I feel like preaching this morning,
first because God has called me to preach, and second because God has
given me a message. For quite a long while my way has been hedged up so
that I could see no way open to preach the gospel. Satan hindered Paul,
and he has hindered me. I felt such a desire to work for Jesus, and was so
burdened over my circumstances that I scarcely knew what to do. I finally
made this decision: though I am a woman, and my circumstances are
peculiar, by the grace of God I will preach the gospel. As soon as I made
the decision, God began working in a marvelous way, and soon my hands were
untied. Praise God! I am not anxious to get in the pulpit; yet I am
willing to do that, but I especially love to work privately with the
oppressed and downcast.
If any of you here have bands and straps holding you from
the work your soul longs to do, be encouraged; we will pray God to loose
you from straps, bands, burdens, and debts. All the church are agreed for
you that God will open the way and give you a door of utterance so that
you may accomplish his purpose in this world.
My soul is so happy that I feel like flying away to the
glory world, but I am glad to stay with the church on earth, not only to
enjoy the good things, but to share in the battles and conflicts as well.
The church has many conflicts, but so sure as she has a battle, so sure
she has a glorious victory, for Jesus is her leader and he knows no
defeat.
For our lesson this morning we shall read part of the 60th
chapter of Isaiah. "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Verse 1.
Thank God, the glory is seen upon his people today, not
only upon individuals when they pass victoriously through the deep sorrows
and trials of life, but upon every assembly in the world where Jesus is
worshipped in the beauty of holiness, this glory can be seen. Over twenty
years ago I saw this glory manifested in the assembly of the saints; it
made me hungry for salvation; and ere long I was saved.
CHRIST'S GLORY AND WORK BEQUEATHED TO US
When Jesus left this earth, he bequeathed us his
glory, and the devil has never been able to stamp it out of existence.
This glory does not consist in wild demonstrations and unseemly actions,
although it may cause some to shout aloud the praises of God, and to leap
for joy, while others weep or laugh. Sinners can often see it upon us as
we meet and worship Jesus. God intends that sinners should see this glory
upon the assembly of his people. There are some who have not seen this
glory; their eyes are blinded and the gross darkness of this world has
deceived them. May God in pity open their spiritually blind eyes. The Lord
does not give us the glory to have for our own personal enjoyment alone,
but that we may fill his divine purpose.
Have you learned what God's purpose is? When Jesus was in
the world he saved as many as would believe on him. Now he has departed
and his work has become our work; his purpose is our purpose - to save the
world.
The devil also has a purpose - to destroy the world. The
first prayer and purpose of a new-born soul is for the salvation of a
neighbor, a friend, a brother. The devil's purpose is to destroy the zeal
of God's people and to make them feel at ease while souls are sinking all
around them.
God could have sent angels into the world to preach the
gospel, but he chooses rather to save the world through a God-sent,
Spirit-filled, human ministry. The work of this ministry is to preach the
truth that gathers God's people from confusion and strife, and brings
hard-hearted sinners from every walk of life into the one fold where they
dwell in unity. We have a living illustration of this in this auditorium
today. Here are hundreds of men and women from the United States and from
foreign countries. They are here in the unity of the Holy Spirit, they
stand for the truth in its purity, their hearts are aflame with the love
of God, and with his divine purpose to save the world.
If we follow Christ's footsteps our hearts will be touched
with compassion for those who are lost in darkness and sin. When Jesus'
compassion was stirred for the multitude, he fed them. We must do
likewise. If we constantly seek for the blessings to come our way, and do
not diligently share up with our fellow men, we will grow lean in our
souls and will finally lose the grace of God. We do not have to look far
to find sin-darkened souls, for they are all around us. "For, behold,
the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee."
Verse 2.
The darkness spoken of here is, of course, spiritual
darkness, and is prevalent all over the world; the light of the church but
shines brighter because of this darkness. Let us read who is going to
accept and walk in this light.
GOD'S PURPOSE TO SAVE MULTITUDES
"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and
kings to the brightness of they rising. Lift up thine eyes round about and
see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons
shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then
thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be
enlarged; because of the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto
thee; the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." Verses 3-5.
Here are great promises to the church. We should not
minimize God's purpose by thinking that he intends to save only a very
few, for we have a promise here of "kings", "sons and
daughters," "abundance of the sea." Praise God! Does it
stagger our faith to talk of kings and presidents being converted? Lord,
increase our faith.
How encouraging the promise of our "sons" and
"daughters." I am much encouraged to expect the salvation of our
children. Sometimes I meet with a dear friend's or fellow minister's son
or daughter for whom I have prayed a long time, and am pleasantly
surprised to find them saved and preaching the gospel. My heart is agreed
in prayer for the gathering in of our precious children. Though they have
wandered "far," God says they "shall come." Let us
claim the promise.
The conservation of the natural resources of our country
attracted wide attention when Mr. Roosevelt was president. Conservation is
a good thing in the church of God. Some of our boys and girls are capable
of filling places of honor in the world and the world recognizes this, and
offers them many inducements. Let us do our best to conserve them, with
all their energy and strength, for God.
