The Joy of Holy Households
(No. 2539)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, OCTOBER 17, 1897.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, In connection with the
dedication of the Jubilee House, which commemorated the completion of
the beloved Pastor's 50 year, June 19,1884.
"The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the
righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of
the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly." Psalm
118:15,16.
A BELIEVER in Christ is not long without finding joy. He is in the land
which flows with milk and honey and he will get a sip of sweetness very
soon. Like Nicodemus, he comes to Jesus in the dark, but the sun is
rising. When he casts himself at the foot of the Cross, his dawning has
begun and, before long, he will walk in the Light of God–being
justified by faith, he will have peace with God. And not only so, for
he also learns to joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
also he has received the Atonement. This joy is in him and abounds, so
that he belongs to a happy people. It is true that all Believers are
not equally happy, but they have, each one of them, a right to be
exceedingly glad. Some float upon a flood-tide ofjoy, while others
drift upon the ebb, but they are all in the same stream and it is
bearing them on to the ocean of perfect happiness. All who trust in
Christ as they ought to do, will find a measure of this joy springing
up within them, keeping company with the new life which the Holy Spirit
has created. Ours is peace which passes all understanding and joy
unspeakable!
This joy is contagious–it spreads like a sweet perfume. The happy man
makes others happy. The man who is full of the blessedness of God
overflows for others. Music is not alone for him who makes it, but for
all who have ears. The happy man's influence is first felt at home–he
goes home to his own family a converted man and they soon perceive the
change. He tells them of what the Lord has done, but even if he did not
do so, they would soon discover by his gentleness, his love, his truth,
his holiness, that something remarkable had happened to him! His
actions, his words, his temper, his spirit are singularly altered and
those around him can see it! He is glad and, before long, they are
glad, too. When the man is better, everybody who belongs to him is the
better for his improvement. When the man's own heart rejoices, he
distributes joy, even as Christ's disciples when they received bread
and fish from the hands of their Lord, divided them among the
multitude, "and they did all eat, and were filled." I trust that many
of you, dear Friends, who are my associates in the Church of God, feel
this to be true in your own cases, as I am sure I must confess it to be
true in mine. To the glory of God's Grace I must give the testimony.
Our own God of blessing has blessed our families.
Certain Believers, however, spread joy through a large number of
families–not only those to which they belong according to the flesh,
but among all the families of Zion they scatter comfort! David, for
instance, when he went forth and smote the enemies of his nation,
caused great rejoicing in all the tabernacles of Israel. All the chosen
people shared in what the champion of the Lord had done. When any man
is blessed of God so that he can teach the Word, and preach it with
power, he sheds joy over all the families with which he comes in
contact. Aspire, dear Brothers, to shine widely, as a candle set upon a
candlestick gives light to all that are in the house! First, see to it
that you are truly saved, yourselves, then cry to the Lord for your own
kin and labor for them till they are all brought to the Redeemer's
feet!
And then let your light shine throughout the neighborhoods wherein you
dwell. It is a poor lamp which cannot be seen outside its own glass.
Shine down that street from which so few ever go up to the House of
God! Shine in that factory where the mass of the workers sit in
darkness! Shine in that bank where few of the clerks are walking in the
Light of God! Pray that you may be not merely night-lights to comfort
some one sick person, but like those new gas lamps which are placed at
the crossroads and make a grand illumination all round! It may be that
the Lord has placed you in a trying position on purpose that you may be
of more service than you could have been under more comfortable
circumstances. We ought to be happy to be where we can make others
happy. It should be our will to do the Lord's will by being useful to
our fellow men. We must not value our position according to the ease it
brings to us, or the respectability with which it surrounds us, but by
the opportunities which it affords for overcoming evil and promoting
good.
I think that many Christian people would be wise to hesitate before
they move from the place where they now are, even though it would be
very agreeable to them to live in a more reputable locality. I say that
they might hesitate to relocate because if they were gone, the very
Light of God in the place would be quenched and the hope of many poor
sinners would be removed. Salt can never do so much good in a box as it
can effect upon meat which otherwise would corrupt. A pilot on shore
may be very clever, but he cannot be useful unless he goes to sea. A
river is a blessing in England, but it is beyond measure prized in
Egypt or the Sudan. The Scriptures speak of "rivers of water in a dry
place." Let us pray that we may be such men and women that we may bless
our own households and then may be so located in Providence that, to
the utmost of our capacity, we may be channels of blessing to an
ever-widening circle of which we are the centers. Oh, for a share in
the benediction which fell on Abraham, "In blessing I will bless you."
