In Whom Are You Trusting?
A SERMON PREACHED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.
"Now in whom do you trust?" Isaiah 36:5.
THAT question may not be without importance in matters of ordinary
life. We have all to trust our fellows, more or less, and I suppose we
have all had to smart in some degree, as the result of it. We may trust
the mass of men in trifles without any serious consequences. But when
it comes to large sums–when the whole of a man's fortune, for
instance– is staked upon the character and reputation of someone else,
then it is not altogether an unimportant question, "On whom do you
trust?" Oh, many have rested on some choice friend and found him play
the Judas! How often have our dearest counselors turned away from us as
Ahithophel did from David? How frequently have we confidently rested
upon the integrity, friendship and fidelity of some person whom we
thought we knew and could trust, only to find that, "Cursed is he that
trusts in man and makes flesh his arm."
Be cautious, my Brothers and Sisters–perhaps you need not that I
should say this to you–but use discretion in all your transactions in
life, as to how far you will trust the sons of men. Or else this may be
whispered in your ear and may send you to your bed with a heavy heart,
"Now in whom do you trust?" But, surely, if this is important in
temporal matters, it is overwhelmingly so in regard to spiritual
things. If I become bankrupt in trade, I may yet set up in business and
retrieve my fortune. But in soul-matters if I once make bankruptcy in
the commerce of life, there is no hope of my receiving a fresh
certificate and attempting to retrieve my losses.
Here, if a general is defeated in some great battle, he may yet
possibly retreat in such good order and again get together his troops
so as to win another battle and turn the current of the campaign. But
once beaten in the great life-struggle–once feel that sin has utterly
got the mastery over you–and there is no hope here and you will die
so. And there is no more possible contest–you are vanquished. The
battle is fought and the victory is lost forever. Let us, then, be very
much concerned, dear Friends, to enquire and to give an honest answer
to the question, "In whom do you trust?"
First, let us go round the congregation and collect a little bundle of
answers. Then, secondly, let us hear the Christian's answer. And when
we have listened to it, let us give the Christian some few words of
advice with regard to what his line of action ought to be, seeing he
has such an One to trust.
I. First, then, let us put this question and collect, I say, A LITTLE
BUNDLE OF ANSWERS, "In whom do you trust?" I think I hear some answer,
"I do not know that I have thought about the matter at all. You ask me,
'In whom do you trust?' I shall have to say I have left the matter of
dying and of eternity and of judgment out of my consideration. I hope
it is a long time before I shall die and there is no need to trouble
myself before it is necessary. Therefore I put the matter off. I feel
it is an unpleasant task to make too much enquiry and, therefore, I
have just left well enough alone. I cannot give you an answer, for I
have not considered the matter."
My dear Friend, don't you think that you are very foolish? Do you
forget that you may die this very moment–that there are more gates to
death than you dream of–that there is a gate to death, yes, and to
Hell, too, from the place where you are now sitting? Have you never
heard of persons falling dead in the street, of bowing down as Sisera
did, of whom it is said, "Where he bowed himself there he fell down
dead"? Have you a lease of your life? Are you certain that death is so
far off? Have not you walked with dying men? I have. I have talked with
them one day and I have heard the next that they were in eternity.
We shall hear the same of you. And is it wise to be trifling with these
things as though you knew that you had fifty or sixty more years to
live? And suppose you were sure of a long life, would you wish to delay
being happy? Do you desire to postpone being made supremely
comfortable? Remember that to have your soul affairs set right in a
proper manner is to obtain present joy and happiness. I do not think
that young people ever say, "We are too young to enjoy ourselves. Let
us wait till we grow older and then let us he happy." And yet to be
saved is to enjoy yourselves in the most emphatic sense of that term
and to find Christ precious is to be happy beyond all expression!
Why postpone that which is more pleasant than pleasure itself and more
sweet than honey dropping from the honeycomb? I pray, dear Friends,
think of this matter now, because you may have to think of it when it
will only bring you bitterness and grief! That is a dreadful verse,
where Christ says of the rich man in Hell, "He lift up his eyes." Poor
Soul, why did you not lift up your eyes before? It is too late, for ah,
you can see as you look up, Lazarus in Abraham's bosom and yourself
with a great gulf fixed, dividing you from him. It is too late for you
to look about you then, for there is nothing to see but the consuming
flames and the tormentors who are to be your perpetual companions–with
that dark despair, which, like a great gravestone–is to be forever on
your heart!
