with faith_. We should endeavour to believe that our prayers are always
heard, and that if we ask things according to God's will, we shall
always be answered. This is the plain command of our Lord Jesus Christ:
"Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them." (Mark xi. 24). Faith is to prayer what
the feather is to the arrow: without it prayer will not hit the mark. We
should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers. We
should take with us some promise, and say, "Lord, here is Thine own word
pledged. Do for us as Thou hast said." (2 Sam. vii. 25.) This was the
habit of Jacob, and Moses, and David. The 119th Psalm is full of things
asked, "according to Thy word." Above all, we should cultivate the habit
of expecting answers to our prayers. We should do like the merchant who
sends his ships to sea. We should not be satisfied unless we see some
return. Alas, there are few points on which Christians come short so
much as this. The Church at Jerusalem made prayer without ceasing for
Peter in prison; but when the prayer was answered, they would hardly
believe it. (Acts xii. 15.) It is a solemn saying of old Traill's,
"There is no surer mark of trifling in prayer, than when men are
careless what they get by prayer."
(_g_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _boldness_
in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in some men's prayers, which
I cannot praise. But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is
exceedingly to be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when
he pleads with God not to destroy Israel: "Wherefore," says he, "should
the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay
them in the mountains? Turn from Thy fierce anger." (Exod. xxxii. 12.) I
mean such boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel were
defeated before Ai: "What," says he, "wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?"
(Josh. vii. 9.) This is the boldness for which Luther was remarkable.
One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit,--what a confidence was
in his very expressions! With such a reverence he sued, as one begging
of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spake with a
loving father or friend." This is the boldness which distinguished
Bruce, a great Scotch divine of the 17th century. His prayers were said
to be "like bolts shot up into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come
short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do
not plead as often as we might, "Lord, are we not Thine own people? Is
it not for Thy glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for Thine
honour that thy Gospel should increase?"
(_h_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _fulness_
in prayer. I do not forget that our Lord warns us against the example of
the Pharisees, who for pretence made long prayers, and commands us, when
we pray, not to use vain repetitions. But I cannot forget, on the other
hand, that He has given His own sanction to large and long devotions, by
continuing all night in prayer to God. At all events we are not likely
in this day to err on the side of praying _too much_. Might it not
rather be feared that many believers in this generation pray _too
little_? Is not the actual amount of time that many Christians give to
prayer in the aggregate very small? I am afraid these questions cannot
be answered satisfactorily. I am afraid the private devotions of many
are most painfully scanty and limited,--just enough to prove they are
alive, and no more. They really seem to want little from God. They seem
to have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to thank Him
for. Alas, this is altogether wrong! Nothing is more common than to hear
believers complaining that they do not get on. They tell us that they do
not grow in grace, as they could desire. Is it not rather to be
suspected that many have quite as much grace as they ask for? Is it not
the true account of many, that they have little, because they ask
little? The cause of their weakness is to be found in their own stunted,
dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, little, narrow, diminutive
prayers. _They have not because they ask not._ Oh, reader, we are not
straitened in Christ, but in ourselves. The Lord says, "Open thy mouth
wide, and I will fill it." But we are like the king of Israel who smote
on the ground thrice and stayed, when he ought to have smitten five or
six times. (Psalm lxxxi. 10; 2 Kings xiii. 18, 19.)
(_i_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
_particularity_ in prayer. We ought not to be content with great general
petitions. We ought to specify our wants before the throne of grace. It
should not be enough to confess we are sinners. We should name the sins
of which our conscience tells us we are most guilty. It should not be
enough to ask for holiness. We should name the graces in which we feel
most deficient. It should not be enough to tell the Lord we are in
trouble. We should describe our trouble and all its peculiarities. This
is what Jacob did, when he feared his brother Esau. He tells God exactly
what it is that he fears. (Gen. xxxii. 11.) This is what Eliezer did,
when he sought a wife for his master's son. He spreads before God
precisely what he wants. (Gen. xxiv. 12.) This is what Paul did, when he
had a thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord. (2 Cor. xii. 8.) This is
true faith and confidence. We should believe that nothing is too small
to be named before God. What should we think of the patient who told his
doctor he was ill, but never went into particulars? What should we think
of the wife who told her husband she was unhappy, but did not specify
the cause? What should we think of the child who told his father he was
in trouble, but nothing more? Let us never forget that Christ is the
true bridegroom of the soul,--the true physician of the heart,--the
real father of all His people. Let us show that we feel this, by being
unreserved in our communications with Him. Let us hide no secrets from
Him. Let us tell Him all our hearts.
