"W"
951. Waiting on God for Victory
You have not wasted those many silent prayers and those bitter tears. Those feeble efforts of yours which were so imperfect that you could scarcely hope them to be successful, are all co-operating to produce a victory, the shouts of which shall be heard all down the ages. You may but lay a single stone of the heavenly temple, but if it be done for Christ, it is a stone which will stand the fire, and your share of the building will remain to the last, while many a great one who has built a mass of wood, and hay, and stubble, shall see his labours all consumed in the day that trieth every man's work. O, my fellow soldiers, as we rest in this bivouac to-day, waiting till another fight begins, let us be of good courage, and the Lord shall strengthen our hearts. Wait, I say, on the Lord, for the Lord is on our side. Our foes are tall as Goliath, and mighty as Pharaoh, and proud as Nebuchadnezzar, but in the name of God will we destroy them, for in the name of Jesus again we will say Jehovah-Nissi, and setting up the banner, we follow our Captain, whose vesture is dipped in blood. He rides forth conquering and to conquer, and we follow him to absolute victory; it is but a little ere we shall hear the shout of "Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."
952. Watchfulness, Exhortation to
I do not know how far my confession may be echoed by my brethren, but I am shrewdly suspicious that the more wakeful you are, the more heartily will you acknowledge a terrible tendency in the other direction. Again let me remind you that to sleep now is an evil thing, dangerous to yourselves, a cruel thing to others, an ungrateful act towards Christ, and dishonourable to his cause. Shall such a King be served by lie-a-bed soldiers? Shall his midnight pleadings be repaid by our daylight sleepiness? Shall an agony of bloody sweat be recompensed by heavy eyelids and yawning mouths? Away, for ever away, O ye who are redeemed by the Wellbeloved, with this detestable slumber, of which I fear you must honestly confess yourselves to have been guilty!
953. Watching and Praying A child would generally stand on his feet in a gust of wind if he knew it was coming; but when the wind happens to come round a corner furiously, he may be taken off his feet. Mind you are well ballasted by prayer every morning before your vessel puts out to sea, or, carrying the quantity of sail you do, you may be blown over upon the waves to your perpetual shipwreck. Watch constantly against those things which are thought to be no temptations. The most poisonous serpents are found where the sweetest flowers grow, and when Cleopatra would have an asp to poison herself, it was brought in a basket of fair flowers. Beware of arrows shot from a golden bow, or by a woman's hand. "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."
954. Watering Other, a Work for All Believers
If I cannot carry about me some ponderous load as the Eastern water-bearer can, yet I will take my little waterpot, my little jug or pitcher, and go to the well; for if I cannot water the forest tree, I may water the tiny plant which grows at its root. Watering is work for all sorts of people; so then we will make a personal application to every Christian here: you can all do something in watering, and this promise can therefore be realised by you all, "He that watereth shall be watered also himself."
955. Way of Salvation, Simplicity of, a Stumbling Block The Pharisees came to Christ, and they said, making a great fuss about their zeal, "What shall we do? Oh, sir, here is our money; here is our talent; here is our time: what shall we do that we may work the work of God?" They opened all their ears and all their eyes. They thought he would say, "Give tithing of mint, and anise, and cummin." They thought he would say, "Be careful to wash your hands every time you eat meat; give your money to the poor; endow a row of almshouses; become monks; lacerate your backs; tear your flesh," He said nothing of the kind; but they wondered, I have no doubt, what he was going to say, and they seemed to be all on tiptoe. "Now he is going to tell us the greatest work that a creature can do." "What shall we do that we may work the work of God?" He answers to them thus: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent." Ah, then they went away directly. No, no, such a simple thing and such a humbling thing as this—they would not do that. Now, there are some of you say, "Why don't you preach morality?" "Talk of morality!" says Cowper—"Thou bleeding Lamb, the best morality is love to thee;" and so indeed it is. But if I were now to say, and should tell you that I was commissioned by God to say it, that if you walked from here to John o'Groats house in the cold and wet bare-footed, and ate nothing on the way but dry bread, and drank nothing but water, you should inherit eternal life, why you would all be on the road to-morrow morning, if not tonight; but when it is just this, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved," what then? Why, it is too simple; fool, fool that thou art, to be damned because the way is too simple! My anger waxes hot against thee, that thou shouldest play the fool with thine own soul! Too easy! and so thou wilt be damned because it is too easy? Think of a man that has a disease that is killing him, and he will not take the medicine because it is too simple; he will not apply to the physician because his terms are too cheap; he will not apply such and such a remedy because it is too simple! Then, when that man dies, who shall pity him? who can? Did he not reject the remedy from the worst and emptiest of all motives? "Oh," says one, "but, simple as it is, it seems too hard for me; I cannot believe!" Sinner, what can you not believe?—cannot believe that if Jesus Christ took human sin, and was punished for it, God can be just in forgiving it? Why, you can believe that! "Cannot believe," that is, cannot trust Christ. Why, poor soul, I should find it the hardest work in the world if I were to try not to trust him, for he is such a precious Saviour, such a mighty Saviour, that I can say with John Hyatt that I would not only trust him with one soul, but with a million souls if I had them.
