Comfort For a New Year (James Smith, 1856)

2 Samuel 22:47

“The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.” 

We live in trying times. The new year opens, as no new year has opened to us of late. Our country is at war. Provisions are scant. The future, though concealed from our view, appears to be hung with clouds. It is probable that there will be great changes. Many fears will be awakened. Many hearts will be wounded. The faith of many of the Lord's people will be deeply tried. Satan will be busy. Our principles will be put to the test. But amidst all, we, as believers in Jesus, have one comfort, "The Lord lives!" There will be no change in him.

His Word will remain true, 
his throne will be unshaken, and 
his purposes rest undisturbed.

He will have his way in the whirlwind and storm, and make a path for himself in the deep waters. Yes, Jehovah is immutably the same, and he is our God. Ours by covenant engagement. Ours by promise and by oath. Ours in Jesus, his beloved Son. He is the object of our hope and love. His bosom will be our resting-place, his arm our defense, and his proviilence our friend. Unspeakable privilege! Unparalleled mercy! Jehovah, in all his greatness and glory, in all his goodness and grace, is our God. And as our God he ever lives, ever reigns, and performs all things for us. Here is then —

An Encouraging Fact, with which to enter upon a new year, "The Lord lives!" Friends may die, the nearest and dearest of our friends; and most probably some of them will die this year. Our relatives may die, the wife may lose her husband, the husband may lose his wife, parents may lose their children. Oh, how many wives will be left widows, and children orphans, this year! But, the Lord lives, and that should comfort us under all. Church members may die, the most holy, the most useful, those upon whom the prosperity of the church seems to depend; but the Lord can do without any of them, and carry on his cause in their absence, as well as by their help. Ministers may die, the most exemplary, and the most successful. Many of our church leaders will be taken home this year. Many of our promising young men may be called away likewise. Many a pulpit will be vacated, and many a church will be left without a pastor — but the Great Shepherd lives, and his church is safe, his cause must go on. He is not dependent upon men, or ministers, to carry on his cause — and he often proves this to us, by removing early those who promise most. He can raise up any number and any kind of ministers he chooses; and, blessed be his name, he will raise up all that he needs.

If, therefore, during this year, dear friends are called away, if our most valuable relatives are taken home, if the active members of our churches are removed, or even if our preachers and pastors die — let us remember, "The Lord lives!" This will give us living comfort amidst dying circumstances, and dying friends.

Our gourds may wither, our idols may be torn from us — but "the Lord lives!" and living — he loves all his people. His dispensations may change — but his love never. Fixed on his people in past eternity — fixed on his people as viewed in Jesus — it remains immutably the same. Everything outside of God will change; but his love to his people is himself loving them; it is his nature, it is himself; and he is immutably the same.

I may lose the affection of my fellow-man — but God will still love me; for he rests in his love. Whom he loves — he loves to the end. While he lives — he loves his people; and as he ever lives — he ever loves.

Oh, consoling truth, amidst all the toils, trials, troubles, and temptations of the coming year — the living God will continue to love me! Love me infinitely! Love me so as to cause all things to work together for my good!

"The Lord lives!" and living takes an interest in all the affairs of his people. Having numbered the very hairs of their heads — he considers nothing too insignificant, nothing too trivial to interest him — if it affects them. Believer, your God will take an interest in your every-day affairs, and he wishes to hear from you in reference to them all. Hence the direction, "In everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." He will look to all that concerns you, and desires to help you in every situation. He bids you cast all your cares upon him, assuring you that he cares for you. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

"The Lord lives!" and living, will listen to all the sighs, cries, groans, and prayers of his people. Not one will escape his notice. Each will touch his heart and awaken his sympathy. "I have heard," said he of old, "the groanings of my people who are in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them." Yes, poor, tried, troubled Christian, your God will hear your cries, regard your prayers, fulfill his promises, and end all your sorrows, by setting you before his face forever.

"The Lord lives!" and lives to fulfill his Word. His predictions shall all be made good. His promises shall all be performed. Creatures may break their word — but our God will never violate his. Every promise lies before his eye, is engraved on his heart, and shall he fulfilled in the experience of his people — to his own praise and glory. My poor tried brother, you may trust him. However rough your road. However severe your inward conflict. Yes, while floods of corruption are rolling through your soul, while Satan's fiery darts are sticking fast in you, while the world is frowning, and even your fellow-Christians are looking coldly upon you, or standing aloof from you — you may trust him!

"The Lord lives," and lives to accomplish his purposes. Toward you, they are gracious purposes. Trying they may be; beneficial they must be. They flow from his love. They bear the stamp of his wisdom. They were passed in Jesus. They are to issue in his glory.

Poor Job, in the midst of his affliction, saw something of this, and therefore said, "He performs the thing that is appointed for me, and many such things are with him."

"The Lord lives!" and lives to perfect his works. The work of redemption will be perfected by the resurrection of all the saints in the exact likeness of Jesus. The work of grace in your heart will be perfected in the exact conformity of your soul to the soul of Jesus, in the day of his glorious appearing. The Lord began it — and he who began it, will complete it. He well knew all the opposition it would meet with. He knew how much and how often it would be hindered — but he determined that it would never die. He will carry it on by what means and by what agencies he pleases — but he will carry it on, until he can see the image of his moral excellencies reflected by every power of your soul!

"The Lord lives," and lives to secure the glory of his own most holy name. "The Lord has made everything for his own purposes — even the wicked for a day of disaster." He will get glory by all he does, by all he prevents, and by all he permits. When the mystery of redemption is finished, we shall see that all his works praise him, and his saints bless him. His work will appear to be honorable and glorious, and his righteousness will endure forever. His glory will be great in our salvation. Sweet thought this: My God will get glory by me:by all my toils and troubles, 
by all my sadness and sorrows, 
by all my conflicts and conquests, 
by my weakness and strength, 
by my sighs and songs, 
by my life and my death!

Let us then, my poor tried fellow-traveler, enter upon this new year, drawing encouragement and comfort from the fact, that "the Lord lives;" and try and sing with the Psalmist, "The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted!" We will now notice — 
 

The comfortable CONCLUSIONS to be drawn from this fact.

If the Lord lives — we shall not be FRIENDLESS, for he will be our friend, a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He will . . .
counsel us by his Word, 
conduct us by his providence, 
teach us by his Spirit, 
feed us with his hand, and
at length receive us to glory!

If the Lord lives — we shall not be FATHERLESS, for he will be a father unto us, and we shall be his sons and daughters. He will treat us as his children. He will deal with us as with sons. He will perform a father's part. Therefore we may expect to be instructed, corrected, yes, sometimes scourged! "For what son is there whom his father chastens not." True, if we can do without the rod, we shall not have it; but if the fool's back calls for stripes — we shall receive them. He will not spare the rod — and spoil his child; much less will he ever allow one to die or perish from neglect.

If the Lord lives — we shall never be FORSAKEN; for the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make them his people. His own most precious Word assures us of this. He speaks to us individually. He says to each poor, timid, troubled believer, "I will never leave you! I will never, no never, no never, forsake you!" As believers in Jesus, he has sworn that he will not be wrathful with us, nor rebuke us.

