|
Home - Pastoral and Study Resources - Biblical Articles & Papers
- D.L. Moody - Christ All in All
"Christ All in All" by D.L. Moody
 Colossians 3:11- "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision
nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ
is all, and in all.
CHRIST is all in all to every one who has truly found Him. He is our
Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Shepherd, Teacher, and also sustains
toward us many more offices, to which I desire to call your
attention.
1. If we turn to Luke 2:10, 11, we find Christ is there announced as
our SAVIOR: "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
We learn to know Christ as our Savior, to meet Him on Mount Calvary,
to look on Him as the bleeding Lamb of God, before we know Him as
our Redeemer, Deliverer, and Shepherd. Now, looking round upon this
vast assembly, I, who do not know the hearts of the people, cannot
know whether you can say that Christ is your Savior. There are many,
I trust, who can say this, and who rejoice in His salvation; while,
without being uncharitable, I am afraid there are many who know
nothing personally of Jesus as their Savior.
He is offered to every one of you today as a Savior; "God gave Him
up freely for us all," that we all through Him might be saved. If
you are belonging to this world, I can prove that you have a Savior.
If you belonged to some other planet, such as the moon or any of the
stars, then I could not say a Savior was offered to you; for it is
not revealed whether the people of these distant worlds, even if
they are inhabited, require salvation or not. But this I know, that
every man on this globe has a Savior offered him.
SALVATION FREE TO ALL
I have no sympathy with those men who try to limit God's salvation
to a certain few. I believe that Christ died for all who will come.
I have received many letters finding fault with me, and saying I
surely don't believe the doctrine of election. I do believe in
election; but I have no business to preach that doctrine to the
world at large. The world has nothing to do with election; it has
only to do with the invitation, "Whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely." That is the message for the sinner. I am sent
to preach the gospel to all.
After you have received salvation, we can talk about election. It's
a doctrine for Christians, for the Church, not for the unconverted
world. Our message is "good tidings, which shall be to all people;
for unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
All people, this Savior is proffered to you. Accept Him, and God
will accept you; reject Him, and God will reject you. Your eternal
destiny depends on your refusal or otherwise to accept the proffered
Savior. The case is simply one of giving and taking. God gives; I
receive. We must, then, first of all know Christ as our Savior.
2. But He is still more: He is our REDEEMER.
Supposing I saw a man tumble into a river, and I were to jump in and
rescue him, I should be a savior to him - I should have saved him.
But when I brought the man ashore, I should probably leave him, and
do nothing further.
But the Lord does more. He not only saves us, but He redeems us -
that is, buys us back. He ransoms us from the power of sin, as if I
should promise to watch over that rescued man for ever, and see that
he did not again fall into the water. The Lord not only saves us
from spiritual death, but He redeems us for ever that death can
never touch us.
LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES
When I was at Richmond, U.S., the colored people were going to have
a meeting. It was the first day of their freedom. I went to the
African church, and never before or since heard such bursts of
native eloquence.
"Mother," said one, "rejoice today. Your little child has been sold
from you for the last time; your posterity are for ever free. Glory
to God in the highest! Young men, you have heard the driver's whip
for the last time; you are free today! Young maidens, you have been
put up on the auction- block for the last time!" They spoke right
out, they shouted for joy; their prayers had been answered, it was
the gospel to them. In like manner Jesus Christ proclaims liberty to
the captives. Some have accepted it; some, like the poor negroes,
scarcely believe the good tidings; but it is none the less true.
Christ has come to redeem us from the slavery of sin.
Now, who will accept of that redemption? There was one colored
woman, a servant in an inn in the Southern States, who could not
believe she was free. "Be's I free, or be I not?" she asked of a
visitor. Her master told her she was not, her colored brethren told
her she was. For two years she had been free without knowing it. She
represents a great many in the Church of God today. They can have
liberty, and yet they don't know it.
