The Blessings Of Following On

DELIVERED BY

C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth
is prepared as the morning, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as
the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3.

I MUST first remove the moldy piece from the text, and that is the
word, "if," which has no sort of business here whatever. You notice
that the translators put it in italics, to intimate to us that it was
no Word of God, but one of their own words which they thought necessary
to complete the sense. We might read–and we should, to be far nearer
the sense–"Then shall we know when we follow on to know the Lord." Or,
perhaps, better still, "We shall know: we shall follow on to know the
Lord," for there is no trace of question in the matter, and no
indication of an, "if." We will cut out man's, "if," and then take the
text as it should have been–"Then shall we know when we follow on to
know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning."

I continually hear it said concerning those who have been converted, or
profess to have been converted of late, "We hope they will hold on." I
wish people would speak what they mean and not veil their speech, for
the plain English of that expression frequently is, "We do not believe
that they will hold on." "We hope they will," means, "We do not expect
it." One thing is quite certain, however–those who are truly converted
to God can be safely left in God's hands. If they have, indeed,
believed in Jesus Christ–in Jesus only, with all their hearts–their
salvation is as sure as if they were already within the gates of
Paradise! The Redeemer will not suffer any soul to perish trusting in
Him–

"His honor is engaged to save

The meanest of His sheep,

All that His heavenly Father ga ve,

His hands securely keep.

Nor death, nor Hell, shall ever remove

His favorites from His breast,

In the dear bosom of His lo ve

They must forever rest."

Question whether it is a work of Grace if you will, though I would much
rather the questioning spirit were laid aside. But if it is the Lord's
work, it will stand, for neither time nor eternity, nor life nor death,
shall ever cast down that which Divine Omnipotence builds up! Jehovah
puts not His hands to a work which shall ultimately crumble into
nothingness! My dear young Friends, if you have believed in Jesus and
are tormented by these quibblers, with their pretended hopes as to your
holding on, I beseech you, be in earnest to disappoint the fears of
your friends and the expectations of your foes, by living near to God,
by asking for persevering Grace, by watching carefully every step you
take and by guarding jealously, by the aid of the blessed Spirit, your
own hearts in private, lest by any means the enemy get an advantage
over you.

Let it be the great object of your ambition that you may hold on and
hold out to the end–and so prove that the Lord has, indeed, looked
upon you with an eye of love. There is a sweet verse in one of our
hymns which I commend to you who are beginners in the Divine Life–

"We ha ve no fear that You should lose

One whom eternal love could choose;

But we would never that Grace abuse,

Let us not fall, let us not fall."

The first part of the text meets all doubts about perseverance in
Divine Grace and the second comforts souls distressed for another
reason. While some young Christians are troubled about whether they
shall hold on, others are very much exercised because of the
slenderness of their knowledge. They compare themselves with older
Christians and they say, "How

can I be a child of God when I know so little?" They even contrast
themselves with their teachers and because they, as they might
naturally expect, are somewhat behind them, they conclude that surely
they cannot have been taught of God at all!

I beseech these friends to remember that the green blade has not the
ripeness of the full ear, nor can it expect to have as yet–that the
child has not the experience nor the strength of the man, nor can he
expect to have as yet–that the early morning has not the warmth of
noon, nor can we expect it should have. It has its own peculiar
beauties, though it has not yet the full glory of meridian splendor.
There is a growth in the Divine Life. You do not know what you shall
know, you are not what you shall be, you have not yet what you shall
have, you do not enjoy what you shall enjoy. But these are among the
things to come which are yours.

I begin, therefore, the handling of my text with this double
remark–let not the fears of some that you will not hold on disturb
you, rather let them excite you to lean more fully upon Christ. And let
not your own consciousness of ignorance depress you–let that, also,
lead you nearer to the Savior, who alone teaches us to profit. In our
text there are three points. The first is, our business–"Follow on to
know." The second is, God's promise–"Then shall you know." And the
third is, the modes by which this promise is fulfilled–"His going
forth is prepared as the morning, and He shall come unto us as the
rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."