(_j_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
_intercession_ in our prayers. We are all selfish by nature, and our
selfishness is very apt to stick to us, even when we are converted.
There is a tendency in us to think only of our own souls,--our own
spiritual conflict,--our own progress in religion, and to forget others.
Against this tendency we have all need to watch and strive, and not
least in our prayers. We should study to be of a public spirit. We
should stir ourselves up to name other names beside our own before the
throne of grace. We should try to bear in our hearts the whole
world,--the heathen,--the Jews,--the Roman Catholics,--the body of true
believers,--the professing Protestant Churches,--the country in which we
live,--the congregation to which we belong,--the household in which we
sojourn,--the friends and relations we are connected with. For each and
all of these we should plead. This is the highest charity. He loves me
best who loves me in his prayers. This is for our soul's health. It
enlarges our sympathies and expands our hearts. This is for the benefit
of the Church. The wheels of all machinery for extending the Gospel are
oiled by prayer. They do as much for the Lord's cause who intercede like
Moses on the mount, as they do who fight like Joshua in the thick of the
battle. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of His people on
His breast and shoulders as their High Priest before the Father. Oh, the
privilege of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers.
If I must needs choose a congregation, give me a people that prays.
(_k_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
_thankfulness_ in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing, and
praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer
and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which
thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made
known unto God." (Phil. iv. 6.) "Continue in prayer, and watch in the
same with thanksgiving." (Coloss. iv. 2.) It is of mercy that we are
not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of
mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we
have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our
own ways. It is of mercy that we still live, and have opportunities of
glorifying God actively or passively. Surely, these thoughts should
crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely, we should never
open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by
which we live, and for that loving-kindness which endureth for ever.
Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. St.
Paul hardly ever writes an Epistle without beginning with thankfulness.
Men like Whitfield in the last century, and Bickersteth, and Marsh, and
Haldane Stewart, in our own time, were ever running over with
thankfulness. Oh, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day,
we must cherish a spirit of praise! And above all, let our prayers be
thankful prayers.
(_l_) I commend to you, in the last place, the importance of
_watchfulness over your prayers_. Prayer is that point of all others in
religion at which you must be on your guard. Here it is that true
religion begins: here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a
man's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of his soul.
Prayer is the spiritual pulse: by this the spiritual health may always
be tested. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass: by this we may always
know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Oh, let us keep an eye
continually upon our private devotions! Here is the pith, and marrow,
and backbone of our practical Christianity. Sermons, and books, and
tracts, and committee meetings, and the company of good men, are all
good in their way; but they will never make up for the neglect of
private prayer. Mark well the places, and society, and companions, that
unhinge your hearts for communion with God, and make your prayers drive
heavily. _There be on your guard._ Observe narrowly what friends and
what employments leave your soul in the most spiritual frame, and most
ready to speak with God. _To these cleave and stick fast._ If you will
only take care of your prayers, I will engage that nothing shall go very
wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for private consideration. I do it in all humility.
I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself.
But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I should like myself and
all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians
of our day to be praying Christians. I want the Church of our age to be
a praying Church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this
paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never
prayed yet, to arise and call upon God; and I want those who do pray, to
improve their prayers every year, and to see that they are not getting
slack, and praying amiss.
V
BIBLE-READING
"_Search the Scriptures._"--John v. 39.
"_How readest thou?_"--Luke x. 26.
Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as
Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a book which is "able to make
us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim.
iii. 15.) By reading that book we may learn what to believe, what to be,
and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in peace. Happy
is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he who reads it!
Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it
the rule of his faith and practice!
Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that man has an unhappy skill in
abusing God's gifts. His privileges, and power, and faculties, are all
ingeniously perverted to other ends than those for which they were
bestowed. His speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his
time, his influence, his money,--instead of being used as instruments
for glorifying his Maker,--are generally wasted, or employed for his own
selfish ends. And just as man naturally makes a bad use of his other
mercies, so he does of the written Word. One sweeping charge may be
brought against the whole of Christendom, and that charge is neglect and
abuse of the Bible.
