"Spirit Divine! attend our prayers,And make our hearts Thy home."
Then four things are mentioned which show forth God's power in Nature.Light, fire, dew, wind. In the Bible they are all used as symbols of thePresence and Power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of men.
In Nature we know that human power is small compared with the power of light, fire, wind, and water. Have we learnt to depend only on the Power of the Holy Ghost? God's Voice is ever saying to us now, oh! that we may listen, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." [Footnote: Zech. iv. 6.] Just as all the marvels of the natural world are perfectly carried out by God's wisdom and power, so He has given the Holy Spirit to make Him perfectly known as a living Presence, a living Power and Reality in our hearts and lives.
In the second verse of the hymn we find the words—
"Come as the Light—to us revealOur emptiness and woe."
We know what the light does when it shines into a room, It reveals or shows up any dust we had not noticed before. So when the light of God shines into our hearts it reveals what we never saw before.
Have you ever watched the battleships on a dark night, anchored a little way off from the coast? Suddenly the bright dazzling searchlights are sent out from the ship. They seem to sweep over the ocean with their sparkling light and then to wrap you round, as you stand there on the shore. The sight fills you with wonder; you feel as if the eyes of all on board ship can see you.
It is the same when the Holy Spirit shines into our hearts; it is almost overwhelming; we can only cry, "Woe is me, for I am undone." [Footnote: Isa. vi. 5.] We stand condemned under the searching eye of God. All our self-righteous excuses are swept away. We can no longer take refuge in the fact that we are as good as others and a great deal better than some of our neighbours. The dazzling light of God's Presence has searched us through and through and turned us inside out. Is this searching necessary for every one? Yes, for it is the only way we can learn to know the evil of our hearts.
Sometimes the light of the Holy Spirit comes to us in a quiet moment and shows us what we never saw before. Sometimes it comes like a flash. It flashed out on the road when Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus. He described it when he was being tried before King Agrippa, "At midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me. And I fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he tells us also that he could not see for the glory of that light." [Footnote: Acts xxvi. 13, xxii 17.] Whenever the light comes it is a revelation, a moment never to be forgotten: Darkness conceals, light reveals.
The Spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters, and God said, "Let there be light and there was light." [Footnote: Gen. i. 3.]
The Holy Spirit not only shows us what we are, but He shows Christ to us; then we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." [Footnote: 2 Cor. iv. 6.] Yes, God's glory is radiant on the face of Christ and the Holy Spirit reveals it. He delights to show us His beauty and His loveliness and thus to glorify Him. He makes Him a reality in our souls—"a living bright Reality." If you have not seen Him as "altogether lovely" it is not because the Holy Spirit is not willing to show Him to you, but because you turn away and will not look.
How good it is of God to send the Holy Spirit into this world on purpose to reveal these things to us. We should never see them but for Him. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." [Footnote: I Cor. ii. 14.] What is the natural man? It is what we are by nature before the Spirit of God gives us a new life. When it says "He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," it means that he has no power to receive them. He is groping in the dark, loving the darkness rather than the light.
A poor woman who had led a careless worldly life, sent me this message when she was dying, "Tell her the little prayer she taught me has been answered. She will understand. Tell her God has shown me myself and He has shown me Himself, so I am going to be with Him."
The little prayer which she had learnt from my lips was this—"Lord, show me myself; Lord, show me Thyself." How I thanked God that He used it for the saving of her soul.
When the Holy Spirit convinces us of sin and of our need of a Saviour, He does not leave us there. He draws aside the veil and reveals to us the secret love of God. When our eyes have been opened to know that God isLight, then we find out that God isLove. How did this love of God show itself? God sent His Son, "In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him." [Footnote: 1 John iv. 9.] It is not only the Love of God made known and shining out in the Gift of His Son, but we are told that "God commendeth His love towards us." [Footnote: Rom. v. 8.] How does God commend His love? He sets together His love for His Son and His love for the sinner, and His love for the sinner is so great that He gave His Son to die for us. Thus the words "God commendeth His love" make it quite clear that "God loves the sinner with a love which gives its best, gives everything, keeping nothing back, and gives to everybody."
"Oh, the love that gave Jesus to die,The love that gave Jesus to die,Praise God it is mine this love so Divine—The love that gave Jesus to die."
"God commendeth His love towards us in that, when we were yet sinners," it makes no differencewhowe are orwhatwe have been, the Holy Spirit fixes our thoughts on that little word "yet." The text says, "When we were yet sinners, still far off, still lost and undone, Christ died for us"; so the Blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, "cleanseth us from all sin." [Footnote: I John i. 7.] When we feel that sin is really a burden then the Holy Spirit points us to the little word "all." Then He applies the precious Blood to our guilty consciences, assuring us by the Word that the Blood of Jesus Christ does cleanse from all sin so that not a single stain is left. It is a perfect cleanser, there is nothing it cannot do. Then the Holy Spirit shows us that God has provided a perfect covering for us in the Robe of Christ's Righteousness.
It is thus that the Comforter, who is the Spirit of Truth, leading into all truth, shows us the meaning of Christ's redeeming work and enables us to understand it and to appropriate it. When we do this it is indeed a blessed experience.
A young man whom I know described it as follows: "I heard the voice of God saying to me, 'Who told thee that thou wast naked?' [Footnote: Gen. iii. 11.] I am sure that it was the work of the Holy Spirit showing me my utter helplessness and leading me to seek the covering of Christ's Righteousness. I feel I am exactly suited to Jesus as He is exactly suited to me, for I am just the one who needs His fulness, and He is the only one that can supply my emptiness."
I praised God for this clear testimony, and I have seen again and again ever since I began to work for the Lord many years ago, that the Holy Spirit delights to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ as "a full Saviour for empty sinners."
The Gospel of St. John tells us very plainly that the Holy Ghost was sent, not only to make us see the meaning of Christ's finished work, but also to prepare our hearts to receive it in all its fulness.
How does the Holy Spirit prepare our hearts? First, He opens our hearts, awakens in us a sense of our need and sinfulness, then, when He has opened our hearts, He breathes into them a new life; He creates a longing for God. We feel within us a burning desire to know God. We catch eagerly at everything we hear about God, This is quite a new experience; we used to go on year after year not troubling about it in the very least. What is this new experience, this seeking after God? It is what the Bible calls "Repentance." The word means "Change of mind." Again and again the Apostle Paul urged upon both Jews and Greeks the necessity of "repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." [Footnote: Acts xx. 21.]
