The Greatest Subject In The World for Consideration
"Wherefore, holy brethren., partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus" —
Heb. 3:1.
Consider Jesus Christ! Consider Him who has been the subject of consideration both by men, and angelic hosts, and even the demons of Hell, for the past thousands of years. After considering Him throughout eternity past, an angel of God announced the birth of Jesus to Mary, saying: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:30-33). Prior to His birth the prophet Isaiah considered Him and wrote: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Isa. 9:6, 7). As a result of his considerations, the prophet Micah even declared the exact place where Jesus was to be born. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). When He came to this earth the wise men sat before the cradle contemplating Him, with the result that, "They fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (Matt. 2:11). Even God the Father considering Him said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matt. 17:5). The audience which heard His messages considered Him and appraised Him thus: "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matt. 7:28,29). Even Pilate, the judge who permitted His crucifixion, said concerning Him: "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it" (Matt. 27:24). Judas the betrayer declared: "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood" (Matt. 27:4). Even the devil on considering Jesus in the days of His flesh cried out: "What have I to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not" (Mark 5:7). A thief who was crucified with Him, considered Jesus in His dying agony and shouted: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Even the centurion whose business it was to crucify Him said: "Certainly this was
a righteous man" (Luke 23:47).
Thus the angel, the prophets, the wise men. God the Father, His
audience, Pilate, Judas, the thief crucified with Him, the centurion, and even
the Devil, on considering Jesus have declared themselves that He was, and is,
the righteous Son of God, the Saviour of man. In view of their consideration
and conclusion, I ask you to consider Jesus Christ.
Consider Jesus Christ as creator. "For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him" (Col. 1:16). "All things were made
by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not" (John
1:3, 10). "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us
by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds" (Heb. 1:1,2). The only satisfactory explanation as to the creation
of this world and all things therein is Jesus Christ. Evolution in an attempt
to explain creation is built upon a system of guesses.
A few years ago about the time that higher criticism and German
rationalism began to affect our denominational colleges, a farmer in Louisiana
plowed up some large bones. On reporting his find, a little "two by
four" scientist drove out to the farm and pronounced the bones as that of
the missing link. Scientists of all kinds began flocking into that section of
the state. Each declared that this undoubtedly linked man back to the lower
animals. The newspapers carried this story far and wide. A few days later an
old countryman with a blade of alfalfa dropping out of one corner of his mouth
stopped in at the office of the newspaper and said, "What's all this I
hear about this prehistoric monster? I owned that farm about 30 years ago where
those bones were found. Barnum & Bailey's big circus elephant died when
they showed here in town and I permitted them to bury him on my land." And
thus the missing link is still missing, the lower animals still produce lower
animals, and all forms of life still beget life after their own kind, and we
still believe that Jesus Christ is the Creator of this universe and all things
therein.
Consider Jesus Christ as the sinless Son of God. "Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot" (I Pet. 1:18,19). "For he hath made him, who knew no sin; to be
sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II
Cor. 5:21). "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Heb.
7:26). These verses give to us the Scriptural pedigree of the Lord Jesus. When
we consider that both Peter and Paul were writing under inspiration, then
surely it would be impossible for us to believe that Jesus was anyone other
than the sinless Son of God.
In this day of pure food laws, each company delights in advertising
that its products are pure. Who is there of my audience but what recalls that
Ivory soap is advertised as ninety-nine and forty-four one-hundredths per cent
pure. Yet Jesus is greater than this. He is fully one hundred per cent pure and
sinless.
A few years ago I had an attack of illness growing out of symptoms
of an excruciating pain in my abdomen. The doctors thought I had a gall-bladder
infection. I was not surprised, for I had been told by many, who had heard me
preach, that I had "too much gall." The doctor determined to make a
complete examination. He gave me some Graham dye capsules and told me to go
home to take these, eat no breakfast the next morning, and return to his
office. He stood me up before a fluoroscope and looked at each organ of my body
in its operation. He had said that if his supposed analysis of my condition
were correct, that dark spots would show up on my gall. But to his apparent
disappointment, there wasn't a single dark spot that appeared. You can put the
Lord Jesus Christ to every criticism and analysis which is humanly possible;
you may turn the most powerful telescope or microscope upon His character, but
there's not a spot nor a stain nor a blemish to be found. Truly He is the
sinless Son of God.
Consider Jesus Christ's love. It was love which sent Jesus into this world; it was love which caused Him to weep over Jerusalem, and caused Him to sweat blood in Gethsemane, and finally nailed Him to the cross. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," never means as much as when we view the Son of God upon the cross. Then it is that we say with the poet:
"0
Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my
weary soul in Thee;
I give
thee back the life I owe,
That in
Thine ocean depths its flow
May
richer, fuller be."
Look at Jesus on the cross. The rulers hated Him; the soldiers
mocked Him with vinegar; He was blasphemed even by one of those who was crucified
with Him. "And one of the malefactors which was hanged railed on him,
saying, If thou be Christ, gave thyself and us" (Luke 23:39). Christ might
have lifted His voice and hurled that angry, blood-thirsty mob into Hell with
justice. He was still God and with the power of the Father, He might have slain
them with His wrath. Instead, now that He has been crucified. His lips begin to
move. As I gaze toward the blessed Saviour, I wonder what shall be the first
words to fall from His lips. With justice may He pronounce a curse upon His
accusers but instead we hear Him say: "Father, forgive them" (Luke
23:24). As we stand and gaze upon this scene we lift up our hearts to sing:
"There
is a wideness in God's mercy
Like
the wideness of the sea;
There
is a kindness in His justice,
Which
is more than liberty.
