Paul, the Ready

Paul, the Ready

(No. 2285)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 4, 1892.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY, EVENING, MAY
22, 1890.

"I am ready." Romans 1:15.

I THINK Paul might have used these words as his motto. We had once a
Saxon king called Ethelred the Unready. Here we have an Apostle who
might be called Paul the Ready. The Lord Jesus no sooner called to him
out of Heaven, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" than he answered,
"Who are You, Lord? " Almost directly after, his question was, "Lord,
what will You have me to do?" He was no sooner converted than he was
ready for holy service and, "straightway, he preached Christ" in the
synagogues at Damascus. All through his life, whatever happened to him,
he was always ready. If he had to speak to crowds in the street, he had
the fitting word, or if to the elite upon Mars' Hill, he was ready for
the philosophers. If he talked to the Pharisees, he knew how to address
them and when he was brought before the Sanhedrim, and perceived the
Pharisaic and Sadducean elements in it, he knew how to avail himself of
their mutual jealousies to help his own escape.

Watch him before Felix, before Festus, before Agrippa–he is always
ready–and when he came to stand before Nero, God was with him and
delivered him out of the mouth of the lion. If you find him on board
ship, he is ready to comfort men in the storm, and when he gets on
shore, a shipwrecked prisoner, he is ready to gather sticks to help to
make the fires. At all points he is an all-round man and an all-ready
man–always ready to go wherever his Master sends him, and to do
whatever his Lord appoints him.

In talking at this time about Paul's readiness, I shall, first, dwell
for a little while upon the state of Paul's mind, as indicated by his
declaration, "I am ready." Secondly, I shall show that this state of
mind arose from excellent principles. And, thirdly, I shall point out
that this readiness produces admirable results wherever it is to be
found.

I. First, let us consider THE STATE OF PAUL'S MIND which enables him to
say, "I am ready."

I shall refer you to four passages where he expresses his readiness.
The first is our text. Here we have Paul's readiness to work. "So, as
much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at
Rome, also." He had preached the Gospel throughout a great part of
Asia. He had crossed over into Europe, he had proclaimed the Word
through Greece–and if ever an opportunity should occur for him to get
to the capital of the world, whatever might be the danger to which he
would be exposed–he was prepared to go. He was ready to go anywhere
for Jesus, anywhere to preach the Gospel, anywhere to win a soul,
anywhere to comfort the people of God! "I am ready." There is no place
to which Paul was not ready to go. He was ready to make a journey into
Spain and if he did not come to this island of ours, which is a matter
of question, undoubtedly he was ready to have gone to the utmost isles
of the sea, and to lands and rivers unknown, to carry his Master's
mighty Word! Are we as ready as Paul was to go anywhere for Jesus, or
do we feel that we could only work for Christ at home? Dare we go to
the United States, or to Australia, or into some heathen land? Oh, may
God keep us always on tiptoe, ready to move if the cloud moves, and
equally ready to stay where we are if the cloud moves not!

If Paul went to Rome, he would be going into the lion's mouth, but he
was ready for that, for lions had no kind of terror for him. He had
fought with beasts at Ephesus. In spirit he had died in the mouth of
the lion many a time, counting not his life dear to him. I wish we were
ready for all danger, all slander, all contumely, all poverty, all of
anything that it might cost us to preach Christ where He is not known.
The Apostle was ready to go anywhere with the Gospel, but he was not
ready to preach another gospel–no one could make him ready to do that!
He was not ready to hide the

Gospel, he was not ready to tone it down, he was not ready to abridge
it or to extend it. He said, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to
the Jew first, and also to the

Greek."

As to the matter of preaching the Gospel, Paul was always ready for
that! He kept not back any one of its Truths, nor any part of its
teaching. Even if it should bring ridicule and contempt upon him,
though it should be to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks
foolishness, Paul would say, "As much as in me is, I am ready to preach
the Gospel" to them all. He did not always feel fit for the work–he
did not always find the same openings, or the same freedom in
speech–but he was always ready to preach wherever the Lord gave him
the opportunity.

