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        Title: Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 49: 1903
   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
     __________________________________________________________________

Causes and Cure of Fainting

   (No. 2812)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JANUARY 4, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 7,
   1877.

   "Hegives power to the faint." Isaiah 40:29.

   THE connection in which these words stand is very suggestive. The
   previous verse says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The
   everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints
   not, neither is weary. There is no searching of His understanding." He
   has the perfection of power and also of wisdom. Unbelief is based upon
   absurdity, but faith rests upon reason and fact. This may not, at first
   sight, seem to be true, but it really is. To believe in the almighty
   and all-wise God is the most rational thing in the world--to disbelieve
   Him is both the most wicked and the most irrational thing. When a child
   of God begins to distrust his Father, it must be because he doubts
   either God's memory or His power. It seems utterly absurd, as well as
   grievously wrong, to suspect the Lord of fainting or being weary. The
   moment we give utterance to such a sentiment, we feel as if we must at
   once withdraw the words. It is so altogether ridiculous and absurd to
   speak thus of Him who made the heavens and the earth and who supports
   all things by the word of His power! How can He fail or faint? The
   Self-Existent One, from whom all the power that ever was, or is, or
   shall be, and must primarily come--how can He fail or faint? Then would
   the sun grow dim at noon! Then would earth dissolve and Heaven pass
   away if once faintness could seize the Deity who supports all things!

   We know better and we ought, therefore, to act better. And as we feel
   that He cannot faint or be weary, we ought not to harbor a single doubt
   concerning His fainting. How can He faint? It is He that gives power to
   the faint! When faintness comes anywhere, it does not come to Him--it
   comes to you who doubt. You are like a reeling man who thinks that it
   is the earth that reels, or like a person travelling in a train who,
   for the moment, forgets that he is moving and thinks that the trees and
   hedges are all swiftly rushing by him! It is not God who changes--it is
   you who have changed. It is not He that is weary--it is you who are
   weary. It is not He that is faint--it is you that are fainting. And
   here comes, in this blessed Truth of God, for your encouragement--that
   you may be revived from this faintness--instead of Him fainting, God,
   "gives power to the faint."

   I. First, I will endeavor to answer the question, WHAT MAKES US FAINT?

   We will first consider the case of the awakened sinner, the man who
   does not know that he is saved and who, perhaps, is not yet converted.
   But he is, to some extent, under the gracious influence of the Spirit
   of God, for he has been awakened from his sleep of sin and has begun to
   pray. It very commonly happens that when persons are in this condition,
   they are seized with faintness. What is it that makes them feel faint?

   Well, first, they may very well faint, for they have made a most
   alarming discovery. They were not aware of their true position, but
   they suddenly find themselves lost. Their own righteousness, which
   appeared to them to be like fair, white linen, has proven to be only
   filthy rags. Their own merits, which seemed to them to be a great heap
   of gold, are shown to be just so much dross. They fancied that they
   were rich, increased with goods and had need of nothing, but they find
   themselves wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. They see
   themselves condemned of God on account of sin and they also see before
   them, with an awful astonishment, the burning lake of Hell--and they
   cannot tell whether their next step will not plunge them into the dread
   abyss from which there will be no escape! Is it amazing that when a man
   first realizes all this, he is filled with terror, the cold sweat
   stands on his brow and he is ready to faint? Indeed, if it were not

   for the goodness of God in only revealing the sinner's danger to him,
   in a measure, I would not wonder if when men saw themselves in their
   true state, they were to lose their reason!

   It has not seemed at all strange to me that men have gone mad when they
   have suddenly found out where they were and where they were likely to
   be in a very short time! I have had to bless God that so few cases of
   that kind have occurred and I have never wondered when I have seen the
   horror and distress of mind of persons who have discovered their lost
   condition. Some of you who are now sitting very comfortably in your
   seats--if you only knew what it is to be already condemned because you
   have not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God--if you
   could but catch the meaning of these words, "He that believes not the
   Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." If you
   discovered that this was no myth, or fiction, but an awful reality,
   like a cloud charged with deadly electricity you, also, would be ready
   to faint!

   Sometimes, too, awakened sinners faint for another reason, namely, that
   they have tried to escape from their dangerous position, but they have
   not succeeded. What long and laborious attempts at self-salvation,
   awakened souls will make! They will deny themselves many pleasures,
   they will subject themselves to a great deal of toil, they will
   resolve, pray, cry and fret--yet it all ends in failure. A man trying
   to save himself is like a prisoner on the treadmill, perpetually
   stepping, but never mounting an inch higher. He is like a blind horse
   in a mill--he goes round, and round, and round, but makes no real
   advance. What can he do? He is trying to weave a substantial garment
   out of spiders' webs! He is attempting, with worthless works, to make a
   perfect righteousness! It was no small blessing for Israel when it
   could be said of them, "He brought down their heart with labor; they
   fell down and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in
   their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses." The sooner
   an end comes to all self-righteous attempts to obtain salvation, the
   better! Then does the man's soul faint within him. Then is he like one
   who is at sea in a storm, who has tugged at the oar, or has tried to
   use the sail, but can make no headway, or escape the fury of the
   tempest. "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are
   at their wit's end." Thus are they faint.

   We have known some grow so faint through a sense of sin and dread of
   its punishment--and a consciousness of their own inability to save
   themselves--that they have even wished to die. Yet, when they have
   looked at their condition aright, they have asked themselves what use
   death would be to them? It would be as when a man escaped from a lion
   and a bear slew him. Or as if a weary man leaned upon a wall and a
   serpent that was hidden in a cranny, bit his hand. For a man, loaded
   with sin, to die, is for him to be damned! Well might he choose to die
   if death meant annihilation--but there is that dread of something after
   death, that appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that terrible
   sentence from Him that sits upon the Throne of God, "Depart, you
   cursed!" This is what makes a man faint and causes him to dread both to
   live and to die. Then does he say, with Job, "My soul chooses
   strangling and death rather than my life." Yet he dare not actually
   choose it, for he dreads what would come after it. So he is faint, and
   well may he be!

   Perhaps also, at such a time, a sore trouble may happen to the man,
   for, in the parable of the prodigal son, it appears that he was quite
   as much influenced by the peculiar circumstances without as by his
   sense of sin within. We have often known the soul that has been under
   distress because of sin, to also fall into distress through temporal
   trouble. It has seemed as if the hand of God had gone out against him
   and he cries out in his agony, "You hunt me as with fierce dogs that
   would gladly tear me to pieces! You make me the target of all Your
   arrows. You do not give me space in which to swallow my spittle between
   one trial and another!" Then the troubled soul faints beneath the hand
   of God who seems to say to him, "You have sinned against Me; and if you
   faint, now that I have begun to deal with you, what will you do
   by-and-by? If, in the land of peace, wherein you trust, My hand is too
   heavy for you, what will you do in the swellings of Jordan? If you
   faint when I do but come against you with footmen, what will you do
   when you have to contend with horses--when I put forth My might to
   punish My rebellious creatures?" When this happens, the soul is utterly
   brought into the dust of death, ground down, faint and ready to die."

   Now I pass on to another character, namely, the child of God in his
   fainting fits, but fainting fits of a peculiar class which are
   especially sinful--for there is a degree of sinfulness about some of
   these faintings which is not to be found in others. For instance,
   sometimes the children of God faint through lack of faith David said,
   "I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in
   the land of the living." So, the cure for fainting is faith--and,
   therefore, the best way to prevent fainting is to believe. He who
   believes shall not fall into this state of pain, prostration, inaction
   and similitude of death. Child of God, are you fainting because you do
   not believe your Father's promises? I must not begin

   to comfort you until, first of all, I have rebuked you! Why do you
   doubt your God? On what ground do you distrust His faithfulness? Have
   you ever had cause to think that He will fail you? Put your finger on
   anything that He has ever done to you that will give you even a shadow
   of justification for mistrust of Him! O Man, if unbelief is at the
   bottom of your faintness, repent of it and pray to be forgiven! Surely
   the Lord deserves to be trusted by His own children, if not by anybody
   else! If anyone will persist in distrusting Him, led it be the sinner.
   But as for you, the chosen people of His love, the favored ones of His
   heart--will you doubt Him? A man might bear almost anybody's distrust
   sooner than that of his beloved wife or darling child--and shall the
   Lord have distrust from you whom He has so highly favored by His own
   eternal love? Pray Him both to forgive and to banish your unbelief!

   Again, some are brought into a state of faintness through a selfish
   need of resignation. A specimen of that kind of character was that
   strange-tempered old Prophet, Jonah. You remember that "the Lord God
   prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a
   shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was
   exceedingly glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning
   rose the next day and it struck the gourd that it wi-thered...And the
   sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he fainted and wished in
   himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And
   God said to Jonah, Do you well to be angry for the gourd? And he said,
   I do well to be angry even unto death." It was not only the heat of the
   sun that caused him to faint--it was also the heat of his temper! Evil
   tempers inside of us do more to cause us to faint than all the sultry
   weather outside of us. If we will not let God have His way with us. If
   we are like children in a tantrum and begin quarrelling with our
   Father, or with one another. If we try to be masters in God's house and
   lords over God's heritage, seeking to rule His household according to
   our own will and way--do you wonder that when we get into the sulks,
   by-and-by, we begin to faint? Some of those who have lost dear children
   seem as if they will not forgive God for taking them. They keep on
   fretting and pining for years after the bereavement. They go to the
   drawer and take out the little socks and the toys--and weep over them
   in a fashion which shows that they are not resigned to the will of God.
   It is not for us to harshly censure them, but I think it is for them to
   cease from such a rebellious course of action and to ask God that they
   may not faint through a lack of obedience and resignation to His will.

   There are children of God, also, who fall into faintness through
   trusting in themselves. In the chapter from which our text is taken, it
   is said, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men
   shall utterly fall." Why is that? It is because the youths felt
   themselves able to do anything! Up or down, mile after mile, they could
   leap, run and jump, for they were so strong. And then, at last, they
   fainted, for they had nothing to sustain them but their own strength.
   And as for the young men--they said that the boys were always so
   impetuous and spent their strength too soon, but they, themselves, had
   staying power--so they felt that they could keep up the pace. But the
   Prophet says, they "shall utterly fall." So will it be with any of us
   who begin to trust in our own strength! Before long we shall come to
   the end of our force. The strongest sinew in an arm of flesh will
   crack, sooner or later. The brightest thought of the most brilliant
   intellect will one day die out in darkness. Being made of clay and
   being born of woman, we cannot expect that we should last forever. The
   worst of it is that this faintness will sometimes come to the strong
   just when they most need all their strength--when they feel, "If ever
   we needed all our wits about us and all the vigor of our physical
   frame, it is now." It is just then that the collapse will probably
   come, for faintness is sure to follow if we once begin to trust in
   ourselves!

   Then faintness may also arise from another cause which is sinful,
   namely, neglect of prayer. Did not our Savior say that "men ought
   always to pray, and not to faint"? And did He not imply by that form of
   expression that if they did not pray, they would be sure to faint? We
   have a choice of these two courses--either to wait upon the Lord and so
   to renew our strength, or else to be overpowered by faintness. Is the
   path to your secret place of prayer overgrown? Do you seldom retire for
   private fellowship with your God? Has your heart forgotten your
   privilege of momentary, continuous communion with the Most High? Do you
   live as though you had quarreled with God and would have no more
   dealings with Him? If so, you will surely faint before long--and it is
   a blessed thing for you that it should be so, for it would be truly
   terrible for us to appear to be strong without prayer. It is a sign of
   something radically rotten within when a man can apparently be just as
   holy and as earnest without prayer as he is with it. You cannot really
   know the power of the life of God if you are able to live without
   prayer, for, just as a man who is unable to breathe, soon faints, so
   must a person spiritually faint if he does not pray.

   Now I am going to mention some other reasons why children of God fall
   into faintness. And one is the length of the way. Some pilgrims faint
   because the way is so very long. We can do a great deal at a spurt, but
   we are not able to keep it up. We have a great many people who come
   among us and who even enter the Church who are splendid fellows for a
   short time. If they could get to Heaven in a one mile race, they would
   surely win the prize, but they have no staying power in them. They are
   like those Galatians to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, "You did run well;
   who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth?" What is needed
   is perseverance in well-doing, perseverance under slights,
   misrepresentations and slanders, perseverance when it means tugging and
   toiling at the oars, perseverance when there is no smile of
   recognition, but when there is many a frown from those who misjudge
   your work. And it is under such difficulties that men are apt to faint.
   It is not even 10 or 20 years of an unsullied profession that will
   suffice--our Lord said, "He that endures to the end shall be saved."
   You would not care to live in your house if it were only half
   built--you must go on to the crowning of the edifice if it is to be fit
   for a habitation. Who that has realized how great are the difficulties
   of persevering in Divine Grace does not feel that, for this task, we
   must have Divine power? Otherwise, however far we may have gone, we
   shall tire, faint and walk the ways of God no more. I know of no
   doctrine that seems to me to show such a splendor of Divine Grace as
   the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, for if the Lord does,
   indeed, keep His people faithful to the end, as He assuredly will, then
   is it a veritable marvel of Grace, for, oftentimes, they are ready to
   faint by the way.

   Others are ready to faint because of the heaviness of their burden. We
   are not all burdened alike, but, I daresay, if we could form a right
   estimate, we should find that we are more equally weighted than we
   imagine. Sometimes the poor judge that they have a monopoly of trouble,
   but if they could see how much unhappiness there is in the homes of
   some of those who are rich, or the lack of health that is the lot of
   many who live in the midst of abundance, they might be more content to
   carry their own cross. Yet are there some to whom the burden is
   peculiarly heavy. Some of God's children seem pressed down under double
   loads and they are often ready to faint. The remedy for their condition
   is to get double Grace and double strength from the Lord their God,
   but, until they do, their soul will feel faint and weary.

   Another frequent cause of your faintness is a sense of your own
   weakness. It is not that your burden is really heavier than it was, but
   you do not feel as if you can carry it any longer. The flesh is weak
   and the spirit sympathizes with the flesh, and grows weak, too. You
   cannot do what you did when you were younger. The difficulties which
   you once smiled at, now oppress you. By reason of the length of your
   years, the grasshopper has become a burden! Well, then, you must look
   to the Strong for strength and then no faintness will overpower
   you--but if you do not, your weakness will soon bring you into a sad
   state.

   Yet another frequent cause of faintness is the spirit, itself, sinking.
   There is a certain condition in which the heart seems to go down, down,
   down, down, down. I know not how to describe it, but everybody who has
   ever had that painful experience knows what it is. You can hardly tell
   why you are so depressed--if you could give a reason for your
   despondency, you might more easily get over it, but, like David, you
   cry to your own heart, "Why are you cast down, O my Soul? And why are
   you disquieted within me?" You try to argue with yourself to find out
   the reason why you are so despondent and why you look at the black side
   of everything and imagine that things will go amiss which will turn out
   right, after all. Your friends tell you that you are nervous, and there
   is no doubt that you are, but that does not alter the case. I will not
   blame you. I will, however, say to myself, and urge you to say to
   yourself, "Hope you in God: for you shall yet praise Him, who is the
   health of your countenance and your God." Better still, I pray our
   sympathizing Savior will say to you, "Let not your heart be troubled;
   you believe in God, believe also in Me"--and on His loving bosom you
   will leave all your sorrows and your cares.

   There are some children of God who get faint through lack of spiritual
   food. There are some Christians who are so situated that they cannot
   get proper nourishment for their souls. It is not in every country
   village or town that Jesus Christ is so preached that the souls of
   God's people are fed. And among all the troubles a godly man can have,
   a dreary Sabbath is about the worst--when the sheep look up, but they
   are not fed--when it is not the Gospel that is preached, but another
   gospel, which is no Gospel at all--when there are fine words and grand
   elocution, but nothing for the heart to stay itself upon. In such
   circumstances it is small wonder if the best of God's children begin to
   faint! Be thankful, Brothers and Sisters, if you are privileged to
   enjoy a soul-feeding ministry! And if you are not so favored, try to
   make up for it by being doubly diligent in searching the Scriptures and
   feeding upon the Word in private.

   Still, at the same time, it is a great deprivation to a child of God if
   he is not supplied with spiritual food. I thought it was a good prayer
   of the deacon who thanked God that the minister had put the food down
   in a low rack where the sheep could get at it. There are some who put
   the provender in such a high rack that it could only be reached by
   giraffes! God's children need to have the Bread of Life broken up in
   small pieces for them, and to have the Truth of God made very simple
   and plain so that they can understand it. May all of us who teach or
   preach always try to do that and, remembering the folly of others, let
   us avoid it ourselves!

   Sometimes, God's children also faint when they are in adversity.
   Solomon said, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is
   small." That is true and our strength is often thus proved to be small.
   Many a man who thinks that he is rejoicing in the Lord, is really
   rejoicing in his prosperity--but adversity tries him--it is to him what
   the fining pot is to silver. Under adversity, we begin to faint and
   especially if, coupled with that adversity, there is the rebuke of God.
   Oh, how we faint when we are rebuked of Him! I know of nothing that
   more readily makes a man faint than that God should look at him with
   angry eyes. He has trouble in the home and no consolation. He has loss
   of property, but, above all, loss of fellowship with his God! The
   promises are no longer sweet to him. Prayer is like a dead letter.
   Waiting upon God seems to be in vain. The Lord says to those who are in
   this condition, "I have withdrawn Myself from you. As you have walked
   contrary to Me, I also will walk contrary to you." Under such
   circumstances, it is necessary for the child of God to ask for more
   Grace and strength so that he may wrestle and pray until he gets a
   blessing. But the tendency of the poor deserted spirit is to begin to
   faint because the Lord seems to be favorable no more.

   There are some who become faint through increasing infirmitywhich makes
   them unfit for such service as they formerly rendered. When David, in
   his later years, went out to battle against the Philistines, we are
   told that he waxed faint and would have been slain by a giant if
   Abishai had not succored him. Yet, in former days, he had killed a lion
   and a bear, and the great Goliath of Gath! It was a dreadful thing for
   David to wax faint at such a time as that, just in the middle of the
   fray, but a like experience has happened to many of the Lord's
   champions in order to teach His people that the best of men are but men
   at the best--and that the strongest of them are only strong in God's
   strength--and that they will be as weak as water if the Lord should
   leave them to themselves!

   II. Now I want to show you how the Lord deals with His fainting
   people--"He gives power to the faint. I must just briefly mention many
   points, that you may meditate upon them at your leisure.

   See how tenderly the Lord deals with His fainting people. He does not
   desert them when they are faint, saying, "They are no longer any use to
   Me. They can do nothing for Me, I will leave them where they are." No,
   but, "He gives power to the faint." Observe that He does not merely
   comfort the faint, or rebuke or reprove them. That would not help them
   much when they were fainting. But He does what we cannot do for
   fainting people--He gives them power. That is the best way to deliver
   them from their faintness! Even if no cheering word is whispered in
   your ear, if power is given to you, if your pulse is quickened and your
   spirit is filled with new energy, your faintness will soon be over.
   This is what the Lord does for you when "He gives power to the faint."

   What sort of power does He give to the faint? Well, you may be sure
   that He does not give them any of their own. That has all gone from
   them. The very image of death is stamped upon them. See how pale they
   look! Note how the blood seems to have fled from their faces--their own
   power has all gone from them. So, my Brothers and Sisters, when the
   Lord gives power to the faint, it is His own power that He gives to
   them! What a blessing it is to feel that it is His power that is
   working in you! To attain such an end as that, a man may well be
   content to have all his own power bled out of him. Let it run out at
   every vein till the last drop of it is gone, that I may then be filled
   with the power of God! He gives His power to the faint because, in
   their faintness, there is room for the display of His power. Their
   power has all departed, so now His power comes in.

   When God gives power to the faint, you may rest assured that it will be
   sufficient for the emergency, for He has all-sufficient power and He
   never gives to His people merely half the power or a tenth of the power
   that they need--He gives them all the power that they require! His
   promise is, "As your days, so shall your strength be."

   The mercy is that the power that God gives is a power that the devil
   can neither defeat nor take away. If He has given you that power, it
   shall be yours as long as you need it. That power neither man nor devil
   can take away from you, but, through it, you shall be enabled to tread
   down all your adversaries and conquer all your difficulties. There is
   wondrous power in the weakness which leads us to faint away on the
   bosom of God and so to be made strong in the Lord and, in the

   power of His might, to swoon into unconsciousness and then to find our
   all-sufficiency in our God! To get out of life of a carnal kind by
   swooning into the image of death and then being raised into newness of
   life by the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ! That is the
   kind of power which God gives to the faint.

   Why is it that He gives this power to the faint? Well, I think it is
   because in His great goodness He looks out for those who need it most.
   As we, if we are wise, give our alms to the most destitute, God gives
   His power to those who require it most--those who are fainting for lack
   of it.

   Then, next, He gives it to them because they will praise Him most for
   it. When the fainting ones receive the power that God gives to them,
   they will say that it is of the Lord and not of themselves.

   They will be the people to receive this power because they will be sure
   to use it. I think that when a person who has been faint, receives
   power from God, he will likely be sympathetic, tender and gentle
   towards others. At least that is how he should be. If a man is always
   strong, how can he sympathize with God's weak and afflicted people? I
   have known a dear Brother who has never had an hour' s illness in his
   life, seek to sympathize with me when I have been in great pain. But it
   was like an elephant trying to pick up a pin--he cannot do it, it is
   not in his line. But he who has been faint and thenhas received power
   from God is the man who knows what faintness means--and so is gentle
   towards other fainting ones as a nurse is with the little child
   committed to her charge. Hence the Lord entrusts power to His fainting
   children because He knows that they will be sympathetic and use it
   wisely and well.

   What, Beloved Friends, is the conclusion that we may draw from our
   text? Is it not this? If God gives power to the faint, let us be
   thankful if we have fainted and have been revived by Him. I do not
   refer to any sinful kind of fainting when I speak thus, but I mean what
   the Apostle Paul means when he says, "Most gladly, therefore, will I
   rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
   me." But let us have done with fainting for the future because, if God
   gives power to the faint, if He has given us His power, we ought to
   have no more fainting, now that we have received God's power! So let us
   henceforth seek to live in the energy of that Divine might above the
   faintness to which the flesh is prone.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH40.

   Verse 1. Comfort you, comfort you My people, says your God.' 'They need
   it, and they shall have it. Mind, O my servants, that you give it to
   them. Comfort you, comfort you My people, says your God."

   2. Speakyou comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her
   warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has
   received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. The first meaning
   of these words was that, as Jerusalem had passed through a time of
   great tribulation, she should have a season of rest. But the grand
   Gospel meaning to you and to me is that our Lord Jesus has fought our
   battle and won the victory for us--that He has paid our debt and given
   to Divine Justice the double for all our sins and, therefore, our
   iniquity is pardoned! One would think this is enough to make anyone
   happy. It is the best thing that even Isaiah could say, or that God,
   Himself, could say by the mouth of Isaiah, when his object was to
   comfort the Lord's tried people.

   3, 4. The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the
   way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
   Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
   made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
   plain. When God means to come to men, nothing can stop Him or block up
   His road. He will level mountains and fill up valleys, but He will come
   to His people somehow or other. And when He comes to them, if He finds
   many crooked things about them, He will make the crooked straight and
   the rough places He will make plain.

   5. And the Glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see
   it together: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it. And since He has
   spoken it, it must come to pass. "Has He said, and shall He not do it?"
   With Him, to say anything is to will its accomplishment!

   6-8. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is
   grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
   the grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD
   blows upon it: surely thepeople are grass. The grass withers, the
   flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand forever Yes, the
   dearest ones that we have

   are but flesh, so they wither and pass away like the green herb. Have
   you been bereaved, my believing Friend? Well, you may still say to your
   Lord, in the words of our hymn--

   "How can I bereaved be,

   Since I cannot part from Thee?'

   The mower with the sharp scythe outs down the grass, but he cannot
   touch the secret source of our hope, joy and confidence in God and,
   above all, he cannot touch the God in whom we confide!

   9. O Zion, that brings good tidings, get you up into the high mountain;
   O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up your voice with
   strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah,
   Behold your God!If the chief, the best, the holiest city has found her
   God. If Jerusalem has been thus favored, let her sing the gladsome
   tidings over the hilltops to the most distant cities of the land and
   say to them, "Behold your God!" If you have seen your Lord, Beloved,
   proclaim the good news to those who have well nigh forgotten that there
   is a God. Say to them, "Behold your God! He is still to be seen, by the
   eye of faith, working graciously in the midst of the earth."

   10-11. Behold, the lord GOD will come with a strong hand, and His arm
   shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before
   Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs
   with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those
   that are with young. He knows their weakness, their weariness, their
   pain and how incapable they are of speedy and long travelling. He is
   very tender and full of pity and He will gently lead them.

   12-14. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted
   out Heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a
   measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a
   balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being His
   counselor has taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed
   Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge,
   and showed to Him the way of understanding? And yet, Beloved, we
   sometimes act as if we were God's teachers, as if we had to instruct
   Him in what He should do! And because we cannot see our way, we almost
   dream that He cannot. And because we are puzzled, we conceive that
   Infinite Wisdom must be at a nonplus, but it is not so. He was full of
   wisdom when there was no one with whom He could take counsel--and He is
   still wise in the highest degree!

   15. Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket. Not a bucketful, but
   just a drop that remains in the bucket after you thought it had been
   completely emptied.

   15. And are counted as the small dust of the balance. Remember that
   this is said of "the nations." China, India, Europe, Africa--with all
   their teeming multitudes are only like the small dust of the balance
   that is blown away by the slightest puff of wind!

   15, 16. Behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing. And
   Lebanon. With all its forests of cedar. "Lebanon" --

   16. Is not sufficient to burn. Think of all the cedars of Lebanon as
   being on fire, like some great forest fire, yet not being sufficient to
   supply the wood for God's altars!

   16. Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. Whether it
   is the wild or the tame beasts that are on that mountain range, they
   are not sufficient for a burnt offering unto the Most High.

   17. All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him
   less than nothing, and vanity. As if they were the mere shadow of
   something and had no more influence over Him than as if they did not
   exist!

   18. To whom, then, will you liken God?This is a strong argument against
   idolatry, against the worship of God under any visible form
   whatever--"To whom, then, will you liken God?"

   18. Or what likeness will you compare unto Him?The heathen did make
   these supposed likenesses of God. Here is a description of the process
   by which they manufactured their idol gods.

   19. The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over
   with gold. The rough metal is cast in a certain fashion and then the
   goldsmith puts on it his thin plates of gold,

   19. And casts silver chains. To adorn it.

   20. He that is so impoverished that he has no offering. The poor man
   who cannot manage to make a god of gold-- 20. Chooses a tree that will
   not rot. A good piece of heart of oak or enduring elm.

   20. He seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that
   shall not be moved. Fix it firmly, drive the post down far into the
   earth so that it may be an immovable god!

   21-26. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you
   from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the
   earth?It is He that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the
   inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretches out the heavens
   as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in: that brings
   the princess to nothing, He makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
   Yes, they shall not be planted, yes, they shall not be sown: yes, their
   stock shall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon
   them, and they shall wither and the whirlwind shall take them awayas
   stubble. To whom, then, willyou liken Me, or shallIbe equal?says the
   Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high. Suppose it to be night time--"Lift
   up your eyes on high"--

   26. And behold who has created these things. These wondrous worlds,
   these stars that sparkle in the firmament!

   26. That brings out their host by number. For God knows the number of
   them all and the name of every separate world that moves in the vast
   expanse of space!

   26. He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might and the
   strength of His power, not one fails. They are not propped up with
   pillars, nor hung upon some mighty ropes, yet they continue to occupy
   the spheres appointed to them by God. He hangs the world upon nothing
   and keeps it in its place by the perpetual out-going of His power!

   27. Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the
   LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? What? When He has not
   forgotten one of all those mighty hosts of stars and when not a sparrow
   falls to the ground without His notice--how can you dream that He has
   forgotten you, or that your way is hidden from Him?

   28-31. Have you not known?Have you not heard that the everlasting God,
   the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is
   weary? There is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to
   the faint; and to them that have no might He increases strength Even
   the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
   fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they
   shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary;
   and they shall walk and not faint.
     __________________________________________________________________

Life, and the Path to It

   (No. 2813)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JANUARY 11, 1903,

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE
   7, 1877.

   "You will show me the path of life: in Your Presence is fullness ofjoy;
   at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11.

   I THINK YOU must have noticed, while I was reading the Psalm from which
   my text is taken, that I expounded it partly concerning David and
   partly concerning David's Lord, Jesus, the Messiah. It often happens,
   in the Psalms, that you can scarcely tell whether it is David, or
   Jesus, or both of them to whom the writer is referring. Oftentimes you
   lose sight of David, altogether, and are quite certain that he is not
   there, while, at other times, the words seem equally suitable either to
   David, the type, or to Jesus the antitype. I think that this fact is
   very instructive to us. It looks as if the Hoy Spirit intended, even in
   those ancient times, to let God's saints know that there is a
   mysterious union between Christ and His people, so that almost all
   things which may be said concerning Him may be said, also, concerning
   those who are in Him. They are so completely one, they are so
   intimately united in bonds of mystic, vital, eternal union, that it
   would not be possible to always keep the sayings concerning them apart.
   As two bank-divided streams flow side by side for a while and, at last,
   melt into one river--and you can scarcely say which river it is when
   they are joined in one--so Christ and His Church are united in one
   mighty stream and, therefore, what is said of the one may, at least in
   some sense, be said of the other. O Christian, treasure up this
   precious thought! You are one with Jesus and, consequently, much that
   is said concerning Him may also be said concerning you!

   In this 16th Psalm we are sure that there is a clear reference to the
   Savior because to no one but to Him could these words be absolutely
   applied, "You will not leave my soul in the abode of the dead; neither
   will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption." All other bodies see
   corruption, but His holy body did not. His birth was not according to
   carnal generation. His Human Nature was perfect, untainted by evil.
   Such a body belongs to no one else, so these words are, in the fullest
   sense, only applicable to our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we feel no
   hesitation, as Believers, in taking them to ourselves, at least to a
   very large extent, remembering that our Lord Jesus said to His
   disciples, "Because I live, you shall live also." And that He prayed,
   "Father, I will that they also, whom you have given Me, be with Me
   where I am; that they may behold My glory." This proves that we, also,
   shall tread the path of life which He has trod--that the Presence of
   His Father, in which He is glorified, is that same Presence which will
   make our Heaven! That the right hand of God, at which He sits, is the
   place to which He will also exalt us and that the pleasures
   forevermore, in which He Himself rejoices, are the very pleasures with
   which He will indulge our souls, for it is His purpose that His joy
   shall abide in us that our joy may be full.

   This brings us to our text, in which there are two things of which I am
   going to speak to you. First, an assurance as to the untrodden path.
   And, secondly, an assurance as to the life to which that path leads.

   I. First, then, we have here AN ASSURANCE AS TO THE UNTRODDEN
   PATH--"You will show me the path of life."

   If you take these words as referring to Christ, they must apply to Him
   as Man. As a Man, He was to die. His soul was to be, for a little
   while, separated from His body, yet, even as a Man, He spoke with
   perfect confidence to His Father. You remember that His dying words
   were, "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit." "And having said
   this, He

   gave up the ghost." He spoke with the full assurance that His Father
   would show Him "the path of life." Where did the spirit of Christ go
   when it left His body? In what mysterious way it entered at once into
   Paradise, it is not for us even to guess. There have been a great many
   questions raised in the Christian Church, in all ages, concerning this
   matter. Some, taking the words literally, have said that Christ
   descended into Hell and they have even ventured to affirm that He
   preached to the dead and delivered the spirits that were in that awful
   prison. All that kind of talk seems to me very like that which come
   from dreamland! We know, from our Savior's own declaration, that He was
   in Paradise the very day that He died, for He said to the penitent
   thief, "Today shall you be with Me in Paradise." But whatever pathway
   the human soul of Jesus took, it was not unguided--His Father showed to
   Him, "the path of life."

   His sacred body had to lie three days in the tomb, but it was not
   corrupted in the least degree. Dr. Watts very sweetly sings--

   "There the dear flesh of Jesus lay, And left a long perfume."

   That body, lying in Joseph's sepulcher, wrapped in linen and sweet
   spices through the love and kindness of Christ's disciples, must rise
   again--and once more the Father showed to His Son, "the path of life."
   How it came to pass that the Spirit of God worked upon that precious
   body and raised Jesus from the dead, we cannot tell, for the work of
   the Spirit is secret and mysterious. But those blessed eyes of Jesus
   opened again and the pulses of His human heart began to beat once
   more--and He stood upon those dear feet that had been pierced by the
   nails and He unwound the napkin from His head with those very hands
   that had been fastened to the Cross, but which would never again suffer
   pain, for He had risen from the dead no more to die! As the first-born
   from the dead, His Father had showed to Him, "the path of life."

   Then, after tarrying here a little longer--that His re-united soul and
   body might dwell, for 40 days or so, in the midst of His disciples,
   that they might be quite sure that it was His own body that had risen
   from the dead and His own soul that communed with them--He led them out
   to Olivet and once again His Father showed Him "the path of life."--

   "Then He arose ascending high,

   And showed our feet the way." His disciples beheld Him ascend while He
   was blessing them. And they gazed upon Him as He ascended, until a
   cloud hid Him from their astonished gaze. And we are expressly told
   that at the appointed time He shall come again in like manner as they
   saw Him go up into Heaven. Truly, in Him was fulfilled the Psalmist's
   confident declaration, "You will show me the path of life." We can
   easily imagine that as He passed through that cloud, the angels came to
   meet Him--squadrons of bright beings from the courts of Heaven hurried
   down to do Him homage and to escort Him back to the Glory which He had
   with the Father before He came to sojourn here below! It seems to me to
   be not merely poetry, but a matter of fact that they did then sing,
   "Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be you lift up, you everlasting
   doors; and the King of Glory shall come in." And He did enter the gates
   and went straight to the Throne of God which His Father had appointed
   as the grand reward of His victory--and there He sits--and will
   continue to sit until His foes are made His footstool!

   Thus you see that our text is true concerning our Lord Jesus
   Christ--and it is also true concerning all who are in Christ--and each
   of us who is trusting in Him may, with the hand of faith, grasp this
   Divine assurance, "You will show me the path of life." I feel quite
   enamored of this portion of my text and would be perfectly content if I
   had only to preach from it. You, O my God, You who know everything, You
   will show me the path of life! There is no other guide like You, my
   God. I trust no priest, no man like myself, nor even an angel. You, who
   did lead Your people through the wilderness by the cloudy, fiery
   pillar, You will show me the path of life!

   And You will show it to me----unworthy as I am--just as if I were the
   only traveler upon life's rough way. You will devote Your wisdom and
   Your strength to me, taking me by the hand and leading me, as a father
   leads his child. You will be gentle and patient with me and when I am
   so blind that I cannot see my way, You will go before me and say to me,
   "This is the way; walk you in it."

   And, my Lord, as there is only one "path of life," you will show me the
   path. It is but a narrow track and it runs clean contrary to the broad
   way that leads to destruction. You will show me the path, O Lord, and
   guide my feet into it! When I know not which way to turn, to the right
   or to the left, You will show me the path--I know that You will!

   And it will be the path of life that You will show me. I shall not live
   in a kind of living death, as others do, but I shall be really
   quickened by Your Holy Spirit. In that path, I shall find life and, by
   that path, I shall receive yet more of life and, at last, I shall
   attain to the perfection of life and see You in the Glory-Life above,
   far more fully than I can ever see You in the Grace-Life below.

   Thus you see that every word is precious and full of meaning, but just
   for a moment think of the complete sentence, "You will show me the path
   of life." That is true, my Brothers and Sisters, about the whole of
   your life while you are here. You will not be misled if you trust in
   God! Your own supposed wisdom will surely lead you astray if you follow
   its guidance, but trust in the Lord and you shall be rightly guided in
   all times of trouble and difficulty. And when you come to die. When you
   are, indeed, entering upon a new and untrodden path, the Lord will
   still show you the path of life. He will teach you the way to be
   confident even when the dewdrops of death lie cold and clammy upon your
   brow. He will show you the way to meet your last great adversary
   without a fear and without even a tremor--and He will teach you how to
   find life in death and how to triumph in the last dread conflict! Think
   of what will happen when the parting moment comes and the spirit is
   launched upon a sea it never traversed before. It leaves the familiar
   precincts of the house of clay and finds itself stripped and unclothed,
   and it cries, "Oh, where shall I go? In that unknown land without a
   track, where shall I go?"

   You need not ask that question, Brother, Sister, or, if you do, you can
   give the answer, "You will show me the path of life." Up to the realms
   where angels dwell, borne up on eagle wings, you shall ascend to
   Heaven! God Himself will stoop from Heaven to be your Guide and He will
   take you to dwell, as a pure spirit, at His right hand. The ages will
   speed on and, in due time, there will ring out the mighty blast of the
   Resurrection trumpet! Where will my body be then? These limbs, all
   moldered back to dust. These eyes vanished from human kin. The whole
   mortal fabric dissolved and returned to mother earth. Ah, my Lord! But
   I shall not have to raise myself from the grave, I could not work that
   miracle of resurrection--my bones have not to come together to their
   fellow bones by their own power. God will teach each atom to come to
   its fellow and each individual life will be identified the same as
   before, yet wondrously changed! I know not how it will be, but God
   knows, and He will show us, "the path of life," the way to be conformed
   to the image of Christ, the way to attain to the perfection of life
   everlasting! This is the path that no eagle's eyes have ever seen and
   no lion's whelp has ever trod, yet, in blissful confidence I may die
   and rise again, for the Lord will show me, "the path of life."

   Is not this a blessed Truth of God? Then drink it in and if you have
   any fears of death, let them all fly away as you meditate upon this
   comforting assurance which your Lord, Himself, has so graciously
   revealed to you!

   II. Now, secondly, we have, in our text, AN ASSURANCE AS TO THE LIFE TO
   WHICH THAT UNTRODDEN

   PATH LEADS--"In Your Presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand
   there are pleasures forevermore."

   Concerning that life, we are told, first, the place where it is to be
   spent. Many people ask, "Where is Heaven?" Others enquire, "Is there
   such a place at all?" Assuredly, there is such a place, but where it
   is, I cannot tell. Some have imagined that, possibly, it is in the
   central star of our solar system, Alcyone in the constellation of the
   Pleiades. We may dismiss the conjecture as soon as we have heard it and
   not be any the better for having heard it! What we do know, however,
   about Heaven, is that it is in the Presence of God. Do you know,
   Beloved, what the "Presence of God" means? Yes, in a feeble sense, you
   have realized it when, in His House and, especially at His Table, He
   has unveiled His face. When the King has been with us--when we have
   consciously felt that we were in the royal Presence, we have sung--

   "No beams of cedar, or of fir, Can with His earthly courts compare."
   But what must it be to be in His Presence when relieved from the burden
   of this flesh for a while, or when it is refined and purified--when the
   dimness that is now in our eyes shall all be gone and the unclouded
   Glory of God shall shine upon us? A poor prisoner who has seen a little
   gleam of light down in his dismal dungeon, knows something about the
   sun, but what a difference there must be between his knowledge of the
   great orb of day and that which is possessed by the angel whom Milton
   represents as living in the sun! A contrast as great as this is going
   to happen to you, dear Friends, in passing from this world--with now
   and then a glint of Heaven's sunlight--to dwelling with God forever in
   the Glory that excels anything that we have ever imagined here! I
   cannot tell you what it will be--and neither will you know it until you
   get there and learn what it is by actually dwelling in His Presence!

   We are also told that Heaven is to be enjoyed at the right hand of God.
   The right hand, even on earth, is the place of favor, the place of
   honor and the place of security. The right-hand place is always
   regarded as the post of dignity and nobility in all courts. God is not
   going to give His people any left-handed Heaven--they are to dwell at
   His right hand forevermore! It is the place that Jesus Himself has and
   that He has promised to His victorious followers--"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." The very
   choicest place in Heaven shall be yours, Beloved! God will not put you
   away somewhere behind the doors of His royal palace, but He will guide
   you to the place of honor at His own right hand where "there are
   pleasures forevermore."

   Those last words that I quoted tell us something about the enjoyment of
   Heaven--the kind of life which the glorified spend at the right hand of
   God above. The life of Heaven is a life ofjoy and the crowning joy is
   that the pleasures, there, are "pleasures forevermore." In this world a
   few drops of joy fall here and there and there are, sometimes, showers
   of blessing. But up there it is joy, joy, joy forever--"pleasures
   forevermore." Let these blessed joy bells ring in your ears and in your
   heart just now--and if you know even a little of what they mean, you
   may anticipate that they will mean a thousand times as much on the
   other side of the Jordan of death--in the heavenly land of Canaan!

   Our text tells us of the quantity, as well as the quality of the joy of
   Heaven. It is to be "fullness ofjoy." That is what we never reach here,
   for, when we are most joyous, there is always room for more joy, or
   there is something lacking to the completeness of our joy. But, in
   God's Presence, is "fullness of joy." It may well be described as the
   fullness of joy because it is infinite. He who drinks from a cup can
   soon drain it dry, but he who lies down on the brink of a great river
   may drink as long as he likes and he will never empty it, for he has
   come to its fullness.

   "Fullness of joy" means that you shall not only have as much joy as you
   can hold, but that it shall keep on running and your capacity shall be
   enlarged, but you shall still be filled with joy--and so it shall
   continue forever! If you are the least among the saints in Heaven, you
   shall have fullness of joy. And if you are the greatest, you shall
   still be full of joy. You shall be so full of joy that you could not be
   more happy! You shall have reached the very summit of eternal
   happiness! Yes, even there it shall not enter into your heart to
   conceive anything that shall be above the joy which God has revealed to
   them that love Him! What indescribable bliss must this fullness of joy
   be! You know that when you are full of anything, you cannot put
   anything else in--so, where there is fullness ofjoy at God's right
   hand, no sorrow will ever be able to enter. There are--

   "No groans to mingle with the songs Which warble from immortal
   tongues."

   There will not be room for a single doubt there, or for a fear--no, not
   even for one sad memory! There will not be room for a wish--we shall be
   so full of joy that we shall have all that we could desire! Every
   faculty of our body glorified and every power of our soul perfected,
   the life everlasting shall rush through us and we shall be filled with
   it, sunk in it, as in an ocean of infinite satisfaction and eternal
   content! I find that words are but poor things to describe such a theme
   as this--I wish that I could more worthily speak of this "fullness
   ofjoy" in God's Presence.

   Notice, next, the variety of this joy, for I take it that while the
   term,, "fullness ofjoy," is given to show that it is one, yet the
   expression, "pleasures forevermore," may teach us that the bliss is
   varied. I cannot give to you, Beloved, a complete list of the joys of
   Heaven, but I will briefly mention a few of them.

   The glorified before the Throne of God are forever singing about
   salvation, praising Him who washed them from their sins in His own
   blood. A sense of perfected salvation is a part of the bliss of Heaven.
   They are washed whiter than snow and they know it. They are delivered
   from all sin and are "without fault before the Throne of God"--and they
   know it. Now have they been brought right away from all danger of
   perishing, for they are "saved in the Lord with an everlasting
   salvation."

   There will be a sense of security, too, for all who are at the right
   hand of God in Glory. They are all perfectly safe there. "No lion shall
   be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there, it shall not be
   found there; but the redeemed shall walk there." "Neither shall the sun
   light on them, nor any heat." And they know that it shall be so and,
   therefore, a sense of their security is one of the sweetnesses of the
   beatific state.

   Coupled with that will be their assurance of victory. They will know
   that they have overcome all their enemies through the blood of the
   Lamb. Even the last enemy, Death, himself, will then have been
   destroyed. When the Resurrec-

   tion shall be complete, what a vast sweep will the mind's eye of the
   glorified Believer take! All human history will open up before him and
   as he gazes upon it, he will see that God has triumphed, by His Grace,
   in everything! And the adoring song of victory will go up forever and
   ever unto Him who has conquered sin, death and Hell, and led captivity
   captive. The palms will forever be waving and the harps forever ringing
   out, "Glory, glory, glory to the mighty Grace which has triumphed from
   the first day even until now!" Victory blending with security will
   indeed make glad the spirits of the saints at God's right hand!

   There, too, their joy will consist in freedom from every form of evil.
   No temptation can ever enter there, no carking care, no spiritual
   weakness. They are eternally clear of all that made them sad in the
   days of their sinfulness and imperfection. One great part of the joy of
   the glorified will be the perfection of their characters, for he that
   is holy must be happy. Perfection of holiness must mean perfection of
   happiness--the two things must go together. Sin and sorrow cannot be
   divorced--and holiness and happiness cannot be separated. O Brothers
   and Sisters, what must it be to feel that you have no tendency to err,
   no understanding out of balance--that even memory does not bring to you
   a sinful reflection that would stain your purity--that, altogether,
   your whole mind is godlike, made holy through the operation of the
   blessed Spirit and the cleansing blood of Jesus? Oh, to completely get
   rid of sin! One would not mind keeping a frail body with all its
   weakness and pains if he could once get rid of sin. One might be
   willing to be as poor as Lazarus if he could but get rid of sin. To
   shake off this viper into the fire--to be altogether clear of even the
   taint of sin would be Heaven! And we shall have that bliss at God's
   right hand.

   Part of the joy of Heaven will also lie in clear knowledge. Here, we
   only know in part, but there we shall know even as we are known. Here,
   "we see through a glass, darkly; but there, face to face." Some of you
   do not understand the Doctrines of Grace, here, but you will understand
   them there. You meet with a great many questions that are too difficult
   for you to answer, now, and you are often puzzled with problems which
   you cannot solve. You must believe, now, much that you cannot
   comprehend--but things will look very different in the clear light of
   Heaven from what they do, now, in the dim twilight of earth! Wait a
   while and do not worry. Tarry just a little season and the eternal day
   shall break, and the shadows shall forever flee away and you shall know
   all that you will desire to know when you are at God's right hand in

   Glory!

   But perhaps it is still sweeter to remember that Heaven's bliss will
   very much consist in fellowship, first, with the Father. How near we
   shall be to Him when we are in His Presence! Here, we cannot see His
   face and live. But there we shall live by seeing His face! It will be
   the ecstasy of our glorified life to gaze upon Him who is invisible to
   mortal eyes! There, too, we shall see Jesus. Do not your sacred
   passions burn at the very thought of such bliss as this?--

   "For there the Man that loved and died,

   Sits glorious at His Father's side" and these eyes shall behold Him,
   the God that died for me! Oh, that wondrous sight! Do we not feel as
   though, like John, we must fall at His feet as dead when we see Him as
   He is? O blessed Christ, we scarcely need any more of Heaven than to be
   where You are! Then, too, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, will yet
   more gloriously manifest His Divine power to us there--

   "O blissful hour! O blest abode! I shall be near and like my God."

   We shall have such fellowship there with the Father, the Son and the
   Spirit as is not possible before and, then--this is coming down a long
   way from the sublime height of fellowship with God, yet it is a fact
   that is worth remembering--we shall have fellowship with the
   innumerable holy angels and with all the glorified saints!

   All who have been redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus, even as we
   are, will be there as our happy companions forever and ever. Are you
   not anxious to see the Apostles and Prophets who have gone to Heaven
   before you? Well, Beloved, you shall see them--and the communion that
   you will have with them will be of the most intimate kind! And your
   beloved ones who have been called Home before you, you shall meet them,
   by-and-by, when the Master shall say to you, also, "Come up here." Oh,
   yes, there will be "the general assembly and Church of the first-born,
   which are written in Heaven . . .the spirits of just men made perfect,"
   and it will be a part of the delights of Heaven to have fellowship with
   them! I have heard some people say that they will have such sweet and
   satisfying fellowship with Christ that they will not want to have any
   with His people, but that is both absurd and impossible because you
   cannot have fellowship with the

   Head without having fellowship with the members at the same time!
   Christ will never wish you to look upon Him in Heaven as divided from
   His people--they shall be so completely one with Him that in fellowship
   with His people, you shall in no degree be diminishing your fellowship
   with Christ, but rather be enjoying it in the form in which He,
   Himself, rejoices, for His delights will still be with the sons of men
   and if, on earth, they were the excellent in whom was all your delight,
   He would have you take the same delight in them when you meet them
   before His Throne in Glory.

   There is one more pleasure of Heaven that I must mention, and that is
   rest--not that state of idleness of which some lazy people foolishly
   think--but that kind of rest which will be perfectly compatible with
   holy service. We are to serve God day and night in His temple--we shall
   always have something to do for our God throughout eternity, but that
   service will be rest to us. Just as, here on earth, we take Christ's
   yoke upon us and learn of Him, and so find rest unto our souls--in
   Heaven itself we shall continue in the service of our God and we shall
   find therein the very sweetest rest. One part of that service will be
   everlasting praise. I am longing for the time when I shall have a heart
   that will never wander from my Lord--what hallelujahs will I sing to
   His holy name! And will not you, who love Him, do the same? Oh, what
   shouts we will make together when, as one complete family before the
   Throne of God, we shall praise the almighty Grace which has brought us
   safely Home and enabled us to join in the heavenly anthem, "Blessing,
   and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sits upon the Throne,
   and unto the Lamb forever and ever"!

   The last thing to be mentioned is the duration of all this
   bliss--"pleasures forevermore." It would be robbing Heaven of all that
   makes it to be Heaven if you could deprive it of its everlasting
   duration. Our Lord will at the last say, "These shall go away into
   everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Your life
   in Heaven will be everlasting and your joy will be everlasting because
   you have an everlasting Christ, an everlasting God--and an Everlasting
   Covenant has been made with you, ordered in all things and sure! A
   million millions, what must that be? The human mind cannot grasp the
   meaning of such vast numbers, yet, when millions of millions of
   millions of millions of years have passed over the heads of Christ's
   saints in Glory, this text will not be exhausted! No, more--not one jot
   or tittle of it will be exhausted--and throughout eternity it will
   still be, "pleasures forevermore." Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, this
   prize is worth winning! Eternal life is worth having! And it shall be
   the portion of everyone who truly trusts in our Lord Jesus Christ.

   The last thing I am going to say is this. I greatly fear and tremble
   for some of you lest you should never enter upon this, "fullness of
   joy," and these, "pleasures forevermore." You know that dreadful word,
   "damned," which Jesus used--"He that believes not shall be damned." I
   will not try to explain to you what the sufferings of the lost must be,
   for they cannot be described. But a great part of the condemnation of
   the lost will consist in the fact that they will lose the "fullness of
   joy" in the Presence of God and the "pleasures forevermore" at His
   right hand. How dreadful this punishment of loss must be, in addition
   to all the suffering that must be forever endured in Hell! There stand
   the pearly gates, but what if you should never enter them? Yonder are
   the streets of gold, but what if you should never stand upon that
   radiant pavement? There is the face of Jesus, but what if He should say
   to you, "I never knew you"? There is the Throne of God, but what if it
   should burn like a devouring fire for you, so that you should be unable
   to come near it and to say, "Father," to Him who sits on it? Shut out
   of Heaven! Shut out forever! In the outer darkness forever! Away from
   the marriage feast forever! When once the Master of the house is risen
   and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at
   the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open unto us and He shall answer and say
   unto you, I know you not who you are...depart from Me, all you workers
   of iniquity." Surely there is not a man, or woman, or child, who could
   look forward, without alarm, to the prospect of being shut out of
   Heaven forever!

   And you will be, as surely as God lives, you will be unless you repent
   of sin and trust His Son! I am no Prophet of evil, neither do I like to
   harp upon this string, yet I must remind you that God has declared,
   concerning Heaven, that "there shall in no wise enter into it anything
   that defiles." You must, therefore, be washed in the blood of the Lamb
   if you are ever to be admitted within the pearly gates! Remember the
   Apostolic message, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be
   saved," for it is as true, now, as when it was first uttered. May the
   Holy Spirit graciously constrain you to believe in Jesus, now, and at
   once to yield up your whole being to His supreme sway! Ask Him to show
   you "the path of life" and to lead you in it, for then you shall enter
   into His Presence, where there is "fullness of joy," and you shall
   stand at His right hand, where "there are pleasures forevermore!"

   Somebody recommended all persons, before they go to sea, to wear a
   lifebelt. I do not believe that people in general are ever likely to
   follow that advice, but if somebody could invent a belt that made the
   wearer of it more ready for his work on land--that made him stronger,
   healthier and more handsome--then everybody would be ready enough to
   have it! Well, now, salvation is a life belt for the hour of death, but
   it is also a strengthening belt, a help, a beauty, a joy and delight
   for this present life. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having
   promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." It is
   as good to live with as to die with and nobody is fit to live who is
   not fit to die--and nobody is fit to die till he is fit to live!
   Fitness for work on earth is fitness for rest in Heaven! Depend upon
   it, these two things go together. Do you all know the Lord? With that
   question I will conclude.

   Do you all know the Lord? If not, you do not know your best Friend. You
   do not know Him who is the Father of all Believers. Do you know the
   Lord? If not, I pray you to seek His face this very hour and especially
   I urge you to obey that word of His Apostle which I quoted to you just
   now, but cannot quote too often, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
   you shall be saved." When you trust Christ, you shall see God in Christ
   and shall come to the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit shall
   reveal Him unto you. The Lord grant that this may be the case, for
   Jesus' sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM16.

   Verse 1. Preserve me, O God: for in You do I put my trust Notice how
   the Psalmist urges the prevailing plea of faith. A trusted God will be
   a preserving God. If you, Believer, can truly say that you are trusting
   God in any time of trouble or danger, you will be safe enough in His
   keeping.

   2, 3. O my soul, you have said unto the LORD, You are my Lord: my
   goodness is nothing apart from You; but to the saints that are in the
   earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight' 'I cannot do
   You any good, my God; You are too great to need anything from me; but I
   may be the means of blessing to Your people, Your saints may reap some
   little benefit from what I do. They are the company I keep, they are
   the choicest friends I know, and if You will but help me to do
   something for You which shall bring blessing to them, I shall indeed
   rejoice."

   4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god:
   their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their
   names into my lips. We must be faithful to God--to the God revealed to
   us in the Book of God, the God of the Old Testament and of the New
   Testament, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! We must keep to
   Him, not make another god after our own imagination. It is practical
   idolatry even to conceive of God otherwise than He is revealed in Holy
   Scripture. This we must not do, but say, concerning the God of the
   Bible, "This God is our God forever and ever."

   5. The LORD is theportion of my inheritance and ofmy cup: You maintain
   my lot. One of the great houses of nobility has for its motto the
   words, "I will maintain it." But David's is a better one--"You maintain
   my lot." God is the best Defender that His people can ever have!

   6. The lines are fallen into me in pleasant places; yes, I have a
   goodly heritage. Many of us have proved this to be true in our
   experience. May we continue gratefully contented and more than
   contented--delightedwith whatever God appoints for us!

   7. 8. I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel: my reins also
   instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before
   me.' 'In my acts by day, and my thoughts by night."

   8. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Now across the
   sacred page there comes the wondrous revelation of a glorious One who
   speaks in the very words that are recorded here. Though, possibly, we
   have not recognized Him, these words that follow apply especially to
   Jesus Christ our Lord.

   9. Therefore My heart is glad. Because in the night watches He had
   sought His Father and found help in Him, He could say, "Therefore My
   heart is glad,"

   9, 10. And My glory rejoices: My flesh also shall rest in hope. For You
   will not leave My soul in Hell Or, rather, Hades, the abode of the
   dead.

   10. Neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption. Now David
   was gathered to his fathers and his body saw corruption, as the Apostle
   Peter rightly observed, so it is clear that he is not speaking of
   himself, here, not in the first

   8 Life, and the Path to It Sermon #2813

   place, at any rate, but of "great David's greater Son," our Lord and
   Savior Jesus Christ! "Neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see
   corruption."

   11. You will show me the path of life: in Your Presence is fullness of
   joy; at Your right hands there are pleasures fo-revermore.
     __________________________________________________________________

Abraham's Great Reward

   (No. 2814)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JANUARY 18, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE
   14, 1877.

   "Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward."
   Genesis 15:1.

   You have probably heard a great many sermons on the first part of the
   text, "I am your shield," so, on this occasion, I am going to leave
   that portion in order to more fully consider the second part--"I am
   your exceeding great reward."

   Notice, first, the circumstances under which these words were spoken to
   Abraham. It must have been in his memory that not very long before, he
   had parted from his nephew, Lot, and had given him his choice as to
   which way he would go with his flocks and his herds. And Lot,
   regardless of the character of the people among whom he was going to
   dwell, chose the well-watered plain of Jericho or Jordan in which were
   the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He thought only of temporal
   advantages and now he had lost everything in the battle of the four
   kings against five. Abraham had an eye to the Kingdom of God and His
   righteousness, so he had not lost anything. In fact, he was able to
   restore to Lot all that he had lost. And now the Lord appears to him
   and seems to say to him, "Your nephew Lot trusted in what he could see.
   He followed the leading of his own judgment and chose that which seemed
   to be for his own immediate advantage, and now he has lost all. But,
   fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward. You
   shall not lose. You have chosen the good part which shall not be taken
   from you. You have no share of the well-watered plain of Jordan to
   lose. You need not fret, for you shall never lose your portion." The
   Patriarch might also have said, on his own account, "The Lord is my
   portion, says my soul; therefore will I trust in Him."

   You, Beloved, have probably seen others suffering the loss of all
   things and brought to deep despair as the result. But do not be alarmed
   at whatever happens to you. You have made God to be your refuge and you
   shall find a most secure abode in Him. You may have losses and
   afflictions--these are a part of your lot--but they shall not overwhelm
   you. You shall be no real losers in the end, but you shall be kept by
   the power of God and shall be delivered out of every trial and
   affliction. He shall also be to you your shield and your exceeding
   great reward.

   Again, Abraham had just at that time refused the gifts of the king of
   Sodom. They were his rightful spoil and he might very properly have
   taken them, yet he would not do so, lest, in later days the king of
   Sodom should say, "It was not Abraham's God that enriched him. It is no
   use for him to talk about living by faith, for it was my gifts, or the
   spoils of war that enriched him." "No," says Abraham, "you shall never
   be able to say that! Whatever I have shall be God's gift to me, not the
   king of Sodom's gift. I will be independent of men. I will be dependent
   only upon the living God." The Lord admires this spirit, so He comes
   and says to His servant, "Fear not, Abram. Whatever you may have given
   up for My sake, for My Glory's sake, for the sake of My honor, you
   shall not be a loser in any respect, for I will be your shield, and
   your exceeding great reward."

   Have you, dear Friend, made any sacrifices for Christ? Have you lately
   been called to imperil your own interests by pursuing a right course?
   Have you been steadfast even though you lost friendships? Have you been
   so firm in your adherence to principle that you have been judged to be
   obstinate? Well, if so, you shall be no loser through your
   faithfulness! As certainly as God is in Heaven, you shall prove, in
   some way or other, that in keeping His commandments there is great
   reward. It is always a pity when any of the children of God begin to
   think that they can be enriched by the king of Sodom, or try to find
   their portion, in any measure, among the ungodly sons of men. God's
   command to His people is,

   "Come out from among them, and be you separate, says the Lord, and
   touch not the unclean thing." And His promise to those who do is, "I
   will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My
   sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

   We must also remember that at the time the Lord spoke thus to Abraham,
   the Patriarch was not the possessor of a single foot of the land which
   had been promised to him. The whole of it was to belong to his
   posterity and, in God's promise, Abraham held the title-deeds to the
   freehold. Those who were in possession were but leaseholders and their
   lease would soon run out, but, at that time, Abraham had not even a
   foot of ground that he could call his own. And when he needed a
   sepulcher, he had to buy the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron,
   in the presence of the children of Heth. So, in our text, the Lord
   seems to say to him, "Abraham, you have no possession in this land. You
   are a stranger and a foreigner in it, but 'fear not,' I am your portion
   and your heritage, your exceeding great reward.' Although others look
   upon you as a mere Bedouin wandering about with your flocks and herds,
   and pitching your tents here, today, and there, tomorrow, with no
   settled resting place, be not troubled because of that." It is the same
   with us, Beloved, for the Lord has been the dwelling place of His
   people in all generations, even as He was the dwelling place of
   Abraham! And He would have Abraham know that it was so and feel that he
   was not penniless, or landless, for the Lord was his "exceeding great
   reward."

   One other circumstance is worth remembering. Abraham had just been
   paying tithes to Melchizedek, so now was just the time for the Lord to
   give him a blessing. Have you ever heard a sermon from the text, "Prove
   Me now herewith, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open to you the
   windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be
   room enough to receive it"? I have read discourses upon that passage,
   but the singularity of the sermons has consisted in the fact that they
   were not fairly preached from the text, because it runs thus, "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." It was their
   bringing of the tithes that was to be the test as to the time when the
   blessing should be given to them--and the proof of God's fidelity to
   His promise would be seen by the filling of their barns and houses by
   His bounty! Abraham had paid to Melchize-dek, as the representative of
   the Most High, tithes of all--then came the blessing--"Fear not, Abram:
   I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward."

   Solomon's word is still true, "There is that scatters, and yet
   increases; and there is that withholds more than is meet, but it tends
   to poverty." The most impoverishing money in the world is God's money
   locked up in His own steward's possession, left to canker and to rust
   among the gifts of His Providence--not the man's own possession at all,
   but stolen from his Master, embezzled--that he might accumulate more
   and more, to die a little richer and so be unfaithful to his
   stewardship! O my Brothers and Sisters, this may seem to some of you a
   thing about which we ought not to speak, but we will hold our tongue
   about nothing that is a part of the duty of Christians and the will of
   the Lord! And since we do believe that many professors bring a curse
   upon themselves through neglect of this duty, we must speak of it. You
   will find that in faithfully serving the Lord in this matter, He will
   give you such a blessing upon your substance that you shall praise His
   name that He ever taught you the value of self-sacrifice and
   self-denial--and showed you how to consecrate your substance to Him!

   These are the circumstances under which these words were spoken to
   Abraham. Now let us consider the text itself-- "I am your exceeding
   great reward." And let us ask, first, What is this reward?Secondly,
   What are the excellences of this exceeding great reward?'And, thirdly,
   What then?

   I. First, then, let us enquire, WHAT IS THIS REWARD? "I am your
   exceeding great reward."

   It is not the land of Canaan. That was to be given to Abraham, but that
   was not his great reward. It is not a posterity, though he pined for
   it. No, it is not anything that God will give him--it is God, Himself.
   I--I, Jehovah--the Hebrew is peculiarly emphatic in setting apart the
   word, "I, Jehovah, am your exceeding great reward." The Lord Himself is
   the portion of His people! When Canaan was divided, there was a lot for
   Judah, for Simeon, for Reuben and so on-- but as for the Levites, the
   Lord was their portion--and we are like the Levites--as many of us as
   who have believed in the Lord. The Lord is our portion and He is such a
   portion as excels everything else that we might have!

   I do not think that any human mind can ever grasp the fullness of
   meaning of these four words, "I am your reward." God Himself the reward
   of His faithful people! This I feel sure of--that although I can enjoy
   the sweetness of this text for myself, my feeble lips can never tell
   even the hundredth part of the precious meaning of it! Therefore, my
   Brothers and

   Sisters, do not depend upon me, but appropriate the text to yourselves.
   Be not content for me to cook and carve for you, but come and cut from
   the roast for yourselves--and cut large slices, too! Let each man take
   to himself all that he needs out of this glorious text as he meditates
   upon it!

   Think what a reward it is for us even to know God. Years ago we knew
   that there was a God. At least we heard so, but He was a perfect
   stranger to us. We never recognized Him. Possibly we asked His blessing
   upon our meals, but it was a mere formality. We did not see His hand in
   everything--in fact, we lived almost as if there was no God. If there
   had really been no God, probably we would have been all the happier.
   But now we know Him! We know that He made the heavens and the earth,
   that He is the Preserver of men and we see His hand in every gift of
   Providence. As we walk about the earth, we are accustomed to say,
   "These are His glorious works. My Father made them all. Here is God's
   pencil, painting each flower. Here is God riding on the wings of the
   wind and there is God walking on the waves of the sea! To us, God is
   everywhere." It has made life so happy, at least, I speak for myself,
   to feel, "My God is everywhere." Perhaps you remember that simple story
   of Mungo Park when he was lost in Africa, recovering his spirits by
   looking at a little piece of moss and admiring its beauty, and saying,
   "Here is God at work even here," and feeling that, if God was there, He
   was not really lost, He was still safe enough, for His Father was close
   at hand! It is worthwhile living when we have come into a practical
   recognition of God, when we have made the acquaintance of that glorious
   Divine Being who fills all in all! If we never had any reward but this,
   this would be a great one.

   But we have gone on from knowing God to loving Him, which is much more.
   A good man once said, "If God did not love me, yet if He would but
   allow me to love Him forever, I think that I could not be unhappy."
   Surely you must know that to love God is a most blessed emotion! To
   look up to Him in all His excellence and goodness. To admire Him with
   all your heart. To realize that your lips cannot sufficiently extol
   Him, or your mind think highly enough of Him--this is a most profitable
   exercise! The very thought of God, to a man who truly loves Him, is
   ecstasy! If my eternity could be spent in a dungeon with my heart full
   of love to God, it could not be an unhappy experience to live so!

   But, at the back of this, there comes a far greater thing. Brothers and
   Sisters, we know that God loves us. I never dare to try to speak about
   this great Truth of God--it is a thing to think over rather than to
   talk of. I like to get away quietly in a corner and just try to roll
   this sweet morsel under my tongue, to suck on it till I draw the very
   essence out of it--God loves me--or, as the hymn puts it--

   "I am so glad that Jesus loves me." For God to thinkof me is something.
   For Him to pityme, is more. For Him to helpme practically, is still
   more. But for Him to love me--this is the greatest wonder of all! You
   know how you, being evil, love your own children, but your Heavenly
   Father loves you far more! You husbands know how you love your wives,
   yet there is One who loves His Church far more, for He gave Himself for
   her! God loves you, my Brother. God loves you, my Sister, if, indeed,
   you have been brought to believe in Jesus. And to know this great Truth
   of God is to have an "exceeding great reward," because, if God loves
   us, everything must be right!

   I was going on to say what He would do for us, but it seems to be
   almost too selfish to go into those details, for, as He loves us, what
   is there that He will not do for us? Why, He has already done more for
   us than He ever can do in the future! He has already given to us His
   greatest Gift, for He has given His Son to us and, in so doing, He has
   given us all things. Your Father loves you, dear child of God and,
   therefore, He will continue to feed you, and clothe you, and teach you,
   and support you, and preserve you, and educate you till He has made you
   meet to see His blessed face and then you shall no longer be here at
   school, but go Home to dwell in His blessed Presence forever and
   forever! Is not this an "exceeding great reward"--to know God, to love
   Him and to be loved by Him? What more can we desire than this?

   Yet we have even more than this, for, loving God we come to realize
   that we have possession of Him, so that we can say, "This God is our
   God forever and ever." We say of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, "My
   Beloved is mine, and I am His." We have bowed before Him, as Thomas
   did, and cried, "My Lord and my God." Just think, for a minute, dear
   Friends, what the possession of God means. God is yours in everything
   that He is. His Omnipotence is pledged to strengthen you. His
   Omniscience is engaged to direct you. All His attributes are employed
   on your behalf. He is everywhere present and, therefore, He will show
   Himself everywhere strong for your defense! He is Immutable so He
   changes not in His love to you. He is Eternal so His mercy endures
   forever. Even the sterner attributes of God smile upon the saint--His
   Justice, His Righteousness, His Glory are all on the side of every
   Believer! You say, "I am poor," but how can you be

   poor with such a rich Father? You say, "I am heavy of heart because of
   my low estate." What? With God as yours. With Father, Son and Spirit
   yours. With the everlasting God, the Creator of Heaven and earth as
   your Father and your Friend forever and forever--how can you be
   troubled by reason of the difficulty of your circumstances? Brother,
   Sister, chide your heart for its foolishness! End your sighing and
   begin to sing! When we have God as our possession, we have an
   "exceeding great reward!"

   And the reward seems to grow all the greater in the course of years,
   God's infinite mercy has transformed us, at least inpart, into His
   likeness. God is so fully ours that we enter into fellowship with Him
   and receive of His sacred influences till we are changed into His
   image, even by the Lord, the Spirit. As you read the story of Abraham,
   you can see many of the attributes of God reflected in the character of
   His noble servant. Now, child of God, you should mourn that you are so
   little like God, but you should also rejoice that you are already made
   somewhat like Him and that when He shall appear, in whom your life is
   hid, you shall be like He is, for you shall see Him as He is. Oh, it is
   worthwhile to have lived, is it not, notwithstanding all the cares of
   life, when this is to be the end of it all? Though man is born unto
   trouble, as the sparks fly upward, blessed be God for an existence that
   has for its end that we should be made partakers of the Divine likeness
   and should be lifted up to be the sons and daughters of the Most High
   and dwell with Him in perfection forever! I thank God for His great
   Truth of the immortality of the soul, even with all the dreadful risks
   of everlasting wrath that surround it! It is worth the risk to have the
   possibility of becoming like God and we who have believed in Jesus have
   gone beyond the possibility, for we have the earnest and the assurance,
   the pledge and the token of the good work commenced within us, which,
   when it is perfected, shall make us like God Himself!

   my Soul, bow yourself before the Lord in reverent and adoring
   gratitude! You were almost like the devil by nature and what are you
   even now? You are dust and Deity combined, for the Hoy Spirit dwells in
   you! That body of yours must crumble back to dust, but, by-and-by, it
   shall be refashioned in glory and in power, and then, creature as you
   are, you shall be near and like your God! Is not this an "exceeding
   great reward" to even now be in process of preparation for so wonderful
   a climax as that?

   1 must also mention that God is our "exceeding great reward" in another
   sense, namely, that He deigns to visit us and speak with us. We have
   been moved by Divine influences. I am, of course, addressing myself
   only to those who have been born from above and are Believers in the
   Lord Jesus Christ. Upon you, Beloved, God has already bestowed a great
   reward, for He has raised you from your death of sin and His Spirit
   abides in you, fashioning and forming you unto perfection. And the Lord
   has, I trust, often spoken with you. If not often, whose fault has it
   been? Some of us can testify that He has drawn very near to our spirits
   at times. Do you not remember some happy seasons when you felt that you
   could not have borne any more delight? I mean, when you were so happy
   that to have been happier might have made you run the risk of death
   from excess of joy! Oh, the indescribable bliss, the heavenly joys of a
   soul when it feels the love of Christ shed abroad in the heart by the
   Hoy Spirit who is given unto it!

   II. The time will not allow me to say more on that point, so now I come
   to enquire, in the second place, WHAT ARE THE EXCELLENCES OF THE GREAT
   REWARD WHICH IS PROMISED IN THE TEXT?

   Notice, first, that it is an infinite reward--'I am your reward."
   Anything earthly that God pleases to give to us, we can take away,
   carry it off and house it somewhere. But when God says, "I am your
   reward," we pause and look with mingled wonder, love and praise! This
   reward is incomprehensible--who can carry it away? Who can even measure
   it? Who can fathom the depths of this ocean, or soar to this vast
   height? God gives to other men health, wealth, fame, pleasure. But to
   you, Beloved, He gives Himself! Their gifts are no more comparable to
   yours than the darkness is to the sun! In giving you Himself, He has
   given you all that He is! Truly, that is an infinite portion.

   Then, next, this is a spiritual reward. There are some people who will
   not value it because of this very excellence. And this may be a test
   between the regenerate and the unregenerate. The ungodly say, "If God
   will but give us our barns full of wheat and our winepress bursting
   with new wine. If He will only fill our purses with gold and our houses
   with all manner of earthly delights, that will be enough for us." But
   you, Believer, are of another mind, for you have seen through the
   emptiness and vanity of all material things. You say, What is the mere
   pleasure of eating and drinking but that with which a beast is my
   associate? What if I have honor among my fellow mortals? What is it but
   so much breath from other men's nostrils, so much clapping of the hands
   of fools? That is all it really is." What is there beneath the sun,
   that, to a man who is born of God, is worth his stooping down to pick
   it up? But when he gets his God, the new-born

   spirit within him, which hungers with an infinite hunger for the
   highest good, he says, Here I have all that I need! Father, Son and
   Spirit--blessed Trinity, You are mine! My awakened spirit feels that
   this is a sea in which I can swim forever. This is the element in which
   I can truly live." To possess God is a great spiritual blessing, so the
   declaration of the text is true-- I am your exceeding great reward."

   Notice, next, that this is an eternal reward, for he who has God as his
   own shall never lose Him since God changes not. And he shall never
   exhaust Him, for who would even think that he can drain dry the
   infinite all-sufficiency of Jehovah? If God is yours, you have all for
   today, tomorrow, for time, for eternity, forever! All emergencies and
   circumstance of life--all for the tremendous terrors of the Day of
   Judgment, all for the ages of ages that shall never end! What more can
   you need?

   To have God is, also, most ennobling. I do not know that there is
   anything in a great deal of wealth to make a man noble. Many men seem
   to get more greedy, the more money they have. Their soul cleaves to
   their dust. But he who gets God as his own, oh, what a privileged man
   is he! Talk of princes--here is a prince, indeed! You may put as many
   emperors and great ones of the earth as you please in a barrel, but, if
   they are not saved by the Grace of God, they are not worthy, in the
   sight of God, of being compared with the poorest, weakest, most
   despised of all His people, to whom He is an "exceeding great reward!"
   O you great ones of the earth, you might well be content to become
   beggars if you might but have God to be your everlasting portion!

   And what a soul-satisfying portion and reward fhis is! If you have God
   as yours, my Soul, sit down and see if you can think of anything
   else--you cannot do it! Try and let your desires ramble over other
   fields. Untie them and give them liberty. But what can they ask for,
   seek for, wish for beyond God Himself? There are, alas, some Christians
   who do not seem to realize the truth of this and they get dissatisfied
   with God. You have been serving the Master, my Brother or Sister, for
   some months. Perhaps it is in the Sunday school that you have been
   working, but nobody has taken much notice of you. The superintendent
   has not praised you, so you are discouraged. But remember that when you
   serve God, He is your reward

   Oh, but, Sir! I have been trying to do good in many ways. I have
   labored hard, but people only misrepresent me." Did you look for your
   reward in that way? If you did, I am glad that you are disappointed,
   because God says, "I am your reward." To know that you love God and
   that He loves you--that He is yours, and you are His--that is reward
   enough for you. Oh, but," says a minister, you do not really know how
   badly I have been treated. I have had many years of service in my
   congregation, but they are most ungrateful and do not appreciate me.
   They even want to get rid of me!" But, my Brother, God does not want to
   get rid of you. And He will appreciate you, for He loves you with an
   infinite love. Why did you look to men and women for your reward? A man
   may have other rewards if he is content with God as his reward, but he
   who has any sinister or even secondary aim in what he does in the cause
   of God, spoils it all. This is the fly in the precious ointment! We
   must get rid of everything of this sort and be just as satisfied to
   serve God in obloquy and reproach as we are to serve Him amid the
   acclamations of the multitude!

   It is not easy to do that," says one. No, Beloved, nothing is easy that
   is good, except to God--and you must go to Him to enable you to act so.
   But never shun a duty because you think it is difficult. Sit down with
   your Lord, alone, and He will speak to you and comfort you, and
   strengthen you. Remember how Elkanah comforted his wife, Hannah, when
   she sorrowed because she had no children? Am not I better to you than
   ten sons?" And as he drew her close to him and she felt the warm glow
   of his loving heart, she realized that it was even so, and that gave
   her rest. And the Lord seems to draw each weary, sad, disappointed
   laboring one to Him and say, Am I not better to you than all the
   praises of men? Am I not better to you than wealth? Am I not better to
   you than the health that you have lost? Am I not better to you than all
   the world?" And what is your answer? Surely it is this, Whom have I in
   Heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides
   You." O God, bring us to that blessed position and keep us there! Then
   shall we have drunk in the meaning of our text, "I am your shield, and
   your exceeding great reward."

   III. My third question is, WHAT THEN? As God is our exceeding great
   reward, what then?

   First, it is quite clear that the rewards which are given to Believers
   are of Grace and not of debt Do you not see that in the text? Look at
   it again and you will perceive it at once. If God is the reward of His
   people, it is not possible that any being could ever deserve to have
   God as his reward. It is very possible that a man should deserve the
   esteem of his fellow men and I think that most people deserve what they
   really earn. It would be well if some could have more than they re-

   ceive--wages are often less than they should be. We may deserve more
   money than we get, but there is nobody who ever deserved God! To
   deserve Heaven has never been possible yet, but even if it had been,
   that would not be so much as deserving God! This is too big a portion
   to ever come to us on the ground of law, merit and good works, so, when
   the Lord says, I am your reward," it must be all of Grace--and there is
   no possibility of earning this reward. When the men went into the
   vineyard and agreed with the householder for a penny a day, they earned
   it. But when the reward is God, Himself, there is nobody who has ever
   earned that, or who can ever do so. So, my Soul, sing of Free and
   Sovereign Grace! Let your life-song be--

   "Free Grace and dying love,"

   because the portion you have received is such as could have come to you
   on no other terms than those of free, rich, almighty, covenant,
   everlasting Grace! And therefore let God be glorified forever and ever.

   I want to call your attention, next, to the fact that according to our
   text, we hold God on a very sure tenure because what a man holds as a
   reward, he knows to be his own. "Why," he says, "I won this and I may
   well hold it fast." Now, Brothers and Sisters, you and I have never
   deserved God. I have told you that is impossible, but He is as surely
   ours as if we hadearned Him, for He is our reward! A man, I say again,
   feels the utmost assurance that anything that comes to him as a reward
   is really his. Let us feel the same assurance and brave confidence
   concerning God and even more than if we stood upon the footing of
   merits. "I am your reward," says the Lord. Then, "let no man beguile
   you of your reward." Hold it fast! Let not the devil, himself, take it
   from you, or rob you of your joy in it! It is yours so surely and so
   safely that you may at all times rejoice in it as being yours upon the
   most certain tenure!

   Another practical thought may come in here. If God is our reward, let
   us take care that we really enjoy Him. Let us exult in Him and let us
   not be pining after any other joy. You have to go and live in a lonely
   place where you will have few encouragements--but you will still have
   your God--so how can you feel lonely? You are coming down in earthly
   circumstances. Your income is decreasing. But your God is not any less
   than He was, so you are not really a loser. One dear Friend after
   another is being taken away from you--there is a great probability that
   the dearest one you have will soon go to the grave. Yet the Lord lives,
   so blessed be your Rock! Rejoice in Him! Possibly you are soon going to
   the grave yourself. The years are taking their toll upon you and
   increasing weakness proves that, before long, you must put off this
   tabernacle. Well, even if it is so, He who is your All-in-All will not
   die! This world is not your rest or your portion! You are not,
   therefore, losing your portion, you are going Home to it, for the Lord,
   Himself, is your shield, and your exceeding great reward."

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GENESIS 14:17-24; 15.

   Genesis 14:17, 18. And the King of Sodom went out to meet him after his
   return from the slaughter of Chedorlao-mer, and of the kings that were
   with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. And
   Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was
   the priest of the Most High God. One who exercised both the kingship
   and the priesthood--the only person that we know of who did this, and
   who, therefore, is a wonderful type of that marvelous King-Priest of
   whom we read in the 110th Psalm and in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

   19, 20. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high
   God, possessor of Heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God,
   which has delivered your enemies into your hands. And he gave him
   tithes of all. It must have been peculiarly refreshing to Abraham to be
   met by a man of kindred spirit and one whom he recognized as his
   superior. No doubt he was weary, though triumphant and so, just then,
   the Lord sent him special refreshment. And, Beloved, how sweet it is to
   us when the greater Melchizedek meets us! Jesus Christ, our great
   King-Priest, still meets us and brings us bread and wine. Often, the
   very symbols on His Table have been refreshing to us, but their inner
   meaning has been far more sustaining and comforting to our spirit.
   There is no food like the bread and wine that our blessed Melchi-zedek
   brings forth to us, even His own flesh and blood! Well may we give Him
   tithes of all that we have! No, more--we may say to Him, Take not
   tithes, O Lord, but take all!"

   21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and
   take the goods to yourself As the spoils of war, they were all Abraham'
   s by right.

   22, 23. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hands
   unto the LORD, the Most High God, the possessor of Heaven and earth,
   that I will not take from you a thread even to a shoelace, and that I
   will not take any thing that is your, lest you should say, I have made
   Abram rich Sometimes a child of God will find himself cast, through
   force of circumstances, into very curious companionship. For the sake
   of Lot, Abraham had to go and fight the enemies of the king of Sodom.
   And sometimes, in fighting for religious liberty, we have had to be
   associated with persons from whom we differ as much as Abraham differed
   from the king of Sodom--but right must be fought for under all
   circumstances. Yet, sooner or later, there comes a crucial test in
   which our true character will be discovered. Shall we personally gain
   anything by this association? We loathe it even while we recognize that
   it is necessary for the time being, but we have not entered it for the
   sake of personal gain.

   24. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of
   the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take
   their portion. They had a right to it. What we do ourselves, we do not
   always expect others to do. There is a higher code of morals for the
   servant of God than for other men. And we may often think of what they
   do and not condemn them, although we could not do the same, ourselves,
   for we are lifted into a higher position as the servant of the Lord.

   Genesis 15:1-3. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram
   in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your
   exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what will You give
   me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer
   of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me You have given no seed: and,
   lo, one born in my house is my heir. Perhaps he did not doubt the
   promise, but he needed to have it explained to him. He may have
   wondered if it meant that one born in his house, though not his son,
   was to be his heir, and that through him, the blessing would come. He
   takes the opportunity of making an enquiry, that he may know how to
   act. At the same time, there does seem to be a clashing between
   Abraham's question, "What will You give me?" and the declaration of
   God, "I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward." There is a
   great descent from the language of the Lord to that of the most stable
   Believer--and when you and I are even at our best, I have no doubt that
   if all could be recorded that we think and say, some of our fellow
   Believers would feel that the best of men are but men at the best--and
   that God's language is after a nobler fashion than ours will ever be,
   till we have seen His face in Glory.

   4, 5. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This
   shall not be your heir; but he that shall come out ofyour own body
   shall be your heir. And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now
   toward Heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to number them:
   andHe said unto him, So shall your seed be. Now was Abraham's faith
   tried, indeed! He had no child. He was old and his wife was also old,
   yet the Lord's promise was, "So shall your seed be" as the stars of
   Heaven! Could he believe it? He did.

   6. And he believed in the LORD; andHe counted it to him for
   righteousness. Oh, what a blessing to learn the way of simple faith in
   God! This is the saving quality in many a life. Look through Paul's
   list of the heroes of faith--some of them are exceedingly imperfect
   characters! Some we would hardly have thought of mentioning. But they
   had faith and, although men, in their faulty judgment, think faith to
   be an inferior virtue and often scarcely look upon it as a virtue at
   all, yet, in the judgment of God, faith is the supreme virtue! "This,"
   said Christ, "is the work of God," the greatest of all works, that you
   believe on Him whom He has sent." To trust, to believe--this shall be
   counted to us for righteousness even as it was to Abraham!

   7, 8. AndHe said unto him, I am the LORD that brought you out of Ur of
   the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it, and he said, Lord
   God, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?What? Abraham, is not
   God's promise sufficient for you? O father of the faithful, though you
   believe and are counted as righteous through believing, do you still
   ask, "How shall I know?" Ah, Beloved, faith is often marred by a
   measure of unbelief--or, if not quite unbelief--yet there is a desire
   to have some token, some sign beyond the bare promise of God!

   9-11. And He said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a
   she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a
   turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto Him all these, and
   divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but
   the birds divided he not And when the foul came down upon the
   carcasses, Abram drove them away. Here is a lesson for us. Perhaps you
   have some of these unclean birds coming down upon your sacrifice just
   now. That raven that you did not lock up well at home, has come here
   after you. Eagles and vultures and all

   kinds of kites in the form of carking cares, sad memories, fears and
   doubts, come hovering over the sacred feast. Drive them away! God give
   you Grace to drive them away by the power of His gracious Spirit!

   12. And when thee sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram;
   and, lo, an hiorror of great darkness fell upon him. He had asked for a
   manifestation, a sign, a token, and lo, it comes in the "horror of
   great darkness." Do not be afraid, Beloved, if your soul sometimes
   knows what horror is. Remember how the favored three, on the Mount of
   Transfiguration, "feared as they entered into the cloud." Yet it was
   there that they were to see their Master in His glory! Remember what
   the Lord said to Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem and His people, They
   shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity
   that I procure unto it." That is the right spirit in which to receive
   prosperity, but as for adversity, rejoice in it, for God often sends
   the richest treasures to His children in wagons drawn by black horses!
   You may except that some great blessing is coming near to you when a
   "horror of great darkness" falls upon you.

   13. And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a
   stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they
   shall afflict them four hundred years. It was to be a long while before
   the nation should enter upon its inheritance. Here is a promise that
   was to take four hundred years to ripen! Some of you cannot believe the
   promise if its fulfillment is delayed for four days--you can hardly
   keep on praying if it takes four years--what would you think of a four
   hundred years promise? Yet it was to be so long in coming to maturity
   because it was so vast. If Abraham's seed was to be like the stars of
   Heaven for multitude, there must be time for the increase to come!

   14-17. Andalso that nation, whom they shall serve, willljudge: and
   afterward shall they come out with great substance. Andyou shall go to
   your fathers inpeace; you shall be buried in a good oldage. But in the
   fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the
   Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that when the sun went
   down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp
   that passed between those pieces. True emblems of the Church of God
   with her smoke and her light, her trying affliction, yet the Grace by
   which she still keeps burning and shining in the world.

   18-21. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
   Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the
   great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and
   the Kadmonites and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
   and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the
   Jebu-sites. He mentions the adversaries to show how great would be the
   victories of the race that should come and dispossess them. Let us
   always look upon the list of our difficulties as only a catalog of our
   triumphs. The greater our troubles, the louder our song at the last.
     __________________________________________________________________

Good Cheer for Many That Fear

   (No. 2815)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JANUARY, 25, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A LORD'S-DAY EVENING, EARLY IN
   THE YEAR 1861.

   "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not." Isaiah
   35:4.

   THIS is an exhortation which is addressed, not to one person, but to
   several. In the third verse you can see that the message runs,
   "Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees." What,
   Lord? Is not one man sufficient for this task? Will not one of Your
   servants, when he repeats Your precious promises, be able to drive away
   the fears of Your people? Will not half a word be enough to put to rout
   their foolish, groundless suspicions and suppositions? No, they have
   need of many comforters. It is not enough, O Lord, that one should come
   and speak in Your name? No, "for precept must be upon precept, precept
   upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there
   a little." We are a people of a stubborn will and of a wayward heart, O
   God. Too often do we wander from Your ways! It is well, therefore, that
   God has spoken thus, not simply to one of His servants, but to all
   those who love His appearing and rejoice in the certainty of His
   promises--"Say you, all of you"--for I may rightly supply the pronoun
   here--"say you to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear
   not."

   Let me observe that in the original, the word for, "fearful," is,
   "hasty." Now, a hasty man is never a wise man. And equally true is it
   that a "fearful" man is never prudent. Fearful men are always
   hasty--they jump at conclusions. They say, with Jacob, "All these
   things are against me," because they cannot see to the end of the
   Lord's dispensations. They forget that He is full of pity and full of
   compassion. Circumstance or expediency is their guiding star. They seek
   to follow the track of the meteors which fly here and there across the
   midnight sky--they forget the pole-star of God's Truth and
   faithfulness. They go to sea without chart or compass and they are
   driven backwards and forwards by contrary winds! And even when there is
   no wind, they know not how to steer their ship. As you know, even in
   this world's affairs, a hasty man is constantly getting himself into
   trouble. He speculates in certain stocks and shares because some con
   man has told him that he can gain by doing so. And soon he hears quite
   a different story, some great disaster is about to come--he hastily
   believes the lie and is again deceived!

   So is it with fearful souls--they are always doing this or that on the
   hasty impulse of an ill-drawn conclusion. Thus they are constantly
   misjudging their God, misusing His Word, misdirecting their own steps,
   bringing a world of trouble upon themselves and dishonor upon the name
   of their God! Fearful souls are hasty souls. They judge the Lord by
   feeble sense, by the bitterness of the bud and not by the sweetness of
   the flower. They judge by the clouds of the morning, forgetting that
   the clouds may soon be scattered and that the sun may shine out
   brightly again. To them, then, that are of a hasty heart--to those who
   condemn themselves unjustly, who think that all things are against them
   and so become exceedingly fearful, say, "Be strong, fear not."

   I am going, first of all, to mention some of the spiritual fears which
   have vexed the people of God at all times--fears from without which are
   associated with a belief of the Truth of God. Secondly, I will mention
   some fears from the feelings within. Then, thirdly, I shall try to
   excite you to get beyond these fearful things and to come up to the
   place of strength--the place of confidence and of full assurance.

   I. First, then, I am to mention SOME OF THE GREAT TRUTHS CONCERNING
   WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE OFTEN FEARFUL.

   How many there are, babes in Grace, who are troubled about election.'
   'Are we among the Lord's chosen ones?" is a question that they often
   ask. They would be glad enough if an angel could fly down from Heaven
   and make a solemn affirmation that he had read their names written in
   the golden page of the Lamb's Book of Life, but, since they cannot have
   this assurance, they question, and question, and question yet again!
   "Suppose I have not been chosen unto eternal life? What if my name was
   never engraved upon the hands or upon the heart of Christ? When the
   muster-roll of the redeemed is read at the Last Great Day, if my name
   should not be found on it, how can I bear that piercing thought? The
   dread surmise fills me with dismay!"

   Now, to you who are trusting in Jesus, yet who have fears about your
   election, let me say, in God's name, "Be strong, fear not." That very
   Doctrine of Election which now appears to you to be like a lion in your
   way, shall prove, by-and-by, to be, indeed, a lion upon which you shall
   ride in glorious triumph! It is no enemy. Come and look it in the face
   and you shall find it to be your richest, dearest friend. If you
   believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are as certainly elected as ever
   Peter and Paul were! If, as an empty sinner, Christ is all your
   fullness. If, as a naked soul, Christ's righteousness is your glorious
   dress--then be you assured of this--you would never have had the stream
   if you had not had an interest in the Fountain! You could never have
   had the fruit if you had not had a part in the Root! Inasmuch as you
   have the blessing of God's elect and the faith which is the common mark
   of them all, do not any longer question your election, but be bold to
   enter into this solemn mystery! Venture, now, to the heart of Christ.
   Trace the streams of Divine Love up to the eternal Fountain from which
   they spring, and say, with John Kent--

   "A monument of Grace,

   A sinner saved by blood--

   The streams of love I trace

   Up to the Fountain, God,

   And in His sacred bosom see

   Eternal thoughts of love to mef Again, there are many of God's people
   who are disquieted concerning their redemption. They want to know
   whether they were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. According
   to some theories, nobody need ever be perplexed about this matter. The
   Arminian says, "Christ died for allmen." Some go so far as to say, "He
   died for all alike.''" According to them, He died as much for Judas as
   He did for Peter, and as much for those who were damned in Hell before
   He laid down His life as for those who were saved in Heaven before He
   came into the world! Now, I do not hesitate to say that such a
   redemption as that is a redemption that does not redeem! It is not
   worth the expense of paper and ink to write about it. It is not
   worthwhile to open one's mouth to speak of it. A redemption which pays
   a price, but does not ensure that which is purchased. A redemption
   which calls Christ a Substitute for the sinner, but yet which allows
   the person for whom He was substituted to suffer is altogether unworthy
   of our apprehensions of Almighty God! It offers no homage to His wisdom
   and does despite to His covenant faithfulness. We could not and we
   would not receive such a travesty of Divine Truth as that would be!
   There is no ground for any comfort whatever in it.

   We believe that by His atoning Sacrifice, Christ bought some good
   things for all men and all good things for some men. And that when He
   died, He had a definite purpose in dying and that His purpose will
   certainly be effected. Those who are saved owe their security to what
   His Redemption has accomplished and we fully believe that the
   accomplishment will be just as great as was the intent and purpose.
   Not, my Brothers and Sisters, that Christ's blood was less than
   Infinite in its value--less than Infinite it could never be! The
   question is not concerning the valueof it, but the purposeof it. If God
   had willed it, there was enough efficacy in the blood of Christ to have
   redeemed ten thousand worlds. We have, however, not to speak of the
   efficacy that might have been in it, but of the efficacy that is in it
   according to the good pleasure which God has purposed in Himself. This
   doctrine of a special and particular intention in the Atonement of
   Christ has often troubled Believers in Jesus. But it never ought to. Do
   you believe in Him? Is He all your salvation and all your desire? Has
   His precious blood been applied by the Spirit to your heart and
   conscience? Has He purged you with hyssop? Then you are clean and that
   hyssop cannot have been applied to you in a wrong way. Being pardoned,
   you have the fruit of Redemption, so Redemption is certainly yours!
   Jesus came into the world to redeem you unto Himself. You are His and
   you have a clear and proper right to share in the efficacy of His blood
   and the power of His Atonement. Therefore, I say unto you who, on this
   account, are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not."

   There are many, also, who are troubled about their effectual
   calling.''Oh," says one, "if I had heard the Master say to me, as He
   said to Zacchaeus, 'Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down, for today I
   must abide at your house,' then I would know that I was called by Him.
   Or if He had said to me, 'Mary,' and I had said, 'Rabboni,' I should
   know that He had called me. But, oh, Sir, I have come to Christ, yet I
   sometimes fear that He has never called me. He knows that He is my
   All-in-All. Other refuge have I none, but I am half-afraid that I have
   got into this refuge without any right--that I crept up to the foot of
   the Cross without being called--and that I have taken to myself a
   confidence which has no sure ground." O child of God, dismiss all those
   fears! You could not have come to Christ unless He had first come to
   you! If you have but come behind Him in the crowd and only touched the
   hem of His garment, you are cured and you shall never again suffer from
   that disease! That poor woman was not called by Christ's voice, yet I
   will venture to say that there was a secret call, within her heart,
   that moved her. Touch the hem of His garment! You may never know
   exactly how you were first convinced of sin, nor how you were quickened
   by the Holy Spirit--but if you have really come to Christ, that is
   enough, for you would never have come to Him unless He had drawn you!
   He has secretly put the bands of His love about your heart and you have
   turned to Him as the needle turns to the magnet! The proof that you
   have been called by Christ is that you have come to Him!

   I have frequently noticed that those persons who think that they have
   had some special and particular call, have been no better, in regard to
   their evidences and, sometimes they have been much worse than those who
   have come to Christ in the more ordinary way. I would not say this to
   the disparagement of any man's conversion, for God works as He wills.
   But I recollect, and my eyes are just now fixed upon the very place
   where there once sat a man who presented a Bible to me, (I have it at
   home now), in which are written these words, "'Zacchaeus, make haste,
   and come down, for today I must abide at your house.' Dear Sir, When
   you pronounced these words last Sabbath morning, I heard a call from
   God to my soul and I am sure that I came down and that Christ did abide
   at my house."

   That man joined us in Church fellowship. I shall not mention his name,
   but some of you may remember how sadly he dishonored the name of
   Christ. He went out from us because he was not of us, for, if he had
   been of us, doubtless he would have continued with us. It is very easy
   for us to imagine that we have received some special call of this
   sort--and then to build our confidence upon it--but if we have not
   something better than this to rest upon, woe was the day to us! I would
   far rather, my dear Friends, come to Christ and never know that I had
   been called except from the fact that I had come, than have some vision
   or audible words and yet, after all, cease to stand as a simple soul
   covered with the righteousness of Christ! Well do I know that there is
   a temptation to look back to the day and to the hour when we had some
   special manifestation--rather than to look only to the Cross and to the
   blood--and to calculate that we are converted because we felt this or
   that extraordinary emotion, instead of still coming, as we always must
   come, crying to our dear Lord and Savior--

   "Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Your Cross I clingP'

   Another fear, arising from the great and precious Doctrine of Final
   Perseverance, has troubled many a true Believer in the Lord Jesus
   Christ. How shall I hold on and persevere unto the end?" is a question
   that often causes great anxiety even to a genuine child of God. The
   best of things, when corrupted, become the most corrupt. The sweetest
   of comforts, when not believed in, become the bitterest of discomforts.
   I think that the Doctrine of the Final Perseverance of the saints is
   one of those that are most plainly taught in the Scriptures. If I found
   any difficulty, at any time, in defending against its assailants, the
   Doctrine of Particular Redemption, I should certainly never find any
   difficulty in defending the Doctrine of Final Perseverance! Those who
   oppose it have an irresistible array of passages of Scripture to
   contend with-- they have, indeed, when they attack this Truth of
   God--to leap into a lion's den! It is strange that so many of the
   Lord's people should have been troubled concerning this precious
   Doctrine which is so clearly revealed in the Word of God. "How shall I
   endure unto the end? How shall I stand fast in the hour of trial? If my
   temptations are multiplied, if my pains are increased, if my
   bereavements should follow one upon another, if I should be called to a
   position of great responsibility, or if I should be cast down into the
   depths of adversity, how shall I endure it? How shall I be kept
   steadfast, year after year, and be brought safely home at last? Amid so
   many rocks and quicksands, storms and hurricanes, how shall my poor
   water-logged vessel ever enter the port?"

   O Believer, if you are really called by Grace, you shall certainly
   persevere! He who set your feet a-running in His ways will never let
   you stop till you have come to your journey's end! Christ's promise to
   all His people is, "Because I live, you shall live also." Your
   perseverance does not rest with you, otherwise you were indeed an
   undone wretch! But it rests with your Lord and Savior--and He will
   preserve you even unto the end! As your days, so shall your strength
   be." With the temptation, He will make a way of escape that you shall
   be able to bear it. So again I say to you who are troubled about your
   ultimate salvation, "Be strong, fear not." He who has begun the good
   work in you will carry it on and finish it in righteousness! He will
   not leave you, for His promise to everyone who believes in Him is, I
   will never leave you, nor forsake you."

   II. I have thus dealt with some fears from without. Now I am going, for
   a only few minutes, to speak upon SOME OF THE FEARS WHICH COME FROM
   WITHIN.

   Multitudes of Believers are of a fearful heart because they have not
   the joys and comforts with which some Christians are favored. God has
   some of His people who live very near to Himself and who, therefore,
   partake of the richest things upon His banqueting table. These
   privileged saints tell of their joys, but certain desponding Christians
   who have backslidden from God and who, therefore, have not of late
   tasted of these dainties, cry out, "We cannot be the Lord's people, for
   we have no such joys as these." As well might the plant in the corner
   say that it was not planted at all because it did not stand in the
   front row of the bed! As well might some small tree in the forest say
   that it did not live because it did not tower aloft, like some mighty
   cedar of Lebanon! Because I am not the fairest rose, but only a humble
   violet hidden among the green leaves, am I to conclude that I am not a
   flower at all? Oh, no, no! We are not saved by our comforts! They are
   given to us after we are saved, but we are saved without them. Many a
   soul has gone to Hell singing, while others have gone to Heaven
   sighing. It is not right that God's people should hang their harps upon
   the willows, but far better is it for us to hang our harps upon the
   willows than, like Haman, to be hanged upon the gallows that, in his
   pride and malice, he had erected for his enemy, Mordecai! Because we
   have not all the comforts which some Christians have, let us not be
   fretful and repine--that is the way to prevent ourselves from ever
   having them. I would say of the comforts of religion as Christ said of
   the comforts of this world, "Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His
   righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Seek
   Christ first! Have simple faith in Him and then the ecstasies, the
   raptures, the enjoyments, the uplifting which some of His people have,
   shall be added unto you if the Lord sees that it is well for you to
   have them! But if you seek those things first, you shall neither have
   them nor any other sort of comfort whatever.