"For
the love of God is broader
Than
the measure of man's mind,
And the
heart of the Eternal
Is most
wonderfully kind."
Truly the greatest manifestation of the love of God is the cross of Calvary. I bow to Him who died and beg you to consider His love.
Consider Jesus Christ's vicarious death. His death was no ordinary
one. The thief on either the right or the left hand who died with Jesus were
suffering for their sins and dying because of their own misdeeds. Yet Jesus, as
we have already seen, had no sins. Why then was He dying? "For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures" (I Cor. 15:3). "For he hath made
him, who knew no sin; to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him" (II Cor. 5:21). "Who his own self bare our sins in his
own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (I Pet. 2:24). "For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
Spirit"' (I Pet. 3:18).
Yes, Jesus Christ died for our sine — your sins and my sins. What
a scene this was. The angels who had ministered so graciously to Jesus on so
many occasions in the past had now taken wings and flown away to other worlds.
The disciples that had pledged their allegiance to Him have now turned their
backs and fled away in cowardice. Even God the Father has turned His back upon
His Son and in the darkness Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). If you would listen carefully you would
hear His blood as it drops from the wounds in Jesus' body. You can see His
bosom as it heaves and falls from the pain He feels. The pain leaps through
every vein in His body. His throat became so parched that He cried; "I
thirst." Eventually His tongue became so swollen that He could speak no
longer. Oh, what sufferings were these! And for whom did He suffer?
"Christ died for our sins" (I Cor. 15:3).
Arnold Von Winkelreid of the Swiss army saw the solid phalanx of
the enemies' army drawn up before him, and rushing forward he shouted,
"Make way for liberty." Fully twenty of the enemies thrust spears
into his body, but a gap was made, 20 feet wide or better in the lines of the
enemies and through this gap the Swiss army passed to victory. The Lord Jesus
Christ seeing the hosts of sin and Satan standing before us cried, "Make
way for salvation," and by His crucifixion He opened a blood sprinkled
path for us.
Consider Jesus Christ as having completed the plan of salvation.
As He was dying He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30). Then there is
nothing left for a sinner to do in the realm of salvation. This explains Titus
3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost." It shows us the meaning of Eph. 2:8,9: "For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of
works, lest any man should boast." When we stand by the cross we can sing:
"Jesus
paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had
left a crimson stain,
He
washed it white as snow."
Only a few nights ago I attended a class meeting which in reality was a social hour, prefaced by a pot-luck supper. That is, each person present brought a dish of food and when it was all placed together it meant a complete meal. Many have some such idea of salvation. They think that Jesus did a part on Calvary, that the church does a part, that the preacher in the baptistry adds his portion, and that the individual by his life and efforts continues to add his part and that all together they make up the plan of salvation. How utterly foreign to Bible teaching this is. I do not offer to sinners a pot-luck salvation but rather I preach Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again for our justification.
A few weeks ago I was invited into a wealthy home for dinner. In
fact, I was the guest of honor that evening. When we sat down to the table it
was literally covered with delicacies, both in season and out of season.
Suppose that as we sat there, I had pulled out of my pocket a package of cheese
and crackers and started to eat on this which I had brought with me. Suppose I
had carried my insult to the host and hostess further by saying, "I was
afraid you would not have enough to eat, so I brought along this little lunch
with me." Do you realize, beloved, that this is exactly the way the Lord
of all grace is being treated today. He is inviting sinners to a banquet which
He has spread. He offers the Bread of Life and the Water of Life freely,
without money and without price. Yet many a sinner is trying to bring along his
little "cheese and crackers;" namely, his good works, baptism, and
human merit on his part. Such is an insult to Almighty God. Free sovereign
grace is God's offer to man. I therefore urge you to consider Jesus Christ as
having Himself completed the plan of salvation.
Consider Jesus Christ as our great High Priest. In the Old
Testament dispensation, a priest was a necessity, for the priest represented
man to God in the religion of the Jews. There was a veil in the Temple of the
Holy of Holies which separated the Holy of Holies from the outer Holy Place.
Only the priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. On the day when Jesus
died the veil was rent from top to bottom as though the unseen hand of God had
reached down from Heaven and torn this veil. This meant that Christ having paid
the penalty for our sins, had become our great High Priest, and indicates to us
that we have need no longer for any other priest.
This is the meaning of Paul's statement to Timothy. "For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5). There is just one mediator to come between God and
man and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. A Catholic priest or a priest of any
other religion is a man 2,000 years behind time, for the priest died when Jesus
died, since He is now our great High Priest, and each believer is his own
priest under Christ.
Some time ago I was talking to a friend, a Roman Catholic, yet
with all a dear friend of mine. He said, "I have put my salvation in the
hands of my priest and he is responsible for it." To this I replied,
"That is exactly where my salvation is too; it is in the hands of my
Priest, the only difference is the priest; you have a man; mine is the Lord
Jesus."
Consider Jesus Christ as coming back again. Some day He's coming
again to this earth. He promised it in the days of His flesh. "Let not
your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, / will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also"
(John 14:1-3). On the day of His ascension, the angel said to the disciples,
"Ye men of Galileo, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,
which is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Every time we partake of the
Memorial Supper in which the bread is broken and the wine is poured, we have a
prophecy of Jesus' return. "For as often, as ye eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come" (I Cor. 11:26).
