But your object, perhaps, “Mine has not beenthis life of uninterrupted prosperity, but, on the contrary, one of continued adversity. It is Jacob’s first, not his last estate, that has been always mine.” What do you mean? That you were not born rich, nor influential, nor of honoured family? That you have not the wisdom of the philosopher, the dignity of the prince, the opulence of the successful merchant, the leisure of independent private life? That may be. Your state may be the reverse of all this, and yet be the state of the “two bands.” External prosperity in Jacob’s time was commonly, yet not always, the sign of spiritual blessings; in Gospel days, with our better light, and greater power of appreciation of the reality, the sign is not so often afforded, frequently the most favoured are without it; yea, and often it abides with the unblessed as the mocking substitute for true blessedness. If you are withoutGodin the world; if you do not feel Him about your bed, and about your path; if you do not live in His fear, and hope for His mercies, and His rewards; if the thought of Him does not moderate your worldly joy, and direct your aims, and leaven your worldly work; if His comfort does not dry your tears, His strength support you, His grace sanctify you, then—no matter what your outward state, andyour possessions, your powers, your happiness—you are poor and unblessed. But if He is thus with you in all your ways, if you have resolved, and are keeping the resolution, “TheLordshall be myGod,” then is yours the state, or it is growing towards the state of the “two bands.” One more objection somewhat akin to this last, must be answered. There are some who say, “Mine was once the state of the two bands: it has long since been—or it is fast becoming—solitariness and the single staff. All thing are against me. Nothing that I put my hand to seems to prosper; I come into misfortune; the fountains of joy are dried up; my hope, my stay, are taken from me. When I look back upon the past, I look as it were up an incline down which I have rolled, or towards a pinnacle whence I have been cast down.” Now, of course, my brethren, all this may be the result of the displeasure ofGod, consequent upon your sin, or neglect of Him. Outward adversity is sometimes the effect of His wrath, sometimes it is the chastisement of displeasure, and the discipline of correction. If then in your heart, you know that you deserve such wrath, or need such correction (even then it is a blessing, and you ought to praiseGodfor it, but still) you may be sure thatit is the mark of disapprobation, something for you to grieve over, and seek to have removed. But if the testimony of your conscience is that you walk withGod, then are these so-called reverses very blessings, not declines but advances, not hindrances but helps, tokens ofGod’slove upraisings of you towards heaven. Oh be like Jacob; count all mercy, get rid of selfishness, and meditate as he did, and you will prove that all is mercy, and proclaim it! You will find, for instance, that the loss of wealth took away with it the idol of your worship, the minister of your excessive pleasure; that altered position broke down your pride; that worldly sorrow led you to seek heavenly comfort; that the perfidy of so-called friends made you cease to put your trust in man, and caused you to rely on the friend that sticketh closer than a brother; that sickness and infirmity reminded you of death, and stimulated you to preparation for judgment; that the loss of those you loved, uprooted your clingings to earth, linked you to heaven, revealed to you One whom you knew not; Whom above all you ought to love; Who is better to you than sons and daughters; Who is the true and abiding Father of the fatherless, andGodof the widow. No matter what your circumstances, how manyyour troubles, I tell you on the authority of God’s Word, that if you love Him, they all work together for your good; yea, they are all good in themselves. You will find them so, if you rightly review them, and each of you will be able to say, as truthfully as Jacob did, with much more meaning, because of your better knowledge and superior blessedness inChrist, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto my servant . . . I am become two bands.”
Try to feel this, brethren, and to express it this night toGod; to tell out your praises for the mercies of your past life, and, in the review of them, to pledge yourselves to Him, that you will strive henceforth to recognise blessings more quickly, to use them better, to be more grateful for them. Be these the thoughts and vows with which you consecrate the last hours of a dying year. But, knowing that so soon as you set out again, your enemy, whom sin has given the advantage over you, will come to meet you, to smite you, to turn you back from the Holy Land, forget not this night to cry, “Deliver me, I pray Thee, OLord. Take away from me the sin which exposes me to assaults, which makes me vulnerable. Give me Thy strength: go beforeme with thy blessing.” Do this, brethren, persevere in it day after day, night after night: wrestle with God, refuse to let Him go—you shall surely prevail:Godwill yield all you ask; and, in honour of your victory, He will change your name from Jacob to Israel, that is, you shall no longer be remembered by the name of your deceit and your sin. You shall be known, known to angels, known to Him, as princes, and prevailers withGod.
St. John,ix., 4.I must work the works of Him that sent me,while it is day:the night cometh,when no man can work.
St. John,ix., 4.
I must work the works of Him that sent me,while it is day:the night cometh,when no man can work.
Idwellnot on these words in their relation to the context. I pause not to consider whether their utterance was a justification of the Sabbath-day miracle that was presently to be performed—“no opportunity must be lost, no delay allowed of working the works ofGod”—or whether they were but the thinking and resolving aloud (so characteristic of ourLord), by which He kept ever in mind His great mission, by which He continually stimulated and pressed on that human nature of His; willing indeed, but yet weak, though not sinful; and made it vigorously industrious in the work ofGod; or whether, once more,Christhere but personified Christians, and spoke not of Himself, not to keep Himselfmindful and intent upon His work, but as their example and representative, as though He had said, “A work ofGodwill now be manifested in the restoration of this blind man. It will not be delayed till the Sabbath is over. See me servingGodand serving Him now, by instant doing of all possible work. Consider me your example. Let this be your resolution, ‘I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.’” It matters little to us what feeling or motive immediately prompted ourLordto speak the text. His words at once commend themselves to us as those which we may, which we ought to adopt, even if they belong primarily to Him; which, rather, since they were the ruling maxim ofChrist, must be the ruling maxim of Christians.
