Proving God

Proving God

(No. 3036)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1907.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER
19, 1856.

"Prove Me now." Malachi 3:10.

IT was my pleasure and my privilege, some time ago, to address you from
the whole of this verse–"Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in your house, and prove Me now herewith, says
the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and
pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive
it."

If I rightly remember, we had at that time enough room, but very soon
afterwards, when we strove to serve our God more, He did really pour us
out such a blessing that we had not room to receive it! Then we
enlarged this house–still the blessing flowed so copiously that there
was no room to receive it and I might have preached again from the same
text, to remind you again of the promise. This morning, feeling that we
are about to enter on a new enterprise to God's honor and Glory, I
thought I would endeavor to stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance, for which purpose I select such a text as this, "Prove Me
now."

According to the laws of our country, no man can be condemned until his
guilt is proved. It were well if we all carried out the same justice
toward God which we expect from our fellow men, but how frequently will
men condemn the acts of their God as being hard and unkind! They do not
say so–they dare not–they scarcely admit that they thinkso, but there
is a kind of lurking imagination hardly amounting to a deliberate
thought which leads them to fear that God has forgotten to be gracious
and will no longer be mindful of them. Let us never, my Friends, think
harshly of our God till we can prove something against Him. He says to
all His unbelieving children who are doubtful of His goodness and His
Grace, "Prove Me now. Have you anything against Me? Can you prove
anything that will be dishonorable to Me? Wherein have I ever broken My
promise? In what have I ever failed to fulfill My word? Ah, you cannot
say that. Prove Me now, if you have anything against Me–if you can say
anything against My honor–if you have hitherto not received answers to
prayer and blessings according to promise. Set me down as false, I
beseech you, until you have so proved Me."

Moreover, not only is it unjust to think ill of anyone until we can
prove something against him, but it is extremely unwise to be always
suspicious of our fellow creatures. Though there is much folly in being
over credulous, I question if there is not far more in being over
suspicious. He who believes every man will soon be bitten, but he who
suspects every man will not only be bitten, but devoured! He who lives
in perpetual distrust of his fellow creatures cannot be happy–he has
defrauded himself of peace and happiness–and assumed a position in
which he cannot enjoy the sweets of friendship or affection. I would
rather be too credulous towards my fellow creatures than too
suspicious. I had rather they should impose upon me by making me
believe them better than they are, than that I should impose upon them
by thinking them worse than they are. It is better to be sometimes
cheated than that we should cheat others–and it is cheating others to
suspect those on whose characters there rests no suspicion. We
acknowledge such morality among men, but we act not so towards God–we
believe any liar sooner than we believe Him! When we are in trial and
trouble, we believe the devil when he says God will forsake us. The
devil, who has been a liar from the beginning, we credit–but if our
God promises anything, we say, "Surely this is too good to be true."
And we doubt the fulfillment because it is not brought to pass exactly
at the time and in the way we anticipate! Let us never harbor such
suspicions of our God. If we say in our haste, "All men are liars," let
us preserve this one Truth of God, "God cannot lie." His counsel is
immutable and He has confirmed it by an oath, "that we might have a
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set

before us" in Christ Jesus. Let not our faith, then, dally with fear.
Let us rather seek Grace–that we may confidently believe and assuredly
rely on the words which the lips of God speak. "'Prove Me now,' if any
of you are suspicious of My Word. If you think My Grace is not sweet,
taste and see that the Lord is gracious. If you think that I am not a
rock and that My work is not perfect, come now, tread upon the rock and
see if it is not firm–build on the rock and see if it is not solid. If
you think My arm shortened that I cannot save, come and ask and I will
stretch it out to defend you. If you think that My ear is heavy that I
cannot hear, come and try it–call upon Me and I will answer you. If
you are suspicious, make proof of My promises, so shall your suspicions
be removed. But, oh, doubt Me not until you have found Me unworthy of
trust! 'Prove Me now.'"

In these words I find a fact couched, a challenge given, a time
mentioned, and an argument suggested. Such are the four points I
propose to consider this morning.

