Our first message this morning is entitled The
Morning Watch.
I'm turning to the, I'm turning to the
fifth psalm, and I'm going to base what
I have to say this morning on this
one verse.
The fifth psalm, the third verse.
Now there's something very, very peculiar about this
verse, something you'll not find in any other
verse in the Bible.
Notice the way it reads.
The fifth psalm, the third verse.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O Lord.
In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto thee, and will look up.
What is it that makes this verse different
from any other verse in the Bible?
The fact that the word morning occurs twice
in this one verse, and that never happens
in any other verse in the Bible.
This is the only verse in the entire
Bible in which the word morning occurs twice.
And if you remember that, your attention will
be drawn definitely to the fifth psalm and
the third verse.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O Lord.
And you'll see in a moment why I
emphasize the word morning.
In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto thee, and will look up.
So I want to talk this morning for
a little while about the morning watch.
Water only rises to its own level, never
any higher, just to its own level.
That which is born of a flesh is
flesh.
It always has been flesh.
It always will be flesh.
It can never become anything more than flesh.
That which is born of a flesh is
flesh.
That which is born of a vegetable is
vegetable.
Never anything else.
That which is born of fruit is fruit.
And it always will be fruit.
There will never be a change.
That which is born of fish is fish.
And it will never be animal.
It will never be bird.
It will always be fish.
That which is born of bird is bird.
Never will there be anything else except bird.
That which is born of animal is animal.
Always has been, always will be.
And last of all, that which is born
of man is man.
In other words, you cannot cross the species.
That is something that is absolutely impossible in
spite of what the evolutionists have to tell
us.
There is no way that the species can
be crossed.
But now there's another species.
There's a new species.
There's a different species.
That which is born of the Spirit is
Spirit.
There you have an entirely different species.
Not the flesh, but the Spirit.
That which is born of the Spirit is
Spirit.
What am I trying to say?
Do you remember that statement in the Old
Testament scriptures?
Like priest, like people.
Suppose we transfer that statement to the New
Testament.
And suppose we say, like pastor, like people.
Like minister, like people.
Like teacher, like people.
In other words, you will be what your
leader, your pastor, your minister, your teacher is.
That's why some churches are worldly and some
churches are spiritual.
I never blame the people.
I always blame the pastor.
I always blame the minister of the congregation.
The people will be what the minister is.
What the pastor is, the people will be.
You show me a carnal pastor, and I'll
show you a carnal church.
You show me a worldly pastor, and I'll
show you a worldly church.
You show me a spiritual pastor, and I'll
show you a spiritual church.
The church will be what the pastor is.
Given long enough, the members of the church
and the adherents of the church will be
gradually but definitely transformed into the image of
the leader, the pastor, the minister of that
congregation.
Therefore it's of paramount importance that you and
I who are leaders, you and I who
are missionaries, you and I who have followers,
you and I who are to be examples.
It's of paramount importance that you and I
should be spiritual, because our people will be
what we are.
I say again, you show me a spiritual
pastor, and I'll show you a spiritual church.
You show me a carnal pastor, and I'll
show you a carnal church.
You show me a worldly pastor, and I'll
show you a worldly church.
And the same goes for the missionary.
Your followers will be exactly what you are.
If you are spiritual, they'll be spiritual.
If you are worldly, they'll be worldly.
Therefore it's of paramount importance, I say, that
you and I as leaders should make sure
that we are living spiritual lives filled with
the Holy Spirit.
Our people will be what we are.
Now that leads us to this question.
How can I obtain and how can I
maintain a deeply spiritual experience?
That's a question I put to every pastor,
every minister, every missionary, every leader.
How can I obtain a deeply spiritual experience,
and how can I maintain that experience?
It is just important to maintain it as
it is to obtain it.
And I'd like to answer that question, if
I may.
Let me say, first of all, you cannot
obtain a deeply spiritual experience and maintain that
experience by coming to an altar.
You may respond to the invitation, come to
the front near an altar, and receive a
spiritual experience.
But unless something more follows, that experience you
have received at the altar will gradually fade
away and disappear and be gone.
And you'll have to come back to the
altar again for another experience or a similar
experience or repetition of the former experience before
you'll be what you want to be and
what you long to be.
Therefore, do not get the idea that by
coming to an altar and kneeling at an
altar, you can both obtain and maintain a
deeply spiritual experience, an experience that will last.
There must be something more than that.
What is the explanation?
What is the secret?
I suppose some sixty years ago now, I
made the discovery that the only possible way
I could obtain and maintain a deeply spiritual
experience in God was by observing what I
call the morning watch.