To prove this charge we have no need to look abroad: the proof lies at
our own doors. I have no doubt that there are more Bibles in Great
Britain at this moment than there ever were since the world began. There
is more Bible buying and Bible selling,--more Bible printing and Bible
distributing,--than ever was since England was a nation. We see Bibles
in every bookseller's shop,--Bibles of every size, price, and
style,--Bibles great, and Bibles small,--Bibles for the rich, and Bibles
for the poor. There are Bibles in almost every house in the land. But
all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to _have_ the
Bible is one thing, and to _read_ it quite another.
This neglected Book is the subject about which I address the readers of
this paper to-day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing with
the Bible_. Surely, when the plague is abroad, you should search and see
whether the plague-spot is on you. Give me your attention while I supply
you with a few plain reasons why every one who cares for his soul ought
to value the Bible highly, to study it regularly, and to make himself
thoroughly acquainted with its contents.
I. In the first place, _there is no book in existence written in such a
manner as the Bible_.
The Bible was "given by inspiration of God." (2 Tim. iii. 16.) In this
respect it is utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers
of it what to say. God put into their minds thoughts and ideas. God
guided their pens in setting down those thoughts and ideas. When you
read it, you are not reading the self-taught compositions of poor
imperfect men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God. When you
hear it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived
mortals, but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men who
were employed to indite the Bible, spoke not of themselves. They "spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter i. 21.) All other books
in the world, however good and useful in their way, are more or less
defective. The more you look at them the more you see their defects and
blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely perfect. From beginning to end
it is "the Word of God."
I shall not waste time by attempting any long and laboured proof of
this. I say boldly, that the Book itself is the best witness of its own
inspiration. It is utterly inexplicable and unaccountable in any other
point of view. It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that
dares to say the Bible is not inspired, let him give a reasonable
account of it, if he can. Let him explain the peculiar nature and
character of the Book in a way that will satisfy any man of common
sense. The burden of proof seems to my mind to lie on him.
It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the
writers of the Bible have each a different style. Isaiah does not write
like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly
true,--and yet the works of these men are not a whit less equally
inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one place
they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is owing to
the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the
bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea.--The breath of a
man may produce different sounds, according to the character of the
instrument on which he plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet, have
each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth the notes,
is in each case one and the same.--The light of the planets we see in
heaven is very various. Mars, and Saturn, and Jupiter, have each a
peculiar colour. And yet we know that the light of the sun, which each
planet reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the same way
the books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet
the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the
Holy Ghost makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers
differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual being; but
the Divine Guide who dictates and directs the whole is always one. All
is alike inspired. Every chapter, and verse, and word, is from God.
Oh, that men who are troubled with doubts, and questionings, and
sceptical thoughts about inspiration, would calmly examine the Bible for
themselves! Oh, that they would act on the advice which was the first
step to Augustine's conversion,--"Take it up and read it!--take it up
and read it!" How many Gordian knots this course of action would cut!
How many difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist
before the rising sun! How many would soon confess, "The finger of God
is here! God is in this Book, and I knew it not."
This is the Book about which I address the readers of this paper. Surely
it is no light matter _what you are doing with this Book_. It is no
light thing that God should have caused this Book to be "written for
your learning," and that you should have before you "the oracles of
God." (Rom. iii. 2; xv. 4.) I charge you, I summon you to give an honest
answer to my question. What art thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou
read it at all?--HOW READEST THOU?
II. In the second place, _there is no knowledge absolutely needful to a
man's salvation, except a knowledge of the things which are to be found
in the Bible_.
We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our
eyes:--"Many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased." (Dan. xii. 4.)
Schools are multiplying on every side. New colleges are set up. Old
Universities are reformed and improved. New books are continually coming
forth. More is being taught,--more is being learned,--more is being
read,--than there ever was since the world begun. It is all well. I
rejoice at it. An ignorant population is a perilous and expensive burden
to any nation. It is a ready prey to the first Absalom, or Catiline, or
Wat Tyler, or Jack Cade, who may arise to entice it to do evil. But this
I say,--we must never forget that all the education a man's head can
receive, will not save his soul from hell, unless he knows the truths of
the Bible.