956. Wealth, Responsibility of
There is a responsibility attaching to wealth which some do not seem to realise. Among our great men, how few use money as they should! Their gifts are nothing in proportion to their possessions. Alas! things are even worse than this with some who are miscalled honourable and noble. Our hereditary legislators are some of them a dishonour to their ancient houses, and a disgrace to the peerage, from which they ought to be ignominiously expelled. What right have gamblers to be making laws? How shall we trust those with the affairs of the nation who bring themselves down to poverty by their gambling, and set an example which the poorest peasant might well scorn to follow? God will visit our land for this. Wickedness reigns in high places, and there the reckoning will begin. Would to God that our great men would recollect that they are responsible, and that wealth is not given them to lavish upon their passions, but to employ for God and for the common weal. If your cup runs over, call the poor to catch the drops, and give an extra spill that they may have the more.
957. Weariness Cured by Looking to Christ
If you are getting weary in the battle of life and tired of serving God, "Behold the Lamb of God!" wrestling unto blood, and your courage will return. Reaper in the summer's heat, see him as he grasps the sickle with that pierced hand! What strides he makes, how untiringly he labours till his bloody sweat falls on the ground. Up and do thy reaping too, working at his side. Builder in the house of God, if thou seest not the temple rising as thou couldst desire, lay not down thy trowel or thy mallet, but see the master-builder standing there with indefatigable perseverance following out his glorious design. Let not self-denial or self-sacrifice be hard when the Lamb of God is before thee. Let not perseverance be difficult, or shame, or scorn be hard to endure, or defeat, or death itself, be impossible to triumph in, when the Lamb of God is before thee. He conquered upon Golgotha, perhaps thou wilt only conquer there. Only keep thine eye upon the Lamb of God and this will make thee strong to do and to endure.958. Will of God the Guarantee of Success That was a mighty cry which was once profaned to purposes of fanaticism under the preaching of Peter the Hermit, "Deus vult" "God wills it." It sounded through Christendom, it made monarchs exchange their crowns for helmets, it made the artisan throw down his hammer to grasp the spear, it changed men's ploughshares into swords, and their pruning hooks into spears, and they rushed to die in Palestine, under the dominant idea of clearing that holy land from Pagan intrusion. Oh that such an impulse would go through Christendom again for a higher and a nobler purpose, "Deus vult!" The Lord wills it! Let truth banish error! Let superstition yield to the gospel! Let forms and ceremonies fly before the doctrines of free grace! Let every knee bow at the name of Jesus, because "Deus vult!" Let the Crucified be everywhere adored, for God wills it. If this force shall not move all Christendom, at any rate let it influence our own hearts, and may we take heed to God's commandments because they express his will.
959. Will of Man to be Surrendered to God
We cannot serve the Lord if we pick and choose our duties. He who enlists in the army of the Most High, surrenders his will to the discipline of the army and the bidding of the Captain. Whatsoever Christ bids any of us do in the future, we must unhesitatingly perform. It may be that his finger will point to distant lands, thither must we go cheerfully. We must follow the pillar of cloud without repining. We may be called to posts of labour for which we feel ourselves to be inadequate; we may be bidden to attempt work from which our spirit as yet recoils, but if we be called to it, it is not ours to ask the reason why; it is ours, if necessary, even to dare and die in serving the Lord. What hast thou to do with finding strength? It is his to give it thee in the hour of need. What hast thou to do with likings or dislikings? Servants must like that which their masters bid them. Man, thy will must be subdued; thy prejudices, instead of being pampered, must be destroyed; thou must be as willing to be a hewer of wood and a drawer of water as to be a prince and a standard-bearer; thou must be as content to teach a little child his letters for Christ as to testify the gospel before an audience of kings. To thee it must be equal whether thou shalt sit on a throne for Christ or rot in a dungeon for Christ. He only is a sincere servant who is intent upon doing the whole of his Lord's will, let that will be what it may.
960. Winning Souls, Importance of
If a woman had the charge of a number of children that were not her own, I do not suppose she would notice some of the incipient stages of disease; but when a mother nurses her own dear children, she scarcely for an hour permits the first symptoms of disease to go unnoticed. As soon as ever, upon the cheek or in the eye, there is some token of approaching sickness, she perceives it at once. I wish we had just as quick an eye, just as tender a heart, towards precious souls. Men that are making money, when their hearts are set upon gain, can always see their chance. Where a clerk employed in the office sees nothing, because he has not an interest in it, the principal, who is to make the profit, quick as thought, perceives the way to work; and when our hearts are set on winning souls and getting treasure for Christ, we shall soon see the first good sign and opportunity, and we shall be at once ready to do what is required.
