DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 7, 1877,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"There is none that calls upon Your name, that stirs up himself to take
hold of You." Isaiah 64:7.
ISAIAH, in the chapter before us, describes a very mournful condition
of the people of God. He feels the case to be so desperate that he
sighs for a Divine interposition–"Oh that You would rend the heavens,
that You would come down." He perceives that the people are so steeped
in slumber, so utterly under the power of their sins that unless God,
Himself, shall descend with all the power and terror of Sinai, the
nation will utterly perish through its iniquity, even as withered
leaves are blown away by the fierce winds. He longed for a melting fire
to dissolve their hard hearts–for a swift flame such as burns the
brushwood on the mountain's side to make a speedy end of their false
confidences–and for a burning heat, such as makes waters boil, to
remove the lukewarmness of those who professed to worship the Lord.
I do not know that the condition of the Church of God at the present
time is quite so bad as that which is here described. It would be wrong
to boast of our condition, but it would be worse to despair of it. It
would not be honest to apply the words of our text to the Church of the
present day. Blessed be God, we could not say, "There is none that
calls upon Your name, that stirs up himself to take hold of You," for
there are many who plead day and night for the prosperity of Zion. Yet,
in a measure, we are somewhat in the same plight as that which is
described by the Prophet and there is much to mourn over. Prayer
languishes in many Churches. Power in intercession is by no means a
common attainment and Prayer Meetings, as a rule, are thinly attended
and not much thought of. Sin abounds, empty profession is common,
hypocrisy is plentiful and the life of God in the soul is but little
esteemed.
Notice carefully that according to our text the Prophet traces much of
the evil which he deplored to the lack of prayer. After he has compared
their righteousnesses to filthy rags, he adds, "there is none that
calls upon Your name, that stirs up Himself to take hold of You." When
there is a degeneracy of public manners, you may be sure that there is,
also, a serious decline of secret devotion. When the outward service of
the Church begins to flag and her holiness declines, you may be sure
that her communion with God has been sadly suspended. Devotion to God
will be found to be the basis of holiness and the buttress of
integrity. If you backslide in secret before God, you will soon err in
public before men.
You may judge yourselves, my dear Hearers, as to your spiritual state,
by the condition of your hearts in the matter of prayer. How are you at
the Mercy Seat? For that is what you really are. Are the consolations
of God small with you? That is a minor matter. Look deeper–is there
not a restraining of prayer before the living God? Do you find yourself
weak in the presence of temptation? That is important–but search below
the surface and you will find that you have grown lax in supplication
and have failed to keep up continual communion with God.
The Prophet, also, reveals the very essence and soul of prayer is a
stirring up of one's self to take hold of God. If in prayer we do not
take hold of God we have prayed but feebly, if at all. The very soul of
devotion lies in realizing the Divine Presence, in dealing with God as
a real Person, in firm confidence in His faithfulness–in a word–in "
taking hold of Him." Men do not take hold of a shadow. They cannot
grasp the unsubstantial fabric of a dream. Taking hold implies
something real which we grasp and there is needed, to make prayer
truthful and acceptable with God, the grip and grasp of a tenacious
faith which believes the fact that God is and that He is the Rewarder
of them that diligently seek
Him.
Taking hold implies a reverent familiarity with the Lord by which we
use a holy force to win a blessing from His hands. It was because there
was so little of this in Israel that the nation had fallen into so
forlorn a state. And if you trace up the evils of the Church of the
present day to their source, it will come to this–that there are so
few who stir up themselves to take hold upon the living God, so few who
grapple with spiritual matters in downright earnest and bring
them before the Lord with resolute faith. We have few Elijahs, now, and
Jacobs are hard to find. Why, look, Sirs, there are many whose religion
is nothing but a mere outward performance! It consists in attendance
upon a place of worship so many times on the Sabbath, the reading of
prayers in the family, the repetition of a form of devotion night and
morning and, perhaps, the mechanical reading of a chapter in the Bible.
But there is no consciousness that God is near, no conversation with
Him, no taking hold upon Him!
