Gathering Jewels Part 7

I love the Lord, because my voice And prayer He did hear; I, while I live, will call on Him Who bowed to me His ear.

He was greatly encouraged to serve G.o.d in view of the alliance and a.s.sistance of Jehovah towards the redemption of Israel. In the fortieth Psalm he ill.u.s.trates this thought still further:

I waited for the Lord my G.o.d, And patiently did bear.

He took me from the fearful pit, And from the miry clay, And on a Rock He set my feet, Establishing my way.

The nature of salvation is the same all the world over. The scheme is sovereign. The objects are poor, helpless sinners. The results are ever the same, namely, the forgiveness of sin--justification by faith alone; and then, at last, an abundant entrance is afforded into the beautiful mansions of light, where friendship is changeless and carkering care is unknown, and no more pale faces with mute hearts breaking every day.

Yonder we shall be clad in the beauteous wedding garments of the King.

To die in the Lord will be an ample equivalent for all of earth's sorrows and difficulties. In the meantime, we must continually say concerning such providences as the present, "Draw me, we will run after thee. Awake, O north wind and come thou, south, and blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out." This loss will work together for our good if we hear His voice. It calls us to the necessary duty of immediate decision. We must not halt any longer between two opinions.

If the Lord be G.o.d follow Him, but if Baal be your G.o.d follow him no longer. But please remember that the wages of sin is death. You are called to decide for Christ, to decide for heaven, by this sad bereavement. He draws you with the cords of love as with the bands of a man. Will you run after Him?

There is no one can help you in the hour of death and the judgment but Jesus. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Yield, oh! yield to His call! Say yes, "My beloved is mine and I am His; He feedeth among the lilies until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away." Oh! turn your eyes upwards:

Where high the heavenly temple stands, The house of G.o.d not made with hands, A great High Priest our nature wears, The guardian of mankind appears.

If we would die in the Lord, we must recognize Christ, not only as having died that we might live, but also as having triumphed over the grave, and is now sitting at the right hand of G.o.d making continual intercession for us. By day and by night He pleads our cause. Don't try to get to heaven by the intercession of saints or angels. Christ alone is the Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Disobedience in this direction will prove disastrous.

Say, "who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments, from Bozrah travelling in the greatness of His strength?" I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. This is your Daysman, your Mediator. He hath opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness.

Five bleeding wounds He bears, Received on Calvary, Now pour effectual prayers And strongly speak for thee.

If you would die like our dear Brother Knowles, _in the Lord_, then to-day behold His wounded hands and side. We have all sinned against G.o.d and abused His mercy; but, oh, let us to-day consecrate ourselves to Christ, and like the prodigal son say, "I will arise and go to my father." Christ is our great representative before the throne. Oh, that He would ever teach us to offer this prayer:

Lord G.o.d of Hosts, my prayer hear; O Jacob's G.o.d, give ear!

See G.o.d, our shield, look on the face Of thine anointed dear.

I tell you, my friends, we do not want any new school theology. The holy religion of our fathers is good enough for me. Here it is a loving father, a crucified and triumphant and pleading saviour for us poor, miserable and helpless sinners, and a Home beyond the flood.

I will arise now and go about the city, in the streets, on the cars, in the workshop, on the ship, on the sea and land where-ever G.o.d may guide my wandering footsteps through each perplexing path of life. And I will seek Him whom my soul loveth.

_They rest from their labors and their works do follow them._ The Psalmist says that our strength is labor and sorrow. The more we toil for Christ and His church the more we honor Him and become fruit-bearers. By a constant course of activity and devotedness for the welfare of fallen humanity, the capacities of the soul are greatly enlarged, and we apprehend more fully the fact that G.o.d hath put the treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of G.o.d and not of man. Sometimes, too, our good will be evil spoken of and attributed to selfish motives. We may be traduced by tongues which neither know our faculties nor our person. 'Tis but the rough road that virtue must go through. We must not allow any discouragements or censure to r.e.t.a.r.d our aggressive work, remembering constantly that the Master was accused of having a devil, and that he cast out devils by the power of Beelzebub. Oh, what wrong ideas men have of the great work of saving souls. What prejudices, what indifference, what neglect, what lukewarmness have the true servants of Christ to encounter as they earnestly toil in transplanting souls into the vineyard _of the Lord_.

The life of Christ on earth was a life of generous labor; and when He called His disciples, He said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Kempis, in his "Imitation of Christ," says, "by the words of Christ we are taught to imitate His life and manner, if we would be truly enlightened and be delivered from all blindness of heart." "Learn of me," said Jesus, as well as "Come unto me. I have set the Lord always before me, said David. What a glorious thing it is for the servant of Christ to know that he is earnestly engaged in the work of His Master. It is our labors of love that alone meets with the smile and approbation of G.o.d, for He is cognizant of everything we try to accomplish for His cause on earth. Oh, that we may say from the heart, I must work the works of Him that sent me; the night cometh when no man can work."

