7. But Christ is more than our Light on the way; for He is
OUR TEACHER.
What a wonderful thing to have a teacher sent from heaven. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of G.o.d, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James i. 5).
"If any lack wisdom": I am afraid there are a great many of us who lack wisdom, and even the best of us at times will be in perplexity.
There are moments in the life of us all when we seem in a fix; we just stand still, and say, "What shall I do? I don"t know what is the best way." Oh, leave it with G.o.d, He will Himself be our teacher!
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and _learn of me_." Here is a wonderful teacher. He has had a school for many thousand years; He has had the best men in His school; but still there"s room for another scholar there. His college is not too full yet, and the teacher is the One sent from heaven. Any one, every one in this a.s.sembly may join this school. Jesus will welcome you there. Are you in doubt about anything? ask Jesus; He will tell you.
Anxious sinner, seek the good teacher, as Nicodemus did: "Master, we know thou art a teacher sent from G.o.d." If you seek Him thus He will direct you. He will keep you, and lead you into green pastures and by the still waters. I met a woman the other day who was full of infidel doubts and fancies. She could not believe. Reading for some time infidel works had thrown a dark and gloomy pall over her mind. It made me sad to see her in such a case. Some of you may be like her. I wish you would take Christ as your teacher, and then all darkness would flee away.
Christ is able to teach us. See how He taught the disciples. He never wearied of their learning from Him. So He will teach us if we will only listen to Him.
THE OLD JUDGE CONVERTED.
I remember, as I was coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one of our American cities a few years ago, a lady said she wished to speak to me; her voice trembled with emotion, and I saw at once that she was heavily burdened by something or other. She said she had long been praying for her husband, and she wanted to know if I would go to see him; she thought it might do him some good. What is his name?
"Judge---," and she mentioned one of the most eminent politicians in the State. "I have heard of him," I said; "I am afraid I need not go, he is a booked infidel; I cannot argue with him." "That is not what he wants," said the lady. "He has had too much argument already. Go and speak to him about his soul." I said I would, although I was not very hopeful. I went to his house, was admitted to his room, and introduced myself as having come to speak to him about salvation. "Then you have come on a very foolish errand," said he; "there"s no use in attacking me, I tell you that. I am proof against all these things, I don"t believe in them."
Well, I saw it was no use arguing with him; so I said, "I"ll pray for you, and I want you to promise me that when you are converted you"ll let me know." "Oh, yes, I"ll let you know," he said in a tone of sarcasm. "Oh, yes, I"ll let you know when I"m converted!" I left him, but I continued to pray for him. Some time subsequently I heard that the old judge was converted. I was again preaching in that city a while after that, and when I had done talking the judge himself came to me, and said: "I promised I"d let you know when I was converted; I have come to tell you of it. Have you not heard of it?" "Yes; but I would like to hear from you how it happened."
"Well," said the judge, "one night, some time after you called on me, my wife had gone to the meeting; there was no one in the house but the servants. I sat by the drawing-room fire, and I began to think: Suppose my wife is right, that there is a heaven and a h.e.l.l; and suppose she is on the right way to heaven, where am I going? I just dismissed the thought. But a second thought came: Surely He who created me is able to teach me. Yes, I thought, that is so. Then why not ask Him? I struggled against it, but at last, though I was too proud to get down on my knees, I just said, "Father, all is dark; Thou who created me canst teach me."
Somehow, the more I prayed the worse I felt. I was very sad. I did not wish my wife to come home and find me thus, so I slipped away to bed, and when she came into the room I pretended to be asleep. She got down on her knees and prayed. I knew she was praying for me, and that for many long years she had been doing so. I felt as if I could have jumped up and knelt beside her; but no, my proud heart would not let me, so I lay still, pretending to be asleep. But I didn"t sleep that night. I soon changed my prayer; it was now, "O G.o.d, save me; take away this terrible burden."
