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■r.ote: During the vacation of Dr. T ?■’
.ton, our Pulpit Editor, in America, The
Age is fortunate in be/ng able to furnish a
every week from Dr. A. C. Dixon, whose
Sermons are published regularly in The Christian
Globe, of London, England. Dr. Dixon is Dr. Brough
ton s “Father in the Gospel” and is doing a great
work as pastor of Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, London.)
Text: ‘’And Moses said unto the people,
fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord.” ‘And the Lord said unto Moses,
Wherefore criest thou unto nie, speak unto
the children of Israel that they go forward.
Ex. 14:13, 15.
TaND still, and go forward. The stand
ing still is the preparation for the go
ing forward, and if we never learn to
s
stand still we will never learn to go
forward. Notice these three expressions: ‘‘Fear
ye not, ’ ‘‘Stand still, and ‘‘See.” Courage,
quietness and vision. They have a very inti
mate relation to each other. Cowards are
never quiet. 1 hey are restless. They get ner
vous, agitated. And as you are brave and quiet
you have a clear vision. A man who is fright
ened does not see so well. His vision is apt
to be blurred. He must have peace of soul,
peace of mind, in order that he may see. No
tice the kind of courage. Courage in the face
of danger. There was danger behind them.
she» Egyptians were behind them and the
mountains were on each side. But I hardly
think Moses had in view courage in face of
danger. He was not telling these Israelites
to face about and fight. He knew they would
have been at a disadvantage. They would have
been overwhelmed. It was courage in the face
of difficulty. There lay before them the Red
Sea. No human power could divide it. And
the courage in meeting the difficulty was more
needed than the courage in meeting the dan
ger. 1 think, weak as they were, if you had
asked those Israelites which they would rather
do, turn round and fight the Egyptians or di
vide the Red Sea, I think they would have se
lected the Egyptians. They would have had
more hope of overcoming the organized army
of the Egyptians, equipped with all the re
sources of the Empire, than to open the Red
Sea. And I think they could have done it
more easily. Be courageous in the face of im
possibilities. When God has put an obstacle
before you be brave. Jehovah said to Joshua,
Be of good courage,” when he commisisoned
him to go to battle. And in speaking to Solo
mon concerning the building of the Temple
He used exactly the same words. Solomon
needed couaage amid the difficulties of tem
ple-building just as Joshua needed courage to
meet the danger of battle.
“At Him.”
Fear not under God’s leading though there
be a Red Sea ahead of you. Then the quiet
ness. You cannot accomplish things by activ
ity only. It must be a movement of power.
If we know how to be quiet before God, simply
to wait upon him, there would be a baptism of
power as the result. It is more difficult to be
FD STILL” AND “GO FORWARD”
rSermon by DR. A. C. DIXON, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, England
THE GOLDEN AGE FOR WEEK OF SEPT. 18
quiet than it is to be active. Old soldiers
tell me that they would rather charge in the
battle than lie in the trenches. It takes more
grit ami grace to wait than it does to charge,
even into danger. Stand still and see the sal
vation of God. See God destroy your ' icmies.
One of the best ways to destroy enemies to be
be quietly restful in heart. Stand still. Look
up. and God will do the rest. Your God will
fight for you. I get great encouragement from
Luthers table Talks. You may remember
what he said was his former temptation. When
he saw the devil coming he would brace him
self up and say, “Oh, Lord, my enemy’s ap
proaching. Help me to meet him.” And he
would meet him with all the force that he had,
and usually was conquered. Now, he said,
when I see the devil coming, I just say, “Lord,
here is the devil. At him.” And I just stand
still and see the Lord settle him.
Influence.
May I be permitted a word of personal tes
timony. I was pastor of a little church at a
university town, my second little pastorate.
There were 350 young men in the university.
Mothers sent me word asking me to pray for
their sons and seek their salvation. I tried
to do it. I visited them. I invited them to
the church. They came in large numbers.
