Part 2 (2/2)
Some men say, ”I wish I knew how to be saved.” Just take G.o.d at His word and trust His Son this very day--this very hour--this very moment. He will save you, if you will trust Him. I imagine I hear some one saying, ”I do not feel the bite as much as I wish I did. I know I am a sinner, and all that; but I do not feel the bite enough.”
How much does G.o.d want you to feel it?
When I was in Belfast I knew a doctor who had a friend, a leading surgeon there; and he told me that the surgeon's custom was, before performing any operation, to say to the patient, ”Take a good look at the wound, and then fix your eyes on me; and do not take them off till I get through.” I thought at the time that was a good ill.u.s.tration. Sinner, take a good look at your wound; and then fix your eyes on Christ, and do not take them off. It is better to look at the Remedy than at the wound. See what a poor wretched sinner you are; and then look at the Lamb of G.o.d who ”taketh away the sin of the world.” He died for the unG.o.dly and the sinner. Say ”I will take Him!” And may G.o.d help you to lift your eye to the Man on Calvary.
And as the Israelites looked upon the serpent and were healed, so may you look and live.
After the battle of Pittsburgh Landing I was in a hospital at Murfreesbro. In the middle of the night I was aroused and told that a man in one of the wards wanted to see me. I went to him and he called me ”chaplain”--I was not the chaplain--and said he wanted me to help him die. And I said, ”I would take you right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of G.o.d if I could; but I cannot do it: I cannot help you die!” And he said, ”Who can?” I said, ”The Lord Jesus Christ can--He came for that purpose.” He shook his head, and said, ”He cannot save me; I have sinned all my life.” And I said, ”But He came to save sinners.” I thought of his mother in the north, and I was sure that she was anxious that he should die in peace; so I resolved I would stay with him. I prayed two or three times, and repeated all the promises I could; for it was evident that in a few hours he would be gone. I said I wanted to read him a conversation that Christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul. I turned to the third chapter of John. His eyes were riveted on me; and when I came to the 14th and 15th verses--the pa.s.sage before us--he caught up the words, ”As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He stopped me and said, ”Is that there?” I said ”Yes.” He asked me to read it again; and I did so. He leant his elbows on the cot and clasping his hands together, said, ”That's good; won't you read it again?” I read it the third time; and then went on with the rest of the chapter. When I had finished, his eyes were closed, his hands were folded, and there was a smile on his face. Oh, how it was lit up! What change had come over it! I saw his lips quivering, and leaning over him I heard in a faint whisper, ”As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” He opened his eyes and said, ”That's enough; don't read any more.” He lingered a few hours, pillowing his head on those two verses; and then went up in one of Christ's chariots, to take his seat in the kingdom of G.o.d.
Christ said to Nicodemus: ”Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of G.o.d.” You may see many countries; but there is one country--the land of Beulah, which John Bunyan saw in vision--you shall never behold, unless you are born again--regenerated by Christ.
You can look abroad and see many beautiful trees; but the tree of life, you shall never behold, unless your eyes are made clear by faith in the Saviour. You may see the beautiful rivers of the earth--you may ride upon their bosoms; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the river which bursts out from the Throne of G.o.d and flows through the upper Kingdom, unless you are born again. G.o.d has said it; and not man. You will never see the kingdom of G.o.d except you are born again. You may see the kings and lords of the earth; but the King of kings and Lord of lords you will never see except you are born again. When you are in London you may go to the Tower and see the crown of England, which is worth thousands of dollars, and is guarded there by soldiers; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the crown of life except you are born again.
You may hear the songs of Zion which are sung here; but one song--that of Moses and the Lamb--the uncirc.u.mcised ear shall never hear; its melody will only gladden the ear of those who have been born again. You may look upon the beautiful mansions of earth, but bear in mind the mansions which Christ has gone to prepare you shall never see unless you are born again. It is G.o.d who says it. You may see ten thousand beautiful things in this world; but the city that Abraham caught a glimpse of--and from that time became a pilgrim and sojourner--you shall never see unless you are born again (Heb. xi. 8, 10-16). You may often be invited to marriage feasts here; but you will never attend the marriage supper of the Lamb except you are born again. It is G.o.d who says it, dear friend. You may be looking on the face of your sainted mother to-night, and feel that she is praying for you; but the time will come when you shall never see her more unless you are born again.
The reader may be a young man or a young lady who has recently stood by the bedside of a dying mother; and she may have said, ”Be sure and meet me in heaven,” and you made the promise. Ah! you shall never see her more, except you are born again. I believe Jesus of Nazareth, sooner than those infidels who say you do not need to be born again.