In the case of such persons the, "You God see me," of Hagar in the
wilderness has never leaped from their lips! Neither have they cried
like David, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil
in Your sight." God is far off from them even when they pray! They
never dream that they are speaking into His ear. They believe there is
a God, but they act as if there were none! He does not influence them.
Their lives are not inspired by His Presence or ennobled by His smile.
Their religion is practically godless and, therefore, worthless! In
vain is it that they are regular at services and attentive at sermons
if their hearts stop short of God Himself! Their service may be, in all
respects, proper and orderly, but if there is no taking hold of God, it
is lifeless and useless as a garnished sepulcher! "God with us," in our
flesh, is our Savior! "God with us," by His Spirit, proves that we are
saved!
Laying hold upon God is not the act of a dead man, neither is it the
deed of one who is destitute of spiritual perception–it is the act of
one who is quickened and kept alive by the indwelling power of the Holy
Spirit. Those who are at enmity with God neither can nor will take hold
of Him, for, "they say unto God, depart from us; for we desire not the
knowledge of Your ways!" Men will do anything sooner than stir up
themselves to take hold of God! They will build churches and altars.
They will say "masses" and perform pilgrimages–and a thousand other
things–but they do not want God and will not have Him! To go through a
round of performances is very easy work compared with thought,
consideration and the yielding of the heart.
You may, in religious matters, make yourself like the brick maker's
blind horse which goes round and round at his pugmill, but knows
nothing about what he is doing! Such worship God regards not! As well
might we set automatons to pray and wax figures to move in and out of
church doors. God is a Spirit–and to grasp a spirit is not everyday
work. Only a spiritual man can do anything of the kind or know what it
means. A man must be stirred up and have all his faculties awake–and
his entire mental and spiritual nature thrown into energetic action
before he will be able to cope with this mystery. Only then, by the
Grace of God, can he take hold of Him that made the heavens and the
earth, who is not seen of the eyes nor heard of the ear–and is only to
be apprehended by the inner spirit of man. I pray God that I may be
helpful, as He shall please, in stirring up many of you to take hold
upon the Lord with all your heart and soul and strength!
If such shall be the case, it will be a great blessing to the Churches
to which you belong and a great blessing to the society in which you
move. At this present time I shall not attempt more than the task of
describing certain forms in which taking hold upon God is exceedingly
desirable at this present time. The same principle in different stages
of spiritual life is seen in varying forms–let me point out four of
the most necessary–and may the Holy Spirit enable some among us to
stir up themselves for the holy effort.
I. The first form of taking hold, that which is intended in the text,
is that in which THE AWAKENED SINNER TAKES HOLD UPON GOD. And here I
shall be addressing, I hope, many now present who are sincerely anxious
to find present salvation. If you really wish to be reconciled to God
and to be pardoned by the great Father at once, listen diligently and
hear–that your souls may live! Your only hope lies in taking hold upon
God! Be not startled, but listen and obey! It is great condescension on
the Lord's part that He should permit it to be so, but so it is, that
when He bares His right arm to strike you, your safety lies in grasping
that very hand which apparently is lifted for your destruction!
He says by the mouth of the Prophet, "Let him lay hold on My strength
and let him make peace with Me." As a child, when his father is about
to chasten him, will often seize his father's hand and with many tears
entreat him to forbear the rod, so will you do if you act wisely. You
are to run in, as it were, to God and shelter in the very rock which
frowns upon you. Though He seems to be a destroyer, if you can but
trust Him, you will find Him to be your Savior! You must say, as John
Bunyan once did, "I was so driven that I would have run to Christ, even
if He had stood with a pike in His hand! Yes, I would have run upon the
very point thereof sooner than be as I then was."
It is so wretched a thing to be without God that one may gladly dare
any calamity in venturing to approach Him, though in truth there is no
cause for fear. God has been pleased to reveal Himself in the Person of
His dear Son Jesus
Christ who lived and died for the salvation of men. And whoever will
trust God, as He is revealed in Christ Jesus, shall find forgiveness
for all his sins, shall obtain a new nature, shall enter upon a new
life and shall be the heir of a blessed immortality! This is the way of
salvation which God appoints, namely, that you now, at once, heartily
trust in His Son! However strange this method may appear to you, judge
not according to the sight of the eyes, but accept what the Lord sets
before you. That must be best for you which God thinks best–if it
satisfies your Maker it may well satisfy you!
