<h2><SPAN name="THE_PLOUGHMAN" id="THE_PLOUGHMAN">THE PLOUGHMAN.</SPAN></h2>
<p class="small">"Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?"—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> 28:24.</p>
<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Unless</span> they are cultivated, fields yield us nothing
but briers and thistles. In this we may see ourselves.
Unless the great Husbandman shall till us by his grace,
we shall produce nothing that is good, but everything
that is evil. If one of these days I shall hear that a
country has been discovered where wheat grows without
the work of the farmer, I may then, perhaps, hope
to find one of our race who will bring forth holiness
without the grace of God. Hitherto all land on which
the foot of man has trodden has needed labor and care;
and even so among men the need of gracious tillage is
universal. Jesus says to all of us, "Ye must be born
again." Unless God the Holy Spirit breaks up the
heart with the plough of the law, and sows it with the
seed of the gospel, not a single ear of holiness will any
of us produce, even though we may be children of godly
parents, and may be regarded as excellent moral people
by those with whom we live.</p>
<p>Yes, and the plough is needed not only to produce
that which is good, but to destroy that which is evil.
There are diseases which, in the course of ages, wear
themselves out, and do not appear again among men;
and there may be forms of vice, which under changed
circumstances, do not so much abound as they used to<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</SPAN></span>
do; but human nature will always remain the same,
and therefore there will always be plentiful crops of the
weeds of sin in man's fields, and nothing can keep these
under but spiritual husbandry, carried on by the Spirit
of God. You cannot destroy weeds by exhortations,
nor can you tear out the roots of sin from the soul by
moral suasion; something sharper and more effectual
must be brought to bear upon them. God must put his
own right hand to the plough, or the hemlock of sin will
never give place to the corn of holiness. Good is never
spontaneous in unrenewed humanity, and evil is never
cut up till the ploughshare of almighty grace is driven
through it.</p>
<p>The text leads our thoughts in this direction, and
gives us practical guidance through asking the simple
question, "Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?"
<i>This question may be answered in the affirmative</i>, "Yes, in
the proper season he does plough all day to sow;" and,
secondly, <i>this text may more properly be answered in the negative</i>,
"No, the ploughman does not plough every day to
sow; he has other work to do according to the season."</p>
<p>I. First, our text may be <span class="smcap">answered in the affirmative</span>—"Yes,
the ploughman does plough all day to
sow."</p>
<p>When it is ploughing time he keeps on at it till his
work is done; if it requires one day, or two days, or
twenty days to finish his fields, he continues at his task
while the weather permits. The perseverance of the
ploughman is instructive, and it teaches us a double lesson.
When the Lord comes to plough the heart of
man he ploughs all day, and herein is his patience; and,
secondly, so ought the Lord's servants to labor all day
with men's hearts, and herein is our perseverance.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"Doth the ploughman plough all day?" <i>So doth
God plough the heart of man, and herein is his patience.</i> The
team was in the field in the case of some of us very early
in the morning, for our first recollections have to do
with conscience and the furrows of pain which it made
in our youthful mind. When we were little children
we woke in the night under a sense of sin; our father's
teaching and our mother's prayers made deep and painful
impressions upon us, and though we did not then
yield our hearts to God, we were greatly stirred, and all
indifference to religion was made impossible. When we
were boys at school the reading of a chapter in the Word
of God, or the death of a playmate, or an address at a
Bible-class, or a solemn sermon, so affected us that we
were uneasy for weeks. The strivings of the Spirit of
God within urged us to think of higher and better things.