A man _may have prodigious learning, and yet never be saved_. He may be
master of half the languages spoken round the globe. He may be
acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth. He
may have read books till he is like a walking cyclopaedia. He may be
familiar with the stars of heaven,--the birds of the air,--the beasts of
the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like Solomon, to
"speak of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on
the wall, of beasts also, and fowls, and creeping things, and fishes."
(1 King iv. 33.) He may be able to discourse of all the secrets of fire,
air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies ignorant of Bible truths, he
dies a miserable man! Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience.
Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All the sciences in the world
never smoothed down a dying pillow. No earthly philosophy ever supplied
hope in death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the prospect of
meeting a holy God. All these things are of the earth, earthy, and can
never raise a man above the earth's level. They may enable a man to
strut and fret his little season here below with a more dignified gait
than his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and enable
him to soar towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will
find at length that without Bible knowledge he has got no lasting
possession. Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after
death they will do him no good at all.
A man _may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved_. He may be unable
to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of geography
beyond the bounds of his own parish, and be utterly unable to say which
is nearest to England, Paris or New York. He may know nothing of
arithmetic, and not see any difference between a million and a thousand.
He may know nothing of history, not even of his own land, and be quite
ignorant whether his country owes most to Semiramis, Boadicea, or Queen
Elizabeth. He may know nothing of the affairs of his own times, and be
incapable of telling you whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the
Commander-in-Chief, or the Archbishop of Canterbury is managing the
national finances. He may know nothing of science, and its
discoveries,--and whether Julius Caesar won his victories with gunpowder,
or the apostles had a printing press, or the sun goes round the earth,
may be matters about which he has not an idea. And yet if that very man
has heard Bible truth with his ears, and believed it with his heart, he
knows enough to save his soul. He will be found at last with Lazarus in
Abraham's bosom, while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died
unconverted, is lost for ever.
There is much talk in these days about science and "useful knowledge."
But after all a knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that is
needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without money,
learning, health, or friends,--but without Bible knowledge he will never
get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds, and a memory
stored with all that mighty mind can grasp,--and yet, if he does not
know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of his soul for
ever. Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!
This is the Book about which I am addressing the readers of these pages
to-day. It is no light matter _what you do with such a book_. It
concerns the life of your soul. I summon you,--I charge you to give an
honest answer to my question. What are you doing with the Bible? Do you
read it? HOW READEST THOU?
III. In the third place, _no book in existence contains such important
matter as the Bible_.
The time would fail me if I were to enter fully into all the great
things which are to be found in the Bible, and only in the Bible. It is
not by any sketch or outline that the treasures of the Bible can be
displayed. It would be easy to fill this volume with a list of the
peculiar truths it reveals, and yet the half of its riches would be left
untold.
How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of God's
plan of salvation, and the way by which our sins can be forgiven! The
coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to save
sinners,--the atonement He has made by suffering in our stead, the just
for the unjust,--the complete payment He has made for our sins by His
own blood,--the justification of every sinner who simply believes on
Jesus,--the readiness of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to receive,
pardon, and save to the uttermost,--how unspeakably grand and cheering
are all these truths! We should know nothing of them without the Bible.
How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the
New Testament,--the man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture is
graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of His
miracles and His ministry,--His sayings and His doings,--His life and
His death,--His power and His love,--His kindness and His patience,--His
ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart. Blessed be God,
there is one thing in the Bible which the most prejudiced reader can
hardly fail to understand, and that is the character of Jesus Christ!
How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people! It
tells us of many who were of like passions with ourselves,--men and
women who had cares, crosses, families, temptations, afflictions,
diseases, like ourselves,--and yet "by faith and patience inherited the
promises," and got safe home. (Heb. vi. 12.) It keeps back nothing in
the history of these people. Their mistakes, their infirmities, their
conflicts, their experience, their prayers, their praises, their useful
lives, their happy deaths,--all are fully recorded. And it tells us the
God and Saviour of these men and women still waits to be gracious, and
is altogether unchanged.
How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It
tells us of men and women who had light, and knowledge, and
opportunities, like ourselves, and yet hardened their hearts, loved the
world, clung to their sins, would have their own way, despised reproof,
and ruined their own souls for ever. And it warns us that the God who
punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel, and Judas, and
Ananias and Sapphira, is a God who never alters, and that there is a
hell.