961. Without Christ A soul without Christ! Why, it were better for thee, man, that thou hadst never been born if thou shalt continue so! thou would'st be better off with the millstone about thy neck, and cast into the sea, if that would make an end of thee. Thou wert happier far than thou art now without Christ, for without Christ thou art without God, and without hope in the world. Thou art a sheep lost on the mountains, and no Shepherd to find thee; a soul wandering in the blackness of darkness, and no lamp to guide thy wandering footsteps; and soon thou wilt be a desolate spirit, without a comfort, without a home, shut out in the blackness of darkness for ever! Does not that make thee long for Christ? Oh! it would, if I could make thee feel what I can only say. I can only deal with your outward ears; my Master must deal with your hearts; and I do pray him, by his mighty Spirit, to make you feel so wretched without Christ, that you will not dare to sleep until you have sought him, and laid hold upon him, and said, "I will not let thee go!"
962. Wonders, Folly of Waiting for
Riding along I see in the hedgerow a tree with rich fruit upon it, I am surprised, I do not know how it came there, it is a very unusual thing to see our garden fruit-trees in public hedgerows; but when I have seen I do not think any the less of my neighbour who over yonder is planting fruit-trees in his orchard. That is the ordinary way to get fruit. If now and then a fruit-tree springs up upon the heath, if we are hungry, we are glad to pluck the fruit—we do not know how it got there, and it is of no consequence that we should know, there is the fruit, and we are glad of it: but still we do not give up our orchard. Because sometimes a man finds a shilling, does he give up work? Extraordinary events in nature are always treated as such, and are not made the rule of every-day action; even thus wise men treat unusual displays of divine power. To forego regular agency that we may wait for wonders, were as idle as to leave the regular pursuits of commerce to live upon the waifs washed up by the sea.
963. Word of God destined to Triumph When I have seen a text sometimes in the hand of the enemy made use of against the deity of Christ, or against the doctrine of election, or against some other important and vital doctrine, I have not felt at all inclined to give up the text or think lightly of it. I rather admire those Americans in the South, who, when they had lost some guns, were asked by the commanding officer whether they had not spiked the guns before they gave them up to the foe? "Spiked them! no," said they, "we did not like to spoil such beautiful guns; we will take them again to-morrow." And so they did. I would not have a text touched. Grand old text! we honour thee even while we cannot keep the field, or ward thee from the aggression of the invader. But shall we spoil it, or give it up as lost? Never, we will take it out of the hand of the enemy, use it for the defence of the gospel, and show that it does not mean what they think, or answer the ends to which they would apply it. Are we baffled in attack, or do we lose ground in an argument, it is for us by more diligent study and closer research, to take the guns, the good old guns, and use those which the enemy used against ourselves—to turn them round and use them against him.
964. Word of God Food to a Believer
There is a great deal of error in many Christians, and a great deal of sin, and many try to correct the error and remove the sin, and they do well; but have you never heard a doctor say, when a person has been covered with some eruption, "I shall not deal with these eruptions at all; I shall apply no ointment. They are caused by the poorness of the patient's blood. I shall recommend to him a generous diet; I shall give him a strengthening medicine which will invigorate the system, and these blotches will disappear as a natural consequence." Depend upon it very many of the faults which are to be condemned in Christians are the result of their not leaning upon God's word, their not knowing the whole of it, especially the strong meat parts of it, as they ought to do; and if they did come to find God's word, and to eat it, their spiritual constitution would be stronger, and then they would throw off many of the ailments that are now such an injury to them, and they would become healthy, vigorous, mighty in the service of God.
965. Word of God in the Heart
We have heard of a certain scholar who used to carry miniature copies of all the classic authors about with him, so that he seemed to have almost a Bodleian in his pocket. O that you would carry miniature Bibles about with you! or, better still, that you had all the word of God constantly with you in your heart, so that you might be able to speak a word in season to them that are weary!
966. Word of God, Interest in the To read a will is not an interesting occupation—repetitions, legal phrases, tautologies multiplied to utter weariness; but if there be a legacy left to you in that will, no writing will be more fascinating; you will trip lightly over the lawyer's fences and five-barred gates, and rejoice as one that findeth spoil when you reach those clauses which leave certain "messuages, tenements, and hereditaments" to yourself and heirs. In such a case every repetition becomes musical, and technical phrases sound harmoniously. After this manner we learn to enjoy the word of God by discovering that we have a part and lot in it. When we perceive that the Lord is calling us and blessing us, then have we found his word. When the divine promise assures us personally that our sin is forgiven, that our spirit is clothed in the righteousness of Christ, that heaven is for us, that we are accepted in the Beloved, then the word is found indeed.
967. Word of God to be Impartially Studied
Beware of picking and choosing in God's word. It is a very dangerous symptom when there is any portion of Scripture that we are afraid to read. If there is one single chapter in the Book that I do not like, it must be because I feel it accuses and condemns me, and my duty ought to be to face that chapter at once and answer its accusation, and endeavour as far as possible to purify myself by God's help from that which the passage of Scripture condemns. Brethren, read that passage most which stings you most.
