Getting and Losing 2
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3. Our own wisdom—there is "a time to lose" that. There was a time, doubtless, with us, when we fancied ourselves very wise—especially when we had made some little progress, as we fancied, in religion, and had stored a few doctrines in our heads; when we had read a few authors, or had studied the Bible, and compared passage with passage and chapter with chapter. We doubtless congratulated ourselves on possessing a vast amount of wisdom—and thought we knew everything because we had some understanding in the 'letter of God's word'. But there is "a time to lose" all this wisdom. When we get into difficulties, trials, temptations, and perplexities, then our wisdom all disappears, and we find it little else than ignorance and folly. It does not avail us when most needed. It cannot guide us into paths of peace; it cannot keep us from evil or error. Like a broken tooth, or a foot out of joint, it gives way the moment any weight or stress is laid upon it. (Prov. 25:19.)
4. There is a time, also to lose all our self-strength, self-confidence, and self-dependence. Strength to stand against temptation, to overcome sin, to crucify the flesh, to pluck out right eyes and cut off right hands; to believe, hope, or love; to think, speak, or do any one thing spiritually good; to bless, comfort, or deliver our own souls; to raise up one sigh, cry, or desire Godwards—in all these things we painfully learn that we have no strength of our own.
But there is "a time to lose." And this time is in the hand of the Lord. We can no more bring upon our souls "a time to lose," than we can bring upon our souls "a time to get." When the "time to get" comes, then we get what the Lord is pleased to bestow. "That which you give them, they gather—you open your hand, they are filled with good." When the Lord bestows a blessing, when he gives a smile, when he drops a word, when he favors the soul with some intimation of his goodness and mercy, it is "a time to get."
But when the Lord hides his face, withdraws his presence, allows the corruption of the heart to work, lets Satan stir up that filthy pool we carry within us—then it is the "time to lose." "You hide your face, they are troubled, you take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." If we are the Lord's, he will bring upon us, sooner or later, the "time to lose;" and then we shall lose everything that thousands rejoice in—yes, everything that creature can boast of, or put its confidence in. Wherever there has been "a time to get," there will be also "a time to lose." These two are closely connected; the one is the mortise, the other the tenon; the one is the sinking bucket in the well, and the other the rising bucket; the one is the day of adversity, and the other the day of prosperity, which the Lord has set the one over against the other.
Now, there may be some here, with whom it is "a time to GET." Some, perhaps, are getting convictions of sin such as they never before felt; some are getting a knowledge of the perfections of God's character which they never before were acquainted with; some are getting views of Jesus that their souls never before were favored with; some are gettingpromises, some are getting invitations, some are getting peace, some are getting encouragements, some are getting evidences and testimonies of salvation, some are gettingwhispers, and some are getting smiles.
And then, perhaps, in this congregation (as we would hope there are some of the Lord's people here present this evening) it is with others "a time to LOSE." They find all their ownrighteousness beginning to fade before their eyes and becoming as filthy rags; they find the corruptions of their heart made manifest, so that they are losing by degrees all theirfleshly holiness; they find the workings of secret sin continually boiling up within; they feel their strength oozing away, and that they have not the power they thought they once had to stand against indwelling evil; they find they have not power to read God's word as in times past, nor power to cry unto the Lord, nor power to realize his presence, nor power to believe, hope, or love.
Thus with some, it is "a time to get;" and with others, it is "a time to lose." Happy getting! happy losing! The getting is of God, and the losing is of God! Yes; it is a mercy to get, and it is a mercy to lose. It is a mercy that God should ever favor our souls with his own times and seasons to drop something worth having into our hearts; or to take something away worth losing; to give us that which shall make our souls meet for eternity, and to strip us of that which is nothing but deception and delusion!
III. There is also "a time to KEEP, and a time to cast away." Is it not one thing to "get," and another thing to "keep?" Is it not one thing to "lose," and another thing to "cast away?" It is so naturally. There are some people who can "get"—people who have a peculiar turn for business, and whom the Lord favors with natural wisdom and earthly prosperity. Whatever they put their hand to seems to succeed. Yet they cannot "keep" it; they cannot retain what they have earned—it flies hastily out of their hand, or dribbles insensibly away. So spiritually; we must "get" before we can "keep." Is it not so naturally? Before a man can keep a thing, surely he must get it.