Well, then, these are our words (andChristhas shown us how to fulfil them), “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
“Him that sent me.” Have we yet to learn, my brethren, thatGodsent us into this world; that we came not here by chance, or on our own account; that we are not independent beings, free to wander about or linger to do, or forbear to do, as we please? By the will—for the accomplishmentof the purposes—ofGod, we are here on a mission, His messengers, His agents, workers for Him.Godhas made all things for His own use and glory. None of us liveth unto himself—He sent us forth. He gave us a charge. He watches to see what we do with it. He waits for our return; rather, He appoints, and, whensoever He will, enforces our return. And what is the mission? What has He sent us to do? To work the works ofGod, and make them manifest, to promote, to show forth His glory, to become ourselves all that He would have us to be, and to light and guide others to the same end. Work forGod! How few ever think of such a thing! Work for themselves (and for others like themselves) for food to eat and raiment to put on, for money, for power, for fame, for pleasure; men understand this; they acknowledge the necessity of it, or the inviting, constraining desirableness of it, and they do it—do it generally, do it well, and heartily. A really idle man, a man that works not some works, is a rarity, an object of contempt when he is seen, a despiser of himself. But, work forGod! How many do that? Who does it heartily, and does it well? Whose thoughts are full of it, whose deeds accomplish it? What fruits come of it? There are some, not a few,thankGod! who can give a satisfactory answer to such questions; whose lives continually give it, and whomGod, for their works’ sake inChrist, greatly approves. But I speak now to the many, yea, I speak to all; for the work ofGodso generally neglected, is by none perfectly performed. To all, then, I solemnly address the questions: “Do you work forGod?” and “What work do you work for Him?” You are tempted to justify yourselves. You are not the unbelieving, and rebellious, and profane of our race. You recognise aGodof providence and grace, a moral ruler of the world, a waiting Judge. To thisGodyou say your prayers, His word you read, and reverence, and receive. To Him you dedicate at least several hours of each seventh day; by His commandments you order your daily life. You do no wrong to your neighbour by word or deed; you strive to purify and sanctify your very feelings and thoughts; you believe in a Saviour; you accept His salvation; you try to love Him; you partake of His means of grace; you rest in Him, and look to Him for final redemption, and something you do occasionally by way of persuading others; and something you give for the furtherance of religious works. It is well, brethren, if you do this; if you go through theform, and do not inwardly contradict what is outward, but rather incline to it.
It is well, I say, because it is hopeful, it will, by grace, lead you farther; but if in your heart and soul you recogniseGod, and believe in a Saviour, then I am sure that you will not adduce what I have mentioned as specimens of the works ofGod. Acknowledgments thatGodought to be served, pledges of service, they may be, but works they are not. And yet some, perhaps, would urge, “When the question was put, ‘What must we do that we may work the works ofGod?’ did notChristanswer, ‘This is the work ofGod, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent”? and, say they, “Does not this show that literal working, as we work in and for the world, is not whatGoddemands; that it is rather a mental assent, an entertaining and exercising of feelings, a believing, a thankful, a sanctifying remembrance ofChrist’swork; a trust in it, a carefulness to do nothing that will render it ineffectual for our salvation, that is required of us? Surely,Christhas done the work Himself; we have but to accept it thankfully, and wait for it faithfully and holily.”
Now, my brethren, it may be easily shown that this is not believing in Him whomGodhath sent.To believe in Him is to embrace Him as the Author, and Finisher, and Giver of Salvation; to be assured that salvation can only be had from Him, in Him, and on His terms; to learn of Him, therefore—and, of course, of His Apostles and Evangelists after Him, for to them even clearer teaching was intrusted—what are the terms, and then to fulfil them resolutely and precisely. Do you need that I should quote the actual words, the chapter, and verse, in whichChrist, through the Spirit, tells us, that He has redeemed us to Himself; that He has purchased us for a peculiar people zealous of good works; that He has left us a definite work to do against His return; that on His return He will judge and reward us by our works; that He will condemn as workers against Him those who have not worked for Him; that it is vain to acknowledge Him and not do the things that He bids; that He has left us an example that we should follow His steps, in that He fulfilled all righteousness, and went about doing good, and proposed to Himself, as that which must be done, and done heartily and without delay, the works and the manifesting of the works ofGod, and made it His meat and drink to do the Father’s will; that He has said plainly, that whosoever would not take up the cross andfollow Him could not be His disciple. O wo to those who dare to say this means: Sit still in worldliness, and look at and admire Him doing the labour and pursuing the path of godliness—that He has attached all His promises to certain deeds; that He is ever represented as judging, not what men have thought and felt, but what they have done and become by doing; that by the Spirit He has commanded “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” and “Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory ofGod;” and “He that gathereth not, scattereth abroad”? Oh, my brethren, let us be honest; we know, we dare not deny it, that a work, rather that many works are imposed upon us byGod, and that it will not do for us merely to think of them, to sigh over them, to approach them carelessly, reluctantly, to call preferred employments by their name; but that with clear understanding with heart-devotion, with constant application and real labour, we must do the works of Him that sent us.
And, now, what are the works?
The first, and most vitally important, is, to “work out our own salvation;” not to attempt of ourselves to undo what Adam did; not by anycourse of zealous doing to seek to recommend ourselves toGodas deserving a reward, to propose to purchase heaven, to go toGodthe Father directly for it, and expect to get it from Him, either as a right or as a gift of compassion: but, knowing that it is only to be had ofChrist, to seek it fromChristin appointed ways, in the measure, on the conditions which He has prescribed for all, and to fulfil the conditions. We are not naturally born in grace; we do not naturally inherit glory.Christ, by right, the Saviour of all men, is, in fact, “specially” only the Saviour of them that believe; of them who actually apply to Him and depend on Him, and remain in communion with Him for grace; who serve Him by fulfilling His commands and copying His example, who use His grace and grow in it, and by its power transform themselves into the character which alone can dwell in heaven. Now, all this is work—real, anxious, laborious work; this obeying ofChrist, this imitation of His example, and following in His steps, this putting off of the old man and putting on of the new man. Are you intent upon it? Do you perform it? Consider the means of grace, prayer, praise, divine instruction, holy communion; do you faithfully and diligently use them? Read the Decaloguewith the commentary of the Sermon on the Mount. Can you honestly say, All this I keep and do? Study the life ofChrist—is your life like it: like it in humility, in self-denial, in labour, in fact, in hope, in aim? Examine yourselves. Are you cleansed from evil propensities—are you adorned with Christian graces—are you fit in person, in will, in desire, for a heaven full of holiness, whose employment will be the doing ofGod’swork, as angels do it, whose relaxation, if I may so speak, will be the contemplation and the praise ofGod? What do you leave undone, what do you transgress ofGod’swill? What covetousness do you root out, what evil tempers do you subdue, what rash zeal do you curb, what indolence do you overcome? Are you worldly, sensual, ill-natured, proud, self-seeking? Have you any trace of these stains upon you? Are you wanting in obedience, in patience, in holiness, in love ofGod? You cannot enter heaven, it would close its gates against you, you would flee from it as a place of torment, while you are in such a state. Now, what are you doing, or attempting to appropriateChrist’ssalvation, to secureGod’sapprobation, to qualify yourselves in character, in taste and desire for a purely spiritual, a gloriously holy heaven? You knowwhat concentrated thought, what single aim, what diligent, anxious, persevering labour are necessary to make you good scholars, able statesmen, accomplished members of society, successful tradesmen, apt mechanics; or, to descend lower, ordinary earners of daily bread. You may guess, then, what measure of these things is needed to perfect you in saintliness, and therefore you are able to answer the question—oh, how must you answer it?—whether you fulfil the acknowledged requirement of the text, “I must work the works of Him that sent me.”
