Sermons
Acquaintance With God
Thus said the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters in the river and they shall be turned into blood.—Exodus 7:17.
There are many perplexities which are not explained by philosophers. Men of scholarly renown have by no means been able to comprehend the mysteries of God. In His Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence, He enveloped Moses, the great law-giver, but with His God. The power that was to uphold Moses was not inborn nor was it acquired, but it was God. The omnipresence, the hand that was to guide him in all his earthly wanderings was not his own hand, but the hand of his God. So that whatever of success came to Moses, God would have Moses as well as us, to know, that it came from the blessings of God and not through the wisdom or the efforts of man. Therefore, let us render obedience to our God, who has promised us, that although the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of His Word or of His law, shall in any wise pass, until all be fulfilled. We discover in the text the first great truth, that God wishes us to know Him.
The providences of God were manifested to Moses through His dealings with him. This is one of God’s ways of making himself known to us. But our eyes must be open to the fact that it is God who deals with us in our conditions and circumstances of life—yes, it is God. We may say that it is Nature, that it is Law, that it is Force, but herein are we blind, for God says that “In this thou shalt know.” The doings of God are frequently through nature, sometimes above nature, as in the case of turning the water of the river into blood, but we are to be able to see that it is God’s hand that moves and God’s voice that speaks. If a man knows not God he will always attribute the doings of God in his life to some other cause or causes; but if he know God, he thus becomes better acquainted with God. So in the case of Moses, God’s promise was sufficient to allow him and the Jewish people to accomplish results which were replete with honor and glory. These pilgrims on their way to the Promised Land of Canaan were full of faith and confidence in God, they believed Him, they knew Him. He had promised them that He would bring them to this land that “Flowed with milk and honey” and nothing could turn Him from the fulfilment of this promise; no, not even the sins of His people. For did they not rebel against Him and sin most grievously against Him in the wilderness, and yet did He not bring them into Canaan?
“Behold I will smite the water of the river with the rod that is in mine hand and it shall be turned into blood.”
The church is the receptacle of truth. God has always committed His truth to His chosen people, to the believers, the church. The church is devoted and consecrated in word and action to the glory and the service of God. Through it He has caused the light to shine in darkness, His love to fall into our hearts, the light of His knowledge and glory has appeared in the face of Jesus Christ, His Son, who is the great Head of the Church. God appeared to Moses through Jehovah, the Head of the Church, and it was upon the strong arm of Jehovah that Moses leaned and it is upon the same strong arm that we, the church in this day, also lean. Moses saw the fire in the Burning Bush and he heard the voice out of the Bush. He turned and saw that the Bush was burning, but that it was not consumed. My brethren, do you know that this Burning Bush of the desert is a type of the church? It is the church passing through the fiery trials of this world, the church burning on every hand with temptations, troubles, doubts, distresses, tribulations, sufferings, and yet she is not consumed. So Moses was taught at the very beginning of his ministry that God was in the church through the mediation of Jesus Christ and that things were made to work together for good to her. Thou, the Church, shall know that I am the Lord. Lofty cedars, towering oaks, bramble bushes, the national capital, the House of the Lord, all these may attract the multitudes of sight-seers, but God’s own people shall know that He is God and that there is no other God.
The text also teaches us that.
II. God Is Prompt in the Keeping of His Promises
Wherever two or three of God’s servants are gathered together in His name, God is in the midst of them to do all that He has promised. He is prompt to keep His word. He rides upon the wings of the wind and upon the wings of angels and upon the lightning, that He may meet all His engagements. We see Him in the return of His prodigals. We see Him every where, keeping faith, doing His will, fulfilling His promises. He is the omnipresent God! Because of His promptness His people are always able to confide in Him.
God is prompt in sustaining the physical needs of the universe. It is worth our while to look into God’s storehouse to see how He has filled it with food for the flying fowl, the fish of the sea, the beast of the field, and man, the Lord of the earth. Food and fuel, light and heat, air and water, soil and seed, wind and rain, snow and frost, these are the agents of His prompt action as the Father of the Universe. Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. (Mal. 11:1-11.)
God is as prompt in sustaining the needs of man’s soul. He was with our forefathers, He was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He was with Noah, He was with Enoch, He was with Abel, He was with our first parents, Adam and Eve, all these in their experiences and lives attested the fact that God saved them and saved them at the right time. He gave them His own salvation and not the salvation of another. All the Saints of the ages have depended on God’s promptness to do what he promised He would do. There is not an instance in the history of His people or in our own experience, if we interpret His dealing aright, where He has not promptly kept His word of promise. Every child of God has his spiritual battles to fight. But depending on God with the musket of His grace he will rout the enemy. Satan in all his hellish rage is not able to overthrow the bulwarks of the church behind which the believer stands to destroy the forces of evil. God was prompt in striking the sea and His people were prompt in crossing. He was prompt in leading His armies and they were prompt in winning the victories. Jehovah is prompt in aiding His own and His own are quick in winning the land of spiritual freedom.
The river was turned into blood and all the waters of Egypt were instantly changed into blood. But God’s river is a river of the water of life. Consider, my brethren, these great types of the Bible—these rivers of blood, these rivers of water, these rivers of life! God stands with His rod stretched over every river; your sins, your wickedness, may turn the waters of life into the blood of death; which, what, shall it be? God says to you and hear ye His voice, “Come now let us reason together, your sins though they be as scarlet, I will make them like snow, though they be red like crimson, I will make them like wool.” None, my friends, but God can work these changes. The church is moving on with the march of the centuries. She is grandly marching on! Moses has gone, Joshua has gone, the prophets have gone, the apostles have gone, the saints of the Christian era have gone, and we are passing on, but God is with us and He is prompt in keeping His word.
“On the other side of Jordan, in the sweet fields of Eden,
Where the Tree of Life is blooming, there is rest for you.”