Parents, if you hope to see your children who have gone before, you must be born of the Spirit. Possibly you are a father or a mother who has recently borne a loved one to the grave; and how dark your home seems! Never more will you see your child, unless you are born again.
If you wish to be re-united to your loved one, you must be born again. I may be addressing a father or a mother who has a loved one up yonder. If you could hear that loved one's voice, it would say, ”Come this way.” Have you a sainted friend up yonder? Young man or young lady, have you not a mother in the world of light? If you could hear her speak, would not she say, ”Come this way, my son,”--”Come this way, my daughter?” If you would ever see her more you must be born again.
We all have an Elder Brother there. Nearly nineteen hundred years ago He crossed over, and from the heavenly sh.o.r.es He is calling you to heaven. Let us turn our backs upon the world. Let us give a deaf ear to the world. Let us look to Jesus on the Cross and be saved. Then we shall one day see the King in His beauty, and we shall go no more out.
CHAPTER III.
_THE TWO CLa.s.sES_.
”Two men went up into the temple to pray.”--Luke xvii. 10.
I now want to speak of two cla.s.ses: First, those who do not feel their need of a Saviour who have not been convinced of sin by the Spirit; and Second, those who are convinced of sin and cry, ”What must I do to be saved?”
All inquirers can be ranged under two heads: they have either the spirit of the Pharisee, or the spirit of the publican. If a man having the spirit of the Pharisee comes into an after-meeting, I know of no better portion of Scripture to meet his case than Romans iii.
10: ”As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after G.o.d.” Paul is here speaking of the natural man. ”They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” And in the 17th verse and those which follow, we have ”And the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of G.o.d before their eyes. Now we know what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before G.o.d.”
Then observe the last clause of verse 22: ”For there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of G.o.d.”
Not part of the human family--but _all_--”have sinned, and come short of the glory of G.o.d.” Another verse which has been very much used to convict men of their sin is 1 John i. 8: ”If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
I remember that on one occasion we were holding meetings in an eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a lady came and asked us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed bringing into the after meeting. I have traveled a good deal and met many pharisaical men; but this man was so clad in self-righteousness that you could not get the point of the needle of conviction in anywhere. I said to his wife: ”I am glad to see your faith; but we cannot get near him; he is the most self-righteous man I ever saw.” She said: ”You must! My heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion.” She persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of him.
But towards the close of our meetings of thirty days, he came up to me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. The place in which the meetings were held was rather cold, and there was an adjoining room in which only the gas had been lighted; and he said to me, ”Can't you come in here for a few minutes?” I thought that he was shaking from cold, and I did not particularly wish to go where it was colder. But he said: ”I am the worst man in the State of Vermont. I want you to pray for me.” I thought he had committed a murder, or some other awful crime; and I asked: ”Is there any one sin that particularly troubles you?” And he said: ”My whole life has been a sin. I have been a conceited, self-righteous Pharisee. I want you to pray for me.” He was under deep conviction. Man could not have produced this result; but the Spirit had. About two o'clock in the morning light broke in upon his soul: and he went up and down the business street of the city and told what G.o.d had done for him; and has been a most active Christian ever since.
There are four other pa.s.sages in dealing with inquirers, which were used by Christ Himself. ”Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of G.o.d.” (John iii. 3.)
In Luke xiii. 3, we read: ”Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
In Matthew xviii., when the disciples came to Jesus to know who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we are told that He took a little child and set him in the midst and said, ”Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (xviii. 1-3).
There is another important ”Except” in Matthew v. 20: ”Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.”
A man must be made meet before he will want to go into the kingdom of G.o.d. I would rather go into the kingdom with the younger brother than stay outside with the elder. Heaven would be h.e.l.l to such an one. An elder brother who could not rejoice at his younger brother's return would not be ”fit” for the kingdom of G.o.d. It is a solemn thing to contemplate; but the curtain drops and leaves him outside, and the younger brother within. To him the language of the Saviour under other circ.u.mstances seems appropriate: ”Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of G.o.d before you”
(Matt. xxi. 31).
A lady once came to me and wanted a favor for her daughter. She said: ”You must remember I do not sympathize with you in your doctrine.” I asked: ”What is your trouble?” She said: ”I think your abuse of the elder brother is horrible. I think he is a n.o.ble character.” I said that I was willing to hear her defend him; but that it was a solemn thing to take up such a position; and that the elder brother needed to be converted as much as the younger. When people talk of being moral it is well to get them to take a good look at the old man pleading with his boy who would not go in.
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