A few days ago I received a touching letter from a young friend telling me how God's Spirit had led her to repentance. She wrote, "When I was a little girl and began to seek the Lord, I was very much troubled because I could not feel sorry enough for my sins. I wanted a real repentance to come to the Lord with. I thought repentance meant crying over one's sins a great deal, and I could not feel sorry enough to cry as I wanted to. I used to keep praying, 'Give me a real repentance.' Many times I dreamed I had this deep repentance and could cry over my sins, and I have awakened with my face really bathed in tears, but oh, how disappointing it was to find it only a dream and I had not got what I wanted after all. I went on like this until I was twenty, when the Lord spoke these words with great power to my soul, 'The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.' The voice seemed audible and I turned to see if anybody had spoken to me. I was able to weep enough then, but they were tears of joy and gratitude, and I well remember saying aloud, 'O Lord, why me, why one so sinful as I am?' I now see that repentance means 'a change of mind' and not a flood of tears. Had I known this when a child it would have saved me years of toiling and praying for repentance."
Dear friends, perhaps some of you are trying to get right with God. Look at the text which gave such peace to this seeking one. It begins with this question, "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" [Footnote: Rom. ii. 4.]
We little know that all the time we are working and toiling we are really despising, turning away from the riches of His goodness. The word "riches" shows how abundant His goodness is; therefore we are "without excuse."
God's forbearance in delaying punishment, and His longsuffering in patiently waiting, show that His purpose in thus dealing with us is to lead us to repentance, which is not merely grief for sin, but a thorough inward change.
So we now know what we did not know before, that it is "the goodness ofGod that leads us to repentance."
Yes, we find now that instead of working our way, back to God, He is there close to us, with open arms to receive us, stretching out His loving Hand to save us. We find that instead of trying to gain God's favour by our prayers and good works, God's Righteousness is there for us all ready and provided for us. We find that we are accepted in His dear Son not for any good thing we have done, but simply by faith in Jesus. All this is shown to us by the Holy Spirit, and without Him we could not have seen it.
We were speaking just now about repentance. Have you ever noticed that when our Lord began preaching the Gospel, the first word He said was "Repent." [Footnote: St. Matt. iv. 17.] Why did He call to the crowds so earnestly to repent? Again and again that word keeps ringing out. He wanted to make them see that He condemned the way they were living and their religious professions. It was a call to stop and think, as if He said to them, "You have lost your way, you are on the wrong road, stop and turn round."
First He points to the right road. He proclaims that the Kingdom of God is come. Then He says to them, But before you can enter in you must repent. The people recognised the meaning of the call; they knew that if they obeyed the whole course of their lives would have to be changed, because having lost the true centre of life, they were simplydrifting. The man who is living without God is like a ship drifting on the wide ocean without a pilot or chart or compass. For three years He pleaded with them tenderly and lovingly, and at last they gave their final answer to His message. They said, "We will not submit to the Divine government, we will not have this Man to reign over us," [Footnote: St. Luke xix. 14.]and so they crucified Him.
When we have been led by the Holy Spirit to repentance we see sin, and we see ourselves in a new light. As soon as we really know God we cannot help being sorry for our sin. We begin to long for a Saviour, a Mediator, and it is then that the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus. Repentance, or change of mind, is the first step, and then follows conversion—a change of heart and life. The word conversion means "turning round." Jesus says, "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." [Footnote: St. Matt. xviii. 3.]
Think of God's two great gifts; first, the Gift of His only begotten Son, then the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Have you received them? Perhaps you ask, "How can I know?" If you have received the Holy Spirit there will be joy and peace in your heart, and the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in your daily life.
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." [Footnote: Rom. xv. 13.]
"And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost." [Footnote: Acts xiii. 52.] They were filled again and again, more and more filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
You, too, may have a Spirit-filled life. God says to you now, and He is saying it every day and every hour, "Be filled with the Spirit." [Footnote: Eph. v. 18.]
Remember there are different degrees in the Christian life. First, there is Everlasting Life for all who seek it. Only ask Me, Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, and I will give youlivingwater. Then he leads her on a step further. "It shall be in you a well of water." It will be an abundant life, a joyous, satisfying life. Afterwards He tells us that it will be a life "overflowing for others." [Footnote: St. John vii. 38, 39.] This is to be the experience of all believers now through the Holy Spirit. Lastly, the crowning of it all is still to come and we shall drink of "the pure river of the Water of Life." [Footnote: Rev. xxi. 1.] That will be the fulness of life through all Eternity.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE—Genesis xxviii. 10-22.
Jacob is leaving home for the first time, to take a long journey of 450 miles. He is quite alone and he feels very lonely when he lies down the first night in a barren place, with a stone for his pillow. Jacob was like some of us, he had heard about God ever since he was a child, but God was not real to him because he had never had any personal dealings with Him.
That night he had a wonderful dream, and it made a great difference to his whole life. The ladder which he saw in his dream was to show him that there was a gulf between him and God: and the gulf was caused by his sins. It also showed the necessity for some means of communication to be provided for him. Right down to his deep need the ladder came, right up to God Himself the ladder reached. It was set up on earth and it reached to heaven to make him understand that the gulf had been bridged over, so that now, constant, free communication was possible between his soul and God. The ladder which Jacob saw in his dream is mentioned again in St. John's Gospel. Jesus said to Nathaniel, "Because I said unto thee I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And He saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." [Footnote: St. John i. 50, 51.]
The Lord Jesus had been revealing Himself to Nathaniel and this conversation took place near Bethel, so that the reference to Jacob's ladder was very forcible and the wonderful type was made clear.
When Jesus said that heaven would be opened, He meant not only opened just once, butremaining open; so that ever since Christ ascended into heaven we have lived and are still living under an "open heaven," which means free intercourse between God and man, because Christ Himself is the Ladder. It also means He is the one and only means of communication between the sinner and God. It is "through Him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father." [Footnote: Eph. ii. 18.] All that we know of God comes to us through Him, and all the grace we receive from God comes through Him. So Jacob's ladder is as real to us now as it was to him then, for it connects the seen with the unseen. It is possible for us now to have Christ's Presence with us always and everywhere, for He says Lo, I am with you alway. [Footnote: Matt. xxviii. 20.]
