WITNESSING IN POWER.
A man may as well hew marble without tools, or paint without colors or
instruments, or build without materials, as perform any acceptable
service without the graces of the Spirit, which are both the materials
and the instruments in the work.--_Alleine_.
If we do not have the Spirit of God, it were better to shut the
churches, to nail up the doors, to put a black cross on them, and say,
"God have mercy on us!" If you ministers have not the Spirit of God,
you had better not preach, and you people had better stay at home. I
think I speak not too strongly when I say that a church in the land
without the Spirit of God is rather a curse than a blessing. If you
have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand
in somebody else's way; you are as a tree bearing no fruit standing
where another fruitful tree might grow. This is solemn work; the Holy
Spirit or nothing, and worse than nothing. Death and condemnation to a
church that is not yearning after the Spirit, and crying and groaning
until the Spirit has wrought mightily in her midst. He is here; He has
never gone back since He descended at Pentecost. He is often grieved
and vexed, for He is peculiarly jealous and sensitive, and the one sin
never forgiven has to do with His blessed person; therefore let us be
very tender towards Him, walk humbly before Him, wait on Him very
earnestly, and resolve that about us there should be nothing knowingly
continued which should prevent Him dwelling in us, and being with us
henceforth and for, ever. Brethren, peace be unto you and your
spirit!--_Spurgeon_.
WITNESSING IN POWER.
THE subject of witness-bearing in the power of the Holy Ghost is not
sufficiently understood by the Church. Until we have more intelligence
on this point we are laboring under great disadvantage. Now, if you
will take your Bible and turn to the 15th chapter of John and the 26th
verse, you will find these words: "But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me; and ye also
shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."
Here we find what the Spirit is going to do, or what Christ said He
would do when He came; namely, that He should testify of Him. And if
you will turn over to the second chapter of Acts you will find that
when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, and testified of what
Christ had done, the Holy Spirit came down and bore witness to that
fact, and men were convicted by hundreds and by thousands. So then man
can not preach effectively of himself. He must have the Spirit of God
to give ability, and study God's Word in order to testify according to
the mind of the Spirit.
WHAT IS THE TESTIMONY?
If we keep back the Gospel of Christ and do not bring Christ before
the people, then the Spirit has not the opportunity to work. But the
moment Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and bore testimony to
this one fact, that Christ died for sin, and that He had been raised
again, and ascended into heaven--the Spirit came down to bear witness
to the Person and Work of Christ.
He came down to bear witness to the fact that Christ was in heaven,
and if it was not for the Holy Ghost bearing witness to the preaching
of the facts of the Gospel, do you think that the Church would have
lived during these last eighteen centuries? Do you believe that
Christ's death, resurrection and ascension would not have been
forgotten as soon as His birth, if it had not been for the fact that
the Holy Spirit had come? Because it is very clear, that when John
made his appearance on the borders of the wilderness, they had
forgotten all about the birth of Jesus Christ. Just thirty short
years. It was all gone. They had forgotten the story of the Shepherds;
they had forgotten the wonderful scene that took place in the temple,
when the Son of God was brought into the temple and the older prophets
and prophetesses were there; they had forgotten about the wise men
coming to Jerusalem to inquire where He was that was born King of the
Jews. That story of His birth seemed to have just faded away; they had
forgotten all about it, and when John made his appearance on the
borders of the wilderness it was brought back to their minds. And if
it had not been for the Holy Ghost coming down to bear witness to
Christ, to testify of His death and resurrection, these facts would
have been forgotten as soon as His birth.
GREATER WORK.
The witness of the Spirit is the witness of power. Jesus said, "The
works that I do shall ye do also, and greater works than these shall
ye do because I go to the Father." I used to stumble over that. I
didn't understand it. I thought, what greater work could any man do
than Christ had done? How could any one raise a dead man who had been
laid away in the sepulcher for days, and who had already begun to turn
back to dust; how with a word could he call him forth? But the longer
I live the more I am convinced it is a greater thing to influence a
man's will; a man whose will is set against God; to have that will
broken and brought into subjection to God's will--or, in other words,
it is a greater thing to have power over a living, sinning, God-hating
man, than to quicken the dead. He who could create a world could speak
a dead soul into life; but I think the greatest miracle this world has
ever seen was the miracle at Pentecost. Here were men who surrounded
the Apostles, full of prejudice, full of malice, full of bitterness,
their hands, as it were, dripping with the blood of the Son of God,
and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they detested, a man whom they
hated, stands up there and preaches the Gospel, and three thousand of
them are immediately convicted and converted, and become disciples of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing to lay down their lives for the
Son of God. It may have been on that occasion that Stephen was
converted, the first martyr, and some of the men who soon after gave
up their lives for Christ. This seems to me the greatest miracle this
world has ever seen. But Peter did not labor alone; the Spirit of God
was with him; hence the marvelous results.
