The Wisdom of the Gospel
The gospel is the sum of wisdom; a collection of
knowledge; a treasure-house of truth; and a disclosure of mysterious
secrets. In it we see how justice and mercy may be associated; here we see
unalterable law entirely satisfied, and sovereign love carrying away the
sinner in triumph. Our meditation on it broadens the mind; and as it opens
to our soul in successive flashes of glory, we stand astonished at the
profound wisdom manifest in it. Yes, dear friends! if you seek wisdom, you
will see it displayed in all its greatness; not in the firmness of the
earth's foundations—not in the measured march of the clouds of the sky, nor
in the perpetual motions of the waves of the sea; not in the vegetation with
all its intricate forms of beauty, nor in the animal with its marvelous
tissue of nerve, and vein, and sinew; nor even in man, that last and
loftiest work of the Creator. But turn aside and see this great sight!-an
incarnate God upon the cross; a substitute atoning for mortal's guilt; a
sacrifice satisfying the vengeance of Heaven, and delivering the rebellious
sinner. Here is essential wisdom; enthroned, crowned, and glorified. Admire,
you men of the earth, if you are not blind; and you who glory in your
learning bow your heads in reverence, and admit that all your skill could
not have devised a gospel that is one so just to God, so safe to man.
The Poison of False Teaching
There have been many, destroyed by poisons, given to lull
them to sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of "peace, peace," when
there is no peace; hearing gentle things, when they ought to be hearing
things that convict their hearts. Cleopatra's asp was brought in a basket of
flowers; and men's ruin often lurks in fair and sweet speeches. But the Holy
Spirit's comfort is safe, and you may rest on it. Let him speak the word,
and there is a reality about it; let him give the cup of consolation, and
you may drink it to the bottom; for in its depths there are no residue,
nothing to intoxicate or ruin; it is all safe.
The Compelling Power of the Cross
What is it that makes the young man devote himself, as a
missionary, to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and go into
distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it; it is the gospel. What
is it that constrains the far away minister, in the midst of cholera, to
climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by the bed of some dying
creature who has that tragic disease? It must be a thing of power which
leads him to risk his life; it is love of the cross of Christ which urges
him to do it. What is that which enables one man to stand up before a
multitude of his fellows, all unprepared it may be, but determined that he
will speak nothing but Christ, and Him crucified? What is it that enables
him to cry, like the war horse of Job, in battle, Yes! and more glorious in
might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified.
What encourages that timid female to walk down that dark
road some wet evening, that she may go and sit by the victim of a contagious
fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of thieves, and pass by
the depraved and perverted? What influences her to enter into that house of
death, and there sit down and whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her
do it? They are to poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She will
never be known nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What makes
her do it? What impels her to it? It is the power, the thing of power; it is
the cross of Christ—she loves it, and she therefore says, Were the whole
realm of nature mine, As a present it would be far too small; Love so
amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Look to Calvary
O Young man, build your studio on Calvary! there raise
your observatory, and scan by faith the lofty things of nature. Take a
recluse's cell in the garden of Gethsemane, and wash your face with the
waters of Siloam. Let the Bible be your standard classic-your last appeal in
matters of contention. Let its light be your illumination, and you will
become more wise than Plato, more truly learned than the seven sages of
antiquity.
An Old Fool
O man! of all fools, a fool with a grey head is the worst
fool anywhere. With one foot in the grave, and another foot on a sandy
foundation, how will I depict you, but by saying to you as God said to the
rich man, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
The Rejection of the Gospel
When the gospel was first preached, instead of being
accepted and admired, one universal hiss went up to heaven; men could not
bear it; its first preacher they dragged to the edge of the cliff, and would
have sent Him down headlong; yes, they did more-they nailed Him to a cross,
and there they let Him spend His dying life in agony such as no man has
borne since. All His chosen ministers have been hated and abhorred by the
worldly; instead of being listened to, they have been scoffed at; treated as
if they were rubbish, and the very scum of mankind.
