Produced by Charles Aladrondo, Tiffany Vergon, Charles
Bidwell, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
THE ONE GREAT REALITY
By
LOUISA CLAYTON
Author of "Heart Lessons", "Loving Messages",
"Winning and Warning", "Wilderness Lessons", etc.
"I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE"--
Isa. xiv. 22.
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
to all my friends in Rusthall,
in loving remembrance
of our happy fellowship in the gospel
during the past thirty years,
with the earnest prayer
that the messages may be stored up
in their hearts
and bring forth fruit in their lives
when the voice
which delivered them is still.
3, Somerville Gardens,
Tunbridge Wells.
FOREWORD
In response to the request of an old and esteemed friend I gladly add a
Foreword to the collection of Addresses embodied in this volume.
I do so in recognition of the supreme importance of the great topics that
have been chosen, and also in appreciation of the clear and attractive way
in which the truth is set forth. May the messages find attentive and
receptive readers, and be followed by deep and abiding spiritual blessing.
EVAN H. HOPKINS.
Woburn Chase,
Addlestone, Surrey.
CONTENTS
I GOD, THE GREAT REALITY
II GOD, OUR FATHER
III THE SON OF GOD
IV THE SPIRIT OF GOD
V THE VOICE OF GOD
VI THE HANDS OF GOD
VII THE WORD OF GOD
VIII HAVE FAITH IN GOD
IX THE CHURCH OF GOD
X THE KINGDOM OF GOD
INDEX OF CONTENTS
ADDRESS I
GOD, THE GREAT REALITY
Personal knowledge of God, the secret of happiness--Realising His Presence
in prayer--Illustrations from the telephone and family life--God is our
Father, Saviour, Comforter--The Living God-knowing all, and controlling
everything--Illustrations from current events.
ADDRESS II
GOD, OUR FATHER
A Chinese convert--Christ's confidence in the Father--Christ reveals the
Father--Philip's prayer, "Show us the Father"--What God is to us as
Father--How the minister sang the Doxology in an empty flour barrel--The
glorious calling of the children of God.
ADDRESS III
THE SON OF GOD
Christ is the Son of God from Eternity--He is sent to be the Saviour of
the world--Three questions answered: Where did He come from? When did He
come? Why did He come?--A working-man's experience--The story of the pearl
necklace--Christ's work of redemption--Sir James Simpson's dying
testimony--Hymn, "He came and took me by the hand."
ADDRESS IV
THE SPIRIT OF GOD
God is a Spirit--True spiritual worship--The Spirit of God in Creation and
Salvation--The New Birth--The work of the Holy Spirit convincing of sin,
and revealing Christ--Searchlights--The loveliness of Christ--The Holy
Ghost like a Mother--The Comforter.
ADDRESS V
THE VOICE OF GOD
Jacob's ladder, a type of Christ--Jacob brought face to face with
God--What it is to hear the Voice of God--God's first call to man in the
Garden of Eden--A perfect link of communication between God and man--The
Voice of God speaking in His Word.
ADDRESS VI
THE HANDS OF GOD
Why St. John wrote his Gospel--The safety of the believer--God's hands in
Creation, Providence and Redemption--The "Scarred Hands"--The story of a
brave shepherd lad--The Hands of Jesus wounded for our transgressions--The
Three Crosses.
ADDRESS VII
THE WORD OF GOD
The Glory of God seen in Nature--The Glory of God revealed in the
Bible--The dying woman and her rich inheritance--God's Word brings wisdom,
conversion, joy and light to the heart of man--Spurgeon's text in the
Crystal Palace--A Chinese convert "behaving the Bible"--The Torch that
will light you home--A neglected Bible.
ADDRESS VIII
HAVE FAITH IN GOD
Abraham the Friend of God--The greatness of his faith--Faith the gate into
Life--Faith the link between the sinner and the Saviour--A missionary's
faith rewarded--Illustrations from the telegraph and electricity--The
wonders wrought by the touch of faith--Great faith brings Heaven into our
souls--The difference between believing and committing.
ADDRESS IX
THE CHURCH OF GOD
The Church of God: Past, Present, Future--Its Beginning and Growth--The
Church the Body of Christ, a Living Union--The Church the Bride of Christ,
a Loving Relationship--The Glory of this Union--Three Great Surprises--The
Old Man's Message; Love, Eternal Love--The Four Precious Words--"Labelled
and Ready"--The Glorious Future of the Church of God--The Church will show
forth God's Grace and Glory in the Ages to come.
ADDRESS X
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
"Bringing the King back"--One King, Jesus, His entrance into
Jerusalem--The Jews rejecting their King--His Kingdom in our hearts--Make
Jesus King--The Cross the Way to the Throne--The dying thief received into
the Kingdom--The King's Victory over the Powers of Darkness--The Coming
King--The Glory of the Lord revealed--Christ's Reign on
Earth--Rutherford's testimony--Miss Havergal's Prayer--The Eternal Kingdom.