Precious, precious assurance this, with which to begin the year — that let what will take place in the family, in the world, in the church, or even in our soul's experience — we shall not be friendless, fatherless, or forsaken! But as it is said of old, "For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty, though their land is full of sin before the Holy One of Israel" — so we shall find that amidst all that occurs, we have a faithful friend, a loving father, and a present God. Oh, for grace rightly to use and improve this glorious fact!

If the Lord lives — then we may go forward with CONFIDENCE . . .
in our Christian course, 
in our daily labor, 
into the deadly conflict!

As our day — so will our strength be. The grace of Jesus will be found sufficient for us. Confidence befits those who have the living God with them to fight for them; with them as their friend and father. This is our privilege, therefore with confidence let us press on toward the mark for the prize.

If the Lord lives — then we may look forward into the future with HOPE. Clouds and darkness may surround us at present. Briers and thorns may be with us now. But the clouds and darkness will pass away, for light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. The briers and thorns will vanish; for instead of the thorn — shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier — shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off.

If the Lord lives — we may meet the worst with COURAGE. Should it be persecution, or poverty, or reproach — we may then meet it, for since, and because, Jesus lives, we shall live also. Yes, we shall be more than conquerors — through him who loved us.

If the Lord lives — we may anticipate DEATH without dread. We may die this year! But suppose we do — we shall "die in the Lord;" we shall only depart from scenes of sin, sorrow, disappointment, vexation, and grief — "to be with Christ, which is far better." Besides which, the living Lord will be with us in the dying hour; he will watch beside our dying pillow; and give special grace, for this special trial. Oh, believer, what is death to you? A foe? True — but a stingless, powerless foe! A strange transition! Admitted — but One will be with you, who is no stranger to you, for even death cannot sever you from his love, or change his heart towards you.

If the Lord lives — we should . . .
publish his fame, 
speak forth the honor of his name, 
and make his praise glorious.

If the Lord lives — we should cleave to his friends; they may he imperfect, despised, and trying — but they are his friends still; and we should love them, prefer them, and cleave to them for his sake.

If the Lord lives — we should live in his family, and with his household. The church is the household of God; of that visible household we should be members, dwelling in it, working in it, and seeking our happiness in its great and precious privileges. We should abound in his work. If he works in us, the least we can do in return, is to work for him. To work heartily. To work regularly. To be, as the apostle exhorts, "Always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as we know that our labor is not vain in the Lord."

If the Lord lives — our fears are follies. Whom should we fear? What should we fear? Nothing but sin — literally, nothing but sin. Through this year we should join with David and sing, "The Lord is my light and my salvation —  whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life —  of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident!" Or with David, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

If the Lord lives — conquest is sure. He who once conquered for us, will conquer in us, and conquer by us. Our shout will be, by and bye, "We are more than conquerors, through him that loved us!" Therefore at present we may say to the Lord, "We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners."

Finally, if the Lord lives — supplies are certain. We do not know what we may need, nor how much we may need, nor how long we may need — but the Lord knows; and he has provided of his goodness for the poor. In eternity, he laid up for us; and in time, all through our time here, he will lay out upon us. Only let us . . .
exercise faith in his Word, 
cleave to his cross, 
wrestle at his throne, 
watch in his way, 
work in his vineyard, 
and aim at his glory — 
and then let taxes rise ever so high, let trade sink ever so low, let needs increase ever so fast — we may confidently say, "The Lord lives — and my God will supply all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus!"

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A Prosperous New Year (Arthur W. Pink, 1944)

This is our desire both for our readers and for ourselves. But the mere wishing or desiring of it, will not bring the same to pass. What more is necessary? Only God can grant us prosperity either spiritual or temporal, and we must submit to his good pleasure. True—but He is not capricious in this. Prosperity or the absence of it is not a matter of chance thing, nor is it the product of a blind and inexorable fate. If we do not enjoy prosperity, the fault is entirely our own, and we are dishonest if we ascribe it solely unto the sovereignty of God. "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it" (Isaiah 30:15). Would it not have been flagrantly dishonest, if they attributed their disquietude and fears, to the sovereign will of God? "O that you had hearkened to My commandments! then had your peace been as a river" (Isaiah 48:18), then how wicked to charge God with being responsible for their lack of peace. If we consult the Scriptures, we shall find definite teaching on this subject—that there are clearly-revealed laws which we must observe, conditions which we are required to meet—if we are to enjoy prosperity. Let us first consider one or two things which hinder prosperity. "Why do you disobey the Lord's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord—he has forsaken you." (2 Chron. 24:20). Ah, here is the cause of all our troubles: disobedience, for "the way of transgressors is hard" (Proverbs 13:15). Observe how emphatically and absolutely it is expressed, "you will not prosper"—a holy God will not place a premium on insubordination. He may allow "the wicked" to flourish as a green bay tree, for he is like a beast being fattened for the slaughter; but not so with those who profess His name. Disobedience, then, chokes the channel of blessing. "He who covers his sins shall not prosper" (Proverbs 28:13). Unconfessed sin in the heart of a believer is like a worm at the root of prosperity. "If I regard iniquity in my heart—the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18), prayer is then futile. Unless we keep short accounts with God—we shall not enjoy His smile. Jeremiah 10:21 tells us what prevents "pastors" from prospering—self-sufficiency, failing to be cast entirely upon the Lord. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Josh. 1:8). Here is the positive side, the making known the conditions which regulate and determine prosperity, as the repeated "then" plainly intimates. The passage begins at verse 5, and the whole of verses 5-8 should be attentively weighed. Let us first anticipate an objection by asking the question "was it written for his sake alone" (Romans 4:23)? Undoubtedly those words had a special reference to Joshua himself—yet that they have a wider bearing is clear from other passages, and that they have a general application to God's children today—is definitely established by the New Testament. But as some of our readers have come under the influence of those who would rob the Christian of his rightful portion, under the pretext of "rightly dividing the Word of Truth," we must labor the point. Note then how unhesitatingly David appropriated these words of the Lord to Joshua when he spoke to his son, for he emphatically assured him that if Divine grace enabled him to "keep the Law of the Lord his God" taking heed to "fulfill the statutes and judgments" of it, "then shall you prosper" (1 Chron. 22:12,13). But more pertinently still, observe how the apostle expressly appropriates the promise of Joshua 1:5, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and insists that it belongs equally to the whole household of faith, immediately adding "so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper" (Heb. 13:5,6). That precious promise of God, then, belongs as truly to me—as it did to Joshua of old. Are not the needs of believers the same in one age as in another? Is not God affected alike unto all of His children—does He not bear to them the same love? If He would not desert Joshua—He will not desert you! Consequently, if I would ascertain the laws which will determine my prosperity, I must pay attention to those which regulated his. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth." It was the Rule given to act by. In Joshua's case, it furnished him with Divine authority for his conduct in the governing of Israel. In our case, we may give these words a spiritual meaning. God's Word is our appointed food—thus the "mouth" speaks to us of feeding upon it. In verse 6 God says, "Be strong and of a good courage," and in verse 7 adds, "only be strong and very courageous that [in order that] you may observe to do according to all the Law." Obedience to God—calls for firmness, resolution, boldness. Without it we shall yield unto temptations to compromise, being intimidated by the ridicule and opposition of our fellows. How, then, is this strength and courage to be obtained? By feeding on the Word, being "nourished up in the words of faith" (1 Tim. 4:6), having the Law of the Lord continually in our "mouth." This is the interpretation made by the apostle; appropriate that promise "I will never leave you" and then, says he, every believer may confidently declare "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Heb. 13:6). There is the proof that feeding on the Word imparts strength and courage. "But you shall meditate on it day and night." Only thus will its injunctions be fixed in the memory—only thus shall we be able to ascertain our duty—only thus shall we discern the rightful application of the Divine precepts to all the varied details of our daily lives. It is entirely our own fault, if we be ignorant of God's "mind" in connection with any situation confronting us. God's will for us is revealed in His Word, and "a good understanding have all those who obey His commandments" (Psalm 111:10). The more I am regulated by the Divine Rule, the more shall I be preserved from the "mistakes" or folly which characterizes those who follow a course of self-pleasing. But in order to do God's commandments, I must be conversant with them; and in order to perceive their breadth and specific application unto any problem or decision confronting me, I must "meditate on it day and night." Meditation stands to reading—as mastication does to eating. Spiritual prosperity eludes the dilatory and careless. "That you may be careful to do everything written in it." This must be the dominating motive and object. God's Word is to be appropriated and masticated—fed and meditated upon—first and foremost, day in and day out. Not for the purpose of understanding its prophecies, or obtaining an insight into its mysteries—but in order to learn God's will for myself, and having learned it—to conform thereto. God's Word is given to us chiefly—not to gratify curiosity or to entertain our imagination—but as "a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path" (Psalm 119:105) in this dark world. It is a Rule for us to walk by—it is a heavenly standard for the regulation of all our conduct. It points out the things to be avoided, the things which would harm us. It tells of the things to be followed and practiced, the things which are for our good, our peace. It contains not only good advice—but is clothed with Divine authority, commanding implicit and unqualified obedience. "For then—(if we feed on the Word, if we constantly meditate upon its precepts and promises, if we render to it entire obedience) —you will be prosperous and successful." The promise is emphatic, unqualified, sure. If then this new year is not a prosperous one for me—the fault is entirely my own—it will be because I have failed to meet the conditions prescribed in the context. Turn to 2 Chronicles 20:20 and see how well Jehoshaphat understood the secret of prosperity. Mark what occasioned the prosperity of Hezekiah (2 Chron. 31:20,21). Compare Job 36:11. Ponder all that precedes the last clause of Psalm 1:3. "But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer—but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:25).