I. First, then, we have THE FACT that God allows Himself to be
proved–"Prove Me now."

In meditating on this subject, it has occurred to me that all the works
of Creation are proofs of God–they evidence His eternal power and
Godhead. But inasmuch as He is not only the Creator, but the Sustainer
of them all, they make continual proof of Him, His goodness, His
faithfulness and His care. I think when God launched the sun from His
hand and sent it on its course, He said, "Prove Me now; see, O sun, if
I do not uphold you till you have done your work and finished your
career. You may rejoice 'as a strong man to run a race,' but while you
fulfill your circuits, and nothing is hid from your heat, you shall
prove My Glory and shed light upon My handiwork." When the Almighty
whirled the earth in space, I think He said, "Prove Me now, O 'seedtime
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night,'
refreshing you with incessant Providences." And to each creature He
made, I can almost think the Almighty said, "Prove Me now. Tiny gnat,
you are about to dance in the sunshine–you shall prove My goodness.
Huge leviathan, you shall stir up the deep and make it frothy–go forth
and prove My power. You creatures whom I have endowed with various
instincts, wait on Me–I will give you your meat in due season. And
you, you mighty thunder and you swift lightning, go teach the world
reverence and show forth My Omnipotence." Thus, I think, all God's
creatures are not merely proofs of His existence, but proofs of His
manifold wisdom, His loving kindness and His Grace! The meanest and the
mightiest of His created works, each and all, in some degree prove His
love and teach us how marvelous is His Nature. But He has given to man
this high prerogative above all the works of His hands, that he alone
should make designed and intelligent proof. The things of earth prove
God–the cattle on a thousand hills low forth His honor and the very
lions roar His praise! Yet they do it not with intent, judgment and
will–and although the sun proves the majesty and the might of its
Master, yet the sun has neither mind nor thought and it is not its
intention to glorify God. They do but prove Him unintentionally. But
the saint does it intentionally.

It is a great fact, Beloved, that God will have all His children to be
proofs of the various attributes of His Nature. I do not think any one
of the children of God proves all of God, but that they are all proving
different parts of His one grand Character so that when the whole
history of Providence shall be written and the lives of all the saints
shall be recorded, the title of this book will be, "Proofs of God."
There will be one compendious proof that He is God and changes
not–that with Him there "is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning." You will remember how one saint peculiarly proved the
long-suffering of God in that he was permitted to pursue his career to
the utmost verge of destruction–and while he hung on a cross, the
patience that had borne with him so long, brought salvation to him at
last! He was "in the article of death," falling into the Pit, when
Sovereign Grace broke the fall, everlasting arms caught his soul and
Jesus Himself conducted him to Paradise! Then again, you will remember
another saint who plunged into a thousand sins and indulged in the
foulest lust–but she was brought to Christ! Out of her did He cast
seven evil spirits and Mary Magdalene was made to prove the richness of
our Savior's pardoning Grace as well as the sweetness of a pardoned
sinner's gratitude! It is a fact that the Lord is ready to forgive–and
this woman is a great proof of it. There was Job who was tortured with
ulcers and made to scrape himself with a potsherd. He proved "that the
Lord is full of pity and of tender mercy." From him we get evidence
that God is able to sustain us amidst unparalleled sufferings.

Let me note how Solomon proved the bounty of God. When he asked for
wisdom and knowledge, the Lord not only granted his request, but added
riches and wealth and honor to his store. And how did Solomon magnify
this proof of Divine bounty as he translates the experience of his
dream into the counsel of his Proverbs? While he advises us to get
wisdom, he assures us that "length of days is in her right hand, and in
her left hand riches and honor." And then, once

more, how great a proof of God's special Providence in maintaining in
this world "a remnant according to the election of Grace" we derive
from the history of Elijah. There sat the venerable Seer beneath a
juniper tree in the lonely desert–a great but sorrowful man–an
honored but a dejected Prophet of the Most High. Do you mark him as he
comes to Horeb, takes up his lodging in a cave and complains in the
awful solitude of his soul, "I, even I only, am left; and they seek my
life, to take it away"? Oh, had his fears been realized, what a blank
would earth have been without a saint! But Elijah proved from the mouth
of God the impossibility! He learned for our sakes, as well as his own,
what a reservation God has made in reasons of direst persecution! It is
proved that there shall always be a Church in the world while earth's
old pillars stand!

