SALVATION THROUGH A CALL

N.T.Meek

Isaiah 21: 11,12; Matthew 20: 29-34; Romans 10: 8-13

These scriptures all speak of a call, and the idea of urgency is in them. As Christians get older they perceive more clearly the state of things around and the dangers of the world and the artifices of Satan. Hence older ones normally become urgently concerned about the salvation of their young and call on God for their preservation. With young persons it is different; the facade which the world presents is not unattractive and a young one can come under its power. Maybe they do not realise it, youth has not gained the experience to comprehend its depths and subtleties. Hence when we are young we may think we can cope with life ourselves, we can master our own circumstances and pursue our own path. So we become bent on forging our own progress, we think we are carving our own way. Young people say that - Let me live my own life, let me carve my own way. But persons may have spoken to God about you even before you were born, and that fact may be influencing your history, unknown to you it may be influencing your history and your life.

This place of Seir links with a boy whose name was Esau. Even before this boy was born his mother spoke to God about him. It may be that happened to you; you did not know. It may be your father spoke to God, he may have called to God about you before you were born; and if he did not, or if mother did not, perhaps your grandparents did. Most of us here I think have been children of prayers in this sense. Perhaps persons who are not related to you, persons maybe you have hardly ever noticed, have called in the manner of the call here. It does not say who does it: "He calleth to me out of Seir". Someone has called about you. I would think it is true of every young one here that someone has spoken to God about you and you never realised it, but it is true. In the nights, in the silent time (this word "Dumah" means "silence"). "The burden of Dumah" - silence. Maybe when you did not come home, father and mother were in bed lying awake. In the stillness of the night someone is calling, What about him? "He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night?". What is going to happen? What will happen to my child? How many parents have done this about their children and their grandchildren! Other persons too, not only relatives, others have called in the hours of darkness when you were unaware, you were enjoying yourself maybe, or perhaps at the time you were asleep - mostly when we are young we sleep well, when we get older we do not sleep so well. How many prayers go up in the silence of the night! "He calleth to me out of Seir". What will this boy be? This mother had two boys, one turned out well and one did not. The gospel, dear friend, is addressed to both. The grace of God is towards you.

But there is a greater call even than the call of the parent, a greater call than the call of your grandparent or even of the brethren, and that is the call of the Lord Jesus we read about in Matthew. The Lord is going through Jericho and up to Jerusalem. This is His last visit to Jericho. One can never say, dear friend, that you will have another opportunity to hear His call; one cannot say that. He is going up to Jerusalem to die; the blessed Lord Jesus is going through Jericho, leaving it, going through the world, you might say, going through this town, going through your town. The Lord as it were is moving through a preaching like this, and as He is moving through He calls these persons. But firstly these persons call for Him. I do not know whether you have ever done that, whether you have ever called. It says "And as they went out from Jericho a great crowd followed him". You say, There is a crowd here today. But dear friend the crowd in that sense will not help you, you must call on Jesus for yourself. These persons had a need and they knew their need, and the actual need was that they were blind physically. But every person has a moral need, every person has a need in relation to their sins and their state. Whoever you are, whatever nationality you come from you have a need, dear friend and there is only One who can meet that need and that is this Person who is passing through. He is within reach. That is the blessedness of the present moment. It says "The word is near thee", Rom 10: 8. And Jesus is available for you. We were speaking about Chicago, how when an evangelist preached there in the old city he told his converts to go home and think about it but that very night the city was burned own. He said he would never do that again. They did not even have that night to think about it; all went down before that fiery hurricane; you will have to read about it, how it swept the whole city. Dear friend "The word is near thee", that refers to this present moment. Are you going to call upon Him? You have a need; are you conscious of your need? Are you conscious of your sinnership? Are you conscious of the burden of your sins? Are you conscious of the weight of them? You could be ushered into God's presence before the day is out, within an hour. One cannot promise you anything. Your life is not in my hand, it is in God's hand; He is holding the very breath that you breathe; He is sustaining your very body in life and could call you into His presence at any time. How will you go? How would I go if I was called into God's presence? Would I go with my sins upon me or would I go with them forgiven? Dear friend, you can go with them forgiven, you can go with them cleared because this very Person of whom we are reading, Jesus, was going to the cross and He was going to bear my sins in His body there. He was going to exhaust for me God's righteous judgment. God could not have a sinner in His presence eternally; how could He? God, in His righteousness, in His holiness, how could He have sinners in His presence? How could He surround Himself eternally with sinful persons? How could any element of sin remain in the presence of God? It could not be, dear friend, it would be a moral impossibility. But God has provided a Saviour for sinners, that those sins might be cleared and removed entirely and that person come into His presence; and not only into that realm of holy light where all is spotless, all is clear, but to enjoy the sweetness of divine love, the sweetness of divine provision, to tread those courts above, the very prospect of which fills the heart with enthusiasm. Surely it does; who would not like to be in heaven now? I would. It is a much better place than New York, or London, or the little town where I come from. Who would not want to be in heaven now? The thought of it! Someone said 'The heart within us leapeth' - the very thought of it! Have you ever thought of being in heaven? Have you ever thought of being in the company of Jesus, the only One who can satisfy your heart, who can hold it, 'draw and win, and fill completely till the cup o'erflow the brim'? Some hymn writers, sisters and brothers, have anticipated it. Mr Darby anticipated it in a most remarkable way: 'Who shall to us that joy of saint-thronged courts declare...?' (hymn 74). If you want to know what heaven is, if you want to know what the presence of God is, if you want to know what it is like where Jesus is now, once on the cross but now in glory, read Mr Darby's hymns. How wonderful! 'With Thee in garments white, Lord Jesus, we shall walk; And, spotless in that heav'nly light, Of all Thy suff'rings talk' (hymn 270). Have you ever thought about it? And there is a place there for you, dear friend; it is for you, a place in that presence.