O, why did you not lift up your eyes before? Surely the only answer I
can get from this poor wretch is, "Tell my brethren lest they come into
this place of torment! Ask them to lift up their eyes now, and to begin
now to consider what shall be their confidence and what the ground of
their hope with regard to eternal things." Careless Sinner, I wish that
those few words might be blessed to you. I would look you in the face
and evoke you by the living God, by life, by death, by judgment, by
eternity, by Heaven, by Hell–by everything that has power to move a
rational being–set your house in order and consider your latter end!
And if you have no trust as yet, God help you to find one.
Well, we will try again and put the question to another. "In whom do
you trust?" And I hear one stand up and say, "I thank God I am about as
good as most people. I do not know that I have any particular cause to
worry myself. If everybody's life had been like mine, Sir, it would be
much better for their day and generation. I have never been a gross and
open sinner. I have been a man who has set a good example to his family
and brought them up well. When the hospital wanted a guinea, I put my
hand into my pocket and did not bring it out empty! When my poor
neighbors have needed charity, they have never found a churl in me! I
hope I can say it will go well with me and if it does not, Sir, it will
go badly with a good many."
My Friend, with that last sentence I perfectly agree–I am afraid it
will go badly with a great many! But I do not see what consolation you
ought to get out of that, for company in being ruined will not
decrease, but rather increase the catastrophe! Let me say to you that
it proves that the sum and the substance of your confidence is that you
are trusting in yourself. Now, do you really and honestly think that
you are, of yourself, sufficient to carry your soul through all the
pangs and terrors of death and to bring yourself, by your own merit,
safe to God's right hand? I think your conscience can remind you of
some slips and some flaws–your memory must tell you of some sins, if
they are not of the grosser kind–yet of some sins!
And let me say to you remember that God has revealed in His own Word
this Truth–if any man will be saved by his own works there is one
condition which cannot be altered–namely, that he must be an
absolutely perfect man! He must never have even sinned so much as once!
He must never have had a sinful thought in his heart, or word on his
tongue, or act in his entire life, or else he is guilty of a breach of
the whole Law! Now what do you say to that? This is no mere assertion
of mine–this is God's own Word! And let me give you another passage,
"By the works of the Law there shall no flesh living be justified."
proud man, woman–do you think there was any need for Christ to die to
save us if we could save ourselves? What? Do you think that God's
servants have to say, "The righteous are scarcely saved," and do you
who believe in no Savior think it such a simple thing to get to Heaven
that you are going there by your own good deeds? I counsel you, (I pray
you would take my advice), do with your good works just as the
Ephesians did with their magical books–bring them out and burn all of
them! They will never do you any good and they may do you infinite
mischief. Come, my good Friends, come as you are to that Savior who has
opened a new and living way by His own precious blood and who can do
for you what these fine boastings of yours can only pretend to
accomplish! Only He can save your guilty soul from the wrath to come!
1 do not suppose that I should get from anybody present the answer
which has come, no doubt, from the lips of very many–"In whom do I
trust? Why, I trust in my priest! He has been regularly ordained! He
belongs to an Apostolic Church! He tells me that he will forgive my
sins if I confess them to him, and that when I come to die he will give
me my viaticum–he will grease my boots for the last journey and send
me off in such a state that the devil himself cannot hold me with this
anointing oil upon me! If I cannot trust to a priest, where can I fix
my confidence?" I can give you an answer to that last enquiry, where
can you trust–but let me appeal to any man of sense who is here
tonight and who may have been relying upon a priest:
What is there in any man, though he is six foot of clay, that you
should put your trust in him? No doubt there have been some mystical
incantations performed upon him, but in this nineteenth century are you
such a fool as to believe that he has any grace to spare for you? If
you would read the Scriptures, dear Friend–only your priest does not
care that you should do this, except it be his own version which he has
well doctored before you get it–if you read the Bible, you will find
that if you are a follower of Christ, you are as much a priest as he
can be! You will find that one man is as much a priest as another when
he believes in Jesus–for, according to Scripture–all saints are a
"royal priesthood."
As for myself, though I preach in this place the Word of God, I hate
the very thought and name of priest and I wonder how it can be that
persons calling themselves Evangelical clergymen can talk of themselves
as priests. Priests, indeed! I fear many of them are, but I wonder at
the effrontery which should make them take the name and wear it.
