September 1924
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
557
The Empty Seat The second installment of a sermon by Dr. John Roach Straton, Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, New York City As stated in the August issue, we were so desirous that our readers should have this splendid sermon by Dr. Straton in its entirety, that we set aside our usual rule, and printed it in two installments, the last of which is given herewith. The sermon contains a much needed lesson for the present day. THE FIRST GREAT ESSENTIAL
Take another illustration. I want to ascertain my weight. Perhaps I am waiting for a train, as I have to do sometimes, and I desire to know whether I am gaining or losing flesh. Now there is a little weighing machine there, and a sign which says, “ Stand on the platform, drop a penny in the slot, and your exact weight will be given.” I go up to it and say, “ That is what I want— my exact weight. I want to know whether I have gained or lost in the last month.” So I stand on the floor on which the machine is resting, and I drop a penny in the slot, and nothing happens. And I say, “Well, how is this? I put a penny in the slot, and nothing has happened.” Then I step on the platform of the machine, and don’t put the penny in the slot, and still nothing hap pens. The index finger is where it was in the beginning. And I say, “How is this? It said to stand on the platform, and I have stood on the platform, and nothing has hap pened. Then I re-read the directions: “Stand on the plat form, drop a penny in the slot, and your exact weight will be given.” ”' I say, “ Yes, I see.” Then I take out another penny, and I make another investment. You see I have to pay for my own former neglect. I put another penny in the slot, and the minute I drop that penny in that slot, some thing begins to happen. I hear the wheels going round inside, and that long index finger on the dial moves around to one hundred and seventy-five pounds and a fraction. And I' say, “ I have got it. That is my weight.” But I could not get it until I met the conditions. The Scandal of the Modern Church Now, with all seriousness, let us come to understand that prayer is God’s plan, and He will not let us succeed in this world in spiritual things until we have met His condition-^ until we fit in with His plan. We cannot fit God into our plans, but we can fit into God’s plan. The scandal of the modern church is the decay of the prayer-meeting. We need God, and God has so ordered it that without Him we are helpless. Jesus said: “Without me ye can do nothing.” And, oh, how this age, and particularly the church and the church people, need to come back to God in believing prayer, and humble ourselves under His mighty hand! We are in trouble today, and we need help. May I say, with all frankness, that I am expecting within the next few years far more terrible times upon this earth than we have seen even in these troubled years that have just passed. The children of men are not on God’s programme. Trouble is coming; and we need our Heavenly Father now as we have never needed Him. In our home, we have a precious boy— the baby boy. He is six years old now. That lad has been a joy and delight to me. It seems to me that I have told him all the stories that have ever been written by anybody on the earth, and then I have made up stories by the dozen. He comes into my room every morning and slips into bed with me and cuddles down, and says, “ Tell me a story, Daddy, that I have never heard before.” .. I am just held up, you see, and I have to come across with a story. Once or twice he has come to me in the darkness of the night. I am a very light sleeper, and just a little while ago I heard the patter of little bare feet in, the hall. Then I heard our (Continued on page 599)
j]OW, what is God’s place for each of us? That is a very practical question, and in the light of this tremendous truth of individual responsibility, it is a question we ought to ask. I would say this, that there are some who have special gifts, and when there are special gifts from God, that is a special call to service and consecration. There are other things however, com mon to us all, and that God expects of every child of His. There are some duties that cannot be delegated; there are some responsibilities so holy and so personal that they cannot be transferred to another. A mother cannot dele gate the privilege and duty of bearing her child; a patriot cannot shift the responsibility of serving his country; a doctor cannot lay on another his skill to heal the sick. And there are things that God has laid upon every one who is born again in Christ Jesus that we cannot delegate to another. There are some things that we ourselves must do, and if we do not do them, then we have failed God at that point, and His cause is less strong because of our fail ure. There is a lack. Our seat is empty. - And now, what are the great, simple things that God expects of us all? There are two great but simple things that Jesus has commanded us all to do. All else is included in these two things. The first is prayer. Jesus not only set us the example of constantly praying Himself, but He called His followers to “ pray without ceasing.” He said to His Church in the beginning: “Tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power.” He knew that it would not be wise for them to start out in their own might and in their own strength, and so He warned them and called them to prayer. The Christian Church in the beginning was simply a group of plain people upon their knees waiting for God. And prayer is still God’s plan. Christ calls us, first of all, before we have done anything else, to pray. He calls us to be men and women and boys and girls of prayer. That is one supremely important thing, and if we fail, then our place is empty at a vital point. Prayer is God’s plan for the spiritual world. Just as truly as the attraction of gravitation is God’s plan for the order and sustenance of the material universe, prayer is God’s plan for the sus tenance and progress of His spiritual universe. God has made it that way. Whether we can understand it and see it or not, prayer is God’s plan. We have to fit in with that plan. We cannot alter it, nor lay down terms to God. Let me illustrate it in a practical fashion. I may go as a visitor to a strange city. Supposing I desire to go down town. I stand in the middle of the block, beside the street car line, and put up my hand, but nothing happens. Car after car goes whizzing by. I move over to the far side of the street, and I hold up my hand, and still nothing hap pens. The cars go by, one after the other. Then I cross over to the near side of the street, and hold up my hand, then something happens. The first car that comes along stops, and I get aboard, and am carried on my journey. You see I have to fit in with the plan. I cannot go to a city and lay down conditions for the Street Railway system. Their system has been ordained by those who have charge of it, and I have to fit in with that plan.
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