Look at the holy men in the early days of the church, how
they were driven from city to city, persecuted, afflicted, tormented, stoned
to death, wherever the enemy had power to do so. Those friends of men, those
real philanthropists, who came with hearts big with love, and hands full of
mercy, and lips pregnant with celestial fire, and souls burned with holy
influence; those men were treated as if they were spies in the camp, as if
they were deserters from the common cause of mankind; as if they were
enemies, and not, as they truly were, the best of friends. Do not suppose
that men like the gospel any better now than they did then. There is an idea
that you are growing better; but the heart within is still the same. The
human heart of today dissected, would be just like the human heart a
thousand years ago; the gall of bitterness within that bosom of yours, is
just as bitter as the gall of bitterness of Simon of old. We have in our
hearts the same inherent opposition to the truth of God; and hence we find
men, just as in the past, who scorn the gospel.
Staying Alive in Christ
If you feel at any time "death working in you," as
doubtless you will, withering the bloom of your religious devoutness,
chilling the fervor of your devotions, and quenching the allegiance of your
faith, remember, He who first aroused you to life in Christ must keep you
alive. The Spirit of God is like the sap that flowed into your poor dry
branch, because you were grafted into Christ, and by that sap alone you can
ever bring forth fruit to God.
The Trinity
A gospel without a Trinity! it is a pyramid built upside
down on its apex. A gospel without the Trinity! it is a rope of sand that
cannot hold together. A gospel without a Trinity! then, indeed, Satan can
overturn it. But, give me a gospel with the Trinity, and the might of hell
cannot prevail against it; no man could any more overthrow it than a bubble
could split a rock, or a feather break a mountain in half. Get the thought
of the three persons, and you have the essence of all divinity. Only know
the Father, and know the Son, and know the Holy Spirit to be one, and all
things will appear clear. This is the golden key to the secrets of nature,
and he who understands this, will soon understand as much as mortals ever
can know.
Read Your Bible
You know more about your ledgers than your Bible; you
know more about your magazines and novels than what God has written; many of
you will read a novel from the beginning to the end, and what have you got?
A mouthful of foam when you are done. But you cannot read the Bible; that
solid, lasting, substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in
the cupboard of neglect; while anything that a man writes, a best seller of
the day, is greedily devoured.
The Science of Jesus Christ
The science of Jesus Christ is the most excellent of
sciences. Let no one turn away from the Bible because it is not a book of
learning and wisdom. It is. Would you know astronomy? It is here—it tells
you of the Son of Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem.
Would you know botany? It is here—it tells you of the
plant of renown-the Lily of the Valley, and the Rose of Sharon. Would you
know geology and mineralogy? You shall learn it here—for you may read of the
Rock of Ages, and the White Stone with the name engraved thereon, which no
man knows except he who receives it.
Would you study history? Here is the most ancient of all
the records of the history of the human race. Whatever your science is, come
and bend over this book; your science is here. Come and drink out of this
pure fountain of knowledge and wisdom, and you will find yourself made wise
unto salvation.
God's Gift of Change
Have you now a sweet temper, whereas you once were
hot-blooded? Do not boast of it; you will be angry yet again if He allows
you. Are you now pure, whereas you were once unclean? Do not boast of your
purity; it is a plant, the seed of which was brought from heaven; it never
was within your heart by nature; it is God's gift, and God's alone.
The Attraction of Christ
Our world has two forces; it has one tendency to run off
at a tangent from its orbit; but the sun draws it by a centripetal power,
and attracts it to itself, and so between the two forces it is kept in a
perpetual circle. Oh! Christian, you will never walk right, and keep in the
orbit of truth, if it were not for the influence of Christ perpetually
attracting you to the center. You feel, and if you do not always feel, it is
still there-you feel an attraction between your heart and Christ, and Christ
is perpetually drawing you to Himself, to His likeness, to His character, to
His love, to His bosom, and in that way you are kept from your natural
tendency to fly off and be lost in the wild fields of sin. Bless God, that
Christ lifted up draws all His people unto Him in that fashion.
Free Will
"Do you see the cat? She sits there, and will lick her
paws and keep herself clean." "I see that," said the other. "Well," said the
first speaker, "Did you ever hear of one of the hogs taken out of the pigsty
that ever acted like the cat?" "No," he said. "But he could if he wanted
to," said the other. "Yes! truly he could if he wanted to; but it is not
according to his nature, and you never saw such a thing done, and until you
have changed the swine's nature, he cannot perform such a good action, and
God's Word says the same thing of man."