ADDRESS I
GOD, THE GREAT REALITY
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--Hebrews xi. 1-6.
God is the one great Reality. Will you close your eyes for a moment and
say those words over again very slowly so as to let them burn into your
inmost heart and soul. The Word of God tells us that "The Son of God is
come and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true": this means that we may personally know Him that is Reality. In the
wonder of that moment when we first know that God is real and that God is
near, then we cry out, "My God, how wonderful Thou art." To have personal
knowledge of God is the secret of assurance and happiness, and to put real
trust in Him changes our whole life, for then we can say, "I have a
wonderful God."
To know God is Eternal life; to know Him fully, brings "life more
abundantly"; to know Him with no veil between, is glory--life.
If you look again at the 6th verse of the 11th chapter of Hebrews you will
notice a very clear statement: it says, "He that cometh to God must
believe that He is," or to put it in other words, "the man who draws near
to God must believe that there is a God."
Do you believe in God? Is He real to you? Here is one test. When you pray
do you realise His Presence? Is He so close to you that it is like
speaking into His ear?
It was this text, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is," which
first awakened a worldly gentleman named Brownlow North to think about his
soul. God's Spirit showed him that he had never really believed in God and
that all his former religion was worthless, "for without faith it is
impossible to please God." As soon as he had really learnt to know God, he
devoted all his life to preaching the Gospel. He told every one that the
first thing we need is _to believe there is a God_. Many of his friends
who were rich and well educated were thus brought to a personal knowledge
of God for the first time. He that cometh to God must believe that He is
really there. Have you ever been conscious of the Presence of the living
God? You must make sure that He is near before you can really pray.
We have an illustration of this in the telephone. You first put the
speaking tube to your mouth and then you say "Are you there?" In any case
you make sure that the person to whom you wish to speak, is listening at
the other end. Although you cannot see any one, you know he is holding the
receiver so as to hear what you say.
When you begin to pray always pause for a moment and remember that you are
speaking to God. Do not say a word until the Holy Spirit puts you into
direct communication with God. The Psalmist was quite sure that God was
really listening to his prayer, for he says, "I love the Lord because He
hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because He hath inclined His ear
unto me therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live." [Footnote: Ps.
cxvi. 1, 2.] And again, "I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God
with my voice, and He gave ear unto me." [Footnote: Ps. lxxvii. 1.] It is
in this way we realise that there is a God, a personal living God.
I asked a Christian man one day if he had prayed about some work which was
offered to him, and his reply was, "Yes: I am on the telephone." Can you
say the same? As soon as you have spoken through the telephone you put the
receiver to your ear to listen for the answer. Many people pray without
expecting to get an answer. They are like children who knock at a door and
then run away before it is opened. The prophet Micah says, "I will wait
for God, my God will answer me." [Footnote: Mic. vii. 7.] Yes, he expected
to get an answer.
The Lord Jesus says, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret."
[Footnote: St. Matt. vi. 6.] When a child wants to tell his father
something very private he whispers it in his ear. I daresay you have
noticed that the telephone at the General Post Office is enclosed in a
box, so that no one can overhear what is said. There are many things we
say into God's ear which we could not tell to any one else. It makes Him
very real to us, if we can say in our inmost hearts, "O God, Thou art my
God, my very own Father."
When we speak through the telephone we never say useless words, and our
Lord tells us to avoid needless repetitions when we pray, and He adds,
"for your Father knows what things you need before ever you ask Him." Just
as an earthly father delights to hear his children's, voices, so our
heavenly Father loves to hear us speaking to Him, for He says, "Put Me in
remembrance, let us plead together." [Footnote: Isa. xliii. 26.]
A child's intercourse with his father is quite simple and natural, he
talks freely about everything. When you speak to God, is it an effort, or
do you look up into His face with confidence and tell Him all? A child
expects his father to supply all his wants and to be equal to every
emergency, but we seem to have lost sight of the Father in heaven who is
pledged to "supply all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus." [Footnote: Phil. iv. 13.]
We must not be disappointed if we do not get all we want, because God's
promise is to supply what we _need_. We often wish for things which we do
not really need.
If ever you lose sight of _God_, think of the wonderful lesson which Jesus
teaches when He says, "If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts
unto your children," and you, fathers, always get the best you can for
them, "how much more" (wonderful words), "how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him." [Footnote: St.
Matt. vii. 11.] Have you ever heard God's voice saying to you, I am your
Father; love Me, look to Me, trust Me, worship Me: "Open thy mouth wide
and I will fill it." [Footnote: Ps. lxxxi. 10.]
A godly man who was a servant used to say, "There is not in the world a
kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual
conversation with God." He felt that God was nearer and dearer to him than
any one else. This is what makes God real to us when we feel that He is
_near and dear_.
"Only to sit and think of God,
Oh! what a joy it is!"
It is just the same with your children if you are a really good, loving
father, they are quite happy if they can sit close to you. Your very
presence makes a great impression on them, even if you do not say a word.
