Waiting Only Upon God
by
C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)
"My soul, wait thou only upon God."Psalm
62:5
Calvin translates this verse, "My soul, be thou silent before
God." Rest calm and undisturbed. Thine enemies are round about
thee, and have sore beset thee thy troubles do surround thee
like strong bulls of Bashan; but rest, my soul, in God. Thine
enemies are mighty, but HE IS Almighty; thy troubles are grievous,
but he is greater than thy troubles, and he shall deliver
thee from them. Let not thy soul be agitated. The wicked
are like the troubled sea that cannot rest: be not thou like
unto them. Be thou calm: let not a wave ruffle thine untroubled
spirit. "Cast thy burden on the Lord," and then sleep on his
bosom. Commit thy way unto Jehovah, and then rest in sure
and certain confidence, for
"He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve his might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light."
Oh! that we had grace to carry out the text in that sense
of it! It is a hard matter to be calm in the day of trouble;
but it is a high exercise of divine grace when we can stand
unmoved in the day of adversity, and feel that
"Should the earth's old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our stedfast souls should hear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar."
That is to be a Christian indeed. Nothing is so sweet as to
"Lie passive in God's hand,
And know no will but his."
I shall, however, this morning stand to the authorised version.
"My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from
him." Here is, first, an exhortation, and secondly,
an expectation.
I. We begin with the EXHORTATION. The Psalmist was a preacher,
and it was quite right that he should sometimes make himself
his congregation. The preacher who neglects to preach to himself
has forgotten a very important part of his audience. He who
never in his silent privacy speaketh a word to his own soul,
doth not know where to begin his preaching. We must first
address our own soul. If we can move that by the words
we may utter, we may hope to have some power with the souls
of others.
And note where David begins his exhortation: "My soul,
wait thou upon God." He addresses the very center of his being.
"My soul, I preach to thee; for if thou goest wrong, all is
amiss. If thou art amiss, mine eyes follow after vanity, my
lips utter leasing, my feet become swift to shed blood, and
mine hands meddle with mischief. My soul, I will preach to
thee. My face, I will not preach to thee. Some men preach
to their faces, and try to put on their countenances emotions
which they never feel. No, countenance, I will leave thee
alone: thou wilt be right enough if the soul is so. I will
preach to thee, O my soul, and address my sermon to thee Thou
art mine only auditor: hear what I say." "My soul, wait
thou only upon God." Let us, then, explain the exhortation.
1. First, the Psalmist means by this,My soul make
God thine only object in life. "My soul, wait thou only
upon God." Make him the summit of thy desires and the object
of thine exertions. Oh! how many men have made a fearful shipwreck
of their entire existence, by choosing an object inferior
to this high and noble object of existence, the serving of
God. I could put my finger upon a thousand biographies of
men, who after having lived in this world and done great things,
have nevertheless died unhappily, because they did not first
seek God and his righteousness. Perhaps there never was a
mind more gigantic than the mind of Sir Walter Scott: a man
whose soul was as fertile as the newly broken soil of the
land of gold. That man was a good man I believe, a Christian;
but he made a mistake in the object of his life. His object
was to be a laird, to found a family, to plant the root of
an ancestral tree the fruit of which should be heard of in
ages to come; magnificent in his hospitality, generous in
his nature, laborious in his continual strife to win the object
of his life, yet after all he died a disappointed and unsuccessful
man. He reared his palace, he accumulated his wealth and one
sad day saw it scattered to the wind, and he had lost that
for which he had lived. Had he fixed his eye upon some better
object than the pleasing of the public, or the accumulation
of wealth, or the founding of a family, he might have got
the others, and he would not have lost the first. Oh! had
he said "Now I will serve my God; this potent pen of mine,
dedicated to the Most High; shall weave into my marvellous
stories things that shall enlighten, convince, and lead to
Jesus," he might have died penniless, but he would have died
having achieved the object of his wishesnot a disappointed
man. Oh if we could make God our only object we should rest
quite secure, and whatever happened it never could be said
of us, "He died without having had what he wished for." How
many of you that are here to day are making the same mistake
on a smaller scale? You are living for business. You will
be disappointed, then. You are living for fame. As certain
as you are alive you will die disappointed, grieved and sad
at heart. You are living to maintain respectability; perhaps
that is the utmost of your desire. Poor aim that! You shall
be disappointed; or even if you gain it, it shall be a bubble
not worth the chase. Make God your one object in life, and
all these things shall be added to you, "Godliness with contentment
is great gain." There is no loss in being a Christian, and
making God the first object; but make anything else your goal,
and with all your running, should you run ever so well, you
shall fall short of the mark; or if you gain it, you shall
fall uncrowned, unhonored to the earth. "My soul, wait thou
only upon God." Say, "I love to serve him; I love to spread
his kingdom, to advance his interests, to tell the story of
his gospel, to increase the number of his converted ones that
shall be my only object; and when that is sufficiently attained,
'Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.'"