But, besides this, so to speak, selfish work, you have a work to do for and upon others.GodWho wills to inform, and persuade, and save the world, appoints men, appoints you to accomplish His will. Like asChrist, besides qualifying Himself to be the Saviour, had also to proclaim, and recommend, and bestow salvation, so have you, while putting yourselves in the way of salvation, and diligently pursuing it, to be lights, and voices, and helping hands to others. You are lights of the world; you are ambassadors forChrist; you are your brothers’ keepers; you are teachers ofGod’sWord, and advocates of His cause, and treasurers of His gifts; you are under shepherds ofChrist; you are fellowworkers with Him, and dispensers of His manifold grace.Godhas given you these offices, and He has placed you where you may exercise them. He has given you authority over your children, and servants, and dependents. He has lent you influence over friends and associates. He has planted you in the midst of crowds of ignorant, indifferent, ungodly, that you may work for Him, in guiding, and persuading, and leading to salvation, in making manifest His glory. He has put into your power to contribute something—into the power of some to contribute much—to the various associations (which are, in fact, your agents), for doing the work ofGodin building and endowing additional churches, in providing more clergymen at home, in sending missionaries to the colonist and the heathen. You think, perhaps, that in the chief part of what I have said, I have been describing the clergy, and not the laity. But, brethren, the clergy are nothing but representatives, representatives, on the one hand, ofGod, teaching, exhorting, ministering grace in His name, by and from Him; representatives, on the other hand, of your prayers, and praises, and your works. You know whose would be the blame, and how great the blame, and how terrible the consequences, if the minister only confessedtoGodand praised Him, and partook of His sacraments. It is just the same, if he only teaches, and exhorts, and visits, and tends, and relieves; an empty sign, a mockery, a provocation of wrath, which will surely descend on those who cause it to be unreal, on those who do not make it real. Ministers we are, coming fromGodto you, going toGodfrom you. Oh, you cannot suppose that if you leave two or three clergymen to deal with thousands of people, to inform them, to persuade them, to become acquainted with their wants, to relieve them out of their own poor means, you cannot suppose I say that in so doing, you are working the works ofGod, that when you have said your prayers, and listened to the sermon, and paid your pew rents, and dropped a superfluous coin into the plate of an occasional collection, you have obeyed and imitatedChrist. No, brethren, you are under no such delusion of Satan. An awful responsibility is indeed upon the clergy. We have sworn to give ourselves wholly to a work in which your part is to support, and succour, and enable us. We are pledged to forego opportunities of acquiring fame, and gaining wealth and power, and taking pleasure. Wo to us, if we disregard the oath, if we cling to the things which we profess to haverenounced! But if we fail, that will not excuse you; and if we are faithful without your adherence, the reward will be ours, the blood guiltily shed, or guiltily unstaunched, will be upon your heads. It is a solemn theme which I am discussing this morning, and I dare not but speak plainly upon it. Our fidelity will not profit you if you are not helpers of us. Our unfaithfulness, though we perish in it, will be visited on you, if you do not enable us, if you do not constrain us, by the power with which you should endow us, by the jealous concern which you should have for our work, by the diligent co-operation which you should exercise with us. It is easy to say, that you are not qualified for this, that your time is all engaged in your worldly calling, that you cannot spare from the means of your support, from the capital of your business, the money which the Church calls for. But, brethren, consider, that thoughGodrequires you to maintain yourselves and your families, though your worldly callings are appointed for you byGod, though He allows you to give much time to them, to advance and enrich yourselves by them, yet all this is on the condition that you do not withhold from Him the direct service and offerings which constitute the one thing needful, the reward of which is all thatshall survive this life, and this world! It was the fashion once among religionists to despise, to pronounce unclean (unfitting for the Christian), the use of the world, its callings, its profits, its pleasures. There is much danger of an opposite fashion prevailing in our days. The confining of religious service and worship to the honest, respectable, intellectual, liberal pursuit of some worldly vocation, “the religion of common life” as it is called, being regarded, not as the companion,—rather the handmaid—but the substitute (and a very good one, too) for pure spiritual religion. Both are wrong. The Christian may use the world, and in the right use of it he may be servingGod. But he must not abuse it; and he does abuse it, if he allows himself to be engrossed by it; if he brings himself to a state, if he continues willingly in a state, where he is obliged to say, “I cannot spare any time or any money, my first thought, and concern, and provision must be for this life.”
You have heard, or read, perhaps, that a contented, conscientious, and cheerful abiding in and following of our worldly occupations, that even the housemaid’s sweeping and cleaning may be religious worship; and there is truth in the statement, otherwise the Apostle could not have exhorted“Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory ofGod;” but, the Scriptural injunction means, “Prolong the remembrance of your spiritual worship: testify your yearning to get back to it: keep the face shining, when you come down from the glorious mount, so that while the world demands your bodies, your souls, your hearts and spirits may still be given toGod, and even the bodily acts spiritualised by doing them in submission, in holy observance of the will ofGod, in thankful use of the means of support and helps to usefulness, which He thus affords you.” Worldly occupations and worldly goods are to the Christian what meals, and recreations, and sleep are to men generally: necessaries, supports of the lower life, refreshments, and invigorators for something better. Give yourselves wholly to these and you become sensualists, idlers, sluggards; and give yourselves wholly to the world and you are followers of Mammon and forsakers ofGod! You see the right use of the world, as far as this life is concerned, when the son toils to support an aged parent, when the young man struggles to get on, that he may establish a home, when the father seeks through his profession to provide for his family, when the lover of literature diligently tries to make his calling affordhim money for books and time to read them. This is employing the world as a necessary means to a desired end. And so you see the right use of the world, in regard to a better life, in him who labours and perseveres, and advances in it with the view of getting as much out of it as he can forGod.
Be sure that there are none so busy but, in the midst of their business, they can think of what they like better; none so pressed for time, but they can spare some of it, if they have a mind to; none so poor as to have nothing to spend on what they covet. So use the world, and, in using it, you will work the works ofGod, because you will often take from it, and often come out from it, for the direct and more purely spiritual works ofGod.
ButChrist, our pattern, said not merely “I must work the works ofGod,” but I must do them “while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” We know what that meant in His case. He had taken human nature in its weakness, and He had to bring it to its full strength, to fit it for glory and exaltation to the throne ofGod. He had in His life to speak the word ofGodto many people, and in many places, and each opportunity must be seized, or otherswould be forfeited. He had to relieve present sufferings, and to supply present wants; to meet necessities while they were pressing. Soon the time would come for Him to go to the Father: then He must be perfect; then He would have no more opportunity in the flesh for benefitting man and glorifyingGod; then He could make no more preparation for the setting up of His Church.
The words have a similar meaning with regard to us; but in our cases the necessity is more urgent, the delay more awful, because we have no fixed time allotted us—“to-day, and to-morrow, and the third day I must be perfected.” Our life is to be taken from us without our consent, and may be taken at any moment; we have not power to lay it down when we will, and power to keep it as long as we will. And, besides, we have not been using each year, each day, each hour, to the best advantage. We have left undone much which we ought to have done, we have done much which we ought not to have done. We have all this to correct, and yet to give full attention to the works yet remaining.