They seemed interested. I used all the scrip
tures, and all the logic and all the philoso
phy and all the poety and all the illustrations
I had in those boys, and I felt rather grateful
that they were coming, and were so courageous
and kind. And yet not one of them was con
verted. And so it seemed I ought to have a
special service, and appointed a mission that
was to last through the week. The boys came
to the mission, 75 or 90 at a time. After the
first few days they became boistrous. They
were full of mischief, as boys of a university
will be . It was rather hard to grapple with
them. They tried to tease me as the young
pastor. As I walked through the grove of
the university buildings I could hear my voice.
Some one had been to the service and heard
my sermon and was imitating me to a dot. And
I heard my voice in prayer from a window and
he was imitating me again, and then roars of
laughter all over the camp. And I felt op
pressed in soul. I was defeated. I was about
to resign. “Let someone come in and influ
ence these boys and lead them to Christ. I
had failed.” I was so agitated and restless
I could not sleep, and, after a sleepless night
I took my Bible in my hand and went into
the Grove, back of the university buildings.
I can see the old stone under the tree where
1 spent the day till three o ’clock in the after
noon. Didn’t want breakfast. Hadn’t thought
of fasting. Didn’t care for lunch. I was there
waiting upon God and asking him to tell me
what was the matter. And as a result of that
day s experience there came to me a vision
of the distinction between influence and power.
Influence is made up of everything that is
good; influence, wealth, social position, educa
tion. All of it ought to be used for God, but
all put together could not save the university
students, could not save a child ten years old.
'Che word “influence” does not occur but once
in the Bible. That is in the book of Job, where
Jehovah is talking with the old patriarch about
the “sweet influence of the Pleiades.” That
is a beautiful text, referring to spring time
"when the flowers bloom, the birds sing. But
somehow, the “sweet influence of the Pleia
des' ’were not enough for a lot of college stu
dents. , Did not seem to take hold of them and
convert them as we were praying for. The
word that gripped my heart and warmed it
was the New Testament word, “power.” “Tar
ry at Jerusalem until you get—not more in
fluence—until you have power.” And some of
the most influential people in the world are
the most powerless. It is possible to fl
influential church powerless, and an uninflu
ential church powerful, because it is linked to
God in prayer. The Lord Jesus was not a man
of influence. He made himself of no reputa
tion. He emptied himself. He had the power.
You remember Paul and Silas had not enough
influence to keep out of goal. When a man
has not enough influence to keep out of goal
he is in a bad way certainly. But when in goal
he was in touch with power so that God shook
the doors open. That is what we need, to keep
in touch with the power that will shake the
doors open. I spent that day trying to get in
touch with it. And when I went down to the
meeting room in the college buildings, without
breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper, I was just
certain that God would save those young men.
I had quit looking at logic, poetry, illustra
tions, Scripture, oratory. My eyes were fixed
upon God, and I believed he would do it. I
was certain he was hearing me as I read that
portion of Scripture and expounded. Ido not
remember what it was, with the boys sitting
there before me. I got down and said, “Now,
if there is any here who would like to be
Christians and are willing to let me know
it, won’t you come and take the front seats.”
And you know, they filled two or three rows.
And God, before that mission closed, saved 75
of those bright university students. It mark
ed a crisis in my life, and if God has ever done
anything through me it has been through the
change of vision from trusting influence to
trusting power in the Holy Spirit. If I had to
depend on influence, on men or money, or
anything else I would quit the tabernacle pul
pit tomorrow. But my trust is in God. “Stand
still and see God work.” The Egyptians were
overwhelmed. The sea came together. The
best way to overwhelm the Egyptians is just
to trust in God and move forward the
line that he marks out. Especially is that so
in reference to your sins. I remember in my
my own life when I had an experience of con
viction of sin. Though but a lad the Egyptians
of guilt seemed to be pursuing me. I am not
ashamed to say I was afraid of hell. My dear
old father believed the Bible and preached it
without apology. I believed there was a doom
(Continued on page 14.)