And again, "I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall
be a blessing." And yet again, "And in your seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed."
We will now press more closely to the text and we notice in it, first,
that there is joy in the families of the righteous. The text says so
and experience and observation confirm it. And secondly, this joy
should be expressed. ' 'The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the
tabernacles of the righteous." Then, thirdly, this joy concerns what
the Lord has done. "The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The
right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does
valiantly."
I. First, there is JOY IN THE FAMILIES OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
Thank God that is divinely true. Once, Paradise was man's home and now,
to the good man, his home is Paradise. I may say that, to some extent,
this is in proportion to the salvation that is found in the family. If
one or two persons are converted out of a large family, it is a thing
for which to praise God, that He takes "one of a city and two of a
family," to bring them to Zion. Yet the joy will be rather a soft
melody than an exulting harmony. If the wife shall be converted as well
as the husband, what a comfort it is to them both! Now will two parts
of the music be taken up and the hymn will be more sweetly sung. If two
horses in a chariot pull together, how well it rolls along, but if one
backs and the other pulls, there will be discomfort, if not mischief. I
have seen two oxen in a yoke and I have marked how the true
yoke-fellows seek to accommodate each other, so as to lie down
together, rise together and move in step together. Where it is not so,
the pain and inconvenience make it hard plowing.
If the husband and the wife are both converted, a larger joy is yet
within their reach, for they will begin to pray for their children.
Those who are born to them will be their anxious care till they are
also born unto God. They will have great delight when one of their dear
ones says, "I have given my heart to Christ," and is able to express
his faith in Jesus and to give a reason for the hope that is in him. It
will further fill their cup of pleasure when another comes, saying, "I
would be numbered with Christ's flock." Many among us can say, "All my
children are children of God–they go with me from my table to the
Lord's Table. I have a church in my house and all my household are in
the Church." Here is a picture, a pattern, a paragon, a paradise! We
may say what a minister of Christ once said of his spiritual children,
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the Truth
of God." It is better, dear father, dear mother, that your boys and
girls should he heirs of God than that you should be able to make them
heirs of a vast estate! It is better that they should be good than
great. Better that they should be gracious than famous.
If they are married to Christ, you need not fret about finding them
husbands–and if they serve the Lord, you need not worry about their
businesses. While you live, they will be your comfort, and when you
die, you will leave them in better hands than your own! Their future is
well secured, since it is written, "Instead of your fathers shall be
your children, whom you may make princes in all the earth." I think it
is generally true that the joy in a family is very much in proportion
to the Grace which is in its members. Circumstances and peculiar trials
may cause exceptions to the rule, but in the main, it will hold good.
Seek, then, the salvation of the whole of your household!
Here it would be a sad omission if I did not say that it is a greater
joy when the saved circle includes not only the parents and the
children, but the servants, also. A gracious, faithful servant is a
great comfort. And to be surrounded by those who fear the Lord is one
of the choicest blessings of this mortal life. We ought not to be
content, so long as a single domestic in our house is unconverted. The
nurse-maid, the girl who comes in for part of the day, the boot-cleaner
and all who are employed occasionally for extra work should be thought
of by the mistress and the fellow servants. We should pray that all who
set their foot over our threshold may have a name and a place in the
house of our God. Why should it not be? May we not often chide
ourselves that we have been forgetful of those who minister to our
comfort? Oh, that all who serve us may serve God! May all who wait at
our table, eat bread in the Kingdom of our Father! And may all who
dwell under our roof have a place in the many mansions above!
Now we advance a step and remark that the joy which is here alluded to,
is mainly spiritual. To fear God tends to make a man happy in every
way–mentally, physically, socially, as well as spiritually. It is
light to the eyes, music to the ears and honey to the mouth. It is
universally a sweetener. The ordinary work of life runs easily when the
wheels are oiled with Divine Grace. It should be an ambition that our
house should be a temple, our meals sacraments, our garments vestments,
ourselves priests unto God and our whole life a sacrifice to His
praise. There are households where the Lord Jesus is the Master both of
master and servants–and the Holy Spirit is the presiding Spirit in the
whole economy of the house. Difficulties that disturb others never
occur there, for love prevents them. All are gracious. All are anxious
to be good, to do good and to get good. Consequently, jars and strifes
are unknown. Little differences are never allowed to grow into
disputes. Envying, bickering, clamor and evil speaking are put away.