Nor need we suppose that the testimony of the witnesses is closed. Each
of God's saints is sent into the world to prove some part of the Divine
Character. Perhaps I may be one of those who shall live in the valley
of ease, having much rest, and hearing sweet birds of promise singing
in my ears. The air is calm and balmy, the sheep are feeding round
about me and all is still and quiet. Well, then, I shall prove the love
of God in sweet communing. Or, perhaps I may be called to stand where
the thunderclouds brew, where the lightning plays and tempestuous winds
are howling on the mountaintop. Well, then, I am born to prove the
power and majesty of our God amidst dangers! He will inspire me with
courage! Amidst toils He will make me strong! Perhaps it shall be mine
to preserve an unblemished character and so prove the power of
sanctifying Grace in not being allowed to backslide from my professed
dedication to God. I shall then be a proof of the Omnipotent power of
Grace which alone can save from the power as well as the guilt of sin!
The divers cases of all the Lord's family are intended to illustrate
different parts of His ways–and in Heaven I think one part of our
blest employ will be to read the great book of the experience of all
the saints and gather from that book the whole of the Divine Character
as having been proved and illustrated! Each Christian is a
manifestation and display of some attribute or other of God–a
different part may belong to each of us, but when the whole shall be
combined, when all the rays of evidence shall be brought, as it were,
into one great sun and shine forth with meridian splendor–we shall see
in Christian experience a beautiful Revelation of our God!

Let us remember, then, as an important fact, that God intends us to
live in this world to prove Him. And let us seek to do so, always
endeavoring as much as we can to be finding out and proving the
attributes of God. Remember, we have all the promises to prove in our
lifetime–and it shall be found, in the Last Great Day, that every one
of them has been fulfilled! As the promises are read through now, it
may be asked, "Who is a proof of such a promise?" Perhaps the question
relates to some promises of almost universal application–and millions
of saints will rise and say, "We proved the truth of that." Or there
may be a promise in the Bible that it will seldom fall to the lot of
one of God's children to prove–it is so peculiar and few shall have
been able to understand it. But mark, there will be some witnesses to
attest it, and all the promises shall be fulfilled in the united
experience of the Church. Such, then is the fact–God allows His
children to prove Him.

II. And now, secondly, we have here A CHALLENGE GIVEN TO US–"Prove Me
now." "You who have doubted Me, prove Me. You who mistrust Me, prove
Me. You who tremble at the enemy, prove Me. You who are afraid you
cannot accomplish your work, believe My promise and come and prove Me."

Now, I must explain this challenge to you, as to the way in which it
has to be carried out. There are different sorts of promises given in
God's Word which have to be proved in different ways. In the Bible
there are three kinds of promises. In the first class I will place the
conditional promises, such as are intended for certain
characters–given only to them and then only on certain conditions.
There is a second class, referring exclusively to the future–the
fulfillment of which does not relate to us at the present time. Then
there is a third and most glorious class called absolute promises,
which have no conditions whatever, but which graciously supply the
requirements that the conditional promises demand.

To begin with conditional promises–we cannot prove a conditional
promise in the same way as an absolute one. The manner of proving must
accord with the character of the promise to be proved. Let me mention,
for example, "Ask, and you shall receive." Here it is quite obvious
that I must ask in order to verify the promise. I have a condition to
fulfill in order to obtain a benefit. The way to test the faithfulness
of the Promiser and the truth of the promise is plainly this– comply
with the stipulation. Very different is the promise and equally
different the proof, when God says, "I will put My spirit within you
and cause you to walk in My statutes." Here we have the simple will of
the Almighty. Such a promise is to be proved in a very different manner
from the fulfillment on our part of a condition–but more of this soon.
In order to prove conditional promises, then, it is necessary for us to
fulfill the condition that God has annexed to them. He says, "Bring you
all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My house,
and prove Me now herewith." No man can prove God, with reference to
this promise, till he has brought all the tithes into the storehouse–
for it is, "herewith," this promise has to be proved. Suppose the Lord
says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you
shall glorify Me." The only way of proving Him is by calling upon Him
in the time of trouble. We may stand as long as we like and say, "God
will fulfill that promise." Yes, that He will, but we must fulfill the
condition! And it behooves us to seek Grace of Him to enable us to do
so, for we cannot prove such promises unless we fulfill the conditions
appended to them. There are many very sweet conditional promises–one
of them helped to save my soul at rest, it was this, "Look unto Me, and
be you saved, all the ends of the earth." The condition there is, "Look
unto Me." But you cannot prove it unless you look unto Christ! Here is
another, "Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
What a blessed promise that is! But then you cannot prove the promise
unless you call on the name of the Lord. So that whenever we see the
promise to which a condition is attached, if we wish to prove it in our
own experience, we must ask of God to give us Grace to fulfill the
condition! That is one way of proving God.