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The New Year's Guest (Charles H. Spurgeon, 1883)

Matthew 25:35

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:” 

John 1:12

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” 

I LATELY received a New Year’s card which suggested to me the topic on which I am about to speak to you. The designer of the card has, with holy insight, seen the relation of the two texts to each other and rendered both of them eminently suggestive by placing them together. There is freshness in the thought that, by receiving Jesus as a stranger, our believing hospitality works in us a Divine capacity and we thereby receive power to become the sons of God. The connection suggested between the two Inspired words is really existent and by no means strained or fanciful, as you will see by reading the context of the passage in John—“He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” So He was a stranger in the world which He Himself had made! “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” So He was a stranger among the people whom He had set apart for His own by many deeds of mercy! “But as many as received Him”—that is to say, gave entertainment to this blessed Stranger—“to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”

I thought that this might prove to be a suitable and salutary passage to discourse upon at the beginning of a New Year, for this is a season of hospitality and some among our friends will think it well to commence a New Year by saying to the Lord Jesus, “Come in, You blessed of the Lord; why do You stand outside?” This Divine stranger has knocked at many doors till His head is wet with dew and His locks with the drops of the night. And now I trust there are some who will rise up and open unto Him so that at the end of the year they may say with Job, “The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.” Verily, in so doing, you will not only entertain angels unawares, but you will be receiving the Lord of angels!

The day in which you receive Him shall be the beginning of years to you—it shall be the first of a series of years which, whether they are few or many, shall be, each one, in the best sense happy! I would say a few words, first, about the Stranger taken in and then, about the Stranger making strangers into sons.

I. THE STRANGER TAKEN IN—this is a simile given to us by our Lord, Himself—a royal metaphor presented to us from His own Throne. Note that the passage begins, “I was hungry and you gave Me meat: I was thirsty and you gave Me drink.” These are two good works which prove faith in Jesus and love of Him and, therefore, they are accepted, recorded and rewarded. But it is a distinct and memorable growth when it comes to, “I was a stranger, and you took Me in.” A place to stay is a larger gift than refreshment at the door. It is good, believingly, to do anything for Christ, however small, but it is a much better thing to give entertainment to Jesus within our souls, admitting Him into our minds and hearts.

We have not come to the full of what our Lord has a right to expect of us until we have given from our stores to Him by benefiting His poor and aiding His cause—then we deliberately open the doors of our entire being to Him and install Him in our souls as an honored Guest! We must not be satisfied with giving Him cups of cold water, or morsels of bread, but we must “constrain Him, saying, Abide with us.” Our hearts must be as a Bethany, where, like Mary, Martha and Lazarus, we give our Master a grand welcome! Or as the house of Obededom where the Ark of the Lord may dwell in peace. Our prayer must be that of Abraham’s, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, pass not away, I pray You, from Your servant.”

The most important word of our text is stranger and its light casts a hue of strangeness over the whole passage. Here are three strange things. The first is, that the Lord Jesus should be a Stranger here below. Is it not a strange thing that, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him,” and yet He was a stranger in it? Yet is it not a whit more strange than true, for when He was born there was no room for Him in the inn? Inns had open doors for ordinary strangers, but not for Him, for He was a greater Stranger than any around Him. It was Bethlehem of David, the seat of the ancient family to which He belonged, but alas, He had become “a Stranger unto His brethren, and an alien unto His mother’s children”! And no door was opened unto Him.

Soon there was no safe room for Him in the village, itself, for Herod the king sought the young Child’s life and He must flee into Egypt, to be a Stranger in a strange land and worse than a stranger—an exile and a fugitive from the land where, by birthright, He was king! On His return and in His public appearing, there was still no room for Him among the mass of the people. He came to His own Israel—to whom Prophets had revealed Him and types had set Him forth— but they would have none of Him. “He was despised and rejected of men.” He was the Man “whom men abhorred,” whom they so much detested that they cried, “Away with Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Yes, the world so little knew Him that they must necessarily hang up the Lord of Glory on a Cross and put “the Holy One and the Just” to a felon’s death! Jew and Gentile alike conspired to prove how truly He was a stranger—the Jew said, “As for this Fellow, we know not from where He is.” And the Roman asked Him, “Where are You from?”

Now, that Christ should be such a Stranger was, indeed, a sadly singular thing, and yet we need not wonder, for how should a wicked, selfish world know Jesus or receive Him? The Lord’s own had been forewarned of this in ancient type, for long before the Lord appeared in the flesh, He had shown Himself as a Stranger to the faithful. He came in angelic form to Abraham and thus we read the story—“And he lifted up his eyes and looked and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground. And said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, pass not away, I pray you, from Your servant: Let a little water, I pray You, be fetched, and wash Your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort you your hearts.”