And I started observing the morning watch some
sixty-six years ago now.
And I have maintained the morning watch morning
after morning for the last sixty-six years
of my life.
And if God has ever done anything through
me, if he has accomplished any work of
eternal value, it has been for one reason
and one reason only.
Not because I met Jesus Christ once when
I was converted, but because I have faithfully
maintained the morning watch.
And everything that's ever been accomplished in my
ministry, I attribute to the morning watch.
If I had my life to live over
again, if I could go back sixty-six
years in my life, I would again do
what I started to do sixty-six years
ago.
And what I have continued doing from that
day to this morning by morning.
I would observe the morning watch.
Never in my life have I thought of
going down to my office before observing the
morning watch.
Never have I dreamed of turning to my
day's work before first observing the morning watch.
That hour is more important to me than
any other hour in my experience.
And therefore I want to talk to you
for a little while this morning about the
morning watch.
But you say, Dr. Smith, I've been converted,
I've met Jesus Christ.
And then you wonder why every now and
again you lose the joy of God's salvation,
you slip back into some habit that displeases
him, you even yield to some sin that
brings disgrace on your profession.
And you ask the question, how can I
avoid it?
How can I overcome it?
What is the secret?
I have met a great many people I
do not know.
You have met a great many people you
do not know.
There are a lot of Christians who have
met Jesus Christ, but they do not know
Jesus Christ.
Our churches are filled with them.
Thousands upon thousands of people in our churches
today have definitely met Jesus Christ, but they
do not know him.
It is one thing to meet a person.
It is another thing to get to know
that person.
And you do not know a person just
by meeting him.
In order to know him, you have to
spend time with him.
And unless you spend time with him, you'll
never get to know him.
He'll be more or less of a stranger
to you all the days of your life.
Sometimes you come up against a problem or
a temptation suddenly, and you know not which
way to turn.
Because you have only met Jesus Christ, but
you do not know him, therefore you cannot
suddenly turn to him and get the relief
and the answer that you want.
Only those who know the Lord Jesus Christ
can turn to him in a moment of
need, and receive the answer that they require.
The question is, have you just met Jesus
Christ, or do you really know him?
Have you become acquainted with him?
I've met a lot of people I do
not know.
When I was touring in Ethiopia, I was
staying at the headquarters of the Sudan Interior
Mission.
And one day it was announced that the
Emperor of Ethiopia, Hala Selassie, was coming to
visit the headquarters of the Sudan Interior Mission.
I want to tell you there was some
activity for a few minutes.
Presently, the Emperor drove up with his bodyguard
several cars surrounding his car.
I'll never forget it.
Military men, policemen, guards, looking after the safety
of the Emperor.
You see, he was coming to a very
dangerous place.
He was coming to a mission station.
And he had to be carefully guarded.
Well, I'll never forget it.
It's an experience that will live with me
as long as life lasts.
For when I was presented to the Emperor,
Hala Selassie immediately, in a very friendly way,
put out his hand and shook hands with
me.
I can still feel the touch of the
Emperor's hand.
It was a soft hand like the hand
of a woman.
I'll never forget it, the softness of it,
as I shook hands with the Emperor of
Ethiopia, Hala Selassie.
After I had shaken hands with him, I
happened to glance in the distance, and I
saw a little boy, about nine years of
age, clambering down out of a tree.
He had been climbing a tree, and he
was clambering down out of that tree rapidly.
And he got our attention.
And suddenly he came running toward us as
hard as his little feet would carry him.
And he ran right up to me personally,
with his royal father standing by my side,
and he started tugging at my trouser leg.
And I turned to Dr. Lambie, the missionary,
and I said, Dr. Lambie, who is this
little boy?
Oh, said Dr. Lambie, he's the youngest son
of the Emperor.
And I said, what does he want?
He wants you to shake hands with him
just as you shook hands with his royal
father.
And I want to tell you, when I
heard that, I didn't lose any time putting
out my hand and shaking hands with the
little Emperor.
I understand that he has gone since then.
He has passed on.
He's no longer living.
But I'll never forget the thrill of the
moment when I shook hands, both with the
Emperor of Ethiopia and with his youngest son,
the Royal Prince.
But listen, I do not know Halasalasi.
I would have to live with him in
order to get to know him.
I have met him.
I have shaken hands with him.
But I have never lived with him.
And the only way I could get to
know Halasalasi, the Emperor, would be by living
with him.
That I've never done.
The same is true in regard to the
Lord Jesus Christ.
