“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53: 6.
“O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is thine help.” Hosea 13: 9.
HAVE you ever seen a sparrow? Of course, you say, “I have seen thousands.” Well, I will tell you a story about one that I saw some years ago. Returning from a walk one afternoon, I was rather startled, as I went along the gravel path leading to my friend’s house, by a strange noise coming from the conservatory. On getting close, the sound increased. I could see no one inside, so I hurried in, and found to my surprise that the cause of all this ado was a poor little sparrow.
It had flown in at the open door of the glasshouse, and seemed very much ruffled and perplexed to find that it could not fly out through the glass window at the other end.
As soon as I entered, its freight increased tenfold. It flew wildly from side to side, and from pane to pane, dashing itself against the glass with terrible force. Whenever I tried to catch it, the Poor little creature would dart away from me, just as though it were mad, and give itself such a frightful knock that it was evident it would soon be killed.
So I called a servant, and we both tried hard to get hold of the little thing. But it was no use. It seemed determined to kill itself. We were, however, determined to save it, if possible. It made our hearts ache to see how fearfully the sparrow was hurting itself!
At last our foolish little bird gave its head a crack against the glass, and then fell right down on to the mould in a flower-pot, quite exhausted, lying there trembling and panting. We took it up very gently, and put the little weary thing into some cold water for a moment, just to refresh it. We then carried it out into the garden and laid it on one of the shrubs, fearing that it was too far gone to recover. But what was our joy after a little while, to see it move, then shake itself about, and soon afterwards fly right away into a tall tree!
Now, dear children, having read my story, you must not skip over the rest. Having read the text, mind you pay attention to the lesson. The sparrow got itself into danger and trouble. Yes, it was its own fault. No doubt the pretty flowers in the conservatory looked very tempting; but it had no business to go in at all. And is not this just like the sinner?
A missionary, addressing a school, observed, “There is nothing we can properly call our own,” and put the question, “Can you think of anything that you can call your own?”
“Yes sir,” said one of the heathen girls, “there is, I think, one thing. Our sins are our own!”
Yes, dear children, your sins are your own, and every soul in hell will have to cry out for ever, “I’m lost, I’m lost! and it is all my own fault.” You are indeed a sinner. You have sinned against God, and no sin can ever enter heaven. What will become of you? Let us look at our text again.
The bird soon found out its danger, and tried to escape out of prison, but it was easier to get in than to get out.
See how hard the little creature tried to save itself! It dashed itself against one pane of glass after another, trying all ways but the right. And is not that just like the sinner?
As soon as the Holy Spirit of God shows a little boy that he is a lost sinner, and in real danger of being lost forever, the first thing he is almost sure to do is to try to save himself.
“O,” he will say, “I must begin to be a good boy, and then God will love me and save me.” So he tries to behave better than he used to. But it is all of no use; he cannot save himself!
Now, I pitied the sparrow when I saw it in such trouble, and I was quite able to set it free. Yet the foolish bird would not believe that I came as a friend, but flew from me as if I were its enemy. And so it is with the sinner.
When our dear Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, looked down from heaven, and saw that all the boys and girls, and men and women, were in dreadful danger, and quite helpless, His loving heart was filled with pity, for
“He knew how wicked man had been,
And knew that God must punish sin;
So, out of pity, Jesus said,
He’d bear the punishment instead.”
Then He left His bright home of glory in the skies, came to this world, and poured out His precious life blood. And now He stands at the door of the little sinner’s heart, and knocks and knocks again with that pierced hand from which the blood flowed. But no! the door does not fly open as you would expect. How is it? Why, the sinner looks on the Lord Jesus as an enemy, and not as a dear, kind Friend.
O, dear child, whoever you are, reading this paper, how have you treated the Lord Jesus—as an enemy or as a Friend?
Perhaps He is knocking once more at this very moment. Open—open the
door directly, and let Him come into your poor heart. At last, when the little bird was quite weary and worn out with trying to save itself, it fell down utterly helpless. Now was the time to prove that I was its real friend. Did I beat and scold it for treating us so badly, and keeping us so long waiting? No, I saved it. I carried the little weary thing to the refreshing water, and then put it in the warm sunshine, where it soon soared heavenwards!
O, poor little sinner, the sweet voice of the Lord Jesus says, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.”
“I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.’
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Behold, I freely give
The living water, thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.’”
Are you weary? Are you tired of trying to save yourself? If so, Jesus will gladly save you. Will you give yourself to Him just now? “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22: 17).
Poor mistaken bird, you say, to try and get away from the friend who was longing to save it. But, O, what a much greater mistake the sinner makes who tries to get away from that dear Friend who is waiting to be gracious!
O, come then, dear child, at once, and drink of the refreshing stream of God’s grace. Come and bathe your weary soul in the fountain of your Redeemer’s blood, rejoice in the sunshine of His love, and set out on the road to heaven.
ML 12/22/1912