True Words for Brave Men Part 7

That we are not to fancy, because David was an inspired prophet, that therefore he was in a different case from us, of different pa.s.sions from ours, or that his words are too sacred and holy for us to use. Not so, we are to believe the very contrary. We are to believe that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation--that is--has not merely to do with the man who spoke it first--but that because David spoke by the Spirit of G.o.d, who is no respecter of persons, therefore his words apply to you, and to me, and to every human being--that David is revealing to us the everlasting laws of G.o.d's Spirit, and of G.o.d's providence, whereby He works alike in every Christian soul, and then, therefore, whatever our sin may be, whatever our sorrows may be, whatever our station in life may be, we have a right to offer up to G.o.d our repentance, our doubts, our fears, our hopes, our thanksgivings, in the very words which David used two thousand years and more ago, certain that they are the right words, better words than we can find for ourselves, exactly fitting our own souls, and fitting too the mind and will of Almighty G.o.d, because they are inspired by the same Spirit of G.o.d who descended on us, when we were baptized unto Christ's Church.

And for that, my friends, we have an example--as we have for everything else--in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For He, in the hour of His darkest agony, when He hung upon the cross for our sins, and the sin of all mankind, and when (worse than all other agony, or shame), there came over Him the deepest horror of all--the feeling, but for a moment, that G.o.d had forsaken Him--even then, He who spake as never man spake, did not disdain to use the words of David, and cry, in the opening verse of that 22d psalm, every line of which applies so strangely to Him himself, "My G.o.d, my G.o.d, why hast Thou forsaken me?" So did our Lord bequeath, as it were, with His dying breath, to all Christians for ever, as the fit and true expression of all that they should ever experience, the psalms of His great earthly ancestor, David, the sweet singer of Israel.

My friends, neglect not that precious bequest of your dying Lord. Read those psalms, study them, tune your hearts and minds to them more and more; and you will find in them an inexhaustible treasury of wisdom, and comfort, and of the knowledge of G.o.d, wherein standeth your eternal life.

XVI. AHAB AND MICAIAH--THE CHRISTIAN DEAD ALIVE FOE EVERMORE.

"And the King of Israel said to Jehosaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." . .

.--1 KINGS xxii. 8.

If you read the story of Micaiah the Prophet, and King Ahab in the 22d chapter of the 1st Book of Kings, you will, I think, agree that Ahab showed himself as foolish as he was wicked. He hated Micaiah for telling him the truth. And when he heard the truth and was warned of his coming end, he went stupidly to meet it, and died as the fool dies. Foolishness and wickedness often go hand in hand. Certainly they did in that miserable king's case.

But now, my friends, while we find fault with wretched Ahab, let us take care that we are not finding fault with ourselves also. If we do what Ahab did, we have no right to despise him for doing what we do. With what judgment we judge we shall be judged, and the same measure which we measure out to Ahab, G.o.d will measure out to us. All these things are written for our example, that we may see our faults in other men, as in a gla.s.s, and seeing how ugly sin and folly is, and to what misery it leads, may learn to avoid it, and look at home, and see that we are not treading the same path. Else what use in reading these stories of good men and bad men of old times? The very use of them is to make us remember that they were men of like pa.s.sions with ourselves, and learn from their example; as we may do easily enough from that of Ahab.

"There remaineth yet one prophet--but I hate him." How often have we said that in our hearts! Do you think not? Let me show you then.

How often when we are in trouble or anxiety do we go everywhere to get comfort, before we go to G.o.d's word? When a young lad falls into wild ways, and gets into trouble by his own folly, then to whom does he go for comfort? Too often, to other wild lads like himself, or to foolish and wicked women, who will flatter him, and try to make him easy in his sins, and say to him as the false prophets said to Ahab, "Go on and prosper--why be afraid? Why should you not enjoy yourself? Never mind what your father and mother say, never mind what the parson says. You will do well enough. All will come right somehow. Come and drink, and drive away sorrow."

And all the while the poor lad gets no comfort from these false friends.