I didn"t believe in Christ even yet. I thought I"d go right straight to the Father Himself. But the more I prayed I only became the more miserable; my burden grew heavier. The next morning I did not wish to see my wife, so I said "I was not well, and wouldn"t wait for breakfast." I went to the office, and when the boy came I sent him home for a holiday. When the clerks came I told them they might go for the day. I closed the office doors: I wanted to be alone with G.o.d. I was almost frantic in my agony of heart. I cried to G.o.d to take away this load of sin. At last I fell on my knees, and cried, "For Jesus Christ"s sake take away this load of sin." At length I went to my wife"s pastor, who had been praying with her for my conversion for years, and the same minister who had prayed with my mother before she died. As I walked down the street the verse that my mother had taught me came into my mind, "Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Well, I thought, I have asked G.o.d, and here I am going to ask a man. I won"t go. I believe I am a Christian. I turned and went home. I met my wife in the hall as I entered. I caught her hand, and said, "I am a Christian now." She turned quite pale; she had been praying for twenty-one years for me, and yet she could not believe the answer had come. We went into our room, and knelt down by the very bedside where she had so often knelt to pray for her husband. There we erected our family altar; and for the first time our voices mingled in prayer. And I can only say that the last three months have been the happiest months ever I spent in my life."
Since then that judge has lived a consistent Christian life; and all because he came to G.o.d, asking for guidance.
If there is one here to-day whose mind is filled with such infidel thoughts, go honestly to G.o.d, and He will teach you the right way through the dark wilderness of infidelity. He won"t leave you in darkness or doubt. It is the devil"s own work to lead men into such doubts; well he knows if he once gets them there he has them pretty safe.
It is Satan"s work to keep you in ignorance or doubt. It is G.o.d"s work to teach you. The teacher is Christ; He is appointed by G.o.d for this work. G.o.d help us all to accept Him as our teacher.
8. Now we have seen Christ as our Saviour, Redeemer, Deliverer, Leader, Light, and Teacher. But He is still more; He is also
OUR SHEPHERD.
A very sweet thought it is to me, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want."
There is not one here, except the very babes, who does not understand the work of a shepherd. He watches over his flock, protects them from danger, feeds them, leads them into the best pastures. In fact, the 23rd Psalm is just a statement of the duties of a good shepherd: "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want," etc.
You want to be fed; are you going to wander about seeking something to satisfy the cravings of your soul? Then, I tell you, you never will find anything to satisfy the longings of your heart. The world cannot, and never could, satisfy a hungry soul. The Lord Jesus can--He is the true Shepherd. He is seeking to restore your soul, to lead you back to the paths of righteousness. Even to death will He lead you, and safely through its shadow guide you to a better land. Mother, father, will you claim Him as your Shepherd?
Young man, young woman, will you have Him as your Shepherd?
My little child, will you have Jesus as your Shepherd? He will lead safely and softly.
You can, all of you, if you will. For "G.o.d gave Him up freely for us all," that He might have us for His flock. He will lead us through life, down to the banks of the Jordan; He will lead us across the dark river into His kingdom. He is a tender, loving Shepherd.
I sometimes meet people in the anxious inquiry-room who are nourishing hard, bitter feelings against G.o.d, generally because they have been afflicted. A mother said to me the other day, "Ah, Mr. Moody, G.o.d has been unjust to me; He has come and taken away my child." Dear afflicted mothers, has G.o.d not removed your children to a pure and happy life? You may not understand it now, but you will by and by. He wants to lead you up there.
THE EASTERN SHEPHERD.
A friend of mine, who had been in eastern lands, told me he saw a shepherd who wanted his flock to cross a river. He went into the water himself and called them; but no, they would not follow him into the water. What did he do? Why, he girded up his loins and lifted a little lamb under each arm, and plunged right into the stream, and crossed it without even looking back. Whenever he lifted the lambs, the old sheep looked up into his face and began to bleat for them; but when he plunged into the water the dams plunged after him, and then the whole flock followed. When they got to the other side he put down the lambs, and they were quickly joined by their mothers, and there was a happy meeting.
My friend says he noticed the pastures on the other side were much better and the fields greener; and on this account the shepherd was leading them across. Our great Palestine Shepherd does that. That child which He has taken from the earth is but removed to green pastures of Canaan, and the Shepherd means to draw your hearts after it, to teach you to "set your affections on things above." When He has taken your little Mary, Edith, or Julia, accept it as a call to look upward and beyond. You, mother, are you weeping bitter tears for your little one? Do not weep! Your child has gone to the place where there is neither weeping nor sorrow. Would you have it return? Surely never.
Christ is our Shepherd--faithful and loving. Though sickness, or trouble, or even death itself, should come to our house, and claim our dearest ones, still they are not lost, but only gone before. G.o.d help each one of us to have Him as our Shepherd.
