In a similar vein to my last post, through all hazards and difficulties … Forward! Be Our Watchword, I’m bringing further encouragements for us to persevere by faith and trust in the power of God to empower and sustain us in the work He has for us, no matter our circumstances.

I’m starting off here with an excerpt from the “Memoir, Select Thoughts and Sermons of the Late Rev. Edward Payson, Volume 1″ by Edward Payson (1783-1827) and Asa Cummings, 329-330 (emphasis mine). Though Payson’s words are written to a man called to the ministry of Gospel preaching, they are applicable to any believer who is struggling with pressing on in obedience to the will of God in the face of great temptations and difficulties.

To a brother, who shrunk from his duty, through depression of mind, and an erroneous opinion of his own qualifications for the ministry.  Lest any should use the authority of Dr. Payson’s name to urge men to assume the sacred office without the requisite qualifications, it ought to be stated, that the person addressed in the following letter, besides possessing decided piety, had passed through a regular course of preparatory studies at a theological seminary:

“My dear brother:  Your letter found me more than ordinarily hurried; but I feel it to be so important that you should be licensed this fall, that I must snatch a moment to answer it.  Your feelings, as you describe them, are just like mine, only less aggravated by long continuance.  I mention this that you may pay more regard to my advice.  I am as certain that it is best for you to take license immediately, as I can be of any thing.   Rely upon it, that, if you delay, your difficulties will increase, and you will feel more and more as if it as impossible to preach.  Your only safety lies in placing yourself in circumstances which will make exertion necessary, and which will secure divine assistance.  Never mind your infirmities.  You have nothing to do with them.  Your business is to trust, and go forward.  If you wait till the sea becomes land, you will never walk on it.  You must leave the ship, and, like Peter, set your feet upon the waves, and you will find them marble.  Christ is a good Master.  He won’t suffer you to sink; and you will, at length, glory in your infirmities.  I would not give up the precious proofs which I have received, in consequence of my weakness, of his power, faithfulness, and love, for all the comforts of good health.  But be assured, that, if you remain as you are, Satan will weave a net round you, which you will never break.  Every mental and religious effort will become more difficult and painful; your mind will be like the body of a rickety child; you will live a burden to yourself and friend, and die without the consolation of having been made useful.  This would infallibly have been my fate, had I not been thrust into the ministry before I well knew what I was about.  Yet you see I have, somehow or other, been carried along, and so will you be.  Do not then, my dear, dear brother, stand hesitating.  A feeble, nervous man must not deliberate, but act; for his deliberation will not be worth a straw, but his activity may be, and probably will be, useful both to himself and others.

“When Christ told his disciples to feed the multitude with five loaves, they did not hesitate, and say, Lord, let us first see the bread multiplied; if we begin and have not enough, we shall be put to shame; but they distributed what they had, and it increased with the distribution. So you will find it.  You just, therefore, go forward.  There is no reason why you should not.  If you delay, indolence will steal upon you, and bind you in chains, which you will never break.

“I charge you, then, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to be up and doing. There are fifty places in this State [Maine], where the most unconnected things, which your lips could utter, would do good, and be well received.  You have no conception by what apparently feeble means God often works wonders.  Let the next tidings I hear from you be, that you have crossed the Rubicon; or, rather, let me see you here forthwith, in the character of a preacher.”

    
From Richard Baxter’s “The Reformed Pastor”:

The great advantage of ministers having a sincere heart, is this, that the glory of God and the salvation of souls are their very end; and where that end is truly intended, no labor or suffering will stop them, or turn them back; for a man must have his end, whatever it cost him. Whatever he forgets, he will still retain this lesson: One thing is needful; seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Hence he says, ‘Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.’ This is it that will most effectually make easy all our labors, and make light all our burdens, and make tolerable all our sufferings, and cause us to venture on any hazards, if we may only win souls to Christ. That which I once made the motto of my colors in another warfare, I desire may be still before my eyes in this; which yet, according to my intentions, is not altogether another. On one side ‘He that saveth his life shall lose it.” – on the other, ‘Ruin not the cause for the sake of keeping one’s life.’ He who knoweth that he serveth a God that will never suffer any man to be a loser by him, need not fear what hazards he runs in his cause: and he who knows that he seeks a prize, which, if obtained, will infinitely overbalance his cost, may boldly engage his whole estate on it, and sell all to purchase so rich a pearl.

