Speaking on God's Behalf
(No. 3543)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1916.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I have yet to speak on God's behalf." Job 36:2.
So said Elihu. And verily many of us might make the same resolve. We
have tasted that the Lord is gracious. When first we came to Him laden
with guilt and full of woes, we found Him ready to pardon–a God with
whom there is plenteous redemption–
"Many days have passed since then, Many changes have we seen."
Still, we have the same tale to tell. God has been faithful to us under
all circumstances! He has passed by our backslidings. He has been
patient with all of our shortcomings and He has borne with our
waywardness. To this day His kindness has not abated, His promise has
not been forfeited and His Covenant is unbroken–it has never failed
us. In bounden duty, yet with cheerful gratitude, we are compelled to
say that the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever! On God's
behalf, then, we will speak. Much reason have we to do so. While the
world is scoffing or despising, while some are doubting and others are
blaspheming. While idolatry and infidelity have their respective
champions, we will offer our personal testimony in the teeth of all the
Lord's adversaries. Blessed be His name, He is a faithful and true God,
and if all the dwellers on earth should belie and forsake Him, His love
binds us fast! We cannot, neither will we let our trust in Him be
displaced or our witness to Him be silenced! It seems to me that the
chief business of a Christian while here below is to speak on God's
behalf. Why is he placed here? Lower ends or meaner objectives do not
appear to me to resolve that question. Merely to work, to toil, to
fulfill his days as a hireling, in common with the rest of his fellow
creatures, were a poor account to give of a pilgrim bound to the
heavenly city! Is he not allowed to tarry here that he may glorify his
God by speaking on His behalf? Are we not, each one of us, appointed to
linger in these lowlands that we may personally bear witness to what we
have heard and seen, tasted and handled, tested and proved to be true
of the good Word of Life? This sacred obligation may be very
heart-searching to some of you. I am afraid there are dumb tongues that
do not speak on God's behalf–and which of us can escape a sharp rebuke
on this score? Those of us who do speak, speak not as we should–we are
not always giving such evidence and bearing such witness as well
becomes us on God's behalf.
I purpose this evening to mention some of the occasions on which we
have yet to speak on God's behalf. Somepreva-lent excuses for silence.
Some imperative reasons for bearing testimony. And some pointed
suggestions to those who feel compelled to open their mouth boldly for
the honor of God. To my mind, it seems obvious that–
I. THERE ARE CERTAIN OCCASIONS WHEN EVERY SAVED ONE SHOULD SPEAK ON
GOD'S BEHALF.
Is it not peculiarly incumbent upon us immediately after we have found
peace by putting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? He that believes
with his heart is bound, according to the Gospel rule, to confess also
with his mouth. Have you heard the good tidings, the way of salvation,
yourself–believed it and received the fullness of its blessing? Then
you are forbidden to hide your light under a bushel! You are admonished
to let it be seen by all that are in the house. You are not, as a
coward, to conceal your allegiance to your Lord, but you are, as a
warrior, to put on the King's livery, enter the ranks and join with the
rest of His people. Is not this the message we are told to circulate,
"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved"? Should you not,
therefore, avow your faith and confess your Lord in Baptism? Then,
having believed His Word and obeyed His precept, take up His Cross as
one who is dead and buried with Him in the outward type and symbol–to
follow wherever He leads! This seems to me, as I read the Word of God,
to have been the course with all the early Christians. They believed
and were baptized. They did not postpone or procrastinate, but no
sooner
were they Christians than they confessed their Christianity in Baptism.
And why is it not so now? Would God that His people would come back to
the simple methods of the early Churches and feel that, being saved,
their next business is to give the answer of a good conscience toward
God, speaking thus on His behalf, and avowing themselves to be the
Lord's people!
