Wondrous Love Part 11

People are always looking for feelings. You are getting up a new translation of the Bible here, and if the men who are translating it would only put in _feelings_ instead of _faith_, what a rush there would be for that Bible. But if you look from Genesis to Revelation, you cannot find feelings attached to salvation. We must rise above feelings. So I said to this lady, "You cannot control your feelings; if you could, what a time you'd have! I know I would never have the toothache or the headache."

FEELINGS, THE DEVIL'S STRATAGEM.

"Feelings" is the last plank the devil sticks out, just as your feet are getting on the "Rock of Ages." He sees the poor trembling sinner just finding his way to the Saviour, when he shoves out this plank, and the poor sinner thinks he's "all right now." Some sermon you have heard arouses you, but then you feel all right when you get on this plank. Six months after, perhaps, you are dying, and the devil comes along when you think you're quite safe. "Ah," he tells you, "that was my work; I made you feel good." And where are you then? Oh, take your stand on G.o.d's word, then you cannot fail. His word has been tried for six thousand years, and it has not failed.

So I said to the lady, "Have no more to do with feelings; but, like Job, say, 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.'" She looked at me a few minutes, and then, putting her hand to take mine, she said, "Mr. Moody, I trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save my soul to-night."

Then she went to the elders and said the same words. As she pa.s.sed out she met one of the church officers, and, shaking his hand, said again, "I trust the Lord Jesus to save my soul."

Next night she was right before me again. I shall never forget her beaming face; the light of eternity was s.h.i.+ning in her eyeb.a.l.l.s! She went into the inquiry-room. I wondered what she was going there for; but when I got there, I found her with her arms round a lady friend, saying, "It's only to trust Him. I have found it so." From that night she was one of the best workers in the inquiry-room, and whenever I met a difficult case, I got her to speak to the person, and she was sure to help them.

"WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION."

Surely you can trust G.o.d to-night. You must have a very poor opinion of G.o.d if you cannot trust Him. You have only to come to Him thus--receive Him, trust Him. What more can you do, and what less can you do than trust Him? Is He not worthy of it? Now, let us be perfectly still a moment, and while the voice of man is hushed, let us think of one pa.s.sage of Scripture "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." That is Christ standing at the door of your heart, knocking; and He says, "If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." Will any one to-night pull back the bolts, and say, "Enter, thou welcome, thrice welcome One. Blessed Saviour, come in." G.o.d grant that all here may do this!

EIGHT "I WILLS" OF CHRIST

Read Matt. xi. 28, 29

I wish to call your attention to eight "I wills" of Christ.

1. The first one you will find in Matthew xi. 28: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and

I WILL GIVE YOU REST.

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

Now I never met a person that did not want rest. That man or woman is not living on the face of the earth that doesn't want rest. We read of the rich man that was going to pull down his barns and build larger, saying to his soul, "Take thine ease, there is plenty laid up in store, so now take thy rest." Merchants toil day and night to ama.s.s money, in order that they may get rest. Men leave their families and friends and go round the world to earn money, in the hope that they may get rest. Sailors plough the sea, and are away from home for months to get money, in order that it may bring them rest. In fact, if rest could be bought in the market, there are many hundreds in London who would be paying a very high price for it; but though money can't buy it, nevertheless by believing the word of G.o.d you can get it without money and without price. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and _I will give you rest_." Now when _we_ say "we will," it doesn't mean much very often. Perhaps we don't intend to keep our word when we say we will do a thing; or if we do mean to keep it, we very often fail for want of ability to make our promise good.

But bear in mind, G.o.d never breaks His promise; He never makes a mistake; He never fails to fulfil His word. And the words I have read may be relied on; for they are not the words of man, but of the Son of G.o.d--"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

This tells us of the only place where we can find rest. There is no other place where a man can by any possibility find rest for his soul.

Bear this in mind: it is not coming to some creed, it is not coming to some particular church, or to some particular doctrine, but to Christ.

"Come unto _Me_." It is the coming to a personal Christ that alone gives peace and rest to the soul.

PEACE.