If you will kindly turn to Acts 21:13, you will read, in the second
place, of Paul's readiness to suffer. He says, "I am ready not to be
bound, only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus." This is, perhaps, a greater thing than the former one–to be
ready to suffer is more than to be ready to serve. To some of us it has
become a habit to be ready to preach the Gospel, but here was a man who
was ready to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus–so ready that he
could not be dissuaded from it. He might preach the Gospel, but why
must he go to Jerusalem? All the world was before him–why must he go
to that persecuting city? Everybody told him that he would have bonds
and imprisonment and, perhaps, death–but he cared nothing about all
that! He said, "I am ready, I am ready."

Beloved Friends, are we ready to be scoffed at, to be thought idiots,
to be put down among old-fashioned fossils? Perhaps so. Are we ready,
if we should be required to do so, to lose friends for Christ's sake,
to have the cold shoulder for Christ's sake? Perhaps so. Are we also
ready, if it is the Lord's will, to go home, to be carried upstairs and
to lie there for the next three months? Are we as ready as that poor
woman who said, "The Lord said to me, 'Betty, mind the house, look
after the children,' and I did it. By-and-by, He said, 'Betty, go
upstairs, and cough 12 months.' Shall I not do that, also, and not
complain, for it is all that I can do?" "I am ready." Do you remember
what is on the seal of the American Baptist Missionary Society?–An ox
with a plow on one side and a halter on the other, ready for
either–ready to serve, or ready to suffer. You have not come to the
highest style of readiness till you are ready for whatever the will of
God may appoint for you! Unreadiness from this point of view is very
common, but it shows unsubdued human nature. It is a relic of
rebellion, for when we are fully sanctified–when every thought is
brought into subjection to the mind of God–then the cry is not, "As I
will," but, "As You will!"

Ah, dear Friends, while I am talking very feebly to you, I should not
wonder but what you are saying to yourselves, "This is above us as
yet–we shall need much more teaching of the Holy Spirit before we are
ready for unknown sufferings, for lonely sufferings, for suffering that
seems to have no good in it, useless suffering, for being put on the
shelf, for being laid aside from the holy services of God's House, and
from the little works that once we were able to do for Christ. Are you
ready? Can you answer, "Ready, yes, ready"? So it should be with you if
you belong to Christ. And so it was with Paul.

The third passage I must now quote is not exactly the same in words,
but it means the same as the others. It tells us of Paul's readiness to
do unpleasant work. I am afraid many of God's servants fall short here.
The passage is in 2 Corinthians 10:6–"And having in a readiness to
revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." The Church
at Corinth had sunk into a very sad condition. It was a Church that did
not have any minister. It had an open ministry and nobody knows what
mischief comes of that kind of thing. Paul recommended them to try what
a minister could do for them, for he said, "I beseech you, brethren,
(you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of
Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the
saints), that you submit yourselves unto such." They were too gifted
for that and everybody wanted to speak. When a Church is all mouth,
what becomes of the body? If it were all mouth, it would simply become
a vacuum–nothing more–and the Church in Corinth became very much
that. It was nobody's business to administer discipline, for it was
everybody's business, and what is everybody's business is nobody's
business, as we well know! So no discipline was administered and the
Church became what we call, "all sixes and sevens." It stands in the
Scriptures forever as a warning against that method of Church
government, or, rather, of no Church government at all.

Paul, when he went among these people, determined to administer
discipline, and to try to put things right. He was not going to Corinth
with a sword, or with any carnal weapon, or with anything of unkindness
or hasty temper. But he was going with the Word of God. He wrote, "The
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to

the pulling down of strongholds." And he meant to go among the
Corinthian professors and pull down the stronghold of heathen vice that
had entered the Church to such an extent that even at the Lord's Table
some of them were drunk! Paul meant to deal honestly with all who were
dishonoring the name of Christ.

