LivePrayerSermon 1082. The Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith
(No. 1082)
DELIVERED
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk beforeMe, and be you perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." Genesis 17:1,2.
BELOVED, all Scripture is the Word of God but some Scripture is expressly so. Much of its teaching comes through inspiredmen but some of it was spoken by God's own mouth, directly and without instrumentality. Such are the Words now before us whichwere of old spoken to Abram by the Almighty God. These sentences ought for this reason to be regarded with peculiar reverenceand considered with double attention. The glow of Divinity is fresh upon the lines- bend, then, your souls to the understandingof them.
If a letter were written to you when you were far from home, you would value every line of it. If your fond mother had askeda friend to write it in her name and had dictated the expressions which he should employ-and if there were inserted in thebody of the letter several sentences with this preface, "and your mother expressly says"-then you would treasure up the exactwords and repeat them to yourself again and again, would you not? All God's Words in Scripture are pearls, but this is oneof the fairest of them! They are all diamonds, but such Words as God speaks from His own mouth I may call the crown jewelsof Scripture!
Look, then, at the text. We will read it again: "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and saidunto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be you perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and willmultiply you exceedingly." Happy was Abram to have such intimate communion with God! These sacred visits were the grand eventsof his life. But we need not envy him, for God has appeared unto us in a yet more glorious manner and the appearance is abiding.Behold, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ the tabernacle of God is among men and He does dwell among them!
And, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the Believer has obtained an intimacy with God which none of the older dispensationattained. The Lord was to the former saints as a wayfaring man who tarried but for a night-but it is our privilege to pray,"Abide with us," and our joy to know that wherever two or three are met together in the name of our Lord, He is there andwill manifest Himself unto them. Permit me, therefore, to encourage you to pray that the Words of the Lord to Abram may beWords for you, pressed home upon your own spirit and sounded in your souls with power, as from the lips of the Lord Himself!
Then shall our meditations be sweet, indeed, and we shall be blessed with faithful Abraham. O, Spirit Divine, make it so,we entreat You!
I. The first thing we shall speak about, upon this occasion, is SURE RELIANCE. The foundation of it is laid before us in thetext. True confidence leans alone upon God who declares Himself to be Almighty God, or God All-Sufficient- for such is anequally correct rendering of the passage. All true faith hangs upon God, as the vessel upon the nail. Strong faith realizesthe all-sufficiency of God and that is the secret of its strength, the hidden manna on which it feeds and becomes vigorous.
The Lord is all-sufficient in power to accomplish His own purposes. He is all-sufficient in wisdom to find His own way throughdifficulties which to us may appear to be like a maze, but which to Him are plain enough. And He is all-sufficient in loveso that He will never fail us for lack of mercy in His heart or pity in His bosom. God is God All-Sufficient! Simple as thatTruth is for us to speak and for you to hear, it is a deep, unfathomable mystery and did we really grasp its Truth and dwellupon it, it would have a very wonderful effect upon our whole conduct.
Remember that Abram was 99 years old and as yet had no child by his wife Sarah-yet he had received a promise from God thatthere should be a seed which should spring out of his loins. He was long past the natural term of life in which it was likelythat he would be the father of a son. So, also, was it with his wife Sarah. Abram, for a while overcome by unbelief, thoughtit best to take to himself, at the suggestion of his wife Sarah, her handmaid Hagar. And now, for some few years, Abram hadpossessed a son named Ishmael and it is probable that he thought that this son would answer God's promise and that somehowor other the blessing would come through him.
But the Lord had not so determined. He took no pleasure in the carnal policy which led to Ishmael's birth. The Lord meantthe language before us to be a gentle but unmistakable rebuke for Abram, for He said in effect, "I am God All-Sufficient-quitesufficient to fulfill My own purposes without your help-quite able to achieve My own denials without such a questionable expedientas that of Hagar and her son Ishmael." That is, no doubt, the Divine intent in the declaration of all-sufficiency. Hear, then,these words if you, also, have been at any time distrustful-and let them sink into your souls-"I am God All-Sufficient."