I was in a doctor's office a few days ago and saw there a little
notice relative to his absence. It was the face of a clock and on it were these
words, "Doctor out, will be back soon." So it is with Jesus. He is
away from this earth today, but He will be back soon.
In the course of my work I have to be away from home many, many
times at night. I live on a high hill just back of
town, surrounded by 3,000 acres of woodland with my nearest
neighbor a half mile away. It is often quite dark as I drive home at night.
Being a home lover, no one knows the thrill when I see the lights of my home
shining out of the darkness to greet me. It always makes me think of that time
when the blessed Saviour is going to pierce the sky, to come for His redeemed,
to receive me in that home of many mansions.
"I
can see the lights of home,
I can
see the lights of home,
Gleaming
from the many mansions,
I can
see the lights of home.
"I
can see the lights of home
Far
across the billows' foam,
Gleaming
from the many mansions
I can
see the lights of home.
"Home,
home, sweet, sweet home,
I'll
soon be with Jesus,
I’ll
soon be at home."
I ask you who have been considering Jesus with me tonight that you
consider Him well, consider Him carefully, consider Him Scripturally, consider
Him penitently, and then having considered Him, make Him your Saviour tonight.
Truly, we can Bay of Him that He is the:
"Sweetest
note in seraph song,
Sweetest
carol ever sung,
Sweetest
name on mortal tongue,
Jesus,
blessed Jesus."
"And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his
raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance
there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on
the other side. And likewise a Levite when he was at the place, came and looked
on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him
on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the
morrow when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host, and
said unto him, take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come
again, I will repay thee" — Luke 10:30-35,
This passage is commonly called, "The Parable of the Good
Samaritan." The thought of kindness to a fallen brother is usually
considered the reason why Jesus gave this incident. While it is true that it
does answer conclusively the question, "And who is my neighbor?", I
feel that there is a deeper meaning than that which appears upon the surface.
In this story four characters play their separate parts. The poor unfortunate,
the priest, the Levite, and the good Samaritan in orderly sequence, appear upon
the scene. Together they illustrate the plan of salvation.
Notice the poor unfortunate. "A certain man." This
represents each of Adam's fallen descendants. Stand before a mirror and look at
the visage you see therein. Lift the accusing index finger and say like Nathan
of old, "Thou art the man." Your character thus appears in this
portrait of the poor unfortunate.
"Went down from Jerusalem to Jericho." How careful the
Scriptures are in their wording. The fact that this man "went down"
pictures the course of each of Adam's descendants from childhood on. "The
wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born,
speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3). "And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil" (John 3:1). No man outside of Jesus ever gets
closer to God, but rather, farther from Him.
"Fell among thieves." Every person in this world has
fallen into the hands of the arch-thief of all times, even Satan himself. Look
at the drunkard, who was once his mother's delight. Today he is a physical,
mental, and moral wreck. What's wrong with him? Only one answer can be made; he
has fallen into the hands of Satan and his manhood and sobriety have been
stolen. Or consider the girl who makes her living through merchandising her
womanhood. Once she was a proud mother's daughter, but now her modesty and
virtue have been stolen by Satan. Even the moral man and the moral, refined
woman have not lived up to their highest ideals. One conclusion remains, that
whether moral or immoral, all have suffered loss at the hands of Satan, the
prince of thieves.
"Which stripped him of his raiment." In the Garden of
Eden, Satan stripped Adam and Eve of their righteousness. Their attempt to
cover themselves with fig-leaves was an admission that their righteousness,
wherewith they were clothed was gone. Their loss is our loss, for all from that
day on have been born destitute of man's original righteousness and sadly in
need of God's eternal righteousness. "For all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Paul speaks of those who are
"ignorant of God's righteousness" (Rom. 10:3). This poor unfortunate
naked man only illustrates the spiritual nakedness of each outside of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
"And wounded him." Every sinner is wounded in the
conscience. "Having the conscience seared with a hot iron" (I Tim.
4:2). The mind is also wounded. "Having the understanding darkened"
(Eph. 4:18). Every sinner is a spiritual lunatic. No one is in his right mind
until he becomes a Christian. "For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind" (II Tim. 1:7).
Likewise the imagination is wounded. "And the Lord smelled a sweet savour;
and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for
man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth"
(Gen. 8:21). Furthermore the heart is wounded.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked' (Jer.
17:9).
"Leaving him half dead." Every sinner is conscious that
death has already begun its work and that he is spiritually dead in God's
sight. "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). "Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). "The soul that
sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4).
Look now at those who passed by. A priest walked by on the other
side. He was a representative of religion.
There is no hope for any of Adam's fallen descendants in religion.
"Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name have done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt 7:21-23) Jesus thus declares that
there will be preachers who will appear at the Judgment lost and condemned.
Then church record books, baptismal certificates, church letters and other
paraphernalia of religion will be valueless, for, "Whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15).