3. Again, Christ is our DELIVERER.
The children of Israel were not only saved and redeemed from the
bondage of the Egyptians, but they were also delivered, that they
should not be led back again into bondage. Many are afraid; they
think they are not able to hold on, and therefore shrink from making
a profession. But Christ is able to keep you from falling; He is
able to deliver you in the dark hour of trial and temptation, from
every evil device of Satan, and from the snare of the fowler.
In Isaiah 49:24, we read: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the
captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the
terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that
contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children." I will save
him; I will deliver him. The children of Israel were saved from the
cruel bondage of Egypt, they were led out of the land of Goshen; but
still they were not fully delivered. The great host of the Egyptians
was thundering behind them. It was not till they had passed safely
through the Red Sea, which closing behind, them, swallowed up the
host of the enemy - it was not till then that they were free, that
they were delivered. And similarly in our times of danger we shall
find it to be true of Christ, "He delivered my soul"; and again in
Job 33:24, "Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him
from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall
be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:
he shall pray unto God, and He will be favorable unto him: and he
shall see His face with joy: for He will render unto man His
righteousness. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and
his life shall see the light." Here we have the saving, the
redeeming, the deliverance from the pit. Man is fallen into the deep
pit, he is kept there a lawful captive by one who is mighty. If he
is to be brought back from the darkness of the pit to see the light,
then we must have a ransom. Here God comes forward, and says, "I
have found a ransom." Christ is the ransom, and He will deliver us.
Sound out the cry, "Christ is our deliverer." He is mighty to save,
He is able to deliver.
A LEADER
4. But now we need something more. Look back again to the children
of Israel; when they had marched gloriously through the Red Sea,
they had been saved, redeemed, and delivered; but was that all they
required? No; they had been brought into the wilderness. What now do
they need? They must have a way to go in the pathless desert. They
required a leader. Then Christ is the way and the leader. Are we in
difficulties, in doubt, or in perplexity? Christ is our way. "I am
the way, the truth, and the life" (John 10).
I have heard some say, "Well, if I am converted, and become
religious, I don't know what church I would go to. There are so many
different churches and denominations. I really don't know which is
the right one." Hence some people are bewildered, and do not know
which is the true way. Well, I would say to such, Look only to Him
who says, "I AM THE WAY." He is the only true way, and if you want
to reach the kingdom you have only to follow Him. We may be in
darkness, but He is able to lead us in the right path. He is the
Shepherd of His flock. He will go before us and lead us. He is
calling upon us to arise and follow Him, and He will lead us by a
way we know not; He will guide us to the green pastures if we only
look to Him.
THE PILLAR OF CLOUD
All that the children of Israel had to do was to follow the cloud.
If the cloud rested, they rested; if the cloud moved forward, then
they moved. I can imagine that the first thing Moses did, when the
gray dawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the cloud was
still over the camp. By night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up
the camp, and filling them with a sense of God's protecting care; by
day it was a cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun's
rays, and sheltering them from the sight of their enemies.
Israel's Shepherd could lead them through the pathless desert. Why?
Because He made it. He knew every grain of sand in it. They could
not have a better leader through the wilderness than its Creator.
And, sinner, can you, in all your difficulties or doubts and fears,
have a better leader than Jehovah? Oh, I do like that good old hymn:
"Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I
am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more." Yes, that is the true
prayer of the bewildered sinner. God is able, and still more, He is
willing, to lead us, and to feed us.
"Thou gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest
forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst" (Nehemiah
9:15).
He is still as able to lead any of us as He was four thousand years
ago to lead the children of Israel, "For I am the Lord; I change
not." To every one of us He says, "Fear not, I will lead thee; I
will help thee." Wonderful thing, is it not, to have God to help us
on our way? In our Western countries, when men go out hunting into
the dense backwoods, where there are no roads or paths of any kind,
they take their hatchet and cut a little chip out of the bark of the
trees as they go along, and then they easily find their way by these
"blazes." They call it "blazing the way." And so, if you will allow
me the expression, Christ has "blazed the way." He has traveled the
road Himself, and knowing the way, He tells us to follow Him, and He
will lead us safe on high.