And so it is in divine things. "A time to get" comes before "a time to keep." And do you not observe how the "time to keep" follows the "time to lose?" This, then, is the order of the Spirit's teachings in the heart. He begins with a sinner's conscience, and he communicates certain things, such as a conviction of sin, a knowledge of God's holy law, cries and sighs after mercy; and in due time he gives him a knowledge of Jesus, evidences and testimonies of a saving interest in him, love visits, smiles, and manifestations. All these a living soulgets.
But then the "time to lose" comes, when he loses all his own righteousness, his own holiness, his own strength; his own wisdom, his own loveliness. But he does not lose any one thing which God has put into his heart. As, therefore, there is "a time to get" what God gives, and "a time to lose" what God takes away, so there is "a time to keep" what the Lord himself is pleased to bestow upon the soul.
But what is it that we are "to keep?" In our early days we amass a great deal of what we fancy to be religion; and when the "time to lose" comes, it seems pretty well all lost. Have not some of you had such storms to blow down upon you, as though they would sweep out of your heart everything that you hoped God had put there? And have you not had such seasons of darkness come upon you, that you could not see any one mark of divine teaching, or any one feature of Christ's image? That was "a time to lose." But if God has done anything for your soul, has communicated any real blessing to your heart, or spoken one soft word to your conscience, that is to be kept. We are not to part with any one thing God is pleased to do for our souls. We are not to cast away one grain of the treasure that God has lodged in earthen vessels. We are not to throw to the moles and to the bats any one thing, however feeble it may appear, that comes from God; for having come from him, it is a good and perfect gift.
The blessed Spirit works upon the heart; but 'our most holy and religious flesh' will work with the blessed Spirit. In early days are we not very ignorant, and often mistake the letter for the spirit, and the form for the power? But when the Lord begins to put the soul into the furnace, and permits it to be shaken in Satan's sieve, the effect is to burn up, or sift away everything that is of the creature and of the flesh. But mark, that which God himself has done for the soul, it leaves untouched. There is, therefore, "a time to keep."
Satan does not care how much you keep of the 'flesh', but he will try hard to baffle you out of everything that God has done for your soul. If he sees you heaping up chaff, he will encourage you to heap up more; but if he see you storing up a few grains of solid wheat, he will try, by a blast of his mouth, or a whirl of his sieve, to blow those few grains out of your hand. If he sees you very self-wise, self-righteous, or self-confident, he will encourage you in all that; but if he sees you doubting, fearing, desponding, tried, and exercised, he will endeavor, in another form, to persuade you that you have never received anything from God, and that all your religion is but a mass of hypocrisy. When, therefore, the blessed Spirit has told us there is "a time to get," and also "a time to lose," in order to show that we do not lose any one thing which he has communicated, he adds, there is "a time to keep."
But what have we to keep? Everything that God has done for the soul, especially everything that we can look upon as a real blessing. For instance—have you ever had any deliverance? Has the Lord ever proclaimed liberty to your soul? Has he ever applied a promise to your heart? Has he ever dropped a word softly and sweetly into your conscience? Has he ever answered your prayers? Has he ever made darkness light before you, and crooked things straight? Has he ever revealed himself to you? Has he ever raised up in your heart faith in his blessed self? Has he ever sprinkled your conscience with atoning blood? Has he ever discovered to you his glorious righteousness and assured you, that you are personally and savingly interested in it? Has he ever shed abroad any measure of his love in your heart, and made himself very near, very dear, and very precious to your soul?
Now these things Satan will be perpetually trying to baffle your soul out of. He will keep whispering, "It was all delusion and fleshly excitement; it was not real; it did not come from God; it did not come in this way, it did not come in that way. How do you know," he will say (for he can reason very ably; he is a thorough master of rhetoric) "that it was from God? Those broken feelings you once had—those tears that rolled down your cheeks—that melting of heart under a sense of the Lord's presence—that whisper which came into your conscience—that word which dropped into your soul—that deliverance out of trial—that snare so powerfully broken—that temptation out of which you were brought—how do you know" (Satan can plead with all the art and craft of a counselor) "it came from God?"
