God says "I will, I will." part 2.

I will open rivers in high places

and fountains in th midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water,

and the dry lands springs of water"Issaiah c41v18

I was noticing that there are in our text four words relating to water. Everything had been dry before and there was no water for the thirsty to drink. Now here you have rivers, fountains, a pool and springs of water. There is a difference in the four words. The first is "rivers." God says "I will open rivers in high places." There shall come directly from God a rush of mighty grace, like the streams of flowing rivers. Your poor, dead, dry heart will suddenly feel that the waters of life have come directly from the throne of God to you. There shall be waters to swim in. You shall have an abundance where before you had nothing.

Next you have "fountains" which may be rendered "wells." Now wells are places that people regularly go to for water. They represent the means of grace. "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Well now, perhaps you have been to the means of grace, and yet obtained no comfort. You have not blamed the preacher, but you have blamed yourself very much. But on a sudden, God appears, and opens wells in he midst of the valley. Now the service is full of refreshment. Now you are glad, and you no more go home saying "I thirsted, but I went to the house of The Lord in vain, for I recieved no comfort." See what God can do, He can make rivers of grace flow direct from His throne, and He can open wells in the customary use of the means of grace.

But then there is a third word, "I will make the wilderness a pool of water." Here you have the idea of overflowing abundance. God can give you so much joy that you will not know how to hold it all, you will have to let it be like a pool that overflows it's banks. God can give you so much earnestness that you can hardly employ it all in the work that you have to do. He can give you so much nearness to Himself that your heart shall scarcely be able to contain your delight. God promises to make the wilderness "a pool of water." He does not give us just a drop of grace now and then, but He fills up the dry places till they become standing pools.

The fourth word is "springs." It seems to indicate a perpetual freshness. Where there was a long-continued drought, there shall come perpetual freshness, always something new-new thoughts of Christ, new delights in holy service, new prospects of the world to come, new fellowship with God. He can make the dry land "springs of water." He has promised to do so, trust His gracious word, and it shall be fulfilled in your experience even now.

BELOVED SPURGEON

How much poorer the English Church would have been without.....

Pastor

CHARLES

HADDON

SPURGEON.

Heaven An Inheritance

"The inheritance of the saints" So then heaven, with all it's glories is an inheritance. Now an inheritance is not a thing that can be bought with money, earned by labour, or won by conquest. If any man hath an inheritance, in the proper sense of that term, it came to him by birth. And thus it is with heaven. The man who shall recieve this glorious heritage will not obtain it by the works of the law nor by the efforts of the flesh, it will be given to him as a matter of gracious right because he has been "begotten...again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus christ from the dead," and has thus become an heir of heaven by blood and birth. They who come unto glory are sons, for is it not written, "The Captain of (our) salvation" bringeth "many sons unto glory?" They came there not as servants, no servant has any right to the inheritance of his master. Be he ever so faithful, yet he is not his master's heir. But because you are sons-made so by The Spirit's regeneration-sons by The Father's adoption- because by supernatural energy you have been born again, you become inheritors of eternal life and may enter into the many mansions of our Father's house above. Let us always understand then, when we think of heaven, that it is to be ours and a state which we are to enjoy as a result of birth- not as a reward for work. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" That kingdom being an "inheritance," until you have the new birth you can have no claim to enter it.

Acta Non Verba

Acta Non Verba

"YET"

If you will remember, in the book of Deuteronomy, God threatened Israel that if they, as a nation, sinned against Him, they would be scattered among the nations and cast far off among the heathen. Many a time they so sinned. I need not recapitulate the story of their continued transgressions and their multiplied backslidings. The Lord was slow to fulfil His utmost threatenings but put forth His utmost patience, till there was no more room for long-suffering. At last the threatened chastisemnt fell upon them and fierce nations carried them away in bonds to the far off lands of their dread. They were not utterly destroyed. Though they were a people scattered and peeled yet they were a people still, even as Israel is to this day. For all that tyrants and persecutors have ever done, yet the Jew is still extant among us, even as the bush burned with fire but was not consumed. Israel is still to the front and will be until the world's end. The Lord has not cast away His ancient people, even though He has cast them far off among the heathen. He has scattered them among the countries, but they are not absorbed into those countries, they still remain a people separated unto the Living God, in whom He will yet be glorified.
But assuredly the chosen seed came under chastisement. But yet God loved them and had a choice word for them, for He said "although I have cast them far off among the heathen, yet I will be to them as a little sanctuary." Beloved, you and I may lay under the rod of God, and we may smart sorely because of our iniquities, even as David did, and yet we may still be the children of God towards whom He has thoughts of grace. Our moisture may be turned into the drought of summer, while day and night The Lord's hand is heavy upon us, we may be in sore temporal trouble, and we may be compelled by an enlightened conscience to trace our sorrow to our own folly. We may be in great spiritual darkness, and may be compelled to confess that our own sins have procured this unto ourselves. And yet for all that, The Lord may have sent the chastisement in love and nothing but love. God has a word for any such and the word is "yet" which serves to show that there is a limit to His anger. He smites, but it is with an "although" and a "yet." He scatters them to a distance, but He sends a promise after them and says "yet I will to them as a little sanctuary." In The Lord's hand toward His chosen there may be a rod but not a sword. Listen to His own words of love and faithfulness "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith The Lord thy Redeemer."

WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE?

I pray you to remember that it is yours to will, for Christ said to the impotent man "wilt thou be made whole?" Thou canst not make thyself whole, but thou canst will and wish to be made whole. God's Holy Spirit has given to many of you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. We do not get saved against our will, God drags nobody to heaven by the ears. There must be in you a willing mind consenting to the work of sovereign grace, and if it be there I want you to exercise it straight away, as Christ wished this man to exercise it, "wilt thou be made whole?" hast thou any wish that way? any desire or longing for healing? I want to stir this fire and make it burn, and if there be only a spark of desire I would breathe on it to make it into a great flame. Paul said "to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." I believe that there are many who have the will to be saved, God be thanked for that.
"Wilt thou be made whole?" The question is not, "wilt thou be put into yonder pool?" but "wilt thou be made whole?" the question is not "wilt thou take this medicine? wilt thou that I should do this or that for thee?" but "wilt thou be made whole?" Have you come to this, that you are willing to be saved in God's way, in Christ's way? One says " I want to have a dream " dear soul, do not want any dreams, they are only dreams, another says "I want to see a vision." my dear friend, there is nothing in the plan of salvation about seeing visions. "I want to hear a voice," says one, well, hear my voice then, and may God The Holy Ghost make you to hear the voice of His Word through me!-"but I want"- oh! yes, you want, you know not what you want, like many a silly child that has it's fads and it's fancies, and it's whims and wishes. Oh that all were willing to be saved by the simple plan of believe and live! If this be God's way, who art thou that He should make a new way for thee? But dear friends do not set up your own notion about how you ought to be saved. Can you find any two people who were saved in the same way? God does not make converts as men make steel pens, a gross in a box all the same. Nay, nay, but in each case there is a living man created, and every living man, and every living animal, every living plant is somewhat different from every other of it's kind and you must not look for unifomity in the work of regeneration. "Wilt thou be made whole?" Come dost thou desire pardon for sin? Dost thou long for a new heart, and a right spirit? If so, leave off disputing as to how thou art to get them, and do what Christ tells thee to do.

SEASONS

The things which are seen are types of the things which are not seen. The works of creation are pictures to the children of God of the secret mysteries of grace. God's truths are the apples of gold, and the visible creatures are the baskets of silver. The seasons of the year find their parallel in the little world of the man within. We have our winter-dreary, howling winter-when the north wind of the law rushes against us, when every hope is nipped, when all the seeds of hope lie buried beneath the dark clods of despair, when our soul is fast fettered like a river bound with ice, no waves of joy or flowings of thanksgiving. Then thanks be unto God, the soft south wind breathes upon our soul, and at once the waters of desire are set free, the spring of love comes on, flowers of hope appear in our hearts, the trees of faith put forth their young shoots, the time of the singing birds come in our hearts and we have joy and peace in believing through our Lord Jesus Christ. That happy springtime is followed in the believer by a rich summer when his graces, like fragrant flowers, are in full bloom, loading the air with sweet perfume, and fruits of The Spirit, like citrons and pomegranates swell into their full proportion in the genial warmth of the Sun of Righteousness. Then comes the believer's autumn, when his fruits ripen and his fields are ready for the harvest, the time has come when The Lord shall gather together His "pleasant fruits," and store them in heaven. The feast of ingathering is at hand, the time when the year shall begin anew, an unchanging cycle, like the years of the right hand of The Most High.