III. The Text Teaches Us That the River, Turned Into Blood, Is the Type of Christ
Jehovah, or Jesus, in Egypt, turned the water into blood; Jehovah, or Jesus, in Canaan, in the country of Galilee, turned the water into wine. “The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” The wine of the Communion Table is the symbol of His blood. In these last days God has spoken to us in the person of His Son. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He came into our own flesh and blood and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. “Our life is hid with Christ, in God.” These are most wonderful words!
But let us remember that the rivers of blood in Egypt did not change the heart of Pharaoh, neither did they change the hearts of the Egyptians. The blood of Christ has been shed but it is of no avail to them that will not accept its saving power. Christ died for all but are all saved? How many are saved? Are you saved? If so, why? Oh, my friends, it is the blood of Christ that availeth all things with God.
“What can save my soul from sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. He is the wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father.” Just as Pharaoh and his hosts were strewn in death upon the sands of the sea, so Satan and his hosts will be strewn upon the land of time. Christ is our mighty Captain. He has led His battle strong, through the ages of the past and on through the ages of time to come. He will lead to victory. His blood is all-availing with God and God is the ruler of the universe. It is for Christ’s sake that God hears and answers our prayers. It is for Christ’s sake that He saves our souls. It is for Christ’s sake that He will make us kings and priests to rule and reign with Him forever. It is for Christ’s sake that He has prepared for us the Canaan that lies beyond the Jordan of Death and it is for Christ’s sake that He is with us today. And after while we will sing, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou (Christ) art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”
“Thus said the Lord, in this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold I will smite with the rod in mine hand upon the waters of the river and they shall be turned into blood.” God grant to bless every soul here to-day with the blessed words of this text.
The Intercession of Christ
“He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”—Hebrews 8:25.
Christ had completed His work on the earth. He had kept the faith, fulfilled the law, and suffered its penalty in His death. His work, therefore, so far as the earthly conditions and needs were concerned, was completed. He did this work, it must be remembered, not on his own account or for himself, but on your account and for you. He was acting in the capacity of a representative while on the earth, so that when his life in the flesh had been finished, it might become your life and my life, through faith. We are told by the apostle that after this, i. e., “He had finished His work here, He was believed on in the world, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, received into glory where He ever liveth to make intercession for us.” We notice that this passage teaches us, that
I. Christ Was Absolutely Free From Selfishness
“Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” Yes, there is a greater love, for Christ laid down his life for His enemies. Study the life of Christ as He lived here below, see how free He was from the selfish taint of sin which lurks in our natures, and alas, too frequently is the ruling passions of our lives. With Christ, others were first in consideration and in service; but with us, we are the first to be considered and served and others must wait; then if there is opportunity or time they will be considered and served. Christ opened the gate of righteousness and the way that leads to life. This cost Him his own life, the price of it was not only the suffering and labors of life, but the pangs of the physical, and the eternal pains of the spiritual, death; for you must know that Christ tasted the death for every man. We can have no conception of what death meant to Him and yet He went down to death willingly for you and for me. What are we doing that we may become human saviours of men, that we too may suffer and labor for others, that we may die that through our death others may live? These are vital questions if you and I are to be known as His humble followers; if you and I are to share His glory with Him, we must also be with Him in His sufferings and death. “Enter in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to death, but strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life; many there be that go in at the former gate of death, but few find the strait gate of life.”
II. The purpose of Christ’s life and death, was that He might be able to give life unto others. “Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” John 18:1, 2.
We read that “To as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons or the children of God.” It is interesting to notice that the word translated “power” here, means a great deal more than power or authority. It has a germinal meaning and has reference to life. The idea is that Christ plants in us the seed of eternal life and it grows and takes root in the heart and life of every believer and they thereby become the children of God. There is therefore the germ of eternal life just as there is the germ of physical or mortal life. The only purpose which Christ had in coming into human flesh was that He might be able thereby to plant in human nature the seed of everlasting life, which sin had prevented from bearing fruit. So He became one of us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, our very brother. The very life which He lived in the flesh is the pattern for our lives. He is our example in thought, word, and action. We are to live His life by letting Christ live in us. As Paul said regarding sin, “It is not I but sin that dwelleth in me,” so he also said that Christ dwelt in him and we know that Christ dwelleth in us and that through Him we can do all things.
We are very prone to think always of Christ’s Divinity and to seek to explain His life on this basis, this is a great mistake. We are to look on Christ as also human, a real man: His trials and temptations real; His limitations as a man, real; His knowledge and experience as a man, real. Such reflections as these bring Him very near to us and become a great inspiration to us in that they make His ideal life, a real life; hence His ideal human life becomes to us a real human life. “He came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundant.” Our life, that is our Christ-life, may become abundant in its power, in its light, in its fruits, if we will walk and talk with Jesus daily. He is the vine and we are the branches. But in order that the branches may live and bear fruit, they must abide in the vine. Jesus taught us that if we obeyed Him, we were abiding in Him. Obedience therefore is the vital union between us and Christ, the Vine. Disobedience is the cutting of the branch off from the vine and the branch dies.
This leads us to another great fact in the text, namely that
III. Christ Is Now Engaged in Making Intercession for Us at God’s Throne
His work on earth is finished, but in Heaven, He is still engaged in our behalf. The priest of the Mosaic Dispensation, made intercession for the people. He offered sacrifice for them and then he entered into the temple, the Holy of Holies, once a year, in the person of the High Priest and prayed for the people. But this priest was a sinner like the people. He had to first offer sacrifice for himself then for the people. He has passed away. The earthly priesthood, in the Mosaic sense, is no more. This priest was but a type of Christ. Christ is the great anti-type. Christ offered His sacrifice also, which was His own life. He made no sacrifice for himself, for He was without sin, but He made sacrifice for the people. Now He has entered into the temple on High, into the Holy of Holies, where He stands to plead for you and for me. Intercession here, means that Christ is our Advocate at the throne of God. He is our lawyer in the supreme court of God. He represents us. He pleads our case, He defends our cause. There is nothing that takes place in our lives that He does not take note of, there is no sin that passes without His taking account of it, there is no thought, or word, or deed, that is not entered in the book of His Remembrance. He must keep an accurate account of our lives, for He represents us at the Great White Throne. How wonderful is this thought and how inspiring! Let us therefore make our intercessions to Him that He may take up our prayers and in His own Heavenly language, present them to our Heavenly Father.
