The Dumb Singing
(No. 2625)
INTENDED FOR READING OR LORD'S-DAY, JUNE 4, 1899.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT SHOULDHAM STREET CHAPEL, ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, 1857.
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert." Isaiah 35:5.
WHAT a difference Divine Grace makes, wherever it enters the heart! In
our text we find the blind mentioned, but they are no longer blind when
once Grace has touched their eyes! "Then the eyes of the blind" are
"opened." We read also of the deaf, but they are not deaf after Grace
has operated upon them! "The ears of the deaf are "unstopped." Here are
men who have been "lame," but when once the Omnipotent influence of
Divine Grace has come upon them, they leap like a hart! And those who
used to be speechless, so far from being dumb any longer, have
experienced a change that must be radical, for its effects are
surprising. "The tongue of the dumb" not only speaks, but it sings!
Divine Grace makes a great difference in a man when it enters into him.
How vain, then, are the boasts and professions of some persons who
declare themselves to be the children of God and yet continue to live
in sin! There is no perceivable difference in their conduct from what
it formerly was–they are still what they used to be before their
pretended conversion–they are not changed in their acts, even in the
least degree. And yet they most positively affirm that they are the
called and living children of God, although they are entirely
unchanged! Let such people know that their pretensions are lies and
that falsehood is the only groundwork they have for their hopes, for
wherever the Grace of God comes, it makes men to differ from what they
were before. A graceless man is not like a gracious man, and gracious
men are not like graceless ones–we are "new creatures in Christ
Jesus." When God looks upon us with the eyes of love and works in us
conversion and regeneration, He makes us as opposite from what we were
before as light is from darkness, and as Heaven, itself, is from Hell!
He works in man a change so great that no mere reformation can even
imitate it–it is an entire change–a change of the will, of the
affections, of the desires, of the dislikes and of the likes. The man
becomes, in every respect, new, when Divine Grace enters his heart. Yet
you say of yourself, "I am converted," and remain just as you were I
tell you once again to your face, that you say what is not true–you
have no ground for saying it! If grace permits you to sin as you were
known to do, then that grace is not Divine Grace! That grace is not
worth having which permits a man to be, after he receives it, what he
was before. No, Beloved, we must always hold and teach the great
Doctrine of Sanctification. Where God truly justifies, He also really
sanctifies. And where there is the remission of sin, there is also the
forsaking of it! Where God has blotted out transgression, He also
removes our love of it, makes us seek after holiness and walk in the
ways of the Lord. I think we may fairly infer this from the text as a
prelude to the observations I have to make concerning it.
I want you, first of all, to notice the sort of people whom God has
chosen to sing His praises and to sing them eternally. Then, in the
second place, I shall enter into a fuller description of the dumb
people here mentioned. Then, thirdly, I shall try to mention certain
special times and seasons when those dumb people sing more sweetly than
at others.
I. First, then, THE PERSONS WHOM GOD HAS CHOSEN TO SING HIS PRAISES
FOREVER. "The tongue of the dumb shall sing."
I ask you, first, to note that there is no difference, by nature,
between the elect and others. Those who are now glorified in Heaven and
who walk the golden streets clad in robes of purity, were, by nature as
unholy, defiled and as far from original righteousness as those who, by
their own rejection of Christ and by their love of sin, have brought
themselves into the pit of eternal torment as punishment for their
iniquities! The only reason why there is a difference between those who
are in Heaven and those who are in Hell is because of Divine Grace, and
Divine Grace alone. Those in Heaven would have been cast away had not
everlasting mercy stretched out its hand and rescued them. They were,
by nature, not one whit superior to others! They would as certainly
have rejected Christ and have trod under foot the blood of Jesus as did
those who were cast away if Grace, Free Grace, had not prevented them
from committing that sin! The reason why they are Christians is not
because they did naturally will to be so, nor because they did, by
nature, desire to know Christ, or to be found of Him–they are now
saints simply because God made them so! He gave them the desire to be
saved. He put into them the will to seek after Him. He helped them in
their seeking and afterwards brought them to feel that peace which is
the fruit of justification! But, by nature, they were just the same as
others, and if there is any difference, we are obliged to say that the
difference does not lie in their favor. In very many cases, those who
now "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" were the very worst of men!