Does it thrill your heart? It does mine; there is a place for me and Jesus has won it for me. He has gone there and there is a place reserved for me. It is as sure as can be. I am expecting to travel home tonight and I have a ticket and there should be a reserved seat. But the organisation of men is such that it could be that when I get to the airport the seat may not be there. But, dear friend, there is no question about my place in heaven, it has been won by Another whose work is perfect. Are you going to call upon Him? These persons called; they were conscious of their need. It is important that you are conscious of a need. It may be your very conscience is accusing you; you know what you have done, you know what your life has been, you also know your hidden life and you have a need. You are aware, I think, that you could not come into God's presence just as you are in your sins; those sins must be met. The penalty for them will have to be paid by another because you are under penalty yourself. How could God accept me a sinner to atone for my own sins? It needed someone who was sinless. There is only one Saviour. I tell you, whatever men may tell you, there is only one Saviour and that is Jesus. There is no one else. You could search the universe, you could search every continent high and low, search among the rich and the poor, the great and the small, but there is only one Saviour and that is Jesus. "There was nothing in the ark," it says, "save the two tables", 2 Chron 5: 10. That meant that God's will was the only thing that you could find there, and the filling out of God's will was the only thing that you could find in Jesus. There was nothing extraneous; there was no thought of self; there was no element of sin; in Him sin was not; not only did He do no sin but that very element was not present in Him; He was absolutely unique.

Dear friend, whatever you may have heard, there is only one Person who is absolutely sinless and that is Jesus. He is qualified to be your Saviour. It is part of the gospel to speak about the qualification of Jesus to be your Saviour. Satan could find no foothold in Him. He can in you and me. and how often we have proved it that Satan has found a foothold. He has come to you in some way and has found something in us that answers to temptation, he has found a foothold. But when he came to Jesus he had to recoil. He tried it, he came and he came and he came but he could not find even a single foothold. From that blessed Man he had to recoil: "The ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing", John 14: 30. Nothing! He is unique, dear friend. I tell you your only hope of salvation lies in your faith in Jesus, your trust in Him and in His work upon the cross. He calls thee. You may have called to Him, but you will find He is calling to you with the grace of His heart. He was going up to die here, but He was not too busy in that journey, I was going to say, that fateful journey of His. When I say fateful I mean the eternal fate of millions depended on it that journey up to Jerusalem. And He went up steadily and unfalteringly; He was going up to die and He knew in every step the moment of His death was nearer, the moment of His suffering was nearer. He knew; even the disciples, although He told them, could not grasp it. But even in that journey, even in all that was upon Him then, He was prepared to stop and call and He calls you. Are you going to hearken to His call? That is what we sang; 'Hark! the voice of Jesus calling' (hymn 266). He calls you in the stillness of your heart. It is a greater call even than that of your parents. There were persons here in this setting in Matthew who would fain quench that call. But that is not so here, I do not think, not in this room. There is a sympathetic atmosphere here; there are persons here who would even bring you. That is what they did when Jesus was here; there were persons who would bring others who were in need, persons who could not walk were brought to Jesus.

Now Paul says "The word is near thee", as if it is brought right to you; the word is almost put into your mouth. "The word is near thee... that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved". And then it says in verse 13: "For every one whosoever, who shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved". Oh that is wonderful! Have you done that? There is none else to call on, dear friend, there is nobody else. He is your only hope and He is near. I am sure He is near. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. It is a wonderful thing to have the relief. It is not the only part of the gospel we preach but it is a wonderful thing to have the relief from the burden of your sins. Whenever you think of them and you think of the future, you think of what lies ahead inevitably. Every person will have to do with God; every person who has ever been born will have to do with God. You say, How will it be? I could not tell you, but they will. There is no problem for faith, God can arrange that in the greatness of His power; every person will have to do with God. Many here have had to do with Him already, at some point in their history, maybe on their knees, they appealed to Him, they called upon Him for forgiveness and they claimed the work of Jesus for themselves, claimed the benefits of that work that was wrought upon the cross. Have you done that? Have you ever asked God to forgive you, saying, I would like to be covered by the blood of Jesus, I would like to know forgiveness for myself, I would like to have the assurance that all is well?

