The Lord said: "Gideon, you have too many men yet. Take your men down to the brook and try them once more. All those who take the water up in their hands and drink as they pa.s.s by can stay; those who stoop down to drink can go back." Again he gave the word, and nine thousand seven hundred wheeled out of line and went to the rear, so that Gideon was left with three hundred men. But this handful of men whose hearts beat true to the G.o.d of heaven, and who were ready to go forward in His name, were worth more than all the others who were all the time sowing seeds of discontent and predicting defeat. Nothing will discourage an army like that. Nothing is more discouraging in a Church than to have a number of the people all the time expecting disaster and saying: "We do not think this effort will amount to anything; it is not according to our ideas."
It would be a good thing for the Church of G.o.d if all the fearful and faithless ones were to step to the rear, and let those who are full of faith and courage take their empty pitchers and go forward against the enemy. This little band of three hundred men who were left with Gideon routed the Midianites; but it was not their own might that gave them the victory. It was "the sword of the Lord and of Gideon." If we go on in the Name of the Lord, and trusting to His might, we shall succeed.
Before Moses went up to heaven he did all he could to encourage Joshua, to strengthen and cheer him. There was no sign of jealousy in the heart of Moses, although he was not permitted to go into the land.
He went up to the top of Pisgah and saw that it was a good land; and he tried to encourage Joshua to go forward and take possession of it.
After Moses had gone, we read that three times in one chapter G.o.d said to Joshua: "Be of good courage." G.o.d cheered his servant; "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life."
Soon after that Joshua took a walk around the walls of Jericho. As he walked around he saw a man stand before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua was not afraid, but he said: "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" His courage was rewarded, for the man replied: "As Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come." He had been sent to encourage him and to lead him on to victory.
So you will find all through the Scriptures that G.o.d uses those who have courage, and not those who are looking for defeat.
Another thought: I never knew a case where G.o.d used a discouraged man or woman to accomplish any great thing for Him. Let a minister go into the pulpit in a discouraged frame of mind and it becomes contagious.
It will soon reach the pews, and the whole church will become discouraged. So with a Sabbath-school teacher; I never knew a worker of any kind who was full of discouragement and who met with success in the Lord"s work. It seems as if G.o.d cannot make any use of such a man.
I remember a man telling me he preached for a number of years without any result. He used to say to his wife as they went to church that he knew the people would not believe anything he said; and there was no blessing. At last he saw his error; he asked G.o.d to help him, and took courage, and then the blessing came. "According to your faith it shall be unto you." This man had expected nothing and he got just what he expected. Dear friends, let us expect that G.o.d is going to use us. Let us have courage and go forward, looking to G.o.d to do great things.
Elijah on Mount Carmel was one man; Elijah under the juniper tree was quite another man. In the one case he was a giant, and nothing could stand before him. When he lost heart and got terrified at Jezebel"s message, and wished himself dead, G.o.d could not use him. The Lord had to go to him and say: "What doest thou here, Elijah?" I wish G.o.d would speak to many professing Christians who have their harps on the willows, and are out of communion with Him, so that they are of no use in His cause.
When Peter denied his Master he was a very different man from what he was on the day of Pentecost. He got out of communion with his Lord, and the word of a servant nearly frightened him out of his life. He denied his Master with oaths and cursing. How terribly a man falls when he loses faith and courage.
But he was restored; look at him on the day of Pentecost. If that maid whose question made him tremble had been present, and heard him preach the marvellous sermon recorded in the Acts, I can imagine she would be the most amazed person in all Jerusalem, "Why," she says, "I saw him a few days ago, and he was terribly alarmed at being called a disciple of Christ; now he stands up boldly for this same Christ; he has no shame now." G.o.d used him mightily on the day of Pentecost, as he preached to that vast congregation, some of whom were the very murderers of his Lord and Master. But he could not use Peter till he had repented of his cowardice and had been restored to faith and courage. So when any man who is working for Christ loses heart and gets discouraged, the Lord has to lay him aside.
I remember a number of years ago I got cast down for a good many weeks. One Sunday in particular I had preached and there did not seem to be any result. On the Monday I was very much cast down. I was sitting in my study and was looking at myself, brooding over my want of success. A young man called upon me, who had a Bible cla.s.s of 100 adults in the Sabbath-school which I conducted. As he came in I could see he was away upon the mountain top, while I was down in the valley.