Now, dear Friends, I speak especially to Brothers whom God has put into
the ministry, or put into office in the Church–are you ready for this
unpleasant duty? Oh, it costs some of us a great deal to say a strong
thing! Perhaps we cannot say it at all without getting into a
temper–and then we had better not say it at all! It is not easy to
have firmness in the language combined with sweetness in the manner of
uttering it. It is easy to congratulate friends. It is not difficult to
condemn them in the gross–but it is another think to speak personally
and faithfully to each erring one, and to be assured in our own souls
that, as far as we have any responsibility in the matter, we will not
tolerate an Achan in the camp, and will not have evil done knowingly in
the House of God. It should be our endeavor, as God has made us
overseers, not to overlook things that are evil, but really to oversee
everything that is committed to our charge, and to try to set right
whatever is wrong.

Is it not the case with you who are private members of Churches–do you
not, sometimes, find it difficult to rebuke sin? Even profane swearing
will come under the notice of many Christian people without a word of
rebuke from them. They say they thought it best to hold their
tongue–you mean you thought it easiest for yourselves! Sometimes known
wickedness comes before the eyes of Christians and they excuse
themselves, and say, "We did not like to interfere." "Perhaps they were
too gentle," you say. I suggest that they were too lazy, too much
inclined to save their own precious skins, too anxious to have the soft
side of this life and not willing to endure hardness as good soldiers
of Jesus Christ! Are you ready, as Paul was, to exhibit a holy
indignation against sin, and lovingly and tenderly, yet firmly, in the
name of the Lord, to see that evil does not go unrebuked? If any man
has come to this, I will not say that I envy him, but that I desire to
be found in that position, so that, when the Lord comes, none of the
evil of this generation may be at my door. When He shall come, and find
His Church lukewarm, faithless, adulterated by worldliness and all
manner of heresies, I pray that He may not have to point His finger at
unfaithful pastors and say of any of us, "You are the man who is
responsible for this sad state of affairs." Oh, may God make us ready
for whatever is laid upon us, however unpleasant and contrary to our
mind and feeling the task may be, may we be ready to do the Lord's
work, faithful even to the end!

Now, once more, will you kindly turn to 2 Timothy 4:6, where you have a
verse well known to you all, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand." Paul was ready to die. He was ready
to loose his cable from earth and to sail away to the haven of the
blessed! And well he might be, for he could add, "I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: therefore,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love His appearing." Beloved Friends, we cannot
be ready to die unless we have been taught how to live! We who are
active, and have talents to use, and health and strength with which to
use those talents, must go on with "the greatest fight in the world"
till we can say, "I have fought a good fight." We must go on running
the Christian race till we can say, "I have finished my course." We
must go on guarding the Word of God and holding fast the Truth of God,
till we can say, "I have kept the faith." It will be hard work to lie
dying if we have been unfaithful. God's infinite mercy may come in and
forgive and help us, and we may be "saved, yet so as by fire," but if
we would look forward to death with perfect readiness, having no dread
or fear about it–but being as ready to die as we are to go to our beds
tonight–then we must be kept faithful to God by His Almighty Grace.
The faith must keep us, and we must keep the faith.

Thus, you see, Paul was ready for service, ready for suffering, ready
for unpleasant duty and ready to die. If I were to go round this
Tabernacle and ask of everyone, "My Friend, are you ready in these four
ways?" how many of you would be able to answer, "We are ready"? I am
afraid many would have to shake their heads and say, "I do not know
what to say. I am doing my best in some style, but I cannot say that I
have the readiness which the Apostle claimed."

II. Let me show you now that PAUL'S READINESS AROSE FROM EXCELLENT
PRINCIPLES. That is our second point.

As for Paul's readiness to preach, I should trace that to his solemn
conviction of the Truth of the Gospel. If a man only thinks it is true,
he will not care whether he preaches it, or does not preach it. But if
he knows it is true, then he must preach it! I do not think we need
find much fault with people, nowadays, for being too positive and
dogmatic about the Truth of God. The present current runs in quite
another direction. A feeble faith which might almost be mistaken for

unbelief, is the common thing, and, therefore, there is no great
readiness to speak. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "As it is written, I
believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore
speak." If I get a grip of a thing and know it is true, then I must
tell it to others. The backbone of the preaching of Christ is a
conviction of the Truth of Christ.