The Lord, who stands out in the center of the three, was a Stranger, and the father of the faithful entertained Him, in type of what all the faithful of every age will do. This is He of whom Jeremiah said, “O the hope of Israel, the Savior thereof in time of trouble, why should You be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night?” Yet with this fair warning, it still remains sadly singular that, coming on an errand of mercy, our Lord should find so scant a welcome; should be so little known; so seldom recognized, so harshly entreated. Truly as Egypt made Israel to serve with rigor, so have we made this patient Stranger to serve with our sins and wearied Him with our iniquities.

The Son of Man had not where to lay His head. Luke says the barbarians showed Paul and his friends no little kindness— but men were worse than barbarians to their Savior! Shall the servant be better treated than his master, or the disciple than his Lord? “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not.” Another strange thing is that we should be able to receive the Lord Jesus as a stranger. He has gone into Glory and will He always say of us, “I was a stranger and you took Me in”? Yes, He will say so, if we render to Him that spiritual hospitality of which He here speaks.

This can be done in several ways. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, for such I trust you are, we can receive Christ as a stranger when Believers are few and despised in any place. We may sojourn where worldliness abounds and religion is at a discount—and it may need some courage to swear our faith in Jesus. Then have we an opportunity of winning the approving word, “I was a stranger, and you took Me in.” There is a sure proof of love in receiving our Lord as a stranger.

If the Queen desired, again, to visit Mentone, every villa would be gladly placed at her disposal! But were she driven from her empire and reduced to be a poor stranger, hospitality to her would be a greater test of loyalty than it is today. When Jesus is in low esteem in any place, and He sometimes is so, let us be all the more bold to acknowledge our allegiance to Him. I fear that many professors take their color from their company and are fellows with the irreligious and the unbelieving. These cry, “Hosanna,” with the multitude of the Lord’s admirers, but in heart they have no love to the Son of God. Our loyalty to Christ must never be a matter of latitude and longitude—we must love Him in every land, honor Him when the multitude disregard Him—and we must speak of Him when all forget Him. Again, we have the Lord’s own warrant for saying that if we show brotherly kindness to a poor saint we entertain the Lord, Himself.

If we see Christians in need, or despised and ridiculed and we say, “You are my Brother in Christ. It matters not what garb you wear, the name of Christ is named on you and I suffer with you. I will relieve your needs and share your reproach,” then the glorious Lord, Himself, will say to us at the last, “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, My brethren, you have done it unto Me.” It does seem passing strange, though I thus speak, that you and I should still be able to entertain our Lord and yet it is so! We do not wonder that the righteous, with a humble truthfulness exclaim, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger and took You in?” Neither are we free from admiring surprise. We also cry, “Will God in very deed dwell with men upon the earth? Will He accept hospitality at our hands?” It is even so!

Again, we may entertain the Stranger, Christ, by holding fast to His faithful Word when the doctrines taught by Himself and His Apostles are in ill repute. Nowadays the Truth which God has revealed seems of less account with men than their own thoughts and dreams! And they who still believe Christ’s faithful Word shall have it said of them, “I was a stranger and you took Me in.” When you see the revealed Truth of God, as it were, wandering about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, and no man says a good word for it, then is the hour come to acknowledge it because it is Christ’s Truth—and to prove your fidelity by counting the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt!

Oh, scorn on those who only believe what everybody else believes because they must be in the swim with the majority! These are but dead fish borne of the current and they will be washed away to a shameful end! If living fish swim against the stream, so do living Christians pursue Christ’s Truth against the set and current of the times, defying alike the ignorance and the culture of the age! It is the Believer’s honor, the chivalry of a Christian, to be the steadfast friend of the Truth of God when all other men have forsaken it. So, also, when Christ’s precepts are disregarded, His day forgotten and His worship neglected, we can come in, take up our cross and follow Him—and so receive Him as a stranger.

To be sure, some will say, “Those people are fanatical Methodists, or strait-laced Presbyterians,” but what of that? It matters nothing to us what the world thinks of us, for we are crucified to it and it to us! If our Lord has laid down a rule, it is ours to follow it and find rest unto our souls in so doing! Yes, and a special rest in doing it, when by so doing we are securing that blessed sentence, “I was a stranger, and you took Me in.” Death, itself, for His sake, would be a small matter if thereby we secured that priceless word!

Once more, that spiritual life which is the innermost receiving of Christ—that new life which no man knows but he that has received it; that quickening of the Spirit which makes the Christian as much superior to ordinary men as men are above dumb, driven cattle—if we receive that blessed gift, then shall we with emphasis be entertaining our Lord as a stranger. Profession is abundant, but the secret life is rare. The name to live is everywhere, but where is the life fully seen? To be rather than to talk; to enjoy rather than to pretend; to have Christ truly within—this is not every man’s attainment, but those who have it are among the God-like ones, the true sons of God!

A third strange thing is the fact that Jesus will deign to dwell in our hearts. Such a One as Jesus in such a one as I am? The King of Glory in a sinner’s bosom? This is a miracle of Divine Grace, yet the manner of it is simple enough. A humble, repenting faith opens the door and Jesus enters the heart at once. Love shuts the door with the hand of Penitence and holy Watchfulness keeps out intruders. Thus is the promise made good, “If any man hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Meditation, contemplation, prayer, praise and daily obedience keep the house in order for the Lord!

And then follows the consecration of our entire nature to His use as a temple—the dedication of spirit, soul, body and all their powers, as holy vessels of the sanctuary! It is the writing of, “Holiness unto the Lord,” upon all that is about us till our everyday garments become vestments, our meals sacraments, our life a ministry and ourselves priests unto the Most High! Oh, the supreme condescension of this indwelling! He never dwelt in angels, but He resides in a contrite spirit! There is a world of meaning in the Redeemer’s words, “I in them.” May we know them as Paul translates them, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

II. A few words must suffice upon THE STRANGER MAKING STRANGERS INTO SONS. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Yes, Beloved, the moment Christ is received into our hearts by faith, we are no more strangers and foreigners, but of the household of God, for the Lord adopts us and puts us among His children! It is a splendid act of Divine Grace, that He should take us, who were heirs of wrath, and make us heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ! Such honor have all the saints, even all that believe on His name.

There is more to follow—the designation of sons brings with it a birth into the actual condition of sons. The privilege brings with it the power; the name is backed up and warranted by the nature—for the Spirit of God enters into us, when Christ comes, and causes us to be born again. To be adopted without being born again would be a lame blessing, but when we are both adopted and regenerated then have we the fullness of sonship and the Grace is made perfect towards us. “Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And this mysterious birth, which comes with the reception of Christ, makes us free, not only in the kingdom of God, but in the house and the heart of God!

Don’t forget that when the Lord Jesus enters our hearts, there springs up between us and Him a living, loving, lasting union which seals our sonship—for as we become one with the Son, we must be sons, also. Jesus puts it, “My Father and your Father.” It is the Spirit of His Son in our hearts by which we cry, “Abba, Father.” “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” We are unto the Father even as Jesus is, as He says, “You have loved them as You have loved Me.” Thus you see that in receiving Jesus, we receive, as the Revised Version puts it, “the right to become the sons of God.”