Look we in at ourselves, brethren, and see what requires to be done in us before we are fit for heaven. Listen to the cries of spiritual distress,and consider what has to be supplied. Think of the souls that are dying, and will soon be dead, if we do not revive them. Remember we what frail, short-continuing, dying creatures we are; how soon at the latest, how suddenly, it may be abruptly, without a moment’s warning, we may be called to present ourselves, to be dealt with according to our fitness, to give account of our works forGod.
Let the arrival of a new year set us reviewing the past year, with its catalogue of offences, of neglects, of things to be wiped out, debts to be paid, progress to be quickened. Let us heed well its injunction and its warning, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.” Let us look up for the opening clouds and listen for the Advent voice, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to give to every man according as his works shall be;” and let us instantly resolve and instantly begin to perform our resolution and persevere in it, nor dare to forget it: “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
St. John,xiv., 22.Lord,how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us,and not unto the world.
St. John,xiv., 22.
Lord,how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us,and not unto the world.
Onthe festival of the Epiphany, and on several Sundays afterwards, we commemorate what are called manifestations ofChrist; revelations and exhibitions of Him, in His nature, His person, His might, His wisdom, His various offices. In one sense,Christ’swhole life, from the manger in Bethlehem to the Mount of the Ascension, was a manifestation. It was not possible to see or hear Him, without becoming convinced—if open to conviction—that He was different from all other men, and superior to them. His every deed, His every word, His every look, designedly or undesignedly proclaimed “This isGodmanifest in the flesh!” Still, there were some particular exhibitions of Himself, which, fromthe special circumstances attending them, the preparation made for them, their peculiar importance, their wonderful effects, or their relations to certain classes or individuals, are entitled to be distinguished from the rest of that life-long Epiphany, and to be calledpar excellencethe manifestations ofChrist.
Of this kind, was the exhibition to the shepherds, and again, that to the wise men of the East—prefiguring, commencing the manifestation to the Gentiles; the declaration that He must be about His Father’s business, the baptism by John, the show of His power in converting water into wine, in cleansing the leper, in calming the troubled sea, in casting out devils; the unfolding of His wisdom in speaking parables, the preaching of judgment by the Son of Man—all of which are in turn commemorated at this season. Of this kind, again, were the teaching on the Mount, all the miracles, the Transfiguration, the appearances after the Resurrection, the Ascension, the wonders of Pentecost, the light that shone from heaven on Saul journeying to Damascus, and the voice that said “I amJesuswhom thou persecutest.” These were all pre-eminent manifestations, as being designedly full of significance, making special revelations to special persons;displaying, so to speak, the chief features ofChrist, and teaching most important lessons. Nevertheless, they were rather preludes and signs ofChrist’struest manifestation, than that manifestation itself—faint glimmers of coming light, rustlings, warning movements, scarcely upliftings of the curtain that hung between things spiritual and the would-be spectators of them—parables, and prophecies. They left not those who saw them where they were, but they carried them not whither they would be or should be. They bade them look and listen; but they revealed not the sight, nor spake the word. Strange as it may seem,Christwas not truly manifested till the clouds of heaven hid Him, and, in the flesh, He ceased to appear and speak till judgment-time. The truth was, as yet, not taught, but only hinted at, and men were not yet ready for it, and could not receive it. It is not in what we call the Gospels, but in the Epistles, that the truth as it is inJesusis revealed. It is not in the miracles of His earthly ministry, but in the spiritual wonders which, after Pentecost, the Apostles wrought in His name; that the real power ofChrist, the power to bless, is seen and felt. All before was but a type, a shadow, a dream. The antitype, the reality, the waking vision, belong to apostolicdays, and to the days after them. Then was the Gospel revealed, which before was only brought nigh. Then was the kingdom of Heaven opened. Then didJesus, through the Spirit, begin to speak and show Himself openly and plainly to Jews and Gentiles, and to draw all men to Him. Then did spiritual wisdom begin to enlighten, and spiritual power begin to enable the hitherto blind and helpless. Then first, even to the Apostles, and then, by them, to the world, began to be displayedGodmanifest in the flesh. Up to that time, though He was in the world, the world knew Him not. He stood among them, but they did not see Him; He spoke, but they did not hear: yea, though He had come to His own, they did not receive Him, till the Pentecostal light made all clear, and the voice of the Spirit declared “This is the beloved Son of the Father,” and the power of Divine grace, enabled and constrained to believe on His name, to receive Him intelligently and heartily, and through Him, and in a measure like Him, to become sons ofGod.
Then and thus wasChristtruly manifested, as it were in these last times.
But there is even yet a better manifestation, one more really worthy of the name—that, namely,which is made to the Disciples, but not to the world.
In a sense, all that has hitherto been described was an external manifestation—a manifestation to the world. The Gospel was preached openly, the credentials of its heralds were publicly exhibited, whosoever would might hear and see; and only when they refused, and judged themselves unworthy of eternal life, did the Apostles turn away from them, or pass on to another place, shaking the dust off their feet as a testimony against them. Even the inward grace, the power to see spiritually, to believe, and to acceptChrist, was so far manifested to the world, that it was offered to all, and was within the reach of all. The Apostles, who taught men their need of salvation, and exhorted them to save themselves, both showed them the way and promised them the grace of salvation; and thus, therefore, wasChristopenly, and with power, manifested to the world. But, in the chapter of the text,Christmakes it a special promise to those that love Him, that He will manifest Himself to them. Judas (not Iscariot) rightly concludes that this is a manifestation which shall be made to none but approved disciples; and, accepting the promise, he ventures to ask, respecting itsfulfilment, “Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?”
It must be borne in mind that the Jewish notion, a notion shared by the disciples, was that theMessiahwould manifest Himself in all the pomp and power of a triumphant earthly prince, exhibiting Himself to the whole world, ruling all the nations of the earth, and demanding the homage and adoration of all men. They waited in expectation that the kingdom of Israel would be restored, that Jerusalem would become the capital of the world, thatChristwould sit visibly on a splendid throne, in the midst of her, and that they would occupy the nearest places to Him of honour and power. This notion was still theirs, as we know, whenChristled them out to the Mount of the Ascension; and we can well understand, therefore, that Judas, and those with him, must at this time have been greatly perplexed by the intimation, whichChrist’spromise conveyed, that He was only to be manifested to those that love Him. It is out of this perplexity—not, as I said before, questioning the fact of a partial manifestation, but unable to understand it, and seeking enlightenment—that Judas asks, “Lord, how is it thatThou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?”
