A Faithful Messenger
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him; for he refresheth the soul of his masters. Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.” — xxv. 13, 19.
THE art of cooling drinks in a hot climate by snow and ice preserved or imported seems to have been known and practised at an early period of the world’s history. In our cool insular clime we cannot fully appreciate the worth of such a refreshment, because we never very keenly experience the want of it. Imagination must largely aid the senses ere we can rightly estimate how the eyes of a Hebrew husbandman sparkled at the sight of “snow from Lebanon” when a harvest sun was beating on his brow. Such a refreshment in time of difficulty is a faithful messenger who goes forth through the danger, and comes back with relief.
In a crisis, at an early stage of the Crimean war, the bearing of a message became the hinge on which success or disaster turned, and the messenger who bore it became the hero of the day. When the Russian army had been routed on the Alma, and the allied commanders had determined to march past Sebastopol and seize the port of Balaclava as a base of operation, a message to the fleet, charging it to meet the army in the morning there, was a vital element of the plan. The British officer who bore it proved a faithful messenger. When the army, after their inland night march, first crowned the heights that overlook the sea, the foremost ships of the fleet were steaming cautiously up the narrow inlet. When the commander of the army, with the responsibility of the manoeuvre lying heavy on his heart, looked over those girdling hills and saw the admiral’s flag waving in the harbour, the faithful messenger whom he had despatched across the enemy’s country the evening before, must have been felt like snow in harvest refreshing his soul.
The American missionary Judson was imprisoned in Burmah and doomed to death. Alone in the hands of heathen savages, that Christian apostle could do nothing to preserve his own life. He learned in his prison that a British ship of war was in the Burmese waters. Both power and will to save were at hand, but all might have miscarried if no messenger had been found, or if the messenger sent had not been found faithful. God had given the missionary favour in the eyes of some who had access to the prison. Having intrusted the vital message to one of these, he intrusted himself to his Father in heaven, and awaited the result in patience. Next day the boom of a cannon fell on the ear of the missionary, as he lay in his dark, hot dungeon. It was evidence that a knowledge of his danger had reached the British captain. His messenger had been faithful, and that faithfulness then was like snow in summer to his weary heart. When the message was delivered all the rest was easy; the ship of war soon wrenched the Christian captive from the hands of the barbaric king.
A history might be written of such decisive messages borne by such faithful mess’engers, and a thrilling history it would be. But the position and power of the oppressor are sometimes such, that a mere messenger, however faithful, cannot in any measure contribute to the deliverance of the captive. When the enemy’s hosts girdle the beleaguered city round, to bear a message forth would be to the bearer a baptism of blood.
Such is the condition of the world, and such the baptism which the “Messenger of the covenant” came through in his saving work. He is a brother born for the adversity in which we lay. He is faithful to bear tidings of the danger, and mighty to save from death. He delights to speak of himself as one who has been sent. “He that sent me,” is the epithet by which he loves to designate the Father. This Messenger came into the world to make God’s mercy known; and by his faithfulness the Sender was refreshed. The testimony came in a voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
But Jesus is a messenger in another way. He is Mediator. He lays his hand upon both. He brings God’s message to us, and bears our message back to God. If we in our low estate have any request to present before the King Eternal, he is ready to be its bearer. “We have an advocate with the Father.” “He ever liveth to make intercession for us.” Through him the meanest captive who pines in this distant prison and sighs to be free, may send his petition safely to the Lord God of Hosts. The Messenger is faithful, and will certainly refresh the souls of those who intrust their petitions to his hand. He bore the tidings of mercy to us, though the wrath due to a world’s sin blocked up the way: how much more will he bear our request to the Father, now that his suffering is over and his everlasting joy begun! He carried God’s message to us, when our ungrateful ears were shut against the sound: how much more will he carry our cry to God, who loves to hear of the prodigal’s purpose to return! All ye that are weary and heavy laden, send in your requests by the hand of this faithful Messenger. For the purpose of presenting them with power Christ ascended. “It is expedient for you that I go away.” He delights when we give him work; He is happy when his hands are full. He put his disciples on the way of pleading, like a master guiding his pupil’s hand in writing the petition out. “Hitherto,” he said, “ye have asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive.” This Messenger will be like snow in harvest to those who in their extremity send a message unto God by him; He will refresh the souls of those who send him.
Our help is laid on One that is mighty: He is Messenger and Conqueror too. There is none other who is able and willing to save. He stands now at the door of a closed heart, ready to bear a message from the perishing to the throne of grace, and pleading for such a message to bear. Present always by his word and Spirit, he cries, and cries again, weeping, to the careless, “Here am I, send me.” He promises to pray to the Father for us: and we know that his prayer prevails. Already as Prophet he has come, making known the way of salvation: now he enters as Priest within the veil, bearing his people’s requests for grace: in the end he will come again as King, and bear his people into glory.
In contrast with the refreshment which a faithful messenger pours into a weary spirit, “confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint” (ver. 19). It is worse than want. To expect support, and be, in consequence, pierced by a broken reed, is a greater calamity than the sternest refusal could inflict. The greatest disaster, in proportion to the number of men engaged, that has befallen our arms in the Eastern insurrection, was the direct result of confidence in an unfaithful man. At Arrah on the Ganges three or four hundred soldiers were sent to attack a body of the rebels, and relieve some British residents who were in danger there. A native was employed to ascertain the position of the enemy. In consequence of his report the men left the river and made a night march into the interior. The messenger was false. The little army fell into an ambush prepared for them in the jungle. Two-thirds of their number were shot down in the dark by unseen foes. The remnant escaped to their ships when the day dawned. As they lay in that fatal valley getting their death-wounds in the dark, and helplessly wishing for the day, how exquisitely bitter must have been the reflection that a too ready trust in a faithless man had wrought them all this woe!
When life is at stake there should be no softness or slackness in scrutinizing the character of a messenger; especially in matters which directly affect the life of a soul, the credentials of unknown mediators should be rigorously tested. What shall become of those who send their petitions for mercy from God through the saints of the Romish calendar? The messenger is unfaithful, and the message will never reach its destination. These old bones and pictures cannot carry your request to the throne, or obtain its answer there. The disembodied spirits whom these relics are said to represent are not more effectual mediators than the relics themselves; they have neither omniscience to hear your prayer on earth, nor merit to make it prevalent in heaven.
Christ is the faithful Messenger, and “now is the accepted time.” There is a gulf which even Jesus will not cross to make a path for the prodigal’s return. Although the separation which sin has made between us and God is inconceivably great, a living way stretches over it by which petitions go now for grace — by which the petitioners shall follow to glory. But the Messenger of the covenant will never traverse the chasm which the final judgment will leave between the good and the evil. Weary pilgrims! as you would have refreshment for your souls in your day of need, send your petition by a faithful messenger in an accepted time. “Come unto God by Him,” for there is no other advocate with the Father: and come now, lest the door be shut.