How could you be happy with your sins upon you? They will always nag you, they will always be there in the back of your mind, like a cloud even in the moment of your greatest natural brightness. They will be always there and they will keep coming back. Why not get relief from them, claim the work of Jesus for yourself? It is a wonderful thing that if Jesus suffered for my sins, if He bore God's judgment against them, then I never shall, because God is fair, God is righteous and if Jesus bore the judgment I shall not. It is a wonderful thing, is it not? Blessed Saviour, how much He bore! I could not even remember all my sins, but He bore them all. How wonderful!

'The sinner who believes is free,

Can say, The Saviour died for me;

Can point to the atoning blood and say,

This made my peace with God' (hymn 357)

Why not call upon Him? Why not make it your own? Dear friend, it does require an action on your part. It is available for you, it is nigh thee, it says, it is almost so to speak brought to your door. It is put right alongside of you, but it does require a movement on your part, a call, a cry of need. God will not fail to answer that cry of need of yours. Maybe you will need to pursue it, maybe initially you will feel you cannot get through. I would say to you, Just pursue. God may even deepen your sense of need. The relief will be all the greater. Think of the wonderful character of the work of Christ that He bore my sins in His body on the tree. He went there, dear friend, in love for my soul, in love for God and in love for me, in love for the creature; "the kindness and love to man of our Saviour God appeared", Tit 3: 4. How wonderful it is, is it not? "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved".

Salvation is a very real thing, a very great thing, a very wide thing, and it does not only involve salvation from the penalty of sins - it does involve that and that is a great basic feature of it - but it involves too salvation while you are left here, salvation in a world that actually crucified Jesus, salvation in a world that rejected Him. It is not easy going to be a believer, to be a Christian. You do not really need me to tell you that, do you? It is not easy going. You find that at school, it is not easy going to be on your own, just by yourself. Everyone else has a different outlook, everyone else does different things in their free time. Sometimes you wish you could be like them, you wish you could go with them, you wish you could enjoy what they enjoy. You feel the pressure, the kind of mental pressure of it all, it is not easy. We are in a world that is hostile and difficult. We need salvation in that world. How much we need salvation in the present world! Sometimes Satan comes with his temptations, sometimes he will crush you, sometimes the pressure is of that kind, sometimes it is subtle. You need salvation. The answer is to call on the name of the Lord. If you get your eye on the world you will go under; if you get your eye on the power of the world and what it has to offer, for the moment at any rate you will go under. That is what Peter did; even Peter found that and he was an apostle. He once walked on the water; a very difficult thing to do, you say, it is like going through the world with all its instability, lack of support for the Christian, and yet he was actually walking on it. But he took his eye off Jesus for a little while and he began to sink. He saw the wind, he saw the waves, he looked around and he took his eye off the Saviour and he began to sink. The answer is to confess His name, to run up the flag. It is amazing how you overcome if you confess His name. There has been many an incident of that. There was an old person here in the civil war, was there not, named Barbara Frietchie? I seem to remember reading a poem about her. It is what she did in principle, she ran up the flag, did she not?

On that pleasant morn of the early fall

When Lee marched over the mountain-wall,

Over the mountains winding down,

Horse and foot, into Frederick Town.

 

Forty flags with their silver stars,

Forty flags with their crimson bars,

Flapped in the morning wind: the sun

Of noon looked down, and saw not one.

 

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then

Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;

Bravest of all in Frederick Town

She took up the flag the men hauled down -

In her attic window the staff she set

To show that one heart was loyal yet.

It was the action of one person against fantastic odds. In principle she showed she was loyal and she proved salvation against fantastic odds. And that is what a person does who confesses the Lord's name. I am sure every one of us here who has done it has proved it so. We may do it ever so falteringly with nothing like the natural bravery she had, but because it is the Lord's name it is morally greater. The Lord's banner is greater than the American banner or the Union Jack: it surely is. It is a greater kingdom, a more powerful kingdom; it is an everlasting kingdom, the kingdom that is going through. And the way to go through in a world of opposition, even when other persons are hauling down the flag, is to confess His name, and that leads to salvation.

May the Lord bless these words to us. It is a question of a call, dear friend, it is an urgent matter; call upon Him, He is near, the Lord is near. Oh, dear friend, do not let it go. It was the last that Jericho saw of Him; He never was going that way again. And it could be, dear friend, this will be the last gospel you shall ever hear. Call upon Him while you can. For His Name's sake.

 

NEW YORK

2 September 1979