Priests? Great God! There is but one Priest before Your Throne who can
offer acceptable sacrifice and that is Your dear Son who offers Himself
forever as a great Sacrifice unto You! And as for us, we are but
secondary priests under Him, and here none of us has any superiority
over his brother, for all the saints are made in Christ Jesus kings and
priests unto God and they shall reign with Him forever and ever! Do not
be misled, dear Friend–your priest might as well trust in you as you
trust in him!
But it is probable, very probable, that I should get another answer if
I were to put this question round. Perhaps a considerable number of
people would say, "Well, God is merciful. He is not so severe as to be
unkind towards us and we dare say, though we may have a good many
faults, yet as He is a very good and a very gracious God, He will
forgive us our sins and accept us." Then it seems, dear Friends, that
you are trusting in the mercy of God. Let me say to you that as you
state it, you are trusting in what you will never find!
Let us suppose you are very generous and there are a number of poor
people in the city who you are determined to feed with bread. Let us
suppose that you, therefore, issued an order that they were all to call
at your son's house and that there they might have as much bread as
they pleased. If they all declared that they would have nothing to do
with your son, would not go to his house, and would sooner starve than
go–and if they all came clamoring to your door–what would you say to
them?
You would say, "There is bread enough and to spare. I have provided it.
My son will give it to you, but if you insult me to my face by telling
me that you will not have what I freely give to you because of the way
in which I present it, you may go without it." And this certainly is
how God will deal with you! He has treasured up all His mercy in the
Person of His own dear Son–and there it is–come and welcome! And it
is said, that "Whoever comes" to Jesus Christ, He "shall in no wise
cast out."
But if you go to God out of Christ you will find Him to be a consuming
fire! And instead of mercy you shall receive justice–and that justice
will smite you to the lowest Hell! What? Shall the King of Heaven leave
His Throne and lay aside His crown! Shall He take off His azure mantle,
put on the garments of a man– become poor and needy, live in poverty
and die in shame–and yet will you not take Divine Grace through such a
channel as this? Shall God ordain this better than golden pipe through
which the crystal stream of love and mercy shall run, and do you
disdain this pipe? Shall God say that He has treasured up in Christ
Jesus all the fullness of the Godhead and will you turn from Christ and
say, "We will not have this Man to reign over us"?
Then know this, that the King sits upon His holy hill of Zion and He
will dash you in pieces like a potter's vessel, because you said, "Let
us break His bonds asunder and cast His cords from us." Rather let me
bid you bow the knee and kiss the Son. Cling to Jesus and then–
"Comeand welcome, Sinner, come." Come through Jesus, for in God there
is no mercy to those who come leaving Christ behind them. There is only
one other answer which I think it is likely I should get tonight, and
it might be this–"Well, Sir, I do not say that I can trust to my
works, but I am a good-hearted man. I am a man of good intentions and
though I have a great many faults–still, Sir, I am good-hearted at
bottom–and I think God will look at my heart and He will put me right
at the end, notwithstanding my slips and wanderings by the way."
Well, my dear Friend, it is very well for you to say you have got a
good heart, you know. But we have nobody to prove it except yourself.
That is a very silly thing which people say of men when they die, "Oh,
he was rather bad in his life and loose in his morals, but he was a
good-hearted man at bottom." It reminds me of Rowland Hill's saying,
"Yes, but when you go to market to buy apples and you see a number of
rotten ones at the top, if the market woman says, 'Oh, never mind, it
is only the rotten apples at the top! They are very good at bottom,'
you will say to her, 'My good Soul, I will be bound to say the best are
on the top and they will not improve as you go down, for generally they
will get far worse.' "
And so if a man is rotten at the top, bad on the surface, I cannot tell
how much worse he may be down below. It is said there was a man who
used to swear and drink, who, nevertheless, applied for membership with
Mr. Hill and gave this reason for it, that though he did drink
occasionally and frequently swear, yet he was good at bottom. Mr. Hill
said, "Then you think I am going groveling down through the dirty foul
filth of your life to get the little good that is somewhere at the
bottom of you! Why, Sir," he said, "it will not pay for the risk of
digging out and I am not going to do it." And there is much truth in
that saying, "If it is bad at top it is worse at bottom and if it is
not good on the surface it will never pay for getting at it."