Yet once more—the practical reception of Jesus into the life becomes a proof to ourselves and others that we are the sons of God, for it creates in us a likeness to God which is apparent and unquestionable. For look, although Jehovah, our God, is incomprehensible and Infinite, and His Glory is inconceivable in its splendor, yet this fact we know of Him, that in His bosom lies His Son, with whom He is always well-pleased. When we receive Jesus into our bosom, as one with us, and when our joy and delight are in Him, we do, in that matter, become like the Father. Having thus, with the Father, the same Object of love and delight, we are brought into fellowship with Him and begin to walk in the Light of God as He is in the Light.

A small window will let in the great sun—much more will Jesus, as the blessed meeting place between our souls and God—let in the Life, Light and Love of God into our souls, making us like God! Moreover, having received Jesus as a stranger, we feel a tenderness towards all strangers, for we see in their condition some resemblance to our own. We have love to all who, like ourselves, are strangers with God and sojourners, as all our fathers were, and thus again we are made like God, of whom it is written, “The Lord preserves the strangers.” Our God is “kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” Our Lord Jesus, therefore, bade us be the children of our Father which is in Heaven, “For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

By becoming doers of good, we are known as children of the good God. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” A man is a son of God when he lives beyond himself by a thoughtful care for others; when his soul is not confined within the narrow circle of his own ribs, but goes abroad to bless those around him, however unworthy they may be. True children of God never see a lost one without seeking to save him; never hear of misery without longing to bestow comfort. “You know the heart of a stranger,” said the Lord to Israel. And so do we, for we were once captives, ourselves, and even now our choicest Friend is still a stranger, for whose sake we love all suffering men.

When Christ is in us, we search out opportunities for bringing prodigals, strangers and outcasts to the great Father’s house. Our love goes out to all mankind and our hands are closed against none if it is so that we are made like God, as little children are like their father. Oh, sweet result of entertaining the Son of God by faith! He dwells in us and we gaze upon Him in holy fellowship so that, “we all with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

“Love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God.” May we daily feel the power of Jesus within our hearts, transforming our whole character and making us to be more and more manifestly the children of God! When our Lord asks, concerning us, “What manner of men were they?” may even His enemies and ours be compelled to answer, “As You are, so were they—each one resembled the children of a King.” Then shall Jesus be admired in all them that believe, for men shall see in the children, the Divine Stranger’s handiwork.

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Cheer for Despondency (Charles H. Spurgeon, 1910)

Proverbs 27:1

“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” 

What a great mercy it is that we do not know “what a day may bring forth”! We are often thankful for knowledge, but in this case we may be particularly grateful for ignorance. It is the glory of God, we are told, to conceal a thing, and it most certainly is for the happiness of mankind that he should conceal their future. Supposing that bright lines were written for us in the book of destiny, and that we could read those bright lines now, and see some of them, we should probably loiter away our time until we arrived at them and should have no heart for the present. If on the other hand we knew that there were dark days of trouble in store for us, and had a presentiment and full conviction as to when they would come, probably the thought of them would overshadow the present, so that the joys which we now drink would be left untasted by reason of our nervous fears as to the distant future. To know the good might lead us to presumption, to know the evil might tempt us to despair. Happy for us is it that our eyes cannot penetrate the thick veil which God hangs between us and tomorrow, that we cannot see beyond the spot where we now are, and that, in a certain sense, we are utterly ignorant as to the details of the future. We may indeed be thankful for our ignorance.

Although however we do not know what a day may bring forth, though we cannot see into what I may call “the immediate future,” yet we have reason to be thankful that we do know something about what is to come, and that we do know what is in the far-reaching future. We differ from the brutes in this respect. When two or three nights in the week I pass on my way home a flock of sheep, or a little herd of bullocks, all going down to the butcher’s, travelling in the cold bright moonlight towards the slaughter-house, I feel thankful that they do not know where they are going, for what would be their misery if they knew anything about death? The lamb’s thoughts are in the fold, and all unconscious of the shambles; it licks the hand that smites it, not knowing of its coming speedy death. It is the happiness of the brute not to know the future.

But in our case we know that we must die; and if it were not for the hope of the resurrection and of the here-after, this knowledge would distinguish us from the brutes only by giving us greater misery. There must be an intention on God’s part for us to live in a future state or else he would, out of mere benevolence, have left us ignorant of the fact of death. If he had not meant our souls to begin to prepare for another and a better existence, he would have kept us ignorant, even of the fact that this one will pass away; but having given us an intellect and a mind which doth from observation and inward consciousness know that death will come, we believe that he would have us prepare for that which will follow and look out for that which is beyond. We do know the future in its great rough outlines. We know that if the Lord cometh not first, we shall die; we know that our soul shall live for ever in happiness or in woe; and that, according to whether we are found in Christ or without Christ, our eternal portion shall be one of never-ending agony or of ceaseless bliss. We may be thankful that we do know this so that we may be prepared for it; but still—to return to that with which we started—we may be thankful also that we do not really know the great future in its details, that it is shut from our eye lest it should have an evil influence upon our life.

Now, Solomon in the Book of Proverbs applied the truth that we know not about to-morrow to the boaster, to the man who said, “To-morrow I will go into such a city and buy, and sell, and get gain, and then go to another city and get more gain, and then when I have amassed so much wealth I will say, ‘Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’” Solomon seems to come in and put his hand upon the man’s shoulders and to say, virtually, “Thou fool, thou knowest nothing about all this; thou dost not know what shall be on the morrow; thy goods may never come to thee, or thou mayest not be here to trade with these goods at all; so thou buildest a castle in the air; thou thinkest thy fancies are true; thou art as one that dreams of a feast and wakes to find himself hungry! How canst thou be so foolish?” Solomon dwells upon the text very solemnly, and says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

I do not intend however to use the text with this object to-night. It struck me that as Solomon uses it here with one design it might be very properly used for another; that as he intends to shame our growing pride and certainty of prosperity, so it might be used especially to cheer those who have a tendency to gloom, and to shed a ray of light into the thick darkness of their fear.

I. It will first comfort those who are fearing and trembling concerning some evil which is yet to come.

My friend, thou art afraid to-night; thou canst not enjoy anything thou hast because of this terrible and fearful shadow which has come across thy path of an evil which thou sayest is coming to-morrow, or in one or two months’ time, or even in six months. Now, at least, thou art not quite certain that it will come, for thou knowest not what may be on the morrow. Thou art as alarmed and as afraid as if thou wert quite certain that it would appear. But it is not so, “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth,” and since it is uncertain whether it shall be or not, hadst thou not better leave thy sorrow till it is certain; and meanwhile, leave the uncertain matter in the hand of God whose divine purposes will be wise and good in the end, and will be even seen to be so? At the very least, slender as the comfort may be, yet still there is comfort in the fact that thou knowest not what may be on the morrow.

