NOTES OF AN ADDRESS By the late H. M. HOOKE.
THE Bible was not written for the information of scientists, but there has been no discovery of science which can overthrow the truths it contains. The Word of God stands alone; it does not require the aid of science to establish its authority, or to add to it, for it is complete in itself. In this very chapter we read, “Every word of God is pure... add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Take care and do not add science or any other thing to the Lord’s word, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. In the present day we find people adding to the Lord’s word on every side.
Jesus Himself says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” Yet we find people saying that nobody can know in this world that they have everlasting life; that they must wait until they die before they can know it; and so they make Jesus a liar, for He says that the believer has life now. Is there one who is making Jesus a liar? To such a one I would say, Take care, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar. It is you who are the liar and not Jesus; every word of His is pure, He cannot lie. Come unto Him now, and believe in His word as it stands, without any addition of man, and you will get everlasting life; you may now be the present possessor of everlasting life.
In the scripture at the head of this paper we read of four things which are little on the earth. Now, I am not going to give you a lecture on natural history; if I were I could tell you all about the habits of the ants, conies, locusts, and spiders; but what I want to do is to bring before you what is taught here, and to show you how each of these things spoken of brings before us different conditions. If the first four conditions be true of any, the last four follow as a consequence.
“The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” They do not find their food in their nest, they have to go outside for it. But God causes the food to grow near them; it’s there, and all they have to do is to go outside for it. Are there any whose condition is that of the ants? Are there any who are without strength? Well now, what does Scripture say about those who are without strength? Turn to Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6), where we read, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” If there be one without strength, ungodly, well, Christ died for you, poor sinner. The blessing is for you, but it is outside of yourself; you must look outside of yourself for salvation. God has sent His Son into the world to die for you, and now salvation is within your reach. You must give up trusting in your own works or feelings, and trust in Christ and in the work which He accomplished, and you will be saved just now, as you are, and where you are. The work by which you can be saved was done outside of you by the spotless Son of God, when He suffered on Calvary’s cross.
“The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” Now, how do the conies make their houses in the rocks, for they are unable to make a hole even in the ground? God sends the thunderbolt and rends the rocks, so that the conies may find a place of safety in the clefts. You often listen to the thunder and watch the lightning, all the time wondering why it has been sent. Well, I will tell you; God sends it in order to provide a place of security for the poor feeble conies. When the coney is hidden in the cleft of the rock she is quite safe from the lion (though she may tremble when she hears his roar), as the cleft, though large enough for the coney, is not large enough for the lion to get in. Before the lion could touch one of the feeble conies which are hidden in the rock he would have to tear the rock to pieces, and this he could not do.
Now, beloved hearers, the thunderbolt of the wrath of God against sin has fallen upon Christ, when He suffered on Calvary, and the Rock of Ages has been cleft, as the hymn says —
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Grace hath hid me safe in Thee.”
You wonder why I have changed the second line, and have not said—
“ Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.”
Well, I will tell you why I did so. I am hidden in the cleft of the Rock of Ages, and I do not ask that I may be. Just think how strange it would be if I were to go into one of your houses for tea, and when sitting at your table, with the tea before me, I should begin to knock on the table. You would say, “What do you want?” And suppose I said, “I want you to let me into your house, and give me some tea;” you would say, “But you are in already, and the tea is before you.” If I were to say, “Oh, but I must continue to knock,” you would think it very queer of me to go on that way instead of enjoying what was before me. And so it is with those who go on praying to God for what He has given them already instead of enjoying it, and thanking and praising Him for it. Before I was converted I came to the Lord and said—
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.”
But now I can say—
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Grace hath hid me safe in Thee.”
and thank and praise Him for it. The feeblest believer is safe in Christ, safe in the cleft of the Rock of Ages; and though Satan is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, you need not fear, for he cannot take you out of Christ. Before he can get a single believer out of Christ, he would have to tear the Rock of Ages to pieces. Poor feeble one, do not fear, you are safe forever in the Rock of Ages; safe in the cleft which was made when the thunderbolt of the wrath of God fell upon the Rock of Ages on Calvary’s cross.
“The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” Here we get another thing. The locusts have no visible head, yet they keep in rank. This answers to the unity of the body of Christ. We have no head on earth, but we are all united to our Head in heaven, and to one another on earth by the Holy Ghost. There is one body on earth to which all Christians belong, with Christ the Head in heaven. We, who believe, have all been baptized into the body of Christ by the Spirit, and we are now to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. We should all keep rank as the locusts, and own no head on earth. The locusts form one band as they go forth, and they never break rank; they will allow themselves to be broken by the wheels of an approaching vehicle rather than break rank. It is sad to see Christians split up into so many sects instead of owning the one body, and expressing the unity of it here on earth! We should take a lesson from the locusts, who would rather let themselves be broken into pieces than separate.
“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king’s palaces.” Now, what insect is more repulsive than the spider? And yet it is to be found in the king’s palace. The spiders are to be found in the outhouses in the summer, but when the weather gets cold they find their way into the houses, and generally get to the highest places, where they remain undisturbed. They are to be found on the corners of the drawing-room ceiling, high up, and safe from the housemaid’s broom. No doubt Solomon caught sight of one on the grand ceiling of the drawing-room of his palace, which led him to write about it. Now what position true of all believers, does this answer to? Well, we shall find it in Ephesians 2:4-64But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:4‑6). We were by nature loathsome as the spider, and at a distance from God, in the outhouse and in our sins: “but God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.” We have our place now in the king’s palace.
In the ants we have an illustration of the salvation of all poor sinners who have no strength, but who have come outside of themselves to Christ and taken salvation as a gift from Him. In the conies is seen the security of all believers; in the locusts our unity, and in the spider our place now as seated in the heavenlies. Now when we know that we have salvation and security in Christ, we should seek to keep rank, seek to own the truth of the one body into which we have been baptized by the Holy Ghost, and then live in the enjoyment of our place in Christ. If we do so, the four last conditions will be true of us.
We shall be bold as lions, swift as greyhounds, hardy as goats, and as dignified as kings! There are three things which go well; yea, four are comely in going; a lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any! This is boldness. We should be bold as the lion in the service of the Lord, not to be turned aside by any one from following Him. In the “grayhound” we get swiftness. Well, we are to be swift to serve the Lord; swift to carry out His wishes. The “he-goat” gives us hardness. We are to endure hardness in the Lord’s service. “Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” “A king against whom there is no rising up.” This gives us dignity. We are to go through the world in a manner in keeping with the place we are in. Just fancy the King of Italy coming to England and spending his time playing marbles with the boys on the streets. Would it be in keeping with his position as a king? Surely not; and so with us. We should not do anything unbecoming to our dignity as beloved children of God, and as those who are seated in the heavenlies in Christ. We need not go to theaters, flower shows, concerts, or boat races for enjoyment; it would be beneath our dignity; all our enjoyment is in Christ, and in living for Him. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”