they shall never be found against the
Lord's people any more forever! But do remember, dear Hearer, that if
you are not a pardoned soul, you have got a burden to carry and you
will have to bear it. You will have to bear it now, for "he that
believes not is condemned already." You will have to bear it when you
come to die and you will have enough to do to die having this burden of
sin pressing upon your heart. Worst of all, you will have to bear it
when your spirit is disembodied and your naked soul is called before
your Maker. Ah, it will be a dreadful thing to go there with the
blackness and defilement of sin about you! And you will have to bear
it, too, in the day of the Resurrection and in the solemn article of
judgment! And then, last of all, you will have to bear your own burden
in the eternal future–and there it will sink you, sink you, sink you
beyond all hope of rescue or escape!
Now, while there is life there is hope. "All manner of sin and iniquity
shall be forgiven unto men. If we confess our sin, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins," but unless the sin is removed, it must
remain our own burden forever and forever! You will not get rid of it
by joining a church. You cannot be rid of it by passing through rites
and ceremonies. It will be no help to you to have been a citizen of a
Christian nation, so-called, and to have worshipped in a Christian
assembly. "Every man shall bear his own burden." We came through the
gates of life into this world alone–we shall go back through the iron
gates of death, each man alone. And the judgment, though crowds will be
gathered, will be the judgment of so many individuals, each weighed in
the scale, alone, either to hear the verdict that they are "accepted in
the Beloved," or else to hear it said, "Tekel"–"You are weighed in the
balances and found wanting." How I wish that all my hearers would lay
this to heart! Do not try to hide away in the crowd, for God will
search and bring you out individually and you shall be tested and tried
apart from others! If you take ever so many sovereigns to the bank, it
is not very likely you will pass one bad one, for they would very soon
discover it. That might be done, however, on earth, but it
could not be done in Heaven! "Every man shall bear his own burden," and
if the burden of sin is upon him, it shall crush him beyond all hope!
Once again, while thus speaking to both saints and sinners, "Every man
shall bear his own burden" of the Law. By sin we do not escape from the
Law. The Law of God is binding upon every man of woman born, unless, by
being dead to the Law through Christ, he escapes from under its yoke
and bondage. Now, the Believer is not under Law. Do not misunderstand
me. I mean that he is not under Law in the sense in which the sinner is
under it. He is not under its condemning power! He is not under Law,
but he is under Grace! The principle of Law does not bind him–it is
the principle of love which rules and governs his spirit. Now, every
man who is under the Law is bound to keep it, and to keep it
personally. Look, my dear Friends–you who have never fled to
Christ–look where you are. The Law of God is such a Law that Adam
failed to keep it, though innocent. How, then, shall you keep it while
imperfect? It is a spiritual Law, a Law touching not only your actions,
but your words and your thoughts–how can you keep it? And yet, if you
keep it not, it brandishes its great whip with the thongs and brings it
down upon the conscience with terrible effect. If you keep not the Law,
remember the sentence, "Cursed is everyone that continues not in all
things written in the Book of the Law to do them." Happy is the man who
has escaped from the territories of the Law of God and come into the
dominions of Divine Grace! But so long as we are under the Law, its
burden is ours and here comes in this grimly solemn Truth of God that
it is a burden which each man must carry on his own shoulders, but
carry it he cannot and, therefore, it will crush us and the curse of
God must come upon us through the Law!
And now we shall leave those three points which are common to all men
and simply speak to Believers of the burdens which they have to carry
and which they ought joyfully to shoulder, each man for himself!
And first, my Brothers and Sisters, when we have been quickened and
awakened, we shall find daily necessity for the confession of sin and
here, "every man shall bear his own burden." A general confession may
be very proper in the congregation, but it is only acceptable to God as
it becomes an individual and particular confession in the case of each
one using the words. Repentance is peculiarly a private and personal
Grace. Lamentation for sin is a thing for one's own chamber–the
husband apart, and the wife apart–the daughter apart and the mother
apart. Into confession in its fullness, no two can enter. As far as the
sin has been common they may confess together, but in so far as the
guilt in each case is personal and particular, so must confession be.