2. But the Psalmist meant other things beside this, when he
said, "My soul wait thou only upon God." He meant, My soul,
have no care but to please God. Perhaps the most miserable
people in the world are the very careful ones. You that are
so anxious about what shall happen on the morrow that you
cannot enjoy the pleasures of to-day, you who have such a
peculiar cast of mind that you suspect every star to be a
comet, and imagine that there must be a volcano in every grassy
mead, you that are more attracted by the spots in the sun
than by the sun himself, and more amazed by one sear leaf
upon the tree than by all the verdure of the woodsyou
that make more of your troubles than you could do of your
joys,I say, I think you belong to the most miserable
of men. David says to his soul, "My soul, be thou careful
for nothing except God; cast all thy care on him; he careth
for thee, and make this thy great concern, to love and serve
him; and then thou needest care for nothing else at all."
Oh! there are many of you people that go picking your way
all through this world you are afraid to put one foot down
before another, because you fear you will be in danger. If
you had grace just to turn your eye to God, you might walk
straight on in confidence, and say, "Though I should tread
on hell itself at the next step, yet if God bade me tread
there it would be heaven to me." There is nothing like the
faith that can leave care with God and have no thought but
how to please him. "Behold the fowls of the air, they sow
not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them." "Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these." Say not, "What shall we
eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek)
for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things." Oh, happy is the man who says, "I am a gentleman
commoner upon the bounties of providence. Let God send me
little, it will be enough; let him send me much, it will not
be too much, for I will divide my wealth with those who have
less. I will trust to him. He has said, 'Thy bread shall be
given thee, and thy water shall be sure.' Then let famine
come, I shall not starve; let the brook dry up, he will open
the bottles of heaven and give me drink. Whatever shall happen
to this world, yet shall I be secure against all ills." Some
people talk about being independent gentlemen. I know an independent
gentleman that lives on three shillings and sixpence a week.
He has nothing but parish allowance and the charity of friends;
but he says in sickness and in weariness, Jehovah will provide;
if my Father knows I want more he will send me more. And if
you hint to him that his parish allowance will be taken away,
he will just smile, and say, "If it does not come one way
it will come another; for God is the chancellor of my exchequer
and he will never let my funds run too low. I shall have it
for God has said it. 'They that wait on the Lord shall not
want any good thing.'" That is the right kind of independencythe
independency of the man who knows no dependence except upon
God. My soul, let this be thy care, to serve God, and wait
only upon Him.
3. Again, David meant this,My soul, make God thine
only dependence, and never trust in anything else. It
is marvellous how God's creation illustrates my text,David
bids his soul take God for its only pillar. Have you never
noticed how the world displays the power of God, in its want
of any apparent support? Behold the unpillared arch of heaven;
see how it stretches its gigantic span; and yet it falleth
not, though it is unpropped and unbuttressed. "He hangeth
the world upon nothing." What chain is it that bindeth up
the stars, and keepeth them from falling? Lo, they float in
ether, upheld by his omnipotent arm, who hath laid the foundations
of the universe. A Christian should be a second exhibition
of God's universe, his faith should be an unpillared confidence,
resting on the past, and on the eternity to come, as the sure
groundwork of its arch. His faith should be like the world;
it should hang on nothing but the promise of God, and have
no other support but that; and he himself, like the stars,
should float in the ether of confidence, needing nothing to
uphold him but the right hand of the Majesty on high. But,
fools that we are, we will be always getting other confidences.
The merchant has a man who so understands his business, that
he thinks the whole establishment depends upon that one man,
and if he should die or give up his situation, what would
become of the business? Ah! merchant, if thou art a godly
man, thou hast forgotten where thy confidence ought to be,
not in thy man, but in thy God. The wife often saith, "I love
the Lord, but if my husband died, where would be my dependence?"
What! hast thou buttressed the almighty even with a husband's
love? Trust thou in him, and make him thine only consolation.
He will supply thy needs out of the riches of his fullness.