You can meet Jesus Christ and never know
him because you haven't lived with him.
You haven't spent time in his presence.
And because you haven't spent time in his
presence, day by day, therefore, you do not
yet know him.
I say it's one thing to meet an
individual.
It's another thing to get to know him.
For one solid month, I traveled through the
United States of America and the Dominion of
Canada with General Sir Arthur Smith.
General Sir Arthur Smith was the second-in
-command in the taking of North Africa during
the war.
And General Sir Arthur Smith happened to be
a real Christian.
And he and I traveled together in the
United States of America for one solid month,
going from city to city, from church to
church, giving our messages.
And for a month, I was in the
company of the world-famous General Sir Arthur
Smith.
And General Sir Arthur Smith and I went
over to England.
A few months later, the General invited me
to come to his lovely home and spend
the night.
Mrs. Smith and I went.
Now, I never forget spending the night in
the home of General Sir Arthur Smith, one
of the heroes of North Africa during the
Second World War.
But I do not know General Sir Arthur
Smith.
True, I spent a month with him.
True, I spent a night in his palatial
residence in England.
But I have not lived with him sufficiently
long enough to be able to say I
know him.
For I do not.
The same is true, I say again, in
regard to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can meet him.
You can spend a little time with him.
You can know that you are saved.
But unless you meet him morning by morning,
day by day, month out and month in,
you will never get to know him.
He will still be more or less than
a stranger to you.
And when you are facing some serious problem,
you will not be able to hurry into
his presence because he will still be more
or less of a stranger to you.
You have to live with those you want
to know.
I have had that experience with many an
individual.
And I know perfectly well, for I have
proven it by experience, that you can meet
people and not know them.
When I was with Billy Graham in his
great meetings in one of the services that
he was holding during the days of his
campaign in New York City, Richard Nixon was
sitting on the platform.
And Richard Nixon, who was then the Vice
President of the United States of America, leaned
over and started to talk to me.
Now I found it intensely interesting to talk
to the Vice President of the United States
of America, now the President.
I enjoyed talking to him.
He wanted to know all about the Bay
of Quinty.
He was especially interested in that part of
Canada.
And he asked me a number of questions
about the Bay of Quinty.
I answered to the best of my ability
as he sat there smiling and talking.
I'll never forget it.
But I don't know Richard Nixon.
I don't know the man they're writing about
in the newspapers today.
I don't recognize the man they're talking about
today on radio.
To me, he was a lovely personality.
And I enjoyed immensely talking to him.
And after I got back home, I received
a letter from him.
And I still have that letter.
And in spite of all that has happened,
I'll value it the rest of my life.
The same is true of my visit to
Buckingham Palace in London, England.
Will I ever forget the day I saw
the doors and the gates of Buckingham Palace
thronged with American tourists.
Hundreds upon hundreds of them.
That's as far as they could get to
the gate.
And they were standing there in throngs, looking
through the bars of the gates of Buckingham
Palace.
I came driving up in a magnificent limousine
that had been obtained for me by a
very, very dear personal friend of mine, the
head gardener of Buckingham Palace.
I had been spending some time with him
in Switzerland.
He has written some fifty-two books on
gardening.
And he was the head gardener of Buckingham
Palace.
He had innumerable gardeners working under him.
I'm referring to Colonel Cooper.
Colonel Cooper, the head gardener of Buckingham Palace.
And because I happened to be a personal
friend of his, and we were very close
together, and I was able to secure a
BA, I was able to secure a degree
for him from the United States of America,
and I got to England on this trip.
I've been there many times.
He said, Is there anything you especially want?
I said, Colonel, there is one thing I
want.
I said, I want to visit Buckingham Palace.
Well, he said, that's easy.
I'm the head gardener.
I'm the gardener.
I'll take you in.
So he engaged the lovely limousine, and I
got in it, sat beside him, the driver
was on the front seat.
We drove up to the gates.
The gates were thronged by hundreds of American
tourists, looking through the bars, and that's as
far as they could get.
And as we drove up, the police shoved
them aside to the right and to the
left, and the colonel and I drove right
through the American tourists, right through the open
gate of Buckingham Palace, and right up to
the front steps of the palace.
We got out, went into the palace, and
while I was waiting to be conducted to
the interior, I saw a table, and I
saw a very large guest book on the
table.
The colonel turned to me and whispered, I
said, Dr. Smith, if you'd like to sign
the guest book in Buckingham Palace, you'd better
do it quickly, before somebody comes around and
makes it impossible.
I lost no time.