This is but a fitting preface to a life of testimony. The whole of a
Christian's career should be vocal with spiritual power. By the
indwelling of God the Holy Spirit within him, he should ring out, as it
were, in silver notes, through all his conversation, both in the Church
and in the world, a goodly, gracious, grateful testimony–"I have yet
to speak on God's behalf. Even if I have spoken for the last 20 years,
it becomes me yet to speak on God's behalf." I may be gray-headed, I
may lean upon my staff, I may come near the bounds of man's short span
on this poor stage, "I have yet to speak on God's behalf." Even when
pillows hold up my aching head and when my flesh and my heart are
failing–until the pulse of life shall flag and the power of speech
shall fail–our witness to the sons of men must never falter, much less
must it come to an ignoble end. "I have yet to speak." When first I
knew Him I was compelled to speak. Would that every converted man was
moved instantly to avow his Lord! But if we have anything to regret in
the past, let us not be hesitant now. Say it, resolve it, yes, vow it!
I have and I shall have yet to speak on God's behalf till speech shall
fail me, till, dying, "I clasp my Savior in my arms, the antidote of
death."
And oh, how specially bound the Christian is to speak on God's behalf
when he is cast among ungodly men and women! There may be in the house
where you live no lover of Jesus except yourself. Take care that your
conversation makes the rest know that you have been with Jesus and have
learned of Him! There is no other candle in the house–oh, put not the
extinguisher on that one! You are the only salt–take care that you are
sprinkled over the mass. Let the savor of your walk and conversation be
diffused among your associates! At times the name of Christ will be
blasphemed, perhaps, in your presence. Or it may be unholy and even
lewd conversation will assail your ears. It is for you to express your
displeasure at anything which is displeasing to Him you serve! You must
put in a word, though you do but feebly thrust it in edgeways, for the
Christ whom ungodly tongues are slandering! You may not sit still and
hear your best Friend evilly spoken of–that were ungrateful in the
extreme! Well might He say, "Is this your kindness to your Friend?"
Should you smile, they will think you are amused, but if you laugh with
them over an unholy jest, they would say you enjoyed it! "You also were
as one of them" was a charge made against a professor. Oh, let it never
be laid against any of us! If we see our neighbor sin and rebuke him
not when the opportunity offers, we become partakers in his sin.
Remember this–on such occasions it is our bounden duty to speak on
God's behalf!
Yet again, we meet with Brothers and Sisters in affliction. They are
mourning and bemoaning themselves and their hardships. God's own people
commonly find that in all their trials they are beset with temptations.
How apt they are to speak unadvisedly because they think untowardly of
the order of God's Providence and the manner of His love! I wish this
ill condition of the heart and this bad habit of the lips were less
prevalent than unhappily it is. They talk as if they served a hard
Master and they murmur as if His Providence were peculiarly severe
towards them. I beseech you, seize the propitious moment to speak on
God's behalf! Daughter of poverty! You who have known the pinch of
want, tell of the faithfulness of God that supported you! Child of
pain! You who have tossed so long upon a bed of affliction, changing
your posture over and over till your bones began to peep through your
skin, tell, you patient sufferers–and there are many of you whose
pangs are smart, whose wounds are incurable–tell how God has succored
you! Be not silent, you who have gone through fire and water, the
furnace and the flood! Testify, you fathers in the Church, and you
mothers in Israel speak on God's behalf of the goodness, the guidance
and the Grace you have had. Do not let the young recruits entertain
hard thoughts of your Lord and Master! Tell them that the battle of
life, stern though it is, does not baffle His counsel or His care. He
who has upheld you will bear them through ten thousand billows, keep
them alive in the midst of afflictions fiery as a furnace seven times
heated–and even to the end will prove that He is their gracious God!
You have yet to speak on God's behalf.