But some will say, "Do not these conditions restrict the liberality and
graciousness of God's promises?" Oh, no, Beloved, for first, the
conditions are often put to describe the persons to whom the promises
are made. Hence, my Brother, when it is written, "He forgets not the
cry of the humble," the promise fits your chastened soul. When the Lord
says, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit and trembles at My Word." And when He says, "I will
satisfy her poor with bread," you can, some of you, take comfort that
the promise finds you in the fit condition to receive the blessing! But
again, if the condition is not a state, but a duty, then let it be
prayer–He gives the spirit of prayer! Let it be faith–He is the Giver
of faith! Let it be meekness–He it is who clothes you with meekness!
Thus the conditions serve to commend the promises to God's own children
and to show the bounty of Him who gives "Grace for Grace."

But then there is the absolute promise and that is the largest and best
promise of all, for if they were all conditional promises and the
conditions rested with us to fulfill, we would all be damned! If there
were no absolute promises, there would not be a soul saved! If they
were all made to characters and no absolute promise were made that the
characters should be given, we would perish, notwithstanding all God's
promises. If He had simply said, "He that believes shall be saved," we
should all be lost, for we could not believe without His Grace. Now,
the absolute promise is not to be proved by doinganything, but by
believing in it. All I can do with an absolute promise is to believe
it. If I were to try to fulfill a condition, it would not be accepted
by God because no condition is appended to that kind of promise. He
might well say to me, "If you have fulfilled the condition of another
promise, you shall have it, but I have put no condition to this one. I
have said, 'I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
My ways; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.' That is a
promise without any condition." Although the child of God may have
sinned, yet the promise stands good that he shall be brought to know
his error, to repent, and be wholly forgiven! Such a promise we can
only believe–we cannot fulfill any condition relating to it. We must
take it to God and say, "Have You said that Christ 'shall see of the
travail of His soul'? Lord, we believe it. Let Him see of the travail
of His soul. Do you say, 'My Word shall not return unto Me void"? Lord,
do as You have said. You have said it, Lord–do it." Has He said, "Him
that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out"? Then go and say, "Lord, I
come now. Do as you said." On an absolute promise, I can tell you,
faith gets good foothold! Conditional promises often cheer the soul,
but it is the absolute promise which is the rock that faith delights to
stand upon!

Now, beloved Friends, what promise has been laid this day to your
hearts? Many of you have one that God gave you when you arose from your
beds. I am always sure to have the most happy day when I get a good
text in the morning from my Master. When I have had to preach two or
three sermons in a day, I have asked Him for a morning portion, and
preached from it. And I have asked Him for an evening portion, and
preached from it, after meditating on it for my own soul's comfort–not
in the professional style of a regular sermon-maker, but meditating
upon it for myself. Such simple food has done more good than if I had
been a week in manufacturing a sermon, for it has come warm from my
heart just after it has been received in my own conscience and,
therefore, it has been well spoken, because well known, well tasted,
and well felt! What is your promise, then? Is it a conditional one?
Then say, "Lord, I beseech You, enable me to fulfill the condition."
And if the promise is applied to your soul with a condition, He will
give you both the condition and the

promise, for He never gives by halves. Has He put into your soul, "Let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts"? Then
He will give you Grace to forsake your ways and your thoughts too! He
will not give you the conditional promise without, in due time, giving
you the condition, too.