Though we quenched the Spirit, though we stifled conviction,
yet we bore the marks of the ploughshare; furrows
were made in the soul, and certain foul weeds of
evil were cut up by the roots although no seed of grace
was as yet sown in our hearts. Some have continued
in this state for many years, ploughed but not sown;
but, blessed be God, it was not so with others of us;
for we had not left boyhood before the good seed of the
gospel fell upon our heart. Alas! there are many who
do not thus yield to grace, and with them the ploughman
ploughs all day to sow. I have seen the young man coming
to London in his youth, yielding to its temptations,
drinking in its poisoned sweets, violating his conscience,
and yet continuing unhappy in it all, fearful, unrestful,
stirred about even as the soil is agitated by the
plough. In how many cases has this kind of work gone
on for years, and all to no avail. Ah! and I have known<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</SPAN></span>
the man come to middle life, and still he has not received
the good seed, neither has the ground of his hard
heart been thoroughly broken up. He has gone on in
business without God; day after day he has risen and
gone to bed again with no more religion than his horses:
and yet all this while there have been ringing in his ears
warnings of judgment to come, and chidings of conscience,
so that he has not been at peace. After a powerful
sermon he has not enjoyed his meals, or been able to
sleep, for he has asked himself, "What shall I do in the
end thereof?" The ploughman has ploughed all day,
till the evening shadows have lengthened and the day
has faded to a close. What a mercy it is when the
furrows are at last made ready and the good seed is cast
in, to be received, nurtured, and multiplied a hundred
fold.</p>
<p>It is mournful to remember that we have seen
this ploughing continue till the sun has touched the horizon
and the night dews have begun to fall. Even then
the long-suffering God has followed up his work—ploughing,
ploughing, ploughing, ploughing, till darkness
ended all. Do I address any aged ones whose lease
must soon run out? I would affectionately beseech them
to consider their position. What! Threescore years old
and yet unsaved? Forty years did God suffer the manners
of Israel in the wilderness, but he has borne with
you for sixty years. Seventy years old, and yet unregenerated!
Ah, my friend, you will have but little time
in which to serve your Saviour before you go to heaven.
But will you go there at all? Is it not growing dreadfully
likely that you will die in your sins and perish
for ever? How happy are those who are brought to
Christ in early life; but still remember—</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry">
<div class="stanza">
<div class="line small">"While the lamp holds out to burn,</div>
<div class="line small ip5">The vilest sinner may return."</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<p>It is late, it is very late, but is not too late. The ploughman
ploughs all day; and the Lord waits that he may
be gracious unto you. I have seen many aged persons
converted, and therefore I would encourage other old
folks to believe in Jesus. I once read a sermon in which
a minister asserted that he had seldom known any converted
who were over forty years of age if they had been
hearers of the gospel all their lives. There is certainly
much need to caution those who are guilty of delay, but
there must be no manufacturing of facts. Whatever
that minister might think, or even observe, my own
observation leads me to believe that about as many
people are converted to God at one age as at another,
taking into consideration the fact that the young are
much more numerous than the old. It is a dreadful
thing to have remained an unbeliever all these years; but
yet the grace of God does not stop short at a certain
age; those who enter the vineyard at the eleventh hour
shall have their penny, and grace shall be glorified in
the old as well as in the young. Come along, old friend,
Jesus Christ invites you to come to him even now, though
you have stood out so long. You have been a sadly
tough piece of ground, and the ploughman has ploughed
all day; but if at last the sods are turned, and the heart
is lying in ridges, there is hope of you yet.</p>
<p>"Doth the ploughman plough all day?" I answer—Yes,
however long the day may be, God in mercy
ploughs still, he is long-suffering, and full of tenderness
and mercy and grace. Do not spurn such patience, but
yield to the Lord who has acted toward you with so
much gentle love.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The text, however, not only sets forth patience on
God's part, but it teaches <i>perseverance on our part</i>. "Doth
the ploughman plough all day?" Yes, he does; then if
I am seeking Christ, ought I to be discouraged because
I do not immediately find him? The promise is, "He
that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." There
may be reasons why the door is not opened at our first
knock. What then? "Doth the ploughman plough
all day?" Then will I knock all day. It may be at the
first seeking I may not find; what then? "Doth the
ploughman plough all day?" Then will I seek all day.
It may happen that at my first asking I shall not receive;
what then? "Doth the ploughman plough all day?"
Then will I ask all day? Friends, if you have begun
to seek the Lord, the short way is, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Do that at once.
In the name of God do it at once, and you are saved at
once. May the Spirit of God bring you to faith in Jesus,
and you are at once in the kingdom of Christ. But if
peradventure in seeking the Lord, you are ignorant of
this, or do not see your way, never give up seeking;
get to the foot of the cross, lay hold of it, and cry, "If I
perish I will perish here. Lord, I come to thee in Jesus
Christ for mercy, and if thou art not pleased to look
at me immediately, and forgive my sins, I will cry to
thee till thou dost." When God's Holy Spirit brings a
man to downright earnest prayer which will not take a
denial, he is not far from peace. Careless indifference
and shilly-shallying with God hold men in bondage.