Paul also had a dauntless courage in this matter. He said, "Woe is unto
me if I preach not the Gospel!" Whatever happened to him if he did
preach it, he had counted the cost, and he was quite ready for all the
consequences of his action. He had a holy self-denial so that he put
himself out of the question. "I am ready for anything; I am ready to
preach this Gospel if I am stoned, if I am thrown out of the city as
dead, if I am imprisoned, if I am sent into the den of Caesar at

Rome."

Paul was ready because his courage had been given him of God. Paul was
ready to preach the Gospel at Rome because he had freed himself from
all entanglement. You know how he put it, in writing to his son
Timothy, "No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this
life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier." There
are some of us who get so tied up and entangled, that we are not ready
to do God's service because we are all in knots through too much
worldly business. Try, dear Friends, you who are the servants of
Christ, to keep yourselves as clear as you can of all entanglements.
You have your living to earn, but serve God while you are earning it.
If you see an opportunity of getting rich, but in order to do so you
will have to deny yourself from Christ's work–you will have to give up
week-night services, and so on–do not thus entangle yourself! Keep
yourself as clear as you can.

Her Majesty does not expect one of her soldiers to take to farming and
then to send word that he cannot go to battle because he has to get in
his hay, or he has his wheat to cut. He must come whenever he is
called! And blessed is that good soldier of Jesus Christ who can come
when he is wanted by his King and Captain. Sir Cohn Campbell, when told
that he was needed to go to India, was asked, "How long will you take
to get ready, Sir Cohn?" He replied, "Twenty-four hours." And in 24
hours he was ready to go. A Moravian was about to be sent by Zinzendorf
to preach in Greenland. He had never heard of it, before, but his
leader called him, and said, "Brother, will you go to Greenland?" He
answered, "Yes, Sir." "When will you go?" "When my boots come home from
the cobbler." And he did go as soon as his boots came home. He needed
nothing else but just that pair of boots, and he was ready to go! Paul,
not even waiting for his boots to come home from the cobbler, says, "I
am ready." Oh, it is grand to find a man so little entangled that he
can go where God would have him go, and can go at once!

Paul had, besides, such love for men, whether they were Jews, or
Romans, or any other people, that he was ready to go anywhere to save
them. He also had such zeal for God that it was a happiness for him to
think of going to the furthest region if he might but preach Christ
where He was not known–not building on another man's foundation, but
laying the first stone of the edifice himself. This, then, accounted
for his readiness to preach–a holy conviction of the truth of what he
had to preach and of the need of preaching it.

But what helped Paul to be ready to suffer? Some here will have to
suffer for Jesus Christ's sake, though they may never be called to
preach. Well, I should say, dear Friends, first, that Paul was
completely consecrated to the Lord. He was not his own–he was bought
with a price–and that led him to feel that his Master might do
whatever He liked with him. He belonged to Christ, he was Jesus
Christ's branded slave and he was absolutely at Christ's disposal.
Moreover, he had such trust in his Lord that he felt, "whatever He does
with me, it will be good and kind and, therefore, I will make no
conditions, I will have no reserve from Him. It is the Lord, let Him do
what seems good to Him." He had resolved to serve his Lord and,
therefore, if he had to be bound, or to die, he would not shrink back.
He could have sung, as we sometimes sing, but he could carry it out
better than we do–

"Through floods and flames, if Jesus leads, I'll follow where He goes."

A whole-hearted consecration, a child-like confidence, a deep-toned
submission–these will make us ready for suffering, whatever it may be.

But how did Paul prepare himself to be ready to exercise discipline?
That is, to me, the ugliest point of all. How could he bring himself to
be able to do that? I think it was because he had not received his
Gospel from men, nor by men, and he had learned not to depend upon men,
nor to look for their approval as the support of his life. He was able
to lean on the Savior and to walk alone with his Lord. So long as he
had Christ with him, he needed nobody else. Paul had learned the

fear of God which casts out the fear of man! "Who are you, that you
should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which
shall be made as grass; and forget the Lord, your Maker?" Remembering
man leads to the forgetting of God! If we learn to speak very plainly,
yet very lovingly, habitually cultivating frankness towards all
Christian people, and even towards the ungodly, and do not know what it
is to ask of any man leave to speak the truth, how much better it will
be all round! May the Holy Spirit deepen in us the fear of God and so
take away from us the fear of man! Then, with Paul, each of us will be
ready to say, even concerning the most unpleasant duty, "I am ready."