He likes to listen to them, because they flatter him up in his sins; but all the while his heart is heavy. Like Ahab, he has a secret fear that all will _not_ come right; he feels that he will _not_ do well enough; and he knows that there remaineth yet a prophet of the Lord, who will not prophesy good of him but evil--and that is the Bible, and the prayer-book, and the sermon he hears at church--and therefore he hates them. And so, many a time he will not go to church for fear of hearing there that he is wrong, perhaps something in the sermon, which hits him hard, and makes him ashamed of himself, and angry with the preacher. So for fear of hearing the truth, and having his sins set before his face, he stays away from church, and pa.s.ses his Sundays like a heathen, because he has no mind to repent and mend, and be a good Christian.

Foolish fellow! As if he could escape G.o.d's judgment by shutting his ears to it. As well try to stop the thunder from rolling in the sky, by stopping his ears to that! The thunder is there, whether he choose to hear it or not. And whether he comes to church or not, G.o.d's law stands sure, that the wages of sin is death. Does the man fancy that G.o.d's law is shut up within the church walls, and that so he can keep clear of it by staying away from church? My friends, G.o.d's law is over the whole country, and over every cottage and field in it--about our path and about our bed, and spying out all our ways. The darkness is no darkness to G.o.d. G.o.d's judgments are in all the earth; and whether or not we choose to find them out, they will find us out just the same, as they found out Ahab, when his cup was full, and his time was come.

How many a poor lad, too, who has got into trouble, thinks he shall escape G.o.d's judgments by going across the sea; but he finds himself mistaken! He finds that the wages of sin are misery and shame and ruin, in Australia just as much as in England, and that all the gold in the diggings cannot redeem his soul, or prevent his being an unhappy self- condemned man if he does wrong.

How many a poor lad, too, who has got into trouble, has fancied that he could escape G.o.d's judgments by going for a soldier, and has found out that he too was mistaken! Perhaps G.o.d's judgment has found him out, as it found out Ahab, on the field of battle, and a chance shot has taught him, as it taught Ahab, that there is no hiding-place from the Lord who made him. Or perhaps G.o.d's judgments have come in fever, and hunger, and cold, and weariness, and miserable lonely labour; and with that hunger of body has come a hunger of his soul--a hunger after the bread of life, and the word of G.o.d! Ah! how many a poor fellow in his pain and misery has longed for the crumbs which used to fall from G.o.d's table, when he was a boy at home! for a word of good advice, though it were never so sharp and plain spoken--or a lesson such as he used to hear at school, or a tract, or a bit of a book, or anybody or anything which will put his poor wandering soul in the right way. He used to hate such things when he was at home, because they warned him of his bad ways; but now he feels a strange longing for that very good talk which he hated once, and so like David of old, out of the deep he cries unto the Lord. And when that cry comes up out of a sinful conscience-stricken, self-condemned heart, be sure it does not come up in vain. The Lord hears it, and the Lord answers it. Yes, I know it for certain; for many a sad and yet pleasant story I have heard, how brave men who went out from England, full of strength and health, and full of sin and folly too,--and there in that blood-stained Crimea, when their strength and their health had faded, and there was nothing round them or before them but wounds, and misery, and death; how there at last they found Christ, or rather were found by Him, and opened their eyes at last to see G.o.d's judgments for their sins, and confessed their own sin and G.o.d's justice, and received His precious promises of pardon, even in the agonies of death; and found amid the rage and noise of war, the peace of G.o.d, which this world's pleasures never gave them, and which this world's wounds, and fever, and battle, and sudden death cannot take away.

And after that, it matters little for a man what happens to him. For if he lives, he lives unto the Lord; and if he dies, he dies unto the Lord.

He may come home, well and strong, once more to do his duty, where G.o.d has put him, a sadder man perhaps, but at least a soberer and a wiser man, who has learnt to endure hardship, not merely as a soldier of the Queen, but as a good soldier of Jesus Christ too, ready to fight against sin and wrong-doing in himself and in his neighbours.