They find peace when their hearts are roused to strong
resolve to seek until they find. I like to see men search
the Scriptures till they learn the way of salvation, and<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</SPAN></span>
hear the gospel till their souls live by it. If they are
resolved to drive the plough through doubts, and fears,
and difficulties, till they come to salvation, they shall
soon come to it by the grace of God.</p>
<p>The same is true in seeking the salvation of others.
"Doth the ploughman plough all day?" Yes, when it
is ploughing-time. Then, so will I work on, and on,
and on. I will pray and preach, or pray and teach,
however long the day may be that God shall appoint
me, for—</p>
<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry">
<div class="stanza">
<div class="line small">"'Tis all my business here below</div>
<div class="line small ip5">The precious gospel seed to sow."</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<p>Brother worker, are you getting a little weary?
Never mind, rouse yourself, and plough on for the love
of Jesus, and dying men. Our day of work has in it
only the appointed hours, and while they last let us fulfil
our task. Ploughing is hard work; but as there will be
no harvest without it, let us just put forth all our strength,
and never flag till we have performed our Lord's will,
and by his holy Spirit wrought conviction in men's souls.
Some soils are very stiff, and cling together, and the
labor is heart-breaking; others are like the unreclaimed
waste, full of roots and tangled bramble; they need a
steam plough, and we must pray the Lord to make us
such, for we cannot leave them untilled, and therefore we
must put forth more strength that the labor may be done.</p>
<p>I heard some time ago of a minister who called to
see a poor man who was dying, but he was not able to
gain admittance; he called the next morning, and
some idle excuse was made so that he could not see
him; he called again the next morning, but he was
still refused; he went on till he called twenty times in
vain, but on the twenty-first occasion he was permitted
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</SPAN></span>
to see the sufferer, and by God's grace he saved a soul
from death. "Why do you tell your child a thing twenty
times?" asked some one of a mother. "Because,"
said she, "I find nineteen times is not enough." Now,
when a soul is to be ploughed, it may so happen that
hundreds of furrows will not do it. What then? Why,
plough all day till the work is done. Whether you
are ministers, missionaries, teachers, or private soul-winners,
never grow weary, for your work is noble,
and the reward of it is infinite. The grace of God is
seen in our being permitted to engage in such holy
service; it is greatly magnified in sustaining us in it,
and it will be pre-eminently conspicuous in enabling
us to hold out till we can say, "I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do."</p>
<p>We prize that which costs us labor and service, and
we shall set all the higher value upon the saved ones
when the Lord grants them to our efforts. It is good
for us to learn the value of our sheaves by going forth
weeping to the sowing. When you think of the ploughman's
ploughing all day, be moved to plod on in earnest
efforts to win souls. Seek—</p>
<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry">
<div class="stanza">
<div class="line small">"With cries, entreaties, tears to save</div>
<div class="line small ip5">And snatch them from the fiery wave."</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<p>Doth the ploughman plough all day for a little bit of
oats or barley, and will not you plough all day for souls
that shall live for ever, if saved, to adore the grace of
God, or shall live for ever, if unsaved, in outer darkness
and woe? Oh, by the terrors of the wrath to come and
the glory that is to be revealed, gird up your loins,
and plough all day.</p>
<p>I would beg all the members of our churches to<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</SPAN></span>
keep their hands on the gospel plough, and their eyes
straight before them. "Doth the ploughman plough
all day?" let Christians do the same. Start close to
the hedge, and go right down to the bottom of the
field. Plough as close to the ditch as you can, and
leave small headlands. What though there are fallen
women, thieves, and drunkards in the slums around,
do not neglect any of them; for if you leave a stretch
of land to the weeds they will soon spread among
the wheat. When you have gone right to the end of
the field once, what shall you do next? Why, just
turn round, and make for the place you started
from. And when you have thus been up and down,
what next? Why, up and down again. And what
next? Why, up and down again. You have visited
that district with tracts; do it again, fifty-two
times in the year—multiply your furrows. We must
learn how to continue in well doing. Your eternal
destiny is to go on doing good for ever and ever, and it
is well to go through a rehearsal here. So just plough
on, plough on, and look for results as the reward of
continued perseverance. Ploughing is not done with
a skip and jump; the ploughman ploughs all day.