It will turn out, I am afraid, to be a delusion and a snare. Do not
rest in that. If you will not be angry, I will tell you what your heart
is. Your heart–you that have such good hearts–your heart, I say, is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked! In your breast there
are what you little think of–envy, lust, enmities and murders. All
manner of unclean things are housed and caged within your breast. Do
not talk about its goodness any more, for when you do, you call God a
liar, and how can you expect to go to the Heaven where God is, when you
are thus insulting Him all the while?
II. Well, we have done with these poor answers and we will come now to
THE CHRISTIAN'S ANSWER. "In whom do you trust?" "I trust," says the
Christian, "a triune God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I trust the
Father, believing that He has chosen me from before the foundations of
the world. I trust Him as my father to care for me, to provide for me
in Providence. To teach me, to guide me, to feed me, to correct me if
need be and to bring me home to His own house where the many mansions
are.
"I trust the Son. Very God of very God is He–the Man Christ Jesus. I
trust in Him to take away all my sins, for He suffered their penalty
upon the Cross. I trust Him to put all those sins away forever by His
own Sacrifice. I trust Him to wrap me about with His perfect
righteousness and to adorn me with all His excellencies. I know Him to
be my Intercessor–so often as I pray to present my prayers and desires
before His Father's Throne. I believe Him to be my resurrection and my
life, that, though I die, yet I may live again!
"I expect Him to be my Advocate at the last great assize, to plead my
cause and to stand there to justify me. I trust Him with all that I
have, having no merit of my own–no confidence in my own tears, or
prayers, or preaching, or will-ings, or doings, or believing–I trust
Him for what He is, what He has done, what He has promised yet to do–I
rely on Him, the incarnate Son of God."
"And next," says the Christian, "I trust the Holy Spirit. He has begun
to save me from my inbred sins. I trust Him to drive them all out. I
trust Him to curb my temper, to subdue my will, to enlighten my
understanding, to check my passions, to comfort my despondence, to help
my weakness, to illuminate my darkness. I trust the Holy Spirit to
dwell in me as my Life, to reign in me as my King, to sanctify me
wholly–spirit, soul and body–and then to take me up to dwell with the
saints in light forever! Thus I trust a triune God through the
Man-Mediator, Christ Jesus."
And now, dear Friends, there is much difference between the Christian's
trust, you will plainly see, and the trust of other men. But to some
men this does not look like a real trust. "Why, we cannot see God,"
says one. "How do we know all this about the Trinity? We can neither
see, nor hear, nor feel God. Is this a real trust?" Cannot you trust in
a thousand things you have never seen or heard? You take, I believe,
bank notes and yet you never saw the person who signed them or who
issued them. There are a thousands things in this world which are real
grounds of confidence and yet you never saw them!
Some of you, perhaps, may be earning your living by electricity. You
are engaged in telegraphic operations and you believe in electricity,
but you never saw it. Every builder trusts in gravity! Every engineer
in the world has to put his confidence in the law of gravitation, and
yet nobody ever saw this mighty power! But the thing is just as true as
though one could see it. Those that have trusted in God find Him to be
as real as if they could see Him! Though unperceived by sense, they
find that when they get to Him, whom they cannot see, they get to One
who is more substantial than things which are seen–which are
temporal–for the things which are not seen are eternal!
Some have said, "But does God interfere to help His people? Is the
trust you impose in Him so really recognized by Him that you can
distinctly prove that He helps you?" Yes, we can, though God has never
worked a miracle for me, yet He has done what I thought only a miracle
could accomplish and He has worked it in the common order of
Providence. And you shall find the same if you trust Him with all your
heart! He will hear your prayer and listen to your cry and deliver you
out of deep waters and from bitter anguish.
And though the depths will not be divided, fire will not cease to burn,
nor will lion's mouths be closed, yet you shall be as well delivered as
if miracles were still the order of the day! A Christian is sometimes
asked whether he has a right to trust God. I have no business to rely
upon one of you to do something for me merely because I choose to trust
you to do it. I must have your promise before I am wise in my
confidence. Now, the Christian has God's promise for it. He believes
that Bible to be God's Book and, therefore, when he finds God saying
anything in that Book to him, he believes it to be true and he even
finds it to be so!
God has promised His people that if they trust Him they shall lack no
good thing. He invites them to trust–no– He commands them to trust.