The Jewish law required that there should be two witnesses, and so we
find that when Peter preached there was a second witness. Peter
testified of Christ, and Christ says when the Holy Spirit comes He
will testify of Me. And they both bore witness to the verities of our
Lord's incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection, and the result
was that a multitude turned as with one heart unto the Lord. Our
failure now is, that preachers ignore the Cross, and veil Christ with
sapless sermons and superfine language. They don't just present Him to
the people plainly, and that is why, I believe, that the Spirit of God
don't work with power in our churches. What we need is to preach
Christ and present Him to a perishing world. The world can get on very
well without you and me, but the world can not get on without Christ,
and therefore we must testify of Him, and the world, I believe, to-day
is just hungering and thirsting for this divine, satisfying portion.
Thousands and thousands are sitting in darkness, knowing not of this
great Light, but when we begin to preach Christ honestly, faithfully,
sincerely and truthfully; holding Him up, not ourselves; exalting
Christ and not our theories; presenting Christ and not our opinions;
advocating Christ and not some false doctrine; then the Holy Ghost
will come and bear witness. He will testify that what we say is true.
When He comes He will confirm the Word with signs following. This is
one of the strongest proofs that our Gospel is Divine; that it is of
Divine origin; that not only did Christ teach these things, but when
leaving the world He said, "He shall glorify Me," and "He will testify
of Me." If you will just look at the second chapter of Acts--to that
wonderful sermon that Peter preached--the thirty-sixth verse, you read
these words: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and
Christ." And when Peter said this the Holy Ghost descended upon the
people and testified of Christ--bore witness in signal demonstration
that all this was true. And again, in the fortieth verse, "And with
many other words did He testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation." With many other words did He testify,
not only these words that have been recorded, but many other words.
THE SURE GUIDE.
Turn to the sixteenth chapter of John, in the thirteenth verse, and
read: "Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide
you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever
He shall hear that shall He speak; and He will show you things to
come." He will guide you into all truth. Now there is not a truth that
we ought to know but the Spirit of God will guide us into it if we
will let Him; if we will yield ourselves up to be directed by the
Spirit, and let Him lead us, He will guide us into all truth. It would
have saved us from a great many dark hours if we had only been willing
to let the Spirit of God be our counsellor and guide.
Lot never would have gone to Sodom if he had been guided by the Spirit
of God. David never would have fallen into sin and had all that
trouble with his family if he had been guided by the Spirit of God.
There are many Lots and Davids now-a-day. The churches are full of
them. Men and women are in total darkness, because they have not been
willing to be guided by the Spirit of God. "He shall guide you into
all truth. He shall not speak of Himself." He shall speak of the
ascended glorified Christ.
What would be thought of a messenger, entrusted by an absent husband
with a message for his wife or mother who, on arrival, only talked of
himself, and his conceits, and ignored both the husband and the
message? You would simply call it outrageous. What then must be the
crime of the professed teacher who speaks of himself, or some insipid
theory, leaving out Christ and His Gospel? If we witness according to
the Spirit, we must witness of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is down here in this dark world to just speak of the
Absent One, and He takes the things of Christ and brings them to our
mind. He testifies of Christ; He guides us into the truth about Him.
RAPPINGS IN THE DARK.
I want to say right here, that I think in this day a great many
children of God are turning aside and committing a grievous sin. I
don't know as they think it is a sin, but if we examine the
Scriptures, I am sure we will find that it is a great sin. We are told
that the Comforter is sent into the world to "guide us into all
truth," and if He is sent for that purpose, do we need any other
guide? Need we hide in the darkness, consulting with mediums, who
profess to call up the spirits of the dead? Do you know what the Word
of God pronounces against that fearful sin? I believe it is one of the
greatest sins we have to contend with at the present day. It is
dishonoring to the Holy Spirit for me to go and summon up the dead and
confer with them, even if it were possible.