I. First, then, here is OUR BUSINESS. It is to follow on to know the
Lord. And that implies, first, that we begin with knowing the Lord. You
cannot follow on with that which you have not commenced. There is a
religiousness which contains in it no knowledge of God whatever. Beware
of it! The religion which consists only in the knowledge of outward
rites and ceremonies, or the knowledge of orthodoxies, the knowledge of
doctrinal distinctions, the knowledge of religious language and brogues
and experiences or the knowledge of popular hymns–that religion is
vain. There must be a knowledge of God!

And, mark you, if you know God, you will think very little of yourself.
He who knows not God thinks man a noble being–he who has seen God
thinks man to be dust and ashes. He who knows not God's holiness thinks
himself to be a good creature, but when he sees a thrice-holy God he
says, "I abhor myself." He who knows not God thinks man to be a
wonderful being, able to accomplish whatever he wills. But in the sight
of God, human strength is burned up and man becomes lighter than
vanity. Do you know God? O my dear Hearer, do you know God in the
majesty of His Justice as condemning your sin and you for sin?

Do you know God in the splendor of His Love, as giving Jesus Christ to
die for sinners, blending that Love with Justice–for Love gave Jesus
and Justice slew Him? Do you know God in the fullness of His power to
save, renewing the heart, changing the mind, subduing the will? Do you
know Him, even, in this which is, comparatively, a slender branch of
knowledge? If you do, you have begun to know Him and you have begun to
know yourself, too, for he knows not himself who does not know
something of God. Oh, to know the Father as my Father who has kissed me
and put the best robe upon me! Oh, to know the Son as my Brother, in
whose garments I am accepted and stand comely in the sight of God! Oh,
to know the Spirit as the Quickener and the Divine Indweller and
Illuminator, by whose light, alone, we see, and in whose life we live!

To know the Lord–that is true religion! And I say again, any religion,
whatever it is–Churchianity or Nonconformity, or whatever you like–if
it does not lead you to know God, it is of no use whatever. The
knowledge of God is the basis of all saving experience. "The fear of
God is the beginning of wisdom." "Acquaint yourself, now, with Him and
be at peace." This is the one great business of human life–to know the
Lord. And next, our business is to advance in this knowledge. We must
shut out of our minds all ideas that we fully know the Lord, for the
text says, "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know." Now a man
will never follow on if he judges that he has reached the end! If he
comes to the conclusion, "I know the Lord. I know all about Him. I know
all that is knowable"–that man will not follow on and, therefore, I am
afraid that he will never know the Lord at all.

I trembled for a very beloved Brother the other day when I heard that
he had declared that he could not sing "Nearer my God, to You," for he
was already as near to God as it was possible to be. Brothers and
Sisters, my soul feels a horror creeping over it when such expressions
are used! And more so when they fall from those I love. I know nothing
about such talk as that–it seems to me to be sheer vanity! I think I
know the Lord–no, I know that I know Him. I have been favored with His
Presence and have enjoyed a very clear sense of my acceptance in the
Beloved, but to suppose that I know

all that is to be known, or that I possess, in myself, all the holiness
that a creature can attain this side of the grave, is as far from me as
the east is from the west!

I growingly feel my unworthiness–I sink lower and lower in my own
judgement. I was nothing and now I am less than nothing. I do not know
the Lord as I hope to know Him. I would have you remember that the
Apostle Paul said that he desired to know Christ. If you look at the
Epistle to the Philippians, which contains that wish, you will find
that it was written by Paul at least 20 years after he had been
converted! He had enjoyed 20 years of walking very near to God and of
very marvelous Revelations–20 years of very successful working for
God, such as, perhaps, were never accorded to any other man–and yet he
still aspires, "That I may know Him." What? Paul, do you not know Him?
"Oh, yes," he would reply, "I know Him so sweetly, so blessedly, but I
would wish to know Him better still. The more I know Him, the more I
find there is yet to be known. He is such a deep of Love! He is such a
mountain of Mercy that as I dive deeper, a further deep opens up to me!
And as I climb higher, a loftier peak towers above me."

Dear Hearer, if you think you can never be better than you are, I do
not think you ever will be. Self-contentment is the end of progress!
When you have attained, why, what remains for you but to rest and be
thankful, and do a little pious boasting? I do not believe you if you
say you have got to the ultimatum. As long as you are this side of
Heaven there will be room for progress and something yet beyond you
after which you will labor. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to
know." You will still have to press forward and the exhortation will
still sound in your ears–

"Forget the steps already trod, And onward urge your way."