If any of you are tempted, at this time, to do what is questionable because you cannot see how God's promise to you will beeffected without it, the Lord tells you He needs no help of yours to achieve His own designs! "I am God Almighty," He says."Is anything too hard for Me? Do you think I need your wisdom to set Me right, or your puny arm to strengthen Me? Do I needhelp to achieve My purposes which stand fast as My eternal Throne?" It was a tender rebuke of Abram's very gross mistake andit is to us a hint that we are never to put forth our hand unto iniquity, or to do anything that is doubtful in any shapeor form under the notion that we are thus effecting the purposes of God.
Look at Rebekah. She little understood the all-sufficiency of God. God had promised her that Jacob should have the covenant-blessing,but she seems to think that God cannot keep His Word and cause Jacob to inherit the promises unless she has a finger in it!Father Isaac has sent Esau out to hunt-to bring home savory meat-and has promised that he will give Esau the blessing whenhe returns. And now Rebekah thinks God will be defeated! The anxious mother imagines the Most High to be in a dilemma andHis purposes to be likely to fail unless her inherited craftiness can devise a stratagem to eke out the Divine Wisdom.
Rebekah must tell lies and Jacob must tell lies, too! And poor old Isaac must be deceived, or else God's purposes will notbe accomplished! O foolish Rebekah! But before we speak and condemn that gracious woman, let us make sure that we confessand condemn the same tendency in ourselves! Have we not also dreamed that we might do evil that good might come? Have we notfollowed policy where we ought to have sternly adhered to principle and all this because we thought it necessary and fearedthat otherwise evil would triumph? Has not our judgment been bewildered by strange Providences and been led to sanction irregularprocedures, or at least to think less severely of them?
Under the influence of blind unbelief have we not been ready, like Uzzah, to lay our hand upon the Ark of the Lord to steadyit, for fear it should fall-as if God's Ark could not take care of itself without our sinful hand being laid on it? That lessonlearned by Israel at the Red Sea is still a hard one for us-we cannot stand still and see the salvation of God! Because wedo not believe in the Almighty God we are eager to make haste! We hurry, worry, fret, fuss and sin! Fear drives us and self-sufficiencydraws us-and the noble quietude of faith in God is lost. O could we but rest in Omniscient Love! Could we but know the Lordand wait patiently for Him-how much sin and sorrow we should be spared!-
"With feeble light and half obscure, Poor mortals Your arrangements view! Not knowing that the least are sure, And the mysteriousjust and true. My favored soul shall meekly learn To lay her reason at Your Throne. Too weak Your secrets to discern, I'lltrust You for my Guide alone."
Here is the fit place to set in contrast the conduct of David. He knew that in God's decree it was ordained that he shouldbe king over Israel yet he took no means to secure the crown. He would not lift his hand to strike Saul. No, he spared himwhen he was entirely in his power. He did not unbelievingly interfere to make a Providence for himself, but left the courseof events in the Lord's hands-and in consequence, when he came to the throne he had an easy conscience and no innocent bloodupon his hands. May our faith teach us the same patient waiting and confident repose of soul. May
we believe, to see the Glory of the Lord. The Lord All-Sufficient will, in the end, clear the darkest Providences from allquestion and our souls shall know how happy are those who put their trust in the Lord alone!
This blessed text, "I am God All-Sufficient," may apply to us in times when we are inclined to shirk any service for God.Have you ever felt, in certain seasons, that God's choice of you for a special labor could not be a wise one for you wereso unfit for it? Have you ever felt in your own hearts-"I cannot do that. I think the Lord would have me do it, but I cannot.I have not the qualifications. I believe I am called to it but it is too difficult for me. I shall not be able to achieve
it"?