Though these spring up even among those who are of the same kin, yet
gracious hearts will not tolerate their existence. Each pays due
consideration to each–proper places are kept according to New
Testament rule and the result is that the Angel of the Lord is in the
house, the devil sees the mark upon the door and dares not enter–
"Blessed is the man that fear
And delights in the Lord!
Wealth, the wealth which truly cheer,
God shall give him for reward.
And his children,
Shall be blest around his board." Yes, the chief joy in the tabernacles
of the righteous is a spiritual one! A joy of the father because he is
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. A joy of the mother
because she, too, has had her heart opened, like Lydia, to hear and to
receive the Word. A joy of the dear children as they offer their little
prayers and as they talk of Jesus, whom their soul loves. I do not know
that I ever have a greater joy than when, sometimes, I have to receive
a whole family into the Church! Five came to see me at one time, from
one house–quite a company of boys and girls. It is delightful to see
our beloved offspring early in life giving their hearts to the Lord!
Happy mothers, happy fathers, happy brothers, happy sisters where the
Lord works so graciously! May you long continue to praise and bless His
name for this singular blessing, if you are partakers in it! I know
none of my father's family, or of my own, who are unsaved and,
therefore, I can lead you in the song!
This kind ofjoy, while it is spiritual, is not dependent upon external
circumstances. It hangs not on wealth or honor. The joy of the Lord
will be found in the palace of a prince, if the Grace of God is there,
but far more often it flourishes in humble cottages and lowly rooms
where Christian men are dwelling who toil hard for a livelihood and
often feel the pinch of poverty. They said of old that philosophers
could be merry without music and I am sure that it is still truer of
Christians that they can be happy in the Lord when temporal
circumstances are against them. Our bells need no silken ropes to set
them ringing, neither must they be hung in lofty towers! If our joy
depended upon heaping together gold and silver, or upon the health and
strength of all the members of our family, or upon our rank and
pedigree, we might go to our beds weeping and awake in the morning
blinded with tears. But as our joy springs from another well and the
precious drops of it distil from a purer fountain, whose streams flow
both in summer and winter, we can bless God for a constancy of
satisfaction! Steady is that flame of joy which burns in the
tabernacles of the righteous, for it is fed with holy oil. God grant
that we may never dim its luster by family sins towards God, or by
negligence in our duties to one another–but may the sacred lamp of
holy joy continually shed its radiance upon us from generation to
generation! May it be said of our habitation, "Jehovah Shammah"–"the
Lord is there."
I heard of a wealthy man who had a large number of houses in various
places. He owned a fine estate in the country, surrounding a
magnificent mansion. He kept up an establishment at the West-End, a
retreat by the seaside and a shooting-box in the Highlands–and he
would often travel on the Continent. He wandered from house to house
and was never known to stop more than a few weeks in any one residence.
He told a friend that he was trying to find peace of mind in some one
or other of his houses. What a vain quest! He might as soon have found
the philosopher's stone, or the universal solvent! I have known many
persons who had only one room and that but poorly furnished, yet they
found peace of mind there because they carried it about with them!
Happy is the man who wears the emerald of peace upon his bosom, even
though it is not set in gold. Blessed are they whose peace is like a
river, having a source far away in the hills and a stream clear as
crystal, continuous, ever-deepening, ever-widening, moving silently
onward toward the ocean of boundless happiness! Yes, it is not wherewe
are, but whatwe are. And it is not what we have, but where we have
it–whether we have it in ourselves or in our God–that proves whether
we are truly blessed. Peace is the best possession for an individual,
the richest estate for a family and the fairest legacy for descendants.
Where the salvation of our Lord Jesus comes, peace and joy are sure
attendants! Therefore is it said in our text that "the voice of
rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous." Made
righteous in character, we may more than ever feel the temporary nature
of our earthly sojourn and so may dwell rather in tabernacles than in
mansions. But we are honored by the companionship of these two heavenly
guests–salvation and joy–and, therefore, we envy no Caesar on the
Palatine Mount, no monarch in his palace of marble!