Now, in John xiv. 27, there is a promise which is very precious to me.

Christ says, "Peace I leave with you"; I am going away, but I am not going to take away My peace from you; that I leave behind Me. "My peace I give unto you." Mark that little expression "My _peace_"--"My peace I give unto you." A good many people look for their peace from worldly sources, but when they do find it they don't get much out of it, for the devil can play on men's feelings as men play on a harp, and can delude them into almost anything. But if we go to Christ for it, we do get what we want, we get rest for the soul, and until we do go to Him we shall never get it.

There are a good many things which disturb our peace; but nothing can disturb the peace of G.o.d. You might take this little island, and throw it right into the Atlantic, and it would make a great stir and commotion in this world, but I don't think that G.o.d would be moved on His eternal throne by it; it would not disturb Him in the heavens, high and lifted up above all the earth. Let us have the peace of G.o.d, and then we shall have rest.

Again He says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you." Christ's joy, not our own joy. When we come to a personal Christ, and our souls are stayed on Him, then we get rest, and peace, and joy. That is a rest that nothing can disturb; that is peace that flows on like a river; that is joy for evermore.

2. Now, the next "I will" is in John vi. 37. I can imagine some of you people saying, "Ah, if I were only good enough to come, I would come, and get this rest, and peace, and joy." But if you will read the verse I am speaking of, you will find it says, "Him that cometh to Me

I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT."

Surely that is broad enough--is it not? I don't care who the man or woman is; I don't care what your trials, what your troubles, what your sorrows, or what your sins are, if you will only come straight to the Master, He will not cast you out. Come then, poor sinner; come just as you are, and take Him at His word.

There was a wild and prodigal young man who came into one of our meetings. He was running a headlong career to ruin, but the Spirit of G.o.d got hold of him. Whilst I was conversing with him, and endeavouring to bring him to Christ, I quoted this verse to him. I held it right up to him, and led his mind right up to it, for some time, and at last light seemed to break in upon him, and he seemed to find comfort from it, so I told him to stick to that verse. Well, after he had left, on his way home the devil met him. Why, I don't believe that any man ever starts to go to Christ but the devil strives somehow or other to meet him and trip him up. And even after he has come to Christ the devil comes, and tries to a.s.sail him with doubts, and make him believe there is something wrong in it. And so this young man was met by Satan, who whispered to him, "How do you know that is a right translation?" So that brought him for a while to a standstill, and threw him into darkness again. But he remembered my telling him to stick to that text, and there he was, after Satan had put that into his mind, holding on to it, but he did not find peace till two o'clock. He then said to himself, "I will stick to it anyhow, and if it is not the right translation, when I get to the bar of G.o.d I will tell Him I didn't know it was wrong, because I didn't understand anything about Greek and Latin." "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out." If you will only come to Him, I have got good authority to tell you that Christ will receive you to-day--yea, this very hour.

The kings and princes of this world, when they issue invitations, call round them the rich, the mighty and powerful, the honourable and the wise; but the Lord, when He was on earth, called round Him the vilest of the vile. "This man," they said, "receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." Publicans, sinners, and harlots pressed into the kingdom of G.o.d in His days.

THIS MAN RECEIVETH SINNERS.

Here in London there is no society that would have such a man as John Bunyan once was in their company; yet the Lord saved him, and welcomed him into His kingdom. Here is some poor miserable drunkard cast out by his father and mother, and deserted by all his friends, but the Lord has received him. I have known some of the most miserable outcasts that were ever seen, cast out and despised by everybody, and yet the Lord has received them. Take Him then at His word to-day, and accept His invitation, "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out."

But you say I must just get rid of my sins first, and then I will come to Him. Why, that's just like a man dying of the scarlet fever saying, "Oh, I'll wait till I get rid of the fever before I send for a doctor!" Why, it is just because you are a sinner, and cannot get rid of your sins, that you need a Saviour. If I was dying for want of bread, it would be just as reasonable for me to say, "When I have got rid of this hunger, then I will begin to eat." It is because I am hungry that I need to eat, and it is because we are sinners that we need Christ. It is because a man is sick that he needs a physician, and Christ is the Physician of the soul.