Let us just expand this thought a little to those of you who are fearing about to-morrow. We very often fear what never will occur. I think that the major part of our troubles are not those which God sends us, but those which we invent for ourselves. As the poet speaks of some who

“Feel a thousand deaths in fearing one,”—

so there are many who feel a thousand troubles in fearing one trouble, which trouble, perhaps, never will have any existence except in the workshop of their own misty brain. It is an ill task for a child to whip himself; it might be good for him to feel the whip from his father’s hand, but it is of little service when the child applies it himself. And yet very often the strokes which we dread never do come from God’s hand at all, but are the pure inventions of our own imagination and our own unbelief working together. There are more who have to howl under the lash of unbelief than there are who have to weep under the gentle rod of God’s providential dispensation. Now, why shouldst thou go about to fill thy pillow with thorns grown in thine own garden? Why so busy, good sir, about gathering nettles with which to strew thine own bed? There are clouds enough without thy thinking that every little atom of mist will surely bring a tempest. There are difficulties enough on the road to heaven without thy taking up stones to throw into thine own path to make thing own road more rough than there was any need shalt it should be. Thou knowest not what may be on the morrow. Thy fears are absurd. Perhaps thy neighbor knows they are absurd, but certainly thou oughtest to know it is so. Dost thou not know that the trouble thou art dreading, God can utterly avert? Perhaps to-morrow morning there will come a letter which will entirely change the face of the matter. A friend may interpose when least thou couldst expect one, or difficulties which were like mountains may be cast into the depths of the sea. “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth,” and the trouble which thou so much dreadest may never occur at all.

Moreover, dost thou not know that even if the if the trouble should come, God has a way of overruling it? So that even thou, poor trembler, shalt stand by and see the salvation of God and wonder at two things—thine own unbelief and God’s faithfulness. Thou sayest that the sea is before thee, that the mountains are on either hand, and that the foe is behind thee, but thou knowest not what shall be on the morrow. Thy God shall lead thee through the depths of the sea, and put such a song into thy mouth as thou never couldst have known if there had been no sea, and no Pharaoh, and no mountains to shut thee in. These trials of thine shall be the winepress out of which shall come the wine of consolation to thee. This furnace shall rob thee of nothing but thy dross, which thou wilt be glad to be rid of, but thy pure gold shall not be diminished by so much as a drachm, but shall only be the purer after it all. The trouble, then, may not come to thee at all, or if it come it may be overruled.

And there is one thing more; supposing the trial does come, thy God has promised that as thy days so shall thy strength be. Hath he not said it many times in his Word, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”? He never did promise thee freedom from trouble. He speaks of rivers and of thy going through them; he speaks of fires and of thy passing through them; but he has added, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” What matters it to thee then whether there be fire or not, if thou be not burned? What matters it to thee whether there are floods or not if thou be not drowned? As long as thou escapest with spiritual life and health and comest up out of all thy trials the better for them, thou mayest rejoice in tribulations. Thank God when thy temptations abound, and be glad when he putteth thee into the furnace because of the blessing which thou art sure to receive from it. So then, since thou knowest not what may be on the morrow, take thou heart thou fearing one, and put thy fears away. Do as thou hast been bidden, delight thyself in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved. Did not David say, speaking by the Holy Ghost, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all”? I charge thee therefore to be of good comfort since thou knowest not what may be on the morrow. This is the message to fearful saints.

II. But now we will use the text to another class of Christians whose painful position really deserves more pity than that of those who only invent their fears, or who are troubled about the future. I mean those who are at the present moment disconsolate through immediate distress and present affliction.

We little know my brethren, when we gather here, how many cases of distress may be assembled in this house at any one time. Verily the poor have not ceased out of the land. The poor we have always with us, and some of the poor, too, who need to have other mouths to speak for them since from their very independence of spirit and their Christian character they are slow to speak for themselves. There may he a trouble in my neighbour’s hearts which is almost bursting it, while I am sitting peacefully still enjoying the Word. We should remember those who are in bonds as bound with them; and sympathize with those who are troubled as being ourselves also in the body.

It will not be a waste of time then if I say to you who are troubled about worldly matters, than there is comfort for you in this passage. “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Thou sayest, “It is all over with me; I will give up in despair.” No friend, do not do so for one day longer, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth; and if to-morrow bring thee not deliverance, hope on at least for one day more, for “thou knowest not what “a day may bring forth.” And I would keep on with the same tale till the last day of life. At least for one day more there is no room for despair. You cannot conclude that God has forsaken you, or that providence has utterly turned against you. At least you know not what may be on the morrow, so wait till you have seen that day out. Give not up yourself a hopeless victim to despair till you have seen what to-morrow may bring you.

What unexpected turns there have been in the lives of those who have trusted in God! You who are trusting in yourselves may help yourselves as best you can, but you who are trusting in God have ample reasons to expect that God will come to your assistance. It is yours to watch and yours to work as if everything depended upon you, but it is yours also to remember that everything does not depend upon you. Sometimes God has come in to help his servants so exactly at what we call “the nick of time” that they have hardly been able to believe their own senses. “Strange!” they say, “it is like a miracle,” and so indeed it is; for the difference between the old dispensation and the new is that God used to work his wonders by suspending the laws of nature, whereas now he does greater things than this, inasmuch as he achieves his purposes quite as marvellously, and lets the laws of nature remain as they are. He does not make the ravens bring his people bread and meat, but he lets them have their bread and their meat when they need them.

God does not nowadays make the manna drop down from heaven; no doubt some people would like him to do so, but still he brings the manna for all that: there is the bread, and there is the raiment, and therewith should the Christian be content. He supplies his people’s needs by ordinary means, and herein is he to be wondered at and to be adored. Look up then. Wipe away that tear. Do not talk for a moment of murmuring against God. Do not go home with that sorry tale to your wife and children, and tell them that God is not faithful to you. Wait till to-morrow at any rate, for “thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

And to you who are disconsolate about spiritual things I might quote the same text. You say, “Ah! I have been hearing the Word very long, and all that I have got from it is a sense of sin, or hardly that. Oh! how I wish that God would bless the word to my soul! I am longing to be saved! What would I not give to be a Christian, a true and sincere Christian, one in whom the Spirit of God has wrought a new heart and a right spirit? Oh!” you say, “I have sought it by listening to the word, and I have sought it in earnest prayer; but months have passed, and I have made no advance; I have no more hope now than I had long ago; I seem as far off the attainment of eternal life as I was when first I heard the Word; nay, if possible I am still further off; the Word has been a savor of death unto death to me, and not a savor of life unto life.” Well, my dear friend, do not give up listening to the Word; do not give up treading the courts of the Lord’s house; for if thou hast hitherto got no blessing, yet, being in the way, the Lord may meet with thee, for thou knowest not what may be on the morrow.

How many years these poor creatures waited around the pool when they expected that an angel would, at a certain season, come and trouble the water! There they waited, and though they were disappointed scores of times by others stepping in before them, yet seeing it was the only hope they had they waited still. Now, it is in the use of the means that you are likely to get a blessing. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Do not therefore be persuaded to cease hearing, for thou knowest not what may be on the morrow. The very next sermon thou shalt hear may be the means of thine enlightenment. The very next address at the prayer-meeting may give thee encouragement. The very next time the gospel trumpet sounds thou mayest obtain thy liberty, and what a blessing will that liberty be. When thou dost find it thou wilt say it was well worth waiting for.

