"Dwell deep -- without care -- alone" (Jer. 49:30-31).
Jesus knew what we would have to do if we were to dwell deep, and so he told us in a parable of a man who was going to build a house and he digged down deep. He got all the rubbish, and sand and clay out of the way. He also told us that storms were coming and the building we erected would be tested, and it was necessary that we should build on the Rock. All the time we are living we are building -- for all are builders -- and all may see there is a necessity for deep digging. The Christian life is built on Christ. He is the Foundation -- other foundation can no man lay. The poet has well said,
"On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand."
It means much to go with God. We will find the crowd, the multitude going the other way. "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there he that go in thereat." It took a hundred years to make a Stradivarius, but when it was made it was worth twenty-five hundred dollars. It took God and Stradivarius to make one. First, the tree to grow, to grow where the winds and storms would beat on it, where the lightnings and thunders would play around it. These would toughen its fiber, would get it ready for good work some day in the hands of an artist. Then, after all the years, the ax would be applied and it would be cut down, and then placed away till all the moisture was out, and then Stradivarius, with knife and plane. So it is with the Christian life. It means all hell to oppose, the world to hate, the carnal mind to criticize and scoff, to be at times misunderstood, and it is necessary to build, and more necessary to dig down deep. Oh, there are so many superficial, shallow professors these days -- so many gigglers. I went one day into a large furniture house, and the salesman, one of the firm, showed me a piece of furniture that he said was cherry. A nice piece of furniture, and he would sell it to me at a very reasonable figure, considering it was cherry. I bought it, took it home, showed it to wife, and lo and behold, it was cherry -- on the outside. It was a very nice job of veneering; looked like cherry, but it was a very thin piece of cherry glued and pressed tight to a very light wood. There is so much veneering in these days; not worth much when it comes to the testing. Men do not want -- much less seek -- for God's way. They are like an old farmer who had plenty of money and brought his son to Mr. Garfield to get an education. Mr. Garfield was the president of the college, and he showed the farmer a catalogue, and what would be required of the young man; and he told him, further, that it would take four years or more to finish the course contemplated. The old man said, "I do not want him here four years. I can pay for his education." Mr. Garfield saw the point at once and replied, "It takes a hundred years to grow an oak; you can have a squash in a few months. What do you want your boy to be -- an oak or a squash?" It was ships of oak as well as hearts of oak that made Britain the mistress of the seas for so many years. There are storms coming, dig down deep. You are building for the skies. When you contemplate building high you must go down deep. I was in Philadelphia one day and stopped to look at a foundation they were preparing. It was way down deep, far below the surface. It cost something to put it in, but they counted the cost and said, "It will pay to go down." When they built the St. Louis bridge across the Mississippi River, the engineer who drew the plan said to the contractors, "You must go down till you strike the rock." And the contractors said to the foreman, "You must go down till you strike the rock." And the foreman said to the men, "You must dig down deep till you strike the rock." And they began, they went down day after day, and one day the man said, "We have the rock." They sent a piece of the rock up to the engineers, who after a look said, "No, that is only sandstone; go down till you get the rock." They dug a few days more and said, "Now we have the rock, and again they sent up a piece; but the engineers said, "No, that is not rock yet; that is only a little harder sandstone." And on they went digging down deeper. But one day they heard a great shout coming up from the men. This time they did not send up a piece to be examined. They said, "We have the rock." The engineers shouted back, "How do you know?" Back came more shouting, "We struck fire!" Sure enough, you will know when you have struck the rock you will get fire at the same time. Never stop digging till you get fire. It is promised, "There is one among you . . . He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire." Where He is there is fire -- and you will know it, and other folks will know it, too. Have you been down so deep that you have struck the fire. We can never dwell deep, unless we first dig deep.