Christ Glorified in His Word
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.”—Col. 3:16.
It is well nigh impossible for us to understand the power of a word. We read that in the beginning God said, “Let there be light,” these were the words or the Word. Who can tell the wisdom and the power that dwelt in that word or command? We are not able even now to measure the magnificent result, but we read, “And there was light.” Christ stood at the sealed tomb and said. “Lazarus, come forth.” This was the word or the command. It is not in the power of the human mind to comprehend the meaning, the power and the wisdom of this word, but we see the effect, “And Lazarus, came forth.” We take the Bible in its entirety and call it the Word of God, the Word of Christ. So that in the unfolding of the text, we wish you to note that:
I. The Entire Scriptures, From Genesis to Revelation, Is the Word of Christ
We must not look on the Bible as composed of parts when we make it, “The man of our counsel,” the guide of our life. The entire book is the guide, the man, the law, the Gospel. There is a disposition of many Christians to attach more importance to one part of the Bible than another part. This is wrong and it leads to evil in our lives. Every part of the Bible belongs to the entire book, it cannot be detached, it must not be rendered less important than some other part, for it was all written for our instruction and edification. So I would have you understand that the Bible itself in its entirety, is the Word of Christ, in the text, Christ is the light and the glory of every page of its history, prophecy, precept, promise, poetry, philosophy and practice. Human reason, effort and energy are too weak to have reached Heaven and brought down to us the riches of the Word of God. No man hath come down from Heaven to tell us of the wonders of the spiritual life, but the man, Christ Jesus. He is the pearl of priceless value, which we are to find hidden in this Word. Let the Word of Christ reign in you when your greatest interests are at stake, when your strongest passions are raging, and He will guide you into all truth and grace, and you will sing, “Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, Good will to men.”
The Bible is the Word of Christ, because He is the Author. He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and the Jesus of the New Testament. He spake to the Prophets as well as to the Apostles. He was in that beginning which was before time, when He is called the Word of God, when He was associated with God, and when He was God, and He was also in that beginning which marks the first moment, the first hour, the first day of time, when all things were made by Him and without Him was nothing made which was made. He is known as the Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world, the everlasting Prince, the Holy One. As the Word of God, Christ is the great and only revealer of God and His revelation or revelations are the Bible, the Scriptures, the Word of God. We are exhorted therefore to see that great company which doth encompass us about and which looks down upon us, filled with God’s wisdom and power, because the word of Christ dwells richly in us. We are to look to Jesus as not only the author of His own Word, but also through this word, as the author and finisher of our faith, or religion. This word must dwell richly in the heart that the believer may be able to glorify God and to strive for that faith which is steadfast and immovable, for let us remember that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Just as Christ appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, to whom He said, “I will be thy mouth,” so He appears today to every believer, in His Word. All these holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes the things of God and of Christ, and tells them to us in words. He gives us God’s and Christ’s words. When Joshua prayed that the sun might stand still, the sun in his fiery course stood still. Why? Because it was the word of God in Joshua which commanded the sun to stand still. I pray God, my brethren, that you may be filled richly with the word of God in all wisdom, that your own hearts may be filled with all spiritual blessing; that the wickedness which is flooding the country in hellish rage, may be stopped; that sinners may be brought to repentance; that the church may triumph most gloriously, and that the whole earth may be filled with righteousness as the waters cover the deep. We need today another Pentecost, when thousands shall be converted to God, and that time will come just as soon as God’s disciples are filled with the word of God.
II. The Word of Christ Dwelling in Us Is Our Strength
The Word reveals to us the saving power of God. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” Yes, it is the power of God unto salvation, that is the thought that you should take hold of. We need power, strength, in this world of weakness and sin, and we can get this power only by letting the Word of Christ, dwell in us richly. The Word of Christ dwelling in us will take us out of ourselves, teach us that labor, learning, house-hold duties, supporting our families, being punctual to our duties in the church, avoiding quick tempers and unkind words, constitute the religion of Jesus Christ which we are to live. We must therefore be, “Doers of the Word and not hearers only.” We must hear the Word on the Sabbath and do it every day of the week. We are to look into the perfect law of liberty that we may know what manner of persons we are, and to continue to look into this law, lest when we know, we should forget what manner of persons we are. “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this, that we should visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.” To do all these things, my brethren, the Word of God must dwell richly in you, in wisdom, or there will not be enough strength in you to live this Christ-like life. His word is strength, because Christ dwells in His word, and if His word dwells in you, you will have the strength of Christ in you. See what Christ is, He is life and immortality, He gives repentance and remission of sins, He is the bread that cometh down from Heaven, His blood cleanseth from all sin, He saves, and He does all these things in and through His word. Is that word in you? Lean on Him in His word, and He will give you daily strength, and guide you into all blessing, He will give you eternal life here and hereafter.
III. His Word Reveals to Us the Plan of Salvation
We would know nothing of the Saviour, nor of the sinner except through His word. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Yes, it was lost, the soul of man. What we know of sin, of Satan, of hell, of heaven, of repentance, of faith, of justification, of sanctification, of glorification, we know through His word, and whatever we shall experience of these blessings, we shall experience through His word.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, which is and was and is to come.” We must be saved through His word. Job said, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall stand upon the earth at the latter days and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh will I see God whom mine eyes shall see for myself and not another.” How did Job get this knowledge? It was through the Word of God, doubtless spoken to him. And whatever we know of salvation, of sin, or of the resurrection of the dead, of Heaven and hell, of eternity, of immortality, we must get it out of the Word of Christ. I exhort you, therefore, my dear brethren, to have the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly in wisdom; study it daily, commit it to memory, put it into practice every hour, turn its precepts into practice, and you will rejoice in its power to redeem you from your sins, and to fill your hearts with power, joy and peace. Amen.