I would like you to notice the 10th chapter of 1st Chronicles, and
13th verse: "So Saul died for his transgression which he had committed
against the Lord, even against the Word of the Lord, which he kept
not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to
inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him,
and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse."
God slew him for this very sin. Of the two sins that are brought
against Saul here, one is that he would not listen to the Word of God,
and the second is that he consulted a familiar spirit. He was snared
by this great evil, and sinned against God.
Saul fell right here, and there are a great many of God's professed
children to-day who think there is no harm in consulting a medium who
pretends to call up some of the departed to inquire of them.
But how dishonoring it is to God who has sent the Holy Spirit into
this world to guide us "into all truth." There is not a thing that I
need to know, there is not a thing that is important for me to know;
there is not a thing that I ought to know but the Spirit of God will
reveal it to me through the Word of God, and if I turn my back upon
the Holy Spirit, I am dishonoring the Spirit of God, and I am
committing a grievous sin. You know we read in Luke, where that rich
man in the other world wanted to have some one sent to his father's
house to warn his five brothers, Christ said They have Moses and the
prophets, and if they will not hear them, they will not hear one
though he rose from the dead. Moses and the prophets, the part of the
Bible then completed, that is enough. But a great many people now want
something besides the Word of God, and are turning aside to these
false lights.
SPIRITS THAT PEEP AND MUTTER.
There is another passage which reads, "And when they shall say unto
you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that
peep and mutter: Should not a people seek unto their God? for the
living to the dead?" What is that but table-rapping, and cabinet-hiding?
If it was a message from God, do you think you would have to
go into a dark room and put out all the lights? In secret my Master
taught nothing. God is not in that movement, and what we want, as
children of God, is to keep ourselves from this evil. And then notice,
the verse following, quoted so often out of its connection. "To the
law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them." Any man, any woman, who comes
to us with any doctrine that is not according to the law and the
testimony, let us understand that they are from the evil one, and that
they are enemies of righteousness. They have no light in them. Now you
will find these people who are consulting familiar spirits, first and
last, attack the Word of God. They don't believe it. Still a great
many people say, you must hear both sides--but if a man should write
me a most slanderous letter about my wife, I don't think I would have
to read it; I should tear it up and throw it to the winds. Have I to
read all the infidel books that are written, to hear both sides? Have
I to take up a book that is a slander on my Lord and Master, who has
redeemed me with His blood? Ten thousand times No; I will not touch
it.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils." 1 Tim., iv, 1. That is pretty plain language,
isn't it? "Doctrines of devils." Again, "speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their consciences seared with a hot iron." There are other
passages of Scripture warning against every delusion of Satan. Let us
ever remember the Spirit has been sent into the world to guide us into
all truth. We don't want any other guide; He is enough. Some people
say, "Is not conscience a safer guide than the Word and the Spirit?"
No, it is not. Some people don't seem to have any conscience, and
don't know what it means. Their education has a good deal to do with
conscience. There are persons who will say that their conscience did
not tell them that they had done wrong until after the wrong was done;
but what we want, is something to tell us a thing is wrong before we
do it. Very often a man will go and commit some awful crime, and after
it is done his conscience will wake up and lash and scourge him, and
then it is too late, the act is done.
THE UNERRING GUIDE.
I am told by people who have been over the Alps, that the guide
fastens them, if they are going in a dangerous place, right to
himself, and he just goes on before; they are fastened to the guide.
And so should the Christian be linked to His unerring Guide, and be
safely upheld. Why, if a man was going through the Mammoth Cave, it
would be death to him if he strayed away from his guide--if separated
from him, he would certainly perish; there are pitfalls in that cave
and a bottomless river, and there would be no chance for a man to find
his way through that cave without a guide or a light. So there is no
chance for us to get through the dark wilderness of this world alone.