Dwell Deep. A man who had one time gone down until he struck the Rock and consequently was dwelling deep, said, and I think I can hear the shout of victory in the tones, "For me to live is Christ. The life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me." When we dwell deep we dwell in Him, not in the church alone, not in folks, but in Him. We can and do sing, "He is mine and I am His." We live in the Spirit and the Spirit in us. That means we are led by the Spirit. We walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We then move in Christ. All our ambitions, all our desires are in His will. All our activities are in harmony with his plan for us. All our inspirations are from Him. If we want to go to Bithynia, and He says, "No," we say no, too. If we are looking toward Asia and He says, "No," we are as cheerfully obedient as if He had said yes. We not only move in Him, we move for Him. The love of Christ constraineth us. If He says slums, we say slums with all our might. I have never yet been able to understand why folks should weep and moan because God told them to go to the slums. If that is His will, better be in the slums working for Him than in Heaven. If He says Africa, say Amen. I once heard a young woman who had for years had the call of God upon her for Africa, make this remark: "Why doesn't God call some girl whose mother does not need her at home." Let us stop talking about the sweet will of God while at the same time we are fighting His place for us, anywhere. Carey was in India because God wanted Him there. Taylor was in China because the King pointed there. Melville was called to Africa and the Missionary Board said we have not the money to send you, and he replied, "I must go to Africa if I go as a hand before the mast." That is the spirit that makes the angels rejoice and sets all the bells of heaven ringing.
When a soul dwells in Him, all the ambitions are in His will. As Wesley sang, so it is the language of the soul:
Take my soul and body's powers, Take my memory, mind and will; All my goods and all my hours, All I know or think or feel, All I speak and all I do, Take my heart, but make it new. How blest are they who still abide, Close sheltered in Thy bleeding side; Who thence their strength and life derive, And by Thee move, and in Thee live.
Dwell without care. Down here, in a world that is full of care? Yes, right here, and it is a lesson it will do us good to learn. The promise made to those who will seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is, '?And all these things shall be added unto you." Food, raiment, and the things the Gentiles seek after. We may prove we are Israel indeed. We can carry the goods with us so people will know we are one hundred per cent Israel. There is a law now that makes the manufacturer write on the label the contents of the can, and that it is all it professes to be; and if the can does not contain goods according to the label, then the makers may be prosecuted. In other words, the law says live up to the label. It can he done, it may be done, it should be done, and it must be done, if we ever see the inside of the pearly gates. Patti, that wonderful soprano, once went to a city where she was almost a complete stranger. She called at the post office to get her mail, and there were a great many letters for one Adelina Patti, but she must be identified, and there was no one to do it. Again she applied, but the clerk said, "I am sorry, but you must prove to me that you are Patti." A happy thought struck her, and at once she began to sing a simple little song. The people stood with open-eyed wonder, the clerks came to the windows, all work ceased, and an old clerk cried out, "That is Adelina Patti." Of course she got her mail -- she had proved herself. We must, the world demands it. Jesus said, "Ye are my witnesses." Live without care. Madame Guyon was shut up in a prison, but she was free from care and sang in her cage like a bird:
"My Lord, how full of sweet content I pass my years of banishment! Where'er I dwell, I dwell with Thee, In heaven, in earth, or on the sea. To me remains nor place, nor time; My country is in every clime; I can be calm, and free from care On any shore, since God is there."