My dear Friends, let us not hesitate, whatever it may be that is upon
our minds, tonight, to come and acknowledge it before our Father, who
is in Heaven. We do not confess now like condemned criminals who
confess before execution because they must–we confess like the
returned prodigal, with our heads on our dear Father's bosom, conscious
that we are forgiven, quite sure that His love is set upon us and that
we shall not be driven from Him on account of sin, but hating sin all
the more because of this love–and weeping bitterly because of that
wondrous Grace which has had such compassion upon us! Let us be very
marked in our acknowledgment of sin in private. I believe the Lord
often withholds from His people a sweet sense of perfect acceptance
until their confession shall be more precise–until they learn to "call
a spade a spade," as we say, and so make a clean breast of the matter
before the Most High.
Further, my Brothers and Sisters, there is another burden we have to
carry and which we must cheerfully shoulder, and that is the yoke of
Christ Jesus says, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me." And then He
adds, "for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." We are bound to
obey Christ. He is the Captain–we are His soldiers. There should be
maintained in the Church a sacred military discipline–we should obey
spontaneously the commands of our great Leader! He is our Shepherd, we
must keep close to Him–walking in His footprints and delighting in His
company. He is the Physician–we must follow His prescription, not
hesitating, even though the draught He gives is very bitter. Perfect
obedience is what Jesus Christ has a right to claim from us! Oh, that
He would give us Grace that He might receive according to His rights!
Is there any duty, my Brothers and Sisters, which you have not yet
fulfilled and which presses upon your conscience? Or is there some
other duty on which your conscience is but partially enlightened? Ask
for a quickened conscience and when you obtain it, never tamper with
it! Oh, to have a conscience quick as the apple of the eye, tender and
delicate, that will not even bear the slightest dust of sin! Oh, to
walk before God as Caleb did, of whom the Lord said, "My servant Caleb
has followed Me fully." There were some of whom it was said, "They
walked before the Lord, but not with all their heart, as did David."
May we have the whole-heartedness of the most consecrated towards the
Savior and whatever form the yoke of Christ may take, may we count it
our highest joy to bear it! Since He carried our sorrow, let us be
willing to carry out His commands to their utmost letter, desiring that
not so much as a jot or a tittle shall be left unheeded of the Master's
will!
Further, Brothers and Sisters, I think we ought, each one of us, to
feel that we have a burden of prayer to carry to the Mercy Seat. "Every
man shall bear his own burden" in this respect. I wish we did this in
our assemblies. I am afraid that you often let me pray, but some of you
do not pray yourselves. I am afraid, too, that private prayer is
neglected by a very large number of Christians–not that the form of it
is absolutely renounced, but the vigor of it is not maintained. I wish
I could say this without a blush concerning myself, but I do feel that
very many of us do grievously fail here. We give the Lord some scanty
five or ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, whereas our Puritan
forefathers prayed sometimes for hours! But it would matter little
about the time if we did but give the spirit. It is poor work,
sometimes, our praying! Oh, that we wrestled with the Angel and
prevailed! My Brothers and Sisters, we have, everyone of us, something
to take before God in prayer–and we rob the Church of our
contributions to her treasury of intercession if we do not put our
share into it!
Some of you ought to pray for the Sunday school more than you do. Some
of you should bear in prayer the burden of the young of the
congregation. The preacher has his burden of prayer–a heavy one. My
Brothers and Sisters, the deacons and elders should be–I trust they
are–peculiarly men of prayer! They have a burden to carry–a burden of
prayer for the Church. And you aged fathers in our Israel and you, my
dear Sisters who are matrons in our midst, it often seems to me to be
peculiarly your office to be intercessors for the Church. It may be
possible that many of you could not preach and could not be very
serviceable in many active labors, but you can be the very strength and
sinews of war for the Church militant by your prayers! No, no–it is
not the whole Church praying that you are to think ofjust now, but you,
yourself–praying–each man and woman taking his own share of the great
common burden which we have to take before the Mercy Seat and leave
there!
So, too, must each of us take our own burden of witnessing for Christ
All saints cannot witness to all Truth since nobody knows all the Truth
of God but God! Some of our hyper-Calvinistic friends also know it all,
according to their own understanding–but at any rate we think that
nobody else does! Finite minds can only grasp part of the Truth. The
Infinite alone can lay hold of the whole of Truth. If we were
altogether Infallible in our knowledge of Doctrine, we should be God,
for only God can know all things and know all things thoroughly–know
all things without admixture of error. But wherein we do know, each man
is called to bear testimony to the Truth he does know. There are many
things that I do not know–why should I, then, pretend to be a witness
to them? But there are some two or three things I do know. I am quite
sure about them–and if I do not speak positively upon them, I shall
fail to bear my burden before the Lord. And there is some one Truth of
God, perhaps, my Brother, about which you have a little Light of God, a
little more Light than your neighbors. Do not hide the Light of God!