Where Is Your Tent?
“And Isaac departed and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.”—Gen. 26:17.
Our text is found in connection with a paragraph of peculiar weight and sublimity. The Israelites in all their wanderings had a high regard for the Levites. They formed the tribe of Levi, which filled a most important place in the life of the Israelites. The entire nation and government was permeated with their influence. They were the officers and teachers in the synagogue, or Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the center of Hebrew life. All the encampments of the Israelites was made around the Tabernacle. This tent was God’s dwelling place, and whither the Israelites moved, they followed the Tabernacle, it was not only their guide but their guard. When on the march they carried it with them, and when they were at rest they set it up.
It is worthy of note that the Israelites always had a high regard for their women. These women were thoroughly identified with the history of this people, and often filled prominent positions. The influence and power of the Israelitish women is well worth careful study that we may learn some valuable lessons therefrom. Miriam was very closely associated with Moses and Aaron. Deborah was a mighty leader of her people. There were many prophetesses such as Anna at the temple. The wives of such men as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob exerted a great influence over these men, for they were women of fine judgment, and highly developed religious characters. The wife of Abraham was always with him for “better or worse,” through good and evil report. She was faithful and efficient as his life-companion. She did not live with him for ornament or social distinction, but for what she could contribute to his happiness and success. She made her life, his life; her destiny, his destiny.
On this occasion of your anniversary, I take this opportunity to call your attention to the direction in which you are pitching your tent. We cannot stand still. We choose the place of our tent today, and we will have to choose the place where we will pitch it tomorrow. Whither are you going and where are you to pitch your tent? How important these questions. You are here tonight, with your tears and affection, your sympathy and smiles, not for show, but that you might hear the Gospel, and let the world know that you are moving in the right direction, and that your tent will be pitched nearer Heaven. You are here, as wives and mothers and sisters, to do your part by the men whom God has placed you with, and to do your part by the children whom He has given you. This is what the Gospel teaches and your works and teachings, your by-laws and Christian characters, as a noble band of workers, all prove that you are pitched tonight about the Tabernacle of God, and that when His tent moves you will follow it. Moses tells us that at the commandment of the Lord the Israelites marched, and at the commandment of the Lord, they pitched their tents. The cloud of His presence was a shadow by the day and a light by night. They were safe with this Divine Leadership.
In the same way He deals with us. He is still present, although not in the visible cloud, to shade us and give us light, but He is present in and through Jesus Christ who dwells in our midst. He will look after you, mothers and sisters, who with tenderness and care will lead our girls and young women away from the dens of vice and sin, from brothels of debauchery and licentiousness, into the paths of virtue and holiness. You will teach them those lessons of dignity and character, and teach them the spirit and works of our blessed religion, which will bring them unto God and make them wise unto salvation.
“Isaac pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.” He had a reason for so doing. We find that a jealousy had sprung up between Abimelek, the Philistines, and Isaac and his followers. They could no longer remain near neighbors. The Philistines had filled the wells which Abraham had dug in his day, and in many other ways they were annoying the righteous heart of Isaac.
So there are jealousies today that spring up among God’s people, and they cause a great deal of trouble. These troubles must be settled in some way, and the example of Isaac is now and always before us. You will not wait to carry out the purposes of such evil passions, but will cause your heart-tent to be pitched in another direction.
You have adopted the Lily for your name. It grows in the valley. It is the symbol of Christ. It represents beauty and purity. Christ taught us, consider the lilies, how they grow; they grew in their loveliness under the sunshine and showers which God sent them. They fulfilled their mission. The Master told us that Solomon, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these simple little flowers, and so it was, the heart may be so arrayed, but not the body. The lily is an emblem of the purity of God Himself. You have chosen this name. “The lilies of the valley,” as your name and title, and it should make you as the hand-maidens of the Lord, tender, pure, strong, noble, Christ-like; no anger, jealousy, hatred, and like passions should be permitted to dwell in your hearts for one moment, and my advice to all the members present, is that you should go into this or some other similar society, for these dear sisters have pitched their tents in the valley of Christianity, and not only that, but thank God, they are dwelling there. Yes, they have pitched their tent in the valley among the lilies. They are humble and meek. They are willing to do the little things for God and humanity. They are willing to be his humblest servants. They have planted the lilies in their hearts. They are living like the lilies, I trust.
I compliment and congratulate you for the splendid work which you have done during the year just closed. Your faith is proven by your works, and your works are the fruit of the Tree of Life. We shall know the tree by its fruits. You are devoting your time and energies to God along new lines of thought and service, and new fields of usefulness are opening up before you. It is always the case when God’s children are earnestly seeking to do his will, He will lead them into greater fields of usefulness. I bid you Godspeed. The army of God is hard on the march. There are many trials and tribulations, but God is our Captain, and He will lead us to grand victories.
Abimelek and the Philistines have gone to their place. Moses, the servant of God, was succeeded by Joshua, and Joshua, by another as leader, and so God has been marching with His people through all the ages, leading them from one victory to another, into the very land of Promise, on the other side of Jordan. Study the history of God’s people, follow the example of these illustrious leaders, do not fear, do not fret, but ever march along the Highway of the King. Ever take the name of Jesus with you. Pitch your tent always in the valley of Christianity and toward Heaven. Always dwell in the right place, and move in the right direction, and at last you will wear the white robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ your Lord. Let this passage of Scripture be closely inscribed on your hearts, and Grace be unto you from Him who was and is and is to come.
“Unto Him who hath loved us and washed us in His blood, and made us kings and priests, unto God the Father, to Him be glory and dominion now and forevermore. Amen.”