   Full many there are, also, who are greatly cast down because of the
   conflict within. As soon as there are wars and fights between the two
   men--the old man and the new man--they at once conclude that it is all
   over with them. Foolish conclusion, indeed, since, if there were no
   wars it would be a proof that there was no life! If there were no
   conflicts it would be an evidence that there was but one power
   within--and that power the evil one! Draw not, from your internal
   commotions, from the temptation which assails you and the force with
   which it acts against your inward principles-- draw not the inference
   that, therefore, you are a castaway of God! This is rather a reason why
   you should cry, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And,
   by faith should shout, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

   Very many have come across my path, too, who are of a fearful heart
   because they have such little faith and they fear that their little
   faith will not be sufficient. Ah, Believer, your true riches do not
   depend upon the amount of your spending money! The Lord sometimes keeps
   His children rather short of pocket money, but, still, the whole of His
   riches belongs to them all the while. The unsearchable riches of Christ
   are the measure of our true wealth--not that portion which we can
   manage to lay hold of by the hand of faith. If I have, in my hand, but
   one farthing of faith's wealth, that is a proof that all the riches of
   Christ belong to me. If I have but faith as a grain of mustard seed--so
   small that it looks as though the first bird of the air that came my
   way might carry it away, yet, inasmuch as there is life hidden within
   that tiny mustard seed--a life which only needs the Grace of God to
   expand and develop it--I am saved, though my faith is but small!

   A few, too, I have known, who are troubled with doubts and fears
   because they do not understand as much as they would like to. They
   cannot read books of divinity, or, if they do read them, they get lost
   amid the maze of difficult theological terms. They cannot reconcile
   certain Truths of God, the one with the other. But this is no ground
   for fear, for the Gospel is so simple that it is adapted even for those
   who are all but idiots! I have read some extraordinary instances--
   facts that no one can dispute--of persons scarcely a degree above sheer
   idiocy who have, nevertheless, believed in Christ,

   yes, and whose sayings have had about them certain flashes of a
   superlative simplicity and supernatural wisdom--and whose words, when
   they were sifted and carefully examined, were found to read rather like
   the mind of the Spirit than like the utterances of a poor creature
   whose mind was almost gone! Think not, dear Friend, that your ignorance
   can push you out of the family of God! Little children cannot read
   Greek and Latin, but they can say, Abba, Father," and that is all they
   need to say. If you cannot read books of deep theological lore, yet, if
   Jesus Christ is yours--if you are trusting in Him--even the imperfect
   knowledge that you have of Him proves that you are His! And He will
   never leave you, nor forsake you.

   I have met with some, too, who were of a fearful heart, afraid that
   they would be lost because they felt that they had, at some period of
   their lives, neglected Christian duty. This is an old temptation that
   Satan often casts in the way of godly people. You remember how John
   Bunyan represents Apollyon as charging poor Christian with being
   unfaithful-- "You did faint at first setting out, when you were almost
   choked in the Gulf of Despond. You did attempt wrong ways, to be rid of
   your burden, whereas you should have stayed till your Prince had taken
   it off! You did sinfully sleep and lose your choice thing; you were
   also almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions. And when
   you talk of your journey and of what you have heard and seen, you are
   inwardly desirous of vain-glory in all that you say or do." Now, if any
   of you should be troubled by similar accusations of the adversary,
   recollect that since Christ did not love you for your good works, they
   are not the cause of His beginning to love you--and so He does not love
   you for your good works even now--and they are not the cause of His
   continuing to love you! He loves you because He will love you. What He
   approves in you now is that which He has, Himself, given to you! That
   is always the same--it alwaysabides as it was. The life of God is
   always within you. Jesus has not turned away His heart from you, nor
   has the flame of His love decreased in the smallest degree. Therefore,
   faint Heart, fear not, be strong."

   III. I might go on to deal with other fears of God's people, but,
   instead of doing so, I want TO EXCITE YOU TO GET BEYOND THESE FEARS. In
   the words of my text, to exhort you to "fear not," but to "be strong."

   Some few Sabbaths ago I told you that I had met with a Christian
   Brother who had never had a doubt. Lately, in Glasgow, I met with
   another. Mr. Alexander Macleod, the oldest Baptist minister, I believe,
   in Scotland, told me that he was converted to God, upon the Calton
   Hill, under Rowland Hill's ministry. He is now, I suppose, 82 or 83
   years of age and is still a strong man. He has known the Lord for more
   than 60 years and he says that not once in his life did he ever have a
   doubt concerning his election, his calling, his interest in Christ, or
   his final perseverance. He said that he once heard a Unitarian minister
   preach against the Divinity of Christ and his mind was greatly
   disturbed, but he never went the length of having any doubts either
   about Christ, or about his own interest in Him. I knew the man to be
   everywhere revered for his piety and for the holiness and consistency
   of his life. I could not, therefore, doubt the truth of what he told
   me. But I was surprised, not at him, but at myself, that I, who have
   the same God as he has and perhaps have had more mercies than he has
   received--that I, in the full vigor of early manhood should doubt,
   while he, in his old age, should be able to truthfully declare that his
   soul had never wavered in his simple confidence in Jesus. When I
   expressed my surprise at him, he expressed a great deal more surprise
   at me! He said that he came to Christ as a poor sinner and trusted Him
   to be his All-in-All, and he did not mean to alter his belief until he
   saw good reason for doing so. I hope that you and I, dear Friends, will
   come to Jesus, yet again, as poor sinners and take Him to be our
   All-in-All--and never change from that simple faith till we see good
   reason for doing so--which, I take it, will never be so long as the
   heart of Christ is full of affections, the arm of Jesus is unpalsied
   through affliction, and the eyes of Christ are undimmed with age!

   I am sure that Satan is very much gratified when he sees that any of us
   are of a fearful heart. No doubt he chuckles over it and makes as much
   as he can of his sorry triumph over poor weak mortals. Do not yield to
   him, Beloved! Draw your swords and strike boldly at him! Believe that
   you will overcome him, and you will do so. March forward and believe
   that the land of promise is yours, for it isyours and you shall surely
   go up and possess it! Is it necessary that the children of God should
   be a doubting people? Is it necessary that they should be continually
   cast down? By no means! For it is a great and grievous sin for us to
   distrust our God. Let us trust in Him at all times and even say with
   Job, Though He slays me, yet will I trust in Him."

   The path of faith is the smoothest path, after all. The road of life
   will always be rough, but he who walks by faith will find half its
   roughness removed. The greater part of our sorrows come not from
   Heaven, nor Hell, nor earth, but from ourselves. We are our own
   plague-makers and our own tormentors! A man with strong faith is like
   one who wears a

   leather glove who can lay hold of thorns and thistles and not be hurt.
   But the man with weak faith is like one not only with a naked hand, but
   with the skin off it--everything he touches irritates the tender flesh
   and even the small grains of dust may fret within the wound and breed
   ulcers and foul sores. Be strong." God is with you, so how dare you be
   dismayed because of your own weakness? "Fear not." The Lord is your
   confidence--it is presumption for you to mistrust Him. "Be strong." The
   might of God is engaged by promise and by oath to bring you safely
   through. "Fear not." There is no cause for fear--the enemies whom you
   have seen today, you shall see again no more forever. "Fear not." Fear
   weakens you and moreover, it dishonors God and gives cause to the enemy
   to blaspheme His holy name.

   I do not know whether this is a portion of meat to any troubled heart
   here present. Possibly it may be. If so, poor Soul, feed on it. You
   have gone to a new situation, have you not, and there are some ungodly
   young men who revile and ridicule you? Well, then, fear not, be
   strong." Your business does not answer so well as it did and you hardly
   know what will become of you. "Fear not, be strong." Commit your cause
   unto the Lord, lay your case at His feet. Possibly you have sickness in
   the house and you are half inclined to repine, and to think that there
   is some anger mingled with the strokes of the rod. "Fear not, be
   strong." Either the blow you dread will never be inflicted or it will
   be a blessed blow! This is but a slight sorrow. Do you think me hard
   and unfeeling in so describing it? But it may be that this sorrow will
   be very slight compared with that from which you are spared--if this
   blow did not fall, it might involve a ten times heavier one!

   Perhaps you have been sorely tempted by Satan lately and he says that
   he shall at last have you. Be strong, fear not." Strike him all the
   harder for telling that lie! Strike at him with all your power, for, in
   the might of God, you are far mightier than he is and you can prevail
   over him! And you, young Man, have recently undertaken service for your
   Savior, but you feel that you have not the strength needed for it and
   you are inclined to give up. Fear not, be strong." He who calls you to
   His service will support you in it! You and I have to stand like
   Gideon's soldiers, with the lamp inside the pitcher--that pitcher needs
   to be broken before the light of the lamp can be seen. The strength of
   man is like that earthen pitcher and the light of God cannot shine
   forth until that pitcher is dashed in pieces!

   There is one person I must not forget, perhaps more. There are those
   who know that they are drawing near unto the grave. The shadows
   lengthen out and their life becomes like the spider's web and they are
   afraid to die. They know the living Savior, but they fear the dying
   hour. They think Death's stream is dark, cold and deep--how shall they
   pass through it to reach the Celestial City? Fear not, be strong."
   Death is the last enemy and he is to be destroyed. Remember that, and
   be of good cheer! He shall not destroy you. Do not call him Death the
   Destroyer, but Death the Destroyed! Be certain of victory in your last
   moments! No, look forward, even now, with hopeful joyto that most
   blessed of all moments when, laying your head upon the death pillow,
   you shall find that Christ's bosom is where that pillow lies and you
   shall breathe your life out there, finding no iron gates, no shadow of
   dark wings, no horror of darkness, no dying strife--but bliss
   beginning, bliss increasing, bliss overflowing and running on forever
   and ever--bliss that shall be yours beyond the hazard of loss!

   God grant unto each one of us that we may be strong, and fear not, for
   Christ's sake Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH45'

   While we are reading this chapter, and thinking of Cyrus, the Lord's
   anointed deliverer for Israel, let us not forget the greater Deliverer
   of whom the hymn writer sings--

   "Thus says God of His Anointed, He shall let My people go! 'Tis the
   work for Him appointed, 'Tis the work that He shall do. And My city

   He shall found, and build it, too." Verse 1. Thus says the LORD to His
   anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations
   before him; and I wiil loose the loins of kings, to open before him the
   two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut It was

   thought impossible for any foreign troops to enter Babylon, yet the
   gates were found open and the army of Cyrus marched in and took
   possession of the city!

   2, 3. I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight I will
   break in piece the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
   and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
   secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by
   your name, am the God of Israel Whenever God calls a man to do any
   work, however difficult and even impossible it may seem to be, he will
   certainly accomplish it because he will have God with him. The Lord
   will gird his loins and make him strong--and all the forces of
   Providence shall work towards the accomplishment of the Divine end. Has
   God given you any work to do? It may be a much easier task than that of
   Cyrus, so, as the Lord enabled him to succeed in his great enterprise,
   you may have confidence that His power is sufficient to give success to
   you, also! It may seem to be presumption for you to undertake such a
   work, yet, if you are called of God to do it, go on without a shadow of
   doubt, for He will make the crooked places straight and break in pieces
   the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. We must not
   forget that whatever God did in relation to Cyrus was done with an eye
   to the welfare of His own people.

   4. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called
   you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me.
   And all the powers and princes that arise in this world, God can use
   for the good of His Church! All the nations, kingdoms and powers there
   are, are only like so much scaffolding for the building of God's own
   house--and He makes use of them as He pleases, though, often, they know
   not what He is doing with them!

   5, 6. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God besides
   Me: I girded you, though you have not known Me: that they may know from
   the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides
   Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. This was intended to correct
   the mistake of Cyrus who probably was a fire-worshipper--a believer in
   the two great forces of good and evil which were supposed to be equally
   eternal and powerful--which the Persians regarded as the god of good
   and the god of evil. So the Lord says--

   7. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create
   evil: I the LORD do all these things. There are not two distinct
   principles that are omnipotent and, though God is not the Author of
   moral evil, yet whatever there is of evil which causes us pain and loss
   is under His control. There are not two gods, but only one living and
   true God.

   8-10. Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skiespour down
   righteousness: let the earth open, andlet them bring forth salvation,
   and let righteousness spring up together, I the LORD have created it
   Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with
   the potsherds of the earth Shall the clay say to him that fashions it,
   What are you making? Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?
   Woe unto him that says unto his father, What are you begetting? Or to
   the woman, What have you brought forth? God, on the ground of His being
   Creator, demands that He shall not be questioned by human wisdom, nor
   dictated to by human pride. He is the one Supreme Sovereign and Lord of
   All--and He may do absolutely as He pleases. It is a joy and delight to
   us that He always wills to do what is just and right. Still, His Divine
   prerogative must not be abridged in any way whatever. The potsherds
   that he has made must never question the action of the great Potter who
   has made them! Has He not power to mold and fashion the clay exactly as
   He pleases?

   11, 12. Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask
   Me of things to come concerning My sons and concerning the work of My
   hands, you command Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it
   I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host
   have I commanded. When we think of this, we ought to worship God,
   alone, and trust Him, alone, and pay all loyal homage to Him. What can
   there be that is comparable to the Creator of all things? There is not
   so much as a grain of dust, nor a single fly that is self-created, or
   man-made--but everything has come from God and exists because He wills
   it. Therefore, give to the Lord the Glory that is due unto His name and
   rest in His power, and trust in His might.

   13. Ihave raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his
   ways: he shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for
   price nor reward, says the LORD of Hosts. And so Cyrus did. It was
   through him that Jerusalem was rebuilt and the captive Israelites were
   delivered!

   14, 15. Thus says the LORD, The labor of Egypt, and merchants of
   Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto you,
   and they shall be yours: they shall come after you; in chains they
   shall come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they shall make
   supplication unto you, saying, Surely God is in you, and there is none
   else, there is

   no other God. Verily You are a God that hides Yourself O God of Israel,
   the Savior This is a most merciful arrangement, for, if God did not
   hide Himself, none of us could exist! The full blaze of His Divine
   Countenance would be our destruction. God said even to Moses, "You
   cannot see My face: for there shall no man see Me and live." But it is
   also partly in judgment that God sometimes hides even that measure of
   His Presence which, at other times, He reveals in love. But even then,
   though He is hidden, He is still there. As the blue sky is up yonder,
   though it is long since you saw it, so is God always present even
   though we cannot see Him. The mountains, when hidden in darkness, are
   as real as they are in the light of day--and God is as truly near to
   His people, to preserve and succor them when they do not see Him, as
   when they do.

   16-19. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they
   shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel
   shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: you shall not
   be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus says the LORD
   that created the heavens, God Himself that formed the earth and made
   it; He has established, it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to
   be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken
   in secret, in a darkplace of the earth: Isaidnot unto the seed of
   Jacob, See you Me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare
   things that are right. I t is a very consolatory thing for us to be
   told not only what God has said, but also what He has notsaid. You can
   be sure of this, that there is nothing in the secret book of God's
   decrees, and nothing in the sealed book of prophecy which is contrary
   to the gracious covenant promises which God has revealed to His people
   in His Word. He does not say one thing and mean another. You may rest
   assured that all the revelations that are yet to be given, if there are
   to be any, (and there are some who are always talking about fresh light
   breaking from the Word), will never contradict that which has been
   revealed of old! God did not tell His ancient people anything which
   contradicts what He has told us. The poorest and meanest of His people
   who have been able to spell out, in the Word of God, their right and
   title to the Divine inheritance, may rely upon it that if any wise man
   comes to them with some wonderful discovery which contradicts the
   Bible--he simply comes with a lie--for God has nowhere contradicted
   what He has plainly revealed in the Scriptures!

   20, 21. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are
   escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of
   their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell and
   bring forth your case; yes, let them take counsel together. What wooden
   god has ever foretold the future? What idol of brass or stone had a
   word to say about the coming of Cyrus? Not one.

   21-25. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from
   that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me;
   a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Look unto Me, and be
   you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none
   else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in
   righteousness, and shallnot return, That unto Me every knee shall bow,
   every tongue shallswear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I
   righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come, and all that
   are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the
   seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
     __________________________________________________________________

Invitation to a Conference

   (No. 2816)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE
   17, 1877.

   "Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins
   are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red
   like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18.

   THE persons to whom this gracious invitation was addressed were in a
   terrible condition--they could not well have been in a worse plight.
   They had provoked God above measure by their many sins. He had severely
   chastened them, yet they had not repented of their iniquities. They
   would not be either drawn from them or driven from them. Now the Lord
   seems to say that something else must be done--such a state of things
   must not be allowed to last any longer.

   I am addressing myself to all the unconverted people who are in this
   congregation and to all who have not yet believed on the Lord Jesus
   Christ. I have to say that your condition is a very sad one and a very
   sinful one. You are standing out against the God of Love, refusing to
   submit to Him whose service is perfect freedom and joy. You are utterly
   wrong in your relationship to God. You are either living in complete
   forgetfulness of Him, or you are living consciously in antagonism to
   Him in unrepented sin and, therefore, unpardoned. This state of things
   cannot be allowed to continue--you have yourself felt that it must not.
   There have been many times when you have been by yourself, when you
   have felt that you must not remain in this sinful condition. You have
   even breathed a prayer to God asking that you may not continue as you
   now are, yet you have not had resolution enough to turn from your evil
   ways.

   The first temptation that has crossed your path has drawn you back into
   the ways of sin and you still remain just as sinful as ever. Some of
   you are getting old and it is a long time since you received your first
   religious impressions. Possibly they have been repeated again and
   again, yet they have all come to nothing and now you are in danger of
   death at any moment. If you were to die in your present condition, your
   everlasting state would be fixed and you know it would be a state of
   the utmost misery and woe! You tremble at the very thought of being
   launched into it, yet you may be so even while I am addressing
   you--before the very next word that I shall speak shall have reached
   the ears of others of my hearers! It may never reach your ears, for
   they may be closed in the silence of death. You know this, but do you
   always mean to go on in this way until you die? I know that is not your
   intention--you have, within your hearts, a secret expectation that,
   sooner or later, a change will come to you.

   Why should it not come now? I would not like, even for a single moment,
   to be slung by a slender rope over the yawning mouth of a deep pit. I
   would not care to be, even for five minutes, in an upper room of a
   burning house. I would not like, even for a few seconds, to have a dose
   of poison in my system, although I might hope that there would be time
   enough to swallow an antidote and so save my life. Yet your position is
   more perilous than any of these conditions would be! Surely, you have
   indulged long enough in hesitancy, delay, questioning and
   promise-breaking, have you not? The Lord seems to me to say to you,
   "Come now, let us end this state of things. 'Come now, and let us
   reason together.' Let us talk over the matter and settle it, one way or
   the other, so that, if your present condition is one that is worth
   continuing in, you may continue in it with some justifiable arguments
   to back you up. But if it can be clearly proved to you that something
   better is to be had and oughtto be had by you, then perhaps our
   reasoning together may be the means of leading you to a better
   condition than that in which you are just now." May God the Holy Spirit
   help me to speak upon this important theme so as to reach your hearts!
   If it shall be so, He shall have all the glory!

   Some texts need to be preached upon very often because they contain
   such vital Truths of God, Truths of the very highest importance which
   it is not easy to get into our hearers' minds and hearts. The carpenter
   is not blamed because he strikes a nail many times on the head, nor
   because he strikes the same nail with the same hammer, for he has to
   drive it into the wood, somehow or other, and to clinch it on the other
   side. So, if one stroke is not sufficient, he must not leave his work
   incomplete, but must strike the nail again and again until it is driven
   home. We shall do well to act in the same way. If we have preached from
   these words before and, I daresay some of us have done so many
   times--[Brother Spurgeon

   preached the following sermons on Isaiah 1:18--No. 366, Vol. 7--THE
   SILVER TRUMPET; No. 1278, Vol. 22--REASONS FOR PARTING WITH SIN and No.
   2354, Vol. 40--SCARLET SINNERS PARDONED AND PURIFIED. --Read/download
   them, free of charge at http://www.spurgeons.ore:--and we feel quite
   justified in

   doing so again.

   Our first division is to be an invitation to a conference with
   God.''Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord." Secondly,
   we have a example of the reasoning on God's part "Though your sins are
   as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like
   crimson, they shall be as wool." Then, thirdly, I shall endeavor to
   show you that this example of the reasoning, on Gods part, is an
   abstract of the whole argument, a summary of all the real reasoning
   that there can ever be between the holy God and guilty sinners.

   I. First, then, here IS AN INVITATION TO A CONFERENCE WITH GOD. "Come
   now, and let us reason together, says the Lord."

   The first observation I have to make upon this point is that sinful men
   and women--the great mass of mankind--do not care to reason with God. I
   am, on the whole, pleased when I find men reasoning about spiritual
   matters, even although they argue in a foolish fashion. I mean when
   they raise the objections and arguments with which skeptics and
   infidels are usually tolerably familiar. There is a great deal more of
   hopefulness about people in that condition than about those who will
   not think at all on religious subjects!

   A husband and wife had parted and had been separated for years. He, on
   several occasions, entreated her to meet him and talk over their
   differences with a view to reconciliation. She steadily declined an
   interview and would not enter upon the subject of their alienation. Are
   you surprised when we add that the fault from the beginning lay with
   her? You cannot doubt that the sin of their continued separation was
   hers alone. The parable is easy to be interpreted.

   The great masses of men seem to want a form of religion that does not
   require them to think. The people described in this chapter were quite
   willing to bring their rams, their bullocks, their incense and their
   oblations--for all that could be done without any effect being produced
   in their hearts and lives. And there are, at the present day, plenty of
   persons who will pay for masses, who will attend fine ceremonies and
   who are very pleased to see the place of worship turned, at one time,
   into a theater, at another time, into a conservatory, and at a third
   time into a costumier's shop. They have no objection to all such
   external observances, for there is nothing to give them any trouble or
   pain. They just open their mouth, shut their eyes and take in whatever
   "the priest" is pleased to give them! Many people like that style of
   religion. They want to avoid the trouble of thinking about sin,
   righteousness and judgment to come. In fact, they do not want to be
   bothered about the whole matter. As they get their solicitor to attend
   to their legal business, so they would prefer to have their priest,
   their clergyman, their minister, to see to their spiritual business for
   them. As to reasoning with God and having the matter out with Him, that
   is not at all according to their ideas. A great many folk want somebody
   else to do their thinking for them--they put it out, as they do with
   their washing--so that somebody else may do it in their place.

   But, dear Friends, this will not do! Of all things in the world, true
   religion demands most serious thought. It is a thing which has to do
   with our mind, heart and spirit. Even under the old Law, the command to
   Israel was, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
   with all your soul, and with all your might." It was a matter for the
   heart and soul even under that old, dim, preparatory dispensation--how
   much more is it so under the dispensation of the Gospel whose very
   first commandment is, "Believe," which does not mean a blind shutting
   of the eyes, but the exercise of the most serious thought of which the
   mind of man is capable!

   "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord." This invitation
   to a conference with God is, next, a mostreasonable thing. I know that
   there is, in certain quarters, an idea that all religion is fanaticism,
   that you have to believe in something or other, whether it is true, or
   reasonable, or not--and then go ahead without thinking anything more
   about the matter. It is not so, Beloved. To me, the religion of Jesus
   Christ is as much the subject of cool, calculating, common

   sense as anything that I have to do with. I know many Christians who
   are gifted with calm, collected minds, and clear, argumentative powers,
   and I am certain, from my conversations with them, that they have
   reasoned out the truth of the things which are most surely believed by
   them. They have proven, to their own satisfaction, that the Word of God
   is a Divine Revelation to men. They have argued the matter out and they
   are fully convinced of the soundness of their conclusions. And being so
   convinced, they have ascertained what this Revelation from God demanded
   of them and, finding what it was, they judged that it was an act of
   true wisdom on their part to accept God's way of salvation. That way of
   salvation has commended itself to their judgment as far as they have
   been able to understand it. They have not pretended to comprehend it
   altogether, but what they have understood of it has seemed to them to
   afford such a solid foothold for their spirit that having reasoned the
   matter out, in solemn earnestness--before the living God--they have
   become convinced that they must believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord
   and Savior!

   Beloved Friends, we are not afraid to set publicly before you the
   Gospel which we desire you to believe! The Romish Church locked away
   the Bible from the people--the priests did not want to have a thinking
   people, people who would search the Scriptures for themselves. But we
   earnestly exhort you to study the Word of God for yourselves! Become
   familiar with its words and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to
   their meaning. Judge of our preaching by its agreement with the
   teaching of this Book--never accept anything we say simply because we
   say it, but bring it all to the Law and to the Testimony, for if we
   speak not according to this Word, it is because of the lack of the
   Light of God in us.

   It is most gracious on the Lords part to invite you to a conference
   with Him. How condescending it is for the Most High to be willing for
   you to reason with Him! He seems to say to you, "Come, My Friend, you
   and I are not agreed. There is something or other in your mind that
   keeps you from yielding to My love. I mean you no hurt. 'Come now,'
   keep nothing back from Me. Come and tell Me all about the matter." How
   graciously the Lord stoops down to us in saying, "Come now, and let us
   reason together"! "Us." It is His voice that shakes the earth with
   tempests, the voice of the mighty God, the Creator and Judge of All who
   speaks to us, worms of the dust, utterly insignificant compared with
   Him, and says, "'Come now, and let us reason together.' Tell Me what is
   your difficulty. I will lay aside My Glory and will come down and talk
   familiarly with you that we may have this question settled."

   See, dear Friends, what a proof this is of God's loving kindness and
   graciousness that He invites us to reason with Him! If He had not meant
   good to us, He would have had no reasoning with us. He would simply
   have said, "These people have sinned against Me--let then die. I have
   already sent My Son to them and they have rejected Him. They have
   disregarded My Sabbaths and despised My holy Word--why should I reason
   with them? They have Moses and the Prophets--let them hear them. Their
   fathers and mothers have reasoned with them and their minister has done
   the same. Now I will punish them as they deserve." But, no, the Lord
   still says to you, "'Come now, come now.' All the reasoning of other
   people has failed. Perhaps the argument has not been put fairly before
   you. 'Come now, and let us reason together.' Speak out the bitterest
   thought that is in your mind. Let the very wormwood and gall of your
   enmity against Me come out, but, 'let us reason together, says the
   Lord.'" He must mean well to you, dear Friends, or He would never have
   spoken such words as these. He could not have thought of them in anger.
   Designs of love must be within His heart when He says, "Come now, and
   let us reason together."

   I think that there is also great tenderness in my text in the use of
   the word, "now." "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord."
   God would not have you live another moment as you now are. "As I live,
   says the Lord God"-- and He lifts His hand to Heaven and swears by
   Himself, as He can swear by none greater--"I have no pleasure in the
   death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live:
   turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die?" The Lord
   has no delight in having you continue to be His enemy! It gives Him no
   pleasure to see your hardness of heart, or to see the consequences of
   that hardness of heart in the awful peril that you are running every
   minute that you live in sin, so He says to you, "There is the whole
   universe for Me to govern, yet I am willing to have a conference with
   you. ' Come now,' this very hour. Come now, do not put it off till
   tomorrow. I am always at leisure to reason with a sinner--whenever
   there is a soul that is anxious to seek Me, I am always ready to seek
   that soul and to welcome it to My heart." "Come now," says the Lord.
   Then, let it be now with you! God appoints this present time for His
   conference with us--let it be our time, too. "Today if you will hear
   His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." "Behold, now
   is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

   II. Now let us turn, in the second place, to AN EXAMPLE OF THE
   REASONING ON GOD'S PART.

   We will suppose that the sinner is willing to confer with God about
   this all-important matter and that he goes at once to his main
   argument. "My Lord," he says, "I would be reconciled to You if I could,
   but, alas, sin lies at the door and I am no ordinary sinner! I have
   broken Your commands a thousand times. I have done what I ought not to
   have done and I have left undone the things that I ought to have
   done--and there is no health in me." Now observe the method of
   reasoning on God's part.

   First, the one main ground of difference is honestly mentioned. The
   Lord does not deny the truth of what the sinner has confessed, but He
   says to him, "'Though your sins are as scarlet, I meet you on that
   ground. You need not try to diminish the extent of your sin, or seek to
   make it appear to be less than it really is. No, whatever you say it
   is, it is all that and probably far more. Your deepest sense of your
   sinfulness does not come up to the truth concerning your real
   condition. Certainly, you do not exaggerate in the least. Your sins are
   scarlet and crimson. It seems as though you have put on the imperial
   robe of sin and made yourself a monarch of the realm of evil." That is
   how a man's guilt appears before the searching eyes of God.

   Now see how the Lord deals with this sad and difficult case. He Himself
   removes the ground of difference between Himself and the sinner. He
   says, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
   though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." He does not,
   in our test, say how this great change shall be worked. It suffices
   here to give us an assurance that it shall be so. Well, then, what is
   the inference from that assurance? Why, Sinner, surely it is that there
   is nothing now to keep you away from God because your sin, which was
   like a great stone that had been rolled between you and your God, has
   been rolled right away by God! He has removed every stain, spot, speck
   and trace of sin by the precious blood of Jesus which cleanses all to
   whom it is applied. Why do you stand back, then? Surely, you cannot
   continue to stay in the background. If your sin is pardoned, you will
   rush into your Savior's arms--the reasoning will be ended and your
   heart melting with repentance! And God's Grace pouring itself over you
   in a flood of holy joy, there will be no longer any ground of
   difference between you and your God, for you and He will be truly one!

   Now let us look a little more closely at this example of reasoning on
   God's part. I have pointed out to you the grand outline, now let us
   consider the argument in detail. This will show you that the Lord will
   remove the offense perfectly-- "scarlet" and "crimson" are to become
   "as snow" and "as wool."

   I suppose that the text implies that the sinner might say, "Lord, there
   is the guilt of my sin--how can I ever get rid of that? I have been
   guilty of transgression all my life--how can that guilt be put away? I
   know of nothing that can remove it. Though I should give enough of the
   blood of bullocks and rams to make a river, my guilt could never be
   washed away by it." I remember how I asked this question of God many
   and many a time and I could not, for a long while, exercise any hope of
   salvation because the mountain of my guilt seemed to separate me from
   the thrice-holy God. Our text shows us that the Lord meets the
   difficulty, not by denying the sinner's guilt, but by removing it! He
   says to the guilty one, "No doubt you are as bad as you say you are,
   but I will make all this guilt of yours to vanish away. It shall be
   cast behind My back into the depths of the sea and shall be found no
   more forever. The scarlet shall be as snow, the crimson shall be as
   wool."

   Then the awakened conscience brings forward another difficulty and
   says, "But, Lord, my sin must be punished." I cannot make out how it is
   that some people seem to think that the punishment of sin is an
   arbitrary act on the part of God. I remember well when God burnt this
   Truth into my soul as with a hot iron, that sin necessitated
   punishment, that if I walked contrary to God, if I was out of gear with
   Him, I must suffer, just as certainly as I should do if I were to
   thrust my arm amidst the wheels of a powerful engine when they were
   revolving at a tremendous rate. If I were to do that, I am certain to
   suffer, just as, in continuing to sin, I am resisting the moral Law of
   God and its ponderous wheels must crush me. I remember when I used to
   say to myself, when I was quite a lad, "If God does not punish me for
   my sin, He ought to do so." That thought used to come to me again and
   again. I felt that God was just and that He knew that I did not wish
   Him to be anything but just, for even my imperfect knowledge of God
   included my recognition that He was a just and holy God. If I could
   have been certain of salvation by any method in which God would have
   ceased to be just, I could not have accepted it on those terms--I would
   have felt that it was derogatory to the dignity of the Most High and
   that it was contrary to the universal laws of right.

   But this was the question that puzzled me--"How can I be saved, since I
   have sinned and sin must be punished?"You see, in our text, the blessed
   answer which the Lord Himself gives, "Though your sins are as scarlet,
   they shall be as white

   as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." That
   is to say, the Lord means, "You shall have no sin to be punished, for I
   will so effectually remove it that there shall be none left upon you. I
   will be as sternly just to you as a righteous and holy God must be, yet
   I shall not smite you, for I see nothing in you, or upon you, which I
   ought to smite." O wondrous miracle of mercy and Grace!

   Then the sinner further objects, "But, Lord, if You do thus pardon me
   at once and take all my guilt and fear of punishment away, yet, alas,
   there are habits of evil which I have acquired, but which I cannot
   conquer. I would oh, that I could be perfectly free from sin, but,
   Lord, how can I be? I find always within me a tendency towards that
   which is evil-- and though I now hate the evil, yet I find the law of
   sin in my members warring against that better law which your Holy
   Spirit has implanted within me. O God, how can I ever be reconciled to
   You, for how can I kill these deadly serpents that are coiled up in my
   heart?" To this piteous lament, the Lord graciously replies, "Yes, poor
   Soul, your nature is all that you say. It is a nature that has been
   lying soaking in the crimson lye till there is no getting the stain out
   by any human instrumentality. This evil thing called sin is engrained
   in your very being, but I can take it out and I will take it out. I
   will conquer every propensity to sin--yes, and so utterly conquer it
   that the day shall come when you shall have no tendency to sin
   whatever, but shall be altogether delivered from it and dwell with Me
   in spotless and eternal perfection." Oh, how sweetly does the Lord, by
   promising to do all this, take away from the sinner the great barrier
   that stood between him and his God! Thus, the guilt, the penalty and
   the power of sin shall all be removed.

   Now give me your most earnest attention, for two or three minutes,
   while I remind you that although it is not in our text, yet, in other
   parts of God's Word the Lord has been pleased to tell us how He works
   this great change. I like you to understand, as far as you can, how it
   is worked, though, mark you, many have been saved who have not
   understood very clearly how their salvation was accomplished. They have
   believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have not comprehended as much
   as it is well that you should comprehend, but yet, simply trusting in
   Jesus, believing that the promise of Grace was true, they have proved
   it true to them.

   But listen. God has told us how He can put our guilt away. Most of you
   know "the old, old story," yet, perhaps, as I tell it once again, God
   the Hoy Spirit may enable some people to understand it who have never
   understood it before. I know that there are some of us who heard the
   Gospel preached very plainly for many years, yet we did not understand
   it till, one day, when the familiar story was being told to us yet
   again, in much the same language as before, God the Holy Spirit let the
   Light of God into our dark minds and we saw Jesus as our own dear
   Savior and rejoiced in Him with unspeakable and glorious joy!

   Now, this is how God puts away our scarlet and crimson sins. His Son,
   His only-begotten and well-beloved Son came down from Heaven, took upon
   Himself our nature and became a Man. And being found in fashion as a
   Man, He stood as the Substitute for all who should ever believe in Him,
   so that God regarded Him as the Representative of all those for whom He
   stood as Surety--and laid upon Himall their sin. And when it was laid
   upon Him, it was no longer upon them, since it could not be in two
   places at the same time. So the sin of Christ's people was removed from
   them and put upon Him, according as it is written in the Old Testament,
   "The Lord has laid on Him ("caused to meet upon Him") the iniquity of
   us all." And in the New Testament, "For He has made Him to be sin for
   us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
   Him."

   The sin being, by imputation, laid upon Christ, God the Father
   proceeded to deal with Christ on account of that sin as though He had
   been the actual sinner. He was brought up, charged, condemned and put
   to death--and He died deserted of His Father, crying, "My God, My God,
   why have You forsaken Me?" And that agonizing death of His--God tells
   us that it is so, therefore we may well believe it--has vindicated the
   justice of God, magnified the Law and made it honorable. And now God,
   for Christ's sake, can--no, more, He doesblot out the sin of all His
   people and make it cease to be, seeing that it is a rule of His never
   to punish the same offense twice. So, if Christ was punished for my
   sin, I can never be punished for it. For, as Toplady truly sings--

   "Payment God cannot twice demand,

   First at My bleeding Surety's hand,

   And then again at mine."

   If you, my Friend, whoever you are, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I
   am able to assure you, beyond all doubt, that He bore your sin, carried
   your sorrow and discharged your debt and that, therefore, you are
   forever clear! Do you not see

   how reasonable all this is? Perhaps you raise a difficulty and ask,
   "But why should Christ stand in my place? Where is the justice of
   punishing the Innocent, and letting the guilty go free?" Ah, that is a
   wonder of distinguishing Grace that we cannot comprehend! When the
   angels fell, they fell one by one, each one sinned and rebelled as an
   individual, but when you and I fell, it was in our representative head,
   Adam the first. Therefore it became possible, since we originally fell
   in one Adam, that we could be raised on the same principle through
   another Adam and, lo, Jesus Christ, the Second Adam in whose loins lay
   all His elect ones, even as the whole human race lay in the loins of
   the first Adam, has come and, instead of all who are in Him, suffering,
   He has suffered in their place upon a strictly righteous principle. At
   any rate, you need not question the rightness of the principle--if God
   approves of it, if it satisfies Him, it may very well suffice for you!
   If the system of salvation by substitution meets the claims of eternal
   justice, it should certainly content you. O poor Soul, trust in the
   blood of Jesus and your sins shall all vanish through His
   substitutionary Sacrifice!

   Listen again. Something was said, just now, about evil habits that were
   to be put away. How is that to be done? The moment you believes in
   Jesus--at that very instant the Holy Spirit entirely changes your
   nature! There is then born in your soul, a new principle--the spirit,
   something far superior to the natural soul--a spirit which understands
   and has to do with spiritual things. This is what our Lord Jesus said
   to Nicodemus, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which
   is born of the Spirit is spirit." And this new spirit within you is the
   Spirit of Christ! It is a living and eternal principle which will
   follow after holiness and which cannot sin because it is born of God.
   Do you not see, then, how your old habits will be broken? You will be a
   new man and you will be able to say with the Apostle, "We are dead, and
   our life is hid with Christ in God." This is what God will do with
   you--your scarlet and crimson sins shall vanish because you are
   born-again--made "a new creature in Christ Jesus."

   I do not know whether I am putting this matter plain enough for all of
   you to understand it, but I know that there was a time when I was very
   anxious about my soul, when I would have been very thankful to have
   heard such plain talk as this rather than a fine sermon that would have
   been of no service to me in my sad condition. And I say to you, young
   man, you who are troubled because of your sin, that if you believe in
   Christ Jesus, His atoning Sacrifice will take all your guilt away and
   the Hoy Spirit will come and dwell within you--and so enable you to
   conquer every sinful propensity, and your life shall, from this time
   forward, become "holiness unto the Lord." "Come now, and let us reason
   together, says the Lord." And is not this grand reasoning when your
   greatest difficulties are thus swept away by His almighty

   Grace?

   III. I must, however, finish by briefly showing you that THIS EXAMPLE
   OF REASONING IS AN ABSTRACT OF THE WHOLE ARGUMENT.

   I do not know the particular condition of everybody now present, but I
   do know that all possible cases are covered by the Divine invitation
   given in this one verse of Scripture.

   Possibly, somebody says, "I do not need to be saved." My dear Sir, I am
   not speaking about such a case as yours, for you refuse to
   reason--there is no sense or reason in you. "But," says another, "I do
   not intend to yield to the Gospel." That is another case in which there
   is no reasoning and no reason. You simply say, "I do not want to have
   anything to do with Christ." Well, if so, you have only yourself to
   blame for your fatal decision! Your destruction, when it comes upon
   you, will rest upon you alone and, amidst the flames of Hell, as you
   bite your tongue in anguish, you will not be able to charge your ruin
   upon God, or upon the preacher who is now addressing you. You put the
   Gospel of Jesus Christ away from you, counting yourself unworthy of
   it--and if you continue to do so, there remains nothing for you but to
   perish forever and ever!

   But there are some people of another kind and these have various
   difficulties in coming to Christ. One says, "I have been too great a
   sinner." That difficulty is fully met here--"Though your sins are as
   scarlet." Granted that they are scarlet, "they shall be as white as
   snow." "But I have sinned so long." Very well, that case is also
   included here--"though they are red like crimson." These two colors,
   scarlet and crimson, are often made to lie a long time and soak till
   the very warp and woof of the cloth has taken the dye. Well, you are
   like that, but, though it is so with you, God will make you "as snow"
   and "as wool"!

   "Oh, but I have sinned against a great deal more Light than most people
   have!" No doubt that is true. I do not deny it and that certainly
   increases your guilt, but my text covers your case--"though your sins
   are as scarlet, they shall be as

   white as snow." "Ah, Sir, but I have resisted the Holy Spirit," says
   another. Granted, but, "though your sins are red like crimson, they
   shall be as wool."

   "I fear," says yet another, "that the Holy Spirit has left me, for I
   have so sorely grieved Him." Read the verse following our text--"If you
   are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." Now, if
   you are willing to be saved and willing to be obedient to that Divine
   command, "Believe and live," the Hoy Spirit has not left you! As long
   as you have any feeling whatever, you have not committed the sin which
   is unto death, for, if you had committed that sin, you would have been
   utterly unmoved and careless--and no thought of Divine things would
   come across your mind again.

   Oh, you may tell me what you like about yourselves, but my text meets
   your case! You may be a harlot, Sister--give me your hand, just as you
   are, and listen to these words of God, Himself, "Though your sins are
   as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like
   crimson, they shall be as wool." If there were a murderer here,
   red-handed from his crime, his sin would, evidently, be scarlet and
   crimson, yet, my Brother, yes, even your hand would I take and I would
   say to you, "'Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white
   as snow.' If you believe in Jesus Christ, that is, if you trust Him
   with your soul, if you will accept God's way of salvation, which is
   ceasing to try to save yourself and yielding yourself to be saved by
   Jesus only, you shall be saved here and now!"

   I cannot get out to you all that this text keeps on saying to me. It is
   singing in my soul! I can hear the music of it even if you cannot. I
   only wish that you might do so. Sometimes, when I am preaching, I feel
   like a butcher at the block-- cutting off large roasts of meat for
   others and getting nothing himself. But just now I am feeding on the
   text myself--I only wish I could make every soul here feel hungry after
   it, for it is yours as much as it is mine--as you, too, are a sinner
   against God. Perhaps I am addressing someone who says, "I do not see
   any need to reason with God." Friend, let your condition of mind
   startle and alarm you! A man who is not right with his God may be sure
   that there is something wrong with his soul. And if this grandest of
   all possessions--the possession of God Himself--does not seem to you to
   be preeminently desirable, it is because your eyes are blinded and your
   heart is dead to the things of God and you are in "the gall of
   bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." It is because you are of the
   earth, earthy, that you find your pleasure in the things that you can
   see, feel, taste, and hear. It is because you are carnally minded and
   have never been renewed in spirit, that you are thus content with what
   will do you no good!

   Do you know what will become of you if you continue as you are? You are
   born of the flesh and that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
   flesh will go to corruption one of these days--and that is what you
   will go to, to corruption, the worm that never dies and the fire that
   shall never be quenched! There is only one way to keep in check the
   hurtful, horrible corruption that grows out of carnal mindedness. "You
   must be born-again." "You must be born-again." There are some things
   that may be or may not be, but you "must be born-again," for, unless
   you are born-again, if you could go to Heaven, it would not be Heaven
   to you! And if God gave Himself to you, you could not enjoy Him. You
   must be born-again! Oh, let that, "must," impress itself upon your mind
   and heart--and rest not, O dear Hearer, until you are born-again! This
   is the work of the Spirit of God upon you and, side by side with it
   runs that other text, "He that believes on the Son has everlasting
   life." May you be enabled by the Spirit to believe on the Lord Jesus
   Christ! Then you will be born-again--no longer will you be under
   condemnation, but, as a spiritual man you will delight in spiritual
   things-- and, chiefly, you will delight in God and He will make my text
   true to you, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white
   as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Pray
   David's prayer and you will receive a gracious answer from the Lord
   even as the Psalmist did, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

   I have done with my text for this time, yet I have half a mind to
   linger a minute and say, "Come now, if you have not reasoned with God,
   let me try to reason with you. Let us reason together. Come, my dear
   Friend, can any good result from your continuing as you now are? You
   unconverted men and women and especially you unconverted old people,
   can any good come of your remaining strangers to Christ?"

   Let me put another question. Could any hurt come of your being the
   friends of Christ? Can you imagine any real loss that you could sustain
   by being saved? I would not tell a lie, even for God, Himself, and He
   would never wish me to do so, but this Truth of God I declare to you
   now--ever since I have believed in Jesus, the joy, rest and peace I
   have experienced are altogether indescribable! One thing ought to
   convince you of the blessings of true religion and that is that you
   never met a Christian yet--you never saw a dying Christian, setting up
   in his bed, leaning on the pillow, with his

   children round him, and saying, "My dear boys and girls, beware of the
   Christian religion! Beware of confidence in Christ! It is all a
   delusion." There has never, since the foundation of our blessed faith,
   been one who, in the valley of the shadow of death, has said," I have
   discovered all this to be a fiction and I wish to warn everyone else
   against it."

   On the contrary, they have unanimously said, either with shouts of
   triumph or with quiet words of peaceful trust, "Blessed be the name of
   the Lord! This is joy, indeed, to be found in Christ Jesus, now that I
   am about to depart to be forever with Him!" Let practical evidence
   convince you, dear people, and if there is anything real and precious
   about all this of which I have been speaking--as there certainly is--if
   it is anything worth having, it is worth having now! If it is ever a
   good thing to be saved, it is well to be saved at once! If it is ever
   worthwhile to be rid of sin, it is worthwhile to be rid of sin before
   that clock ticks again! If it is ever worthwhile for you to have joy in
   God, it is worthwhile for you to have it before your eyes have again
   closed in slumber!

   The Lord grant that you may find it right speedily, for His name's
   sake! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

Jacob's Fear and Faith

   (No. 2817)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE
   21, 1877.

   "Deliver me, Ipray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau:
   for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the
   children. And You said, I will surely do you good, and make your seedas
   the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude." Genesis
   32:11,12.

   JACOB is the type of a Believer who has too much planning and scheming
   about him. He is a wise man according to the judgment of the world. Put
   him down by the side of Laban and if his relative tries to stint him in
   his wages and to cheat him in all manner of ways, you will see that
   Jacob, in the long run, will get even with Laban. He seems to have been
   able to deal, even with that con-man, quite as sharply and not to come
   off second best in the bargain! Abraham never descended to any of the
   tricks by which Jacob sought to increase his flocks. He lived like a
   princely man in simple, childlike confidence in God, willing to be
   injured rather than to seek his own interests, letting Lot, though a
   younger man, choose the best part of the land and being quite content
   to take whatever remained. Because God was with him as his portion, he
   had no hunger after anything else. He was worth fifty thousand of such
   kings as the king of Sodom and though he had a right to the spoils of
   war, he waived them, saying, "I will not take from a thread even to a
   shoelace. I will not take anything that is yours lest you should say,
   'I have made Abram rich.'"

   Jacob, if he had been in such a case, would have looked very closely
   after all the threads, the shoelaces and all the other things that he
   had captured in the war. He would have said that God gave them into his
   hands and he would take good care to preserve them. Among worldlings,
   Jacob would be regarded as a much more sensible man than either his
   grandfather Abraham, or his father Isaac. But when you come to weigh
   him in the balances of the sanctuary, although he was a great and good
   man, and a man of such force of character that he is reproduced in his
   descendants, even to the present generation, yet, for all that, the
   weakness of his character lay in the human strength of that
   character--his power to plot and plan makes him appear as a much
   smaller and feebler man in the eyes of those who can judge spiritually,
   than Abraham, his forefather was.

   I suppose Jacob's bargaining faculty came from his mother and she got
   it from her brother, Laban, and Laban, with his niggardly ways, was
   enough to infect the whole family. Rebekah, in that artful plot by
   which she deceived her blind old husband and taught her son to rob his
   elder brother of his father's blessing, showed that the same vein was
   in her-- and that she belonged to that plotting, scheming stock. And
   the mother's character was strongly manifested in her son Jacob. Hence
   it is that you find him getting into all manner of trouble. Abraham had
   his trials and one great supreme trial, but, as a summary of his life,
   it is written, "The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things." And
   everybody feels that Abraham's life was a most desirable one. It is
   such a life as we might, any of us, wish to live. But Jacob's life is
   not a desirable one. At one time he is bargaining with his famished
   brother about a mess of red pottage--a transaction which we cannot
   approve. Then, afterwards, we find him joining with his mother in
   deceiving his poor old father. It is noteworthy that he who had
   deceived his father, Isaac, was himself deceived by his uncle, Laban!
   Such conduct is generally repaid into our own bosoms--our chickens come
   home to roost and we get back for ourselves what we thought we had
   given away to others. Jacob's own summary of his life, as he gave it to
   Pharaoh, was, "Few and evil have the days of the years of my life
   been," so full were they of sorrow and trial. I may say of him as was
   said of many of David's mighty men, "Nev-

   ertheless, he attained not unto the first three." There he stands,
   accepted and blest, for he was a man of faith, but the very strength of
   his character, as I have already reminded you, was the proof of its
   weakness and caused him many sorrows.

   Our text introduces Jacob to us just before that memorable night by the
   brook Jabbok. He was expecting his brother Esau to come with a troop of
   400 men, perhaps to slaughter the whole company. The Patriarch's state
   of mind is a mixture of fear and faith. He doubts, yet he believes! He
   has much distrust, yet he does confide in God, at least to some extent.
   As two hosts met him, so he, himself, was the representative of two
   hosts. Solomon says in the Canticles, "What will you see in the
   Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies." So was it with Jacob.
   There were both nature and Grace, belief and unbelief, fear and faith
   battling together in his soul. What a picture he is of many of us in
   whom a perpetual warfare is being waged between the Law of Grace and
   the Law that is by nature in our members--between the heavenly
   principle that cannot die, and cannot sin--and the old nature which is
   always struggling for the mastery and making us often cry out, "O
   wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this
   death?"

   I. I am going, first, to speak about JACOB' S FEAR as we have it
   mentioned in our text--"I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and
   the mother with the children."

   My first observation is that Jacob, in his fear, is not to be held up
   as an example to us. He is not to be commended for thus fearing Esau
   and neither are we to imitate him in this respect. My next remark will,
   perhaps, seem strange to you, but I ask you to weigh it well and
   consider it carefully. There is a great deal that Christians feel which
   they never ought to feel. There are a great many things that Christians
   do which they never ought to do and there are many places into which
   Christians go into which they never ought to go. It was so with the
   ancient Believers and especially with Jacob. His experience is the
   experience of a good man, but it is not, in all respects, the
   experience that a good man ought to have. Why should he have been
   filled with fear at the prospect of meeting his brother? There was no
   reason for it--his grandfather Abraham would not have had any such
   fear--and if Jacob had possessed more Divine Grace, he would not have
   said, concerning Esau, "I fear him." He knew that God had given him the
   blessing which Esau despised--again and again had the Lord appeared to
   him--and he must have known that he was blessed in a way that Esau was
   not. Why, then, should he fear his brother?

   Should the elect of God be afraid of one who has neither part nor lot
   in the matter? Should he not rather feel that the son of the King of
   kings must not fear the child of Satan, the heir of wrath? The friends
   of the wicked Haman said to him, "If Mordecai is of the seed of the
   Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against
   him, but shall surely fall before him." And well may Mordecai stand
   upright in the king's gate and never bow his head before Haman! Why
   should he fear and tremble even though Haman has the ear of the king?
   Mordecai has the ear of the King of kings, so he need not be afraid of
   anything Haman could do!

   Jacob's fear was wrong, first, because it followed immediately after a
   great deliverance. He had left his father-in-law, Laban, in haste. He
   had stolen away by night and Laban had hurried after him. Encumbered as
   Jacob was with so numerous a company which included so many young
   children and so much cattle, he had to move very slowly--and Laban soon
   overtook him. He was boiling over with rage when he started and meant
   to do desperate things, but God interposed and made him put the sword
   into the scabbard, so that, instead of there being any slaughter, there
   was as kindly a state of feeling between the two as could be expected
   under the circumstances. After God had preserved His servant Jacob from
   the wrath of Laban, it is strange that he should have been afraid of
   Esau. He has been delivered once, cannot he expect to be delivered
   again? He has just been rescued from one peril, yet he trembles in the
   prospect of another!

   Do you know anybody who ever acted in that way? If you do not, I do. I
   know where he lives. I will not say that I live with him, but I will
   confess, with sorrow, that I have sometimes been that very person. Have
   you also been one of the same sort of persons? If so, I will not say
   what I think of you, but I will say of myself, "How foolish I am to act
   thus! How basely am I acting towards my Lord!" He who has been with us,
   never changes--what He has done once, He will do again. Is His arm
   shortened, or His eye blinded, or His heart turned to stone? No! Then
   surely we ought to have learned by experience to trust in God, even as
   Jacob ought to have learned from his experience so fresh in his memory
   and trusted the Lord concerning Esau as He had delivered him from the
   wrath of Laban!

   Another thing that tended to make Jacob's fear inexcusable was that the
   angels of God had met him just before. The chapter from which our text
   is taken, tells us, in its opening verse, that, "Jacob went on his way,
   and the angels of God met him." Messengers from the eternal Throne of
   God came to salute God's favorite! And, I suppose, to escort him back

   to the land that was given to his fathers by a Covenant that could not
   be broken. The Patriarch was attended, before and behind, or on the
   right hand and on the left, by two companies of angels, yet he says, "I
   fear Esau." Even in the society of those who must have borne a perfume
   of Heaven upon their wings, standing in the midst of immortal spirits
   whose faces must have reflected the Glory of their Lord and Master,
   Jacob says, "I fear Esau." Again I ask, Did you ever know anybody act
   in such a fashion as this? Perhaps you say, "I never saw any angels."
   No, but you have, by faith, seen the great Angel of the Covenant, the
   Lord Jesus Christ, and you have had most intimate communion with Him.
   At His Table, how often has He revealed Himself to us in the breaking
   of bread? And in the reading or hearing of His Word, how often has He
   been set forth before us as our Heavenly Bridegroom, the Beloved of our
   soul? And, sometimes when we have been quite alone, the bright light of
   His Presence has surprised us and our hearts have burned within us
   while He has communed with us. Well, then, it has been very shameful on
   our part if, afterwards, we have feared Esau, or have been afraid of
   some anticipated trouble, or fearful because of bodily pain, or,
   perhaps, put out of temper by some trifling matter in the household
   which should have been altogether beneath our notice as companions of
   the Lord of the angels! The Lord have mercy upon His servants and
   forgive our unbelieving fear, for which we will not pretend to make any
   excuse!

   Note, concerning Jacob's fear, that it probably arose out of the
   recollection of his old sins. Old sins, like old sores, are very apt to
   break out again. The very mention of the name of Esau brought up before
   his mind the day when his mother cooked the "two good kids of the
   goats," and took his brother's goodly raiment, put it on Jacob and put
   the skins of the kids upon his hands and his neck, that he might
   deceive his father into the belief that he was his "very son Esau."
   Jacob remembered all that and felt that Esau had good reason to be
   angry, for he had supplanted him twice, and done him grievous wrong. He
   was afraid of Esau on the principle that "conscience makes cowards of
   us all." A sin may be forgiven by God, yet, for all that, its sting may
   be felt by you 50 years afterwards, just as, perhaps, some of you may
   have had a bone broken in your boyhood and had it very well set, yet,
   sometimes, before bad weather, you feel a twinge that reminds you that
   bone was once broken. Thus it was with Jacob--that old bone began to
   creak and to threaten that bad weather was coming. If he had dealt
   fairly and justly with Esau--and left the Lord to settle that matter of
   the birthright as He had always intended to give it. If he had left God
   to arrange everything in His own way, and had not been so wise, in his
   own estimation, like his clever, scheming mother, he would not have
   been afraid to meet Esau as he now was!

   Well, dear Friends, perhaps some old sin is the cause of your fear. If
   so, I pray you to remember that one sin ought not to lead you to commit
   another, or to be an excuse for committing another. Suppose that, in
   your early days, you did sin in a certain fashion, or that, in your
   later days, you have transgressed in some other way? Should you,
   therefore, doubt your God? You should be humble in the remembrance of
   your sin, but you should not, therefore, mistrust the Most High! He is
   always faithful, whatever we may have been. He did not, at the first,
   receive us as innocent, but as guilty--yet He saved us. As we look back
   upon the past, we may well mourn our guiltiness, but let us not doubt
   our salvation if we have believed in Jesus! Even when God's people get
   themselves into trouble, it is very remarkable how He delivers them.
   They ought to be careful as to how they walk before Him, but even when
   they are not, and their folly brings them into a net, yet does He come
   and tear the net in pieces--and the poor captive bird escapes out of
   the snare of the fowler. Even when we willfully wander from Him, the
   Lord graciously restores our souls, blessed be His name! Do not,
   therefore, let the remembrance of our past guilt lead us into any doubt
   concerning the fidelity of Him who has cast all our sins into the
   depths of the sea and who will never allow them to be again laid to our
   charge.

   There is this which is commendable to be said about Jacob's fear--it
   led him to prayer. What was he doing when he said of his brother Esau,
   "I fear him"? O Brothers and Sisters, if you ever say the same thing,
   mind that you get to the same place where Jacob was and say it, as he
   said it, to his God! It is ill to say it at all, but if it is said, it
   is well to say it to the Lord. Go to Him with whatever troubles you
   have and unburden your souls at the Mercy Seat. If there is any
   suspicion or mistrust in your mind or heart--dark and black though the
   thought may be--yet go and tell Him all! He knows all about it, for He
   reads your heart, yet go to Him and lay it all before Him and ask Him
   to cleanse it all away. To go and tell our doubts to our fellow
   creatures is like spreading an infectious disease--it does not often
   bring us any comfort--and it frequently causes others to have more
   distrust who had quite enough of their own before. We ought not to be
   slack in prayer, for we are ready enough to tell our neighbors all
   about our trials and troubles, though they cannot help us!

   Note, also, that Jacob's fear led him to take a review of his life.
   That was a good thing. "I am not worthy," he said to the Lord, "of the
   least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have showed
   unto Your servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan and now
   I am become two bands." It is a blessed thing, sometimes, to look back
   upon our past history in order to revive our confidence in God at the
   present time. It never does to rely only upon the past and to say, "God
   favored me at such-and-such a time and, therefore, I am His." No, you
   need present mercy--as you cannot live on the meat you ate long ago--so
   you cannot exist on only past mercy. Yet, as I have reminded you, you
   may have seen how the bargemen on the canal push backward to send the
   boat forward--and you may push backward with your experience in order
   to send the boat of your life forward in new confidence in God.

   I do not speak only for myself when I say that if we will review our
   lives from the first day until now, we shall be again surprised at the
   wonderful loving kindness of the Lord towards us. Jacob speaks to the
   Lord, "of all the mercies, and all the truth, which You have showed
   unto Your servant." Now, if anybody could have foretold, 20 years ago,
   to some of you, that you would be in such a good position as you are
   now in, you would have been filled with delight at the prospect, yet,
   perhaps, you are not now happy in the possession of it. And if you
   could have foreseen all the mercy which God has strewn in your pathway,
   you would have jumped for joy! Yet you do not jump for joy now as you
   look back upon it. Is not that wrong? Oh, when I think of what the Lord
   has done for me, personally, I reckon that I would be the very chief of
   sinners if I should ever mistrust Him again! I can say, and so can you,
   my Brothers and Sisters in Jesus--

   " When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,

   Has gathered thick and thundered loud,

   He near my soul has always stood,

   His loving kindness, oh, how good!" Then, why should any of us ever
   say, in unbelief--

   "He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink"? Beloved Friends, think of
   the places from which the Lord brought some of you. It is not so very
   long ago since you were living in sin--perhaps in the worst forms of
   sin--without hope and without God in the world. Had you died as you
   were then, where would you have been? Yet now you are numbered among
   the Lord's children and you have enjoyed much of His love and been
   highly favored by Him! I charge you by the abounding mercy which you
   have received--let these present fears that now molest you, be driven
   from your bosom!

   Furthermore, Jacob was also led to seek out the promise that was most
   suitable to his case, for he said, "I fear Esau, that he will come and
   smite me, and the mother with the children." Now notice how appropriate
   was the promise that he quoted to meet the case--"And You said, I will
   surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which
   cannot be numbered for multitude." Now, if the father is killed and the
   mother and the children are killed, how can Jacob's seed be as the
   grains of sand upon the seashore which cannot be counted? He had a good
   hold upon his God when he quoted that promise and, Beloved, it may be
   the same in your experience. You never know the preciousness of the
   promises till you realize your need of them. You may not know what keys
   the locksmith has in his possession. Possibly he does not know,
   himself, how many he has. But if you lose the key to your door, you
   send for him and he comes with a great bunch of keys--and he tries one,
   and another, and another, and another till, at last, he finds one that
   will fit. God's promises are often so little studied by His people that
   they are like a great bunch of rusty keys till we really need them! And
   then we turn them over and we say, of some particular promise, "That
   just meets my case. Blessed be the name of the Lord, it must have been
   made on purpose for me! That key fits all the wards of this lock." And
   then you begin to prize the promise.

   It is, I think, worthy of note that God had notsaid to Jacob, in so
   many words, "I will surely do you good." At least, as far as the
   Scriptures are concerned, there is no record of any such promise. But
   He had said to the Patriarch, "I am with you," and, "I will not leave
   there." So, this is Jacob's version of the promise and it is a true
   one, too, because if God says, "I am with you," he means, "I will do
   you good." Have you ever heard Brothers pray, in the Prayer Meeting,
   "Lord, You have promised that where two or three are gathered together
   in Your name, You will be in the midst of them and that to bless them
   and do them good"? Well now, that last part is what they have tagged on
   to our Savior's words. He did not say, "and that to bless them and do
   them good," because it was not necessary to say that. If the Lord is in
   the midst of them, He must bless them and do them good! So Jacob felt
   that if the Lord had not put it in just those words, He

   implied it when He said, "I am with you." How could the Lord be with
   him except to do him good? That was his translation of the original
   text which came out of God's lips--and that is what the Lord really
   meant by it. Jacob had gone below the surface and spied out the hidden
   meaning--and if you should ever be able to see more in a promise than
   is in it, it is in it! I seem to contradict myself by that paradox, yet
   it is true. If the Word of the Lord should, in its literal
   construction, not actually contain all that your faith can see in it,
   yet over every promise there is this Law of God written, "According to
   your faith, be it unto you." And you may rest assured that your faith
   will never outrun the promise of God! He will keep His promise, not
   only to the letter, but to the fullest possible meaning that you can
   impart to it!

   II. But I must not say any more about Jacob's fear, or I shall have no
   time for speaking about HIS FAITH. Yet I have been speaking about it
   while I have been talking concerning his fear.

   First, Jacob's faith was based upon God's promise. He mentioned his
   fear of Esau and then he turned to the Lord, saying, "You said, I will
   surely do you good." Oh, what a hold he had of God! "'You said.' You
   cannot lie and You said, 'I will surely do you good.' You cannot go
   back from Your word and, 'You said, I will surely do you good.'" He
   seems to hold God to it as men hold their fellow men to a promise which
   they have given. There is nothing that he can see in which he can
   trust. God seems to be doing nothing, to be quite still--yet Jacob
   reminds Him of His promise, "You said." The promise is sufficient for
   Jacob without any act or deed as yet. "You said, You said, I will
   surely do you good."

   I must also remind you that this was what Jacob said when he began to
   pray. If you turn to his prayer, you will see that he began by saying,
   "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which
   said unto me," and so on. That is the beginning of his prayer and the
   end of it is, "And You said." That should always be both the beginning
   and the ending of prayer. You must never go beyond God's promises. If
   He has said anything, that is enough for you, but do not expect that
   your whims and fancies will be indulged. You must begin your prayer by
   saying to God, "You said," and when you do that, the weakest saint or
   sinner may plead so as to prevail. You can never get a stronger plea
   than the Lord's own promise! You can never strike a blow that will more
   effectually clinch the nail than this, "You said. You said."

   O Brothers and Sisters, I scarcely know how to put this matter before
   you as I ought, because if God says a thing, who is there among us who
   shall dare to give Him the lie? If it was years ago that He said it. If
   it is an old promise, even in the oldest book of the Old Testament, yet
   there is no such thing as time with God--one day is with him as a
   thousand years, and a thousand years as one day--and the promise is
   just as good as if He had made it at this very moment! If you could
   hear God speak now, you would not doubt Him, would you? Well, but did
   He at any time utter this promise? Then it stands fast forever, for He
   has never spoken in secret so as to change what He has said in public!
   Every promise of God is sure to all those who put their trust in Him.
   Jacob's faith rested, in its beginning and its end, upon the promise of
   God--this was the basis of it, and this alone. Can you say that this is
   the foundation of all your confidence for time and for eternity? If you
   can, is it not a basis worth resting upon, a foundation fit to build
   upon? Is there any supposable weight which this Rock cannot sustain? Is
   there any imaginable trouble which may not be endured while God's great
   solemn promise stands forever fast?

   Yet Jacob's faith, while it was resting upon the promise of God, was,
   nevertheless, a struggling faith. It was a mixture of, "I fear Esau"
   and, "You said." Beloved, have you only a struggling faith? Then,
   struggle on! Never give up struggling. If your faith is only like
   Jacob's wrestling, wrestle on, for, notice that Jacob, when he had said
   to the Lord, "You said," and quoted the promise, stopped praying, for
   he was satisfied to leave the case there. So, Brothers and Sisters, if
   your faith begins only as struggling faith, it is the nature of it to
   increase and grow till, at last, it comes to be victorious faith! Pray
   for victorious faith. Ask the Lord to give you the confidence that will
   not be daunted, the unstagger-ing faith of Abraham, who, though he was
   as one dead and his wife far advanced in years, yet knew that God had
   promised him a son and, therefore, believed that he would have a
   son--and looked for him without a doubt! And then, when God bade him
   take Isaac and slay him, he believed that God would even raise him up
   from the dead, but, somehow or other, He would keep His promise.

   Beloved, believe anything except that God can lie. Believe any miracle,
   any impossibility, or that which ungodly men tell you is an inability.
   Take it all in, but never let the thought come into your mind that God
   can be false to you! Oh, if we only believed God as He deserves to be
   believed, we should be able to move mountains and cast them into the
   sea! Nothing is impossible to the man to whom it is impossible to doubt
   his God. A mighty faith, though it is not, in itself,

   omnipotent, yet lays hold upon the Omnipotence of God and girds itself
   with Divine strength. Does not the Lord deserve such a faith from us?
   Yet we shall never have it unless He gives it to us! Oh, that the Holy
   Spirit would work it in us, preserve it in us and perfect it in us till
   faith is lost in sight--and hope is changed to full fruition! Never let
   us doubt the living God for a single moment.

   The Lord bless you, dear Friends, and especially bless any of you who
   have not yet believed in His Son, Jesus Christ! Oh, that they could see
   the sinfulness of doubting the great God and Jesus Christ, His Son! Oh,
   that they would but trust Him and confide in Him just as they are! They
   would never have to lament doing so, but, throughout eternity they
   would have to bless the Lord who taught them this sweet way of life and
   peace, namely, the way of simple dependence upon the blood and
   righteousness of Jesus Christ!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GENESIS32.

   Verse 1. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When
   he left the promised land, he had a vision of angels, ascending and
   descending upon the ladder, as if to bid him farewell. Now that he is
   going back, the angels are there again to speed him on his way home to
   the land of the Covenant, the land which the Lord had promised to give
   to Abraham and his seed.

   2. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is Gods host andhe called the
   name ofthatplace Mahanaim. The marginal reading is, "Two hosts, or,
   camps." The angels of the Lord were encamping round about the man who
   feared Him, though there had been much in his character and conduct
   which the Lord could not approve.

   3. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother into the
   land of Seir, the country of Edom. After a visit from angels,
   afflictions and trials often come. John Bunyan wrote, as I have often
   reminded you--

   "The Christian man is seldom long at ease,

   When one trouble's gone, another does him seize," and though the rhyme
   is rather rough, the statement is perfectly true! Full often we are
   hardly out of one trial before we are into another.

   4. 5. Andhe commanded them, saying, Thus shall you speak unto my lord
   Esau; your servant Jacob says thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and
   stayed there until now. And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and
   menservants, and women servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that
   I may find grace in your sight It is very proper, when we have offended
   other people, and especially if we feel that we have done them wrong,
   as Jacob had done to Esau, that we should use the humblest terms
   concerning ourselves and the best terms we can about those whom we have
   offended. Yet I must say that I do not like these terms that Jacob
   uses--they do not seem to me to be the right sort of language for a man
   of faith--"My lord Esau, your servant Jacob says thus." What business
   had God's favored one to speak "thus" to such a profane person, as
   Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright? Surely, there was
   more of the Jacob policy than there was of the Israel faith in this
   form of speech.

   6, 7. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your
   brother Esau, and alas he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with
   him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.' 'Four hundred men
   with him"! "That must mean mischief to me and my company. Surely, he is
   coming thus to avenge himself for the wrong I did him, long ago. My
   brother's heart is still hot with anger against me." So, "Jacob was
   greatly afraid and distressed."

   7, 8. And he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and
   herds, and the camels, into two bands; and said, If Esau comes to the
   one company, and smites it, then the other company which is left shall
   escape. This man Jacob was always planning and scheming. He was the
   great progenitor of the Jews who are still pre-eminent in bargaining.
   See how he plots and arranges everything to the best advantage. I blame
   him not for this, yet, I think he is to be blamed that he did not first
   pray. Surely, it would have been the proper order of things if the
   prayer had preceded the planning--but Jacob planned, first, and prayed
   afterwards. Well, even that was better than planning and not praying at
   all! So there is something commendable in his actions, though not
   without considerable qualification.

   9. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father
   Isaac, the LORD. Jacob uses that august name, "Jehovah"--"the LORD."

   9, 10. Who said unto me, Return unto your country, and to your kindred
   and I will deal well with you. I am not worthy of the least of all the
   mercies, and of all the truth which You have showed unto Your servant;
   for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two
   bands. Not even one servant had he with him when he fled away across
   the river! He was alone and unattended, but now he was coming back at
   the head of a great family, with troops of servants and an abundance of
   cattle, sheep and all things that men think worth having! How greatly
   God had increased him, and blessed him! He remembers that lonely
   departure from the home country and he cannot help contrasting it with
   his present prosperity.

   11-13. Deliver me, Ipray You, from the hand ofmy brother, from the hand
   ofEsau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother
   with the children. And You said, I will surely do you good, and make
   your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for
   multitude. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which
   came to his hand a present for Esau his brother There he is, planning
   again! And this time, perhaps, since he has prayed over the matter, he
   is planning more wisely than he did before--intending now to try to
   appease his brother's anger by a munificent "present for Esau his
   brother."

   14-16. Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes,
   and twenty rams. Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and
   ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. Andhe delivered them into
   the hands of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his
   servants, Pass over before me, and put a apace between drove and drove.
   In order that there might be time for his brother to look at the
   present in detail--and see it piece by piece--and so be the more struck
   with the size of it. This was true Oriental policy and crafty Jacob
   always had more than enough of something and planning even when it was
   not done with wisdom! But, in this case I think it was a wise
   arrangement, for which he is to be commended.

   17-19. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother
   meets you, and asks you, saying, Whose are you? And where go you? And
   whose are these before you? Then you shall say, They are your servant
   Jacobs, it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is
   behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that
   followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall you speak unto Esau,
   when you find him. What care he takes about the whole affair! We cannot
   blame him, under the circumstances, yet how much grander is the quiet,
   noble demeanor of Abraham who trusts in God and leaves matters more in
   His hands! Yet, alas, even Abraham tried plotting and scheming more
   than once--and failed every time he did so!

   20-24. And say you moreover, Behold your servant Jacob is behind us.
   For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me,
   and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept of me. So
   went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the
   company. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his
   eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them and sent
   them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left
   alone. This was a very anxious time for him, the heaviest trial of his
   life seemed impending. He was dreading it more than he need have done,
   for God never meant the trouble he feared to come upon him at all. He
   was trembling under a dark cloud that was to pass over his head without
   bursting. No tempest of wrath was to break out of it upon him. However,
   we must admire Jacob in this one respect, that, with all his thought,
   and care, and planning, and plotting, he did not neglect prayer. He
   felt that nothing he could do would be effectual without God's
   blessing. He had not reached the highest point of faith, though he had
   gone in the right direction--a great deal further than many Christians.
   He now resolved to have a night of prayer, that he might win
   deliverance. "Jacob was left alone."

   24. And there wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day. I
   suppose our Lord Jesus Christ did here, as on many other occasions
   preparatory to His full Incarnation, assume a human form and came thus
   to wrestle with the Patriarch.

   25. And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the
   hollow of his thigh. Where the column of the leg supports the body. And
   if that is disjointed, a man has lost all his strength. It was brave of
   Jacob thus to wrestle, but there was too much of self about it all. It
   was his own sufficiency that was wrestling with the God-Man, Christ
   Jesus. Now comes the crisis which will make a change in the whole of
   Jacob's future life--"He touched the hollow of his thigh."

   25. And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled
   with Him. What can Jacob do, now that the main bone of his leg is put
   out of joint? He cannot even stand up any logger in the great wrestling
   match. What can he do?

   26. And He said, Let Me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not
   let You go, except You bless me. It is evident that as soon as he felt
   that he must fall, he grasped the other "Man" with a kind of death-grip
   and would not let Him go. Now, in his weakness, he will prevail! While
   he was so strong, he won not the blessing--but when he became utter
   weakness, then did he conquer!

   27. And He said unto him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. That
   is, a Supplanter, as poor Esau well knew.

   28. And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel
   That is, A Prince of God.

   28. For as a prince have you power with God and with men and have
   prevailed. Jacob was the prince with the disjointed limb--and that is
   exactly what a Christian is. He wins, he conquers when his weakness
   becomes supreme and he is conscious of it!

   29. And Jacob askedHim, andsaid, Tellme, Ipray You, Your name. AndHe
   said, Why is it thatyou ask My name? And He blessed him there. There
   are limits to all human communion with God. We must not go where vain
   curiosity would lead us, otherwise will He have to say to us, as He did
   to Jacob, "Why is it that you ask My name?"

   30. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God
   face to face, and my life is preserved. How he must have trembled to
   think that he had the daring--perhaps his fears made him call it
   presumption--to actually wrestle with God, Himself, for he was now
   conscious that it was no mere angel, but, "the Angel of the Covenant,"
   the Lord, Himself, with whom he had wrestled!

   31. And as he passed over Peniel the sun rose upon him, and he limped
   upon his thigh. The memorial of his weakness was to be with him as long
   as he lived. People would ask, "How came the halting gait of that
   princely man?" And the answer would be, "It was by his weakness that he
   won his princedom--he became Israel, A Prince of God, when his thigh
   was put out ofjoint." How pleased would you and I be to go limping all
   our days with such weakness as Jacob had, if we might also have the
   blessing that he thus won!

   32. Therefore the children ofIsrael eat not ofthe sinew which shrank,
   which is upon the hollow ofthe thigh, unto this day: because He touched
   the hollo w of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
     __________________________________________________________________

Jesus and His Forerunner

   (No. 2818)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE
   24, 1877.

   "Therefore they sought again to take Him: but He escaped out of their
   hands, and went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John at
   first baptized, and there He abode. And many resorted unto Him and
   said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spoke of this Man
   were true. And many believed on Him there." John 10:39-42.

   THE unbelieving and infuriated Jews again and again took up stones to
   cast at our Lord and here they sought to take Him prisoner, but He
   escaped from them, apparently with the greatest possible ease. He did
   this on several occasions. When the men of Nazareth would have cast Him
   down, headlong, from the brow of the hill whereon their city was built,
   He passed through the midst of them and went His way. He made His
   escape, over and over again, in the same wonderful manner, thus proving
   that He was not in the power of any man. He need not, therefore, at the
   last, have died unless His death had been in accordance with His own
   will. He might have appealed to His Father and He would have given Him
   legions of angels for His deliverance. Or He might, as Elijah did, have
   called for fire from Heaven to destroy those who sought to arrest Him.
   His Divine power would never have been at any loss in providing means
   for His own protection. He might, readily enough, have slain those who
   came to take Him in the garden--and He might even have come down from
   the Cross, if He had pleased thus to prove what power He possessed.

   Yet He did not so act, but voluntarily laid down His life, according to
   His own words, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man
   takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it
   down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I
   received of My Father." Let us, then, bless and praise Him for that
   wondrous, voluntary, substitutionary death upon the tree! It was for
   our sins that He suffered. There was no reason for His death except
   that which was found in our dire necessities and in His own great heart
   of love. Whenever we think of the sufferings of Christ upon the Cross,
   let us remember how spontaneous was the Sacrifice by which He redeemed
   us from sin, death and Hell. Blessed, forever blessed, be the name of
   this willing Friend of guilty men! And let us, in similar fashion,
   always be ready to serve Him. Let the willingness of Christ bring forth
   willingness in us--let us not be as bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke,
   but cheerfully let us take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. May the
   Lord grant us Grace, not merely to be willing, but even to be eager for
   His service, as He was eager to serve us, for He could truly say, "I
   have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it is
   accomplished!"

   Another thought is suggested by our Lord's action. When He was driven
   from one place by the unbelief and malice of His adversaries, He did
   not, therefore, retire altogether from His service. If He could not
   speak to the people in the streets of Jerusalem, He would find a place
   of audience in the desert beyond the Jordan, but, somewhere or other,
   He would be seeking the welfare of men. He went about doing good. They
   could not stop His mouth, whatever they might do. When they, again and
   again, in one place, took up stones to stone Him, He saw that His
   testimony would be useless to them, for it had already only increased
   their condemnation, so He went off to another place, away from those
   furious persecutors, that others might listen to the message of mercy
   which they had despised and rejected. Jesus was always working, always
   teaching, always blessing and, to this day, He is still diligent in His
   service on behalf of the sons of men. From the highest Throne of Glory
   He scatters down mercies and favors with both hands, by day and by
   night, upon us,

   His unworthy creatures! As He continues thus to serve us, let us
   continue to serve Him. And if He is unwearied, let us be unwearied,
   too. If we can do little or nothing for Him in one place, let us find
   another spot where we can serve Him, but never let us lay down our
   charge till we also lay down our lives--never let us case to work until
   we cease to live! May this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus
   our Lord!

   I. Now to come more closely to the subject of this evening's
   meditation, the first thing that I see in the text is A FRUITFUL PLACE
   OF MINISTRY--"Beyond the Jordan." Our Savior preached in the place
   where John at first baptized, "and many believed on Him there."

   It is not every place that is fruitful, for there are some portions of
   the field, which is the world, that are like the wayside, where the
   birds of the air come and take away the seed as soon as it is sown.
   There are other parts where the soil is very shallow--and there the
   seed springs up only to perish in the heat of the sun. Our Savior had
   been in many places where He was unsuccessful as a preacher, where He
   was absolutely rejected of men and His message altogether despised. For
   when He spoke the Truth of God, they even called it blasphemy and took
   up stones that they might stone Him as one unfit to live! Christian
   ministers may have to work in such places, yet they are always glad
   when they get on the soil that yields a hundred-fold. They are
   delighted if their Master bids them cast the net where there are great
   shoals of fish. Our Savior was evidently in such a spot when He was
   preaching "beyond the Jordan."

   Notice about this place, first, that it was a place of retreat from
   persecution. I do not think that we should ever look upon the most
   violent opposition to the Gospel as anything to be altogether lamented,
   for, even in this instance, it is just after the Jews have said that
   Christ blasphemed and have sought to stone or to seize Him, that He is
   most successful in His preaching! You may regard it as a very safe rule
   that when the devil roars, it is because he has been hit pretty hard
   and that whenever there is the most rage against the Gospel, it is one
   evidence of the Gospel's growing power! To go and preach in a town, or
   village, or hamlet and to be scarcely noticed--to deliver your
   testimony for Christ and yet to produce no visible effect of any
   kind--is horrible. But if all the hosts of Hell are stirred up against
   you and men even begin to act despitefully to the preacher, you may
   take courage and rest assured that something is being done! Depend upon
   it, there would not be all that stir and uproar unless the Lord's power
   had gone with His Word to the hearts and consciences of men. We are not
   to cease our preaching because of opposition, but we are then to be
   more earnest and zealous than ever--possibly, in another place, as it
   was in our Lord's case--but still, our testimony for our Lord is to be
   given somewhere! After the thunderstorm will often be the very best
   time for sowing the good seed of the Kingdom. It was so in our Savior's
   experience for He had, there, a most fruitful season after He had met
   with the most violent and bitter opposition.

   If I am addressing any servant of God who has been passing through a
   season of fierce persecution, let him be encouraged! Brother, when the
   night is over, the day will be all the brighter because of the
   blackness that preceded it. So, be hopeful that after the wearing and
   wearying time of opposition that you have had, you will come into
   smoother waters and that God will bless you yet more abundantly.

   Perhaps another reason why that place was so fruitful was because it
   was a retired spot It was "beyond the Jordan." It was away from the
   noise and strife of Jerusalem. Those who were there had evidently
   traveled a considerable distance with the desire to hear the Savior. In
   the streets of Jerusalem, Jesus preached to many who did not want to
   hear. And we must do the same, for we are to preach the Gospel to every
   creature. But I think we have the best hope of doing good when people
   take trouble to come to hear us--when they journey for miles to the
   place of preaching--when they are removed from their ordinary
   associations and feel that they can, in quiet, listen to the Word.
   Chrysostom once preached a sermon upon the last verse of my text,
   dwelling especially upon the word, "there"--"many believed on Him
   there'" Very singularly he accounts for the larger numbers of women who
   are converted, beyond the number of men, from the fact that women are
   more at home than men are, and have more quiet times for reflection and
   consideration upon the Word. I lay no stress upon that thought, but it
   has occurred to me, also, and when I met with it in Chrysostom, I
   thought that there might be some force about it, for we do need quiet
   times in which we can think of Divine things.

   Some of you men are busy all day long--up early in the morning and then
   right on till late at night. You are hacking and soaring away about
   your worldly business and you do not get time to sit down and calmly
   calculate this problem, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain
   the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Let me persuade you to
   sometimes go into the desert and rest a while. Surely, Heaven is worth
   a little thought if it is to be gained! It must be worth-

   while to secure the necessary time for thought about how we are to
   escape from Hell and to be delivered from sin. I think that if
   you--especially on Sabbath afternoons, between the morning and evening
   services--I mean, you unconverted people--would set apart an hour or
   even half an hour to really look into your case, to come to close
   dealings with yourselves and your God, we would preach in the evening
   with very great hope of blessing because such hearers would have come
   to us prepared and anxious to learn the way of salvation. Do you not
   know that when you go to a place of worship you will generally catch
   what you fish for? Some of you come because the preacher is thought to
   be eccentric--you will, possibly, hear something which will confirm you
   in that idea. But, if you come because you want to hear of Jesus Christ
   and to find salvation, you will get what you come for! It is the will
   of the Lord that those who seek shall find. I think there is something
   very suggestive in the fact that this fruitful place was a quiet spot
   away from the crowds and bustle of Jerusalem.

   And, again, one reason why our Lord was so successful on this occasion
   when many believed on Him was, no doubt, that He had a large
   congregation. I t is first said that "many resorted unto Him." And then
   that "many believed on Him." It is a self-evident fact that you cannot
   have many converts if you do not have many hearers. Hence, we delight
   to see the House of Prayer crowded. We are glad that when we cast the
   net we cast it among multitudes of fish. If a man can preach the Gospel
   to half a dozen people, he ought to do it with all his might--and if
   God should give him the souls of that half dozen hearers, it will be an
   abundant reward for him. But if there are any means by which half a
   dozen thou-sandsof people can be brought to hear the Word, we may hope
   that the converts will be multiplied in equal proportion if God the
   Holy Spirit is pleased to bless the Word! At any rate, the greater the
   number of the preacher's hearers, the greater is the likelihood of
   blessing to a large number of people. This puts an end, I think, to the
   foolish talk about the finest thought of the age being always delivered
   to an elite company of very few special individuals. If you preach with
   great thoughtfulness, especially after the style of the modern school
   of thought, you cannot expect that the multitude will come to hear you.
   Very well, then, let us not preach in that way, for, "the greatest good
   to the greatest number" should be the motto of every man who loves his
   race and desires its highest well-being. Let us endeavor to so adapt
   our style, if we are preachers of the Word, that the multitude will be
   willing to hear and will be able to understand--for then we may hope
   that with the blessing of God, many will be converted.

   But, once more, our Lord had met with a fruitful place because it was a
   place of fragrant memories. For what was that spot, "beyond the
   Jordan," already noted? It was "the place where John at first
   baptized"--where, in fact, Jesus Himself had been baptized by John! We
   believe not in the sacredness of places, but, still, where a good man
   has labored for the Master, there often lingers a holy fragrance which
   is a means of blessing to others. Many of those people had probably
   heard John's testimony of his Lord. And the trees by the river's edge,
   and the flowing stream would always remind them of the Baptist, who
   there urged them to repent of their sins. Now the good man is dead and
   buried, but the soil which he had plowed is the better prepared for the
   Master's seed-sowing. And the Master knows that He will have all the
   greater harvest in that place because John has been there before Him. O
   my Brothers and Sisters, it will be a grand thing for us to have so
   lived that when we are dead and gone, those who come after us will have
   all the easier task because of our service for the Savior! You Sunday
   school teachers are often like John the Baptist--you get the youthful
   minds ready for the preacher's instruction and you who have, perhaps,
   been preaching for years without success, may, nevertheless, be John
   the Baptists to others who will come after you and who may be the means
   of blessing to those for whom you think you have labored in vain. When
   I go to some places to preach, I feel that I am sowing upon stony
   ground, but if the preacher before me has wept over his hearers, and
   pleaded with them, and prayed for them, I find that they are as ready
   to drink in the Word as the thirsty soil drinks in the rain when the
   blessed clouds end the long and terrible drought!

   II. Now, secondly, in our text you will see A TESTIMONY TO A DEPARTED
   MINISTER.

   The people said, as they stood where John had preached and baptized,
   "John did no miracle: but all things that John spoke of this Man were
   true." Oh, how I hope that you will be able to say this of me when I
   have gone the way of all flesh! "He did no miracle: but all that he
   said concerning Christ was true." There are some preachers of whom
   people will say, when they are gone, "They were not very eloquent. They
   were not very learned. They were not very refined and they could not do
   any miracles, but"--oh, that blessed "but"!--"but all things that they
   spoke concerning Christ were

   true."

   Notice the character which the people gave to John, three years, or
   thereabouts, after he was dead. He was still remembered by them and
   they bore most satisfactory testimony concerning him. First, they
   testified that he spoke concerning Christ It was John's business--it
   was allhis business here below, to speak concerning Jesus Christ, and
   he did it so thoroughly that this was the one thing that his hearers
   recalled after he was gone. He rebuked the Pharisees and Saddu-cees,
   but his main work was to testify concerning Him who was to come after
   him, whose shoe laces he felt that he was not worthy to unloose. Ah,
   Brothers, there is no ministry that will stand the testing on a
   sick-bed, or on our death-bed, except that which has been full of
   testimony to Christ! When there has been a great deal of philosophy and
   only a homoeopathic dose of Christ in the preaching--just enough of the
   latter to give it the name of Christian teaching--may God have mercy
   upon both preacher and hearer! But to preach Christ first, Christ last,
   Christ midst, Christ always--this is what John the Baptist did and this
   is what all preachers should do. An American gentleman who was here
   many years ago, came again about 14 or 15 years afterwards and he said
   to me as he went out, "I see you are still on the old tack." "Yes," I
   replied, "I intend to be like Casablanca on the burning ship, where his
   father had told him to stand--and where he meant to remain as long as
   life should last."

   I will preach new doctrine when I find it in the Bible--till then, I
   will keep to the old! The State of Massachusetts passed a resolution
   declaring that it would be governed by the laws of God until there was
   time to make better ones-- and I have passed a resolution that I will
   preach Christ's Gospel until I have time to find out something
   better--and that can never be, for it is the only Gospel that can ever
   meet the needs of the human race! There was no bite from any of the
   fiery serpents which a look at the bronze serpent could not cure--and
   this Gospel of God's Grace is the one remedy for all the spiritual
   diseases to which mankind is heir and, therefore, we will cling to it
   as long as we live.

   John the Baptist spoke concerning Christ and what he said about Christ
   was true. That is the important point, for it is possible for Christ to
   be preached and yet for the truth about Christ notto be preached. His
   Humanity may be left out, or His Deity may be kept in the background,
   or there may be lisping and hesitancy with regard to the doctrine of
   His atoning Sacrifice. And if this is the case, then the ministry will
   be without power. It used to be said of a certain noted preacher that
   his doctrine of the Atonement was that Jesus Christ did something or
   other, which, in some way or other, was connected with our salvation.
   That cloudy sort of teaching is not preaching Christ in truth! But to
   declare that He was made a curse for us--that the Lord caused to meet
   upon Him the iniquity of all who believe in Him. That He, who knew no
   sin, was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
   God in Him--to clearly preach the definite Substitution of Christ on
   our behalf--this is to tell the truth about Christ! And I pray that all
   of us, whether preachers or teachers, may not only speak about Christ,
   but also, like John the Baptist, speak the truth about Him.

   One other thing about John was that all he said about Christ was the
   Truth of God." All things that John spoke of this Man were true." Not
   merely some things, but "all things." Any part of Christ is precious,
   but a whole Christ is what the sinner needs. As far as we know Him, we
   are bound honestly to make Him known to others. And even if we have to
   do it with but small ability and if, when we die, we have to regret
   that we had such slender powers, yet shall it be a sweet thought to us
   if we know that those we leave behind will be able to say, "All things
   that he spoke concerning this Man were true."

   There was one thing which the people did not say, and which they had no
   need to say, because it was self-evident-- that is that John the
   Baptist had so preached Christ that they could not forget it. He had
   been dead some years, yet they remembered what he had preached about
   while he was with them. They remembered how he preached it, too--that
   he preached Christ in truth and that all he said about Christ was the
   Truth--so that, when the Messiah Himself stood before them, the savor
   of John's ministry was still fresh upon them. Oh, that it might be our
   lot, and the lot of all God's servants, to make the Gospel arrows stick
   as well as strike--and to cause men to carry with them, for many a
   year, the remembrance of the things which we have spoken unto them
   while we were yet present with them!

   III. Now, thirdly, I am going away from the text in order to notice
   WHAT THE DEPARTED MINISTER'S TESTIMONY REALLY WAS. What did John say
   concerning Christ?

   Well, first of all, John said that Jesus was the Son of God. His
   testimony was, "I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."
   John delighted to extol his Lord--he felt that he was not worthy to
   take the place of the slave who took off his master's sandals--it was
   too great an honor for him to be the body-servant of Christ. How
   sweetly did John speak about Jesus as, "the only-begotten Son which is
   in the bosom of the Father"! Do you all believe that blessed Truth of

   God of the Sonship of Christ? Do you all believe that the Man of
   Nazareth was, "very God of very God"? If you do, then trust Him to be
   your Savior and, doing so, you shall be saved by Him! Let the testimony
   of John be accepted by you, for it is now borne out by the life of
   Christ and a thousand proofs besides. Jesus of Nazareth is God in human
   flesh--trust yourselves with Him and you shall be eternally saved!

   John also bore witness to another grand Truth about his Lord and
   Master, namely, that He was the Lamb of God. How plainly he cried to
   all the people, and afterwards to his own disciples, "Behold the Lamb
   of God!" Had John the paschal lamb in his mind's eye? Very likely he
   had. "This," he said, "is the Lamb of God, whose blood is to be shed to
   preserve His people, just as the blood of the paschal lamb, when it was
   sprinkled upon the lintel and the two side-posts of the houses in
   Egypt, saved the Israelites when the destroying angel had unsheathed
   his terrible sword." O dear Hearers, I would that you would all receive
   Christ as the great Sin-Offering--the only Preserver and Defender
   against the destroying angel in the day of God's wrath!

   But did John, do you think, have that passage in the 53rd of Isaiah in
   his mind, "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
   before her shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth"? When he said,
   "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world," do you
   not think that he had in his mind that passage, "The Lord has laid on
   Him the iniquity of us all"? It is extremely likely that this was the
   case. This was a choice topic for John to dilate upon--and we would
   dilate upon it, too, if we had the time. But, as we have only a few
   minutes left, we cry to you, "Behold the Lamb of God!" That Jesus, who
   is now reigning in Heaven at His Father's right hand, suffered in the
   place of all who will believe in Him. Behold Him! Look unto Him and be
   you saved. If you trust in Him, you will thereby prove that your sin
   was laid upon Him--and if so, all that sin of yours has been put away
   by His Sacrifice of Himself. Why do you not trust Him? May the Holy
   Spirit bring you to do so, for John's testimony was true when he said
   that Jesus was the Lamb of God!

   John also bore witness, concerning Christ, as the Baptizer with the Hoy
   Spirit and with fire. And this, too, is true. Any of you who have
   trusted Christ, know into what sacred fire He plunges your spirit, so
   that it refines and purifies your soul and burns up all the dross. He
   immerses us into the Holy Spirit, so that we are--

   "Plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea, And lost in His immensity."

   And, once more, John called Jesus the Bridegroom. That is one of His
   sweetest names. John spoke of himself as the Bridegroom's Friend, or
   best man. He was that, but nothing more, so his work was done when the
   Bridegroom came. O Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His love to His
   Church, has proved Himself to be her true Bridegroom! Out of His side
   was she taken when He fell asleep, even as Eve was taken out of the
   side of Adam, and to her His love always goes forth, for He says to
   her, "You are bone of My bone, and flesh of My flesh." For this purpose
   did He leave His Father, that He might cleave unto His Church, that
   they two might be one. Truly does Paul write, "Christ also loved the
   church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it
   with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to
   Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
   thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." This is another
   grand Truth of God for us to talk about--the union of Christ with His
   Church--the blessed bonds that bind Him to us, and us to Him, so that
   we are able to defy the whole universe to "separate us from the love of
   God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

   IV. I have thus given you a summary of what John's testimony concerning
   Jesus was and of which the people said, "All things that John spoke of
   this Man were true." Now, the last thing I have to speak upon is THE
   BLESSED RESULT. Our Lord was preaching in a fruitful place. He was
   following a man who had left a precious memory behind him and that
   memory was all about Himself. What was the result?

   First, the people standing on that spot, where John had stood, began to
   consider ' 'John said such-and-such about the promised Messiah--this
   Man exactly answers to the description that John gave. All men
   acknowledge that John was a Prophet, so what he said concerning Jesus
   is clearly true and He must, therefore, be the Christ whom God has sent
   into the world. He must be the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the One who
   is to baptize us with the Hoy Spirit and with fire" and, therefore,
   after careful consideration, they believed in Him!

   Beloved Hearers, have you ever given due consideration to Divine
   things? It would be worthwhile for you, who are unsaved, not to do any
   more business until you are saved. You are very "cute" and clever about
   worldly things, but I tell

   you solemnly, that you are great fools with regard to your immortal
   souls. I am certain that if the life of any one of you were, at this
   moment, in peril from some very dreadful disease, you would not wait
   long before seeking the best advice concerning it that you could
   afford. If you were told, while I am preaching, that your house was on
   fire, you would not stay till I had finished the sermon--you would be
   off to your home at once, so concerned are you, and rightly so, about
   your earthly things. Yet your souls are even now abiding under the
   wrath of God! You dare not say you do not believe that--yet you do not
   really believe it, or you act in a way which implies that you do not!
   Suppose your breath were to stop for one minute, where would you be?
   Where would you be if you had to ask in vain for a drop of water to
   cool your parched tongue? Every instant life is in jeopardy--let only
   one of the ten thousand strings of this poor harp but snap-- and harp
   strings often do snap--and the soul must appear before its
   God--unready, unwashed, unclothed, forever lost!

   Beloved, do as these people "beyond the Jordan" did--begin to consider,
   see whether Christ is not the Son of God, and the Lamb of God--and if
   He is, believe in Him! Trust Him with your souls and so find eternal
   salvation!

   Further, having considered, these people did believe on Jesus. That is
   to say, they did accept Him as the Lamb of God and the Son of God. They
   did receive Him as the Bridegroom of their hearts, they did believe
   that He would baptize them with the Hoy Spirit and with fire--and so
   they were saved. Will not the same result follow this service? Will not
   some of you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is so worthy of
   confidence--yes, who demandsthat we believe in Him, for this is what He
   says, "He that believes not shall be damned"? It is said, in our text,
   "Many believed on Him." I will be thankful if only two or three believe
   on Jesus Christ, yet I cannot be content unless manybelieve on Him. He
   is so true that it is a grievous crime to doubt Him! He is so
   abundantly able to save that it is the greatest folly not to trust Him!

   It sometimes puzzles me how God can have such patience with
   unbelievers. When He has given His only-begotten Son to bleed and die
   for the guilty, and He says, "This is My well-beloved Son, bleeding and
   dying for you, only trust Him"--if men say that they will not--what can
   be conceived more horrible than that? And what clearer proof can there
   be of the desperate malignity of the human heart that it will not even
   accept the Son of God, Himself, when He comes dressed in robes of love
   to save mankind?

   I finish with the last word of my text--"Many believed on Him there,"
   that is, on the spot where He then stood and preached. I would to God
   that many would believe on Jesus Christ in this Tabernacle--there in
   that area, or in that aisle, or up in the galleries. Alas, many say,
   "We will go home and think about it." Do not do that! Believe on Him
   there.

   1 know how apt you are to indulge in idle chat on your way home. I know
   how, at the supper table, too often the Word which you have heard is
   driven away by the foolish talk which is unfit for the Sabbath. The
   devil only wants you to wait, for he knows that he can then come and
   steal away the good Seed of the Kingdom. But if the Lord should give
   you the Grace to decide for Him at once--if you were to believe on
   Jesus now--what joy there would be among the angels and the spirits of
   just men made perfect! They would "ring the bells of Heaven" and
   rejoice over lost ones found! What peace there would be in your own
   heart and what thankfulness and delight there would be among the people
   of God when they heard of it! You Christians, try to have a quiet,
   earnest talk with the unconverted, if you can, before they get away
   from this building. It may be that they will be led by you to believe
   on Jesus here and now. God grant that it may be so, for our Lord Jesus
   Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW3:1-12; JOHN 1:15-37;3:22-36.

   We are going to read three passages relating to John the Baptist's
   testimony concerning Christ.

   Matthew 3:1-4. In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the
   wilderness of Judea, andsaying, Repent you: for the Kingdom of Heaven
   is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah,
   saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way
   of the Lord, make his paths straight And the same John had his raiment
   of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his food was
   locusts and wild honey. Everything connected with John the Baptist was
   in harmony with his message. He was the preacher of repentance, so the
   place where he preached was most suitable--it was in the wilderness
   where there was nothing to distract his hearers' attention, as there
   would have been in crowded cities. His dress was striking and
   everything about him, even down to the food that he ate, went to show
   that he was the rough pioneer preacher preparing the way for his
   Master. John did not teach the fullness of joy and

   7

   peace--that was left for our Lord Jesus to proclaim--but John came to
   prepare the way of the Lord by preaching repentance.

   5. Then went out to him, Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region
   roundabout Jordan, There seems to have been, about that time, a
   widespread anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, so, no sooner did
   the news come that a Prophet was preaching in the desert, than great
   multitudes went out to hear him.