But how came he to be able to say that he was ready to die? I will not
dwell upon that. I have already told you that he felt ready to die
because he could say that, as far as he had gone, he had finished the
work God gave him to do and he had kept the faith. Ah, dear Friends, it
is nothing but keeping faithful to God that will enable you to treat
death as a friend! One dereliction of duty will be sufficient to rob
you of comfort. When a traveler is walking, a very small stone in his
shoe will lame him–and a very small offense against the integrity that
God requires of His servants may do us great mischief. Did you ever
notice, in Gideon's life, that he had 70 sons, his own legitimate sons,
and that he had one son who was the child of a harlot, and that one,
Abimelech, killed 69 of his father's 70 sons? So it may be that a good
man has 70 virtues, but if he tolerates one wrong thing, it will be
enough to rob him of the comfort of all the good things of this life,
so that, when he comes to die, he may go limping and lame! Yes, and all
his life long he may go, like David did, halting even to the grave. May
the Lord in mercy and love keep us right! If He teaches us how to live,
we shall know how to die.

It is not dying that is the great difficulty–it is living. If we are
but helped to fight the good fight of faith, to finish our course, and
to keep the faith, we shall die right enough. As Mr. Wesley said when
the good woman asked him, "Do you not sometimes feel an awe at the
thought of dying?" "No," he replied, "If I knew for certain that I was
going to die tomorrow night, I should do just exactly what I am going
to do. I am going to preach (I think it was) at Gloucester this
afternoon and this evening. And I shall go to lodge with friend
So-and-So. I shall stay up with him till ten o'clock and then I shall
go to bed. And I shall be up at five and ride over to Tewkesbury and I
shall preach there, and shall go to friend So-and-So's for the night.
And I shall go to bed at ten o'clock and whether I live or not, it does
not matter at all to me, for if I die, I shall wake up in Glory. That
is what I am going to do, whether I live or die."

It was said of Mr. Whitefield, that he never went to bed at night
leaving even a pair of gloves out of its place. He used to say that he
would like to have everything ready in case he might be taken away. I
think I see that good man standing with a bedroom candle in his hand,
at the top of the staircase, preaching Christ the last night of his
life to the people sitting on the stairs–and then going inside the
room and commending himself to God and going straight away to Heaven!
That is the way to die! But if you do not live like Wesley and
Whitefield lived, you cannot die like Wesley and Whitefield died. May
God grant us Grace that we may be perfectly ready to die when the time
for our departure is at hand!

III. Now I finish by saying that THIS READINESS PRODUCES ADMIRABLE
RESULTS.

First, it prevents surprise. It is always bad to be taken by surprise.
He who lives unto the Lord shall not fear evil tidings, for his heart
is fixed, trusting in the Lord. If you are perfectly submissive to
God's will and, as you crossed your threshold tonight, you heard that
your child was dead, or that your dearest friend was smitten with sore
sickness, you would say, "Well, I stoop to the surrender. When I had my
children I did not think they were immortal. I knew they would die and
I have stood ready for anything that might happen to them." Oh,
Brothers and Sisters, it is because we are not submissive, not
sanctified, not fully resigned to God's will, that we get tripped up,
every now and then, and do not quite know where we are! May the Lord
give us the Grace to be prepared for every emergency.

Again, when a man is ready, it prevents loss of time and opportunity.
Many a sportsman has lost his bird because he was not ready to take
aim. Many a fisherman has lost his fish because he has not been ready
to grasp his rod and put the line into the stream. Many a preacher has,
no doubt, missed the mark because when he might have said a word for
Christ, he was not ready to say it. Have you not often gone home and
said to yourself, "Now I remember what I ought to have said! That man
made an observation and I could not tell, at the moment, what to reply
to it. I now know what I should have said"? It is a fine thing to be
wise when it is too late, but it would be much better if we waited upon
God and asked Him to make us ready–always ready–to speak for Him in
every place, at any time and whenever an opportunity occurs.

