__________________________________________________________________ Title: Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 29: 1883 Creator(s): Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (1834-1892) CCEL Subjects: All; Sermons; LC Call no: BV42 LC Subjects: Practical theology Worship (Public and Private) Including the church year, Christian symbols, liturgy, prayer, hymnology Times and Seasons. The church year __________________________________________________________________ The Star and the Wise Men (No. 1698) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, December 24th, 1882, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the [1]Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "Now Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews'? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."— Matthew 2:1-2, 9-10. SEE, DEAR FRIENDS, the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ even in his state of humiliation! He is born of lowly parents, laid in a manger, and wrapped in swaddling bands; but, lo! the principalities and powers in the heavenly places are in commotion. First, one angel descends to proclaim the advent of the new-born King and suddenly there is with him a multitude of the heavenly host singing glory unto God. Nor was the commotion confined to the spirits above; for in the heavens which overhang this card, there is a stir. A star is deputed on behalf of all the stars, as if he were the envoy and plenipotentiary of all worlds to represent them before their King. This star is put in commission to wait upon the Lord, to be his herald to men afar off, his usher to conduct them to his presence, and his body-guard to sentinel his cradle. Earth, too, is stirred. Shepherds have come to pay the homage of simple-minded ones: with all love and joy they bow before the mysterious child; and after them from afar come the choice and flower of their generation, the most studious minds of the age. Making a long and difficult journey, they too at last arrive, the representatives of the Gentiles. Lo! the kings of Seba and Sheba offer gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Wise men, the leaders of their peoples, bow down before him, and pay homage to the Son of God. Wherever Christ is he is honorable. "Unto you that believe he is honor." In the day of small things, when the cause of God is denied entertainment, and is hidden away with things which are despised, it is still most glorious. Christ, though a child, is still King of kings; though among the oxen, he is still distinguished by his star. Beloved friends, if wise men of old came to Jesus and worshipped, should not we come also? My intense desire this morning is that we all may pay homage to him of whom we sing, "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given." Let those of us who have long worshipped, worship anew with yet lowlier reverence and intenser love. And God grant-oh, that he would grant it!—that some who are far off from him spiritually, as the Magi were far off locally, may come to-day and ask, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have come to worship him." May feet that have been accustomed to broad roads, but unaccustomed to the narrow path, this day pursue that way till they see Jesus, and how before him with all their hearts, finding salvation in him. These wise men came naturally, traversing the desert; let us come spiritually, leaving our sins. These were guided by the sight of a star; let us be guided by faith in the divine Spirit, by the teaching of his word and all those blessed lights which the Lord uses to conduct men to himself. Only let us come to Jesus. It was well to come unto the babe Jesus, led by the feeble beams of a star; you shall find it still more blessed to come to him now that he is exalted in the highest heavens, and by his own light reveals his own perfect glory. Delay not, for this day he cries, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This morning let us try to do three things. First, let us gather light from this star; secondly, let us gather wisdom from those wise men; and thirdly, let us act as wise men helped by our own particular star. I. First, then, LET US GATHER LIGHT FROM THIS STAR. May the Spirit of the Lord enable us so to do. I suppose you have each one his own imagination as to what this star was. It would seem to have been altogether supernatural, and not a star, or a comet of the ordinary kind. It was not a constellation, nor a singular conjunction of planets: there is nothing in the Scriptures to support such a conjecture. In all probability it was not a star in the sense in which we now speak of stars: for we find that it moved before the wise men, then suddenly disappeared, and again shone forth to move before them. It could not have been a star in the upper spheres like others, for such movements would not have been possible. Some have supposed that the wise men went in the direction in which the star shone forth in the heavens, and followed the changes of its position: but it could not in that case have been said that it stood over the place where the young child was. If the star was at its zenith over Bethlehem, it would have been in its zenith over Jerusalem too; for the distance is so small that it would not have been possible to observe any difference in the position of the star in the two places. It must have been a star occupying quite another sphere from that in which the planets revolve. We believe it to have been a luminous appearance in mid-air; probably akin to that which led the children of Israel through the wilderness, which was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Whether it was seen in the daylight or not we cannot tell. Chrysostom and the early fathers are wonderfully positive about many things which Scripture leaves in doubt, but as these eminent divines drew upon their imagination for their facts, we are not under bonds to follow them. They aver that this star was so bright as to be visible all day long. If so, we can imagine the wise men travelling day and night; but if it could be seen only by night, the picture before us grows far more singular and weird—like as we see these easterns quietly pursuing their star-lit way, resting perforce when the sun was up, but noiselessly hurrying at night through slumbering lands. These questions are not of much importance to us, and therefore we will not dwell long upon them. Only here is a first lesson: if it should ever be that men should fail to preach the gospel, God can conduct souls to his Son by a star. Ah! say not only by a star, but by a stone, a bird, a blade of grass, a drop of dew. "Remember that Omnipotence Has servants everywhere." Therefore, despond not when you hear that one minister has ceased to preach the gospel, or that another is fighting against the viral truth of God. Their apostasy shall be to their own loss rather than to the hurt of Jesus and his church; and, sad though it be to see the lamps of the sanctuary put out, yet God is not dependent upon human lights, he is the Shekinah light of his own holy place. Mortal tongues, if they refuse to preach his word, shall have their places supplied by books in the running brooks and sermons in stones. The beam shall cry out of the wall, and the timber shall answer it. When chief priests and scribes have all gone out of the way, the Lord puts stars into commission, and once more in very deed the heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament is showing his handiwork. Sooner than lack speakers for the incarnate God, mountains and hills shall learn eloquence and break forth into testimony. Jehovah's message shall be made known to the utmost ends of the earth. God shall save his own elect; he shall give to Christ to see of the travail of his soul and to be satisfied. His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure. Hallelujah! Now, when the Lord does use a star to be his minister, what is the order of his ministry? We may learn by this enquiry what kind of ministry God would have ours to be if we are stars in his right hand. We also shine as lights in the world: let us see how to do it. We notice, first, that star-preaching is all about Christ. We do not know what the color of the star was, nor the shape of the star, nor to what magnitude it had attained; these items are not recorded, but what is recorded is of much more importance; the wise men said—"We have seen his star." Then the star which the Lord will use to lead men to Jesus must be Christ's own star. The faithful minister, like this star, belongs to Christ; he is Christ's own man in the most emphatic sense. Before we can expect to be made a blessing, dear friends, we must ourselves be blessed of the Lord. If we would cause others to belong, to Jesus, we must belong wholly to Jesus ourselves. Every beam in that star shone forth for Jesus. It was his star, always, and only, and altogether. It shone not for itself, but only as his star: as such it was known and spoken of—"we have seen his star." As I have already said, there is no note taken of any peculiarity that it had except this one, that it was the star of the King. I wish that you and I, whatever our eccentricities or personalities may be, may never make so much of them as to attract men's attention to them. May people never dwell upon our attainments or our deficiencies, but may they always observe this one thing, that we are men of God, that we are ambassadors of Christ, that we are Christ's servants, and do not attempt to shine for ourselves, or to make ourselves conspicuous; but that we labor to shine for him, that his way may be known upon earth, his saving health among all people. Brother, it is well for us to forget ourselves in our message, to sink ourselves in our Master. We know the names of several of the stars, yet they may each one envy that star which remains anonymous, but can never be forgotten because men who sought the King of Israel knew it as "his star." Though you be but a very little star, twinkling for Jesus; however feeble your light may be, be it plain that you are his star, so that if men wonder what you are, they may never wonder whose you are, for on your very forefront it shall be written, "Whose I am and whom I serve." God will not lead men to Christ by us unless we are Christ's heartily, wholly, unreservedly. In his temple our Lord uses no borrowed vessels; every bowl before the altar must be his own. It is not consistent with the glory of God for him to use borrowed vessels. He is not so poor as that comes to. This lesson is worthy of all acceptation. Are you in a hurry to preach, young man? Are you sure you are Christ's? Do you think it must be a fine thing to hold a company or people listening to your words? Have you looked at it in another light,? Have you weighed the responsibility of having to speak as Christ would have you speak, and of yielding yourself in your entire personality to the utterance of the mind of God? You must be consecrated and concentrated if you hope to be used or the Lord. If you have one ray, or ten thousand rays, all must shine with the one design of guiding men to Jesus. You have nothing now to do with any object, subject, design, or endeavor, but Jesus only: in him, and for him, and to him must you live henceforth, or you will never be chosen of the Lord to conduct either wise men or babes to Jesus. See ye well to it that perfect consecration be yours. Note next that true star-preaching leads to Christ. The star was Christ's star itself, but it also led others to Christ. It did this very much because it moved in that direction. It is a sad thing when a preacher is like a sign-post pointing the way but never following it, on his own account. Such were those chief priests at Jerusalem: they could tell where Christ was born, but they never went to worship him; they were indifferent altogether to him and to his birth. The star that leads to Christ must always be going to Christ. Men are far better drawn by example than driven by exhortation. Personal piety alone can be owned of God to the production of piety in others. "Go," say you; but they will not go. Say "come," and lead the way: then they will come. Do not the sheep follow the shepherd? He who would lead others to Christ should go before them himself, having his face towards his Master, his eyes towards his Master, his steps toward his Master, his heart towards his Master. We are so to live that we may without boasting exhort those around us to have us for an example. Oh, that all who think themselves to be stars would themselves diligently move towards the Lord Jesus. The star in the east led wise men to Christ because it went that way itself: there is a wisdom in example which truly wise men are quick to perceive. This star had such an influence upon the chosen men that they could not but follow it: it charmed them across the desert. Such a charm may reside in you and in me, and we may exercise a powerful ministry over many hearts, being to them as loadstones, drawing them to the Lord Jesus. Happy privilege! We would not, merely show the road, but induce our neighbors to enter upon it. We read of one of old, not that they told him of Jesus, but that "they brought him to Jesus." We are not only to tell the story of the cross, but we are to persuade men to fly to the Crucified One for salvation. Did not the king in the parable say to his servants, "Compel them to come in." Assuredly he girds his own messengers with such a compelling power that men cannot hold out any longer, but must follow their lead and bow at the King's feet. The star did not draw, "as it were with a cart rope," nor by any force, material and physical; yet it drew these wise men from the remote east right to the manger of the new-born child. And so, though we have no arm of the law to help us, nor patronage, nor pomp of eloquence, nor parade of learning, yet we have a spiritual power by which we draw to Jesus thousands who are our joy and crown. The man sent of God comes forth from the divine presence permeated with a power which makes men turn to the Savior and live. Oh! that such power might go forth from all God's ministers yea, from all God's servants engaged in street-preaching, in Sunday-schools, in tract-visitation, and in every form of holy service. God uses those whose aim and intent it is to draw men to Christ. He puts his Spirit into them, by which Spirit they are helped to set forth the Lord Jesus as so lovely and desirable that men run to him and accept his glorious salvation. It is a small thing to shine, but it is a great thing to draw. Any cast-away may be brilliant; but only the real saint will be attractive for Jesus. I would not pray to be an orator, but I do pray to be a soul-winner. Do not aim, beloved brethren, at anything short of leading men to Jesus. Do not be satisfied to lead them to orthodox doctrine, or merely to bring them to a belief in those views which you hold to be Scriptural, valuable as that way be. It is to the person of the incarnate God that we must bring them to his feet we must conduct them that they may worship him: our mission is not accomplished, it is a total failure, unless we conduct our hearers to the house where Jesus dwells, and then stand over them, keeping watch over their souls for Jesu's sake. Once more, the star which God used in this case was a star that stopped at Jesus: it went before the wise men till it brought them to Jesus, and then it stood still over the place where the young child was. I admire the manner of this star. There are remarkable stars in the theological sky at the present, time: they have led men to Jesus, so they say, and now they lead them into regions beyond, of yet undeveloped thought. The gospel of the Puritans is "old-fashioned"; these men have discovered that it is unsuitable for the enlarged intellects of the times; and so these stars would guide us further still. To this order of wandering stars I do not belong myself, and I trust I never shall. Progress beyond the gospel I have no desire for. "God forbid that I should glory save ill the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." When the star had come to the place where the young child was, it stood still: and so should the gracious mind become settled, fixed, immovable. The wise men knew where to find that star, and where to find the young child by it: so be it with us. Oh, you that have hitherto been diligent in leading souls to Christ, never indulge for a single moment the notion that you need a broader philosophy or a deeper spirituality than are to be found in Jesus. Abide in him. Cry, "Oh God, my heart is fixed. My heart is fixed." There is nothing beyond Christ which is worth a moment's thought. Do not lose your paradise in Christ for another taste of that tree of knowledge of good-and-evil which ruined our first parents. Stick you to the old points: your one subject Christ, your one object to bring men to Christ, your one glory the glory of Christ. Standing by your Lord, and there alone, from this day to the last day, you will secure a happy, honored, and holy life. They said of Greece after her fall that it had become so ruined that you might search for Greece in Greece and fail to find it: I fear I must say that some professed preachers of the gospel have roamed so far away from it that you cannot find the gospel in their gospel, nor Christ himself in the Christ they preach. So far have some diverged from the grand essential soul-saving truth beyond which no man ought to dare to think of going, that they retain nothing of Christianity but the name. All that is beyond truth is a lie; anything beyond revelation is at best a minor matter, and most probably is an old wives' fable, even though he may be of the masculine gender who invented it. Stand you to your colors you who hope to be used of the Lord. Abide so that men shall find you in twenty years' time shining for Jesus and pointing to the place where the Savior is to be found, even as you are doing now. Let Jesus Christ be your ultimatum. Your work is done when you bring souls to Jesus, and help to keep them there, by being yourself "steadfast, unmovable." Be not carried away from the hope of your calling; but hold fast even the form of sound words, for it may be that in letting go the form you may lose the substance also. II. Now that we have somewhat rejoiced in the light of the star, let us see if we can GATHER WISDOM FROM THE WISE MEN. Perhaps you have heard the "much speaking" of tradition as to who they were, whence they came, and how they traveled. In the Greek church, I believe, they know their number, their names, the character of their retinue, and what kind of ornaments were on their dromedaries' necks. Details which are not found in the word of God you may believe or not, at your pleasure, and you will be wise if our pleasure is not to believe too much. We only know that they were Magi, wise men from the East, possibly of the old Parsee religion—watchers if not worshippers of the stars. We will not speculate about them, but learn from them. They did not content themselves with admiring the star and comparing it with other stars, and taking notes as to the exact date of its appearance, and how many times it twinkled, and when it moved, and all that; but they practically used the teaching of the star. Many are hearers and admirers of God's servants, but they are not wise enough to make fit and proper use of the preaching. They notice the peculiarity of the preacher's language, how much he is like one divine, how much he is unlike another; whether he coughs too often, or speaks too much in his throat; whether he is too loud or too low; whether he has not a provincial tone, whether there may not be about him a commonness of speech approaching to vulgarity; or, on the other hand, whether he may not be too florid in his diction. Such fooleries as these are the constant observations of men for whose souls we labor. They are perishing, and yet toying with such small matters With many it is all they go to the house of God for, to criticise in this paltry fashion. I have even seen them come to this place with opera glasses, as if they came hither to inspect an actor who lived and labored to arouse their leisure hours. Such is the sport of fools; but these were wise men, and therefore practical men. They did not become star-gazers, and stop at the point of admiring the remarkable star; but they said, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." They set out at once to find the now-born King, of whose coming the star was the signal. Oh, my dear hearers, how I wish that you were all wise in this same manner! I would sooner preach the dullest sermon that was ever preached than preach the most brilliant that was ever spoken if I could by that poor sermon lead you quite away from myself to seek the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one thing I care about. Will you never gratify me by enquiring after my Lord and Master? I long to hear you say, "What is the man talking about? He speaks about a Savior; we will have that Savior for ourselves. He talks about pardon through the blood of Christ; he speaks about God coming down among men to save them; we will find out if there is any reality in this pardon, any truth in this salvation. We will seek Jesus, and find for ourselves the blessings which are reported to be laid up in him." If I heard you all saying this I should be ready to die of joy. Is not this a good day on which to set out to find your Savior? Some of you that have postponed it long, would it not be well to set out at once ere this expiring year has seen its last day? These wise men appear to have set out as soon as they discovered the star: they were not among those who have time to waste in needless delays. "There is the star," said they; "away we go beneath its guidance. We are not satisfied with a star, we go to find the King whose star it is!" And so they set out to find Christ immediately and resolutely. Being wise men, they persevered in their search after him. We cannot tell how far they journeyed. Travelling was extremely difficult in those times. There were hostile tribes to avoid, the broad rivers of the Tigris and the Euphrates to cross, and trackless deserts to penetrate; but they made nothing of difficulty or danger. They set out for Jerusalem, and to Jerusalem they came, seeking the King of the Jews. If it be true that God has taken upon himself our nature, we ought to resolve to find him, let it cost what it may. If we must circumnavigate the globe to find a Savior, the distance and the expense ought to be nothing so long as we may but reach him. Were the Christ in the bowels of the earth, or in the heights of heaven we ought not to rest till we come at him. Everything that was necessary for their expedition the wise men soon gathered together, regardless of expense; and off they went following the star that they might discover the Prince of the kings of the earth. At length they came to Jerusalem, and here new trials awaited them. It must have been a great trouble to them when they asked, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" and the people shook their heads as if they thought the question an idle one. Neither rich nor poor in the metropolitan city knew anything of Israel's King. The ribald multitude replied, "Herod is king of the Jews. Mind how you speak of another king, or your head may have to answer for it. The tyrant brooks no rival." The wise men must have been more astonished still when they found that Herod was troubled. They were glad to think that he was born who was to usher in the age or gold; but Herod's face grew blacker than ever at the bare mention of a king of the Jews. His eyes flashed, and a thundercloud was upon his brow; a dark deed of murder will come of it, though for the moment he conceals his malice. There is tumult all through the streets of Jerusalem, for no man knows what grim Herod may do now that he has been roused by the question, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? Thus there was a ferment in Jerusalem, beginning at the palace; but this did not deter the wise men from their search for the promised Prince. They did not pack up their bales and go back and say, "It is useless to try to discover this questionable personage who is unknown even in the country of which he is King, and who appears to "be terribly unwelcome to those who are to be his subjects. We must leave to another day the solution of the question: "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?'" These earnest-minded seekers were not dispirited by the clergy and the learned men when they came together. To the chief priests and scribes the question was put, and they answered the enquiry as to where Christ would be born, but not a mother's son among them would go with the wise men to find this new-born King. Strange apathy! Alas, how common! Those who should have been leaders were no leaders; they would not even be followers of that which is good, for they had no heart towards Christ. The wise men rose superior to this serious discouragement. If the clergy would not help them they would go to Jesus by themselves. Oh, dear friend, if you are wise you will say, "I will find Christ alone if none will join me: if I dig to the center, I will find him; if I fly to the sun, I will find him; if all men put me off, I will find him; if the ministers of the gospel appear indifferent to me, I will find him: the kingdom of heaven or old suffered violence, and the violent took it by force, and so will I." The first Christians had to leave all the authorized teachers of the day behind, and to come out by themselves: it will be no strange thing if you should have to do the same. Happy will it be if you are determined to go through floods and flames to find Christ; for he will be found of you. Thus these men were wise because, having started on the search, they persevered in it till they found the Lord and worshipped him. Notice that they were wise because, when they again saw the star, "they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." While enquiring among the priests at Jerusalem they were perplexed, but when the star shone out again, they were at ease and full of joy: this joy they expressed, so that the evangelist recorded it. In these days very wise people think it necessary to repress all emotion, and appear like men of stone or ice. No matter what happens, they are stoical, and raised far above the enthusiasm of the vulgar. It is wonderful how fashions change, and folly stands for philosophy. But these wise men were children enough to be glad when their perplexity was over, and the clear light shone forth. It is a good sign when a man is not ashamed to be happy because he hears a plain, unmistakable testimony for the Lord Jesus. It is good to see the great man come down from his pedestal, and, like a little child, rejoice to hear the simple story of the cross. Give me the hearer who looks not for fineries, but cries out, "Lead me to Jesus. I want a guide to Jesus, and nothing else will suit me." Why, truly, if men did but know the value of things they would rejoice more to see a preacher of the gospel than a king. If the feet of the heralds of salvation be blessed, how much more their tongues when they tell out the tidings of a Savior. These wise men, with all their mystic learning were not ashamed to rejoice because a little star lent them its beams to conduct them to Jesus. We unite with them in rejoicing over a clear gospel ministry. For us all else is darkness, sorrow, and vexation of spirit; but that which leads us to our own glorious Lord is spirit, and light, and life. Better the sun should not shine than that a clear gospel should not be preached. We reckon that a country flourishes or decays according as gospel light is revealed or withdrawn. Now follow these wise men a little further. They have come to the house where the young child is. What will they do? Will they stand looking at the star? No: they enter in. The star stands still, but they are not afraid to lose its radiance, and behold the Sun of righteousness. They did not cry, "We see the star, and that is enough for us; we have followed the star, and it is all we need to do." Not at all. They lift, the latch, and enter the lowly residence of the babe. They see the star no longer, and they have no need to see it, for there is he that is born King of the Jews. Now the true Light has shone upon them from the face of the child; they behold the incarnate God. Oh, friends! how wise you will be if, when you have been led to Christ by any man, you do not rest in his leadership, but must see Christ for yourselves. How much I long that you may enter into the fellowship of the mystery, pass through the door, and come and behold the young child, and bow before him. Our woe is that so many are so unwise. We are only their guides, but they are apt to make us their end. We point the way, but they do not follow the road; they stand gazing upon us. The star is gone; it did its work, and passed away: Jesus remains, and the wise men live in him. Will any of you be so foolish as to think only of the dying preacher, and forget the ever-living Savior? Come, be wise, and hasten to your Lord at once. These men were wise, last of all—and I commend their example to you-because when they saw the child they worshipped. Theirs was not curiosity gratified, but devotion exercised. We, too, must worship the Savior, or we shall never be saved by him. He has not come to put away our sins, and yet to leave us ungodly and self-willed. Oh you that have never worshipped the Christ of God, may you be led to do so at once! He is God over all, blessed for ever, adore him! Was God ever seen in such a worshipful form before? Behold he bows the heavens; he rides upon the wings of the wind; he scatters flames of fire; he speaks, and his dread artillery shakes the hills: you worship in terror. Who would not adore the great and terrible Jehovah? But is it not much better to behold him here, allied to your nature, wrapped like other children in swaddling clothes, tender, feeble, next akin to your own self? Will you not worship God when he thus comes down to you and becomes your brother, born for your salvation? Here nature itself suggests worship: O may grace produce it! Let us hasten to worship where shepherds and wise men and angels have led the way. Here let my sermon come to a pause even as the star did. Enter the house and worship! Forget the preacher. Let the starlight shine for other eyes. Jesus was born that you might be born again. He lived that you might live. He died that you might die to sin. He is risen, and to-day he maketh intercession for transgressors that they may be reconciled to God through him. Come, then; believe, trust, rejoice, adore! If you have neither gold, frankincense, nor myrrh, bring your faith, your love, your repentance, and falling down before the Son of God pay him the reverence of your hearts. III. And now I turn to my third and last point, which is this: LET US ACT AS WISE MEN UNDER THE LIGHT OF OUR STAR. We too have received light to lead us to the Savior: I might say that for us many stars have shone to that blessed end. I will, however, on this point content myself with asking questions. Do you not think that there is some light for you in your particular vocation, some call from God in your calling? Listen to me, and then listen to God. These men were watchers of the stars; therefore a star was used to call them. Certain other men soon after were fishermen; and by means of an amazing take of fish the Lord Jesus made them aware of his superior power, and then he called them to become fishers of men. For a star-gazer a star; for a fisherman a fish. The Master-Fisher hath a bait for each one of his elect, and oftentimes he selects a point in their own calling to be the barb of the hook. Were you busy yesterday at your counter? Did you bear no voice saying "Buy the truth and sell it not"? When you closed the shop last night did you not bethink yourself that soon you must close it for the last time? Do you make bread? and do you never ask yourself, "Has my soul eaten the bread of heaven?" Are you a farmer? do you till the soil? Has God never spoken to you by those furrowed fields and these changing seasons, and made you wish that your heart might be tilled and sown.? Listen! God is speaking! Hear, ye deaf; for there are voices everywhere calling you to heaven. You need not go miles about to find a link between you and everlasting mercy: the telegraphic wires are on either side of the road, God and human souls are near each other. How I wish that your common vocation would be viewed by you as concealing within itself the door to your high vocation. Oh that the Holy Spirit would turn your favourite pursuits into opportunities for his gracious work upon you. If not among the stars, yet among the flowers of the garden, or the cattle of the hills, or the waves of the sea may he find a net in which to enclose you for Christ. I wish that those of you who conclude that your calling could never draw you to Christ would make a point of seeing whether it might not be so. We are to learn from ants, and swallows, and cranes, and conies; surely we need never be short of tutors. It did seem that a star was an unlikely thing to head a procession of eastern sages, and yet it was the best guide that could be found; and so it may seem that your trade is an unlikely thing to bring you to Jesus, and yet the Lord may so use it. There may be a message from the Lord to thee in many a left-handed providence; a voice for wisdom may come to thee from the month of an ass; a call to a holy life may startle thee from a bush, a warning may flash upon thee from a wall, or a vision may impress thee in the silence of night when deep sleep falleth upon men. Only be thou ready to hear and God will find a way of speaking to thee. Answer the question as the wise men would have answered it, and say, "Yes, in our calling there is a call to Christ." Then, again, what should you and I do better in this life than seek after Christ! The wise men thought all other pursuits of small account compared with this. "Who is going to attend to that observatory and watch the rest of the stars?" They shake their heads, and say they do not know: these things must wait; they have seen his star, and they are going to worship him. But who will attend to their wives and families, and all besides, while they make this long journey? They reply that every lesser thing must be subordinate to the highest thing. Matters must be taken in proportion, and the search after the King of the Jews, who is the desire of all nations, is so out of all proportion great that all the rest must go. Are not you, also, wise enough to judge in this sensible fashion? Do you not think, dear friends, it would be well to use all to-morrow in seeking Jesus? It will be a leisure day, could you spend it better than in Seeking your Redeemer? If you were to take a week, and give it wholly to your own soul, and to seeking Christ, would it not be well spent? How can you live with your soul in jeopardy? Oh that you would say, "I must get this matter right; it is an all-important business, and I must see it secure." This would be no more than common-sense. If you are driving, and a trace is broken, do you not stop the horse, and get the harness right? How, then, can you go on with the chariot of life when all its harness is out of order, and a fall means eternal ruin? If you will stop driving to arrange a buckle for fear of accident, I would beg of you to stop anything and everything to see to the safety of your soul. See how the engineer looks to the safety-valve: are you content to run more desperate risks? If your house were not insured, and you carried on a hazardous trade, the probability is you would feel extremely anxious until you had arranged that matter: but your soul is uninsured, and it may burn for ever,—will you not give heed to it? I beseech you be just to yourself,—kind to yourself. Oh! see to your eternal well-being. You are not certain that you will get home to dinner to-day. Life is frail as a cobweb. You may be in hell before yon clock strikes one! Remember that. There is not a step between you and everlasting destruction from the presence of God if you are as yet unregenerate; and your only hope is to find the Savior, trust the Savior, obey the Savior. Wherefore, like these wise men, put everything on one side, and set out now upon an earnest, resolute, persevering endeavor to find Jesus. I was about to say—resolve to find Jesus, or to die; but I will change the words, and say—resolve to find him, and live. When we do come near to Jesus, let us ask ourselves this question, "Do we see more in Jesus than other people do?" for if we do, we are God's elect taught of God, illuminated by his Spirit. We read in the Scriptures that when these wise men saw the young child they fell down and worshipped him. Other people might have come in and seen the child, and said, "Many children are as interesting as this poor woman's babe." Ay, but as these men looked, they saw: all eyes are not so blessed. Eyes that see are gifts from the All-seeing One. Carnal eyes are blind; but these men saw the Infinite in the infant; the Godhead gleaming through the manhood; the glory hiding beneath the swaddling bands. Undoubtedly there was a spiritual splendor about this matchless child! We read that Moses' father and mother saw that he was a "goodly child"; they saw he was "fair unto God," says the original. But when these elect men saw that holy thing which is called the Son of the Highest, they discovered in him a glory all unknown before. Then was his star in the ascendant to them: he became their all in all, and they worshipped with all their hearts. Have you discovered such glory in Christ? "Oh!" says one, "you are always harping upon Christ and his glory. You are a man of one idea!" Precisely so. My one idea is that he is "altogether lovely," and that there is nothing out of heaven nor in heaven that can be compared with him even in his lowest and weakest estate. Have you ever seen as much as that in Jesus? If so, you are the Lord's; go you, and rejoice in him. If not, pray God to open your eyes until, like the wise men, you see and worship. Lastly, learn from these wise men that when they worshipped they did not permit it to be a mere empty-handed adoration. Ask yourself, "What shall I render unto the Lord?" Bowing before the young child, they offered "gold, frankincense and myrrh," the best of metals and the best of spices; an offering to the King of gold; an offering to the priest of frankincense; an offering to the child of myrrh. Wise men are liberal men. Consecration is the best education. To-day it is thought to be wise to be always receiving; but the Savior said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." God judges our hearts by that which spontaneously comes from them: hence the sweet cane bought with money is acceptable to him when given freely. He doth not tax his saints or weary them with incense; but he delights to see in them that true love which cannot express itself in mere words, but must use gold and myrrh, works of love and deeds of self-denial, to be the emblems of its gratitude. Brothers, you will never get into the heart of happiness till you become unselfish and generous; you have but chewed the husks of religion which are often bitter, you have never eaten of the sweet kernel until you have felt the love of God constraining you to make sacrifice. There is nothing in the true believer's power which he would not do for his Lord: nothing in our substance which we would not give to him, nothing in ourselves which we would not devote to his service. God give to you all grace to come to Jesus, even though it be by the starlight of this Sermon, for his love's sake! Amen. __________________________________________________________________ Supposing Him to be the Gardener A Sermon (No. 1699) Delivered on Lord's Day Morning, December 31st, 1882, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. "Supposing him to be the gardener."--John 20:15. I WAS sitting about a fortnight ago in a very lovely garden, in the midst of all kinds of flowers which were blooming in delightful abundance all around. Screening myself from the heat of the sun under the overhanging boughs of an olive, I cast my eyes upon palms and bananas, roses and camellias, oranges and aloes, lavender and heliotrope. The garden was full of color and beauty, perfume and fruitfulness. Surely the gardener, whoever he might be, who had framed, and fashioned, and kept in order that lovely spot, deserved great commendation. So I thought, and then it came to me to meditate upon the church of God as a garden, and to suppose the Lord Jesus to be the gardener, and then to think of what would most assuredly happen if it were so. "Supposing him to be the gardener," my mind conceived of a paradise where all sweet things flourish and all evil things are rooted up. If an ordinary worker had produced such beauty as I then saw and enjoyed on earth, what beauty and glory must surely be brought forth "supposing him to be the gardener"! You know the "him" to whom we refer, the ever-blessed Son of God, whom Mary Magdalene in our text mistook for the gardener. We will for once follow a saint in her mistaken track; and yet we shall find ourselves going in a right way. She was mistaken when she fell into "supposing him to be the gardener"; but if we are under his Spirit's teaching we shall not make a mistake if now we indulge ourselves in a quiet meditation upon our ever-blessed Lord, "supposing him to be the gardener." It is not an unnatural supposition, surely; for if we may truly sing "We are a garden walled around, Chosen and made peculiar ground," that enclosure needs a gardener. Are we not all the plants of his right hand planting? Do we not all need watering and tending by his constant and gracious care? He says, "I am the true vine: my Father is the husbandman," and that is one view of it; but we may also sing, "My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine"--that is to say, he acted as gardener to it. Thus has Isaiah taught us to sing a song of the Well-beloved touching his vineyard. We read of our Lord just now under these terms--"Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice." To what purpose does he dwell in the vineyards but that he may see how the vines flourish and care for all the plants? The image, I say, is so far from being unnatural that it is most pregnant with suggestions and full of useful teaching. We are not going against the harmonies of nature when we are "supposing him to be the gardener." Neither is the figure unscriptural; for in one of his own parables our Lord makes himself to be the dresser of the vineyard. We read just now that parable so full of warning. When the "certain man" came in and saw the fig tree that it brought forth no fruit, he said unto the dresser of his vineyard, "Cut it down: why cumbereth it the ground?" Who was it that intervened between that profitless tree and the axe but our great Intercessor and Interposer? He it is who continually comes forward with "Let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it." In this case he himself takes upon himself the character of the vine-dresser, and we are not wrong in "supposing him to be the gardener." If we would be supported by a type, our Lord takes the name of "the Second Adam," and the first Adam was a gardener. Moses tells us that the Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Man in his best estate was not to live in this world in a paradise of indolent luxury, but in a garden of recompensed toil. Behold, the church is Christ's Eden, watered by the river of life, and so fertilized that all manner of fruits are brought forth unto God; and he, our second Adam, walks in this spiritual Eden to dress it and to keep it; and so by a type we see that we are right in "supposing him to be the gardener." Thus also Solomon thought of him when he described the royal Bridegroom as going down with his spouse to the garden when the flowers appeared on the earth and the fig tree had put forth her green figs; he went out with his beloved for the preservation of the gardens, saying, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." Neither nature, nor Scripture, nor type, nor song forbids us to think of our adorable Lord Jesus as one that careth for the flowers and fruits of his church. We err not when we speak of him, "supposing him to be the gardener." And so I sat me still, and indulged the suggested line of thought, which I now repeat in your hearing, hoping that I may open many roads of meditation for your hearts also. I shall not attempt to think out such a subject thoroughly, but only to indicate in which direction you may look for a vein of precious ore. I. "Supposing him to be the gardener," we have here THE KEY TO MANY WONDERS in the garden of his church. The first wonder is that there should be a church at all in the world; that there should be a garden blooming in the midst of this sterile waste. Upon a hard and flinty rock the Lord has made the Eden of his church to grow. How came it to be--here an oasis of life in a desert of death? how came faith in the midst of unbelief, and hope where all is servile fear, and love where hate abounds? "Ye are of God, little children, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one." Whence this being "of God" where all beside is fast shut up in the devil? How came there to be a people for God, separated, and sanctified, and consecrated, and ordained to bring forth fruit unto his name? Assuredly it could not have been so at all if the doing of it had been left to man. We understand its existence, "supposing him to be the gardener," but nothing else can account for it. He can cause the fir tree to flourish instead of the thorn, and the myrtle instead of the briar; but no one else can accomplish such a change. The garden in which I sat was made on the bare face of the rock, and almost all the earth of which its terraces were composed had been brought up there, from the shore below, by hard labor, and so upon the rock a soil had been created. It was not by its own nature that the garden was found in such a place; but by skill and labor it had been formed: even so the church of God has had to be constructed by the Lord Jesus, who is the author as well as the perfecter of his garden. Painfully, with wounded hands, has he built each terrace, and fashioned each bed, and planted each plant. All the flowers have had to be watered with his bloody sweat, and watched by his tearful eyes the nail-prints in his hands, and the wound in his side are the tokens of what it cost him to make a new Paradise. He has given his life for the life of every plant that is in the garden, and not one of them had been there on any other theory than "supposing him to be the gardener." Besides, there is another wonder. How comes the church of God to flourish in such a clime? This present evil world is very uncongenial to the growth of grace, and the church is not able by herself alone to resist the evil influences which surround her. The church contains within itself elements which tend to its own disorder and destruction if left alone; even as the garden has present in its soil all the germs of a tangled thicket of weeds. The best church that ever Christ had on earth would within a few years apostatise from the truth if deserted by the Spirit of God. The world never helps the church; it is all in arms against it; there is nothing in the world's air or soil that can fertilise the church even to the least degree. How is it, then, that notwithstanding all this, the church is a fair garden unto God, and there are sweet spices grown in its beds, and lovely flowers are gathered by the Divine hand from its borders? The continuance and prosperity of the church can only be accounted for by "supposing him to be the gardener." Almighty strength is put to the otherwise impossible work of sustaining a holy people among men; almighty wisdom exercises itself upon this otherwise insuperable difficulty. Hear ye the word of the Lord, and learn hence the reason for the growth of his church below. "I, the Lord, do keep it: I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." That is the reason for the existence of a spiritual people still in the midst of a godless and perverse generation. This is the reason for an election of grace in the midst of surrounding vice, and worldliness, and unbelief. "Supposing him to be the gardener," I can see why there should be fruitfulness, and beauty, and sweetness even in the center of the wilderness of sin. Another mystery is also cleared up by this supposition. The wonder is that ever you and I should have been placed among the plants of the Lord. Why are we allowed to grow in the garden of his grace? Why me, Lord? Why me? How is it that we have been kept there, and borne with in our barrenness, when he might long ago have said, "Cut it down: why cumbereth it the ground?" Who else would have borne with such waywardness as ours? Who could have manifested such infinite patience? Who could have tended us with such care, and when the care was so ill-rewarded who would have renewed it so long from day to day, and persisted in designs of boundless love? Who could have done more for his vineyard? who could or would have done so much? An mere man would have repented of his good intent, provoked by our ingratitude. None but God could have had patience with some of us! That we have not long ago been slipped off as fruitless branches of the vine; that we are left still upon the stem, in the hope that we may ultimately bring forth fruit, is a great marvel. I know not how it is that we have been spared, except upon this ground--"supposing him to be the gardener"--for Jesus is all gentleness and grace, so slow with his knife, so tardy with his axe, so hopeful if we do but show a bud or two, or, perchance, yield a little sour berry--so hopeful, I say, that these may be hopeful prognostics of something better by-and-by. Infinite patience! Immeasurable longsuffering! where are ye to be found save in the breast of the Well-beloved? Surely the hoe has spared many of us simply and only because he who is meek and lowly in heart is the gardener. Dear friends, there is one mercy with regard to this church which I have often had to thank God for, namely, that evils should have been shut out for so long a time. During the period in which we have been together as pastor and people, and that is now some twenty-nine years, we have enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity, going from strength to strength in the work of the Lord. Alas! we have seen many other churches that were quite as hopeful as our own rent with strife, brought low by declension, or overthrown by heresy. I hope we have not been apt to judge their faults severely; but we must be thankful for our own deliverance from the evils which have afflicted them. I do not know how it is that we have been kept together in love, helped to abound in labor, and enabled to be firm in the faith, unless it be that special grace has watched over us. We are full of faults; we have nothing to boast of; and yet no church has been more divinely favored: I wonder that the blessing should have lasted so long, and I cannot make it out except when I fall into "supposing him to be the gardener." I cannot trace our prosperity to the pastor, certainly; nor even to my beloved friends the elders and deacons, nor even to the best of you with your fervent love and holy zeal. I think it must be that Jesus has been the gardener, and he has shut the gate when I am afraid I have left it open; and he has driven out the wild boar of the wood just when he had entered to root up the weaker plants. He must have been about at nights to keep off the prowling thieves, and he must have been here, too, in the noontide heat to guard those of you who have prospered in worldly goods, from the glare of too bright a sun. Yes, he has been with us, blessed be his name! Hence all this peace, and unity, and enthusiasm. May we never grieve him so that he shall turn away from us; but rather let us entreat him, saying, "Abide with us. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, let this be one of the gardens in which thou dost deign to dwell until the day break and the shadows flea away." Thus our supposition is a key to many wonders. II. Let your imaginations run along with mine while I say that "supposing him to be the gardener" should be A SPUR TO MANY DUTIES. One of the duties of a Christian is joy. That is a blessed religion which among its precepts commands men to be happy. When joy becomes a duty, who would wish to neglect it? Surely it must help every little plant to drink in the sunlight when it is whispered among the flowers that Jesus is the gardener. "Oh," you say, "I am such a little plant; I do not grow well; I do not put forth so much leafage, nor are there so many flowers on me as on many round about me!" It is quite right that you should think little of yourself: perhaps to droop your head is a part of your beauty: many flowers had not been half so lovely if they had not practiced the art of hanging their heads. But supposing him to be the gardener," then he is as much a gardener to you as he is to the most lordly palm in the whole domain. In the Mentone garden right before me grew the orange and the aloe, and others of the finer and more noticeable plants; but on a wall to my left grew common wallflowers and saxifrages, and tiny herbs such as we find on our own rocky places. Now, the gardener had cared for all of these, little as well as great; in fact, there were hundreds of specimens of the most insignificant growths all duly labelled and described. The smallest saxifrage could say, "He is my gardener just as surely as he is the gardener of the Gloire de Dijon or Mar'chal Neil." Oh feeble child of God, the Lord taketh care of you! Your heavenly Father feedeth ravens, and guides the flight of sparrows: should he not much more care for you, oh ye of little faith? Oh little plants, you will grow rightly enough. Perhaps you are growing downward just now rather than upward. Remember that there are plants of which we value the underground root much more than we do the hull above ground. Perhaps it is not yours to grow very fast; you may be a slow-growing shrub by nature, and you would not be healthy if you were to run to wood. Anyhow, be this your joy, you are in the garden of the Lord, and, "supposing him to be the gardener," he will make the best of you. You cannot be in better hands. Another duty is that of valuing the Lord's presence, and praying for it. We ought whenever the Sabbath morning dawns to pray our Well-beloved to come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits. What can we do without him? All day long our cry should go up to him, "O Lord, behold and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand has planted." We ought to agonize with him that he would come and manifest himself to us as he does not unto the world. For what is a garden if the gardener never comes near it? What is the difference between it and the wilderness if he to whom it belongs never lifts up spade or pruning-hook upon it? So that it is our necessity that we have Christ with us, "supposing him to be the gardener;" and it is our bliss that we have Christ walking between our beds and borders, watching every plant, training, tending, maturing all. "Supposing him to be the gardener," it is well, for from him is our fruit found. Divided from him we are nothing; only as he watches over us can we bring, forth fruit. Let us have done with confidence in man, let us forego all attempts to supply facts of his spiritual presence by routine or rant, ritualism or rowdyism; but let us pray our Lord to be ever present with us, and by that presence to make our garden grow. "Supposing him to be the gardener," there is another duty, and that is, let each one of us yield himself up entirely to him. A plant does not know how it ought to be treated; it knows not when it should be watered or when it should be kept dry: a fruit-tree is no judge of when it needs to be pruned, or digged, or dunged. The wit and wisdom of the garden lieth not in the flowers and shrubs, but in the gardener. Now, then, if you and I are here to-day with any self-will and carnal judgment about us, let us seek to lay it all aside that we may be absolutely at our Lord's disposal. You might not be willing to put yourself implicitly into the hand of any mere man (pity that you should); but, surely, thou plant of the Lord's right-hand planting, thou mayest put thyself without a question into his dear hand. " Supposing him to be the gardener," thou mayest well say, "I would neither have will, nor wish, nor wit, nor whim, nor way, but I would be as nothing in the gardener's hands, that he may be to me my wisdom and my all. Here, kind gardener, thy poor plant bows itself to thy hand; train me as thou wilt. Depend upon it, happiness lives next door to the spirit of complete acquiescence in the will of God, and it will be easy to exercise that perfect acquiescence when we suppose the Lord Jesus to be the gardener. If the Lord hath done it; what has a saint to say? Oh thou afflicted one, the Lord hath done it: wouldest thou have it otherwise? Nay, art thou not thankful that it is even so, because so is the will of him in whose hand thy life is, and whose are all thy ways? The duty of submission is very plain, "supposing him to be the gardener." One more duty I would mention, though others suggest themselves. "Supposing him to be the gardener," then let us bring forth fruit to him. I do not address a people this morning who feel no care as to whether they serve God or not. I believe that most of you do desire to glorify God; for being saved by grace, you feel a holy ambition to show forth his praises who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. You wish to bring others to Christ, because you yourselves have been brought to life and liberty in him. Now, let this be a stimulus to your fruitbearing, that Jesus is the gardener. Where you have brought forth a single cluster, bring, forth a hundred! "supposing him to be the gardener." If he is to have the honor of it, then labor to do that which will give him great renown. If our spiritual state were to be attributed to ourselves, or to our minister, or to some of our fellow Christians, we might not feel that we were tinder a great necessity to be fruitful; but if Jesus be the gardener, and is to bear the blame or the honor of what we produce, then let us use up every drop of sap and strain every fibre, that, to the utmost of which our manhood is capable, we may produce a fair reward for our Lord's travail. Under such tutorship and care we ought to become eminent scholars. Doth Christ train us? Oh let us never cause the world to think meanly of our Master. Students feel that their alma mater deserves great things of them, so they labor to make their university renowned. And so, since Jesus is tutor and university to us, let us feel that we are bound to reflect credit upon so great a teacher, upon so divine a name. I do not know how to put it, but surely we ought to do something worthy of such a Lord. Each little flower in the garden of the Lord should wear its, brightest hues, and poor forth its rarest perfume, because Jesus cares for it. The best of all possible good should be yielded by every plant in our Father's garden, supposing Jesus to the gardener. Thus much, then, on those two points--a key to many wonders, and a spur to many duties. III. Thirdly, I have found in this supposition A RELIEF FROM CRUSHING RESPONSIBILITY. One has a work given him of God to do, and if he does it rightly he cannot do it carelessly. The first thing when he wakes he asks, "How is the work prospering?" and the last thought at night is, "What can I do to fulfill my calling?" Sometimes the anxiety even troubles his dreams, and he sighs, "O Lord, send now prosperity!" How is the garden prospering which we are set to tend? Are we broken-hearted because, nothing appears to flourish? Is it a bad season? or is the soil lean and hungry? It is a very blessed relief to an excess of care if we can fall into the habit of "supposing him to be the gardener." If Jesus be the Master and Lord in all things it is not mine to keep all the church in order. I am not responsible for the growth of every Christian, nor for every backslider's errors, nor for every professor's faults of life. This burden must not lie on me so that I shall be crushed thereby. "Supposing him to be the gardener," then, the church enjoys a better oversight than mine; better care is taken of the garden than could be taken by the most vigilant watchers, even though by night the frost devoured them, and by day the heat. "Supposing him to be the gardener," then all must go well in the long run. He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep; we need not fret and despond. I beg you earnest workers, who are becoming depressed, to think this out a little. You see it is yours to work under the Lord Jesus; but it is not yours to take the anxiety of his office into your souls as though you were to bear his burdens. The under-gardener, the work-man in the garden, needs not fret about the whole garden as though it were all left to him. No, no; let him not take too much upon himself. I pray you, bound your anxiety by the facts of the case. So you have a number of young people around you, and you are watching for their souls as they that must give account. This is well; but do not be worried and wearied; for, after all, the saving and the keeping of those souls is not in your hands, but it rests with One far more able than yourself. Just think that the Lord is the gardener. I know it is so in matters of providence. A certain man of God in troublous times became quite unable to do his duty because he laid to heart so much the ills of the age; he became depressed and disturbed, and he went on board a vessel, wanting to leave the country, which was getting into such a state that he could no longer endure it. Then one said to him, Mr. Whitelock, are you the manager of the world? No, he was not quite that. "Did not God get on pretty well with it before you were born, and don't you think he will do very well with it when you are dead?" That reflection helped to relieve the good man's mind, and he went back to do his duty. I want you thus to perceive the limit of your responsibility: you are not the gardener himself; you are only one of the gardener's boys, set to run on errands, or to do a bit of digging, or to sweep the paths. The garden is well enough managed even though you are not head manager in it. While this relieves us of anxiety it makes labor for Christ very sweet, because if the garden does not seem to repay us for our trouble we say to ourselves, "It is not, my garden after all. Supposing him to be the gardener,' I am quite willing to work on a barren piece of rock, or tie up an old withered bough, or dig a worthless sod; for, if it only pleases Jesus, the work is for that one sole reason profitable to the last degree. It is not mine to question the wisdom of my task, but to set about it in the name of my Master and Lord. Supposing him to be the gardener,' lifts the ponderous responsibility of it from me, and my work becomes pleasant and delightful." In dealing with the souls of men, we meet with cases which are extremely difficult. Some persons are so timid and fearful that you do not know how to comfort them; others are so fast and presumptuous that you hardly know how to help them. A few are so double-faced that you cannot understand them, and others so fickle that you cannot hold them. Some flowers puzzle the ordinary gardener: we meet with plants which are covered with prickles, and when you try to train them they wound the hand that would help them. These strange growths would make a great muddle for you if you were the gardener; but "supposing him to be the gardener," you have the happiness of being able to go to him constantly, saying, "Good Lord, I do not understand this singular creature; it is as odd a plant as I am myself. Oh, that thou wouldest manage it, or tell me how. I have come to tell thee of it." Constantly our trouble is that we have so many plants to look after that we have not time to cultivate any one in the best manner, because we have fifty more all wanting attention at the time; and then before we have done with the watering-pot we have to fetch the hoe and the rake and the spade, and we are puzzled with these multitudinous cares, even as Paul was when he said, "That which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Ah, then, it is a blessed thing to do the little we can do and leave the rest to Jesus, "supposing him to be the gardener." In the church of God there is a discipline which we cannot exercise. I do not think it is half so hard to exercise discipline as it is not to be able to exercise it when yet you feel that it ought to be done. The servants of the householder were perplexed when they might not root up the tares. "Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?" "An enemy hath done this." "Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?" "Not so," said he, "lest ye root, up the wheat with them." This afflicts the Christian minister when he must not remove a pestilent, hindering weed. Yes, but "supposing him to be the gardener," and it is his will to let that weed remain, what have you and I to do but to hold our peace? He has a discipline more sure and safe than ours, and in due time the tares shall know it. In patience let us possess our souls. And then, again, there is that succession in the garden which we can not keep up. Plants will die down, and others must be put into their places or the garden will grow bare, but we know not where to find these fresh flowers. We say, "When yonder good man dies who will succeed him?" That is a question I have heard many a time, till I am rather weary of it. Who is to follow such a man? Let us wait till he is gone and needs following. Why sell the man's coat when he can wear it himself? We are apt to think when this race of good brethren shalt die of it that none will arise worthy to unloose the latchets of their shoes. Well, friend, I could suppose a great many things, but this morning my text is, "Supposing him to be the gardener," and on that supposition I expect that the Lord has other plants in reserve which you have not yet, seen, and these wilt exactly fit into our places when they become empty, and the Lord will keep up the true apostolical succession till the day or his second advent. In every time of darkness and dismay, when the heart sinks and the spirits decline, and we think it is all over with the church of God, let us fall back on this, "Supposing him to be the gardener," and expect to see greater and better things than these. We are at the end of our wits, but he is not at the beginning of his yet: we are nonplussed, but he never will be; therefore let us wait and be tranquil, "supposing him to be the gardener." IV. Fourthly, I want you to notice that this supposition will give you A DELIVERANCE FROM MANY GLOOMY FEARS. I walked down the garden, and I saw a place where all the path was strewn with leaves and broken branches, and stones, and I saw the earth upon the flower-beds, tossed about, and roots lying quite out of the ground: all was in disorder. Had a dog been amusing himself? or had a mischievous child been at work? If so, it was a great pity. But no: in a minute or two I saw the gardener come back, and I perceived that he had been making all this disarrangement. He had been cutting, and digging, and hacking, and mess-making; and all for the good of the garden. It may be it has happened to some of you that you have been a good deal clipped lately, and in your domestic affairs things have not been in so fair a state as you could have wished: it may be in the Church we have seen ill weeds plucked up, and barren branches lopped, so that everything is en deshabille. Well, if the Lord has done it out, gloomy fears are idle. "Supposing him to he the gardener," all is well. As I was talking this over with my friend, I said to him--"Supposing him to be the gardener," then the serpent will have a bad time of it. Supposing Adam to be the gardener, then the serpent gets in and has a chat with his wife, and mischief comes of it; but supposing Jesus to be the gardener, woe to thee, serpent: there is a blow for thy head within half a minute if thou dost but show thyself within the boundary. So, if we are afraid that the devil should get in among us let us always in prayer entreat that there may be no space for the devil, because the Lord Jesus Christ fills all, and keeps out the adversary. Other creatures besides serpents intrude into gardens; caterpillars and palmerworms, and all sorts of destroying creatures are apt to devour our churches. How can we keep them out? The highest wall cannot exclude them: there is no protection except one, and that is, "supposing him to be the gardener." Thus it is written, "I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." I am sometimes troubled by the question, What if roots of bitterness should spring up among us to trouble us? We are all such fallible creatures, supposing some brother should permit the seed of discord to grow in his bosom, then there may be a sister in whose heart the seeds will also spring up, and from her they will fly to another sister, and be blown about till brethren and sisters are all bearing rue and wormwood in their hearts. Who is to prevent this? Only the Lord, Jesus by his Spirit. He can keep out this evil, "supposing him to be the gardener." The root which beareth wormwood will grow but little where Jesus is. Dwell with us, Lord, as a church and people: by thy Holy Spirit reside with us and in us, and never depart from us, and then no root of bitterness shall spring up to trouble us. Then comes another fear. Suppose the living waters of God's Spirit should not come to water the garden, what then? We cannot, make them flow, for the Spirit is a sovereign, and he flows where he pleases. Ah, but the Spirit of God will he in our garden, "supposing our Lord to be the gardener." There is no fear of our not being watered when Jesus undertakes to do it. "He will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." But what if the sunlight of his love should not shine on the garden? If the fruits should never ripen, if there should be no peace, no joy in the Lord? That cannot happen "supposing him to be the gardener;" for his face is the sun, and his countenance scatters those health-giving beams, and nurturing warmths, and perfecting influences which are needful for maturing the saints in all the sweetness of grace to the glory of God. So, "supposing him to be the gardener" at this the close of the year, I fling away my doubts and fears, and invite you who bear the church upon your heart to do the same. It is all well with Christ's cause because it is in his own hands. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. The pleasure of the, Lord shall prosper in his hands. V. Fifthly, here is A WARNING FOR THE CARELESS, "supposing him to be the gardener." In this great congregation many are to the church what weeds are to a garden. They are not planted by God; they are not growing under his nurture, they are bringing forth no fruit to his glory. My dear friend, I have tried often to get at you, to impress you, but I cannot. Take heed; for one of these days, "supposing him to be the gardener," he will reach you, and you shall know what that word meaneth, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath, not planted shall be rooted up." Take heed to yourselves, I pray. Others among us are like the branches of the vine which bear no fruit. We have often spoken very sharply to these, speaking honest truth in unmistakable language, and yet we have not touched their consciences. Ah, but "supposing him to be the gardener," he will fulfill that sentence: "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away." He will get at you, if we cannot. Would God, ere this old year were quite dead, you would turn unto the Lord with full purpose of heart; so that instead of being a weed you might become a choice flower; that instead of a dry stick, you might be a sappy, fruit-bearing, branch of the vine. The Lord make it to be so; but if any here need the caution, I pray them to take it to heart at once. "Supposing him to be the gardener," there will be no escaping from his eye; there will be no deliverance from his hand. As "he will thoroughly purge his floor, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," so he will thoroughly cleanse his garden and cast out every worthless thing. VI. Another set of thoughts may well arise as A QUIETUS TO THOSE WHO COMPLAIN, "Supposing him to be the gardener." Certain of us have been made to suffer much physical pain, which often bites into the spirits, and makes the heart to stoop: others have suffered heavy temporal losses, having had no success in business, but, on the contrary, having had to endure privation, perhaps even to penury. Are you ready to complain against the Lord for all this? I pray you, do not so. Take the supposition of the text into your mind this morning. The Lord has been pruning you sharply, cutting off your best boughs, and you seem to be like a thing despised that is constantly tormented with the knife. Yes, but "supposing him to be the gardener," suppose that your loving Lord has wrought it all, that from his own hand all your grief has come, every cut, and every gash, and every slip: does not this alter the case? Hath not the Lord done it? Well, then, if it be so, put your finger to your lip and be quiet, until you are able from your heart to say, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the Lord." I am persuaded that the Lord hath done nothing amiss to any one of his people; that no child of his can rightly complain that he has been whipped with too much severity; and that no one branch of the vine can truthfully declare that it has been pruned with too sharp an edge. No; what the Lord has done is the best that could have been done, the very thing that you and I, if we could have possessed infinite wisdom and love, would have wished to have done; therefore let us stop each thought of murmuring, and say, "The Lord hath done it," and be glad. Especially I speak to those who have suffered bereavement. I can hardly express to you how strange I feel at this moment when my sermon revives a memory so sweet dashed with such exceeding bitterness. I sat with my friend and secretary in that garden some fifteen days ago, and we were then in perfect health, rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord. We returned home, and within five days I was smitten with disabling pain; and worse, far worse than that, he was called upon to lose his wife. We said to one another as we sat there reading the word of God and meditating, "How happy we are! Dare we think of being so happy? Must it not speedily end?" I little thought I should have to say for him, "Alas, my brother, thou art brought very low, for the delight of thine eyes is taken from thee." But here is our comfort: the Lord hath done it. The best rose in the garden is gone. Who has taken it? The gardener came this way and gathered it. He planted it and watched over it, and now he has taken it. Is not this most natural? Does anybody weep because of that? No; everybody knows that it is right, and according to the order of nature that he should come and gather the best in the garden. If you are sore troubled by the loss of your beloved, yet dry your grief by supposing him to be the gardener." Kiss the hand that has wrought you such grief? Brethren beloved, remember the next time the Lord comes to your part of the garden, and he may do so within the next week, he will only gather his own flowers, and would you prevent his doing so even if you could? VII. "Supposing him to be the gardener," then there is AN OUTLOOK FOR THE HOPEFUL. "Supposing him to be the gardener," then I expect to see in the garden where he works the best possible prosperity: I expect to see no flower dried up, no tree without fruit: I expect to see the richest, rarest fruit, with the daintiest bloom upon it, daily presented to the great Owner of the garden. Let us expect that in this church, and pray for it. oh, if we have but faith we shall see great things. It is our unbelief that straitens God. Let us believe great things from the work of Christ by his Spirit in the midst of his people's hearts, and we shall not be disappointed. "Supposing him to be the gardener," then, dear friends, we may expect divine intercourse of unspeakable preciousness. Go back to Eden for a minute. When Adam was the gardener, what happened? The Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day. But "supposing him to be the gardener," then we shall have the Lord God dwelling among us, and revealing himself in all the glory of his power, and the plenitude or his Fatherly heart; making us to know him, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. What joy is this! One other thought. "Supposing him to be the gardener," and God to come and walk among the trees of the garden, then I expect he will remove the whole of the garden upward with himself to fairer skies; for he rose, and his people must rise with him. I expect a blessed transplantation of all these flowers below to a clearer atmosphere above, away from all this smoke and fog and damp, up where the sun is never clouded, where flowers never wither, where fruits never decay. Oh, the glory we shall then enjoy up yonder, on the hills of spices in the garden of God. "Supposing him to be the gardener" what a garden will he form above, and how shall you and I grow therein, developing beyond imagination." It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Since he is the author and finisher or our faith, to what perfection will he conduct us, and to what glory will he bring us! Oh, to be found in him! God grant we may be! To be plants in his garden, "Supposing him to be the gardener," is all the heaven we can desire. By C. H. Spurgeon The Gospel for the People. Sixty Short Sermons, with a Skech of Mr. Spurgeon's Life, and Fourteen Portraits and Engravings, with a Preface by Pastor Thomas Spurgeon. Cloth Gilt, 5s. These Short Sermons have been selected from the Series with a view to their being used in Mission Halls, and other similar places. They are about half the length of the ordinary Sermons. PASSMORE & ALABASTER, 4, Paternoster Buildings, London, E.C. __________________________________________________________________ A Monument for the Dead, and a Voice to the Living (No. 1700) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, January 7th, 1883, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the [2]Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."— Romans 10:5-9. YOU see by this mourning that our church has been bereaved. I have lost a friend tender and true to me, and my heart is too full for utterance. [1] I scarcely knew what to preach from this morning; but at last I settled in my mind that I would raise a memorial to my departed friend by preaching a sermon which should be connected with himself. Therefore I cast about me, and I considered what subject he would wish me to preach from if he were sitting behind me this morning as he was last Lord's-day. I had no difficulty in answering that question. His life and death pointed in one direction. He was a man of rare common sense, straightforward and downright in his aims, and most pithy in his speech, with such a mixture of mother-wit that he might have been taken for John Ploughman's brother, as indeed he was. He cared nothing for oratory, which I have heard him call "a flash in the pan"; he delighted in the plain, solid gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that he would have said to me,—Give them Christ crucified, and salvation by grace through faith, as plainly as ever you can; for when he was sore sick and in the very agony of death, he repeated as his dying creed— "Nothing in my hand I bring: Simply to thy cross I cling." and in his own quaint way he added, "They may talk as much as ever they like, but the whole of it lies in Jack the Huckster's verse 'I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all But Jesus Christ is my an in all.'" You will find that story in the first volume of my sermons. [2] In Park-street early in my ministry I told the story, and it did my friend good, and helped to rest his soul all those years ago, so that he remembered it and repeated it at the last. For his sake let me tell it again. This Huckster Jack was a poor, wicked fellow, who had gone about from village to village, swearing, drinking, huckstering and perhaps pilfering. Some thought him half-witted, but the story would show his wind to be sound enough. He heard a poor woman sing somewhere— I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all; But Jesus Christ is my all in all." He remembered the words, and what was better, he felt their sense; and he kept on humming them to himself till God's good Spirit engraved them on his heart. There they were recorded, and Jack was a new man and a saved man. So he essayed to join himself unto the church, but the brethren looked suspiciously at him and enquired, "What is your experience?" He said he had no experience but this— "I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all But Jesus Christ is my all in all." The good elders very properly asked, "Are you converted? Have you been born again?" and Jack replied, "I do not know much about these things; but this I do know and am sure of— 'I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all But Jesus Christ is my all in all.' They put him back for awhile, to try if he would grow in his knowledge, but he never went an inch beyond the first standard. He know what he did know, and to that he held fast— "I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all But Jesus Christ is my all in all." Well, they must take him into the church; they could not well refuse a man with such a confession of faith; and when he was in the church, walking with the brethren, he was happier than the rest of them, at which they greatly marvelled, and one said to him, "Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel doubts and fears? "Doubts," he said, "what do you mean? I never doubt that 'I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all;' for I have daily proofs of it, and why should I doubt that 'Jesus Christ is my all in all'? for he says he is, and I must believe him." "Ah, well," said one, "sometimes I enjoy good frames and feelings, and feel very happy, and then I lose them, and sink in spirit." Jack answered, "I never get lower than I am, for I am down at the bottom— 'A poor sinner, and nothing at all.' I cannot get lower than that, can I? But I am also at the top, 'for Jesus Christ is my all in all,' and I cannot get higher than that, can I?" They tried him many ways with their blessed experience, of which you and I have got cart-loads, perhaps waggon-loads; but he could not be drawn out of his one firm position. They tried him with their various attainments, depressions, anxieties, quibbles, and questions; but still the huckster would not budge. He had bought the truth and would not sell it, and so he stuck to— "I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all; But Jesus Christ is my all in all." The conies are a feeble folk, yet have they their habitations among the rocks: they are safe, but they keep to their hiding place. Of course our new Perfection brethren, spick and span saints as they are, are not like Jack, they are not "poor sinners, and nothing at all," and I am afraid lest some of them should find out that Jesus Christ is not their all in all. But if you and I are as he was, "poor sinners, and nothing at all," we may, with firm and resolute grip, lay hold upon the other line, "But Jesus Christ is my all in all." Christ's fullness is meant for our emptiness; Christ's righteousness is meant for our sin, salvation is for the lost. When you and I are no longer sinners, Christ is no longer our Savior; when you and I no more need him, then we shall not have him. Our need is our warrant, and if that be gone, all is gone. Jesus did not bleed and die to be a superfluity to us: he cattle to meet a grim necessity. As long as we are nothing Christ is our all in all; we may be sure of that, and that is just the gospel in a nutshell. I want to preach that same gospel this morning, in the hope that in after days this word may be scattered far and wide, and some Jack the Huckster, or some other like him, may find himself to be utterly empty and undone, and may then know that Christ is ordained to be his salvation. Jesus came into the world to save real sinners, not sham sinners; for he is a real, and not a pretended Savior. He saves those who are always confessors of sin, always needy in themselves, and therefore always glad of him. Even in their best estate the saved ones need their Lord: even if we walk in the light as God is in the light, and have fellowship with him, we still sin, and still the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. I now plunge into my text. Notice, first, what Moses said. Moses said, "That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." Next, what the gospel says: "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise," and so on. Thirdly, we shall consider what the Scripture saith: "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Then, fourthly, we will hear what experience saith; for we may bring in the experience of believers to back up the declarations of God. I. I invite your earnest attention to the first point—WHAT MOSES SAITH: "Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." This is a clear statement. There is no mystery or obscurity about it. You need not go to the universities and earn a degree of D.D. in order to understand this declaration: it is as plain as words can make it. If you wish to be saved by the law you must do its commands and you shall live. The law is written in the ten commandments; you know them; and if you desire to live by them you must keep them. It will not suffice for you to learn those commands by heart, or to write them up in your churches, or to read them over and say, "Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law": all that may be well enough, but it is not to the point. If you are to be saved by the commandments you must do them: that is clear. Moses does not allow any person to dream that under the law he can be saved in any other way than by perfect obedience thereto. "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Whatever it is that God has commanded, you must do; whatever he forbids, you must avoid; for by such obedience alone can you live. Mark you, Moses does not tone down the law to suit our fallen state, or talk of our doing our best and God's being satisfied with our imperfect obedience. No, he says only, "He that doeth those things shall live by them." He demands perfect and entire obedience, if life is to come of it. He does not say that if you have broken the law you may still live by some other means. No, if the law is once broken it is all over with you as to salvation thereby: one single fault takes away the possibility of your ever being justified by the law. "He that doeth those things," that is, always, without exception, with all his heart and soul and strength—"he shall live by them"; but nobody else. Be he Jew or be he Gentile, his only righteousness by law must come through the doing of the law. Moses says nothing about wearing phylacteries, or washing hands, or offering incense, or performing ceremonies in order to righteousness. No; clear, straight, cutting like a sharp razor, he puts before us the single sentence, "He that doeth those things shall live by them." Judge ye whether any one of us has fulfilled the whole law. To my mind this word of Moses is conclusive that none of us can possibly live by the works of the law. We cannot keep the law now, for we have already broken it: the vase is fractured, and to talk of keeping it entire is nonsense. But even if it were not already broken, should we get through to-morrow with its temptations, bearing such a heart as we have within us, without breaking that perfect and spotless law? I am sure we should not. You that hope to be saved by your works are indulging a forlorn hope; what never you may do or be in the future, the past has already ruined you. The way to heaven up the steep sides of Sinai is inaccessible to trembling feet like ours. If you were to be saved by the law you should have begun without sin, continued without sin, and then it would be needful to end without sin. There would not be a moment of your life in which you could be at peace, for there would always be the fear that in some unguarded instant you would transgress, and lose all. But why talk I so? It is no longer in our power to dream of a perfect, life-long obedience. We went astray from the womb, speaking lies; we were rebellious to our parents in our childhood, and wayward in our youth; in our early manhood we were carried about with this passion and with that, and since then all kinds of evils have led us astray. We are as full of evil as an egg is full of meat, and our heart is like a cage of unclean birds. I can say no less. The hope of salvation by works is black despair; yet we have a set of men on the face of the earth who are always wanting us to preach up this hopeless hope, and urging us to lay this heavy burden upon the shoulders of dying men. They would have us proclaim salvation by the works of the law. This, they say, would at least make men moral and keep them sober: whereas even in this they err against the light; for it has been proved by history that such preaching makes men worse and worse. The idea of salvation by works sits like an awful incubus upon the breast of humanity, and presses out of the soul all hope, thus robbing man of strength to attempt true holiness. When a man has lost all hope he throws the reins upon his neck and runs into all manner of iniquity, judging that he may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. Clear, then, as possible it must be to every man among us who will think, that if the only way of salvation by the works of the law is by the keeping of the law in its entirety, then that road is closed against us, and the sooner we have done with it the better; for then we shall turn our thoughts in the right direction, and travel on the way which the Lord in great mercy has prepared for us. This is what Moses saith: hear it and be humbled. II. Now I ask you to listen to WHAT THE GOSPEL SAITH. "The righteousness which is of faith," or believing, "speaketh on this wise, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring, Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Now observe, first, that the gospel claims to be like the law in its clearness. Moses claimed for the law which God had given to the people through him that it was clear, and within the range of their knowledge and understanding. I will read his exact words to you. Turn to Deuteronomy 30:11. "For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may bear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." Now Paul here very adroitly takes these words out of the mouth of Moses, alters them somewhat, and as good as says, "It was the boast of the law that it was clear, known, and accessible to the people; but much more is this the glory of the gospel." Did not I show you just now that when Moses spoke he did not mystify the matter, but put it plainly, "The man that doeth those things shall live by them." So also the gospel by no means involves itself in obscurity, but says, Believe and live, quite as distinctly as Moses said, "Do and live." Here you have it, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Moses' utterance was single and by itself. He did not say, "Do and thou shalt live, and yet there is another way." No; under the law it was nothing but "Do and live; leave undone and die." So the gospel does not propose a second way, and suggest "a larger hope," but it declares with solemn decision, "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." It is just as clear as ever the law was, and quite as sharply distinct. Herein is no mystery: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Wrapping everything up into one, the gospel says, "Trust thou in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thy sins shall be forgiven thee, and thou shalt be saved." This believing, or trusting, is the whole of the matter, and neither heaven above nor the abyss beneath will ever reveal another salvation. I want to call your special attention to the fact that Paul borrows the words of Moses; for his intent was the ending of all fears. No man among us doubts that if he had performed the law of God the Lord would give him life; but it is equally certain that if we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ we have eternal lire. No trembling sinner doubts but that by the breaking of the law we are condemned: be you equally sure of it, that by not believing you are condemned. As no keeper of the law would have been lost on any ground whatever, so no believer in Christ shall be lost on any ground whatever; as no breaker of the law could escape punishment, so no unbeliever in Christ can he saved. The gospel states its message as clearly as the law. As positively as the law utters its promise and threat, so positively and unalterably doth the gospel deliver its decree. The believer in Jesus shall be saved because he is a believer; and Christ's veracity is staked thereon:—"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Oh, but this is a very blessed thing to have to say to you. I do not come to-day with a gospel veiled in mystery and shrouded in doubt; I do not bring a message which you cannot understand or receive; neither do I come with "ifs" and "buts" and "peradventures," but with this, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." "Whosoever believeth in him hath everlasting life." This is as certain and clear as the utterance of that dreadful roll of thunder which has just now left on your minds the thought, "He that doeth these things shall live by them." Let us go a little further. What saith the gospel? Why, next, it forbids the questions of despair. "The righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? or, Who shall descend into the deep?" When a man is at length awakened to a sense of sin he cries, "I long to be saved! All that I have and all that I am I would give to escape from the righteous wrath of God. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Surely it would need that I mount to heaven to own my sin, or dive to hell to bear its punishment. I want a righteousness which would need as much labor to produce as a climb to heaven would need; and I require an expiation for sin as great as though a man were plunged into the abyss itself, and there were made to suffer the divine anger. How is it possible that I can be saved? "This wail of despair takes many forms: one man puts it thus: "What doings can I perform by which I can be saved? 'Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone.'" Another, despairing of deliverance by his doings, runs upon his feelings, and cries, "If I am to be saved, surely I shall need to experience joys like those which are felt by spirits before the throne. If I had a sense of sin as deep as that of lost souls in hell, I could hope that I should be saved." Thus the second man looks to excitements and feelings just as the first looked to works and self-denials. Now, the gospel forbids us to dream in this fashion. Talk not thus. Say not even in thy heart that by these doings or feelings thou canst be saved. Perhaps thou wouldst be ashamed to say it with thy lips; but do not say it at all; do not say that the way to heaven is hard, or mysterious, or in any degree apart from the simple act of believing. Do not suppose that anything is wanted as to doings or feelings in order to complete the righteousness which is wrought out by the Lord Jesus, and imputed by God to the believer. Ah, then the heart foolishly cries, "I must know a great deal; as much as if I had been to heaven and seen for myself, or as if I had dived into the depths and made discoveries there." No, you must not: the gospel is simple; salvation is as plain as a pikestaff; familiar an homespun; easy as the A B C of your childhood. Say not in thine heart that thou must be educated, trained, and made into a scholar. No, confess yourself a sinner; trust in the sinner's Savior, and you are saved. "Ah, well," says one, "I know I must undergo a singular experience-either I must be carried right away to heaven with delirious delight, or be plunged into the waves of hell in frightful despair." No, my dear friend, do not say that even in your thought. The righteousness of faith lies not in dreams and visions, delusions or depressions: it lies only in reliance upon the work of Jesus finished for you. Go not to the loom to weave a righteousness. The garment is woven already; put it on; Christ gives it to you. Dig not into the bowels of the earth to find the gold of salvation. Christ holds it out to you: take it freely, and be rich for ever. So one of the first works of the gospel is silencing the questions of our unbelief. Next, this precious gospel translates these questions, and then answers them. Listen. A voice cries "Who shall ascend into heaven?" The gospel replies, if you did ascend to heaven what would you do there, without Christ, the anointed Savior? You say, "Who shall descend into the deep?" Listen, man. If you were to descend there, what would you do without him whom God has anointed to save? If you find him in it will not much matter where you find him, in heaven or in the deep, for he must be almighty everywhere. Now hearken. Thou sayest, "Who shall ascend into heaven?" the top and bottom of such an ascent must be, "to bring Christ down." Hear this! Jesus has come down: years ago be left the glories of his Father. Hast thou not heard the tale? Being Pure, blazing, glorious Godhead, "Light of lights, very God of very God," on a sudden they found him in a stable hanging on a woman's breast. Angels saw him and wondered. He came down, indeed, when he was born; and, being down so low as that, he descended to the carpenter's shop, to the weariness of the well's brink, and to a thirst which made him say, "Give me to drink." Lower than that, he descended to being "despised and rejected of men." he was Lord of heaven and earth, and yet they called him Beelzebub, and talked of him as a drunken man and a wine-bibber. Having descended all that length he went lower still. Listen,—angels, you will not weary while I tell the story over again—he went into Gethsemane where he put on the crimson garment of his own bloody sweat; and then to Pilate's hall, where they did falsely accuse him, and spit on him, and scourge him, and make a jest of him; and then to that cross whereon they nailed him in his nakedness, so that he hung in agony, to die in fever and in thirst, till he cried, "It is finished." He descended into the grave, so that he dwelt among the dead! We know not how low he went, but we are told that "he descended into the lower parts of the earth." Oh, my bearer, our salvation lies in this! Not in our descending, but in Christ's descending our hope is to be found. Listen to it, lost ones; you need not climb to heaven: Christ has come down from heaven to you; and if you lie among the spiritually dead to-day, or think you do, he has come down to you, and you need not enquire bow you can go up to him. No prayers, or tears, are wanted to bring him down: he has already come and is near at hand. You asked, "Who shall descend into the deep?" Now listen. Here is your answer. You need not "bring up Christ again from the dead," for the Lord has risen indeed. His soul scarce descended among the shades before it quitted them for ever; that day he died he was in Paradise, and the thief was with him there as a trophy. Up also his body rose on the light of the third day; and he sojourned for forty days among his disciples. At the close of that period he rose into the air, ascending high. As they watched him rising higher, and yet higher, at last a cloud received him: he has gone up to the Father's throne, as the sinner's Savior: at the throne he stands to-day to intercede for sinners, and from that throne he bends to comfort those who come to him. Now, your hope lies wholly in what this Son of God did in his descent and ascent. God has brought him again from the dead and exalted him at his own right hand, and this is not for himself, but for all those who trust in him. His death is instead of the death of our souls: his life is the life of our spirits. Now, soul, thou hast nothing to do with asking vain questions; thou hast to accept the result of the Savior's actual performances. The saving work is done, done by him who was anointed of the Lord to do it. Look to him and salvation is thine. Thy salvation rests in Jesus, rest thou in Jesus. Throw thyself upon him now; even as a babe casts itself upon its mother's breast. Have done with every other confidence. What canst thou need more than to rely upon the Anointed of the Lord? Now, Paul declares, or rather the gospel speaking for itself declares, this word of life by faith in the risen Christ to be near us, that is, to be accessible to us. As your next door neighbor's house is not hard to get at, so neither is salvation by the gospel. It is nigh you; it is nigh you now: it will never be nigher than it is at this moment. You may now believe in Christ and live eternally. Difficulty there is none: only believe and thou art saved. It is not a mystical, obscure thing; it is near and familiar. Believe in Christ as you would believe in your friend: believe that he died for sinners, and trust in him for salvation. If God has made you feel yourself a sinner, then Christ is such a Savior as you need and you may have him at once: the only difficulty lies in the way being so easy that you can hardly think it can be so. Have done with doings, and feelings, and trust yourself with Christ. "The word is nigh thee." It is simple; indeed, so simple that people try to obscure it in order to understand it. It is such milk for babes that I have known people refuse such plain truth because they were not willing to be treated like little children. Just as I lean all my weight upon this rail so do I lean my soul wholly upon Christ. If what Christ has done will not save a sinner I am damned; for I have nothing else to depend upon; but if it will save, and sure I am that it will, I am saved as surely as Christ has risen from the dead. This is the substance of the matter—Christ saves, and we trust. This is what that word of faith says, even the gospel which we preach. I am afraid we say a great deal at times which rather lumbers and cumbers the gospel than makes it clear. Perhaps I am doing the same this morning, but I do not mean to do it. I mean to let it stand out simply before you, that the incarnation, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ are the one foundation upon which we must depend for eternal salvation, and upon that alone; and if we do so depend we shall most assuredly be saved. Yet note, that Paul opens this up into two things. He says, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." So there must be confession with the mouth. Do not leave that out. Do not suppose that you can be a believer and conceal your faith. As I said the other day, Do not behave like a rat behind the wainscot, only daring to come out in the dark. That is not Christ's way. If you trust in him with your heart, trust him openly, and confess him with your mouth, owning that he is your Lord, and your Savior. He has put the two things together,—"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." The believing and the confession of that believing in God's own way are never to be separated, for "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." See ye well to this. III. Thirdly, let us consider, WHAT THE SCRIPTURE SAITH; "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." "Whosoever." Whatever man in all the world, throughout all the ages, shall come and trust himself on Christ shall never be ashamed of having done so. You, dear friend, down the aisle there, it you trust in Christ you shall never be ashamed of your hope. You, up there in the gallery, however guilty you may have been, or however moral you may have been, it matters not, if your one hope is in what Christ has done, you shall never turn round on your dying bed, and cry, "I made a mistake in trusting Christ." You know what Cardinal Bellarmine said: he was a great antagonist of Luther, and thought that we might trust in our works; but, looking it all over, he admitted that inasmuch as no man could be quite sure that he had done enough good works, it was perhaps best on the whole and safest to trust altogether to the blood and merits of Jesus Christ. I have always felt obliged to the Cardinal for that admission; because the best is good enough for me, and since trusting in Jesus is the safest, I intend to stick to it even to the end. There is really no other hope, for if you get a little bit of your own works put into the building, of your hope, you have just so much rotten timber in the fabric, and that rot will plague the whole house, and turn it into dust at the last. No man that rested in Christ, and Christ alone, ever was ashamed of his hope; and none ever shall be. There is sure ground here. The Rock of Ages never fails. What else does the Scripture say? It says that no man is forbidden to believe; "for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." There never was a sinner yet to whom God said, "You must not trust my Son": on the contrary, it is written, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." What about the doctrine of election? I need not speak about it this morning: I believe it, and rejoice in it: but it is not at all contrary to this precious truth. Read this verse, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Whoever will in the whole world believe in Christ may do so; he is neither too old or too young, or too rich, or too poor, or too wicked, or too moral; if he will but trust Christ he shall be saved, and he is fully allowed and permitted, yea, commanded to believe and live. Once, again, though your faith should only be strong enough to lead you to pray, yet it shall save you, for "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Suppose your faith cannot work miracles; never mind about miracles. Suppose you cannot walk on the sea, like Peter: never mind; you are not called to do it. Can your faith pray? Can it cry? Then call upon the Lord, and you shall be saved. Poor dear heart, if you can but trust Christ, even though the feeblest possible manifestation of it should be the only thing visible, namely, your calling upon God in prayer, it must and shall save you. IV. Now, I hope I have put it plainly. I have tried my best; and so I close by bidding you hear WHAT EXPERIENCE SAITH. What does experience say about believing in Christ! Experience says, and we are some of us here to say it, that it is the grandest way of living in the world. I assure you that I daily find the value of living by faith. In hours of dire distress and great heaviness of spirit, of which I know enough, I prove the power of faith in Jesus. Ah, my Lord, what should I do then if I could not as "a poor sinner, and nothing at all" find Christ to be my "all in all." Fair-weather sailors, who go out in their little painted perfection boats, are people who have had small temptation and little soul-trouble. They are generally gentlemen in good health, with regular incomes and sweet tempers, and so they soon reach their imaginary sinlessness—vain creatures that they are; but you never get any of that among the poor, suffering, tried people of God. In stormy weather our beauty and glory soon turn pale; when the devil meets us face to face, he cracks up our tinsel perfection with a blow. He laughs at all our comeliness, he knows that it is a hollow cheat, a vile sham. In the moments when the soul is in the lowest depths, faith is the only way to live. That mode of living which will do for the depths is safe for the heights. How blessed it is when a child of God has actually fallen into sin,—God keep us so that we never may,—but if guilt is on the soul, what is a poor creature to do? He can do nothing unless he has learned this precious truth, that he is nothing at all, and Jesus Christ is his all in all. Then he knows that Jesus will blot out his transgressions, and create in him a clean heart, and restore him to himself again, though now, like David, his sin is ever before him. Yes, and I find a self-denying, Christ-exalting faith to be good in times of jubilation and success. The only way to keep right and humble is to be nothing, and let Jesus be all in all. If God has blessed your ministry or other holy work, the devil whispers, "You are a pretty fellow; you have done wonders"; and up you will go if you are not steadied by the firm conviction that you may not glory, since you are nothing at all in yourself, and your sole help is in Jesus your Lord. When God gives you growth in grace and fruitfulness in good works it will be your safety to be as little as ever you were, and to trust in nothing but the work of the Lord. This blessed faith keeps men down when they are apt to go up, and up when otherwise they would be apt to go down. It is a holy balancing pole: we can walk the narrowest line with this in our hands, and fear no fall. Ourselves nothing, Christ everything—that is it. Keep to it. Now as to the test of death. Does this sort of faith enable men to face death with courage? I have had almost thirty years among you, and God has been very gracious to us, so that we have lost very few comparatively by death; but now many are going home, and, according to the course of nature, many of our honored brethren and sisters will soon follow. As to those who have been called home, how have they died? I have the deep satisfaction of saying that when our dear brethren and sisters fall asleep they reflect honor upon the gospel which we have preached. Ask those who have seen them die. These dear ones at this hour look back upon me and say, "Go on: preach the same gospel to others; for we found it blessed truth to die upon." Look at our dear, departed brother, Mr. Higgs, the last who has crossed the stream. His sons and daughters will tell you that his death was sad to them, but not to him. He suffered agonizing pain, but his peace was as deep as the sea. He had no uncertainty; he was as sure of his safety as it it had been a matter of calculation by the rules of arithmetic. He knew whom he had believed, and knew what the Lord had done for him, and he could not see a weak point in it all. He spent the whole night in trying to cheer and comfort others: he had no trembling thought about himself. He did not say, "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me." No; he knew that Christ was the resurrection and the life, and he was ready to depart. He wished his beloved ones to go to their beds; and since they would stop with him, he desired them to sing." "What shall we sing?" "Sing" said he, "For ever with the Lord, Amen, so let it be." It is hard singing when your father is dying, but it was not hard to him. He bade them read that chapter, "Let not your hearts be troubled"; and, as they read it, he did not take the verses, and apply them to himself. No, he directed the comfort to his dear wife, for she had greater need of it than he had his faith was firm. It was for her he cared, and for those about him as for himself, all was rest. One said somewhat roughly to him a fortnight before, "Don't be downhearted; you may got better yet." "Stop a minute," said he. "What do you mean? I have never been down-hearted at anything my life; certainly not at the thought of dying. If it was the Lord's will that I should die in the street at this moment, I would cheerfully go." He never said a word more than he felt; yet that was the style of man. God send us more like him—men to whom religion is for home consumption. Not a pretty toy for Sundays, but food to live upon; a common-sense hope; a blunt man's religion that he can carry into business. One reported to me the other day a word which cheered me much. An Italian gentleman, who has known me since I have been at Mentone, was asked, "Are you a Catholic?" "No, I am not." "Are you a Protestant?" I am not sure, for I know little about it." "What are you?" "I am of Mr. Spurgeon's religion, which makes people happy themselves, and causes them to do good to others." I thank God he could say that of my religion: it did this for my dear friend—it made him a happy man, whose pleasure it was to please others: and now he has passed away in full sunlight into a still brighter noon. Amen, so let it be. The top and bottom of the matter is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." Be nothing; be nobody; and trust Him. Do not believe in yourself, but believe in Jesus. Have as many good works as you can cram into your life, but never tell anybody about them, or think anything of them. The best of them are but filthy rags: stow them all away in the coal-hole, and look to the merits of your Lord for salvation. Go to Jesus for everything. He says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed." Take his counsel. As he whom we sorrow for today could die peacefully, and even merrily, so shall you and I if we rely on the same Savior. When our time comes to depart, we shall just step aside and say, "Good-bye, dear friends, awhile: we will meet again in the home of the blessed." I hear him say so at this moment; and I answer him, "Dear brother, we will be with you speedily." __________________________________________________________________ [1] William Higgs, Esq., for many years a beloved deacon of the church in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, fell on asleep January 3rd, 1883, in his fifty-ninth year. [2] See No. 47. "Christ's Prayer for his People." __________________________________________________________________ Gladness For Sadness (No. 1701) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 14, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, and the years in which we have seen evil. Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands." Psalm 90:15-17. TO understand this Psalm, you must observe its black border. Remember the sorrows of Moses, the man of God, who saw a whole generation die in the wilderness and was, himself, denied admission to the promised land. The man, Moses, was greatly afflicted. I might almost call him, as far as his life in the wilderness was concerned, "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He dug the desert till it became a cemetery, for he lived amid 40 years of funerals. This 90th Psalm is saturated with the griefs of a sentenced generation, by whom it could be truly said, "We are consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath are we troubled." We have, in our own case, as a Church and people, a double black border to surround our text this morning, for death has despoiled us a second time. We were, last Wednesday, burying our honored deacon, William Higgs, and at the moment of our meeting for that solemn purpose, another greatly esteemed deacon, William Mills, (William Mills, Esq., for many years a beloved deacon of the Church in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, was taken to his rest January 12th, 1883, at the age of sixty-two), was suddenly stricken down with paralysis, to linger for a few hours and then to breathe out his soul unto God. I shall not trust myself to speak about him, for this double loss has, to a great extent, unnerved me. But this I must say, that he was an experienced and mature Christian and, above all, a quiet, diligent, loving, gracious servant of our common Master, whose care was the poor of the Church, to whom he distributed our alms with discretion and tenderness. It was pleasant to hear from him the story of his Christian experience. His was a calm and lowly walk. Of late, being weakly, he was much at home and there the Psalms of David and the Morning and Evening Portions were his comfort. He was always a source of strength to his pastor and his Brothers and Sisters, always of great service to the Church, far more so than the mass of our people will ever know--but of late he ripened and mellowed into an unusual sweetness and spirituality. My last interview with him gave me a high idea of his thorough composure and his perfect preparedness to commune with the glorified host above. He is gone--gone happily and safely Home. He had no pain or struggle, but gradually melted into eternal life. To us who remain, one sorrow has succeeded another to keep our wound bleeding and smarting. How well did Moses pray, "Return, O Lord, how long? And let it repent You concerning Your servants." Oh that our God would no more put His hand into the bitter box, as Herbert calls it, but now change His dispensation and revive the spirit of His contrite ones! On our part, as we are made to sympathize with the man of God in this Psalm, so let us imitate his example. Like he in multiplied bereavements, let us be like he in Grace and faith! Observe that the first word of this painful Psalm is, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place," as if, touched by the rod, the sufferer remembered his Father. Will the hypocrite always call upon God? No, and when God deals roughly with him, he will kick against the pricks. But the child of God, when he is smitten, turns to the hand that smote him and cries, "Show me why You contend with me?" If foxes and wolves are prowling about, and the shepherd's dog appears, they fly here and there as far away as they can. But when the dog is sent after the sheep, he fetches them back to the shepherd. Trouble drives away the carnal man from his pretended religion, but it gathers the true sheep together and, being awakened and alarmed, they seek the Good Shepherd. The more of grief we feel, the more of Grace we need--and the nearer to our Comforter we come! Closer to God is the cry of the troubled saint!