There are multitudes who now bless God for their redemption who once
blasphemed Him–who, as frequently as they dared to do so, implored
that the curse of God might rest upon their fellows and upon
themselves! Many of the Lord's anointed were once the very castaways of
Satan, the sweepings of society, the refuse of the earth! They were
those whom no man cared for, who were called outcasts, but whom God has
now called desired ones, seeing that He has loved them!
I am led to these thoughts from the fact that we are told here that
those who sing were dumb by nature. Their singing does not come
naturally from themselves–they were not born songsters. No, they were
dumb ones whom God would have to sing His praises. It does not say the
tongue of the stammerer, or the tongue of him who blasphemed, or of him
who misused his tongue, but, "the tongue of the dumb"–those who have
gone furthest from any thought of singing, those who have no power or
will to sing–the tongue of such as these shall yet be made to sing
God's praises! It is a strange choice that God has made. Strange for
its graciousness, strangely manifesting the Sovereignty of His will.
When God resolved to build for Himself a palace in Heaven of living
stones, where did He get them? Did He go to look for the richest and
purest marble in the quarries of earthly perfection? No, you saints,
"Look unto the rock from which you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit
from where you were dug." So far from being stones that were white with
purity, you were black with defilement, seemingly utterly unfit to be
built into the spiritual temple which would be the dwelling place of
the Most High!
Yet He chose you to be trophies of His Grace and of His power to save!
Goldsmiths make exquisite forms from precious material. They fashion
the bracelet and the ring from gold, but God makes His precious things
out of base material. From among the black pebbles of the muddy pond He
has taken up stones which He has set in the golden ring of His
Immutable Love, to make them into gems to sparkle on His finger
forever! He has not selected the best, but apparently the worst of men,
to be the monuments of His Grace! And when He would have a choir in
Heaven that would, with harmonious tongues, sing His praises–a chorus
that would forever chant hallelujahs louder than the noise of many
waters and, like great thunders–He did not send Mercy down to seek
earth's songsters and call from us those who have the sweetest voices!
No, but He said, "Go, Mercy, and find out the dumb, and touch their
lips, and make them sing. The virgin tongues that never sang My
praises, before, that have been silent until now, shall break forth in
sublime rhapsodies and they shall lead the song–even angels shall but
attend behind and catch the notes from the lips of those who once were
dumb."
Oh, what a fountain of consolation this opens for you and for me! Yes,
Beloved, if God did not choose the base things of this world, He would
never have chosen us! If He had regard unto the countenances of men. If
He were a respecter of persons, where would you and I be this day? We
would had never been the subjects of His love and mercy! No, as we look
upon ourselves, now, and remember what we once were, we are often
obliged to ask our Lord–
"Why was I made to hear Your voice,
And enter while there's room
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?" And we have no difficulty in finding the
right answer in the next verse of the hymn–
"'Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That sweetly forced us in,
Else we had still refused to taste, And perished in our sin."
Grace is always Grace, but it never seems so gracious as when we see it
brought to our unworthy selves. Yes, my Friends, you may be Arminians
in your doctrine, but you can never be Arminians in your feelings–you
are obliged to confess that salvation is all of Grace and to cast away
the thought that the Lord chose you because of your foreseen faith or
good works! We are obliged to come to this point–to feel and know that
it must have been of mercy, free mercy, and of that, alone–that we
were not capable of doing good works without His Grace enabling us to
do them and, therefore, they never could have been the motive for the
Lord's love, nor the reason why it flowed towards us! O you unworthy
ones, you saints that feel your deep natural depravity and mourn over
your ruin by the fall of Adam, lift up your hearts to God! He has
delivered you from all the impediments which Adam cast upon you! Your
tongue is now loosed–Adam made it dumb, but God has loosed it! Your
eyes, which were blinded by Adam's fall, are now opened by Him who has
lifted you up from the horrible pit and the miry clay! What Adam lost
for us, Christ has regained for us. He has set our feet upon a rock and
established our goings–and He has put a new song into our mouth, even
praise unto our God!
Before I leave this point, I must remind you how this ought to give you
encouragement in seeking to do good to others. Why, my Brothers and
Sisters, I can never think any man too far gone for God's mercy since I
know that He saved me! Whenever I have felt despondent about any of my
hearers who have, for a long time, persevered in guilt, I have only had
to reach down my own biography from the shelves of my memory and think
what I was till Divine Grace rescued me and brought me to my Savior's
feet. And then I have said, "It will be no wonder if that man is
saved–after what the Lord has done for me, I can believe anything of
my Master! If He has blotted out my transgressions. If He has put away
mysins, then I can never despair of any ofmy fellow creatures. They may
be dumb, now, but He can make them sing."