Tell It to God
Cast your troubles where you have cast your sins; you
have cast your sins into the depths of the sea, there cast your troubles
also. Never keep a trouble half an hour on your own mind before you tell it
to God. As soon as the trouble comes, quick, the first thing, tell it to
your Father in heaven. Remember, that the longer you take telling your
trouble to God, the more your peace will be impaired. The longer the frost
lasts, the more likely the ponds will be frozen.
The Wisdom of the Holy Spirit
How wise the Holy Spirit is! He takes the soul, lays it
on the table, and dissects it in a moment; He finds out the root of the
matter, He sees where the evil is, and then He applies the knife where
something is required to be taken away, or puts dressing and ointment where
the sore is, and He never makes a mistake. O, how wise is the blessed Holy
Spirit; from every other comforter I turn and leave them all, for You are He
who alone gives the wisest consolation.
Commanded to Smile
Cultivate a cheerful disposition; endeavor as much as you
can to always wear a smile; remember that this is as much a command of God
as that one which says, "You shall love the Lord with all your heart."
The Perfect Preacher
Christ Jesus was an exciting preacher; He sought all
means to set a pearl in a frame of gold, that it might attract the attention
of the people. He was not willing to place Himself in a local church, or to
preach to a large congregation, like our good brethren in the city, but
would preach in such a style that people felt they must go to hear Him. Some
of them gnashed their teeth in rage and left His presence in anger, but the
multitudes still thronged to Him to hear and to be healed. It was no
commonplace experience to hear this King of preachers, He was too
straightforward to be dull, and to humane to be incomprehensible.
Our Watchman
It was once said by Solon, "No man ought to be called a
happy man until he dies," because he does not know what his life is to be;
but Christians may always call themselves happy men here, because wherever
their tent is carried, they cannot pitch it where the cloud does not move,
and where they are not surrounded by a circle of fire. "I myself will be a
wall of fire around them, and I will be their glory within." They cannot
live where God is not the head of the house, watchman, and safeguard of
salvation.
"All my ways shall ever be
Ordered by His wise decree."
The Peace of Christianity
Oh! you that are not Christians, it would worthwhile to
be Christians, if it were only for the peace and happiness that religion
gives. If we had to die like dogs with no future, still this religion would
be worth having to make us live here like angels. Oh, if the grave were what
it seems to be, the goal of all existence, if the black nails of the coffin
were not so bright with stars, if death were the end and our lamps were
quenched in darkness, when it was said, "Dust to dust and earth to earth;
"yet it would be worthwhile to be a child of God, only to live here.
Dreams
We dream of everything in the world, and a few things
more! If we were asked to tell our dreams, it would be impossible. You dream
that you are at a feast; Behold! the foods change into a flying horse, and
you are riding through the air; or again, suddenly transformed into a morsel
for a monster's meal. Such is life. The changes occur as suddenly as they
happen in a dream. Men have been rich one day, they have been beggars the
next. We have witnessed the exile of monarchs, and the flight of a king—or,
in another direction, we have seen a man, neither reputable or honorable in
status, at a single stride exalted to a throne; and you who would have
shunned him in the streets before, were foolish enough to throng your
streets to stare at him. Ah! such is life. Leaves of the tree were not more
easily moved by the winds, nor are dreams more variable—"Do not boast about
tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
Bible Light
It is better to have two lights than only one. The light
of creation is a bright light. God may be seen in the stars; His name is
written in shiny letters on the darkness of night; you may discover His
glory in the ocean waves. Yes, in the trees of the field; but it is better
to read it in two books than in only one. You will find it here more clearly
revealed; for He has written this book Himself, and He has given you the key
to understand it, if you have the Holy Spirit. Yes, beloved, let us thank
God for this Bible; let us love it; let us count it more precious than much
fine gold.
Cloudy Future
How foolish are those men who wish to pry into the
future; the telescope is ready, and they are looking through; but they are
so anxious to see, that they breathe on the glass with their hot breath and
they dim it, so that they can discern nothing but clouds and darkness.
Hypocrisy
Every now and then we turn over fair looking stone which
lies upon the green grass of the professing church, surrounded with the
growth of apparent goodness, and to our astonishment we find beneath all
kinds of filthy insects and loathsome reptiles, and in our disgust at such
hypocrisy, we are driven to exclaim, "All men are liars; there are none in
whom we can put any trust at all." It is not fair to say so of all; but
really, the discoveries which are made of the insincerity of our fellow
creatures are enough to make us despise our kind, because they can go so far
in appearances, and yet have so little soundness of heart.