Now, Brothers and Sisters, some of you may not only have so to speak in
the chambers where the afflicted are confined, and in the Sunday School
where the little children come round your knee, and in your own
families and workshops, but you may have a call to speak in the open
streets, or in the pulpits of our sanctuaries. I pray you, then, if you
have ability for such work in this day of blasphemy and rebuke, stand
not back! I am persuaded that some of my Brothers look for greater
talents, before they can speak for Christ, than they have a right to
expect at the first. If none are permit-
ted to speak on God's behalf but those who have ten talents, surely the
Kingdom of God must be deeply indebted to the education and scholarship
of learned men! But if I read this Word aright, it is not so. Rather
has it pleased God to take weak and foolish things to confound the
mighty and the wise. Therefore, let not the Brother of low degree keep
back his testimony. If you can only say a few good words, say them! Who
would withhold a few drops of moisture from the flowers in the garden
because he had no plenteous streams at his command? Should every
twinkling star cease its shining because it was not a sun, the
night–how dark! The firmament–how bereft of its beauty! Did each drop
of rain refuse to fall because it was but a drop, we would lack the
goodly showers which cheer the thirsty soil! Do what you can if you
cannot do what you would, for you, even you, have yet to speak on God's
behalf! And, perhaps, you have more talent than you think–a little
exercise might bring out your latent powers. Men grow not up to man's
estate in a week or a year. Rome was not built in a day. How can you
expect to be qualified to serve your God with much success unless you
are trained with drill and discipline? If you begin to walk, or even to
crawl on all fours, you may afterwards learn to run. Be content to use
such powers as you have to the utmost of your ability, for He has said,
"I will never leave you nor forsake you." Do not reserve your strength,
but consecrate all you have, "for He gives more Grace. " Diligently
cultivate every faculty, knowing that He gives Grace upon Grace. "I
have yet to speak on God's behalf."
I know not whether I am just now like the seraph who flew with a live
coal, bearing it in the tongs from off the altar, to touch some lips,
to put it to anyone's mouth, and say, "Lo, this has touched your lips."
It may be so. Some child of God, up to now dumb, may be called
henceforth to speak for his Master. If you now hear a voice saying,
"Who will go for Us? Whom shall We send?" Let your answer be, "Here am
I, send me." Respond, in the words of our text, "I have yet to speak on
God's behalf." Turn we now to–
II. THOSE ARGUMENTS WHICH READILY SUGGEST THEMSELVES TO SOME MINDS FOR
KEEPING SILENCE.
Have I yet to speak on God's behalf? "No," says one, "pardon me, but
speaking out for God cannot be accounted essential to salvation. Are
there not some who come, like Nicodemus, by night? May there not be
many Believers in Jesus who have not the courage to speak out of the
fullness of their heart? Why should not I be one of these secret
Believers, and yet enter into Heaven?" You think to go to the Celestial
City by a by-road, unseen and unnoticed, hoping to be safe at the last.
Suppose it true that to avow your faith is not absolutely essential to
salvation–I ask you if it is not absolutely essential to obedience?
And I ask again if obedience is not essential to every Believer as a
vindication of his faith? Though you may tell me that there are many
secret Believers, I venture to affirm that you never knew one, or if
you think you did, the secret must have been ill kept if you knew it!
Obviously, if it was a genuine secret, it must have been beyond your
understanding, or mine either, so we cannot fairly argue about it. And
as we do not know that such a thing ever was, we have no fact to build
upon. Surely to someone or other that gracious secret must have been
made known, or what you tried to conceal someone would have found out.
I should think if your Christian character and conduct were not
palpable, your Christianity could scarcely be sterling! Who can conceal
fire in his bosom? Will it not sooner or later break out? The more
wicked the persons by whom you are surrounded, the more readily will
they discover the difference between a Christian and themselves. You
can scarcely conceal the Light of God–it must reveal itself. Why,
therefore, should you attempt to hide it? Merely to do what is
absolutely necessary for salvation is a mean, selfish thing! To be
always thinking about whether this or that is necessary to your being
saved–is this how you would show your allegiance to the Savior? Should
the self-denial of our blessed Lord and Master be requited with the
selfishness of followers who are always muttering, "Cui bond?. What
profit can I make of His service?" Oh, that we may be delivered from
such an ungenerous disposition! Knowing that Christ has done so much
for us and feeling the compelling power of love, may we rejoice to
serve Him, whether the service shall be grateful to our taste, or
mortifying to our pride! And in so doing, we shall soon find that in
keeping His Commandments there is great reward!