Or he may come home a cripple, to be honoured and to be kept too (as he deserves to be) at his country's expense. But if he be a wise man he will not regret even the loss of a limb. That is a cheap price to pay for having gained what is worth all the limbs in a man's body, a clear conscience and a right life. "If thy hand offend thee cut it off."

Better to enter into life halt and maimed, as many a gallant man has done in war time, than having two hands and two feet to be cast out.

Or perhaps his grave is left behind there, upon those lonely Crimean downs, and his comrades are returning without him, and all whom he knew, and all whom he loved, are looking for him at home. There his grave is, and must be; and "the foe and the stranger will tread on his head, and they far away on the billow."

But at least he has not died like Ahab--a shameful and pitiable death. He has done his work and conquered. He has died like a man, whom men honour. Even so it is well. And if he have died in the Lord, a penitent Christian man, _he_ is not dead at all. _He_ does not lie in that grave in a foreign land. All of him that strangers' feet can tread upon is but what we called his body; and yet which was not even his body, but the mere husk and sh.e.l.l of him, the flesh and bones with which his body was clothed in this life; while he, he himself, is nearer G.o.d than ever, and nearer, too, than ever to his comrades who seem to have left him, and to the parents and the friends who are weeping for him at home. Ay, nearer to them, more able, I firmly believe, to help and comfort them, now that he is alive for ever, in the heaven of G.o.d, than he would if he were only alive here on the earth of G.o.d--more able perhaps to help them now by his prayers than he ever would have been by the labour of his hands. Be that as it may, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. A fearful labour is the soldier's, and an ugly work; and he has done it; and doubt not it has followed him, and is recorded for him in the book of G.o.d for ever!

XVII. WHAT IS CHANCE?

"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death pa.s.sed upon all men, because all have sinned."--ROMANS v. 12.

All death is a solemn and fearful thing. When it comes to an old person, one cannot help feeling it often a release, and saying, "He has done his work--he has sorrowed out his sorrows, he has struggled his last struggle, and wept his last tear: let him go to his rest and be peaceful at last."

But when death comes suddenly to people in the prime of life, who but yesterday were as busy and as lively as any of us, and we are face to face with death, and see the same face we knew in life--not wasted, not worn, young and l.u.s.ty as ever, seemingly asleep,--something at our heart as well as in our eyes, tells us that there is more than sleep in that strange, sharp, quiet smile--and we know in spite of ourselves that the man is dead. And then strange questions rise in us, "Is that he whom we knew? that still piece of clay, waiting only a few days before it returns to its dust? It is the face of him, the shape of him, it is what we knew him by. It is the very same body of which when we met it on the road we said, "He is coming." And yet is it _he_? Where is _he_ himself? Can _he_ hear us? Can _he_ see us? Does _he_ remember us as we remember _him_? Surely he must. He cannot be gone away--there he lies still on that bed before us!"

And then we are ready to say to ourselves, "It must be a mistake, a dream. He cannot be dead. He will wake. We shall meet him to-morrow in his old place, about his old work. _He_ dead? Impossible! Impossible to believe that we shall never see him again--never any more till we too die!"

And then when such thoughts come over us, we cannot help going on to say, "What is this death? this horrible thing which takes husbands from their wives, and children from their parents, and those who love from those who love them? What is it? How came this same death loose in the world?

What right has it here, under the bright sun, among the pleasant fields, this cruel, pitiless death, destroying G.o.d's handi-work, G.o.d's likeness, just as it is growing to its prime of beauty and usefulness?"

And then--there--by the bedside of the young at least, we do feel that death must be G.o.d's enemy--that it is a hateful, cruel, evil thing--accursed in the sight of a loving, life-giving G.o.d, as much as it is hated by poor mortal man.

And then, we feel, there must be something wrong between man and G.o.d. Man must be fallen and corrupt, must be out of his right place and state in some way or other, or this horrible death would not have got power over us! What right has death in the world, if man has not sinned or fallen?