But have you got an absolute promise laid to your soul? Then you are a
happy man! Has God laid to your inmost spirit some of those great and
precious promises, such as this, "The mountains shall depart, and the
hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither
shall the Covenant of My peace be removed"? Pause not to ask for
conditions–take the promise just as it is! Go on your knees and say,
"Lord, You have said it." Again, has the Lord promised, "I will never
leave you, nor forsake you"? Plead it! Or are you in trouble? Search
out the suitable promise and say, "You have said, 'When you pass
through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow you.' I believe you, Lord! I am tried, but you have
said I shall have no trial that I am not able to bear. Lord, give me
all-sufficient Grace, and make me more than conqueror!" Go and prove
God! Be not afraid with any amazement. If He gives you a single word,
He means that you should bring it to Him and tell it to Him again–for
you know He has said, "I will yet for this be enquired of by the house
of Israel, to do it for them." Do, I beseech you, put the Lord in mind
of His own promises and He will most assuredly fulfill them! Here is a
challenge to all the redeemed, "Prove Me now."

III. In the third place, there is A SEASON MENTIONED–"Prove Me now."

Do you know what is the most perilous time in a Christian's life? I
think I could hit upon it in a moment–"now." Many persons–I might
well near say all Christians–are always most apprehensive of the
present hour. Suppose they are in trouble? Though they may have had ten
times worse troubles before, they forget all about them and, "now," is
the most critical day they ever knew! Or, if they are at ease, they
say–

"Far more the treacherous calm I dread Than tempests rolling over my
head"– and they think no position in life more dangerous than "now."
The lions are before them–how great their danger! And when, a little
while ago, they lost their roll in the arbor of ease, how dreadful it
was then! And when they got to the slippery ground, going downhill,
"now" seemed their greatest danger! When they get a little further and
Apollyon meets them, "Here," they say, "is the worst trial of all."
Then comes the Valley of the Shadow of Death and they say, "Now this is
the most serious period of my life!" In fact, it is right that we
should feel in some degree that "now" is just the time we ought to be
guarded. Yesterdays and tomorrows we may leave, but "now" is the time
we must be watchful. God never lays tomorrow's promise on my heart
today, because I am not in immediate need of it. The promises are given
in the time, in the place and in the manner He has designed and
intended they should be fulfilled. But no doubt some of you will
sympathize with me when I say that "now" is the time when the Christian
thinks he can trust God the least. "Oh," he says, "if I were in the
same state as I was before, I would be happy. I believe that I could
have trusted my Master better then, but just now I cannot lay my head
so confidently on the Savior's breast. I remember, when I was sick, how
sweet the promises were. I could then say–

"'Sweet to lie passive in His hands, And know no will but His.'

But now I am altered. Somehow or other, a languor has come over me. I
cannot believe that I am a Christian." You compare yourself with some
Brother and feel quite sure that if you were only like he, you would
have faith. Go and speak to that Brother and he will say, "If I were
like you, I would be better off." And so they would change experiences,
each failing to trust God under his own circumstances. But the Lord is
pleased to always give us a word that suits the particular position we
may be in–"Prove Me now."

To allegorize a moment. There is a ship upon the sea. It is the ship
which the Lord has launched and which He has said shall come to its
desire haven. The sea is smooth. The waves ripple gently and bear the
ship steadily along. "Prove Me now," says the Lord. The mariner stands
on the deck and says, "Lord, I thank You that You have given me such
smooth sailing as this. But ah, my Master, perhaps this very ease and
comfort may destroy my Grace." And a Voice says, "Prove Me now, and see
if I cannot keep you amidst the storm." Soon the heavens have gathered
blackness, the winds have begun to bluster and the waves lift up their
voices while the poor ship is tossed to and fro on the yawning winds. I
hear a Voice which says, "Prove Me now." Look, the ship has been dashed
upon the rocks–she has been broken well near in sunder and the mariner
sees her hold filling with water, while all his pumps cannot keep her
empty! The Voice

still cries, "Prove Me now." Alas, the ship well-near sinks–another
wave will be enough to swamp her! It seems as if one more drop will
submerge her. Still the Voice cries, "Prove Me now." And the mariner
does prove God–and he is delivered safely from all his distresses.
"They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their
wit's end," but, "so He brings them unto their desired haven." Now the
ship is scudding merrily along before the winds and, lo, she comes to
the verge of the horizon. The mists have gathered round her. Strange
phantoms dance to the waves of night–a lurid light flits through the
shades and soon the darkness come again. Something broods about the
ship that the mariner has never seen before. The water is black beneath
his vessel's prow. The air hangs damp and thick above him. The very
sweat is clammy on his face. Fresh fear has got a hold of him that he
never felt before. Just then, when he knows not what to do, a Voice
cries, "Prove Me now." And so he does! He cries unto the Lord and is
saved!

