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F.B. Meyer

Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847 - 1929). English Baptist pastor, author, and evangelist born in London. Converted at eight, he studied at Regent’s Park College and graduated from London University in 1869. Ordained in 1870, he pastored in Liverpool, York, and London, notably at Christ Church, Lambeth, and Regent’s Park Chapel, growing congregations through accessible preaching. A key figure in the Keswick Convention’s holiness movement, he emphasized deeper spiritual life and social reform, advocating for the poor and prisoners. Meyer wrote over 75 books, including The Secret of Guidance (1896) and Paul: A Servant of Jesus Christ, with millions of copies sold globally. He traveled to North America, Asia, and South Africa, influencing figures like D.L. Moody and Charles Spurgeon. Married twice—first to Jane Elder in 1874, then Lucy Holloway in 1898—he had one daughter. His temperance work led to 500 pub closures in York. Meyer’s devotional writings and Bible studies remain influential in evangelical circles.
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F.B. Meyer emphasizes that Christ's yoke was His Father's will, illustrating how Jesus lived in complete dependence on God, willingly setting aside His divine attributes to fulfill His Father's plan. Meyer highlights that Jesus' life was characterized by a perpetual 'yes' to God, as seen in His actions and responses to various situations, such as healing on the Sabbath and responding to the needs of others. He encourages believers to adopt a similar attitude of acceptance towards God's will, even in the face of challenges from fellow humans, to find true rest and peace. The sermon illustrates that God's plans come with the necessary power to fulfill them, urging listeners to trust and say 'yes' to God's will.
And What Was His Yoke?
Christ's yoke was His Father's will. "I delight to do Thy will, O God." Tow it is not to my purpose to discuss here the human and the divine side of Christ's character. But to me it is as though Christ curtained off His divine attributes, as we might allow the curtain of a theatre to drop from the roof and to shut off the whole of the apse behind. Any moment the curtain could be lifted, and I suppose you would still grant that apse to be a part of the building, but it would be curtained off for a definite purpose. So for the purposes of understanding our human life in all its aspects, our Lord voluntarily emptied Himself, laid aside the use of His divine attributes, and was content to live as Elijah, or" John the Baptist, or as you and I have to live, a life of perpetual dependence upon God. Directly a creature lives so, it has to take God's plan, and then to take God's power. Whenever God gives a plan, He gives the soul everything which is necessary for its completion. So when Moses on the mountain saw the plan of the tabernacle, every diamond and pearl and piece of gold and silver and wood and carved work and embroidery complete, painted by the rainbow upon the cloud or standing before him like a fair vision, he knew that down below amongst the people he could find a duplicate for everything that he had seen. So Jesus Christ was always looking at the Father's will, the Father's plan, and then seeking by faith the Father's power. That was His yoke. It came into evidence so often. For instance, when He healed on the Sabbath day, and they accused Him, He said: "I could not help it. My Father worketh hitherto, and I could do no other than work out what My Father wrought in." He went across the lake to give His disciples a vacation. Five thousand hungry men broke in, and in their advent He saw the intrusion of His Father's plan, and adopted it. He started for the home of Jairus. A woman with a touch arrested Him, and in her slight touch He saw again His Father's will and plan, and waited to heal her. Then He moved leisurely forward, knowing that at the house of Jairus He would have sufficient power to raise his daughter. And in the garden it was His Father's will beneath which He bowed His meek soul, saying: " Not My will, but Thine!" In the context also there is a most lovely illustration of this. He had been wrestling from the human side (so to speak) with the great problem--why God hides things from the wise and prudent, and reveals them unto babes; and He said: " Even so, Father." The Revised version translates it: " Yea, Father," but it ought to have translated it: " Yes, Father." Christ's life was a perpetual " YES" to God. And if you want to live a life of rest you must pace the weary furrow of your life with an upturned face, saying: " Yes, yes, yes." Always yes! A gentleman went into a deaf and dumb institution in London to inspect it, and at the close the boys and girls were gathered at the foot of the platform. He wrote on tile slate; "Why did God make you deaf and dumb, and me able to hear and speak?" A sob went through the audience. Then a little boy came down the aisle, and took the chalk and wrote the answer beneath: " Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight." That boy said "yes " to God. Some one says to me: "If I always had to do with God, I would not mind. If it was disaster, shipwreck, fire, anything which I could trust to God, I hope I am Christian enough to bow to it. But what worries me, and makes me feverish and restless, is that things come to me from my fellow-men. I cannot say 'yes' to those." Ah, my friend, you must! You will never get rest if you do not. I tried that myself once, and I found that I had at last to come to this, and to make
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Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847 - 1929). English Baptist pastor, author, and evangelist born in London. Converted at eight, he studied at Regent’s Park College and graduated from London University in 1869. Ordained in 1870, he pastored in Liverpool, York, and London, notably at Christ Church, Lambeth, and Regent’s Park Chapel, growing congregations through accessible preaching. A key figure in the Keswick Convention’s holiness movement, he emphasized deeper spiritual life and social reform, advocating for the poor and prisoners. Meyer wrote over 75 books, including The Secret of Guidance (1896) and Paul: A Servant of Jesus Christ, with millions of copies sold globally. He traveled to North America, Asia, and South Africa, influencing figures like D.L. Moody and Charles Spurgeon. Married twice—first to Jane Elder in 1874, then Lucy Holloway in 1898—he had one daughter. His temperance work led to 500 pub closures in York. Meyer’s devotional writings and Bible studies remain influential in evangelical circles.