Said he to me, "What kind of a day did you have yesterday?" "Very poor; I had no success, and I feel quite cast down. How did you get on?" "Oh, grandly; I never had a better day." "What was your subject?"
"I had the life and character of Noah. Did you ever preach on Noah?
Did you ever study up his life?" "Well, no; I do not know as ever I made it a special study." I thought I knew pretty well all there was about him in the Bible; you know all that is told us about him is contained in a few verses. "If you never studied it before, you had better do it now. It will do you good. Noah was a wonderful character."
When the young man went out I got my Bible and some other books, and read all I could find about Noah, I had not been reading long before the thought came stealing over me: Here was a man who toiled on for a hundred and twenty years and never had a single convert outside of his own family. Yet he did not get discouraged. I closed up my Bible; the cloud had gone; I started out and went to the noon prayer-meeting. I had not been there long when a man got up and said he had come from a little town in Illinois. On the day before he had admitted a hundred young converts to Church membership. As he was speaking I said to myself: "I wonder what Noah would have given if he could have heard that. He never had any such result as that to his labors."
Then in a little while a man who sat right behind me stood up. His hand was on the seat, and I felt it shake; I could realise that the man was trembling. He said: "I wish you would pray for me; I would like to become a Christian." Thought I to myself: "wonder what Noah would have given if he had heard that. He never heard a single soul asking G.o.d for mercy, yet he did not get discouraged." I have never hung my harp on the willows since that day. Let us ask G.o.d to take away the clouds of fear and unbelief; let us get out of Doubting Castle; let us move forward courageously in the name of our G.o.d and expect to see results.
If you cannot engage in any active work yourselves you can do a good deal by cheering on others. Some people not only do nothing, but they are all the time throwing discouragement on others, in every forward step they take. If you meet with them they seem to chill you through and through. I think I would as soon face the east wind in Edinburgh in the month of March, as come in contact with some of these so-called Christians. Perhaps they are speaking about some effort that has been made, and they say: "Well, yes, a good deal of work was done, but then many were not reached at all." Such and such a thing ought to have been done in a different way, and I know not what. They are all the time looking at the dark side.
Let us not give heed to these gloomy and discouraging remarks. In the name of our great Commander let us march on to battle and to victory.
There are some generals whose name alone is worth more than a whole army of ten thousand men. In our army in the Civil War there were some whose presence sent a cheer all along the line. As they pa.s.sed on cheer upon cheer went up. The men knew who was going to lead them, and they were sure of having success. "The boys" liked to fight under such generals as that. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord, and encourage each other; then we shall have good success.
We read in the book of First Chronicles that Joab cheered on those who were helping him in warfare. "Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our G.o.d; and let the Lord do that which is good in His sight." Let us go forward in this spirit, and the Lord will make us to triumph over our foes. If we cannot be in the battle ourselves let us not seek to discourage others. A Highland chief of the M"Gregor clan fell wounded at the battle of Sheriff-Muir. Seeing their leader fall, the clan wavered, and gave the foe an advantage. The old chieftain, perceiving this, raised himself on his elbow, while the blood streamed from his wounds, and cried out, "I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you to see you do your duty." This roused them to new energy and almost superhuman effort. So, when our strength fails and our hearts sink within us, the Captain of our salvation cries: "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world. I will never leave nor forsake thee. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
A friend of mine was telling me that a worker came to him very much cast down. Everything was going wrong, and he was greatly depressed.
My friend turned upon him and said: "Do you have any doubt about the final result of things? Is Jesus Christ going to set up His Kingdom, and reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth? Is He going to succeed or not?" The man said that of course Christ was going to triumph; he had never thought of it in that light. If people would sometimes take a look into the future and remember the promises, they would not be cast down. Dear friends, Christ is going to reign. Let us go out and do the work He has given us to do. If it happens to be dark round about us, let us remember it is light somewhere else. If we are not succeeding just as we would like, others, it may be, are succeeding better.
Think of the opportunities we have, compared with the early Christians. Look at the mighty obstacles they had to encounter--how they had often to seal their testimony with their blood. See what Peter had to fight against on the day of Pentecost, when the people looked on him with scorn. The disciples in those days had no committee to put up large buildings for their use, in which they could preach.