Readiness also helps us to make good use of every occasion. He who is
ready as each occasion comes, not only snatches the first part of it,
but all the rest of it. He is prepared to deal with the whole thing as
it proceeds. He who is always do-

ing his Master's work learns how to do it well–but he who only does it
occasionally is like a bad workman who half forgets his craft because
he is so much engaged in doing something else. God keep us all ready!
May you be ready, tonight, to say a good word to somebody on your way
home and to serve God in your family when you get home!

To be ready puts a bloom on obedience, and presents it to God at its
best. Some Sunday school children were once asked what was the meaning
of doing the will of God on earth as it is done in Heaven, and they
gave some very pretty answers. One said, "In Heaven they always do
God's will." Another said, "They do God's will cheerfully." But one
said, "Please, Sir, they do God's will at once." That is the
thing–that is how it is done in Heaven–at once. May we be in such a
state of heart that we are ready to do the Lord's will at once!

In this readiness, our obedience is multiplied. I mean that any one act
is multiplied, for the man who is ready to do the right thing has
already done it in the sight of God. The Lord accepts it as done and
then, if the man still remains ready, he does, as it were, the thing,
again–and when it is actually done–he is still ready to do it again!
If the act is only one, yet to God's eye it has a teeming multitude of
obedient actions swarming around it!

To be ready, especially to be ready to die, removes all fear of death.
I wish we could all sing as she did, who died in her sleep, and left
this verse written on a piece of paper by her bedside–

"Since Jesus is mine, I'll not fear undressing, But gladly put off
these garments of clay. To die in the Lord is a Covenant blessing,
Since Jesus to Glory through death led the way." If we are ready as
Paul was, all fear of death will be gone from us.

And I think it takes away a thousand ills if we are ready for service,
ready for suffering, ready to die. I will tell you one thing, dear
Sister over yonder, you would not be so ready to stay as you are if you
were ready for the Lord's work and the Lord's will. And you who are
ready to perish would get out of that sad kind of readiness if you came
and trusted Christ and became ready to suffer, or to do the Master's
will. The Lord is ready to pardon! May we be ready to believe. May we
come at once to Him, accept salvation through Jesus Christ, and then
all through the rest of our lives say to the great Captain of our
salvation what good sailors reply to their captain's call, "Ready, yes
ready! Ready for storms and ready for calms; ready for whatever You
command. Ready for whatever You ordain!" The Lord bless you, dear
Friends, and give all of you this readiness, for Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON ISAIAH63.

Some of you will remember that chapter 62 ends with the announcement of
the Savior's coming–"Say you to the daughter of Zion, behold, your
Salvation comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before
Him," The present chapter describes His coming.

Verse 1. Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah? Who can HE be, this mysterious Person, this Friend of God's
people, this destroyer of their enemies? Who can HE be?–

"Who is this that comes from Edom, All His raiment stained with blood;
To the slave proclaiming freedom; Bringing and bestowing good: Glorious
in the garb He wears, Glorious in the spoils He bears?" 1. This that is
glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? I
that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. He that has come to save
us is majestic in His Person, but He is also mighty in His power to
save! When we ask, "Who is this?" the answer comes to us, "I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save." Listen to this, you who feel that
you are great sinners, you who know that you need a mighty Savior! Here
is One able to do for you all that you need! He comes from the field of
battle, from the place of conquest, where He has fought the fight on
your behalf, and won for you the victory over sin, and death, and Hell.
Who is He?–

"'Tis the Savior, now victorious. Traveling onward in His might; 'Tis
the Savior, oh, how glorious To His people is the sight! Jesus now is
strong to save; Mighty to redeem the sla ve."

2, 3. Why are You red in your apparel, and Your garments like he that
treads in the wine vat? I have trod the winepress alone; and of the
people there was none with Me. In all Christ's redeeming work He was
alone. None could help Him to redeem His people. He must, alone, pay
the ransom price. None could help Him in His last great battle, when He
stood forth as the sole Champion of all whom His Father had given to
Him–

"Death and Hell will He dethrone, By His single arm alone."