Christ’s Ascension
“And it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried into heaven.”—Luke 15:51.
The coming of the Lord to the nations of the earth was not that He might advertise Himself as a candidate for some high office among the nations, or in the nation to which he belonged. He came not as the Jews expected Him, for they were looking for some temporal ruler who would re-establish their temporal kingdom on the earth. Their idea was that some man would come and sit on the throne of David. Their dream was that the Hebrew people would be formed into the most powerful nation on the earth, and that in some mysterious, some mystic way, this great feat would be accomplished. God’s own chosen people at that time had practically no spiritual conception of what the Kingdom of God meant. The disciples of Christ most frequently misconstrued His teachings on this subject. The case of Nicodemus is an illustrious example of the spiritual misconception of the Jews.
Christ came on a special mission, the saving of the lost, the saving of man. He is therefore represented as the Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world. When John, the Baptist, saw Him coming towards him, walking on the shore of the river Jordan, he exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” This spiritual work of Christ is unchanged. He will rule until the kingdoms of this world, become the kingdom of God.
“He came unto His own and His own received him not,” we read, because He did not come doing the temporal work which they expected Him to do, but He came unto His own, and in a grand sense it was through this coming, that the world has received a true conception of this Kingdom, and millions of hearts have experienced this Kingdom set up in these hearts. The Kingdom of God is within you, and as heaven, it will work in and through you, until you are entirely made spiritual. Christ has ever been the Light of the Word. He inspired our Pilgrim Fathers; He was the friend of the poor Samaritans; He sought and saved the needy, poor and sinning of His day. Indeed, the human founders of His Kingdom on the earth were the ignorant fishermen of Galilee. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. His presence, His revelation, His manifestation, His power, His goodness, thrilled the angels when they sang, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men.” We are here to laud and to praise Him, and to say as the Scriptures say, “Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps that gave thee suck.”
Sir Knights, we congratulate you on this noble spirit of acknowledging the ascension of Jesus Christ. We are here not to talk about the mystic ties which bind you together as a noble band of brothers, but to honor and glorify Him who rose from the dead that our life and immortality might be brought to light. You have come from your asylum to this tabernacle that you may pay tribute to this ascension, the ascension day of the King of Kings. As Christ climbed the rugged hill of Calvary that He might set the captives free so we have climbed, as weary pilgrims, the holy mount of privilege that we might view the landscape o’er of our liberty on this and that side of Jordan. Let us raise our banners and wield our swords for the defense of our country, and our helpless women and children. Let us be valiant soldiers not only of our own teaching as knights, but also of the Cross of Jesus Christ. We can know but one real captain; we can follow but one real leader; we can march in but one army; we can have but one victory; these are all in the Kingdom of God.
When Jesus arose from the dead, He met His disciples and blessed them, and having completed His mission on earth, He went on High, but He has drilled us as He drilled those disciples; He has left us human leaders in His name and with His authority, and to us He said, “If ye would be my disciples, deny yourselves, take up your cross and follow me.” His work on earth is done, excepting through you and me, the human agency which He employs. He is doing His work at the right hand of His Father’s throne that we may be able here, to come off more than conquerors through Him.
He passed through the scenes of Gethsemane, He died on the cross of Calvary; He descended into hell or Hades that He might taste death for every man, and forty days after the resurrection, He ascended on High. He went up on the pinions of the clouds until they received Him out of their sight. Then two men stood by the disciples who were gazing into heaven and said to them, “Why stand ye gazing into heaven, as ye see Him go up ye shall see Him likewise come down again. You have heard of Zerubabel, you have met Darius and Cyrus, the Great, you have seen Jesus Christ ascending; those great men will not return, but Jesus will come again to take you with Him in the next ascension. He will not come again as the victim of pagan hostilities or Jewish persecution, but He is coming without sin unto salvation as the spoiler of the grave, the conqueror of the world, the hero who conquered hell, and will lead us to victory over Satan and his forces.”
The Gospel and the Word are preached to you because you dwell in His secret place; thus you are abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, stay with Him, fight on through the conflict, the battle may be fierce, but you shall win. You see the triumph from afar, your faith is your power. God the All-Glorious One is with you, for remember that when star will shine no more unto star, and planet cease to revolve around planet, when flowers fade to bloom no more, the Word of our God endureth forever. Heaven is His throne and earth His footstool, and we are His children.
I exhort you therefore to take Him more than ever before, as the Man of your counsel, the friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
He has gone to prepare a place for you that where He is there ye may be also.
“Unto Him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, be glory and dominion now and evermore.”
There is death in the pot.—II Kings 4:40.
In the year 895 B. C., in Syria, a certain woman resided. She was the wife of Obadiah, a devoted companion, a good, genial spirit; she was a model wife, but misfortune overtook her, and the bright days of prosperity and enjoyment passed under the dark clouds of adversity. The pleasant fragrance from the flowers faded and her husband too had passed to the bourne from whence none returns.
She is now a widow left to contend against the hard and unsympathizing world.
“Trouble like a gloomy cloud
Gathered fast and thundered loud.”
Her husband and father was God above. Her old-time friends who knew and recognized her in her prosperity, now passed her by unnoticed. Adversity makes a great change in friendship. It renders friends, strangers, and breaks asunder the dearest ties. These friends were willing to see her suffer and her children torn from her side and sold into slavery that her debts might be paid. There was no helping hand, no money to loan, no salvation from this awful condition, no one to become her surety, but above all this darkness of night and of cloud, God was dwelling, and watching. He never forsakes His own, He may seem to do so, but never, never.
God sent His servant Elisha to her and through him relieved her of all her troubles. Elisha was a mighty man of God. He had received the mantle of Elijah and was a student under him. He was full of wisdom and understanding, going about in the spirit of Jehovah serving the people, instructing them, leading them to higher life, and making them acquainted with God and His ways.