The words translated “How is it,” render possible a threefold interpretation of this question. 1st.Lord, what has happened—how is it come to pass that the original design (at least, what we suppose to be the original design) of an universal manifestation is altered, and now only a partial manifestation to be afforded? 2ndly.Lord, what has been done by us, what special merits have we, whence is it that we are to be so signally favoured, and others passed over? 3rdly.Lord, what kind of manifestation will that be which some eyes only shall perceive? In what way wilt Thou reveal Thy presence to us, so that the world, in the midst of which we dwell, into the midst of which, therefore, Thou must come to us, shall not partake with us of the vision. It is scarcely profitable, perhaps, to consider whether or no the first interpretation is admissible; nor need we attempt to decide between the second and the third. Let us rather combine them; and taking the question out of Judas’s mouth, and adopting it as our own, let us reverently and teachably ask, as we need, of Him who giveth wisdom liberally, “Lord, how is it, on what account, and in what way, that Thou wilt manifestThyself unto us, and not unto the world?”
I. On what account is He partial? Why does He make us to differ? Not then, for any recommendation we had to His favour—for we were all concluded under sin, and all guilty beforeGod. Not again, for any merits or deserts in His service, for at the best, if we have done all that He set us to do (and who has?) we are yet but unprofitable servants. No! there was nothing which should makeGodrespect and choose us before others; and we have done no work for which we can claim reward.Godis no respecter of persons. It is impossible, by any mere natural deeds or efforts to please Him. We have all sinned and come short of His glory. We all sin, and deserve wrath every day. ButChrist, Who would have all men to be saved, Who has died for all, and risen again for all, and sent down His Holy Spirit ready to justify, to sanctify, to bless all, has nevertheless made the bestowal of His grace conditional. He requires a certain “receptivity” for it. It is not thrust upon all, willing or unwilling, proud or humble,God-fearing orGod-despising. Men must feel their need of it; and, feeling their need, they must express it, at least to Him, and must go to Him in His appointedways to obtain it.Christin sufficiency, in desire, the Saviour of all men, is, in fact, specially only the Saviour of them that believe—believe with that impelling desire, and that active faith, which make them flee to Him to be saved, and earnestly ask of Him, “What must I do to be saved?” And next, having this fitness, this receptivity for grace, and so receiving it,Christrequires men to treasure up the grace with reverence and godly fear; to use it with diligence, with zealous effort, to improve it, to grow in it; to strengthen it constantly by all appointed means of sustenance and exercise; to accomplish with it all that He wills and directs to be done; to be heartily grateful to the Author, the Sustainer, the Finisher of Salvation. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me, and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” So then it is only to love that the manifestation is made; and love is proved by obedience, and obedience is the hearty faithful performance, in the spirit as well as the letter, of the expressed will ofChrist.
And here, brethren, before we go further, let us see in the light of these conditions, why it is that religious influences affect so little the vastmass of mankind. There is a manifestation ofChristto the world. He is ever speaking in their ears and showing Himself to their eyes. His Church, with its Bible, its means of grace and ministry, its duration and extension, besides being a standing miracle, the infallible credential of His divine authority, the proof of His wisdom and His power, is a very exhibition of Himself, mighty and eager to save. The Spirit, which is with and in that Church, declares Himself to be able and ready to enlighten, and persuade, and strengthen all, without exception, without delay, if only they will come to Him. And yet how many, not only of the recklessly profane, the grossly carnal, the resolutely blind and deaf, but of the well-disposed, the moral, the albut exemplary, have no perception whatever ofChrist! How many so-called Christians, not only in their business or their pleasure, when they turn away their eyes from the manifestedGod, but even when they come up to the sanctuary, when they read the Bible, when they kneel in prayer or stand to praise, when they look Zionwards, when they are all attent, eyes and ears, yet see no sight, and hear no sound ofChrist! The world which they have left is remembered, and stands before them in a life-like picture. The sights they would not see, thesounds they would not hear, they cannot escape from; butChrist, the object of their worship, in some sense the desire of their eyes, they look for but cannot find; if He stands in the midst of them, they know it not!
Is not this, brethren, the experience of many of you? You do not, of course, ever expect open visions, perceptions with natural eyes and ears of a spiritually manifested Saviour; but do you not often fail to obtain what you think (and rightly) you ought to aim at obtaining, a real, though spiritual, a convincing, constraining, sanctifying, and cheering manifestation ofChrist? Do you not often, do you not almost always find just that wanting, which should make religion real? “Oh!” you exclaim, “would that when I kneel down in church, to make solemn confessions, to utter supplications, to pray for pardon, for favour, for grace—oh! that such a vision ofChristwere afforded me, that I were possessed with such feeling of His presence, as would prevent my turning away so readily from the solemnity, to see who is coming into church, to admire or criticise the dress or appearance of those beside me, to remember the worldliness of yesterday, to anticipate the worldliness of to-morrow. Oh! that when I sit with open Bible before me, and slight and slurover its difficult parts, and give little heed to the personal application of its histories, and treat albut with indifference its exhortations, its warnings, its promises, its threats—Oh! that some voice would recall me from my wandering, and dispel my irreverence, and concentrate my devout attention with its heard command, ‘Thus, saith theLord, Hear what the Spirit saith.’ Oh! that when I go about the world, and neglect my religious duty here, and transgress it there, yielding readily to temptation, hankering after, following worldliness, led by the persuasions, awed by the frowns, constrained by the demands of the world, oh! thatChristwould stand at least before my spiritual vision, and utter to the ears of my soul, ‘Forbear. Take up thy cross. Follow me.’ Oh, that He would do all this for others too: for those whom I love, who go farther out of the way, for the carnal, for the godless, for the souls that are carelessly, that are deliberately perishing! Oh! that for His own honour’s sake He would openly show Himself and dispute—with the Devil, with Mammon, with Pleasure, with Folly—the possession of the souls which He has purchased for Himself! Why does He not give some proof, why does He not exercise some persuasion which must be felt, which could not bedisregarded? Oh! that He would rend the heavens and come down; that He would cheer the saint; that He would confound and convert the sinner by His manifested presence.”
It is thus, if I mistake not, that we sometimes think and wish. But, brethren, the words which prompted Judas to speak, reprove our thoughts. They show us that it is not by oversight, by defect, by mismanagement, by any failure to accomplish what was intended, but by deliberate design, by exact fulfilment of whatGodproposed, that the real, the strong influences of Christianity are not brought to bear upon men generally.
Christmanifests not Himself fully to the world. He never meant to do it. He never will do it, till he comes to judgment.
God, we are told, “will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth.” These awful words do not mean what some attempt to make out of them—that there is an arbitrary election to salvation, and so for all others an inevitable destruction. They mean rather that while His mercy is ready to flow, and is always flowing, if you desire it, you must go to the fountain for it.Godis under no necessity to save all men. We do not confer a favour on Him by consenting to be saved. His glory will bemanifested in destruction as in salvation. He desires to save us. He will save us, and rejoice in our salvation, if we seek to be saved: but if we are rebellious, or indifferent, if we will not comply with the conditions on which only He will manifest His best presence to us, then we must not complain, if He makes good His declaration, and proves it by withholding Himself from us, that whom He wills (and in what way He wills) on them He has mercy, and all others, though He long bears with them, and gives them much time and opportunity for conforming to His will, yet is He content, yea, determined to leave them in their hardness, to confirm them in their hardness, because they will not be softened in the way which He has chosen to prescribe.