When we find a brother or a sister who is cast down and
discouraged, let us not conclude that because they have stumbled so much
it is of no use to try to help them, and abandon them to their hopeless
state. Souls who have floundered much, when once established are useful in
helping others. Let us patiently labor to conserve these dear souls for
God.
We, as the church of God, have forces to conserve that we
are not aware of, and only prayer can help us to find them. To illustrate,
I will relate the experience of Brother and Sister J. WE. Byers. The Lord
gave them this promise: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession." Psa. 2:8. They at once began praying God to open the
spiritual eyes of missionaries who had gone to foreign fields but were not
properly enlightened as to the true way; also to help them to come in
contact with any sincere missionaries. In a marvelous way God answered
their prayer and opened the way for them to correspond with Brother and
Sister Jarvis, who at the time were caring for so many famine sufferers,
and whom the Holy Spirit was establishing in the light just as we enjoy it
today. Praise God! We can but marvel at the way God works to unify his
people and to thus fulfill his purpose, even the salvation of the world.
GOD'S PURPOSE OF CHURCH UNITY
Let us not overlook this portion of the Scripture:
"Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear,
and be enlarged." This sweet unity is found in the church today. My
spiritual weight is light, but with all the weight I have, I stand solidly
for peace and unity. We can be in unity in name, embrace the same
doctrines, and yet not be in the unity of the Spirit. Powerful as God is,
he cannot save the world through a divided church. We must stand in unity;
we do stand in unity. Is that too strong? No! There may be some dear souls
who are not in unity of doctrine, but if they keep submitted to God, and
stand in the unity of the Spirit, unity in doctrine will be the
inevitable. The church is not only one in name and doctrine, but she is a
unity to practice unity, to demonstrate unity to the world. It cost the
life of Jesus to destroy division and to introduce heart unity into the
world. It may cost you and me something to keep this sacred unity. It may
cost us some bitter tears, some agonizing before God to get self, personal
opinions, and ideas submitted, for we are exhorted to 'endeavor to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.'
We may have some opinions about different matters, but if
we keep them submitted, and do not contend over them, we can keep the
unity of the Spirit. There may be some things we do not understand, but if
we continue in the unity of the Spirit, our understanding will be
enlightened. What we correctly understand, we understand alike; for God is
not the author of confusion, but of peace. Oh, what satisfaction, what
glory, when we "see and flow together" in the church of God,
where we are one in Spirit, in doctrine, in name, and in the purpose to
save the world.
If we desire to get closer to our brothers and sisters, we
should draw closer to our heavenly Father, and we will soon feel a sense
of unity with the brethren. Good things come our way when we are in unity.
How is it when we are not in unity? When we have a little shed of division
or contention over us, the good things strike the shed and slide off, and
we go hungry while our brethren in unity feast. Lord, smash the little
sheds. For further proof of God's purpose to save the world through the
unified church, we cite you to Acts 4:32. Because of the unity of the
multitude on this occasion, the apostles received great power to witness
for Jesus; great grace was upon them all. The poor had their needs
supplied, and God added daily to the church, such as were being saved. A
glorious result, was it not?
FAULT-FINDING VS. UNITY
God is accomplishing wonderful things today through
his unified church.
All do not recognize this fact, for some have given place
to failure-hunting, and they are too busy to see what is being done around
them. If we are looking for faults, we are sure to find them. It is easy
to find them in our most spiritual brothers or sisters, if we look at them
with an eye of criticism. After a fault is discovered by this cruel
spirit, it is magnified till it looks like a mountain, rather than like a
mole hill. If you listen to this evil spirit, it will tell you the church
is drifting, and will soon be wrecked and go to pieces on the rocks of
pride, compromise, etc. It will whisper to you that the ministry will not
stand for the whole truth, only a part of it. Do not allow this lying
spirit to have one moment of your time, nor one little bit of space in
your head or heart for a thought against the workings of the Holy Spirit.
The almighty hand of God is moving, his power is manifested, and his glory
is revealed in this meeting. How? In good feelings? Not alone in good
feelings, but in the healing of sick bodies, the opening of blind eyes,
the unstopping of deaf ears, and in the saving of precious souls.
There is a sort of wholesale picking spirit that causes
many a soul to make sad shipwreck. Let us beware of it. A few years ago
the devil tried to destroy the ability of the church to fulfill God's
purpose. He succeeded in getting some among us to forget the perilous
condition of this sin-cursed world, and imposed an influence that caused
them to stop their rapid fire upon the ranks of sin and to turn and thrust
at one another. This was quickly discerned and disposed of, but it took
time to recover from this attack of the enemy. This same old spirit is
around now, but, brethren, it is on the outside, and let us make it stay
there, by living in the spirit of unity and keeping our hearts full of the
dying passion of Jesus to save the world. If anyone here has this picking
spirit, I know you do not feel good. It makes you bite and devour until it
finally turns and devours you. The Lord make a clean sweep of these
picking spirits.