And then we cannot help going further and saying, "This cruel death! it may come to me, young, strong, and healthy as I am. It may come to-morrow; it may come this minute; it may come by a hundred diseases, by a hundred accidents, which I cannot foresee or escape, and carry me off to-morrow, away from all I know and all I love, and all I like to see and to do. And where would it take me to, if it did take me? What should I be? What should I see? What should I know, after they had put this body of mine into that narrow house in the church-yard, and covered it out of sight till the judgment day?" Oh, my friends, what a thought for you, and me, and every human being! We might die to-night, even as those whom we know of died!

But perhaps some of you young people are saying to yourselves, "You are trying to frighten us, but you shall not frighten us. We know very well that it is not a common thing for a young person to die--not one in a hundred (except in a war time) dies in the prime of his years; and therefore the chances are that we shall not die young either. The chances are that we shall live to be old men and women, and we are not going to be frightened about dying forty years before our death. So in the meanwhile we will go our own way and enjoy ourselves. It will be time enough to think of death when death draws near."

Well then, if you have these thoughts, I will ask you, what do you mean by _chance_? You say, the _chances_ are against your dying young. Pray what are these wonderful things called chances, which are to keep you alive for thirty or forty or fifty years more? Did you ever _hear_ a chance, or _see_ a chance? Or did you ever meet with any one who had?

Did any one ever see a great angel called Chance flying about keeping people from dying? What is _chance_ on which you depend as you say for your life? What is _chance_ which you fancy so much stronger than G.o.d?

For as long as the _chance_ is against your dying, you are not afraid of neglecting G.o.d and disobeying G.o.d, and therefore you must suppose that _chance_ is stronger than G.o.d, and quite able to keep G.o.d's anger off from you for thirty or forty years, till you choose to repent and amend.

What sort of thing is this wonderful chance, which is going to keep you alive?

Perhaps you will say, "All we meant when we said that the chances were against our dying was that G.o.d's will was against our dying."

Did you only mean that? Then why put the thought of G.o.d away by foolish words about chance? For you know that it is G.o.d and G.o.d only who keeps you alive. You must look at that, you must face that. If you are alive now, G.o.d keeps you so. If you live forty years more, G.o.d will make you live that time. And He who can make you live, can also let you _not_ live; and then you will die. G.o.d can withdraw the breath of life from you or me or any one at any moment. And then where would our _chances_ of not dying be? We should die here and now, and know that G.o.d is the Lord and not _chance_ . . .

But think again. If G.o.d makes you alive He must have some reason for making you alive. For mind--it is not as you fancy, that when G.o.d leaves you alone you live, and when He puts forth His power and visits you, you die. _Not that_, _but the very opposite_. For in Adam all die. Our bodies are dead by reason of sin, and in the midst of life we are in death. There is a seed of death in you and me and every little child.

While we are eating and drinking and going about our business, fancying that we cannot help living, we carry the seeds of disease in our own bodies, which will surely kill us some day, even if we are not cut off before by some sudden accident. That is true, physicians know that it is true. Our bodies carry in them from the very cradle the seeds of death; and therefore it is not because G.o.d leaves us alone that we live. We live because G.o.d, our merciful heavenly Father, _does not_ leave us alone, but keeps down those seeds of disease and death by His Spirit, who is the Lord and Giver of Life.

G.o.d's Spirit of Life is fighting against death in our bodies from the moment we are born. And then, as Moses says, when He withdraws that Spirit of His, then it is that we die and are turned again to our dust.

So that our living a long time or a short time, does not depend on CHANCE, or on our own health or const.i.tution, but entirely on how long G.o.d may choose to keep down the death which is lying in us, ready to kill us at any moment, and certain to kill us sooner or later.

And yet people fancy that they live because they cannot help living, unless G.o.d interferes with them and makes them die. They fancy, thoughtless and ignorant as they are, that when they are in _health_, G.o.d leaves them alone, and that therefore when they are in health they may leave G.o.d alone.