But there was something more wonderful for Jacob to see even than the ladder. "The LORD stood above the ladder." It was the first time in his life he had realised the Presence of God. He had lived over forty years without realising that God was close to him. When he awoke from his dream he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not." He never forgot it, just as we never forget the time and place where we are converted. One hundred years after that night, when he was a very old man, he mentioned it to his son. He said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz and blessed me." [Footnote: Gen. xlviii. 3.]
But what impressed him deeply was thattherein that lonely place, many miles away from any human being, he heard the Voice of God speaking to him. It was then that a new life began in his soul, for God told him that from that moment He would be with himeverywhere, blessing him and protecting him from all danger, and it was then Jacob began to trust God as hisGod.
So we see how God's glory and God's grace were shining down from the top of the ladder into poor Jacob's heart. Jacob was face to face with God for the first time, and he began to tremble with fear. If only you could realise that God is now, at this very moment, straight in front of you, you would fall down on your face before Him, and you would cry to Him as Job did, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." [Footnote: Job xlii. 5, 6.]
It is at this moment that we realise for the first time our need of a substitute, just as Job did, for he said, "He is not a man as I am that I should answer Him, neither is there any daysman betwixt us that can lay His hand upon us both." [Footnote: Job ix. 33.] How Job would have rejoiced in the glorious revelation which Christ has brought to us. "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all." [Footnote: 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6.] He is not only the Mediator laying His hand upon us both, but Hegave Himself, that is, He gave His life as aransom. The ransom price was His own precious blood, for the life is in the blood. It is the Blood of God's own dear Son which makes an atonement for the soul.
The sentence passed on you and me and on every sinner is the sentence of death, for death is the penalty for sin. We are all under the sentence of death, but the glorious message is sent God has found a Substitute.
"He bore on the tree the sentence for me,And now both the Surety and sinner are free."
You and I now have what Job longed for so earnestly. The Daysman is the Son of God Himself, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation," that is an atoning sacrifice, "through faith in His Blood." [Footnote: Rom. iii. 25.]
At first Jacob trembled with fear, but after he had heard the loving words which God spoke to him from the top of that wonderful ladder, then he began to realise that he was no longer alone in that lonely place. He said, "This is the house of God, this is the gate of heaven." Earth had faded from his sight and he was surrounded by heavenly realities. And so it is now, the veil is very thin which separates earth from heaven, the temporal from the Eternal.
It wasGod's Voicewhich woke him up spiritually. God revealed Himself as the personal God to Jacob. We can recognise a friend by his voice even if we do not see him. So it is the Voice more than anything else which makes the presence of any one real to us. We have an illustration of this in the pictures of the gramophone in which we see a dog listening for the master's voice. The sheep knows the shepherd's voice; the child is quick in recognizing its mother's voice; why do we turn a deaf ear to God's Voice? How tenderly He pleads with us, saying, "But My people would not hearken to My Voice." [Footnote: Ps. lxxxxi. 11.]
God wants to be very real and very personal to each one of us, so He says,"Unto you, O men, I call, and My Voice is to the sons of man." [Footnote:Prov. viii. 4.]
God has been calling us from the very beginning. Far back in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, when Adam was hiding among the trees of the garden, it was God's Voice which called him out with the searching question, Where art thou? It was as if He said, "Adam, I want you." He is the seeking God still. It was God's Voice that reminded Adam of the holy, happy friendship now broken by sin. Before sin came into the world Adam never listened to any other voice, and now when God is yearning to bring us to Himself, He says, "Listen." That word Listen, or Hearken, comes again and again in the Bible. We find it very often in Isaiah and Jeremiah. When God is pleading with the sinner, that is the word He uses more than any other. In Psalm lxxxi., where God tells us how grieved He is by our waywardness, He says, "Oh that My people had listened or hearkened unto Me." And in Deuteronomy xxviii. 45, He tells them that their troubles have been sent because they would not hearken to the Voice of the Lord their God.
I think God has chosen this special way of calling us by His Voice, because it is what we can all understand—it is so simple and so homely. When a boy is disobedient the father calls him, then he talks to him and pleads with him. The father's voice touches the boy's heart. How wonderful it is that God's Voice can reach us, however far off we may be. You have sometimes been to an Open-Air Service, and you have heard the speaker's voice a good way off, but now it has been discovered that any one's voice can travel through the air and be heard above 300 miles away by means of a new apparatus called the wireless telephone.
Some time ago a gentleman living in England put a special receiver to his ear and he actually heard a man speaking in France, more than 300 miles away.
A year or two ago when theTitanicwent down among the icebergs, you remember how the wireless telegraph sent messages to other ships calling for help. This was done by special letters, flashed across the ocean, such as C.Q.D. (come quick, danger) or when the ship was sinking S.O.S. (save our souls).
But wonderful as this is, how much more wonderful it is to discover a way by which any one's voice can be heard miles and miles away. Very likely as time goes on and the wireless telephone is more used, you will be able to speak to your father or son far away in Australia or Canada, so that they will not only hear your voice distinctly, but they will answer back, and you will hear their voices just as if you were sitting together again at home. What a wonderful thing it will be to have this close link with them!
It is the same as the link which Jacob felt when he heard God's voice speaking; it seemed to bring God quite close to him and to make God so real, that he started again on his journey cheered and encouraged; for we read in the first verse of the next chapter, "Then Jacob went on his journey," and in the margin it says he lifted up his feet, showing his heart was lightened of its burden: when the heart is heavy, our feet drag. But he made a fresh start: and if only God's Voice reaches your heart now, you will go on your way rejoicing; it will be like making a fresh start.
Again and again we read of God talking to those who were willing to hearHis Voice. For example, "The LORD talked with Moses face to face as a manspeaketh unto his friend," [Footnote: Exod. xxxiii. 9, 11.] and at MountSinai "Moses spake and God answered him by a Voice."
Not only is the link of communication perfect between God and man, but the way in which we can use it and be put in touch with God is so simple: it is by faith—that is all.
We have another illustration of this when we think of the wireless messages. The world's greatest wireless station is in a little village called Nassau, in Germany. A short time ago a message was sent to a place far, far away over the ocean, 6,500 miles away. How was it started? Only by touching a key in the machine. That touch releases the lightning which carries a message for thousands of miles over vast continents and across the boundless sea.
Only a touch—is it not like the touch of faith? But we must not forget that when the message has reached its destination, when these waves of sound talk across the world, the ear at the other end must be prepared to hear the call.