Not as though you had already attained, either were already perfect,
this one thing you do, forgetting the things that are behind, press
forward, still looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.
Our business, then, is to begin with the knowledge of God, to press
forward in the knowledge of God, and not to flatter ourselves into the
idea that we have no more to learn.

Another thought. Our business is to continue in what we know. There are
some persons who are everything by turns and nothing long. They say
that they have begun to know the Lord in the right way, but very soon
you find them following another route. A tree which is often
transplanted is not likely to bring forth much fruit. The vessel which
changes its course because its captain is full of caprice, is not
likely to make headway to any desired haven. Brethren, in whatever you
have attained, mind the same thing–rush not after novelties, as
certain vagrant bands in this city are always doing. If you have begun
in the Spirit, do not hope to be made perfect in the flesh! If all that
you have already known concerning your Lord has come to you by faith,
do not expect the rest of it to come by feeling.

Some Christians seem to live by jerks. They live as bankrupt sinners,
dependent upon the mercy of God–and then they get encouraged, and set
up to live as saints rolling in riches of realized sanctification. But
before long they are insolvent again, and no wonder, for this sort of
paper money generally leads to a collapse. Keep to the one point–"I am
nothing. Christ is everything. I am sin. He is my righteousness. I am
death. He is my life. I look to Him for everything. I trust not in
excitement or feeling, or attainments, or graces, or works–I rely on
Jesus only." Brothers and Sisters, that is the fight path to follow.
Follow on! Turn not to the right hand or to the left. Your hope of
knowing more of Divine things must lie in your persevering in this
course.

But take care that you persevere eagerly. I find the Hebrew here is
strong enough to bear to be translated, "Then shall you know if you
eagerly follow on to know the Lord." The knowledge of God is not to be
attained, certainly no great proficiency in it is to be attained,
without an intense desire. Even to obtain human knowledge, a man
separates himself and engages in much study which is "a weariness of
the flesh." If we would know God it will not be by trifling over His
Word, nor by neglecting the assembling of ourselves together, nor by
slighting the Mercy Seat, or neglecting private meditation. There must
be a keen scent and an eager pursuit, as when the hound pursues the
stag, for we cannot know much of God so as to feel His going forth as
the morning and His refreshing as the dew, except our heart thirsts
after God as the hart thirsts for the water brooks.

Let me urge you, newly-converted ones, to be very diligent in searching
the Word of God! Be much in attendance upon the means of Grace, but,
especially, be much with God privately, holding personal communion
alone with God. You may learn something of a person by reading his
books. You may get a better idea of him by hearing him speak. But if
you want to know him best, you must live with him. Even so you may know
much of God from His Word and much from

the speech of His servants. But if you want to really know Him, you
must abide with Him in habitual communion. I urge this upon you–then
shall you know Him, when, in this manner, you follow on to know the
Lord.

Once more. Our business is to be receptive. If we are to know the Lord
we must follow on to know the Lord by being willing to learn. Notice
that the text says, "He shall come unto us as the rain." Now, the earth
drinks in the rain. That portion of the soil which repels the rain–the
rock, which turns it off from its surface–cannot be blessed thereby.
It is a great blessing to have a soul capable of receiving Divine
Truth. Alas, there are some who have heard the Gospel so long that they
have almost become Grace-resistant! I have seen a new tent, when a
shower has come on, let in the wet in a hundred places. But, after a
while, when the canvas has been well swollen with the rain, it has
become waterproof and not a drop has come through.

Certain hearers seem to be so saturated with the rain of the Word that
they are Gospelproof! The heavenly moisture does not penetrate them.
They hear, but hear in vain–insensible as steel. Open your breasts to
Christ whenever He comes! Let the gates of your heart be set wide open,
that He may enter. Let him not knock, and knock, and knock again in
vain! When Jesus of Nazareth passes by, let Him see that there is an
open door to your house, so that if, today, He must abide in your
house, He may come in and welcome. The Lord opens the door of our
hearts like that of Lydia, "whose heart the Lord opened." Prejudice
often shuts out the Word–some people do not know the Lord, or much
about Him, because they do not want to know. Certain points of God's
Truth would disturb what they call their, "settled views," and
therefore they wear blinkers for fear of seeing too much.