Is God's presence so real to you that it makes you control your temper and
keeps you from saying unkind things?
A boy may be troublesome sometimes, but he never really doubts his
father's love for him. Do you ever doubt God's love? Oh, yes: you say, I
often murmur. Then this shows that in a sense you have never really known
God. People would not speak as they do about God, I mean even Christians
would not talk as they do if they really knew God. We often hear people
say, "I hope God will be good to us," or, "I think it very hard God does
not answer my prayer." This shows they have never personally known Him.
Their thoughts about God are so contrary to what they sing. For example,
how much do we really mean of that sweet hymn--
"Precious thought--my Father knoweth,
In His love I rest;
For whate'er my Father doeth.
Must be always best.
Well I know the heart that planneth
Nought but good for me;
Joy and sorrow interwoven,
Love in all I see."
Do you ever doubt His wisdom and think you might have been treated better?
When we really know our Father-God, then we see His wisdom even in the
things that are against us. We know and we feel that they have all been
working together for our good, "for He knows all."
This Book in my hand is The Word of God. It is a revelation of God, and
the glory of God Himself shines in every page. The first word in it is, In
the beginning _God_. Perhaps you ask me, "Who is God?" I will tell you.
"He is my Father." But you say, I am so sinful, I am not worthy to be
called His son. That is just what I felt, so sinful, and then He revealed
Himself to me as my Saviour. Ah! you say, but I am so far off, how can I
find my way to Him? And that was just like me till the Holy Spirit led me
to Him. When God reveals Himself to you as Father, Saviour, Comforter,
then you will know that _God_ Himself is dwelling in your heart. Perhaps
you ask, Will God really come and dwell in me for I am so unworthy? God
Himself answers that question; "Thus saith the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy
place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive
the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."
[Footnote: Isa. lvii. 15.] Every one is standing now in view of God and
Eternity.
A very long time ago the question was asked, "Canst thou by searching find
out God?" [Footnote: Job xi. 7.] The only way we can find Him is by our
spiritual necessities. If your soul needs life, you will find Him. If your
spirit needs reviving, you will find Him. As this text says, I come "to
revive the heart of the contrite ones."
When your children talk about their Father, he is a real Person to them;
that is what God wants to be to us, a real personal God. He says, "I will
be to them a God." [Footnote: Heb. viii. 10.] I know a little boy who
whispered to his aunt one night when she was giving him the goodnight
kiss, "Oh, Auntie, I sometimes wonder whether there is a God. Are you
quite sure?" "Yes," said the aunt very earnestly, "I am quite sure. You
see, I have known Him so long and He is so much to me, I am quite sure."
The child was satisfied.
If you will turn again to Psalm cxvi. you will see a wonderful unfolding
of the secret feelings of David's heart, and as we read it we cannot help
saying to ourselves, the man who wrote this experience had very close
dealings with some One about his soul. Who is this Some One? Do you know?
Perhaps you think your religion is good enough to take you to heaven when
you die, but alas! it begins and ends with the "Unknown God." How
different to David's experience when he says out of a full heart, "I love
the Lord," or as the word means, "I am full of love," and then he tells of
his confidence in God; "I believed, therefore I have spoken," as if he had
said, "God is so real to me now, I must tell others"; and he adds, "I will
walk before the Lord in the land of the living." We can walk with God in
our daily life just as Enoch did.
A good man said a short time ago, If ever I pass any one in the street
with a careworn, anxious face, I long to say to them, "There is _God_,"
"Have faith in God." St. John said, "We have known and believed the love
that God hath to us and in us--God is love." [Footnote: 1 John iv. 16.]
This is the central fact, the one great reality in life, and when once it
is grasped there is nothing to compare with it. Why is there so much
unrest, so much ungodliness, and lawlessness in our midst? We are
forgetting God. The only remedy is coming back to God.
A poor woman who has been a Christian for many years was telling me about
her mother's sudden death the week before, and then she added, "I have
never known God as I do now. The future used to look so dark, but now that
I know Him as the Living God, I can only see _life_. I cannot tell you
what He is to me." Her face, which bore traces of her recent sorrow, shone
with a new peace and a new joy, which made me rejoice. I was sure that God
had revealed Himself to her in her time of need. Those precious words had
come true in her case, "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said,
I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes; even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." [Footnote: St. Luke x.
21.]
Are you saying, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the Living God"? Then you
will have a Personal revelation of God Himself, for that is the only way
the life of God can enter into your soul and mine. Are you longing to find
God? It is not that we find Him, but that He finds us, making Himself to
us the great Reality. We may know wonderful things _about_ Him, but that
is not enough. We must really know Him in our hearts!
The very longing which you have for this personal revelation of God comes
from the loving Father Himself, and He says, "I will give them a heart to
know Me": [Footnote: Jer. xxiv. 7.] so we need never think, ah! it is
beyond me, for He promises to _give_ us the heart to know Him.
