274. The King’s Highway

The King’92s Highway

Isa_35:8-10 : ’93And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; and the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’94

There are multitudes of people who want to find the right way. You sometimes find a man, after journeying at a cross-road, by his bewildered look indicating that he has lost his way, or is uncertain which road to take. There are many persuaded of the fact that there are a thousand wrong roads, but only one right road. If I should come into your heart now, and were able to scrutinize it as only God can, I would find that the great question with you was about which was the right road. Here are various roads branching out; the question is, which one you had better take. I am conscious of the fact that there are many of you who realize that there are a thousand wrong roads, but only one right one, and I take it for granted that you desire to ask which one it is.

Here is a road which seems quite attractive, but there are many toll-gates on that road; you would have to pay your way; you would have to pay it in tears, in genuflections, in flagellations, and from that fact I know it is not the Gospel way. Here is another road, with the houses of entertainment on either side of it of an evil nature; and there are bad solicitations to sin; and I know from the kind of people I see walking on that road, and the kind of people I see standing in the blackness of it, that it is the wrong road. Here is another way. It is beautiful, and it is macadamized. Horses’92 hoofs clatter and ring, and the vehicles spin down over the way. But in this instance you see the precipice, and you try to stop, and you begin to saw the bit in the mouth of the fiery steed, and you cry, ’93Whoa! whoa!’94 But it is too late, and you roll over the embankment, and you are gone.

From these roads I turn away; I want to find the right road. You know about the Roman Appian road. It was a very costly road; it was three hundred and fifty miles long; it was thirty-four feet wide; and on either side there was room for foot passengers. It was built out of hexagonal rock closely fitted together, and it was so costly a road, and so wonderful a road, that it exhausted the treasury of the Roman Empire to build it. And yet the invaders, and the elements, and time, that old conqueror who tears up a road as he walks over it, have left a mere ruin. Well, I have to tell you of a way older than the Appian Way; millions have gone over it, and millions are to come, and it is as good a road now as when the first pilgrim traveled on it.

The prophets, and the apostles too,

Pursued this road while here below;

And therefore we, without dismay,

Will walk, in Christ, the good old way.

I propose, so far as God may help me, to tell you some of the characteristics of the Gospel road. ’93A highway shall be there, and a way; and it shall be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there: but the redeemed shall walk there; and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.’94

In the first place, then, I remark in regard to this road, that it is the King’92s Highway. It is the royal road. You dash on through the Brunig Pass, and there is hardly a pebble to jar the carriage wheel. You go on over bridges which span awful chasms that almost take your breath, and then you go on through tunnels dripping with dampness of ages, and on by dangerous precipices, and perhaps for the first time in all your life you realize what it is to be on a royal highway, a royal road built by governmental patronage and authority.

Well, I am to tell you of another road. God sent his Son to build it. It was to span the chasm of earthly iniquity. It was to tunnel the mountains of earthly obstacles. It was to be blasted out of the Rock of Ages, and cemented with the blood of the cross. It was to be the royal road, the King’92s Son having built it. He waved his torn and blistered hand over it, crying: ’93It is finished.’94 Napoleon spent fifteen million francs in building the Simplon Pass, that his armies might march over for the devastation of Italy. Christ, our king, has built a royal road, for a divine purpose, so that the armies of heaven may march down over it, and the redeemed of earth may ascend it; and it has been done at vast expense, and all nations are invited to travel on it.

Other roads and other bridges have broken down under those who traveled over them; but this bridge is so mighty, and this road so great, that Christ having built the road, and mounted the chariot of salvation, and all his redeemed ones mounting with him, they ride up the steep of heaven amid the acclamations of angels. Done, well done, gloriously done, magnificently done. The King’92s Highway!

I remark again, in regard to this road, that it is a clean road. A road sometimes becomes filthy and miry because it is not properly cared for; but my text says in regard to this road that the unclean shall not walk there. Room on either side of the road to throw away all our sins. We may wash ourselves in the basin of the eternal rock.

Firm and unmoved are they

Who rest their souls on God;

Fixed as the ground where David stood,

And where the ark abode.

