REDEEMER.
Supposing I saw a man tumble into a river, and I were to jump in and rescue him, I should be a saviour to him--I should have saved him. But when I brought the man ash.o.r.e, I should probably leave him, and do nothing further.
But the Lord does more. He not only saves us, but He redeems us--that is, buys us back. He ransoms us from the power of sin, as if I should promise to watch over that rescued man for ever, and see that he did not again fall into the water. The Lord not only saves us from spiritual death, but He redeems us for ever that death can never touch us.
LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES.
When I was at Richmond, U.S., the coloured people were going to have a meeting. It was the first day of their freedom. I went to the African church, and never before or since heard such bursts of native eloquence. "Mother," said one, "rejoice to-day. Your little child has been sold from you for the last time; your posterity are for ever free. Glory to G.o.d in the highest! Young men, you have heard the driver"s whip for the last time; you are free to-day! Young maidens, you have been put up on the auction-block for the last time!" They spoke right out, they shouted for joy; their prayers had been answered, it was the gospel to them. In like manner Jesus Christ proclaims liberty to the captives. Some have accepted it; some, like the poor negroes, scarcely believe the good tidings; but it is none the less true. Christ has come to redeem us from the slavery of sin.
Now, who will accept of that redemption? There was one coloured woman, a servant in an inn in the Southern States, who could not believe she was free. "Be"s I free, or be I not?" she asked of a visitor. Her master told her she was not, her coloured brethren told her she was.
For two years she had been free without knowing it. She represents a great many in the Church of G.o.d to-day. They can have liberty, and yet they don"t know it.
3. Again, Christ is our
DELIVERER.
The children of Israel were not only saved and redeemed from the bondage of the Egyptians, but they were also _delivered_, that they should not be led back again into bondage. Many are afraid; they think they are not able to hold on, and therefore shrink from making a profession. But Christ is able to keep you from falling; He is able to deliver you in the dark hour of trial and temptation, from every evil device of Satan, and from the snare of the fowler.
In Isaiah xlix. 24, we read: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children." I will save him; I will deliver him. The children of Israel were _saved_ from the cruel bondage of Egypt, they were led out of the land of Goschen; but still they were not fully _delivered_. The great host of the Egyptians was thundering behind them. It was not till they had pa.s.sed safely through the Red Sea, which closing behind them, swallowed up the host of the enemy--it was not till then that they were free, that they were delivered.
And similarly in our times of danger we shall find it to be true of Christ, "He delivered my soul"; and again in Job x.x.xiii. 24, "Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child"s: he shall return to the days of his youth! he shall pray unto G.o.d, and He will be favourable unto him: and he shall see His face with joy: for He will render unto man His righteousness. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light."
Here we have the saving, the redeeming, the deliverance from the pit.
Man is fallen into the deep pit, he is kept there a lawful captive by one who is mighty. If he is to be brought back from the darkness of the pit to see the light, then we must have a ransom. Here G.o.d comes forward, and says, "I have found a ransom." Christ is the ransom, and He will deliver us. Sound out the cry, "Christ is our deliverer." He is mighty to save, He is able to deliver.
A LEADER.
4. But now we need something more. Look back again to the children of Israel; when they had marched gloriously through the Red Sea, they had been saved, redeemed, and delivered; but was that all they required?
No; they had been brought into the wilderness. What now do they need?
They must have a way to go in the pathless desert. They required a leader. Then Christ is the way and the leader. Are we in difficulties, in doubt, or in perplexity? Christ is our way. "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John x.).
I have heard some say, "Well, if I am converted, and become religious, I don"t know what church I would go to. There are so many different churches and denominations. I really don"t know which is the right one." Hence some people are bewildered, and do not know which is the true way. Well, I would say to such, Look only to Him who says,
"I AM THE WAY."