Happy is that man who wants to find Truth wherever it may be and is
glad to discover and amend his errors, because his heart is set upon
being right before the Lord! He longs to follow the Lord fully, as
Caleb did of old. Here, then, Beloved, is our business. May Grace be
given to us to attend to it–to know the Lord to begin with, to exclude
all idea that there is nothing further to know, to continue in what is
known, to persevere eagerly in the endeavor to know more–and to daily
be receptive of Divine influences.

II. Now, secondly, we have GOD'S PROMISE–"Then shall we know, if we
follow on to know the Lord." You shall know, young Friend! God says
that you shall know! What will you know? Why, you will know, when you
follow on to know the Lord, more about the past. Take the text in its
connection. You observe that it details the experience–the very
perplexing experience–of a quickened soul. "He has torn and He will
heal; He has smitten and He will heal us up; after two days He will
revive us," and so on.

Now, you do not know, perhaps, at this time, what your present
experience means. You thought that as soon as you believed in Jesus you
would have perfect peace and joy–and that your delight would never
depart from you. You have heard others sing, "Oh, happy days," and you
have sung it yourself. But just now you do not feel at all as happy as
you hoped to be. On the contrary, you feel very miserable because you
have found out that the devil is not dead–and that your sins are not
dead–and that outside in the world, people do not look upon you with
any greater love because you are a Christian. In fact, on the contrary,
they oppose you! Some of your dearest relatives even scoff at you for
loving the name of Jesus! And you are a good deal staggered by their
opposition.

Besides, you do not enjoy prayer as you did at first and the Bible,
itself, scarcely seems to glitter before your eyes as in your first
love. And even the sermons, which seemed to be so very sweet, appear
somehow to have become sharp and cutting to you. Well, you will
understand all this by-and-by. When we are very little, our mothers
carry us in their arms. But when we get a little bigger they set us on
our own feet. It is natural that the child that has to walk alone
should, when weary, regret that the time is over when it lay so closely
in its mother's bosom. Yet it is good for the babe to try its own
feet–good for it to tumble down and know its own weakness–or else it
might always be helpless. Many things in the beginning of Christian
life are very pleasant and delightful, but trials come in due time to
exercise our graces that we may be no longer children.

We do not understand this at the time and to the raw recruit I would
say, do not wish to understand it now! You shall understand it when you
follow on to know the Lord. Leave your experience to God. Believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and hang on to that–and when you cannot
comprehend your own feelings, and your religion all seems to be in a
tangle, never mind–hold on to the Cross and sing–

"I, the chief of sinners, am, But Jesus died for me."

Stand to that! Rest in the precious blood once shed for many for the
remission of sins and, by-and-by, you shall know all about the winding
experiences through which you are now going. Then shall you know, when
you follow on to know the Lord.

Beloved, the text means not only that we shall know about the past, but
as we follow on to know the Lord we shall know in the present the sweet
things of the Gospel and the enjoyments which are stored up for the
Lord's people. "Eye has not seen, neither has ear heard, the things
which God has prepared for them that love Him; but He has revealed them
unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the
deep things of God." You will not know the choice things which God has
prepared for His people except as, by degrees, the Spirit of God
reveals them to you. Press on to know more of God!

I know it sometimes puzzles you to hear us talk of election. You cannot
quite understand the Doctrine of Eternal Love which had no beginning
and never shall have an end–of Immutable Love which neither shifts nor
changes, of vital union to Christ–Justification through Imputed
Righteousness, and the like. Very well, we will not trouble you with
high sounding terms and theological phrases. But as you follow on to
know the Lord you will know the deep things of God. Continue to follow
on to know more about Christ. Stick to the one desire–to know more
about Him–and you will find your way through difficulties.

As in a maze, if you follow the clue, you will get to the center of it.
Christ is the clue to all Gospel mysteries–follow that silken clue
stained with scarlet and you will arrive at all those precious Truths
of God one by one and have the present enjoyment of them as God shall
see that you are able to bear them. He deals with us in much prudence
and according as our strength is, so does He reveal these choice things
to us. "You cannot bear them now," said Christ concerning certain
Truths which He would gladly have taught to His disciples. So you
beginners cannot bear the higher doctrines, now, and if we were to
preach them to you we should stagger you, but you will bear them soon.
No, you will love them soon and, whereas they may seem bugbears to you
tonight, the day shall come when you shall bless God that ever He
revealed them in Scripture and you will be prepared to die in defense
of them!