At every step of this road we cry out, ’93Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’94 It is a clean road. Without holiness shall no man see the Lord. If you have any idea that we can take our sins with us, we had better be looking at the finger-board of the road which says, ’93There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.’94 If we expect to carry with us our sins, I must in the name of God to-night shatter the infatuation. We must give up sin, or give up heaven. It is a clean road.

But I must go farther in carrying out the idea of my text, that it is a plain road. ’93My text intimates that the man who is three-fourths an idiot can find it as well as a philosopher. The wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.’94 So that though one be an imbecile, a laughing stock on the street, and pursued by the mob, derided and cursed, such an one will find the open gate of heaven. While, on the other hand, there are many who are wise for this world, and who are fools for eternity. Some astronomers with their telescopes sweep the heavens, yet are not able to see the morning star of the Redeemer. Many a man acquainted with the higher branches of mathematics is not able to do a plain sum in the Gospel arithmetic: What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? Men able to botanize across the continent, and yet never having found the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.

Oh, my friends, it is a plain road, plain pardon, plain peace, plain salvation. Why not start on it? Why stop for anything? I will not take your time up in philosophical discussion; you want to go to the city, and there is a right road to that city. After pointing out the road to a certain place, would I give a geological discussion about the rocks over which you would have to pass? Would I detain you with a physiological discussion about the muscles of the body to be brought into play? No; I would say: ’93There is the road; there is the road.’94 I shall not discuss whether the atonement was limited or unlimited; why God let sin come into the world; or who was Melchizedek? Let all these questions go. I tell you, There is the road, the highway, the clean road, the plain road, the straight road. Start on it now. ’93This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.’94 ’93Except ye become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’94 In other words, if you get into heaven, it will not be by way of Athens, but by way of Bethlehem and Calvary.

When I was living in Philadelphia a man who had been a member of a former church wrote me: ’93I have just become a Christian. You know the time I had with you talking and arguing with you about the things of eternity. But I found I could not be saved through my head; I must be saved through my heart.’94 I had passed whole days in discussing the doctrines of religion with that man. He always met me with an acute argument. But he found out he must accept the Kingdom of God as a little child; and having found out that the next moment he was ushered into the Kingdom. It is a plain way; the child can find it, as well as the old man; the ignorant as well as the learned. It is not only a highway and a clean way, but a plain way.

But I must go farther in carrying out the idea of my text, and tell you that it is a safe way. Sometimes along those ancient roads there were lions crouching in the grass; and the lion would wait until the traveler would come by, and then having secluded itself, its head down between its paws, as soon as the traveler came up the lion would leap upon him, and there was a mauled carcass by the roadside. But, says this text, in regard to this road to heaven, ’93No lion shall be there.’94 Oh, the complete safety of those who have got on this road! I really suppose that one minute after a man has entered the Kingdom of God he is as safe for heaven as though he had been ten thousand years, in heaven. His soul is safe; his reputation is safe; everything is safe. He may slip, he may fall, but he is kept by the power of God unto salvation; and there is no need of fear about this matter if you are really the child of God. Though this be the first day of your adoption, I repeat it, you are as safe for a final heaven as though you had already entered upon its glory. Oh, the safety of those who put their trust in God! What is the use of worrying? What is the use of fretting about anything? Safe for time, safe for eternity. What though your house be burnt? That is only a change of investment from earthly to heavenly securities. What though your physical health fail? God will pour into you the floods of everlasting health and it will make no difference. What though your reputation be assailed? Your name will be all the better in heaven; for when you give your heart to God, God not only takes care of your body and your soul, but of your reputation; and ten thousand persecutions can do you no harm permanently. Only be sure you are on the right road, and all is well. Safe forever.

Firm and unmoved are they

Who rest their souls on God.

You cannot be destroyed.

Though troubles assail,

And dangers affright;

Though friends should all fail,

And foes all unite;

Yet one thing secures us,

Whatever betide,

The scripture assures us,’97

The Lord will provide.