Have you ever had the disposition, like Jonah, to flee to Tarshish, or somewhere else and to escape from Nineveh and its trials?Have you never pleaded, like Jeremiah, "But I am a child"? Have you never cried, like Moses, "I am slow of speech! Send whomeverYou will send, but not me"? Now, at such a time the Lord may well remind us, "I am God All-Sufficient, cannot I strengthenyou? Weak as you are, cannot I make you strong? Worm of the dust, cannot I make you thresh the mountains? Why do you fear?You are feeble, but I am not. You are foolish, but I am wise. Give yourself up to My guidance. Trust yourself in My handsand you shall achieve marvels! And exceedingly great wonders shall you accomplish by My power and Grace."
It will be sadly sinful if we arrogate to ourselves the right to arrange our own place and alter Heaven's appointments. Weare not where we are by chance, or by a freak of fate-as God's servants our work is allotted us wisely and authoritatively.Dare we be wiser than the Lord? Are we also of Jehovah's council? His choice of instruments is wise even when He chooses theweak things of the world to work His purposes. Their insufficiency is of no consequence, for their sufficiency is of God!For them to attempt to shun their duty because of conscious feebleness would be a daring sin against the prerogatives of theKing of kings-an impious censure upon the infallible appointments of Infinite Wisdom!
May not this be a word in season to some Brother or Sister here who may happen to be under that temptation? If it is, maythe Lord speak it home by His Spirit and a blessing will come of it! Work on, dear Friends, and wait on, for it is no businessof yours to correct your Maker's arrangements. He who placed you where you now are knew what He was doing! Look at your infirmitieswith another eye. No longer allow them to distress you, but the rather glory in them because they afford room and space forthe Divine power to rest in you and work by you. Listen no more to the wailings of your trembling flesh, which cries, "Alas,I am weak," but hear the voice of Him who says, "I am God Almighty."
This word may also be useful to those who are trembling under some present temporal trial and affliction. They are dreadingwhat may yet happen. Forebodings of what may soon come are upon them. Sometimes we have before us a gloomy prospect-we knowthe trial must come and we are afraid of it-and though we have the promise, "In six troubles I will be with you, and in seventhere shall no evil touch you," yet we stand trembling. "I am God All-Sufficient"-will not that brace your nerves and enableyou to press on, though through a valley as dark as death-shade
itself?
Is it poverty? God is All-Sufficient to supply your needs. Is it physical pain?-and some of us dread that beyond anythingelse-the All-Sufficient God can put under your aching head such a peace-creating pillow that in the sweetness of celestiallove you shall forget the smarts of the flesh and your soul shall be comforted when your body is full of agony! Why, whatis it that you fear, O child of God? There can be no lack which He cannot supply; no enemy that He cannot subdue! Slander'scruel tooth, does that dismay you? Is not the Lord sufficient for this, also?
"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper." Have you not His own word for it? "Every tongue that rises against youin judgment you shall condemn." Has not He declared it? And does not He know how to accomplish His own purpose? Therefore,I say again, cast your doubts and your fears to the wind, for God as surely says to you, O trembling Believer, as ever Hedid to His servant Abram, "I am God, Almighty God." O rest in the Lord and be not troubled! He shall, He must appear-onlyput not forth your hand unto iniquity and do nothing before the time. You have no feeble Deity to trust in-be not a coward,but play the man!
The same may also be applied to each of us when we are under spiritual depressions. Inward tribulations are frequently moresevere than temporal trials. The man of God knows this full well. We look within and we see Divine Grace to be at a low ebbwith us-at least we think so. Our corruptions and our natural depravity-these we see clearly enough and we are troubled withthe sight. Neglect of duty, omissions of devotion, forgotten opportunities of usefulness
all come up and accuse us-and then we are ready to doubt whether we ever knew the Lord at all! And, perhaps Satan assailsus at the same time and we fall under his foot for a while.