"But do you happen to be of a very retiring disposition?" A beautiful
disposition that is, I have no doubt, and rare enough in some select
circles to claim admiration, but undesirable, indeed, on some
particular fields at some critical junctures. For a soldier, when the
battle is raging, to be of a retiring disposition would be neither
patriotic nor praiseworthy. Had this dainty temper been the main virtue
of the hosts from where British heroes leapt forth, the trumpet of fame
had long since ceased to resound the deeds of prowess of which every
Englishman is proud! A soldier of Christ may well
be modest in estimating himself, but he had need be mighty in serving
his Lord. If he is too modest to avow his Master, this shameless
modesty betrays a cowardly spirit, at which his comrades well might
shudder–
"Ashamed of Jesus? That dear Friend On whom my hopes of Heaven depend?
No! When I blush, be this my shame, That I no more revere His name."
Ashamed of Jesus? Really, the words seem so harsh that they imply an
insult! Yet this beautiful, retiring disposition, when translated out
of the fine words in which you wrap it up, means nothing more nor less
than a disloyalty which verges hard on treason! Ashamed of Jesus, who
shed His blood for you? Ah, you must all confess that there is no
violation of genuine modesty in avowing one's intense attachment and
allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ! This may be true retirement, after
all, for you may renounce, thereby, the world's praises, repudiate her
honors, bring upon yourself her loudest censure and be requited with
the cold shoulder by your companions when you take up your cross and
follow Him.
But have I not often heard persons says, "Why should I speak on God's
behalf, when already some who do speak are hypocrites?" This seems to
me a reason why you should speak twice as much in order to counteract
their false testimo-ny–and why you should speak with all the more
carefulness and integrity, making their example a beacon, lest you fall
into the same condemnation! If a friend of mine has an enemy who is a
snake in the grass, pretending kindness while he is plotting mischief,
am I, therefore, to say, "I will forsake my friend, and not acknowledge
him, because another is a traitor to him"? Such reasoning would refute
itself! Let us not, therefore, delude ourselves with its subtlety. The
more hypocrites there are, the more need of honest men to grasp the
banner of the Cross! The more deceivers, the more cause why the
faithful and the true should come and fill up the ranks–and prevent
the battle being turned over to the enemy!
Or do you hesitate to speak for God because you are afraid your
testimony would be so very feeble But why disquiet yourselves on this
ground? Are not all great things the aggregate of little things? And
may there not be something great involved in the motion of the little?
A good word from your tongue may kindle a thought or a series of
thoughts which may issue in the conversion of one whose eloquence shall
shake the nation! You emit but a spark, but what a conflagration it may
cause, Heaven only knows! What though you seem tiny and insignificant
as the coral insect, yet if you do your fair share of the work with
your fellows, you may help to pile up an island that shall be abundant
in fertility and adorned with beauty. You are not called upon to do
anything that exceeds your power or your skill. It is enough that you
do what you can. God requires not according to what a man has not, but
according to what a man has. Therefore, let it be no excuse for your
silence that you cannot speak with a voice of thunder.