Elisha during a famine had the people to gather herbs that their hunger might be relieved. Among those herbs which were thrown into the pot, there was some poisonous herb which some one had gathered by mistake, it too was thrown in. In the boiling of these together, the poison was spread through the pot. When they began eating the vegetable soup, the poison was discovered. Elijah was informed and destroyed its bad effect.
It is well for us to note that.
I. The World Is the Pot
The world has been cursed by sin. There is in it both the good and the bad, both food and poison. God has placed us in the world that we may as Christians, do the work which Elisha did in his day. When we look about us, how many people we see who have been poisoned. There are murderers, suicides, thieves, robbers, liars, all these are acting in the way they act and live, because they have in them poison. It is well for us to understand that we need not expect in this world to find the good unmixed from the evil. Christ prayed that God would not take His own out of the world, but that He would keep them from the evil in the world, and we are taught in the prayer called the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” As God’s children, we cannot mix with the children of this world. We cannot allow the amusements of this world and its allurements to lead us away from God and His Kingdom. We are in the world, but not of it. We are but pilgrims, passing through, on the way to the country of God, but all that we are and have are in this world; just as all the herbs were thrown into the pot, but there is also poison there. Is there any pleasure, without its tinge of pain? Is there any hope without the presence of a cloud? Is there any expectation without some kind of a disappointment? But Christ is our Elisha. The poison in the pot can be removed and He will remove it for us. The pleasures of the world may be rendered sweet and pure. The work of this world can be raised to the highest dignity. The power of this world may be turned to the highest good of all. We are not left helpless and hopeless.
II. The Temptations of the World Are the Fire Under the Pot
The question of temptations is a very interesting one, for the Christian. There are many who find their greatest trouble in temptations. They are not able to distinguish a temptation from a sin, and confusing them, they look upon themselves as very great sinners, because they have very great temptations. This is a false idea. A temptation is a trial. All temptations are not evil. There are also temptations that lead us to noble action. God is not tempted of evil, neither does He tempt to evil, but He does tempt us to the good, and indeed, He permits Satan to ply us with temptations, and we by overcoming these temptations may grow strong and pure.
Christ, the sinless man, was in the world, full of temptations, but He overcame them. His temptations were genuine, they were sinful, they would have proven destructive, but He overcame them and He overcame them without sin.
It matters not what the temptation may be, however dark and sinful, it is with you as to the result of that temptation in your life.
“Yield not to temptation,
For yielding is sin.”
It is the yielding that is sin. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Make friends of him and he will live with you. He will become a part of you, he will drag you down, he will work your destruction.
How often we realize that dark, sinful thoughts, pass through our minds. They are sins like a black cloud, sweeping over the beautiful landscape of the soul. Well, does this constitute sin? By no means. It is only when these thoughts remain in the mind, when we harbor them, when we become fond of them; this is what forms sin in the soul. It is your work to expel them, to drive them out, to hate them.
Paul said, When I would do good evil is present with me. How true this is with us today. Even in our holiest exercises, such as prayer, praise, worship, sin is found lurking in our aspirations after God. Selfishness enters our prayers, selfishness frequently inspires our holiest hopes, selfishness poisons our love, doubt weakens our faith, and so we find in our religion and its life, the element of sin. This is the death in the pot.
So the whole Bible deals with the problem of sin. The plan of salvation is simply the plan for removing sin from within and from without us. The mission of Christ is to save the sinner from his sins. Frequently Christians get the idea that salvation is to bring us at last to Heaven; well, that is in a manner true, but remember that is the last work of salvation, bringing us to Heaven. Salvation deals with thousands of things in our lives here, before we are ready for Heaven. And indeed we can never enter Heaven with sin in our natures. Sin must be rooted out here in some manner. So we have our Elisha, he can and does remove the death from the pot. He is the bread of life, the water of life, in which there is no poison.
I beg you, therefore, to take this text with you. Ponder over its deep meaning. Apply its truths to your own life, come to our Elisha that He may remove the death from your pot. Try and understand the deep meaning of your religion and that it is a rule of life for every-day living. That it furnishes you with the wisdom and the power to overcome all the sin within you and all the temptations without you. Therefore watch and pray. Be diligent in season and out of season and put your trust in your Elisha, and He will make all things work together for your good. This is His promise.
The Reward of the Righteous
“For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you.”—Deut. 12:9.
A description of Paradise is always acceptable to the humble believer. He is seeking the rest, the inheritance, which God has so abundantly promised in His word. So our God has not omitted to give us glimpses of this Heavenly rest. We have gathered together our own sweet bundle of sentiments regarding it. They are ever a blooming garden of flowers by our pathway. We are to so live that we may daily prepare for this Home of the Soul. Hezekiah was ordered to set his house in order. He was reminded that he would soon be called to enter into this rest prepared for the people of God. He had something to do first, however—to set his house in order.
We sadly realize that in the study of this deep question our knowledge of that country which is our eternal home, can be but faint. Paul saw something of its glory but would not undertake to describe it. And the glowing descriptions which John gives us in his Revelation, are most difficult to understand. They are figures, they are poorly drawn pictures, outlines, photographs, of that Celestial Clime and its Holy Inhabitants. But it confirms our hopes, invigorates our strength, ennobles our efforts. Then let us study today something and somewhat of this Happy Land.
I. The Character of the Reward, the Inheritance
The Israelites were worn and weary, with the desert journey. For forty years they had been wanderers, pilgrims, in a land of sand, rocks, barren waste and mountains. God so blessed them that their garments did not wear out, and He gave them water from the rocks and food from Heaven and flesh from the far countries. But this was not enough. They had been promised a land that flowed with milk and honey, a land of rest, an inheritance. God had promised to Abraham that He would give them the land of Canaan for a possession, and that it should be inherited by all his children forever. While this promise had been made centuries before their trials in the Wilderness, yet God had not forgotten His pledge and His people had not forgotten His promises. The great encouragement which Moses always brought forward that their strength might be renewed, was that God had made them a promise of a land of their own. With all their trials and disappointments, their mistakes and their failures, their doubts and perplexities, God was with them and the Land of Canaan was just beyond the Jordan.