If time permitted, I should like to take up the subject of Christ as our Justification, our Wisdom, our Righteousness, the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother; but it would take a whole eternity to tell what Christ is to His people, and what He does for them.
I remember when I was preaching on this subject in Scotland, after I had done, I said to a man that "I was sorry I could not finish the subject for want of time." "Finish the subject," said the Scotchman, "why, that would require all eternity, and even then it would not be complete; it will be the occupation of heaven."
9. Once more, let us look at Christ as
OUR BURDEN-BEARER.
Oh, I love to think of Him as the bearer of our burdens as well as our sin-bearer. He carries our sins, although they are more numerous than the hairs of our heads. Great and terrible as these burdens are, G.o.d has laid them all on Jesus.
"O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head!
Our load was laid on Thee."
That aspect of His burden-bearing we have already looked at in His work as Saviour and Redeemer. I wish now to take up the sweet thought, which has been a great comfort to me.
"Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Glorious, is it not, to know we have such a Saviour? Can you feel that He has lifted your burden off your shoulders on to His own shoulder? Then you will feel light in heart.
A LIGHT HEART.
On one occasion, after I had been talking this way, a woman came forward, and said, "Oh, Mr. Moody, it"s all very well for you to talk like that, about a _light heart_. But you are a young man, and if you had a heavy burden like me you would talk differently. I could not talk in that way, my burden is too great." I replied, "But it"s not too great for Jesus." "Oh," she said, "I cannot cast it on Him." "Why not? surely it is not too great for Him. It is not that He is feeble.
But it is because you will not leave it to Him. You"re like many others. They will not leave it with Him. They go about hugging their burden, and yet crying out against it. What the Lord wants is, you to leave it with Him, to let Him carry it for you. Then you will have a light heart, sorrow will flee away, and there will be no more sighing.
What is your burden, my friend, that you cannot leave with Christ?"
She replied, "I have a son who is a wanderer on the face of the earth.
None but G.o.d knows where he is." "Cannot Christ find him, and bring him back?" "I suppose He can." "Then go and tell Jesus, and ask Him to forgive you for doubting His power and willingness; you have no right to mistrust Him." She went away much comforted, and I believe she ultimately had her wandering boy restored to her!
A MOTHER"S PRAYER ANSWERED.
This circ.u.mstance reminds me of a pious father and mother in our country, whose eldest son had gone to Chicago to a situation. A neighbour of theirs was in the city on some business, and he met the young man reeling along the streets drunk. He thought, "How am I to tell his parents?" When he returned to his village, he went and called out the father, and told him. It was a terrible blow to that father, but he said nothing to the mother till the little ones had all gone to rest; the servants had retired, and all was quiet in that little farm on the Western prairies. They drew up their chairs to the little drawing-room table, and then he told her the sad news. "Our boy has been seen drunk on the streets of Chicago--drunk." Ah, that mother was sorely hurt; they did not sleep much that night, but spent the hours in fervent prayers for their boy. About daybreak the mother felt an inward conviction that all would be well. She told the father "she had cast it on the Lord, had left her son with Jesus, and she felt He would save him." One week from that time the young man left Chicago, took a journey of three hundred miles into the country; and when he reached his home, he walked in, and said, "Mother, I"ve come home to ask you to pray for me." Ah, her prayer had reached heaven; she had cast her burden on Jesus, and He had borne it for her. He took the burden, presented her prayer sprinkled with the atoning blood, and got it answered. In two days that young man returned to Chicago rejoicing in the Saviour. What a wonderful thing it is to have Christ as our burden-bearer! How easy, how light do our cares become when cast upon Him!
Do you say Christ is nothing to you? If so, it is only because you won"t have Him. He is to all who will accept Him a Saviour from death, a Redeemer from the power of sin, a Deliverer from our enemies, a Leader through the wilderness; He is the way Himself, He is Light in the darkness, He is a Teacher to His people, He is the Shepherd of His flock, our Justification, Wisdom, Righteousness, Elder Brother, Burden-bearer. He is in fact "Our all in all."
Then come to Christ; oh, come to-day, The Father, Son, and Spirit say, The Bride repeats the call, For He will cleanse your guilty stains, His love will soothe your weary pains, For Christ is All in All.
NAAMAN THE SYRIAN
Read 2 Kings v.