How can he travel through this waste-howling wilderness?
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If you are alive to what you are as a poor, fallen sinner—you will see yourself surrounded by enemies, temptations, sins, and snares. You will feel yourself utterly defenceless, as weak as water, without any strength to stand against them. You will see a mountain of difficulties before your eyes. If you know anything inwardly and experimentally of yourself—of the evils of your heart, the power of sin, the strength of temptation, the subtlety of your unwearied foe, and the daily conflict between nature and grace, the flesh and the Spirit, which are the peculiar marks of the true child of God—you will find and feel your need of salvation as a daily reality.
How shall you escape the snares and temptations spread in your path? How shall you get the better of all your enemies—external—internal—infernal—and reach heaven's gates safe at last? There is present salvation, an inward, experimental, continual salvation communicated out of the fullness of Christ as a risen Mediator. Don't you need to be daily and almost hourly saved? But from what? Why, from everything in you that fights against the will and word of God.
Sin is not dead in you. If you have a saving interest in the precious blood of Christ—if your name is written in the Lamb's book of life, and heaven is your eternal home—that does not deliver you from the indwelling of sin, nor from the power of sin—except as grace gives you present deliverance from it. Sin still works in your carnal mind, and will work in it until your dying hour! What then you need to be saved from is the guilt, filth, power, love and practice of that sin which ever dwells and ever works in you—and often brings your soul into hard and cruel bondage.
Now Christ lives at the right hand of God for His dear people, that He may be ever saving them by His life. There He reigns and rules as their glorious covenant Head, ever watching over, feeling for, and sympathizing with them, and communicating supplies of grace for the deliverance and consolation for all His suffering saints spread over the face of the earth. The glorious Head is in heaven, but the suffering members upon earth—and as He lives on their behalf, He maintains by His Spirit and grace, His life in their soul.
Each Christian has to walk through a great and terrible wilderness, wherein are fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought (Deut. 8:15)—where he is surrounded with temptations and snares—his own evil heart being his worst foe! How can he travel through this waste-howling wilderness unless he has a Friend at the right hand of God to send him continual supplies of grace—who can hear his prayers, answer his petitions, listen to his sighs, and put his tears into his bottle—who can help him to see the snares, and give him grace to avoid them—who observes from his heavenly watch tower the rising of evil in his heart, and can put a timely and seasonable check upon it before it bursts into word or action? He needs an all-wise and ever-living Friend who can—save him from pride by giving him true humility—save him from hardness of heart by bestowing repentance—save him from carelessnessby making his conscience tender—save him from all his fears by whispering into his soul, "Fear not, I have redeemed you."
The Christian has to be continually looking to the Lord Jesus Christ—to revive his soul when drooping—to manifest His love to his heart when cold and unfeeling—to sprinkle his conscience with His blood when guilty and sinking—to lead him into truth—to keep him from error and evil—to preserve him through and amid every storm—to guide every step that he takes in his onward journey—and eventually bring him safe to heaven. We need continual supplies of His grace, mercy, and love received into our hearts, so as to save us from the love and spirit of the world—from error—from the power and strength of our own lusts—and the base inclinations of our fallen nature. These will often work at a fearful rate—but this will only make you feel more your need of the power and presence of the Lord Jesus to save you from them all.
You are a poor, defenceless sheep, surrounded by wolves, and, as such, need all the care and defence of the good Shepherd. You are a ship in a stormy sea, where winds and waves are all contrary, and therefore need an all wise and able pilot to take you safe into harbour. There is not a single thing on earth or in hell which can harm you—if you are only looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, and deriving supplies of grace and strength from Him.
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