There is the hearing of faith, as well as the touch of faith. The hearing means not only listening, but being willing to obey the voice. I have been told that when a message is to be sent by wireless telephone, the other waves of sound must be quite still before the person receiving the message can hear it. The speaker has to wait till the vibrations settle down, there must be perfect stillness, and then the voice is heard. How important it is to shut out all other sounds so that our hearts may be still enough to hear God speak. We must listen with an obedient heart. Do you remember how one Sunday was set apart not long ago to make collections for the blind. At midnight on Saturday, a royal message was sent forth which encircled the whole world. It was King George's "God speed" to the appeal for the blind. It was flashed from the wireless station on a lonely cliff in Cornwall to another station in America, and it went over the seven oceans of the world. It was received by forty-five ships in the Atlantic. They were all warned it was coming and they were expecting it. The White Star linerBaltic, 810 miles away, heard it, and it travelled on to India, and it was caught up there 1,500 miles away.
This reminds me of another royal message from the King of kings which is also encircling the world and telling the good news wherever man is willing to hear it. "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches." [Footnote: Rev. ii. 7.] How the solemn call rings out, and rings on: To-day, To-day! How it sounds in our ears with startling urgency, and it is the Holy Ghost who says it, "To-day, if you will hear His Voice, harden not your heart." [Footnote: Heb. iii. 7.] When we are careless and indifferent to what God's Voice is saying to us then we are hardening our hearts.
Perhaps in days gone by you once listened to God's Voice. Why did you give up listening? "Ah!" you reply, "other voices came and drowned that still small Voice, and the voice of the Evil One poisoned my mind."
Let me ask you one more question, Has God's Voice ever stopped calling? No, God is still calling. Oh, that now at this very moment you may be able to say, "The Voice of God has reached my heart." If any of you turn a deaf ear to God's Voice, remember the time is coming when "all who are in the graves shall hear His Voice and shall come forth"; [Footnote: St. John. v. 25.] and to you it will be a coming forth to judgment and condemnation.
How does God speak to us now? We can hear the Voice of God speaking in His Word. When any portion of Scripture is specially impressed on our minds it shows that God is speaking to us. A young man who had been seeking God very earnestly said one day, "While reading the Word, I felt certain that God had really spoken to my soul, that He had actually said to me, Live!" Yes, that young man was right, for that is just what God has said to us, but it makes all the difference whether we each one receive it as if God is really saying it to us personally. Luther felt this, for he used to say, "When I open the Bible it talks to me."
Why is the Bible like no other book? Because it is the revelation of God Himself. The glory of God shines in its pages. In life and in death the only source of comfort is a Personal God. Our great need is to have God personally near,near and dear. Never rest till you can look up into His Face with confidence and say, "Thou art near, O Lord." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 151.]
He is saying to you now, "Seek ye my Face." [Footnote: Ps. xxvii. 8.] What answer will you give? Will you say to God now, "Thy Face, Lord, will I seek." When we seek His Face, then we see "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." [Footnote: 2 Cor. iv. 6.] How grand it all is, and yet how simple!
Let me say one word of loving appeal to any who have never really sought the Lord. How is it that you say your prayers and yet you do not expect to get an answer direct from God? Because, like Jacob, you have never believed there is a God. You have not got hold of the first truth which the Bible teaches us,God is; "He that cometh to God must believe that HE IS." [Footnote: Heb. xi. 6.] When you pray, He must be as real to you as if you saw Him standing by hearing and answering you. Until our eyes are opened to see that death and judgment, heaven and hell, are great realities we do not really cry to God, and when we do we find out that we have never realised there is a God. Think of what God offers to you. Forgiveness, life and glory. Would you neglect getting these priceless gifts if you believed they were the real offers of a real Person? "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God." [Footnote: Jonah i. 6.]
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE—St. John xx. 19-31.
Why has this Gospel been written? The last verse of this chapter tells us. "It has been written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we may have life through His Name."
In the Old Testament when "The Name" is mentioned it meant the unveiling of the grace and glory and power of God. So we read men called upon "The Name"—and in the New Testament when the Divine glory of Christ is described we find the same expression, "His Name." It means His nature and His character.
In the verse which we have just read, the wonderful truth shines out that it is through His Name, through all that He is, and all He has done, that we havelife. So Christ Himself declares, "My sheep hear My Voice and I know them and they follow Me, and I give unto them Eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." [Footnote: St. John x. 27-30.]
Christ first speaks of His own hand and then of His Father's hand, so there are two hands which hold us fast and keep us safe, now and for ever.
Let us look at what is said about the Hands of God in the Bible.
Think of God's Hands in creation. The Psalmist says, "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands." [Footnote: Psa. cii. 25.] "The sea is His and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land." [Footnote: Ps. xcv. 5.]
Think of His strong Hands in Providence, as Moses said, "Thy right hand, OLORD, is become glorious in power." [Footnote: Exod. xv. 6.]
Nehemiah speaks again and again of "the good hand of my God upon me," [Footnote: Neh. ii. 8.] when he tells us of all God's loving help and guidance in the difficult work he had undertaken.
Think again of God's loving Hands in grace, healing the broken in heart and binding up their wounds. How safe David felt when he said, "Thy right hand upholdeth me." [Footnote: Ps. lxiii. 8.] He shows his confidence in God when he prays, "Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 117.] When your child wants you to hold him up he slips his little hand in yours, doesn't he? Have you ever put your weak hand into God's strong loving Hand so as to let Him do the holding up?
The saints in olden times felt God's Hand in everything, over-ruling, planning, guiding, and Jesus assures us of the perfect safety and everlasting security of the believer, for He says, "No one, either man or devil, can pluck them out of My hand, nor shall any man be able to pluck them out of My Father's hand;" [Footnote: St. John x. 28, 29.] so there are two Divine Hands holding us fast.
Think once more of the hands of God: not only strong hands to help and to heal, butredeeminghands, mighty to save; hands that have been in the fire to pluck us out of the burning; hands that have laid hold of the enemy and have overcome him; hands that have unlocked the gates of a new life that we may enter in.
Not long ago a little girl was caressing her dear old nurse, and when she caught sight of the deep scars in her hands she asked, "How did you get these scars?" The nurse looked at her very tenderly and then she said, "When you were a baby, a fire broke out one night when you were asleep in your cot. I plunged my hands into the flames and lifted you out." The child's eyes were full of tears as she looked at the dear scarred hands, the hands that had been wounded to save her.