968. Words of Jesus The works of man will seldom bear close inspection. You shall take a needle which is highly polished, which appears to be without the slightest inequality upon its surface, and you shall put it under a microscope, and it will look like a rough bar of iron; but you shall select what you will from nature, the bark or the leaf of a tree, or the wing or the foot of an insect, and you shall discover no flaw, magnify it as much as you will, and gaze upon it as long as you please. So take the words of man. The first time you hear them they will strike you; you may hear them again and still admire their sentiment, but you shall soon weary of their repetition, and call them hackneyed and over-estimated. The words of Jesus' are not so; they never lose their dew, they never become threadbare. You may ring the changes upon his words, and never exhaust their music: you may consider them by day and by night, but familiarity shall not breed contempt. You shall beat them in the mortar of contemplation, with the pestle of criticism, and their perfume shall but become the more apparent. Dissect, investigate, and weigh the Master's teaching word by word, and each syllable will repay you. When loitering upon the Island of Liddo, off Venice, and listening to the sound of the city's bells, I thought the music charming as it floated across the lagune; but when I returned to the city, and sat down in the centre of the music, in the very midst of all the bells, the sweetness changed to a horrible clash, the charming sounds were transformed into a maddening din; not the slightest melody could I detect in any one bell, while harmony in the whole company of noisemakers was out of the question. Distance had lent enchantment to the sound. The words of poets and eloquent writers may, as a whole, and heard from afar, sound charmingly enough; but how few of them bear a near and minute investigation! Their belfry rings passably, but one would soon weary of each separate bell. It is never so with the divine words of Jesus. You hear them ringing from afar, and they are sweetness itself. When as a sinner, you roamed at midnight like a traveller lost on the wilds, how sweetly did they call you home! But now you have reached the house of mercy, you sit and listen to each distinct note of love's perfect peal, and wonderingly feel that even angelic harps cannot excel it.
969. Work, a Sphere of, for Every Christian
Out of this whole structure of the human body, every little muscle, every single cell, has its own secretion and its own work; and though some physicians have said this and that organ might be spared, I believe there is not a single thread in the whole embroidery of human nature that could well be spared—the whole of the fabric is required. So in the mystical body, the church, the least member is necessary, the most uncomely member of the Christian church is needful for its growth. Find out, then, what your sphere is, and occupy it. Ask God to tell you what is your niche, and stand in it, occupying the place till Jesus Christ shall come and give you your reward. Use what ability you have, and use it at once.
970. Work, Life the Time for
Mother, you cannot bend over your children and teach them the way of life when you have departed. If you would have them taught in the things of God, your voice at least will never teach them then of the love of Jesus. Missionary, if that district of yours be unattended, and souls be lost, you at least can never make up for the damage you have done, for the mischief which you have caused. Your memory and your love are past. You are gone. The place that knew you once knows you no more. Amongst the deeds of the living you can take no share. If you lifted, by your example, the floodgates of sin, you cannot return to let them down again, or to stem the current. If you missed opportunities of serving Jesus here, you cannot come back again to retrieve them. If one were a warrior, and had lost a battle, one might pant for another day to dawn, for another conflict yet to retrieve the campaign; but if you lose the battle of life, you shall never have it to fight again. The tradesman may have made a bankruptcy once, but he trusts that, with more careful dealing, he may yet achieve a success. But bankruptcy in our spiritual service is bankruptcy for ever, and we have no chance of retrieving our loss. It is a night in which no man can work. The myriads before the throne can do no service here. The poverty of London they cannot alleviate; its shame and sin they cannot remove. They can praise God, but they cannot help man. They can sing unto him that loved them and washed them, but they cannot preach of him, nor proclaim to those who need to be washed at the fountain that is filled with his blood. It were almost to be desired that they could, for surely they would do the work so much better than we can do it! But the Master has decreed otherwise. They must fight no more: they must stand and look on at the battle. They must delve the field no longer: they shall eat the fruit, but they cannot till the soil. The work is left to those who are still here. Let us have no regrets because they cannot join in it, but rather let us thank God that he reserves to us all the honour as well as all the labour. Let us plunge into the work now. As the British soldiers in battle, when few, were told by their king that he hoped there was not one man there who desired that they should be more; for, said he, "the fewer the men, the greater each man's share of the honour;" so let us scarce desire that we should have helpers from the skies. With the might of God upon us; with the open Word still full of precious promises; with the mercy-seat still rich in blessing; with the Holy Ghost, the irresistible Deity, still dwelling in us; with the precious name of Jesus, which makes hell tremble, still to cheer us, let us go forth, feeling that we "must work while it is day: for the night cometh when no man can work;" that we will work while the day lasteth—hearing the chariot wheels of eternity behind us, we will speed on with all our might and main.
971. Work, Christian, to be Done Speedily The wheels of eternity are sounding behind us; life must be short. To those to whom it is longest it is but brief. Work on, worker! You have scarce time to finish your day's work. Waste not a second. Throw not away these priceless hours. Speed! speed! speed! as with sevenfold wing it glides forward—swifter than the thunderbolt. Oh, pause not, trifle not. Oh, Christian, if thou wouldst take thy crowns up to thy Lord, and great sheaves from the harvest, "work while it is called to-day, for the night cometh wherein no man can work." "It is high time," says our apostle, "to awake out of sleep." Would that you would consider it. Be not as those who open their eyes in the morning only to close them again, like the sluggard with the reflection, "I need not bestir myself just yet." But start, man, from thy slumbers as one who feels that he has slept too long, and must now briskly cast off dull sloth, bestirring himself with eager haste to do his appointed task, to redeem the time, to reclaim the golden hours. For, consider this, thy calling is of God, and the King's business requireth haste.