Oh! my brethren, do not suppose that it is the weakness, the impotence of Christianity, the frustration of the will ofGodthat is demonstrated in the world’s ungodliness, in the perdition of so many immortal souls. No! It is rather the power of Christianity to keep its own for its own: it is the glorious vindication of the sovereign will of Jehovah to save whom He will; it is the corroboration ofChrist’sword, that none should come to the Father but by Him; it is the terrible, deliberately-inflicted punishment of those that willnot come unto Him that they might have life; it is the manifestation, so to speak, of His non-manifestation: “If ye will not love me, holding my commandments and keeping them, then you cannot be loved of My Father, and so cannot be loved of Me, and I will not manifest myself to you.”
It is ourselves, brethren, and notGodthat must be changed. The seed is scattered over all the field, but it grows only in the good ground. IfChristis not manifest to us, it is because we have not complied with the conditions of manifestation. He is faithful to His promise, but we have not closed with the promise. Realising, then, that it is not binding onGodto save us—excepting on the terms which He has Himself laid down—and presenting to ourselves the momentous interests at stake, let us comply withGod’sterms, and let us strive to do so gratefully. Let us be at pains to ascertainChrist’swill; let us diligently and scrupulously keep it, endeavouring all the while to follow it, not as mere routine of morality, but as active direct service ofChristHimself, and proposing to ourselves, as the motive to its observance, gratitude forChrist’ssalvation, and as the reward of observance, the manifestation ofChrist. So doing,we shall soon find that there is a real, an unequalled power in Christianity to attract and constrain us; we shall soon know how it is thatChristwill manifest Himself to His disciples, while He is hidden from the world.
II. I have left but little time for the consideration of the second form of our question, namely, in what wayChristwill manifest Himself only to the chosen. There is no need of a lengthy discussion of this subject, because, with all our spiritual short-sightedness, we are not like the Jews, we can have no difficulty in understanding the possibility ofChrist’smanifestation of Himself to whom He will, and at the same time His hiding of Himself from all others. We know that like as ghosts are sometimes said to appear to but one of a roomful, so if it pleasedChrist—and in any other way which He pleased—He could stand visibly at this moment before any one of us, and utter to that favoured ear distinctly audible words, while the rest of us saw and heard nothing of Him.
And there is no use in the discussion of the nature ofChrist’struest manifestation, because even if the preacher had realised it in all its perfect blessedness, his words would fail to describe what he had felt; yea, the best possible descriptionwould be wholly unintelligible to the natural man who perceives not, and cannot perceive, the things ofGod, while it would be wholly unnecessary, rather would be solemn trifling with those who have actually partaken of the blessedness. No, brethren, it cannot be spoken—and if it could, I believe, it might not be—howChristshows Himself to those who love Him and keep His commandments. It is only in its realisation that you can understand what the promise means: “We will come unto Him and make our abode with Him.” Go, fulfil the conditions, and you shall receive the promise; and it shall disclose to you its own wonders, and its own transcendent bliss, and its own constraining power.
But though we may not describe the manifestation itself, we may observe and recount the effects it produces. The Israelites might not come up toGodand see Him face to face in the Mount, but they were allowed, and it was good for them, to behold the shining of Moses’s face when he returned from the Divine presence. Doubtless, to many, it was an additional proof of the being ofGod; to not a few it may have been an incentive to seek the blessing of His favour. And so, brethren, it may be with us. Taking knowledge of those who have been withJesus, we may seeon them some reflection of His glorious self, some marks of a bliss which we shall covet to share, which may stimulate us both to believe better in its reality and to strive more earnestly for its fruition. Yes! and comparing ourselves with them very humbly, with unceasing prayer and watching against false confidence, we may even discern on ourselves the faint dawn, the first streaks of the Divine twilight, which tell (oh! how unspeakable the bliss!) that the dayspring is about to mount above our horizon; that the Sun of righteousness is about to shine into our hearts with all His glory.
Consider, then, such as Abraham, who, after He had seenChrist—forChristwas often manifest before the Incarnation—could himself resolutely destroy his best earthly hope ifGodrequired it; Job, who, after the vision of perfect holiness, abhorred himself and repented; Jacob, who felt (and felt throughout his life, we may be sure) how dreadful, how consecrated was the place whereGodwas met; Joseph, who possessed a power to resist effectually the sin, which so many dare to say there is no resisting (“How can I do this great wickedness and sin againstGod?”); Daniel, who entered courageously into a den of lions; Simeon, who longed for death, and the enjoymentof the permanent vision, after he had once seenChrist; Stephen, who died, almost like his Master, “LordJesusreceive my spirit;” and the many others, who endured and laboured, and resisted, and persevered, and rejoiced in tribulation, and hoped against hope, as seeing Him who is invisible. Yes, brethren, consider these. Think what they were, men of the same flesh and blood, of like infirmities, and like sin with yourselves. Think how they secured the favour ofGod, by the same simple means which are within the power of the least of you, yea, and more within your power than theirs, at least of most of them, because of the clearer light, and the better grace of Gospel times. Think what a reflection they showed of the visions ofChristwhich they enjoyed. Think how real must have been their religious life; how enviable their peace and bliss; what a glorious light they afforded for the example and encouragement of other men; and be no longer content that with all your faculties and opportunities, all your knowledge and invitations, all your proffers of Divine grace, all the perpetual revelations ofChristto those who desire Him, you yet should never see Him; but resolutely accepting His terms, hold and keep His commandments, and pray, and meditate, and labour to love Him.
Then plead and watch—you shall not plead in vain, nor watch very long—and the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit will surely come unto you and make their abode manifestly within you, cheering you with the light of the Divine countenance, strengthening you with the strength of Divine grace, moulding you more and more into the image ofChrist(which must be yours in perfection before you can partake of His fullest manifestation), abiding with you here, and shining clearly even in the deepest darkness, and by and by transplanting you, perfected in grace and spiritual perception, to the place whereChristis always seen, with an eye that shall never be dim, with a delight which, however it grows in desire, shall be more than satisfied, as you behold His face in righteousness, and are filled to overflowing with the fulness of His presence.
St. Matthew,viii., 13.AndJesussaid unto the centurion,Go thy way;and as thou hast believed,so be it done unto thee.
St. Matthew,viii., 13.
AndJesussaid unto the centurion,Go thy way;and as thou hast believed,so be it done unto thee.