Oh we should not have half the trouble we have, if we learned
to live wholly upon God. But we are so dependent upon creatures;
we get leaning one on another; and our dear friend, into whose
ear we have told our tale of misery, seems to be quite necessary
to our existence. Take heed, then; take heed! ye are trying
to prop that which requires no prop, when you lean upon your
friend; you are just dishonoring Christ, when you make him
your joy and confidence; and when in some grievous day, your
friend shall be smitten from the earth, then you will begin
to feel it would have been better for you if you had leaned
upon your heavenly Friend, and made no one your strength and
your support but God.
This would be a good lesson for some who occupy the pulpit.
There is so much time-serving everywhere. The Dissenting minister
must make his prop out of his deacons and the clergyman will
too much make his prop out of some high officials in church
or state, who are likely to promote him. We shall never get
an outspoken gospel until we get a set of men, who say "I
don't care for the whole earth; if there is no one else right,
and I conceive myself to be so, I will battle the whole earth;
and I ask no man's wish, or will, or assent. 'Let God be true,
and every man a liar.'" Oh, we want a few of those gigantic
spirits who need no approverswho can of themselves sweep
their acre of men and slay them with their strong broad sword
of confidence; and when we get these care-for-nothings, who
care only for God, then shall the earth shake again beneath
the tramp of angels, and God shall visit our land, even as
he did of old.
4. Again, beloved, "My soul wait thou only upon God," that
is to say, make God thine only guide and confidence.
When we get into trouble the first thing we do is to knock
at our neighbour's door. "Have you heard about my trouble?
Come and give me your advice." If your neighbor were prudent
he would say, "My brother, have you gone to God first? I will
give you no advice till God has given you his counsel?" It
is laughed at as an enthusiastic idea that men should ever
take counsel of God. "Oh," say some, "it is superstitious
to imagine that God will ever give to his people guidance
in their temporal affairs." It would be superstitious to you
perhaps; but it is not to a David, and it is not to any other
child of God. He saith, "My soul wait thou only upon God."
Christian, if thou wouldest know the path of duty take God
for thy compass; if thou wouldest know the way to steer thy
ship through the dark billows, put the tiller into the hand
of the Almighty. Many a rock might be escaped, if we would
let God take the helm; many a shoal or quicksand we might
well avoid, if we would leave to his sovereign will to choose
and to command. The old puritans said, "As sure as ever a
Christian carves for himself he'll cut his own fingers;" and
that is a great truth. Said another old divine, "He that goes
before the cloud of God's providence goes on a fool's errand;"
and so he does. We must mark God's providence leading us;
and then let us go. But he that goes before providence will
be very glad to run back again. Take your trouble, whatever
it is, to the throne of the Most High and on your knees put
up the prayer, "Lord, direct me." You will not go wrong. But
do not do as some do. Many a person comes to me and says,
"I want your advice, sir; as my minister, perhaps you could
tell me what I ought to do." Sometimes it is about their getting
married. Why, they have made up their minds before they ask
me, they know that; and then they come to ask my advice. "Do
you think that such and such a thing would be prudent, sir?
Do you think I should change my position in life?" and so
on. Now, first of all, I like to know, "Have you made your
mind up?" In most cases they haveand I fear you serve
God the same. We make up our mind what we are going to do,
and often we go down on our knees, and say, "Lord, show me
what I ought to do," and then we follow out our intention
and say, "I asked God's direction." My dear friend, you did
ask it, but you did not follow it, you followed your own.
You like God's direction so long as it points you the way
you wish to go, but if God's direction lead the contrary to
what you considered your own interest, it might have been
a very long while before you had carried it out. But if we
in truth and verity do confide in God to guide us, we shall
not go far wrong, I know.
5. Once again: My soul, wait thou only upon God, for protection
in times of danger. A naval Officer tells the following
singular story concerning the siege of Copenhagen, under Lord
Nelson. An officer in the fleet says, "I was particularly
impressed with an object which I saw three or four days after
the terrific bombardment of that place. For several nights
before the surrender, the darkness was ushered in with a tremendous
roar of guns and mortars, accompanied by the whizzing of those
destructive and burning engines of warfare, Congreve's rockets.
The dreadful effects were soon visible in the brilliant lights
through the city. The blazing houses of the rich, and the
burning cottages of the poor, illuminated the heavens; and
the wide-spreading flames, reflecting on the water, showed
a forest of ships assembled round the city for its destruction.