   6-8. And were baptized of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But
   when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad-ducees come to his baptism,
   he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee
   from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for
   repentance. Did he not speak after the style of the Prophet Elijah? Yet
   those bold speeches of his were not at all stronger than the evils of
   the age required. When the self-righteous Pharisees and the skeptical
   Sadducees, the Ritualists and the "modern thought" men of that day,
   came to him to be baptized, he welcomed them not, but bade them, "bring
   forth fruits meet for repentance," evidences of a change of heart and
   life.

   9. And think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham for our
   father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones.--In the
   bed of Jordan, where he was baptizing--

   9. To raise up children unto Abraham. John bade them boast not of their
   descent from Abraham, yet that was the great thing in which they did
   glory! They despised the Gentiles as so many do outside the true fold.
   Note how John the Baptist really preaches the Gospel to us indirectly
   while he is denouncing these people's confidence in their carnal
   descent. Regeneration is "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
   nor of the will of man, but of God."

   10. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore
   every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into
   the fire. Other teachers came, as it were, only to lop and prune the
   trees, but the time had come for the felling of those that were
   fruitless. John did this and so did our Lord Jesus Christ, for his
   preaching dug up the very roots of sin, superstition and evil of every
   kind.

   11. 12. Iindeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that
   comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:
   He shall baptize you with the Hoy Spirit, and with fire: whose fan is
   in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His
   wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
   fire. Now let us turn to the Gospel according to John where we have
   another account of the ministry of John the Baptist.

   John 1:15. John bore witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of
   whom I spoke, He that comes after me is preferred before me: for He was
   before me. He was not before John in the order of human birth, yet He
   was truly before John, for He had an eternal pre-existence, as He was
   none other than the uncreated Son of God!

   16-21. And of His fullness have all we received, and Grace for Grace.
   For the Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus
   Christ No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is
   in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. And this is the record
   of John, when the Jews sentpriests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
   him, Who are you? Andhe confessed, and deniednot; but confessed, Iam
   not the Christ And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he
   said, Iam not Are you that Prophet? And he answered; No. As they meant,
   "Are you, literally, the Prophet Elijah risen from the dead? "John
   said," "I am not." "Are you that Prophet of who Moses foretold?" "And
   he answered, No." John gave short, sharp answers to these cavilers. He
   was not a man of dainty words and polished periods, especially in
   dealing with such people as they were.

   22, 23. Then said they unto him, who are you that we may give an answer
   to them that sent us. What say you of yourself? He said, Iam the voice.
   Not, "the Word"--Christ is that, but John was "the voice."

   23-37. Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the
   Lord, as said the Prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent were of the
   Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why do you baptize,
   then, if you are not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that Prophet?
   John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there stands One
   among you, whom you know not; He it is, who coming after me is
   preferred before me, whose shoe laces Iam not worthy to unloose. These
   things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was
   baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said,
   Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. This is
   He of whom I said, After me comes a Man which ispreferred before me:
   for He was before me. AndIknewHim not: but that He should be made
   manifest to Israel, therefore am I come t3o baptize with water And John
   bore record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a
   dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to
   baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom you shall see the
   Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He

   which baptizes with the Hoy Spirit And I saw, and bear record that this
   is the Son of God. Again the next day John stood with two of his
   disciples, and looking upon Jesus as He walked by, he said, Behold the
   lamb of God! And the two disciples heard Him speak, and they followed
   Jesus. In the third chapter of the same Gospel, we have yet another
   testimony by John the Baptist concerning Christ.

   John 3:22-29 After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the
   land of Judea, and there He tarried with them, and baptized. And John
   was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water
   there: and they came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into
   prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples
   and the Jews about purification. And they came unto John, and said unto
   him, Rabbi, He that was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore
   witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to Him. John
   answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him
   from Heaven. You yourselves bare me witness that I said I am not the
   Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that has the bride is the
   bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears
   him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: therefore is
   this, my joy, fulfilled.' 'I have introduced the Bridegroom and,
   henceforth, it will be my part to gradually disappear from the scene."

   30. He must increase, but Imust decrease. As fades the morning star
   when the sun itself arises, so was it the joy of the herald of Christ
   to lose himself in the supreme radiance of his Lord's appearing!

   31-34. He that comes from above is above all: he that is of the earth
   is earthly, and speaks of the earth: He that comes from Heaven is above
   all And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no man
   receives His testimony. He that has received His testimony has set to
   his seal that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of
   God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him. Did not the Holy
   Spirit descend and remain upon Him--and that without measure or limit?

   35, 36. The Father loves the Son, and hasgiven all things into His
   hand. He who believes on the Son has everlasting life. He has it now
   and he can never lose it, or else it would not be everlasting. He has a
   life that must exist forever and ever.

   36. And he that believes not the Son shall not see life. He shall not
   even know what spiritual life is! He shall not be able to understand
   it, or to form any idea of it. While he is an unbeliever, he is blind
   to spiritual things. What a dreadful sentence that is--"He shall not
   see life."--

   36. But the wrath of God abides on him. God is always angry with him
   because he has rejected God's own Son and refuses the great salvation.
     __________________________________________________________________

A Caution for Sin-sick Souls

   (No. 2819)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON A LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   EARLY IN THE YEAR 1861.

   "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim
   went to Assyria, and sent to King Jareb: yet he cannot heal you, nor
   cure you of your wound." Hosea 5:13.

   THERE is a tendency, in the heart of man, to want something to look at
   rather than something to trust to. The children of Israel had God for
   their King and a glorious King He was. Where else was there found such
   impartial justice, such tender compassion for the poor, or such perfect
   righteousness in every statute that was ordained and every sentence
   that was enforced? But they said, "No, let us have a king whom we can
   see--a king whose pomp and magnificence shall dazzle our eyes, even
   though he will take our sons to be his bond slaves and our daughters to
   be his confectionaries. Let us have a king that we may see the gaudy
   glitter of his crown with our eyes and hear the sovereign mandate from
   his throne with our ears." God granted them that request.

   Their sole allegiance was due to that almighty King whose superlative
   Glory admitted of no natural similitude. The Lord Jehovah was the God
   of Israel, a God always ready to forgive their sins, to hear their
   prayers and to seek their welfare. But the children of Israel said,
   "Not so! Let us make a king to judge us like all the nations--and let
   us set up gods after the fashion of the Gentiles, that our hands can
   handle and that our eyes can behold! Let us have blocks of wood and
   stone. Let us have the carved images of the heathen." Neither would
   they rest till they had set up for themselves in every high place, gods
   that were not gods. For this the Lord chastised them--He gave up their
   lands to famine and their habitations to the spoiler. He brought
   enemies from far countries to lay them waste, so that the State became
   sick and the whole nation impoverished. Then the people of Ephraim
   opened their eyes and looked to their condition.

   But when Judah saw himself to be wounded, what course did he pursue?
   There was God waiting to help him when he returned to his allegiance.
   There was Jehovah ready to heal all his distresses, to give him back
   all that had been laid waste and to restore to him everything that the
   spoiler had taken! But, no, the arm of Jehovah was not enough for
   Judah-- Judah must rely upon a force that could look imposing in its
   array. "Oh," said the people, "let us send to the king of Assyria and
   let him furnish us with tens of thousands of soldiers, and aid us with
   his mighty men so we shall be safe! Thus will our State recover
   itself." But if they had trusted in God, my Brothers and Sisters, how
   secure they would have been! Mark what God did for them in the days of
   Hezekiah. Their enemies came upon them in great numbers--Hezekiah
   prayed before the Lord. And it came to pass, that night, God sent forth
   the blast of His nostrils and their foes were utterly destroyed! When
   the men of Judah arose early in the morning, "behold, they were all
   dead corpses!" As often as they trusted in God, they found immediate
   succor and their enemies were put to confusion!

   But not so was their heart stayed in its confidence. No, they cannot
   rely upon the unseen arm. They must have men and men's devices. They
   must have something they can see. Unless they have the spear, the sword
   and the shield of the Assyrian state, they can feel no sense of
   security. They went to the Assyrian king--they sent to king Jareb, "yet
   could he not heal them, nor cure them of their wound." How foolish they
   were to hope he could, for, as soon as they sent their ambassadors to
   the king of Assyria, he flattered himself while he spoke to them, "Oh,
   you want help, do you? I will send you some soldiers to help you."
   Remember that their houses had been stripped of all the gold and silver
   they contained to give a present to the king of Assyria. "I will send
   you soldiers to help you" he said to them--and then he whispered to

   himself--"After they have helped you, they shall help themselves!" And
   so they did. When they had come and, for a little while, had fought for
   the people of Israel and set them free, then they turned round upon
   them and carried them captive and spoiled them of all they had! This
   comes of trusting in man. "Cursed be the man that trusts in man and
   makes flesh his arm; but blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord and
   whose hope is in the Lord."

   Looking at this fallacy of a nation as illustrative of a common
   tendency of mankind--and using my text as the picture of a sinner in a
   certain peculiar state of mental anxiety, I shall observe, first, the
   sinner's partial discovery of his lost estate. Secondly, the wrong
   means which he takes to be cured of his evil And then I will endeavor
   to direct you, as God shall enable me, to the right means of finding
   healing and deliverance through the Atonement and obedience of our Lord
   Jesus Christ.

   I. We have in our text somewhat of A PICTURE OF THE SINNER WHEN HE HAS
   PARTIALLY DISCOVERED

   HIS LOST ESTATE.

   Mark, it is but a partial discovery. Ephraim felt his sickness but he
   did not know the radical disease that lurked within. He saw the local
   ailment, but was ignorant of the organic derangement of his very
   vitals. He only perceived the symptoms! He was uneasy, he felt pain,
   but the discovery did not go deep enough to show him that he was
   actually dead in trespasses and sins. "He saw his sickness and Judah
   saw his wound." Yes, he saw his wound--it smarted and, therefore, his
   eyes were drawn to the spot. But he did not know how deep it was. He
   did not know that it had pierced to the heart, that it was, in fact, a
   death-blow--that the whole head was sick, that the whole heart was
   faint and that, from the crown of the head even to the sole of the
   foot, it was all wounds, bruises and putrefying, festering sores! There
   was but a partial discovery of his lost estate.

   How many men there are who have got just far enough to know there is
   something the matter with them! They little reckon that they are
   totally ruined, though they do feel that all is not quite right with
   them. They are conscious that they are not perfect, not even up to
   their own low standard of rectitude--hence they begin to be uneasy,
   albeit they still seem to think they can make themselves better and
   that by degrees of reformation and daily prayer they will become
   superior to what they are. They have not yet learned the Doctrine of
   the Fall, the deep depravity of mankind, the total perversion of the
   human heart. They have only gotten so far as some modern ministers who
   speak of man as being a little marred, but not entirely broken--as
   having had a fall and become somewhat damaged, and rather spoiled as to
   outward beauty, though not altogether ruined, or incapable of raising
   himself up and recovering his strength. In fact, the fashionable phrase
   that has been recently coined is, "the lapsed state of men." Depend
   upon it, when men use Latinized words to express their meaning, they do
   not mean much! The Fall of man is full and entire--and when people
   frame certain phrases of rather uncertain significance instead of
   talking honest English--they show a disposition to dispense with the
   bare facts. I know there are some sinners brought so far as to find
   themselves undone and to feel convinced that unless some change takes
   place they are not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. But they have not as
   yet seen the fountains of the great deep of their depravity broken up.
   They have not been taken into the chambers of imagery and shown the
   abominations of their own hearts! They still cling with some hope to
   their own devices.

   However, I would remark that even this, though it is but a partial
   discovery of their state by nature, is not without its good effects.
   When a man gets this far, the first good sign in him is that he cannot
   speak against religion. While he is at peace with himself, he calls
   religious men hypocrites--he can rail at the things of God and despise
   and trample them underfoot. But the man who is like Ephraim, in our
   text, will not be very anxious to find fault with others. His
   philosopher's tongue has been plucked out and he is now a little more
   gentle in his speech as he sighs for something in religion that he
   would like to have. "Oh," he says, "I do not now find fault with the
   good folk who are always praying and singing. Would to God I could
   become like they are! Would that I had as they have--an interest in the
   blood of Christ!" So far, so good.

   Such men, again, are generally thoughtful. I have known many a man who,
   before he came into this state, was a very daredevil and never thought
   anything with regard to his soul and eternity. Yet, when brought to
   know his sickness and his wounds, he has become not only thoughtful but
   serious, until some of his former companions have noticed it and called
   him, "Old Sobersides," or some such epithet, and laughed him out of
   countenance. They tell him he is a saint. The man says, "I wish what
   you are saying was true." They tell him, "You are beginning to be
   religious." "Yes," he says, "I wish I were really so." Some man once
   called me a saint as I went along the street and I turned round and
   said I wished I

   could make him prove his words. I would certainly like to be one! Such
   is the condition of a man when he begins to discover, though it is but
   partially, his lost estate. He is thoughtful. He cannot laugh as he
   did. He does not now shut his eyes, throw the reins upon the neck of
   his lusts and let them rush madly on down to the Pit, but he tries to
   curb them and hold them in with bit and bridle, for he knows that all
   is not right within him.

   Such a man, too, has another good trait, another hopeful feature in his
   case--that he begins to attend to the things that belong to the peace
   of his soul. You now see him coming into the House of God be it Chapel
   or Church--to hear the Word preached. He never cared for that before.
   He worked so hard all the week that he was not able to go out on a
   Sunday--but now he feels he must go. He must be by the side of
   Bethesda's pool. Even though the angel stirs not the water, he feels a
   kind of satisfaction while he is lying at the edge of the healing pool.
   He longs to be saved and, therefore, he is found in the Way, hoping
   that God may meet with him.

   Such a man, too, you will find, takes no pleasure in sin. If he is
   asked by his worldly companions to go into the haunts of vice where
   once he went, even should he go, he comes away and says, "It was the
   dullest evening I ever spent. No enjoyment whatever does it yield me.
   God has turned the sweet wine of my memory into bitter gall. 'Vanity of
   vanities, all is vanity.' I can find no comfort in sensual pleasures."

   Have I been depicting the state of one who is here present? I hope I
   have and I pray God that what I shall be able to say will, by the
   influence of the Holy Spirit, be instrumental in leading such an one to
   the true remedy for his soul-sickness.

   II. But when the man is thus partially awakened to know his lost
   estate, HE USUALLY BETAKES HIMSELF TO

   THE WRONG MEANS FOR DELIVERANCE--"Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian,
   and sent to king Jareb."

   A sinner, when he finds himself lost, usually at first thinks, "I will
   make myself better, I will be diligent in religious observances--I will
   attend to every ceremony, I will keep my tongue from evil and my life
   from speaking guile. I will restrain my steps from evil haunts, my
   hands from evil deeds." And so he thinks within himself that all his
   sins will be forgiven and that he shall have rest for the sole of his
   feet. Be it known, once and for all, that all this is a vain and
   useless effort to work out a radical cure in the soul of man! All that
   man can do apart from faith in the blood and righteousness of Jesus
   Christ is utterly in vain! Let him do his best and strive to the very
   uttermost--not one inch has he proceeded on the road to Heaven! He has
   done mischief instead of doing anything meritorious. He has pulled down
   instead of having built up!

   O you that are now hoping, while you are under conviction, that you
   will get relief by works of your own, let me remind you that you are
   undertaking a long task which will tax your endurance. The men
   mentioned in our text went a very long way to the king of Assyria--it
   was a wearisome journey they took, while God, who was near at hand, was
   forgotten! How long do you suppose it would take you to work out your
   own salvation by your own good works? Why, my Friends, you may bend
   your knees till your joints grow stiff. You may work till there is no
   flesh upon your bones. You may weep till there is no moisture in your
   body from which to draw a tear and you may persevere incessantly in
   every exercise of body and mind--trying fresh postures and trifling
   with fresh problems--but you will find yourselves not half a league
   nearer eternal life than when you left the life of sin you used to
   like--

   "Not the labors of my hands

   Can fulfill Your Law's demands--

   Could my zeal no respite know,

   Could my tears forever flow,

   All for sin could not atone--

   You must save and You, alone." If a criminal should get it into his
   head that he could climb up to the stars by going up the steps of a
   treadmill, he would be about as rational as when a poor sinner thinks
   of getting to Heaven by his own good works! Tread, tread, tread--up,
   up, up--but never one inch higher! As old Matthew Wilks used to say,
   "You might as well hope to sail to America on a sere leaf as hope to go
   to Heaven by your own doings." This is not the way, Man, and run ever
   so fast in it, if it is not the right road, it will not bring you to
   the right end! If a man takes the road to the right when he needs to go
   to the left, he may run as fast as a race horse, but he will but lose
   his labor and find out that he is a fool for his pains.

   And it is not only a very long task, but it is a very expensive one. If
   you would have salvation by the works of the Law, you must give body
   and soul up--all you have--hope and joy and comfort included. I used to
   live near some per-

   sons who regularly attended mass early every morning and I noticed how
   straight they used to look down the face. I thought they had good
   reason to be gloomy if they were trying to reach Heaven by their own
   righteousness. It is enough to put any man out of countenance if he has
   to stand before God and justify himself! We might put our hands upon
   our loins and roll in the dust in despair if we had no hope but in our
   own merits. Go and look for cooling streams in the arid desert. Cast
   about for fresh water to drink in the midst of the sea. Seek shelter on
   the mountaintop where the hurricane is spending its fury and then crave
   for comfort in the Law! Go and visit Sinai, you that seek to be saved
   by your own works. Look at it--shrink, tremble and despair! Behold, the
   mountain is altogether on a smoke while God proclaims His holy Law! If
   it melted like wax of old, how much more, now, after you have broken
   the commandments and incurred the penalty--now that God comes not to
   proclaim the Law--but to execute His fierce anger upon the
   law-breakers?

   "Well," says one, "but suppose we do our best, will not that suffice?"
   My Friend, God requires from man, if he would be saved by his works,
   perfect obedience. Nothing but perfection can be acceptable to a
   perfect God. One wrong thought, one evil desire--not to say anything of
   one wrong act--will effectually shut any man out of Heaven if he
   desires to go there by his own works! That one sin at once puts up an
   impenetrable barrier across that meritorious way to Heaven which is
   known by the common name of, "the Law." If you can be perfect and have
   kept the precepts from your youth up, and shall do so till your dying
   day--then might there be salvation by works. But if there is one flaw,
   then is that road to Heaven effectually stopped up so that no human
   foot can ever tread it!

   And, once more, let me remind you, O Man, when you try to be saved by
   your works, you presume that your enemy will prove to be your friend!
   'And who is my enemy?" you ask. Why, Moses. The Law of God is sworn
   against you. It has become your enemy and do you go to your enemy to
   help you? It is a device of Satan to try and draw poor sinners away
   from the path of faith into the path of Law. Remember how John Bunyan
   graphically describes it? Poor Christian, with the burden on his back,
   is going to the wicket-gate with the light above it and, all of a
   sudden, a very good-looking gentleman meets him and says, "It is a
   dangerous journey you are going, you had better turn aside to the right
   there. There is a town there known as the town of Legality, where lives
   a very skillful physician who will soon help you off with your burden.
   And if he is not at home, he has got a very good lad who will do almost
   as well as his master. Go there and you will soon get cured." Away went
   poor Christian! Nor had he gone far before he found that he had come to
   the foot of Mount Sinai and the mountain hung right over the way. And
   there stood Christian. And while he was looking up, presently the
   mountain began to shake, the thunder to roar and the lightning to
   flash--and he fell down upon his face and said, "I am undone, I am
   undone!" Then came Evangelist and showed him the right way once more.

   Just so, Sinner, if you trust to the works of the Law, you will have to
   cry out, "I am undone, I am undone." Mr. Morality cannot cure you--he
   may put on a little poor man's plaster and make your wound worse, and
   tie it up, and bandage it a little, but he can never relieve your pain,
   or recover your sore. It will go on bleeding, notwithstanding all the
   balsams he can apply. No hand can heal a sin-sick soul but the hand
   that wounded it, even the hand of God, through the Person of Jesus
   Christ our Lord!

   It is astonishing, after all the Gospel preaching in England, how
   deeply rooted is this constant fallacy of going to king Jareb for cure!
   Not very long ago, having engaged to preach at a seaport town, I
   arrived some hours before night and, as I was standing by the
   riverside, I thought I would like to go down the river in a boat. So,
   hailing a waterman, I went with him and, while sitting in the boat,
   wishing to talk with him about religious matters, I began by asking him
   about his family. He told me that the cholera had visited his place and
   that he had lost no less than 13 of his relatives, one after another,
   by death. So I said, "Have you, my Friend, a good hope of Heaven if you
   should, yourself, die?" "Well, Sir," he said, "I think as how I have."
   "Pray tell me, then," I said, "what is your hope, for, of a good hope
   no man need ever be ashamed." "Well, Sir, I have been on this here
   river, I think, for these 25 or 30 years, and I don't know that anybody
   ever saw me drunk." "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" I replied, "is that all you
   trust to?" "Well, Sir, when the cholera was about and my poor neighbors
   were bad, I went for the doctor for 'em, and was up a good many nights.
   And I do think as how I am as good as my neighbors."

   Of course I told him that I was very glad to hear that he had sympathy
   for the suffering and that I considered it far better to be charitable
   than to be churlish, but I did not see how his good conduct could carry
   him to Heaven. "Well, Sir," he said, "perhaps it will not. I cannot be
   often going to church, but I think, when I get a little older, I shall
   give up the boat and take to going to church, and then, I think, that
   will be right--won't it, Sir?" "No," I said, "certainly your

   resolutions will not renew your heart. And should you ever perform
   them, they will not purge your soul from its sinful-ness. Begin to go
   to church as soon as possible, but you will not be an inch further, if
   you think that by attending the sanctuary you will be saved." The poor
   man seemed perfectly astounded while I went on knocking down his hopes,
   one after another. Then I put the question, "You have sometimes sinned
   in your life, have you not?" "Yes," he said, "I have." "On what ground,
   then, do you think your sins will be forgiven?" "Well, Sir," he said,
   "I have been sorry about them and I think they are all gone--they do
   not trouble me now."

   Trying to awaken his conscience, I said, "Suppose you were to go and
   get into debt with the grocer where you deal, and you should say to
   her, 'Now, mistress, you have a score against me. I cannot pay for
   these goods, I am sorry to say, but I'll tell you what I'll do--I'll
   never get into your debt again.' Why, she would say that was not the
   way she did business and do you suppose that is the way in which God
   does business, or that He is going to strike out your debts because you
   say you will not run deeper into debt?" "Well, Sir," he said, "I should
   like to know how my sins are to be forgiven. Are you a parson, Sir?" In
   reply, I said, I preach the Gospel, I hope, but I do not go by the name
   of a parson. I am only a Dissenting minister." I told him how the Lord
   Jesus Christ had paid the debts of sinners. How those that reposed in
   Him and rested in His blood and righteousness would find peace and
   mercy. And the man was delighted and he said he wished he had heard
   that years ago. "But, to say the truth, Master," he added, "I had not
   felt quite easy, after all, when I saw those poor creatures taken away
   to the graveyard. I did think there was something I needed, but I did
   not know what it was."

   I tell you this little personal incident because I see here a great
   many working people and I know they delight in a little homely dialog.
   It is not what we do or devise, the religious rites we observe, or the
   romantic aims we aspire to, the self-satisfaction we encourage, or the
   sufferings we endure, that can lead us to the land of the Light of
   Good! Not all your uprightness, however plausible, or your honesty,
   however rigid you may be, will carry you to Heaven! Your good works are
   good enough in themselves, good enough in your generation--but they
   will never do for a foundation to rest upon. Do not run away and say
   something like the foolish man who went to a place where there was a
   house being built and, seeing the chimney pots standing there, he took
   them and laid them in the trench to make the foundation.

   "What are you doing?" said one of the workmen. "Why, laying the
   foundation." "What, with the chimney pots?" "I did not know that it was
   wrong," he said. "Well, take them away--they won't do for a
   foundation." "Oh!" said the other, "you are finding fault with them."
   "No, I am not finding fault with them, but with the place where you put
   them. They are good enough on the top, but they won't do at the
   bottom." So with good works--they will do at the top, but they will not
   do at the bottom! As a foundation for the soul to rest upon, nothing
   will suffice but the righteousness of Christ and His finished work.
   This is our hope of salvation! Our good works are good enough
   afterwards, when God the Holy Spirit, by His Grace, works faith, love
   and all other good things in us. III. WHAT, THEN, IS THE WAY OF
   SALVATION?

   Whoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary he should know
   that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down from Heaven and was, for
   our sin, Incarnate in human form, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a life
   of sanctity and of suffering and, at last, this glorious Son of
   God--this grief-stricken Son of Man--became obedient even unto death.
   In the garden He wrestled and shed, as it were, great drops of blood in
   the prospect of the coming terrors of His death-struggle. To the Cross
   He was nailed, amidst shame, ignominy and scoffing. There He endured
   incredible pain, pangs of body and agony of soul. He hung there,
   through the thick darkness, three hours and, at last, when the
   appointed time was come, when He had suffered all, when the full
   chastisement of our sin had been laid upon Him and the iniquity of us
   all had received its dreadful retribution at His hands, He cried, "It
   is finished!" Thus He gave up the ghost, was laid in the tomb and then
   arose from the dead on the third day and ascended to Heaven.

   Now, if you would be saved, my Friend, it is necessary that you should
   believe in Him who was the Son of God and the Son of Man, and that you
   should believe in your heart these things of Him--First, that He is a
   Divinely-ordained Savior, able to save all those that come to God
   through Him. You must believe, likewise, that He is willing to save and
   that He will save those that seek salvation, believing and trusting in
   His power. When you have believed this, you have gone a good part of
   the way toward that saving faith which shall bring you into a state of
   Grace. It is by acting upon this belief, by casting yourself simply on
   the merits of His blood and of His perfect righteousness as the ground
   of your acceptance before God, that you shall find peace. No man can be
   saved if he does not trust his soul in the hands of Christ. We

   must give up ourselves from our own keeping into Christ's keeping
   saying, "Lord, take me, save me, make me what You would have me to be
   and then, when Your Father shall require my soul at the Last Day, stand
   as my Surety and bring me, perfect and spotless, into His Presence."

   I must add one thing more--there must be what the old divines call a
   recumbency--a leaning on Him, a dependence on Him. But here I must warn
   you that some people have an idea that if they get faith in Christ, it
   matters not how they live, or what they are. Now, be it understood,
   once and for all, we are saved by faith--not by works! But we must have
   good works if we are really saved. You know that faith is not only
   leaning on Christ, but obeyingChrist. Suppose there is a man who says
   to me, "You have committed such-and-such an offense. You are in
   such-and-such difficulties, but if you will implicitly trust me and
   leave the matter entirely in my hands, I will see that you come through
   all right." Well now, if I get to meddling with it, that will prove I
   do not trust him! But, by-and-by, he comes to me and says, "My dear
   Friend, are you trusting me wholly?" "Yes," I say, "I am reposing all
   my trust in you." Suppose he says, "I want you to look over this
   document, which you must sign, and then I shall want you, on a certain
   morning, to be at such-and-such a place." What if I answer, "I shall do
   no such thing! I will not sign the deed, nor meet you by appointment."
   "Then," he says, "you are not trusting me." "I am leaning on you and
   trusting you," I say. "Well," he says, "unless you do what I tell you,
   your faith is not genuine faith, neither are you trusting in me at
   all."

   Now, if you are perfectly trusting Christ, your next question will be,
   "Lord, I am trusting to be saved by You, but how will You have me be
   saved?" "Oh," says Christ, "I will save you, but you must break off
   those old habits." "Oh," you say, "Lord, assist me with Your Grace and
   I will renounce them all." "Well," says Christ, "and if you would be
   saved, I will have you, in the next place, attend to My ordinances.
   Come forward and make a profession of your faith. Be baptized. Unite
   yourself to the Church visible. Receive the Lord's Supper." But you
   say, "No, Lord! I will do no such thing." "Well, then," He says, "you
   are not trusting Me because whatever I tell you to do, you ought to do
   it."

   You may have heard the good illustration which Mr. Cecil gives of
   faith. His little child was standing, one day, at the top of a dark
   cellar. She was in the light and he was down below in the cellar. "My
   dear child, jump down and I will catch you," he said. And the child,
   without a moment's thought, sprang into the father's arms! Now that is
   one kind of faith. That is when we are enabled so to trust Christ that
   we do, so to speak, venture our souls on Him, risk all with Him. But
   mark, that is not the complete picture of the faith of saints. This
   kind of faith some people profess to have, but their lives do not bear
   out their profession and, therefore, there must be something else to
   make it clear. And Mr. Cecil gives another illustration through the
   same little girl. "I said to her, one day, as she had a necklace of
   beads, 'My dear child, you know I love you and you would do anything I
   told you. Take those beads off and throw them into the fire.' She did
   so at once." Now, the first faith was the faith of daring, venturing
   herself. But the second proved her faith to be true and genuine, when
   she could obey at such a cost. To a large extent, faith and obedience
   are really one, and it is useless for you to say that you believe in
   Christ as your Savior if you do not obey Him as your Lord. Some try to
   do so, but their faith is worthless. But when we can unite unwavering
   trust with implicit obedience, we prove that we are really trusting in
   Christ--and then we are safe.

   O my dear Hearer, if I have puzzled you instead of making the Truth of
   God plain, I can say I did not intend to do so. I would have you to
   understand, if you are troubled on account of sin, that God requires
   nothing of you but what He gives you. He requires nothing but that you
   should depend for all on Christ. That is all He asks. Do it. Oh, may
   His Holy Spirit enable you to do it now!

   Let me tell you a parable which shall illustrate faith. There were two
   children, according to the fable, walking with their father along a
   narrow ridge. On either side there was a dark, deep precipice. One of
   the dear children put his hand inside the father's hand and his father
   grasped it. The other put his little fingers round his father's hand
   and took hold of his father's hand. It was not long before, in the
   midst of the thick darkness, the children grew weary. And the child who
   had taken hold of the father's hand perished. But the child who had put
   his hand into the father's hand and let the father take hold of it, was
   carried safely to the end. Now, put your hand inside the hand of Christ
   and when He bids you obey Him, don't take it away! Give yourself wholly
   up to Him to be His--come life, come death, for better or for worse--to
   be His to trust and His to obey, being from this time forth His
   forever!

   Oh, may God the Holy Spirit lead us to do this! It is easy enough when
   the Hoy Spirit enables us, but it is hard enough when our human nature
   kicks against it. May Sovereign Grace subdue our hearts and teach us to
   depend on Chr-

   ist--and no more foolishly attempt to work out our salvation by
   impossible means! I can only pray that God will bless this brief,
   hurried discourse, and to His name shall be the glory, through Christ
   Jesus. Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH 1:1-20.

   Verse 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning
   Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
   kings of Judah. During the time in which Isaiah prophesied, the worship
   of God was, upon the whole, maintained in Judah. Yet, prosperous as the
   times appeared to be, there was visible to the eye of the Lord much
   iniquity. He who saw not as man saw, but who looks beneath the surface
   and into the hearts of men, saw that the condition of the people was
   exceedingly unsatisfactory. Do not forget that these upbraiding words
   were spoken during the reigns of comparatively good kings. Try to
   imagine how the Lord must have felt towards the people who lived in the
   reigns of bad kings.

   2, 3. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD has spoken,
   I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled
   against Me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but
   Israel does not know, My people do not consider God's own people were
   worse than the brutes that perish! They had no gratitude towards their
   Maker and Preserver. Am I not addressing many persons of the same kind,
   who have little or no thought concerning Him who made them and who
   supplies all their needs? God seems here as if He were tired of
   appealing to His people, so He speaks to the heavens and the earth, as
   if He knew that even inanimate things would be more capable of feeling
   than hardened Judah was!

   4. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
   evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD,
   they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone
   away backward. If I am now addressing any who have backslidden from
   God, let them take these words of His to heart--He observes how you
   have forsaken Him. He feels grieved at your provoking Him. He mourns
   over your going backward from Him. May you be moved by the Holy Spirit
   to mourn, too!

   5. Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more:
   the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint One of God's ways of
   bringing people to Himself is by chastisement and affliction. He had
   tried that method upon Judah--He had used His rod so long that, at
   last, He exclaimed, "Why should you be stricken anymore?" What is the
   good of My sending any more affliction upon you?" Now, whenever the rod
   is of no more use, there will be a sharper instrument to follow! When
   men can no longer be chastened for their good, the axe of execution is
   ready to be brought forth. What a sorrowful description is here given
   of the people of Judah and their land!

   6-8. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness
   in it but wounds, and bruises, and purifying sores: they have not been
   closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment Your country
   is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers
   devour it in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown by
   strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard,
   as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. The Lord had
   allowed invaders to pillage the land until it was almost reduced to a
   desert, yet, even then, the people did not, and would not, turn unto
   their God! It is a terrible thing when sickness, or loss of property,
   or frequent bereavements do not bring men to their knees. Unsanctified
   afflictions prophesy certain condemnation to us. "He, that being often
   reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
   without remedy."

   9. Except the LORD ofHosts hadleft unto us a very small remnant, we
   shouldhave been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
   The state of the country, even under godly kings, had become so bad
   that if there had not been a remnant according to the election of
   Grace, there would have been no help for the land and its
   inhabitants--and they would have been burnt up like Sodom and Gomorrah.

   10-15. Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom, give ear unto
   the Law of God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the
   multitude of your sacrifices unto Me, says the LORD: I am full of the
   burnt offerings of ram, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in
   the brood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to
   appear before Me, who has required this at your hand, to tread My
   courts? Bring no more vain oblation; incense is an abomination unto Me;
   the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot! Away
   with it, it is iniquity, even the so-

   lemn meeting. Your new moon and your appointed feasts My Soul hates:
   they are a trouble unto Me, I am weary to bear them, and when you
   spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you: yes, when you
   make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. It is
   very possible for people to be outwardly very religious and yet really
   to be very wicked. The fact is that the multiplication of rites and
   ceremonies, the observance of forms, feasts, fasts, new moons and all
   the rest of mere external ritual--may rather indicate an increase of
   sin than an increase of anything else! Often, in proportion as men's
   hearts get further and further away from God, they have more and more
   of outward ritual, more Roman rags on the priest's back, more smoking
   incense, more gorgeous architecture! The more of all the externals of
   religion, the less they have of the internal and eternal. If a man is
   conscious that he needs something in the shape of godliness and he
   knows that he has none of it in his heart, he often tries to get it
   outside. But this is what God says--

   16, 17. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doing from
   before My eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well. Repentance,
   practical change of life, renewal of heart, the giving up of evil, the
   following of right--this is what the Lord approves. Otherwise, all your
   fripperies and trickeries of worship are loathsome to Him. Do you think
   your finest music is sweet to the ears of Him who listens to the
   angels' everlasting songs? Do you imagine that you can build temples
   worthy of Him who made the heavens and the earth? What cares He for
   temples made with hands? He despises all material things where the
   heart goes not with them--but purity, holiness, true spiritual
   worship--these are the things in which He delights!

   17. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead
   for the widow. This is better than all your incense, or the fat of rams
   and he-goats.

   18. Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your
   sins are as scarlet, they shall be a white as snow; though they are red
   like crimson, they shall be as wool. This, too, is what God
   loves--confessed sin, pardoned by His infinite mercy and Grace.

   19, 20. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the
   land: but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the
   sword: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
     __________________________________________________________________

Christ Before Annas

   (No. 2820)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, MARCH 1, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER
   26, 1882.

   "Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and
   bound Him and led Him away to Annas first: for he was father-in-law to
   Caiaphas, who was the high priest that same year...The high priest then
   asked Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine. Jesus answered him, I
   spoke openly to the world; I taught in the synagogue, and in the
   temple, where the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said
   nothing. Why do you ask Me? Ask them who heard Me, what I have said
   unto them: behold, they know what I said. And when He had thus spoken,
   one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his
   hand, saying, Answer You the high priest so? Jesus answered him, if I
   have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why do you
   strike Me?" John 18:12,13,19-23.

   NOTE the words in verse 13--"and led him away to Annas first." This
   man, Annas, has not become so infamous as Pontius Pilate because his
   name did not happen to be mentioned in the Creed, but, in some
   respects, he was even more guilty than the Roman governor. He was one
   of those who handed over our Lord to Pilate and he is included in the
   judgment, "he that delivered Me unto you has the greater sin." It must
   not be forgotten that he was first in trying the Savior--let him have
   the full benefit of it--"hey led him away to Annas first."

   Who was this man to whose palace the Lord Jesus was first conducted? He
   was a man who had been high priest actually for a time and had, for
   some 50 years, been regarded as high priest by the Jews, while members
   of his family, one after another, had in turns nominally held the
   office. The high-priesthood had been degraded from its permanence to
   become little more than an annual office and hence the Evangelist
   significantly says of Caiaphas that, "he was the high priest that same
   year." But Annas would seem to have been secretly regarded by the Jews
   as the real high priest and respect to him in that capacity was the
   more easily offered because, according to Josephus, five of his sons
   and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, had succeeded him in the sacred office.
   To him, then, it was due that the victim of the priests should be first
   taken. He shall have this mark of distinction--"they led him away to
   Annas first." The Sacrifice of God, the Lamb of His Passover, the
   Scapegoat of the Lord's Atonement shall be brought before the priest
   before He is slain.

   The house of Annas was united to that of Caiaphas and it was proposed
   to detain the prisoner there till the Sanhedrim could be hastily
   convened for His trial. If He should be brought into the palace of
   Annas, the old man would be gratified by a sight of Jesus and by
   conducting a preliminary examination, acting as deputy for his
   son-in-law. Without leaving his own house, he could thus indulge his
   malice and have a finger in the business. Priestly hate is always deep
   and unrelenting. Today none are such enemies of Christ's holy Gospel as
   those who delight in priestcraft--and it is not without prophetic
   meaning that our Lord must be led as a prisoner, first to a priest's
   house--"they led him away to Annas first." Not in the soldiers'
   barracks, nor in the governor's hall, but in the high priest's palace
   must Jesus meet with His first captivity! There it is that Christ in
   bonds seems not altogether out of place--

   "See how the patient Jesus stands,

   Insulted in His lowest case!

   Sinners have bound the Almighty hands,

   And spit in their Creator's face."

   Annas bore a very promising name, for it signifies clement or merciful,
   yet he was the man to begin the work of ensnaring the Lord Jesus in His
   speech, if He could be ensnared. He examined Him first in a
   semi-private manner, that, by cunning questions, he might extract from
   Him some ground of accusation. Under pretence of mercy, he turned
   inquisitor and put his Victim to the question. This priest, whose name
   was clemency, showed the usual tender mercies of the wicked, which are
   proverbially cruel. When Jesus is to be ill-treated by His servants,
   there is usually a pretence of pity and compassion. Persecutors are
   grieved to feel forced to be harsh--their tender spirits are wounded by
   being compelled to say a word against the Lord's people! Gladly would
   they love them if they would not be so obstinate! With sweet language
   they inflict bitter wounds--their words are softer than butter--but
   inwardly they are drawn swords.

   If I read aright the character of this man, Annas, he was one of the
   Savior's bitterest enemies. He was a Sadducee. Is not this the
   "liberal" side? Do we not reckon Pharisees to be the straitest sect of
   the Jews? Why he should have been so bitter against the Savior is
   pretty clear, since, if Pharisees, in their multiplication of
   ceremonies and self-righteousness, hate the Christ, so also do the
   Sadducees in their unbelief and rejection of the great Truths of
   Revelation. Here, Ritualism and Rationalism go hand in hand and the
   free-thinker, with all his profession of liberality, usually displays
   none of it toward the followers of the Truth of God. The Broad Church
   is usually narrow enough when the Doctrine of the Cross is under
   discussion! Whether this Sadducee had an interest in the sales that
   were effected in the temple and whether, as some suppose, he was
   greatly irritated and touched in a very tender point, namely, in his
   pocket, when Jesus overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the
   seats of them that sold doves, I cannot tell. But, certainly, for some
   reason or other, Annas was among the first of our Lord's persecutors,
   not only in order of time, but also in point of malice. The wealthy
   latitudinarian has a fierce enmity to the Gospel of Christ Jesus and
   will be found second to none in hunting down the adherents of Christ.

   Did the military tribune and his cohort stop at the house of Annas
   because he had been at the bottom of the business and Pilate had
   ordered them, for the time, to do the will of the high priest and his
   father-in-law? Was this long-headed old gentleman the counselor of the
   conspirators? Did the force of character which kept him to the front
   for half a century, make him a leader at this juncture? Is it possible
   that they called at the house of Annas to hand over their Victim that
   Judas might receive the blood money? At all events we hear no more of
   the traitor as being in the company of those who had seized upon his
   Lord.

   At any rate, the Lord is led to Annas, first, and we feel sure that
   there was a motive for that act. Annas, in some sense, had a priority
   in the peerage of enmity to Jesus--he was malignant, cruel and
   unscrupulous enough to be premier in the ministry of persecutors. In
   all matters, there are first, as well as last, and this man leads the
   van among the unjust judges of our Lord. He was a favorite of the first
   and most detestable of the Herods and a friend of Pilate, the governor,
   and so, a fit ringleader in procuring the judicial murder of the
   Innocent. All hope ofjustice was gone when the Holy One and the Just
   was delivered into those cruel and unrighteous hands! He was as
   determined as he was cold-blooded--and a lamb might as well look for
   favor from a wolf as Jesus expect candor from the old deputy high
   priest. For many a long years he had held his own by flattering Herod,
   the Roman and the Jew--and he set about the work of mastering the
   Na-zarene with cool determination and deep subtlety, hoping to pave the
   way for the men of the Sanhedrim who were even then being mustered to
   do the deed of blood on which their hearts were set.

   In the house of this man, then, who is very properly called the high
   priest, having quite as good a right to the title as Caiaphas had, we
   see these two things. First, we see our Lord under examination. And,
   secondly, we see our Lord wrongfully struck.

   I. First, let us, tenderly, lovingly, adoringly, look at OUR DIVINE
   MASTER UNDER EXAMINATION.

   My first remark is that this examination was informal and
   extrajudicial. Jesus was not yet accused of anything, so far. No judge
   had taken his place upon the judgment seat, neither were any witnesses
   called to give evidence against the Prisoner. It was a sort of private
   examination, held with the view of extorting something from the Captive
   which might afterwards be used against Him. You know how strongly and
   how properly our law forbids anything of the kind and, though it may
   not have been contrary to Jewish law, it was certainly contrary to the
   eternal laws of right and wrong! A prisoner should not thus be
   questioned with the object of entangling him in his speech and making
   him incriminate himself. If there is no charge formulated against him,
   let him go his way. If the entries on the charge sheet are not
   completed, let him be remanded, but let him not be set before one of
   his most cruel foes to be questioned to his own detriment!

   This is what was done in our Savior's case when He was brought before
   Annas. And I think that I know many who treat Him, at this time, quite
   as badly. They ask questions about Him and make enquiries concerning
   Him, but they do not do it honestly and sincerely, or according to the
   rules of justice. You know how captious unbelievers often are, how they
   pick up any misquoted text, or half a text torn from its context, and
   say that they are enquiring about Christ, when they are not doing it
   either judicially or as they would wish to be questioned were they
   themselves under examination! I fear that the bulk of those who quibble
   at the faith of Christ, do it not as honest men, nor as they would wish
   to have their own characters investigated. The last book which some of
   them think of reading is the New Testament--and the last thing that
   they try to understand is Christ's true Character. And one of the last
   things that they will ever listen to is a full and fair statement of
   what His Gospel really is. Still, to this day, the representatives of
   Annas are here and there, and almost everywhere, questioning the
   followers of Christ with the design of finding out something to jeer
   at, something which may be hawked about as a discrepancy, or held up as
   obsolete and inconsistent with the spirit of this wonderful century of
   which I hear so often that I am utterly sick of it--and long for the
   time when the 19th Century shall go down to its ignoble grave!

   Next, this questioning of Christ was one-sided.''The high priest then
   asked Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine." Why did he not ask
   Him about Himself--who and what He was--and enquire especially
   concerning His miracles and His whole course of life? Why did not Annas
   enquire, "Did You raise the dead? Did You open blind eyes? Did You heal
   the lepers? Did You go about doing good?" Oh, no, there were no
   questions about any such things--they were all passed over as of no
   importance!

   The questions began with the weakest point of all, or that which men
   have often regarded as the weakest--he "asked Jesus of His disciples."
   Can a leader help the follies and weaknesses of his followers? I
   suppose Annas put his question thus, "Where are Your disciples? "Ah,
   there was Peter down there in the hall, but Christ could not call him
   up to witness for Him. John was probably somewhere in the background,
   but the rest had forsaken their Lord and fled. Annas, no doubt asked,
   "Who are these disciples of Yours? Where did You pick them up?" I dare
   say he knew that they were men of Galilee, mostly plain fishermen, and
   he meant to cast a slur upon Christ on that account. If he had known
   more about those disciples, he might have put a great many questions
   which would have reflected but little honor upon the religion of Jesus.

   This is just as men do now--they ask concerning Christ's disciples. I
   do not deny that it is quite fair to enquire what is the influence of
   Christianity upon the men who believe it, but, oftentimes, that one
   point is thrust so prominently into the front that the wonders which
   Christ, Himself, worked, are thrown into the background--and the
   investigation thus becomes one-sided. We are quite willing that Christ,
   Himself, and His work--all that has been, all that is to be, all His
   designs and purposes--should be examined. But, for the most part, men
   search for that which they think to be the weakest point of assault and
   they say, "Look at So-and-So, one of Christ's disciples. And look at
   So-and-So, one of His ministers! See what divisions there are in the
   churches," and so forth. Yes, but surely, if Christ is examined at all,
   He deserves to have a full and fair examination--it should not be upon
   only one point. Blessed be His name, it matters not upon what point He
   is examined! He always has His answer ready, and a glorious one it is!
   If men were really willing to know the Truth of God, they would take an
   all-round view of Him and look at Him from this point and from
   that--and then judge Him.

   Further, this examination was very disorderly, for the high priest
   asked Christ "of His disciples and of His doctrine." Now, logically,
   the enquiry should have been, first, concerning His doctrine and then
   with respect to His disciples--first as to His teaching and then as to
   the people influenced by it. But men like Annas put their questions
   anyway--upside down, the first last and the last first--so that they
   may secure some accusation against Christ. Now, if any man will sit
   down quietly and really study the life, Character and teaching of Jesus
   of Nazareth, we shall be delighted to hear what he has to say about it,
   but let him study it in due order. Let him not pick out this, and leave
   out that, and put everything out of gear, so as to make a monster of
   Him. Let Him be looked at after the same manner as one would look at
   any other religious teacher, or as we might examine the character of
   any man brought before a court of law. I ask those, if there are any
   such now present, who have spoken harshly of our blessed Lord and
   Master, to do themselves the justice and to do Christ the justice, to
   adopt another course and to examine Him as they would wish to be
   examined themselves, if their character and their designs were called
   in question.

   Annas did not so, for his examination of Christ was concerning His
   disciples and His doctrine. With regard to His disciples, our Master
   said nothing. He had been saying much about them to His Father and, in
   His almighty love and wisdom, He could have said much, then and there,
   concerning His disciples if He had chosen to do so, but He did not and
   therein He proved His wisdom. All through the Scriptures we find
   comparatively little said concerning God's people. The record is mostly
   of their faults and their failings. The reason for that is that this is
   not the day of their manifestation. That day comes on apace and, "when
   He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."
   "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of
   their Father." Annas thought that Christ's followers were a set of
   fanatics--ignorant, unskilled, worthless people--the lower orders. The
   catacombs tell us, as we read the rude inscriptions there, how few of
   those godly folk, of whom the world was not worthy, were men of
   education--the most of them were evidently plain, humble, common
   people. Our Lord Jesus Christ has no great reverence for earthly rank
   or grandeur--He loves the man, but cares little for the garb he
   wears--and of the poorest saints it is true that "He is not ashamed to
   call them brethren."

   It is a mercy for us, who are on Christ's side, and who have been
   despised in consequence, that, in the Resurrection, there will also be
   a resurrection of reputations as well as of bodies. There will be a
   bestowal of honor that has been denied here and of credit that has been
   refused on earth. God has said it, so it must be true, "Light is sown
   for the righteous," and their glad harvest time shall surely come! And
   then the glory will forever blot out the shame and derision which may
   have been poured upon the faithful for the sake of Jesus Christ their
   Lord and Master. As yet, we will not ask Him concerning His disciples,
   but that is the point that the adversary harps upon. Therefore, O you
   disciples of Jesus, watch and pray, and seek to be like your Master!
   Pray to be kept from the evil which is in the world and, as for the
   rest, if men despise you, count that as part of the bargain upon which
   you have entered--a bargain which shall, in due season, fill you with
   eternal bliss!

   Annas also asked Christ concerning His doctrine--what it was that He
   taught those who listened to Him. I will not go into that matter, for I
   want to speak at some length upon the answer which Christ gave to
   Annas. He first protested that it was not fair for Him to be thus
   questioned in private as to what He had said in public. The proper
   thing was to ask those who had heard Him, "for," He said, "'I spoke
   openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogue, and in the
   temple.' I chose the most public places for My teaching. I had no
   hole-and-corner gatherings, no little conventicle in which I urged My
   followers to sedition. No, 'I spoke openly.' The heavens heard Me. On
   the side of the hills, I proclaimed My message. By the seashore, I
   spoke to all who gathered around Me. Multitudes were often present at
   My services--they know what I said, and they could bear witness
   concerning it if they were asked to do so."

   There was great openness about Christ. There was an utter absence of
   anything like the Jesuitical plan of saying one thing and meaning
   another, or using expressions that had double meaning in them. It is
   true that our Lord did not explain to the great mass of the people all
   that He said to them, for they were so stupid that they would not
   receive it. But, at the same time, there was nothing that His hearers
   really needed to know that He concealed from them. He carried His heart
   where all might read it and even in His common teaching to the
   multitude, there was, if they had but had eyes to see it, all that He
   taught to His disciples in the most private place. There was no wish,
   on His part, to keep back any Truth of God that ought to be made known
   to those who gathered to hear Him.

   I have heard it said that there are certain Truths in God's Word which
   it is better for us not to preach. It is admitted that they are true,
   but it is alleged that they are not edifying. I will not agree to any
   such plan! This is just going back to old Rome's method. Whatever it
   has seemed good to God's wisdom to reveal, it is wise for God's
   servants to proclaim. Who are we that we are to judge between this
   Truth of God and that and to say that this we are to preach, and that
   we are to withhold? This system would make us to be, after all, the
   judges of what Christ's Gospel is to be! It must not be so among us,
   Beloved--that would be assuming a responsibility which we are quite
   unable to bear. I believe that it is because the Doctrines of Grace
   have been too much kept from the pulpit, that the pews are getting so
   empty. Leave the Doctrines of Grace out of the preaching and you have
   left the marrow and fatness out of it! What is there to make the people
   rush to your houses of prayer and crowd them, if there is no preaching
   of the Election of Grace--no declaration of Particular Redemption and
   Effectual Calling, no proclamation of the blessed Final Perseverance of
   the Saints? If you leave these glorious Truths out of your preaching,
   you have put on the table nothing but the horseradish and the
   parsley--the roast is conspicuous by its absence!

   Some people say that these things are to be talked of among the saints,
   but must not be preached to sinners. Oh, say not so! Every Doctrine of
   God's Word is good! Every Truth in the Bible is precious! The omission
   of any one part of it, willfully, and with design, may so impair the
   whole of our testimony that, instead of being like Hermon, "wet with
   dew," our ministry will be like the accursed Gilboa, upon which no dew
   descended. Whatever the Lord has taught you by His Spirit, my Brother,
   tell to others! According as you have opportunity, reveal to them what
   God has revealed to you. Remember how Christ Himself charged His
   disciples, "What I tell you in darkness, that speak in light; what you
   hear in the ear, that preach upon the housetops." And, today, the
   sublime and majestic Truths of God which cluster around the Sovereignty
   of God are as much to be proclaimed as the softer, most tender and
   apparently more winsome words which tell of infinite mercy to the chief
   of sinners! All truths are to be preached in due proportion--there is a
   time for this, and a time for that--and none must be omitted. There is
   a particular stone which is to be the key of the arch, and another
   which is to go on this side, another lower down and yet another still
   lower down--and the omitting of any one stone, because it does not
   happen to be of what we reckon to the orthodox shape for usefulness,
   may spoil the whole bridge and it may come down with a crash! Oh, that
   we may so build in our teaching that our building will last throughout
   eternity! At the end of our ministry, may we be able to say, "I have
   kept back nothing; all that Christ taught me, I have taught to others
   and so I have made full proof of my ministry." Christ was able to
   appeal to those who had heard Him and who could tell what His testimony
   had been. May God give us Grace to imitate Him in this respect!

   Our blessed Lord answered Annas by referring him to His public life and
   teaching. There was no need for any other defense. We cannot imagine
   anything more convincing. No eloquence of speech or forcibleness of
   argument could have completely put the wily adversary out of the field.
   The inquisitor, himself, was so ashamed and, for the moment, so
   confounded, that a zealous official struck Jesus with his open hand.
   The innocent, unabashed face of the persecuted Nazarene was thus
   slapped because His simple defense had silenced His cruel opponent!
   What a wonderful answer it was! How it commends His whole Character to
   us and makes Him seem to be even more truly majestic than ever!

   I am sure there is not one of us who would dare to say of our lives, at
   least not so unreservedly, what Jesus could truly say of His. Our
   Lord's life was emphatically lived among men. He was no recluse. From
   early morning to the last thing at night, He was associated with men
   and, therefore, all that He did was done before the eyes of men. That
   "fierce light that beats about a throne" always beat about Him. He was
   constantly being watched--every word that He uttered was remembered.
   Again and again, His enemies endeavored to catch Him in His speech. He
   could scarcely be allowed a moment's leisure when He might relax, like
   one at his own fireside. He was always before the Argus-eyes of the
   ungodly world who would see faults where there were none, and who, if
   there had been the least speck of blame, would have magnified it and
   published it to the ends of the earth!

   Moreover, our Lord was by no means a silent Man. He spoke and spoke
   often. Witness the Books that we have by way of record of that quiet
   life of His--and the things that He said and did were far more than
   those that are recorded, for John says, "And there are also many other
   things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written, everyone,
   I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that
   should be written." Yet there was never any act or word of Christ's in
   which friend or foe could find a single speck of sin at all. He could
   even challenge Satan, himself, to find a flaw in His life--"The prince
   of this world comes, and has nothing on Me."

   His speech, too, was not only very frequent, but it was also very
   plain. He spoke so simply that even little children could understand
   Him. I should think there was never one person in His audience who
   could truthfully say that he could not comprehend what the Preacher
   meant. And yet, though they could all tell what His meaning was, they
   could not honestly find fault with that meaning.

   Another thing that is worthy of observation is that He spoke frequently
   under great provocation. Yet He never lost His temper, nor spoke
   unadvisedly with His lips. You and I know that if we ever lose our
   temper, we are apt to say all manner of unwise, foolish and wicked
   words--but our blessed Savior never sinned in that way, however great
   was the provocation to which He was subjected. He was also often
   misrepresented and our tendency is, when men speak falsely of us, to go
   beyond the bounds of truth or prudence in replying to them. Our Lord
   Jesus never did that. The pendulum of the great clock of His wonderful
   life never swung too far either one way or the other. You have not to
   correct any one saying of the Savior by what He said at some other
   time--all His utterances are the absolute Truth of God, whether tak-

   en separately, or taken together. Even the false witnesses who were
   bribed to bring accusations against Him, altogether failed to find
   anything that could be laid to His charge!

   It must not be forgotten, also, that our blessed Master frequently
   spoke in the midst of turmoil. He did not always have such a quiet,
   orderly assembly as we have when we gather for public worship--He had
   to speak, often, amidst the clamor of the angry mob and the opposition
   and even the maledictions of those who hated Him. Yet, even under these
   trying circumstances, He spoke so that He could fearlessly challenge
   them all to find fault with anything that He had said in their hearing.
   Our Lord had spoken to all sorts of characters--bad, good and
   indifferent--and there was especially one who betrayed Him, who had
   head many of His most secret speeches. Judas had been with Him in His
   retirement and had listened to His words when only the favored few had
   been present, yet there was no single sentence or syllable that even he
   could plead in extenuation of his great crime in betraying his Lord.

   II. I have spoken at such length upon this first part of my subject
   that I have very little time left for the second portion, namely, OUR
   LORD JESUS WRONGFULLY STRUCK--"When He had thus spoken, one of the
   officers which stood by, struck Jesus with the palm of his hand,
   saying, Answer You the high priest so?"

   His answer was a very simple one and a very proper one in all respects,
   yet, at the same time, it must have been a very stinging one if Annas
   was the kind of man that I think he was, for our Savior seemed to say,
   (you may read it between the lines), "Iam not plotting in secret
   against another man's life. Ihave not talked with another man with the
   object of entangling him in his speech. Ihave not been a conspirator,
   but I have spoken publicly in the synagogues and taught in the temple,
   in the very center of the place of concourse--but in secret I have said
   nothing." This must have been a very sharp rebuke to Annas, if any
   conscience was left in the wretched man! So one of the lackeys that
   stood around the hierarch struck Christ and said, "Answer You the high
   priest so?"

   Now, in the first instance, Christ met with the opposition of a
   so-called enquiry. But here He had the vulgar opposition of
   persecution. Alas, there are still many who never enquire about Christ
   at all, but they decide against Him and then they begin to persecute
   wife, child, friend, neighbor, or whoever it may be that is on Christ's
   side! And, often, they strike him as this officer struck our Lord. This
   was a most cowardly act, for Christ was bound and helpless. Yet we have
   the same sort of conduct in our own day. It does seem to me a wretched
   thing that if some people choose to go through the streets singing
   hymns, they are pelted with stones and mud while their own hands are
   bound. They cannot turn round and fight their assailants, for their
   Christianity has tied their hands--and the cruel mobs know it. If these
   men want to fight, why do they not find some fellows like themselves,
   walking through the streets, and attack them and then see what will
   come of it? They are afraid to do that, for, to this day, persecution
   is always against men whose hands are bound. If our religion taught us
   to answer sharply and to give cuff for cuff, and kick for kick, it
   would be all fair--but when we are commanded not to resist evil and our
   very faithfulness to Christ prevents our replying to the foul language
   that is used against us, it is brutally cruel that we should be thus
   persecuted. Read all history through and see whether some have not
   degraded themselves utterly beneath contempt by burning men who would
   not have touched a hair of their heads--and putting to death poor men
   and women who could not have done them any injury and who never wished
   to do so. That is the story of Christ and His followers all the way
   through--first, to be questioned by people who do not want to know the
   Truth and, next, to be persecuted by people who really have not
   anything to say against them.

   To the man who thus wrongfully struck Him, our Savior said, "If I have
   spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why do you strike
   Me?" We also may say to those who wantonly strike Christ's followers.
   "Why do you do it? Has Christianity done any harm to manhood in
   general, or to you in particular?" What has been the force that has
   broken the power of tyrants? At the bottom, in many countries, it has
   been the Word of God that has made men free. In our own times, what
   ended the slave trade and set the Negro free? What is it that, today,
   is the most potent force against the drunkenness of our land? Surely,
   nothing but the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Have we, as Christians, any
   aim, in all the world, of which anyone can accuse us? Are we doing
   mischief to our fellow men? Do we teach drunkenness, or lust, or
   oppression? Do you hear from us anything about robbing you of your
   birthright, or injuring you in any way whatever? No, you know that it
   is not so! Our war is for peace. Every blow that we strike is against
   blows. If we have to denounce anything, we do most of all denounce
   denunciation--and if we are bitter at all, most of all are we bitter
   against bitterness, envy, malice and all uncharitableness!

   Oh, that we could always give to our persecutors such an answer as our
   blessed Master gave to the officer who struck Him, "If I have spoken
   evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why do you strike me?"
   There are times when we dare not say that, but we would rather say, "If
   I have spoken evil, do not remember it, do not bring it to my
   recollection. If I have spoken evil, try to forget it, or, at least, if
   you remember it, repeat it not to another, for I am afraid that I may
   have said much that might stain my profession and grieve my God." I
   think that if we had our choice as to whether we would be slapped on
   the face, or have our own words brought up as witnesses against us, we
   would, each one, say, "If I have spoken evil, do not bear witness of
   the evil, but much rather slap me than bear witness against me."

   Yet it is not always so. There are times when, in conscious integrity,
   or concerning certain words or acts of ours, we can challenge any man
   to find fault with us. But, taking the whole range of our lives, in
   public and in private, most of us would be loath to ask for such a test
   as that. When our adversaries persecute us, we might say to them, "Ah,
   if you really knew all that we have been, you would not so much
   persecute us for our goodness, but punish us for our badness." When I
   have been slandered, I have often said to myself, "Ah, they have spoken
   a lie against me, but if they had known me better, they might have said
   quite as bad a thing as that and yet have only spoken what was true."
   There is not one man living, who is in his right mind, who would like
   to have all his thoughts written down, or all his words and acts
   recorded. We have often wished that half our words could be blotted out
   with our tears--and then the other half would have to be washed with
   that precious blood of Jesus before we could, ourselves, endure it.

   Now, I think that all this of which I have been speaking to you, ought
   very much to endear the Master to us and it will do so if we remember
   and believe that God "has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
   that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Here is a Lamb
   that is fit for sacrifice. The high priest and all his officers may
   examine it as much as they please--they will find that it is perfect.
   There is not a blemish in it. There is no redundancy and there is no
   omission. There is neither speck nor spot of sin in Christ--we cannot
   find any fault in Him. Whether we look at Him within or without, in His
   youth, or in His childhood, or in His Manhood--in His life or in His
   death--in His speech or in His silence, in His feelings, or in His
   thoughts, or in His acts--He is good, and only good--and blessed be His
   holy name forever and ever! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

"Until He Finds It"

   (No. 2821)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 8, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE
   28, 1877.

   "Until he finds it." Luke 15:4.

   IT was not just anybody who went after the sheep that was lost--it was
   the person to whom the lost sheep belonged. Our Savior said, "What man
   of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave
   the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost,
   until he finds it?" The man was not a hunter, looking after wild game
   that was not his, in order to make it his by capturing it, but he was a
   sheep-master--one who owned the sheep, going out to find what was
   already his own property. This is one of the great secrets that explain
   the care of the Good Shepherd--in looking for the lost sheep, He is
   caring for that which is His own. He says of them, in His great
   intercessory prayer to His Father, "Yours they were, and You gave them
   to Me." Long before this world was created, or stars began to shine,
   even in the eternal ages of the past, God had given to His beloved Son
   a people who were then and there His by His Father's gift. In the
   fullness of time He redeemed them and so they became doubly His. Yet
   they were His, in plan and purpose, from eternity! They were,
   therefore, His when they wandered away from Him and His while they
   strayed further and yet further off from Him--yes, they were always His
   wherever they went! This Truth of God is well put by the writer of the
   lines we have so often sung--

   "'Lord, You have here Your ninety and nine,

   Are they not enough for You?'

   But the Shepherd made answer, 'This of Mine

   Has wandered away from Me

   And although the road is rough and steep,

   I go to the desert to find My sheep." That wandering sheep did not
   belong to anybody else but that particular sheep-master. If any other
   man had taken it into his fold, he would have had no right to do so. If
   anyone had caught it and slain and eaten it, he would have been a thief
   for it was not his sheep. It belonged to the man who owned the other 99
   sheep and it was because it belonged to him that he went after it. He
   would not have gone to seek another man's sheep--he sought it because
   it was his own. And, in like manner, Christ has come into the world to
   seek His own. He Himself said, "The Good Shepherd gives His life for
   the sheep." And the Apostle Paul wrote, "Christ loved the church, and
   gave Himself for it." The main object and design which He had in coming
   to this earth was to seek His own. His great redemptive work has
   brought some good to all men, but it was more especially intended for
   the benefit of the household of faith. As Paul wrote to Timothy, "We
   trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of
   those that believe." The great purpose of His coming is in order to
   seek His own, whom His Father has given to Him--that none of them may
   be lost at the last.

   Remembering this great Truth, we shall now consider these four words,
   "Until he finds it." "Until" is something like a boundary mark set up
   to indicate a turning-point. And we shall first consider the dark side
   of this, "until," and then come over into the bright side of it.

   I. Looking, first, on THE DARK SIDE OF THIS, "UNTIL," we will try to
   answer two questions. First, where is the sheep until the Shepherd
   finds it? Secondly, where is the Shepherd until He finds it?

   First, then, where is the sheep until the Shepherd finds it?Mark, dear
   Friends, the pronoun in our text, "until He [speaking of Christ] finds
   it." It is the Shepherd who finds the lost sheep. True salvation comes
   to the sinner by Jesus Christ finding him. You and I, if we are very
   earnest in seeking the souls of others, may readily find the lost ones,
   for they are all around us--perhaps in our own families, possibly they
   nestle even in our bosoms. We know well enough where the lost ones are,
   for we cannot walk the streets of London, or the lanes of country
   villages without discovering them. If we ask the city missionary where
   we can find those that are most evidently lost, he will tell us where
   they live in whole colonies! He knows where any quantity of them may be
   found. Now, our finding of them may be a means to an end, but it is
   only a means. The end must be Christ's finding them, if they are really
   to be saved. Otherwise, it will not be of much use for the schoolmaster
   to find them. Though it may do them some good and be a temporal
   advantage to them, it will not be much good for the blessings of
   civilization to find them, or for them to be lifted up out of poverty.
   All these processes may be useful in their measure, but, as far as the
   eternal salvation of the lost is concerned, it all depends upon Christ
   finding them. He, the unique Man, the all-glorious God, must come into
   contact with them through His Spirit and claim them as His own--for,
   until that happens, they will remain in the sad, sad state of which I
   am now going to speak. I like that idea of the Chinese convert who,
   when he was applying for Baptism and membership at San Francisco, and
   was asked, "How did you find Jesus" answered, "I no find Jesus at
   all--He find me." It is almost unnecessary to add that he was accepted
   upon such a testimony!

   Where, then, are lost sinners until Christ finds and saves them?

   Well, first, they are in a very careless state. They are here compared
   to sheep, partly because of their stupidity, but also because of their
   aptness to wander. A sheep thinks nothing of wandering--it is sport to
   him to have his liberty. Perhaps he enjoys himself all the more in
   being free from the pen and the fold. The sheep does not think at all
   about the shepherd seeking him. The shepherd has wide-open eyes for the
   sheep, but the sheep, while he is wandering, has no eyes for the
   shepherd. The shepherd is pursuing him, hot foot, over hill and dale,
   but the sheep is carelessly eating what little grass it is able to
   find, thinking only of the present and making itself as happy as it can
   without a thought of the future. This is still the condition of the
   great mass of our fellow men. Until Christ finds them, they are
   thoughtless, careless, indifferent about eternal things. Oh, that they
   could but be led to think, for thoughtfulness is oftentimes evidence
   that He has found them! But they decline to think. "What shall we eat?
   What shall we drink? How shall we be clothed?"--these are the questions
   that interest them! Their chief concern is, "to kill time," though,
   indeed, they have no time to lose--to hurry away the hours which are
   already far too fleet--this seems to be their principal occupation.
   Just as the sheep cannot think and will not think, so neither will the
   sinner--he will continue in his carelessness, indifference and
   brutishness until the Savior finds him.

   More than this, the sheep, until it is found by its owner, is very apt
   to wander further and yet further away, just as sinners go on from one
   sin to another. It is not the nature of sin to remain in a fixed state.
   Like decaying fruit, it grows more rotten--the corruption is sure to
   increase and spread. The man who is bad today will, to a certainty, be
   worse tomorrow. Every week that he lives he adds some new evil habit to
   all that he had before, until the chain, which at first seemed but a
   silken cord, becomes, at last, an adamantine fetter in which he is held
   fast so that he cannot escape. Ah, Brothers and Sisters, it is
   impossible to say how far men will wander away from God! If restraining
   Grace is not brought to bear upon them, they will certainly go to
   unutterable lengths of infamy and guilt. Possibly someone who is here
   now is wandering further and yet further away. My Friend, let me remind
   you that you can do, today, what you could not have done seven years
   ago. You laugh now at things that would have made you shudder then--and
   language which made your blood run cold when you first left your
   mother's knee, has now become habitual with you. Yes, and certain
   tricks in trade, which you oftentimes condemned at the first, have now
   become your regular practice. Ah, yes, the wandering sheep keeps on
   straying further and further away--it will not come back to the fold of
   its own accord, but will continue to wander until the shepherd finds
   it.

   And, until then, the sheep is in a sad condition all the while. It
   dreams of happiness by wandering, but it finds none. A sheep is not a
   proper animal to run wild. It is unable to take care of itself as a
   great many wild creatures can do. As corn, which is but educated grass,
   seems to yield a harvest nowhere but where man sows it, so a sheep
   seems to be entirely dependent on man. If it would do well, it must be
   under a shepherd's care. A sheep running wild is out of its element--it
   is in a condition in which it cannot flourish or be happy. And a man
   without God, and without Christ, cannot possibly

   be blessed. You may think you can do as well without God as with Him,
   but as soon might a lamp burn without oil, or the lungs heave in life
   without air--as well might you attempt to live without food as for your
   soul to truly and really live without God! The very best of you, if you
   are without Christ, are simply great ruins--like some dilapidated
   castle, or abbey which you sometimes see--there may be enough of the
   ancient building remaining to let us guess what it once was, and what
   it might again be if the original builder could come back and restore
   it to its pristine glory, but as it is, it is an utter ruin and bats
   and owls make their home there.

   So is it with you if you are without Christ. Your heart is nothing but
   a cage of unclean birds. Your mind is full of doubts and forebodings.
   You are often unable to sleep because of your dread of the future. And
   when you come to die, then will your desolation be most evident, for,
   away from God you are like a fish out of the water, or like a diver,
   under the water, cut off from the supply of air which is essential to
   his life. The creature cannot do without the Creator! God can be
   blessed without us, but we cannot be blessed without Him!

   We shall realize that the wandering sheep is in a sad condition if we
   only think of the loss to itself through its stray-ing--but there is
   far more than that involved in its wandering. There is, also, the loss
   to the shepherd. That is the blessed mystery underlying our Savior's
   words. The main loss was that of the shepherd--it was that fact that
   moved him, as the owner of the lost sheep, to seek after it until he
   found it. And this made him rejoice so much when he did find it, for he
   could not bear the thought of losing it. To be lost to Christ may,
   perhaps, seem to some of you who are careless and thoughtless, to be
   but a trifling matter. If the wandering sheep could have spoken, it
   might have said, "I do not want to belong to the shepherd. I know that
   he values me and that he is seeking me because I am his, but I do not
   care about that." No, poor sheep, but, if you had been the shepherd,
   you would have cared and, poor Sinner, if you did but know even a
   little of what Christ feels, you, also, would begin to care about your
   own soul! Oh, it is such joy, such bliss as I cannot describe, for
   anyone to be able to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want."
   It brings tears to my eyes even as I repeat those familiar words and
   meditate upon their meaning.

   What a blessing it is to belong to Jesus! I do not know a sweeter song
   than this, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His." To belong to Jesus, to
   be one of the sheep in His flock, to know that He is my Shepherd and
   that I follow Him because I recognize His voice, oh, this is Heaven
   upon earth! This is the beginning of the joy of Heaven itself! I wish
   all of you knew it, but, alas, many of you are like the sheep that was
   lost to the shepherd. If he counted up the 99 and rejoiced that they
   were safe, yet he heaved a sigh as he said, "I have lost one sheep out
   of my hundred," and he could not bear the thought of losing even one of
   them. In the same way, some of you are, as yet, lost to Christ and lost
   to the great Father who is in Heaven--and that is very sad.

   There was also another sad thing, namely, that the sheep was in
   constant danger. It was away from its natural protector. It was subject
   to weariness, drought, hunger, disease--and it was in continual danger
   from predators. It might die for need of care. It would, certainly, at
   last, perish altogether and be torn by the foul creatures that would
   feast upon its carcass. In like manner, a sinner without a Savior is
   always in danger--as I have already shown you--in danger of still worse
   sin, in danger of death, in danger from the devil, in danger of
   "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
   glory of His power." Oh, the terrible danger of every unregenerate man!
   If I see a child almost run over in the street, it curdles my
   blood--does it not have a similar effect upon you? When you see a man
   knocked down in the road, even though he gets up and walks away, you
   feel troubled lest he should be hurt. Do you feel like that when you
   think about the souls of men that are in a far more terrible danger--in
   jeopardy of the wrath of God which abides upon them even now, and which
   will abide upon them forever in that dread place of torment, "where
   their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched"? Pity the poor sheep
   until the shepherd finds it, for its condition is most sad! And, poor
   unconverted Sinner, we would also pity you until the Savior finds you,
   for your state is terribly sad, too.

   Now I turn to the second question-- Where is the Shepherd until He
   finds the wandering sheep? Ah, Brothers and Sisters, you know well
   enough where He is! He is seeking His sheep which is lost and He will
   keep on seeking until He finds it. He is very skillful in following the
   tracks of the wanderer, just as some shepherds seem to be able to train
   their sheep almost as a bloodhound will follow a trail. It is wonderful
   how Christ follows the track of some people. I have known them go from
   place to place, yet the Good Shepherd has never been far away from
   them. When they were children, He sought them in the hymns they
   learned, in their teachers' earnest admonitions, in their mother's
   entreaties and their father' s prayers. When they became young men and
   young women and shook off their former instructors, the Good

   Shepherd still followed them by many a helpful book and many a holy
   remembrance which they could not shake off. When they went into
   business--and neglected the Sabbath and forsook the house of God--the
   Good Shepherd still tracked them by affliction, by Christian neighbors,
   by the very sound of the church bell, by the death of old companions
   and in a hundred other ways.

   It may be that some went off to America, or Canada in the hope of
   escaping from the influences of religion, but it was no use. You
   remember the backwoodsman who had begun to make a log hut and had not
   finished before up rode a Methodist minister with his saddlebags? With
   an oath the settler said, "Why, I have moved a dozen times to get away
   from you fellows, but wherever I move, one of you is sure to come to
   me." "Yes," said the good man, "and wherever you go, you will find us.
   If you go to Heaven, you will find us there. And if you go to Hell," he
   added, "I am afraid that you will find some Methodist preachers even
   there. You had better give in, for we shall always be after you." If
   you are really one of Christ's sheep, something of this sort will
   happen to you and, wherever you may wander, you will find Christ is
   still after you! If you go to the uttermost parts of the earth, He will
   follow you. If you land at some far distant port where you think you
   may indulge without restraint in vice, even there the Divine Love of
   Christ will nurse you. I know one who now preaches the Gospel, who was
   on board a ship at Shanghai and, that very night, a Prayer Meeting was
   being held in the College on his behalf, as his brother was one of our
   students. And while they were praying, the Lord struck him down, turned
   him from his sins almost without any visible instrument--and he
   returned home and confessed his faith in Christ! The Lord Jesus is well
   acquainted with sinners' tracks and He will pursue them until He finds
   them!

   Notice what blessed perseverance the shepherd manifests--"Until he
   finds it." There is the wandering sheep, toiling up that steep hill. So
   up that hill goes the shepherd. Why does he climb like that? Because
   the sheep has gone that way and he must follow it till he finds it. Now
   it has gone down the other side and across that green morass where, if
   a man should slip, he might sink and lose his life. Yes, but the
   shepherd will go after that wandering one till he finds it. Day after
   day, from the rising to the setting of the sun and all through the
   night, nothing can stop the shepherd's feet until he has his sheep that
   was lost, safe upon his shoulders! And how blessed is the perseverance
   of the Savior that He will not take our rejection as a final refusal,
   but still gives us fresh proclamations and invitations of Grace! Again
   and again He sends out His servants to bid the sinner come to the
   Gospel feast--not only on the Sabbath, but on week-days as well, the
   voice of Wisdom cries aloud, "Turn in here and feast upon the bounteous
   provision of redeeming love." There are none so persevering as Christ
   is--"He shall not fail nor be discouraged," but shall press on in His
   earnest search for His lost sheep until He finds it!

   A man who is seeking lost sheep must display great wisdom because it is
   very difficult to find the tracks of the sheep. And the Divine wisdom
   which was displayed when some of us were brought to God will cause us
   everlasting wonderment! It is a marvelous thing that sometimes a man's
   sin, though it looks as though it must damn him, has been part of the
   very means by which he has obtained salvation. I knew one who never
   recollected having told a lie until, upon a certain occasion, he was
   caught unaware and said what was untrue. And then he was covered with
   such shame and confusion of face that he saw all his boasted
   self-righteousness melt away and he went and humbled himself before God
   and so found peace and pardon! Some have allied themselves to evil
   companions who seemed likely to lead them further into sin, yet, before
   long, those very companions have been converted and have been the means
   of leading them to the Savior! Christ will have His sheep, somehow or
   other. He will lay hold of them and if they will not be brought in one
   way, they shall be in another! Some have been found by Him in the
   darkest dens of infamy. His all-piercing eyes have been able to see
   them even there. Some have been won by gentleness and kindness--others
   by terror and distress. But, in one way or another, with wondrous
   perseverance, Jesus seeks the lost until He finds them! And He will
   never give up the search until the last of His wandering sheep is
   brought back to the fold.

   Where is the Good Shepherd until He finds His sheep? Why, He is in a
   state of discontent, with yearning heart and troubled brow. If you say
   to Him, "Good Shepherd, why did You not go home to Your Father when
   first the Jews sought to stone You? Why did you not ascend in splendor
   from amidst the ungodly throng?" He will tell you that He could not
   give up seeking His sheep till He found them by redemption and that now
   He must still continue yearning over sinners until He finds them. Do
   you not sympathize with Him in this feeling? If you are a true follower
   of the Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot be at ease while souls are being
   lost! I fear that it would not matter in the least to some professors
   whether a whole nation was lost or saved! They would be just as
   comfortable, whatever happened. But they who have the

   spirit of Christ and are in sympathy with Him, have hearts of
   compassion so that the loss of any one sinner fills them with
   dismay--and the penitence of any one sinner makes their heart rejoice
   with exceeding joy! May we always cultivate that spirit!

   II. But now I must turn to THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THAT LANDMARK, "UNTIL." I
   am going to ask the same questions as before, but will put the second
   first and the first second.

   First, then, where is the Shepherd when He finds His sheep? I can
   answer this question, for I remember where He was when He found me. The
   first sight I had of Him was a very vivid one. Where was He then? Well,
   He was just where I was! The sheep and the Shepherd stood together--but
   Christ was where I ought to have been by reason of my sin. Christ was
   accursed because I was cursed by my sin. Christ was made sin because I
   was a sinner, that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Oh,
   what a sight was that--Christ in my place! I have preached about it
   many years, yet it always makes me wonder just as it did at the first.
   What an overwhelming thought it seemed, and yet how full of joy! O poor
   Soul, if you would have a true sight of Christ, see Him suffering,
   dying, forsaken of His God and full of agony because the chastisement
   of your peace was upon Him!

   The Shepherd was also standing over the lost sheep--not merely near it,
   but looking down upon it. How pleased, how delighted, He was to have
   found His sheep which was lost! Well do I remember when I saw my Lord
   looking down upon me with eyes of unspeakable love. I could hardly
   believe He could ever have loved me so--it seemed to be almost
   incredible! What could He see in me to love--a poor sheep with torn
   fleece, footsore and weary--and not worth the trouble He had taken to
   find me? When a queen picks up a pin, it is nothing in comparison with
   Christ taking me up and caring for me! For some great emperor to fall
   in love with a milkmaid may not be anything amazing, for she may have
   as sweet a face as ever graced any empress, but as for us sinners,
   there is no beauty in us that Christ should desire us! By nature, we
   were full of evil and by practice, too, we became even worse--yet Jesus
   loved us and, as a shepherd rejoices over the wandering sheep that he
   finds and brings home, or as a father rejoices over his lost child whom
   he has found, or as a young man rejoices over his bride, so did the
   Lord Jesus rejoice over us when He found us--

   "And all through the mountains

   And up from the rocky steep,

   There arose a cry to the gate of Heaven

   'Rejoice! I have found My sheep!'

   And the angels echoed around the Throne,

   'Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!" We also saw Him, at that
   time, as bearing the marks of the toil and travail which He had endured
   on our behalf. There are the tokens on the shepherd's face, and on the
   shepherd's hands and on the shepherd's garments, of the rough way that
   he has trodden. If the sheep could but know, it might read, in the very
   look of him, the price that he had to pay for its recovery. And so,
   dear Friends, was it with us when Jesus saved us. We looked up and saw
   Him with His face stained with the spit of men, His head encircled by
   the crown of thorns, His body covered with the bloody sweat and His
   hands, and feet, and side all pierced! And as we looked, we loved Him
   because He had first loved us, and loved us so won-drously!

   One thing more about the shepherd when he found the lost sheep, he was
   grasping it, for I guarantee you that there was not a moment between
   his getting near it and his grasping it. "No, no," he seemed to say,
   "you will not get away from me again. I have caught you, and I will
   hold you fast." Do we not remember the grip that Christ gave us when He
   first found us? We were apprehended by Him whom we now have
   apprehended. We were held fast by Him whom now we hold fast by faith
   and love. We felt, then, as if a strange power had seized us--not that
   we resisted it, for we rejoiced in it. We were led, with full consent
   against our own will--that is, against our old will--but with a new
   will which we felt put within us by that blessed hand which had laid
   hold of us and which would not let us go!

   But where was the sheep when the shepherd found it? Why there was but
   an instant and the sheep was on the shoulders of the shepherd! And what
   does that indicate but that when Christ finds me, then He bears me and
   all that is upon me, upon His shoulders--all my diseases, all my sin,
   and all my sorrows are laid upon Him! We rightly sing--

   "I lay my sins on Jesus," but I think we ought also to sing--

   "I lay myself on Jesus."

   All that I am, and all that I have, all is there! Of Benjamin, Moses
   said, "The Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell
   between His shoulders." That is where we are, between the shoulders of
   the Divine Shepherd of souls! Christ underneath us bearing all our
   weight--the weight of sin, the weight of sorrow, doubt, fear, and care
   and whatever else there may be upon us.

   What about the sheep now? Well, it is resting--not as it will rest,
   by-and-by, when it will lie in the Shepherd's bosom in yet sweeter
   fellowship, but, even now it is resting. It has not to carry itself
   back to the fold. It is a long way, but neither the Shepherd nor the
   sheep will get weary. It is a toilsome way, full of dangers, but those
   boils and dangers are for the Shepherd rather than for the sheep. We
   are right in singing--

   " 'Safe in the arms of Jesus'"

   for now that He has found us, we are under His protection. No wolf can
   come near us now, or, if he did, he would be quite unable to hurt us.
   The sheep that is found is perfectly secure in the Good Shepherd's
   grip. It could not stray away even if it could. If it struggled to get
   free, He would grip it all the more firmly. So, Beloved, was it with
   us--when Christ took us on His shoulders, He held us fast and He will
   not let us go.

   On whose shoulders was the sheep? It was on the shoulders of the
   rejoicing one who had found it and you and I belong to the Christ who
   is glad to find us! I wonder which was the happier of the two, in the
   feast, when the younger son came home--the son or the father? I think
   the father was and, certainly, of the shepherd and the sheep, the
   shepherd was the happier--and yet the sheep, in being found, must have
   participated in the shepherd's joy. Do you not remember how, when you
   were saved, you nestled down under the wings of the Eternal? I love to
   see the little chicks beneath the feathers of the hen, peeping out with
   such sweet contentment and a sense of perfect security expressed in
   their twinkling eyes. Had they been away from their mother' s wings,
   they would have been afraid, but, under their mother' s protection,
   they did not seem at all alarmed. So have I cowered down beneath the
   wings of God, trusting to that blessed promise, "He shall cover you
   with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust." O Beloved, it
   is a blessed thing to know that we are held in the grip of a strong
   Christ, with great joy in His heart which is the proof of the value
   that He sets upon us, and the love which He bears towards us!

   So you see that there is a great deal in these four words, "until he
   finds it." Where are you now, my Friend? Are you still lost? What a joy
   it is to think that the Good Shepherd is still seeking lost sheep! But,
   if you have seen Christ near you, oh, that you may, by His Grace, this
   very hour, be caught up by His pierced hands and laid upon His
   everlasting shoulders and so be carried to the heavenly fold! The Lord
   grant it! This is what you need and what you must have if you are
   really to be saved. You must be "saved in the Lord." Christ Jesus must
   save you--it must be by His blessed hands and His almighty power that
   you must be rescued from danger and saved from going down to the Pit.
   May He soon find all of you who are lost and carry you on His shoulders
   all the way to the eternal fold above, for His dear names sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN 17.

   Verse 1. These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and
   said, Father, the hour is come. That tremendous hour which was the very
   hinge of history--that hour in which He must suffer, bleed and die--to
   pay the ransom price for His people--"Father, the hour is come."

   1. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. In the
   endurance of the Cross there was a mutual glorification. It was the
   time of the Savior's humiliation and yet, in a certain sense, He was
   never so glorious as when He died upon the tree. Then, too, He
   glorified His Father, vindicating Divine Justice and manifesting Divine
   Love.

   2. As You have given Him power over all flesh, that He shouldgive
   eternal life to as many as You have given Him. Christ, by His death,
   had power given Him over all flesh--that is the universal aspect of it.
   But there was a special purpose hidden within it--"that He should give
   eternal life to as many as You have given Him."

   3. And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true
   God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent Do you really know the only
   true God and Jesus Christ, His Son? Have you been brought into such
   familiar acquaintance with God as to accept Jesus Christ as your
   Savior? Then you have eternal life and you may rejoice that you have a
   life like that of God, Himself, which can never die!

   4. I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work which
   You gave me to do. What a blessed thing that our Savior was able to say
   this just before His death! Oh, that you and I may be able to utter
   some humble echo of this speech when we come to the end of our lives!
   This is indeed a life worth living!

   5. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory
   which I had with You before the world was.. 'Take Me up from earth
   again. Clothe Me again with that glory which, for a while, I have laid
   aside,"

   6. I have manifested Your name unto the men which You gave me out of
   the world: Yours they were, and You gave them to Me; and they have kept
   Your word. What high praise this was of Christ's disciples! "They have
   kept Your word." Poor creatures that they were, they often turned aside
   from the right path. They were oftentimes very ignorant and very
   willful, yet the Lord knew that their hearts were right towards Him and
   that they willed to learn, and desired to believe. So He saw in them
   what was often hidden, even from themselves, and He testified to His
   Father, "They have kept Your word."

   7. 8. Now they have known that all things whatever You have given Me
   are of You. For I have given unto them the words which You gave Me.
   Every preacher of the Gospel should see to it that this is true
   concerning himself. When we pass on to the people the words which God
   has given to us, we supply them with real spiritual fool and so we
   glorify God. But if we only give them our own words, we do but mock
   their hunger and we dishonor God. Our blessed Master, though quite able
   to speak His own original thoughts, kept to the words of His
   Father--let us be careful to imitate His example.

   8. 9. And they have received them, and have known surely that I came
   out from You, and they have believed that You did send Me. I pray for
   them: I pray not for the world, but for them which You have given Me;
   for they are Yours. There was a special request in Christ's prayer, now
   that He was nearing the end of His earthly life. He concentrated His
   intercessions upon the chosen people for whom He was about to shed His
   blood.

   10, 11. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified
   in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
   and I come to You. The disciples were going to be left alone and
   Christ's tender heart made Him lessen the pain of the separation by
   offering this great petition on their behalf.

   11, Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom You have given
   Me, that they may be one, as We are. This was as though He had said,
   "You have given them to Me, My Father, to become My bride. And now I am
   about to die and return to You, I give back this bride of Mine into
   Your charge. Take care of her, I pray You, till I can come back again
   and receive her unto Myself." There is such holy unity between these
   Divine Persons of the Godhead that the Father first gives the elect to
   Christ and then Christ commits the elect into the Father's keeping.

   12, 13. 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. And now I come
   to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My
   joy fulfilled in them. Are you dull and sad today? Does anything
   depress your spirits? It is not according to your Savior's mind that
   you should be unhappy. It is His will and purpose that His joy should
   be fulfilled in you. Ask for a sip from His cup ofjoy at this
   moment--one drop of His joy will make the dullest to be bright and the
   saddest to be glad!

   14. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because
   they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. He was a
   stranger here and His people are also strangers and foreigners. We are
   not so much to be unworldly as to be other-worldly. We belong to
   another world, to another Kingdom, even the Kingdom of Heaven!

   15. Ipraynot that You should take them out ofthe world, but that You
   shouldkeep them from the Evil One. "Keep them in the world to battle
   with the Evil One. Make them the salt that prevents putrefaction and
   let them not lose their savor, let them not be contaminated by the evil
   in the midst of which they dwell."

   16. 17. They are not ofthe world, even as I am not ofthe world.
   Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth. It looks as
   though our Lord almost anticipated that question of Pilate, "What is
   truth?" Here is His answer-- "Your word is truth."

   18. As You have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them
   into the world. Christ was the Sent One and every Christian is also
   sent. All Believers should be missionaries, sent forth upon a mission
   to bless the sons of men.

   19, 20. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also might be
   sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for
   them also which shall believe on Me through their word. Christ knew
   that His Church would grow.

   He did not merely pray for the little handful of disciples who were
   with Him there, but He prayed for all who, in later years, would
   believe on Him.

   21. That they all may be one. That is the great prayer of Christ. There
   are not two churches, but one Church. Christ is not the Head of two
   bodies--He has but one mystical body. There is but one Bridegroom and
   there is but one bride-- that bride is His indivisible Church. Hence
   His prayer, "That they all may be one."

   21. As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one
   in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. Can the world
   believe in Christ till His Church becomes more manifestly one? I fear
   not, so let us, each one, aim at the true unity of the one Church of
   Jesus Christ. There are some who aim at this by separating themselves
   from everybody else, but I do not see how they promote unity in that
   way. I clearly and painfully see how they increase divisions and
   multiply strife wherever they go. But let us, Beloved, to the utmost of
   our power, promote the unity of the body of Christ.

   22. 23. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they
   may be one, even as We are One: I in them, and You in Me. Do you
   understand this wonderful union? Jesus Christ in you--"I in them." And
   then the Father in Christ--"and You in Me."

   23. That they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know
   that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me. This
   is a wonderful Truth of God--that the Father loves the Church even as
   He loves Jesus Christ, His Son. When shall the world ever know this
   till the unity of the Church is more clearly seen?

   24-26. Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with
   Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me:
   for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O Righteous
   Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these
   have known that You have sent Me. And I have declared unto them Your
   name, and will declare it that the love wherewith You have loved Me may
   be in them, and I in them. Oh, for a blessed fulfillment of that prayer
   in our experience this very moment, for Christ's sake! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

Christ in Bonds

   (No. 2822)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 15, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE
   28, 1877.

   "Now Annas had sent Hum bound unto Caiaphas the high priest." (The
   Revised Version says, "Annas therefore sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the
   high priest").

   John 18:24.

   OUR only subject, on this occasion, is CHRIST IN BONDS--the Son of God
   as an Ambassador in bonds, a King in chains--the God-Man sent,
   bound--to take His trial in the court of the high priest, Caiaphas.

   It seems to me that this binding of our Lord shows, first, something of
   fear on the part of His captors. Why did they bind Him? He would not
   attack them. He had no desire to escape out of their hands, yet, they
   probably thought that He might break loose from them, or in some way
   outwit them. Alas, that men should ever have been thus afraid of Him
   who came alone from Heaven, neither bearing arms nor wearing armor--who
   came to injure none, nor even to protect Himself against the harm that
   any might inflict upon Him--at first, lying as a Babe in a manger and
   all His life exhibiting rather the weakness of His Manhood than its
   strength! Yet His adversaries were often afraid of Him. So it still
   is--there is a latent, secret conviction in the minds of men that the
   Christ is greater than He seems to be. Even when they attack Him with
   their infidel weapons, they never seem to be satisfied with their own
   arguments, so they are continually seeking fresh ones. To this very day
   the ungodly are afraid of Christ and, often, their raging against Him
   resembles the noise made by the boy who, when hurrying through the
   graveyard, whistles to keep his courage up!

   They also bound Christ, no doubt, to increase the shame of His
   condition. Our Savior said to those who came to arrest Him in the
   garden, "Have you come out as against a thief, with swords, and with
   staves to take Me?" And now they bound Him fast as though He were a
   thief--perhaps tied His hands behind His back with tight cords, to show
   that they regarded Him a felon and that they were not taking Him into a
   civil court where some cases of law might be pending, but they already
   condemned Him by the very act of binding Him! They treated Him as if He
   were already sentenced and not worthy to stand, a free Man, and plead
   for Himself before the Judgment Seat. Oh, what a shame that the Lard of
   Life and Glory should be bound--that He, whom angels delight to
   worship--that He who is the very sun of their Heaven should yet be
   bound as though He were a malefactor, and be sent away to be tried for
   His life!

   We may also look at this matter of the binding of the Savior as an
   increase of His pain. I suppose none of you have ever been bound as our
   Lord was at that time. If you had been, you would know the discomfort
   and pain which must attend such action. John tells us that in
   Gethsemane, "the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took
   Jesus, and bound Him." He had scarcely risen from His knees--and the
   bloody sweat was like fresh ruby dew upon Him--yet these men "bound Him
   and led Him away to Annas first." I do not find any indication that His
   bonds were unloosed by Annas, or that He had even a moment's relief or
   relaxation granted to Him. But, with the cruel ropes still binding Him
   fast, He was sent across the great hall into the other wing of the
   palace in which Caiaphas resided.

   "Annas sent Him bound unto Caiaphas." Then this, surely, must have been
   done in very wantonness of malice. I have already said that they seemed
   to have some sort of fear that their Captive would, after all, escape
   from them. Yet they might, readily enough, have banished that fear from
   their minds. There was no need to bind HIM! O cruel persecutors, look
   into His face! If you are resolved to lead Him away to His death, you
   may lead Him like a sheep goes to the slaughter. He will not even open
   His mouth to upbraid you! There was no need to put any bands upon One
   so gentle as He was.

   Out of very wantonness, I say, they must have done it, that they might
   express their hatred by every conceivable method, both in the little
   details and in the great end at which they were aiming all the
   while--namely, to put Him to a most painful death. Ah, me, how
   shamefully was our blessed Master maltreated in this inhospitable
   world! Men had often been regicides and we need not wonder at that when
   we think what tyrants they were who were thus slain--but these men were
   turning to deicide--putting to death the Son of God, Himself! And
   before they did it they heaped upon Him every mark of scorn and
   dishonor that was possible, that they might cause Him to die with
   opprobrium as well as with pain.

   You who love your Savior will think with tender sympathy of how He was
   bound by these wicked men. My special objective is to try to find out
   what are the lessons which we may learn from the bonds of Christ.

   I. The first lesson is this. From the binding of our dear Redeemer, I
   learn a lesson concerning sin. THE BONDS OF CHRIST TEACH US WHAT SIN
   WOULD DO TO GOD IF IT COULD.

   The unregenerate heart, in its enmity against God, would treat Him
   exactly as the men of 1900 years ago treated the Son of God. What was
   done to Jesus is just what man would do, if he could, to the Lord God
   of Heaven and earth, Himself. "What?" you say, "would men bind God?"
   Ah, Sirs, they would do much more than that if they could, but they
   would certainly do that! They would annihilate God if they could, for,
   "the fool has said in his heart, No God"--that is to say, "No God for
   me!" He would kill God if it were possible. There would be no gladder
   news to many men who are living today than for them to be informed,
   with absolute certainty, that there was no God at all! All their fears
   would be at once silenced by such tidings. As for us who love and trust
   Him, all our joys would be gone and our worst fears would be realized
   if God were gone. But, as for the ungodly, it would be the best news
   that was ever rung out from church steeples if they could be assured
   that God was dead! They would kill Him if they could, but, as they
   cannot kill Him, they seek to bind Him.

   Observe how they try to do this by denying His power. There are many
   men who say that they believe in God, yet what sort of god is it in
   whom they believe? It is a god who is fettered by his own laws. "Here
   is the world," they say, "but let not anyone suppose that god has
   anything to do with the world." They seem to have a theory that somehow
   or other it got wound up, like a great clock, and it has been going on
   ever since! Their god has not even been to see it-- indeed, the
   probability is that he cannot see! Their god does not see and does not
   know anything--he is not the living God. They pretend to pay Him the
   compliment of saying that there may be some great first cause--they do
   not know even that, for certain, because they do not know anything. We
   live in an age in which the man who professes to be a learned man,
   calls himself "an agnostic"--a Greek word which, in the Latin,
   signifies, "an ignoramus." That is, when you get to be a very clever
   man, then you become an ignoramus, knowing nothing at all! Such people
   go crowing, all over the world, that they do not know anything at all!
   They do not know whether there is any God at all, or if there is a God,
   they do not know that He has anything to do with the world. They say
   that it is going on just on its own. Their god may set worlds going if
   he pleases, but he has nothing do with them afterwards.

   Ah, Beloved, the truth is that God' s Laws are simply the ways in which
   He acts. There is no force in the world apart from God. All the potency
   of attraction is simply because God lives and pour His energy into the
   matter that attracts. Every moment it is God who works in all things
   according to the good pleasure of His own will. Omnipotence is, in
   fact, the source of all the potency that there is in the universe. God
   is everywhere and, instead of being banished from the world, and the
   world going on without Him, if God were not here, this planet, the sun,
   moon and stars, would retire into their native nothingness as a moment'
   s foam subsides into the wave that bears it and is gone forever! God
   alone IS. All the rest--call them what you please--are appearances that
   come out of His ever-existing power. God IS. The other things may be or
   may not be, but God IS. Well did David write, under the Spirit's
   Inspiration, "God has spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power
   belongs unto God." But that is not the kind of god that the ungodly
   want--they want one whose hands they can bind so as to make him
   powerless!

   Especially will they do this with regard to Providence. "Look," they
   say, "you Christian people pray and you are foolish enough to believe
   that because you pray, God hears you and sends you the blessings that
   you ask for." It is assumed that we are fools, but, I think, it is a
   mere assumption! Probably these gentlemen who are so generous in
   disposing of their epithets, may be giving away what really belongs to
   them! We are fools, so they say. These men of culture, the thinking
   people--at least they are the people who call themselves by these
   high-sounding names and, having done so, to prove that their culture
   has made perfect gentlemen of them--they call all the rest of us, and
   especially all Christians,

   fools! Well, we are not anxious to contend with them as to that matter,
   and we are quite satisfied to take the position that we do take--and to
   be called fools--because we believe that God does hear and answer our
   petitions! Even when these people are willing to acknowledge that there
   is a god in Providence at all, his hands are tied so that he can do
   nothing! Well, as far as I am concerned, I would as soon believe in a
   god made out of the mud of the Ganges, or in the fetish of the
   Hottentot, as bow my knee to a god who could not hear and could not
   answer me!

   Some unbelievers talk of a god whose hands are bound so far as the
   punishment of sin is concerned. "Men will die like dog," so some of
   these doggish men say. "God will not punish sin," say some sinners who
   imagine that they have prepared a dunghill for themselves to fall upon
   whenever God shall fling them out of the window as utterly worthless!
   They imbibe ideas that are contrary to the Truth of God about the Most
   High in order that they may be able to sin with impunity. But, whatever
   they may think or say, let us rest assured that there isa God and that
   He is a God before whom everyone of us must appear to give an account
   of the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or whether they
   are evil. We may be quite certain that although, in His long-suffering,
   He may patiently wait a while before punishing iniquity, yet His hands
   are not bound and He will lift them before long! And when He raises a
   hand to strike the man who has broken His laws, He will do it so
   effectually that the sinner shall know that, truly, there is a God who
   will not pass by transgression, or wink at sin when it remains
   unrepented of! Let us, then, be always happy to hear our testimony that
   God cannot be bound, but let us always expect to see unconverted men,
   in one way or another, attempting to bind the hands of the Most High as
   these sinners in Jerusalem bound the Christ of God.