The Blood Stained Book
Our Bible is a blood-stained book. The blood of martyrs
is on the Bible, the blood of translators and believers. The pool of holy
baptism in which you have been baptized is a bloodstained pool—many have had
to die for the vindication of that baptism which is the answer of a good
conscience towards God. The doctrines which we preach to you are doctrines
that have been baptized in blood-swords have been drawn to kill the
confessors of them; and there is not a truth which has not been sealed by
them at the stake, or the block, or far away on the lofty mountains, where
they have, been slain by hundreds.
God's Eyes on Us
God might, if He pleased, wrap himself with night as with
a garment; He might put the stars around His wrist for bracelets, and bind
the suns around His brow for a crown; He might dwell alone, far, far above
this world, up in the seventh heaven, and look down with calm and silent
indifference, upon all the doings of His creatures; He might do as the
heathens supposed their false god did, sit in perpetual silence, sometimes
nodding his awful head to make the fates move as he pleased, but never
taking thought of the little things of earth, disposing of them as beneath
his notice, engrossed within his own being, swallowed up within himself,
living alone and retired; and I, as one of his creatures, might stand at
night upon a mountain-top, and look upon the silent stars and say, "You are
the eyes of God, but you do not look down on me; your light is the gift of
His omnipotence, but your rays are not smiles of love to me. God, the
mighty, Creator, has forgotten me; I am a despicable drop in the ocean of
creation, a leaf in the forest of beings, an atoll in the mountain of
existence. He does not know me; I am alone, alone, alone." But it is not so,
beloved. Our God is of another order. He notices every one of us; there is
not a sparrow or a worm that continues to live apart from His decrees. There
is not a person upon whom His eye is not fixed. Our most secret acts are
known to Him. Whatever we do, or endure, or suffer, the eye of God still
rests upon us, and we are under His smile-for we are His people; or under
His frown-for we have sinned against Him.
The Power of God
Any farmer can get a good crop out of good soil; but God
is the farmer who can grow cedars on rocks, who can not only put the hyssop
upon the wall, but put the oak there too, and make the greatest faith spring
up in the most unlikely place. All glory to His grace! The great sinner may
become great in faith. Be of good cheer, then, sinner! If Christ should make
you repent, you have no reason to think that you will be the least in the
family. Oh! no! your name may yet be written among the mightiest of the
mighty and you may stand as a memorable and triumph instance of the power of
faith.
Seeing Jesus
If we look at something in the pitch blackness of the
dark, we cannot see it; but we have done what we were told. So, if a sinner
only looks to Jesus, He will save him, for Jesus in the dark is as good as
Jesus in the light; and Jesus, when you cannot see him, in as good as Jesus
when you can.
The Anchor of Calvary
There was an evil hour once when I released the anchor of
my faith; I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored myself tight to
the coasts of the Revelation of God; I allowed my vessel to drift with the
wind; I said to reason, "You be my captain;" I said to my own brain, "You be
my rudder;" and I started on my mad voyage. Thank God, it is all over now;
but I will tell you its brief history. It was one hurried sailing over the
tempestuous ocean of free thought. I went on, and as I went, the skies began
to darken; but to make up for that deficiency, the waters were brilliant
with the glitter of brilliancy. I saw sparks flying upward that pleased me,
and I thought, "If this is free thought, it is a good thing." My thoughts
seemed like gems, and I scattered stars with both my hands; but before long,
instead of these flashes of glory, I saw grim fiends, fierce and horrible,
come up from the waters, and as I rushed on, they gnashed their teeth, and
grinned at me; they seized the bow of my ship and dragged me on, while I, in
part, was impressed at the swiftness of my motion, but yet shuddered at the
terrific rate with which I passed the old landmarks of my faith. As I
hurried forward with a dreadful speed, I began to doubt my very existence; I
doubted if there were a world, I doubted if there were such a thing, as
myself. I went to the very verge of the dreamy realms of unbelief. I went to
the very bottom of the sea of Unbelief. I doubted everything. But here the
devil foiled himself—for the very extravagance of the doubt, proved its
absurdity. Just when I saw the bottom of that sea, there came a voice which
said, "And can this doubt be true?" At this very thought I awoke. I started
from that death-dream, which, God knows, might have damned my Soul, and
ruined my body, if I had not awoke. When I arose, faith took the helm; from
that moment I no longer doubted. Faith steered me back; faith cried, "Away,
away!" I cast my anchor on Calvary; I lifted my eye to God; and here I am,
"alive, and out of hell."