This work of conflagration went on for several nights but
the Danes at length surrendered; and on walking some days
after among the ruins, consisting of the cottages of the poor,
houses of the rich, manufactories, lofty steeples, and humble
meeting-houses, I descried, amid this barren field of desolation,
a solitary house, unharmed; all around it a burnt mass, this
alone untouched by the fire, a monument of mercy. 'Whose house
is that?' I asked. 'That,' said the interpreter, 'belongs
to a Quaker. He would neither fight nor leave his house, but
remained in prayer with his family during the whole bombardment.'
Surely, thought I, it is well with the righteous, God has
been a shield to thee in battle, a wall of fire round about
thee, a very present help in time of need." It might seem
to be an invention of mine, only that it happens to be as
authentic a piece of history as any that can be found. There
is another story told, somewhat similar of that Danish war.
"Soon after the surrender of Copenhagen to the English, in
the year 1807, detachments of soldiers were, for a time, stationed
in the surrounding villages. It happened one day that three
soldiers, belonging to a Highland regiment, were set to forage
among the neighboring farm-houses. They went to several but
found them stripped and deserted. At length they came to a
large garden, or orchard, full of apple trees, bending under
the weight of fruit. They entered by a gate, and followed
a path which brought them to a neat farm-house. Everything
without bespoke quietness and security; but as they entered
by the front door, the mistress of the house and her children
ran screaming out by the back. The interior of the house presented
an appearance of order and comfort superior to what might
be expected from people in that station, and from the habits
of the country. A watch hung by the side of the fireplace,
and a neat book-ease, well filled, attracted the attention
of the elder soldier. He took down a book: it was written
in a language unknown to him, but the name of Jesus Christ
was legible on every page. At this moment, the master of the
house entered by the door through which his wife and children
had just fled. One of the soldiers, by threatening signs demanded
provisions the man stood firm, and undaunted, but shook his
head. The soldier who held the book approached him, and pointing
to the name of Jesus Christ, laid his hand upon his heart,
and looked up to heaven. Instantly the farmer grasped his
hand, shook it vehemently, and then ran out of the room. He
soon returned with his wife and children laden with milk,
eggs, bacon, etc., which were freely tendered; and when money
was offered in return, it was at first refused, but as two
of the soldiers were pious men, they, much to the chagrin
of their companion, insisted upon paying for all they received.
When taking leave, the pious soldiers intimated to the farmer
that it would be well for him to secrete his watch; by the
most significant signs, he gave them to understand that he
feared no evil, for his trust was in God; and that though
his neighbors, on the right hand and on the left, had fled
from their habitations, and by foraging parties had lost what
they could not remove, nor a hair of his head had been injured,
nor had he even lost an apple from his trees." The man knew
that. "He that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword;"
so he just tried the non-resistant principle; and God, in
whom he put implicit confidence, would not let him be injured.
It was a remarkable thing that in the massacre of the Protestants
in Ireland, a long time ago, there were thousands of quakers
in the country, and only two of them were killed; and those
two had not faith in their own principles; one of them ran
away and hid himself in a fastness, and the other kept arms
in his house; but the others, unarmed, walked amidst infuriated
soldiers, both Roman Catholics and Protestants' and were never
touched, because they were strong in the strength of Israel's
God, and put up their sword into its scabbard, knowing that
to war against another cannot be right, since Christ has said,
"Resist not evil; if any man smite thee on one cheek, turn
to him the other also." "Be kind, not only to the thankful,
but to the unthankful and to the evil;" "forgive your enemies;"
"bless them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully
use you." But we are ashamed to do that; we do not like it;
we are afraid to trust God; and until we do it we shall not
know the majesty of faith, nor prove the power of God for
our protection. "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my
expectation is from him."
And now, my dear brethren and sisters, I cannot single out
all your cases, but doubtless I have many cases here to which
the text will apply. There is a poor Christian there; he does
not know much more than where his next meal will come from.
My brother, he that feeds the ravens will not let you starve.
Instead of looking to find friends to console you, tell your
story into the ears of God. As sure as the Bible is true he
will not leave you. Shall a father leave his children to die?
No, the granaries of earth have no key but the Almighty's
will, "The cattle on a thousand hills are his." If he were
hungry he would not tell us. Shall he not supply your needs
out of the riches of his goodness?
"All things living he doth feed
His full hand supplies their need."