5. Now we have seen Christ is our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer,
Leader, or Way. But He is more than all that; HE IS OUR LIGHT.
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life." He shall have the very
"light of life." Yes, it is the privilege of every Christian to walk
in an unclouded sky.
But do we walk thus in an unclouded sky? No, most Christians are
often in darkness. If I were to ask this congregation if they were
all walking in the light, I believe there is scarcely one, if he
spoke the true feeling of his heart, but would reply, "No, I am
often in darkness." Why is that? It is because we are not following
Christ, and keeping close to Him. We are much in darkness when we
might be in the light.
Suppose the windows of this building were all closed, and we were
complaining of the darkness, what would any one say to us? Why, they
would say, "Admit the light; open the windows all round, and you'll
soon have plenty of light." Similarly we must let in Christ, who is
the light, and open our minds to receive Him, and we shall soon walk
in light. There is a great deal of darkness at the present time,
even in the hearts of God's own people. But follow Him, and then you
will have plenty of light. Then Christ will show to each of us that
He is "The Light"; and He will do more, He will set us on fire with
His light, that we also may shine as lights in this dark world.
May God help His own people to SHINE BRIGHTLY, to flash out of
darkness, that men may take knowledge of us that we have been with
Jesus. But remember, the world hates the light. Christ was the light
of the world, and the world sought to extinguish it at Calvary. Now
He has left His people to shine. "Ye are the light of the world." He
has left us here to shine. He means us to be "living epistles, known
and read of all men." The world is certain to watch, and to read you
and me. If we are inconsistent, then you may be sure the world will
take occasion to stumble at us.
The world finds plenty of difficulties on the way; let us see that
we Christians do not add more stumbling-blocks by our un-Christlike
walk.
God help us to keep our lights burning clear and brilliant! Out West
a friend of mine was walking along one of the streets one dark
night, and saw approaching him a man with a lantern. As he came up
close to him he noticed by the bright light that the man had got no
eyes. He went past, but the thought struck him, "Surely that man is
blind." He turned round, and said, "My friend, are you not blind?"
"Yes." "Then what have you got the lantern for?" "I carry the
lantern that people may not stumble over me, of course," said the
blind man. Let us take a lesson from that blind man, and hold up our
light, burning with the clear radiance of heaven, that men may not
stumble over us.
6. Objectors have said that it's all moonshine about Christ's people
being lights on the way. Well, that's just what we believe; we
reflect the light of Christ.
REFLECTED LIGHT
Just like the moonshine, our light is borrowed light. When we are
living in the light of our Savior we shine with His light: somewhat
like the face of Moses, which shone after he had been in the mount
with God. Let us live in an atmosphere of heaven, and we cannot help
shining. But whenever we get downcast and weak in faith, then we are
sure to lose our light.
I remember during the American war I was in a prayer meeting. We
were all very dark and gloomy. Things had been going against us for
some time.
At last an old man got up, and said, "What is the matter with us,
that we are downhearted and sad? It is simply our lack of faith.
Moses, Joshua, and David were men strong in faith. They believed,
and therefore God honored them. Whence comes our want of faith? God
is not dead. He is as powerful, as willing, to help today as ever He
was. Why, then, are we not full of faith in Him? It is
God-dishonoring to forget that He still has power, although our
armies are defeated, and all seems dark and gloomy."
GET ABOVE THE CLOUDS
I will tell you what happened to me some time ago when I was out
West. I wanted to reach the summit of one of the Western mountains.