Let me add another exhortation, do not give up praying. It is a common device of Satan to say to the seeking soul, “The Lord will never hear you; you are one of the reprobate; he has never written your name in the Book of Life.” Soul, pray as long as you have breath. Let it be your firm resolve to remain at the throne of grace; say to yourself,—

“If I perish, I will pray,

And perish only there.”

It is not said that the gate of mercy will open at the first knock. If it were, there would be no room for the virtue of importunity. But the Lord who delights in our importunity encourages us with the promise that one day the gate will be opened. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” And who knows how soon this may be? Why, before you close your eyes to-night you may be able to look to Christ crucified and find joy and peace in believing. Instead of the weeping prayer at the bedside there may be a happy prayer of another kind; not with tears of sorrow but with tears of holy joy, to think that the Lord has enlightened your darkness, that you have looked unto Christ, and now your face is not ashamed. Why should it not be so to-night? Why should it not be so on the morrow? God grant, poor disconsolate one, that it may be very speedily!

At any rate, wilt thou let me repeat the advice I have already given? Since thou canst not know that God will not hear thee; since it never was revealed to any man, and never will be, that God will not regard his cry; if thou canst get no further than the king of Nineveh did, yet go on and who can tell what may be, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. I will tell thee one thing, and thou mayest take it as being God’s own truth; if thou goest to Christ empty-handed, guilty, yet willing to take all thy salvation from him as a free gift, and if thou castest thyself upon him, I will tell thee what the day will bring forth. It will bring forth eternal life to thee —salvation, joy, and peace. It will bring forth adoption, for thou shalt be received into the divine family. It will bring forth to thee the foretaste of the heaven which God has prepared for his people. Thou shalt know a blessed day here that shall be a foretaste of a never-ending day hereafter, a day that shall be as one of the days of heaven upon earth.

I wish that the Lord would bless these words of mine to disconsolate ones. I think there may be some who may be sustained for a while and kept up by what I have said; but it will be better still if they shall now be filled with a desperate resolve to cast themselves at the foot of the cross; then little do they know what the day will bring forth! They cannot imagine the joy they shall have, nor the peace they shall receive. The pardon which Christ shall give them is far more rich than they have thought it could be, and the success with which their prayers shall be crowned is far more marvellous than even their best hopes have conceived. “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

III. Now thirdly, turning this time not to those who are fearing the future, nor yet to those who are disconsolate about present affliction, I thought of addressing a few words to those who are toil worn in the Master’s service

I can scarcely sympathize as I could wish to do with those who have worked for Christ unsuccessfully. To say, “Master, I have toiled all the night and have taken nothing,” has never been my lot, and therefore I can only speak from what I suppose to be the feeling of unsuccessful men. For these many years I have been preaching the gospel in this great London and I know not that at any time God has blessed us more than he is blessing us now, neither can I even say that at any time he has blessed us less, for it seems as if he has always been giving us more than we can receive, and blessing the Word exceedingly abundantly above what we asked or ever thought. There is room for nothing in my case but gratitude and encouragement, for humble dependence upon God for the future, and adoring joy for the past and the present.

But what hard work it must be for a minister or a Sunday-school teacher to go on preaching and laboring positively without success, or with so little that it is only like a cluster hole and there upon the topmost bough! I can imagine such brethren and sisters feeling that they can speak no more in the name of the Lord; and as they weep over their failure, saying with Isaiah, “Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” I should not wonder but that my text may whisper in their ears a comfortable thought, “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

Do not cease from thy labor dear brother! Thou art fainting to-day, but tomorrow thou mayest arise with new strength; or feeling as if thou wert but weakness itself in the morning, though thou mayest hardly know how it came about, in the evening thou mayest be happy and cheerful. The divine presence may overshadow their heart and drive thy fears away, consoling thee in thy distress, and making thee feel as if it were well to be God’s servant even if one had no present reward.

And what if coming at the back of this, thou shouldst find thyself, next time thou goest to thy work discharging it with unusual zest and with new power? What if the pulpit, instead of being as it has been, a prison to thee, should suddenly come to be a palace? What if, instead of there being a mere bush in the wilderness, God should dwell in the bush and make it all ablaze, like that unconsumed burning bush which Moses saw? What if the stammering tongue should suddenly be unloosed, and the cold heart be all aglow with divine enthusiasm? What if the poor tongue of clay should suddenly become a tongue of fire? What a change it would be! Ah! but “thou knowst not what a day may bring forth.”

And what if whilst thou art thyself thus quickened, there should fall a like spirit upon the people, upon the children in the class, upon the hearers in the house of prayer? What if, instead of the dull leaden eyes which looked as if death itself were gazing from them —what if instead of stony and motionless hearers there should suddenly be a holy sensitiveness given to the people—what wouldst thou say to that? Yet why should there not be? Sometimes such grace comes all at once. The rock has been long smitten yet it would not break; but on a sudden there has come a blow of the hammer, and that perhaps not so hard as many that have fallen before, but it has hit the rock in the right place and lo! the mass of stone flies to shivers! “Oh!” you say, “I could keep on at my work if I thought that this would happen.” Keep on at your work then brother, for you do not know what will come next. Pray for great things and you may then expect them. Now you may not make sure of such blessing, of course, if you have not prayed for it; but having sought it, why should it not come?

I believe all Sunday-school teachers find that sometimes such sudden meltings come over their classes, and ministers often realize that on a sudden they scarcely know how there is a change in the very aspect of their hearers, so that it is quite a different thing to preach. I am very conscious of the difference there is between the various congregations I address. Almost every day, and sometimes twice a day, I am preaching. Occasionally it is dreadful misery because, say what we will, we know we have not a sympathizing audience. We feel as though we were dragging a plough over the rough ground; but when we feel that the Spirit of God is there then we realize that we are sowing this good seed, that it is falling on good ground, and we expect the joyful sheaves which are to be our reward. And yet brethren, we are as much the servants of God when we are doing the one thing as when we are doing the other, and are as much in his service when we are unsuccessful as when we are successful. We are not responsible to God for the souls that are saved, but we are responsible for the gospel that we preach, and for the way in which we preach it. And “who can tell” whether those of us who have been least successful may not suddenly exchange our heavy toil for the most delightful service, for we know not what a day may bring forth?

And how dost thou know my brother what may yet happen? Thou wert saying this morning, “It is a dark age for the church.” Well so it is. You were saying, “I believe it is quite a crisis.” So it is. Every year in fact seems to be a crisis. “Ah!” you say, “but there are peculiar dangers now.” No doubt there are, and I think the oldest man here recollects that there were peculiar dangers when he was a boy; there always have been and always will be peculiar dangers. But if there is danger from this revival of Ritualism—and no doubt there is —yet who among us can tell what a day may bring forth? Are we certain that God will not yet turn back the tide of Romanizing error? Are we sure that he has not a man somewhere, or even fifty men, who shall be the instruments of accomplishing this? Has it not often occurred that the very men who have been the hottest advocates of a certain system have afterwards been the greatest enemies of that system? The Christian Church could never have expected to get an apostle from among the Pharisees, and least of all could they have supposed that they would find in Saul of Tarsus, the blood-thirsty persecutor, the great apostle of the Gentiles, not one whit behind the very chiefest of the twelve. You and I do not know what God has in store. There may be somewhere at this very moment a man, unknown to you, who is reading the Word, and as he reads it he may, like the monk Luther, get such light through the reading that he who once helped to build up will be the instrument in God’s hand to destroy. I am getting more and more hopeful about these matters. I entertain, the most sanguine expectation that the God who has put his enemies to rout in years gone by will do it Now once again; and instead of sitting down in anything like heaviness of spirit or oppression of heart, I would speak hopefully and have you, my brethren, tell hopefully, for we do not know what a day may bring forth.