"But," says one, "were I to open my mouth on God's behalf, I should
feel ever afterwards a weight of responsibility from which I could not
escape. A man of God standing by that pool not many weeks ago said to
me, "I dare not be baptized, though I believe it is a Scriptural
ordinance, because I feel that it involves such a solemn profession. I
would never be able to live up to it." My reply to him was. "Is not
that the very reason why you should yield up yourself to God at
once–for the more we feel bound to holiness, the better?" "Your vows
are upon me." Should the profession of our faith in Christ become a
restriction to us, it need not be regretted on that account. We need
such restrictions! If we shall feel bound to be more precise, we serve
a precise God–and if we feel bound to be more jealous, we serve a
jealous God. I like to see men put upon their mettle. Members of this
Church, whenever the world picks holes in your coat and watches you, I
am thankful to the world for doing so! It is good for our welfare to
have an eagle eye upon us. What though Argus uses all his eyes, let us
only be what we should be, and we need not mind who criticized or carps
at us! If we are not what we ought to be, but mere hypocrites, then, in
truth, we may well wish to be hidden! Confess the name of Jesus, become
a true follower in His blessed footsteps and walk with all humility and
carefulness as His Grace shall enables you, worthy of your high
calling! Be bold to confess His name all the more! Certainly none the
less because such confession will lay you under solemn obligations to
live nearer to Him than before!
Still, I can imagine that there are many here who are using some excuse
or other, which they would not like to mention. They say they will wait
a little–they will tarry awhile. Others say nothing, but are simply
neglecting the duty. Well, I will not stay to argue with them, but I
will rather pray that God the Holy Spirit may convince them, if they
have been quickened from their spiritual death and are this day heirs
of God, to face their incumbent duty and their blessed privilege in all
ways–and on all prudent opportunities to speak on God's behalf. But
there are–
III. VALID REASONS WHY WE SHOULD SPEAK ON GOD'S BEHALF, to which I will
now draw your attention.
Surely it is demanded of all Believers. We are bidden to confess with
the mouth if we have believed with the heart. We have, moreover, the
promise that, "he that with his heart believes, and with his mouth
confesses, shall be saved." And this likewise, "He that confesses Me
before men, him will I confess before My Father who is in Heaven." The
alternative is fraught with judgment–"He that denies Me"–which
signifies a non-confession–"he that denies Me before men, him will I
deny before My Father which is in Heaven." If it is, then, the Lord's
will, it is at your peril that you forget or neglect it! "He that knows
his Master's will, and does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes."
Hasten, then, you backward Christian! Make haste and delay not to keep
this Commandment! Be convinced that you have yet to speak on God's
behalf.
Be assured that such testimony as you can and ought to bear would be a
great comfort to the Lord's people. You do not know, some of you saved
ones who have never confessed your faith, what pleasure it would give
the minister. I know of no joy comparable to that of hearing that one
has been made the instrument of the conversion of a soul. It keeps our
spirits up and our Master knows that we have good need, sometimes, of
some success to encourage us. He who thinks that the Christian ministry
is an easy post–exempt from care and free and from trials–had better
try it. It were better to be a galley-slave, chained to the oar, than
to be a minister of the Gospel, if it were not for the strong
consolations which support us in the present–and for the Divine reward
which there will be at the last. He who diligently discharges this
solemn vocation never knows rest or release from anxiety. His mind is
always actively exercised in his Master's service. His heart bears
about a load which it cannot shake off. He dreams of some who walk
disorderly–and wakes to sigh and cry over others who grow cold or
lukewarm. He must plow the stony ground and he can but regret the loss
of his seed. He scatters the good seed on the way, and if it come not
up, by-and-by, according to the promise, he cries, "Who has believed
our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" As cold
water to a thirsty soul, so would the news be of your conversion! You
saved ones ought, for that reason, to speak on God's behalf!
And how encouraging it is to the entire Church! In the Church assembly
I am sure we often have simple music that is more thrilling than any of
the anthems in your cathedrals. There is joyful melody in our hearts
before the Lord when we hear of a broken-hearted penitent finding
peace, of an outcast reclaimed from the wilds, an outrageous sinner led
into paths of obedience and holiness! Even the angels account this to
be rare music to be mightily relished. I believe they strike their
golden harps to nobler melody when they learn that prodigals have
sought their Father's face! You have yet to speak on God's behalf for
His Church's sake, that she may be encouraged!