   Some people think that God ought to do this and He ought notto do that.
   And the moment you begin to reason with them, they do not refer to what
   the Scriptures say, but they have a preconceived notion as to what
   ought to be done or not done. That is to say, you could tie His hands
   so that He must do what you judge to be right. But if He judges any
   particular course to be right and it does not meet your tastes, then,
   straightway, you will either have no god at all, or else a god that
   shall be handcuffed by your reason and held in bonds to do your
   bidding! In the Person of our blessed Master brought from Gethsemane
   with His hands tightly bound, we see an exact picture of what wicked
   men would always do with God if they could, and what they actually do
   to Him, spiritually, in their own minds and hearts. God save us from
   being guilty of such a sin as that! Oh, that the precious blood of our
   Lord Jesus Christ may cleanse that sin away if it lies as a load upon
   the conscience of anyone whom I am now addressing!

   II. Secondly, we have here A LESSON OF LOVE.

   Our Lord Jesus was sent away, bound, by Annas to Caiaphas, but, before
   they bound Him, there were other bands upon Him. Christ was bound by
   the cords of love and who but Himself had bound Him thus? Of old, or
   before the earth was, His prescient eye foresaw all His people and
   their sin--and He loved them and He gave Himself to them, then, in the
   eternal purpose. And often did He look through the vista of the ages
   upon the men and women who were yet to be born and, with a near and
   dear love to each one of them, He pledged Himself that, for them, He
   would bear the shame and the spitting--and that He would even die in
   their place that He might redeem them unto Himself. So, when I see our
   Divine Master thus led to the judgment seat, I grieve over the bonds of
   cord with which men tied Him, but my heart exults over those invisible
   bands with which He bound Himself on purpose, by covenant, by oath, by
   Infinite, Immutable Love that He would give Himself to be a ransom for
   His people!

   Then, following upon those cords of love, if you look closely, you will
   see His love again displayed in that He was bound with our bonds. We,
   dear Friends, had sinned against God and so had incurred the sentence
   of Infallible Justice. And now that sentence must fall upon Him! We
   ought to have been bound, but Christ was bound instead of us. If you
   and I had been bound with despair and hopelessly led away to that
   prison from which none shall ever escape--if this had been the moment
   when we were commencing to feel the torments of the Hell which our sins
   deserve--what could we have said? But, lo, in our place Jesus is led
   away to bear the wrath of Heaven! He must not lift His hands in His own
   defense, or raise a finger for His own comfort, for He is bearing--

   "That we might never bear His Fathers righteous ire."

   III. But now, thirdly, learn here A LESSON OF GREAT PRIVILEGE.

   Our Lord Jesus Christ was bound and there flows from that fact its
   opposite--then His people are all free. When Christ was made a curse
   for us, He became a blessing to us. When Christ was made sin for us, we
   were made the righ-

   teousness of God in Him. When He died, then we lived. And so, as He was
   bound, we were set free. The type of that exchange of prisoners is seen
   in the fact that Barabbas was set free when the Lord Jesus Christ was
   given up to be crucified. And still more in His plea for His disciples
   in the garden, "If therefore you seek Me, let these go their way." It
   is with wondrous joy in our hearts that we sing--

   " We were sore in bondage bound, But our Jesus set us free."

   Do you think we, dear Friends, use our liberty as we should? Do we not,
   sometimes, pray to God as if we were tongue-tied and had the bonds upon
   our tongue? Do we not go to the great coffers full of Grace and,
   instead of helping ourselves, as we have the right to do, we stand
   there as if our hands were bound and we could not take a single
   pennyworth of the abundant fullness that is laid up there for us?
   Sometimes when there is work to be done for Christ, we feel as if we
   were in bonds. We dare not stretch out our hands--we are afraid to do
   so--yet Jesus has set us free! O Believer, why do you go about as if
   you still wear shackles on your ankles? Why do you stand like one who
   is still in bonds? Your freedom is sure freedom and it is righteous
   freedom. Christ, the great Emancipator, has made you free and you are
   "free indeed." Enjoy your liberty! Enjoy access to God! Enjoy the
   privilege of claiming the promises which God has given to you! Enjoy
   the exercise of the power with which God has endowed you! Enjoy the
   holy anointing with which the Lord has prepared you for His service! Do
   not sit and mope like a bird in a cage when you are free to soar away!
   I can conceive of a bird that has been in a cage for years--the cage
   may be all taken away--every wire of it and yet the poor thing has been
   so accustomed to sit on that perch inside the cage, that it takes no
   notice of the fact that its prison is gone! And there it sits and
   mopes. Away with you, sweet songster! The green fields and the blue sky
   are all your own. Stretch your wings and soar away above the
   clouds--and sing the carol of your freedom as though you would make it
   reach the ears of the angels! So let it be with your spirit, and with
   mine, Beloved! Christ has set us free! Therefore let us not go back
   into bondage, or sit still as though we were in prison--let us rejoice
   in our liberty this very hour and let us do so all our days! IV. The
   fourth lesson from the binding of Christ is A LESSON OF OBLIGATION.

   This may seem like a paradox in contrast with the previous lesson, yet
   it is equally true. Beloved, was Jesus bound for you and for me? Then
   let us be bound for Him and to Him. I rejoice in the sweet inability
   that results from perfect love to Christ. "Inability?" you ask. Yes, I
   mean inability. The true child of God "cannot sin, because he is born
   of God." There are many other things that he cannot do. He cannot
   forsake His Lord, for he says with Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go?
   You have the words of eternal life." He cannot forget his obligations.
   He cannot withhold his time, his strength, his substance from His Lord.
   He cannot become an earthworm and a money-grabber. He cannot wed his
   soul to any other, for Christ has espoused him to Himself as a chaste
   virgin. There are times when the child of God says, with Nehemiah,
   "Should such a man as I flee?" Or, "How can such a privileged
   individual as I am indulge in such-and-such a sin?" The ungodly
   sometimes jeer at us and say, "Ah, you cannot do such-and-such! We
   can." And we reply, "We have lost no power that we ever wished to have,
   but we have gained the power of concentrating all our force upon
   righteousness and the Truth of God. And now our heart is bound too fast
   to Christ for us to go after your idols. Our eyes are now so taken up
   with the sight of our Savior that we cannot see any charms in the
   things with which you would bewitch us. Our memory is now so full of
   Christ that we have no desire to pollute the precious stores that lie
   therein by memories of sin."

   Henceforth we are crucified with Christ and that brings to us a blessed
   inability in which we greatly rejoice! Our heart may stir, perhaps, a
   little, but our hands and feet are fastened to the wood and cannot
   move. Oh, blessed is the inability when, at last, neither heart can
   love, nor brain can think, nor hand can do, nor even imagination can
   conceive anything that goes beyond the sweet circle of a complete
   consecration to the Lord and absolute dedication to His service! Come,
   then, you angels of the Lord, and bind us to Him! Let this be the
   prayer of every Believer--"Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the
   horns of the altar." Let nothing ever tempt us away from our Lord. You
   may count the cost of all Egypt's treasure and then let it go--and it
   shall vanish like a dream, for there is nothing in it--

   "Solid joys and lasting treasure, None butZion's children inow"-- and
   these shall remain with you who are bound to Christ--with Him to live,
   and for Him to die, if necessary. So, whenever we see Christ in bonds,
   let us pray that we, also, may wear His bonds and be just as much bound
   as He was. "O

   God," let every Christian say, "I am Your servant and the son of Your
   handmaid. You have loosed my bonds, now bind me to Yourself and to Your
   blessed service once and for all!"

   V. The last lesson is one which I pray that we may all learn whether we
   are saints or sinners. It is A LESSON OF

   WARNING.

   Dear Friends, I have tried to picture, though I have done it in a very
   feeble way, Christ being bound with cords. And now I want to very
   solemnly say to all of you--Do not bind Christ with cords. Beware, you
   who are unconverted, that you never bind Christ. You may do so by not
   reading His Word. You have a Bible at home, but you never read it--it
   is clasped, laid away in a drawer with your best pocket handkerchiefs.
   Is it not so? That is another picture of Christ in bonds--a poor
   shut-up Bible that is never allowed to speak with you--no, not even to
   have half a word with you, for you are in such a hurry about other
   things that you cannot listen to it! Untie the cords--let it have its
   liberty! Commune with it sometimes. Let the heart of God in the Bible
   speak to your own heart. If you do not, that clasped Bible, that
   shut-up Bible--that precious Book hidden away in the drawer--is Christ
   in prison and, one day, when you little expect it, you will hear Christ
   say, "Inasmuch as you did this to the greatest of all My witnesses, you
   did it unto Me." You kept Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the Prophets
   in prison! And all the Apostles and the Master, Himself, you bound with
   cords and you would not hear a word that they had to say! Let not that
   be true of any one of you, dear Friends.

   There are others who will not go to hear the Word. They do not attend
   any place of worship. They may have dropped in here once, but, as a
   rule, they never go anywhere to worship God. Here in London people live
   in the street where there is a soul-saving ministry, yet many of them
   never cross the threshold of the House of Prayer. In some streets, not
   one in a hundred ever darkens the doors of the place where God's people
   gather for worship. Is not that tying Christ' s hands? How can the
   Gospel get to people who will not hear it--absolutely refuse to listen
   to it? They are really gagging our blessed Master and that is even
   worse than binding Him with cords! They thrust a gag in His mouth and
   make Him hold His tongue, as far as they are concerned. Some of them,
   if they could, would gag the messenger as well as His Master, for they
   do not want him. "Trouble us not," they say. "Are you come to torment
   us before the times." And so they bind Christ and send Him away, just
   as Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas.

   There are some who both read the Bible and go to hear the Gospel, but
   they tie Christ up, all the same, by prejudice. Some people can never
   get a blessing through certain ministers because they have made up
   their minds that they will not be profited by them. You know how they
   come, with some preconceived notion, and though an angel from Heaven
   were to speak, they would pick holes in whatever he might say because
   of the prejudice which exists in their minds. Probably they can give no
   better reason for their antagonism than the person gave who did not
   like Dr. Fell--

   "I do not like you, Dr. Fell,

   The reason why, I cannot tell.

   But this I know and know full well,

   I do not like you, Dr. Fell."

   I have known men bind Christ in another way, by delaying their
   decision. They have heard a sermon and have felt its power--their soul
   has been impressed by it--but their chief idea has been to try to
   escape from Christ, or to bind His hands, if possible. I think I have
   told you before that once, when I was preaching in the country, the
   gentleman with whom I stayed, suddenly got up, towards the end of the
   sermon and went out. And a dear friend who had gone with me, followed
   him outside and asked him, "what brought you out here?" He replied, "If
   I had stayed there another five minutes, I would have got converted.
   Mr. Spurgeon seems to treat me just as if I were made of India
   rubber--he squeezes me into any shape he likes--so I was obliged to
   come out." "But," my friend said, "might it not have been a great
   blessing to you if you had been converted?" "Well, no," he replied, "at
   least, not just now. I have some things in prospect that I really
   should not miss, so I cannot afford to be converted just now."

   There are others who do not act quite like that, but the result is the
   same. They say, by their actions, if not in so many words, "Now, Lord,
   I am going to tie You up for a little while. I mean to give heed to
   You, by-and-by. I hope Your blessed hand will be laid upon me for my
   salvation, but not just now, please--not just now." Such people always
   use silken cords, but the binding is just as effective as it would be
   if they took an ugly pair of handcuffs, such as a policeman pulls out
   for a thief. The man says, "Permit me, Lord, to tie Your hands for just
   a little while--another month,

   perhaps--possibly another year." Oh, that accursed procrastination! How
   many have been ruined to all eternity by it! It is the bond that binds
   the hands of Christ, the Savior, who say, "Now is the day of
   salvation."

   Other men bind the hands of Christ by seeking pleasure in sin. After
   having been impressed under a sermon, they go straight to some ungodly
   meeting place--a bar, perhaps, or the next day they go into society
   where every serious thought will, in all probability, be stamped out as
   men stamp out a fire! And what is this but binding the hands of Christ?
   I know some--I tremble as I think of them--who persistently do that
   which they know will prevent them from ever feeling the power of the
   Word of God. Oh, that, by some means, they could be wrenched out of
   their present position and be carried right away where the Truth of God
   might influence them so that they might be led to Jesus' feet! I think
   I hear someone say, "That is a shocking way to bind Christ's hands."
   Then mind, my Friend, that you do not fall into that sin!

   Now, in closing I need to speak to the Lord's own people for just a
   minute or two.

   Do you not think, Beloved, that you and I have sometime tied Christ' s
   hands? You remember reading this sentence, "He could not do many mighty
   works there"? His hands were tied, but what tied them? Finish the
   quotation-- "because of their unbelief" Are there not many churches
   where they have tied the hands of Christ because they do not believe He
   can do any mighty works there? If the Lord Jesus Christ were to convert
   3000 people, at one time, under their pastor's preaching, what do you
   think the deacons and elders of that church would probably say? "Well,
   we never thought that we would see such excitement as this--to think
   that it should have come into our place of worship! We must be very
   careful. No doubt these people will be wanting to join the church. We
   shall have to summer them and winter them--and try them a good deal--we
   do not like such excitement." Ah, Sirs, you need not trouble yourselves
   with any such expectation! God is not likely to give such a blessing to
   you--He never sends His children where they are not wanted and, as a
   rule-- until He prepares His people to receive the blessing, the
   blessing will not come.

   Do you not think, also, that a minister may very easily tie the hands
   ofChrist?! am afraid I have done so, sometimes, without meaning to.
   Suppose I were to preach some very fine sermons--I do not do that, mark
   you--but just supposeI were to preach some very fine sermons that went
   right over people's heads? And what if a good old woman were to say, "I
   would not have the presumption to understand it, but it was very
   wonderful"--do you not think that I would be tying Christ's hands with
   garlands of flowers? And may we not come into the pulpit and talk a lot
   of theological jargon, and use words which are appropriate to us in the
   classroom, but quite misunderstood, or never understood at all by the
   mass of the people? Is not that tying Christ's hands?

   And when a preacher is what they call very "heavy"--by which is not
   meant that he is weighty--but dull! Or when he is very cold and
   heartless, and preaches as if he were working by the piece, and would
   be glad to get it all over--when that is the case, do you not think
   that Christ's hands are tied? Have you never heard sermons of which you
   might fairly say, "Well, if God were to convert anybody by that
   discourse, it certainly would be a miraculous kind of miracle--
   something altogether out of the common way of miracles, for He would be
   using an implement that was positively calculated to produce just the
   opposite effect--and making it accomplish His purposes of Grace"? I
   have heard such sermons, now and then, to my great sorrow. And you
   Sunday school teachers must take care that you do not so teach as
   really to be hindrances to your scholars rather than helps, for that is
   to tie the hands of Christ--and to lead Him into your class like
   Samson--bound to make sport for Philistines than to get honor to
   Himself. May we all have the Grace given to us to avoid such an evil as
   that!

   And do you not think, dear Friends, that we who love Christ bind His
   hands when we are cowardly and retiring, and never say a word for Him?
   How can the Gospel save sinners if it is never spoken to them? If you
   never introduce Christ to your companions--never put a little book on
   your friend's table, never try to say a word about the Savior to
   him--is not that tying Christ's hands? The next thing to having no
   Christ at all is for the church to be silent concerning Him! It is an
   awful thing to contemplate what it would be if there were no Savior,
   but what difference is it if there is a Savior, but men never hear of
   Him? Come, you very timid people, do not excuse yourselves any longer!
   "Oh, but," says one, "I always was of a very timid disposition." So was
   that soldier who was shot for running away in the day of battle! He was
   guilty of cowardice and was put to death for it. If you have been, up
   to the present time, binding the Master by your retiring spirit, you
   should at once come forward and declare what Christ has done for you,
   that, with unbound hands, He may do the same for others!

   And do you not think that whenever we are inconsistent in over
   conduct--especially in the family--we tie the hands of Christ? There is
   a father praying for his children that they may live before God. Five
   minutes later, listen to Him! Why, his boys hate the sight of him! He
   is such a tyrant to them that they cannot endure him. There is a
   mother, too, who is praying God to save her daughters. She goes
   upstairs and pleads very earnestly for them. Yet she comes down and
   lets them have whatever they ask for and never says a word by way of
   checking them in their evil courses! She acts like a female Eli to
   everyone of them--is not she tying the hands of Christ? What can she
   expect but that God, who works according to rules, will be more likely
   to let her unkind kindness influence her girls for evil, than to answer
   her prayers for their conversion? Let us be holy, dear Friends, for
   then we shall, by faith, see the holy God freely moving and working
   among us--and doing great deeds to His own Glory! So may He do, for our
   Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: BY JOHN 18:12-14,19-26; MARK14:53-65;
   LUKE22:63-71; 23:1.

   The passages which we are about to read from three of the Evangelists,
   make up a continuous narrative of our Lord's trial before the high
   priest.

   First, John gives us an account of our Savior's appearance before
   Annas, of which I need not say much, as I recently

   preached upon it. [Sermon #2820, Volume 49--CHRIST BEFORE ANNAS]

   John 18:12-14. Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews
   took Jesus, and bound Him, and led Him away to Annas first; for he was
   father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year Now
   Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient
   that one man should die for the people.

   19-21. The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His
   doctrine. Jesus answered Him, I spoke openly to the world; I ever
   taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, where the Jews always
   resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why ask you Me? Ask them
   which heard Me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I
   said. What an admirable answer that was! Whatever He might have said
   about His doctrine, they would have twisted into a ground of accusation
   against Him, so He simply said, "Mine has been public teaching, open to
   all. I was not found in holes and corners, secretly fomenting sedition.
   I spoke in the streets; I spoke in the synagogue; I spoke in the
   temple; ask those who heard Me to tell you what I said." What more
   convincing answer could He have given?

   22-24. And when He had thus spoken, one of the officers, who stood by,
   struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answer you the high
   priest so? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of
   the evil: but if well, why do you strike Me? Now Annas had sent Him
   bound unto Caiaphas the high priest So there we see Him standing--bound
   before Caiaphas--the acting high priest for that year. Now follow the
   narrative as given by Mark.

   Mark 14:53, 54. And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with
   him were assembled all the chiefpriests and the elders and the scribes.
   And Peter followed Him afar off, even into the palace of the high
   priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.
   We may regard what was said to Jesus, by Annas and Caiaphas, as a sort
   of unofficial preliminary examination and, meanwhile, their fellow
   conspirators were scouring the streets of Jerusalem to gather together
   the members of the Sanhedrim--and also searching among the slums in
   order to find witnesses who could be bribed to give false evidence
   against Jesus.

   55. And the chiefpriests and all the council sought for witness against
   Jesus to put Him to death; and found none. A pretty court that was,
   occupied in seeking for witnesses who might enable them to condemn to
   death a Prisoner against whom no charge had yet been formulated!

   56-59. For many bore false witness against Him, but their witness
   agreed not together And there arose certain ones and bore false witness
   against Him, saying, We heard Him say, I wiil destroy this temple that
   is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made
   without hands. But neither so did their witness agree together It was a
   rule that they should be examined separately, but there had not been
   time for them to be coached as to what they were to say, so one
   contradicted the other and it looked as if the trial must break down.

   60. And the high priest stood up in the midst Losing all patience, he
   stood up, in a furious rage at the way things were taking.

   60, 61. And asked Jesus, saying, Do You answer nothing? What is it
   which these witness say against You? But He held His peace and answered
   nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, and said unto Him, are You
   the Christ? The Son of the Blessed? This time, according to Matthew s
   account, the high priest said to Jesus, "I command You by the living
   God that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." Being
   thus, as it were, put upon His oath, the Savior felt compelled to
   answer. He could not remain silent when such a great and important
   question was at stake.

   62-65. And Jesus said, I am: and you shall see the Son of Man sitting
   at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds ofHeaven. Then the
   high priest tore his clothes, andsaid, What need we ofany further
   witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy: what do you think? And they
   all condemned Him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on Him,
   and to cover His face, and to buffet Him, and to said unto Him,
   Prophesy: and the servants didstrike Him with thepalms of their hands.
   Perhaps we have the same narrative in Luke. Possibly, however, he gives
   us a continuation of the sad story--it is difficult to say which is the
   case.

   Luke 22:63-71. And the men that held Jesus mocked Him, and struck Him.
   And when they had blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face, and
   asked Him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that struck You? And many other
   things blasphemously spoke they against Him. And as soon as it was day,
   the elders of the people and the chiefpriests and the scribes came
   together and led Him into their council, saying, Are You the Christ?
   Tell us. And He said unto them, If I tell you, you will not believe:
   and if I also ask you, you will not answer Me, nor let me go.
   Thereafter shall the Son of Man sit at the right hand of the power of
   God. Then they all said, Are You, then, the Son of God? And He said
   unto them, You say that I am. And they said, of what need we any
   further witness? For we ourselves have heard from His own mouth.

   Luke 23:1. And the whole multitude of them arose, and led Him unto
   Pilate.
     __________________________________________________________________

One Trophy for Two Exploits

   (No. 2823)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 22, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, IN THE
   SUMMER OF 1861.

   "For by You I have run through a troop; and by My God have Heaped over
   a wall" Psalm 18:29.

   IT sometimes puzzles the unenlightened Believer to find that the Psalms
   often relate both to David and to David's Lord. Many a young Believer
   has found himself quite bewildered when reading a Psalm--he has
   scarcely been able to make out how a passage could be true of both
   David and of the Lord Jesus Christ, "our superior King." This he cannot
   understand. But he who has grown far enough in Grace to understand the
   meaning of conformity to Christ sees that it is not without a high and
   heavenly design that the Holy Spirit has presented to us the experience
   of Jesus in that model of experience through which David passed.

   My dear Brothers and Sisters, we all know as a matter of doctrine, but
   we have not all proved as a matter of sweet experience that we are to
   be like our Head. We must be like He upon earth, like He despised and
   rejected by man in our generation. We must be like He, bearers of the
   Cross. Yes, we must not shrink, in any way from what is meant by being
   crucified with Him and buried with Him in order that we may know, in
   later days, how to rise with Him, how to ascend with Him and how to sit
   with Him upon His Throne. No, I will go further--even in this life the
   Believer is to have a conformity to Christ in His present glories, for
   we are even now raised up together with Christ and made to sit together
   in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! In Him, also, we have obtained the
   inheritance, for we are complete in Him who is the Head of all
   principality and power. There is such a conformity between Christ and
   His people that everything that is said of Christ may, in some measure,
   be said of His people. Whatever Christ has been, they should be or have
   been. Whatever He has done, He has done for them and they shall do the
   like, after some fashion or other. Whatever He has attained unto, they
   shall also enjoy. If He reigns, they shall reign, and if He is Heir of
   a universal monarchy, they shall also be kings and priests unto God and
   shall reign with Him forever and ever!

   Thus the riddle becomes solved, the parable is expounded, the dark
   saying of David's day shines clearly in Gospel light! You can see not
   only how it is possible that the same Psalm can relate to David and to
   David's Lord, but that there is a Divine mystery and a most rich and
   precious lesson couching beneath the fact that the Holy Spirit has
   chosen to set forth the doings, the sufferings and the triumphs of
   Christ under the figure or model of the doings, sufferings and
   victories of the son of Jesus! You will not, therefore, be surprised to
   hear me remark that this text has relation to Christ and the Believer,
   too. The doings and triumphs of Jesus must, accordingly, first engage
   our attention and, in the second place, observe that we have here a
   picture of the wondrous doings of faith when the Believer is enabled to
   triumph over every earthly ill and over every human opposition--"By you
   I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall."

   I. Let us take the first sentence WITH REGARD TO CHRIST.

   "By You I have run through a troop."How accurately Christ's enemies are
   here described! By their number they were a troop. The Captain of our
   salvation, although single-handed in the combat, had to fight with a
   legion of foes. It was not a mere duel. It is true there was but one on
   the Victor's side, but there was an innumerable host in antagonism to
   Him. Not only the Prince of Darkness, but all the powers and the
   principalities thereof came against Him. Not merely sin in the mass,
   but sin in daily temptations of every kind and sin of every shade and
   form--not only from earth a host of

   human despisers and human opponents, but a yet greater host from the
   lowest depths of Hell! These, from their number, are well compared to a
   troop.

   Nor does this expression merely describe their number, but also their
   discipline. They were "a troop." A crowd of men is a great number, but
   it is not a troop. A crowd may be far sooner put to route than a troop.
   A troop is a trained company that knows how to march and marshal
   itself--and to stand firm under attack. It was even so with Christ's
   enemies. They were a crowd and a mob, but they were also a troop,
   marshaled by that skillful and crafty leader, the Prince of Darkness.
   They stood firm and were well disciplined in a close-knit body--they
   were not broken. As though they were but one man, they sustained the
   shock of Christ's attack and marched against Him, hoping for victory.
   In such a character, His opponents still appear. However well you might
   discipline a crowd of men, yet they would not become a troop unless
   they also had been trained for warfare. A troop means a body of
   well-disciplined men, all of them prepared to fight and understanding
   how to make war. Thus, all Christ' s enemies were well trained. There
   was the archfiend of Hell, who, in hundreds of battles against the
   Lord's elect in the olden time, had gained a thorough knowledge of all
   the weak points of manhood and understood how to temper his attack--and
   wherein lay the greatest chances of victory. After him, came all the
   fiends of the Pit--and these were all well exercised, each of them
   mighty, of giant stature like Goliath--all of them strong to do great
   exploits with any man less than God, however mighty that man might be!

   And as for sin, was it not a mighty thing? Were not our sins, all of
   them, mighty to destroy? The least one among the sins that attacked
   Christ would have been sufficient to destroy the human race and yet
   there were tens of thousands of these--well disciplined, ranged in
   order--and all thoroughly prepared for battle. All these came on in
   dread array against our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was a troop! I
   have not exaggerated this description, for Calvin translates this term,
   "a wedge," for, in his day it was customary, in battle, for the
   soldiers to form themselves into a wedge-shape, so that when they
   attacked the enemy, the first man made an opening, though he fell. The
   next two advanced and then after them the three, and as the wedge
   widened, it broke the ranks of the enemy. So it seems as though the
   Holy Spirit would here describe the regular and well-directed attack
   which the enemy of man' s soul made upon Christ. He came against him in
   settled order. It was no rush of some wild Tartar host against the
   Savior--it was a well arranged and well-regulated attack--and yet,
   glory be to His name, He broke through the troop and ran through them
   more than a conqueror!

   Another old and eminent commentator translates the term, "troop," by
   the old Greek term, "a phalanx," to show again how strong, how mighty,
   how great and powerful were the enemies of Christ. It will often be of
   excellent use to us, for the stimulation of our faith and for the
   excitement of our gratitude, if we remember the might of the enemies of
   Christ. When we undervalue the strength of His enemies, we are apt to
   under-estimate His Omnipotence. We must go through the ranks of His
   foes and look His ghastly opponents in the face. We must march through
   the long lines of our sins and look at the hideous monsters--and see
   how mighty they are and how powerless all human strength would have
   been to resist them. And then we shall learn, in an ample measure, to
   estimate the might and the majesty of the glorious Son of God when all
   unarmed and unassisted, He ran through the troop and put them all to
   the rout!

   Several different eminent expositors of God's Word give other
   interpretations of this sentence, each suggesting a fresh meaning and
   helping to bring out that which is certainly true, if not the precise
   meaning. One good translator says this verse might be rendered, "By you
   I have run to a troop," and takes this to be the sense. Our Savior is
   represented to us as not waiting till His enemies came to Him, but
   running to them--willingly and voluntarily resigning Himself to their
   attack. He did not wait till Judas came to the upper room and salute
   Him in the chamber as He sat at supper. Neither did He tarry on His
   knees in that terrible agony of His in the olive grove, but He went
   forth to meet Judas. Judas had come forth with swords and with staves
   to take Him as a thief, but He sought not to make His escape. "Jesus
   went forth and said unto them, Whom do you seek?" Thus did He manifest
   both His willingness to undertake our redemption and also His courage
   in facing the foe. There was, at one time, a human fear which seemed as
   if it would hold Him back from the battle, when He said, "O My Father,
   if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me." But this once expressed,
   the Holy One of Israel anointed Him with fresh courage and to the
   battle He went with quick but majestic steps! He would not wait till
   they rushed on Him, but He would take the initiative and begin the
   fight. See the conquering Hero rush to the fight and dash through the
   troop! And look what Divine mercy, what holy courage is here found in
   the Lord Jesus Christ--that He ran to our enemies!

   But our version has it, "I have run through a troop," and this is also
   exceedingly accurate, if you couple with it the idea which you will
   find in the margin of your Bibles--"By You have I broken through a
   troop." Christ made a dash at His foes. They stood firm, as if they
   would not flinch before Him, but His terrible right hand soon found for
   Him a way. They imagined, when His hands were nailed to the Cross, that
   He was now powerless, but in weakness was He strong! The bowing of His
   head, which they perhaps thought to be the symbol of His defeat, was
   but the symbol of His victory and, in dying, He conquered! In suffering
   He overcame. Every wound that He received was a deathblow to His
   enemies and every pang that tore His heart was as when a lion tears the
   prey and Christ, Himself, was tearing them when they thought that they
   were tearing Him! He ran through a troop.

   It will do your souls good if you have imagination enough to picture
   Christ running through this troop. How comparatively short were His
   sufferings! Compare them with the eternal weight of punishment and
   misery which we ought to have endured. What a stride was that which
   Jesus took when He marched right through His enemies and laid them
   right and left, and gained to Himself a glorious victory! Samson, when
   he grasped the jawbone of an ass, slew his thousand men and said, "With
   the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I
   slain a thousand men." He did it all in haste and then threw away the
   jawbone, as if it were but little he had done. And even so, our
   mightier Samson, meeting with the hosts of sin, death and Hell, laid
   them all in heaps and then, crying out, "It is finished," He seemed as
   strong and mighty as if He had not endured the fatigues of the fight,
   or suffered the horrors of death and was ready, if they required it, to
   meet them all again and give them another defeat!

   There is yet another version--"By You I have run after a troop." After
   our Savior had met and fought with His antagonists and conquered them,
   they fled. But He pursued them. He must not simply defeat them but take
   them prisoners. There was Old Captivity. You know his name. He had been
   the oppressor of the human race for many and many a day-- and when
   Christ routed him, he fled. But Jesus pursued him and, binding him in
   adamantine chains, "He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
   He pursued the troop and brought back old Satan in chains, bound him in
   fetters, slew grim Death and ground his iron limbs to powder--and left
   his enemies no more at large to wander where they would, but subject to
   His Divine power and to His Omnipotent sway. He ran after a troop and
   took them prisoners.

   Perhaps, however, the most striking thing in our text is the
   combination of those two little words, "by You." What? Did not Christ
   fight and obtain the victory by His own innate strength? Did not the
   Son of God, the Redeemer, find strength enough within Himself to do all
   that was necessary for us? It would not be heterodoxy if I were to
   assert that it was so. Indeed, it is clearly pointed out to us in the
   fact that, as the Servant of God and as our Redeemer, He is continually
   spoken of as being strengthened, assisted and animated by His Father
   and the Holy Spirit. Especially will you notice this in the Gospel
   according to Mark. The Evangelist Mark speaks of Christ, through the
   whole of his Book, as a Servant. Each of the Evangelists has a distinct
   view of Christ. Matthew speaks of Him as a King, Mark as a Servant,
   Luke as a Man and John as God. Now, in reading through Mark, you will
   observe, if you take the trouble to read it carefully, the recurrence
   of such phrases as this, "And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the
   wilderness." This follows close on His Baptism, when the Holy Spirit
   descended on Him as a dove. And then, when He came up to Nazareth, we
   read that, as a Servant, Christ needed anointing as well as any other.
   So, when He begins to preach, His text is, "The Spirit of the Lord is
   upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor;
   He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted." Now, I take it that this is
   a very eminent instance of the condescension of our Divine Master, that
   He in all things was made like unto His brethren and, as they are
   utterly powerless without the Holy Spirit, and without the Father's
   drawing, can do nothing, so Jesus Christ did, as it were, divest
   Himself of His own Divine Power and, as our Brother, He fraternized
   even with our infirmities. Thus He was strengthened, helped and
   assisted by His Father and by the Holy Spirit. Hence, it is strictly
   accurate to remark that even Christ, Himself, could subscribe to this
   sentence, "By You I have run through a troop."

   Does this seem to you, Beloved, to lower your view of the Person of
   Christ? At first sight it may seem so. But think again--there is much
   rich consolation here. O my Soul, learn that you have not only God the
   Son to be your Helper, but that you have God the Father and God the
   Spirit also! Oh, it is sweet to see that in Redemption, itself, where
   we are too apt, with our poor blind eyes, to see but one Person of the
   Trinity--in Redemption, itself, the Triune Jehovah was engaged! If this
   is not the view of the work of Redemption which is commonly taken, I am
   sure it is Scriptural. It is true that the Son paid the penalty and
   endured the agony. But, still, it was His Father who, while smiting Him
   with one

   hand, sustained Him with the other. And it was the Spirit who, wrapping
   Him about with zeal as with a cloak and inflaming His soul with Divine
   ardor, enabled Him to dash through His enemies and become more than a
   conqueror! This sweetens Redemption to me. The Father and the Holy
   Spirit are also engaged and interested on my behalf. Our Redeemer is
   the Holy One of Israel--the Lord of Hosts is His name! We may say of
   the three Persons of the Divine Trinity that each of these is our
   Redeemer because they have all brought to its full completion the grand
   work of our redemption from the power of sin, death and Hell. "By You
   have I run through a troop." My Soul, lift up your eyes before you turn
   from this passage and see all your sins forgiven in the Person of
   Christ. Look here and behold the old dragon's head broken! See Death
   pierced through with one of his own shafts. See how the old serpent
   drags along his mangled length, writhing in his agony, for the Lord
   Jehovah is our strength and our song. He also has become our salvation
   and in Him, and through Him and by Him, we have broken through a troop
   and are more than conquerors!

   Let us now turn to the second sentence, "By My God have I leaped over a
   wall."How is this to be understood? I think that David, if we take this
   as alluding to David, is here described as having stormed and taken
   some strongly-armed and well-walled city. He had, by the power of God,
   taken the strong place from the inhabitants of Jebus and so he had
   leaped over a wall. But we are not now speaking of David, but of
   Christ. In what sense can we say that Jesus Christ has leaped over a
   wall? I must be allowed to be figurative for a few minutes. The people
   of the Lord had become the slaves of Satan and, in order that they
   might never more escape from his power, he had put them into his
   stronghold and had walled them round about that they might be his
   perpetual captives.

   There was, first of all, the tremendous bulwark of sin gathering
   strength from the Law of God, with its ten massive towers mounted with
   ten hundred pieces of ordnance, in the shape of threats of destruction!
   This wall was so high that no human being has ever been able to scale
   it--and so terrible that even the Omnipotence of God had to be
   exercised before it could be removed. Next to this there was a second
   rampart--it was the rampart of diabolical insinuation and Satanic
   suggestion. Satan had not only allowed the Law to stand so as to keep
   the soul in despair, but had added to this his own determination that
   he would not leave a stone unturned might he but keep the human race in
   his own power. Thus Hell made the second rampart, while it seemed as if
   Heaven had built the first. Outside thereof was a deep ditch and then
   another mound, called human depravity. This, as we must observe, was as
   difficult to be stormed as either of the others. Man was desperately
   set on mischief. He would be a sinner, let what might be said to him or
   done for him. He would seek greedily with both hands to work out his
   own destruction and that love of destruction, which was in his heart,
   constituted one of the great barriers to his salvation.

   Christ Jesus came and He leaped over all these walls! He came and in
   your Redemption He broke through the Law. No, He did not break through
   it--He mounted it, He scaled it! The Law of God stands, to this day, as
   fast and firm as ever--not a stone has been taken down, not one of its
   castles has been dismantled--there it stands in all its awful majesty,
   but Christ leaped over this. He paid the penalty, endured the wrath and
   so He took His people out of the first ward of the Law. Whereas, after
   this came a second--the wall of Satan's determination to keep them
   prisoners. Christ, our Lord and Master, dashed this into a thousand
   pieces, springing the tremendous mine of His Covenant purposes and
   throwing the whole mass into the air--and there it was destroyed, once
   and for all--no more to hold the people of God in captivity and
   bondage!

   The last wall which He had to leap in order to get His people
   thoroughly free and bring them out of the stronghold of sin and Satan,
   was the wall of their own depravity. This, indeed, was hard work to
   storm. Many of His ministers went up to the stronghold and tried to
   storm it, but they came away defeated. They found that it was too
   strong for all human battering-rams. They hammered at it with all their
   might, but there it stood, resisting the shock and seeming to gather
   strength from every blow that was meant to shake it. But, at last,
   Jesus came, and using nothing but His Cross as the most powerful
   battering-ram, He shook the wall of our depravity, made a breach,
   entered it and let His people out into that liberty wherewith He had
   made them free! Oh, how sweet it is to think of Christ thus leaping
   over the walls! He would have His people. He came down to earth and was
   with them in all their misery and took upon Him all their sin. He
   determined to enter in and save them from the dungeon. He made His own
   escape and brought them with Him. He not only came, Himself, through
   sin, and death, and Hell, triumphant, but brought all His children on
   His shoulders, as AEneas did his old father Anchises. The whole
   generation of the elect was redeemed in that hour when Christ leaped
   over every wall!

   Thus have I tried to expound to you the text as relating to the Person
   of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I would only repeat once
   more the remark that in this verse, it is said, "By My God have I done
   it." As Mediator, in His official capacity, and in His service for our
   redemption, He received the strengthening aid of His Divine Father and
   He could truly say, "By My God have I leaped over a wall." It will do
   you good, O Believer, if you will often stay and look at your Savior
   accomplishing all His triumphs! O my Soul, what would you have done if
   He had not broken through a troop, if He had not routed your foes?
   Where would you have been? You would at this hour have been the captive
   of sin death and Hell. All your sins would now be besetting you,
   howling in your ear for vengeance. Satan, with all the hosts of Hell,
   would be now guarding you, determining that you should never escape.
   Oh, how joyous is this fact, that Christ has once and for all routed
   them and now we are secure! Then, my Soul, what do you think, what
   would you have done if He had not leaped over a wall? You would have
   been dead this day, shut in within the rampart of your own hard heart,
   or within the stronghold of Satan and with the mighty fiends of Hell
   you would have been trebly guarded and trebly enslaved. Now your
   fetters are all broken, as "a monument of Grace, a sinner saved by
   blood," lift up your heart, and your hands, and your voice, and shout
   for joy and gladness, "He has broken the gates of brass, and cut the
   bars of iron in sunder." He has leaped over a wall and brought you out
   of your prison-house!

   II. This brings me now to the second part of my discourse and I must
   ask your patience and pray again for the assistance of the Holy Spirit
   that in this, especially, Christ's people may find a word of
   edification. We are now to regard our text as being THE LANGUAGE OF THE
   BELIEVER. He can say, "By You I have run through a troop; and by my God
   have I leaped over a wall."

   I shall divide my text after another fashion on this second point. I
   shall note, first, with regard to the Believer, how varied are his
   trials! Sometimes it is a troop of enemies. At another time, a wall of
   difficulties. When a man has one labor to accomplish, he soon begins to
   be skillful in it. If he is to be a soldier and fight a troop, at
   length he learns how to get the victory. But, suppose that his labors
   are varied--after fighting a troop, he has to go clambering over a
   wall--then you will see the critical situations by which he is
   embarrassed. Now, this aptly pictures the position of God's people--
   the Spirit is continually varying our trials. There are no one day' s
   trials that are exactly like the trials of another day. We are not
   called to one undeviating temptation, or else it would cease to have
   its force, but the temptations are erratic--the darts are shot from
   different directions and the stones come from quite opposite quarters.

   This is well set out in one of the Lord's parables. He speaks thus of
   the trials of the righteous--There was a certain wise man who built his
   house upon a rock, and the rains descended--trials from above. And the
   floods came--trials from beneath. The winds blew--mysterious trials
   from every quarter--and they all beat upon that house and it fell not.
   Trials of every shape attend the followers of the Lamb. The archers
   come against us and we repel their fiery darts. The company of
   swordsmen come and we rebuke them. And then the slingers sling their
   stones against us and then the company of spearmen, so that we must be
   armed at all points and ready for every kind of attack. Our Savior in
   this was like to us. He says to us in one place, "Dogs have compassed
   Me"--that was bad enough. "Strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round."
   That was not all, "they gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening
   and a roaring lion." Only fancy that! A man has to fight with dogs and
   then with bulls--and then with lions--and yet, this is just the
   Christian's state!

   We cannot guess, from the trials of the past, what will be the trials
   of the future. We think it is to be all fighting, but we are mistaken.
   Some part of it is to be climbing over this or that wall. I have known
   God's people, sometimes, try to break through a wall and to climb over
   a troop. This is very absurd. If they had a troop of spiritual enemies,
   they have tried to climb over them and endeavor to escape them. At
   another time, they have had a difficult trial, like a wall, and they
   have been so headstrong that they must try to go through it. Ah, we
   have much to learn. Some things we must fight through, others we must
   climb over. It is not always right for the child of God to let his
   courage get the better of his discretion. Let him have courage for the
   troop, to run through them, and discretion for the wall, and not try to
   run through that, or he will break himself in pieces. There are
   exercises and trials in various ways. The Believer's trials, how varied
   they are!

   And, next to this, how unflinching is his faith! There is the troop, he
   runs through them. There is the wall, he leaps over it. He finds that
   his faith is sufficient for every emergency. When his God is with him,
   there is no difficulty too great for him. He does not stop to
   deliberate. As for the troop, he runs through that and then there is
   the wall at the other end--he takes a leap and is over that! So, when
   God strengthens our faith, when the Holy One of Israel is with us and
   the

   might of Omnipotence girds our loins, difficulties are only the healthy
   exercises of our faith! God will exercise faith. There is not a single
   grain of faith in the breast of any living Believer that is not
   exercised. God will not allow it to sleep--a sleeping faith, a dormant
   faith--I do not believe such a thing exists! If you have faith, my
   Brother, expect labor, for, as surely as God gives faith, He will put
   it into the gymnasium and make it exercise itself--sometimes dashing at
   a troop and then trying its limbs another way, no more to exercise its
   arm in fighting, but its legs in climbing over a wall. We have all
   sorts of exercises to keep our faith in order that we may be ready for
   any emergency, whatever it may be. Some men seem as if they only had to
   meet one form of trial. They remind me of the Indian fakir--he holds
   his arm straight up--that is the triumph of his strength! Now God does
   not exercise a Believer's limbs till they grow stiff, but He exercises
   them in every way, that they may become supple, so that, come what may,
   he is ready to achieve any exploit.

   With faith, how easy all exploits become! When we have no faith, then
   to fight with enemies and overcome difficulties is hard work, indeed,
   but when we have faith, oh, how easy our victories! What does the
   Believer do? There is a troop--well, he runs faith, then, to fight with
   enemies and overcome difficulties. There is a hard wall, what about
   that? He leaps over it! It is amazing how easy life becomes when a man
   has faith. Does faith diminish difficulties? Oh, no, it increases them,
   but it also increases our strength to overcome them. If you have faith,
   you shall have trials, but you shall do great exploits, endure great
   privations and get triumphant victories! Have you ever seen a man made
   mighty through God? Have you ever seen him in an hour of desertion? He
   goes out, like Samson, to meet the Philistines. "Oh," he says, "I will
   shake myself as at other times." But his locks have been shorn and when
   the cry is raised, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson," he shakes
   his limbs with vast surprise, makes a feeble fight and loses his eyes.
   They are put out, and he returns in blindness.

   But, when God is with him, see what the Believer can do! They have
   woven the seven locks of his head with a web, and he just carries the
   loom away. Soon they bind him with seven green ropes that have never
   been dried, but he breaks them as easily as fire burns twigs. All
   things are possible, to him that believes--no, not only possible--but
   easy when God is with him! He laughs at impossibilities and says it
   shall be done, for faith can do all things. "By You I have run through
   a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall."

   And yet, though the victories of faith are thus easy, we must call to
   mind that these victories always are to be traced to a Divine source.
   That man who takes the credit of his victories to himself has no faith,
   for faith is one of the self-denying Graces. Faith called a parliament
   of all the Graces and passed a self-denying ordinance. It decreed that
   whatever any of the graces did, it should give all the glory of it to
   God. Christ once upon a time took the crown off His head and put it on
   the head of Faith. "When was that?" you ask. Why, Christ healed the
   poor woman and, therefore, it was He who deserved the crown, but, He
   said, "Your faith has saved you, go and sin no more." He thus put the
   crown upon Faith. What was the reason? Why, because Faith always puts
   its crown on the head of Christ! True faith never wears its own crown.
   It says, "Not unto me, Lord, but unto Your name be all the glory." This
   is the reason why God has selected Faith to achieve such mighty
   victories, because Faith will not allow the glory or honor to cleave to
   its own wings, but shakes off all self-praise, just as Paul shook off
   the viper into the fire. Faith says, "No, no, give me not thanks, or
   praise, or honor. I have done nothing." Faith will have it not only
   that it does nothing, but that Christ, who dwells in it, has done it
   all.

   And now, my dear Friends, there is one consolation with which I will
   close this sermon. The Psalmist says, "By You I have run through a
   troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall." I think, if he were
   here at this time, he would permit me to add, "and by my God shallI
   leap over a wall, and by You shalll break through many a troop." What
   faith has done once, by its God, it can do again. We have met Satan
   once in the battlefield and when he chooses to attack us once more,
   that old Jerusalem blade that once gave him a bitter blow, is ready to
   give him another! That shield, which once caught his fiery darts, is
   still unbroken and still prepared to receive another shower of them
   when he chooses to hurl them! Martin Luther, you know, often used to
   defy Satan to battle. I care not to do that, but he used to say, in his
   strange, quaint way, "I often laugh at Satan and there is nothing makes
   him as angry as when I attack him to his face and tell him that,
   through God, I am more than a match for him. I tell him to do his worst
   and yet I will beat him. And I tell him to put forth his fury and yet I
   will overcome him." This would be presumption if done in our own
   strength. It is only faith in the Grace of God that can enable us to
   say so. He that has made God his refuge need fear no storm, but, just
   as sometimes in Christmas weather, the wind and snow and storm outside
   make the family fire seem warmer, and the family

   circle seem happier, so the trials and temptations of Satan do
   sometimes seem to add to the very peace and happiness of the true
   Believer while he sits wrapped up in the mantle of godly confidence--

   "Let cares like a wild deluge come, And storm of sorrow fall. May I but
   safely reach my home, My God, my Heaven, my All."

   And when we know that we shall reach our Home, even the storms or the
   tempests matter but little. Come, poor Believer, pluck up your courage!
   I have tried to give you some strong meat--feed upon it. As the Lord
   Jesus Christ had a troop to face and broke through them, so shall you!
   Even as He overcame, so shall you overcome. Did He enter Heaven and is
   there a long cloud of witnesses streaming in behind Him--everyone a
   warrior? So, if you are His warrior, you shall be one of that long
   stream! You, also, shall wear a crown and wave the palm, and sing a
   song of victory, and talk of triumph purchased through the blood of and
   achieved through faith in the Lamb!

   And, dear Friends, what may we expect if we do this? What may the
   fainting ones expect if the power of God rests upon them? They may
   expect that when "the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young
   men shall utterly fall," their power--the power that they have received
   from God--shall become the more conspicuous. The promise is, "They that
   wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
   wings as eagles." That is the first thing we shall do. We who were
   faint and feeble and lying among the pots shall be, "as the wings of a
   dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold," and we
   shall mount above the clouds in an ecstasy of holy joy! Power will be
   given us to look the sun in the face even as the mighty eagle does.

   But we shall do more than that--"They shall run, and not be weary."
   "But," you say, "running is not so noble an action as flying." That is
   what you think--that is what young people naturally think, for they are
   anxious to fly high-- but, as you grow in Grace, you do not care so
   much for flying. You are content to move more soberly here below. You
   run at a quick pace and if God's power is really resting upon you, you
   are not weary.

   But you shall advance yet another stage, for the promise ends
   thus--"They shall walk, and not faint." "But," asks someone, "is that
   advancing--going from running to walking?" Yes, it is. You do not read
   much in the Bible about running with God, but you do read a good deal
   about walking with God. That expression means that you go at a good
   steady pace in which a man may continue all his life. It is the lad who
   runs in his play, but older people, who are attending to the business
   of life, are not runners, but walkers--and they get over the ground at
   a good solid pace. Now, if the power of God rests upon us, we shall
   sometimes take the eagle's flight--away we shall go, far beyond the
   experience of ordinary Christians and get up there among the
   sublimities. But, if God's power is upon us, we shall also be eager to
   be employed in His service and shall rush forward with holy impetuosity
   and flaming zeal. But, better still, if the power of God is on us, we
   shall learn how to plod on in our daily life in obedience to the will
   of God, whether it is in the domestic circle, in the common round of
   business, or in the service of the Lord. We shall, in fact, make our
   whole life a continual progress towards Heaven through the Grace and
   power of God. So may it be to each one of you and in your experience
   may the Lord fulfill His ancient word, "He gives power to the faint,"
   for His dear Son's sake!

   I must pause one moment while I address myself to those who know
   nothing of God and nothing of Christ. Well, my Hearers, you have a
   troop, too, and you have your walls of difficulty. But you have no God
   to help you! Whatever trials the Believer has, he has a God to fly to.
   "Look," said a poor woman to a lady who called to see her, "look,
   ma'am, I'll show you all I' m worth. Do you see that cupboard, ma' am?
   Look in." "Yes," said the lady, who looked, and saw but little, "but
   there is nothing in it but a dry crust." "Well," continued the woman,
   "do you see this chest?" "Yes, I see it, but it is empty," was the
   reply. "Well," she said, "that is all I am worth, ma'am, but I have not
   a doubt or fear with regard to my temporal affairs. My God is so good
   that I can still live without doubts and fears." She knew what it was
   to break through a troop and leap over a wall!

   Now, perhaps there are some of you with cupboards just as empty as that
   poor woman's--but you cannot add, "I have a God to go to." O miserable
   creature--miserable if you are rich, thrice miserable if you are
   poor--to be like a packhorse in this life, carrying a heavy burden and
   then not to be unloaded at the grave, but to have a double burden laid
   upon you! O poor men and women without Christ--with the few comforts
   which you have in this life, with its many privations, with its hunger,
   thirst and nakedness, oh, that you should not have a better world to go
   to! Above all, it seems a

   miserable thing that you should go through poverty here to a place
   where a drop of water shall be denied you to cool your burning tongue!
   If Christ is precious to the rich on earth, you must think that there
   is a peculiar sort of relish with which the poor man feeds on the Bread
   of Heaven!

   "But," you ask, "may I not have a hope of Heaven?" Assuredly, my
   Friend. Do you long for Christ at this moment? Then He longs for you!
   Do you desire to have Him? Then He gives you that desire! Come to Him,
   for the message of the Gospel is, "Whosoever will, let him take the
   water of life freely."--

   "None are excluded hence but those Who do themselves exclude."

   The invitation is free. May many accept it! Oh, that some of you may be
   led to go to your houses, now, and on your knees ask for forgiveness of
   sin and seek that you may become the children of God through faith in
   the precious blood once shed for many for the remission of sins! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

Mocked of the Soldiers

   (No. 2824)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 29, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE
   3, 1883.

   "And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His
   head, and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him,
   and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews" Matthew 27:29.

   IT is a shameful spectacle where cruelty uses its keenest instrument to
   cut, not into the flesh, but into the very spirit, for scorn, contempt,
   insult and ridicule, are as painful to the mind and heart as a scourge
   is to the body--and they cut like the sharpest lance. These Roman
   soldiers were a rough body of men--fierce, courageous, terrible in
   battle, uncouth, untaught, uncivilized, little better than barbarians.
   And when they had this unique King in their power, they made the most
   of their opportunity to torment Him. Oh, how they laughed to think that
   He should call Himself a King--this poor, emaciated creature who looked
   as if He would faint and die in their hands--whose blessed visage was
   marred more than that of any of the sons of men! It must have seemed to
   them a sorry jest that He should be a rival to imperial Caesar, so they
   said, "If He is a King, let us clothe Him with royal purple," and they
   flung over His shoulders a soldier's tunic. "As He is a King, let us
   plait Him a crown," and they made it of thorns. Then they bowed the
   knee in mock homage to the Man whom His own people despised, whom even
   the mob rejected and whom the chief men of the nation abhorred. It
   seemed to them that He was such a poor, miserable, dejected Creature
   that all they could do was to make fun of Him and treat Him as the butt
   for their utmost ridicule.

   These Roman soldiers had in them, as men, a spirit which I sometimes
   grieve to see in boys at this present day. That same cruel spirit that
   will torture a bird or a beetle, or hunt a dog or cat simply because it
   looks miserable and because it is in their power--that was the sort of
   spirit that was in these soldiers. They had never been taught to avoid
   cruelty. No, cruelty was the element in which they lived. It was worked
   into their very being! It was their recreation. Their grandest holiday
   was to go and sit in those tiers of seats at the Coliseum, or at some
   provincial amphitheatre and watch lions contending with men, or wild
   beasts tearing one another in pieces. They were trained and accustomed
   to cruelty--they seemed to have been suckled upon blood and to have
   been fed on such food as made them capable of the utmost cruelty-- and,
   therefore, when Christ was in their hands, He was in a sorry case,
   indeed. They called together the whole band and put a purple robe upon
   Him and a crown of thorns upon His head, and a reed in His right hand.
   And they bowed their knees before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail,
   King of the Jews!" Then they spat upon Him and took the reed from His
   hand, and struck Him on the head.

   Now we will leave those Roman soldiers and the Jews that had a hand in
   persecuting Him, for he that delivered Him unto them had committed even
   greater sin. Neither Pilate nor his legionaries were the chief
   criminals at that time, as we well know. From this incident in our
   Lord's life, I think we may learn, first, lessons for the heart. And,
   secondly, lessons for the conscience.

   I. First, we have here A SET OF LESSONS FOR OUR HEART.

   Beloved, we begin with this one. Where I see the great Substitute for
   sinners put to such shame, scorn and ridicule, my heart says to itself,
   "See what sin deserves?" There is nothing in the world that more richly
   deserves to be despised, abhorred, condemned, than sin! If we look at
   it aright, we shall see that it is the most abominable thing, the most
   shameful thing in the whole universe. Of all the things that ever were,
   this is the thing which most of all deserves to be loathed

   and spurned. It is not a thing of God's creating, remember--it is an
   abortion--a phantom of the night which plucked a host of angels from
   their thrones in Heaven, drove our first parents out of Paradise and
   brought upon us unnumbered miseries.

   Think, for a minute, what sin is, and you will see that it deserves
   ridicule for its folly. What is sin? It is rebellion against the
   Omnipotent, a revolt against the Almighty. What utter folly that is!
   Who shall hurl himself against the bosses of Jehovah's buckler and not
   be dashed in pieces? Who shall rush upon the point of His spear and
   hope to vanquish Him? Laugh to scorn such folly as that! Under that
   aspect, sin is the apex of folly, the climax of absurdity--for what
   power can ever stand up against God and win the day?

   But, further, sin deserves to be scorned because it is a wanton attack
   upon One who is full of goodness, justice and truth. Note that evil
   thing that assails the Most High and brand it so that the mark of the
   iron shall abide on it forever! Set it up in the public pillory and let
   all true hearts and hands hurl scorn upon it for having disobeyed the
   perfect Law of God, angered the generous Creator and Preserver of men,
   done despite to Eternal Love and infinite damage to the best interests
   of the human race! It is a ridiculous thing because it is fruitless and
   must end in being defeated. It is a shameful thing because of its
   wanton, malicious, unprovoked attack upon God. If you will look back a
   little and consider what sin attempted to do, you will see the reason
   why it should be shamed for its audacity. "You shall be as gods," said
   he who was the mouthpiece of sin--but are we, by nature, like gods? Are
   we not more like devils? And he who uttered that lie-- even Satan--did
   he succeed as he expected when he dared to rebel against his Creator?
   See how his former glory has vanished! How are you fallen from Heaven,
   O Lucifer, son of the morning, and how is your brightness quenched in
   everlasting night! Yet sin, speaking through the lips of Satan, talked
   about being a king and of making all of us kings--but it has only
   degraded us to the dunghill and to utter beggary! Yes, to worse than
   that--to death and Hell! What spitting, sin deserves! If it is to be
   crowned, let it be crowned with thorns! Bow not your knee to it, but
   pour upon it all the scorn you can! Every true and honest heart in
   Heaven, among the angels and the glorified spirits, and on earth, among
   sanctified men and women, must look upon sin as a thing worthy of
   unspeakable contempt. May God make sin as contemptible in our sight as
   Christ appeared to be to the Roman soldiers! May we scoff at its
   temptations. May we scorn its proffered rewards. And may we never bow
   our hearts to it in any degree whatever, since God has set us free from
   its accursed thralldom!

   That is the first lesson for our hearts to learn from the mockery of
   our Savior by the soldiers--see what a contemptible thing sin is.

   Learn, next, my dear Brothers and Sisters, how low our glorious
   Substitute stooped for our sake. In Him was no sin either of nature or
   of act. He was pure, entirely without spot before God, Himself, yet, as
   our Representative, He took our sin upon Himself. "He was made sin for
   us," says the Scripture most emphatically. And, inasmuch as He was
   regarded as being the sinner, though in Him was no sin, it naturally
   followed that He should become the object of contempt. But what a
   wonder that it should be so! He, who created all things by the word of
   His power and by whom all things consist--He who counted it not robbery
   (not a thing to be grasped) to be equal with God--sits in an old chair
   to be made a mimic king and to be mocked and spat upon! All other
   miracles put together are not equal to this miracle! This one rises
   above them all and out-miracles all miracles--that God, Himself, having
   espoused our cause and assumed our Nature, should deign to stoop to
   such a depth of scorn as this!

   Though myriads of holy angels adored Him, though they would have gladly
   left their high estate in Heaven to smite His foes and set Him free, He
   voluntarily subjected Himself to all the ignominy that I have
   described--and much more which is utterly indescribable--for who knows
   what things were said and done in that rough guard-room which holy pens
   could not record, or what foul jests were made, and what obscene
   remarks were uttered, which were even more shocking to Christ than the
   filthy spit which ran down His blessed cheeks in that time of shameful
   mockery? Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, you cannot imagine how low your
   Lord stooped on your account! When I hear any say that they have been
   so slandered for His sake that they cannot endure it, I have wished
   that they knew what He endured on their account. If we stood in the
   pillory and all mankind hooted at us for a million million years, it
   would be as nothing compared with the wondrous condescension of Him who
   is God Over All, blessed forever, stooping as He did for our sake!

   That is the second lesson for our hearts to learn.

   Then let me say to you very tenderly, wishing that some other voice
   could speak of it more effectively--see how your Redeemer loved you.
   You know that when Christ stood by the grave of Lazarus and wept, the
   Jews said, "Behold how He loved him!" Ah, but look at Him there among
   those Roman soldiers--despised, rejected, insulted, ridiculed! And then
   let me say to you, "Behold how He loved us--you and me--and all His
   people!" In such a case I might quote the words of John, "Behold, what
   manner of love!" But this love of Jesus is beyond all manner and
   measure of which we can have any conception. If I were to take all our
   love to Him and heap it up like a vast mountain. If I were to gather
   all the members of the one Church of Christ on earth and bid them empty
   their hearts, and then fetched out of Heaven the myriads of redeemed
   and perfected spirits before the Throne of God, and they added all
   their heart's love. And if I could collect all the love that ever has
   been and that ever shall be throughout eternity in all the saints--all
   that would be but as a drop in a bucket compared with the boundless,
   fathomless love of Christ to us that brought Him down so low as to be
   the object of the scorn and derision of these wicked men for our sake!
   So, Beloved, from this sad scene let us learn how greatly Jesus loved
   us and let each one of us, in return, love Him with all our heart.

   I cannot leave this set of lessons for your heart without giving you
   one more. That is, see the grand facts behind the scorn. I do
   believe--I cannot help believing--that our blessed Master, when He was
   in the hands of those cruel soldiers and they crowned Him with thorns,
   bowed before Him in mock reverence and insulted Him in every possible
   way, all the while looked behind the curtain of the visible
   circumstances and saw that the heartless pantomime--no, tragedy--only
   partially hid the Divine reality, for He was a King, even then, and He
   had a Throne and that crown of thorns was the emblem of the diadem of
   universal sovereignty that shall, in due season, adorn His blessed
   brow. That reed was to Him a type of the scepter which He shall yet
   wield as King of kings and Lord of lords. And when they said, "Hail,
   King of the Jews!" He heard, behind that mocking cry, the triumphant
   note of His future Glory, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! the Lord
   God Omnipotent reigns! And He shall reign forever and ever!" For when
   they mockingly bowed the knee to Him, He saw all nations really bowing
   before Him and His enemies licking the dust at His feet.

   Our Savior knew that these ribald soldiers, unconsciously to
   themselves, were setting before Him pictures of the great reward of His
   soul-travail. Let us not be discouraged if we have to endure anything
   of the same sort as our Lord suffered. He was not discouraged, but
   remained steadfast through it all. Mockery is the unintentional homage
   which falsehood pays to truth. Scorn is the unconscious praise which
   sin gives to holiness. What higher tribute could these soldiers give to
   Christ than to spit upon Him? If Christ had received honor from such
   men, there would have been no honor in it to Him. You know how even a
   heathen moralist, when they said to him, "So-and-So spoke well of you
   yesterday in the market," asked, "What have I done amiss that such a
   wretch as that should speak well of me?" He rightly counted it a
   disgrace to be praised by a bad man--and because our Lord had done
   nothing amiss, all that these men could do was to speak ill of Him and
   treat Him with contumely, for their nature and character were the very
   opposite of His. Representing, as these soldiers did, the unregenerate,
   God-hating world, I say that their scorn was the truest reverence that
   they could offer to Christ while they continued as they were!

   And so, at the back of persecution, at the back of heresy, at the back
   of the hatred of ungodly men to the Cross of Christ, I see His
   everlasting Kingdom advancing and I believe that "the mountain of the
   Lord's house shall be exalted above the hills," and that "all nations
   shall flow unto it," even as Isaiah foretold that Jesus shall sit upon
   the throne of David, and that of the increase of His Kingdom there
   shall be no end, for the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and
   honor unto Him, "and He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!"
   Glory be to His holy name!

   Have all our hearts truly learned these four grand lessons--the
   shamefulness of sin--the condescension of our Lord--the immeasurable
   love which made Him so condescending--and the ineffable glory which
   hides behind the skirts of all this shame and sorrow? If not, let us
   beseech the Holy Spirit to teach them to us.

   II. Now I want to give you, from this same incident, A SET OF LESSONS
   FOR YOUR CONSCIENCE.

   And, first, it is a very painful reflection--let your conscience feel
   the pain of it--that Jesus Christ can still be mocked. He has gone into
   the heavens and He sits there in Glory, but yet, spiritually, so as to
   bring great guilt upon him who does it, the glorious Christ of God can
   still be mocked and He is mocked by those who deride His people. Now,
   men of the world, if you see faults and failings in us, we do not wish
   you to screen us. Because we are the servants of God, we do not ask for
   exemption from honest criticism. We do not desire that our sins should
   be treated with more leniency than those of other men, but, at the same
   time, we bid you beware that you do not slander, scandalize and
   persecute those who

   are the true followers of Christ, for, if you do, you are mocking and
   persecuting Him. I believe that if it is the poorest of His people, the
   least gifted and the most faulty, yet, if they are evilly spoken of for
   Christ's sake, our Lord takes it all as done to Himself. You remember
   how Saul of Tarsus, when he lay smitten on the ground, heard a Voice
   which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" "Well, but,"
   he might have said, "I have never persecuted You, Lord." No, but he
   dragged Christian men and women to prison and scourged them, and
   compelled them to blaspheme--and because he had done this to Christ's
   people, Christ could truly say to him, "Inasmuch as you have done it
   unto one of the least of these, My brethren, you have done it unto Me."
   If you persecutors need to amuse yourselves, you can find much cheaper
   sport than that of slandering the servants of Christ! Remember that the
   Lord has said concerning them, "He that touches you, touches the apple
   of His eye." If you were to touch the apple of a man's eye, you would
   be provoking him to defend himself, so do not awaken Christ's righteous
   anger by scoffing at any of His people! I say no more upon that point.
   If the message is meant for any man here, let him give heed to the
   warning.

   Next, Christ may be mocked by despising His Doctrine. It seems to me a
   fearful thing that men should ever hold up Christianity to scorn. Yet
   nowadays there is scarcely any portion of the Truth of God which is not
   ridiculed and caricatured. It is stripped of its own clothes and
   dressed up in somebody else's old purple cloak and then it is set in a
   chair, while men pretend great homage for it, and salute it, saying
   that they have great reverence for Christ's teaching. But, before long
   they spit in its face and treat it with the utmost disdain. There are
   some who deny the Deity of Christ, others who hate the central Doctrine
   of His atoning Sacrifice, while many rail at Justification by Faith
   which is the very heart of the Gospel! Is there any Doctrine--I
   scarcely know one--which has escaped the mockery and scorn of ungodly
   men? In the present day if a man wants to make himself a name, he does
   not write upon something which he understands and which is for the
   public welfare, but he straightway begins to assail some Doctrine of
   Scripture of which he does not know the meaning! He misrepresents it
   and sets up some notion of his own in opposition to it, for he is a
   "modern thought" man, a person of much importance.

   It is easy work to scoff at the Bible and to deny the Truth of God. I
   think that I could, myself, pose as a learned man, in that way, if ever
   the devil should sufficiently control me to make me feel any ambition
   of that sort. In fact, there is scarcely a fool in Christendom who
   cannot make himself a name among modern thinkers if he will but
   blaspheme loudly enough, for that seems to be the road to fame,
   nowadays, among the great mass of mankind! They are dubbed "thoughtful"
   who thus insult the Truth of God as the soldiers, with their spit,
   insulted the Christ of God!

   I shall come closely home to some of you who attend here regularly,
   when I say that Christ can still be mocked by resolves which never lead
   to obedience. Let me speak very softly upon this solemn Truth of God.
   Give me your hand, my Friend. Let me look into your eyes. I would
   gladly look into your soul if I could, while I put this matter very
   personally to you. Several times, before leaving this House, you have
   said, "I will repent of my sin. I will seek the Lord. I will believe in
   Jesus." You meant these words when you uttered them. Why, then, have
   you not fulfilled your promises? I do not care what excuse you give,
   because any reason which you give will be most unreasonable, for it
   will only amount to this--that there was something better than to do
   what Christ bids you, something better for you than to be saved by Him,
   something better than the forgiveness of your sins, something better
   than regeneration, something better than Christ's eternal love! You
   would have chosen Christ, but Barabbas came across your path, so you
   said, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" You would have thought seriously
   about the salvation of your soul, but you had promised to go to a
   certain place of amusement, so you put off seeking the Savior till a
   more convenient season. Possibly you said, "My trade is of such a
   character that I shall have to give it up if I become a Christian--and
   I cannot afford to do that." I heard of one who listened to a sermon
   which impressed him--and he did not often hear sermons--and he wished
   that he could be a Christian, but he had made various bets for large
   amounts and he felt that he could not think of other things till they
   were settled.

   There are many such things that keep men from Christ. I do not care
   what it is that you prefer to the Savior--you have insulted Him if you
   prefer anything to Him. If it were the whole world and all that it
   contains, that you had chosen, these things are but trifles when
   compared with the Sovereignty of Christ--His crown rights to every
   man's heart, and the immeasurable riches that He is prepared to give to
   every soul that comes and trusts in Him! Do you prefer a harlot to the
   Lord Jesus Christ? Then don't tell me that you do not spit in His face!
   You do what is even worse than that! Do you prefer profits wrongly
   gained to accepting Jesus as your Savior? Do not tell me, Sir, that you
   have never bowed the knee before Him in scorn, for you have done far
   worse than that! Or was it a little paltry pleasure--mere trifling
   laughter and

   folly of an hour--that you preferred to your Lord? Oh, what must He
   feel when He sees these contemptible things preferred to Him, knowing
   that eternal damnation is at the back of your foolish choice? Yet men
   choose moment's folly and Hell, instead of Christ and Heaven! Was ever
   such an insult as that paid to Christ by Roman soldiers? Go,
   legionaries, you are not the worst of men! There are some who, being
   pricked in their conscience, make a promise of repentance and then, for
   the world's sake, and for their flesh's sake, and for the devil's sake,
   break that promise--the soldiers did not sin against Christ so grossly
   as that!

   Listen once more. I must again come very closely home to some of you.
   Was it not a shameful thing that they should call Christ, King, and yet
   not mean it? And, apparently, give Him a crown, a scepter, a royal
   robe, the bowing of the knee and the salutation of the lips, but not to
   mean any of it? It cuts me to the heart to think of what I am going to
   say, yet I must say it. There are some professors--members of Christian
   churches--members of thisChurch--who call Christ Master and Lord, yet
   they do not do the things which He says. They profess to believe the
   Truth of God, yet it is not like the Truth of God to them, for they
   never yield to its power and they act as if what they call Truth were
   fiction and human invention! There are still some, like those of whom
   the Apostle wrote, and I can say as he did--"of whom I have told you
   often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the
   Cross of Christ"--though in the nominal church! Their God is their
   belly, they glory in their shame and they mind earthly things. Yet they
   bow the knee before Christ, they sing, "crown Him, crown Him," and they
   eat the bread and drink the wine which set forth His broken body and
   shed blood--yet they have no part nor lot in Him.

   It has always been so in the nominal church, and it will be so, I
   suppose, till Christ comes to separate the chaff from the wheat. But,
   oh, how dreadful it is! To insult Christ in the Roman guard-room was
   bad enough, but to insult Him at the Communion Table is far worse! For
   a Roman soldier to spit in His face was bad enough, but to come and
   mingle with His people, call yourself His servant and then to go
   deliberately to drink with the drunkard, or to be unchaste in your
   life, or dishonest in your trade, or false in your talk, or foul in
   your heart is even more abominable! I know no milder word that can
   express the truth! To call Christ, Master, and yet never to do His
   bidding--this is mockery and scorn of the worst possible kind, for it
   wounds Him at the very heart!

   I was reading, today, part of a Welsh sermon which struck me much. The
   preacher said, "Let all who are in this congregation avow their real
   master. I will first call upon the servants of the devil to acknowledge
   him. He is a fine master, and a glorious one to serve, and his service
   is joy and delight. Now all of you who are serving him, say, 'Amen.
   Glory be to the devil!' Say it! But nobody spoke. "Now," he said,
   "don't be ashamed to acknowledge him whom you serve every day of your
   life. Speak out and say, 'Glory be to my master, the devil!' or else
   hold your tongues forever." And still nobody spoke, so the minister
   said, "Then, I hope that when I ask you to glorify Christ, you will
   speak." And they did speak, till the chapel seemed to ring again as
   they cried, "Glory be to Christ!" That was good. But if I were to test
   you in a similar fashion, I feel tolerably certain that nobody here
   would acknowledge his master, if his master is the devil! And I am
   afraid that some of the devil's servants would join us in our
   hallelujahs to Christ! That is the mischief of it--the devil himself
   can use self-denial and he can teach his servants to deny their
   master--and in that very way to do him the most honor. O dear Friends,
   be true to Christ and, whatever you do, never mock Him! There are many
   other things which you can do that will be much more profitable to you
   than mocking Christ. If God is God, serve Him. If Christ is your Lord
   and Master, honor Him. But if you do not mean to honor Him, do not call
   Him Master, for if you do, all your faults and sins will be laid at His
   door and He will be dishonored through you.

   Now I think that I hear somebody say, "I am afraid, Sir, that I have
   mocked Christ. What am I to do?" Well, my answer is--Do not despair,
   because that would be mocking Him in another way by doubting His power
   to save you. "I am inclined to throw it all up." Do not act so, for
   that would be to insult your Maker by another sin, namely, open revolt
   against Him. "What shall I do, then?" Well, go and tell Him your grief
   and sorrow. He told His disciples to preach the Gospel first at
   Jerusalem, because that was where those soldiers lived, the very men
   who had mocked Him. And He prayed for His murderers, "Father, forgive
   them, for they know not what they do." In a like manner, He presents
   His mercy to you, first. Come to Him, then, and if you are conscious
   that you have mocked Him in any one of these ways that I have
   mentioned, say to yourself, "Then, if He will but forgive me, I will
   henceforth live all the more to His praise. I cannot wipe out my sin,
   but He can, and if He will do so, I will love Him much because I shall
   have had much forgiven. And I will spend and be spent to glorify His
   holy name."

   My time has almost gone, so this must be my last remark. Whether we
   have mocked Christ or not, come, dear Brothers and Sisters, let us now
   glorify Him. This very hour let us crown Him with our heart's love and
   trust. Bring forth that royal crown--the crown of your love, of your
   trust, of your complete consecration to Him--and put it upon His head
   now, saying, "My Lord, my God, my King." Now put the scepter into His
   hand by yielding absolute obedience to His will. Is there anything He
   bids you do? Do it! Is there anything He bids you give? Give it! Is
   there anything He bids you abstain from? Abstain from it! Put not a
   reed scepter into His hand, but give Him the entire control of your
   whole being. Let Him be your real Lord, reigning over your spirit, soul
   and body! What next? Bow before Him and worship Him in the quiet of
   your inmost heart. You need not bow your bodies, but let your spirits
   fall down before Him that sits upon the Throne of God, and cry, "Unto
   Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and
   has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory
   and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

   And when you have worshipped Him, then proclaim Him King. As those
   soldiers said in mockery, "Hail, King of the Jews!" so now do you in
   real earnestness proclaim Him King of Jews and Gentiles, too! Go home
   and tell your Friends that Jesus is King! Tell it out among the nations
   that "the Lord reigns," as the old version has it, "reigns from the
   tree." He has made His Cross to be His Throne, and there He reigns in
   majesty and in mercy! Tell it to your children, tell it to your
   servants, tell it to your neighbors, tell it in every place wherever
   you can be heard--that the Lord, even Jesus, reigns as King of kings
   and Lord of lords! Say to them, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and
   you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little."

   And then, when you have proclaimed Him, kiss Him yourself. As the rough
   soldiers spat upon Him, so do you give to Him the kiss of homage and
   affection, saying, "Lord Jesus, You are mine forever and ever." Say,
   with the spouse, "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine." I suggest
   to you that each individual here who loves His Lord much, should think
   of something fresh that He can do for Christ during this week--some
   special gift that you can bestow upon Him-- some special action that
   you can do which shall be quite different and shall be only for Jesus,
   and altogether for Jesus, as an act of homage to His name. I often wish
   that God's people were more inventive, like that woman who wanted
   greatly to honor Him, so she brought out her alabaster box and broke
   it, and poured the precious ointment upon His head. Think of something
   special that you can do for Christ, or give to Him.

   A dear Friend, now in Heaven, but who used to worship in this place,
   had a son who had been a great scapegrace, and was, in fact, living a
   vicious life. He had been long away from his father, and his father did
   not know what to do about getting him home, for he had treated him very
   badly, marred his comfort and spoiled his home. But, as I was preaching
   one night, this thought came to him, "I will find out, tomorrow
   morning, where my son is, and I will go to him." The father knew that
   the son was very angry with him, and very bitter against him, so he
   thought of a certain fruit, of which his son was very fond, and he sent
   him a basketful of it the next morning. And when the son received it,
   He said, "Then, my father still has some affection for me." And the
   next day the father called--and the day after he had him at home again!
   And that was the means of bringing the son to the Savior! He had worn
   himself out with vice and he soon died, but his father told me that it
   was a great joy to his heart to think that he could have a good hope
   concerning his son. Had the son died away from home. Had the father not
   sought him out, he would never have forgiven himself!

   He did that for Christ's sake. Cannot some of you do a similar deed for
   the same reason? Is there any skeleton in your closet? Is there any
   mischief you could set right? Or have you anything you can give to your
   Lord and Master? Think, each one of you for himself or herself, what
   you can do and, inasmuch as Christ was so shamefully despised and
   rejected, seek to honor and glorify Him in the best way that you can
   and He will accept your homage and your offering for His love's sake.
   May He help you to do so! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW27:15-54; JOHN18:28-38.

   We are now to read about our Lord before Pontius Pilate.

   Matthew 27. Verses 15-30. Now at that feast the governor was accustomed
   to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had
   then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were
   gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will you that I release
   unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ? For he knew that

   for envy they had delivered Him. When he was set down on the Judgment
   Seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have you nothing to do with that
   just Man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because
   of Him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that
   they should ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered
   and said unto them, Which of the two will you that I release unto you?
   They said, Barabbas. Pilate said unto them, What shall I do, then, with
   Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let Him be
   crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil has He done? But they
   cried out the more, saying, Let Him be crucified. When Pilate saw that
   he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took
   water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent
   of the blood of this just Person: see you to it. Then answered all the
   people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then
   released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he
   delivered Him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took
   Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto Him the whole band of
   soldiers. And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And
   when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and
   a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, and
   mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon Him, and
   took the reed, and struck Him on the head. Surely, mockery could have
   gone no further! We marvel at the boldness and ingenuity of their
   scorn. Oh, that we were half as earnest in seeking to honor Him--as
   careful to think of everything that might make our homage perfect. But
   we, alas, too often fail to give Him due honor and glory, even when
   others are all aflame with zeal to insult Him.

   31. And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him
   and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
   Perhaps they were afraid that He would die from sheer exhaustion and
   so, with a cruel mercy, they would keep Him alive for the infliction of
   further tortures.

   32. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name:
   him they compelled to bear His Cross. Any one of us might well have
   wished to have been Simon, yet we need not envy him. There is a cross
   for everyone who is a follower of the Crucified--may we have Grace to
   carry it after Him!

   33. 34. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is
   to say, a place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with
   gall: and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink. He wholly
   abstained from that which might have lessened His pain. He came to
   suffer and He intended to go through with all that He had undertaken.
   He would do nothing that would blunt the edge of the sacrificial knife.
   He forbids not the soothing draught to other sufferers who are in pain,
   but, as for Himself, He will not partake of it.

   35-37. And they crucified Him, and parted His garment, casting lots:
   that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, They parted
   My garment among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots. And
   sitting down they watched Him there, and set up over His head His
   accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And so He is,
   and so He shall be--King of the Jews even on that Cross and never so
   royal as when He had surrendered everything for love of those whom He
   came to redeem!

   38-43. Then were there two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right
   hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled Him,
   wagging their heads, and saying, You that destroys the temple, and
   builds it in three days, save Yourself. If You are the Son of God, come
   down from the Cross. Likewise also the chief priest mocking Him, with
   the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, HimselfHe cannot save.
   IfHe is the King ofIsrael, let Him now come down from the Cross, and we
   will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He
   will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of God. What pain this taunt
   must have caused to the Savior! Because He is so pure and never yields
   to temptation, we are very apt to forget that temptation was really
   temptation, even to Him, and that it grieved His pure and holy Soul
   thus to be tempted to turn aside from the path of perfect trust in His
   Father and complete obedience to Him. No doubt the pain of temptation
   is in inverse ratio to our willingness to yield to it. When we yield to
   temptation, we feel a pleasure in it, but when we are horrified at it,
   and start back from it, then we feel the pain of it. Oh, for a mind and
   heart, so perfectly subject to the will of God, that we should feel
   such a temptation as this to be the very agony of grief to us, as it
   was to our Lord!

   44. The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in
   His teeth. Nobody seemed to look upon Him with any desire to help Him,
   but even the lowest of the low would contribute their portion of
   mockery to increase His misery.

   43-54. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
   unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
   voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani? That is to say, My God, My
   God, why have You forsaken Me? Some of them that stood there, when they
   heard that, said, This Man calls for Elijah. And straightway one of
   them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on
   a reed, and gave Him to drink The rest said, let Him be, let us see
   whether Elijah will come to save Him. Jesus, when He had criedagain
   with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and, behold, the veil of the
   temple was ripped in two from the top to the bottom, and the earth did
   quake, and the rocks split; and the graves were opened; andmany bodies
   ofthe saints which slept, arose, and came out of the graves after His
   resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now
   when the centurion, and they that were with Him, watching Jesus, saw
   the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly,
   saying, Truly this was the Son of God. John gives us some details of
   our Lord before Pilate which Matthew does not mention.

   John 18:28-38. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the Hall of
   Judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the
   judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the
   Passover. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation
   bring you against this Man? They answered and said unto him, If He were
   not a malefactor we would not have delivered Him up unto you. Then said
   Pilate unto them, Take you Him, and judge Him according to your law.
   The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any
   man to death: that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He
   spoke, signifying what death He should die. Then Pilate entered into
   the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Are You
   the King ofthe Jews? Jesus answered Him, Say you this thing of
   yourself, or did others tell it you of Me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew?
   Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You unto me: what
   have You done? Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this world: if My
   Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should
   not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My Kingdom not from here.
   Pilate therefore said unto Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered,
   You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause
   came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth.
   Everyone that is ofthe truth hears My voice. Pilate said unto Him, What
   is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews,
   and said unto them, I find in Him no fault at all Thus did all who came
   into contact with Jesus bear witness that the Lamb of God was indeed
   "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners."
     __________________________________________________________________

Majesty in Misery

   (No. 2825)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 5, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   OCTOBER 7, 1883.

   "And the men that held Jesus mocked Him and struck Him. And when they
   had blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him saying,
   Prophesy, who is it that struck You? And many other things they
   blasphemously spoke against Him." Luke 22:63-65.

   I SUPPOSE that all this cruelty took place while our Lord was before
   Caiaphas, in the dead of night, before the Sanhedrim had been fully
   gathered together to hold their trial at daybreak. His enemies were in
   so great a hurry to condemn Him that as soon as He arrived at the high
   priest's house, they had a kind of preliminary examination that they
   might try the tack upon which they meant to sail in endeavoring to
   procure a conviction against Him. Thus, after He had been, in an
   informal and illegal way, condemned without any proper trial, they left
   Him in the custody of their officers until early in the morning when
   they summoned the rest of their companions, so as to go through again
   the farce of trying Him whom they knew to be innocent.

   While these officials had Christ in their keeping, they might at least
   have left Him in peace and quietness. According to the rules of all
   civilized nations, a prisoner detained in custody should be guarded
   from insult and ill-treatment while in that condition. Whatever his
   ultimate punishment may be after he has been tried and found guilty,
   while he is as yet uncondemned, he is reckoned to be under the
   protection of the State that has arrested him--and he ought not to be
   subjected to insult or injury. But here, as if they had been so many
   savages, the judges of our Lord abandoned Him to those outcasts whom
   they employed to do their foul work--and those wretched creatures
   treated Him with mingled cruelty and scorn--"The men that held Jesus
   mocked Him and struck Him." Could they not have allowed Him a little
   time of rest? The traces of the bloody sweat must still have been upon
   Him. They could see, by the emaciation of His Person, that He was, as
   it had been long before foretold that He would be, "a Man of Sorrows,
   and acquainted with grief." He must already have been ready to faint
   under the rough usage which had been meted out to Him both before and
   at His preliminary trials before Annas and Caiaphas. His tormentors
   must have seen how exhausted He was, yet they had no pity for Him in
   their hard, unfeeling hearts! They allowed Him no respite and gave Him
   no opportunity to prepare Himself to answer the charges that were about
   to be brought against Him. There were none found to vindicate His
   Character, or to plead His cause--and the intervals between the
   informal and the more formal trials were spent in mockery and in scorn.

   These men were gross cowards. I am sure that they must have been
   because they were so cruel, for cruelty is one of the badges of
   cowardice wherever you find it. These are the very men who, in the
   garden, "went backward, and fell to the ground," when Christ did but
   say, "I am He," in answer to their declaration that they were seeking
   "Jesus of Nazareth." They went out, with swords and staves, to take Him
   prisoner, yet they fell to the ground when He did but speak a word or
   two to them! But now that they had Him in their power and perceived
   that He was, apparently, not inclined to exert the Divine energy with
   which He was endowed, but that He was as submissive as a sheep before
   her shearers, they determined to be as cruel as they could be to Him.
   God grant that the sin of cruelty to anything that lives may never be
   justly laid to the charge of any one of us! If you have acted cruelly,
   even though it is to the meanest thing in creation, despise yourself,
   for you are of a lower order than the creature that you tortured! And
   if these men could have judged themselves aright, they would have
   despised themselves. They seem to me to have been the very meanest of
   mankind who, having

   such a gentle Sufferer in their power, instead of showing any humanity
   to Him, seemed as if they could not sufficiently abuse Him. And so they
   indulged their vile nature to the utmost in mocking and persecuting
   Him.

   I. I hope that some spiritual profit may come to us while we are
   considering this terrible part of the suffering of our Lord. And,
   first, I want you, in imagination, to, gaze upon MAJESTY IN MISERY.

   There stands Jesus of Nazareth. I will not attempt to picture Him.
   There has never yet been a painter who could portray the lineaments of
   that wondrous face! The highest art has never yet been able to satisfy
   itself upon that point even though it has borrowed its outline and its
   colors from the Scriptures themselves. The most skillful hand grows
   unsteady in the Presence of One so glorious in His griefs. I will not,
   therefore, attempt to draw a portrait of my Lord and Master, but will
   simply ask you, by faith, to behold Him, clothed with the garment that
   was without seam, bound, delivered over to the officers and surrounded
   by them while they mocked and scoffed at Him. Letting your eyes rest
   upon Him in a loving look, regarding Him as the great center of your
   heart's affection, what do you see--you who believe in His Deity-- and
   who can say that He is "very God of very God" to you?

   If your eyes are opened by the Spirit of God, you will see Omnipotence
   held captive. "The men that held Jesus" did not really know who He was.
   He appeared to them to be a poor Galilean peasant. Speaking the country
   brogue, they saw that He was a humble, lowly, emaciated Man and, as He
   had been committed to their charge, they held Him as their prisoner.
   But they did not recognize that He was the Almighty God, the very Deity
   that created the heavens and the earth, for, "all things were made by
   Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." He was, at
   that very moment, "upholding all things by the word of His power" and,
   amid all His weakness, and in all His sufferings, He was still "over
   all, God blessed forever," whom all the holy angels continued to adore.
   Is it not a great mystery that Omnipotence should thus be held captive?
   What a marvelous thing it is that He who can create or who can destroy,
   according to the good pleasure of His own will, should take upon
   Himself our nature and in that Nature should sink so low as to become
   subject even to the very coarsest and most cruel of mankind! What a
   wondrous stoop of condescension is here! Omnipotence allows itself to
   be bound and never proves itself more truly Omnipotent than when it
   restrains itself and permits itself to be held as a prisoner by sinful
   men!

   Look again at this Majesty in misery and you will see glory mocked, for
   "the men that held Jesus mocked Him." To them He seemed to be a fit
   subject for ridicule and derision in professing to be a king, when He
   had neither an armed host nor multitudes of followers who could hope to
   stand for a single second against the mighty Caesar who held Israel in
   bondage! Yes, but there was a Glory in Christ which He had deigned to
   veil and to conceal for a while, but which angels still beheld and
   adored--yet these men were mocking Him! There are some themes which
   seem to strike a speaker dumb and this subject has something like this
   effect upon me. It appears to me amazing that the God who had reigned
   in Glory over myriads of holy angels, should be mocked by miscreants
   who could not even have lived an instant longer in His Presence if He
   had not permitted them to do so! Yet I see, in my text that He who made
   the heavens and the earth stood there to be despised and rejected of
   men and to be treated with the utmost contumely and scorn. I can make
   that statement, but you cannot realize what it means. This is one of
   those great mysteries of the faith that seem to stagger you. You
   believe it without the slightest hesitation, yet, the more you try to
   really grasp and comprehend it, the more it seems to elude you and to
   tower above you!

   Thus, we see Omnipotence held captive and Glory mocked.

   Next, we see Goodness smitten--perfect, infinite, unutterable Goodness
   stricken, bruised, assailed, assaulted--"The men that held Jesus mocked
   Him and struck Him." To strike wickedness is an act of justice. And
   even to lift the sword against oppression may not always be a thing to
   be condemned. But to strike Him who never did any man a wrong, but who
   has done all men some measure of good and who has given to some men all
   conceivable good--ah, this is indeed brutish! The blessed Son of God
   who stood there, had within His soul that mercy which endures forever,
   yet they struck Him--there burned in His heart a love which many waters
   could not quench and which the floods could not drown, yet they struck
   Him! He had come here upon no errand of vengeance, but to bring peace
   and goodwill to men--and to set up a Kingdom ofjoy and love--yet they
   bound Him! Ah, me, it is amazing that Goodness should be so good as to
   submit to this shameful indignity! None but Divine Goodness would have
   submitted to it.

   See what these mockers and smiters did next to our Lord. They produced
   a handkerchief, or a cloth of some kind, and they put it over His eyes.
   Omniscience must seem to be blinded, which, in truth, it cannot be.
   Yet, in the Christ there

   was the Omniscience of the Godhead and, to the utmost of their power,
   these men blinded Him in the hope that He might not see what they were
   doing. I know some who are trying to act that way at this present time.
   The only god that they have is a blind god. They believe in what they
   call, "the forces of nature," and then they condescendingly talk as
   though God was only the aggregate of the forces of nature working
   according to certain mechanical laws that can never be altered. The god
   in whom they profess to believe is a god that does not see. They tell
   us that it is idle to pray, or to think that God takes any interest in
   such insignificant individuals as we are. Ah, I remember reading about
   those gods of the philosophers--"They have mouths, but they speak not:
   eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not:
   noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle
   not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through
   their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is everyone
   that trusts in them." "But our God is in the heavens," seeing all that
   happens and doing as He pleases among the hosts above and among men
   below. He is not now to be blindfolded, as He was once, when He
   condescended to wear our nature and to bear our sin. Yet it is amazing
   that He should ever have permitted this indignity to be put upon Him.
   The spouse in the Canticles truly sings, "His eyes are as the eyes of
   doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly
   set"--exceeding the very stars of Heaven for brightness--yet they
   covered them over! His eyes flamed with love and in them there did
   gleam bright diamonds of pity for all the sorrows of mankind--yet those
   cruel men did hide those precious eyes of His, blindfolding the Christ
   of God!

   Now, surely, they had made Him suffer enough, far too much--yet again
   the infinite beauties of His blessed Countenance were to be marred, for
   "they struck Him on the face." "Oh, but had we been there," we say,
   "our indignation would have burned against them for striking that dear
   face!" Yet we had need lay aside our indignation and bring forward
   penitence, instead, for we, also, have sometimes struck that dear face
   of Jesus, which is as the Sun of Heaven, far brighter than the sun
   which lights up the world! All other beauties put together cannot equal
   the marvelous charms of that Countenance which was marred more than any
   man's. There is nothing under Heaven, or in Heaven, itself, that can
   rival the face of the Well-Beloved, yet these men struck it! I think an
   angel might well shiver with horror if, for the first time, he heard
   that men had struck the face of His Lord! It was but His Humanface, it
   is true, but therein they struck at all of Deity that they could reach.
   It was man striking God in the face! A slap in the face of Deity was
   what it really meant. Ah, me, that my Master should ever have had to
   endure such insult and pain--that He should ever have been willing to
   suffer such indignity as this--was there ever love like unto His?

   Then the mockers said, "Prophesy, who is it that struck You!" That was
   Justice defied. They seemed to say to our Lord, as they struck Him,
   "Tell us what our name is; say who struck that blow. You cannot resist
   it. You cannot avenge Yourself, but, at least, see if You can tell the
   name of him that struck You. We defy You to do it." Ah, He had written
   down their names and they will find out, one day, that He knows them
   all, for there are none who strike the Savior who will not have their
   blows come back upon themselves unless they repent of their sin! There
   was Justice defied, as "they struck Him on the face and asked Him,
   saying, Prophesy, who is it that struck You?"

   I say again that I am not worthily able to speak on such a theme as
   this. And I think I never shall be, however long I may live. It is not
   within the compass of lips of clay, with words of air, to describe the
   condescending sufferings of Him who, though He was rightly called,
   "Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The
   Prince of Peace," nevertheless stooped so low as to be mocked, struck,
   blindfolded, and struck again for your sakes and mine--

   " Vexed, I try and try again, Still my efforts are all in vain-- Living
   tongues are dumb at best, We must die to speak of Christ."

   The wonder of this Majesty in misery can be described in four words.
   The first wonder is that, under all this torture, our Lord was so
   patient. Not a flush of anger appeared on His cheek, not a flash of
   wrath from His eyes. He bore it all, bore it in His very soul, with
   Diving Patience, the very patience of "the God of Patience."

   The next wonder is that He was silent under all this cruelty--not a
   word did He utter either in complaint or in condemnation of His
   assailants. This proved His true greatness. Eloquence is easy compared
   with silence and, perhaps, it would not have been true of Christ that
   "never man spoke like this Man," if it had not also been true of Him
   that never man was silent like this Man. He fulfilled to the letter the
   ancient prophecy, "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,

   and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth."
   Lord, teach us how to imitate Your patience and Your silence!

   Notice, in the third place, how eloquent He was by that very silence.
   He said more for us, and more to us, by holding His tongue than if He
   had delivered Himself of many burning sentences. It is matchless
   eloquence that is seen in the calm serenity of Christ in the presence
   of these cruel persecutors, in the forgiving Character of Christ under
   the most exasperating circumstances and in the patience of Christ under
   unparalleled sufferings!

   And yet again, I see something so triumphant in our Savior's griefs
   that, while I call Him patient, silent, and eloquent, I must also call
   Him victorious. His persecutors could not make Him give way to anger.
   They could not destroy His mercy. They could not slay His love. They
   could not cause Him to think of Himself. They could not make Him
   declare that He would go no further with His work of saving sinners,
   now that men began to scoff at Him, strike Him and des-pitefully use
   Him. No, the strong-souled Christ still perseveres in His merciful
   work, even as a mighty hunter pursues his game upon the mountain,
   leaping from crag to crag and cliff to cliff, defying danger and death
   that he may secure the creature on whose track he has gone. So, O
   mighty Christ, You did accomplish Your glorious purpose of love and
   mercy! You did lead captivity captive by suffering, to the bitter end,
   all that was inflicted upon You, even unto the death of the Cross!

   Thus have I tried to picture Majesty in misery, but I have not been
   able to describe either Christ's Majesty or His misery as they deserve
   to be described. Meditate on them and pray the Spirit of God to give
   you such a sight of them as human nature, by itself, can never afford
   you!

   II. Now I pass on to notice, secondly, that my text seems to me to show
   us SIN AT ITS SPORT.

   All this sad scene represents what sin did when it had the
   opportunity--when all restraining bands were loosed and it could act
   according to its own evil will. It also represents what sin is still
   doing, as far as it can, and what would always be the action of sin if
   it were not hindered by the almighty power of God.

   What, then, does sin do in the hour of its liberty? I invite you to
   notice, first--and to pay particular attention to any part that may
   come home to yourself--the levity of sin. These men are grossly
   insulting the Christ of God, but, to them, it is a sport, a game. They
   play at blindfolding Him--it is simply mirth and amusement to them.
   Sad, indeed, is it that sin should ever be what men call sport, yet I
   need scarcely remind you how often it is so, even now, to many. They
   run after it with the utmost eagerness and they call it pleasure--they
   call that which is provoking God pleasure--they call that which
   crucified Christ pleasure! They say that "they must see life," and they
   call that, "life," which forced from Jesus a bloody sweat and which
   afterwards dragged Him to a cruel death! And, alas, they say of many a
   sin, "What a delight it is to us! Would you make our life miserable by
   taking away our enjoyments?" So it becomes a matter of enjoyment to
   them to strike Christ on the face and to mock Him! Perhaps I am
   addressing some who have even made the Bible into a jest-book--their
   puns and mirth have been pointed with passages of Holy Writ. Possibly
   others have made rare fun out of some venerable Christian, some
   faithful servant of the living and true God. Well, Sirs, if you have
   done so, I would have you know how heinous is your sin in thus making
   sport of the godly--such "sport" as that, unless you repent of it, will
   damn you forever! As surely as you live, it will shut you out from the
   great Father's love and close the door of Mercy against you, world
   without end! Yet that is how sin acts when it has its liberty. Yes, and
   it sports even with the wounds of a Crucified God! Alas, that it should
   ever do so!

   Notice, next, the utter wantonness of sin. If these men really wanted
   to get amusement out of Christ, they were able to get it, but what need
   was there for them to also strike Him? What need was there of all that
   superfluity of cruelty by which they put Him to such shame and pain? If
   Christ must die, at least let Him die in peace--why that spitting in
   His face, that terrible scourging, that awful aggravation of His
   griefs? It was because men will sin out of sheer wantonness! I have
   known some persons sin in such strange ways that I have wondered why
   they did it. It was not for pleasure--at least I could not see any
   pleasure in it. It caused the man's own family to be utterly miserable
   and brought them and himself, too, down to poverty--what mirth or
   merriment could there be in that? There are some who seem as if they
   could never be happy unless they were engaged in making themselves
   unhappy forever and ever. They are not content without committing some
   extravagance in sin and making their whole lives an outrageous series
   of rebellions against God. If any of you have ever been guilty of such
   wantonness in sin, may the Holy Spirit cause a gracious influence to
   steal over you so

   that you will no longer grieve the Christ of God, but will, yourself,
   grieve that you should ever have sinned so shamefully against Him!

   Then note, next, the cruelty of sin. I have already asked and I repeat
   the question--What need was there for these men to strike the Savior?
   What pleasure could they derive from all the pain they caused Him? By
   the mouth of His ancient Prophets, the Lord said, "Oh, do not this
   abominable thing that I hate!" It was in their own interests that He
   thus pleaded with men, for He would not have them injure
   themselves--and sin is always self-injury--it is a sort of suicide.
   Whenever a man does wrong, mischief must certainly come of it, and God
   knows this, so He beseeches men not to act so foolishly. And, oh, when
   a man mocks at true religion, rejects Christ and postpones the day of
   repentance, He is piercing again that dear heart that bled for the
   unworthy, and grieving that blessed Spirit who still strives with the
   sons of men, though He is often vexed and grievously provoked by them.
   Why are you so unkind to your God? Surely, there can be no necessity
   for committing such a sin as this!

   Then, observe the desperate unbelief that there often is in sin. These
   men would not have blindfolded Christ if they had really believed Him
   to be the Son of God. They acted as they did because they had no faith
   whatever in Him. This is the great evil that lies at the root of most
   men's sins--they believe not in Jesus Christ whom God has sent. It is
   this of which the Spirit of God convinces men, as our Savior foretold
   concerning Him--"He will convince the world of sin...because they
   believe not on Me." Yet there is nothing more reasonable, nothing more
   worthy to be believed, than the Revelation of God as given to us in the
   Holy Scriptures! A man has only to test and try for himself whether it
   is true, or not, and he shall soon have the proof of its verity in his
   own bosom. Let him really believe it and then see whether it does not
   make him both holy and happy--that shall be to him the test of its
   truth.