Your son John is a sad reprobate–keep on praying for him, mother–God
can change his very nature. Your daughter's heart seems hard as
adamant, but He who makes the dumb sing can cause even that rock to
melt! Believe in God for your children, as well as for yourselves! Take
their cases before His Throne of Grace! Rely upon Him to save them and
believe that in answer to earnest prayer, He will do so. And if you
have neighbors who are full of the pestilence of sin, whose vices come
up before you as a stench in your nostrils, yet fear not to carry the
Gospel to them! Though they are harlots, drunks, swearers, be not
afraid to tell them of the Savior's dying love. He makes the dumb
sing–He does not ask for even a voice to begin with–they are dumb and
He does not ask of them even the power of speech, but He gives them the
power! If you have neighbors who keep not the Sabbath, love not God and
are not willing to come to His House–and even despise Christ–if you
find them as far gone as they can be, remember, He makes the dumb to
sing and, therefore, He can make them live!
He needs no goodness in them to begin with–all He needs is the rough,
raw material, uncut, unpolished–and He does not even need good
material! Bad as the material may be, He can make it into something
inestimably precious, something that is worthy of His precious blood!
Go on with your work for Christ, dear Friends, and fear not concerning
the worst of men and women–if the dumb can be made to sing, then
surely you can never say that any man need be cast away because Christ
cannot save them!
II. I am now to enter into A FULLER DESCRIPTION OF THESE DUMB PEOPLE.
Who are they? Sometimes I get a good thought out of Cruden's
Concordance. I believe that is the best commentary to the Bible and I
like to study it. I opened it lately at the word, "dumb," and I found
Master Cruden describing five different kinds of dumb people, but I
shall name only four of them. The first dumb people he mentions are
those who cannotspeak. Then, secondly, those who willnotspeak. Thirdly,
those who darenotspeak and, fourthly, those who have nothingto say and,
therefore, are dumb.
Among the dumb people who shall sing are, first, those who cannot
speak. That is the usual meaning of the word, dumb.The others are, of
course, only figurative applications of the term. We call a man dumb
when he cannot speak. Now, spiritually, the man who is still in
trespasses and sins is dumb, for he is dead and there is none so dumb
as a dead man! We used to hear, in our childhood, that they buried none
but deaf and dumb persons in certain churchyards! That saying was
intended to tickle our childish fancies and it misled us a little, but
the meaning was that none but dead people were buried there. The Word
of God assures us that unregenerate men are spiritually dead. It
follows, then, that they must be spiritually dumb. They cannot sing
God's praises. They know Him not and, therefore, they cannot exalt His
glorious name. They cannot, in their natural state, confess their sins.
They may utter the words of confession, but they cannot really confess,
for they do not know the evil of sin, nor have they been taught to feel
what a bitter thing it is. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but
by the Holy Spirit," and these people cannot truly do so. It may be
they can talk well of the Doctrines of Grace, but they cannot speak of
them out of the fullness of their hearts, as living and vital
principles which they possess in themselves. They cannot join in the
songs, nor can they take part in the conversation of Christians. If
they sit for a while with the saints, perhaps they let it be known that
they have culled a few phrases which they use and apply to certain
things about which they know nothing. They talk a language the meaning
of which they do not comprehend–like Milton's daughters reading to
their father strange tongues which they did not understand. So far as
the essence of the matter is concerned, these spiritually dead people
are dumb. But, hail to Sovereign Grace! "The tongue of the dumb shall
sing!" God will have His darlings made what they should be. They are
dumb by nature, but He will not leave them so. They cannot now sing His
praises, but they shall do it! They do not now confess their sins, but
He will yet bring them to their knees and make them pour out their
hearts before Him! They cannot now talk the tongue of Canaan, or speak
the language of Zion, but they shall do it soon! Grace, Omnipotent
Grace, will have its way with them! They shall be taught to pray! Their
eyes shall be made to flow with tears of penitence and then, after
that, their lips shall sing to the praise of Sovereign Grace!