They had no band of ministers sitting near by, to pray for them, and help them and cheer them on. Yet look at the wonderful results of Peter"s preaching on the day of Pentecost.
Look at the dense darkness that surrounded Martin Luther in Germany.
Look at the difficulties that John Knox had to meet with in Scotland.
Yet these men did a mighty and a lasting work for G.o.d in their day and generation; we are reaping the blessed fruits of their faithful labors even now. Look at the darkness that brooded over England in the days of Wesley and Whitefield. See how G.o.d blessed their efforts; and yet they had a great many obstacles to contend with that we do not have in these days. They went forward with strong and courageous hearts, and the Lord gave them success.
I believe if our forefathers who lived in the last century could come back to this world in the flesh, they would be amazed to see the wonderful opportunities that we have. We have a great many advantages they did not possess, and probably did not dream of. We live in a grand and glorious day. It took John Wesley months to cross the Atlantic; now we can do it a few days. Think of the power of the printing press in these days; we can print and scatter sermons to all the corners of the earth. Look at the marvellous facilities that we have in the electric telegraph, Then we can take the railway train and go and preach at a distance of hundreds of miles in a few hours. Am I not right in saying that we live in a glorious day? Let us not be discouraged, but let us use all these wonderful opportunities, and honor G.o.d by expecting great things. If we do we will not be disappointed. G.o.d is ready and willing to work, if we are ready and willing to let Him, and to be used by Him.
It may be that some are old and feeble, and are saying to themselves: "I wish I were young again; I would like to go out into the thick of the battle." But any one, young or old, can go into the homes of the people and invite them to come out to the meetings. There are large halls everywhere with plenty of room; there are many who will help sing the Gospel. The Gospel will also be preached, and there are many people who might be induced to come, who will not go out to the regular places of worship.
If you are not able to go and invite the people, as I have said, you can give a word of cheer to others, and wish them G.o.dspeed. Many a time when I have come down from the pulpit, some old man, trembling on the very verge of another world, living perhaps on borrowed time, has caught hold of my hand, and in a quavering voice said, "G.o.d bless you!" How the words have cheered and helped me. Many of you can speak a word of encouragement to the younger friends, if you are too feeble to work yourselves.
Then again, you can pray that G.o.d will bless the words that are spoken and the efforts that are made. It is very easy to preach when others are all the time praying for you and sympathizing with you, instead of criticising and finding fault.
You have heard the story, I suppose, of the child who was rescued from the fire that was raging in a house away up in the fourth story. The child came to the window, and as the flames were shooting up higher and higher it cried out for help. A fireman started up the ladder of the fire-escape to rescue the child from its dangerous position. The wind swept the flames near him, and it was getting so hot that he wavered, and it looked as if he would have to return without the child. Thousands looked on, and their hearts quaked at the thought of the child having to perish in the fire, as it must do if the fireman did not reach it. Some one in the crowd cried, "Give him a cheer!"
Cheer after cheer went up, and as the man heard them he gathered fresh courage. Up he went into the midst of the smoke and the fire, and brought down the child in safety. If you cannot go and rescue the perishing yourselves, you can at least pray for those who do, and cheer them on. If you do, the Lord will bless the effort.
"They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, "Be of good courage.""
We are living, we are dwelling In a grand and awful time, In an age on ages telling-- To be living is sublime.
Oh, let all the soul within you For the truth"s sake go abroad!
Strike! let every nerve and sinew Tell on ages--tell for G.o.d!
_c.o.xe_
CHAPTER IV.
FAITH REWARDED.
"And it came to pa.s.s on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy; and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in, because of the mult.i.tude, they went upon the house-top, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.""
All the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, record this miracle. I have noticed that when any two or three of the Gospel writers record a miracle it is to bring out some important truth. It seems to me that the truth the Lord would teach us here is this: The honor He put upon the faith of these four men who brought the palsied man to him for healing. Whether the palsied man himself had any faith we are not told; it was when He saw "_their_ faith" that His power was put forth to cure the sick of the palsy.
I want to say to all Christian workers, that if the Lord sees our faith for those whom we wish to be blessed, He will honor it. He has never disappointed the faith of any of His children yet. You cannot find an instance in the Bible, where any man or woman has exercised true faith in G.o.d, where it has not been honored. Nothing that the Savior found when He was on this sin-cursed earth pleased Him so much as to see the faith of His disciples; nothing refreshed His heart so much.
