14. Summer 1908

Summer 1908

"This summer we persuaded him to come up to the Hills with us. His room was a separate one upon the hill and to one side of our house. Here he came, but came for a very real intercession with his Master. This intercession was fraught with mighty issues for the kingdom of God amongst us. It was evident to all that he was bowed down with sore travail of soul. He missed many meals, and when I went to his room I would find him lying as in great agony, or walking up and down as if an inward fire were burning in his bones. And so there was that fire of which our Lord spoke when he said: ’I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how would I that it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am straitened till it be ac- complished.’ John did not fast in the ordinary sense of the word, yet often at that time when I begged him to come for a meal he would look at me and smile and say, ’I am not hungry.’ No! there was a far greater hunger eating up his very soul, and prayer alone could satisfy that. Be- fore the spiritual hunger the physical disappeared. He had heard our Lord’s voice saying to him: ’Abide ye here and watch with Me." So he abode there with his Lord, who gave him the privilege of entering Gethsemane with himself.

One thought was constantly uppermost in his mind, that our Lord still agonizes for souls. Many times he used to quote from the Old and New Testaments, especially as to the privilege of ’filling up that which was lacking of the afflictions of Christ.’ He would speak of the vow made by our Lord devoting a long drawn out travail of soul till all his own were safely folded. ’For I say unto you that I shall not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine till that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’ ’Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?’ These were some of the verses used of God to open his eyes to the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. These were days when the clouds were often pierced and the glorified life that our Lord now leads shone through, revealing many mysteries of travail and pain. It was truly a following of him who is the Lamb, suffering still with us as he once did for us on earth, though now himself on the throne. John Hyde found that he still carries our crosses—the heavy end of our crosses, ’for he ever liv- eth to make intercession for us.’

"It was into the life of prayer and watching and agonizing for others that he was being led step by step. All this time, though he ate little and slept less, he was bright and cheerful. Our children had ever been a great joy to him. Uncle John, who had so often played with them, was always welcomed with smiles of love. Yet now, even the little ones appeared to realize that this was no time for play! They were wonderfully subdued and quiet in his presence in those days, for there was a light on his face that told of communion with another world. Yet there was nothing of the hermit about him,— in fact people were more than ever attracted to him, and freely asked for his prayers. He always had leisure to speak to them of spiritual things, and entered even more pa- tiently than ever into their trials and disappointments. We will not speak in detail of those days of watching and praying and fasting when he appeared to enter into our Lord’s great yearning for his sheep. We feared his poor weak body would sink under the strain; but how marvelously he was sustained all the time! At times that agony was dumb, at times it was a crying out for the millions perishing before our eyes; yet it was always lit up with hope. Hope in the love of God— Hope in the God of Love." With all that depth of love which he seemed to be sounding with his Lord, there were glimpses of its heights—moments of heaven upon earth, when his soul was flooded with songs of praise, and he would enter into the joy of his Lord. Then he would break into song but they were always "Songs in the night." In those days he never seemed to lose sight of those thousands in his own district without God and -without hope in the world. How he pleaded for them with sobs—dry choking sobs, that showed how the depths of his soul were being stirred. "Father, give me these souls or I die!" was the burden of his prayers. His own prayer that he might rather burn out than rust out was already being answered.

Let me introduce here a gem from the pen of Paterson: "What was the secret of that prayer-life of John Hyde’s?" he asks. This, that it was a life of prayer. Who is the source of all life? The glorified Jesus. How do I get this life from him? Just as I receive his righteousness to begin with. I own that I have no righteousness of my own— only filthy rags and I in faith claim his righteous- ness. Now, a twofold result follows:— As to our Father in heaven, He sees Christ’s righteous- ness—not my unrighteousness. A second result as to ourselves: Christ’s righteousness not merely clothes us outwardly, but enters into our very being, by his Spirit, received in faith as with the disciples (see John 20:22) and works out sanctification in us.

Why not the same with our prayer life? Let us remember the word "for." "Christ died for us," and "He ever liveth to make intercession ’for’ us," that is, in our room and stead. So I confess my ever failing prayers (it dare not be called a life), and plead his never failing intercession. Then it affects our Father, for he looks upon Christ’s prayer-life in us, and answers accordingly. So that the answer is far "above all we can ask or think." Another great result follows: it affects us. Christ’s prayer life enters into us and he prays in us. This is prayer in the Holy Spirit. Only thus can we pray without ceasing. This is the life more abundant which our Lord.gives. Oh, what peace, what comfort! No more working up a life of prayer and failing constantly. Jesus enters the boat and the toiling ceases, and we are at the land whither we would be. Now, we need to be still before him, so as to hear his voice and allow him to pray in us—nay, allow him to pour into our souls his overflowing life of intercession, which means literally: Face To Face meeting with God—real Union and Communion."