O, let us not, even in such terrible times, ever doubt our God, for He is All-Sufficient still! If our salvation dependedupon ourselves, it would soon be all over with us. But since it depends upon that arm, the sinews of which can never break-sinceit depends upon that heart which can never change and never cease to beat with Omnipotent Love-why should we be discouraged?"I am God Almighty," says the Lord, "Therefore say you unto the enemy, 'Rejoice not over me, for though I fall yet shall Irise again.'"
And suppose, Beloved, you should have temporal troubles and spiritual distresses at the same time? This meeting of two seasis very apt to make the mariner expect immediate shipwreck. But, behold, walking on the waters comes your God to you, saying,"I am God All-Sufficient even for you." Was there ever a storm that was not of His brewing? Therefore cannot He control it?Was there ever spirit that came up out of the deeps of Hell that was not of His loosing?-and can He not hold him in as witha chain and restrain his malignant power? Behold, Jehovah rides upon the wings of the wind and the storm-cloud is His car!Fear not, therefore, the rattling of the wheels on which your heavenly Father rides!
In the midst of the tempest He reigns supreme! Fear not the darkness which is His canopy, or the lightning which is but theglance of His eyes. Trust Him as all times and let no fear cast you down or hurry you into an unbelieving and restless courseof action which would defile you and bring dishonor upon His blessed name. Yes, if there are signs about you of approachingdeparture-if your body, weakened by long disease, is like a house that is ready to fall about the tenant's ears-yet God, whois All-Sufficient here, will be All-Sufficient on yonder dying bed! He who has been almighty in life will be almighty in death!
Fear not that solemn flight through tracks unknown, or the awful appearance at the eternal Throne. The God of Grace is All-Sufficientfor all the mysteries of eternity. He is All-Sufficient for the thunders of judgment, the terrors of vengeance and the dreadof Hell. Fear not the crash of worlds when He shall bid them all dissolve! The Ever-Living Redeemer, able to save unto theuttermost, is All-Sufficient to support your spirit when all created things shall pass away and the elements shall melt withfervent heat. There exists not a conceivable ground of fear to the man who puts his trust in God Almighty!
O Beloved, set this as a seal upon your arm to strengthen you and roll it as a stone upon the sepulcher of your doubts. Neverlet them rise again. If you trusted a puny man, you might doubt. But resting upon God, how can you be disquieted? If you reliedupon changing humanity-if you placed your confidence in a creature that might love today and hate tomorrow-then, indeed, youcould be unhappy! But His love is everlasting and His power endures forever! Why, then, are you cast down? You have builtyour soul's hope upon the immoveable rock of All-Sufficiency and you shall prove the truth of that inspired assurance-"Becausehe has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high because he has known My name. He shall callupon Me and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him and honor him."
Why are you cast down, O my Soul? And why are you disquieted in me? Hope in God and cease from trusting man whose breath isin his nostrils. Then shall your light shine forth as the morning and a dew from Heaven shall cause you to bud and blossomwith joy and rejoicing. Be glad in the Lord you righteous, and shout for joy all you that are upright in heart, for unto youhas He spoken and given this for the rock of your confidence-"I am the Almighty God."
II. Secondly, our text goes on to speak of our RIGHT POSITION. The Lord says, "I am Almighty God," and then He adds, "Walkbefore Me." It is much easier for me to talk about this than it will be to practice it. The meaning is simple-Divine Gracealone can work in us the actual obedience. Come, gracious Spirit, and teach us to walk before the Lord in the land of theliving. God is an All-Sufficient God-then, Believer, never go away from Him-but abide in Him forevermore.
There is a sense in which we always walk before God, for, "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." And He sees us altogether.But that is not what is intended here. It means this-Abide, O Believer, in a constant sense of God's Presence. "Walk beforeMe, the All-Sufficient God." Do not wander into paths where you will be made to feel, "I have left my God." Have your Friendat hand-
"Be still, my Heart, near my God,
And my God, still near my heart."