I had a striking instance of this some years ago. A working man who could
not read or write told me that he had been converted at our meeting. He
died in the Union Infirmary, and I heard afterwards that he had been a
blessing to many in the ward. He said to me one day, "I want to tell you
_what God is to me_." In very simple words he described how he could see
it all plainly. How in the beginning, sin came into the Garden of Eden and
then God revealed Himself to the sinner so as to bring him back to
Himself. Again and again his simple testimony was, I must tell every one
_what God is to me_. This man had learnt to know God personally through
his own need as a sinner, so it is not by earthly education that we find
God, but through the Holy Spirit's teaching, and then in the Word He
reveals Himself more fully.
It is "through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord that grace and
peace are multiplied to us," [Footnote: 2 Pet. i. 2.] so if we have not
more and more grace and peace coming into our souls it is because we do
not really know God.
It makes all the difference in our life when we can say, God is now my
living Father; for it means God in His infinite love has taken my life
into His, and by this personal link of love I take His life into mine.
When He assures us that He is the Living God, it means that He lives and
cares for us. All things, great and small, are under His control. We have
an illustration of this in the present war. Think of our Navy, scattered
over seven oceans, yet all under the control of the Commander-in-Chief,
Sir John Jellicoe. Not one vessel can move without his orders, no ship can
be attacked without his knowledge; the wireless apparatus is at work night
and day communicating every detail. It brings Sir John word of any
submarine sighted, or of any movement in all the seas round our country,
and it carries his orders far and near.
When God tells us that He is the living God, we know that He cares for us
in the same way as a mother cares for her children. We had a touching
illustration of this about a year ago.
Do you remember how we were thrilled with horror when the Archduke Francis
Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria, was shot while driving through
the city? He expired in a few minutes, leaving three children. In those
few moments he turned to his wife who was seated by his side and said
these pathetic words, "Sophie, live for our children." He did not know
that she too had been mortally wounded and would be powerless to care for
their orphan children.
It is because our Father-God is the living God, that He can say to us
to-day just as He said to the Old Testament saints, "I am living for you,
caring for you, protecting you." "Even to your old age I am He; and even
to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made and I will bear, even I will
carry and will deliver you." [Footnote: Isa. xlvi. 4.] When He says to
you, "I am God and there is none else," [Footnote 2: Isa. xlv. 22.] does
your heart answer, Yes: "Even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art
God." [Footnote 3: Ps. xc. 2.]
ADDRESS II
GOD OUR FATHER
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--Matthew vii 24-34.
In the chapter we have just read there is a great deal about our daily
home life, and the word "Father" is mentioned twelve times, so it shows
that God knows all about the everyday work. It is a grand thing when we
find this out.
A poor woman in China was converted, and very soon the lady missionary who
visited her noticed that now her house was very clean and tidy, and told
her how glad she was to see it.
The woman smiled, and said in her own simple way, "You see my Father God
and the Lord Jesus are constantly coming in and out, so I like to keep it
nice." She realised the Presence of God.
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place." [Footnote: Prov. xv. 3.]
If we do not find God _everywhere_ we practically end by finding
Him _nowhere_.
A busy Christian mother told me that she begins each day and lives all the
day long saying in her heart, "In Thy Presence and by Thy Power." We must
not only _say_ it, but act upon it as a _reality_, and then it will be our
daily experience to be in touch with God.
There was one word which was very precious to Christ and which was often
on His lips, and that was "Father." You remember how He stood one day at
the grave of His friend Lazarus. All the mourners were standing round Him.
Lazarus had been dead four days. It seemed utterly impossible that he
could be restored to life again. No one expected it.
What did Jesus do? "Jesus lifted up His eyes and said '_Father_.'"
[Footnote: St. John xi. 41.] Those eyes were still wet with tears, for a
few verses before we read "Jesus wept." Then He lifted up His eyes and
said "_Father_": that was enough. There is _everything_ in that word. It
just meant, "I have told Father all about it." He knows, He loves, He
cares, and all things are possible with Him. There is no limit to His
power and His love.
Then the command was given to those standing near--"Take ye away the
stone." Was Christ going into the cave? No, the dead man was to _come
out_. So we have first the wondrous name "Father," and then the loud cry,
"Lazarus, come forth," and he that was dead came out of the cold grave',
out of the region of death into the land of the living.
All through His life on earth our Lord always speaks to God as Father. One
verse especially brings out the perfect intimacy, the perfect confidence,
the perfect love between the Lord Jesus and the Father. Jesus says, "All
things are delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son but
the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." [Footnote: St. Matt. xi 27.] The last
words of this verse are very precious, for they show that not only has the
Son perfect knowledge of the Father, but He reveals or makes known the
Father so that you and I may know Him as our Father.
You remember Philip prayed, "Lord, show us the Father, that is what we
want," [Footnote: St. John xiv. 8.] and Christ answered, "He who has seen
Me has seen the Father." Yes, "He is the image of the invisible God." God
said to Moses, "Thou canst not see My Face and live for there shall no man
see me and live," [Footnote: Exod. xxxiii. 20.] and for hundreds of years
no one saw God. Then came the wondrous gift and the wondrous revelation.
