DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 16, 1880,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"When You did terrible things which we looked not for, You came down,
the mountains flowed down at Your Presence." Isaiah 64:3.
THE people of God were in a very sad state when this chapter described
them. Isaiah pictures them as brought into the lowest degree of fear
and sorrow. He pleads with God to return to His chosen people and
restore their former peace and prosperity. He makes use of the past as
an argument for the future and recites the wonderful acts of God in
days gone by as an encouragement to expect that He would do the same
again. If it were not that God is unchangeable, no inference could be
drawn from His past behavior toward us, but inasmuch as He is immutably
the same, yesterday, today and forever, we may safely infer that what
He has done He will do again.
They say that history repeats itself–it were more true to say that God
abides the same, that His ways are everlasting and His mercy endures
forever. Therefore it is good and sound pleading to say, "You have done
this and that, therefore again make bare Your arm and once more let
Your people rejoice in Your faithfulness and Your power." While we may
all do this on behalf of the Church of God and find a rich store of
arguments in her past history, we may also do it for ourselves. Some of
us are now getting into years and we have known the Savior for 30 years
or more–we ought to be well supplied with reasons for trusting Him and
I am sure we are. Let us look back on the past and remember how He has
forgiven our transgressions, how He has recovered our backslidings, how
He has relieved our necessities, how He has cheered our despondencies
and strengthened our weaknesses–He that is our God is still the God of
salvation and He will continue still to bless us, even to the end.
Because the Lord is my shepherd and now makes me to lie down in green
pastures, therefore I conclude that, "surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the
Lord forever."
At the back of whatever I shall have to say this morning will lie this
grand principle–that as the past is, so we may expect the future to be
in reference to God's dealings with us. Let us come more closely to our
point. From the text and from its connection, I gather, first, that the
Presence of God is the one hope of His people. In this text the Prophet
speaks of God's doing terrible things when He came down among His
people. We shall next notice that the Presence of God creates
surprises–He did "things which we looked not for." We shall observe,
thirdly, that the Presence of God achieves wonders–"the mountains
flowed down at Your Presence." And then, lastly, we shall come back to
where we started and reflect that we may expect the same results from
the Divine Presence if we are privileged to enjoy it.
I. First let us meditate upon the fact that THE DIVINE PRESENCE IS THE
ONE HOPE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD. The Prophet shows that he believed this,
for he commences the chapter by a most ardent cry to God that He would
come into the midst of His people–"Oh that You would rend the heavens,
that You would come down." A little before this, (in the 15th verse of
the previous chapter), he had prayed, "Look down from Heaven." But it
is the characteristic of true prayer that it grows as it proceeds–he
begins by asking God to look down but he gathers intensity of desire
and confidence of faith and here he cries, "Come down."
So eager is Isaiah that God should come and come at once, that he
speaks to Him as though addressing a warrior who lingered in his tent
while a battle was raging–who would be so eager to rush to the help of
his friends that he would not stay to remove the canvas or to lift the
curtain, but would tear a way for himself through the canopy to come at
once to the deliverance of those who called him to the rescue. "Oh that
You would rend the heavens." Stay not, Great God, to pass through the
gate of pearl, but rend Your heavens–let the blue firmament be torn in
two and descend from Heaven upon rushing mighty winds for the help of
Your people!
When our Divine Lord opened the way by which God could come to us poor
guilty men, He did not lift the curtain nor fold it up, but the veil of
the Temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom and so the door
was left wide open forever–for none can ever fix the veil in its place
again. It was through the open heavens that Christ went in where He now
stands to plead for us and by that open Heaven the sacred Spirit
descended to rest upon the Church. The impetuous character of the
simile here used shows that the Prophet looked upon the Divine
visitation as the one thing needed for Israel. O Lord, we do not ask
You to cause the earth to bring forth plentifully, or to make our
wealth increase, or to make the kings of the earth favorable to Your
cause! But come, Yourself, to bless Your people and they will need no
more! Oh that You would come down! Even so, come quickly.
Is not this the prayer of every true heart here that knows the need of
the Church and the need of the age? We do not so much require more
ministers, or more eloquent teachers, but more of the sacred Presence.
We do not need wealth in the Church, or magnificent buildings, or
ornate services, but we crave, above all things, that the living God
will refresh His people! If the Lord were in the midst of us, if the
shout of a king were heard in our camps, then would our armies march to
the victory and our foes would be defeated! The desire of the Prophet
in the present instance is abundantly justified by the history of God's
people in all times, for when the tribes were in Egypt, what could set
them free from the iron bondage? What but the Presence of God?
The Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their
sorrows." Then the Lord came down to deliver them and you know with
what signs and wonders He plagued the proud Egyptian oppressor! Pharaoh
said, "Who is Jehovah?" But he soon received his answer when the waters
were turned into blood and the dust into lice–when the cattle died of
disease and every green thing in the land was blasted with lightning or
eaten with locusts! Pharaoh and his people learned that when God is in
the midst of His oppressed and down-trodden people they are "like an
hearth of fire among the woods and like a torch of fire in a sheaf."
God's Presence in Israel with Moses and Aaron brought them out "with a
high hand and with an outstretched arm." When they started on that
memorable night, after eating the Passover, what was it that made the
march of Israel so grand an event in history? Did not Jehovah lead the
way? When they came to the borders of the Red Sea with the rocks on
either side and the angry host pursuing them, what was their defense
but that God looked out from the fiery, cloudy pillar and while His
smile lit up the midnight of His people and made it bright as day, He
looked forth from the cloudy side and troubled the Egyptians and took
off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them heavily? It was God's
Presence that quickened the feet of Miriam and Israel's daughters on
the other side of the sea, when they struck their timbrels and cried,
"Sing you to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and
his rider has He thrown into the sea."
God's Presence did it all! He who made His kingly dwelling amid their
thick array was the glory of their strength, the banner of their joy!
So was it when their marching was through the lone wilderness. What
made Israel thrive upon barren sand? What made the nation drink
plenteously from the Rock? It was the Presence of God that made the
earth a watered sod, the flint a gushing rill! The tabernacle stood in
their midst and the Presence of God was symbolized there by a blaze of
Glory between the cherubim and this it was that made Israel the chief
among the nations! The whole of the story of Israel proves the same
truth! God's Presence was Israel's Glory!
When they grieved Him and provoked Him, then the feeblest of the
nations round about them tyrannized over them. They were an
insignificant and defenseless nation of themselves, but when God shone
upon them, they were great among the nations and the scepter of Israel
was stretched from sea to sea. "God with us," when written on Israel's
banner, secured them honor and conquest. But without God they could do
nothing. Dear Friends, this Truth of God which is thus borne out in the
history of God's ancient people is certainly true with us, too! The
favor of God is the hope of all His people. First, we see this in the
Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, when did you and I ever obtain
comfort, or receive hope of acceptance until we saw God with us in our
flesh?
The world would have perished if God had not come down to it in the
Person of His dear Son. At Bethlehem the wondrous mystery was seen–the
Godhead veiled beneath the form of a Babe. This was the birth of hope.
So, too, when the Lord Jesus comes to any one of us by His Spirit, our
hope begins! We see Him as our Immanuel and we are comforted. Dr. Watts
most sweetly sings–
"Till God in human flesh I see, My thoughts no comfort find.
The holy, just and sacred Three Are terrors to my mind. But if
Immanuel's face appears My hope, my joy begins! His name forbids my
slavish fear, His Grace removes my sins."
God saves us by coming to us in Christ with an atonement in His hands
to put away our sins. Yes, and our hope of the perfection of our
salvation still lies in the coming of Christ to us! We expect that when
He comes in the latter day, though our bodies may have seen corruption
and the worms may have devoured them, yet in our flesh we shall see
God! When Christ shall come a second time the Archangel's trumpet shall
sound and then shall we receive the adoption, to wit, the redemption of
the body for which we now hopefully await.
Because He lives we shall also live and because He shall come to be
revealed, we also shall be manifested! Our Lord's first coming in our
flesh has given us eternal salvation! His coming to us by His Spirit
has worked in us a living faith and His second coming, by-and-by, is
the grand object of our hope. That day and hour no man knows, for the
Father keeps it in His own power, but the consummation of all our hopes
is wrapped up in it and, therefore, we cry, "Come quickly! Even so,
Lord Jesus, come quickly! Amen." So, you see, Brothers and Sisters, it
is the Presence of God with us in Christ which is the ground of all our
hope.
Until our Lord's glorious Advent, the Presence of the Holy Spirit in
the Church is our only dependence for success in all that we attempt.