I need not dwell upon this point because there are many here who once
were dumb, who can bless God that they now can sing. Does it not
sometimes seem to you, Beloved, a very strange thing that you are what
you are? I should think it must be one of the strangest things in the
world for a dumb man to speak–because he has no idea how a man feels
when he is speaking, he has no notion of the thing at all! A man, blind
from his birth, has no idea what kind of a thing sight can be. I have
heard of a blind man who supposed that the color scarlet must be very
much like the sound of a trumpet. He knew no other way of describing
it. So, the dumb man has no notion of the way to talk. Do you not think
it is a strange thing that you are what you are? You said once, "I will
never be one of those canting Methodists. Do you think I shall ever
make a profession of religion? What? I attend a Prayer Meeting? It is
not likely!" And you went along the streets in all your gaiety of mirth
and said, "What? I become a little child and give up my mind to simple
faith, and not reason at all? What? Am I to abandon all argument about
things and simply take them for granted because God has said them? No,
that never can be!" Yet that is what hashappened and I will be bound to
say it will be a wonder to you, as long as you are here, that you are a
child of God! And even in Heaven, itself, your greatest wonder will be
that you were ever brought to know the Savior!
But there are, next, some dumb people who will not speak. They are
mentioned by Isaiah. He said some of the watchmen in his day were "dumb
dogs." I bless God that we have not so many of these dumb people as we
used to have. God has raised up, of late, especially in the Church of
England, a large number of thoroughly Evangelical men who are not
afraid to declare the whole counsel of God. There are many such
faithful preachers of the Gospel to be found. [Stated in 1882.] There
is no reason why the Church of England should not be thoroughly
Evangelical. If it keeps to its Articles, it ought to be! It is the
most inconsistent church in all the world if it is not Calvinistic–and
it will be inconsistent unless it keeps to those grand fundamental
Truths of God which are written in its Articles and which are a code of
faith to be received by all Believers!
But, oh, there are a great many preachers among Dissenters and in the
Church of England, too, that are "dumb dogs." There are still plenty
who hardly know anything about the Gospel! They preach about a great
many things, but little or nothing about Jesus Christ! They buy their
sermons cheaply and preach them at their ease. They ask God to teach
them what to say and then pull their manuscripts out of their pockets!
We have had to mourn, especially in years gone by, that we could look
from parish to parish and find only "dumb dogs" in the pulpits. And
some men who might have spoken with a little earnestness, if they had
liked, let the people slumber under them instead of preaching the Word
with true fidelity, remembering that they will have to give account to
God at the last! My aged grandfather tells a story which I believe he
could verify, of a person who once resided near him and called himself
a preacher of the Gospel. He was visited by a poor woman who asked him
what was the meaning of the new birth, and he replied, "My good woman,
why do you come to me about that matter? Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews, was a wise man, yet he did not understand about the new
birth–how do you think I should?" And she had to go away with only
that answer.
The time was when such an answer as that might have been given by a
great many who were reckoned to be the authorized teachers of religion,
but who really knew nothing about the matter. They understood a great
deal more about fox-hunting than about preaching–and more about
farming their land than about the spiritual husbandry of God's Church!
But we bless God that there are not so many of that sort, now, and we
pray that the race may become quite extinct–and that every pulpit may
be filled with a man who has a tongue of fire and a heart of flame and
who shuns not to declare the whole counsel of God, neither seeking the
smiles of men nor dreading their frowns!
We have, in our text, a promise that it shall be so. "The tongue of the
dumb shall sing." And ah, when God makes them sing, they sing well! You
remember Rowland Hill's story, in "The Village Dialogues" about Mr.
Merriman? He was a sad scapegrace of a parson and was to be seen at
every fair and revel, and was seldom to be found in his pulpit when he
should have been. But when, by God's Grace, he was converted, he began
to preach with tears running down his face! The Church soon became
crowded, but the squire would not go–he even locked up his pew. So Mr.
Merriman had a little ladder made outside the door, as he did not wish
to break it open, and the people used to sit on the steps, up one side
and down the other, so that there was twice as much room as there was
before!
No people make such good preachers as those who were once dumb! If the
Lord opens their mouths, they will think they cannot preach often
enough, or earnestly enough to make up for the mischief they did
before! Chalmers himself might never have been so eloquent a preacher
had he not been, for a long time, a dumb dog! He preached morality, he
said, till he made all the people in his parish immoral! He kept on
urging them to keep God's Law till he made them break it! But when he
turned round and began to preach Christ's Gospel, then the dumb began
to sing! Oh, may God work this change in every one of us! If we are
dumb as professed ministers, may He open our mouths and force us to
speak forth His Word, lest, at the Last Day, the blood of our hearers'
souls should be found upon our garments and we should be cast away as
unfaithful stewards!