I had been told that sunrise was very beautiful when seen from the
summit. We got up to the half-way house one afternoon, where we were
to rest till midnight, and then set out for the top. Soon a little
party of us started with a good guide. Before a great while it began
to rain, and then it became a regular storm of thunder and
lightning. I thought there was little use in going on, and said to
the guide, "Guess we'd better turn back; we won't see anything this
morning, with all these clouds." "Oh," said the guide, "I expect
we'll soon get through these clouds, and get above them, and then
we'll have a glorious view." So we went on, whilst the thunders were
rumbling right about our ears. But soon we began to get above the
thunder-cloud; the air was quite clear, and when the sun rose we had
a splendid view of his rays as they tinged the hilltops; and then,
as the glorious sunshine began to break on where we stood, we could
see the dark cloud far beneath our mountain height. That's what
God's people want - to get into the clear air above the stormy
clouds, and to CLIMB HIGHER away up to the mountain peak. There
you'll catch the first rays from the Sun of Righteousness far above
the clouds and mists. Some of you may be in great darkness and
gloom; but fear not, climb higher, get nearer to the Master, and
soon you'll catch His bright rays on your own soul, and they will
sprinkle back upon others.
KEEP THE LOWER LIGHTS BURNING
We must live as children of the light, not as children of the
darkness. If we are dark and sorrowful, how is the world to know
that we are children of peace, and joy, and gladness? Our
determination must be to keep our lights burning. A few years ago,
at the mouth of Cleveland harbor there were two lights, one at each
side of the bay, called the upper and lower lights; and, to enter
the harbor safely by night, vessels must sight both of these lights.
These Western lakes are more dangerous sometimes than the great
ocean.
One wild, stormy night a steamer was trying to make her way into the
harbor. The captain and the pilot were anxiously watching for the
lights.
By and by the pilot was heard to say, "Do you see the lower lights?"
"No," was the reply; "but I fear we have passed them." "Ah, there
are the lights," said the pilot; "and they must be, from the bluff
on which they stand, the upper lights. We have passed the lower
lights, and have lost our chance of getting into the harbor." What
was to be done? They looked back, and saw the dim outline of the
lower lighthouse against the sky. The lights had gone out. "Can't
you turn her head round?" "No; the night is too wild for that. She
won't answer her helm." The storm was so fearful that they could do
nothing. They tried again to make for the harbor, but they went
crash against the rocks, and sank to the bottom. Very few escaped;
the great majority found a watery grave. Why? Simply because the
lower lights had gone out.
And with us the upper lights are all right. Christ Himself is the
upper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is, keep
the lower lights burning, that is what we have to do. In the place
God has put us He expects us to shine, to be living witnesses, to be
a bright and shining light.
While we are here our work is to shine for Him, and He will lead us
safe to the sunlit shore of Canaan, where there is no more night.
7. But Christ is more than our Light on the way; for He is OUR
TEACHER.
What a wonderful thing to have a teacher sent from heaven. "If any
man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James
1:5).
"If any lack wisdom": I am afraid there are a great many of us who
lack wisdom, and even the best of us at times will be in perplexity.
There are moments in the life of us all when we seem in a fix; we
just stand still, and say, "What shall I do? I don't know what is
the best way." Oh, leave it with God, He will Himself be our
teacher! "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me." Here is
a wonderful teacher. He has had a school for many thousand years; He
has had the best men in His school; but still there's room for
another scholar there. His college is not too full yet, and the
teacher is the One sent from heaven.
Any one, every one in this assembly may join this school. Jesus will
welcome you there. Are you in doubt about anything? ask Jesus; He
will tell you.
Anxious sinner, seek the good teacher, as Nicodemus did: "Master, we
know thou art a teacher sent from God." If you seek Him thus He will
direct you. He will keep you, and lead you into green pastures and
by the still waters. I met a woman the other day who was full of
infidel doubts and fancies. She could not believe. Reading for some
time infidel works had thrown a dark and gloomy pall over her mind.
It made me sad to see her in such a case. Some of you may be like
her. I wish you would take Christ as your teacher, and then all
darkness would flee away.
Christ is able to teach us. See how He taught the disciples. He
never wearied of their learning from Him. So He will teach us if we
will only listen to Him.