It is well for us to keep in mind the journey of the Israelites, between the Red Sea and the Jordan; between the land of slavery and the land of liberty. For indeed we are making just such a journey now. We are on the march to our Heavenly Canaan. It is called a rest. It is called an inheritance. What blessed descriptions these are! We could want no better.
This wilderness of sin is a land of weariness. The way is hard, the mountains to climb are high. The rocks which cut our feet are many. The loads which we carry cause so often fainting, almost death. There is no rest here. We have temporary resting places where we may sleep and refresh ourselves. But the day comes, and its work, its weariness. Even in our religious lives and work, we experience the same fatigue, we are exhorted not to grow weary in well doing, not to faint by the way, why? Because we are in a land of weariness, of toil, of exhaustion!
“To him that overcometh, I will give a crown of life. To him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and they shall go out no more.” Our abiding place there will be as permanent as the pillars of the temple. We cannot be removed. Surely we will not want to go out any more. We will be satisfied to dwell in the temple of God forever. Then it is called an inheritance. Our children inherit our possessions. There is no law to prevent them from coming into what has belonged to us. It is their own when we leave it by every right of human and Divine law.
II. Our Saviour Is the Faithful Witness of This Promised Land
Moses, you remember, sent spies into Canaan that they might bring back a report of the land which God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. These spies returned. Only two, Caleb and Joshua, brought back a good report. The majority report was very discouraging indeed, so much so, that the Israelites turned back again.
There are many in this world who have a bad report of the Promised Land which the text tells us, is to be our rest and our inheritance. Will you listen to them? If so, you will also turn back and continue wandering in the wilderness of sin. Do not forget that Satan is one of these spies. He will tell you false things regarding your religion, your brethren, your Saviour, your God and Heaven. This is his business. He is always at it. You find many Christians who do not think much about Heaven, they consider it a dream, they contend that this is their Heaven, hence they place little value on all the reports in the Bible concerning this land. But we have a true witness, our Joshua, our Jesus. He came from that country. He knows its hills and dells, its clime, its fruits, its joys, its eternal delights. He has left us His report. It is absolutely true. He has seen and heard and tasted and He speaks as a true witness. He said to His disciples on the eve of His departure, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye may be also. In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you.” “If ye believe in God, believe also in me.”
God liberated His people from Egypt. He raised the iron heel of oppression from the necks of His people. He led them forth. He brought them into Canaan. His omniscience guided them. His omnipresence was ever with them. He brought them to an end of the toil, labor, dust, pains, weariness of the wilderness journey. The same God is leading us to a much better country. In this country there are no enemies, as there were in Canaan. No battles will be fought, no sickness will be endured, no trials to pass through, no fading sunsets and following dark nights, no losses, no crosses, for “All the former things are passed away, behold, I make all things new.”
Jesus says, “I am the living bread of which if any man eat, he shall nevermore hunger.” He has broken down the middle wall or partition, so that we can enter into the very presence of God. Paul speaks of His work when he says, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Yes, the glory of God, that glory which shall be reflected from our hearts and faces when we stand complete before God. John says, “It doth not appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every one that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He is pure.” We shall be like Him! These are not misty descriptions of our rest and inheritance! They are real photographs. We need not doubt, we need not fear. It doth not appear what we shall be, but in that beautiful habitation of the soul, we will be more beautiful than the beautiful home which God has prepared.
III. But This Rest and Inheritance Will Be the Reward of the Faithful
We should not deceive ourselves for not every one will enter. There are many in this world who confidently expect to enter this Heavenly Canaan, but they have no passport. If you were to take a trip through Europe and Asia, it would be necessary for you to procure from the proper officials of this country a passport, for without this you would not be permitted to go through these countries. You would be looked upon as some kind of an enemy. The passports to Heaven are goodness and faithfulness. Not the goodness, however, which this world creates and loves and prizes. Christ said to the young nobleman who came to Him and wanted to know what good thing he could do to enter the kingdom of Heaven, “Why callest thou me good, there is none good but God.” This young man said that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up, now if he had done that and we have no reason to doubt it, for Christ looked on him and loved him, then this young man was really good as this world calls goodness; but mark you he did not enter the “Kingdom of God,” for he went away very sorrowful, for he was very rich. Oh! he was very rich!
He had his own little heaven, he had his own little bundle of goodness, he had his own passport, but these did not suffice, for the Kingdom of God. These were of no value in this Kingdom.
I was born in a slave state. When I was a little boy, my mother being very poor, sent me out on a very cold day to the river bank to gather up a bundle of wood. I gathered up the wood and tied it into a bundle and placed it on my head. I started home. It was a large bundle and grew very heavy as I walked along. It was painful to my head and I became tired. I staggered under the burden, I thought that I could not reach the house, but I kept on. At last I got home and almost fainted. But what a relief it was to me and what a comfort it became to my mother. As we sat that night by the crackling fire, I thought, well it was worth all it cost me. The pleasure it gave my mother, the family, and satisfaction it gave me to know that I had done this and all were now enjoying it, was my reward, my rest. But mark you, it was the reward of goodness and faithfulness. If I had been a disobedient boy, would I have had that reward? Would I have had that enjoyment? Would I have had the approval and the love of my mother? Never, never! So it is with us today. We must carry our burdens, and the burdens of others. We have always a double load on our shoulders, this makes it doubly heavy. Sometimes we nearly faint under it, the road seems to have no end, we are almost tempted to throw down the load, but can we? If we really desire to enter that beautiful city beyond the river of death, the load which God has given us, must be carried to the very end. We can drop that load when we come to the river, when the death angel tells us that it is enough and that our Father wants us to come home.