Remember, He is a very present help in time of trouble and strive to realize this as a daily fact. You have not to send foryour God in an emergency, but you are to walk before your God believing Him to be always near you.
Hagar once felt the power of that word, "You God see me," but Believers ought to feel it every moment. "Seeing Him who isinvisible," is not a thing for now and then, but an hourly exercise! It should be the general tenor of the Believer's lifeto live always under the great Father's inspection. A poet puts it-"live as ever under the great TaskMaster's eyes." But Iconfess I do not like the word, Task-Master.
To live always as under my Father's eyes has all the force of the poet's line, but has much more of sweetness. He is nearme whether I journey or abide at home, whether I sorrow or rejoice. If I wake, His eyes pour sunlight on my face! If I sleep,He draws the curtains and His Presence shades me from all ill. If I rest, I sit at His feet in contemplation. If I labor,I work in His vineyard in His name and for His sake, expecting a gracious reward from Him. "Walk before Me." Not merely, "thinkbefore Me," and, "pray before Me," but, "walk before Me." I know many find it easy to cultivate a sense of God's Presencein their study, or in the room where they are accustomed to pray, but the point is this-to feel it in business and in thedetails of everyday life!
God's eyes are upon me when I am weighing out or measuring the goods. When I am engrossed with transactions with my fellowmerchants, or when I, as a servant, am sweeping up the hearth or minding the household duties, He is there! This you shoulddistinctly recognize and act upon. You are to live in the little things of life knowing that God is always with you and alwayslooking at you-you are to do your work just as will please Him. Oh, how we smart ourselves up if there is somebody callingto see us! How we adjust our dress in the presence of those whom we admire! I have sometimes thought I have seen working menproceeding very slowly, indeed, at their tables when alone, but when the master comes by they quicken their pace wonderfully!
That is all wrong. It is eye-service-the custom of a man-pleaser-not the habit of one who would please the Lord! We shouldfeel, "God is always looking at me." There are many words we would not say if we remembered that He would hear them and manyan act we dare not do if we remembered that He would record it! Yes, there is the Believer's true place-my God is God Almightyand I am always in His Presence. A person might do 50 things in a certain place which he would not think of doing if he wereat court and had just presented a petition to the Queen. There is a certain manner of action which we all observe when weare in such conditions and, therefore, the reasoning is valid when I ask you what manner of persons we ought to be beforethe King of kings!
We are always in Jehovah's courts and under His royal gaze-"Walk before Me." Live ever as in the court, for remember, O Believer,you are not like an ordinary person. If an ordinary person sins, it is only a common subject of the King, but you-why, youare a courtier, a favored courtier! You are one that He has chosen to tread His courts! No, more-the Prince Imperial has espousedyou to Himself! You are the bride of the Ever-Blessed Bridegroom, the spouse of Immanuel and there is always jealousy wherethere is much love! "The Lord your God is a jealous God." Whatever He may be to others, He is very jealous of those on whomHe has set His everlasting love. "Our God is a consuming fire." Walk before a jealous God, then, with scrupulous regard toHis honor and His holiness.
Oh, it is a great word this-"walk before Me." Its brevity is not so notable as its fullness. Surely it means realize My Presence,and then, in general life and ordinary conversation continue under a sense of it, serious, devout, holy, earnest, trustful,consecrated, Christ-like. But He meant more than that. "Walk before Me." That is, "Delight in My company." True Believersfind their choicest joy in communion with God-and if we always walked before God in a sense of communing with Him, our peacewould be like a river and our righteousness like the waves of the sea!