The trees of the Lord are full of sap, they are fat and flourishing. We are all familiar with the work of blessed beneficence of Howard, the great philanthropist, and Henry Martyn, the self-denying missionary. To be a true Christian, then, requires a life of toil. "For man goeth forth unto the work and to his labor until the evening." How sweet, then, is rest to the laboring man. When the harvest is gathered in. A harvest of souls for Christ. Here am I, Lord, and the children which thou hast given me. Paul said that I may so preach and labor that I may present every one of you perfect before G.o.d. This is no mean toil. What prayers. What watching. What toil. What tears. Ah! but at eventide it shall be light. Strange language.

What a beautiful and touching description does Burns give, in his "Cottar's Sat.u.r.day Night," of the sweet rest and joy that springs into the soul when the weary work is over. He says:

The toil-worn cottar frae his labor goes, This night his weekly moil is at an end, Collects his spades, his mattocks and his hoes, Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend, And weary o'er the moor his course does hameward bend.

The next stanza can be truly applied to our Elder in his Christian experience:

The parent pair their secret homage pay, And proffer up to heaven the warm request, That He who stills the raven's clamorous nest, And decks the lily fair in flowery pride, Would in His way His Wisdom see the best, For them and for their little ones provide, But chiefly in their hearts with _grace Divine_ reside.

I think this is the most descriptive, and true, and touching scene of a Christian man's experience that can be found in any language. Burns knew how to touch the tender chord of a human heart. "An honest man's the n.o.blest work of G.o.d." "They rest from their labor and their works do follow them."

Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, says, "Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak: For G.o.d is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which He showed unto His name."

Listen, then, to this sweet, silent voice calling us to go and do likewise.

Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? It is to a life of toil, not of indolence, we are called. The fields are white already, unto harvest.

Who will bear the sheaves away? Who among our young men in this congregation will take the place of Elder Knowles? Can you be engaged in a grander or n.o.bler work? He that winneth souls is wise. Is there any purer pleasure in this world than the joy that is experienced in the heart when souls are converted to G.o.d? Oh, young men, deeply meditate on that precious pa.s.sage. He that converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, doth save a soul from death, and doth hide a mult.i.tude of sins. Are not the opportunities great in this city for doing good? Is not the wickedness great? Are not souls perishing around you for lack of knowledge? Resolve, from this day, that, G.o.d helping you, you will dedicate all your powers of heart, soul, and strength to the blessed service of Christ. You are not your own. You have been saved, that you may save others by pulling them out of the fire. Haste then, haste to the rescue. Souls may perish, and go down to h.e.l.l, while you are deliberating.

I remember, years ago, while coming into New York Harbor, we lost a very promising young man overboard. The life-boat was launched, and the life-buoy was cut adrift. But through some delay, the young man perished. What a tremendous disappointment those parents experienced as they stepped on board the frigate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and learned that their darling boy had found a watery grave.

I never think of the above sad occurrence but I am forcibly reminded that through the delays and sad neglect of Christian parents and Sabbath-school teachers, many young persons perish, and I inquire, Who is responsible for their destruction? Many ask the question that Cain impudently put to the Lord, "Am I my brother's keeper?" We can be guilty of other men's sins. This is a mysterious fact, but it is nevertheless true. If you are an idler in the Master's vineyard, you are, to a certain extent, responsible. Oh, that the Holy Spirit would show us our duty to our fellow-men.

Our departed brother realized this truth. Just look at a man seventy-five years old, occupied every Lord's Day teaching a large cla.s.s of youth in the Sabbath-school. But you must remember that for six days in the week he n.o.bly toiled as a printer, from eight in the morning until six at night. And he seldom missed the prayer-meeting, or other gatherings of the Church. He was, indeed, a worker that needeth not to be ashamed.

In the absence of the pastor he frequently led the prayer-meeting, and his expositions of the chapter read as the lesson of the night were very scriptural, cheering, and full of encouragement.

He was familiarly acquainted with the Word of G.o.d, and his prayers were earnest, solemn, and to the point, because his soul was surcharged with Divine truth.

It is no wonder, then, that everybody loved him--his young men in the various Bible-cla.s.ses especially. Eternity alone will reveal the amount of good he accomplished by his kind, gentle, meek, cheerful, and quiet spirit.

Servant of Christ, well done; you rest from your labor, and your works do follow you.

Let us look at his work as a ruling Elder of the Church of Christ.