Peter Cartwright, a Methodist evangelist of days gone by went into a blacksmith
shop in Missouri to talk to a man about his soul. The man said, "You're a
Methodist, aren't you?" When the preacher answered affirmatively, he said,
"Well, I moved from Vermont to New York when the Methodists got too thick
there, and then on to northern Ohio, and finally out here, moving each time to get
away from the Methodists; I guess I'll have to move on again." Peter
Cartwright said, "Yes, you may move on out on the prairies and you'll find
Methodists there; you may go down to the golden gate and you'll find Methodists
there; you may die and go to Heaven and you'll find Methodists there; you may
die and go to Hell and you'll find Methodists there." And Peter Cartwright
was right. There will be Methodists in Hell, great loud singing,
hallelujah-shouting Methodists. There'll be Presbyterians in Hell,
Presbyterians who could swallow the whole of the Westminster Catechism. And
there will be Baptists and Campbellites and Holy Rollers and Catholics and Jews
and folk of every denomination in the world in Hell, who thought that religion
would save.
Isn't it pitiably strange that the world at large believes
religion will save? A man stated to me recently, "It doesn't make any
difference what a person believes so long as he is sincere in it; there are
many roads to heaven." Then he went ahead to illustrate his idea by
referring to the city of Washington, declaring that everything was built around
the Capitol buildings, so that regardless of what direction you started from,
North, East, South, or West, it would lead you eventually to the same spot, the
center of the city — the Capitol buildings. Thus his idea was that regardless
of what plan of religion one espoused, eventually he would get to Heaven. He
said, "As there may be roads leading to the one place so there are many
roads to Heaven — a Methodist road, a Baptist road, a Catholic road, or Jewish
road." How sad that one could be so deluded! There is no Methodist road to
Heaven, no Baptist road, no Jewish road, no Catholic road. There is only one
plan of salvation, and that is the Bible plan of salvation. There is only one
road and that is the highway that is marked with the precious Blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
A Levite also passed by. He was a representative of the law. Then
there is no hope for any man in the law. "And by Jesus all that believe
are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law
of Moses" (Acts 13:39). "Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no
flesh be justified in his sight" (Rom. 3:20). "For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom.
8:3). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5). "For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works,
lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9). Just as the Levite passed the
poor unfortunate by, so the deeds of the law pass every sinner by. What the
sinner does is no part of salvation, for Christ completed the plan of salvation
at Calvary.
A terrible fire was raging in Liverpool, and the fire engines had
arrived. There was a man in the fifth story crying for help. A ladder was
pushed up along side of the burning building but to the horror of the crowd, it
fell short six feet. An old sailor who had sailed the seven seas and had
climbed about the rigging of many a storm-tossed vessel pushed his way through
the crowd and climbed up to the top of the ladder. He stood on the top-most
rung of the ladder and placed his hands on the window sill above and the
individual entrapped by the flames climbed down over his body to safety. To
rescue that man in the fifth story required the length of a man. To save your
soul and mine requires likewise the length of a man. Not an ordinary man, not
an imperfect man, but an absolutely perfect man — the perfect Son of God. You
can lift up your ladder of morality and goodness and good deeds as high in the
sky as possible, but it falls short of Heaven. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
save your soul and to do so He must die on the cross.
Consider the Good Samaritan. "He saw him." Jesus sees
every sinner every hour of every day. We are never hidden from His sight.
"Thou God sees me" (Gen. 16:13). "Whither shall I go from thy
spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven,
thou art there; If I make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there. If I take
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me" (Psalm
139:7-10).
"Come where he was." He didn't come part way and say to
the poor unfortunate. "You come the rest of the way." Neither does
Jesus do part of that which is necessary for our salvation and demand of us
that we do the rest. He doesn't come half way to us and demand that we come the
other half way to Him. Jesus has done everything necessary for our salvation.
When He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), there was nothing left
for the sinner to do in the realm of salvation. In view of this, we do not
sing,
That
saved a wretch like me."
But we sing,
"Amazing
grace how sweet the sound
That
saved a wretch like me;
I once
was lost but now am found,
Was
blind, but now I see."
We do not sing,
"Jesus
paid a part, and I,
A part
you know,
Sin had
left a crimson stain,
We
washed it white as snow."
Instead we sing,
"Jesus
paid it all,
All to
him I owe,
Sin had
left a crimson stain,
He
washed it white as snow."
He met the wounded stranger's present need. And what does every
sinner need? Above all of his fancied needs, one paramount need stands out,
that of salvation. The very hour that Jesus and a sinner meet, salvation
becomes the sinner's possession.
He provided for the poor unfortunate's future needs, in that he
paid the host of the inn to care for the wounded man, even promising further
pay if such were needed. Salvation is not only a matter of time — it is of
eternity as well. Jesus provides not only saving grace, but keeping grace as
well. Our redemption is eternal as well as present, for Jesus has provided for
our future sins as well as our present sins, at Calvary. "For I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38, 39).
Dear sinner friend, suffer this closing admonition. Just as the
Levite and the priest could not help this poor unfortunate, so the law and
religion cannot help you. Near Jackson, Kentucky, in old bloody Breathitt
County, a murder was committed several years ago. The murderer was sentenced to
life imprisonment in Frankfort. He was one of the most incorrigible prisoners
in our state penitentiary. Punishments of various kinds, even physical torture
were inflicted. His stubborn spirit refused to bend. "Big Jim, as he was
called, continued to be the penitentiary's worst prisoner. One day a husband,
wife and little daughter were being shown through the penitentiary. The little
girl was tired from walking. The mother and father were both tired from
carrying the little girl and still the little girl begged to be carried. The
warden who was taking them through the penitentiary noticed "Big Jim"
in the corridor, called him to him, and commanded him to pick up the child and
carry her. With a look of insolence upon his face as if to say that he would
not do so if he did not have to, he came near. As he looked down she said,
"Please carry me, mister, and I will give you a kiss." Perhaps it was
the thought of a flaxen, curly-haired child at home or it may have been her
innocence, or it may have been her kindness (probably the first he had known in
months), but something gripped him, and he stooped over to pick up the child
with tears streaming down his face while she placed a kiss upon his cheek. That
day "Big Jim," the penitentiary's bad man, became a changed man.