-- "Nearer, my God, to Thee! Nearer to Thee! Even though it be a cross Thatraises me; Still all my cry shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee! Nearer to Thee!" Observe, also, that this Psalm is "a prayer of Moses." The comfort of a child of God in the darkness is prayer. Adversity, blessed of the Holy Spirit, calls our attention to the promises. The promises quicken our faith. Faith betakes itself to prayer--God hears and answers our cry! This is the chain of a tried soul's experience. Brothers and Sisters, as we suffer tribulation, as we know the promise, let us immediately exercise faith and turn in prayer to God, for surely never did a man turn to God but the Lord also turned to Him! If we are set a-praying, we may depend upon it--the Lord is set on blessing! Blessings are on the way from Heaven--their shadow falls upon us even now! I desire, at this time, to stir you up to a joyful expectancy! These clouds mean rich, refreshing showers. These sharp frosts foretell heavy sheaves. The Lord, by the Divine Spirit, make the Words of our text to be our prayer this morning! May the Lord Jesus present our supplication to the Father. The petition seems to me to be, first, for proportionate glad-ness--"Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, and the years in which we have seen evil." And, secondly, our prayer is for peculiar gladness, a gladness which is described in the 16th and 17th verses--"Let Your work appear unto Your servants, and Your glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands." I. First, then, beloved Friends, our prayer this morning as a Church and people should be for PROPORTIONATE GLADNESS--that our God, who has filled one scale with grief, would fill the other scale with Grace till they balance each other! Inasmuch as He has poured out of His vial, certain drops of wormwood, we pray Him to measure out the same quantity of the consolation of love, whereby our hearts shall be comforted. May our Covenant God, who has chastened us heavily, now revive us graciously! We begin here by noticing that evidently the prayer desires a gladness of the same origin as the sadness. The Psalm plainly ascribes the sadness to the Lord--"You turn man to destruction; and say, Return, you children of men." "We are consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath are we troubled." God is seen in bereavements--death comes distinctly at His command--second causes are left behind. Since we have a distinct idea that the sadness comes from God, our text expresses an equally distinct desire that the gladness may come from God. We beg for Divine comfort under Divine chastening. The words of the prayer are eminently simple and childlike--"Make us glad." They seem to say, "Father! You have made us sad; now make us glad! You have saddened us grievously; now therefore, O Lord, most heartily rejoice us." The prayer as good as cries, "Lord, no one but Yourself can make us glad under such affliction, but You can bring us up from the lowest deep. The wound goes too near the heart for any human physician to heal us; but You can heal us even to the making of us glad!" The prayer is full of buoyant hope, for it does not merely say, "Comfort us; bear us up; keep our heads above water; prevent us from sinking in despair"--no, but--"Make us glad." Reverse our state: lift us up from the depths to the heights. "Make us glad!" I hear the music of hope drowning the discord of fear; the songs of a joyous faith rising above the mournful dirges of grief! The appeal is to only the Lord! Moses entreats Jehovah, Himself, to kindle the lamps of joy within the tabernacles of Israel. It is healthy sadness which the Lord sends and it is equally safe gladness which God gives! If we make ourselves merry, we may be mere mimics of mirth. If outward goods make us merry, we may be no better than the rich fool in the parable! But if our God makes us glad, we may take our fill of delight and fear no ill consequences! The wine of the Kingdom cheers, but never intoxicates! The bread of God strengthens, but never surfeits! Neither pride, nor worldliness, nor carelessness comes of feasting at the table of our God! Come, then, let us together breathe this prayer--"Make us glad!" Let us paraphrase the expression, thus, "Lord, You are the Maker of all things, make us glad! By Your Word You did make the light; make light for us! You will make new these worn-out skies and much-polluted earth; come, then, and make us new and restore unto us the joy of Your sal- vation!" The parallel lies much in the source to which both sadness and gladness are ascribed. Lord, make both our summers and our winters, our calms and our storms, for everything is good which comes from You, and it is our joy that our times are in Your hands. But now notice that a proportion is insisted upon--"Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, and the years in which we have seen evil." This is an original prayer, full of thought and hope. Truly, also, it is a philosophical prayer--one which is in accordance with the harmonies of Nature and consonant with all the ways of God. I have been told that on the Scot lakes, the depth of the lake is almost always the same as the height of the surrounding hills. And I think I have heard that the same is true of the great ocean--so that the greatest depth is probably the same as the greatest height. Doubtless, the law of equilibrium is manifest in a thousand ways. Take an instance in the adjustment of days and nights. A long night reigns over the north of Norway--in these wintry months they do not even see the sun! But mark and admire their summers--then the day banishes the light altogether and you may read your Bible by the light of the midnight sun! Long wintry nights find compensation in a perpetual summer day! There is a balance about the conditions of the peoples of differing lands. Each country has its drawbacks and its advantages. I believe it is so with the life of God's people--the Lord also maintains a balance in them. "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ." The great Father permits some to be little in Israel, but they are none the less dear to Him for that! Such are like the minnow which swims a pool proportioned to its size--no great tempest sweeps over the tiny stream--its ruffles and its calms suit its little inhabitants. Another of God's children is made for great service. He may be compared to leviathan, for whom the ocean is prepared--with billows, tempests and hurricanes in due proportion. The great Architect draws everything to scale! While some lives are wisely arranged upon a small scale, others are fashioned for wider spheres and made to do business on the great waters! These have greater tribulations, but they also have greater consolations! God knows how to manage us all and we have, each one, a place in His thoughts. Wisdom allots each one his talent and his work--his strength and his trial. What would a sparrow do with an eagle's wings? Given the eagle's wings and the eagle's eyes, there must be a soaring up above the Alps, a companionship with winds and lightning! To the tiny hummingbird God appoints no flight into the upper air, but allots it flowers and sunshine nearer the ground. He knows the way of His people and His love is over all! The good Lord measures out the dark and the light in due proportions--and the result is life sad enough to be safe, and glad enough to be desirable! I do not believe that our mortal life is fitly set forth by the Thane's parable, when he said to the Saxon king, "Have you marked, O king, when you are sitting in your hall and the fires are lit, and the lamps are burning, how the sparrow comes flying out of the thick darkness, passes through the window, glides into the bright and cheerful light, and then flits out again into the darkness? Such is our life--an interval of light amidst a long darkness." It is not so! If a Believer flits out of the light, he glides into the light again! If we traverse a stretch of darkness, we may expect an equal breadth of brightness! If today we sail a stormy main, we may hop, tomorrow, that the sea will be as glass. We have our changes, but the preponderance of life is not to misery. Rainy days are many and yet, in the long run, they are outnumbered by the seasons of fair weather. God makes us glad according to the days in which He has afflicted us and the years in which we have seen evil! It may not be said of God's children that we are a wretched company. Though truly, if only in this life we had hope, we should be, of all men, most miserable. Yet, since that hope is sure, we are, of all men, the most happy! We shall not say, when life is ended here below, that it was an evil thing to have lived! We have the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come! "Happy are you, O Israel," is for the present as well as for the future! God has blessed us and we are blessed--and it is not for us to speak as if the blessing were in vain. Now, if it is so, that our gladness and our sadness are balanced, let us accept them, by turns, with gratitude! Let us notice, further, that sorrow is the herald of joy. Did I not tell you but a few Sundays ago how I sat in health and strength and joy in the olive gardens, and said to my friend-- "Should we expect some danger near When we perceive too much delight?" The apprehension was soon justified, as it has often been! But let us not forget the other side of this Truth of God--we may expect some mercy, near, when we are bowed with heaviest grief! Among the ashes of sorrow we shall find live coals of joy! Grief is God's usher of the black rod, sent to intimate that in the majesty of His Grace, the Lord is drawing near to us. There will be first, to us, even as there was to Israel, the sound of Egypt's chariots, the cry of her horsemen and a descent into the depths of the sea--and then shall come the far-resounding, never-forgotten shout of victory! The rage of Pharaoh, the darkness of the night and the march through the Red Sea must prepare the way for Miriam's timbrel and the loud refrain, "Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea!" Israel must make bricks without straw before Moses shall come! If I had been a little child among the Israelites, I think I should have known, when father set the bitter herbs upon the table, that the lamb was roasting, somewhere, and would be set out, too. "With bitter herbs shall you eat it"--and so, if there are bitter herbs, the dainty dish is near! Job did not know, and he could not guess it, but in the light of Job's book we ought to know that the preparation for making a man twice as rich as he was before is to take away all that he has. Oftentimes, in building a bigger house, it is the way of wisdom to clear away the old building altogether. Keeping up the old structure is often an expensive economy--it is better to demolish it. Even so do I believe that the adversities of the saints are to their lasting profit by removing that which would bind greater prosperity. Troubles come clothed in black, but to the eyes of faith they carry silver trumpets and proclaim the approach of great mercies! God is hastening in the richness of His favor to bless His children! Sorrow is the outrider of joy! A step further and we have it thus--sorrow often prepares for joy. It might not be safe, dear Brother, that you should enjoy worldly prosperity at the outset of life. Your adversities in business are meant to teach you the worthless-ness of earthly things so that when you have them, you may not be tempted to make idols of them! I am persuaded that many men have been ruined by rising suddenly to fame and power! Had they, at first, been abused and trod down like mire in the streets, their spirits might have been hardened to endure that sharpest of all tests, namely, human honor-- for, "as the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise." You are not ready yet, dear Brothers and Sisters, to bear the weight of an elevated superstructure--you must be dug out, first, and a deep foundation must be laid to bear a lofty building! In the spiritual life, God does not run us up with glittering virtues all of a sudden, but deep prostration of spirit and thorough humiliation prepare the under-courses! And then, afterwards, stone upon stone, as with rows of jewels, we are built up to be a palace for the indwelling of God! Sorrow furnishes the house for joy. The preparation for an eternal Heaven is temporary affliction. Jesus has gone to prepare Heaven for us, but He has left His Cross behind Him that the Holy Spirit may, by its means, prepare us for Heaven! You could not enjoy the rest of Paradise if you had not first known the labors of pilgrimage! You could not understand the boundless joy of Heaven if your hearts had not been enlarged by the endurance of tribulation! Let not this be forgotten, then--our troubles build a house and spread a table for our joys. Did you ever read of a Roman triumph? Have you ever stood upon the Via Sacra which led up to the Capitol? There, when the glad day was come, the people crowded all along the road. Every roof was loaded--the very chimney tops bore each a man, while along the sacred way the conqueror rode, drawn by white horses, amid the blast of trumpets and the thundering acclamations of myriads. What glory! What renown! Rome's millions did their best to crown their hero. But there had been to him full many a battle before that hour of pride! Victory needs conflict as its preface. The conqueror's scars are his truest decorations. His wounds are his best certificates of valor. Because he had been smothered with the dust and defiled with the blood of battle, the hero stood erect and all men paid him reverence. It must be so in the present condition of things. No man can wear the garland till he has first contended for it-- "Surely we must fight if we would reign. Increase our courage, Lord!" The way to the crown is by the cross--the palm branch comes not to the idle hand-- "The path of sorrow and that path, alone, Leads to the place where sorrow is unknown." Once again, let me say to you, dear Friends, there is such a connection between sorrow and joy that no saint ever has a sorrow but what it has a joy wrapped in it. It is a rough oyster, but a pearl lies within those shells if you will but look for it! Do not think I mock at grief by saying that it is the husk of joy. Far from it! I would console grief by asserting sol- emnly that within the black envelope of affliction there is a precious love token from God--you can be sure of that. We find the treasure of communion with Christ in the earthen vessel of sorrow. We ask to have fellowship with Jesus in His sufferings and we cannot do so unless we suffer. It is a joy to remember in our woe that by these things we are made like our Lord and conformed to His image! If there were only this comfort, it might suffice to sweeten every suffering! Beside this, there is generally, with sorrow, a manifestation of the Lord amid our weakness. I have known many forms of happiness, but I think, upon the whole, I consider the purest and sweetest to be that of fainting in weakness upon the breast of Jesus and dying into His life. "Oh to be nothing, nothing, only to lie at His feet!" To be as a lily broken off at the stalk and, therefore, taken up into His hands! This is unutterable happiness! The Lord's love to His poor and afflicted ones is most choice and tender. "He carries the lambs in His bosom." Favored feebleness to be thus laid in the Heaven of Jesus' bosom! I love to cower down under the Divine wings like a chick under the hen, finding myself by losing myself in God! I have found it precious to feel that no more strength is left with which to suffer and, therefore, I must die away into the Divine will! Certain is it that in every tribulation there are consolations, even as every night has its own stars. I am sure, dear Brothers and Sisters, you that grieve most, today, for the departed, possess a joy which outweighs your mourning--it is a great sorrow to lose a father, but it is a greater joy to know that your father is not really lost, but translated to the skies! It is a great grief to part with a true Brother and fellow laborer, but it is happiness to know that he is promoted to the peerage of the skies! We might, each one, say of our departed friend, "Let us go, that we may die with him." These good men have a head start on us--they are preferred before us--they have first seen the King in His beauty! One of them, at least, has reached his reward before his spiritual father--he who is my joy and crown is in Heaven before me! Verily, there are first that shall be last. Our hold on the invisible is strengthened by the departure of our Brothers and Sisters. We have more in Heaven to love, more fraternal meetings to anticipate and so we have new links with the eternal. Did I not say, truly, that every sorrow contains a joy? Once more, the day will come when all the sorrows of God's sending will be looked upon as joys. Hear this! By some strange alchemy, known only to "the King eternal, immortal, invisible," our sorrows shall be turned into joys! You see this in your own homes--I quote it because it is the Lord's own metaphor--a woman, when she is in travail, has sorrow because her hour is come. But soon she remembers no more her travail, for joy that a man is born into the world! Our troubles and travails are sharp, but they will all be forgotten in the joy that will come of them. Before we enter Heaven we shall thank God for most of our sorrows--and when we are once in Glory we shall thank Him for all of them! Perhaps in Heaven, among all the things which have happened to us that will excite our wonder and delight, our furnace experience and the hammer and the file will take the lead. Sorrow will contribute rich stanzas to our everlasting Psalm. Therefore comfort one another with these words and breathe the prayer, each one, today, "Make us glad accordingly to the days in which You have afflicted us, and the years in which we have seen evil." In each case may Divine Love weigh out the ingredients of a sanctified life according to the art of the apothecary, each one in due proportion! II. Bear with me while I come to the second part of my subject which I desire to make eminently practical. The gladness desired is also described--it is PECULIAR GLADNESS. The Psalmist wishes for a fourfold gladness--the first is gladness at the sight of God's Work. Notice--"YOUR work." There is always something cheering in God's work. Have you ever felt it so? I think you must have done so. When Mungo Park was cheered by that little bit of moss which he picked up in the wilderness, he was but comforted as many of us have been. The flowers of the garden, the wild beauties of the forest, the chance tufts by the roadside are all God's work and, therefore, breathe consolation to God's servants. Nature is kind--her stars speak light to our hearts! Her winds chase away our gloom and her waves flash with health for us. Nature is a fond stepmother to the Lord's children because she is, like ourselves, the work of the Lord. When we are in deep tribulation it is a sweet quietus to survey the handiwork of our Father in Heaven. His work in Providence, also, is often a consolation to us. Let us but see what God has done for His people and for ourselves in years past, and we are cheered! Trouble, itself, when we see it to be God's work, has lost its terror. A certain Persian nobleman found himself surrounded by soldiers who sought to take him prisoner. He drew his sword and fought right valiantly--and might have escaped had not one of the company said, "The king has sent us to convey you to himself." He sheathed his sword at once. Yes, we can contend against what we call a misfortune, but when we learn that the Lord has done it, our contest is ended, for we joy and rejoice in what the Lord does! Or, if we cannot get the length of rejoicing in it, we acquiesce to His will. This is our song-- "I would not contend with Your will, Whatever that will may decree! But oh, may each trial I feel Unite me more fondly to Thee." Brothers and Sisters, the great comfort which this Church needs, now, is to see God's work in the midst of her revived and glorified. If the Lord will but come among us and save men. And if He will build up and edify His people and give them help to accomplish their holy service--this will be our richest possible comfort--"Let Your work appear unto Your servants." Lord, our Brothers and Sisters fade away! They go into the shadow land and we see them no more. But, oh, if we can see Your hand at work among us, we shall not be discouraged! We mourn the loss of our Brothers' work, but we will not be disheartened if we see Your work! May the Lord make you to see His work on your own hearts, dear Brothers and Sisters! May He make you to see His work in the congregation, in the Sunday school and everywhere throughout the world, bringing men to Himself--and you will find therein a sovereign balm for all your wounds. The next consolation is also a very rich one--gladness at the Revelation of God to our children--"And Your glory to their children." If our God will but make His glory to be seen by our children, what more can we ask? "I have no greater joy than this, that my children walk in the Truth of God." No better comfort can be found for bereaved mothers than to see their sons and daughters converted! There is a sorrow for those who have departed, but I could almost say, "Weep not for the dead, neither bewail them"--for there is a sharper grief, by far, and that is our anxiety for those who survive and yet are dead unto God! Did you ever see a chain gang of convicts marching to their labor? I could wish never to see the sad scene again. Suppose that among those convicts there was a boy of yours! Ah me! Ah me! It were better for you that he had never been born! But think of those who are prisoners in the chains of sin. Is there a boy or girl of yours in such bonds? Oh, then, I am sure you will pray the Lord to rescue you from so sharp a trial--and to set your sons and daughters free from the fetters of iniquity. Pray, each one of you, fervently, "O Lord, let Your glory as their Emancipator appear to my children and then do what You will." Did you ever visit a condemned cell? To peep through the gate and to see a man sitting there, condemned to die, is enough to make one faint! Suppose it were your boy! Suppose it were your husband! Suppose it were your brother! But listen--"He that believes not is condemned already." Pardon us, dear unconverted relatives, if we say that we feel more sorrow for you living than we do for our gracious ones who are dead, for yours is a terrible plight, to be, even now, sitting in the condemned cell--doomed to be taken out to execution before long unless Infinite Mercy shall grant a free pardon. What dreadful sights must meet the eyes upon a battlefield! If I see a man bleeding by a common cut, my heart is in my mouth and I cannot bear the sight! But what must it be to see men dismembered, disemboweled, writhing to and fro in the last agonies of death! What horror to walk among mounds of dead bodies and stumble at each stop over a human corpse! Yet, what is natural death compared with spiritual death? What terror to dwell in the same house with relatives who are dead while they live--dead unto God! The thought is full of anguish. If God will quicken our spiritually dead. If He will give life to those who are "free among the slain, as they that go down into the Pit," what a consolation we shall find! Did you see that alarming fire the other day? Did you hear of the hotel in flames--the one in which there were many guests in the upper story--and the flames had grasped the whole edifice, so that numbers perished? It must be dreadful to see persons at the upper windows of a burning house and to be powerless to rescue them. But if your child were there-- your boy, your girl, or if your husband or your wife were there, or even if anyone you knew were there--your grief would have a double sting about it and you would cry, "Lord, do what You will with me, but save those precious lives!" Remember, then, that your ungodly friends are in the same condition, and what greater mercy can God bestow upon you than for Him to make His glory to be seen by your children in their eternal salvation? Therefore I turn your thoughts to that prayer. May you breathe it now and may the Lord, for Christ's sake, answer it right speedily-- "Let your glory appear unto our children." The third consolation which Moses here describes is gladness at beauty bestowed--"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." Sorrow mars the countenance and clothes the body with sackcloth. But if the Lord will come to us and adorn us with His beauty, then the stains of mourning will speedily disappear! Brothers and Sisters, what a beauty is this which the Lord gives--"the beauty of the Lord our God!" This comeliness is the beauty of His Grace, for our covenant God is the God of all Grace! If the Lord makes us to know that we are His, our faces shine. If He fills us with His life and love, then brightness flashes from the eyes and there is a Grace about every movement! This "beauty" means holiness, for holiness is the beauty of God! If the Holy Spirit works in you the beauty of holiness, you will rise superior to your afflictions. If this Church shall be made the holier by its bereavements, we shall gain much by our losses. This beauty of the Lord must surely mean His Presence with us. As the sun beautifies all things, so does God's Presence! When we know that Jesus is with us. When we feel that He is our Helper. When we bask in His love, when He abides with us in power--this is the beauty of the saints! If we have Christ in us, Christ with us, we can bear any amount of trouble!-- "I can do all things, or can bear All suffering if my Lord is there." This beauty gives to the Believer an attractiveness in the eyes of men. They perceive that we have been with Jesus and they behold our faces shining like the faces of angels! It is a great thing when a Christian is so happy, so holy and so heavenly that he attracts others to Christ and people seek his company because they perceive that he has been in the company of the blessed Lord! God give you this, and if you have it, dear Friends, you may forget your sorrows--they are transfigured into joy! The last comfort that Moses speaks of is gladness at our own world being established--"Establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands." Do you notice the wonderful blending in the 15th and 17th verses? There it is, "Let Your work appear to Your servant." Here it is, "Let our work be established." Alas, I have heard divines rightly say that salvation is God's work and then they have harshly added that, in our preaching of the Gospel, we make it out to be our own work. Thus they speak hard things against us and their speech is not after the Lord's mind. Others, again, make out this work to be so much man's work that God is forgotten! Neither of these is correct--we must blend the two! To build up the Church and win souls for Jesus is, first of all, God's work and then our work! Why should a Christian work to win souls? Answer--because God works in him to win souls! Remember the verses--"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Why? "For it is God that works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure." God works to set us working--our work is the result of His work! Our work is often a very effectual means of comfort to us. On the battlefield of Gettysburg there had been a terrible fight and among the wounded lay a certain chaplain of the name of Eastman who had been seriously injured in the back by his horse falling upon him. The dark and dreary night came on and, as he lay in intense pain, unable to rise, he heard a voice at a little distance cry, "O God!" His interest was excited and he rolled himself over and over through pools of blood--and among the slain--till he reached the side of the dying man. And there they lay--talking of Jesus and His free salvation! The man expired in hope! And just then two soldiers came and told Eastman that a captain was dying a little further down the field and they must carry him there--so he was borne in anguish upon the work of mercy--and while the night wore on, he spoke of Jesus to many dying men. Could he have had a surer relief from his pain? I think not! Why, it seems to me that to lie there on his back with nothing to do but moan and groan would have been horrible! But in all his pain and anguish, to be carried about to proclaim mercy to dying men made the anguish of an injured back endurable! So is it when you miss a friend, or have lost property, or are heavy in spirit--you shall find your surest comfort in serving God with all your might. The text prays for our work that it may succeed--"Establish the work of our hands." Oh, if God will but prosper us in our work for Him, how happy we shall be! One day this week I had a great lift up out of deep distress when I was informed that a captain was here, last Sunday morning, and was so impressed that he found the Savior and made the fact known at one of the noonday Prayer Meetings, asking for himself that he might be kept faithful to his God. This is good. We do not always see our seed grow so quickly as that. It is wet weather just now, the damp of sorrow is on all things, and so the seed sown in tears is speedily reaped in joy! Is not this something to comfort us? Let us pray God to send us more of it, that by conversions our work may prosper. Then we pray that our work may be lasting--that is the chief point. I look forward to the future of this Church with prayerful, hopeful anxiety! I am not old--not very old at any rate--but I am not all that I was in my earlier days. And I mistrust whispers that soon things will decline. The other day a certain great preacher said that after a preacher had been for a while in a place, all the heroism, all the earnestness, all the fervor which characterizes new efforts would be gone. He said the best thing would be to disband the Church and let them begin, again, under a new leader. That may look like a practical idea, but I do not quite see it--nor does it commend itself, to me, as sound and true. If a Church is a man's work, it is dependent upon a man--and when he is gone, the best thing we can do with it is to let it dissolve! But I desire to see built up on this spot, by God's hand, a Church which will endure till the coming of the Lord! Though dear ones, who seemed to be pillars, are taken away, the Lord will find other pillars! And though just now there are breaches in Zion's wall, here and there, yet the wall shall again be repaired and not a broken place shall remain! If we may see this accomplished, we shall be abundantly comforted. "Establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands." We belong to an established Church--established not by men, but by the Lord! This Church will flourish when you and I have passed into our rest. Meanwhile, I beg you to take a deep interest in it and do all you can for its prosperity. Make it more and more be the model of what a Church of Christ should be. I long that the Truth of God which I have preached may be established in all the earth. They say that Calvinism is at a great discount now--perhaps it is. Yet, to me, it seems that its Free Grace spirit is far more spread than ever and is quietly saturating all true evangelical preaching. If it is so, that the Doctrines of Grace are now despised, we still hope that we shall live to see them brought to the front, again! Or, if not, we shall leave behind such a testimony that, in years to come, the Gospel of the Grace of God will be read by thousands! At this time I beg for the loving help of you all, for the Church itself. Our institutions deserve your zeal, liberality and prayerfulness. But do not forget the old house at home, the mother of these efforts. The Church, itself, needs your love, your prayers, your help, your sustenance! I say this to you, my dear Friends, who have been with me long--be you this day what you were at first--be as knit together and as earnest as you were when you had a boy preacher to lead you and you loved him and helped him to do good service for the Lord. For nearly 30 years God has been with us--let us begin, again, from this date and see if we cannot complete the 30 years of blessing and, if the Lord permits us, let us add another 20 years to it and make up half-a-century of prosperity! Who knows? Only let us carefully watch the present and see that nothing declines. Let each one be eager to keep the sacred cause in a healthy condition. God will establish His work upon us from day to day--and this shall be our comfort. Keep everything in the best possible working order! Plead with the Holy Spirit to clothe us with His power. Maintain all forms of holy labor vigorously and sustain every fund by your spontaneous liberality. Never need pressing, but let each one enquire, "What can I do to keep the Church well supplied to God's glory?" I believe this is the way to Church comfort. God will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places! But we must, each one, take pleasure in her stones and favor the dust thereof. Close up your ranks! Leave no empty spaces. Let every man stand closer to his fellow--and then--"Forward!" Forward to a fuller consecration and a braver faith in God! Forward to more Grace and higher holiness! And so shall we wipe away our tears and praise the name of the Lord! And He will remember us and, by a plenitude of blessing, make up to us all that we have lost. A blessing is coming! Be ready for it! Amen. __________________________________________________________________ On Laying Foundations (No. 1702) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 21, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man which built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that hears, and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:46-49. THESE parables describe two classes of hearers, but they say nothing of those who are not hearers. Their position and prospects we must infer from what is said of hearers. Our Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world to tell us of the Father's love. And never man spoke as He spoke and yet there are many who refuse to hear Him. I do not mean those who are far away, to whom the name of Jesus is well-near unknown, but I mean persons in this land and especially in this great and highly-favored city who willfully refuse to hear Him whom God has anointed to bring tidings of salvation! Our Lord Jesus is proclaimed, I was about to say, upon the housetops in this city, for even in their music halls and theaters, Christ is preached to the multitude! And at the corners of our streets His banner is lifted up--and yet there are tens of thousands to whom the preaching of the Gospel is as music in the ears of a corpse! They shut their ears and will not hear, though the testimony is concerning God's own Son, eternal life and the way to escape from everlasting wrath! To their own best interests, to their eternal benefit, men are dead--nothing will secure their attention to their God. To what, then, are these men like? They may fitly be compared to the man who built no house whatever and remained homeless by day and without shelters by night. When worldly trouble comes like a storm, those persons who will not hear the Words of Jesus have no consolation to cheer them. When sickness comes, they have no joy of heart to sustain them under its pains. And when death, that most terrible of storms, beats upon them, they feel its full fury, but they cannot find a hiding place. They neglect the housing of their souls and when the hurricane of Almighty Wrath shall break forth in the world to come they will have no place of refuge. In vain will they call upon the rocks to fall upon them and the mountains to cover them! They shall be, in that day, without a shelter from the righteous wrath of the Most High. Alas, that any being who wears the image of man should be found in such a plight! Homeless wanderers in the day of tempest! How my soul grieves for them! Yet, what excuse will those men invent who have refused, even, to know the way of salvation? What excuse can the most tender heart make for them? Will they plead that they could not believe? Yet they may not say that they could not hear--and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God! Oh my Friend, if the Word of God comes to you and you decline to hear it and, therefore, do not believe in Jesus, but die in your sins--what is this but soul-suicide? If a man dies of a disease when infallible medicine is to be had, must not his death lie at his own door? If a man perishes of hunger when bread is all around him and others feed to the full, but he will not have it, will any man pity him? Surely not a drop of pity will be yielded to a lost soul with which he may relieve the torment of his conscience, for all holy intelligences will perceive that the sinner chose his own destruction! This shall ever press upon the condemned conscience, "You knew the Gospel, but you did not attend to it: you knew that there was salvation and that Christ was the Savior, and that pardon was proclaimed to guilty men, but you would not afford time from your farm and from your merchandise, from your pleasures and from your sins, to learn how you could be saved. That which cost God so dearly, you treated as a trifle." Ah, my dear Friends, may none of you belong to the non-hearing class! It is not to such that I shall, this morning, address myself, and yet I could not enter upon my discourse without a word of loving expostulation with them. Let me part with them by quoting the warning Words of the Holy Spirit, "See that you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks from Heaven." Our earnest attention will now be given to those who are hearers of the Word of God and are somewhat affected by it. All hearers are builders of houses for their souls--they are, each one, doing something to set up a spiritual habitation. Some of these go a considerable distance in this house-building and even crown the structure by publicly confessing Christ. They say unto Him, "Lord, Lord!" They meet with His followers and join with them in reverence to the Master's name, but they do not obey the Lord. They hear Him, but they fail to do the things which He says. Therefore they are mistaken builders, who fail in the foundation, and make nothing sure except that their house will come down about their ears! Others there are, and we trust they will be found to be many among us, who are building rightly, building for eternity--constructing a dwelling place with a foundation of rock and walls of well-built stone--of which the Lord Christ is both Foundation and Cornerstone. I am anxious to speak, at this time, to those who are just beginning to build for eternity. I am indeed happy to know that there are many such among us. May the Holy Spirit bless this sermon to them! I. Our first subject will be A COMMON TEMPTATION WITH SPIRITUAL BUILDERS. A common temptation with hearers of the Word of God, according to the two parables before us, is to neglect foundation work--to get hurriedly over the first part of the business--and run up the building quickly. They are tempted to assume that all is done which is said to be done--to take it for granted that all is right which is hoped to be right and then to go on piling up the walls as rapidly as possible. The great temptation, I say, with young beginners in religious life, is to skimp on the foundation and treat those things lightly which are of the first importance. The same temptation comes to us throughout the whole of life, but to young beginners it is especially perilous. Satan would have them neglect the fundamental principles upon which their future hope and character are to rest, so that in a future trying hour, from need of a solid foundation, they may yield to evil and lose the whole of their life building. This temptation is all the more dangerous, first, because these young beginners have no experience. Even the most experienced child of God is often deceived--how much more the pilgrim who has but just entered the wicket gate! The tried saint sometimes mistakes that for a virtue which is only a gilded fault and he fancies that to be genuine which is mere counterfeit! How, then, without any experience, whatever, can the mere babe in Grace escape deception unless he is graciously preserved? Newly awakened and rendered serious, earnest hearts get to work in the Divine life with much hurry, seizing upon that which first comes to hand, building in heedless haste, without due care and examination. Something must be done and they do it without asking whether it is according to the teaching of the Lord. They call Jesus, "Lord," but they do what others say, rather than what Jesus says. Satan is sure to be at hand at such times that he may lead the young convert to lay, in place of Gospel repentance, a repentance that needs to be repented of--and instead of the faith of God's elect-- a proud presumption or an idle dream. For that love of God which is the work of the Spirit of God, he brings mere natural affection for a minister and he says, "There, that will do! You must have a house for your soul to dwell in. There are the materials, pile them up." Like children at play upon the beach, the anxious heap up their sandcastles and please themselves with them, for they are ignorant of Satan's devices. I am, for this reason, doubly anxious to save my beloved young friends from the Deceiver! The common temptation is, instead of really repenting, to talk about repentance. Instead of heartily believing, to say, "I believe," without believing. Instead of truly loving, to talk of love, without loving! Instead of coming to Christ, to speak about coming to Christ, and profess to come to Christ, and yet not to come at all! The character of Talkative in Pilgrim's Progress is ably drawn. I have met the gentleman many times and can bear witness that John Bunyan was a photographer before photography was invented! Christian said of him "He talks of prayer, of repentance, of faith and of the new birth, but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family and his house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor." We have too many such persons around us who are, as to what they say, everything that is to be desired and yet they are proven to be mere shams. As tradesmen place dummies in their shops, papered and labeled to look like goods, while yet they are nothing of the sort, so are these men marked and labeled as Christians, but the Grace of God is not in them! Oh that you young beginners may be on the alert, that you be not content with the form of godliness, but are made to feel the power of it! There is this to help the temptation, too, that this plan for the present saves a great deal of trouble. Your mind is distressed and you need comfort--well, it will comfort you to say, "Lord, Lord," though you do not the things that Christ says. If you admit the claims of Jesus to be Lord, even though you do not believe on Him for salvation and so neglect the main thing which He commands, you will find some ease in the admission. He bids you repent of sin, trust His blood, love His Word and seek after holiness--but it is much easier to admire these things without following after them in your life. To feign repentance and faith is not difficult, but genuine godliness is heart work and requires thought, care, sincerity, prayerfulness and watchfulness. Believe me, real religion is no sport! He that would be saved will find it to be no jesting matter. "The kingdom of Heaven suffers violence," and he that is easy about the thing, and thinks it is nothing more than the magician's, "Heigh, presto, done," has made a fatal mistake! "Strive," says Christ, "to enter into the strait gate." The Spirit strives in us mightily and often works us to an agony. The crown of eternal Glory is not won without fighting, nor the prize of our high calling received without running--yet, by just making a holy profession, and by practicing an outward form--a man imagines that the same result is produced as by seeking the Lord with his whole heart and believing in the Lord Jesus. If it were so, there would be a fine broad road to Heaven and Satan, himself, would turn pilgrim! Believe me, dear Hearers, this saving of trouble will turn out to be a making of trouble and, before matters end, the hardest way will turn out to be the easiest way! This kind of building without a foundation has this advantage to back up the temptation--it enables a man to run up a religion very quickly. He makes splendid progress! While the anxious heart is searching after the Truth of God in the inward parts and begging to be renewed by Grace, his exulting friend is as happy as he can be in a peace which he has suddenly obtained without question or examination. This rapid grower never asks, "Has my religion changed my conduct? Is my faith attended by a new nature? Does the Spirit of God dwell in me? Am I really what I profess to be, or am I but a bastard professor, after all?" No, he puts aside all enquiry as a temptation of the devil! He takes every good thing for granted and votes that all is gold which glitters! Look how fast he goes! The fog is dense, but he steams through it, heedless of danger! He has joined the Church--he has commenced work for God! He is boasting of his own attainments--he hints that he is perfect! But is this mushroom building safe? Will it pass muster in the last, great survey? Will it stand should a tempest happen? The chimney shaft is tall, but is it safe? Yes, there's the rub! This is the question which makes an end of much of the boasting which is all around us. It is better to tremble at God's Word than boldly to presume. It is better to be fearful, lest, after all, we may be castaways, than to harden one's forehead with vain confidence. When a man travels upon a wrong road, the faster he runs, the further he will go astray. Remember the advice to go slowly and the old proverb which says, "The more haste the less speed." If you build quickly because you build without a foundation, your time and toil are thrown away. How common, how deceptive is this temptation! The young beginner, the man who is just awakened to seek the Lord, will find a great many to help him in his mistake, should he neglect the foundation. Kind, good, Christian friends often, without a thought of doing so, help to mislead seeking souls. "Yes," they say, "you are converted," and so, perhaps, the person would be if all he said were true! But it is said without feeling; it comes from the lips, only, and does not come from the heart! And, therefore, it is ruinous to encourage him. A kindly assurance from a Christian friend may breed false confidence if that assurance was mistakenly given. In these days, we do not meet with many Christians who err by dealing too severely with converts--the shot strikes the other target. Our forefathers were possibly too suspicious and jealous, but nowadays we nearly all err in the opposite direction--we are so anxious to see everybody brought to Christ that our wish may tend to delude us into the belief that it is so. We are so willing to cheer and comfort those who seek the Lord, that we may fall into the habit of prophesying smooth things and thus shun everything which tends to probe and test, lest it should also discourage. Let us beware lest we cry, "Peace, peace," where there is no peace! It will be a sad thing to breed hypocrites when we were looking for converts. I have heard of one who had been into the Enquiry Room a dozen times and when, on another occasion, she was invited to go there, she said, "I really do not know why I should go, for I have been told that I was saved 12 times, already, and I am not a bit better than before they told me so." It would be better to send some home weeping rather than rejoicing! Many a wound needs the knife more than the plaster. You may be comforted by well-meant assurances of tender friends and yet that comfort may be all a lie! I therefore warn you against any peace except that which comes from doing that which Jesus commands, or, in other words, against any confidence except that which rests in only Jesus and is attended with repentance, faith and a life of obedience to your Lord. No doubt man are encouraged in slight building by the fact that so many professors are making a fair show and yet their building is without foundation. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that in all Churches there are persons who have no depth of spiritual root and, we are afraid, no real spiritual life. We cannot root them up, though we fear that they are tares, for we are assured that we would unavoidably root up the wheat with them--and this our Master forbids. There is nothing about their outward conduct which we could lay hold upon as a proof of their being deceivers, and yet a cold chill runs through us when we talk with them, for they have no warmth, no life and nothing of the Lord about them. We miss in their conversation that sweet spirituality, that holy unction, that blessed humility which are sure to be present when men are truly familiar with the Lord and have entered into living union with Him. People of this order mix up with us in our holy convocations--and when they come across the newly-awakened ones--they talk of Divine things in such an off-hand and flippant manner that they do serious mischief. They speak about conversion as if it were a mere trifle, a matter as easy as kissing your hand--and those who are hopeful, and over whom our hearts are yearning--are turned aside by them. Young people are apt to think, "So-and-So is a member of the Church and he is never very precise. If a lukewarm profession satisfies him, why should it not satisfy me!" Ah, my dear Friends, you would not say so in business! If you knew a man was trading without capital and likely to come to bankruptcy, you would not say, "I may do the same." If you saw a man venturing into deep water who could not swim, and you felt sure that he would ultimately drown, you would not follow his example and drown, too. No, no! Do not let these frothy professors be beacons to you. Get away from Mr. Talkative, lest he make you as hollow a drum as he is! Beware of loose professors who are as wreckers' lights that lure men upon the rocks. Make sure work for eternity and bid triflers be gone. Again, there is always, at the back of all this, an inducement to build without a foundation because it will not be known and possibly may not be found out for years. Foundation work is quite out of sight--and the house can be built up and be very useful in a great many ways--and it may stand a good while without the underground work, for houses without foundations do not tumble down at once--they will stand for years. Nobody knows how long they may stay up. Perhaps they may even be inhabited with comfort till the last great flood. Death, alone, will discover some impostors. Therefore, because the ill-founded house will do for the present--and can be used and may bring immediate comfort-- many people consider it economical to leave out the foundation as a needless superfluity. If they are questioned as to their vital godliness, they grow angry--"What business have you to enter into my private business? Why should you meddle with the secrets of my soul?" Ah, dear Friend, if we were cruel to you and wished you to be deceived, we would hold our tongues, or speak to you with the voice of flattery! But as we love you and as we hope to be blessed, in years to come, through your true and holy consecration to Christ, we are intensely earnest that you should begin aright. We would have you build that which will not need to be pulled down, again--work that will stand when the waters are out and the stream beats vehemently upon it! I dread that any man should perish without religion, but I dread far more that any man should perish with it, finding his faith to have been false, after all! If you build, build what is worth building! If you must be builders for your souls, and surely you must, or else be shelterless, then take heed on what foundation you build and be careful what you build, lest, after all, you suffer the loss of all your labor in that last tremendous day! How sad it will seem to dwell near the gates of Heaven--and spend your lives among those who are to be its future inhabitants--and then for lack of sincerity and truth, to be shut out of the Celestial City! How terrible to find out by experience that there is a back way to the gates of Hell even from the gates of Heaven! God grant it be not so with one of us here present. O you builders, care not merely for the present, but build for death, judgment and eternity! This part of our discourse is not only for young people, but for us all--for old as well as young. Depend upon it, there is not one man among us but what has need to search himself and see whether the foundation of his faith has been truly laid or not. II. So I advance to the second step, where we will consider--A WISE PRECAUTION WHICH SAFE BUILDERS NEVER FORGET. They dig deep and never rest till they have a good substantial foundation--they are glad to get to the bottom of all the loose earth and to build on the rock. Let me commend this wise precaution to all of you. Follow the text and learn to see to your sincerity. The Lord Jesus says, "Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" May the Holy Spirit make you true to the core. Be afraid to say a word more than you feel. Never permit yourself to speak as if you had an experience of which you have only read. Let not your outward worship go a step beyond the inward emotion of your soul. If Christ is truly your Lord, you will obey Him--if He is not your Lord, do not call Him so. It is a great point in all your religious thoughts, beliefs, words and acts to have the heart moving in all. It is an awful thing to make a high profession of sanctity and yet live in the indulgence of secret vice. Such persons will listen to my observation and commend me for my faithfulness and yet continue in their hypocrisy! This is most painful. These men can speak the Jew's language and yet the tongue of Babylon is more natural to them--they follow Christ, but their hearts are with Belial. Ah, me! My soul is sick at the thought of them. Be true! Be true! If truth will carry you no further than despair, better that you stop in despair than gain a hope by a lie! Do not live on fiction, profession, presumption. Eat that which is good and feed only upon the Truth of God. Remember that when you build with wood, hay and stubble of mere notion, you are only gathering materials for your own funeral pile in that day when the fire shall devour all lovers and makers of a lie. Be true as steel! Every wise builder for his soul must mind that. The next thing is thoroughness. For observe, according to our Lord, the wise builder dug deep. You cannot do a right thing too well. Dig deep if you dig a foundation. If it is repentance, let it be an intensely earnest repentance, including a vehement hatred of every form of sin. If you make confession before God, confess with your very soul and not only with your lips--lay bare your spirit before the glance of Deity. If it is faith that you talk of, believe right up to the hilt. Do not go in for that kind of skeptical believing which is so common, nowadays. If you believe, believe! If you repent, repent! In the purging of the soul, there is nothing like sweeping out every particle of the old leaven of falsehood. And in bringing in the good things into the heart, there is nothing like bringing in everything that Christ prescribes--so that of His fullness we may receive not only Grace, but Grace for Grace, Grace upon Grace, all the Grace that is needed! Be downright in everything. The wise builder dug through the earth and continued his digging till he reached rock. And then he dug into the rock and struck out a trench in which he might lay his foundation, for he could not be content unless he made sure and thorough work of it. Sincerity and thoroughness are fine building materials! Next to that add self-renunciation, for that is in the parable. When a man digs a deep foundation, he has much earth to throw out. So he that builds for eternity has a great deal to get rid of. Self-trust must go at the beginning! Love of sin must follow-- worldliness, pride, self-seeking, all sorts of iniquity--these must be cast aside. There is very much rubbish and the rubbish must go! You cannot make sure work for eternity without clearing away much which flesh and blood would like to retain. See to this and count the cost. Then must come solid principle. The man who is determined that if he does build, he will build securely, digs down to the rock. He says, "I believe in God, He is my Helper. I believe in Christ Jesus and on His atoning sacrifice and living intercession I build my eternal hopes. I also build on the Doctrine of Grace, for the Lord has said it--By Grace are you saved, through faith. I build on Scripture--nothing but the warrant of the Word of God will do for me." What God has said is a rock--what man teaches is mere shifting sand! What a blessed thing it is to get down to the eternal principles of Divine Truth! You that pick up your religion from your mothers and fathers--you that follow it because it happened to be in the family--what are you worth in the day of trouble? You are blown down like a booth, or a hut of twigs! But you that know what you believe and why you believe it--you who, when you put your foot down, know what you are standing upon and are persuaded that you have firm rock beneath you--you are the men and women who will stand fast when mere pretenders are burled out of their place! Oh, my dear seeking Friends, fix upon true principles and be not content with lies! These truthful principles must be firmly adhered to. Bind your building to the rock. A house will not stand merely because it is on the rock--you must get its foundation into the rock. The house must take a grip of the rock and the rock must grasp the house. The more you can get the house to be a bit of the rock and the rock, as it were, to grow up into the house, the more secure you are. It is of no use saying, "Yes, I confide in Christ, in Grace, in Revelation," unless your very life enters into these things and they enter into you! Hypocrites, Job says, are stolen away in the night. They are easily removed. The inventor of some new notion comes along, cracks up his novel wares, and silly souls are at once taken in by him. Christ may go, Grace may go and the Bible may go, too--their new master has them wholly in his power. We do not need such unsubstantial men! We care not for these speculating builders whose carcasses are all around us! We have had enough of castles in the air--we need true men who will stand fast like the mountains--while errors, like clouds, blow over them! Remember the huge shaft at Bradford and how many were slain by its fall? Let it teach you to hold hard to foundation Truths of God and never depart from them. The man in the second parable did not build as he should. What may I say of him? I will say three words. First, he was a man who had nothing out of sight--you could see all his house when you looked at it. If you can see all a man's religion at a glance, he has no religion worth having! Godliness lies most in secret prayer, private devotion and inward Grace. The wise builder had the most costly part of his house buried in the ground, but the other man showed all that he had above ground. He is a poor tradesman who has no stock but that which he puts into the window. He will not last long who has no capital. He cannot long stand who has no backbone within. Beware of a religion of show! Next, this man had nothing to hold to. He built a house, but it stood upon the loose soil. He easily dug into that and stuck up his house but his walls had no holdfast. Beware of a religion without holdfasts! "But if I get a grip upon a doctrine, they call me a bigot" you say. Let them do so! Bigotry is a hateful thing and yet that which is now abused as bigotry is a great virtue and greatly needed in these frivolous times! I have been inclined, lately, to start a new denomination, and call it, "the Church of the Bigoted." Everybody is getting to be so oily, so plastic, so untrue, that we need a race of hard-shells to teach us how to believe! Those old-fashioned people who, in former ages, believed something and thought the opposite of it to be false, were truer folk than the present time-servers. I should like to ask the divines of the broad school whether any doctrine is worth a man's dying for it. They would have to reply, "Well, of course, if a man had to go to the stake or change his opinions, the proper way would be to state them with much diffidence and to be extremely respectful to the opposite school." But suppose he is required to deny the Truth of God? "Well, there is much to be said on each side, and probably the negative may have a measure of truth in it as well as the positive. At any rate, it cannot be a prudent thing to incur the odium of being burned, and so it might be preferable to leave the matter an open question for the time being." Yes, and as these gentlemen always find it unpleasant to be unpopular, they soften down the hard threats of Scripture as to the world to come and put a color upon every doctrine to which worldly-wise men object! The teachers of doubt are very doubtful teachers! A man must have something to hold to, or he will neither bless himself or others. Bring all the ships into the pool but do not moor or anchor one of them--let each one be free! Wait for a stormy night and they will dash against each other--and great mischief will come of this freedom! Perfect love and charity will not come through our being all unmoored, but by each having his proper moorings and keeping to them in the name of God. You must have something to hold to! But the builder in the parable had not, and so he perished. The foolish builder had nothing to resist outward circumstances. On summer days his house was a favorite resort and was considered to be quite as good as his neighbor's in all respects. Frequently he rubbed his hands and said, "I do not see but what my house is quite as good as his and perhaps a little better! The fact is, I had a few pounds to spare which I did not bury in the ground, as he did, and with it I have bought many a little ornament, so that my habitation has a finer look than his building." So it seemed--but when the torrent came raging down the mountain side, his building, having nothing with which to resist the violence of the flood, fell down at once--and not a trace of it remained when the storm had ceased. Thus do men fail because they offer no resistance to forces which drive them into sin--the great current of evil finds in them victims--not opponents. III. Thirdly, we will now gather from our text A SET OF ARGUMENTS URGING US TO TAKE CARE OF THE FOUNDATION. I will glance over these arguments, wishing much that I had time to enforce them. The first is this. We ought to build with a good foundation at the beginning, because otherwise we shall not build well in any other part of the house. Bad work in the foundation influences all the rest of the courses. In the Revised Version, at the end of the 48th verse, instead of, "For it was founded upon a rock," we read, "Because it had been well built." The house was built well at the bottom and that led the workman to put in good work all the way up, so that all through, "it had been well built." The other man built badly underground and did the same up to the roof! When you get into the habit of slovenly work in secret, the tendency is to be slovenly in public, too. If the underground part of our religion is not firmly laid upon Christ, then in the upper part there will be rotten work, half-baked bricks, mud instead of mortar and a general skimping of everything. When a great Grecian artist was fashioning an image for the temple, he was diligently carving the back part of the goddess, and one said to him, "You need not finish that part of the statue, because it is to be built into the wall." He replied, "The gods can see in the wall." He had a right idea of what is due to God! That part of my religion which no man can see should be as perfect as if it were to be observed by all. The Day shall declare it! When Christ shall come, everything shall be made known and published before the universe. Therefore see to it that it is fit to be thus made known. See, again, that we ought to have good foundations when we look at the situation where the house is to be built. It is clear from this parable that both these houses were built in places not far from a river, or where streams might be expected to come. Certain parts of the South of France are marvelously like Palestine and, perhaps at the present moment, they are more like what the Holy Land was in Christ's day than the Holy Land is now. When I reached Cannes, last year, I found that there had been a flood in the town. This flood did not come by reason of a river being swollen, but through a deluge of rain. A waterspout seems to have burst upon the hillside tearing up earth, rocks, stones and then hurrying down to the sea. It rushed across the railway station and poured down the street which led to it, drowning several persons in its progress. When I was there a large hotel--I should think five stories high--was shored up with timber and was evidently doomed, for when this stream rushed down the narrow street it undermined the lower courses of the building and, as there were no foundations at all able to bear such a test, the whole structure was rendered unsafe. The Savior had some such case in His mind's eye. A torrent of water would come tearing down the side of the mountain--and if a house were built on the mere earth, it would be carried away--but if it were fastened into the rock so that it became part and parcel of it, then the flood might rush all around it, but it would not shake the walls. Beloved builder of a house for your soul, your house is so situated that one of these days there must come great pressure upon it. "How do you know?" Well, I know that the house in which my soul lives is pitched just where winds blow, waves rise and storms beat. Where is yours? Do you live in a snug corner? Yes, but one of these times you will find that the snug corner will be no more shielded than the open riverside, for God so orders Providence that every man has his test sooner or later! It may be that you think yourself past temptation, but the idea is a delusion, as time will show! Perhaps from the very fact that you seem quite out of the way, a peculiar temptation may befall you. Therefore, I pray you, because of the exposed condition of your life's building, build upon a good foundation! The next argument is, build deep, because of the ruin which will result from a bad foundation. The foolish builder's house was without a foundation. Notice that word, "without a foundation." Write down the expression and see whether they apply to you or not. What happened to this house without a foundation? The stream beat vehemently on it! The river's bed had long been dry, but suddenly it was flooded and the torrent rolled with tremendous power. Perhaps it was persecution. Perhaps it was prosperity. Perhaps it was trouble, or temptation. Perhaps it was prevalent skepticism or death, but, whatever--the flood beat vehemently upon that house! And now we read the next word--"And immediately it fell." It did not stand a prolonged assault! It was captured at once. "Immediately it fell." What? In a minute all that fair profession gone? "Immediately it fell." Why, that is the man I shook hands with the other Sunday and called him, "Brother," and he has been seen drunk! Or he has been in the frivolous assembly, using unhallowed language! Or he has become an utter doubter all on a sudden! It is sorrowful work burying our friends, but it is much more sorrowful work to lose them in this fashion--and yet so they vanish. They are gone! Even as Job says "the east wind carries him away and he departs." "Immediately" they fall and yet we thought so highly of them--and they thought so highly of themselves. "Immediately it fell"--their profession could not endure trial--and all because it had no foundation! Then it is added, "And the ruin of that house was great." The house came down with a crash and it was all the man had. The man was an eminent professor and, therefore, his ruin was all the more notable. It was a great fall because it could never be built up, again. When a man dies a hypocrite, certainly there is no hope of restitution for him. By the stream the very debris of the ruined house was swept away. Nothing was left. Oh, men, if you lose a battle, you may fight, again, and win another. If you fail in business you may start, again, in trade and realize a fortune. But if you lose your souls, the loss is irretrievable! Once lost, forever lost! There will be no second opportunity! Do not deceive yourselves about that. Therefore, dig deep and lay every stone most firmly upon the foundation of rock. For lastly, and perhaps this will be the best argument, observe the effect of this good, sure building--this deep building. We read that when the flood beat upon the wise man's house, "it could not shake it." That is very beautiful. Not only could it not carry it away, but, "it could not shake it." I see the man--he lost his money and became poor, but he did not give up his faith--"It could not shake it." He was ridiculed and slandered. And many of his former friends gave him the cold shoulder--but, "It could not shake it." He went to Jesus under his great trial and he was sustained-- "It could not shake it." He was very sick and his spirit was depressed within him, but he still held to his confidence in Christ--"It could not shake it." He was near to death. He knew that he must soon depart out of this world, but all the pains of death and the certainty of dissolution could not shake him. He died as he lived--firm as a rock, rejoicing as much as ever, nay--rejoicing more because he was nearer to the Kingdom and to the fruition of all his hopes! "It could not shake it." It is a grand thing to have a faith which cannot be shaken! I saw, one day, a number of beech trees which had formed a small forest-- they had all fallen to the ground through a storm. The fact was they leaned upon one another, to a great extent, and the thickness of the forest prevented each tree from getting a firm hold of the soil. They kept each other up and also forced each other to grow up tall and thin, to the neglect of a strong root growth. When the storm forced down the first few trees, the others readily followed one after the other. Close to that same spot, I saw another tree in the open, bravely defying the blast, in solitary strength. The hurricane had beaten upon it, but it had endured all its force unsheltered! That lone, brave tree seemed to be better rooted than before the storm. I thought, "Is it not so with professors?" They often hold together and help each other to grow up, but if they have not firm personal roothold, when a storm arises they fall in rows. A minister dies, or certain leaders are taken away--and over go the members by departure from the faith and from holiness! I would have you be self-contained, growing, each man, into Christ for himself, rooted and grounded in love and faith and every holy Grace. Then when the worse storm that ever blew on mortal man shall come, it will be said of your faith, "It could not shake it." I beseech you who are now seeking Christ to take care that you build well, that you may stand long in our Zion, steadfast and unmovable. God grant it for Christ's sake. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ Hands Full of Honey (No. 1703) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 28, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And Samson turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he took some in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave some to them, and they did eat: but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the Lion." Judges 14:8,9. IT was a singular circumstance that a man unarmed should have slain a lion in the prime of its vigor and yet, more strange that a swarm of bees should have taken possession of the dried carcass and have filled it with their honey. In that country, what with beasts, birds, insects and the dry heat, a dead body is soon cleansed from all corruption and the bones are clean and white. Still, the killing of the lion and the finding of the honey make up a remarkable story. These singular circumstances became, afterwards, the subject of a riddle--but with that riddle we have no concern at this time. Samson, himself, is a riddle! He was not only a riddle-maker, but he was, himself, an enigma very difficult to explain. With his personal character I have, at this time, little or nothing to do. We are not, today, resting at the house of "Gains, my host," where the pilgrims amused themselves with a dish of nuts after dinner, but we are on the march and must attend to the more important matter of refreshing and inspiriting those who are in our company. Neither are we going to discuss difficulties, but as Samson took the honey without being stung, so would we gain instruction without debate. We have, in these days, so much to do that we must make practical use of every incident that comes before us in the Word of God. My one design is to cheer the desponding and stir up all God's people to greater diligence in His service. I conceive that the text may legitimately be employed for this purpose. By the help of the Divine Spirit, even after this lapse of time, we may find honey in the lion! The particular part of the incident which is recorded in these two verses appears to have been passed over by those who have written upon Samson's life--I suppose it appeared to be too inconceivable. They are taken up with his restive riddle, but they omit the far more natural and commendable fact or his bringing forth the honey in his hands and presenting it to his father and mother. This is the little scene to which I direct your glances. It seems to me that the Israelite hero, with a slain lion in the background, standing out in the open road with his hands laden with masses of honeycomb and dripping with honey, which he holds out to his parents, makes a fine picture, worthy of the greatest artist. And what a type we have here of our Divine Lord and Master, Jesus, the conqueror of death and Hell! He has destroyed the lion that roared upon us and upon Him. He has shouted victory "over all our foes." "It is finished" was His note of triumph and now He stands in the midst or His Church with His hands full of sweetness and consolation, presenting them to those of whom He says, "these are My brother and sister and mother." To each one of us who believe in Him, He gives the luscious food which He has prepared for us by the overthrow of our foes. He bids us come and eat that we may have our lives sweetened and our hearts filled with joy. To me, the comparison seems wonderfully apt and suggestive! I see our triumphant Lord laden with sweetness, holding it forth to all His Brothers and Sisters, and inviting them to share in His joy. But, Beloved, it is written, "As He is, so are we, also, in this world." All that are true Christians are, in a measure, like the Christ whose name they bear--and it is to His image that we are finally to be conformed. When He shall appear, we shall be like He, for we shall see Him as He is. And, meanwhile, in proportion as we see Him, now, "we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The Samson type may well serve as the symbol of every Christian in the world. The Believer has been helped by Divine Grace in his spiritual conflicts and he has known "the victory which overcomes the world, even our faith." He has thus been made more than a conqueror through Him that loved us and now he stands in the midst of his fellow men inviting them to Jesus. With the honey in his hands, which he continues to feast upon, he displays the heavenly sweetness to all that are round about him, saying, "O taste and see that the Lord is good! blessed is the man that trusts in Him." I have before now met with that popular artist, Gustave Dore, [1832-1883] and suggested subjects to him. Had he survived among us, and had another opportunity occurred, I would have pressed him to execute a statue of Samson handing out the honey--strength distributing sweetness! And it might have served as a perpetual reminder of what a Christian should be--a Conqueror and a Comforter, slaying lions and distributing honey! The faithful servant of God wrestles with the powers of evil, but with far greater delight he speaks to his friends and companions, saying, "Eat that which is good and let your souls delight themselves in sweetness." Set the statue before your mind's eye and now let me speak about it. Three touches may suffice. First, the Believer's life has its conflicts. Secondly, the Believer's life has its sweets. And, thirdly, the Believer's life leads him to communicate of those sweets to others. Here is room for profitable meditation! I. First, then, THE BELIEVER'S LIFE HAS ITS CONFLICTS. To become a Christian is to enlist as a soldier. To become a Believer is to enter upon a pilgrimage and the road is often rough--the hills are steep, the valleys are dark, giants block the way and robbers lurk in corners! The man who reckons that he can glide into Heaven without a struggle has made a great mistake. No cross, no crown--no sweat, no sweet--no conflict, no conquest. These conflicts, if we take the case of Samson as our symbol, begin early in the life of the Believer. While Samson was a child, the Spirit of the Lord moved him in the camps of Dan--see the last verse of the 13th chapter. And as soon as he was on the verge of manhood, he must match himself with a lion! God, who intended that His servant should smite the Philistines and should check their proud oppression of His people, Israel, began early to train the hero for his life's conflict. So, when Samson was going to seek a wife, he turned aside into the vineyards of Timnath and a lion roared upon him. Yes, and the young Believer, who as yet has not wrestled with the Powers of Darkness, will not be long before he hears the roar of the lion and finds himself in the presence of the great Adversary. Very soon we learn the value of the prayer, "Deliver us from the Evil One!" Most of the Lord's servants have been men of war from their youth up. This early combat with the savage beast was intended by God to let Samson know his strength, when under the influence of the Spirit, and to train him for his future combats with Israel's enemies. He that is to smite the Philistines hip and thigh with a great slaughter, until he has laid them heaps on heaps by his single prowess, must begin by tearing a lion apart with his naked hands! He was to learn war in the same school as another and a greater hero, who afterwards said, "Your servant slew both the lion and the beast, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them." Soldiers are made by war. You cannot train veterans or create victors except by battles. As in the wars of armies, so is it in spiritual contests--men must be trained for victory over evil by combat with it. Therefore, "it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth," for it will not gall his shoulders in later years. It is assuredly a dangerous thing to be altogether free from trouble--in silken ease the soldier loses his prowess. Look at Solomon, one of the greatest and wisest, and yet, I might say, one of the least and most foolish of men. It was his fatal privilege to sit upon a throne of gold and sun himself in the brilliance of unclouded prosperity. And, therefore, his heart soon went astray and he fell from his high places. Solomon, in his early days, had no trouble, for no war was raging, then, and no enemy worth notice was then living. His life ran smoothly and he was lulled into a dreamy sleep, the sleep of the voluptuous. He had been happier far had he been like his father, called, from his earliest days, to trial and conflict, for this might have taught him to stand fast upon the pinnacle of glory whereon the Providence of God had placed him. Learn, then, O young Brother, that, if, like Samson, you are to be a hero for Israel, you must early be subjected to suffering and daring, in some form or other! When you step aside and seek for meditation in the quiet of the vineyard, a young lion may roar upon you even as in the earliest days of your Lord and Master's public service He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. These conflicts, dear Friends, may often be very terrible. By a young lion is not meant a whelp, but a lion in the fatness of its early strength and not yet slackened in its pace, or curbed in its fury by growing years. Fresh and furious, a young lion is the worst kind of beast that a man can meet with! Let us expect, as followers of Christ, to meet with strong temptations, fierce persecutions and severe trials which will lead to stern conflicts. Do not reckon, you that are yet put- ting on the harness, that you shall soon put it off, or that when you take it off, it will be quite as bright as it is today! It will be dimmed with blood and dust--and battered by many a blow. Perhaps your foe may find a way to pierce it, or at least to wound you between its joints. I would have every man begin to be a soldier of the Cross, but I would, at the same time, have him count the cost for it is no child's play! And if he thinks it will be such, he will be grievously disappointed. A young Believer will, all of a sudden, have a doubt suggested to him of which he never heard before--and it will roar upon him like a young lion. Neither will he see, all at once, how to dispose of it. Or he may be placed in singular circumstances where his duty seems to run counter to the most tender instincts of his nature. Here, too, the young lion will roar upon him. Or, one for whom he has an intense respect may treat him badly because he is a follower of Christ-- and the affection and respect which he feels for this person may make his opposition the more grievous. In this, also, it is with him as when a lion roars. Or he may suffer a painful bereavement, or sustain a severe loss. Or he may have a disease upon him with consequent pains and depressions--all of these may cast the shadow of death upon his spirit, so that, again, a young lion roars upon him. Brother, Sister, let us reckon upon this and not be dismayed by it, since in all this is the life of our spirit. By such lessons as these we are taught to do service for God, to sympathize with our fellow Christians and to value the help of our gracious Savior. By all these we are weaned from earth and made to hunger for that eternal Glory which is yet to be revealed, of which we may truly say, "No lion shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beast go up there." These present evils are for our future good--their terror is for our teaching! Trials are sent us for much the same reason that the Ca-naanites were permitted to live in the Holy Land, that Israel might learn war and be equipped for battles against foreign foes! These conflicts come early and they are very terrible and, moreover, they happen to us when we are least prepared for them. Samson was not hunting for wild beasts. He was engaged on a much more tender business. He was walking in the vineyards of Timnath, thinking of anything but lions, "and behold," says the Scripture, "a young lion roared against him." It was a remarkable and startling occurrence! He had left his father and mother and was quite alone. No one was within call to aid him in meeting his furious assailant. Human sympathy is exceedingly precious, but there are points in our spiritual conflict in which we cannot expect to receive it. To each man there are passages in life too narrow for walking two abreast. Upon certain crags we must stand alone. As our constitutions differ, so our trials, which are suited to our constitutions, must also differ. Each individual has a secret with which no friend can interfere, for every life has its mystery and its hidden treasure. Do not be ashamed, young Christian, if you meet with temptations which appear to you to be quite singular--we have, each one, thought the same of our trials. You imagine that no one suffers as you do, whereas no temptation has happened unto you but such as is common to man--and God will, with the temptation, make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Yet, for the time being, you may have to enter into fellowship with your Lord when He trod the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with Him. Is not this for your good? Is not this the way to strength? What kind of piety is that which is dependent upon the friendship of man? What sort of religion is that which cannot stand alone? Beloved, you will have to die alone and you need, therefore, Divine Grace to cheer you in solitude. The dear wife can attend you, weeping, to the river's brink, but into the chill stream she cannot go with you--and if you have not a religion which will sustain you in the solitudes of life--of what use will it be to you in the grim lonesomeness of death? Thus I reckon it to be a happy circumstance that you are called to solitary conflict so that you may test your faith and see of what stuff your hope is made! The contest was all the worse for Samson, that in addition to being quite alone, "there was nothing in his hands." This is the most remarkable point in the narrative. He had no sword or hunter's spear with which to wound the lordly savage--he had not, even, a stout staff with which to ward off his attack. Samson stood all unarmed, an unarmored man in the presence of a raging beast! So we, in our early temptations, are apt to think that we have no weapon for the war and we not know what to do. We are made to cry out, "I am unprepared! How can I meet this trial? I cannot grasp the enemy to wrestle with him. What am I to do?" Herein will the splendor of faith and Glory of God be made manifest, when you shall slay the lion, and yet it shall be said of you, "he had nothing in his hands"--nothing but that which the world sees not and values not! Now, go one step further, for time forbids our lingering here. I invite you to remember that it was by the Spirit of God that the victory was won. We read, "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore him as he would have torn a kid." Let the Holy Spirit help us in our trouble and we need neither company nor weapon! But without Him what can we do? Good Bishop Hall says, "If that roaring lion that goes about continually seeking whom he may devour, finds us alone among the vineyards of the Philistines, where is our hope? Not in our heels--he is swifter than we! Not in our weapons--we are naturally unarmed! Not in our hands which are weak and languishing--but in the Spirit of God, by whom we can do all things! If God fights in us, who can resist us? There is a stronger lion in us than that against us," There is only one necessity--to be endowed with power from on high--the power of the Holy Spirit! Helped by the Spirit of God, the Believer's victory will be complete! The lion shall not be driven away, but torn in pieces. Girt with the Spirit's power, our victory shall be as easy as it will be perfect--Samson tore the lion as though it were a little lamb, or a kid of the goats. Well said Paul, "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me." Sin is soon overcome, temptations are readily refused, affliction is joyfully borne, persecution is gladly endured when the Spirit of Glory and of Peace rests upon us! With God all things are possible and as the Believer is with God, it comes to pass that all things are possible to him that believes! If we were surrounded by all the devils in Hell, we need not fear them for an instant if the Lord is on our side. We are mightier than all Hell's legions when the Spirit is mightily upon us! If we were to be beaten down by Satan until he had set his foot upon our chest to press the very life out of us, yet if the Spirit of God helped us, we would reach out our hand and grasp the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and we would repeat the feat of Christian, against Apol-lyon, when he gave the fiend such grievous wounds that he spread his dragon wings and flew away! Therefore fear not, you tried ones, but trust in the Spirit of God and your conflict shall speedily end in victory! Sometimes our conflict is with past sin. We doubtfully enquire, "How can it be forgiven?" The temptation vanishes before the sight of the dying Redeemer! Then inbred lusts roar against us and we overcome it through the blood of the Lamb, for "the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." Sometimes a raging corruption, or a strong habit wars upon us--and then we conquer by the might of the sanctifying Spirit of God who is with us and shall be in us forever! Or else it is the world which tempts and our feet have almost gone--but we overcome the world through the victory of faith! And if Satan raises pride of life against us--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the life all at once--we are still delivered, for the Lord is a wall of fire round about us! The inward fire bravely resists all sin and God's help is given to Believers to preserve them from all evil in the moment of urgent need, even as He helped His martyrs and confessors to speak the right words when called, unprepared, to confront their adversaries! Care not, therefore, oh you truster in the Lord Jesus, how fierce your enemy may be this day! As young David slew the lion and the bear and slew the Philistine, too, even so shall you go from victory to victory! " Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." Therefore, with a lion-like spirit, meet lions which seek to devour you! II. Now, then, we, come to our second head, which is--THE BELIEVER'S LIFE HAS ITS SWEETS. We are not always killing lions--we are sometimes eating honey! Certain of us do both at a time--we kill lions and yet cease not to eat honey--and truly it has become so sweet a thing to enter into conflict for Christ's sake, that it is a joy to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. The same Lord who has bid us, "quit yourselves like men; be strong," has also said, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice." The Believer's life has its sweets and these are of the choicest--for what is sweeter than honey? What is more joyful than the joy of a saint? What is more happy than the happiness of a Believer? I will not condescend to make a comparison between our joy and the mirth of fools--I will go no further than a contrast. Their mirth is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, which spit fire and make a noise and a flash--but there is no heat and they are soon gone out--nothing comes of it, the pot is long in boiling. But the Christian's delight is like a steady coal fire. You have seen the grate full of coals, all burning red and the whole mass of coal has seemed to be one great glowing ruby! And everybody who has come into the room, out of the cold, has delighted to warm his hands, for it gives out a steady heat and warms the body even to its marrow. Such are our joys! I would sooner possess the joy of Christ five minutes than I would revel in the mirth of fools for half a century! There is more bliss in the tear of repentance than in the laughter of gaiety--our holy sorrows are sweeter than the world- lings' joys. But, oh, when our joys grow full, Divinely full, then they are unspeakably like those above--and Heaven begins below! Did you never cry for joy? You say, perhaps, "Not since I was a child." Nor have I, but I have always remained a child as far as Divine joy is concerned. I could often cry for joy when I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him! Ours is a joy which will bear thinking over. You can dare to pry into the bottom of it and test its foundation! It is a joy which does not grow stale. You may keep it in your mouth by the years together, and yet it never sours. You may return to it again and again, and again, and find it still as fresh as ever. And the best of it is there is no repentance after it. You are never sorry that you were so glad! The world's gay folk are soon sick of their drink, but we are only sorry that we were not gladder, still, for our gladness sanctifies! We are not denied any degree of joy to which we can possibly attain, for ours is a healthy, health-giving delight! Christ is the fullness of joy to His people and we are bid to enjoy Him to the fullest! Christians have their sweets and those are, as honey and the honeycomb, the best of the best! Of these joys there is plenty, for Samson found, as it were, a living spring of honey, since he discovered a swarm of bees. So abundant was the honey that he could take huge masses of the comb and carry it in his hands and go away with it, bearing it to others. In the love of Christ; in pardoned sin; in acceptance in the Beloved; in resting in God; in perfectly acquiescing in His will; in the hope of Heaven there is such joy that none can measure it. We have such a living swarm of bees to make honey for us in the precious promises of God, that there is more delight in store than any of us can possibly realize! There is infinitely more of Christ beyond our comprehension than we have as yet been able to comprehend. How blessed to receive of His fullness, to be sweetened with His sweetness and yet to know that infinite goodness still remains! Perhaps some of you have enjoyed so much of Christ that you could hardly bear any more--but your largest enjoyments are only as tiny shells filled by a single wave of the sea--while all the boundless ocean rolls far beyond your perception! We have exceedingly great joy, yes, joy to spare! Our Master's wedding feast is not so scantily furnished that we have to bring in another seat for an extra guest, or murmur to ourselves that we had better not invite at random lest we should be swarmed by too great a crowd. No, rather the pillared halls of mercy in which the King makes His feast are so vast that it will be our life-long business to furnish them with guests, compelling more and more to come in, that His house may be filled and that His royal festival may make glad ten thousand times ten thousand hearts! Dear Friends, if you want to know what are the elements of our joy, I have already hinted at them, but I will, for a moment, enlarge them. Our joys are often found in the former places of our conflicts. We gather our honey out of the lions which have been slain for us or by us. There is, first, our sin. A horrible lion that! But it is a dead lion, for Grace has much more abounded over abounding sin. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, I have never heard of any dainty in all the catalog of human joys that could match a sense of pardoned sin! Full forgiveness! Free forgiveness! Eternal forgiveness! See, it sparkles like dew of Heaven! To know that God has blotted out my sin is knowledge rich with unutterable bliss! My soul has begun to hear the songs of seraphim when it has heard that note, "I have blotted out your sins like a cloud, and as thick cloud your iniquities." Here is choice honey for you! The next dead lion is conquered desire. When a wish has arisen in the heart contrary to the mind of God and you have said--"Down with you! I will pray you down. You used to master me--I fell into a habit and I was soon overcome by you--but I will not, again, yield to you. By God's Grace I will conquer you." I say, when at last you have obtained the victory, such a sweet contentment perfumes your heart that you are filled with unspeakable joy and you are devoutly grateful to have been helped by the Spirit of God to master your own spirit. Thus you have again eaten spiritual honey! When you are ale to feel in your own soul that you have overcome a strong temptation, the fiercer it was and the more terrible it was, the louder has been your song and the more joyful your thanksgiving! To go back to Mr. Bunyan, again, when Christian had passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death during the night, and when he had come entirely out of it and the sun rose, you remember he looked back. (A pause). He was long in taking that look, I guarantee you! What thoughts he had while looking back! He could just discern that narrow track with the quagmire on one side and the deep ditch on the other--and he could see the shades out of which the hobgoblins hooted and the fiery eyes glanced forth! He looked back by sunlight and thought within himself, "Ah me! What goodness has been with me! I have gone through all that and yet I am unharmed!" What a happy survey it was to him! Ah, the joy of having passed through temptation without having defiled one's garments! How must Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have felt when they stepped out of the fiery furnace and were not even singed, neither had the smell of fire passed upon them! Happy men were they to have lived in the center of the seven-times-heated furnace where everything else was consumed! Here, again, is "a piece of the honeycomb." We find honey, again, from another slain lion--namely, our troubles after we have been enabled to endure them. This is the metal of which our joy-bells are cast! Out of the brass of our trials, we make the trumpets of our triumph! He is not the happy man who has seen no trouble, but, "blessed is he that endures temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive a crown of life that fades not away." Death, too. Oh, the honey that is found in dead death! Death is, indeed, dead! We triumph over him and are no more afraid of him than little children are of a dead lion! We pluck him by the beard, and say to him, "O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?" We even look forward to the time of our departure with delight, when we shall leave this heavy clay and on spirit wings ascend unto our Father and our God! You see, there is a rich store of honey for God's people and we do not hesitate to eat it! Let others say what they will, we are a happy people, happy in Christ, happy in the Holy Spirit, happy in God our Father! So that Believers have their sweets. III. But the third is the point I want to dwell upon--THE BELIEVER'S LIFE LEADS HIM TO COMMUNICATE OF THESE SWEETS. As soon as we have tasted the honey of forgiven sin and perceived the bliss that God has laid up for His people in Christ Jesus, we feel it to be both our duty and our privilege to communicate the good news to others. Here let my ideal statue stand in our midst--the strong man, conqueror of the lion--holding forth his hands full of honey to his parents. We are to be modeled according to this fashion. And, first, we do this immediately. The moment a man is converted, if he would let himself alone, his instincts would lead him to tell his fellows. I know that the moment I came out of that little chapel in which I found the Savior, I needed to pour out my tale of joy! I could have cried with Cennick-- "Now will I tell to sinners round, What a dear Savior I have found! I'll point to Your redeeming blood, And say, 'Behold the way to God!'" I longed to tell how happy my soul was and what a deliverance I had obtained from the crushing burden of sin! I longed to see all others come and trust my Lord and live! I did not preach a sermon, but I think I could have told out all the Gospel in that first hour! Did not you, my Friend, feel much the same? Did not your tongue long to be telling of what the Lord had done for you? Perhaps you are one of those proper and retiring people who are greatly gifted at holding their tongues and, therefore, you left the feet of Jesus in silence--silence which angels wondered at! Is that why you have held your tongue ever since? Perhaps if you had begun to speak, then, you would have continued your testimony to this day! I repeat my assertion that it is the instinct of every new-born soul to communicate the glad tidings which Grace has proclaimed in his heart. Just as Samson had no sooner tasted of the honey than he carried a portion of it to his father and mother, so do we hasten to invite our neighbors to Christ! My dear young Friend, as soon as ever you know the joy of the Lord, open your mouth in a quiet, humble way and never allow yourself to be numbered with the deaf and dumb! Let no one stop you from unburdening your heart! Do not follow the bad example of those who have become dumb dogs because of their cowardice at the beginning. The Believer will do this, first, to those who are nearest to him. Samson took the honey to his father and mother who were not far away. With each of us, the most natural action would be to tell a brother or a sister or a fellow workman, or a bosom friend. It will be a great joy to see them eating the honey which is so pleasant to our own palate! It is most natural in a parent, at once, to wish to tell his children of Divine Love--have you all done so? You pray for your children, but many of you would be the means of answering your own prayers if you would a talk with them, one by one! This may appear difficult, but once commenced, it will soon grow easy--and, indeed, if it is difficult, we should aspire to do it for that very reason! Should we not do many a difficult thing for Him who overcame all difficulties for us? At the least, do not deny to your own children the personal testimony of their father or their mother to the surpassing power of Grace and the unutterable sweetness of Divine Love. Tell it to those who are nearest to you. The Believer will do this as best he can. Samson, you see, brought the honey to his father and mother in a rough and ready style going on eating it as he brought it. If I wished to give honey to my father and mother, I should do it up rather daintily--I would at least put it in as respectable a dish as our kitchen could afford--but there were no plates and dishes out there in that Timnath vineyard and so his own hands were the only platters upon which Samson could present the delicacy! "He took some in his hands, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat." Perhaps you think, "If I am to speak to any person upon true religion, I should like to do it in poetry." Better do it in prose, for perhaps they will take more notice of your verse than of your subject. Give them the honey in your hands and if there is no dish, they cannot take notice of the dish. "Yes, but, I should like to do it very properly," says one. "It is a very important matter. I should like to speak most correctly." But my judgment is, that as you will not be likely to attain correct speech all in a hurry and your friends may die while you are learning your grammar and your rhetoric, you had better tell them of Jesus according to your present ability! Tell them there is life in a look at Jesus! Tell them the story, simply, as one child talks to another. Carry the honey in your hands, though it drips all round--no hurt will come of the spilling--there are always little ones waiting for such drops. If you were to make the Gospel drip about everywhere and sweeten all things, it would be no waste, but a blessed gain to all around! Therefore, I say to you, tell of Jesus Christ as best you can and never cease to do so while life lasts. But then Samson did another thing and every true Believer should do it, too--he did not merely tell his parents about the honey, but he took them some of it. I do not read, "And he told his father and mother of the honey," but I read, "and he took some in his hands." Nothing is so powerful as an exhibition of Grace, itself, to others. Do not talk about it, but carry it in your hands! "I cannot do that," says one. Yes, you can, by your life, your temper, your spirit, your whole being! If your hands serve God, if your heart serves God, if your face beams with joy in the service of God, you will carry Grace wherever you go and those who see you will perceive it! You will hardly have need to say, "Come and partake of Grace," for the Grace of God in you will be its own invitation and attraction! Let our lives be full of Christ and we shall preach Christ! A holy life is the best of sermons! Soul-winning is worked by a winning life more surely than by winning words. Take note, also, that Samson did this with great modesty. We have plenty of people about, nowadays, who could not kill a mouse without publishing it in the Gospel Gazette! But Samson killed a lion and said nothing about it. He holds the honey in his hands for his father and mother--he shows them that--but we are specifically informed that he told not his father or his mother that he had taken it out of the carcass of the lion. The Holy Spirit finds modesty so rare that He takes care to record it! In telling your own experience, be wisely cautious. Say much of what the Lord has done for you, but say little of what you have done for the Lord! You need not make much effort to be brief on that point, for I am afraid that there is not much of it, if all were told! Do not utter a self-glorifying sentence! Let us put Christ to the front--and the joy and blessedness that comes of faith in Him--but as for ourselves, we need not speak a word except to lament our sins and shortcomings. The sum of what I have to say is this--if we have tasted any joy in Christ; if we have known any consolation of the Spirit; if faith has been to us a real power and if it has worked in us peace and rest, let us communicate this blessed discovery to others. If you do not do so, mark you, you will have missed the very objective for which God has blessed you! I heard the other day of a Sunday school address in America which pleased me much. The teacher, speaking to the boys, said, "Boys, here's a watch, what is it for?" The children answered, "To tell the time." "Well," he said, "suppose my watch does not tell the time, what is it good for?" "Good-for-nothing, Sir." Then he took out a pencil. "What is this pencil for?" "It is to write with, Sir." "Suppose this pencil won't make a mark, what is it good for?" "Good-for-nothing, Sir." Then he took out his pocket knife. "Boys, what is this for?" They were American boys and so they shouted--"to whittle with"--that is to experiment on any substance that came in their way by cutting a notch in it. "But," he said, "suppose it will not cut, what is the knife good for?" "Good-for-nothing, Sir." Then the teacher asked, "What is the chief end of man?" And they replied, "To glorify God." "But suppose a man does not glorify God, what is he good for?" "Good-for-nothing, Sir." That brings out my point most clearly--there are many professors of whom I will not say that they are good-for-nothing, but I think if they do not soon stir themselves up to glorify God by proclaiming the sweetness of God's love, it will go hard with them! Remember how Jesus said of the savorless salt, "Henceforth it is good for nothing"? What were you converted for? What were you forgiven for? What were you renewed for? What have you been preserved on earth for but to tell others the glad tidings of salvation and so to glorify God? Then go out with your hands full of the honey of Divine Love and hold it out to others! You must assuredly do good by this--you cannot possibly do harm. Samson did not invite his father and mother to see the lion when he was alive and roaring--he might have done some hurt in that case, by frightening them, or exposing them to injury. But he settled the lion business, himself, and when it came to honey, he knew that even his mother could not be troubled about that! Therefore he invited them both to share his gains. When you get into a soul-conflict, do not publish your distress to all your friends, but fight manfully in God's name--and when you possess the joy of Christ and the love of the Spirit and Grace is abundant in your soul--then tell the news to all around! You cannot do any hurt by such a proceeding! Grace does good and no harm, all its days. Even if you blunder over it, you will do no mischief. The Gospel spilled on the ground is not lost! Good, and only good must come of making known salvation by Jesus Christ! It will be much better for you to tell of the sweets of godliness than it will be to make riddles about the doctrine of it. Samson, afterwards, made a riddle about his lion and the honey--and that riddle ended in fighting and bloodshed. We have known certain Christians spend their lives in making riddles about the honey and the lion, by asking tough doctrinal questions which even angels cannot answer. "Riddle me this," they say, and then it has ended in a fight and brotherly love has been murdered in the fray. It is much better to bring your hands full of honey to those who are needy and present it to them that they may eat of it, than it is to cavil and discuss. No hurt can come of telling what the Lord has done for your soul and it will keep you out or mischief. Therefore, I would stir up all Christian people to continue, from day to day, exhibiting to needy sinners the blessedness of Christ, that unbelievers may come and eat thereof. By doing this you will be blessing men far more than Samson could bless his parents, for our honey is honey unto eternity, our sweets are sweets that last to Heaven and are best enjoyed there! Call upon others to taste and see that the Lord is good and you shall have, therein, much joy! You shall increase your own pleasure by seeing the pleasure of the Lord prospering in your hands. What bliss awaits useful Christians when they enter into Heaven, for they shall be met there by many who have gone before them whom they were the means of turning to Christ! I often inwardly sing when I perceive that I can scarcely go into any town or village but what somebody hunts me up to say to me, "Under God I owe my salvation to your sermons or to your books." What will be the joys of Heaven when we shall meet those who were turned to righteousness by our holding forth the Word of Life! Our Heaven will be seven heavens as we see them there! If you have done nothing but exhibit in your lives the precious results of Grace, you will have done well. If you have presented to your companions Truths of God that were sweetness, itself, to you, and tried to say in broken accents, "Oh that you knew this peace!" it shall give you unspeakable joy to meet those in Glory who were attracted to Christ by such a simple means! __________________________________________________________________ All Joy in All Trials A Sermon (No. 1704) Delivered on Lord's Day Morning, February 4th, 1883, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."--James 1:2-4. James calls the converted among the twelve tribes his brethren. Christianity has a great uniting power: it both discovers and creates relationships among the sons of men. It reminds us of the ties of nature, and binds us with the bonds of grace. Every one that is born of the Spirit of God is brother to every other that is born of the same Spirit. Well may we be called brethren, for we are redeemed by one blood; we are partakers of the same life; we feed upon the same heavenly food; we are united to the same living head; we seek the same ends; we love the same Father: we are heirs of the same promises; and we shall dwell for ever together in the same heaven. Wherefore, let brotherly love continue; let us love one another with a pure heart fervently, and manifest that love, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. Whatever brotherhood may be a sham, let the brotherhood of believers be the most real thing beneath the stars. Beginning with this word "brethren," James shows a true brotherly sympathy with believers in their trials, and this is a main part of Christian fellowship. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." If we are not tempted ourselves at this moment, others are: let us remember them in our prayers; for in due time our turn will come, and we shall be put into the crucible. As we would desire to receive sympathy and help in our hour of need, let us render it freely to those who are now enduring trial. Let us remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them, and those that suffer affliction as being ourselves in the body. Remembering the trials of his brethren, James tries to cheer them, and therefore he says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers trials." It is a part of our high calling to rise ourselves into confidence; and it is also our duty to see that none of our brethren despond, much less despair. The whole tendency of our holy faith is to elevate and to encourage. Grace breeds no sorrow, except the healthy sorrow which comes with saving repentance and leads to the joy of pardon: it comes not to make men miserable, but to wipe all tears from their eyes. Our dream is not of devils descending a dreary staircase to hell, but of angels ascending and descending upon a ladder, the top of which leads to the shining throne of God. The message of the gospel is one of joy and gladness, and were it universally understood and received this world would be no longer a wilderness, but it would rejoice and blossom as the rose. Let grace reign in all hearts, and this earth will become a temple filled with perpetual song; and even the trials of life will become causes of the highest joy, so beautifully described by James as "all joy," as if every possible delight were crowded into it. Blessed be God, it is our work, not to upbraid, but to cheer all the brotherhood: we walk in a light which glorifies everything upon which it falls, and turns losses into gains. We are able in sober earnest to speak with the afflicted, and bid them be patient under the chastening hand of God; yea, to count it all joy when they fall into divers trials because those trials will work out for them such signal, such lasting good. They may be well content to sow in tears since they are sure to reap in joy. Without further preface we will come at once to the text; and observe that in speaking about affliction, for that is the subject of the text, the apostle notes, first, the essential point which is assailed by temptation, namely, your faith. Your faith is the target that all the arrows are shot at; the furnace is kindled for the trial of your faith. Notice, secondly, the invaluable blessing which is thus gained, namely, the proving of your faith, discovering whether it be the right faith or no. This proof of our faith is a blessing of which I cannot speak too highly. Then, thirdly, we may not overlook the priceless virtue which is produced by this process of testing, namely, patience; for the proving of your faith produces patience, and this is the soul's surest enrichment. Lastly, in connection with that patience we shall note the spiritual completeness which is thus promoted:--"That ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." Perhaps you have noticed that little variations I have made in the text; but I am now following the Revised Version, which gives an admirable rendering. I will read it. "Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; knowing that the proof of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." I. First, let us think a little upon THE ESSENTIAL POINT WHICH IS ASSAILED by temptation or trial. It is your faith which is tried. It is supposed that you have that faith. You are not the people of God, you are not truly brethren unless you are believers. It is this faith of yours which is peculiarly obnoxious to Satan and to the world which lieth in the wicked one. If you had not faith they would not be enemies of yours; but faith is the mark of the chosen of God, and therefore his foes become the foes of all the faithful, spitting their venom specially upon their faith. God Himself hath put enmity between the serpent and the woman, between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed; and that enmity must show itself. The serpent bites at the heel of the true seed: hence mockings, persecutions, temptations, and trials are sure to beset the pathway to faith. The hand of faith is against all evil, and all evil is against faith. Faith is that blessed grace which is most pleasing to God, and hence it is the most displeasing to the devil. By faith God is greatly glorified, and hence by faith Satan is greatly annoyed. He rages at faith because he sees therein his own defeat and the victory of grace. Because the trial of your faith brings honour to the Lord, therefore the Lord Himself is sure to try it that out of its trial praise may come to his grace by which faith is sustained. Our chief end is to glorify God, and if our trials enable us more fully to answer the end of our being it is well that they should happen unto us. So early in our discourse we see reason to count it all joy when we fall into manifold trials. It is by our faith that we are saved, justified, and brought near to God, and therefore it is no marvel that it is attacked. It is by believing in Christ that we are delivered from the reigning power of sin, and receive power to become the sons of God. Faith is as vital to salvation as the heart is vital to the body: hence the javelins of the enemy are mainly aimed at this essential grace. Faith is the standard bearer, and the object of the enemy is to strike him down that the battle may be gained. If the foundations be removed what can the righteous do? If the cable can be snapped whither will the vessel drift? All the powers of darkness which are opposed to right and truth are sure to fight against our faith, and manifold temptations will march in their legions against our confidence in God. It is by our faith that we live; we began to live by it, and continue to live by it, for "the just shall live by faith." Once let faith go and our life is gone; and hence it is that the powers which war against us make their main assault upon this royal castle, this key of the whole position. Faith is your jewel, your joy, your glory; and the thieves who haunt the pilgrim way are all in league to tear it from you. Hold fast, therefore, this your choice treasure. It is by faith, too, that Christians perform exploits. If men of old wrought daring and heroic deeds it was by faith. Faith is the fighting principle and the conquering principle: therefore it is Satan's policy to slay it even as Pharaoh sought to kill the male children when Israel dwelt in Egypt. Rob a Christian of his faith and he will be like Samson when his locks were cut away: the Philistines will be upon him and the Lord will have departed from him. Marvel not if the full force of the current shall beat upon your faith, for it is the foundation of your spiritual house. Oh that your faith may abide steadfast and unmovable in all present trials, that so it may be found true in the hour of death and in the day of judgment. Woe unto that man whose faith fails him in this land of peace, for what will he do in the swelling of Jordan? Now, think of how faith is tried. According to the text we are said to fall into "manifold temptations" or into "divers temptations"--that is to say, we may expect very many and very different troubles. In any case these trials will be most real. The twelve tribes to whom this epistle was written were a specially tried people, for in the first place they were, as Jews, greatly persecuted by all other nations, and when they became Christians they were cruelly persecuted by their own people. A Gentile convert was somewhat less in peril than a Jewish Christian, for the latter was crushed between the upper and nether millstones of Paganism and Judaism. The Israelitish Christian was usually so persecuted by his own kith and kin that he had to flee from them, and whither could he go, for all other people abhorred the Jews? We are not in such a plight, but God's people even to this day will find that trial is no sham word. The rod in God's house is no toy to play with. The furnace, believe me, is no mere place of extra warmth to which you may soon accustom yourself: it is often heated seven times hotter, like the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar and God's children are made to know that the fire burns and devours. Our temptations are no inventions of nervousness nor hobgoblins of dreamy fear. Ye have heard of the patience of Job--his was real patience, for his afflictions were real. Could each tried believer among us tell his own story I do not doubt we would convince all who heard us that the troubles and temptations which we have endured are no fictions of romance, but must be ranked among the stern realities of actual life. Ay, and note too, that the trials of Christians are such as would in themselves lead us into sin, for I take it that our translators would not have placed the word "temptation" in the text, and the Revisionists would not have retained it, if they had not felt that there was a colouring of temptation in its meaning, and that "trial" was hardly the word. The natural tendency of trouble is not to sanctify, but to induce sin. A man is very apt to become unbelieving under affliction: that is a sin. He is apt to murmur against God under it: that is a sin. He is apt to put forth his hand to some ill way of escaping from his difficulty: and that would be sin. Hence we are taught to pray, "Lead us not into temptation; because trial has in itself a measure of temptation"; and if it were not neutralized by abundant grace it would bear us towards sin. I suppose that every test must have in it a measure of temptation. The Lord cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any man; but this is to be understood of his end and design. He entices no man to do evil; but yet He tries the sincerity and faithfulness of men by placing them where sin comes in their way, and does its best or its worst to ensnare them: His design being that the uprightness of His servants may thus be proved, both to themselves and others. We are not taken out of this world of temptation, but we are kept in it for our good. Because our nature is depraved it makes occasions for sin, both out of our joys and our trials, but by grace we overcome the tendency of nature, and so derive benefit from tribulation. Do I not speak to many here who at times feel strong impulses towards evil, especially in the darksome hour when the spirit of evil walks abroad? Have you not been made to tremble for yourselves in season of fierce trial, for your feet were almost gone, your steps had well-nigh slipped. Is there any virtue that has not been weather-beaten? Is there any love that has not at times been so tried that it threatened to curdle into hate? Is there any good thing this side heaven which has marched all the way in silver slippers? Did ever a flower of grace blossom in this wretched clime without being tried with frost or blight? Our way is up the river; we have to stem the current, and struggle against a flood which would readily bear us to destruction. Thus, not only trials, but black temptations assail the Christian's faith. As to what shape they take, we may say this much: the trial or temptation of each man is distinct from that of every other. When God did tempt Abraham he was bidden to take his son, his only son, and offer him upon a mountain for a sacrifice. Nobody here was ever tried in that way: nobody ever will be. We may have the trial of losing our child, but certainly not the trial of having a command to offer him in sacrifice. That was a trial peculiar to Abraham: necessary and useful to him, though never proposed to us. In the case of the young man in the gospels, our Lord Jesus tried him with, "If thou wouldest be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." Some have dreamed that it must therefore be the duty of everybody to part with their possessions: but this is idle. It would not be the duty of any man to offer up his only son; and it is not the duty of every man to part with all his goods. These were tests to particular persons; and others equally special and searching have been applied in other cases. We are not to try ourselves, nor to desire other men's trials; it will be well if we endure those which the Lord appoints for us, for they will be wisely chosen. That which would most severely test me would perhaps be no trial to you; and that which tries you might be no temptation to me. This is one reason why we often judge one another so severely, because feeling ourselves to be strong in that particular point we argue that the fallen one must have been strong in that point too, and therefore must have willfully and earnestly have determined to do wrong. This may be a cruel supposition. We hastily conclude that the temptation must have been as feeble in his case as it would have been in our own; which is a great mistake, for a temptation which to you or to me would be no temptation at all, may be to another individual, of a peculiar constitution and under singular circumstances, a most fierce and terrible blast from the adversary, before which he falls mournfully, but not with malice aforethought. Divers trials, says the apostle, and he knew what he said. And, dear friends, sometimes these divers trials derive great force from their seemingly surrounding us, and cutting off escape: James says,--"Ye fall into divers temptations": like men who fall into a pit, and do not know how to get out; or like soldiers who fall into an ambuscade; or travellers in the good old times when two or three footpaths surrounded them and made them feel that they had fallen into bad hands. The tempted see not which way to turn; they appear to be hemmed in; they are as a bird that is taken in the fowler's snare. This it is that makes calamity of our manifold temptations, that they hedge up our way, and unless faith finds the clue we wander in a thorny maze. At times temptation comes suddenly upon us, and so we fall into it. When we were at rest, and were quiet, suddenly the evil came, like a lion leaping from the thicket. When Job's children were eating and drinking in their elder brother's house, then suddenly a wind came from the wilderness, and the patriarch was bereaved: the cattle were ploughing, the sheep were grazing, the camels were at their service, and in a moment, by fire from heaven, and by robber bands, the whole of these possessions vanished. One messenger had not told his story before another followed at his heels; Job had no breathing time, the blows fell thick and fast. The trial of our faith is most severe when divers trials happen to us when we look not for them. It is not strange in the light of these things that James should say, "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers trials"? Those were the days of tumults, imprisonment, crucifixion, sword, and fire. Then the amphitheatre devoured Christians by thousands. The general cry was "The Christians to the lions!" Do you wonder if sometimes the bravest were made to say, Is our faith really true? This faith which is abhorred of all mankind, can it be divine? Has it come from God? Why, then, does He not interpose and deliver His people? Shall we apostatise? Shall we deny Christ and live, or shall we go on with our confession through innumerable torments even to a bloody death? Will fidelity answer after all? Is there a crown of glory? is there an eternity of bliss? Is there in very deed a resurrection of the dead? These questions came into men's minds then, and were fairly faced: the faith of martyrs was not taken up at second hand, or borrowed from their parents; they believed for themselves in downright earnest. Men and women in those days believed in such a way that they never flinched nor started aside from fear of death; indeed, they pressed forward to confess their faith in Jesus in such crowds that at last the heathen cried, "There must be something in it: it must be a religion of God, or how could these men so gladly bear their troubles?" This was the faith of God's elect, the work of the Holy Ghost. You see, then, the main point of attack is our faith, and happy is the man whose shield can catch and quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. II. That we may make the text more clear we shall next notice THE INVALUABLE BLESSING WHICH IS GAINED BY THE TRIAL OF OUR FAITH. The blessing gained is this, that our faith is tried and proved. Two Sabbaths ago I addressed you upon the man whose bad foundations led to the overthrow of his house; and I know that many said after the sermon:--"God grant that we may not be like him: may we have a firm foundation for our soul to rest on." Then you went home, and you sat down and said, "Have I this sure foundation?" You began to question, argue, reason, and so on, and your design was a good one. But I do not reckon that much came of it; our own looking within seldom yields solid comfort. Actual trial is far more satisfactory; but you must not try yourself. The effectual proof is by trials of God's sending. The way of trying whether you are a good soldier is to go down to the battle: the way to try whether a ship is well built is, not merely to order the surveyor to examine her, but to send her to sea: a storm will be the best test of her staunchness. They have built a new lighthouse upon the Eddystone: how do we know that it will stand? We judge by certain laws and principles, and feel tolerably safe about the structure; but, after all, we shall know best if after-years when a thousand tempests have beaten upon the lighthouse in vain. We need trials as a test as much as we need divine truth as our food. Admire the ancient types placed in the ark of the covenant of old: two things were laid close together,--the pot of manna and the rod. See how heavenly food and heavenly rule go together: how our sustenance and our chastening are equally provided for! A Christian cannot live without the manna nor without the rod. The two must go together. I mean this, that it is as great a mercy to have your salvation proved to you under trial as it is to have it sustained in you by the consolations of the Spirit of God. Sanctified tribulations work the proof of our faith, and this is more precious than that of gold which perisheth, though it be tried by fire. Now, when we are able to bear it without starting aside, the trial proves our sincerity. Coming out of a trouble the Christian says to himself, "Yes, I held fast mine integrity, and did not let it go. Blessed be God, I was not afraid of threatening; I was not crushed by losses; I was kept true to God under pressure. Now, I am sure that my religion is not a mere profession, but a real consecration to God. It has endured the fire, being kept by the power of God." Next, it proves the truthfulness of our doctrinal belief. Oh, yes, you may say, "I have heard Mr. Spurgeon expound the doctrines, and I have believed them." This is poor work; but if you have been sick, and found a comfort in those doctrines, then you are assured of their truth. If you have been on the borders of the grave, and the gospel has given you joy and gladness, then you know how true it is. Experimental knowledge is the best and surest. If you have seen others pass through death itself triumphantly you have said, "This is proof to me: my faith is no guess-work: I have seen for myself." Is not this assurance cheaply purchased at any price? May we not count it all joy when the Lord puts us in the way of getting it? It seems to me that doubt is worse than trial. I had sooner suffer any affliction than be left to question the gospel or my own interest in it. Certainly it is a jewel worth purchasing even with our heart's blood. Next, your own faith in God is proved when you can cling to Him under temptation. Not only your sincerity, but the divinity of your faith is proved; for a faith that is never tried, how can you depend upon it? But if in the darkest hour you have still said, "I cast my burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain me," and you find He does sustain you, then is your faith that of God's elect. If in temptation you cry to God in prayer that you may keep your garment unspotted, and He helps you to do so, then also are you sure that yours is the faith which the Spirit begets in the soul. After a great fight of affliction, when I come forth a conqueror, I know that I do believe in God, and I know that this faith makes me a partaker of covenant blessings; from this I may fairly argue that my faith is of the right kind. I find it especially sweet to learn the great strength of the Lord in my own weakness. We find out under trial where we are most weak, and just then in answer to prayer strength is given answerable to the need. The Lord suits the help to the hindrance, and puts the plaster on the wound. In the very hour when it is needed the needed grace is given. Does this not tend to breed assurance of faith? It is a splendid thing to be able to prove even to Satan the purity of your motives. That was the great gain of Job. There was no question about his outward conduct, but the question was about his motive. "Ah," says the devil, "he serves God for what he gets out of Him. Hast Thou not set a hedge about him and all that he has? His is cupboard love: he cares nothing for God Himself, he only cares for the reward of his virtue." Well, he is tried, and everything is taken away, and when he cries, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," when he blesses the taking as well as the giving God, then the devil himself could not have the prudence to accuse him again. As to Job's own conscience, it would be quite settled and confirmed as to his pure love to God. My brethren, I reckon that the endurance of every imaginable suffering and trial would be a small price to pay for a settled assurance, which would for ever prevent the possibility of doubt. Never mind the waves if they wash you upon this rock. Therefore, when you are tempted, "Count it all joy" that you are tried, because you will thus receive a proof of your love, a proof of your faith, a proof of your being the true-born children of God. James says, "Count it." A man requires to be trained to be a good accountant; it is an art which needs to be learned. What muddles some of us would make if we had to settle accounts and manage disbursements and incomings without the aid of a clerk! How we should get entangled with balances and deficits! We could much easier spend money than count it. But when a man once knows the science of book-keeping, and gets into the way of it, he readily arrives at the true position of affairs. He has learned to count, and no error escapes his eye. James gives us a ready reckoner, and teaches us in our troubles how to count. He sets before us a different kind of measure from that which carnal reason would use: the shekel of the sanctuary was very different from the shekel in common commerce, and so is the counting of faith far other than that of human judgment. He bids us take our pen and sit down quickly and write at his correct dictation. You are going to write down, "Manifold temptations;" that would be so much on the wrong side: but instead thereof he bids you set down the proving of your faith, and this one asset transforms the transaction into a substantial gain. Trials are like a fire; they burn up nothing in us but the dross, and they make the gold all the purer. Put down the testing process as a clear gain, and, instead of being sorry about it, count it all joy when ye fall into divers trials, for this bestows upon you a proof of your faith. So far there is sufficient ground for counting all trials joy. Now, let us go a little further. III. Let us think of THE PRICELESS VIRTUE WHICH IS PRODUCED BY TRIAL, namely, patience; for the proof of your "faith worketh patience." Patience! We all have a large stock of it--until we need it, and then we have none. The man who truly possesses patience is the man that has been tried. What kind of patience does he get by the grace of God? First, he obtains a patience that accepts the trials as from God without a murmur. Calm resignation does not come all at once; often long years of physical pain, or mental depression, or disappointment in business, or multiplied bereavements, are needed to bring the soul into full submission to the will of the Lord. After much crying the child is weaned; after much chastening the son is made obedient to his Father's will. By degrees we learn to end our quarrel with God, and to desire that there may not be two wills between God and ourselves, but that God's will may be our will. Oh, brother, if your troubles work you to that, you are a gainer, I am sure, and you may count them all joy. The next kind of patience is when experience enables a man to bear ill-treatment, slander, and injury without resentment. He feels it keenly, but he bears it meekly. Like his Master, he opens not his mouth to reply, and refuses to return railing for railing. Contrariwise he gives blessing in return for cursing; like the sandal-wood tree which perfumes the axe which cuts it. Blessed is that holy charity which hopeth all things, endureth all things, and is not easily provoked. Ah, friend, if the grace of God by trial shall work in you the quiet patience which never grows angry, and never ceases to love, you may have lost a trifle of comfort, but you have gained a solid weight of character. The patience which God works in us by tribulation also takes another form, namely, that of acting without undue haste. Before wisdom has balanced our zeal we are eager to serve God all in a hurry, with a rush and a spurt, as if everything must be done within the hour or nothing would ever be accomplished. We set about holy service with somewhat more of preparedness of heart after we have been drilled in the school of trial. We go steadily and resolutely about work for Jesus, knowing what poor creatures we are, and what a glorious Master we serve. The Lord our God is in no hurry because He is strong and wise. In proportion as we grow like the Lord Jesus we shall cast aside disturbance of mind and fury of spirit. His was a grand life-work, but He never seemed to be confused, excited, worried, or hurried, as certain of His people are. He did not strive nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets. He knew His hour was not yet come, and there were so many days in which He could work, and therefore He went steadily on till He had finished the work which His Father had given Him to do. That kind of patience is a jewel more to be desired than the gem which glitters on the imperial brow. Sometimes we blunder into a deal of mischief, making more haste than speed; and we are sure to do so when we forget to pray, and fail to commit our matters into the Divine hands. We may run with such vehemence that we may stumble, or lose our breath: there may be in our random efforts as much undoing as doing, for want of possessing our souls in patience. That is a grand kind of patience, too, when we can wait without unbelief. Two little words are good for every Christian to learn and to practise--pray and stay. Waiting on the Lord implies both praying and staying. What if the world is not converted this year! What if the Lord Jesus does not come to-morrow! What if still our tribulations are lengthened out! What if the conflict is continued! He that has been tried and by grace has obtained the true profit of his trials, both quietly waits and joyfully hopes for the salvation of God. Patience, brother! Is this high virtue scarce with thee? The Holy Spirit shall bestow it upon thee through suffering. This patience also takes the shape of believing without wavering, in the very teeth of strange providences and singular statements, and perhaps inward misgivings. The established Christian says, "I believe my God, and therefore if the vision tarry I will wait for it. My time is not yet come. I am to have my worst things first and my best things afterwards, and so I sit me down at Jesus' feet and tarry his leisure." Brothers and sisters, if, in a word, we learn endurance we have taken a high degree. You look at the weather-beaten sailor, the man who is at home on the sea: he has a bronzed face and mahogany-coloured flesh, he looks as tough as heart of oak, and as hardy as if he were made of iron. How different from us poor landsmen. How did the man become so inured to hardship, so able to breast the storm, so that he does not care whether the wind blows south-west or north-west? He can go out to sea in any kind of weather; he has his sea legs on: how did he come to this strength? By doing business in great waters. He could not have become a hardy seaman by tarrying on shore. Now, trial works in the saints that spiritual hardihood which cannot be learned in ease. You may go to school for ever, but you cannot learn endurance there: you may colour your cheek with paint, but you cannot give it that ingrained brown which comes of stormy seas and howling winds. Strong faith and brave patience come of trouble, and a few men in the church who have thus been prepared are worth anything in times of tempest. To reach that condition of firm endurance and sacred hardihood is worth all the expense of all the heaped-up troubles that ever come upon us from above or from beneath. When trial worketh patience we are incalculably enriched. The Lord give us more of this choice grace. As Peter's fish had the money in its mouth, so have sanctified trials spiritual riches for those who endure them graciously. IV. Lastly, all this works something better still, and this is our fourth head: THE SPIRITUAL COMPLETENESS PROMOTED. "That ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Brethren, the most valuable thing a man can get in this world is that which has most to do with his truest self. A man gets a good house; well, that is something: but suppose he is in bad health, what is the good of his fine mansion? A man is well clothed and well fed: that is something: but suppose he shivers with ague, and has no appetite through indigestion. That spoils it all. If a man is in robust health this is a far more valuable boon. Health is far more to be prized than wealth, or honour, or learning: we all allow that, but then suppose that a man's innermost self is diseased while his body is healthy, so that he is disgraced by vice or fevered with passion, he is in a poor plight, notwithstanding that he has such a robust frame? The very best thing is that which will make the man himself a better man; make him right, and true, and pure, and holy. When the man himself is better, he has made an unquestionable gain. So, if our afflictions tend, by trying our faith, to breed patience, and that patience tends to make us into perfect men in Christ Jesus, then we may be glad of trials. Afflictions by God's grace make us all-around men, developing every spiritual faculty, and therefore they are our friends, our helpers, and should be welcomed with "all joy." Afflictions find out our weak points, and this makes us attend to them. Being tried, we discover our failures, and then going to God about those failures we are helped to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Moreover, our trials, when blessed of God to make us patient, ripen us. I do not know how to explain what I mean by ripening, but there is a sort of mellowness about believers who have endured a great deal of affliction that you never meet in other people. It cannot be mistaken or imitated. A certain measure of sunlight is wanted to bring out the real flavour of fruits, and when a fruit has felt its measure of burning sun it develops a lusciousness which we all delight in. So is it in men and women: a certain amount of trouble appears to be needful to create a certain sugar of graciousness in them, so that they may contain the rich, ripe juice of a gracious character. You must have known such men and such women, and have said to yourselves, "I wish I could be like them, so calm, so quiet, so self-contained, so happy, and when not happy, yet so content not to be happy; so mature in judgment, so spiritual in conversation, so truly ripe." This only comes to those in whom the proof of their faith works experience, and then experience brings forth the fruits of the Spirit. Dear brothers and sisters, there is a certain all-roundness of spiritual manhood which never comes to us except by manifold temptations. Let me attempt to show you what I mean. Sanctified trials produce a chastened spirit. Some of us by nature are rough and untender; but after awhile friends notice that the roughness is departing, and they are quite glad to be more gently handled. Ah, that sick chamber did the polishing; under God's grace, that depression of spirit, that loss, that cross, that bereavement,--these softened the natural ruggedness, and made the man meek and lowly, like his Lord. Sanctified trouble has a great tendency to breed sympathy, and sympathy is to the church as oil to machinery. A man that has never suffered feels very awkward when he tries to sympathize with a tried child of God. He kindly does his best, but he does not know how to go to work at it; but those repeated blows from the rod make us feel for others who are smarting, and by degrees we are recognized as being the Lord's anointed comforters, made meet by temptation to succour those who are tempted. Have you never noticed how tried men, too, when their trouble is thoroughly sanctified, become cautious and humble? They cannot speak quite so fast as they used to do: they do not talk of being absolutely perfect, though thy are the very men who are Scripturally perfect; they say little about their doings, and much about the tender mercy of the Lord. They recollect the whipping they had behind the door from their Father's hands, and they speak gently to other erring ones. Affliction is the stone which our Lord Jesus throws at the brow of our giant pride, and patience is the sword which cuts off its head. Those, too, are the kind of people who are most grateful. I have known what it is to praise God for the power to move one leg in bed. It may not seem much to you, but it was a great blessing to me. They that are heavily afflicted come to bless God for everything. I am sure that woman who took a piece of bread and a cup of water for her breakfast, and said, "What, all this, and Christ too!" must have been a tried woman, or she would not have exhibited so much gratitude. And that old Puritan minister was surely a tried man, for when his family had only a herring and a few potatoes for dinner, he said, "Lord, we bless Thee that Thou hast ransacked sea and land to find food for us this day." If he had not been a tried man, he might have turned up his nose at the meal, as many do at much more sumptuous fare. Troubled men get to be grateful men, and that is no small thing. As a rule, where God's grace works, these come to be hopeful men. Where others think the storm will destroy the vessel, they can remember storms equally fierce which did not destroy it, and so they are so calm that their courage keeps others from despair. These men, too, become unworldly men. They have had too much trouble to think that they can ever build their nest in this black forest. There are too many thorns in their nest for them to reckon that this can be their home. These birds of paradise take to their wings, and are ready to fly away to the land of unfading flowers. And these much-tempted ones are frequently the most spiritual men, and out of this spirituality comes usefulness. Mr. Greatheart, who led the band of pilgrims up to the celestial city, was a man of many trials, or he would not have been fit to lead so many to their heavenly rest; and you, dear brother, if ever you are to be a leader and a helper, as you would wish to be, in the church of God, it must be by such means as this that you must be prepared for it. Do you not wish to have every virtue developed? Do you not wish to become a perfect man in Christ Jesus? If so, welcome with all joy divers trials and temptations; fly to God with them; bless Him for having sent them: ask Him to help you to bear them with patience, and then let that patience have its perfect work, and so by the Spirit of God you shall become "perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." May the Comforter bless this word to your hearts, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ The Hearing of Faith (No. 1705) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 11, 1883, BY C, H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "This only would I learn of you, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith?" Galatians 3:2. A GREAT delusion is upon the heart of man as to his salvation. His ways are perverse. He does not love the Law of God, no, his mind is opposed to it and yet he sets up to be its advocate. When he understands the spirituality and severity of the Law, he reckons it to be a sore burden and yet, when the Gospel is preached and set forth as the gift of Sovereign Grace and he is bid, simply, to accept it by an act of faith in Christ Jesus, the man professes great concern about the Law, lest it should be made void by the freeness of Grace! He takes the broken pieces of the two tables of the Law and hurls them at the Cross! It is not that man loves the Law of God, but that he does not love the God of the Law! Hence he will resort to any pretense to oppose that way of salvation which God has appointed. Doubtless, if it had been possible for the Lord to have set forth another way of salvation, man would have opposed that, also, for he is determined to walk contrary to God. Be that as it may, there is a constant animosity in the minds of unregenerate men against the way of salvation by faith in Christ--and to oppose it, they set up the pretense of salvation by the works of the Law. Brothers and Sisters, in all our hearts there is this natural enmity to God and to the sovereignty of His Grace. Therefore it is that Believers have often to complain of the difficulties of faith. Faith in itself is, or ought to be, the easiest thing in the world, for a creature to believe in its Creator, for a child to believe in his father, ought to be the simplest and most natural thing in the world! But by reason of the corruption that remains, even, in the regenerate, there is always a struggling against this simple way of faith. There are times with the best man, when, in recollection of his many sins, Conscience says, "How can you believe that you are justified and accepted while so much of evil is found in you?" Unless we cleave to the promise of God and to His free mercy in Christ Jesus it will, then, go hard with us. The soul of the most sincere and upright man may be driven to despair by a sight of his own imperfections unless he clings to that righteousness by which sinners are justified through faith in Christ Jesus. Beloved, if this warfare is discovered, even, in the minds of those who are born-again, we must not wonder that it rages in the unregenerate! One would have thought that the moment we preached salvation by faith every sinner would have leaped up and accepted it. It is so simple, so easy, that surely every man would wish in this way to be forgiven and justified! Instead of which, all the reasoning, all the thoughtfulness, yes, all the cunning of unregenerate human nature is stirred up to fight against the method of deliverance by faith in Christ Jesus. "It is too good to be true," says one. Another cries, "If this is preached, it will lead men to think little of moral excellence." A third finds, in the Doctrines of Grace, inducements to inaction and so on, without end. These quibblings take hundreds of shapes, but, after all, they come to this--proud sinners must dictate to their offended Lord and be forgiven on their own terms. It would appear that God does not know the best way of saving men and men are so wise that they amend His methods! Is not this a refinement of blasphemy? It is a hideous farce to see a rebellious sinner suddenly become jealous about good works and greatly concerned for public morality! Does it not make laughter in Hell to see licentious men censuring the pure Gospel of the Lord Jesus and quibbling at free forgiveness because it might make men less mindful of purity? It makes one sick to see the hypocrisy of legalists! The reason of this contention lies in the fact that man is not only poor, but proud. He is not only guilty, but conceited, so that he will not humble himself to be saved upon terms of Divine charity. He will not consent to believe God--he prefers to believe in the proud falsehoods of his own heart--which delude him into the flattering hope that he may merit eternal life! Against this wicked spirit our text enters the fight. Let us see how it conducts the combat. The argument of the text is a very plain and powerful one. Paul puts it thus--"The Holy Spirit has been received by you Galatians. How did you receive the Holy Spirit--by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith?" They were bound to admit, each one for himself, that they received the Holy Spirit by faith and by no other means! Now, the Holy Spirit is the choicest of all the gifts of God which are received into the soul--it is by the Spirit the work of the Lord Jesus is known and received! The Holy Spirit is, Himself, the seal of Divine favor and the token that we are at peace with God. I might almost say that the reception of the Holy Spirit is salvation--for when He enters into us, we are saved from death in sin, from the love of sin, from the power of sin and from the terror of sin! When He reigns in the heart, all the Divine Graces of a perfect character attend upon Him as courtiers upon a king. He becomes the source of life, light, love and liberty to our souls--and He even sanctifies our bodies. Know you not that your bodies are the temples of God when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in them? To whom, then, the Holy Spirit is given, salvation is given in the highest sense! But how is that Holy Spirit received? The question is soon answered. He is not received by the works of the Law, but by the hearing of faith. I am going to handle this fact, first, as an argument of experience for all the people of God and, secondly, as an argument, at least, of observation for those who are seeking after Christ. May the Holy Spirit graciously aid us in our discourse. I. First, then, here is AN ARGUMENT OF EXPERIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD. Before I dwell upon the personal experience of Believers who are here present, I would remind you of the experience of the Church of God as it is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The book of the Acts of the Apostles is a confirmation of the correct answer to my text. The disciples were met together after our Lord's ascension and the Holy Spirit descended upon them--but in what way? Simply by their obeying the command of the Lord Jesus, "who commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, says He, you have heard of Me." The gift was received by the hearing of faith, which led them to united prayer and waiting. They performed no ceremonies and entered upon no labors--the watchword was, "Tarry you till you are endowed with power from on high." The power came that they might work and not because they had worked! The gift of the Spirit came according to promise and not according to works! Very speedily the Spirit of God fell upon the people and 3,000 of them were converted and baptized. How came the Spirit of God upon Parthians, Medes, Elamites, the dwellers in Mesopotamia and so forth? Was it by the works of the Law? No, Beloved! Peter thus preached (Acts 2:38)--"Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." When the thousands believed in Christ Jesus and confessed their faith by Baptism, the Holy Spirit was given them. So was it also in Samaria--"When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." And then we read that the Apostle Peter went to them and these Believers received the Holy Spirit--certainly not by the works of the Law, but by the hearing of faith were they thus blessed! Turn to the story of Cornelius. That good man had abounded in almsgiving and prayer--and yet the Holy Spirit fell not upon him. But, when the "hearing of faith" came, and they were assembled in the house with one accord to listen to Peter, then the Holy Spirit fell upon all them that heard the Word of God. "And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles, also, was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit! For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?" Was it not the same when Paul went out and preached among the Gentiles? It was, indeed, so--startlingly so--that the news came to the Hebrew Christians who were at Jerusalem and no small dissension and disputation was the consequence! Here had been no circumcision, no proselyting to Judaism, no observation of any part of the Mosaic ritual and yet they heard that the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the Gentiles--and they had not even known the Law, much less fulfilled it! It needed all of Peter's influence to stem the flood. Hear how he puts it--"God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe. And God, which knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did unto us." The Holy Spirit was received by believing Gentiles in every place where Paul had preached and, therefore, he could refer to these Galatians and use their experience to correct their errors. The fact that the Holy Spirit is given to the hearing of faith and not as a reward of works, runs like a silver thread through the whole of the Acts of the Apostles! Why, then, should men look to the works of the Law for that which was never given except to faith? What an infatuation to look to the mirage when a real well is open at their feet! Now I come to your own experience. You, beloved Friends, if you are, indeed, in Christ Jesus, have received the Holy Spirit! But how? Let us go over the list of His operations upon your minds. You received enlightenment by His means, by which you were led to understand the way of salvation and to behold the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Did you attain to that enlightenment by the works of the Law? Was it so in any one case? It has been my privilege to know many of you and to remember your confessions of faith--you told me that when you were seeking salvation by your own works you were blind and saw not the Light of God. The more you strove and the more you struggled, the more intense the midnight grew about you until you well-near despaired! Light came by a look at the Crucified! It came only by the hearing of faith! After that, you received peace, which peace, I trust, you enjoy this morning--"The peace of God which passes all understanding." But did you receive that peace while you were trusting in ceremonies, in baptism, or in the Lord's Supper, or in your own works? I know you did not, for true peace of conscience comes not in at that door! Did you obtain peace while you tried to repent so much, to weep so much, to feel so much, or to do so much? No, Brothers and Sisters, not an atom of peace ever came to your spirit until you looked away from yourself to the Lord Jesus, of whom you heard that He was able to save even the chief of sin-ners--and in whom you, therefore, by the Grace of God, believed! When faith came, peace grew out of it as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since then, you have received the Holy Spirit to help you in your sanctification, but you have obtained no sanctifica-tion apart from believing. If you have reached after sanctification by your own efforts, made in unbelief, you have never succeeded. Unbelief works towards sin and never towards sanctification! Our good works are fruits of sanctification, not causes of it, and if we put the fruit where the root should be, we greatly err. If you have gone out to fight against a temptation in your own strength, have you ever returned a conqueror? It has been written of all other Believers, "They overcame through the blood of the Lamb," and this is true of you, also. Sanctification does not come to us from self-reliance, but as a work of the Spirit received by faith in Christ. Believing in Him, He is "made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption." You have had besides, dear Friends, another gift of the Holy Spirit, namely, that of communion with God. But did you ever commune with the holy God on the footing of your own goodness? Never! Abraham never spoke with Jehovah on legal terms, for when he interceded with the Lord, he said, "I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord--I that am but dust and ashes." Yet he spoke with God in wondrous nearness and that is the point of it--to be dust and ashes in your own sight--and yet to commune with God as a friend! This is the daring of faith! This the Lord delights in! David said, "So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You: You have held me by my right hand." A beast in his own esteem, and yet upheld by God, Himself, and allowed to live in favored fellowship with Him! Dear Friends, there is no communion with God except by faith, without which we cannot ever please God. The favorites of Heaven are, in every case, men who believe in God! Faith has the golden key of the ivory palaces. Faith opens the secret chambers of communion to those who love her. The works of the Law bring no nearness to God, in token whereof, none might come near to Sinai and if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it must be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And you, dear Friends, have received the Holy Spirit, often, as your Helper in prayer--"The Spirit also helps our infirmity." And I am sure it never was by the works of the Law. When infirmity has stopped your prayers and you could not cry as you would, then you have had no room to boast of good works--and yet then the Spirit has made "intercession for you with groans that could not be uttered." Your infirmity made you feel that it was by Grace, and by Grace, alone, that you were helped in your time of need. Now, as to the Holy Spirit's office of sealing the soul and working full assurance in the heart--as to the Holy Spirit's being the earnest of the future Glory, the pledge of joys to come--in all these, Grace reigns, and not merit! He that dwells in the least degree upon any phantom merit of his own has no earnest of the inheritance whatever! In fact, for him there is no inheritance, since an inheritance does not come by works. Neither has he that trusts in his works any pledge of joys to come, for he does not know that he has done enough to secure them. Neither can he have any comfortable rest in God, for his work is not finished and, therefore, he cannot rest. You know it, you that have toiled to save yourselves! Every Christian here must confess, "It is even so--we have received everything by faith and nothing by merit." Well, then, the inference is this--do not pump a dry well! If there is a fountain that is always flowing and overflowing, keep to it. Do not commit the double evil of forsaking the fountain of Living Water and hewing out for yourselves broken cisterns. Wait at that door which you have received everything as yet and do not go where you have received nothing except conviction and condemnation! Look not to Moses to bring you into Canaan--that can only be done by Joshua Jesus. Now, mark this inference--let every child of God ponder it--keep to "the hearing of faith." When you are under a sense of backsliding; when you feel unworthy to be called God's child; when you have erred and strayed from His ways like a lost sheep, do not rush like a madman to the Law, for that would be to leap into the fire! But say, "Lord, I believe in You. As a sinner I trust the sinner's Substitute." Whether you did truly come to Christ at the first, or not, is a point which you need not discuss, but begin again! Take with you, words, and come, by faith, to Jesus, and say, "Heal my backsliding. Receive me graciously and love me freely." By faith we can be restored, but never by doubting and despairing. We can only come to Christ by faith at first, and we can only return to Him in the same way! If you begin to doubt the mercy and love of God to you, you will backslide more and more! Your hope lies in holding on to this--"Be I what I may, yet God has not changed and there is still forgiveness with Him, that He may be feared. Therefore I will go with the language of the 51st Psalm upon my tongue and the penitence of David in my heart, and I will say, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.'" Stick to your faith in Christ! Do not think that the greatness of your sin exceeds His atoning merit! Do not doubt but that He will still cleanse you and love you as before! Suppose you have not backslidden, but yet you are in the presence of a tremendous inward conflict. I will suppose that you are led to question whether you are the children of God at all, and persuaded to doubt your sonship. Now, be resolved to hold on to your faith in your heavenly Father! The devil is saying to you, "f you are the son of God." Do not yield to his "if." This is the way in which he attacked your Savior in the wilderness! A question about our sonship is the very point of the devil's sword and it is dipped in deadly poison-- therefore guard yourself with that Word of God, "To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed on His name." Say, "I believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, who died for the ungodly, and in Him I am assured of being a child of God." You cannot resist temptation by doubting! Doubting is weakness--in believing is your might. "How can I believe," asks one. The elect of God believe--those who are born from above believe their Father's Word. If you can believe, you shall win great victories, but if you cast away your confidence, the battle is already lost. Above all, or over all, carry the shield of faith! Be sure to do this in the evil day when sin prevails. Is this too hard for you? What? Has it come to this, that when you feel you are a saint you can then trust to Christ? That is, you can trust Him when you can do without Him! Poor sham of faith! The genuine faith is a sinner's faith which trusts the Savior when signs, evidences and marks are all hid-den--and sin and temptation hold the upper seats. To believe that I, a sinner, am forgiven by the free Grace of God--that I, a poor, imperfect being, am yet accepted of God--this is faith! May we have power to trust the Lord Jesus in earnest; to trust Him with real sin and real unworthi-ness. Do this, dear Friends, with regard to the whole of your life's struggle. Some begin their religious life in the Spirit by faith, but they fancy that the rest of their spiritual life will have to be by works. They forget that the just shall live by faith. Those who say that though they are children of God, they may perish, after all, have not the true Gospel ring about them. If they are children of God, can they perish? How? Why? "Well, we must be watchful and prayerful." Precisely so! But is there no provision made to secure that you shall be watchful and prayerful? If not, then I tell you, Brothers and Sisters, you will never get to Heaven! You will fail in this watchfulness of yours and then where are you? My hope of Heaven lies in the belief that the Lord Jesus has redeemed me and will keep me! He will make me watchful and prayerful and work in me, by His Spirit, all else that is essential to my safety. "I know whom I have believed," and I am not afraid to add, "I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him until that day." Brothers and Sisters, it is by such faith that we receive the Spirit--not by legal works and fears. At this present moment you are saved by faith, alone, are you not? Yes. Then I would persuade you to extend that faith over the whole area of your life. Believe for final preservation. Believe for com- plete salvation. Is it not written "He that believes on Him has everlasting life"? Can that life which is everlasting come to an end? Can eternal life expire? "Faithful is He that has called you, who also will do it." "Oh," you say, "I am half afraid to believe so bravely, for it might make me careless." This is a mistake--faith works by love, it never tends to sloth. My dear Friend, if you look to yourself in any degree your foot is beginning to slip. Put the future where you put the past, namely, into the hands of Him that is able to keep you from falling! Believe in Jesus for a life as well as for an hour, and He will keep you with spotless garments to the end! Stand on the sure rock of the Lord's finished work and not on the dubious ground of your own carefulness. Works done by the efforts of our own strength are poor things, but the work of the Grace of God upon our spirit is precious. Let all be of Grace and nothing of self! The two will no more go together than oil and water will mix. Do not try to trust partly in Christ and partly in self--as well yoke an archangel with an ant, or a cherub with a cricket! Salvation is of the Lord, alone, from first to last! Brothers and Sisters, let us keep in this condition when we are comparing ourselves with other saints of God. I sometimes read biographies which make me cover my face for shame because I fall so far short of the attainments of certain Believers. This humbling is good for us. What ought we to do when we feel it? To begin to doubt the Lord and imagine that the Lord Jesus cannot or will not save us? Far from it! Faith should rise by observing what the Lord has done for other poor sinners like ourselves, for He is able to do the same for us. Remember that the safety of the weak and of the strong Believer rests upon the same foundation! This may be seen in a figure. On board one of the fine steamboats which flit between England and America I see a strong, hardy, vigorous man. Will he get to America safely? Yes, if the ship does. But look, yonder is a little child which cannot walk and has to be carried in its mother's arms. Will it reach America safely? Yes, if the ship does. Both the robust man and the little infant, all being well, will reach their journey's end--if the ship does. Their safety lies in the same place. Their condition does not affect their transit. But is there no difference between the child and the man? Assuredly, a great deal of difference as to many things--but there is no difference about the fact that their passage across the ocean depends upon the steamboat, rather than upon themselves! So, if you meet with a great saint, say to yourself, "My honored Brother will get to Heaven through Jesus Christ. And I, a poor babe in Grace, shall get to Heaven in the same way." I want you children of God to feel this. Are you on board the Covenant transport? Does the blood-red flag fly at the masthead? Then, if the weakest Believer is not safely carried into port, neither will the strongest child of God reach the fair havens! If that ship of Free Grace goes down, Peter and Paul must sink as well as ourselves, for we are at sea in the same vessel! Our confidence is in no measure or sense in what we are, but altogether in what Christ is on our behalf! We depend on Jesus and rest in Jesus by a simple faith and the brightest of martyrs and Apostles has no surer ground to rest on! When you come to die, do not look upon death through the glass of the Law, for if so, it will be terrible for you! But believe this--that to die by faith is to enter into life! I hardly like to use the word, death in such a connection, for it is not dying at all, but "departing out of this world unto the Father." By faith, to die is such sweet work as you, poor Despondency, and you, Much-Afraid, will be able to accomplish as safely as Valiant-for-Truth, or Great-Heart himself! By faith we swallow up death in victory! They that have served God for 50 years faithfully and without fault, when they come to die, have, in every case gathered up their feet in the bed and said, "Into Your hands I commit my spirit." But never has one of them died pleading his own religiousness and claiming a reward as due to his works! Trusting in Jesus is the universal spirit of the most praiseworthy Believers! Well, if they flung every other hope away except that which was presented to them in Christ, you, dear Friend, need not hesitate to do the same! And as they were secure and triumphant, even so shall you be! This is the argument, then-- you have obtained nothing except by the hearing of faith--therefore, keep to the way of faith even to your last hour, for wisdom teaches you to do so. II. But now I want to throw all my strength into the second part of the sermon, which is this--I want to use this AS AN ARGUMENT DERIVED FROM OBSERVATION FOR THE USE OF SEEKERS. I say "observation," but in part, it might be called an argument from experience, for, at any rate, on the negative side it is so. Listen, dear Hearer, you have not yet found rest, you are not yet saved--and so far you have obtained no advantage by the works of the Law. By your own honesty, generosity and righteousness, you have not been justified, nor have you received a new heart, or any other gift of the Spirit. Why continue at this unprofitable business? Some try Church attendance, Chapel attendance, Bible-reading, sacraments, forms of prayer and the like--but nothing comes of it. Hear how they repeat their Ave Marias and their Pater Nosters! And not only Romanists, but so-called Protestants are puffed up with the hope that by formal worship they will be saved! But they make no headway and are still without salvation! Let me ask you work-trusters, have you any rest? Are you prepared to die? Would you be willing to die at once? No! Your position is one of unrest, fear and dread! Why not abandon this vain method of building, for "unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain that build it!" Instead of following out your own way of salvation by the works of the Law, why not try the Lord's appointed way of the hearing of faith? Has He not said, "Hear and your soul shall live"? Are willing to let me explain it? The "hearing of faith"--this is the way by which the Spirit of God comes to men. "What kind of hearing," asks one, "is that?" Well, to begin with, it is personal hearing, listening to the Word of God for yourself. I have heard of one who had a dream in which he thought he stood at the gates of Heaven and his wife with him. She went in, but the pointer shut him out, saying, "The other day you said to your wife, 'Mistress, you may go to Church and pray for us both,' and now she shall go to Heaven for you both, and you must stay outside." Is not that just? There must be a personal hearing! I pray you, do not absent yourselves from the hearing of the Word of God, for, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." That last sentence reminds me that the hearing must be the hearing of the Gospel. I wish people were more careful upon that point. You will not receive the Holy Spirit by merely hearing a man talk. He may be eloquent, he may be clever and he may be pious, but mark you, if he does not preach the Gospel, saving faith cannot come of your hearing it! Too many people go to that place of worship which is nearest to their houses and never mind what is preached so long as there is an attractive service. Oh, Sirs, do not thus play the fool with yourselves! The faith that saves you cannot come to you by hearing anything which comes first--it only comes by hearing the testimony of the Spirit to the appointed Savior! The right kind of hearing is an attentive hearing. There is a great difference between hearing and hearing. If I were to say, "There is a ship going to sail next Tuesday for New Zealand," the most of you would hear it and think no more of it. But suppose there should be a person here who is in great haste to reach New Zealand? He will catch at my words and be round in the vestry to make further enquiries. This is the kind of hearing which the Gospel requires! You are in one of our great stations and you hear a person say, "That train is for Exeter." The information is lost upon you, for you are bound for Oxford and it is as though you heard it not. But suppose you were bound for Exeter? You would catch at the sound and make use of the news! Now, I am talking about the salvation of man from the power of sin; the salvation of man from the guilt of sin; the preparation of man for a holy life on earth and an eternal life of bliss in Heaven--if you have the hearing of faith, you will feel that this subject is one which concerns yourself--you will be anxious to know more about it and you will give your mind to its consideration! This is the sort of hearing by which faith comes. Do not lend your ears to others, but hear for yourself! Go where the Gospel is preached and hear it with both your ears. Drink it in as an ox drinks at the stream. Treasure up every word as the ants store up grain. Test all as goldsmiths test gold--and then receive the Truth of God as babes drink in milk from the breast. This is "the hearing of faith." "But what is this faith," asks one, "this 'hearing of faith?'" I will try to work out the idea. You begin with hearing the Gospel and believing that it comes from God. I suppose nearly everybody here believes the Bible to be the Word of God. Very well, when you hear that teaching which is consistent with Scripture, the hearing of faith is to accept it as God's Word and, therefore, true and worthy of your reverent attention. The Gospel is the voice of God and it comes by the Spirit of God--a belief of this Truth of God will help you to hear it reverently--and it will prepare your mind to receive it. Then remember, if it is God's Word, a genuine faith in God knows of no difficulties whatever! A man who believes the Bible to be Inspired, just as readily believes that the whale swallowed Jonah, or that Joshua stopped the sun, as he believes that Abraham interceded for Sodom, or that Paul was a prisoner at Rome. Knowing the Gospel to be God's Testimony, we believe it all! That is the way in which to hear the Gospel. Say to yourself, "This is God's Gospel. It is wonderfully grand and good, and it is not, therefore, a matter of doubt. That I may be saved in one single minute by believing in Jesus; that every sin I have ever committed, however black, may all be washed away as the clock ticks again--these are wonderful things and I believe them because the Lord has said so. It is not mine to quibble, question, or argue--if there are any difficulties in these great promises, those difficulties belong to God--not to me. Let the Lord promise what He pleases, I am ready to believe it because He is able to perform His own word." Then, "the hearing of faith" signifies, further, that we venture our eternal interests upon the truth of what we hear. I use the word, "venture," advisedly. One of our hymns puts it-- "Venture on Him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude." I have heard critics object that it is no venture, but a certainty, when men trust in Christ. But I venture to assert that when a man is in trouble of spirit, faith is a venture to him--it appears to him to be the greatest venture possible! He that says, "This Gospel which I have heard is true and I will venture my soul upon the truth of it," he is the man who has given to the Gospel "the hearing of faith"! Let me try to set forth faith yet again--this bridge is strong enough to carry me over the stream, therefore I am going over the stream upon it. That is real faith. Faith is a most practical principle in daily life. The most of trade hangs on trust. When a man sows wheat, he has to scatter it into the furrows and lose it. He does so because he has faith that God will send a harvest. When the sailor loses sight of the shore, he has to sail by faith--believing in his compass, he feels safe though he may not see land for weeks! Faith is the hand which receives what God presents to us and, therefore, it is a simple child-like thing. When a child has an apple offered to him, the child may know nothing about the orchard in which the apple grew, and he may know nothing of the mechanism of his hand and arm, but it is quite enough for him to take the apple. Faith does the most effectual thing for the soul when it takes what God gives! All the rest may be or may not be, faith is the main thing. When God holds out to me, salvation by Christ Jesus, I need not ask anything further about it, but just take it to myself and be at once saved, for by faith the Spirit of God is received. Once more, "the hearing of faith" is when a man hears and accepts the Gospel and then holds to it under opposition. When conscience reminds you that you are a guilty man, you must still hold to peace by the blood of Jesus. What says the Word of God? It tells you that he that believes in Jesus is not condemned and you must believe that, whatever your own judgment and feelings may say. When the devil, as the accuser of the Brethren, howls out, "You cannot be saved! Look at your imperfections and transgressions!" then reply, "But I am saved, whatever my imperfections and my sins may be, for it is written, 'He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.' I have obeyed both precepts and, therefore, I shall be saved, despite your rage." Poor Sinner, have you not seen that this is the way the Holy Spirit has come to others? Your Christian friends have all told you that this is the way they obtained mercy. Will you not make an attempt in the same way, and hear and believe as a little child? Believe God's Word! Do not wish to be anything or to do anything--just trust in what Jesus is and did. You shall have the Holy Spirit and you shall feel as you have never felt before, if you will have "the hearing of faith." I need your attention for a minute while I mention some of the points in the Gospel out of which this "hearing of faith" generally comes. What truth is it which men most readily believe? The first is this. A man says, "I cannot believe," but he can hear, and he hears that God has sent forth His Son Jesus Christ to be the Savior of men. "God has sent Him," he says, "the offended God has appointed a Mediator. Christ does not come as an amateur, but as an Ambassador authorized of Heaven." "Then," he says, "I will trust Him whom God has ordained to be a Savior." Next, while listening to the Gospel, the man hears about the Person of the Lord and sees who He is, namely, that He is God's only-begotten Son, equal and co-eternal with the Father and yet, He is, in the fullest sense, Man, in our nature. I have known many a soul say, "I can trust Jesus, since He is God and able to save me, and Man, and thus willing to save me." By that celestial lamp many have seen their way to faith. Oh, that faith may come to you while you are hearing me! Another very blessed nail on which faith loves to hang all its weight is the sufferings of Christ--for, being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the Cross. See Him languishing upon the cruel tree, bleeding out His life for unworthy men, His enemies, that they might live through Him! Many and many a time that sight has turned a doubter into a Believer. Thousands have seen the Cross and felt that they must believe. Another nail of which many have learned to hang all their hope has been Christ's risen power. They have heard of Him, that He is now in Glory, at the right hand of God, making intercession for transgressors--and this has been the star of hope to the desponding. Is it not a joy that God also has highly exalted Him, so that He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him? Myriads of tremblers have felt faith leap up from their hearts like the water from the rock in the wilderness, when Christ has been set before them as exalted to be a Prince and a Savior, giving both repentance and remission of sins. They have been trying to believe, before, but now they believe without trying! Trying to believe is a very stupid operation--you cannot do it! Minds work not so. But when a man sees a thing to be true, he believes it as a matter of course. He is convinced by the blessed fact of Christ's Resurrection and Ascension that He is able to save, and so he trusts Him to save him. Thus he receives the Spirit. I have known many that have been led to believe by hearing of the work and Grace of the Holy Spirit. They have heard the preacher say that the Holy Spirit can raise men from their death in sin; that He can renew the heart; that He can change the will and conquer the passions. They have said, "Is it so? Is God, Himself, willing to work with me to make me holy? Then I will trust Him." Thus faith comes. Sometimes, also, when we have preached free forgiveness, full redemption, irreversible acceptance, infinite love, boundless Grace, unchallengeable justification--when we have declared that the Lord's mercy endures forever and that men have but to look to Jesus and then and there find eternal life--then faith has dropped on men's minds as dew upon the grass! Our Hearers have felt that such tidings must be true, for nobody could have invented them! The Gospel has the stamp of Deity upon it and this commends it to man's heart. Free Grace and dying love are worthy of faith and they win faith! I pray that all of you who are seekers may give up all trying to feel, trying to work, trying to be, and may just come and put your trust in Jesus! Then shall you be saved and then you may work, feel and do as much as you like. Then shall you abound in good works and the more the merrier! Then you shall fight with sin and overcome it! Then shall you set up a high standard and reach it! Then shall you strive after holiness and manifest it. But do not begin where you ought to leave off! Do not put, as the proverb has it, the cart before the horse! Do not place the top of the house where the foundation ought to be! But as you never did obtain anything by the works of the Law, come and try "the hearing of faith," and you shall receive all that you need in Christ Jesus. God grant it, for Jesus' sake. Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON--Galatians 3. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"-406, 533, 516. __________________________________________________________________ The Cast-Off Sash (No. 1706) DELIVERED AT THE THURSDAY EVENING LECTURE, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "Thus said the Lord unto me, Go and get a linen sash, and put it around your waist, and put it not in water. So I got a sash, according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the sash from there, which I commanded you to hide there. Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the sash from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the sash was marred, it was profitable for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus says the Lord, After this manner willImar thepride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this sash, which is good for nothing. For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so ha ve I caused to cling unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says the Lord; that they might be unto Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear." Jeremiah 13:1-11. GOD'S servants, in olden times, were very anxious to be understood when they spoke. They were not content because the people listened to them, or because they were to their hearers as "a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument." They reckoned the people's approval of their style to be proof of its failure. Had it wounded their hearts, it would not have gratified their tastes. They wanted the Truth of God to go home to men, so that they could no longer discuss modes of speech, or methods of action, but would be compelled to remember the message and feel its force. They reckoned that they had done nothing unless they riveted attention, excited thought and impressed the heart. Oh that all preachers were as solemnly in earnest in all their addresses as Jeremiah was--we might then hope to see more true conversions and less of the flimsy religion of the day! The people of Israel and Judah were so sunk in thoughtlessness that it was absolutely necessary to do something more than speak. Prophet after Prophet had spoken, "but they would not hear." Even though Jeremiah, the most plaintive of all the Prophets, spoke in such melting tones that it must have been difficult to turn away from him with indifference, yet they remained so hardened that God described them as, "this evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts." Though the Prophet wept, entreated and persuaded, yet they regarded him not, but turned on their heels and went, each one, his own way to his merchandise, to his idolatry, to his adultery, or to his oppression. Therefore the Lord bade His servants add to their speech certain symbols which the people would see with their eyes, which would be talked about as strange things and so, would excite attention and command consideration. Perhaps, by this means the Lord would extort from some of them a deeper thought, and bring them penitently to their knees. It is better for preachers to do odd things than for men to be lost! If plain talk fails, we may even use emblems and signs, for we cannot let the careless ones perish without another attempt to get at them. Oh that by any means we might save some! In many instances the Prophets were told to do singular things and among the rest was this--Jeremiah must take a linen sash, put it about his waist and wear it there till the people had noticed what he wore and how long he wore it. This sash was not to be washed--this was to be a matter ob- served of all observers--for it was a part of the similitude. Then he must make a journey to the distant river Euphrates and take off his sash and bury it there. When the people saw him without a sash, they would make remarks and ask what he had done with it, and he would reply that he had buried it by the river of Babylon. Many would count him mad for having walked so far to get rid of a sash--250 miles was certainly a great journey for such a purpose! Surely he might have buried it nearer home, if he must bury it at all. There was the Jordan--he might have gone to its bank, dug a hole and hid the garment there, if he thought it well to do so. There would be a good deal of talk about Jeremiah's eccentric conduct, but the more thoughtful would endeavor to spell out his meaning, for they would feel sure that he meant much by it. Soon the Prophet goes a second time to the Euphrates and they say one to another--The Prophet is a fool! The spiritual man is mad! See what a trick he is playing. Nearly a thousand miles the man will have walked in order to hide a sash and to dig it up, again! What will he do next? Whereas plain words might not have been noticed, this little piece of acting commanded the attention and excited the curiosity of the people. Blame us not if we sometimes dramatize the Truth of God--we must win men's hearts--and to do so we dare even run the risk of being called theatrical! Jeremiah might have been ridiculed as an actor, but he would not have fretted much under the charge if he saw that he had succeeded in teaching the people the Truth which God would have them learn. When our young folks cannot learn by books, we try the kindergarten method, and we will sooner teach them by toys than leave them ignorant! Even so was it with the old Prophets. They would use emblems rather than leave the people in the dark. The record of this singular transaction has come to us and we know that, as a part of Holy Scripture, it is full of instruction. Thousands of years will not make it so antique as to be valueless! The Word of the Lord never becomes old so as to lose its vigor--it is still as strong, for all Divine purposes, as when first of all Jehovah spoke it! This Bible is the oldest of instructors and yet it wears the dew of its youth! Like the sea, it is ancient as the ages, but time has written no furrow on its brow. It is always venerable, yet ever novel--eternal, yet always fresh. Even the symbol of Jeremiah, which was so strikingly adapted to his age and time, is quite as well suited to this present year of Grace. May the Holy Spirit give us all instruction thereby. I. And, first, in our text we have AN HONORABLE EMBLEM of Israel and Judah. We may say, in these days, an emblem of the Church of God. I say it is an honorable emblem. I hardly know of one which is more so except when the Church is called a Crown of Glory, or a Royal Diadem, or, better still, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. The people were compared to a linen sash with which the Prophet, in the type, girt himself, but which God explains to be His sash, "for as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so have I caused to cling unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says the Lord." Notice first, then, that God had taken this people to be bound to Himself. He had taken them to be as near to Him as the sash is to the Oriental when he binds it about his waist. The eastern merchant or worker does not go out without his sash--it is an essential part of his dress, keeping all the rest together--and so the Lord declares that He had taken His people and had bound them about Himself to be near to Him and fastened about Him, so that He would not go forth without them. Often He speaks of them as "a people near to Me." Had they acted as they should have done, so as to be not only the natural but the spiritual seed of Israel, they would have enjoyed what every true Believer may enjoy, namely clinging unto God as a sash clings unto a man, for the Lord's own sanctified ones are bound unto God by God, Himself, so as never to be torn away from Him. I invite you, beloved of the Lord, to consider your choice privilege in thus being, as it were, girt about the waist of God. It is a wonderful metaphor. In infinite condescension the Lord has put it so--the Believer's place is near his God in intimate, continuous, open fellowship. What can be more intimately associated with a man's most vital parts than his belt? What can be nearer to the life of God than His living people? The traveler in the East takes care that his sash shall not go unfastened--he girds himself securely before he commences his work or starts upon his journey, and God has bound His people round about Him so that they shall never be removed from Him. "I in them," says Christ, even as a man is in his belt. "Who shall separate us?" says Paul. Who shall ungird us from the heart and soul of our loving God? "They shall be Mine, says the Lord." They are His and always shall be His! Neither shall any tear them away from Him, for by Covenant and by promise are they bound up with the life of God. Yet remember that there are many who, like the Jewish people, bear the name of Israel, but they are not the true Israel. They are bound about God nominally, as it were, but yet they are not spiritually united to Him. And concerning such, this parable tells us much that is worthy of solemn consideration. May the Holy Spirit warn all professors by this instructive image! If we are, indeed, what we profess to be, then we shall cling to God forever, as it is written, "I will put My fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from Me." Our faith will encompass Christ our Lord! Our love will embrace Him! Our patience will surround Him! Our hope will encircle Him world without end! In all our service we shall endeavor to cling fast to God. If anything comes between us and God, it will be our sorrow, a trouble not to be endured. Nothing shall seduce the faithful from their hold upon God, for He who bound them about Himself will allow no enemy to unloose His sash. Whatever the world may do by way of bribe, or by way of threats, we shall hold fast to Him and shall not let Him go! And all for this reason--that unchanging Love and infinite Wisdom have bound us too fast for us to be unloosed again. Because the Lord's own love has bound us to Himself, therefore we bind ourselves to Him by steadfast Covenant-- "Loved of our God, for Him again With love intense we burn! Chosen of Him before time began, We choose Him in return." And, as nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, so nothing shall separate our love from God whom we love in Christ Jesus our Lord! What a privilege this is--that the Lord should cause us to cling to Him, to be to Him for a people, for a name, for a praise and for a glory! Pardon me if I speak feebly, my heart loses utterance in contemplating the gracious imagery here set before us. But Jeremiah's sash was a linen one--it was the sash peculiar to the priests, for such was the Prophet. He was "the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth." Thus the type represents chosen men as bound to God in connection with sacrifice. The people of the Lord are the very sash of the Most High in this sense, that if there is priestly work to do, He puts us about Him and makes us to be the instruments of this hallowed service. For us, our blessed Lord girt Himself with a linen sash! For us, He, even now, is girt about the paps with a golden sash and now, for Him, we, also, become priests and kings unto God and His continued priestly work among men is done by us. I mean, not by ministers, alone, but by all the inheritance of God--by all the blood-washed ones, by all the regenerate ones--for you are "a royal priesthood, a peculiar people." God has made His people to be "a nation of priests" and it is ours to offer sacrifice to God continually, the sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving. We know of no order of priests, save the whole body of the faithful, who present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. That is why a linen sash was specified rather than any other. We are bound to the Most High, for solemn priesthood, to minister among the sons of men holy things. The Lord Jesus is now blessing the sons of men as Aaron blessed the peo-ple--and we are the sash with which He girds Himself in the act of benediction by the Gospel. The sash is also used by God always in connection with work. When eastern men are about to work in real earnest, they gird up their loins. Our garments in this country are close-fitting and convenient, but the Oriental's robes would always be in his way whenever he had work to do if he did not tightly strap them around him. Whenever we read of earnest work to be done we read of this sash--so when God comes to do work among the sons of men, we always hear of this sash, which sash we are, or may be, if we are unto God what we ought to be. When the Lord works righteousness in the earth, it is by means of His chosen ones. When He publishes salvation and makes known His Grace, His saints are around Him. When sinners are to be saved, it is by His people. When error is to be denounced, it is by our lips that He chooses to speak. When His saints are to be comforted, it is by those who have been comforted by His Holy Spirit and who, therefore, tell about the consolations which they have, themselves, enjoyed. The sash of the Lord's workday robes is His people! He says, "Gather My people unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." When He comes--not to Judgment, for that is His strange work--but for mercy and salvation, then He comes girt about with His redeemed! Blessed are they whose happy lot it is to be connected with God in His sacred acts and in all His glorious work of salvation! I cannot explain my deep emotion, but my heart would utter weighty words if it could talk without my lips, for I am awe-stricken at the bare idea of our being used as the sash of the Divine Strength, clinging unto God as a sash cleaves unto the waist of a man! How blessed a thing it is to be bound to God, bound for hallowed service, being set apart for the Master's most personal and honorable use! Blessed are you who were once worthless and useless, but are now made so precious in His sight that you are bound around Him for His use in the highest exercises of His Grace among the sons of men! Moreover, the sash was intended for ornament. It does not appear that it was bound about the priest's waists under his garments, for if so, it would not have been seen and would not have been an instructive symbol--this sash must be seen, since it was meant to be a type of a people who were to be unto God, "for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory." Is not this wonderful beyond all wonder, that God should make His people His Glory? Yet so it is, for true Believers become an ornament unto God, adorning the doctrine of God, their Savior, in all things. Is it not written, "You shall also be a crown of glory in the hands of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hands of your God"? Like as when a man puts on his jewels, or a prince puts on his royal attire, so does God regard His elect "as the jewels of a crown," and to prove His value of them, He arrays Himself with His people as with a sash! Can it be so, that God is glorified in His saints? Is it so that Christ, Himself, is admired in them that believe as well as by them that believe? Do we, after all, illustrate the magnificence of God and show to principalities and powers in the heavenly places what God can do? Yes, it is so! You can easily perceive what true glory God has in us if we are sincere. Is it not to His honor that we, who were disobedient and obstinate and hard-hearted should, by His love, be subdued to the obedience of the faith? Does not this show His Glory--that we creatures, possessed of the very dangerous possession of a free will, nevertheless, without violating that will, are led to obey His commands with pleasure and delight? Is it not to the praise of His Grace that we, who are, under some aspects, the meanest of His creatures, seeing that we have been guilty of such gross sin, are, nevertheless, set next to Himself and made to be His dear children? Next to God, the Redeemer, comes man, the redeemed! Yes, God and man are united--wondrously united in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What can more grandly set forth the adorable love and goodness of Jehovah!? What great things God has done for us, already, in having taken us up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay! Let this stand as His beautiful sash--that He passes by transgression, iniquity and sin. Let this be His Divine adornment--that He is the Lord God, merciful and gracious. Hallelujah! But how much greater things He will yet do for us! I know that He has taken us from the dunghill, but then it follows that He has set us among princes, even the princes of His people. We are not always sitting among princes, yet, but we shall be elevated to the throne before long! Our spirits, rid of this clay, shall rise up among spiritual dignities and powers, not second to the most exalted of them--and then shall an astonished universe behold the mercy of the Lord! Yet once more, when the blast of the archangel shall have awakened the sleeping dead, even these poor material bodies, made like unto Christ's glorious body, shall share the glory of the Son of Man. Truly "it does not yet appear what we shall be" for there are great things, yet, for men--and the race of men to whom God has had a special favor shall yet be highly exalted and have dominion over all the works of His hands and He shall put all things under his feet. In all this, the exceeding riches of Divine Grace shall be resplendent and thus man shall be as a jeweled sash unto the Lord of hosts. Oh, majesty of love! Infinity of Grace! Here seraphs may admire and adore. My Brothers and Sisters, beloved in the Lord, muse much upon this figure of a sash! Silently meditate upon it and try to understand it. We are the sash that God causes to cling unto His waist and that no mere poverty-stricken sash of a beggar, but the sash of a royal priest, worn by Him in sacrifice and labor, and regarded as His ornament and glory! Oh the splendor of Jehovah's love to His people! II. But now, alas, we have to turn our eyes sorrowfully away from this surpassing glory! These people who might have been the glorious sash of God, displayed in their own persons A FATAL MISSION. Did you notice it? Thus says the Lord unto Jeremiah, "Go and get you a linen sash, and put it around your waist, and put it not in water." Ah, me! There is the mischief--the unwashed sash is the type of an unholy people who have never received the great cleansing. God is pure and holy and He will wear clean garments, but of this garment it is said, "Put it not in water." The priests of Jehovah were continually washing, but of this sash, we read, "Put it not in water." Now, when a man seems to be bound to God, and to be used of God, if he has never undergone the great cleansing, he will sooner or later come to a terrible end. "If I wash you not, you have no part with Me," is a very solemn word from the Lord Jesus, Himself. Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, I invite you to meditate upon this for a moment! No nearness to God can save you if you have never been washed by the Lord Jesus! No official connection can bless you if you have never been washed in His most precious blood! No matter though you may seem to be an ornament of the Church and all men may think so, and even good men may bless God for you--if you have never been washed--you are not Christ's! If Jesus Christ, your Lord and Master, has never enabled you to say, "We have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," then, the great cleansing having been omitted, you will be shut out of the marriage supper of the Lamb. Oh the terror of that sentence--"Put it not in water"! Surely, this is what Satan desires--his malice cannot exceed the wish that we may never be cleansed from our iniquities! How accursed are those of whom Solomon says, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness." If that one, first, perfect washing has never exercised its purifying influence upon you, my Brothers, it is all in vain for you to bear the vessels of the Lord and to be thought to be great and to be eminent in His house, for you must be put away! On the spot let each one of us pray, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." God loves purity and will not keep unholy men in nearness to Himself. Here is the alternative for all professors--you must be washed in the blood of Christ, or be laid aside--which shall it be? The Prophet was bid not to put it in water, which shows that there was not only an absence of the first washing, but there was no daily cleansing. Take heed, Beloved, that you omit not those after-washings which must follow the washing in the blood of the Lamb. When our blessed Lord took a towel and a basin and went to wash the disciples' feet, He did not perform a superfluous action! Peter was misguided when he said "You shall never wash my feet." It is necessary that we be washed every day. Even "if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." We are constantly defiling our feet by marching through this dusty world and every night we need to be washed. There is sin within us as well as sin outside us and even if we do not leave our chamber, but have to lie upon a sickbed all day long, impatience is quite enough to defile our feet--and we greatly need to be cleansed. The first grand washing is never repeated--that great bath does its work so effectually that the putting away of guilt is perfected once and for all and forever! When our Lord bowed His head and gave up the ghost, He offered an effectual Atonement by which all the guilt of His redeemed was eternally put away. "This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high"--and he that has that one washing needs not except to wash his feet. But the foot-bath is always necessary. Stains of pilgrimage, stains of service, stains of grief, stains of pleasure, stains of our holy things--these must still be put away. What with pride, or doubt, or ill-desire, or imagination, or anger, or forgetfulness or error, we are always being defiled and always need to be put in water to undergo that washing in water by the Word of God of which the Apostle speaks. If, dear Friends, you and I live without washing, we live in a way that renders us unfit for Divine service! And have you not found it so? I know this, that if you suffer a sin to lie on your conscience, you cannot serve God aright while it is there. If you have transgressed as a child and you do not run and put your head into your Father's bosom and cry, "Father I have sinned!" you cannot do God's work. The external part of it you may perform, though there will often be a great weakness even there. But as for the spiritual and vital part, it will be sadly deficient. If you try to write the epistle of life with an unwashed hand, it will tremble and every line you write will be in the shaky handwriting of paralysis. "He that has clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger," but the foul hand shall wax weaker and weaker! There must be this washing or there cannot be abundant working. If you do not know yourself to be "accepted in the Beloved." If you do not know yourself to be clean every whit, you will not be happy with God! And when you are not happy with Him, your mind will be taken off from work for Him to work for yourself. You will be thinking about your own imperfection rather than His perfection--the sin of any single day, though it will not destroy you, will grieve you. A stone in your shoe, though almost invisible, will spoil a day's journey. It is not a great rock to grind you to powder. It is only a little stone, but your foot will blister before you have walked many miles. Ah me, how great the pain of a single unconfessed sin! The best thing you can do is to take off your shoe at once and remove the stone before you, again, put down your foot. So it is with every little sin--if it is only a thought, if it is only a look the wrong way--go to your Father and get rid of it! Do not live a day out of fellowship with God, no, nor an hour under the Lord's frown! You know how it is with your dear child when he has done wrong. He does not expect that you will turn him out of doors and say, "You shall not be my child," but he does expect you to be grieved with him! Children are believers in the "final perseverance" of parental love--they expect always to be your children--but if you are a wise father, they do not feel happy when they have done wrong. You have not, perhaps, found out their disobe- dience, but the kiss at night is not half as warm as usual, for they are afraid that Father will soon know of their fault and will be angry. When God deals with us as a father who has seen his child's naughtiness, there is no peace or rest in our spirit. Even chastisement, however, is better borne than a sense of having offended. If you gave your naughty child a good whipping at once, it would comfort him, for your displeasure would be over--but as long as you do not chastise him, but only say, "No, my Child, I cannot have dealings with you while you act so. I have no word of love for you, for you are so wicked"--then the dear child will be sorely troubled until your anger is over. He will be ready to break his little heart until you forgive him and comfort him, saying, "I shall put the matter away this time, for I see you are sorry, and I hope you will not behave so badly again." Brethren, this holy, filial fear of the Lord is not servitude under the Law; it is not trying to be saved by what we do--it is the discipline of the Father's house and that is what we attend to when we ask for daily washing. There was a fatal flaw about this sash--it had never been washed--and it is a fatal thing if you and I can go from day to day without being cleansed by our blessed Lord. Oh Lord, purge me by Your continual pardon! Cleanse me this day from every spot, for Your sweet mercy's sake! But observe, once again, that the more this sash was used, the more it gathered great and growing defilement. It was a Prophet that wore it, but even with such wear the unwashed sash began to be spotted and stained. And as he might not put it into water, the more often the Prophet went out to his daily work--the more the sash was used--the more service it performed, the more worn and dirty it became. It will be just the same with us if no water is applied and there is no application of the cleansing blood of Christ. Without the Atonement, the more we do, the more we shall sin. Our very prayers will turn into sin! Our godly things will breed evil! We shall be preaching and when we preach we shall preach our condemnation! We shall gather our class about us and talk to them of good things--and all the while there will be in our consciences the thought that we are not acting as we talk, or living as we tell them to live--and we shall be growing blacker and more defiled from hour to hour. Oh, Lord, deliver us from this! Save us from being made worse by that which should make us better! Save us from turning even our service into sin, our prayers into abominations and our Psalms into mockery! Let us be Your true people and therefore let us be washed that we may be clean, that You may gird Yourself with us. III. Very soon that fatal flaw in the case here mentioned led, in the third place, to A SOLEMN JUDGMENT. It was a solemn judgment upon the sash, looking at it as a type of the people of Israel. First, the sash, after Jeremiah had made his long walk in it, was taken off and put away. It is an awful thing when God takes off the man that has once appeared to be on Him and lays him aside, as He did Saul when He finally gave him up and took the kingdom from him. Yes, and it is a solemn thing, also, when the Lord takes off the man that has been really bound to Him and, for a time, lays him aside and says, "I cannot use you. I cannot wear you as Mine. I cannot work with you. You can be no ornament to Me--you are defiled." He puts away the spoiled sash--in other words, He works no longer with the backsliding professor. This is a terrible thing to happen to any man. I would rather suffer every sickness in the list of human diseases than that God should put me aside as a vessel in which He has no pleasure, and says to me, "I cannot wear you as My sash, nor acknowledge you as Mine before men." That would be a dreadful thing! Is there one here who has come into that condition? Has the Lord left you to your backsliding? Learn the lesson of my text! What you need, my Friend, is to be cleansed in the double stream which John of old saw flowing from the Redeemer's riven side! You need spiritual cleansing before the Lord can put you on, again, and use you, again, and be one with you, again--and before you can be, again, unto Him a praise and a glory. While you are unclean you are dishonoring Him and He must set you aside. After that sash was laid aside, the next thing for it was hiding and burying. It was placed in a hole of the rock by the river of the captivity and left there. Many a hypocrite has been served in that way. God has said to His servants, "Put Him out of the Church. He is defiled." And there has been nothing heard of him any more. He may have been offended at being put aside and have gone into the world altogether--and though he once seemed to be as the very sash of God, yet he has rotted and decayed into corruption and open transgression, for the raw material of hypocrisy soon decays and turns into loathsomeness. The worst things are frequently the rot of the best things and so the worst characters grow out of those who apparently were once the best. Thus, this sash is put away, hidden and left. God will have nothing to do with it! He has put it aside. And now the sash spoils. It was put, I dare say, where the dampness and the wet acted upon it, and so, when, in about 70 days, Jeremiah came back to the spot, there was nothing but an old rag instead of what had once been a pure white linen sash. He says, "Behold the sash was marred; it was profitable for nothing." So, if God were to leave any of us, the best men and the best women among us would soon become nothing but marred sashes instead of being as fair white linen. Alas, for certain goodly professors that did appear to be very fine, once, what rotten old rags they come to be when they are put into the hole and left to themselves! We have seen it. They have only been fit, at last, to be put upon the dust heap with useless things. They have fallen into such a horrible condition of mind that they can do evil without check of conscience--they have forgotten how to blush! The same persons who did run well (what hindered them?) are now found, not only sleeping in the harbors of sloth, but rioting in chambers of wantonness! The glorious sash of God, as the man seemed to be, becomes a mass of rottenness! What does the text say? Let me read the words, for I should not like to say them of myself--"Behold, the sash was marred, it was profitable for nothing." And again in the 10th verse--"Which is good for nothing." So may men become who have not been washed! So will they become unless God, in His infinite mercy, gives them speedily expiation through His Son, renewing by His Spirit. I desire to profit you all and so I want to notice how true this is of the real children of God. I could speak this even weeping. There are certain real children of God whom God greatly honored at one time, so that they were as His sash. But they were proud and were soon defiled with other sins. And so the Lord has laid them aside from His service. They are still His, but He has put them under discipline--and as a part of that discipline He has banished them from His public service. They were once everywhere in the Lord's battles, but now they are nowhere. He knows where He has put them and they will remain there till their pride is quite gone. When the Lord has effected this purpose, His wandering servant will come back with an altered tale, and you shall hear him as he laments himself and cries--"I do not feel fit to be in God's Church! I have walked in such a way that if I were cast off altogether it would be my just deserts. Oh that I may be forgiven." The deep repentance of returning wanderers makes you feel that they are the children of God though they have dishonored Him--and you welcome their return, saying, "Come with us, and enjoy the means of Grace." Alas, they answer-- "The saints are comforted, we know, Within the house of prayer; We often go where others go, And find no comfort there." One man sighs, "I have a Sunday school class, and I teach it, but I do not feel tenderly for the children as I once did. There is no power about me. I am a branch of the tree that appears to have no sap in it. I bear no fruit. Alas," he cries, "I do not enjoy private prayer and when I pray, and pour out my soul before God, I do not obtain a comfortable answer! I am as one that is forgotten." Is it at all amazing that God frowns when we disobey? The Lord will not hear those who decline to hear Him! If we are deaf to His Commandments, He will be deaf to our prayers. You have become defiled, for you have not watched your steps, and now the Lord cannot be in communion with you. You have not been careful and so the sash has become foul with public spots and private foulnesses! And the Lord says, "I cannot use that man; I cannot be in fellowship with him. If I would, it would ruin him." If God were to be kind and tender to His children when they are living in sin, it would encourage them in evil and they would go from bad to worse! If a Believer grieves God, he must be grieved, himself. The heavenly Father takes down the rod and though it is more pain to Him than it is to us, He will not spare us for our crying. Just because He loves us He will lay on His strokes thick and heavy, one after the other, perhaps in sharp affliction, but very often in a continuous and growing loss of all that made us happy and useful. Alas! Alas! The sash is marred and the Lord has hid it out of His sight! Oh, what a mercy it is that the Lord can take that sash and wash it and make it as good as new, and even better than at the first! He can give back to the man his old joy with an added experience which will make him humble and tender. He can restore his former usefulness and even increase it by teaching him to deal gently with others that err and, by enabling him to prize and value the mercy of God. Did you ever get into a corner and sing that verse, "Love I much? I've more forgiven. I'm a miracle of Grace"? Those sweet lines have often charmed my inmost heart. I have wanted to love my Lord infinitely! I have wished that I could love Him as much as seven million hearts put together could love Him! I would love Him as much as the whole universe could love Him! I wish I had His Father's love to Him, for what do I not owe Him for all His wonderful mercy to me? And do you not feel the same? Are you not, also, great debtors to Sover- eign Grace? If you do not at any time kindle love and gratitude, I am afraid that you are put in the hole with the sash and that you are rotting away. Sad case for you! Certain of God's people are marvelously high-minded--they cannot sit anywhere but in the big armchair, or at the head of the table. They cannot mingle with any of us common Christians at all because they are perfect--and we are a long way from making any claim to such a degree of excellence. Some of the hymns that we are glad to sing are not good enough for them, for they cry, "We hate hymns of this style! They are so below our experience." These are the dons and grandees of the Court of Arrogance! When I see fine professors coming in with the seven league boots on, I am always afraid that they are not God's children at all because I have never read of any true saints who said much in praise of themselves and I have read of so many gracious persons whose tone and temper were the very reverse of this lofty boasting! I have seen God's poor little child like Moses in a basket on the Nile with crocodiles all round ready to devour him--and when I have looked at him, I have always noticed that which the Holy Spirit took pains to record--"Behold, the babe wept." This was the real Moses--those crystal drops are the tokens of a goodly child! The tears of God's babes are wonderfully precious and they have great power with Him. The dragons of Nilus cannot devour a weeping Moses. "When I am weak, then am I strong." When you are so weak that you cannot do much more than cry, you coin diamonds with both your eyes! The sweetest prayers God ever hears are the groans and sighs of those who have no hope in anything but His love! There is music in our moaning to His kind and tender ears. He can restore you, even though you are as the marred sash. And when He once puts you on again, you will cling to His waist more closely than ever, praying that He will bind you fast about Him. But the worst part of it--and this I finish with--is that this relates undoubtedly to many mere professors whom God takes off from Himself, laying them aside and leaving them to perish. And what is His reason for doing so? He tells us this in the text--He says that this evil people refused to receive God's words. Dear Friends, never grow tired of God's Word! Never let any book supplant the Bible! Love every part of Scripture and take heed to every Word that God has spoken. Let it all be a Divine Word to you, for if not, when you begin to pick and choose about God's Word, and do not like this, and do not like that, you will soon become like a marred sash--for the base-hearted professor is detected by his not loving the Father's words. Next to that, we are told that they walked in the dictates of their hearts. That is a sure sign of the hypocrite or the false professor. He makes his religion out of himself, as a spider spins a web out of his own bowels! What sort of theology it is, you can imagine, now that you know its origin! This base professor grows his theology on his own back as the snail produces her shell! He is everything to himself--his own savior, his own teacher, his own guide! He knows so much, that if the world would only sit at his feet, it would become a wonderfully learned world in a very short time, so great a Rabbi is he! When a man is so puffed up that his own imagination is his inspiration, and his obstinacy holds him fast in his own opinion, then he has become as the sash which was taken from the Prophet's waist and put into a hole to rot away. Upon all this there followed actual transgression--"They walked after other gods to serve them and to worship them." This happens, also, to the base professor. He keeps up the name of a Christian for a little while and seems to be as God's sash. But by-and-by he falls to worshipping gold, or drink, or lust. Bacchus, or Venus becomes his deity. He turns aside from the infinitely glorious God and so he falls from one degradation to another till he hardly knows himself! He becomes as a rotten sash "which profits nothing." Neither God nor man are benefited by him. The Lord save you, dear Friends, from being found insincere in the day when He searches the heart. May He also save us from failing to be washed in the most precious blood. Is not this a fit subject for immediate and continuous prayer? See to it! The Lord bless you for His name's sake. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ "Herein Is Love" (No. 1707) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 18, 1883, BY C, H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought, also, to love one another." 1 John 4:10,11. THE Law commands love, indeed, all its precepts are summed up in that one word, "love." More widely read it runs thus--"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself--yet all this amounts only to, "You shall love." But the Law, by reason of our depravity, never produced love. We were commanded to love, but we did no such thing. The spirit that is in us is selfish and it lusts to envy and to enmity. Why do wars and fights come among us? Come they not from our lusts? Since the Fall, man has become man's bitterest foe upon the earth--and the world is full of hate, slandering, struggles, fighting, wounding, and slaying--all that the Law can do is to show the wrong of enmity and threaten punishment. It cannot supply an unregenerate heart with a fountain of love. Man remains unloving and unlovable till the Gospel takes him in hand and, by Grace, accomplishes that which the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. Love is winning many hearts to the Kingdom of God and its reign shall extend till love shall rule over the whole earth. And so the Kingdom of God shall be set up among men and God shall dwell among them. At the present moment love is the distinguishing mark of the people of God. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love, one to another." And John said, "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the Brethren." The man whose spirit is selfish has not the spirit of Christ and, "if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of His." The man whose spirit is that of envy and contention is evidently no follower of the lowly and loving Jesus--and those who do not follow Jesus are none of His. They that are Christ's are filled with His love. "Everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is Love." God is the center of the Believer's love. The saints are an inner circle specially beloved and all mankind are embraced within the circumference of the ring of love. "He that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in Him" and he, alone, is a child of God whose spirit is kindly and affectionate and who seeks, wherever he is, to promote peace, goodwill towards men. The saints begin with love to God. That must always hold the highest place, for God is the best and noblest Being, and we owe Him all our hearts. Then comes, for Jesus' sake, love to all who are in Christ. There is a peculiarly near and dear relationship existing between one child of God and all the rest. Loving Him that begat, we love all them that are begotten of Him! Should not a child love his brothers with a tender, peculiar affection? This principle of love, once implanted, induces in the heart of the converted man a love towards all mankind. Not that he can take any complacency in the wicked--God, Himself, cannot do that, for His holiness abhors all iniquity. The love desired is not the love of complacency, but the love of benevolence, so that we wish well and, to the utmost of our power, would do well unto all those that dwell upon the face of the earth. In this holy charity, this unselfish love, be you imitators of God as dear children. Our heavenly Father is kind to the unthankful and to the evil, and so must we be, desiring that even the most abandoned may yet be rescued and made right and good. Love desires to create that which is lovable even in the most unlovable of mankind and, God helping the effort, she succeeds. I hear one say, "This is a vast idea. Are we to love at this rate? Where is the love to come from? Our hearts are narrow, men are unworthy, provocations are numerous, another spirit is abroad in the world--where is this love to come from? Where is this flood of love which is to cover the tops of the mountains of man's unworthiness to come from?" Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Yes, by the leadings of God's Spirit, we will search out the springs of the sea of love! Only in one place shall we find love enough for our supreme purpose, which is also the purpose of the Lord, Himself. There is one shoreless ocean into which we may be baptized and out of which we may be filled until we overflow! Where is the unfailing motive of Love? For Love is tried and hardly put to it to hold her own! Can we find a motive that will never fail, even towards the most provoking of mankind? Can we find an argument for affection which shall help us in times of ingratitude, when base returns threaten to freeze the very heart of charity? Yes, there is such a motive! There is a force by which even impossibilities of love can be accomplished and we shall be supplied with a perpetual constraint moving the heart to ceaseless charity! Come with me, then, in the first place, to notice the infinite spring of love--"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us." Secondly, let us observe the marvelous outflow of that love--"God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." And then, thirdly, let us notice the overflow of that love in us, when it fills our hearts and runs over to others. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought, also, to love one another." I. First, THE INFINITE SPRING OF LOVE. Our text has two words upon which I would place an emphasis-- "not," and "but." The first is, "not." " Herein is love, not"-- "not that we loved God." Very naturally many conclude that this means, "not that we loved God first." That is not exactly the Truth of God taught here, but still it is a weighty Truth, and is mentioned in this same chapter in express words--"We love Him because He first loved us" (v. 19). The cause of love in the universe is not that man loved God first! No being in existence could love God before God loved him, for the existence of such a being is due to God's previous love! His plans of love were all laid and many of them carried out before we were born. And when we were born, we, none of us, loved God first so as to seek after God before He sought after us--so as to desire reconciliation with God before He desired reconciliation with us. No, whatever may be said about free will as a theory, it is never found as a matter of fact that any man, left to himself, ever woos his God, or pines after friendship with his Maker. If he repents of sin, it is because the Spirit of God has first visited him and shown him his sin! If he desires restoration, it is because he has, first of all, been taught to dread the wrath of God and to long for holiness-- "No sinner can be beforehand with Thee! Your Grace is most so vereign, Most rich, and most free." We inscribe a negative in black capital letters upon the idea that man's love can ever be prior to the love of God. That is quite out of the question. "Not that we loved God." Take a second sense--that is, not that any man did love God at all by nature, whether first or second; not that we, any one of us, ever did or ever could have an affection towards God while we remained in our state by nature. Instead of loving God, man is indifferent to God. "No God," says the fool in his heart and, by nature, we are all such fools. It is the sinner's wish that there were no God. We are atheistic by nature and if our brain does not yield to atheism, yet our heart does. We wish that we could sin according to our own will and that we were in no danger of being called to account for it. God is not in all our thoughts, or, if He does enter there, it is as a terror and a dread. No, worse than that--man is at enmity with God by wicked works! The holiness which God admires, man has no liking for! The sin which God abominates has about it sweetness and fascination for the unrenewed heart, so that man's ways are contrary to the ways of God. Man is perverse. He cannot walk with God, for they are not agreed. He is all evil and God is all goodness and, therefore, no love to God exists in the natural heart of man. He may say that he loves God, but then it is a god of his own inventing and not Jehovah, the God of the Bible, the only living and true God. A just God and a Savior, the natural mind cannot endure--the carnal mind is enmity against God, is not reconciled to God and, neither, indeed, can be! The unregenerate heart is, as to love, a broken cistern which can hold no water. In our natural state, there is none that does good, no, not one. So is there, also, none that loves God, no, not one! We come nearer to John's meaning when we look at this negative as applying to those who do love God. "Not that we loved God"--that is, that our love to God, even when it does exist, and even when it influences our lives, is not worthy to be mentioned as a fountain of supply for love. The Apostle points us away from it to something far more vast and then he cries, "Herein is love." I am looking for "the springs of the sea," and you point me to a little pool amid the rocks which has been filled by the flowing tide. I am glad to see that pool--how bright! how blue! how like the sea from where it came! But do not point to this as the source of the great water floods, for if you do, I shall smile at your childish ignorance and point you to you great rolling main which tosses its waves on high. What is your little pool to the vast Atlantic? Do you point me to the love in the Believer's heart and say, "Herein is love"? You make me smile. I know that there is love in that true heart, but who can mention it in the Presence of the great rolling ocean of the love of God, without bottom and without shore? The word, "not," is not only upon my lips but in my heart as I think of the two things--"NOT that we loved God, but that God loved us." What poor love ours is at its very best when compared with the love with which God loves us! Let me use another figure. If we had to enlighten the world, a child might point us to a bright mirror reflecting the sun. And he might cry, "Herein is light!" You and I would say, "Poor child, that is but borrowed brightness. The light is not there, but yonder, in the sun!" The love of saints is nothing more than the reflection of the love of God! We have love, but God IS Love. When I think of the love of certain saints to Christ, I am charmed with it, for it is a trait of the Spirit not to be despised. When I think of Paul the Apostle counting all things but loss for Christ. When I think of our missionaries going, one after another, into malarious parts of the African coast and dying for Christ. And when I read the Book of Martyrs and see confessors standing on the firewood, burning quick to the death, still bearing witness to their Lord and Master--I rejoice in the love of saints to their Lord! Yet this is but a stream! The unfathomable deep, the eternal source from which all love proceeds infinitely exceeds all human affection and it is found in God, and in God alone! "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us." Let us contrast our love to God with His love to us. Dear Brothers and Sisters, we do love God and we may well do so, since He is infinitely lovable. When the mind is once enlightened, it sees everything that is lovable about God. He is so good, so gracious, so perfect that He commands our admiring affection. The spouse in the Song, when she thought of her Beloved, mentioned all manner of beauties and then cried, "Yes, He is altogether lovely!" It is natural, therefore, that one who sees God should love Him. But, now, think of God's love to us--is it not incomparably greater, since there was nothing lovely in us whatever, and yet He loved us? In us there is, by nature, nothing to attract the affection of a holy God, but quite the reverse--and yet He loved us. Herein, indeed, is love! When we love God, it is an honor to us! It exalts a man to be allowed to love a Being so glorious! A philosopher once wrote that for a man to speak of being the friend of God was too daring and, in the reverence of this thoughtful heathen, there was much to admire, for, indeed, there is an infinite difference between the glorious God and the sinful creature, man! Though God, in condescension, allows us to call Him, Friend, and Jesus says, "You are My friends," yet this is beyond reason, and is a sweet Revelation of the Holy Spirit. What an uplifting there is in it for us! On the other hand, God's love to us can add nothing to Him. It gives, but receives not. Divine Love can have no recompense. That He, the Infinite, should stoop to love the finite--that He, the infinitely pure, should love the guilty--this is a vast condescension. See, moreover, what it involved, for this love rendered it necessary that in the Person of His dear Son, God should be "despised and rejected of men," should make Himself of no reputation and should even be numbered with the transgressors. "Herein is love." When we love God, we are gainers by the deed. He that loves God does, in the most effectual manner, love himself. We are filled with riches when we abound in love to God--it is our wealth, our health, our might and our delight! But God gains nothing by loving us. I hardly like to set the two in contrast, for our love is so poor and pitiable a thing as compared with the immeasurable love of God. It is our duty to love God--we are bound to do it. As His creatures we ought to love our Creator! As preserved by His care, we are under obligation to love Him for His goodness! We owe Him so much that our utmost love is a mere acknowledgment of our debt. But God loved us to whom He owed nothing at all! Whatever might have been the claims of a creature upon his Creator, we forfeited them all by our rebellion! Sinful men had no rights towards God except the right of being punished. Yet the Lord manifested boundless love to our race, which was only worthy to be destroyed. Oh words! How you fail me! I cannot utter my heart by these poor lips of clay! Oh God, how infinite was Your love which was given without any obligation on Your part--freely and unsought--and all because You will to love! Yes You love because You are Love! There was no cause, no constraint, no claim why You should love mankind except that Your own heart led You to do so What is man that You are mindful of him? "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us." I have thus pointed out the wellhead of love--let us draw from it and from none other! If you go into the world and say, "I am to love my fellow men because I love God," the motive is good, but it is questionable, limited and variable. How much better to argue--"I am to love my fellow men because God loves me." When my love grows cold towards God, and when, by reason of my infirmity and imperfection, I am led, even, to question whether I love God at all, then my argument and my impulse would fail me if it came from my own love to God. But if I love the fallen because God loved me, then I have an unchanging motive, an unquestionable argument and a forcible impulse not to be resisted! Therefore the Apostle cried, "The love of Christ constrains us." It is always well for a Christian to have the strongest motive and to rely upon the most potent and perpetual force and, therefore, the Apostle bids us look to Divine Love and not to our own. " Herein is love," he says, "not that we loved God, but that God loved us." So far the "not." Let us turn to the, "but." "But that He loved us." I have nothing new to say, nor do I wish to say anything new. But I would like you to meditate on each one of these words--"He loved us." Three words, but what weight of meaning! "He," who is infinitely holy and cannot endure iniquity--"He loved us" "He," whose glory is the astonishment of the greatest of intelligent beings--"He loved us." "He," whom the Heaven of heavens cannot contain, "loved us." "He" who is God all-sufficient and needs nothing of us--neither can, indeed, receive anything at our hands--"He loved us." What joy lies sleeping here! Oh, that we could wake it up! What hope, too, for hopeless sinners because, "God loved us." If a man could know that he was loved of all his fellow men, if he could have it for certain that he was loved by all the angels, doted on by cherubim and seraphim, yet these were but so many drops and all put together could not compare with the main ocean contained in the fact that, "God loved us!" Now ring that second silver bell--"He loved us." I do not think the Apostle is, here, so much speaking of God's special love to His own elect as of His love to men in general. He saw our race ruined in the Fall and He could not bear that man should be destroyed. Lord, what is man that You visit him in love? Yet He did so visit him. The Lord's love made Him lament man's revolt and cry, "I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against Me!" And He bade Heaven and earth witness to His grief. He saw that sin had brought men into wretchedness and misery and would destroy them forever, but He would not have it so. He loved them with the love of pity, with the love of sweet and strong benevolence and He declared it with an oath--"As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, but that he turn unto Me and live." "Herein is love." But if you and I are reconciled to God, we can lay the emphasis, each one for himself, upon this word, "love," and view it as special, effectual, electing love. Let each Believer say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." Then what force is in my text, "He loved us"--it is not enough that He pitied us, or spared us, or helped us, but, "He loved us." It has often made me rise from my seat to think that God loves me! I could not sit still and hear the thrilling Truth! Such knowledge is too wonderful for me! It is high, I cannot attain unto it. It is sweet to be loved even by a dog. It is sweet to be loved by a babe. It is sweet to be loved by a friend--it is sweet to be loved by God's people--but, oh, to be loved by God and to know it! This is paradise! Would a man need any other Heaven than to know for certain that he enjoyed the love of God? Note the third word. "He loved us"--"us"--the most insignificant of beings. There is an anthill somewhere--it is no matter to you where it is. It teems with ants. Stir the nest and they swarm in armies. Think of one of them. No, you do not need to know anything about him! His business is no concern of yours, so let him go. But that ant, after all, is more considerable to you than you are to God. "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing." What are you, even, in this great city?--One man, one woman in London, in England, in the population of the world--what a cipher you are! Yet what is the population of this world compared with the universe? I suppose that all these stars which we see at night, all the countless worlds within our range of vision, are but as a little dust in a lone corner of God's great house! The whole solar system and all the systems of worlds we have ever thought of, are but as a drop in a bucket compared with the boundless sea of creation! And even that is as nothing compared to the infinite God! And yet, "He loved us"--the insignificant creatures of an hour! What is more, He loved us though in our insignificance we dared to rebel against Him! We boasted against Him. We cried, "Who is Jehovah?" We lifted up our hand to fight with Him. Ridiculous rebellion! Absurd warfare! Had He but glanced at us and annihilated us, it would have been as much as we could merit at His hands! But to think that He should love us--love us, mark you--when we were in rebellion against Him. This is marvelous! Observe that the previous verse speaks of us as being dead in sin. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." Then we were dead, dead to all goodness, or thought or power of goodness--criminals shut up in the condemned cell--and yet God loved us with a great love even when we were dead in trespasses and sins! Child of God, God's love to you today is wonderful! But think of His love to you when you were far gone in rebellion against Him. When not a throb of holy, spiritual life could be found in your entire being--yet He loved you and sent His Son that you might live through Him! Moreover, He loved us when we were steeped in sin. Does not our text tell us so? For He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins and this implies that we needed to be reconciled! Our righteous Judge was angry with us. His righteous wrath smoked against our evil and yet, even then, "He loved us." He was angry with us as a Judge, but yet He loved us! He was determined to punish and yet resolved to save! This is a world of wonders! I am utterly beaten by my text! I confess myself mastered by my theme! But who among us can measure the unfathomable? "Herein is love," that God freely, out of the spontaneous motion of His own heart, should love us! This is the argument for love! This is the inexhaustible Fountain out of which all love must come. If we desire love, may we come and fill our vessels here and bear it out to others. Love springing from our own bosoms is feeble and scant--but the love of God is a great deep, forever fresh, full and flowing. Here are those springs of the sea of which we spoke-- "Herein is love!" II. I need your attention a little longer while I speak as best I can upon THE MARVELOUS OUTFLOW OF THAT LOVE. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Beloved, the love of God is seen in creation! He that studies the mechanism of the human frame and of its surroundings will see much of Divine kindness there. The love of God is to be seen in Providence! He that watches the loving hand of God in daily life will not need to look far before he sees tokens of a Father's care. But if you want to know when the great deep of God's love was broken up and arose in the fullness of its strength to prevail over all. If you would see it revealed in a deluge, like Noah's flood, you must wait till you see Jesus born at Bethlehem and crucified on Calvary, for His mission to men is the most Divine manifestation of love! Consider every word--"He sent His Son." God "sent." Love caused that mission. If there was to be reconciliation between God and man, man ought to have sent to God--the offender ought to be the first to apply for forgiveness! The weaker should apply to the greater for help. The poor man should ask of him who distributes alms. But, "Herein is love," that God "sent." He was first to send an embassy of peace. Today "we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God." Oh, the wonder of this, that God should not wait till rebellious men had sent to His throne for terms of reconciliation, but should commence negotiations Himself! Moreover, God sent such a One--He "sent His Son." If men send an embassy to a great power, they select some great one of their nation to wait upon the potent prince. But if they are dealing with a petty principality, they think a subordinate person quite sufficient for such a business. Admire, then, the true love of the infinitely gracious God, that when He sent an embassy to men, He did not commission an angel nor even the brightest spirit before His Throne, but He sent His Son--oh, the love of God to men! He sent His equal Son to rebels who would not receive Him, would not hear Him, but spat upon Him, scourged Him, stripped Him, slew Him! Yes, "He spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all." He knew what would come of that sending of Him and yet He sent Him!