THE OLD JUDGE CONVERTED
I remember, as I was coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one
of our American cities a few years ago, a lady said she wished to
speak to me; her voice trembled with emotion, and I saw at once that
she was heavily burdened by something or other. She said she had
long been praying for her husband, and she wanted to know if I would
go to see him; she thought it might do him some good. What is his
name? "Judge - ," and she mentioned one of the most eminent
politicians in the State. "I have heard of him," I said; "I am
afraid I need not go, he is a booked infidel; I cannot argue with
him." "That is not what he wants," said the lady. "He has had too
much argument already. Go and speak to him about his soul." I said I
would, although I was not very hopeful. I went to his house, was
admitted to his room, and introduced myself as having come to speak
to him about salvation. "Then you have come on a very foolish
errand," said he; "there's no use in attacking me, I tell you that.
I am proof against all these things, I don't believe in them." Well,
I saw it was no use arguing with him; so I said, "I'll pray for you,
and I want you to promise me that when you are converted you'll let
me know." "Oh, yes, I'll let you know," he said in a tone of
sarcasm. "Oh, yes, I'll let you know when I'm converted!" I left
him, but I continued to pray for him. Some time subsequently I heard
that the old judge was converted. I was again preaching in that city
a while after that, and when I had done talking the judge himself
came to me, and said: "I promised I'd let you know when I was
converted; I have come to tell you of it. Have you not heard of it?"
"Yes; but I would like to hear from you how it happened." "Well,"
said the judge, "one night, some time after you called on me, my
wife had gone to the meeting; there was no one in the house but the
servants. I sat by the drawing-room fire, and I began to think:
Suppose my wife is right, that there is a heaven and a hell; and
suppose she is on the right way to heaven, where am I going? I just
dismissed the thought. But a second thought came: Surely He who
created me is able to teach me. Yes, I thought, that is so. Then why
not ask Him? I struggled against it, but at last, though I was too
proud to get down on my knees, I just said, 'Father, all is dark;
Thou who created me canst teach me.' "Somehow, the more I prayed the
worse I felt. I was very sad. I did not wish my wife to come home
and find me thus, so I slipped away to bed, and when she came into
the room I pretended to be asleep. She got down on her knees and
prayed. I knew she was praying for me, and that for many long years
she had been doing so. I felt as if I could have jumped up and knelt
beside her; but no, my proud heart would not let me, so I lay still,
pretending to be asleep. But I didn't sleep that night. I soon
changed my prayer; it was now, 'O God, save me; take away this
terrible burden.' "I didn't believe in Christ even yet. I thought
I'd go right straight to the Father Himself. But the more I prayed I
only became the more miserable; my burden grew heavier. The next
morning I did not wish to see my wife, so I said 'I was not well,
and wouldn't wait for breakfast.' I went to the office, and when the
boy came I sent him home for a holiday. When the clerks came I told
them they might go for the day. I closed the office doors: I wanted
to be alone with God. I was almost frantic in my agony of heart. I
cried to God to take away this load of sin. At last I fell on my
knees, and cried, 'For Jesus Christ's sake take away this load of
sin.' At length I went to my wife's pastor, who had been praying
with her for my conversion for years, and the same minister who had
prayed with my mother before she died. As I walked down the street
the verse that my mother had taught me came into my mind,
'Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them.' Well, I thought, I have asked God,
and here I am going to ask a man. I won't go.
I believe I am a Christian. I turned and went home. I met my wife in
the hall as I entered. I caught her hand, and said, 'I am a
Christian now.' She turned quite pale; she had been praying for
twenty-one years for me, and yet she could not believe the answer
had come. We went into our room, and knelt down by the very bedside
where she had so often knelt to pray for her husband. There we
erected our family altar; and for the first time our voices mingled
in prayer. And I can only say that the last three months have been
the happiest months ever I spent in my life." Since then that judge
has lived a consistent Christian life; and all because he came to
God, asking for guidance.