Suddenly the whole current of the public mind may be turned. There may come a great tide of conversions which shall be the strength and the joy of the Christian Church. On a sudden, slumbering churches may awake, racious revivals may come! Upon the land the holy fire may once again descend from heaven. The Christian Church may start up to find that the God who answered by fire is still in her midst. The mourning Christian may put off his ashes and sackcloth, and put on his beautiful array, and a shout of joy may go up, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” where you and I expected to hear nothing but “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Let us then, if we are working for the Master, instead of growing tired with service hear him say to us, “Be not weary in well doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not.” Let us, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. You know not how soon you shall see this success, for you know not what a day may bring forth. I hope every city missionary who hears me, every Biblewoman, every minister, every tract-distributor, every Sunday-school teacher, will try and look this very sweet thought in the face. Expect that God is going to do great things and he will do them, for he does very much according to his people’s expectations. According to your faith shall it be done unto you.

IV. I will now say a few words, in the fourth place, to those who are dispirited in prayer, to some who have been engaged in special supplication for some object but who up till now have received no answer, and are ready to give up praying. Let me encourage such to persevere by repeating to them the words of Solomon, “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

There is a story I have often heard told by our Methodist friends of a woman who had long prayed for her husband. She resolved that she would pray for him every day a certain number of times, I think it was for ten years; and that after that she would pray no longer, supposing that if her prayer were not heard by that time, it would be an intimation that God did not intend to grant the blessing. I do not think she was right in setting any limit to God at all, or that she had any right so to act. However, on this occasion God winked at his servant’s infirmity, and so the story goes—and I do not doubt its correctness, on the day on which she was to cease from prayer her husband suddenly turned thoughtful and asked her the question which she had so longed to hear from him, “What must I do to be saved?” I am sure that those who have watched over their success in prayer will have met with cases quite as startling as that— things which your neighbor would not believe if you were to tell him, but which you treasure up amongst those inward experiences which are true to you, however improbable they may seem to other people. You know, dear friends, that you have obtained answers to prayer, very singular ones, and have obtained them very promptly and very punctually. You have had your prayers met just as an honest merchant meets his bills at the appointed time. On the expected day God has met with you and given you what you wanted, and what you sought for, just at the very time you needed it.

But now I will suppose that you are tried thus. That dear child of yours, instead of hopefully rewarding your prayers, seems to be going from bad to worse. Perhaps dear brother it is your son, and I know there are many such cases; the devil has told you that it is no use to pray for him, for God will never hear you. Or else good sister, it is your brother, and your prayer for him has been incessant; indeed, it has been a constant burden on your mind. Now in such cases I charge you, I earnestly entreat you never to listen to the malicious insinuation of Satan that “you may as well leave off praying, for you will not be heard,” for at the very least, and I am now putting it on the very lowest ground possible, “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” You cannot tell but that too-hard heart may yet be softened, and the rebellious will be subdued. You would be surprised to go home and find your son converted, would you not? Well, but such things have occurred. You would be surprised if your wife came in some Sunday evening and said, “I have been hearing So-and-so, and God has met with me.” Yet why should it not be so? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Is his arm shortened that it cannot save? Is his ear heavy that it cannot hear? Even if you should die without seeing your children converted or your dear ones brought in, you do not know, even then, what a day may bring forth. They may be converted after you are dead; and it will tend possibly to swell the joy of Heaven when you shall see them, after years of wandering, brought to follow their father, their father whom in life they despised, but whom after he was gone they came to imitate. Persevere in prayer Christian. “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” Praying breath is never spent in vain. Still besiege the throne. The city may hold out for a while, but prayer should capture it. Beleaguer the throne of grace; it is to be taken. Never raise the siege until you get the blessing: the blessing shall certainly be yours.

V. And now I cannot talk longer on this matter so I will close with just another thought to those of us who are cheerful and happy.

I hope there are many of us who are neither afraid and fretting about the future, nor depressed about the present, neither worn out with toil in the Master’s service, nor dispirited in prayer. There are some of us to whom the Lord is so gracious that our cup runneth over. Now, we may just put another drop on the top of the full cup. Dear friend, “thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” It may perhaps bring forth to you and to me our last day. What a blessed day that would be, our last day! Our dying day! No, do not call it so, but the day of our translation, the day of our great change, the day of our being taken up, that of our being carried away in the fiery chariot to be for ever with the Lord!

Thou knowest not but what this may be thy case to-morrow. Oh what joy! I am doubting and fearing to-day, but I may see his face tomorrow, and see it so as never to lose sight of it again. From my poor tenement of poverty I am going to the mansions of eternal blessedness. From the sick-bed where I have tossed in pain I shall mount to everlasting joy. The streets of gold may be trodden to-morrow, and the palm branch of victory may be waved to-morrow, the streets trodden by these weary feet, and the palm branch waved by these toil-worn hands to-morrow! Yes, to-morrow the chants of angels may be in your ears, and the swell of celestial music may made glad your soul. To-morrow you may see the beautific vision, and may behold the King in his beauty in the land that is very far off. I do like to live in the constant anticipation of being “with Christ, which is far better.” Do not put it off Christian, as though it were far away. If we had to wait a hundred years they would soon pass like a watch in the night; but we shall not live so long as that. We may be with our Lord to-morrow. We may sup here on earth and breakfast in heaven. We may breakfast on earth, and hear Christ say “Come and dine,” or we may go from our communion table here to the great supper of the Lamb above, to be with him for ever.

This is the best of it. When somebody said to a Christian minister, “I suppose you are on the wrong side of fifty?” “No,” he said, “thank God, I am on the right side of fifty, for I am sixty, and am therefore nearer heaven.” Old age should never be looked upon with dismay by us; it should be our joy. If our hearts were right in this matter, instead of being at all afraid at the thought of parting from this life we should say,—

“Ah me, ah me that I

In Kedar’s tents here stay!

No place like this on high!

Thither, Lord! guide my way.
 

O happy place!

When shall I be,

My God, with thee,

And see thy face?”

I have not time to say much to others here who are not concerned in these sweet themes, but I will at least say this. Let the careless and thoughtless here remember that they do not know what a day may bring forth. Tomorrow it may not be that grand party to which you are intending to go; to-morrow it may not be that sweet sin of which your evil nature is thinking. To-morrow may see you on a sick-bed, to-morrow may see you on your dying bed. To-morrow, worst of all, may see you in hell! O sinner, what a state to live in, to be in daily jeopardy of eternal ruin, to have the wrath of God, who is always angry with the wicked, abiding on you; and not to know but that to-morrow you may be where you can find no escape, no hope, no comfort! To-morrow in eternity! To-morrow banished from his presence for ever! To-morrow to have that awful sentence thrilling in your soul, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

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