But, indeed, you have no choice! You are shut up to this one method of
deliverance. Trust in Christ will save you! But, "there is none other
name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Do you
understand me? The way of life is to take hold of God in Christ Jesus!
You are charged with sin–do not deny it–for such a course will be
your ruin! Take hold upon the accusation and confess it. Stand where
the accusation places you in conscious guilt and repent as you stand
there!
Then turn to God and say to Him–"It is written in Your own Word, 'This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners.' Lord, You know I am a sinner and
I, also, know it. I cast myself upon the faithful saying and trust in
You to save me through Jesus Christ Your Son." This is taking hold upon
God! And when you have so done you shall find salvation–yes, you are
saved! I think I hear you say, "But how shall I take hold on God? I,
who am so vile, so weak, so far off from Him." He has given you many
points by which you may grasp Him. You may take hold upon certain of
His attributes and especially upon His mercy. "He delights in mercy."
Can you not trust the God who is ready to pardon and eager to receive
His returning child? Remember His loving kindness and the multitude of
His tender mercies. Call to mind the fact that He has declared that He
has no pleasure in the death of him that dies, but that he should turn
to Him and live. Can you not cast anchor in the harbor of infinite
mercy as seen in the provision of a Divine Savior? Can you not find
foothold for faith on that blessed and sure word, "His mercy endures
forever"? This is the star of the sinner's night, the dawn of his day
of hope! There is forgiveness with God that He may be feared–with Him
is plenteous redemption! O poor sinking Soul, take hold of this!
Believe that God, for Christ's sake, can justly pardon the guilty–and
plead with Him to do so in your case! Urge your suit upon this plea and
it will not fail you.
Perhaps your mind can better settle upon a promise. Well, it will
little matter which one of them it is, for though they are very many,
they are all equally certain. But try to take hold of the Lord by one
or other of those handholds which He has provided on purpose for
seeking souls. Hold Him by such a word as this, "Let the wicked forsake
his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto
the Lord and He will have mercy upon him and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." Or take hold upon that other gracious invitation, "
Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord; though your sins
are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red
like crimson, they shall be as wool." There are many such Words of
Grace and, as I have already told you, they are all equally sure.
Like the great roads which all meet in London, so any promise will lead
you to God. Fix your grasp of faith on that which best suits your
character and condition–and you are, at once, in contact with God.
Only take hold and do not trifle with the promise, or stagger at it. O
Sinner, awaken yourself to take hold upon the loving Word! Be in
earnest, Man, for it is your life, and when you once get hold, let your
grip be as an iron vice–grapple the promise to you as with hooks of
steel! Plead after this fashion, "You have said it, O God, and I
believe it, and I trustfully look to You to be as good as Your Word. On
this, Your promise, I depend and I am persuaded You will keep Your
Word."
Perhaps the Character of our Lord Jesus Christ may furnish you with a
holdfast. Remember who and what He was and remember that whatever
Christ was, God is, for He, Himself, testified, "He that has seen Me
has seen the Father." Remember how Jesus put the message of love, "Come
unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls." Could you not trust
the meek and lowly One? Say, can you not readily trust Jesus? Do you
fear Immanuel or dread the Lamb of God? Bleeding on the tree, with no
thunder in His hands nor terror on His brow, can you not confide in
Him?
His dying body, by every wound, invites the sons of men to find a
shelter in the riven rock! Take at once a firm hold of God! The body of
His Incarnate Son and all His blessed work stand before you as so many
points of attraction. Turn not away, but let the God of Love be your
God now and forever! Can you not take hold of Him through the
Gospel–the Gospel which publishes salvation to the most ungodly? What
do you say to this–"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
you shall be saved"? "He that believes on Him is not condemned"? "The
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin"? What a
number of persons have laid hold of God through that precious text! It
stands like an open door with width enough to admit a giant in sin!