Christian joy, whether in the individual or the family, can be
abundantly justified. Believers can always give a reason for the joy
which is in them. As Christian households, why should we not be glad in
the Lord? If God is pleased with us, we may well be pleased with Him.
If the Lord rejoices over us, ought we not to rejoice in that fact? God
Himself calls us a happy people–let us not live as if we would falsify
His Word. See, my Brothers and Sisters, whatever your temporal troubles
may be, all things are working together for your good–may you not,
therefore, rejoice evermore? Though every drug that is put into the
mixture may be bitter, yet the whole potion is salutary. Though each
event may seem to be against you, yet the whole course of Providence is
for you in a Divinely wise and gracious manner. Nothing occurs in your
family history, whether of birth or death, of coming or departure, of
loss or of gain, ofjoy or of sorrow, of sickness or of health, but what
shall produce, in the end, the highest good! Judge not each wheel, but
watch the outcome of the whole machinery. To me, it is a happy thought
that not a grain of dust in the March winds, nor a drop of rain in the
April showers, is left to chance, but the hand of the Lord directs all!
And therefore I am confident that neither in the little nor in the
great shall anything really harm the man who dwells under the
protection of the Most High.
Beside this, we rejoice in forgiven sin. This is the first blessing of
which David sings in the 103rd Psalm and it is the preparation for all
the rest. If sin is pardoned, all bitterness is past, for this is the
real wormwood and gall of life. Now that Goliath of Gath is smitten in
the forehead, the rest of the Philistines are of small account. When
sin is gone, the black cloud which threatened an eternal tempest is
removed and the sun scatters the rest of the clouds as it disperses the
morning mist. Even death has lost its dread when sin is gone–it is a
bee without a sting and we look to find honey near it! If it comes into
the house and takes away our dear ones, they are with Christ, which is
far better! And when it bears us away, our death will be gain, for, "so
shall we ever be with the Lord." As the whole of life receives another
color when sin is pardoned, so does Death, itself, look otherwise to
the Believer in Jesus! That solemn business is so altered that we may
even–
"Long for evening to undress, That we may rest with God."
What is there on earth to trouble you who fear God? "Why," you say, "we
could tell you of a thousand trials!" Yes, but when you had done, I
would tell you that there was no ground for being troubled about any
one of them, for it is written, "No weapon that is formed against you
shall prosper." "No good thing will he withheld from them that walk
uprightly." And again, "All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or to
come; all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." "They
are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with
them." Therefore, let us take care that we are not as the Egyptians
when they shivered in the darkness which might be felt, but rather as
the people were in the days of Solomon, when they ate and drank and
made merry, and peace was without end.
I would ask any of you young people who are newly-married and just
starting in life, how can you expect happiness unless you seek it in
God? You have given your hearts to one another–oh, that you had given
your hearts to Christ as well–for then you would be joined in One from
whom you can never be separated! If you are one in Christ, you will
have surer grounds of union than natural affection can afford. There
will be a brief separation of the body when one of you is taken Home,
but you will meet again and dwell forever in the same Heaven. Unions in
the Lord are unions which have the blessing of the Lord. See to it that
you begin as you mean to go on, namely, with that blessing which makes
rich and brings no sorrow with it. If your home is to be happy, if the
children that God may give you are to be your comfort and your delight,
first let your own souls be right with God. If the Lord is the God of
the parents, he will be the God of their seed. The God of Abraham will
be the God of Isaac and He will be the God of Jacob, and He will be the
God of Joseph, for He keeps His faithfulness from generation to
generation of them that love Him. He does not cast off His people, nor
their children, either. If you are an Ishmael, what will your children
be? If you are far from God, how can you hope that your posterity will
be near to Him?
To return to my first point, the people of God are a happy people and
their families are happy families. If I have any Christian person here
who complains, "I am not happy at home," I would like to inquire, "Is
that your own fault, dear Friend?" No, do not be angry, I am bound to
ask the question, for I often find that those who complain of
unhappiness in their own homes are the main cause of that unhappiness!
Most creatures see according to their nature and men often get into
their bosoms what they measure out to others. When I meet a man who
cries, "There is no love in the Church," you may turn that expression
into plain English and read it thus, "There is no love in me." When a
person says, "Everybody at my home is wrong except myself," you feel
sure that he has kept his eyes open to the faults of others, but has
never really seen himself! If you wear colored spectacles, all things
around you will be colored.