God does not ever light a lamp to put it under a bushel. If you have
received, either by experience or research, any special Light which is
peculiar to you–spread it that it may be, as it should be, the common
property of the Church of God, to the Glory of God! I wish that
Christians in these days thought more of bearing their witness. The
Scottish people in years gone by attached great importance to the
bearing of witness–testifying–standing out at all costs to give
evidence to the Truth of God. But nowadays Truth is cast into the
street as though it were worthless! And Christians will honor a Truth
and hold it, and yet will put their finger to their lips and say, "For
peace's sake, such a Truth is to be unspoken." No! Peace is precious,
but it has its price, and is not to be purchased at any price! Truth
first! "First pure, then peaceable." First, the Truth of God and then
the peace of God. May we have both, but let us take care that we bear
our own burden in witnessing for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, dear Brothers and Sisters, we have, each one of us, our own
burden in the matter of caring for souls. You are placed, some of you,
as working men amidst working men–your burden is manifestly your own
class. Others of you move in other spheres. Do not forget that each
sphere has its particular claim. You have ability? You have, then, a
burden peculiar to a man of ability. You have wealth? There is a burden
there. On the other hand, you live in obscurity. Your utmost sphere is
your little children and your one or two rooms. Still remember that
circles are prized not in proportion to their size, but in proportion
to their roundness–and so we shall be honored and rewarded by Divine
Grace–not according to the largeness of our sphere, but according to
the way in which we have filled it for Christ! We must each bear the
burden of our own sphere. Mother, no one else can be a mother to your
children and do for them what you should do. Minister, if you are truly
sent of God, no one can be a sponsor for you in your ministry–you must
take
that burden which God has put upon you, upon yourself! And you trader,
merchant, working man–there is something which you, each of you, must
do and however earnest all the rest of Christians may be, they cannot,
by the surplus of their zeal, if there is any, by any possibility make
up for a deficiency in your case! The timber may be very strong in one
part of the vessel, but the strength of the timber there is no
recompense for a rotten portion in another part of the keel– it must
be strong all over. We are all set, as it were, to forge a chain–and
if the link that you shall forge is thoroughly strong and well welded,
yet if I make a mess of my portion of the work, the chain will be
injured all through! Let us remember this and discharge our own work in
the strength of God, by the power of His Spirit, and we shall joy in
ourselves by the Holy Spirit!
I might thus enlarge upon these burdens, but they all come to the same
effect. There is one more word, however, which will be addressed,
perhaps, to half a dozen here–probably not so many. Sometimes, upon
some men, God casts a burden which He never puts on others. The Prophet
speaks of "the burden of the Lord." Probably we have all carried it at
some time, but at any one particular time there will not be many who
are bearing it. That burden may be something very extraordinary to
others, though you have become so familiar with it that it seems
ordinary to you. Perhaps tonight something is saying in your soul, "Go
and speak to such an one." Do not violate that monition! Believe me,
there is more in spiritual impulses than some people think! You have
all read the old story of the Quaker who felt moved to ride into a
certain town, some 10 or 12 miles off at the dead of night–and to go
to a certain house. He did so. He found the house and knocked at the
door. No one came to the door. He knocked again and when, at last, a
man came downstairs and opened the door and asked him what he wanted.
The Quaker said, "Perhaps you can tell me, for I do not know. The Lord
has sent me to you, but what for I know not." Then the man produced a
rope and said that just when the knock came to the door he was in the
top room, planning to hang himself. God had evidently sent the Quaker
just at that time to prevent him. If you and I were more obedient to
these "burdens of the Lord" when they came, we might often do more good
than we do. We must not be fanatical–there is a line to be drawn–but
at the same time I am afraid we often check sacred impulses, which, if
followed, might be fraught with the most blessed consequences! Do you
feel called at this time, my dear Friend, to a work which you never
undertook before? Consult not with flesh and blood! Do not be
particular about asking help and assistance. "Every man shall bear his
own burden." Go in the strength of God! If, like Gideon, you need a
sign, take it, and when you have it and your heart has become like
Gideon's fleece, wet clean through, even though it is with sorrow, so
that you could wring it out, then go in this, your might, for if God
has sent you, He will go with you. "As your days, so shall your
strength be." This may be a word to somebody–I know not to whom–but
it was a burden on me to say it–and there I leave it.