Some who could never find comfort anywhere else have caught at that
encouragement and found peace with God at once. Why shouldn't you?
Note this one, also. "Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out."
And this, "Whoever will, let him come and take the water of life
freely." By some one or other of those Gospel declarations I do, in the
name of Jesus, entreat every guilty sinner to take hold of God! Again,
I say, do not run from Him or from the facts of your sad case–do not
try to forget what you are towards Him, nor forget what He must be
towards you if you continue in your sin! Come now, in an honest manner,
and meet the truth face to face. Make this firm resolve, that you will
be stranger to your God no longer. Say in your soul, "I will take hold
of God this day, as He presents Himself to me in His Word." Put forth
your hands and touch the hem of Jesus' garment, if you can do no more,
and He will not spurn you, but give you immediate salvation!
The text speaks of a man's stirring himself up to lay hold on God and
that is the point to which I long to see you brought. I would that
every unconverted man were, at this moment, awakened out of his deadly
slumber. You will not take hold on God while you are asleep in sin's
downy bed! Believe me, no sinner is saved while his mind is in a
dreamy, hesitating, lethargic condition. You need to be stirred up to
make your calling and election sure. Surely such a business should be
earnestly attended to. Let your memory be stirred up to remember your
sin and may, by God's Grace, your soul repent of it. Let your
conscience be stirred up to remind you of the guilt of that sin and may
your heart make a full confession of it with deep shame and bitter
sorrow.
Let your fears be stirred up to apprehend the wrath to come and your
hopes to remind you of the possibilities of everlasting life and glory!
Let your desires be awakened, this morning, and may you be set longing
and crying after mercy! And with your desires may your will awaken,
only not as it has been accustomed to be, in vicious obstinacy, setting
itself against God, but made willing to obey in the day of the Lord's
power! May His Holy Spirit awaken reason and thought, understanding and
the affections, yes, your whole man! As when in business you are about
to do something of extreme importance, you awaken yourself and endeavor
to have all your wits about you, so now come to this great business of
your soul's salvation with all your thoughts awakened and all your
energies excited, for all these are necessary!
Is it not a concern of the utmost weight? Since the prize is worth
winning and the loss will be intolerable, be stirred up with strong
resolve that, if Grace and mercy are to be had by laying hold on God,
you will have them at this very hour! Beloved Brothers and Sisters, if
there are none among us who take hold on God, our Church is in a very
sad state–a Church without converts is a cloud without rain, a river
without water!
I thank God that we are not in such a plight, but we have many in this
place who have lately taken hold upon the Lord and found Grace in His
sight. This has been a means of Grace to us all! The oldest and most
established have been cheered by these new converts. Their coming among
us has been a dew from the Lord–we have welcomed them as men do
swallows in the spring! Their addition to our numbers has lit up new
stars in our sky. Pray, my Brothers and Sisters, that there may be many
such in all Churches, for it is pre-eminently desirable that every
awakened sinner should be stirred up to take hold upon God!
II. We will now consider another character considerably in advance of
the former, who, also, stirs up himself to take hold of God. We very
greatly need to have among us many THOROUGH BELIEVERS WHO TAKE HOLD
UPON GOD BY FIDELITY TO HIM. I have seen applied to Calvin the motto,
"He took fast hold." If ever a man did take fast hold on invisible
things, it was that famous Reformer. What he grasped, he held with
force of clear conviction, intelligent apprehension and devout
reverence. I am particularly anxious that every member of this Church
should now look upon himself or herself separately and distinctly–and
try to follow me in my description of a Believer who takes hold of God.
He is deeply sincere and thorough in all that he does. Shams and
pretences are his abhorrence. He feels the solemn importance of dealing
in spirit and in truth with the Lord–and of taking hold upon God,
Himself, and not on mere names and words and forms. He says within
himself, "I am a Christian and I will be so, by God's Grace, not in
name only, but in deed and in truth. I know that the outward form of
religion is but a husk and I resolve to feed upon the kernel. I mean to
have the substance of religion–not its shadows. I will take hold of
all the outward which God has revealed, but
I will mainly look to the inward, and my soul and spirit shall deal
with the living God Himself. If I live, I will live unto Him. Nothing
short of this shall content me."