Would it be possible for us to feel any distress of heart if we always enjoyed the Savior's love? I think there are no bittersknown that would be able to affect our palate if we always had in our mouth the love of the Savior in its ineffable, all-conqueringsweetness. "Walk before Me." Do not interfere with God's purposes. Do not, unbelieving, try to help Omnipotence and supplementOmniscience, but rejoice in the Lord and find satisfaction in Him only. Be filled with His fullness and satiated with Hisfavor. Go and do your part, which is to obey and to commune, and leave God's work to God. Walk before Him and attend to that,only. Do not doubt God's power to fulfill His own decrees. Do not doubt that He will keep His Word to the letter and to theminute, but cultivate fellowship with God for this will ennoble you and
help you to give glory to His name. "Walk before Me." Does not it mean just this, in a word-"Do not act as seeing anybodyelse except Me. Walk before Me"?
Now, Abram had walked before Sarah. He had listened to her and much mischief had come of his doing so at different times.The dearest friends we have are often those who will lead us most astray when we take counsel with flesh and blood. She waspeculiarly qualified from her fiery excellence of character to influence Abram and, in her unbelieving moods, to lead himaway from the glorious absoluteness of his faith. She meant well enough but she was too political in her suggestion as toher handmaid. In the present case the Lord seems to say to him, "Do not suffer Sarah to affect you in these things. Walk beforeMe." Beloved, mind you keep clear of the unbelieving advice of good people and then you will have less to fear from bad ones!
And there was Hagar-Abram had been a great deal distressed about her-and it was but right that he should feel much interestin her welfare. And there was her son, Ishmael, whom he loved and whom he would have to send away from the household, in thefuture, with deep regret. God says to Abram, "Do not allow your course to be shaped by regarding Hagar, or regarding Ishmael,or regarding Sarah or anybody else. Walk before Me." I am persuaded that a regard for God, a sense of duty and a straight-forwardfollowing out of convictions is the only true style of living! For if you begin to notice the whims and wishes of one, thenyou will have to do the same with another-and if your course of conduct is to be shaped to please men you will become man'sslave and nothing better-and no child of God ought to come into that condition.
If I felt I came into this pulpit to please any of you, I should feel mean, utterly mean and unfit to preach to you. And youwould soon know it and find out that God was not blessing me to your souls. And if any of you, in your course of business,are always trying to catch the eye of this person or cringing and fawning to this other nobleman, or squire, or gentleman,why, you are mean, too! But the man who says, "I try to do right in God's sight. I have not swerved from a sense of consciousrectitude as before the living God"-why, Sir, you have got all the freedom of soul that you can desire this side of Heaven!To walk before God, that is the point! To fear the Lord and no one else-that is the state of mind to aim at! Make this themaster passion of your soul, "For me to live is Christ." Make the honor of God your chief motive and the Law of God your rule.Walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
III. But we must pass on, for there is another point. And that is, as we have considered our sure reliance and our right position,we notice next OUR GLORIOUS AIM-"Be you perfect." Now, the connection shows us that the only way to be perfect is to walkbefore the Lord. If any man desires holiness he must get it through communion. The way to be transformed into the likenessof God is to live in the company of God! That which you look upon you will soon be like and if your eyes look on God, yourcharacter will become like God.
Hence the order of our text is highly suggestive and should be earnestly noted and practically carried out. First, God mustbe known as All-Sufficient-thus He helps and enables His servant to walk before Him, and then, as a consequence, that favoredservant labors to obey the word of command-"BE YOU PERFECT." There could be no walking before the Lord if All-Sufficient Gracedid not work it in us. And the command, "Be you perfect," would be mere mockery if Almighty Love did not stand engaged towork all our works in us. To a man who has learned to rest in Almighty faithfulness, the perfect Law is delightful-and withconfidence in the energy of the Holy Spirit he is not staggered by its commands.
I desire you to note this for the order of Holy Scripture is always full of reason and weight. Whatever ill-taught divinesmay do, the Holy Spirit never puts the fruit before the root and never places the pinnacle where the foundation should be.Begin with God's All-Sufficiency. Go on to the holy fellowship and obedience and then aim at Scriptural perfection and soyou will take everything in due sequence.