I now introduce you to a third sort of dumb people. They are dumb
because they dare not speak They are good people, blessed souls. Listen
to one of them–"I was dumb, I opened not my mouth because You did it."
Ah, it is blessed to be dumb in that fashion! The Lord's servant will
often have to be dumb under trials and troubles. When Satan tempts him
to repine, he will put his finger to his lips and say, "Hush, murmuring
heart! Be still!" "Why does a living man complain, a man for the
punishment of his sins?" Even the child of God will sometimes do as Job
did when he sat down upon the ground for seven days and seven nights
and said not a word, for he felt that his trouble was so heavy that he
could say nothing. It would have been as well if he had kept his mouth
shut for the next few days–silence would not have been so bad as some
things that he uttered! There are times when you and I, Beloved, are
obliged to keep the bridle on our tongues lest we should murmur against
God. We are in evil company. Perhaps our spirit is hot within us and we
want to take vengeance for the Lord. We are like the friends of David
who would have slain Shimei. "Let us cut off this dead dog's head," we
say, and then Jesus tells us to put our sword into its scabbard, for,
"the servant of the Lord must not strive." How often have we thus been
dumb!
Sometimes, when there have been slanders against our character and men
have maligned us, oh, how our fingers have itched to be at them! But we
have said, "No. Our Master did not answer His accusers and He has left
us an example that we should follow His steps." The chief priests
accused Him of many things, but, "He answered them not a word." We have
found it difficult to be dumb, like the sheep when it is brought to the
shearer, or the lamb when it is in the slaughterhouse. We could
scarcely keep quiet. When we have been upon our beds in sickness we
have tried to quench every murmuring word. We have not let a sentence
escape our lips when we could possibly avoid it, but, notwithstanding
all that, we have found it hard work to keep dumb–though it is blessed
work when we are enabled to do it.
Now, you who have been dumb under great sorrow. You whose songs have
been suspended because you dare not open your lips lest sighs should
usurp the place of praise, come, listen to this promise–"The tongue of
the dumb shall sing." Yes, though you are now in the deepest trouble
and are obliged to be silent, you shall yet sing! Though, like Jonah,
you are in the belly of Hell, as he called it–though the earth with
her bars seems to be about you forever, and the weeds are wrapped about
your head–yet you shall look again towards His holy Temple! Though you
have hung your harp upon the willows, bless God that you have not
broken it. You will have farther use for it, by-and-by, and you shall
take it down from its resting place and–
"Loud to the praise of Love Divine,
Bid every string awake!"
If you have no songs in the night, yet the Lord shall compass you about
with songs of deliverance! If you cannot sing His praises now, you
shall do so, by-and-by, when greater Grace shall have been poured into
your heart, or when delivering mercy shall be the subject of your song
in better days that are yet to come! But, blessed be God, we are not
always to be silent in affliction. We are bound to sing. Though we are
dumb as to murmuring, we ought to sing God's praises! An old Puritan
said, "God's people are like certain birds–they sing best in cages."
He meant, "God's people often sing the best when they are in the
deepest trouble." Said old Master Brooks, "The deeper the flood was,
the higher the ark went up toward Heaven." So is it with the child of
God–the deeper his troubles, the nearer to Heaven he rises if he lives
close to his Master. Troubles are called weights and weights, you know,
generally clog us and keep us down to the earth. But there are ways, by
the use of the laws of mechanics, by which you can make a weight lift
you–and so it is possible to make your troubles lift you nearer Heaven
instead of letting them sink you! God has sometimes opened our mouth
when we were dumb–when we were ungrateful and did not praise Him. He
has opened our mouth by a trial and though, when we had a thousand
mercies, we did not praise Him, yet when He sent a sharp affliction,
then we began to do so! He has thus made the tongue of the dumb to
sing.
I will mention one more kind of dumb people and then I shall have done
with this part of my subject. There are those who have nothing to
sayand, therefore, they are dumb. I will give you an instance. Solomon
says, in the Proverbs, "Open your mouth for the dumb" and he shows, by
the context, that he means those who, in the court of judgment, have
nothing to plead for themselves and must stand dumb before the bar.
