Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate.  Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.  For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.

 
 
 

Going to Jesus

Gospel Tracts

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Gospel Tract #45

Songs in the Night

by George C. Clark

Paul and Silas, because of their zeal for God, were stripped, severely beaten, and cast into prison.  The jailer, having received strict orders to keep close watch on them, put them into the inner cell, and fastened their feet in the stocks.  But, thank God, this did not quench their evangelistic spirits for “at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying, and they began singing praises to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).  Indeed, my Reader, not only the prisoners heard these two late-hour worshippers, but God our Maker, “Who gives songs in the night” also heard them: ‘When all of a sudden, there was such a great earthquake that it shook the foundations of the prison, and all the doors were immediately opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened. And the jailer was woken up, and seeing the prison doors opened, he drew out a sword and was about to kill himself, assuming that the prisoners had escaped, but Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm! We are all here!” Then, when he had called for lights, he rushed in, trembling with fear, and fell down before Paul and Silas. And after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your house.” And then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house. And he took them at that hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he was straightway baptized, he and all his house. Then he brought them to his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced with all his house, believing in God’ ” (Acts 16:26–34).

This was something new to the jailer, especially at such a late hour – prisoners praying and singing.  Perhaps the other prisoners, at first, thought Paul and Silas were fools.  “Is it a new kind of religion?” doubtless they asked.  Nevertheless, it changed the spirit of the prison.

Life itself often seems to be a prison, burdens and trials cutting our hearts until we cry for peace and mercy.  Is it not possible for us to find, through prayer, a song we can sing in this midnight hour of sin and sorrow?  Surely, if we obey God, it will be as the Psalmist said, “By day, the Lord commands His lovingkindness, and by night, His song is with me” (Ps. 42:8).

It was a song from the Lord in the hearts of Paul and Silas that caused the jailer and those in his house to walk out of the darkness of sin into the light of life.  Now, what about your song, my Reader?  Do you have one?  One that you can sing, and feel the glory of God as it springs up within you, and lights from time to time the dark cells of distress and perplexity that so often overtake us?  Or are you like the Psalmist, when he said, “I sought my Lord in the day of my distress. At night, my hand was stretched out and did not grow weak. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and groaned. I complained, and my spirit was fainting away. Selah. You held my eyelids open; I was so troubled that I could not speak. I considered days of old, the years of long ago. I remembered my songs in the night; I communed with my heart, and my spirit made inquiry: “Will my Lord cast off forever and ever? And will He never again show favor? Has His mercy forever ceased? Is the promise to all generations no more? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Or in anger, has He shut up His compassions?

No, beloved, God hasn’t forgotten to be gracious.  He still loves you, even if you have lost your song in the night.  I know what it means to lose this heavenly tune – “singing and playing in your heart to the Lord.”  I went a long time once when “my song in the night” was only a memory.  And as the Psalmist said, “I remembered God, and groaned. I complained, and my spirit was fainting away.”  But, thank God, I did as the Psalmist did, “In the day of my distress [I was seriously ill], I sought the Lord.”  Yes, Reader, “I considered days of old, the years of long ago.”  In other words, the early years of my ministry.  Indeed, “I remembered my songs in the night.”  “I communed with my heart, and my spirit made inquiry.”  Consequently, the joy of my salvation was restored; and today, I have an established testimony, a testimony that God can and will “make a new, steadfast spirit” in anyone who will pay the price.

As we look about us today and see so many believers who have lost their song of victory, our mind runs back to the days of Job, when he saw the transgressions of God’s people being multiplied, and yet, they would not repent.  As Job states it, “No one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?’ ” (35:10).

Do not despair, my friend, if you stumble along the way.  No failure need be final except the failure to repent and begin anew.  For “if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart” (1Jn. 3:20).  And if our hearts rejoice, He is able to make us “rejoice always”!

Child of God, “Keep your heart with all diligence ” and keep your “songs in the night”.  If you can do this, I am sure that when the midnight cry is made, “Behold the Bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!”, you will be able to respond, “In the middle of the night, I rise to praise you for your righteous judgments” (Ps. 119:62).  Until that day, may God bless and keep you, and may you ever retain your comforting song in the night.

The Drifted Soul

George C. Clark, Sr.

1
If you are a soul that has drifted
Away in the sin of despair,
Someone is waiting to help you,
And share all your burdens of care.
What hinders your coming to Jesus
And giving up this world of woe?
Your heart would be filled then with gladness;
Your spirit His blessings may know.

2
If you are a soul that has drifted –
Dear as a dream you recall
The time when your life was delivered.
The dew of remembrance now falls!
The touch of His power and Spirit,
The sound of His voice soft and low,
Still clings to the heart that was broken
And given to you long ago.

3
If you are a soul that has drifted,
In sorrow and sin why delight?
O why not come back to the Savior,
And walk in the way that is right?
You cannot find pleasure in living,
If Jesus is not in your life.
It’s sorrow and trouble to haunt you,
And death at the end of the night.

4
If you are a soul that has drifted
Away from the way that is right,
Someone is waiting to help you,
And turn all your darkness to light.
What fragrance sweeter or dearer
Could hide in the breath of a flower,
Than this One so sinless and faithful?
Recalls to us one golden hour.

5
If you are a soul that has drifted,
When you are dead in your grave,
When ever your head’s lying lowly,
In sorrow your spirit will wave.
O take no more thought for tomorrow.
Today hear His voice, if you will.
If you are a soul that has drifted,
Remember He’s loving you still.

My Mother

by George C. Clark

I stood beside the bed of my dear Mother,
And sadly watched her take her final breath.
“She’s gone”, I told myself in silent whisper,
As now I viewed the body she had left.

Chorus:
Gone home, gone home to be with Jesus,
Gone home, gone home to mansions in the sky,
Gone home, gone home from sickness
and all suffering,
Gone home, gone home, my precious Mother, bye.

2
For days and weeks we knew she was to leave us.
Her time on earth was long and overdue.
She heard the call for meeting time in heaven,
And now she’s there with baby sister, too.

3
I used to hear her tell me in the evening,
“Son, please don’t stay so long from mom tonight.
How short the time will be when I must leave you.”
O Mother, now I know that you were right.

4
In dreams I see my Mother beckon for me,
As evening shadows slowly o’er me grow.
I know it won’t be long before I see her
In mansions where the breezes softly blow.

5
I know she’s resting with the peaceful angels.
She told me so before she went away.
It was so hard to see them take her from us,
But soon we’ll meet her there with them to stay.

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