972. Work for Christ, Humble
It comes to this, beloved, anything that can be done for Christ is too good for us to do. Somebody wanted to keep the door! Somebody wanted to rout out the back lanes? Somebody wanted to teach ragged roughs! Somebody wanted to ask people to come to the place of worship, and to lend them their seats, and stand in the aisle while they sit. Well, be it what it may, I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, or the door mat either, than I would be accounted amongst the noblest in the tents of wickedness. Anything for Jesus, the lower the better; anything for Jesus, the humbler the better; anything for Jesus. The more going down into the deeps, the more thrusting the arms up to the elbows in the mud to find out precious jewels, the more of that the better. This is the true spirit of the Christian religion. Not the soaring up there to sit among the choristers, and sing in grand style; not the putting on of apparel, and preaching in lawn sleeves; not the going through gaudy and imposing ceremonies—all that is of Babylon, but to strip yourself to the shirt sleeves to fight the battle for Christ, and to go out among men as a humble worker, resolved by any means to save some—this is what your Lord would have you to do, for this is the unloosing the latchets of his shoes.
973. Work for Christ, Solemnity of To seek to save souls from going down to the pit is no pastime: to talk of Jesus is no trifle. We do not meet to pray in sport; we do not gather together in supplication as a mere matter of form. Angels are in our midst observing us, the King himself is here. How would you behave if you actually saw Jesus with your eyes? If I were to vacate this pulpit and the crucified One stood here, stretching out his pierced hands and looking down upon you with the mild radiance of his sovereign love, how would you feel? Ask to feel just so, for he is here. Faith can perceive him. Ask to feel just so at this present moment, and so to go out to your work all the remaining days of your life, as a servant of God who is standing in the presence of his Lord upon holy ground, and cannot therefore afford to trifle, since he has solemn work to do, and means to do it in his Master's name.
974. Work for Christ, the Relief in Trouble
I recollect the story of a mother, who, when her little boy was playing in the room, was shedding many bitter tears for her widowhood. Her little boy, who seemed to know right well the source of the mother's grief, came up to her, and putting his arms around her neck, said, "You have got me, mother," and you cannot tell how it comforted her heart as she thought, "Yes, I have a solemn charge in you to train you up to know your father's God, and to follow to the heaven where your father is at rest." The necessary care which she rendered to her little son helped to wipe away the tears which else might long have worn a furrow down her cheeks. There is nothing healthier for the sick, these is nothing more encouraging for the desponding, there is nothing more strengthening for the weak, there is nothing more soul-enriching for the poor in spirit, than for every Christian man among us to gird himself to do something for his Lord and Master.
975. Work of God Humbling When John in Patmos saw the Lord, he fell at his feet as dead; a sense of the glory of his Lord overpowered him: such has been in a degree our own experience, alike in meditating upon Scripture and in wandering in the dark gorges of the Alps. Let a man stand on what is called the Devil's Bridge on the St. Gothard road, where the fury of the Reuss seems lashed to madness—let him look above, beneath, and around, and as he shivers into nothingness let him say, "As for man, whose breath is in his nostrils, wherein is he to be accounted of?"
976. Work of God and Man meeting When the Mont Cenis Tunnel was being made, a party of engineers worked from the Italian side for six years, and expected at the end of that period to see an open roadway through the mountain. They knew that the work would take, at the rate they were going, twelve years at least, and. yet they knew it would be completed in six years, because there was another party on the French side working to meet them; and accordingly, in due time, they met to an inch. I cannot understand these miracles of engineering, and do not know how two tunnelling parties manage to meet each other in the heart of an Alp; neither do I know how the Lord's work in men's consciences will fit in with mine, but I am sure it will, and, therefore, in faith I go on working with all my might.
977. Workers for Christ Unsanctified
It is very possible for a man to get to dislike the very religion which he feels bound still by force of custom to go on teaching to others. "Is that possible?" says one. Alas! that it is. Have you never heard of the flower-girl in the streets? What is her occupation? I dare say some girls like her have passed by and seen her with a great basket full of violets, and said, "What a delightful occupation, to have that fragrant smell for ever near to one!" Yes, but there was one girl who sold them, and said she hated the smell of violets. She had got to loathe them, and to think that there was no smell in the world so offensive, because they were always under her nostrils all day, and taken home to her little scanty room at night, and having nothing but violets around her, she hated them altogether. And I do believe that there are persons without the grace of Christ in their hearts who keep on talking about grace and mercy, and practising prayer, and yet in their heart of hearts they hate the very fragrance of the name of Jesus, and need that there should come upon them an awakening out of their sleep of presumption and hypocrisy, to make them know that, though they thought they were the friends of God, they were, after all, his enemies. They were mere keepers of other men's vineyards, but their own vineyards had gone to ruin.