It is folly for a man or woman to think that they can get through this
evil world without the light of God's Word and the guidance of the
Divine Spirit. God sent Him to guide us through this great journey,
and if we seek to work independent of Him, we shall stumble into the
deep darkness of eternity's night.
But bear in mind the _Words_ of the Spirit of God; if you want to be
guided, you must study the Word; because the Word is the light of the
Spirit. In the 14th chapter of John and 26th verse, we read:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
Again in John xvi, 13:
"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into
all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall
hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come."
"He will show you things to come." A great many people seem to think
that the Bible is out of date, that it is an old book, and they think
it has passed its day. They say it was very good for the dark ages,
and that there is some very good history in it; but then it was not
intended for the present time; that we are living in a very
enlightened age, and that men can get on very well without the old
book; that we have outgrown it. They think we have no use for it,
because it is an old book. Now you might just as well say that the
sun, which has shone so long, is now so old that it is out of date,
and that whenever a man builds a house he need not put any windows in
it, because we have got a newer light and a better light; we have
gaslight and this new electric light. These are something new; and I
would advise people, if they think the Bible is too old and worn out,
when they build houses, not to put any windows in them, but just to
light them with this new electric light; that is something new, and
this is what they are anxious for. People talk about this Book as if
they understood it; but we don't know much about it yet. The press
gives us the daily news of what has taken place. This Bible, however,
tells us what is about to take place. This _is_ new; we have the news
here in this Book; this tells us of the things that will surely come
to pass; and that is a great deal newer than anything in the
newspapers. It tells us that the Spirit shall teach us all things; not
only guide us into all truth, but teach us all things; He teaches us
how to pray, and I don't think there has ever been a prayer upon this
sin-cursed earth that has been indicted by the Holy Spirit but was
answered. There is much praying that is not indicted by the Holy
Spirit. In former years I was very ambitious to get rich; I used to
pray for one hundred thousand dollars; that was my aim, and I used to
say, "God does not answer my prayer; He does not make me rich." But I
had no warrant for such a prayer; yet a good many people pray in that
way; they think that they pray, but they do not pray according to the
Scriptures. The Spirit of God has nothing to do with their prayers,
and such prayers are not the product of His teaching.
It is the Spirit who teaches us how to answer our enemies. If a man
strikes me, I should not pull out a revolver and shoot him. The Spirit
of the Lord don't teach me revenge; He don't teach me that it is
necessary to draw the sword and cut a man down in order to defend my
rights. Some people say, You are a coward if you don't strike back.
Christ says, turn the other cheek to him who smites. I would rather
take Christ's teaching than any other. I don't think a man gains much
by loading himself down with weapons to defend himself. There has been
life enough sacrificed in this country to teach men a lesson in this
regard. The Word of God is a much better protection than the revolver.
We had better take the Word of God to protect us, by accepting its
teaching, and living out its precepts.
AN AID TO MEMORY.
It is a great comfort to us to remember that another office of the
Spirit is to bring the teaching of Jesus to our remembrance. This was
our Lord's promise, "He shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance." Jno. xiv, 26.
How striking that is. I think there are many Christians who have had
that experience. They have been testifying, and found that while
talking for Christ the Spirit has just brought into mind some of the
sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their mind was soon filled with
the Word of God. When we have the Spirit resting upon us, we can speak
with authority and power, and the Lord will bless our testimony and
bless our work. I believe the reason why God makes use of so few in
the Church, is because there is not in them the power that God can
use. He is not going to use our ideas, but we must have the Word of
God hid in our hearts, and then, the Holy Spirit inflaming us, we will
have the testimony which will be rich, and sweet, and fresh, and the
Lord's Word will vindicate itself in blessed results. God wants to use
us; God wants to make us channels of blessing; but we are in such a
condition He does not use us. That is the trouble; there are so many
men who have no testimony for the Lord; if they speak, they speak
without saying anything, and if they pray, their prayer is powerless;
they do not plead in prayer; their prayer is just a few set phrases
that you have heard too often. Now what we want, is to be so full of
the Word, that the Spirit coming upon us shall bring to mind--bring to
our remembrance--the words of the Lord Jesus.
In 1 Cor. ii, 9, it is written: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him."