   Notice, again, how often there is in sin a kind of defiance of God. If
   a boy were to come to his father and were to say to him, "I will do all
   manner of rude and unkind things to you, yet you will not chastise me,"
   it would not be long before that father would make his son smart if he
   were, himself, worthy to be a father! But sinners act towards God in
   that kind of way. They often do to God what these persecutors did to
   Christ, as far as they can. They mock Him, strike Him and defy Him. Am
   I addressing anyone who has ever called down upon himself the curse of
   God? Beware lest that blasphemous prayer of yours be answered the next
   time you utter it, for it is God's way to answer prayer and, perhaps,
   He will answer yours--and then where will you be? Some have even dared
   to defy God thus--"Well, even if it is as you say, I am willing to take
   my chances--I will not submit to God." Ah, Sir, Pharaoh tried that plan
   and he repented of it, I think, when it was too late! In the midst of
   the Red Sea, when the waters began to overwhelm him and all his mighty
   host, then he learned what were the consequences of saying, "Who is the
   Lord, that I should obey His voice?" Every sin has in it a measure of
   defiance of God--it is like these men striking Christ upon the face and
   saying to Him--"Prophesy, who is it that struck You?"

   I will not linger longer upon this part of my theme except just to say
   that there is one more thing about sin that is peculiarly lamentable,
   namely, the multiplicity of sin. Read the 65th verse--"And many other
   things they blasphemously spoke against Him." One thing, two things, 20
   things will not content them--they must say "many other things" against
   Him! When a man once gives himself up to sin, it is like getting into a
   current which bears him onward where, at first, he had no thought of
   going. If you wade into the waters of sin, it will not be long that you
   will be able to retain a foothold and, by-and-by, unless the Lord
   shall, in His Grace, prevent such a calamity, the rapid current will
   bear you away to your everlasting destruction! It is no use for you to
   say, "This far will I go in sin, but no farther." You cannot stop when
   you please--if you once commit yourself to the influence of sin, you
   know not where it will carry you. Alas, alas, some men seem as if they
   never could sin enough to satisfy themselves! They multiply their
   transgressions beyond all count. Every iron of iniquity that they have
   is thrust into the fire. Both hands are diligently engaged in doing
   mischief. Sometimes they rise up early, but, more often, they sit up
   late--possibly all through the night, that they may waste the more
   precious hours in their wickedness! So God is grieved and Christ is
   wounded afresh by the sin of man. It is a sad, sad picture. I cast a
   veil over it and turn to something brighter and better.

   III. We have seen Majesty in misery, and sin at its sport. Now,
   thirdly, let us see LOVE AT ITS LABOR.

   All that shame and suffering was endured by our Savior for love of each
   of us who can truly say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." All
   this blindfolding, mocking, and striking was borne by Christ for your
   sake, Beloved, and mine. I will not try to describe it further, but I
   will ask you to just spend a minute or two in trying to realize that
   sad scene. For

   you--as much as if there were no other person in the whole
   universe--for you the King of Glory became the King of Scorn and bore
   all this despising and rejection of men! For you, John. For you, Mary.
   For you, old friend. For you, in your youth. If you, whoever you are,
   believe in Him, He was your Substitute. Your faith gives you the
   assurance that He was enduring all this for you--for you, I say, as
   much as if He had no other redeemed one, but had paid the ransom price
   all for you. Less than this would not have sufficed for you, though it
   is, indeed, sufficient for all the innumerable host redeemed by the
   precious blood of Jesus!

   Let us, then, see love at its labor. I mean, our love to our Lord,
   though I might also speak of our Lord's love to us, and what it did for
   us. What shall our love do to show how grateful we are to Jesus for all
   that He endured for us? Well, first, let it set penitence to confess.
   Come, my Heart, here is room for the display of your grief. Why was
   Christ mocked in Jerusalem? Surely it was because you have mocked God
   with prayers that were no prayers, with hymns carelessly sung, with
   Scripture read as if they were merely the writings of men, with
   professions of religion that were hollow and empty! Brothers and
   Sisters, have you not some of these things to repent of? If you have
   mocked Him thus, the mocking that He endured in the hall of the high
   priest was on your account.

   And as He was blindfolded, let us weep because our unbelief has often
   blindfolded Him. We imagined that He did not know about us, or that He
   had forgotten us. We thought that He could not see the end from the
   beginning and that He would not be able to bring good out of evil. Let
   me ask you, dear Friends--have you not often made Christ to be a
   blindfolded Christ so far as your apprehension of Him was concerned? If
   so, because you have thus blindfolded God by your unbelief, you are, by
   your sin, imitating the guilt of these men who literally blindfolded
   Christ.

   And as we behold Him struck, let us again grieve as we remember how it
   was written of Him, "He was bruised for our iniquities: the
   chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are
   healed." Every sin that we have ever committed made a gory furrow upon
   His precious back! Those black and blue bruises that alternate upon His
   sacred shoulders were caused by the cruel scourging to which each of us
   contributed our share by our transgressions. O Beloved, weep as you see
   Him bearing what you ought to have borne!

   And when you read that they asked Him taunting questions while His eyes
   were blindfolded, ask yourself, O child of God, whether you have not
   often done the same! Have you never asked for a sign, instead of
   walking by faith? I confess that I have sometimes wished that I could
   have some token or indication of what my Lord thought. Ah, that is what
   these cruel men sought from Christ--they tried to get Him to convince
   them that He knew them when His eyes were blinded. O Brothers and
   Sisters, let us never seek a sign as that wicked and adulterous
   generation did! Let us walk by faith, not by sight, and implicitly
   trust our Lord! Because we have not trusted Him as we should have done,
   but have demanded of Him signs and tokens, we have been too much like
   these men who asked Him, "Prophesy, who is it that struck You?"

   I said that we would see love at its labor, so I want you, next, to let
   your love urge faith to confide in Christ. Come, dear Friends, in all
   this suffering of our Savior, let us see fresh reasons for trusting
   ourselves more entirely in the hands of Christ. Those men held Jesus in
   order that neither death nor Hell might ever be able to hold us. He was
   held in our place, so He says concerning us, as He said concerning His
   disciples in the garden, "If, therefore, you seek Me, let these go
   their way." The great Substitute is held as a prisoner so that all for
   whom He stood as Surety might be set at liberty forever!

   He also was mocked. And to what end? We deserve eternal shame and
   contempt because of our sin, but He took all that shame upon Himself
   and made this wonderful exchange. As He put on the rags of our shame,
   He said to us, "Take My glittering vesture and wear it!" And now, the
   Glory which He had with the Father from eternity, He has put upon His
   people, that they may be like He and may be with Him where He is
   forever and ever! What a wonderful exchange is this! As Thomas read the
   Deity of Christ in His wounds, so do I read the eternal glory of His
   people in the mockery which He endured on their behalf.

   When you see your Lord struck, why is that but that there may be no
   striking and no wounds for you, now or forever? You shall go free, for
   Jesus has borne all that you deserved to bear! He bore blow after blow
   that not one might ever fall upon you.

   Why, too, was Jesus blindfolded but that we might be able to see? Our
   sin had blinded us to all that was worth seeing, but His death has
   taken away the scales and we can now see because He was caused not to
   see. Because He suffered these miserable miscreants to bind His eyes,
   therefore are our eyes unbound, today, and they shall be yet more
   unbound in that day when we shall behold Him face to face and be no
   more parted from Him.

   And why was Jesus blasphemed by the "many other things" which they
   falsely laid to His charge? He was blasphemed that we might be
   justified! He was unrighteously accused and slandered in order that we
   might be able to boldly say, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of
   God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is
   Christ that died." Therefore, be glad, Beloved--while you sorrow over
   your Lord's griefs, rejoice over what those griefs have brought to you
   and what they will continue to bring to you throughout eternity!

   Now, lastly, let our love at its labor awaken our zeal to consecration
   to our Lord. Was He held captive? Then come, my most burning zeal, and
   inflame me with devotion to His cause! Was He held thus for me? Then He
   shall hold me fast and never let me go! My Lord, I do surrender myself,
   my life, my all, to You, to be Your willing captive forever! Take these
   eyes, these lips, these hands, these feet, this heart--and as you were
   and are altogether mine, so let me be altogether Yours. Is not this a
   fair requital? Does any child of God object to that?

   Then, next, as they despised Him, come, my Soul, what do you say to
   this? Why, that I will despise the world that did despise my Lord and
   Savior! O world, world, world, you are a blind, blear-eyed,
   black-hearted thing to have treated my Master so! Shall I conform to
   your customs? Shall I flatter you? Shall I ask for your applause? No,
   you are crucified to me. As a felon nailed up to the cross, so, O
   world, are you to me because you have crucified the Christ, the
   infinitely-lovely Son of God! Henceforth, the world is crucified to us
   and we to the world!

   And as they blindfolded Jesus, what then? Why, I will be blindfolded,
   too! I will henceforth see no charm, no attraction anywhere but in my
   Lord. My eyes shall behold Him and no other in the glory that is yet to
   be revealed and, today, I can say with the Psalmist, "Whom have I in
   Heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire but You." Go
   through the world, Beloved, blindfolded to all but Christ, and you
   shall do well!

   And, as they struck Jesus on the face, what will you and I do to show
   how much we love that face which was so shamefully ill-treated? My
   heart brings up before me a vision of that "sacred head, once wounded,"
   encircled by the crown of thorns--that dear face, so bruised and
   battered, yet even then more beautiful than all the other loveliness of
   Heaven besides! Jesus, Son of God, and Son of Man, we adore You and we
   hasten to kiss those blessed feet of Yours, in loving adoration, and we
   do it all the more because wicked men did strike You upon the cheek!
   Reverence and love we gladly give to Him who once was struck by
   outcasts and who afterwards was nailed to the accursed tree!

   And, inasmuch as these men said "many other things blasphemously
   against Him," come, my Brothers, let us say many things in His praise!
   And, Sisters, join us in the holy exercise! No one shall close our
   lips, faulty as they are, from speaking in honor of our dear Lord!
   Sometimes, with the Prophet, we are ready to confess that we are men of
   unclean lips and that we dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips,
   but, such as we are, we will render to Him the calves of our lips and
   give glory to His holy name! Never be ashamed to speak up for your
   Lord, Beloved. Never blush to acknowledge that you belong to Him. No,
   if you blush at all, blush with shame that you do not love Him more and
   serve Him better! By the memory of that dear face, blindfolded and
   struck, while cruel men all around slander Him with their blasphemous
   accusations, I charge you to--

   "Stand up, stand up for Jesus, You soldiers of the Cross!"

   God help you to do so!

   Oh, that some here who have never believed in Jesus Christ would now
   begin to trust Him! I do not invite you, just now, so much to believe
   in Him in His glory as to believe in Him in His shame. Was He really
   the Son of God and did He suffer for guilty men all that we have been
   talking of, and far more than that? Then I must believe in Him! To me,
   Jesus Christ seems to be a Character that men could never have
   invented. He must be historical for He is so original. Unaided human
   minds could never have thought out such a Character! There are strange
   things in Buddhism and other false religions, and men with wild
   imaginations have conceived curious notions concerning their gods, but
   I challenge anyone to show me, in any book except God's Book, anything
   that can parallel the story of the Eternal God, Himself, becoming Man
   in order to make atonement for the sins of His creatures, that is, the
   sins committed by them against Him. Yes, Brothers and Sisters, I must
   believe in Him! What is more, I must believe that He died for me--

   "That on the Cross Be shed His blood

   From sin to set me free."

   Having so believed--I speak as God's witness to all who can hear me--I
   feel an inward peace that nothing can break, a holy joy that nothing
   can disturb and a sacred calm which death, itself, shall not be able to
   destroy. I have been at the deathbeds of many of our Brothers and
   Sisters who have been accustomed to worship here and who have been
   members of this Church. And--note this testimony, I pray you--I have
   never seen one of them afraid to die! I have not met with one coward
   among them all! But I have heard some of them singing triumphantly in
   their last hours, as merrily as though it were their marriage
   day--while others have been as calm and quiet as if to die were but to
   go to bed, sleep a while and wake again in the morning!

   Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ--in this very Lord who stooped from
   the heights of Glory to the depths of shame and suffering--and you,
   also, shall find that your confidence in Him shall be rewarded even in
   this life! While, as for the world to come--ah then, when there shall
   be no blindfolded eyes for Him--no mockery and scorn and smiting for
   Him--but all shall be Glory forever and ever, then you and I, if we are
   believers in Him, shall eternally share His Glory! God grant it, for
   Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

The King in Pilate's Hall

   (No. 2826)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 12, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
   4, 1884.

   "Pilate therefore said unto Him, Are You a king, then? Jesus answered,
   You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause
   came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth.
   Everyone that is of the Truth hears My voice." John 18:37.

   OUR Lord was being cross-questioned by an unscrupulous, vacillating,
   contemptuous Roman official. So, as our blessed Lord and Master did not
   escape the ordeal of malicious questioning, let no disciple of His
   imagine that he will escape. "The disciple is not above his master, nor
   the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he is as
   his master, and the servant as his lord." Sooner or later the day will
   come when the profession that you have made shall be questioned and
   tested. To some of Christ's followers, this time of trial comes very
   soon after their conversion. Others are assailed at a later period. The
   cool, calm, calculating doubter suggests a question about this or that
   and everything that can be moved is shaken. Just as Pilate said to
   Christ, "Are you a king, then?" so will men say to you, "Are you a
   Christian? Are you really believing in Jesus? Have you been born-again?
   Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus? Are you fully sanctified?" And
   they will make these enquiries in such a tone of contemptuous ridicule
   that you will need all your strength, all your patience, an increase in
   your faith and in all your graces if you are to witness a good
   confession, as your Master did before Pontius Pilate.

   When such a time comes to you, I cannot suggest to you a better model
   for your answer than that which your Lord gave to the Roman governor.
   At first, He did not answer Pilate. "Jesus gave him no answer." And a
   large portion of the inquisitive questioning to which we have to submit
   is not worth answering. Nor is it worthwhile for you and me to go up
   and down the world fishing for questions, or inviting the objections
   and quibbling of skeptics because we think ourselves so exceedingly
   clever that we are easily able to answer them. Believe me, you will
   have quite enough to do if you catch on your shield all the fiery darts
   that come without your invitation! You will have no need to ask to be
   led into temptation, or to seek permission to rush into it. Our Savior
   invited no questions from Pilate--He did not even condescend to answer
   all that Pilate had to say to Him--and the best thing for a Christian
   to do, in many of his times of trial, is to say, with David, "I was
   dumb with silence. I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was
   stirred."

   When the Master did reply, He set us an example that we may safely
   follow. Observe how He replied without any tartness, without even the
   appearance of anger. He was very courteous towards Pilate. He put what
   He had to say in a fashion which would commend itself to him. He knew
   that Pilate's chief jealousy was about His being a king and He tried to
   remove it by explaining that His Kingdom was not of this world,
   otherwise His servants would fight for Him so that He should not be
   delivered to the Jews. I cannot conceive of replies, to such a man as
   Pilate, more suitable, more calculated to have done him good if there
   had been any soil in Pilate's heart upon which the Good Seed could have
   fallen with the hope of growth. I pray that you and I, when we are
   assailed and questioned, may be wise as serpents and harmless as doves,
   giving a reason for the hope that is in us with meekness and fear,
   answering not with the objective of displaying our own skill or
   learning, but always with the motive of seeking the good of the
   questioner, if, perhaps, God may grant unto him repentance that he may
   come to the knowledge of the Truth of God. I admire and hold up as an
   example to you the exceeding sweetness of our Savior's replies to His
   carping critic.

   Note, however, how bold He was, as well as wise and gentle--"You say
   that I am a king." He does not flinch from admitting the Truth, however
   distasteful it may be to His hearer. If this Truth troubles Pilate
   after our Savior's explanation that His Kingdom is not of this world,
   He cannot deny the fact that He really is a King, for He must speak the
   Truth come what may of it. I fear that sometimes, in our endeavors to
   be sweet in disposition, we have not been strong in principle.
   "Charity" is a word that is greatly cried up nowadays, but, often it
   means that in trying to be courteous, we have also been traitorous. Our
   speech has been soft and smooth, but it has not been sincere and true.
   Did you ever catch yourself wishing to trim off the corners of a Truth
   of God--or, at least, seeking if you could not omit something that
   might prejudice your hearer? If so, let me tell you plainly that he who
   wishes to alter any truth has already began to lie! Though he may not
   actually do it, yet the very wish to change the Truth of God in any
   degree is a proof of perversity of heart which needs to be repented of
   and forgiven! We have already turned aside from the right path when we
   do not dare to say what God has taught us. Our Savior never acted like
   that--He was always true, transparent, clear, faithful. There was never
   in Him any holding back in the least degree. As He said to Pilate, "You
   say that I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I
   into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth." Oh, that we
   might learn from our Savior the sacred art of blending Christ-like
   gentleness with holy courage--and Christ-like courage with gentleness
   such as His!

   Observe, too--for it is worthy of notice--how modestly and
   unobtrusively our Savior answered Pilate's questioning. It is an
   unhappy circumstance that some men seem as if they cannot speak boldly
   without having somewhat of pride mixed with their courage. Full often
   our very virtues lie quite near to the borders of vice. We aim at what
   is right, but, alas, we go beyond it, or we fall short of it, or hit
   the target where our shots do not count. Ah, Lord, what imperfect
   creatures we are! But our Savior was perfect in every respect. He only
   answered the questions of Pilate when it was right for Him to answer
   them and even then He seemed to take the words wherewith to frame His
   answer out of Pilate's own mouth--"You say that I am a king." "It is
   even as you have said." Our gracious Master is very straightforward,
   yet how modest He is! He seems to hide Himself even behind Pilate's
   words. He does not hide the Truth, yet, in a perfectly sinless way, He
   somewhat conceals Himself. I wish we could imitate Him in that respect.
   Even when we are, like Bayard, "without fear, and without reproach," we
   are very apt, at the same time, to be without any desire for the
   conflict against evil, or any wish to impose ourselves in the least
   degree upon the attention of others, even if a protest would be right
   from us. We never see any of this false shame in our Savior. So, if we
   have at all given way to it in the past, let us never repeat that sin.

   The words of Paul, in his First Epistle to Timothy, are very properly
   rendered in the Revised Version, "Christ Jesus, who before Pontius
   Pilate witnessed the good confession." It was more than a good
   confession that our Lord Jesus witnessed before Pontius Pilate, so the
   definite article is rightly used and, "the good confession," stands out
   prominently as an example for all His followers. It is concerning that
   good confession that I am about to speak as the Holy Spirit shall
   graciously guide me.

   I. First, let us ask--WHAT WAS "THE GOOD CONFESSION" THAT JESUS
   WITNESSED BEFORE PONTIUS

   PILATE?

   I think the good confession of our Lord was, first, His avowal of His
   Kingship--"You say that I am a king." Dear Friends, do not forget that
   our Savior was, at that time, a prisoner in bonds, on trial for His
   life. As far as the eye could see, He appeared to be absolutely in the
   power of Pilate--a man who was destitute of any kind of conscience and
   who cared nothing about what means he employed so long as he could
   attain his own evil ends. There stands Jesus, a bound Prisoner, before
   one who can order Him to be put to death. And the judge contemptuously
   says to Him, "Are you a king, then?" And He answers, with great
   gentleness, but most decidedly and undoubtedly, "I am a king, even as
   You say." I think I see Pilate's lip curl--I can imagine the supreme
   contempt with which he looked upon the miserable Victim before him,
   disowned by His own countrymen, who had brought Him there because, in
   their hate, they wished to have Him put to death--yet He talks about
   being a king! It may have been a merry jest for Pilate at the moment,
   but he did not dare to make it one afterwards. His wife would have
   stopped him had he sought to find amusement in Jesus of Nazareth!

   At the time, it must all have seemed very strange to him. It takes a
   great deal of courage for a man to avow that which seems to be
   improbable and, indeed, impossible. He knows it is true, but the other
   man thinks it is a piece of fanaticism. "Ridiculous nonsense," he says,
   and he scorns the idea with a sarcastic grin. It is not easy, then, for
   a humble-

   minded spirit just as determinedly to acknowledge it. I believe that
   there is many a man who could stand upon a public platform and announce
   his convictions to an infuriated crowd, who would not dare to say the
   same things to a single individual. It took more courage for Christ to
   speak to Pilate, alone, as He did, than it has done for many a man to
   stand and burn at the stake, yet the Savior did it. Calmly and
   deliberately, He avowed the Truth of God, blessed be His holy name! "I
   am a King," He said, and so He is. In our hearts, we acknowledge His
   Sovereignty over us as individuals and His supremacy over the entire
   Church. No, more, His Father has given Him power over all flesh, that
   He should give eternal life to as many as He has given Him. He has said
   it, "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." "And He shall
   reign forever and ever," and all loyal hearts cry, "Hallelujah!" It was
   a good confession for the Nazarene, clothed in the common smock frock
   of a Galilean peasant, with gory sweat still upon His brow, with the
   ropes that bound Him still about His wrists, with the howling savagery
   of His countrymen behind Him, to say to Pilate, "I am a King."

   Next, Christ's "good confession" was His announcement of a spiritual
   Kingdom. Pilate could not comprehend what He meant when He said, "My
   Kingdom is not of this world; if My Kingdom were of this world, then
   would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews." A
   spiritual Kingdom! Pilate would not have given the smallest Roman coin
   for such a kingdom as that! Our Savior's own countrymen did not
   understand what He meant by a spiritual Kingdom "not of this world."
   They were looking for a temporal prince, an earthly leader who would
   deliver them from the Roman yoke, but Jesus asserts that His Kingdom,
   whatever it is, and wherever it is, is a spiritual'thing! This is the
   testimony that we are also trying to bear today and, sometimes we have
   to bear it before the very temporal power that thinks the church to be
   an instrument to be used for its own purposes--a sort of mental and
   moral police force to keep people in order--the officers themselves to
   be kept in order and dressed, governed, fed and maintained by an Act of
   Parliament and not able to lift so much as a little finger should the
   State forbid them to do so! This is a doctrine which needs some courage
   to utter it even now, but it is to be spoken, and must be spoken more
   and more loudly! Christ's Kingdom is not of this world! It borrows no
   power from the secular arm and would not accept it if it were offered.
   It is a rule of spirit over spirit, of mind over mind, of the Truth of
   God over the souls of men--and that man is a faithful witness for
   Christ who can unflinchingly bear this testimony even before the
   greatest and the proudest of the land! Our Savior did so when He said
   to Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world."

   Another part of Christ's "good confession" was a declaration of His
   life purpose--"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
   the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth." There is many a
   man who is pursuing a calling which he would scarcely like to
   acknowledge. And there are others who think that their calling can be
   best pursued by stealthy, crafty, Jesuitical plans. But it was not so
   with the Savior. He boldly declared the purpose for which He had come
   into the world--why should He conceal it? He who seeks to bear witness
   to the Truth of God should be true enough to declare what the objective
   of his witness is. And the Savior did so, before Pilate, and wherever
   He was! All His life He was a witness to the Truth--He was the truest
   man who ever lived! It is beautiful to notice the Truth of the Lord
   Jesus Christ even in small particulars. There is no rhetoric about our
   Savior's speech, because rhetoric is too often but a lie. He speaks as
   simply as a child. There is no attempt at any display of learning in
   our Savior's teaching. Because it is all solid Truth and Divine
   Revelation, there is no need that He should use the jargon of the
   schools, or call Himself a Rabbi or Doctor.

   He spoke with authority and you can see how simply, how plainly, how
   heartily He did it. There was no particular garb to attract attention
   to the Savior, no priestly robes with which to dignify a kind of
   babyish authority. He was a Man among men, speaking what He knew in the
   language of the people which they could understand. There was no pomp,
   or ceremony, or show about His life and, especially, there was no sham
   or pretence. He was what He seemed to be, and He seemed to be just what
   He was! If you look upon any other man, you can see some attempt to
   hide his deficiencies, or to increase his influence by an appearance of
   greater strength than actually exists. In the Savior, you see Him
   altogether as He is. He wears His heart upon His sleeve. He speaks
   straight on and never turns aside to crooked ways. He never blushes or
   stammers--why should He? What has He to conceal? His teaching is
   delivered as from a mountaintop and men may stand and gaze--and, the
   longer they gaze, the better will they see what He wishes them to see!
   He has no curtain behind which there is something concealed--all is as
   open as the day. As a truthful man, He was a fit witness to bear
   testimony to the Truth of God. And what a breaker of idols, what a
   smasher of all shams He was! Pharisees and Sadducees, and Herodians got
   but short notice from Him. Nothing false could stand before Him. Even a
   scourge of small cords,

   when it was held in His hands, sufficed to sweep the buyers and sellers
   from the temple! And when He used the sledgehammer of denunciation, who
   could resist Him? His fan was in His hand and He thoroughly purged His
   floor. And this was His life purpose--that He might bear witness to the
   Truth of God--and He acknowledged that purpose even before Pontius
   Pilate.

   Our Savior also witnessed "the good confession" by His acknowledgement
   that there is such a thing as positive Truth--"To this end was I born,
   and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness
   unto the Truth." There is need of just such witness as that today. "Now
   be very careful upon that point," says one. "Do you mean to say that
   there really is such a thing as the Truth"? By your leave, dear Sir, or
   without it, I will venture to assert that there is! "That reply is a
   very bigoted one because if there is a Doctrine that is the Truth, then
   that which is contrary to it is a lie." Precisely so, and by your
   leave, or without your leave, I say again that it is so and it must be
   so in the natural order of things. If this Doctrine is true, then that
   which contradicts it cannot be true! If God has spoken thus, that which
   is opposed to God and His Truth, is not from Him and cannot stand on
   the same footing with that which is Divinely revealed. It takes a good
   deal of courage to say that, nowadays. If you go into society, you will
   get three cheers if you declare that you are an Agnostic--that you do
   not know anything--you are not sure of anything.

   Others say that whatever a man believes, or does not believe, it really
   doesn't matter provided he is perfectly sincere. That is to say, if a
   man sincerely takes cyanide, it will not kill him! And if he sincerely
   goes without food, he will not starve. And if he sincerely refuses to
   breathe, he will do as well as those who do breathe, which is another
   lie. The statue of Christ was set up among the statues of Plato,
   Socrates and other notable men--and some thought it was an honor to
   Christ, but it was not. They would crown Christ, so they say, among the
   great ones of earth. Ah, but they cannot crown Him unless they "crown
   Him Lord of all." Our blessed Savior is honestly intolerant! He says,
   "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but He that believes
   not shall be damned." Because He loves the souls of men, He will not
   bolster up the fiction of universal charity. And even before the
   Broad-church or No-church Pilate--He says that He has come to bear
   witness to the Truth. So there is the Truth, and that which is contrary
   to it is not Truth!

   One other point in our Lord's "good confession" was His separation of
   characters, for He went on to say to Pilate-- and I fear that most of
   us would have left out that sentence--"Everyone that is of the Truth
   hears My voice." Do you hear that declaration, Pilate? You are the
   Roman procurator--a very great man--and this poor Prisoner of yours,
   whose life is now at your mercy, tells you plainly that everyone that
   is of the Truth hears His voice. Then, Pilate, if you are of the Truth,
   you will have to sit at His feet and listen to His words, and learn of
   Him! I can well conceive what Pilate thought as he turned on his heels
   and contemptuously asked, "What is truth?" He had heard quite enough of
   such talk as that--he did not want any more of such close dealing. But
   therein lies the Glory of the Master, that He is not content with
   merely teaching Truth of God, but, in His good confession before
   Pontius Pilate, He presses it home even upon His judge! And He divides
   and separates between the precious and the vile. So must you and I do,
   dear Friends, if we are faithful followers of "the faithful Witness."

   I dare not preach to this congregation as if you were all Christians,
   for you are not. I dare not deliver even one discourse under the
   delusion that all my hearers are saved, for, alas, they are not. This
   is the fault with multitudes of sermons--that they seem to carry the
   whole congregation to Heaven when possibly the major part of those
   present may be going down to Hell! That will not do. Remember what the
   Lord said to the Prophet Jeremiah, "If you take forth the precious from
   the vile, you shall be as My mouth." But if there is no winnowing fan
   in our hand to separate the chaff from the wheat, we are not like
   Christ, nor has Christ sent us on His service. In this "good
   confession" of His, we see how clearly and solemnly--gently, I admit,
   but still most decidedly--He made a division and separation of
   characters and gave a test by which Pilate could judge himself if he
   had been willing to do so.

   II. The time will not suffice for me to go fully into all the teaching
   of my text, but I want to ask, in the second place--TO WHAT TRUTH DID
   OUR LORD WITNESS?

   He said to Pilate that He was born--that proves His Humanity. He also
   said that He came into the world and that, I think, shows His Divinity
   as well as His Humanity. He came on purpose to bear witness to the
   Truth and I believe that the life of Christ witnessed not only to all
   Doctrinal Truth, but also to everything that is true, especially to
   true-heartedness, simplicity, sincerity. His life was a testimony
   against all guile, craftiness, cunning, concealment--in that sense it
   was as testimony to the Truth of God.

   But with regard to special Truths to which He testified, did not His
   very coming here and being born, bear witness to the grand Truth that
   God is love and that God loves men? The Infinite takes upon Himself the
   nature and form of an Infant. The Illimitable is encased within a human
   body. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." We never can have
   a clearer testimony to the thoughtful care of God to men than we find
   in the coming of the Son of God as the Son of Man, except this--that,
   being found in fashion as a Man, He proved the love of God to sinners
   by the tears which He wept over the guilty and perishing and, best of
   all, by the blood which He shed for many for the remission of sins. As
   you see Christ dying on the accursed tree, say, "Behold, what manner of
   love the Father has bestowed upon us." He wills not the death of any,
   but longs that they should turn unto Him and live. The Savior's death
   for the guilty proves that "God so loved the world that He gave His
   only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but
   have everlasting life." All His life the Savior was bearing witness to
   this grand Truth of God. Oh, that we may, none of us, dare to doubt it
   after He has backed it up by a life of self-abnegation and a death of
   sublime self-sacrifice!

   He also bore witness, all His life, to the spirituality of true
   religion. He was always teaching Truth like this--"God is a Spirit: and
   they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." He wore
   no phylactery, He assumed no airs of an ascetic. Even in His eating and
   drinking, He was like other men, insomuch that they said of Him that He
   was "a man gluttonous, and a wine bibber"--a vile charge, without an
   atom of truth in it! He taught that true religion consisted not in long
   prayers, but in entering into the closet and sincerely seeking the
   Father's face. It was not fasting thrice in the week, but it was truly
   praying, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." It was not giving alms in
   public and sounding a trumpet before him, and in secret devouring
   widows houses, but it consisted in love to God and love to man. It was
   the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart that Jesus preached--and He
   grandly witnessed against all the idolatrous and false forms of faith
   which, even down to this day, prostitute His blessed name!

   In that sad hour our Lord Jesus was also a wonderful Witness to the
   enmity of men to God. He in whom there was no roughness or sternness,
   as there was in John the Baptist, came as the Messenger of love and
   mercy, for God sent Him not into the world to condemn the world, but
   that the world, through Him, might be saved. He was the great
   Householder's Son, who was, "last of all" sent to receive the fruits of
   the vineyard, but the husbandmen said, "This is the heir; come, let us
   kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance." The men of this world
   were never so base--they never displayed so much of their utter malice
   against God as when they took His Son and put Him to a cruel and
   ignominious death. This was the culmination of human guilt. All the
   adulteries, murders, unnatural vices and accursed blasphemies that had
   ever defiled the race of mankind have not so certainly proved it to be
   a desperately fallen thing as the murder of the Son of God, the Savior
   and the Friend of men! This appalling crime of Deicide stands out
   without a parallel in the history of the universe! There was no guilt
   in the Lord Jesus for which He deserved to die, yet, with wicked hands,
   they crucified and slew Him.

   Our Savior was also always a Witness to the great necessity of a new
   creation, a change of heart, a regeneration. To Nicodemus He said, "You
   must be born-again." And to His disciples, "Except you are converted
   and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of
   Heaven." He also preached the absolute necessity of faith in Himself
   and did not mince the matter in the least--"He that believes on the Son
   has everlasting life: and He that believes not the Son shall not see
   life, but the wrath of God abides on him." To all this Jesus
   steadfastly witnessed in life and in death.

   And to this Truth of God He also bore witness, that salvation was to be
   found only in Himself "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." "If any man
   thirsts, let Him come unto Me and drink." His teaching was always
   concerning Himself--"I am the way, the truth, and the life." "Come unto
   Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
   He never hesitated to bear witness to the Truth of God so it was but
   natural that part of His "good confession" before Pilate should be this
   plain declaration, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I
   into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth."

   III. Now I will try briefly to answer a third question--WHAT HAD THIS
   "GOOD CONFESSION" OF JESUS TO

   DO WITH PILATE?

   I answer, first, that it gave Pilate a reason for acting justly It
   ought to have helped to stir any little conscience that Pilate still
   had and, also, to allay the jealousy which he may have felt because of
   the Savior's royal claims. Our Lord spoke thus out of kindness to
   Pilate.

   I think, however, that the main reason for our Savior's testimony was
   that it gave Pilate an opportunity to learn the Truth. Had his soul
   been like the good soil--had he really ever been the subject of
   Sovereign Grace, he would have said to Jesus, "I will gladly hear what
   this Truth is if you will tell me." He would, at least, have spared
   time enough to hear from his strange Prisoner what this Truth was.
   There must have been an unusual force about our Savior's few short
   sentences that ought to have convinced even Pontius Pilate of His
   evident sincerity. Those eyes, so gentle, yet so piercing, must have
   looked Pilate through and through. The tone of His voice must have been
   very different from anything to which Pilate had been accustomed in the
   courts of Nero. Jesus spoke as no other man had ever spoken in Pilate's
   Hall before--and had there been anything hopeful about him, he would
   have said, "Good Master, tell me what that Truth is to which You bear
   witness."

   And I say to you who are not converted, if you desire to be right with
   God, you will want to know what this Truth is for which the Lord Jesus
   lived and died. And when you do know it, if there is the right
   principle in your heart, then you will believe it and, believing it,
   you will assuredly be saved! There is such life-giving Truth in the
   Savior's teaching that you have but to hear it, and turn it over in
   your mind, and weigh it with the best judgment that you have, to be
   convinced that it is most certainly true! So I put it to you--if it is
   true, will you not believe it? Believing it, will you not yield to it
   and let it reign over your whole being, for it is the Truth of God from
   the mouth of the King? It is the scepter in the hand of King Jesus with
   which He rules over the hearts of all His loyal subjects!

   IV. Now, to finish, I have to ask--WHAT HAS THIS TO DO WITH OURSELVES?

   It has something to do with everyone of us, whether we acknowledge
   Christ or not. First, it suggests to our hearts this question--Are we
   of the Truth?For, if we are of the Truth, we shall hear Christ's voice!
   It is the voice of the King eternal, immortal, invisible! He is the
   King of Truth and He rules over truthful minds. Coming to be the Chief
   Witness to all Truth, He really occupies the throne of Truth. Now, dear
   Friends, are we of the Truth? For, if we are not, we shall not accept
   Christ. But if we are, we shall be glad to have Him as our King. I ask
   any man or woman here who has up to now refused Christ, whether he is
   not conscious of something missing from his life? Are you not sometimes
   half-inclined to believe in Jesus? Do you not have to do violence to
   your conscience by what you call, reason, but by what I venture to say
   is a most unreasonable travesty of all good reasoning? If you would but
   let that reason of yours go its own way and follow the track of the
   Truth of God, I believe that, before long, by God's Grace, you would be
   sitting at the Savior's feet and learning of Him!

   The next thing that this testimony of Christ has to do with us is this.
   If, on our behalf, He witnessed "the good confession" for the Truth of
   God before Pontius Pilate, then it behooves you and me, not only to
   believe, but to bear witness to the Truth. Brothers and Sisters in
   Jesus, this looks to me to be but a small thing for us to do. If the
   Son of God has come into this world on our behalf and has not been
   ashamed to call us brethren, and to espouse our cause even at the cost
   of His life, I say that it looks to me to be but a small thing that He
   should ask of us that, if with our heart we believe in Him, we should
   with our mouth make confession of Him--that, if we believe in Him, we
   should also be baptized in His name, for it is His will that we should
   make an open confession before men if we really are His disciples.

   There are new fashions in theology and new gods lately come up, and
   even new Christs and all manner of nonsense and novelty. But I am a
   follower of the old Christ who is the same yesterday, today and
   forever--and I glory in being a fool for Christ's sake if it is a
   foolish thing to follow the Man of Nazareth, the Christ of Calvary who
   died as the Substitute for all who believe in Him--that by the shedding
   of His precious blood He might reconcile them unto God forever!

   I appeal to some who I believe really do love my Lord and Master, but
   who are, like Saul of old, hiding away out of sight. Are you never
   going forth to fight for your King? Will you still continue in the ways
   of the world and yet profess to be a lover of the Lord? Cowards that
   you are, come out boldly for Jesus! If you are on Christ's side,
   acknowledge it. There never was a cause that better deserved to be
   openly confessed than His! If Christ is God, follow Him! But if Satan
   is God, serve him. If the world is worth your love, give your love to
   the world and say so--do not come sneaking in among Christians as if
   you belonged to them! But if the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of your
   love, give it to Him and say that you have done so. Come to the front,
   unite with His people, share the scorn that falls upon them and
   whenever any man wishes to set Christ in the pillory, say to Him, "Put
   me there, too, for I am one with Him and have taken up His cause." When
   He comes--and He soon will come in all the Glory of His Father and of
   His holy angels, he who has denied Him before men, He will deny before
   the assembled universe! But he who has confessed Him before men, him
   will He confess in the

   Presence of His Father and of His holy angels. May that be my lot, and
   yours, dear Friends, without a single exception, for His dear name's
   sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN18:28-40; PSALM2.

   John 18:28. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas unto the Hall of
   Judgment: That is to say, Pilate's Hall. Pilate, at that time, was
   probably residing in one of the old and sumptuous palaces of Herod,
   there holding His court during the time of the Passover.

   28. And it was early. They were very eager to prove their enmity to
   Christ. They had spent the night and the earliest moments of the dawn
   in examining their illustrious Prisoner, condemning Him, abusing Him
   and now they were off to Pilate.

   28. And they themselves went not into the Judgment Hall, lest they
   should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover What could
   defile such wretches as these? Yet they were afraid of ceremonial
   defilement, though neither afraid nor ashamed to saturate their hands
   in the blood of Jesus!

   29. Pilate then went out unto them. He loathed and detested them, yet,
   for his own evil purposes, he would yield to their wishes and whims.

   29, 30. And said, What accusation bring you against this Man? They
   answered and said unto him, If He were not a malefactor, we would not
   have delivered Him up unto you. As much as to say, "You may take that
   for granted. We would not have brought Him if He had not done wrong.
   You need not look into the matter, we have already heard the evidence,
   and convicted Him, and so saved you all the trouble of trying Him. We
   only bring Him here for you to condemn Him."

   31. Then said Pilate unto them, You take Him, and judge Him according
   to your law.' 'That is your way of doing such things, but it is not a
   method into which we shall fall. Our law does not condemn a man before
   it hears the evidence against him. I am not going to be your tool, to
   put this Man to death without hearing what is laid to His charge, and
   the proofs of His guilt. If you want that done, you must do it
   yourselves."

   31. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put
   any man to death.' 'You Romans have taken from us the power of life and
   death, and we want Him put to death." There was a clear confession that
   nothing short of Christ's death would satisfy them.

   32. That the sayings of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spoke,
   signifying what death He should die. Crucifixion was a Roman, not a
   Jewish method of capital punishment, so God overruled the wanton
   wickedness of the worst of men for the accomplishment of His own
   eternal purposes, without, however, diminishing their responsibility
   and guilt in the least degree. It was "by the determinate counsel and
   foreknowledge of God" that Christ was put to death, yet it was "with
   wicked hands" that they took Him and crucified Him.

   33. Then Pilate entered into the Judgment Hall again, and called Jesus,
   and said unto Him, Are you the King of the Jews? He did not look much
   like it. There was little enough about His appearance or His apparel to
   suggest the idea of royalty.

   34. 35. Jesus answered Him, Say you this thing of yourself or did
   others tell it you of Me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? I can imagine
   him throwing all the scorn and contempt possible into the question. It
   was characteristic of the Romans, as we learn from the works of their
   great writers, that they utterly despised and detested the Jews.

   35-37. Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You unto
   me: what have You done? Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this
   world: if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight,
   that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My Kingdom not
   from here. Pilate therefore said unto Him, Are you a king, then? Jesus
   answered, You say that Iam a king. To this end was I born, and for this
   cause came I unto the world, that Ishould bear witness unto the Truth.
   Everyone that is of the Truth hears My voice. We might have expected
   that He would have said, "I came into the world that I might be a
   king." But He explains that, as a Witness to the Truth, He wasa King.

   38. Pilate said unto Him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he
   went out again unto the Jews, and said unto them, I find in Him no
   fault at all He did not want an answer. He merely thought it such an
   unnecessary piece of trifling

   to talk about truth. He had so slight an idea of what the word might
   mean, that when he had said, "What is truth?" "he went out again unto
   the Jews, and said unto them, I find in Him no fault at all." That was
   the truth about the Truth, from the lips of a man who cared nothing
   about the Truth of God, yet who was compelled to bear this testimony,
   "I find in Him no fault at all."

   39. But we have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the
   Passover: will you therefore that I release unto you the King of the
   Jews?Now Pilate may have thought if Christ were their King they would
   certainly prefer Him to a thief and a robber, so he was putting before
   himself an opportunity of escaping from judging Christ--and before them
   a test as to whether there really was in them any liking for the
   Christ, or any possibility of His becoming their King.

   40. Then cried they all again, saying, Not this Man, but Barabbas. Now
   Barabbas was a robber.

   Psalm 2:1, 2. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
   thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
   counsel together against the LORD, and against His Anointed, saying.
   This raging company of the Jews was but a example of the universal
   opposition which there is to the reign of Christ, for it is not alone
   in Israel, but among the heathen, and among all people, that there is
   this opposition to the Christ of God!

   3. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
   The bands of Jehovah and the bands of the Christ, His Anointed.

   4, 5. He that sits in the Heaven shall laugh: the Lord shall have them
   in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them
   in His sore displeasure. His word, it seems, vexes them. There is no
   need of sword or javelin. The weapons of God's warfare are His words.

   6-12. Yet have Iset My king upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare
   the decree: the LORD has said unto Me, You are My Son; this day have I
   begotten You. Ask of Me, and I shall give You the heathen for Your
   inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession.
   You shall break them with a rod of iron: You shall dash them in pieces
   like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O you kings: be
   instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and
   rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish
   from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all
   they that put their trust in Him.
     __________________________________________________________________

The Redeemer Described by Himself

   (No. 2827)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 19, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JULY
   1, 1877.

   "Why, when I came, was there no man? Why, when I called, was there none
   to answer? Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have
   I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make
   the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink because there is no water,
   and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make
   sackcloth their covering. The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the
   learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that
   is weary: He wakens Me morning by morning, he wakens My ears to hear as
   the learned. The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I was not rebellious,
   nor did I turn away. I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to
   them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and
   spitting." Isaiah 50:2-6.

   WE spent this morning at the foot of the Cross. [Sermon #1362, Volume
   23--MOURNING FOR CHRIST] I hope that some of us, at least, were helped
   by the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication to look unto Him whom we
   have pierced by our sins, and to "mourn for Him, as one mourns for his
   only son." I thought that as we then found it so good to be there, we
   would go there, again, the more especially as we are afterwards to
   gather around the Communion Table where we shall again be reminded of
   the sacrificial death which the sacred Supper so clearly symbolizes.
   Let us come, then, under the guidance of God's Holy Spirit, very near
   to our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that the Spirit of Christ may aid our
   meditations while I try, once more, to speak about His glorious and
   matchless Person, and the wondrous condescension which made Him
   undertake such gracious offices on our behalf and bear for us such
   awful and shameful griefs.

   I shall need no further preface to my discourse except to say that in
   my opinion these verses run on without any break, so that you are not
   to separate them and ascribe one to the Prophet, another to the
   Messiah, and another to Jehovah, Himself, but you must take the whole
   as the utterance of one Divine Person. That Jehovah-Jesus is the One
   who is speaking here is very clear from the last verse of the previous
   chapter--"I the Lord" ("I, Jehovah," it is,) "am your Savior and your
   Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." It is Jehovah, as the Savior and
   Redeemer of His people, who is here manifesting Himself to us--and we
   must take the whole chapter as being uttered by Him.

   I. So, then, to begin with, let us BEHOLD THE MESSIAH AS GOD--"I clothe
   the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering."

   I ask you again to link this 3rd verse with the 6th -"I clothe the
   heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their covering...! gave My
   back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I
   hid not My face from shame and spitting." He, then, who suffered thus
   and whom we regard as redeeming us by His death, and as saving us by
   His life, is no less than the Almighty God who clothes the heavens with
   blackness, at whose rebuke the sea is dried up and the rivers become a
   wilderness!

   I think the first reference in these words is to the miracles which
   were worked by the plagues in Egypt. It was Jehovah-Jesus who was then
   plaguing His adversaries. It was He who stood by the border of the Red
   Sea and dried it up. In a later chapter Isaiah says that "the Angel of
   His Presence saved them." And who is that great "Angel of His Presence"
   but the Angel of the Covenant in whom we delight, even Jesus Christ our
   Lord and Savior? It was He who struck the rivers of Egypt till they
   began to stink and the fish died from thirst. It was He who called for
   an unusual darkness--even darkness which might be felt--and which
   lasted three days and nights--a supernatural darkness such as had never
   before been known. Think of the greatness of that God who can darken
   the great orb of day! The strongest eyes of man cannot bear to gaze
   upon the sun, for fear of producing blindness, yet Jehovah-Jesus does
   not only look the sun in the face, but He lifts His hand and shuts the
   light of the sun from off the face of the earth! And He bids the
   sun--"which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices
   as a strong man to run a race"--to take off his bridal attire and to
   put on the garments of mourning, for thus said the Lord, "I clothe the
   heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering." This
   mighty miracle, which was worked of old, was worked by that same Jesus
   who, in the days of His flesh, was despised and rejected of men! Learn
   this lesson and adore the Lord who is so great in power and as gracious
   as He is great.

   But we must not restrict the text to that which happened in the land of
   Egypt, for it has a far wider reference than that. All the great
   wonders of Nature are to be ascribed to Him upon whom we build all our
   hopes for time and for eternity. There are channels of great rivers to
   be found that are now perfectly dry. Travelers tell us of vast lakes
   and riverbeds that have become mere pans of salt. How came they to be
   dried up? "By the action of the laws of nature," some people say. But
   laws have no power to act by themselves--they need force at the back of
   them to make them operate. And whose force is that? It is the energy of
   God--and that same energy dwells in the adorable Person of our Lord and
   Savior, Jesus Christ. When the storm clouds come hurrying up, driven by
   the winds, and the crash of Heaven's dread artillery is heard, and the
   dashes of forked lightning follow each other in rapid succession, we
   tremble at the power of the Lord who thus makes the earth to quiver
   before Him. But who is He that is thus driving in His conquering car?
   It is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! All the elements of Nature are
   under His control and He rules all things according to the good
   pleasure of His own will. He sits at the right hand of God, even the
   Father, being Himself very God of very God!

   The last miracle recorded here, namely that of covering the heavens
   with sackcloth, was performed by our Lord even when He was in His death
   agony. We read that at high noon the sun was veiled and there was
   darkness over all the land for three black hours. Wonder of wonders! He
   who hung bleeding there had worked that mighty marvel! The sun had
   looked upon Him hanging on the Cross and, as if in horror, had covered
   its face and traveled on in tenfold night. The tears of Jesus quenched
   the light of the sun! Had He been wrathful, He might have put out its
   light forever, but His love not only restored that light, but it has
   given to us a light a thousand times more precious, even the Light of
   God--the light of everlasting life and joy!

   I cannot preach worthily upon so sublime a doctrine as this, so it is
   no use for me to attempt to do so. I always feel, when I begin to speak
   of the Deity of our blessed Lord and Master, as if my heart were too
   full for me to give utterance to my deepest feelings and convictions.
   My heart is indeed inditing a good matter when I am speaking thus
   concerning the King, but I cannot say that my tongue is as the pen of a
   ready writer when it has so vast a theme to dwell upon. What I want to
   bring before your minds most clearly is the blessed Truth of God that
   you are not depending for your salvation upon a mere man. He is
   Man--certainly Man--Man of the substance of His mother. But He is just
   as truly Divine. In trusting Him, you are resting your souls upon One
   who is Infinite and Almighty. Nothing can be too difficult for Him to
   do. It is He who asks these questions in the second verse--"Is My hand
   shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to
   deliver?" You may depend upon it that you are absolutely safe in His
   hands! What you commit to Him, He will securely keep, rest assured of
   that. Even when you draw nearest to Him in the familiar union which He
   graciously permits to those whom He loves, never think of Him as being
   less than the Eternal God. So worship Him, trust Him and rejoice in
   Him!

   II. Now let us turn to the next verse of our text and BEHOLD THE
   MESSIAH AS THE INSTRUCTED TEACHER--"The Lord God has given Me the
   tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season
   to him that is weary: He wakens Me morning by morning, He wakens My
   ears to hear as the learned."

   Our Lord veiled His Godhead in the robe of Manhood and He came and
   dwelt here, among men, that He might proclaim liberty to the captives
   and the opening of the prison to them that were bound. He came in fact
   as it was foretold concerning Him, that He might save His people from
   their sins. But before He began to teach, it was necessary that, as
   Man, He should be prepared for His work. I call your special attention
   to the condescension of our Lord in coming here on purpose to care for
   the weak--to speak consoling and sustaining words to them and also to
   the fact that before He performed that service, He learned the sacred
   art from His Father. It seems, according to this verse, that His chief
   work was

   to speak words in season to the weary ones. How sweetly He has learned
   that blessed lesson and how graciously He has turned it to practical
   account! Have not many of you found His words to be exceedingly
   seasonable to you when you have been weary? When you have been most
   depressed, have not the consolations of Christ been more precious to
   you than at any other time? Have you not, often, in seasons of sorrow,
   wiped away your tears at the sound of His cheering voice? As for you
   who have beat upon your breasts in deep contrition of heart because of
   the burden of your sin, has not Jesus removed your load from you when
   you have heard Him speak? We do well to treasure up every sentence that
   He has uttered, for there is not ever a word that has fallen from His
   dear lips, by way of promise and encouragement, but exactly suits our
   experience at some time or other! Whatever our distress or difficulty
   may be, He knows how to speak a word in season to everyone who is
   weary. To us He says, as He said to His disciples, "Let not your heart
   be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me." He knows, even to
   perfection, the blessed art of consoling the sad and sorrowful.

   The most condescending part of this Truth of God is that He received
   from His Father the power to deliver such words of consolation. He
   says, "The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I
   should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary." He
   became a disciple, sitting at His Father's feet. For 30 years, He was
   learning much in Joseph's carpenter's shop. Little do we know how much
   He learned there, but this much we do know, for Luke records the fact,
   "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."
   And afterwards, when He entered upon His public work among men, He
   spoke with the tongue of the learned, saying to His disciples, "All
   things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." All
   through His time of teaching, He was still listening and learning.
   Notice the words in the 4th verse--"He wakens Me morning by morning, He
   wakens My ears to hear as the learned."

   The Lord Jesus was often up early in the morning--even when He had not
   been all night in prayer--that seemed to be the special season in which
   He communed with His Father. He first went and enjoyed most intimate
   fellowship with the Lord, refreshing Himself by talking of heavenly
   things and receiving new strength for service. And then, with the dew
   of Heaven fresh upon Him, He came forth and taught the people. They,
   very likely, were still sound asleep, but He was awake early, receiving
   renewed Inspiration in prayer and fellowship. And then He came forth,
   fragrant with the savor of His union with His Father and the sweet odor
   of His consecration was shed abroad among the sons of men through the
   blessed Truths of God that flowed from His lips! I ask you again to
   think of this wonderful condescension, that He who clothes the heavens
   with blackness and makes sackcloth their covering, should, for our
   sake, stoop to learn in His Father's school. "Though He were a Son, yet
   learned He obedience." And though He was "over all, God blessed
   forever," yet did He increase in wisdom and stature, as a Boy and as a
   Man, and He condescended to be a Learner that He might speak as the
   learned and know how to utter words that would be in season to us when
   we are weary.

   III. Now I want you to go down a step lower, to the next verse, in
   which we BEHOLD JESUS CHRIST AS THE SERVANT OF THE LORD--"The Lord God
   has opened My ears, and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away." He
   stood upon earth, not like a prince but as the Servant of God! He was
   made to be under the Law and in all things to be subservient to the
   Father's will.

   Notice that first of all, He speaks of Himself as being prepared by
   Grace, for He says, "The Lord God has opened My ears," as if there had
   been a work worked upon Him to fit and prepare Him for His service.
   Yes, and so it was--and the same Spirit which rested upon Christ must
   also open our ears. It often amazes me that our Lord should have been
   willing to be baptized in Jordan even though that Baptism was attended
   by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him, for, albeit that He was
   truly Human, we know that He was also just as truly Divine. Being found
   in fashion as a Man, He received of God the Holy Spirit the same
   anointing which is now bestowed upon His people. God forbid that our
   tongue should ever speak a word concerning Him that should confound His
   Deity and His Humanity, but, still, we do assert that He did need that
   the Spirit should rest upon Him, for, otherwise, the Spirit would not
   have come, for He never does anything unnecessarily. This is matchless
   condescension on His part--that He should, voluntarily, put Himself
   into such a condition of necessity for our sake!

   Being thus prepared by Grace, He was consecrated in due form s o that
   He could say of Himself, "The Lord God has opened My ears." Brothers
   and Sisters, there was never such an ear as Christ had! He heard the
   faint whispers of His Father's voice. He never neglected the will of
   God, nor needed to be reminded of it, or to be pressed and persuaded to
   do it. See how different it is with us. Our ears are dull of hearing,
   or, if the precept is plain to our apprehension, we often do

   not yield obedience to it. There are some professors who know their
   duty--they have been wakened to know it morning by morning, but,
   nevertheless, they pretend not to be aware as to what is required of
   them. The sound of God's voice has only reached their outward ear--it
   has never penetrated as far as the inward ear--their heart has not
   perceived its Divine force and power. But it was never so with our
   blessed Lord. Whatever His Father willed, He at once rejoiced to do. He
   could always say, "I always do the things that please Him."

   That is the next point, for He not only heard His Father's voice, but
   He was obedient to it in all things. He says, "I was not rebellious." I
   cannot find anything in the life of Christ that even looks like
   rebellion. From the day when, as a Child, He said to His parents, "Know
   you not that I must be about My Father's business?" till the hour when,
   on the Cross, He cried, "It is finished!" He was always obedient to the
   will of God. "Being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself and
   became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross." His obedience
   was absolutely perfect in all things. Think of this and remember that
   this is the same Divine Being who clothes the heavens with blackness
   and makes sackcloth their covering when it so pleases Him!

   In that obedience, He was persevering through all trials. He says that
   He did not turn away. Having commenced the work of saving men, He went
   through with it. He steadfastly set His face to go up to Jerusalem,
   though He knew that He was going to His death. He asked not that He
   might be delivered from completing the work that He had undertaken.
   There was a time when, in the horror of His spirit, He cried, "If it is
   possible, let this cup pass from Me," yet He never flinched from any
   suffering that was necessary to our redemption. It was Human weakness
   that spoke for a moment, but His inmost soul was fully set upon the
   work of redeeming His people unto Himself. He set His face like a flint
   and He would not turn back. Even in His direst agonies, His thoughts
   were all for others. He saved others--Himself He could not save--for it
   was impossible for Him to draw back from the work which He had once
   undertaken.

   You know all this, Beloved. I do but remind you of what has been
   familiar to you ever since you have believed in Jesus, but I pray you
   to think of it again and again, for it must have been a matter of the
   utmost amazement to the angels to see their Lord acting as a
   Servant--to see Him, without whom was not anything made that was made,
   here below, dressed in a peasant's garb and, as a humble, way-worn Son
   of Poverty, sitting on a well to talk to a poor sinful woman about the
   Water of Life. You know what lowly service He rendered, even to the
   washing of His disciples' feet. There was nothing too menial for Him to
   perform, yet, all the while, He was truly Divine. Oh, this is a Truth
   that needs to be meditated upon by the hour, together, and to be
   considered again and yet again! This is one of the things which angels
   desire to look into and we may try to look into it as long as we will,
   for, beyond and above all controversy, great is this mystery of
   godliness--Godmanifest in the flesh!

   IV. The last step in this wondrous ladder is revealed to us in the next
   verse--"I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that
   plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting."
   BEHOLD THE MESSIAH AS THE PEERLESS SUFFERER. And this Sufferer, on whom
   men spat, was the Eternal God!

   Scripture sometimes speaks concerning Christ in such a way that
   fastidious critics seek to correct it. There is a hymn, by Dr. Watts,
   in which there is this verse--

   "Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut his glories in, When
   God, the mighty Maker, died For man, the creature's sin."

   It has been asked, "Did God really die?" No, for God cannot die, yet He
   who died was God. So, if there is confusion in your mind, it is the
   confusion of Holy Scripture, itself, for we read, "Feed the Church of
   GOD, which He has purchased with His own blood." He who purchased the
   Church with His own blood was, indeed, God. There are clever men who
   could draw up this particular Truth of God as clearly as Athanasius
   drew up his Creed, and finish it up with a curse as loud as his, yet
   those men, nevertheless, might make a great blunder, while another, who
   might not speak exactly according to logic, would nevertheless hit the
   mark which they missed. How are we to speak upon such a wondrous theme
   as this? How can we speak upon it? It belongs not to mortal man to
   comprehend Deity--and if Deity complicates its own incomprehensibility
   by taking into alliance with Itself, our humanity, who is he that may
   not be made an offender for many and many a word, and yet, for all
   that, may not have offended against the Truth of God?

   He who was a prisoner in Pilate's Hall, accused of sedition, was the
   King of kings--He who was taken from that Hall and covered with an old
   red cloak, and set up in a chair as on a mimic throne--He who had a
   reed put into His right hand, was none other than the Almighty Lord who
   said, "Light be," and the light flashed forth out of the darkness! And
   He upon whose sacred shoulders fell the cruel flagellation of the Roman
   scourge till the plowers made deep scarlet furrows down His blessed
   back--He was that God who created and who still sustains the heavens
   and the earth and all things that exist, or ever have existed! He was a
   suffering Man, but, at the same time, He was the Son of God-- and He is
   the Son of God, today--and God, the Son, too! As you think of His pain,
   couple with it the thought that He bore all that agony voluntarily that
   we might be saved--"I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to
   them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and
   spitting."

   Even if God becomes Incarnate, yet none can touch Him unless He permits
   them to do so, but Jesus said, "I lay down My life for the sheep...No
   man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." No man could have
   scarred that blessed back of His unless Christ had been willing, out of
   mighty love, to suffer thus on His people's behalf! None could have
   plucked His hair unless He had put Himself into the position to have it
   plucked, in order that He might redeem us from all our iniquities! Many
   a martyr has suffered much, but he could not avoid it, for he was bound
   and he was not able to strike his foes or to escape. But here sat One
   to be spit upon, who could, if He had willed it, have withered into
   nothingness all who stood about Him! With one glance of those eyes of
   His, had He but grown angry, as He well might have done, He could have
   burned up their very souls, for it was He who dried up the river and
   who clothed the heavens with blackness, who was thus despitefully used!
   Blessed be the majesty of that Omnipotence which controlled
   omnipotence-- that mighty love which bound the Godhead so that it came
   not to the rescue of the Manhood of the suffering Savior!

   In addition, however, to the pain, we are asked, in this verse, to
   particularly notice the contempt which the Savior endured. The plucking
   of His hair was a proof of the malicious contempt of His enemies, yet
   they went still further and spit in His face. Spitting was regarded by
   Orientals and, I suppose, by all of us, as the most contemptuous thing
   which one man could do to another, yet the vile soldiers gathered round
   Him and spat upon Him. It is almost too terrible to think of or to
   speak of, but what must it have been for Jesus to endure it? I think
   you can realize the utter uselessness of human speech in trying to
   describe this scene. If the Divine thought of the text could leap out
   among you, like some mystic fire, then you might feel it, but as for
   our poor words, they cannot convey the sacred flame to you. But there
   stands the mysterious Truth. Enlarge upon it as we may, we can never
   fathom it, nor half fathom it--that He, the Creator of the heavens and
   the earth, here declares that He hid not His face from shame and
   spitting!

   I must again point out to you the beautiful touch of voluntariness
   here--"I hid not My face." Our Savior did not turn away or seek to
   escape. If He had wished to do so, He could readily have done it, but
   He hid not His face from any of the contempt that the most malicious
   and wicked of men wished to heap upon Him. Even when He came to die and
   they brought Him a drink which was customarily given to criminals--a
   strong, stupefying draught which would have somewhat relieved the
   pain--when He had tasted it, He would not drink it. The vinegar He did
   taste, but that wine mingled with myrrh He would not drink because He
   did not come here to escape any pain or any shame that His people
   deserved to suffer. He must go through with it all to the bitter end
   and, therefore, He will not, in any sense or way, endeavor to escape.
   "I hid not My face from shame and spitting." Oh, splendor of voluntary
   condescension and of marvelous love on the part of Him before whom the
   nations are as a drop in the bucket--who takes up the isles as a very
   little thing and to whom time is but a span compared with His own
   eternity! The express image of His Father, yet He bows to shame and
   spitting! Blessed be His holy name forever and forever!

   I will close when I have noticed three combinations which the verses of
   my text will make. I will but mention them and ask you to meditate upon
   them at your leisure.

   First of all, put the first and the last together, as I have already
   done--"Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a
   wilderness: their fish stink because there is no water, and die for
   thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their
   covering...I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that
   plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting." Those
   verses together show you the full ability of Christ to save. Here we
   have the God and the Sufferer. What a wondrous Christ He is--Divine
   and, therefore, able--Human and struck and suffering and, therefore,
   full of compassion! "It behooved Him in all things to be made like unto
   His brethren." And see how like His brethren He is, yet He is God! The
   ladder that Jacob saw had its foot upon the earth and its top reached
   to

   Heaven. It would have been of no use if its foot had not been upon the
   earth, for what man on earth could have climbed it? It would have been
   of no use if, with its foot upon the earth, it had not reached to
   Heaven--there would not have been any connection, after all. Behold,
   then, in the Humanity of Christ, how the foot of this ladder rests upon
   the earth and see, in His Deity, how the top reaches to Heaven! Happy
   are the feet that tread the rungs of this celestial ladder-- they shall
   climb into eternal rest! Glory, O Believers, in the Divine and Human
   Person of your Lord, and rest in Him in confidence and peace!

   Now put the two middle verses together--"The Lord God has given Me the
   tongue of the learned," and so on. And then, "The Lord God has opened
   My ears, and I was not rebellious." Here you have the Teacher and the
   Servant, and the two together make up this Truth of God--that Christ
   teaches us, not only with words, but with His life. What a wonderful
   Teacher He is, who Himself learned the lessons which He would have us
   learn! Let us take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. Let us study His
   precepts, but also imitate His example. His track I see--I have not
   merely a map of the road, but His footsteps show me which way I am to
   go. Watch in all things that you follow Christ, for He still says to
   His redeemed ones, "Follow Me."

   Now put the whole text together and think of Jesus Christ in all those
   various views which I have so feebly set before you and I think the
   result will be--at least, to God's people--that they will say, "This
   God shall be our God forever and ever! And it shall be our delight to
   do His bidding at all times." It is a high honor to serve God--and
   Christ is God. It is a great thing to be the servant of a wise
   teacher--and Christ has the tongue of the learned. It is a very sweet
   thing to walk in the steps of a perfect Exemplar--and Christ is just
   that. And, last and best of all, it is delightful to live for Him who
   suffered and died on our behalf. Those wounds of His have marked us as
   His own. That scourge, those bleeding shoulders, and that face so
   marred have won us altogether to Him and, henceforth, for us to live
   shall be Christ, that to die may be eternal gain! The Lord grant that
   it may be so, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH53.

   This is one of the chapters that lie at the very heart of the
   Scriptures. It is the very Holy of Holies of Divine Writ. Let us,
   therefore, take off our shoes, for the place whereon we stand is
   especially holy ground.

   This fifty-third of Isaiah is a Bible in miniature. It is the condensed
   essence of the Gospel. I thought that our Beloved Friend, Mr. Moody,
   answered with extreme wisdom a question that was put to him when he
   came to London some years ago. A number of ministers had come together
   to meet Mr. Moody and they began to discuss various points, and to ask
   what were the evangelist's views upon certain doctrines. At last, one
   Brother said, "Would Mr. Moody kindly give us his creed? Is it in
   print?" In a moment the good man replied, "Certainly. My creed is in
   print, it is the 53rd of Isaiah." It was a splendid reply. How could a
   man come closer to the very essentials of the faith than by saying, "My
   creed is in the 53rd of Isaiah"? I trust that many of you, dear
   Friends, cannot only say, "This is my creed," but also, "This is the
   foundation upon which I have built all my hopes for time and for
   eternity. This is the source of my sweetest consolation. This is the
   sun that makes my day and the star that gilds my night." In these 12
   verses there is everything that we need to teach us the way of
   salvation. God, the infinitely-wise Teacher, has revealed to us, within
   this short compass, all that is necessary to bring peace to troubled
   spirits.

   First, the Prophets speak--

   Isaiah 53:1. Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the
   LORD revealed?This is a cause for sorrow upon sorrow--for the Prophets
   to have God's message to deliver and yet for men to reject it--for them
   to have to tell it, but to tell it in vain. Yet, dear Friends, this has
   been the lot of some of God's most faithful servants in all ages and we
   must not complain if it should be our lot, also. I should not have
   voluntarily chosen to be Jeremiah, the weeping Prophet, yet, I think
   not one of God's servants deserves greater honor than he does, for he
   continued to bravely deliver his Master's message even when none
   believed him and all rejected his testimony. Isaiah links himself with
   all the other Prophets who had been rejected and he says, "Who has
   believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

   2. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out
   of a dry ground. This is why Christ was not received by those to whom
   He came--and why the testimony of the Prophets concerning Christ was
   rejected by those to whom it was delivered--because He was not revealed
   to them as a towering palm tree or widely-spreading cedar, but, like
   the humble yet fruitful vine, He was "as a tender plant, and as a root
   out of a dry ground."

   2. He has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is
   no beauty that we should desire Him. To carnal eyes there was no
   apparent beauty in Christ--nothing of the aesthetic, as men call it,
   and nothing of the pompous, nothing outwardly attractive. He came here
   in the utmost simplicity. Remember the angel's message to the
   shepherds-- "And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the Babe
   wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." There was nothing of
   pomp or show about Him--"no form nor comeliness." He made no display of
   scholarship, no presence of deep philosophy, nothing that the carnal
   mind hunts after. But the all-glorious Deity, revealed in Human form,
   spoke simple but sublime Truth and, therefore, men rejected Him.

   3. He is despised and rejected of men. This was written long before He
   came to earth--"He is despised and rejected of men" and, truly, though
   He is now in Heaven, I need not alter the tense of the verb. I do not
   say, "He was despised," though that would be true, for, alas, it is
   still true, "He is despised and rejected of men"!

   3. A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief What an amazing
   expression that is! Our blessed Lord had made the acquaintance of
   grief. He knew it, understood it, was familiar with it--slept with
   it--rose with it--walked the livelong day with it and, therefore, my
   Brothers and Sisters, He knows your grief and He can meet it! He is
   such a master Comforter because He was such a mighty Sufferer.

   3. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. Shame upon us that we,
   who have been redeemed by Him--we, who He has loved from eternity--we,
   who now delight in Him--"we hid, as it were, our faces from Him."

   3. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Even we, to whom now He is
   all our salvation and all our desire--we, unto whom He is now most
   precious--"we esteemed Him not."

   4. Surely He has borne our griefs. Can all of you say this? Can
   everyone of us unite in the reading of this sentence, "Surely, He has
   borne our griefs"? If you have truly learned that He bore your griefs,
   you may indeed bless His name, for it is the best news that ever
   reached your ears! Go and tell it to your fellow sufferers--"Surely He
   has borne our griefs."

   4. And carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of
   God, and afflicted. They thought that God had smitten Him, and so He
   had, but they wrongly supposed that there was something of sin in Him
   that caused God to strike Him, whereas He was "holy, harmless,
   undefiled," and He was only stricken and smitten because He was bearing
   the sins of His people.

   5. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
   iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His
   stripes we are healed. Milton, Shakespeare, Cowper and the whole of the
   poets that were ever or are, all put together, could not write four
   sentences like those in this verse! There is more meaning, more deep
   philosophy, more music, more to charm and satisfy the human heart in
   those four sentences, than in the sweetest of merely human language.
   Let me read them again--and as I do so, let everyone of us take each
   line to himself--"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
   bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
   and with His stripes we are healed."

   6. 7. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to
   his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He
   was oppressed, andHe was afflicted, yet He openednot His mouth: He was
   brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers
   is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. These words have been the means of
   the conversion of multitudes. You recollect in the Acts of the
   Apostles, what that rich Ethiopian said to Philip when he read these
   words--"I pray you, of whom speaks the Prophet this? of himself, or of
   some other man?" If we read this chapter over and over again, and so
   read it as to find Christ, it will, indeed, be a blessed thing for us!

   8, 9. He was taken fromprison and from judgment: and who shall declare
   His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for
   the transgression of My people was He stricken. And He made His grave
   with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no
   violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. All that He suffered was
   not because He was guilty, but because He was innocent! The only crime
   which I have ever heard rightly laid to His charge is that which the
   poet sweetly describes as "found guilty of excess of love." It was
   indeed so. He loved us beyond all measure and because of that love He
   died for us.

   10. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief The
   Lord was at the back of it all. Not Pilate, nor Herod, nor Judas, nor
   Jew, nor Roman, but Jehovah bruised Him.

   10. When You shall make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His
   seed. He shall prolong His days, and theplea-sure of the LORD shall
   prosper in His hand. Here the strain changes altogether. From the
   depths of woe, we begin to rise with hopes of a glad result of all the
   suffering and sorrow and shame. Glory be to the name of Christ, He has
   a mighty right hand into which God has placed that work which is
   according to His own good pleasure--even the work of saving guilty
   men--and that work, in His prolonged days, until the end of time, shall
   prosper in the hand of the Christ of God!

   11. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.
   Christ did not die at haphazard, as some seem to think. A sure and
   glorious result must come of "the travail of His soul." Such precious
   blood as His could not fall to the ground at a chance. Whatever the
   design of His cross was, it shall be accomplished. I could imagine
   failures in Creation, if so it pleased God, but never in redemption!

   11. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; for He
   shall bear their iniquities. That is the top and bottom of it all--"He
   shall bear their iniquities." The red line of Substitution runs through
   the whole chapter.

   12. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall
   divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul
   unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bore the
   sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
     __________________________________________________________________

Startling!

   (No. 2828)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 26, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THE LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   IN THE SUMMER OF 1861.

   "And Hazael said, Why does my lord weep? And he answered, Because I
   know the evil that you will do unto the children of Israel...And Hazael
   said, But what, is your servant a dog, that he should do this great
   thing?" 2 Kings 8:12,13.

   I SUPPOSE that none of us can doubt that Hazael acted with perfect
   freedom when he became the murderer of his master. Surely no one would
   dare to suggest that any constraint was put upon him. The glittering
   prospect of wearing the crown of Syria was before his eyes. Nothing
   stood between him and the kingdom but the life of his master. That
   master lies sick of a fever. A wet cloth is the usual remedy. He has
   but to select one that shall be thicker than usual and take care, in
   spreading it over his face, to place it so that the man is suffocated,
   and, lo, Hazael comes to the throne! What wonder is it that Hazael
   easily puts his master out of the way and then mounts the vacant seat?
   None of us will imagine for a moment that he was under constraint
   unless it was Satanic and yet, while he acted as a free agent, is it
   not quite clear that God foreknew what he would do and that it was
   perfectly certain that he would destroy his master? The Prophet speaks
   not as one who hazarded a conjecture. He foresaw the event with
   absolute certainty, yet did Hazael act with perfect freedom when he
   went and fulfilled the prophecy of Elisha.

   I believe, my Brothers and Sisters, that it is quite as easy to see how
   God's predestination and man's responsibility are perfectly compatible,
   as it is to see how Divine foreknowledge and human free agency are
   consistent with one another. Does not the very fact of foreknowledge
   imply a certainty? Is not that which is foreknown certain? Is not the
   fact sure to be when God foreknows that it will be? How could it be
   foreknown conditionally? How could it be foretold conditionally? In
   this instance, there was no stipulation or contingency whatever. It was
   absolutely foretold that Hazael would be king of Syria. The Prophet
   knew the fact right well and he clearly descried the means--otherwise
   why should he look into Hazael's face and weep? God foreknew the
   mischief that he would do when he came to the throne, yet that
   foreknowledge did not in the least degree interfere with his free
   agency.

   Nor is this an isolated and exceptional case. The facts most surely
   believed among us, like the Doctrines most clearly revealed to us,
   point all of them to the same inference. The predestination of God does
   not destroy the free agency of man, or lighten the responsibility of
   the sinner. It is true, in the matter of salvation, when God comes to
   save, his Free Grace prevails over our free agency and leads the will
   in glorious captivity to the obedience of faith. But in sinning, man is
   free--free in the widest sense of the term, never being compelled to do
   any evil deed, but being left to follow the turbulent passions of his
   own corrupt heart--and carry out the prevailing tendencies of his own
   depraved nature. In reference to this matter of predestination and free
   will, I have often heard men ask, "How do you make them agree?" I think
   there is another question just as difficult to solve, "How can you make
   them differ?" The two may be as easily made to concur as to clash. It
   seems to me a problem which cannot be stated, and a subject that needs
   no solution. It is but a difficulty which we surmise--and theoretical
   dilemmas are always hard to deal with and difficult to disentangle.

   When we look at matters of fact, the mist that clouds our understanding
   vanishes. We see God predestinating and man premeditating--God knowing
   fully, yet man acting freely--God ordaining every circumstance, yet man
   maneuvering to compass his own projects. In short, we see man
   accurately, but unconsciously, fulfilling all which was written in the
   wisdom of God and that without any impetus of the Almighty upon his
   mind constraining or inciting him to do so.

   You will observe, in this chapter, three or four distinct instances in
   which both the foreknowledge and foreordination of God are distinctly
   proven and yet, at the same time, the free agency of the creature is
   conspicuously set forth. That point, however, I have merely adverted to
   by way of introduction. My subject, on this occasion, as more
   immediately suggested by the words before us, is the common and too
   often fatal ignorance of men as to the wickedness of their own hearts.
   I. LET US EXPOSE AND EXPOUND THIS IGNORANCE.

   Our ignorance of the depravity of our own hearts is a startling fact.
   Hazael did not believe that he was bad enough to do any of the things
   here anticipated. "Is your servant a dog, that he should do this great
   thing?" He might have been conscious enough that his heart was not so
   pure but it might consent to do many an evil thing, yet crimes so
   flagrant as those the Prophet had foretold of him, he thought himself
   quite incapable of committing! He could not believe that such wanton
   cruelty lurked in his breast, or that such barbarity towards women and
   children could be perpetrated with his sanction. Not yet, perhaps, was
   the ambition that aspired to the throne of Syria, or the treachery that
   issued in the murder of his master, fully ripe. Ah, my Brothers and
   Sisters, the ignorance of Hazael is ours to a greater or lesser degree!
   In our natural state, we are oblivious of the depravity of our own
   hearts. How commonly we hear men deny that their hearts are depraved!
   They tell us that though man is a little injured by the Fall, he is
   still a noble creature! His high and glorious instincts make amends
   they would persuade us for his low and beggarly vices.

   Such foolish conceits we impute to ignorance. Men account crimes
   revolting when they hear of their comrades being convicted of
   committing them, but they do not know the innate plague of their own
   heart. They have not yet learned that their own heart is base and
   depraved. Hence they challenge the Doctrine when we state it--because
   they are unconscious of the fact. We do not expect a man to accept it
   as an axiom merely upon our testimony. He had need have some
   experience, himself, before he will be able to lay hold upon a Truth of
   God so humbling, so self-abasing as that of total depravity! The
   baseness of our hearts has barely dawned on our apprehension, though we
   have a faint gleam of suspicion as to our real condition. Conscience is
   sensitive enough to let us know that all is not quite right. We feel
   that we are not pure, that we are not completely perfect. We admit that
   we make some mistakes, though we set them down to weakness rather than
   willfulness. We apologize for our infirmities and rather excuse than
   accuse our own hearts. Most of us, however, I trust, have enough Light
   of God to discern that there was something willfully wrong with our
   hearts before the Spirit of Christ began to deal with us. We would
   frankly and freely confess that we were not all that we desired to be,
   that there was some radical evil that defied our capacity to search it
   out. Ah, but how pale was that gleam! It was mere starlight in the
   soul--not like the sunlight which has since shone in and shown us the
   blackness of our nature!

   We were ignorant, then, of the fact that our nature was totally
   corrupt. We did not know that it was essentially tainted with iniquity.
   We could not have endorsed that saying of the Apostle, "The carnal mind
   is enmity against God, and is not subject to the Law of God, neither
   indeed can be." We could hardly understand it, when we heard the
   Christian minister say that the old nature was positively irreclaimable
   and must be crucified with its affections and lusts--and that a new
   nature must be given to us. If we ever heard a preacher speak of the
   fountains of the great deep of our evil heart being broken up, we
   thought he exaggerated. "At least," we said, "surely this might be true
   of some notorious criminals, or it might be even alleged of some
   ill-bred people who had seen an evil example from their youth up, but
   we could not imagine that this was actually the case with ourselves."

   Yes, but, my Brothers and Sisters, we were, to a great degree, cured of
   this ignorance when the Spirit of God brought us under conviction. Oh,
   what a view of ourselves He then gave to some of us! I think we could
   say, with Bu-nyan, that we thought the most loathsome toad in the world
   to be a better creature than ourselves! We have been led, when under
   conviction of sin, to sigh and wish we had been made a viper, or some
   reptile that men would tread upon and crush, rather than that we should
   have been such base, such vile, Hell-deserving sinners as we felt
   ourselves to be. No discourse, then, about human dignity could have
   pleased us--it would have been rubbing salt into our wounds to have
   told us that man was, by birth, a pure and noble creature! In vain
   might they have attempted to persuade us, then, that though we were a
   little awry, a diligent pursuit of some orthodox plan or prescription
   might easily restore us and lift us up from the position into which we
   had been cast by Adam and by our sin. No, we felt that Divine Grace
   must make us new--that there must be a supernatural work worked in such
   beings as we were--or else, surely, we would never be fit to stand
   before the face of God and see Him with joy and greet Him with
   acceptance.

   Thus, I say, Brothers and Sisters, that much of our ignorance was taken
   away, but, alas, how much remained! We did not know, even then, how
   depraved we were. When Sinai's lightning was flashing abroad and all
   our hearts seemed lit up with its dread fire, that lurid flame was not
   bright enough to show us all our baseness! While we stood trembling
   there, and the Law of God was thundering over our heads, we bowed to
   the very dust--but we did not cower, even then, as we ought to have
   done in penitent humiliation. We were rather awed than melted, for we
   had only just begun to decipher the black letters of that volume of our
   total depravity!

   We knew more about our moral obliquity afterwards, when Jesus came to
   us and, by His sweet love, bade us be of good cheer, for our sins,
   which were many, were all forgiven. Oh, how we saw the baseness of sin
   as we had never seen it before, for we now saw it in the light of His
   Countenance! The love of His eyes flashed a brighter light into our
   hearts than all the lightning of Mount Paran. Horeb's burning steep
   never gave us such illuminations as did Calvary's hallowed summit.
   Calvary might be the lesser height--it may not have seemed to stand out
   with such majesty and awe--but it exerted greater power over us. In its
   tender flush of mellow light, our eyes could see more clearly than in
   all the fitful flashes that had scared us before. I think we saw, then,
   to as full an extent as it was possible for us to bear, how vile, how
   desperately evil was our nature! When we perceived how great must be
   the Sacrifice which, by its virtue, could atone for sin, how vast that
   price of our Redeemer's blood, which only could provide a ransom from
   the Fall--then we had lessons, once and for all--taught us, never to be
   forgotten! And yet, since then, I think we have learned more of the
   evil of our own hearts than we could at first apprehend. We said, then,
   "Surely, now I have come into the innermost chamber of iniquity." But
   often, since that day, has the Spirit said to us, "Son of man, I will
   show you greater abominations than these," and we have been led to see,
   in the light of God's continual mercies, His perpetual faithfulness,
   His unfailing love--we have been led to view, in that Light, our
   continued wanderings, our idolatries of heart, our murmurings, our
   pride and our lusts--and we have found ourselves to be worse than we
   thought we were!

   I appeal to you, Christian men and women, if anyone had told you that
   you would have loved your Savior so little as you have done--if any
   Prophet had told you, in the hour of your conversion, that you would
   have served Christ as feebly as you have done--would you have believed
   it? I appeal to you from the dew of your youth, from that morning blush
   of your soul's unclouded joy--if an angel from Heaven had said to you,
   "You will doubt your God, you will murmur against His Providence, you
   will kick at the dispensations of His Grace"--would you not have
   replied, "Is your servant a dog, that he should do this evil thing?"
   Your experience, I am sure, has taught you that you were not aware,
   when you put on your harness, how much of a dastard was the soldier who
   then did gird himself for the battle. But mark this, we, none of us,
   know, after all, much of the baseness of our hearts! Some of you may
   have had more drilling in it than others have had. You may have made
   proof of it by sad backsliding. Your lusts may have outwardly betrayed
   their inward vigor. You may have been discarded by the Holy Spirit for
   a little season that the Lord might show you that you were weak as
   other men, that He might prove to you the hollowness of all your
   self-confidence and wean you from all trust in your own integrity! But
   the most sorely exercised among you have not yet fully learned this
   lesson.

   Only God knows the vileness of the human heart. There is a depth
   beneath, a hidden spring into which we cannot pry. In that lower depth,
   there is a still deeper abyss of positive corruption which we need not
   wish to fathom. God grant that we may know enough of this to humble us
   and keep us always low before Him! Yet hold, Lord, lest we should yield
   to despair and absolutely lie down to die under the black thought of
   our alienation from righteousness, our naturalization in sin and the
   deplorable tendency of our heart to rebel more and more against You,
   the faithful and true God! Show us not all our wretchedness! As for the
   most of us, who cannot talk of this experience, let us not think
   ourselves doctors of divinity--let us sit down at once on the lowest
   step of the Divine School. We have only begun to know ourselves in
   part, albeit we do know something of the Savior, blessed be His name!
   That something is exceedingly precious. Yet how much more there is for
   us to learn! We have hardly begun to sail on that unfathomable sea. We
   have not yet dived into its depths. We know not its marvelous lengths
   and breadths.

   I have often been startled--and if any should say, jeeringly, "The
   preacher speaks by experience," they may--I have often been startled
   when I have found in my heart the possibilities of iniquity of which I
   thought I never could have been the subject, in reveries by day or in
   dreams of the night. All at once a blasphemy, foul as Hell, has started
   up in the very middle of offering a prayer so earnest that my heart
   never knew more fervor! I have been staggered at myself. When God has
   called us into the pulpit--we thought, at one time, we never could be
   proud if God so honored us--this has seemed

   to quicken our step in the black march of our depraved heart. Or, when
   a little cast down and troubled in spirit, we have wished to leave the
   world altogether, and have been like Jonah, trying to flee to Tarshish
   that we might not go to this great Nineveh at our Lord's bidding.
   Little did we reckon that there was such cowardice in our soul! We have
   thus found out another phase in our own nature.

   Does any man imagine that his heart is not vile? If he is a professing
   Christian, I much suspect whether he ought not to renounce his
   profession, for, I think any enlightened man who sincerely looks to
   himself and whose experience leads him somewhat to look within will
   surely find, not mere foibles, but foulness that literally staggers
   him! I question the Christianity of that man who doubts whether there
   are, in his soul, the remains of such corruption as drown the ungodly
   in Hell, or whether, though a quickened child of God, he has another
   law in his members, warring against the law of his mind. What? Has he
   no such battle within that the things he would do he often does not,
   while the things that he would not do he often does? Has he no need to
   be in constant prayer to God to deliver him from the evil in his heart
   that he may be more than a conqueror over it at last? I do assert, once
   more, and I think the experience of God's children bears me out, that
   when we shall be most advanced and when we come, at last, to sit down
   in God's Kingdom above, we shall find that we have not learned all that
   there is to be learned of the foulness of our nature and the
   desperateness of our soul's disease.

   "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of
   the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and
   bruises, and putrefying sores." "The heart is deceitful above all
   things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" "Cleanse You me from
   secret faults." "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know
   my thoughts; and see if there are any wicked ways in me, and lead me in
   the way everlasting." Perhaps, if we knew more of this terrible evil,
   it might imperil our reason. Hardly could it be possible for us to bear
   the full discovery and live. Among the wise concealments of God is that
   which hides from open view the depravity of our heart and the
   corruption of our nature.

   II. But now I turn to THE PRACTICAL USE OF OUR SUBJECT, looking at it
   in two ways-- what it forbids and what it suggests.

   The depravity of our nature forbids, first of all, a venturing or
   presuming to play and toy with temptation. When a Christian asks, "May
   I go into such a place?"--should he parley thus with himself--"True,
   temptation is very strong there, but I shall not yield. It would be
   dangerous to another man, but it is safe to me. If I were younger, or
   less prudent and circumspect, I might be in jeopardy, but I have passed
   the days of youthful passion. I have learned by experience to be more
   expert, I think. Therefore I may venture to plunge and hope to swim
   where younger men have been carried away by the tide, and less stable
   ones have been drowned." All such talking as this comes of evil and
   promotes evil! Proud flesh vaunts its purity and becomes a prey to
   every vice. This is the conception of iniquity! Only let it be
   nourished and it will soon bring forth in hideous form every
   development of sin! He who carries gunpowder about him had better not
   stand where there are many sparks. He whose limbs are out of joint is
   in danger of falling every moment and he had better not trust himself
   to walk on the edge of a precipice. Let those who feel themselves to be
   of a peculiarly sensitive constitution not venture into a place where
   disease is rife. If I knew my lungs to be weak and liable to
   congestion, I should shrink from foul air and any vicious atmosphere.
   If you know that your heart has certain proclivities to sin, why go and
   tempt the devil to take advantage of you? Satan will surprise you often
   enough--why, then, should you borrow fuel from his forge for your own
   destruction? Why will you go forth to meet him instead of trying with
   all vigilance to elude his insidious attacks? You have quite enough
   temptation already!

   It is an evil thing for God's people when they leave their proper
   quarters and visit the localities where sin abounds. Were you an angel,
   were you sure you could never fall, then you might securely pitch your
   tent in the pestilential swamp, or frequent the haunts of sensual
   attraction whose house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers
   of death, without apprehension of harm. But you are so prone to evil,
   so susceptible of contagion, that I warn you not to trifle with it!
   Were you hard as adamant, your duty would still be to keep out of the
   way of temptation, to go as far as possible from the forbidden Tree of
   the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But you are not as strong as adamant,
   you are a creature whose moral power is weak, whose bias to evil is
   extreme--I implore you, therefore, as you would honor your God and
   stand in His brightness--to not go where the temptation to sin is
   glaring and flatter yourself that you will come out guileless.

   There are some of us who are such poor soldiers that I think if we had
   our choice, we would rather be where there was the least danger. It is
   right for some brave men, when duty calls, to go into the thickest of
   the battle, but every Christian is not meant to be in the front rank.
   There are some men who have to deal with great sins, who are to seek to
   pluck sinners as brands from the burning. There are those who, like the
   physician, must go into the midst of the plague, that they may try to
   save such as are struck with it. Some men's calling necessarily demands
   that they should be in the midst of sin, yet they have need to keep a
   special guard over themselves, lest, while they seek to pluck others
   from the fire, they be like Nebuchadnezzar's men, who, in going near
   the furnace, were themselves burned! Let them take heed, then, to
   themselves, who seek to take care for others. In some of those
   charitable missions in which you, my dear Brothers and Sisters in the
   Church are daily engaged, take care lest you yourselves, exposed to
   temptation, should so slip and slide that Satan may have to rejoice
   that, instead of smiting the lion, the lion has smitten you and you are
   lying at his feet. Oh, keep out of temptation's way, or invade it armed
   with the entire panoply of God! Not many of us are called to expose
   ourselves to it. Keep as far off as you can. You had need be watchful.

   But, again, knowing how vile we are by nature, knowing, indeed, that we
   are bad enough for anything, let us take another caution. Boast not,
   neither in any wise vaunt yourselves. Presume not to say, "I shall
   never do this. I shall never do that." Never venture to ask, with
   Hazael, "Is your servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" My
   experience has furnished me with many proofs that the braggart in
   morality is not the man to be bound for. I would not like to stand
   security for his virtue. He professed to hate drunkenness. He was
   certain he could never be intoxicated and yet he has indulged the
   vicious taste when his companions have lured him on--and stained the
   character that he vainly bragged of. If not that particular sin, yet
   there has been some other even more terrible, perhaps, more fatal to
   the soul, which has struck that man down to the dust who has dared to
   vaunt his integrity. He has said, "My mountain stands firm. I shall
   never be moved!" And in that very point where he thought his firmness
   lay, or in some other which was next-of-kin to it, he has proved his
   weakness. Lo, the mountain tottered to its base and was cast into the
   midst of the sea! There are no men who are in such danger as the men
   who think they are not in any danger! There are none so likely to sin
   as those who say they cannot sin!

   I remember a story, told me by a dear Brother who is present with us
   now. A tradesman who held office in the Church, asked him for a loan of
   money. Though rather inconvenient, he was about to comply and would
   have done so had not some such inducement as this been offered, "You
   know you may safely advance this money to me, for I am incorruptible. I
   am not young, I am past temptation." Thereupon, my friend promptly
   declined, as he did not like the security. The result justified his
   shrewdness. At that very time, the borrower knew he was on the verge of
   bankruptcy and, before long, was actually a bankrupt--and yet he could
   pretend to say he was above temptation! Above all, avoid those men who
   think themselves immaculate and never fear a fall. If there is a ship
   on God's sea, the captain of which declares that nothing can ever sink
   her, stand clear! Get into the first leaky boat to escape from her, for
   she will surely founder. Give a ship the flag of humility and it is
   well--but they that spread out the red flag of pride and boast that
   they are staunch and trim, and shall never sink, will either strike
   upon a rock, or founder in the open sea! Pride is the mother of
   soul-ruin! Self-confidence is next door to self-destruction. "Pride
   goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

   Boast not, though you are ever so strong. Boasting becomes not any
   mortal. Neither the stature nor the strength of Goliath could furnish a
   pretext for his arrogance. Goliath never seemed so little as when he
   said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh unto the fowls
   of the air, and to the beasts of the field." Leave your boasting until
   the battle is done! Do not begin to glory till you have trod all your
   enemies beneath your feet. Wait till you have crossed the Jordan and
   have reached the shores of the promised land. Do not begin to say, "I
   am out of gunshot. I am beyond the reach of sin." "Oh," said one, "I
   have so grown in Grace that I cannot sin!" Brother, I would not have
   you think so. "The man after God's own heart" sinned foully. What if
   you, also, are after God's own heart, why should you say, "I cannot
   sin"? Think of Lot--just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the
   wicked--into what sin he was betrayed. Are you as wise as Solomon? Yet
   Solomon was a thorough fool. May you not be, in your old age, a fool,
   too? Are you a Believer? So was Peter, and yet Peter denied his Master!
   May not you deny your Master, too? Let the fact that many of God's
   saints have fallen when they seemed to be the strongest--Moses the meek
   failed in his temper, Abraham faltered in his faith, patient Job waxed
   irritable, and so forth--let their example teach you to take heed to
   yourself, lest you also be tempted and be cast down.

   And let this fact, that we do not know our own baseness, teach us not
   to be harsh, or too severe, with those of God's people who have
   inadvertently fallen into sin. Be severe with their sin--never excuse
   it. Let your actions and your conduct prove that you hate the garment
   spotted with the flesh--that you abhor the transgression, cannot endure
   it, and must drive it away. Yet always distinguish between the
   transgressor and the transgression. Think not that his soul is lost
   because his feet have slipped! Imagine not that because he has gone
   astray, he cannot be restored! If there must be a church censure passed
   upon him, yet take care that you so act that he, in penitence of
   spirit, may joyously return! Be as John was to Peter. Shut not out your
   fallen Brothers, for the day may come when men will shut you out, and
   when you may need all the pity and all the help which others can give
   you. Distinguish, I say again, between the sin that you condemn and the
   sinner whom you must still love--the child of God over whom you must
   still weep.

   Ah, Sirs, there may be some of you here who speak with bitter contempt
   and scorn of those who, notwithstanding their frailties, are better men
   than yourselves! God may have suffered some sin to attain a great
   predominance over them for a season. Perhaps, if all were known, you
   might be proved to be worse than they and, oh, were the Lord to take
   His bit from your mouth, and the bridle of His Divine Providence from
   your jaws, you might run to a still greater excesses of riot! Who makes
   you to differ? What have you that you have not received? Say in your
   soul, "By the Grace of God I am what I am," but stand not up with the
   self-righteousness of the Pharisee, and say, "God, I thank You that I
   am not as other men are."

   Leaving now this point of caution, let us consider, by way of counsel,
   what positive suggestions may arise. If we are thus depraved and know
   not the full extent of our depravity, what then should we do? Surely,
   we should daily mourn before God because of this great sinfulness. We
   are full of sin, so let us constantly renew our grief. We have not
   repented of sin to the full extent unless we repent of the disposition
   to sin as well as the actual commission of sin. We should deplore
   before God, not only what we have done, but that depravity which made
   us do it. See how David repents. He does not merely mourn for sin, but
   he says, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
   conceive me." He makes it a part of his confession that iniquity was in
   his inward parts and that his soul was tainted from birth! So let it be
   with you--weep over your sinful nature as well as over the development
   of that nature. Weep not merely over the fountain, but over the deep
   spring from which the fountain gushes! Not merely over the coin of sin
   which has been minted into outer acts, but over that base bullion of
   iniquity which lies uncoined in your heart! Every day expose this, as
   well as the sins you have committed before God. Lay before God, not
   merely your crutches, but your lameness--not merely your ceremonial
   defilement, but the deep leprosy that is in your skin and in your
   bones. Yes, mourn over it, and beg Him, by His Grace, to cleanse you,
   that you may enter into His Kingdom!

   And when you have done this, take heed that you walk every day very
   near to God, seeking daily supplies of His Grace. Brothers and Sisters,
   I charge you and specially do I charge myself--let us look up to God,
   let us hourly depend upon Him, feeling that yesterday's Grace is of no
   use whatever for today, that the Grace which saved us seven years ago
   is not the Grace that can save us now, but we must have fresh supplies!
   There are many, I think, who sit down, and say, "We once knew Christ."
   That is not enough, Brothers and Sisters! We must know Christ each day.
   We must have fresh Grace each hour. It is not once to be partaker of
   the Divine Nature, but to be daily a partaker of it. Does the tree bear
   the fruit by the sap of seven years ago? Is it not the sap of this year
   which will produce the seed of this year's fruit? And must it not be so
   with you? Must you not have a daily influx of the Divine influences of
   the Holy Spirit? Must you not receive from Christ each hour that life
   without which you must droop and die?

   O Brothers and Sisters, let no day pass by without commending
   yourselves to God! Let no hour be spent without resting under His wing!
   May our daily habit be to cry unto Him, "Hold You me up, and I shall be
   safe." My dear Hearers, there are some of you who think you are not
   vile. That is because you have never had your eyes opened to learn your
   depravity. Let me tell you this, that you are so depraved that unless
   you are born-again, you cannot even see the Kingdom of God. You may
   reform, you may go and seek to make yourselves better, but you cannot
   do it. Think of the old proverb, "The dog is turned to his own vomit
   again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." Yes,
   our nature is so base--it is so depraved and so vile--that there must
   be a radical change of our whole self. How, then, can you change your
   nature? Can you renew your own heart? God forbid that you should be so
   vainly infatuated as to imagine it possible! No arm but the eternal arm
   can make you what you should be. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin,

   or the leopard his spots?" Can you make yourself a new creature in
   Christ? You cannot create a fly, or a grain of dust much less can you
   create within yourself a new heart!

   But there is One who can. The Holy Spirit is able and Jesus Christ is
   willing to do so. Do you say, "Oh, that He would renew my heart
   tonight"? I think He has already begun the work--that desire of yours,
   if sincere, would prove it. Remember that what He bids you to do is to
   trust Him. If you have longing desires for Him, cast yourself down at
   His feet and say, "Lord Jesus, Your salvation is brought near to me. I
   trust in You to make known in me this strange, this God-like Grace.
   Work in me the new heart, the Divine life, the new nature! Save me,
   save me, Jesus! Put my feet in the narrow way and then guide me all the
   days of my pilgrimage and bring me to Yourself, that where you are, in
   Heaven, there I may be with You."

   Sinner, He will do it! He will hear your cry and answer your petition,
   and you, in the heights of Heaven, shall sing of the mercy which
   received you when you were not worthy to be received, of the love which
   loved you when you were wholly unlovely, and of all the Grace which
   changed your nature and made you meet to be a partaker of the
   inheritance of the saints in light! God grant that we may not, any of
   us, be as Hazael was--the perpetrators of crimes of which we never
   suspected ourselves capable--but rather, feeling that we are men and
   women of the same kith and kin as the vilest sinners that ever trod
   this earth, may it be our grateful surprise and our happy lot to be
   justified freely by God's Grace through the Redemption that is in
   Christ Jesus! So shall we be numbered with His saints both now and
   throughout eternity! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1 KINGS 19.

   Verses 1, 2. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and also
   how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebelsent a
   messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, andmore, also,
   ifImake not your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this
   time. She was too fast in uttering her threat and it often happens that
   malice outwits and overleaps itself. If Jezebel meant to kill Elijah,
   she should not have given him notice that she intended to do it.

   3. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to
   Beer-Sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. He did
   not feel safe even in the adjoining kingdom, for he fled through
   Israel, and then went almost the whole length of Judah, right into the
   wilderness. Note that he "left his servant there," at Beer-Sheba. Even
   in his anxiety about himself, he had tender consideration for others
   and, besides, he wanted complete solitude.

   4. But he himself went a day'sjourney into the wilderness, and came and
   sat down under ajuniper tree: andhe requested for himself that he might
   die and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take a way my life; for I am
   not better than my fathers. Having presented this passionate and
   unreasonable prayer, he laid himself down to sleep--the very best thing
   that he could do under the circumstances.

   5-8. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an
   angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. Andhe looked, and,
   behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at
   his head. Andhe did eat and drink and laid down again. And the angel of
   the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise
   and eat, because the journey is too great for you. And he arose, and
   did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and
   forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God. When he was hungry before,
   ravens fed him, but now an angel ministers to his needs! God uses all
   sorts of messengers and means, so that His children may be provided
   for. This man's one meal lasted him through a fast of forty days and
   forty nights and, dear Friend, if God gives not bread to you, He can
   take away your hunger, so that you have no need to eat and drink.

   9. And he came there unto a cave, and lodged there. There was something
   congenial about the rugged sides of Horeb, the mountain of God, making
   it a suitable place for a man of Elijah's spirit--the very gloom of the
   cave gave him some sort of miserable comfort.

   9. And, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said unto him,
   What are you doing here, Elijah?' 'Why have you run away?"