Never again was he recognized as the terror of the penitentiary. That act of
kindness did for him what the law could never do. What the law fails to do for
us, and what religion fails to do, the Lord Jesus Christ can do. You need the
Good Samaritan, even Jesus. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shall be saved" (Acts 16:31).
"If
you could see Christ standing here tonight,
His
thorn-crowned head and pierced hands could view,
Could
see those eyes that beam with Heav'n's own light,
And
hear Him say, '0, sinner, 'Twas for you.'
Would
you believe, and Jesus receive,
If He
were standing here?
Will
you believe, and Jesus receive,
For He
is standing here."
"Even every one that is culled by my name: for I have created
him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him" — Isa. 43:7.
I don't believe that any man is capable of expounding some portions of God's Word. There are some portions of it that I am sure every preacher would say that he wouldn't feel himself capable of expounding. Nearly fifty years ago, I preached from the 10th verse of the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, "Ye are my witnesses," and I remember that I pushed this 7th verse aside, because I said that it was too deep for my comprehension. For nearly fifty years, I have been thinking and meditating in terms of Isaiah 43:7: "Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him."
Three verbs stand out in this text, which are most unusual —
"created," "formed," "made." I do not consider
myself an Hebrew scholar. I studied Hebrew, but I do not consider myself to be
an Hebraist in any sense of the word. However, I have studied these verbs most
carefully through the years — and what a blessing they are to me!
God says I have created, as if to say, "I have produced out
of nothing." "Formed" — I have given him that particular form
and shape which are best suited to his situation in life. If you are long, if
you are short, if you are tall, if you are skinny. God has given to you that particular
form and shape which are best suited for your situation in life.
Then He says, "I have made him." In other words, "I
have adapted him to the accomplishments of my counsels and my designs."
So God created us. He made us in the shape, the size, and the form that we are, and He has adapted us to carry out His counsels and His designs. Now that is the meaning of those three verbs: "created," "formed," and "made."
This was spoken primarily to the Jewish nation. God created them
out of nothing. He took a Gentile by the name of Abraham and made a Hebrew out
of him, and all Hebrews — all Jews — today are the product of that one Gentile,
Abraham. He created them out of nothing. He formed Israel and gave them the
shape and the size that they have as a nation, best suited to God's purpose and
to the situation of the Jew in life. He certainly has adapted them to the
accomplishment of His purposes. His counsels, and His designs, and, beloved.
God is going to continue until He finishes His task with the Jews.
What is true of the Jew, is true of the church that Jesus built.
He created it out of nothing. He has given to His church the particular form
and shape and doctrines and ordinances that He wanted His church to have.
Beloved, He has adapted His church for the accomplishment of His purposes and
His designs to the end of the age, and He'll never quit until His work with His
church is finished.
What is true of the Jewish nation, as this was spoken originally,
and what is true of the church that Jesus built, is true of every one of us.
God created you and me out of nothing. Tell me, can you explain the procreation
of human life? The man or woman, the scientist, the psychologist, the
physiologist does not live who can explain the procreation of human life. God
has created us out of nothing, and He has given to us the shape, the size and
the form that He wanted us to have which was best suited for our particular
situation in life. On top of that, He has set you and me aside and adapted us
for the accomplishments of His purposes and His designs in our lives.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
No text in all the Bible magnifies the sovereignty of God quite
like the text that I have read to you, for it says, "I have created,"
"I have formed," "I have made." God is the one that is
speaking.
Sometimes we think we are sovereign. In the New Testament, of a
man who thought himself sovereign, we read:
"This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to
my soul. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, THOU FOOL, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee" (Luke 12:18-20).
Beloved, you are not a sovereign. God is the only sovereign. When
I turn to the Word of God, over and over again, I find God's sovereignty taught
and exemplified. Listen:
"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a
thousand hills. I KNOW all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of
the field are MINE. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for THE WORLD IS
MINE, and the fullness thereof" (Psa. 50:10.12).
Listen again:
"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers
of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Prov. 21:1).
Your heart is in God's hand, too. It God hadn't wanted to turn you
to church, you would not go there. It God didn't put it in your heart, you would
be someplace else. You would have easily found a reason for being someplace
else. If God wanted you to hate me, and hate the things that I stand for. He
would have seen to it that you hated me. If He wanted you to love me and love
the truth that I stand for, He can make you do it. The king's heart, and my
heart are in the hands of the Lord and He turns the heart like He can turn
rivers of water.
Notice again:
"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me:
I KILL, and I MAKE ALIVE: I WOUND, and I HEAL;
neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand" (Deut.
32:39).
Beloved, don't read this unless you want to believe that God is a
sovereign. Talk about the accidents on the highways. The National Safety
Council has estimated that so many hundred people are going to be killed over
this Thanksgiving weekend. I tell you, beloved, everyone that God permits to be
killed will be killed, and everyone that God wants to spare, will be spared. He
is a sovereign God today.
Notice another Scripture:
"The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not
at all acquit the wicked: THE LORD HATH HIS WAY in the whirlwind and in the
storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh
it dry, and drieth up all the rivers" (Nahum 1:3,4).