And the poor soul very often in these seasons of darkness, temptation, and perplexity, cannot answer, 'Yes it was God.' As the church of old said, "We see not our signs;" so he cannot see that this was of God, or that was of God. He can see it in others; he can see the image of Jesus in the children of God—but he cannot see the work of God upon himself.
But the Holy Spirit says, there is "a time to keep." And when is this time? Why, the very time that Satan is trying to baffle you out of it; when he says, 'Give it all up; cast aside your profession; go into the world; never come before God's face any more, lest he strike you dead for presumption; never go to hear an experimental minister again, lest he unmask you as an hypocrite; never read the writings of gracious men again, lest you only add to your condemnation.' When Satan is dealing out his rhetoric and infernal oratory, that is the very "time to keep." What! will you part with your blessings, with your evidences, with your manifestations, with your sweet discoveries, with your love visits, with the Lord's smiles, with anything that you believe, in your right mind, God has done for your soul? There is "a time to keep;" and it is in temptation, in trial, in difficulty that this time is.
It is like a man going into the city with a large sum of money about him—how he keeps his hand upon it, lest sharp fingers should pilfer his treasure! So with the children of God. If the Lord bestows a favor, how careful the soul is lest that thief Satan should rob it of its heavenly treasure! When the blessed Spirit shines upon the soul, brightens its evidences, shows it that this or that word came from the Lord—that this was a token for good—that this deliverance was an answer to prayer—that the Lord appeared for us here, and appeared for us there—when the blessed Spirit is thus pleased to lift up a standard when Satan comes in like a flood—then it is "a time to keep."
And, depend upon it, we shall need to keep all we have gotten. The Lord will ever make us feel poor and needy, and will bring us into such spots and places as to make us value the least blessing; he will make us prize the feeblest evidence, and cleave to the scantiest testimony. But are there not some bright spots that you can now and then look back upon? some "Ebenezers?" some "hill Mizars?" Can you look back upon the time when the Lord first blessed your soul? Can you put your hand upon the season when there was first a discovery of Jesus? when you first heard the word with power? when your heart was first melted with sensations of mercy and love? Now, these are to be diligently kept, highly to be prized, deeply to be stored up in your heart. These are the jewels that Bunyan speaks of in the 'Pilgrim'—the roll in the bosom, the mark on the forehead. By these the soul will be recognized when it stands before the "great white throne;" and therefore, they are to be kept, not to be parted with, whatever Satan may urge, whatever reason may argue, whatever the flesh may say, whatever the wickedness and infidelity of our hearts may plead. Everything from the Lord is to be kept, and highly prized, because it springs from the mercy and goodness of God.
IV. But as there is "a time to keep," so there is also "a time to CAST AWAY." What do we cast away? That which in time past, perhaps, we hoarded as a great treasure, prized very highly, and set an amazing value upon. As we keep everything that comes from God, so we cast away everything that does not bear his stamp upon it. Everything that does not come with divine savor and unction into the heart; everything that wears upon its face the suspicious tint of fallen human nature, and does not bear the stamp of grace, is to be "cast away." God puts his mark upon genuine silver only; the plated goods never wear the stamp of heaven. Just as in nature we cast away whatever is loathsome and vile; as we sweep the dust and rubbish out of our house, and the filth and dirt into the streets; so when the Lord is pleased to shine into a man's soul, and shows him what he has done and is doing for him, he casts away as dust and rubbish all that does not bear God's mark, and is not stamped from heaven's own mint. For instance,
1. We "cast away" presumption. There was a time when, perhaps, some of you mistook presumption for faith; but when the Lord showed you what a horrible thing presumption was, and made you see and feel the difference between presumption and faith, then the closer did you clasp living faith to your bosom, and the more you cast presumption away.