-- "Jesus, commissioned from above, Descends to men below, And shows from where the springs of love In endless currents flow. He whom the boundless Hea ven adores, Whom angels long to see, Quit with joy those blissful shores, Ambassador to me! To me, a worm, a sinful clod, A rebel all forlorn: A foe, a traitor, to my God, And of a traitor born." Note further, not only the grandeur of the Ambassador, but the tenderness of the relationship existing between him and the offended God. "He sent His Son." The previous verse says, "His only-begotten Son." We cannot speak of God except after the manner of men, for God, in all His Glory is incomprehensible. But speaking after the manner of men, what must it have cost Jehovah to take His only Son from His bosom to die? Christ is the Father's Self--in essence they are One--there is but one God. We do not understand the mystery of the Trinity in unity, but we believe it. It was God Himself who came here in the Person of His dear Son! He underwent all--for we are "the flock of God which He has purchased with His own blood." Remember Abraham with the knife unsheathed and wonder as you see him obey the Voice which says, "Take, now, your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and offer him for a sacrifice." Remember yet again that the Lord actually did what Abraham, in obedience, willed to do--He gave up His Son! "It pleased the Father to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief." Christ's death was, in fact, God in human form suffering for human sin! God Incarnate bleeding because of our transgressions! Are we not, now, carried away with the streams of love? I speak my best, my Brothers and Sisters, but if my words were what they ought to be, they would set your souls on fire! Is not all Heaven still astounded at the death of the Only-Begotten? It has not recovered from its amazement that the Heir of all things should bow His head to death! How can I fitly tell you how much God loved the world when He gave His Only-begotten to die that sinners might live? Go a step further. "God sent His Son to be a propitiation," that is, to be not only a reconciler, but the Reconciliation! His sacrifice of Himself as the Atonement through which mercy is rendered possible in consistency with justice! I have heard men say with scorn that God required a sacrifice before He would be reconciled, as if that were wrong on the part of the Judge of All! But let me whisper in their ears--God required it, it is true, for He is just and holy. But God found it Himself! Remember that--Jehovah found the Ransom which He demanded! It was Himself, His own Son, one with Himself, that became the Propitiation and the Reconciliation! It was not that God the Father was unkind and could not be placated unless He smote His Son--but that God the Father was so kind that He could not be unjust! So supremely loving that He must devise a way by which men could be justly saved! An unjust salvation would have been none at all. The Lord found the Reconciliation--I will not say in the sufferings of Christ, though that is true! I will not say in the death of Christ, though that is true! But I will put it in Scriptural words--and here we have it in 1 John 2:2! "He"--that is, Jesus, Himself--"is the propitiation for our sins." The Sent One, in Himself, as well as in all that He did and all that He suffered, is the Reconciliation between God and man! "Herein is love!" In order that there might be peace and love between man and God, God finds the Sin-Offering! He becomes, Himself, the Atonement, that love might reign supreme! What seems to me the most wonderful thing of all is that the Lord Jesus should deal, not only with our sorrow, but with our sin, for, "He is the propitiation for our sins." That God should deal with us as to our virtues, if we had any! That He should deal with us as to our love, if we had any, might not seem so difficult. But that He should send His Son to dwell with us as sinners--yes, and to come into contact with our sins, and thus to take the sword, not only by its hilt, but by its blade, and plunge it into His own heart, and die because of it--this is a miracle of miracles! O Friends, Christ never gave Himself for our righteousness, but He laid down His life for our SINS! He viewed us as sinners when He came to save us. "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." If I had not found Christ till this very minute, I hope I should find Him, now, as my mind drinks in this doctrine! By God's Spirit there seems to me to be such a window opened that even despair may see the light, for if the thing which God sent His Son to deal with was the sin of man, then I, even though I am nothing but a mass of loathsomeness and sin, may yet enjoy the infinite love of God! Oh, guilty ones, hear these words which are more sweet than music and more full of delight than all poetry! Even the harps of angels never rise to higher measures than these which I do so poorly and simply rehearse in your ears! Hear these glad tidings, that God, who made the heavens and the earth--whom you have of-fended--wills not that you die, but loves you so greatly that He opens up a road of reconciliation through the body of His own dear Son! There was no other way by which you could be reconciled to God, for had He reconciled you to a part of Himself and not to His justice, you had not been, in very truth, at all reconciled to God. It is now to God completely just, holy, whose anger burns against sin! It is to Him that you are reconciled by faith in Christ Jesus, through the laying down of His life for men! Oh that God would bless this to all who hear the glad tidings! III. We come at last to think of the CONSEQUENT OUTFLOW OF LOVE FROM US--"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought, also, to love one another." Our love, then, to one another is simply God's love to us, flowing into us and flowing out again. That is all it is! "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us," and then we love others. You have seen a noble fountain in a continental city adorning a public square. Look how the water leaps into the air! And then it falls into a circular basin which fills and pours out its fullness into another, lower down, and this, again, floods a third. Hear the merry splash as the waters fall in showers and cataracts from basin to basin! If you stand at the lower basin and look upon it and say, "Herein is water," that is true, and will be true of the next higher one and so forth. But if you would express the truth as to where the water really is, you may have to look far away, perhaps upon a mountain's side, for there is a vast reservoir from which pipes are laid to bring these waters and force them to their height that they may descend so beautifully. Thus the love we have to our fellow creatures drops from us like the descending silvery cataract from the full basin--but the first source of it is the immeasurable love of God which is hidden away in His very essence--the love which never changes and never can be diminished! "Herein is love!" If you and I desire to love our fellow Christians and to love the fallen race of man, we must be joined on to the aqueduct which conducts love from this eternal source, or else we shall soon fail in love. Observe, Brothers and Sisters, then, that as the love of God is the source of all true love in us, so a sense of that love stimulates us. Whenever you feel that you love God, you overflow with love to all God's people! I am sure you do. It is when you get to doubt the love of God that you grow hard and cold. But when you are fired with the love of a dying Savior who gave Himself for you, you feel as if you loved every beggar in the street--and you long to bring every harlot to Christ's dear feet--you cannot help it! Man, if Christ baptizes your heart into His love, you will be covered with it and filled with it! Your love will respect the same persons as God's love does, and for the same reasons. God loves men! So will you. God loves them when there is no good in them, and you will love them in the same way. Sometimes the wickedness of men kindles in the heart of a true Christian a stronger affection for them. The deeper down they are, the more they need a Savior. Did not our Moravian Brothers and Sisters feel, when they went out as missionaries, that they would prefer to go, first, to the most barbarous tribes? They said, "The more degraded they are, the more they need a Savior." And should not the missionary spirit make Believers feel that if men are sunk until they are as low as brutes, and as savage as devils, that this is the stronger reason for our being eager to bring them to Christ? I hope that abominable spirit which used to come in among Christian people has been kicked away to its father, the devil, where it ought to be--I mean the spirit which despises the poor and the fallen! When I have heard people say, "What is the good of looking after such riff-raff?" I have been saddened. The Church of God feels that the souls of the meanest are precious--that to save the most foul, the most ignorant, the most degraded, the most brutalized man or woman that ever lives is an objective worthy of the effort of the whole Church--since God thought it worthy of the death of Jesus Christ that He might bring sinners, dead in sin, to Himself! Brothers and Sisters, we will not have grasped the Truth of God unless we feel that our love to men must be practical, because God's love to us is so. His love did not pent up like the waters in the secret caverns of the earth, but it welled up like the waters in the days of Noah, when we read that the fountains of the deep were broken up. In the gift of the Lord Jesus we behold the reality of Divine love. When we see the poor, we must not say "Be you warmed; be you filled; I am sorry for you." But we must let our love relieve them from our funds! If we see the ignorant, we must not say, "Dear me, the Church is neglecting the masses. The Church must wake up." No, but we must bestir ourselves and struggle, ourselves, to warn sinners. If there are any near you who lie degraded, do not say, "I wish somebody would go after them." Go yourself! Our love ought to follow the love of God in one point, namely, in always seeking to produce reconciliation! It was to this end that God sent His Son. Has anybody offended you? Seek reconciliation. "Oh, but I am the offended party." So was God and He went straight away and sought reconciliation. Brothers and Sisters, do the same! "Oh, but I have been insulted." Just so! So was God--all the wrong was towards Him, yet, "He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." "Oh, but the party is so unworthy." So are you. But "God loved you and sent His Son." Go and write according to that copy. I do not mean that this love is to come out of your own heart, originally, but I do mean that it is to flow out of your heart because God has made it to flow into it. You are one of those basins of the fountain--love has poured into you from above--let it run over to those who are below. Go forth at once and try and make reconciliation, not only between yourself and your friend, but between every man and God. Let that be your objective! Christ has become man's Reconciliation and we are to try and bring this Reconciliation near to every poor sinner that comes in our path. We are to tell him that God in Christ is reconciled. We are to say to him, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours, only, but for the sins of the whole world." Mark that word! It tallies with that other, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world." God is now able to deal on Gospel terms with the whole race! We need never think that we shall meet with men to whom God will not consent to be reconciled. The propitiation is such that whoever comes to God shall be received through it. God is always within to receive every soul that comes to Him by Jesus Christ. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Your work and mine is reconciliation and everything that tends that way! When we have done all, what then? We shall have nothing to boast of! Suppose a man should become so loving that he gave himself wholly up for his fellow creatures and actually died for them--would he have anything to boast of? Read my text over again. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought, also, to love one another"--so that if you get to the highest point of self-sacrifice, you will never be able to boast, for you have only, then, done what it was your duty to have done! Thus you see the highest grade of Christianity excludes all idea of salvation by works, for when we come up to its utmost pitch, if we give our body to be burned for love, yet, still, we have done no more than it was our duty to have done, considering the tremendous obligations under which the love of God has laid us. If you had to manage the waterworks for the distribution of water all over this city and there was a certain pipe into which you poured water, but none ever came out at the other end, do you know what you would do? You would remove it and say, "This does not suit my purpose. I need a pipe that will give out as well as receive." That is exactly what the Lord desires of us. Do not selfishly say, "I want to sit down and enjoy the love of God. I shall never say a word to anybody about Christ. I will never give a poor creature so much as a brass farthing, but I want to sit down and be solaced with the love of God." If you think thus, you are a plugged up pipe! You are of no use--you will have to be taken out of the system of the Church--for the system of love for the world requires open pipes through which Divine Love may freely flow. May the Lord clear you and fill you, so that out of you there may continually flow rivers of living water. Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-1 John 4. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"--199, 782, 803. __________________________________________________________________ The Holy Spirit's Threefold Conviction of Men (No. 1708) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 25, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And when He is come, He wiil reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." John 16:8-11. THE Apostles had a stern task before them. They were to go into all nations and proclaim the Gospel to every creature, beginning at Jerusalem. Remember, only two or three years before they were simple fishermen engaged upon the Galilean Lake--men of little or no education, men of no rank or standing. At best they were but Jews and that nation was despised everywhere, while these peasants were not even men of repute among their own nation! Yet these men were to turn the world upside down! They were told by their Lord that they would be brought before rulers and kings for His sake and that they would be persecuted wherever they went. They were to proclaim the Gospel in the teeth of the imperial power of Rome, the ancient wisdom of Greece and the fierce cruelties of barbaric lands. And they were to set up the kingdom of peace and righteousness. At the very time when they were about to receive their commission, they were also to lose the bodily Presence of their great Leader. While He was with them, they had felt no fear. If they were puzzled at any time by the Scribes and Pharisees, they resorted to Jesus, and they were rescued from bewilderment. Never man spoke like that Man! Never did such wisdom and prudence dwell in any mind as dwelt in the mind of Christ! His Presence was their protection, the broad shield behind which they securely stood, whatever shafts might be shot at them by their adversaries. But now that He was to depart out of the world unto the Father, they would be deprived of their fortress and high tower--they would be as children bereft of their father, or, at best, as soldiers without a general. Here was a sad case. Work given and power with-drawn--a battle beginning and the conquering Captain leaving. How happy it was for these disciples that our blessed Lord could tell them that His going away would be for their gain rather than for their loss! For when He was gone, the Spirit of God would come to be an Advocate for them and with them, and by His power they would be able to silence all their enemies and achieve their mission! The Holy Spirit was to be their Comforter, that they might not be afraid, and their Advocate, that they might not be baffled. When they spoke, there would be a power within them suggesting their words, a power with those words convincing their hearers, and a power in their hearers causing the word spoken to abide in their memories--that power would be Divine, the power of the Holy Spirit, who is One God with the Father and the Son. It is one thing for men to speak, and quite another thing for God to speak through men. The work of proclaiming the Gospel to the world was far too great for the 12, but it was by no means too great for the Spirit of God! Who can limit His power? Is anything too hard for the Lord? The Holy Spirit being their Helper, these feeble men were equal to the task which God had committed to their trust. The Presence of the Holy Spirit was better for them than the bodily Presence of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus could only have been in one place as to His corporeal Presence, but the Holy Spirit could be everywhere! The sight of Jesus would but appeal to the senses, but the power of the Holy Spirit touched the heart and worked spiritual life and saving faith! Thus, by His own withdrawal and the sending of the Spirit, our Lord furnished His servants for the conflict. We will, at this time, observe what the Holy Spirit did as an Advocate. The passage cannot be fully understood unless we give it three renderings. But I do not pretend that even then, we shall have pressed from this choice cluster, all the generous wine of its meaning! To my mind, it is a compendium of all the work of the Spirit of God. By our three readings we shall see much--first, the Spirit of God goes with the preaching of the Gospel to reprove men of sin--and so to embarrass them in the presence of the preacher of righteousness. Secondly (and this is a much more blessed result), to convict men of sin and so to lead them to repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And, thirdly, the ultimate result of the Holy Spirit's work will be to convict men before all intelligent beings of having been guilty of the grossest sin--having opposed the most perfect righteousness and of having defied the most glorious judgment. We shall try to see the meaning of the passage through these three windows. I. First, we believe that a promise is here made to the servants of Christ that when they go forth to preach the Gospel the Holy Spirit will be with them TO REPROVE MEN. By this is meant, not so much to save them as to silence them. When the minister of Christ stands up to plead his Master's cause, another Advocate appears in court, whose pleadings would make it hard for men to resist the Truth of God. Observe how this reproof was given with regard to sin. On the day of Pentecost the disciples spoke with many different tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Men from all countries under Heaven heard themselves addressed in their native tongues! This was a great marvel and all Jerusalem rang with it! And when Peter stood up to preach to the assembled multitude and told the Jews that they had crucified the Holy One and the Just, the signs and wonders worked by the Spirit in the name of Jesus were a witness which they could not refute. The very fact that the Spirit of God had given to these unlettered men the gift of tongues was evidence that Jesus of Nazareth, of whom they spoke, was no impostor! It was laid down in the old Jewish Law that if a man prophesied and his prophecies did not come to pass, he was to be condemned as a false prophet. But if that which he said came to pass, then he was a true Prophet. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ had promised the outpouring of the Spirit, which had also been foretold in reference to the Messiah by the Prophet Joel. When, therefore, that mark of the true Messiah was set upon Jesus of Nazareth by the coming of the Holy Spirit and the working of miracles, men were reproved for having refused to believe in Jesus. The evidence was brought home to them that they had, with wicked hands, crucified the Lord of Glory--and so they stood reproved. All the subsequent miracles went to prove the same thing, for when the Apostles worked miracles, the world was reproved of sin because it believed not on Christ. It was not that a few disciples testified to the sin of the race, but the Holy Spirit, Himself, made men tremble, as by His deeds of power, He bore witness to the Lord Jesus and exhibited the fact that in crucifying Jesus, the world had put to death the Incarnate Son of God! Do you not see the terrible power with which the first disciples were thus armed? It was more to them than the rod in the hand of Moses with which he smote Pharaoh with so many plagues. It needed all the willfulness of that stiff-necked generation to resist the Holy Spirit and refuse to bow before Him whom they had pierced--they were full of malice and obstinacy--but in their secret hearts they were sore put to it and felt that they were fighting against God. Do you not see, too, dear Friends, how the working of the Holy Spirit with the Apostles and their immediate followers was a wonderful rebuke to the world concerning the matter of righteousness? Jesus was gone and His Divine example no longer stood out like clear light reproving their darkness--but the Holy Spirit attested that righteousness and compelled them to feel that Jesus was the Holy One and that His cause was righteous. The teaching of the Apostles, sealed by the Holy Spirit, made the world see what righteousness was as they had never seen it before! A fresh standard of morals was set up in the world and it has never been taken down--it stands in its place to rebuke, if not to improve! The world was then sunk in the uttermost depths of vice--even its good men were loathsome! But now another kind of righteousness was exhibited in the teachings of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit came to set the seal of Divine approval to it so that if men continued in sin, it might be against light and knowledge, for they now knew what was righteousness and could no longer be mistaken upon that point. God was with the preachers of a new righteousness and by many different signs and wonders He attested the cause of the Gospel. Now, Brothers, we also rejoice in this, seeing that the witness of the Truth of God is for all time and we know of a surety that the Kingdom which our Lord Jesus has set up among men is Divinely sanctioned as the Kingdom of Righteousness which, in the end, shall grind to powder the powers of evil! We are the covenanted servants of a Lord whose righteousness was declared among men by the personal witness of God the Holy Spirit. Are you not glad to be enlisted in such a service? Oh, world, are you not embarrassed for resisting such a kingdom? These 12 fishermen could not, of themselves, have exhibited a new standard of righteousness among men! They could not, on their own, have set before all nations a higher ideal of moral excellence! But when the eternal power and majesty of the Godhead vouched for the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, the course of the Apostolic Church became like that of the sun in the heavens! "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." None could stand against them, for, as when the morning breaks, the darkness flies and the bats and the night birds hasten away, so when the messengers of mercy proclaimed the Righteousness of God, man's hypocrisy and self-glorying fled away! Then, too, they were made to feel that a judgment had come; that somehow the life and the death of Jesus of Nazareth had made a crisis in the world's history and condemned the way and manner of the ungodly. All historians must confess that the turning point of the race is the Cross of Christ. From that moment the power of evil received its mortal wound! It dies hard, but from that hour it was doomed. At the death of our Lord, the heathen oracles were struck dumb. There had been oracles all over the world, either the product of evil spirits or of crafty priests, but after the Christian era the world ceased to believe in these voices and they were no more heard. Systems of false worship, so firmly rooted in prejudice and custom that it seemed impossible that they should ever be overthrown, were torn up by their roots by the breath of the Lord. The Apostles might have said to all the systems of falsehood, "as a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence." Men could not help perceiving that the Prince of Darkness had been cast down from his undivided power and that he spoke, from then on, with bated breath. The Seed of the woman had met the old serpent and, in the duel between them, He had gained such a victory that the cause of evil was henceforth hopeless. Moreover, the thought flashed upon humanity more clearly than ever--there would be a Day of Judgment! Men heard and felt the truth of the warning that God would judge the world, at the last, by the Man, Christ Jesus! The dim forms of Rhadamanthus on a cloudy judgment seat and of the assembly before his throne, and of the crowds divided according to their lives, now began to assume another and far more definite shape. It was written on the heart of mankind that there is a judgment to come! Men will rise again! They shall stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of the things done in the body, whether good or evil. The world heard this and the tidings have never been forgotten! The Holy Spirit has reproved men by the prospect of judgment! The Holy Spirit attested the life of Christ, the teaching of the Apostles and all the grand Truths of God that were contained therein, by what He did in the way of miracles and by what He did in the way of enlightening, impressing and subduing human hearts. Henceforth man is accused and rebuked by the great Advocate! And all who remain in opposition to the Lord Jesus, remain so in defiance of the clearest proofs of His mission. He who rejects human testimony when it is true is foolish, but he who despises the witness of the Holy Spirit is profane, for he calls the Spirit of Truth a liar! Let him beware lest he so sin against the Holy Spirit as to come under the most terrible of curses--for it is written of him that speaks against the Holy Spirit--"he has no forgiveness." Brothers and Sisters, does not that put the Apostles in quite a different position from that in which they appeared to be? If we judge according to sense and carnal reason, their adventure was Quixotic, their success was impossible! Everybody would have said to them, "Go back to your nets and to your boats. What can you do against the established system of Judaism in your own country? And if that is too hard for you, what will you be able to do in other lands? There are nations that have been tutored in their own learning for thousands of years and have become adept in all the arts and sciences! They have brought all the charms of poetry, music and statuary to support their idolatrous systems--you are fools to think that you unlearned and ignorant men can ever overturn all this!" Would not prudence agree with this? Yes, but if God is in these men--if He that dwelt in the bush at Horeb and made it burn, though it was not consumed--will dwell in them and each one of them shall be gifted with a tongue of fire, this is a different business altogether! Surely, He that made the world, could make it new! He that said, "Let there be light, and there was light," could command light to shine upon the moral and spiritual night. Thus much upon the first reading of the text. Let us advance to that which will more interest you. II. The Holy Spirit was to go with the preaching of the Word of God TO CONVINCE MEN of three great prominent Truths of God. This was to be a saving Word--they are to be so convinced as to repent of sin, to accept of righteousness and yield themselves to the judgment of the Lord. Here we see as in a map, the work of the Spirit upon the hearts of those who are ordained unto eternal life! Those three effects are all necessary and each one is, in the highest degree, important to true conversion. First, the Holy Spirit is come to convince men of sin. It is absolutely necessary that men should be convinced of sin. The fashionable theology of the day is--"Convince men of the goodness of God! Show them the universal fatherhood and assure them of unlimited mercy. Win them by God's love, but never mention His wrath against sin, or the need of an Atonement, or the possibility of there being a place of punishment! Do not censure poor creatures for their failings. Do not judge and condemn. Do not search the heart or lead men to be low-spirited and sorrowful. Comfort and encourage, but never accuse and threaten!" Yes, that is the way of man--but the way of the Spirit of God is very different! He comes on purpose to convince men of sin, to make them feel that they are guilty, greatly guilty--so guilty that they are lost, ruined and undone! He comes to remind them not only of God's loveliness, but of their own ^loveliness--of their own enmity and hatred to this God of Love and, consequently, of their terrible sin in thus ill-using One so infinitely kind. The Holy Spirit does not come to make sinners comfortable in their sins, but to cause them to grieve over their sins! He does not help them to forget their sin, or think little of it, but He comes to convince them of the horrible enormity of their iniquity! It is no work of the Spirit to pipe to men's dancing--He does not bring forth flute, harp, dulcimer and all kinds of music to charm the unbelieving into a good opinion of themselves--He comes to make sin appear sin and to let us see its fearful consequences! He comes to wound so that no human balm can heal! He comes to kill so that no earthly power can make us live! The flowers bedeck the meadows when the grass is green, but lo, a burning wind comes from the desert and the grass withers and the flowers fall away. What is it that makes the beauty and excellence of human righteousness to wither as the green herb? Isaiah says it is "because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it." There is a withering work of the Spirit of God which we must experience or we shall never know His quickening and restoring power. This withering is a most necessary experience and, just now, needs much to be insisted on. Today we have so many built up who were never pulled down; so many filled who were never emptied; so many exalted who were never humbled that I, the more earnestly, remind you that the Holy Spirit must convince us of sin or we cannot be saved! This work is most necessary because without it there is no leading men to receive the Gospel of the Grace of God. We cannot make headway with certain people because they profess faith very readily, but they are not convinced of anything. "Oh, yes, we are sinners, no doubt, and Christ died for sinners"--that is the free-and-easy way with which they handle heavenly mysteries--as if they were the nonsense verses of a boy's exercise, or the stories of Mother Goose! This is all mockery and we are weary of it. But get near a real sinner and you have found a man you can deal with--I mean the man who is a sinner and there is no mistake about it--he mourns in his inmost soul that he is so. In such a man you find one who will welcome the Gospel, welcome Grace and welcome a Savior. To him the news of pardon will be as cold water to a thirsty soul--and the Doctrines of Grace will be as honey dropping from the comb! "A sinner," says one of our songsters, "is a sacred thing"--the Holy Spirit has made Him so. Your sham sinner is a horrid creature, but a man truly convinced of sin by the Spirit of God is a being to be sought after as a jewel that will adorn the crown of the Redeemer! Note here, that the Spirit of God comes to convince men of sin because they never will be convinced of sin apart from His Divine advocacy. A natural conscience touched by the Spirit of God may do a good deal in the way of showing a man his faults. It may thus make him uneasy and may bring about a reformation of life. But it is only the Spirit of God that, to the full extent, convinces a man of sin so as to bring forth repentance, self-despair and faith in Jesus. For what is the sin that you and I are guilty of? Ah, Brothers and Sisters, it is not easy to tell, but this I know, that the extent of sin is never known till the Spirit of God reveals the secret chambers of the heart's abominations. We do a thousand things that we do not know to be sin till the Spirit of God enlightens us and pleads the cause of holiness in us. What natural man, for instance, ever laments over evil thoughts or desires, or the imaginations which flit across his mind? Yet all these are sins and sins which cause a gracious heart the deepest distress! If we were never actually to commit evil, yet if we desire to do so, we have already sinned! And if we feel pleasure in thinking of evil, we have already sinned. This poison is in our nature and shows itself in a thousand ways. The fact that we not only sin, but are, by nature, sinful, is one which our pride kicks against--and we will not learn it till the Spirit of God teaches it to us. Neither does any man know the exceeding sinfulness of sin till the Light of God falls upon the black mass from the Holy Spirit. Every sin is, as it were, an assault upon God's Throne, Glory and life. Sin would dethrone the Most High and destroy Him if it could--but men do not see this. They talk of sin most lightly and know not that it scatters firebrands and death. I tell you, when the Spirit of God makes a man see sin in its naked deformity, he is horrified! When I saw, or thought I saw, the heinousness of sin, it was intolerable and I had no rest in my spirit. Some such sight we must all have, or we shall never look to the Lord Jesus to take away our sin. None but those whose wounds smart are likely to apply for the heavenly balm. The Holy Spirit dwells upon one point in particular--"of sin, because they believe not on Me." None see the sin of unbelief except by His light. A man thinks, "Well, if I have not believed in Christ, that is a pity, perhaps, but still, I was never a thief, or a liar, or a drunk, or unchaste. Unbelief is a matter of very little consequence. I can set that right at any time." But the Holy Spirit makes a man see that not to believe in Christ is a crowning, damning sin, since, "he that believes not has made God a liar"--and what can be more atrocious than that? He who believes not on Christ has rejected God's mercy and has done despite to the grandest display of God's love! He has despised God's unspeakable Gift and trampled on the blood of Christ! In this he has dishonored God on a very tender point. He has insulted Him concerning His only-begotten Son! How I wish that the Spirit of God would come upon unbelievers, here, and make them see what they are and where they are with regard to the one and only Savior! How shall they escape, who neglect so great a salvation? It will not matter how feebly I speak this morning if the Spirit of God will only work by the Truth of God on you--you will perceive the greatness of your crime and you will never rest until you have believed on the Lord Jesus--and found forgiveness for your high offense against the bleeding Lamb! So far, then, upon the first operation of the Holy Spirit. The next work of the Spirit is to convince men of righteousness, that is to say, in Gospel terms, to show them that they have no righteousness of their own and no means of working righteousness--and that apart from Grace they are condemned! Thus He leads them to value the righteousness of God which is, upon all them that believe, a righteousness which covers sin and renders them acceptable with God. Lend me your ears a moment while I call your attention to a great wonder! Among men, if a person is convicted of wrong-doing, the next step is judgment. A young man, for instance, has been in the service of an employer and he has embezzled money--he is convicted of the theft by process of law and found guilty. What follows next? Why, judgment is pronounced and he must suffer the penalty! But observe how our gracious God interpolates another process. Truly, His ways are not our ways! "He shall convince of sin." The next step would be judgment, but no, the Lord inserts an up to now unknown middle term and convinces "of righteousness." Be amazed at this! The Lord takes a man, even when he is sinful and conscious of that sin, and makes him righteous on the spot by putting away his sin and justifying him by the righteousness of faith, a righteousness which comes to him by the worthiness of Another who has worked out a righteousness for him! Can that be? Brothers and Sisters, this seems to be unthinkable--so impossible that it needs the Spirit of God to convince men of it! I may now set forth the great plan whereby the Lord Jesus is made of God unto us righteousness! I may show how the Son of God became Man that He might fully keep the Law of God for us and, having done so, and having added His passive obedience to His active service, He presented to His Father a complete vindication of His injured Law so that every man that believes on Him shall be delivered from condemnation and accepted in the Beloved! I might also tell how Christ's righteousness is set to our account so that faith is reckoned unto us for righteousness, even as was the case with faithful Abraham. Yet all my labor will be in vain till the Spirit shall make it plain! Many hear the gladsome tidings, but they do not receive the Truth of God, for they are not convinced of it. They need to be persuaded of it before they will embrace it--and that persuasion is not in my power. Did I hear one remark, "I cannot see this way of righteousness"? I answer, No, and you never will until the Spirit of God convinces you of it! Note well the great point of the Spirit's argument--"Of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more." Our Lord was sent into the world to work out a righteousness and here, He says, "I go." But He would not go till He had done His work. He says, also, "I go to My Father." But He would not go back to His Father till He had fulfilled His Covenant engagements. "I go to My Father," that is, I go to receive a reward and to sit upon My Father's Throne. But He could not have received this Glory if He had not finished His appointed work! Behold, then, Christ has finished a righteousness which is freely given to all them that believe! And all those who trust in Christ are, for His sake, rewarded as righteous before God--and are, in fact, righteous, so that Paul says, "Who is he that condemns?" His ground for asking that question is the same as that which the Spirit uses in my text. Paul says, "It is Christ that died, yes, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." He quotes, as the Holy Spirit does, the resurrection, ascension and enthronement of the great Intercessor as the proof positive that there is a perfect righteousness for all believing sinners! I know that many will say, "This is making people righteous who are not righteous" and, therefore, they will raise many objections. Just so! This is the Glory of God, that He justifies the ungodly and saves sinners by Christ. "Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity." "I do not see it," cries one. And our answer is, "We know you do not! We are not in the least surprised that you reject our testimony--we never expected you to receive it unless the arm of the Lord should be revealed and the Holy Spirit should convince you of righteousness." No man comes to Christ who is not drawn of the Father and enlightened by the Spirit! But if the Spirit convinces you, we shall soon hear you sing-- "Jesus, Your blood and righteousness My beauty are, my glorious dress! Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head." Dear people of God, pray hard that the Spirit of God may, even now, convince unbelievers that the only true righteousness for mortal men is that which comes not by the works of the Law, but by the hearing of faith! But then comes a third point, the Spirit of God is to convince men of judgment. To whom is this judgment committed? "The Father has committed all judgment unto the Son." The true penitent feels that if he had all his sins forgiven him, yet it will not serve his turn so long as he lies wallowing in sin. He feels that the great enemy of his soul must be dethroned, or else forgiveness, itself, will afford him no rest of heart. He must be rescued from the power as well as from the guilt of sin, or else he abides in bondage. He must see the power of evil hewn in pieces before the Lord, as Samuel hewed Agag of old. Listen, O troubled one! You shall be set free, for, "the prince of this world is judged." Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil--and on the Cross, our Redeemer judged Satan, overcame him and cast him down! Satan is now a condemned criminal, a vanquished rebel. His reigning power over all Believers is broken. He has great wrath, knowing that his time is short, but that wrath is held in check by his Conqueror! In His passion, our Lord fought Satan foot to foot and overcame him, spoiling principalities and powers and making a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Do you believe this? May the Spirit of God convince you of it! O tried Believer, the Lord Jesus overthrew the devil for you! He crushed the powers of darkness for you! Believing in Him, you shall find evil dethroned in you and all the forces of sin hurled from their high places! You shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb! Again, I ask, do you believe this? Christ is made of God unto us sanctification--He saves His people from their sins--He makes them holy and so breaks in pieces their enemy. Though it will cost you many a conflict and the beaded sweat may, in the hour of temptation, stand upon your brow as you fear that you will fall from holiness, yet the Lord shall bruise Satan under your feet, shortly, for He has already bruised him under His own feet on your behalf! The Spirit of God is needed to convince our unbelieving hearts that it is so. Most men dream that they must overcome sin by their own strength. Alas, the strong armed man still keeps the house against our feebleness. You have a pretty piece of work before you if, in your own strength, you venture on this conflict. I can hear the devil laughing at you even now! This leviathan is not to be tamed by you. Job would say, "Will you play with him as with a bird?" Do you think the devil is as easily managed as a woman carries her pet bird on her finger and puts it to her lip to peck a seed? Can you draw out leviathan with a hook? Will he speak soft words unto you? Will you take him to be a servant forever? Your arrows cannot come at him, nor your sword wound him! "Lay your hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more." A Divine power is needed and that power is ready to display itself if it is humbly sought! Many who are convinced of the righteousness of Christ are not yet fully convinced that evil is judged, condemned and cast down. They are haunted with the dread that they may yet perish by the hand of the enemy. Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, see the need of the Holy Spirit to advocate in your heart the cause of and Truth of God--and make you believe that the Lord Jesus has supreme power over every enemy! I sometimes meet with a Christian who tells me the world is all going to the bad, the Gospel is being utterly defeated, Christ is routed, the devil is waving the black flag and shouting victory. I know how terrible is the conflict, but I believe that my Lord Jesus has judged the whole kingdom of evil and, in that fact I see Satan fall like lightning from Heaven! Our Lord must reign! His enemies must lick the dust! We shall judge the fallen angels at the Last Great Day and, meanwhile, a believing life is a life of triumph over the arch enemy! In the power of the Spirit it shall be proven that truth is mightier than error, love is stronger than hate and holiness is higher than sin, for the Lord's right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory! Behold how the ascended Savior leads captivity captive! See how He comes from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah, for He has trodden sin and Hell in the winepress and now He travels in the greatness of His strength, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save! Let me run again over this ground, that we may not overlook anything. Dear Friends, those of us who are saved still need the Holy Spirit with us every day to convince us of sin! Good men do, at this hour, most complacently, things which, in clearer light, they would never think of doing! May the Holy Spirit continually show us layer after layer of sin, that we may remove it. May He reveal to us rank after rank of sin, that we may conquer all its forces. May He especially make known to us the sin of not believing in Christ, for even we have our doubts and fears. After a sermon concerning sin, the poor child of God cries out, "I dare not believe! I am afraid I shall be lost, after all." This unbelief is another sin. Strange way of escaping from sin by plunging into it! To doubt the Lord is to add sin to sin! No sin is more pernicious than the sin of not believing. Whenever our heart distrusts the Lord, we grieve His Spirit--therefore we always need the Holy Spirit to convince us of this evil and bitter thing--and to lead us to trust after a child-like fashion. Any mistrust of God's promise; any fear of failure on God's part; any thought of His unfaithfulness is a crime against the honor of the Divine majesty! Oh, convincing Spirit, dwell with me from day to day convincing me of sin and especially making me to feel that the worst of all evils is to question my faithful Friend. So, also, may you always have the Spirit of God dwelling with you, convincing you of righteousness. May those of you who are, indeed, Believers, never question but what you are righteous before God. We who believe are made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! Are we assured of this? If so, do not think and talk as if you were still under the curse of the Law, for you are no longer in any such condition. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Oh, may the Spirit of God convince you of that every day--and convince you of it on the ground that Jesus is reigning yonder at the Father's right hand!. The interest of each Believer in His Lord is clear and sure. If Jesus is there, I am there. If the Father has accepted Him, He has accepted me! Do you catch the logic of it? You are in Christ, you are one with Him--as He is, so are you in Him! Hold fast to the fact that you are not condemned. How can you be? You are at the right hand of God in Christ. You, condemned? Why, you are "accepted in the Beloved," for your Representative is accepted by God and made to sit upon His Throne! Jesus is exalted, not for Himself, alone, but for all those who believe in Him! May the blessed Spirit fully convince you of this grand Truth of God! And, next, may He convince you of judgment--namely, that you have been judged and your enemy has been judged and condemned. The Day of Judgment is not a thing to be dreaded by a Believer. We have stood our trial, and have been acquitted. Our Representative has borne the penalty of our sin. Our chastisement is passed, for Jesus has borne it--He was numbered with transgressors. There is, now, no curse for us! There can be none--Heaven, earth, Hell cannot find a curse for those whom God has blessed--since the Lord Jesus "was made a curse for us." May the Spirit of God come on you afresh, my dearly Beloved, and make you confident and joyful in Him who is the Lord our righteousness, by whom evil has been judged, once and for all! II. Last of all, let us read our text by rendering it, "convict"--"The Spirit of God will CONVICT the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." There is the world. It stands a prisoner at the bar and the charge is that it is and has been full of sin. In courts of law you are often surprised with what comes out. You look at the prisoner and he seems to be a quiet, respectable person. And you say, "I should not think he is guilty." But the advocate who has engaged to plead the cause of righteousness stands up and gives an outline of the case--and you speedily change your mind, until, as the evidence proceeds, you say to yourself, "That is a villain if ever there was one." Now hear the Spirit of God! The Spirit came into the world to make all men know that Jesus is the Christ. And He attested to that fact by miracles that could not be questioned, miracles without number! He has, moreover, attested the truth of the Gospel by the conversion of myriads, whose happy and holy lives have been a proof that Jesus Christ was, indeed, sent forth from God. But what did this wicked world do with Christ? They gave Him a felon's death! They nailed Him to a cross! By this, the world is condemned! We need no further evidence. The world is convicted--self-condemned by the slaughter of Him who was Incarnate Goodness and unbounded Love! The world is base enough to desire to slay its God even when He comes on an errand of love! Take the accused away! The world's guilt is proven beyond question. The wrath of God abides on it. What follows upon this? The trial is viewed from another point. The world has declared that the Gospel is not righteous, that the system which our Lord has come to establish is not true. Up to this day the world is continually raising objections, trying to confuse Believers and, if possible, to defeat our most holy cause. But the Spirit of God, by His teaching, proves that the Gospel is full of righteousness and, by all His operations through the Word of God, He proves that the Gospel is holy, just, good and tends to make men pure, godly, peaceable and holy. By sanctifying men through the Gospel so that they lead gracious lives, the Holy Spirit proves that the Gospel is righteous! This process grows more and more complete as time rolls on. Were not the world unrighteous, it would, long ago, have yielded to the holy message and its holy Messenger. But it will be forced to acknowledge the Truth one day. The Holy Spirit makes the world know that Christ is righteous by flashing into its face the fact that Christ has gone--gone up to Glory, at the right hand of God--and this could not have been had He not been the Righteous One. When the world shall see Jesus enthroned, at the last, and all mankind shall behold the Son of Man on the clouds of Heaven, what conviction will seize on every mind! There will be no agnostics, then! Not a skeptic will be found in that day! Christ seen at the Father's right hand will end all unbelief! And then the Spirit of God shall make men see the judgment. Before the day actually comes, they shall perceive that since Christ has judged the devil; since Christ has cast him down from his high places and his power over the world is already broken, assuredly He will smite all that are in the dominion of Satan and will not allow one of them to escape. The cause of evil is judged and its case is desperate. Oh, how the Spirit of God will convict men at that last day when they hear the Judge say, "Come, you blessed of My Father," or, "Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire." Brothers and Sisters, will you be convinced by the Holy Spirit, now, or will you wait till then? Shall it be the convincement of Grace or the conviction of wrath? The Spirit still bears witness with us who preach the Gospel--will you yield to that Gospel and believe it, now? Or will you wait until the blaze of the last tremendous day? Which shall it be? I think I hear you say, "The Gospel is true." Why, then, do you not believe it? If you confess "sin," why are you not washed from it? If there is "righteousness," why do you not seek it? If there is "judgment," why do you not ask to be so cleansed that you need not be afraid of it? Oh, Sirs, the most of men act as if they were born fools! If they were sick and we had a sure medicine for them, they would rush to us for it! If they were poor and we brought them gold, they would trample us down in their vehemence to snatch at wealth! But when there is Christ to be had, the Divine remedy for sin--Christ to be had as a perfect Righteousness, Christ to make them stand securely at the last dread day--they turn their backs upon the heavenly Gift! Oh, Spirit of God, win these madmen! Bring back these fools and make them sane and wise, for Christ Jesus' sake! Amen. __________________________________________________________________ The Best War Cry (No. 1709) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 4, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them." Numbers 23:21. IT was a singular spectacle to see the king of Moab and his lords climbing to the tops of the craggy rocks, accompanied by that strange being, the Eastern prophet Balaam. They are seeking to look upon Israel with the evil eye and flash down curses upon her tents in the plain beneath. You see them gazing down from the mountains upon the encampment in the wilderness below, even as vultures from aloft spy out their prey. They watch with keen and cruel eyes. Cunning and malice are in their countenances. How Balak longs to crush the nation which he fears! They are secretly endeavoring, by spell and enchantment, to bring evil upon the people whom Jehovah has chosen and led into the wilderness. You see them offering their seven bullocks and their seven rams upon the seven altars which they have set up upon Pisgah's rocks. Balaam retires to wait until the impulse shall come upon him and he shall be able to prophesy. In all probability Moses knew nothing about this at the time and certainly the people below knew nothing of the foul conspiracy. There lay the tribes in the valley, unaware that mischief was brewing, and quite unable to meet the dark design even if they had been aware of it. What a mercy it was for them that they were guarded by a Watcher--a Holy One whose eyes can never slumber. How true it is--"I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." The Lord's eyes are fixed upon Balaam the hireling, and Balak the son of Zippor--in vain do they weave the enchantment and work the divination--they shall be utterly ashamed and confounded. They were baffled in their machinations and utterly defeated in their schemes, and that for one single reason--it is written, "JEHOVAH SHAMMAH--the Lord Is There. God's Presence in the midst of His people is as a wall of fire round about them and a Glory in their midst. The Lord is their light and their salvation, whom shall they fear? At this present time God has a people, a remnant according to the election of Grace, who still dwell like sheep in the midst of wolves. When, as a part of the Lord's Church, we look at our surroundings, we see much that might cause us alarm, for never, either day or night, is Satan quiet. Like a roaring lion, he goes about, seeking whom he may devour! He plots in secret his crafty devices--if it were possible he would deceive the very elect! This Prince of Darkness has on earth many most diligent servants, compassing sea and land to make proselytes, laying out all their strength and using all their craft and cunning if, by any means, they may destroy the Kingdom of God and blot out the Truth of God from under Heaven. It is saddest of all to see certain men who know the Truth in some degree, as Balaam did, entering into league with the adversary against the true Israel. These combine their arts and use all possible means that the Gospel of the Grace of God, and the Church that holds it, may utterly be destroyed. If the Church is not destroyed, it will be no thanks to her enemies, for they would swallow her up quickly! When we look upon the signs of the times, our heart grows heavy, for iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold, many false spirits have gone abroad in the earth and some whom we looked upon as helpers are proving themselves to be of another order. What then? Are we dismayed? By no means, for that same God who was in the midst of the Church in the wilderness is in the Church of these last days! Again shall her adversaries be defeated. Still will He defend her, for the Lord has built His Church upon a rock and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her. The reason of her safety is this-- "God in the midst of her does dwell; Nothing shall her remove; The Lord to her a Helper shall, And that right early, pro ve." Our text declares the grand safeguard of the Church of God, ensuring her against every peril known and unknown, earthly or Satanic--"Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them." May the Holy Spirit help me while I try to speak, first, upon God's Presence with His people. Secondly, upon the results of that Presence. And thirdly, upon how, by the Grace of God, that Presence may be preserved continually among us. I. First, let me speak a little upon GOD'S PRESENCE AMONG HIS PEOPLE. It is an extraordinary Presence, for God's ordinary and usual Presence is everywhere. Where shall we flee from His Presence? He is in the highest Heaven and in the lowest Hell! The hand of the Lord is upon the high hills and His power is in all deep places. This knowledge is too high and wonderful for us! God is everywhere, for in Him we live and move and have our being. Still there is a peculiar Presence, for God was among His people in the wilderness as He was not among the Moabites and the Edomites, their foes. And God is in His Church as He is not in the world. It is a peculiar promise of the Covenant that God will dwell with His people and walk among them. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord is with us and in us at this hour. He says of His Church, "Here will I dwell, for I have desired it." This is much more than God's being about us--it includes the favor of God towards us, His consideration of us, His working with us. An active nearness to bless is the Presence of which we speak. Here we may say with great reverence that God is with His people in the entireness of His Nature. The Father is with us, for the Father, Himself, loves us. Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him. He is near to us, supplying our needs, guiding our steps, helping us in time and tutoring us for eternity. God is where His children are, hearing every groan of their sorrow, marking every tear of their distress. The Father is in the midst of His family, acting a father's part towards them. "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations." He is never far from any into whose breasts He has put the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, "Abba, Father!" Come, you children of God, rejoice in this--your heavenly Father has come unto you and abides with you! We also have the Presence of the Divine Son of God. Said He not to His Apostles, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world"? Have we not this for our joy whenever we come together, that we meet in His name, and that He still says, "Peace be unto you," and manifests Himself unto us as He does not unto the world? Many of you know most delightfully what it is to have fellowship with God, for "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ"--and this fellowship were not ours if we were not made near by His precious blood. Very near are we to the heart of Christ--He dwells with us--yes, He is one with us! Peculiarly this presence relates to the Holy Spirit. It is He who represents the Lord Jesus who has gone from us. We have a double portion of Christ's Spirit because we see Him, now that He is taken up, even as Elisha had a double portion of Elijah's spirit, according to the Prophet's saying, "If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so unto you." That is, a double portion of my spirit shall rest upon you. It was expedient that our Lord and Master should go, that the Spirit might be given! That Spirit, once poured out at Pentecost, has never been withdrawn! He is still in the midst of this dispensation, working, guiding, quickening, comforting, exercising all the blessed office of the Paraclete and, being for us and in us, God's Advocate, pleading for the Truth of God and for us. Yes, dear Friends, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in the midst of the true Church of God when that Church is in a right and healthy state. And if the Triune God is gone away from the Church, then her banners must trail in the dust, for her warriors have lost their strength. This is the Glory of the Church of God--to have the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit to be her never-failing benediction! What a glory to have Father, Son and Holy Spirit manifesting the Godhead in the midst of our assemblies and blessing each one of us! For God to dwell with us--what a condescending Presence this is! And will God, in very truth, dwell among men? If the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, will He abide among His people? He will! He will! Glory be to His name! "Know you not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit?" God dwells in us! Wonderful word! Who can fathom the depth of this Grace? The mystery of the Incarnation is equaled by the mystery of the indwelling! That God, the Holy Spirit, should dwell in our bodies is as extraordinary as that God, the Son, should inhabit that body which was born of the blessed virgin! Strange, strange is this, that the Creator should dwell in His creatures, that the Infinite should tabernacle in finite beings! Yet so it is, for He has said, "Certainly I will be with you." What an awe this imparts to every true Church of God! You may go in and out of certain assemblies and you may say, "Here we have beauty! Here we have adornment, musical, ecclesiastical, architectural, oratorical and the like!" But to my mind there is no worship like that which proceeds from a man when he feels the Lord is present! What a hush comes over the soul! Here is the place for the bated breath, the unsandalled foot and the prostrate spirit! Now are we on holy ground. When the Lord descends in the majesty of His infinite love to deal with the hearts of men, then it is with us as it was in Solomon's temple when the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the Glory that filled the place. Man is set aside, for God is there! In such a case the most fluent think it better to be silent, for there is, at times, more expressiveness in absolute silence than in the fittest words. "How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven." Why? Because Jacob had said, "Surely the Lord is in this place." We regard the lowliest assemblies of the most illiterate people with solemn reverence if God is there--we regard the largest assemblies of the wealthiest and most renowned with utter indifference if God is not there. This is the one necessity of the Church--the Lord God must be in the midst of her or she is nothing! If God is there, peace will be within her walls and prosperity within her palaces--but if the Lord is not there, woe unto the men that speak in His name, for they shall cry in bitterness, "Who has believed our report?" Woe unto the waiting people, for they shall go away empty! Woe unto the sinners in a forsaken Zion, for no salvation comes to them! The Presence of God makes the Church to be a joyful, happy, solemn place! This brings glory to His name and peace to His people. But without it, all faces are pale, all hearts are heavy. Brothers and Sisters, this Presence of God is clearly discerned by the gracious, though others may not know it. Yet I think even the ungracious, in a measure, perceive it--coming into the assembly they are struck with a secret some-thing--they know not what. And if they do not immediately join in the worship of the present God, yet a deep impression is made upon them beyond any that could be caused by the sound of human speech, or by the grandeur of outward show. They feel awed and retire abashed. Certainly the devil knows where God is--none better than he. He hates the camp of which Jehovah is the leader against it. He doubles his enmity, multiplies his plots and exercises all his power. He knows where his kingdom finds its bravest assailants and he, therefore, attacks their headquarters, even as Balaam and Balak did of old. Let us look at Balaam for a moment. May we never run in the way of Balaam for a reward, but let us stand in his way for a moment that he may be our beacon. This man had sold himself for gold and, though he knew God and spoke under Inspiration, yet he knew Him not in his heart, but was willing to curse God's people for money. He was thwarted in his design because God was there. It is worth our while to see what kind of a God Jehovah is in Balaam's estimation. He describes our God in verse 19--"God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?" Balaam perceived that the God who was in the midst of His people is not a changeable god, not a false god, not one who promises and forgets, or promises and eats his words, or promises what he cannot and will not perform. The God of Israel is faithful and true, immutable, unchanging! Every one of His promises shall be fulfilled! None of His Words shall fall to the ground. "Has He said, and shall He not do it? Has He spoken and shall it not come to pass?" What a joy it is to have such a God as this among us--a promise-making and a promise-keeping God--a God at work for His people as He has declared He would be! We have a God comforting and cheering His people--and fulfilling in their experience that which His Word has led them to expect. This God is our God forever and ever! He shall be our Guide even unto death! My dear Friends, we sometimes hear men talk of the failure of the Church. We are afraid that some churches do fail. Wherever failure occurs, the bottom of it is the absence of the Lord of Hosts, for He cannot fail. I heard one, speaking of the district in which he lives, say, "We are a religions people. Almost all the people attend a place of worship, but," he added, "I am bound to add that of spiritual life we have few traces. One Church has given up its Prayer Meetings; another feels that its entertainments are more important than its worship and another is notorious for worldliness." This is a testimony as terrible as it is common! The worst thing that can be said of any Christian community is this--"You have a name to live and are dead." "You are neither cold nor hot." Our Lord Jesus says, "I would you were cold or hot. So, then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of My mouth." A Church without life and zeal makes Christ sick! He cannot bear it. He can put up with downright godlessness sooner than with a profession of religion out of which the life and the power are gone, since it has cooled down into lukewarmness. This, then, we should pray for continually--the Presence of God in the midst of His people-- "Great Shepherd of Your Israel Who did, between the cherubs dwell, And led the tribes, Your chosen sheep, Safe through the desert and the deep, Your Church is in the desert now! Shine from on high, and guide us through. Turn us to You, Your love restore We shall be saved, and sigh no more." II. To whet your desire for this, let me pass on to the second head of my subject, which is briefly to describe THE RESULTS OF THIS DIVINE PRESENCE. Some of these results are mentioned in the context. One of the first is leading--"God brought them out of Egypt" (v. 22). The best critics give us another rendering--"God is bringing them out of Egypt." When God is in the midst of His people, He is leading them, so that we may cheerfully sing that song, "He leads me, He leads me," and go on with David to say, "He leads me beside the still waters." We need no other Leader in the Church when we have God, for His eyes and arms will guide His people. I am always afraid of having human rules in a Church and equally fearful of being governed by human precedents. I am afraid of power being vested in one, or two, or 20 men--the power must be in the Lord, Himself. That Church which has God in the midst of it, rules itself, and goes right without any other guidance but that which comes of the Holy Spirit's working. Such a Church keeps together without aiming at uniformity and goes on to victory even though it makes no noise. That movement is right which is led by God--and that is sure to be all wrong which is led in the best possible way if God is absent. Organization is all very well, but I sometimes feel inclined to join with Zwingli in the battle when he said, "In the name of the Holy Trinity let all loose," for when everybody is free, if God is present, everybody is bound to do the right thing. When each man moves according to the Divine instinct in him, there will be little need of regulations--all is order where God rules! Just as the atoms of matter obey the present power of God, so do separate Believers obey the one great impelling influence. Oh, if God is in the Church to lead it, it shall be rightly guided! Do not fall in love with this particular system, or that, my Brothers and Sisters--do not cry up this scheme of working or that! Get the Spirit of God and almost any shape that spiritual life takes will be a form of energy suitable for the particular emergency! God never leads His people wrongly! It is for them to follow the fiery, cloudy pillar. Though it leads them through the sea, they shall traverse it dry-shod! Though it leads them through a desert, they shall be fed! Though it brings them into a thirsty land, they shall drink to the full of water from the Rock! We must have the Lord with us to guide us into our promised rest. The next blessing is strength. "He has, as it were, the strength of an unicorn" (v. 22). It is generally agreed that the creature here meant is an extinct species of urns or ox, most nearly represented by the buffalo of the present period. This gives us the sentence--"He has, as it were, the strength of a buffalo." When God is in a Church, what rugged strength, what massive force, what irresistible energy is sure to be there! And how untamable is the living force! You cannot yoke this buffalo to everybody's plow--it has its own free way of living and it acts after its own style. When the Lord is with a Church, her power is not in numbers, though very speedily she will increase. Her power is not wealth, though God will take care that the money comes when it is needed. Her power lies in God--and that power becomes irresistible, untamable, unconquerable! Force and energy are with the Lord. I fear that what many bodies of Christian people need is this force. Examine yonder religious body--it is huge, but it lacks muscle--it is a fine-looking organization, but soul, sinew, backbone are lacking. Where God is, there is sure to be life-force. When the Spirit of God descended upon the first saints, they began to speak with wondrous power! And though they were persecuted, they were not subdued. No bit could be put into their mouths to hold them in, for they went everywhere preaching the Word of God! Of the true Israel it shall be said--"His strength is as the strength of the buffalo: it cannot be controlled or conquered." The next result is safety. "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel." The Presence of God quietly baffles all the attempts of the Evil One. I have noticed, dear Brothers and Sisters, in this Church where we have had God's Presence in a great measure, that all around us people have gone off to this opinion and to the other fancy, yet, our members, as a rule, have stood firm. Persons say to me, "Do you not sometimes answer the skepticisms of the day?" I answer, No. They do not come in my way. "Do not modern opinions trouble your Church?" They have not done so. Why? Because God is there and spiritual life, in vigorous exercise, does not fall a victim to disease! A gracious atmosphere does not agree with modern doubt. When people fall into that evil, they go where the thing is indulged, or at least where it is combated--where in some way or other they can develop their love of novelty and foster the notion of their own wisdom. Infidelity, Socinianism, and modern thought can make no headway where the Spirit is at work! Enchantment does not lie against Israel and divination does not touch Jacob. If a Church will keep to the Truth of God, keep to God, and do its own work, it can live like a lamb in the midst of wolves without being torn in pieces. Have God with you and not only the evil of doctrinal error but every other error shall be kept far from you. But still, there was, when Christ was in the Church, a Judas in the midst of it--and even in the Apostles' days there were some that went out from them because they were not of them, for if they had been of them, doubtless they would have continued with them--therefore we may not expect to be without false brethren. But the true safety of the Church is not a creed, not an enactment for expelling those who violate the creed--only the Presence of God can protect His people against the cunning assaults of their foes. Upon these words, "there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel," suffer a few sentences. There are still a few foolish people in the world who believe in witchcraft and spells, but you, Beloved, if you love the Lord, throw such nonsense to the winds! Do you not hear people talk about this being lucky and that unlucky? This notion is heathenish and unchristian! Never utter such nonsense! But even if there were such things as witchcraft and divination, if this house were full of devils and the air swarmed with invisible spirits of an evil sort, yet if we are the people of God, surely there is no enchantment against us. Divination cannot touch a child of God--the Evil One is chained! Therefore be of good courage--if God is for us, who can be against us? Further than that, God gives to His people the next blessing, that is, of His so working among them as to make them a wonder and cause outsiders to raise enquiries about them. "According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God worked?" Is not that a singular thing? Here is Balaam with his seven altars, seven bullocks and seven rams. And here is Balak. And they are all going to compass some dreadful evil against Israel! The prophet is a man of great skill in the occult arts--but what does God say? In effect, He says--"From this hour in which you try to curse them, I will bless them more than ever until I will make them say, and their enemies say, "What has God worked?" Brethren, there is another question, "What has Israel worked?" I am glad that Israel's work is not my subject just now, because I should make a very wretched sermon out of it! We have better music in the words, "What has God worked?" Let me tell not what I have done, but what God has done! Not what human nature is, but what God's Nature is and what the Grace of God will work in the midst of His people. If God is within us, we shall be signs and wonders until those around us shall say, "What is this that God is doing?" Yes, in you, poor Jacob, wrestling, halting on your thigh, men shall see marvels and cry, "What has God worked?" Much more shall it be so with you, my brother, Israel, you who have prevailed and won the blessing--you are as a prince with God and you shall make men enquire, "What has God worked?" When God is with His people, He will give them power of a destructive kind. Do not be frightened! Here is the text for it--"Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion"--that is, as a lion in the fullness of his vigor--"He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey and drinks the blood of the slain." God has put into His Church, when He is in it, a most wonderful, destructive power against spiritual wickedness! A healthy Church kills error, and tears evil in pieces! Not so very long ago our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philanthropists endeavored to destroy slavery, but when was it utterly abolished? It was when Wilberforce roused the Church of God, and when the Church of God addressed herself to the conflict--then she tore the evil thing to pieces! I have been amused with what Wilberforce said the day after they passed the Act of Emancipation. He merrily said to a friend when it was all done, "Is there not something else we can abolish?" That was said playfully, but it shows the spirit of the Church of God! She lives in conflict and victory--her mission is to destroy everything that is bad in the land! See the fierce devil of intemperance, how it devours men! Earnest friends have been laboring against it and they have done something for which we are grateful. But if ever intemperance is put down, it will be when the entire Church of God shall arouse herself to protest against it! When the strong lion rises up, the giant of drunkenness shall fall before him. "He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey and drinks the blood of the slain." I predict for the world the best results from a fully awakened Church! If God is in her, there is no evil which she cannot overcome! This crowded London of ours sometimes appalls me--the iniquity which reigns and rages in the lower districts, the general indifference and the growing atheism of the people--these are something terrible, but let not the people of God be dismayed. If the Lord is in the midst of us, we shall do with this as our forefathers have done with other evils--we shall rise up in strength and not lie down till the evil is destroyed! For the destructions, mark you, of God's people, are not the destructions of men and women--they consist in the overthrow of sin--the tearing in pieces of systems of iniquity. This it is which God shall help His Church to do, He being in the midst of her. Once more--the results of God's Presence are to be seen, not only in the context, but in other matters which we have personally experienced and hope to experience more fully. Note them. When God is in a Church, there is a holy awe upon the hearts of His people. There is also a childlike trustfulness, hopefulness and consequent courage and joy. When the Lord is in the midst of His people, the ordinances of His house are exceedingly sweet. Baptism and the Lord's Supper become divinely painted pictures of our burial in Christ and of our life through Him. The preaching of the Word drops as dew and distils as the rain. The meetings for prayer are fresh and fervent--we desire to stay in them hour after hour--we feel it such a happy thing to be there! The very house in which we meet grows beautiful to us. We love the place where our Lord is accustomed to meet with us. Then work for Christ is easy, no, delightful! God's people never need urging, they are eager for the fray when the Lord is with them. Then, too, suffering for Christ becomes pleasant, yes, any kind of suffering is easily borne-- "I can do all things, or can bear All sufferings, if my Lord is there! Sweet pleasures mingle with the pains, While His left hand my head sustains." Then prayer grows abundant all over the Church, both in private and in public. Then life is made vigorous, the feeblest becomes as David, and David like the Angel of the Lord. Then love is fervent; unity is unbroken; the Truth of God is esteemed and the living of truth in the life is sought after by all the people of God! Then effort is successful; the Church enlarges the bounds of her tent, for she breaks forth on the right hand and on the left. Then her seed inherits the Gentiles and the desolate places are inhabited. Then God gives unto her the holy energy with which she vanquishes nations. When God is with her she becomes like a sheaf of fire in the midst of the stubble and consumes her adversaries round about. "Fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners," is a Church which has God in her midst! But now notice one thing in my text, and with that I close this description. Where God is, we are told, "The shout of a king is among them." What is the shout of a king? When great commanders are known to have come into a camp, what a thrill of joy it causes among their trusty warriors! When the soldiers have been much dejected, it has been whispered in their tents-- "The king has come to marshal us, All in his armor dressed," and from that moment every man is cheered up. At the sight of the king, as he comes riding into the camp, the host raises a great shout. What does it mean? It is a shout of loyal love--they are glad to welcome their leader. So is it with us when we sing--"The King Himself comes near"--we are all as glad as glad can be! Those who cannot come out to see their prince, because they are lying on their sick beds in hospitals, clap their hands, while even the little children in their mothers' arms join in the general joy. "The king is come," they say, and his presence kindles their enthusiasm till they make the hills ring again! You know how the stern Ironsides felt when Cromwell came along. Every man was a hero when he led the way. They were ready for any adventure, no matter how difficult, as long as their great chief was there. That enthusiasm which was inspired by Alexander, by Napoleon and by other great commanders, is the earthly image of the spiritual fervor felt by the Church when the Lord Jesus is in her midst! What next? When the king comes and they have received him with enthusiasm, he cries, "Now is the hour of battle" and at once a shout goes up from his warriors who are eager for the fight. When a clan of Highlanders was led to the battle by their chief, he had only to show them the enemy and with one tremendous shout they leaped upon them like lions! It is so with the people of God. When God is with us, we are strong, resolute, determined. The charge of the servants of God is as the rush of a hurricane against a bowing wall and a tottering fence. In God is our confidence of victory. With God present, no man's heart fails him; no doubt enters the host. "Be strong, and quit yourselves like men," is the word that is passed round, for our King's eyes make us brave and the Presence of His Majesty secures our triumph. My Brothers and Sisters, let us cry to God, entreating Him to be among us! This it is that you need in your Sunday schools, in your mission halls, in your street preaching, in your tract distributing--it is this that I need beyond everything when I have to speak to you in this vast house. If I could hear the sound of my Master's feet behind me, I would speak though I were lying upon the borders of the grave! But if God is gone, I am bereft of power. What is the use of words without the Spirit? We might as well mutter to the whistling winds as preach to men without the Lord! O God, if You are with us, then the shout of a King is among us, but without You, we pine away! III. Thirdly, let us look at a very important point and a very practical one, too--What can be done for THE SECURING AND PRESERVING OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITHIN THE CHURCH? This is a matter that would require several sermons to discuss fully, but I notice that there is something, even, in the conformation of a Church to secure this. God is very tolerant and He bears with many mistakes in His servants and yet blesses them. But depend upon it, unless a Church is formed at the very outset upon Scriptural principles and in God's own way, sooner or later all the mistakes of her constitution will turn out to be sources of weakness! Christ loves to dwell in a house which is built according to His own plans and not according to the whims and fancies of men. The Church ought not to set up as her authority the decrees of men, either living or dead--her Ruler is Christ! Associations formed otherwise than according to Scripture must fail in the long run. I wish Christians would believe this. Chillingworth said, "The Bible and only the Bible, is the religion of Protestants." That was not true. Certain Protestants have tacked many other things to the Bible--and they are suffering as the result of their folly--for they cannot keep their Church from becoming Popish. Of course they cannot! They have admitted a little leaven of Popery and it will leaven the whole lump. The dry rot in one part of the house will spread throughout the whole fabric, sooner or later. Let us be careful to build on the foundation of Christ--and then let every man take heed how he builds thereon, for even if the foundation is good, yet if he builds with hay and stubble, the fire will cause him grievous loss. But next, God will only dwell with a Church which is full of life. The living God will not inhabit a dead church! Hence the necessity of having really regenerated people as members of the Church. We cannot secure this in every case with all our watching--tares will grow among the wheat. But if the admission of unregenerate men is usual and there are no restrictions, then the Lord will be grieved and leave us. God dwells not in temples made with hands--He has nothing to do with bricks and mortar--He dwells in living souls! Remember that text--"God is not the God of the dead, but of the living," and it bears this sense among others, that He is not the God of a church made up of unconverted people. Oh, that we may all live unto God, and may that life be past all question. That being supposed, we next notice that to have God among us we must be full of faith. Unbelief gives forth such a noxious vapor that Jesus, Himself, could not stay where it was. His strength was paralyzed--"He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Faith creates an atmosphere in which the Spirit of God can work! Meanwhile, the Spirit of God, Himself, creates that faith, so that it is all of His own working from first to last! Brothers and Sisters, do you believe your God? Do you believe up to the hilt? Alas, too many only believe a little! But do you believe His every Word? Do you believe His grandest promises? Is He a real God to you, making His Words into facts, every day of your lives? If so, then the Lord is among us as in the Holy Place! Faith builds a pavilion in which her King delights to sit enthroned. With that, must come prayer. Prayer is the breath of faith. I do not believe God will ever be long with a Church that does not pray--and I feel certain that when meetings for prayer, when family prayer, when private prayer, when any form of prayer comes to be at a discount--the Lord will leave the people to learn their weakness! Lack of prayer cuts the sinews of the Church for practical working. She is lame, feeble, impotent, if prayer is gone. If anything is the matter with the lungs, we fear consumption--Prayer Meetings are the lungs of the Church and anything the matter there means consumption to the Church, or at best a gradual decline, attended with general debility. Oh, my Brothers, if we want to have God with us, pass the watchword round, "Let us pray!" Let us pray after the fashion of the widow who was importunate and would not be repulsed! Remember, it is written, "Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Where prayer is fervent, God is present. Supposing there is this faith and prayer, we shall also need holiness of life. You know what Balaam did when he found he could not curse the people? Satanic was his advice. He bade the king of Moab seduce the men of Israel by the women of Moab that were fair to look upon--these were to fascinate them by their beauty and then to invite them to their idolatrous rites--which rites were orgies of lust. He hoped that the lewdness of the people would grieve the Lord and cause Him to leave them and then Moab could smite them. He sadly succeeded. If it had not been for Phinehas, who, in holy wrath, drove his javelin right through a man and woman in the very act of sin, sparing none in the vehemence of his zeal, Israel had been quite undone. So in a Church. The devil will work hard to lead one into licentiousness, another into drunkenness, a third into dishonesty and others into worldliness. If he can only get the goodly Babylonian garment and the wedge of gold buried in an Achan's tent, then Israel will be chased before her adversaries! God cannot dwell in an unclean Church! A holy God abhors the very garments spotted by the flesh. Be you holy as Christ is holy! Do not take up with this German silver electrotype holiness, which is so much boasted of nowadays. Do not be deluded into self-righteousness, but seek after real holiness--and if you find it, you will never boast about it--your life will speak, but your lips will never dare to say, "See how holy I am." Real holiness dwells with humility and makes men aspire after that which yet lies beyond them. Be holy, upright, just, straight, true, pure, chaste, devout. God send us this behavior and then we shall keep Him among us as long as we live! Lastly, when we have reached that, let us have practical consecration. God will not dwell in a house which does not belong to Him. No, the first thing with any one of us is to answer this question--Do you give yourself up to Christ-- body, soul and spirit--to live for Him and to die for Him? Will you give Him all that you have of talent and ability, and substance, time and life, itself? Where there is a Church made up of consecrated people, there God will remain and there He will make a Heaven below! And there the shout of a King shall be heard! And there His strength shall be revealed! And there His glory shall be seen, even as it is beheld on high! The Lord send us this, for Jesus' sake. Amen and Amen! __________________________________________________________________ Incense and Light (No. 1710) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 11, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations." Exodus 30:7,8. CERTAIN ceremonies under the Law were only of annual celebration, while other matters were of daily observation. And by the daily repetition they were intended to be set forth as eminently constant and perpetual. These daily ordinances were to be regarded by the children of Israel as of standing obligation, abiding types of constant necessity, never to be removed so long as the dispensation should last. When the priest went into the tabernacle, he could not enter it without being warned of sin and of sacrifice, for at the entrance of the holy place stood an altar of brass upon which there was offered, every morning, a lamb and every evening a lamb. This taught that access to God was not possible except by expiation--expiation by bloody sacrifice, expiation by the death of a substituted victim--expiation which must continue as long as sin remained. You could not even enter into the first court without the sight of an altar, blood and fire--thus showing us that there is no coming to God, even on the ordinary level of Christian experience, apart from the Atonement made by our Lord Jesus, who is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." You cannot be heard in penitent prayer, or receive pardon, or commence the life of faith, or be even a babe in Grace unless you know the great Truth of God, that the Lord "has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Without the shedding of blood, remission of sin and access to God are out of the question! Paul ascribes our drawing near unto the Lord to our Savior's perfect Sacrifice, for he says, "You who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ." Before the innermost sanctuary there hung a substantial veil and the entrance into the Holy of Holies was only permitted once in the year. If that veil had been lifted up so that we could enter, we would have found, at the door, a golden altar, to represent, again, our Lord Jesus Christ under another aspect--for on that golden altar there was offered a sweet perfume of precious spices, denoting His perpetual intercession on the behalf of His people and His enduring merits which are continually being presented by Himself before the Throne of the Most High. To go within the veil you must pass by the Altar of Incense. Learn, therefore, that to the door of the inner chamber of communion with God we must approach by the perfect merit of our redeeming Lord! We come not in our own merit, but we are "accepted in the Beloved." If we have ever been favored with high and holy communion with God, such as He reserves for favored saints. If we have been enabled to come boldly to the Throne of heavenly Grace and have looked into the tempered brightness of that Light of God which shines above the Mercy Seat, we have come only by virtue of the infinite merit of our Lord Jesus. The lowest form of communion in the outer court must be by the sacrifice of Jesus. And the highest form of communion, even that which is most intense and most delightful, is still by Christ. The incense sets forth His merit and that is not without blood, for once in the year the horns of the altar were smeared with the blood which had been carried within the veil. There was no coming within the veil without passing by the incense altar, even as there is no access to God but by the all-powerful mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ! Let us never forget this. Simple as the Truth of God is, we are apt to pass it by as of no force. I am afraid we are apt to put the most important Truths into the background because they seem to be so elementary. But we ought to remember that they are elementary only because they are essential from first to last. Never try to draw near to God in prayer, or praise, or meditation, or Scripture reading, or holy service apart from Jesus Christ, or your attempt will be a failure. Through the wall of fire which surrounds the Throne of God, you can only pass by way of the one Door, namely, the body and blood of our great Mediator, Sacrifice and Substitute! Is not that Door sufficient? Why should we climb up some other way? If I am very heavy of heart, do not let me try to raise my spirits and so come in the power of human courage--let me but come just as I am, made bold through Him whose comforts delight my soul! If I feel that I have been sinning, do not let me try to get rid of my sin by some other process and then draw near to God. Let me come, sinner as I am, in the name of the sinner's Savior, and so draw near to God, having washed my robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus says, "I am the way"--why should we seek another? Have nothing to do with an absolute God--only deal with Him through a Mediator--and keep to that way, for no man comes unto the Father but by the Lord Jesus! Oh, you most experienced and privileged ones, take good note of the golden altar! And whenever you approach the Mercy Seat, let the cloud of its incense cover you and perfume your prayers! Hard by the golden altar, which was nearest to the Holy of Holies, stood the golden candlestick with its seven branches--these two instructive types were set near each other for a purpose which I would open up today. This candlestick was a matter of daily ordinance as much as the bronze Altar of Sacrifice, or the golden Altar of Incense--it was for continual use and was, therefore, dressed twice each day. We have a continual need of the precious Atonement of Christ, of the intercession of Christ and of the light of God's Holy Spirit. These are not things for once in a year--these are matters for every day and all day--and, therefore, they were attended to both at morning and at evening as if to shut in all the hours of the day within two golden doors. Every morning had its lamb, its burning incense and its lighted lamp. And the same pertained to every evening all the year round. Thus all days were fringed and bordered with this three-fold type--even as, at this time, all our days are sanctified by faith in the effectual expiation, joy in the prevailing intercession and delight in the clear shining of the Spirit which makes glad all who are in the house! This morning I desire to call your attention to the conjunction which was established by the Divine Law between the burning of the incense and the lighting of the lamps--these two things, being both of daily observance--were attended to at the same moment for reasons worthy of our study. I. And first I call your attention to THE WONDERFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST FOR US AND THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US. See how, on the grandest scale, the incense of intercession and the lamp of spiritual illumination are set side by side. He whose merit brings us life is in Divine alliance with Him who brings us light! Indeed, there is such unity between them that Jesus, Himself, is said to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of His people Israel. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ brings with it the communion of the Holy Spirit, for the Father has joined them together! Note that we have these both revealed in their fullness at the same time. When our Lord ascended on high to plead before the Throne of God, the Spirit descended to abide in the Church! After the Lord was taken up, the disciples received the promise of the Father and were illuminated by the Holy Spirit! Jesus, our great High Priest, presented the sweet savor of His own Person and work before the eternal Throne of God and then came the Spirit of God as tongues of fire lighting up the sons of men and making them to be as candles of the Lord! Well said the Apostle at Pentecost--"This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being exalted by the right hand of God and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear." I say the two come historically together and we must forever connect in our meditations the ascended Savior's intercession and the illumination of the saints by the descended Spirit. Now, as they were connected historically, so are they continually connected as a matter of fact. At this day it is as it was at Pentecost--our Lord has not ceased to intercede and the Spirit has not ceased to illuminate! Herein lies our hope for our own eternal salvation, in the ceaseless plea and the quenchless light! For the working out of that which God is working in us, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure, we have these two guarantees and helps--the Savior praying and the Spirit shining! Jesus is pleading and, therefore, our faith fails not when Satan sifts us as wheat. The Spirit is working and, therefore, the light of our faith is sustained by a secret mystic oil which prevents the enemy from putting it out. This is also our two-fold confidence when we go forth into the world to preach the Gospel! Unto the Lord Jesus, all power is given in Heaven and in earth, and He is "able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them." The Church of God must succeed in her mission because her errand is the object of the continual prayers of her living Lord. But she has her second help, namely the Comforter, who abides with us and goes forth with the Word that we preach, making it potent for the conversion of the sons of men. We have the incense of Christ's merit pleading with God and the light of God's Spirit pleading with men--we have Christ as an Advocate with God and the Holy Spirit as an Advocate with men! What more is needed? What joy and confidence we ought to feel in the work of the Lord since Jesus is pleading and the Spirit is striving at the same time--the incense rising, filling earth and Heaven with its sweetness--and the Spirit brightly shining to the comfort and delight of those who go forth into the darkness with the name of Jesus on their lips! Joy to those who sit in darkness and in the valley of the shadow of death, for even for them is this seven-fold Light shining! And to their dank, pestilential abodes there comes the healing breath of sweet perfume from the Redeemer's merits. Furthermore, this conjunction, as it is a matter of history, and as it is continuous, will always be seen by us, personally, when our prayer is the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much. It needs the Trinity to make a Christian; it needs the Trinity to make a Christian prayer! The Father must hear us, else of what use are our cries? But the ordained Mediator must also stand between us and the Father, presenting His merit like the smoke of sweet incense, or else our prayer can never be accepted of God. And to come down closer to ourselves, the Spirit of God must also help our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, so that, whenever we pray, we must have these two in happy conjunction--intercession and enlightenment--incense and light! My prayer as my own prayer is a poor, vain, defiled thing unless Jesus perfumes it! And it is a poor, dark, blind thing unless the Spirit of God has enlightened it! The Holy Spirit teaches us what to pray for and how to order our words aright. In His light we see light. We are in the dark till He shines like the golden candlestick and enables us to see our own need and the fullness of God's Grace. It is His light that makes our heart to see the Lord in prayer, so that we seek the Lord by the light of His own Spirit. When prayer is the work of the Spirit in the heart, we are absolutely certain that it must succeed because the Spirit makes intercession in the saints according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and He is most truly God, so that whatever He prompts us to pray for is the same thing which the Father has already decreed and eternally determined to bestow! Our wishes and desires might never succeed with God if they were that and no more, for our thoughts are not His thoughts, neither are our ways His ways. But the thoughts and purposes of God, when these are photographed upon our spirit by the Holy Spirit, are the pictures of that which is assuredly to be, the prophecy of the determinate purpose and foreknowledge of God! What is written in yon sealed Book, upon which no human eye can gaze, is transcribed and written by the Spirit of God upon our hearts--and thus we pray for that very thing which God designs to give. There is an assured certainty of success to the prayer that is made in the power of the Spirit of God! While praying in the Holy Spirit we have the petition which we have asked of the Lord. But then there is our second comfort, that Jesus stands ready to take every prayer of ours, however imperfect in knowledge, however feeble in expression, however marred with sorrow--and He presents the purified and perfected prayer with His own merit--and it is sure to speed. The sins of our holy things are seldom absent and, therefore, the constant need is that we have an Advocate. Blessed be God for that inspired Word, "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." True prayer is the offering to God of the merit of the Lord Jesus and, therefore, it must be accepted. What can be refused to merit such as His? True prayer is presented always by the Lord Jesus and, therefore, again, its certainty of efficacy--how can the Father deny anything to the Well-Beloved? It is written in the book of the Revelation--"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand." Can we doubt the success of prayers presented by the Angel of the Covenant? Assuredly not! There is such excess of perfection in Christ that it covers all our imperfection. There is such delicious sweetness in Christ to the Father that it effectually destroys the ill savor of anything that comes from us! And by its power, we, ourselves, become unto God a sweet savor--and so, also, are our prayers when they are presented by Jesus Christ! I like to think of the incense and of the lamp and, best of all, of the two together, for these two enable me to come boldly to the Throne of the heavenly Grace to obtain mercy and find Grace! Acceptance through sweet savor and light through Divine teaching are both mine as my soul waits upon God, with her expectation turned towards Him. Nor ought I to pass away from this first head without noting that in God's drawing near to man there is the same conjunction of incense and light. If the Glory of God were to come forth from between the cherubim. If it should come past the veil to be revealed throughout the world, that Glory would pass by these two, the golden Altar of Incense and the golden lamp of light! I mean this--God can have no dealing with men at all except through the merit of Christ and the light of the Spirit. As for the work of our Lord Jesus, you and I believe in the special Substitution of Christ for His elect--what we call, "Particular Redemption," is held most firmly by us, for we believe that He redeemed us from among men and that He laid down His life for the sheep. Yet there are many passages of Scripture which speak of the work of Christ as having a universal scope. He is, "the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours, only, but for the sins of the whole world." We are told that, by the Grace of God, "He tasted death for every man." Now, the Atonement of Christ is many-sided and may be viewed in very different lights. And while I trust we shall never be shaky about the question of His literal and effectual Substitution for His own chosen, whereby He offered for them a most sure, effectual and perfect satisfaction, so that no sin may ever be laid to their charge, yet there is, on the other hand, a general and universal view of His atoning work. God could not have dealt with the world at all in the way of mercy apart from the Sacrifice of Christ. The only thing which could have been done with the race of man was to have crushed it out forever if Christ had not stood for them as an Interposer. God was, in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. For the sake of the Man, Christ Jesus, God was able to look upon the fallen race in justice and yet prepare mercy for the guilty. Men owe their lives to the Sacrifice of Christ! Men owe the various alleviations of their sorrows by God's gracious tenderness in Providence to the Sacrifice of Christ! Above all, that free and honest proclamation of salvation to every man that will believe in Christ Jesus is rendered possible by the wondrous, perfect, unlimited, illimitable merit which resided in the Person and work of such an One as Jesus our Lord! The picture before you is a very beautiful one. Here are spices of the most precious kind, made up into a compound such as never was compounded for any other purpose. This Divinely-appointed mixture of sweet odors is placed in the censer upon the golden altar--that is to say, eternal acceptance is found in the Person of Christ. The incense is kindled with fire from on high. What follows? The spices begin to burn and up ascends a pillar of smoke. See how it rises high into the clear air! And as it rises it expands like a cloud, covers the sky, is wafted all around and perfumes the whole air with its own exceeding fragrance. It rises and rises till it enters Heaven--yes, and the Heaven of heavens! Its sacred odor is recognized in every golden street! It fills every chamber of the glorious "house of God not made with hands!" It ascends to the Throne of His excellent Majesty and the Lord is well pleased with it--and again is fulfilled the words which are written concerning the burnt-offering of Noah--"The Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again smite everything living as I have done." Such is the merit of Christ, that through its sweet savor God looks down upon the world and treats it with long-suffering, tenderness and mercy. Is it not a blessed picture? As a just and holy God, He could not deal with a guilty race except through a mediatorial Sacrifice which should wrap mankind in its cloud of merit and reconcile the world unto Himself! And now, you and I may follow in the tracks of God and go out and preach the Gospel to every creature without the slightest fear because the whole air is perfumed with the incense of a Savior's mediatorial work! Although not perceptible by carnal sense, yet the inward spirit in the soul of the Believer perceives the grateful odor of the finished work of the ever-living Savior sweetening all things, so that now we call nothing common or unclean, but are prepared to deliver our message to the vilest of the vile! God, in Christ, is kind, even, to the unthankful and the evil, and wills that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men--and to every creature the Gospel should be preached. We shall not, however, proceed to any practical purpose unless we remember, next, that when God comes to deal with men, it is with the light of the Spirit as well as with the merit of Christ. The golden candlestick is as necessary as the golden censer--for God's work among men is always by His Spirit. He is seeking out His people as the woman sought for her lost piece of money and it is significant that it is written, "She did light a candle and sweep the house." God, in His work of salvation, comes to men with the candle of His Word lighted through the Holy Spirit--and through the teaching of His Word from day to day, that Spirit shines as from a lantern among the sons of men! If you and I would follow in the tracks of God, as His dear children, imitating Him, we must take with us the light of the Gospel or the Glory of God and, by the power and light of His Spirit we must make known to men the unsearchable riches of Christ. To us Jehovah is our light and our salvation--and when we go in His name we must not go without the Light of God. Thus you see we come to God by the incense and the light--and even so does God come down to man to bless Him. II. Secondly, our text seems to me to teach THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PRAYER AND KNOWLEDGE. The golden altar represents intercession offered by Christ and, also, the prayers of all the saints which are accepted through His intercession. And, as the candlestick stood side by side with it, and represented the light of the Spirit of Truth, so must true prayer and true knowledge never be separated. So I gather, first, that prayer should be attended with knowledge. It is evil when men worship, they know not what. God is Light and He will not have His people worship Him in the dark. When they burn the incense, they must also light the lamp. In the Romish Church the mass of the people repeat prayers in an unknown tongue, having no idea of what their meaning may be--this is both a grievous wrong to the people and a mockery of God! What can be the good of such prayers in the sight of Him who seeks those to worship Him who worship Him in spirit and in truth? Mere sounds without meaning are not prayer! Understanding, desire and heart must go with every word, or else the prayers are vain repetitions such as the heathen employ. Supplicants must know what they are asking, or they are not really asking. And you, dear people of God, please notice that the more Divine knowledge you get, all things being equal, the more complete will your prayers become. "Grow in Grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"--light the lamp at the same time that you kindle the incense. For instance, when you pray, what prayer can there be without knowing God, our Father? How can you pray aright to an unknown god? The more knowledge of God, the more correct does prayer become! He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. What prayer can there be apart from the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? If we know nothing of Him by whom we pray, how full of sins of ignorance will our prayers be! It is well, also, to have a deep, sensible knowledge of sin. Penitential prayers are impossible without this--and how can prayers be accepted if penitence is not mixed with our petitions? We need, at the same time, that we have the knowledge of sin to have a knowledge of our own weaknesses. The man who is consciously weak, prays for strength, but he who dreams that he is strong, will not do so. You need to study yourselves before you pray, so as to ask for those things in which you are most deficient and for protection against those constitutional tendencies or besetting sins to which you are most subject. The prayer of ignorance is like an arrow shot by a blind man, which is not likely to hit the mark. In proportion as petitions arise from a heart fully instructed in its own necessities will they be likely to ask for the right blessings--and to be prepared aright before the Lord. David wished his prayers to be accepted and, therefore, he cried, "Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense." A supremely excellent piece of knowledge is to know the promises which we are to plead. Here you have the very sinews of prayer. When a man knows the promise suitable to his case and lays it before God, saying, "Do as You have said," he presents the best form of supplication. Remember how Jacob pleaded with the Lord the sacred word of promise, saying, "You said, I will surely do you good"? When we have looked at all the bearings of the petition so as to make quite certain that it is a petition, the fulfillment of which will glorify God--when we see that it must be consistent with the Divine will because of the various statements which God has made in His Word and because of promises which He has given concerning the matter--then, with the lamp shining clearly upon us, we shall kindle the incense the more discreetly and boldly, and both our prayers and our meditations will be the more accepted of the Lord! Do try, especially, dear Brothers and Sisters, you that pray in public, to light the lamps when you kindle the incense! It will be for the good of us all if petitions are thoughtful, suitable, Scriptural and withal fresh and hearty. Let us never degenerate into repeating the same expressions till they grow to be cant. Let us never drop into the use of hackneyed prayers for everything in general and for nothing in particular! But as instructed men, having thought of what we are going to say; having adapted our prayer to our circumstances and needs, let us order our case before the Lord and fill our mouth with arguments! Burn the incense of prayer in the light of the Spirit of Revelation, praying in the Holy Spirit! But now turn the thought round the other way--knowledge should always be accompanied by prayer. Whenever we are taught of God, His teaching almost always comes in connection with prayer--but lest we should solely try to learn and forget to pray--let me remind you of a few particulars. Dear Brothers and Sisters, as a Christian you are a disciple, or student--be also a suppliant. When you are impressed with the greatness, or the goodness, or the immutability, or the faithfulness of God, straightway turn your impressions into supplications! Pray the great God to be gracious to you. Ask the unchangeable God to be the same to you--be the faithful God to keep His promises to you! Implore the mighty God to uphold you. As you learn more and more of God, place the light near the incense by using your knowledge in your pleadings. To employ all your knowledge as fuel for prayer will be the best way of utilizing your acquirements--it will stamp the Truth of God firmly on your memory and it will sanctify your heart. When you know more of the Savior, pray your way to Him by it, as ships move into port by their sails. If you have seen His Manhood, go and plead His sympathy with you in your weakness! If you have thought more of His Deity, go and worship Him more reverently and pray that His Glory may be seen among the sons of men. Whatever point in the unutterable Glory of His perfection breaks most upon your mind, pray most that way--opening your window towards the sunrise. So will the Lord teach you more and so shall you have profited by that which you have learned. If, from day to day, my Brothers and Sisters, you learn more of your sinfulness, then you have more errands with which to come to the Mercy Seat. And if you make a new discovery by experience of your corruption and indwelling sin, fly at once to the Throne of Grace with your discovery lest it weigh you down and drive you to despondency. Make a ladder of your needs with which to climb nearer to Heaven. The more your necessities, the more urgent let your importunity be! Cry mightily to God because of the greatness of your poverty. I do not think there is anything in the Scriptures which we cannot pray over. If we learn the devices of the devil, let us pray against them! If we learn the depravity of mankind, let us pray God's Holy Spirit to create men's hearts anew! Everything from the first of Genesis to the end of Revelation, when we truly know it, furnishes us with fresh arguments for drawing near to God. Revealed Truths of God are as a Church bell summoning us to come into the Presence of the Lord and bow the knee before Him. As you hear a sermon, turn it into prayer! Even if you find that there is nothing in the sermon, it may benefit you if you pray God to feed His poor famished people. If you will pray all through his discourse, every preacher will minister to your edification directly or indirectly. If you are set upon praying by the lighting of the tiniest candle that ever glimmered, there will at least be sweetness in the incense even if there is no brilliance in the lamp. III. I desire, in the third place, to show SOME SPECIAL PRACTICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INCENSE AND THE LAMP. Let us read the text again--"And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it." So, then, there should be prayer, especially at the dressing of the lamps, that is to say, when preparing our minds for that ministry by which we enlighten the people among whom we dwell we should be specially earnest in prayer. Preparation for preaching and teaching is most important! God's work is not to be done carelessly as boys shoot arrows at random in their play. We must prepare both by reading and pleading--we must, like the Apostles, give ourselves to the Word of God and prayer. We are told by ancient Rabbis that when the priest who was appointed for that office went into the Holy Place, he took with him the golden snuffers, the golden snuff dishes and a vessel full of pure olive oil and, by the help of these, he attended to the trimming of the golden lamp. There were seven lamps on the candelabra--some of these might have gone quite out during the night--he would have to take away whatever of snuff remained, wipe out the lamp, place a new wick, fill it up with fresh oil, and then kindle the flame anew. In another lamp it may be the light was still burning but feebly--he might have simply to snuff it, take away the "the superfluity of naughtiness" in the golden snuff dish and make all things clean and right. Sometimes the light might be burning well and nothing was needed but to replenish it with oil. Thus all was set in order for another day. The same was done in the evening. In the process of trimming lamps there is a measure of offense--snuffs do not give forth a very dainty perfume--and the smear and smelt of oil are not altogether of sweet savor. Therefore, before he trimmed the lamps, the priest kindled the incense. No snuff would then be offensive, for the overpowering fragrance of the incense killed it all and prevented the prevalence of any odor unfit for the House of God. When we go into our studies to try and trim our lamps, let us remember that our first business is to pray. Alas, we have much of smoking wick about us! We have much negligence, much ignorance, many mistakes and errors and, thereby, we shall grieve the Lord if Jesus is not called in to cover all. When we are preparing, in secret, to serve the Lord in public, we shall make poor work of it if we do not, beforehand, draw near to God in prayer! We need that our garments should be made to smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia by being covered with the merit of Jesus, or else we shall offend, even while engaged in the holy act of preparing to spread abroad the light of Divine Truth! You have to trim your lamps, Brothers and Sisters, when you go into the Sunday school--at least, I hope you do. I hope you do not run into your class with anything which first comes to hand! If you do not snuff your candles and feed your lamps with fresh oil, your children will sit in darkness before a lamp which does not shine! No, there ought to be careful preparation, according as your time and ability will allow and, above all, the pouring in of the holy oil of the Holy Spirit by fresh fellowship with Jesus. In that process one of the chief elements is prayer. Dr. Adam Clarke used to say to young ministers, "Study yourselves dead and then pray yourselves alive, again," and that is an excellent rule. Work in your study as if it all depended upon you and then go forth and speak, trusting in God because all depends upon Him! Remember that the chief part of all study of God's Word must be prayer. This is the boring rod and the powder by which we burst open the great rocks of the Truths of God. "To have prayed well is to have studied well," said Martin Luther, and so, most certainly, it is. Therefore let none of us, when we dress the lamp, forget the incense. What a double privilege comes of this! This priest, you see, had thus two things to do for the Lord. If he was called only to light the lamp, that would have been one happy, blessed service--but if he must burn the incense, too, he has a double portion of honor in thus doubly serving the Lord, his God! So when you are preparing to light up the people, or preparing to enlighten your children in class, what a happy necessity it is which calls upon you, at the same time, to pray! It is one of the greatest privileges of preachers and teachers, that they are driven to pray more than other people, for they have greater necessities--they have necessities that come upon them because of their office and these drive them to more frequent supplication--and so their labors become a means of Grace to their own souls! Let us thank our Lord Jesus that He has made us kings and priests unto our God and that He permits us, both to let our lights shine before men and our prayers ascend before God. One thing more, this burning of the incense was not only at the dressing of the lamps, but also at the kindling of the lamps, when they began to shine. I want to plead, dear Friends, very heartily with you that when it is my privilege to come here this week and at all other times to light the lamps, you, who are my beloved helpers, will take care to burn the incense at the same time! We need the incense of prayer more than ever in these latter days. Did you ever notice in Ezekiel 41:22 that an altar of incense is spoken of, but its dimensions are twice as great as those of the golden altar in the Tabernacle? It was as if, say some, to teach us that in these Gospel times prayer would become more abundant and would be offered up more frequently than ever. The Gentiles have an altar which presents more incense to the Lord than that which was served by Aaron! And, inasmuch as it is more purely spiritual, it is all the more acceptable with God. The altar mentioned by Ezekiel was of wood, as if to show that our worship is to become more simple and to be more divested of everything that is pompous and showy--indeed, the altar disappears, and we read--"This is the table that is before the Lord." You will guess the meaning. Malachi has a glorious prophecy. "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering: for My name shall be great among the heathen, says the Lord of Hosts." Are you not charmed by the Divine prophecy? Will you not, yourselves, help to fulfill it? We know that this Altar of Incense meant prayer because the Jews, themselves, so interpreted it. In the first chapter of Luke we read of Zacharias, that it was his turn, in the order of his course, to go into the Holy Place to offer incense, and it says, "And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the time of incense." Just so, the offering of incense clearly means prayer and, therefore, I plead with you that while we are lighting the lamps by preaching the Gospel, you will burn the incense by being constantly in prayer! Brothers and Sisters, pray for us! Paul spoke thus. How much more may I plead that you dismiss me or intercede for me! Joshua could not prevail except as Moses held up his hands. Our lamp-lighting will not succeed unless you burn the incense. Peter's sermon at Pentecost did not derive its force from Peter's zeal, or from its own eloquence, but from another Source. Of course, all the power came from the Spirit of God, but why did the Spirit of God work so mightily on that day? Surely it was because the entire Church was earnestly praying while Peter was preaching. "They were all with one accord in one place"--nobody was away, they were all there and when the one man stood up to preach, he might well light 3,000 lamps, for all the fervent company of the faithful were causing the incense of prayer to ascend to Heaven! I need your prayers for tonight's sermon. You will not be here, for strangers are invited to occupy your seats and, therefore, I beg you, in your houses, to cry unto the Lord for me that the Word may have free course and that my hearers may feel its power! It might be the most profitable expenditure of time that ever happened to you if you would spend the whole evening in prayer. Beseech the Lord to bring the people to this house and to bring the right sort of people, rich and poor, Believers and infidels, moral people and the depraved! We do not know who will come. Some of them do not know whether they will come, themselves, or not! But the Lord may influence, in various ways, those individuals to come whom He designs to bless. Pray that the fish may come in shoals round the boat! When the congregation is gathered, pray that the speaker may be guided of the Holy Spirit to a right theme. The preacher has no manuscript, so that there is room for the Spirit's guidance, and he may be led to say what he never thought of saying--the right word may thus be spoken in the right way so as to reach the heart! Then pray that there may be given the willing ear, the receptive mind, the retentive memory--that impressions may be made, tonight, and at all other times, such as even Satan cannot remove. And, oh, pray that tonight many who have been halting between two opinions may decide for God! Pray that many who have not, before, found the Savior's face will be converted! Pray that many who have been, up to now, of a sorrowful spirit, will be led into the joy of the Lord! I shall feel it a joyous work to be the lamplighter, tonight, for my Master, if I know that I have you at home pleading earnestly on my behalf! Give me this aid this morning, too. Pray God to bless each word that has been spoken. Pray that some poor sinner's soul may be perfumed by the merits of Jesus and illuminated with the Divine Light! Pray for this and it shall be done, for the Lord hears His people! We need, more and more, to be a praying Church--and then we shall be a growing Church! Up to now we have had a great blessing, but the windows of Heaven are wide enough for a greater one to come down through them! The more we plead with God and the more we set forth the light of the Gospel, the more will God be with us and build up, in this place, a temple for His praise! May His love be with you. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ A Sermon to the Lord's Little Children (No. 1711) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 18, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." 1 John 2:12. "I write to you, little children, because you know the Father." 1 John 2:13. (Revised Version). PROBABLY you ask, "Why does John say, first, 'I write,' and then, in verse 14, 'I have written'?" There is a beautiful touch of nature in this speedy change of tense. John was an extremely old man and, therefore, while he says, "I write," he adds, "I have written," as if he felt that it might be the last time that he should take his pen in hand. Very soon with him, the present tense would change into the past--and he indicates the fact by changing his mode of speech. Perhaps he even felt that, possibly, before the letter reached the Brethren to whom he addressed it, he would be no more among the sons of men. Therefore he says, "I write," indicating that while he was still with them, with warm and loving heart he solemnly exhorted them. And then he adds, "I have written," as if he had recorded his dying testimony and left it as his last legacy of love. To us, today, John's words run altogether in the past tense--"I have written." But we need not, therefore, forget that they were the well-considered words of a venerated father in Christ and that he wrote them as one so near to his departure that he regarded himself as already on the move and, therefore, scarcely knew which tense to use. Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, how soon our, "I speak," will change into, "I have spoken!" Let this invest every word with solemnity. Remember, also, what order of man John was--that disciple whom Jesus loved, whose head had leaned on Jesus' bosom, whose eyes had seen the King in His beauty and whose strengthened gaze had looked within the gates of pearl! This is he who, at one time, saw the pierced heart of the Well-Beloved pouring forth blood and water! And at another beheld the Lion of the tribe of Judah prevail to take the book and loose the seven seals thereof! It is the Apostle of Love who says to us, "I write to you," "I have written to you." Let us carefully note what the Spirit says to us by His servant, John. Observe that our text is addressed to the "little children." It is thought by many wise interpreters that under this term John includes the whole Church of God and that afterwards He divides that Church into two companies--the fathers and the young men. Those who, under one aspect, are all "little children," but are, under another, regarded as young men or fathers. There is very much to support this view. In several instances in this Epistle, John is evidently addressing all the saints when he speaks of them as, "my little children," as, for instance, in the 18th verse of the third chapter, and also in the closing verse, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Surely, all the saints are included in these exhortations. There is a sense in which every Christian is still a little child, a sense in which he ought to be so--always dependent upon the great Father, always ready to receive the Word of the Father without question, always teachable--always restful in the Father's care and full of love to Him who is his All in All. Of necessity we must always be children before God, for our finite capacity is so limited that we are mere babes in knowledge in the Presence of Infinite Wisdom and as very sucklings in understanding, when contrasted with the great Father of Spirits. We know enough to make us know that we know very little! The most advanced intellects in the Church are but as infants compared with the Ancient of Days. We are of yesterday and know nothing--with all our experience, with all our study, with all our meditation, with all our illumination we remain, "little children," when measured by the boundless knowledge of the Lord. Yes, I mean the fathers, the men who bring sinners to Jesus, the men who teach others and are, themselves, taught of God--even these must, each one, cry out with Jeremiah, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." I mean the young men who have overcome the Wicked One, whose holy valor sets them in the forefront of the battle where they turn to fight the armies of the aliens. "They are strong," says John, and yet, in the Presence of the mighty God of Jacob, what are our champions and our valiant men? Are they not, still, but as, "little children"? It may do us all good to join the infant-class this morning, or, at least to sit with the boys in the school of grace. Even those who have made the greatest advances in Divine Grace may do well to " become as little children," that they may more fully enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and have closer fellowship with "the Holy Child Jesus." It may even be an advance for some who have grown self-willed as they have advanced in knowledge, if they will say with David, "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself. As a child that is weaned of his mother, my soul is even as a weaned child." Happy childhood when it means entire submission to the Father and sweet delight in His will! Still, I am inclined to think that in this case John really does divide the entire Church into three classes--the babes in Grace, or the children. Or, as one of the words might properly be translated, the boys--those who have not long been born into the family--these are an interesting company. Then follow the young men--these are the second class--and a valued body of Christians they are, in the fullness of their vigor. They are strong in faith, giving glory to God, mighty in prayer, vehement in action, bold in testimony! May the Lord muster among our hosts a grand army of these vigorous heroes who shall earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints! The fighting power of the Church militant must come out of them! These are they that turn the battle to the gate. Blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them! Then there is the third class--the fathers, the mature, the experienced. These do not quite so much delight in war as the young men do, but at home they diligently care for the household of faith, watching over the feeble, strengthening and comforting them. These are able, by their experience, to answer gainsayers and to guide the ignorant to edify the untaught. Their knowledge is deep and they are, therefore, able to become teachers of others. They are men of spiritual force and have come to the full stature of men in Christ Jesus. Therefore they are the solid strength of the Church! If the young men are the Church's arm, these are the Church's backbone. We need to have many such, though, alas, it is to be feared that our Churches are much like the Apostolic ones of which Paul said, "You have not many fathers." This morning I am going to say nothing at all to the young men, nor to the fathers, except so far as they are willing to include themselves under the term of, "little children." And, as we have already said, there is just reason why they should do so. Little children, it is to you I speak this day--I mean you that have newly been converted, whose first cries of repentance are still in our ears! You, I mean, whose Grace is feeble; who are new to everything in the House of God and, as yet, need to be fed with the milk of the simple elementary Truth of God. You are the little children, dear to the whole family. You, I mean, who are but little in Israel as yet--little in knowledge, little in faith, little in strength, little in service, little in patience! You cannot, as yet, keep the watch of the House of the Lord, for you, yourselves, need to be watched over. You tremble when you try to stand and your unaccustomed feet can scarcely bear you along the road without a helping hand. You are very apt to tumble down and probably will do so many times before you learn to walk with the fathers, or run with the young men. You little children may, by some, be thought to be a burden, but the wise among us count you a blessing--the more of you the merrier in the Church of God--for you are the blessed of the Lord and we are glad to hear your youthful voices in the streets of the New Jerusalem! To you I shall speak this morning, as the Holy Spirit shall enable me. I would say these things to you. First, observe your privilege--"I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you." Then, note your knowledge--"I have written unto you, little children, because you know, or have known, the Father." And thirdly, consider the precepts addressed to you. When we get to that point I shall ask you to refer to your Bibles that we may run through the whole of this Epistle and see what John has to say to little children. May we receive the Word of God with meekness, that we may grow thereby. I. First, I want the babes in Grace, the weak in faith, the lambs of the flock, to notice THEIR PRIVILEGE. "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." This is a privilege extremely desired by the little children. They have but lately felt the burden of guilt--they still smart under the lashes of conscience. The Spirit of God has but newly convinced them of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. And, therefore, above everything, their prayer is, "Father, forgive me." To them the remission of sins stands out as the first and most desirable of all bless-ings--and, truly, they are right in their estimate, for what possession is there which can be called a blessing at all until sin is forgiven? It matters not how healthy a man may be--if his conscience is worried with his sin--his inmost heart is sick. It is small comfort to him to have all the comforts of this life if his heart feels the gnawing of the undying worm of conscious guilt. "God be merciful to me, a sinner," comes often from his breast as he beats upon it in the deep humiliation of his soul. There can be no joy and rest for him till he hears the words, "The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die." To the freshly saved, it is a joy worth worlds to have their sins forgiven! It is a bliss akin to the Heaven of angels and this joy belongs by right to all the saints, yes, even to the little children in the family of God! You were only born again last Sunday, but your sins are forgiven you! Perhaps it is only this morning that you have sought your Savior's face and have come to believe in Him--and, by His Grace, your sins are forgiven you! This assurance is as sweet to you as a seraph's song! I could not have told you a better piece of news. The pardon of sin is as the pearl of great price to you in your present stage of spiritual life--you would have sold all that you had in order to procure it--and now that you have it, your heart is aglow with gratitude! The wound in your conscience, so lately raw and bleeding, makes you set a high price upon the healing balm of free and full forgiveness! Far be it from me to stay your holy joy, and yet the Lord will show you greater things than these! At your stage of experience, pardon is the most prominent blessing of the Covenant. A newly converted man does not know much about sanctification or union to Christ. Perhaps he does not know much about election, calling, or sealing. The principal point he dwells upon is pardon. It is written in the Creed--"I believe in the forgiveness of sins"--and the man who has newly found peace with God by Jesus Christ repeats that article of the Creed with solemn emphasis. "/ believe in the forgiveness of sins," he says, for he has just realized it, and to him it is a gift so great that, like the moon and the stars, it shines as a queen among the blessings of Grace! Pardon of sin seems to the "little children" to comprehend the whole work of Jesus and the whole work of the Holy Spirit, too! Vast favors lie beyond, but to him who has newly crossed the Jordan, this one valley of Eschol fills all the range of vision and the soul hardly dreams of any further benediction! The newly-pardoned does not yet see the innumerable other blessings which come in the train of forgiveness. He is, for the present, absorbed in the hearing of that one sentence, "Go in peace; your sins which are many are all forgiven you." Well, beloved child, many more blessings await you! Pardon is but an entrance blessing, a welcome at the doorstep--there are rarer joys within the house! You have become an heir to a boundless inheritance! All things are yours! Heaven, Christ and God are yours! Yet I marvel not, that at present all your heart is taken up with a sense of pardoned sin! I will not disturb you, but I will rejoice with you. I will even sit down and sing with you--let this be our hymn-- "Now, oh joy my sins are pardoned! Now I can, and do believe! All I have, and am, and shall be, To my precious Lord I give." Even the full-grown child of God highly values this gift so dear to little children and, although he has received many other mercies, besides, yet still, it is a chief part of his joy that he has been cleansed from sin and clothed with righteousness. Ah, and our elder Brothers who are now in the King's country, this is a chief point, even with them, that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! And therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve Him day and night in His Temple. Yes, dear little children, you have obtained a most precious favor in which you do well to rejoice--"your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." Here let me observe that the forgiveness of sins is assuredly the possession of the new beginner in the Divine Life. He is as certainly forgiven as he ever shall be. The forgiveness of sins is not a matter of degrees or of growth. It is done in an instant and done forever, never to be reversed! The child of God who was born but yesterday is not as completely sanctified as he will be. He is not as completely instructed as he will be. He is not as completely conformed to the image of Christ as he will be. But he is as completely pardoned as the full-grown saint! He that just now passed the Gate of Pearl--did you not hear the shout as he entered, like a shock of corn fully ripe that comes in his season?--he, I say, was not more truly pardoned than you who but an hour ago believed in Christ unto the salvation of your soul! The dying thief had not many minutes found mercy and yet the Lord Jesus said to him, "Today shall you be with Me in Paradise!" It is plain, therefore, that he had been perfectly cleansed in a moment! To wash in the fountain filled with blood is not a business of weeks and months and years, nor is it to be repeated many times and often! But he that is washed is, then and there, made whiter than snow, and there is, from then on, no defilement upon him. "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you"--they are all gone--Divine Grace has most effectually removed them from you as far as the east is from the west! The Egyptians at the Red Sea were not destroyed by little and by little--they were not swallowed up in the flood, a regiment at a time! The eager depths which had, by miracle, been divided, for a time, leaped together and Pharaoh and his hosts--all of them--were covered, to be seen no more forever! Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! "The depths have covered them; there is not one of them left." The Israelites had but barely set their foot upon the other side of the Red Sea and yet all their enemies were as completely drowned as when the people entered into the Promised Land--it is even so with you who have believed in Christ but newly--your sins are cast into the depths of the sea! Your iniquities are subdued by the Lord Jesus who has come to save His people from their sins. Therefore, little children, praise your God and sing unto His name with all your might-- "Who forgives all our iniquities; who heals all our diseases." Note, also, that your sins are forgiven you on the same terms as those of the Apostles and the greatest of the saints-- "Your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake"--that is, for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of His glorious Person, for the sake of His honorable offices, for the sake of His shed blood and atoning death, for the sake of His glorious Resurrection, for the sake of His perpetual intercession before the Throne of God! Your sins are not forgiven you because of anything you are or hope to be, nor because of anything that you have done or have suffered--you are forgiven for Christ's name's sake--and all the saints of God can say the same. This is a sure ground of hope! Quicksand there is none, but a solid rock is under our feet. Had the pardon been granted for our own work's sake, it might have been reversed upon our disobedience. But as sin is pardoned for Christ's sake, the pardon is irreversible, since there is no change in Christ! Is not this a dainty sweet for the little children? How gladly do I come and sit at the children's table when I see such food placed thereon! Now notice that this is the reason why John wrote to you, little children. People do not generally write letters to little children, but John does because of these special little ones it can be said, their sins are forgiven them. The moment, then, that a man has his sins forgiven, he is old enough to begin to understand that which is written--and he should become a Bible reader and a Bible searcher! The moment that his sins are forgiven him for Christ's name's sake, he becomes capable of exhortation--and it is his business to attend to what is written to him. If pardoned as criminals, we are enlisted as workers! Why, I think if my sins have been forgiven me, my Heaven-born instincts make me ask, "Lord, what will you have me to do? Have You done so much for me? Then set me about doing something for You! Give me, as a privilege, the opportunity of serving You." Therefore, John, knowing that the little children would be eager to obey, has written to them, in this Epistle, certain commands, of which I will speak to you further on. Only, little children, be on the alert to begin, at once, your work of faith and labor of love. II. Secondly, I have to speak of THE KNOWLEDGE of these little children. "I have written unto you, little children, because you have known, or know, the Father." The tiniest babe in the family of God knows the Father. For, first, as we have seen, his sins are forgiven him. By whom is that pardon given? Why, by the Father, and, therefore, he that has had his sins forgiven him necessarily knows the Father. When the poor prodigal felt the kisses of his father's love and saw the best robe adorning his person, then he knew the Father. All the philosophers in the world do not know so much of the Father God as a forgiven sinner knows! I go a little further--if there are any that have never fallen into sin, but are like the 99 just persons who need no repentance, or like the elder brother who had never, at any time, transgressed his father's commandment, I say that these do not know and cannot know the Father as the forgiven child does--for the Father's heart comes out most fully and expressly when He says, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. For this, My son was dead, and is alive again! He was lost and is found." Then, as he looks up through his tears and sees the ineffable smile of the Father's affection, the forgiven child knows the Father! The very least child of Grace, having received the forgiveness of sins, knows the Father in this most important sense. Moreover, this is a piece of knowledge, dear Friends, which the child of God obtains very early in his spiritual life, for whatever a child does not know, he knows his father. Think of your dear little one at home. He cannot, as yet, read a letter in the book. He knows nothing of the things which his elder brother studies, but he knows his father! He may not know very much about his father--he certainly could not speak to others about his father's business or his father's wealth--but he knows him! The child cannot help his father, or understand what his father does, but he knows his father and would choose him out from among a thousand. See how his eyes twinkle, now that Father has come home! See him stretch out his little hands! See how eager he is to get into those dear arms! He knows his father and never forgets that knowledge. Dear child of God, this is a piece of knowledge which you have, also! And in this you will yield to none of all the sacred family. Benjamin knows his father with an absolute certainty--he is as sure of it as Reuben is the firstborn. We go to school and college, but long before that we know our father--the fear is lest we overlay that precious knowledge with something not worth half as much! Little children, you know God, now, in your spiritual childhood. You could not preach about Him; you could not write a treatise upon His attributes; you could not describe His mighty acts--but you know Him by the instinct of a child--and in you is the promise fulfilled, "Israel shall cry unto Me, My God, we know You." Little children, the result of your knowing God as your Father is that when He is away from you, you are in the habit of crying after Him. If you cannot feel your Father's love shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit, you are miserable and you hasten to your closet and begin to pray, "Come to me, my Father! Manifest Yourself to me, for I cannot live without You." On the other hand, when you do get to your Father, you show that you love Him by the perfect restfulness of your spirit. In God you are at home. Once get into your Father's arms and you feel quite safe, quite peaceful, quite happy. The Presence of God is the paradise of the Believer! God is the ultimatum of our desires--we speak of Him as "our exceeding joy." If in my Father's love I share a filial part, I ask no more than to know and enjoy it! We say, "Our Father which are in Heaven"--we might as truly say, "Our Father, You are our Heaven." Hence we seek after Him. "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You." Here, then, we have a token that we know the Father, when we weep because He is absent, or rejoice because He is present. We know the Father, Brothers and Sisters, even we who are but little in Israel, for we love Him! Do you not feel that you love God, this morning? You might not dare say so in public, and yet you would die for Him. Sooner than renounce your God would you not give up all that you possess? It may be you will never be tried as the martyrs have been, but if you were, can you suppose it possible that you could part with your God? No, your inmost heart loves Him! You know it does and, loving Him, you are united to Him by bonds which cannot be severed! Moreover, we know the Father, for we trust Him. Is it not written, "They that know Your name will put their trust in You"? Can you not trust God with everything? A child has no cares. His father cares for him. A child knows no anxiety. His father bears all the anxiety on his behalf. Is it not so with you? Though you are babes in Grace, do you not trust?--trust for time, trust for eternity, trust for your bodies and trust for your souls? I am sure you do! If you are what you should be, you know the Father, for your faith rests upon Him. It is also true that you seek to imitate Him. It is wonderful how little children imitate their father, perhaps more than grown-up children do, though the influence of example is also seen upon them. The very little ones will try to do everything exactly like Father. It must be right, it must be perfect! If father does it, they make us smile as we see in them ourselves in miniature! Is not this the very thing which you try to do? Though you were converted but a very little while ago, yet you wish to be like Jesus! You long to be like the Father. Would you not be perfect if you could? If you could, would you not be rid of every sin? If some painful surgical operation could take away from you the black drops of indwelling sin, would you not cheerfully bare your breast to the sharpest knife? I know you would! You would die to be rid of sin, for that is the thing you hate. This proves that you know your Father in Heaven, for you are trying to be like He is. And do you not glory in Him? Little children, when they begin to talk and go to school--how proud they are of their father! Their father is the greatest man that ever lived--there never was the like of him! You may talk to them of great statesmen, or great warriors, or great princes, but these are all nobodies--their father fills the whole horizon of their being! Well, so it certainly is with us and our Father God-- "Since no works are like Yours, None so glorious, so Divine. Since whatever gods there are, None, O Lord, are like You, Let me bow before Your Throne And exalt Your name alone." We cannot make enough of our God! We extol Him with all our might. With the blessed virgin we sing, "My soul does magnify the Lord." What does, "magnify," mean? Why, to make great! We feel as if we would make God's name great and would greaten Him in the minds of men and make them think what a blessed Father we have! Now, listen! This is the reason why John has written to you, little children, because he says, "They know enough to understand my letter, for they know the Father." We do not think of writing a letter to a little child. "Ah," says John, "but the Lord's children know their Father" and he that knows God is capable of any kind of knowledge! He who knows God is a fit person to be accepted as a disciple of the beloved Apostle. I cannot desire a better congregation than a congregation of men and women that know the Father. What if they are little children? Well, they can understand anything that I, another child, can have to say, for they know the Father and, therefore, they have an unction from the Holy One and are able to know spiritual things! To know God is the center and the circumference of all knowledge! If you know the Father, do you not see the reason why John writes to you? Because now that you know Him, you are bound to love Him, to trust Him and to serve Him! Having received such knowledge as this, you are bound to impart it as far as you can! You are bound to live up to it and to show to all around you what a child of God is--and how different he is from the children of darkness! Thus, out of your privilege and out of your knowledge, there arises an obligation which I trust you will not be slow to acknowledge. Here is a prayer for you-- "If I've the honor, Lord, to be One of Your happy family. On me the gracious gift bestow To call You "Abba, Father," too. So may my conduct ever prove My filial piety and love! While all my brethren clearly trace Their Father's likeness in my face." III. Now we come to our third division. Will you kindly follow me with your Bibles, especially you that are "little children," while I commend to you THE PRECEPTS which John has written for your guidance. First, look at 1 John 2. "My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not." That is the first precept--"Little children, sin not." Children ate very apt to get into the mud. Most mothers will tell you, I think, that if there is a pool of mud anywhere within a mile, her first-born joy and comfort will find it out and get into it if he possibly can! And no matter how often a child is washed, he seems to always need washing again--if there is a method by which he can foul his hands and his face--your pretty cherub is most ingenious to find it out! I am afraid this is too much the case with the children of God. There is so much of carnality about us, so much of the old Adam, that the question is not into which sin we fall, but into which sin we do not fall! Alas, we are apt to be proud, though we have nothing to be proud of! We are prone to despond and doubt our Father, though He never gave us any cause to do so! We are inclined to be worldly, though there is nothing in the world worth loving! And we have a tendency to grow cold and chill towards God, though He is altogether lovely and ought to win our warmest affection. We are apt to speak unadvisedly with our lips. We are apt to be full of foolish thoughts. We are apt to be self-willed. We find an angry temper rising against some Brother of ours whom we ought to love--and we have not long got over that before we are half-afraid to utter a word of rebuke lest we should incur the laughter of the ungodly! We glide from one sin to another, even as a waterfall descends from rock to rock. As weeds multiply in the soul, so do sins spring up in our hearts. We are a mass of faults. Like the pendulum, we swing to the right hand and then to the left--we err, first, in one way and then in another--we are always inclined to evil! And, therefore, the Apostle sweetly puts it, "My little children, I write unto you, that you sin not." Avoid every sin--forsake it altogether! Ask for the Grace of God to sanctify you wholly--spirit, soul, and body. Though you are only newly born, yet, my little children, sin not. You will soon lose your comfort if you do. Little children, sin will hurt you, damage you, grieve you, and displease your heavenly Father! Sin will raise a cloud, behind which His Presence will be hidden from you! It will stop your heavenly growth. It will prevent your usefulness. My little children, I earnestly entreat you that you sin not! Burnt child, dread the fire you have just been plucked out of, do not go back to it. Do not play with sparks! Keep clear of every kind of match that might create a flame. Seek after holiness with all your might. Though born but yesterday, do not sin today. God help you to fulfill this holy precept. Further on in this second chapter, the Apostle writes to them again, and tells them (v. 18) that it is the last times and that there are many antichrists abroad. You will have to run your eyes right down the chapter till you come to verse 24, for that is what he says to little children, because there are many antichrists in the world that would seduce them--"Let that, therefore, abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning." Little children are very fickle. The toys which they cry for one day, they break the next. Young minds change with the wind. So, little children, there are many evil ones who will endeavor to seduce you from the Truth of God and, as you have a natural instability of mind as yet, for you are only newly converted, it is well to be on your guard against those who would mislead you. Till we are rooted and grounded in the Truth of God, new things have great charms for us, especially if they have about them a great show of holiness and zeal for God. Listen, then, dear children but newly born into the Savior's family--"Let that, therefore, abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning." Alas, even those who are older in Grace than you are have shown a sad readiness to be duped by plausible persons who have invented fresh notions and methods! I have lived long enough to have seen a considerable variety of follies and manias in the religious world. They have sprung up, grown great, declined and vanished. One day it has been one thing, another, another. I have lived to see those things justly ridiculed which, a few years before, were cried up as the wonders of the age! I thank God I have not been moved by any of these periodical fits of frenzy, but have been content to keep to the one old Truth of God which I have gathered from the Scriptures and made my own by experience and by the teaching of the Holy Spirit! I have not had to tack about, for I have been enabled to steam ahead--and I hope I shall do so to the end. I have no respect for these upstart inventions. I regard them as so many phases of human delusion. One never knows what will come next, but of this we are pretty sure, that every now and then a new doctrine is brought forth which turns out to be an old heresy with a fresh coat of varnish on it! Or else some new method of saving souls is found out and the work blazes away like a house on fire till it dies out in smoke. Let us not be carried off our feet by every wind of doctrine! We may live to see the present craze ended and another or two after it--only be it ours to be steadfast, immovable! "Little children, let that, therefore, abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning." Leave to others the soon exhausted novelties and you keep to the eternal unchangeable Truth which is taught you in God's Word and in your own soul's experience. Little children, here is a third precept for you, and I want you to put it into your bosom and carry it home (v. 28). "And now, little children, abide in Him." There is a Sabbath portion for you--"Abide in Him." Let the Truth of God abide in you and you abide in Christ, who is the Truth of God. Little children are very apt to stray. I have known them tempted away from home and to play the truant. They have gone into the fields after pretty flowers, or down by the brook to fish for minnows, and then they have fallen into all sorts of trouble. The best place for a child is at home. And for a babe in Grace the best shelter is the Savior's bosom. "Little children, abide in Him." If you forget everything else I say this morning, lay this up in your hearts, and let none tempt you away from simply trusting your Savior, sweetly resting in His love and humbly following on to know more and more of Him! "And now, little children, abide in Him." What next? Read on to chapter 3:7-- "Little children, let no man deceive you." Children are very credulous. They will believe any idle tale if it is told by a clever and attractive person. Little children, believe your Savior, but be not ready to believe anybody else! Believe God's Word and stand fast to that. And if sinners entice you, do not consent to them. And if antichrist would teach you false doctrine, close your ears to it. Be as the sheep of whom Jesus said--"A stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers." Further on, (3:18), we read--"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue but in deed and in truth." Little children are apt to let their angry passions rise till they have to be told by Dr. Watts that their-- "Little hands were never made To tear each other's eyes." And truly we have some Christian children who have been all too quick about this tearing of each other's eyes. They have seen a Truth of God and some friend they meet with does not see it. Therefore they have tried to knock his eyes out to make him see it! That is a faithful description of many Christian controversies. It is idle to attempt to compel another to think as I think by scolding him and heaping wrath upon him. Let us never do that. Let us love! If you cannot expect anything else of a child, you do expect love, and love never seems to be more suitably enshrined than in the heart and mind of a little child. Come, you that are newly brought to Christ, love with all your might! If you cannot fight as soldiers, or work as laborers, yet love the Brotherhood! Love Christ! Love God! Love the souls of men and by love seek to win them to the Savior who has saved you! Love not in word only, but in deed and in truth. You have the next words in chapter 4, verse 4--"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world." Little children are frequently timid. They are sometimes terrified when left alone. They are generally afraid of strangers. Hear, then, you little children, you are very weak and feeble, but do not be dismayed because of that, for there is a Power dwelling in you which is mightier than the power which dwells in the world! Satan dwells in the world and he is mighty, but God dwells in you and He is Almighty! Therefore be not afraid-- "A feeble saint shall win the day, Though death and Hell obstruct the way." Hold on to your faith in the eternal Lord who dwells in you, and you shall never perish, neither shall any pluck you out of His hand! The last precept to little children is at the end of the Epistle. Carefully read the last verse--"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Little children are naturally fond of toys and pretty pictures. Anything like pomp and show is sure to please children. How fond they are of soldiers, banners, processions, bands of music and all that is frivolous-- these are their idols. That is the also tendency of many grown-up children that I know of. They admire a fine religion, tasteful, striking, artistic. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." I would like this text printed over the altars of our Ritualistic neighbors. I need scarcely mention others who have no taste or care for the beautiful, but their toys are all for noise-making, glitter and flash--a sort of Fifth of November all the days of the year! Do not become fascinated with their playthings. Be not led away from the Church of God by armies or navies. Alas, the children must now have their play toys in the Church and their toys in the Chapel--and some must have their toys in the streets, till one would think, with their trumpets and drums, that they had just come home from the fair! "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," I do not think you are likely to fall in love with the idols of the heathen and bow down to them--but there are plenty of other gods which are the idols of one period and the derision of the next. Keep to Christ! Ask not for pomp and show! Ask not for noise and bluster! Ask for nothing but that your sins may be forgiven you; that you may know the Father; that you may abide in Christ and be full of love to all the family of God! Little children, may the Lord Jesus Christ be with you and may you grow in Grace till you come unto the fullness of the stature of men in Him. May His Grace be upon all them that love Him and wait for His appearing. __________________________________________________________________ Filling the Empty Vessels (No. 1712) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 17, 1882, BY C, H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19. VERY beautiful, to my mind, is the sight of "Paul the aged" confined in his prison at Rome, likely, by-and-by, to be put to death, but calm, quiet, peaceful and joyful. Just now he is so happy that a gleam of sunlight seems to light up his cell and his face shines like that of an angel! He is exceedingly delighted because he has been, in his deep poverty, kindly remembered by the little Church at Philippi, for they have sent him a contribution. See how cheerful the man is--I was about to say, how contented, but I drop the word because it falls far short of the mark! He is far more happy than Caesar overhead in the palace. He is charmed with the love which has sent him this relief. Probably the gift does not come to very much, if estimated in Roman coin, but he makes a great deal of it and sits down to write a letter of thanks abounding in rich expressions like these--"I have all things, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you." His heart was evidently greatly touched, for he says, "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now, at the last, your care of me has flourished again." See how little a gift may make a good man glad! Is it not worth while to be free with our cups of cold water to the Prophets of the Lord? Instead of a little money, the Brothers and Sisters at Philippi receive a boundless blessing and are enriched by the fervent prayers of the Apostle! Hear how earnestly Paul invokes benedictions on the heads of his benefactors! Is it not a blessed state of mind which enables a heart so soon to be full to overflowing? Some would grumble over a roasted ox, but here is Paul--rejoicing over a dinner of herbs! So great was the disinterestedness of Paul, that there was nothing of selfishness about his joy. He did not speak in respect of need, for he knew how to suffer need without complaint. But he looked upon the kindly contribution as a fruit of the Grace of God in the Philippians--a generous proof that they were lifted out of heathen selfishness into Christian love! There was little enough of kindness in the old Roman and Greek world into which Paul went preaching the Gospel. Those were times of great hardness of heart, even to cruel heartlessness. There was no sort of provision for the poor. If a man was poor, why, that was his own problem, and he might starve and die. You know how hardened the people had become through the fights in the amphitheater, so that the sight of blood produced a fierce delight in their brutal bosoms and human suffering was, to them, rather a thing to be rejoiced in than to be prevented. There might be, here and there, a tender hand that gave coin to the poor, but, for the most part, charity was dead. The voluptuaries of that most degenerate age planned no hospitals and built no orphanages--they were too intent upon their gladiators and their mistresses. Self was lord paramount in Caesar's court and all over Roman realms! But here are people at Philippi thinking about one who had preached the Gospel to them and who is now suffering. They are moved by a new principle--love to God in Christ Jesus has created love to the man whose words had changed them. They will not abandon him--they will, out of their own slender means, cheer his sad condition. There were Churches that had no such hearts of mercy, alas, that so early in the Gospel-day holy charity should be so rare! There were people whom Paul had blessed greatly, who even quarreled about him and denied that he was an Apostle of Christ! But not so the beloved Church at Philippi. They had, again and again, ministered to his necessities and Paul, now, rejoices in them, again, because he delights to see another instance of the transforming power of the Grace of God upon character, so that those who were once selfish now rejoiced, unprompted and unasked, to send their offering to him. Was Lydia at the bottom of that subscription? I should not wonder! We know that she was open-hearted. Did the jailer add his full share? I feel sure of it, for in the prison he courteously entertained the Apostle. These were a generous people and Paul is happy in thinking of them. I may here dare to say that I, also, have had the same joy over many of you when I have seen how freely you have given of your substance to the work of the Lord. It would be unfair if I withheld commendation for liberality from many now before me. You have rejoiced my heart by your gifts to the cause of God. You have given up to the measure of your means and some of you beyond what we could have asked of you. The Gospel has taught you this. To God be glory that it is so. Continue in the same spirit, that none may rob me of this joy. The Apostle makes to them an assurance in the following verses that they shall be abundantly repaid for all that they have done. He says to them, "You have helped me; but my God shall supply you. You have helped me in one of my needs--my need of clothing and of food. I have other needs in which you could not help me, but my God shall supply all your need. You have helped me, some of you, out of your deep poverty, taking from your scanty store. But my God shall supply all your need out of His riches in Glory. You have sent Epaphroditus unto me with your offering. Well and good! He is a most worthy Brother, and a true yoke-fellow. And for all that, God shall send a better messenger to you, for He shall supply all your needs by Christ Jesus." He seems to me to make a parallel of his needs with theirs, and of his supplies from them with their supplies from the Lord. He would seem to say--Just as God has, through you, filled me up, so shall He, by Christ, fill you up. That is a translation of the Greek which most nearly touches the meaning--"My God shall fill up all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Will you allow me to make a break, here, for one instant? I read you, just now, the story of the Prophet's widow whose children were about to be taken for a debt, and how the oil was multiplied in the vessels which she borrowed until there was enough to discharge the debt, and sufficient surplus for herself and children to live upon. Now, kindly take that picture and join it on to this--and we have here, first, the empty vessels. Set them out in a row, "all your need." Secondly, who will fill them up?--"My God shall fill up all your need." Thirdly, after what fashion will He do it?--"According to His riches in glory." Fourthly, by what means will He do it?--"By Christ Jesus." Keep the widow and the vessels before you and let us see the miracle worked over, again, on a grand scale in our own houses and hearts. May the Holy Spirit make the sight refreshing to our faith. I. So, then, we will begin our discourse this evening by asking you to SET OUT THE EMPTY VESSELS. "My God shall supply all your need." Bring forth your vessels, even empty vessels! "All your need." I do not suppose that you are under any great obligation to go out, tonight, and borrow other people's needs, for you have enough of your own at home--needs many and varied. Very well, set them out. Hide none of them away, but put them down, one after another, in a long row, all of them. There are needs for your body, needs for your soul. There are needs for yourselves, needs for your families--needs for the present, needs for the future--needs for time, needs for eternity. There are needs for earth, needs for Heaven. Your needs are as many as your moments--as many as the hairs of your head. I suppose it would be useless for me to attempt a catalog of them--however carefully we made the list, we should have to add a host of sundries altogether unmentionable until circumstances suggested them. I could hardly tell you all my own needs, but I know that they are enormous and increasing with my years. I have needs as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a citizen, as a Christian, as a pastor, as an author--in fact, every position I take up adds to my needs. If I went through my own personal bill of requests, I could fill a document like the roll mentioned in the Old Testament, written within and without--and hardly then could I enumerate all my own demands upon the Bank of Heaven. But if I attempted to take all the thousands that are gathered beneath this roof and to let each man state his particular needs, where would the computation end? The sands upon the seashore are not more innumerable! Dear! Dear! We would need a library larger than the Bodleian to hold all the books which could be written of all the needs of the needy congregation now before me! Well, I am not sorry for it, for here is so much the more room for the Lord to work His miracles of bountiful Grace! Sometimes, when I have been in need for the work of the Orphanage and the College and such things--and these times have occurred--I do solemnly assure you that I have felt a wonderful joy in my spirit. I have watched the ebb of the funds till nearly everything has been gone and then I have joyfully said to myself, "Now for it! The vessels are empty! Now I shall see the miracle of filling them." What wonders the Lord has worked for me, I cannot, now, tell you in detail, but many of you who have been my faithful helpers know how hundreds and even thousands of pounds have poured in from our great Lord in the moment of necessity. It will always be the same, for the Lord God is the same. Until the funds run low we cannot expect to see them replenished--when they get low, then will God come and deal graciously with us! Money is, however, our smallest need--we need Grace, wisdom, light and comfort--and these we shall have. All our needs are occasions for blessing. The more needs you have the more blessing you will get. God has promised to fill up all your needs. That is, all your empty vessels will be filled and, therefore, the more the merrier! What? The more in need the better? Yes, I would have your faith believe that strange statement--your poverty shall thus be your riches, your weakness your strength, your abasement your exaltation! Your extremity shall be an opportunity that God will use to show the riches of His Grace! To your utter exhaustion He will draw near with all the fullness of His inexhaustible Grace and He will replenish you till your cup runs over! He will fill up all your empty vessels. Be not slow to fetch them out from holes and corners and place them before the Lord, however many they may be. Weep not over the empty jars, but place them out in rows in full expectation of their being filled to the brim! These empty vessels of yours are, some of them, I have no doubt, very large, and they even grow larger. Most of our needs grow upon us. You still pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," but the one loaf which was a large answer to the prayer when you were single, would not go far at your table, now--the loaves vanish like snow in the sun! You needed faith 50 years ago, but you need more, now, do you not? You have more infirmities and, perhaps, more trials than in your younger days. I know that, apart from my loving Lord, I am much more needy, now, than I ever was before. Whatever a man requires in the things of God, usually the older he grows and the more experience he has, the more he needs, and the more of it he needs. He needs more love than he had when he was younger, more patience, more resignation, more humility, more charity, more wisdom, more holiness. He desires more faith and a brighter hope. He needs, especially in prospect of death, more courage and more bold, simple, child-like confidence in his Savior, Why, some of us have needs that could not be supplied if we could turn the stars to gold and coin them and pay them away--these could not touch the hunger of the heart and soul! The world, itself, would be but a mouthful for our spirits' necessity--a drop in a bucket. I know some saints that have grown to be so deeply in debt to their Lord, to His Church and to the world, that they are hopelessly involved in boundless obligation. How can we meet the demands upon us? Our responsibilities are overwhelming! All that some of us have made by our lifelong trading is a bigger stock of needs than we ever had before. The vacuum within our spirit expands and enlarges, and we cry out, "More knowledge of the Scriptures! More of Christ! More of Grace! More of God! More of the Holy Spirit! More power to serve God!" Our oil vessels would, each one, hold a sea--and even these are expanding! We need more and more, and the mercy is that the text before us keeps pace with the growth--"My God shall supply all your need." This includes the big needs as well as the little ones! It comprehends all that can be as well as all that is! It guarantees us that our growing needs shall all be supplied. Let the vessels expand to their utmost, "Yet my God," says Paul, "shall fill up all those needs of yours." Certain of our needs, again, are of this extraordinary kind, that if they were filled up, tonight, they would be empty tomorrow morning! Some of our necessities are fresh every morning. The crop is a daily one, it springs up every moment. The Grace I had five minutes ago will not serve me now. Yesterday I may have possessed great love, great faith, great courage, great humility, great joy--but I also need these today--and none can give them to me but my Lord. You had great patience under your last trial. Yes, but old patience is stale stuff. You must grow more of that sweet herb in your garden, for the trial that is now coming can only be sweetened by the herb content, newly gathered from the garden of your heart and mixed with the bitter water of your afflictions. Our condition apart from our God may be compared to those fabled vessels that we read of in mythology that were so full of holes that, though the 50 daughters of Danaus labored hard to fill them up, they could never accomplish the task. You and I are such leaky vessels that none but God can ever fill us! And when we are filled, none but God can keep us full. Yet so the promise stands, "My God shall supply all your need"--all the vessels shall be filled and shall be kept full! We have certain needs, dear Friends, that are very pressing and, perhaps, most clamorous at this moment. Some needs are urgent--they must be supplied, and supplied speedily--or we shall perish with hunger, or die of sickness, or wither up in despair. Here let me add a caution--I dare not tell you that God will supply all the needs of everybody, for this promise is to the children of God--and in its most emphatic sense it is only to a certain class, even, among them. Those persons who profess to be Christians and, when they were well-to-do, never helped anybody else--I think the Lord will let them pinch a bit, and know what a condition of poverty is like that they may become more sympathetic with the poor. I have known good stewards and the Lord has sent them more, for they have dealt well with what they had. They have given away their substance by shovelfuls and the Lord has sent it back by cartloads and entrusted them with more! Others who have been bad stewards and have not served their Master well, have lost what they had, and have come to poverty. Let us hope that their substance has gone to somebody that will use it better! But, meanwhile, they have to pinch, and deservedly so. But, remember, the Apostle is speaking to people of a very different character from that. He is speaking to the Phi-lippians and I think that there is a point in that pronoun, "My God shall supply all your need." You have been generous in helping the Lord's servant and the Lord will repay you. Up to the measure of your ability you have served His Church and helped to carry on His work in the world and, therefore, God will supply all your need. This is not spoken to hoarding Judas, but to the generous who had voluntarily yielded of their substance when a fit opportunity was given them. Will any of you bring your need to God and test Him by the same conduct? Remember that old promise of His, "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." There is that that scatters and yet increases. Give, and it shall be given unto you. Oh yes, our gracious God will fill all the vessels at once, if time presses! If your needs urgently require to be filled, bring them to Him. I began by saying that few of us had any great call to borrow other people's empty pots. Yet there are some of us whose main anxiety is about the vessels that we have borrowed. We need more oil than others for this very reason, that we care for others. Certain of us have been called to a life which intertwists itself with many lives. We have been led by Grace and Providence to take upon ourselves the needs of thousands. Every genuine warm-hearted Christian does this, more or less. We try to make other men's needs our own needs by working for the poor, the ignorant, the sick, the helpless. You that care for our orphan children may well join with me in prayer that the Lord will fill up all those empty vessels which we have borrowed of poor widows. Think of my hundreds of borrowed vessels in the Orphanage and of the number in the College. Blessed be the Lord my God, He will fill up all these! Those whom we try to help in different ways, especially those we try to lead to the Savior, are like the woman's borrowed vessels--and they are not a few! You have made their spiritual needs your own. You have come before God to pray for them as for your own soul and you shall be heard. You have talked to your neighbors and laid yourself out for their good, as if your own eternal destiny were in their stead--rest fully assured that the Lord that filled the borrowed pots in Elisha's day will also supply your borrowed needs! "My God will fill up all your needs." It is a blessed word! Bring out your vessels and see if it is not true! I should like to see every Christian here setting out all his vessels in rows at once, whatever they may be. Do not put your cares away in the back room and say, "I shall draw them out tomorrow and begin worrying over them." Instead of that, while the oil is flowing, bring them here, before the Lord, that the oil may have free course and find suitable storage. Would you limit the miracle? Have you one forgotten need? Make haste with it! Still, the oil is multiplying! Come one! Come all! Arrange your vessels and the Lord will fill up your needs, by His Grace, and fill your mouths with a song! II. Secondly, let us enquire, WHO IS TO FILL THESE VESSELS? Paul says, "My God will supply all your need." "My God!" Oh, that is grand! It were foolish talking if any other name were mentioned! God can supply all the needs of His people, for He is All-Sufficient--but nobody else can. He can do it without any help, for nothing is too hard for the Lord. He is able to number the myriads of His creatures and attend to the commissariat of them all, so that not one of them shall lack--"He calls them all by their names, by the greatness of His power not one fails." "They that wait upon the Lord shall not want any good thing." As for you, dear Brothers and Sisters, "trust in the Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed." He that promises to fill up all your empty vessels is one who can do it--there is no limit to the goodness and power of God! Then, notice that sweet word which Paul has put before the glorious word, "God." He writes--"My God." As Paul looked at the money which the Philippians had sent him and, perhaps, at the warm garments that would cover him in the cold, damp jail, he cried, "See how my God has supplied me!" And then he says, "My God shall supply you." This same God, Paul's God--"shall fill up all your need." Wonderfully had God protected Paul from the malice of those who sought for his life. Very wonderfully had he been carried by Divine power through unparalleled labors, so that he had been made to triumph in every place in the preaching of the Gospel! And thus Paul had learned from day to day to get a firmer grip of his God, and say, "My God!" with more and more emphasis. Jehovah was not to Paul the unknown god, but, "My God." With God he dwelt and in Him he reposed all his cares. This same God is our God! Think of that, poor friend, in your hour of need. Think of that, you afflicted widow woman--you have Paul's God to go to! Think of that, dear child of God in trouble--you have the same God as Paul had and He is as much yours as He was Paul's! His arm has not waxed short, neither has His heart grown hard towards any of His children! "My God," says Paul, "who is also your God, will supply all your need." Who is this God that will supply all our needs? Paul's God, remember, was and is the God of Providence! And what a wonderful God He is. We speak as if we were some very important part of the universe, but really, what are we? Our little island can scarcely be found upon the globe till you hunt long for it! What a tiny speck this congregation must be! But God supplies the needs of all the millions of mankind. "Mankind," I said--but I ought to have included all the other creatures, too-- the myriads of herring in the sea, the multitudes of birds that sometimes darken the sun in their migrations, the countless armies of worms and insects, strangely supplied, we know not how! And yet, "Your heavenly Father feeds them." Is that all the sphere of His Providence? No, far from it! I suppose that this round world of ours is but one apple in the orchard of creation, one grain of dust in the corner of God's great palace. But all yon orbs, with all the living things that may be peopling every star, He supplies. And how? "He opens His hand and supplies the need of every living thing." See how easy to Him is this universal provision--He does but open His hand and it is done! This is the God that will supply all your need! He calls the stars by name! He leads out Arcturus with his sons. He loosens the bands of Orion. He does great things without number--and shall He not feed and clothe you, O you of little faith? Yes, be you sure of this, the God of Providence shall supply all your needs for this life and its surroundings. If that suffice you not, let me remind you that this God is the God of Grace, for Paul, above all men, counted Divine Grace to be his treasure--his God was the God of Grace. Chiefly He is the God who gave His Son to bleed and die for men. Oh, stand at Calvary and see God's great Sacrifice--the gift of His only-begotten Son! And when you have marked the wounds of the Well-Beloved and seen Jesus die, answer me this--"He that spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him, also freely give us all things?" What will He deny us who has given up the best jewel that He had, the glorious One that Heaven could not match? There was never the likes of Jesus, and yet He bowed His head to die on our behalf! Oh, my dear, dear Friends, if you are anxious, tonight, and vexed with many cares, do think of that! It is the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who says that He will fill up all your need! Do you doubt Him? Can you? Dare you distrust Him? Now, take a flight above this present cloud-land and behold the God of Heaven! Think of what God is up yonder-- "Beyond, beyond this lower sky Up where eternal ages roll, Where solid pleasures never die, And fruits immortal feast the soul." Behold the splendor of God! Gold in Heaven is of no account--the streets of that city are all of pure gold like unto transparent glass! The riches and the merchandise of nations are but as rags and rottenness compared with the most common utensils of God's great House above! There they possess inexhaustible treasures and everything that is precious, for the walls of the New Jerusalem are described as made of 12 manner of precious stones, as if these stones were so common in Immanuel's land that they built the walls with them! The gates are each one a pearl. What pearls are those! Is God rich? Inconceivably, incalculably rich, so that He clothes the very grass of the field more gloriously than Solomon clothed himself! What am I doing to be of a doubtful mind? Is He my Father and will He let me suffer need? What? I, starving, and my Father owning Heaven? No, no!-- "He that has made my Heaven secure, Will here, all good provide While Christ is rich, can I be poor? What can I need beside?" My precious text is one which, years ago, when we built the Orphanage, I caused to be cut on one of the pillars of the entrance. You will notice it inside the first columns on either side whenever you go there. "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." This I took for the foundation of the Institution and set my seal to it as true. And it has been so! Time would fail me if I were to tell how often God has interposed, there, for His numerous family--those children that are cast upon the Divine Fatherhood. He has honored His own promise and our faith--and I believe He always will. There on the forefront of the Orphanage stands also the words--"The Lord will provide." You shall see whether it is not so. As long as that place stands, my God shall supply our need and it shall be a standing encouragement to us all. Think of the far more extensive orphanage of our Brother Mueller, of Bristol, with those 2,500 children living simply through prayer and faith, and yet as abundantly supplied as the Queen in her palace! Nothing is needed where God is the Provider. The Lord will supply without fail! Let us trust without fear. Go and plead this promise with the Lord your God and He will fulfill it to you as well as to the rest of His saints. III. Now, thirdly, let us enquire IN WHAT STYLE WILL GOD SUPPLY HIS PEOPLE'S NEEDS? He will do it in such style as becomes His wealth--"according to His riches." There are several ways of doing most things. There is more than one way of giving a penny to a beggar. You can throw it at him, if you like, or pitch it in the mud as if you threw a bone to a dog. Or you may hand it to him in a sort of huff as if you said, "Take it, and be off with you." Or you may drag the coin out of your pocket as unwillingly as if you were losing your eye-tooth. There is yet another way--namely that which makes the copper turn to gold--by a way of doing it courteously and with kindness which expresses sympathy with the poor creature's need. Always give good things in the best way, for your heavenly Father does so. Now, how does God supply His children? Stingily, miserably, grudging them every penny's worth? Certainly not! I hope that it was never your misery to dine with a grudging man who watched every mouthful that went down your throat as if there was so much the less for him! Why, when one does eat, at whatever table it may be, if it is the most common fare, one likes a welcome. It is the welcome which makes the Covenant invitation so sweet, when you hear the exhortation, "Eat, O Friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved." One enjoys the welcome of a heart which pleases all it can--like the Scot woman at a great communion meeting when there was nobody to take the people in--"Come in," she said. "Come in! I have room for 10 of you in my house, and I have room for 10,000 of you in my heart. Come along with you. Nobody so welcome as you that have been sitting at my Master's table with me." How, then, does God dispense His favors? How does He fill up the vessels? The way He does it is not according to our poverty, nor according to our merit, "but according to His riches." He gives like a king! Brothers and Sisters, I must correct myself--He gives as God and as only God can give--according to His own God-like riches. No, that is not all. He will do it in a style consistent with His present Glory. It is "according to His riches in glory," which means that, as rich as God is in glory, so rich is He in giving. He never demeans Himself in the mercies that He gives. He gives according to His rank and that is the highest conceivable. He gives so as to bring Him new Glory. I never heard of one of His children receiving a great blessing from Him and then saying that it did not glorify God to bestow it. No, no! The more He gives, the more glorious He is in the eyes of men! And He delights to give, that His Glory may be seen, and that the riches of His manifested Glory may be increased. Withholding would not enrich the Lord of Heaven! Rather would it impoverish Him in Glory. But giving enriches Him with more revealed Glory and He, therefore, delights to scatter His bounty. The fact is, Brethren, God gives gloriously! The calculations of God--did you ever think of them? Well, let me say that He always calculates so as to leave something to spare, by which to illustrate the infinity of His goodness. I know that it is so. He does not give us just as much light as our eyes can take in, but He floods the world with splendor till we shade our eyes amidst the blaze of noon. After this fashion did His only-begotten Son feed the thousands when He multiplied bread and fish for them to eat. We read that "they did all eat"--no doubt they were hungry enough to do a great deal of that sort of labor! So far so good. But it is added, "and were filled." It takes a good deal to fill men who have come a long way into the country and have had nothing to eat for a whole day. But they were filled, fainting and famished though they had been. Yes, but do not stop there--"And they took up of the fragments 12 baskets full." The Lord always has baskets full of leftovers remaining for the waiters. He will be sure to fill all your needs till you have no other need remaining and have provision on hand for needs not yet arrived. Will the day ever come when we shall say, "Bring yet another need for God to fill," and the answer will be, "I have no more needs"? Then the oil of Grace will stop, but not till then! No, according to what I have said, it will not stop then, but it will go on flowing and flowing, and flowing and flowing, world without end, "according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." The Lord will give enough, enough for all time, enough of all, enough for all, and more than enough! There shall be no real need of any Believer but what the Lord will fill it full and exceed it. It is a wonderful expression "filled with all the fullness of God." It pictures our being in God and God in us. One has illustrated it by taking a bottle, holding it in the sea and getting it right full--there is the sea in the bottle! Now, throw it right into the waves and let it sink--and you have the sea in the bottle and the bottle in the sea! So God enters into us and, as we cannot hold more, He makes us come into Himself! Into the very fullness of Christ are we plunged! What more can the amplest imagination conceive, or the hungriest heart desire? Thus God will supply our needs. Well may you fill others, who are yourselves so filled by God! Well may you serve His cause with boundless generosity when the infinite liberality of God is thus ensured to you! IV. Lastly, let us notice BY WHAT MEANS THE LORD FILLS OUR NEEDS. It is "by Christ Jesus." Does God supply all His people's needs by Christ Jesus? Yes, first, by giving them Christ Jesus, for there is everything in Christ Jesus. Christ is all! The man who has Christ has all things, as says the Apostle, "All things are yours, for you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." You will never have a spiritual need which is not supplied in Christ. If you need courage, He can create it. If you need patience, He can teach it. If you need love, He can inspire it! You need washing, and there is the Fountain. You require a garment, and there is the robe of Righteousness. You would have great needs if you went to Heaven without Christ, but you shall not go there without Him! And even there He shall supply you with everything! He it is that prepares your mansion, provides your wedding dress, leads you to His Throne and bids you sit there with Him forever. God will supply your eternal needs by giving you Christ. Moreover, all things shall come to you by virtue of Christ's merit. You deserve no good thing, but He deserves it and He says, "Set it to My poor servant's account." You may use Christ's name at the Bank of Heaven freely, for though God might not give His favor to you, He will always give it to His dear, dying, risen, pleading Son! When Jesus' name is quoted, all things are yielded by the Father. God will give you all things by Christ--therefore do not go to anybody else after those things. If you have begun in the Spirit, do not attempt to be perfected by the flesh. If your only hope is in what Christ has done, stick to that and add nothing to it! Be this your motto-- "None but Jesus! None but Jesus!" Jesus is our All-in-All! We are complete in Him! We need no addenda to the volume of His love. Christ, and Christ, alone, shall supply all your need--all your fresh springs are in Him. "It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; and of His fullness we have all received, and Grace for Grace." Now, once more, I would to God that some poor soul here that has no faith--that has no good thing about him-- would, nevertheless, look over his house and see whether he has not an empty vessel somewhere. All that Christ wants of you, poor Sinner, is that you should be empty and come and let Him fill you with His Grace! Come along with you, just as you are! Bring no good works, no prayers, no anything--but come with all your sins, follies and failures which you may look upon as so many empty pots! Come to Jesus for everything. "But I have scarcely a sense of need," you say. Come to Him for that, too! You must be very needy to be in need of that. Come and get it from Him. I tell you, Soul, you do not need a half-farthing's worth of your own--for what you think you have will only keep you from Jesus! Come in all your poverty--a beggar, a king of beggars! Come and be made rich by Jesus! You that have not a rag to cover your sin with--you that are only fit to be put into the devil's dust bin and thrown away as worthless--come along with you! My Lord Jesus is ready to receive those that Satan, himself, flings away! If you are such that you cannot find anything in yourself that is desirable and even your old companions, who once cheered you on, now think you too mean for them--yet come into my Master's company--for, "this Man receives sinners." Come with your beggary and bank-ruptcy--you cannot dig, but to beg be not ashamed, for, "My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." As for you that have not trusted my Lord and boast that you can do very well without Him, I suppose I must leave you to fight your own way. You declare that you will carry on your own business and will not be dependent upon God, nor fall into any fanatical ideas, as you are pleased to call them. But we shall see. Already we see that the youths faint and are wearied and the young men utterly fall. We see that the young lions lack and suffer hunger and, also, that the best-laid plans of wisest men go oft awry. And they that have felt assured that they could fight their own way--even they have come to terrible failure. We shall see how you fare. They that mount up with wings as eagles and are proud and vainglorious--even these go down to destruction so that no flesh has reason to glory. As for me, let me wait upon the Lord God and live by faith in Him. Is it not better to drink of life out of the deep, inexhaustible fullness of God than to go forever pumping and pumping at your own shallow cisterns which hold water? Self-reliance may be well enough, but God-reliance eclipses it as the sun outshines the stars! "Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed." "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler." There is a God and those who love Him and trust Him and serve Him know that He is a good Master. Job was slandered by the devil when he came and said, "Does Job serve God for nothing?" He insinuated that Job made a good thing out of his religion and was moved by selfish motives. It was a great lie and yet, in a certain sense, it is true. If anybody says the same of you, admit that it is true. Acknowledge that you do make a fine thing out of your religion. God will not let you serve Him for nothing--you shall never have to ask the question--"What profit is there if we serve God?" You shall have His peace, His love, His joy, His supplies according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus! You shall know that in keeping His Commandments there is great reward! Believer, you shall have everything through Christ and nothing without Him! He that trusts not the Savior and prays not to Him, shall be like Gideon's fleece--when all around it was wet the fleece was dry! But the man who trusts God and blesses His name shall be like Gideon's fleece--when all around was dry it was full of moisture! God will not hear a man's prayers except through Christ Jesus! But if that name is mentioned, the gates of Heaven fly open! God withholds no real good from the man of God who is in Christ. But our plea must be Jesus, first, and Jesus last, and Jesus in between! We must present the bleeding Lamb before God each morning and each night. I pray you seek no mercy of God apart from Christ, but lay hold upon God in Christ--and you shall have enough for all your need! May God the Holy Spirit cause you to abide in Christ Jesus for His name's sake. Amen. PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON--2 Kings 4:1-7 and Philippians 4. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"--84 (SONG II), 23 (FIRST VERSION), 708. __________________________________________________________________ Other Sheep and One Flock (No. 1713) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 25, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And other sheep I ha ve which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice and they shall be one fold and one shepherd (or more correctly one flock; one shepherd)." John 10:16. THIS verse is guarded before and behind by two notable statements. Before it we hear the Master say, "I lay down My life for the sheep," and immediately after it we meet with another grand sentence, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again." The first statement, "I lay down My life for the sheep" is the sheet anchor of our confidence when storms assail the vessel of the Church. The Lord Jesus has, by His death, proved His love to His people and His determination to save them is made clear by His laying down His life for them. Therefore doubt and fear should be banished and the very name of despair should be unknown among the Israel of God! Now are we sure of the love of the Son of God to His chosen flock, for we have an Infallible proof of it in the laying down of His life for them. Now, also, are we absolutely certain that Christ's purpose is perpetual--it cannot alter. The Lord Jesus has committed Himself to that purpose beyond recall, for the price is paid and the deed is done by which the purpose is to be effected. Beyond this we are hereby assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Divine purpose will be carried out, for it cannot be that Christ should die in vain. We think it a kind of blasphemy to suppose that His blood should be spilt for nothing. Whatever was proposed to be accomplished by the laying down of the life of the Son of God, we feel absolutely certain that it will be fully performed in the teeth of all adversaries, for we are not, now, speaking of man's design, but of the purpose of God to which He devoted the heart's blood of His only-begotten Son! We both patiently hope and quietly wait to see the salvation of God and the performance of all His designs of love, for that death upon the Cross is a cause which will surely produce its effect. Christ did not die at a gamble. The supposition of a Savior disappointed in the results of His blood-shedding is not to be tolerated for a moment! In darkest times that glorious Cross flames with light! No evil event can prevent its efficacy. Still in that sign we conquer! If Jesus has laid down His life for the sheep, then all is well. Rest assured of the Father's love to those sheep! Rest assured of the immutability of the Divine purpose concerning them and rest assured of its ultimate achievement! It must not, shall not be that God's own Son shall lay down His life in vain! Though Heaven and earth should pass away, the precious heart's blood of the Son of God shall accomplish the end for which it was so freely poured forth. Jesus says, "I lay down My life for the sheep," therefore the sheep must live who have been redeemed at such a price as this and the Shepherd in them shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied! So far we are cheered by the vanguard which marches in advance of our text. But as if the poor, timid people of God would, nevertheless, at times fancy that the purpose of Christ would not be achieved, behold, in the rear another sentence, "I lay down My life that I might take it again." He that died and so redeemed His people by price, lives that He may, Himself, personally see that they are also redeemed by power! If a man dies to achieve a purpose, you feel sure that his very soul must have been in it. But if that man should rise again from the dead and still pursue his purpose, you would see how resolutely he was set on his design. If he rose with greater power, clothed with higher rank and elevated to a more eminent position--and if he still pursued his great objective, you would, then, be more than certain of his never-ending determination to perform his design. In the risen life of Jesus, assurance is made doubly sure--now are we sure that His design must be carried out, nothing can hinder it! We dare not dream that the Son of God can be disappointed of the objective for which He died and for which He lives again! If Jesus died for a purpose, He will accomplish it. If Jesus rose for a purpose, He will accomplish it. If Jesus lives forever for a purpose, He will accomplish it. To me this conclusion seems to be past question--and if it is so--it puts the destiny of the sheep beyond all hazard. Did not Paul argue much in the same way when he said, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life"? If any of you have been cast down by reason of present difficulties, let these two grand texts sound their silver trumpets in your ears! If you have been looking forth from the windows and the outlook has seemed to be exceedingly dark, take courage, I pray you, from what your Lord has done! His death and Resurrection are prophetic of good things to come! You dare not think that Christ will miss the objective of His death--you dare not think that He will miss the purpose of His glory-life! Why, then, are you cast down? His will shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven, as surely as He came from Heaven to earth and has returned from earth to Heaven! His purpose shall be carried out as surely as He died and lives again! Is not this the secret reason why, when the Lord appeared to His sorrowing servant John, He said to him, "I am He that lives and was dead and am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of death and of Hell"? Is not the dying and then living Shepherd the safety and the glory of the flock? Well, then, comfort one another with these words of your Lord, "I lay down My life for the sheep." "I lay down My life, that I might take it again." I. There are four things in the text, itself, which deserve your attention, for they are full of consolation to minds troubled by the evil of those perilous times. The first is this--OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HAD A PEOPLE UNDER THE WORST CIRCUMSTANCES. When He speaks of "other sheep," it is implied that He had certain sheep at the time. And when He says, "other sheep have I which are not of this fold," it is manifest that even then, the Good Shepherd had a fold! The times were grievously dark and evil, but a few true hearts clustered about the Savior and, by His Divine power, were protected as in a "fold." It has been supposed that our Lord, here, alludes to the Jews as, "this fold," but the Jews, as such, were never Christ's fold. He could not have meant to call the Jews around Him, His fold, for a little farther on He exclaims, "You believe not because you are not of My sheep, as I said unto you." His fold was that little handful of disciples whom, by His personal ministry, He had gathered, and who stood folded, as it were, about their Good Shepherd. They might be sneered at as a little company, but He says to His enemies who are standing outside the fold foaming with wrath, "Other sheep I have that are not of this little fold: these you cannot see, but I have them, none the less, for that these, I must, in due time, lead, and then there shall be one flock and one Shepherd." See, then, that the Lord Jesus had a people in the worst times! Doubtless these days are exceedingly dangerous and I have certain Brethren round me who never allow me to forget it, for they play well in the minor key and dwell most judiciously upon the necessary topic of the general declension of the Church and the growing depravity of the world! I would not stop them from their faithful warnings, although I can assure them that, with slight variations, I have heard the same tune for years! Many a time have they afflicted me, from my youth up, and it has been good for me. I remember hearing some 30 years ago that we lived in awful times and, as nearly as I can recollect, the times have been awful ever since and I suppose they always will be! The watchmen of the night see everything except the coming of the morning. Our pilots perceive dangers ahead and steer with caution. Perhaps this is as it should be. At any rate, it is better than sleeping in a fool's paradise! Be this as it may, it is clear that the days of our Lord Jesus Christ were emphatically terrible times. No age can be worse than that age which literally crucified the Son of God, crying, "Away with Him! Away with Him!" Whether the present days are better than those, I will not determine, but they cannot be worse. The day of our Lord's first advent was the culmination and the crisis of the world's career of sin--and yet the Good Shepherd had a fold among men in the midnight of history! There was a sad lack of vital godliness in those days. A few godly ones watched for the coming of the Messiah, but they were very few, such as good old Simeon and Anna. A small remnant sighed and cried for the abounding sin of the nation, but the salt was almost gone. Israel was becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah! The choice band of mourners in Zion had not quite died out, but their number was so few that a child might write the number down. Speaking generally, when the Savior came to His own, His own received Him not. The mass of professing people in that day was rotten throughout! The life of God was gone--it could not dwell with the Pharisees nor the Sadducees, nor any of the sects of the times, for they were altogether gone out of the way. The Lord looked and there was no man to help or to uphold His righteous cause--those who professed to be its champions had altogether become un- profitable. As for the religious teachers, their mouth had become an open sepulcher and the poison of asps was under their tongues. And yet the Lord had a people in Judea even then! On earth there was still a fold for sheep whom He had chosen who knew the Shepherd's voice and gathered to His call and followed Him faithfully. But it was a time when will-worship abounded. Men had given up worshipping God according to the Scriptures. They worshipped according to their own fancies. Then you might hear a trumpet at every corner of the street, for Pharisees were distributing their alms! You could see fathers and mothers neglected, families broken up because the scribes had taught the people that if they said, "Corban," they were free from all obligation to help father or mother. They taught for doctrines, the commandments of men--the Commandments of God were laid aside. To wear broad-bordered garments and phylacteries was exalted into a matter of first importance, while to lie and cheat were mere trifles. To eat with unwashed hands was thought to be a crime, but to devour widow's houses was a thing which, to the most self-righteous Pharisee, caused no qualm of conscience. The land was filled with will-worship and that is one great and growing hindrance nowadays! But for all that, Christ had a fold of His own and there were those who knew His voice--and these, following at His heels--were enabled to go in and out and find pasture. It was a day when there was the most fierce opposition to the real Truths of God. Our Lord Jesus could hardly open His mouth but they took up stones to stone Him! It was said that He had a devil and was mad; that He was a "gluttonous Man and a winebibber, the friend of publicans and sinners." The rage of men against Christ was, then, boiling at its greatest heat, till at last they took Him and nailed Him to the Cross because they could not endure that He should live among them. And yet He had His own in those dreadful times! Even then He had His chosen company for whom He laid down His life, of whom He said to the Father, "Yours they were and You gave them to Me; and they have kept Your Word." To those He spoke, saying, "You are they that have continued with Me in My temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father has appointed unto Me." Why, Beloved, I gather that though, at this time, there is a sad decline in vital godliness, and though will-worship sweeps over the land with its tumultuous waves; and though opposition to the pure Truth of Christ is more fierce than ever; nevertheless, even at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of Grace! Even today the answer of God to the complaining Prophet is, "Yet have I left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed unto Baal." Why, my Brothers and Sisters, in confidence you possess your souls! Now, it is to be noticed that this little company of Christ's people He calls a "fold." Afterwards they were to be a "flock," but while His bodily Presence was with them, they were pre-eminently a "fold." They were few in number, all of one race, mostly in one place and so compact that they could fitly be said to be a fold. One glance of the Shepherd's bodily eyes saw them all. Happily, also, they were so thoroughly distinct from the rest of the world that they were eminently and evidently folded. Our Lord said of them, "You are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." He had shut them in to Himself and shut the world out. Within this blessed seclusion they were perfectly safe, so that their Lord said to the Father, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name: those that You gave Me, I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Whatever their mistakes and faults, and they were many, yet they did not conform themselves to the generation among which they dwelt--they were kept apart as in a fold while Jesus was with them. In that fold they were protected from all ill weathers, from the wolf and the thief. The Lord's Presence with them was like a wall of fire round about them--they had only to run to Him and He answered all their adversaries and defended them from reproach. Like another David, the Lord Jesus guarded His flock from all the ravenous lions that sought to devour them. True, even in that little fold there were goats, for He, Himself, said, "I have chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil." Even then, they were not absolutely pure, but they were wonderfully so--and they were marvelously separated from the world, preserved from false doctrine and kept from dividing and scattering. Within that fold they were being strengthened for the future following of their great Shepherd. They were learning a thousand things which would be useful to them when, afterwards, He sent them forth as lambs among wolves, so that they would be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves" because of what they had learned of their Lord. Thus you see that in the worst times the Lord had a Church! I might almost say the best Church! May I not call it so? For that Apostolic Church, upon which the Holy Spirit descended, was not a whit behind the Church of any era that succeeded it! It was the choice flock of all the flocks of the ages, even that feeble company of which Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Yet you see one thing is not able here, that when Jesus had thus shut them all in, He would not allow them to become exclusive and glide into a state of selfish satisfaction. No, He opens wide the door of the sheepfold and cries to them, "Other sheep I have." Thus He checks a tendency so common in the Church to be forgetful of those outside the fold and to make one's own personal salvation the sum and substance of religion! I do not think it wrong to sing-- "We are a garden walled around, Chosen and made peculiar ground. A little spot, enclosed by Grace Out of the world's wide wilderness." On the contrary, I judge that the verse is true and sweet, and ought to be sung. But then there are other truths besides this one. To us, also, the Shepherd opens the door of the enclosed garden and says, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." The fold is our abode, but it is not our sole sphere of action, for we are to go forth from it into all the world seeking our Brothers and Sisters! Seeing that our Lord has other sheep which are not of this fold, and these are to be found by Him through His faithful people, let us awaken ourselves to the holy enterprise-- "O, come, let us go and find them! In the paths of death they roam. At the close of the day It will be sweet to say, 'I have brought some lost one home.'" Beloved, I shall leave this point when I have said to you--never despair! The Lord of Hosts is with His people! They may be few and poor, but they are Christ's and that makes them precious. A common sheepfold is not a thing of glory and beauty--four rough walls compose it and it is but a hovel for sheep--even so, the Church may appear mean and base in men's eyes, but then it is the sheepfold of our Shepherd-King and the sheep belong to the Lord God Almighty! There is a glory about this which angels do not fail to see! Here is human weakness and also Divine power! We do not, I fear, estimate the strength of the Church aright. I read of three Brothers who had to carry on a college when funds were running short. One of them complained that they had no helpers and could not hope to succeed. But another, who had more faith, said to his Brother, "Do you ask what we can do? Do you say that we are so few? I do not see that we are few, for we are a thousand at the least." "A thousand of us," said the other, "how is that?" "Why," replied the first, "I am a cipher, you are a cipher and our Brother is a cipher--so we have three nothings to begin with. Then I am sure the Lord Jesus is ONE--put Him down before the three ciphers and we have a thousand, directly." Was not this bravely spoken? What power we have when we do but set the great ONE in the front! You are nothing, Brother. You are nothing, Sister. I am nothing--we are all nothing when we are put together without our Lord! But, oh, if He stands in front of us, then we are thousands! And again, it is true on earth as in Heaven-- the chariots of the Lord are 20,000, even thousands of messengers--the Lord is among them as in the Holy Place. Why, my Friends, be not cast down at any time, but say to yourselves--We are not even, now, come to so dark a night as once fell on this world. We are not, at this painful moment, in such a desperate condition as the Church of Christ was in His own day! And if the Lord is spiritually in the midst of us, we need not fear though the earth is removed and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea, for there is a city which abides forever, and there is a river, the streams of which shall, forever, make her glad! God is in the midst of her and she shall not be moved! God shall help her and that right early. Why, my fellow Believers, be strong and of good courage! II. But now, secondly, it is clear, for the text teaches it in so many words, that OUR LORD HAS OTHER SHEEP NOT YET KNOWN TO US. He says, "Other sheep I have." I want you to notice that strong expression, "Other sheep I have"--not, "I shall have," but, "I have other sheep." Many of these sheep were not even in the thoughts of the Apostles. I do not think it had crossed the mind of Peter, James, or John that their Lord had any sheep in this poor savage island, then scarcely regarded as being within the borders of the earth. I do not suppose the Apostles, at that time, even dreamed that their Lord Jesus had sheep in Rome. No, their most liberal notion was that the Hebrew nation might be converted and the scattered of the seed of Abraham gathered together in one. Our Shepherd-King has greater thoughts than the most large-hearted of His servants. He delights to enlarge the area of our love. "Other sheep have I." You do not know them, but the Shepherd does. Unknown to ministers, unknown to the warmest-hearted Christians, there are many in the world whom Jesus claims for His own through the Covenant of Grace. Who are these? Well, these "other sheep" were, first, His chosen, for He has a people whom He has chosen out of the world and ordained unto eternal life. "You have not chosen Me," He said, "but I have chosen you"--there is a people upon whom His sovereignty has fixed its loving choice from before the foundation of the world! And of these elect ones, He says, "I have them." His election of them is the basis of His property in them. These are, also, those whom His Father gave Him, of whom He says in another place, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me." And again, "Of those whom You have given Me I have lost none." His Father's eternal donation of them seals His title to them! These are the people for whom He peculiarly and especially laid down His life that they might be the redeemed of the Lord. "Christ loved His Church and gave Himself for it." These are they that are redeemed from among men, of whom we read, "You are not your own, you are bought with a price." The Lord Jesus laid down His life for His sheep--He tells us so, Himself, and none can question His own statement. These are those of whom Jesus says, "I have them." For these He entered into suretyship engagements, even as Jacob undertook the flock of Laban and watched day and night that he should not lose them. And if one had been lost, he would have had to make it good. These sheep represent a people for whom Christ has entered into suretyship engagements with His Father that He will deliver each one of them safely at the last day of account, not one of them being absent when the sheep shall pass, again, under the hand of Him that counts them as they will at the last great day. "Other sheep I have," says Christ. How wonderful that He should say, "I have them," though as yet they were far off by wicked works. What was their state? They were a people without shepherd, without fold, without pasture, lost on the mountains, wandering in the woods, lying down to die, ready to be devoured by the wolf--yet Jesus says, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold." They were sheep that had wandered exceedingly far, even into the most shameful iniquity--and yet He says, "I have them." Bad as this world is, today, it must have been far worse in the cruel Roman age as to open vices and unmentionable abominations. And yet these wanderers were the sheep of Christ and, in due time, they were delivered from their sins and fetched away from all the superstition, idolatry and filthiness into which they had wandered! They were Christ's even while they were afar off--He had chosen them, the Father had given them to Him, He had bought them--and He determined to have them. No, He says, "I have them"--and He calls them His own even while they are transgressing and running headlong to destruction! It seems to me that these were as well known to Christ as those that were in His fold. I think I see Him, the Divine Man, standing there confronting His adversaries. And when He has cast His glance upon His foes, I see His eyes going to and fro throughout the whole earth to gaze upon a sight far more pleasant to Him. While He speaks, His eyes flash with joyous fire as they light upon thousands out of every kindred and people and tongue! And as He quotes, to Himself, the words of the 22nd Psalm--"All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord's and He is the Governor among the nations. A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation"--He spies out the myriads that are His and He rejoices before His scornful foes as He sees His growing kingdom which they are powerless to overthrow! Proud, self-righteous men may blindly refuse the leadership of the Lord's anointed Shepherd, but He shall not be without a flock to be His honor and reward! Did not the Lord, at that time, rejoice in His inmost heart and soliloquize within Himself thus--"Though Israel is not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength"? This led Him to say, "Other sheep I have." In this there is great comfort for God's people who love the souls of their fellow men. The Lord has a people in London and He knows them. "I have much people in this city," was said to the Apostle when, as yet, nobody was converted there! "I have them," says Christ though as yet they had not sought Him. Our Lord Jesus has an elect redeemed people all over the world at this time, though as yet they are not called by Grace. I know not where they are, nor where they are not--but for certain He has them somewhere since it still stands true--"Other sheep I have which are not of this fold." This is a part of our authority for going out to find the lost sheep, for we, Brothers and Sisters, have a right to go anywhere to enquire about our Master's sheep. I have no business to go hunting after other people's sheep. But if they are my Master's sheep, who shall stop me over hill or dale enquiring, "Have you seen my Master's sheep?" If any say, "You intrude in this land," let the answer be, "We are after our Master's sheep which have strayed here! Excuse our pushing further than politeness might allow, but we are in haste to find a lost sheep." This is your excuse for going into a house where you are not wanted, to try and leave your tracts and speak a word for Christ! Say, "I think my Master has one of His sheep here and I have come after it." You have received a search-warrant from the King of Kings and, therefore, you have a right to enter and search after your Lord's stolen property! If men belonged to the devil, we would not rob the enemy, himself, but they do not belong to him! He neither made them nor bought them and, therefore, we seize them in the King's name whenever we can lay hands on them. I doubt not but what there are some here, this morning, who neither know nor love the Savior as yet, who, nevertheless, belong to the Redeemer--and He will yet bring them to Himself and to His flock. Therefore it is that we preach with confidence! I do not come into this pulpit hoping that, perhaps, somebody will, of His own free will, return to Christ--that may be so or not--but my hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, "You are Mine and you shall be Mine. I claim you for Myself." My hope arises from the freeness of Grace--not from the freedom of the will! A poor haul of fish will any Gospel fisherman make if he takes none but those who are eager to leap into the net! Oh, for an hour of Jesus among this crowd! Oh, for five minutes of the great Shepherd's handiwork! When the good Shepherd overtakes His lost sheep, He has not much to say to it. According to the parable, He says nothing. But He lays hold of it, lays it on His shoulders and carries it home--and that is what I want the Lord to do, this morning, with some of you whose will is all the other way, whose wishes and desires are all contrary to Him. I want Him to come with sacred violence and mighty love to restore you to your Father and your God! Not that you will be saved against your will, but your consent will be sweetly gained. Oh, that the Lord Jesus would take you in hand and never let you go again! May He sweetly say to you, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you." III. Our third head contains in it much delight. Our LORD MUST BRING OR LEAD THOSE OTHER SHEEP. "Them also I must bring"--read it, and it will be more accurate--"them also I must lead." Christ must be at the head of these other sheep and they must follow His lead--"them also I must lead, and they shall hear My voice," Those who belong to Christ, secretly, must be openly led to follow Him. First, it is Christ that has to do it, even as He has done it up to now. The text says, "Them also I must bring," and this language implies that those who have already come, He has brought. All that were in the fold, Christ had brought there--and all that are to be in the fold--He must lead there. All of us who are saved have been saved by the mighty power of God in Christ Jesus. Is it not so? Is there anyone among us that came to Jesus without Jesus first coming to Him? Surely, no! Without exception, we all admit that it was His love that sought us out and brought us to be the sheep of His pasture. Now, as the Lord Jesus has done this for us, He must do it for others, for they will never come unless He fetches them. Here comes in that emphatic, imperious, "must." The proverb is that, "must," is for the king--and the king may say, "must," to all of us. But did you ever hear of a "must" that bound the king, himself, and constrained him? Kings generally do not care to have it said to them, you "must," but there is a King, the likes of which King there never was nor shall be for glory and for dominion--and yet He is bound by a "must"--the Prince Immanuel says, "Them also I must bring." Whenever Jesus says, "must," something comes of it! Who can resist the Omnipotent "must"? Clear out, devils! Clear out, wicked men! Flee, darkness! Die, O death! If Jesus says, "must," we know what is going to happen--difficulties vanish, impossibilities are achieved! Glory, glory, the Lord shall get the victory! Jesus says of His chosen, His redeemed, His espoused, His covenanted ones, "Them also I must bring" and, therefore, it must be done! Furthermore, He tells us how He must do it. He says, "They shall hear My voice." So that our Lord is going to save people, still, by the Gospel! I do not look for any other means of converting men beyond the simple preaching of the Gospel and the opening of men's ears to hear it--"They shall hear My voice." The old methods are to be followed to the end of the chapter. Our standing orders are--"Go you into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." We are not commissioned to do anything else but continue to preach the Gospel, the same Gospel which saved us and which was delivered to us at the beginning! We know of no alterations, enlargements, or amendments to the Gospel! We obey and follow one Voice, not many voices. One Gospel of salvation is to be proclaimed everywhere! And no other work is in our commission. Then it is added, "They shall hear My voice." It is promised that they shall first lend an attentive ear and then that they shall yield a willing heart to the voice of Divine love and follow Jesus where He leads! "What then?" Asks one. "Suppose I speak in Christ's name and they will not hear?" "Do not suppose what cannot be! The Scripture says of the chosen sheep--"they shall hear My voice." The rest remain in their blindness, but the redeemed will hear and see! Do not again say, "Suppose they will not!" You must not suppose anything that is contrary to what Jesus promises when He says, "They shall hear My voice." The graceless may stop up their ears if they will--and perish with Christ's voice as a witness against them--but His own redeemed shall hear the heavenly voice and obey it! There is no resisting this Divine necessity! Jesus says--"I must bring them, and they shall hear My voice." It was with this that Paul turned to the Gentiles and said to the Jews, "Be it known, therefore, unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and that they will hear it." He had no fear about the reception the Word of God would meet with--neither ought we to entertain any, since Christ has a people who must be led--and shall hear the voice of the Bishop and Shepherd of souls! We have heard it said that, "If Christ must have His people, what is the good of preaching?" What would be the good of preaching if it were otherwise? Why, dear Sir, this fact is one great reason why we preach! That which you suppose to be a motive for inaction is the strongest motive for energetic action! Because the Lord has a people that must be saved, we feel an imperious necessity laid upon us to join with Him in bringing this people to Himself. They must come and we must fetch them! Christian Brothers, do you not feel that you must help in compelling them to come to the wedding feast? Is it not laid upon you that you must go after lost souls, that you must speak to them, seeing that you must have a hand in bringing these blood-bought ones to Christ by His Holy Spirit? And again, are there not some in this place who feel a necessity laid upon them, also, that they must come? Do I not hear some of you saying, "I have stood out a long while, but I must come. I have resisted Divine Grace long enough. And now Christ has laid His hands on me--I must come"? How I wish that a heavenly, "must," a blessed necessity of Omnipotent decree may overshadow you and bear you as a sheep to the fold! Oh that you may now yield yourselves unto God because the love of Christ constrains you! Submit yourselves unto God! Acknowledge the supreme authority of His Grace which shall lead every thought into captivity, that from this day on Christ may reign in your hearts and put every enemy under His feet! He says, "Him that comes to Me I will in nowise cast out." "I will trust Him," says one. "I feel I must." Just so and that trust is a mark of your election of God, for, "He that believes in Him has everlasting life." "Whom He did predestinate, them He also called." If He is calling you, it is because He did predestinate you--and you may rest quite sure of it--and yield to Him with holy joy and delight! As for me, I feel so happy in preaching the Gospel because I am not fishing with a, "chance," or a, "perhaps," that some may come. The Lord knows them that are His and they will come! Every congregation is, in this sense, a picked assembly. I felt, this morning, when I came here, that there were so many Friends out in the country for the holidays that we should very likely have a thin house. I rejoice that I was altogether wrong in my reckoning, but even then I thought, God has a people that He will bring whom He means to bless. Here they are! And now, while standing here, I know that God's Word "shall not return to Him void, but it shall accomplish that which He pleases, and shall prosper in the thing to which He has sent it." IV. But now, lastly, OUR LORD GUARANTEES THE UNITY OF HIS CHURCH. "Them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." We hear a great deal about the unity of the Church and notions upon this subject are rather wild. We are to have the Roman and the Greek and the Anglican Church all joined together in one--if they were so, the result would not be worth two-pence--and much evil would come of it! God has, I doubt not, a chosen people among all these three great corporations, but the union of such questionable organizations would be a dire omen of mischief to the world! The dark ages and a worse Popedom than ever would soon be upon us! The more those three quarrel with each other, the better for truth and righteousness! I should like to see the Anglican Church standing at drawn daggers with the Ro-man--and coming into a more and more open opposition to its superstitions. I would to God that the national Church would, in all things, be delivered from the Pope of Rome and his Anti-Christian enormities! Truly, this has been carried out as a matter of fact--there never was but one Shepherd of the sheep yet--even Christ Jesus! And there never was but one flock of God yet, and there never will be! There is one spiritual Church of God--there never were two! All the visible Churches, up and down the world contain within themselves parts of the one Church of Jesus Christ, but there were never two bodies of Christ and there cannot be! There is one Church and there is one Head of the Church! The motto of Christianity is--one flock and one Shepherd. As a matter of experience this is carried out in Believers. I do not care who the man is, if he is a truly spiritually-minded man, he is one with all other spiritually-minded men. Those people in any visible Church who have no Grace are usually the greatest sticklers for every point of difference and every particle of rite and form. Nominal professors are soon at war. Quickened Believers follow after peace! Of course, when a man has nothing else but the outside, he fights for it tooth and nail. But a man who loves the Lord and lives near Him, perceives the inner life in others and has fellowship with them! That inner life is one in all the quickened family and compels them to be one in heart. Set two Brothers at prayer, the one a Calvinist and the other an Arminian, and they pray alike! Get a real work of the Spirit in a district and see how Baptists and Paedo-Baptists pull together! Tell of your inward experience and speak of the Spirit's work in the soul, and see how we are all moved thereby! Here is a Brother, a member of the Society of Friends, and he likes silent worship. And here is another who enjoys hearty singing! But when they get near to God, they do not quarrel over this, but agree to differ--the one says, "The Lord be with you in your holy silence"--and the other prays that the Lord may accept his brother's Psalm. All who are one with Christ have a certain family feeling, a higher form of clannishness and they cannot shake it off. I have found myself reading a gracious book which has drawn me near to God. And though I have known that it was written by a man with whose opinions I had little agreement, I have not, therefore, refused to be edified by him in points which are unquestionably revealed. No, but I have blessed the Lord that, within all his blunders, he knew so much of the precious, vital Truth of God and lived so near his Lord! What Protestant can refuse to love the holy Bernard? Was there ever a more consecrated servant of God or a dearer lover of Christ than he? Yet he was most sorrowfully in bondage to the superstitions of his age and of the Roman Church! Are you not all one with him who sang-- "Jesus, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast But sweeter, far, Your face to see, And in Your Presence rest"? The external Church is necessary, but it is not the one and indivisible Church of Christ. Jesus, as the Life, binds His Church together, and that Life flows through all the regenerate, even as the blood flows through all the veins of the body. Drop the external and look by faith into the spiritual realm, and you will see one flock and one Shepherd. The practical lesson is, let us belong to that one flock! How are they known? Answer--they are a hearing flock--they hear the Lord and follow His lead. Be you one of those who listen to Christ's voice--and to none besides. Keep to the one Shepherd! How do you know Him? It is Jesus--in His feet and hands are nail-prints--and His side bears the scar. He it is who leads the one only flock! Follow Jesus and you are right. Follow Him everywhere and you are happy. The best way to promote the unity of the Church is for all the sheep to follow the Shepherd. If they all follow the Shepherd, they will all keep together. Let us go forth and try and do that--and let us long for that happy day when all disputed points shall be settled by all obeying the Lord. Compromises would only mean an agreement to disobey the Lord! Let no man yield a principle under pretense of charity--it is not charity to call any Truth of God a lie! We must follow Jesus fully and we shall come together. First pure, then peaceable, is the rule. Oh, when shall the triple banner again float over all--"One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism!"? Oh God, the Holy Spirit, forgive us our errors and bring us to Your Truth! Oh God, the Son, forgive us our need of holiness and renew us in Your own image! Oh God the Father, forgive us our lack of love and melt us into one family! To the one God be glory in the one Church forever and ever! Amen. __________________________________________________________________ Earnest Expostulation A Sermon (No. 1714) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, April 1st, 1883, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"--Romans 2:4. The apostle is intensely personal in his address. This verse is not spoken to us all in the mass, but to some one in particular. The apostle fixes his eyes upon a single person, and speaks to him as "Thee" and "Thou." "Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" It should ever be the intent of the preacher to convey his message to each hearer in his own separate individuality. It is always a very happy sign when a man begins to think of himself as an individual, and when the expostulations and invitations of the gospel are seen by him to be directed to himself personally. I will give nothing for that indirect, essay-like preaching which is as the sheet lightning of summer, dazzling for the moment, and flaming over a broad expanse, but altogether harmless, since no bolt is launched from it, and its ineffectual fires leave no trace behind. I will give nothing for that kind of hearing which consists in the word being heard by everybody in general, and by no one in particular. It is when the preacher can "Thee" and "Thou" his hearers that he is likely to do them good. When each man is made to say, "This is for me," then the power of God is present in the word. One personal, intentional touch of the hem of Christ's garment conveys more blessing than all the pressure of the crowd that thronged about the Master. The laying of his healing hand upon the individual who was suffering had more virtue in it than all those heavenly addresses which fell from his lips upon minds that did not receive the truth for themselves. I do pray that we may come to personal dealings with the Lord each one for himself, and that the Spirit of God may convince each man and each woman, according as the case may stand before the living God. O my hearer, thou art now to be lovingly spoken with: I speak not to You as unto many, but unto thee, as one by thyself. Observe that the apostle singled out an individual who had condemned others for transgressions, in which he himself indulged. This man owned so much spiritual light that he knew right from wrong, and he diligently used his knowledge to judge others, condemning them for their transgressions. As for himself, he preferred the shade, where no fierce light might beat on his own conscience and disturb his unholy peace. His judgment was spared the pain of dealing with his home offenses by being set to work upon the faults of others. He had a candle, but he did not place it on the table to light his own room; he held it out at the front door to inspect therewith his neighbours who passed by. Ho! my good friend, my sermon is for thee. Paul looks this man in the face and says, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whoever thou art, that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things:" and then he pointedly says to him: "Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" Well did the apostle aim that piercing arrow; it hits the center of the target and strikes a folly common to mankind. The poet of the night-watches wrote,-- All men think all men mortal but themselves. As truly might I say, "All men think all men guilty but themselves." The punishment which is due to sin the guilty reckon to be surely impending upon others, but they scarce believe that it can ever fall upon themselves. A personal doom for themselves is an idea which they will not harbour: if the dread thought should light upon them they shake it off as men shake snow-flakes from their cloaks. The thought of personal guilt, judgment, and condemnation is inconvenient; it breeds too much trouble within, and so they refuse it lodging. Vain men go maundering on their way, whispering of peace and safety; doting as if God had passed an act of amnesty and oblivion for them, and had made for them an exception to all the rules of justice, and all the manner of his courts. Do men indeed believe that they alone shall go unpunished? No man will subscribe to that notion when it is written down in black and white, and yet the mass of men live as if this were true; I mean the mass of men who have sufficient light to condemn sin in others. They start back from the fact of their own personal guiltiness and condemnation, and go on in their ungodliness as if there were no great white throne for them, no last assize, no judge, no word of condemnation, and no hell of wrath. Alas, poor madmen, thus to dream! O Spirit of Truth save them from this fatal infatuation. Sin is always on the downward grade, so that when a man proceeds a certain length he inevitably goes beyond it. The person addressed by the apostle first thought to escape judgment, and then he came to think lightly of the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God. He thinks he shall escape in the future, and because of that he despises the present goodness and longsuffering of the Most High. Of course he does. If he does not believe in the terrors of the world to come for himself, he naturally reckons it to be a small thing to have been spared their immediate experience. Barren tree as he is, he does not believe that he will ever be cut down, and therefore he feels no gratitude to the dresser of the vineyard for pleading, "Let it alone yet another year, till I dig about it, and dung it." I wish, as God shall help me, to drive hard at the consciences of men upon this matter. I would be to you, my careless friend, what Jonah was to Nineveh: I would warn you, and bestir you to repentance. Oh that the Holy Ghost would make this sermon effectual for the arousing of every unsaved soul that shall hear or read it! I. First, let me speak this morning to thee, O unregenerate, impenitent man, concerning THE GOODNESS OF GOD WHICH THOU HAST EXPERIENCED. Thou hast known the goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering of God. According to the text, "riches" of these have been spent upon unconverted, ungodly men, and upon thee as one of them. Let me speak with thee first, O man, and remind thee how favoured thou hast been of God by being made a partaker of "the riches of his goodness." In many cases this is true of temporal things. Men may be without the fear of God, and yet, for all that, God may be pleased to prosper their endeavours in business. They succeed almost beyond their expectation--I mean some of them; probably the description applies to thee. They rise from the lowest position, and accumulate about them the comforts and luxuries of life. Though they have no religion, they have wit, and prudence, and thrift, and so they compete with others, and God permits them to be winners in the race for wealth. Moreover, he allows them to enjoy good health, vigour of mind, and strength of constitution: they are happy in the wife of their youth, and their children are about them. Theirs is an envied lot. Death seems for awhile forbidden to knock at their door, even though he has been ravaging the neighbourhood; even sickness does not molest their household. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Abraham had to prepare a Machpelah, and David mourned over his sons; but these have had to make scant provision for family sepulchre; a hedge has in very deed been set about them and all that they have. I know that it is thus with many who do not love God, and have never yielded to the entreaties of his grace. They love not the hand which enriches them, they praise not the Lord who daily loadeth them with benefits. How is it that men can receive such kindness, and yield no return? O sirs, you are to-day blessed with all that need requires; but I pray you remember that you might have been in the depths of poverty. An illness would have lost you your situation; or a slight turn in trade would have left you bankrupt. You are well to-day; but you might have been tossing to and fro upon a bed of sickness; you might have been in the hospital, about to lose a limb. Shall not God be praised for health and freedom from pain? You might have been shut up in yonder asylum, in the agonies of madness. A thousand ills have been kept from you; you have been exceedingly favoured by the goodness of the Most High. Is it not so? And truly it is a wonderful thing that God should give his bread to those that lift up their heel against him, that he should cause his light to shine upon those who never perceive his goodness therein, that he should multiply his mercies upon ungodly men who only multiply their rebellions against him, and turn the gifts of his love into instruments of transgression. Furthermore, this goodness of God had not only come to you in a temporal form, O impenitent man, but it has also visited you in a spiritual manner. Myriads of our fellow men have never had an opportunity of knowing Christ. The missionary's foot has never trodden the cities wherein they dwell, and so they die in the dark. Multitudes are going downward, downward; but they do not know the upward road; their minds have never been enlightened by the teachings of God's word, and hence they sin with less grievousness of fault. You are placed in the very focus of Christian light, and yet you follow evil! Will you not think of this? Time was when a man would have to work for years to earn enough money to buy a Bible. There were times when he could not have earned one even with that toil; now the word of God lies upon your table, you have a copy of it in almost every room of your house; is not this a boon from God? This is the land of the open Bible, and the land of the preached word of God; in this you prove the riches of God's goodness. Do you despise this wealth of mercy? Possibly you have enjoyed the further privilege of sitting under a ministry which has been particularly plain and earnest; you have not had sermons preached before you, they have been preached at you: the minister has seized upon you and tugged at your conscience, as though he would force you to the Saviour. With cries and entreaties you have been invited to your heavenly Father, and yet you have not come. Is this a small thing? What is more, you have been favoured with a tender conscience. When you do wrong you know it, and smart for it. What mean those wakeful nights after you have yielded to a temptation? What means that miserable feeling of shame? that fever of unrest? You find it hard to stifle the inward monitor, and difficult to resist the Spirit of God. Your road to perdition is made peculiarly hard; do you mean to follow it at all costs, and go over hedge and ditch to hell? You have not only been aroused by conscience, but the good Spirit has striven with you, and have been almost persuaded to be a Christian. Such has been the blessed work of the Spirit upon your heart that you have at times been melted down, and ready to be moulded by grace. A strange softness has come over you, and if you had not gathered up all your evil strength, and if the devil had not helped you to resist, you had by this time dropped into the Saviour's arms. Oh, the riches of the goodness of God to have thus wooed you, and pressed his love upon you! You have scarcely had a stripe, or a frown, or an ill word from God; his ways have been all kindness, and gentleness, and longsuffering from the first day of your memory even until now. "Despisest thou the riches of his goodness?" O man, answer this, I implore thee. The apostle then dwells upon the riches of "forbearance." Forbearance comes in when men having offended, God withholds the punishment that is due to them; when men, having been invited to mercy, have refused it, and yet God continues to stretch out his hands, and invite them to come to him. Patient endurance of offenses and insults has been manifested by God to many of you, who now hear these words of warning. The Lord knows to whom I speak and may he make you, also, know that I am speaking to you, even to you. Some men have gone back to the very sin of which for awhile they repented; they have suffered for their folly, but have turned again to it with suicidal determination. They are desperately set on their own ruin and nothing can save them. The burnt child has run to the fire again; the singed moth has plunged again into the flame of the candle; who can pity such self-inflicted miseries? They are given over to perdition, for they will not be warned. They have returned to the haunt of vice, though they seemed to have been snatched from the deep ditch of its filthiness. They have wantonly and wilfully returned to their cups, though the poison of former draughts is yet burning in their veins. Yet, despite this folly, God shows forbearance towards them. They have grievously provoked him when they have done despite to his word, and have even turned to laughter the solemnities of his worship, against their own consciences, and to their own confusion: yet when his hand has been lifted up he has withdrawn it in mercy. See how God has always tempered his providence with kindness to them. He laid them low so that they were sore sick, but at the voice of their moaning he restored them. They trembled on the brink of death, yet he permitted them to recover strength; and now, despite their vows of amendment, here they are, callous and careless, unmindful of the mercy which gave them a reprieve. Did you ever think what is included in the riches of forbearance. There are quick tempered individuals who only need to be a little provoked, and hard words and blows come quick and furious: but, oh, the forbearance of God when he is provoked to his face by ungodly men! By men, I mean, who hear his word, and yet refuse it! They slight his love, and yet he perseveres in it. Justice lays its hand on the sword, but mercy holds it back in its scabbard. Well might each spared one say,-- "O unexhausted Grace O Love unspeakable! I am not gone to my own place; I am not yet in hell! Earth doth not open yet, My soul to swallow up: And, hanging o'er the burning pit, I still am forced to hope." Our apostle adds to goodness and forbearance the riches of "longsuffering." We draw a distinction between forbearance and longsuffering. Forbearance has to do with the magnitude of sin; longsuffering with the multiplicity of it: forbearance has to do with present provocation; longsuffering relates to that provocation repeated, and continued for a length of time. Oh, how long doth God suffer the ill manners of men! Forty years long was he grieved with that generation whose carcasses fell in the wilderness. Has it come to forty years yet with you, dear hearer? Possibly it may have passed even that time, and a half-century of provocation may have gone into eternity to bear witness against you. What if I should even have to say that sixty and seventy years have continued to heap up the loads of their transgressions, until the Lord saith, "I am pressed down under your sins; as a cart that is full of sheaves I am pressed down under you." Yet for all that, here you are on praying ground and pleading terms with God; here you are where yet the Saviour reigns upon the throne of grace; here you are where mercy is to be had for the asking, where free grace and dying love ring out their charming bells of invitation to joy and peace! Oh, the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering. Three-fold is the claim: will you not regard it? Can you continue to despise it? I should like to set all this in a striking light if I could, and therefore I would remind you of who and what that God is who has exhibited this goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering to men. Remember how great he is. When men insult a great prince the offence is thought to be highly heinous. If anyone should openly insult our own beloved Queen, and continue to do so, all the nation would be clamorous to have the impertinence ended speedily. We cannot bear that a beloved ruler should be publicly insulted. And what think you of the sin which provokes God? which to his face defies him? and in his very courts resists him? Shall this always be forborne with? Is there not a limit to longsuffering? Goodness also adds another item to the provocation; for we naturally say, "Why should one so good be treated so cruelly?" If God were a tyrant, if he were unrighteous or unkind, it were not so much amiss that men stood out against him; but when his very name is love, and when he manifests the bowels of a Father towards his wandering children it is shameful that he should be so wantonly provoked. Those words of Jesus were extremely touching when he pointed to his miracles, and asked, "For which of these things do you stone me?" When I think of God I may well say--for which of his deeds do you provoke him? Every morning he draws the curtain and glads the earth with light, and gives you eyes to see it; he sends his rain upon the ground to bring forth bread for man, and he gives you life to eat thereof--is this a ground for revolting from him? Every single minute of our life is cheered with the tender kindness of God, and every spot is gladdened with his love. I wonder that the Lord does not sweep away the moral nuisance of a guilty race from off the face of earth. Man's sin must have been terribly offensive to God from day to day, and yet still he shows kindness, love, forbearance. This adds an excessive venom to man's disobedience. How can he grieve such goodness? How can divine goodness fail to resent such base ingratitude? Think also of God's knowledge; for he knows all the transgressions of men. "What the eye does not see the heart does not rue," is a truthful proverb; but every transgression is committed in the very presence of God, so that penitent David cried, "Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." Transgression is committed in the sight of God, from whose eyes nothing is hidden. Remember also, that the Lord never can forget; before his eyes all things stand out in clear light, not only the things of to-day, but all the transgressions of a life. Yet for all this he doth forbear. With evil reeking before his face, he is slow to anger, and waiteth that he may be gracious. All this while, remember, the Lord is great in power. Some are patient because they are powerless: they bear and forbear because they cannot well help themselves; but it is not so with God. Had he but willed it, you had been swept into hell; only a word from him and the impenitent had fallen in the wilderness, and their spirits would have passed into the realms of endless woe. In a moment the Lord could have eased him of his adversary; he could have stopped that flippant tongue, and closed that lustful eye in an instant. That wicked heart would have failed to beat if God had withdrawn his power, and that rebellious breath would have ceased also. Had it not been for longsuffering you unbelievers would long since have known what it is to fall into the hands of an angry God. Will you continue to grieve the God who so patiently bears with you? Be it never forgotten that sin is to God much more intolerable than it is to us. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Things which we call little sins are great and grievous evils to him: they do, as it were, touch the apple of his eye. "Oh, do not," he says, "do not this abominable thing that I hate!" His Spirit is grieved and vexed with every idle word and every sensual thought; and hence it is a wonder of wonders that a God so sensitive of sin, a God so able to avenge himself of his adversaries, a God who knows the abundance of human evil, and marks it all, should nevertheless exhibit riches of goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; yet this is what you, my ungodly hearer, have been experiencing many a long year. Here let us pause; and oh that each one who is still unsaved would sing most sincerely the words of Watts:-- "Lord, we have long abused thy love, Too long indulged our sin, Our aching hearts e'en bleed to see What rebels we have been. "No more, ye lusts, shall ye command, No more will we obey; Stretch out, O God, thy conqu'ring hand, And drive thy foes away." II. Come with me, friend, and let me speak to thee of THE SIN OF WHICH THOU ART SUSPECTED. Hear me, unconverted sinner: the sin of which thou art suspected is this,--"Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering?" The Lord's goodness ought to be admired and to be adored, and dost thou despise it? His goodness ought to be wondered at and told as a marvel in the ears of others, and dost thou despise it? That I may rake thy conscience a little, lend me thine ear. Some despise God's goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, because they never even gave a thought to it. God has given you life to keep you in being, and he has indulged you with his kindness, but it has not yet occurred to you that this patience is at all remarkable or worthy of the smallest thanks. You have been a drunkard, have you? a swearer? a Sabbath-breaker? a lover of sinful pleasure? Perhaps not quite so; but still you have forgotten God altogether, and yet he has abounded in goodness to you: is not this a great wrong? The Lord saith, Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but these my creatures do not know, my favoured ones do not consider. Why, you have no such forbearance with others as God has had with you. You would not keep a dog if it never followed at your heel, but snarled at you: you would not even keep a potter's vessel if it held no water, and was of no service to you; you would break it in pieces, and throw it on the dunghill. As for yourself, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, both as to your body and as to your soul, and yet you have been of no service to your Maker, nor even thought of being of service to him. Still, he has spared you all these years, and it has never occurred to you that there has been any wonderful forbearance in it. Assuredly, O man, thou despisest the longsuffering of thy God. Others have, perhaps, thought of it, but have never seriously meditated thereon. When we offend a man, if we are right-minded, we not only note the fact with regret, but we sit down and weigh the matter, and seek to rectify it; for we would not be unjust to any person, and if we felt that we had been acting unfairly it would press upon our minds until we could make amends. But are there not some of you who have never given half an hour's consideration to your relation to your God? He has spared you all this while, and yet it has never occurred to you to enter into your chamber and sit down and consider your conduct towards him. It would seem to be too much trouble even to think of your Creator. His longsuffering leads you to repentance, but you have not repented; in fact, you have not thought it worth your while to consider the question at all: you have thought it far more important to enquire, "What shall I eat and what shall I drink?" Bread and broadcloth have shut out the thought of God. Ah me, you will stand at his judgment bar before long--and then? Perhaps ere this week is finished you may have to answer, not to me, but unto him that sits upon the throne; therefore I do implore you now, for the first time give this matter thought. Despise no longer the goodness and longsuffering of God. This longsuffering is despised, further, by those who have imagined that God does not take any great account of what they do. So long as they do not go into gross and open sin, and offend the laws of their country, they do not believe that it is of any consequence whether they love God or not, whether they do righteousness or not, whether they are sober and temperate, or drunken and wanton; whether they are clean in heart by God's Spirit, or defiled in soul and life. Thou thinkest that God is altogether such an one as thyself, and that he will wink at thy transgression and cover up thy sin; but thou shalt not find it so. That base thought proves that thou despisest his longsuffering. Some even get to think that the warnings of love are so much wind, and that the threatenings of God will never be fulfilled. They have gone on for many years without being punished, and instead of drawing the conclusion that the longer the blow is in falling the heavier it will be when it does come, they imagine that because it is long delayed the judgment will never come at all; and so they sport and trifle between the jaws of death and hell. They hear warnings as if they were all moonshine, and fancy that this holy Book, with its threatenings, is but a bugbear to keep fools quiet. If thou thinkest so, sir, then indeed thou hast despised the goodness and forbearance and longsuffering of God. Do you imagine that this forbearance will last for ever? Do you dream that at least it will continue with you for many years? I know your secret thoughts: you see other men die suddenly, but your secret thought is that you will have long space ad ample time: you hear of one struck down with paralysis, and another carried off by apoplexy, but you flatter yourselves that you will have plenty of leisure to think about these things. Oh, how can you be so secure? How can you thus tempt the Lord? False prophets in these evil days play into men's hands and hold out the hope that you may go into the next world wrong, and yet be set right in the end. This is a vile flattery of your wicked hearts; but yet remember that even according to their maundering centuries may elapse before this fancied restoration may occur. A sensible man would not like to run the risk of even a year of agony. Half-an-hour of acute pain is dreaded by most people. Can it be that the very men who start back from the dentist's door, afraid of the pinch which extricates an aching tooth, will run the risk of years of misery? Take the future of the impenitent even on this footing, it is a thing to be dreaded, and by every means avoided. I say, these flattering prophets themselves, if rightly understood, give you little enough of hope; but what will come to you if the old doctrine proves to be true and you go away into everlasting fire in hell, as the Scripture puts it? Will you live an hour in jeopardy of such a doom? Will you so despise the longsuffering and forbearance of the Lord? I will not enlarge and use many words, for I am myself weary of words: I want to persuade you even with tears. My whole soul would attract you to your God, your Father. I would come to close quarters with you, and say,--Do you not think that, even though you fall into no doctrinal error, and indulge no hazy hope as to either restitution or annihilation, yet still it is a dreadful despising of God's mercy when you keep on playing with God, and saying to his grace, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season I will send for thee"? The more gentle God is the more you procrastinate, and the more in tenderness he speaks of pardon the more you transgress. Is this generous? Is it right? Is it wise? Can it be a fit and proper thing to do? Oh, my dear hearer, why will you act thus shamefully? Some of you delight to come and hear me preach, and drink in all I have to say, and you will even commend me for being earnest with your souls; and yet, after all, you will not decide for God, for Christ, for heaven. You are between good and evil, neither cold nor hot. I would ye were either cold or hot; I could even wish that ye either thought this word of mine to be false, or else that, believing it to be true, you at once acted upon it. How can you incur the double guilt of offending God and of knowing that it is an evil thing to do so? You reject Christ, and yet admit that he ought to be received by you! You speak well of a gospel which you will not accept for yourselves! You believe great things of a Saviour whom you will not have to be your Saviour! Jesus himself says, "If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?" "Despisest thou the longsuffering of God?" Dare you do it? I tremble as I think of a man despising God's goodness. Is not this practical blasphemy? Darest thou do it? Oh, if thou hast done it hitherto, do it no more. Ere yon sun goes down again, say within thy heart, "I will be a despiser of God's goodness no longer; I will arise and go unto my Father, and I will say unto him,--Father, I have sinned. I will not rest until in the precious blood he has washed my sins away." III. In closing this sermon I desire to remind thee, O ungodly man, of THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH THOU ART FORGETFUL. Read my text,--"Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Now there are many here who know as a matter of doctrine that the goodness of God leads them to repentance, and yet they do not know it as a practical truth affecting their lives: indeed, they so act that it is not true to them at all. Yet, if they do not know this they are wilfully ignorant; not willing to retain in their minds a fact so disagreeable to them. None are so blind as those who will not see: but he who does not see, and yet hath eyes, has a criminality about his blindness which is not found in that of those who have no sight. Dear hearer, whether you know this truth or not, I would remind you that God's patience with you is meant to lead you to repentance. "How?" say you. Why, first by giving you an opportunity to repent. These years, which are now coming to a considerable number with you, have been given you in order that you might turn to God. By the time you were twenty-one you had sinned quite enough; perhaps you had even then begun to mislead other youths, and to instruct in evil those under your influence. Why did not God take you away at once? It might have been for the benefit of the world if he had done so; but yet you were spared till you were thirty. Did not each year of your lengthened life prove that the Lord was saying "I will spare him, for perhaps he will yet amend and think upon his God. I will give him more light, and increase his comforts; I will give him better teaching, better preaching; peradventure he will repent." Yet you have not done so. Have you lived to be forty, and are you where you were when you were twenty? Are you still out of Christ? Then you are worse than you were; for you have sinned more deeply and you have provoked the Lord more terribly. You have now had space enough. What more do you need? When the child has offended, you say, "Child, unless you beg pardon at once, I must punish you": would you give a boy so many minutes to repent in as God has given you years? I think not. If a servant is continually robbing you; if he is careless, slothful, disobedient, you say to him, "I have passed over your faults several times, but one of these days I shall discharge you. I cannot always put up with this slovenliness, this blundering, this idleness: one of these times you will have to go." Have you not so spoken to your female servant, and thought it kind on your part to give her another chance? The lord has said the same to you; yet here you are, a living but impenitent man; spared, but spared only to multiply your transgressions. This know, that his forbearance gives you an opportunity to repent; do not turn it into an occasion for hardening your heart. But next, the Lord in this is pleased to give a suggestion to you to repent. It seems to me that every morning when a man wakes up still impenitent, and finds himself out of hell, the sunlight seems to say, "I shine on thee yet another day, as that in this day thou mayest repent." When your bed receives you at night I think it seems to say, "I will give you another night's rest, that you may live to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus." Every mouthful of bread that comes to the table says, "I have to support your body that still you may have space for repentance." Every time you open the Bible the pages say, "We speak with you that you may repent." Every time you hear a sermon, if it be such a sermon as God would have us preach, it pleads with you to turn unto the Lord and live. Surely the time past of your life may suffice you to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. "The times of your ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth men everywhere to repent." Do not life and death, and heaven and hell, call upon you so to do? Thus you have in God's goodness space for repentance, and a suggestion to repent. But something more is here; for I want you to notice that the text does not say, "The goodness of God calleth thee to repentance," but "leadeth thee." This is a much stronger word. God calls to repentance by the gospel; God leads to repentance by his goodness. It is as though he plucked at your sleeve and said, "Come this way." His goodness lays its gentle hand on you, drawing you with cords of love and bands of a man. God's forbearance cries, "Why wilt thou hate me? What wrong have I done thee? I have spared thee; I have spared thy wife and children to thee; I have raised thee up from the bed of sickness; I have loaded thy board; I have filled thy wardrobe; I have done thee a thousand good turns; wherefore dost thou disobey me? Turn unto thy God and Father, and live in Christ Jesus." If, on the other hand, you have not received rich temporal favours, yet the Lord still leads you to repentance by a rougher hand; as when the prodigal fain would have filled his belly with husks, but could not, and the pangs of hunger came upon him; those pains were a powerful message from the Father to lead him to the home where there was bread enough and to spare. "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." Oh, that thou wouldest yield to its sweet leading, and follow as a child follows the guidance of a nurse. Let thy crosses lead thee to the cross; let thy joys lead thee to find joy in Christ. Do you not think that all this should encourage you to repent, since God himself leads you that way? If God leads you to repentance he does not mean to cast you away. If he bids you repent, then he is willing to accept your repentance, and to be reconciled to you. If he bids you change your mind, it is because his own mind is love. Repentance implies a radical change in your view of things, and in your estimate of matters; it is a change in your purposes, a change in your thoughts and in your conduct. If the Lord leads you that way he will help you in it. follow his gracious leading till his divine Spirit shall lead you with still greater power and still greater efficacy, till at last you find that he has wrought in you both repentance and faith, and you are saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. If "the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance," then be sure of this, that the goodness of God will receive thee when thou dost repent, and thou shalt live in his sight as his well-beloved and forgiven child. I close now, but I am sorry so to do, for I have not pleaded one-half as I could have wished. Yet what more can I say? I will put it to yourselves. If you were in God's stead, could you bear to be treated as you have treated him? If you were all goodness and tenderness, and had borne with a creature now for thirty or forty years, how would you bear to see that creature still stand out, and even draw an inference from your gentleness to encourage him in his rebellion? Would you not say, "Well, if my longsuffering makes him think little of sin, I will change my hand. If tenderness cannot win him, I must leave him; if even my love does not affect him, I will let him along. He is given unto his evil ways--I will cease from him, and see what his end will be"? O Lord, say not so, say not so unto anyone in this house, but of thy great mercy make this day to be as the beginning of life to many. Oh that hearts may be touched with pity for their slighted Saviour, that they may seek his face! Here is the way of salvation: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." You know how the Master bade us put it. "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature: he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." First, we are to preach faith, whereby we lay hold on Christ; then baptism, whereby we confess that faith, and own that we are dead and buried with Christ that we may live with him in newness of life. Those are the two points he bids us set before you, and I do set them before you. Weary, but not quite wearied out, O impenitent man, I plead with thee! Though thou hast so often been pleaded with in vain, once more I speak with thee in Christ's stead, and say--Repent of thy sin, look to thy Saviour, and confess thy faith in his own appointed way. I verily believe that if I had been pleading with some of you to save the life of a dog I should have prevailed with you a great while ago. And will you not care about the saving of your own souls? Oh, strange infatuation--that men will not consent to be themselves saved; but foolishly, madly, hold out against the mercy of God which leads them to repentance. God bless you, beloved, and may none of you despise his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering. __________________________________________________________________ A Description of Young Men in Christ (No. 1715) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 8, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the Wicked One... I have written unto you, youngmen, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you ha ve overcome the Wicked One." 1 John 2:13,14. WHEN I preached a short time ago upon John's message to the "little children," [Sermon #1711--A Sermon to the Lord's Little Children] I explained why it was that he first said, "I write," and then, "I have written." He is writing--his whole heart is in it and he cannot help saying that he is earnestly writing to those whom he loves so well. But he has scarcely penned the line before he feels that he must alter that present tense and set it in the past, under the form of, "I have written." He knows that he must soon be gone from them and be numbered with those who were, but are not, among living men. These words, then, are the language of a father in Israel still among his children; they are also the words of one who has passed from earth and entered into Glory. If what I shall have to say at this time, fairly flowing from the text, shall come to you as Christ's words from His favored disciple, John, you will attach the more importance to it and it will do your hearts the more good. Lifting his head from that dear bosom which gave him unexampled rest, he whispers, "I write unto you young men." Looking down from that favored place which he now occupies so near to the Throne of the Lamb, he looks over the battlements of Heaven upon us and cries, "I have written unto you, young men." In the Christian Church there is an order of Christians who have grown so much that they can no longer be called, "babes in Grace," but yet they are not so far matured that they can exactly be called, "fathers." These, who form the middle class of the spiritual-minded, are styled "young men." Understand that the Apostle is not writing, here, to any according to their bodily age--he is using human age as a metaphor and figure for representing growth in the spiritual life. Age, according to the flesh, often differs much from the condition of the spirit--many old men are still no more than "babes." Some children in years are, even now, "young men" in Grace, while not a few young men are "fathers " in the Church while young in years. God has endowed certain of His servants with great Grace and made them mature in their youth--such were Joseph, Samuel, David, Josiah and Timothy. It is not age according to the family register that we are now to speak about, but age according to the Lamb's Book of Life. Grace is a matter of growth and, therefore, we have among us babes, young men and fathers, whose position is not reckoned according to this fleeting, dying life, but according to that eternal life which has been worked in them by the Spirit of God. It is a great mercy when young men, in the natural sense, are also young men in the spiritual sense--and I am glad that it is largely so in this Church! The fathers among us need not be ashamed of their spiritual seed. In speaking to young men in Christ, I am speaking to a numerous body of Christians among ourselves who make up a very efficient part of the army of Christ in this region. I would ask them not to be either so modest or so proud as to decline to be thus classed. You are no longer weaklings--do not, therefore, count yourselves mere babes lest you plead exemption from hard service! You are hardly yet mature enough to rank with the fathers--do not forget the duties of your real place under cover of aspiring to another. It is honor enough to be in Christ and certainly it is no small thing to be, in spiritual things, a man in the prime of life! These young men are not babes--they have been in Christ too long for that--they are no longer novices to whom the Lord's house is strange. They have been born unto God probably, now, for years. The things which they hoped for at first they have, to a large extent, realized. They know now what once they could not understand. They are not now confined to a milk diet--they can eat meat and digest it well. They have discernment, having had their senses exercised by reason of use, so that they are not so liable to be misled as they were in their infancy. And while they have been longer in the Way, so also have they now grown stronger in the Way. It is not a weak and timorous faith which they now possess--they believe firmly and stoutly and are able to do battle for the "faith once delivered to the saints"--for they are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. They are wiser, now, than they used to be. When they were children, they knew enough to save them, for they knew the Father and that was blessed knowledge! But now they know far more of the Word of God which abides in them through their earnest, prayerful, believing reception of it. Now they have a clearer idea of the breadth and length, and depth and height of the work of redemption, for they have been taught of God. They even venture to enjoy the deep things of God--and the Covenant is by no means an unknown thing among them. They have been under the blessed teaching of the Spirit of God and from Him they have received an unction, so that they know all things. In knowledge they are no more children, but men in Christ Jesus. Thus they are distinguished from the first class which comprehends the babes in Christ. They are not yet fathers because they are not yet so established, confirmed and settled as the fathers are, who know what they believe, and know it with a certainty of full assurance which nothing can shake. They have not yet had the experience of fathers and, consequently, have not all their prudence and foresight--they are richer in zeal than in judgment. They have not yet acquired the nursing faculty so precious in the Church as the product of growth, experience, maturity and affection. They are going on to that and in a short time they will have reached it, but as yet they have other work to do more suitable to their vigor. Do not suppose that when we say they are not to be called "fathers," that they are not, therefore, very valuable to the community, for in some senses they are quite equal to the fathers--and in one or two respects they may even be superior to them. The fathers are for contemplation--they study deep and see far--and so they "have known Him that is from the beginning." But a measure of their energy for action may have gone through stress of years. These young men are born to fight! They are the militia of the Church, they have to contend for her faith and to extend the Redeemer's Kingdom. They should do so, for they are strong. This is their lot and the Lord helps them to fulfill their calling. These must, for years to come, be our active spirits--they are our strength and our hope. The fathers must soon go off the stage--their maturity in Grace shows that they are ready for Glory--and it is not God's way to keep His shocks of corn in the field when they are fully ripe for the granary! Perfect men shall be gathered up with the perfect and shall enter into their proper sphere. The fathers, therefore, must soon be gone. And when they are gone, to whom are we to look for a succession but to these young men? We hope to have them for many years with us, valiant for the Truth of God, steadfast in the faith, ripening in spirit and growingly made meet to take their seats among the glorified saints above. Judge for yourselves, dear Brothers and Sisters, whether you are fairly to be ranked among the young men. Have no regard to the matter of sex, for there is neither male nor female in Christ Jesus! Judge whether you are fit to be ranked among those whose full-grown and vigorous life entitles them to stand among the effectives of the Church, the vigorous manhood of the seed of Israel. To such I speak. May God the Holy spirit bless the word! I. The first thing that John notes about these young men is THEIR POSSESSION OF STRENGTH--"I have written unto you young men, because you are strong." These Christians of the middle class are emphatically strong. This does not imply that any measure of spiritual strength was in them by nature, for the Apostle Paul clearly puts it otherwise concerning our natural state saying, "When we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly." So that by nature we are without strength to do anything that is good and right. We are strong as a wild bull, to dash headlong into everything that is evil--strong as a lion to fight against all that is good and Godlike--but for all spiritual and holy things we are utterly infirm and incapable. Yes, we are as dead men until God the Holy Spirit deals with us! Neither does the Apostle, here, at all allude to the strength of the body in young men, for in a spiritual sense this is rather their weakness than their strength! The man who is strong in the flesh is too often, for that very reason, strongly tempted to sins of the flesh and, therefore the Apostle bids his young friend, "flee youthful lusts." Whenever you read the life of Samson you may thank God you had not Samson's muscles and sinews, or else it is more than probable that you would have had Samson's passions--and they might have mastered you as they mastered him. The time of life in which a young man is found is full of perils and so is the spiritual condition of which it is the type. The young man might almost wish that it were with him as with the older man in whom the forces of the flesh have declined, for though age brings with it many infirmities, it also has its gain in the abatement of the passions. So you see the young man cannot reckon upon vigor of the flesh as contributing towards real "strength"--he has, rather, to ask for more strength from on high lest the animal vigor that is within him should drag down his spirit. He is glad to be in robust health that he may bear much toil in the Lord's cause, but he is not proud of it, for he remembers that the Lord delights not in the strength of the horse, and takes not pleasure in the legs of a man. These young men in Grace are strong, first of all, in faith, according to that exhortation, "Be strong! Fear not!" They have known the Lord, now, for some time, and they have enjoyed that perfect peace which comes of forgiven sin. They have marked the work of the Spirit within themselves and they know that it is no delusion, but a Divine change-- and now they not only believe in Christ, but they know that they believe in Him! They know whom they have believed and they are persuaded that He is able to keep that which they have committed to Him. That faith which was once a healing touch has now become a satisfying embrace! That enjoyment which was once a sip has now become a draught, quenching all thirst! Yes, and that which was once a draught has become an immersion into the river of God which is full of Living Water--they have plunged into the River of Life and find waters to swim in! Oh what a mercy it is to be strong in this fashion! Let him that is strong take heed that he glory only in the Lord who is his righteousness and strength--but in Him and His strength, he may, indeed, make his boast and defy the armies of the aliens! What says Paul--"I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me." My Brothers and Sisters, take good heed that you never lose this strength! Pray God that you may never sin so as to lose it; may never backslide so as to lose it; may never grieve the Spirit so as to lose it--for I reckon that to be endowed with power from on High and to be strong in faith, giving glory to God, is the truest glory and majesty of our manhood--and it were sad to lose it, or even to deface it. Oh that all Christians were so much advanced as to enter the enlisted battalion of the Lord's young men! This strength makes a man strong to endure. He is a sufferer, but mark how patient he is! He is a loser in business and he has a hard task to earn his daily bread, but he never complains! He has learned, in every state, to be content. He is persecuted, but he is not distressed. Men revile him, but he is not moved from the even tenor of his way. He grows careless, alike, of flattery and calumny. So long as he can please God, he cares not to displease men. He dwells on high and lives above the smoke of human opinion. He bears and forbears. He bows his neck to the yoke and his shoulders to the bur-den--and has fellowship with Christ in his sufferings! Blessed is that man who is so strong that he never complains of his trials, never whimpers and frets because he is made to share in the humiliations and griefs of his Covenant Head! He expected to bear his cross when he became a follower of the Crucified and he is not now made weary and faint when it presses upon him. It is a fair sight to see young Isaac bearing the wood for the sacrifice! Young Joseph bearing the fetters in prison with holy joy! Young Samson carrying away the gates of Gaza, bars and all, and young David praising God with his harp though Saul is feeling for his javelin! Such are the exploits of the young men who count it all joy when they fall into manifold trials for Christ's sake! O young man, be strong, strong as an iron column which bears the full stress of the building and is not moved! This strength shows itself, next, in laboring for Christ. The young man in Christ is a great worker. He has so much strength that he cannot sit still! He would be ashamed to leave the burden and heat of the day to be borne by others. He is up and at it according to his calling and ability. He has asked his Lord, as a favor, to give him something to do. His prayer has been, "Show me what You would have me to do," and having received an answer, he is found in the vineyard trenching the soil, removing the weeds, pruning the vines and attending to such labors as the seasons demand. His Master has said to him, "Feed My sheep," and, "Feed My lambs." And, therefore, you shall see him through the livelong day and far into the night watching over the flock which is committed to him. In all this toil he greatly rejoices, for he is strong. He can run and not be weary. He can walk and not faint. "By my God have I leaped over a wall," he says. Nothing is hard for him. Or, if it is, he remembers that the diamond cuts the diamond and so he sets a harder thing against a hard thing--and by a firm and stern resolution he overcomes. That which ought to be done, he declares shall be done in the power of God, and lo, it is accomplished! Blessed is the Church that has her quiver full of these! She shall speak with her adversaries in the gate. These are the men that work our reformations! These are the men who conduct our missions! These are the men who launch out into the deep for Christ! They make the vanguard of the host of God and largely compose the main body of her forces. I trust this Church has many such. May they yet be multiplied and increased among us, that we may never lack for choice soldiers of the Cross, able to lead on the hosts of God! So, also, are these young men strong to resist attack. They are assaulted, but they carry with them the shield of faith with which they quench the fiery darts of the enemy. Wherever they go, if they meet with other tempted ones, they spring to the front to espouse their cause. They are ready in the day of battle to meet attacks upon the faith with the sword of the Spirit--they will yield no point of faith, but defend the Truth at all hazards. Clad in the panoply of Truth, they meet no deadly wound for, by Grace, they are so preserved that the Wicked One touches them not. They resist temptation and are unharmed in the midst of peril. Do you need an example? Look at Joseph! Where 10,000 would have fallen, he stands in snow-white purity. Joseph, as contrasted with David, is an instance of how a young man may bring greater glory to God than an older man when assailed by a similar temptation. Joseph is but young and the temptation forces itself upon him while he is in the path of duty. He is alone with his temptress and no one need know of the sin if it is committed. On the other hand, if he refuses, shame and possibly death may await him through the calumny of his offended mistress! Yet he bravely resists the assault and overcomes the Wicked One. He is a bright contrast to the older man, a father in Israel, who went out of his way to compass an evil deed and committed crime in order to fulfill his foul desire. From this case we learn that neither years, nor knowledge, nor experience can preserve any one of us from sin--old and young must be kept by the power of God--or they will be overthrown by the Tempter. Furthermore, these young men are not only strong for resistance, but they are strong for attack. They carry the war into the enemy's territory! If there is anything to be done, they are like Jonathan and his armor-bearer, eager for the fray! These are very zealous for the Lord of Hosts and are prompt to undertake toil and travail for Jesus' sake. These smite down error and set up the Truth of God! These believe great things, attempt great things and expect great things and the Lord is with them. The archers have sorely grieved them, shot at them and hated them--but their bows abide in strength, for the arms of their hands are made strong by the mighty God of Jacob! One of them shall chase a thousand, and two put 10,000 to flight! So have I shown you what these young men are--they are strong--strong to believe, strong to suffer, strong to do, strong to resist, strong to attack! May companies of these go in and out among us to fight the Lord's battles, for to this end has the Lord girded them with strength. II. Secondly, let us notice that he implies THEIR NEED OF STRENGTH, for he says, "You are strong, and you have overcome the Wicked One." Between the lines of the text I read the fact that young men who are strong must expect to be attacked. This also follows from a rule of Divine economy. Whenever God lays up stores, it is because there will be need of them. When Egypt's granaries were full with the supply of seven years of plenty, one might have been sure that seven years of famine were about to come. Whenever a man is strong, it is because he has stern work to do for, as the Israelite of old never had an ounce of manna left over till the morning except that which bred worms and stank, so there never will be a Christian that has a penny's worth of Grace left over from his daily requirements. If you are weak, you shall have no trial happen to you but such as is common to men. But if you are strong, rest assured that trials, many and heavy, are awaiting you! Every sinew in the arm of faith will have to be tested. Every single weapon given out of the armory of God will be called for in the conflict. Christian soldiering is no piece of military pastime--it is no proud parade--it means hard fighting from the day of enlistment to the day of reward. The strong young man may rest assured that he has no force to spend in display, no energy which he may use in boasting and vainglory. There is a heavy burden for the strong shoulder and a fierce fight for the trained hands! Why does Satan attack this class of men most? I reckon, first, because Satan is not always sure that the babes in Grace are in Grace and, therefore, he does not always attack beginners. But when they are sufficiently developed to make him see who and what they are, then his wrath is awakened. Those who have clean escaped from him, he will weary and worry to the utmost of his power. A friend writes to me to enquire whether Satan knows our thoughts. Of course he does not as God does! Satan pretty shrewdly guesses at them from our actions and our words--and perhaps even from manifestations upon our countenances--but it is the Lord, alone, who knows the thoughts of men immediately and by themselves. Satan is an old hand at studying human nature--he has been near 6,000 years watching and tempting men and women and, therefore, he is full of cunning. But he is not Omniscient and, therefore, it may be that he thinks such and such a person is so little in Grace that perhaps he is not in Grace at all! And so he lets him alone--but as soon as ever it is certain that the man is of the royal seed--then the devil is at him! I do not know whether our Lord was ever tempted at Nazareth, while He was yet in His obscurity, but the moment He was baptized and the Spirit of God came upon Him, He was taken into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. If you become an avowed servant of God, do not think the conflict is over--it is then that the battle begins! Straight from the waters of Baptism, it may be, you will have to go into such a wilderness and such a conflict as you never knew before! Satan knows that young men in Grace can do his kingdom great harm and, therefore, he would gladly slay them early in the day, as Pharaoh wished to kill all the male children in Israel. My Brothers and Sisters, you are strong to overthrow his kingdom and, therefore, you need not marvel that he desires to overthrow you! I think it is right that young men should endure hardness, or else they might become proud. It is hard to hide pride from men. Full of strength, full of courage, full of patience, full of zeal, such men are ready enough to believe the Wicked One when he whispers that they are perfect--and, therefore, trial is sent to keep them out of that grievous snare of the Evil One. The devil is used by God as a householder might employ a dirty, smutty servant to clean his pots and kettles. The devil tempts the saint and thus the saint sees his inward depravity and is no longer able to boast. The devil thinks he is going to destroy the man of God, but God is making the temptation work for the Believer's eternal good! Far better to have Beelzebub, the god of flies, pestering you, than to become fly-blown with notions of your own excellence. Besides, not only might this young man be a prey to pride, but he certainly would not bring the glory to God, untried, that he brings to Him when he overcomes temptation. Read the story of Job up to the time when he is tempted. You say, "We have no story to read." Just so, there was nothing worthy of record, only that his flocks and herds continued to multiply, that another child was born and so forth. There is no history to a nation when everything goes well! And it is so with a Believer. But when trial comes and the man plays the man, and is valiant for God against the arch-enemy, I hear a voice from Heaven. saying, "Write." Now you shall have history--history that will glorify God! It is but right that those who are young men and women in Christ should endure conflicts that they may bring honor to their Father, their Redeemer and the Holy Spirit who dwells in them! Besides, it prepares them for future usefulness, and here I venture to intrude the testimony of my own experience. I often wondered, when I first came to Christ, why I had such a hard time of it when I was coming to the Lord, and why I was so long and so wearied in finding a Savior. After that, I wondered why I experienced so many spiritual conflicts while others were in peace. Ah, Brothers and Sisters, I did not know that I was destined to preach to this great congregation! I did not understand, in those days, that I should have to minister to hundreds, and even thousands of distressed spirits, storm-tossed and ready to perish! But it is so, now, with me that when the afflicted mention their experience I can, as a rule, reply, "I have been there"--and so I can help them, as one who has felt the same. It is necessary, therefore, that the young men should bear the yoke in their youth and that while they are strong they should gain experience, not so much for themselves, as for others, that in later days when they come to be fathers they may be able to help the little ones of the family. Take your tribulation kindly, Brother. Yes, take it gratefully--thank your King that He puts you in commission where the thick of the battle centers around you. You will never be a warrior if you never enter the dust clouds where garments are rolled in blood. You will never become a veteran if you do not fight through the long campaign. So be it unto you--may your Captain save you from the canker of inglorious ease. You must fight in order that you may acquire the character which inspires others with confidence in you--and thus fits you to lead your comrades to the fray. Oh, that we may have, here, an abundance of the young men of the heavenly family who will defend the Church against worldliness and error, defend the weaker ones from the wolves that prowl around and guard the feeble against the many deceivers that waylay the Church of God! As you love the Lord, I charge you, grow in Grace and be strong, for we have need of you just now. Oh, my Brothers, take hold on sword and buckler; watch and stand fast! May the Lord teach your hands to war and your fingers to fight. In these evil days may you be as a phalanx to protect our Israel! The Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites are upon us just now! War is at all our borders--now, therefore, let each valiant man stand about the King's chariot, each man with his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. III. Thirdly, the text reminds us of THEIR PROOF OF STRENGTH--they have overcome the Wicked One. Then they must be strong, for a man who can overcome the Wicked One is not only a mean man of war--write him down among the first three! Wicked ones abound, but there is one crafty being who deserves the name of the Wicked One--he is the arch-leader of rebellion, the first of sinners, the chief of sinners, the tempter of sinners! He is the Wicked One who heads assaults against the pilgrims to Zion. If any man has ever stood foot to foot with him, he will never forget it--it is a fight that once fought will leave its scars, even though the victory is won! In what sense have these young men overcome the Wicked One? Well, first, in the fact that they have broken right away from his power. They were once his slaves--they are not so now. They once slept beneath his roof in perfect peace, but conscience raised an uproar and the Spirit of God troubled them--and they then escaped his power. Once Satan never troubled them at all. Why should he? They were good friends! Now he tempts them, worries them and assaults them because they have left his service, engaged themselves to a new Master and become the enemies of him who was once their god. I speak to many who gladly acknowledge that not a bit of them now belongs to the devil! From the crown of their head to the soles of their feet Christ has bought them--body, soul and spirit--with His precious blood! And they have assented to the purchase and feel that they are not their own, and certainly not the devil's, for they are bought with a price and belong to Him who purchased them. The strong man armed has been turned out by a stronger than he--Jesus has carried the fortress of the heart by storm and driven out the foe! Satan is not inside our heart, now that he entered Judas--and he cannot enter into us, for our soul is filled by Another who is well able to hold His own! The Wicked One has been expelled by the Holy One who now lives and reigns within our nature as Lord of All. Moreover, these young men have overcome the Wicked One, not only by breaking away from his power and from driving him entirely out of possession so that he is no longer master, but they have overcome him in the very fact of their opposition to him. When a man resists Satan, he is victorious over Satan in that very resistance! Satan's empire consists in the yielding of our will to his will, but when our will revolts against him, then already we have, in a measure, overcome him. Albeit that sometimes we are much better at willing than we are at doing, as the Apostle Paul was for he said, "To will is present with me; hut how to perform that which is good I find not." Yet, still, the hearty will to be clean from sin is a victory over sin and, as that will grows stronger and more determined to resist the temptations of the Evil One--in that device we have overcome sin and Satan! What a blessed thing this is for us to remember, that Satan has no weapons of defense, and so, when we resist him, he must flee! A Christian man has both defensive and offensive weapons! He has a shield as well as a sword--but Satan has fiery darts and nothing else! I never read of Satan having any shield whatever--so that when we resist him, he is bound to run away. He has no defense for himself and the fact of our resistance is, in itself, a victory! But, oh, Brothers and Sisters, besides that, some of us who are young men in Christ have won many a victory over Satan! Have we not been tempted, fearfully tempted? But the mighty Grace of God has come to the rescue and we have not yielded! Cannot you look back, not within Pharisaic boasting, but with gracious exultation, over many an evil habit which once had the mastery over you, but which is master of you no longer? It was a hard conflict. How you bit your lip, sometimes, and feared that you must yield! In certain moments your steps had almost gone; your feet had well-nigh slipped, but here you are, conqueror! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Hear what the Spirit says to you when John writes to you because you have overcome the Wicked One! He says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." Once more, in Christ Jesus we have entirely overcome the Wicked One, already, for the enemy we have to battle with is a vanquished foe--our Lord and Master met him and destroyed him! He is now destitute of his boasted battle-ax, that terrible weapon which has made the bravest men to quail when they have seen it in his hand. "What weapon is that?" you ask. That weapon is death! Our Lord overthrew him that has the power of death, that is, the devil, and, therefore, Satan has not the power of death any longer. The keys of death and of Hell are at the belt of Christ! Ah, Satan, we who believe in Jesus shall defeat you, for our Lord defeated you! That bruise upon your head cannot be hidden! Your crown is dashed in pieces! The Lord has sorely wounded you, O Dragon, and your deadly wound can never be healed! We have at you with dauntless courage, for we believe the promise of our Lord, that He will shortly bruise you under our feet. As certainly as you were bruised under the feet of our crucified Lord, so shall you be bruised under the feet of all His seed--to your utter overthrow and contempt! Let us take courage, Brothers and Sisters, and abide steadfast in the faith, for we have in our Lord Jesus overcome the Wicked One. We are more than conquerors through Him that has loved us! IV. Now I close with my fourth point, which is--THEIR SOURCE OF STRENGTH. You have seen their strength and their need of it--and their proof of it--now for the fountain of it. "The Word of God abides in you." I labor under the opinion that there never was a time in which the people of God had greater need to understand this passage than now. We have entered upon that part of the pilgrim path which is described by Bunyan as the Enchanted Ground--the Church and the world appear to be alike bewitched with folly! Half the people of God hardly know their head from their heels at this time. They are gaping after wonders, running after a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal and waiting for yet more astounding inventions. Everything seems to be in a whirligig! A tornado has set in and the storm is everywhere! Christians used to believe in Christ as their Leader and the Bible as their rule. But some of them are pleased with lords and rules such as He never knew! Believe me, there will soon come new Messiahs. Men are already pretending to work miracles! We shall soon have false Christs and, "Lo! Here!" And "Lo! There," will be heard on all sides! Anchors are up, winds are out and the whole fleet is getting into confusion! Men in whose sanity and stability I once believed, are being carried away with one fancy or another, and I am driven to cry, "What next? And what next?" We are only at the beginning of an era of mingled unbelief and fanaticism! Now we shall know who are God's elect and who are not, for there are spirits abroad at this hour that would, if it were possible, deceive even the very elect! And those who are not deceived are, nevertheless, sorely put to it. Here is the patience of the saints. Let him look to himself who is not rooted and grounded in Christ, for the hurricane is coming! The signs of the times indicate a carnival of delusions! Men have ceased to be guided by the Word of God and claim to be, themselves, prophets. Now we shall see what we shall see! Blessed is the sheep that knows his Shepherd and will not listen to the voice of strangers. But here is the way to be kept steadfast--"The Word of God abides in you." "The Word of God"--that is to say we are to believe in the doctrines of God's Word--and these will make us strong. What vigor they infuse into a man! Get the Word of God well into you and you will overcome the Wicked One! When the devil tempted Luther, the Reformer's grand grip of justification by faith made him readily victorious. Keep a fast hold of the Doctrines of Grace and Satan will soon give up attacking you, for they are like plate armor, through which no dart can ever force its way. The promises of God's Word, too--what power they give a man! To get hold of a, "shall," and, "will," in the time of trouble is a heavenly safeguard! "My God will hear me." "I will not fail you nor forsake you." These are Divine holdfasts! Oh, how strong a man is for overcoming the Wicked One when he has such a promise at hand! Do not trust yourself in the morning, in the street, till you have laid a promise under your tongue. I see people put respirators on in foggy weather--they do not make them look very lovely--but I dare say they are useful! I recommend the best respirator for the pestilential atmosphere of this present evil world when I bid you fit a promise to your lips! Did not the Lord rout the Tempter in the wilderness with that promise, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live"? Get the promises of God to lodge within you and you will be strong! Then mind the precepts, for a precept is often a sharp weapon against Satan. Remember how the Lord Jesus Christ struck Satan a killing blow by quoting a precept--"It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." If the precept had not been handy, with what would the adversary have been rebuked? Nor is a threat at all a weak weapon. The most terrible threats of God's Word against sin are the best helps for Christians when they are tempted to sin--"How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? How should I escape if I turned away from Him that speaks from Heaven?" Tell Satan the threats and make him tremble! Every Word of God is life to holiness and death to sin. Use the Word as your sword and shield--there is none like it! Now notice that John not only mentions "the Word of God," but the Word of God "in you." The inspired Word must be received into a willing mind. How? The Book which lies there is to be pleaded here, in the inmost heart, by the work of the Holy Spirit upon the mind. All of this letter has to be translated into spirit and life. "The Word of God abides in you"--that is, first to know it--next to remember it and treasure it up in your heart. Following upon this, we must understand it, learn the analogy of faith by comparing spiritual things with spiritual till we have learned the system of Divine Truth and more able to set it forth and plead for it. It is, next, to have the word in your affections--to love it so that it is as honey or the droppings of the honeycomb to you. When this is the case, you must and shall overcome the Wicked One! A man instructed in the Scriptures is like an armed knight, who, when he goes among the throng, inflicts many a wound, but suffers none, for he is locked up in steel. Yes, but that is not all! It is not the Word of God in you, alone, it is, "the Word of God abides in you." It is always there, it cannot be removed from you! If a man gets the Bible right into him, he is all right, then, because he is full, and there is no room for evil! When you have filled a measure full of wheat, you have effectually shut the chaff out. Men go after novel and false doctrines because they do not really know the Truth of God; for if the Truth had gotten into them and filled them, they would not have room for these daydreams! A man who truly knows the Doctrines of Grace is never removed from them. I have heard our opponents rave at what they call the obstinacy of our Brothers and Sisters. Once get the Truth of God really into you, it will enter into the texture of your being and nothing will get it out of you! It will also be your strength, by setting you watching against every evil thing. You will be on your guard if the Word of God abides in you, for it is written, "When you go it will keep you." The Word of God will be to you a bulwark and a high tower, a castle of defense against the foe! Oh, see to it that the Word of God is in you, in your very soul, permeating your thoughts and so operating upon your outward life, that all may know you to be a true Bible-Christian, for they perceive it in your words and deeds! This is the sort of army that we need in the Church of God--men that are strong by feeding on God's Word! Aspire to it, my Brothers and Sisters, and when you have reached it, then aspire unto the third degree that you may become fathers in Israel! Up to this measure, at any rate, let us endeavor to advance, and advance at once. Are there any here who are not young men in Christ Jesus because they are not in Christ Jesus at all? I cannot speak with you this morning, for my time is gone, but I am distressed for you. To be out of Christ is such an awful thing that a man had better to be out of existence! Without God, without Christ--then you are without joy in life or hope in death! Not even a babe in the Divine family! Then know this, that God shall judge those that are outside and when He comes, how swift and overwhelming will that judgment be! Inasmuch as you would not have Christ in this day, Christ will not have you in that day! Stay not out of Christ any longer! Seek His face and live, for, "He that believes in Him has everlasting life." May you be enabled to believe in Him at this moment, for Jesus' sake. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ The Bridegroom's Parting Words (No. 1716) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 15, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to your voice: cause Me to hear it." Song of Solomon 8:13. THE Song is almost ended--the bride and Bridegroom have come to their last stanzas--and they are about to part for a while. They utter their adieus and the Bridegroom says to His beloved, "You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to your voice: cause Me to hear it." In other words, when I am far away from you, fill this garden with My name and let your heart commune with Me. She promptly replies, and it is her last word till He comes, "Make haste, my Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices." These farewell words of the Well-Beloved are very precious to His chosen bride. Last words are always noticed--the last words of those who loved us dearly are much valued--the last words of one who loved us to the death are worthy of a deathless memory. The last words of the Lord in this canticle remind me of the commission which the Master gave to His disciples right before He was taken up, when He said to them, "Go you into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Then, scattering benedictions with both His hands, He ascended into Glory and, "a cloud received Him out of their sight." As the sermon progresses you will see why I say this and you will detect a striking likeness between the commission connected with the Ascension and the present adieu, in which the spiritual Solomon says to His espoused Solyma, "You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to your voice: cause Me to hear it." I. We will get to our text at once, without further preface, and we notice in it, first of all, AN APPOINTED RESIDENCE. The Bridegroom, speaking of His bride, says, "You that dwells in the gardens." The Hebrew is in the feminine and, therefore, we are bound to regard it as the word of the Bridegroom to His bride. It is the mystical word of the Church's Lord to His elect one! He calls her "Inhabitress of the gardens"--that is the word. So then, dear Friends, we who make up the Church of God are here addressed, this morning, under that term, "You that inhabits the gardens." This title is given to Believers here on earth, first, by way of distinction--distinction from the Lord, Himself. He whom we love dwells in the ivory palaces in which they make Him glad. He is gone up to His Father's Throne and has left these gardens down below. He came down awhile that He might look upon His garden, that He might see how the vines flourished and gather lilies. But He has now returned to His Father and our Father. He watered the soil of His garden with His bloody sweat in Gethsemane and made it to bear fruit unto life by being Himself laid to sleep in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea--but all this lowly work is now over. He does not dwell in the gardens as to His corporeal Presence. His dwelling place is on the Throne of God. Jesus has not taken us up with Him--He will come another time to do that--but now He leaves us among the seeds and flowers and growing plants to do the King's work until He comes. He was a visitor here and the visit cost Him dearly. But He has gone back unto the place from where He came, having finished the work which His Father gave Him. Our lifework is not finished and, therefore, we must tarry a while below and be known as inhabitants of the gardens. It is expedient that we should be here, even as it is expedient that He should not be here. God's Glory is to come of our sojourn here, otherwise He would have taken us away long ago. He said to His Father, "I pray not that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the Evil One." He Himself is an inhabitant of the palaces, for there He best accomplishes the eternal purposes of love. But His Church is the inhabitress of the gardens, for there she best fulfils the decrees of the Most High. Here she must abide, awhile, until all the will of the Lord shall be accomplished in her and by her--and then she, also, shall be taken up and shall dwell with her Lord above. The title is given by way of distinction and marks the difference between her condition and that of her Lord. Next, it is given by way of enjoyment. She dwells in the gardens, which are places of delight. Once you and I pined in the wilderness and sighed after God from a barren land. We trusted in man, made flesh our arm and then we were like the heath in the desert which sees not when good comes. All around us was the wilderness of this world, a howling wilderness of danger, need and disorder! We said of the world at its very best, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Do you remember how you roamed, seeking rest and finding none? Your way was the path of darkness which leads to death! Then you were poor and needy--and sought water and there was none--and your tongue cleaved unto the roof of your mouth for thirst. Then came the Lord that bought you and He sought you until He brought you into the gardens of His love where He satisfied you with the river of the Water of Life, and filled you with the fruits of His Spirit! And now you dwell in a goodly land--"The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew." Your portion is with the Lord's saints, yes, with Himself! And what can be a better portion? Is it not as the gardens of the Lord? You dwell where the great Husbandman spends His care upon you and takes a pleasure in you. You dwell where the infinite skill and tenderness and wisdom of God manifest themselves in the training of the plants which His own right hand has planted. You dwell in the Church of God which is laid out, in due order, and hedged about and guarded by heavenly power! And you are, therefore, most fitly said to dwell in the gardens. Be thankful! It is a place of enjoyment for you! Awake and sing, for the lines have fallen unto you in pleasant places. Just as Adam was put into the Garden of Eden for his own happiness, so are you put into the garden of the Church for your comfort. It is not a perfect paradise of bliss, but it has many points of likeness to Paradise--for God Himself walks there, the river of God waters it, and the Tree of Life is there unguarded by the flaming sword! Is it not written, "I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day"? See, Beloved, although you are distinguished from your Lord by being here while He is there, yet you are made partakers of His joy and are not as those who are banished into a salt land to die in desolation! The Lord's joy is in His people and you are made to have a joy in them, also--the excellent of the earth, in who is all your delight, are made to be the comrades of your sojourning! The title is also used by way of employment as well as enjoyment. Adam was not put in the garden that he might simply walk through its borders, admire its flowers and taste its fruits. He was placed there to keep it and to dress it. There was sufficient work to be done to prevent his stagnating from lack of occupation. He had not to toil sufficiently to make him wipe the sweat from his brow, for that came of the curse--"In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread"--but still, he was not permitted to be idle, for that might have been a worse curse. Even for a perfect man, unbroken leisure would not be a blessing. It is essential, even, to an unfallen creature that he should have work to do--fit work and honorable-- seeing it is done by a creature for the great Benefactor who had created him. If we had not our daily tasks to fulfill, rest would corrode into rust and recreation would soon gender corruption. You and I are set in the garden of the Church because there is work for us to do which will be beneficial to others and to ourselves. Some have to take the broad axe and hew down mighty trees of error. Others of a feebler sort can, with a child's hand, train the tendril of a climbing plant, or drop into its place a tiny seed. One may plant and another may water--one may sow and another gather fruit. One may cut up weeds and another prune vines. God has work in His Church for us all to do and He has left us here that we may do it! Our Lord Jesus would not keep a single saint out of Heaven if there were not a necessity for his being here in the lowlands, to trim these gardens of herbs and watch these beds of spices. Would He deny His well-beloved the palm branch and the crown if it were not better for us to be holding the pruning-hook and the spade? A schoolbook with which to teach the little children may be, for a while, more to our true advantage than a golden harp. To turn over the pages of Scripture with which to instruct the people of God may be more profitable to us than to hear the song of seraphim. I say, the Master's love to His own which prompted Him to pray, "I will that they, also, whom You have given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My Glory," would long ago have drawn all the blood-bought up to Himself, had it not been the fact that it is, in infinite wisdom, seen to be better that they should abide in the flesh. You are the lights of the world, you are the salt of the earth! Shall the light and the salt be at once withdrawn? You are to be as a dew from the Lord in this dry and thirsty land! Would you be at once exhaled? Brothers, have you found out what you have to do in these gardens? Sisters, have you found out the plants for which you are to care? If not, awaken yourselves and let not a moment pass till you have discovered your duty and your place! Speak unto Him who is the Lord of all true servants and say to Him, "Show me what You would have me do. Point out, I pray You, the place in which I may serve You." Would you have it said of you that you were a wicked and slothful servant? Shall it be told that you dwelt in the gardens and allowed the grass to grow up to your ankles, and suffered the thorns and the thistles to multiply until your land became as the sluggard's vineyard, pointed at as a disgrace and a warning to all that passed by? "O you that dwells in the gardens!" The title sets forth constant and engrossing employment. Dear Friends, it means, also, eminence. I know many Christian people who do not feel that they dwell in the gardens. They reside in a certain town or village where the Gospel may be preached, but not in demonstration of the Spirit and in power. A little Gospel is made to go a long way with some preachers. In some ministries there is no life or power, no unction or savor. The people who meet under such preaching are cold of heart and dull in spirit. The Prayer Meetings are forgotten; communion of saints has well-near died out and there is a general deadness as to Christian effort. Believe me, it is a dreadful thing when Christian people have almost to dread their Sabbath days! And I have known this to be the case. When you are called to hard toil through the six days of the week you need a good spiritual meal on the Sabbath, and if you get it, you find a blessed compensation and refreshment. Is it not a heavenly joy to sit still on the one day of rest and to be fed with the finest of the wheat? I have known men made capable of bearing great trials--personal, relative, pecuniary and the like--because they have looked backward upon one Sabbatic feast and then forward to another! They have said in their hour of trouble-- "Patience, my heart! The Lord's Day is coming, when I shall drink and forget my misery. I shall go and sit with God's people and I shall have fellowship with the Father and with the Son. And my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness till I praise the Lord with joyful lips." But what a sorry case to dread Sunday and to mutter, "I shall get nothing next Sunday any more than I did last Sunday except some dry, philosophical essay, or a heap of the childish toys and fireworks of oratory--or the same dull mumbling of a mechanical orthodoxy." Oh, Brothers and Sisters, my text is scarcely meant for those who dwell in such deserts, but it speaks with emphasis to those who dwell where sweet spiritual fruits are plentiful, where odors and perfumes load the air, where the land flows with milk and honey! If any of you happen to dwell where Christ is set forth evidently crucified among you and where your hearts leap for very joy because the King, Himself, comes near to feast His saints and make them glad in His Presence, then it is to you that my text has a voice and a call--"You that dwells in the gardens, in the choicest places of all Immanuel's land, let Me hear your voice." Yet one more word. The title here employed is not only for eminence but for permanence. "O you that dwells in the gardens." If you are only permitted to enjoy sound Gospel teaching, now and then, and then are forced to cry, "It may be another 12 months before I shall be again fed on royal dainties," then you are in a trying case and you need to cry to God for help! But blessed are those who dwell in the good land and daily fill their homers with heavenly manna. "Blessed are they that dwell in Your house: they will be still praising You." No spot on earth is so dear to the Christian as that whereon he meets His Lord. I can understand why the Jew asked of a certain town that was recommended to him as good for business, "Is there a synagogue there?" Being a devout man, and finding that there was no synagogue, he said he would rather remain where trade was dull, but where he could go with his brethren to worship. Is it not so with us? How my heart has longed for these blessed assemblies! Give me a crust and a full Gospel rather than all riches and a barren ministry! The profitable hearing of the Word of God is the greatest enjoyment upon earth to godly men! It would be banishment to go where every week's business turned into a mint of money if one were also compelled to be a member of an unhappy, quarrelsome, or inactive Church! Our greatest joy is in you, O Jerusalem! Let our tongue cleave to the roof of our mouth if we prefer you not above our greatest joy!-- "How charming is the place Where my Redeemer God Unveils the beauties of His face, And sheds His love abroad! Not the fair palaces, To which the great resort, Are once to be compared with this, Where Jesus holds His court." Beloved, if you dwell in the gardens you have a double privilege, not only of being found in a fat and fertile place, but in living there continually! You might well forego a thousand comforts for the sake of this one delight, for under the Gospel your soul is made to drink of wines on the lees well refined. This, then, is my first head--appointed residence--"You that dwells in the gardens." Is not this a choice abode for the Lord's beloved? I leave you to judge how far this describes yourselves. If it is your case, then listen to what the Bridegroom has to say to you. II. Secondly, let us note the RECORDED CONVERSATION--"You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to your voice." She was in the gardens, but she was not quiet there and why should she be? God gives us tongues on purpose that they should be used. As He made birds to sing, stars to shine and rivers to flow, so has He made men and women to converse with one another to His Glory. Our tongue is the glory of our frame and there would be no glory in its being forever dumb. The monks of La Trappe, who maintain perpetual silence, do no more than the rocks among which they labor! When God makes bells, He means to ring them! It may be thought to be a desirable thing that some should speak less, but it is still more desirable that they should speak better. When the tongue indites a good matter, it is no fault if it is nimble as the pen of a ready writer. It is not the quantity, it is the quality of what we say that ought to be considered. Now, observe that evidently the spouse held frequent conversations with her companions--"The companions hearken to your voice." She frequently conversed with them. I hope it is so among those of you who dwell in this part of Christ's garden. It should be so--"Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another"--they had not, now and then, a crack; now and then the passing of the time of day, but they held frequent fellowship! Heaven will consist largely in the communion of saints, and if we would enjoy Heaven, below, we must carry out the words of the creed in our practice--"I believe in the communion of saints." Let us show that we believe in it! Some persons sit still in their pews till the time to go--and then walk down the aisle in majestic isolation, as if they were animated statues! Do children thus come in and out of their father's house with never a word for their brothers and sisters? I know professors who float through life like icebergs from whom it is safest to keep clear--surely these partake not of the spirit of Christ! It is well when such icebergs are drawn into the Gulf Stream of Divine Love and melt away into Christ and His people! There should be among those who are children of the common Father a mutual love! And they should show this by frequent commerce in their precious things, making a sacred barter with one another. I like to hear them making sacred exchanges--one mentioning his trials--another quoting his deliverances! One telling how God has answered prayer and another recording how the Word of God has come to him with power. Such conversation ought to be as usual as the talk of children of one family. And next, it should be willing and influential, for if you notice, it is put here--"You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to your voice." They do not merely hear it, and say to themselves, "I wish she would be quiet," but they listen--they lend an ear, they listen gladly! I know some Christians whose lips feed many. I could mention Brothers and Sisters who drop pearls from their lips whenever they speak. We still have among us Chrysostoms, or men of golden mouths--you cannot be with them for half an hour without being enriched! Their anointing is manifest, for it spreads to all around them. When the Spirit of God makes our communications sweet, then the more of them the better! I like to get, sometimes, under the shadow of God's best people, the fathers in Israel, and to hear what they have to say to the honor of the name of the Lord. We who are young men feel gladdened by the testimonies of the ancients! And as for the babes in Grace, they look up to the gray-beards and gather strength from their words of experience and Grace. If there are any here whose language is such that others delight to listen to it, it is to such that my text is especially addressed--and when I come to open up the later part of it, I want you that have the honeyed tongues--I want you who are listened to with pleasure, to notice how the Beloved says to you--"The companions hearken to your voice: cause Me to hear it." Give your Lord a share of your sweet utterances! Let your Savior's ears be charmed as well as your companions ears! Come, speak to Him as well as to your Brothers and Sisters, and if there is music in your voice, let that music be for the Well-Beloved as well as for your fellow servants! This is the very heart of the matter! I cannot help alluding to it even before we have fairly reached that part of the text. The conversation of the bride in the gardens was constant and it was greatly esteemed by those who enjoyed it. I gather from the text, rather by implication, than otherwise, that the conversation was commendable, for the Bridegroom does not say to the spouse, "You that dwells in the gardens, your companions hear too much of your voice." No! He evi- dently mentions the fact with approval because He draws an argument from it why He should also hear that same voice! Brothers and Sisters, I leave it to yourselves to judge whether your communications with one another are always such as they should be. Are they always worthy of you? What communications have you had this morning? Can I make a guess? "Nice and fresh this morning." "Quite a change in the weather." Is not this the style? How often we instruct each other about what we already know! When it rains so as to soak our garments, we gravely tell each other that it is very wet! Yes, and if the sun shines, we are all eager to communicate the wonderful information that it is warm! Dear me, what instructors of our generation we are! Could we not contrive to change the subject? Is it because we have nothing to say of love, Grace and the Truth of God that we meet and part without learning or teaching anything? Perhaps so. I wish we had a little more small change of heavenly conversation--we have our crowns and sovereigns for the pulpit--we need silver and pence for common talk, all stamped with the image and superscription of the King of Heaven! O Holy Spirit, enrich us after this sort! May our communications be such that if Jesus were near, we might not be ashamed for Him to hear our voices! Brothers and Sisters, make your conversation such that it may be commended by Christ Himself! These conversations were, no doubt, very beneficial. As iron sharpens iron, so does a man's countenance his friend. Oh, what a comfort it is to drop in upon a cheerful person when you, yourself, are heavy! What a ballast it puts into your ship, when you are a little too merry, to meet with one in sore travail who bids you share his burden and emulate his faith. We are all the better, believe me, when our Lord can praise us because our companions listen to our voices! In fact, our communications with one another ought to be preparatory to still higher communications! The conversation of saints on earth should be a rehearsal of their everlasting communion in Heaven. We should begin, here, to be to one another what we hope to be to one another world without end. And is it not pleasant to rise from communion with your Brothers and Sisters into communion with the Bride-groom?--to have such talk with one another that, at last, we perceive that truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ? We thought that we only communed with our Brothers and Sisters, but we see that the Lord, Himself, is here! Do not our hearts burn within us? We two are talking of Him and now we see that He, Himself, is here, opening to us the Scriptures, and opening our hearts to receive those Scriptures in the power of them! Beloved, let us try, if we cannot make it so, that as we dwell together as Church members and work together in one common vineyard, we may be always making our fellowship with each other a grand staircase of fellowship with the King, Himself! Let us so talk that we may expect to meet Jesus while we are talking! How sweet to hear and see the Master in the servant, the Bridegroom in the Bridegroom's friend, the Head in the members, the Shepherd in the sheep, the Christ in every Christian! Thus may we rise upon the wings of hallowed communion with holy ones to yet more hallowed communion with the Holy One of Israel! Thus have we meditated upon two things--we have noted the appointed residence and the recorded conversation. We know what we are talking about! III. Now comes the pith of the text--INVITED FELLOWSHIP--"The companions hear your voice: cause Me to hear it." It is beautiful to hear the Beloved say in effect, "I am going away from you and you shall see Me no more; but I shall see you: do not forget Me. Though you will not hear My voice with your bodily ears, I shall hear your voices: therefore speak to Me. Unseen I shall feed among the lilies; unperceived I shall walk the garden in the cool of the day: when you are talking to others do not forget Me. Sometimes turns aside and when you have shut the door, and no eye can see, nor ear can hear, then let Me hear your voice: it has music in it to My heart, for I died to give you life. Let Me hear the voice of your prayers and praise and love." Now, I note concerning this invitation, first of all, that it is very loving and condescending to us that the Lord should wish to hear our voice! I do not wonder that some of you love to hear my voice, because the Holy Spirit has blessed it to your conversion--but what good has Jesus ever derived from any of us? Is it not marvelous that He, the infinitely blessed, should want to hear our voices when all that He has heard from us has been begging, sighing and a few poor broken hymns? You do not want to hear a beggar's voice, do you? I expect if the man you have helped a score of times should be, tomorrow morning, at your door, you would say, "Dear, dear; there is that man again." Might not the Well-Beloved say the same of you? "There she is again: come on the same errand. Come to confess some new faults, or to ask fresh favors." But instead of being tired of us, our Lord says, "Let Me hear your voice." O loving Bridegroom! Must He not love us very truly to ask us to speak with Him? Look, He asks as though He begged it of us as a favor, "Let Me hear your voice. Your companions listen--let Me take a share in their communion--they find your voice pleasant, let it be a pleasure, also, to Me. Come, do not deny Me, your heart's best Beloved! Do not be silent unto Me! Come, speak to Me with your own sweet mouth." It is condescending and gracious and yet how natural it is! How like Christ! Love always seeks the company of that which it loves! What would a husband say if his wife were seen to be chatty and cheerful to everybody else, but never spoke to him? I cannot suppose such a case! It would make too sorrowful a household. I should pity the poor, broken-hearted man who should be forced to say, "My Beloved, others hear your voice and admire it; will you not speak to me, your husband?" Believer, will you let the Lord Jesus, as it were, with tears in His eyes, say to you, "You talk to everybody but to Me! You lay yourself out to please everybody but Me! You are a charming companion to everybody but to Me"? Oh, our Beloved, how ill have we treated You! How much have we slighted You! In looking back, I fear there are many of us who must feel as if this gentle Word of the Lord had also a sharp side to it. I remember my faults this day. The text goes like a dagger to my soul, for I have spoken all day long to others and have had scarcely a word for Him whom my soul loves! Let us mend our conversation and from now on show our Lord a truer love. We may truly add that this invitation to fellowship is a blessed and profitable request. We shall find it so if we carry it out, especially those of us who are called by God to use our voices for Him among the crowds of our companions. 1 address some Brothers and Sisters, here, who are preachers and teachers. What a relief it is, when you have been letting the companions hear your voice, to stop a bit and let Jesus hear it! What a rest to leave the congregation for the closet, to get away from where they criticize you to One who delights in you! What a relief, I say! And what a help to our hearts! Jesus gives us sweet returns if we commune with Him--and such as speakers greatly need. The Apostles said that they would give themselves to the Word of God and to prayer. Yes, we must put those two things together. We shall never totally handle the Word of God without prayer. When we pray, we are taught how to speak the Word of God to others. Salvation and supplication are a blessed pair. Put the two together so that, when you speak to others about salvation, you do it after having baptized your own soul into supplication! "The companions hear your voice: cause Me to hear it. Before you speak with them, speak to Me. While you are still speaking with them, speak with Me. And when your speaking to men is done, return unto your rest and again speak with Me." This invitation is a many-sided one, for when the Bridegroom says, "Cause Me to hear it," He means that she should speak to Him in all sorts of ways. Frequently we should be heard in praise. If you have been praising the Lord in the audience of others, turn aside and praise Him to His face! Sing your song to your Beloved, Himself! Get into a quiet place and sing where only He can hear. I wish we had more of that kind of music which does not care for any other audience than God. Oh, my God, my heart shall find You and every string shall have its attribute to sing while my whole being shall extol You, my Lord! The blessed Virgin had none with her but Elizabeth when she sang, "My soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit does rejoice in God, my Savior." Oh, let the Lord hear your voice! Get up early to be alone with Him. So let it be with all your complaints and petitions--let them be for Jesus only. Too often we fill our follow creature's ears with the sad tale of all our cares. Why not tell the Lord about it and have done with it? We would employ our time far more profitably if, instead of murmuring in the tent, we enquired in the Temple. Speak with Jesus Christ, dear Friends, in little broken sentences, by way of frequent pleas! The best of Christian fellowship may be carried on in single syllables! When in the middle of business you can whisper, "My Lord and my God!" You can dart a glance upward, heave a sigh, or let fall a tear--and so will Jesus hear your voice! When nobody observes the motion of your lips, you may be saying, "My Beloved, be near me now!" This is the kind of fellowship which your Savior asks of you! He says, "The companions hear your voice: cause Me to hear it. Be sure that when you speak with others, you also speak with Me." This is such a blessed invitation that I think, dear Friends, we ought to avail ourselves of it at once! Come, what do you say? The best Beloved asks us to speak with Him--what shall we say? Think for an instant! What shall I say? Perhaps I have the advantage because I have my words ready! Here they are--"Make haste, my Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices." "Why," you say, "that is what the Church said in the last verse of the Song!" Exactly so, and that is what we may wisely say at this moment. We cannot improve upon it! "Come quickly; even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus." Often and often, then, when you are about your business, say, "Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! "It is a sweet frame of mind to be in to be willing to invite Christ to come--and whenever you cannot do so, let it be a warning to you that you are in dangerous waters! I can imagine a man in business calling himself a Christian about to engage in a doubtful transaction-- how is he to discern the danger? Let him ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come while he is doing it! "Oh dear, no," cries one, "I had rather He should not come until that matter is finished and forgotten!" Then be you sure that you are moving in the wrong direction! Suppose you think of going to a certain place of amusement about which you have a question? It is easy to decide it thus--When you take your seat, your first thing should be to bow your head and ask for a blessing. And then say, "Lord, here I sit waiting for Your appearing." "Oh," you say, "I should not want the Lord to come there." Of course you would not! Then do not go where you could not wish your Lord to find you! My text may thus be a monitor to you, to keep you from the paths of the Destroyer. Jesus says, "Let Me hear your voice," and let your voice utter these desires--"Even so, come quickly; come, Lord Jesus!" Alas, time reproves me! I must hurry on. IV. I have a fourth head which shall be very briefly handled. I find according to the Hebrew that the text has in it a REQUESTED TESTIMONY. According to learned interpreters, the Hebrew runs thus, "cause to hear Me." Now, that may mean what I have said, "Cause Me to hear," but it may also mean, "Cause them to hear Me." Now listen, you that are in Christ's garden--make those who dwell in that garden with you to hear from you much about HIM! In the Church everyone has a right to talk about the Head of the Church. Some of our Brothers and Sisters in this Tabernacle kindly undertake to speak to individuals about their souls and, now and then, they receive very sharp rebuffs. "What right has he to put such a question? How dare he intrude with personal remarks? What? Is the man poaching?" No, these are the Lord's preserves, and the Lord's gamekeepers have a right to do as they are bid by Him. They are not poaching in this place, for they are on the Master's own land! Anywhere inside these four walls you may speak to anybody about Christ and no man may forbid you! Speak lovingly and tenderly and prudently, but certainly the law of the house is that here we may speak about the Lord of the House! There are some other things you may not talk about, but about the Lord Jesus you may speak as much as you will. In the garden, at any rate, if not in the wilderness, let the Rose of Sharon be sweetly spoken of! Let His name be as an ointment poured forth in all the Church of God. Again, you, according to the text, are one that can make people hear, so that, "the companions hearken to your voice." Then make them hear of Jesus! You have the gift of speech--use it for Christ Crucified! I always feel regret when a powerful speaker espouses any other cause but that of my Lord. Time was when I used to wish that Milton had been a preacher and, instead of writing a poem, had proclaimed the Gospel to the multitude. I know better, now, for I perceive that God does not use learning and eloquence so much as knowledge of Christ and plain speech. But still, I am jealous of any man who can speak well, that he should not give my Lord the use of his tongue. Well-trained tongues are rare things, and they should be all consecrated to Christ's Glory! If you can speak to the companions--make them hear about Christ! If you can speak well, make them hear attractive words about Christ! If you do not speak about Christ to strangers, do speak to your companions. They will listen to you! Therefore let them listen to the Word of the Lord. I have heard of men who called themselves Christians, yet who never spoke to their children about their souls; never spoke to their servants nor to their work people about Jesus and His love! This is to murder souls! If tongues can bless and do not, then they, in effect, curse men by their silence! If you have a voice, make the name of Jesus to be sounded out all around you. Many are the voices that strike upon the ear--the world is full of noise even to distraction, yet the name which is above all other names is scarcely heard! I pray you, my Brethren, you that are like silver bells, ring out that name over hill and dale! As with a clarion, trumpet forth the saving name of Jesus till the deaf hear the sound! Whatever is left out of your testimony, be sure that Christ Crucified is first and last in it. Love Christ and live Christ! Think of Christ and speak of Christ! When people go away from hearing you preach, may they have to say, "He kept to his subject--he knew nothing but Jesus." It is ill when a man has to say of preachers, "They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid Him!" Yet in certain sermons you meet with a little about everything except the one thing. They offer us what we do not need and the need of the soul is not supplied. Oh, my Brothers, cause Christ to be heard! Hammer on that anvil always! If you make no music but that of the harmonious blacksmith, it will suffice. Ring it out with sturdy blows--"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Crucified!" Hammer away at that! "Now you are on the right string, man," said the Duke of Argyle, when the preacher came to speak upon the Lord Jesus. It needed no duke to certify that! Harp on that string! Make Jesus to be as commonly known as now He is commonly unknown! So may God bless you as long as you dwell in these gardens, till the day breaks and the shadows flee away. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ The Marvelous Magnet (No. 1717) DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die." John 12:32,33. On an evening when the regular hearers left their seats to be occupied by strangers. JESUS is the spokesman here. He tells of His own death by crucifixion and of the result which will follow. It appears, then, that our Lord's power to draw all men to Himself lies mainly in His death. By being lifted up from the earth upon the Cross, He was made to die and He also was made to draw all men unto Himself. There is an attractive power about our Lord's Person, about His life and about His teaching. But, still, the main attractive force lies in His death upon the Cross! Most certainly this is rare and strange, for when a great religious leader dies, a large measure of his personal power is gone. The charm of the man's manner, the impressiveness of his personal conviction, the lofty tone of his daily enthusiasm--these are immense helps to a cause while they are with us! But to lose them is a fearful drawback such as makes it perilous for a religious leader to die. Men may remember a leader's life for a time after his death--they will do so most emphatically if he has been eminently good. We say of the righteous--"Even in their ashes live their habitual fires." From many a tomb there rises a silent voice more eloquent than the choicest speech--"He being dead yet speaks." But there is a measure and boundary to the influence of a mere memory. How often is it the case that, after a little while, the leader having gone, the feebler folk gradually drop away; the hypocritical openly desert; the lukewarm wander and so the cause dies out. The man's successors desert his principles, or maintain them with but little life and energy and, therefore, what was once a hopeful effort expires like a dying taper. For a man's work to prosper it is not desirable that he should die. Is it not strange that what is so often fatal to the influence of other men is a gain to our Lord Jesus Christ? For it is by His death that He possesses His most powerful influence over the sons of men! Because Jesus died, He is, this day, the mightiest ruler of human minds, the great center to which all hearts are being drawn! Remember, too, that our Lord Jesus Christ died by a most shameful death. We have come to use the cross as an ornament and, by some, it is regarded as an object of reverence. But the cross, to speak very plainly, was to the ancients what the gallows are to us--an odious instrument of death for felons--exactly that and no more! The death on a cross was one never allotted to a Roman citizen except for certain heinous crimes. It was regarded as the death penalty of a slave. It was not only painful, it was disgraceful and ignominious. And to say that a man was crucified was, in our Lord's time, exactly tantamount to saying in our speech today that he was hanged. It means just that-- and you must accept the death of the cross with all the shame that can be connected with the gallows and the tree of death, or else you will not understand what it meant to Jesus and His disciples. Now, surely, if a man is hanged, there is an end to his influence among men. When I was looking through all the Bible commentaries in the English language, I found one with a title page attributing it to Dr. Coke. But on further examination I perceived that it was the commentary of Dr. Dodd, who was executed for forgery! After He had been hanged, of course the publishers could not sell a commentary under his name and so they engaged another learned doctor to take it under his wing. The man was hanged and, therefore, people would not read his book--and you are not at all surprised that it should be so. But here is an amazing thing. The Lord Jesus has lost no influence by having been hanged upon the Cross! No, rather it is because of His shameful death that He is able to draw all men unto Himself! His Glory rises from His humiliation! His adorable conquest from His ignominious death! When He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross," shame cast no shame upon His cause, but gilded it with Glory! Christ's death of weakness threw no weakness into Christianity! Say rather that it is the right arm of her power! By the sign of suffering unto death, the Church has conquered and will conquer still! By a love which is strong as death, she has always been victorious and must, forever, remain so. When she has not been ashamed to put the Cross in the forefront, she has never had to be ashamed, for God has been with her and Jesus has drawn all men to Himself. The Crucified Christ has irresistible attractions--when He stoops into the utmost suffering and scorn, even the brutal must relent--a living Savior men may love, but a crucified Savior they must love! If they perceive that He loved them and gave Himself for them, their hearts are stolen away--the city of Mansoul is captured before the siege begins when the Prince Emanuel uncovers the beauties of His dying love before the eyes of the rebellious ones! Let us never be ashamed, dear Friends, to preach Christ Crucified--the Son of God lifted up to die among the condemned! Let those of us who teach in the Sunday school, or preach at the street corner, or in any other manner try to set forth the Gospel, always keep a dying Christ to the front! Christ without the Cross is no Christ at all. Never forget this! He is the eternal God, but bind with that Truth of God the fact that He was nailed to a Roman cross. It is on the tree He triumphed over Satan and it is by the Cross that He must triumph over the world. "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die." The great Truth of the text I have stated to you--let me enlarge thereon. I. I shall try to speak, first, upon the ATTRACTIVE FORCE WHICH LIES IN A CRUCIFIED SAVIOR. You will observe that it is briefly summed up in these words--Himself to Himself. "I will draw all men unto Me." It is not written that Christ will draw all men to the visible Church, for the universal profession of our holy faith is slow enough in coming. Certainly the Lord Jesus Christ will not lend Himself out to draw men to your sect or to mine. He will draw always towards truth and righteousness, but not to dead forms or meaningless distinctions--nor to the memories of former wrongs or party victories. If the Lord should draw men to the Cathedral or the Tabernacle, the Abbey or the Chapel, it would be of little service to them, unless, in each case they found Him! The main thing that is needed is that they be drawn to Him and none can draw them to Him but Him. Himself drawing them to Himself--this is the soul of the text. I dare say that you have heard the oft-recounted story of the missionaries among the Greenlanders. Our Moravian Brethren, full of fire and zeal and self-denial, went right away among the ignorant folk of Greenland, as those people then were, longing to convert them. Using large prudence, they thought, "These people are so benighted that it cannot be of any use to preach Jesus Christ to them at first. They do not even know that there is a God, so let us begin by teaching them the nature of the Deity, showing them right and wrong, proving to them the need of atonement for sin and setting before them the rewards of the righteous and the penalties of the wicked." This was judged to be most fit preparatory work. Watch for the result! They went on for years, but had no converts. What was there in all that fine preparatory teaching that could convert anybody? Jesus was being locked out of the Greenlanders' hearts by those who wanted Him to enter! But one day one of the missionaries happened to read to a poor Greenlander the story of Jesus bleeding on the Cross and how God had sent His Son to die, "that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And the Greenlander said, "Would you read me that again? What wonderful words! Did the Son of God die for us poor Greenlanders that we may live?" The missionary answered that it was even so and, clapping his hands, the simple native cried, "Why did you not tell us that before?" Ah, just so! Why not tell them this at once and leave it to clear its own path? That is the point to begin with! Let us start with the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." To my mind that is the point to begin with and the point to go on with--yes, that is the Truth of God to conclude with, if there can ever be any conclusion to the grand old story of the Incarnate God who loved His enemies and gave Himself to die in their place, that they might live through Him! The Gospel is Jesus drawing sinners to Himself that they might live through Him! Dear Hearers, do you know what this means? I know that many of you do and you are happy, for in this knowledge there is life. Would to God that all knew this power of love in Christ--knew it so as to be drawn by almighty love to return that love with all their heart, soul and strength! The best thing that can happen to any of us is to feel Christ drawing him to Christ and to find himself sweetly yielding to the gentle drawing of the Savior's love! The text says that Jesus Christ will draw all men unto Himself. Now, all men who hear of Jesus Christ at all are drawn, but they do not all yield. Some of them pull back and the most awful thing that ever happens to a man is when he pulls back till Jesus lets him go! What a fall is that, when the drawing power is taken away, and the man fails backward into a destruction which he, himself has chosen, having refused eternal life and resisted the Savior's power! Unhappy is the wretch who strives against his own salvation! Every man that hears the Gospel feels some measure of its drawing power. I appeal to any one of you who has been accustomed to hear it. Does not Jesus sometimes tug hard at your conscience and, though you have pulled back, yet has He not drawn and drawn again? I remember how He drew me as a child and, though I drew back from Him, yet He never let me go till He drew me over the border line. Some of you must well remember how you were drawn by a mother's gentle words--by a teacher's earnest pleadings--by a father's admonitions--by a sister's tears--by a pastor's entreaties. Permit your memories to aid me. Bring up before your mind's eye the many dear ones who have broken their hearts to win you for Jesus. Yes, you have been drawn! I suppose that all of you have felt a measure of that drawing. Why, it is not merely those that hear the Gospel, but whole nations have been drawn, in other respects, by the all-pervading influence of Jesus and His love! At this instant the influence of Christianity is being felt in every corner of the earth to an extent which it is not easy to exaggerate. If I had an orator's power, I would picture my Savior casting golden chains of love over all nations, wherever the missionary goes preaching His name! The Lord is taming the nations as a man, by degrees, subdues wild beasts! Jesus is gradually drawing the heathen to Himself. He has had a long tug at India. That dead weight still lies in the furrow. But it must come! It must yield! All those that watch it know that if there is any cause that makes progress in India, it is the cause of Christ. The East appears never to move, but if there is any move, it is Christward. Jesus is drawing China slowly. Japan is being drawn as in a net. Where the testimony of Christ has been borne, the idols begin to shake and their priests confess that a change is coming! Every century sees a marked advance in the world's condition and we shall progress at a quicker rate, yet, when the Church wakes up to a sense of her responsibility and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the Church to turn us all into missionaries, causing us all, in some way or other, to preach the Gospel of Christ! Jesus is drawing, drawing, drawing! When God meant to scatter the individuals of our race, they would not be scat-tered--they built a tower to be the center of union! And only by their tongues being so changed that they could not understand one another could their resolve to remain in one company be defeated. But now, behold, the whole earth has the race of men to cover it--the sons of Adam dwell in every region and it is the Father's will to gather together in one the redeemed of the Lord. Therefore He has set in their midst the great Shiloh, of whom it was prophesied of old, "To Him shall the gathering of the people be." The roaming races do not answer to the Father's call. They do not want to come to the elder Brother's rule, but they will have to come, for He must reign! Gentile and Jew, African and European--they shall all meet at the Cross, the common center of our entire manhood--for Christ is lifted up and He is drawing all men to Him. But all men are not saved. No, for when drawn they do not come. Yet Christ Crucified is drawing some men of all kinds and sorts to eternal life. When Jesus died on the Cross it was not for my lord and lady only--nor was it only for the working man--it was for all sorts of people-- "While Grace is offered to the prince, The poor may take their share. No mortal has a just pretense To perish in despair." He that is best taught and instructed has often been drawn to Jesus by the Lord's overpowering charms. Some of the most learned of men have been delighted to come to Christ. But the most illiterate and rude have equally been drawn by Jesus and it has been their joy to come. I love to hear of the Gospel being preached to the poorest of the poor--and so preached that it reaches those who never were reached by it before. Godspeed every effort by which Jesus is set before the fallen and degraded--so long as it is the Gospel and not mere rant, we wish Godspeed to the most irregular of wit-nesses--our fears begin only when Jesus is no longer in the front! We greatly need to have the Gospel preached in the West of London and so preached that our great ones may receive it and find life through Jesus Christ. May such a movement soon take place! How I should like to hear of a converted duke telling out the Gospel, or a reclaimed Knight of the Garter proclaiming mercy for the chief of sinners! Why not? And, blessed be God, the Savior, lifted up, draws all sorts of men to Himself--some of every kind--not the Jew alone, as at the first, but the Gentile too!