We hear that quoted so often in prayer--many a man weaves it into his
prayer and stops right there. And the moment you talk about Heaven,
they say, "Oh, we don't know anything about Heaven it hath not entered
into the heart of man; eye hath not seen; it is all speculation; we
have nothing to do with it; and they say they quote it as it is
written." "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; neither have entered into
the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him." What next--"but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit."
You see the Lord hath revealed them unto us: "For the Spirit searches
all things--yea, the deep things of God." That is just what the Spirit
does.
LONG AND SHORT SIGHT.
He brings to our mind what God has in store for us. I heard a man,
some time ago, speaking about Abraham. He said "Abraham was not
tempted by the well-watered plains of Sodom, for Abraham was what you
might call a long-sighted man; he had his eyes set on the city which
had foundation--'whose Builder and Maker is God.'" But Lot was a
short-sighted man; and there are many people in the Church who are
very short-sighted; they only see things right around them they think
good. Abraham was long-sighted; he had glimpses of the celestial city.
Moses was long-sighted, and he left the palaces of Egypt and
identified himself with God's people--poor people, who were slaves;
but he had something in view yonder; he could see something God had in
store. Again there are some people who are sort of long-sighted and
shortsighted, too. I have a friend who has one eye that is long-sighted
and the other is short-sighted; and I think the Church is full of this
kind of people. They want one eye for the world and the other for the
Kingdom of God. Therefore, everything, is blurred, one eye is long and
the other is short, all is confusion, and they "see men as trees
walking." The Church is filled with that sort of people. But Stephen
was long-sighted; he looked clear into heaven; they couldn't convince
him even when he was dying, that Christ had not ascended to heaven.
"Look, look yonder," he says, "see Him over there; He is on the throne,
standing at the right hand of God;" and he looked clear into heaven;
the world had no temptation for him; he had put the world under his feet.
Paul was another of those long-sighted men; he had been caught up and
seen things unlawful for him to utter; things grand and glorious. I tell
you when the Spirit of God is on us the world looks very empty; the
world has a very small hold upon us, and we begin to let go our hold of
it. When the Spirit of God is on us we will just let go the things of
time and lay hold of things eternal. This is the Church's need to-day;
we want the Spirit to come in mighty power, and consume all the vile
dross there is in us. Oh! that the Spirit of fire may come down and
burn everything in us that is contrary to God's blessed Word and Will.
In John xiv, 16, we read of the Comforter. This is the first time He
is spoken of as the Comforter. Christ had been their Comforter. God
had sent Him to comfort the sorrowing. It was prophesied of Him, "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach
the Gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted."
You can't heal the brokenhearted without the Comforter; but the world
would not have the first Comforter, and so they rose up and took Him
to Calvary and put him to death; but on going away He said, "I will
send you another Comforter; you shall not be comfortless; be of good
cheer, little flock; it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom." All these sweet passages are brought to the remembrance of
God's people, and they help us to rise out of the fog and mist of this
world. O, what a comforter is the Holy Spirit of God!
THE FAITHFUL FRIEND.
The Holy Spirit tells a man of his faults in order to lead him to a
better life. In John xvi, 8, we read: "He is to reprove the world of
sin." Now, there are a class of people who don't like this part of the
Spirit's work. Do you know why? Because He convicts _them_ of sin;
they don't like that. What they want is some one to speak comforting
words and make everything pleasant; keep everything all quiet; tell
them there is peace when there is war; tell them it is light when it
is dark, and tell them everything is growing better; that the world is
getting on amazingly in goodness; that it is growing better all the
time; that is the kind of preaching they seek for. Men think they are
a great deal better than their fathers were. That suits human nature,
for it is full of pride. Men will strut around and say, "Yes, I
believe that; the world is improving; I am a good deal better man than
father was; my father was too strict; he was one of those old
Puritanical men who was so rigid. O, we are getting on; we are more
liberal; my father wouldn't think of going out riding on Sunday, but
we will; we will trample the laws of God under our feet; we are better
than our fathers."
That is the kind of preaching which some dearly love, and there are
preachers who tickle such itching ears. When you bring the Word of God
to bear upon them, and when the Spirit drives it home, then men will
say: "I don't like that kind of preaching; I will never go to hear
that man again;" and sometimes they will get up and stamp their way
out of church before the speaker gets through; they don't like it. But
when the Spirit of God is at work he convicts men of sin. "When He
comes He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of
judgment; of sin"--not because men swear and lie and steal and get
drunk and murder--"of sin because they believe not on Me."