"Alas," cries another, "I am not happy, though I long to be so." Do you
know, dear Friend, the secret of obtaining happiness? The answer is
very simple–do not attempt to make yourselfhappy, but endeavor to make
others so. Be cheerful and cheer those about you. I bless God that I
never fell into the delusion that there is virtue in a rueful
countenance. Some may think it well to be "miserable sinners," but
surely it is better to be happy saints! Carry sunshine about with you
in all ill-weather. Do not think that in godliness, drive will be equal
to draw. A frown may benefit a few, a smile will influence more. A
famous French statesman had such a dreadful countenance that a boy once
asked him whether his face did not hurt him. Surely some very "proper"
people might be asked the same question, for they habitually wear such
gloom about them that one would think that all was night within! Let it
not be so with us, but let the light of the love of God be round about
our path causing flowers of cheerfulness to spring up on every side!
There are enough weeping willows by all our streams–I would they were
full of water-lilies. More Grace would enable us to glory more in the
Lord and rejoice with more constant joy. So much for our first
witness–there is joy in the families of the righteous.
II. Secondly, THIS JOY SHOULD BE EXPRESSED–"The voice of rejoicing and
salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous."
We should put a tongue in our joys and let them speak! The voice should
be heard daily, from morn till eve, and till the silence of sleep
steals over all. But it should never fail to sound forth in the daily
gatherings for family prayer I t should be a happy occasion when we
meet to read the Word of God and to pray together. It is well if we can
also sing at such times. Matthew Henry says, concerning family prayer,
"They that pray do well. They that pray and read the Scriptures do
better. They that pray, read the Scriptures and sing a hymn, do best of
all." Herein he was wise and gracious as usual. I wish that his words
received more attention. If you cannot compass the last of the three
good things, mix the praise with your prayer by making it more full
ofjoy and thankfulness than is usual. Never let the domestic devotion
degenerate into a dull formality, but throw a hearty living delight
into it, so that there shall be joy in drawing near unto the Lord and
not a weariness. Where there is no family prayer, we cannot expect the
children to grow up in the fear of the Lord–neither can the household
look for happiness.
Perhaps some of you have not begun family prayer, for you have only
lately been converted. Commence it at once, if possible. Let not this
day end without an attempt at it. But I hear a man say, "I never did
pray aloud." Then begin at once, my Brother. "But I am afraid." Are you
afraid of your wife? That assuredly is a great pity–I am very sorry
for your manhood, for she is the last woman of whom you should be
afraid! "Oh, but I should break down!" That might be no great
calamity–a break-down prayer is often the best form of supplication.
May not this objection arise from pride? You do not like to pray before
your family unless you can do it well and so receive their approbation.
Shake off this spirit and think only of God, to whom you are to speak!
Language will follow desire and before long you will have to be more
afraid of your fluency than of your brevity. Only break the ice! Pray
the Lord Jesus to cast out the dumb spirit and He will set you free
from its power. If the husband will not lead the devotion, let the wife
do it, but let no day pass without family prayer–a house without it is
without a roof–a day without it is without a blessing!
Do you say to me, "Alas, dear Sir, my husband is not converted"? Then,
my dear Sister, endeavor to have prayer with the children and pray,
yourself. I remember, when my father was absent preaching the Gospel,
my mother always filled his place at the family altar, and in my own
family, if I have been absent, and my dear wife has been ill, my sons,
while yet boys, would not hesitate to read the Scriptures and pray. We
could not have a house without prayer–that would be heathenish or
atheistic!