   10-12. And he said, Ihave been very jealous for the LORD God of Hosts:
   for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down
   Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I, even I
   only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And He said, Go
   forth, and stand upon the mountain before the LORD. And, behold, the
   LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind split the mountains, and
   broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the
   wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the
   earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in
   the fire: and after the fire a still small Voice. A mystic whisper and
   God was there, as He often is in little things.

   13, 14. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face
   in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave.
   And, behold, there came a Voice unto him, and said, What are you doing
   here, Elijah? And he said, Ihave been very jealous. He stands to what
   he had said before and now repeats his assertion--

   14, 15. For the LORD God of Hosts: because the children of Israel have
   forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your
   prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my
   life, to take it away. And the LORD said unto him. Go, return on your
   way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you come, anoint Ha-zael to
   be king over Syria. I t must have been a great comfort to Elijah to
   have some more work to do. It often takes the mind off very pressing
   sorrow if one is sent on some new employment.

   16, 17. And, Jehu the son of Nimshishall you anoint to be king over
   Israel: andElisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shall you anoint
   to be Prophet in your place. And it shall come to pass, that him that
   escapes the sword of Ha-zael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapes from
   the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. God heard the prayer that Elijah
   had prayed against Israel, for it was really a prayer against the
   people who had forsaken the Lord their God. There are times when men,
   who are most tender of heart, feel as if they must take God's side
   against sinners. But the Lord also comforted Elijah with good news:--

   18. Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which
   have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.
     __________________________________________________________________

Lowly Service

   (No. 2829)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 3, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
   12, 1886.

   "This is the service of the families, the Gershonites, to serve, and
   for burdens: and they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and
   the tabernacle of the congregation, its covering, and the covering of
   the badgers' skin that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door
   of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the door,
   and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the
   tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the
   instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall
   they serve." Numbers 4:24-26.

   THIS is the gist of the whole matter--"This is the service of the
   families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens: and they shall
   bear . . . so shall they serve." The Gershonites were part of the tribe
   of Levi which God selected, instead of the first-born of all Israel, to
   serve Him in a very special manner. They were to act as the
   representatives and substitutes for all the first-born, who were set
   apart, as the Lord's in a very peculiar sense. The Levites were,
   therefore, to be regarded as the first-born--a name which is applied by
   the Apostle Paul to all the regenerate when he speaks of "the general
   assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven."
   Jesus Christ is the true First-Born and all Believers are predestinated
   to be conformed to the image of Him who is "the First-Born among many
   brethren."

   The chapter we read tells us how the Levites were to be consecrated to
   their service. They were to be sprinkled with the water of separation
   and both their bodies and their clothes were to be washed with water.
   "Be you clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord," is an injunction
   that is still binding upon Believers. We need to have both the water
   and the blood applied to us to prepare us for our solemn life-service
   as the consecrated Levites of God. "You are God's clergy," says the
   Apostle, according to the original. All who believe in Jesus, all the
   twice-born, all who are washed in His precious blood, all who are set
   apart by the Holy Spirit, are God's clerics, dedicated to His service
   even as the Levites were of old.

   Besides this, the Levites had all the hair of their bodies shaved off,
   as if to show us that in the day when we are consecrated to God, even
   our external life becomes changed. That which appertained to our old
   flesh is taken away and if there is to be, in the future, any beauty or
   ornament to our manliness, it must be a new growth, springing out of
   that body which has been dedicated unto God--but all our old comeliness
   is turned to corruption and that wherein we once gloried is altogether
   removed.

   Judge you, my Brothers and Sisters, how far you are true Levites unto
   God! This is what you should be and this is what you are, unless,
   indeed, you are reprobates.

   It is worthy of note that these Levites, although they were all equally
   consecrated, had not all exactly the same work to perform. God is not
   the God of uniformity. There is a wondrous unity of plan and design in
   all that He does, but there is also an equally marvelous variety. He
   did not command all these sons of Levi to carry one particular vessel,
   or order them to bear one special curtain or board belonging to the
   tabernacle--He divided unto every man his own work--one had to do this
   and another had to do something else.

   There are some of the Lord's servants whom He raises up to teach,
   preach, exhort and guide. These may, for the moment, be compared, in a
   certain fashion, to the sons of Aaron, though the type must not be
   pressed too far. But the Lord

   has also a large number of His own dear children who do not open their
   mouths to speak for Him in public and who could not fulfill the duties
   of leaders in His Church. Shall they be left without any service? They
   have but one talent-- they have a shoulder which is strong enough to
   bear burdens of the Lord--though they have not much power in their head
   to think, or a fluent tongue with which to speak. Is there no office
   for them to fill? Shall all the body be a mouth? If so, what a vacuum
   there will be! Surely there must be, in a well-ordered body, eyes,
   feet, hands, shoulders, as well as the open mouth and the speaking
   tongue. So God has appointed to many of His servants a position and a
   work like that of the Gershonites--"They shall bear: so shall they
   serve." I must not, however, forget to remind you that all the servants
   of our King are burden-bearers! None of us may hope to go to Heaven
   unless we are willing to take His yoke upon us and to learn of Him. But
   there are some who are not called to speak or preach, but whose special
   function it is to patiently bear the burdens of life, the burdens of
   the sanctuary, the burdens of the Church of God and so to be accepted
   of Him as a living sacrifice in that particular way. I am now going to
   try to speak ofsuch and tosuch burden-hearers.

   I. My first remark is that MANY OF THE LORD'S OWN PEOPLE ARE SIMPLY
   BURDEN-BEARERS, like these Gershonites.

   Let none of them be discouraged or dissatisfied because that is all
   they are, for the Lord still needs burden-bearers, even as, in the days
   of His flesh, He sent word to the owner of the ass on which He wished
   to ride through Jerusalem, "The Lord has need of him." If the
   tabernacle is to be moved through the wilderness, all the holy vessels
   and furniture must also be moved. There must be somebody to carry
   them--and happy and blessed is that man who willingly yields his back
   to hear the burdens of the House of the Lord and counts it an honor
   that he is allowed to do so!

   Well now, among the burden-bearers of the Lord, the burdens are very
   various. There are some of His servants who are called to bear the
   burden of a very laborious life. I am sorry for some of my Brothers and
   Sisters, when I get an opportunity to speak with them, because the
   hours of their toil are so long and the strain of their service appears
   to be bringing them to a state of extreme feebleness of body. And
   sometimes they also get to feel despondency of spirit by reason of the
   excessive weariness which their almost incessant toil entails. I know
   some beloved Brethren, to whom the Master would not say a single angry
   word if He even saw them asleep in the Tabernacle. I have often thought
   of what He said when His disciples slept, not when He was preaching,
   but when He was doing even more than that--when, in Gethse-mane He was
   praying even unto a bloody sweat. He did say, "What, could you not
   watch with Me one hour?" Yet, in His amazing pity, He added, "The
   spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak." It is still so. It
   is a pity that our present-day society, adapting itself more and more
   to a killing pace, works many men far too much as a general rule and,
   upon some of them, the stress of labor comes so heavily as almost to
   amount to actual slavery.

   Yet, my Brothers and Sisters, albeit we would sympathize with you to
   the great degree, if, in the order of Providence, you are called to
   bear that burden, you will find it to be the part of wisdom to accept
   it as a burden from the Lord. I know it may sometimes be looked upon,
   and justly so, as the oppression of men--and in that light it is
   crushing--but if you can see at the back of that oppression, the
   eternal purpose of God, it will greatly tend to lighten your heavy
   load, or it will strengthen you to bear it. The poor Christian slave,
   in the olden times, although He might long to be a free man, yet often
   found, in his little hut at night, no small comfort by saying, "If, in
   the Providence of God, I am a slave, and cannot escape. I will bear
   even this as being permitted by my Heavenly Father and seek to glorify
   God even as a slave." So, you see, there are some who have to bear the
   burden of labor. They might, perhaps, escape from it if they did
   wrong--but they dare not do wrong, they scorn to do it--and so their
   burden becomes a burden from the Lord.

   How many others there are who have to bear the daily burden of pain!
   Oh, how many daughters of pain do I know, and sons of
   affliction--perhaps even from their birth the subjects of some grievous
   infirmity which has cast a shadow over their whole lives! There lies,
   at Dundee, at this present moment, a man who has been confined to his
   bed, I think it is now 56 years. I have his photograph at home and the
   friend who sent it to me wrote, "I send you the likeness of the
   happiest man in Dundee and one of the most useful, too, for he is a
   great soul-winner though he cannot raise himself from a constantly
   prostrate position." He talks so sweetly of Christ and of the upholding
   power of Divine Grace that he leads many to put their trust in Jesus
   Christ. All over this land there are bed-ridden men and women who are
   the saintliest among the saints! It is an atrocious lie that some have
   uttered when they have said that the sickness is a consequence of the
   sufferer's sin. I could not select, out of Heaven, choicer spirits than
   some whom I know who have not for 20 years left their bed--they have
   lived nearer to God than any of us--and have brought Him more glory
   than any of us!

   Although we deeply sympathize with them, we might almost covet their
   suffering because God is so greatly glorified in them. All over the
   world there is a brave band of these burden-bearers. I think,
   sometimes, that they are like soldiers who are on night duty. The
   sentinels must not sleep, lest the enemy should attack the camp
   unawares. The altar must never lose the glow and heat of its holy fire
   and the lamp of the sanctuary must never be permitted to go out, so
   these sufferers, as they lie, night after night, watching the long and
   weary hours, keep the lamp of prayer brightly burning and the incense
   of intercession perpetually ascending to the Most High. And so the
   earth is never without the sweetening influence of saintly
   supplication. Their main business, like that of the Gershonites, is to
   serve God by bearing burdens.

   Need I describe all the burdens that the saints on earth have to carry?
   There are some who bear the burden of poverty. A very large proportion
   of the excellent of the earth can be found among the poor of the
   earth--poor in spirit as well as poor in pocket and, "theirs is the
   Kingdom of Heaven." It is their constant portion to struggle and to
   toil hard to provide things honest in the sight of all men, but it does
   seem, with some, as if they could never rise out of a condition of
   bitter, grinding poverty. Well, if it must be so, let them feel and
   say, "As it has happened thus unto us, we are like the families of the
   Gershonites whose service was to bear burdens."

   Some children of God are called to bear the very heavy burden of
   reproach. They have done no wrong and yet they are the subject of the
   jest and jeers of the ungodly. They have been faithful to Christ and
   their own conscience, but they are misunderstood and misrepresented.
   Their little peculiarities, which are scarcely faults, are exaggerated
   into crimes. A word which fell from their lips, perhaps too hastily, is
   caught up and echoed and re-echoed against them a thousand times. Men
   make them offenders for a word, and eat them up, as David says, "as
   they eat bread." I have known godly wives suffer thus from ungodly
   husbands and, oftentimes, a dear girl who is brought to the Savior
   finds herself as a speckled bird in the family. All that can be said
   against Christians and all that can be said against hypocrites who are,
   unhappily, too often found in Christian Churches, will be
   contemptuously cast at her--and she has to bear it all, patiently
   enduring reproach for Christ's sake.

   If this is God's will concerning us, we ought not to endeavor to avoid
   it, but say, "Well, it is so. If somebody must be struck for Christ's
   sake, here is my cheek ready for the striking. If there is a handful of
   mud that is meant for a Christian, let it fall upon me. If the saints
   of God are to be scoffed at and scorned, why should I be allowed to
   escape the insults?" There was a king of the Crusaders, who, when they
   wanted to crown him in Jerusalem, spurned the golden coronet which they
   set upon his brow, for he said, "Why should I wear a crown of gold
   where my Lord and Master wore one of thorns?" Happy will you be if He
   shall enable you to say, as you look up to Him--

   "If on my face for Your dear name, Shame and reproaches be, All hail
   reproach, and welcome shame, If You remember me."

   There are some who have to bear this burden, so they had better bear it
   without wincing, for this is the service of the families of the
   Gershonites--to serve by bearing burdens.

   I believe that some of God's people have to bear the burdens of this
   wicked world. In the order of Providence, their lot is cast in the
   midst of the ungodly. Even in their own home they can scarcely eat a
   meal without hearing blasphemy. And if they go down the court or street
   in which they live, especially in the evening, they cannot help being
   vexed with the sight and sounds of sin. There are some of us who can be
   very glad and merry, for we have naturally great elasticity of spirit,
   yet we are bowed down, day after day, by the apostasy of the professing
   church of this present age, and by the way in which everything is
   followed except Christ! Every kind of false doctrine is popular
   nowadays, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is derided as old-fashioned
   and out of date and I know not what. Sometimes, the very bread we eat
   seems bitter, and the air we breathe is contaminated because of the sin
   that is everywhere around us. Well, dear Friends, whenever you feel
   depressed and burdened on this account, so that you go like one who
   misses the light of the sun, say to yourself, "It must be so. This is
   what must happen to those who are of an earnest, burning spirit. They
   must be consumed with grief by reason of the iniquities of the times,
   for it is appointed unto the families of the Gershonites that they
   shall serve by bearing burdens--and this is ourburden."

   I might say much more upon this head, but I will not, for you all know
   that the burdens which God puts upon His children, or allows others to
   lay upon them are very many and very varied. But this is the comfort of
   it, their burdens are

   all for the Lord. If they are in a right state of heart, this
   burden-bearing is true service for the Lord. Remember how Peter wrote,
   "For what glory is it, if, when you are buffeted for your faults, you
   take it patiently? But if, when you do well, and suffer for it, you
   take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were
   you called." If the buffeting comes upon you for Christ's sake, you
   are, in some sense, made partakers of His sufferings and you shall also
   be partakers of His Glory. A true child of God lives wholly for God. He
   is not merely a Christian when he goes up to the place of worship and
   sings the praise of the Lord, but he seeks to live for God as soon as
   he opens his eyes in the morning and until he closes them again at
   night. It is for God that he eats and drinks and for God that he buys,
   and sells, and works, and gives, or saves, or does whatever it is right
   for him to do. The Levite of old had no business to do in the world but
   the business of God--and the true Christian is in the same condition
   for, though he keeps a shop, or plows the fields--he keeps shop for
   Jesus and plows the fields for Jesus. He is not his own master, but he
   is the servant of Another, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is his
   joy to labor faithfully as a steward and a servant on behalf of his
   Master!

   I wish all Christians realized this Truth of God. We have far too many
   professors who make their religion into a kind of off-hand farm. They
   cultivate it a little during the odds and ends of their time, but their
   chief business lies with the world. Brothers and Sisters, there is no
   good to be gained by a religion of that kind! If you give God only the
   apple peeling of your life, He will give you simply the parings of
   religion, and they are generally very sour. But he who gives the whole
   fruit of his life to God shall receive from God the wines on the lees
   well refined, the choicest juice of the richest clusters of Eshcol
   shall be set to his happy lips. Blessed is the man whose very heart is
   in the ways of the Lord, and who has God's ways within his heart. May
   each one of us be such a man, for he is a happy man--a burden-bearer,
   but all his burdens are for his Lord.

   And notice further, under this head, that the burdens which are borne
   for the Lord educate the bearer. I should suppose that the man who
   carried the golden candlestick knew more about that candlestick than
   anybody else did--at least it ought to have been a hint to him to study
   its typical meaning. As he bore that precious burden, it should have
   been his desire that his brethren should know what it was that he was
   bearing and, also, what was its spiritual significance. And in the
   service of God, this I know, whatever may have been the case in the
   typical instance before us, it is a fact that whenever God puts a
   burden upon the shoulders of any of His children, it is an educational
   process. We always learn much more by our griefs and woes than by
   anything else. God has often produced in us much richer and sweeter
   fruit by pruning than by any other process of His Divine husbandry.
   Take care, you that bear the vessels of the Lord and the burdens of the
   Lord, that you cry unto Him, "Teach us, Lord, by this affliction! Make
   this pain or this poverty to be a means of instruction to us. Make this
   burden to be the means of our growth in Grace, part of our spiritual
   training for a better world."

   II. There is much more that might be said upon this point, but I must
   pass on to the second head, which is that THE

   LORD HAS MADE APPOINTMENTS CONCERNING THESE BURDEN-BEARERS.

   First, He thought upon them, though they were but burden-bearers. Here
   is a whole chapter about them and there are other chapters about these
   Gershonites, Kohathites and Merarites. The Lord directed Moses to write
   all this about then. Possibly you have been thinking that the Lord only
   remembers Apostles and great leaders in His Church, but it is not so.
   He remembers the burden-bearers--the rank and file are dear to Him.
   "The Lord knows them that are His," whatever position they may occupy.
   And though some of you may have to go from this service to a very poor
   home and though others of you have only crept out from your bed for a
   little while, and will soon have to be back there to endure new pains.
   And though you feel as if all that you had to do was to lie and
   suffer--well, the Lord knows all about it. He is thinking of you
   burden-bearers who are so much like His Son, the great Burden-Bearer!
   If He could forget all others, He would not forget you. You have to
   take up your cross daily, as your Lord took up His Cross, and God takes
   delight in you, for you are very dear to His heart. Do not think that
   it can be otherwise, but comfort yourself with these words. The Lord
   remembered them.

   More than that, the Lord had appointed each of these burden bearers.
   You take up an odd coin and you read on it, "George IV, by the Grace of
   God, king of Great Britain." Well, I really do not think that the Grace
   of God had much to do with that appointment, but, if any of you
   Christians sweep a crossing, you might say, "Thomas Jones, by the Grace
   of God, crossing-sweeper." Or if the poorest Christian woman goes out
   washing, she might say, "Sarah Smith, by the Grace of God,
   washerwoman," for, if you are in your right position and bearing the
   burden which God has allotted to you,

   then you are in your place by Divine appointment! It makes a person
   wonderfully happy if he knows that his occupation is according to
   Divine appointment. It has been well said that if there were two angels
   in Heaven and God had two works to be performed by them and He said to
   one of them, "You go down to earth and rule a kingdom," and to the
   other, "You go down and sweep a crossing," the angels would be equally
   pleased to do their Master's will, for it is their delight to, "do His
   commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word."

   If any of you think that a very prominent position--a place of great
   usefulness and responsibility--is much to be desired, well, I would not
   recommend you to covet mine. I am satisfied to occupy it, for I believe
   the Lord has called me to this position, but sometimes when I go home
   with a very heavy heart through the many crushing cares of this great
   church, I cry unto God, "Woe is me that ever I should have been called
   to such a post," yet rejoicing all the while that I can say, with the
   Apostle Paul, "Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel!" If you, my
   Brother, have a little company of about a hundred people to deal with,
   be perfectly satisfied. Or if, my Sister, you have a class of ten or a
   dozen girls to teach, be content with that number and do the best you
   can to glorify God in your own proper place. Depend upon it, if you
   exchanged your burden for mine, you would not be able to bear it--and
   if I had yours, I dare say it would not fit my back so well as my own
   does!

   Not only did the Lord appoint the man who was to bear the burden, but
   He also appointed the burden for each man to bear. In the 27th verse,
   we read, "At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the
   service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in
   all their service: and you shall appoint unto their charge all their
   burdens." They had not to choose for themselves what they would carry.
   One might have said, "I will carry the golden candlestick," whereas it
   might have been his part to carry some of the curtains or hangings. At
   all events they had nothing to do with that matter. They had simply to
   do what they were told. One word that the Christian Church needs to
   spell, in these days, for she is very apt to forget it, is the word,
   "subjection.''" Be you Brothers and Sisters, subject to one another and
   be you all subjectunto Christ.

   But we do like to pick our work and choose our burdens. One says, "I
   like to do my work in my own way. I do not intend to drop into any kind
   of order and regulation." I do not know that I am speaking personally
   of anybody here. As far as I am concerned, I am quite satisfied with
   you, but I know that in many places, Mrs. So-and-So won't do this--she
   would have been quite willing to do something else. And Brother
   So-and-So is hurt because he is not called upon to do that. Now, if
   Brother So-and-So would only be eager to take the lowest place, we
   could readily accommodate him, but his great ambition is to be over all
   the rest of his brethren and he is not at all qualified for such a
   position as that! Let us all ask the Lord to cast out that evil spirit
   and then to tell us what He would have us carry. "Lord, what will You
   have me do?" Down goes my shoulder ready to bear the God-appointed
   burden. "Send me to the top of the mountains, or to the bottom of the
   sea, only say what Your will is. It is all Your work and I will gladly
   do it. My cry is, "Here am I, send me, before I know where I am to go,
   or what I am to do! If I am but fitted for Your service, Lord, send
   me." Oh, that we all had more and more of this spirit!

   Beside the Divine appointment of the man and the Divine appointment of
   the burden for him to bear, there was also the Divine appointment of
   the time of each man's service. These Gershonites were to be numbered
   "from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old." I am not
   going to say to any of you, "Wait till you are 30 years of age before
   you begin to serve the Lord." No, no, no! Let us hope you can do a
   great deal of good work long before you are thirty, and long after you
   are fifty! But this is the lesson for you--you have only to carry your
   burden for a certain length of time. The God who appointed you to bear
   it also determined when you were to begin to bear it, and when you are
   to leave off bearing it! When God says you are only to have 10
   troubles, the devil cannot make 11 of them and you cannot reduce them
   to nine. Every particle of bitterness that is to go into your cup is
   dropped with all the care of a qualified dispenser--and there will not
   be one drop more of bitterness in your cup than the Lord knew was
   necessary to make the medicine just what it should be. I delight in
   this Truth of God, and I hope that you also do. It is an old-fashioned
   doctrine and this is an old-fashioned verse--

   "Thoughplagues and deaths around me fly, Till He bids, I cannot die!
   Not a single shaft can hit Till the God of love sees fit."

   Everything is appointed and determined, not by blind fate, but by an
   all-wise predestination! The wheels of Providence do not crush the
   Believer, for they are full of eyes so that as they revolve, they work
   our lasting good and never do us harm. I hope all the burden-bearers
   here will believe this blessed fact, that the Lord has appointed to all
   His burden-bearers the burdens they are to bear and the time they are
   to bear them.

   III. Lastly, and but briefly, EACH BURDEN-BEARER MUST FEEL THE
   SACREDNESS OF HIS OFFICE.

   All these Gershonites, though only bearers of burdens, were ordained by
   God. There is a great deal of fuss made nowadays about "ordaining" a
   minister. I was never "ordained" by mortal men, for I did not believe
   in having their empty hands laid on my head. If they had, any of them,
   any spiritual gift to impart to me, I would have been glad to receive
   it, but, as they had nothing to give me, I could not accept it. I
   believe that every true Christian is ordained of God to his particular
   work and, in the strength of that Divine ordination, let him not bother
   his head about merely human forms and ceremonies, but just keep to his
   proper work and shoulder his own burden.

   But they were all to feel that this ordination by God made their
   service a very solemn thing. He who carried a pot, or a pair of
   snuffers, or a flesh-hook, was to feel that what he carried was sacred
   and that he was carrying it in the name of God and, therefore, that he
   was to do it in a solemn manner. So the first command to the
   burden-bearers was, "Be you clean." They were to wash themselves and to
   wash their clothes. O Sirs, if you mean to be foul, go and serve the
   devil! If you want to behave dishonestly, or lewdly, or selfishly, or
   unkindly, be a servant of Satan, because you will not do him any
   discredit! But do not pretend to serve God with those dirty hands of
   yours! What have you to do with touching that which is "all of blue"
   when you are all black? What right have you to drink out of the holy
   vessels of the sanctuary when your lips are leprous with iniquity? This
   is the most horrible thing about the Church of God--that there should
   ever be in it unworthy men! I have thanked God for Judas Iscariot many
   and many a time. I am glad he got in among the Apostles because we
   would have given up all our church life if we had not seen that even
   with Christ for the Pastor, and with His 12 Apostles around Him, one of
   them was a devil! It will always be so, but, oh, I do beseech you who
   are burden-bearers for Christ, be you clean! Go again every day to the
   fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and wash there, and may the
   great Master take the basin and the ewer, as He did for His disciples,
   and wash your feet, that you may be "clean every whit"!

   They were not only to be clean, but they were also to be very reverent
   in their service. It was not to be a kind of happy-go-lucky,
   hit-or-miss service--they must never lift up a corner of the covering
   to look curiously at anything that they carried--nor must they, even by
   their actions, seem to say, "We can carry these things anyway." Oh, no,
   but there must be real reverence about all their service. One man must
   take one part and another, another, with many a prayer and a continual
   looking up to that God whose holy vessels they were to carry on the
   behalf of His people through the wilderness. God still desires to have
   reverent servants--may He deliver us from a flippant Christianity! Oh,
   that He would save us, not from holy mirth, but from the careless
   handling of Divine things! It is an awfully solemn thing to be a
   servant of the Lord of Hosts. Jacob said, "How dreadful (how awe-full)
   is this place! This is none other but the House of God, and this is the
   gate of Heaven." He felt that the Presence of Jehovah was something
   that filled him with awe--and for us to stand before the God who is a
   consuming fire, is no subject for trifling.

   At the same time, although their service was to be reverent, they were
   always to be ready for it. They could never tell when they would have
   to take up their burdens and march. Sometimes at break of day the
   trumpet sounded, "Up, and away," for the cloudy-fiery pillar was
   moving! At other times they may have been sitting at their noon meal
   and, as they looked up, they perceived that the pillar of cloud had
   begun to move, so, as soon as the priests had taken down the coverings,
   they must pick up their burdens and then, each man in his appointed
   place, the load was to be carried till the cloud stopped. The special
   thing for us to remember is that they were always to be ready. Our
   friends over at the Southwark fire station, some of whom are members of
   this Church, tell me that they are always ready to go off to any fire
   that may break out. I have asked them, "When are you off duty?" and
   they have replied, "Never. If we come to the Tabernacle, or go anywhere
   else, we are always to be on the watch for the signal that would tell
   us that a fire is raging. No matter what we are doing, at dead of
   night, or in the dawning of morning, eating our bread, or even if we
   are asleep, we must be up in a moment as soon as the call is given."

   I have heard of a certain parson who was out hunting, one day, and
   someone said to him, "It does not look right for a servant of Christ to
   be wearing a red jacket like yours." "Oh," he said, "you see, I was off
   duty at the time." But when

   is a Christian minister off duty? When is anyChristian off duty? We are
   never off duty and we are to count it a high privilege that we are
   always to be ready, at the summons of our Master, to take up our burden
   and bear it wherever He pleases.

   Finally, they were to do it cheerfully. It is not recorded, in God's
   Word that any one of these sons of Gershon ever complained that his
   load was too heavy. I do not even read that one of them said, "Look,
   Moses, I am a full-grown man, yet Ithamar has bid me carry only a
   tent-pin. I think I ought to be allowed, at the very least, to carry
   one of the boards of the tabernacle." There is no record that any one
   of them ever talked like that. Their load was neither too heavy nor too
   light. In like manner, Brothers and Sisters, let us drop into our
   proper places. He who has redeemed us with His precious blood and made
   us to be the first-born among men, calls us to this service or to that.
   It is not our place to reason why, or to make reply, but to obey our
   Master's orders at once--and to do for Him anything, great or
   small--which He may command us.

   I greatly fear that some of you are not the servants of my Master. Then
   you are serving another lord and his burdens, though they may seem
   little or nothing to you now, will grow, and grow, and grow, and grow
   until they sink you into the bottomless Pit forever! Have you never
   heard of the man who served a tyrant master? The tyrant called at the
   man's smithy and said to him, "Make me a chain. Find your own iron and
   out of it make a chain for me." "How long shall I make it, your
   majesty?" "Make it as long as you like and keep on at it till I come
   here again." He worked for 12 months and forged a long, long chain.
   When the tyrant came, he gave him nothing for what he had done, but he
   said, "Make it as long again." So the poor man had to go on hammering
   away at the chain. And when he had finished it, what do you think was
   the payment he received? The tyrant said, "Bind him, hand and foot,
   with this chain, and hurl him down into the abyss, bound by the very
   chain that he has, himself, forged." That is what the black prince of
   Hell will do with you who serve him! Therefore, flee from him while you
   may.

   "I will think about it," says one. You will never get away from him if
   you act like that. The only way to escape from the devil is to run away
   from him without giving him any notice. Just as you are, at this
   moment, escape for your lives! Look not behind you, for the only hope
   for you is to flee at once from the wrath to come. Do as the prodigal
   son did-- say, "I will arise and go to my father." And then, like he,
   rise up at once and go! He who deliberates about such a matter as this
   is lost. It is now or never with you! "Behold, now is the accepted
   time; behold, now is the day of salvation." The Lord help us all to
   escape, this very hour, for His dear Son's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: NUMBERS8:5-22.

   Verses 5, 6. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites
   from among the children of Israel and cleanse then. These men were to
   be the servants of God. They are the type of God's elect--a people set
   apart unto Divine service, to be zealous for good works. "Take the
   Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them." That is
   just the way that God the Holy Spirit takes Christians out of the mass
   of mankind and cleanses them.

   7, 8. And thus shall you do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water
   ofpurifcation upon them, and let then shave all their flesh, and let
   them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. Then let them
   take a young bullock with his grain offering, even fine flour mingled
   with oil, and another young bullock shall you take for a sin offering.
   There are still, typically, these three things in the cleansing of
   God's people--the blood, the water and the razor. There is blood, the
   emblem of the putting away of sin by Christ's atoning Sacrifice. The
   water, typical of the Holy Spirit, by whom the power of sin is
   overcome. And then that razor, cutting off that which grows of the
   flesh--that which was their beauty and their glory is all taken away
   from them. There are some of God's people who have not felt much of
   that razor, but if they are to serve God perfectly, it must be used.
   "Let them shave all their flesh.

   9-12. And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the
   congregation and you shall gather the whole congregation of the
   children of Israel together: and you shall bring the Levites before the
   LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the
   Levites: and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an
   offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service
   of the LORD. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of
   the bullocks: and you shall offer the one for a sin of offering, and
   the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an

   atonement for the Levites. There is no true way of serving God without
   the Atonement. Leave that out and you have left out the vital part of
   the whole. What service can we render to the Most High if we begin by
   disloyalty to Him whom God has set forth to be the Propitiation for
   sin, even His dear Son?

   13, 14. And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron, and before his
   sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD. Thus shall you
   separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites
   shall be mine. We are to offer up to God our spirit, soul and body,
   which is our reasonable service. And if we are, indeed, God's children,
   we are to feel that, henceforth, we are not our own, for we are bought
   with a price. We belong wholly to God--all that we are and all that we
   have is to be His through life and in death--and throughout eternity.

   15. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the
   tabernacle of the congregation: and you shall cleanse them, and offer
   them for an offering. An offering must be presented for us before we
   can offer ourselves as an offering unto God.

   16. For they are wholly given unto Me from among the children of Israel
   Listen to this, you who trust that you are made like unto the elder
   Brother and the First-Born from among the creatures of God--

   16-18. Instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the
   first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto Me.
   For all the first-born of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and
   beast: on the day that I struck every first-born in the land of Egypt I
   sanctified them for Myself. And I have taken the Levites for all the
   first-born of the children of Israel. God's people are the elect--they
   have escaped from death. In that day when the sword of the Lord was
   drawn, they were shielded by the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the
   lintel and on the two side posts and, henceforth, because they have
   been thus preserved, they belong to the Lord.

   19-22. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons
   from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of
   Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement
   for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children
   of Israel, when the children of Israel come near unto the sanctuary.
   And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of
   Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded
   Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.
   And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron
   offered them as an offering before the LORD, and Aaron made an
   atonement for them to cleanse them. And after that went the Levites in
   to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron,
   and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the
   Levites, so did they unto them. How instructive all this is to us! We
   are not to begin blunderingly to serve God while we are yet in our
   sins--before we have been sprinkled with the blood--before we have been
   washed in the water which flowed with the blood--before we have felt
   that razor that takes away from us all our own pride and glory! No, but
   when all that is done, then there is to be no delay--"After that went
   the Levites in to do their service."
     __________________________________________________________________

A Good Man in An Evil Case

   (No. 2830)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 10, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
   19, 1886.

   "Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you: He shall
   never allow the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22.

   Those of you who were here last Thursday evening will recollect that
   the sermon was concerning those sons of Ger-shon who were
   burden-bearers in connection with the tabernacle in the wilderness.
   [Sermon #2829, Volume 49--lowly service] They were not appointed to
   preach. They were not ordained to

   fight--their service consisted in bearing burdens. There were some
   here, on that occasion, whom I had never known before who had been, by
   the space of 30 years, great sufferers. They were carried into this
   place last Thursday evening--I did not know of their presence until
   afterwards, when they told me that the sermon seemed to have been made
   for them and that it had given them great comfort.

   I thought I would follow up that sermon about burden-bearers by a
   discourse upon another text which shows us that there are some burdens
   which we need notcarry. Burdens of service, or burdens of which come
   through our consecration to the Lord Jesus Christ--these we will never
   lay down so long as we live. It shall be our joy to daily take up our
   cross and follow Jesus, but there are certain burdens of care and
   sorrow, of which the text speaks--especially the burdens which come
   from the slander, reproach and oppression of ungodly men--which we need
   not carry. David says, "Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall
   sustain you: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

   Beloved Friends, the very best men in the world may be slandered! And
   if you should hear them evilly spoken of, be you not among those who
   straightway condemn them. There are some who say, "Where there is
   smoke, there is sure to be fire." And although it is well known that
   "common fame is a common liar," yet there are some who are so fond of
   hearing or telling lies that they are sure to believe such a lie as
   this, especially if it is spoken concerning a servant of God. Be you
   not, therefore, ready to believe all the reports that you hear against
   any Christian people. The best of men, as I have already reminded you,
   have been worst spoken of and there are some who turn upon them
   directly, like lions scenting their prey.

   I may be just now addressing some who are the victims of the malice of
   ungodly men or women. I am sorry, dear Friends, that this should be
   your lot, for it is among the most bitter of human afflictions. But at
   the same time I would remind you that nothing unusual has happened to
   you. You remember the three brave men who were cast alive into
   Nebuchadnezzar's burning fiery furnace when it was heated seven times
   more than it was known to be heated? You are scarcely enduring such a
   fiery trial as that and, certainly, you are not suffering as did your
   Master, the Lord of all pilgrims who have made their way to Heaven! But
   if, in any degree, it should happen that you are bearing a burden of
   this kind, the text will have a special message for you.

   In speaking upon this passage, I want to keep it in context with the
   whole Psalm. I do not think it is dealing properly with the Bible to
   pick out one verse here, and another there, without looking to see what
   the context of the passage is. If men's books were treated as God's
   Book is often treated, we should make many a grand and noble literary
   work to appear to be an insane production! It is true that God's Book
   can endure even such treatment as that. It is such a wonderful Book
   that even a sentence torn out of it will convey a most precious Truth
   of God, but it is not fair to the Book, and it is

   not fair to yourself, to treat the Bible so. A text of Scripture should
   always be viewed in the setting in which God has placed it, for there
   is often as much that is admirable in the gold which forms the setting
   of the jewel as there is in the jewel itself.

   I. So, looking at our text in that light, I shall begin by saying that
   WHEN WE ARE MUCH TRIED AND BURDENED, THERE IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE
   TEMPTED TO DO. The text does not mention it, but the Psalm does. And
   the text is an antidote to the malady which the Psalm describes or
   implies. "Cast your burden upon the Lord," is an injunction concerning
   that which we are to put in the place of something else which more
   naturally suggests itself to our poor foolish minds.

   And, first, when we are in very severe trouble, we are tempted to
   complain. The Psalmist says, in the second verse, "I mourn in my
   complaint, and make a noise." I am not sure that our version is quite
   fair to David in this instance, but it suits my present purpose
   admirably. As the children of God, we ought to avoid even the semblance
   of a complaint against our Heavenly Father. But when our faith is
   sorely tried, when some sharp reproach is stinging our spirit, we are
   all too apt to begin thinking and saying that God is dealing harshly
   with us. You know Job, that most patient of men, became very impatient
   when his so-called "friends" poured vinegar instead of oil into his
   wounds. Smarting under their cruel treatment, he said some things which
   he had far better have left unsaid. O Brothers and Sisters, pray that
   whenever the Lord lays His rod heavily upon you, your tears may have no
   rebellion in them! Whatever His providential dealings with you may be,
   may you be enabled to say, with the Patriarch, "The Lord gave, and the
   Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." May you even
   join Job in his triumphant declaration, "Through He slays me, yet will
   I trust in Him." It is grand faith that enables a Believer to say,
   "Though I should die at God's altar, I will die like the lamb that is
   brought to the slaughter, or be like the sheep that is dumb before her
   shearers and makes no complaint."

   The next natural temptation is that of giving up altogether and lying
   down in despair. You get that in the fourth and fifth verses--"My heart
   is sorely pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon
   me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has
   overwhelmed me." Have not some of you been sometimes tempted to say,
   "There, I can do more. I must give up--that last cruel blow has utterly
   broken me in pieces and I feel that I can only lay down and die in the
   bitterness of my spirit"? Brothers and Sisters, this is a temptation
   against which you must strive most earnestly! As no living man should
   complain, so no living man should despair--and especially no child of
   God! Up with you, poor Heart! You have not yet come to the end of God's
   delivering mercy, even though you have come to the end of your poor
   puny strength. The Lord shall light your candle, now that your night is
   so dark. You shall yet sing for very joy of heart, though now you can
   only, like David, mourn in your mourning. He will bring you again from
   Bashan, and from the depths of the sea if you have sunk as low as that.
   Therefore, talk not of dying before your time. Yet, if you do so, you
   will not be the first who has talked like that, for there was one who
   never died, who said, "O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better
   than my fathers." That was Elijah, the Prophet of Fire! Yet, just then
   he seemed as if he were only cold ashes rather than a vehement
   flame--another proof that the best of men are but men at the best!

   The next very common temptation is to want to flee from our present
   trials. You get that in verses six to eight--"I said, Oh that I had
   wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then
   would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my
   escape from the windy storm and tempest." Possibly you are the pastor
   of a church and things do not prosper as you could wish. I wonder where
   they do? But, in your case, you think there is such little prosperity
   that you must give up your position and run away. Young gunners, before
   they have become accustomed to the smell of gunpowder and the noise of
   cannons, have often been known to desert their guns. And even old
   soldiers have sometimes felt what the "trembles" are! But, my Brother,
   if this is your case, I beseech you not to run away. If you did flee,
   where would you go? You think you will run away, as Jonah did, do you?
   I guarantee you that Jonah was very sorry that he had run away when he
   found himself in the whale's belly at the very bottom of the mountains
   in the depths of the sea! And you and I will be sure to get into
   greater trouble in we run away from the path of duty.

   Fight it out, Man! Stand your ground in the name of God and in the
   strength of God! It may be that there are better days just now coming
   and that Satan is seeking to drive you away just as you are on the
   brink of success! Dr. Watts has a good paraphrase of this Psalm and
   also writes wisely concerning the temptation to flee the post of duty.
   He says--

   "Oh, were I like a feathered dove, And innocence had wrings!

   I'd fly, and make a long remove

   From all these restless things.

   Let me to some wild desert go,

   And find a peaceful home;

   Where storms of malice never blow,

   Temptations never come.

   Vain hopes and vain inventions all,

   To escape the rage of Hell!

   The mighty God, on whom I call,

   Can save me here as well.

   God shall preserve my soul from fear,

   Or shield me when afraid;

   Ten thousand angels must appear,

   If HE commands their aid."

   Possibly the special case in point is not that of a minister. It is
   some Mary, weeping at home because her brother Lazarus is dead. Martha
   is not a very congenial sister to her, so she does not even go with her
   when she goes to meet the Lord. Yet, strangely enough, each of the
   sisters says the same words to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my
   brother had not died." In due time the Master sends for Mary and soon
   she has the joy of welcoming Lazarus back from the grave. Some of us
   get strange ideas into our head at times--we resolve that we will go,
   we know not where, and do, we know not what! Ah, my dear Friends, he
   whose great trouble lies in his own heart cannot run away from it, for
   he bears it about with him wherever he goes! The old man of the
   mountain who sits upon your shoulder and clings so tightly to you, if
   he is yourself, is not to be shaken off by your running away! Far wiser
   will it be for you to do as the text says, "Cast your burden upon the
   Lord." Then you will need no wings like a dove, nor will you wish to
   fly away to the wilderness, but you will be willing to stay in the very
   midst of the battle and even there you will be in perfect peace--

   "Calm 'mid the bewildering cry,

   Confident of victory."

   I have often enjoyed the greatest solitude amid the crowds in Cheapside
   and I believe that there is many a Christian who has experienced the
   deepest peace in the midst of the wildest turmoil. Some of us know what
   Madame Guyon meant when she wrote--

   " While place we seek or place we shun, The soul finds happiness in
   none! But with a God to guide our way, 'Tis equal joy to go or stay."

   Trust in Him! Cast your burden on Him, for so you will escape from this
   temptation of wanting to flee away from the place where He would have
   you be!

   There is one other temptation that this Psalm suggests to me, and that
   is the temptation to wish ill to those who are causing us ill Perhaps
   mistaking the meaning of the passage, we are apt to pray the prayer in
   the ninth verse, "'Destroy, O Lord!' Our foes have slandered us, they
   have spoken evil of us and we wish that they were dead, or that some
   great judgment might overtake them." It will never do, dear Friends, to
   indulge such a feeling as that! We shall be injured if we desire that
   others should be injured. Slander has, indeed, stung you when you
   harbor the wish to sting another! Someone said, in my hearing,
   attempting to justify revenge or retaliation, "But if you tread on a
   worm, it will turn," and I answered, "Is a poor worm that only turns
   because of its agony through man's cruelty, the pattern for a Christian
   man to follow? Will you look down to the dust of the earth to find the
   example that you are to imitate?" Wicked men trod upon Christ--who even
   compared Himself to a worm--yet He did not turn upon them, except to
   cry, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

   Let that be the only kind of turning that you ever practice towards
   your enemies! Do not be driven, by their evil speaking or their cruel
   deeds, into harshness of speech or even harshness of thought! I have
   known some persons, under sore trouble, who have at last become quite
   soured and bitter of spirit--that is all wrong and very sad--and no
   good can ever come of such a state of heart as that. The bruising of
   the sycamore fig results in its growing sweeter--let your bruising
   produce a similar effect upon you. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus
   in His wondrous Sermon on the

   Mount, "I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
   do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
   you and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father
   which is in Heaven." If you do not act thus--which is the right thing
   for you to do--you will almost certainly do the wrong thing in some
   shape or other. Therefore, God help you to do what is right! Child, is
   your father rough on you? Then, love him until he becomes tender and
   gentle. Wife, is your husband unkind to you? Then, win him back by your
   sweet smiles. Servant, is your mistress harsh to you? Even good women
   have sometimes dealt as harshly with their servants as Sarah dealt with
   Hagar. Well, if that is your case, be not like Hagar who despised her
   mistress. Submit to her, for so shall you yet win her, as many a
   Christian slave of old, far worse treated than you have been, won his
   master or his mistress to Christ in those earliest and happiest days of
   Christianity. What is there for a Christian to do but love his enemies?
   This is the most powerful weapon that we have in our armory! We shall
   be wise as serpents if God teaches us wisdom. And we shall also be
   harmless as doves if the Holy Spirit, like a dove, rests upon us and
   makes us, also, to abound in gentleness. By this sign we shall conquer,
   for it is love that always wins the day!

   Thus I have shown you what we are tempted to do when we are like this
   good man who was in such an evil case.

   II. Now I am going to show you, from the text, as the Holy Spirit shall
   help me, WHAT WE ARE COMMANDED

   TO DO. That is, "Cast your burden upon the Lord." You have a burden
   upon your back. It is too heavy for you to bear? Cast it upon the Lord!

   "How shall I do that?" someone asks. Well, if you are a child of God, I
   invite you, first of all, to trace your burden back to God.''But it
   comes from the treachery of Ahithophel, or from the rebellion of
   Absalom!" I grant you that it does, but those are only the second
   causes, or the agents--trace the matter back to the Great First Cause.
   If you do that, you will come, by a mystery which I will not attempt to
   explain, to the hand of Divine Providence and you will say of every
   burden, "This, also, comes from the Lord." You have probably seen a
   dog, when he has been struck with a stick, turn round and bite the
   staff that struck him. If he were a wise dog, he would bite the man who
   held the stick that dealt the blow. When God uses His rod upon one of
   His children, even a godly man will sometimes snap at the rod. "But,
   Sir, surely you would not have me turn upon my God?" Oh, no! I know you
   will not do that, for you are His child. And when you see that God is
   holding the rod in His hand, you will cease to be rebellious and you
   will say, with the Psalmist, "' I was dumb with silence.' I was going
   to speak, but I opened not my mouth because I saw that it was in Your
   hand that the rod of chastisement was held." It is always well to trace
   our trials directly to God and say, "It may be Judas Iscariot who has
   betrayed me, but, still, it was planned in God's eternal purpose that I
   should be betrayed, so I will forget the second cause, except to pray
   God to forgive the malice of the betrayer--and, by His Grace, I will
   look to the Lord who permitted the trial to come upon me for His own
   Glory and for my good."

   The next thing you have to do is this. Seeing that the burden is from
   God, patiently wait His time for its removal There are some people,
   who, if they had a task set to them by some great one whom they
   respected and revered, would cheerfully perform it. If, in the middle
   of the night, you were called up by a Queen's messenger and bid to do
   something for Her Majesty, you would be glad to rise and dress, even
   though it might be a cold night and you might have far to go to fulfill
   your commission. And if you feel that your burden is from the Lord--if
   the King's arms are stamped upon the affliction or trial that comes to
   you--straightway you will say, "As the Lord wills it, I will bear it
   without complaining. When it is His time to deliver me, I shall be
   delivered. And as long as it is His time for me to suffer, I will, by
   His Grace, suffer patiently."

   I wish that all Christians could be like that good old woman who was
   asked whether, as she was so very ill, she would prefer to live or to
   die. She said that she had no preference whatever, she only wished that
   the will of the Lord might be done. "But, still, if the Lord said to
   you, 'which will you have?' which would you choose?" She said, "I would
   not even then choose, but I would ask the Lord to choose for me." You
   see, whenever anything comes to us from God, we have not the
   responsibility of it--but if it came through our own choice, then we
   might say to ourselves, "What fools we were to choose this particular
   trial!" You say that you do not like the cross God has sent you. Well
   but, at any rate, it is not by your own choice that you have to carry
   that particular cross. It is God who chose it for you, whereas if
   youhad selected it, you might well say, "Oh, dear me, what a mistake I
   made when I chose this burden!" Now you cannot say that and I pray that
   you may have Divine Grace to see that "the whole disposing" of your lot
   is, as Solomon says, "Of the Lord."

   The Hebrew of our text would bear such a rendering as this, "Cast on
   the Lord what the Lord gives you. Cast on Him what He casts on you. See
   the marks of His hands on your burden and you will be reconciled to
   your load. Know that God sends it to you and patiently wait till He
   takes it away." F. W. Faber very sweetly writes--

   "I have no cares, O blessed Lord,

   For all my cares are Yours.

   I live in triumph, too, for You

   Have made Your triumphs mine.

   And when it seems no chance nor change

   From grief can set me free--

   Hope find its strength in helplessness,

   And patiently waits on Thee.

   Lead on, lead on, triumphantly,

   O blessed Lord, lead on!

   Faith's pilgrim-sons behind You seek

   The road that You have gone." One blessed way of casting our burden
   upon the Lord is to tell the Lord all about it. It is a high privilege
   to get away, alone, and talk to God as a man talks with his friend. But
   I know what you often do, my Brothers and Sisters, when you get into a
   predicament and cannot tell what to do--then you begin to pray. Why do
   you not, every morning, tell the Lord about all your difficulties
   beforethey come? What? Will you only run to Him when you get into
   trouble? No, go to Him beforeyou get into trouble. Half our burdens
   come from what we have not prayed over! If a man would take the
   ordinary concerns of life distinctly to God, one by one, it is
   marvelous how easily the chariot of life would roll along! Things over
   which we have not prayed are like undigested food that breeds mischief
   in the body--they breed mischief in the soul. Digest your daily bread
   by first praying, "God give it to me and then God bless me in the use
   of it. And then God bless me afterwards in the spending of the strength
   derived from it to Your praise and Glory." Salt all your life with
   prayer, lest corruption should come to that part of your life which you
   have not thus salted. Tell the Lord, then, your griefs, just as, when a
   child, you told your troubles to your mother!

   "I cannot find words," says one. Oh, they will come! They come fast
   enough when you complain to man and they will sweetly come if you get
   into the blessed habit of talking to God about everything. A friend
   said to me, not long ago, "I was on the Exchange and I saw that I had
   made a mistake in a certain transaction. I had lost money by it and if
   I had gone on dealing in the same fashion, I would have been ruined. I
   just stepped aside for a minute or two into a quiet corner of my
   office. I stood still and breathed a prayer to God for guidance. Then I
   went back, and felt, 'Now I am ready for anyone of you.'" "So I was,"
   he said, "I was not confused and worried, as I would otherwise have
   been, and so liable to make mistakes, but I had waited upon God and I
   was therefore calm and collected." There is much wisdom in thus praying
   about everything, although, possibly, some of you may think it trivial.
   I believe that the very soul of Christianity lies in the sanctifying of
   what is called secular--the bringing of all things under the cognizance
   of our God by intense, constant, importunate, believing prayer.

   When you have told the Lord everything, the next thing for you to do,
   in order to cast your burden upon Him, is to believe that all will work
   together for your good. Swallow the bitter as readily as you do the
   sweet and believe that, somehow, the strange mixture will do you great
   good. Do not look out your window, judging this, and that, and the
   other, in detail, but, if God sent it to you, open the door and take it
   all in, for all that has come from Him will be to His Glory and to your
   profit. Believe that if you shall lose certain things, you will really
   be a gainer by your losses. Even if your dearest one is taken from you,
   all shall be well if you have but faith to trust God in it all. If you
   are stricken with mortal sickness, it will still be well with you and
   if you do steadfastly trust in the Lord, you shall know that it is so.
   "We know," says the Apostle Paul--he does not say, "We think, we
   suppose, we judge," but--"We know that all things work together for
   good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His
   purpose." If you know this, my Brother, or my Sister, it shall help you
   to "cast your burden upon the Lord."

   When you have done this, then leave your burden with the Lord. In the
   process of trusting God with your burden, get to the point that you
   have done with it. If I cast my burden upon the Lord, what business
   have I to carry it myself? How can I truthfully say that I have cast it
   upon Him if I am still burdened with it? Throughout my life, which has
   not

   been free from many grave cares, there have been many things which I
   have been able to see my own way through and, using my best judgment,
   they have passed off well. But in so large a church as this, there
   sometimes occur things that altogether stagger me. I do not know what
   to do in such a case as that and I have been in the habit, after doing
   all I can, of putting such things up on the shelf and saying, "There, I
   will never take them down again, come what may. I have done with them,
   for I have left them wholly with God." And I wish to bear my testimony
   that somehow or other the thing which I could not unravel, has
   unraveled itself! When Peter and the angel "came unto the iron gate,"
   it "opened to them of its own accord." And the same thing has happened
   to me many a time. "Who shall roll away the stone for us from the door
   of the sepulcher?" asked the holy women when they came to the tomb of
   their Lord? "And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled
   away." Learn to say, "My God has made this difficulty and there is some
   good result to come of it. I have done the little I can do, so now I
   will leave it all with Him."

   Ah, but I know what some of you do--you say that you have left it all
   with God and then you lie awake all night fretting about it! Is that
   casting your burden upon the Lord? Oh, for a blessed literalism about
   the promises of God and our faith in them, so that we take them to mean
   just what they say and act upon them accordingly! Now, if some poor
   woman here were sadly in debt for her rent and she met with a Christian
   Brother who said to her, "Do not fret, my good Sister, I will see it
   all paid tomorrow," do you think she would go running about, and
   saying, "O dear, I shall lose my things, my rent will not be paid"? No,
   she would say, "Mr. So-and-So, whom I know and trust, said that he
   would pay it for me, and I feel perfectly at peace about it." Now, do
   you so with your God if you know Him! David said, "They that know Your
   name will put their trust in You." If you truly love the Lord, it will
   be a proof of your love to repose your care upon Him without
   questioning. And when you have cast your burden upon Him, it will prove
   the truth of your having done so if you are unburdened and your heart
   is at rest. If He bears my burden, why should I also bear it? If He
   cares for me, what have I to do to vex myself with fretful, anxious
   cares?

   I have thus done my best to show you what we are commanded to do--"Cast
   your burden upon the Lord." III. And now thirdly, and very briefly,
   WHAT WE SHOULD ENDEAVOR TO DO.

   If I read the text aright, we here have David talking to himself. And
   what we are to endeavor to do is to talk to ourselves, just as David
   talked to himself. He says of his enemy, "The words of his mouth were
   smoother than butter, but war was in his heart" and so on. And then he
   seems to say, "Come, David, do not fret yourself like this, but cast
   your burden upon the Lord." Have you not noticed how often David seems
   as if he were two Davids--and one David talks to the other David? It
   was so when he said to himself, "Why are you cast down, O my Soul; and
   why are you disquieted within me?" And I want you, dear Friend, to
   chide yourself and say, "Come, fretful Heart, what are you doing? Cast
   your burden upon the Lord. What are you doing? Has God forsaken you?
   Has God refused to help you? Be gone, Unbelief! Come, Faith, and dwell
   in my soul and reign over my spirit, swaying your gracious scepter of
   peace."

   And when you have thus been chiding yourself, argue with yourself about
   the matter Say to yourself, "See how the text puts it--'Cast your
   burden upon the Lord.' Well, if it is your burden and God meant it for
   you, then do not quarrel with it. And as it is your burden, so is God
   your God, the covenant-keeping God, your Father and your Friend. Come,
   my Soul, cast your burden upon your God! Where else should you put your
   burden when He bids you cast it upon Him? You cannot sustain yourself
   under such a load, but God will sustain you and your burden, too."
   Think of the righteousness of God and say, "It is impossible that the
   righteous God should leave the righteous to perish. If they are
   slandered, that is a further reason why God should take up their cause.
   He is their Advocate and their Defender. Come, my Heart, it shall never
   be truly said of the Judge of all the earth that He leaves His people
   to perish, especially when their good name is assailed because of their
   fidelity to Him!"

   I want you, dear Friends, to talk thus with yourselves, especially
   those of you who are rather apt to give way to despondency. There are
   some such here, I know. You come to me, sometimes, with your griefs,
   and I do the best I can to cheer you. But I have often said to myself,
   "That dear Sister had a father who was a member with us. He used to
   come to me in just the same way as she does. This despondency seems to
   run in their2 blood." Some of you must have been born in December and
   you never seem to get out of that month--it is always winter with you.
   But now I want you just to take the language of the text and say to
   yourself, "Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you: He
   shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." And, possibly, God will
   bless your own sermon to yourself more than He would bless my sermon to
   you! At any rate, try it.

   IV. Lastly--and here I need the time for a whole sermon, let us think
   of WHAT WE MAY EXPECT IF WE FULFILL THE COMMAND OF THE TEXT--"Cast your
   burden upon the Lord."

   There are two grand things in the text--sustenance and sufferance. The
   old Puritans would have made a book about those two words and we might
   preach a dozen sermons upon them and still not exhaust their meaning!
   What does the Lord do with His people when they cast their burdens upon
   Him? He gives them sustenance. "He shall sustain you." The word,
   "sustain," is the same that is used when God told Elijah to go to
   Zarephath, saying, "Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to
   sustain you," that is, "to feed you," "to nourish you." Perhaps that
   would have been a better rendering of the original. "Cast your burden
   upon the Lord," and what will He do? Deliver you out of your trouble?
   No, but He will feed you till you can carry it, and that will be an
   even better thing than relieving you of the burden.

   Here is a dear child that has but a little load to carry, yet he
   staggers under it. It would be a kind thing for his father to pick up
   the child and his load, too, and carry both him and his burden. But the
   wise father says, "I will so provide for that child that he shall grow
   in strength and, at last, shall be able to carry his load." "Cast your
   burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you." That is, "He shall
   feed you. He shall nourish you." I believe that when Paul was attacked
   by that viper that came out of the sticks, it was a very ugly thing,
   indeed, but Paul just shook it off into the fire. Why do you think that
   snake came? Why, it came to feed them all! "No," you say, "that serpent
   did not do that!" It did, for the islanders said that this man was a
   god and straightway they began to gather around him and his companions
   and to provide for their needs with all the greater alacrity because of
   the reverence that they felt for the Apostle! So you shall often find
   that what looks like a horrible thing will be the best way in which God
   could bless you.

   "Cast your burden upon the Lord." "It will crush me." No, it will
   not--you shall grow under it and then grow out of it! And you shall
   prove the truth of those precious lines--

   "From all their afflictions My Glory shall spring, And the deeper their
   sorrows, the louder they'll sing." Only by faith leave your trouble
   with your God and He will nurture you. Even out of the very rock of
   trouble will He feed you and give you oil out of the flinty rock of
   your afflictions.

   Then, the other point is sufferance. I am obliged to hurry over these
   Truths of God and leave you to meditate upon them afterwards. "He shall
   never suffer the righteous to be moved." Learn, from this declaration,
   that nothing will happen to you but what God permits. There are some
   things which are very grievous, which God does allow to happen to His
   people. But there are other things which He will not allow. He will
   never allow them to be moved. "No," He says, "My child who has walked
   uprightly before Me, My righteous one, the man who spoke the Truth, the
   man who did the right thing, I will not suffer that man to be moved. He
   may be moved as the boughs of a tree sway to and fro in the breeze, but
   not as the roots of a tree are torn up by a storm. He may be moved a
   little, like a ship riding at anchor, which just swings with the tide,
   but he shall not be driven out to sea, or drift onto the rocks to his
   destruction."

   "He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Do you catch the
   Psalmist's idea? It is as if God interposed and said, "No, I will not
   permit that." A father may see his child somewhat put upon, yet at
   first he may not interfere. But, at last, a cruel blow is struck and he
   says, "No, I will not stand that! While I have an arm to defend my
   child, he shall not be treated in that fashion." Well, then, leave
   everything with your Heavenly Father, for He will not allow you to be
   moved! If you are really righteous, trusting in the Righteous One,
   justified by the blood and righteousness of Christ, and are doing what
   is right in His sight, He will not allow you to be moved. The next time
   you are sorely vexed by the tongue of slander, go and tell your Father,
   just as the little boys tell their big brothers. Go and tell your
   Father all about it and do not fret over it. If somebody has done you a
   great wrong, you may say to him, "I shall be obliged to refer you to my
   solicitor." But after you have done that, I hope you do not go writing
   letters to him on your own. Refer everything to God and leave all with
   Him, for, so, a blessed peace will bedew your spirit, making your life
   on earth like the beginning of life in Heaven!

   In closing my discourse, I must say that I do feel, in my inmost soul,
   the deepest pity for those of you who have no God to go to when you are
   in trouble. You have a burden to bear, but you cannot cast it on the
   Lord. He willallow you to be moved, for you do not cry unto Him to help
   you. I feel that I would rather be a dog than be a man without a God. I
   think I could make myself happy if I were only a mouse in its hole, but
   if I were a prince in a palace, without God, I should be utterly
   miserable! O poor Hearts, if you really want Him, He is to be had! If
   you are longing for Him, His door

   is open to receive you. If you will come to Him, He will come and meet
   you much more than half way! Yes, all the way will He come to everyone
   who wills to come to Him. As soon as you say, "I will arise," He has
   already arisen and is on His way to meet you! Practically, there is no
   distance for you to go, for He is there, waiting to welcome you.
   Believe in His dear Son and live! First cast your great burden of sin
   upon the Lord and then cast upon Him all other burdens that He is
   willing to take from you and, soon, He will put a new song into your
   mouth and establish your going. The Lord grant it, for His dear Son's
   sake! Amen!
     __________________________________________________________________

Burden-bearing

   (No. 2831)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 17, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
   26, 1886.

   "Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ..
   .Every man shall bear his own burden." Galatians 6:2,5.

   OBSERVE, dear Friends, that the Apostle says in the second verse of
   this chapter, "Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law
   of Christ." These Galatians had been trying to bear the heavy burden of
   the Law of Moses. They had, as far as they could, put themselves,
   again, under the old Ceremonial Law. They had forsaken the Gospel way
   of justification by faith and had sought to be made perfect by their
   personal obedience to the Law of God. Now, the Apostle, as though he
   would expel one affection by another, says, "You want a law? You wish
   to be under a law? Well, here is the law of Christ--yield yourselves to
   it! Instead of observing the outward ceremonies of the Levitical law,
   here is a living law which touches the heart and influences the
   life--obey that law. You are Christians. You have come under law to
   Christ by the very fact that you are not your own, but have been bought
   with a price by Him--now see to it that you yield implicit obedience to
   the law of Christ."

   It is somewhat remarkable, I think, that many of those who are
   self-righteous and apparently pay much regard to the Law of Moses are
   usually quite forgetful of that which is the very essence and spirit of
   that Law. They are so righteous that they become stern, severe,
   censorious--which is being unrighteous--for the righteousness even of
   the Law of God is a righteousness of love, "for all the law is
   fulfilled in one word," that is, "love." A self-righteous man is not
   generally a man with a tender spirit. He looks at that which is hard
   and stern in the Law and he begins to be hard and stern himself--there
   is none of the softness, sweetness, gentleness and graciousness which
   even the Law, itself, required when it said, "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." Paul
   did well, in the mood in which the Galatians were--as they wanted to be
   under law, to remind them of what is the essence of the Law of God and
   he did still better by reminding them that they were under law--to
   Christ, whose law emphasizes the love which even Moses, himself, had
   taught under the old dispensation!

   These Galatians had most foolishly sought to burden themselves with a
   load which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. After
   being set free by the Gospel, they had gone back to the yoke of
   bondage, so the Apostle, in effect said to them, "As you have been so
   bewitched and fascinated that you want burdens to rest upon you, here
   are burdens for you--'Bear you one another's burdens.' And, as you want
   law, here is law for you--so fulfill the law of Christ." It was
   characteristic of that sacred craftiness, that holy ingenuity, which
   was so conspicuous in the Apostle Paul that he worded his argument
   thus, that he might draw the attention of these Galatians to it, fix it
   upon their memories and, if possible, reach and influence their
   consciences.

   Should there be any of you here who desire to come under the yoke of
   bondage, or who wish to be burden-bearers, or who find great music in
   the word, "law," I hope you will discover all these things in the text.
   I see in it, first of all, community--"Bear you one another's burdens."
   Then the latter part of the text teaches us immunity. You are not bound
   to consider other people's burdens so much as your own, that you become
   responsible for them. No, "every man shall bear his own burden." Then
   the third point, which will be a further opening up of the fifth verse,
   will be personality. "Every man shall bear his own burden."

   I. First, I see, in the text, A MARVELOUS COMMUNITY. "Bear you one
   another's burdens." What does this mean?

   Well, dealing with it first, negatively, it does notmean that we are to
   burden one another. There are some whose religion consists in laying
   heavy burdens upon other men's shoulders while they, themselves, will
   not carry them for a single yard. You recollect that sect of Pharisees
   with whom our Master was always in conflict--they have their
   representatives in these modern times. Why, even this text, itself, is
   twisted by some into a reason for burdening others. "'Bear you one
   another's burdens,'" they say --"do you not see, Friend, that you have
   to help me?" Yes, friend number one, but do you not see that you are
   not to go and burden that other friend? It is true that you have to
   bear his burdens. Let the first application of this passage be to
   yourself, and be not eager to apply it to your neighbor from whom you
   want to draw something. You have begun by violating the spirit of the
   text, not only by not bearing your brother's burden, but also by
   thrusting upon him your own burden without taking his in exchange! I
   say this because I have often found that men naturally draw this
   inference--"We are to help one another, therefore, please help me." The
   proper inference would be, "We are to help one another--where is the
   man whom I am to help?" Is not that the most logical conclusion from
   the text? Yet such is the selfishness of our nature that we begin
   straightway to say, "This text is a cow, I will milk it," not, "this
   text gives me something to do, so I will do it," but, "This text gives
   me a chance of getting something and I am going to get it." If you talk
   like that, it proves that you are out of gear with the text and have
   not entered into the spirit of it at all.

   The text does notmean that we are to spy out our brother's faults. Its
   context shows that the word, "burdens," here means, "faults."
   "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual,
   restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself,
   lest you also be tempted. Bear you one another's burdens." To a good
   man, a fault is a burden. The worst burden that he has to carry is the
   fact that he is not perfect--that is what troubles him. Now, you and

   1 are not to go about the world spying out everybody else's faults. "He
   is an excellent man," says one, "but." Now stop there! You have said
   already quite enough, you will spoil it if you say another word. "Ah,"
   says another, concerning someone else, "she is an admirable woman, an
   earnest worker for the Savior." Stop there! I know what you are going
   to say something that might make it seem that you are about as good as
   she is and perhaps a little better, and you are afraid that the light
   of your star would not be seen unless you first covered up that other
   star! But it must not be so! "Bear you one another's burdens." Bear
   with one another's faults, but spy not out one another's faults.

   I think I have heard a story of Mr. Wesley going several times to a
   certain town where he thought that there was a band of earnest
   Christian people, but he was met by a Brother who told him how dead
   they all were, what little life there was in their Prayer Meetings and
   how much of inconsistency there was among them. When he got there, he
   did not notice anything of this sort, so, the third time he went, he
   said to this Brother, "How is it that you always meet me and tell me of
   these things about the Brethren! Nobody else ever seems to say it."
   "Well, you see," he said, "Mr. Wesley, I have a rare gift of discerning
   spirits." "Oh," said the good man, "then wrap that talent up in a
   napkin and bury it, and you will have done the best thing possible with
   it. The Lord will never ask you what you have done with it if you will
   only keep it to yourself." I believe that there was great wisdom in
   that advice. There are still some who have only that gift of spying out
   other men's faults. That is shocking, dreadful, horrible! So, after all
   that, my Brother, shut your eyes and bend your back. If you know that
   the burden is there, bow down to help bear it, but do not stand and
   point at it, and seem as if you wished to do that Brother a discredit.

   Further, the text does notmean that we are to despise those who have
   heavy burdens to bear. For instance, those who have the grievous burden
   of poverty. "Oh," some say, "there is a large number of persons
   attending at such-and-such a place, but they are all poor people." So
   you think little of poor people, do you? Then what poor souls you must
   be! "Oh, but," says one, "such-and-such a person is always afflicted
   and very sad." And do you despise the afflicted, especially the
   mentally afflicted, the desponding, the sorrowful among God's people?
   Do you turn away from them and say, "I cannot endure talking with
   persons of that sort--they are so sad in temperament and disposition"?
   But the Apostle says, "Bear you one another's burdens," which means--do
   not run away from other people because you see that they are burdened.
   If you say, "I like to be with the cheerful and the happy, I cannot go
   and spend my life in comforting the mourners in Zion"--is that mind in
   you which was also in Christ Jesus, who was meek and lowly, and who did
   not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax? O Brothers and
   Sisters, we need to be schooled in this matter of showing

   sympathy with the sorrowful! No doubt it will drag our own spirits down
   if we really have fellowship with those whom God has sorely afflicted
   in mind, but we must be willing to be dragged down--it will do us good!
   If the Lord sees that we are willing to stoop to the very least of His
   people, He will be sure to bless us. I sometimes like to sing that
   verse that Dr. Doddridge wrote, and I hope I can sing it truly--

   "Have You a lamb in all Your flock

   I would disdain to feed?

   Have You a foe, before whose face

   I fear Your cause to plead?'

   The second half of the verse is much easier than the first half. You
   might be able to stand up like young David before Goliath, himself, for
   there is something grand and noble in such an action as that. But to go
   looking after the poor little lambs of the flock that scarcely seem as
   if they are alive, is quite another matter. Yet that is what the text
   means--"Bear you one another's burdens." Carry the lambs in your bosom,
   be tender to such as are afflicted. Be, as your Master was, of a
   gentle, loving spirit, seeking to bear the infirmities of the weak,
   especially you who are strong, for, if you are like those fat cattle
   described by the Lord in the prophecy of Ezekiel that thrust the lean
   cattle with side and with shoulder, and pushed with their horns those
   of the herd that were sickly, then the Lord will order you to be taken
   to the slaughterhouse, for that is the lot of the fed beasts that are
   so big and brutal! The tall tree is uprooted in the breeze which only
   bends the lowly willow. Blessed are they who never exalt themselves
   over the weak and afflicted among the children of

   God!

   Nor do I think, dear Friends, that our text could be made to mean that
   any of us may dare to live as if all things existed for our own use.
   Are there not some people who seem to feel that they are the center of
   all creation and that all things were created for their honor and
   glory? The working people round about them are so many "hands" to be
   employed by them at the lowest possible rate. The whole stream of trade
   must be so directed as to conduct the golden liquid into their
   capacious reservoirs. Politics and everything else must be so arranged
   that they shall prosper, whoever else may suffer loss. As they go
   through the world, their great concern is to mind the main chance.
   "Every man for himself," is the motto of their lives and they try to
   get as much as they can--and to keep as much as they can. Perhaps even
   their benevolence is only self-indulgence thinly veiled, for they give
   alms that they may be seen of men.

   There are some Christian people--at least, I call them Christians by
   courtesy--whose main thought is about saving their own souls. Their
   favorite hymn is not in "Our Own Hymn Book"--

   "A change to keep I have,

   A God to glorify--

   A never-dying soul to save,

   And fit it for the sky."

   That is nothing but a kind of spiritual selfishness--living unto
   yourself! There is something that you want to get and that something is
   what you strive after. Blessed is that man who is saved beyond all fear
   and who, for the love he bears his Lord, lives wholly and only to prove
   the power of the Grace of God that has been bestowed upon him--and
   earnestly seeks to be the means of saving the souls of others. The
   Doctrines of Grace do this for us, by delivering us from all fear with
   regard to the future and fixing us firmly upon the Rock of Ages. They
   turn our thoughts away from self to the service and the glory of our
   God. I delight to sing--

   " 'Tis done! The great transaction's done.

   I am my Lord's, and He is mine' and to feel that as He will never lose
   me, nor permit me to lose Him, I can turn all my thoughts to the rescue
   of my fellow-sinners who are going down into the Pit. If God shall
   grant us Grace to enter into the true spirit of the Gospel, having been
   delivered from every burden--both of this life and of that which is to
   come--we shall be prepared to bear one another's burdens and so to
   fulfill the law of that Christ who has set us free from the law of sin
   and death which was in our members.

   I have thus shown you, negatively, what the text does notmean.

   But, dear Friends, to take our text positively, we can see that it must
   mean, first, that we are to have great compassion upon those who are
   bearing the burden of sin. You cannot bear the burden of their sins for
   them--only Christ can do that--but you can help them to bear their
   burden. I mean this. Here is a troubled soul who has begun to seek the

   Lord and the poor creature is in great sorrow of heart. Get alongside
   that burdened one and say, "Now, dear Friend, I am very sorry for you.
   I feel as burdened about you as if it were my own soul, not yours, that
   was in trouble." Ask the Lord to help you when you have left that
   person--after speaking with much prayer and many tears, go home so
   grieved that you cannot sleep and keep on crying to God in secret about
   that soul. Then, when you get up in the morning with no burden
   concerning your own soul, because God has saved you, still feel that
   you have to carry the burden of this poor soul who does not know the
   Lord and, at last, you get to feel as if you could not live if that
   soul did not also live! If it will not repent, you seem to feel the
   burden of its guilt. If it will not believe in Christ, you wish you
   could believe for it. Of course you cannot repent and believe for it,
   but you canbelieve aboutit and you can, by faith and prayer, bring it
   to Jesus' feet and lay it there! The Holy Spirit often draws sinners to
   the Savior by means of the love of Christians. We can love them to
   Christ and if we love them as the Apostle Paul did when he travailed in
   birth for them until Christ was formed in them, it will not be long
   before we shall see them converted. I am sure that it is so--and that
   one great secret of soul-winning lies in the bearing of the burdens of
   the unconverted.

   But we must take special care, dear Friends, that we do this in the
   case of backsliders because the text, in its context, alludes to them
   most particularly--"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a fault, you who
   are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
   considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear you one another's
   burdens." If that backslider has been awakened to a sense of his true
   condition, he will feel very unhappy--so be very sympathetic towards
   him. He may be afraid to come back into membership with the church--if
   so, go after him and encourage him to return. If he says, "I have
   brought disgrace upon the name of Christ," try to bear part of the
   shame that he feels. If he says, "I cannot face So-and-So," say to him,
   "I will stand between you. Or I will go and plead for you." Take to
   yourself, as far as you can, the shame and the disgrace which belong to
   the backslider. Try to get right into his place. I am sure that there
   is no other way of setting broken bones that is equal to this. There is
   no way of bringing back the wandering sheep like that which the good
   shepherd took when he lifted the poor creature right up on his own
   shoulders. It was too worn and weak, and weary for him to lead it back,
   or drive it back, so he carried it all the way! And, Brothers and
   Sisters, let us carry the backsliders on our own shoulders in the name
   of Jesus Christ our Lord. As far as it is possible, let us compel them
   to come in once more that God's House may be filled--and let us take
   the burden of their grief and of their shame, upon ourselves. Thus
   shall we carry out the injunction of the text--"Bear you one another's
   burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

   Next, the text seems to me to mean, "Be very patient with the
   infirmities of your brethren." "Oh, but, So-and-So is very quick
   tempered!" I hope that it is a burden to him to be quick tempered and
   if so, that is an additional reason why you should bear with him. "But
   So-and-So is really very bitter in spirit." Yes, alas, there are still
   some people of that sort, but you are to bear with them. I hope it is a
   burden to them if they have even a tinge of bitterness in their nature,
   so bear with it. "I do not see why I should," says one. Well, then,
   open your eyes and read the text! "And so fulfill the law of Christ."
   If the Lord Jesus Christ can put up with you, you ought to be able to
   put up with anybody! "Oh, but some people are so exacting!" Yes, some
   of you know that I am sometimes very exacting. When I am suffering very
   greatly from gout, if anybody walks heavily and noisily across the
   room, it gives me pain. Well, then, what do you think happens? Why,
   they go across the room on tiptoe--they do not say to one another, "We
   cannot help it that he is ill and that our noise gives him pain. We
   shall walk just as we always do--we have a right to walk like that."
   No, no, they do not need even to be asked to move about quietly, but
   they say, "Poor man, he is so ill that we must be as gentle as we can
   with him." Could not you look in that kind of spirit upon Brothers and
   Sisters who are not quite all that you would like them to be, and say,
   "They are not well spiritually," and deal very gently with them, "and
   so fulfill the law of Christ"? We who are Christians are to live
   together in Heaven forever, so do not let us fall out by the way. Come,
   my Brother, I have to bear a great deal from you and you have to bear a
   great deal from me, so let it be give and take all the way through.
   "Bear you one another's burdens," not I bear yours without you bearing
   mine, but I bear yours and you bear mine--you put up with me, and I put
   up with you. And in that way we shall both "fulfill the law of Christ."

   Does not the text also mean that we are to bear one another's burdens
   by having a deep sympathy with one another in times of sorrow? Oh, for
   a sympathetic heart! Seek after it, beloved Christians! Seek to have
   large hearts and tender hearts, for the world is full of sorrow and one
   of the sweetest balms to sorrow is the sympathy of Christ flowing
   through the hearts of His own redeemed ones. Be tender, be full of
   pity, be full of compassion.

   But this sympathy must show itself by actual assistance, rendered
   wherever it is possible. "Bear you one another's burdens." Let the
   burden of poverty be borne by those of you who have no poverty of your
   own. Succor your brethren in their times of need. Light their candle
   when their house grows dark. Blessed are those men and women who addict
   themselves to the ministry of the saints and who seek, wherever they
   can, to lighten the burdens of life for their fellow-Christians,
   lending their shoulders whenever they can give support to the weak.

   Brothers and Sisters, we should also bear one another's spiritual
   burdens by helping one another in our soul-struggles. I am afraid that
   in some places of worship Christian men and women come up to the House
   of Prayer and go home again without ever speaking to one another! I do
   not think that is the case, here, but it is the case in many places,
   especially in very respectable places of worship. There they go in and
   out as if they were all self-contained and could not speak to one
   another, especially if they happen to be half-sovereign people and a
   half-crown person is anywhere near-- they cannot speak to him at all.
   This is all contrary to the mind of Christ. In our Church fellowship,
   there should be real fellowship and we should converse with one
   another. In the olden times, "They that feared the Lord spoke often,
   one to another," and Christian people should do the same today--and you
   who are elders in the church might often say a word that would help a
   poor young friend who is struggling to do right. You who are joyous
   might often lend some of your sunbeams to those who are in the dark.
   And you ought to do so--it would be to your own profit as well as to
   the profit of others. Trade produces wealth and the inter-trading of
   Christians, exchanging their good things, one with the other, would
   tend to the spiritual enrichment of the entire body. God help you to do
   so by fellowship with one another!

   "Bear you one another's burdens" also by much prayer for the other.
   When you have prayed for yourself, do not end your supplication. Keep a
   little list of people to be prayed for and try to put down, on your
   list, certain things which you know trouble them and which also trouble
   you--and bring them before the Lord. In some way or other, bear you
   those burdens which God lays upon your brethren!

   II. The time flies so quickly that I can only speak very briefly upon
   the second point, that is, IMMUNITY. "For every man shall bear his own
   burden."

   Let us always, for our comfort, remember that there is a point beyond
   which we cannot go in bearing one another's burdens. After you have
   prayed for anyone and conversed with him--and he still continues in
   sin, you are ready to break your heart about him. Yes, it is right to
   feel like that, but do not be so unwise as to take his sin actually to
   yourself If you have warned, prayed, instructed and set a godly
   example--and men will still sin--their sin is their own and their blood
   will be upon their own head.

   And, next, do not take the shame of other people's sins upon yourself
   beyond a certain point. I have known a good man ashamed to come to the
   House of God because his son had disgraced himself. Well, his sin does
   dishonor his father, but, still, as you did not commit the sin and you
   did not do anything to contribute to it, do not feel ashamed as that! I
   have known some Christian people very seriously injured by the shame
   which they have felt because some distant relative or some near
   relative has misbehaved himself. Go to God with it, but recollect that
   it is not your sin and it is not your shame, either. Bear it so as to
   sympathize and pray about it, but not so as to be, yourself, ashamed
   and depressed because ofit!

   Remember, also, that we cannot take other people's responsibilities
   upon ourselves. I am responsible for faithfully preaching the Gospel,
   but I am not responsible for your reception of it. If I preach the
   Truth of God and there is not a soul saved by it, I am not responsible
   for that. And if you, dear teacher in the Sunday school or if any of
   you Christian workers have labored in vain, if you have been faithful
   to God, I do not think that will happen--but if it does and it may
   happen in some measure--do not seem to bear that responsibility, for
   the text says, "Every man shall bear his own burden." I find it
   difficult to make young Brothers, when they begin to preach, feel
   sufficiently the burden of souls. But every now and then, I have met
   with a Brother who has felt the burden of souls so much that he has
   scarcely been able to preach at all! That is a pity, because, after
   all, the salvation of souls lies not with us, but with God. And if we
   have faithfully declared the whole counsel of God and can call God to
   witness that we have not kept back anything of His Truth that we knew,
   or failed in faithfulness or earnestness, we must leave the matter
   there and fall back upon the eternal purpose of God and throw the
   responsibility of the result upon our unbelieving hearers.

   III. I have not time to speak as I would like upon the last point. That
   is, PERSONALITY. "Every man shall bear his own burden."

   That is to say, every man, if he has any religion at all, must have
   personal religion. You cannot get to Heaven by your mother's godliness,
   or by your father's graciousness--there must be a work of Grace in your
   own souls. No man can be a sponsor for another in spiritual things.
   There is no more gigantic lie than that one person should promise that
   another shall do this and that, which he cannot even do himself! No,
   "every man shall bear his own burden." Everyone must come, with his own
   sin, to his own Savior and, by his own act of faith, must find peace
   through the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not trust to any national
   religion, for it is utterly worthless. It is only personal'religion
   that can save you. If the blood of saints is flowing in your veins, it
   brings you nothing except greater responsibility, for salvation is not
   of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of
   God, and of God alone.

   And every man should bear his own burden by personal self-examination.
   I would never think of asking another man to give me his opinion of me
   and I hope you will not do so. Search your own souls, "examine
   yourselves, whether you are in the faith." "Oh, I do not like
   self-examination!" says one. So the bankrupt said--he did not like
   casting up his accounts. But when a man in business does not cast his
   accounts up, his accounts will soon cast him up--and when a man does
   not like to examine his own heart, depend upon it, the time will come
   when Another will examine him and he will be found lacking and be cast
   away as worthless!

   Next, this text means that there must be personal service.' 'Every man
   shall bear his own burden." That is, if you and I are saved, we must,
   each one, have a work of his own and we must set to work and do it
   personally. The Lord has put each one of us into a position where there
   is something we can do which nobody else can do--and we are bound to do
   it and not to begin thinking of how little others do, or how much
   others do, but to say to our Lord, "What will You have me do?" Let each
   Christian Levite bow his shoulder and carry some burden for the Lord's
   House.

   And every man should make a personal effort to bear his own burden. We
   have a certain number of persons about who seem as if they never can do
   anything for themselves--they have to be carried wherever they go. I
   think I have told you of a set of portraits that I have at home--they
   represent my two sons, taken on their birthdays while they were quite
   little boys, and then taken every birthday till they had grown to be
   young men. Well, at first, they are in a baby carriage and it is very
   interesting to see how they have grown every year. But there are some
   of you who have been in baby carriages ever since I knew you--and you
   are still in baby carriages--and I have to keep wheeling you about! Oh,
   I wish you would grow up! We are all pleased to have dear little
   children and we do not mind how little they are at first. But if, after
   they were fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, or 20 years old, our boys were
   the same size as they were when they were a year old, we should feel
   that we were the parents of poor little dwarfs and it would be a great
   trial to us. And it is a great trial to us spiritual parents when we
   are the fathers of dwarfs! Oh, that you would grow up, Brothers and
   Sisters! God help you to grow out of yourselves, your inactivity and
   your listlessness, that every man and woman shall say, "I am big enough
   to bear my own burden. By the goodness of God, I will get so much Grace
   and so much help that I will do some work for the Lord, and do it
   thoroughly. I will bear my own burden--not sit on the top of it and
   fret and cry, and ask somebody else to bear it for me--but I will bear
   my own burden."

   I will finish by saying that the text indicates that everybody has own
   burden. "Every man shall bear his own burden." You look at somebody
   else and you say, "Ah, I wish I had his load to carry!" I do not think
   that I ever met with more than one person in the world with whom, upon
   mature consideration, I would change places in all respects. I have
   thought, once or twice, that I might do so, but soon there has been a
   hitch somewhere, and I have said, "No, I will go back into my own
   shell, after all." I think, sometimes, that I would not mind changing
   places with George Muller for time and for eternity, but I do not know
   anybody else of whom I would say as much as that. But I daresay that
   even he has his own burden, though he has not told me about it when I
   have talked with him.

   And that good woman who always looks so smiling, God bless her! She has
   a skeleton at home in the closet. And that good Brother who is always
   so bright and cheery--yes, he has a burden, too. There is a cross for
   everyone and I want you to feel that it is so, because it would take
   away all thought of envy whenever you meet with another who seems so
   much happier than yourself! That Bother has the sense to turn the
   smooth side of his coat outside--he wears the rough side of it
   inwards--a very sensible thing to do. Do not, therefore, begin to say,
   "Oh, but I am so much worse off than he is!" You do not know what he
   has to endure, "for every man shall bear his own burden." Let us end
   the whole matter by not envying others, or caring or wishing to be
   other people, but just saying, "What can I do to help somebody else?
   What I can do to help anybody? I will do it by the Grace of God."

   But what can some of you do in carrying burdens for other people? Why,
   even while I have been talking, you have said, "I do not care to do
   that. What have I to do with other people?" You are in the gall of
   bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity while you talk like that! Any
   man who is selfish is an unsaved man, for the chief point in salvation
   is to save us from ourselves. As long as you live simply within your
   own ribs, you live in a dungeon. You will never come into the palace
   where the many mansions are--the liberty of our great Father's
   House--until you can say, "I love others more than I love myself. Above
   all, I love the great Burden-Bearer who took my burden of sin upon His
   shoulders and carried it up to the Cross and away from the Cross and
   now, through love to Him, the love of self is gone and I will live to
   glorify His name forever and forever."

   God bless you, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GALATIANS 5:13-26; 6:1,2.

   Galatians 5:13. For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only
   use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love, serve one
   another Do not turn your liberty into license. The Apostle, in this
   Epistle, had began urging the Christians of Galatia to stand fast in
   the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free, and never to be,
   again, entangled with the yoke of legal bondage. He warned them against
   that error into which many have fallen. But you know that it is often
   our tendency, if we escape from one error, to rush into another. So the
   Apostle guards these Christian against that Antinomian spirit which
   teaches us that freedom from the law allows indulgence in sin--"Use not
   your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love, serve one
   another."

   14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this--You shall
   love your neighbor as yourself Oh, if that "one word" were so engraved
   on our hearts as to influence all our lives, what blessed lives of love
   to God and love to men we should lead!

   15. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not
   consumed one of another When dogs and wolves bite one another, it is
   according to their nature, but it is indeed bad when sheep take to
   biting one another. If I must be bitten at all, let me be bitten by a
   dog rather than by a sheep. That is to say, the wounds inflicted by the
   godly are far more painful to bear and last much longer than those
   caused by wicked men. Besides, we can say with the Psalmist, "It was
   not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it." It is
   natural that the serpent's seed should nibble at our heel and seek to
   do us injury, but when the bite comes from a Brother--from a child of
   God--then it is peculiarly painful. Well might the Apostle write, "If
   you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one
   of another." I have lived long enough to see churches absolutely
   destroyed, not by any external attacks, but by internal contention.

   16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the
   lust of the flesh. If your life is guided by the Spirit of God--if you
   are spiritual men and women, and your actions are worked in the power
   of the Spirit, "you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

   17. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
   flesh. They will never agree--these two powers are always contrary, one
   to the other. If you think that you can help God by getting angry, you
   make a great mistake. You cannot fight God's battles with the devil's
   weapons. It is not possible that the power of the flesh should help the
   power of the Spirit!

   17, 18. And these are contrary, the one to the other so that you cannot
   do the things that you would. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are
   not under the law. The Law of God is always to you the blessed rule by
   which you judge your conduct, but it is not a law of condemnation to
   you--neither are you seeking salvation by it.

   19-21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
   these--Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
   witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
   heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revel-lings and such like. The
   list is always too long to be completed! We are obliged to sum up with
   a kind of et cetera--"and such like."

   21. Of which I tell you beforehand, as I have also told'you in times
   past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of
   God. A very solemn, searching, sweeping declaration! Let each man judge
   himself by this test! "The fruit of the Spirit" is equally manifest, as
   the Apostle goes on to say.

   22, 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
   long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:
   against such there is no law. Neither human nor Divine! Good men make
   no law against these things, nor does God, for He approves of them.
   What a wonderful cluster of the grapes of Eshcol we have here! "The
   fruit of the Spirit"--as if all this were but one, after all--many
   luscious berries forming one great cluster. Oh, that all these things
   may be in us and abound, that we may be neither barren nor unfruitful!

   24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
   affections and lusts. It is not yet dead, but it is crucified. It hangs
   up on the cross, straining to break away from the iron hold, but it
   cannot, for it is doomed to die. Happy, indeed, shall that day be when
   it shall be wholly dead.

   25, 26. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let
   us not be desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one
   another. Do Christian people need to be talked to like this? Yes, they
   do, for the best of men are but men at their best--and the godliest
   saint is liable to fall into the foulest sin unless the Grace of God
   prevents it. Oh, that we could expel from the Church of Christ all
   vain-glorying, all provoking of one another and all envying of one
   another! How often, if one Christian Brother does a little more than
   his fellow workers, they begin to find fault with him! And if one is
   blessed with greater success than others are, how frequently that
   success is disparaged and spoken of slightingly! This spirit of envy
   is, more or less, in all of us, and though, perhaps, we are not
   exhibiting it just now, it only needs a suitable opportunity for its
   display and it would be manifested. No man here has any idea of how bad
   he really is. You do not know how good the Grace of God can make you,
   nor how bad you are by nature, nor how bad you might become if that
   nature were left to itself!

   Galatians 6:1. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a fault. If he
   travels so slowly that his faults catch up with him and knock him down.
   "If a man is overtaken in a fault."

   1. You who are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of
   meekness. Set his bones for him if they have been broken. Put him in
   his proper place again.

   1. Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. What would you wish
   others to do to you if you were in the position of this fallen one? The
   Apostle does not say, "Considering yourself lest you also be overtaken
   in a fault." No, but, "lest you also be tempted"--as much as to say,
   "It only needs the temptation to come to you and you will yield to it."

   2. Bear you one another's burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ.
     __________________________________________________________________

Christ's Yoke and Burden

   (No. 2832)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 24, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
   SEPTEMBER 2, 1886.

   "My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:30.

   OBSERVE dear Friends, that our Lord Jesus Christ does lay a yoke and a
   burden upon His followers. He uses those words that none may presume to
   enter His service without due consideration. Religion is not a matter
   for trifling. The service of the meek and lowly Christ is no child's
   play. There is a yoke that is to be borne by all His disciples and the
   neck of self-will must be bent low to receive it. There is a burden to
   be carried for Christ--and all the strength that God gives us must be
   used for His honor and Glory.

   But, lest those words, "yoke," and, "burden," should sound harsh to our
   ears and any of us should start back because we have had our shoulders
   galled by another yoke and our backs bent beneath a very different
   burden, the Master very graciously and sweetly says, "My yoke is easy
   and My burden is light." It appears to me that He spoke thus so that
   none may despair--that despair may not even come near us and that we
   may not despond as to the possibility of our salvation. Christ has a
   yoke for us to wear, so let us seriously wear it. But it is an easy
   yoke, so let us wear it hopefully. He has a burden for us to carry for
   Him, so let us be in earnest in bearing it--but it is a light burden,
   so let us be full ofjoy at the very prospect of carrying it. Our
   Savior's adjectives are always emphatic and they are especially so
   here. His "yoke is easy"--easy in the fullest sense, and His "burden is
   light"--light in the most joyous meaning of the term! You may always be
   sure that in Christ's words there is never less than He seems to say
   and, more than that, you can scarcely ever be wrong in believing that
   every statement made by Him contains far more than appears on the
   surface of it.

   I want you to feel, at this time, that whatever yoke and burden there
   may be connected with Christ, that yoke is easy and that burden is
   light. I hope you will not pervert this text as some people do. They
   misquote it by saying that "the yoke of Christianityis easy and the
   burden of Christianityis light." I am not greatly concerned about the
   yoke or burden of Christianity--to me, the charm of our text is that,
   here, we have Christ Himself saying to us, "My yoke is easy and My
   burden is light." I want you to have before you not some impalpable,
   visionary, imaginary thing, but the very Lord that bought us with His
   precious blood speaking with those lips which are as lilies dropping
   sweet-smelling myrrh and, pointing with His pierced hand to the yoke
   and to the burden which He calls especially His own and saying, as He
   said when He was here upon the earth, "My yoke is easy and My burden is
   light."

   Coming, then, to our text, I ask you to notice, first, that the context
   explains it Secondly, a little word of distinction in the text clears
   it And, thirdly, the experience of all who know the Lord proves it to
   be true.

   I. First, then, THE CONNECTION OF OUR TEXT EXPLAINS IT.

   Our Savior did not speak these two sentences by themselves and,
   therefore, we may not take this verse by itself. It is true, but you
   may make it untrue to yourself unless you take it in its proper
   connection. How often shall we have to tell people that the Bible is
   not a mere collection of separate sentences which they may tear from
   their context just as they please? We are not to treat the verses of
   the Bible as pigeons might treat a bushel of peas--picking out one here
   and another there, without any thought of the surroundings of that
   particular passage! No, this blessed Book was written for men to read
   right through--and if they are to understand the meaning of it, they
   must read each sentence in the connection in which it is found.

   So, keeping this Truth in view, I begin by saying that some of you
   would not find Christ's yoke easy or His burden light. That is the very
   last thing you would find them to be to you in your present
   condition--you would find His yoke heavy, and His burden impossible for
   you to bear! Some of you are mere worldlings--"lovers of pleasures more
   than lovers of God." It may be that some of you are self-righteous and
   proud of that which should be your shame. Anyhow, if you are
   unregenerate, our text would not be true to you in your unconverted
   state. There is something else which must come before this. If any
   unsaved man thinks that he can, just as he is, shoulder Christ's Cross
   and yield himself up to be Christ's servant, he has made a great
   mistake. Before him, these burning sentences must flash like Sinai's
   lightning--"You must be born-again." "Because the carnal mind is enmity
   against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed
   can be." God will not be served by men whose sins have not been washed
   away by the precious blood of His dear Son! He will have none to bear
   His burdens but those who have, first of all, received of His Grace
   through faith in the great "Mediator between God and men, the Man,
   Christ Jesus." So you see where you have to begin. "Come unto Me," said
   Christ, "all you that labor and are heavy laden." By that He means, "Do
   not suppose that because you are already laborers in another master's
   service, you can wear My yoke. Do not imagine that because you are
   already heavily laden, you can bear My burden. You must first get rid
   of that which now makes you labor. You must first be rid of that which
   is a burden to you, for 'no man can serve two masters.' Your old,
   toilsome labor must be done with, for no man can carry the double
   burden of his own guilt and of the service of God. That cannot be."

   So, dearly-beloved, if you wish to be servants of God. If in your heart
   there burns a holy desire to serve the Most High, begin at the right
   place! Christ directs you to the door of entrance into His service and
   into everything else that is worth having when He says, "'Come unto Me,
   all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' I
   will give it to you--you are not to buy it, you are not to earn it, or
   deserve it--I will give it to you freely, for nothing is freer than a
   gift! I will give it to you--nobody else can do so, but I, in My own
   Personality, will give to you who are the most weary with your
   laboring, and the most heavy laden with your sin--I will give to you
   rest and I will give it to you immediately, on the spot! Come to Me
   now, by believing on Me, by trusting wholly to Me, by getting away from
   yourself and forgetting, for a while, any hope you ever had in
   yourself--just coming to Me to find your all in Me--and so coming, I
   will give you rest."

   You cannot take Christ' s yoke upon you, or bear His burdens--and
   therefore you cannot prove them to be easy and light--till first of all
   you have entered into this rest which He so freely gives! If you are
   first perfectly rested, then you can work. I have told you before how
   the change which our Lord has made in the Sabbath is indicative of the
   change which He has made in our life. The Law of God says, "Work six
   days, and then observe the seventh as the Sabbath," but, under the
   Gospel, the arrangement is, "Rest on the first day before you have done
   a stroke of work. Just as the week begins, take your rest and, after
   that, in the strength derived from it, and from the grateful motives
   which arise out of that one blessed day of rest, give to the Lord the
   six days of the week." There is a change from Law to Gospel indicated
   in that very change--so let it be with you. "Come unto Me," said
   Christ, "all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
   rest." When you have done that, the text will be true to you, "My yoke
   is easy and My burden is light."

   There is something more than that, however. We began with the Master's
   gracious invitation, "Come unto Me." Then follows the command, "Take My
   yoke upon you." You will prove that His yoke is easy when you take it
   upon you. But, instead of doing so, I know what a man often does. He
   draws his chair up, sits down and says, "I will consider what Christ
   requires of me. I will think of what it is to lead a Christian
   life--all the self-denials, the struggles and the conflicts that will
   be involved in wearing His yoke which seems to me a very hard one." Get
   up, Sir, from that chair and, instead of being a critic of Christ's
   yoke, put it on! "'Take My yoke upon you,' says the Lord Jesus. Take it
   upon your shoulder by a humble yet confident faith. First be rid of
   your old burden and so get rest--and then take upon you this yoke of
   Mine."

   Let me put it practically to you and then see whether Christ's yoke is
   not easy, and His burden is not light. Suppose a number of persons say
   to me, "That mass of white substance yonder is salt." I say, "No, it is
   not salt. It is sugar." "But from this distance it looks like salt." I
   tell them that it is sweet, the very essence of sweetness, but they do
   not believe me. We may have a long talk over the matter, but we shall
   never get to the end of the controversy till they come to the sugar and
   taste it. Then the controversy will be ended at once. So is it with men
   who have not proved the sweetness of Christ. They say, "There is
   nothing in religion except that which is burdensome and sad." It may
   seem to be to you who do not

   know anything about it, but we who trust and love the Lord say to you,
   "Taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in
   Him." That is the test--come and prove it for yourselves, for there has
   never yet been a case in which a man has really taken Christ's yoke
   upon him, in which he has not, by that very fact, proved that Christ's
   yoke is easy and His burden is light!

   There is still more to follow, for the Savior says, "Take My yoke upon
   you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall
   find rest unto your souls. "There are two rests for a Christian to
   enjoy. The first is the rest that Christ gives him when he believes.
   The next is the rest that he finds when he takes Christ's yoke upon
   him. These two rests will be distinctly enjoyed by anyone who truly
   comes to Christ and learns of Him--and no one will find Christ's yoke
   easy in any other way. To put it in humble phraseology, when we are
   bound to Christ, as apprentices are bound to their master, to learn of
   Him, we shall find a new and yet deeper and fuller rest to our soul
   than we have ever known before. And this will prove to us that His yoke
   is easy and His burden is light. There is a use and habit in the
   service of Christ that brings much sweetness with it. To the beginner,
   the yoke may seem strange and, perhaps, galling, but, after a while,
   when we have learned of Christ--even as He, Himself, learned obedience
   when He made Himself a Servant for our sakes--then we shall discover
   that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

   There are some, even among real Christians, who do not yet know the joy
   of service for the Savior because they have not been long enough bound
   apprentice to the Master. See, that work is very hard to that young
   lad. He has been only two or three months in that workshop and, though
   he is trying his best, he does not succeed at it yet. But if he remains
   long enough by his master's side and learns of him, you will then see
   how deftly he will do it. Just as the master now does it and makes
   little of it because he is accustomed to it, so will this lad,
   by-and-by, find it quite easy--and he will then wonder that he ever
   thought it to be difficult! And he will agree with his master that,
   after all, the yoke is easy and the burden is light because he has
   learned the knack of carrying it.

   When I am at Mentone, I frequently see women with bare feet, tripping
   down from the hills, carrying a basket, perhaps full of lemons and,
   very likely, with a child on the top of it. They never put up a hand to
   steady it, but they swing along, knitting their stockings as they come
   down the hill, using all their fingers for their work and cheerily
   saying, "Good morning," as they come by us! It is amazing how they
   carry such a load! I could not even lift the basket which they carry on
   their heads. How is it that they can do it? I do not suppose they could
   tell you, but they have done it since they were girls, and they have
   kept doing it! And feeble as you would suppose them to be, their
   strength has seemed to grow with the burden and they are able to carry
   their load easily and cheerfully. So, when you come to Christ and get
   rid of your old burden, He puts upon you His burden--and you stay with
   Him and learn of Him till, at last, you, also, prove that His yoke is
   easy and His burden is light!