If there is one here today whose mind is filled with such infidel
thoughts, go honestly to God, and He will teach you the right way
through the dark wilderness of infidelity. He won't leave you in
darkness or doubt. It is the devil's own work to lead men into such
doubts; well he knows if he once gets them there he has them pretty
safe.
It is Satan's work to keep you in ignorance or doubt. It is God's
work to teach you. The teacher is Christ; He is appointed by God for
this work.
God help us all to accept Him as our teacher. 8. Now we have seen
Christ as our Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer, Leader, Light, and
Teacher. But He is still more; He is also OUR SHEPHERD.
A very sweet thought it is to me, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall
not want." There is not one here, except the very babes, who does
not understand the work of a shepherd. He watches over his flock,
protects them from danger, feeds them, leads them into the best
pastures. In fact, the 23rd Psalm is just a statement of the duties
of a good shepherd: "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,"
etc.
You want to be fed; are you going to wander about seeking something
to satisfy the cravings of your soul? Then, I tell you, you never
will find anything to satisfy the longings of your heart. The world
cannot, and never could, satisfy a hungry soul. The Lord Jesus can -
He is the true Shepherd. He is seeking to restore your soul, to lead
you back to the paths of righteousness. Even to death will He lead
you, and safely through its shadow guide you to a better land.
Mother, father, will you claim Him as your Shepherd? Young man,
young woman, will you have Him as your Shepherd? My little child,
will you have Jesus as your Shepherd? He will lead safely and
softly.
You can, all of you, if you will. For "God gave Him up freely for us
all," that He might have us for His flock. He will lead us through
life, down to the banks of the Jordan; He will lead us across the
dark river into His kingdom. He is a tender, loving Shepherd.
I sometimes meet people in the anxious inquiry-room who are
nourishing hard, bitter feelings against God, generally because they
have been afflicted. A mother said to me the other day, "Ah, Mr.
Moody, God has been unjust to me; He has come and taken away my
child." Dear afflicted mothers, has God not removed your children to
a pure and happy life? You may not understand it now, but you will
by and by. He wants to lead you up there. THE EASTERN SHEPHERD.
A friend of mine, who had been in eastern lands, told me he saw a
shepherd who wanted his flock to cross a river. He went into the
water himself and called them; but no, they would not follow him
into the water.
What did he do? Why, he girded up his loins and lifted a little lamb
under each arm, and plunged right into the stream, and crossed it
without even looking back. Whenever he lifted the lambs, the old
sheep looked up into his face and began to bleat for them; but when
he plunged into the water the dams plunged after him, and then the
whole flock followed. When they got to the other side he put down
the lambs, and they were quickly joined by their mothers, and there
was a happy meeting.
My friend says he noticed the pastures on the other side were much
better and the fields greener; and on this account the shepherd was
leading them across. Our great Palestine Shepherd does that. That
child which He has taken from the earth is but removed to green
pastures of Canaan, and the Shepherd means to draw your hearts after
it, to teach you to "set your affections on things above." When He
has taken your little Mary, Edith, or Julia, accept it as a call to
look upward and beyond. You, mother, are you weeping bitter tears
for your little one? Do not weep! Your child has gone to the place
where there is neither weeping nor sorrow. Would you have it return?
Surely never.
Christ is our Shepherd - faithful and loving. Though sickness, or
trouble, or even death itself, should come to our house, and claim
our dearest ones, still they are not lost, but only gone before. God
help each one of us to have Him as our Shepherd.
If time permitted, I should like to take up the subject of Christ as
our Justification, our Wisdom, our Righteousness, the Friend that
sticketh closer than a brother; but it would take a whole eternity
to tell what Christ is to His people, and what He does for them.
I remember when I was preaching on this subject in Scotland, after I
had done, I said to a man that "I was sorry I could not finish the
subject for want of time." "Finish the subject," said the Scotchman,
"why, that would require all eternity, and even then it would not be
complete; it will be the occupation of heaven." 9. Once more, let us
look at Christ as OUR BURDEN-BEARER.
