Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

Explanation

A popular writer has said that “God” is the vaguest word in the English language. The statement offended me when I read it at first, but on considering it I have come to the conclusion that it is true as far as multitudes of men are concerned, and that God is as surely “the unknown God” to them as He was to the Athenian philosophers when Paul preached on Mars Hill nineteen centuries ago.

What is God like? “No man has seen God at any time.” Then who can describe Him for us and introduce us to Him? “The only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Then if that is so, if we would know God, we must listen to the Lord Jesus, for He is the only-begotten Son. No man can be excused if he does not know God now, for the truth as to Him is fully revealed, and the truth is not vague; but not to nature, not to science, not to philosophy must we go for the truth, but to JESUS. He said, when arraigned before Pilate, “Every one that is of the truth hears My voice.”

Now in the central parables of Luke’s Gospel, we hear the voice of Jesus telling us what God is: His care for the needs of men, and His compassionate provision for those needs, His love for men, His desire for their company, and His just judgment on the despisers and impenitent are set before us in vivid pictures. And, said the Lord, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” It is of these parables that I write in this book which I have called, The Feast, the Famine and the Flame. May the blessing of God rest upon the readers.

J. T. Mawson.

Chapter 1

All things are NOW ready.”

“And when one of them that sat at meat with Him heard these things, he said to Him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God. Then said He to him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many: And he sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are NOW ready.” Luke 14.
“Come and hear the grand old story,
   Story told in ages past,
 All earth’s annals far surpassing,
   Story that shall ever last.
     Noblest, truest,
     Oldest, newest,
     Fairest, rarest,
     Saddest, gladdest,
 That this earth has ever known.”

The man who sat at meat with the Lord Jesus and said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God,” was putting into the language of that day the feeling that it must be a good thing for a man to go to heaven when he dies. We do not hear the feeling expressed so often now as we used to when
“There is a happy land
   Far, far away,”
was one of the most often sung hymns at revival meetings. Indeed, whatever may be the inner, unspoken feeling, it has become the popular thing to jeer at the idea, and those who are so far behind the times as to preach a heaven in the future for those who believe the gospel now, are looked upon by many as allies of the Capitalists offering heaven as a bribe to men if only they will be contented with such things as they have and work hard that their “masters” may continue to enjoy the wealth that their labour produces. I do not know when and where the notion started, but Robert Burns worked it into one of his poems one hundred and fifty years ago when he wrote,
“We labour soon, we labour late,
   To feed the titled knave, man,
 And all the comfort we shall get
   Is that ayont the grave, man.”

See how the Lord answered the man who could only imagine blessing from God “ayont the grave.” He propounded to him the parable of the great Supper, and announced the invitation to it, “Come, for all things are NOW ready.” I must lay stress upon the word “now,” for I am sure the Lord did, and what a word it is! It surely means that God will not keep men waiting for happiness until they are dead; He offers to make them happy now, for the parable of the great Supper tells of His provision for the happiness of men. He has prepared joys for them in this life, exceeding their highest expectations, and He invites them to come for them now. It means that in turning to God men do not turn their backs on true satisfaction, for it is a feast to which He invites them and not a fast; He wants them to come to it now, in this life, for all things are now ready.

The Lord Jesus was always divinely quiet when men opposed and blasphemed Him; “when He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not,” yet He must have been profoundly moved and grieved when men misunderstood and distrusted God. Why, I have read of one of His servants, by name John Fletcher, a great preacher, who called his wife and maid to his bedside when he lay dying, and said to them, “Sing, shout, God is love,” so mightily was his soul stirred by the thought of God’s love to men; and I saw a little servant lassie of fourteen, distressed and weeping after a gospel service, who in answer to my question as to what the trouble was, told me that she had persuaded some friends of hers to come and hear about the Saviour and they had gone away unaffected. That was the cause of her grief. Must not the heart of Jesus who knew God’s love in its full tenderness and strength have been stirred by it, and grieved — profoundly grieved, when He saw that men kept God at a distance and lived their lives without Him because they believed the devil’s lie that if He had anything at all for them it was in the future and not in the present? I feel that when the Lord announced this great Supper and gave out the words of the invitation He did so with a spirit and a fervour that must have arrested and impressed those that heard them, and yet with grief of heart, for He knew that many would despise and reject it, but I do not think they would ever forget the way He said, “Come, for all things are now ready.”

We cannot hear His actual voice speaking to us as they did, but the words are there, and they tell us that God has considered and anticipated the deepest needs of our lives, and that He had catered for our happiness, when we had neither the sense nor the power to do it ourselves. Dismiss your distrust of God, cast out of your heart the lie that He is indifferent to the way you live your life. He is not the author of men’s miseries, as some suppose.

It is
“Man’s inhumanity to man
  Makes countless thousands mourn.”

God has prepared the great Supper; neither angels nor men assisted Him. Father, Son and Holy Spirit have done it. None are asked to contribute to it, but all are invited to appropriate it, and to do so now — God wants men to enjoy His Supper now. The heavenly bell is ringing, calling men to the feast now. That “now” in the invitation is a great word. It is the Lord’s own word N.O.W. now. It is an imperative word, it has no future tense, and its antithesis is Never.

I had a relative whom I had not met. He heard that I was to preach in the city in which he lived, and he decided to come and hear me and make my acquaintance. I do not know what he expected, but he was disappointed in what he heard. This very parable was my subject and I pressed upon the people what I am now pressing, that God’s word is now. Now, not to-morrow. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation,” and, “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” I spelt the word many times, for I felt sure that it was my message then as I am sure it is now. My relative listened. What did I mean? This was surely the strangest preaching he had ever heard! Did I think they were a lot of children that needed to have a word of three letters spelt over to them? He had expected something different, an intellectual sermon, perhaps, for intelligent men, or a forceful urge to a better and more useful life; and he went away as I have said, disappointed. But he confessed in a letter afterwards that he could not shake off that word NOW. It followed him, and kept him waking at night; it hammered at the very door of his soul; it was not an invitation only, it was a challenge, and I believe through the infinite mercy of God it did its intended work.

“Come, for all things are now ready.” What does it mean? It means that God is not waiting until you die to receive you but He comes to you now and here, bringing heaven’s blessing to you where you are. God loves you, and, if you will, He will welcome you at last to His home beyond the grave, but He loves you so well that He does not propose to keep you waiting until then to be happy, He sends His message to you now — a message of love and joy, an invitation to a great Supper, made ready for you by an infinite love, “Come, for all things are now ready.”

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Yes, “All things are now ready,” but not a man will come and enter that feast unless he is converted and becomes as a little child. The little child of the Lord’s parable hears and believes, there is no pretence about him, he confesses his need when he feels it, and simply and thankfully receives what is offered him and talks about what he has received. After a protracted gospel service in Kingston, Jamaica, at which many anxious souls had pressed into the feast, a little negro lad, ten years old perhaps, touched me on the elbow and said, “Do speak to me, sir, my soul does feel so unsaved.” We found a quiet spot where he could listen to the word, and then we knelt in prayer. When I had prayed for him, he prayed for himself, “Lord Jesus,” he said, “save my soul.” And he jumped to his feet, having no doubt that his prayer was answered, for as he said, I had told him that the Lord had said, “Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” He had come and proved that the Lord’s words were true.

The next afternoon we held a meeting for boys and girls like himself, and he asked that he might tell them what had happened to him, and this is what he said. “Dear friends, last night I came to Jesus, and He has saved me and made me happy, and I want you all to follow my good example, for Jesus Christ’s sake, Amen.”

Is it as simple as that? Yes, to the little child, but, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to babes.”