Dash and flash are all very fine in some things, but not
in ploughing; there the work must be steady, persistent,
regular. Certain persons soon give it up, it wears out
their gloves, blisters their soft hands, tires their bones,
and makes them eat their bread rather more in the
sweat of their face than they care for. Those whom
the Lord fills with his grace will keep to their ploughing
year after year, and verily I say unto you, they shall
have their reward. "Doth the ploughman plough all
day?" Then let us do the same, being assured that
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</SPAN></span>
one day every hill and valley shall be tilled and sown,
and every desert and wilderness shall yield a harvest
for our Lord, and the angel reapers shall descend, and
the shouts of the harvest-home shall fill both earth and
heaven.</p>
<p>II. But, now, somewhat briefly, <span class="smcap">the text may be
answered in the negative</span>. "Doth the ploughman
plough all day to sow?" No, he does not always
plough. After he has ploughed he breaks the clods,
sows, reaps, and threshes. In the chapter before us you
will see that other works of husbandry are mentioned.
The ploughman has many other things to do beside
ploughing. There is an advance in what he does; this
teaches us that there is the like on God's part, and
should be the like on ours.</p>
<p>First, <i>on God's part, there is an advance in what he does</i>.
"Doth the ploughman plough all day?" No, he goes forward
to other matters. It may be that in the case of some
of you the Lord has been using certain painful agencies
to plough you. You are feeling the terrors of the law,
the bitterness of sin, the holiness of God, the weakness
of the flesh, and the shadow of the wrath to come. Is
this going to last forever? Will it continue till the
spirit fails and the soul expires? Listen: "Doth the
ploughman plough all day?" No, he is preparing for
something else—he ploughs to sow. Thus doth the
Lord deal with you; therefore be of good courage, there
is an ending to the wounding and slaying, and better
things are in store for you. You are poor and needy,
and you seek water, and there is none and your tongue
faileth for thirst; but the Lord will hear you, and deliver
you. He will not contend forever, neither will he
be always wroth. He will turn again, and he will have<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</SPAN></span>
compassion upon us. He will not always make furrows
by his chiding, he will come and cast in the precious
corn of consolation, and water it with the dews of heaven
and smile upon it with the sunlight of his grace; and
there shall soon be in you, first the blade, then the ear,
after that the full corn in the ear, and in due season you
shall joy as with the joy of harvest. O ye who are sore
wounded in the place of dragons, I hear you cry,
Doth God always send terror and conviction of sin?
Listen to this: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall
eat the good of the land," and what is the call of God to
the willing and obedient but this: "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Thou shalt be
saved now, find peace now, if thou wilt have done with
thyself and all looking to thine own good works to save
thee, and wilt turn to him who paid the ransom for
thee upon the tree. The Lord is gentle and tender and
full of compassion, he will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger for ever. Many of your doubts
and fears come of unbelief, or of Satan, or of the flesh,
and are not of God at all. Blame him not for what he
does not send, and does not wish you to suffer. His
mind is for your peace, not for your distress; for thus
he speaks: "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and
cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her
iniquity is pardoned." "I have blotted out, as a thick
cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins:
return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." He has
smitten, but he will smile; he has wounded, but he will
heal; he has slain, but he will make alive; therefore
turn unto him at once and receive comfort at his hands.
The ploughman does not plough for ever, else would he
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</SPAN></span>
reap no harvest; and God is not always heart-breaking,
he also draws near on heart-healing errands.</p>
<p>You see, then, that the great husbandman advances
from painful agencies, and I want you to mark that he
goes on to <i>productive work</i> in the hearts of his people.