There will be frequent occasions for holy joy in all Christian families
and these ought always to be used right heartily. Holy joy breeds no
ill, however much we have of it. You can easily eat too much honey, but
you can never enjoy too much delight in God. Birthdays and
anniversaries of all sorts, with family meetings of various kinds,
should find us setting life to music right heartily. Moreover, it would
be well if our houses more generally resounded with song. It drives
dull care away, it wards off evil thoughts, it tends to a general
exultation, for the members of a household to be accustomed
individually and collectively to sing. Of course, there must be common
sense in this as in all other things, but as worldlings are able to
sing songs, we might, with no more difficulty, sing Psalms. I have
known some very happy people who were always humming Psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs. I knew a servant who would sing when washing and she
said it made the work grow lighter. It is a capital thing to sing when
you are at work. Keep on "tooting" a little, if you cannot sing–that
is a word I got from an old Primitive Methodist. I used to meet him in
the morning. He was toot– toot–toot–tooting as he went along the
road. When he was at work in the field, it was just the same. I asked
him what made him always sing. He replied, "Well, I don't call it
singing, it is only tooting–but it is singing to me, it is singing in
my heart. I sing in this fashion because I feel so happy in the Lord.
God has saved me and put me on the road to Heaven, why should I not
sing?" What a noise we sometimes hear from the wicked when they are
serving their god! They make night hideous with their songs, and
shouts, and blasphemies! Then why should not we make a joyful noise
unto the Lord our God? I recommend you to try, in your own houses, to
literally Praise the Lord with your voices in holy song.
If you really cannot sing at all, yet the voice of rejoicing and
salvation may be in your tabernacles by a constant cheerfulness,
bearing up under rain and poverty, losses and crosses. Do not be cast
down, beloved child of God, or, if you are, chide yourself about it and
say, "Why are you cast down, O my Soul? And why are you disquieted in
me? Hope you in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His
Countenance." Joy is the normal condition of a Christian. When he is
what he should be, his heart rejoices in the Lord. Does not the
Apostolic command run thus, "Rejoice in the Lord always"? If you ever
get outside that word, "always," then you may leave off rejoicing–but
that you cannot do! Therefore obey Paul's injunction, "Rejoice in the
Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." Heap the joys, one on top of
the other– joy and rejoice–and then rejoice yet again!–
"Why should the children of a King Go mourning all their days?"
Why should not the children of the King of Kings go rejoicing all their
days and express their joy so that others shall know of it, too?
Ah, dear Friends, if we were to go into some people's houses where God
is not known, we would hear a very different sound from the voice of
rejoicing and salvation! There is the drunk's horrible voice that
grates upon the ear of her whom he promised to love and cherish, but
whose life he makes unutterably miserable, while even the little
children run upstairs to get out of the drinking father's way! It is an
awful thing when a house is like that and there is many a house of that
kind. And in other places, where there is no drunkenness, there is many
a man without the fear of God who comes in and blusters and bullies as
if everybody had to be his slave. There is a woman, perhaps, who is a
careless and dirty, making the home wretched through her gossip and
idleness–and driving all idea of happiness far away. These things
ought not to be and they must not be. God grant that your house may not
be like that, but may whoever comes into your house be compelled to
know that God is there–and to know it mainly by the fact that you are
a happy, joyful, cheerful, thankful
Christian, speaking well of God's name and not ashamed in any company
to avow that you are a soldier of the Cross, a follower of the Lamb!
God give you more and more of this spirit in all your households! The
whole Church shall be blessed when every family is thus made happy in
the Lord and in His great salvation.
III. I close by briefly noticing that this joy of holy households IS A
JOY CONCERNING WHAT THE LORD HAS
DONE.
You see, dear Friends, that I have a text which is too large to be
handled in one sermon, so we must have the remainder another day. But I
must ask you to notice the song the holy households sing. It is
this–"The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the
Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly." It is a
threefold strain–we and our children have learned to bless the Triune
God. "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without
end! Amen."
How we should joy in God, in our families, when we think of all that He
has done in conquering sin and Satan, death and Hell! Christ has led
captivity captive. Therefore let us sing unto the Lord, for He has
triumphed gloriously. In that great victory of His upon the Cross,
truly the right hand of the Lord was exalted, the right hand of
Jehovah-Jesus did valiantly on our behalf–and for that we ought to
forever be glad and to praise His name!
Then let us think of what the Lord has done for each one of us
individually. We were captives under the dominion of sin and Satan, but
He brought us out with a strong hand and with a stretched-out arm, even
as He delivered Israel from the Egyptians. Then our sins pursued us and
we were ready to despair–but the Lord again worked our deliverance and
plucked us from the hands of our mighty foes and set us gloriously at
liberty! Truly, "the right hand of the Lord does valiantly."