Now we turn to the second Truth of this theme! And with much greater
brevity– II. SOME THINGS WHICH LIFT THE WEIGHT OF THESE PRESSING
BURDENS. "Every man shall bear his own burden." It is not pleasant to
be talked to all this long time about your being a burden-bearer, but
perhaps these things will make it more pleasant. The first thing of
which to remind ourselves is this– that it is quite consistent with
the Truth of God declared in our text, to remind you that Jesus Christ
is the great Burden-Bearer for all His saints–that though, on the one
hand, you will have to bear your own burdens, yet on the other hand
Christ will bear all your burdens for you! Your burden of sin was laid
upon Him as the scapegoat for your soul. That you know, and now your
sin is put away! And now, tonight, whatever your burden is, come with
it to your best Friend, the "Friend that sticks closer than a brother."
Tell Him the cause of your complaint. The disciples of John, when their
master's head was taken off, took up the body and "went and told
Jesus." Come and tell Jesus what it is that vexes you tonight! It is
said of one sick child, "They brought him to Jesus." Is your trouble a
sick child, or is it you who is sick? Or what is it? Bring it to Jesus!
All griefs either fly at His approach or else they change to joys! Or
if they remain griefs, they minister to us an abundance of spiritual
wealth–
"Come, make your needs, your burdens known–
He will present them at the Throne!
And angel bands are waiting there,
His messages of love to bear."
You must remember that your burden is easy to bear when Christ is with
you. When Jesus Christ has strengthened you with all strength in your
inner man and put into you His own Omnipotence to be your succor, then
shall the burden cease to be a burden to you any longer!
This also may tend to lighten the pressure, that as every man has to
bear his own burden, so every man has his own hope. I would be afraid
to change with anybody else. I have sometimes thought, when I have been
much desponding, that I wished I had half as good a hope as some of my
Brothers and Sisters, but when I come to think it over–I do not
know–I do not know–I would be as happy as the least in the Lord's
family if I knew that I was really one of His, but I really should not
like to change with any of the little ones, or the great ones, either,
on the chance of their being His. No! I know my own hope and I will
keep it!
And, blessed be God, as we have our own burden, so we have our own joy.
The most miserable and unhappy Christian in the world, when you come to
get into his secrets, will tell you–he will let it out somehow–that
he has a secret spring of joy which others have not. In fact, it is to
be remarked that those who have deep griefs have generally
proportionately deep joys! The man of superficial sorrow generally has
superficial mirth–but the man whose heart has been bored through and
through has a stream of joy springing up as from an artesian well that
cannot be equaled for freshness by the mere land springs of superficial
piety! Brothers and Sisters, we would not part with our joys nor with
our hope. Though we have our sorrows to ourselves, yet we have our joys
to ourselves, too! And, thank God, they cannot be taken away from us!
So, too, the Christian has Christ all to himself. I have sometimes
tried to think of that. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, able to save ten
thousand times ten thousand sinners–and yet He is all mine! All Christ
is mine! Here He is feeding the millions of His saints, and yet there
is not a single crumb upon His table but what is mine! Nor a grain of
corn in the granary of my Brother Joseph but what belongs to me! All
Christ belongs to each one of God's people! You have got a burden to
yourself, but you have also got God to yourself–think of that! Have
you ever remembered that if you were the only creature in the
world–the only creature in the universe–if there were no angels and
no other men–have you ever thought of what an inspection God would
have of you and how He would see you through and through? Well, at this
present moment and at all times, you are as much an object of His
inspection as if that were the case! For multitudes of objects do not
divide the exercise of Omniscience upon each one. The Infinite Mind of
God is such that the Infinite Care of God belongs to every individual
throughout the entire universe! Yes, you have a God to yourself! Oh,
what infinite supplies you have, Christian! Talk of your expenses! Look
at your income! Speak of your poverty! Look at your wealth! You talk of
your weakness–now estimate your strength! You can cast the plumb line
to the bottom of your sorrows and measure the Atlantic waves of your
grief, but you cannot measure Heaven above, nor the earth beneath, nor
the depths of Hell! If you could measure these, God is greater than
them all! Oh, why, then, do you despond because of the big burden, when
you have peculiar help, peculiar joy, peculiar hope and peculiar
strength? Rest in God and be joyful!
Once again, it is true that we, all of us, have a burden to carry, but
then we have not to carry that burden long. You do not much pity a man
who has to carry a load only during the twinkling of an eye. Well, the
whole of life is not any more than that! Just think, my dear Friends,
of eternity–and what is life? Imagine ourselves sitting down in Heaven
in the midst of eternal blessedness, and what a moment life will seem!