God gave His only Begotten Son, and _in Him_ we see the Father. Praise the
Lord! the glorious light has come to us in our darkness. For "God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God _in the face of Jesus
Christ._" [Footnote: Cor. iv. 6.] The Apostle John says, "We beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth."
"No man hath seen God at any time," [Footnote: St. John i. 18.] and before
Christ came the verse stopped there; but after He came, then God was fully
revealed; so the verse finishes with the words "the only begotten Son
which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." Will you look
up now, and say, "Lord, show _me_ the Father," and He will reveal Him to
you, because this is what He promises to do. Look at the last line of the
27th verse of Matthew xi. where Christ says, "He to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him," and without a pause He adds the wonderful invitation,
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." It is to the weary and heavy laden that He reveals the Father. He
invites them to share the fellowship He has with the Father, the peace and
joy and rest of knowing the Father.
Why does He invite the weary ones to come to Him? because He felt in
Himself such joy in this close fellowship with God, He wanted every one to
have it too. He felt that His experience of what the Father was to Him was
so rich, He longed for them to come and share it, "I will give you rest."
It is as if He said, "I will give you the same rest I have when I am tired
and hungry and thirsty; the same comfort that I have when I am
misunderstood and reviled; the rest, the comfort, the peace I have in My
Father."
We have the same assurance when the Holy Ghost says in St. Paul's letter
to the Corinthians, "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort."
[Footnote: 2 Cor. i, 2, 3.]
How can you and I know what the Lord Jesus found in His Father's love? He
has graciously made it known to us in the four Gospels. There the veil is
drawn aside and we see how all through His life He was in close fellowship
with the Father.
We can hear the very words which the Son spoke to His Father in the hour
of deep agony: "O My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." [Footnote: St. Matt. xxvi.
39.] The last words on His lips when He was dying on the Cross were,
"Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." [Footnote: St. Luke xxiii.
46.] He said to His disciples the last night, "You will leave Me alone;
and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me." All through His
life He spoke of His oneness with the Father and the joy of doing and
finishing the work which He gave Him to do.
We too can have the sense of God's Presence in our souls at all times. A
Christian woman who was suffering from neuralgia told me that one night
when she could not sleep, a voice seemed to whisper softly to her, "Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him,
for He knoweth our frame, He knows all about our poor bodies, for He made
them," [Footnote: Ps. ciii. 13, 14.] and with those words of comfort in
her mind she fell into a refreshing sleep.
If you will turn to the 6th chapter of St. Matthew again you will see in
the 8th verse that our Heavenly Father knows about something else. "He
knows what things we have need of before we ask Him."
The secret of what it is to have God as our Father, and the sweetness of
it, comes out in these three homely questions, What shall we eat, what
shall we drink, what shall we wear? And Christ says, [Footnote: St. Matt,
vi. 31, 32.] Take no thought, that means, do not be anxious about these
things, for your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these
things. Yes, if He knows, that is enough, and then we have only to trust
Him for all.
Do you find your faith failing sometimes? It is one thing to trust God
when the wages are coming in regularly, and quite another thing to trust
Him when times are bad. It is just _then_ we learn to look less at our
faith and more at God's Faithfulness.
A minister once gave a little bit of his experience about this. He said,
"It is only as we really take God's promises and plant our feet upon them
that we shall find faith abiding in times of testing. The last penny may
be gone but GOD is there. I know this to be true.
"I have often said when preaching, 'It takes real faith in God to be able
to put your head into an empty flour barrel and sing the doxology.' My
wife had heard me say this, and one morning she called me to come into the
kitchen. I said, 'What do you want me for?' She replied, 'I want you to
come out here and sing.' I thought this queer, so I went to see what it
all meant.
"In the middle of the kitchen was an empty flour barrel that she had just
dusted out. 'Now, my dear,' she said, 'I have often heard you say one
could put his head into an empty flour barrel and sing, "Praise God from
Whom all blessings flow," if he believed what God says. Now here is your
chance, practise what you preach.'
"There was the empty flour barrel staring at me with open mouth, and my
purse was empty too. I looked for my faith, but could not find it; I
looked for a way of escape, but could not find one, for my wife blocked
the doorway with the dust brush covered with flour.
"I said, 'I will put my head in and sing on one condition.'
"'What's that?' asked my wife.
"'On condition that you will put your head in and sing too. You know you
promised to share all my joys and sorrows.'
"She consented, so we put our heads in and sang the doxology, and we told
our heavenly Father 'all about our need.' Yes, we had a good time, and
when we got our heads out we were a good bit powdered up, which we took as
a token that there was more flour to follow!
"Sure enough, though no one knew of our need, the next day a barrel of
flour was sent. Where it came from or who sent it we never knew, but our
heavenly Father knew that we had 'need of these things.'"
Does not this simple testimony teach us all a lesson? I wonder how many of
us can say from our hearts--
Those who trust do not worry;
Those who worry do not trust.