Like that man of old who, when the king came in to see the guests, had
not on a wedding garment–and when the king said, "Friend, how came you
in here not having a wedding garment?" He stood speechless, not because
he could not speak, but because he had nothing to say! Have not you and
I been dumb? Are we not now dumb when we stand on lawterms with God,
when we forget that Jesus Christ and His blood and righteousness were
our full acquittal?
Are we not obliged to be dumb when the Commandments are laid bare
before us and when the Law of God is brought home to our conscience?
There was a time with each of us, and not long ago with some here
present, when we stood before Moses' seat and heard the Commandments
read. And when we were asked, "Sinner, can you claim to have kept those
Commandments?" we were dumb. Then we were asked, "Sinner, can you give
any atonement for the breach of those Commandments?" And we were dumb.
We were asked, "Sinner, can you, by a future obedience, wipe out your
past sins?" We knew it was impossible and we were dumb. Then we were
asked, "Can you endure the penalty? Can you bear to suffer forever in
the flames of Hell? Can you endure torments that shall never cease? Can
you dwell with everlasting burnings and abide with eternal fires?" And
we were dumb.
Then we were asked the question, "Prisoner at the bar, have you any
reason to plead why you should not be condemned?" And we were dumb. And
we were asked, "Prisoner, have you any helper? Have you anyone who can
deliver you?" And we stood dumb, for we had nothing to say. Yes, but
blessed be God, the tongue of the dumb can now sing! And shall I tell
you what we can sing? Why, we can sing this, "Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect?" Not God, for He has justified us! "Who is
he that condemns?" Not Christ, for "it is Christ that died, yes,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us." We who had not a word to say for
ourselves, can now say everything! We can say to our Lord–
"Bold shall I stand in that great day, For who anything to my charge
shall lay? While through Your blood absolved I am From sin's tremendous
curse and shame?"
Yes, the dumb ones can sing! So shall you, poor dumb one, if God has
made you dumb by taking away all the names of Baal out of your
mouth–if He has taken away all your self-righteousness and all your
trust in yourself–as truly as ever He has shut your mouth, He will
open it! If God has killed your self-righteousness, He will give you a
better one! If He has knocked down all your refuges of lies, He will
build you up a good refuge! He has not come to destroy you. He has shut
your mouth that He may fill it with His praise. Be of good cheer! Cast
your eyes to the Cross! Look to Jesus! Put your confidence in Him and
even you, who think yourself a castaway–even you, poor weeping
Mary–even you shall yet sing of redeeming Grace and dying love!
III. Now I have to conclude by noticing THE OCCASIONS WHEN THE TONGUE
OF THESE DUMB PEOPLE SINGS THE BEST.
When does the tongue of the dumb sing? Why, I think it sings always,
little or much! If it is once set at liberty, it will never leave off
singing. There are some of you people who say that this world is a
howling wilderness. Well, if so, you are the howlers, you make all the
howling! If you choose to howl, I cannot help it, but I prefer the
promise of my text, "Then shall the tongue of the dumb," not howl, but,
"sing!" Yes, they sing always, little or much! Sometimes it is in a low
note. Sometimes they have to go rather deep in the bass, but there are
other times when they can mount to the highest notes of all. They have
special times of singing. When they lost their burden at the foot of
the Cross–that is the time when they begin to sing! Never did a harp
of Heaven sound so sweetly as when touched by the finger of some
returning prodigal! Not even the songs of the angels seem to me to be
so sweet as that first song of rapture which rushes forth from the
inmost soul of the forgiven child of God! You know how John Bunyan
describes it. He says when poor Christian lost his burden at the Cross,
he gave three great leaps and went on his way singing! We have not
forgotten those three great leaps–they were great leaps of praise! We
have leaped many times since then with joy and gratitude, but we think
we never leaped so high as we did at the time when we saw our many sins
all gone and our transgressions covered up in the tomb of the Savior!
So you see, dear Friends, that is one time when we can sing–when we
lose our burden at the Cross.
And after that, do God's people sing? Yes, they have sweet singing
times in their hours of communion. Oh, the music of that word,
"communion," when it is heard in the soul–communion with Jesus,
fellowship with Jesus–whether in His sufferings or in His glories!
These are singing times, when the heart is lifted up to feel its
oneness with Christ, and its vital union with Him, and is enabled to
"rejoice in hope of the glory of God," through communion with the
Savior!