3, 4. For I will tread them in My anger, and trample them in My fury;
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain
all My raiment. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year
of My redeemed is come. It was the day of vengeance on the enemies of
God, vengeance on sin and death, and Hell. And it was the year of
redemption for the great host of Believers in Christ, for whom His
garments were dyed in His own most precious blood. Notice how the great
Redeemer speaks of His chosen people–"My redeemed."

5, 6. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that
there was none to uphold: therefore My own arm brought salvation unto
Me; and My fury, it upheld Me. And I will tread down the people in My
anger, and make them drunk in My fury, and I will bring down their
strength to the earth. Dear Friends, I will not go into a full
explanation of these verses just now. I have often explained them to
you, but this is the one lesson that they teach–there is a Savior
"mighty to save." Nothing can destroy those who put their trust in Him.
He will overthrow every enemy of our souls if we take Him to be our
Savior. Now the Prophet speaks again.

7. I will mention the loving kindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of
the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the
great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on
them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His
loving kindnesses. It is well to talk of God's love and God's mercy,
for, if we afterwards speak of our own sin and unfaithfulness, it tends
to set our sin in a clearer light, and we are the more ready to confess
it, and to mourn over it. God has dealt well with us and, therefore,
that we have dealt ill with Him is the more shameful. See what He did
for His ancient people and behold, in His actions, a picture of what He
has done for His spiritual Israel.

8. For He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie:
so He was their Savior. He thought well of them. He said, "They will be
true to Me." He loved them. He chose them. He put them in a place of
trust and honor. He entered into fellowship and sympathy with them.

9. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His
Presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and
He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. This is what He did
for them in Egypt, what He did for them in the desert. He was very near
them, one with them, very tender to them.

10. But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore He was
turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them. Hear this, you
people of God! This is what God will do to you if you rebel against Him
and vex His Holy Spirit. He will turn to be your enemy and will fight
against you! If God's people will not yield to His love and His pity,
they must suffer from His hand and His rod!

11. He remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where
is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His
flock? Where is He that put His holy Spirit within them? God begins to
think of the past, and of what He did for His people in the days of
old.

12-14. That led them by the right hand of Moses with His glorious arm,
dividing the water before them, to make Himself an everlasting name?
That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that
they should not stumble? As a beast goes down into the valley, the
Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest: so did You lead Your people, to
make Yourself a glorious name. See what God did for His people in His
tenderness and loving kindness? Is it not strange that, after that,
they rebelled against Him?

15. Look down from Heaven, and behold from the habitation of Your
holiness and of Your glory: where is Your zeal and Your strength, the
sounding of Your heart and of Your mercies toward me? Are they
restrained? If you are in trouble. tonight, if you have lost the light
of God's Countenance, here are words for you to use in prayer to God.

16. Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham is ignorant of us, and
Israel acknowledge us not: You, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer;
Your name is from everlasting. Get a hold of this great Truth of God,
Believer! Say, "God is my Father. He is still my Father and, though He
smites me, though He frowns upon me, I will not let Him go. I will
still plead His dear Son's name and wait for His mercy, trusting in His
Grace."

17-19. O LORD, why have You made us to err from Your ways, and hardened
our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants' sake, the tribes of
Your inheritance. The people of Your holiness have possessed it but a
little while: our adversaries have trod down Your sanctuary. We are
Yours: You never bore rule over them; they were not called by Your
name. I pointed out to you, at the beginning of our reading, that this
chapter appropriately follows the preceding one. It is, itself, most
suitably followed by chapter sixty-four. Indeed, the first verse of
that chapter belongs to this one and should not have been separated
from it. God's people, in their low estate, recognized that deliverance
must come from the Lord alone, so they prayed, "Oh that You would rend
the heavens, that You would come down, that the mountains might flow
down at Your Presence, as when the melting fire burns, the fire causes
the waters to boil, to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that
the nations may tremble at Your Presence!"

God bless the reading of His Word and give us His Presence during the
whole of the service, for Christ's sake. Amen!