Hear Him from the Word. Casting all your care on Him for He careth for you. My God shall supply all your needs according to the riches of His grace in glory by Christ Jesus. No good thing will He withhold from him that walketh uprightly. If we care for God, we will care for His cause, and He will care for us. Queen Elizabeth once appointed one of her nobles, a man of ability, to a foreign ambassadorship, and he, thinking of his own estates at home, said to the Queen, "Who will look after my interests while I am gone?" and she at once replied, "You look after my affairs abroad and I will care for you and yours." He trusted her and went. Be careful to be careless -
that is, without care. I know now you are thinking Gentile thoughts; but it is true and some have proved it to be true. There was a man in the city of Pittsburgh, who was most blessedly saved while working for a railroad company, and he at once went to the superintendent and said, "I cannot work any more on Sunday, so I cannot go out tomorrow." The superintendent asked, "Why can't you work?" and he said, "I have got religion and I cannot work on the Lord's Day and keep a clear conscience." "Well," was the response, "you have more religion than is good for you. Go to the office and get your time. We don't want men who are too good to work on Sunday." He was discharged and went home. His wife met him at the door and he told her, "Wife, I am fired." "What for?" she asked. "Because I will not work on Sunday." She said, "You are a fool. As good men as you work on Sunday and belong to church, too." But he went on his way and would not work. The street corners were filled with men who were out of work. He tried to get a job, but failed. He used up all the money he had in the bank, then used up all the credit he had at the store, the merchant saying, "I know you are honest. I have trusted you until the bill is more than I can afford to carry. I am carrying so many others." And he went home to hear his wife's taunts again. Then he went upstairs and opened his Bible and in prayer he said to God, "Here is your word, Lord, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and behold all these things shall be added unto you. Now, Lord, I am out of work because I minded Thee. Please prove Thy Word to me and get me work." And do you know that God did it? In a day or two a knock was heard at the door, and the call boy said, "The superintendent wants to see you." So down to the office he went and the superintendent said, "Have you got a job yet?" "No, sir; I have looked everywhere, but I am still out of work." "Will you work on Sunday?" was the next query, and as quick as the light travels came the answer from the heart of the young man, No, sir; I will not work on Sunday for the railroad or anyone else." The superintendent laughed and said, "Well, I have a job for you. I want you to be conductor on a local passenger. It has no Sunday run, and your wages will be twenty dollars a month more than you had in your old place." We do not have to care. We have all the angels in heaven to minister unto us; we have God looking out for us, and He holds jobs in the hollow of His hand for those who trust Him. He knows all about the future -- you do not. Trust Him and live your trust. He knew that the day would come when there would be a famine in the land of Canaan; he knew that some of the heirs of the promise would be in that land, so He sent a man down there twenty years ahead of the famine to make provision for the heirs. Not only that for seven long years He made the soil in the land of Egypt to bring forth by handsful, and then He had it stored away in granaries so it would keep good for the heirs, and then He made it so the heirs had to get down to the corn, and He gave them Goshen, the richest province in all the kingdom, where they could raise sheep and eat corn and live without care.
Have faith in God! The starry dome, The verdant earth, each flowery plain, The babbling brook -- and all combined A Father's love and power proclaim.
And not a sparrow to the ground Can fall without His wise decree In Him shall light and life be found Have faith in God -- He cares for thee!
"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about them that put their trust in Him."
Dwell Alone. Get alone with Him. This is the one thing needed. I have had good times in the public worship, good times in the social services, the prayer and testimony meetings. God has blessed me so in preaching that I have actually thought if He blessed me any more I would not be able to endure it in the flesh; but the sweetest times in all my Christian experience have been when I was alone with Him in secret. When thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which seeth in secret, and He shall reward thee openly. But to lie still in His presence, to let Him talk to you, to just know that it is God who is dealing with you in love, and you are alone with Him. You can tell Him things you would not tell anyone else, and He will tell you things He would not tell anyone else about you. A friend is one who knows all about you and still loves you, and the only one that I know of to whom that will apply is God. He's a Friend above all others. Oh, how He loves! His is love beyond a brother's. Oh, how He loves! Earthly friends may fail and leave you. This day kind -- tomorrow grieve you; but this Friend will ne'er deceive you. Oh, how He loves! Take time to be alone with Him. I read some time ago if you have thirty minutes for the closet, take ten minutes to read the Word, ten minutes more to pray, and then Ten Minutes to be still, and let Him talk to you. This will be the sweetest part of the thirty minutes. Jesus often went up to the mountain tops to be alone with the Father. He went to the garden to talk with the Father. He went a stone's throw farther to be alone with Him, and pour out His heart in cries and tears. He left us an example, and we should follow in His footsteps. We may dwell alone with Him.
"When storms of life around me beating, And rough the path that I have trod, Within my closet door retreating, I love to be alone with God.
Alone with God, the world forbidden Alone with God, O blest retreat! Alone with God and in Him hidden, To hold with Him communion sweet."
