16. 1909 Convention - Two Souls a Day
1909 Convention - Two Souls a Day
Again John Hyde laid hold of God with a definite and importunate request. This time it was for two souls a day. At this convention God used him even more mightily than ever before. God spoke through his servant John Hyde.
We speak with bated breath of the most sacred lesson of all—glimpses that he gave us into the divine heart of Christ broken for our sins. He did not overwhelm us with this sight all at once. He revealed these glimpses gently and lovingly according to our ability to endure it. Ah, who can forget how he showed us his great heart of love pierced by that awful sorrow at the wickedness of the whole world, "which grieved him at his heart."
Deeper and deeper we were allowed to enter into the agony of God’s soul, till like the prophet of sorrow, Jeremiah, we heard his anguish, desiring that his eyes might become a fountain of tears, that he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people. There the di- vine longing was realized in Gethsemane and Calvary! We were led to see the awful suffering of the Son of God, and the still more awful suffering of the Father and of the Eternal Spirit, through whom He offered up himself without spot unto God.
How can we enter into the fellowship of such sufferings? "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Observe the progress in intensified desire,— great, greater, greatest, and the corresponding reward till, to crown it all, the Father’s heart is thrown open to us. Yes, to all and sundry we tell our joys; it is the privileged few very near our hearts to whom we tell our sorrows! So it is with the love of God. It was to John the be- loved as he lay close to the heart of the Master, and then drew closer still, that Jesus revealed the awful anguish that was breaking his heart, that one of them should betray him. The closer we draw to his heart, the more we shall share his sorrows. All this we obtain only by faith. It is not our broken heart, it is God’s we need. It is not our sufferings, it is Christ’s we are partakers of. It is not our tears with which we should admonish night and day—it is all Christ’s. The fellow- ship of his sufferings is his free gift—free for the taking in simple faith, never minding our feel- ings.
"Lord, give me Thy heart of love for sinners, Thy broken heart for their sins. Thy tears with which to admonish night and day," cried a dear child of God at the end of this convention. Then he went or: "But, O Lord, I feel so cold. My heart is so hard and dead. I am so lukewarm!" A friend had to interrupt him. "Why are you looking down at your poor self, brother? Of course your heart is cold and dead. But you have asked for the broken heart of Jesus, his love, his burden for sin, his tears. Is he a liar ? Has he not given what you asked for ? Then why look away from his heart to your own?" ,
John used to say, "When we keep near to Jesus it is he who draws souls to himself through us, but he must be lifted up in our lives; that is, we must be crucified with him. It is ’self in some shape that comes between us and him, so self must be dealt with as he was dealt with. Self must be crucified, dead and buried with Christ. If not ’buried’ the stench of the old man will fright- en souls away. If these three steps downwards are taken as to the old man, then the new man will be revived, raised, and seated —the corresponding steps upward which God permits us to take. Then indeed Christ is lifted up in our lives, and he cannot fail to attract souls to himself. All this is the result of a close union and communion, that is ’fellowship’ with him in his sufferings!"