2. There was a time, perhaps, when you were satisfied with a notional acquaintance with the gospel; and because you were a sound Calvinist, you thought you were a sound Christian. But you have been taught, some of you, by painful exercises and soul perplexities, the distinction between the letter and the spirit, the form and the power—and you "cast away"—not the doctrines; no—they are to be highly prized, for they are the very sum and substance of gospel truth—but you "cast away" a 'natural knowledge' of them, a 'notional acquaintance' with them, as a thing quite distinct from the application of truth with divine power to your heart.
3. You "cast away" also fleshly excitement in religion. Fleshly excitement is the all in all of most professors of religion. A few natural tears trickling down the cheeks; a few carnal passions wrought upon by the eloquence of the preacher; a few movings and meltings of natural affection under a passionate discourse; a calm, softened feeling produced by a well-sung hymn or a swelling organ; a thrill of rapture from listening to a description of the joys of heaven; a hearing others talk of their assurance until by imitation they are persuaded of their own—this carnal excitement passes for religion with hundreds and thousands. But you who are better taught, "cast it away;" you are afraid of this fleshly excitement; you are afraid to mistake the natural tear trickling down the cheek for the godly sorrow that the blessed Spirit raises up; you are afraid to mistake the mere raising up of the natural spirits for the liftings up of the light of God's countenance. Therefore you "cast away" as dangerous and delusive all mere fleshly excitement.
4. And you cast "away" also all dependence on the creature; all confidence in self, all looking to man, all resting upon an arm of flesh. You have been so wounded and pierced by resting on an arm of flesh, that you cast it away, as you would a sharp stick that had run into your hand and pierced you, or as Paul shook off the viper into the fire.
5. You "cast away" too your own wisdom, for it has proved to be folly. You "cast away" your own strength, for you know it to be utter weakness. You "cast away" makingresolutions, for you know you cannot keep them. You "cast away" making promises, for you know you cannot fulfill them. You "cast away" creature faith because you know it cannot stand your soul in the day of wrath. Your desire to "cast away" pride; to "cast away" self-seeking; yes, to "cast away" everything that wears the appearance of godliness, and yet does not bear the stamp and mark of God upon it. You "cast away" an empty profession, and a name to live while dead, and being settled upon your lees. In one word, you "cast away" with contempt and shame, everything that the blessed Spirit has discovered to you to spring from the creature, and to be the mere product of nature and the flesh.
But there is "a TIME to cast away"—such as a time of sickness, when death is in sight, and when the heart sinks and quakes before eternity; a time of temptation, when the heart needs something to bear it up amid the storm; a time of trial, when we need God himself to be the strength of our heart here, and our portion forever.
Thus, as the Lord leads his people, he carries on in them two apparently opposite, yet blessedly reconcilable operations. The Spirit keeps stripping and clothing—wounding and healing—making poor and making rich—bringing low and raising up. Sometimes he gives, and sometimes he takes away—sometimes makes Jesus precious, sometimes makes self hateful—sometimes gives true signs, sometimes takes away false tokens—some times bestows real testimonies, sometimes takes away false evidences—sometimes gives spiritual faith, sometimes takes away natural faith—sometimes gives true confidence, sometimes takes away vain confidence—sometimes gives true love, sometimes takes away the mere excitement of the flesh and of the creature.
And yet, all for one end—to render Jesus precious, and make the soul fit for the inheritance of the saints in light. He deals with the soul in grace, as the clever sculptor deals with the marble block. He chips out a piece here, and makes prominent a piece there; and at last brings out the beautiful figure of man. So the blessed Spirit—that true sculptor, who engraves Christ's image in the heart—sometimes gives and sometimes takes; sometimes pares here, sometimes puts on there; until at last he brings forth the image of Christ in the soul, and forms him in the heart, "the hope of glory."
Now, this "religion with two sides to it", only the family of God are acquainted with. As to those who know nothing of divine teaching—with them it is all getting, getting, getting. But what does it end in? When God manifests his displeasure, it is all blown away in a moment! They are storing their granaries with chaff, heaping up treasures of dross, filling their bottles with smoke, and making ropes of sand! All, all that is so laboriously got, and so highly prized, one breath from the Lord will one day disperse to the four winds of heaven!