He will take away the furrows, you shall not see them,
for the corn will cover them with beauty. As she that
was in travail remembers no more her sorrow for joy that
a man is born into the world, so shall you, who are
under the legal rod, remember no more the misery of
conviction, for God will sow you with grace, and make
your soul, even your poor, barren soul, to bring forth
fruit unto his praise and glory. "Oh!" says one, "I
wish that would come true to me." It will. "Doth
the ploughman plough all day to sow?" You expect
by-and-by to see ploughed fields clothed with springing
corn; and you may look to see repentant hearts gladdened
with forgiveness. Therefore, be of good courage.</p>
<p>You shall advance, also, to a <i>joyful experience</i>. See
that ploughman; he whistles as he ploughs, he does not
own much of this world's goods, but yet he is merry.
He looks forward to the day when he will be on the
top of the big wagon, joining in the shout of the harvest
home, and so he ploughs in hope, expecting a crop.
And, dear soul, God will yet joy and rejoice over you
when you believe in Jesus Christ, and you, too, shall
be brimful of joy. Be of good cheer, the better portion
is yet to come, press forward to it. Gospel sorrowing
leads on to gospel hoping, believing, rejoicing, and the
rejoicing knows no end. God will not chasten all day,
but he will lead you on from strength to strength, from
glory unto glory, till you shall be like himself. This,
then, is the advance that there is in God's work among<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</SPAN></span>
men, from painful agencies to productive work and
joyful experience.</p>
<p>But what if the ploughing should never lead to sowing;
what if you should be disturbed in conscience,
and should go on to resist it all? Then God will make
another advance, but it will be to put up the plough,
and to command the clouds that they rain no rain upon
the land, and then its end is to be burned. Oh! man,
there is nothing more awful than for your soul to be left
to go out of cultivation; God himself giving you up.
Surely that is hell. He that is unholy will be unholy
still. The law of fixity of character will operate eternally,
and no hand of the merciful One shall come
near to till the soul again. What worse than this can
happen?</p>
<p>We conclude by saying that <i>this advance is a lesson to
us</i>; for we, too, are to go forward. "Doth the ploughman
plough all day?" No, he ploughs to sow, and in due time
he sows. Some churches seem to think that all they
have to do is to plough; at least, all they attempt is a kind
of scratching of the soil, and talking of what they are
going to do. It is fine talk, certainly; but doth the
ploughman plough all day? You may draw up a large
programme and promise great things; but pray do not
stop there. Don't be making furrows all day; do get
to your sowing. I fancy that those who promise most
perform the least. Men who do much in the world have
no programme at first, their course works itself out by
its own inner force by the grace of God; they do not
propose but perform. They do not plough all day to
sow, but they are like our Lord's servant in the parable
of whom he saith, "the sower went forth to sow."</p>
<p>Let the ministers of Christ also follow the rule of
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</SPAN></span>
advance. <i>Let us go from preaching the law to preaching
the gospel.</i> "Doth the ploughman plough all day?" He
does plough; he would not sow in hope if he had not
first prepared the ground. Robbie Flockart, who
preached for years in the Edinboro' streets, says, "It is
in vain to sew with the silk thread of the gospel, unless
you use the sharp needle of the law." Some of my
brethren do not care to preach eternal wrath and its terrors.
This is a cruel mercy, for they ruin souls by hiding
from them their ruin. If they must needs try to
sew without a needle, I cannot help it; but I do not
mean to be so foolish myself; my needle may be old-fashioned,
but it is sharp, and when it carries with it the
silken thread of the gospel, I am sure good work is done
by it. You cannot get a harvest if you are afraid of disturbing
the soil, nor can you save souls if you never
warn them of hell fire. We must tell the sinner what
God has revealed about sin, righteousness, and judgment
to come. Still, brethren, we must not plough all day.
No, no, the preaching of the law is only preparatory
to the preaching of the gospel. The stress of our business
lies in proclaiming glad tidings. We are not followers
of John the Baptist, but of Jesus Christ; we are
not rugged prophets of woe, but joyful heralds of grace.
Be not satisfied with revival services, and stirring appeals,
but preach the doctrines of grace so as to bring
out the full compass of covenant truth. Ploughing
has had its turn, now for planting and watering. Reproof
may now give place to consolation. We are first to
make disciples of men, and then to teach them to observe
all things whatsoever Jesus has commanded us.