Let us look further at the good things promised us.
"Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor
night." Verse 11. No power on earth or hell can close these gates,
and no man need to try to open them for Jesus has done that, and it is
eternally decreed that they shall stay open. Souls may enter at any hour
of the day or night.
"They shall bring gold and incense; and they shall
show forth the praises of the Lord." Verse 6. "And the sons of
strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto
thee." Verse 10. We need gold and silver to send the gospel to the
poor. Here is our promise; let us lay hold of it.
GOD'S PURPOSE TO SAVE OUR ENEMIES
"The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall
come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow
themselves down at the soles of they feet." Verse 14. We lift up our
eyes and behold even those who opposed and oppressed us are bowing at our
feet acknowledging that we are saved and calling us "The city of the
Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel." God not only fulfills this
to the church, but to individuals.
How good it is that those who were once our enemies may
come into the kingdom of grace and sup with us at the table of the Lord.
God help us to have faith for the salvation of souls.
A number of years ago I was in Brother Warner's company of
workers, assisting in a meeting at Butler, Pa. The meeting was very good.
A number of business men of the city were convinced of the truth. After
our meeting closed, a man, very prominent in a popular church, announced
that he would show by the Scriptures that our doctrine was of the devil.
God's faithful ones agreed in prayer that the Spirit of God should
confound him. At the appointed time, a large congregation gathered to hear
him. He arose, stammered a moment, then said, "I am either sick, or I
have the grippe, or the devil is in me," and sat down. God fulfilled
his promise. Praise the Lord!
God's purpose is the same now as it was on the day of
Pentecost. Can we believe it? There are many here who need to have real
faith exercised for them. Our souls will grow, and when we go home we will
be a little taller and weigh a little more spiritually, for having
exercised our spiritual energies. We can help to fulfill God's purpose by
prevailing in prayer for souls in this meeting. I believe our faith is
increasing a little more, not only that we may get good things for
ourselves, but that souls who are in confusion may get the clear light of
God.
GOD'S PURPOSE HINDERED BY SELF-INTEREST
Is your heart so full of your own burdens and cares
that you have no time to bear a burden for Jesus? We can get our personal
trials, burdens and cares thrust away and out of sight, and be able to see
and feel the crying need of this sin-cursed world, if we decide to have it
so. If we are weighted down with our own burdens, we will not have time to
make friends of the people. Do not be afraid of winning the people to you.
You must first win their friendship, or you need not hope for them to make
friends with your Jesus. Do not despise the little opportunities you have.
If you cannot preach in a foreign land, you can preach to your neighbors
and friends. Some would like to go and preach if they could fill a very
responsible position, but are unwilling to fill an obscure out of the way
place. We should be willing to fill the place God puts us in, and do with
patience the most menial task assigned us. That is the position Jesus
took, and he is our example. Should we, then, seek to exalt ourselves?
"THY SUN SHALL NO MORE GO DOWN"
God's holy people are the same as they always were,
have the same gospel to preach, the same faith to contend for, and the
same salvation to enjoy. A few years ago I heard a lady say, "The
holy people sure have changed. They are not like they used to be."
Another lady said, "No, they haven't; the change is in you."
These ladies were both believers in a popular religion.
If you have grave fears that the church of God is going
down into darkness, let me read you a verse to encourage you.
"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates
Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness
shall the moon give light unto thee: but the lord shall be unto thee an
everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down;
neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."
Verses 18-20.
"Thy sun shall no more go down." What is the sun
of the church? Jesus Christ, the King of Glory. Shall he go down? No, a
blood-washed ministry will defend his doctrine and hold him up as the
Savior of the world; even facing the bayonet hundreds in the church today
would defend the gospel with their life's blood. God's people love the
truth today as well as Peter and Paul did. If a spirit of division tries
to creep in among them, the spirit of judgment will arise and expose it.
There are many in this audience who know what it means to
be under the vigorous rule of sectarian institutions. You have been
enlightened and have forsaken the creeds of men, wherein there is
"wasting, destruction and violence," and now enjoy the peaceable
rule of the church of God. "I will make thine officers peace."
We need not fear our brothers and sisters, for they love us so well that
they are true and faithful to admonish and help us fortify the weak places
in our Christian character.
Let us not lose sight of God's purpose - the salvation of
the world. The enemy has gained a point upon us when he gets us to stop
pouring out the truth against sin, and quibble over some trivial thing
that amounts to nothing. When we quibble and argue about things outside
the Bible, we talk ourselves empty; we have no message or burden for
souls, and wonder what has gone wrong, when the wrong is in us and we do
not know it. God help us to stand on the Word only. Where the Word is
silent, let us be silent; where the Word speaks, let us speak with
authority. If we will do this, it will save us and those that hear us from
trouble. If there is an issue on hand, you and I can accomplish more on
our knees than by talk. Let us tarry before God and pray much. Prayer and
faith will move mountains. Let us be diligent to fulfill God's glorious
purpose in every detail.