978. Workers in the Church Unsaved
Years ago Hamburg was nearly half of it burned down, and among the incidents that happened, there was this one. A large house had connected with it a yard in which there was a great black dog, and this black dog in the middle of the night barked and howled most furiously. It was only by his barking that the family were awakened just in time to escape from the flames, and their lives were spared; but the poor dog was chained to his kennel, and though he barked and thus saved the lives of others, he was burned himself. Oh! do not you, who work for God in this church, perish in that fashion. Do not permit your sins to enchain you, so that while you warn others you become lost yourselves. Do see that you have the godliness which has the promise of the life that is to come.
979. Workers' Strength in God
Once on a time certain strong labourers were sent forth by the great King to level a primeval forest, to plough it, to sow it, and to bring him the harvest. They were stout-hearted and strong, and willing enough for labour, and well they needed all their strength and more. One stalwart labourer was named Industry—consecrated work was his. His brother Patience, with thews of steel, went with him, and tired not in the longest days, under the heaviest labours. To help them they had Zeal, clothed with ardent and indomitable energy. Side by side, there stood his kinsman Self-denial, and his friend Importunity. These went forth to their labour, and they took with them, to cheer their toils, their well-beloved sister Hope; and well it was they did, for the forest trees were huge, and needed many sturdy blows of the axe ere they would fall prone upon the ground. One by one they yielded, but the labour was immense and incessant. At night when they went to their rest, the day's work always seemed so light for as they crossed the threshold, Patience, wiping the sweat from his brow, would be encouraged, and Self-denial would be strengthened, for they heard a sweet voice within sing, "God will bless us; God, even our own God, will bless us." They felled the giant trees to the music of that strain; they cleared the acres one by one; they tore from their sockets the huge roots; they delved the soil; they sowed the corn, and waited for the harvest, often much discouraged, but still in silver chains and golden fetters by the sweet sound of the voice which chanted so constantly, "God, even our own God, will bless us." They never could refrain from service, for she never could refrain from song. They were ashamed to be discouraged, they were shocked to be despairing, for still the voice rang clearly out, at morn and eventide, "God will bless us; God, even our own God, will bless us." You know the parable, you recognise the voice: may you hear it in your souls to-day!
980. Workers' Sympathy with Jesus
I know of no service that can be more distinguished than the doing of good, the scattering of blessings among the sons of men. Methinks the very angels before the throne might envy us poor men who are permitted to talk of Christ, even though it be but to little children. I reckon the humblest ragged-school teacher to be more honoured than even Gabriel himself, in being commissioned to tell out the story of the cross, and to win youthful hearts to the Saviour's service. You are not employed as scullions in your Master's kitchen, though you might be content with such a service; you are not made as his hired servants, to toil in meanest drudgery; you are not sent to be hewers of wood and drawers of water; but you are his friends, the friends of Jesus, to do such work as he did; and even greater work? than he did are you enabled to do, because he hath gone to his Father. "This honour have all the saints," the honour of being gentlemen-at-arms under Jesus, the Captain of their salvation.
981. Workers, Humble, used by God
How often the eminent preachers, which are the church's delight, are brought into the church by those of less degree, even as Simon Peter was converted by Andrew! Who shall tell what might have become of Simon Peter if it had not been for Andrew? Who shall say that the church would ever have possessed a Peter if she had closed the mouth of Andrew? And who shall put their finger upon the brother or sister of inferior talent, and say, "These must hold their peace"? Nay, brother, if thou hast but one talent, the more zealously use it. God will require it of thee; let not thy brethren hold thee back from putting it out to interest. If thou art but as a glowworm's lamp, hide not thy light, for there is an eye predestinated to see by thy light, a heart ordained to find comfort by thy faint gleam. Shine thou, and the Lord accept thee!
982. Works, Impossibility of Salvation by A poor and wretched man dreamed that he was counting out gold. There it stood upon the table before him in great bags, and, as he untied string after string, he found himself wealthy beyond a Croesus' treasures. He was lying upon a bed of straw, in the midst of filth and squalor, a mass of rags and wretchedness; but he dreamed of riches. A charitable friend who had brought him help stood at the sleeper's side, and said, "I have brought you help, for I know your urgent need." Now the man was in a deep sleep, and the voice mingled with his dream as though it were part of it: he replied, therefore, with scornful indignation, "Get ye gone, I need no miserable charity from you; I am possessor of heaps of gold. Can you not see them? I will open a bag and pour out a heap that shall glitter before your eyes." Thus foolishly he talked on, babbling of a treasure which existed only in his dream, till he who came to help him accepted his repulse and departed mournfully. When the man awakened, he had no comfort from his dream, but found that he had been duped by it into rejecting his only friend. Such is the position of every person who is hoping to be saved by his good works. You have no good works except in your dream. Those things which you supposed to be excellent are really defiled with sin and spoiled with impurity. Jesus stands this morning by you, and cries, "Soul, I have come from heaven to redeem thee. If thou hadst any good works, there had been no need for me to come to save thee; but, inasmuch as thou art naked, and poor, and miserable, I came to earth, and this face was bedewed with sweat of blood, and these hands were pierced, and this side was opened, to work out thy salvation. Take it; I freely present it to thee." Will you, in your sleep this morning, make that sad reply, "Jesus, we are rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing. We have neither cursed thy Father's name, nor broken thy Sabbath, nor done aught amiss"? If so, dear friends, you are resting upon a delusion, and will find it so when it is too late.
