Malanday, Valenzuela. 14.717840, 120.956338

Obando (15.5 kilometers out) was one of the last two places upon my itinerary. Much had changed since I was last here five years ago. The fish port remained, yet at this hour of the afternoon it stood almost deserted. It is not until about one o'clock in the morning, when the fishermen return with their catch, that the place is filled with life and activity.

I walked about for a time, acquainting myself once more with the surroundings, and soon perceived that there was scarcely a suitable place from which to address the people. It may be that I shall have to return at midnight, when the crowds are gathered. Yet such a journey cannot be undertaken without thought for my dear wife. I cannot willingly leave her alone at home, and if I go, she must needs accompany me despite her infirmity. I trust the Lord will be pleased to order my steps, and, in His own time, make plain the way wherein I  ought to walk.

I departed, knowing not whither I should go next, yet trusting that the Lord would direct my steps unto the place He had appointed for me. As I retraced my route, my mind returned to a place where I had once stood and proclaimed His Word in Lolomboy. While on my way there I passed by this place, where we also once stood in the past, and my eye caught the sight of a tricycle terminal, where a line of public utility vehicles waited with their drivers and passengers. I turned back at once and parked before the market.

There were but few passengers at that hour, and the drivers sat quietly, passing the time upon their phones. My own opinions were quick to judge the point of remaining there, but I was constrained to silence them and give myself wholly to the work before me. The question was never whether there were enough people to hear the Gospel, but whether Christ was worthy to be proclaimed before those whom His providence had gathered. It is not ours to number the hearers, but to lift up the Lord before the eyes of men, leaving both the increase and the fruitfulness unto Him who alone giveth both.

My flesh cried out against what I was about to do. Having risen at three o'clock that morning, I was greatly in need of sleep. The heat had wearied me, drowsiness pressed heavily upon me, my mind was in a daze, and my eyes could scarcely see through their own heaviness. Yet there, before me, stood what seemed a pulpit prepared by the Lord's own providence. The weakness was mine; the opportunity was His.

The text in Romans was opened, and the people were summoned, as it were, into the tribunal of God, standing as the accused before the righteous Judge. There the Law itself rose up as a terrifying prosecutor, laying forth its holy indictment and declaring serious charges against the unsuspecting sinner. The reactions of men seldom change, because the condition of man never changes. And therefore the message also remains the same: that God hath been pleased to reveal Himself as the One who justifieth the ungodly (Romans 4:5).

The smiles upon their faces gradually vanished, giving place to a sober attentiveness. In their own minds they were judging my words; yet, apart from the sovereign working of God, these dead souls could neither discern the righteousness of the charges brought against them nor embrace the remedy so freely offered in the Gospel. Unless the LORD Himself breathe upon them the breath of life, as He did Adam, none shall truly hear unto salvation.

And so I pleaded with them. I besought them to consider well the irreversible realities of the sentence that is sure to come. For who can tell whether this might not be the final truce which God, in His long-suffering, extendeth unto one standing there, before he is summoned into eternity before the day ends?

There I stood between the glory due unto God and the spiritual barrenness of men who, having wiped their mouths, boast in themselves that they have done no evil. In myself I was altogether helpless to give life or persuade the heart; yet I remained full of hope, knowing that the God who commandeth all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30) is also able to do that which no preacher can—to make these dead bones hear the voice of the Son of God and live (Ezekiel 37:3).

On the journey home my mind was much occupied with solemn thoughts. I could not but wonder how many, having heard the Gospel through my feeble labors, had heard it for the last time. Such considerations humble the soul exceedingly. Man, for all his wealth and strength, cannot purchase a single minute beyond that which God hath appointed unto him. His days are measured, his breath is borrowed, and when his hour is come, neither silver nor gold can persuade death to wait.

These thoughts laid my soul low before the Lord. It came with fresh weight upon me that I too shall one day preach my last sermon. There shall come a time when my voice will be heard no more among the living, and another shall perhaps stand where I once stood. My earnest prayer is that, when my gracious Master is pleased to call me unto Himself, He may find me still at my appointed work, laboring faithfully for the honor of His blessed name.

Perhaps no thought is more frequently before my mind than that of the last things. Ah Lord—the last things shall surely overtake every man, and I unexempt. Yet as surely shall there also be the first of many things. There shall one day be for me my first journey home from preaching Christ, to an empty house. A first evening when, having proclaimed the Gospel, I shall return to find my beloved wife no longer waiting for me, but having departed unto the Lord the day before. I often wonder whether I should even find the strength to enter the door of my once familiar house, so full of memories, yet emptied of her presence. My first dinner alone. My first sleep alone. My first morning alone. My first labor alone. But in truth, just as Christ was in the flesh never alone, I too will never be alone. On that first day of such things, may He cause me to remember His promises.

Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. John 16:32
I will not leave you alone: I will come to you. John 14:18
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.John 14:1
I am with you always Matthew 28:30

And what if, in the mysterious providence of God, I should preach in the morning, and before evening be called to lay my wife in the grave (Ezekiel 24:16-18)? What if I were not permitted to exchange my appointed labor for mourning, but must still declare the unsearchable riches of Christ whilst my own heart was breaking? God is never cruel. Obedience is, in all its simplicity, truly costly. Such are the bitter sorrows of the narrow way. It woundeth the feet of all who walk therein, yet leadeth every weary pilgrim safely home.

Yet even here the promises of God shine with a glory beyond all sorrow. Death may separate for a season, but it cannot overturn the covenant mercies of our God. The same Lord who appointeth the day of our weeping hath also prepared an everlasting consolation for those who love Him. Therefore our hope doth not rest in the frailty of this present life, but in Him who hath conquered death and promised that those who are His shall be with Him for evermore. The first day of all good things without end.