Such a man opens his Bible and resolves to find out what God's will
is–and he judges for himself–for he knows that he will have to render
a personal account. He means to take hold for himself of every revealed
Truth of God, for he wishes not to be taught of man, alone, but to be
taught of God. He awakens all his wits to understand the doctrine and
precepts of God's Word, for he has become a disciple and he, therefore,
wishes to learn. His cry is, "I want to be thorough. I want to go to
the soul and center of things and know the Truth of God by the teaching
of the Spirit of God in my own heart!"
Not content with searching the Word, alone, he takes everything he
finds there to God, and says, "Lord, I long to lay hold of You in this
Truth. I desire not merely to know concerning Christ, but to know
Christ! Not only to believe the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but to
feel the power of the Holy Spirit, Himself, upon my soul, for I have
said in my heart, 'My God, I would know You and commune with You. I
would love You and serve You. My soul follows hard after You–when
shall I come and appear before You?'"
Such a man, dear Brothers and Sisters, when he once knows the will of
the Lord, has made up his mind to act promptly upon what he knows! His
mind is expressed in the language of one of old who said, "As for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord." It is nothing to him what others
may do, except that he regrets that they should do evil. He puts his
foot down and will not run with a multitude to do evil. He has made the
Word of the Lord to be the guide of his life and he will not depart
from it. His is no borrowed faith–he has embraced the Truth of Jesus
for himself and he means to follow Him at all hazards. And, as far as
he can, he will have his household so ordered that all who come around
him may see that Jesus is his Lord.
Come fair or come foul, his hold is secure and he will not let go. Such
a man sets himself to extend the Kingdom of Christ, impelled by inward
zeal. Having obtained a solid fulcrum of assured knowledge, he now
begins to use his lever and work upon others. Wherever he is settled in
Providence, he sets about founding a Church for his Lord. He is glad to
be a member of a large Church for the sake of Christian fellowship, but
if he is cast in a desert place he can hold his own, alone, for his
hold is not on man, but on God! He can testify in the midst of others
who do not fear God–he would testify in the midst of heathens if he
were called to it–for opposition and persecution cannot shake him!
He has taken hold of God–not of the Church, nor of the minister, nor
of the mere formal creed! He has passed beyond all those things to the
Lord, Himself, and his confidence is thus above the heavens. He knows
that he cannot be placed where God is not and, therefore, he feels that
his best Friend is always near. The eye of man is nothing to him– the
Presence of God is first and last with him. He labors with earnest zeal
to maintain, defend and, also, to spread abroad the Truths of God which
are verily believed among us. He is a man that calls upon God, not
merely in prayer, but by confessing His name and acknowledging His
cause. And he stirs himself up to take hold upon God in the doing of
all these things.
Brethren, I earnestly wish that every member of this Church was a man
of this metal! We should be strong for God if this were the case. We
have so many professors who are still babes, needing the feeding bottle
and the baby carriage though they are 40 years of age! What can we do
with these? Others are unstable. They know something about the Truth of
God, but not very much–and what they do know they are not sure of–and
so they are ready to be bamboozled out of it. In the present age, if
any man can talk well, he will get a following whatever he may teach. I
am astounded at some professors who can hear this man, today, and that
man the next, though the two are diametrically opposed! Surely there is
some difference between truth and error! Surely mere cleverness cannot
neutralize false doctrine!
Our forefathers discerned between things that differed and when false
doctrine came before them they cast it out, notwithstanding the
eloquence of its advocate. I do not want you to be bigots. God deliver
us from their bitter spirit, but I do want you to be sound Believers.