From Andrew Fuller’s sermon, “The Instances, the Evil Nature, and the Dangerous Tendency of Delay, in the Concerns of Religion,” preached at Clipstone, England, April 27, 1791. Fuller’s Scripture text was Haggai 1:2 “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”

We see many things that should be done; but there are difficulties in the way, and we wait for the removal of these difficulties. We are very apt to indulge a kind of prudent caution, (as we call it,) which foresees and magnifies difficulties beyond what they really are. It is granted there may be such things in the way of an undertaking as may render it impracticable; and, in that case, it is our duty for the present to stand still; but it becomes us to beware lest we account that impracticable which only requires such a degree of exertion as we are not inclined to give it. Perhaps the work requires expense; and Covetousness says, Wait a little longer, till I have gained so and so in trade, till I have rendered my circumstances respectable, and settled my children comfortably in the world. But is not this like ceiling our own houses, while the house of God lies waste? Perhaps it requires concurrence; and we wait for every body to be of a mind, which is never to be expected. He who through a dread of opposition and reproach desists from known duty is in danger of being found among the “fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable.”

Had Luther and his contemporaries acted upon this principle, they had never gone about the glorious work of the Reformation. When he saw the abominations of popery, he might have said, These things ought not to be; but what can I do? If the chief priests and rulers in different nations would but unite, something might be effected; but what can I do, an individual, and a poor man? I may render myself an object of persecution, or, which is worse, of universal contempt; and what good end will be answered by it? Had Luther reasoned thus — had he fancied that, because princes and prelates were not the first to engage in the good work, therefore the time was not come to build the house of the Lord — the house of the Lord, for any thing he had done, might have lain waste to this day.

Instead of waiting for the removal of difficulties, we ought, in many cases, to consider them as purposely laid in our way, in order to try the sincerity of our religion. He who had all power in heaven and earth could not only have sent forth his apostles into all the world, but have so ordered it that all the world should treat them with kindness, and aid them in their mission; but, instead of that, he told them to lay their accounts with persecution and the loss of all things. This was no doubt to try their sincerity; and the difficulties laid in our way are equally designed to try ours.

Let it be considered whether it is not owing to this principle that so few and so feeble efforts have been made for the propagation of the gospel in the world. When the Lord Jesus commissioned his apostles, he commanded them to go and teach “all nations,” to preach the gospel to “every creature;” and that notwithstanding the difficulties and oppositions that would he in the way. The apostles executed their commission with assiduity and fidelity; but, since their days, we seem to sit down half contented that the greater part of the world should still remain in ignorance and idolatry. Some noble efforts have indeed been made; but they are small in number, when compared with the magnitude of the object. And why is it so? Are the souls of men of less value than heretofore? No. Is Christianity less true or less important than in former ages? This will not be pretended. Are there no opportunities for societies, or individuals, in Christian nations, to convey the gospel to the heathens? This cannot be pleaded so long as opportunities are found to trade with them, yea, and (what is a disgrace to the name of Christians) to buy them, and sell them, and treat them with worse than savage barbarity! We have opportunities in abundance: the improvement of navigation, and the maritime and commercial turn of this country, furnish us with these; and it deserves to be considered whether this is not a circumstance that renders it a duty peculiarly binding on us.

From Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary on Exodus 14…

They thought they must have been directed either to the right hand or to the left. “No,” says God, “speak to them to go forward, directly to the sea-side;” as if there had lain a fleet of transport-ships ready for them to embark in. Note, When we are in the way of our duty, though we met with difficulties, we must go forward, and not stand in mute astonishment; we must mind present work and then leave the even to God, use means and trust him with the issue.

Hans Jordaens (III) – Le passage de la Mer Rouge (Crossing of the Red Sea)

Forward! Be Our Watchword
(Henry Alford, 1871)

Forward! be our watchword, steps and voices joined;
Seek the things before us, not a look behind;
Burns the fiery pillar at our army’s head;
Who shall dream of shrinking, by our Captain led?
Forward through the desert, through the toil and fight;
Jordan flows before us; Zion beams with light.

Forward! When in childhood buds the infant mind;
All through youth and manhood not a thought behind;
Speed through realms of nature, climb the steps of grace;
Faint not, till in glory, gleams our Father’s face.
Forward, all the lifetime, climb from height to height,
Till the head be hoary, till the eve be light.

Forward! flock of Jesus, salt of all the earth,
Till each yearning purpose spring to glorious birth:
Sick, they ask for healing; blind, they grope for day;
Pour upon the nations wisdom’s loving ray.
Forward, out of error, leave behind the night;
Forward through the darkness, forward into light!

Glories upon glories hath our God prepared,
By the souls that love Him one day to be shared;
Eye hath not beheld them, ear hath never heard;
Nor of these hath uttered thought or speech a word;
Forward, marching eastward, where the heaven is bright,
Till the veil be lifted, till our faith be sight.