THE CLIMAX SIN.
That is the sin of the world. Why, a great many people think that
unbelief is a sort of misfortune, but do not know, if you will allow
me the expression, it is the damning sin of the world to-day; that is
what unbelief is, the mother of all sin. There would not be a drunkard
walking the streets, if it were not for unbelief; there would not be a
harlot walking the streets, if it were not for unbelief; there would
not be a murderer, if it was not for unbelief; it is the germ of all
sin. Don't think for a moment that it is a misfortune, but just bear
in mind it is an awful sin, and may the Holy Spirit convict every
reader that unbelief is making God a liar. Many a man has been knocked
down on the streets because some one has told him he was a liar.
Unbelief is giving God the lie; that is the plain English of it. Some
people seem to boast of their unbelief; they seem to think it is quite
respectable to be an infidel and doubt God's Word, and they will
vainly boast and say, "I have intellectual difficulties; I can't
believe." Oh that the Spirit of God may come and convict men of sin!
That is what we need--His convicting power, and I am so thankful that
God has not put that into our hands. We have not to convict men; if we
had I would get discouraged, and give up preaching, and go back to
business within the next forty-eight hours. It is my work to preach
and hold up the Cross and testify of Christ; but it is His work to
convict men of sin and lead them to Christ. One thing I have noticed,
that some conversions don't amount to anything; that if a man
professes to be converted without conviction of sin, he is one of
those stony-ground hearers who don't bring forth much fruit. The first
little wave of persecution, the first breath of opposition, and the
man is back in the world again. Let us pray, dear Christian reader,
that God may carry on a deep and thorough work, that men may be
convicted of sin so that they can not rest in unbelief. Let us pray
God it may be a thorough work in the land. I would a great deal rather
see a hundred men thoroughly converted, truly born of God, than to see
a thousand professed conversions where the Spirit of God has not
convicted of sin. Don't let us cry "Peace, peace, when there is no
peace." Don't go to the man who is living in sin, and tell him all he
has to do is to stand right up and profess, without any hatred for
sin. Let us ask God first to show every man the plague of his own
heart, that the Spirit, may convict them of sin. Then will the work in
our hands be real, and deep, and abide the fiery trial which will try
every man's labor.
Thus far, we have found the work of the Spirit is to impart life, to
implant hope, to give liberty, to testify of Christ, to guide us into
all truth, to teach us all things, to comfort the believers, and to
convict the world of sin.
"Holy Spirit, faithful guide,
Ever near the Christian's side;
Gently lead us by the hand,
Pilgrims in a desert land;
Weary souls for e'er rejoice,
While they hear that sweetest voice,
Whisp'ring softly, wanderer come!
Follow Me, I'll guide thee home.
Ever present, truest Friend,
Ever near Thine aid to lend,
Leave us not to doubt and fear,
Groping on in darkness drear,
When the storms are raging sore,
Hearts grow faint, and hopes give o'er;
Whisp'ring softly, wanderer come!
Follow Me, I'll guide thee home.
When our days of toil shall cease,
Waiting still for sweet release,
Nothing left but heaven and prayer,
Wond'ring if our names were there,
Wading deep the dismal flood,
Pleading nought but Jesus' blood;
Whisp'ring softly, wanderer come!
Follow Me, I'll guide thee home."
"OH! Spirit of God, whose voice I hear,
Sweeter than sweetest music, appealing
In tones of tenderness and love;
Whose comforts delight my soul, and
Fills the temple of my heart with joy beyond compare.
I need Thee day by day, and each day's moment, Lord.
I sigh for greater likeness
To Him who loved me unto death, and loves me still.
'Tis Thine to lead me to Him; 'tis Thine to ope the eye,
To manifest His royal glories to my longing heart;
'Tis Thine the slumbering saint to waken
And discipline this blood-touched ear
To hearken to my heavenly Lover's voice,
And quickly speed His summons to obey.
Oh! Spirit of the Mighty God, uplift my faith
Till heaven's precious light shall flood my soul,
And the shining of my face declare
That I have seen the face of God."