Which are you doing, dear friends? Trusting or worrying? Count on God. He
never fails, and He knows just what to do. The moment a difficulty comes,
look up and say "Father," and at once the burden will roll off, He will
undertake all for you.
I had an illustration of this one day when I was going across the Common.
It was very windy, and two little girls lost their hats; they were quite
at their wits' end, till they caught sight of their father in the
distance, and at once they called to him, "Father, father." That was
enough, in a minute he ran to help them.
I have often found great help in looking up again and again during the day
and just saying "Father." Try it. You, fathers, often say to your
children, "If you want me just call me." That is what our heavenly Father
tells us to do.
To know God means not only to trust Him, but also to _treat_ Him as a
Father. If you will read the 6th chapter of St. Matthew carefully when you
are at home, you will see that it gives the experience of the child of God
with the Father for one whole day. It includes all that we need during the
day:--food, clothing, forgiveness, victory over temptation, grace to do
God's will, and grace in dealing with others.
This experience is so deep, so real, so entirely something between Father
and child, that in this chapter we find the words "_in secret_" no less
than six times. When the little child is looking up into a loving father's
face and talking to him, it never thinks of those around. "In secret"
means a sweet sense of His Presence in the soul and of close communion
with Him. "I write unto you, little children, because you have known the
Father." [Footnote: I St. John ii. 13.]
God is our Father, because He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: this
is one of the greatest treasures of Redeeming Grace. All the teaching
about God as Father comes from the lips of Jesus, and it is in this way He
reveals the Father to us; so if we would know Him, we must drink in His
teaching and watch His life of communion with God. By His life He reveals
to us the reality of the experience into which He calls us to enter. He
also shows us the way. He not only says "Come to Me," but also Come
through Me. "I am the Way: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
[Footnote: St. John xiv. 6.] It was by dying for us He opened the Way.
"God sent forth His Son to redeem them that were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons." "And because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying, Abba,
Father." [Footnote: Gal. iv. 6, 7] So we are not only received into God's
family, but we have also all the privileges of sonship. We are made "heirs
of God, joint heirs with Christ."
Perhaps you are thinking of your unworthiness; like the Prodigal Son you
are ready to say "Father, I have sinned again and again, I am not worthy
to be called Thy son." God knows just what you are and what you have been,
and He Himself has asked the question, "How shall I put you among the
children?" It is a question which none but the Lord would ever have
thought of, and it would never have been answered if He Himself had not
answered it. It is a wonderful answer: for He says, "Thou shalt call Me,
My Father." [Footnote: Jer. iii. 19.] God Himself puts us sinners among
His children, and no one else can do it, and He keeps us; for He says,
"Thou shalt not turn away from Me." How does He do it? By creating a new
life in us, we are "born again." The old nature is not improved, but a new
heart is given. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I
put within you." [Footnote: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.]
Can you say, "God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into my heart," and
now I can call Him my Father? Being made the children of God by adoption
and grace, let us enjoy the privileges which are secured to us; let us act
as loving children should do.
Does it all seem too good to be true? Trust His Word, "As many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His Name." [Footnote: St. John i. 12]
Some of you remember the joy which thrilled you when you first received
Him as your Saviour, but perhaps it was not until afterwards that you
realised the blessedness of your new position as sons of God.
The Holy Spirit leads us on step by step. First, He assures us that "there
is no condemnation," then He sets us free from the bondage of sin and
death. [Footnote: Rom. viii. i, 2.] All is changed now, we feel the
confidence of a child who has free access to his father at all times.
There are three things which mark the children of God, the spiritual mind,
the spiritual walk, and the spiritual talk. "The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirits that we are the children of God." [Footnote: Rom.
viii. 16.] We then call out with the consciousness of sonship, "Father,
Father."
The witness of the Spirit was given to me soon after my conversion and
thrilled me with joyful assurance. It came to me when a Christian doctor
was telling his children about the way of salvation. He drew a line on the
carpet with a stick and said, "On one side there is DEATH, on the other,
LIFE," and I said to myself, "I know which side of the line I am on." So
it was by means of this simple remark that I found out that I was really a
child of God, and my heart began from that time to cling to God as my
Father. Every day since then I have experienced the blessedness of
trusting Him and knowing Him as my Father. Is this your happy portion? If
not, why not?
ADDRESS III
THE SON OF GOD
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--St. John i. 1-18, 29-34.
"THIS IS THE SON OF GOD." These are the closing words of John the
Baptist's striking testimony, What a grand message! How it thrills us
through and through! On and on the glorious words ring out, "_The Son of
God is come_." Many years after, when the Apostle John was a very old man,
he wrote in one of his letters, "We know that the Son of God is come."
[Footnote: I John v. 20.]
Now look back to the first words of our chapter. "In the beginning was the
Word." Who is the Word? It is "the Son of God." When was the beginning?