Wemust compare the narrative contained in St. Matthew’s Gospel with its parallel in the 7th chapter of St. Luke, to obtain a clear and full idea of the circumstances which preceded the healing of the centurion’s servant. St. Matthew records just so much of the history as would illustrate the teaching that the Gentiles from afar should be received, and many of the children of the kingdom cast out: St. Luke sets forth in order all the particulars, small and great, which he had been able to obtain from those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.
From the harmonised accounts we gather that a certain centurion, who had renounced the worship of the “gods many,” and become a proselyteof the gate, hearing of the miracles ofJesus, sent certain elders of the Jews to beseech the exercise of His healing power upon a favourite servant, who was grievously tormented, and at the point of death. He does not seem to have come at all himself. The deep sense which he entertained of personal unworthiness would alone have deterred him; and, besides, he knew that there was a middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, and that as yetJesuswas not sent but unto the house of Israel. The elders, come toJesus, seek to enlist His sympathy and active interest, by pleading that the centurion, though not actually a Jew, was a friend of Jews, and had done much for the support of the Jewish worship. “He is worthy for whom Thou shouldst do this, for he loveth our nation, and himself hath built us a synagogue. Come, then, and heal his servant.”Jesusreplies, “I will come and heal him;” and straightway sets out with them. But when He was not far from the house, the centurion, alarmed at the temerity of his former request, and shrinking instinctively from One so high and so holy, sent some of those around him to prevent further condescension and trouble, on behalf of one so unworthy, and to suggest thatJesusshould but express His will (which he feltmust be omnipotent) from the spot where He stood: “Say in a word and my servant shall be healed.” The centurion had arrived at the knowledge of a great truth, namely, thatChrist’spower was not confined to the scene of His bodily presence: and he described the process of reasoning by which he had arrived at it. “I am but a man, myself under authority, yet I have but to say, Go, come, do this, and, lo! it is done by my servants here, there, or wherever else I appoint, while I remain still. How much more shaltThouspeak and be obeyed, Thou who art Absolute and Supreme in authority, Whose will all the spiritual armies of heaven observe, and are prompt and eager to perform. ‘Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.’” WhenJesusheard it, He marvelled and said to them that followed, “Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Twice we read that ourLordmarvelled—once at unbelief, and once at belief. And this is no mere figurative statement. OurLordliterally marvelled. His human nature, much as He knew of what was in man, was taken aback by the unexpected and extraordinary display, in the one case of perverse blindness, in the other of clear spiritual perception. “Verily, I say unto you, Ihave not found so great faith.” It is remarkable that ourLordselects the centurion’sfaithfor admiration. He dwells not on his care and anxiety for his slave, on his general good will and good deeds, on his consciousness of unworthiness, his resolute humility, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof.” No! it is his faith, to whichJesusgives this highest praise. That while he walked among His own people, who were taught ofGod, and was haughtily and indignantly treated, yea, despised; that while Jews saw and albut felt His power, and refused to acknowledge it, a Gentile, at a distance, should be filled with reverential awe of Him, should assert so confidently the fulness of His power, should have such an insight into its spiritual working, should find and adduce proofs of that power and its working, to satisfy himself, to plead toChrist—this was, indeed, worthy of note; this was, as yet, unparalleled. “I have not found so great faith.”
We need not, however, suppose—in fact we must not suppose—that ourLordmeant to omit the commendation of the centurion’s other good qualities: rather as they were all the fruits of faith, were they all praised in the praise of faith. Why did he love the Jews—why did he build them asynagogue—why did he seek miraculous healing for his servant—why did he employ Jewish elders as his intercessors—why did he, an important Roman officer, feel unworthy of the company of a wandering Jewish peasant? Was it not through faith? faith in the trueGod, faith in the laws of His worship, faith in His awful holiness, and no less in His merciful goodness, faith in His manifestation inJesusof Nazareth? Yes, it was all of faith, and it was all admired and praised whenJesusmarvelled and said, “I have not found so great faith.” But still the highest faith—the thing most marvelled at and chiefly commended, was the spiritual perception of a bodily unseenLord, the belief in His unlimited, and, under all circumstances, available power. “I have never seen Thee: yet I know Thee who Thou art. Thou art not here, yet with a word Thou canst cause Thy power to be here, and to accomplish here all Thy will.” Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed: and blessed are they precisely in the way of their own wise choice, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” It was great honour given toChrist. It was the opportunity of a wondrous manifestation, and so we read, “The servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”
But shall we suppose that the centurion, by his humility and his faith, deprived himself of the bliss of receivingChrist, thatChrist,therefore, turned away, and thought no more of him? Even in that case he would not have been without his reward. The servant, who was dear to him, was preserved and healed, the Jews, whom he loved, must have honoured and loved him, when he had thus prevailed withGod, and, besides, what a conviction was his of the power ofChrist, what a token of approval, in the fact that he had, as it were, proposed his own conditions for a miracle, and those conditions had been graciously accepted and fulfilled! He needed no vision after this to prove to him thatJesuswas the Son ofGod; no voice from heaven to speak to him comfort and assurance of hope. He had soughtChrist. He had found Him and been found of Him. Great was his reward; and his joy such as could not be taken away. He would have been greatly blessed, then, had no more been done for him. But did thatChrist, Who bestows such honour on humility, Who so loves them that love Him and His, Who has made the best of His promises, yea, all of them to faith, did He, think you, give no further token, no higher blessedness to that centurion? Did Henot rather prove to him, that he had made a wise choice, that he had chosen the best kind of blessing, in asking for spiritual presence rather than bodily presence? Did He not manifest Himself to him, in that peculiar way of which the world knows, and can know nothing? Did He not go, He and the Father, and make spiritual and permanent abode with him? Yes, surely, this is all implied in the words, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”
This view of the subject has its evident lessons and promises for us. Be it ours, brethren, to learn and practice the lessons, and doubt not butGodwill fulfil to us the promises.
In dismissing now the general subject, and attempting only to deduce practical instruction from the words of the text, I would ask you to notice first, the kind of answer which prayer gets; it is blessed in the way it asks to be blessed. When the elders besought ourLordthat He would come and heal the servant, then we read, He went with them. When presently the centurion, through his friends, urges, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed,” thenChriststays His own progress, and sends on His grace. “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”
It is thus that prayer is generally answered: what we ask for, that we obtain.Generally, I say, yet not always; for our wise and goodLord, when, in our ignorance, we prefer a wrong or a foolish request, sends us rather what He knows us to need, than what we ask. A father does not give his beloved son stone for bread, nor a scorpion instead of a fish. And it may be, yea, it often is the case, that we askGodfor what we think would support us, or be of some other benefit to us, when its bestowal would cause us to stumble, or, perhaps, crush our spiritual strength, or poison our spiritual life. And then, I say, of His wisdom and goodness, He sends us awaynot empty—oh, no! none ask ofGodand obtain not, if they ask with right feeling—but blessed in a different way from that we ventured to prescribe. This truth is worth a little more thought. There are many of you, brethren, I doubt not, who have again and again prayed toGod(and very earnestly) to continue to you some blessing which you were in danger of losing, or to confer upon you something which you felt you wanted, and who yet were not answered according to the prayer. Perhaps, you were failing in business, or your influence was being diminished, or your health breaking down, or your child dying.Well, you earnestly, humbly, with faith and strong tears deprecated the calamity again and again; but still it came upon you as though you had never prayed; or you asked to be lifted out of your poverty or your misery, to be endowed with wisdom, to be made influential; you loved, and prayedGodto make you loved again; you struggled to get a situation which was just what you needed, you prayed continually that you might succeed. It was all without avail. “No answer came.”