But we must pass on. As you are aware, our margin reads the text thus, "Be you sincere," or, "Be you upright," and eithertranslation would not be incorrect. Now, child of God, you have been saying, "I do not see how God is to fulfill His promiseto me." What have you to do with that? Walk before God and be sincere. He will attend to the due performance of all that Hehas promised. Remember-
"Though dark is your way since He is your Guide, 'Tis yours to obey 'tis His to provide."
In all things be transparently sincere. Never pray a formalistic prayer or sing a heartless hymn, or prattle out an experienceyou never felt. Shun first and foremost the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy! Be what you would seem to be. Be down-right,intensely real, thorough-and if you are that you shall never find God less thorough than you are, nor the Lord less true toHis Word than you shall be. If you are wavering and double-minded, you must not expect anything of the Lord. But if you aresingle-hearted He will abundantly care for you.
Mind this, I pray you, every day you live. This is the era of plausible sham, the era of superficiality-therefore be unmistakablytrue before the God of Truth. The margin translates the passage by the word "upright," and it comes to just this. You arefretting about how the Lord will deal with you. Brother, that is no concern of yours. Your concern is that you be uprightin business. "My trade falls off," says one. Be upright, Brother! Whatever you do, be upright. "But I have drifted into suchdifficulties, I am afraid I shall be ruined." Be upright, Brother! Whatever you do, be upright. "Could not I get away a fewof my goods, for instance, which ought to be my creditors'?" Brother, be upright! Be upright.
"Ah, but then, surely, I shall hardly have a rag left." Be upright, Brother, be upright! "Oh, but I must consider my children.""Walk before Me," says the Lord, "and be you upright." "Oh, but a man must take care of himself and his family." Be upright,Brother! That is the main thing to take care about. It will not matter how poor you are if you do not lose your character.Lose everything else and you may yet be happy. But if you lose your peace of mind who can comfort you? If the worldling canpoint at you and say, "There is a professor who wronged his creditors," that will be worse than all! No court is so much tobe dreaded as the court of conscience-keep all things clear there. Better an honest pauper than a rich rogue.
I am sure your fellow Christians will respect you none the less, however low you come, if you come there fairly. All thosewhose love is worth the having will cling to you in hearty sympathy and only false friends, the parasites of the hour, willdesert you and a good riddance will their departure turn out to be! But avoid, I implore you, those tricks so common amongtraders nowadays-those rash speculations, those deceptive accommodations, the lying and duping of others which men fly toas a drowning man catches at a straw-a straw that he ought never to touch. Not losing, but cheating is the mischief-and theLord says to you, "I am God All-Sufficient: I can take care of you: I can bring you through all this. Do not touch forbiddenthings in order to escape from trial, or your trials will multiply and crush you. Walk before Me, as under My eye; and beyou upright."
But our version says, "Be you perfect," and for my part, I like it as it stands-"Be you perfect." "Oh," says one, "but howcan we be perfect!" I will ask you a question-Would you have God command you to be less than perfect? If so, He would be theAuthor of an imperfect Law! "The Law of the Lord is perfect." How could it be otherwise? I do not find that He bids us partlykeep His Law, but wholly keep it. And so the Lord holds up this as the standard of a Christian- "Be you perfect."
And does it not mean let us be perfect in desiring to have all the rounds of Divine Grace? Suppose a man should have faithand should have love but no hope? He would not be perfect. He would be like a child that had two arms but only one foot. Itwould not be a perfect child. You must have all the Graces if you are to be a perfect man. I think I have known some Christianswho have had all the Graces except patience and they could never be patient. "Walk before Me," says the Lord, "and be youperfect in patience." I have known some others who seemed to have almost every Grace except the Grace of forgiveness. Theycould not very readily forget any injury that had been done to them.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, get that Grace, the Grace of forgiveness, and walk before the Lord with that or you will remaina mutilated character! A Christian's character is spoilt by the omission of any one virtue. And you must labor in the Presenceof God to have all these things that they be in you and abound. Be you in this sense perfect. And as we have all the Graces,so we should seek to have in our lives exhibited all the virtues in the fulfillment of all our duties. It is a very sad thingwhen you hear of a Christian man that he is a very excellent deacon, that he is a very admirable local preacher or Sundayschool teacher, but that he is a very unkind father. That "but" spoils it all. A saint abroad is no saint if he is a devilat home.