Beloved Christian Friends, those of you who have gone to greater
lengths than others in Divine knowledge may well take this promise to
yourselves as to the future–"Then shall we know, if we follow on to
know the Lord." We know something of our Lord's love and faithfulness,
and truth and power to save. We know the Covenant of Grace and we have
seen something of its lengths and breadths and depths and heights. But
we are conscious that we have no more fully understood the boundless
Love and Grace than the child who takes up a handful of water from the
sea has held the Atlantic in his palm! But we shall know, we shall
know! We shall know more and more and more, and especially we shall
know more as we get nearer to Heaven.

That land Beulah teaches very much. Saints grow speedily wise in that
region where the angels bring bundles of spices from the other side of
the river–and stray notes from the harps of angels are borne on
favoring breezes to the blessed ears of God's beloved ones who are
waiting to be called away. We shall know. All that has been revealed to
the saints shall be revealed to us when we follow on to know the Lord.
Their rapturous enjoyments when they have been overcome with Divine
Love –we shall drink of those wines on the lees, well refined. Their
confident assurance when they were as certain of their interest in
Divine Love as of their own existence–we shall climb to that and stand
upon our high places, too. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know
the Lord."

Oh, Brothers and Sisters, can you guess what yet is to be revealed to
you? Could you have imagined at the outset of the Christian life that
you would, or could have had such confidence and rest and peace as you
have now? I ask those of you who have had many trials and have been
rooted and established in the faith–could you have thought it possible
that you would have had such a grip and hold on Christ as you now have?
Perhaps you were, for many years, under a misty, cloudy ministry–and
yourselves in a sort of semi-darkness, "not light, but darkness
visible"–but the Lord has brought you out to see all things finished
in Christ and to understand the Covenant of Grace! Oh, what brightness
is before you now!

But–but the day comes, even before you get to Heaven, when the light
of this day shall be as dimness compared with what you shall behold!
For the light of one day shall then be as the light of several days, if
you press forward in this knowledge as God shall help you. There are
ascending rungs in the Ladder of Grace and stages each one above the
other in the Divine climbing. The mount of the Lord is very high–he
who stands, even, at the base is saved–but there are

higher platforms and we ascend first to one and then to another! And
from the elevations, gradually rising, the scene widens and the air
grows clearer. Oh, to be higher, higher, higher and so near to light,
nearer to perfection, nearer to God! Press on, O Climber, and you shall
find that you shall know more and more of the Lord as you press towards
Him!

III. The third and last point is THE FULFILMENT OF THIS PROMISE. I will
not be very long over the two figures lest I should weary you, but they
are both very suggestive. "His going forth is prepared as the morning."
That is to say, press on to know the Lord and you shall know the Lord
more fully in the light and heat which He brings to men. The going
forth of the morning is peculiarly bright because it stands in contrast
with the night. There are countries in which the night suddenly gives
place to the morning. Here we have long intervals of twilight, but in
those lands, after the eye has been in darkness all night, the sun
suddenly seems to leap above the horizon and there is light.

Now, it has been so with you, already, who know the Lord, and it shall
be more and more so with you. The contrast between your sorrow and your
joy shall be very striking. As your tribulations abound, so, also,
shall your consolations abound. Your broken bones shall rejoice! The
place of your weeping, the valley of Achor, shall be the door of your
hope! Now be joyous about this. Follow on to know the Lord and there
shall be light for you–light out of darkness–your midnight shall
blaze into day. The Lord will come as the morning as to His freshness,
for every morning is a new morning. No second-hand morning has ever
dawned upon the earth, yet. The dawn is always fresh with the sweet
breath of the zephyrs and bright with the sparkling dews which hang
like new jewels in the ears of nature.