You are to serve your brother-man, you are to love him, to pray for him, and to love and pray for your enemies. This is the load, this is the work that is to be done! Without the cross there is no crown, without the weights there are no wings, without the prayers there will be no praises! “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” This is the welcome plaudit. Do you long to hear that plaudit? Then be faithful today and tomorrow and throughout life.
IV. This Place Is Called Rest
After the victory there is peace. After the labor there is rest. After the pain there is pleasure. This world is not our abiding place, our peace-place. As long as man lives on the earth he has various inducements to sin. Enemies within and without are continually organizing against him. Satan is seeking to devour him with lust and sin. He too often, alas! renounces his allegiance to his God, he forgets his Saviour, he turns away from the practice of his religion. Worldly pleasures allure him, they deceive him, they intoxicate. Ten thousand are the ways of this world to lead the humble pilgrim astray. The Israelites wandered in the Wilderness forty days, but it was only a seven days march from Egypt to Canaan; Why did they wander? Because they sinned. The flesh is lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. When we would do good evil is present with us. What a mighty conflict this life of wandering is!
But blessed be God there are no haunts of innocent (?) amusement to entice you from pure holiness, in Heaven! No dens to rob men and women of their virtue, no pit-falls of saloons and gambling hells to lead astray the holy inhabitants of that land of rest, none of these things are to be found there! The ungodly rich man, the oppressor of the poor, the robber, the thief, these are all cast into the lake where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. There is the place of our Eternal Rest. It is a mountain where heavenly pastures grow and the rivers of life gently flow. It is here that we shall know as we are known. Here ignorance is forever banished and we see face to face. God help as to enter this rest and to obtain this inheritance.
Our Legacy
Peace I leave with you.—John 14:27.
Dear Brethren, in entering upon the work of this district two years ago I found that the ship had sprung a leak, the sails were furled, many of the crew had deserted the ship and left her to the mercy of the waves. There seemed to be a heavy cloud over the church, her banners had been trailing in the dust. I look back and almost shudder and wonder what would have been the fate of the church had things drifted on as I found them. I wonder if there were any here who at that time would have believed our report and to whom the arm of the Lord would have been revealed. I ask the question now, shall the church in Trenton sink, shall her doors be closed, shall her banner be dust covered? No, never, so long as God says “Thou shalt live.” So like Paul at Athens I take courage and preach the Gospel to you that your strength may increase and your faith grow stronger.
Bro. Joseph Long was the first man I saw, to whom I delivered my message. He said go ahead, my son, sound the trumpet and we will rally to the standard though the host of hell surround us. I accepted the situation, seeing that there was a great field of usefulness before me. I saw and felt my inability to do any good or to be of any service to the church unless God was with me. So I consecrated myself anew to God and made a complete surrender. My own capabilities united with yours, we brought our forces into line and began the battle which you have fought so nobly and bravely against every obstacle. You have been faithful soldiers, and may be called veterans in the cause of Christ. The enemy has been many times defeated and main victories have been won and the cause has been greatly advanced, but the time of our separation is drawing nigh, our communions will soon cease, they have been very sweet and precious to me, very helpful, your kindness has been like the bud on the tree continually swelling, and blossoming for my own pleasure and profit. Like David, we have cried from the bottom of our hearts, How long, O Lord, How long shall the wicked reign? Save thy people, bless thine inheritance, feed and lift them up for ever. You have proven your loyalty to the church at large, your efficiency in the church here, I commend your integrity, your faithfulness. Your warm hearts have beat continually for the success of the church during this pastorate.
The old heroes have gone home to their reward. Their seats are vacant, their work is complete but we have entered into their labors and their memory is still precious among us. They are still with us in spirit, they are looking down from the battlements of glory and are witnessing our race here below. They have been described as a cloud of witnesses. Therefore we are to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us and run with patience the race that is set before us. Their skill and bravery we should imitate, their example we should copy, their life of service we should relieve. Oh! Could many of those old warriors awake from their graves and revisit old Mt. Zion and stand on her battleground, to tell us of the contests through which they had passed and to show us the scars which they had received while fighting the battle of the Lord, how often they have witnessed the going and coming of ministers, having listened to their sad farewells, I am sure that we would take courage today and rejoice that we are a part of that grand procession, some of which are now in glory, some of which are crossing and some of which are still on this side. These old veterans of glory are not here to shake our hands; they have risen from the bloody battlefield of earth to the sun lit hills of eternity and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Some that I met two years ago are not here tonight to shake our hands, to be with us in this farewell exercise, where are they? Where is father Crusen and Sister Layten, Tolson, Phinley, Reley and Rachel Conover. Young men, I ask you tonight where is Enoch Limehouse, Jimmie Vroom and others of your companions? Parents and Sabbath School teachers, I ask you where are the Scotts, the Sees and Lily Wright and others whom I met here two years ago? They have gone down to the grave, they are mouldering in their graves. But this shattered Mt. Zion church is the same now as then, a few pillars are left. Brothers Long, Johnson, Fisher, Jones, Ward, Ayers, Charna, Sisters Long, Ward, Perine, Hall, Scroden, Hutchens, Lewis, Harriet, Charmer, and a host of others, we have stood together through these years and are one tonight in spirit and in truth. Our spirits have shared each other’s burdens, each other’s sorrows, we have mingled our tears.
Your Christian advice, tender care, loyal friendship, all these have helped me on my way to the better land. You have performed your part well, a uniform desire to contribute to the harmony of all. Your zeal for the growth of the church when it seemed to be dying, your constant watching for its highest welfare, have often caused me to say, “I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” Although we separate here in sorrow we will meet in a place where sorrow is unknown. Do you promise to meet me there? March on, ye Soldiers of the Cross, be not afraid, God is your helper, He will not desert you! Keep your eyes on the city whose builder and maker is God. Do not grow weary in well-doing nor faint by the way.
Christ said, My peace I leave with you. I can say my blessings I leave with you. Let us pray for each other and look forward to the time when we shall meet to part no more. Farewell!