And, therefore, Brethren, the Christian is justified in venturing to
put His confidence in His God. But the worldling wants to know whether
God is worthy to be trusted. And the Christian can say, "Yes, that He
is. Our fathers trusted in Him and they were not confounded. We have
trusted in Him and we have never found Him to fail." If I knew anything
amiss of my God tonight, I would honestly tell it. But I know nothing
but this–that He is faithful and true. I rest with my whole soul upon
the finished work of Christ and I have not found anything yet that
leads me to suspect I am resting where I shall meet with a failure.
No, the older one grows, the more one is convinced that he who leans by
faith on Christ, rests where he never needs to be afraid! He may go and
return in peace and confidence, for the mountains may depart and the
hills be removed, but God shall not change and His purpose shall not
cease to stand. Yes, God is worthy of our confidence! And I think we
can say, also, by way of commending our God to others, that we feel we
can rest upon Him for the future. We have been in strange places and in
very peculiar conditions in the past, but we never were thrown where we
could not find in God all we needed. And we are therefore encouraged to
believe that when death's dark night shall come with all its gathering
of terror, we shall fear no evil, for the same God will be with us to
be our succor and our stay.
The Isle of Man has for its coat of arms three legs, and turn them
which way you will, you know they always stand. And such is the
Believer–throw him which way you will–he finds something to stand on!
Throw him into death, or into life. Into the lion's den, or into the
whale's belly–cast him into fire, or into water–the Christian still
trusts in his God and finds Him a very present help in time of trouble.
"In whom do you trust?" We can answer boldly, "We trust in Him whose
power will never be exhausted, whose love will never cease, whose
kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never be sullied,
whose wisdom will never be nonplussed and whose perfect goodness never
can know a reduction."
III. Well now, if this is true, I am to close with SOME WORDS OF ADVICE
TO THOSE WHO ARE SO TRUSTING. They are, first of all, drive out all
unbelief! Dear Brothers and Sisters, if we have such a God to trust,
let us trust with all our might and let us endeavor to get rid of those
horrible doubts and fears which so much mar our comfort. Why should we
fear, my Brethren? "Oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt?"
"Oh," says one, "I do doubt, but I can hardly tell why." Well, if your
God is such an One as He really is, it is an insult to Him to doubt
Him! We say of a rogue, we will trust him as far as we can throw him,
and some people hardly give their God better measure than that! We
never ought to count a man dishonest till we find him in some trick.
Now you have never found your God to be untrue. Then do not doubt Him
till you have! Give Him your trust till He proves unworthy of it! Let
us repent for our harsh thoughts of God. I know you said you would be
starved, but you are not starved yet. You said you should go to the
poorhouse, but you are not there yet! You said you should die of a
broken heart, but you have not died yet–you have a smiling face
tonight.
You told your friend you could never get through that trouble, yet you
have got through it and fifty worse troubles than that! You said you
would rather die than live, yet you did live–you have not died and you
do not want to die. Now why give God a bad name? When the devil calls
God a liar, I can understand it. But it is hard of a man's own child to
think ill of his father. I think it would cut me to the heart if my
child could not trust me. And oh, how ungenerous, how unkind on your
part–no, I will say on my part, on our part–that we cannot put more
confidence in this kind, generous Father of ours who has never failed
us and who never will!
Come, let us not doubt Him again! David does not appear to have made
any very lengthy trial of the mighty sword of the giant Goliath, and
yet he said, "There is none like it." He had tried it once in the hour
of his youthful victory and it had proved itself to be of the right
metal, and therefore he is able to praise it forever after! He has no
doubt about the keenness of the edge, or fineness of the tempering.
Even so, my Brethren, let us speak well of our God–there is none like
He in the heavens above or the earth beneath! "To whom can you liken
Me, or shall I be equal says the Lord." You may search the world around
and you will find that there is no rock like the Rock of Jacob–our
enemies themselves being judges.
So far from suffering any doubt to live in our hearts, we will take
them all, as Elijah did the prophets of Baal, and slay them over the
brook! And as our stream to kill them at we will select the sacred
torrent which wells forth from our Savior's wounded side. My Brethren,
we are truly guilty in speaking harsh things of our God! When the
children of Israel came to the borders of the promised land they sent
out spies to search it and see what the prospect was and how to prepare
for the future occupation of it. Ten of the men on their return gave an
ill report of the country which God had sworn to give to His people.