Those scarred hands remind me of another story. One day, about thirty years ago, some children were playing on a mountain in France, and their merry peals of laughter attracted the notice of a shepherd lad who was taking care of the sheep a little way off. Suddenly a wolf foaming at the mouth came in sight. He saw it run madly down the mountain towards the children. Without a moment's hesitation he rushed forward, seized the wolf, and grappled with it. After a fierce struggle he managed to bind a leather strap around its mouth, and then he killed it, but not before the wolf, which was raving mad, had bitten him severely in the hand. This occurred just at the time when Pasteur, the famous Paris doctor, had discovered a remedy for hydrophobia. Without delay the shepherd lad who had saved the lives of the children at such a cost was taken to Paris and was cured. Hundreds of patients are sent to the Pasteur Institute at Paris and when they ring the bell, the door is opened by an elderly man with a scar on his hand. He was once the shepherd lad who rescued the children from the raving wolf, and the deep scars are from its bite. Inside the hall there is a statue representing him in the terrible struggle with the wolf.
Think of the wounded hands of the Son of God. Do you ask Where? How? Why? Where were they wounded? On Calvary's Cross. How? "They pierced My hands and My feet." [Footnote: Ps. xxii. 16.] This is the wonder of it, "He was wounded for our transgressions." Look at the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, and there you will see Jesus as the Suffering Substitute. Seven times in that chapter it is distinctly mentioned that all His suffering was because He was bearing our sins. Notice in verse 5 it says, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." Then in verse 6, "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." In verse 8, "For the transgression of My people was He stricken," or the stroke was upon Him. He stood between the stroke of Divine Justice and the sinner and received the blow Himself. In verse 10, "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin;" verse 11, "He shall bear their iniquities;" verse 12, "He bare the sin of many." Jesus was the Suffering Substitute because He was the Sin-bearer. See how in His death He was identified with the sinner. For in verse 12 we read, "He was numbered with the transgressors."
In the Gospels we are told that there were two thieves crucified with Him, on either side one and Jesus in the midst. I once saw a coloured illustration of the three crosses on Calvary. One cross was painted black, the other was white, and the middle one was red. Now if we look at those three crosses on Calvary from the Divine standpoint, it seems as if one cross which was black at first is now white. It is the cross of the penitent thief; all his sins have been transferred to the Sin-bearer, so now there is not one sin on him; he has been washed "whiter than snow." The cross of the impenitent thief is black, and remains black, for he dies with all his sins on him and goes into the blackness of darkness for ever. The middle cross is red: Jesus the Holy One has no sin in Him, but the sin of the whole world isonHim, because He is the atoning sacrifice for sin.
"O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head,Our load was laid on Thee.Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead,Didst bear all ill for me.A victim led, Thy blood was shed,Now there's no load for me."
In the writings of an American Evangelist we meet with this quaint illustration, "God uses bright red to get pure white out of dead black." It is just the same truth as we have seen shining out from the three crosses. There we see Jesus "in the midst," the God-appointed Sacrifice for sin, and we see the penitent thief washed whiter than snow in the precious Blood. We see Jesus again "in the midst," three days after. It is in the Upper Room at Jerusalem, on Easter Sunday. The disciples who were like scattered sheep have gathered together there once more, though still trembling with fear. "Then came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you." [Footnote: St. John xx. 19.]
It was the first time He had spoken to them since the night when He was betrayed when they had forsaken Him and had run away. He might have met them with a reproof, but He knows all about our poor hearts, so He meets them with a smile and the sweet greeting, "Peace be unto you." And He says it to themall, even to Peter who had denied his Lord, and to the others who had forsaken Him. Yes, He has only one greeting for them one and all, and that is "Peace."
Then a pause, and after the pause there came a revelation—"He showed them His hands and His side." Why did He show them the nail prints in His hands and the deep wound in His side? It was to reveal to them the wondrous truth that He Himself is our Peace, and that the Peace which He gives is the Peace which He has Himself made through the Blood of His Cross. [Footnote: Col. i. 20.]
"Through Christ on the Cross peace was made,My debt by His death was all paid;No otter foundation is laid,For peace the gift of God's love."
He showed them His hands and His side, because He wants them to understand that these sacred scars tell us of His wondrous love and of the infinite cost of Redemption. Let us lift up our hearts and say—
"Oh, make me understand it,Help me to take it in,
"What it meant to Thee the Holy OneTo bear away my sin."
We find from St. John's Gospel that Thomas, one of the twelve, was not among them when Jesus came, so the rest of the disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." He replied, "Unless I see in His hands the wound made by the nails, and put my finger into the wound, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe it." So when a week later Jesus says to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger and behold (or feel) My hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side," [Footnote: St. John xx. 27.] it shows how our Lord made these scars the very test of his faith, and it is the same now.
In St. Luke's Gospel we read that He said, "Behold My hands and My feet." When He showed them the marks of His sufferings for them, it was as if He said, "Here is the guarantee of your pardon and peace." We cannot have peace until we have pardon; many seek peace instead of taking pardon first. When He showed them His hands, and His feet, and His side, it was as if He said, "You need cleansing from all sin; here are the marks of the cleansing Blood. You need the touch of healing power, and here is the Hand that will give it to you. You want companionship in your daily life. Here are the feet that will travel with you, you never walk alone." What wonderful tenderness and love! If ever you feel depressed or ready to doubt God's love, remember how "He showed them His hands and His side," that they might see those sacred scars. And we read in the next verse, "Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord." Yes, "they were filled with joy at seeing the Master." You will remember how troubled Thomas had been before this, but now the sight of the wounded hands took away all his doubts and fears. It was then that his faith rose higher than that of any of the others, for he exclaimed with adoration and worship, "My Lord, and my God!" If ever you wander away or your heart grows cold and careless, think of those words, "He showed them His hands and His side," and remember He is still the same in the glory.
When the beloved Apostle John looked through the open door into heaven, hesaw Him standing there in the midst of the throne with the nail prints inHis hands and feet, "a Lamb as it had been slain." [Footnote: Rev. v. 6.]What a sight!
"Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious bloodShall never lose its power,Till all the ransomed Church of GodBe saved to sin no more."