The light is always as of newly minted gold and the air is as perfume
fresh pressed from its spices. All the earth seems like a newly married
bride in the early morning. Well, now, such shall you find true
religion to be as you press forward–it will always be fresh for
you–never flat and stale. I have wearied of a thousand things, but
never of my Lord! Ask the saints whether they ever wearied of the sight
of Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness who rises with healing beneath His
wings! It is said of our Lord in "the Song" that His locks are black as
a raven, that is to say, He is always young. Truly He wears the dew of
His youth to our hearts. Never does our Lord grow old! Though He is so
ancient that His locks are white as snow, yet He is still so new and
fresh that the raven's plume has not more joy. You shall find it so as
you press forward, joy shall be given to you–and that joy shall be
forever new.

This blessing shall come irresistibly, for when the morning comes to
the earth, none can stop it. Can any human hand seize the reins of the
horses of the sun and restrain them from passing through the gates of
the morning? Impossible! God bids the sun rise and rise he does! So
with you Christians, abiding in the knowledge of God and pressing
forward, the light must come to you. Nothing can prevent it! The sun
rejoices to run his race and defies all competitors. And even so shall
the Lord, your Redeemer, scorn all who would restrain Him and come to
you in the fullness of His love.

The blessing shall come increasingly, too, for the morning awakes, at
first, with a few gray streaks. Then follow the redder hues which stain
the sky, as though night, in retreating, hung out the banners of
defeat. And soon succeed the brighter tints and then the sun, himself,
is seen above the mountain's height and all the earth is robed in
splendor! So with your soul. At first there is a little light, then
more, and more, and more till you come unto the perfect day and see
Jehovah face to face and fear no ill! His coming forth shall be
prepared as the morning. The text says, "is prepared as the morning." I
find that the word may be read, "is decreed"–determined, fixed,
appointed, prepared.

Christ's coming to gladden your soul, O you that know the Lord, is a
fixed thing! It is not a perhaps, but is determined of God. You must
have it! It is a decree as powerful as that fiat which said, "Let there
be light," and there was light. And therefore the blessing must come to
you. It should be no small joy to the believer in God through Jesus
Christ that the mercies he is to enjoy are measured out, fixed and
determined by an unalterable will which has been framed of old by
Eternal Love and Infinite Wisdom! Follow on to know the Lord and if all
the devils in Hell try to keep you in the dark, they cannot, the sun
must rise for you! Follow on to know the Lord and if all apparent
Providences should seem to keep you back, they cannot, for the secret
and Omnipotent decrees which rule the Providences shall carry the
point. His going forth is prepared as the morning–and that going forth
shall be for your joy and delight.

The second figure of the text has less to do with the light of the
knowledge of Christ, and more to do with the inward power which comes
of that knowledge. "He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter
and former rain unto the earth." This is the inward power. Dwell upon
those words, "unto us"–not only, "shall He come as the rain," but,
"shall come unto us." I rejoice to feel the Gospel come home to me. It
is very sweet to preach it, but when I get to hear it for myself, and
it comes unto me, then I know its power to refresh my soul!

Now, the Lord Jesus Christ has a way of coming unto us which is as the
rain when it waters the earth. The earth is dry and dusty, parched,
barren. The rain does not ask the earth for anything, but it looks down
from the heights and sees the gaping mouths of the parched fields and
the clods crumbling as they lie baking in the cruel sun, and the rain
says, "I will go and bless that field." And down it comes, drop after
drop, in plenteous refreshment. Each drop finds its way, until the rain
enters the crevices and descends into the bosom of Mother Earth and the
field is refreshed, the hidden seeds start up to life, and the green
blades take another shoot.

Now, follow on to know the Lord, Beloved, and you shall find the Lord
Jesus Christ not only giving you more light and knowledge like the sun,
but giving you more life within yourself, more sap of Divine Grace,
more vigor within your own soul so that you shall become fruitful and
shall grow to perfection! As you drink in the rain of Grace from
Heaven, you shall yield back to Heaven the fruits of righteousness to
the honor and glory of God. Observe that it is written, "He shall come
unto us as the rain, as the latter and the former rain."

Now, these come in their season. The former rain came in Palestine at
the end of autumn, when they had sown the corn. The latter rain came at
the beginning of our spring, when corn in the east is getting nearly
ripe. It is not so with us, of course, but it is so in Palestine. The
latter rain came to plump out the ears. Now, God will give you Grace
when you need it, Grace to help in time of need. A shower when you
begin and another shower when you go on, and perhaps the heaviest
shower just as you are ripening. Do not be frightened when you see a
cloud of trouble. If we were to expect rain without clouds we should be
very great fools! I sometimes think that to expect a shower of blessing
without trial is almost as great a folly–

"You fearful saints, fresh courage take,

The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In
blessings on your head."