983. Works, Little, Rewarded by Christ
I know your gifts to his church and his poor are necessarily but little, for yours is the poor widow's portion perhaps, and you can give only your two mites; but I know that, as they fall into the treasury, Jesus sits over against the treasury and hears sweet sounds in the dropping of your gifts. I know your life is such that you mourn over it every day, but still you do serve God in it, and you long to serve him more, and that love of yours is written in the book of the King's record, and you shall be his in the day when he makes up his jewels; and your works shall be his too, for your works shall follow you to the skies when you rise in Jesus, and your reward even for a cup of cold water shall be as sure as it will be gracious, and your entrance into the joy of your Lord shall certainly be bestowed upon you according to the grace which is in Christ Jesus, by which he has accepted you.
984. Works of God, Delight in the
Some people never smile. Dear souls! They pull the blinds down on Sunday. They are sorry that the flowers are so beautiful, and think that they ought to have been whitewashed; they almost believe that if the garden beds were of a little more serious colour, it would be advisable. I have known some, and some whom I very greatly respect, talk in this way. One good brother, whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose, said, on one occasion, that when he went up the Rhine he never looked at the rocks, or the old castles, or the flowing river, he was so taken up with other things! Why, to me nature is a looking-glass in which I see the face of God. I delight to gaze abroad, and "Look through nature up to nature's God." But that was all unholiness to him. I confess I do not understand that kind of thing; I have no sympathy with those who look upon this material world as though it were a very wicked place, and as if there were here no trace whatever of the divine hand, and no proofs of the divine wisdom, nor manifestations of the divine care. I think we may delight ourselves in the works of God, and find much pleasure therein, and get much advanced towards God himself by considering his works.
985. Works of God Worthy of Attention
Modern fanatics, who profess to be so absorbed in heavenly things that they are blind to the most marvellous of Jehovah's handiwork, should go to school with David as the schoolmaster, and learn to "consider the heavens;" and should sit with Job upon the dunghill of their pride, while the Lord rehearses the thundering stanzas of creation's greatness, until they cry with the patriarch, "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." For our part, we feel that what was worth the Lord's making richly deserves the attention of the most cultivated and purified intellect; and we think it blasphemy against God himself to speak slightingly of his universe, as if, forsooth, we poor puny mortals were too spiritual to be interested in that matchless architecture which made the morning stars ling together, and caused the sons of God to shout for joy.
986. World, Lamentation over Its Sin
Like the marvellous structures of Palmyra, of Baalbek, in the far off east, the earth in ruins reveals a magnificence which betokens a royal founder, and an extraordinary purpose. Creation glows with a thousand beauties, even in its present fallen condition; yet clearly enough it is not as when it came from the Maker's hand; the slime of the serpent is on it all; this is not the world which God pronounced to be "very good." We hear of tornadoes, of earthquakes, of tempests, of volcanoes, of avalanches, and of the sea which devoureth its thousands: there is sorrow on the sea, and there is misery on the land; and into the highest palaces as well as the poorest cottages, death, the insatiable, is shooting his arrows, while his quiver is still full to bursting with future woes. It is a sad, sad world. The curse has fallen on it since the fall, and thorns and thistles it bringeth forth, not from its soil alone, but from all that comes of it. Earth wears upon her brow, like Cain of old, the brand of transgression. Sad would it be to our thoughts if it were always to be so. If there were no future to this world as well as to ourselves, we might be glad to escape from it, counting it to be nothing better than a huge penal colony, from which it would be a thousand mercies for both body and soul to be emancipated. At this present time, the groaning and travailing which are general throughout creation, are deeply felt among the sons of men. The dreariest thing you can read is the newspaper. I heard of one who sat up at the end of last year to groan last year out; it was ill done, but in truth it was a year of groaning, and the present one opens amid turbulence and distress. We heard of abundant harvests, but we soon discovered that they were all a dream, and that there would be scant in the worker's cottage. And now, what with strifes between men and masters, which are banishing trade from England, and what with political convulsions, which unhinge everything, the vessel of the state is drifting fast to the shallows. May God in mercy put his hand to the helm of the ship, and steer her safely! There is a general wail among nations and peoples. You can hear it in the streets of the city. The Lord reigneth, or we might lament right bitterly.
987. World to be Changed by the Gospel The world is upside down now; the gospel has begun to turn it the right way uppermost, but when the day of grace is over, and the day of glory comes, then shall it be righted indeed; then those that wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins shall be clothed in glittering apparel, being transfigured like the Saviour upon Tabor; then those of whom the world was not worthy shall come to a world that shall be worthy of them; then those who were hurried to the stake and to the flames shall triumph with chariots of fire and horses of fire, and swell the splendour of the Master's pompous appearing.