We have known men of whom it has been said that out of doors they were all that could be desired, but they were bad husbands.That "but"-how it mars the tale! It is the dead fly which has got into a very good pot of ointment and made the whole of itstink. Keep the dead flies out, Brethren! By God's Grace may your character be full-orbed! May God
grant you Grace to be at home and to be abroad-to be in the shop and in the chamber and to be in every department of life-justthat which a man should be who walks before the All-Sufficient God.
Now, I think I hear somebody saying, "How shall we ever reach such a height?" My dear Brother, you never will do so exceptyou remember the first part of the text-"I am the Almighty God." He can help you! If there is any sin that you cannot overcomeyourself, He can overcome it for you. If there is any virtue you have not yet reached, He can lead you up to it. Never despairof the highest degree of Divine Grace. What the best of men have been, you also may be. There is no reason why you shouldnot yet be elevated beyond all the sin into which you may have fallen from inadvertence or temptation.
Have hope, my Brothers and Sisters! Have hope for a higher platform of character. Have hope yet to be conformed unto the imageof God's dear Son. Aim at nothing less than perfection. But I will not detain you longer except to notice that last word.It is a very sweet word-"I will make My covenant between Me and you." How run the words? "I will make My covenant betweenMe and you." Oh, it is the man that knows an All-Sufficient God and that lives in the Presence of God and that endeavor tobe perfect in his life-it is that man that enjoys communion with God such as no one else knows, for, "The secret of the Lordis with them that fear Him."
"There shall be a covenant between Me and you." It sounds so sweet to me-as if He had said, "I will say nothing to the outsideworld. Neither will you tell them. It shall be with you and Me. We will strike hands together. Abram, you shall be My friendand I will be your Friend forever. You will say, 'My Father,' and I will say, 'My son.' You will put yourself into My handsand I will carry you. You will ask to see My Glory and I will make My Glory pass before you.
"I will tell you what I mean to do. If I am going to destroy Sodom, I will come and tell Abram my friend. I will let you speakto Me and I will hear you. Time after time I will stay while you do plead for 50, and for 45, and 30, 20, and ten. 'Thereshall be a covenant between Me and you.' And I will make it. It shall not be such a one as your timorous faith would make.I will make it after the manner of My bounty, My eternity and My All-Sufficiency." When the Lord makes a covenant, it willstand! It will be sure! It will be rich! It will be full! And, O, I pray that every one of you may know that covenant andlive upon its incomparable blessings! "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," and He will show them His covenant.
But many a child of God walks obstinately and the Lord will not fully reveal the covenant to such. Some of His Peters followafar off and they get into trouble-they do not enjoy the sweets of Divine fellowship and peculiar manifestation. But thiscareful walking, this close walking, this keeping near to an All-Sufficient God, this resting solely in Him-O, this it isthat brings the sweetness and the joy which are the foretaste of Heaven-which are, indeed, a young Heaven begun this sidethe tomb!
I pray the Lord will bring my dear friends all into holy fellowship with Himself! And if any of you have not come to the borderof the happy land, I pray you may be led there at once. The way of salvation is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." Faithis both the road to the highest happiness and the way to the first safety-faith is both the highest round of the ladder andits first step-"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." Have done with self-righteous works and come tothe trusting. Have done with seeking to save self and accept Jesus alone as your Redeemer! The Lord grant you Grace to doso and His shall be the praise forever and ever! Amen.