Far o’er yon horizon rise the city towers
Where our God abideth; that fair home is ours:
Flash the streets with jasper, shine the gates with gold;
Flows the gladdening river shedding joys untold.
Thither, onward, thither, in the Spirit’s might;
Pilgrims to your country, forward into light!

Into God’s high temple, onward as we press,
Beauty spreads around us, born of holiness;
Arch, and vault, and carving, lights of varied tone,
Softened words and holy, prayer and praise alone.
Every thought upraising to our city bright,
Where the tribes assemble round the throne of light.

Naught that city needeth of these aisles of stone;
Where the Godhead dwelleth, temple there is none;
All the saints that ever in these courts have stood,
Are but babes, and feeding on the children’s food.
On through sign and token, stars amidst the night,
Forward through the darkness, forward into light.

To th’eternal Father loudest anthems raise;
To the Son and Spirit echo songs of praise;
To the Lord of glory, blessed Three in One,
Be by men and angels endless honor done.
Weak are earthly praises, dull the songs of night:
Forward into triumph, forward into light!

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.

They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.

(Psalm 84:5-7)

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Over the past couple years, God has on me on a journey to prayer. I described it in this post:

Along with that, I’ve been seeking out like-minded believers locally with a heart for prayer, and I wrote this challenge to you (and myself) on May 14, 2010:

I know I won’t do it justice at all, but a few Scriptures come to mind to describe the work God has been doing as of late:

In His wonderful workings, God has been raising up a handful of like-minded men and women in our local church with a burden to pray.

Another Scripture that has continued to come to mind is Psalm 110:

Yes, the LORD will subdue His enemies, but by His electing and persevering love, He also subdues His friends! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power! God transforms and conforms His children into the image of Christ, so we might walk in the works He’s ordained for us. That we might do things we once had no desire at all for! It is God who works in us through His Holy Spirit so we might desire and do His good pleasure, so we might say along with our Lord, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” Through the working of His power, we are made willing to do His will! Paul wrote about that constraining love in II Corinthians 5, God’s love compelling and impelling us and pressing in upon us. He changes our desires – and first and foremost God becomes our chief desire, the pearl of great price, the all-surpassing treasure for which we would really sell all. We are His friends if we do what He commands, but His commandments are not burdensome to us for we are given His Spirit – as Augustine wrote, “Give, O Lord, what Thou commandest, and then command what Thou wilt.” Amen. Buried with Christ and raised by the power of God to walk in newness of life!

Our flesh does continue to fight God each and every step of the way, there’s a constant battle, but in His grace, God’s Spirit continues to strive with us. Nothing good dwells in our own flesh. Therefore, left to our own devices and our own abilities, we can’t make ourselves willing, we can’t make ourselves do anything – no matter how much we might try. We know the many resolutions we’ve made to do things, and we fail time and time again, but in the day of Christ’s resurrection power, God works in us to make us willing! God gives sufficient grace so we might turn away from our selfish, worldly desires and turn to God and bow to Him as Lord, so that the mighty scepter is not an oppressive, heavy burden, not a loveless dictatorship, but a light and easy yoke, a welcome Lordship and absolute sovereign rule. We serve a loving and gracious and wonderful Master! He opens our eyes to see that anytime we revolt and removing ourself from His Kingship and His Kingdom authority and go back to our own way is the way of death, misery, heaviness, and vanity – a trip back to the pig sty –– while in contrast, Christ’s way of obedience is the way of life and joy and peace and fruitfulness and fulfillment – truly a feast in our Father’s house! All that He has IS ours! First and foremost, all that He is IS ours! Hallelujah!

I keep saying I am delighted at what I’m seeing God doing (and I am trusting this is just the firstfruits we are privileged to be tasting!), but delighted is really an understatement. I’m trying to express that which is all but inexpressible…

I am delighted because…

(I know most of those things do overlap. )

I feel very much in a dream, much like the Psalmist who wrote Psalm 126:

And yet with all I have been seeing as of late, though I am certainly delighted with all of this, as I’ve reflected on God’s goodnesses to our congregation and to me in His workings that have now become evident over the past few weeks (and to note here: His workings at this church which have gone back years  and years before I got there!), nothing at all compares with the delight God Himself brings me! May I never become an adulterer and enjoy God’s gifts and enjoy ministry for God more than God Himself!

We are in a spiritual battle. I know the little foxes have been afoot and the lion is prowling; I have felt this keenly over the past couple weeks, but I am trusting that the God who has begun this work in us, the God who has made us willing in the day of His power, will bring it to completion to His praise, honor and glory!