There is a great difference between obstinate bigotry and a decided
maintenance of that which we have believed. After all, what is the
chaff to the wheat? There is a difference between the doctrines of men
and the teachings of the Lord! No lie is of the truth! Garnish it as
you may, it is still a lie. Oh to be rooted and grounded and built up
in Christ! One of the most desirable things in this fickle age is to
see around the minister of Christ a people who know the Truth and feel
that the Truth binds them fast to their God.
III. We take a step further in advance when we mention a third form of
this taking hold of God. We need a development in the form of THE
WRESTLING PLEADER. The expression is borrowed, as you know, from Jacob
at the brook of Jabbok. He had begun to pray, alone, by the brook when
an angel appeared to him, or rather the Prince of angels Himself. When
Jacob saw the Angel, he laid hold upon Him and there was a wrestling
match between them all through that night. It was a sight such as never
seen on earth before. After much weeping and agony, Jacob made a
desperate clutch at the Angel and cried, "I will not let You go unless
You bless me."
In the Church of God we need many wrestling Jacobs! What does the text
mean when it speaks of a man stirring himself up to take hold of God?
The transaction takes this form. The good man feels the case
urgently–the blessing which is needed is laid on his heart and he
feels that he must have it. He is convinced of the necessity of it and
he is, also, certain that he cannot have it, except from God. Then he
looks at the propriety of it and asks, "Is this a case which I can
lawfully lay before God? I seek such a thing, but may I expect the
thrice holy God to give it to me? Is it for His Glory? When you have
done that, dear Friend, you have commenced well!
Now proceed to business. Go about it in an energetic, but reasonable
way, and next, turn to the Bible and see if the Lord has ever promised
that which you seek. Search out promises! Get them at your fingertips!
Memorize their very words! Then go before God and tell Him your desire
and honestly declare your reasons for desiring it. Show the Lord that
you know that He has promised the blessing and then begin to plead with
Him to fulfill His own Word. Very much of taking hold upon God must be
in using arguments with Him. The Lord knows the thing is good, but He
wants you to know it! And in order that you may be well instructed in
the value of the mercy you seek, He wishes you to produce your
arguments and bring forth your strong reasons.
Many teachers use what we call the Socratic method in which the student
is made to answer questions, not that his teacher may be instructed,
but that the youth may learn. Set your case in order and mention your
pleading before the Lord as if you were pleading in a court of justice.
State why and why this thing should be, and what you fear will happen
if you are not answered. Return to the work again and again, as Abraham
did when interceding for Sodom, and each time renew your strength.
Especially bring forth the Divine promises and say concerning each one
of them, "Do as You have said. Fulfill this Word unto Your servant,
upon which You have caused me to hope." Plead the Covenant and the
faithfulness of God!
That done, believe that God will keep His promise and begin to expect
the blessing. Act as if you had obtained it, for it is written,
"Believe that you have it and you shall have it." If the mercy is not
then given, ask again–go through the same pleadings as before,
amending them and increasing their power. The agony of prayer is
somewhat like a great siege in which one earthwork is cast up and after
a while it is followed by another yet nearer to the town which is to be
taken. One after another the besiegers raise their works till the place
is quite hemmed in–then they bring up their guns and begin to pound
away upon the walls which they have resolved to capture.
Thus must we be about to win the blessing which we need, using Divine
promises as our ramparts and our strong reasons as our great guns.
Remember, it is not for God's sake that you are called upon to plead,
but for your own! The Lord desires to convince you of the value of
mercy–and when He has done it, He intends to grant it to you! A man
who can take hold of God in prayer will be of the utmost value to the
Church. Why should we not learn this art? But oh, how few there are who
call upon His name! How few there are who stir up themselves to take
hold of God! Sleepy prayers– God have mercy upon them! Prayers that do
not mean anything? Prayers of men who can be put off with, "No"? These
are as common as stones on the road and of less worth! We need
importunity–the knocking at the gate of Mercy again and again and
again! We need the unconquerable resolve–"I must have it! It is for
God's glory and He has promised it. I will not cease until I obtain
it."