My friends, I tell you that it is G.o.d, and not our const.i.tution or chance either which keeps you alive; as you will surely find out the moment after the last breath has left your body. And therefore I ask you solemnly the plain question, "For what does G.o.d keep you alive?" _For what_? Will a man keep plants in his garden which bear neither fruit nor flowers? Will a man keep stock on his farm which will only eat and never make profit; or a servant in his house who will not work? Much more, will a man keep a servant who will not only be idle himself, but quarrel with his fellow servants, lead them into sin and shame, and teach them to disobey their master? What man in his senses would keep such plants, such stock, such servants? And yet G.o.d keeps hundreds and thousands in His garden and in His house for years and years, while they are doing no good to Him, and doing harm to those around them.

How many are there who never yet did one thing to make their companions better, and yet have done many a thing to make their companions worse!

Then why are they alive still? Why does not G.o.d rid Himself of them at once and let them die, instead of c.u.mbering the ground? I know but one reason. If they were only G.o.d's plants, or His stock, or His servants, He might rid Himself of them. But they are something far nearer and dearer to Him than that. They are His children, and therefore He has mercy on them. They are redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world; and therefore for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, G.o.d looks on them with long-suffering and tender loving-kindness. Man was made in G.o.d's likeness at first, and was the son of G.o.d. And therefore howsoever fallen and corrupt man's nature is now, yet G.o.d loves him still, even though he be a heathen or an infidel. How much more for you, my friends, who know that you are G.o.d's children, who have been declared to be His children by Holy Baptism, and grafted into Christ's church. You at least are bound to believe that G.o.d preserves you from death, _because He loves you_. He protects you every day and every hour, as a father takes care of His children, and keeps them out of dangers which they cannot see or understand.

Yes! this is plain truth--your heavenly Father is keeping you alive! Oh, do not make that truth an excuse for forgetting and disobeying your heavenly Father!

Why does He keep you alive? Surely because He expects something of you.

And what does He expect of you? What does any good father expect of his children? Why does he help and protect them? Not from mere brute instinct, as beasts take care of their young when they are little, and then as soon as they are grown up cast them off and forget them. No. He takes care of his children because he wishes them to grow up like himself, to be a comfort and a help and a pride to him.

And G.o.d takes care of _you_ and keeps you from death, for the very same reason. G.o.d desires that you should grow up like Himself, G.o.dly and pure, leading lives like His Son Jesus Christ. G.o.d desires that you should grow up to the stature of perfect men and women, which is the likeness of Jesus Christ your Lord.

But if you turn G.o.d's grace in keeping you alive into a cloak for licentiousness and an excuse for sinning--if, when G.o.d keeps you alive that you may lead _good_ lives, you take advantage of His fatherly love to lead _bad_ lives--if you go on returning G.o.d evil for good, and ungratefully and basely presume on His patience and love to do the things which He hates, what must you expect? G.o.d loves you, and you make that an excuse for not loving Him; G.o.d does everything for you, and you make that an excuse for doing nothing for G.o.d; G.o.d gives you health and strength, and you make that an excuse for using your health and strength just in the way He has forbidden. What can be more ungrateful? What can be more foolish? Oh, my friends, if one of our children behaved to us in return for our care and love a hundredth part as shamefully as most of us behave to G.o.d our Father, what should we think of them? What should we say of them?

Oh, beware, beware! G.o.d is a righteous G.o.d, strong and patient, and G.o.d is provoked every day, and bears it according to His boundless love and patience. But "if a man _will not_ turn," says the same text, "He will whet His sword." And then--woe to the careless and ungrateful sinner.

G.o.d will cut him down and bring him low. G.o.d will take from him his health, or his money, or his blind peace of mind; and by affliction after affliction, and shame after shame, and disappointment after disappointment, teach him that his youth, and his health, and his money, and all that he has, are his Father's gifts and not his own property--and that His Father will take them away from him, till he feels his own weakness, till he sees that he is really not his own but G.o.d's property, body and soul, and goes back to his heavenly Father and cries, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son. I have taken Thy gifts and gone away with them from Thy house unto the far country of sin, and wasted them in riotous living, till I have had to fill my belly with the husks which the swine did eat.