Greatly, too, does it behoove you to speak on God's behalf, for the
sake of the undecided. Some of them would probably be fully persuaded
if they saw your example. How many people there are in the world who
are led by the influence that others exert over them! Thousands have
been brought to Jesus just as those early disciples, of whom we read,
that Andrew followed Jesus, and presently brought his own brother,
Simon, to Jesus. Or Philip, who, after being found of Jesus, finds
Nathanael and tells him and draws him to the Savior. We can all exert
an influence of some kind–let us tell what God has worked in us and
many a one who halts between two opinions may, by Divine Grace, be
induced to cast in his lot with the people of God!
Look on the great outlying world. What a mass of creatures whose lives
must prove a blessing or a curse Will you not speak on God's behalf for
their sakes? Do you not feel compelled to bear your testimony against
their neglect, their waywardness and their willful disobedience of the
great Father? With habitual negligence and constant forgetfulness, they
slight Him who never forgets them, Him who, with unslumbering eyes,
watches for their good! Lay this to heart, my Brothers and Sisters, and
come out, I pray you! Be you separate, touch not the unclean thing! You
have your Father's promise that He will be a Father to you and you
shall be His children. You are not of the world, even as Christ is not
of the world–why, then, should you seek to remain mingled with the
world in name? Be distinct and separate! Take up your cross daily and
follow your Master.
For your own sake, too, I would venture to press this upon any of you
who are backward in avowing your faith. You cannot conceive what
blessing it would bring you were you distinctly and persistently to
speak for Jesus! That timidity which now embarrasses you would speedily
cease to check your zeal. After you had once openly professed Christ,
gifts that now slumber unconsciously to yourself would be developed by
exercise. Rich comfort the service of God would then
bring you! Were you ever to win a soul for Jesus, you would be happier
than the merchantman when he found the goodly pearl! You would think
that all the happiness you ever knew before was less than nothing
compared with the joy of saving a soul from death and rescuing a sinner
from going down into the pit of Hell! Oh, the bliss of speaking a word
that affects three worlds, making a change in Heaven, earth and Hell,
as devils grind their teeth in wrath because one of their victims is
snatched out of their jaws–as men on earth wonder and admire the
change that Grace has worked–and as angels rejoice when they hear of
sinners saved!
For the sake of Him who bought you with His precious blood, seek out
others who have been redeemed at the same inestimable price! For the
sake of that blessed Spirit who brought you to Jesus and who now moves
in you that you may move others to come to Jesus, be up and doing,
steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord! You
have yet to speak on God's behalf, and these are the motives that ought
to move you. And now let me close with–
IV. ONE OR TWO SUGGESTIONS.
Should you feel, dear Friends, that you ought to speak on God's
behalf–and I hope you do feel it–whether Brothers in public ministry,
or Sisters in the privacy of social circles, I would counsel you,
before you begin to speak, to seek of God guidance as to how you shall
speak on His behalf. There are better words spoken of by the ignorant
when they wait upon God, than by the wise when they speak out of their
own heads. It is wonderful to read the answers which some of the
martyrs gave to their accusers. Think of that woman, Anne Askew, how,
after being racked and tortured, she nonplussed the priests. It is
really marvelous to read how she overcame them. And there was my Lord
Mayor of London– what a fool she made of him! He put to her this
question–"Woman, if a mouse were to eat the blessed sacrament which
contains the body and blood of Christ, what do you think would become
of it?" "My lord," she answered, "that is a deep question. I had rather
you would answer it yourself. My Lord Mayor, what do you think would
become of the mouse that should do that," "I verily believe" said the
Lord Mayor, whose ears must have been preternaturally long, "I verily
believe the mouse would be damned!" And what said Anne Askew? Why, what
could she reply better than this, "Alas, poor mouse." Often a few short
words–three or four words–have met the case when the martyrs have
waited upon God! And they have made their adversaries seem so
ridiculous that I think they might hear a laugh both from Heaven and
Hell at once at their foolery, for God's servants have convicted them
of folly and put them to shame! Ask what you should say, particularly
when men would wrest your words, and when they would catch you in the
speech. Be like your Master some-times–stoop down and write on the
ground–wait a while. Sometimes a question is best answered by another
question. Ask your Master to teach you that rhetoric which confuses men
who would catch you in your speech.