We need to see the majesty of prayer among us again. If we had hundreds
of Church members who could take hold upon God, religion would revive
and we should no more have to complain of barrenness. God will part the
heavens and come down and the mountains will flow at His Presence when
once His people take Him at His word and pray as if they believed!
IV. The fourth point, and the last, is to mention one other form of
this stirring up of ourselves to lay hold of God. It is one which I
confess I have but seldom seen, but wish I could see on all sides. I
have read of it in biographies and past ages have seen it and wondered
at it. It ought, however, to be common in the Church and to be seen in
every Christian. I
mean THE TAKING HOLD OF GOD BY THE STRENGTHENED BELIEVER–the man who
has got beyond doubts
and fears–and grasped the eternal Truths. No question, now as to
whether there is a God or not–he knows Him, speaks with Him, walks
with Him.
In sacred communion the Lord has made known His secrets to him and
shown him His Covenant. Concerning the Gospel and things revealed, he
does not care to argue. He is as sure of those matters as of the fact
that there is a sun in the heavens or salt in the sea. He has passed
beyond argument as to things of this sort. You might as well try to
shake the earth out of its place as to remove him from his convictions.
He knows them and, what is a great deal more, he intensely realizes
them. He as much believes in God and His Gospel as he believes in his
own existence–and these things have as manifest a power over him as
the things which are seen and heard have over the human senses. He is
familiar with God! He talks with Jesus! The Holy Spirit dwells in him!
He has passed into a spiritual realm and has consciously to do with
spiritual things. Such a man is now quite sure about God's being with
him, for he dwells in His Presence and he never dares to act except
under a sense of that Presence. He is quite sure about God's keeping
His promises. He dares not doubt that, for he has had too many proofs,
already, of the faithfulness of God for him to distrust Him. Now, see
how steadily that man moves about! Trial does not bow him down–he
expected it and he expects to be delivered out of it. If you rush in
upon him with the most terrible information it does not distress him,
for, "He is not afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed by trusting
in the Lord." What a grand character Abraham was and only because he
was grandly believing!
Whenever faith gave way in Abraham, as it did now and then, for the
best of men are only men, then he sank to the ordinary level, as he did
when he denied his wife and said–"She is my sister." But when his
faith is strong, what a wonderful man he is! He never disputes with Lot
about which shall take the fatter pasture. Lot may have what he likes,
for Abraham has his God. Lot may take the well-watered plain of the
Jordan if he desires it–Abraham had sooner dwell alone with his God.
When Lot is carried captive, and Abraham feels it his duty to deliver
his relative, he does not ask about how strong Chedorlaomer and the
other three kings may be. That is nothing to him! God is with him and
he hastens to the conflict.
He uses such means as are at hand and asks his neighbors to join him in
the pursuit. And then he marches confidently after Chedorlaomer and
destroys him–and God gives the plundering host like driven stubble to
his bow. You never find Abraham fretting. He is always peaceful in
mind. He is not afraid of men, nor abashed before princes. His faith
had made him heir of the world and he knew it. He moved majestically
because he had learned to believe in God. When Isaac was to be offered
up, how the strong man smothered his emotions and went silently but
resolutely his three days' journey, with his son, to the hill of which
God had spoken to him. There the deed would have been done had not the
angel interposed, for it never entered into Abraham's mind to disobey
the Lord!
He believed so firmly in his God that whatever God had bid him, he
resolved to do. Oh, if you could get to the same realizing faith, how
calm, quiet, serene, strong, happy and blessed would you be, for you
would then, to the fullest extent, have taken hold of God! When we have
such a man in a Church, he is a man of power in all respects. When he
speaks it is almost as the oracles of God. Other speakers may dazzle
you with eloquence, but this man overpowers you with Grace and confuses
the adversaries by his boldness. God gives to the Church, every now and
then, such a man. Such a one was Martin Luther, a man by no means free
from faults, but gloriously free from doubt!
Others think the Gospel is true. Erasmus feels sure that it is, but
Erasmus wants to die in a whole skin. Luther knows that Justification
by faith is right and he will thunder it out, whether his skin shall be
damaged or not! It will be better not to go to Worms, say timid
advisers. Things have come to such a pass that there will be danger to
your life–you had better give up the contest, Luther, before you die
in it. Future ages may take it up, but if you go to Worms, you will
certainly never come back again!