Paul, in writing to Timothy, says: "Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine" (1 Timothy v. 17). An elder is one who rules the house of G.o.d. They are, therefore, the magistrates of the Church. They are to administer the laws of His holy sanctuary. How great and important this work. Who is sufficient for these things? The pastor, in apostolic times, was called an elder. But as an under-shepherd his labors are greatly a.s.sisted and augmented by the hearty co-operation of a judicious selection of men filled with the spirit of G.o.d, and duly ordained for their work. Men who recognize among their fellows no moral superiority, but that spiritually-mindedness that flows from prayer and the study of G.o.d's Word. Their work is immortal. Their duties are great. But their peculiar privileges are greater--to rule well the House of G.o.d.

It is, certainly, a sad sight to see men filling this sacred office without the requisite qualifications. The negotiations between man and man are so stupendous, that it is not every member of the Church who is fitted for this responsible work. We ought to study adaptation in the selection and ordination of ruling them.

Every time I looked in the face of Elder Knowles, I was deeply impressed with the thought that no blunder had been committed when he was chosen and set apart in this line of Apostolic toil. For he was a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

He knew full well how to rule his own spirit, and he that can do that is more mighty than he who taketh a city. Self must be slain by the sword of the spirit, if we would lead the army of the Lord on to victory. Hence the solemn injunction of Paul: "I charge thee before G.o.d, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.... Lay hands suddenly on no man" (1 Timothy, v. 21-22).

We commend, for attentive perusal and prayerful reflection, the qualification of an elder, as laid down by Paul, and elaborated by the holy McCheyne, strictly germane to the life of Elder James Knowles.

They are fundamental requisites. The good McCheyne, of St. Peter's, Dundee, says: "I feel, brethren, that a minister alone is incapable of ruling the House of G.o.d well. If a minister is to thrive in his own soul, _he must be half of his time on his knees_; and therefore, if Christ's house is to be ruled well, there must not only be pastors, but there must be ruling elders."

"The first qualification is grace. Grace in the heart. If it be a qualification in a church member that he should have grace, then much more ought it to be a qualification in one who rules the Church of G.o.d.

How is it possible for him to admit any to the Lord's table, when he is but a judge himself?" How is it possible to excommunicate, when he ought to be excommunicated himself? So, brethren, a graceless elder is a curse instead of a blessing.

We can safely say our dear departed elder had grace. This was remarkably developed in his Christian character. Patience found a permanent home in his heart. It occupied a significantly prominent place there, and was strenuously cultivated. It was copied and commented upon by all who knew him, and uniformly evoked universal favor and approval by the various ministers and sessions of the different Presbyterian churches in this city, in which he was an elder.

He had many trials, and we think he could say with Paul, in his letter to the Church at Rome: "We glory in tribulation, also knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience."

It seems they had some little misunderstanding in the session of one of the churches to which he (our elder) formerly belonged. And some remark made by the elder to the pastor was so cutting, that the minister said unless the elder would take back what he said, that next Sabbath he would tender his resignation to the congregation.

The elder replied that he would not take it back for him. To preserve harmony, and be a peacemaker, Elder Knowles stepped up to his brother in the session, and asked him if he would not take it back for his sake, and the sake of the blessed Jesus. At this, the elder said, with tears in his eyes, "Yes, James, for your sake, I will take it back."

Perhaps the minister was partly to blame, and also the elder, but by having the grace of patience, not only was a reconciliation brought about, the pastor was retained, and permitted to resume his work, and precious souls were added to the Church. Oh, how much trouble and scandal might be averted in some of the churches if our elders and deacons and church members would only strive to cultivate the grace of patience.

We have great need of this grace in our hearts, as we work for the Master. May the Holy Spirit work it in us, for, as Paul says: "Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of G.o.d, ye might receive the promise" (Heb. x. 36).

The life of a ruling elder in the Church, and in the world, is like the erection of a beautiful building. Great patience is requisite, in order to bring it to a successful completion. So, as a wise master buildeth for eternity, we most build the structure of Christian character upon the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ, Himself, being the chief corner-stone. What a model of patience is Jesus. What difficulties He encountered. What trials cl.u.s.tered around Him. What provocations he meekly endured. All through His life, and even amid His unutterable agonies on the Cross on Mount Calvary, when His body was shedding the last drop of blood to seal the mysterious work of redemption, even then, amid mockings and scoffings, and tortures, the sacred lips of the Crucified Christ uttered this prayer for his enemies, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke xxiii. 34).

The dear Master considered this prayer essential before He could conscientiously exclaim, "Consummatum est"--It is consummated, or finished. Our dear elder was like his Lord in this respect. He could say, with Newton,