No answer came! Say not that, brethren. Assuredly, an answer did come, if you prayed aright. It may be that you did not get what you wanted, or keep what was departing; forGodknew your choice was an unwise one, and therefore of His love would not grant it. But He gave you a compensation, and more than a compensation. Just as whenChristprayed that the cup of His last agony might pass from Him.Godrather strengthened Him from heaven to endure the agony, and made it His way to glory—so, when you have deprecated, or besought, against the will ofGodchoosing for you, He has enabled you to bear the calamity, to do without the thing coveted, and has made all to work for your good. What He does it may be you knownot now, but you shall know hereafter. And when in heaven’s light you see that the continued or bestowed prosperity would have made you proud and ungodly, that power or influence (though you meant it not) would have been perverted by you to your ruin, that the child taken away, had it remained, would have destroyed itself, and been a curse to you, that the disappointment, and the toil, and the suffering, which you so prayed against, were just the things that planted and nurtured in you Christian graces, and worked out for your glory—oh! then you will see thatGoddid answer your prayers, and you will bless him fervently for sending His own answer instead of the one you dictated.
Meantime, in the light of this hope, remember always to add to your prayers for specific blessings the holy proviso, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
But I said that generally, whenever, that is, there is no harm to ourselves in what we ask,Godgives us what we pray for; and I produced proofs, which might be multiplied manifold that it is so. “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” Surely this is worth a thought; not only, or chiefly, as showing usGod’smarvellous condescension and the efficacyof prayer, but as admonishing us that the height, the amount, the nature of our blessedness, depends upon ourselves, upon what we ask in prayer. What a solemn consideration is this!Godsits upon His heavenly throne, with listening ear and outstretched hands; angels wait to waft our supplications to His presence, the Holy Spirit to make intercession for us, the blessed Son to present our cause and plead it! It only remains for us to ask. Whatever we ask, if we are faithful, if it is good, we shall receive. What we ask not, that we shall not receive. Think of that, brethren! Call to mind, as far as you can, what kind of prayers you have been wont to make. Review your past and present state. In anything are you spiritually unblessed? Have you only an inferior blessedness? Ah! have you not all that you prayed for? Lack you not just that, which you never faithfully sought? This life, and the things of this life, have been often in your thoughts, and in your prayers, for yourselves and for others. You have prayed thatGodwould preserve you, that He would defend you from danger and gross temptation, that He would give you health, and comfort, and earthly blessing, that He would protect and prosper those you love. You have not prayed much for spiritual blessings, or youhave been content with supplicating inferior spiritual blessings. A clean heart, a renewed mind, lively faith, heavenly peace, joy in the Holy Ghost,—if these are not yours, do you not know why? It is because you never asked for them, or, at least, never asked with that appreciation, that earnestness which alone prevails withGod.Godis willing to give them.Godhas promised to give them. He stands ever ready to fulfil His promise. But, nevertheless, for these things he will be inquired of. The measure of the expressed desire is the measure of the supply. Nothing less, in most cases nothing different, and always nothing more, may you expect fromGod, than that which you ask. O let the knowledge of this truth kindle in you desires, and teach you words wherewith to approachGod. Miss not His choicest gifts for want of asking. Prefer not for yourselves that which is earthy, and poor, and fleeting. Thrust not away—and you do thrust away, if you do not woo—perfect spiritual blessedness. When next you kneel beforeGod, whenever henceforth you kneel before Him, remember that while He is the owner and ready-giver of all good gifts, it is yet only what you ask that you will receive of Him. As thou hast believed, so shall it be done unto thee.
But, secondly, it is faith we see which gives force to prayer. “As thou hast believed.” “Whatsoever ye ask, believing, ye shall receive.” “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” “Let not him that wavereth think that he shall receive anything of theLord.”Godwould have us wait on Him, with confidence in His sufficiency, with sure expectation that He will give what we ask. If we lack this confidence and this expectation; if we make formal, rather than eager and hopeful requests; if we have any misgivings as to the answer; if we secretly resolve what we will do, if there is no answer; if we wait not, and watch not, for the answer, then, brethren, we forfeit the blessing.Godheareth not such—we virtually ask Him not to answer us. We mock Him with the idle form of prayer. O ye who askGodfor guidance, at the same time questioning yourselves as to what ye shall do—ye that pray against temptation, and forthwith yield to it—ye that profess to cast care uponGod, all the while being full of cares—ye that beseech Him to help you, yet go on helping yourselves—ye that pray, and live as though you had not prayed, that call uponGod, but wait not for his answer—ye that are not certain, that feel not the certainty, and act not, or forbear from acting upon it, that what you askyou shall obtain, be sure that you shall go empty away, and that because of your unbelief. It is hollow formalism, it is fearful trifling, it is blasphemous mockery, to ask without faith, without sure calculation upon receiving. You dare not treat an earthly friend so. You shall not, with impunity, treatGodso! Ah! here is the explanation of unanswered prayer—prayer for that which is desirable and right—it was not offered in faith; the answer was not expected, and relied on; the life did not manifest expectation and reliance! Would you indeed receive anything fromGod? Prefer your request, in full acknowledgment ofGod’sability, in faithful trust in His performance of all that you ask according to His will, and show your faith by utter renunciation of all self-guidance and self-dependence, by patient waiting, by steadfast resistance of all thatGodforbids, and persevering pursuit of all that He commands. Impress this upon yourselves as the spirit of your prayer, and the rule of your lives. Make yourselves such asGodhears. Cleanse yourselves by the power of His grace from sin, that you may be allowed to approach Him. Arm yourselves with the godly resolution that, come what will, you will serve theLord; and seek, above all, His kingdom and the righteousnessthereof. Examine yourselves, your peculiar wants and difficulties, that you may inform your prayers, and make them pointed and particular, expressing what you need and desire. Then offer them, with felt unworthiness, with holy adoration, in the certain conviction that He hears you, that He can supply your need, that He will supply it; and take to yourselves such just consolation and assurance, and let your life manifest them, as ifChrist, Who cannot lie and cannot fail, had audibly declared to you, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”