Butwhydid He show them the wounds in His hands and side? To make it plain that He bore all the penalty of sin. Some speak about sin as if it were only a mistake, but God says sin is guilt, and that all are guilty, for all have sinned. We have offended against God's holy law, and if any one breaks the law he brings upon himself the penalty. God says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die;" [Footnote: Ezek. xviii. 20.] so the penalty we deserve is death, everlasting punishment. The penalty must be paid by some one. God's justice demands it.
God is not willing that any should perish; He loves the sinner, though He hates the sin. Still the penalty must be paid, so He found out a way; His own dear Son must take the sinner's place and suffer the full penalty instead, the death-penalty.
Perhaps you wonder, how can the death of One atone for the sin of the many? A lad once asked his father this question. The father made no reply but took him into the garden. Then he dug up a spadeful of earth with a number of worms in it, and turning to the boy he asked him, "Now which is of most value, your life or that of one worm, or even a thousand worms?" "Mine," said the boy. "Now" said the father, "you can see how the life and death of the Divine Saviour issufficient satisfaction to Godfor the sins of the whole world."
Oh! the wonder of it all. We see God, the Holy God, the just God, the righteous God—we see man, guilty, condemned, sinful. Then we see the Son of God Who knew no sin,madesin for us, [Footnote: 2 Cor. v. 21.] so that all the requirements of God's holiness and justice are fully met.
It was on the Cross, in that hour of darkness and agony when He cried, "MyGod, My God,whyhast Thou forsaken Me," that He wasmadesin for us.Now we see the meaning of the wounded Hands, the broken Heart of God.
"If I were God," the cynic said, "this sinning, suffering world would break my heart." But what if God's heartwasbroken? Do we not read in the 69th Psalm, "Reproach hath broken my heart? [Footnote: Ps. lxix. 20.]" The last night before He died He went to the garden of Gethsemane. Only three of His disciples followed Him into the place where He knelt down to pray, and even these three fell asleep. He was left alone. He says, "I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none." It was then the agony began which ended on the Cross in a broken heart.
It was then He prayed saying, "Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me, and there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him." [Footnote: St. Luke xxii. 42, 43.]
His prayer was heard and the victory was won over the adversary, for it must be on the Cross and in no other way that the Atonement could be made. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." [Footnote: Gal. iii. 13.] "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." [Footnote: I Pet. ii. 24.]
It was there on the Cross that He said, "It is finished; and He bowed His Head and died." We should not have known that He died of a broken heart if one little circumstance had not taken place. The Holy Spirit has shown us that this circumstance was foretold in the Scriptures and was all part of God's purpose in our redemption. The soldiers had orders to break the legs of those who had been crucified, so as to hasten their death, and remove their bodies without delay; but when they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs; but one of the soldiers pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. "This was a proof that He had died of a broken heart." [Footnote: John xix. 34.]
"He died of a broken heart for you,He died of a broken heart,Oh! wondrous love for you, for me,He died of a broken heart."
When we remember that the pouring out of the blood followed on the breaking of the body, then we see the meaning of the precious words spoken by our Lord during the Last Supper. We read that, "He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He brake it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My Body which is broken for you.' [Footnote: I Cor. xi. 24.] And He took the cup and said, 'This is My Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many.'" [Footnote: St. Mark xiv. 24.]
Why did He die? Why was His blood poured out? The Apostle Paul answersthat question when He says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world untoHimself." In that one sentence we have the Message of the Cross! We seeGod's purpose behind it all.
Two wonderful truths lie hidden in that glorious message. The first is, that "Christdiedto put away sin," because sin is the thing and the only thing which comes between us and God. The good news which Christ brings to us is that God Himself has taken the first step in this work of reconciliation. Oh! how wonderful it is that it is our sins which have brought out all the anguish and love of God's heart. Yes, our sins grieved Him so much He could not rest till He had devised a plan by which they could "all be blotted out," once for all.
Dear friends, whenever your sins are a burden, say these words over and over in your heart, "God was in Christ reconciling me to Himself." [Footnote: 2 Cor. v. 19.] This alone would have been wonderful, but there is something more in the good news, and that is "God is beseeching you to be reconciled to Him." Have you ever grasped that truth?
I remember hearing of a great lawyer who was moved to shed tears, and when a fellow-lawyer asked him why he was in trouble he replied, "I see now what I never saw before. Yes, I see that God isbeseechingme to be reconciled to Him. I always thought it was for me to beseech God."
Many think as this lawyer did that the sinner must first come to God. No, it is God Who comes to us entreating us to return to Him. He is always sending us messages of love, and the moment we turn to Him and trust Him He gives us a full free pardon.
Dear fellow-sinners, "we pray you now in Christ's stead," and because of His great love in dying for you, "Be reconciled to God." God is now willing; are you willing? Do say "Yes." Will you say it now very solemnly in your heart to God?
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE—Psalm xix.
This Psalm is full of the glory of God. It tells us first of the Glory of God shining in this beautiful world which He has made, and then it shows us the glory of God shining in the Scriptures, in this Book which lies open before us.
The first verse bursts forth with the triumphant note, "The heavens declare the glory of God." Everything in earth and sky shows forth His wisdom, His power and His love.
Then it gives us a wonderful picture of the sunrise and compares it to "a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." You have seen the first streaks of light in the early morning, and then you have watched the onward course of the sun till it is high up in the sky at mid-day, full of power, "rejoicing as a strong man to run a race."
But Nature, with all its secrets, Nature with all its wonders and treasures, is only part of God's revelation of Himself; the other part is to be found in His Word.
So the Psalmist passes from the glorious sun in the heavens to the glory shining in the Word of God. The glory we see in God's works is only an illustration of the glory shining in this Book. After giving the wonderful description of the rising sun, he goes on to point out that there is not a single spot in the whole world where the sun does not shine, and that its light and heat can be felt by everything. Then he shows us that it is just the same with the Word of God. It is God's message to every one, but it is only when it finds an entrance into man's heart that it gives light. [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 130.]
If you draw down the blind the sun cannot shine into your room; so the Holy Spirit must open our hearts for the light of His Word to enter in, otherwise it will be to us the same as any other book.
"Is it dark without you, darker still within?Clear the darkened windows,Open wide the door;Let the blessed sunshine in."