Don't tell me that God doesn't have His way. I tell you, if a
cyclone conies along today and blows your house across the river, you can be
certain of one thing. God had His way. Doesn't it thrill your heart today to
know that God is a sovereign God? I am not controlling my life. The infidel
wrote the poem in which he said:
"I
am the master of my fate,
I am
the captain of my soul."
I tell you, beloved, in contrast. God is the master of my fate, and Jesus Christ is the Captain of my soul. God is sovereign.
THE IRRESISTIBLE CALL OF GOD.
This text also brings us a truth that is so seldom taught today,
and that is, the irresistible call of God, for it says, "Every one that is
called by my name."
Sometimes when the preacher finishes his sermon, he will go down
into the audience and "buttonhole" somebody whom he suspects as being
under conviction, and drag him down to the front and pull a profession from him
just like you take a corkscrew and pull a stopper out of a bottle. Beloved, I don't
believe in a man calling men to God. I believe in the irresistible call of the
Holy Spirit of God.
We read:
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an HOLY CALLING, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (II Tim. 1:9).
"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the HEAVENLY
CALLING" (Heb. 3:1).
Notice, Paul says that he has a high calling. I thank God for this
truth — God calls us — and. the man who is saved and on the road to Heaven is
saved because God called him, just like God called Paul on the roadway to
Damascus. If God hadn't called Paul, he would have gone on to Damascus
persecuting Christians. If God hadn't called you, you would have gone right on
in your sins without ever trusting Jesus Christ as a Saviour.
Beloved, I am glad that when God does the calling. He never
changes His mind afterwards. Listen:
"For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance" (Rom. 11:29).
The word "repentance" means "a change of
mind." In other words, this says that when God calls you. He never changes
His mind about it.
You have heard of Indian-givers. So many times I have seen people
who were Indian-givers — they give you something today, and ask for it back
tomorrow. A woman gave me a dog several years ago, and I took the dog home and
got attached to it overnight. The next day I loved the dog to death. That night
that woman almost cried her eyes out. The next day she called me, and said,
"Brother Gilpin, I wonder if you would give me my dog back."
Beloved, God doesn't give like that. God isn't an Indian-giver.
"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." When God
calls you, beloved, you can be certain of one thing, He will never recall that
call.
THE COMPLETED WORK OF GOD.
This text tells us something about the completed work of God. If
you will read the entire text and context, you will find that Isaiah tells how
God is going to reach out to the north and south, and the east and the west,
and He is going to call the Jews all together as a nation. He is not going to
leave them scattered all over the world, but some of these days, every Jew in
this world is going to be back in Palestine. That is where he belongs and God
is going to take him there. God is going to complete His work. That is what
this text says.
What God says concerning the Jew is true of His church, and it is
true of you. He is going to complete His work. Listen:
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform (finish) it until the day of Jesus Christ"
(Phil. 1:6).
Thank God, He never puts His hand to anything and then turns
aside, until He finishes it. I am glad that He is going to complete the work
that He has begun.
Some of these days. God is going to complete the work of
redemption in this world. We read:
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for
THE EARTH SHALL BE FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD, as the waters cover the
sea" (Isa. 11:9).
I know we are living in a day when we see so much crime, and
immorality, and injustice, and war, and raping, and acts of violence on every
hand, but the day is coming when the Lord's Word is going to cover the earth,
just like the waters cover the sea.
Listen again:
"He SHALL NOT FAIL NOR BE DISCOURAGED, till he have set
judgment in the earth" (Isa. 42:4).
Beloved, I get tired sometimes, and I tail. I get discouraged
sometimes. But God hasn't given up and God isn't one bit discouraged. He is a
sovereign God, and He is not going to quit, He is not going to fail. He is not
going to be discouraged until He has set judgment in the earth.
Don't think for one moment that we are on the losing side. We are
on the winning side. Some of these days, out yonder in the future, the Lord is
going to look out over the host of His redeemed. When He does, "He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be SATISFIED" (Isa. 53:11).
Oh, what a day it is going to be when Almighty God looks out over
the travail of His soul and sees the souls that have been saved in New Guinea
under Elder Fred T. Halliman's ministry, the souls that have been saved under
the ministry of many other brethren, and the souls that have been saved the
world around! It says that He is going to be satisfied. Why? Because every one
that He has called, has been drawn irresistibly by the Holy Spirit, and all of
them are going to be in that group that He has called.
Beloved, it thrills my soul just to leave everything in God's
hands. In that respect, I am reminded of that old race horse that had become
blind and peevish and fretful, and was kept in a stall and not allowed any
freedom because he was peevish and fretful. One day, when a change of stable
hands came about, the young man that was assigned to take care of him, reached
over, as he dropped some hay and grain into the manger, and put his hand on the
muzzle of that old horse — the first act of kindness that this horse had known
for months and months. He strangely responded to it. Instead of biting and
kicking, instead of responding as he had in the past to the lack of care and
the lack of love, he responded strangely to that affection. The boy began to lead
him around, and then later to drive him around, telling the folk that he was
getting ready for a race. They laughed at him. But let the poem tell the story;
"The
record was this, when the day was done,
Rythmic,
the great blind conqueror won;
He sped
in the dark, though the sun rode high
In the
cloudless arch of an August sky.
He knew
not where his feet would fall,
To the
eye of the driver he trusted all;
The
hand on the whip was love's hand, too.