Well, says he, I shall go! Yes, if there were as many devils there, as
there are tiles on the housetops, I should go, for I have to confess
Christ there and confess Him I will! And when he is asked, "What would
you do if the Duke, your protector, should no longer harbor you?" "I
shall take shelter," he says, "beneath the broad shield of the Almighty
God." What are dukes and princes to such a man? He had taken hold of
God and he feels stronger than all men and all devils combined! There
is nothing like this linking of one's self with the Eternal by faith!
Such a man was Calvin. I
picture him as he looked when going into the Church of St. Peter, the
Libertines resolved that they would partake of the Lord's Supper though
Calvin had declared they should not.
They are men licentious in life and godless in character, but they mean
to come to the Table and take the sacred elements, whether Calvin says
no or not. They care for no one and mean riot and bloodshed. If he
refuses, they have sent him word that they will kill him in the Church.
Calvin goes to the Table and breaks the bread and distributes it to the
people of God–and hands not a mouthful to the profane, upon whom he
looks with such pitying severity that, awed by the man's courage, they
retire to learn better manners!
We have in these days a race of time servers and word spinners to
succeed the real men! There are hundreds who say it is undoubtedly
untrue that children are, in their Baptism, made members of Christ,
children of God, inheritors of the kingdom of Heaven–but still they
teach children to say so and afterwards will tell them that the words
mean something else. Is this the way of doing the work of the Lord? Is
this according to the Gospel of faith, or after the manner of the Truth
of God? Numbers of others say, "Yes, we see all this, we see popery
coming back in the form of ritualism, but, at the same time, we cannot
be decided and shake ourselves clear of the accursed thing. We cannot
tell what will happen! We will wait and perhaps fate may favor us."
I know what would happen if we feared God more–we would sooner die
than remain in any fellowship with popery! Every man who saw any fear
of his being found in complicity with Antichrist would at once say, "I
will not have it. Popery is abhorred of the Lord and they who help it
wear the mark of the beast! I hate Antichrist and, therefore, I
denounce it and cry, Down with it! Raze it even to the ground."
Everything that is of the Pope and popery would soon be put aside if
men were but true to their consciences and their God! This generation
is credulous and yet unbelieving! It is deluded by the most transparent
frauds! It swings like a pendulum to this and that–it believes in
almost anything except its God! In God and His Truth and righteousness
it will not be made to believe.
Oh for a John Knox! We need a leader, firm and heroic! We need a man
strong and stout because he has God with him. He that believes in God
will make men decide for the right when otherwise they would vacillate.
He is a commander-in-chief among the sons of men. His brow is like a
flint and he is not to be abashed. Let criticism rattle upon his armor
like a hailstorm–he stands fast and defies it all. May God make some
of you into such heroes! I would to God He would make all of you
valiant for His Truth, so that in your little circle you would be firm
for God and Scriptural doctrine and pure worship because you have taken
hold of Him!
God save us from the men of willow and gutta-percha and plaster of
Paris, such as would be dear if you could buy them at a shilling the
dozen! Take these away, O, Father Time, and give us back men of
granite, men of backbone, say rather, men of God! Oh that each man
among us were awakened to take hold of God and that all our faculties
were stirred to their utmost depth and that then they grasped the Lord!
Ho, comrades, don't you see the standard? It wavers! Shall it fall? The
true soldier in the cruel fight, when he sees the standard-bearer
struck down and the fight thickening all around the banner, stirs up
all his strength and rushes into the strife as a lion leaps on his
prey!
He strains every sinew and throws every nerve into action, dashing
forward to grasp the standard and to hold it aloft, touch it who dare!
He strikes right and left and sooner than the banner shall be trailed
in the mire, he will spill his life in crimson streams upon the ground!
Up you soldiers of Christ! Up you lion-like men and turn the battle to
the gate! May God help you to do it for Christ's sake. Amen.
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