“And Ittai answered the king, and said, as the Lord liveth, and as my lord
the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in
death or life, even there also will thy servant be.”-2 Samuel 15:21.
Some men have a very remarkable power of creating and sustaining friendship
in others. David was a man brimming over with affection-a man,
notwithstanding all his rough soldier-life, of an exceedingly tender heart-a
man, I was about to say-the word was on my tongue-a man of vast humanity. I
mean, there was a great deal of manhood about him. He was all that other men
are, had suffered their sorrows, and had tasted their joys, and, there fore,
I suppose it was that he had a large power of attraction about him, and
brought others to himself.
But there is one Man more than man, whose attracting influence is greater
than that of all men put together. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ we
see gentleness, meekness, and tenderest affection, and we see the most hearty
sympathy with everything that belongs to manhood. Such a vast heart has the
Master, such boundless, disinterested affection, such human sympathy; so near
is he to every one of us in his life, and in his experiences, that he
attracts the sons of men to himself, and when he is lifted up he draws men
unto him, and afterwards, by the cords of his love, he draws them unto
himself. It is in the hope that some here may feel the sweet attractions of
Christ that I have selected this text, anxiously praying that some here may
so give themselves to Christ s never to leave him: and that others who have
already done may be confirmed in their solemn resolution that, in whatsoever
place their Master, the Son of David, the King, shall be, there also will
they be as his servants, whether in life or in death.
Now this resolution, if any here have formed it, and I know many have-this
resolution that surely in what place the Lord Jesus shall be, whether in
death or in life, even there will we, his servants, be, in the first place,
is:-
I. A GOOD RESOLUTION-one which can be supported by abundant reasons.
Let me say, in opening out this assertion, that Jesus deserves of all who
have really tasted of his grace such faithful service, such unswerving
following in all cases and under all circumstances. Who else has ever done
for us what Jesus has? Our mother brought us forth, but he has given to us a
second birth. Our mother candled us upon her knee, but he has borne us all
the days of old, and even to hoar hairs will he carry his people. We have had
many kindnesses from friends, but never such love as Jesus showed when, we
being his enemies, he yet redeemed us with his most precious blood. Think of
these three words, and try to measure what they mean-Gethsemane-Gabbatha-
Golgotha. Let those three words awaken your adoring memories. Gethsemane-with
its garden and bloody sweat for you. Gabbatha-with its scourging, its
mocking, its shame and spitting for you. Golgotha-with its cross and the five
flowing wounds, and all the bitterness of the divine wrath, and the torment
of death itself, for you. Men have been known to give away their lives
cheerfully for some great military leader whose genius has commanded their
admiration, but they were fools to throw their lives away, after all, for
these men had done but little or nothing for them to make them their servants
and slaves. But this Man, my brethren, if we had a thousand lives, and were
to give them all, yet would deserve more of us, for he hath redeemed us from
going down into the pit, saved us from flames that never shall be quenched,
and from a pit that is darkness itself. By the eternal woe from which the
blood of Christ hath uplifted us, let us, who believe that we have been
redeemed from hell, consecrate ourselves for ever to follow the Lamb
whithersoever he goeth. His cross is despised; let us be despised with it,
for he bore shame for us. His truth is counted a lie; let us be willing to be
regarded as liars, for he had reproach cast on him. Sometimes to defend his
cause has required the loss of all things; be it ours. if needs be, to lose
all things for him who gave up all-and what an all that was!-the bliss of
heaven, and a life itself for us, that he might redeem our souls. The deserts
of Jesus are such that it would need an angel’s tongue to tell them out, even
though it were but in brief catalogue. Look at him in what he is himself as
his Father’s darling. Look at his character; was there ever such another?
Survey the beauties of his person-were there ever such charms commingled
before? Think of his life, and of his death, and of what he is doing still
before the throne, and surely you will feel that it is but right and just
that, with Jesus, You should enter into the ship and, with him, sail the
ocean over, be it rough or be it smooth.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”