Oh, I love to think of Him as the bearer of our burdens as well as
our sin-bearer.
He carries our sins, although they are more numerous than the hairs
of our heads. Great and terrible as these burdens are, God has laid
them all on Jesus.
"O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head! Our load was laid on Thee."
That aspect of His burden-bearing we have already looked at in His
work as Savior and Redeemer. I wish now to take up the sweet
thought, which has been a great comfort to me.
"Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows."
Glorious, is it not, to know we have such a Savior? Can you feel
that He has lifted your burden off your shoulders on to His own
shoulder? Then you will feel light in heart.
A LIGHT HEART
On one occasion, after I had been talking this way, a woman came
forward, and said, "Oh, Mr. Moody, it's all very well for you to
talk like that, about a light heart. But you are a young man, and if
you had a heavy burden like me you would talk differently. I could
not talk in that way, my burden is too great." I replied, "But it's
not too great for Jesus." "Oh," she said, "I cannot cast it on Him."
"Why not? surely it is not too great for Him. It is not that He is
feeble. But it is because you will not leave it to Him. You're like
many others. They will not leave it with Him. They go about hugging
their burden, and yet crying out against it. What the Lord wants is,
you to leave it with Him, to let Him carry it for you. Then you will
have a light heart, sorrow will flee away, and there will be no more
sighing. What is your burden, my friend, that you cannot leave with
Christ?" She replied, "I have a son who is a wanderer on the face of
the earth. None but God knows where he is." "Cannot Christ find him,
and bring him back?" "I suppose He can." "Then go and tell Jesus,
and ask Him to forgive you for doubting His power and willingness;
you have no right to mistrust Him." She went away much comforted,
and I believe she ultimately had her wandering boy restored to her!
A MOTHER'S PRAYER ANSWERED
This circumstance reminds me of a faithful father and mother in our
country, whose eldest son had gone to Chicago to a situation. A
neighbor of theirs was in the city on some business, and he met the
young man reeling along the streets drunk. He thought, "How am I to
tell his parents?" When he returned to his village, he went and
called out the father, and told him. It was a terrible blow to that
father, but he said nothing to the mother till the little ones had
all gone to rest; the servants had retired, and all was quiet in
that little farm on the Western prairies. They drew up their chairs
to the little drawing-room table, and then he told her the sad news.
"Our boy has been seen drunk on the streets of Chicago - drunk." Ah,
that mother was sorely hurt; they did not sleep much that night, but
spent the hours in fervent prayers for their boy. About daybreak the
mother felt an inward conviction that all would be well. She told
the father "she had cast it on the Lord, had left her son with
Jesus, and she felt He would save him."
One week from that time the young man left Chicago, took a journey
of three hundred miles into the country; and when he reached his
home, he walked in, and said, "Mother, I've come home to ask you to
pray for me." Ah, her prayer had reached heaven; she had cast her
burden on Jesus, and He had borne it for her. He took the burden,
presented her prayer sprinkled with the atoning blood, and got it
answered. In two days that young man returned to Chicago rejoicing
in the Savior. What a wonderful thing it is to have Christ as our
burden-bearer! How easy, how light do our cares become when cast
upon Him!
Do you say Christ is nothing to you? If so, it is only because you
won't have Him. He is to all who will accept Him a Savior from
death, a Redeemer from the power of sin, a Deliverer from our
enemies, a Leader through the wilderness; He is the way Himself, He
is Light in the darkness, He is a Teacher to His people, He is the
Shepherd of His flock, our Justification, Wisdom, Righteousness,
Elder Brother, Burden-bearer.
He is in fact "Our all in all." Then come to Christ; oh, come today,
The Father, Son, and Spirit say, The Bride repeats the call, For He
will cleanse your guilty stains, His love will soothe your weary
pains, For Christ is All in All.
Dwight L. Moody
Return to Biblical Articles & Papers |