If we meet for prayer, it must be praying in the Holy Spirit, for we
know not what we should pray for as we ought till He instructs us. It
is hard praying to an absent God–the Lord's Presence is the life of a
Prayer Meeting. If the Lord is not there to inspire the prayer, He is
not there to hear the prayer. When we preach, it is poor testifying if
we have not the Lord's anointing resting upon us and His Presence all
around us. If the Spirit of God is not with the preacher, a silent
tongue might be as efficient as the most eloquent speech. So is it with
our missionary enterprise–it will be a failure unless the Lord is in
it from first to last. Every missionary might fitly say, "If Your
Spirit go not with me, carry me not up from here."
Vain will it be to organize societies, enlist subscribers and enter
upon actual effort and to spend money and zeal thereon if the Lord is
not there. "Without Me you can do nothing," said our Lord of old and
the same is true unto this day! The Presence of God is essential to
each one of us if we are to be saved. It is well for the prodigal to
arise and go to his Father, but the saving moment comes when his Father
meets him. "When he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him and ran
and had compassion on him and fell upon his neck and kissed him"–there
was the actual salvation! The lost sheep is not found till the Shepherd
comes to it. God's coming to a man convinces him of sin–he stands up
for self-righteousness till the Holy Spirit constrains him to ask the
Truth. Never did a stony heart turn itself to flesh, or a blind eye
remove its own darkness! God must come in infinite freeness of Grace
and work with boundless power of love, or the dead sinner will remain
dead and the blinded mind will remain blind.
Yes, and after the work is begun, the Presence of God in the soul is
necessary for its continuance and progress. We never take a step
towards God except with God. Even the faintest desire towards Him is
breathed into us by His own Spirit! And as for the higher works of
Grace in the soul, they are evidently all of God, for the assurance of
faith, the confidence of hope and the consecration of love were never
ascribed by their possessors to any source less than Divine. Let a man
try to serve God without God and he will fail! Sitting at Jesus' feet
is our proper posture–when He teaches, we have knowledge–all else is
conceit! In His company we are happy and useful, but apart from Him we
are miserable failures.
Even in Heaven, itself, the Presence of God is the source of joy and
perfection. Up yonder they need no candle, neither light of the sun,
because the Lord God gives them light–if He were not among them it
would be dark as death-shade. The blessed ones drink from the river of
His pleasures–no other stream makes glad the city of God! Their life
is His life–their bliss is His own Divine pleasure! They enter into
Christ's Glory and they are filled with Christ's joy! Is it not clear
enough that our most essential need is the nearness of God to our
souls? "My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation is from Him."
David's petition shall be mine–"Draw near unto my soul and redeem it."
"It is good for me to draw near unto God." O Lord, remember Your Word
unto Your servant–"My Presence shall go with you and I will give you
rest."
II. The second point I wish to bring before you is when the Lord comes,
HIS PRESENCE CREATES GREAT SUR-PRISES–"When You did terrible things
which we looked not for, You came down." It has always been so.
Whenever God has come to men He has always surprised them. Even the
most expectant among men have found their expectations far exceeded,
while those who have been depressed and have prophesied dark things,
have been altogether taken aback to see the goodness of the Lord! God
came to Jacob's house and his favorite son was sold for a slave–the
Ishmaelites took him down into Egypt. "Ah," said Jacob when he thought
on this and his other trials, "all these things are against me."
He could not make out that there could be any good intended of the Lord
when he cried, "Joseph is not and Simeon is not and you would take
Benjamin away?" And yet God was doing great things for him which he
looked not for, for Joseph was set upon the throne of Egypt that he
might provide a refuge for his old father and his brethren in the days
when there should be a famine over all the earth. Then would he say
unto them, "Come down unto me, tarry not; you shall dwell in the land
of Goshen and there will I nourish you." God was doing for the
trembling Patriarch, "things which he looked not for."
I shall not stop to give instances in the history of God's people.
Often did they cry out, "You are the God that does wonders! Who is like
unto You?" Do you think the Israelites, when they stood by the Red Sea,
ever imagined they would walk through it dry-shod? When they stood on
the burning sand, did they expect to live under a vast sunshade all day
long? Yet they did, for the cloudy pillar screened them from the heat.
Did they suppose that their camp would be lit up at night as never
canvas city had been lighted before, with an illumination brighter than
our electric lights can give to us? Yet the flaming column was a grand
illumination to them! When they were starving, did they hope to gather
angels' bread fresh from the skies? When they were thirsty, did they
reckon upon a smitten rock yielding an abundant stream?