Have you not had some precious singing times at the Lord's Table? Ah,
when the bread has been broken, and the wine poured out, how often has
it been to me a time of song when the people have all joined in
singing–
"Gethsemane, can I forget? Or there Your conflict see Your agony and
bloody sweat, And not remember Thee? When to the Cross I turn my eyes,
And rest on Calvary,
Lamb of God! My Sacrifice!
1 must remember Thee."
I am in the House of God, I think–every day. I believe that David
could not have asked for more than I have received when he prayed that
he might dwell in the House of the Lord forever, for I spend more of my
time in the House of God than I do anywhere else. But my best moments
are at the Lord's Table. I rejoice then, when I have no thought of what
I have to say to others, but simply sit down among the Lord's family
and taste my morsel of bread, and have my sip of the wine. Oh, it is
then that the soul finds its Savior precious! I look forward for every
month to come when I may once more sit at the table of my Master and
spiritually eat His flesh and drink His blood, and feel that I have,
indeed, life in Him because I am in true union with Him. Ah, these are
singing times to the family of God! And so, sometimes, are preaching
times and hearing times. Prayer Meetings are often special singing
times–in fact, all the means of Grace will very frequently be blessed
of God to be to us the occasions of song!
But, lastly, my dear Friends, for I cannot stop to mention all these
singing times, the best we shall have will be when we come to die! Ah,
there are some of you who will be like what is fabled of the swan. The
ancients said that the swan never sang in his lifetime, but always sang
as he was about to die. Now, there are many of God's desponding
children who seem to go live their life under a cloud, but they get a
swan's song before they die. The river of their life comes running
down, perhaps, black and miry with troubles–and when it begins to
touch the white foam of the sea, there comes a little glistening in its
waters. So, Beloved, though we may have been very much dispirited by
reason of the burden of the way, when we get to the end we shall have
sweet songs! Are you afraid of dying? Oh, never be afraid of that! Be
afraid of living! Living is the only thing which can do us
mischief–dying never can hurt a Christian! Afraid of the grave? It is
like the bath of Esther in which she lay for a time, to purify herself
with spices. The grave fits the body for Heaven. There it lies and
corruption, earth, and worms do but refine and purify our flesh!
Be not afraid of dying–it does not take any time at all. Death is
emancipation, deliverance, Heaven's bliss to a child of God! Never fear
it–it will be a singing time. You are afraid of dying, you say,
because of the pains of death. No, they are the pains of life–of life
struggling to continue. Death has no pain–death, itself, is but one
gentle sigh–the fetter is broken and the spirit released. The best
moment of a Christian's life is his last one because it is the one that
is nearest Heaven–and then it is that he begins to strike the keynote
of the song which he shall sing to all eternity! Oh, what a song will
that be! It is a poor noise we make, now, when we join the song here.
Perhaps we are almost ashamed to sing! But up there our voices shall be
clear and good! And there–
"Loudest of the crowd we'll sing,
While Heaven's resounding mansions ring
With shouts of Sovereign Grace!" The thought struck me, the other day,
that the Lord will have in Heaven some of those very big sinners–ones
who have gone further astray than anybody else that ever lived–just to
make the melody complete by singing some of those alto notes we
sometimes hear which you and I, because we have not gone so far astray,
will never be able to utter! I wonder whether one has stepped into this
Chapel, this morning, whom God has selected to take some of those alto
notes in the scale of praise? Perhaps there is one such here. Oh, how
loudly will he sing, if Grace, Free Grace, shall have mercy upon him!
And now, farewell, with just this parting word. My Brothers and
Sisters, members of this Church, strive together in your prayers, that
God may bless you. Be not content with what you are, however prosperous
you may be, but seek to increase more and more. Pray that you and your
children may be added to the Church of Christ, here, and may live to
see others added, too. Do not neglect your Prayer Meetings. Christmas
Evans gives us a good idea about prayer. He says, "Prayer is the rope
in the belfry. We pull it and it rings the bell up in Heaven." And so
it is. Mind you keep that bell going! Pull it often at home and come up
to the Prayer Meetings and keep on pulling it! And though the bell is
up so high that you cannot hear it ring, depend upon it, it can be
heard in the tower of Heaven and it is ringing before the Throne of
God, who will give you answers of peace according to your faith. May
your faith be large and plentiful, and so will be the answers! Amen.