Traveling to Our Destiny
This world is turning around on its axis once every
twenty-four hours; and besides that, it is moving around the sun in the 365
days of the year. So that we are all moving; we are all flitting along
through space. And as we are traveling through space, so we are also moving
through time at an incalculable rate. Oh! what an idea it is, if we could we
grasp it! We are all being carried along as if by a giant angel, with broad
outstretched wings, which he flaps to the sound of thunder, and flying
before the lightning, makes us ride on the winds. The whole multitude of us
are hurrying along-to a place that will be decided by the test of our faith
and the grace of God; but it is certain, we are all traveling. Do not think
that you are stable things; do not fancy that you are standing still; you
are not. Your pulses each moment beat the funeral marches to the tomb. You
are chained to the chariot of rolling time; there is no slowing of the
horses, or leaping from the chariot; you must be constantly in motion.
A Trip to Heaven
Christ is the chariot in which souls are drawn to heaven.
The people of the Lord are on their way to heaven, they are carried in
everlasting arms; and those arms are the arms of Christ. Christ is carrying
them up to His own house, to His own throne; in time His prayer-"Father, I
want those you have given Me to be with Me where I am" shall be completely
fulfilled. And it is being fulfilled now, for He is like a strong charger
drawing His children in the chariot of the covenant of grace unto Himself.
Oh! blessed be God, the cross is the plank on which we swim to heaven; the
cross is the great covenant transport which will weather out the storms, and
reach its desired heaven. This is the chariot, the sides are made of gold,
and the bottom of silver, it is lined with the purple of the atonement of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
God's Book
The Bible is the writing of the living God—each letter
was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the
everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit. Even though
Moses was employed to write his histories with his fiery pen, God guided
that pen. It may be that David touched his harp, and let sweet Psalms of
melody drop from his fingers; but God moved his hands over the living
strings of his golden harp. It may be that Solomon sang songs of love, or
gave forth words of consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made
the preacher eloquent. If I follow the thundering Nahum, when his horses
plowed the waters, or Habakkuk, when he sees the tents of Cushan in
affliction; if I read Malachi, when the earth is burning like an oven; if I
turn to the smooth page of John, who tells of love, or the rugged, fiery
chapters of Peter, who speaks of fire devouring God’s enemies; If I turn to
Jude, who launches forth anathemas upon the foes of God, everywhere I find
God speaking; it is God’s voice, not man’s; the words of God’s words, the
words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of this
earth. This Bible is God’s Bible, and when I see it, I seem to hear a voice
springing up from it, saying "I am the book of God; man, read me. I am God’s
writing; open my pages, for I was penned by God; read it, for he is my
author, and you will see him visible and manifest everywhere." "I have
written to him the great things of my law."
Pilgrimage of a Pious Life
A pilgrim sets out in the morning, and he has to journey
many days before he gets to the shrine which he seeks. What varied scenes
the traveler will behold on his way! Sometimes he is on the mountains, and
in time he will descend into the valleys; here he will be where the brooks
shine like silver, where the birds sing out, where the air is balmy, and
trees are green, and luscious fruits hang down to gratify his taste; and in
time he will find himself in the arid desert, where no life is found, and no
sound is heard, except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where he
finds no rest for the sole of his foot – the burning sky above him, and the
hot sand beneath him – no roof of trees, and no house to rest himself; at
another time he finds himself in a sweet oasis, resting by the wells of
water, and plucking fruit from palm trees. One moment he walks between the
rocks in some narrow gorge, where all is darkness; at another time he
ascends the hill, Mizar; now he descends into the valley of Baca; and in
time he climbs the hill of Bashan, "a high hill is Bashan;" and yet again
going into a den of leopards, he suffers trial and affliction. Such is
life—ever changing. Who can tell what may come next? Today it is fair, the
next day there may be the thundering storm; today I may need nothing,
tomorrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone for my pillow and the
heavens for my curtains. But what a happy thought it is, though we do not
know where the road winds, we know where it ends. It is the straightest way
to heaven to go round about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after
all, the nearest path to Canaan. We may have to go through trail and
affliction; the pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe; we cannot
trace the river upon which we are sailing, but we know it ends in floods of
bliss. We cannot track the roads, but we know that they all meet in the
great metropolis of heaven, in the center of God’s universe. God help us to
pursue the true pilgrimage of a pious life!