When they were bit by serpents, did they expect that a bronze serpent
would work their cure? When they came to the river, did they look to
see old Jordan retreat before the priests' feet? When they compassed
the city of Jericho, did they hope to see the walls tumble down about
the ears of its inhabitants because the tribes sounded rams' horns and
gave forth a shout? The history of Israel is a series of surprises and
unexpected mercies! The Lord does great marvels and His people are
filled with happy astonishment. It has been even more so in the works
of Grace. See what God has done for us in matchless mercy. When He
stood at the gates of Eden and talked with Adam and cursed the ground
for man's sake, could any onlooking angel have imagined that in all
this God intended to display the greatness of His mercy, so that where
sin abounded Grace should much more abound?
Did any man, did any angel, did any seraph ever imagine that the Son of
God would come down to be born into this rebel race? Did it ever enter
into their conception that He would die, the Just for the unjust, to
bring men to God? Was it ever thought of that sinful man should be
adopted into the Divine family? Do you not think it a most amazing
thing that sinful men should be born again and adopted into the family
of God?–
"Behold what wondrous Grace The Father has bestowed On sinners of a
mortal race, To call them sons of God!"
This was an honor that we looked not for! Moreover, God, having made us
to be His children, did we ever think that He would make us His heirs?
Yet He says, "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, joint-heirs with
Christ." Did it ever enter into man's heart to conceive that the Church
should be married to Christ, wedded to Him in bands of everlasting
love? Did it ever enter the dreams of any intelligent being that God
would lift up man, poor, fallen man, to sit in the person of Christ
next to Himself?
Well did David cry, "What is man, that You are mindful of Him? And the
son of man, that You visit him?" You made him to have dominion over the
works of Your hands. This is wonderful! Brothers and Sisters, though we
think we know what God, in Grace, is doing, I am sure we do not! We
shall not know even when we get to Heaven and when we rise from the
dead we shall say, "I believed in the resurrection of the dead, but
this out-miracles all miracles!" When our Lord shall take us up into
Glory, how amazed we shall be! To talk about that Glory now does ravish
us, but to be in it, flooded with it, filled with it, crowned with
it–this will be overwhelming! Surely we shall need stronger frames and
hearts more able to endure the weight of bliss than those which we now
have!
How is it that we continue to be surprised at what God does? I answer,
first, because our largest conceptions of God fall short. The man who
has, like Enoch, walked with Him for years, yet knows little of Him.
Ah, my Brothers and Sis-
ters, you do not know the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths
of His wondrous liberality! God is infinite! We are as a tiny shell on
the beach–we cannot hold the ocean and therefore the measureless main
must always be a marvel to us. We shall always be, in a measure,
ignorant and as the unknown is gradually revealed it will take us aback
with absolute astonishment. Besides, our experience of God is very
brief. We have lived as yet only for a span, or a hand's breadth. Even
you old men of 60 or 70 years, what are you? Your life has gone like
the winking of an eye–it is nothing as compared with the life of God!
Therefore there must be in God's dealings a great deal yet to come of
which poor, short-lived insects like ourselves can have no idea.
Besides that, I am sorry to say our faith is shamefully weak and does
not look for great things. We have never had such faith in God as He
deserves at our hands. We have never believed Him for more than two
pence, when we ought to have believed in Him for all the gold of Ophir!
He is worthy of a trust boundless as the sea and we have scarcely
relied upon Him beyond the mere drop in a bucket. By doing "exceeding
abundantly above what we ask, or even think," the Lord puts us into an
amazed state. It will always be so. Even in Heaven we shall still be
astonished, as the poet puts it–
"Then let me mount and soar away To the bright world of endless day And
sing with rapture and surprise, His loving kindness in the skies."
It is a most blessed thing it is so. I am so glad that God does those
"things which we looked not for" because first, it keeps our life fresh
and sweet and puts us far from monotony and routine. You people who
have no God must find life a threadbare tale–one week must be very
like another and one year as another to you! But some of us can
sing–"Still has my life new wonders seen." Novels! I assure you that
no novel can equal in interest the unvarnished facts of Christian
experience, especially in the case of those who are much tried! Facts
surpass fictions in their power to surprise. The makers of romances may
rub their foreheads as long as they like, but they cannot invent
stories at all comparable to those which happen to us in our ordinary
lives.