-- "None are excluded but those Who do themselves exclude. Welcome the learned and polite, The ignorant and rude." There is no exclusion of any class or creature from the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto Me"--and the history of the Church proves how true this is--the muster roll of the converted includes princes and paupers, peers and pot men But what is this force that attracts men to the crucified Savior? They come--there is no doubt about it. Look, Sirs--there is nothing in the world that men will hear so gladly as the Gospel. How many years have I stood in this place to preach to a congregation precisely similar to the present! The crowds have been here as regularly as the hours, Sunday after Sunday, morning and evening, year after year! Suppose that I had been appointed to preach upon a scientific subject? Could I have gained or held such audiences? I should have been spun out a long while ago if I had been bound to draw upon myself for my matter. If I had preached any other than the doctrine of Christ Crucified, I should, years ago, have scattered my audience to the winds of Heaven. But the old theme is always new, always fresh, always attractive. Preach Jesus Christ! That is the recipe for catching men's ears and laying hold upon men's hearts. The name of Jesus is to man's heart the most mighty of charms--man's ears wait for it as the morning hour waits for the sun, or as the parched earth waits for the shower! Ring out the name of Jesus--it is the sweetest carol ever sung. Ring it out without fear or stint, for it is always welcome as the flowers in May! Men will never tire of it till the flowers are satiated with sunlight and the grass grows weary of the dew! The music of that blessed silver bell rings out over hill and dale as sweetly as when, on the first Christmas night, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." There is about Calvary and its infinite stoop of Divine Love a power that never dies out and never will while the world stands. What is it? From where does this universal attractiveness come? Well, first, it is the force of love, for Jesus Christ is Incarnate Love. In Him you see One who divested Himself of all His Glory that He might save the guilty--who came down upon earth, not seeking wealth and fame, but simply seeking to do good by saving men--who, having laid aside His honor and His Glory, at last laid aside His life! And all for love--for love which met a sad return--for love which has, however, saved its objectives with a great salvation! One of the school men says that whenever we know that another person loves us, we cannot help giving back a measure of love in return, and I believe that the statement is true. Certainly, such love as the love of Christ, when it is told out simply, and men can understand it, is certain to excite an interest, to win a degree of attention and so to lead up to better things. Full often this love proves its power over observers by transforming them from enemies into friends and, though they at first despised the Redeemer, His love compels them, at length, to believe and to adore! If I were asked the secret of the attracting power of the Crucified Savior, I would answer that it is invincible love. The only crime that ever could be laid to Jesus' charge was that of which the poet sings--"found guilty of excessive love"--loving beyond all reason and beyond all boundaries--loving as none ever loved before! So that if all the rivers of human love ran together, they could not fill such another ocean of love as was in the heart of Jesus the Savior! This it is--this unique, unrivaled love--which draws men to Jesus! The pierced heart of Christ is a loadstone to draw all other hearts. No doubt there is also this about the Crucified Savior--that He draws men by the wonderful rest which His death provides for men. The most earnest Christian man must, sometimes, have his doubts as to whether all is right with him. The more sincere a man is, the more does he tremble lest he should deceive himself. You, good Brother, have your personal anxieties; certainly I have mine. But when I turn my eyes to Jesus upon the Cross and view the crown of thorns, the sacred head, the eyes that were red with weeping, the hands nailed fast to the wood and the feet dripping with gore--and when I remember that this shameful death was endured for love of me--I am so quiet and so happy in my spirit that I cannot tell how peacefully my life-floods flow! God must forgive my grievous fault, for my Redeemer has so grievously answered for it! When I see Jesus die, I perceive that from now on Divine justice is on the sinner's side. How can the Lord God punish the same offense twice--first the Substitute--and then the men for whom that Substitute has bled? Christ has bled as Substitute for every man that believes in Him--therefore is every Believer safe! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, when you are troubled, rest with us by looking to Calvary! And if the first glance does not quiet you, look, and look, and look again--for every grief will die where Jesus died. Not to Bethlehem, where the stars of Christmas burn, do we look for our greatest comfort, but to that place where the sun was darkened at midday and the face of Eternal Love was veiled! Because the Lord of Life and Glory was dying in siremis, suffering the most deadly pain for our sakes, therefore His wounds distilled the richest balm that ever healed a sinner's wounds! Men know this. Reading their Bibles, they soon find it out. There is no comfort for them against the anger of God and against their guilty consciences, until they see Christ in their place, suffering for them. The conscience sees with unspeakable delight the Victim provided! She gladly lays her hand on Jesus' head and sees her sin transferred to Him, punished in Him--and thus it finds rest--the rest of God. In the expiatory death of Jesus, the Law is vindicated and God is "just, and yet the Justifier of him that believes." Dear Friends, believe me, Jesus bestows the peerless pearl of perfect rest on every heart that comes to Him! He fills the soul so that it has no more longings. You know the horseshoe magnet and you have seen how rapidly it picks up pieces of iron. Have you ever put a piece of iron right across the two ends of the magnet? You will then have noticed that it ceases to attract anything else. The magnetic circuit is completed and the magnet rests perfectly quiet, refusing to go beyond its own circle of pure content. When my soul is filled with Jesus, He completes the circuit of my soul's passions and longings! He is all my salvation and all my desire! Have you found it so? Has not your soul come to an absolutely perfect rest when it has gotten to Christ? When He, Himself, has drawn you to Himself, have you not entered into rest? Because men perceive that such a rest is to be had, therefore they come to Christ. He Himself uses this as an argument why they should come! Remember His cheering words, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This is part of the attractive force which dwells in the Crucified Savior. Then I am sure that there is a great attraction about Christ when we see the change which He works in men. Have you known a drunk become a Christian, or a thief become upright? Have you seen a harlot made chaste? Have you marked any of the modern miracles which are always going on around us in the form of conversions? If you have taken pleasure in these signs and wonders, I know that you have said, "Lord, I, too, will come to You to be converted." The sight of His power to elevate and sanctify has attracted you to Jesus and you have fallen at His feet. There is no true, deep, tender, living conversion except through the Cross and, therefore, those that are taught of God do love to come to Christ, that sin may be conquered in them, that the heart of stone may be taken away, that the heart of flesh may be given and that they may walk the happy way of holiness according to the example of their adorable Master. I could continue thus to show what this attractive force is, but, lest I should weary you, I will only say that it lies much in His sufferings, themselves. Is it not a strange thing that suffering attracts? Yes, more--lowly Suffering con-quers--she sits as a queen upon her throne and reigns by the royalty of her resignation! The ship of the Church has plowed its way through seas of blood. With the blood-red Cross at the masthead, she has pushed on, even in the night, throwing the crimson spray about her. She has never paused because of persecution, affliction, or death--these are the rough winds which fill her sails. No progress is surer than that which comes of holy suffering. The enemies of the Church have taken her disciples and burned them, but their deaths yielded a sweet savor of life. It is questionable if a man's influence can be better promoted than by sending him aloft in a chariot of fire. What made us a Protestant nation for so many years? I do not say that we are Protestant now--but what made us enthusiastically Anti-papist for so many years? The stakes of Smithfield did it! Men and women stood and saw the martyrs burned--and as they saw them die, they said, "These men are right, and the cause for which they burn is true"--and into the very heart of England martyrdom cast up a way for the Lord Jesus and He entered then and there into Old England's secret soul! What the martyrs did, in their measure, by their bitter death-pangs, is being done on a Divine scale by the sufferings of the Chief of all martyrs and Head of all witnesses! By the agonies of Jesus, men's affections are moved and their hearts enthralled. Are any of you unconverted and do you wish to be converted? I cannot suggest a better exercise than to read over the story of the death of Christ, as it is told by the four Evangelists. When you have read it once, read it again! And as you read it say, "Lord, I must have a sadly hard heart, or else this would move me to tears. I pray You, change my heart." Then read the story again, for surely, at last it will touch you. God the Holy Spirit blessing you, it will move you and you will be among the "all men" that shall be drawn to Jesus by His own personal force! So much, then, about what this force is. II. Very briefly, my second head is to be--HOW IS THIS FORCE EXERCISED? This force is exercised through the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of God who puts power into the Truth of God about Christ! And then men feel that Truth and come to Christ and live. But our blessed Lord and Master uses instruments. The force of Christ's love is sometimes shown to men by those who already love Him. One Christian makes many. One Believer leads others to faith. To come back to my metaphor of a magnet--you have sometimes seen a battery attached to a coil and then, if you take a nail and put it on the coil, the nail has become a strong magnet. You notice that the nail turns into a magnet, for you take another nail and you put it on the end of it and it holds the second nail fast. Now number two is turned into a magnet. Try it. Put a third nail upon it. See, it is held fast! Number three has become a magnet. Try the next nail--it holds on to it like grim death--and now number four has become a magnet! Bring another nail within the influence. Number five has become a magnet. And so it continues. On and on and on the magnetism goes, from one nail to another. But now, just go to your battery, detach one of your wires--and the nails drop off, directly, for the coil has ceased to be a magnet and the nails have ceased to be magnets, too! All the magnetism comes from the first place from which it started--and when it ceases at the fountainhead, there is an end of it altogether. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the great attractive magnet and all must begin and end with Him! When Jesus lays hold upon us, we get hold of a brother and before long he turns into a magnet, also. Thus from one to another, the mystic influence proceeds--but the whole of the force abides in Jesus. More and more the Kingdom grows, "ever mighty to prevail," but all the growing and the prevailing come out of Him! So it is that Jesus works--first by Himself--and then by all who are in Him. May the Lord make us all magnets for Himself. Jesus says, "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto Me," but He leaves room in His figure for the co-working of all grateful hearts. Jesus draws men gradually. Some are brought to Christ in a moment, but many are drawn by slow degrees. The sun, in some parts of the world, rises above the horizon in a single instant. But in our own country, at this season of the year, it is beautiful to watch the dawn, from the first gray light to the actual break of day. Is it dark, or is it light? Well, it is not quite dark--it is visible darkness! By-and-by there is light. No sun is up as yet, but yet the light increases till the East begins to glow and the West reflects the radiance! Then, by-and-by, up rises the great king of day. So does the Lord bring many to Himself by gentle degrees. They cannot tell when they were converted, but they are converted, for they have come to Christ! Rest assured that He will not send you back. Do not say, "I am not converted, for I do not know the moment of the great Change." I knew an old lady, once, who did not know her birthday--but I never told her that she was not born because of that, for there she was! And if you do not know when you were made a Christian, yet, if you are a Christian, it little matters how or when. If you are really born of God, the date of your new birth is interesting to curiosity but not important to piety. Salvation is often accomplished by a lengthened process. I have heard that when they wanted to bridge a great chasm they shot an arrow or a bullet, which drew with it a tiny thread, across the river. That was all the communication from bank to bank and the rolling torrent was far below. Despise not the day of small things! The insignificant beginning was prophetic of grand results. By means of that little thread, they drew across a piece of twine and, when they had safely grasped it on the other side, they bound a small rope to the end of the twine--and then they drew the rope across! And then to that rope they tied a cable and they drew the cable across--and now, over that chasm, there strides an iron bridge--along which the steam horse rattles with his mighty load! So does Jesus unite us to Himself! He may employ, at first, an insignificant thread of thought. Then a sense of pleasant interest. Then some deeper feeling. Then a crushing emotion; then a faint faith; then stronger faith; then stronger yet, until, at last, we come to be firmly bound to Christ! Oh, be thankful if you have only a thread of communication between you and Jesus, for it will lead to more! Something more hopeful will be drawn across the gulf before long! Christ's attractions are often very gradually revealed and their victorious energy is not felt all at once. Moreover, the cords of our Lord's drawings are very secret. You see the swallows twittering round our roofs, hawking in the air, shooting up into the clouds, or flashing by our ears. It is summer and they are paying us their annual visit. They will be with us for a time, but all of a sudden we will see them getting together about the gable of an old house, holding agitated con- gregations and evidently discussing matters of importance. The Lord of birds is gently drawing every swallow in England down towards the African coast--and they will all go, without exception--as the secret summons reaches the flying host! They know but little of the way, but their flight is not, therefore, delayed or its course left to uncertainty! Over thousands of miles of sea and land they pursue their course until they come to their resting place. And then, next spring, the same power that drew them southward will draw them all northward again! And here they will come and we shall hear their joyous twitter and say to ourselves, "Summer is coming, for here are the swallows, again." By a secret power of that order does Jesus draw home the strangers and the foreigners whom His Grace has cho-sen--they say to one another, "Come, and let us go up to the House of the Lord. Let us seek the face of the Savior." The mystic attractions of the power of Christ are secretly drawing many who knew Him not and now they ask their way to Zion with their faces Christ-ward! Look how the sun draws along the planets. He hastens on in his mighty career in space--I know not where, but drawing with him all the worlds which compose the solar system--all these silently attend his majestic marches. Such is Christ, the great central Sun--all His people follow, for He draws. Stand by the seashore and notice what the moon can do. You do not even see her, for it is high noon--but here comes a wave, and then another, and then another, and the tide rises a little higher today than it did yesterday. What is it that causes this pulse of life, these heart-throbs of the deep? The moon's attractive power is drawing up the waters from the sea! Even so our glorious Christ, in ways unknown to us, draws the hearts of men by His mighty Spirit wherever He pleases, "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." Fail not to observe how gently He does it! The classic heathen adored a goddess whom they represented as riding in a chariot drawn by doves. Surely the most tender mode of impulse--power without force, motion born of emotion! Certain of us were wafted to Jesus by some such zephyr. We could not but yield--the softness and tenderness of every touch of Jesus affected us infinitely more than force could possibly have done! Hearts are tender things and are not to be forced open with crowbars--the doors of the heart open gently to Him that holds the key--and who is that but He who made the heart and bought it with His precious blood? The gentleness is equal to the power when Jesus draws men to Himself! But, oh, how effectually! I thought, as I mused upon my text, that I saw a great whirlpool like the maelstrom in the north of Norway. I thought I saw an enormous whirlpool so huge that all the souls of men, like ships of many different forms, were being drawn towards it. With strained sight I gazed upon this monstrous death! Woe to those who are sucked in by that dreadful whirlpool, for there is no escape! The abyss has no bottom, destruction is sure to all who are caught in the tremendous down-rush! Even ships far out at sea on other tacks, though they escape this maelstrom, are hindered in their course by it! This one monstrous devourer labors to absorb all and leaves no bay, nor harbor, nor foreign main unaffected by its perpetual draught. As I was thinking of this giant evil and wondering how I could navigate my own boat so as to avoid this mouth of Hell, I saw a hand that had the mark of a nail upon its palm, and lo, it held a mighty magnet which attracted every vessel with a force greater than any born of sea or storm! This magnet attracted many ships so that they flew to it at once and were gently drawn towards their desired haven in the very teeth of the maelstrom! I saw other vessels in which the mariners hoisted sail to try to escape the influence of this magnet--and even put out their oars to strive to get away--and some of them did so escape. Alas, they floated farther and farther into the maelstrom's destructive power, to be sucked down to their perdition. These were so besotted that they labored against mercy and resolved to be destroyed--we are glad that all are not left to act so madly. You must have seen an instance of drawing very often down in the river. A grand vessel is bound for the Indies, but how can it be taken down to the Nore? It is difficult to move the heavy craft. There it must lie. But here comes a steam-tug. The large vessel hands a rope on board the tug and now the steam is up. Tug, tug, tug--the paddle-wheels revolve and the big ship begins to follow the lead! It is no longer motionless; it will soon be walking the waters as a thing of life! A pleasant sight--the tug draws it gently out to sea and then leaves it to pursue its distant voyage. Just so may Jesus draw you away from sinful pleasures and from self-righteousness. III. I shall conclude by drawing one or two lessons. Then I have done. WHAT DOES ALL THIS IMPLY? "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." Well, it means this, first--that men, by nature, are a long way off from Christ. You were not born converted. Of that I am sure! Nor were you born a Christian and, though they took you to the font and said that they made you a "member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven," there was not a word of truth in it, for you were such a child of God that you loved sin--and such a member of Christ that you knew nothing of Him--and such an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven that, unless God saves you, you will never get there! I may say of Christians who are made in that way, "Eyes have they, but they see not. Mouths have they, but they speak not, neither speak they through their throats." And I fear that I must add, "They that make them are like unto them: so is everyone that trusts in them." It is a poor Christianity that is created by such monstrous folly! "You must be born again," and you must be born again of the Spirit of God, or you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven! Man is a long way off from Christ and Christ must draw Him. Friend, ask Him to draw you. I gather another lesson--that men will not come to Christ unless He draws them. Sometimes, when I am trying to prepare a sermon to preach, I say to myself, "Why must I take all this trouble?" If men were in their senses they would run to Christ without calling! Why must we put this business so temptingly? Why must we plead? Why must we be so earnest? Because men do not want to come, not even to their own Savior! They do not wish to have their sins forgiven! They do not wish to be renewed in heart. And they never will come--no, not one mother's son of them--unless He that sent Christ to them shall draw them to Christ. A work of Grace in the heart is absolutely necessary before the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus will be accepted by any one of us. Jesus said, "You will not come to Me that you might have life." What our Lord said is true to this hour--man has not improved an atom! But, then, learn another lesson. If there is any man here that Christ is drawing, he need not ask, "May I come?" Of course you may, if you feel drawn to come! Are you coming? Come, and welcome! Christ never yet turned away a soul that came to Him--not one! "Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out." If He is drawing you, run, for you have Scriptural warrant for so doing! "Draw us: we will run after You." If tonight you feel any kind of tugging at your heartstrings, do not hesitate a moment! Come along with you! When God draws, then is your time to move. What do the sailors say? "There's a breeze, Jack. Yes, yes, boys. Up with the anchor! Now for every stitch of canvas. We can make headway now." Do you feel any kind of breeze? Is the breath of the Holy Spirit moving upon you in any degree? Do you feel inclined to say, "I will go to Jesus"? Then, fly away with you, like a full-sailed ship before a fair wind! And by God's help may you soon make the port of Everlasting Salvation! Let us finish up by saying that if Christ has said thus He will draw, then He will draw tonight! The attractions of the Lord Jesus are continual--He draws, and He will always draw. He is drawing now! Do not pull back, lest His drawing should cease--and you should perish--but rather let your heart sing-- "He drew me, and I followed on, Charmed to confess the force Divine.'" Oh Spirit of God, draw men to Jesus! This is the way of salvation--trust Christ and you are saved! Rely wholly upon what Christ is and what He has done--and you are saved! In that very act there is a change effected within you which will show itself forever in your character, for he that believes in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born again! The faith which looks to Jesus and the life which lives upon Jesus come together. I cannot tell you which is first--the new birth, or faith. Can you tell me which spoke of a wheel moves first? No. And these are spokes of one and the same wheel. "He that believes in Him has everlasting life." Oh, believe Him! Trust Him! Lay hold upon Him! Accept Him and go your way--and the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing--and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Amen! So let it be! __________________________________________________________________ Certain Singular Subjects (No. 1718) DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And I gave unto Isaac, Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." Joshua 24:4. THIS passage, though audibly uttered by the mouth of Joshua, is to be regarded as the immediate voice of God. Joshua said unto all the people, "Thus says Jehovah, God of Israel." Jehovah reminded the tribes, their elders and judges, of all that He had done and of all that He had been to them--and from this He challenged their allegiance, requiring that they should henceforth be loyal unto their great Benefactor. Addressing them, Himself, His argument became all the more impressive. I reverence all Scripture more than tongue can tell, but yet I venerate most of all those portions of the Word which are God's own voice--the thoughts of Deity interpreted into human speech by Deity, itself! The passage now before us, though it reads like a piece of ordinary history such as might have been composed by a common scribe, has about it a vastness of meaning such as can only be found in the language of the infinite God. When God inspires David, or Isaiah or Paul, He teaches us most graciously, but when He condescends to speak, Himself, how shall we sufficiently reverence the Words? We have here, not so much a letter dictated by God, as the actual autograph of the great Father! My text is written with the finger of God. A glory blazes along the lines--the letters are all illuminated--the words glow like the sapphire work of Heaven's pavement. Our text has a world of meaning in it. It may, as we notice its plain words and prosaic statements, seem to be a mere common box, but it is, in very deed, an ark of precious perfumed wood, overlaid with pure gold, and filled with gems and jewels rich and rare! May the Holy Spirit give us eyes with which to perceive the treasures which lie before us in these words--"I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." I. The first thing that I discern here is HISTORY AND THE HAND OF GOD IN IT. See, "I gave," and then, again, "I gave." It is not merely that Esau and Jacob were born of Isaac and Rebekah, but the Lord says, "I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau." How plainly does this declare that the hand of God is in human history! At first sight, history seems a great tangle, a snarl, a confusion--but on looking at it more closely, we perceive that it is only in appearance a maze-- but in fact a marvelous piece of arrangement, exhibiting perfect precision and never-failing accuracy! Our carnal reason sees the wrong side of the carpet and it appears to be without design or order--but there is another side to history--and looked at from that standpoint it reveals a wonderful pattern of beauty displaying unparalleled wisdom and goodness! Histories of nations are, from the human side, little more than a narration of the crimes of kings and the follies of their people. And yet, viewed from another quarter, they are the record of the dealings of God with men--the story of love's labor to reclaim the lost! Look at Calvary's sacrifice as it rises above all other events--even as, this morning, I saw the hills and the tops of tall trees standing out above the morning mist. What a sight it is! The Cross towering over the ages looking down on their sins and sorrows! Calvary--what is it? What but the climax of human iniquity, where man became not so much a regicide, though he slew his King, as a Decide for, to the utmost of his power, he slew his God! On the Cross, human enmity of God reached its most dread extremity! With wicked hands men crucified and slew the Son of God! Yet it is equally true that on Calvary we see more of the goodness, Grace, mercy, justice and long-suffering of God than anywhere else. The Cross is, at once, our crime and our salvation--an exhibition of man's foulest sin and of God's richest Grace! Calvary is of all spots, the blackest and the brightest--the place where Hell displayed its most deadly power and yet the very gate of Heaven! Thus is all human history, according to its measure and proportion, a bitter sweet. Where man's mischief and misery abound, there do God's goodness and Grace much more abound. We see the hand of God in history very strikingly in the raising up of remarkable men at certain special periods. It is true, as the Lord says, "I gave unto Isaac, Jacob and Esau." Children are the gift of God. This is true not only of Isaac but of all mortal men. God gave to a worthy couple, George Washington; to another pair, John Howard; and to a third, George Whitefield. Each of these, in his own special way, was a Divine gift to men. Children are born with differing talents and varied capacities, but all about them which will make them blessings is the gift of God. I shall not tarry to mention great men whose names mark epochs in history from which men date an increase of light and happiness--but let no man think of these friends and leaders of mankind without admitting the hand of God in their birth, training, disposition and ability. The greatest blessing which God ever gave to man was the Man, Christ Jesus, and, under Him, the next best blessings are men. You remember the passage, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And He gave some Apostles," and so forth. Ascension gifts are sure to be worthy of the occasion and, therefore, eminently precious--and these are all men! Within a man--poor, lowly, humble and even sinful, though that, man may be in himself--there may lie concealed an almost infinite blessing from the Most High! Even as within an acorn sleeps a forest, or within a flint lies light for a nation's watch-fires. When the Negro slave had borne long years of bondage and hope of deliverance seemed far away, it was God that gave an Abraham Lincoln who led the nation onward till "Emancipation" flamed upon its banners Long before, when England, free in every corner of it, yet held slaves in its colonies, it was God that gave Wilber-force and raised him up to plead in Parliament the rights of men, till the command went forth-- "Thus says Britannia, empress of the sea, Your chains are broken; Africa, be free!" In all such acts of righteousness, the coming forth of the man of the hour must be attributed to God's own hands. The men, themselves, may not know why they have come to power--of them it might often be said as the Lord said of Cyrus--"I girded you, though you have not known Me." The mighty ones that contend for wrong, bind the chains and forge the fetters of the oppressed, do not know the champions who are predestined to overturn them, but God knows, and that is enough! Tyrants have always just cause to be afraid, for every birth may produce a deliverer. Somewhere in a hovel there may sleep, in a rude cradle, the boy who shall shake the throne of evil! As yet it has always happened in due season that Pharaoh has been confronted by Moses and the princes of Midian by Gideon. For every Sisera there is a Jael and for every Goliath a David. The upas tree may increase its deadly shadow, but an axe is sharpening for the felling of it! Evil is a gourd and though a man is but a worm, yet he shall destroy that gourd. God is still working in the fashioning--oh, with what mystery--of His own instruments! In His book are written the members of men who are yet to be, who are now being fashioned in secret by the hand of God! These shall, by-and-by, appear, and shall lead on the race to a further unloosing of its bonds. I rejoice in the possibilities which lie in birth! As to the One great Seed of the woman we look for our greatest deliverance, so do we, in a lower sense, look to her seed for the overthrow of many of the doings of the serpent race. That curse which made her, in sorrow, bring forth children, contains enclosed within itself, like a bud in its sheath, the promise of untold benediction! Often at a birth might an age rejoice and sing, "Unto us a child is born: unto us a son is given." Let parents think of this and dedicate their offspring with many a prayer to the Lord whose gift they are. Let old men think of this and cry to God to raise up true men to fill the places which they, themselves, can no longer occupy. Lo! Children are a heritage of the Lord! When our sons are a seed that the Lord has blest, blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them. Let us bless and praise the Lord, as we look back in history upon God's manifest interference with the course of events by the singular births of men whom He has used to effect His own Divine purposes! Nobody denies that the hand of God is in the coming of men for the hour when the hour calls for the men. So, also, is the hand of God distinctly to be seen in all great events. If Esau captures Mount Seir, then the setting up of the Edomite dominion, bad as it may have been, is, from another point of view, a matter in which God's purpose and design are to be noted, for He says--"I gave Esau mount Seir." Brothers and Sisters, I believe--and I hope the Truth of God is not too strong for you--that not a tiny bird pecks up a worm from the ground without your Father. A plant does not sprout in the corner behind the wall and shoot up its flower, seed, ripen and decay apart from the Lord of Hosts! Much less does an empire rise, flourish, or decline without Divine co-operation! When the sere leaf falls from the sycamore in the autumn time, a Providence guides the leaf to its place upon the sod. And when the worm uplifts itself to draw that leaf into the tunnel which it has made, the hand of the Lord directs the burial! In everything that happens, be it small or great, the Lord is present and His will is done! It is so in all the plotting and maneuvering of kings and princes and senates; in the stirs of public opinion; in the marching of armies and in all that transpires among mortal men. Though the iniquity of man is abundantly seen, yet the overruling power of God is never absent. The world is not left to itself, given over to the lord of misrule! In all events the hand of God may be perceived by all who care to perceive it. I reckon war to be a huge crime on man's side, but, when battalions have marched against battalions, the destiny of empires and possibly of the whole race of man, has turned upon the health of a commander, the clearness of his eyes, or the quickness of his messenger--yes, the turning aside of a bullet, or the fall of a horse, or the breaking of an axle has become the pivot of history, the turning point of ages--and there at the center the Lord has been surely ready! Essential points have been secured beyond all question. Perhaps it is more nearly right to say that every turn of history has been essential and that the whole of it has been in the hands of the Highest. It is singular how God is seen, both in dangers and preservations, in connection with crises of history. Wellington at Waterloo sat on his horse, Copenhagen, all day long. A friend of mine, well known to most of you, said to him, "I suppose your horse must have been very weary." "No," said the duke, "He was so fresh that when I got off from him, he threw his heels into the air and almost struck my temple. I was not in greater danger all through the battle than at that moment." God had preserved the hero all that day and we little know what had been the result if a chance slug or ball had carried him off! And yet you see when the red mouth of war was growing silent, the Iron Duke was still in jeopardy! Had he been suddenly cut off, our island might have become an insignificant province of a vast Napoleonic empire! But he was immortal till his work was done. Above the awful din of war, I hear the voice of God, and even out of such an evil which makes earth, for a while like Hell, the good Lord of All produces good! Masters of armies reckon their hosts, but the Lord of Hosts they forget. They plan and scheme, these masters of men to whom their people are as so much food for powder-- but a higher plan overrides their planning! There is a King of kings, and Lord of lords, and He is no silent spectator of what is done, but stretches out His hand to deliver the nations from the power of evil, so that, still, by His great power, the world moves onward to something better. We think of this poor world with great sadness when we see all the crime and sin which defile it, and yet we join with Galileo in saying, "It does move though!" Truth makes progress! The right is winning! If we do not see an improvement today, or tomorrow, yet take any 20 years and you will see that the world is moving--moving on to that grand day when the song shall ascend, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!" As the Lord's hand was in Esau's possession of Mount Seir, so is it in the settlement of every tribe and people. And it is to be seen by all observant eyes in all the great epochs of the history of man. Yet please notice that whenever we say this--and I say it pretty plainly--we never excuse the sin and folly of man! We speak of predestination and foreknowledge because we find these Truths of God in Scripture and they seem, to us, to be facts in the very nature of things. God knows all that happens, otherwise He were not God, but a poor, blind deity. And if He knows that a certain fact will happen, then it is a fixed and settled thing, depend on that! Nothing happens other than God foreknew would happen and, therefore, it is fixed! If I laid aside predestination, yet foreknowledge would be quite enough for me. Something or other is certain to happen and God knows what that something or other is--and, therefore, it is fixed not by blind fate, but still fixed. Yet this fixedness is perfectly consistent with the free agency and responsibility of man! Man thinks, resolves and acts as freely, and as much on his own accord, as if there were no foreknowledge and no God! In the book of the unrevealed, everything is written--but the mystic roll is laid up in the archives of Heaven and no man knows what is written in it. Down below everything happens according to that book--not a stroke of it is in error, not a mistake is found in a single word--the event happens as it was foreknown. But, still, if there were no such book, man would not be more absolutely free than he is now. I can join heartily with the advocate of free agency when he talks of man's voluntariness in his acts of sin, his willful choice of evil, his rejection of Christ and of His Grace. No man can too thoroughly believe in the willful guilt of the wicked--at any rate, I will go all lengths in such a belief. I couple with what is called Calvinistic Doctrine, the other doctrine of free agency and responsibility, which seems to me to be equally true. And if this is judged to be an inconsistency, the remark does not stagger me, for I see no inconsistency and do not believe that any exists! My God is not a mere Omnipotent Being who can rule dead materialism and compel insensible atoms to do His will, but He can rule free agents, leaving them absolutely free and yet effecting all His purposes with them! God's eternal pur- poses are accomplished and yet men remain responsible free agents both in their beginning and in their ending. Do you say that you do not understand how this can be? Neither do I, but I believe it! There are 10,000 other things in Nature and history which are too high for me to understand their "how" and "why"--and yet I see them--can I not, also, be sure of some matters which I do not see? It is not for me to profess to comprehend the nature or the ways of the Infinite! If we could comprehend the Lord, He would not be the infinite God! It is because He is beyond me--infinitely beyond such a poor creature as I am--that I, all the more, reverently adore Him! His Nature and His nets are, alike, veiled in mystery, but alike to be held in reverence. Have you never heard of the insect philosophers? They were midgets so small that a man needed a microscope to see them--but they were very great philosophers for all that--and they set about to describe an elephant. One of them hung upon the gigantic creature's ear, surveyed a small portion of its area and his theory was that an elephant was a living wall, almost perpendicular! Another stood upright somewhere on the creature's back and he concluded that the creature was a vast plain! A third, who was perched upon a hair of the animal, propounded the idea that it was a tall shaft. These midget-philosophers had not eyes large enough to take in a whole elephant and so each one judged from the tiny morsel of hide which came under his own narrow range of observation. Yet these ephemera were nearer the mark with the elephant than our wise men are with the universe, concerning which their first principles, theories and hypotheses have usually been a museum of follies! Yet if philosophers understood the universe, that understanding would not bring their carnal minds within measurable distance of the infinite God. None but the Spirit of God can reveal God to any man--and the man, himself, must receive a new and spiritual life before he can know what the Spirit teaches. Who, then, among the worldly-wise may dream of understanding God, when even the spiritual rather embrace Him by love than grasp Him by understanding? Let us, therefore, believe what we find to be in God's Word and what we are taught by His Spirit, though it should be far above our heads! Let us not delay to believe until we can reconcile. Do you not know that in theology--all the false parts of theology on which the sects stand and fight each other-- consists of suspension bridges made of cobwebs which are intended to bridge the distance between two awful Truths of God which look as if they were divided from each other? The great rocky Truths are, in effect, accepted by both parties, but the battle waxes hot concerning these cobweb-bridges which were never worth a tithe of the ingenuity which has been wasted upon them. I hold it true that God is in history and in everything! And I read the newspaper that I may see how my heavenly Father governs the world! And this I believe though I most clearly see that men sin willfully, wickedly, vol-untarily--and that they are guilty free agents in all their wrong-doing. These thoughts come to me when I remember the character of Esau, and yet read the Lord's words, "I gave unto Esau mount Seir to possess it." To us, dear Friends, the hand of God is very visible in our own case. Look at the hand of God that gave to you and to me such parents as we have--I mean those of us who have the great delight of having descended from Christian men and women. Had we anything to do with that? And yet the greatest part of a man's future depends upon the parents of whom he is born. No person can deny that our parentage is beyond our own power and yet, to a large extent, it colors the whole future of life. Is not the hand of God in it? Why shall one be born of a long succession of drunks and of thieves, and have within himself an insatiable passion born with him to imitate them--while another inherits a sound constitution from his parents and, though he has no tendency to the Grace of God, yet he has a tendency to morality and naturally develops self-restraint and gentle manners? Do we not see the hand of God in the parents that He gave us? I cannot be so blind as to deny my own obligations! I shall forever bless God that I was given to a godly couple whose delight it was to lead me in the ways of God. And do we not see the hand of God, again, in our children? Many of us do. Oh, how some of us bless and praise God that ever such sons fell to our lot! We never think of them without delight, for they are living in the service of the Lord Jesus, spending and being spent in the Divine Master's service. Look at your children as the gifts of God and if they are not yet all that you could desire, yet still believe that God has given them to you, even as He says, "I gave Isaac, Jacob and Esau." You, dear Friends in Christ, united in holy wedlock, may look upon your children as not unclean, but holy, in the sense intended by the Apostle when he speaks of the unbelieving wife as sanctified by the believing husband and adds, "else were your children unclean, but now are they holy." They are not to be viewed as the unhappy fruit of an unhallowed union, but as gifts of God, to be brought up for Him and trained in His fear. They come not as the result of uncleanness, but as gifts from the Lord, to whom marriage is an honorable estate. It were a sad thing if the sight of my child made me blush for shame. But it is a joy to look upon him as, like Samuel, asked of God and given of God. Bring these gifts of God to God and say, "Here, Lord, are the children which You have given me. Save them by Your Grace, since in love You have given them to me. These dear ones are favors from Yourself, blessings upon which I set great store. O Lord, let Your name be named on them and let Your Grace be glorified in them." Observe, further, that the Lord's hand is in all the prosperity which He gives to any. He says, "I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it." It is by God's allotment that temporal things fall as they do--even the ungodly have their portion in this life by Divine grant. It were "vain to rise up early, and to sit up late, and to eat the bread of carefulness," if the Lord did not build the house and prosper the labor! It is He that gives you power to get wealth. Our daily bread comes from the granary of Providence. The store most ample, or the measure most scant must, alike, be traced to the one all-bountiful hand. And, once more, God's hand is to be seen in the place in which we live. If Esau lives in mount Seir, it is because God appoints him to be there--and if Israel goes down to Egypt, it is for the same reason. If you and I move from one place to another, it is sweet to see the cloud moving before us and to know that the Lord directs our ways. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." But I need not instance cases. The hand of the Lord has been with some of us, for good, from our cradle even until now! And we believe that He who has led us so far will still lead us until we arrive at the House not made with hands, eternal in the heavens! II. Secondly, we have another lesson to learn from our text, and that is upon, "I gave unto Isaac, Jacob and Esau," twin children born of godly parents. In that birth there was joy, but sorrow came by it as well as joy. What joy there was in Isaac's house that day, for we read that it had been a matter of prayer in the family! See Genesis 25:21. It had been a grief to Isaac that, married at 40 years of age, he had lived 20 years in married life without a child, although he had the promise of a seed. Later on it happened that Esau and Jacob were born. There was joy! Yes, double joy, because two sons to build up their father's house. Ah, had they known it, there was grave cause for mingled emotion in that double birth! We read that 40 years after Esau married, he took unto himself two Canaanite wives, "which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah." Yes, we may fondly promise ourselves that children born of godly parents will be an unalloyed comfort to them and yet it may not be so. Children are certain cares and doubtful comforts. They may bring to their parents such sorrow that they may be inclined to think the barren happier than the fruitful. Hence it is well for us to leave our hopes of posterity with God--and if we reckon that in a childless house we have missed a great joy, we ought, also, to reckon that we have missed a mint of trouble by the same fact! Your children are not born in Grace, but they are the children of nature--and that being the case, you may have to see in one of them--God grant it may be in no more--an Esau, yes, a profane person who will sell his birthright and become an enemy of the people of God! Esau was born of admirable parents, and so an Esau may be found to your boundless grief in your own family. It has been so, before, with others, and it may be so with you. The lion's whelp has been found in the sheep's fold; the vulture has been hatched in the dove's nest. There was great hope, certainly, of both boys born in Isaac's house, for we look that godly parents should train up their children in the way that they should go, so that when they are old they may not depart from it--therefore both Esau and Jacob were most hopefully started. But Esau was not trainable. He was a wild man, went his own way and became a follower of rough sports, "a cunning hunter, a man of the field." And soon he became profane, as often happens to those whose chief pursuits are sporting. Ah, me! Ah, me! How often the brightest hopes have been blasted and those who appeared to be floating on the current which flows towards Heaven have been drifted back and lost on the forlorn shores of unbelief! It is a great advantage to you, my dear young Friend, to have been born into a Christian family, but I charge you, do not trust in it as though it were, in itself, a guarantee of salvation! Isaac, the beloved of God, has Esau for a son. Mind that! David had to sorrow over Absalom, and Hezekiah over Manasseh. You may be the Esau of your family. Is it so? May God grant that such a dreadful portion may not be chosen by you! Remember that your brother who has lived with you, slept with you and grown with you, side by side, may be gracious and you may remain ungodly. Is it so now? Oh, that the Holy Spirit may come and work upon you till you and your brother are one in Christ, like James and John, Peter and Andrew! Father, do you find a division in your house? Then pray to God, even as Abraham prayed for Ishmael, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!" Pray for your wayward boy! And, oh, you that are in the family and have, through Divine mercy, become a Jacob and not an Esau, ascribe it all to Sovereign Grace and give God the praise! But forget not your brother! While he lives, have hope for him and see what you can do that he, also, may rejoice in the Lord. But, ah, if we could read the future when we look at our little children, we should rejoice with trembling! And as we cannot read the future, it is fit that we should pray with earnestness. We have prayer often at dying beds--why have we not more prayer in the chamber of birth? Surely, when an immortal spirit starts upon its endless career, it is well for us to cry to God and ask others to join with us in the loving, earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit may cause the newly-born to be born again as soon as they are able to know Jesus and believe in Him! There stands the fact--in birth there is joy tempered with godly fear, hope mingled with sacred anxiety and high advantage which may yet most sadly end in deepened responsibility and increased sin! III. Thirdly, and very briefly, we have next to view WORLDLINGS AND THEIR POSSESSIONS. "I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it." That is to say, Esau, as compared with Jacob, appeared to have the best of it, for he had "Mount Seir, to possess it," but poor Jacob had not a foot of land that he could call his own except the family sepulcher at Machipelah, in which, afterwards, he slept the sleep of the righteous. Why does God so often give possessions to ungodly men? Why do they flourish? Why do they have their portion in this life? Is it not, first, because God thinks little of these things and therefore gives them to those of whom He thinks little? "Why," said Luther, in his day, "the whole Turkish empire is but a basket of husks that God gives to the hogs and, therefore, He hands it over to the unbelievers." So often wealth and riches are but so much wash which the great Husbandman gives to the swine on His estate. Something infinitely better is reserved for the Lord's own family! The rich blessing of true Grace He reserves for His children and heirs. It shows how little God thinks of kingdoms, empires and great riches, for He leaves these, full often, to the worst of men! How few saints have ever worn crown or coronet! A holy man once said that the kings who have gone to Heaven might almost be counted on your fingers. See what small account the Lord makes of the world's best store! Do you wish that ungodly men should have less? For my part, I am reconciled to their present prosperity, for it is all they will ever have. Poor souls, let them have as much of it as they may, here, for they will have nothing hereafter. Besides, they have no God--and having no God, it would take a great many fortunes to make a godless man's portion worth a straw! If the graceless could gain all worlds, what use would they be to them when they come to die? Their own souls lost and no comfort in Christ, and no joy in the Spirit--what have they gained, after all? Let the worldlings have the husks. Let none of us ever cry, "I gladly would fill my belly with the husks that the swine eat." Let those have the treasures of this present evil world who have nothing else! Never quarrel with the Lord for saying, "I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it." Besides, these comforts may lead them to reflect upon God's bounty to them and, at any rate, they ought to move them to repentance. It is my earnest hope that many an ungodly man, whom God has highly favored in the things of this life, may be influenced by the Spirit of God to say, "Why should I continue to rebel against God who has been so kind to me? He has prospered me and taken care of me. Why should I not turn to Him, and become His servant?" At any rate, gratitude for mercies received should produce repentance for sins committed. But worldly goods have no necessary connection with ungodliness. There is no infection in harvest stores, nor iniquity in the wealth which comes of commerce. In themselves, gold and silver are harmless metals. There have been men who have enjoyed the abundance of this world, and yet have inherited the world to come. Not many great men after the flesh are chosen, but there is a great difference between, "not many," and, "not any." Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and the women who ministered unto Christ of their substance had a fair measure of the comforts of this life--and used them for their Lord. It was not Solomon's wealth that brought him down so low--his unrestrained passions were his ruin, else might he have held all his treasures and held his God, too. Pray, therefore, that the rich may be brought to Christ! Why should not that fish be taken which has the silver shekel in its mouth? Why may not Matthew, the publican, be called from the receipt of custom? Is there not yet another Zac-chaeus to be renewed by Grace? May not their indebtedness to God be used as a plea with the wealthy to give themselves to Him who has already given them so much? It was no fault in Jonah that he felt pleasure under the shade of his gourd-- the fault lay in making a god of that gourd! There is no evil in having goods, but there is great evil in making those goods our chief good. Yet, Brothers and Sisters, so it is that the men of this world usually have the most of it. I do not say the best of it. It is and always will be a mystery, as long as the world stands, that the wicked often flourish and the righteous suffer. Read the Book of Job. Read the 37th Psalm; read the 73rd Psalm and see how holy men and wise men have been perplexed and troubled by the method of the Divine Providence. To see wickedness on a throne and righteousness in a dungeon, pride enshrined in honor and holiness rolled in the kennel is a serious trial of our confidence in God--and yet there are weighty reasons why it should be so for a while. Not without wisdom does the Lord say, "I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it." IV. Now comes the fourth point and a great mystery, too. Here are THE CHOSEN OF GOD AND THEIR TRIALS. "I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." That is their portion. They must go down into Egypt because of famine. And they must suffer there under a tyrant's iron rod, so that they may become familiar with the drudgery of slaves. They must be strangers in a strange land and be sorely bruised beneath the foot of the oppressor. The escutcheon of their nation was to be "a smoking furnace and a burning lamp." Moses saw Israel as well as God when he beheld a bush burning with fire but not consumed. Is not this a strange thing? To him whom God loves best He allots the hardest conditions. Esau's sons are dukes, but Jacob's seed are drudges! Esau reigns, but Israel serves! Esau set his nest on high, but Israel crouched by the reeds of the river. The worldling would read the Scripture as if it said, "As many as I love, I caress and pamper"--but the Lord speaks not so--His Words are, "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten." "Whom the Lord loves He chastens and scourges"--those are very hard words--"scourges every son whom He receives." To carnal reason this seems straining! Faith, alone, can explain it. Israel and his children went down into Egypt, first, for their preservation. So God brings His people into trial often to preserve them from the world and its evil influences; from themselves and their natural pride; from Satan and his puffing up. By sorrow and adversity the children of God are driven to their knees, brought near to their great Father and kept in fellowship with Him. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions. The salt and bitterness of sorrow often preserve men from the gall and bitterness of sin. They went down into Egypt, next, for their improvement, for the family of Jacob was in a mournful condition and by no means fit to be used of the Lord. The story of Jacob's family is a strangely sad one, perhaps Scripture does not contain more mournful pages. The evil influence of polygamy is clearly seen, blended within the errors of Laban's house and envenomed by the foul example of the Canaanites among whom they sojourned. It was time that they should shift their quarters--they were neither getting good nor doing good. It looked as if the Patriarch would beget an ignorant, quarrelsome, vicious race--and so they were sent down into Egypt that trouble might teach them better manners. God often thrusts His people into adversity that He may improve them, awaken them, instruct them and ennoble them. See to it, Brothers and Sisters, that the Lord's design be fulfilled in you to the fullest. May the anvil and the file, the crucible and the flame work in you a clearance of dross and rust, and make you pure and bright. They also went down into Egypt for their education. The chosen seed needed teaching! They were getting to be rustic, not to say barbarous, in their manners--acquirements and knowledge were scant among them. They must go down into the seat of ancient learning to acquire arts and sciences and civilization. In Egypt, a race, which, otherwise had been a mob must be consolidated into a nation! A band of willful men must be trained to discipline and obedience. The Lord said, "Out of Egypt have I called My son," because Egypt was his school of learning, his drill ground of discipline. We are ignorant, rebellious and willful till the Lord trains us. "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept Your Word." The Lord teaches us on the blackboard of adversity and we are often rapped over the knuckles by the stern Master! It is wonderful what we learn when we are taken among the thorns! I hardly think that I have learned anything except in affliction! At least I know this--I owe more to the hammer, the anvil, the file and the furnace than I do to all the green meadows and flowing brooks and singing birds that I have ever seen or heard! I fear that I have learned little beyond that which has been whipped into me! And though I am not fonder of the rod than you are, I confess that such sweet fruit grows on the bitter branch of trial that I would fear to be long without it. I would rather weep within the Lord's chosen than laugh within the reprobate! By unhallowed mirth fools grow more foolish, but by sanctified trials wise men become yet wiser. For future usefulness it is well that we have present sorrow and, like Jacob, go down into Egypt. And they went down to Egypt, again, that God might display His great power in them. I would not care to be Esau on Mount Seir when once I see Pharaoh's hosts drowned and Israel marching through the depths of the sea!--and when I hear the song of the Israelite maidens and the shouts of the men, "Sing you to Jehovah, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea." It is worth while to go down into Egypt to come out of it with a high hand and an outstretched arm! Oh, the glory of the Lord in His redeemed! Oh, the lofty destiny of the tried people of God! Oh, the sublimity of their lives, even now! There is God in them! There is God about them. He heads the van and brings up the rear! They are as signs and wonders in their generations. He has blessed them--yes, and they shall be blessed. It matters little that Esau has Mount Seir for a possession--Israel has her God! No foot of land, perhaps, you call your own. You do not know where your next suit of clothes will come from and God has kept you on short commons and multiplied your straits and needs. Never mind--yours is the lot of the chosen--for "Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." That is where the story ends, according to my text, but you know the story does not end there at all, for out of Jacob and his children came the Son, the Scepter and the Throne! The Godhead took up the seed of Israel and now, today, He that sprang of Jacob's loins, according to the flesh, sits on the highest Throne of God and reigns supreme! The Shiloh has come and it matters nothing what Egypt brought of sorrow unto Jacob's seed, seeing that out of them, at the last, came the King and Savior of men! If Jesus is ours, the rest is a small affair. Give me Christ and I ask for nothing else! Having faith in Jesus, I can leave all things with the great Disposer of events. Christ and a crust--the promise and a parish coat! Grace and an almshouse! Cannot a saint be more than content with these? So have I set before you the varying lots of God's own people and of the wicked. I hope that you are ready to say that you would rather suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. God help you to make that wise choice and to make it at once! May His Spirit lead you to take the Lord Jesus to be your All in All! Amen. __________________________________________________________________ The Tent Dissolved and the Mansion Entered (No. 1719) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 6, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1. PAUL ranks among the bravest of the brave. We note, also, with admiration, how the hero of so many dangers and conflicts, who could glow and burn with fervor, was yet among the calmest and quietest of spirits. He had learned to live beyond those present circumstances which worry and disturb. He had stolen a march upon the shadows of time and entered into possession of the realities of eternity! He looked not on the things which are seen, but he set his whole regard on the things which are not seen--and by this means he entered into a deep and joyful peace which made him strong, resolute, steadfast, immovable. I would to God that we had all acquired Paul's art of being "always confident"--his habit of having the inward man renewed day by day! The most of us are far too like the insect of the summer hour which sports away its life of moments among the flowers and lo, all is over! Are we not too apt to live in the immediate present which is revealed by the senses? The ox projects no thought upward or beyond--to stand in the cool brook or lie down in the fat pasture is its all in all--even thus is it with the mass of men, their souls are tethered to their bodies, imprisoned within the circumstances of the day! If we could be completely delivered from the thralldom of things seen and felt, and could feel the full influence of the invisible and the eternal, how much of Heaven we might enjoy before the celestial shores are reached! Paul's life was rough and stormy, yet who might not desire it? Had there been no life to come, he would have been, of all men, the most miserable, for he was one of the poorest, most persecuted, most despised, most slandered, most wearied and most suffering of mortals! And yet, if I had to put my finger upon happy lives, I should not hesitate to select among the foremost, the life of the Apostle Paul, for whom to live was Christ! It is also to be especially noted, as to his happiness, that he had a reason for it. My text begins with the word, "For." Paul is always argumentative--the leaning of his mind is in that direction. Therefore, if he is cast down, he has a reason for it and if he is calm, he can show just cause for his peace. Some religionists are deliriously happy, but they cannot tell you why. They can sing and shout, and dance, but they can give no reason for their excitement. They see an enthusiastic crowd and they catch the infection--their religion is purely emotional! I am not going to condemn it, yet I will show you a more excellent way. The joy which is not created by substantial causes is mere froth and foam and soon vanishes away. Unless you can tell why you are happy, you will not long be happy. If you have no principle at the back of your passion, your passion will burn down to a black ash and you will look in vain for a living spark. Some professors have not enough emotion--their hearts are too small. Though I cannot say that their heads are too large, there are others whose hearts are their main force, who are soon on fire, blazing away like shavings and brushwood when first the flame lights upon them. But their brains are an uncertain quantity, never sufficient to manage the furnace of their emotions. It was not so with Paul--he was a well-balanced man. If able to defy the present and rejoice in prospect of the future, he had a solid reason for doing so. I like a man who is fervent and enthusiastic and yet in his fervor is as reasonable as if he were some cool logician. Let the heart be like a fiery, high-mettled steed, but take care that it is curbed and managed by discretion. An instructed Christian man is rational even in his ecstasies--ready to give a reason for the hope that is in him--and that hope seems to rise above all reason. He is glad, most glad of the glad, but he knows the why of his gladness. And so he can bear the cruel tests to which the world exposes spiritual joy. The true Believer's peace can answer the quibbles of time or devils. It can justify itself in its opposition to all appearances. This is a house built upon a foundation, a tree which has a firmly settled root, a star fixed in its sphere--and thus it is infinitely superior to the house upon the sand, the tree plucked up, the fleeting vapor of mere emotion. May God, the Holy Spirit instruct us so that we may know the Truth of God out of which solid happiness is sure to grow! I see in the text before us, first of all, a catastrophe which Paul saw to be very possible--"If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved." Secondly, the provision which he surely knew to be made should that catastrophe occur--"We have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And thirdly, I shall dwell for a minute or two upon the value of this knowledge to Paul and to the rest of us in our present trying condition. I. First, then, consider THE CATASTROPHE WHICH PAUL SAW TO BE VERY POSSIBLE--"If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved." He did not fear that he, himself, would be dissolved! He had not the slightest fear about that. The catastrophe which he looked forward to is known among us by the name of "death," but he calls it the dissolving of the earthly house of his tabernacle--the taking down of his tent-house body. He does not say, "If I were to be destroyed," or, "If I were to be annihilated." He knows no supposition of that character. He feels assured that he, himself, is perfectly safe. There is latent within the text an element of deep quiet as to his real self. "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God." The "we" is all unharmed and unmoved. If our house were dissolved we should not be undone. If we were to lose this earthly tent we have "a building of God, eternal in the heavens." The real man, the essential self, is out of harm's way and all that he talks about is the falling to pieces of a certain tabernacle, or tent, in which, for the present, he is lodging! Many people are in a great fright about the future, yet here is Paul viewing the worst thing that could happen to him with such complacency that he likens it to nothing worse than the pulling down of a tent in which he were making ready to reside in for a little season. He was afraid of nothing beyond that-- and if that happened he had expectations which reconciled him to the event--and even helped him to anticipate it with joy! Paul was not absolutely sure that his body would be dissolved. He hoped that he might be alive and remain at the coming of the Lord--and then he would be changed and be forever with the Lord, without passing through death. Still, he was willing to leave this in the Lord's hands. And when he saw it to be possible that he should be numbered among the blessed dead who die in the Lord, he did not shrink from the prospect, but bravely found a metaphor which set forth the little fear which he entertained concerning it. The Apostle perceived that the body in which he lived was frail in itself. Paul was accustomed to make tents. I do not suppose he ever manufactured any very large or sumptuous ones--probably he did not have enough capital for that--but he was a tent worker and mender. The use of tents was common enough among the Roman people in Paul's day. The gentry delighted in bright pavilions which they could set up at pleasure--and the common folk found pleasure in spending a part of their time under canvas. While he was sitting writing this letter, it is most likely that Paul had a tent or two to repair lying near, and this suggested to him the language of the verse before us. When a tent is newly placed, it is but a frail structure, very far removed from the permanence of a house--in that respect it is exactly like this feeble corporeal frame of ours which is crushed before the moth! Paul felt that his body would not need any great force to overthrow it--it was like the tent which the Midianite saw in his dream--it only needed to be struck by a barley cake, and lo, it was down! A house of solid masonry may need a crowbar and a pick to remove its stones from their places, but feebler tools will soon overturn a tent and make a ruin of it. The body is liable to dissolution from causes so minute as to be imperceptible--a breath of foul air, an atom of poisonous matter, a trifle, a mere nothing may end this mortal life! I hope that you and I duly remember the frailty of our bodies. We are not so foolish as to think that because we are in robust health, today, we must necessarily live to old age! We have lately had among ourselves abundant evidence that those who appear to be the healthiest are often the first to be taken away--while feeble persons linger on among us, whose lives are a continued wonder and a perpetual struggle! When we think of the brittle ware of which our bodies are made, it is not strange that they should soon be broken. Is it not a wonderful thing that we continue to live? Much more wonderful than that we should die? Dr. Watts has wisely said-- "Our life contains a thousand springs, And dies if one is gone. Strange that a harp of thousand strings Should keep in tune so long!" Some small affair interferes with a minute valve or organ of secretion, mischief is engendered by it, the whole current of life is hindered and, by-and-by, death ensues. It is a very delicate process by which dust remains animated! A thousand things can stop the process and then our body is dissolved! Paul, therefore, because he saw his body to be frail as a bubble, looked forward to the time when the earthly house of his soul would be dissolved. When he was writing this Epistle, he had many signs about him that his body would be dissolved. His many labors were telling upon him. He was worn down with fatigue. He was spent in his Master's service. He was so full of the heavenly fire that he could never rest! After he had evangelized one city, he was forced to hasten to another. If he were driven out of one village, he hurried to the next, for he was eager to deliver the message of salvation. He wore himself out with labor and he felt, therefore, that the day would come when his body would give way under the intense excitement of his life-agony. In addition to this, he endured cold and hunger, nakedness and sickness brought upon him by his missionary sacrifices. He had a hard time of it as to physical endurance and I should think there was scarcely a limb of the man that did not suffer in consequence of the imprisonments, scourging, stoning and other hardships which he had suffered. He felt that one of these days, in all probability, the house of his tent would come down through the violence of his persecutors. Once he most touchingly spoke of himself as, "such an one as Paul the Aged"--and aged men cannot get away from the consciousness that their body is failing. Certain crumbling portions warn the old man that the house is dilapidated; the thatch which has grown thin or blanched tells its tale. There are signs about the aged which warn them that their earthly house was not built to stand forever--it is a tabernacle or tent set up for a temporary purposes--and it shows signs of waxing old and being ready to pass away. Therefore Paul was led to feel that both from the natural frailty of the body and, also, from the injuries which it had already sustained, there was before him the evident probability that the earthly house of his tabernacle would be dissolved. Besides, Paul's frail body had been subject to exceedingly great perils. I saw, the other day, an encampment of gypsies out upon the common. Many of this wandering race were sitting under a coarse covering sustained by sticks. I should exaggerate if I called them poles--and I could not help feeling that such an abode was all very well on a warm day, but not at all desirable when the east wind was blowing, or a shower of sleet was driving along, or a deluge of rain descending. The Apostle's body was a tent which was subjected to great stress of weather. God had not screened him, though one of the most precious men that even lived! He was exposed to more danger than almost any other of the Lord's servants. Here is his own account of the matter--"Thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness." Well might he reason that before long his poor shepherd's shanty would give way under such rude blasts! Besides, Paul knew that so many others whom he had known and loved had already died, and he gathered from this that he would, himself, die. There used to sit in this house a Brother who has often assured me that he would not die, and that if any Christian man did die it was because he grieved the Lord. I am sorry to say that I have missed that Brother for many months. I hope he has not yet disproved his own theory, but I am sure that he will do so, sooner or later, unless our Lord should hasten His advent. Whenever I meet with an enthusiast who boasts that he shall never die, I find it best to let him wait and see. One fine old Irish clergyman has frequently sought to instruct me in the art of being immortal! And he has been grieved and angry because I never set much store by the long life which he offered me. Though an old man, he assured me that he would never die--he expected, in a short time, to throw out all the infirmities of his years in the form of a rash--and then to be as vigorous as ever! Alas, the good rector is buried and his crazy brain is at rest. It is appointed unto men once to die. I should have thought that since so many of the excellent of the earth have fallen asleep, nobody would ever have been so mad as to raise a question about its being the common lot. Our crowded cemetery supply 10,000 arguments why each one of us may expect to die in due time. This earthly house of our tabernacle will be dissolved--all things unite to warrant the belief. Now, Brothers and Sisters, this was all that Paul expected on the sad side and, truly, it is not much, is it? Certain Swiss peasants not very long ago were feeding their flocks on one of the lofty upland valleys. On one side of the pasture stood a number of chalets, or wooden huts, in which they were accustomed to live during the summer. They were poor shelters which they left as soon as the winter set in. One day they heard a strange rumbling up in the lofty Alps and they understood what it meant--it meant that a mass of rock or snow or ice had fallen and would soon come crushing down in the form of an avalanche. In a brief space, their fears were realized, for they saw a tremendous mass come rushing from above, bearing destruction in its course. What did it destroy? Only the old, crazy chalets--that was all. Every man of the shepherds was safe and untouched--the event was, to them, a matter which caused a Te Deum to be sung in the village Church below rather than a subject for mourning and sorrow. They said, "The avalanche is terrible, but it has not slain the aged mother, nor crushed the babe in its cradle. It has injured none of us, but only buried a few hovels which we can soon rebuild." Their case is a picture of ours. The avalanche of death will fall, but O you saints, when it comes, this is all it will do for you--your earthly house will be dissolved! Will you fret over so small a loss? No evil will come near to you! The poor hut of the body will be buried beneath the earth, but as for yourself, what will you have to do but to sing an everlasting Te Deum unto Him who delivered you from death and danger--and raised you to His own right hand? It would not long affect a man if his tent should be overthrown--he would shake himself clear of it and come forth--it would not otherwise disturb him. So death shall not affect us for the worse, but for the better! The dissolution of this hampering frame shall give us liberty! Today we are like birds in the egg--so long as the shell is whole, we are not free--death breaks the shell! Does the fledgling lament the dissolution of the shell? I never heard of a bird in its nest pining over its broken shell! No, its thought runs otherwise--to wings and flight and sunny skies! So let it be with us. This body will be dissolved. Let it be so--it is good it should be! We have been glad of it while we have needed it and we thank God for the wondrous skill displayed in it--but when we no longer require it, we shall escape from it as from imprisonment and never wish to return to its narrow bounds! Death, as it pulls away our sackcloth canopy, will reveal to our wondering eyes the palace of the King in which we shall dwell forever and, therefore, what cause have we to be alarmed at it? I have set out the whole catastrophe before you--and surely no Believer trembles in view of it! II. So now we pass on to the second head--THE PROVISION OF WHICH THE APOSTLE PAUL MOST SURELY KNEW. He knew that if his tent dwelling was overthrown, he would not be without a home! He knew that he would not have to open his eyes in a naked condition and cry, "Woe's me, where am I to fly? I have no dwelling place!" No, he knew that if this tent-house were gone, he had "a building of God." Paul was not afraid of going to "purgatory"--though of late, some, even among Protestants, have, in a modified form, revived that grim lie and have told us that even Believers will have much to bear before they will be fit for eternal happiness! The Apostle held no such opinion! On the contrary, he wrote--"We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God." He did not expect to be roasted alive for the next thousand years and then to leap from "purgatory" to Paradise. But he did expect to go, as soon as ever his earthly house was dissolved, into his eternal house which is in the heavens! He had not even the thought of lying in a state of unconsciousness till the Resurrection. He says, "We know that if the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have [we have already] a building of God." He says not, "we shall have it," but, "we have it"--"we know that we have it." The picture seems to me to be as though one of you should dwell in his garden, in a tent, for a while. Somebody inquires what would happen if a gale of wind should blow your tent away in the night. "Oh," you say, "I have a house over yonder. I would go within doors and live there." What a comfort to know that whatever occurs to our temporary gear, we have a fixed and settled abode to which we can at once repair! This makes us feel independent of all dangers and helps us joyfully to welcome the inevitable, come when it may! What did the Apostle mean, however? For this text is said to be a very difficult one. He meant, first--the moment his soul left its body, it would at once enter into that house of which Jesus said, "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you." Do you want to know about that house? Read the Book of the Revelation and learn of its gates of pearl, its streets of gold, its walls of rarest gems! Read of the river which winds through it and of the trees which bear their fruit every month! If, after that, you desire to know more concerning this house, I can but give you the advice which was given by John Bunyan in a similar case. One asked of Honest John a question which he could not answer, for the matter was not opened in God's Word and, therefore, Honest John bade his friend live a godly life and go to Heaven and see for himself. Believe no dreams, but bide your time, believing in the Lord Jesus, and you shall shortly know all about the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens! Paul, however, meant that in the fullness of time he would again be clothed with a body. He regarded the waiting time as so short that he almost overlooked it, as men forget a moment's pause in a grand march. Ultimately, I say, he expected to be housed in a body--the tent-house which was blown down and dissolved would be developed into a building so rich and rare as to be fitly called, "a building of God, a house not made with hands." This, also, is our prospect. At this present time, in this mortal body, we groan being burdened, for our spirit is liberated from bondage, but our body is not yet emancipated, although it has been bought with a price. We are "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" and so, "the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness." Our soul has been regenerated, but the body waits for the process, which, in its case, is analogous to regeneration, namely, the resurrection from the dead. Disembodied saints may have to wait a few thousand years, more or less, dwelling in the Father's house above--but there shall come, eventually, the sounding of the trumpet and the raising of the dead--and then the perfected spirit shall dwell in a body adapted to its glory. The certainty of the resurrection raises us above the dread which would otherwise surround the dissolution of our body. A child sees a man throwing precious metal into a melting pot and he is sad because fair silver is being destroyed. But he that knows the business of the refiner understands that no loss will come of the process--only the dross of that silver will be taken away--and the pure molten mass poured out into a comely mold will yet adorn a royal table! Well, my Brothers and Sisters, are we assured that to lose this vile body is clear gain since it will be fashioned according to the glorious Body of the Lord Jesus? Let us pass on to consider how Paul could say he knew this. This wonderfully enlightened 19th Century has produced an order of wise men who glory in their ignorance! They call themselves "Agnostics," or know-nothings! When I was a boy, it would have seemed odd to me to meet with a man who gloried in being an ignoramus and yet that is the Latin for that Greek word, "Agnostic." Is it not singular to hear a man boastfully say, "I am an ignoramus"? How different is our Apostle! He says, "We know." Where did this confidence come from? How did he know? First, Paul knew that he had a Father in Heaven, for he felt the spirit of sonship. He knew, also, that his Father had a house and he was certain that if ever he lost the tent in which he lived, he would be sure to be welcomed into his own Father's house above! How do our children know that if ever they are in need of a house they can come home to us? Did they learn that from their tutors at school? No, their childhood instincts teach them that our house is their home, just as chickens run under the mother hen without needing to be trained. Because they are our children, they feel that as long as we have a house, they have a house, too. Paul, therefore, unhesitatingly said, "We know." And Brethren, we know the same through like confidence in our Father's love. In the house of the many mansions we feel quite sure of a hearty welcome in due time! We cannot be shut out from our Father's home! We cannot be houseless wanderers while our royal Father dwells in His palace! We are not merely hopeful on this matter, but certain! And, therefore we say, "I know." Paul knew, again, that he had an elder Brother and that this Brother had gone before to see to the lodging of the younger brothers and sisters. Paul remembered that Jesus had said, "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am you may be also." So Paul had no question whatever! If the Lord had gone to prepare a place, there would be a place for him, for he never knew his Divine Lord to set about anything and fail therein! Can we not all trust our Forerunner? Have we any doubts of Him who has entered within the veil as our Representative? No! As we are sure that Jesus has passed into the heavens on our behalf, so are we sure that when this tent-house body is dissolved, there remains a rest and home for our souls! Doubtless, Paul also thought of the Holy Spirit, that blessed One who deigns to live with us in this frail house of clay which is, in many ways, an uncomfortable and unsuitable abode for Him by reason of the sin which has defiled it. He condescends to dwell in these mortal bodies and, therefore, when we leave our earthly house, He will leave it, too! And we are persuaded that a place will be found where we may still abide in fellowship. As our bodies have been honored to entertain the Holy Spirit, we may be sure that in our hour of need He will find an abode for us. He has been our guest and, in His time, He will be our Host! This we know, for we know the love of the Spirit. He who has made our body His temple will find a rest for our souls. Thus, from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we gather assurance that we shall not wander to and fro unhoused, even though this mortal frame should be dissolved! Besides, let me tell you something. Paul knew that when he died there was a Paradise prepared, for he had already been there! You remember how he locked up that story till he could keep it no longer and, then, 15 years after its occurrence, he let out the blessed secret? Let me read his words, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows). Such an one caught up to the third Heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows), how that he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words, which is not lawful for a man to utter." He says he was taken up to the third Heaven! It was, therefore, idle to tell Paul that there was no home for him hereafter, for he had seen the place! "Well" you say, "I have not seen it." No, but you fully believe the witness of Paul, do you not? For my own part, I am sure that Paul would not say that which is false and, inasmuch as he went into the third Heaven or Paradise, and saw it, I believe that there is such a place! Remember that this is the place to which the Lord Jesus admitted the dying thief, "Today shall you be with Me in Paradise." This is the place where Jesus is and where we shall be with Him forever, when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved! Yet, again, dear Brothers and Sisters, you and I know that when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, there will be a new body for us, because our Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. In my mind the ultimate answer to my deepest unbelief is the fact of the rising of Jesus from the dead! No matter of history is anything like so well attested as the fact that our Lord was crucified, dead and buried--and that He did, on the third day--rise again from the dead. This I unhesitatingly accept us a fact and this becomes my anchorage. Inasmuch as Jesus is the Representative of all who are in Him, it is as certain that the Believer will rise since Jesus has risen. The Apostle says, "We know," and remembering these grand Truths of God, I am sure that his words are not a bit too strong! No, if I knew any word in the English language which would express more assurance than the words, "to know," I would use it this morning for myself! Much more, then, might the Apostle use it for himself. This we are also sure of, namely, that if our Lord Jesus is alive and in a place of rest, He will never leave His chosen and redeemed ones without house or home! Where He has found a Throne, His people shall find a dwelling! Delightful is our old-fashioned ditty-- "And when I shall die, Receive me, I'll cry, For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why. But this I do find, we two are so joined, He won't be in Glory and lea ve me behind." There is such an attachment between Christ and the Believer--yes, more--such a vital, essential, indissoluble, tender marriage union that separation is impossible! As no man among us would ever be content to see his wife in prison if he could set her free, or to leave her outside in the cold when he could bring her to his fireside in comfort, so Christ, to whom our soul is espoused in eternal wedlock, will never rest until He has brought every one of His own beloved to be with Him where He is--that they may behold His Glory--the Glory which the Father has given Him. No Believer in Jesus has any doubts about that! I am sure you can all say, as Paul did, "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands." "Ah," asks one, "but how is a man to know that he has an interest in all this? Suppose I know that the children of God are thus favored, how am I to know that I am one of them?" I invite you to self-examination on this point. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart? Then it is written, "He that believes in Me though he were dead, yet shall he live. He that lives and believes in Me shall never die." Having believed in Christ, the Apostle knew that he was safe, for the promises are to Believers, and if any man is a Believer, every promise of the Covenant belongs to him. We obtain further assurance of this by our possessing the new life. Dear Friend, have you entered into a new world? Do you feel within you a new heart and a right spirit? Have old things passed away and have all things become new? Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus? Then it is all right with you! That new life cannot die, your new-born nature must inherit everlasting bliss. "Fear not, little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." In addition to this, do you commune with God? Do you speak with Christ? None perish who commune with the Father and the Son. Jesus cannot say, at the last, "I never knew you; depart from Me," for He does know you, and you know Him. "Oh," you say, "He knows enough of me, for I am always begging." Just so, go on with that trade! Be always a spiritual mendicant. The Lord of Love will never cast away a pleading suppliant! He who frequents the Throne of Grace shall infallibly reach the throne of Glory! Beside, does not the Spirit, Himself, also bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God? And if children and heirs, are we afraid of being left naked in the world to come? I hope that many of us have now reached the full assurance of faith so that we believe and are sure. Can you not say, each one for himself-- "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that day"? These are the ways in which Believers know that they are Believers! And then, by the Word of God they know that all things are theirs, so that if their earthly house should fail they would be received into everlasting habitations. III. Lastly, as to THE VALUE OF THIS KNOWLEDGE TO US. To be sure that when this body dies, all is well--is not that worth knowing? Secularists accuse us of taking men's minds away from the practical present that they may dream over a fancied future. We answer that the best help to live for the present is to live in prospect of the eternal future. Paul's confident belief that if his body should be dissolved, he would be no loser, kept him from fainting. He knew what the worst would be and he was prepared for it. Great storms were out, but the Apostle knew the limit of his possible loss and so was ready. All we can lose is the frail tent of this poor body. By no possibility can we lose more. When a man knows the limit of his risk, it greatly tends to calm his mind. The undiscoverable and the unmeasured are the worst ingredients of dread and terror--but when you can gauge your fears, you have removed them. Our Apostle felt that he had been sent into the world with the great design of glorifying God by winning souls and building up saints--and he was fully resolved to keep to the ministry which he had received. He argues with himself that his most dangerous course would be to faint in his life-service, for perseverance in his calling could bring with it no greater risk than death--and that he summed up as losing a tent and gaining a mansion! The Roman emperor might strike off his head, or a mob might stone him to death, or he might be crucified like his Master--but he made light of such a fate! It was to him only the coming down of the old tent--it did not affect his undying spirit--he smiled and sang, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The prospect of his heavenly house made his present trials seem very light, for he felt like a man who sojourns for a night at a poor inn, but puts up with it gladly because he hopes to be home on the morrow. If we were trying tent life for a season we should probably cry out, "A fearful draft comes in at that corner! How damp it is under foot! How cramped one feels!" Yet we should smile over it all and say, "It will not be for long. We shall soon be in our house at home." Ah, Brothers and Sisters, an hour with our God will make up for all the trials of the way! Be of good courage and press on. This changed, for Paul, the very idea of death--death was transformed from a demon into an angel! It was but the removal of a tottering tent that he might enter into a permanent palace! Some of God's own children are much troubled through fear of death because they do not know what it is. If they were better taught, they would soon discover, in their present source of sorrow, a subject for song! I would like, here, to say that I have known some of my Master's doubting and fearing servants die splendidly! Do you remember how Mr. Feeble-Mind, when he crossed the river, went over dry-shod? Poor soul, he thought he should surely be drowned, and yet he scarcely wet the soles of his feet! I have known men of God go like Jacob all day long, weary and faint, feeling banished from their Father's house--and yet when they have laid their head down for their final sleep, they have had visions of angels and of God! The end of their journey has made amends for the rough places of the way. It shall be so with you, Brother and Sister Believer. There is usually a dark place in every Christian's experience. I have seen some travel in sunlight almost the whole of the way and then depart in gloom. And I have thought none the worse of them for it. And I have seen others struggle forward through a fog for the first part of their pilgrimage and then come out into cloudless day. At one period or another beneath these lowering skies the shadow falls across our way, but surely, "light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." As I have thought of some of my dear Brothers and Sisters that I have seen die very sweetly, and I have remembered that they were, in life, lowly and self-distrustful, I have compared them to persons who, when they drink their tea, forget to stir the sugar at the bottom of the cup. How doubly sweet the drink becomes as they near the bottom--they have more sweetness than they can well bear! Would it not be wise to stir the tea at once and enjoy the sweetness from the brim to the bottom? This is the benefit of faith as to the future, for it flavors the present with delight. But what if saints should miss immediate comfort for a while--how richly will they be compensated! What will it be to open your eyes in Heaven! What a joy to fall asleep on the bed of languishing and to wake amid the celestial choir of Hallelujahs! "Where am I? Ah, my God! My Christ! My Heaven! My all! I am HOME!" Sorrow and sighing shall flee away! Does not this view of things give a transfiguration to death? O you poor unbelievers, how I pity you, since you have no such glorious hopes! O that you would believe in the Lord Jesus and enter into eternal life! Faith had such an effect upon Paul that it made him always calm and brave. Why should he be afraid of a man that could not do him harm? Even if his persecutor killed him, he would do him a service! What had he to fear? This made Paul wise and prudent. He could use his judgment, for he was not fluttered. He was not like some of you that are only a little ill and straightway you are filled with fright--and you make yourselves worse than you otherwise would be, so that the doctor has to contend with a frightened mind as well as a diseased body! He who is calm, restful and happy is already on the road to a cure. He is quiet because he is in his Father's hands, and whether he lives or dies, all is well--and this conviction helps the physician to remove his bodily malady. I say again, there is no way to live like learning to die! And he who can afford to be careless whether he lives or dies is the man who will so live as to die triumphantly. Oh, that all of you felt the quiet which comes of trusting in the Lord Jesus! How sad to know that you may die at any moment and to be unprepared for the change! I do not wonder that you are unhappy! You have good reason for being so. Oh that you were wise and would make the future sure by faith in the risen Lord! In Martin Luther's time and before his era, men who had lived evil lives were often in great fear when they came to die--and in their terror they would send to a monastery and procure a monk's robe in which to be buried. What a foolish fancy! Yet so it was that they hoped to fare better in the day ofjudgment for being wrapped in brown cloth and covered with a hood! Be ours a better garment! Here is a wish of holy Rutherford--"His believed love shall be my winding sheet and all my grave-clothes. I shall roll up my soul and sew it up in the web of His sweet and free love." Is not that your idea? It is surely mine! If we are laid to sleep in such a cloth, there will be no fear of our waking! It will happen to us as to the man who was laid in Elisha's grave and at once arose as soon as he touched the Prophet's bones. No man can lie dead if wrapped up in the love of Christ, for His love is life! He that has touched the love of Christ has touched the heart of the life of God and he must live! So let us give ourselves up to that Divine love and, trusting in our Lord, let us go onward to eternal bliss till the day breaks and the shadows flee away! Let us triumph and rejoice that there is prepared for us a "building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." __________________________________________________________________ Christ in You (No. 1720) DELIVERED ON LORDS-DAY MORNING, MAY 13, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27. THE Gospel is the grand secret--the mystery of mysteries! It was hidden from ages and from generations, but is now made manifest to the saints. To the mass of mankind it was utterly unknown and the chosen people, who saw something of it, only perceived it dimly through the smoke of sacrifices and the veil of types. It remained a mystery which wit could not guess nor invention unravel--and it would have forever have continued a secret had not God, in His infinite mercy, been pleased to reveal it by the Holy Spirit. In a still deeper sense it is even yet a hidden thing unless the Spirit of God has revealed it to us individually, for the revelation of the Gospel in the Word of God does not, of itself, instruct men unto eternal life. The light is clear enough, but it avails nothing till the eyes are opened. Each separate individual must have Christ revealed to him and in him by the work of the Holy Spirit, or else he will remain in darkness even in the midst of the Gospel day. Blessed and happy are they to whom the Lord has laid open the Divine secret which Prophets and kings could not discover--which even angels desired to look into! Brethren, we live in a time when the Gospel is clearly revealed in the Word of God and when that Word has its faithful preachers lovingly to press home its teachings. Let us take care that we do not despise the mystery which has now become a household word. Let not the commonness of the blessing cause us to undervalue it. You remember how, in the wilderness, the Israelites fed upon angels' food until they had enjoyed it so long, so constantly and so abundantly that in their wicked discontent they called it, "light bread"? I fear that many in these times are gorged with the Gospel like those who eat too much honey. They even venture to call the heavenly Word of God, "common-place," and talk us if it were not only, "the old, old story," but a stale story, too. Are not many hungering after novelties, longing for things original and startling, thirsting after the spiritual dram-drinking of sensational preaching, dissatisfied with Christ Crucified, though He is the Bread which came down from Heaven? For us, let us keep clear of this folly! Let us rest content with the old food, praying from day to day, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." May it never happen to us as unto the Jews of the Apostolic times who utterly refused the Word of Life, so that the Truth of God became to them a stumbling-block and those who preached it were compelled to turn to the Gentiles! If we despise the heavenly message, we cannot expect to fare better than they did! Let us not incur the danger of refusing Him that speaks from Heaven! If there is life, rejoice in it! If there is light, walk in it! If there is love, rest in it. If the Lord God Almighty has, at last, set open the treasures of His Grace and put eternal bliss within your reach, stretch out the hand of faith and be enriched! Turn not your backs upon your God, your Savior, for in so doing you will turn your backs on eternal life and Heaven! God grant that none of you may do this. In our text we have, in a few words, that great mystery with which Heaven did labor us in travail; that mystery which is to transform this poor world into new heavens and a new earth. We have it, I say, all in a nutshell in the seven words of our text--the riches of the glory of this mystery may, here, be seen set out to open view--"Christ in you, the hope of glory." By the assistance of the Divine Spirit, I shall speak upon this mystery in three ways--The essence of it is "Christ." The sweetness of it is "Christ in you." And the outlook of it is "the hope of glory." The words read like a whole body of divinity condensed into a line,--"Christ in you, the hope of glory." I. The eternal mystery of the Gospel--THE ESSENCE OF IT IS CHRIST. I hardly know what is the antecedent to the word, "which," here--whether it is, "mystery," or, "riches," or, "glory." And I do not greatly care to examine which it may be. Any one of the three words will be suitable and all three will fit best of all. If it is "the mystery," Christ is that mystery--"Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." If it is the word, "glory," beyond all question our Lord Jesus wears a "glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of Grace and truth." Is He not "the brightness of the Father's glory"? If we take the word, "riches," you have often heard of "the unsearchable riches of Christ," for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Oh, the riches of the Grace of God which it has pleased the Father to impart unto us in Christ Jesus! Christ is the "mystery," the "riches" and the "glory." He is all this and, blessed be His name, He is all this among us poor Gentiles who at first were like dogs, scarcely accounted worthy to eat the crumbs from under the children's table! And yet we are now admitted into the children's place and made heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ Jesus! Riches of glory among the Gentiles would have sounded like a mockery in the first ages and yet the language is most proper at this day, for all things are ours in Christ Jesus the Lord! The essence of this mystery is Christ, Himself. In these days certain would-be wise men are laboriously attempting to constitute a church without Christ and to set forth a salvation without a Savior. But their Babel building is as a bowing wall and a tottering fence. The center of the blessed mystery of the Gospel is Christ, Himself, in His Person. What a wonderful conception it was that the infinite God should take upon Himself the nature of man! It never would have occurred to men that such a condescension would be thought of! Even now that it has been done, it is a great mystery of our faith. God and man in one Person is the wonder of Heaven, earth and Hell! Well might David exclaim, "What is man, that You are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You visit him?" The first thought of the Incarnation was born in the unsearchably wise mind of God. it needed Omnipotent Omniscience to suggest the idea of, "Immanuel, God With Us." Think of it! The Infinite an infant; the Ancient of days a child; the Ever-Blessed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief! The idea is original, astounding, Divine! Oh, that this blending of the two natures should ever have taken place! Brothers and Sisters, the heart of the Gospel throbs in the Truth of God! The Son of the Highest was born at Bethlehem and at His birth, before He had worked a deed of righteousness or shed a drop of blood, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men," for they knew that the Incarnation had, within itself, a wealth of good things for men! When the Lord, Himself, took our manhood, it meant inconceivable benediction to the human race! "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given," and in that Child and Son we find our salvation! God in our nature can mean for us nothing but joy. How favored is our race in this respect! What other creature did the Lord thus espouse? We know that He took not up angels, but He took up the seed of Abraham. He took upon Him human nature, and now the next being in the universe to God is man, he who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death is the day crowned with glory and honor, and made to have dominion over all the works of Jehovah's hands. This is, indeed, the Gospel! Do not sinners begin to hope? Is there one in your nature who is "Light of lights, very God of very God," and do you not perceive that this must mean good for you? Does not the "Word made flesh" dwelling among men awaken hope in your bosoms and lead you to believe that you may yet be saved? Certainly the fact of there being such an union between God and man is the delight of every regenerated mind! Our Lord's Person is, at this day, constituted in the same manner. He is still God and Man! He can still sympathize with our manhood to the fullest, for He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh! And yet He can help us without limit, seeing He is equal with the Father. Though manifestly Divine, yet Jesus is none the less Human! Though truly Man, He is none the less Divine--and this is a door of hope to us, a fountain of consolation which never ceases to flow! When we think of our Lord, we remember with His Person the glorious work which He undertook and finished on our behalf. Being found in fashion as Man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. He took upon Himself the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, because we had failed in our service and could not be saved unless Another did suit and service on our behalf. The Heir of all things girded Himself to be among as One that serves! What service His was! How arduous! How humble! How heavy! How all-consuming! His was a life of grief and humiliation, followed by a death of agony and scorn. Up to the Cross He carried all our load. And on the Cross He bore, that we might bear, His Father's righteous wrath! Oh, what has Christ not done for us? He cast our sins into the depths of the sea. He has taken the cup which we ought to have drunk forever and He has drained it dry and left not a dreg behind! He has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a Curse for us. And now He has finished transgression, made an end of sin, brought in everlasting righteousness and gone up to His Father's Throne within the veil, bearing His Divine oblation and making everything right and safe for us, that, by-and-by, we may follow Him and be with Him where He is! Oh yes, Brothers and Sisters, Christ's Person and finished work are the pillars of our hope! I cannot think of what He is, what He has done, what He is doing and what He will yet do, without saying, "He is all my salvation and all my desire." My Brethren, every one of our Lord's offices is a well-spring of comfort. Is He Prophet, Priest and King? Is He Friend? Is He Brother? Is He Husband? Is He Head? Every way and everywhere we lean the weight of our soul's great business upon Him and He is our All in All! Besides, there is this sweet thought, that He is our Representative. Know you not that of old He was our Covenant Head and stood for us in the great transactions of eternity? Like as the first Adam headed up the race and stood for us--alas, I must correct myself--fell for us, and we fell in him, so now has the second Adam taken up within Himself all His people and stood for them and kept for them the covenant. So that now it is ordered in all things and sure, and every blessing of it is infallibly secured to all the seed. Believers must and shall possess the covenanted inheritance because Jesus represents them and, on their behalf, has taken possession of the estate of God! Whatever Christ is, His people are in Him. They were crucified in Him; they were dead in Him; they were buried in Him; they are risen in Him! In Him they live eternally, in Him they sit gloriously at the right hand of God, "who has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." In Him we are "accepted in the Beloved," both now and forever! And this, I say, is the essence of the whole Gospel. He that preaches Christ preaches the Gospel! He who does not preach Christ, preaches not the Gospel. It is no more possible for there to be a Gospel without Christ than a day without the sun, or a river without water, or a living man without a head, or a quickened human body without a soul! No, Christ Himself is the life, soul, substance and essence of the mystery of the Gospel of God. Christ, Himself, I say again, and no other! I have been trying to think what we would do if our Lord were gone. Suppose that a man has heard of a great physician who understands his complaint? He has traveled a great many miles to see this celebrated doctor. But when he gets to the door they tell him that he is out. "Well," he says, "then I must wait till he is in." "You need not wait," they reply, "his assistant is at home." The suffering man, who has been often disappointed, answers, "I do not care about his assistant. I want to see the man, himself--mine is a desperate case, but I have heard that this physician has cured the like. I must, therefore, see him. No assistants for me." "Well," they say, "he is out, but there are his books. You can see his books." "Thank you," he says, "I cannot be content with his books. I need the living man and nothing less. It is to him that I must speak and from him I will receive instructions." "Do you see that cabinet?" "Yes." "It is full of his medicines." The sick man answers, "I dare say they are very good, but they are of no use to me without the doctor. I want their owner to prescribe for me, or I shall die of my disease." "But see," cries one, "here is a person who has been cured by him, a man of great experience, who has been present at many remarkable operations. Go into the inquiry room with him and he will tell you all about the mode of cure." The afflicted man answers, "I am much obliged to you, but all your talk only makes me long the more to see the doctor. I came to see him, and I am not going to be put off with anything else. I must see the man, himself, for myself. He has made my disease a specialty. He knows how to handle my case and I will stay till I see him." Now, dear Friends, if you are seeking Christ, imitate this sick man or else you will miss the mark altogether! Never be put off with books, or conversations. Be not content with Christian people talking to you, or preachers preaching to you, or the Bible being read to you, or prayers being offered for you. Anything short of Jesus will leave you short of salvation! You have to reach Christ and touch Christ, and nothing short of this will serve your turn. Picture the case of the prodigal son when he went home. Suppose, when he reached the house, the elder brother had come to meet him? I must make a supposition that the elder brother had sweetened himself and made himself amiable--and then I hear him say, "Come in, Brother. Welcome home!" But I see the returning one stand there with tears in his eyes and I hear him lament, "I want to see my father. I must tell him that I have sinned and done evil in his sight." An old servant whispers, "Master John, I am glad to see you back. Be happy, for all the servants are rejoiced to hear the sound of your voice. It is true your father will not see you, but he has ordered the fatted calf to be killed for you. And here is the best robe, and a ring, and shoes for your feet, and we are told to put them on you." All this would not content the poor penitent! I think I hear him cry--"I do not despise anything my father gives me, for I am not worthy to be as his hired servant. But what is all this unless I see his face and know that he forgives me? There is no taste in the feast, no glitter in the ring, no fitness in the shoes, no beauty in the robe unless I can see my father and can be reconciled to him." Do you not see that in the case of the prodigal son the great matter was to get his head into his father's bosom and there to sob out, "Father, I have sinned"? The one thing necessary was the kiss of free forgiveness, the touch of those dear, warm, loving lips, which said, "My dear child, I love you and your faults are blotted out." That was the thing that gave his soul rest and perfect peace! And this is the mystery we come to preach to you--God Himself drawing near to you in Christ Jesus and forgiving you all your trespasses. We are not content to preach unless Jesus Himself is the theme. We do not set before you something about Christ, nor something that belongs to Christ, nor something proclaimed by Christ, nor somebody that has known Christ, nor some truth which extols Christ! No, we preach Christ Crucified! We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord! And we say to you, never be content till you clasp the Savior in your arms as Simeon did in the Temple. That venerable saint did not pray to depart in peace while he only saw the Child in Mary's bosom! But when he had taken the dear One into his own arms, then he said, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace." A personal grasp of a personal Christ, even though we only know Him as an Infant, fills the heart to the fullest, but nothing else will do it! I go a little farther. As it must be Christ Himself, and none other, it must also be Christ Himself rather than anything which Christ gives. I was thinking, the other day, how different Christ is from all the friends and helpers that we have. They bring us good things, but Jesus gives us Himself. He does not merely give us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, but He Himself is made of God all these things to us! Hence we can never do without Him. When very ill, you are pleased to see the doctor, but when you are getting well you say to yourself, "I shall be glad to see the back of the good man, for that will be a sure sign that I am off the sick list." Ah, but when Jesus heals a soul, he wants to see Jesus more than ever! Our longing for the constant company of our Lord is the sign that we are getting well! He who longs for Jesus to abide with Him, forever, is healed of his plague! We never outgrow Christ--we only grow to hunger more and more! If you eat a meal you lose your appetite, but if you feed upon Christ, you hunger and thirst still more after Him. This insatiable desire after Him is not a painful hunger, but a heavenly, pleasant hunger which grows upon you the more its cravings are gratified. The man who has little of Christ can do with little of Christ. But he that gets more of Christ pines for a yet fuller supply. Suppose a wise man were to instruct you? You would learn all he had to teach and then say, "Let him go on and teach somebody else." But when Jesus teaches, we discover so much of our own ignorance that we would gladly keep Him as our life-tutor! When our Lord taught the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He opened the Scriptures and He opened their minds until their hearts burned within them! What next? Shall the Divine teacher pass on? No, no! They constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us; it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." The more He taught them, the more they wished to be taught! This is always the way with Christ--He is growingly dear, increasingly necessary! Oh my Brothers and Sisters, you cannot do without Him! If you have your foot upon the threshold of pure gold and your finger on the latch of the gate of pearl, you now need Christ more than ever! I feel persuaded that you are of Rutherford's mind, when he cried to have his heart enlarged till it was as big as Heaven, that he might hold all Christ within it--and then he felt that even then is was too narrow a space for the boundless love of Jesus, since the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him! And so he cried out for a heart as large as seven heavens, that he might entertain the Well-Beloved. Truly, I am content with what God has given me in all points, except that I long for more of Christ! I could sit down happy if I knew that my portion in the house and in the field would never grow--but I am famished to have more of my Lord! The more we are filled within of Christ, the more we feel our own natural emptiness! The more we know of Him, the more we long to know Him! Paul, writing to the Philippians, when he had been a Christian for many years, yet says, "That I may know Him." Oh, Paul, do you not know Christ yet? "Yes," he says, "and no." For he knew the love of Christ, but felt that it surpassed all knowledge. "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full"--this is not our case in one respect, and yet it is in another, for all the streams of Grace and love and blessedness flow into our souls and we are full--yet, being full, we are longing for more! Not Your gifts, Lord, but Yourself! You, You are the desire of our hearts! Christ alone is enough. Mark this. Nothing must be placed with Christ as if it were necessary to Him. Some hold a candle to the sun by preaching Christ and man's philosophy, or their own priestcraft. When the blessed rain comes fresh from Heaven, they would gladly perfume it with their own dainty extract of fancy. As for God's blessed air, fresh from the eternal hills, they dream that it cannot be right unless by scientific experiments they load it with their own smoke and clouds! Come, clear out, let us see the sun! We do not need your rush lights. Away with your gauges and your fineries! Let the clear sunlight enter! Let the holy water drop from Heaven! We want not your scented essences. Out of the way and let the fresh air blow about us. There is nothing like it for the health and strength of the soul! We rejoice in Christ and nothing else but Christ! Christ and no priestcraft! Christ and no philosophy! Christ and no modern thought! Christ and no human perfection! Christ, the whole of Christ, and nothing else but Christ--here lies the mystery of the Gospel of the Grace of God! Brethren, what else but Christ can satisfy the justice of God? Look around you when a sense of sin is on you and the dread tribunal is before your eyes--what can you bring, by way of expiation, but Christ? What can you bring with Christ? What dare you associate with His blood and merits? Oh, my God, nothing will content You but Your Son, Your Son, alone! What else can quiet conscience? Some professors have consciences as good us new, for they have never been used. But he that has once had his conscience thoroughly exercised and pressed upon with all the weight of sin till he has felt as if it were better for him not to be than to be guilty before God--that man acknowledges that nothing but Christ will ever quiet his agonized heart! See the bleeding Lamb and you will be pacified! See the exalted Lord pleading His righteousness before the Throne of God and conscience is even as a weaned child--and all the storm within the spirit is hushed into a great calm. What else will do to live with but Christ? I do not find, in times of pain and depression of spirit, that I can keep up upon anything but my Lord. The mind can feed at other times on pretty kickshaws and fine confectionery such as certain divines serve out in the form of orations and essays and the like, but when you are sorely sick, your soul abhors all manner of earthly meat and nothing will stay in the stomach but the Bread of Heaven, even the blessed Christ of God! Think also, when you come to die, what else will do but Christ? Oh, I have seen men die with Heaven in their eyes, the eternal Godhead seeming to transfigure them because they rejoiced in Christ! But a deathbed without Christ--it is the darkening twilight of eternal night! It is the gloomy cave which forms the entrance of the land of darkness. Do not venture on life or death without Jesus, I implore you. "None but Christ, none but Christ"--this has been the martyr's cry amidst the fire--let it be ours in life and death. II. Secondly, we are to consider THE SWEETNESS OF THIS MYSTERY, WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU. This is a grand advance. I know that there are a great many fishermen here, this morning, and I heartily welcome them. When you are out at sea you like to know that there are plenty of fish in the sea all round your boats. It is a fine thing to get in among the great shoals of fish. Yes, but there is one thing better than that! Fish in the sea are good, but the fish in the boat are the fish for you! Once get them in the net, or better still, safe into the vessel, and you are glad. Now Christ in Heaven--Christ free to poor sinners is precious--but Christ here in the heart is most precious of all! Here is the marrow and fatness. Christ on board the vessel brings safety and calm. Christ in your house, Christ in your heart, Christ in you-- that is the cream of the matter, the honey of the honeycomb! Gold is valuable, but men think more of a pound in their pockets than of huge ingots in the bank vault. A loaf of bread is a fine thing, but if we could not eat it, and so get it within us, we might die of starvation. A medicine may be a noble cure, but if it is always kept in the vial and we never take a draught from it, what good will it do us? Christ is best known when He is Christ in you. Let us talk about that a little. Christ in you--that is, first, Christ accepted by faith. Is it not a wonderful thing that Christ Jesus should ever enter into a man? Yes, but I will tell you something more wonderful, and that is, that He should enter in by so narrow an opening as our little faith! There is the sun--I do not know how many thousands of times the sun is bigger than the earth, and yet the sun can come into a little room or a close cell--and what is more, the sun can get in through a chink! When the shutters have been closed I have known him come in through a little round hole in them. So Christ can come in through a little faith--a mere chink of confidence. If you are such a poor Believer that you can hardly think of assurance or confidence, yet if you trust the Lord, as surely us the sun comes in by a narrow crack, so will Christ come into your soul by the smallest opening of true faith! How wise it will be on your part, when you see your Lord's sunny face shining through the lattices, to say, "I am not going to be satisfied with these mere glints and gleams, I would rather walk in the light of His Countenance. Pull up those blinds! Let the heavenly sun shine in and let me rejoice in its glory." Grow in faith and enlarge your receiving power till you take in Christ into your inmost soul by the Holy Spirit, for it is Christ in you by faith that becomes the hope of glory. By Christ in you we mean Christ possessed. You see, nothing is so much a man's own as that which is within him. Do you tell me that a certain slice of bread is not mine and that I have no right to it? But I have eaten it and you may bring a lawsuit against me about that bread if you like, but you cannot get it away from me! That question is settled--that which I have eaten is mine. In this case, possession is not only nine points of the law, but all the points. When a man gets Christ into Him, the devil himself cannot win a suit against him to recover Christ, for that matter is settled beyond question. Christ in you is yours, indeed! Men may question whether an acre of land or a house belongs to me, but the meat I ate yesterday is not a case of property which Chancery or any other court can alter. So, when the Believer has Christ in him, the Law has no more to say! The enclosure made by faith carries its own title deeds within it. It means, too, Christ experienced in all His power. There may be a valuable medicine that works like magic to expel a man's pains and cure his diseases, but it is of no efficacy till it is within him! When it commences to purify his blood and to strengthen his frame, he is in a fair way to know it without depending upon the witness of others. Get Christ in you curing your sin, Christ in you filling your soul with love to virtue and holiness, bathing your heart in comfort and refining it with heavenly inspirations--then will you know the Lord! Christ believed in, Christ possessed, Christ experienced, Christ in you--this is worth a world! Moreover, Christ in us is Christ reigning. It reminds me of Mr. Bunyan's picture of Mansoul, when the Prince Immanuel laid siege to it and Diabolus, from within the city, strove to keep Him out. It was a hard time for Mansoul, then, but, at last, the battering rams had broken down the gates and the silver trumpets sounded and the Prince's captains entered! Then the Prince, Himself, did ride down the city's streets, while liberated citizens welcomed Him with all their hearts, hung out all their streamers and made the Church towers ring again! The bells rang out merry peals, for the King, Himself, was come. Up to the castle of the heart, He rode in triumph and took His royal throne to be henceforth the sole lord and king of the city. Christ in you is a right royal word! Christ swaying His scepter from the center of your being, over every power and faculty, desire and resolve, bringing every thought into captivity to Himself--oh, this is glory begun and the sure pledge of Heaven! Oh for more of the imperial sovereignty of Jesus! It is our liberty to be absolutely under His sway. Yes, and then Christ in you is Christ filling you. It is wonderful, when Christ once enters into a soul, how, by degrees, He occupies the whole of it. Did you ever hear the legend of a man whose garden produced nothing else but weeds, till at last he met with a strange foreign flower of singular vitality? The story is that he sowed a handful of this seed in his overgrown garden and left it to work its own sweet way. He slept and rose and knew not how the seed was growing till one day he opened the gate and saw a scene which astounded him. He knew that the seed would produce a dainty flower and he looked for it. But he had little dreamed that the plant would cover the whole garden! So it was--the flower had exterminated every weed, till, as he looked from one end to the other--from wall to wall he could see nothing but the fair colors of that rare plant and smell nothing but its delicious perfume. Christ is that plant of renown! If He is sown in the soil of your soul, He will gradually eat out the roots of all evil weeds and poisonous plants, till over all your nature there shall be Christ in you! God grant we may realize the picture in our own hearts, and then we shall be in Paradise! It may sound strange to add that Christ in you transfigures the man till he becomes like Christ, Himself. You thrust a bar of cold, black iron into the fire and keep it there till the fire enters into it. Look, the iron is like fire, itself--he that feels it will know no difference. The fire has permeated the iron and made it a fiery mass. I should like to have seen that bush in Horeb before which Moses took off his shoes. When it was all ablaze it seemed no longer a bush, but a mass of fire, a furnace of pure flame. The fire had transfigured the bush. So it is with us when Christ enters into us--He elevates us to a nobler state, even as Paul said--"I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." Jesus sanctifies us wholly--spirit, soul, and body--and takes us to dwell with Him in the perfect state above. Christ in you--how can I explain it? We are the little graft and He is the strong and living stem. We are laid to Him, bound to Him, sealed to Him--and when there is nothing between the new shoot and the old tree, at last the sap flows into the graft and graft and the tree are one! You know right well how Christ enters into us and becomes our life. Christ in you means power in you. A strong man armed keeps his house till a stronger than he comes--and when the stronger enters, the first tenant is ejected by the power of the new comer and kept out by the same means. We were without strength till Christ came, but now we war with principalities and powers and win the victory. Christ in you! Oh, what bliss! What joy! The Bridegroom is with us and we cannot fast! The King is with us and we are glad! When King Charles went to live at Newmarket, it is said that a most poverty-stricken village became a wealthy place. Truly, when Christ comes to dwell in our hearts, our spiritual poverty suddenly turns to blessed wealth. Christ in you! What a wonder it is that He should deign to come under our roof! Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be you lifted up, you everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in. See the honor which His entrance brings with it! He glorifies the place where His foot rests even for a moment. If Jesus does but enter into your heart, His court comes within Him--honor, glory, immortality, Heaven and all other Divine things follow where He leads. "Oh," says one, "I wish He would come and dwell in me." Then, be humble, for He loves to dwell with him that is humble and of a contrite spirit. Next, be clean, for if they must be clean that bear God's vessels, much more they that have Christ, Himself, in them. Next, be empty, for Christ will not live amid the lumber of self, pride and carnal sufficiency. Learn abundantly to rejoice in Christ, for he who welcomes Christ will have Him always for a guest. Jesus never tarries where He is not desired. If His welcome is worn out, away He goes. Oh, desire and delight in Him! Hunger and thirst after Him, for Christ delights to dwell with an eager people, a hungry people, a people who value Him and cannot be happy without Him. Surely I have said enough to make you feel that the sweetness of true godliness lies in having Christ in you. III. Thirdly, we are to consider that the OUTLOOK OF ALL THIS IS CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY. Last Sunday morning, as best I could in my feebleness, I spoke to you about the time when this earthly house of our tabernacle shall be dissolved, when we shall find that we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. But this morning's text goes a little further--it speaks of glory which is a hope for soul as well as body. Why glory! Glory? Surely that belongs only to God. To Him alone be glory! Yes, but Christ has said, "Father, I will that they, also, whom You have given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory." And He also says, "And the glory which You have given Me, I have given them." Think of it! Glory for us poor creatures! Glory for you, Sister! Glory for me! It seems a strange thing that a sinner should ever have anything to do with glory when he deserves nothing but shame. We are neither kings nor princes, what have we to do with glory? Yet glory is to be our dwelling, glory our light, glory our crown, glory our song! The Lord will not be content to give us less than glory. Grace is very sweet, but might we not be content to swim forever in a sea of Grace? But no, our Lord "will give Grace and glory."-- "All needful Grace will God bestow, And crown that Grace with glory, too." We shall have glorified bodies, glorious companions, a glorious reward and glorious rest! But how do we know that we shall have glory? Why, first, He that has come to live in our hearts and reigns as our bosom's Lord, makes us glorious by His coming! His rest is glorious--the place of His feet is glorious--He must mean some great thing towards us, or He would never dwell in us. I saw a line carriage stopping, the other day, at a very humble hovel, and I thought to myself--"that carriage is not stopping there to collect rent, or to borrow a broom." Oh, no, that lady, yonder, is calling round and visiting the poor, and I doubt not she has taken in some nourishment to an invalid. I hope it was so. And I am sure my Lord Jesus Christ's carriage never stops at my door to get anything out of me! Whenever He comes, He brings countless blessings with Him. Such a one as He is, God over all, blessed forever--it cannot be that He took our nature, unless with high designs of unsearchable love! Thus we nourish large expectations upon the food of solid reason. I am sure our Lord Jesus would never have done so much if He had not meant to manifest the immeasurable breadth and length of a love which is beyond imagining. What He has done, already, surprises me even to amazement. I think nothing can appear strange or hard to believe, let Him do what He may in the future. If the Scriptures tell me my Lord is going to fill me with His own glory and to set me at His own right hand, I believe it. He who went to the Cross for me will never be ashamed of me. He who gave me Himself will give me all Heaven and more! He that opened His very heart to find blood and water to wash me in--how shall He keep back even His kingdom from me? O sweet Lord Jesus, You are, indeed, to us the hope, the pledge, the guarantee of glory! Friend, do you not feel that Christ in you is the dawn of Heaven? Besides this, Christ is He that has entered into covenant with God to bring His people home to glory. He has pledged Himself to bring every sheep of His flock safe to His Father's right hand and He will keep His engagement, for He never failed one Covenant promise yet. Moreover, this we do know, that the Christ who is come to live with us will never be separated from us. If He had not meant to stay, He would not have entered our heart at all. There was nothing to tempt Him to come, and if, in Sovereign Grace, He deigned to live in the poor cottage of our nature, then, Brothers and Sisters, He knew what He was doing. He had counted the cost, He had foreseen all the evil that would be in us and about us, and when He came, He come with the intent to stay. Someone asked another, the other day, "What persuasion are you of?" And the answer was, "I am persuaded that neither life, nor death nor things present, nor things to come shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Are not you of that persuasion, Brother? If so, you can see how Christ in you is the hope of glory. Why, look, Sirs, Christ in you is glory! Did we not show that just now? "Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be you lifted up you everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in!" You have Heaven in having Christ, for Christ is the biggest part of Heaven! Is not Christ the soul of Heaven, and having Him you have glory? What is more, having gotten Christ, Christ's glory and your glory are wrapped up together. If Christ were to lose you, it would be a great loss to you, but a greater loss to Him. If I can perish with Christ in me, I shall certainly be a fearful loser, but so will He, for where is His honor, where His glory if a Believer perishes? His glory is gone if one soul that trusts in Him is ever cast away. Comfort yourselves with this word--Christ in you means you in glory, as surely us God lives! There is no question about that! Go your ways and rejoice in Christ Jesus and let men see who it is that lives in you! Let Jesus speak through your mouth, weep through your eyes and smile through your face! Let Him work with your hands and walk within your feet, and be tender with your heart. Let Him seek sinners through you! Let Him comfort saints through you until the day breaks and the shadows flee away! __________________________________________________________________ Glory! (No. 1721) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 20, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "Who has called us unto His eternal glory." 1 Peter 5:10. A FORTNIGHT ago, when I was only able to creep to the front of this platform, I spoke to you concerning the future of our mortal bodies--[Sermon #1719--The Tent Dissolved and the Mansion Entered]--"We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." On the next Sabbath, [Sermon #1720--Christ in You], we went a step further and we did not preach so much about the resurrection of the body as upon the hope of Glory for our entire nature, our text being, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Thus we have passed through the outer court and have trod the hallowed floor of the Holy Place. And now we are the more prepared to enter within the veil and to gaze, a while, upon the glory which awaits us. We shall say a little-- and oh, how little it will be--upon that glory of which we have so sure a prospect, that glory which is prepared for us in Christ Jesus and of which He is the hope! I pray that our eyes may be strengthened that we may see the heavenly light and that our ears may be opened to hear sweet voices from the better land. As for me, I cannot say that I will speak of the glory, but I will try to stammer about it--for the best language to which a man can reach concerning Glory must be a mere stammering. Paul did but see a little of it for a short time and he confessed that he heard things that it was not lawful for a man to utter. And I doubt not that he felt utterly unable to describe what he had seen. Though a great master of language, yet for once he was overpowered--the grandeur of his theme made him silent! As for us, what can we do, where even Paul breaks down? Pray, dear Friends that the Spirit of Glory may rest upon you, that He may open your eyes to see as much as can at present be seen of the heritage of the saints! We are told that "eye has not seen, neither has ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him." Yet the eye has seen wonderful things! There are sunrises and sunsets, Alpine glories and ocean marvels which, once seen, cling to our memories throughout life! Yet, even when Nature is at her best, she cannot give us an idea of the supernatural Glory which God has prepared for His people! The ear has heard sweet harmonies. Have we not enjoyed music which has thrilled us? Have we not listened to speech which has seemed to make our hearts dance within us? And yet no melody of harp nor charm of oratory can ever raise us to a conception of the glory which God has laid up for them that love Him! As for the heart of man, what strange things have entered it! Men have exhibited fair fictions, woven in the loom of fancy, which have made the eyes sparkle with their beauty and brightness--imagination has reveled and rioted in its own fantastic creations, roaming among islands of silver and mountains of gold, or swimming in seas of wine and rivers of milk--but imagination has never been able to open the gate of pearl which shuts in the city of our God. No, it has not yet entered the heart of man. Yet the text goes on to say, "but He has revealed it unto us by His Spirit." So that Heaven is not an utterly unknown region, not altogether an inner brightness shut in with walls of impenetrable darkness. God has revealed joys which He has prepared for His beloved, but mark you, even though they are revealed of the Spirit, yet it is no common unveiling and the reason that it is made known at all is ascribed to the fact that "the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." So we see that the glory which awaits the saints is ranked among the deep things of God and He that would speak, thereof, after the manner of the oracles of God must have much heavenly teaching. It is easy to chatter according to human fancy, but if we would follow the sure teaching of the Word of God, we shall have need to be taught of the holy Spirit, without whose anointing the deep things of God must be hidden from us. Pray that we may be under that teaching while we dwell upon this theme. There are three questions which we will answer this morning. The first is, what is the destiny of the saints?-- "Eternal glory," says the text. Secondly, in which does this glory consist? I said we would answer the questions, but this is not to be answered this side the pearl gate. Thirdly, what should be the influence of this prospect upon our hearts? What manner of people ought we to be whose destiny is eternal glory? How should we live who are to live forever in the glory of the Most High? I. First, WHAT, THEN, IS THE DESTINY OF THE SAINTS? Our text tells us that God has "called us unto His eternal glory." "Glory!" Does not the very word astound you? "Glory!" Surely that belongs to God alone! Yet the Scripture says, "glory," and glory it must mean, for it never exaggerates. Think of glory for us who have deserved eternal shame! Glory for us poor creatures who are often ashamed of ourselves! Yes, I look at my book, again, and it actually says, "glory"--nothing less than glory! Therefore it must be so. Now, since this seems so amazing and astonishing a thing, I would so speak with you that not a relic of incredulity may remain in your hearts concerning it. I would ask you to follow me while we look through the Bible, not quoting every passage which speaks of glory, but mentioning a few of the leading ones. This glory has been promised. What said David? In the 73rd Psalm and 24th verse we meet with these remarkable words--"You shall guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." In the original Hebrew there is a trace of David's recollection of Enoch's being translated and, though the royal Psalmist did not expect to be caught away without dying, yet he did expect that after he had followed the guidance of the Lord here below, the great Father would stoop and raise up His child to be with Himself forever. He expected to be received into Glory. Even in those dim days, when as yet the light of the Gospel was but in its dawn, this Prophet and king was able to say, "You shall afterward receive me to glory." Did he not mean the same thing when, in the 84th Psalm, verse 11, he said, "The Lord will give Grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly"? Not only no good thing under the name of Grace will God withhold from the upright, but no good thing under the head of Glory. No good of Heaven shall be kept from the saints; no reserve is even set upon the throne of the great King, for our Lord Jesus has graciously promised, "To Him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father on His throne." "No good thing," not even among the infinitely good things of Heaven, will God "withhold from them that walk uprightly." If David had this persuasion, much more may we who walk in the light of the Gospel! Since our Lord Jesus has suffered and entered into His Glory, and we know that we shall be with Him where He is, we are confident that our rest shall be glorious! Brothers and Sisters, it is to this glory that we have been called! The people of God, having been predestinated, have been called with an effectual calling--called so that they have obeyed the call and have run after Him who has drawn them! Now, our text says that He has, "called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus." We are called to repentance, we are called to faith, we are called to holiness, we are called to perseverance--and all this that we may afterwards attain unto glory! We have another Scripture of like import in 1 Thessalonians 2:12--"Who has called you unto His kingdom and glory." We are called unto His kingdom according to our Lord's words, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." We are called to be kings, called to wear a crown of life that fades not away, called to reign with Christ in His Glory! If the Lord had not meant us to have the glory, He would not have called us unto it, for His calling is no mockery. He would not, by His Spirit, have fetched us out from the world and separated us unto Himself if He had not intended to keep us from falling and preserve us eternally. Believer, you are called to glory-- do not question the certainty of that to which God has called you! And we are not only called to it, Brothers and Sisters, but glory is especially joined with justification. Let me quote Romans 8:30--"Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified." These various mercies are threaded together like pearls upon a string-- there is no breaking the thread, no separating the precious things. They are put in their order by God, Himself, and they are kept there by His eternal and irreversible decree. If you are justified by the righteousness of Christ, you shall be glorified through Christ Jesus, for thus has God purposed, and so must it be! Do you not remember how salvation, itself, is linked with glory? Paul, in 2 Timothy 2:10, speaks of "the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." The two things are riveted together and cannot be separated! The saved ones must partake of the glory of God, for this are they being prepared every day. Paul, in the ninth of Romans, where he speaks about the predestinating will of God, says in the 23rd verse--"The vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory." This is the process which commenced in regeneration and is going on in us every day in the work of sanctification. We cannot be glorified so long as sin remains in us--we must first be pardoned, renewed and sanctified--and then we are fitted to be glorified. By communion with our Lord Jesus we are made like He, as says the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 3:18--"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is very wonderful, how, by the wisdom of God, everything is made to work this way. Look at the blessed text in 2 Corinthians 4:17, where Paul says, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," where he represents that all that we can suffer, whether of body or of mind, is producing for us such a mass of glory that he is quite unable to describe it and he uses hyperbolically language in saying, "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Oh, blessed men, whose very losses are their gains, whose sorrows produce their joys, whose griefs are big with Heaven! Well may we be content to suffer if so it is that all things are working together for our good and are helping to pile up the excess of our future glory! Thus, then, it seems we are called to glory and we are being prepared for it. Is it not, also, a sweet thought that our present fellowship with Christ is the guarantee of it? In Romans 8:17 it is said, "If so be that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together." Going to prison with Christ will bring us into the palace with Christ! Smarting with Christ will bring us into reigning with Christ! Being ridiculed, slandered and despised for Christ's sake will bring us to be sharers of His honor, glory and immortality! Who would not be with Christ in His humiliation if this is the guarantee that we shall be with Him in His Glory? Remember those dear words of the Lord Jesus, "You are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father has appointed unto Me." Let us shoulder the Cross, for it leads to the crown. "No Cross, no crown"--but he that has shared the battle shall partake in the victory. I have not yet done, for there is a text, in Hebrews 2:10, which is well worthy of our consideration--we are to be brought to Glory. It is said of our Lord that it "became Him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." See, Beloved, we are called to Heaven, we are being prepared for it and we shall be brought to it. We might despair of ever getting into the glory land if we had not One to bring us there, for the pilgrim's road is rough and beset with many foes--but there is a "Captain of our salvation"--a greater than Bunyan's Great-Hearted, who is conducting the pilgrim band through all the treacherous ways and He will bring the "many sons"--where?--"unto glory!" Nowhere short of that shall be their ultimatum. Glory, glory shall surely follow upon Grace--for Christ the Lord, who has come into His Glory--has entered into Covenant engagements that He will bring all the "many sons" to be with Him. Mark this and then I will quote no more Scriptures--this glory will be for our entire manhood--for our body as well as for our soul! You know that text in the famous Resurrection chapter in 1 Corinthians 15? Paul speaks of the body as being "sown in dishonor," but he adds, "it is raised in glory." And then, in Philippians 3:21, he says of our Divine Lord at His coming, "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." What a wonderful change that will be for this frail, feeble, suffering body! In some respects it is not vile, for it is a wonderful product of Divine skill, power and goodness--but inasmuch as it hampers our spiritual nature by its appetites and infirmities--it may be called a "vile body." It is an unhandy body for a spirit--it fits a soul well enough, but a spirit needs something more ethereal, less earth-bound, more full of life than this poor flesh and blood and bone can ever be. Well, the body is to be changed. What alteration will it undergo? It will be rendered perfect. The body of a child will be fully developed and the dwarf will attain to full stature. The blind shall not be sightless in Heaven, neither shall the lame be halt, nor shall the palsied tremble. The deaf shall hear and the dumb shall sing God's praises. We shall carry none of our deficiencies or infirmities to Heaven. As good Mr. Ready-to-Halt did not carry his crutches there, neither shall any of us need a staff to lean upon! There we shall not know an aching brow, or a weak knee, or a failing eye. "The inhabitant shall no more say, I am sick." And it shall be an impassive body, a body that will be incapable of any kind of suffering--no palpitating heart, no sinking spirit, no aching limbs no lethargic soul shall worry us there! No, we shall be perfectly delivered from every evil of that kind. Moreover, it shall be an immortal body. Our risen bodies shall not be capable of decay, much less of death. There are no graves in Heaven! Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for their bodies shall rise never to know death and corruption a second time! No smell or taint of corruption shall remain upon those whom Jesus shall call from the tomb. The risen body shall be greatly increased in power--it is "sown in weakness," says the Scripture--but it is "raised in power." I suppose there will be a wonderful agility about our renovated frame. Probably it will be able to move as swiftly as the lightning flash, for so do angels pass from place to place, and we shall in this, as in many other things, be as the angels of God. Anyway, it will be a "glorious body" and it will be "raised in glory," so that the whole of our manhood shall participate of that wonderful depth of bliss which is summed up in the word--"glory." Thus I think I have set before you much of what the Word of God says upon this matter. II. Secondly, may the Holy Spirit help me while I try very hesitatingly and stammeringly to answer the enquiry, WHEREIN DOES THIS DESTINY CONSIST? Do you know how much I expect to do? It will be but little. You remember what the Lord did for Moses when the man of God prayed--"I beseech you show me Your glory!" All that the Lord, Himself, did for Moses was to say, "You shall see My back parts; but My face shall not be seen." How little, then, can we hope to speak of this glory! Its back parts are too bright for us--as for the face of that glory, it shall not be seen by any of us here below, though, by-and-by, we shall behold it! I suppose if one who had been in Heaven could come straight down from there and occupy this platform, he would find that his discoveries could not be communicated because of the insufficiency of language to express such a weight of meaning. The saints' destiny is glory! What is glory, Brothers and Sisters? What is it, I mean, among the sons of men? It is generally understood to be fame, a great reputation, the sound of trumpets, the noise of applause, the sweets of approbation among the crowd and in high places. The Queen of Sheba came from afar to see the glory of Solomon. What was that glory, Brothers and Sisters? It was the glory of a rare wisdom excelling all others! It was the glory of immense riches expended upon all manner of magnificence and splendor! As for this last glory, the Lord says of it that a lily of the field had more of it than Solomon. At least, "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Yet that is what men mean by glory--rank, position, power, conquest-- things that make the ears of men to tingle when they hear of them--things extraordinary and rare. All this is but a dim shadow of what God means by glory, yet out of the shadow we may obtain a little inkling of what the substance must be. God's people shall be wise and even famous, for they shall "shine as the stars forever and ever." God's people shall be rich--the very streets of their abode are paved with gold exceedingly rich and rare. God's people shall be singularly honored--there shall be an unrivalled glory about them, for they shall be known as a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, a race of beings lifted up to reveal their Maker's Character beyond all the rest of His works. I reckon that glory to a saint means, first of all, purified character. The brightest glory that really can come to anyone is the glory of character. Thus God's glory among men is His goodness, His mercy, His justice, His truth. But shall such poor creatures as we are ever have perfect characters? Yes, we shall one day be perfectly holy! God's Holy Spirit, when He has finished His work, will leave in us no trace of sin! No temptation shall be able to touch us! There will be in us no relics of our past and fallen state. Oh, will not that be blessed? I was going to say it is all the glory I need--the glory of being perfect in character, never sinning, never judging unjustly, never thinking a vain thought, never wandering away from the perfect Law of God, never vexed with sin which has so long been my worst enemy! One day we shall be glorious because the devil, himself, will not be able to detect a fault in us--and those eyes of God which burn like fire and read the inmost secrets of the soul will not be able to detect anything blameworthy in us! Such shall be the character of the saints that they shall be meet to fellowship with Christ Himself! They will be fit company for that thrice Holy Being before whom angels veil their faces. This is glory! Next, I understand by, "glory," our perfected manhood. When God made Adam, he was a far superior being to any of us. Man's place in creation was very remarkable. The Psalmist says, "For You have made him a little lower than the angels and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas." No king among men in these days could rival Adam in the Gar- den of Eden--he was, indeed, monarch of all that he surveyed, and from the lordly lion down to the tiniest insect of all, living creatures paid him willing homage. Can we ever rise to this last honor? Brothers and Sisters, listen--"It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like He, for we shall see Him as He is." Is there any limit to the growth of the mind of a man? Can we tell what he may reach? We read of Solomon that God gave him largeness of heart as the sand of the sea! God will give to His people glory that will include in it more largeness of heart than Solomon ever knew! Then shall we know even as we are known by God. Now we see, but it is, "through a glass darkly." But then we shall see "face to face." You have met with men of great intellect and you have looked up to them, but assuredly, the smallest babe in Christ, when he shall reach Heaven, shall have a greater intellect than the most profound philosopher who has ever astounded mankind by his discoveries! We shall not always be as we are today, contracted and hampered because of our little knowledge, our slender faculties and our dull perceptions. Our ignorance and prejudice shall vanish. What a man will become we can scarcely tell when he is remade in the image of God, and made like unto our Divine Lord who is, "the firstborn among many brethren." Here we are but in the embryo stage--our minds are but the seeds, or the bulbs out of which shall come the flower and glory of a nobler manhood! Your body is to be developed into something infinitely brighter and better than the bodies of men here below. And as for the soul, we cannot guess to what an elevation it shall be raised in Christ Jesus. There is room for the largest expectation, here, as we conjecture what will be the full accomplishment of the vast intent of eternal love--an intent which has involved the sacrifice of the Only-Begotten Son of God! That can be no mean design which has been carried on at the expense of the best that Heaven, itself, possessed! Further, by "glory" and, "coming to glory," I think we must understand complete victory. Dwelling in the age of the Romans, men said to themselves, as they read the Scriptures, "What does the Apostle mean by 'glory'?" And they could scarcely help connecting it with conquest and the return of the warrior in triumph. Men called it, "glory," in those days when valiant warriors returned from fields of blood with captives and spoil. Then did the heroes ride through the streets of Rome, enjoying a triumph voted them by the senate. Then, for a while, the men of war were covered with glory and all the city was glorious because of them. As Christians, we hate the word, "glory," when it is linked with wholesale murder and symbolized in garments rolled in blood. But yet there is a kind of fighting to which you and I are called, for we are soldiers of the Cross and if we fight valiantly under our great Captain, and rout every sin, and are found faithful even unto death--then we shall enter glory and receive the honor which belongs to men who have fought a good fight, and have kept the faith. It will be no small glory to obtain the crown of life which fades not away. Is not this a full glory if we only place these three things together, a purified character, a perfected nature and a complete victory? An invaluable ingredient in true glory is the Divine approval. "Glory" among men means approbation--it is a man's glory when he is honored by his Queen and she hangs a medal on his breast--or when his name is mentioned in the high court of Parliament and he is ennobled for what he has done. If men speak of our actions with approval, it is called fame and glory. Oh, but one drop of the approbation of God has more glory in it than a sea full of human praise! And the Lord will reward His own with this holy favor. He will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant," and Christ, before the universe, will say, "Come, you blessed of My Father." Oh, what glory that will be! They were despised and rejected of men; they "wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; destitute, afflicted, tormented"--but now God approves them and they take seats among the peers of Heaven, made noble by the approbation of the Judge of All! This is glory with an emphasis, substantial glory! One approving glance from the eyes of Jesus; one accepting word from the mouth of the Father will be glory enough for any one of us--and this we shall have if we follow the Lamb wherever He goes! But this is not all--children of God will have the glory of reflecting the glory of God. When any of God's unfallen creatures shall wish to see the greatness of God's goodness, mercy and love, they that dwell in Heaven will point out a glorified saint. Whenever any spirit from a far off regions desires to know what is meant by faithfulness and Grace, some angel will reply, "Go and talk with those who have been redeemed from among men." I believe that you and I will spend much of eternity in making known to principalities and powers the unsearchable riches of the Grace of God. We shall be mirrors reflecting God and in us shall His Glory be revealed. There may be myriads of races of pure and holy beings of whom we have never heard of as yet, and these may come to the New Jerusalem as to the great metropolis of Jehovah's universe--and when they come, there they will gaze upon the saints as the highest instances of Divine Grace, wisdom, power and love. It will be their highest pleasure to hear how eternal mercy dealt with us unworthy ones. How we shall delight to rehearse to them the fact of the Father's eternal purpose, the story of the Incarnate God--the God that loved and died and the love of the blessed Spirit who sought us in the days of our sin, and brought us to the foot of the Cross, renewing us in the spirit of our minds and making us to be sons of God! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, this shall be our glory, that God shall shine through us to the astonishment of all! Yet I think glory includes somewhat more than this. In certain cases, a man's glory lies in his relationships. If any of the royal family should come to your houses, you would receive them with respect. Yes, and even as they went along the street they would be spied out, and passers-by would say, "That is the prince!" And they would honor the son of our good Queen. But royal descent is a poor business compared with being allied to the King of kings! Many angels are exceedingly bright, but they are only servants to wait upon the sons. I believe that there will be a kind of awe upon the angels at the sight of men--when they see us in our glory, they will rejoice to know our near relation to their Lord--and to fulfill their own destiny as ministering spirits appointed to minister to the heirs of salvation. No pride will be possible to the perfected, but we shall then realize the exalted position to which, by our new birth, and the Divine adoption we have been raised. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God." Sons of God! Sons of the Lord God Almighty! Oh what glory this will be! Then there will be connected with this the fact that we shall be connected with Jesus in everything. For do not you see, Brothers and Sisters, it was because of our fall that Christ came here to save men? When He worked out a perfect righteousness, it was all for us. When He died, it was all for us. And when He rose again, it was all for us! And what is more, we lived in Christ, we died in Him, we were buried in Him and rose in Him--and we shall ascend into Heaven to reign with Him! All our glory is by Christ Jesus and in all the glory of Christ Jesus we have a share. We are members of His body. We are one with Him. I say the creatures that God has made, when they shall come to worship in the New Jerusalem, will stand and gaze at glorified men and with bated breath will say one, to another "These are the beings whose nature the Son of God assumed! These are the chosen creatures whom the Prince of Heaven bought with His own blood." They will stand astonished at the Divine Glory which will be manifested in beings emancipated from sin and Hell and made heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ! Will not even angels be surprised and awed as they look on the Church and say to one another, "This is the bride, the Lamb's wife!" They will marvel how the Lord of Glory should come to this poor earth to seek a spouse and that He should enter into eternal union with such a people! Glory, glory dwells in Immanuel's land! Now we are getting near to the center of it. I feel inclined, like Moses, to take off my shoes, for the place where we stand is holy ground, now that we are getting to see poor bushes like ourselves aglow with the indwelling God and changed from glory unto glory! And yet this is not all, for there in Heaven we shall dwell in the immediate Presence of God. We shall dwell with Him in nearest and dearest fellowship! All the felicity of the Most High will be our felicity. The blessedness of the Triune Jehovah shall be our blessedness forever and ever. Did you notice that our text says, "He has called us unto His glory"? This outshines everything--the glory which the saints will have is the same glory which God possesses and such as He, alone, can bestow! Listen to this text--"Whom He justified them He also glorified." He glorifies them! I know what it is to glorify God, and so do you, but when we poor creatures glorify God it is in a poor way, for we cannot add anything to Him. But what must it be for God, Himself, to glorify a man! The glory which you are to have forever, my dear believing Brothers and Sisters, is a glory which God Himself will put upon you! Peter, as a Hebrew, perhaps uses a Hebraism when he says, "His glory." It may be that he means the best of glory that can be, even as the Jews were apt to say--"The trees of God"--when they meant the greatest trees, or, "the mountains of God," when they intended the highest mountains. So, by the glory of God, Peter may mean the richest, fullest glory that can be. In the original, the word, "glory," has about it the idea of, "weight," at which the Apostle Paul hints when he speaks of a "weight of glory." This is the only glory that has weight in it, all else is light as a feather. Take all the glories of this world and they are outweighed by the small dust of the balance. Place them here in the hollow of my hand, all of them--a child may blow them away as thistledown! God's glory has weight! It is solid, true, real--and he that gets it possesses no mere name, or dream, or tinsel--he has that which will abide the rust of ages and the fire of judgment. The glory of God! How shall I describe it? I must set before you a strange Scriptural picture. Mordecai must be made glorious for his fidelity to his king and singular is the honor which his monarch ordains for him. This was the royal order. "Let the royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man with whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.'" Can you not imagine the surprise of the Jew when robe and ring were put upon him, and when he found himself placed upon the king's horse? This may serve as a figure of that which will happen to us--we shall be glorified with the Glory of God! The best robe, the best of Heaven's array shall be appointed unto us and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever! Highest of all our glory will be the enjoyment of God Himself. He will be our exceeding joy--this bliss will swallow up every other--the blessedness of God. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul. "Whom have I in Heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside You." Our God shall be our glory! Yet bear with me, I have left out a word again--the text has it, "Unto His eternal glory." Yes, but that is the gem of the ring. The glory which God has in reserve for His chosen will never come to an end--it will stay with us and we shall stay with it forever! It will always be glory, too. Its brightness will never become dim. We shall never be tired of it, or sated with it. After ten thousand thousand millions of years in Heaven, our happiness shall be as fresh as when it first began! Those are no fading laurels which surround immortal brows. Eternal glory knows no diminution. Can you imagine a man being born at the same time that Adam was created and living all these thousands of years as a king like Solomon, having all he could desire? His would seem to be a glorious life. But, if at the end of 7,000 years that man must necessarily die, what has it profited him? His glory is all over, now--its fires have died out in ashes. But you and I, when we once enter Glory, shall receive what we can neither lose nor leave. Eternity! Eternity! This is the sweetness of all our future bliss! Rejoice, you saintly ones! Take your harps down from the willows, any of you who are mourning--and if you never sang before, yet sing this morning, "God has called us unto His eternal glory," and this is to be our portion world without end! III. I can only find time for a few words upon the concluding head, which is--WHAT INFLUENCE SHOULD ALL THIS HAVE UPON OUR HEARTS? I think, first, it ought to excite desire in many here present that they might attain unto glory by Christ Jesus. Satan, when he took our blessed Lord to the top of an exceedingly high mountain, tempted Him to worship him by offering Him the kingdoms of the world and all the glories thereof. Satan is very clever and I will, at this time, take a leaf out of his book. Will you not fall down and worship the Lord Jesus when He can give you the Kingdom of God and all the glory thereof, and all this, not in pretense, but in reality? If there was any force in the temptation to worship Satan for the sake of the glory of this world, how much more reason is there for urging you to worship the Son of God that you may obtain His salvation with eternal glory! I pray the Holy Spirit to drop a hot desire into many a poor sinner's breast, this morning, that he may cry, "If this glory is to be had, I will have it, and I will have it in God's way, for I will believe in Jesus! I will repent, I will come to God and so obtain His promise." Secondly, this ought to move us to the feeling of fear. If there is such a glory as this, let us tremble lest by any means we should come short of it! Oh, my dear Hearers--especially you that are my fellow members, brother Church officers and workers associated with me--what a dreadful thing it will be if any one of us should come short of this glory! Oh, if there were no Hell, it would be Hell enough to miss Heaven! What if there were no Pit that is bottomless, nor undying worm, nor unquenchable fire? It would be boundless misery to have a shadow of a fear of not reaching to God's eternal glory! Let us, therefore, pass the time of our sojourning here in fear, and let us watch unto prayer and strive to enter in at the strait gate. God grant we may be found of Him, at last, to praise and honor! If we are right, how this ought to move us to gratitude! Think of this--we are to enjoy "His eternal glory!" What a contrast to our deserts! Shame and everlasting contempt are our righteous due apart from Christ. If we were to receive according to our merits, we should be driven from His Presence and from the glory of His power. Verily, He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, for, after all our transgressions, He has still reserved us for glory, and reserved Glory for us! What love and zeal should burn in our bosoms because of this! Last of all, it should move us to a dauntless courage. If this glory is to be had, do we not feel like the heroes in Bun-yan's picture? Before the dreamer there stood a fair palace and he saw persons walking upon the top of it, clad in light, and singing. Around the door stood armed men to keep back those who would enter. Then a brave man came up to one who had a writer's inkhorn by his side and said, "Set down my name." And straightway the warrior drew his sword and fought with all his might until he had cut his way to the door. And then he entered and they within were heard to sing-- "Come in, come in, Eternal glory you shall win." Will you not draw your swords this morning and fight against sin till you have overcome it? Do you not desire to win Christ and to be found in Him? Oh, let us now begin to feel a passion for eternal glory and then, in the strength of the Spirit, and in the name of Jesus, let us press forward till we reach it! Even on earth we may taste enough of this glory to fill us with delight! The glory which I have described to you dawns on earth though it only comes to its noontide in Heaven--the glory of sanctified character, the glory of victory over sin, the glory of relationship to God, the glory of union with Christ-- these are all to be tasted in a measure here below. These glories send their beams down even to these valleys and lowlands. Oh, to enjoy them, today, and thus to have earnests and foretastes of Glory! If we have them, let us go singing on until we reach the place where God's eternal glory shall surround us. Amen. __________________________________________________________________ The First Setting Up of the Bronze Serpent (No. 1722) DELIVERED ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 10, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, 'Why ha ve you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread.' And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against you; pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Make you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come topass, that everyone thatis bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.' And Moses made a serpent of brass, and putit upon a pole, and it came topass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." Numbers 21:4-9. I HAVE frequently expounded to you the type of the bronze serpent as our Lord interprets it in the third of John. I thought it meet, tonight, to take that type in its connection and look at the original circumstances which led to the setting of it up--for while the general doctrine of looking for salvation to Christ as the bronze serpent is always to be preached and is most usefully set forth in the midst of the unconverted--yet I take it that its original institution teaches us much which ought not to be overlooked. It is very clear that this type has its first voice to the people of God, for it was among Israel--among the nominal people of God--that this bronze serpent was first needed and first set up. And while the instruction which it gives is wide as the universe, for whoever looks shall live, nevertheless it has an inner circle to which it, first of all, addresses itself--the professed members of the Church of God. The Book of Numbers might be called, without any impropriety, "Moses' Pilgrim's Progress." It contains a full account of the progress of the pilgrims through the wilderness until they came to the promised land. And, like Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," it is not only a history of any one person or nation, but it is the picture of the life of all God's people. Probably no one among us will pass through all the troubles of the Israelites, so as to become in one person an epitome of all wilderness experience, and yet even this may be, for so it was with David, and so it has been with others by whom the Lord would instruct His Church. This, however, is exceptional. But, take the whole of us together as the Church of God, and you will find that our lives are mirrored, pictured and foreseen in the travels of God's chosen people from the land of Egypt to Canaan. I am afraid that many of us can see ourselves even in the passage before us. Yes, not only those of us who are young and raw in spiritual things, but certain of us who have been, for many years, following in the Divine track, and are hoping, by-and-by, to enjoy our portion in the better country. If even Moses and Aaron erred on the road, I fear there are very few of us who can read the story without crying, "I remember my faults this day!" The passage before us occurred almost at the end of Israel's wanderings. They had been, now, for 40 years in the wilderness, and they had come within sight of the Promised Land. They had only to cross the mountains of Edom and to get through the passes of Seir, and they would have been at once in the land which flows with milk and honey! But the Edomites would not permit them the privilege of passing along the highway and so, as Israel must not fight his brother Esau, they were called upon to go around his border and to come down to an arm of the Red Sea by a long and weary march, when they seemed to be on the border of their covenanted inheritance! If this happened at the end of their marches, let none of us presume upon our experience and knowledge. May the Holy Spirit help us while we learn caution from this Inspired history, for these things happened to them for our instruction. I. I call your attention, first of all, to their DISCOURAGEMENT--"The soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." Assuredly there are times when God's servants become discouraged. To their shame, let us say it. To our shame let us confess it. It is by faith that we live, but as discouragement is the opposite of faith, it does not help our life. It is generally the fruit of unbelief and so, by discouragement, we cease to live a healthy and vigorous life--and we begin to faint. Even those of God's children who have had much experience in the Divine way, at times, give way to discouragement. The reason may be found in various things. Occasionally it springs out of disappointment. It was a serious disappointment to the Israelites to see the land over there within a day's march, or less, and yet for Edom to say, "I will come out against you with the sword. You shall not pass through my border." It seemed like having the cup at the lips and being denied a drink! It was a grievous trial, after all those years, to have come so close, and then to be forced to march back to the Red Sea! How tantalizing to see the land, as through a wall of crystal, and yet to be unable to put foot upon it! It was a bitter disappointment and there may be like trials in store for us. Possibly some of my Master's servants have entertained the notion that they have made amazing progress in the Divine life and, just then, an event has occurred which showed them their weakness--and they have been forced to weep in secret places and upbraid themselves, saying, "After all this, am I no better than to be cast down about a trifle? Have I suffered so much, and yet is my progress so small?"-- "I thought that in some fa vored hour, My Lord would answer my request, And, by His love's subduing power Would slay my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart, And let the angry powers of Hell Assault my soul in every part." We ask to have our waters purified and lo, we are stirred till all the mud which was quiet in the bottom of our soul is made visible and pollution appears everywhere! Yet may not this be the nearest and surest way to purity? This making us see the secret depravity of our hearts? Yet what a disappointment! I thought I was something and now I perceive that I am nothing! I had half hoped that I was perfect and now I see my secret imperfections and lusts more clearly than ever-- "The truth is easy to repeat; But when my faith is sharply tried I find myself a learner yet, Unstable, weak, and apt to slide." We thought that we were climbing into full assurance, and lo, we descend into the valley of humiliation! Yes, we did taste of the honey of bold confidence, and we said, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." But now we hardly know whether we are the people of God at all! We have, with trembling, to repeat our first step and turn our eyes to the bleeding Savior, hoping, as poor sinners, to find salvation in Him! This need of progress is a dreadful thing, and yet it has happened to many till they have dropped all idea of boasting, and have said with the Apostle, "Not as though I had already attained." They have felt like men beginning a race, although they have been running that race for many a patient year! Such disappointment often costs the child of God much discouragement because of the way. It was not, however, merely disappointment--it was much more. It was the unfriendliness of those who ought to have been most brotherly. Surely Edom ought to have granted his brother, Israel, the small privilege of passing through the country, seeing it was the nearest way to Canaan. It would not have cost Esau anything. Israel promised to pay if they even drank of the water of his wells. But, no, they must submit to this unkindness. I have known people of God much discouraged by the unfriendliness of those whom they thought to be their Brothers and Sisters in Christ. They went to them for sympathy and they received rebuffs! They looked to them for help in the time of depression and it was denied them. They said, "Surely, my Brethren will comfort me," but they cried in the end, like Job, "Miserable comforters are you all." Then have they sighed, "It was not an enemy, then I could have borne it; but it was one who was my equal, my acquaintance. We went to the house of God in company." You know the story of David's desertion by his friends and of our Lord's betrayal by Judas. And you are well aware how often heartbreak has come to the best of men through the unfriendliness of those whom they looked upon as sure to render them kindness. The people were much discouraged because of the way, for it was blocked up by an unbrotherly brother. May the Lord's people learn great tenderness to one another, for sometimes we may say thoughtlessly that which will inflict a ragged wound. Let us be loving and tender as a nurse with a child, remembering the gentleness of the Father and the tenderness of Jesus, and the compassion of the Holy Spirit. Alas, that it should be often true that the souls of the people of God may be much discouraged because of the absence of Christian love! Resolve that it shall not be your fault. Undoubtedly, however, the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the length of the way. The nation had been on the march 40 years! They had stopped for considerable periods at different encampments, but still, they never knew how long they would be in one spot. They were like swallows, always on the wing. It is true their life was full of mercy, but at the time mentioned in our text they were not in the humor to notice mercy--they were more inclined to notice discomfort and to complain that the way was so long that they were downright weary of it. They had hoped, years before, to have reached the goodly land, and now they must change their direction and go all round the Edomite country! This was tiresome and tried their patience till it quite failed. To certain of God's people, old age has brought much of heaviness by reason of its infirmities and afflictions. They often sigh, "Why are His chariots so long in coming?" They are willing, in the spirit, to abide the Master's will, but the flesh is weak and they wonder whether the Lord has quite forgotten them. Why has He not taken them Home? Why does He keep them lingering in this banishment, so far off from the dear Father's house? Do you not hear them mournfully sing-- "O when shall we at once go up, Nor this side Jordan longer stop But the good land possess? When shall we end our lingering years, Our sorrows, sins, and doubts, and fears-- A howling wilderness"? Oh, my dear Brothers and Sisters, if your length of years has become a burden, God grant that you many not be discouraged! May you be "such an one as Paul the Aged," and bear up under all the growing weaknesses of your years, bringing forth fruit in your old age. Be not cast down, for the Master will come, and will not tarry. He has not forgotten His servants! He will give them their penny at sundown. The ripe sheaf shall not be left in the field too long. Your Lord will come and receive you unto Himself, that where He is you may also be. Quietly hope and patiently wait for the salvation of God. And yet, no doubt, the length of the way has discouraged full many a true pilgrim. Then, there was the fatigue of the way, for journeying through that wilderness was by no means an easy business, especially along the shore of the gulf. Very rugged to this day is the pathway there. The road is full of hills and valleys, and rugged ravines and sharp stones, and weary sands. Traveling there is as bad as traveling can be. To some of God's own children life is no parade upon a level lawn, but rough marching and deep wading. They have to take the bleak side of the hill; the wind blows upon them and the sleet is driven in their eyes, and their home is but a cold harbor to them. Even their bed seems to have a stone for its pillow. We know certain of God's people who, what with poverty and ill-health, with ungenerous relations, with persecution, with hard labor and with short commons, find, from day to day, that the pathway to Heaven lies through briars and thorns, over dark mountains and through black forests. Do you marvel that their souls are discouraged because of the way? I think I hear somebody saying, "Well, now, I don't like all this. I do not get discouraged and I do not find the road to be rough." Dear Brother, be thankful that you do not, but let me warn you not to judge others. If you are like great bullocks, full of strength, do not get to pushing with horn and shoulder those who happen to be the weak cattle, for the Lord takes note of haughty looks and proud words. When any of His saints grow so strong and stomach-full that they despise the tried ones, they are likely, themselves, to smart for it. The rule of our God and King is this--"He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He has sent away empty." This I know both by observation and experience--that there are many true pilgrims who will enter the King's country triumphantly at the last, who, nevertheless, are occasionally much discouraged because of the way. And yet, Brothers and Sisters, I am not going to make any excuse for discouragement in myself, nor would I try to make it for you. You do not want to have any excuse made for you, do you? After all, these Israelites were a highly favored people. What if they were driven to wind around the land of Edom? Yet the Lord went before them and is not that man happy who marches where Jehovah leads? Tell us that God has chosen the way and we do not want to know more about it. "He led them forth by a right way." Depend upon that! There could be no mistake where infinite Wisdom led the van. Now, Brother, you are discouraged, you say, because of the way, but whose way is it? Have you chosen your own way and willfully run against your duty and against the Providence of God? Well, then, I say nothing about the consequences of such conduct, for they must be terrible! But if you have endeavored to follow the Lord fully and if you have tried to keep the path of His statutes, then it must be well with you. Why are you discouraged? Judge not by the sight of the eyes, nor by the hearing of the ears--let Faith sit on the judgment seat and I am sure she will give forth this verdict-- "If the Lord wills it, it is well. If Jehovah leads the way, the road must be right." Besides that, not only did God lead them, but God carried them. He says, Himself, that He bore them on eagle's wings, for though the way was often rough, yet it is wonderful to remember that their feet did not swell, neither did their garments wax old upon them, all those 40 years! Though it was a wilderness, yet their bread was daily given them and though it was a land of drought, yet the smitten Rock with its waters followed them, and they knew nothing of drought. How could they be better off than to have Heaven for their granary, the rocks for their wine cellars, and God, Himself, for their Provider? They were gentlemen commoners upon the bounty of Jehovah! They were honorable pensioners of the King of kings! What could they desire which He had not supplied? What city was lit up at night with a pillar of fire, as their great canvas city was enlightened? With what other people did God dwell? Where else did He walk in the midst of their abodes and manifest Himself as He did to Israel? Instead of being discouraged, they had every cause to be doubly grateful and glad. Led of God, fed of God, taught of God, guarded of God--what better lot could they imagine? Besides, dear Friends, though they were so very long in getting to Canaan, yet they would get there if they would only believe their God. God would surely bring them in. To every faithful one He would say, "You shall stand in your lot in the end of the days." Though the unbelievers among them perished and their carcasses fell in the wilderness, yet even to such of them as repented, there was this sweet thought, that though nothing more than God's work might appear unto His servants, yet His glory would be seen by their children--and the next generation should surely enter into the land. Come, let us be of good comfort, then, for the same reasons! We, also, shall reach our Father's house in due time! We shall get home and our homecoming shall not be too late for the marriage supper of the Lamb! The Lord knows the way of the righteous. He is steering us from day to day by Infallible Wisdom and, despite these stormy seas, we shall yet cast anchor in the fair havens where our Lord has gone. "So shall we be forever with the Lord! Comfort one another with these words." The Lord is doing us no hurt. The Lord is denying us no good. He is making even evil things to work together for good--for our good--and we have no proper ground for discouragement. Apparent ground for fear there is in plenty, but real ground there is none-- "Your harps, you trembling saints, Down from the willows take! Loud to the praise of Love Divine-- Bid every string awake." II. In the case of the Israelites this discouragement came to a great head, for it led to COMPLAINT--and that is our second point. "And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither any water; and our soul loathes this light bread." This was a bitter and wicked complaint! We are in a sad case, dear Brothers and Sisters, when our discouragements reach such a point that we begin to complain against God, for the complaints that come at these times are such as God is not likely to bear with! When God's people are in real trouble, He is long-suffering and tender towards His afflicted--but with the obstinate He shows Himself obstinate. When the people complained of thirst, the Lord sweetened the waters of Marah for them. When they were hungry, He gave them bread from Heaven. But when, having nothing justly to complain of, they merely grumbled because they were discouraged, He dealt with them severely and sent the fiery serpents among them which bit many of them, so that much people of Israel died. Beware of a murmuring spirit! God will pity our needs, but He will punish our whims. Some of us have need to be cautioned against letting the spirit of discouragement hurry us on to quarrelling with God and questioning His love. It is evil for a saint to strive with His Savior! When these people made their first complaint, it was an amazing one! It was a complaint about having been brought out of Egypt. "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" Well, but first of all, they ought not to complain of being brought up out of Egypt, for that was a land of bondage where their male children had to perish in the river and where they, themselves, longed to die, for life had become intolerable! And yet, you see, they are complaining that they were brought up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, as they said. Is it not possible that our rebellious hearts may even complain of God's mercy? For lack of something to murmur about, discouraged ones will pick holes in the goodness of God! What a pity that it should be so! Brothers and Sisters, if we are Believers in Christ, we have been redeemed from bondage! We have been brought into a separated condition and made to be the people of God! Shall we ever complain of that? Suppose it brings upon us derision, loneliness, unkindness? Suppose it entails upon us loss and self-denial? Suppose it involves us in many difficulties-- are we going to flinch because of these? God forbid! Did we not count the cost when first we started out from Egypt? And having counted the cost, will we now draw back from the fight? No, but in the name of God we will struggle until we have won the victory! And it shall never be a complaint against God that He brought us up out of Egypt. He will not let us die in the wilderness. We cannot believe it, and we will not let our soul say so!-- "Determined to save, He watched over my path When, Satan's blind slave, I sported with death! And can He have taught me to trust in His name, And thus far have brought me to put me to shame?" I cannot believe it. Lie down, O dog of doubt! Lie down, O cur of unbelief! If you have no better bark than this, be quiet! Oh, for God's Grace to stop complaining at once! Our God never forgave a soul to let that soul fall from Grace. Christ never bought a soul with His blood to make it one of His and then to let it slip through His fingers into Hell! The Lord has never led us through so many trials and temptations to suffer us, after all, to be shipwrecked and cast away! If He had meant to destroy us, He would not have showed us such things as these. Let us not become so peevish as to talk about dying in the wilderness when, in fact, the Lord is making signs and wonders of us by causing us to live in the wilderness! Next, look at their complaint of having no food--"There is no bread, neither is there any water." It was a great lie! There was bread--they had to admit that fact in the next breath--but then they did not call the manna, "bread." They called it by an ugly name in the Hebrew. The water, too, was not muddy and thick like the water of the Nile--it was bright, clear, pure water from the Rock and, therefore, they would not call it water. They wanted water with substance in it which would leave grit between their teeth--and as the stream which leaped from the flinty Rock was pure crystal they would not call it water. Have you not known people to whom God has given great mercy, and yet they have talked as if they were quite deserted? Unbelief is blind just as surely as faith is far seeing. Unbelief enjoys nothing, just as faith rejoices in everything. He that believes, finds sweetness in the manna--"the taste thereof was as wafers made with honey." But he that has no faith finds nothing pleasant even in "the corn of Heaven," but says, "there is no bread." Only think of anybody saying, "Our soul loathes this light bread"! It was a diet that was very easy to digest and kept them in good health--and yet they pined for heavy, lumpy food! They began to wish for leeks, garlic and onions--something rank and strong--and less refined than "angels' food." They sighed for the meat that they ate in Egypt! They hankered after a coarse and dangerous diet! God knew that it was not proper food for them in the blazing desert and He gave them, instead, the best possible nourishment! And now they cry, "Oh, there is nothing substantial in it. It does not make you feel as if you were full." They found fault with that which they ought to have commended. Men really need that which is sufficient, that which will sustain the frame, that which will enable them to continue in health and strength--but these grumblers remembered the rough stuff they used to eat among the brick kilns and they wished to feel full and overblown as they had now and then felt in Egypt. Thus they fell to complaining against God without excuse! Are there any here in that state? Are you so discouraged that you do not want to live by faith any longer--it seems too unsubstantial? Are you tired of praying, "Give us day by day our daily bread"? You would like a nice lump sum in the bank, instead, and plenty of the cares and snares of wealth! And is it so that you are no longer content with the old Gospel? It is so easy of digestion that you pine for a hard morsel--a piece of cast-iron philosophy to lie on your mind for years to come. You want a bit of indigestible modern thought that will remain within you like the cucumbers of Egypt which were not so soon gone as the manna of Heaven! You crave for leeks, garlic and onions--something sensational, remarkable, though by no means comfortable to the pure taste of those who are born of the Spirit of God! Is it not strange how men who call themselves Christians run after that kind of meat? And of the real good Gospel, which is able to save the soul, and to build it up, they begin to say, "It is worn out! We have heard this one thing so often. You see it is just the same old-fashioned manna! We need more variety. We demand that which is novel, which will commend itself to our advanced intellectual condition by its metaphysical subtlety." That is the style! I see the spirit everywhere, and it comes across us all in some form or other--complaining of what God provides in Providence, complaining of what God provides in the Bible, complaining of what the Holy Spirit provides in His Divine operations! We look out, like the Athenians, for some new thing--we do not know what we want. When the grumbling humor is on us, we complain of anything and everything, as did these Israelites! They complained of God; they complained of Moses; they complained of the manna. They would have been ready to complain of Aaron, but, fortunately for him, he had been dead a month or so, and so they poured the more gall upon Moses! To men in this state, nothing is right--nothing can be right, The whole world is turned upside down and if it were again turned the other way it would be just as wrong--perhaps more wrong than ever! You smile, I see, at this. Well, you may smile if you like, Brothers and Sisters, but it is a thing to weep over, for I remember a text that says, "The Lord heard their murmuring." That is the solemn point in the matter. We are pleased that God should hear our prayers. It is that which we long for--but is it not terrible that God should hear our murmuring? There are two things that God always hears. Mark this! The first is the voice of faith and the second is the voice of unbelief! For, as much as God loves faith, so as much does He loathe unbelief! When we are strong in faith, the Lord can do anything with us and for us, and He can make us equal to all difficulties, so that we can say with the Apostle, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." But when we give way to unbelief, Christ Himself can do nothing with us, as it is written--"He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Do you not feel sorry, then, that you ever murmured and complained, since your God heard it all? What is more, as the Lord usually answers the prayers of faith, so He often answers the prayers of incredulity. I have heard a Brother cry out because of his small and bearable trouble. And I have known the Lord answer his impatience with great trials. If children cry for nothing, they ought to have something to cry for! And, if we get discouraged when there really is no reason for it, we shall probably be answered with astonishing tribulations! If we begin complaining when we ought to be singing, it is likely enough that we shall have grave cause for crying out, for is it not written concerning the Lord, "With the froward You will show Yourself froward"? When we walk tenderly, submissively and quietly--and when we say with David, "My soul is even as a weaned child," then the Lord walks very gently and comfortably toward us and our path is smoothed by His love. But the Lord has said, "If you walk contrary to Me, I will walk contrary to you." Why, Brothers and Sisters, if we are discouraged in any way, let us pray that we may not venture further in that evil way, nor begin to rail against the Lord and His Providence! May we go back to confidence and joy and faith--and not go on till we fall into the ditch of murmuring--and be waiting there for yet worse things. III. The Lord, before long, sends upon murmurers, PUNISHMENT. This is our third head. We read that as soon as the people found fault with Moses, and with God, and with the manna, "the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died." Fiery serpents were ready at the Divine call--the Lord never lacks means of chastisement. There was no interval between the sin and the suffering, for the fault was wanton and inexcusable. Will God send fiery serpents among His own people? These were the tribes that ate of the manna, and the people that "drank of the Rock that followed them, which Rock was Christ." These were the Lord's visible Church in the wilderness, and though not all spiritually His children, yet they were types of His chosen, representatives of the whole believing family. Well, Brothers and Sisters, the Lord, in fatherly anger, may send fiery serpents among a doubting and quarrelsome people, and so those who bite with fault-finding may find themselves bitten! These fiery serpents come in different forms. Sometimes they may be new trials. The Israelites, as far as I know, had never seen these seraphs, or burning ones, before. They seemed to fly up out of the sand and bite them before they were aware of it! And then the venom entered into their blood and made it scald them till they seemed to be a mass of fire from head to foot, burning with fierce pain and ready to die. It was dreadful to be marching through the midst of fiery flying serpents! The Lord deliver us from that. But He may send to us, if we grow peevish, a fresh and novel affliction, a crooked trial which will twist and wriggle about us--a sudden grief which will poison the fountain of our life--and this may hastily fly at us, as a chastisement for not having believed in God under much happier circumstances. In some Christians these fiery serpents may be the upris- ings of their own corruptions. I have known the corruptions of a child of God to be quiet and still for a long period. They have been there, but they have been forced to hide away like thieves that dare not come out in daylight and, the child of God has, therefore, enjoyed rest. But the good man has been discouraged and has fallen to complaining--and then these inward corruptions have broken forth upon him and compassed him about like bees--innumerable and quick to sting! Some of us know what this means. We have been put to a dead stand with our lively inbred sins which we thought were dead--suddenly they have revived within us and we had to fight against them for dear life! Or, it may be that God will let Satan loose upon us if we disbelieve. Truly we cannot want any worse fiery serpents than the suggestions and insinuations of the devil! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, if you have ever met Satan and fought him foot to foot, you know by your scars what a terrible adversary he is! Why, he will insinuate thoughts into our breasts which never came from our own minds and never would have come--blasphemous thoughts of an infernal kind--and these he would have us accept as ours! He will throw his bombs into our souls and then tell us that these are of our own making! He will make us doubt the existence of God, the Inspiration of Scripture, the Deity of Christ, the Truth of the Gospel, the fact of the Resurrection--in fact, he will make us doubt doctrines for which we would lay down our lives! These are his impieties and not our own thoughts at all--but, like serpents of fire, their sting is terrible! All the while our enemy will beat the great Hell drum concerning our past sins and try, if he can, to drown the voice of mercy and of that precious blood which "speaks better things than that of Abel." Thus he would drive us to despair. Ah, these fiery serpents! Brothers and Sisters, it is much better to be tried with poverty and pain than to be molested by the infernal thoughts that come from Satan! It were better for us to lie down crushed like the very dust beneath our feet and every particle a pain, than to be filled with the desperate thoughts that Satan is able to inject into the mind! Beware, I pray you, of complaining, you that are getting to be at all discouraged! Return to your child-like faith. "Cast not away your confidence which has great recompense of reward," lest you slide, by your unbelief, down into complaining and then by your complaining hatch fiery serpents out of the ground on which you tread! IV. But now, fourthly, here comes the REMEDY. What is to be done when Israel is bitten with fiery serpents? Well, the first thing is confession. They went to Moses and cried, "We have sinned." Oh, that is a sweet art--that are of confession--it empties the bosom of most perilous stuff! Nothing seems to me to be more hideous than to confess your sins to a man like yourselves. I should think that to sit down at a priest's ear and to pour into it all the filth of your soul, and answer every question that he may care to propound to you must be one of the most fearful ordeals through which a human mind can pass! I know that Satan is very ingenious as to the means by which to deprave men and rob them of the last particle of modesty, so as to make them capable of every crime! But I should think that the papist "confession" is his last and darkest invention for depraving the soul beyond all common defilement! It must be the most fearful process of saturating with evil through which the mind can pass! But to confess sin into the ear of Christ is quite another thing! To get alone with Him and to tell Him all our transgressions and temptations--this is as great a blessing as the other is a curse. There is no fear that we can pollute Him--and every blessing comes of emptying out ourselves before Him who is able to take away all sin by reason of His precious blood! Our first business is to hasten away to our great High Priest and tell Him that we have sinned. The second help was that Moses prayed for the people. So our great cure against fiery serpents--horrible thoughts and temptations--is intercession! "If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." If we have grown discouraged, and have sinned by unbelieving utterances, let us go with our poor, little, trembling faith and ask the blessed go-between, the Divine Interposer, to stand before God on our behalf and pray for us that our transgressions may be blotted out! Oh, what a sweet thing it is to have this Advocate! Come, you that are the Lord's people and yet are transgressors, come and rejoice in this--that He makes intercession for transgressors and that He is, therefore, able to save unto the uttermost! But now comes the great remedy. After their confession and the prayer of their mediator, the Lord bade Moses make a bronze serpent and lift it up, that they might look upon it and live. Beloved, when I first came to Christ as a poor sinner and looked to Him, I thought Him the most precious object my eyes had ever lit upon! But this night I have been looking to Him while I have been preaching to you, in remembrance of my own discouragements, my own complaining--and I find my Lord Jesus dearer than ever! I have been seriously ill and sadly depressed--I fear I have rebelled--and, therefore, I look anew to Him and I tell you that He is fairer in my eyes, tonight, than He was at first! It is a delightful thing that there should be a Fountain open for sinners to wash in, but I will tell you something that is more charming, still--there is a Fountain for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and un-cleanness. That Fountain is not for outcasts, only, but for the saints, for the citizens of Jerusalem, for the house of David! "If we walk in the light as God is in the light, and have fellowship one with another"--do we still sin? Yes, that we do, even then, but--"the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." In our lowest condition this is our cleansing! In our highest condition this is still our cleansing! The first time a poor sinner comes up out of the ditch, with his own clothes abhorring him, he is made white through Christ's blood the moment he believes in Jesus! And mark this, when he enters Heaven and stands before the blaze of the supernal glory, it shall still be said of him and of his fellows, "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The bronze Serpent healed me when I first saw the Lord--and the bronze serpent heals me to-night--and shall do so till I die! "Look and live" is for saints as well as for sinners. For you, you ungodly ones-- "There is life for a look at the Crucified One." But equally true is this for you who belong to Jesus but have grieved His Holy Spirit. You that have gone aside from your faith and have begun disputing with your God and complaining of Providence--there is life for you, too, in the Savior lifted up! There are not two ways of salvation--one for sinners and another for saints. There are not two grounds on which we stand--the ground of the sinner saved and the ground of the saint saved. No, the same basis is under each foot--we each sing-- "Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee!" This is the language of the man who has served his God for half a century and preached the Gospel like a Luther or a Calvin, just as certainly as it must be the language of the trembling sinner, guilty and condemned before the living God! Do you not see where the bronze serpent fitly comes in according to Scripture? At the end of the pilgrimage, just before they are going to cross the Jordan, then Israel sees the serpent of brass! Then the people sin and then is there revealed to them in all its splendor that blessed type of Chris--"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." "Should not perish!" As if even a Believer had about him that which would make him perish if he did not, still, look to the appointed cure! Jesus is lifted up that saints might not perish, but might persevere in Grace unto everlasting life! How is our spiritual life rendered everlasting but by the continuance of that look? We are to still be looking to Jesus as long as we live! "Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith." Always looking! Always looking! God keep us looking if we have looked, and bring us to look to Jesus if we have never looked--and to His name be praise forever and ever, Amen! __________________________________________________________________ "Knock!" (No. 1723) DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 27, 1883, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Matthew 7:12. I believe, no doubt, that, taken very strictly, the three exhortations of this verse--which, indeed, are but one-- were, first of all, intended for God's believing people. It was to His disciples that the Lord said, "Cast not your pearls before swine" and, perhaps, certain of them who were poor in spirit might turn around and say, "Lord, we have few pearls; we are too poor to have the treasures of Your Grace so plentifully. You have bidden us not to give that which is holy unto dogs; but holiness is rather a thing we seek after than possess." "Well," says the Lord, "you have only to ask and have; you have not because you ask not; you have only to seek and you will be sure to find--for holy things, like rare pearls, are to be discovered if you look for them. You have only to knock and spiritual secrets shall open to you, even the innermost Truths of God." In each exhortation our Lord bids us pray. Beloved, let us abound in supplication! Depend upon it, failure in prayer will undermine the foundation of our peace and sap the strength of our confidence. But if we abound in pleading with God, we shall grow strong in the Lord and we shall be happy in His love and we shall become a blessing to those around us! Need I commend the Mercy Seat to you who wait before it? Surely prayer must have become such a joy to you, such a necessity of your being, such an element of your life, that I hardly need press it upon you as a duty, or invite you to it as a privilege. Yet I continue to do so because the Master does it by a triple exhortation. A threefold cord is not easily broken--let not my text be neglected by you. Let me urge you to repeated, varied, ever intensifying prayer--ask! Seek! Knock! Cease not to ask till you receive; cease nor to seek till you find; cease not to knock till the door is opened unto you! In these three exhortations there would appear to be a gradation--it is the same thought put into another shape and made more forcible. Ask--that is, in the quiet of your spirit, speak with God concerning your needs and humbly beg Him to grant your desires--this is a good and acceptable form of prayer. If, however, asking should not appear to succeed, the Lord would awaken you to a more concentrated and active longing. Therefore let your desires call in the aid of knowledge, thought, consideration, meditation, practical action and learn to seek for the blessings you desire as men seek for hidden treasures. These good things are laid up in store and they are accessible to fervent minds. See how you can reach them. Add to asking the study of the promises of God, a diligent hearing of His Word, a devout meditation upon the way of salvation and all such means of Grace as may bring you the blessing. Advance from asking to seeking. And if, after all, it should still seem that you have not obtained your desire, then knock and so come to closer and more agonizing work--use not only your voice, but your whole soul--exercise yourself unto godliness to obtain the gift! Use every effort to win that which you seek after, for remember that doing is praying; living to God is a high form of seeking and the bent of the entire mind is knocking. God often gives to His people, when they keep His Commandments, that which He denies to them if they walk carelessly. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." Holiness is essential to power in prayer--the life must knock while the lips ask and the heart seeks. I will change my line of exposition and say--ask as a beggar petitions for alms. They say that begging is a poor trade, but when you ply it well with God, no other trade is so profitable! Men get more by asking than by working without prayer. Though I do not recommend not working, yet I most highly commend praying! Nothing under Heaven pays like prevailing prayer! He that has power in prayer has all things at his call. Ask as a poor mendicant who is hungry and pleads for bread. Then seek as a merchant who hunts for goodly pearls, looking up and down, anxious to give all that he has that he may win a matchless treasure. Seek as a servant carefully looking after his master's interests and laboring to promote them. Seek with all diligence, adding to the earnestness of the beggar, the careful watchfulness of the jeweler who is seeking for a gem. Conclude all by knocking at Mercy's door as a lost traveler, caught out on a cold night in a blinding sleet, knocks for shelter that he may not perish in the storm. When you have reached the gate of salvation, ask to be admitted by the great love of God. Then look well to see the way of entering, seeking to enter in--and if the door still seems shut against you--knock right heavily and continue knocking till you are safely lodged within the home of love! Once again, ask for what you need, seek for what you have lost, knock for that from which you are excluded. Perhaps this last arrangement best indicates the shades of meaning and brings out the distinctions. Ask for everything you need, whatever it may be--if it is a right and good thing, it is promised to the sincere asker! Seek for what you have lost, for what Adam lost you by the Fall; for what you have lost, yourself, by your neglect, by your backsliding, by your lack of prayer--seek till you find the Grace you need. Then knock. If you seem shut out from comfort, from knowledge, from hope, from God, from Heaven--then knock, for the Lord will open unto you! Here you need the Lord's own interference--you can ask and receive, you can seek and find--but you cannot knock and open! The Lord must open the door, Himself, or you are shut out forever. God is ready to open the door. Remember, there is no cherub with fiery sword to guard this gate, but, on the other hand, the Lord Jesus, Himself, opens, and no man shuts. But now I must drop this line of things, for my desire is to use the text in reference to those who are not yet saved. Last Lord's-Day, when we preached upon glory, [Glory! #1721] we had before us the end of the pilgrim way. It was a very, very happy time, for in meditation we reached the suburbs of the Celestial City and we tasted of eternal Glory. This morning I thought we would begin at the beginning and enter in at the wicket gate, which stands at the head of the way to Heaven. Mr. Bunyan, in his, "Pilgrim's Progress," says, "Now over the gate there was written, 'Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.'" His ingenious allegory is always as truthfully instructive as it is delightfully attractive. I concluded that this should be my text. If it is thought worthy to be written over the gate at the entering in of the way of life, it must have a great claim upon the attention of those who have not yet started for Glory, but are anxious to do so. May God the Holy Spirit instruct and quicken them while we hear the Lord from within His palace saying, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." I. First, then, dear Friend, whoever you are, if you are desirous of entering into eternal life, I would expound to you the inscription over the gate, by saying, first, THE DOOR OF MERCY MAY APPEAR TO YOU TO BE CLOSED AGAINST YOU. That is implied in the text--"Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." If to your consciousness the door stood wide open, there would be no need of knocking. But since in your apprehension it is closed against you, it is for you to seek admission in the proper way by knocking. To a large extent, this apprehension is the result of your own fears. You think the gate is closed because you feel it ought to be so--you feel that if God dealt with you as you would deal with your fellow men--He would be so offended with you as to shut the door of His favor once and for all. You remember how guilty you have been, how often you have refused the Divine call and how you have gone on from evil to evil and, therefore, you fear that the Master of the house has already risen up and shut the door. You fear lest, like the obstinate ones in Noah's day, you will find the door of the ark closed and yourself shut out to perish in the general destruction. Sin lies at the door and blocks it. In your judgment, your desponding feelings fasten up the gate of Grace. But it is not so! The gate is not barred and bolted as you think it to be--though it may be spoken of as closed in a certain sense, yet in another sense it is never shut! In any case, it opens very freely. Its hinges are not rusted, no bolts secure it. The Lord is glad to open the gate to every knocking soul! It is closed far more in your apprehension than as a matter of fact, for the sin which shuts it is removed so far as the believing sinner is concerned. Had you but faith enough, you would enter in at this present moment, and if you did once enter in, you would never be put out again, for it is written, "Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out." If you could, with holy courage, take leave and license to come in, you would never be blamed for it. Fear and shame stand in the sinners road and push him back and, blessed is he whose desperate mind forces him to be bold! One thing we should remember when we fear that the door is closed against us, namely, that it is not so fast closed as the door of our hearts has been. You know the famous picture of, "The Light of the World"? It seems to me to be one of the finest sermons the eyes have ever looked upon. There stands the Ever-Blessed, knocking at the door of the soul, but the hinges are rusted, the door, itself, is fast bolted and wild briars and all kinds of creeping plants running up the door prove that it has been a long time since it was moved. You know what it all means--how continuance in sin makes it harder to yield to the knock of Christ and how evil habits creeping up, one after another, hold the soul so fast that it cannot open to the sacred knocking. Jesus has been knocking at some of your hearts ever since you were children--and still He knocks. I hear His blessed hand upon the door at this moment! Do you not hear it? Will you not open? He has knocked a long time and yet He knocks again. I am sure that you have not knocked at Mercy's door so long as Incarnate Mercy has waited at your door! You know you have not. How, therefore, can you complain if there should be an apparent delay in answering your prayers? It is but to make you feel a holy shame for having treated your Lord so ill! Now you begin to know what it is to be kept waiting--what it is to be a weary knocker, what it is to cry, "my head is wet with dew and my locks with the drops of the night." This will excite you to repentance for your unkind behavior and also move you to love more intensely that gentle Lover of your soul who has shown such patience towards you. It will be no loss to you that the door was shut for a while, if you do but gain a penitent heart and a tender spirit! Let me, however, warn you that the door can be closed and kept shut by unbelief. He that believes enters into Christ when he believes. He that comes in by the door shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture--so our Lord says in the 10th chapter of John. "He that believes in Him has everlasting life," there is no question about that! But we read, on the other hand, "So, then, they could not enter in because of unbelief." Forty years the tribes were in the wilderness, going towards Canaan, yet they never reached the promised land because of unbelief! And what if some of you should be 40 years attending this means of Grace? Coming and going, coming and going, hearing sermons, witnessing ordinances, and joining with God's people in worship--what if, after all the 40 years, you should never enter in because of unbelief? Souls, I tell you, if you lived, each one of you as long as Methuselah, you could not enter in unless you believed in Jesus Christ! The moment you have trusted Him with your whole heart and soul, you are within the blessed portals of the Father's house! But however many years you may be asking, seeking and knocking, you will never enter in till faith comes, for unbelief keeps the chain on the door and there is no entering in while it rules your spirit. Do you, however, complain that you should have to knock? It is the rule of the Most High! Am I addressing any who have been earnestly praying for several months? I can sympathize with you, for that was my case, not only for months, but even for years! Through the darkness of my mind and my cruel misapprehensions of the Lord, I did not find peace when I first began to ask for it, although I also sought with much earnestness, going to the House of God every time I could, and reading the Bible, daily, with a burning desire to know the right way. I did not enter into peace till I had knocked long and heavily. Listen, therefore, to one who knows your troubles and hear from me the voice of reason! Ought we to expect to enter into the glorious house of mercy without knocking at its door? Is it so with our own houses? Can every straggler carelessly saunter in? Is it not God's way in the world to give great blessings, but always to make men knock for them? We need bread out of the earth but the farmer must knock at the door of the earth with his plow and with all his instruments of agriculture before his God will hand him out a harvest! Is anything gained in this world without labor? Is it not an old proverb, "No sweat, no sweet: no pains, no gains: no mill, no meal"? And may we not expect, in heavenly things, that at least these great mercies should be prayed for with fervency before they can be bestowed? It is the usual rule with God to make us pray before He gives the blessing. And how could it be otherwise? How could a sinner be saved without prayer? A prayerless soul must be a Christless soul! The feeling of prayer, the habit of prayer, the spirit of prayer, are parts of salvation. Unless it can be said of a man, "Behold, he prays," how can there be any sort of hope that he knows his God and has found reconciliation? The prodigal did not come home dumb, neither did he enter his father's house in sullen silence. No, but as soon as he saw his father, he cried, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven." There must be speech within God, for God gives not a silent salvation! Besides, to make us knock at Mercy's gate is a great blessing to ourselves upon the spot. It is a going to school for us when we are set to plead with God for a while without realized success. It makes a man grow more earnest, for his hunger increases while he tarries. If he obtained the blessing when first he asked for it, it might seem dog cheap. But when he has to plead long, he arrives at a better sense of the value of the mercy sought. He also sees more of his own unworthiness as he stands outside Mercy's gate, ready to swoon with fear--and so he grows more passionately earnest in pleading and, whereas he did but ask at first, he now begins to seek, and he adds cries and tears and a broken heart to all the other ways of his pleading. Thus the man, by being humbled and awakened, is getting good by means of his sorrow while he is kept, for a while, outside the gate! Beside that, he is increasing his capacity for the future. I believe I never could have been able to comfort seekers in their anguish if I had not been kept waiting in the cold, myself. I have always felt grateful for my early distress because of its later results. Many men, whose experiences are recorded in books which are invaluable in the Christian library, never could have written those books if they had not, themselves, been kept waiting--hungry and thirsty and full of soul travail--before the Lord appeared to them. That blessed man, David, who always seems to be-- "Not one, but all mankind's epitome" the history of all men wrapped up in one--how he pictures himself as sinking in the miry clay! Lower and lower did he go, till he cried out of the depths and then, at last, he was taken up out of the horrible pit and his feet were set on a rock that he could tell others what the Lord had done for him! Your heart needs enlarging, dear Sir. The Lord means to prepare you to become a more eminent Christian by expanding your mind. The spade of agony is digging trenches to hold the Water of Life. Depend upon it, if the ships of prayer do not come home speedily, it is because they are more heavily freighted with blessing! When prayer is long in the answering, it will be all the sweeter in the receiving, like fruit which is well ripened by hanging longer on the tree! If you knock with a heavy heart, you shall yet sing with joy of spirit! Therefore, be not discouraged because, for a while, you stand before a closed door. II. Secondly, A DOOR IMPLIES AN OPENING. What is a door meant for if it is always to be kept shut? The wall might as well have remained without a break! I have seen certain houses and public buildings with the form and appearance of doors where there were none--the sham doorway being made for architectural purposes--but nothing is a sham in the House of the Lord. His doors are meant to open! They were made on purpose for entrance and so the blessed Gospel of God is made on purpose for you to enter into life and peace. It would be of no use to knock at a wall, but you may wisely knock at a door, for it is arranged for opening. You will eventually enter in if you knock on, for the Gospel is good news for men--and how could it be good news if it should so happen that they might sincerely come to Christ and ask mercy--and be denied it? I fear that the Gospel preached by certain divines sounds rather like bad news than good news to awakened souls, for it requires so much feeling and preparation on the sinner's part that they are not cheered nor led to hope! But you can be sure that the Lord is willing to save all those who are willing to be saved in His own appointed way. A dear Brother beautifully said in prayer on Monday night--"You, O Lord, are perfectly satisfied with the Lord Jesus, and if we are satisfied with Him, You are satisfied with us." That is the Gospel put into a few words! God is satisfied with Christ and if you are satisfied with Christ, God is satisfied with you! This is a glad tiding to every soul that is willing to accept the Atonement made and the righteousness prepared by the Lord Jesus. Dear Friend, this Gospel must be meant to be received by sinners, or else it would not have been sent. But one says, "I am such a sinner." Just so. You are the sort of person for whom the news of mercy is intended! A Gospel is not needed by perfect men--sinless men need no pardon. No sacrifice is needed if there is no guilt--no atonement is needed where there is no transgression. They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick! This door of hope which God has prepared was meant to be an entrance into life and it was meant to open to sinners, for if it does not open to sinners, it will never open at all! We have all sinned and so we must all be shut out unless it is of free Grace for those who are guilty. I am sure this door must open to those who have nothing to bring with them. If you have no good works, no merits, no good feelings, nothing to recommend you, be not discouraged, for it is to such that Jesus Christ is most precious and, therefore, most accessible, for He loves to give Himself to those who will prize Him most! A man will never have Christ while he has enough of his own; but he that is consciously naked, poor and miserable, is the man for Christ's money--he it is that has been redeemed by price! You may know the redeemed man, for he feels his bondage and acknowledges that he must remain therein unless the redemption of Christ is applied for his deliverance. Dear Friends, that door of hope will be opened to you though you may be ignorant, weak and quite unable to fulfill any high conditions! When the text says, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you," it teaches us that the way of winning admission to the blessing is simple and suitable to common people. If I have to enter in by a door which is well secured, I shall need tools and science. I confess I do not understand the arts--you must send for a gentleman who understands picklocks, "jimmies," and all sorts of burglarious instruments! But if I am only told to knock, fool as I am at opening doors, I know how to knock! Any uneducated man can knock if that is all required of him. Is there a person here who cannot put words together in prayer? Never mind, Friend! Knocking can be done by one who is no orator. Perhaps another cries, "I am no scholar." Never mind, a man can knock though he may be no philosopher. A dumb man can knock! A blind man can knock! With a palsied hand, a man may knock. He who knows nothing of this Book can still lift a hammer and let it fall. The way to open Heaven's gate is wonderfully simplified to those who are lowly enough to follow the Holy Spirit's guidance and ask, seek and knock believ-ingly! God has not provided a salvation which can only be understood by learned men. He has not prepared a Gospel which requires half-a-dozen folio volumes to describe it. It is intended for the ignorant, the short-witted and the dying, as well as for others and, therefore, it must be as plain as knocking at a door! This is it--Believe and live! Seek unto God with all your heart and soul and strength, through Jesus Christ, and the door of His mercy will certainly open to you! The gate of Grace is meant to yield admission to unscientific people since it shall be opened to those who knock! I am sure this door will open to you because it has been opened to so many before you. It has been opened to hundreds of us now present. Could not you, dear Brothers and Sisters, stand up and tell how the Lord opened the gate of His salvation to you? That door has opened to many in this house during the last few weeks. We have seen persons coming forward to tell how the Lord has been pleased to give them an entrance into His mercy, though at one time they were afraid that the door was shut and they were ready to despair! Well, if the door has been so often opened for others, why should it not turn on its hinges for you? Only knock, with faith in God's mercy, and before long it shall yield to your importunity! It is for God's Glory to open His door of Grace and that is one reason why we are sure He will! We cannot expect Him to do that which would be derogatory to His own honor, but we do expect Him to do that which will glorify His sacred attributes! It will greatly honor the mercy, the patience, the love, the Grace, the goodness, the favor of God if He will open the door to such an undeserving one as you are, so knock! Knock, since God delights to give! Knock at the door which, every time it turns on its hinges, unveils His greatness! Knock with a holy confidence at this present moment for "it shall be opened unto you." It is a door which seems closed, but because it is a door, it must be capable of being opened! III. Thirdly knock, for A KNOCKER IS PROVIDED. When persons can be admitted by knocking, a knocker is usually placed on the door--and if not, we often see the words, NO ADMITTANCE. Before bells became so common, the habit of knocking at the door was well near universal and people were accustomed to like the door to resound with their blows. There was a nail head for the knocker to drop upon and people used to smite it so heavily that it became remarked that such blows on the head were killing and, therefore, arose the mirthful proverb, "as dead as a door-nail." It typifies a hearty kind of knocking which I would have you imitate by prayer. Knock at Heaven's gate as earnestly as people knocked at doors in the olden times! Have you not had knocks at your own doors which could be heard all through the house? Some of our Friends are vigorous and knock as if they meant to come in! It may be that gentle folks give such tender taps that they are not heard by the servants, and so they have to wait--but these I am speaking of never fall into that error, for they so startle everybody that they are glad to let them in, for fear they should thunder a second time! In this style let us pray--let us plead in a downright fashion and never cease till we gain admission. I have said that the Lord has provided a knocker. What is this knocker? First of all, it may be found in the promises of God. We are sure to speed well when we can plead a promise. It is well to say unto the Lord, "Do as You have said." What force abides in an appeal to the Word, the Oath and the Covenant of God. If a man presents to another a promissory note upon the day on which it is due, he expects to receive the amount stated therein. God's promises are bills of exchange and He will duly honor them. He was never known to dishonor a bill, yet, and He never will do so. If you can only quote a promise applicable to your condition--spread it before the Lord in faith and say--"Remember this Word unto Your servant upon which you have caused me to hope," you will obtain the blessing! Pleading the promise gives such a knock at the gate of Heaven that it must be opened. The great knocker, however, is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If a person were to call upon you on the behalf of some dearly-beloved son who is far away. If he brought you due credentials and a letter, saying, "Father, treat the bearer well for my sake," you would be sure to show him kindness! And if the aforesaid person was authorized to receive a promised amount in the name of your son, would you not hand out the money? Now, when we go to God and plead the name of Christ, it means that we plead the authority of Christ, that we ask of God as though we were in Christ's place and expect Him to give it to us as if He were giving it to Jesus! That is something more than pleading for Christ's sake. I suppose the Apostles, at first, did plead with God for Christ's sake, but Jesus says to them, "Hitherto you have asked nothing in My name." It is a higher grade of prayer, and when we get to pleading Christ's name with the Father, then do we gloriously prevail. At a Primitive Methodist meeting, a person was trying to pray, but did not get on at it and, presently a voice was heard from the corner of the room, "Plead the blood, Brother! Plead the blood!" I am not very fond of such interruptions, yet this was to be commended, for it gave the right note and set the pleader in his right place. Plead the precious blood of Jesus Christ and you have knocked so that you must be heard! "Alas!" says one, "I see the knocker, for I know something of the promises and of the Person of our Lord, but how am I to knock?" With the hand of faith! Believe that God will keep His promise! Ask Him to do so and thus knock. Believe that Jesus is worthy, whose name you are pleading, and so knock in confidence that God will honor the name of His dear Son. "Alas! My hand is so weak," you say. Then remember that the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities. Ask Him to put His hand upon your hand and, in that fashion, you will be able to knock with prevailing vehemence! I beseech you, knock with all the strength you have and knock often. If you are not in Christ, my dear Hearer, do not give sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids till you have found Him! If you have prayed once, go and pray again! And if you have prayed 10,000 times, yet still continue in prayer! Knock with all your might, with all the vigor of your spirit! Plead as for you life--knock at the door as a man would knock who saw a wolf ready to spring upon him! Knock as one would knock who found himself ready to die of cold outside the door. Throw your whole soul into the work. Say unto the Lord, "I beseech You have mercy upon me and have mercy upon me, now. I faint, I die, unless You manifest Your love to me and take me into Your house and heart, that I may be Yours forever." "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." There is the knocker. IV. Next, to you who are knocking at the gate, A PROMISE IS GIVEN. That is more than having a door before you, or a knocker to knock with. The promise is above the gate in plain words. Read it. You are growing faint and weary. Read the promise and grow strong again! "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Observe how plain and positive it is with its glorious, "shall," burning like a lamp in the center of it! In letters of love, the inscription shines out amidst all the darkness that surrounds you--and these are its words--"It shall be opened unto you." If you knock at the door of the kindest of men, you see no such promise set before you and yet you knock, and knock confidently! How much more boldly should you come to the door of Grace when it is expressly declared, "It shall be opened unto you!" Remember that this promise was freely given. You never asked the Lord for such a word--it was uttered by spontaneous goodness. You did not come and plead with Jesus for a promise that you should be heard in prayer. Far from it-- you did not even pray! Perhaps you have been living in the world 40 years and have never truly prayed at all. But the Lord, out of His overflowing heart of generous love has made this promise to you, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Why do you doubt? Do you think He will not keep His Word? A God who cannot lie, who was under no necessity to promise, but freely, out of the greatness of His Divine Nature, which is Love, says to a poor sinner, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Oh, be sure of this that He means it! And till Heaven and earth shall pass away, His Word shall stand, and neither you nor any other sinner that knocks at His door shall be refused admittance! This inscription has encouraged many to knock--when they have been ready to faint and give up all further seeking, they have read again the cheering words, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you"--and they have taken heart and made the gate resound again! Now, do you think God will tantalize us, that He will make fools of us, that He will excite hopes in poor sinners for the mere sake of disappointing them? Will He induce you to knock, by His promise, and then laugh at you? Did the God of Mercy ever say, "I called and you came; I stretched out My hands and you drew near to Me, and yet I will mock at your calamity, and laugh when your fear comes"? Why, a bad man would scarcely speak so! Such an act would be more like Satan than God! Do not tolerate the thought that the God of all Grace could treat a seeker thus! If it ever crosses your mind, thrust it away and say, "He that taught me to pray has thereby bound Himself to answer prayer. He will not invite me to knock in vain! Therefore I will knock again, only this time more vigorously than ever, relying upon His Word and His Truth." Oh, that you may never stop your knocking till salvation's door is entered by you! The promise of the Lord was given freely and on the strength of that promise we knock and, therefore, we are sure that the Lord will not deny His trusting servants. The mercy is that this promise is meant for all knockers--"Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." The Lord has not denied to you, my Hearer, the privilege of praying, or declared that He will not answer your requests. You may knock and you may expect to see the door open! I know the blessed doctrine of Election and I rejoice in it, but that is a secret with God, while the rule of our preaching is--"Preach the Gospel to every creature." I would, therefore, say to each one here, "Knock, and it should be opened unto you!" The Lord knows who will knock, for, "the Lord knows them that are His." But knock, my Friend, knock now, and it will soon be seen that you are one of God's chosen ones! Remember the story of Malachi, the Cornishinuan? When a Methodist friend had some money to give him, he smilingly said, "Malachi, I do not think I shall give you this money because I do not know whether you are predestinated to have it. Will you tell me whether you are predestinated to have it or not?" Malachi replied, "You put the money in my hand and I will tell you." As soon as Malachi had the sum in hand, he knew that he was predestinated to have it--but he could not know before he had it in possession. So the secret counsel of the Lord is revealed to our faith when it gets Christ in possession and not before! Knock at once! If you are predestinated to enter, I know you will knock and knock till you are admitted, for so it stands, and no exception is made to it--"Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." It is a rule with the Lord that to him that knocks, it shall be opened! Blessed be God, this text of mine shines o