Now, what was the punishment which was inflicted on them for this evil
speech concerning God's gift? Why, they died by the plague before the
Lord and thus God proved His anger and wrath against their sin! Happy
is it for us that He does not thus visit our evil words and harsh
thoughts concerning Himself. We have often brought up an ill report of
our God when we ought to have praised Him without ceasing for all His
loving kindness towards us, the sons of men. Brethren, let us give up
all repining and fretful speaking–
"Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To Hea ven in supplication sent,
Our cheerful song would oftener be,
'Hear what the Lord has done for me.'"
Try this plan of turning all your complaints into prayers and soon we
shall hear you singing–
"O magnify the Lord with me,
With me exalt His name!
When in distress, to Him I called,
He to my rescue came.
O make but trial of His love.
Experience will decide,
How blest are they and only they,
Who in His Truth confide."
And then, Brothers and Sisters, let us seek the Holy Spirit's help in
this matter. We have often said we would not doubt again, yet we have.
Let us ask to be strengthened. We often forget that the Author of our
faith must be the Finisher of it, also. It is well to keep in mind the
fact that our faith is like the lamp which was burning in the temple
and never allowed to go out–but it had to be daily replenished with
fresh oil. Our faith is an immortal flame, but only so because God
keeps it burning. He expects us to feed the flame by all possible
means–and above all to ask Him to give it the oil of Divine Grace
through the means we employ for that purpose. Foolish virgins we shall
be if we do not secure this needed sustenance for our lamps.
I am sure that many Christians are to blame for their own trials and
afflictions of spirit through dark doubts and unbelief. I know that
there is a devil, and that he will seek to flood your fields and make
the fair garden a desolation and a mass of mud and corruption. But I
know, also, that many Christians leave open the sluice gates themselves
and let in their own deluge through carelessness and lack of prayer to
God to guard and protect them. I know that Satan will try to keep your
soul in darkness and gloom, but it is very often your own fault if he
succeeds. Walk out into the beams which come from the Sun of
Righteousness! Stand in the light of God's reconciled Countenance! Come
to the brightness of the Shekinah which covers the Mercy Seat and all
the powers of darkness, led on by the master Fiend of Hell, cannot cast
a cloud or shadow over the joy and peace of your believing!
Of course you will feel the shafts of the foe if you forsake the
shelter of the high tower into which the righteous run and are safe.
Confide, then, the custody of your soul to the good Spirit who is the
Comforter and who will preserve you from those evils which will arise
if you think that you can be your own keeper. Furthermore, let us try
to bring others to trust where we have trusted. When a man finds
something that is good and safe, he likes to recommend it to his
friends– let us speak well of God to all our neighbors! Let us tell
them, whenever we get an opportunity, that God does not leave His
people–that He is not a wilderness unto His chosen and it may be that
God will bless our testimony to the bringing in of others.
I have often mused on that account of our Lord's first disciples, where
it is written that Jesus welcomed to His house two of John's disciples
and, "One of the two which heard John speak and followed Jesus, was
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first finds his own brother, Simon,
and says unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being
interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus." Then further on,
we find our Lord saying to Philip, "Follow Me." What was the result?
"Philip finds Nathanael and says unto him, We have found Him of whom
Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph."
No sooner do these men truly believe in Christ as the long-promised
Messiah than they call others to Christ, that they may also believe
upon Him and become His disciples! So also with the woman of Samaria.
She leaves her water pot and goes into the city and says, "Come, see a
Man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?"
Now, with the same spirit we should be moved to go and proclaim to
others the Grace and goodness of the Lord our God!
When men engage in that perilous and foolhardy amusement of scaling the
summits of ice-covered mountains for no other reason than to be able to
say that no one ever risked breaking his neck on that spot of the
universe before, they were foolish enough to lead the way! How do they
climb up these almost inaccessible peaks? Why, one man cuts the steps
first with his axe, and, mounting up, gives a hand to the next. And he
puts his feet where the other has trod and so they aid each other.
And thus it is that we should ascend heavenward! Mount higher and
higher yourself–ascending daily–and as you ascend, cut steps for
others and help them up, that together you may mount to the skies! If
you were overtaken by a deluge, as sometimes happens in the lowlands of
Australia, what should you think of doing first of all? Would you not
make for the nearest hill and climb to the summit and get your family
and goods, if possible, safe out of the waters onto that hilltop, by
your side? Yes, but if you are a man–in the highest meaning of the
word–you would not rest content with that! You would try to rescue
your neighbor and his family and cattle. Yes, everything that was in
danger or within reach of the flood, would be, if possible, saved by
you and landed in safety by the side of your own property.