We must pass on from the rudiments to the higher
truths, from laying foundations to further upbuilding.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>And now, another lesson to those of you who are as
yet hearers and nothing more. I want you to go from
ploughing to something better, namely, <i>from hearing and
fearing to believing</i>. How many years some of you have
been hearing the gospel! Do you mean to continue in
that state for ever? Will you never believe in him of
whom you hear so much? You have been stirred up a
good deal; the other night you went home almost
broken-hearted; I should think you are ploughed
enough by this time; and yet you have not received the
seed of eternal life, for you have not believed in the Lord
Jesus. It is dreadful to be always on the brink of everlasting
life, and yet never to be alive. It will be an
awful thing to be almost in heaven, and yet forever
shut out. It is a wretched thing to rush into a railway
station just in time to see the train steaming out; I
had much rather be half-an-hour behind time. To lose
a train by half-a-second is most annoying. Alas, if you
go on as you have done for years, you will have your hand
on the latch of heaven, and yet be shut out. You will
be within a hair's-breadth of glory, and yet be covered
with eternal shame. O beware of being so near to the
kingdom, and yet lost; almost, but not altogether saved.
God grant that you may not be among those who are
ploughed, and ploughed, and ploughed, and yet never
sown. It will be of no avail at the last to cry, "Lord,
we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast
taught in our streets. We had a seat at the chapel, we
attended the services on week-nights as well as on Sundays,
we went to prayer-meetings, we joined a Bible-class,
we distributed tracts, we subscribed our guinea to
the funds, we gave up every open sin, we used a form
of prayer, and read a chapter of the Bible every day."
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</SPAN></span>
All these things may be done, and yet there may be no
saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Take heed lest your
Lord should answer, "With all this, your heart never
came to me; therefore, depart from me, I never knew
you." If Jesus once knows a man he always knows
him. He can never say to <i>me</i>, "I never knew you," for
he has known me, as his poor dependant, a beggar for
years at his door. Some of you have been all that is
good except that you never came into contact with
Christ, never trusted him, never knew him. Ah me,
how sad your state! Will it be always so?</p>
<p>Lastly, I would say to you who are being ploughed
and are agitated about your souls, Go at once to the next
stage of believing. Oh! if people did but know how
simple a thing believing is, surely they would believe.
Alas, they do not know it, and it becomes all the
more difficult to them because in itself it is so easy.
The difficulty of believing lies in there being no difficulty
in it. "If the prophet had bid thee do some great
thing, wouldst thou not have done it?" Oh, yes, you
would have done it, and you would have thought it easy
too; but when he simply says, "Wash, and be clean,"
there is a difficulty with pride and self. If you can truly
say that you are willing to abase your pride, and do
anything which the Lord bids you, then I pray you
understand that there is no further preparation required,
and believe in Jesus at once. May the Holy Spirit make
you sick of self, and ready to accept the gospel. The
word is nigh thee, let it be believed; it is in thy mouth,
let it be swallowed down; it is in thy heart, let it be
trusted. With your heart believe in Jesus, and with
your mouth make confession of him, and you shall be
saved. A main part of faith lies in the giving up of all<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</SPAN></span>
other confidences. O give up at once every false hope.
I tried once to show what faith was by quoting Dr.
Watts's lines:</p>
<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry">
<div class="stanza">
<div class="line small">"A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,</div>
<div class="line small i2">On thy kind arms I fall.</div>
<div class="line small ip5">Be thou my strength, and righteousness,</div>
<div class="line small i2">My Jesus and my all."</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<p>I tried to represent faith as falling into Christ's arms,
and I thought I made it so plain that the wayfaring
man could not err therein. When I had finished preaching,
a young man came to me and said, "But, sir, I
cannot fall upon Christ's arms." I replied at once,
"Tumble into them anyhow; faint away into Christ's
arms, or die into Christ's arms, so long as you get
there." Many talk of what they can do and what they
cannot do, and I fear they miss the vital point. Faith
is leaving off can-ing and cannot-ing, and leaving it all
to Christ, for <i>he</i> can do all things, though you can do
nothing. "Doth the ploughman plough all day to
sow?" No, he makes progress, and goes from ploughing
to sowing. Go, and do thou likewise; sow unto
the Spirit the precious seed of faith in Christ, and the
Lord will give thee a joyous harvest.</p>
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