God knows how to send a shower of rain when it is needed and to send
Grace when it is needed–to give us the former rain and the latter rain
in their season.

Notice, again, it is a repeated gift. He shall give the former rain and
the latter rain. If you have had Grace once, the Lord has more for you.
Did you have happy times when old Dr. So-and-So was your pastor? Well,
the doctor is dead, but God is not! Were you very much delighted when
you used to sit in such-and-such a Church, in years gone by, but have
you moved into the country now? Yes, but God has not moved! He is in
the country as well as in the town! You tell me you had such happy
times when you were young. Yes, but God is neither younger nor older.
Go to Him, for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Do you suppose that because He gave you the former rain, He has emptied
the bottles of Heaven? It is not so! The clouds, "those wandering
cisterns of the sky," fill again and empty again, and fill again and
empty again–and so is it with the mighty Grace of God! There is an
exhaustless fullness in the Lord–however much you have had from Him
you shall have more. Follow on to know the Lord and you shall have
Grace upon Grace! The showers shall never cease to fall till you get to
the land where you shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water
and shall drink in unfailing supplies from the river itself.

One word more, only, and it is this–all this fulfillment of the
promise that you shall know comes only to you through the Lord Himself.
If we are to know, it must be by His going forth and because He shall
come unto us. There is no knowing in any other way. Oh, my Brothers and
Sisters, I know that your desire is like mine–to know more of the Lord
by that deep, vital, practical knowledge which makes the soul like the
God it knows! Never let us forget that our only way of knowing the Lord
is through His coming to us! We may read the Bible–I trust we
shall–but there is such a thing as resting in Bible reading and if we
do so we shall fall short.

Our Lord denounced that in His day when He said, "You search the
Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are
they which testify of Me. And you will not come to Me that you might
have life." As much as if He had said, "Your searching the Scriptures
is well enough, but coming to Me is the main business." It is not the
letter-god, but the Living God that we need. It is not the Book of God
so much as the God of the Book that we must know! We must seek Christ
Jesus, the personal Christ, really existent to ourselves! And falling
at His feet, confessing our sins, looking up to His wounds, trusting
and confiding in Him, we shall be, indeed, blessed.

You cannot know the Lord in any other way than by His coming to you in
the reality of His Incarnation as the very Christ of God. I wish I knew
how to put the matter so that everyone here would recognize to the full
my meaning. You know the moment people begin to think about religion
they say, "Well, yes, we must keep the Sabbath. We must attend a place
of worship. We must have family prayer." Thus they dwell upon the many
things that they "must do," all of which things are right enough, but
they are only the shell!

What the sinner has to say is not, "I will arise and go–to Church."
No, no! "I will arise and go to my closet and pray." No, that is not
the first thing. "I will arise and go and read a chapter of the Bible."
No, that is not it, good as that is! But, "I will arise and go unto my
Father.''" That is where you have to go–to a real God! "How can I go?"
Well, not with those feet, but He is not far from any of you. In Him
you live and move and have your being–you are also His offspring. Let
your hearts think of Him now. Let your hearts mourn that you have
broken His Law. Let your hearts listen to His gracious Words, for He
says, "Return unto Me, and I will return unto you. Let the wicked
forsake his way, 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."

No turn will do but a turning unto the Lord. No new birth, but a birth
by His Spirit. If you do not know the Lord, remember that He has
revealed Himself very clearly in the Person of His only-begotten Son
who took our nature and died in the place of His people upon the Cross.
Whoever looks to Jesus, the Man, believing Him to be the Son of God,
sees all of God that He needs to see in the Person of the crucified
Redeemer! Look to Him, however weak and feeble your eyes may be! Trust
Him, trust Him fully, trust Him only, trust Him now! God enable you to
do so by His ever-blessed Spirit, and you are saved.

You know the Lord, and as you go on to know more about Him, you shall
find Him to be as the sun in his brightness, and as the rain in its
sweetness and life. God bless you. May we all meet in Heaven, for
Christ's sake. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Hosea 6. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK"–605, 670, 673.