And if you seek the conversion of others, especially remember that it
is words from God's mouth rather than words from your mouth that will
effect it. Ask the Master, for He knows how to draw the bow when you
cannot. You might draw it at a venture, but He can draw at a certainty,
so that the arrows shall surely pierce between the joints of the armor.
Here is a prayer for every man and woman that has to speak for
Jesus–"Open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise."
And look to the Holy Spirit, that He would bless what He directs you to
say. It were better to speak five words by the promptings of the Holy
Spirit than to utter whole volumes without His guidance. Better be
filled with silent musings by the blessed Spirit of God than pour forth
floods of words and sentences, however pleasant, without His influence.
There is an irresistible power about the man who has an unction from
the Holy One which Demosthenes or Pericles, Cicero or Socrates, never
dreamed of! Put the man up to speak to his fellow men who is endowed
with this mysterious power and he will make hearts of stone melt and
force a way for the Truth of God through gates of brass and bars of
triple steel! Where the Divine Witness attests the word spoken, there
is a majesty in the simplest utterances that carries conviction to the
heart, while it makes Satan and all his Myrmidons tremble! Seek for
this might. Tarry at Jerusalem till you are endowed with power from on
high and thenspeak boldly on God's behalf! Wherever your calling may
be, and whenever your opportunity shall arise, speak as one whose heart
has been enlarged, as one whose mouth has been opened, as one who is
filled with the Spirit!
Very earnestly would I caution you young Christians not to put off or
delay speaking, otherwise you will lack the facility you might quickly
attain by habitually attending to it. An aptitude for speaking to
people one by one is very desirable. I know some Brothers in the
ministry whom I greatly envy for the possession of a talent which I do
not possess in the
same proportion as they do. The genius of conversation so sanctified
that one can be personal and yet prudent–plain and pointed, yet withal
pleasant–administering a rebuke without endangering a rebuff, winning
a man's confidence while wounding his pride and commending the Gospel
by the courteousness with which it is stated–that is a power of
utterance to be emulated by us all! We are too apt to be ambitious of
speaking to the many and oblivious of the talking power that can deftly
speak to a friend. Begin early, then, after your conversion to speak,
one by one, with your kinsfolk and acquaintances! Keep up the practice.
Should you find yourselves getting sluggish, so that it becomes irksome
to you, seek unto the Lord, confess your sin before Him. The tact of
speaking to individuals is worth all the study and attention you can
bestow upon it. Ask for wisdom and prudence to know when to speak and
how to speak! It is not every fisherman who can catch fish. There is a
knack about it and so there is about speaking for Christ. There is a
suitable time and there is a suitable way. Why, there are some people
who, if they were to try to speak for Christ, would do mischief! They
have got such forbidding faces, such ungainly manners, such a coarse
way of expressing themselves, that in spite of good intentions, they
rather hinder than help. They expect to catch their flies with vinegar,
but they will never succeed or be able to do it. If they could learn to
be kind and genial, affable and sympathetic, they would be far more
likely to succeed. There are men who put the Truth of God in such a
shape that it looks like a lie. There are other men who do a good deal
with so little delicacy that they affront those they intend to oblige.
Do let us learn, when we speak for God, to speak in the best possible
manner, exercising all the Christian Graces! Of our blessed Lord it was
said, "Never man spoke like this Man." Of us who are His humble
followers, may it be observed that we have been with Jesus, and have
learned of Him.
God grant you, Believers all, Grace to speak for God! And you
unbelievers, may you be brought to trust the Master and to love Him,
and then speak for Him! And His be the praise, though yours the profit!
Amen.