Shall he forget you, when he clothes the grass of the field,
and when he makes the valleys rejoice with food? But is your
anxiety about your character? Has some one been slandering
you? And are you troubled and grieved, lest you should lose
your good name? If a man has called you every name in the
world, do not go to law with him. "Wait only upon God." If
you have been reviled in every newspaper and falsely charged
in every sheet, never answerleave it alone. "Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Practise non-resistance
in words, as well as in deeds. Just bow yourself, and let
the missiles fly over your head. Stand not up to resist. To
resist slander is to make it worse. The only way to blunt
the edge of calumny is to be silent: it can do no hurt when
we are still. Where no wood is the fire goeth out; and if
you will not refute nor answer, the fire will die out of itself.
Let it alone. "Wait thou only upon God."
And now, what else is thy danger? What else is thy trouble?
Art thou afraid of losing thy dearest child? Is thy husband
sick? Doth thy wife lie upon the bed of languishing? These
are hard troubles; they cut us to the very quick: to see our
dear ones sick, and we incapable of helping them, is a trouble
indeed. Then the strong man's eye doth weep, and his heart
beats heavily, because those he loves are sick. But "wait
thou only upon God." Go to thy chamber; tell the Lord thy
dear one is ill; pour out thy heart before him, and say to
him, "My Lord, spare me this trouble, if it be thy will; take
not my friends away; but this know, O God, though thou slay
me yet will I trust in thee. Yea,
'Shouldst thou take them all away,
Yet would I not repine;
Before they were possessed by me
They were entirely thine.
There! let it go: one look from thee
Shall more than make amends.'"
Oh! it is a happy way of smoothing sorrow, when we can say,
"We will wait only upon God." Oh, ye agitated Christians,
do not dishonor your religion by always wearing a brow of
care; come, cast your burden upon the Lord. I see ye staggering
beneath a weight which He would not feel. What seems to you
a crushing burden, would be to him but as the small dust of
the balance. See! the Almighty bends his shoulders, and he
says, "Here, put thy troubles here. What! wilt thou bear thyself
what the everlasting shoulders are ready to carry?" No;
"Give to the winds thy fears
Hope, and be undismayed
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,
He shall lift up thy head."
No finer exhibition of the power of religion than the confidence
of a Christian in the time of distress. May God vouchsafe
such a carriage and bearing unto us through Jesus Christ!
II. And now I close with the EXPECTATION; and upon that I
shall be very brief. The Psalmist charges his soul to wait
only upon God, because he had DO expectation anywhere else
but there.
I know very well what some of you are after; you have got
an old grandfather, or an old grandmother, or an old great
aunt, and you are most fiercely kind to them, you are most
provokingly loving! You almost run to the extreme of teasing
them by the frequency of your affectionate embraces. If your
aunt does not know what you do it for, if she wants to know,
let her write to me, I can tell her. She has a few thousand
pounds; I do not say that you have any affection for them,
but I should not wonder if you have some expectation of them,
and that is just the reason why you are always waiting upon
her. You will take care of her, because you well know which
way the wind blows; and you trust that one day, if you put
your sails in the right position there may be a valuable cargo
brought to your havenof course not at all through your
design; you will go into deep mourning, and lament the old
lady's decease, but at the same time you will feel it to be
a magnificent consolation to you, almost greater than the
suffering and affliction incurred, that you have become the
possessor of her wealth. Now, worldly wise people always wait
where their expectations are. David says, "My soul, imitate
the worldly in this; wait thou only upon God, for my expectation
is from him." That is where I expect to get all I shall have,
and therefore I will wait at that door which I expect will
be opened with the hand of munificent grace. What is there
in the world that you are expecting, except from God? You
will not get it, or if you get it, it will be a curse to you.
That is only a proper expectation which looks to God, and
to God only. "My expectation is from him." Well, you expect
to have bread to eat, and raiment to put on, till ye die,
don't you? Where do you expect to get it from? The interest
of that £600, or £1200 of yours in the funds.
Well, if that is your expectation, and not God, he will put
some bitters in that little income of yours, and you shall
find it if sufficient for your sustenance, not sufficient
for your comfort. But you will be provided for, because you
have a large business! Well, the mill may be burned down;
the trade may break the stream of prosperity may run into
another's lap, and you may find yourself yet a beggar in the
street, notwithstanding all you have, if that is your trust.