   I must ask you to go one step further with me. He who would enter to
   the fullest into the sweetness of this text must know Christ Himself,
   for, observe, the Master puts Himself into it--"I am meek and lowly in
   heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls." I do most firmly
   believe that there is nothing that makes such men of us as knowing the
   Son of Man! After all, the most sublime science in the world is to know
   Christ and, especially, to know the meaning of the wounds of Christ.
   The man who has most studied the agony in the Garden and on the Cross,
   and who has most studied his Master in all conditions, will be the best
   fitted to be a burden-bearer--either to serve or to suffer, according
   as God would have it. The very sight of Christ makes cowards brave! One
   glance at that blessed Countenance of His, all smeared with bloody
   sweat, makes us ashamed that we ever murmured--disgusted with ourselves
   that we counted anything a self-denial for His dear sake!

   When we see Him so gentle under all reproaches, bearing even to be spit
   upon without an angry look or word. When we really begin to know His
   very heart--that heart which was entirely subject to the will of God
   for our sakes--yes, even for the sake of those who were His enemies and
   who crucified Him--knowing Him thus, His yoke becomes indeed easy, and
   His burden becomes light! When the Cross of Christ was fresh in the
   memory of His Church, she bore martyrdom for Him with joy. His yoke
   then became so desirable that men even pressed into the court of
   justice to avow themselves Christians with the hope that they would be
   martyred! Men, did I say? Yes, and women and children, also, flocked in
   and seemed as though they courted torture for Christ's yoke had grown
   so light and so easy, on account of their having known Him, and His
   death being so fresh a thing! Oh it was marvelous! They have handed
   down to us, by their tradi-

   tions, enough to make us blush if ever we dream of shrinking from any
   service or suffering for the sake of the Master who loved us so much
   that He even died for us!

   II. But now, secondly, and may God the Holy Spirit help me to speak
   with power upon this important point!-- THERE IS A LITTLE WORD OF
   DISTINCTION IN THE TEXT WHICH VERY MUCH HELPS TO CLEAR IT.

   Perhaps somebody says, "I do not find the yoke of life easy, or the
   burden of life light." Christ does not say that they are. What He does
   say is, Myyoke is easy and My burden is light." What was Christ's light
   burden and what was Christ's easy yoke? I believe that I might
   illustrate the text by saying that He thought thus of that yoke and
   that burden which He bore--the yoke which rested upon the shoulders of
   "the Prince of the kings of the earth"--the burden which lay on that
   blessed back which once wore the robe of universal empire. Never before
   was there such a yoke, or such a burden, but, for love of us and for
   delight in what He would accomplish thereby, His yoke to Him was easy,
   and His burden was light. For the joy that was set before Him, He
   endured the Cross, despising the shame. So, whenever you have to bear a
   yoke or a burden, count it easy for the same reason as Christ did--but
   it must be Christ's yoke that we carry, for that alone will be easy to
   us.

   For, first, the yoke of Christ is easy and light as compared with the
   yoke of others. The yoke of Moses was heavy. The yoke of the Law of God
   was burdensome to the Jews, so that neither they nor their fathers were
   able to bear it. But the yoke of Christ's law is easy and the burden of
   Christ's command to His Church is light. The yoke of the world is
   heavy. If any man will wear it, he will find that he may serve this
   cruel taskmaster till he is gray and then he will be discarded.
   Cardinal Wolsey lamented, all too late, that had he but served his God
   with half the zeal he served his king, he would not, in his age, have
   been left naked to his enemies. The yoke of sin--the yoke of
   selfishness, the yoke of greediness, the yoke of drunkenness, the yoke
   of unbelief--is the heaviest yoke of all! The crux of infidelity is
   heavier than the Cross of Christ. You may depend upon it, that Christ's
   yoke, compared with any other, or with all others, is truly easy and
   light!

   But then, it is not easy if we are rebellious against it' 'I find it
   hard," says one, "to do the Master's will." Do you? I expect the
   difficulty is the result of not doing the Master's will. If you really
   did it willingly, it would be easy. "Oh, but I find such-and-such a
   thing, which Christ requires of me, to be hard." No, you do not find
   that to be hard--it is your own heart that is hard. The hardness is in
   the sin that rebels against Christ. There would be no hardness in the
   tenderness that would yield to Him, or that would come to you as the
   result of yielding. I struggle, and then the cords that bind me cut my
   flesh. I quietly yield, and then I do not injure myself. A man will
   float if he will lie still upon the top of the water, but he will drown
   if he begins to struggle. It is the complete yielding to Christ that
   makes the yoke to be easy--but the difficulty comes when it is not His
   yoke that we take, but one made by our self-will. We must have
   everything according to our own will. We must do everything in our own
   way and so, Lord Will-Be-Will comes prancing down the street on his
   high horse and then everything goes amiss! But Christ's yoke is easy
   and His burden is light.

   "Still, the burden of life is very heavy," says one. Yes, but how far
   is it Christ's yoke and His burden? It is not His yoke if we are
   burdened with forbidden cares, for His yoke is that we should be free
   from care because we have cast all our care upon Him who cares for us.
   Has He not pointed us to ravens and to lilies and bid us learn from
   them the lesson of living without care? Your cares, poor anxious one,
   are not Christ' s yoke! They are a heavy yoke that is all of your own
   making. But if you took another kind of care--the care of not
   caring--then you would find Christ's yoke to be easy, His burden to be
   light and your life would be joyous and happy!

   Nor is it Christ's yoke when we add other burdens to the one He lays
   upon us.' 'Oh, but I want"--yes, I know. You want to get on, to be
   rich, to be famous and all of that! But is that Christ's yoke? He says,
   "I am meek and lowly in heart." Ambition is your own yoke, not His! And
   the lust of wealth, the desire for power, the craving for human love--
   all that is a yoke of your own making--and if you will wear it, it will
   gall you. There is more joy in being unknown than in being known and
   there is less care in having no wealth than in having much of it. We
   often go the wrong way to work in seeking true restfulness and
   happiness. We set our minds on getting this and that, and then blame
   our Master because we have a heavy burden on our backs. He meant that
   we shouldhave a heavy burden if we would make one of our own! But if
   our only care was to seek His Glory, to imitate Him, to put our feet
   down into His footprints--if, like He, we were submissive even in our
   greatest agony and closed our most intense petitions with His own
   words, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will," then we should
   find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light! God grant us Grace
   to prove the

   difference between His yoke and that which we make for
   ourselves--between His burden and that which we pile up by our own
   willfulness!

   The yoke of Christ is His word, His precepts, His commands, the
   following of His example, the bearing of suffering which He appoints,
   the persecution which comes to us for His sake. This is His yoke, and
   His burden, quite as much as we need desire to carry. So, let us be
   content that we are not our own masters, but that we are our Lord's
   servants and that we have not even a pennyworth of our own to carry,
   but only mean to be carriers for Him. We have hired ourselves out to
   carry the vessels of the sanctuary--and we will carry no other burden
   than that. You remember that Nehemiah gave orders to his servants, that
   there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath day," and the Lord
   has graciously brought us to a Divine Sabbatismos" already. If we bear
   no burdens but His burdens, and do no service but His service, then we
   shall find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light! May God the
   Holy Spirit lead us into this kind of life and then, indeed, shall we
   be truly happy!

   III. Our third point is to be that OUR EXPERIENCE PROVES THE TEXT TO BE
   TRUE. Many of us have proved that Christ' s yoke is easy and that His
   burden is light. In speaking upon this point, I must go over part of
   the ground I traversed just now.

   Experience--that is to say, use and habit again--proves Christ's burden
   to be light Those of you who have known the Lord these 25 or 30 or 40
   years, what do you say about this matter? Do you not find things
   somewhat different from what they were when you first came to Christ?
   Then, He gave you rest, did He not?--and you have never lost it, but,
   since then, you have gone on bearing His Cross and learning of Him--and
   you have found a more complete rest, have you not? I think that I shall
   describe your experience, as well as my own, when I say that we now
   have a calmness and serenity of spirit which we did not know at first.
   We have learned to do, almost spontaneously, some things which used to
   cost us a great effort. We now, almost instantaneously, think and say
   what before would have caused us deliberation to think and say--and
   many a burden that almost broke our backs, then, is no burden at all to
   us now!

   See how it is with those who have been long sick. At first they dread
   the thought of being a week without coming downstairs--but after being
   bed-ridden for 20 years, they get accustomed to it and even smile when
   we pity them. Well, that is a strong illustration of what I mean. To
   those who are not sufferers, I might give other illustrations, but it
   is true that there is a sacred use and habit that comes to us through
   the Grace of God. We say that use is second nature" and, being
   accustomed to bear this burden, we are like the bullock which at first
   is restive and will not plow, but when, year after year, he has plowed
   with his true yokefellow, he gets almost to love the yoke. And when he
   is brought out in the morning, he looks round for his yokefellow and
   adjusts his neck so that he may bear his part of the yoke without
   distressing his companion that is to be yoked with him. And almost
   before the farmer bids them move, the two bullocks begin steadily to go
   their usual round. There is less need of the ox-goad, now, because they
   have become accustomed to the yoke. They seem to know when to turn at
   the end of the furrow and how to do it all--and blessed is that
   Christian who, by experience, has acquired the blessed habit of serving
   or suffering as his Master wills. He finds that Christ's yoke is easy
   and His burden is light.

   But, dear Friends, we also, by experience, prove Christ's yoke to be
   easy and His burden to be light because of the motive that leads us to
   bear them. What is the motive that leads a Christian to bear Christ's
   yoke and burden? Why, the master motive is love! And what will we not
   do for love? Things which no money could induce us to do are freely
   done out of love. Well does our poet sing--

   "'Tis love that makes our willing feet

   In swiff obedience move."

   In our ordinary domestic life, nothing is too heavy. Nothing is too
   demeaning if it is done for love. And so is it with the yoke of Christ.
   When we really come to love Him, we are willing to do or to suffer
   anything for His dear sake! His love makes the burden light and the
   yoke easy.

   Further, experience shows us that these things are light because there
   is a new nature given us with which we bear the burden and the yoke.
   Our old carnal nature cannot endure it--you might as soon try to yoke
   the sea or to harness the wind as seek to put the yoke of Christ upon a
   carnal man's shoulder, or make him open his mouth to receive the bit of
   the Divine Law. But God creates in us a new heart and a right
   spirit--and that new nature as naturally takes to obedience as

   the old nature took to rebellion! And so the yoke becomes easy and the
   burden light. Is not that the true answer to the riddle? Is not that
   the great reason why that which otherwise would crush us becomes so
   light?

   Then, Christ's yoke is easy and His burden is light because the Divine
   Trinity comes to our help. When the Trinity comes in, all thought of
   difficulty vanishes. If our Heavenly Father is with us, we can do or
   bear anything. The feeblest among us could stand, like Atlas with a
   world upon his shoulders and never feel the strain if God the Father
   were with him! Then, how uplifting is the sympathy of Christ! We can
   bear anythingwhen He says to us--

   "'I feel in My heart all your sighs andyour groans,

   For you are most near Me, My flesh and My bones!

   In all your distresses your Head feels the pain,

   Yet all are most necessary, not one is in vain."

   Dr. Watts wrote truly--

   "Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows."

   Then there is the blessed co-operation of the Holy Spirit. When He
   comes to us as Comforter, Quickener, Guide, Streng-thener and
   Friend--then the yoke is easy and the burden is light--especially when
   He comes with manifestations of God to the soul and when faith, and
   hope, and joy, are all shedding their benign influence over the heart.
   Well might the Apostle say that he could do all things through Christ
   who strengthened him! And when the Holy Spirit comes and reveals Christ
   in us, then nothing is difficult, but everything is light and easy.
   Experience cracks this nut which otherwise might break our teeth. Have
   you ever tried it, Brothers and Sisters? If so, I know that you have
   proved Christ's word true to you, "My yoke is easy and My burden is
   light."

   Another thing that helps to make Christ's yoke easy to some of us is
   the consciousness of the benefits which we have derived from it I can
   bear my personal testimony that the best piece of furniture that I ever
   had in the house was a cross. I do not mean a material cross--I mean
   the cross of affliction and trouble. I am sure that I have run more
   swiftly with a lame leg than I ever did with a sound one. I am certain
   that I have seen more in the dark than ever I saw in the light-- more
   stars, most certainly--more things in Heaven if fewer things on earth!
   The anvil, the fire and the hammer are the making of us--we do not get
   fashioned much by anything else. That heavy hammer falling on us helps
   to shape us! Therefore let affliction and trouble and trial come.
   Rutherford said that he thought Christ might almost be jealous of His
   Cross, for he loved affliction so much! It had brought him so much
   benefit that he began even to love the cross--it had drawn him so close
   to his Lord that they ran each other pretty evenly.

   Well, I do not think that there is much fear of that, but, really,
   Christ and His Cross do so sweetly go together that I have sometimes
   felt like the man who had such blessed times in his sickness and who
   became so dull when he recovered, that he said, Take me back to bed,
   again, and let me have all my pains, again, for then I proved the
   preciousness of Christ." Many an old Covenanter, when he met in the
   kirk in Edinburgh and sat there in peace and quietness, had not half
   the fellowship with Christ which he had experienced when the cruel
   Claverhouse was after him! And he said, Let me go back to the moors and
   worship God as I did when the text was read by the light of the
   lightning flash, for God was very near His people beside the moss and
   among the hills." It is certainly so, still, Brothers and Sisters. Not
   only is Christ's yoke easy and His burden light, but I have often felt
   as if His yoke were wings and His burden feathers--as if, by their
   help, I could mount and soar above all ordinary experiences! You know
   what weights are and how they hold you down--but any engineer will tell
   you that there is a way of managing weights so as to make them lift you
   up--and our great Engineer lifts us by that which seems as if it would
   drag us down! Blessed be His name for this!

   And, lastly, His yoke becomes easy and His burden light as we think of
   what will come of them at last The deeper our sorrows, the louder we
   shall sing. Heaven will be all the brighter because of the darkness
   through which we have passed on the way to it. Oh, what a Heaven it
   will be to the sick, the poor, the despised and the afflicted, to burst
   their bonds and soar away to everlasting bliss! It will not be long
   before you and I will be where Jesus is--therefore, till then, let us
   patiently bear all that He lays upon us.

   But this is not true of you all. Some of you have heavy burdens to
   carry, but you have nobody to help you. How do you manage to live
   without a God? O poor creatures! Perhaps you, Sir, came here in a
   carriage and pair, but you are, indeed, a poor creature if you have not
   a God. You draw large dividends from the bank, but you are poor,
   indeed, if you have not Christ as your Savior. As for me, I will take
   Christ and His Cross, and count them greater riches than all the

   treasures of Egypt! The Lord bring you all to think and say the
   same--and if you ever do, then you can begin with, Come unto Me, all
   you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," and you
   can go on to the text and claim Christ's words as applying to you--"My
   yoke is easy and My burden is light." The way of holiness is an easy
   way! May God the Holy Spirit graciously guide you to walk in it, for
   Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

   HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"--775, 493, 495.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH49:24-26; 50.

   Isaiah 49:24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful
   captive delivered? Yes, this shall happen when God makes bare His arm
   and stretches it forth to rescue His captive people.

   25, 26. But thus said the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall
   be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I
   will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your
   children. And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh;
   and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and
   all flesh shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your
   Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. This is the promise of Christ to His
   Church, both the Jewish and the gentile Church. He will deliver her
   from all her afflictions and distresses. And her enemies shall feed
   upon their own flesh, or they shall be overthrown by mutual enemies. As
   it was of old when those that were confederate against Israel suddenly
   fell to quarreling and slew each other, so is it, sooner or later, in
   the battle between the Truth of God and error. By-and-by there is a
   split in the adversaries' camp and they devour one another! Let any
   wrong thing alone and it will break in pieces of itself. All real and
   abiding cohesion is gone when men seek to be united against the Lord
   and against His Anointed. They shall confute one another, or they shall
   eat their own words and so they shall, as it were, feed upon their own
   flesh.

   Isaiah 50:1. Thus says the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's
   divorce, whom I have put away? Sometimes, the headings to the chapters
   in our Bible give us the meaning of the passage. They are, of course,
   not Inspired, and are merely put there by the translators, but,
   sometimes, they are little comments upon the text. It is so in the
   heading of this chapter--"Christ shows that the dereliction of the Jews
   is not to be imputed to Him, by His ability to save, by His obedience
   in that work, and by His confidence in that assistance," so that the
   Lord Jesus, here, speaks to the Jewish Church. The great Redeemer, "the
   Mighty One of Jacob," thus speaks to His chosen people Israel, "Where
   is the bill of your mother's divorce, whom I have put away?"

   1. Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for
   your iniquities have you sold yourselves, and for your transgressions
   is your mother put away. I t was sin that caused the alienation between
   Israel and her God, and it is sin that is the cause of all the
   estrangement from God in the world. A sinful man, so long as he
   continues to live in sin, cannot love a holy God!

   2, 3. Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there no
   one to answer? Is My hand shortened at all, that it can't redeem? Or
   have Inopower to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke Idry up the sea, Imake
   the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink because there is no water,
   and die for thirst I clothe the heavens with blackness and Imake
   sackcloth their covering. What a glorious God this is who says that He
   has not divorced His people! How mighty He is--yes, Almighty! All power
   is in His hands. Notice who He is, for He goes on to describe Himself--

   4. The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that Ishould
   know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary: He wakens Me
   morning by morning, He wakens My ears to hear as the learned. Just as
   scholars learn from their teacher. It was a wondrous stoop for the
   Omnipotent to become a Learner, but He descended lower than that.

   5. The Lord GOD has opened My ears and I was not rebellious, neither
   turned back This was another step in the ladder of Christ's
   humiliation, but He went lower still! Read the 3rd verse, again, and
   then read the 6th . "I clothe the heavens with blackness and I make
   sackcloth their covering."

   6. 7. I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked
   off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord
   GOD will help Me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore have I
   set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Even
   though He had to stoop so low as to endure shame and spitting, He

   knew that the ultimate result would be Glory to God and to Himself. He
   had no thought of despairing. It had been already written of Him, "He
   shall not fail nor be discouraged." He shall surely accomplish the work
   which His Father gave Him to do. The next verse is probably the one
   from which Paul took that grand challenge of his, "Who is he that
   condemns? It is Christ that died," and so on. He takes out of the mouth
   of Christ his words of confidence and puts them into the mouth of all
   Christ's people.

   8. He is near that justifies Me; who will contend with Me?Our Lord
   Jesus Christ was justified in His Resurrection. He took His people's
   sin upon Him and, therefore, He had to die in their place--but His work
   was so complete that He was Himselfjustified as well as all His
   people--and He challenges anyone to lay anything to His charge!

   8-10. Let us stand together: who is My adversary? Let him come near to
   Me. Behold, the Lord God will help Me, who is he that shall condemn Me?
   Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.
   Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of His
   servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light? It is the Savior
   still speaking, for He knew what it was to walk in darkness and to have
   no light. And what terrible darkness it was, my Brothers and Sisters!
   What an awful thing it was to Him to have so suffer the withdrawal of
   the light of His Father's Countenance from Him! He knows, therefore,
   what this trial means, and being full of compassion, He offers to us
   the kindest counsel if we are in a similar condition. What does He tell
   us to do? Listen, you who love the Lord, yet who are in the dark.

   10. Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God. In
   darkness or in the light, take heed that you do this! When everything
   about you seems contrary to the Divine promises and your spirits are
   ready to sink, take heed to this good counsel of your Savior--"Let him
   trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God."

   11. Behold, all you that kindle a fire. You who would gladly save
   yourselves. 11. That compass yourselves about with sparks. Or
   firebrands.

   11. Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks. Or flambeaux.

   11. That you have kindled. That will be the end of it. This grand
   illumination of yours--all your good works, all your glorious intellect
   and I know not what--what will come of it?

   11. This shall you have of My hand; you shall lie down in sorrow. God
   save us all from such a lying down as that at the last, for Christ' s
   sake! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

Lessons on Divine Grace

   (No. 2833)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 31, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON A LORD'S-DAY EVENING, IN
   THE SUMMER OF 1861.

   "But by the Grace of God I am what I am." 1 Corinthians 15:10.

   THIS confession, suitable on the lips of Paul, is equally appropriate
   in the mouth of each one of us who have known and proved the Grace of
   God. We must consider Paul, according to his own account of himself, as
   being "not meet to be called an Apostle"--though "not a whit behind the
   very chief Apostles"--because he had persecuted the Church of God. In
   respect of personal merit, he knew that he did not deserve to be
   accounted of at all, yet, when the sole ground of approbation was not
   the service he had rendered to his Sovereign, but the favor which his
   Sovereign had bestowed upon him, he could say, "By the Grace of God I
   am what I am." Take the meanest lamb in Jesus' fold, the feeblest heir
   of Grace, the most timid and fearing--the most hopeless and helpless of
   all disciples, the man most devoid of talent, the man who stands the
   very lowest on the list of the saints of God--surely he may and must
   say that "by the Grace of God" he is what he is, so far as he is in
   Christ--a Believer, with all the privileges that Believers have a
   gracious right to claim! Let this be your comfort, you little ones,
   that the same Grace that made an Apostle of Paul has made a Christian
   of you. The same power that has quickened the mightiest man in the army
   of the Lord of Hosts has also quickened you. The Grace that saves the
   greatest saves the least. If the largest and brightest gem in the crown
   of Christ reflects His Grace and glorifies His love, even so shall you,
   though you are as the smallest pearl that shall be set in His glorious
   diadem of honor!

   Then, next, take the Apostle Paul in the other way he describes himself
   in our text. In the preceding verse, he says he is the least of the
   Apostles, yet he also says, "I labored more abundantly than they all."
   It is equally true, whether you put him in the meanest place among
   converts, or in the very forefront of the army of faithful soldiers of
   Christ--among the feeblest of pensioners or the most zealous of all the
   laborers in the vineyard of the Master--the acknowledgment must be
   made, "By the Grace of God I am what I am." Be our attainments never so
   eminent, our knowledge never so extensive, our usefulness never so
   great, yet still we stand, in the sight of God, on the same footing as
   the very meanest member of the Church of Christ! The song which begins
   among the little and the timid gathers strength among the great and the
   brave. It is not altered in the slightest degree--the language is the
   same, the strain the same, the song the same--"By the Grace of God,"
   we, all of us, must say, "we are what we are"!

   I am going to speak of my text, first, doctrinally. Secondly,
   experimentally. And, thirdly, practically.

   I. First, DOCTRINALLY. Each one of us who is a Believer in the Lord
   Jesus Christ can take this sentence as his creed and say, "By the Grace
   of God I am what I am."

   That is to say, first, I am not what I am as the result of something
   good which God foresaw would be in me. God has not vouchsafed His love,
   His favor, His mercy to me because He foresaw that I would repent of my
   sin and trust in His dear Son. No, there is a deeper cause for His love
   than anything that could be found in me! Indeed, there is nothing that
   could be found in me that is lovely in His sight, but it would be
   proved, immediately, that He had, first of all, freely given that
   lovely thing to me, or created it within me. If I am a child of God, an
   heir of Heaven, the wellspring of God's love to me is in His own
   Sovereign Grace. Nothing in my disposition or character could move His
   heart to me. His heart must have moved spontaneously--it must have
   welled up because of its own deep love--and it must have flowed towards
   me

   in its own Divine channel simply because God, in His Sovereignty, would
   have it so! "By the Grace of God," I am elected unto eternal life--

   "Grace first inscribed my name, In God's eternal book."

   'Twas Grace which set me apart, in distinguishing love, before the
   stars were made! 'Twas Grace that separated me from the mass of
   mankind. 'Twas Grace that laid hold of me while I was but as a pebble
   in the brook--and ordained that I should be a bright diamond in Christ'
   s crown! It was God who, in the beginning, by His own Grace, decreed
   that I should be what I am and, therefore, to begin there, we take this
   as our creed, "By the Grace of God"--as manifested in eternity and, by
   that alone have I been caused to be "what I am."

   Then, next, my text also means I am not what I am as the result of any
   creature strength, or any means of my own. I am not what I am because I
   chose to be what I am, for if I had been what I chose to be, I would
   still have been "dead in trespasses and sins." If I had followed my
   poor, blind free will, it would have been, to this day, leading me to
   Hell! It would never have led me Heaven. If I had made it my guide, I
   would have wandered further and further, and further away from God.
   With my back to the Savior, I would never have moved towards God. It is
   the same with all of us--if there is anything good in any of us, we
   must confess that God Himself put it there. He taught our souls to
   pray. He made us feel our need of Divine Grace. He stripped us of our
   boastful pride. He delivered us from our refuges of lies. He leveled
   the legality of our hearts by bringing us low with labor, exhausting
   all our strength. Twas He who cast the first ray of hope into our soul!
   He opened our blind eyes to see the beauty of Christ! He gave us the
   first glimmering of faith! He enabled us to see that our sins were
   washed away by the precious blood of Jesus and He has kept us alive to
   this day and will not let us go!

   We will maintain this Truth of God against all comers, that saints are
   what they are "by the Grace of God" and not by their own free will! I
   have sometimes heard men preach doctrines contrary to this. They have
   said that men are what they are as the result of the improvement of
   "universal Grace," and that the distinction which is apparent in them
   is made by themselves. God gave them a Grace which they were to
   use--not a Grace which operated upon them, but a grace which they
   operated upon. According to that teaching, Divine Grace is given to men
   as a tool with which they are to work, not as a seal which God sets
   upon a man--Grace is subservient to man--he is not subservient to
   Grace. Yet I must say that although I have heard such doctrine as that
   preached from the pulpit, I have never known it to be practically
   received in the heart of a child of God. When you come to the point and
   ask a true Believer, "Why are you, now, a child of God and an heir of
   Heaven?" he tells you, once and for all, "God made the difference." He
   will, perhaps, tell you that men can do much towards their own
   conversion, but He will deny that he has done anything towards his. He
   will loyally put the crown on the head of Christ, even though being
   clouded in his understanding, he may have talked as if he denied the
   Truth. But, Brothers and Sisters, what we hold is the Doctrine of the
   effectual working of God in the hearts of His chosen ones, as the Lord
   said to Zerubbabel, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, said
   the Lord of Hosts." And as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "according to
   the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ, when He
   raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the
   heavenly places."

   Now let us look at our text in another aspect. Some suppose that even
   if Divine Grace begins the work, we must at least carry it on. It
   cannot be denied that the living child of God has power, but it must
   not be forgotten that the power of the living child of God is not in
   himself, but in his Heavenly Father. For it is as true of him as of any
   sinner--"dead in trespasses and sins" that, without Christ, he can do
   nothing. The living child of God is still as powerless as the dead
   sinner apart from the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the
   constant inflowing of the Divine Life into his soul. "By the Grace of
   God" we not only are what we are, but we also remain what we are. We
   would long ago have ruined our-selves--and damned ourselves--if Christ
   had not kept us by His Almighty Grace!

   There has not been one hour in our whole Christian experience in which
   we have preserved ourselves! We cannot look back to any stage in our
   history and say, "Here I worked mighty marvels by my own unaided
   power." We dare not say, when we have been made to stand on our high
   places, that we stood there by our own wisdom. Nor can we say, when we
   have run without weariness, that we did it in our own strength. No,
   Beloved, whenever we discover our own strength in our pilgrimage, it is
   in going backward and in tumbling down--never in going forward, or in
   mounting upward.

   With the Psalmist, we have to say to the Lord, "All my springs are in
   You" and, as all the springs are in the Lord, so are all the streamsas
   well. As for myself, I must continually sing--

   "Oh, to Grace, how great a debtor

   Daily I'm constrained to be"

   Not only am I debtor to Grace, once and for all, but each day adds to
   the debt and each hour the bulk of my obligation grows. I must still
   say, "By the Grace of God I am what I am." Some of you could say this
   20 years ago, but you can say it with even greater emphasis now! And
   when you get gray-headed and totter down to Jordan' s brink, you will
   not be able to say, "By my own goodness I am what I am." Even there
   must you give all the glory to that Divine Grace which, having been the
   Alpha, will also be the Omega--which, having been the beginning, will
   also be the end.

   So, doctrinally, I state the Truth of my text thus, "By the Grace of
   God I am what I am." I am elect. My election is of Grace. I am
   redeemed. Redemption is a mighty masterpiece of Grace. I am
   called--called by Grace. I am preserved-- preserved by Grace and
   whatever there is in me that is commendable and virtuous, whatever
   there is in me which the Son of God can admire and which gives to my
   own soul real comfort, must be all of Grace and of Grace alone! I have
   spoken so much in the first person because the text is in the first
   person. Will each of you, also, speak in the first person and say in
   your heart, "By the Grace of God I am what I am," endorsing the text
   from your own experience, setting your seal to this part of God's Word
   and declaring it to be true and going forth with this motto emblazoned
   on your banner as the Doctrine which you will hear, and which, if you
   are called to the ministry, you will preach, "By the Grace of God I am
   what I am"?

   II. Now, in the second place, I am going to take the text
   EXPERIMENTALLY.

   By this I mean that there are times in our experience when this Truth
   of God starts up in letters of light and we recognize it as an
   indisputable fact, not only taught to us as a Scriptural Doctrine, but
   proved to us by our own personal experience. Let me just narrate a few
   instances.

   Brothers and Sisters, have you ever had times when the fountains of the
   great deep of your depravity have been broken up? Have you ever been
   taken into the chambers of imagery and has the Spirit of God said to
   you, "Son of man, I will show you greater abominations than these!" And
   has He taken you, first, into one room, and then into another and made
   you stand aghast while He has shown you the idols of your heart, the
   deep depravity that still remains in you, the pride, sloth and various
   forms of sin which still lurk and find shelter there? Have you ever had
   the filthy rags unrolled before your eyes? Have you heard the
   chattering of the unclean birds in the cage of your heart? Have you
   ever been fully conscious of the stench arising from your Old Adam
   nature? Has your spirit sickened at the very thought of the depravity
   of manhood in general and of yourself in particular? Have you ever had
   your secret sins set in the light of God's Countenance? Have you ever
   been made to see the blackness of your own sin, side by side with the
   brightness of Divine favor? Have you ever been made to taste the
   exceeding bitterness of your sin even at the Communion Table--even
   while you realized the preciousness of the blood of Chris and renewed
   your former fellowship with Him? If so, then I know that my text has
   been true to you, as it also has been to me, and that you have said, as
   I have often been compelled to say, "By the grace of God I am what I
   am."

   You have looked at your heart and you have seen its barren soil. And if
   there has been any wheat growing upon it, you have said, "This is the
   result of the Grace of God." You have looked at the huge black rock of
   your Old Adam nature and when you have seen rivers of Living Water
   flowing out of the very midst of it, you have been obliged to say,
   "This mighty miracle could only have been worked by the Grace of God."
   Flimsy views of human depravity lead to very indistinct ideas of the
   Grace of God. There is nothing but deep sub-soil plowing that ever
   makes a man sound in the Doctrines of Grace--and I will defy any man
   who has had a deep experience of his own odious depravity to believe
   any other doctrines but the Doctrines of Grace which are commonly
   called Calvinism! No, more than that, the mind, unless it is most
   graciously taught by the Spirit of God, will be apt to go beyond the
   true Scriptural Doctrine and to push the term beyond its legitimate
   sphere.

   There have been other occasions on which you and I have been forced to
   cry, "By the Grace of God I am what I am," namely, after some strong
   and terrible temptation. Have you ever known what it is to feel some
   old lust which you thought was dead, suddenly come upon you with a
   whirlwind power and drive you before it like a sere leaf of the forest
   that could not resist its might? I have, sometimes, had this trying
   experience. When quietly meditating upon the things of

   God, some fierce and fearful impulse to sin has assailed me--as if a
   giant had seized me by the neck and pushed me onward until, at last, I
   came to the very brink of some awful iniquity and looked down upon it.
   And, just as it seemed as if I must plunge into it, my eyes have been
   opened and I have seen the horror of great darkness and I have
   exclaimed, "O God! How is it that I have not committed that sin? How is
   it that You have come to save me just in the nick of time and stretched
   out Your hand to rescue me just when 'my feet were almost gone,' when,
   'my steps had well-nigh slipped'? Not only had I thought of slipping,
   but 'my steps had well-nigh slipped.' Then, Your mercy, O God, held me
   up!" I do not know whether you have had strong impulses of that kind.
   Many of God's people have, and especially those who, before conversion,
   plunged deeply into sin. You have sometimes had almost on your lips the
   oath which you have hated in your inmost heart. Iniquity has come
   before you in a fascinating guise and, although you abhorred it, yet,
   for the moment, a strange hallucination of dazzling witchery seemed to
   lay hold of your spirit--and if you had yielded to it, you would have
   been like Samson when he fell into the hands of the Philistines! So it
   is that we are often compelled to say, as we look back upon marvelous
   Providences and Divine interpositions, "Truly, by the Grace of God we
   are what we are, and by that Grace, alone, have we been preserved from
   falling into sin."

   I think, too, that this Truth has often been brought home to us when we
   have witnessed the fall of others. You have, perhaps, walked to and
   from the House of God with some notable professor of religion and he
   has instructed you on many points. He seemed to be a man of deep
   experience and devout life. Your heart has been knit to him and you
   have said, "Here, indeed, is a Brother," and you have, possibly, envied
   him his great attainments and his fluent speech. Then, all of a sudden,
   you heard that he had fallen into some terrible sin. You made enquiries
   and you found that it was only too true. You were present, one night,
   at the Church meeting when the solemn sentence of excommunication was
   pronounced upon him--and while the minister uttered it, all the members
   wept and prayed that the poor fallen one might be brought to repentance
   and that his soul might not be the prey of Satan. At such a time as
   that, you have said, "By the Grace of God I am what I am," and you have
   said, with good John Newton--

   " When any turn from Zion's way, (Alas, what numbers do)! I think I
   hear my Savior say, ' Will you forsake Me too?' Ah, Lord, with such a
   heart as mine, Unless You hold me fast, I feel I must, I shall decline,
   And prove like they at last!'

   Such instances may act as beacons to warn us of pride and to teach us,
   again, the lesson that by the Grace of God we are what we are.

   Then, Brothers and Sisters, I think there are other seasons when we
   learn this lesson. That is, in times of great dullness in spiritual
   matters. Heavenly trade is not always brisk, even in the best
   market--that is, in the breast of the Believer. Spiritual mariners do
   not find that the wind always blows and thus, though we should always
   have our sails up, (which, alas, is not always the case with us), even
   then the wind would not always blow, for it "blows where it wishes."
   Like the sea, we have our ebb as well as our flood-tide. Do you not
   know what it is to go to the Throne of Grace when-- as for words, you
   can find plenty of them, but as for heart and soul, and vigor in
   prayer--if your salvation depended upon your fervency, you must perish?
   Have you not gone to the Mercy Seat and groaned there--and groaned most
   of all because you could not groan as you ought? You have taken your
   needs to the Throne of Grace, but you have had to bring them away
   again. You have gone up to the House of God and though you could find
   no fault with the sermon, there was, somehow or other, nothing in it
   for you.

   You went home to read your Bible and though you knew that it was a
   precious Book, it did not seem precious to you. It might be like a
   honeycomb, but you could not get any of the honey out of it. You had
   lost all spiritual appetite and you felt as if you were drawing near to
   the gates of death. You remember, too, how you then sought the society
   of the godly, yet you received no consolation from them. Heavenly
   things seemed to be but dreams--the substantial things of eternity did
   not affect your spirit as they should have done and you could only cry,
   with the Psalmist, "My soul cleaves unto the dust: quicken You me
   according to Your word." And at such times, and especially if your
   prayer has been graciously heard, you have been compelled to say, "It
   is my natural state to be cold and dull and if, at any time, I run
   swiftly in the heavenly race--if my sails are filled and my boat is
   carried towards Paradise--surely this is by the Grace of God."

   Just one more remark upon this point. Times of great mercy often
   operate upon some of us so as to bring us very low and to make us feel,
   "By the Grace of God we are what we are." Simon Peter had this
   experience. When his boat was full of fish, so that it began to sink,
   he fell on his knees before his Master and said "Depart from me, for I
   am a sinful man, O Lord." Their greatness of God's mercy to him
   convinced him of his own unworthiness and it has been the same with
   some of us. The more the Glory of God's Grace has been revealed to our
   souls, the humbler have we been made to lie at His feet. When the Lord
   has piled up His mercies till they were like the great mountains and
   His faithfulness has been like the bottomless depths, then have we been
   obliged to say, "These great things are, indeed, of God--they could not
   have come of man." At such times we have felt that we could sit before
   the Lord, as David did, and ask, "Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my
   house, that You have brought me to this point?" God sometimes
   overwhelms His children with mercy quite as completely as He ever does
   with affliction. Pride may be overcome in two ways. It is sometimes
   overcome by trouble that crushes a man, but, at other times, the same
   result is produced by Almighty Grace which, in overwhelming waves of
   love, rushes in upon the man's spirit, till, submerged in love and
   mercy, he can only resign himself to its depths and feel--yet always
   feel that he cannot feel enough--the wonders of God's Grace and his own
   littleness in comparison with God's amazing favor! God sometimes
   humbles His children by putting them in the dark, but He sometimes does
   it in another way, as David said, "When I consider Your heavens, the
   work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained;
   what is man, that You are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You
   visit him?" How often have we also had to say, with David, "How
   precious, also, are Your thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum
   of them!" So I hope it will be with each one of us, that the greatness
   of God's mercy to us, as a Church, and as individuals, will lead us to
   say, "By the Grace of God we are what we are."

   III. Now, in closing, let us consider our subject PRACTICALLY. What is
   the practical use of this text, "By the Grace of God I am what I am"?

   Surely, as I have already reminded you, it is designed to keep us
   humble. Depend upon it, if we do not take this text for our motto every
   day, there is the rod of the Covenant ready for us. He will soon be in
   a storm who does not see God's Grace in the sunshine. If His mercies
   surround us and our days roll happily along, but we begin to ascribe
   our greatness and our riches to ourselves, it will not be long before
   God will bring us down. It may be so in your experience, especially if
   you soar upon the wings of self-confidence. As surely as you begin to
   get strong in your own strength, there is an hour of weakness close at
   hand! Whenever you are full of self, it will not be long before you
   learn your own emptiness, for he who begins to grow rich in himself is
   next door to poverty--no, he is already clothed in rags. No, my
   Brothers and Sisters, there is no safe walking unless we make this the
   staff on which we lean--"By the Grace of God we are what we are." While
   we stick to this as our hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly,
   everlasting motto, we shall not go astray, nor shall we experience
   those terrible downcastings which are the inevitable result of our
   flying up in self-confidence. Come then, Beloved, from this day let us
   learn humility, let us tread our pride in the dust and say, "Why should
   we be proud? By the Grace of God we are what we are."

   Then, in the light of our text, let us learn charity Why should I be
   harsh towards those who are not what I am? I wish that some persons who
   think themselves very sound in Doctrine, would recollect our text. If
   another Brother is thought to be unsound, they are ready to cut him in
   pieces! It would be better if they were to say, before using their
   sword for such a purpose, "By the Grace of God we are what we are."
   Though you should be ever so sound and right, yourselves, be gentle
   with the Brother who has not received so much Grace as you have. Good
   John Newton used to say that for a Calvinist to be proud was the most
   inconsistent thing in the world, because, by his own profession, there
   were Truths of God which no man could receive or understand of
   himself--so, why should he boast of his own attainments and why should
   he blame others for not doing what he knows they cannot do of
   themselves? If our Brothers and Sisters cannot see as well as we can,
   why should we be angry with them because our eyes are better than
   theirs? I see no reason for being angry with a blind man because he
   cannot see--that is the very reason why we should pity his infirmity.
   So, let us seek to relieve those who are burdened, to bring back those
   who have wandered, to strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble
   knees and, to the best of our power, lead others into that glorious
   Light of God in which we ourselves are walking, for, by the Grace of
   God we are what we are!

   Moreover this should teach us hopefulness concerning other men. There
   is a drunken man--you think he can never be converted, but why not? The
   Grace that saved you is sufficient to save him. You sometimes meet with
   an infidel. Per-

   haps you have one in your family--a father, or brother, or sister--and
   you are apt to say, "Well, it is no use trying to get such an one to go
   to the House of God--all he would do would be to mock and jeer. If the
   minister should make a mistake, he would seize upon it and use it as
   his stock-in-trade for the abuse of the week. If there is a fault among
   God's children, he is sure to notice it and to make it the theme of his
   reproach, so he had better be kept away from them." But again I say the
   Grace that saved you is sufficient to save him--never give anyone up,
   even as God did not give you up! I always think that as God has
   converted me by His Grace, He can convert anybody! The conversion of
   any other sinner is not any more difficult to Omnipotence, neither is
   it any easier, for Omnipotence knows nothing of degrees. What marvelous
   things Christ has done and done in some of us, too! Some of you must
   weep over that verse in which the Apostle says, "And such were some of
   you, but you are washed." And you say, "Yes, and to God be all the
   Glory that He has made us what we are." Therefore let us continue to
   look after those whom Satan has ensnared--even the most hardhearted
   sinners--and seek to bring them under the saving influence of the Grace
   of God.

   Then, lastly, if we are what we are "by the Grace of God," this should
   teach us greater thankfulness. Children of the Heavenly King, never
   forget to praise your God! We sometimes fail in this duty. We have had
   many meetings for prayer to ask God to bless us in our manifold labors.
   Now let us have some meetings for praise--to bless the Lord for His
   great goodness to us. I have heard that in some parts of New England,
   there used to be a day of fasting every month to mourn for the iniquity
   of the land and so on. And, at last, some senator proposed that they
   should have a feast and thank God for the mercies which they had
   received--and, truly, he was in the right. It is not good always to be
   fasting--we must sometimes feast! An old Puritan says that we take in
   breath by prayer by a sort of heavenly Inspiration--and that we breathe
   it out again by praise. Dear Brothers and Sisters, if you and I were to
   sing as heartily as we ought to sing, what a joyous song of praise
   there would be! If our voices could but be tuned to the goodness of
   God, what songs and sonnets would make glad this wilderness!

   You remember Ralph Erskine's sonnet on the battle in Heaven--the great
   contention of the bards in Paradise? He pictures them all contending as
   to who should have the lowestplace and which should most loudly praise
   the Lord! There were the babes snatched from their mothers'
   breasts--they claimed the lowest place because they had gone straight
   to Heaven without any trials or troubles. But the gray-headed men who
   had been Divinely supported under the afflictions of many years said
   that theyowed the most to Sovereign Grace. Then came those who had been
   converted in their early years and who said that they had already had a
   Heaven below, so they could sing the loudest of all. Then came the
   penitent thief who said that he had the greatest cause to praise the
   Lord for he had been converted at the last. While some declared that
   they must praise God most because they had been the blackest sinners,
   others said that they would praise Him most for the restraining Grace
   which had kept them from sin. And so the strife went on until they
   agreed, each one, to sing with all his might to the praise of that
   Everlasting Love which inscribed their names in the Lamb's Book of
   Life, that great Love which bought them with Jesus' precious blood and
   that Omnipotent Love which attended them all their journey through and
   landed then at last in Heaven!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: NUMBERS4:1-33.

   Verses 1, 2. And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Take
   the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their
   families, by the house of their fathers. There were three families,
   those of Kohath, Gershon and Merari--and to each of these families a
   different service was allotted. First, they were to be numbered. "The
   Lord knows them that are His," and He takes count of all His people.

   3. From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, all that
   enter into the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the
   congregation. They were to take up this work as a warfare, for, though
   it was a peaceful work, yet it is described as being a warfare. And he
   who serves the Lord, though that service is perfect peace, will not
   serve Him without also finding it to be a warfare.

   4. This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of
   the congregation, about the most holy things. They were to have to do
   with the Most Holy Place, to carry it and to carry the vessels of it--a
   very honorable position.

   5, 6. And when the camp sets forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons,
   and they shall take down the covering veil, and cover the Ark of
   Testimony with it: and shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skin,
   and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the
   staves thereof. These Kohathites might not so take the Ark as to handle
   it, much less might they ever look at it. But the priests and the sons
   of Aaron went in first and, after carefully covering the Holy Place,
   they covered up the sacred Ark with a cloth of blue. Blue was the token
   of holiness--of separation. Hence, every Israelite wore a border of
   blue upon his garment, but this, which was the symbol of the Divine
   Presence, was "all of blue." It is all holiness. We wear, alas, but a
   border of blue, but this holy thing was "all of blue."

   7. And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue,
   and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers
   to cover all: and the showbread shall be thereon. When they moved the
   sacred table, the bread was always there--twelve cakes for the twelve
   tribes--for the bread of God's House is never lacking.

   8-10. And they shall all spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover
   the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves
   thereof And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick
   of the light and its lamps, andits tongs, andits snuffdishes, andall
   the oil vessels thereof, wherewith theyminister unto it: and they
   shallput it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers'
   skin and shallput it upon a carrying beam. There were means for
   handling these vessels without touching them. I mean the Ark had
   staves, and the vessels were put upon a bar for carrying them.

   11. And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and
   cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall insert its poles.
   A type of the holiness veiled in our Lord's Humanity--the badger skin
   made apparent the simplicity, the poverty, the humility of our
   Lord--covering evermore that wondrous cloth of blue.

   12, 13. And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, herewith
   they minister in the sanctuary, andput them in a cloth of blue, and
   cover them with a covering of badgers' skins and shallput them on a
   carrying bar: and they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and
   spread a purple cloth thereon. A royal altar is this, always grand and
   glorious in our eyes, covered with a purple cloth.

   14-20. And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith
   they minister about it, even the censers, the forks, and the shovels,
   and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread
   upon it a covering of badgers' skins, andinsert itspoles. And when
   Aaron andhis sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, andall
   the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after
   that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not
   touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the
   son of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to the office
   of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, pertains the oil for the light
   and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing
   oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein
   is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof. And the LORD spoke
   unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Cut you not off the tribe of the
   families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: but thus do unto
   them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most
   holy things: Aaron andhis sons shall go in, and anoint them, everyone
   to his service and to his burden: but they shall not go in to see when
   the holy things are covered, lest they die. This is a very awful thing.
   I mean something which should produce a great awe and solemnity in our
   hearts. These men were chosen to carry the vessels of the Most Holy
   Place, yet they must never see them! They must be covered up by the
   hands of the priest--and they must never touch them. They must bear
   them by their staves, or upon the carrying bar upon which they were
   placed. Oh, how terrible a thing it is to draw near to God! The Lord
   our God is a jealous God. He will be served with holy reverence or not
   at all. Hence he says to Moses and Aaron, "Take care that you do not
   lead these men into any mistake. You go in first, and point out to each
   man what he is to carry. See that all is covered up, for if you do not,
   they may die in their work. Do not be accessories to their act and
   bring upon them this terrible judgment."

   I often wish that God's people would be careful not to cause sin in any
   of His servants when they are engaged in the ministry. Perhaps in
   preaching, or otherwise, there may be something done which vexes the
   Holy Spirit and causes trouble and sin. And, oh, he who stands in the
   holy place and bears the holiest of the vessel, needs to fear and
   tremble before God! And he needs to ask his brethren to see that they
   do nothing which might inadvertently cause him to sin.

   21-24. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Take also the sum ofthe
   sons ofGershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, of their
   families, from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shall
   you number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the
   work in the tabernacle ofthe congregation. This is the sequence ofthe
   families

   of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens. They were to bear the
   external coverings of the Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was in the
   custody of the Kohathites, but the Gershonites were to carry as
   follows--

   25-28. And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the
   tabernacle of the congregation, its covering, and the covering of the
   badgers' skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of
   the tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and
   the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the
   tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the
   instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall
   they serve. At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the
   service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in
   all their service: and you shall appoint unto them in charge all their
   burdens. This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in
   the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the
   hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the priest. There was a wise decision
   of labor. I wish we had the same kind of thing in every church, and
   that every member occupied himself in that to which God has appointed
   him. But there are some who want to do what they cannot do, and who do
   not care to do what they can do.

   29-32. As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them after their
   families, by the house of their fathers; from thirty years old and
   upward even unto fifty years old shall you number them, every one that
   enters into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the
   congregation. And this is the charge of their burden, according to all
   their service in the tabernacle of the congregation, the boards of the
   tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets
   thereof, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets,
   and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with
   all their service: and by name you shall reckon the instruments of the
   charge of their burden. They had the heaviest load to carry, but they
   were the more numerous. They carried the solid columns upon which the
   covering of the tabernacle rested. And notice that they had also to
   carry the pins. Sometimes God's servants dislike carrying pins. They
   feel themselves too big--but blessed is that servant who, in his place,
   can be content to carry "their sockets, and their pins, and their
   cords, with all their instruments."

   33. This is the service of the families of the sons ofMerari, according
   to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the
   hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron, the priest.
     __________________________________________________________________

Conceit Rebuked

   (No. 2834)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JUNE 17, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 5,
   1877.

   "Should it be according to your mind?" Job 34:33.

   ELIHU thought that Job had spoken too boastfully and that there was too
   much of self about him and, therefore, he reproved him by asking this
   question, "Should it be according to your mind?" It is a question
   which, in the original, has a great wealth of meaning in it and, as the
   language of the Book of Job is extremely ancient and very terse, it is
   not easy to get the fullness of Elihu's meaning. But it has been said
   that upon the whole, our translation not only gives the meaning of his
   enquiry, but also more of the meaning than can be conveyed in any other
   words, so that we may be perfectly satisfied with it and may pray God
   the Holy Spirit to apply it to us. And if we have grown to be high and
   mighty, and have begun to criticize the way of God in dealing with us,
   this question may come to us very sharply, "'Should it be according to
   your mind?' Should everything be arranged just to suit your whims and
   wishes? Should everything in the world be fashioned according to your
   taste and the whole globe revolve just to serve you and please your
   fancy? Should it be according to your mind?'"

   There are four things I am going to say concerning our text. First I
   shall ask, Are there really any people in the world who think that
   everything should be according to their mind? Then, secondly, I shall
   enquire, what leads them to that notion?Thirdly, I shall try to show
   you what a mercy it is that they cannot have everything according to
   their mind. And then, fourthly, I shall urge you to keep this evil
   spirit in check, so that, henceforth, you will not wish that things
   should be according to your mind.

   I. Our first question has a measure of astonishment about it. ARE THERE
   REALLY ANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO WOULD HAVE EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO
   THEIR MIND? Oh, yes, there are such people! I should not wonder if
   there are some of them here right now. In fact, I question whether we
   have not, all of us, at times, drunk very deeply into this naughty,
   haughty spirit. If we have done so, may we be speedily delivered from
   it!

   First, there are some people who would have God, Himself, according to
   their mind. Now, as a matter of fact, all that I can know of God I must
   learn from God revealing Himself to me. I cannot discover Him by
   myself--He must unveil Himself to me--and that He has done in Holy
   Scripture. All that He intends us to know about Himself, He has
   revealed in the written Word and in the Incarnate Word, His
   ever-blessed Son. But there are some people who get their idea of God
   out of themselves. You may have heard of the German philosopher who
   evolved the idea of a camel out of his own consciousness--at least, so
   he said. I do not think it was much like a camel when he had evolved
   it, but there are many persons who try to evolve the idea of God out of
   their own consciousness. It cannot be, they say, that certain
   statements in the Bible are true because there is something or other,
   in their inner consciousness, that contradicts the Scriptural
   declarations. God, as they believe in Him, is what they think He ought
   to be, not what He really is. And there are some, in these days, who
   have even gone so far as to reject the Old Testament altogether because
   its teaching concerning God does not meet the approval of their very
   marvelous minds.

   Practically, these people are idolaters, for an idolater is one who
   makes a god unto himself. The true worshipper of God--the accepted
   worshipper--is one who worships God as He is and as He reveals Himself
   in His Word. But there are many persons who make a god out of their own
   thoughts. The teachers of the modern school of theology work in a kind

   of god-factory. The people in some heathen lands make their gods out of
   mud, but these men make their gods out of their own thought, their
   imagination, their "intellect." That is what they call it, though I am
   not sure that it is that organ which is at work in this instance. But
   when a man makes a god of thought, he is just as much an idolater as if
   he had made a god of wood or of gold. The true God--the God of
   Scripture thus revealed Himself to His ancient people, "I am the Lord
   your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
   house of bondage." This God is our God, "the God of Abraham, and the
   God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," "the God of the whole earth He
   shall be called." Many a man refuses to accept this God as his, but I
   would like to ask him, "Should God be according to your mind?" That
   would be a strange god, indeed! Should He have no other attributes but
   such as you would give to Him? Should His Character and conduct be only
   such as you can comprehend and justify? Must there be nothing in Him
   that shall puzzle you? Are there to be no Divine deeps that shall be
   beyond the reach of your finite mind? Are there to be no heights beyond
   your power to soar?

   That is what seems to be your notion and if there is anything that
   staggers you a little, you say, "I cannot believe it." If it were
   possible, you would eliminate from the Character of God everything that
   is stern and terrible--though these attributes clearly appertain to the
   Most High as He has been pleased to reveal Himself in Scripture. I beg
   you, dear Friends, never to attempt to mold the Character of God with
   the fingers of your own fancy! Worship Him just as He is, though you
   cannot comprehend Him. Believe in Him as He reveals Himself and never
   imagine that you could, by making any change in Him, effect an
   improvement in Him. By toning down His justice, you think that you are
   increasing His love and, by denying His righteous vengeance, you
   imagine that you are honoring His goodness. But, instead of doing so by
   the removal of these things which alarm and annoy you--if you could do
   so--you would take away part of God's grandeur and strength which make
   His goodness and His mercy to shine as brightly as they now do!

   Leave God just as He is, remembering how He has said, "For as the
   heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
   ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." The Infinite God must be
   past finding out by the creatures whom He has made. I confess that it
   is one of my greatest joys to find myself completely baffled when I am
   trying to comprehend the Character of God. Sometimes, when I have tried
   to preach upon the Deity of Christ, I have been fairly staggered under
   the burden of that stupendous Truth and I have felt the utter
   uselessness and poverty of human language to describe our great and
   terrible, yet loving Lord! And I have been glad to have it so, for,
   verily, God is altogether above our comprehension and none of us can
   speak of Him as He deserves to be spoken of! But never let us try in
   any way to diminish His glorious perfections.

   A more common way of offending God and setting up our self-will, is by
   quarreling with His Providential dealings. If anyone here is doing so,
   let me ask, "Should it be according to your mind?" You look, sometimes,
   upon the arrangements of Providence on a great scale in reference to
   the nations of the earth. You see them at war with one another and you
   note how slow the progress of civil and religious liberty are and how
   few there are to rally in defense of right principles. Sometimes you
   get greatly distressed about the general state of affairs and you wish
   you could alter it--but the Lord looks down from His eternal Throne and
   He seems to say to you, "Should it be according to your mind?" The
   world was wisely ordered by God before we were born and it will be
   equally well ordered by Him after we are dead!

   When Alexander Peden, the Covenanter, was dying, he sent for one of his
   brethren, a fellow-minister of the Word, James Renwick, and he bade him
   stand out in the room and turn his back to his departing friend. When
   he had done so, Peden said to him, "I have looked at you and I perceive
   that you are only a little man and you have but feeble shoulders and
   weak legs." "Yes," replied Renwick, "that is true, but why have you
   made that observation?" "Because," said Pe-den, "I perceive that you
   cannot, after all, carry the whole world upon your back--you are not
   made for any such work as that." And I may say of all of us who are
   here that we were not made to carry the world on our backs. Yet some of
   us attempt to play the part of Atlas and not only try to carry the
   world, but seek to set the Church right as well! We fancy that we can
   do that, poor worms that we are, but the Lord knows that we can do
   nothing of the kind. "He remembers that we are dust," though we are apt
   to forget it ourselves!

   Well, Beloved, after all, "should it be according to your mind?" Will
   you, like Jonah, sit pining, mourning and complaining? Does not the
   Eternal Ruler understand the politics of nations and the best way of
   governing the world infinitely better than you do? Do not attempt to
   drive the horses of the sun--your puny hands are unfit for so
   tremendous a task as that. Leave all things with God! As long as they
   are ordered by Him, they are well ordered!

   Probably, however, it is with the minor Providence that we more often
   quarrel when we are in an ill state of heart. You think that you would
   like to be rich, yet you are poor. "Should it be according to your
   mind?" You would have liked to be healthy and strong, but you are weak
   and sickly, or you have a suffering limb that troubles you and you
   sometimes think, "Mine is a very hard loss. I wish it could be
   changed." "Should it be according to your mind?" Should the fashioning
   of yourself and your circumstances have been left to you? What do you
   think? Possibly you have recently sustained a great loss in business
   and you cannot quite get over it. "Should it be according to your
   mind?" Should Providential circumstances have been arranged otherwise
   so as to suit you? Should God have stopped the great machinery of the
   universe and put it out of gear in order to prevent you from losing a
   few pounds? "Should it be according to your mind?"

   Perhaps it is worse than that--a dear child has been taken away just
   when he had become most closely entwined around your heart. You would
   gladly have kept him with you, but was it right that he should go, or
   right that he should stay? Come now, there is a difference of opinion
   between you and God--who is in the right? Should it be according to His
   mind, or according to your mind? "Ah," says someone else, "it is the
   mainstay of the home who has been taken away from us--the husband--the
   father of the family." Well, though it is so, again I ask concerning
   this bereavement, or any other trial that comes to you, "Should it be
   according to your mind?" It should be sufficient for you to know that
   the Lord has permitted it or actually performed it.

   Should it be according to your mind, or according to His mind? It is
   not easy, I know, to submit without murmuring to all that happens to
   us. I am probably touching very tender places in many who, at divers
   times and seasons, have really felt that God, in His Providential
   dealings with them, had been unkind to them, or that, at least, He had
   been showing His kindness in a very strange way.

   There are some who carry this difference between them and God into
   another sphere, for they do not approve of the Gospel as it is taught
   in the Bible. You know that the Gospel, as revealed in the New
   Testament, is so simple that a child can understand it. And you may go
   and teach it to the poorest and the most illiterate and many of them
   will leap at it, and grasp it at once! But there are others who think
   that it should be something which is much more difficult to understand,
   something which would need a higher order of intellect than the common
   people possess. Do you really think so, my dear Sir? "Should it be
   according to your mind?" Would you shut out the poor and the needy and
   the illiterate from the privileges of the Gospel--and keep them to
   yourself and to a few others who have been highly educated? Surely not!
   O Brothers and Sisters, if it were possible for us to preach a Gospel
   that we had made obscure, or which could only be comprehended by the
   elite of society, we would soon have cause to sadly deplore before God
   that we had lost that simple, blessed, plain way of instruction which
   the wayfaring man, though a fool, can understand, and in which he need
   not err!

   Many try to bring down the Doctrines of Grace. They would get rid of
   Election if they could. Anything like the specialty of the Atonement of
   Christ they cannot bear! The sweet and blessed Doctrine of Effectual
   Calling they abhor and they would gladly make a Gospel of their own.
   But should they want to do so? Is it not your duty and mine, Brother,
   rather to try to find out what the Gospel really is than to seek to
   make it what we consider it ought to be? "Should it be according to
   your mind?" We have known some people take a text of Scripture and,
   because it did not square with the system in which they were brought
   up, they tried to cut it down to make it fit in with their notion! But,
   Sirs, is not the Gospel grander than any of our comprehension of it?
   Are there not in it great Truths of God that cannot be cut down to fit
   any system that the human mind can make? And ought we not to be
   thoroughly glad that it is so? For, surely, it is better that the
   Gospel should be according to God's mind than that it should be
   according to the mind of Toplady, or the mind of Wesley, or the mind of
   Calvin, or the mind of Arminius! The mind of God is greater than all
   the minds of men, so let all men leave the Gospel just as God has
   delivered it unto us.

   Sometimes this difference comes up concerning the Church of Christ.
   Some people do not like God's order of Church membership and Church
   government--they would like to see the world welcomed inside the
   Church. They do not approve of the ordinances as they were instituted
   and observed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Believers' Baptism is peculiarly
   objectionable to them. Sometimes they disapprove of God's
   ministers--they pick holes in the most useful of them. This man ought
   to be so-and-so, and that other man ought to be something else. I can
   only ask again, with regard to the whole matter, "Should it be
   according to your mind?" Are you to make the ministers and to teach
   them what they are to preach? Are they your servants or God's servants,
   and are they to deliver their message in your way or in God's way? Let

   the question be honestly considered and then, perhaps, much of the
   murmuring that is sometimes heard, and much of the discord that often
   arises among professing Christians would be cleared away. For, surely,
   these things should not be according to our mind, but we should let God
   appoint, equip and send forth His own servants just as He pleases--not
   as we please. Christ must decide everything concerning His own Church!
   He must be free to choose whom He likes to be members of it and to
   fashion His Church after His own model.

   II. Now, secondly, we are to enquire--WHAT LEADS PEOPLE TO THINK THAT
   EVERYTHING SHOULD BE ACCORDING TO THEIR MIND?

   My answer is, first, that there is a great deal of self-importance in
   such a notion. There are some people who seem to fancy that they are
   the center of the whole universe. The times are always bad if they do
   not prosper. If the earth does not so revolve as to bring grist to
   their mill, then the times must be out of joint. But who are you, dear
   Friend, that you should suppose that for you, the sun rises and sets?
   That for you seasons change and that God is to have respect to you and
   to nobody else? "Should it be according to your mind?" Then, if so, why
   not according to my mind, also? And why not according to the mind of
   another Brother? And why not according to the mind of yet another? But
   no, it is according to yourmind that you would have it! Ah, does not
   this show what overweening importance we attach to ourselves? We are
   mere ants, creeping insects upon the bay-leaf of existence--here today
   and gone tomorrow--yet we suppose that all things are to be ordered for
   our special benefit and we quarrel with God if we suffer even a little
   inconvenience!

   This notion also arises from self-conceit. We really seem to fancy that
   we could arrange things much better than they now are--we would not
   dare to plainly say so, much less would we be willing to put it in
   writing, but we talk and feel as if it were really so. If only we had
   had the ordering of things, we are quite sure that they would not have
   happened as they have done! But then, depend upon it, they would have
   happened wrongly if they had been other than they have been! "Should it
   be according to your mind?" No! Unless you are self-conceited enough to
   put your folly in comparison with the wisdom of God, you know that it
   should not be according to your mind!

   Then there is the spirit of murmuring that so easily comes upon us. We
   have known some who really became slaves to that evil spirit. They
   complained of everything, nothing was right in their eyes. It was not
   possible, it seemed, even for God, Himself, to please them. "Should it
   be according to your mind?" How would it be possible to please one who
   is so changeable, so whimsical, so fanciful as you are? Poor simpleton,
   surely you cannot think that such a thing should be.

   But, oftentimes, this quarrel arises from lack of faith in God. If we
   did but believe in Him, we would see that all things are ordered well.
   If we did but trust in God as a loving child trusts in its father, we
   would feel safe enough at all times and we would not want to have
   anything different from what it is. Have you ever heard of the woman
   who was in a great storm at sea and terribly frightened? She saw her
   husband, who was the captain of the ship, perfectly composed even while
   the vessel was tossed about by the mighty billows--but he could not
   calm her troubled heart. So he drew a sword from its scabbard and held
   it close to her breast. As he did so, he said to her, "Do you not
   tremble, my wife?" "No," she replied, "I am not in the least afraid."
   "But this sword is close to you." "I am not afraid of that," she said,
   "because it is in my husband's hand. "Well," he said, "is it not even
   so with this storm? Is it not in the hands of God? And if it is in His
   hands, why should we be alarmed?" So, if we have true faith in God, we
   shall accept whatever God sends us, and we shall not want to have
   things arranged according to ourmind, but we shall quite agree with
   what His mind ordains.

   So would it be, too, if you had more love to God, for love always
   agrees with that which its object delights in. So, dear Friends, when
   we come to love God with a perfect heart, we are glad for God to have
   His way with us. If He wills that we should be sick, we would not wish
   to be otherwise. If He wills that we should be poor, we are willing to
   be poor--and if He wills that we should pass through a sea of trial, we
   would not wish to have a drop less than His blessed will appoints.

   III. But now, thirdly, WHAT A MERCY IT IS THAT THINGS ARE NOT ACCORDING
   TO OUR MIND! If they were, I wonder what sort of world we would live
   in?

   If things were according to our mind, God's Glory would be obscured. He
   knows what will best glorify Him and He has been pleased to so arrange
   His Providential dealings with men that all shall glorify Him to the
   highest possible degree. And, Beloved, if we were to alter anything of
   this--if we could altar anything, it is evident that the Glory of God

   would not be so well promoted. So, "should it be according to your
   mind" that God would lose a measure of the Glory that is due unto His
   name? God forbid!

   If it were according to our mind, others would often have to suffer. At
   any rate, if things were arranged according to the mind of some people,
   they would grind the poor in the dust and utterly crush them. If things
   were settled according to the mind of man, we would often be in a
   terrible plight. Did not David say to God, "Let us fall now into the
   hands of the Lord, for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into
   the hands of man"? When God is most grieved with His people, He never
   deals with them in so harsh a manner as the ungodly would deal with
   them if they had them in their power. Let us trust in the Lord, my
   Brothers and Sisters, and thank Him that He does not allow things to be
   according to the mind of man, for it would be terrible, indeed, for us,
   then!

   Here is another reflection. If things were according to our mind, we
   would have an awful responsibility resting upon us because we would
   feel that if anything went amiss, we would be the cause of it. If we
   had the choosing of our circumstances and the details of all that
   happened to us, we would straightway feel that we would be called to
   account for everything by our fellow men and by our own conscience. But
   now that it is according to the mind of God, you have no responsibility
   concerning it. If it is according to His will, it must be that which is
   right and that which is best! So let us bless His name that all things
   are left at His disposal.

   If things were according to our mind, I am afraid our temptations would
   soon be greatly increased, for many who are poor would speedily become
   rich--and they do not know what the temptation of riches might be, nor
   the Grace they would need to resist it. And some, who are now sick and
   are praising God upon their sickbeds--if they were well, might find
   much of their spirituality departing and they might be thrown into a
   thousand troubles which they now escape in the quiet of their own room.
   Some of you are in a condition of life where you may not have many
   comforts, but, on the other hand, you are not subject to those trials
   which come to us who are prominent in public life. You can be sure you
   are in your right place if God put you there. "Should it be according
   to your mind?" If so, you would have more temptations and less
   Grace--more of the world, but less of your Lord. So thank Him that it
   is not according to your mind.

   If it were according to our mind, we would seldom know our own mind. If
   a man could manage everything as he liked, he would not long like his
   own management. Unrenewed men, especially, are never satisfied. The way
   for a man to be happy is not to have his own will, but to sink his will
   in the will of God. Look at Solomon when he had his own way. As one
   time he gave all his thoughts to grand buildings--and when he had built
   his palaces he got quite tired, so he took to making gardens, aqueducts
   and fountains of water. When he had made them, he did not get much
   satisfaction out of them, so he got instruments of music and singing
   men and singing women, but he was soon tired of them. Then he took to
   study, but he said, "Of making many books there is no end, and much
   study is a weariness of the flesh." He had whatever he chose to have,
   yet it was all vanity and vexation of spirit to him! And he never had
   what filled his soul till he came to rest alone in his God, which, we
   trust, he did in his old age.

   I do not know a more horrible endowment that a man could have than for
   God to say to him, "Everything shall be as you like to have it." He
   would probably be the most miserable and most dissatisfied person under
   Heaven! "Should it be according to your mind?" Ah, then sin would go
   uncorrected in you, for you would never have a mind to use the rod!
   Then your dross would remain, for you would never have a mind to be put
   into the furnace! Should all things go with you according to your own
   will, then your flesh would get the mastery over you and be pampered
   and indulged--you would be settled on your less, not emptied from
   vessel to vessel--and you would bring upon yourself unutterable woe! O
   Beloved, for this reason, also, it is a thousand mercies that things
   are not arranged according to the mind of even the best saint out of
   Heaven except when his mind is brought into full subjection to the will
   of God!

   "Should it be according to your mind?" Then there would be universal
   strife. If this were the case, think what a terrible condition the
   Church of God and the world, too, would soon be brought into, because,
   as I have already hinted, if it were according to your mind, why should
   it not be according to my mind, or according to the mind of every other
   person? Then what chaos, what confusion there would be! How would the
   world be managed if you, I, and 50 others, each one with a different
   mind from all the rest, must have it according to our minds? It would
   mean that the King of Heaven must resign His Throne and give place to
   universal anarchy! It could not be--it would be impossible that such an
   arrangement should continue for an hour! We would have to go, in tears,
   before the Lord and cry to Him, "O Lord, come back and reign over us,
   for we cannot get on without You! Everything is going to destruction
   for need of an Almighty

   Will to manage it." Should it be according to your mind? "No, Lord
   never let it be so except when you have made my mind to be filled with
   Your mind and then it shall be well." "I always have my way," said a
   holy man. "How is that?" asked one who heard him. And the good man
   replied, "Because God's way is my way." "I always have my will," said
   another, and he gave a similar explanation, "because it is my will that
   God should have His will." When God's will gets to be your will, then
   it may be according to your mind--but not till then--thank God, not
   till then!

   IV. So now, in the last place, dear Friends, I am going to say to you,
   let us try, by the help of God's Holy Spirit, to

   CHECK THAT SPIRIT WHICH LEADS MEN TO THINK THAT ALL THINGS SHOULD BE
   ACCORDING TO

   THEIR MIND.

   First, because it is impracticable. As I have already shown you, it is
   quite impossible that all things should be according to the mind of men
   so long as their mind is in its natural carnal state.

   Again, it is unreasonable that it should be so. In a well-ordered
   house, whose will ought to be supreme? Should it not be the father's?
   Do you expect everything in your home to be ordered according to the
   will of your little boy? No, you know that you take a comprehensive
   view of all who are in the house and all their concerns--and you are
   better able to judge than he is, what is right. It would be very
   unreasonable for your child to say, "Everything is to be managed
   according to my will." If he were to talk like that, you would soon
   teach him better, I guarantee you--and it is unreasonable to imagine
   that the Lord should make your will to be the rule of His
   dispensations. Do not cultivate a spirit which you cannot justify by
   any sensible and reasonable arguments.

   In the next place, it is un-Christlike.''Should it be according to your
   mind?" Why, if ever there was a Son of the great Father, according to
   whose mind things should be, it was our blessed Lord Jesus Christ! Yet
   what did He say? "Not as I will, but as You will." And as Jesus said,
   "Not as I will," is there one among us who shall dare to say, "Let it
   be as I will?" "Will you not join your Elder Brother in that sweet
   resignation of all desire to be the ruler in order that the great
   Father, who fills all things, may have His way? If you wish to have all
   things according to your mind, you are not like Christ--for in all
   things He did the Father's will and suffered the Father's will, too,
   and rejoiced in it. Let us pray the Holy Spirit to help us to do the
   same!

   Once more, if we desire to have our own mind, it is atheistic, for a
   god without a controlling mind is no god. And a god whose will was not
   carried out would be no god. If you were to have your way in all
   things, you would be taking the place of God--do you not tremble at the
   very thought of it? His Throne ill becomes you. Would you--

   "Snatch from His hand the balance and the rod, Rejudge His judgments,
   be the God of God"? If you are truly converted, you shudder at the bare
   mention of such a thing as that! Yet, dear Sister, was not that the
   spirit in which you came into this House? Did you not feel, "The Lord
   has dealt very harshly with me. I can scarcely be reconciled to Him"?
   Oh, drop that rebellious spirit! You are but a poor, helpless creature,
   and He is God Over All! Let His supreme will sweetly rule your heart at
   this hour--and labor to get rid of that waywardness and that revolting
   from the Most High!

   I knew one who was in mourning many, many years for a child. And a good
   Quaker said to her, "Friend, have you not forgiven God yet?" There are
   some to whom we might put the same question. And we have heard of some
   who professed to be Christians, who, when they met with a very terrible
   reverse, said they could never understand it-- really meaning that they
   could never acquiesce in the Divine Will about that loss. It must not
   be so with us. Whenever a child falls out with his father, the best
   thing he can do is to fall in again, for a sullen child who is angry
   with his father, will have to come round if he has a wise father. The
   father will say to him, "My dear Boy, there is one of us who must
   change before we can be perfectly agreed. And I cannot, for I know I am
   in the right. It is you who must change and come round to my way of
   thinking." And if you have fallen out with God by willfulness and
   stubbornness, He cannot come round to you, but you will have to come
   back to Him. So yield to Him at once! Bow down before Him, your own
   Father in Heaven, who infinitely loves you! Do you mean to say that you
   will keep up the quarrel with Him? You began the dispute and you know
   that you are in the wrong and He is right, so say, "It is the Lord. Let
   Him do what seems good to Him." Or if you cannot say as much as that,
   at least do what Aaron did in his great bereavement, "Aaron held his
   peace," or what David did when he said, "I was dumb, I opened not my
   mouth because You did it." Oh, for that blessed silence which springs
   from acquiescence to the Divine Will!

   I should like you to go further than that, however, and even to praise
   and bless the Lord for poverty, pain and bereavement. In Heaven, among
   the sweetest notes of your song will be those you sing over your trials
   here below. There was one who lost his eyesight, but he always praised
   God for that, for he said that he never saw till he was blind. I have
   heard of another who had lost a leg, and he said that he never stood on
   the Rock of Ages till he had that leg amputated. We, who are branches
   of the true vine, will have more of Christ's sharp pruning-knife than
   of anything else, but let us praise and bless God for it and henceforth
   labor, by the Spirit's Power, to chase out of our soul the idea that
   things should be according to our mind. Get away to your room and
   confess your willfulness and pride, dear Brother, if you have fallen
   into that sad state. Ask the Lord to make your soul even as a weaned
   child--

   "Pleased with all the Lord provides Weaned from all the world besides."

   I know that I have been speaking to some who do not love the Lord. I
   wonder what it is that keeps them where they now are--out of Christ?
   You want something to be changed, you say. Well, ask the Lord to change
   you, for that is the alteration that is needed. The plan of salvation
   does not quite suit you. Well, there will never be another. Does not
   Jesus Christ please you? God will never lay another foundation for a
   sinner to build his hopes upon, so you had better be pleased with God'
   s way and build upon Christ Jesus, the sure Foundation Stone. We tell
   people, sometimes, that they had better not fall out with their living
   and I can tell you, Soul, that you had better not fall out with your
   salvation! God's way of saving you is the best conceivable way--and it
   is also the only way.

   He says that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not
   perish, but shall have everlasting life. May the Eternal Spirit bring
   you to believe in the Lord Jesus now--and if you do so believe you
   shall be saved at once! But do not think that the plan of salvation
   will be altered to please you. It will not be made according to your
   mind. There is the Gospel--take it or leave it, but change it you
   cannot! May the Lord grant that you may accept it and rejoice in it for
   His dear Son' s sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GALATIANS 6:6-18.

   Verses 6, 7. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him
   that teaches in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
   for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Paul puts that in
   connection with the support of those who are teachers of the Truth. And
   I have sometimes thought that in certain Churches where God's ministers
   have starved, it was not very surprising that the people should starve,
   too. They thought so little about the pastor that they left him in
   need, so it was not strange that, as they sowed little, they reaped
   little. One of these misers said that his religion did not cost him
   more than a shilling a year--and somebody replied that he thought it
   was a shilling wasted on a bad thing, for his poor religion was not
   worth even that small amount!

   8. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. He
   shall reap what flesh turns to in due time--"he shall of the flesh reap
   corruption." What is the end of flesh? The fairest flesh that ever was
   molded from the most beauteous form ends in corruption! And if we live
   for the flesh, and sow to it, we shall reap "corruption."

   8. But he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
   everlasting. He shall reap what the Spirit really is and what the
   Spirit really generates--"life everlasting." Of course if a man sows
   tares, he reaps tares. If he sows wheat, he reaps wheat. If we sow to
   the flesh, we reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit, we shall "reap
   life everlasting."

   9. Andlet us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall
   reap, if we faint not. It is a pity to faint just when the time is
   coming to reap, so, sow on, Brothers and Sisters, sow on!

   10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
   especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Extend your
   love, your charity to all mankind. But let the center of that circle be
   in the home where God has placed you--in the home of His
   people--"especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

   11. You see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own
   hand. I suppose that he meant, "See what big letters I have made. My
   eyes are weak, and so, when I do write a letter," says Paul, "in the
   dimness of this dungeon, with my poor weak eyes and my hands chained, I
   have to write text-hand and give it to you in large letters. Well," he
   says, "then carry it out in big letters. You see with what large
   letters I have written to you, now emphasize it all, take it as

   emphatic and carry it out with great diligence. As I have written this
   with my own hand and not used a secretary, I beseech you to pay the
   more attention to it, you Galatians who seem to be so bewitched that to
   deliver you from false doctrine and an evil spirit, I would even write
   a letter with my own blood if it were necessary."

   12, 13. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they
   constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer
   persecution for the Cross of Christ For neither they themselves who are
   circumcised keep the Law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they
   may glory in your flesh.' 'See," they say, "these Gentiles. We have
   converted them and we have got them circumcised. Is not that a
   wonderful thing?" No, not at all, for he says--

   14. But God foretold that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord
   Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
   world.' 'I have ceased to care," says Paul, "about glorying in men and
   making other people glory in my converts. The world is dead to me, and
   I to it."

   15-17. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor
   uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to
   this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
   From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks
   of the Lord Jesus. I have the marks of the whips upon my body. I am the
   branded slave of Jesus Christ. There is no getting the marks out of me.
   I cannot run away. I cannot deny that He is my Master and my Owner! "I
   bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus."

   18. Brethren, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
   Amen. And that is our benediction to you. The Lord fulfill it to each
   one of you!
     __________________________________________________________________

Patients for the Great Physician

   (No. 2835)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON HOSPITAL SUNDAY.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 15,
   1863.

   "And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a
   physician; but they that are sick." Luke 5:31.

   IF you had never heard that passage before, you would be almost certain
   to know where to look for it. It must be in the Gospel according to
   Luke, for Luke was the beloved physician and, therefore, while taking
   notes of our Savior's discourses, he would be able to record anything
   that would be likely to strike upon a physician's ear and to be stamped
   upon his memory. Matthew and Mark also record this saying of our Lord,
   but Luke would have special reasons for mentioning it.

   What a noble answer this was to the insinuations of Christ's enemies!
   He was sitting down with publicans and sinners--they had been invited
   to a feast by Levi, that is, Matthew. The scribes and Pharisees
   shrugged their shoulders and said they could very readily guess what
   kind of character Jesus of Nazareth was, for a man is known by the
   company he keeps. What an overwhelming reply Christ gave them! "Where
   should I be," the Physician of Souls seems to say, "but with those who
   most need My services? I need not come into yourcompany, for you
   consider yourselves to be whole. But these publicans and sinners are,
   according to your way of speaking, to be regarded as sick--where should
   I be but with those who need to be healed?" Christ, in associating with
   sinners, did not at all condone their sin. When He proved Himself to be
   the Friend of publicans and sinners, it was not that He would lessen
   the infinite distance between Divine Perfection and human guilt, but
   only that, coming down to man's fallen estate, He might lift him up.
   Touching his leprosy, He might heal him--and coming into the hospital
   of sick souls, He might there work His great miracles of mercy!

   But, turning from the immediate occasion when these words were uttered
   and coming to the words, themselves, it appears, from our text, that
   Jesus Christ is the Great Physician and, just as we see our doctors
   hurrying through the streets, going from one house to another on their
   errands of mercy, so let us go with Christ, in the chariot of His Love,
   and let us visit some of the sick souls He has come to heal.

   I. This will be our first business--TO VISIT THE SICK MAN AND ASK HIM A
   FEW QUESTIONS.

   First, we will ask the man who is sick, but whom Christ comes to heal,
   what kind of disease it is from which he is suffering. If he is rightly
   instructed, if he understands the Truth of God, he will tell us that it
   is the worst disease there is. Other diseases may possibly be cured by
   men, but this one can never be cured except by Divine interposition.
   Some diseases, like fire, expire when they have burned out their fuel,
   but this one is of such a character that unless it is cured by
   Sovereign Grace, it will destroy both body and soul in Hell. This is
   the worst of diseases because it does not merely affect us in one
   point, but it affects the entire system--from the crown of the head to
   the sole of the foot. It is so foul a disease that even the
   all-merciful God is so disgusted with it that He found it imperatively
   necessary that Hell should be made that He might shut sin up there, as
   in a morgue, when it came to the worst state. We might better bear to
   have the plague and the black pest let loose upon us than unbridled
   sin! It is the foulest disease in the sight of God and it is the most
   dreadful in its consequences to man.

   Our patient, if he is further asked as to the nature of his disease,
   will tell you that it is internal, but that it works itself out
   externally--

   "The leprosy lies deep within."

   The sin which Christ came to heal is not something on the skin, or a
   mere matter of custom, or habit. No, my Brothers and Sisters, the venom
   of sin is in the very fountain of our being! It has poisoned our heart.
   It is in the very marrow of our bones and is as natural to us as
   anything that belongs to us. You might even tear the man in pieces, but
   you could not tear his sin from him. The Mohammed legend tells us that
   Mohammed was so pure because an angel had taken out his heart and wrung
   two black drops of evil out of it. Those who believe that lie, little
   understand the great Truth that what is needed is to get out of a man
   every drop of evil, yes, that he must be made a newmanbefore it is
   possible to destroy the disease that is in him! Two drops of evil, my
   Brothers and Sisters? It is far worse than that, for it is the whole
   man who is evil--all his heart, all his nature--the venom is
   everywhere! There is not, in unrenewed human nature, a place where you
   could put the point of a pin where it is not defiled with sin! It is in
   our entire system--we have been lying in it until we are steeped
   through and through with it. Sin, in human nature, is like those colors
   that are ingrained--the more you wash the material, the more clearly
   they are discovered! You can never wash them out--only the precious
   blood of Jesus can wash out man's sin.

   We bend down over our patient and ask him another question-- "How did
   you get this disease?" He answers, "I got it as diseases are generally
   gotten. I had it in three ways. First, by inheritance." Doubtless, many
   persons inherit certain diseases from their birth and we have all
   inherited sin from our birth. David expressly says and he, certainly,
   was no worse than others, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity." That
   old-fashioned Doctrine--that sin is bred in us--against which some
   people kick so ferociously, is true for all their kicking! And what is
   bred in the bones will come out in the flesh sooner or later. We were
   born of a traitor and traitors were we born.

   Nor have we merely received sin by inheritance. Sin is contagious and
   we have caught it from our fellow men. Many sins, which, perhaps, we
   might not otherwise have fallen into, we have acquired through our
   association with other sinners. Hence the value of early Christian
   training. Hence the blessedness of being found in the company of the
   godly. Surely you know, O Man, that this world's very air is full of
   fumes and laden with the germs of the plague, so you have acquired
   innumerable diseases of soul beside that which you have inherited from
   your fathers!

   In addition to that, as some diseases result from intemperance and
   other forms of evil living, doubtless the disease which was naturally
   in each one of us has been fed by our transgression. We have grown
   worse than we originally were through that upon which our sin has fed.
   We have gone from bad to worse, from one iniquity to another, till
   folly has ripened into sin and sin has culminated in crime. Such is the
   state of unrenewed man--diseased even from his birth, catching more
   soul maladies from others, or acquiring them by his own evil deeds, our
   patient is, indeed, sick--sick unto death!

   Perhaps someone asks, " Where is this disease of which you speak?" I
   have already answered that question, but I will answer it again more
   fully. The disease of sin in you, my Hearer, for youare the patient of
   whom I speak--is to be found everywhere! The eyes of your understanding
   are darkened so that you cannot see the things of God as God would have
   you see them. Your affections are perverted so that you love that which
   you should hate, and hate that which you should love. Your conscience,
   which should be the candle of the Lord shining within you, burns very
   dimly. Conscience is no more perfect than is any other power in man. I
   know that some people speak of conscience as though it were the vice
   regent of God, but it is no such thing! It is defiled and depraved like
   all the rest of our powers. As for the will, my Lord Will-be-Will, as
   Bunyan calls it, the Mayor of Mansoul--it is a slave which boasts of
   freedom, but is never more in bondage than when it boasts of being
   free! Sinner, your very memoryis prone to retain evil rather than good!
   It will keep the chaff, but let the wheat run through.

   The refuse which floats down the stream finds a place of resting with
   you--but if goodly cedars come down from Lebanon, you lay not hold of
   them! The devil's lies, lascivious songs, foul words, thoughtless
   jeers--all these stick like burrs, but God's gracious Word, an earnest
   Gospel discourse, a solemn hymn--these, alas, glide from you like oil
   down a block of marble--and you go your way and forget all about them.
   There is no power that you possess that has not the slime of the
   serpent upon it! O Satan, you have dashed down the palace of manhood!
   Stately are its columns, even while they lie amidst the rubbish where
   the grass grows and the owl hoots--but you have cast down every pillar,
   you have broken the shafts and laid the capitals in the mire. Ah, you
   foul fiend, you have made that to be a den of darkness which was once a
   place of light where holy angels and even God, Himself, could walk. How
   are you fallen, O Man, once a son of the morning, but now a child of
   darkness until God shall give you light!

   The disease of sin is everywhere in the realm of manhood and it is all
   the more certainly proved to be everywhere because so many people
   cannot see it! This is why you cannot see sin in yourselves--it has
   made all the various faculties of your soul to mortify so that you
   cannot feel the pains which this mortal disease would otherwise have
   caused you. Thus your heart has lost any tenderness that it may have
   had, naturally, and your conscience is seared as with a hot iron so
   that it cannot warn you of the mischief within, but prophesies smooth
   things--while all is in a state of ruin, destruction and dismay--and
   will be so forever unless God, by His Grace, shall work a miraculous
   change.

   Perhaps someone asks, "If the man is so diseased, what are the effects
   of his sickness?" The usual effect of all sickness is that the man's
   strength declines and he begins to waste away. You do not ask a sick
   man to run a race. And we must not ask an unrenewed sinner to run the
   race of godliness. We do not expect the man who has long tossed upon
   the bed of pain, to march in the soldiers' ranks and to fight battles.
   Nor can an unsaved sinner be valiant for God and His Truth. What a
   dreadful inability sin brings with it! That simple command of the
   Gospel, "Believe," the sinner cannot obey of himself. He can no more
   repent and believe without the Holy Spirit's aid, than he could create
   a world! And, unless Divine Grace gives him the power to obey the
   command which bids him to believe, he never will be able to believe.
   You have lost all strength, Sinner. You have brought yourself down to
   be as one dead and as they that sleep in the grave. Your inability is
   awful and this is the effect of your sin.

   Moreover, this sickness not only brings weakness, but it also impairs
   the beauty of the frame. We see many persons walking along our streets,
   poor, pale, emaciated creatures. And others who bear upon their
   features the marks which they must carry to the grave--of some dire
   disease which once made them its victims. Ah, Sinner, if you could but
   see yourself as God sees you, you would see that you have transformed
   that which was the image of God for loveliness into the image of Satan
   for horror! O Soul, if God should ever hold up His mirror to you and
   let you see yourself as you are by nature and by practice, too, you
   would be greatly alarmed, for there is no more dreadful sight out of
   Hell than that of a naked, unregenerate human heart! So, then, sin
   brings a marring of all beauty. And, besides this, it brings
   destruction of all comfort. Sick men cannot get peace and ease--they
   toss from side to side, but find no rest in any position.

   Many of you must confess that sin gives you no comfort. I know you fill
   your glasses and sing and shout that the ungodly are jolly good
   fellows, but they have nothing substantial to sustain their joys. I
   know that when you wake up at midnight, you are not at ease. I know
   that when you are on a lonely road, the falling of a leaf makes you
   start and the more you brag, the more cowardly does it prove you to be!
   The very man who blasphemes God the most is generally the one who is
   most afraid of God. Men do but use great swelling words of vanity and
   boasting that they may hide the fears that lurk within them, but which
   they are ashamed to admit. I believe there are no such superstitious
   people anywhere as those who pretend that they do not believe in a God.
   You may toil to find pleasure in sin, but you shall never discover it.
   The dregs of sin are always bitter--the cup may sparkle on the
   brim--but when you have drained it, there shall come satiety, woe and
   redness of the eyes. Rake all the dunghills of earth, but you will
   never find the jewel of peace with God! Go and work in all the world's
   mines till you have utterly spent yourselves, but you shall find that
   you have wasted your strength for that which is not bread and your
   labor for that which satisfies not. Yes, sin is a sickness that robs us
   of comfort.

   And, worst of all, it is a sickness that will end in death--a death
   that is something more than death--it is the second death, the death
   that never dies. What a contrast there is between life and death! Yet
   there is not half such a contrast between life and death as between the
   mere act of dying and the second death, the casting into the Lake of
   Fire! Oh, the wrath to come! The wrath to come! The wrath to come! It
   were enough to make you start from your seats if you did but know what
   those four words mean! To die unrenewed, unpardoned--to face a
   righteously angry God, to be made the target for all His arrows, to be
   torn in pieces in His hot displeasure, Sinner--can you bear even to
   think of this? Yet this is what your sickness will lead to unless the
   Great Physician, of whom I am presently to speak, shall come and heal
   you.

   Having been to see the patient and having said so much concerning his
   disease, I wonder whether you are saying in your hearts, "If this is
   true, there is great need of a Physician"? For, if so, you have learned
   what is the very essence of the text. The only right a man has to
   Christ is his need of Him. If you have been brought into the condition
   I have been trying to describe, your need is extreme and, since you
   need the Great Physician, I am glad to tell you that He is here, ready
   to hear you. Lay hold of Him! Look to Him now! Christ Jesus is set
   before you in the Gospel--look to Him and live!

   II. Now we are going to stop at the door of ONE WHO REFUSES TO BE
   CALLED A PATIENT or to come into the list of sick folk at all.

   The sick have need of a physician, but those who are whole manifestly
   have no such need. Are there any "whole" people? Oh, no! All have need
   of the Great Physician and, therefore, we preach Christ to all. All are
   spiritually sick and, therefore, we entreat all to come unto Him who
   alone can heal them. But we have to deal with men as they look upon
   themselves--and there are some people who think that they are not
   sinners and who, therefore, do not need a Savior. Let me give you a
   description of some of them.

   There is a good woman, probably she is here--who says, "I have brought
   up a large family. I am sure I was always kind to my children. My
   husband always said I was the best of wives. As for my neighbors, I
   have got up in the middle of the night to nurse them. If any of them
   ever had the fever, they always said, 'Send for Mrs. So-and-So, she'll
   come to us.' I always managed my household affairs so that I owed no
   man anything. Everybody respects me and I do not like being told by
   you, Sir, that I am as bad as you say. In fact, I do not believe that I
   am--many people say that I am about the best-hearted person in the
   parish--and I think I am."

   Well now, dear Friend, I see that you are evidently one of these whole
   people, or one of those who think themselves whole. You do not need a
   Savior, so you shall not have one! But, as you will have no Savior to
   take you to Heaven, where will you go? Why, you and all your good works
   will go down to Hell unless you repent of this proud way of talking,
   for you are rebelling against God all the while that you are speaking
   thus! You have been very good to your children? Well, that is right, so
   let your children repay you--God does not owe you anything for that You
   have also been very kind to your neighbors? That is good--would that
   more were like you in that respect! But let your neighbors thank
   you--God owes you nothing for that What did you ever do for God? Why,
   you have never done anything for Him since He made you! You preferred
   your children to Him and you thought it better to live to serve your
   neighbors than to live to serve your God! Oh, dear! What does all your
   fine righteousness prove to be as soon as we examine it? It is filthy
   rags! So throw it away, for, as long as you cling to it, you
   practically say that you have no need of a Savior and, having no need
   of a Savior, Christ does not come to you!

   I also know a good many people of the other sex, everyone of whom says,
   "I never will believe that my nature is so bad as you say it is. I do
   not doubt that with some convicts, or other thoroughly bad-hearted
   fellows, it is as you say, but I do not believe that what you have said
   is true of all of us. Just look at me, Sir! I have large premises in
   the City. I like to conduct my business in an honorable manner--nobody
   can say that I am overreaching. I have an old clerk, Sir, who has
   worked for me for 30 years--ask him whether I am not as kind a master
   as can be. My people at home like me very much. I subscribe to the
   Bible Society. I give a couple of guineas a year to a Ragged School. I
   have been in the habit of going to church or chapel ever since I was a
   lad--I do not know that anybody can say much against me. I may have had
   a little too much wine after dinner once or twice, but that is nothing
   to be ashamed of--everybody does that sometimes. So, Sir, I can say
   that your representation of me is not true."

   Very well, Friend, I will take you at your own valuation. It seems,
   then, that you have no need of a physician, so Christ's coming into the
   world could not have had any relation to you. Suppose you could get to
   Heaven on your theory--do you know what they would have to do for you?
   Why, they would have to build a new Heaven on purpose for you because
   all the people who have ever entered there say, "We have washed our
   robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." But there is no
   need to wash what is already clean--and your robes are, it seems, so
   uncommonly clean that they need no washing! If you could get into
   Heaven as you are, you would be able to sing to your own praise and
   glory forever! But, to tell you the truth, you will never get there as
   you are, for the only footing on which a man can go to Heaven is that
   of a humble acceptance of God's Grace. Now, you are not humble! What
   you have just said proves to me that you are as proud as Lucifer and,
   certainly, you have not a right estimate of sin, or you would not have
   said just now. "I have only done what everybody else does."

   Does it make a thing less sinful because everybody does it? It appears
   to me, dear Friend, that you do not know much about yourself and that
   if you would spend half as much time in taking stock of your own
   character as you do in the stock-taking up at those large premises in
   the city of which you are so proud, you would soon discover that you
   are spiritually bankrupt, that you cannot pay a single penny in the
   pound, much less 20 shillings--that you have forgotten God up to this
   very day, that you have trampled on the blood of Christ by insisting
   upon it that you do not need it--that you

   have insulted Divine Wisdom by saying that it has provided what you do
   not require! You must admit that you have insulted Divine Justice and
   Truth, for both of these denounce you and condemn you--and yet you say
   you do not deserve condemnation! O Man, the poorest soul that is
   trembling at the feet of Christ is in a more hopeful state than you
   are, with all your morality and all your boasted righteousness! Your
   only right to Christ lies in your need of Christ! But, according to
   your description of yourself, you evidently do not feel that you need
   Him. Very well, then, you have no right to Him and if you remain as you
   are, you will certainly perish in your sin!

   Possibly someone else says, "Ah, Sir, I do not trust in my good works,
   for I have something better to trust to. When I was quite a little one,
   I was taken to church and the parson put some water on my face--I do
   not know whether there is anything about that in the Bible, by the way,
   but that made me 'a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor
   of the Kingdom of Heaven'--at least, so the Catechism says. And, a long
   while after that, I went to the church again and a bishop put his hands
   on my head--I do not know what it all meant, and I had never felt
   anything very particular--but then they told me to come to the
   Communion and I did, and nobody ever refused me. I have heard that
   there is a great deal of meaning in coming to the Sacrament and I
   intend, when I get ill, to look into these matters a little more. But,
   for the present, I am quite satisfied with what our clergyman tells me.
   They do say that he is bit of a Puseyite, but we need not bother our
   heads about that. If we attend to the ordinance of the church, I
   daresay it will be all right with us."

   Well Friend, let me tell you plainly, in the name of the Most High,
   that your refuge is a refuge of lies and your confidence is a
   deception! If I speak to others of you and you tell me that you were
   immersed according to the Apostolic fashion, and that you come and
   commune at the Lord's Table, and that you are trusting in this for
   salvation, I would say the same to you--that your hope is equally a
   lie!--

   "Not all the outward forms on earth,

   Nor rites that God has given,

   Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth,

   Can raise a soul to Heaven/"

   If you rest on these things and think that you are whole as the result
   of having done so, then you practically say that you have no need of
   the Great Physician and, consequently, you have no claim upon Him for
   His aid. O Brothers and Sisters, our plea with Christ must be our
   wounds! That is His plea with His Father--His wounds! And that must be
   our plea with Him--our sins, our needs, our unrighteousness--not our
   goodness, nor our resolves to be better! We must bring before the Lord
   our sins!

   But I am quite conscious, though I try to describe their cases as
   clearly as I can, that some who think themselves whole, will still
   escape. One will say, "The preacher could not mean me." Perhaps your
   character has been accurately sketched, yet you say, "The preacher
   could not mean me! I am such an honest and upright man! Do you mean to
   tell me, Sir, that I am to be saved in the same way as a chimney-sweep
   or a poor fallen woman?" Yes, that is exactly what I mean! There is no
   other way to Heaven for you than there is for such people as you have
   mentioned. You must come just as the vilest of the vile come--just as
   empty-handed as they come, you, also, must come to Christ--and if you
   do, He will receive you.

   III. Our time has flown so rapidly that I can only speak briefly of THE
   PHYSICIAN.

   If anyone asks, "What is His diploma?" It is here--"The Spirit of the
   Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the
   poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted." God the Father sent
   Him to heal sin-sick souls. Where did He study? He studied in the great
   hospital of human disease! For 33 years, "He went about doing good."

   What practice has He had? He has had the most extensive practice that a
   physician could have. Millions of happy souls above have been cured by
   Him and millions here on earth have also been healed by Him--and all of
   them will gladly speak His praises!

   If you want to know what His medicine is, I may tell you that He has
   two medicines. This is one--"He sent His word and healed them"--His
   word of promise, His word of invitation, His word of command. But He
   also has another medicine. That is, His own blood. Unlike other
   physicians who give bitter potions to their patients, the great
   Physician drank all the medicine Himself!

   But you will ask, "What is His fee? He gives healing "without money and
   without price." You may ask, "Where is His dispensary?" To every
   creature under Heaven who trusts Him, Christ presents a free and
   complete cure. And you will ask, "What are His hours? Any hour, and
   every hour, by night or by day. But you will say, "Where can I find
   Him," Just wherever you are now sitting or standing, you can find Him
   if you will but breathe this prayer, "God be merciful to Me a sinner."
   If you trust Him with your soul, then the honor of this great Physician
   is engaged to make a sure and certain cure of you. Blessed Physician,
   would that we had time and ability to speak of You and of the wonders
   You have worked! You can heal the vilest, the most diseased, the most
   helpless and hopeless of sinners!

   I want to conclude by earnestly inviting you to come to this Great
   Physician at once. I know that many of you will say that you are
   unworthy. That is true, but no one was ever saved because he was
   worthy. Even though you are unworthy, have you not a need of a Savior?
   And being conscious of such a need is all the fitness and worthiness He
   requires! If you need Christ, you are fit to come to Christ. If you
   need to have sin forgiven, you are a fit subject for Christ to deal
   with. You need not talk about your unworthiness, for Christ bids you
   come unto Him. Possibly you say that your case is such a very
   complicated one that you do not understand it yourself--but He
   understands it. You cannot tie a knot of sin which Christ cannot untie!
   Christ can cure your disease whatever it is, even if it has become
   chronic with you. Christ can cure habitual sinners. He can cure the sin
   that was born with you and He can do it this very hour! He can make the
   drunkard sober in a moment. He can turn the very chief of transgressors
   from the error of his ways and set his feet in the right path--and that
   in a moment!

   The sin of twenty thousand years--if it could be possible for anyone to
   have sinned so long--He can take away in a moment when we believe on
   Him! "Well, but," says one, "I am such an old sinner." I have read that
   a young lad of the age of 15 heard Mr. Flavel preach and, soon after,
   he moved to America and settled in a quiet village there. He lived 85
   years after that, an unconverted man and, one day, sitting in the
   field, thinking, he remembered Mr. Flavel's sermon and the earnest way
   in which he spoke. Old men often remember the things of their youth
   better than those of yesterday. What Mr. Flavel had preached 85 years
   before was blessed to that sinner over a hundred years old--and he
   sought and found mercy! And he lived some years after that to tell what
   Divine Love and faithfulness could do! You are not a hundred yet, but
   if you had wasted a whole century in sin, God's Grace could enable you
   to begin another century walking in the paths of righteousness to your
   life's end!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE 5:1-32.