3. In Luke v. we read of the leper coming to Christ, and the Lord said unto him,

"I WILL: BE THOU CLEAN."

And immediately the leprosy left him. That's another _I will_ I want to call your attention to. Now, if there is any man or woman here full of the leprosy of sin, if you will but go to the Master and tell all your case to Him, He will speak to you as He did to that poor leper, and say, "I will: be thou clean," and the leprosy of your sins will flee away from you. It is the Lord, and the Lord alone, that can forgive sins. There is His word, just look it right over, "I will: be thou clean," and then put that with the other verse, "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out."

THE DEVIL'S CASTAWAYS.

One day when Whitfield was preaching, he said the Lord was so anxious to save souls that He would take in the devil's castaways. Lady Huntingdon remonstrated with him, and said he ought not to make such statements. A little while after, however, there came to his preaching a poor fallen woman, an outcast from society. She was labouring under deep conviction of sin, and before long she found peace in her Saviour, and was received right into the kingdom of G.o.d. Now if there is a poor sinner here, let him take this one verse, and then keep in his mind that poor leper coming to Christ. The law forbade him to come, but Christ is above the law. "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ."

Now, you can make a wonderful exchange to-day. You can have health in the place of sickness; you can get rid of everything that is vile and hateful in the sight of G.o.d. The Son of G.o.d comes down, and says, "I will take away your leprosy, and give you health in its stead. I will take away that terrible disease that is ruining your body and soul, and give you my righteousness in its stead. I will clothe you with the garments of salvation." Is it not a wonderful thing? That's what He means when He says _I will_. Oh, lay hold of this "I will!"

4. Now turn to Matthew x. 32: "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father which is in heaven." There's the

"I WILL" OF CONFESSION.

Now, that's the next thing that takes place after a man is saved. We have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and the next thing is to get our mouths opened. We have to confess Christ here in this dark world, and tell His love to others. We are not to be ashamed of the Son of G.o.d.

A man thinks it a great honour when he has achieved a victory that causes his name to be mentioned in Parliament, or in the presence of the Queen and her court. A very great honour. And in China, we read, the highest ambition of the successful soldier is to have his name written in the palace or temple of Confucius. But just think of having your name mentioned in the kingdom of heaven by the Prince of Glory, by the Son of G.o.d, because you confess Him here on earth. You confess Him here; He will confess you yonder. If you wish to be brought into the clear light of liberty, you must take your stand on Christ's side.

I have known many Christians go groping about in darkness, and never get into the clear light of the kingdom, because they were ashamed to confess the Son of G.o.d. Don't be ashamed, Christians, to let your friends, and even your enemies, know that you are on G.o.d's side.

5. The next _I will_ is the

"I WILL" OF SERVICE.

There are a good many Christians here, I believe, that have been quickened and aroused to say, "I want to do some service for Christ."

Well, Christ says, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

There is no Christian who cannot help to bring some one to the Saviour. Christ says, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me"; and our business is just to lift up Christ, and live to Him.

You may go on preaching like the angel Gabriel; but if you live like a devil, your preaching goes for nothing. I do not care how eloquent you are, and what beautiful language you use, your preaching goes for nothing. It is no good following this man or that man; follow Christ, and Him only. He says, I will make you fishers of men.

PETER HAD A GOOD HAUL ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST.

I doubt if he ever caught so many fish in one day as he did men on that day of Pentecost. Why, it would have broken every net they had on board, if they had had to drag up three thousand fishes.

Our Lord said, "Follow Me, Peter, and I will make you a fisher of men"; and Peter simply obeyed Him, and there, on that day of Pentecost, we see the result.

But there is one reason, and a great reason, why so many do not succeed. I have been asked by a great many good men, "Why is it we don't have any results? We work hard, pray hard, and preach hard, and yet the success does not come." I will tell you. It is because a good many people spend all their time mending their nets. No wonder they never catch anything.

INQUIRY MEETINGS.