How can we know that the Bible is the Word of God? A gentleman, who was an unbeliever, stopped one day to speak to Molly, the old woman who kept a flower stall near the station. He noticed she was reading her Bible, so he asked her why she read it. "Because it is the Word of God." "How do you know?" "Because it cheers and warms my heart. I am just as sure it is God's own Word as I am that it is the sun shining up there." This simple testimony was the means of convincing him and he thanked her for it.
We have heard how the sun shines over the whole world, but is it not wonderful that every little drop of water can reflect the whole of its light? In every sunbeam there are seven colours, and when you look up at the rainbow you see all the seven in one drop of rain. This is only an illustration of the wonders of God's grace. If you are a child of God the whole of God's grace enters your heart, so you have grace to speak, grace to pray, grace to be loving and patient, grace for everything. The whole of God's life and light and love are for you as if there were no one else in the world. It is the same with all the precious truths of God's Word: they areallyours. A minister who wanted to know how many promises there are in the Bible searched all through the Book and he counted nearly five thousand. Had you any idea that there are as many as five thousand precious promises for the believer in God's Word? Have you claimed them?
A Christian woman who was very ill asked her daughter to read the 8th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. When she had finished the mother said, "That's mine, it'sallmine." How rich she was! Only think of it and it is anEternalinheritance, for the chapter begins with "no condemnation" and ends with "no separation."
If you will look at verses 7 and 8 of our Psalm, you will see four things which the Word of God does. "It converts the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes." Let us think of these four things.
First: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." The law here means the whole covenant of Jehovah.
You remember how, when God appeared to Abraham, that Abraham fell on his face, feeling his utter weakness and nothingness, and then God talked with him. When a man is laid low in the dust then God can talk to him. And God said to Abraham, "I will make my covenant between Me and thee." [Footnote: Gen. xvii. 2.] A covenant is a promise made under solemn conditions, and it is God's covenant of grace which converts the soul. Such a promise as we have in Ezekiel: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh: And I will put my Spirit within you." [Footnote: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.] God says "I will" five times in those few lines, because He wants us to understand that in giving this promise He undertakes to do in us and for us what we can never do for ourselves.
This reminds me of a young woman who was troubled because, although she was longing to be saved, yet she felt her heart was so hard. One Sunday the minister took this verse as the text for his sermon. When he gave it out it seemed to her as if a voice was speaking these words close to her, right into her ear, "I will give you an heart of flesh." It came like a message direct from God. She was so deeply touched she could not listen to the sermon, and after it was over she went into the fields to find a quiet place that she might look at the words again in her Bible. She is now a very bright earnest Christian.
It is through the Word that God speaks to our hearts, and when the Holy Spirit makes it a living Word and quickens us to receive it with faith, then we are converted. If you are not saved, take your Bible and read it prayerfully, and you will find in it just what you want. Remember the letter of Scripture is of no use unless we experience its power and enjoy its sweetness.
A young clergyman was converted through a very strange text. He was so much depressed he thought of committing suicide, and then his eye fell on that verse in Ecclesiastes, "A living dog is better than a dead lion." [Footnote: Eccles. ix. 4.] The words brought fresh hope to him. He said to himself, One thing is certain and that is, I am still alivingman, and he was then led to seek Christ as the Way, the Truth and theLife.
It is wonderful to think of the many different ways in which God sends His Word home to our hearts. Spurgeon gives an instance of this. He was asked to visit a dying man who told him about his conversion. He said, "Some years ago I was at work in the Crystal Palace. God's Spirit was striving with me and I felt the burden of sin. It seemed to follow me wherever I went. Suddenly a voice said to me distinctly, 'Behold he Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.' [Footnote: St. John i. 29.] No one was near me, and I thought the message had come straight from God. I then saw clearly that Christ had died to save me, and ever since I have had joy and peace in believing."
Spurgeon listened to the dying man's testimony with deep interest, and he remembered that on that very day he had gone to the Crystal Palace to test his voice in the transept before speaking at a People's service which was to be held there, and had used that very text, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."
Let us thank God that His Word isperfectin converting he soul.
"The testimony of the Lord issure, making wise the simple." It is well known that very often a man who is no scholar, but who is taught of God, is able to see deep truths which learned men fail to understand. Every time you read your Bible look up and say, "Lord, open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 18.]
Do not feel discouraged because you do not understand t all. There are many things which earthly fathers tell their children which they do not understand till they are grown up, but still they love to get father's letters, and the Bible is our heavenly Father's letter to us. Do you value it?
In the 8th verse of the 19th Psalm it says, "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart." I have seen many careworn faces lit up with joy when reading the Word. One man especially, who had a great deal of trouble and opposition in his home life, used to give his testimony at the Meeting. Opening his Bible in the 5th chapter of the Gospel of St. John he would read the 24th verse, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
Then he would tell us with a beaming face that it was his song of assurance, for, as he said, there are three links, "He thatheareth,believeth,hath—and 'hath' means 'got it,' and I've got everlasting life. Jesus says it and I know it's true." He is now in the glory, and maybe he is telling the angels about it.
If we had no Bible we should have no certainty that our sins are forgiven. A little girl named Molly said to her aunt who was teaching her about Jesus, "How can I be sure that my sins are forgiven?" "Because God says so," [Footnote: i John i. 9.] was the reply, and then she repeated the text, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Many say, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins," and yet they still carry about the burden of their sins. They see clearly how God can forgive sin, but they cannot realise that it is their own sins which are forgiven. This was the case with Luther. He tells us how, when he was distressed because of his sins, a friend pointed out to him that he would not have real peace unless he claimed God's forgiveness for his _own _sins. It was like a new light flashing into his soul; he saw his mistake and looking up with a beaming face, he said, "I see it now—it is not other people's sins, it ismysins which are all forgiven!"
We must not estimate sin and forgiveness by our own standard. When we have given way to sin again and again we feel ashamed to ask God's forgiveness so often but the wonder of it all is that God meets this very feeling of shame with the words, "My thoughts are not your thoughts"; and then He adds, "For I will abundantly pardon," [Footnote: 2 Isa. lv. 7, 8.] which means, I will repeatedly pardon. God's thoughts of sin and His thoughts about forgiveness are far higher than ours. Sometimes I feel quite overwhelmed when I think of how great His forgiving love has been to me.
Look again at our Psalm, verse 7, "The testimony of the Lord issure, making wise the simple." The word Testimony means an assurance or a promise from God to the individual soul, and David had such confidence in God he is quite sure He will not disappoint him or fail to keep His word. So he says, "The testimony, or promise, of God issure." It is this certainty which makes David so happy.