   Verses 1, 2. And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him
   to hear the Word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw
   two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of
   them, and were washing their nets. Before folding them up, as if they
   intended to do no more with them just then, as they had been working
   all night in vain.

   3. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed
   him that he would put out a little from the land. It is very difficult
   to speak effectively when the people come too close to the speaker and,
   sometimes, a little inconvenience like that may interfere with the flow
   of the speaker's thoughts and words. Even the Savior seems to have felt
   that He needed a little breathing space between Himself and His
   audience.

   3. And He sat down and taught the people out of the ship. That was what
   some people would have called an uncon-secrated place, but Christ's
   Presence consecrated it, as it does every place where He condescends to
   meet with us--

   " Where're we seek Him, He is found, And everyplace is hallowed
   ground."

   4. Now when He had stopped speaking, He said unto Simon, launch out
   into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Whenever He
   borrows a pulpit, or anything else, He pays good interest for the loan!
   Christ will not be in even a boatman's debt. For every cup of cold
   water given to His disciples in His name the Master will take care to
   pay.

   5. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the
   night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Your word I will let
   down the net Out of personal respect and obedience to Christ, having,
   perhaps, but a slender hope of any good coming of it, yet,
   nevertheless, he will let down the net.

   6, 7. And when they had done this, they encloseda great multitude
   offishes: and theirnet broke. And they beckoned unto their partners,
   which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. For
   they had launched out so far into the sea to scarcely to be within
   hearing, so they beckoned to their partners in the other ship--and they
   rowed out to help them.

   7. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
   We can have too much of a good thing, yes, too much, even, of the best
   things, for our poor frail vessel cannot hold all that God would be
   willing to put into it.

   8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying,
   Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Not knowing what he
   said, though he knew what he meant--feeling as if he, so sinful, had
   come too close to the Lord who was so gracious, so he must not dare to
   stay near Him. Have you never felt the same as that? If not, I think
   you have neither known your Lord, nor yourselves, for the knowledge of
   Christ, combined with the knowledge of ourselves, is sure to produce
   this holy shrinking in which we have no need for anyone to say to us,
   "Take off your shoes" for we are almost ready to take off our very
   body, for we can scarcely bear the Glory of the Presence of the Lord!

   9, 10. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the
   draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and
   John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus
   said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth you shall catch men. He
   seemed to imply that he should catch them after the same rate, too, and
   so he did, for the first throw of the net brought in 3,000 and very
   soon the number caught was increased to five thousand. That was good
   fishing by those first Gospel fishermen! Oh, that we could throw the
   net as they did!

   11. 12. And when they had brought the ships to land, they forsook all
   and followed Him. andit came topass, when He was in a certain city,
   behold a man full of leprosy. That is a characteristic touch of Luke,
   who, as a physician, with a glance of his eyes, took in the condition
   of the man, not as merely a leper, but as one "full of leprosy."

   12. 13. Who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought Him, saying,
   Lord if You will, You can make me clean. And He put forth His hand, and
   touched him. The perfectly Pure One touched the leprous man without
   Himself becoming contaminated. In any other house, the man who touched
   a leper would have been defiled, but when Christ comes into contact
   with impurity, He is not defiled--He removes it! This is what the
   Gospel is meant to do to the world. We are to go and seek the good of
   the most fallen and abandoned of men and those who do so ought to have
   so much of the spirit of Jesus Christ in them, and so much vitality in
   their piety, that they will not be tempted by the sin upon which they
   look! But, on the contrary, will overcome that sin and impart spiritual
   health instead of receiving infection. May we be in such a state of
   health as Jesus was! Then shall we be able to touch the leper and not
   be defiled. Jesus touched Him--

   13. Saying, I will: be you clean. And immediately the leprosy departed
   from him.--Ask Him to touch you, also, poor leprous Soul--you who are
   full of sin, you who are deeply conscious that the deadly disease of
   sin is incurably upon you! Ask Him but to touch you, for the touch of
   His finger shall make you clean in a moment! Christ's cures are often
   instantaneous. He who could speak a world into being with a word, can
   also speak a man into perfect spiritual sanity with a word.

   14. 15. And He charged him to tell no man, but go and show yourself to
   the priest, and offer for your cleansing, according as Moses commanded,
   for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went there a fame
   abroad of Him. Some fires burn the more fiercely for being
   dampened--and such was the fame of Christ--it was not to be kept under.
   The more He bade men be quiet, "so much the more went there a fame
   abroad of Him."

   15. And great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him
   of their infirmities. Two words that I long to see linked together in
   this house--"to hear, and to be healed by Him." You come to hear. Can
   you not also come "to be healed by Him of your infirmities"?

   16. And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness andprayed. The tense of
   the verb implies that He often did this. It was His habit to withdraw
   Himself for private prayer even in His busiest times and when He could
   occupy every minute with great advantage to the people. Thus He
   gathered new strength from above for each day's work--and when there
   was most to be done, then He took most time to pray. It is an evil
   economy that tries to take time for other things that should be spent
   in prayer, for the shortening of prayer will be the weakening of our
   power.

   17. And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that
   there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting by, which were come
   out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power
   of the Lord was present to heal them. Not the Pharisees and doctors of
   the Law--they do not often get healed by Christ--but "the power of the

   Lord was present to heal the multitude." The only people for whom there
   seems to be no power to heal are these Pharisees and doctors, as will
   appear by the following narrative.

   18. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a
   palsy. He had had a stroke of paralysis.

   18. 19. And they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before
   Him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in
   because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop. By the external
   staircase--

   19. Andlet him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst
   before Jesus. Probably into the courtyard of the house where Jesus was
   preaching.

   20. And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, Man, your sins are
   forgiven you. Laying the axe at the root-- not healing the paralysis,
   at first, but forgiving the sin which depressed the man's spirit and so
   was, in a measure, the cause of the paralysis. By removing the sin, He
   raised the man's spirits and with his renewed spirits, there same back
   strength. Note that it was when He saw their faith that He said unto
   the man, "Your sins are forgiven you."

   21. And the scribes and the Pharisees. Here they are, these quibbling
   gentlemen, these Pharisees and doctors of the Law.

   21-23. Began to reason, saying, Who it this which speaks blasphemies?
   Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their
   thoughts, He answering said unto them, What do you reason in your
   hearts? Which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you; or to say,
   Rise up and walk?He that could do the one could do the other! He who
   bids the paralyzed man walk is Divine--He, therefore, can forgive sin!

   24-26. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power upon earth
   to forgive sins, He said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto you,
   Arise, and take up your couch, and go into your house. And immediately
   he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed
   to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they
   glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, we have seen strange
   things today. May we often see such "strange things" spiritually!

   27-32. And after these things He went forth, andsaw a publican,
   namedLevi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He said unto him,
   Follow Me. And he left all, rose up, and followed Him. And Levi made
   Him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of
   publicans and of others that sat down with them. But the scribes and
   Pharisees murmured against His disciples, saying, Why do you eat and
   drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them,
   They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick I came
   not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The murmuring of
   those Pharisees and doctors of the Law had one good result, for it led
   the Savior to declare the purpose of His mission to the earth--"I came
   not to call the righteous, but sinners."
     __________________________________________________________________

Prayerful Importunity

   (No. 2836)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JUNE 21, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF AMERSHAM BAPTIST CHAPEL, IN NOVEMBER, 1857.

   "And shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry day and night unto
   Him, though He bears long with them?" Luke 18:7.

   YOU remember this is the conclusion of the parable of the importunate
   widow. Her husband was dead. He had left her, perhaps, a little
   property, but some adversary, very probably a lawyer, seized hold of it
   and took from her all that she had. What was she to do? She went
   straightway to the judge, the appointed minister of justice in the
   city. The first time she went, she met with a cold repulse. She went a
   second time--her poverty drove her, her necessity compelled her to face
   the man again. Now the judge "neither feared God, nor regarded man,"
   but at last, seeing the vehemence of the woman, feeling that he should
   be exceedingly troubled by her constant importunity, he granted her
   request and he did avenge her of her adversary. Jesus used this to show
   the power of importunity--"Hear what the unjust judge said"-- "And if
   the unjust judge did this, shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry
   day and night unto Him?"

   Now, in trying to discuss this text this evening, I shall first show
   what I believe to be the primary application of it And, secondly, I
   shall try to enlarge upon the general principle involved in it--that
   importunity is very prevalent with God.

   I. To begin, then, WHAT WAS THE ABSOLUTE AND CLEAREST MEANING THAT OUR
   SAVIOR WOULD CONVEY TO HIS DISCIPLES BY THE PARABLE?

   Well, now, I think the whole sense of the parable, as far as we can
   make any special application of it, hinges upon the meaning of that
   word, "avenge." What is it that Christ's Church is always praying for?
   The answer is they are praying spiritually for that which the poor
   widow prayed for actually--they are praying to be avenged of their
   adversary. Now what did this mean in the poor woman's case? For, in
   some degree, it means just the same in the Church's case. I do not
   believe that that poor widow, when she went to the judge, went for mere
   vengeance's sake. I cannot conceive that our Savior would have
   exhibited the perseverance of malice as an example to His people. I do
   not think that when she applied day after day to the court of the
   judge, to be avenged, she applied to have her adversary punished for
   the mere sake of his being punished. It strikes me there was no revenge
   whatever in the poor woman's spirit and that what she went for was
   simply this--her husband was dead, he had left her a little property,
   it was all she had to bring his babes up and support herself--someone
   had seized this property and what she needed was that the property
   might be restored to her.

   Her request was that that which had been unlawfully taken from the weak
   by the mighty, might at once be taken from the clutches of the strong
   and restored unto the rightful owner. I think any intelligent person
   reading the passage would at once conceive that that was what she was
   seeking. Now the Church of Christ is seeking the very same thing. Those
   that can cry day and night in Heaven before the Throne of God do not
   cry out of a spirit of revenge. The saints, when they pray to God on
   earth and girdle the globe with supplication, do not pray against the
   wicked out of a spirit of hatred. God forbid that any of us should ever
   fall on our knees and ask God to avenge us of our adversary in the
   common acceptation of that phrase! I am sure there is no Christian
   actuated by the Spirit of Christ who would ever ask for vengeance, even
   on the head of the bloodiest persecutor. For if he should do so, I
   think the lips of Jesus might rebuke him, for we know what Jesus said
   when He was dying--He did not wish to be avenged, for He said--"Father,
   forgive them, for they know not what they do."

   Christ's Church is seeking after just what the poor widow was seeking
   and we are to understand our text, "Shall not God avenge His own
   elect?" in that modified sense which the parable would convey to us.
   The fact is, Christ's Church is a widow. It is true her Husband is
   alive but she is in a widowed state because He has departed from her.
   Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Bridegroom, was once with His people
   and the Church could not mourn or fast when the Bridegroom was with
   her. But He said, "The day shall come when the Bridegroom shall be
   taken away, and then she shall fast." These are the days--"Our Jesus
   has gone up on high"--He is not with us in Person, now--He has left His
   Church in the wilderness. It is true He has left the Comforter with
   her, but His own absolute, personal Presence is not vouchsafed to her.
   He is not yet come a second time without a Sin-Offering unto salvation.
   Well, then, taking advantage of the absence of Christ, the Church's
   Husband, the kings, the princes, the rulers and spiritual wickedness in
   high places have sought to rob the Church of her rights and her
   privileges! And what the Church is always crying for is that God would
   restore her, her rights--that He would give to her the portion which
   her Husband left her in His last legacy and which, in due time, when
   God shall have answered her prayers, He shall restore unto her. And
   what is that legacy?

   My Brothers and Sisters, there are many things that Christ has left to
   His Church of which the world has robbed us. The Church was once a
   united Church. When Christ was in this world, His prayer was that they
   all might be one, even as He and His Father were One. Alas, the world
   has robbed us of our unity and now behold the Church cries day and
   night, "Restore, O Lord, the scattered of Israel, and bring us into one
   fold, and let us have one Shepherd!" The spirit of the world has crept
   into our midst and split us into many denominations. God's children are
   not now called Christians, but they are called Baptists and
   Independents, Churchmen, Dissenters and such-like names of distinction.
   Their oneness, although it really exists in the heart, is lost, at
   least in the outward appearance of it and, to some degree, it is
   entirely lost. But the Church is crying for it every day--the true
   hearts in the midst of God's Zion and the glorified spirits above are
   crying day without night, "O Lord, make Your Church one!"

   Again, the Church was sent into this world to bring the world to a
   knowledge of the Truth of God and, one day the kingdoms of this world
   shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. We may say
   that all the world is Christ's, though heathenism has a part of it,
   Mohammed has another and the Pope another. The world is divided into
   different sections, under different false systems of religion, but all
   the world belongs by right to Christ. We can cast our eyes around the
   world from the river even to the ends of the earth and we can say, "The
   kings of the isles shall bring tribute; the princes of Sheba and Seba
   shall offer gifts; kings shall yet be the nursing fathers of the
   Church, and queens the nursing mothers." But the world has robbed us of
   this--the different false religions have spoiled the Church's
   inheritance, the wild boar of the woods wastes her and devours her
   borders. Zion's banner should wave everywhere in every kingdom, but
   instead thereof the priests, the kings, the idol gods have taken the
   kingdoms unto themselves.

   Now this is the great thing, I believe, that the Church is praying for.
   You know the Church is one day to wear a crown. Christ's Church is
   Christ's royal bride and she is to have a crown. But she can never have
   it until her prayer has been heard, until her Lord comes to revenge her
   wrongs. For, lo, the Church of God is trampled on and despised! The
   precious sons of Zion, comparable unto fine gold--how are they esteemed
   as earthen pitchers, the workings of the potter! God's chosen people
   are counted as the off-scouring of all things, instead of being as,
   indeed they are, considered as the blood royal of the universe--the
   princes among men! Now, because of these lost rights, Christ's Church
   cries day and night unto God, crying out, "O Lord, avenge us of our
   adversary, and restore unto Your widowed Church her rights!"

   Put the Jew wherever you may, and he will always declare that the
   promised land belongs to his nation. There is a pride about the Jew,
   wherever he may be--he believes himself to still belong to that chosen
   family whose were the Covenants and the oracles. That is true of the
   Christian--he may be ever so poor, ever so despised, but knowing
   himself to belong to the chosen body, he claims that all things are his
   own. You may clothe him in fustian and you may feed him on bread and
   water, but he will still say, "All things are mine." You may thrust him
   into a dungeon and let no light come to him except through iron bars,
   but he will still declare, "Mine are the valleys and the hills! Mine by
   sacred right--my Father made them all." There is a royalty in a
   Christian which persecution cannot burn out, which shame cannot crush,
   which poverty cannot root up! There it is and there it must be
   forever--conscious of his high rights and distinctive privileges, the
   Christian, the Believer, will never cease to cry unto Christ that he
   may yet have his rights and possess what his God gave him.

   Now, dear Friends, very often we are low-spirited and down-hearted.
   Sometimes the Christian minister goes back from his pulpit and says,
   "Ah, the Gospel seems to be making very little progress I do not see
   how the kingdoms of this earth are to belong to Christ." The Sunday
   school teacher goes home from his class and says, "This is weary work.
   If things go on as they do now, we shall always have to say, 'Who has
   believed our report,' and how can the Church prosper if things are so?"
   And there are times with each of us--when a kind of sickness seizes our
   spirits--we look at everything with a sad eye and we say, "Ah, the
   millennium is many years off." Indeed, unbelief says it is quite
   impossible! "How shall the heathen bow before Him? How shall they that
   dwell in the wilderness lick the dust?" Now, you who have thought thus
   and you who are thinking so now, hear the Savior's argument for your
   consolation, the argument couched in the text--The Church of God is
   crying unto Him day and night! There where the burning lamps of Heaven
   perpetually light the skies--high in the seventh heaven, above the
   stars, where angels cast their crowns before the Most High, the saints
   forever cry to God, "O Lord, avenge Your own elect!" for prayer is made
   in Heaven. The saints under the altar cry aloud, "O Lord, how long?"
   There is never a moment when the saints cease to pray. They have--

   " Vials full of odor sweet, And harps of sweeter sound." And we
   remember that the saints on earth are always in prayer. You meet
   together in the evening for prayer. You scatter to your houses and then
   your family fires begin to burn. And when your family fires are put out
   and your private devotions have ceased, the sun is just rising in the
   other land across the western sea and there they are beginning to pray
   again! And when the sun has set, then it rises somewhere round the
   world in the far east, there by the Ganges river, there by the Himalaya
   steeps--and the saints of God begin again. And when the sun winds on
   its course and again shines somewhere else, then the saints of the Lord
   offer incense and a pure offering, so that there is never an hour when
   this world ceases to offer its incense--not one moment, even in the
   darkest shades of midnight--when prayer does not ascend from this lower
   world! And it would be ill for the world if there were a moment when
   prayer should be suspended, for remember what a poet says, "Perhaps the
   day when this world shall be consumed will be a day unbrightened by a
   prayer." Perhaps it may be so, but certainly such a day as that has not
   yet rolled over the world, for day without night the world is girdled
   with prayer and one sacred belt of supplication winds the whole globe!

   Now, said Christ, if God's elect in Heaven and on earth are day without
   night without ceasing, crying to God to give the Church her empire, her
   reign, her splendors, her victories--rest assured the Church shall have
   what it asks for! Shall not God avenge His own elect that cry day and
   night unto Him? Yes, Beloved Brothers and Sisters, we may not live to
   see it, though sometimes I think there are some alive in this world who
   will live to see that bright day. And yet, if we live not to see it,
   the day shall come when Christ, who is the Truth, shall have all power
   given unto Him under Heaven even as He really has even now--He shall
   then have it given to Him in the form and symbol and fashion of it
   also. The day is coming when Christ shall come in the clouds of Heaven
   to reign upon this earth in the midst of His people. Then, when He
   shall come, the kingdoms of this world shall be converted to Him--all
   people shall flock to His colors! Every knee shall bow before Him and
   every tongue confess that the Lord is God!

   I have sometimes thought that I may yet live to see that day, and
   perhaps some of you. We cannot tell when Christ shall come. We are very
   apt to forget that He comes as a thief in the night, in such an hour as
   we think not. It is a pleasing thought, sometimes, to remember that
   there may be some standing here that will not die, for we know the
   Scripture says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep,
   but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at
   the last trump." When Christ shall come, we shall be alive and remain,
   perhaps, some of us, for He may come tomorrow, He may come tonight!
   Before the word I am speaking reaches your ears, the trumpet of the
   Resurrection and Jubilee may startle us all and we may behold Christ
   come in the clouds of Heaven! But whether He comes or not in our
   lifetime, there will be some alive when He shall come and they, if they
   are His people, shall not die--they shall be changed--"the dead shall
   be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." "Then we which are
   alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,
   to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we always be with the Lord."

   O work on, minister! Toil on, teacher! Weep on, mourner! Pray on,
   intercessor! Hope on, Believer, the hallowed day is coming! Some of the
   streaks of the gray light already mark the horizon. Some of the sweet
   tidings of the Master's coming have already been announced to God's
   favorite people! Some that have dwelt high on the mountaintop of
   communion have declared that the time is approaching. The chariot
   wheels of Christ are drawing near! But be it near, or be it

   far off, it must come. It shall come! The Church shall triumph--the
   world shall be subdued beneath her feet. God shall avenge His own elect
   who cry day and night unto Him. Now, I take that as the absolute
   meaning of the passage, the nearest and most appropriate way of
   explaining it.

   II. And now I am going to try to work out THE PRINCIPLE OF THE TEXT. It
   is this--Importunity will prevail. Now you must not smile while I give
   you two pictures--the pictures that Christ gave His disciples, worked
   out a little, so as to be more plain to you. Jesus Christ says if you
   need anything of God, if you do not get it the first time, try again.
   And if you do not get it then, continue in prayer, for continuing long
   in prayer, you will prevail with God. And He gives you two pictures
   that we have had this evening.

   The first is the good man who had no bread in his house when his friend
   came. You may picture the scene. He says, "I am very glad to see you,
   but I have not a morsel of food in the house. If I had the richest
   dainties in the world, you could have them all but I have not any."
   "Well, but," says his friend, "I have come a good many miles this day.
   I cannot go to rest without something to eat. I shall faint." "Well,
   but," he says, "I have nothing for you." "My dear Friend," says the
   other, "cannot you obtain a morsel? I am famished by the way--I
   expected to have got to my resting place at noontide, and now it is
   midnight. I have been travelling these twelve hours and have had
   nothing at all to eat." "Well," says his friend, "I have something for
   your horse to eat, but I cannot give you anything." But at length he
   says, "There is a friend of mine who lives down the street. I will go
   and get something from him. You shall not starve. I will not come away
   till I get something."

   Away he goes and finds his friend asleep. He gives a loud knock. The
   man is upstairs in bed and he says, "My wife and my children are with
   me in bed." He does not want to hear that knock and so he just sleeps
   on. Then there comes another tremendous knock. Says the man, "I cannot
   think who that can be." The question is asked by those who are
   upstairs, but he does not feel at all inclined to get out and look. It
   is a cold night and why should he get up? Then there comes another rap.
   "Well," he says, "there is somebody at the door." He still turns in his
   bed and will not get up. He doesn't see why he should rise at such an
   untimely hour as that. Besides, it may be only some drunken fellow
   going home late. Then there comes another tremendous knock. He goes to
   the window, puts his head out and asks what is the matter. "Oh," says
   the man, "I need some loaves of bread. A friend of mine has come to see
   me and I have nothing for him." "Why do you come to me for at such an
   hour as this? I cannot come down; my wife and my children are with me
   in bed; I cannot give you bread at this hour of the night." "But," says
   the other, "I must have it and I hope you will give it to me. What a
   friend you have been to me in times past!" "Friend or no friend," he
   says, "I shall not give you anything at this time of night."

   He will not rise and give to him just because he is his friend. Then
   what does the poor man do? He says, "I will not go back." He thinks he
   sees that poor hungry man and he cannot bear the thought of going back
   and saying that he has nothing for him. That was the only house where
   he could get bread and so he knocks again. "Oh, dear me, says the
   man--I thought I had got rid of that fellow. I told him I couldn't get
   up at this hour and I won't!" But then there comes another rap--a
   tremendous one and a child says "Father, we can't go to sleep! Hadn't
   you better go and give that man his bread?" But the father says, "No, I
   shall not! Why does he trouble me in this way?" Then there comes
   another rap and he goes to the window in great anger and asks him,
   "What do you want, coming here knocking in this way? I tell you once
   and for all, I shall not give you anything!"

   "Well," says the man, "you must give me bread. I cannot go till you do!
   If you do not give me any, I mean to stay here and knock all night."
   "Well," says Jesus, "I tell you, though he will not arise and give it
   to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will
   arise and give him what he needs." So he comes downstairs, gets the
   loaves, opens the door and says to the man, "Here, take as many as you
   need, and be off with you, and never come to disturb me any more at
   night." So off he goes--and importunity gets what even friendship could
   not obtain!

   Well, then the Savior gives another picture. Importunity can get what
   even justice ought to get, but cannot. There is the poor widow--she is
   robbed of all she has. She had a little plot of ground and a little
   cottage with just enough to keep her children through the winter. And
   there was a little field, or two, that she could let out for sufficient
   rent to keep her all the year--but now it is all pounced upon. She does
   not know what she is to do. Somebody will come in to claim it who has
   no right to it. She is turned out of house and home--and she and her
   poor children are on the streets! She goes off to the judge's house to
   see him--a rather wild errand, that, for when she gets there, there
   stand the porters at the door, and the men with long spears and they
   say, "Woman, what do you want?" "I want to see the judge." "You cannot

   see the judge. He has got plenty to do without seeing you." "But I must
   see him! There is a man who has been taking..." "I do not want to know
   anything at all about it! You cannot see him." "But I must see him,"
   says the woman and, somehow or other, though the porters repulse her
   all day long, she manages to get into court! And just when some witness
   steps down, up comes the woman and begins, "My Lord." "What case is
   this, Sergeant?" asks the judge. "Oh, it has nothing to do with the
   court business today, my Lord!" "Get down with you," says the judge to
   the woman. "O my Lord," she replies, "there is a man that has come and
   taken away..." "Now, you have no right here, I tell you, you must

   go!"

   And she steps down, sad at heart. But the next morning she comes again.
   As soon as ever the court house is open, there is the woman at the
   door! Before anybody can be found to enter, there she is! She had
   established herself there as soon as the people came to get the place
   ready. Well, before they can begin the business of the day, the woman
   begins crying out, "O my lord, my husband is dead." "Did you not come
   here yesterday?" asks the judge. "Yes, my Lord." "Well, I thought I
   told you this was not the proper time and place to apply. I cannot
   attend to you." "O my Lord, if you would but just hear my case a
   little!" "Bring up the next case," says the judge, and there is a case
   brought up, and the judge proceeds. There happens, however, to be an
   interlude in the business, such as the poor widow has been looking for
   a long time. And his Honor is just going out of court for a little
   refreshment. And as he is leaving, the woman steps up and says, "My
   Lord." "Now take that woman away! She is always coming here and
   disturbing me."

   The poor woman is taken away, but she returns, and all day long the
   poor soul is there. She comes the next day, and when the judge arrives,
   there is the apparition of this poor woman to startle him again. What
   is to be done all day long? He knows that at every possible opportunity
   she can get, she will be down upon him to ask him to avenge her of her
   adversary. At length he says, "Well, what is your case?" And as soon as
   it is stated, he thinks to himself, "I know that man very well, that
   has taken away her property. He is a friend of mine. I shall not
   interfere in the case. I neither fear God, nor regard man, but as a
   friend of mine has got her property, I shall not interfere." And then,
   addressing the woman, "I absolutely forbid you ever to come to this
   place again."

   But she comes again, and again, and again, until one day she steps into
   the witness box, and says, "My lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful
   spirit." "Now I do not want any more of that! You are always giving me
   your long sermons in court." "My lord," continues the woman, "I will
   have a hearing today. I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have been
   here many times before and you have sent me away when I ought to have
   had justice at your hands. And now this day, unless I am dragged out of
   court by force, I will stop until I get justice!" Well, the judge
   thinks to himself a moment or two and says, "If I were just to decide
   this woman's case, I would get rid of her. Well, come, my good Woman,
   let us hear about it." So she tells the whole history of the case. The
   judge sends the officer of the court to enquire into it and, at last he
   says, "Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow
   troubles me, I will avenge her of her adversary." He accordingly sets
   all her accounts square and she goes home to her cottage with a joyous
   heart--and her children are fed and all is happy, for the judge has set
   her free from all her dilemmas!

   Now, Friends, there you have a case of importunity even going before
   the claims of justice, as in the other case it went before the claims
   of friendship.

   Now what are these two pictures to teach the sinner? They are to teach
   the sinner that if the importunate woman could prevail with an unjust
   judge, you will prevail with a loving Savior! They are to teach you
   that if by constant knocking, the friend who at first would not rise,
   at last did rise and give bread, by your repeated prayers you shall at
   last find the salvation that you need! I am certain that somewhere
   within the compass of my voice, there is one who has been for weeks and
   months seeking the Savior, but he or she has never yet found Him. Satan
   has perhaps whispered, "God will never have mercy on you.You may as
   well give up prayer--prayer is a useless employment if it has no
   answer! Never attend the House of God again--there is no mercy for you.
   Never again come to the Throne of Grace, for God's ears are deaf to
   you--He will not hear your supplication."

   Now, poor Heart, listen not to the temptation of the devil, but listen
   to this that I have to say to you! Go again seven times and if that
   suffices not, 70 times seven! God has not promised to answer you the
   first time! He will answer you, however, at the end, so continue your
   prayers. When, with deep anxiety of spirit I sought the Savior, I
   prayed many months before I could get an answer. And I heard my mother
   say, one day, that there never was a man in the world, she believed, so
   wicked as to say that he had sought God truly and earnestly in prayer,
   and God had not answered him.

   "Many black oaths," she said, "have been sworn, but I never heard of
   any man who was allowed to utter a sentence so derogatory to the love
   and mercy of God as that, 'I have sought God and He would not save
   me.'" At once the thought struck me, "I will say that, for I know I
   have sought God and I feel He has not heard me." I resolved that I
   would say it and that she should hear me, for I felt my spirit vexed
   within me. I had sought God and, I thought, with all my heart, and He
   had never vouchsafed to hear me. But then it occurred to me, "Would it
   not be better to try again before saying it?" That time I sought as I
   had not sought before and that time I found and rejoiced in hope of the
   Glory of God, because my supplication had been answered in my own
   heart, to my own soul's comfort!

   Now, if you are in the same position and are laboring under the same
   temptation, try again. If your knees have been bent 70 times in vain,
   remember you have 70 times the fewer to pray in vain, so try again! You
   are so much nearer the appointed number which you must reach before God
   will hear you! Do not give up your efforts. In fact, I know you neither
   will nor can give up if God, the Holy Spirit, has taught you praying,
   for that is one of the things that Satan cannot do--he cannot
   effectually stop a praying tongue! He cannot forever quench the desire
   of the soul, though he may for a time do it by despondency and despair,
   yet he cannot do it in the end. I want, before I have done, to take the
   hand of that young man, or that young woman who is tonight seeking the
   Savior, but, as yet, without having found Him to his heart's joy. And I
   want to say a kind word to him. Dear Brother, Sister, God willhear you!
   Be of good courage, but, in the meantime, to keep your spirits up, I
   will tell you a few things.

   Consider what a great Being God is, and what a little creature you are,
   and then you need not wonder that you have to wait. Why poor people,
   when they go to see a rich man, will stay in his hall for hours! And if
   they are going to see a great lord, they will not mind waiting in the
   antechamber where there is no fire till their feet are cramped with
   cold, so long as they have a hope that they shall get an audience at
   last. The pertinacity of the beggar in the streets is sometimes
   astonishing--you cannot get rid of him! You walk a little faster and he
   walks a little faster, too! He keeps talking to you about his wife who
   is sick, and tells you that he is a poor man, that you will never miss
   what you give him, that God will bless you and all that. Well, if a
   beggar will wait upon his fellow worm, if we would be content to wait
   upon the great of the earth for so long a season, oh, we need not
   murmur against God if He bids us wait in His halls, for we are poor
   miserable sinners who are good for nothing and He is the eternal God!
   There is such a distance between Him and us that we need not murmur if
   He keeps us waiting.

   Besides, let us recollect what a great blessing it is we are asking
   for. The beggar will stay at your door half an hour with the hope of
   getting, perhaps, a crust of bread. And men will go and wait in the
   halls of princes just to get a word. But ah, my Friends, that which we
   are seeking is more than that! We are seeking for the salvation of our
   souls! We are seeking for the blood of Christ, for the pardon of sin,
   for a seat in Paradise, for deliverance from the flames of Hell! And
   for such a gift as this it were worthwhile waiting a thousand years if
   we might be sure of getting it at last!

   But again, poor Soul, be willing to wait because, let me tell you this,
   you are sure to get what you seek. "Oh," cries one, "I would not mind
   what I did if I thought I could be saved at last." Well, you will.
   There was never a soul that perished praying, never one who sought the
   Savior who was at last cast away! Oh, if the Lord should keep you
   waiting till your head is silvered over with gray, His mercy would not
   come too late! He would be sure at last to give an ear to your
   supplication and bestow upon you the blessing. Therefore be patient.
   Though the promise tarries, wait for it, for it will be sure to come.
   But while you are waiting, do not do as some people have done. I once
   had a hearer who used to tell me that he was waiting and I could never
   get him out of that idea, say what I would, until at last I had to use
   a good illustration in order to prove to him that he was not waiting.

   "Now," I said, "suppose I came to your house one day to tea and you
   said to me, 'My dear Sir, how late you are! We have been waiting for
   you.' And suppose there was no fire in the grate, no kettle singing on
   the hob, and no tea made? I would say, 'I do not believe you.'" Waiting
   implies being ready! If a man is waiting for another, he is ready for
   him. If you are waiting for the coach, why, you have your hat on and
   great coat and your gloves, and your bag is packed and you are ready to
   start. If you are waiting for the train, you are standing on the
   platform and looking for its arrival. And when a man is waiting for
   Christ, he is ready for Christ. But when they say they are waiting and
   they fold their arms in unconcern, it is a gross lie! They are waiting
   for God to destroy them, and nothing else!

   When men do really wait for the Lord, this is the way they wait--they
   go where they hope to meet Him. If they hear that Jesus is in the House
   of God, they go there. If they hear that He is to be found in the
   reading of the Word, they read

   it day and night. If they hear that some minister has been especially
   blessed in the salvation of souls, they will go many miles to hear him
   in order that they may see Jesus. They will go where Jesus goes and
   when they get near Jesus, they will cry after Him. They will do as the
   blind man did when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth passed by! Let us
   describe that scene, for a moment. A poor man sat by the wayside one
   day. He could see nothing, but he heard a great noise and a lot of
   people coming his way, so he said to some of the crowd, "What is that?"
   And they replied, "It is Jesus of Nazareth that passes by." That, he
   thinks, is a fine opportunity, and he cries out as loud as ever he can,
   "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

   Jesus Christ is preaching to the crowd as He walks along, working
   miracles, and He takes no notice of the cry. Then there is another
   shout, "You, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The disciples come and
   tell him to be quiet, that he is disturbing Christ in His preaching and
   that he must not make so much noise--but so much the more, a great
   deal, he cries, "You, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And that shout
   prevailed over the voice of Christ and the tramping of the feet of the
   multitude! Then Christ stood still and looked at the blind man, opened
   his eyes and gave him sight! Now you must do the same--you must cry to
   Christ, you must agonize in prayer and wrestle on your knees before Him
   when you think that you are near to Him. Above all, study His promises
   and read His Word. And if this suffices not, hear, then, the last
   advice and the best--go to your chamber, tonight, you that have sought
   the Savior long and, as you think, sought Him in vain--go to your
   chamber, shut your door, fall on your knees, open His Holy Word, turn
   to that passage which describes the death of Jesus and when you have
   meekly and reverently read through the story of the Crucifixion, shut
   the Book, sit down and picture in your mind's eye the hill of
   Calvary--see the Cross in the midst of those two other crosses of the
   thieves. Picture to yourselves the Lord Jesus with the crown of thorns
   on His head, with His hands all dropping blood, with His side
   distilling a purple torrent. Don't think of anything else!

   The first thing that will happen, God the Holy Spirit helping you, will
   be that you will begin to weep. Tears will run down your cheeks at the
   sight of the dear bleeding Man and, after a while, faith will begin to
   kindle and the thought will arise, "Many souls have been saved by
   trusting in Him that died upon the Cross--and why not I?" And it may be
   that you shall come down from that chamber of yours with a light heart
   and gladsome countenance, singing as you come down the stairs--

   "Oh, how sweet to view the flowing Of His sin-atoning blood! With
   Divine assurance knowing He has made my peace with God!"

   There is no other way of getting peace like that. O you that have
   sought often, adopt this last resource! You can but perish coming to
   Jesus! You will perish if you do not come! But at His feet never a
   sinner died and never a sinner shall! "Come unto Me all you that labor
   and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." You sin-bitten,
   conscience-stricken sons of men, hear the Gospel--"This is a faithful
   saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
   world to save sinners." This is the glorious Gospel of the blessed God,
   that Christ died for sinners. Believe the Gospel and your soul shall
   live! You shall be saved and rejoice in everlasting Glory!

   Christ died for real sinners. You ask a man, "Do you take God's name in
   vain?" "No." "Do you honor other gods before the Lord Jehovah?" "No."
   "Do you ever break the Sabbath?" "No." "Do you always honor your father
   and mother?" "Yes, all these things have I kept from my youth up." Well
   then, Jesus Christ did not die for you at all--you are too good to go
   to Heaven! You are not the sort of person the Gospel is preached to!
   Jesus Christ says, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
   repentance." He came to save him whose aching heart and bleeding spirit
   and tearful eyes betray the man who feels himself a sinner!

   Now, may I write the word SINNER in great capital letters and ask, "Who
   is the man that this word depicts?" Suppose I were to do it? Are there
   not some of you who would get up and say from your hearts, "O Sir, that
   is my name! You may put that on me, I the am chief of sinners." Well
   then, Jesus died for you! "But," says one, "if I had a few good works,
   I should then think He died for me." Then you would have no reason to
   think so! Your reason for believing that Christ died for you must be
   grounded on your sins. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save
   sinners"--that must be your only groundwork. "It is hard," says one,
   "to draw white from black." Yes, but though it is hard, that is what
   faith must do. You must infer the good from the seeming evil. You know
   Martin Luther's logic. He says, in his book on Galatians, that Satan
   once came to him and said, "Martin, you are a great sinner. You will be
   damned." "No," said he, "Satan, the first

   is true--I am a great sinner. The second is not true, for, because I am
   a great sinner, (and I thank you for telling me of it), and because I
   feel it, I shall be saved, for Christ came to save sinners! And so I
   cut your head off with your own sword." The greatest saints on earth
   often have come to this. "Oh," said the heir of Heaven, "I am afraid I
   am no child of God." And the shortcut to comfort is this, "Well, if I
   am not a child of God, I am a sinner and--

   "'A sinner is a sacred thing,

   The Holy Spirit has made him so.'" And straightway he comes to Christ,
   and cries--

   "Nothing in my hands I bring,

   Simply to Your Cross I cling!" Poor Sinners, that is believing on
   Christ, believing that He died for you when there is no evidence that
   He did except your own sense of sin. Then, casting your black soul into
   the fountain, bringing your naked soul to the heavenly wardrobe--then
   do you prove the power of faith and then are you thus manifested to be
   the children of God in verity and truth.

   May the Lord add His blessing! If there are any careless souls here,
   may He awaken them, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

"The Ministry of Reconciliation"

   (No. 2837)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JUNE 28, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JULY
   8, 1887.

   "And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians
   5:18.

   THERE has been a long-standing quarrel between God and man. It
   commenced in that day when our first parents hearkened to the serpent's
   voice and believed the devil rather than their Maker. Yet God is not
   willing for that quarrel to continue. According to the goodness of His
   nature, He delights in love. He is the God of Peace and He has, on His
   part, prepared everything that is necessary for a perfect
   reconciliation. His glorious wisdom has devised a plan whereby, without
   violating His Justice as the Judge of all the earth and without
   tarnishing His perfect holiness, He can meet man upon the ground of
   mercy and man can again become the Friend of God. That blessed work was
   done long ago and now all that remains is that man should be reconciled
   to God, that he should be willing to end the dispute and that his heart
   should turn towards his Maker again in love, peace and perfect
   reconciliation. He bids us, His ministers and, indeed, all His
   servants--each according to his opportunity, experience, knowledge,
   ability and Grace--to go abroad among the sons of men and exercise "the
   ministry of reconciliation," to labor to bring men into harmony with
   God, that they may be willing to accept what God has done toward the
   making of an everlasting peace and ending, once and for all, this
   grievous quarrel.

   You notice, dear Friends, that Paul says that God "has given to us the
   ministry of reconciliation," that is, to us men. He might have sent
   angels to you with the Gospel, but, for a thousand reasons, it was
   preferable that He should send to men by men. You also observe how the
   Apostle reassures us by this message, for, if there were a war between
   two countries, as, for instance, suppose our country should unhappily
   be at war with France, it would be a token that we desired peace if the
   ambassador whom we sent to France was a Frenchman who had become
   domiciled among us. It would be a sure sign that the French sought to
   be at peace with us if they said to an Englishman living in Paris, "Go
   to London and try to make peace between the two nations." It would be a
   token at once that the desire for peace was sincere and you may be sure
   that God earnestly desires that there should be peace between you and
   Himself because He sends men to you with "the word of reconciliation."
   This shows His condescension, too, in that He veils His glorious
   majesty.

   A seraph would be far more worthy than I am to stand here to plead with
   you and, willingly enough would I resign my place to him. I do not know
   that an archangel could desire a happier or better work than to stand
   here and speak on behalf of the God of the whole earth and labor to
   bring back God's rebellious children to Him--but while his splendor
   might reveal much of the greatness of God to you, yet you might be
   terrified and alarmed by the angelic preacher!

   But now, the human being who addresses you, being just like yourselves,
   shows how God lays aside His Glory and holds back the thunder of His
   power, that He may come and reason with you, face to face, as a man
   reasons with his friend. He "has committed unto us the word of
   reconciliation" because we can, in this matter, speak from experience.
   When we talk about being at peace with God and speak of the joy which
   this reconciliation brings, we can say, "We know it is so, for we have
   felt it." We can enter, with full sympathy, into the case of our
   friends who are still unreconciled to God. We know the evil of sin and
   the fear it creates in the conscience, for we have felt it ourselves.
   We can, therefore, be tender and compassionate to others who are in a
   similar condition. And we also know something of the sweetness of peace
   with God through Jesus Christ, for we are living in the enjoyment of
   it. We know, too, what are the struggles of a

   poor soul seeking to get that peace, for we struggled into peace
   through the rich mercy of God! I hope, therefore, that you will see the
   Wisdom and the Grace of God in choosing one like yourself to plead with
   you on His behalf and that God will be pleased to bless that
   instrumentality and make it effectual in your reconciliation unto
   Himself.

   Notice particularly that the ministers of God are not sent to reconcile
   God to you. That great work is already done. As the righteous Judge, He
   was angry with all sin, but now, seeing that an acceptable Sacrifice
   has been presented, He is able to meet you with forgiveness in His
   heart. We are not even sent to find out a way of reconciling you to
   God, for He "has committed unto us the word of reconciliation" as well
   as "the ministry of reconciliation," so that all we have to do is, as
   it were, to translate into today's language that which God Himself has
   written in this Book. We have to speak out in simple, earnest, living
   words, the message which has been dictated to us--not to make up a
   message, but to act as the mouthpiece of God! Oh, that He might make me
   that to many a heart here now! Now let us go to this solemn work and
   may God the Holy Spirit help us in it!

   First, then, we wish to state the objective of true Gospel ministry.
   Next, we will declare the word of reconciliation. And, then, we will
   beseech you to agree with it God grant that these points may strike
   home!

   I. First, then, let us enquire--WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF TRUE GOSPEL
   MINISTRY? It is that men should be reconciled to God.

   My unconverted Hearer, you are at enmity against God. I know that you
   do not always believe that. You say, "I have not yielded my heart to
   Him, but still, I am not at enmity against Him." Listen. You do that
   which displeases Him and you do it without any grief over it, or,
   whatever compunction you may feel for a time, you do the same thing
   again and again--and you continue to do it! What does this prove? When
   a subject constantly rebels against his sovereign, does it not prove
   that he is disloyal at heart? "By their fruits you shall know them," is
   our Lord's own test. Look, you unconverted ones, see what your fruits
   are! Do not your wicked works prove that you are at enmity against God?
   Is it not certain that you do not like to hear much about Him? Am I
   speaking untruly when I say that you count the Bible very dull
   reading--that some of you say that Sabbaths spent as Christians ought
   to spend them are very dreary days? You want something more cheerful.
   God's House is too weary a place for you and to think about Him is too
   much of a task. I put it to your conscience whether it is not so with
   you. Do you not regard religion as being a very gloomy affair? If you
   wanted what you call, pleasure, would you think of seeking it in
   drawing near to God? No, you would be happier if there were no God at
   all, would you not? And if all the arrangements of Divine Justice, by
   which God governs the world, should be abolished, would you not be
   pleased? If you could sin without being checked in it, or threatened
   with punishment for it, would you not be glad?

   All this proves that you do not love God! The real English of it is
   that you would destroy God, if you could, in order to have liberty to
   act according to your own devices. You do not find pleasure in Him. You
   must admit that your pleasure is found elsewhere. When we truly love a
   person we find pleasure in being in his company, we are glad to receive
   letters from him--in fact, anything that the hand of the loved one has
   touched becomes interesting or even sacred to us. Seeing that it is not
   so with you, but that you have said to God, "Depart from me! I desire
   not the knowledge of Your ways"--does not this prove that your heart is
   at enmity against God? Ah, young people, you may scarcely think that
   this accusation is a just one, but the more you come to search and
   look, the more you will find that it is true. If it is not true, I am
   indeed glad that I need not ask you to be reconciled to God, for you
   are already reconciled! But then, we shall need to see the proofs that
   it is so and, among the rest, we shall want to see whether you love
   God's Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and trust in Him, for, "He
   that loves Him that begot, loves Him, also, who is begotten of Him." If
   you love the Father, you will love the Son and put your soul's trust in
   Him. But it is not so with unrenewed men--they are at enmity against
   God.

   Our objective, in all our preaching, is that you should really be
   reconciled to God--not that you should pretend to be so. "Oh, yes," you
   say, "we will attend the regular services. If you wish, we will join
   the church. We will be baptized, or we will be confirmed--and we will
   take the sacrament." That is not sufficient. God wants the love of your
   heart. He wants you to be at peace with Him. Suppose you were to attend
   to all these external things and still did not love and trust Him--you
   would be insulting Him--not honoring Him! I tell you, all your church
   or chapel attendance, your saying of your prayers and your reading of
   the Bible are of no value in His sight unless your heart is right with
   Him. That is the point we are aiming at. In vain is all your attendance
   upon outward worship! In vain is your profession of being recon-

   ciled to God unless you really are! You must love the LORD your God
   with all your heart, or else the work of the minister is not even
   begun, much less completed.

   We can never be satisfied with your merely listening to us. It is a
   great thing to have a large and attentive congregation, but it only
   makes us mourn if we even imagine that you give your ear to us and not
   to our Master--if you say, "He speaks pleasantly," or, "He speaks
   well," and yet obey not the message we have tried to convey to you! Oh,
   forget us! Think nothing of us! Reproach us if you will! There is good
   reason for it, sometimes, but turn unto the Lord our God! "Be you
   reconciled unto Him"--that is the burden of all our preaching and,
   therefore, we cannot be put off with your saying that you will be
   reconciled to God one of these days. We do not preach with a view to
   getting you to promise to be reconciled someday--we beseech you to be
   reconciled now. "Behold, nowis the accepted time; behold, nowis the day
   of salvation." Those are not my words--they are the words of Inspired
   Scripture itself. Now, then--we have nothing to do with tomorrow! It is
   now, even now, that we beseech you, in Christ's place, to be reconciled
   to God! And we want that reconciliation to be worked at once by the
   power of the Holy Spirit.

   Thus I have stated the objective of true Gospel ministry.

   II. Now, secondly, I want to make known to you, as plainly as I can,
   "THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION." What is that word?

   First, I have to tell you that "all things are of God. "That is the
   first sentence of the verse from which our text is taken. If,
   therefore, you are willing to be at peace with God, there is nothing
   whatever needed from you. God has prepared all things that are needed
   for this present and perpetual reconciliation! To make the friendship
   between God and man firm and lasting, all that is needed has been
   already supplied! There is to be nothing of your will, nothing of your
   merits, nothing of your doing, nothing of your suffering, but, "all
   things are of God." I think I hear one say, "That suits me, then, for I
   have nothing and I can do nothing." You need not be anything, Soul. It
   will be better if you can be nothing and still better if you can be
   less than nothing, "for all things are of God." That is where "the
   ministry of reconciliation" begins. Surely, such a message as that
   ought to help bring men into peace with God!

   And, next, I again remind you that the reconciling work on God's part
   is already done. He "has given to us the ministry of reconciliation,"
   but He "reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ." When Jesus hung upon
   the Cross--when Jesus died--when Jesus rose again, everything was done
   that was necessary in order that God might be able to forgive the
   guilty and receive them to His bosom! Nothing can be added to Christ's
   completed work, of which He said, "It is finished." It is as
   efficacious, today, as it ever was. The work of salvation was done
   forever and, on God's part, there is nothing now to be removed in order
   that all who trust His Son may be at perfect peace with Him.

   The Lord, through the Apostle's words, graciously deigns to explain how
   this came about Paul says that He "was in Christ, reconciling the world
   unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Do you see what
   that means? You are full of sin, but God will not set that sin down to
   your account if you trust in His Son's Sacrifice! You have lived a life
   of sin, but He will not impute it to you! Perhaps you ask, "How can
   that be?" I will tell you, directly, but, first, I ask you to believe
   that it is so. "Not imputing their trespasses unto them." You are in
   debt. You owe a great sum that you can never pay, but the person to
   whom you owe it turns to his account book and he says, "I have nothing
   down against you--are you not delighted that it is so?" "But I am in
   your debt." "I have nothing down against you," he says again. He knows
   all about the debt, yet he tells you it is not in his ledger. "But it
   must be down somewhere," you say, "that man has set my debt down to the
   account of somebody else." That is exactly the case with your sin! Read
   the last verse of the chapter and you will get the explanation--"For He
   has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made
   the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus willingly undertook to stand in
   the sinner's place--and if you accept the reconciliation He has made,
   your debts are put down beneath His nameand through them all is drawn
   the red mark of His atoning Sacrifice, canceling them, every one, so
   that God can say, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your
   transgressions and, as a cloud, your sins."

   You see, then, that God meets you on these terms--that whatever your
   guilt may be, He lays it at the door of Christ and makes Him to be sin
   for you and, then, He puts you into Christ's place and makes you to be
   ' 'the righteousness of God in Him." And so He saves you! "That is an
   extraordinary plan," you say. It is. It is extraordinary. It wakes the
   echoes of Heaven every time the angels think of it, but it is God's
   plan. Will you have it? What do you say? Will you quibble at it, or
   will you accept it? Do not let its wonderful character keep you back
   from it. On the contrary, say, "If

   God is satisfied with it, I may well be satisfied, too! If God is
   content with the work of Christ, I am sure I well may be! It is to Him
   that the debt was due and if He says it is discharged, I believe Him!"
   If He declares, as He does, "There is therefore now no condemnation to
   them that are in Christ Jesus"--if He teaches His people to say, as He
   does, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God"--we
   are glad enough to accept the Truth He reveals!

   And I, for one, am glad enough to proclaim it to you! I have known the
   time when I could almost have leaped out of the pew when I first
   learned this simple way of salvation--it did something more than
   electrify me when I came to understand that this was the way in which
   God was just and yet the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus--and
   that all that I had to do was simply to accept it, to look to Christ
   and take Him to be my Substitute! That was what I did and so I obtained
   peace in believing. Many years have passed since then, but I have never
   sought for any other confidence, nor do I want any other! Jesus is All
   in All to my heart at this moment and, therefore, I urge all here
   present to accept Him. Let every guilty, burdened, heavy-laden sinner
   come and take Christ, who is the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God,
   saying, "If God meets me thus and is willing to blot out all the past
   and let me begin over again. If He is willing to cast my sins into the
   depths of the sea and never call me to account for them, and never lay
   them to my charge--blessed be His holy name, it does not take me two
   minutes to consider whether I shall accept this reconciliation or not!
   I will have it and rejoice to have it! May He grant it to me now!"

   III. My third point is this. We are not to be satisfied merely to tell
   you the Gospel. WE ARE TO BESEECH YOU TO ACCEPT IT, "as though God did
   beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's place, be you reconciled to
   God."

   Consider, I pray you, how unseemly it is for you to be at enmity
   against your God. You are a creature whom He has made and you could not
   exist a single moment longer if it were not for the constant emanation
   of His power which sustains you in being. You owe everything to Him!
   You are absolutely in His hands--He can create and He can destroy. A
   moth beneath your finger would not be one half as easy to crush as you
   are beneath the finger of God if He becomes angry with you! Is it wise,
   is it right for the creature to be at war with the Omnipotent Creator?

   Remember, too, what a good God He is! He makes the sun to rise on the
   evil as well as on the good. The rain falls upon the lands of the
   blasphemer as well as upon the fields of the devout. God gives us
   fruitful seasons--yes, He gives us everything and He is not provoked
   against us even though we have continued to rebel against Him. For
   which of these things do you sin against Him? As I have studied God's
   Character and known something of Him by fellowship, I have bowed before
   His matchless goodness. Oh, it is indeed evil to do anything against
   One who is pure Love, who is "holy, holy, holy," altogether without
   fault! It cannot be right--I put it to your conscience--it cannot be
   right for you to be at enmity against the pure and holy God! Think of
   this matter, I pray you, and end your enmity.

   If you are not at peace with God, you ought to rejoice at any plan by
   which you may be at peace. I say, any plan. I would take the Bible, if
   I had never opened it before, and say, "Whatever I find between the
   covers of this Book of God, I will gratefully accept. I do not mind
   what plan He proposes, so long as this sad state of things shall come
   to an end. Can God forgive me? Can He receive me into amity with
   Himself? Can I be His accepted child? Whatever He proposes, I will
   agree to accept it even before I know what it is. "But how much more
   ought you to accept it when the plan is what I have explained to you,
   namely, one in which there is nothing but mercy on God's part, though
   there is nothing but sin on yours--one in which God, in the Person of
   His Son, takes all the suffering, and you have all the blessing--one in
   which Jesus takes all the shame and you take all the joy!

   And, mark you, this is to be had for the asking. You have but truly to
   seek it and you shall have it! Forsake your sin. Forsake your evil
   thoughts. Confess your transgressions to the Lord and come and trust in
   Him whom God has set forth to be the Propitiation for human sin! That
   is all that is required--why do you not accept it? Surely it is because
   sin has maddened you and so fascinated you as to make you slaves to its
   accursed self, so that you do not turn unto Him even though the way of
   salvation is so simple, so easy, so sure, so everlasting. I would that
   I could put a force into the very tones of my voice that would send
   home this reasoning to your heart! As God's creature, you ought to be
   at peace with Him! Any way in which reconciliation could reach you, you
   ought to be glad to accept--but such a way as this, in which God's
   justice is honored and yet His mercy is revealed--ought to strike you
   as being full of Divine Wisdom and you should at once accept it. Oh,
   that you would do so!

   Let me further plead with you to be reconciled to God because the
   consequences of not being reconciled to Him will be very terrible. What
   king is there who, if he were about to go to war and found himself able
   to raise only a thousand

   troops, would not stop a while if he found that his adversary were
   coming to meet him with a million men? "Oh," says he, "this is too
   preposterous! My little army could not stand in the field for an hour
   against my adversary's vast host. The very first discharge of his dread
   artillery would sweep both myself and all my little company away." But
   the contrast is still greater in your case because you are not, with
   respect to God, even as strong as a thousand would be against a
   million! He could devour you as easily and as swiftly as the fire
   devours the stubble. Let the wax fight with the flame, or the twig
   contend with the fire before you shall be so foolish as to attempt to
   contend with God! Throughout your life He proposes terms of peace to
   you--but there will come a day when He will have no dealings with you
   through ambassadors--He will deal with you by executioners!

   I think that it was Alexander who, when he besieged a town, would hang
   out a white flag and at night a lamp of white color--and as long as
   either of them hung out, it was a token that if the besieged
   surrendered, they should have the best possible terms. But when he hung
   out the red flag, or the red lamp, the people knew that every man in
   that city would be put to the sword. Alexander would offer no other
   terms, then! He had hung out the white signal long enough and now he
   had changed his tune. So, all through this life, the white flag is held
   out to you--but the time will come when, instead, there will be the red
   flag of vengeance--and woe be unto the ungodly in that day! Modern
   deceivers may tell you what they like, but God's Word declares, "These
   shall go away into everlasting punishment." And side by side with it,
   as if to confirm it, is the other declaration that the righteous shall
   go into life eternal or everlasting--indicating, by the same Word which
   is used concerning the righteous, that they shall reign forever and
   ever, but the doom of the wicked shall be just as lasting. "The smoke
   of their torment goes up forever and ever." If one is to be shortened,
   the other must be and I cannot, even with all the pity in my heart,
   shorten the torments of Hell at the expense of the bliss of Heaven! Nor
   will God do so. Oh, provoke not the wrath of the Most High! But be at
   peace with Him this very hour!

   Think, too, of the consequences which wiil follow when you have peace
   with God, for the man who is at peace with God, and knows it, is the
   happiest of men! He is at peace with all things! He is at peace with
   life, death, time and eternity. The very beasts of the field are in
   league with him and the stars in their courses fight for him. All
   things work for his good now that he has become a child of God by faith
   in Jesus Christ. Oh, the joy that some of us have experienced through
   entering into peace with God! We could not describe it to you.
   Sometimes, it has been so exhilarating that we have felt that we could
   not communicate any adequate sense of it to our fellow men, for we have
   heard words which it would not be lawful for a man to utter, save in
   the ears of those who have felt the same supreme delights! That blessed
   Book of Solomon's Song is misunderstood by many Believers because they
   never knew the joy of conjugal love with Christ and the sweetness of
   His heart when He lays it bare to His Beloved people. "The secret of
   the Lord is with them that fear Him" and I can assure you, Beloved,
   that if you do but become reconciled to God, it will be the best day
   that you ever spent.

   Let me continue pleading with you for a little longer. Do you not know,
   dear Friends, that the first person to seek peace in any quarrel should
   be the offending party?' t is not often that it is so, but it ought to
   be so. The person who has offended another ought to be the first to
   seek terms of peace. Now youare that person. Come, then, accept the
   message of love which God sends to you. That I may come very close to
   you, let me ask, "Have you anything to say against God?" In all earthly
   quarrels, there are two sides, but it is not so in this case. Is there
   anything which the Lord has done that you think to be difficult? For
   instance, is there anything in the terms of peace that He puts before
   you that you think to be too stern? "Oh," you say, "His requirements
   are too strict!" What are those requirements? That you should leave
   your sin? That is not too much to ask of you. Does not every doctor who
   wants to heal a sick man who has taken poison, first of all prevent him
   from taking any more? Sin is poison to you. Would you let your child
   who has made himself ill by eating some unsuitable thing, keep on
   eating it? No, you would take it away from him!

   That is all that God wishes to do to you--to deny to you that which, if
   you were wise, you would deny to yourself. This is not a hard thing,
   surely. "Oh, but what He asks of me is so mysterious! I do not
   comprehend it." What is it that you do not comprehend? That you should
   believe on Jesus Christ? That is as simple as the act of breathing.
   That you should trust yourself to Christ? "Where is He?" you ask. He is
   in Heaven, but He is just as able to save you as if He stood here in
   bodily Presence. Do you not often trust people whom you never see? Some
   of you have business transactions with people in India--or you trust
   your money to a banker in Australia, or in America. You never saw the
   banker and you do not need to see him. You believe that there is such a
   person and you trust your money to him. Trust your soul to Christ in

   the same fashion. Though you never saw Him, rely upon Him, for you have
   read about Him and you believe the story of His birth, life, death and
   Resurrection.

   "Ah," says one, "but if I were to become religious, I would lose so
   many pleasures." I see. But, in order to be reconciled to God, I would
   be willing, if necessary, to lose a thousand pleasures! Do you not feel
   that if there were some amusement that you loved, that grieved your
   mother, you would give it up? Husband, if there were something that you
   did that made the tears stand in your wife's eyes, even though you
   liked to do it, would you not give it up for her sake? For those we
   love, we can readily deny ourselves and count it no denial. But, after
   all, you know that it is not so. God asks us to give up no pleasure
   that is real pleasure--and if there is any pleasure at all in it, it is
   sin. He takes care to give us ten times as much pleasure in His own
   holy ways. If it were right, I could speak of some here who have known
   all about the pleasures of the world. They know the pleasures of
   horseracing. They know the pleasures of the most frivolous company that
   can be. But I know what their testimony would be, if I asked them. They
   would say that an hour of peace with God not only recompenses them for
   the loss of those pleasures, but that they are glad to get rid of all
   such rubbish, the things of which they are now ashamed!

   I do not know how merry a young fellow you may be, but if you are
   happier than I am, young Man, you must be an uncommonly happy person! I
   can pick out some, who are much older than I am, and who have more
   rheumatism in their bones than I have and who also have a good deal of
   poverty to endure. I could bring you many an old woman who is sitting
   here, and I could ask her, "Would you change places with that young man
   who is given up to the guilty pleasures of sin? Come, old Mary, what do
   you say? This young man says that he would lose pleasure if he were to
   become a Christian--what do you say? Would you change places with him?"
   I think I hear her say--

   "I would not change my blest estate

   For all the world calls good or great!

   And while my faith can keep her hold

   I envy not the sinner's gold."

   So, young Man, you see that we are as happy as you are! We may not make
   so much noise over it, sometimes, but "still waters run deep" and the
   quiet joy of the Christian is joy that is worth having.

   "Oh, but," says another, "this is my difficulty. I am afraid God would
   not receive me even if I were to come to Him." Just give me your hand,
   Brother--let me have a grip of it. Now, if I were to assure you that I
   would receive you into my house, would you believe me? I believe you
   would. Well, you may doubt me if you like, but you must not doubt my
   God, or doubt the bleeding Lamb! And He has said, "Him that comes to
   Me, I will in no wise cast out." He could not put it stronger than
   that! For no reason and in no way will He cast out any soul that comes
   to Him, so He will not cast you out. But I hear another say, "I have
   tried and failed." What have you tried? Have you accepted Christ as the
   Propitiation for your sin? Have you trusted yourself with Christ? Do
   you say, "Yes"? Then you are a saved man! God declares that you are.
   "But I have prayed," you say. Yes, but that is not the way of
   salvation. God forbid that I should say a word against prayer! I would
   say a thousand words forit--it is a blessed exercise--but the dead
   cannot pray, nor can you till you are made alive! The first thing that
   you have to do is to trust Jesus Christ--and that is the only thing
   which the Gospel demands of you as the grand condition of
   reconciliation with God! "This is the work of God, that you believe on
   Jesus Christ whom He has sent."

   "Yes, but I have tried to lead a different life." I know that you have.
   But suppose I were a physician and I said to you, "Here is the medicine
   that will cure you," and you say, "I will not take it, Sir." "Why not?"
   "Because I have tried some other medicine in vain." Would that be
   logical? The doctor might say, "You may have tried 50 sorts of
   medicine, but that has nothing to do with what I am giving you--you
   have to try this." It must not be yourway of being saved, but God'sway.
   Your way is to try and live better. But then you do not live better,
   for you break down again and again. God's way of saving you is that you
   trust Jesus Christ and then He will make you live better! Old things
   shall pass away and all things shall become new when Jesus Christ has
   you in His hands. Have done with yourself and let Jesus Christ do the
   whole work and He will save you. That is God's way of salvation.

   I do not know whether I have mentioned the peculiar quibble or quarrel
   that any heart has with God, but I hope I have done so. I would
   willingly lay down my very life if I could bring all in this Tabernacle
   to the Lord Jesus Christ. We preachers, and you teachers in the Sunday
   school, and you who try to talk privately with individuals--we ought
   all to be very earnest with them, for this is very solemn work. They
   are apt to die at any moment and to die, too, without hope.

   Let us plead earnestly with them for God's sake. It does seem so sad
   that a good God should have so many millions of His creatures as His
   enemies--that He who keeps the very breath in their nostrils, should
   get no return from them but ingratitude. "The ox knows his owner and
   the ass his master's crib," says God, "but Israel does not know, My
   people does not consider." O God, for Your dear sake we would bring men
   into reconciliation with You if we could!

   We must also be in earnest for Christ's sake, for Christ died for
   them--He died to save sinners. He had no subordinate aim. This was the
   one passion of His soul. "He saved others." "Himself He could not
   save." Oh, by the wounds of Jesus, the scars of which are still visible
   above, be reconciled to God! Trample not upon His precious blood!

   We would be earnest with you, also, for your own sakes. In a short time
   you will be on a sick bed and you will be on the brink of the grave. We
   pray you, before the death-sweat stands in great beads upon your brow,
   seek peace with God. Ere yet they that gather about your bed whisper to
   one another, "He is going," oh, be at peace with God through Jesus
   Christ who is our Peace and who reconciles us to the Most High!

   And I would be in earnest, last of all--and have my Brothers and
   Sisters in earnest, too--for our own sakes. "That sounds like
   selfishness," says someone. If so, it is a hallowed selfishness. As
   surely as I am a living man, I have to give an account of this night's
   work before the Judgment Seat of God and every Christian worker and,
   especially, the Christian minister, will have to answer for it whether
   he declared the Truth of God and declared it with an earnest spirit. I
   think, sometimes, that it will be the greatest mercy that God ever gave
   to mortal man if I am able to say, at the last, what George Fox, the
   Quaker, said just as he died, "I am clear. I am clear. I am clear."
   Brother-minister, if you and I, at the last, are clear of the blood of
   all men, we will lift up an everlasting song of gratitude to our Lord
   and Master who made us faithful to our charge! We dare not think of
   standing before Christ's bar if we have not been in earnest with you.
   It is as much as our souls are worth to trifle with you--to gather you
   together on a Sabbath evening, to try and tickle you with fine words,
   or pretty anecdotes, or mere excitement. This will never do.

   Souls, you will either be lost or saved! You will be in Hell among the
   damned or in Heaven among the blessed--and that very shortly! And if
   the watchman warns you not, your blood will be required at the
   watchman's hand. That we may be able to give in our account, with joy,
   "be you reconciled to God." That we may be able to say, "Here we are,
   Lord, and the children You have given us through our ministry," "be you
   reconciled to God." Dear young people and you aged folk who soon must
   go, and you in middle life, "be you reconciled to God." "As though God
   did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's place, be you
   reconciled to God." God reconcile you to Himself, for His dear Son's
   sake!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:9-21.

   Verses 9-11. Therefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may
   be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of
   Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body,
   according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing
   therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made
   manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your
   conscience. The outside world did not understand the preachers of the
   Gospel--they thought them dreamy enthusiasts, earnest about nothing at
   all. But Paul says that God understood him and he hoped, too, that the
   consciences of those to whom he was writing had also understood him.
   The truly faithful minister of Jesus Christ may know that there are two
   approvals that he will be sure to get--the approval of his Master and
   the approval of men's consciences. Their prejudice may condemn him, his
   mode of oratory may not suit their fancy, but their conscience must
   give quite a different verdict--it must approve the faithful preaching
   of the Gospel.

   12, 13. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you
   occasion to glory on our behalf that you may have an answer for those
   who glory in appearance, and not in heart For whether we are beside
   ourselves, it is to God: or whether we are sober, it is for your cause.
   Happy Paul who, as a preacher of the Gospel, could write, "If you say
   that we are beside ourselves, that we are really mad upon religious
   matters--well, it is to God that we are so! It is not every madman who
   can say that. "Or if you tell us that we are too serious and sober, it
   is your case, your cause that makes us so." Well may we be sober and
   solemn when we think of the danger in which men's souls are.

   14, 15. For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge,
   that if One died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all,
   that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
   unto Him which died for them,

   and rose again. The true-hearted Christian judges himself to have died
   when Christ died and, therefore, he feels that he must not live for any
   objective but the Glory of Christ.

   16. Therefore, from now on, know we regard no man after the flesh: yes,
   though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we
   Him no more. He is gone back to Glory, so our objective is not to win a
   kingdom for Him anywhere upon earth. Our aim now is spiritual--the
   proclamation of His Truth, the winning of a Kingdom for Him in the
   hearts of men.

   17-19. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old
   things are passed away: behold, all things have become new. And all
   things are of God, who has reconciled unto Himself by Jesus Christ, and
   has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in
   Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not implying their
   trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of
   reconciliation. The work of reconciliation He committed to His Son--the
   word of reconciliation He has committed to us. It is our high privilege
   to tell the tidings of the wondrous work by which God is reconciled, so
   that, without any violation of His Justice, He can have mercy upon
   those who have offended Him.

   20. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
   you by us: weprayyou in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. As if
   Christ Himself stood here and pleaded with you, He bids His ministers
   plead on His behalf. In the name of God, He bids us beseech you to be
   reconciled to God. Ambassadors do not generally beseech men--they stand
   on their dignity, they make demands for the honor of their
   sovereign--but Christ's ambassadors know of no dignity which should
   keep them from pleading with men.

   21. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
   might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
     __________________________________________________________________

God's Glory in Hiding Sin

   (No. 2838)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JULY 5, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JULY
   15, 1877.

   "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is
   to search out a matter." Proverbs 25:2.

   THE translation of our text, if it had been more literal, would have
   run thus, "It is the glory of God to covera matter, but the honor of
   kings is to search out a matter." For the sake of variety in language,
   our translators sometimes gave two different interpretations to the
   same word and though that makes the verbiage more smooth, it is
   generally a great mistake and apt to mislead us. The word, "conceal,"
   is just the same word that we get in the passage, "Blessed is he...
   whose sin is covered." So the text runs thus--I will give it to you
   again that I may further impress it upon you--"It is the glory of God
   to cover a matter, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter."

   First of all, I will give you the common interpretation which is given
   to these words and the topic which is suggested to most minds thereby,
   namely, that it is God's glory to conceal much of the great Truth which
   concerns Himself and His dealings with the sons of men. "Clouds and
   darkness are round about Him." It is His glory that He is not seen, His
   glory that He is concealed, while, as for kings, it is their honor "to
   search out a matter." This is the general interpretation which almost
   every expositor gives of this passage, but I am not able wholly to
   agree with it. However, I will speak upon it for little while.

   It is certain that such an explanation as this would have to be taken
   in a limited sense, for it cannot absolutely and without qualification
   be the glory of God to conceal a thing, for, if so, He might have
   concealed everything from us. It is evidently for His glory that some
   things should be revealed or else, why has He revealed them? He might
   have dwelt forever in that wondrous solitude in which we suppose He did
   dwell before He commenced the work of Creation. We know not what He was
   doing in that past eternity of which it is difficult, if not
   impossible, for us to conceive--when there was no creation, when not a
   single star had begun to shine, nor an angel had fled through space on
   rapid wings. If it were God's glory to be absolutely concealed, it
   seems to me that He would have remained alone in the thick darkness
   that surrounded Him, for He would not have wanted to have a single
   creature to know His love, to realize His power, or to contemplate His
   wisdom. It is at once obvious that if this is the true and correct
   interpretation, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing," it must be
   taken in a very limited sense. If it had been His glory to conceal
   everything, He would have continued to conceal it, but, as far as I can
   see, His manifested glory is His glory. The glory of God is not so much
   to conceal as to revealHimself to those whom He prepares to receive the
   Revelation!

   There are many things which it would not be for God's glory to conceal.
   You could not say of everything, "It is the glory of God to congeal
   this." Take, for instance, His righteous Law--would it have been for
   His glory to have left our race utterly ignorant of it? I cannot
   conceive of such a thing! And then His matchless Redemption He has
   revealed to us in many wonderful ways. Would He have taken all the
   pains that He has done to reveal Himself in Christ Jesus if it had been
   for His glory to conceal Himself in that respect? Would He bid us go
   into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature if it could
   be for His glory to conceal that? No, it is high treason against the
   majesty of Heaven for any man to obscure the blessed Revelation of God
   in Christ Jesus. I am afraid that all of us, preachers of the Word, do
   that, in some measure, by reason of our infirmity--but God forbid that
   we should ever willfully keep back a single ray of the glory of God in
   the face of Jesus Christ!

   There are many great and glorious Truths which do not need that God
   should conceal them. If we do not perceive them, probably it is because
   it is not necessary that they should be concealed, for their own
   inherent glory is their concealment. If I were to take, for instance,
   the mysterious Doctrine of the Eternal Filiation of the Lord Jesus
   Christ, or the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the
   Son--these wondrous Truths need not be concealed from us because they
   are, in themselves, such deep mysteries that, however clearly they may
   be revealed to us, it is not possible for us to understand them! Even
   the grand Doctrine of the Trinity which is so plainly set forth in the
   Scriptures--the Trinity in the Unity of the Godhead--need not be
   concealed as, indeed, it has not been, yet we cannot comprehend it! God
   need not seek out any method of concealment for, if He were to unveil
   His face among us, the Glory would be too bright to be beheld! Go and
   stand, O mortal man, and gaze upon the sun at mid-day! Can you do it?
   Would not your eyes be thereby blinded? Yet, yon sun is only one of the
   myriads of servants in the courts of God! Then what must the face of
   the King, Himself, be? It needs not that He should veil it--His own
   Glory is, surely, veil enough unto itself!

   Our minds are finite, contracted, limited. There were certain men, who
   called themselves "Encyclopedists," because they fancied that they knew
   everything, yet they knew nothing perfectly and many of them broke down
   in their attempt to learn even all that might be known by men. But, as
   for God Himself, who can possibly comprehend Him? The archangel who
   stands nearest to His august Presence, must veil his face with his
   wings, for even he is not able to gaze upon the Glory of that excessive
   light! It does not seem to me to be so great a Truth that it is the
   glory of God to conceal as that His very Glory conceals itself, not by
   being concealed, but by being so exceedingly unveiled! The Glory,
   itself, blinds, for the finite mind of man is not able to gaze upon it!

   Yet the Truth of God which our English Version seeks to convey to us
   may be accepted without hesitation if we regard it thus--if God has
   concealed anything, it is God's glory to conceal it and it is right
   that it should be hidden. If God has not told us any Truth, it is for
   His glory not to tell it to us. Perhaps we have as much reason to bless
   the Lord for what is not in the Bible as for what is there--and what He
   has not revealed may be as much for our benefit and, certainly, is as
   much for His glory, as what He has revealed. For instance, if He does
   not tell us all about Himself and the mystery of His Person, do we need
   to know it? Can we not believe in Him and love Him all the better
   because we do not understand Him? Surely a God whom we could understand
   would be no God! We delight in being out of our depth--in finding
   waters to swim in--where understanding, with its little plumb line,
   finds no bottom, but where love, with a restful spirit, finds perfect
   peace. Doubtless, there is a glory in the Lord not revealing Himself,
   so far as the past or present is concerned.

   As to the future, it is, no doubt, for the glory of God that He has not
   revealed to us all concerning the history of this world. It may be all
   in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. Some friends think it
   is, and it may be, but this I venture to say--there is no man who
   understands it and I do not think any men will understand it until the
   Word shall explain itself! And then, possibly, when history becomes the
   commentary upon the prophecy, we shall wonder that we did not see it.
   Yet we cannot do so at present. It is to the glory of God and to your
   own profit that you do not know what will happen to you tomorrow. You
   know not what afflictions may await you, nor when you shall die--it is
   well for you that you do not know. If it had been for God's glory that
   you should read your history from its first page to its last and be
   able to foretell every event in your own life, or in the history of the
   nations of the earth, God would have revealed it to you! Be content not
   to know what God does not tell you and say, in your spirit, "Let it be
   so, for, in some things, it is the glory of God to conceal a thing."

   Still, I think that this is not the teaching of the text. I conceive
   that it has quite another meaning which I will try to give you. You
   know that in a proverb like this, with a, "but," in the middle, there
   is what we call an antithesis, or an expression of opposites. The text
   does not run thus, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the
   honor of kings is to publish a thing." That is not what is said
   here--it is quite a different sentence which is not an antithesis at
   all. Then, again, the antithesis is not complete--"It is the glory of
   God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a
   matter," for it is not so much the business of kings to search out
   matters that refer to wisdom as it is the business of wise men to do
   so. If there are doctrines that are not known to us because God
   conceals them, it is the business of wise men to search them out--not
   so much the business of kings to do so. Neither can we read the passage
   thus, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of
   kings to make things plain," because the third verse of the chapter
   does not agree with this rendering. Solomon did not think that it was
   to the honor of kings to make things plain. He was a believ-

   er in diplomacy, for he says, "The Heaven for height, and the earth for
   depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable." He could not,
   therefore, have intended to convey that meaning.

   Now let me give you what I think is the true meaning of the passage.
   What is the business of kings? Why are they set up above their fellow
   men? What is their honor? Why, it is the honor of kings to search out
   matters that concern the administration of justice, to bring prisoners
   before their bar, laying bare their crimes and convicting them if they
   are guilty. It is the glory of God to cover a matter, that matter being
   sin--but it is the honor of kings to search that matter out and bring
   the guilty one to justice. You know that we think less and less of our
   police if they are not able to identify criminals. It has sometimes
   happened that justice misses its mark. Perhaps there is an attempt made
   to get a certain important witness out of the way, or to bribe another,
   or to suppress some testimony that might be brought against the accused
   persons. It is never to the honor of kings when that is done. When, for
   instance, a murder has been committed, and the criminal cannot be
   traced, it is not to the credit of the governing powers that it should
   be so. And though it must be so, sometimes, for no human government can
   be perfect in its detective forces, yet it is not to the honor of "the
   powers that be." It is to the honor of kings that they search matters
   out till they bring home the guilt to the proper individual. Nor is it
   to the honor of kings if they give their verdict and sentence at first
   sight according to prejudice. It is their honor to search out a
   matter--to hear both sides of the case. The magistrate who sits in the
   king's name is bound to enquire thoroughly into the matter brought
   before him and, at last, to adjudicate as justice demands. This is
   sometimes very difficult, but it is to the honor of kings and their
   representatives when they attempt it.

   Now, to God, such a thing as this is impossible. Nothing is concealed
   from Him--the whole universe is but one great prison for those who
   offend Him and He can find them at any time that He pleases--and He can
   execute His just sentence upon them without a moment's delay! He needs
   no witnesses. He need not summon this person or that, who has seen a
   certain deed done, for the transgression has been committed in His own
   sight! His glory is that He covers the matter--and as it is the glory
   of God to cover the matter, it is also the honor of kings to search the
   matter out, that matter, in each case, being the breach of law. I am
   persuaded that this is the meaning of the text. Even if it were not, it
   is a grand Truth of Scripture, well worthy of our meditation.

   So, we shall dwell upon it thus. First, it is the glory of God to cover
   sin. Secondly, this is a great encouragement to penitent sinners. And,
   thirdly, it ought to be a great stimulus to saints.

   I. First, IT IS THE GLORY OF GOD TO COVER SIN.

   This is the expression which is commonly used in Scripture to describe
   the putting away of sin and forgiving it God covers the very thing
   which the magistrate searches out--guilt, the breach of His Law, the
   aggravations, the multiplied repetitions of sin, the base motives, the
   many excuses and deceits with which sin is sought to be extenuated--all
   this God covers. Hear this and be astonished, O you Sinners--God can
   cover all your sins! No matter how black they are, or how many, or how
   deep their dye, He can cover them all!--

   "This is His grand prerogative, And none can in this honor share." But
   He can do it, glory be to His blessed name!

   He can cover the sin which is known and confessed. He never covers the
   sin which is notconfessed. When a man will not acknowledge himself to
   be guilty, he stands convicted of his rebellious refusal to take his
   proper position before the Lord. But if you stand, O Sinner, and
   confess your guilt--if you say, O Rebel, "There is no doubt about the
   matter, I acknowledge that I am guilty," it is the glory of God that He
   can cover that sin which no other can cover and which your own
   conscience will not permit you to conceal! He can cover the
   transgression of that man whose mouth is stopped by the consciousness
   of his guilt. O glorious act of Divine Grace that sin and transgression
   can be covered--covered, though it is confessed and acknowledged, and
   covered becauseit is confessed and acknowledged!

   The glory of this Truth lies in the fact that God can do this justly
   through the work of Jesus. To cover up sin, why, standing, as it does,
   alone and without any qualification, it might seem to be a dreadful
   thing for God to do! But He can do it righteously. Without the
   slightest violation of His Law, without endangering the stability of
   His Kingdom, He can forgive and cover up all manner of sin and
   blasphemy so that it shall never be seen again! Do you ask me how this
   can be done? The answer lies in the great substitutionary Sacrifice of
   Jesus Christ! God steps down from His eternal Throne when man must be
   punished for his sin and He says, "I will bear the punishment! Lay it
   all on Me." And that He might

   bear it, Jesus took upon Himself the form of a Man and dwelt among men
   and, at last, upon the accursed tree He bore the guilt of man! It was a
   wondrous recompense which He made to His own Law by being Himself
   punished in the place of the offender! Now, beneath the whole heavens
   there can be none who can justly object to the covering of sin by the
   atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That amazing, that remarkable, that
   unique transaction of the Just suffering for the unjust, that He might
   bring us to God, has enabled God to cover our sin and to do it justly.

   Further, He can do this without exacting any sort of compensation from
   the offender Marvelous is this Truth--too marvelous for some to
   believe! The Roman Catholic Church teaches us that we must do penance
   if our sin is to be forgiven. There must be so many lashes for the bare
   back, or so long abstention from food--and purgatorial pains to be
   inflicted after death and I know not what besides! Yes, but this is the
   glory of God--that He can cover all this sin now, upon the spot,
   without any price being paid by the sinner, or any suffering being
   endured by him! He has but to come and confess his sin and accept the
   Divine covering, namely, the blood and righteousness of Jesus
   Christ--and the whole of it shall be covered once and for all!

   It is the glory of God that He can do all this without any injury to
   the person who is forgiven. It sometimes happens that if a man has
   offended you, and you forgive him again and again, he may thereby
   become hardened in his sin. But the Lord's sweet way of covering sin is
   one which always melts and changes the heart. Sin is never so heartily
   hated as when it is covered by the blood of Christ! No man ever
   thoroughly loathes sin till he has seen it put away in Christ. And when
   he has seen Jesus put it away by His own griefs and death, then he
   really hates the sin that made the Redeemer mourn and nailed Him to the
   tree. It is the Glory of God that He can cover sin in such a fashion as
   this, so as not to injure the offender whom He forgives!

   And He can do it without causing any injury to the rest of mankind.
   There is no man who is any the worse because his fellow man is saved.
   The example of saved souls is never injurious. There are some, I know,
   who can twist the truth till they find in it an excuse for sin, but the
   Truth that God is able to forgive the grossest sin--no, more--that He
   hasforgi-ven it in the case of many and has pressed them to His bosom
   as His own dear children--has done no injury, but much helpful service
   to the morals of mankind. Go where you will, and read the story of the
   prodigal son--on board ship among rough sailors, or away there in the
   barracks among wild soldiers, or go into the worst slums of London and
   read to fallen women that wondrous story of God's pardoning love and
   see if it will do them any injury! You know that it will not. On the
   contrary, it conveys to them a message of hope which helps to lift them
   up from that black despair which is one of the strongest chains by
   which the devil can hold lost souls in captivity! I am not at all
   afraid of the effect of preaching that it is the glory of God to blot
   out sin, for He put His Son between Himself and the sinner, as we
   sometimes sing--

   "Christ and then the sinner see, Look through Jesus' wounds on me."

   The greatest blessing of all is, dear Friends, that, when God covers
   sin, He does it so effectually that it never appears again. He declares
   that He casts it into the depths of the sea. He says that as far as the
   east is from the west, so far does He remove it from us. He even goes
   the length of saying, "The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and
   there shall be none." So far as anything can be annihilated, that is
   what will happen to the sin of the Lord's people. You know that the
   work of the Messiah was "to finish the transgression, and to make an
   end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
   everlasting righteousness"--and that is the work of which He said, "It
   is finished." Then it is finished! There is an end of it! That is the
   glorious way in which the Lord covers sin and it is His peculiar glory
   that He is continually doing this. Kings may search out matters and
   they ought to do so, or government will not be safe--but it is to the
   honor of God to forgive sin.

   II. Now, secondly, to make a practical use of this Doctrine, THIS
   SHOULD BE VERY GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT TO THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING MERCY AT
   GOD'S HANDS.

   Beloved Friend, do you wish to have your sin forgiven? Then do not
   attempt to cover it yourself, for it is the glory of God to cover that
   matter, so do not try to rob Him of His glory. If you could have
   covered your sin, there would have been no need for a Redeemer! Do not
   attempt to excuse or extenuate your guilt, but make a clean breast of
   it. You are a sinner. Therefore say that you are a sinner. In all your
   approaches to God, seeking mercy at His hands, come in your true
   colors. Do not even plead your own repentance, or your tears, or your
   feelings. Plead as David did, "For Your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my
   iniquity: for it is great "Call your sin great, as it really is. Never
   try to make it out to be little.

   You know that if you were wounded on a battlefield and a surgeon came
   where you were, you would not say to him, "Oh, I have very little the
   matter with me!" Oh no! I guarantee you that you would cry as loudly as
   you could, "Doctor, bind up my gaping wounds lest I die!" You know that
   in such a case you would make the most of it, and you would act wisely
   in doing so. And it is never wise for a sinner to make himself out to
   be a little sinner. It is the glory of God to cover sin, so do not you
   attempt to do it! I say again, lay it all bare before Him and ask Him
   to cover it with the atoning Sacrifice of His dear Son.

   Now, poor Sinner, I pray the Holy Spirit to enable you to give God
   glory, at this moment, by believing that He can cover sin. When the
   conscience is thoroughly awakened, it seems impossible that sin should
   ever be covered. The convicted sinner says, "My sin, my sin, I always
   see it! Can it ever be hidden from the sight of God?" Can you not
   believe that God in Christ can cover your sin? Glorify God, O son,
   glorify God, O daughter, by believing that He can do so! Do not limit
   His mercy by thinking that He cannot pardon you, for He has forgiven so
   many that, assuredly, there is proof enough that He can pass by
   iniquity, transgression and sin and remember not the guilt of those who
   trust His Son! If you believe that, give glory to God now by believing
   that He is willing to pass by your sin. Every man is willing to do that
   which honors himself and it is inconceivable that God should be
   reluctant to do that which glorifies Himself. So, as it is for His
   glory to cover it, He must be willing to cover it! Therefore, may the
   Holy Spirit help you to believe, now, that He can and will cover your
   sin!

   There is Christ on the Cross--look to Him with the eyes of faith and
   take Him to be your own Savior. Christ on the Cross is nothing to you
   until you trust in Him, but it glorifies Christ when a poor guilty
   sinner cries to Him, "Purge me with hyssop." You know what the use of
   the hyssop was. They took a bunch of it and dipped it in the blood of
   the sacrifice, and those who were sprinkled with it were made
   ceremonially clean. David prayed, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
   clean: wash me, and Ishall be whiter than snow." And that is the prayer
   for you to present. You believe that if God were to wash another man in
   the blood of Jesus, He would become whiter than snow, but can you not
   believe it for yourself? May the blessed Spirit take away your
   unbelief, dear Heart! Can you not believe that He can wash you and make
   you whiter than snow? He will do it in a moment if you but trust Him,
   rely upon Him and receive His dear Son to be your salvation! This is
   the true covering of sin. Oh, how the Hebrews loved that word,
   "covering." Noah's ark was pitched inside and outside with pitch--that
   was its covering. So everything under the Mosaic Law had its covering
   and God has a way of covering sin and covering the sinner, too, inside
   and outside till all his sin is gone! And he that believes on the Lord
   Jesus Christ may know at once that his transgression is forgiven, his
   sin is covered.

   "But," someone asks, "am I to do nothing?" Nothing but believe in Him
   that justifies the ungodly! If you do that, you will begin to do
   something more directly, afterwards, for you will love God for having
   pardoned you and you will say, "I am not my own now, for I am bought
   with a price and, therefore, I will live to His Glory." But, in order
   to get your sin forgiven, you have nothing to do except--

   "Castyour deadly doing down,

   Down at Jesus' feet--

   Stand in Him, in Him alone--

   Gloriously complete!"

   "For he that believes on Him is not condemned." "He that believes in
   Him is justified from all things from which he could not be justified
   by the Law of Moses." Oh, what an encouragement this ought to be to all
   sinners who are seeking the Savior!

   III. Now, lastly, THIS GRAND DOCTRINE OUGHT TO BE A GREAT STIMULUS TO
   THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

   First, it should excite you to glorify God in having covered your sin.
   Do not go and talk to everybody about what you used to be before
   conversion, as I have known some to do. They will almost revel in what
   they were! I have more than a little hesitation about what is sometimes
   said by converted burglars and men of that sort. I am glad they are
   converted, but I wish they would not talk so much about that which is
   covered. Let it be covered. Still, never be backward to glorify God for
   having covered your sin. Speak of it with delicacy and modesty, but, if
   the Grace of God has saved you, tell all men of it and do not let
   people imagine that God has done only a small thing for you. When He
   saved you, it was the grandest thing He could do for you. Do you not
   think so? Well, then, tell the story of it--

   "Tell it unto sinners, tell, I am--I am--out of Hell."

   "And what is more, I never shall go there, but shall see God's face
   with acceptance in Heaven!" Tell this to sinners while you live--and
   when you get to Heaven, make the streets of Heaven ring with the
   tidings of the Almighty Grace that covered all your sin!

   The next thing for you Christian people to do, now you know that God
   can cover sin, is to aim at the covering of the sins of your friends
   and neighbors by leading them to the Savior To see sin should always be
   a tearful sight to you. As soon as ever you see it, breathe the prayer,
   "Lord, cover it." Do you live where you can hardly lie in your bed at
   night without hearing sounds of ribaldry and blasphemy? Then the moment
   you hear them, say, "Lord, cover that sin." Do you see, in the streets,
   foul transgression that makes you blush? Never see it without saying,
   "Lord, cover that sin." If we were in a right state of heart, this
   would be our habit--every sin that we noticed in ourselves or in
   others--in our children, or our servants, or our neighbors, or that we
   read of in the newspapers, would make us pray, "Lord, cover that sin."
   So always be telling others about the covering of sin by Christ's
   precious blood! Show them what a perfect covering it is. You know that
   the Lord spoke through Isaiah of "a covering which is narrower than
   that a man can wrap himself in it." But the atoning Sacrifice of Christ
   is a covering which will cover all sin and cover the sinner from head
   to foot! Therefore tell others about it with all your might.

   And, once more, you who have proved the power of this covering, imitate
   the Lord in forgetting the sins of those who repent If ever they offend
   you, let that Atonement which satisfied God for sin, also satisfy you,
   and say, "Though this man has offended me, I ask no atonement at his
   hands, because Christ's Atonement is to my soul the satisfaction for
   every sin against me as well as against God." Never harbor any
   resentment for a single moment, Beloved. "Even as Christ forgave you,
   so also do you." Do you think that Christ's blood and righteousness are
   not sufficient to cover those unkind words of your brother, or that
   ungenerous action of your son, or that slanderous speech of your
   neighbor? Go and put all offenses against yourself where God has put
   all offenses against Himself! It is a dreadful thing to hear a man
   talking about God having forgiven him ten thousand talents and then to
   see him take his brother by the throat, saying, "Pay me what you owe!"
   Our Lord Jesus Christ said, "If you forgive not men their trespasses,
   neither will your Father forgive your trespass." This spirit of
   forgiveness would keep us always in a state of love--and this is
   exactly what the Lord Jesus aims at. "It is the glory of God to cover a
   matter."

   Then, you cover matters, too. I know some people who always like to be
   poking into any filth there is. They keep a long stick and stir it up,
   and they seem to be quite pleased with the sweet perfume. Let it alone,
   Brother--let it alone! "Oh, but you do not know how they have offended
   me!" No, and I do not want to know. But I am quite sure that they have
   not offended you as much as you have offended God--and yet He has
   forgiven you! Then why do you not forgive them? The less said, you
   know, in such matters, the sooner are they mended. Solomon wisely says,
   "Where no wood is, there the fire goes out." Blessed are they who
   always act as firemen, throwing cold water upon every spark of
   dissension or ill-will that they see! It is the Glory of God to cover
   it up, so you, also, cover it up with the spirit of love and the mantle
   of gentleness! And, above all, with the reflection that the precious
   blood of Christ, that made peace between you and God, has also made
   peace between you and all mankind.

   And now, for love of Christ, if they strike you on one cheek, you
   should turn the other, also. If they will have your cloak, for love of
   Jesus let them have your coat, also, sooner than live in the spirit of
   perpetual contention and strife. May God enable you to act thus, for
   Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EXODUS25:10-22; PSALM 32.

   Exodus 25:10, 11. And they shall make an Ark of shittim wood: two
   cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half
   the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof And you
   shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay
   it, and shall make upon it a crown of gold'round about. The Ark of the
   Covenant was the most sacred object in the tabernacle in the
   wilderness. It stood at the extreme end of the Holy of Holiest. It was
   the place over which the bright shining light called the Shekinah,
   which was the token of the Presence of God, shone forth. The Ark was,
   doubtless, typical of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a sacred chest made
   to contain the Law of God. Blessed are they who know the Law in Christ.
   Out of Christ, the Law condemns. In Christ, it becomes a blessed guide
   to

   us. This Ark was made of wood, perhaps to typify the human nature of
   our blessed Lord--but it was of wood which did not rot--acacia--which
   resists the worm and, truly, in Him there was no corruption in life by
   way of sin, and no corruption sullied Him in death when He slept for a
   while in the grave! Wood is a thing that grows out of the earth, even
   as Jesus sprang up like a root out of a dry ground. But the Ark must be
   made of the best kind of wood--no presence of rot and untainted. Yet
   the Ark, though made of wood, did not appear to be so, for it was
   completely overlaid with pure gold, so, everywhere, the Deity, or, if
   you will, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ could be seen. The
   Ark was of shittim wood, yet it was an Ark of gold--and He, who was
   truly Man, was just as truly God, blessed be His holy name! Round about
   the top of this Ark there was a crown of gold. How glorious is Christ,
   in His mediation, as covering the Law and preserving it within Himself!
   He is King, glorious in holiness and honored in the midst of His
   people.

   12-14. And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them on
   the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be on the one side of it,
   and two rings on the other side of it, and you shall make staves of
   shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the staves
   into the rings by the sides of the Ark, that the Ark may be borne with
   them. The rings were, of course, for the staves to pass through, and
   the staves were for the priests to carry the Ark as it moved from place
   to place. It went with the children of Israel in all their
   journeys--and our Lord Jesus is always with us. He goes with us
   wherever we go and tarries with us wherever we abide. Though His
   glorified Person is in Heaven, yet His Presence is not restricted to
   any one place, as He said to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always,
   even unto the end of the

   world."

   15. The staves shall be in the rings of the Ark: they shall not be
   taken from it So that it was always ready to be moved.

   16. And you shall put into the Ark, the Testimony which I shall give
   you. That is to say, the two tablets of stone were to be put into the
   Ark of the Covenant.

   17. And you shall make a Mercy Seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half
   shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth
   thereof. It exactly fitted upon the top of the Ark, and so completely
   covered whatever was put within. It was of pure gold. This, perhaps,
   was the most important part of this very important article of the
   tabernacle furniture. It was the Mercy Seat, the cover that hid the Law
   of God, the place where God promised to meet with His people.

   18-20. Andyou shall make two cherubims of gold, of beaten workshallyou
   make them, on the two ends of the Mercy Seat And make one cherub on the
   one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the Mercy Seat
   shall you make the cherubims on the two ends thereof, and the cherubims
   shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the Mercy Seat with
   their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the
   Mercy Seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. They were part and
   parcel of the Mercy Seat. They were made of the same precious metal and
   all formed one piece. They may represent the angels who stand desiring
   to look into the mysteries of God, and they may also represent the
   Church, which is all of a piece with Christ, forever one with Him.

   21, 22. Andyou shallput the Mercy Seat above upon the Ark, and in the
   Ark you shallput the Testimony that I shall give you. And there I will
   meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the Mercy Seat,
   from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony,
   of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of
   Israel I t was the meeting place of God and men, where the Law was
   covered with a solid plate of gold, so is Jesus the meeting place
   between God and sinners, where the Law is covered with His perfect
   righteousness.

   Psalm 32:1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is
   covered. That is a wonderful word--almost the same in Hebrew as in
   English--covered, hidden, concealed, put away, removed, dismissed
   forever.

   2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputes not iniquity, and in
   whose spirit there is no guile. For, when sin is gone, men become
   honest before God. The fear of punishment makes them endeavor to evade
   the Truth concerning sin, but, when they see sin pardoned, then are
   they honest before the Lord.

   3. When I kept silent, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the
   day long. I have heard that certain diseases, when they are suppressed,
   are all the more terrible and deadly. And, certainly, suppressed sin,
   or suppressed sorrow for sin which has no vent by way of confession
   before God, is a dreadful thing. It seems to eat into the very
   bones--"My bones waxed old," like a strong acid eating into the very
   pillars of our manhood!

   4. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. The mere touch of
   God's finger would be enough to crush us, but when He comes to deal
   with us in conviction and lays His heavy hand upon us, it is, indeed,
   terrible! We are then like Gideon's fleece when he squeezed all the
   moisture out of it.

   4, 5. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I
   acknowledged my sin unto You, and my iniquity have Inot hid. I said, I
   will confess my transgressors unto the LORD; and You forgave the
   iniquity of my sin. Selah. Being confessed, it was forgiven! Being
   acknowledged, it was blotted out!

   5, For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto You in a time when
   You may be found. If You, O Lord, hear a sinner cry unto You, then
   surely You will hear your saints when they cry unto You yet more and
   more! If seekers become finders, then others will become seekers, too.

   6, 7. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near
   unto him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble;
   You shall compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. What a
   blessed experience that is-- to be surrounded with songs, to hear music
   on the right and music on the left, singing behind me for mercy
   received, singing before me for hopes yet to be fulfilled--singing
   above me, the angels welcoming me when my time comes to go Home to my
   Father's House! "You shall compass me about with songs of deliverance."
   Now the Lord speaks to His servant--

   8. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go: I
   will guide you with My eyes. "Therefore, keep your eye on Me; notice
   every movement of My eyes and be ready and obedient, at the slightest
   sign, to do My will."

   9. Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
   understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
   they come near unto you. Be not hard in the mouth. Be not stubborn,
   willful, obstinate, rebellions.

   10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked. They pursue pleasure as if it
   belonged to them alone. They talk about "a short life and a merry one."
   Poor things, how sadly mistaken they are! "Many sorrows shall be to the
   wicked." They have a terrible inheritance and a dreadful entail of
   suffering!

   10, 11. But he that trusts in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
   Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous: and shout for joy. Be
   demonstrative about it, make other people hear of it. Do not be ashamed
   to let your holy joy be known. Be not so very proper and orderly as to
   mumble out your praises as some do--"Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice,
   you righteous: and shout for joy,"

   11. All you that are upright in heart.
     __________________________________________________________________

"Prisoners of Hope"

   (No. 2839)

   A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JULY 12, 1903.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   AUGUST 5, 1877.

   "As for you also, by the blood ofyour covenant Have sent forth your
   prisoner out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the
   stronghold, you prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will
   render double unto you." Zechariah 9:11,12

   THIS passage unquestionably has to do with our Lord Jesus Christ and
   His salvation. We are not at all in doubt about this matter, for the
   connection is exceedingly clear. If you begin to read at the 9th verse,
   you will see that we have, from that place on to our text, much
   prophetic information concerning our Lord and His Kingdom. We read,
   first, something about His own manner of triumph and His way of
   conducting Himself in His Kingdom--"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
   Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes unto you:
   He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and
   upon a colt the foal of an ass." We know that the Prophet speaks not
   thus of any man save of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King who put
   aside the pomp and pageantry in which Eastern monarchs delighted and,
   instead of riding upon a horse, He mounts a lowly ass. If He must ride
   in procession through the streets of Jerusalem, it shall be in that
   meek and humble guise. The King of the Kingdom of Grace is not high and
   lofty, haughty or proud, but condescends to men of low estate.

   The Pharisees and scribes murmured, "This Man receives sinners, and
   eats with them," and it was quite true. He is a King, and of a right
   royal nature, but His Kingdom is not that of pomp and show, of force
   and oppression. He is just and righteous, but He is also lowly, gentle
   and kind. The little children flocked around Him while He was here
   below and, now, the meek and lowly ones of mankind delight to serve
   Him. How glad I am that I can say to any of you who have not yet
   yielded yourselves up to Him that you need not fear to become the
   subjects of Jesus, the Son of God, for He is so gentle a King that it
   shall always be for your profit and pleasure, and never to your real
   loss or sorrow, to bow down before His gracious scepter! We have not to
   set before you a Pharaoh or a Nebuchadnezzar