We do not get tired of living because there is something new every
morning in the goodness of the Lord–fresh revelations are brought out
by the trials we are called to endure. Thus He increases our knowledge.
When you and I enter upon a new trouble, we ought to fall on our knees
and thank God that He is about to elevate us to a higher Grace of
dis-cipleship. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions! The
Christian's experience is like that of the man who is conducted from an
outer court into inner rooms until he reaches the innermost of all. If
God opens the first door of gracious knowledge and lets you in, you are
a saved man as soon as you enter by faith–but there is another door
and when you enter in there you are not only saved but made useful in
the saving of others!
Yet there is another door and if God favors you by admitting you into
the inner chamber you will be a happy man, mighty in prayer and
confident in hope. Another door stands within this hallowed chamber and
if you can find the key, and use it, you will enter into the secret
hall of intimate fellowship with Christ! I do not know how many rooms
there are, one within another in the place of heavenly wisdom, but this
I know, that whenever the Lord is about to introduce His servants into
a still more secret chamber where they shall be nearer to Himself, He
generally sends them a new trial to test them and to discover whether
they can bear a fresh installment of His revelations of love. Bless the
Lord for trials, for they prove the Lord's faithfulness and endear Him
to our hearts!
He will never lead us into a labyrinth without giving us the clue.
Growing trials in God's hands mean growing Grace–you were once in a
little canoe and you might not leave the tiny stream. But when years
had gone by you rowed in a boat upon the river, though you dared not
leave the shore. Now the Lord has built you a larger vessel and you
make coasting voyages upon the sea, but He does not mean you always to
be a mere coaster, carrying a few coals about–He intends you to cross
the seas, to brave the ocean and navigate the globe! As you are
gradually fitted for longer voyages, so will you encounter rougher
storms and so will you see more of the works of the Lord and of His
wonders in the deep.
Surprising mercies tend to awaken our gratitude. Have we not marveled
at the goodness of the Lord? "Bless the Lord," we have said, "I never
dreamed of such love! This way out of my difficulties is excellent, but
it is one which I could not have foreseen. I am glad I was brought into
straits that I might see how my Lord could bring me out of them." I
almost wish I had been with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery
furnace! It must have been a fine thing to walk unhurt among those
glowing coals and to come out and be able to say of all your garments,
to your children and your
children's children, "These have passed through the fire. See the socks
and the hat which I wore amid the flames, there is not a smell of fire
upon them!" What a wardrobe to pass on to your children's children, to
show what the Lord has done! Some of us can do this spiritually, for
our hearts are stored with grateful memories. How much God is glorified
by His people when He does things they looked not for. Their neighbors
are surprised. As they tell the tale, even unbelievers are struck with
it and strangers join to say, "The Lord is good to His people and His
mercy endures forever."
Dear Friends, I know that some of you can tell of instances in which
the Presence of God has worked great surprises for you and I can join
you in doing so. If you have had rich experiences be sure to tell them
to others. Perhaps you remember that a fortnight ago, on Sunday
morning, I preached of Paul's deep experience [#1536–Sentence of
Death, the Death of Self-Trust] and I said that the experiences of the
saints were a treasure, of which they were the trustees, for the
benefit of others. A well-known and beloved Brother in Christ was here
that morning–I refer to Mr. W. Haslam, a clergyman of the Church of
England–and he so fully agreed with the remark that he carried it out
by sending me a book in which he has written out the story of the first
20 years of his ministry.
I have much enjoyed the reading of the narrative and to carry out the
principle, I will now give you in brief, the story of Mr. Haslam's
conversion as an instance of "things which we looked not for." You have
all heard of Billy Bray, the Cornish Methodist who was so mighty in
prayer. There was a certain hill that Billy was accustomed to pass, for
which he prayed, with all his might, till he believed that his heavenly
Father had given him that mountain, so that all the souls that lived on
it should be saved. He visited all the houses and obtained a blessing
for the inhabitants, but as there were only three houses on the hill,
he prayed, in his own simple way, that more might be built. It seemed
an odd prayer and the neighbors did not think it a wise one, but
nevertheless it was fulfilled.