No; if you are expecting to get aught from the world it is
a poor expectation. I expect to be provided for till I die;
but I expect that I shall have to draw from the bank of faith
till I die, and get all I need out of the riches of God's
lovingkindness. And this I know, I had rather have God for
my banker than any man that hath ever lived. Surely, he never
fails to honor his promises; and when we bring them to his
throne he never sends them back unanswered. You must hope
in God, even for temporal supplies. And after all, what a
little thing the temporal supplies are! We have heard of a
king, who once went into a stable and heard a stable boy singing.
Said he to him, "And now, John, what do you get for your work?"
"If you please sir," he said, "I get my clothes and my food."
"That is all I get" said the King, "for my work." And that
is all everybody gets. All else that you have Rot besides
is not yours, except to look at; and other people can do the
same. When a man gets a large park I can ride through it as
much as he, and I have not the trouble of keeping it in order;
he may take care of it, and I am much obliged to him for doing
so. I can do as the poor Chinaman did, when he bowed before
the mandarin. The mandarin was covered with jewels, and the
Chinaman said, "I thank you for your jewels." The mandarin
was surprised: the next day he was again saluted by the man,
who said as before, "I thank you for your jewels," "Why,"
said the mandarin, "What do you thank me for?" Said the Chinaman,
"I always look at them every day, and that is as much as you
do; only that you are the pack horse that has to carry them,
and you have the trouble at night of taking care of them,
whilst I can enjoy them just as much as you." And so, dear
friends, if we are not rich, contentment can make us so. Contentment
gives the poor man broad acres; contentment gives him great
riches upon earth, and adds great enjoyment to the comparatively
little that he has. "My expectation is from him."
But we have better expectations than that. We shall die soon;
and then "my expectation is from him." Do we not expect that
when we lie upon the bed of sickness he will send troops of
angels to carry us to his bosom? We are believing that when
the pulse is faint and few, and the heart heaves heavily,
that then some spirit, brighter than the noon-day sun shall
draw the curtains of our bed, and look with loving eyes upon
us, and whisper, "Sister, spirit, come away!" And do we not
expect that then a chariot shall be brought, a triumphal chariot,
such as earth's conquerors have not seen; and in it we shall
be placed, and drawn by coursers of light up the eternal hills,
in majesty and triumph, we shall ride to yon bright gates
of pearl. Then shall the gates wide open swing, and he shall
say, "Come in, ye blessed of the Lord, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from before the foundations of the world."
We are expecting wreaths of aramanth, and harps of gold, and
crowns of glory; we are thinking when we have done with this
poor clay, the poor terrestrial stuff this body's made of,
we shall be made white, like spirits who now shine as stars
before the throne of the majesty on high, and that we shall
share those splendours and enjoy their happiness, for ever
blest with them,
"Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in."
Now, "My soul, wait thou only upon God," if these be thine
expectations. And if thine expectation is based upon God,
my soul, live for God; live with only this care, to bless
him: live, looping for a better world, but believing this
world to be good enough, if we had God in it. You know what
Luther said the little bird said to him. He sat upon the spray
of the tree, and he sang
"Mortal, cease from toil and sorrow; God provideth for the
morrow."
And it chirped and picked up its little grain, and sang again.
And yet it had no granary; it had not a handful of wheat stored
up anywhere; but it still kept on with its chirping
"Mortal, cease from toil and sorrow; God provideth for the
morrow."
Oh! ye that are not Christians, it were worth while to be
Christians, if it were only for the peace and happiness that
religion gives. If we had to die like dogs, yet this religion
were worth having to make us live here like angels. Oh if
the grave were what it seems to be, the goal of all existence,
if the black nails in the coffin were not bright with stars,
if death were the end and our lamps were quenched in darkness,
when it was said, "Dust to dust and earth to earth." Yet 'twere
worth while to be a child of God, only to live here.
"'Tis religion that can give sweetest pleasures whilst we
live;
'Tis religion must supply solid comforts when we die."
Remember, he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ and is
baptized shall be saved; and you, as well as any other, if
these two things be given you, shall be saved. He that trusts
in Christ alone for salvation, and then (to translate the
word baptized the right way, and it can only be rightly translated
one way) "is immersed, shall be saved." So stands the
praise: believing first, baptism afterwards; believing, the
great thing, baptism the sign of it; believing the great means
of grace, immersion, the outward and visible sign of the washing
of the flesh and of the dedication unto God. "He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved." May God give you grace to
obey both commands, and so enter into eternal life! But remember,
"He that believeth not shall be damned." He that neglects
the great essential shall perish. May God grant that none
of you may know the terrible meaning of that word!
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