Life's Goal
There is no loss in being a Christian, and making God the
first object; but make anything else your goal, and with all your running,
should you run ever so well, you shall fall short of the mark; or if you
gain it, you shall fall uncrowned, unhonored to the earth. "My soul, wait
only upon God."
The Simple Gospel
If it would take me seven years to describe the way of
salvation, I am sure you would all long to hear it. If only one learned
doctor could tell the way to heaven, how would he be sought after! And if it
were in hard words, with a few scraps of Latin and Greek, it would be all
the better. But it is a simple gospel that we have to preach. It is only
"Look!" "Ah!" you say, "is that the gospel? I shall not pay any attention to
that." But why has God ordered you to do such a simple thing? Just to take
down your pride, and to show you that he is God, and that beside him there
is none else. Oh, mark how simple the way of salvation is. It is, "Look!
Look! Look! Four letters, and two of them alike! "Look unto me, and be
saved, all the ends of the earth."
What is Faith?
Faith is to say, that "mountains, when hidden in
darkness, are as real as in the day." Faith is to look through that cloud,
not with the eye of sight, which sees nothing, but with the eye of faith,
which sees everything, and to say, "I trust him when I cannot see him; I
tread as firmly as I would on the rock; I walk as securely in the tempest as
in the sunshine, and lay myself to rest upon the surging billows of the
ocean as contentedly as upon my bed."
Holy Spirit Power
As a man does not make himself spiritually alive, so
neither can he keep himself so. He can feed on spiritual food, and so
preserve his spiritual strength; he can walk in the commandments of the
Lord, and so enjoy rest and peace, but still the inner life is dependent
upon the Spirit as much for its future existence as for its birth. I do
truly believe that if it should ever be my lot to put my foot upon the
golden threshold of Paradise, and put this thumb upon the pearly latch, I
would never cross the threshold unless I had grace given me to take that
last step whereby I might enter heaven. No man himself, even when converted,
has any power, except as that power is daily, constantly, and perpetually
infused into him by the Holy Spirit.
Waiting Upon God
Oh! It is a happy way of smoothing sorrow, when we can
say, "We will wait only upon God." Oh, you agitated Christians, do not
dishonor your religion by always wearing a frown of concern; come, cast your
burden upon the Lord. I see you staggering beneath a weight which He would
not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him nothing but a
small amount of dust. See! The Almighty bends his shoulders, and he says,
"Here, put your troubles here."
School of Trouble
Most of the great truths of God have to be learned by
trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction,
otherwise we shall not truly receive them. No man is competent to judge in
matters of the kingdom, until first he has been tried; since there are many
things to be learned in the depths which we can never know in the heights.
We discover many secrets in the caverns of the ocean, which, though we had
soared to heaven, we never could have known. He shall best meet the needs of
God’s people as a preacher who has had those needs himself; he shall best
comfort God’s Israel who has needed comfort; and he shall best preach
salvation who has felt his own need of it.
Meeting with the Lord
If I desired to put myself into the most likely place for
the Lord to meet with me, I would prefer the house of prayer, for it is in
preaching, that the Word is most blessed; but still I think I should equally
desire the reading of the Scriptures; for I might pause over every verse,
and say, "Such a verse was blessed to so many souls; then, why not to me? I
am at least in the pool of Bethesda; I am walking among its porches, and who
can tell but that the angel will stir the pool of the Word, while I lie
helplessly by the side of it, waiting for the blessing?"
Obedience that Will Not Save
Oh! It is not some heretic flush upon the cheek of
consumptive irresolution that God counts to be the health of obedience. It
is not some slight obedience for an hour that God will accept at the Day of
Judgment. He said "continued;" and unless from my early childhood to the day
when my gray hairs descend into the tomb, I shall have continued to be
obedient to God, I must be condemned. Unless I have from the first dawn of
reason, when I first began to be responsible, obediently served God, until,
like a shock of corn, I am gathered into my Master’s barn, salvation by
works must be impossible to me, and I must (standing on my own footing), be
condemned. It is not, I say, some slight obedience that will save the soul.
You have not continued "in all things which are written in the book of the
law," and therefore, you are condemned.