We read in the Gospel narrative that there was a great stir in the town of Capernaum at this time. A few weeks before, the Savior had been cast out of his native town of Nazareth. He had come down to Capernaum, and the whole country was greatly moved. His star was just rising, and His fame was being spread abroad. Peter"s wife"s mother had been healed by a word. The servant of an officer in the Roman army had been raised up from a sick bed, and the Savior had performed many other wonderful miracles. Men had come to Capernaum from every town in Galilee, and Judaea, and from Jerusalem. They had gathered together to look into these wonderful events that were occurring. The voice of John the Baptist had been ringing through the land, proclaiming to the people that a Prophet would soon make His appearance, whose shoe latchet he was not worthy to unloose. While the Baptist was telling out this message the Prophet Himself made His appearance in the northern part of the country, and all these wonderful things were transpiring.
The Pharisees and doctors of the law had come to Capernaum to look into the reports that were spread abroad. The house where they were gathered was filled to overflowing, and these wise men were listening to the Savior"s teaching. Many of them hardly believed a word that He said. It may be there were some believing ones among these wise men.
Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea may have been there: if so, they were not yet known as disciples of Jesus.
The writer of the Gospel says: "The power of the Lord was present to heal them." We are not told, however, that one of them was healed. So it is very often now. The power of the Lord may be present to heal in these gatherings; yet many will come and go, wondering what it all means, and without being healed of their spiritual diseases. What we need is to have the power of G.o.d in our midst.
A man came into one of our meetings in London. He got into a part of the hall where he could not hear a word of what was spoken or sung; he could not even hear the text or the portion of Scripture that was read. There he had to sit through the service, so to speak, shut up alone with himself. A little while after he told some one that as he sat there G.o.d had revealed Himself to him, and spoken peace to his soul. There is such a thing as the power of G.o.d being present to heal, though men may not hear the voice of their fellowman.
These four men were real workers. They were worth more than a houseful of these Pharisees and doctors of the law who came merely to criticise and look on. I do not know who the four men were, but I have always had a great admiration for them. It may be one of them had been blind and the Lord had given him his sight. The other may have been lame from his birth; when the Master restored him to strength, he thought he would like to use it in bringing some one else to be healed. The third man may have been a cured leper, and he wished to help in getting some other afflicted one cured. Perhaps this palsied man was his next-door neighbor. The fourth man, it may be, had been deaf and dumb, and he thought he would employ his hearing and his speech in helping some one else. These four young converts said to themselves: "Let us bring our sick neighbor to Christ." The palsied man may have said he had no faith in Christ. But these four friends told him how they had been cured, and if the Master could heal them surely He could heal a palsied man.
Now it seems to me nothing will wake up a man quicker than to have four persons after him in one day. People are sometimes afraid that they will entrench on each other"s ground if more than one worker happens to call at the same house. For my part, I wish that every family had about forty invitations to each meeting.
I lately heard of a man, a non-churchgoer, who did not believe in the Bible or religious things. Some one who was distributing tickets asked him if he would go to the meetings. He got quite angry. No, he would not go; he did not believe in the thing at all; he would not be seen in such a crowd. A second man came along, not knowing that any one had been before him, and asked if he would accept a ticket for the meetings. The man was still angry, and, as we would sometimes say, he "gave him a piece of his mind." He told him to keep his tickets.
By-and-by a third man called and said: "Would you take a ticket for these meetings?" The man by this time had got thoroughly waked up, but yet he declined to receive the ticket. He went into a shop to buy something. The man in the shop put a ticket for the meetings into the packet; when the customer got home and opened it, lo and behold there was a ticket! He got so roused up that he went, not to our meeting, but to a neighboring church. I do not know that he has come clean out, but I believe he is, at any rate, in a hopeful condition.
If one visit does not wake up a man whom you want to reach, send a second visitor after him; if that has no effect, send a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh; go on in that way day after day. It is a great thing to save one man, to get him out of the pit, to have his feet set fast on a rock, and a new song put in his mouth. Nothing will rouse an indifferent man quicker than to have a number of friends after him. If you cannot bring him yourself, get others to help you.