Some time later, when he visited that place, he found that Mr. Haslam
had built a church and schools there and his joy was great until he
entered the church. At the sight of the surprised choir and the
Ritualistic performance, poor Bray was greatly downcast and said that
it was nothing but an "old Roman church." Billy went home and set
himself to praying, again, for that hill, but the fact was quite
unknown to those who were the objects of his petitions. Soon the Lord
hearkened to the cry of His servant and it came to pass that the Lord
visited Mr. Haslam. His gardener fell sick and in the time of his
illness his churchmanship failed to comfort him. A Methodist Brother
visited him and was the means of his conversion. When the man told Mr.
Haslam that he was converted, he was very grieved and disappointed–he
felt that he could never make Cornish men into Churchmen–they were
confirmed schismatics.
His favorite and most promising Churchman, a Mr. Aitken, had become a
Dissenter and was actually praying that his master might become the
same. What was to be done? Mr. Haslam had occasion to visit Mr. Aitken
and told him about the sad defection of the gardener. "Why," said Mr.
Aitkin, "you are not converted yourself! I am sure of it, or you would
not have come here to complain of your gardener." Conviction came into
Haslam's heart! His former hopes vanished and in sadness he sought the
Lord. Mr. Aitken said, "The best thing you can do is to shut the church
up and tell your people you will never preach again till you are
converted." He could not do that, but on the next Sunday morning he
went, ill and sad, to read the prayers, determined to send the people
home as soon as they were finished.
Instead of that, his eye lighted on the text, "What think you of
Christ?" and he thought he would make a few observations upon that
question before dismissing the congregation. For the rest, I will quote
his own words, lest I should seem to color the incident by telling it
in my own language–"As I went on to explain the passage, I saw that
the Pharisees and scribes did not know that Christ was the Son of God,
or that He was come to save them. They were looking for a king, the son
of David, to reign over them as they were. Something was telling me,
all the time, 'You are no better than the Pharisees, yourself–you do
not believe that He is the Son of God and that He is come to save you
any more than they did.' I do not remember all I said, but I felt a
wonderful light and joy coming into my soul and I was beginning to see
what the Pharisees did not.
"Whether it was something in my words, or my manner, or my look, I know
not, but all of a sudden a local preacher, who happened to be in the
congregation, stood up and, putting up his arms, shouted out in Cornish
manner, 'The parson is converted! The parson is converted! Hallelujah!'
and in another moment his voice was lost in the shouts and praises of
three or four hundred of the congregation! Instead of rebuking this
extraordinary 'brawling,' as I would have done in a former time, I
joined in the outburst of praise, but to make it more orderly, I gave
out the Doxology–'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow'–and the
people sang it with heart and voice over and over again! When this
subsided, I found
at least 20 people crying for mercy, whose voices had not been heard in
the excitement and noise of thanksgiving. They all professed to find
peace and joy in believing. Among this number there were three from my
own house–and we returned home praising God."
This is a memorable illustration of the statement that when God comes
down among a people He does things we looked not for! You may hope that
the Divine Spirit will still display His power over the most unlikely
persons to the glory of His Grace. He can save the most obstinate and
bring opposers to the feet of Jesus. Plead with Him to do so!
III. Thirdly, THE PRESENCE OF GOD DISSOLVES DIFFICULTIES. I would bring
you back to the text again,
for perhaps you are beginning to forget it. "When You did terrible
things which we looked not for, You came down, the mountains flowed
down at Your Presence." This is a blessed sentence, "The mountains
flowed down at Your Presence." Israel had enemies which were strong and
powerful. Nations and kings towered above them like great mountains,
but whenever God came to help them, the kingdoms dissolved, the people
were conquered and the mountains and hills were laid low.
At this present time great systems of error oppose the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. I need not mention them, for they are before us and seem to
rise like giant Alps, overtopping our faith. Blessed be God, the Church
only needs the Divine Presence in the midst of her and all the systems
of error will flow down at His feet like glaciers which dissolve in the
summer's sun. Perhaps you have seen a volcano when a stream of lava has
been pouring down its side and, if so, you have had the metaphor of the
text before your eyes. God does but touch it and the mountain melts and
flows away! So will it be with infidelity and superstition, Rationalism
and Ritualism and every form of wrong. If the Holy Spirit clothes the
Church with power by His Presence, the powers of evil will not maintain
themselves for an hour–the fire of sacred Truth and heavenly life will
utterly dissolve them.