Long, long ago in Eternity that is past "the Son of God was the brightness
of His Father's glory and the express image," [Footnote: Heb. i. 3.] or
exact representation, "of His Person." In His last prayer with His
disciples our Lord speaks of "the glory which He had with the Father
before the world was." [Footnote: St. John xvii. 5.]
The first verse of this Gospel takes us back long before this world was
created. Then we come to the creation in verse 3: "All things were made by
Him." This is exactly what is said in the first verse of the Bible of
another beginning, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth." Long before this world was created we read of God's dear Son as
"the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature." All
things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, the
Eternal Son of God. [Footnote: Col. i. 15-17.]
He says, "I was set up from everlasting from the beginning, before ever
the earth was. When He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was
by Him as one brought up with Him; I was daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him: rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and My
delights were with the sons of men." [Footnote: Gen. i. 26.]
How wonderful it is to think that in the Eternity that is past, and long
before the world was made, God had two grand purposes. One was to create
man to be the head of the whole human race. So, when the moment came that
the earthly home was ready, then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
after Our likeness." [Footnote: Prov. viii. 23, 29, 30, 31.]
The other grand purpose in the Eternal counsel between the Father and His
Son was to redeem man after he had fallen through sin. The Redeemer is the
Son of God Himself, so He was foreordained to this work of redemption
before the Creation of the world--"The Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." [Footnote: Rev. xiii. 8.] Hundreds of years rolled on, and
then the glorious message from heaven was sounded forth over the plains of
Bethlehem:--"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy ... for unto
you is born this day a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." [Footnote: St.
Luke ii. 10, 11.]
THE SON OF GOD IS COME
_Where_ did He come from? _When_ did He come? _Why_ did He come? These are
some of the questions we must try to answer.
First, where did He come from? He came forth from God. He was in the bosom
of the Father from all Eternity. He said to the disciples, "I came forth
from the Father and am come into the world." [Footnote: St. John xvi. 28.]
We have read of two beginnings, now we will look at another beginning. In
the first chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, and the first verse, we read, "The
beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Here we have the
beginning of all that grand and glorious work of Salvation which is still
being carried on by our Lord at the Father's right hand in heaven.
So we read of three beginnings, and these three are all of God. There is
one more which is also of God.
It is the beginning of the life of Christ in the soul. When we read about
"the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ," we know it means the
beginning of His life on earth. Have you ever asked whether there has been
a beginning of His life _in your heart_? Is it only what you read about,
or is it a personal experience in your soul? Alas! many join in singing
the chorus, "What a wonderful Saviour," who cannot say, "He is my own dear
Saviour." They have never been able to say "My spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Saviour."
What is this personal experience of the life of Christ in the soul? It is
what the Apostle Paul describes when he says, "I have been crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ _liveth in me_."
[Footnote: Gal. ii. 20.]
"Once far from God and dead in sin,
No light my heart could see:
But in God's Word the light I found,
Now Christ liveth in me."
In writing to the Galatians he says, "My little children, you for whom I
am again undergoing, as it were, the pains of child-birth, until Christ is
fully formed within you" [Footnote: Gal. iv. 19.] (Weymouth's
translation).
THE SON OF GOD IS COME.
Secondly, When did He come? "It was when the fulness of the time was
come," [Footnote: Gal. iv. 4.] that is when the time was ripe for it.
God's clock is never too fast or too slow: so at the exact moment "when
the fulness of time was come God sent forth _His Son_." Still and always
His Son, but now "made of a woman," "God, manifest in the flesh"--the
God-man.
THE SON OF GOD IS COME.
What is His Name? God Himself gave the Name. "Thou shalt call His name
Jesus." [Footnote: St. Matt. i. 21.] No other name was to be given: it is
a command, "_thou shalt_ call His name Jesus, for He shall save": that is
why He is _come_. "He is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
"Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He Himself shall save His people from
their sins." He is presented to us as a living personal Saviour. The
promise is, "He, _Himself_ shall save." It means that He will abide in
each believing soul for ever. Yes, moment by moment and for ever. He
abides in us as the Deliverer from all sin. What a glorious promise! Are
you living in the reality of it?
"Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Human Name of God above."
It is the God-given Name. "The Name which is above every name." Is it
precious to you?
THE SON OF GOD IS COME.
Thirdly, Why did He come? The King sends ambassadors to represent him in
foreign countries, but God sent "His own dearly loved Son." "For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." [Footnote: St. John
iii. 16.] The little word "_so_" means love in its unutterable fulness,
and God is the source of it. Have you ever thanked Him for the unspeakable
gift of His dear Son? Link the two words together, _God--the world_: it
means God and you: God and me. Then link together _loved_ and _gave_. It
will take Eternity to get to the bottom of those two words. Now add that
other precious text, "He loved me: He gave Himself for me," [Footnote:
Gal. ii. 20.] and you have "the grace of God bringing salvation."
Six times in the Epistles we find the words "He gave Himself," and in I
Peter ii. 24, it says, "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on
the tree." This is why the Son of God is come, and it is this which makes
Him so personally real to us when earthly things are fading away.
