The next thing the Spirit of God does
is to give us liberty. He first imparts love; He next inspires hope, and then
gives liberty, and that is about the last thing we have in a good many of our
churches at the present day. And I am sorry to say there must be a funeral in a
good many churches before there is much work done, we shall have to bury the
formalism so deep that it will never have any resurrection. The last thing to
be found in many a church is liberty.
If the Gospel happens to be preached,
the people criticise, as they would a theatrical performance. It is exactly the
same, and many a professed Christian never thinks of listening to what the man
of God has to say. It is hard work to preach to carnally-minded critics, but
“Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Very often a woman will hear a hundred
good things in a sermon, and there may be one thing that strikes her as a
little out of place, and she will go home and sit down to the table and talk
right out before her children and magnify that one wrong thing, and not say a
word about the hundred good things that were said. That is what people do who
criticise.
God does not use men in captivity. The
condition of many is like Lazarus when he came out of the sepulcher bound hand
and foot. The bandage was not taken off his mouth, and he could not speak. He
had life, and if you had said Lazarus was not alive, you would have told a
falsehood, because he was raised from the dead. There are a great many people,
the moment you talk to them and insinuate they are not doing what they might,
they say: “I have life. I am a Christian.” Well, you can’t deny it, but they
are bound hand and foot.
May God snap these fetters and set His
children free, that they may have liberty. I believe He comes to set us free,
and wants us to work for Him, and speak for Him. How many people would like to
get up in a social prayer-meeting to say a few words for Christ, but there is
such a cold spirit of criticism in the Church that they dare not do it. They
have not the liberty to do it. If they get up, they are so frightened with
these critics that they begin to tremble and sit down. They can not say
anything. Now, that is all wrong. The Spirit of God comes just to give liberty,
and wherever you see the Lord’s work going on, you will see that Spirit of
liberty. People won’t be afraid of speaking to one another. And when the
meeting is over they will not get their hats and see how quick they can get out
of the church, but will begin to shake hands with one another, and there will
be liberty there. A good many go to the prayer-meeting out of a mere cold sense
of duty. They think “I must attend because I feel it is my duty.” They don’t
think it is a glorious privilege to meet and pray, and to be strengthened, and
to help some one else in the wilderness journey.
What we need to-day is love in our hearts.
Don’t we want it? Don’t we want hope in our lives? Don’t we want to be hopeful?
Don’t we want liberty? Now, all this is the work of the Spirit of God, and let
us pray God daily to give us love, and hope, and liberty. We read in Hebrews,
“Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus.” If you will turn to the passage and read the margin—it says:
“Having, therefore, brethren, liberty to enter into the holiest.” We can go
into the holiest, having freedom of access, and plead for this love and liberty
and glorious hope, that we may not rest until God gives us the power to work
for Him.
If I know my own heart to-day, I would
rather die than live as I once did, a mere nominal Christian, and not used by
God in building up His kingdom. It seems a poor empty life to live for the sake
of self.
Let us seek to be useful. Let us seek to be vessels meet for the
Master’s use, that God, the Holy Spirit, may shine fully through us.
“Know, my soul, thy full salvation;
Rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find, in every station,
Something still to
do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee;
Think what Father’s smiles are thine;
Think that Jesus died to win thee:
Child of heaven,
canst thou repine?
Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee:
God’s own hand
shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and
prayer to praise.”
“I am so weak,
dear Lord! I can not stand
One moment without Thee;
But oh, the tenderness of Thy enfolding,
And oh, the faithfulness of Thine upholding,
And oh, the strength of Thy right hand!
That strength is
enough for me.
I am so needy, Lord! and yet I know
All fullness dwells in Thee;
And hour by hour that never-failing treasure
Supplies and fills in overflowing measure
My last and greatest need. And so
Thy grace is enough
for me.
It is so sweet to trust Thy word alone!
I do not ask to see
The unveiling of Thy purpose, or the shining
Of future light on mysteries untwining;
Thy promise-roll is all my own—
Thy word is enough
for me.
There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast, and broad,
Unfathomed as the sea,
An infinite craving for some infinite stilling;
But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling!
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God,
Thou, Thou art enough for me!”