We shall know, then, what Paul meant when he said, "These light
afflictions which are but for a moment." But for a moment! Oh, pluck up
courage, Brothers and Sisters! You are nearer Home than you thought you
were and every moment you are getting nearer! We find our horses
quicken their speed when we turn their heads homeward and they drag
their loads with speed. Now, your head is homeward, Christian, you–
"Nightly pitch your moving tent, A day's march nearer home."
Therefore, be of good comfort and let not the burden gall your
shoulders.
Once more. If you have a burden to yourself, remember that you will
have your own place in Heaven which nobody else will have. You have
your own sorrows, but you will have your own joys there! I think there
is a note in the heavenly song for each one of us to take. I do not
suppose that Mary Magdalene sings precisely the same note as the dying
thief. There will be her lofty voice taking some of the treble notes
and we shall have him, it may be, taking the deeper bass. I believe
that if one of us should be absent, the choir of Heaven would not be
complete. In the noblest orchestra all the in-
struments and voices are needed for the completeness of the chorus, and
so will it be in the orchestra of Heaven! Paul says that the saints
that are gone before into Heaven are not perfect without us–that "they
without us would not be made perfect." That is to say the company would
not be complete, but gaps appear. So long as there is one soldier in a
squad who has not arrived, the battalion is not completely formed. So
we must each get there to perfect, to complete the number of the saints
in Heaven! Well, then, Beloved, as we are, each one, to have a place
and portion in Heaven, each a mansion to himself or herself, we may
well be content to bear our burdens here alone. And now to close. What
is– III. THE PRACTICAL INFERENCE AND RESULT?
I do not know what it may be, but oh, may God the Holy Spirit burn my
text into your hearts! I do not want you to remember so much anything I
have said–it does not matter about that–you can forgot it all! But I
do want you to recollect this one Truth of God–especially you
Christians–that "every man shall bear his own burden." There is
something for each one of you to do for Christ. Oh, that notion that
the minister can do it, that the united action of the Church can do
it–it has ruined the Christian Church to a large extent! A personal,
individual sense of responsibility is what we need–each Christian
judging himself daily and hourly as to his capabilities, obligations
and indebtedness to his Lord! Brother minister, you have got your
burden to bear. Is there any new work you can undertake for Christ, or
any old work that needs strengthening, into which you can throw
yourself with greater zeal? Then I pray you do it! My Sister in the
Lord, you have not done, perhaps, what you might do. Now say in your
heart, before you leave the pew, "By God's Grace, I will do whatever I
can." I can look round, round upon you here and see some who are really
doing more than I could for a moment ask you to do, for you are "in
labors more abundant."
I thank God that there are such in this Church, but then I think of
others. Oh, if all were like some, what a Church we would be! If all
the vines in our vineyard bore such clusters as some of the vines do,
oh, how the wine presses would burst with new wine! In the matter of
liberality, the preacher must never judge–that is a matter for each
man. "How much should you give unto your Lord?" In the matter of
service, it is not for us to allot you your work, but what can you do?
Now, what will you do tonight" "Oh, give me till the morning," says
one. No! No! We have not an hour that we can afford to waste! Let us
serve God today–we will leave tomorrow to care for itself. Now is the
accepted time for service, as well as salvation! Serve Him now! Do
something to forward His Kingdom and honor His name now! The only way
to serve Christ in the future is to serve Him in the present, for the
future never comes, or, if it does, it ceases to be future and is the
living present.
Now I ask you, you who are now washed in His cleansing blood, you who
now bear in your body the marks of the Lord Jesus, you who have lain on
His bosom, you who have been kissed with the kisses of His mouth, you
who have been brought from under the apple tree and know how sweet His
fruit is and how delightful His shadow is, you who are now one with
Him, of His flesh and of His bones, you who expect soon to see Him, you
who are longing to be with Him and hope to be caught up to dwell with
Him, to see Him as He is, and to be like He is–I charge you by the
roes and the hinds of the fields, by the lily beds wherein you had
fellowship with your Lord, and by the garden of nuts wherein He has
revealed Himself to you–I charge you, by His everlasting love, by the
love you bear to Him, and by that sweet song you sang just now–
"For He is mine, and I am His– The God whom I adore! My Father,
Savior, Comforter, Now and forevermore,"
serve Him now! Serve Him forevermore and may the Lord bless you and
make you blessed, and a great blessing to others, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.