He is the only true way, and if you want to reach the kingdom you have only to follow Him. We may be in darkness, but He is able to lead us in the right path. He is the Shepherd of His flock. He will go before us and lead us. He is calling upon us to arise and follow Him, and He will lead us by a way we know not; He will guide us to the green pastures if we only look to Him.
THE PILLAR OF CLOUD.
All that the children of Israel had to do was to follow the cloud. If the cloud rested, they rested; if the cloud moved forward, then they moved. I can imagine that the first thing Moses did, when the grey dawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the cloud was still over the camp. By night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up the camp, and filling them with a sense of G.o.d"s protecting care; by day it was a cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun"s rays, and sheltering them from the sight of their enemies.
Israel"s Shepherd could lead them through the pathless desert. Why?
Because He made it. He knew every grain of sand in it. They could not have a better leader through the wilderness than its Creator.
And, sinner, can you, in all your difficulties or doubts and fears, have a better leader than Jehovah? Oh, I do like that good old hymn:
"Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more."
Yes, that is the true prayer of the bewildered sinner, G.o.d is _able_, and still more, He is _willing_, to lead us, and to feed us. "Thou gayest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst" (Nehemiah ix. 15). He is still as able to lead any of us as He was four thousand years ago to lead the children of Israel, "For I am the Lord; I change not." To every one of us He says, "Fear not, I will lead thee; I will help thee." Wonderful thing, is it not, to have G.o.d to help us on our way?
In our Western countries, when men go out hunting into the dense backwoods, where there are no roads or paths of any kind, they take their hatchet and cut a little chip out of the bark of the trees as they go along, and then they easily find their way by these "blazes."
They call it "blazing the way." And so, if you will allow me the expression, Christ has "blazed the way." He has travelled the road Himself, and knowing the way, He tells us to follow Him, and He will lead us safe on high.
5. Now we have seen Christ is our Saviour, Redeemer, Deliverer, Leader, or Way. But He is more than all that;
HE IS OUR LIGHT.
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." He shall have the very "light of life." Yes, it is the privilege of every Christian to walk in an unclouded sky.
But do we walk thus in an unclouded sky? No, most Christians are often in darkness. If I were to ask this congregation if they were all walking in the light, I believe there is scarcely one, if he spoke the true feeling of his heart, but would reply, "No, I am often in darkness." Why is that? It is because we are not following Christ, and keeping close to Him. We are much in darkness when we might be in the light.
Suppose the windows of this building were all closed, and we were complaining of the darkness, what would any one say to us? Why, they would say, "Admit the light; open the windows all round, and you"ll soon have plenty of light." Similarly we must let in Christ, who is the light, and open our minds to receive Him, and we shall soon walk in light. There is a great deal of darkness at the present time, even in the hearts of G.o.d"s own people. But follow Him, and then you will have plenty of light. Then Christ will show to each of us that He is "The Light"; and He will do more, He will set us on fire with His light, that we also may shine as lights in this dark world.
May G.o.d help His own people to
SHINE BRIGHTLY,
to flash out of darkness, that men may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. But remember, the world hates the light. Christ was the light of the world, and the world sought to extinguish it at Calvary. Now He has left His people to shine. "Ye are the light of the world." He has left us here to shine. He means us to be "living epistles, known and read of all men." The world is certain to watch, and to read you and me. If we are inconsistent, then you may be sure the world will take occasion to stumble at us.
The world finds plenty of difficulties on the way; let us see that we Christians do not add more stumbling-blocks by our un-Christlike walk.
G.o.d help us to keep our lights burning clear and brilliant! Out West a friend of mine was walking along one of the streets one dark night, and saw approaching him a man with a lantern. As he came up close to him he noticed by the bright light that the man had got no eyes. He went past, but the thought struck him, "Surely that man is blind." He turned round, and said, "My friend, are you not blind?" "Yes." "Then what have you got the lantern for?" "I carry the lantern that people may not stumble over me, of course," said the blind man. Let us take a lesson from that blind man, and hold up our light, burning with the clear radiance of heaven, that men may not stumble over us.