He seems to be overflowing with joy, for he says, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors," [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 24.] and again, "I love Thy testimonies." "Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. Thy testimonies that Thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 119, 129, 138.]
The word "Testimony" means also what God has commanded us to believe and also to practise.
A native convert in China said the other day, "I began by reading theBible, but now I ambehavingit." This is what David means when he says,"My soul hath kept Thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly."[Footnote: Ps. cxix. 167.]
The question was once asked at a meeting, "Can you point to any text in the Word of God which makes you sure you are saved and safe?" "I can," said one of the company, in a quiet firm voice. "It is John iii. 36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."
We have many bed-rock texts and that is one, as the beautiful old hymn says—
"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word."
I was summoned late one evening to see a dying man who had been brought to Christ through my Bible Class. When I entered his room he looked up and said with a smile, "I sent for you because I want to tell you that I am quite safe, quite sure and quite satisfied. I am quite safe because Jesus died for me. I am quite sure because I have His Word for it. I am quite satisfied because I am going to be with Him in the glory."
The Word of God was written that wemightbelieve; to believe is to know, and to be quite certain. The word "believe" comes from an old root meaning "to live by." "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." [Footnote: St. Matt. iv. 4.] Put your finger down on one of the many precious assurances which God has given us in His Word, of the certainty of complete forgiveness and acceptance, and then look up into His face with loving gratitude.
God's pardon and acceptance are absolute and eternal; nothing can ever alter them. God wants us to know it and to live in the joy of it. Trusting His Word gives us safety, certainty and enjoyment.
If any sin comes into your mind and troubles you, dear child of God, do not carry it about with you, tell Father about it at once; confess it to Him and remember that you are under the cleansing Blood. "The Blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." [Footnote: 1 John i. 7.] It has not only cleansed us once for all, but it is cleansing us now at the present moment.
It is important to remember that the whole purpose of the Bible is to give glory to God. It is the Everlasting Word of the Everlasting God. "The word of our God shall stand for ever." [Footnote: Isa. xl. 8.] Make the word of Godeverything. Receive its statements by faith as revelations of simple certainties. Find out how happy you are. "Happy is that people that is in such a case, yea, happy is that people whose God is Lord." [Footnote: Ps. cxliv. 15.]
If we are walking with God in our daily life we need a light to show us the way. David knew well what it was to go along rough roads on dark nights, so he says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 105.]
Did you ever hear about Moody's torch? One night Moody had to return home through a dark wood after one of his meetings, and the path was winding and rough, so a friend offered him a torch. Moody declined taking it, saying, "Thank you, but it is too small."
"It will light you home," said the man.
"But the wind may blow it out."
"It will light you home."
"But if it should rain?"
"It will light you home."
At last Moody started, taking the torch with him, and he said afterwards, "In spite of all my fears, it gave abundant light on my path all the way home."
Every promise in the Word of God is like Moody's torch, and if we will take it and use it, we shall find as he did, that it will light us all the way to our Eternal Home. The Bible is the Book of light placed by our Master in the hand of faith that we may see clearly how to walk and to please God and how to deal wisely and kindly with those around us. It contains plain directions about everything in our daily life.
The Bible is a Revelation of God Himself. It is a direct communication from Him to us. There are four things made known to us in the Word which are of priceless value—
1. It proclaims a full, free salvation through faith in Christ. "To you is the Message of this Salvation sent."
2. It opens out to you the riches of grace and invites you to take them freely—freely—freely.
3. It opens "the door of faith" wide to the weakest sinner and even to you.
4. It gives a new life within, which transforms the soul and makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus.
Our Lord says, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." [Footnote: St. John vi, 63.] Can you say, "Thy Word hath quickened me"? [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 50.]
Do not be satisfied with reading a chapter here and there. Read straight through. Why? Because the Bible has a beginning and an ending like any other book. It begins with the story of a friendship between God and man: we see man very happy in this friendship. Then something happens; you will find it in the third chapter of Genesis. Some one has come in between them and the friendship is broken. Still God is looking for His friend and calling him, "Where are you?" The answer comes from under the shadow of the trees. "I heard Thy voice and I was afraid and hid myself."
Now we come to the last words at the end of the Book, and we hear the same Voice saying, "I am coming back again very soon." It is the Voice of the same Friend, no longer sad but glad. "The darkness has all passed away and the true Light is shining," [Footnote: I John ii. 8.] and will shine for ever: yes, it is sunshine all around, everlasting sunshine.
Where is the Bible? Do you keep your Bible where you can take it up whenever you have a few spare moments? Is it ready at hand so that you can read it before you go to bed at night? Do the children speak of it as "Mother's book"? Do you turn to it for strength and comfort? Is it alivingbook to you?
One of the most solemn things which God says to His rebellious people in olden times is that "they were casting His Words behind their backs." We are doing the same thing if the Bible is laid aside on the shelf, or put into the front room and allowed to remain unopened week after week. There can be no blessing in your home and in your life while you neglect the Word of God. It is this very word of God which will judge you at the last day.
Listen to Christ's solemn warning: "He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth him," which means you will not be left without a Judge. It is not a matter of small importance whether you read the Bible or not: it is a matter of life or death. A neglected Bible shows you are living without God; a neglected Bible shows you are living for this world only; a neglected Bible shows that your soul is dying of starvation; a neglected Bible means that though you maythinkyou can get on very well without it, Jesussays, "The Word that I have spoken the same will judge him in the last day." [Footnote: St. John xii. 48.]
The Bible is God's Message to this present generation. Sometimes people want to lay it on one side as an old book which is out of date. It is the most up-to-date book in the world. It not only tells us of what is going on at the present moment, but about what will happen in the future. We see pictures in the daily papers of what people were doing yesterday and what they looked like, but in the Bible we have portraits true to life not only of what we are outwardly, but of the thoughts of our hearts. "The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword: it can discern the secret thoughts and purposes of the heart." [Footnote: Heb. iv. 12.] We hear a great deal about the X-rays which show what is going on inside the body, but this is nothing compared to the Word of God which penetrates deep down into our inmost feelings and brings them to light. It is better to be searched and cleansed now, than to go on in the old way and then to stand before the great White Throne by and by, condemned to everlasting punishment.
Let us pray with David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way Everlasting. Amen." [Footnote: Ps. cxxxix, 23, 24.]