Strength
and courage, faith and speed,
These
won the day for the brave blind steed.
Great
is the lesson, 0 mortal blind,
Christ
is your Master, His whip is kind.
Then
trust in His wisdom, though dark be the night,
And the
hand of the Saviour will lead you aright,
Faith
and courage, an even pace,
With
God's eye guiding, will win the race."
Beloved, I say to you, God isn't going to be defeated. His Word is
going to be fulfilled. His work is going to be completed just exactly as He
planned, and our business is to submit ourselves into His hands.
ALL OF THIS IS FOR GOD'S GLORY.
My text says, "For I have created him for my glory." Did
you ever stop to think when you were born into this world, regardless of what
your status and your stature is today, you were created for God's glory?
Beloved, God does everything for His glory. The Word of God tells us that what
God does. He does for His own glory. Listen:
"And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole
congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness,
and, behold, THE GLORY OF THE LORD appeared in the cloud" (Ex. 16:10).
When the seraphims stood in the temple, we read:
"And one cried unto another, and said. Holy, holy, holy, is
the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is FULL OF HIS GLORY" (Isa. 6:3).
Listen again:
"And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations
shall come: and I will FILL THIS HOUSE WITH GLORY,
saith the Lord of hosts" (Haggai 2:7).
When we come to the night when the Lord Jesus Christ was born, the
angels in that first seraphic melody that was ever sung at the birth of Jesus
Christ said:
"GLORY TO GOD in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men" (Luke 2:14).
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he said:
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, DO
ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD" (I Cor. 10:31).
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he said:
"Unto him be GLORY IN THE CHURCH by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. 3:21).
Thank God, He is going to be glorified. He is a sovereign God.
Yes, beloved. He calls us. Yes, He is going to complete His work, and, yes, it
is all for His glory.
Doesn't that give you something to make you humble today? Can you
think of anything that would make a man more humble than the sovereignty of God
— the fact that He sovereignty chose us; the fact that He irresistibly called
us; the fact that He has promised to never quit until the job is all done; the
fact that it is all for His glory? Can you think of anything that would make
you any more humble than that?
How thankful we ought to be! Talk about Thanksgiving, I tell you,
a child of God has something to thank God for when he thinks about this text of
Scripture.
Yes, personally, how much I have to thank God for! I go back to
the day when God saved me. I thank Him today because He saved me. I thank Him
because He called me to preach. You know, if you had been looking the whole
country over for a preacher in that day, I would have been the last fellow that
you would have called. I will say this, if you had gone out hunting that
morning with a shotgun and was going to shoot the first preacher that you
found, I would have been the last fellow that you would have ever shot. But God
called me. To think that God would call me into His ministry! I am thankful for
it.
And to think that God gave me a love for His Word. I love the
Bible, beloved. It has been my desire and my delight to study it through the
years. I have gone through the Bible two different times and read every word of
every verse in the light of every other use of that word in the Bible. In other
words, I started in Genesis 1:1 and read "In the beginning God . . . and I
took that word "beginning" and I studied it every place that it was
found all the rest of the way through the Word of God. I took every word in the
Bible and studied it that way.
I studied through the Word of God twice, word by word, of every
verse, in the light as it is used in every other verse in the Bible. Beloved, I
love His book. It means something to me today. I hug it to my bosom as the
greatest thing in this world as far as information and inspiration is
concerned, and I thank God that He has given me this love for it.
I thank God that He has kept me from being a modernist. God could
just as easily have made a modernist out of me, as a Baptist preacher. Of
course, I had one advantage that a lot of fellows don't have in that respect.
They say that modernists are all nice looking, handsome men, and I had one
advantage. I had one thing in my favor to start with.
I remember a man was preaching, years ago, — even a good while
ago. He said, "I have noticed that all the modernists and the rationalists
of the country are handsome men. That is why it is that they attract
everybody." He turned and looked down at me and said, "Brother
Gilpin, you are immune. You will never be a modernist."
Well, the Lord kept me from being a modernist. He has given me a
good time these fifty years. He has given me a lot of fun. I tell you truly, I
don't believe there is anybody in the world that has had more fun than I have
had in these last fifty years. I have had a good time. Talk about suffering, I
have had a little. Some of it, I have brought on myself by my own stupidity. But,
beloved, I have had a good time in the ministry of our Lord. I have had some of
the funniest experiences, and I think I will take time to tell you what I
consider the funniest experience that I ever had.
I began to preach at Bon-Jellico, Kentucky, a coal camp out of
Williamsburg, Kentucky. It is not even there anymore. It is out of existence.
But I began preaching there in a little schoolhouse, high upon a mountainside.
We had some benches — not seats, but benches, with slats in the back and a slat
or two in the bottom. There was a lot of open space in those seats. I remember
one night right in the midst of my sermon an experience. There was a boy that
came to the services, whose name was Jim Henry. He just wasn't bright, and all
the boys picked on him. One night, right in the midst of my sermon, those boys
had been sticking pins in him, and the mother rose up and said, "Brother
Gilpin, if you don't make these boys sitting behind me quit sticking pins in my
Jim Henry, I am going to quit coming here to hear you preach."
Beloved, I have had a lot of funny experiences since, but I think
that one caps the climax.