6. Objectors have said that it"s all moonshine about Christ"s people being lights on the way. Well, that"s just what we believe; we reflect the light of Christ.
REFLECTED LIGHT.
Just like the moonshine, our light is borrowed light. When we are living in the light of our Saviour we shine with His light: somewhat like the face of Moses, which shone after he had been in the mount with G.o.d. Let us live in an atmosphere of heaven, and we cannot help shining. But whenever we get downcast and weak in faith, then we are sure to lose our light.
I remember during the American war I was in a prayer meeting. We were all very dark and gloomy. Things had been going against us for some time. At last an old man got up, and said, "What is the matter with us, that we are downhearted and sad? It is simply our lack of faith."
Moses, Joshua, and David were men strong in faith. They believed, and therefore G.o.d honoured them. Whence comes our want of faith? G.o.d is not dead. He is as powerful, as willing, to help to-day as ever He was. Why, then, are we not full of faith in Him? It is G.o.d-dishonouring to forget that He still has power, although our armies are defeated, and all seems dark and gloomy.
GET ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
I will tell you what happened to me some time ago when I was out West.
I wanted to reach the summit of one of the Western mountains. I had been told that sunrise was very beautiful when seen from the summit.
We got up to the half-way house one afternoon, where we were to rest till midnight, and then set out for the top. Soon a little party of us started with a good guide. Before a great while it began to rain, and then it became a regular storm of thunder and lightning. I thought there was little use in going on, and said to the guide, "Guess we"d better turn back; we won"t see anything this morning, with all these clouds." "Oh," said the guide, "I expect we"ll soon get through these clouds, and get above them, and then we"ll have a glorious view." So we went on, whilst the thunders were rumbling right about our ears.
But soon we began to get above the thunder-cloud; the air was quite clear, and when the sun rose we had a splendid view of his rays as they tinged the hilltops; and then, as the glorious sunshine began to break on where we stood, we could see the dark cloud far beneath our mountain height. That"s what G.o.d"s people want--to get into the clear air above the stormy clouds, and to
CLIMB HIGHER
away up to the mountain peak. There you"ll catch the first rays from the Sun of Righteousness far above the clouds and mists. Some of you may be in great darkness and gloom; but fear not, climb higher, get nearer to the Master, and soon you"ll catch His bright rays on your own soul, and they will sparkle back upon others.
KEEP THE LOWER LIGHTS BURNING.
We must live as children of the light, not as children of the darkness. If we are dark and sorrowful, how is the world to know that we are children of peace, and joy, and gladness? Our determination must be to keep our lights burning. A few years ago, at the mouth of Cleveland harbour there were two lights, one at each side of the bay, called the upper and lower lights; and, to enter the harbour safely by night, vessels must sight both of these lights. These Western lakes are more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean. One wild, stormy night a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbour. The captain and the pilot were anxiously watching for the lights. By and by the pilot was heard to say, "Do you see the lower lights?" "No,"
was the reply; "but I fear we have pa.s.sed them." "Ah, there are the lights," said the pilot! "and they must be, from the bluff on which they stand, the upper lights. We have pa.s.sed the lower lights, and have lost our chance of getting into the harbour." What was to be done? They looked back, and saw the dim outline of the lower lighthouse against the sky. The lights had gone out. "Can"t you turn her head round?" "No; the night is too wild for that. She won"t answer her helm." The storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. They tried again to make for the harbour, but they went crash against the rocks, and sank to the bottom. Very few escaped; the great majority found a watery grave. Why? Simply because the lower lights had gone out.
And with us the upper lights are all right. Christ Himself is the upper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is, _keep the lower lights burning_, that is what we have to do. In the place G.o.d has put us He expects us to shine, to be living witnesses, to be a bright and shining light. While we are here our work is to shine for Him, and He will lead us safe to the sunlit sh.o.r.e of Canaan, where there is no more night.