Ah, dear Friends, I might give you a hundred illustrations. I think
this old Bible speaks to me today. I have wielded it in your midst as
God's soldier. This sword of the Spirit has been thrust into many of
your hearts and though they were hard as adamant, it has split them in
sunder! Some of you have had sturdy spirits broken in pieces by this
good old Jerusalem blade. But we shall be gathered together tonight
where an unprecedented mass of people will assemble, perhaps, from idle
curiosity, to hear God's Word–and the Voice cries in my ears, "Prove
Me now." Many a man has come, during my ministrations, armed to his
very teeth and having on a coat of mail–yet has this tried weapon cut
him in two and pierced to the dividing asunder of the joints and
marrow! "Prove Me now," says God, "go and prove Me before blasphemers!
Go and prove Me before reprobates, before the vilest of the vile and
the filthiest of the filthy! Go and prove Me now." Lift up that
life-giving Cross and let it again be exhibited! Into the regions of
death go and proclaim the Word of Life! Into the most plague-smitten
parts of the city, go and carry the waving censer of the incense of a
Savior's merits and prove, now, whether He is not able to stop the
plague and remove the disease!

But what does God say to the Church? "You have proved Me before. You
have attempted great things, though some of you were faint-hearted and
said, 'We should not have ventured.' Others of you had faith and proved
Me. I say again, 'Prove Me now.'" See what God can do just when a cloud
is falling on the head of him whom God has raised up to preach to you!
Go and prove Him now–see if He will not pour you out such a blessing
as you had not even dreamed of–see if He will not give you a
Pentecostal blessing! "Prove Me now." Why should we be unbelieving?
Have we one thing to make us so? We are weak–what of that? Are we not
strongest in our God when we are weakest in ourselves? We are fools, it
is said–so we are, and we know it–but He makes fools to confound the
wise. We are base, but God has chosen the base things of the world. We
are unlearned–

"We know no schoolman's subtle art"– yet we glory in infirmity when
Christ's power rests upon us. Let them represent us as worse than we
are! Let them give us the most odious character that has ever been
given to man–we will bless them and wish them good. What though the
weapon are a stone, or even the jaw-bone of an ass, if the Lord directs
it? "Do you not know," say some, "what wise men say?" Yes, we do, but
we can read their oracles backwards. Their words are the offspring of
their wishes. We know who has instructed them and do you shrink from
the Truth of God, or do you shrink from His Grace? In either case, you
have not the love to your Master that you should have. If you are brave
men and true, go on and conquer! Fear not, you shall yet win the day!
God's holy Gospel shall yet shake the earth once more! The banner is
lifted up and multitudes are flocking to it–the Pharisees have taken
counsel together–the learned stand confounded–the sages are baffled.
They know not what to do! The little ones God has made great and he
that was despised is exalted. Let us trust Him, then. He will be with
us even to the end, for He has said, "Lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world."

IV. The last division of my subject is AN ARGUMENT and I have already
preached on that–"Prove Me now."

Why should we prove God? Because, Beloved, it will glorify Him if we
do. Nothing glorifies God more than proving Him. When a poor hungry
child of God, without a crust in the cupboard, says, "Lord, You have
said that bread shall be given me and water shall be sure. I will prove
You"–more Glory is given to God by that simple proof of Him than by
the hallelujahs of the archangels! When some poor despairing sinner who
has been fluttering round the Word, in hopes that he may–

"Light on some sweet promise there, Some sure defense against
despair"–

when such an one gives credence to God's promise in the very teeth of
evidence against him, staggering not at the promise through unbelief,
then he glorifies God! If you are, this morning, in your own
apprehension an almost damned sinner, and you feel yourself to be the
vilest of all–if you will believe this, that Christ loves you and that
Christ came to save you, sinner as you are–you will glorify God as
much by doing that as you will be able to do when your fingers shall
sweep across the string of the golden harps of Paradise! We glorify God
by proving Him. Try God. This is the way to bring out the glorious
points of the Christian character. It is in being singularly qualified
for the duties of our holy Christian warfare, in being singularly
courageous and singularly ready with the martyr-spirit, to imperil
ourselves for His service, that we may bring glory to God! God says,
"Prove Me now." Saint, will you rob Him of His honor? Will you not do
that which shall crown Him, in the estimation of the world, with many
more crowns? Oh, prove Him, for by so doing you will glorify His name!