And I want you to remember that earthly subtraction is heavenly addition. And I want you to know that the tears of earth are the crystals of heaven. And I want you to know that as they take the rags and tatters and put them in the paper-mill, and they go under the cylinders, and they come out pure white paper; so all the rags of earthly destitution and sorrow will go down under the cylinders of death, and they will come out a white scroll, on which shall be written your eternal emancipation. Take courage, it is not only the royal road, and a clean road, and a plain road, but it is a safe road. The Lord who starts a man on that road keeps him on it.

But I go further in this discussion of my subject, and tell you that the road spoken of in my text is a pleasant road. God gives an indemnity from all harm to every Christian. All things work together for good to those that love God. They hold a bond signed, sealed, and delivered by the president of the universe. People do not seem to understand that passage, ’93All things work together for good to those that love God.’94 Working together, though seemingly against you, working together for good to those that love God.’94 Glorious assurance! What is the use of your worrying about bread? Behold the fowls of the air, they gather not, yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. If he takes care of the hawk, the osprey, and the swan, and the raven, and the albatross, and the eagle, will be not take care of you? What is the use of fretting about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they spin; yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. God clothed the daisy, the cowslip, the rose, the lily, the heliotrope. Will he clothe you? What is the use of fretting about temptation? God will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with every temptation bring a way of escape that ye may be able to bear it. What a royal road! What a clean road! What a plain road! What a safe road! What a pleasant road! The King’92s highway! The trees on either side reach over their branches until they interlock, dropping their shadow upon your pathway. Tables of entertainment spread for all poor pilgrims.

I start on this King’92s highway, and I go a little distance, and I find a harper, and I say, ’93Who art thou, O harper? Hast thou not a tune for the tired pilgrim?’94 He makes no answer. He turns his face toward heaven, and his fingers tremble among the strings of the harp, and he begins the song: ’93The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’94 I go a little further on this King’92s highway, and I accost a trumpeter, and I say, ’93Who art thou, O trumpeter? And hast thou not a song for the tired pilgrim?’94 He says nothing; but he wipes his lips, and puts the trumpet to his mouth, and he begins to discourse: ’93They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.’94 And I go a little further on this King’92s highway, and I meet a maiden of Israel. She has neither harp nor trumpet, but she has cymbals, and I say, ’93Who art thou, O maiden of Israel?’94 She makes no answer; but I notice that the cymbals are rusty with the rust of the sea-spray, and I find it is Miriam, as she claps the cymbals, discoursing: ’93Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea.’94 Then I go a little further on the King’92s highway, and I see a group, white-robed, approaching me; and they are so bright, so lustrous, so fair, I say, ’93Who are ye?’94 And an angelic voice comes from heaven, saying, ’93These are they who came out of great tribulation, and had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.’94

I pursue this subject of the King’92s highway only one step farther. What is the terminus of this royal road? I do not care how fine a way you put me on, I want to know where it comes out. My text declares it. My text says the redeemed shall come to Zion. What does that mean? Zion was a mountain fastness; it was not only the King’92s fastness, but it was a mountain fastness, and it was impregnable. That is going to be the end of your journey, and once there you are safe forever. All the batteries of earth and hell may blaze away, but they cannot move it. Sebastopol was taken, Gibraltar was taken, Babylon was taken; but heaven can never be taken by its enemies. Once there, there forever.

Dr. Dick said he thought in heaven he would study chemistry and the higher branches of mathematics and conic sections. Southey said his chief enjoyment in heaven would be in seeing Chaucer and Shakespeare. Dr. Dick may have his conic sections, and Southey may have Shakespeare; all the heaven I want is Christ and my good friends that I knew and loved on earth. God grant that we may enter in through the gate into that city. Oh, start on the road to-night. When we have wept our last tear, and carried our last burden, and we come to Zion, all across heaven may there be a chorus of morning stars, a chorus of white-robed victors, a chorus of martyrs, from under the throne, a chorus of ages, a chorus of worlds; and there be only one name uttered, and only one song sung, and only one throne left’97that of Jesus only!

Autor: T. De Witt Talmage