Such is life! A flood of unbelief is abroad–"get up into the high
mountain"–and lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not
afraid! "Cry aloud and spare not," but proclaim far and wide that there
is a Refuge here for all who wish to flee from the wrath to come. I
think many of us, when we first were seeking the face of an offended
God, vowed that if ever we were saved we would seek to warn others,
also, and save them from being lost. Did we not say–
"Then will I tell to sinners round,
What a dear Savior I have found!
I'll point to His redeeming blood,
And cry, Behold, the way to God'"?
Begin now, then, to keep your promise! Warn all men and say to each
with all your heart and soul–
"O, be earnest, do not stay!
You may perish even today!
Rise, you lost one, rise and flee!
Lo! Your Savior waits for you."
And if, again, we are trusting in God, let us love Him who thus gives
Himself to be trusted by us. No man can truly trust God who does not
love Him. The sister Graces ever live together. They have but one
address, for they all live in one home. Whenever there is faith, there
love also dwells and each Grace takes up its residence likewise. Some
are packed away into cellars or up in attics by many Christians so that
they are often not seen and you would fancy that they were not at home
when you called.
I know that the chain of Graces is unbroken even when some links are
unseen. God has sown the seeds of all the Graces and they will
eventually, in the garden of the heart, all spring up and be to the
glory of His name. What I want is that you should stir up the good
thing which is in you. Bring it out to the front and make it appear.
Show your love! If it is as a spark hidden in the midst of a heap of
refuse, clear out the evil matter, fan the spark into a flame, add fuel
to it till you shall be all ablaze with love to God! Nothing short of
this will satisfy God. Anything else is wrong and should not, for one
moment, be tolerated by us.
What? Shall I hope for a Heaven through the Grace of God in Christ? Am
I expecting deliverance from ten thousand ills here and from Hell
hereafter? Do I trust the Most High for all temporal and spiritual
good, and am I aware that I deserve not the least of all the many
mercies I am receiving today and hope to receive in days to come? Do I
nevertheless cultivate no love to this loving God, this bounteous
Benefactor? Then I am one of the basest and most sinful of men because
of my heartlessness and vile ingratitude!–
"A very wretch, Lord, I should prove
Had I no love for You!
Rather than not my Savior love,
Oh let me cease to be."
And yet another thought before I conclude–We must prove our faith by
our works. We must labor for the Lord in whom we are trusting–all must
see that this is only right and fitting. What have we received and why
have we been made the recipients of these mercies? Is it not that we
may go and do for others as God has done for us? O God, do You carry my
burden and shall I not carry Yours? O Christ, do You not carry the
Cross for me and shall I not carry the Cross for You? O my Father, do
You, as it were, lay Yourself down and become a stone for me to build
on, and shall not I desire to be built on You that I may help others to
rest on You, too?
Christian Brothers and Sisters, let us do more for God! As we find Him
more and more worthy of our trust, let us launch out into fresh fields
of labor! Let us seek each day to labor for God, as the poet says–
"No day without a deed."
So let us have no day without doing something by which we may advance
the honor of the glorious name of our God! We are bound to leave our
affairs in God's hands, and then, instead of being idlers and
loiterers, we are to go and work in His vineyard as long as it is
called today.
In this way we can prove our love and show our gratitude–but here let
me also call your attention to what is one sure way of augmenting your
faith and increasing your spiritual health. It is this–constant hard
working for the Lord your God! Cease working and you will soon cease
believing. You will best secure the constant joy and peace of believing
by living near to God and, like the Savior when on earth, always being
"about your Father's business." Love Him as you trust Him! Work for Him
as you love Him! Grow like He as you work for Him and you shall soon
come to be with Him as you are like He and His shall be the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.–
"Though faint, yet pursuing, we go on our way,
The Lord is our Leader, His Word is our stay.
Though suffering and sorrow and trial are near,
Our God is our Refuge and whom can we fear?
He raises the fallen, He cheers the faint;
The weak and oppressed–
He will hear their complaint.
The way may be weary and thorny the road,
But how can we falter? Our help is in God!
Though clouds may surround us, our God is our light!
Though storms rage around us, our God is our might.
So faint, yet pursuing, still onward we come
The Lord is our Leader and Heaven is our home!"