But the Lord's people have a religion which has two sides to it. All their religion consists in what the blessed Spirit is pleased himself to communicate to them. What he teaches they know—what he gives, they possess—what he inspires, they feel—and what he breathes into their heart, they enjoy. His work is, to keep stripping them of self, and manifesting to them a precious Jesus, and their saving interest in him. And thus, under the Spirit's teaching, they grow weaker—and yet stronger; they get worse in self—and more sensibly complete in Christ; they grow down in humility—and upward into faith. Thus, by the Spirit's blessed work upon their souls, they lose all that stands in 'nature', and they get all that stands in the Spirit. So that, the Lord's people all experimentally prove the truth of these words, "There is a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away."
And what have you got? How many years have you made a profession? Ten, twenty, thirty years? What have you got during all this time? Anything worth keeping? Any religion that will stand the storm? Any faith that will abide the trying hour? Depend upon it, if you have got anything that will stand the storm, that will endure in the trying hour—it is what the Spirit has been pleased to lodge in your heart.
And, depend upon it, if ever we have got anything from God, we have lost as well as got; there has been "a time to lose" as well as "a time to get."
And if we have anything that we keep, and sometimes can bless God for, and look upon with sweetness as an Ebenezer—if there is anything that really we feel, in dark trying seasons, worth keeping, something that God himself has done for our souls—depend upon it, we shall have to "cast away" everything else. The Lord will never allow us to keep the flesh—and keep the Spirit; to keep his testimonies—and to keep our own; to keep true confidence—and to keep false confidence; to keep the favor of God—and to keep the favor of man. He will never let us keep in the one hand a spiritual religion—and in another a fleshly religion. He will never let us keep in one hand Christ's righteousness—and in the other our fleshly holiness. We shall not have two chambers in our heart, and fill one with Christ's riches—and the other with creature riches. We shall never have self to bow down to, idolize, and worship in one niche—and the Lord of life and glory to worship in another.
The same bounteous hand that gives—strips and spoils; the same kind Benefactor that puts it into the heart to keep what God has committed there—enables us, yes, "casts away" for us, "casts away" in us, whatever does not bear God's stamp, and his heavenly mark.
And O, when we come to look at things in this light, how little we have that really seems got from God! how little we have that seems really worth keeping! If you "cast away" all that you have learned from men—all your dry, notional knowledge—all your self-righteousness and fleshly holiness—when you "cast it all away" as the mariners on board Paul's ship cast the wheat into the sea, and leave nothing behind but what God has done for you—a word here, and a smile there; a promise now, and a whisper then—how little there is! How many things will there be worth keeping when we lie upon a death-bed, are made honest before God, and eternity stares us in the face? When fears, and doubts, and trials, and temptations have blown away all fleshly confidence and all creature religion, how many testimonies will then be left in our soul to go into eternity with? How many answers to prayer? How many applications of the blood of Jesus? How many sweet manifestations of his presence? How many visits from his gracious self? How many words dropped with his own power into the heart? One, two, three, four, five, or ten? If we have one, it will save us—but one will not satisfy. Like Gideon, we must have token upon token, sign upon sign—one will not satisfy; evidence upon evidence, testimony upon testimony, whisper upon whisper, smile upon smile, answer upon answer. We never can have too much; yet how little it is when all is summed up!
Now, when your religion is held up in these balances—when all is pared away except God's teaching and God's revealing—how little, O how little remains! When weighed up in these strict, unerring "balances of the sanctuary" how scanty a shred is left! And yet that little will save. And sure I am, the man whose heart is made honest before God, never wants to have any religion but what God teaches; he never wants to lean upon anything but what God does for him. No; he cannot go into eternity except with what the Lord has been pleased to work in his heart with power.
As the Lord, then, carries on from time to time his gracious work in the soul, and brings these times and seasons over our head and into our heart, we shall find and prove to the very letter the words of the text, there is "a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away." May the Lord favor us with many such times!
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