Since then, the Lord has helped us in Providence and delivered us from
fierce temptations and made us to stand steadfastly when the adversary
has thrust at us that we might fall. "The right hand of the Lord is
exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly." As I look back
upon my own life, I never know where to begin in praising God and, when
I begin, I am sure I do not know where to leave off. "O my Soul, you
have trodden down strength!" In your case, also, dear Friend, the right
hand of the Lord has been exalted in giving you strength in the midst
of weakness and helping you in spite of your many falls and failures.
Can not you, each one, in your separate sphere see something that the
right hand of the Lord is doing for you? Do you not, therefore, think
that your families ought to ring with joyous songs of thanksgiving?
When the work of the Lord is prospering, when you go home from a Church
meeting after many have confessed their faith in Christ. When you see
the pool of Baptism stirred by many who have come to be symbolically
buried with Christ. When you see the Church breaking out on the right
hand and on the left, new mission stations and Sunday schools being
opened, and more workers busy for the Master, should not your hearts
dance for joy as you sing, "The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does
valiantly"?
And when you see great sinners converted, when the drunk leaves his
cups, when the swearer washes out his filthy mouth and sings the
praises of God. When a hardened, irreligious, skeptical man bows like a
child at Jesus' feet, should not our families, as well as ourselves, be
made acquainted with it, and should it not be a subject for joy at the
family altar? I am sure that it should be! And when you hear the
missionaries reporting their success. When the heathen turn to the Lord
and the nations begin to receive the Light of Christ, should we not,
then, have a high day of jubilee and say, "This is the day which the
Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it"? I want our families
to participate more and more in the joy of the great family of God till
our little families melt into the one great family in Heaven and earth,
till our separate tribes become part of the one great Israel of God,
till we and all our kith and kin are one body in Christ and praise that
Lord who is our glorious Head!
Ah, dear Friends, but we must each one begin by exercising personal
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Some who are here do not yet know the
Lord. You cannot make other people happy while you are, yourself,
without the true secret of happiness! Yet you wish to be a fountain of
blessedness to others, do you not? You do not desire to do them harm,
do you? Yet you good moral people who do not yield your hearts to God
do a great deal of mischief if your conduct leads other people to say,
"It is quite enough to be moral and upright–there is no need for us to
go to Christ, to confess our sins and to receive from Him a new heart
and a right spirit." You make them talk thus by setting them such an
evil example!
As for you who go in and out of the House of Prayer by the year
together and scarcely ask a blessing upon your meals, much less call
your children to your knee to tell them about Christ, remember that you
will have to meet those children at the Day of Judgment. What will they
say to you parents if you neglect their souls? You work very hard,
perhaps, to earn their daily bread and to put clothes on their backs,
and you love them very much, but that is a poor love which loves only
the body and does not love the real child, the soul that is within! If,
in the middle of the night, someone woke you up and said, "Your Johnny
is not at home," there would be a stir in the house pretty quickly!
There would be no sleep for you if little Johnny was out in the cold. I
wish that I could wake up some of you parents who are saved, but who
have children who are not converted. Pray that they may be saved before
they leave your roof!
The other day I saw a woman who came to join the Church and her great
sorrow was that her children were all ungodly and she could not speak
to them, now, as once she might have done when they were in her own
house. She never sought their salvation, then, and that time was over,
for they were men and women grown up and they paid but little respect
to a mother's word. I always like to hear what two children told me
only a fortnight ago. One said, "I found peace at my mother's knee,"
and the next one said, "I found peace with God at my mother's knee." A
mother's knee is a charming place for a child to find the Savior–let
your knees be thus consecrated till your children shall there draw near
unto God! Will you not take them individually and pray with them, and
speak to them about their souls? If you do, I think that I can venture
to promise you that you shall succeed in almost every case!
Whenever I hear of the children of good people turning out badly, if
ever I have had an opportunity of searching into the cause, there has
generally been a good reason for it. I heard of a minister's sons who
were all bad fellows, but when I began to look into the life of the
family, I wondered how that minister dared enter the pulpit at all, for
his own character was not such as would be likely to lead his children
to the Savior! It may not be so in every case, but I believe that where
there is family prayer and a happy home, and a holy example, and much
earnest supplication with and for the children, Solomon's declaration
is still true, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he
is old, he will not depart from it."
O dear Friends, may my text come true to all of you! The Lord grant it,
for Jesus' sake! Amen.