I knew a working man who had a long, painful illness which lasted three
years. I rejoice to say that soon after it began he was converted. He was
so earnest that his one thought was to tell others what a dear Saviour he
had found, and many were led to Christ through his example and testimony.
His mother was converted through him and she is now carrying on the
Christian work which he began. What was it that changed this man? It was
the Holy Spirit revealing Christ to him as a living personal Saviour. The
day before he died he said to his sister, "I had such a lovely time with
the Master this morning in between the pain. Oh! it was like healing balm
to me and He gave me a little hymn--
"'Jesus loves me, He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide:
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.'"
How wonderful that a man nearly 40 years of age should find such comfort
in a simple little hymn. But it is thus the Lord reveals Himself.
Do you feel that you are like a lost sheep? "The Son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost." [Footnote: St. Luke xix. 10.]
THE SON OF GOD IS COME!
It is a fact, a certainty. A great reality. Nothing can take it from us.
It is a living experience in our inmost hearts. "And we know," says the
Apostle John, "that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that
is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal
life." [Footnote: I John v. 20.]
The Son of God is come and God presents Him to us as His Perfect Son and
our Perfect Saviour. Twice during His earthly ministry there was a voice
from heaven which said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased": "In whom I have perfect delight now and for ever." Can you
reply, "This is my Beloved Saviour and He is everything to me"? [Footnote:
St. Matt. iii. 17 and xvii. 5.] He is either everything or nothing.
Are you like the merchant in the parable, "seeking goodly pearls, who when
he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and
bought it"? Is your heart singing
"I've found the pearl of greatest price,
My heart doth sing for joy;
And sing I must for Christ is mine!
Christ shall my song employ!"
A Chinese convert told one of the missionaries that he happened to take up
a Testament which had been sold to the people of the house by a
colporteur, but they could not see the meaning of it, so they laid it on
one side. "But," he went on to say, "from the moment my eyes lighted upon
it, I was greatly attracted by it. So I read and kept on reading till the
meaning dawned upon me, and then," he added with a beaming face, "I found
the Pearl of Great Price."
This reminds me of that strange story of a very valuable pearl necklace
worth £117,000 which was lost about a year ago. It was sent by post from
Paris to London when it suddenly disappeared and no one knew what had
become of it. A very large reward was offered to any one who found it.
But now comes the wonderful part of the story. One morning, a man of the
name of Horne was on his way to the factory where he was employed when he
saw a large match-box lying in the gutter in St. Paul's Road, near London.
He picked it up and put it in his pocket. Presently he went into a
public-house to have a glass of beer and there he met two of his mates. He
took the match-box out of his pocket, pushed it open, and seeing it was
filled with what he thought were white beads or marbles, he said to them,
"What do you think of these, I've just picked them up?" "Oh! they're no
good," replied one of the men, "throw them away." However, Horne decided
to take them to the Police Station. The officers looked at them and said
they were worth nothing, but gave him a receipt for them.
On their way to the factory they turned into another public-house for a
drink, and while there Horne found one of the marbles loose in his coat
pocket. "Oh!" he said, "I've got one of them left." Holding it up in his
fingers, he looked round and asked, "Will any one give me a penny for it?"
But no one would have it.
In another public-house where they stopped, he offered the pearl for a
glass of beer, but no one accepted the offer. The pearl which was worth
many hundreds of pounds was despised by one and all. Then Horne offered it
for a packet of cigarettes, but again it was handed back with the remark,
"That's no good to me." So one of his friends suggested that he should
crush it under the heel of his boot as it was no good.
Later on when some one asked him what he had done with it he said he had
thrown it away.
It is a wonderful story and quite true. "Oh!" you say, "what a thousand
pities, if that man Horne had only known its value, it would have made him
a rich man in one day."
Are you not surprised that none of these men ever thought of finding out
the real value of that pearl? But is it not stranger still that scarcely
any one ever stops to inquire who Jesus Christ really is, and the meaning
of His death on the Cross? You listened just now with astonishment to the
questions and answers about this valuable pearl, and yet the same
questions are being asked every day about another Pearl, God's Pearl of
great price, and people are treating it with the same indifference. How
the angels must look on and wonder!
There are two questions which you have to answer now. First, What think ye
of Christ, whose Son is He? Can you say, "He is the Son of God"? Think of
the Glory of His Person: it is "the glory of the only begotten of the
Father." Think of His Divine Mission: sent by God to be the Saviour now
and the Judge by and by. Think of Him as God's great Gift to a perishing
world. Have you received Him?
The other question which you have to answer is, "What shall I do with
Jesus?" Remember God hath given to us Eternal Life and this life is in His
Son. "He who has the Son has life, and he who has not the Son of God has
not life." [Footnote: I John v. 12.] Jesus is pleading with you, saying,
"Ye will not come," that means, you are unwilling to come to Me "that you
may have Life." [Footnote: St. John v. 40.] By and by you will have to
face another question, "What will He do with me?"