I remember also, the time that I was riding on a bus over in
Harlan County, Kentucky. A fellow tapped me on the back, and I looked back into
the business end of a revolver that was pointed at my face. He got out by the
side of the bus and stood there with a couple of guns which he held on
everybody as they passed out. People had to put their watches and their money
in his hat. It came my turn and I thought, what is the use of being accused of
being a big talker and not being able to use that ability when you get in a
tight place? So as I came along, and with my hands held high and shaking, I
said, "Brother, would you take a watch from a poor little preacher when
that is all that he has?" He said, "What kind of a preacher are
you?" I said, "I am a Baptist preacher." He put his gun down in
his pocket and said, "Put it there, boy, I am a Baptist, too."
As I say, I have had lots of problems and I have had lots of fun.
I thank the Lord for His goodness. I thank the Lord for the heartaches and the
headaches that I have had. A lot of times I could have run away, I could have
quit. I think my son has paid the highest compliment to me that was paid to any
father when, years ago, he said, "Dad, I know God called you to preach,
because you would have quit a long time ago, if He hadn't." And that is
true. I think I would have. I think I would have quit lots of times. I could
have run away. I could have gone away someplace else.
I have had many problems. I have had many headaches and many
heartaches. Some of them have been caused because I lanced a carbuncle down to
the core. You know what I mean, don't you? There have been some heretics that I
had to handle like you would lance a carbuncle down to the core. It has caused
a lot of difficulties and a lot of problems, but I have had a good time these
fifty years.
A man wrote to me the other day and sent me $50 and said, "I
want to join the 'Fifty Year — $50 Club,' and I want to make application now
for the 100 year club." Well, I am in favor of taking him in. I'll not
vote against him. I'd like to live another 50 years to preach His Word.
I have had a hard time physically in the last couple of years. Two
years ago I invited Brother Jon Rule here for a revival meeting and I never
even attended the services one night. Can you imagine a Baptist preacher
inviting a man to come hold a revival and then not even attend the services one
time? That is right. Well, I got sick, was the reason. I went to the hospital
and was operated on, and was there for twenty-three days. Eight times within
the last two years I have been in the hospital. Some of you didn't think I was
going to live. Several times I thought I wasn't going to live. When that
tractor ran over me a little over a year ago, I am satisfied that there were
some angels around that held that tractor and the corn-picker and the wagon up
to keep them from mashing me. There was no reason in the world why I shouldn't
have been killed. I think I can say as I look back across these years — as I
look back across the last two years particularly, in the eight times that I
have been in the hospital — I think I can truly say with Ezekiel, "I was
spared."
Beloved, I thank God today for all of His goodness and for His
purpose in my life. I think how grateful I am to God for His goodness to me.
Beloved, I am urging everyone of you in the light of this passage of Scripture
that I have read to you —I am urging everyone of you to stand fast for the Word
of God.
I remember one of the earliest stories that I read in English
literature was of the time when Napoleon had lost a battle — not the battle of
Waterloo, but another battle. One of the officers under Napoleon said to the
drummer, "'Beat a retreat." The lad stood immobile. He never moved.
He never flinched. That order was repeated, "Beat a retreat." The boy
said, "I can't beat a retreat. Napoleon never taught me to beat a
retreat." But he said, "I can beat a march that will wake up the
dead." History says that he beat that march and the result was that they
won the battle that they appeared to have lost.
Beloved, I am asking you today never to retreat, but to move
forward and to stand fast for the things of the Lord.
I am a Baptist. I thank God because of it. I believe in the five
cardinal truths of grace. I believe in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation
return of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that God created this world. I
believe in the inspiration of the Bible from beginning to end, and after fifty
years, I thank God that I believe in it more strongly than I believed in it
when God called me into the ministry fifty years ago. I would urge each of you
to stand fast in the things of the Lord.
I often think of the time when Columbus was trying to discover a new route to the Indies. I often think what difficulty it must have been. What a problem it must have been! Nobody believed the earth was round. Everybody believed that if you went out so far you would sail to the edge, to a precipice, and just fall off. What a problem it must have been! Suppose we let the poet tell it:
Behind
him lay the gray Azores,
Behind
the Gates of Hercules,
Before
him not the ghosts of shores,
Before
him only shoreless seas.
The
good mate said: "Now must we pray,
For lo,
the very stars are gone
Brave
Adm'r'l, speak; what shall I say?"
"Why,
say: 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"
"My
men grow mutinous day by day;
My men
grow ghastly wan and weak."
The
stout mate thought of home, a spray
Of salt
wave washed his swarthy cheek.
"What
shall I say, brave Adm’r’l say,
If we
sight naught but seas at dawn?"
"Why,
you will say, at break of day:
'Sail
on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"
They
sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until
at last the blanched mate said:
"Why
now not even God would know
Should
I and all my men fall dead.
These
very winds forget their way,
For God
from these dread seas is gone.
Now
speak, brave Adm'r'l; speak and say" —
He
said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"
They
sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:
"This
mad sea shows his teeth to-night;
He
curls his lips, he lies in wait,
With
lifted teeth, as if to bite.
Brave
Adm'r’l, say but one good word,
What
shall we do when hope is gone?"
The words
leapt like a leaping sword:
"Sail
on! sail on! sail on! and on!"
Then,
pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And
peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all
dark nights! and then a speck—
A
light! A light! A light! A light!
It
grew, a starlit, flag unfurled!
It grew
to be Time's burst of dawn.
He
gained a world! he gave that world
Its
grandest lesson: "On, sail on!"
That is my appeal to you today as God's children — no return, no
retreat, but sail on! sail on!