One Wonder Hour by Galilee

A Gospel Address, delivered at the Victoria Hall, Exeter, by Heyman Wreford.
“And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone: what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” — Mark 1:23, 2423And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. (Mark 1:23‑24).
GALILEE! Galilee of the Gentiles! Well do I remember spending one wonder hour gazing from the roof of the Latin Convent at Tiberias, over all the expanse of the Lake of Gennesaret. And as I gazed the present seemed to pass away, and the veil of nineteen centuries was drawn aside. I seemed to hear the voices of a mighty multitude around me. Fair cities rose to view — Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Magdala, and Others. Before me on the lake I saw the flash of Roman galleys as they crossed the belt of blue; the hardy fishermen pursued their constant toil; the seashore was thronged by thousands of people. It was the days when the Son of man was on earth. The great Prophet from Nazareth fed five thousand yonder; there He called the fishermen to follow Him; in yonder synagogue He taught, as One who had authority, and not as the scribes; there He sat in the boat, rocked by the gentle waves of Galilee, and taught the people. Here His most mighty works were clone. It was here He healed the sick of the palsy, and the man with the withered hand. It was on this memorable spot that unclean spirits as He passed fell down before Him, saying, “Thou art the Son of God.” On this shore many things were taught by Him in parables. On yonder mountains He ordained the twelve; and there, where sleeping waters lie golden ‘neath the Eastern sun, the storm swept in darkness and in fury over all the sea, and He slept in the hinder part of the boat on a pillow, until awakened by His terrified followers, who cry, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Then I seemed to see Him arise and gaze for one moment on the awful strife of howling winds and raging waves, and I heard Him say, “Peace, be still,” and the awful diapason of the storm sank to the soft melodies of sunlit skies and sparkling waters.
Yes, I saw it all; the days of Christ on earth. I saw His feet upon the shore, His presence in the crowded towns; I heard His voice and saw His power; and the memory of the old, old days swept across me with a flood of blessed memories.
Never shall I forget that wonder hour I spent on that convent roof.
And forever in my mind is the memory of one Lord’s Day spent by the Sea of Galilee, when, with my Testament in my hand, I read all the passages in the Gospels speaking of the Saviour’s life in Galilee. How beautiful was the sunset glow upon the waters! From where I sat there was a path of gold stretching towards the eastern side of the lake, fringed with the dark ribbed hills of Gadara. For one hallowed moment I seemed to watch for those blessed feet to come towards me on that jeweled pathway. The same sun, the same sea, the same shore, but the Christ of Galilee is in heaven now. In our tents we sang —
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds.
How sweet that precious name was to us, encamped as we were on the very shore so identified with His life on earth.
And this evening it is my purpose, by God’s help, to dwell upon one wonder hour by Galilee. To recall to our memories and hearts one glorious incident of that perfect life.
But let us look at our chapter, before we dwell more particularly upon the words of our text.
As I read the chapter did you not hear voices speaking to you? We get―
1. THE VOICE OF INSPIRATION. “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Can anything surpass the dignity of this utterance, as the inspired prophet thus brings before us the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the full glory of His public ministry. He leaves others to speak of His lineage and His birth. Not for, him to narrate the homage of heavenly hosts, or earthly kings; he does not lead us to the stable of the village inn, or to the quiet hills of Nazareth, or to the temple and the holy Child there. The Man, Christ Jesus, stands before us, the Son of God. It is His Gospel, for all the world to hear. And we hear―
2. THE VOICE OF THE MESSENGER. “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” And so the messenger cries in those memorable days, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight.” Clad in camel’s hair, with a girdle of a skin about his loins, eating locusts and wild honey; a man apart from others, consecrated for a divine mission, he tells of the coming of the Christ. The desert rings with his preaching, and crowds flock out to hear that mighty voice. Hark! “There cometh One mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” He is thrilled with the glory of his message, and with the grandeur and dignity of the COMING ONE. And lo! He came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. He had come! And as He comes out of the water the messenger sees the heavens open above His head, and the Spirit like a dove descends upon Him. Nor is this all, for from those opened heavens a voice is speaking.
3. THE VOICE OF THE FATHER. “Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” How wonderful! The Son on earth, the Father in heaven! What does it mean? Oh! mystery of everlasting love, what does it mean? Heaven and earth in communion now; the crown of the Father’s benediction resting on the brow of the Son of man. “Thou art my beloved Son.” Emmanuel here! God manifest in the flesh here! The voice of the messenger is no longer heard in the deserts of Judæa, nor the voice of the Father from the opened heavens, but God is still speaking to the world by His Son. Have you heard the voice of the Son of God? “He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath everlasting life.” And again, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; AND THEY THAT HEAR SHALL LIVE.” If you do not hear His voice, you will never live; if you do not acknowledge Him to be the Son of the Father, you will be lost for evermore. And now listen to
4. THE VOICE OF THE SON, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. The messenger is in prison, his work on earth is done, but the Master cries, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Ah! to have been there, to have heard that voice and seen that Preacher; to have heard the gospel as He preached it, and to have believed it before His face. He told them to “repent.” Did He see the tears in their eyes and the sorrow in their hearts on account of sin? Does He now, as He looks from heaven on this meeting? “Believe the gospel.” “The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Oh! mighty Saviour, many of us do believe the gospel; we believe in Thee, we trust in Thee. Have mercy tonight, Lord Jesus, on the unrepentant and the unsaved. May they hear Thy voice, Thou blessed Redeemer. May they come to Thee, thou Christ of Galilee.
And now in Capernaum, these blessed feet are found, and on the Sabbath day He entered into the synagogue and taught. How did He teach? “As One who had AUTHORITY, and not as the scribes.” There was no speculation in what the Saviour said no hesitancy as to the giving out of the truth, no speaking merely to please the human intelligence, or to appeal to the imagination of man. He spoke the truth of God in the power of God. He dealt with everlasting certainties as One who knew. He spoke of heaven as One who lived there; of the mysteries of life and death, as One who comprehended all. He knew the mind of God, and so there was divine authority in every word spoken by the Son of God.
And so with us today. How beautiful to be able to say, amid all the perplexities of life, amid all the various phases of unbelief, amid all the daring infidelity and sham religiousness that fills the world — HE KNOWS. I cannot understand the problems of the universe, the mystery that lies underneath so many things; the why and the wherefore of this and that; why God allowed sin; why Christ must die to put away sin; why the wicked prosper and the powers of evil seem to have it all their own way. But HE KNOWS. He can speak with authority because He is the Son of God. I can listen to His voice, learn of Him who is the TRUTH. HE KNOWS AND HE CARES. He knows all about me, that I am a poor lost sinner who cannot save myself and must be for evermore lost without Him; and HE CARES. Yes, “He loved me, and gave himself for me.” He cares. He does not want me to be lost, and so in infinite love and tenderness, He says, “Come unto me.” Ah! perplexed and weary one here tonight, come to Jesus. Listen to His voice. He speaks as One who has authority, and not as the vain religious teachers of the present day. How many of them are the enemies of the Lord of Truth! They are denying His divinity and setting aside His word. They bring their vile merchandise into the house of God, seeking to make it a den of robbers. They prate at the street corners as the pharisees of old; they are “whited sepulchres,” fair in the eyes of man, but vile and loathsome before God. Ah! sinner, cease from man; seek the truth, love the truth, obey the truth, and the truth shall make you free. He knows and He cares. He knows all about you, and He cares for you.
(To be continued).