Prove Him again, for you have proved Him before. Can you not remember
that you were brought very low and yet you can say, "This poor man
cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles"?
What? Will you not prove Him again? Mind you not the goodness you have
proved? When you said, "My feet were almost gone; my steps had well
near slipped," did He not support you so that you could say with the
Psalmist, "Nevertheless I am continually with you: you have held me by
my right hand"? Has your foot slipped? Can you not thus far witness to
His mercy? Then trust in it to still hold you up!

Again, accept this challenge! Prove God's Word, as He has called you to
do, and how much blessing it will give to yourself! Beloved Brothers
and Sisters, we endure 10 times as much anxiety in this world as we
need because we confide not in Divine promises half as much as we
might. If we were to live more on God's promises, and less on creature
feelings, we would be happier men and women, all of us! Could we live
always in faith on the promises, the shafts of the enemy could never
reach us. Let us constantly, then, seek to prove Him! How much good Mr.
Muller has done by proving God! He is called by God to a special work.
What does he do? He builds an orphan asylum and trusts to God. He has
no regular income, but he says, "I will prove to the world that God
hears prayer." So he lives in the exercise of prayer and though he may,
at times be brought to his last shilling, yet there is never a meal
that his children sit down to without sufficient bread. Our work may be
different from his, but let us seek, whatever our work is, to do it so
that when anyone reads of it, he will say, "He tried God in
such-and-such a promise and his life was a standing proof that that
promise did not fail." Whatever your promise is, let your life be seen
to be the working out of the problem which has to be proved, and like
any proposition of Euclid, which is stated at the beginning and proved
at the end, so may we find a text put at the beginning of our lives as
a promise to be fulfilled–and seen at the close, demonstrated, proved,
and carried out!

But, dear Friends, let me just conclude by asking those here who have
been brought to know their lost and ruined state, to remember this
message, "Prove Me now." Thus says my God unto you, O Sinner, "Whoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." My dear Hearer, are
you lost and ruined? Prove God now! He says, "Call unto Me, and I will
answer you." Come now, and call unto Him. "Knock," He says, "and it
shall be opened unto you." Lift up the knocker of Heaven's door and
sound it with all your might! Or, suppose you are too weak to
knock–let the knocker fall down of itself. He has said, "Ask, and you
shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you." Go and prove the promise now! Try to prove it. Are you a
poor, sick and wounded sinner? You are told that Jesus Christ is able
and willing to heal your wounds and extract the poison from your veins.
Prove Him, prove Him, poor Soul! You think yourself to be a lost
one–therefore I urge you, in Christ's name, to prove this promise–"I,
even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and
will not remember your sins." Take this to Him and say, "O God, I need
faith to trust Your Word! I know You mean what You have said. You have
said, this morning, by the mouth of your minister, 'Prove Me now.'
Lord, I will prove You now, this very day, even till nightfall if You
do not answer me! I will still keep fast by Your promise."

Do this, my Beloved, and you will not be gone long before you will be
able to sing–

"I'm forgiven, I'm forgiven! I'm a miracle of Grace."

Now, do not stand still and say, "God will not hear such an one as I
am. My disease is too bad for Him to cure." Go and see, put your hand
on the hem of His garment and then if the blood is not staunched, go
and tell the world that you have proved God wrong. Go and tell it, if
you dare. But oh, you cannot. If you touch the hem of His garment, I
know what you will say–"I have tasted that the Lord is gracious. He
said, 'Trust in Me, and I will deliver you.' I have trusted in Him and
He has delivered me!" For the promise will always have its fulfillment.
"Prove Me now," says God.