988. Worldliness Stopping the Ears of Man
If you stood in a street where the traffic is abundant, where the constant thunder of rumbling wheels creates a din, it would be difficult to preach so as to command an audience, for the abundant sound would prevent all hearing; and, to a great extent, the mass of mankind are just in that position as to the joyful sound of the gospel; the rumbling of the wheels of commerce, the noise of trade and the cries of competition, the whirl of cares and the riot of pleasures—all these drown the persuasive voice of heavenly love, so that men hear no more of it than they would hear a pin fall in the midst of a hurricane at sea. Only when God unstops the ear is the still small voice of truth heard in the chambers of the heart.
989. Worry, A Corrective for
Beloved, I desire for myself never again to be worried with the cares of this church, but to take them all to my Master, and wait at his feet. I desire not to be troubled about my preaching, nor to be cumbered about anything beneath the sun, but to leave all these, as he would have me leave them, in his hands. You who are working in the classes, in the school, or anywhere else, I pray you look well to your fellowship with Jesus. You cannot slay the enemy by throwing away your sword, and nearness to Christ is your battle-axe and weapons of war; you have lost your power when you have left your Lord. One thing is needful—let the rest go. What if we have not learning? what if we have not eloquence? If we live near to Christ, we have something better than all these; if we abide in him, and he abides in us, we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us. If his word abides in us, we shall go and bring forth fruit, and our fruit shall remain; if he abides in us, we shall enjoy heaven on earth, and be daily preparing for that eternal heaven which is to be our portion. "One thing is needful." God grant it to every one of us!
990. Worry, Folly of
Why dost thou worry thyself? What use can thy fretting serve? Thou art on board a vessel which thou couldst not steer even if the great Captain put thee at the helm, of which thou couldst not so much as reef a sail, yet thou worriest as if thou wert captain and helmsman. O, be quiet, God is Master—dost thou think that all this din and hurly-burly that is abroad betokens that God has left his throne? No, man, his coursers rush furiously on, and his chariot is the storm, but there is a bit between their jaws, and he holds fast the reins, and guides them as he wills! Jehovah is Master yet; believe it; peace be unto thee! be not afraid!
991. Worship, Modes of, may be Altered
I have frequently, especially in our country churches, met with the most determined protests against the most trivial alteration of the routine of their worship. You must sing at such a time, for they always have sung at such a point in the service; you must pray at such a moment, they always have prayed at that part of the worship; and if you can keep to the same quantity of minutes usually occupied, so much the better. The whole service, though not in a book—for our sturdy brethren would rise in revolt against the use of a book—yet is quite as stereotyped as if it were taken from the Common Prayer. Now, I believe that in public worship we should do well to be bound by no human rules, and constrained by no stereotyped order. I like, and we have often done it, to have an interval of silence sometimes, Why not?
Why should it be all vocal worship? And why not begin with the sermon occasionally? You who come in late would probably mend your manners in such a case. And then why should we not sing when we have been accustomed to pray, and pray when we have been accustomed to sing? We are under the dispensation of the Spirit, and, as far as I know, the Spirit of God has not inspired those cards which I see sometimes nailed up in pulpits—"Begin with short prayer, sing, read, pray, preach," and so on. A legality of form is growing up among us, and I enter my heart's protest against it. Not that you and I may have been affected by this Dissenting ritualism, but practices good in themselves are to be protested against if they gender to bondage, for the Spirit of God bloweth where he listeth, and if we worship God according to his guidance, the worship cannot invariably take the same form.
992. Worship, Spiritual, the Divine requirement
If the Eternal were such an one as thou art, O man, he might be pleased with thy painted windows. But what a child's toy must coloured glass be to God! I can sit and gaze upon a cathedral, with all its magnificence of architecture, and think what a wonderful exhibition of human skill; but what must that be to God, who piles the heavens, who digs the foundation of the deep, who leads Arcturus with his sons? Why, it must be to him the veriest trifle, a mere heap of stones. I delight to hear the swell of organs, the harmony of sweet voices, the Gregorian chant, but what is this artistic sound to him more than sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal? As a sight, I admire the choristers and priests, and the whole show of a grand ceremonial; but do you believe that God is imposed upon by those frocks and gowns of white, and blue, and scarlet, and fine linen? It seems to me as if such a notion brings down God to the level of a silly woman who is fond of finery. The infinite God, who spreads out the heavens and scatters stars with both his hands, whom heaven and earth cannot contain, to whom space is but a speck, and time is as nothing, do you think that he dwelleth in temples made with hands—that is to say, of man's building? And is he to be worshipped with your organs, and your rood-screens, and your gaudy millinery? He laugheth at them, he treadeth on them as being less than nothing and vanity. Spiritual worship is what he regardeth, because he is a Spirit. My brethren, if you could get together a procession of worlds, if you could make the stars walk along the streets of some great new Jerusalem, dressed in their brightest array; if, instead of the songs of a few boys or men, you could catch the sonnets of eternal ages; if, instead of a few men to officiate as priests, you could enlist time, eternity, heaven and earth to be the priesthood, yet all this would be to him but as a company of grasshoppers, and he would take up the whole as a very little thing.