I got over to that table, I signed
that guest book, and then I stepped back
to wait for the one who was to
conduct us through the palace.
And if you, the next time you go
to Buckingham Palace, I suggest that you take
a look at the guest book and see
if you can find my name in that
guest book, because I signed it and it's
there.
And then our conductor came along, and we
were conducted all through that palace.
I'll never forget talking to the different ones
living in the palace, some with royal blood,
those who were taking care of the palace,
those who were in the office.
It was a wonderful privilege to sit there
and talk to the different ones who lived
in the palace and made Buckingham Palace their
home.
Princess Anne was in the room just above
us.
She was just a little girl at that
time, and the one we were talking to
informed us that she was just in the
room above at her play.
She didn't come down, so I never saw
her, not that time.
Now then, I have met a lot of
people I do not know, and you have
met a lot of people you do not
know.
And I've discovered as I've traveled around this
world that there are thousands upon thousands of
people who have met the Lord Jesus Christ,
and yet they do not know Jesus Christ.
They are Christians, they have been saved, but
in a moment of emergency and need, they
do not know how to turn to him
because they've never come to know him, they've
never spent time with him.
Now the only way you can ever get
to know people is to spend time with
them, visit with them.
And the more time you spend with them,
the better you'll get to know them.
Susanna Wesley wasn't especially busy.
The wife of John Wesley, mother of John
Wesley I mean.
She wasn't especially busy.
She only had nineteen children.
I suppose she would have something to do
in order to take care of that little
family of hers, but not very much.
There were only nineteen of them.
In those days they had no restaurants.
She couldn't send her children out to the
restaurant.
She had to cook all the food that
they ate.
Now that wouldn't keep her very busy, but
it would keep her occupied, to say the
least.
Then of course they had no stores in
which they sold ready-made suits and ready
-made clothes and clothing.
She had to make all the clothing for
her little family of nineteen children.
Again I say that wouldn't keep her especially
busy, but to say the least she'd be
occupied.
She'd have something to do.
And then having no schools, public schools, in
those days to which she could send her
children to get an education, she had to
set aside certain hours and teach her entire
family in her own home every day, hour
after hour.
I say again that might not keep her
very busy, but to say the least she
would be occupied.
Susanna Wesley, in spite of the fact that
she had nineteen children, and in spite of
the fact that she had to sew for
them and cook for them and teach them,
every day of her life, from one o
'clock until two o'clock, would leave those
children, go into her bedroom, shut the door,
kneel down beside her bed with her open
Bible lying on the bed, and spend one
solid hour in fellowship and in communion with
God.
No matter how busy she was, no matter
what the children were doing, she would spend
that hour, sixty minutes, with God.
Do you wonder that she gave the world
John Wesley and Charles Wesley?
If it had not been for the dedication
of the mother of John Wesley and the
mother of Charles Wesley, there might have been
no Methodist church.
It might never have been born.
And thousands upon thousands of souls might never
have been saved.
But because that one mother, faithful to God,
in spite of the fact that she had
to cook for her children and sew for
her children and teach her children, in spite
of all her household duties, thought it important
enough to leave her children, go to her
bedroom, shut the door, and spend one solid
hour alone with God.
And as she did, God heard her prayer.
God answered her prayers, and God gave the
world John Wesley and Charles Wesley, and John
Wesley, under God, gave the world the Methodist
church.
Which, for the first two hundred years, was
absolutely sound and evangelical, and soul-winning.
And Charles Wesley gave the world six thousand
hymns, some of which are still to be
found in our hymn books and are still
being sung.
And Great Britain was saved from the French
Revolution because God raised up a prophet in
John Wesley.
And he was called John Wesley to stem
the tide of infidelity that might otherwise have
resulted in a bloody revolution similar to the
one across the Channel in France.
Now, I've said all this in order to
lead up to the heart of the message.
And the two things I'm going to talk
about tomorrow morning will be the study
of the word of God and the life
of prayer.
And I'm going back into my own personal
experiences.
I'm going to tell you how God led
me to study his word and how God
led me to give myself to prayer.
I'll talk about that tomorrow morning as we
continue this message on the morning watch.
But let me say this in closing.
If you have never learned to observe the
morning watch, you may now know the reason
for your weakness and your failure and your
disappointment as a Christian.
Before I get through with these next two
points tomorrow morning, you'll know exactly where you
stand in the presence of God, why you
have failed if you have failed, and why
you have not accomplished what you started out
to accomplish.
You've had the introduction.
Tomorrow morning at 11 we'll get into the
heart of the message.