Many hearts are hard as granite–you may pray for them, talk to them,
preach to them, but all in vain. What is required is the Presence of
God and then hearts of stone are turned to flesh, dead souls feel the
beating of spiritual life and corruption is overcome by resurrection
power! Do not be afraid, Brother. No heart can stand out against the
Grace of God when it comes in all its power. Do not despair in
reference to your prodigal boy–keep on praying and he will yet come to
the house of God with you and you will sing together the praises of
redeeming love. Despair of no one so long as you have a heart to pray!
Within our own selves, also, we may see mountains of difficulty, but if
we go to Christ and so obtain God's help, every mountain shall sink and
every rock melt–
"Your mercy is more than a match for my heart, Which wonders to feel
its own hardness depart; Dissolved by Your mercy, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I've found." There is nothing in
you, there is nothing round about you, there is nothing on earth, there
is nothing in Hell that can stand against you if you have God on your
side! And you have God on your side when you put your trust in Jesus
Christ! Between here and the eternal glories of Heaven nothing shall
ever stand against you if you do but trust in Jesus. No weapon that is
formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise
against you in judgment you shall condemn.
IV. Lastly, WE MAY EXPECT TO SEE THE SAME RESULTS FROM THE DIVINE
PRESENCE TODAY and tomorrow and as long as we live. God is the same.
"Are You not He that has cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?" He is the
same conquering Lord! The ages may have degenerated, but God has not
degenerated. Do not say that the Truth of God has lost its power. Its
power always lies in God and God is still almighty! He can work
miracles today if He pleases–He could divide the Atlantic as easily as
He did the Red Sea! "With God all things are possible," not, "were,"
but, "are" still.
As to spiritual wonders, people think that Pentecost was with us once,
but never can return–but Pentecost was only the Feast of First Fruits
and first fruits predict the harvest! God will do greater things in the
latter days than He did at Jerusalem at Pentecost. He says to us, "Open
your mouth wide and I will fill it." We do not believe in Him. "If the
Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?" There is such a
microscopic quantity of it that no eyes but His, which are like a flame
of fire, could spy it out. Yet, I say, God is the same and as worthy to
be trusted. And, Brothers and Sisters, we are the same. "No," you say,
"we are not, we are not such good men as those who lived in the olden
times." I answer that they had the same passions and infirmities as we
have now!
There was not a morsel of good in the Apostles, martyrs and confessors
but what God put there. One earthen vessel is of the same clay as
another and the same God may put the same treasure into one as well as
into another. He can bless you and me as He did Peter, James and John.
Human nature is human nature, still, both in its degradation and in its
possibilities. God can make as much of you, my dear Sister, as ever He
did of Dorcas, or Mary, or Lydia! And He can make as much of you, my
Brother, as ever He did of any of the worthies of past times, if you
will but trust Him. This feeble arm could slay a thousand men, or pluck
up the gates of Gaza, or kill a lion, or pull down a temple upon the
Philistines if God chose to use it as He did Samson's. The Lord has His
own choice of instruments and He can make any instrument fit for His
use if He pleases to do so!
Brethren, the promises are the same. "Oh," you ask, "how is that? Are
not some of them out of date?" No, the Covenant is made up of abiding
promises, suitable for all ages and all of them are yes and amen in
Christ Jesus! We have the sure mercies of David–they stand fast
forever and ever. Mark you, there are things yet to be done by God
which will astonish us beyond measure! We shall cry out against
ourselves for our drooping and desponding thoughts, for, by-and-by,
perhaps before some of us see death, we shall behold greater things
than our fathers saw and shall clap our hands for very joy!
Read the chapter which follows our text and see what God is going to
do. "I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that
sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not
called by My name." Heathens are to be saved! Far off lands will soon
be called! Watch for it, work for it, pray for it! Israel is also to be
gathered–"I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah an
inheritor of My mountains: and My elect shall inherit it and My
servants shall dwell there." O blessed hour, when the Jew shall worship
the Christ whom he crucified! That is not all. There is coming yet–who
knows how soon?–a new creation. "Behold, I create new heavens and a
new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for,
behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy."
There will come a time in which the shortening of life after the deluge
shall be remedied. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days,
nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an
hundred years old. As the days of a tree are the days of My people and
My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Yes and there comes
a time of universal peace. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together
and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the
serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy
mountain, says the Lord."
Verily, verily, I say unto you, this text is true! When God shall do
terrible things which we looked not for, He shall come down among us
and the mountains shall flow at His Presence. Amen and amen!
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"The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved"