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        Title: Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 58: 1912
   Creator(s): Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (1834-1892)
CCEL Subjects: All; Sermons;
   LC Call no: BV42
  LC Subjects:

               Practical theology

               Worship (Public and Private) Including the church year, Christian
               symbols, liturgy, prayer, hymnology

               Times and Seasons. The church year
     __________________________________________________________________

The Voices of Our Days

   (No. 3283)

   A NEW YEAR'S SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "I said, Days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom."
   Job 32:7.

   In the discussion between Job and his three friends, Elihu was present,
   but though by far the wisest man, he remained quiet. Sometimes a still
   tongue proves a wise head. In our text he gives his reason for
   refraining from speech. He felt inclined to deliver his mind, but being
   the younger man he modestly said, "These gray-headed men ought to know
   better than I. Perhaps if I speak, I shall display my ignorance and
   they will say, "Be silent, boy, and let your fathers teach you."
   Therefore he said to himself, "Days should speak and multitude of years
   should teach wisdom."

   Elihu had, however, been disappointed. His words plainly say that he
   had heard but little wisdom from the three ancients. And he added,
   "Great men are not always wise; neither do the aged understand
   judgment." He was not the only man who had been disappointed when
   looking to his seniors for wisdom, for it is a sorrowful truth that the
   lapse of years, apart from the Grace of God, will not make us wise.
   Though with the teaching of the Holy Spirit, every year's experience
   will make the Christian riper, yet without that teaching it is possible
   that each year may make a Christian not more ripe, but more rotten.
   Among all sinners the worst are those who have been longest at the
   trade and among saints he is not always the best who has lived long
   enough to grow cold. We have known some exhibit ripeness of experience
   in their very youth through Divine teaching and by growing on the sunny
   side of the wall of fellowship--while others who have been far longer
   on the tree are still sour because they hang out of the blessed
   sunlight of the Divine Presence in the cool shade of worldliness. You
   cannot measure a man's wisdom by the baldness of his head, or the
   grayness of his hair-- and yet, if the Spirit of God were with us to
   sanctify each day's experience, it ought to be so--"Days should speak
   and multitude of years should teach wisdom."

   This, then, is our New Year's theme--the teaching of our years as they
   pass over our heads. What are we learning from them?

   I. Our first remark shall be that DAYS HAVE A VOICE. Elihu said, "Days
   should speak." Every day, as a day, has its own lesson. "Day unto day
   utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge." The sun never
   breaks upon the earth without light of a superior order for those who
   have intelligence--especially for those who have the Holy Spirit. For
   instance, the mere fact of our beginning another day teaches us to
   adore the mercy which kept us alive when the image of death was on our
   faces during the night--an extraordinary mercy, indeed--for sleep is
   near akin to death, and waking is a rehearsal of the resurrection! When
   the day begins, it tells us that God has already provided us with
   mercies, for there are our garments ready to put on and there, too, is
   the morning meal. Each day in its freshness seems to hint that the Lord
   would have us attempt something new for Him, or push forward with that
   which we have already commenced, or draw nearer to Him than we have
   ever been before. The Lord calls us to learn more of Him, to become
   more like He, to drink more fully into His love and to show forth that
   love more clearly. Every hour of the day teaches us its own lesson and
   till the shadows fall, the voices speak to us if we have ears to hear.
   Night, too, has its teaching. Does it not bid us pray the Lord to draw
   a curtain over the day and hide the sin of it, even as He draws the
   curtain across the sky and makes it more easy for us to fall asleep? Do
   we not delight, as we go to our beds, to ask to be unclothed of all our
   sins, even as we are stripped of our garments? And should we not pray
   to be prepared to fall asleep and lie in our last bedchamber, till the
   everlasting morning breaks upon us and we put on our Glory robes? Did
   we but exercise sanctified thought, each day would bring its precious
   power of wisdom and make us better acquainted with the Lord.

   What a message do our Sabbaths bring to us! To those who toil all the
   week long, the light of the Lord's-Day seems fairer and fresher than
   that of any other day. A person at Newcastle who had a house to let,
   took an applicant for it to the top of his house. He spoke of the
   distant prospect and added, "We can see Durham Cathedral on a Sunday."
   "On Sunday," said the listener, "and pray why not on a Monday?" "Why,"
   he said, "because on the weekdays great furnaces and pits are pouring
   forth their smoke and we cannot see as far--indeed, we can scarcely see
   at all! But when the fires are out, our view is wide." Is not this a
   true symbol of our Sabbaths when we are in the Spirit? The smoke of the
   world no more clouds the heavens and we see almost up to the golden
   gates! Such days do speak, indeed, and tell of the rest which remains.
   They sing in our ears with soft and gentle voices and tell us that we
   shall not always need to bow like galley slaves, tugging at the oar of
   this world's work, but may even now look up to the place where our Home
   awaits us and the weary are at rest! These peaceful Lord' s-Days call
   us away to the top of Shenir and Hermon, where we may view the land of
   our inheritance! They cry to us, "Come up higher!" They beckon us to
   commune with Him "whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we
   see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with unspeakable joy and full of
   glory." All days speak, but Sabbaths speak best--they are orators for
   God! These resurrection days, these days of the Son of Man--these have
   angel voices. "He that has ears to hear, let him hear."

   While each day speaks, some days have peculiar voices. Days ofjoy speak
   and bid us bless the Lord, and magnify His name. Days of sorrow speak
   and cry, "Arise and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is
   polluted." Days of communion with God speak saying, "Abide with Me,"
   and days of lost communion cry in warning, "Are the consolations of God
   small with you? Is there any secret thing with you?" Days of health
   say, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." And
   days of sickness say, "In the day of adversity, consider." Each day,
   whether bright or dim, clear or cloudy, festive or desolate, has its
   own tone and modulation and speaks its own message. Some of these days
   are great preachers and from them we have learned more than in months
   before. Solemn days of decision when sins have been abandoned. Joyous
   days of manifestation when Christ has been precious. Triumphant days of
   victory in which God has been exalted--these speak, indeed--and like
   Prophets claim a hearing in the name of the Lord. Whether common or
   special, each day is to us a new page of sacred history, a new window
   into the Truth of God, another rest stop in the march to the Celestial
   City!

   Here let us add that all our days have had a voice to us. There were
   youthful days and we thought they said, "Rejoice, O young man, in your
   youth"--and we listened all too eagerly--yet we misunderstood those
   voices. Had we hearkened to the end of their sermon, we would have
   heard them say, "But know you that for all these things God will bring
   you into judgment." To some of us, our youthful days were full of
   blessed teaching, for they called us to seek Him early in whom we have
   rejoiced and found our All-in-All. Days of middle life have a voice
   which we hear as we buckle on our harness for stern fight and find but
   little space for rest--and none for self-congratulation. What do these
   days say to us but "Work while it is day, for the night comes when no
   man can work"? Those gray hairs scattered upon our brows warn us that
   our sun will not remain at noon for long. I hear a voice which cries to
   me, "Quick! Quick! Quick! The night comes!" As to those later days, to
   which our text more pointedly alludes, they say to you, dear Brothers
   and Sisters who have reached them, "Make sure work for eternity. Hold
   time loosely. Lay hold on eternal life." The declining strength, the
   teeth long gone, the limbs trembling, the eyes needing glasses to aid
   them, the hair snowy with many winters--all these are messages of which
   the purport is--"Be you also ready, for the Bridegroom comes." Knowing
   our frailty, each day sounds in my ear the trumpet call, "Boot and
   saddle! Up and away! Linger no longer. Press on to the battle!"

   One of the loveliest sights in the world is an aged Believer waiting
   for the summons to depart. There is a lovely freshness in the green
   blade. The bloom upon the ripening corn is also fair to look upon, but
   best of all we delight in the gold ears drooping down from the very
   weight of ripeness, expectant of the sickle and the harvest home! We
   have some among us who are so lovely in their lives and heavenly in
   their conversation that they seem like shining ones who have lingered
   here a little late--they ought to be in Heaven, but in mercy to us they
   tarry here to let us see what the glorified are like! I have heard of
   stray sunbeams and these are such. It is well when our old age is such
   a voice from Heaven! But with the unconverted man or woman, how
   different are all things! To them we must tenderly but faithfully give
   warning. "You must soon die. The young may die, but you must--you know
   you must. Be wise, therefore, and prepare to meet your God." The
   eleventh hour with iron tongue calls to you-- give heed to it, or you
   will have to hear it sound your condemnation forever!

   "Hasten, Sinner, to be wise, Stay not for the morrow's sun-- Longer
   wisdom you despise, Harder is she to be won. Hasten mercy to implore.
   Stay not for the morrow's sun Lest your season should be over Ere this
   evening's stage is run! Hasten, Sinner, to return, Stay not for the
   morrow's sun Lest your lamp should fail to burn Ere salvation's work is
   done! Hasten, Sinner, to be blest, Stay not for the morrow's sun Lest
   perdition you arrest Ere the morrow is begun."

   Our days all have a voice and those which mark the different stages of
   our life and the flight of time have voices which demand special
   attention. Birthdays, as often as they come, have a chiding voice if we
   are lingering and loiter-ing--and they also have a voice appealing to
   us for gratitude for years of mercy past. They have a voice calling to
   us for more strenuous exertions and bidding us draw nearer to God than
   before. There is always a buoyancy and gladness about the first days of
   the year--they speak of thankfulness and call us to devote ourselves
   anew to God--and ask for new Grace to make the coming year more holy
   than the rest. The dying hours of the last day of the year are well
   kept as a watch, for by their fewness we see their precariousness.
   There are also last days to a life--and it will depend upon what that
   life is whether they will be rung out with joyous peals or knelled with
   despair.

   Let days speak, then, for they have much to say to us!

   II. The next thing in our text is that INCREASING YEARS SHOULD INCREASE
   OUR WISDOM--"multitude of years should teach wisdom." A man ought not
   to be at this moment as foolish as he was 12 months ago. He should be
   at least a little wiser. Christians ought to learn several things by
   the lapse of years.

   We ought to learn to trust less to ourselves. Self-confidence is one of
   the most common faults of the young--they judge themselves to be better
   than their fathers and capable of great things. Untried strength always
   appears to be greater than it is. For a man to trust himself in the
   beginning of his Christian career is very unwise, for Scripture warns
   him against it! But for him to trust himself after he has been 20 or 30
   years a Christian is surely insanity, itself--a sin against common
   sense! If we have spent only a few years in the Christian life, we
   ought to have learned from slips, follies, failures, ignorance and
   mistakes that we are less than nothing! The college of experience has
   done nothing by way of instructing us if it has not taught us that we
   are weakness, itself. To rest upon yourself, or upon any particular
   virtue which you possess or upon any resolution which you have formed
   is vanity itself! Brothers and Sisters, has the spider's thread already
   failed you so many times and do you still call it a cable? Has reed
   after reed broken beneath you and do you still rest on them as though
   they were bars of iron? Are you an aged Christian and yet
   self-confident? Surely this cannot be!

   Age should teach every man to place less and less confidence in his
   fellow men. I do not mean that we are to lose that legitimate
   confidence which we should place in our fellow Christians and in the
   moral integrity of those we have tried and proved. I refer to that
   carnal confidence which makes flesh its arm--this should be cured by
   age. When we begin the Christian life, we are like feeble plants
   needing a support. We cling to our minister and everything he says is
   Gospel, or we follow some superior person and place our admiring
   confidence in him. Alas, it often happened that helpers fail--and
   unless we have, in the meantime, learned to do without them, the
   consequences may be very serious! In the course of time, I think most
   Christians find their idols among men broken before their eyes. They at
   one time said, "If such a man were to fall, I should think that there
   was no truth in Christianity." But they have now learned better! God
   will not have us make idols of His saints or ministers--and years prove
   to us that those are cursed who trust in man--but he is blessed that
   trusts in the Lord!

   We ought to learn, again, that there is no depending upon appearances.
   Have you not found, as far as you have now gone, that the direst
   calamity that ever overtook you was your greatest mercy? And have you
   not found that what you thought would have been a choice blessing had
   really been a terrible danger to you if it had been bestowed? You have
   judged the Lord according to your folly--by the outward manifestation
   of His Providence! Have you not now learned to believe in His tried
   fidelity and to trust Him at all times, let Him do what He may? In
   this, age should instruct us. We ought not to be afraid because the day
   is cloudy but remember that if there were no clouds, there would be no
   rain--and if no rain, no harvests! Surely it is time that we had done
   judging each inch of time by itself and began to see things upon a
   broader scale! We would neither be too much depressed nor too exultant
   because of our immediate present condition if we knew that things are
   not what they seem.

   Years should also teach us greater reliance upon the Divine
   faithfulness. I t ought every day to be easier for a Christian to trust
   in God. The young Believer is like a young swimmer who, for the first
   time feels his feet off the bottom and scarcely knows what will become
   of him. But the old swimmer feels like a fish in its native element--he
   is not afraid of drowning. The little waves which in his boyhood he
   thought would swamp him, he takes no notice of whatever! And even if
   huge billows roll, he mounts them like a sea bird! Oh, it is a grand
   thing to be established in the faith, grounded and settled, so as to be
   able to say, "Therefore will we not fear, though the earth is removed."
   So it ought to be with us-- "Days should speak and multitude of years
   should teach wisdom."

   And truly, dear Friends, we ought to attain a deeper insight into the
   things of God as every year rolls over our heads. The conversation of
   mature Christians is always very delightful. Young Christians sparkle,
   but old Christians are diamonds of the first water! You may get good
   fruit from a young and earnest Christian, but it lacks the mellowness
   and full flavor of the ripe Believer. I love to talk with aged
   Christians even when they are uneducated people. Many holy women may be
   met with among the poor of the Church who know a world of sound
   Divinity--and if you will but listen to them, you will be surprised.
   They do not deal in theories--they tell you matters of fact. They do
   not explain points like the schoolmen, but they illustrate their
   experience! They have been instructed by living near to God, by feeding
   upon His Truth, by lying in Jesus' bosom like the poor man's ewe lamb
   which did eat of his bread and drink of his cup--this makes men wise
   unto salvation and, in such cases, years sanctified by Divine Grace
   teach them wisdom!

   I shall have to speak a long time if I have to show in what respects
   Christians ought to grow wiser. They ought to grow wiser with regard to
   themselves, to be more watchful against their besetting sins, more
   intent in that particular department of service for which they find
   themselves most qualified. They ought to be wiser towards Satan--more
   aware of his devices and of the times when he is likely to assail them.
   They ought to learn how to work better with others, to manage more
   easily people with odd tempers, to get on better with those who are
   under them, or with them, or above them. They should be learning how to
   deal with trembling sinners, with hard hearts and with tender
   consciences--with backsliders, with mourners and the like. In fact, in
   all things every year we ought to be more fully equipped and, under the
   blessing of God's Spirit, years should teach us wisdom!

   Brothers and Sisters, if we are Christians, we ought to learn if we
   remember who it is that has been teaching us. It is the Holy Spirit
   Himself! If your boy goes to a school two or three years and does not
   make progress, you do not feel satisfied with the master. Now, you
   cannot, in this case blame the Teacher--then let the pupil take much of
   the blame to himself. "Days should speak and multitude of years should
   teach wisdom," since the Holy Spirit dwells in us who are converted to
   God! Let us remember how sweetly He has taught us by means of the
   choicest mercies. They used to teach their children the alphabet, in
   the olden times, by giving them A B C on pieces of gingerbread--and
   when the boy knew his letters, he ate the gingerbread for a reward!
   That is very much like the way in which we have been taught
   Doctrine--it has been sweet to us and we have learned it by feasting
   upon it! I know it has been so with me. The mercy of God has been a
   Divine Instructor to my soul. "Your gentleness," says one of old, "has
   made me great." With such sweet teaching, kind teaching--loving
   teaching, forbearing teaching--we ought to have learned something in
   all these years!

   And then, sometimes, how sharply the Holy Spirit has taught us. I have
   heard say that boys do not learn so well now because the rod is so
   little used. I should not wonder, for in God's school the rod has never
   been put aside! Some of us do not go long without a stroke or two--if
   you have been very much tried and troubled, and yet have not learned,
   my dear Brother, my dear Sister--what can be done with you? What? With
   this smarting, with all this sickness, with all these

   losses and crosses and yet no profiting? O vine, with all this pruning,
   are there so few clusters? O land, with all this plowing and harrowing,
   is there so slender a harvest? Let us mourn before God that it should
   be so!

   And let us remember, again, how much teaching we have had from the
   ministry under the blessing of God's Holy Spirit. I should not wonder
   if some Christians do not profit--their Sabbaths are very dreadful days
   to them. All the week they are hard at work and on Sunday there is
   nothing to feed upon in what they hear, so they come home from public
   worship dissatisfied and troubled. Now, if your souls have been fed--if
   you have often said, "Surely God was in this place and I knew it," and
   you have gone home with your souls fed with the finest of the
   wheat--should there not be some wisdom to show for it? Consider the
   position which some of you occupy as teachers of others, as heads of
   families and instructors. If you do not learn, how are you to teach?
   And if there is no learning with you, you cannot wonder if your
   scholars make no progress under your instructions! With God as our
   Teacher, if we do not learn, we cannot blame others if they do not
   learn from us who are but men and women! May God grant that instead of
   wasting time in frivolities, or "killing time," as the worldling calls
   it, we may seek to increase in the knowledge of God and in likeness to
   Jesus, so that every day we may be better heirs of Heaven!--

   "So let our lips and lives express

   The holy Gospel we profess!

   So let our works and virtues shine

   To prove the Doctrine all Divine!

   Thus shall we best proclaim abroad

   The honors of our Savior God,

   When His salvation reigns within,

   And Grace subdues the power of sin!" III. My last word shall be a short
   one. And it is this--according to my text, THOSE WHO HAVE WISDOM

   SHOULD COMMUNICATE IT TO OTHERS.

   "I said, Days should speak"--not be silent--"and multitude of years
   should teach wisdom." That is to say, those who have days and multitude
   of years should try to teach the younger folks what they know! Now, it
   is a fault with some of our Brothers and Sisters that they do not teach
   our young people enough. They are too quiet. I should not like them to
   die and go to Heaven without having told us all they knew. And yet,
   when a venerable saint is buried who has been very reticent in speech
   and has never used his pen, what a mint of teaching is buried with him!
   It always seems to me to be a pity that anything should be lost through
   the hand of death--it should rather be a gain! There are some of us who
   have told people all we know and we are always repeating it, so that if
   we die, no secrets will sink into oblivion. But there are others of the
   opposite sort--a great deal goes into them--there must be a deal of
   wisdom in them for none ever comes out! Doubtless many Believers have
   been walking with God and enjoying the means of Grace for so long a
   time that they are quite able to teach others--but they are of small
   service to us because they are so retiring. I never like to see a
   Christian like an old-fashioned moneybox into which you put the money,
   but from which you cannot get it out again unless you break it! It
   ought not to be so. Does not our Savior tell us that the well of water
   in us is to become rivers of water streaming out from us? As we
   receive, we should give! The more we learn, the more we should
   teach--and if God teaches us, it is because He expects us to instruct
   others.

   Now, Brothers and Sisters, I presume to speak to those who are older
   than I am. Try and teach somebody! Ask yourselves how did you learn
   what you know? You were taught. Return the blessing by teaching
   somebody else. You were taught. Did your mother teach you? Are you a
   mother? Then teach your children. Did you learn from your father? Then,
   Father, be not ungenerous to your family. Hand on the inheritance--what
   your faith gave you, pass on to your sons, that they may teach the same
   to their heirs! Or did you learn from a Sunday school teacher? Be a
   Sunday school teacher, yourself, and teach the rising generation.
   Remember that according as you have ability, you are a debtor to the
   Church of God by whose means you received the Truth of God--and to the
   Church of God pay back, in the shape of instrumentality, the teaching
   which you have received by teaching those around you!

   Note, next, that you are bound to do it, for without this, the Truth of
   God cannot be propagated in the land. There is not a tree that stands
   at this moment leafless and bare in the winter's blast but has within
   itself preparation for casting its seed into the earth next year. Take
   off a bud and you will find concealed within it the flower and
   everything prepara-

   tory for the creation of another tree like itself when the fullness of
   time shall come! The violet and the foxglove in the hills are waiting
   for the time to cast seed abroad, that the species may be continued on
   the face of the earth, each after its kind. In like fashion should each
   Believer, by having known the Truth of God, secure a succession of the
   faithful among men. Are those of ripe years among us attending to this
   as they should?

   Again, remember that the devil is always teaching and his servants are
   always busy! When the sons of Belial invent some new blasphemy, their
   lips ache to tell it! Let but a loose song be sung in any music hall in
   London and before many hours it will have a thousand voices occupied
   with it. The devil has his missionaries ready to teach iniquity
   wherever they go--and they neither lack for zeal nor courage! And shall
   Satan have such busy servants and Christ's cause languish for want of
   agents? God forbid! If you have learned a great Truth, go and tell it!
   If you have found out something that is fresh to you concerning the
   Lord and His love, do not wait till the morning light, but tell it at
   once! If you have found the Savior, tell about Him! Tell about Him!
   Tell about Him with all your might whenever you have opportunity! And
   spread abroad the gladsome news of His salvation! Remember that to tell
   others what you have known is often the very best way of deepening and
   increasing your own knowledge. Holy occupation is one of the most
   important things for our spiritual health. If you see a church sinking
   low, the last persons to leave that church are the Sunday school
   teachers and others who are practically occupied with serving God--and
   the first to go are those fluffy professors who are neither useful nor
   ornaments, but cling to a church like dust to your coat! Very largely
   will you find that in proportion as you serve Christ, Christ will serve
   you--therefore seek you to feed His lambs--and He will feed you!

   At the beginning of this year I would urge each one of you to say,
   "Cannot I make this year better than the last? Can I not pray more,
   believe more, love more, work more, give more and be more like Christ?"
   Was last year an improvement upon the previous one? Whether it was so
   or not, let this year be an advance upon last year! It ought to be, for
   it is a year which lies somewhat nearer Heaven than its predecessors!
   If you have lived up till now without a Savior--end that dangerous
   state! Listen to the Gospel message, "Believe and live." Ere New Year's
   Day is over, look unto Jesus Christ and be saved! He will have Glory
   and you shall have happiness--and thus shall you begin aright another
   year of our Lord--and His Holy Spirit will make it to you a year of
   Divine Grace!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EXODUS 13:21,22; 14.

   We are going to read once more the familiar story of how the Lord
   relieved His people from the power of Egypt after He had brought them
   out of the house of bondage.

   Exodus 13:21-22. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a
   cloud, to lead them the way: and by night, in a pillar of fire, to give
   them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the
   cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

   Exodus 14:1-2 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the
   children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi Hahiroth
   between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal Zephon: before it you
   shall encamp by the sea. It might have been sufficient for the pillar
   of cloud to move that way, but it was really such an extraordinary
   thing for the Lord to lead the people right down to the sea that He
   gave a special command as well as the movement of the cloud! That Moses
   himself might not be staggered by what would seem to him to be such
   strange guidance, the Lord tells him what to say to the people and then
   gives him this explanation--

   3, 4. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are
   entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. And I will
   harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will
   gain honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host, that the Egyptians may
   know that I am the Lord. And they did so. Those four words, "And they
   did so," though they are very short and very simple words, express a
   great deal! Oh, that it might always be said of all of us whenever God
   commands us to do anything, "And they did so."

   5. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the
   heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and
   they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from
   serving us?Nothing but the Grace of God will truly humble men! These
   Egyptians had been crushed by terrible plagues into a false kind of
   humility,

   but they were soon as proud as ever! Nothing but the Omnipotent Grace
   of God can really subdue a proud and stubborn heart.

   6-8. Andhe made ready his chariot, and took hispeople with him: andhe
   took six hundred chosen chariots, andall the chariots of Egypt, and
   captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of
   Pharaoh, king of Egypt, andhe pursued after the children of Israel: and
   the children of Israel went out with an high hand. They were resolute
   and brave as long as they realized that God was with them! And the
   Egyptians behind them were bold and proud although God was not with
   them! There were two high hands that day--the high hand of the proud,
   puny Pharaoh-- and the high hand of the ever-blessed Omnipotent
   Jehovah!

   9, 10. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and
   chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them
   encamping by the sea, beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon and when
   Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and,
   behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sorely afraid.
   Forgetting what God had done for them and promised to them, they became
   timid at the sight of their old masters! They knew the cruelty of the
   Egyptians in time of war, and their hearts failed them.

   10, And the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. Ah, dear
   Friends, if they had cried to the Lord in true believing prayer, they
   would have been worthy of commendation--but they did not do so! They
   cried out unto the Lord in an unbelieving complaint, as the next verse
   plainly shows--

   11, 12. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in
   Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you
   dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the
   word that we did tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may
   serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the
   Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. What cowards they
   were, and how faint-hearted! Were these the people that were to conquer
   Canaan? Were these God's chosen people? Ah, judge them not, for you and
   I have often been quite as fainthearted and quite as fickle as they
   were! May God forgive us as He again and again forgave them!

   13-15. And Moses said unto the people, Fear you not, standstill and see
   the Salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the
   Egyptians, whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more
   forever The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
   And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto Me? Speak unto

   the children of Israel, that they go forward [See Sermon #548, Volume
   10--FORWARD! FORWARD! FORWARD.] Moses was no doubt praying in his
   heart, though it is not recorded that he uttered any words in
   prayer--but it was not the time for prayer--it was the time for action!
   When people sometimes say, when they know their duty, "We will make it
   a matter of prayer," they generally mean that they will try to find
   some excuse for not doing it! You need not pray about any matter when
   you know what you ought to do--go and do it!

   16-20. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and
   divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through
   the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the
   Egyptians, and they shall follow them: andI will get Me honor over
   Pharaoh, and over allhis host, over his chariots, and over his
   horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have
   gotten Me honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.
   And the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and
   went behind them: and the pillar of the cloud went before their face,
   and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of the Egyptians
   and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it
   gave light by night to these; so that the one came not near the other
   all the night.God was like a wall of fire between them and their
   enemies--so that they had no cause for fear even though the Egyptians
   were so near!

   21-25. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea: and the LORD
   caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and
   made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of
   Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the
   waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
   And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the
   sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it
   came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host
   of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and
   troubled the host of the Egyptians. And took of their chariot wheels,
   that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee
   from the face of Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the
   Egyptians.They were now in the midst of the sea between the two high
   walls of water, and before they could flee see what happened to them--

   26-31. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the
   sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their
   chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand
   over the sea, and the sea returned to its full depth when the morning
   appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the
   Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the water returned, and covered
   the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came
   into the sea after them; there remained not much as one of them. But
   the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea;
   and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their
   left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out the hand of the
   Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptian dead upon the sea shore. And
   Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and
   the people feared the LORD, and believed the Lord, and His servant
   Moses. And well they might! Yet how soon they murmured both against the
   Lord and against Moses!
     __________________________________________________________________

The Sequel to Divine Sovereignty

   (No. 3284)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   FEBRUARY 4, 1866.

   "The LORD reigns; let the people tremble." Psalm 99:1.

   "The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice." Psalm 97:1.

   No Doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of
   mankind than the truth of the absolute Sovereignty of God. [See Sermon
   #77, Volume 2--DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY.] The

   fact that "the Lord reigns" is indisputable--and it is this fact that
   arises the utmost opposition in the unrenewed human heart. "The kings
   of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
   against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their
   bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." We know what the
   Lord thinks of their rebellion against Him--"He that sits in the
   heavens 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."
   Let us, Beloved, not be among those who refuse to believe this great
   Truth of God, but may we humbly bow before that dread Sovereign who
   does as He wills among the armies of Heaven and among the inhabitants
   of this lower world--

   "God is a King of power unknown;

   Firm are the orders of His Throne!

   If He resolves, who dare oppose,

   Or ask Him why, or what He does?' God has the right to act thus, first,
   because He is the source of all created existence. "In the beginning
   God created the heavens and the earth," and everything else that exists
   is the product of His creative power! As the writer of the 100th Psalm
   says, "It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves." So He has the
   absolute right to do with us whatever He pleases. It rested with Him to
   make us or not to make us. And when He determined to create, it was
   according to His own will that He made one creature a worm and another
   an eagle, one an ant crawling upon its little hill and another a
   leviathan making the deep to boil. It was by His decree that there were
   almost boundless variations among the great family of mankind. In
   constitution, disposition and temperament--in the very appearance of
   our bodies, in the strange diversities of our mental capacities, in our
   position upon the globe or our place and circumstances in any
   particular country and nation--we see traces of the Sovereign purpose
   and will of God. It is true that our ancestors, parents and
   surroundings have exerted certain influences upon us, but there are
   peculiarities about each one of us which can only be ascribed to the
   Sovereign good pleasure of God. That one should be a silent and
   unobtrusive traveler through life's pilgrimage, and that another should
   be so eloquent as to speak in words that find an echo the wide world
   over--that one should sweat and toil all his days, and that another
   should be dandled upon the knee of luxury--we may say what we will
   about all this, but whether we agree with it or not, we cannot deny
   that it is according to Divine appointment and order and, therefore, we
   must submit to it--

   "The Lord is King; who them shall dare Resist His will, distrust His
   care, Or murmur at His wise decrees, Or doubt His royal promises? The
   Lord is King, child of the dust, The Judge of all the earth is just--

   Holy and true are all His ways, Let every creature speak His praise."

   Not only do we believe that God being the Creator, has the right to
   make His creatures according to His own will, but we also believe that
   He has another right over us acquired from our sinful nature. We may
   say, though we speak it with bated breath in the Presence of His awful
   Majesty, that even creatures have their rights at their Creator's hand.
   For instance, every creature may claim from its Creator that it should
   not be punished if it does not offend--and that it should be made happy
   if it is obedient to His commands. Such rights Jehovah has always
   acknowledged and has never violated. But you and I, dear Friends, have
   lost all the rights of creatureship, for we have all sinned! A subject
   of this realm has the right of freedom to go where he pleases and do
   what he pleases as long as he does not offend against the law of the
   land. But if he commits high treason, or robbery, or some other crime
   and so is brought under the condemnation of the law, he immediately
   loses all right to his freedom and is put in prison with other
   criminals.

   Now the Law of God's universe, a most equitable and just Law, runs
   thus, "The soul that sins, it shall die." And we have all sinned--the
   sentence of death is recorded against every soul born of woman--and
   that any of us are still permitted to live is due to the clemency of
   the great King! Some of us, blessed be His holy name, have been
   pardoned by Him. And having been pardoned, we shall never again be
   condemned--but others are put off during their Majesty's pleasure and
   that respite is an act of Divine Sovereignty. Had He executed the
   sentence pronounced upon us as soon as we had sinned, we might have
   bewailed His severity, yet we could never have impeached His Justice,
   for we should have deserved the utmost penalty that could have been
   demanded by His righteous Law! So that, by virtue of our sinnership,
   God has the right to punish us if He pleases to do so. But if He can
   consistently, with the principles of Eternal Justice, pardon us, He has
   the right do so! You noticed that I said, "consistently with the
   principles of Eternal Justice," for God will never violate those
   principles. He can always do as He wills, but He always wills to do
   what is right and, by the Atonement of His dear Son, He has made a way
   by which He can satisfy all the claims of His inflexible Justice and
   yet can take infinite delight in bestowing His mercy upon the guilty!
   Then surely, as mercy is not only God's prerogative as King, but also
   had to be so dearly bought by the precious blood of His well-beloved
   Son, we ought not to be backward in confessing that He has the right to
   bestow that mercy whenever He pleases. At all events, whether we
   believe it or not, this declaration is still thundered forth from the
   Throne of the Eternal, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
   and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

   Observe then, three rights which belong to God--as Creator, as Judge,
   having the right to punish the guilty. And as the God and Father of our
   Lord Jesus Christ, having the right to pardon sinners and to do it
   without, in the slightest degree, violating His Justice. These are high
   Doctrines from which some turn away in despair. It is true that they
   are high, as high as the Throne of God Himself! When I think of them, I
   feel like the Prophet Ezekiel when he looked upon those wheels that
   were so high that they were dreadful. Yet, Beloved, as they are true,
   let us bow before them with awe-stricken spirits, yet with believing
   hearts knowing that the Judge of all the earth is certain to do that
   which is right!

   Moreover, the Sovereignty of God is also displayed in His distribution
   of gifts among His own people--and surely He has the right to do this
   because the gifts are His own. If we could claim them as ours, they
   would not be gifts--they would be rightly due to us like anything else
   that belonged to us. If any man has a valid claim upon God for mercy,
   then it is not mercy that he should claim, but justice! If any man, by
   virtue of his own works, deserves to be saved, then salvation is of
   works and not of Grace--but this the Scriptures distinctly deny! If you
   come to God expecting to receive from Him spiritual gifts because of
   certain rights vested in yourselves, you come to Him on a footing that
   He cannot tolerate for a moment! He will say to you, "May I not do as I
   will with My own?" And He will give nothing to you who claim it as a
   right. But He will give all they need to those who come to Him
   confessing that they have no right to His mercy and entreating that it
   may be bestowed upon them through the riches of His Grace in Christ
   Jesus--

   "Justice upon a dreadful Throne Maintains the rights of God While mercy
   sends her pardons down, Bought with a Savior's blood."

   I have thus reminded you of the Truth of God which is not only stated
   in our two texts, but is revealed in many other Scriptures--the Truth
   that "the Lord reigns." As He reigns in Creation and Providence, so
   does He reign in the realm of His Grace. Taking the two texts together,
   I want, earnestly and affectionately, first to address the unsaved
   sinner And

   then to speak to the saved Believer, endeavoring to invoke in each soul
   the twin emotions of rejoicing and trembling-- "The Lord reigns, let
   the people tremble." "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice." I. So,
   first, LET ME SPEAK TO THE UNSAVED SINNER.

   Sinner, it is an unspeakable mercy for you that the Lord reigns, for it
   is because He reigns that you are yet alive. If God were not King, the
   sentence of Justice must be executed swiftly, surely, mercilessly! And
   every sinner, the moment that he sinned, must die. But, Sinner, He who
   is King is very gracious and He says to the officer of Justice, "Spare
   that man. Let him live." He has spared some of you thirty, forty,
   fifty, sixty--it may be even 70 years! You would not have spared any of
   your fellow creatures who had offended you as long as that. If a man
   provoked you to your face, your anger would wax hot against him long
   before 20 years! Some of you would not bear with him even for 20
   minutes--yet you have provoked the Lord year after year--but the
   long-suffering patience in the heart of God has borne with you even
   until now! He has said concerning you, again and again, "Spare him!
   Spare her!" When fever shot its hot darts at you, God turned them
   aside! And when the poison of disease was actually in your blood, He
   removed it with His healing hand. The Lord who reigns has spared
   you--therefore rejoice!

   Yet tremble at the same time, Sinner, for this great King can as
   readily slay as He can spare. One turn of His hand, no, not as much as
   that--He need not even lift His little finger--He has but to will your
   death and then where would you be? He who has been so strong to spare
   can be just as strong to smite! He has not yet taken up the axe, but
   when once He lifts it and its sharp edge falls upon the tree that is
   still barren, what will become of it? "The Lord reigns; let the people
   tremble." If He were to come to you tonight and lay judgment to the
   line, and righteousness to the plummet, it would be all in vain for you
   to attempt to resist Him! The breath of your nostrils is so absolutely
   under God's control that all the physicians in the world could not
   extend the lease of your life if He were to say to you, "This night
   shall your soul be required of you." So tremble at the recollection
   that "the Lord reigns," for you are as completely in His power as a
   moth would be in yours if you held it in your hand knowing that you
   could crush it any moment that you pleased!

   Another instance of Divine Sovereignty which may cause you both to
   rejoice and to tremble, is this--God has sent the Gospel to you. Think
   of this fact, my Hearer! There are millions upon millions of your
   fellow creatures who have never heard the Gospel and who are going down
   to their doom in utter ignorance of the great salvation! Their idol
   gods cannot save them. Their blocks of wood and stone cannot hear their
   cry of hopeless sorrow. But unto you is the word of this salvation
   sent! Many in this great London of ours are born and nurtured amid
   scenes of vice and iniquity--they never enter the House of Prayer and
   possibly even the voice of the street preacher never reaches their
   ears. But some of you heard the name of Jesus mingled with the hush of
   your first lullaby! You were dandled on the knee of piety, and carried
   even as a baby in the arms of earnest prayer. It is a most gracious
   Sovereignty that has accorded you such great privileges as these! It is
   the Lord, the Lord who reigns, to whom you owe all this! Therefore
   rejoice, yet tremble as well, for these high privileges involve
   corresponding responsibilities--and He will require of you a strict
   account of the way in which you have used these advantages which others
   have not possessed. One of these days He will make inquisition and will
   say to you, "I gave you light--did you rejoice in it? I sent the Gospel
   to you--did you listen to the joyful sound, or did you shut your ears
   to it and turn away from it with contempt and provoke Me to anger
   against you?" Besides, Sinner, although you are able to hear the
   Gospel, today, you may not be allowed to hear it tomorrow! Instead of
   the message to you being as it is today--"Believe and live," tomorrow
   it may be--"Depart you cursed." Instead of the entreaty being addressed
   to you as it is today, "Turn you, turn you, for why will you die?"
   Tomorrow the dread sentence may be pronounced by Jehovah the King,
   "Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek
   Me early, but they shall not find Me: for that they hated knowledge and
   did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would have none of My
   counsel: they despised all My reproof." Mercy's day lasts not forever!
   God's Gospel shall not always be trifled with! You may for a time
   remember to listen to the loving, tender, wooing voice of the Savior,
   but I would have you remember that He will not always quietly submit to
   your rejection of His gracious invitations! Tremble, I beseech you,
   lest the music of the silver trumpet of the Gospel should give place to
   the harsh clangor of the knell announcing that you have been driven
   from the Presence of the King to that dread prison where the voice of
   love and mercy shall never be heard! Thus I bid you rejoice in your
   present privileges, but also tremble, lest if you do not prize them and
   use them aright, they may rise up in judgment to condemn you!

   There are many in this place who may well thank the King for His
   Sovereign Mercy to them for they are the subjects of the strivings of
   His Holy Spirit There are many here who cannot listen to the Gospel
   without being, to some extent,

   impressed by it. They have been seen to shed tears because of their
   consciousness of sin-- and there have been times when it has been
   exceedingly difficult for them to continue in the service of Satan.
   Some of you cannot sin with impunity as others can, and it has
   sometimes been a question with you whether you dare occupy these seats
   unless you resolve to give up your darling sins! Well, if the Holy
   Spirit has thus strived with you, thank God, for this is another
   instance of His Sovereignty! Yet remember how early in the history of
   mankind God had to say, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man."
   In a moment the Sovereignty of God may take away all those melting and
   gracious influences! And do you know what would happen to you then?
   Your conscience would be seared as with a hot iron and your natural
   hardness of heart would be followed by a judicial hardness which would
   be still more terrible! You might then continue to hear the Gospel, but
   it would be as though it were being preached to the dead--you would sit
   in your pews and experience no more feeling than a row of statues
   could--and you would live only to walk away and forget that you had
   been listening to the Truth of God. I tremble as I look around upon
   some of you! I cannot help fearing that you have already reached this
   dreadful state and that God has said concerning you, "They are joined
   to their idols, let them alone." I see some here who once made a
   profession of religion and who would even speak in God's name, but they
   turned aside! Then they professed to repent, but afterwards turned
   aside again. And now no message ever seems to startle them. They have
   listened to the Gospel until they have become Gospel-hardened--that
   which should have been the means of their salvation has become the
   means of their damnation! That same Gospel which has been a savor of
   life unto life to many others, has become a savor of death unto death
   to them! Take heed, Sinner, for He who melts can harden--and if you
   have long resisted the strivings of the Spirit, it may be that the Lord
   will allow you to go on sinning unrebuked--until you have filled up the
   measure of your iniquity and received the due reward of your evil
   deeds!

   Let me also remind those of you who are unconverted that you have a
   further proof of Divine Sovereignty in the fact that God has promised
   to hear prayer There are many promises like these, "Ask, and it shall
   be given you; seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened
   unto you: for everyone that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds,
   and to him that knocks, it shall be opened." God in mercy invites you
   to come to Him--and this is a subject for heartfelt rejoic-ing--but it
   is also a cause of trembling, for the door of His mercy will not always
   remain open and, "when once the Master of the house is risen up and has
   shut the door and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door,
   saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us! He shall answer and say unto you, I
   know not who you are." TonightJesus is lifted up in the preaching of
   the Gospel as once He was lifted up upon the Cross, and He bids us cry
   to you, "Look and live! Look and live," for it is still true that--

   "There is life for a look at the Crucified One! There is life at this
   moment for thee. Then look, Sinner, look unto Him and be saved, Unto
   Him who was nailed to the tree."

   But if you refuse to obey the Gospel invitation, what must become of
   you? Surely Captain Execution, with the sharp axe in his hand, will
   come forth and take you to your well-deserved doom! If God were to deal
   with you according to your deserts, what hope would there be for you?
   Yet He bids you repent and He speaks to us as He said to Ezekiel, "Say
   unto them, As I live, says the Lord God, 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, O house
   of Israel?" Isaiah's message is still true-- "Seek you the Lord while
   He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near: let the wicked
   forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him turn
   unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He
   will abundantly pardon." Sinner, I am happy in standing here as the
   ambassador of my King--and yet while I rejoice, I tremble lest you
   should reject the message that He has sent to you in the greatness of
   His Grace, for my King is not to be trifled with--He deals severely
   with those who spurn His mercy! Nothing provokes Him more than slights
   cast upon His dear Son! To turn away from the blood of His atoning
   Sacrifice will bring down upon you the indignation of the Most High!
   Oh, venture not upon such a perilous course, but with those trembling
   lips of yours kiss the Son, trust in Him, depend upon Him and you shall
   find salvation now to the praise and Glory of God's good Grace!--

   "Long the Gospel you have spurned,

   Long delayed to love your God,

   Stifled conscience, nor have turned

   Wooed though by a Savior's blood!

   Wretched, ruined, helpless soul,

   To a Savior's blood apply-- He alone can make you whole, Fly to Jesus,
   Sinner, fy"

   II. Thus have I spoken to sinners. Now I am briefly TO SPEAK TO THE
   PEOPLE OF GOD.

   You "precious sons on Zion, comparable to fine gold," look by faith to
   your King as He sits upon the Throne! And first, rejoice that you are
   His. It is the King who has saved you! Your pardon is signed by the
   royal hand--it would be worthless to you if it were not so signed! It
   is Sovereignty that puts the crown upon every other attribute of God!
   It is the King who has chosen you, the King who has saved you!

   Yet, Beloved, while I bid you rejoice, I would have you rejoice with
   trembling while I suggest to you the question-- are you sure that the
   Lord has saved you? I put the question to myself--My Soul, are you sure
   that the Lord has saved you? Have you made your own calling and
   election sure before exhorting others to seek the Lord? It is well for
   all of us to examine themselves and see whether we are in the faith or
   not. My Brothers on the platform, you who are officers in the Church, I
   evoke you to make sure work for eternity! You fathers in Israel,
   presume not upon your gray hairs, but search yourselves, or, better
   still, let each of us pray David's prayer, "Search me, O God, and know
   my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there is any wicked
   way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." You parents who have
   been for years members of the Church--and you young men and maidens who
   have not long joined our ranks--rejoice with trembling and each one of
   you pray, "O Lord, by Your Holy Spirit witnessing with my spirit,
   assure me that I am born

   to God!"

   I have been thinking of these two texts in connection with ourselves
   who are members of this Church. What a notable instance of Sovereignty
   is exhibited in the usefulness of the members of this Church! Some of
   us have, in a very distinguished manner, been made the parents of
   spiritual children and our seed has become very numerous. Here is
   Sovereignty in which I, for one, do exceedingly rejoice! And there are
   Brothers and Sisters here who also rejoice in it. But I, for one, must
   tremble as well as rejoice. What if the Master should take back the
   power which He has up to now lent us? What if our preaching should
   become sapless and savorless to God's people and lifeless and powerless
   to sinners? O my God, let me die before that should become my unhappy
   lot! I could never endure to live as some ministers seem content to do.
   To be a cumberer of the ground, to see no sign of God's hand being made
   bare--oh, this would indeed be misery! May the Lord preserve us from
   ever having that sad experience! I trust, dear Brothers and Sisters,
   that you all feel that it would be far better for you to die as far as
   your bodies are concerned than to die in the sense of being no longer
   spiritually fruitful. Therefore, while we rejoice over the great
   blessing with which the Lord has so long enriched us, let us tremble
   lest we give Him cause to withhold it for the future! Unless we put
   every wreath of laurel upon the King's own head, He will speedily
   withdraw any power with which He entrusted us--and we shall be as weak
   as Samson was when the Spirit of God had departed from him.

   What a remarkable instance of Divine Sovereignty we have in this
   Church, itself, as well as in individual members of it! We were among
   the least in Zion, but the Lord has multiplied us greatly. Why is this?
   Why has He blessed us so won-drously and passed by others who scarcely
   ever hear the cry of a newborn convert? What other reason can we give
   than this--because it seemed good in His sight? Therefore let us
   rejoice, but let us also rejoice with trembling lest the Lord should
   take away from us such blessed experiences! Well do I recollect the
   words of that man of God who is now in Heaven--dear Mr. Jonathan
   George--at the opening of this building. Quoting Jeremiah 33:9, "They
   shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity
   that I procure unto it." He said that the more blessing and prosperity
   the Lord gave us, the more humble must we be--and the more anxious not
   to provoke Him to jealousy--or else He would take away His Presence
   from us. I trust that many of you, Beloved, cherish this holy anxiety
   lest we should grieve the Spirit and drive Him away from us. At all
   events, I know one who, without being unbelieving, is always very
   anxious that "Ichabod" ("the Glory is departed") should never be
   written on these walls. What if the Lord should allow your zeal to grow
   cold, your doctrines to become unsound and your lives unholy? What if,
   instead of ardor there should be lethargy? Instead of love there should
   be bickering? Instead of harmony there should be division and instead
   of mighty wrestling with the Most High there should be sad contentions
   with one another? May these eyes be sealed in death before such a
   wretched state of things as that should come! And I know that many of
   you are saying, "Amen," as far as you, also, are concerned! Yet all
   this is possible, for the King who gives can take away, and He who now
   blesses can withhold the blessing! And He will do it unless as a
   Church, we are faithful and true to Him. Go you now to the cities of
   Asia Minor where

   once the seven golden candlesticks brought such Glory to God, and how
   much light will you find there? Where is Perga-mos? Where is Laodicea?
   Where are the Churches of Philadelphia and the rest? Have not the most
   of them ceased to be because they left their first love and turned back
   unto the world? If we have any Achans in the camp, we would not stone
   them, but we would pray for them--and we would plead with them to
   repent and turn again unto the Lord--lest the whole Church should
   suffer through them as Israel did through the sin of Achan.

   This solemn Truth of the Sovereignty of God rests very heavily on my
   heart. Let it rest very heavily on yours, also, so that together we may
   rejoice because of all the goodness that the Lord has bestowed upon us
   and, at the same time, let us tremble lest we should in any way provoke
   Him to anger and cause Him to withdraw His Presence from us, and say to
   us, "I will work no more through you, but I will leave you to your own
   devices that you may find out what you can do when I have gone away
   from you." God forbid that this should ever happen to us!

   Now as we come to the Table of our Lord, let us come with deep
   solemnity remembering that there is Sovereignty here, also. The
   observance of this ordinance may be very dull and dreary to you--or God
   make it a time of most blessed fellowship with Him and with one
   another. The means of Grace are not always equally profitable to us.
   The pipes are always golden, but the holy oil does not always flow in
   our direction. There is blessing to be had at all times, but you cannot
   always get it. Ask the King to give you Divine Grace to recognize His
   right to give or to withhold the blessing-- and then plead with Him,
   for Jesus' sake, to remember you for good! God grant that it may be so,
   for His dear name's sake! Amen!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 72

   A Psalm for Solomon.

   This was David' s dying bequest to his son, Solomon--but a greater than
   Solomon is here, for this Psalm concerns the reign, triumph and
   everlasting dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ!

   Verses 1, 2 Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness
   unto the king's son. He shall judge Your people with righteousness, and
   Your poor with judgment It is the distinguishing mark of Christ's
   Kingdom that He cares so much for the poor--whereas in other kingdoms
   they are generally pushed to the wall--and men of great estate and
   consequence get all the good positions. In Christ's Kingdom the poor
   are exalted!

   3. The mountains shall bring peace to Your people and the little hills,
   by righteousness. Those mountains, in whose caves robbers lurked, and
   from whose heights enemies often came down and swept away the little
   estates of the lowlan-ders--even these shall bring peace and comfort--

   "No strife shall vex Messiah's reign." When Jesus Christ comes a second
   time to this earth, we shall see these prophecies literally
   fulfilled--but until then we delight to know that the reign of Christ
   is a reign of peace!

   4-6. He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the children
   of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor They shall fear
   You as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. He
   shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water
   the earth. After being mown, the grass is tender--should there be a
   long period of burning sunshine--the roots left exposed might soon be
   dried up and the lower portion of the stem, bereft of moisture, might
   become hard. Never does rain seem so refreshing to the grass as just
   after the mowing! So is it in Christ' s Kingdom. Upon you whose broken
   hearts are like mown grass. Upon you who have been cut down by the
   sharp scythe of affliction and who have seen your hopes withered before
   your eyes--Jesus shall come on gently like rain upon the mown grass.
   And as the showers fertilize the barren earth, so shall the Presence of
   Christ make your hearts to be fertile and fruitful. If any of us are
   like the parched earth or the mown grass, may we have this gracious
   promise fulfilled to us!

   7. In His days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so
   long as the moon endures. Under other kings sinners have flourished and
   great oppressors have walked in public. But in Christ' s days, the
   righteous shall flourish, "and abundance of peace so long as the moon
   endures." There have been some times of truce. There have been some
   periods when the temple of Janus has been shut. But when Christ comes,
   the Lord shall break the bow and cut the spear in

   sunder--not lay them by in store for days of warfare in the future--but
   break them up as there will be no further use for them!

   8, 9. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river
   unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow
   before Him and His enemies shall lick the dust. The Arabs, the
   wandering Bedouin tribes, un-conquered and untamable, "shall bow before
   Him." And His enemies shall not merely be beaten once or twice, but
   they "shall lick the dust"--they shall be so entirely broken that there
   shall be no fear of their rebelling in the future!

   10. The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents.
   Britain and some of her sister islands shall do homage to this great
   Solomon.

   10. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Ethiopia shall
   stretch out her hands unto God. And men of swarthy skin shall
   acknowledge the King of the Jews as Lord over all!

   11. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve
   Him. There is a great future for you, Christians, a glorious future for
   our holy religion! The handful by the side of the lake shall yet become
   an all-conquering host! As it was when that cake of barley bread fell
   into the midst of the camp of Midian and overthrew the tent, so that it
   lay along, and as it was when the shout was heard, "The sword of the
   Lord, and of Gideon," so shall it be with us before long. God's people
   having no strength of their own shall, nevertheless, break the power of
   their enemy when the war-cry shall be heard, "The sword of Christ and
   of the Lord of Hosts!"

   12. 13. For He shall deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also,
   and him that has no helper He shall spare the

   poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. [See Sermon
   #1037, Volume 18--THE POOR MAN'S FRIEND.] Now, needy one, here is a
   promise for you! Is there one here that has no helper? Then let that
   one know that Christ is the Friend of the friendless and the Helper of
   the helpless!

   14-16. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and
   precious shall their blood be in His sight. And He shall live, and to
   Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for
   Him continually; and daily shall

   He be praised. There shall be an handful of corn on the earth--[See
   Sermon #717, Volume 12--PRAY FOR JESUS.] Only a handful? O you birds of
   the air, how you long to eat it all up! O you thorns, how soon would
   you choke it to death! It is only a handful of corn--

   16. Upon the top of the mountains.That is a bad place for corn--surely
   it will die there--the winter snows will chill it and, exposed to every
   stormy blast it will never fill the arms of the reaper. But is it so?
   Listen--

   16. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. Just as there are
   peculiar noises heard in a great forest when the wind sweeps through
   it--there is an allusion to this in the Hebrew--there should be such an
   abundance of fruit from this handful of corn that as when the forest
   bows its head before the whirlwind, so shall there be heard a sound as
   of God rushing among the multitude of His saints!

   16. And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. They
   shall be so many that one might as well attempt to count the blades of
   grass as to reckon the number of God's saints!

   17-20. His name shall endure forever: His name shall be continued as
   long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall
   call Him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only
   does wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name forever: and let
   the whole earth be filled with His Glory. Amen, and Amen. The prayers
   of David, the son of Jesse are ended [See Sermons #27, Volume 1--THE
   ETERNAL NAME; #2187, Volume 37--JESUS--"ALL BLESSING AND ALL BLESSED";
   #2451, Volume 42--"BLESSED IN HIM" and #129, Volume 3--DAVID'S DYING
   PRAYER.] He had nothing more to pray for! He had his heart's highest
   and best wish and, therefore, he closes his prayer where God had given
   him all that he could ask.
     __________________________________________________________________

Good Cheer From Christ's Victory Over the World

   (No. 3285)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "These things Ihave spoken unto you, that in Me you night have peace.
   In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have
   overcome the world." John 16:33

   [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same text are #1327, Volume
   22--CHRIST THE OVERCOMER OF THE WORLD and #1994, Volume 33-- SWEET
   PEACE FOR TRIED BELIEVERS.]

   The Believer is in two places, and he lives two lives. In the text
   there are two places spoken of--"in Me" and, "in the world."

   The saint's noblest life is "hid with Christ in God." This is his new
   life, his spiritual life, his incorruptible life, his everlasting life.
   Rejoice, Beloved, if you are in Christ, and enjoy the privilege which
   belongs to that condition--"that in Me you might have peace." Do not be
   satisfied without it! It is your right through your relationship to the
   Prince of Peace. Because you are in Christ, your life of lives is
   always safe and should be always restful. Your greatest interests are
   all secure, for they are guaranteed by the Covenant of which Jesus is
   the Surety. Your treasure, your eternal portion, is laid up with Him in
   Heaven where neither rust nor robber can enter. Therefore, be of good
   cheer! Be restful and happy, for you are in Christ and He has said,
   "These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace."

   You are sorrowfully conscience that you also live another life, for you
   dwell in the midst of evil men, or, as the text puts it, you are "in
   the world." I need not enlarge upon that fact, for probably, dear
   Friend, every time you go out to business or to daily labor, you find
   by the ungodly speeches of graceless men, that you are in the world
   which lies in the Wicked One. Even while you dwell in the sweet
   seclusion of domestic life, though your family has been graciously
   visited, and your dear ones are all Believers, yet even there matters
   occur which make you feel that you are "in the world--a world of sin
   and sorrow. You are not yet in Heaven--do not dream that you are. It
   would be a pity for a sailor to expect the sea to be as stable as the
   land, for the sea will be the sea to the end and the world will be the
   world to you as long you are in it.

   The Savior warns His people, "In the world you shall have tribulation."
   That is to say, your condition will at times be as unpleasant as that
   of wheat under the flail, for the Latin word, "tribulation," signifies
   threshing. Many blows of the flail are needed to separate your chaff
   from your wheat and, therefore, while you are in this world, you are on
   the threshing-floor. The Greek word which Jesus used is not quite of
   the same import as our English-Latin word, but it means pressing grief
   and searching trial. You must at times experience trial while you are
   in the world, though not always to the same degree, for God gives some
   of His people much rest even while here below--but this does not arise
   out of the world--it is His own special gift. "In the world you shall
   have tribulation" is as sure a fact as that in Christ you shall have
   peace!

   Now, because of this tribulation and the sorrow which is likely to come
   of it, our Savior gives us the words of good cheer to which our
   attention is directed in the text. We have first to show what sorrow
   the comfort is aimed at and, secondly, what is the actual comfort here
   bestowed.

   I. WHAT IS THIS TRIBULATION IN THE WORLD AT WHICH THE SAVIOR'S WORDS OF
   COMFORT ARE AIMED?

   It includes the afflictions which come upon us because we are men
   living among men and not yet at Home among angels and glorified saints.
   We dwell among beings who are born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
   Between other men and us there are many points of difference, but we
   share with them in the common infirmities, labors, sicknesses,
   bereavements and necessities of our fallen race. We are outside of
   Eden's gate with the rest of Adam's family. We may be

   greatly beloved of God and yet be poor. God's love to Lazarus did not
   prevent his lying at the rich man's gate, nor hinder the dogs from
   licking his sores. Saints may be sick as well as other men--Job and
   David and Hezekiah felt sore diseases. Saints go into the hospital as
   well as sinners, for their bodies are liable to the same accidents and
   ailments. Such diseases as men bring upon themselves by vice, the godly
   escape and, therefore, as a rule, God's people have a great advantage
   over the reckless and reprobate in point of health. But, still, in this
   respect the best of men are only men and it will often be said, "Lord,
   he whom You love is sick." Upon the bodies of the godly the elements
   have the same power as upon others--upon them the hot desert wind
   blows, or through their garments the cold penetrates--the sun scorches
   them in the fierceness of its summer heat, or chilling dampness
   threaten the flame of life. In this respect, one event happens unto
   all, though not without mysterious and blessed differences. No screen
   is set around the godly to protect them from physical suffering--they
   are not living in the land of Goshen so that light cheers their
   dwelling while the dense fog hangs over the rest of the land! Scant is
   the need to dwell up this theme, for it is well known that "many are
   the afflictions of the righteous," because they are in a world which,
   for a while, is made subject to vanity.

   Nor may we forget that we endure a second set of tribulation because we
   are Christians. Ishmael was not mocked, but Isaac was, for he was born
   after the promise. Esau's posterity never suffered bondage in Egypt,
   but Israel must be trained by hard service. Persecution is for the
   righteous, wicked men are in honor among their ungodly associates.
   Slander shoots her poisoned arrows, not at the vicious, but at the
   virtuous. Birds do not peck at sour fruit, but they wage war upon the
   sweet and ripe. Holy men must expect to be misrepresented,
   misinterpreted and often willfully maligned--while hypocrites have
   their reward in undeserved homage. Carry what load you choose upon your
   shoulders and no one will notice it unless, indeed, they obey the good
   old rule and "respect the burden." But if you take up Christ's Cross
   and bravely bear it, few will respect the burden, or praise the bearer!
   Graceless men will add weight to your load, for the offense of the
   Cross has not ceased. The seed of the serpent still has enmity against
   the Seed of the woman, and one and another will commence biting at the
   heel which treads the sacred way of Christ. It is the nature of the
   wicked to hate the righteous, even as the wolf rages against the sheep.
   This world cannot be the friend of the friend of God unless, indeed,
   Belial can have concord with Christ--and this we know is impossible! In
   one form or another, the Egyptian will oppress the Israelite till the
   day of the bringing out with a high hand and an outstretched arm. If
   today the enmity is restrained in its manifestation, it is because the
   law of the land, by the good Providence of God, does not now allow the
   rack, the stake, or the dungeon. Our Lord said to His first disciples,
   "In the world you shall have tribulation," and He explained it to mean
   that men would put them out of the synagogues. Yes, that the time would
   come when those that killed them would think that they did God service!
   Tribulation of that sort remains up to the measure in which it is not
   hindered by Divine Power. The spirit out of which it sprang cannot die
   till men are renewed. A man's foes are still they of his own household.
   "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

   Nor is the opposition of the world confined to persecution. It
   sometimes takes the far more dangerous form of flattery--pleasing baits
   are held out and allurements are used to decoy the Believer from his
   Lord. Many have been grievously wounded by the world when it has met
   them with the kiss of Judas on its lips and a dagger in its right hand
   wherewith to slay the soul! Woe unto those who are ignorant of its
   devices! This is a sore trouble under the sun, that men are
   false--their words are softer than butter, but inwardly they are drawn
   swords! This has often surprised young Christians. They imagined that
   since the godly were charmed at the sight of their early graces, all
   others would be equally pleased. They are dumbfounded when they find
   that their good is evilly spoken of. Is any hearer of mine one of these
   raw recruits? Let him learn that to be a soldier of the Cross means
   real war--not a sham fight! He is in an enemy's country and the time
   will yet come when, as a veteran warrior, he will be surprised if he
   lives a day without a conflict, or is able for an hour to sheathe his
   sword--

   "Must I be carried to the skies,

   On flowery beds of ease,

   While others fought to win the prize

   And sailed through bloody seas?

   Are there no foes for me to face?

   Must I not stem the flood

   To help me on to God?

   Surely I must fight if I would reign--

   Increase my courage, Lord!

   I'll bear the toil, endure the pains, Supported by Your Word'

   Certain tender hearts are not only surprised, but they are daunted and
   grieved by the world's opposition. Gentle, loving spirits who would not
   oppose anybody if they could help it, keenly feel the wanton assaults
   of those whom they would rather please than provoke. The sensitiveness
   of love renders the choicest characters the most susceptible of pain
   under cruel opposition--especially when it comes from beloved kinsfolk.
   To those who love God and man, it is at times an agony to be compelled
   to appear as the cause of strife, even for Christ's sake. We would
   gladly follow peace with all men, yet are we often forced to cry--

   "My soul with him that hates peace

   Has long a dweller been!

   I am for peace, but when I speak,

   For battle they are keen.

   My soul distracted mourns and pines

   To reach that peaceful shore

   Where all the weary are at rest,

   And troubles vex no more."

   We are sent forth as sheep among wolves--and this jars upon our
   gentleness which loves far better to lie down in the green pastures
   near the Shepherd and in the midst of flock.

   We are most of all grieved to think that men should not love Christ. It
   makes us deeply sorrowful that they should not see the beauties of the
   Man of Sorrows. In our inmost hearts we are wounded when they wound our
   Well-Beloved. That they oppose us is little--but that they stumble at
   the great Foundation Stone upon which they will surely be broken, is
   terrible to perceive! They sin against light and love. They sin against
   their own souls--and this is a tribulation which bruises every holy
   heart and causes every loving spirit to bleed.

   This calls for constant watchfulness, since our very love to men might
   become, unless salted by the Grace of God, a cause of decay to our
   purity. Some spirits love fighting and are never more happy than when
   they can denounce, resist, secede and contend. These are members of the
   Church Militant in another than the best sense. When the Grace of God
   enters their hearts and consecrates their obstinacy into firmness, they
   make fine men in a way, but if we measure them by the scale of love,
   and that, I take it, is the standard of the sanctuary--for he is most
   like God who loves most and he has come nearest to the image of Christ
   whose heart is fullest of tenderness--these rougher spirits turn out to
   be rather dwarfs than giants in the Kingdom of God. We must have
   backbone and must be prepared to contend earnestly for the faith, but
   yet the more love we exhibit, the better! And, therefore, the more pain
   it will cost us to be continually at war with unloving spirits. This is
   a part of the tribulation which we must endure--and the more bravely we
   face it, the more thoroughly shall we win the battles of peace and
   purity!

   Is not this enough upon the darker side of the picture?

   II. Let us now consider WHAT THE COMFORT IS WHICH JESUS GRACIOUSLY
   OFFERS US. "Be of good

   cheer," He says, "I have overcome the world." This is a glorious
   sentence spoken by the greatest Conqueror that ever lived--in whom all
   His people shall yet be "more than conquerors."

   Here let us view our Lord in His blessed Person, for there is much of
   good cheer in the contemplation. Remember, first, that our blessed Lord
   was a Man. Believe all that this means, for many are apt to think that
   because He was God as well as Man, therefore He was not so fully a Man.
   The tendency is to separate Him from the race and so from ourselves,
   but I pray you, Friend, to respect that Jesus was in some respects more
   a Man than any of us!

   There are some points in which no one man is all that manhood is--but
   Jesus was the summary of all manhood. I might almost venture to say
   that He had about Him the whole Nature of mankind as it respects to the
   mental conformation of both man and woman, for He was as tender as
   woman though as strong as man. Holy women, as much as godly men, find
   in Jesus all that is in their own souls. There is nothing effeminate in
   Him and yet all the loveliness which is feminine--read His life story
   and see. He was Man in the broadest sense of the term, taking up in one
   the whole genus. Men are of certain ranks and grades, but Christ is
   without limit, save only that in Him was no sin. Though a Jew, He bore
   no special national peculiarity, for Gentiles find in Him their next of
   kin. You apply no descriptive word to the Son of Man, except that you
   call Him "the Man of Sorrows." He was a Man who greatly suffered in
   body and in mind, and

   displayed His Manhood by the bravery of His endurance--a Man rejoicing
   in man's joy, depressed in man's grief--a Man who ran up the entire
   scale of humanity, from its deepest to its highest tone. Now, if a
   typical man has overcome the world, then man has done it and man can be
   enabled to do it again! This inspires courage and vanishes despair. It
   was the mighty power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him by which Jesus
   overcame the world--and that same quiet power, if it dwells in us, will
   make us win the same victory by faith. The arch enemy has been
   conquered by Man and our hearts may be comforted by the conviction that
   by God working in us, we, too, shall bruise Satan under our feet
   shortly!

   It is cheering to remember that wherein our Lord's was a special case,
   it is to our comfort, for He, as Man, entered into the conflict under
   serious disadvantages which we cannot labor under. He was weighted with
   a care unique and unexampled. Be our charge what it may, it cannot be
   comparable to His heavy burden as the Shepherd of Souls. We think
   ourselves overburdened and speak of life as though it were rendered too
   stern a conflict by the load of our cares and responsibilities. But
   what comparison is there between our load and that of Jesus? A pastor
   with a great flock is not without his hourly anxieties, but what are
   those to the cares of the Chief Shepherd? He watched over the great
   multitude which no man can number--who were committed to Him by the
   Father--and for these He carried all their grief! Here was a burden
   such as you and I, dear Friend, cannot even imagine! And yet, without
   laying aside the weight, He fought the world and overcame it! Let His
   name be praised and let His victory be the comfort of all that labor
   and are heavy la-dened--

   "His is the victor's name, Who fought our fight alone! Triumphant
   saints no honor claim-- His conquest was His own."

   Remember, next, that He was loaded with substitutionary sorrows which
   He bore for us. These are not ours. He came into the world to suffer
   griefs that were not His own. He had human guilt laid upon Him to bear
   and, because of that, He was bowed down till He was exceedingly
   sorrowful even unto death. Some seem to think we are to imitate Christ
   in being men of sorrows as He was. No, no! The argument is the other
   way! Because Jesus took our sorrows, we may leave them all with Him,
   rolling our burden upon the Lord. Because He was grieved for me and in
   my place, it is my privilege to rejoice with unspeakable joy in full
   redemption! No weight of sin remains to press us to the dust! Christ
   has carried it all away--and in His sepulcher He has buried it forever!
   Yet never let us forget what an inconceivable pressure our sin put upon
   Him, for remembering this, it becomes the more a comfort to us that,
   notwithstanding all, He could say, "I have overcome the world."

   Remember, again, that our Lord in the battle with the world, was the
   center of the attack. When the whole host marches to the fight, we,
   each one, take our place in the ranks and the war goes on against us
   all. But where, do you think, the arrows fly most thickly? Where were
   the javelins hurled one after the other, thick as hail? "The
   Standard-Bearer among ten thousand" was the chief target! It seems to
   me as if the Prince of Darkness had said to his armies, "Fight neither
   with small nor great, save only with the King of Israel," for He was
   tempted in all points like as we are. You and I encounter some
   temptations, but He endured them all! I have mine and you have yours,
   but He had mine and yours, and such as are common to all His
   saints--and yet, standing in the thick of the fray, He remained
   unwounded and cried aloud--"I have overcome the world." Divine Grace,
   then, can also clothe us with triumph, for against us no such supreme
   charges of hosts upon hosts will ever be led. The whole band has
   gathered together against Him--but never against any one of His feeble
   followers!

   Remember, also, that the Redeemer was, in many respects, a lonely Man.
   If we need spiritual succor, we know someone to whom we can go. If we
   need converse with a superior mind, we can find such an one among our
   Brothers and Sisters. But our blessed Master could scarcely find a
   kindred spirit, and never an adviser. Like some lone mountaintop which
   towers above all surrounding heights, He stood alone where winter's
   snowstorms beat full upon Him, spending all their fury on His
   unshielded height! We are but valley dwellers and rise not to His
   loftiness. To whom could He tell His secret grief? To Peter, James or
   John? As well might a mother whisper to her babe the throes that rend
   her heart! He did once, in deep distress, resort to the three noblest
   spirits among the 12 Apostles, but they slept for sorrow and could not
   watch with Him one hour! O lonely Christ, if You did overcome this
   world alone, how surely shall Your warrior Brothers and Sisters
   overcome it when they stand shoulder to shoulder, cheering each man his
   fellow and, above all, when You are in the field communicating Your
   victorious valor to the whole host!

   I have not finished this setting forth of the disadvantage under which
   the Savior lay, for I beg you to notice that there were possibilities
   about our Lord that were never ours. A man who does not know his
   letters is little tempted to be proud of his learning. And the man who
   lives from hand to mouth and never has a penny to lay by can hardly be
   tempted to be purse proud! We poor creatures could not be tempted to
   the same degree as our great Lord. The multitude would have taken Him
   by force and made Him a king--no, more--all the kingdoms of the earth
   were proffered Him and instead of suffering poverty and yielding
   Himself up to death, He might have pushed Caesar from his throne! The
   world with all its honors, the cattle on a thousand hills and secret
   mines, and rocks of gold and silver were all His--and He might have
   left His life-work to be the greatest, richest, mightiest monarch that
   ever reigned--had He not been Jesus, to whom such things are the dirt
   beneath His feet! But none of us have such great offers and brilliant
   opportunities and, therefore, we have not such a battle to fight as He
   had. Shall we not, by His help, overcome the lesser temptations, since
   He went on to victory over the greatest that can be imagined?

   Remember, too, that the intense zeal that burned in His spirit, had He
   been capable of ever yielding to a temptation, might have suggested to
   Him in a hundred ways, a turning aside from His own line of action by
   which He had resolved to conquer the world. He came to vanquish evil by
   the force of love and truth through His Spirit. If some of His
   followers had been girt with His power, they would not have kept to His
   order of battle! I stood in Rome, one day, at the bottom of the Santa
   Scala, and watched the poor votaries of superstition creeping up those
   so-called sacred steps upon their knees, imagining them to be the very
   stairs which our Lord descended when Pilate said, "Behold the Man." As
   I saw certain priests watching their dupes, I longed for a thunder bolt
   or two with which to make a clearance of Pope, cardinals, and priests!
   But the spirit our Lord Jesus was not so hot--for when James and John
   asked, "Lord, will You that we command fire to come down from Heaven
   and consume them?" their Lord replied, "You know not what manner of
   spirit you are of." We may never have been tempted to ask fire from
   Heaven because we knew that we could not get it--but our Lord had only
   to ask His Father and He would presently have sent Him legions of
   angels! See with grief what a part of the Church has done--certain
   professors easily fell into the snare which their Lord avoided!

   Suppose the Lord Jesus had been made a king and had marshaled an army?
   He might have set up an established Church and have maintained it by
   the power and wealth of the State. A temple might have been built in
   every parish in the Roman empire and the heathen might have been
   compelled to pay tithes for the support of the ministry and
   Apostle-ship. By the help of imperial prestige and patronage, nominal
   professors of the faith would have been multiplied by millions and,
   outwardly, religion would have prevailed! Would it not have been as
   great a blessing as our Established Church is to us? But the Lord Jesus
   Christ did not choose this method, for His Kingdom is not to be set up
   by any force than by that of truth and love! It was His purpose to die
   for men, but not to lift the mailed hand of power, or even the jeweled
   finger of rank to bring them into subjection. Jesus loves men to
   Himself--Love and Truth are His battle-ax and weapons of war. Thus He
   overcame the world which was in that most insidious form of
   worldliness--the suggestion to make alliance with it and set up a
   mongrel society, a kingdom at once earthly and heavenly, a State
   Church, a society loyal both to God and Mammon, fearing the Lord and
   serving the High Court of Parliament! It might have appeared to us to
   be the readiest means to bless the world--but it was not His Father's
   way, nor the way of holiness--and, therefore, He would not follow it,
   but overcame it! No force may be put on conscience. The altar of God
   must not be polluted by forced offerings. Caesar must not step beyond
   his province. However great the proffered benefit, the Lord never did
   evil that good might come!

   Let us now observe that the main point of the comfort lies in the fact
   that not only did our Lord overcome the world as an individual, but He
   vanquished it as the Representative Man. Clear a space! Clear a space!
   A deadly fight is to be fought! Here comes into the battle, stalking
   along, a monster man towering high above his fellows. He is for
   Philistia! Here comes the champion of Israel, a ruddy youth. These two
   are to decide the day. Anxious eyes are turned towards the field of
   duel. Philistia, look to your champion! Israel, watch your stripling
   with beating heart! O maids of Judah, lift up your prayers for the son
   of Jesse, that he may play the man this day! As we watch that fight and
   see the stone sink into the champion's brow, and behold the youth
   taking off the giant's head and bringing it to the camp, we are ready
   to join in the dances of the jubilant women, for David has won the
   victory! See the result of his deed--the victory of David is the
   triumph of every man in Israel's land! It was a representative
   conflict--Israel against Philistia--and when Philistia's hero fell,
   Israel was the conqueror. Up to the spoil, O sons of Jacob! The
   uncircumcised are utterly routed! They fly! Pursue them and scatter
   them as dust before the whirlwind! Even so, when Christ overcame the
   world, the victory was won on the behalf of all His people and today we
   face a vanquished foe. Up and spoil the enemy! Let your infirmities
   become the subject of your glorying! Let your tribulations become the
   themes of your thanksgivings! And if you are persecuted for
   righteousness' sake, do not whine and whimper as though some dread
   calamity had come upon you, but rejoice that you are made participators
   of the honors of Prophets and saints--and of your great Leader who won
   the battle as your Champion!

   In closing, let us remember that here we have not merely
   representation, but also union. "I have overcome the world," means more
   than, "I overcame in your name." All Believers have virtually overcome
   the world, for they are one with Christ! Did my hands win the victory?
   Then my feet triumph! Did my head achieve the conquest? Then my heart
   shares the honor! The soles of my feet are victorious when my head is
   crowned. When Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, was victorious over
   the foe, every member of His Mystical Body, even the most uncomely,
   was, virtually, a conqueror in the conquering Head! So let us shout the
   victory and wave the palm branch, for we are more than conquerors
   through Him that has loved us! Said He not well when He bade us be of
   good cheer, for He had overcome the world? Therefore, struggling
   Brothers and Sisters, obey His word, and--

   BE OF GOOD CHEER!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN12:20-50.

   Our Lord had gained a sudden popularity through raising Lazarus from
   the dead. And the people had attended Him with great enthusiasm as He
   rode through the streets of Jerusalem. For the time, things looked very
   bright with Him, but He knew that He was soon to suffer and to die. And
   the overshadowing of that great eclipse was already upon His heart.
   Note how He looked forward to it and how He spoke concerning it.

   Verses 20-22 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to
   worship at the feast the same came therefore to Philip, which was of
   Bethsaida of Galilee, and entreated him, saying, Sir, we would see
   Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip told
   Jesus. Probably these persons were proselytes to the Jewish faith. They
   had renounced their idols and they had come to worship the only true
   God. And now they had a wish to see Jesus--not out of idle curiosity,
   but because they felt a certain degree of respect for Him. They wanted
   to know more of His teaching and to learn whether He was, indeed, the
   promised Messiah. The disciples encouraged these seekers--they would
   not have brought mere curiosity-mongers to their Master, but they saw
   that there was something better in these Greeks--so they consulted
   together and their opinion was that they must tell Jesus about them.

   23. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of
   Man should be glorified.He was about to die, yet He speaks of His death
   as being glorified. For the joy that was set before Him, He seems to
   overlook the intervening humiliation in the prospect of the Glory that
   would come of it through the salvation of multitudes of strangers from
   the very ends of the earth! He looks on these Greeks as the vanguard of
   a great army of Gentiles who would continue to come to Him and pay Him
   homage. Hear what He says next--

   24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat falls into
   the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies,

   it brings forth much fruit. [See Sermon #3024 Volume 53--CHRIST'S DEATH
   AND OURS.] He knew that He must die, for His living, preaching and
   miracle-working would never produce such results as His death would
   accomplish! He must go down into the ground, out of sight, and there
   must lie like a buried grain of wheat, that out of Him there might
   spring a great harvest to the Glory of God! And these Greeks were like
   a first handful, a wave-sheaf unto God, a promise of the great harvest
   that would be the result of His death--"If it dies, it brings forth
   much fruit."

   25. 26. He that loves his life shall lose it and he that hates his life
   in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serves Me,
   let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if
   any man serves Me, him will My Father honor [See Sermons #463, Volume
   8--CHRIST'S SERVANT--HIS DUTY AND REWARD; #2449, Volume 42--THE RULE
   AND REWARD OF SERVING CHRIST; #2651, Volume 45--THE CHRISTIAN'S SERVICE
   AND HONOR and #2874, Volume 50--PRECEPTS AND PROMISES.] It is an honor
   to be allowed to serve Christ, but God will bestow still further honor
   upon those who faithfully serve Him!

   27-29. Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me
   from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father,
   glorify Your name. Then came there a Voice from Heaven, saying, Ihave
   both glorified it and will

   glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it,
   said that it thundered: others said, An angel spoke to Him. How ready
   they were to find an explanation for that "Voice from Heaven" which
   they could not comprehend! Some "said that it thundered: others said,
   An angel spoke to Him." But here is Christ's own interpretation of the
   mystery--

   30, 31. Jesus answered and said, This Voice came not because ofMe, but
   for your sakes. Nowis thejudgment ofthis world: now shall the Prince
   ofthis world be cast out. Satan may have thought that he had triumphed
   when Christ was crucified, but that death upon the Cross was the
   deathblow to the devil's usurpation!

   32, 33. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
   Me. This He said, signifying what death He

   should die. [See Sermons #139, Volume 3--CHRIST LIFTED UP; #775, Volume
   13--THE GREAT ATTRACTION and #1717, Volume 29--THE MARVELOUS MAGNET.]
   There is no magnet like the death of Christ! He is still able

   to draw men unto Him because of the attractive force of His atoning
   Sacrifice.

   34-36. The people answered Him, We have heard from the Law that Christ
   abides forever: and how say You, the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who
   is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is
   the light with you.

   Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that
   walks in darkness knows not where he goes.

   While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the
   children of light. These things spoke Jesus, and departed, and did hide
   Himself from them. At first sight, this may not seem to have been an
   answer to their question, "Who is this Son of Man?" Yet it was a very
   direct answer, for He was "the Light of the world" and, as the Light
   was soon to be withdrawn from them, there was all the greater need of
   Christ's injunctions, "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness
   come upon you. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may
   be the children of light."

   37-41. But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they
   believed not on Him: that the sayings of Isaiah the Prophet might be
   fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report? And to
   whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not
   believe, because that Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes, and
   hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor
   understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
   These things said Isaiah, when He saw His Glory, and spoke of Him. [See
   Sermon #1844, Volume 31--israel and

   BRITAIN--A NOTE OF WARNING.] Isaiah was sent upon a painful errand to
   tell the people that they would hear, but they would not
   understand--that they would see, but they would not perceive. And so it
   happened to Israel as a nation, and to this day Israel rejects the true
   Messiah. Oh, that none of us may imitate their evil example by
   negligence and contempt of the Revelation of God, lest after playing
   with Scripture and trifling with the Christ of God, the Lord should at
   last in anger declare that we should see, but should not perceive, that
   we should hear, but should not understand!

   42, 43. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him;
   but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should
   be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than
   the praise of God. Are there any here who believe in Christ, but who
   have never confessed Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue
   and lose the praise of men? Are you afraid of your family, your father,
   or your husband? Or is there some friend who would be angry with you if
   you confessed Christ? If so, be no longer such a coward, I pray you,
   but come out boldly and confess Him who will not be ashamed to confess
   you before His Father and the holy angels!

   44-50. Jesus cried and said, He that believes on Me, believes not on
   Me, but on Him that sent Me. And he that sees Me sees Him that sent Me.
   Iam come as a light into the world, that whoever believes on Me
   shouldnot abide in darkness. And if any man hears My word and believes
   not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save
   the world. He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that
   judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in
   the last day. For Ihave not spoken of Myself but the Father which sent
   Me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should
   speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatever I
   speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak.
     __________________________________________________________________

The Fear of Death

   (No. 3286)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1912,

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY
   25, 1866.

   "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He
   Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might
   destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver
   those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
   bondage." Hebrews 2:14,15.

   [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, upon verse 14, is No. 166, Volume 4,
   in The New Park Street Pulpit, "The Destroyer Destroyed:"]

   BEFORE speaking upon the main subject of the text, I cannot help
   drawing your attention to those two words, "the children." Hear that
   sweet expression again, for it is one of the choicest descriptions of
   the saints, "the children." "You are all the children of God by faith
   in Christ Jesus." What a wonderful influence the children have in the
   house! How many of the arrangements are made especially with a view to
   them! How much of the wear and tear of life to their parents is for
   their sakes! And we may truly say, concerning our Father in Heaven,
   that His plans, His arrangements, His actions, His gifts are very
   emphatically for the children! He uses all things in this great house
   of His for the education of the children--and when their education
   shall be finished--He will clear all these things away just as the
   builder takes down the scaffolding around the house when it is
   complete.

   This name of "the children" is such a blessed one, it seems to indicate
   a simple, sweet and gracious character. "Be not children in
   understanding," but in all else be--

   "Humble, teachable and mild,

   Like unto a little child."

   I. But this is only by the by--the main theme on which I am going to
   speak is the fear of death And, first, I observe that THE FEAR OF DEATH
   IS NATURAL TO MAN AS A SINNER. So long as there was no sin in the
   world, there was no death and no fear of death, but as soon as sin
   entered, God said to Adam, "Dust you are and unto dust shall you
   return." The echo of these words still rings throughout the world and
   Adam's children, as sinners, fear death, but this is rather a blessing
   to them than otherwise. To most unconverted men, the fear of death has
   often been made to subserve the highest purpose of Divine Mercy. Many a
   man would, at least outwardly, have been more guilty than he is if the
   fear of death had not, to some extent, held him in check. The knell
   from the old church tower has often spoken to those who other preachers
   could not reach--and an open grave has had an eloquent voice which has
   been more alarming than the polished sentences of the golden-mouthed
   orator.

   It is well that there should be such a thing as the fear of death in
   the world! But for it, sinners would be more outrageously wicked than
   they already are. This earth would soon become like Sodom and Gomorrah
   if men were not restrained by the fear that they must soon depart this
   life. No doubt, too, the fear of death answers very wise and important
   purposes in the economy of humanity. If men were in peril, they would
   probably give themselves up without making any strenuous exertions for
   their preservation if there were not an indefinable dread of death
   which creeps over them and makes them put forth what strength they have
   in order, if possible, to prolong their lives. Being afraid to die,
   they tug, toil, labor and strive so as to put off the dreaded day as
   long as they can! Even Satan spoke the truth when he said, "All

   that a man has will he give for his life." Our streets might be crowded
   with idlers who would starve rather than work if the fear of death did
   not drive them unwillingly to their labors!

   Certainly the fear of death has often been the means of preventing the
   crime of suicide. You know how Shakespeare represents Hamlet as talking
   of a man making his quietus with a bare bodkin--

   "But that the dread of something after death,

   The undiscovered country, from whose bourn

   No traveler returns, puzzles the will,

   And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

   Than fly to others that we know not of" No doubt it has often been the
   case that this "dread of something after death" has prevented men from
   rushing into the presence of their Maker red-handed with their own
   blood! The fear of death, though itself part of the punishment of sin,
   is a wise and beneficent arrangement in the commonwealth of humanity.

   II. But, secondly, while the fear of death is natural to the sinner, IT
   IS NOT NECESSARY TO THE SAINT. For all the purposes of which I have
   spoken, the fear of death is not necessary to a Christian. He does not
   need it to restrain him from sin, for he hates sin with a perfect
   hatred. Other checks, of far greater importance here, in the hand of
   Infinite Love, restrain the Christian from going into sin. Nor does he
   need the fear or death to keep him from suicide--why should he have any
   desire to commit that terrible crime? Christians have, even here, joy
   and peace through believing and though their best portion is in the
   world to come, yet even now it may be said of them, "Happy are you, O
   Israel: who is like unto you, O people saved by the Lord?" The clanking
   fetters of the fear of death are not intended for God's freemen to
   wear! Let the slave of sin and Satan wear them if they will restrain
   them from suicide and other evils, but the true born child of God needs
   no such check as this. He lives the life of faith upon the Son of God
   and the love of Christ so graciously constrains him that it both holds
   him back from sin and urges him on to duty.

   But though the fear of death is not necessary to Christians and the
   Grace of God has been manifested in giving Christ to deliver them from
   it, yet it is true that some of them are still subject to bondage
   through this wholly unnecessary fear! They not only fear death, but
   they fear it to such an extent that it brings them into bondage. It is
   not merely a dark cloud that passes over them and is soon gone, but it
   abides with them--they are, "All their lifetime subject to bondage"
   through the fear of death! They shall not perish, neither shall any
   pluck them out of Christ's hands, but they have not that restful
   assurance of safety which Christ's sheep ought to enjoy. I am sorry to
   say that I know some who profess to have been Christians for years, but
   who still, at times at any rate, are in bondage through fear of death.
   I do not speak of this as a phenomenon, or an experience that is
   uncommon--I wish it were, but I am obliged to say that there are very
   many whom one must judge to be the children of God--who are frequently,
   if not always, in a state of despondency, doubt and dread through this
   fear of death which seems to rest upon them like a pall.

   Many of these persons have been so long in this sad state that they
   have almost come to believe that it is impossible for them to escape
   from it. There is such a thing as sitting so long on the cold stone of
   despair that you and the stone almost seem to be one. There is such a
   thing as wearing the yoke of despondency until that yoke and your
   shoulders become so closely united that you cannot take it off. Just as
   valor fights till its sword grows to its hand, so despair burdens you
   till it grows into your spirit. I would not roughly tear it out, but if
   I might kindly perform an act of spiritual surgery, I would be glad to
   be made the instrument through which the Master would perform His
   blessed work of delivering those who are in bondage through fear of
   death!

   Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, there is no need that you
   should be afraid to die! It is even possible for you to look upon death
   as your best friend! You may yet come to be familiar with the shroud,
   the mattock, the grave--and find the cemetery to be no place of gloom
   and may even rejoice in the prospect of death and--

   "Long for evening to undress

   That you may rest with God." According to our text, it appears that in
   order to remove this fear of death from His people, our Lord Jesus
   Christ became Man-- "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
   flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same." And as flesh
   and blood have about them the element of mortality, the flesh and blood
   of Christ partook of the same character. It is true that in Him was no
   sin, but in all other respects His flesh was like ours and, therefore,
   was liable

   to death even as ours is. Now, the very fact that Jesus Christ became
   Man should remove from us the fear of anything which is incidental to
   humanity because it was incidental to Christ as well as to ourselves--

   "He takes us through no darker rooms

   Than He went through before."

   "Fear not," said Caesar, to the trembling boatman, "you carry Caesar
   and all his fortunes." And, in like manner, standing in the vessel of
   our mortality, Christ says to us, "Fear not, you carry Christ and all
   His fortunes; you are partakers of flesh and blood and He Himself
   likewise shared in the same." If one had to be a soldier on the field
   of battle, it might be a very great assistance to one's courage to
   stand side by side with the hero of a thousand fights who had always
   been victorious! If tonight you had to journey along some dark and
   lonely road and an angel came from Heaven to walk beside you--and you
   were quite sure that it was an angel--I should think you would be
   altogether free from fear! With such a companion you might even wish
   that the way were still more dangerous so that you might have the
   delightful experience of passing through it unharmed under the care of
   such a glorious protector!

   But you have a better Protector than any angel could be, even the Lord
   of the angels, your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, so what cause have
   you for fear? He will be with you all through life. He will be with you
   when you are called to die and the pledge of that is that He is a
   partaker of that very flesh and blood which will bring you down to
   death. But we not only know that Jesus partook of flesh and blood--we
   have this further comfort--Jesus did actually die. The Cross of Calvary
   was a witness to no phantom grief, no sham expiring. The Roman soldier
   with his spear pierced Christ's side and so proved the fact of His
   death. He went through the valley; He ascended the mountain on the
   other side and He, in due time, went up into Heaven--and all this He
   did as the Representative of His people! Whatever Christ did, He did
   for His whole Church and for each one who, believing in Him, is a
   member of that Church! So, if you are a Believer, you died in Christ
   and you rise in Christ. Christ died, you, too, must die. As Christ
   rose, you, too, must rise. What Christ has done, He has done for you in
   such a way that you, also, do it--

   "As Christ the Savor rose, So shall His followers must."

   Their is further cause for comfort in the fact that, through death,
   Christ destroyed the devil The persons who always interpret the word,
   "destroy," as meaning, "annihilate," would do me a very great favor if
   they could really prove to me that Jesus Christ annihilated the devil!
   I have very mournful proof in my own experience that he is not
   annihilated and many of you, also, know that "your adversary the devil,
   as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour." Alas, the
   devil is still alive, but his power in this world has received its
   death blow! Jesus Christ has trodden on the old serpent's head and, to
   the Christian, in the matter of death, the devil is completely
   destroyed, for he that believes in Christ shall never die! Death seemed
   to be all black and evil, like Satan, himself, seething into which he
   had put his most venomous sting! But now, to Believers in Jesus, death
   is an angel from our Father in Heaven calling us home to Him--not a
   black angel, striking terror in our heart--but one who is exceedingly
   bright and fair, coming to bid us fly away to realms of light and love!

   Remember, Christian, "the sting of death is sin," but that has been
   destroyed for you. And remember, too, "the strength of sin is the Law,"
   but that has been fulfilled for you! Rejoice, therefore, that both are
   gone so far as you are concerned--and that your greatest causes for
   fear are entirely removed!

   III. Now let us spend a few minutes in thinking of THOSE THINGS
   CONNECTED WITH DEATH WHICH USUALLY CAUSE DREAD.

   I borrow the list of them from a popular commentator. There are some
   things connected with death which even the best of men naturally fear
   and the first is the death-pang. It is generally supposed that there is
   exquisite pain associated with the act of death, but I am persuaded
   that this is mistaken and that there is no pain whatever in dying--the
   pain is in living. The man who has a long sickness previous to his
   departure must not lay the pain he has to endure at the door of death,
   for the pain afflicts the living, not the dying. If life would but give
   way, death would inflict no pain. The departure out of life is, one
   would judge, the cessation of pain, the ending of the strife. But if we
   take the popular view for granted--that death involves some
   extraordinary pain--then Jesus Christ partook flesh and blood, died and
   destroyed the devil, so far as we who believe in Him are concerned, in
   order that we might not have any fear of this pain.

   He says to each one of us, "My child, whatever pain there may be about
   your death, I have endured it with an emphasis. I died, not as you
   probably will, on your bed, but upon a Cross. Instead of sympathizing
   friends around Me, I had mocking foes. Instead of soft pillows, I had
   cruel thorns--and tearing nails instead of cooling draughts and
   sustaining cordials. Men gave Me vinegar to drink mingled with gall. I
   died under far more trying circumstances than can possibly surround
   your deathbed, so now, My child, are you now willing to do at your
   Fathers' bidding what I have done? The cup passed not from Me, I
   drained it to the dregs--why, then, should it pass from you--why should
   you wish it to pass from you?"

   I have sometimes seen a mother, when her child has had medicine to take
   which it could not bear, sip of the cup and then say, "Drink it, my
   child, it is for your good and it is not so bad as you think. Mother
   has tasted it herself." And then the little one, not always with
   cheerfulness, but still with submission, drinks it up. "So Jesus brings
   us the cup and says to each one, "Drink, My child. I drank of this cup,
   so why should you fear to drink of it? There can be nothing deadly in
   it, for it has not destroyed Me. It has been to Me a gain and it shall
   be a gain, also, to you, for it shall take you from your humiliation to
   your Glory even as it took Me."

   But to some others this may not be their particular phase of death that
   they dread. They fear the darkness and gloom which sometimes attend
   departed out of this life. There are different ways of taking down the
   earthly atonement. There are certain forms of disease which seem rather
   to increase the sufferer's joy than to diminish it, while there are
   others which so affect the brain and the whole nervous system that
   depression is a melancholy symptom of the disease. Some are
   constitutionally so nervous that they are afraid that when they come
   face to face with death they will be easily vanquished. But many of us
   must have noticed that the very people who are most depressed in
   anticipation of trouble are frequently those who bear it best when it
   does come! So it may be with you, my poor nervous Friend. My
   observation warrants me in remarking that the most of Christians, when
   they die, are either in a deep calm or else triumphant in an ecstasy of
   delight.

   But if it should not be so with you, if gloom surrounds your spirit,
   yet remember that Jesus Christ became a partaker of flesh and blood in
   order to deliver you from the dread of death. It is flesh and blood
   that fear the gloom. It is flesh and blood that shrink from the
   despondency--and Jesus Christ passed through that experience when He
   said, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death"--and later,
   when He cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" You cannot
   possibly have such gloom surrounding you as He had to pass through! He
   went down deeper than you will ever have to go and you will always have
   His almighty arm to sustain you! Besides, the remembrance that Christ
   suffered for you, that He has destroyed Satan' s power over you and
   that He has opened the gates of Resurrection and of Glory for you
   should take away from you all the gloom that you dread! You are making
   the mistake of looking at that part of death which belongs to this
   world. I pray that the Holy Spirit may anoint your eyes with Heavenly
   eye salve so that you may see that death is but the gate of Life, the
   porch to Paradise and may no longer fear to enter the portals through
   which you shall pass into the Presence of your Lord who went that way
   before you!

   I know other Believers who do not so much dread the pain as they do the
   mystery associated with death The handwriting upon the wall troubled
   Belshazzar, not only because of the appearance of the fingers that
   wrote the message, but also because no one could interpret the writing
   until Daniel came. It was the mystery that terrified the impious
   monarch! When traveling among the Alps in a dense mist, we have seemed
   to see vast lakes without a shore, crags that appeared like the
   battlement of Heaven and awful depths that thrilled us with horror! Yet
   much of that mystery was only caused by the mist, for, when we
   journeyed the same way on a bright morning, the great lake proved to be
   only a little pond! The mighty battlement was a crag that a child could
   climb and the vast depths that had made us shudder with terror were
   gentle slopes which we could have descended with ease.

   It is the mysteriousness of death that alarms you. That the soul should
   be divorced from the body to which it has been so long united is
   something that startles you. Yes, but as the light dissipates the
   terrors of the mountains, so the fact that Jesus Christ has brought
   life and immortality to light will scatter all your gloom! There is no
   "undiscovered country" to you, Christian, for your Master has returned
   from the land of Death-Shade and He has told you all you need to know
   concerning it! He has come back to tell you that, for you, there is no
   such thing as death! Everything that constitutes death has been
   abrogated so far as you are concerned and your portion is to be
   everlasting life! If you would only believe

   all that is revealed in the Word concerning believers in Jesus, the
   mystery associated with death would no longer alarm and terrify you.

   There are some Christians who are afraid of the grave. I must say that
   I like the thought of sleeping in the cemetery, with green grass and
   flowers and shrubs growing all around--and winding walks upon the
   rising ground far away from the busy city! I say I like the thought of
   all that, yet, when I stand by an open grave, as I so often do, and see
   the cold clods of clay and think of the chill and silence of the night,
   the cemetery appears in another light! But, after all, what does it
   matter where the poor body is laid? If it could lie in state,
   surrounded with light and music, you know that very soon even the chief
   mourner would have to say, "Bury my dead out of my sight!" When we
   think of those who are sleeping in Jesus--I speak, of course, only of
   their bodies--it does seem appropriate that they should be wrapped in
   their white robes, as men are when they go to their beds, and lovingly
   committed to the care of mother earth from which they sprang. I do not
   think there is any need to be troubled about all this--much of it is
   mere sentimentalism and certainly, as far as Christians are
   concerned--when we remember that the blessed body of Jesus was laid in
   the tomb, we are quite content in that matter to be even as He was.

   I am afraid that I have not hit the center of the target even yet, for
   some of "the children" are afraid of the Judgement Seat of God. Does
   this remark surprise you? It ought to do so, for it ought to be
   impossiblefor a child of God to tremble at the thought of meeting his
   Father anywhere! Why is it that some of us are thus afraid? It is,
   Beloved, because they have a dark suspicion that they are not reallyin
   Christ, not reallysaved--and this indicates a greater evil than the
   dread of death--while it also point out the remedy for that evil. If I
   have the Divine Assurance that I am washed from every sin and that,
   clothed in the righteousness of Christ, I am without spot, or wrinkle,
   or any such things, how can I give way to fear? It is the dreadful
   doubt, the doubt whether it is so, that causes the dread of death and
   ofjudgment! It is unbeliefthat is at the bottom of it!

   If we would take such Scriptures as these--"He that believes on the Son
   has everlasting life." "By Him all that believe are justified from all
   things." "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
   Lord Jesus Christ"-- and if we really trusted in the Savior of whom
   they speak, we would have no fear of either death or judgement, but
   would cry with the Apostle, "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, yes, rather that is risen again, who is even at the
   right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." No doubt there
   are some professing Christians who oughtto be afraid of death--there
   are some members of Christian Churches who oughtto dread the Judgement
   Seat! There are deacons and elders and ministers who oughtto tremble at
   the thought of the world to come because their profession of
   Christianity is a mere profession without any real work of the Spirit
   of God at the back of it!

   When you have doubts about your eternal state, do not say that they
   come from the devil! It may be that the Spirit of God is striving with
   you to bring you to see the hollowness of all the religion in which you
   have put your confidence! Never be afraid of self-examination, but obey
   the Apostolic injunction, "Examine yourselves, whether you are in the
   faith; prove yourselves." Better still, pray David's prayer, "Search
   me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if
   there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
   Those who have only a name to live, but who are spiritually dead. Those
   who talk about believing, but who have not believed. Those who talk
   about regeneration, but who have not been born again have good cause to
   be afraid of death! If that is your condition, Friend, I pray that you
   may become still more afraid of death and that God's gracious Spirit
   may make you so afraid of it that you may turn from it and fly to Him
   who, by carrying away your sin, shall also take away from you the fear
   of death.

   But as for you, dearly Beloved, who are really in Christ Jesus, you
   ought not to have any fear of death. There is no condemnation for you,
   for Christ has borne, on your behalf, all the punishment that was due
   to your sins! The sword of Justice has no terrors for you, for it was
   plunged in the heart of Jesus on purpose that He might die in your
   place. You need not fear the possibility of being cast away from
   Christ, for you are members of His body, of His death and of His blood!
   And unless He were to dismember Himself, He could not cast away any who
   are thus vitally united to Him. Let the thought that He became a
   partaker of flesh and blood, died to put away your sin and to destroy
   your great adversary, the devil, be a quietus to all your fears of
   death!

   It may not be long before some of us will have our faith tested in our
   dying hour. The preacher may be called away or you may receive the
   summons first. It would be well if we were all so familiar with death
   that we could say as one old

   saint did, "Dying? Why, I have died daily for the last 20 years, so I
   am not afraid to die, now!" Or, as another said, "I dip my foot in
   Jordan's stream every morning before I take my breakfast, so I shall
   not be afraid to go down into the stream whenever my Lord bids me enter
   it." May that be your experience and mine, Beloved, and then we shall
   have no fear of death!

   I have told you before of that godly woman who fell asleep in Jesus one
   night and on her table were found these lines--

   Since Jesus is mine, I'll not fear undressing, But gladly put off this
   garment of clay! To die in the Lord is a Covenant blessing, Since Jesus
   to Glory through death led the way."

   May we all have like precious faith, for Jesus sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-32.

   Verses 1, 2. Moreover, brethren, Ideclare unto you the Gospel which
   Ipreached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand.
   By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what Ipreached unto
   you, unless you have believed in vain. By which the Apostle means,
   unless they had a false faith, a merely notional faith or, he may also
   mean, "Unless what I have preached unto you should have been a fable
   and, therefore, you will have exercised your faith upon nothing real,
   and so it would have been in vain."

   3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I, also, received,
   The preacher of Christ must not make new doctrines! He is not to be his
   own teacher. He is first to receive the Truth of God and then to
   deliver it. The Christian minister takes the lamp out of the hands of
   God and then passes it on to the hands of his people. Think not that
   any originality is needed in the pulpit! All that is required is that
   the herald should faithfully deliver his Master's message just as his
   Master gives it to him. "I delivered unto you first of all that which
   I, also, received."

   3, 4. How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture; and
   that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to
   the Scriptures. There are many passages in the Old Testament which
   describe the Messiah as dying for sinners, especially the chapter of
   Isaiah's prophecy. There are others that speak of Him as being buried,
   yet not corrupting in the tomb. These were facts which the Apostle had
   received upon the testimony of others; now comes the great fact of the
   Resurrection.

   5-8. And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, He
   was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater
   part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that,
   He was seen of James; then of all the Apostle and last of all He was
   seen of me, also, as of one born out of due time. [See Metropolitan
   Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 2663, Volume 433--" A Leap Year Sermon." ] The
   Apostle does not attempt to defend the doctrine of the Resurrection by
   an argument fetched from reason, but he proves it by undoubted
   evidence. If I had to prove that there existed such a tree as the
   cedar, I should not use logical arguments further than this--I produce
   a certain number of men who have seen a cedar and the thing is proved
   by their testimony. If the evidence of honest men is not accepted, then
   there is an end, not only to Christianity, but to all the sciences--and
   you and I must wander forever in a maze of doubts. Now, of all the
   facts recorded in history, there is not one which is better attested
   than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The men who testified that they
   had seen the risen Christ evidently had no selfish reason for doing so.
   What is the result of their testimony? They were cast into prison! They
   were stoned! They were sawn asunder, simply for believing the evidence
   of their own senses, and testifying what they knew to be true! It is
   clear that they would have had no interest in publishing this fact if
   it had not been true--their interest would have lain quite the other
   way. Besides, it was not as if only a few had seen Him, but over 500
   brethren at once beheld Him. For 40 days He was gazed upon by different
   persons and the feat is proved beyond all doubt.

   9. For I am the least of the Apostles and am not meet to be called an
   Apostle because Ipersecuted the Church of God. "God has forgiven me,"
   said a good man once, "but I shall never forgive myself." So was it
   with the Apostle Paul. He knew that God had forgiven him and honored
   him by making him an Apostle, but he could not forgive himself and, no

   doubt, the tears gushed from his eyes when he wrote these words, "I am
   not meet to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of
   God."

   10. But by the Grace of God I am what I am: and His Grace which was
   bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
   they all: yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me. [See
   Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 2833, Volume 499--" Lessons on
   Divine Glory."] In what humble tones Paul speaks! He will not deny what
   Divine Grace has done in him and by him, but he will ascribe it all to
   God. Brothers and Sisters, you are not to shut your eyes to the
   gracious change which God's Holy Spirit has worked in you! You may
   speak of it and speak of it often, but always guard against taking any
   of the honor to yourselves--and be especially careful to put the crown
   upon the right head.

   11, 12. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so you
   believed. Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how say
   some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?For Christ was
   the pattern Man to all His people. He is their Representative. Whatever
   He did, He did for them and whatever was worked in Him shall be surely
   worked in them. So if Christ rose from the dead, then all who are
   members of His mystical body must rise, too, for when the Head comes
   out of the grave, you cannot retain the members in it! Prove that
   Christ rose and you prove that His people rise, for they are one with
   Him.

   13. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
   risen. [See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 2287,Volume 38-- "If
   There Is No Resurrection,"] Yet it is proved by hundreds of credible
   witnesses that Christ is risen, therefore there is a resurrection.

   14. And if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
   faith is also vain. This Truth of God is the keystone of the arch--put
   this away and the whole tumbles down! It is upon this that the whole
   Christian system rests. If the Resurrection of Christ is a mere myth
   and not a positive matter of fact, preaching and faith are equally
   vain.

   15. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have
   testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if it
   is so that the dead rise not.The Apostle puts the matter strongly, yet
   not too strongly. He seems to say, "You know me to be an honest and
   truthful man, having no selfish motive in what I declare unto you. But
   if Christ did not rise from the dead, I have testified to you a gross
   falsehood and led you to put your trust in an imposture." So he stakes
   his own personal character upon the fact of Christ's Resurrection.

   16. 17. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if
   Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. Yet
   they knew that they were not in their sins, for they had the witness
   within then that their sins had been pardoned. They knew that sin had
   no more dominion over them, for they had been made to walk in holiness
   before the Lord. "Therefore," says Paul, "Christ must have risen, for
   if He had not risen, you would have remained sinners as you once were."

   18. Then they, also, which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. A
   supposition against which both Nature and Grace revolt!

   19, 20. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men
   most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
   first fruits of them that depart As they always brought into the Jewish
   tabernacle and temple, a portion of the harvest which indicated that
   the harvest was begun, so Christ's going up to Heaven was the taking of
   the first sheaf into God's great garner--and all the rest must follow.

   21, 22. For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection
   of the dead. For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be
   made alive. Not that all shall be saved, but all will be raised from
   the dead! Or else the passage means that as all who were in the first
   Adam died as the result of Adam's sin, so all who are in the Second
   Adam, that is, Christ, shall live as the result of His righteousness.
   The question is, Are we in the Second Adam? Faith is that which unites
   us to Christ. If we are trusting in Him by a living faith, then His
   rising from the dead ensures our rising from the dead. And if not, it
   is true that we shall rise, but it will be to shame and everlasting
   contempt.

   23-28. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits,
   afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end,
   when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father;
   when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power For He
   must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet The last enemy
   that shall be destroyed is death. For He has put all things under His
   feet But when He says all things are put under Him, it is manifest that
   He is accepted, who did put all things under Him. And when all things
   shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son Himself also be subject
   unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all This
   is a very difficult

   passage, but I suppose the meaning is this--Jesus Christ, in order to
   remedy the great mischief of sin, was appointed to a mediatorial
   kingdom over all worlds and that kingdom will continue until all His
   enemies shall be destroyed and sin shall be trod under His feet. Then
   Christ--as Mediator, mark you, not as Lord--shall deliver up His
   mediatorial kingdom to His Father and there shall be heard that great
   shout, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent
   reigns!" Christ as God, as one of the Persons of the ever-blessed
   Trinity, will still be as glorious as ever, but His mediatorialreign
   will then be over, seeing that He has accomplished all its purposes.

   29. Otherwise what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the
   dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?'This is
   another most difficult passage and many meanings have been given to it,
   but I think the most likely to be correct is this--As soon as a member
   of the early Christian Church was given up to the lion or to be burned,
   another convert would step forward and say, Let me take his name and
   place." Though it was almost certain that they, also, would soon be put
   to death, there were always found persons bold enough to come forward
   to be baptized--to take the place of the dead. "Now," says the Apostle,
   "what advantage is there in this if the dead rise not ?"

   30. And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? Why were the Apostles
   always subjecting themselves to cruel persecution?

   31. I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,
   I did daily. [See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 828, Volume 14--"
   Dying Daily."] He was so hunted about everywhere that there was not a
   day in which he felt secure of his life, so he asks, "Why should I
   endure this if there is no world to come ?"

   32. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,
   what advantage is it to me, if the dead rise not?It is quite possible
   that Paul was thrown to the lions in the theater at Ephesus and that he
   fought with them and came off a conqueror. "But why," he asks, "did I
   try to save my life for future labor and for future suffering if the
   dead rise not?" 32. Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die. This is
   the best philosophy in the world if there is no life to come. So Paul
   has proved his point right well by every argument that he has used.
     __________________________________________________________________

The Only Door

   (No. 3287)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "I am the door: if anyone enters by Me, he shall be saved, and shall go
   in and out, and find pasture." John 10:9.

   [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same text is #2752, Volume
   47--THE DOOR.]

   The Word of God tells us that in the midst of the great mass of men
   there are to be found a special people--a people who were chosen of God
   out of the common race before the stars began to shine--a people who
   were dear to God's heart before the foundation of the world, a people
   who were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus beyond and above the
   rest of mankind, a people who are the special property of Christ, the
   flock of His pasture, the sheep of His hand, a people over whom
   Providence watches, shaping their course amid the tangled maze of
   life--a people who are to be produced at the last, every one of them
   faultless before the Eternal Throne and fitted for the exalted destiny
   which, in the ages to come, He shall reveal! All through Scripture you
   read about this particular and special people. Sometimes they are
   called "a seed," at other times "a garden," at other times "a
   treasure," and sometimes, as in the Chapter we have read, "a flock."
   The common name in the New Testament for them is "the Church"--"the
   Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood." "Christ loved
   the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse
   it with the washing of water by the Word."

   Now, the all-important question is how can we obtain admission into
   this Church? Where is this community to be found? Who are the members
   of it? What is the way to become a partaker of the privileges which
   belong to it? Jesus Christ here tells us two things--First, How to
   enter the Church The way is through Himself as the door. Secondly, What
   are the benefits we shall receive through being members of Christ's
   Church--we shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.

   I. HOW A MAN CAN BECOME A MEMBER OF THAT CHURCH WHICH IS ELECTED,
   REDEEMED AND WILL BE SAVED, IS SIMPLY AND BRIEFLY SOLVED BY OUR LORD'S
   FIRST ASSERTION.

   Christ tells us that the only way to enter the Church is through
   Himself He is the door, the only door. There is no other mode of
   admission into His Church but through Himself. Let it be understood,
   then, once and for all, that we cannot get into the Church of Christ
   through Baptism. There are tens of thousands, yes, there have been
   millions who have been baptized after a fashion, that is to say, they
   have been sprinkled--and thousands have been immersed--who never were
   admitted into the Church of Christ! In consideration of the ordinance
   as it was administered to them, with, or more commonly, without their
   consent, they were recognized by some persons as being Christians. But
   let me tell you that unless they came to Christ by true faith, they are
   nothing better than baptized Pagans! They are still just sprinkled
   heathen! Why, you might hold a man in an everlasting shower, but you
   could not, thereby, make him "a member of Christ." Or you might drag
   him through the Atlantic Ocean and if he survived the immersion, yet he
   still would not be one jot the better! The door is not baptism, but
   Christ! If you believe in Christ, you are a member of His Church. If
   your trust is stayed upon Christ, who is God's great way of salvation,
   you have evidence that you were chosen of Him from before the
   foundation of the world--and that faith of yours entitles you to all
   the privileges which Christ has promised in His Word to Believers!

   If Christ is the door, then it follows that men do not get into the
   Church by birthright The Society of Friends has been one of the most
   useful communities in the world and it has maintained a good testimony
   upon most important points for many years. But it seems to me that the
   great evil in it--that which has done them the most mischief--is the
   admission of birthright membership. Do they not receive in their
   fellowship the children of their members as though they

   were necessarily proper persons to be received into the visible Church?
   My Brothers and Sisters, it is a great privilege to have Christian
   parents. It may prove a very great advantage if you use it rightly. But
   it involves a great responsibility, and if you use it wrongly, instead
   of being a blessing to you, it may be a fearful curse! Though you may
   be one of a long line of saints, "Except a man is born-again, he cannot
   see the Kingdom of God." The most pious example, the most godly
   training cannot ensure conversion--and without conversion, depend upon
   it--you cannot be Christ's. "Except you are converted and become as
   little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."
   Through our not practicing infant baptism, we do not so readily fall
   into this error as some denominations--still, it is necessary to say
   even here that you have no right to Gospel privileges because of your
   mothers and fathers. You must yourselves be born-again! You have no
   right to the Covenant of Grace, nor to the blessings or promises
   thereof, except as by your own personal and individual faith you come
   to Christ! It is not your father nor your mother who can be the door
   into Christ's Church for you, but Christ Himself. "I," He said, "I am
   the door." If you are in Christ, you are in His Church. If you have
   laid hold on Him, you are a member of that secret and invisible
   community of His elect and His redeemed--but it is not by Baptism, nor
   by birthright that you can ever be so!

   Moreover, as Christ is the door, it is evident that a man does not come
   to be a member of the Church of Christ by making a profession of being
   so. He may prove himself to be a detestable hypocrite, but he cannot
   prove himself to be a genuine Christian by mere profession! Men do not
   get rich in this world by a lavish expenditure, or by a profession of
   being wealthy. They must hold the title deeds of their estate and have
   the cash in the strong box, or else they are poor in spite of all their
   pretensions! And you cannot become a Christian by coming forward and
   asking to be admitted into the Church, declaring that you believe and
   avowing that you repent. No, verily, but you must truly repent, or you
   shall perish! You must truly believe, or you shall have no part or lot
   in this matter! The mere saying, "Yes, yes, I am willing to profess
   this, I am willing to say that," no more makes you a Christian than it
   would make cotton to be silk to call it so, or make mud to be gold by
   labeling it with that title! Beware of a false profession, for it is
   doubly hazardous. The man who has no Grace is in danger, but the man
   who makes a profession of having it when he has none, is in double
   danger, for he is the least likely to be awakened and he is certain,
   unless Sovereign Grace prevents, to make his profession a pillow for
   his wicked and slumbering head till he sleeps himself into Hell!

   Further, and this may, perhaps, touch the point more closely--a man
   does not get to be one of the Lords people, or to be one of Christ's
   sheep, by being admitted into any visible church. He ought not to try
   to get into any visible church until he is in the trueChurch! He has no
   right to join the external organization until he has first got into the
   secret conclave by a living faith in Christ. If he leaves the door
   alone, and climbs over the wall and comes into the outward church
   without being a Believer in Christ--so far from being saved, Christ
   will say to him, "You are a thief and a robber, for you have climbed up
   some other way and you came not in by the door." I believe we do
   rightly to subject the admission of members to the voice of all the
   Church. I believe we do rightly to examine candidates to see whether
   they make a creditable profession and whether they know what they are
   doing. But our examination--oh, 'tis nothing better than skin deep! We
   cannot search the heart and the best judgment of ever so many Christian
   men, though honest, and deserving to be treated with great respect,
   would be a very poor thing to rest upon. If you have not Christ, your
   church certificates are waste paper and your membership with any
   people, however pure and Apostolic they may be, is but a name to live
   while you are dead--for the only way, the sole way of getting into the
   real, vital, living Church of Christ is by coming to Christ who is
   Himself the door!

   The plain English of this metaphor then, is just this--to be one of
   Gods people, the essential thing is a simple dependence upon Jesus
   Christ If you have not this--no matter who baptizes you, or who gives
   you the consecrated bread and wine, or who preaches to you about a hope
   of salvation for which there is no warrant--you will die in your sins,
   notwithstanding all your sacraments unless you come to Christ! No other
   admittance to Heaven can there be but by a simple dependence upon Him
   who has bled and died on Calvary's Cross! The preaching of any other
   system is a mere delusion against which the warning voice went forth or
   ever the snare was laid to trap the unwary!

   Mark you, simple faith, where it is genuine, makes it plain that you do
   enter by Christ, the door, because such faith leads to obedience. How
   can you suppose that you are a member of His Church if you are not
   obedient to Christ? It is necessary that the man or woman who trusts
   Christ should become the servant of Christ. Real faith never kicks at
   this rule, but rather delights in it. "If you love Me," says Christ,
   keep My commandments." Unless we keep Christ's commandments out of a
   principle of love to Him, our religion is vain. "Without holiness no
   man shall see the Lord." We may

   talk as we will about inward experiences and believing, but "by their
   fruits you shall know them." The Spirit of God is the Spirit of
   holiness. When Christ comes into the soul, all iniquity must be purged
   out of the soul. You know how Mala-chi describes His Advent. He
   proclaims to us the promise that the Lord whom we seek shall suddenly
   come to His Temple--that is, seekers shall be finders! Do you know what
   he adds? "But who may abide the day of His coming? For He is like a
   refiner's fire and like fullers' soap." Now, the refiner's fire burns
   up the dross, and fullers' soap takes out the stains--and so, if Christ
   is in you, you will pass through a refining that will burn up your
   outward sin--and you will be subjected to a washing like that of the
   fullers' soap which will cleanse you from all your iniquities. "Be not
   deceived, God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he
   also reap." If you live after the flesh, you shall die! But if, through
   the Grace of Christ, you are living in Him, trusting in Him, always
   serving Him--service being the evidence of trust and trust being the
   evidence of your election--you have then come into the Church through
   the door--and it is well with you!

   Now, if it is so, that Christ is the door into the Church, and if we
   have entered the Church through that door, it does not matter much to
   us what the old gentleman at Rome thinks of us. He may excommunicate
   us. This he is very fond of doing, for he is a rare hand at cursing,
   but what does it matter? It matters not one jot, if I am a new creature
   in Christ Jesus, how much the Pope may rail at me! Besides, there are
   plenty of revilers nowadays who are saying, "You NonConformists are
   only a pack of heretics! We have the Apostolic succession! We have the
   sacraments and the priests." Ah, they vaunt themselves as being
   "Catholic," though their claim is disallowed alike by the Babylon which
   is here below, and by the Jerusalem which is above! Let them vaunt if
   they will. As long as we have Christ, they may keep their Apostolic
   succession and all their other rubbish! Christ is the door and if we
   have come through Him, it is well with us!

   I like that story of the Sandwich Islanders who had been converted
   through some of our missionaries and the Gospel had been preached to
   them for years. At last, two or three gentlemen in long black gowns
   landed there and the people asked them what they had come for. They
   said they were come to instruct them in the true faith and to teach
   them. Well, they said, they should be glad to hear it. If their
   teaching was true and like the Scriptures, they would listen to them.
   By-and-by, a little diagram was exhibited to the natives after the
   similitude of a tree. This tree had many branches. The twigs which were
   farthest off were the different saints, the Believers, those who do
   good works. Then the limbs, which were a little larger, were the
   priests. The bigger branches were bishops, the biggest were the
   cardinals and, at last, these all joined on to the trunk--which was the
   Pope--and that went all the way down to the bottom till it came to
   Peter, who was the root, deriving his authority immediately from
   Christ. So the natives asked about all these twigs, branches and
   especially about certain rotten branches that were tumbling off into a
   fire. What were they? They were Luther, and Calvin, and other heretics
   who had been cut off from the true tree of the church. "Well," said one
   of the islanders, "and pray what is the root of the tree?" Of course
   that was allowed to be Jesus Christ. So they clapped their hands at
   once for joy, and said, "Never mind about the branches, and stems, and
   twigs--we have never heard of them--but we have got the Root, and that
   will do to grow on." In like manner, Brothers and Sisters, we can say
   tonight, if we have Christ, we have got the "root out of a dry ground."
   We have got the root of the matter, the basis, the sum, the substance
   of it--

   "Let others trust what forms they please, Their hopes we'll not
   contest." Let them go about their business and rejoice in their
   fancies--but Christ is the door! We have Christ! We have entered by the
   Door! We have believed in Him, we have entered through Him into faith,
   and into joy, and into peace! We will be content with this--let others
   clamber up some other way if they please.

   Before I leave this point, a question suggests itself--Have we all
   entered by the Door? We are agreed that Christ is the Door, have we
   entered by the Door? You who are growing old--I always feel much
   pleasure in seeing gray heads, the type of mellowed years, in the
   concourse of worshippers--have you all believed in Jesus? You know the
   Truth--you would not like to hear anything but the simple Gospel
   preached! But have you laid hold on the Gospel? A man my starve with
   bread on the table if he does not eat. And he may perish with thirst,
   though he is up to his neck in water, if he does not drink. Have you
   trusted Christ? If not, how can you remain in a state of unbelief, for
   "he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed
   in the name of the only begotten Son of God"? Men and women in middle
   life, struggling with the cares of business, have you trusted in
   Christ? I know your thoughts are much taken up and necessarily so, with
   the world. But have you not time to think upon this question or dare
   you neglect it--"Do you believe on the Son of God?" If not, O man, your
   life hangs on a thread and that snapped, your ruin is certain! And, oh,
   you young

   people, what a mercy it is to see you willing to come and hear the
   Word! But have you all heard it with your inward ears? Have you looked
   to my Master? Oh, it is sweet to come to Christ in the early morning of
   life, to have a long day of happiness before you! May it be the
   blessedness of each one of you! It is vain to look at the Door unless
   you enter. God give you Grace to come in if you have never entered
   before!

   II. Our Lord and Master tells us WHAT ARE THE PRIVILEGES OF ENTERING
   THROUGH HIM, THE DOOR. The man who enters by Christ shall be saved and
   he shall go in and out, and he shall find pasture. He shall be saved.
   The man who believes in Jesus Christ shall be saved. He is saved and he
   shall be saved! A man has by accident killed his fellow man. The next
   of kin to the murdered man will be sure to kill the manslayer out of
   revenge if he can get at him. Therefore the poor man takes flight as
   quickly as he can towards the City of Refuge. How his heart beats, how
   his footsteps bound, how he flies with all his might! There is a
   signpost with the word, "Refuge," upon it, and on he continues his way.
   But, presently, while he is running, he turns his head and finds that
   the avenger of blood is after him. He sees that he is gaining upon him!
   He feels that he will probably overtake him. Oh, how he picks his steps
   lest he should trip on a stone! How he skims the ground, swift as a
   roe! He runs until he can see the city gates. "That is the fair CITY OF
   REFUGE, he says. But he does not rest then, for a sight of the city
   will not secure him--so he quickens his speed as if he would outstrip
   the wind till he shoots through the archway and he is in the broad
   street of the city! Now he stops. Now he breathes. Now he wipes the hot
   sweat from his brow. "Now I am safe," he says, "for no avenger of blood
   dares cross that threshold. He that once escapes here is delivered." So
   with the sinner when sin pursues him, when he discovers that he has
   offended God! He hears the furious coursers of Divine Vengeance coming
   on swiftly behind him and his conscience flies, and his soul speeds
   towards the Cross. He gets a little hope. He hears of a Savior, but
   that is not enough. He will never rest, he will never say he is at
   peace until he has passed the gate of faith and can say, "Now I do
   believe that Jesus died for me."

   He that enters in by the door shall be saved. Noah's ark was built in
   the olden times to preserve Noah and his family from the great flood.
   It could not be said that Noah was saved till he had passed through the
   door--but when he had done that, a Divine hand, quite unseen, shut the
   door and as Noah heard it fastened and understood that the Lord had
   shut him in, he felt quite safe. If God shuts us in, the floods from
   beneath cannot drown us and the rains from above cannot penetrate to
   injure us. He must be safe whom God shuts in! The moment that a poor
   sinner trusts in Christ, God shuts the door. There he is and there he
   shall be till time shall be no more! He is secure. The infernal powers
   shall not destroy him and the vengeance of God cannot touch him! He has
   passed the door and he shall be saved.

   I read a story the other day of some Russians crossing wide plains
   studded over here and there with forests. The villages were ten or a
   dozen miles from each other, the wolves were out, the horses were
   rushing forward madly, the travelers could hear the baying of the
   wolves behind them. And though the horses tore along with all speed,
   yet the wolves were close behind and they only escaped, as we say, "by
   the skin of their teeth," managing just to get inside some hut that
   stood in the road and to shut the door. Then they could hear the wolves
   leap on the roof, they could hear them dash against the sides of the
   hut, they could hear them gnawing at the door and howling, and making
   all sorts of dismal nois-es--but the travelers were safe because they
   had entered in by the door and the door was shut! Now, when a man is in
   Christ, he can hear, as it were, the devils howling like wolves, all
   fierce and hungry for him. And his own sins, like wolves, are seeking
   to drag him down to destruction! But he has got in to Christ and He is
   such a shelter that all the devils in the world, if they were to come
   at once, could not harm a single beam of that Eternal Refuge! It must
   stand fast, though earth and Heaven should pass away!

   Now, to every man and woman, Christ says that if they have entered in
   by the door, they shall be saved. Do not have any doubt about it! Do
   not let anybody raise the question whether you may be or you may not
   be--you shall be! Oh, clutch at that blessed, "shall." Sir, if you have
   been a drunk, yet, if you trust in Christ, you shall be saved! You
   shall not go back to your old drunkenness, but you shall be saved from
   it if you believe in Him. O Woman, if you have stained your character
   to the worst, yet if you believe in Christ, none of your old sins shall
   ruin you, but you shall be saved! Ah, though you are tempted every day
   of your lives, tempted as none ever were before, yet God is true and
   cannot lie--if you come through Christ, the Door, you shall be saved!
   Do you understand what it is to come through the door? It is to depend
   upon Jesus, to give yourselves to Him, to rest on Him. When you hang up
   your jugs and mugs on the nail in the cupboard, what keeps them from
   falling? Nothing but the nail! And if that holds well, nothing can fall
   that hangs on it.

   Now, you must trust in Christ as the vessel hangs on the nail--and if
   you do so, He is fastened as a nail in a sure place-- and you cannot
   and shall not perish! That is the first privilege--"he shall be saved."

   He that enters in by the door "shall go in'" The man who believes in
   Christ shall go into rest and peace, for there is no condemnation to
   them that are in Christ Jesus. He shall go in to secret knowledge. He
   shall become a scholar and shall be taught by Christ as his Rabbi. He
   shall go in unto God with holy boldness in prayer. He shall go in unto
   that which is within the veil and speak to God from before the Mercy
   Seat. He shall go in unto the child's place and shall stand as an
   adopted heir of Heaven. He shall go in unto close communion with God.
   He shall speak with his Maker. The Lord shall lift up the light of His
   Countenance upon him. He shall go in unto the highest attainment in
   spiritual things. He shall go in to the treasure house of the Covenant
   and say, "All this is mine!" He shall go in to the store house of the
   promises and take whatever his soul needs. He shall go in, passing from
   circle to circle, till he comes to the innermost place where the love
   of God is most graciously shed abroad!

   He that enters in by the door shall be saved, and he shall go in. If
   you know what this means, go in! Go in further. Go in more constantly.
   Do not stop where you are, but go in till you have got a little more.
   If you love Christ, come nearer to Him and nearer, and still nearer!
   But if you want to get into anything that is Divine, you must get in
   through Christ. O you who open your Bibles and want to understand a
   text--the way to get into the meaning of a text is through the Door,
   Christ! O you who want to get more holiness, come through the Door--the
   way to holiness is not through Moses, but through Christ! O you who
   would have closer communion with your heavenly Father, the way to come
   in is not through your own efforts, but through Christ! You came to
   Christ at first to get salvation--you must still come to Christ to get
   sanctification! Never look for another door, for there is but one, and
   that one door will let you into life, love, peace, knowledge and
   sanctification--it will let you into Heaven! Christ is the master key
   of all the rooms in the palace of mercy! And if you get Christ, you
   shall go in. Nothing shall keep you out of any of the secret chambers.
   You shall go in, in God's name, through Christ, the Door!

   The next privilege is that he shall go out Putting the two
   together--"he shall go in and out"--they signify liberty. The Christian
   does not come into the Church as into a prison, but he comes in as a
   free man, walking in and out of his own house. But what does it mean to
   go out? I think it means this, Brothers and Sisters. The men that trust
   in Christ go out to their daily business through Christ, the Door. I
   wonder how many of you ever thought of this? You know sometimes you get
   up, put on your clothes and go blundering out to work. And then you
   find yourselves very weak all day. Well, I do no wonder at it, for you
   do not go out through Christ, the Door. Suppose you had given
   yourselves to Christ for the day and though you had time but for a few
   minutes' prayer, yet you had put it thus, "Lord, I am Yours. Take care
   of me today. I am going out where there will be many to tempt me and
   try me. I do not know what may happen, but, Lord, I am going out in
   Your name and resting in Your strength. If there is anything that I can
   do for You, I desire to do it. If there is anything to suffer, I wish
   to suffer it for Your sake, but take care of me, Lord. I will not go
   out and face my fellow men until I have seen Your face. And I do not
   want to speak to them until I have spoken to You, nor to hear what they
   have to say till I have heard what God the Lord will speak." Depend
   upon it, it is blessed going out when you go thus through the Door! You
   will be sure to come home happy when you go out after this sort!

   May not this going out also mean to go out to suffering? You and I are
   sometimes called to bear great bodily pain, or losses, or bereavements.
   Well now, what a sweet thing it is to go out to suffer these things
   through the Door, and to be able to say, "Now, my Master, this is a
   cross, but I will carry it, not in my own strength, but in Yours. Do
   what You will with me--I shall drink the cup because You appoint it."
   Whenever you can see Christ's hand in it, it makes the bitter sweet and
   heavy things soon grow light! Go to your sickbed as you hope to go to
   your deathbed--through the Door, that is, through Christ!

   And when, as sometimes happens, we have to go out, as it were, away
   from fellowship with Christ, to fight with our inward sins--the right
   way is to go out to resist them through the Door. If you ever try to
   fight with sin in your own strength, or on a legal footing, or because
   you feel that you will be condemned if you do not overcome those sins,
   you will be as weak as water! The way of victory is through the blood
   of the Lamb. There is no killing sin except by throwing the blood of
   Christ upon it. When once the blood of Christ comes into contact with
   the besetting sin, that sin withers straight away! Go to your spiritual
   conflicts through the Door.

   And so, Beloved, we ought, in all that we do for the Lord, to go out
   through the Door. It is always sweet preaching for me when I feel that
   I come forth in the name of my Master--when I do not come to tell you
   what ideas I have woven out of my own brain, nor to put attractive
   figures before you, as I would like to do sometimes--but rather, when I
   come to tell you just what my Lord would have you know, telling it as a
   message to you from your God and cherishing in my own heart His great
   love toward perishing sinners. Then, indeed, to minister is joy! You
   Sunday school teachers will always teach well when you go down to the
   schoolroom through the Door, that is, having been with Christ, having
   sought and enjoyed His company. I know, my dear Brothers and Sisters,
   you who are teaching larger classes, you who are engaged in instructing
   or exhorting, you who go about any holy work--you always do it well
   when you have God's smile upon you in the doing of it--and you shall
   have great success in the doing of it if you always go to it through
   Christ, the Door--if you serve Christ through Christ, and do it not
   only for Him, but through Him and by Him! Our own strength is perfect
   weakness, but the strength which comes through simple dependence upon
   the ever-living Christ who has said, "Lo, I am with you always, even
   unto the end of the world"--this is the strength which wins the
   conquest! God give you Grace not only to go in, but also to go out
   through the Door.

   The last privilege named in the text is, "and shall findpasture."I
   suppose this is what you come here for, you who love the Lord--you come
   here for pasture. It is a great blessing if when we come to hear the
   Gospel, it becomes real pasture to us. We do know some who say that the
   troubles of the week become unbearable because they have such barren
   Sabbaths. Ah, if you are members of a church that is torn with discord,
   where the ministry abounds in anything but Christ, you will soon begin
   to cry out and you will value the privilege of hearing Jesus Christ
   lifted up among you! But who are the people who get the pasture where
   Jesus Christ is preached? Not all who hear of Him, nor yet all
   Believers. There are times when you may hear a sermon that is of no use
   to you--and yet your Brother and Sister by your side may be greatly
   instructed and comforted thereby. In such a case, I should not wonder
   if it was because your friend came in to the service through the Door,
   and you did not.

   Do you remember the story of Mr. Erskine and the good lady who went to
   hear him preach at the Communion? It was such sweet preaching, she
   thought she had never heard the like. So, after service, she asked who
   the gentleman was that had preached and, on being told that it was Mr.
   Ebenezer Erskine, she said, "I will come and hear him again next
   Sabbath morning." She went, she listened and she thought to herself,
   "Well, this is very dry, very heavy preaching." She was not at all
   comforted by it! Then like a foolish woman, as I should think she must
   have been, she went into the vestry, and said, "Oh, Mr. Erskine, I
   heard you last Sabbath with much pleasure! Sir, I was never so edified
   and I came again this morning, but I have been dreadfully
   disappointed." So the good man said very calmly, "Pray, Madam, when you
   came to the kirk last Sabbath, what did you come for? She said, "I came
   to Communion, Sir." "To have fellowship with Christ, I suppose?" he
   asked. "Yes, Sir." "Well you came for it and you had it. And pray, what
   did you come here this morning for?" She said, "I came to hear you,
   Sir." "And you had it, woman," he said. "You had it and you had not
   anything else, because you did not come for anything more than that."

   Well now, when people come merely to hear a minister, or for custom's
   sake, or for form's sake--do they not always get what they come for? If
   people come to find fault, we always give them plenty of our
   imperfections to be entertained with, so they need not be disappointed!
   If others come merely out of custom, they say, "Well, this is my work,
   I have performed my duty." Of course it is, but if you had come in
   through the Door, that is, looking to Christ, looking forChrist,
   desiring not to see the preacher, but the Lord--not to get the word of
   man, but the Word of God as food for your soul, I believe you would
   have found pasture! Brothers, the sheep need pasture. No other food
   will suit them. So your soul needs heavenly Truth and if you come to
   the House of God through Christ, you will get it! If you turn to the
   Bible through Christ, you will find it a rich storehouse! If you come
   to prayer through the door of Christ, you will find it comforting and
   so you shall find pasture.

   I think the text may mean that he who rests in Christ shall have all
   his needs supplied. If the text does not mean so, another does, "The
   Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green
   pastures: He leads me beside the still waters." Some of you are very
   poor, but if you have trusted in Christ, you may plead this promise,
   "You have said that I shall find pasture. Your Word declares that no
   good thing will he withheld from them that walk uprightly. Lord, make
   this true to me."

   I would to God that some who have never yet entered into the fold might
   now be drawn to Jesus. Oh, that you would come through the Door into
   these four choice privileges! You may never have such another
   opportunity. You may never feel any of the motions of the Spirit of God
   again. Oh that, without delay, you would just cast your helpless souls
   into the Savior's gracious arms, who is able and willing to save, that
   you might be saved now!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN10:1-18.

   Verses 1, 2. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that enters not by the
   door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a
   thief and a robber But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of
   the sheep. The true Shepherd cares for the flock. The false ones are
   thieves and robbers who only care for the flesh or the fleece.

   3. To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice: and he
   calls his own sheep byname, and leads them out.

   [See Sermon #2359, Volume 40--PERSONAL AND EFFECTUAL CALLING.] John

   the Baptist was the doorkeeper who opened the door of Christ's earthly
   ministry by bearing witness that He was the Son ofGod.

   4, 5. And when heputs forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the
   sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
   follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of
   strangers. Christ is the great Leader of His people and they will never
   go astray as long as they follow Him. The sheep of Christ recognize
   their Shepherd' s voice and come at His call. But "strangers" call to
   them in vain.

   6, 7. This parable spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what
   things they were which He spoke unto them. Then said Jesus unto them
   again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. No
   one metaphor can fully describe our glorious Lord, for He is both
   Shepherd and Door to the sheep, and all else that they need--

   "O my Savior! Shield and Sun,

   Shepherd, Brother, Husband, Friend--

   Every precious name in one,

   I willlove You without end!'

   8-10. All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers: but the
   sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he
   shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief
   comes not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that
   they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. [See
   Sermon #1150, Volume

   20--LIFE MORE ABUNDANT.] The thief came to take away life, but

   Christ came to give life--that abundant life which shall last forever
   and ever! But see what it cost Him to give that life-- 11-13. I am the
   good shepherd: the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But he
   that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
   sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf
   catches them, and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees because he is
   an hireling, and cares not for the sheep. Just now the contrast was
   between the Shepherd and the thief, here it is between the Shepherd and
   the hireling. The hireling cares for himself. The Shepherd cares for
   the sheep and provides for them and cares for them even at the cost of
   His life.

   14, 15. I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of
   Mine. As the Father knows Me, even so

   know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep. [See Sermon
   #1877, Volume 32--OUR OWN DEAR SHEPHERD.] There is mutual knowledge
   between the Shepherd and the sheep, and between the Father and the Son.

   16. And other sheep Ihave, which are not of this fold: they also Imust
   bring, and they shall hear My voice: and there

   shall be one fold, and one shepherd [See Sermon #1713, Volume 29--OTHER
   SHEEP AND ONE FLOCK.] Or, more correctly, "one flock, one Shepherd."
   The flock would never be complete without those "other sheep" which the
   Shepherd says He must bring into the fold, and which He says shall hear
   His voice. Not one of them will be missing in the day when they pass
   again under the hand of Him that counts them.

   17, 18. Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life,
   that I might take it again. No man takes it from Me, but Ilay it down
   ofMyself Ihave power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
   This commandment have I received of My Father The voluntariness of
   Christ's Sacrifice is its Glory, and well may His Father love Him
   because of it--and well may we, who are eternally to benefit by His
   death--also love Him!
     __________________________________________________________________

Why the Gospel Is Hidden

   (No. 3288)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   FEBRUARY, 11, 1866.

   "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who aire lost." 2
   Corinthians 4:3.

   In this verse and the following one we have a very brief yet very full
   description of what every minister of the Gospel ought to preach. In
   the first place, he is to preach the Gospel--not metaphysics, not
   politics, not mere morality, not simply doctrines as such. He is to
   preach the Gospel, which signifies good news, something new and
   something good--so good that nothing else can equal it--the glad
   tidings of mercy for the guilty, the blessed tidings of God coming down
   to man that man may go up to God, the welcome tidings of atonement made
   for human guilt! It is also new as well as good--it comes as a strange
   novelty to the attentive ear. Mythology never dreamed it, human wit
   could never have invented it, even angelic intellect could not have
   devised a scheme--

   "So just to God, so safe for man." The business of the Christian
   minister is to preach this Good News, to publish to the sinners the
   glad tidings that there is a Savior, to point the guilty to Christ and
   to be constantly saying to each individual sinner, "Believe on the Lord
   Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." I care not what may be the
   learning or eloquence of the minister, though he may speak with the
   tongue of men and angles, if he does not preach Christ and bid sinners
   trust in Him, he has mistaken his mission and missed the grand
   objective for which he was sent!

   This Gospel is called in the text "our Gospel"By this expression I
   understand that the minister must accept it for himself before he can
   hold it out to others. I am myself to look to Jesus as my own personal
   Savior--and then I am to cry to others, "Look unto Him, and be you
   saved, all the ends of the earth." I must be able to say--

   "I came to Jesus, and I drank Of that life-giving stream--

   and then, but not till then, I am to cry, "Ho, everyone that thirsts,
   come you to the waters." What a miserable wretch must he be who
   preaches to others a Gospel in which he has, himself, no share! He
   spreads the table and invites others to come to the feast, while he,
   himself, is starving! He is like a plague-stricken physician who knows
   the remedy for the disease and sees others cured by it, yet dies with
   the remedy in his hand. Ah me, of all the portions, that must be most
   dreadful in the world to come, as well as most uncomfortable in this
   present life! Surely it must be the portion of the man who preaches to
   others what he has never experienced in his own soul. Paul might well
   call it "our Gospel," for it had saved him, the chief of sinners, and
   made him a beloved Apostle of Jesus Christ. He might well call it "our
   Gospel" for he had held it fast in time of persecution and amid all the
   perils to which he had been exposed--and he was, at last, to give his
   life as a sacrifice for it! And it must be "our Gospel," too, "to have
   and to hold," or else we cannot preach it with any power!

   In the verse following our text, something more is said about the
   Gospel--it is there called "the glorious Gospel" There was something in
   it that aroused and inflamed the Apostle 's noblest thoughts. Paul was
   no boaster. "God forbid that I should glory," he said--but there was
   one exception--"save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." He did not
   stand up as a mere apologist for the Gospel, or say, "I can defend it
   against all comers and maintain that it is reasonable," but he gloried
   in it as the best and highest Truth of God--as wiser than all the
   Stoic's wisdom and more full ofjoy than all the Epicurean's pleasure!
   He gloried in that Gospel which brings full and free forgiveness to the
   penitent! That Gospel which takes the meanest and basest of mankind and
   makes them princes in the court of the King of kings! That

   Gospel which comes to men in poverty, in slavery, in the degradation of
   superstition, idolatry and crime--and lifts them up out of the horrible
   pit and the miry clay, sets their feet upon the Rock of Ages, cleanses
   them, clothes them, puts a new song into their mouth, preserves them
   from falling and, at last, brings them where they shall see the face of
   God and dwell forever in His Presence! It is, indeed, a glorious Gospel
   which can do all this! Yet, alas, the most of men are like the rooster
   on the dunghill who, when he found a pearl, said that he would sooner
   have found a grain of barley--they think more of their corn and their
   wine, their feasts and their mirth, than they do of the inexpressibly
   glorious things of the Kingdom of Heaven. Oh, that they were wise
   enough to perceive the glories of this glorious Gospel!

   Paul further calls it "the glorious Gospel of Christ" And well he
   might, for it is all about Christ from beginning to end! Give me a true
   preacher of the glorious Gospel of Christ and I will gladly listen to
   him. I would like him to be an educated minister if that is possible,
   for there is no need for my ears to be tortured by mistakes in grammar,
   but I do not care so much about that as about the other matter! I would
   sooner hear Christ's Gospel preached ungrammatically than I would hear
   the best philosophy set forth in the most orderly sentences, but with
   the Gospel of Christ left out. When the table is spread for dinner, it
   is well to have a clean tablecloth, china, glass and cutlery of all the
   right sort and in their proper places--but if there is no food on the
   dishes, all those other things are a mere mockery to the hungry ones
   who are waiting to be fed! Sooner, by far, would I go to a bare table
   and eat from a wooden bowl something that would appease my appetite,
   than I would go to a well-spread table on which there was nothing to
   eat! Yes, it is Christ, Christ, Christ whom we have to preach! And if
   we leave Him out, we leave out the very soul of the Gospel! Christless
   sermons make merriment for Hell. Christless preachers, Christless
   Sunday school teachers, Christless class leaders, Christless tract
   distributors--what are all these doing? They are simply setting the
   mill to grind without putting any grist into the hopper--all their
   labor is in vain! If you leave Jesus Christ out, you are simply beating
   the air, or going to war without any weapon with which you can smite
   the foe!

   Dear Friend, if you are unconverted, let me pause here for a few
   moments to remind you that this is not a Gospel of self, nor a Gospel
   of works, nor a Gospel of baptism, nor a Gospel of priests, nor a
   Gospel of ministers, but it is "the glorious Gospel of Christ!" Forget
   the men who preach it if you will, but, oh, forget not the bleeding,
   dying Savior to whom they bid you look. Your hope must be in Him and in
   Him, alone! To Him would we affectionately point you and we pray the
   Holy Spirit to shut your eyes to everything but Him whom God has set
   forth to be a Propitiation for sin--

   "There is life for a look at the Crucified One!

   There is life at this moment for thee!

   Then look, Sinner--look unto Him and be saved--

   Unto Him who was nailed to the tree!

   It is not the tears of repentance or prayers,

   But the blood that atones for the soul--

   On Him, then, who shed it, believing at once

   Your weight of iniquities roll!

   We are healed by His stripes--would you add to the Word?

   And He is our righteousness made--

   The best robe of Heaven He bids you put on,

   Oh, could you be better arrayed?

   Then doubt not your welcome, since God has declared

   There remains no more to be done!

   That once in the end of the world He appeared

   And completed the work He begun." With this rather long introduction, I
   now come to the three points upon which I am going to briefly speak,
   but very solemnly, for I think they concern many of you who are here,
   tonight. So, firstly, I ask, why is this Gospel hidden from some
   people? Secondly, what is the state of those from whom it is
   hidden?'And, thirdly, what is to be feared concerning them in the
   future?

   I. First, then, WHY IS THIS GOSPEL HIDDEN FROM SOME PEOPLE?

   It is evident that there are some persons in the world who do not
   understand the Gospel--and I will venture to say that the Gospel is
   never understood until it is received. You might have thought that men
   could very readily understand anything as simple as, "Believe, and
   live," yet those of us who have been converted must confess that we did
   not under-

   stand the Gospel until we received it. I am sure that I never fully
   comprehended the plan of salvation until I believed in the Lord Jesus
   Christ. And when I did believe, the whole matter seemed so simple that
   I wondered why I had not understood it before! You notice that the
   Apostle decreed that it was not his fault that the Gospel was hidden
   from some people. And although we would not put ourselves on a level
   with any Apostle, we are as clear upon this point of plain speaking as
   any Apostle who ever lived! If "our Gospel" is hidden from any of our
   hearers, it is not because of the fine language that we use! We fear
   that there are some who, in preaching the Gospel, indulge in such
   eloquent oratory that their Gospel is hidden from their hearers--but
   this is not a sin which can be laid at our door. We use what Whitefield
   called, "market language." We use a great many more Saxon words than
   Latin words. If we had to find out the Gospel through the types and
   symbols of the Law, we might have a difficulty in understanding it, but
   the Gospel we have to preach is simply this, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
   Christ, and you shall be saved. Trust in Him as suffering as a
   Substitute in your place and you shall be saved." Can anything be more
   simple than that? We try to use the plainest similitudes so as to bring
   the Truth of God within the comprehension of the weakest of our
   hearers. We make it a matter of conscience, as in the sight of God, to
   speak to men very simply so that each one, after he has heard the
   message, is compelled to admit that it has been delivered to him very
   plainly. How is it, then, that you do not understand it?

   Certainly, it is not because we hide the Gospel in a long roll of
   ceremonies. We have never said to you, "You must be christened in your
   infancy, you must have sponsors to promise all sorts of things in your
   name and then, as you grow up, you must be confirmed and must take the
   responsibility upon yourselves." Oh, no! We have never talked like
   that! We point you to the Divinely-Inspired Bible and tell you that all
   you need to know is plainly recorded there. We point you to the Eternal
   Word who became Incarnate and we say, with all the emphasis of which we
   are capable--

   "None but Jesus Can do helpless sinners good!" We bid you not to trust
   in forms and ceremonies, but to look alone to Jesus Christ and Him
   Crucified, so that it cannot be for lack of plainness that the Gospel
   is not understood!

   And again, it cannot be because of any obscurity in the Gospel, itself.
   I will venture to say that there is no proposition in the world more
   simple than the one which the Gospel sets before us. The formula,
   "Twice two are four," is so simple that a child's mind can understand
   it. And the degree of intellect which can comprehend is sufficient--so
   far a intellect is concerned--to comprehend Paul's declaration, "This
   is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus
   came into the world to save sinners." Or John's, "He that believes on
   the Son has everlasting life." To trust Jesus Christ, as far as it is
   an intellectual act, is a matter that does not require the slightest
   education--there is no need to sit down and calculate. Here is Jesus
   Christ standing in the sinner's place. God punished the sinner's guilt
   upon Christ instead of upon the sinner--all that the sinner is bidden
   to do is to trust Christ to save him--and, as soon as he does that, he
   is saved! What could be simpler than that? I grant you that as the
   Gospel is sometimes preached, there is obscurity in it, but there is no
   obscurity in the Gospel, itself! Well then, if it so, and it is, why is
   it that the Gospel is hidden from some people? And the answer is that
   "the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not."
   Let us see how this is.

   First of all, the Gospel is hidden from some men because they have
   never felt sin to be an evil. "Why," they say, "do you talk to us about
   the punishment of sin? Why do you tell us that God punished His own Son
   in the place of sinners? We believe in the universal fatherhood of God,
   so we have no need of any Doctrine of Substitution." So you think that
   it is a small thing to offend the Most High God, but He thinks it is a
   very great thing! You consider that sin is a mere trifle, scarcely
   worth thinking about, but God regards it as exceedingly sinful--an evil
   and an accursed thing which He will, by no means, pardon except in them
   who trust His Son, the Divinely appointed Substitute and Savior. If you
   realized what sin is, you would soon understand the Gospel! If the Holy
   Spirit shall teach you that sin is the most deadly and most damnable
   thing of which you can conceive, you will at once understand the Glory
   of the Gospel that shows how you can be completely delivered from its
   curse, penalty and power through the mercy of God in giving His
   only-begotten Son to die in your place! You love sin--that is the fact
   of the matter--and you suppose that one is no more offensive to God
   than it is to yourself. Fool that you are, you are fascinated by the
   serpent that has filled your veins with the venom which shall burn in
   you forever and ever unless you shall look by faith to Him who was
   lifted up upon the Cross even as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in
   the wilderness that all who looked upon it might live! May God give you
   Grace to see sin

   as it really is in His sight, for then will you realize your need of a
   Savior and you will give heed to the Gospel which bids you believe in
   Him that you may be saved!

   Another reason why men do not understand the Gospel is that they do not
   understand themselves. Some of you who are here tonight think that you
   can save yourselves. I know what your thoughts are--they are to this
   effect--that if you do your best, if you say your prayers, if you
   attend church or chapel, if you give some to the poor, then you will go
   to Heaven. You have not yet learned that all you do is tainted with the
   leprosy of sin and, therefore, cannot be acceptable to God! Your best
   works are bad since you do them with the motive that you may be saved
   by them--selfishness, therefore, is at the bottom of them all! You are
   not serving God by your good works! You are all the while trying to
   serve yourselves. If you knew yourselves better, you would know that
   all your works are nothing but sin until the Holy Spirit brings you to
   know your needof Christ--and then to knowChrist as the very Savior you
   need! If I am not in need, I have no need of the gifts of charity. And
   if you do not know how needy you are spiritually, you will never apply
   to Christ for aid. But once let the real needs of your soul stare you
   in the face--that you realize that you are "wretched, and miserable,
   and poor, and blind, and naked," then the simple Gospel message,
   "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved," will be so
   welcome to your soul that it will almost leap out of your body to lay
   hold of it!

   Yet another reason why men do not understand the Gospel is because
   their will is not subdued. "We want to know," they say, "why the
   requirements of the Gospel are so strict." Oh, Sirs, that is not the
   language for you to use to your God! The message to you is, "Except you
   are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into
   the Kingdom of Heaven." That hectoring spirit which says, "Why is this
   the only way of salvation? Why is this precept enjoined? Who is the
   Lord that we should serve Him?"--that spirit has been the eternal ruin
   of many! There is no likelihood that you will ever understand the
   Gospel while you are of this humor. Come down, Man, come down--there is
   no blessing for you while you set yourself up high! May the Lord make
   you know the corruptions and abominations which dwell in your heart
   that, in the Presence of the thrice-holy God, you may demean yourself
   after another and a humbler fashion! But while that wicked will of
   yours says, "I will not do what God requires," there is no hope
   whatever that you will be able to understand the Gospel!

   There are some who cannot understand the Gospel because it interferes
   with their worldly interests. If you take a sovereign out of your
   pocket and cover the word, "God," in your Bible with it, of course you
   cannot see the word! There are a great many men who never seem to see
   anything beyond pounds, shillings and pence--they never look above
   their ledgers--they never rise to anything that is Godlike and Divine.
   They have no more spirituality than so many pigs at a trough! They say
   they cannot understand the Gospel, but how can they when their
   understanding has been eaten through and through with the canker of
   their gold? There are many here to whom I am a stranger, but I should
   like to put this question to any of you who do not understand the
   Gospel--Is there not in your hearts a desire not to understand it? Is
   it not a sorrowful fact that many of you do not comprehend Gospel
   preachers because you do not want to trouble yourselves by
   comprehending them or have an uneasy consciousness that Gospel Truth
   and your pleasures will not agree? You are like men who are on the way
   to bankruptcy, but who dare not examine their books to see how they
   stand! Yet did you ever know a man retrieve his position by refusing to
   look his difficulties in the face? Is it not the most sensible plan to
   know the worst of your case and to know it at once? I have known some
   who did not want to understand the Gospel because they were engaged in
   a business which would not bear examination. There are others who are
   hindered by their besetting sins. If the Lord Jesus Christ would grant
   pardons and yet allow men to keep their sins, what a host of disciples
   of that sort He might have! But He says that though sin is as dear to
   us as our right arm, it is to be cut off--and though it is as precious
   as our right eye, it is to be plucked out! Yet many will not agree to
   these conditions and, therefore, the Gospel is hidden from them.

   II. Now I must try very briefly to answer the second question, WHAT IS
   THE STATE OF THOSE FROM WHOM

   THE GOSPEL IS HIDDEN?

   Paul says that they are lost--"If our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to
   those who are lost." But, Paul, are you not very uncharitable in saying
   that men are lost? Preachers nowadays tell them that they will all get
   to Heaven at last. Ah, Beloved, the Apostles knew nothing of this
   modern, maudlin "charity!" They said, as their Master said before them,
   "He that believes not shall be damned." Our Lord Jesus Christ knew that
   there was no alternative between believing and being lost. But in what
   sense are they from whom the Gospel is hidden, lost?

   Well, first, they are lost to the church. You may be a subscriber to
   the funds of the church, you may attend the service of the church, you
   may even be an ardent admirer of the preacher and find a certain
   measure of interest in listening to his discourses. But if the Gospel
   is still hidden from you, if you do not understand it and believe on
   the Christ of whom it speaks--you are lost to the church of which many
   around you are members--and if you remain as you are, you will be lost
   to the one great Church of the first-born and will never form a part of
   the general assembly of the redeemed around the Throne of God above!

   It is a dreadful thing for anyone to be lost. I do not know if there is
   a more dreadful word in the English language than that word, "lost." Do
   you remember, my Friend, when you came home from work one night and
   your wife met you with the sad news that your little Mary was lost, how
   you hurried from one police station to another? And your poor
   distracted wife went tearing up and down one street after another
   seeking for tidings of your lost child! It was her misfortune to be
   lost in thatsense, but I hope you may never have a child lost in a
   sense in which it shall be her crime when the mother, night after
   night, searches the cold streets for any trace of her poor lost
   daughter! Ah, Sinner, you are lost to God in that sense. You have
   turned away from Him who made you. You have despised the love that He
   has lavished upon you. You have forgotten all the care that He has
   taken of you. I am quite sure that you are not happy while you are thus
   lost--how can you be happy? You are not at rest. Your soul is like a
   ship drifting in a storm with neither a rudder to guide her, nor an
   anchor to hold her and unless the Lord shall mercifully interpose to
   save you, you will be lost forever!

   What a mercy it is, Sinner, that you are not yet "lost" in the full
   meaning of that term, as you soon will be if you do not repent of your
   sin and turn unto the Lord! But even now it is a terrible thing to be
   lost in any sense--and if you are not saved, you are lost--you must be
   either the one or the other, you cannot be partly saved and partly
   lost! I will ask every one of you again tonight to do what I asked my
   congregation once before to do. You are either lost or saved, so will
   you definitely decide which word applies to your case and write it down
   and sign your name to it? I remember that on the previous occasion when
   I made this request, there was one Brother, who, after sincere heart
   searching, felt that he was lost, so he wrote down that word and signed
   his name below it. When he had done so and looked at the word, "Lost,"
   written with his own hand, and with his signature appended to it--and
   felt that it might be brought forward as evidence against him at the
   Last Great Day, it broke the heart that had never been broken before
   and brought him as a true penitent to the Savior's feet, so that before
   that night passed away he could write himself down as, "Saved," just as
   truthfully as he had before acknowledged that he was lost! I pray that
   this Brother's experience may be repeated in many of you here. Do not
   hesitate to look thoroughly into your own case. If you are saved, it is
   not difficult for you to know that you are. And if you are not saved,
   it is well that you should know it at once! If you think you are saved
   when you are not, your ruin will be all the more terrible because you
   had not the courage to find out the truth! If there is any doubt about
   the matter, let it be cleared up at once. Go to Jesus Christ this very
   moment! Confess your sin to Him and trust to His precious blood to wash
   it all away! And then you will be no longer lost, but shall be saved in
   the Lord with an everlasting salvation!

   III. Now, in a few closing sentences, let me answer the third question,
   WHAT IS TO BE FEARED CONCERNING THOSE FROM WHOM THE GOSPEL IS HIDDEN?

   It is to be feared that in addition to their natural blindness, a
   second film has been cast over their eyes by "the god of this world."
   That is a very remarkable expression, "the god of this world." Does
   this world, then, really worship the devil? There are devil-worshippers
   in certain far-off lands--and we hold up our hands in horror and say,
   "What shockingly bad people!" Yet there are also many devil-worshippers
   in this land! The lover of pleasure--what is he better than a
   devil-worshipper? It is the devil in his best suit of clothes whom some
   people worship, but it is still the devil! Worship the devil with the
   golden hoofs, but it is the same devil all the while! If I were to be
   lost, it would make little difference to me whether I was lost in a
   gold mine, or in a coal mine. If I were to break my neck on a slab of
   gold, it would be no better for me than breaking it upon a slab of
   stone! So, if you are lost, you will find little comfort in the thought
   that you are lost in a more respectable way than others are!

   When "the god of this world" comes to a man who is already blind by
   nature, he seeks to "make assurance doubly sure" by bandaging his eyes
   so securely that the Light of the Gospel shall be still more completely
   hidden from him! If such a man attends a place of worship, the devil
   persuades him that he is not a sinner, so that he need not take to him
   the preacher's warnings and exhortations. Another says, "I don't intend
   to trouble about any of these things--my one aim is to get on in the
   world." Yes, just so, "the god of this world" has blinded his eyes! So
   effectually does Satan blind the man that he cannot see his own
   depravity! O Soul, what shall it profit you if you shall gain the whole
   world, and yet be lost forever? What if you shall die upon a bed of
   down and wake up among the lost in Hell? May God give all of us the
   Grace to look upon the two worlds in their proper light! If the next
   world is only a trifle, trifle with it! If this world is everything,
   make everything of it! As you possess an immortal spirit, think well
   where that spirit is to spend eternity. As all have sinned and come
   short of the Glory of God, you are a sinner and you need salvation, so
   do, I entreat you, trust in Him who alone can save the guilty, "for
   there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must
   be saved," but the name of Jesus--and He is able to save unto the
   uttermost all who come unto God by Him. I said just now that I do
   entreat you to trust in Him, and so I do, yet this is not half so much
   my business as it is yours. The preacher of the Gospel ought to be in
   earnest, but when he has faithfully delivered his message, the
   responsibility is transferred to his hearers. As the Lord lives, I will
   take no responsibility of yours upon myself--to our own Master you and
   I must stand or fall! But, as your fellow man. As one who devoutly
   desires that you should not be lost, I do beseech you to seek Divine
   Grace from God to get rid of the scales from your eyes so that you may
   see sin, salvation and everything else as they are in His sight--and
   may look to Jesus and find eternal life in Him!

   Some of you young men are perhaps going to Oxford or Cambridge. Well,
   study hard, be senior wranglers if you can, but with all the knowledge
   that you may acquire, do get a clear understanding of eternal things
   and seek the wisdom that comes from above. When you wear the degrees
   which earthly knowledge will procure for you, may you also wear the
   higher degree which God shall confer upon you as the children of the
   Kingdom, children of God by faith in Christ Jesus! Sit at the feet of
   divines and philosophers if you will, but also sit at the feet of Jesus
   and learn of Him, for so shall you have honor and glory that shall last
   forever! Seek after the honor which comes from God--which can only be
   found by believing in Jesus and seeking to please Him in all things!

   My time has gone and your time for repentance and faith is almost gone.
   May the realities of eternity be deeply impressed upon us all--and may
   we be prepared--when death shall summon us to stand before God, to
   prove that the Gospel was not hidden from us, so that we may not be
   among "those who are lost." May God save us, by His Grace, for Jesus'
   sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CORINTHIANS 4; 5:1-9.

   2 Corinthians 4:1-2. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we
   have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things
   of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God
   deceitfully; but by manifestation of the Truth commending ourselves to
   every man's conscience in the sight of God. Paul's description of his
   own ministry and also that of Timothy should be true of every servant
   of Jesus Christ! There must be no dishonesty, or craftiness, or deceit
   about the minister of the Word of God--and it is by the manifestation
   of the Truth of God that he must commend himself to every man's
   conscience in the sight of God! He may not win every man's approval,
   yet even those who differ from him must perceive his loyalty to his
   Lord.

   3, 4. But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost:
   in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which
   believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is
   the image of God, should shine

   unto them. [See Sermons #1663, Volume 28--THE TRUE GOSPEL IS NO HIDDEN
   GOSPEL and #2304, Volume 39--BLINDED BY SATAN.] The light of the Gospel
   is so glorious and bright that it is only hidden from those who have
   been blinded by Satan, "the god of this world." The only hope for them
   is to believe in Jesus who can give sight to the spiritually blind as
   easily as He gave sight to the physically blind when He was here in the
   flesh.

   5. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
   ourselves your servants for Jesus 'sake. "Christ Jesus the Lord" is to
   be the great theme of our preaching! And when it is so, we naturally
   take our right position with regard to our hearers, as Paul and Timothy
   did--"and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."

   6, 7. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
   shinedin our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of
   God in the face of Jesus Christ But we have this treasure in earthen
   vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
   God might have put the priceless treasure of the Gospel into the golden
   vessel

   of cherubim and seraphim--and He might have sent angels who would never
   suffer, who would never err, who would never sin--to preach the Word.
   But instead of doing so, He has chosen to send the Gospel to men by
   commonplace beings like themselves. "We have this treasure in earthen
   vessels," and this redounds much to God's Glory and, dear Friends, the
   great objective of the sending of the Gospel into the world is the
   Glory of God! He would manifest His mercy to men that His mercy might
   be glorified and, therefore, He has committed the Gospel not to the
   trust of perfect men, but to the trust of poor, shallow, earthen
   vessels like ourselves!

   8, 9. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are
   perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down,
   but not destroyed. The Apostle is here speaking for himself and all the
   members of the Apostolic college and, also, for all the early saints.
   They appear to have been very much troubled and sometimes to have been
   very much perplexed. I meet with certain brethren, now and then, who
   have no troubles--they are so supremely wise that they are never
   perplexed and so eminently holy that they do not appear to belong to
   the ordinary democracy of Christiani-ty--but are altogether
   supernatural beings! Well, I do not belong to their clique and it does
   not seem to me that Paul and the Apostles and the early Christians did.
   Those great pioneers of the Church of Christ were men who were troubled
   on every side--perplexed, persecuted, cast down--in fact, they were men
   of like passions with ourselves!

   10, 11. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
   that the life, also, of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For
   we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus'sake, that the
   life, also, of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So you
   see, Brothers and Sisters, to have an anticipation of death upon one is
   no hindrance to one's work, but a great help to it--to bear about in
   our body the dying of the Lord Jesus is a great help towards the
   manifestation of the life of Christ! When we begin to reckon that we
   shall live long, we are very apt to live loosely. But to live as though
   tomorrow might be the Judgment Day, or as though today the King might
   come in His Glory--that is the style of living which is the best of
   all! "A short life and a holy one"--lengthened as God may please, but
   reckoned by us as short even at the longest--may that be the
   Christian's motto. As the worldling says, "A short life and a merry
   one." But we say, "A short life if God so wills it, but a holy one
   whether it is long or short."

   12. So then death works in us, but life in you. These Apostolic men
   lived as if they were on the borders of the grave--lived expecting to
   die a cruel death--and in this way spiritual life was brought to the
   Corinthians and others who witnessed their holy lives and heroic
   deaths.

   13-16. We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written,
   I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore
   speak; knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up,
   also, by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for
   your sakes, that the abundant Grace might through the thanksgiving
   ofmany redound to the Glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but
   though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by
   day. As the flesh goes down, so, by God's Grace, the spirit goes up!
   You know that there are heavy weights that keep men down to the earth,
   but he who understands mechanics knows that by the use of wheels and
   pulleys those same heavy weights may be made to lift a man--and God
   often makes the weights and burdens associated with bodily decay lift
   up the inward spirit.

   17, 18. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for
   us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory while we look not
   at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for
   the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not
   seen are eternal

   2 Corinthians 5:1, 2. For we know that ifour earthlyhouse ofthe
   tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made
   with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan. In this poor
   body it is our lot often to groan, but the groan is a hopeful one, for
   it is a birth-pang and it will bring joy in due time--"For in this we
   groan."

   2-6. Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from
   Heaven: if it is that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we
   that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we
   would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed
   up of life. Now He that has worked us for the same thing is God, who
   also has given unto us the earnest ofthe Spirit Therefore we are always
   confident That is a blessed experience, "always confident." There are
   some Christians who are neverconfident and some who are afraid of being
   confident. I know some who, if they see this holy confidence in other
   Christians, begin to tremble for their eternal safety. Never mind about
   them, Brothers and Sisters--if God gives you a holy confidence in Him,
   hold fast to it and do not let it go, whatever anyone may say!

   6-9. Knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from
   the Lord, (for we walk by faith, not by sight). We are confident, I
   say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present
   with the Lord. Therefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we
   may be accepted of Him. [See Sermon #1303, Volume 22--the believer in
   the body and

   OUT OF THE BODY.] That is our main business--whether we live or

   whether we die is of no consequence at all! But to be accepted of
   Christ--so to live is to be well-pleasing to God. Be this our heavenly
   ambition and may the Holy Spirit graciously enable us to attain to it!
     __________________________________________________________________

The Sealed Hand--a Winter Sermon

   (No. 3289)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "He seals up the hand of every man; that all men may know His work."
   Job 37:7.

   When the Lord seals up a man's hand, he is unable to perform his labor.
   The Lord has an objective in this, namely, "that all men may know His
   work." When they cannot do their own work, they are intended to observe
   the works of God. This is a fact which I fear many of us have never
   noticed. When the ground is hardened into iron by the frost. When the
   land lies deep beneath the snow. When the ox rests in the stall and the
   servants warm their hands at the fire, then the farmer's hand is sealed
   up. But I fear the Divine Purpose is not often heeded. As you look
   through the frosted pane upon the driving snow, do you say to yourself,
   "God has taken me off from my own work and given me a holiday which He
   would have me turn into a holy day--let me now turn my thoughts to the
   Lord's great works in Nature, Providence and Grace. Shut out from my
   calling, I am also shut in to think of my God and of His work"?

   To the most of us, it happens that at sundry times we are set aside
   from our ordinary service--and it is well if we improve the hour. One
   is never absent from his desk. Another is regularly behind the counter.
   A third is always diligent in his travelling but, sooner or later,
   there comes a day of pain and weakness--when the usual course of life
   is interrupted and the busiest man lies still. In the sickbed for weeks
   and months, God seals up the active hand, and thus He presents to the
   busy a quiet season for reflection! In France, they call the hospital,
   "the House of God," and it is well when it becomes so. The man who will
   not think of God if he can help it, while he is busy in the world, is,
   by sickness blessed with time for consideration and, being set aside
   from turmoil, he is invited to rise above his engrossing cares! The
   Great Father seems to say, "Lie there alone. Lie awake through the
   night-watches and think of your past ways and what they lead to. Listen
   to the tick of the clock and mark the flight of time till you number
   your days and apply your heart unto wisdom. Your own work you cannot
   touch. Now, therefore, think of the work of your God and Savior till
   you obtain the blessing which comes of it." This is the design of
   sickness and inability to follow our calling! Thus is our hand sealed
   from its occupation that our heart may be unsealed towards God, Heaven
   and eternal things!--

   "It needs our hearts be weaned from earth.

   It needs that we be driven

   By loss of every earthly stay,

   To seek our joys in Heaven."

   It is clear that God can easily seal up the hand of man if he uses his
   strength in rebellion or folly, for He has other seals besides
   sickness. When the wicked are determined to carry out a plan which is
   not according to His mind, He can baffle them. See the people gathering
   on the plain of Shinar, bringing together brick and slime that they may
   build a tower whose lofty height shall mark the center of a universal
   monarchy! What does God do? By simply confounding their language, he
   seals every man's hand! No storm, or flood, or earthquake could have
   more effectually caused the workmen to desist. Look through the
   loopholes of retreat tonight upon this wicked world and see men urgent
   with schemes which to them appear admirable. If they are not for God's
   Glory, He that sits in Heaven laughs! The Lord has them in derision!
   With a word He seals up their hand so that it loses all its cunning and
   their purpose falls to the ground! Sometimes He closes up the hands of
   His inveterate enemies with the cold seal of death. Walk over the place
   where Sennacherib's hosts had pitched their tents. They spread
   themselves upon the face of the earth and threatened to devour Judah
   and Jerusalem--yes to quickly swallow them up--but "the angel of death
   spread his wings on the blast," and the sleepers never again rose to
   blaspheme Jehovah! They lie with their weapons under their heads, but
   they cannot grasp them! Bows,

   spears and chariots remain as a spoil to the armies of the Lord! Let us
   never, therefore, be disturbed by the vaunting of the adversaries of
   Jehovah! He can seal up their hands and then the men of might are
   captives! "The Lord reigns"--

   "Though sinners boldly join,

   Against the Lord to rise,

   Against His Christ combine,

   The Anointed to despise.

   Though earth disdain,

   And Hell engage,

   Vain is the rage--

   Their counsel vain."

   We will leave that part of the subject and handle the text in another
   way. Here is, first, a word to Christian workers. And when we have so
   expounded it, we shall turn to struggling Believers panting for
   victory--for with both these classes there are seasons when their hands
   are sealed. Thirdly, we shall speak to such as are toiling after
   self-salvation for it is a happy thing when such an hour comes to them,
   also, and they cease from their own work and know the work of the Lord!

   I. First, then, I speak to YOU WHO ARE GOD'S PEOPLE and have grown into
   strong men in Christ Jesus.

   Do not be surprised if sometimes your Master seals up your hand by a
   consciousness of unfitness. You may have preached for years and yet
   just now you feel as if you could never preach again. Your cry is, "I
   am shut up and cannot come forth." The brain is weary, the heart is
   faint and you are on the brink of saying, "I will speak no more in the
   name of the Lord." Your seed basket is empty and your plow is
   rusty--when you get to the granary, it seems to be locked against you.
   What are you to do? No message from God drops sweetly into your soul
   and how can your speech among the people distil as the dew? Perhaps
   some of you who have lately begun to serve the Lord wonder that it
   should ever be so with us older workers. You will not wonder long, for
   it will also happen to you! When a farmer sows his field with a seeder,
   the drill has no aches and pains, for it has no nerves and nothing to
   prevent the seed shaking out of it with precise regularity. But our
   great Lord never sows His fields with iron seeders. He uses men and
   women like ourselves, who are liable to headaches, heartaches and all
   sorts of miseries and, therefore, cannot sow as they could wish.
   Comrades in the Lord's work, it is essential that we learn our own
   inability! It is profitable to feel that without our Lord we can do
   noth-ing--but that the Lord can do very well without us! If we cannot
   break the clods, His frost is doing it. If we cannot water the soil,
   His snow is saturating it. When man is paralyzed, God is not even
   hindered. When we feel our own weakness, it is that we may know the
   Lord's work and comprehend that whatever understanding we have, He gave
   us. Whatever thought or utterance we have, He worked it in us and if we
   have any power among men to deliver the precious Gospel of Christ, He
   has anointed us to that end. Therefore, if we have received, we may not
   boast as if we had not received! It is a great blessing for us to be
   emptied of self that God may be All-in-All, for then our infirmities
   cease to be drawbacks and rise into qualifications through Divine
   Grace! This has a world of comfort in it.

   Sometimes the Christian worker's hand is sealed, not by his own
   incompetence, but by the hardness of the hearts he has to deal with. Do
   we not often cry, "I cannot make any impression upon that man! I have
   tried in several ways, but I cannot find a vulnerable place in him. I
   cannot get the sword of Truth to strike at him"? Have you never mourned
   that you could not touch those children--they were so volatile and
   frivolous? Have you not been ready to weep because so many men are so
   coarse, so drunk and so reckless? Have you not groaned, "Lord, I cannot
   get at those wealthy people! They are educated and sneer at my
   mistakes. And they are so eaten up with the conceit of their own
   position that they will not come to You as the poor do, and receive
   Your salvation. Truly, my hand is sealed"? This is all meant to drive
   you to your God in prayer, crying, "It is time for You, Lord, to work!"
   Oh, for that word which is like a hammer, breaking the rock in pieces!
   Oh, that the fire would melt and save the sinner!

   Another thing which often seals the hand of the worker and leaves it
   maimed and bleeding, is the apostasy of any who were thought to be
   converts. Oh, how we rejoiced over them! Perhaps just a little, behind
   the door, we thought how wonderfully well we labored to have such
   converts. As we saw them at worship and remembered that they were once
   drunks and swearers, we almost whispered that a notable miracle had
   been worked by us. Ah me, how light-fingered we are! How ready to rob
   God of His Glory to clothe self with it! What did the Lord do? He let
   our precious convert go reeling home and he that prayed at the Prayer
   Meeting was heard cursing! Thus all our weaving was unraveled. Then we
   wept and cried, "We have accomplished nothing at all! We have only bred
   a generation of hypocrites! They only need to

   be tempted and they go back again! Alas for us!" We shall return to our
   work with more tenderness and humility, with more prayer and faith--and
   looking alone to God we shall see His hand outstretched to save! We
   shall wonder that we have not gone back, ourselves, and shall be
   prepared to sing Jude's doxology, "Now unto Him that is able to keep
   you from falling, and to present you faultless before the Presence of
   His Glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory
   and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." When the
   Lord seals up your hand in any way, then, dear Christian worker,
   consider God's work, and call Him into the field--

   "Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!

   Your power unconquerable take.

   Your strength put on, assert Your might

   And triumph in the dreadful fight!

   Why do You tarry, mighty Lord?

   Why slumbers in its sheath Your sword?

   Oh, awaken for Your honor's sake--

   Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!

   Hasten then, but come not to destroy.

   Mercy is Yours--Your crown, Your joy!

   Their hatred quell, their pride remove,

   But melt with Grace, subdue with love." Some think the text teaches
   that when God seals up a man's hand, it is that he may know his own
   work, that is, that he may perceive what poor, imperfect work it
   is--that he may form a correct estimate of it and not glory in it--that
   he may observe the scantiness of the sphere of human action and mourn
   how ineffective, how despicable, how feeble man's efforts are apart
   from God's power. It is a great blessing to know our own work and to be
   humble, but still it is a higher blessing to know the Lord's work and
   to be confident in Him. O Brothers and Sisters, we must be nothing, or
   the Lord will not use us! If the axe vaunts itself against him that
   fells trees therewith, he will fling that axe away. If we sacrifice to
   our own net, the Great Fisherman will never drag the sea with us again
   till He has made us more fit for use. Oh, to be nothing! To lie at His
   feet and then, full of His power, because emptied of our own, to move
   forward to victory! May the Lord work in us to will and to do of His
   good pleasure--then shall we work out a glorious destiny to His praise!
   II. This Scripture equally applies to THE CASE OF THE STRUGGLING
   BELIEVER.

   The man is earnestly striving. Look at him! He is seeking to pray. I
   sometimes ask young people, "Do you pray?" They answer, "We could not
   live without prayer." "Can you always pray alike?" I thank God that I
   usually receive the answer, "No, Sir. We wish we could always be
   earnest." Just so. A steam engine can always do its work with equal
   force, but a living man cannot always pray. A mere actor can perform
   the externals of devotion at any time, but the real suppliant has his
   variations. We have all read of the preacher who, while preaching, used
   to cry most unaccountably when others were untouched. The reason was
   that he had put in the margin of his manuscript, "Cry here," and this
   he had done in the quiet of his study, without considering whether the
   passage would really produce tears. A man of genuine emotion cannot
   make himself cry at say, half-past seven in the morning and ten at
   night. Mighty prevailing prayer is an effect of the inward impulses of
   the Spirit of God and the Spirit blows where He wishes. We cannot
   command His influence. We ought always to pray most when we think we
   cannot pray at all! Mark that paradox. When you feel disinclined to
   pray, let it be a sign to you that prayer is doubly necessary! Pray for
   prayer! Yet there are times with me, and I suppose with you, when at
   the Throne of Grace I mourn because I cannot mourn, and feel wretched
   because all feeling has fled. The Lord has sealed up my hand! But that
   is that I may learn anew how His Spirit helps my infirmities and that I
   am powerless in supplication till He quickens me. We could as easily
   create a world as present a fervent prayer without the Spirit of God!
   We need to have this written upon our hearts, for only so shall we
   offer those inwrought supplications which the Lord hears with delight.

   Look at the struggling Believer, next, when he tries to learn the Truth
   of God. For instance, in reading the Scriptures, he pants to know the
   meaning of them. Did you never try to dig into a passage and find
   yourself unable to make headway? Fetch a commentary! Do you find that
   it leaves your difficulty untouched? Have you not begun at the wrong
   end? Would it not be better to pray your way into the textand when you
   have got somewhat through the rind of it, will it not be well to
   imitate a mouse when he meets with cheese and eats his way to the
   center? Work away at the passage by prayer and experience and you will
   tunnel into the secret! Yet you will at times find yourself lost among
   grand Truths of God and quite unable to cut your way through the forest
   of Doctrines because your understanding seems to have lost its edge.
   God has sealed up your hand that now you may go to Him for instruction,
   and clearly so that not in books nor in teachers, but in His Holy
   Spirit is the light by which the Word of Truth is to be understood by
   the soul! He seals up our hands that we may sit at His feet--

   "Light in Your light oh may we see, Your Grace and mercy prove,
   Revived, and cheered, and blessed by Thee, Spirit of peace and love."

   The struggling Believer may have set himself to watch against certain
   sin. Possibly he has enjoyed his morning's devotion and he goes
   downstairs resolved to be patient, whatever provocation may occur, for
   he wept last night over the evil done by a quick temper. He converses
   cheerfully and yet, before the breakfast is over, the lion is roused
   and he is in the wars again! The poor man murmurs to himself, "What
   will become of me? This hot temper runs away with me." Do not excuse
   yourself but still learn from your own folly. Does not the Lord thus
   let you see your own weakness more and more till you gird on His
   strength and overcome it? Remember, it must be conquered! You must not
   dare to be the slave of a fierce temper, or, indeed, of any sin! If the
   Son make you free, you shall be free, indeed! And it is His
   emancipating hand that you need within. Sanctification is the work of
   the Spirit of God--only He can accomplish it--and it is for you to cry
   unto the Strong for strength!

   Perhaps the struggle is of yet another kind. You long to grow in Grace.
   This is a matter worthy of the utmost desire and labor, and yet, as a
   matter of fact, neither plants nor souls actually grow through
   conscience effort. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
   they toil not, neither do they spin." Children of God, when they grow,
   grow up into Christ, not by agonies and excitements, but by the quiet
   force of the inward life renewed from day to day by the Holy Spirit! We
   have heard some true saints complain that they felt as if they were
   rather growing downward than upward, for they feel worse instead of
   better. Thus do many of the plants of our garden grow--and we are
   joyful that it is so--for we need not the useless top growth, but we
   prize the root! To grow downward in humility may be the best possible
   growth--the hand sealed may be bringing us more spiritual profit than
   the hand at work!

   III. I might thus enlarge, but it would come to the same thing and,
   therefore, I leave the struggling Christians to lend a hand to THE
   SELF-RIGHTEOUS, whom I would gladly help into a ditch and leave there
   till the Almighty One shall come to take them out!

   If we believe their own statements, there are a great many very good
   people in this world. True, the Bible says, "There is none that does
   good; no, not one," but that is an old-fashioned sort of book! Good men
   are plentiful as blackberries! I hear certain of them bearing witness
   that they are quite as good as those who make a profession of religion
   and, in fact, rather better! They are so good that they do not even
   profess to trust the Lord Jesus Christ! Now, you excessively good
   people, I am right glad when the Lord seals up your hands so that you
   cannot persevere in your fine doings and are compelled to try the true
   way of getting to Heaven!

   Sometimes that sealing up comes by a discovery that the Law of God is
   spiritual, and that the service of God is a matter of the heart. Here
   is a good woman! She says, "I never stole a penny. I always pay my
   debts. I am sober, kind and industrious. I thank God I am not a gossip,
   or proud, or idle, as so many are." Is she not a superior person? But
   observe a change! She hears a sermon, or reads the Bible and finds that
   external goodness is nothing unless there is goodness in the
   heart--unless there is love to God and love to men--unless there is the
   new birth and a consequent total and radical change of nature
   manifested by a simple reliance upon Christ! Is this the same woman?
   How different her manner! How changed the tone of her talk! Hear her
   exclaim, "I am utterly lost! I had no idea that God required the heart
   and judged our thoughts and desires. What searching Truths! A look can
   make me guilty of adultery. Anger without a cause is murder!" If this
   fact comes with power to the heart--the hand is sealed and all hope of
   salvation by works is gone! Oh, that this would happen to all
   self-justifiers! Oh, that the Lord would wean them from self, that they
   might know His work, the work of Christ who satisfied the Law for all
   His people, that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him!

   Sometimes an actual sin has let in light upon the sinfulness of the
   heart I knew a young man who, in his own esteem, was as fine a fellow
   as ever worked in a shop. He prided himself that he had never told a
   lie, nor been dishonest, nor a drunk, nor loose in his life--and if the
   Savior had said to him that he must keep the commandments, he would
   have rep-

   lied, "All these have I kept from my youth up." In pushing a fellow
   workman, he upset an oilcan. It happened to have been upset before, and
   the master had spoken strongly about the careless waste. The master,
   coming along on this occasion, called out, "Who upset that can?"" The
   young man said that he did not know, though he himself was the
   offender. That passed away. No further question was asked, but in a
   moment he said to himself, "I have told a lie! I never would have
   believed myself capable of such meanness." His beautiful card house
   tumbled down! The bubble of his reputation burst and he said to
   himself, "Now I understand what Mr. Spurgeon means by the depravity of
   the heart. I am a good-for-nothing creature! What must I do to be
   saved?" No doubt outward sin has often revealed the secret power of
   evil in the heart. The leprosy has come out upon the skin and so it has
   been seen to be in the system. Thus is pride hidden from man--and his
   hand is sealed up that he may look for mercy from God, and live!

   Yes, I have known God seal up some men's hands by a sense of spiritual
   inability, so that they have said, "I cannot pray. I thought I prayed
   every morning and night, but I now see that it is not prayer at all. I
   cannot now praise God. I used to sit in the choir and sing as sweetly
   as any of them, but I was singing to my own glory, and not unto the
   Lord. I fear I have been deceiving myself and setting up my
   righteousness instead of Christ's--and that is the worst form of
   idolatry. I have dishonored God and I have crucified Christ by claiming
   to myself the power of self-salvation. I have un-Christed Christ and
   counted His blood to be a superfluous thing." When a man has come to
   that, then he--

   "Casts his deadly doing down,

   Down at Jesus' feet--

   To stand in Him, in Him alone,

   Gloriously complete!"

   "What?" cries yonder friend, "Would you not have us do good works?"
   Yes, a host of them! But not to thereby save yourself! You must do them
   becauseyou are saved! You know what children do when they are little
   and silly--they go into their fathers garden and pick handfuls of
   flowers, and make a garden. "A pretty, pretty garden," so they say.
   Wait till tomorrow morning and every flower will be withered and there
   will be no pretty garden at all, for their flowers have no roots! That
   is what you do when you cultivate good works beforefaith--it is a
   foolish, fruitless business. Repent of sin and believe in Jesus, for
   these are the roots of good works! And, though at first they look like
   black bulbs with no beauty in them, yet out of them shall come the
   rarest flowers in the garden of holiness! Get away with your good
   works! Get away with your salvation of yourself! This is all proud
   fancy and falsehood. Why did God send a Savior if you need no saving?
   What need of the Cross if you can be saved by your own works? Why did
   Jesus bleed and die if your own merits are sufficient? Come, you guilty
   ones! Come, you weary! Come, you whose hands are sealed, so that you
   can do nothing more--take the work of Christ and be saved by it at
   once!

   A young Sister who I saw just now, told me how a friend helped her to
   see the way of salvation. She could not believe in Jesus Christ because
   she did not feel herself to be all that she wanted to be. But the
   friend said to her, "Suppose I were to give you this Bible for a
   present." "Yes." "Would it not be yours as soon as you took it? It
   would not depend upon whether you were good or not, would it?" "No."
   "Well, then," the friend replied, "the Lord God has given Jesus Christ
   to you as a free gift--and if you take him by faith, He is immediately
   yours, whoever you may be." The case stands just so. Accept Jesus as
   the free gift of God to you and you are saved! And being saved, you
   will work with all your might to show your gratitude to God your
   Savior!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM94.

   This is the prayer of a man of God in great trouble, standing out for
   God in an evil day, when the Lord's people were greatly oppressed, and
   the honor of God was being trampled in the mire. The prayer wells up
   from an oppressed heart struggling against great difficulty.

   Verse 1. LORD God--"O Jehovah, El." Men of God in trouble delight to
   call upon the name of the Lord. His very name is a stronghold to them!
   The Infinite Jehovah, the strong God. EL. "O Lord God"--

   1. To whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show
   Yourself'Vengeance does not belong to us! It is not right for any
   private individual to attempt to avenge himself. But vengeance does
   belong to the just Judge

   who will mete out to all the due reward of evil or of good. Hence, my
   appeal is to the Court of King's Bench, or higher still, to the King,
   Himself! "O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show Yourself." When false
   Doctrine abounds, only God can put it down. All the efforts of the
   faithful will be futile apart from Him.

   2-4. Lift up Yourself You judge of the earth: render a reward to the
   proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked
   triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? And all the
   workers of iniquity boast themselves?That expression, "How long?"
   repeated three times, is very sorrowful. It seems to get into a kind of
   howling or wailing. But a child of God, when he sees things going wrong
   with his Lord's Kingdom, must grow somewhat impatient and he cries out
   to His God, "How long? How long? How long will You bear it?" The very
   triumphs of the wicked and the hard things they say, with which they
   seem to bubble over like fountains, (for that is the force of the term
   "utter and speak" used here), stir the heart of the man of God to its
   very depths! He gets alone and grieves before God. And out of a full
   heart he thus cries to Him, "How long shall they utter and speak hard
   things? And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?"

   5. They break in pieces Your people, O LORD There is a strong plea in
   that declaration, for the Lord of Hosts says to His people, He that
   touches you, touches the apple of My eye." In days of persecution the
   saints can pray in this fashion, "They break in pieces Your people,
   Jehovah."

   5, 6. And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger,
   and murder the fatherless. This made the appeal still stronger, for God
   is "a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows."

   7. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob
   regard it Yet this very God of Jacob came to the troubled Patriarch at
   Jabbok and blessed him there. And He said to heathen kings, "Touch not
   My Anointed, and do my Prophets no harm"--so can it be true that He
   does not see and regard what the wicked do to His people? They dare to
   say so, and render themselves the more brazen in their sin because of
   this, their infidelity!

   8. Understand, you brutish among the people. Here the pleader turn into
   a Prophet and, after having spoken to God, he now speaks to men.
   Understand, you boors," for so the word may be rendered, "You swine
   among the people."

   9. And you fools, when will you be wise? He that planted the ear, shall
   He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He

   not see? [See Sermon #2118, Volume 35--THE PLANTER OF THE EAR MUST
   HEAR.] You say that God does not see, that He does not regard--but how
   can that be? You are mad to talk so! He that gave men the sense of
   hearing--cannot He, Himself, hear? He that gave them sight--cannot He
   see?--

   "Shall He who, with transcendent skill,

   Fashioned the eye and formed the ear--

   Who modeled Nature to His will--

   Shall He not see? Shall He not hear?

   Vain hope! His eyes at once survey

   Whatever fills Creation's space--

   He sees our thoughts, and marks our ways,

   He knows no bounds of time and place."

   10. He that chastises the heathen, shall not He correct?He judges the
   nations--read the Book of Providence and see how He deals out justice
   to nation after nation! So shall He not also correct the individual
   man?

   10. He that teaches man knowledge--If you look at your Bibles, you will
   see that the translators have put in here the words, "shall not He
   know." They are printed in italics because they are not in the
   original. The original is very abrupt--it is as if the Psalmist had
   said, "There, I am tired of arguing with you. You can draw your own
   inference. I will leave you to do that for yourselves. Fools as You
   are, I need not draw the inference for you." "He that teaches man
   knowledge." Does man really know anything unless God teaches him? Adam
   was taught of God at the first--and every particle of true science that
   man knows has been imparted by God! I do not say that God is the Author
   of the science of today--much of that evidently comes from man--but all
   true knowledge is imparted to us by God. "He that teaches man
   knowledge"--do you think--do you dream that He does not Himself know
   everything?

   10, 11. Shall not He know? The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that
   they are vanity He knows that men are vanity, that they are, according
   to one translation, a vapor! The men themselves are but a vapor, but as
   for their thoughts, their intellect, their power to think, that of
   which many men are most proud--what does God think of these? What a
   wonderful thing "modern thought" seems to be! But listen to this, "The
   Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are

   nothing." Vanity is a negation, it is a bubble--a thing puffed up that
   has no substance in it--"The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they
   are vanity."

   12. Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD, and teach him out of
   Your Law [See Sermon #2374, Volume 40--BLESSED

   DISCIPLINE.] These are two things that go well together-a rod

   and a book. No man ever learns much without both rod and book. "Blessed
   is the man whom You chasten." The Book is never properly understood
   without some touches of the rod, but the Book must also be there--"and
   teach" him out of Your Law, "for if it were all rod and no Book, there
   would be plenty of scars, but there would be no learning! Have you got
   the two together, my dear Friend? Have you been of late very much with
   the Book in a nook, and very much with the rod upon your bed? Well,
   then, you are a blessed man, for the Psalmist says, "Blessed is the man
   whom You chasten, O Lord, and teach him out of Your Law."

   13. That You may give him a rest from the days of activity, until the
   pit is dug for the wicked. In these days, the quiet virtues are not
   prized as much as they ought to be. Men are always busy--they must be
   ever on the trot--but blessed is the man who is so taught by the Book
   and by the rod that he comes to a holy quietism and learns to rest! The
   man or woman most rested is the best worker. He who knows how to sit at
   Jesus' feet, knows how to work for Jesus better than if he were
   continually running about and getting cumbered with much service. We
   never learn the secret of this rest by the Book, alone, or by the rod,
   alone--the rod and the book togetherteach us to rest from the days of
   adversity. They teach us not to lay the present too much to heart, not
   to fret because of things as they are today, but to think of what is to
   be in that Day when the righteous shall be rewarded, and when the
   Mighty Hunter shall have trapped His adversary and ours--when the pit
   shall be dug for the wicked and Satan's power shall be forever
   destroyed!

   14. For the LORD will not cast off His people. He may cast them down,
   but He will never cast them off!

   14. Neither will He forsake His inheritance. Even men will not give up
   their inheritance. This is especially the case among the Jews! You
   remember how Naboth would not sell his inheritance--he would sooner
   die. And the Lord will not forsake His inheritance--there is a sacred
   condition upon His people that never can be broken--and He will never
   give them up.

   15. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright
   in heart shall follow it The wicked may be the upper spokes of the
   wheel just now, but they will be the lower spokes before long! The
   Truth of God may be in the mire, today, but she shall be upon the
   Throne tomorrow! The revolutions of the wheels of Providence produce
   strange changes. Wait. Work. Watch. For the Lord will set things right
   in His own good time.

   16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoer or who will stand up
   for me against the workers of iniquity?The Psalmist appeals for
   helpers, but he gets no response from man. And sometimes the man of God
   will have to stand alone-- and that can be quite an education for him.
   Blessed is he who has learned to hang on the bare arm of God--he is
   better off without his earthly friends than he was with them! Here is
   the answer to the Psalmist's question--

   17. Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in
   silence. You may be one of the best of God's servants and yet that may
   be your experience. Here is another piece of testimony in which many of
   us can join--

   18. When I said, My foot slips, Your mercy, O Lord, held me up. "My
   foot had slipped from under me. I was down. But then, even then, You
   did put underneath me Your everlasting arms. 'Your mercy, O Lord, held
   me up.'"

   19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me Your comforts delight my
   soul [See Sermon #883, Volume 15--multiudinous

   THOUGHTS AND SACRED COMFORTS.] "My thoughts"-so some read

   this verse--"seem intertwisted and interlaced like the many branches of
   a tree. I cannot make them out--they are in such a tangle." But the
   bird has learned to sit among the branches and sing, "Your comforts
   delight my soul." There are thoughts of grief, thoughts of fear,
   thoughts of disappointment, thoughts of desertion, thoughts of a broken
   heart--all sorts of thoughts, but God's comforts come in and delight
   the soul! You know what it is--do you not?--to be cast down, but not
   destroyed? To be troubled, and yet to be happy? "As sorrowful," says
   Paul, "yet always rejoicing." Whereupon an old Divine remarks that it
   is "as sorrowful"--quasi sorrowful--but it is not "as always
   rejoicing." There is no "quasi" to that, but there is a real joy in the
   midst of a seeming sorrow! "In the multitude of my thoughts within me
   Your comforts delight my soul."

   20. Shiall thee throne of iniquity have fellowship with You, which
   frames mischief by a Law?Lord, are You on their side? Oh, no, and as
   You are not on their side, I care not who is! So long as You will not
   aid iniquity or help wrongdoing, I will, by Your Grace, fight the
   battle through.

   21, 22. They gather themselves together against the soul of the
   righteous and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defense;
   and my God is the rock of my refuge. He gets away unto his God as he
   had been accustomed to hide in the cave of Adullam out of reach of his
   foes! And then he sits down in peace to sing--

   23. And He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them
   off in their own wickedness; yes the LORD our God shall cut them off.
     __________________________________________________________________

God's Hand at Evening

   (No. 3290)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
   FEBRUARY 15, 1866.

   "Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening." Ezekiel 33:22.

   PERHAPS in the special senses in which Ezekiel uses this expression, we
   shall not expect to feel "the hand of the Lord" upon us. God may not
   call us to prophesy as Ezekiel did, although in the Scriptural use of
   the word, "prophesy," the preacher of the Word is still called to
   deliver the message which he has received from his Lord's lips. The
   days of special visions and voices and prophesying have passed away,
   but we can still say with Peter, "We have a more sure word of prophecy,
   whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines
   in a dark place, until the day dawns and the day star arise in your
   hearts."

   I think, however, that we may use our text with some profit in other
   senses--"The hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening." So we will
   enquire, first, what hand was this?Secondly, what time was this? And
   then, thirdly, what teaching is there for us in this incident?

   I. So first, let us ask, WHAT HAND WAS THIS? The answer is very clearly
   stated in the text, "the hand of the Lord." We will examine this
   expression, first, in its connection with the Lord's people, and then
   in its relation to sinners in whom a gracious work is beginning.

   First, then, looking at this expression in its connection with the
   Lord's people, I remark that sometimes, "the hand of the Lord" is laid
   very heavily upon them in chastisement. It is no unusual thing for a
   child of God to say, "The hand of the Lord was upon me"--and often he
   has not merely to add, "in the evening"--but he can truthfully say,
   "All day long His hand has been heavily laid upon me." There are some
   of God's children who are very frequently the subjects of His
   chastening, and if any of you have come here smarting under the blows
   of His rod, you must not murmur, for this is the treatment that is
   meted out to all the rest of the Lord's family. It is through much
   tribulation that they enter the Kingdom, so let not any one of us take
   up the lamentation of Jeremiah, "I am the man that has seen affliction
   by the rod of His wrath"--but let us all expect to follow in the
   footsteps of the flock, well knowing that--

   "The path of sorrow, and that path, alone, Leads to the land where
   sorrow is unknown." Be not astonished, therefore, if "the hand of the
   Lord" is laid upon you, thus, for, "if you endure chastening, God deals
   with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens
   not?" Yet while you feel the weight of God's hand upon you, never
   forget that it is your Father'shand. Whatever form your trial may
   take--whether it is the loss of a child or of a parent, or the
   withdrawal of temporal prosperity, or the smiting of the body with
   aches and pains--the rod is never in any hand but the paternal one and
   even while the Father smites, He loves. Let this be your comfort, that
   it is not the hand of an enemy that is upon you--you are not suffering
   from a crushing blow from the foeman's mailed hand, but the stroke,
   whether it is heavy or light, is wholly caused by your loving Father's
   hand!

   "The hand of the Lord" is also a humbling hand. When God lays His
   afflicting hand upon us, He takes away much of our fancied beauty and
   lets us see the ugliness of our natural deformity. We thought we were
   very patient until we had need of patience--and then we found what a
   murmuring, discontented spirit we had within us! Perhaps you, my
   Brother, thought you were a strong Believer until your present trial
   came. But now you have proved how feeble your faith really is. You
   imagined that you were better than the rest of God's saints because you
   could sing when they could only groan. But now you have hard work to
   keep from groaning yourself! It is a blessed thing when the blows of
   God's rod lay us low at our Father's feet. The safest option for all
   children of God is to lie flat upon the Rock of Ages. With all the joy
   and confidence that I trust we feel when we reflect upon our Lord's
   promises and His solemn oath and Covenant, yet

   when we think of our own imperfections and unfaithfulness, we are
   compelled to bow very humbly before the Throne of Grace.

   Turning to another side of the subject, let me say that there is no
   reason why the hand of the Lord should not be upon us without our
   having any particular trouble. When we have come up to God's House to
   worship Him, I trust that we have often felt "the hand of the Lord"
   upon us, pressing us down very low in a sense of our own weakness and
   unwor-thiness. There are other things beside affliction that can humble
   us beneath the mighty hand of God! When Peter's boat began to sink
   because it was full of fish, Peter, too, went down and he cried to
   Jesus, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." When we think
   of all the Lord's goodness to us, we cry out, somewhat as David did,
   "Who are we, O Lord, and what is our house, that You have done such
   great things for us?" If we have "the hand of the Lord" upon us in this
   sense, it will not crush us, nor drive us to despondency or death--it
   will make us realize our own nothingness while it will also give us a
   grateful sense of our Lord's loving kindness and condescension in
   dealing so graciously with us!

   Yet this humbling "hand of the Lord" is also at the same time an
   uplifting hand. The Christian is often a riddle to himself--he cannot
   understand how it is that the lower he sinks, the higher he rises! Then
   he sings, with Dr. Watts--

   "The more Your glories strike my eyes,

   The humbler I shall lie.

   Thus, while I sink, my joys shall rise

   Immeasurably high!"

   The truest joy is the joy of the creature in being made nothing that
   God may be All-in-All--the joy of emptiness in receiving of the Divine
   fullness--the joy of utter weakness laying hold upon the Divine
   strength! Have you never, dear Friends, in the worship of God, felt His
   hand gloriously bearing you aloft that not merely were worldly cares
   forgotten, with all the things that concern time and sense, but you
   seemed to forget that you were still in the body and that the body was
   upon the earth? There have been times with some of us when "the hand of
   the Lord" has been so blessedly upon us that He has seemed to open the
   pearly gates and bid us enter! We have stood awe-stricken and yet full
   of joy in the Presence of the Eternal, and we have worshipped Him with
   cherubim and seraphim--and have anticipated the day when we shall join
   the heavenly throng to go no more out forever! "The hand of the Lord"
   when it is upon us thus is so uplifting that we feel as though the joys
   of our spirit are more than our bodily frame can bear--and we cry with
   the spouse-- "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am
   love-sick." May we often feel this downcasting and yet uplifting power
   of "the hand of the Lord" upon us!

   Further, "the hand of the Lord" is a healing hand as well as a smiting
   and wounding one. Whenever it is laid upon a poor troubled conscience,
   it brings peace at once. There is no furrow in the brow which God's
   finger cannot smooth away. There is no burden upon the shoulders which
   God's hand cannot remove. Perhaps your heart was so heavy that you
   thought you would never be able to rejoice again--yet the Lord did but
   touch you and your depression was gone in a moment! There is an old
   fiction about the touch of a royal hand curing disease, but the royal
   hand of the King of kings really does what the other was only fabled to
   do! Let Him but touch the suffering soul and healing comes at once. It
   is useless for us to go to war with our besetting sins at our own
   charge--but when the Lord stretches forth His hand against them, it is
   another matter! Beloved friends may sometimes seek to set us right, yet
   through their lack of wisdom they may only aggravate the evil. But when
   God lays His hand upon the sin, drags it to the light, tries and
   convicts it-- and hangs it up to die--then are we most blessedly
   delivered from it. If our besetting sin is a fiery temper, or a
   slothful nature, or a strange temptation to some other evil, may "the
   hand of the Lord" be so graciously upon us this evening that it shall
   heal us even before we go to our homes!

   The Lord's hand is also a strengthening hand to all His children. Let
   Him but lay His hand upon you and then, as your days, so shall your
   strength be. Isaiah trembled when he saw "the King, the Lord of Hosts,"
   but one of the seraphim touched his lips with a live coal from the
   Altar, and then, in answer to the Lord's question, "Whom, shall I send,
   and who will go for Us?" he said, "Here am I; send me." So surely, when
   God touches the lips with His finger, power goes into the messenger
   whom He sends forth on His mission of mercy! Moses was very hesitant to
   go as God's ambassador to Pharaoh--and among his many excuses he urged
   that he was slow of speech, and of a slow tongue--but the Lord said to
   him, "Who has made man's mouth?"--as much as to say, "He who made your
   mouth knew what He was doing and He did not make a mistake when He gave
   you a slow tongue! Go you in Hisstrength and you shall be mighty enough
   to deliver His people out of the land of Egypt." God worked through the
   weakness of Moses and so glorified Himself over the mighty Pharaoh. And
   so shall it be with us, my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, ministers,
   Sunday school teachers, tract-distributor, or whatever you may be--if
   "the hand of the Lord" shall be upon us, God shall be glorified in our
   weakness

   and we shall be mighty through Him, to the pulling down of strongholds.
   Tarry in the Jerusalem of your prayer closet until you are endued with
   power from on High, for, "they that wait upon the Lord shall remember
   their strength"-- and then in Hsname and in Hsmight go forth to the
   service to which He has called you.

   I may also add that, to many of you, "the hand of the Lord" is a
   well-known hand. You have been receiving from it all your days. You
   have gone to it thousands of times so that it has become very familiar
   to you. And there is one mark in that hand which has made it especially
   dear to you, for, "the hand of the Lord" from which you receive
   everything is a nail-pierced hand, for it is the hand of the Man,
   Christ Jesus, as well as the hand of the Almighty God! And hard by the
   print of the nail is your own name, for He has said to you, "I have
   engraved you upon the palms of My hands." When that Divine-Human hand,
   once outstretched upon the Cross for our redemption, is laid upon us,
   then do we rejoice with exceedingly great joy!

   Now for a little while let us look at this expression in its relation
   to sinners in whom a gracious work is beginning. And here I must remind
   you that if "the hand of the Lord" is ever laid upon you, then it will
   come, first, as a creating hand. It is the hand of God and that hand,
   alone, which can create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit
   within you! Nothing but the Divine touch can ever make "a new creature
   in Christ Jesus." If all the angels had united all their powers, they
   could never have created a world and if all the ministers in the world
   were to combine their efforts, they could never create a new creature
   in Christ! Creation is the work of God, alone, so may He graciously lay
   His hand upon you tonight! Though there is nothing in you for Him to
   begin with, remember that He made the world out of nothing and He can
   make a new man of you out of nothing. It is true that your whole being,
   spiritually, is without form and void--and darkness is upon the face of
   the deep--but He who brought order out of chaos and said, "Let there be
   light," and there was light, can do the same for you! May you become a
   new proof His creating power, so that the angels may sing over you as
   they once did over a newly made world!

   Yet let me tell you that wherever "the hand of the Lord" comes, it
   always comes at first as a breaking hand! As soon as God's hand is laid
   upon us, down go the images of our pride as Dagon fell upon his face
   before the Ark of God! And our self-righteousness, our self-conceit,
   our carnal confidence and everything else that is displeasing to the
   Most High are dashed in pieces by the blows from His almighty hand! It
   is a blessed thing to be put into God's mortar that He may pound us
   with the pestle that He holds in His hand until He has crushed and
   bruised us so as to bring us to self-despair-- for then it will not be
   long before that same blessed hand of His shall bind up what He has
   broken and heal what he has wounded! It is His prerogative to say, "I
   kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal: neither is there any that
   can deliver out of My hand." If you could go to some eminent surgeon,
   it would be a strong argument if you could say to him, "O Sir, I pray
   you to heal me, for you did, yourself, cause this gaping wound! It was
   by your sharp knife that this gash was made, so will you not bind it
   up?" So go to God, Sinner, with that poor broken heart of yours, and
   say to Him, "Lord, You did break it, will You not bind it up? You are
   Jehovah-Rophi, will You not heal me?" You know how David prayed, " Make
   me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which You have broken may
   rejoice." God is a bone-breaker and He is also a bone-mender! He is
   also a heartbreaker, yet He delights to bind up the hearts that He has
   broken! So go to Him, Sinner, and ask Him to lay His hand upon you,
   first breaking, and then binding up--first killing, and then making
   alive!

   Further, to sum up briefly, "the hand the Lord" is a receiving hand.
   And if you go to Him, Sinner, He will receive you graciously and love
   you freely! It is also an upholding hand, and it will hold you up so
   that your feet shall not slip. It is an enriching hand, with which the
   Lord will give generously to you both in Providence and in Grace. It is
   a guiding hand with which the Lord shall direct your steps. And at last
   it shall be an opening hand, with which the Lord shall open the gates
   of Glory, that you may enter them to go no more out forever!

   II. Our second question was to be WHAT TIME WAS THIS? "The hand of the
   Lord was upon me in the evening." There is a congruity in meditating
   upon this text in the evening, so let us think upon it for a while in
   connection with our own inward experience.

   And first, Beloved, when you and I have felt "the hand of the Lord"
   upon us in the evening, I think it has come very seasonably to remind
   us of the day's sin. Evening is a good time for casting up the sum of
   the day--there ought to be set seasons for balancing our accounts. I am
   afraid that most us are so busy that we neglect this important duty.
   But it is well to devote a few minutes at night to review the day that
   has gone by. Recall your actions, your words, your thoughts. Look at
   your sins that you may repent of them. Look at your follies that you
   may avoid them in the future. Look at your mistakes that you may not
   fall into them again. As you turn over all these things in your evening
   mediation, what a

   blessed thing it is to feel "the hand of the Lord" upon you making your
   conscience tender, not allowing you to play with sin as though it were
   a trifle, but assuring you, by a gentle pressure, that all your sin is
   put away through the great Atoning Sacrifice of Christ Jesus your Lord
   and Savior!

   It seems to me that evening is also a very blessed time for feelings of
   gratitude. How many are God's thoughts concerning us during a single
   day? When we rose this morning, I suppose that most, if not all of us,
   found that our food and raiment had been provided for us. We have been
   busy all day and have had just enough strength to get through our work.
   We have been preserved, perhaps, in the midst of temptations to which
   others have yielded. Where they have stumbled and fallen, we have been
   graciously upheld! And now at evening we are thinking of the many
   mercies which "the hand of the Lord" has bestowed upon us during the
   day. If we are delivered from some accident, we say what a merciful
   Providence it was that we escaped--yet we are apt to forget the
   merciful Providence when there is no accident! I have heard of a father
   who, in the days when there were no railways, needed to see his son who
   lived a long way off. They agreed to meet at a place half-way between
   their two houses. Each had to ride about 50 miles. And when they met,
   the son said to his father, "I have had a very special Providence, for
   my horse stumbled three times yet it did not fall." "Well," said the
   father, "I also have had a very special Providence, for my horse did
   not stumble once, all the way." This was quite as notable a Providence
   as the son had experienced, but it is one that is often left unnoticed.
   Our mercies which pass unobserved are probably ten times as numerous as
   those which we perceive! It is well, therefore, at least at the close
   of every day, to look back upon all the mercy that has been given to us
   during the day--and to realize that "the hand of the Lord" is still
   upon us in the evening, shielding us from all harm, guiding us in His
   own good way and providing most generously for all our needs!

   Evening is also a special reminder of the evening of life. We sometimes
   say that we--

   "Long for evening to undress, That we may rest with God"--

   and to a Christian, dying is very much like going to bed. Being buried
   is just having our clothes put away while we are asleep in Jesus.
   Therefore, as evening is a reminder and type of dying, it is especially
   appropriate for us, then, to feel "the hand of the Lord" upon us and to
   realize that He has brought us there, to the margin of the river, and
   that He says to us, "You will have to cross that river some day, so dip
   your foot in it, now, and try to get used to dying." Paul wrote to the
   Corinthians, "I die daily." He was rehearsing his part every day, so
   that when the time came for him to actually die, he was fully prepared
   and was not taken unawares. It would be well if we could hear one say,
   "As I stood by my bedside, and took off my clothes, I felt that if I
   were now called to put off my body, which is the clothing of my soul, I
   couldn't do it with as much complacency as I removed my garments. And
   when I laid my head upon my pillow and closed my eyes, I felt as easy
   in the thought of that being my last sleep as I have felt when simply
   going to my bed." If this is how we are able to talk, we may
   confidently say, "The hand of the Lord lay upon me in the evening."

   I like, too, the thought of this manifestation of God in the evening
   because the evening is usually the quiet time that is specially suited
   to meditation. The morning is the time for action. The day is the time
   for work. But the evening is the time for mediation. It is well if we
   then have the inclination as well as the opportunity for communing with
   God, though I am afraid that our hearts are not always ready for this
   high privilege even when the season is peculiarly favorable for it. May
   you, dear Friends, feel "the hand of the Lord" upon you every
   evening--and may you feel it very specially this evening! We are in the
   midst of a most gracious work in this congregation. We began with
   earnest prayer and we are now receiving the blessing that we have asked
   at the Lord's hands. During the past week we have had a most blessed
   fulfillment of that promise, "While they are yet speaking, I will
   hear." While we have been asking the Lord to bless, He has been
   blessing! And tonight we want again to feel "the hand of the Lord" upon
   us. When the preacher feels the Lord's hand on him, there is no lack of
   power or energy in his sermons! When the Deacons and Elders feel it,
   there is no lack of attention to the duties of their important offices!
   When the members feel it, there are no dull, lifeless Prayer Meetings!
   And when any individual Christians feels it, his heart is made to burn
   within him while his Master talks with him by the way. May it be so
   with everyone of us!

   III. Our third question was to be, WHAT TEACHING IS THERE FOR US IN
   THIS INCIDENT?

   The text seems to me to teach us, first, to look above man. Ezekiel
   says, "The hand of the Lord was upon me"--not the hand of the king, nor
   the hand of the priest--but the hand of the Lord! The first question
   with many persons, when the service is over, very often is, "Well, how
   did you like the minister." But really, dear Friends, that is a very
   unimportant question--the vital matter is--Did you see Jesus as the
   preacher sought to lift Him up before you? Was "the hand of the Lord"
   upon you, pressing you down to the ground under the weight your many
   sins and then setting you glorious-

   ly at liberty by casting all your sins behind His back into the depths
   of the sea to be remembered against you no more forever? That is the
   chief business of our coming together in these great assemblies--that
   we may be brought into real, close, personal contact with God and see
   His power and His Glory in the sanctuary! As for the Preacher, he is of
   no more account than the lad with the five barley loaves and two small
   fishes! But if the Master will add His blessing, the multitudes shall
   be fed spiritually even as the thousands were then fed literally--and
   He shall have all the Glory! I pray you, dear Friends, never to be
   content with a sermon unless it brings you into yet closer fellowship
   with the Lord Jesus Christ and lifts your eyes above man unto Him to
   whom you are bid to look!

   Then, as you are to look above other men, much more are you to look
   above yourselves. In one sense, it is hard work to keep a Christian's
   eyes looking up. But in another sense, it is equally difficult to keep
   them looking down. You may rake over the dunghills of your own
   corruption to try to find something good, but you will only find what
   Paul calls dung! But if you look up to the Most High, you will not
   search in vain for treasures that will endure forever! If you will
   persist in looking within, look there till you are tired and then do
   not look any longer. One look at Jesus Christ will remunerate you far
   better than 20 looks at yourself! No doubt there are certain marks and
   evidences of the Christian life for which it is quite right to talk,
   yet it is better to look at the marks of the Savior's wounds and to see
   the evidences of God's Love manifested in the Person and work of His
   well-beloved Son. It is much more profitable to look at the Creator
   than at the creature. If you must bring self in at all, let it only be
   as Ezekiel did when he said, "The hand of the Lord was upon me in the
   evening."

   This text should also encourage us to remember previous Divine
   visitations. I suppose Ezekiel had often felt the hand of the Lord upon
   him, but this time he recorded it. David called to remembrance former
   manifestations of God's mercy when he wrote, "O my God, my soul is cast
   down within me: therefore will I remember You from the land of Jordan,
   and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." Sailors keep a logbook in
   which they enter the principal incidents of the voyage. And Christian,
   you ought to keep a log of your voyage to Heaven! And you should
   especially record the visitations of God to your soul. There may come
   times when you will not have these visits and then, if you turn to your
   diary, you will be able to call to remembrance the joyous seasons of
   the past--and it will be a great comfort to you to recollect the
   experiences you passed through on Mizar's hill and Hermon's mount.
   There are certain occasions that some of us can never forget--and in
   our dark hours we think of them and say, "Lord, by all that we have
   felt in the past, we are assured that You will not let us go, but that
   You will hold us fast to the end."

   And to close, I think that this should encourage us in our darkening
   hours to expect the Light of God's Presence. It was the evening, the
   sun was going down, but the Sun of Righteousness was still shining upon
   Ezekiel! The stars began to sparkle in the heavens, but the promises of
   God were brighter still! The night was coming on, but the Prophet did
   not dread it, for although he could not see his Lord's face, he could
   feel his Lord's hand upon him! It is one of the enjoyments of faith to
   walk with God in the dark. It is not the enjoyment of sight because it
   comes in the evening when strength is declining, and life, itself, is
   dying out. Ah, that evening will soon come to everyone of us when we
   shall have to bid farewell to the fond pursuits of the day--that
   "night" of which our Savior said that then, "no man can work." And when
   that night comes on and we begin to feel its chilly dews settling upon
   our dying brow. When the hoar-frost of death shall be upon every limb,
   how blessed it shall be to have a bright and glowing lamp within our
   soul which will owe none of its brilliance to sun or moon, but to the
   Lord God who gives us the Light that shall last forever!

   "At evening time it shall be light." In some parts of the world there
   is no twilight--as soon as the sun sets, night follows immediately. But
   here in England our long evenings are a great delight, and certainly so
   is the long evening of a well spent life, when you have, to a great
   extent, finished with the toil and turmoil of earthly service and your
   soul has a blessed season of resting, as Bunyan's pilgrims had in the
   land Beulah until the summons came for them to cross the river and go
   into the Presence of the King. It will be a blessed thing to feel the
   hand of the lord upon us in that evening! And whether it is long or
   short, all will be well with all who are trusting in the Lord Jesus
   Christ! Even though we have to pass through the Valley of the Shadow of
   Death, we will fear no evil, for He will be with us. His rod and His
   staff shall comfort us! And when we get to Heaven, we will tell the
   angels that "the hand of the Lord" was upon us in the morning of our
   days when we gave our young hearts to the Lord! That His hand was upon
   us in the noontide of middle life while we were toiling for Him with
   all our might! That His hand was upon us in the afternoon helping us
   still to gather the precious grain into His garner, and that His hand
   was upon us, as it was upon Ezekiel, in the evening! As the Lord God
   walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, so will He be with
   us in the evening of our lives! And though we must go to bed and sleep
   in the tomb, we shall awake in His likeness and then shall we be
   satisfied--and His hand shall

   still be upon us in the morning--that morning which will be to us
   without mourning, that day which shall never have a night--that
   blessedness which shall last forever! God grant that this may be the
   portion of each one of us, for His dear Son's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM92.

   Verse 1. It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing
   praises to Your name, O Most High. It is good in itself. It is good for
   those who hear it, but it is especially good for our own hearts to give
   thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto the name of the Most
   High. Sometimes when we are very heavy in spirit, if we would take care
   not to defraud the Lord of the revenue of praise that is due Him, we
   should find that the readiest way to bring comfort to ourselves is to
   sing praises unto His holy name. Brother and Sisters in Christ, it is
   not very notable work to praise God when all things go well with us--it
   is far grander work to praise Him when everything seems to be against
   us! It is because the nightingale sings by night that he has such
   excellence among the birds. And if you and I can praise God in the
   dark, then we shall find that it is a good thing for ourselves to give
   thanks to the Lord and to sing praises unto the name of the Most High.

   2. To show forth Your loving kindness in the morning, and Your
   faithfulness every night [See Sermon #1138, Volume 19--

   MORNING AND EVENING SONGS.] Begin the day by setting forth the

   Lord's loving kindness. It was His loving kindness that watched over
   you when you lay unconscious and defenseless and could not, therefore,
   protect yourself. It was His loving kindness that drew wide the curtain
   of the night, that touched your eyelids and awakened you out of that
   sleep which was the image of death and bade you look out upon the
   rising sun. Therefore take the key of the morning to open the day, and
   let it be the golden key of praise! Show forth the Lord's loving
   kindness in the morning.

   And when night comes again, let us then sing of God's faithfulness. We
   have experienced it through another day, let us praise Him for it. Now
   we see how He has borne with us, pardoned us, preserved us, supplied
   our needs and continued to educate us throughout another day. Let us,
   therefore, praise and bless His holy name and so close the day and
   commit ourselves to sleep again under His Divine protection.

   3. Upon an instrument often strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the
   harp with a solemn sound. Under the old dispensation, instrumental
   music seemed more congruous than it does now with the spiritual worship
   into which we have been introduced. If we must ever have instrumental
   music in our worship, let it be the same--the very same as David had.
   And then I, for one, though I should still think it we going back to
   the old dispensation long since superseded, would put up with it! I
   could never get much further than that, I think, for what instrument is
   there that is equal to the human voice? What music can be compared with
   it? All other sound is but the poor attempt of man to rival the
   creation of his God--but the human voice is full of charming melodies
   and harmonies! And if it is controlled by a true heart, there is
   nothing like it even to our ears, while it seems to me that it must be
   far more acceptable to God than the product of mere mechanism.

   4. For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work: I will triumph
   in the works of Your hands. There is a blessed verse to come from the
   heart and mind of a happy man who is praising God and who looks on all
   the works of the Lord in Creation, Providence, and Redemption--and
   makes them all the subject of his joyous song!

   5. O LORD, how great are Your works! And Your thoughts are very deep.
   There is little that we know of the thoughts of God except as we gather
   them from His works or learn them from His Word, "for what man knows
   the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so
   the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God." It is by Divine
   Revelation that we must know the thoughts of God--and the more we know
   of them, the more shall we realize that they are very deep.

   6. A brutish man knows not; neither does a fool understand this. He
   looks at Nature and as he sees its varied operations. He observes
   certain eternal laws, as he calls them, but he does not see the power
   at the back of those laws which makes the laws potent for the
   government of the world! No, he lives and walks where God has displayed
   His power to the fullest, yet he fails to see Him! It would be a
   strange proceeding for anyone to go into an artist's house and look at
   his pictures and his sculptures and yet never to think of him--but this
   is what the brutish man does with regard to the works of God, and with
   regard to God Himself!

   7. When the wicked spring as the grass--Numerous, fresh, vigorous--

   7. And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they
   shall be destroyed forever That is the end to which they will surely
   come, no matter how much they boast, nor how they grow and flourish
   till they seem like the grass in the meadow, to cover everything so
   that you can go nowhere without seeing them! Yet "they shall be
   destroyed forever."

   8. But You, LORD, are Most High forevermore. The Psalmist began by
   calling the Lord, Most High, and now he says that He is "Most High
   forevermore." Yes, this is our joy that God never passes away--He
   abides forever. Myriads of the ungodly have come and gone. Empires of
   wickedness have risen to great power and in due time have passed away
   like dreams--but we can still say, with the Psalmist, "You, Lord, are
   Most High forevermore."

   9. 10. For, lo, Your enemies, O LORD, for, lo, Your enemies shall
   perish as the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn have
   You exalted like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh
   oil [See Sermon #1649, Volume

   28--FRESHNESS.] The Believer, though he is very weak in his own

   consciousness, and utterly insignificant in his own esteem, shall
   receive fresh power from God! And when the wicked melt away, he shall
   grow stronger and stronger.

   11. My eyes shall also see my desire on my enemies, and my ears shall
   hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. The translators
   put in the words, my desire. In both cases they are printed in italics
   to show that they are not in the original. No doubt the Psalmist means
   that his eyes should see the end of his enemies and his ears should
   hear of their total overthrow.

   12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like
   a cedar in Lebanon. The palm tree flourishes amidst the desert
   sunshine, growing straight upright towards Heaven without a branch that
   deviates to the right or the left and bearing its great masses of fruit
   as near Heaven as ever it can! It is a fine type of Christian life and
   growth and fruitfulness! A Christian should also be "like a cedar in
   Lebanon," firmly rooted in his appointed place and defying the winter's
   snows which threaten to bury him out of sight.

   13. Those that are planted in the House of the LORD shall flourish in
   the courts of our Lord. Like trees planted in the courtyard, screened
   and protected, such are true Believers! God is their defense and they
   are screened within the court of the Lord's House.

   14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat
   and flourishing. When Christians decay, they shall still be fruitful.
   They shall not feel as so many others do, that their age is a cure--it
   shall be to them a blessing, ripening them for eternity, and it shall
   be a blessing to all by whom they are surrounded.

   15. To show that the LORD is upright: He is my rock. Can each one of
   you say that concerning the Lord, "He is my rock, my foundation, my
   refuge, my shelter"?

   15. And there is no unrighteousness in Him. Say that when you have lost
   the dearest one you ever knew! Say that when your property has melted
   like the hoar frost in the morning. Say that when every bone in your
   body is aching and some fell disease is hastening you to an early
   grave! "There is no unrighteousness in Him." How long have you known
   Him? If it is 70 years, or more than that, He has never been unfaithful
   to you, nor allowed a single promise of His to fail! Write this down as
   the testimony of the experience of all God's people, "There is no
   unrighteousness in Him."
     __________________________________________________________________

The Sea! the Sea! the Wide and Open Sea!

   (No. 3291)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON BEHALF OF THE BRITISH AND
   FOREIGN SAILORS' SOCIETY.

   "The sea is His, for He made it: and His hands formed the dry land."
   Psalm 95:5.

   THIS Psalm exhorts us to sing joyfully unto God. Whether we contemplate
   the land or the sea, there will be found upon them both abundant
   reasons for adoring the great Creator. Some, I know, as they walk upon
   the land, can no more praise Him than if it were one vast desert of
   Sahara--and yet the earth is full of His goodness--it is as a garden
   yielding not only food for man and beast, but lovely and fragrant
   flowers! Forest and field, mountain and plain alike sing out the
   praises of the Lord! Nor is the sea less rich in excitements to worship
   the Lord our Maker. Ignorant persons regard the sea as a dreary waste
   of waters. In the olden times, our home-loving forefathers were
   desperately afraid of the sea and looked upon it as a devouring
   monster. It was a "melancholy ocean" to them--a place of constant
   sorrow and sudden death--they shuddered as they thought of it. But,
   indeed, to him who is rightly taught, the sea is full of beauty! Its
   every wave is lit up with splendor--the sea is the Lord's, for He made
   it! You see then, that both on the land and on the sea adoration is in
   its place. Praise is never out of season at any time and worship is
   never foreign in any land. It matters not whether we travel over sand
   or snow, or how we are tossed about on Arctic or tropical sea--we are
   still in the pasture of the Great Shepherd, and within the palace of
   the Great King. Praise the Lord from the earth and let dragons and all
   deeps join in the Psalm. "Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof;
   the world, and they that dwell therein."

   At this time I shall ask you only to think of the sea. I could far more
   easily preach upon this text if I were standing in one of my delightful
   haunts by the Mediterranean, looking over its blue waters, hidden away
   in the cleft of a rock, with the spray at my feet. Then, I think, I
   should not coldly read the words, but clap my hand, as I cried with my
   heart, "The sea is His, for He made it." Here we are, however--stranded
   on this white-clifed island and banished from the fresh sea breezes to
   this huge Babylon of bricks where men appear to forget God since they
   see so little of His world and so much of their own! Let us try, if we
   can, to transport ourselves to the wide and open sea and as we gaze all
   around and see nothing but the rolling waves, let us sing--

   "He formed the deeps unknown,

   He gave the seas their bound.

   The watery worlds are all His own,

   And all the solid ground."

   There is no need for any labored division in our sermon tonight. Our
   first one will be that God made the sea. And the second will be that
   therefore it is His. And the third shall come out of the next verse--He
   is therefore to be adored. "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us
   kneel before the Lord our Maker!"

   I. Our first thought is that GOD MADE THE SEA.

   Somebody made it and who else could have made it but God It is not
   often that you find a seafaring man who is an atheist. Addison tells us
   of a time when he was aboard ship and there was a passenger on deck who
   was an infidel. He was reported to the captain as an atheist and
   neither he nor the sailors could make out what sort of a strange fish
   that might be--and so asked him what he meant. They were told that he
   did not believe in a God. A storm coming on, the men proposed that they
   should pitch him overboard seeing he did not believe in God Almighty!
   But he was soon cured of his unbelief, for, when things looked
   threatening, the first person who was down on his knees crying for
   mercy in great terror was the precious atheist, who soon got rid of his
   atheism when he felt in danger of his life! A little while ago, a
   Christian

   minister crossing to America was walking the deck with a gentleman who
   called himself an atheist. It was a very bad night and the vessel had
   to steam on in the teeth of a head wind. It would have been fatal to
   let her drift. The captain said, "We cannot keep any watch, we must
   drive ahead, and if we run into an iceberg, there's an end of us." Our
   friend, who believed in God, hearing this, said that he should turn in
   and go to sleep. His companion declared that he could not think of
   doing any such thing--he should not like to die in his sleep--and so he
   would walk the deck, rough as it was. All night long he who had no God
   was cold and wet with watching, fretting and worrying because he was
   afraid he should die, while my friend slept sweetly and rose in the
   morning fresh as a lark! Coming on deck, he accosted the philosopher,
   "What? Have you not turned in?" "No, no." He was miserable, he was
   unhappy. "Why," said the Believer, "I trust in my heavenly Father and I
   fell asleep, and I feel quite refreshed. What good have you got by
   staying here?" "I must confess," said the other, "you Believers have
   the best of it when you get to sea." Yes, and assuredly we have the
   best of it on land, too! We have the best of it in health, in sickness,
   in death--and we shall have the best of it forever!

   God made the sea, and the prints of His hands are still to be seen.
   Skillful persons can tell that a picture is by a certain artist by its
   style. It is not everybody that can judge well, but a man skilled in
   art knows the touch of each painter's brush. "That is Rembrandt," cries
   the artist, "he alone could produce such lights and shadows! And the
   other is by Sal-vator Rosa--I know the master's hand." He also who has
   sought out the works of the Lord and has pleasure therein, knows the
   great Father's style. The same sublime mind which gave us the Holy
   Scriptures also ordained the channels of the deep. I am absolutely sure
   that He who reveals the secrets of the soul is He in whose hands are
   the deep places of the sea. His commandment is exceedingly broad, even
   as the main ocean--and of His Divine Grace we are compelled to cry, "O
   the depth!" even as when we sound the Atlantic!

   I will not go into the question tonight, but there are wonderful points
   of likeness between the Word and the work of the Almighty. The sea is a
   mystery of waters and Scripture is sometimes obscure--but yet the sea
   shines like a mirror and in Scripture we see the Lord as in a glass!
   The Bible has its most terrible storms and its calms most restful--it
   is full of life, even as the sea nourishes innumerable creeping things,
   both small and great beasts. It is full of power, even as the sea moves
   in the fullness of its strength. There is a certain peculiar light of
   its own within the Word, as if it were all sun and flame, even as at
   times the waters are a liquid light and the waves shine as with ten
   thousand stars! The wisdom, goodness, power and infinity of God are all
   to be seen in the ocean by those who have opened eyes. He who knows God
   can see His hand in the scales of every little fish. If he takes up a
   five-finger or a crab, he perceives a master hand in the fashioning of
   its smallest members! If you take a beautiful needle, however admirably
   polished, and put it under the microscope, you say to yourself, "A man
   made this," for it looks like a rough bar of iron--the microscope
   discovers its lack of finish. But if you take a frill of seaweed, or
   the eye of a shrimp, and put these under the glass, you exclaim at
   once, "No man ever made this! No man could have made it. It is
   perfection!" I shall not go into further details, but I am sure that he
   who is acquainted with the works of God sees at once that the sea is
   God's creature--and in its ever-changing sameness, in its awe-inspiring
   majesty, in its tremendous force, unsearchable mystery, its waves and
   caverns, its calms and storms--it tells of an invincible hand, an
   unsearchable mind!

   God made the sea--you can mark His wisdom there. Philosophers tell us
   there is just as much water in the sea as there ought to be, and no
   more. Perhaps if there were twice as much sea as we now have, we should
   not be able to live-- and if there were any less, the world would
   become too dry for human habitation. The land and water balance each
   other to an ounce and a drop--there can be neither more nor less.
   Permanent and fixed are the relations and proportions of matter.
   Substances may change their combinations, but of the elements, the same
   amount must abide till all things pass away. That the sea is salt and,
   therefore, does not corrupt. That it is moved with tides and,
   therefore, does not stagnate. That it evaporates and, therefore, does
   not increase so as to drown the earth, are all instances of Divine
   Wisdom. If its waters were more or less salt than they are, many fishes
   would die and the floating power of the ocean would change. There is a
   relation between the size of the ocean and the balancing of a dewdrop
   upon its blade of grass--a proportion between a hurricane and the
   dancing of a gnat in the summer's sun. The more we study the sea the
   more shall we say, "Your way, O Lord, is in the sea and Your path in
   the great waters."

   And certainly no man can deny the power which thunders across the
   billows. What tremendous force is there displayed! "The floods have
   lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods
   lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of
   many waters, yes than the mighty waves of the sea." When one has seen
   the damage

   the sea has worked upon our coasts, the way in which the hardest rock
   has been worn away--when one has sadly watched a huge boat tossed to
   and fro like a plaything and when one has heard how the largest vessels
   are caught in a cyclone and whirled away like feathers--one bows upon
   his face before the Almighty Lord who rules the sea! And yet God's
   goodness is there as well. The sea is a great benefactor! Where were
   the clouds, and where the rains, and where our harvests, if it were not
   for the ocean? The sea feeds myriads with its fish and enriches many
   more by its commerce. It was once thought to divide nations, but now it
   has been the highway by which they communicate--a silver belt by which
   all lands are bound to one another! England, above all nations, has
   reason to see the goodness of God in the sea. Perhaps we had not even
   remained a nation if the silver streak had not separated us from the
   continent. Most probably we had not been a free nation, or a Protestant
   nation, if the Lord had not bid the waters encompass us--

   "O Britain, praise your mighty God,

   And make His honor known abroad!

   He bade the ocean round you flow,

   Not bars of brass could guard you so." May God inspire British hearts
   with gratitude to Him for setting old England like a queen in the midst
   of the sea where she laughs at the tyrant's power!

   Every attribute of God shines in the sea although the more spiritual
   and precious are but dimly seen, these being reserved to be manifested
   in Christ Jesus the Lord, before whose feet the sea crouched in
   reverence! Perhaps even those attributes will be discovered to be there
   in some degree when our eyes shall be strengthened to see the Glory of
   the Lord in all His works. Till then we will listen to the sea and
   think of it as an--

   "Impassioned orator with lips sublime,

   Whose waves are arguments which prove a God." God made the sea. I
   delight to reflect upon this fact, for it brings us so very near to
   God. Yonder at our feet are the blue waves which He has created. You
   have certain treasures which you value greatly because they were made
   by a dear friend, and you say, "Whenever I look at them I seem to feel
   him near." Thus do God's works make us feel that He is not far from us.
   Mungo Park, in the deserts of Africa, had his heart cheered by taking
   up a little bit of moss and reflecting that God made it, and that the
   Creator had been there and was there, watching over the tiny green
   thing! Come, then, my Friend, and stand by the sea and say to yourself,
   "The sea is His, for He made it. Here is something that my heavenly
   Father made. He has left His footprints on these waves. He is still
   here and His power works forever." The palpitating heart of the sea,
   with it perpetual tide, tells of God's present life. Its alternate
   advance and retreat at His bidding prove His present majesty, for He
   says, "To here shall you come, but no further."

   I trust many of my seafaring friends have often felt near to God when
   alone upon the vast deep. God is in Ratcliff Highway, but it is
   uncommonly hard to find Him. We could find fifty devils there in five
   minutes, sooner than find a trace of God--for there is the den of the
   drunkard, there is the foul haunt in which men are robbed and
   ruined--the house of the strange woman, of which Solomon says, "the
   dead are there, and her guests are in the depths of Hell." Far out at
   sea the sailor is free from the danger of falling tiles and
   chimney-pots when the wind is blowing. And he is also free from many a
   temptation which besets him on shore. Often, I have no doubt, when you
   have been alone, watching at night, pacing the deck to and fro and
   looking up to the bright stars, you have thought, "God is very near me
   now." I remember, when going to Hamburg, I stood at night with the
   captain upon the quarter-deck and suddenly a light seemed to rush down
   the mast and light up the rigging and the whole ship in such a manner
   as I never saw before. For an instant the vessel seemed to be on fire,
   and then the light was gone! "What is that?" I asked. "What is that?"
   he said, for neither of us knew--but we felt awe-struck. Seafaring men
   meet with them often--strange things that we "land lubbers" never dream
   about! "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in
   great waters; these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the
   deep." God seems to come very near to those who are on the waters. When
   the wind howls and the sea booms, the noise would suffice to drown a
   thousand volleys of artillery. "The voice of the Lord is upon the
   waters: the God of Glory thunders: the Lord is upon many waters." When
   men mount up to Heaven and go down again to the deep, then is God
   present to them and they cry unto Him in their trouble. The sea has
   often forced men to exclaim--

   "Great God, how infinite are Thee!

   What worthless worms are we!"

   The fact that God made the sea should make us feel more confidence in
   venturing upon it. We may trust ourselves upon the King's highway! We
   may go where Jesus went, and where the Lord reigns--"The Lord sits upon
   the flood; yes the Lord sits King forever." As "all things work
   together for good to them that love God," there is nothing left to work
   for evil. The sea cannot destroy those whom God would preserve. Even if
   the sea in its tempestuous mood should take away our lives, what will
   it do but waft us to the gates of Heaven? It is as well to go to Glory
   by water as by land-- perhaps drowning is an easier death than expiring
   with broken bones or torturing pains. You who are about to emigrate to
   Australia or to America and are feeling dreadfully troubled tonight at
   the thought of the terrible sea, should be of good courage. Your Master
   went to sea and His disciples went with Him--they, too, were tossed
   with tempest, and yet their vessel and the other little ships which
   sailed on the billows of dark Galilee were safe! Our Master, who is
   Lord High Admiral on the seas, brought all the fleet into harbor safe
   and sound! He has not given up His rank, or lost His power, and He will
   save all who sail under His convoy. No tempest or tornado shall wreck a
   soul that is in His charge!

   This ought to make us feel at rest as to those who lie buried beneath
   the waves. I have heard it said by one or two whom I have known, "I
   would not have minded, Sir, if they could have found the body." I
   suppose there is something natural about that regret, but I do not
   greatly sympathize with it. The sea is God's own--and blessed are they
   who lie in God's most sacred sleeping place, where no spade of sexton
   shall ever disturb their bones! Where can any of us lie better than
   where "pearls lie deep"? What myriads are there already! When the
   trumpet of the Resurrection sounds, the sea must give up her dead and
   myriads will stand upon the waves, as on a sea of glass, to be judged!
   And full many of them will rise to their eternal thrones from the
   caverns of the mighty main! God has but to speak it, and though the
   bodies may have been devoured by fish, or dissolved into their separate
   atoms by the perpetual beating of the surf, yet when He speaks it,
   frames shall be refashioned, life shall come back at His call and our
   dead men shall live, and in their flesh shall they see God, who, before
   they died, had learned to say, "I know that my Redeemer lives."

   Do not be distressed by the fear of dying at sea. You must die
   somewhere. Do you know the old story of the man who asked a captain if
   he was afraid to go to sea? "I am not," said the mariner, "why should I
   be?" "Look at the danger," said the landsman. "How did your father
   die?" "He died at sea" "How did your grandfather die?" "He was lost at
   sea." "And your great-grandfather?" "Yes," he replied, "I have heard
   that he, too, was drowned at sea" "Surly then, you are afraid to go to
   sea?" "No," said the captain, "I am not. Where did your father die?"
   "He died in his bed" "And where did your grandfather die?" "He died in
   his bed." "And where did your great-grandfather die?" "As far as I
   know, he also died in his bed." "And yet you are not afraid to go to
   bed!" There is good, sound reason in such a view of the matter. We
   shall not die before our time. Our lives are in the Divine Hands. You
   may well smile at my tale and I hope you will keep a gleam of that
   pleasant look for the next time death stares you in the face--and then
   say to yourself, "Be still, my Heart. If my time has come, I will
   commit my spirit into the hands of a faithful Creator and feel that if
   I sink, I shall drop into my Father's hands, for He holds the waters in
   the hallow of His hands." Thus much upon that first point--God made the
   sea

   II. Our second point is, GOD OWNS THE SEA--"The sea is His, for He made
   it." He owns it by right of creation. It is not everything that a man
   makes that is his own. Many tradesmen are occupied in making divers
   articles which when they have made them, belong to their masters. But
   that is because the materials are found for them. God made the sea out
   of nothing--there were no materials ready to His hand to make this
   world of--His own Omnipotence spoke it into existence! He filled the
   sea from His own treasury, the liquid stores were His own. There is not
   in the sea at this moment a single wave that anybody made but God, and
   all the constituent elements of it were created by Him, and by Him
   only. Therefore He claims the sea from shore to shore, and who shall
   question His title? Not only did He own it once, but He owns it now--He
   has never handed over the ocean to any people or nation! David said,
   "The sea is His," and it is still God's. It always will be His sea!

   But the sea is man's. God evidently meant us to go to sea because when
   He made man, almost the first thing He said was that He made him to
   have dominion over the fish of the sea. And I do not see how we can
   have dominion over the fish of the sea if we never go to sea at all.
   There are the fish, thousands of miles from the shore, and if no
   mariner shall ever cross the deep, what dominion can we be said to have
   over "the fish of the sea and whatever passes through the paths of the
   seas"? He made man to be a fisherman as well as to be a farmer. He
   meant him to plow the waves as well as to plow the shore! In fact, our
   present race all sprang from one whose huge vessel was the cradle of
   the new race. Man owns the sea

   but still, the sea is God's. Man is God's viceroy, but God is the true
   King. Man is tenant under God and should pay the quit-rent of
   reverential gratitude and adoration, for the freehold of the sea
   remains with the Lord. There may be a victory in India or in Ireland,
   but India and Ireland are still the Queen's--and so man may have
   dominion over the fish of the sea but it is a delegated
   Sovereignty--the sea is still the Lord's.

   Old ocean does not belong to Neptune, as the heathen used to say.
   Father Neptune is an idle dream! The idolaters parceled out the various
   kingdoms among their deities--one should rule the heavens, another the
   clouds, another the earth and another the sea--but we know that there
   is only one God. The sea is Jehovah's--not Neptune's.

   Though we sometimes sing, "Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves,"
   the words are not true! Jehovah rules the waves--not Britannia! There
   is a sense in which the patriotic song expresses a great truth--and I
   have not a word to say against it--but we all know that we may be on
   board Britannia's biggest ship of war, but the Union Jack cannot save
   us in the time of tempest! Jehovah must then interpose and bid the
   billows sleep. "The sea is His, for He made it."

   I sometimes feel very glad when I look at the sea and think that it
   belongs to the great and generous God and not to greedy man. Here upon
   land, every foot of earth is enclosed by somebody and jealously guarded
   from trespassers. The village had a breezy common upon which a poor man
   might at least keep a goose--but the great folks could never rest till
   every inch was put within hedges and made their own. You can scarcely
   walk anywhere without being met by, "Trespassers, Beware." Mountains
   and hills which everybody ought to be allowed to climb without leave,
   are fenced in and kept from all intruders. Men fight for years over a
   yard of ground that is my lord's, and this is my lady's, and this is
   copyhold of the manor. "The Heaven, even the Heaven of heavens, is the
   Lord's, but the earth has He given to the children of men"--and they
   scramble for it and divide it among themselves! No such greed can
   appropriate the sea. The free sea cannot be parceled out, nor hedged,
   nor ditched, nor walled! It has no lords of the manor, but remains free
   and unappropriated forever! "The sea is His, for He made it." According
   to law, a few miles from the shore the sea belongs to the country which
   borders on it, but once reach the main ocean and nationalities are
   forgotten. The sea is neither English nor French, Dutch nor American.
   No ship is a trespasser there! No one ever thought of impounding stray
   whales for going out of their owner's fields. The pastures of the deep
   are for all fish--they may feed where they will, from shore to shore.

   "The sea is His," and this begets in you a joyous sense of liberty, as
   though for once you were beyond bounds and, like a sea bird, feared no
   cage or fowler's snare. Oh, for a bound from billow to billow of the
   unpolluted main, where sail of man has never been seen, or voice of
   blasphemy ever heard! Who can hinder our liberated spirit as it dances
   on the wave, or dives beneath it? May we always wear that free spirit
   about us, even in these huddled homes and narrow streets! Let us not be
   grasping, mean, narrow--let us not hedge in all things unto ourselves,
   but desire that others may share in our blessings! May we have
   largeness of heart as the sand which is on the seashore and greatness
   of love comparable to the immeasurable sea!

   "The sea is His." Then this sentence puts all other claimants out of
   court. The sea is the Lord's and, therefore, He ought to be reverenced
   on it. Hush! Hush! What are you doing, Man? Swearing at God on His own
   sea! Stop till you get on land--and when you reach the shore, stop till
   you can find a place where God is not near you, for to swear at Him to
   His face is madness! Will you insult God on His own sea? No, surely. If
   the sea is His, you will mind what you are doing. When a man is out in
   the street, when he wanders about as he pleases, he may often take many
   liberties. But if he is invited to a friend's house, he does not like
   to be to boisterous and noisy, but minds his manners. If any of us were
   invited to dinner with the Queen, I am sure we should feel quite
   nervous, and ask of our friends, "Jack, how do you behave when you go
   into a palace? What is the way of doing it?" You would all be anxious
   to be proper and well-behaved. On the sea it seems to me that you
   should be particularly careful of what you say and do for you are on
   God's premises! In as much as He can hear you think--mind what you
   think about! On the sea you are inside God's House--be holy, then--"for
   holiness becomes His House forever." There is the Throne of the Great
   King and around it is a pavement of crystal! I mean the glassy sea and
   you sailors should think of yourselves as God's courtiers--permitted to
   come very near Him, and to behold more of His Glory than any other men!
   Oh that you may be led to think of your position in this light!

   I wish you would think highly of your honorable calling. When a man
   thinks that his calling necessitates his being wicked, he is sure to be
   wicked. But when he judges that he is under obligation to be holy,
   perhaps he will desire to be so and God's Grace will help him to be so!
   Ho, you who do business on God's own sea--fly away from His royal
   domain if you resolve to rebel against Him! Do not dare to sin to His
   face! But where shall you go? If you take the wings of the morning and
   fly to the uttermost of the sea you are still within His courts!

   There is yet another view of the matter. The sea is the Lord's and,
   therefore, I may confess my sin to Him when I am out on the oceanand He
   will hear me, for He is there! I may weep the tear of penitence and He
   will see me, for God is there! Out at sea I may cry, "My Father," and
   He will hear His child! Brother, you may find Jesus at sea for He was
   at home on the waves and a companion of seafaring men! The Lake of
   Galilee was familiar with His voice and saw His answer to the prayer,
   "Lord, save, or I perish!" The sea around you waits to hear you pray
   and to see God's wonders on the deep!

   Something calls for a repetition of that, "hush," which I gave just
   now, in the thought that "the sea is His," for God reveals Himself
   through the sea--therefore gaze with awe! I have not the slightest
   doubt that many a man has learned much of God on the ocean, although as
   yet he knows not the Redeemer and His salvation. I wish every sailor
   would daily read the Bible, which is our chart to Heaven, but many who
   have neglected that blessed Book, have found lessons of warning, yes,
   and lessons of hope in the rolling waves. O hear the voice of God in
   the storm! Be warned as you escape from the jaws of death! Have hope as
   you cling to the rock! The sea is God's--take care that when you fly
   over its hallowed surface, you read Jehovah's Book, bow before His
   Throne, trust in His Son and offer continual thanksgiving to

   Him!

   It seems to me that as the sea is God's, then sailors should be His,
   too, or they are trespassers. A man feeds his own sheep in his own
   pastures, and would not God have His own mariners on His own sea?
   Moreover, if God owns the sea because He made it, He owns you, because
   He made you, too! You are His creature and by all the rights of
   Creatorship you belong to Him. He claims you--will you dispute the
   claim? I would not like to think of you as a blot upon the fair face of
   the ocean. God is looking over all the waters and seeing the white
   sails and the smoking funnels that even now are passing from shore to
   shore. And He is saying, "The sea is all Mine, but those men who breast
   the storm are not Mine. I preserve them, but they never think of Me. I
   have sent salvation to them, but they will not hear it. The fish and
   the bird know their seasons, but man rebels against Me." I cannot bear
   to think that it should be so. I long for the day when every ship upon
   the sea shall be an ark and every sailor a Noah!

   What are some of you sailors doing? Why, there are many of you whom I
   would trust with anything--I would not count my gold, but trust you
   with my purse--I am so sure that you would bring it back safely. You
   hate dishonesty and would not tell a lie. You speak out bravely and
   fear no man, and yet some of you rob God! You pay your debt to
   everybody most freely, but not to your Maker! You owe Him most, and yet
   think of Him least! Is not this wrong? See that child? They say he is
   very good to the servants and to strangers, but he always puts on a
   scowl when he sees his father, for he cannot stand him. Would you like
   to be the father of such a child? Yet you are like he. You are capital
   fellows on board a ship, capital men on shore, too, when you get among
   your families--and yet toward God you act shamefully! May the Spirit of
   God lead you to feel that you are wrong--and when you feel it, may you
   have Grace to tack about and steer for another point!

   A little while ago, a vessel picked up a man far out at sea in an open
   boat. He was unconscious. The oars were lying by his side and he had
   evidently drifted from off the beach, carried by a current right away
   from help. I wonder whether any man here is drifting right away--out of
   sight of land, drifting on and on! Ah, Jack, when you were a boy, you
   went with your mother to the little chapel in the village. Do you
   recollect that you were in the Sunday school? You loved to worship with
   your mother, who is now in Heaven, but you went away from home and you
   went away from God, too! You have been pretty nearly round the
   world--do you remember the places where you have landed only to plunge
   into sin? Oh, you forget, do you? I must tell you, then, that God did
   not forget and your own conscience does not forget, for the stain is on
   your soul today. You have drifted, drifted, drifted. How long is it
   since you read a chapter of the Bible? How long since you bowed your
   knees in prayer? You have drifted very far out. I wish this full-rigged
   ship of mine, which has just come within sight of you, might pick you
   up. At any rate, I hail you from this quarterdeck, and if you are not
   quite unconscious, I hope you will hear the call. Poor shipmate, we
   would like to get you up the ship's side! Some of my crew will be after
   you in the boats, directly, for there are true hearts here that love to
   rescue the perishing. If one of them comes alongside, just know that he
   is a friend and that he comes in the name of Jesus, "mighty to save."
   May the Lord Jesus come, Himself and put out His hand to some sinking
   Peter, and save him from a watery grave! Amen.

   I wonder where the training ship, "Atalanta," now is? Where are the
   other vessels which have been missed so long? We have reason to fear
   that they are lost! Fine vessels and yet lost! Hundreds on board and
   all lost! We cannot bear to think of it. If they are lost, it will be
   of no use to go after them--the swiftest vessel cannot overtake them
   and the sharpest lookout will never see them. They are beyond hope. But
   what a mercy it is that you are not! If it had not been for the mighty
   hand of God last voyage, you would not only have been lost at sea, my
   Friend, but lost forever! To be lost at sea, if the soul is safe, is
   but a small calamity--but to lose the soul is to lose all--it were good
   for that man that he had never been born! Blessed be God, you are not
   in Hell yet! You are not shut out from mercy yet! Jesus Christ still
   flies the mercy-signal and His servant still cries to you, "Come, come,
   come to Jesus! Come and welcome, come and put your trust in the
   Savior." May His gracious Spirit lead you to do so! Remember, wherever
   you are, on whatever sea you may sail, the sea is His. His Grace
   reaches to the uttermost. The shipwrecked soul is still within the
   reach of mercy! If God does but lead it to cry to Him out of the lowest
   depths, He will hear the voice of supplication!

   III. I now invite you to the third and concluding point, "O COME, LET
   US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN." You of the land, and you of the sea, let us
   together worship the Lord our God! It is no new work for one of us, for
   our life is spent in worship, but oh, if it is a new thing with any man
   here, I would gently take him by the hand and say, "Come, Friend, let
   us worship and bow down, let us do it together. You are a Sinner--so am
   I. You have no merits and I have none. If ever you are saved, it will
   be by Grace, alone, and so it will be in my case. Jesus must be your
   only hope, and He is mine. 'O come, let us worship.'"

   Have you never worshipped God? Then sit still in the pew and do it.
   Say, "My God, You have made me, teach me how to worship You." Shall I
   stop a minute while you ask pardon for Jesus' sake?

   (Pause.)

   This is the last thing I have to say. I recollect a man, an old sailor,
   who had been a great blasphemer. He was a regular old salt, but there
   was no salt of Divine Grace in him, for he hated religion. He heard the
   Gospel. The Lord brought him to his knees, broke his heart, gave him
   deep conviction of sin and afterwards led him to look to Christ and
   trust Him and find salvation. When this weather-beaten mariner came
   forward to join the Church, he said, "I am come to get on the register,
   for I have got a new Owner. I used to carry the black flag at the
   masthead and there was not a timber in me but what belonged to the
   devil. I carried many a cargo and sailed over many a sea for him, but
   now I belong to Jesus from stem to stern, and I want to run up the
   blood-red flag of Christ, who has bought me for His own. I want you to
   register me under my new Owner and let me sail with those who belong to
   Him." We were glad enough to register him in the Church-Book. The first
   point is to get the Owner, the Lord Jesus, and then to acknowledge Him
   before all the world.

   You Christian sailors, wherever you go, show your flag! A dear man of
   God, a captain, was baptized here last Thursday night and he told me
   that 20 or more of his crew were converted on the last voyage out. He
   said, "We cannot make Christians of them, but we give them an
   opportunity every day of hearing the Gospel and, blessed be God, many
   have found the Savior." Captains, mind you look to your crews--and
   don't have their blood on your skirts through your neglect! If you are
   not captains, if you have any influence at all, carry the Gospel
   wherever you go. I believe if you are nothing but a cabin boy you can
   speak a word for Jesus Christ if you have Jesus Christ in your hearts!
   And then others will say, "Why, that boy shames us, for he loves the
   Savior!" Though they may scoff at you and pretend to despise you, it
   will make a hole in their consciences, depend upon it! If you drop a
   lighted match down anybody's neck, he may say it is a small bit of
   timber and laugh at it, but he will know it is there before long! If
   you get on fire with the love of God. If you are placed in the company
   of others, you may be very small and despised, but they will soon
   discover the heavenly flame! Only you must mind that you are really
   alight and that the true fire is in your spirit--for an empty
   profession will only make religion a mockery! God bless you and bless
   the Society! (A voice--"Amen!") You said, "Amen." Well, there is to be
   a collection and so I hope you will carry out your amen in a practical
   way and bless the Society by contributing to it as you are able.
     __________________________________________________________________

The Almighty Warrior

   (No. 3292)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   FEBRUARY 18, 1866.

   "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Most Mighty One, with Your Glory
   and Your Majesty. And in Your Majesty ride prosperously because of
   truth and meekness and righteousness: and Your right hand shall teach
   You terrible things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's
   enemies; whereby the people fall under You." Psalm 45:3-5.

   [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, upon verse five, is #3039, Volume
   53--THE KING'S SHARP ARROWS.]

   THIS Psalm has been thought by some to be a marriage song for Solomon
   on the occasion of his wedding with the daughter of Pharaoh. It may be
   so, though I should be very loath to believe it. But even if that
   should be true, we will find in the Psalm a distinct reference to the
   Lord Jesus Christ, and to His marriage union with His Church. Under the
   Mosaic dispensation, when a man had married a wife, he was not to go
   out to war for a year, but when the Lord Jesus Christ entered into a
   marriage union with His people, that very union made it necessary that
   He should wage war on their behalf. He had to meet all their spiritual
   foes in terrible conflict--the Prince of Darkness and all the powers of
   evil set themselves in array against Him--and we know how He fought
   with them, overcame them and trampled them beneath His feet as the
   treader of grapes crushes the purple clusters in the winepress. And
   now, even though in Heaven, He is in a state of rest. Yet here, as the
   Head of the Church Militant, His mystical body, He is still warring
   against sin, struggling most strenuously to drive sin out of the world
   and to make the earth His own dominion wherein He shall reign in
   righteousness and peace.

   The prayer of the Psalmist, as we have it in our text, is also a most
   suitable petition for us to present. We desire to stir up our almighty
   Champion to go forth to the war against evil. How gloriously He went
   forth with His first disciples in the brave days of old! They rode
   forth to battle and to death under His leadership, but it was to
   victory, too, in those glorious times of conflict and conquest. But we
   seem to have fallen upon days of peace--that false peace which arises
   from stagnation, lethargy and death. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we
   have need to cry mightily to the great Captain of our salvation to gird
   His sword upon His thigh, to order His great war chariot to be brought
   to the front, again--that He may again ride forth to battle with all
   His attendant hosts--that His enemies may know that His power is as
   great as ever it was in the ages that are gone! While I am speaking
   upon the text, I trust that all Believers here will turn it into a
   prayer and that while you are praying, God will give you the answer and
   bless the message to the salvation of sinners-- which will be a true
   victory for Christ!

   I am going to invite your attention, first, to the armed Warrior
   Secondly, to His filled chariot And thirdly, to His victory won.

   I. So, first, I ask you to think of THE ARMED WARRIOR--"Gird Your sword
   upon Your thigh, O Most Mighty One, with Your Glory and Your Majesty."

   Then Christ has a sword. What is it? Certainly not the sword of which
   soldiers and princes are proud, for it was concerning that kind of
   sword that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up again your sword into its
   place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
   It was concerning that sort of weapon that Jesus said to Pilate, "My
   Kingdom is not of this world. If My Kingdom were of this world, then
   would My servants fight." Christ could truly say that the weapons of
   His warfare were not carnal, but that they were mighty through God to
   the pulling down of strongholds. His was not

   the kind of fighting that needs sword and spear and shield and buckler
   such as the world's warriors use. His wrestling was "not against flesh
   and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
   rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wilderness in
   high places." The main weapon which Christ wielded was "the Sword of
   the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

   The Psalmist prayed, "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh." But in the Book
   of the Revelation we read concerning Christ, "out of His mouth went a
   sharp two-edged sword." You know how constantly Jesus quoted the
   Scriptures in resisting Satan's temptations or the assaults of His
   human adversaries. "It is written," was His unanswerable argument at
   all times. This sword, which Christ wields, is not made of steel to cut
   heads, or arms, or legs--it is the sword of the Truth of God to pierce
   the hearts and consciousness of sinners. It is said to be
   sharp--"sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
   asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
   discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." No other sword
   wounds as the Sword of the Spirit does! It wounds so that none but God
   can heal. You may bring it down upon a heart that is harder than a
   millstone, but its edge will never be turned and it will cut the stone
   in two. It is a sharp, wounding sword--and it is a killing sword.
   Wherever it goes, it kills sin, cuts iniquity in pieces, slays
   self-righteousness and destroys the infirmities of the flesh! This
   sword is also "two-edged." A sword with only one edge to it has a blunt
   back, but there is no blunt back to the Sword of the Spirit--it has a
   front stroke and a back stroke--in fact, it cuts all ways and every
   part of it is keen as a razor's edge! Promises, precepts, Doctrines,
   threats are all sharp and penetrating--there is no part of the Word of
   God that is ineffective to produce the result for which it was given.

   Notice that the Psalmist prays, "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh." The
   Bible is not your Bible or mine, alone. It is God's Bible, it is
   Christ's Bible, it is the Holy Spirit's Bible. Truth is no monopoly--it
   is not the priest's truth--it is the people's truth! It is everybody's
   truth, but it is most of all Christ's truth. Why is it that the Word of
   God is Christ's sword? Surely it is because that Word tells us about
   Him--He is the text of which the Bible is the sermon! The Bible is like
   a script pointing to Him and saying, "This is the way to Jesus Christ."
   Holy Scripture gives you a wardrobe full of choice garments and they
   all smell of myrrh and aloe and cassia because Christ has worn them!
   The Word of God is especially Christ's because He has used it and still
   uses it. My use of the Word or any other preacher's use of it will have
   very little effect unless Christ uses us as the instruments by which He
   shows what He can do with it. Someone looked at the sword of a famous
   conqueror and, after examining it closely, said, I do not see anything
   particular about it." "No," was the answer, "perhaps not, but if you
   could see the brawny arm that wielded it, you would understand why it
   is so notable." So is it with the Sword of the Spirit--this
   Divinely-Inspired Book--it may not seem to you as though it could work
   such wonders as it is continually doing, but if you could see the hand
   of Christ that wields that sword, then you would understand where the
   Glory and the Majesty of the Truth of God are found--and where it
   derives its power to convince and convert the sons of men!

   The Psalmist's petition is, "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Most
   Mighty One." When a soldier intends to use his sword, he puts it where
   he can easily get at it. He hangs it by his side so that he can readily
   draw it from its scabbard when he needs it either for attack or
   defense. So the prayer of our text means, "Lord, use Your Word! Put
   power and energy into the Truth as it is proclaimed." The preaching of
   a sermon may be like the drawing of a sword from its scabbard, yet it
   will not be really effective until Christ puts His hand to the work!
   The soldier's sword kills nobody until he grasps its hilt with a firm
   grip and deals the deadly blow with it. Here is the Sword of the
   Spirit, like some ancient weapon hanging on the wall of an old castle,
   but O You blessed King of kings, will You not take it in Your almighty
   hand and prove again what You can do with it? Right and left will You
   not cut and thrust with it and so get to Yourself a glorious victory
   over all the powers of evil? Ah, Sinner, if Christ shall send His Word
   home to Your heart, you will soon perceive that is a very different
   thing from what it is when we poor mortals only preach it in your ears!
   When we blow the Gospel trumpet at Ear-Gate, you take no notice. But if
   the Prince Emmanuel shall bring the great battering ram of His Cross up
   to Heart-Castle and smite it, blow after blow, the posts will rock, the
   bars will snap, the gate will fall and the Prince will ride in and
   reign forever over the soul that He has won by His Grace--as long ago
   He bought it with His blood! Oh, that He would do it this very night!

   Notice the title that the Psalmist gives to the Almighty Warrior--"Gird
   Your sword upon Your thigh, O Most Mighty One." Christ is not only
   mighty, but He is most mighty. There have been mighty men in prayer,
   but He is the

   most mighty Advocate with His Father on His people's behalf. There have
   been mighty preachers of the Word, but "never man spoke like this Man."
   There have been many friends of sinners, but there has never been such
   a Friend of sinners as Jesus is! Your sins are mighty to destroy, but
   He is more mighty to save. I will grant you that your passions are
   mighty-- that is positive! I will grant you that they are more mighty
   than you are--that is comparative! But Jesus is most mighty to overcome
   them and that is superlative! The superlative might of the love of
   Christ as exhibited in His death upon the Cross is infinitely greater
   than the positive and comparative might of our actual sin--and the
   depravity of our nature. May He prove Himself most mighty in winning
   many of you unto Himself!

   The Psalmist not only prays to the Lord to gird His sword upon His
   thigh, but he also adds, " with Your Glory and Your Majesty.." Did you
   ever see Christ in His Glory andHis Majesty? I know that you have never
   seen Him thus unless you have first seen yourself in your degradation
   and shame. There, where the poor broken-hearted sinner lies prostrate
   in the dust, feeling himself to be less than nothing, the great
   Conqueror comes in His Glory and Majesty, and says to him, "I am Your
   salvation. I have loved you with an everlasting love and laid down My
   life that I might save you." You remember how John Bunyan pictures
   Prince Emmanuel's entry into Mansoul after He had captured it from
   Diabolus?--"This was the manner of going up there. He was clad in His
   golden armor. He rode in His royal chariot, the trumpets sounded about
   Him, the colors were displayed, His ten thousands went up at His feet
   and the elders of Mansoul danced before Him." They might well rejoice
   at His coming in Glory and Majesty to take up His abode in their midst,
   and to prove to them how fully He had forgiven their rebellion now that
   they had repented of their sin and accepted Him as their rightful Lord
   and Savior! So will it be with all here who welcome Christ into their
   hearts and no longer yield allegiance to the Prince of Darkness!

   II. Having thus shown you the armed Warrior, I am now going to bid you
   look upon THE FILLED CHARIOT-- "And in Your Majesty ride prosperously
   because of truth and meekness and righteousness."

   The Eastern monarch stood erect in his war chariot and rode forth in
   great splendor in the midst of his troops. To my mind, the preaching of
   the Gospel is the chariot of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel itself
   is His sword and the preaching of the Gospel, the distribution of the
   Word, by which Christ is made known to the sons of men, may be likened
   to His chariot of salvation! This chariot appears to have four wheels
   or, if you like, you can call them the four milk-white steeds that draw
   the Gospel chariot. Their names, according to our text, are Majesty,
   Truth, Meekness and Righteousness. These are the four supports of the
   Gospel, or the four motive powers by which the Gospel of Christ is
   brought into the hearts of sinners!

   The power of the Gospel lies first, then, in the Majesty of Christ.
   Sinner, Jesus Christ, the Son of Mary, is also the Son of God, who
   could truly say, "I and My Father are One." He who died on Calvary's
   Cross is the King of kings and Lord of lords! That very Man who cried
   in agony, "I thirst," is the Almighty God who holds the waters in the
   hollow of His hand! Does not this move you to trust Him? The Majesty of
   Christ ought to win not only your admiration, but also your affection.
   He whose face was more marred than that of any other man, was the One
   of whom Isaiah said, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
   The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Oh, does
   not this fact melt your heart and woo and win you to Him, that He,
   against whom you have sinned, should have suffered for your sins and
   borne the curse and penalty that were due to you? Surely the Majesty of
   Christ should lead you to trust Him!

   Then, the next wheel of the chariot, or the second of the noble steeds
   drawing it, is Truth. Sinner, the Gospel which is preached to you is
   true! Whatever there is in the world that is false, this certainly is a
   positive fact--"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." It
   is also true that He will receive you if you come to Him--come and
   trust Him and see if He will not welcome you! It is true that He can
   forgive the blackest offenses and that He does forgive all who
   sincerely repent of their sin and trust in His atoning Sacrifice. It is
   true that He can uproot sin from the heart, make the unholy holy, and
   cause the disobedient to become obedient to God's commands! This is not
   a matter of conjecture on our part-- it is no guesswork, no dream of an
   excited imagination--many of us have proved the sanctifying power of
   the Doctrines of the Cross and we, therefore, urge you to prove this
   for yourselves so that the Truth of the Gospel may commend itself to
   you.

   The next wheel or steed of the chariot is Meekness. Jesus said, "Learn
   of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." It is no proud Savior who
   invites you to come to Him! Let me remind you working men that Jesus
   Christ belonged to your rank in life and probably toiled at the
   carpenter's bench with Joseph, the husband of His mother, Mary. He was
   no domineering aristocrat, looking down with contempt upon men and
   women in a lower stratum of society. The Lord says concerning Him, "I
   have exalted One chosen out of the people." He is the people's Christ.
   [See Sermon #11, Volume 1--the

   PEOPLE'S CHRIST.] He is a condescending Savior who took little

   children up in His arms and blessed them, and said, "Allow the little
   children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the
   Kingdom of God." Notwithstanding all His Glory and Majesty, He disdains
   not the poor and needy, and His ears are always open to the cry of the
   humble and contrite! He takes pity upon the prisoner, He hearkens to
   the wail of the sorrowful, He has respect unto the broken in heart and
   is always tender and compassionate to any who seek His aid. Surely this
   meekness of the Savior must commend the Gospel to you!

   Then the fourth wheel--or the fourth steed if you prefer that
   metaphor--is Righteousness. O Brothers and Sisters, what a righteous
   Savior Jesus is and what a righteous Gospel His Gospel is! A man might
   well fall in love with the Gospel for this reason, if for no
   other--that it sets forth so clearly the Majesty of Divine Justice. God
   determined to save sinners, yet He would not save them at the expense
   of justice. He delights in mercy, but He would not indulge even His
   darling attribute to the detriment of His righteous Law! Christ gave
   His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the
   hair. He hid not His face from shame and spitting. He yielded up His
   hands and His feet to the cruel nails, His body to indescribable pangs
   and His soul to agonies so terrible that He cried, "My soul is
   exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death." He bore--

   "All that Incarnate God could bear, With strength enough but none to
   spare"--

   in order that He might fully vindicate the justice of God.
   Righteousness well completed the number of the wheels of the chariot of
   salvation, or the steeds that draw that chariot wherever God wills it
   to go! May they, by His Grace, draw it just where you are, poor Sinner,
   and may that same Grace compel you to enter that chariot, that you may
   ride in it to everlasting Glory!

   But dear Friends, a Gospel without Christ is like a chariot without a
   rider in it--and of what use is an empty chariot? In the front of the
   chariot of the Gospel stands Jesus Christ in all His Glory and His
   Majesty! I wish that all preachers would always remember this. Some of
   them seem to me to preach the Doctrines of the Gospel, and others of
   them proclaim its precepts--and in that way they bring out the chariot,
   but there is no rider in it! They have left out the Christ who is its
   Chief--indeed, its only Glory! But whatever else the preacher may
   forget, he should never forget his Master, but always give Him His
   rightful place. He should say to his Lord as the Psalmist said to
   Jerusalem, "If I forget you, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I
   do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof my mouth." What
   is there for any man to preach about if he leaves Jesus Christ out of
   his sermon? A discourse without Christ in it is delusion and a sham--a
   mere playing with immortal souls, a mockery both of God and man! Jesus
   Christ and Him Crucified should be the Alpha and the Omega of every
   sermon! Even if the preacher is not preaching Christ directly, he ought
   to be preaching Him indirectly, proclaiming the Truths of God in such a
   way that it shall either draw the sinner or else drive him to the heart
   of Christ! In the chariot of our ministry I hope that we all, without
   hesitation, say that Jesus Christ rides in His Glory and in His
   Majesty.

   But, although Christ may thus ride in the chariot of our teaching, He
   must always be there in His Omnipotent might and in the power of the
   ever-blessed Spirit. So I want you who love Him to pray the Psalmist's
   prayer, "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Most Mighty One, with Your
   Glory and Your Majesty. And in Your Majesty ride prosperously because
   of truth and meekness and righteousness." There is a fine old Welsh
   hymn which I wish I could turn into English without spoiling it--it
   runs somewhat to this effect--"O Jesus, come forth! Leave the ivory
   palaces! Your chariot waits for You, Come forth, come forth! Hell
   trembles before You, all Heaven adores You, earth owns Your sway, men's
   hearts cannot resist You. Come forth, come forth! Bars of brass You
   break, gates of iron give way before You; come forth, come forth, O
   Jesus for Your chariot awaits You now!"

   III. Now we are to close with our third head, THE VICTORY WON. "Your
   right hand shall teach You terrible things. Your arrows are sharp in
   the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under You."

   Many representations of Eastern monarchs picture them not only as
   wearing a sword upon the thigh when riding in the great war chariot,
   but also as bearing a battle bow. And the artists, wishing to flatter
   their royal masters, represented the king's arrows as going right
   through the hearts of the king's enemies! Our Almighty Warrior has a
   sure

   aim--He never misses the heart at which He shoots His arrows! That same
   Gospel which is like a two-edged sword is, in another aspect, like
   sharp arrows shot from the bow of a mighty archer. Arrows, you know,
   can do nothing until they are shot. The arrow is useless without the
   bow--and the bow, itself, is useless without the hand and arm of the
   man who bends it and speeds the arrow to the mark he wants to hit! It
   used to be said of William the Conqueror that no man in England except
   himself could bend his bow--and so is it with the bow that belongs to
   our Great Conqueror--no one but He can bend it. When He fits the arrows
   to the string and draws the bow with His Almighty hand, the missile
   flies with irresistible force and buries itself in the heart at which
   the King took such unerring aim!

   I take it that these arrows are not so much intended to represent the
   whole Bible as certain texts out of the Bible-- sharp arrow from the
   quiver of Revelation. Sometimes one arrow will be shot and sometimes
   another, but they are all sharp. Have you, my Hearers, ever felt the
   pang that goes through the heart when one of these sharp arrows strikes
   it? So long as it lasts, there is no pain as keen as that produced by
   conviction of sin! And there is no cure for that pain except from that
   very hand which shot the arrow that caused it!

   These arrows are spoken of in the plural because while there are arrows
   of conviction, arrows of justice, arrows of terror, there are also
   arrows of mercy, arrows of consolation. While there are arrows that
   kill sin, there are also arrows that kill despair, which also is a
   sin--and as there are arrows that smite and slay our carnal hopes, so
   there are other arrows that effectually destroy our sinful fears. And
   all these arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies--there is
   not a blunt one in the whole quiver.

   Notice that all these arrows belong to the King. It is to the "Most
   Mighty" that the Psalmist says, "Your arrows." The Truth of God never
   comes home to our heart and conscience until the Holy Spirit convinces
   us that it is God's Truth. There are some Doctrines in the Scriptures
   which many are unwilling to accept as Divine although they are very
   clearly revealed in the Word and they are Truths which God has over and
   over again blessed to the salvation of souls. People have often said
   that the Doctrine of Election ought not to be preached lest it should
   prove to be a stumbling block in the way of sinners coming to Christ,
   yet I can testify that we have had scores of souls brought to the
   Savior and added to this Church through sermons upon Election,
   Predestination and those other great Truths of God in which many of us
   believe and rejoice! They are certainly among the sharp arrows of our
   King!

   Observe, too, where the King's arrows go. They all pierce the heart.
   "Your arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies." Some of
   you have been struck by an arrow in your head. Well, that would kill
   you if it were literally an arrow--but the King's arrows, when they
   metaphorically strike the head, that is, when there is a merely
   intellectual assent to the Truth of the Gospel, are not effective as
   they are when they enter the heart. Some of you have been struck by
   these arrows in your legs--that is to say you have gone limping
   upstairs to pray for a little while, yet there has been no such killing
   work as there is when the King's arrows pierce the heart. When they
   strike the sinner there, they inflict a mortal wound, for out of the
   heart are the issues of life. O Lord, smite the sinners heart! Kill his
   old life and give him a new life! Slay him as Your enemy, but cause him
   to live as Your friend! Shoot Your arrows right through the heart that
   loves sin and hates You, the heart that loves drunkenness, that loves
   lust, that loves Sabbath-breaking, that loves evil in any form! Kill
   that heart, O Lord, and then give a new heart and a right spirit!

   Let me remind you that there is a time coming when Christ will go forth
   to war with all His armor on--that is the time of which we read in the
   Revelation, "out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it, He
   should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron. .
   .In righteousness He does judge and make war." It will be a terrible
   thing for all who are the enemies of the King in that day! His arrows
   will indeed be swift and sharp to slay them. Do not long for that day
   to come, you unconverted ones, for to you it will be a day of darkness
   and not of light! It will be a dreadful day for those of you who have
   despised and rejected the Christ of God when He shall fit His sharp
   arrows to the string, draw the bow and pierce you to the heart. Where
   will you flee from the glance of His all-seeing eyes? Up to the
   loftiest mountains His shafts shall fly after you! In the trackless
   deserts, in the densest forests, far out upon the mighty ocean His
   arrows shall find you out! Try not to flee from Him, but flee to Him!
   If a man wanted to shoot me with a bow and arrow, I would try to clasp
   him in my arms and hold him to my heart, for how could he shoot me
   then? Close in with Christ in this fashion! Run not from Him, but run
   to Him and clasp Him to your heart and never let Him go!

   If you yield to Christ, you will find that He will no longer be angry
   with you. He is loving and gracious and He delights to welcome
   penitents to His heart. Oh that He might receive you this very hour! He
   will if you only trust Him and then you will see Him riding in His
   chariot in quite another fashion. Perhaps at first you will be afraid
   of Him and ask, "Lord, what have You come here to do?" And He will
   reply, "I have come to kill your sins with My sharp arrows." One after
   another He will fit them to His bow and shoot at all He means to slay.
   He will kill your profanity. He will kill your self-righteousness. He
   will kill your self-trust. All of those will be pierced through and
   through by His unerring darts! Then He will shoot at your pride and
   kill it, outright, and make you humble as a little child. He will shoot
   at your love of the world. He will shoot at all your pleasures which
   are not holy pleasures. He will shoot at every lust and every evil
   propensity within you--and down they will fall-- everyone slain by His
   sharp arrows and blessed will it be for you when they are all slain!
   Who would wish to spare any one of these King's enemies? Rather rise up
   and help the King to slay them! Surely you will give no quarter to
   those that are your foes as well as His!

   Finally, Sinner, trust the Savior. He died for sinners, bearing their
   sins in His own body on the tree. He died for all who trust Him--and
   they who trust Him shall find Him faithful and true! And He shall bring
   them Home to His Father's House to dwell with Him forever! Oh, that all
   of us might be in that blessed company! God grant it for Jesus' sake!
   Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM103.

   Verse 1. Bless the LORD, O my soul--Come, my Soul, wake up, bestir
   yourself, for you have a great work to do! Such work as angels do
   forever before the Throne of God on high!

   1. Andall that is within in me, bless His holy name. [See Sermons
   #1078, Volume 18--THE SAINTS BLESSING THE LORD and #2121, Volume
   36--THE KEYNOTE OF THE YEAR.] Let no power or faculty exempt itself

   from this blessed service! Come, my memory, my will, my judgment, my
   intellect, my heart--all that is in me is to be stirred up by His holy
   name to magnify and bless. "Bless the Lord, O my soul," for the music
   must begin deep down in the center of my being--it must be myself, my
   inmost self that praises God!

   2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. This
   shall be the first note of our grateful song, "We love Him because He
   first loved us." We have not to go abroad for materials for
   praise--they are all around us at home. "Forget not all His benefits"
   to you, my Soul! His overwhelming, His innumerable benefits, which have
   to be summed up in the gross as "all His benefits," forget them not!

   3. Who forgives all your iniquities. Come, my Soul, can you not praise
   God for forgiven sin? This is the sweetest note in our song of
   praise--"Who forgives all your iniquities," not merely some of them!
   The blessed Scapegoat has carried the whole mass into that "No man's
   land" where they shall never be found!

   3. Who heals all your diseases. He is the Physician who can heal you,
   my Soul. Your diseases are the worst diseases of all, for they would
   drag you down to Hell if they remained unhealed! But He "heals all your
   diseases."

   4. Who redeems your life from destruction. O my Soul, praise God for
   redemption! If you cannot sing about anything else, sing of "free Grace
   and dying love." Keep on ringing "those charming bells."

   4. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. What? Can
   you wear such a crown as this, which is made up of loving kindness and
   tender mercies, and yet not bless Him who put it upon your head? Oh,
   let it not be so, but let us, each one, break forth in spirit in Mary's
   song, "My soul does magnify the Lord."

   5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is
   renewed like the eagle's. This is heavenly feasting on heavenly fare!
   There is Divine satisfaction to be derived from the finished work of
   the Lord Jesus Christ! O my Soul, pray to God to give you this
   satisfying food so that your youth may be renewed, so that your wing
   feathers may grow again, that you may mount as eagles do! Surely, dear
   Friends, this little list of mercies, though such a short one,
   comprises an immensity of mercy far beyond utmost comprehension! Let us
   bless the Lord for it all.

   6. The LORD executes righteousness and judgment for all that are
   oppressed. Let the poor and the down-trodden praise the Lord who so
   graciously takes care of them! He is the Executor of the needy, and He
   is the Executioner of those that oppress them!

   7. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of
   Israel Therefore let us bless the God of Revelation who does not hide
   Himself from His creatures, but who makes known both His ways and His
   acts unto His chosen

   people. An unknown God is not a praised God, but when He reveals
   Himself to His people, they cannot refrain from blessing His holy name!

   8. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in
   mercy. Praise Him for all this! At every mention of any one of His
   Divine attributes let your hearts beat to the music of praise.

   9. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever
   Therefore let the afflicted praise Him, let the downcast and the
   despondent sing praises unto His holy name! If they cannot sing because
   of anything else, let them bless the name of the Lord that He will not
   keep His anger forever!

   10. He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according
   to our iniquities. Let us all thank God that we are not in Hell and
   that we are yet on praying ground and on pleading terms with Him--and
   some of us can praise Him that we shall never come into Hell, for He
   has saved us with an everlasting salvation! Truly, if we did not bless
   Him, every timber in this building and every iron column that supports
   this roof would burst out in rebukes for our ingratitude!

   11. For as the Heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy
   toward them that fear Him. Look up to the blue sky. Try to imagine what
   is beyond the stars and then say to yourself, "So great is His mercy
   toward them that fear Him"--and try to praise Him as He deserves to be
   praised.

   12. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
   transgressions from us. Let us therefore praise Him for such boundless
   loving kindness and tender mercy!

   13. Like as a fatherpities his children, so the LORDpities them that
   fear Him. [See Sermons #941, Volume 16--the tender

   PITY OF THE LORD; #1650, Volume 28--GOD'S FATHERLY PITY and #2639,
   Volume 45--OUR HEAVENLY FATHER'S PITY.] He has an infinitely tender he;
   t. He never strikes without regret, but His love always flows most
   freely. No earthly father or mother is half as full of pity as God is
   to His children.

   14. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust Our bodies
   are just animated dust and our souls are so weak and feeble that even
   they might be compared to dust in His sight--not iron or granite, but
   simply dust. What men call "the laws of Nature" are so stern that it is
   a wonder that men live as long as they do, for earthquakes and
   tornadoes and volcanoes are found that no man can bind! And when so
   many men are constantly crossing the sea it is a wonder that so many of
   them ever come to land again.

   15. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he
   flourishes. You are like the primrose by the river's brink, or the
   buttercup and the daisy in the meadow that is mown with the scythe.
   That is all we mortals are--not mighty cedars, not solid rocks, but
   just flowers of the field or as so much grass!

   16. For the windpasses over it, and it is gone; and theplace thereof
   shall know it no more. The hot winds of the East blow over a meadow and
   it is immediately burned up. Even in the South of France, when the
   Sirocco has blown across from Africa I have seen the fairest flowers
   look in a short time as if they had been burned with hot iron--and such
   are we when pestilence, as we call it, comes. It is but a breath of
   poisonous wind and we are soon gone.

   17. But--This is a blessed, "but"--

   17. The mercy of the LORD--That is not a fading flower, that is not a
   withering wind! "But the mercy of the

   Lord"--

   17. Is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His
   righteousness unto children's children-- Here are innumerable mercies
   all enclosed in the one mercy of the Lord! Everlasting mercy, Covenant
   mercy. If we do not praise God whenever we think of the Covenant of
   Grace, what are we doing? We must be possessed by a dumb devil if we do
   not praise Him whose mercy "is from everlasting to everlasting upon
   them that fear Him."

   18, 19. To such as keep His Covenant, and to those that remember His
   commandment, to do them. The LORD has preparedHis throne in the
   heavens; andHis kingdom rules over all Now, children of the King, will
   you go mourning all your days? You who dwell in the light of His
   Throne, will you not be glad? Rejoice, O Believer, for your King lives
   and reigns forever!

   20. Bless the LORD, you His angels, that excel in strength, that do His
   commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word. "Bless the Lord,
   you His angels." We cannot do it well enough, yet, so help us, you
   angels, "that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening
   unto the voice of His word." Your actions are our praises, O you mighty
   angels of God! Oh, that we had learned to do His commandments as you do
   them! We are praying for this, "Your will be done in earth, as it is in
   Heaven."

   21. Bless you the LORD, all you His hosts; you ministers of His, that
   do His pleasure. All living things and all the forces and powers of
   Nature are calling upon men to praise the Lord! And we cry to all the
   hosts of God, the ministers of His, that do His pleasure, "Bless you
   the Lord."

   22. Bless the LORD, all His works in all place of dominion: bless the
   LORD, O my soul While all these glorious anthems are ascending to
   Heaven, I must not be silent! But I, too, must praise the Lord with my
   whole heart--"Bless the Lord, O my Soul."
     __________________________________________________________________

"The Blood of the Testament"

   (No. 3293)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to
   the Law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and
   scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all his
   people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God has
   enjoined unto you." Hebrews 9:19,20.

   [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, upon verse 20 is #1567, Volume 26--THE
   BLOOD OF THE COVENANT.]

   Blood is always a terrible thing. It makes a sensitive mind shudder
   even to pronounce the word. But to look upon the thing, itself, causes
   a thrill of horror. Although by familiarity men shake this off, for the
   seeing of the eyes and the hearing of the ears can harden the heart,
   the instinct of a little child may teach you what is natural to us in
   reference to blood. How it will worry if its finger bleeds ever so
   little--shocked at the sight, even if there is actually no pain! I envy
   not the man whose pity would not stir to see a sparrow bleed or a lamb
   wantonly put to pain. And as for the cruel man, I shudder at the
   thought of his depravity. What exquisite pain it must have caused our
   first parent--how keenly it must have touched the fine sensibilities of
   their nature--to have had to offer sacrifice! Probably they had never
   seen death until they brought their first victim to the altar of God.
   Blood! Ah, how they must have shuddered as they saw the warm life-fluid
   flowing forth from the innocent victim. It must have seemed to them to
   be a very horrible thing and, very properly so, for God intended them
   to feel their feelings outraged. He meant them to take to heart the
   anguish of the victim and learn, with many a shudder, what a
   destructive and killing thing sin was! He meant them to see before
   their eyes a commentary upon His threat--"In the day that you eat
   thereof you shall surely die." He meant Adam and Eve to witness the
   harrowing appearance as the sentence upon sin was executed, stabbing at
   the very heart of life, convulsing all the frame, sealing up the senses
   and leaving behind but a wreck of the beautiful creature and not a
   relic of happiness for it in the world. How dreadful must have been the
   spectacle when the first pair gathered around the corpse of their
   second son, slain by his brother! There were the clots of blood on the
   murderous club, or the sharp stone, or whatever other instrument Cain
   may have used in smiting his brother to the grave. How they must have
   mourned and sighed as they saw the precious crimson of human life
   wantonly poured out upon the ground and crying to God against the
   murderer!

   Yes, blood is always a ghastly and a terrible thing. It is so, I
   suppose, because we recognize in it the destruction of life. Is it not
   so, also--though we may not be able to define the emotion--because we
   are compelled in our consciences to admit the effect of sin and we are
   staggered as we see what our sin has done? All through the great school
   of the Jewish Law, blood was constantly used to instruct the Israelite
   in the guilt of sin, and in the greatness of the atonement necessary
   for putting it away. I suppose that the outer court of the Jewish
   Temple was something worse than ordinary shambles. If you will read the
   lists of the multitudes of beasts that were sometimes slain there in a
   single day, you will see that the priests must have stood in gore and
   have presented a crimson appearance--their snow-white garments all
   splashed over with blood as they stood there offering sacrifice from
   morning till night! Every man who went up to the tabernacle or to the
   Temple must have stood aside for a moment, and have said, "What a place
   this is for the worship of God! Everywhere I see signs of slaughter."
   God intended this to be so. It was the great lesson which He meant to
   be taught to the Jewish people, that sin was a loathsome and a
   detestable thing--and that it could only be put away by the Sacrifice
   of a great life, such a life as had not then been lived--the life of
   the Coming One, the life of the Eternal Son of God who must, Himself,
   become Man that He might offer His own immaculate life upon the altar
   of God to expiate the guilt and put away the filth and the
   loathsomeness of human transgression!

   Some of you will feel sickened at these reflections and object to what
   I have already said as unworthy of my lips and offensive to your ears.
   I know who these will be--the creatures of taste who have never felt
   the loathsomeness of sin! Oh, I would that your sins would sicken you!
   I would to God that you had some sense of what a horrible thing it is
   to rebel against the Most High, to pervert the laws of right, to
   overthrow the rules of virtue, and to run into the ways of
   transgression and iniquity, for if blood is sickening to you, sin is
   infinitely more detestable to God! And if you find that being washed in
   blood seems awful to you, the great bath which was filled from Christ's
   veins in which men are washed and made clean is a thing of greater and
   deeper solemnity to God than any tongue shall be ever able to express!

   I do not think anyone ever knows the preciousness of the blood of
   Christ till he has had a full sight and sense of his sin, his
   uncleanness and his ill desert. Is there any such thing as truly coming
   to the Cross of Christ until you first of all have seen what your sin
   really deserves? A little light into that dark cellar, Sir--a little
   light into that hole within the soul, a little light cast into that
   infernal den of your humanity and you will soon discern what sin is!
   And, seeing it, you would discover that there was no hope of being
   washed from it except by a Sacrifice far greater than you could ever
   render. Then the Atonement of Christ would become fair and lustrous in
   your eyes and you would rejoice with unspeakable joy in that boundless
   love which led the Savior to give Himself a ransom for us, "the Just
   for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." May the Lord teach
   us--thundering at us, if necessary--what sin means! May He teach it to
   us so that the lesson shall be burned into our souls and we shall never
   forget it! I could gladly wish that you were all burden-carriers till
   you grew weary. I could gladly wish that you all labored after Eternal
   Life until your strength failed, and that you might then rejoice in Him
   who has finished the work and who promises to be your All-in-All when
   you believe in Him and trust in Him with your whole heart!

   Looking carefully at the text, I would have you notice the name given
   to the blood of Christ, the ministry in which it was used and the
   effect that it produced.

   I. First, observe THE NAME GIVEN IN THE TEXT TO THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. It
   is said to be, "THE BLOOD OF THE TESTAMENT."

   You are aware, perhaps, you who read your Bibles thoroughly, that the
   word here rendered, "testament," is more commonly rendered, "covenant,"
   and although it would be wrong to say that it does not mean,
   "testament," yet it would be right to say that it signifies both,
   "covenant" and, "testament," and that its first and general meaning is
   "covenant."

   Let us take it so. The blood of Jesus is the Blood of the Covenant.
   Long before this round world was made, or stars began to shine, God
   foresaw that He would make man. He also foresaw that man would fall
   into sin. Out of that fall of man, His distinguishing Grace and
   Infinite Sovereignty selected a multitude that no man can number to be
   His. But, seeing that they had offended against Him, it was necessary,
   in order that they might be saved, that a great scheme or plan should
   be devised by which the Justice of God would be fully satisfied, and
   yet the mercy of God should have full play. A covenant was therefore
   arranged between the Persons of the blessed Trinity. It was agreed and
   solemnly pledged by the oath of the Eternal Father that He would give
   unto the Son a multitude whom no man could number who should be
   His--His spouse, the members of His Mystical Body, His sheep, His
   precious jewels. These the Savior accepted as His own, and then on His
   part, He undertook for them that He would keep the Divine Law, that He
   would suffer all the penalties due on their behalf for offenses against
   the Law and that He would keep and preserve every one of them until the
   day of His appearing. Thus stood the Covenant and on that Covenant the
   salvation of every saved man and woman hangs. Do not think it rests
   with you, Soul, for what says the Scripture? "It is not of him that
   wills, nor of him that runs but of God that shows mercy." He said to
   Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
   compassion on whom I will have compassion." To show you that salvation
   is not by human merit, God was pleased to cast it entirely upon
   covenant arrangements. In that Covenant made between Himself and His
   Son, there was not a word said about our actions having any merit in
   them! We were regarded as though we were not, except that we stood in
   Christ and we were only so far parties to the Covenant as we were in
   the loins of Christ on that august day. We were considered to be the
   seed of the Lord Jesus Christ, the children of His care, the members of
   His own body. "According as He has chosen us in Christ before the
   foundation of the world." Oh, what Grace it was that put your name and
   mine in the eternal roll and provided for our salvation, provided for
   it by a Covenant--by a sacred pact between the Father and His Eternal
   Son, that we should belong to Him in the day when He should make up His
   jewels!

   Now, Beloved, in a covenant there are pledges given--and on those
   pledges we delight to meditate. You know what they were. The Father
   pledged His honor and His word. He did more--He pledged His oath and,
   "because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself." He pledged
   His own word and sacred honor of Godhead that He would be true to His
   Son, that He should see His seed and that by the knowledge of Him,
   Christ should "justify many." But there was needed a seal to the
   Covenant--and what was that? Jesus Christ in the fullness of time set
   the seal to the Covenant, to make it valid and secure, by pouring out
   His life's blood to make the Covenant effectual once and for all.
   Beloved, if there is an agreement made between two men, the one to sell
   such-and-such an estate, and the other to pay for it, the covenant does
   not hold good until the payment is made. Now, Jesus Christ's blood was
   the payment of His part of the Covenant! And when He shed it, the
   Covenant stood as firm as the everlasting hills--and the Throne of God,
   Himself, is not more sure than is the Covenant of Grace! And, mark you,
   that Covenant is not sure merely in its great outlines, but also sure
   in all its details! Every soul whose name was in that Covenant must be
   saved! Unless God can undeify Himself, every soul that Christ died for,
   He will have! Every soul for which He stood Substitute and Surety, He
   demands to have--and each of the souls He must have, for the Covenant
   stands fast. Moreover, every blessing in that Covenant which was
   guaranteed to the chosen seed was, by the precious blood, made
   eternally secure to that seed! Oh, how I delight to speak about the
   sureness of that Covenant! How the dying David rolled that under his
   tongue as a sweet morsel! "Although my house," he said, "be not so with
   God"--there was the bitter in his mouth--"yet," he said--and there came
   in the honey, "yet He has made with me an Everlasting Covenant, ordered
   in all things, and sure." And this sureness, mark you, lies in the
   blood! It is the blood of Christ that makes all things secure, for all
   the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus, to the Glory of
   God by us!

   You will ask, it may be, "What is the purpose of this Doctrine?" Its
   purpose is this--To you who have believed in Jesus, Covenant mercies
   are sure, not because of your frames and feelings, but because of the
   precious blood of Jesus! Yesterday you were happy, perhaps, and today
   you are downcast. Well, but the Covenant has not changed! Tomorrow you
   may be in the very depths of despair, while today you are singing upon
   the top of the mountain--but the Covenant will not change. That august
   transaction was not made by you and cannot be unmade by you! It tarries
   not for man, and waits not for the sons of men. There it stands fast
   and settled, signed by the Eternal Signet, and your security is not in
   yourselves, but in Christ. If Christ bought you--if the Father gave you
   to Him, if Christ became a Surety for you, then--

   "Nor death, nor Hell, shall ever remove His favorites from His breast;
   In the dear bosom of His love They must forever rest!"

   The name of the blood, as we find it in our own translation, is "the
   blood of the testament" This teaches a similar Truth of God, though it
   puts it under another figure. Salvation comes to us as a matter of
   will. Jesus Christ has left Eternal Life to His people as a legacy.
   Here are the words--"Father, I will that they, also, whom You have
   given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My Glory." Now, a
   will, as the Apostle rightly tells us, has no power whatever unless the
   man who made it is dead. Hence the blood of Jesus Christ, the token of
   His death, gives validity to all the promises which He has made. That
   spear-thrust by the Roman soldier was a precious proof to us that our
   Lord was really dead. And now, Beloved, whenever you read a precious
   promise in the Bible, you may say, "This is a clause in the Redeemer's
   will." When you come to a choice word, you may say, "This is another
   codicil to the will." Recollect that these things are yours--not
   because you are this or that--but because His blood makes them yours!
   The next time Satan says to you, "You do not believe as you ought and,
   therefore, the promise is not sure," tell him that the sureness of the
   promise lies in the blood, and not in what you are or in what you are
   not! There is a will proved in Heaven's Court of Probate, whose
   validity depends upon its signatures, upon its witnesses and upon its
   being drawn up in proper style. The person to whom the property is left
   may be very poor, but that does not overthrow the will. He may be very
   ragged, but that does not upset the will. He may have disgraced himself
   in some way or other, but that does not make the will void. He who made
   the will and put His name to the will, makes the will valid, and not
   the legatee to whom the legacy was left. And so with you this Covenant
   stands secure, this will of Christ stands firm! In all your ups and
   downs, in all your successes and your

   failures, you, poor needy Sinner, have nothing to do but to come and
   take Christ to be your All-in-All and put your trust in Him--and the
   Blood of the Covenant shall make the promises sure to you!

   This is a sweet topic. I have not time, however, to enlarge upon it,
   but I heartily commend it to your private meditations and trust you may
   find consolation in it.

   II. The blood which Moses called "the blood of the covenant" or, "of
   the testament," was of the utmost importance in the ministry of the
   tabernacle, for IT WAS SPRINKLED BY HIM EVERYWHERE.

   First, we are told that he sprinkled it upon the book Oh, how
   delightful this Bible looks to me when I see the blood of Christ
   sprinkled upon it! Every leaf would have flashed with Sinai's lightning
   and every verse would have rolled with the thunders of Horeb if it had
   not been for Calvary's Cross! But now, as you look, you see on every
   page your Savior's precious blood! He loved you and gave Himself for
   you, and now you who are sprinkled with that blood and have by faith
   rested in Him, can take that precious Book and find it to be green
   pastures and still waters to your souls!

   The blood was then sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat itself. Whenever you
   cannot pray as you would, remember that Jesus Christ's blood has gone
   before you and is pleading for you before the Eternal Throne of God.
   Like the good Methodist who, when a Brother could not pray, cried out,
   "Plead the blood, Brother!" Yes, and when you feel so unworthy that you
   dare not look up. When the big tear stands in your eye because you have
   been such a backslider and have been so cold in heart, plead the blood,
   my Sister--you may always come where the blood is! There you see that
   this sin of yours has been already atoned for. Before you committed it,
   Jesus carried it! Long before it fell from your heart, the weight of it
   had pressed upon the Redeemer's heart--and He put it away in that
   tremendous day when He took all the load of His people's guilt and
   hurled it into the sepulcher--to be buried there forever!

   Then the blood was sprinkled upon every vessel of the sanctuary. I like
   that thought. I like to come up to God's House and say, "Well, I shall
   worship God today in the power and through the merit of the precious
   blood! My praises will be poor, feeble things, but then the sweet
   perfume will go up out of the golden censer and my praises will be
   accepted through Jesus Christ! My preaching, oh, how full of
   faults--how covered over with sins! But then the blood is on it and
   because of that, God will not see sin in my ministry, but will accept
   it because of the sweetness of His Son's blood."

   You will come to the Communion Table tonight, most of you. But oh, do
   not come without the precious blood, for the best place of all upon
   which it was sprinkled was upon all the people. The drops fell upon
   them all! As Moses took the basin and scattered the blood over the
   whole crowd, it fell upon all who were assembled at the door of the
   Tabernacle. Have you had sprinkling with the precious blood, my Hearer?
   If you have, you shall live forever! But if you have not, the wrath of
   God abides on you! Do you ask how you can have the blood of Christ
   sprinkled upon you? It cannot be done literally, but faith does it.
   Faith is the bunch of hyssop which we dip into the basin and it
   sprinkles man's conscience from bad works. You say you have been
   christened, confirmed, baptized--but all these things together would
   not save one soul, much less all the multitudes who trust in them! They
   are not sufficient for the taking away of a single sin! But you always
   say your prayers, you have family prayers and you are very honest and
   so on! I know all this--but all these things you ought to have done and
   they will not make amends for what you have not done! All the debt that
   you have paid will not discharge those that are still due! Know you not
   that saying of the Scriptures, "by the deeds of the Law there shall no
   flesh be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of
   sin"? You may work your fingers to the bone, but you can never weave a
   righteousness that shall cover your nakedness before God! The only hope
   for the sinner is to come and cast himself upon what Jesus Christ has
   done for him--depending upon the groans, and agonies, and death of the
   martyred Savior who stood for us and suffered in our place, that we
   might escape the wrath of God!

   I hope that there is never a Sunday but what I teach this one Doctrine
   and, until this tongue is silent in the grave, I shall know no other
   Gospel than just this--Trust Christ and you shall live! The bloody
   Sacrifice of Calvary is the only hope of sinners! Look there and you
   shall find the Star of Peace guiding you to everlasting day! But turn
   your backs upon Christ and you have turned your back upon Heaven--you
   have courted destruction, you have sealed your doom! It is by the
   sprinkling of the blood, then, that we are saved. We must have the
   blood of Christ upon us in one way or the other. If we do not have it
   upon us to save us, we shall have it upon us to destroy us. "His blood
   be on us and on our children," said the Jews to Pilate in their
   madness--and the siege of Jerusalem was the answer to the cry! Worse
   than was the siege of Jerusalem to the Jews, shall be the death of
   those who do despite to the Spirit of Grace and despise the blood

   of Jesus! But happy shall they be who, giving up every other
   confidence, come to the Blood of the Covenant and put their trust
   there, for it shall not deceive them!

   III. THE EFFECT OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST claims our earnest
   attention--yet the minutes are few in which I can enlarge upon it.

   Whenever Jesus Christ's blood comes upon a man, the instantaneous
   effect is something more than miraculous. Before the application of
   Christ's blood, the man was distracted. His guilt and its consequent
   punishment weighed heavily upon him. "Alas!" he said, "I shall soon
   die, and then Hell will be my lot!" Oh, some of us will never forget
   when we were in that miserable, burdened state! I declare before you
   all that when I felt the weight of my sin, I wished that I had never
   been born! And I envied frogs, and toads, and the most loathsome
   creatures, and thought that they were so much better off than I,
   because they had never broken the Law of God, which I had so wickedly
   and so willfully done! If I went to my bed, I started with the fear
   that I should wake up in Hell. And by day the same dread thought
   distracted me--that I was cast off by God and must perish! But the
   moment that I looked to Christ--do not mistake me--the very same moment
   that I put my trust in Christ, I rose from the depths of despair to the
   utmost heights ofjoy! It was not a process of reasoning. It was not a
   matter which took hours and days--it was all done in an instant! I
   understood that God had punished Christ instead of me, and I saw that,
   therefore, I could not be punished anymore--that I never could be if
   Christ died for me--and I was assured that He did if I did but trust
   Him! So I did trust Him--with my whole weight I threw myself into His
   arms and thought, at the time, that He had never had such a load to
   carry before! But I found that He was able to save, even to the
   uttermost, them that came unto Him--and what joy and peace I had in
   that moment it is impossible for me to describe! And I thank God that I
   have never lost it. There have been time of depression. There have been
   seasons when the light of God's Countenance has been withdrawn. But one
   thing I know--Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--I am a
   sinner, and my soul rests alone on Him! And how can He cast me away,
   since His own promise is, "He that believes and is baptized shall be
   saved"? I have believed, by His Grace! I have been baptized as an
   avowal of my faith! And He is not true if He does not save me! But He
   must be true, He cannot break His word! O dear Friends, there are
   hundreds here who have passed through the same blessed experience and
   they can tell you that the blood of Jesus in an instant speaks peace to
   the soul!

   And this precious blood has this property about it that if the peace
   which it first causes should become a little dim, you have only to go
   to the precious blood to have that peace once more restored to you!

   I would recommend any of my doubting Brothers and Sisters to come to
   Christ over again as they came to Him at first. Never mind about your
   experience! Never care about your marks and evidences. Never get piling
   up your experiences. If you go to the top of some mountains such as
   Snowdon or the Righi, you will find it all solid and firm enough, but
   there are some people who want to get a little higher than the
   mountain, so the people there built a rickety old stage and charge you
   four pence--or sixpence to go to the top of it! And when you get up
   there, you find it is all shaky and ready to tumble down and you are
   frightened! Well, but what need is there to go up there at all? If you
   would stand on the mountain, that would not shake! So, sometimes, we
   are not content with resting upon Christ as poor sinners, and depending
   on Him. We get to building a rickety stage of our own experience, or
   sanctification, or emotions, and I know not what besides--and then it
   begins to shake under our feet. Far better if we were like the Negro
   who said he "fell flat down on de promise, and when he had done that,
   he couldn't fall no lower." Oh, to keep close to a promise! Job says
   that the naked embrace the rock for need of a shelter, and there is no
   shelter like the Rock of Ages--

   "None but Jesus Can do helpless sinners good!"

   But I have not told you all the power of this blood, nor could I tell
   you tonight. That blood gives the pardoned sinner access with boldness
   to God, Himself. That blood, having taken away the guilt of sin,
   operates in a sanctifying manner and takes away the power of sin--and
   the pardoned man does not live as he lived before he was pardoned. He
   loves God, who has forgiven him so much--and that love makes him
   enquire, "What shall I do for God, who has done so much for me?" Then
   he begins to purge himself of his old habits. He finds that the
   pleasures that once were sweet to him are sweet no more. "Away you go,"
   he says to his old companions, "I cannot go with you to Hell." Having a
   new heart, a new love, a new desire, he begins to mix with God's
   people. He searches God's Word. He makes haste to keep God's
   commandments. His desires are holy and heavenly and he pants for the
   time when he shall get rid of all sin, shall be quite

   like Christ and shall be taken away to dwell forever where Jesus is!
   Oh, the blood of Christ is a blessed sin-killer! They say that St.
   Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Ah, but Christ drives all
   the serpents out of the human heart when He once gets in. If He does
   but sprinkle His blood upon our hearts, we become new men--such new men
   as all the rules of morality could not have made us! Such new men as
   they are who, robed in white, day without night sing Jehovah's praise
   before His Throne!

   Sinner, would you be saved tonight? Trust Jesus and you shall be!
   Sinner, would you be saved upon a dying bed? Trust Jesus now and you
   shall be! Sinner, would you be saved when the heavens are in a blaze
   and the stars fall like withered fig leaves from the firmament? Look to
   Jesus, now, and you shall be saved then! Oh, I would to God that some
   of you would look to Him! Not for the eyes of your body to do it, but
   for the eyes of your mind to do it! Think of what Christ is--God, and
   yet Man. Think of such a Being suffering instead of you! What must be
   the merit of such suffering, and what an honor to God's Justice that
   such an One should suffer instead of you! Then depend upon Christ and
   if you do so, your sins are forgiven you! Believe that they are. Then
   will you feel springing up within your heart great love to Him who has
   forgiven you--and that will become the mainspring of your new life! You
   will start afresh like one that is born tonight. You will, indeed, be
   born-again, for this is regeneration! Not sprinkling your face with
   drops of water, but making a new man of you--generating you over again,
   not by natural generation, but by the Eternal Father begetting you
   again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
   dead--the true and only spiritual generation! And then, as new
   creatures in Christ Jesus, you shall go your way through this life up
   to the eternal life, God's blessing shielding you and crowning you
   forever.

   The Lord grant you His blessing, for Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HEBREWS 9; EXODUS 24:1-10.

   Hebrews 9:1. Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of
   divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. That is, a sanctuary belonging
   to this world, a visible sanctuary. That first covenant was to a large
   degree a thing of outward rites and ceremonies, which the new covenant
   is not--it is a covenant of spiritual and unseen realities.

   2-5. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the
   candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the
   sanctuary. And behind the second veil, the tabernacle which is called
   the Holiest of All; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the
   covenant overlaid roundabout with gold, wherein was the golden pot that
   had manna and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
   and over it the cherubims of Glory shadowing the Mercy Seat; of which
   we cannot now speak particularly. Because it was not his main purpose
   at that time--he was writing an important Epistle upon the most vital
   Truths and it would not do to encumber it with too many explanations.

   6-9. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priest went always
   into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into
   the second went the high priest, alone, once every year, not without
   blood, which he offered for himself, and for the error of the people:
   the Holy Spirit thus signifying that the way into the Holiest of All
   was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet
   standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were
   offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the
   service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. All these sacrifices
   and ceremonies, although full of instruction, were not, in themselves,
   able to give peace to the conscience of men. The new and better
   Covenant does give rest to the heart by the real and actual taking away
   of guilt, but this, the first Covenant, could not do. It is astonishing
   that there should be any who want to go back to the "beggarly elements"
   of the old Jewish Law, and again to have priests and an elaborate
   ritual, and I know not what besides! These things were faulty and fell
   short of what was needed even when God instituted them, for they were
   never intended to produce perfection, or to give rest to the troubled
   conscience! So of what use can those ceremonies be which are of man's
   own invention, and which are not according to the New Covenant at all?

   10-12. Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and
   carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But
   Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater
   and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
   of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His
   own blood He entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained
   eternal redemption for us. [See Sermon #2075, Volume 35--

   OUR LORD'S ENTRANCE WITHIN THE VEIL.] Christ has entered into the

   true Holy Place--not into that which was curtained with a veil, which
   was but a type, and which was put away when the veil was torn from the
   top to the bottom as Jesus died. He has entered into the immediate
   Presence of God and He has entered there once and for all, "having
   obtained eternal redemption for us."

   13, 14. For ifthe blood ofbulls and of goats, and the ashes ofan heifer
   sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to thepuri-

   fying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
   through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge
   your conscience from dead works to serve the living God [See Sermons
   #1481, Volume 25--THE RED HEIFER and #1846,

   Volume 31--THE PURGING OF THE CONSCIENCE.] Do you all feel the power

   of that blood now? Oh, what blessing it is to know that the conscience
   is quite at rest because of the purging worked by Jesus' blood! It is
   Heaven begun below! We cannot serve God aright until we have been thus
   cleansed. No, we dare not stand in that awful Presence while the
   consciousness of sin is upon us! But when Jesus Christ says to us, "You
   are clean," then, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God
   through our Lord Jesus Christ." Then have we "access with confidence"
   unto the Father through Him.

   15-17. And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament, that
   by means of death, for the redemption of the transgression that were
   under the first testament, they which are called might receive the
   promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must
   also of necessity be the death of the testator For a testament is of
   force after men are dead: otherwise it is ofno strength at all while
   the testator lives. Whether it is a covenant or a testament, death is
   necessary to make it valid. God's Covenants have always been sanctioned
   and ratified with blood and the Covenant or the Testament of eternal
   Grace is ratified with the blood of the Surety and Testator!

   18-26. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without
   blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people
   according to the Law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with
   water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop and sprinkled both the book, and
   all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God
   has enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the
   tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things
   are by the Law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no
   remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in
   the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things
   themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered
   into the Holy Places made with hands, which are the figures of the
   true; but into Heaven itself now to appear in the Presence of God for
   us: nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest
   enters into the Holy Place every year with blood of others; for then
   must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now
   once in the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the
   sacrifice of Himself [See Sermons #759, Volume 13--JESUS PUTTING AWAY
   SIN; #911, Volume 16--THE PUTTING AWAY OF SIN and #2283, Volume
   38--CHRIST'S ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN.] What Aaron could not do by
   entering into the Holy

   Place year after year, Christ has done by entering into Heaven once!
   And there is no more need of a sacrifice for sin, and they are grossly
   guilty who pretend to offer Christ over again. The great work of
   redemption is finished! Sin is put away and there is no more
   remembrance of it. In the sight of God, Christ's one Sacrifice has
   completed the Expiation of sin, Glory be to His holy name!

   27, 28. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
   judgment so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto
   them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
   salvation. He shall come to complete the salvation of those for whom
   His precious Sacrifice was offered all those hundreds of years ago. Now
   let us read the passage to which Paul refers in verses 19 to 21.

   Exodus 24:1, 2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, you, and
   Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and
   worship you afar off And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they
   shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him. Nearer to
   God than the people were allowed to come, but still at a distance from
   Him. It was a covenant of distance--bounds were set about the mountain
   lest the people should come too near. Yet they were near unto God as
   compared with the heathen, but far off as compared with those who now,
   by the teaching of the Spirit of God, have been brought near to God
   through the precious blood of Jesus! Moses alone could come near to
   Jehovah on Mount Sinai--the people could not go up with him--nor even
   with the man who was their mediator with God, for such Moses was. But
   you and I, Beloved, can go up with Him who is far greater than Moses--

   with Him who is the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ
   Jesus, for God "has raised us up together, and made us sit together in
   heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

   3-8. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and
   all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and
   said, All the words which the LORD has said will we do. And Moses wrote
   all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built
   an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve
   tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel,
   which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen
   unto the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, andput it in basins;
   and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book
   of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said,
   All that the LORD has said will we do, and be obedient AndMoses took
   the blood, and sprinkled it on thepeople, andsaid, Behold the blood of
   the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these
   words. There is a double power about the blood--towards God an
   Atonement--that is the blood sprinkled on the altar. And towards
   ourselves a sense of reconciliation--thus must the blood be sprinkled
   upon us that we may prove its cleansing power.

   9-10. Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, andseventy of
   the elders oflsrael: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was
   under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it
   were the body of Heaven in His clearness.
     __________________________________________________________________

The Lord's Eternal Rest

   (No. 3294)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
   FEBRUARY 22, 1886.

   "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it"
   Psalm 132:14.

   THESE are the words of Jehovah Himself concerning the hill of Zion, but
   it is clear that He did not intend us to understand them merely in
   their literal reference to Zion, because Zion could not be a fitting
   place for His eternal rest. Nor has He made it literally His rest
   forever, for Zion has been trodden down of the Gentiles for all these
   centuries. I have no doubt that the Lord had in His mind the greater
   Zion, "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem...the general
   assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven."
   The eternal God, looking down from His Throne of Glory upon all the
   creatures He has made, selects His Church--elect, blood-bought, called,
   preserved and sanctified, and He says concerning this Church--"This is
   my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it."

   We would never have ventured to conceive of God as finding rest in such
   puny creatures as we are. However beloved, and however filled with His
   Spirit, it would seem too great a thing for the Creator ever to rest in
   His creature! Yet it is true that this is where He finds His rest. It
   is concerning the redeemed souls who make up the Church of Christ that
   He says, "This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have
   desired it."

   I must, at the outset, confess my inability to dive into the depths of
   this subject. I can only, as it were, flit across its surface as the
   swallow with swift wings skims over the brook. I am going to ask,
   first, about God finding rest in His Church Then about the duration of
   that rest And in closing, I want to say a few practical words
   concerning our finding rest where God finds rest.

   I. First, then, let us think of GOD FINDING REST IN HIS CHURCH.

   He does this, in the first place, because in His Church all the three
   Divine Persons of the Trinity are honored. A man does not find rest in
   anything which gratifies only one part of his nature. Therefore it can
   truly be said to Christians concerning this world, "This is not your
   rest," for whatever gratification it may yield to the body, it can
   never satisfy our soul. If there were in the Church of God honor only
   for God the Father, but none for God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
   it could never be the Lord's eternal rest. But, Beloved, when the
   Father looks upon the Church, He views with delight His own chosen
   children and sees His eternal purposes accomplished in them! He thinks
   of the Covenant into which He entered with His dear Son on their
   behalf, and of the Atonement which He gave for them when He gave His
   only-begotten Son to die as their Substitute and Surety. As for God the
   Son--when He looks upon the Church, He beholds those for whom He paid
   the ransom price on Calvary--every member of that Church He has
   purchased with His own blood and, therefore, He looks upon them with
   peculiar complacency. As for God the Holy Spirit, He--

   " Takes delight to view

   The holy souls He formed anew." As He gazes upon them, He sees the
   gracious results of His regenerating energy and He rests in holy
   contemplation. I hope, Beloved, you will never exalt one member of the
   ever-blessed Trinity above either of the rest--it is quite a mistake to
   ascribe the work of salvation entirely to the Father, or to the Son, or
   to the Holy Spirit. In the first Creation, it is most emphatically true
   that God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." The
   first Creation was the work of Deity as a whole, and so is the new
   Creation! And for both we may most justly sing--

   "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

   All are equally concerned in perfecting the Church, the true Zion, and
   therefore God, in the Trinity in Unity--Father, Son, and Spirit--says
   concerning the Church, "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for
   I have desired it."--

   "Arise, O King of Grace, arise,

   And enter to Your rest!

   Lo, Your Church waits with longing eyes,

   Thus to be owned and blest.

   Enter with all Your glorious train,

   Your Spirit and your Word--

   All that the Ark did once contain

   Could no such Grace afford." Just think for a minute or two what this
   rest of God is. Is it the entire cessation from toil? When we do
   nothing, but sit still in listless inactivity, that cessation from toil
   may yield us a measure of rest, but it is not rest of a kind that we
   could long love--certainly it is not such rest as we should wish to
   enjoy forever! We would be in a most restless state if we had nothing
   to do! We would soon be worn out with the weariness of living an
   aimless, purposeless life. I believe the truest state of rest is when a
   man has just as much to do as he can perform with ease. If your mind
   does not think at all, it is in a coma or in a sort of fainting fit.
   But when it is occupied with pleasing themes, not working out difficult
   problems, but meditating upon simple themes which you can easily
   understand, then it is at rest! Perhaps you sit down quietly by the
   fire and indulge in what we call day-dreams--your mind is active all
   the while, yet its activity does not prevent it from resting. Heaven is
   a place and state of perfect rest, yet it is not the rest of silence
   and stagnation! In one sense, they rest not day nor night, yet they
   serve God continually--and that is perfect rest!

   It is in His Church that God finds His rest, for it is there that He
   finds work exactly adapted to His infinite capacities. The blessedness
   of God must consist partly in His activity--what an active Being God
   is! There is not a cloud that flies across the sky of which He is not
   the pilot. How busily He worked in creating the heavens and the earth
   and all that they contain, yet He never rested in them for the visible
   creation is too narrow a couch to provide a resting place for the
   Eternal! But when He comes to the mightier work of Redemption and
   reveals the combined Majesty of His Justice and sublimity of His love
   in those whom He forms anew, then He is engaged in a task that occupies
   those attributes which He most delights to exercise! And therefore He
   says to His Church, "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell." When
   He made the earth, "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of
   God shouted for joy." But you never read that God sangat the Creation.
   It is when He is working in the higher sphere that He says to Zion, the
   Church of His choice, "The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty;
   He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in His
   love, He will joy over you with singing." In the new Creation He finds
   such rest as the old Creation never could afford Him. We know so little
   of the Infinite God that we must speak with due humility and reticence
   concerning these great mysteries, yet it seems to me that in the making
   of those who shall show forth His praise forever, He is doing a work in
   which He especially delights and in which He, therefore, rests and
   rejoices as He does in nothing else!

   Further, He rests in His Church because He sees, there, His eternal
   purposes fulfilled. Whenever a soul is saved, God sees, there, another
   of His Divine decrees accomplished. And that affords His heart rest--to
   speak after the manner of men--and we cannot speak in any other way.
   As, one by one, those who were chosen by Him unto eternal life, those
   whom He gave in Covenant to His Son, those who were redeemed by that
   Son's precious blood are delivered from the Egyptian bondage of sin,
   conducted safely through the howling wilderness waste of this world and
   carried across the Jordan of death into the Canaan of heavenly rest,
   God sees His eternal purposes fulfilled and therein He finds most
   blessed rest! When the entire Church of God shall have been brought,
   safe and perfected, to His right hand in Glory, then will He say, in
   the words of our text, "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for
   I have desired it." I must confess that I do not understand the
   condition of mind of those brethren who are not able to perceive in the
   Scriptures a clear Revelation concerning the purposes of God in the
   salvation of His elect. It would be strange if the work of Grace were
   left to chance. An architect would not permit an important building
   like St. Paul's, for instance, to be erected according to the whims and
   fancies of the individual workers employed! He would not leave to the
   freewill of every laborer the decision as to where each pillar should
   be placed, or what stone and other materials should be used in the
   building--he has everything done according to the plan that he designed
   before the work was commenced! And shall not the Most High, who is
   building a habitation for Himself, have it erected in harmony with the
   plan that He had prepared from all eternity? I

   think, Brothers and Sisters, it is because God has planned what His
   Church is to be and because that plan will be exactly followed until
   the whole building is complete, that the Lord says concerning it, "This
   is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it."

   Then, in the next place, have we not in the Church of God almighty
   energies rewarded?God rested on the seventh day because Creation's work
   was done. And God rests in His Church in so far as it also is a
   finished work. Every soul saved by Grace, every soul brought home to
   Glory is the result and the reward of almighty labor. He who spoke and
   it was done in the making of the material world made not His Church so
   easily. It was with His word that He made this world, but it was the
   Incarnate Word that was necessary to the new creation! No blood needed
   to be spilt for the making of this earth in all its pristine beauty and
   glory, but the new heavens and the new earth could be cemented by
   nothing less than the product of almighty suffering! The Church of God
   is a most wonderful fabric upon which not only have the purposes of God
   been exercised from all eternity, but "all the fullness of the Godhead
   bodily" has been at work to accomplish this marvel of marvels which
   shall set all Heaven ablaze with astonishment when it is at last
   complete and perfect! For many centuries stroke upon stroke from God's
   hand and instruments has been telling upon the rough block of marble,
   and when the last touch shall have been given to it, and the work
   appears in all its Glory and beauty before the eyes of God, He will
   rest, just as a skilled workman does in the successful accomplishment
   of some great task which he has undertaken and which he regards as his
   masterpiece.

   Best of all, however, is the next reason why God rests in His Church!
   That is because it is the reward of stupendous suffering. We are told
   that "the Lord smelled a sweet savor" when Noah offered burnt offerings
   after he came out of the ark. The marginal reading is "a savor of
   rest." And when God is dealing with sinners, now, He finds no savor of
   rest except in the Sacrifice of His dear Son! All the world over the
   spirit of Justice flew in search of a righteous man, but the only
   result of that long search was the verdict, "There is none righteous,
   no, not one." Justice next looked to see if there was any helper who
   could deliver the guilty, but none could be found until she turned her
   eyes to the Cross where hung the Son of God in extreme agonies. And as
   she marked the falling blood, the bowed head and the crown of
   thorns--and heard the Voice that said, "It is finished," she rested!
   Her long quest was over, for she had found the One who was Himself
   perfectly righteous and who was, therefore, able to deliver the guilty
   by the full and complete Atonement that He offered for their
   Redemption. The Son of God takes delight in His Church because He sees
   that in her, all His pains and agonies have yielded to Him a glorious
   harvest! And God the Father, who smote His Son so heavily when He took
   the place of His sinful people, delights in His Church because He sees
   in her a full reward for all that His well-beloved Son endured.

   Then do you not think that God finds rest in His Church because of the
   relationships there developed?Where do you find rest, dear Friends? You
   not only rest in the garden which you have planted, and in the house
   which you have with a great effort, bought--but your choicest rest is
   found with the children whom you so fondly love. There is no stranger
   in the family circle! The door is closed, the fire is burning brightly
   and now is mother's time for rest, and father's time for joy, for there
   are only loved ones around the hearth. The merchant comes home from the
   counting-house where he has been on the watch all day lest he should be
   deceived and over-reached. But he can come down from his watchtower,
   now, for he has no fear of being deceived in the family circle. The
   judge has been sternly administering the law while he has been upon the
   bench, but He lays aside all his sternness when he takes off his robes
   of office and gathers his children around him. The toiling laborer
   wipes the sweat from his brow and gladly rests at home among those whom
   he loves. "Perfect love casts out fear," and fear is like a thorn in
   our nest--it prevents us from resting. But when "perfect love" comes,
   then we are perfectly at our ease. When you are at home, you may say
   what you will, and do what you please-- there are none to slander and
   align you there. You do not say all you feel in the presence of your
   servants--they are faithful and true, but you do not tell them all that
   is in your heart. It is when you are among your children that you feel
   free and unrestrained. So it is with God! Not even among the angels
   does God find His rest--bright and perfect beings though they are, they
   are but ministering spirits waiting in the great Temple of God to
   render service to the saints! But here, where He sees His own likeness
   in every blood-bought soul. Here where He sees those whom He has
   begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
   from the dead--here it is that He feels at home and finds His rest! Do
   not think that I am speaking too boldly when I use the family metaphor
   to illustrate this great Truth of God, for I am but following the
   example of our Lord Jesus, Himself, when He said, "If you then, being
   evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
   shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask
   Him?" He rejoices over the son who was dead, and is alive again--who
   was lost, and is found--and because He is our Father, and we are His
   children, He says of us and of the whole company of His redeemed, "This
   is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it."

   II. Now I am to speak briefly concerning THE DURATION OF GOD'S REST IN
   HIS CHURCH. "This is My rest

   forever."

   Then this proves that there will always be a Church of God. There are
   certain persons who are constantly subject to great fear and their
   fears make them quiver and shake--and then they imagine that God's
   Church is quivering and shaking, which is a very different matter! They
   hold up their hands, and cry, "Alas! Alas! The Church is in danger!"
   Well, some particular church, designed by men, may be in danger, but I
   do not believe that the Church of God is, or ever was, or ever will be
   in danger! It is thought by some that Popery will swallow the Church of
   Christ just as the whale swallowed Jonah. But if it should do so, the
   Church would come back again as surely as Jonah was cast up upon the
   dry land! There is no sword fashioned that can smite the Church of God,
   nor will there ever be one! There will be a Church as long as there is
   a world--and when this world is burned up, the Church shall shine more
   brightly than ever--and it shall keep on shining to all eternity, and
   be a rest for God forever--

   "Glorious things of you are spoken,

   Zion, city of our God!

   He whose word cannot be broken,

   Formed you for His own abode:

   On the Rock of Ages founded,

   What cam shake your sure repose?

   With salvation's walls surrounded,

   You may smile at all your foes." Further, there will always be a Church
   with God in it, and such a Church as God can rest in. Some people think
   that there is no church of which they can comfortably be members. But,
   dear Friends, there is a Church of which Jesus Christ is a member, for
   He is the Head of it! And if you cannot be members of any visible
   church, be not content unless you are members of that Church in which
   God rests forever, for that is always a pure Church! You sometimes hear
   a great deal about Apostolic succession--it is a gross lie as it is
   generally understood, but in itself it is a great Truth of God. The
   Apostolic succession may be very clearly traced through the Novatians,
   Donatists, Lollards, Albigenses, Waldenses, Anabaptists and Huguenots,
   right down to the Christians of various denominations that exist today.
   There is a true line that never entered the Stygian bog of Rome! A pure
   silver stream which has flowed down to us right from the times of the
   Apostles! There always has been a Church in which God could dwell and
   there always will be a Church that shall be His dwelling place! You
   know that Christ prayed, "Holy Father, keep through Your own name those
   whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are." And I do not
   believe that Christ prayed any prayer that will not be answered in due
   time! More than that, I believe that the Church of Christ is one now.
   "Oh, but!" says someone, "look at the many divisions and denominations
   that there are!" Yes, I know about them, but the only true unity is
   that of the spiritually quickened souls that form the Mystical Body of
   Christ. Whatever division there may be among them at present is only
   external--if we could see beneath the surface and judge as God
   judges--we should perceive that in the truly vital matters, they are
   one. Being one with Christ, they are also one with each other. We must
   look less and less to mere externals, and think more and more of that
   which is spiritual, for it is only in the invisible and spiritual
   Church of Christ that God finds rest. I do not believe that He finds
   rest in the Baptist denomination, or in the Independent, or in the
   Church of England, as such--He finds His rest in all the saved to
   whatever denomination they may belong! His rest is not in great human
   organizations, but in those whom His Grace has called--who are already
   one in Christ Jesus!

   Another inference that I draw from the text is that the Church of God
   will always be secure. "Here will I dwell," says the Lord. And there
   would be no rest for Him if the enemy could be continually scaling the
   ramparts, damaging the walls and carrying away His people as captives.
   A king within his capital could not rest if one suburb after another
   fell into the hands of his foes. The rest of a shepherd would be
   effectually broken if he heard a lion scrunching the bones of any of
   his sheep, or if a wolf seized even one of the lambs of his flock. When
   the Lord says, "This is My rest forever," He seems to me

   to guarantee the eternal security of every soul that is in the true
   Church of Christ. All who are in the Church which Jesus bought with His
   precious blood must be perfectly safe forever--

   "The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

   He will not, He will not desert to His foes!

   That soul, though all Hell should endeavor to shake,

   He'll never, no never, no never forsake!" There may be many in any part
   of the visible church who will perish, but there shall never be one who
   is truly a member of the Church of the living God who shall be lost! I
   started a little, the other night, when a Brother said that once we are
   brought into the Church, we are safe forever. But when he went on to
   show that by the expression, "the Church," he meant what God means by
   those words, I fully agreed with him! This is the Zion of which Jehovah
   says, "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired
   it." And it is His rest because He knows that all who are within it are
   safe forever! At the last, Jesus will be able to say to His Father, "Of
   all whom You gave Me have I lost none."

   I also infer from the text that the whole Church will be eternally
   glorified, otherwise God could not say of it, "This is My rest
   forever." The living stones that are to form the "habitation of God
   through the Spirit," are being quarried, fashioned and polished here
   below--and one by one they are being transported to the holy hill
   above. And so, "all the building fitly framed together grows unto a
   holy temple in the Lord." And when it is complete, He will say, "Here
   will I dwell forever." The eternal duration of the Church's blessedness
   ought to be a theme of greater consideration and rejoicing than it is.
   Think of it, Beloved, that the great God will forever find His rest in
   you and in others like you who have been redeemed by the precious blood
   of His dear Son! Does not this make time seem a mere trifle, and earth
   but a tiny speck scarcely worthy of our notice? Then, as you are
   forever and ever to be the object of Divine delight, cannot you see
   that you must alwayshave been so? Oh, revel in this thought, that every
   blood-bought soul shall eternally be the temple and abode of God,
   Himself, and that all of them united in one shall be His rest forever!

   III. Now we are to close with a few practical words concerning OUR
   FINDING REST WHERE GOD FINDS REST.

   God finds His rest in His Church. Is that where we find our rest? I
   wonder how many here could truly repeat the language of Dr. Watts--

   "Let others choose the sons of mirth To give a relish to their wine. I
   love the men of heavenly birth, Whose thoughts and language are Divine.

   Do you, dear Friends find rest in the company of God's chosen people?
   The ungodly do not. If some gracious person should go to their house
   and begin talking about the mysteries of the Cross, their impatient
   glances at the clock would soon show that such a theme was a weariness
   to them. When they go up to the place where God's people meet, to
   worship Him, the shorter the service is the better they like it! And
   the reason is that they do not savingly know the Lord. A man without
   sight would not be likely to be very much charmed in a picture gallery.
   And a man who was stone-deaf would not be very delighted with the
   grandest oratorio that was ever performed! In like manner, we cannot
   expect that those who have no spiritual sense can find delight in the
   company of God's people. But how different it is with the man who is
   really saved! He can say, with David, of the saints that are in the
   earth, that they are "the excellent, in whom is all my delight." A good
   old saint, whom I went to see on her dying bed, said to me, "It always
   gives me comfort, Sir, to think that God is not likely to send me to
   dwell with the wicked, for I never liked their society here. I believe
   He will let me go with my own company and I have always kept company
   with His people since I have learned to know Him." I assured her that I
   believed it would be so. It is a sign of Grace when we find rest with
   those who are really spiritual because they are spiritual. You may love
   some saints of God, yet it may be no sign of Grace on your part--there
   may be something specially lovable about them so that you cannot help
   loving them or you may have received some temporal kindness from them
   and, therefore, love them for purely natural reasons. But it is a very
   different matter when we can say, with John-- "We know that we have
   passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." Some of us
   can truthfully declare that our happiest hours are those that we
   expound with the saints of God! And we can fully sympathize with Dr.
   Watts when he says--

   "My soul shall pray for Zion still, While life or breath remains; There
   my best Friends, my kindred dwell, There God my Savior reigns.

   God says of His Church, "This is My rest forever," and we can say the
   same. I cannot say that concerning any visible church--I should not
   like to have to rest forever in any portion of the church on earth! But
   in union with the redeemed in Glory, I can rest! When I think of
   Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When I read the lives of Prophets and
   Apostles. When I turn to more modern times and think of Calvin, and
   Luther, and Zwingli, and Berridge, and Wesley, and Whitefield, and a
   host of others, I can say, "Ah, let me once get into their company and
   then I shall feel, 'This is my rest forever.' I do not need anything
   more than this except to be in the Master's own company!" Oh, what rest
   it will be to be with Him! This is our rest even now--to be with Him!
   And to be forever with Him will be the perfection of rest--

   "Let me be with You, where You are,

   My Savior, my eternal rest!

   Then only will this longing heart

   Be fully and forever blest"

   Do you not think that Abel must have felt very strange when he went to
   Heaven? How startled the angels must have been when they saw the first
   soul redeemed by blood in Glory all by himself! I think they must have
   hushed their songs awhile to ask all about him. Here was a man come to
   sing in Heaven, to chant before the Eternal Throne the praises of a
   Sacrifice greater than any that he had offered! Yes, but Abel could not
   have felt perfectly at rest, for Paul tells us that the Church in
   Heaven will not be made perfect without us. When another and yet
   another joined Abel in Heaven, I think it must have increased his
   happiness. And now, as others keep on going Home, the glorified saints
   welcome them with exceeding joy, for they all feel that their bliss
   will not be perfect until every redeemed soul is gathered there with
   them and the whole of the shining ranks are filled! Then, when all
   shall be there, each one of them will say, as God Himself now says,
   "This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it."

   I wonder if there are any here who will never find rest in the Church
   of the First-Born which are written in Heaven? If you want to get into
   the Church of God, do you know the way to get in? You say, "I must come
   before the Elders." No, no--that is the way to get into our Church,
   here, but not into the invisible Church above! "Well, then, I must be
   baptized." No, that is the ordinance for you afteryou have entered the
   Church of God. "Well, then, how am I to get in?" He whose hand was
   pierced says, I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be
   saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." The only door to the
   Church of God is Jesus Christ! Trust to His precious blood sprinkled
   upon the altar to give you access to and acceptance with God--and
   having that blood sprinkled upon yourself, you may venture to draw near
   even to the Eternal, for you shall be "accepted in the Beloved." God
   grant that it may be so, for Jesus sake! Amen.

   [See Sermon #3287, Volume 58--THE ONLY DOOR.]

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM132.

   A Song of Degrees.

   1. LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions. God had entered into
   an Everlasting Covenant with David, "ordered in all things and sure,"
   and in this Psalm either David, himself, or some of his people or
   descendants pleaded that Covenant in time of affliction and trial.
   "Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions." The Lord would not
   forget either David or his people, yet it pleased Him for them to come
   before Him in prayer and to remind Him of the Covenant that He had made
   with His servant. Using this prayer in a Gospel sense, we bow before
   the Lord and cry, "Lord, remember Jesus, the Son of David, and all His
   afflictions! Remember all that He endured as His people's Substitute,
   and have pity upon us for His sake, as we plead that Eternal Covenant
   which You have made with Him on our behalf." That an-

   cient Covenant was made with David and the far more ancient Covenant of
   Grace was made with great David's greater Son," our Lord and Savior,
   Jesus Christ!

   2-5. Howhe swore unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
   surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor up into my
   bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until
   I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of
   Jacob. David remembered that he had built himself a palace, but he
   wished even more ardently to build a palace for his God--a house for
   the celebration of His worship--"an habitation for the mighty God of
   Jacob." But where can a worthy house be built for God? Where can there
   be made a fit dwelling place for the Most High? He fills all things,
   yet all things cannot contain Him! There is but one dwelling place of
   God-- it is in Christ Jesus, for "in Him dwells all the fullness of the
   Godhead bodily." Oh, how we ought to thank God that He has provided
   Himself a fitting dwelling place in the Person of His dear Son, in whom
   all Believers are also built together for a habitation of God through
   the Holy Spirit! As for the Ark of the Covenant, it had long ago in
   David's day dwelt in obscurity.

   6. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the
   woods. [See Sermon #2590, Volume 44--hearing, seeking,

   FINDING.] God is willing to dwell in the woods. Many a time He

   does so. In many a cottage far removed from the haunts of men, God is
   found--and to many a backwoodsman God is as near as He is to those who
   worship Him in temples or cathedrals. "We found it in the fields of the
   woods."

   7. We will go into His tabernacles: we will worship at His footstool
   This Psalm is called "A Song of degrees." Notice the steps here
   described. We heard of it, we found it, we will go into it, we will
   worship in it! It is a good thing when in our prayers and praises, we
   ascend step by step--not on the steppingstones of our dead selves which
   are pieces of rubbish--but by the living steppingstones upon which the
   ever-living Spirit helps us to rise tier above tier, His own almighty
   hand helping us continually to rise higher and higher!

   8. Arise, O LORD into Your rest; You and the ark of Your strength. Let
   us pray that the Lord may constantly find rest in the midst of His
   people. He finds rest in them because they are one with His
   well-beloved Son. Come, Lord, at this moment, and take Your rest in the
   midst of this assembly and make us all rest in You!

   9. And let Your priests be clothed with righteousness. This is the best
   robe for all God's holy ones who are priests and kings unto Him. This
   is better than snow white linen or robes decked with crimson and gold!

   9. And let Your saints shout for joy.The worship of God should be very
   gladsome and even demonstrative. We may shout. Sometimes the
   overflowing of joy demands more than ordinary expression, therefore we
   pray, "Let Your holy ones shout for joy."

   10. For Your servant David's sake turn not away the face of Your
   Anointed. Much more may we ask this for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. O
   God, remember Your Son, our Lord and our King, and for His sake look in
   love and pity upon us today,

   11. 12. The LORD has sworn in truth unto David, He will not turn from
   it I will set upon the throne the fruit of your body. If your children
   will keep My covenant and My testimony that I shall teach them, their
   children shall also sit upon your throne forevermore. Long did the
   house of David reign over Israel. But they proved unfaithful, and
   therefore the scepter passed out of their hands. But it is still in the
   hand of another Son of David. In a spiritual sense Jesus Christ has a
   throne and a dominion that shall know no end--

   "Jesus shall reign wherever the sun Does its successive journeys run;
   His kingdom stretches from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and
   wane no more."

   13. For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desiredit for His habitation.
   The literal Zion was the Lord's habitation for a time, but the
   spiritual Zion will be His dwelling place throughout eternity!

   14. This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desiredit.
   God rest in His people. The whole company of the redeemed shall be His
   abiding place forever!

   15. I will abundantly bless her provision: will satisfy her poor with
   bread. God sends the necessary provision for His people, and sends His
   blessing with it. We are so poor that we have not even spiritual bread
   for our souls to eat unless He

   gives it to us. But here is His gracious promise, "I will satisfy her
   poor with bread." This He will do both literally and spiritually.

   ver prayer, but here, in this 16t verse, we have a golden answer. The
   prayer of the Psalmist was, "Let your saints shout for joy." The Lord's
   answer is, "Her saints shall shout aloud for joy." God always gives
   good measure, pressed down, and running over. Often we have not because
   we ask not, or because we ask amiss. His command to each one of us is,
   "Open your mouth wide." And His promise is, "I will fill it." If you
   ask great things of Him, He will give you yet greater things for He is
   "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think."

   17. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp
   for My Anointed. Oh, that today the horn of David might again bud! May
   every Believer in Jesus feel the life of God reviving within Him, and
   in many a case where there is no spiritual life at all, may life Divine
   begin today! Pray for it, Beloved--and then look for it, and you shall
   surely see it!

   18. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon Himself shall His
   crown flourish. We have no King but Jesus and His crown is always
   flourishing. It sits well upon a blessed head. Let us crown Him once
   again this day with our gladsome praise and thanksgiving!

   .th
     __________________________________________________________________

Communion With Christ and His People

   (No. 3295)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT A COMMUNION SERVICE AT MENTONE, ON A LORD'S-DAY AFTERNOON IN
   DECEMBER, 1882.

   "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the
   blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of
   the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for
   we are all partakers of that one bread." 1 Corinthians 10:16,17.

   [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon on verse 16 is #2572, Volume
   44--FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST.]

   I will read you the text as it is given in the Revised Version--"The
   cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of
   Christ?" That is to say, is it not one form of expressing the communion
   of the blood of Christ? "The bread," or as it is in the margin, "the
   loaf which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ seeing
   that we, who are many, are one loaf, one body: for we all partake of
   the one loaf." The word, "loaf," helps to bring out more clearly the
   idea of unity intended to be set forth by the Apostle .

   It is a lamentable fact that some have fancied that this simple
   ordinance of the Lord's Supper has a certain magical, or at least
   physical power about it, so that by the mere act of eating and drinking
   this bread and wine, men can be made partakers of the body and blood of
   Christ! It is marvelous that so plain a symbol should have been so
   complicated by genuflection, adornments and technical phrases! Can
   anyone see the slightest resemblance between the Master's sitting down
   with the 12 and the "mass" of the Roman community? The original rite is
   lost in the superimposed ritual! Superstition has produced a sacrament
   where Jesus intended a fellowship. Too many who would not go the length
   of Rome, yet speak of this simple feast as if it were a dark and
   obscure mystery. They employ all manner of hard words to turn the
   children's bread into a stone! It is not the Lord's Supper, but the
   "Eucharist." We see before us no plate, but a "paten." The cup is a
   "chalice," and the table is an "altar." These are incrustations of
   superstition, whereby the blessed ordinance of Christ is likely to be
   again overgrown and perverted!

   What does this Supper mean? It means communion--communion with Christ,
   communion with one another!

   What is communion? The word breaks up easily into union, and its prefix
   com, which means with, "union with." We must, therefore, first enjoy
   union with Christ and with His Church or else we cannot enjoy
   communion. Union lies at the basis of communion. We must be one with
   Christ in heart, soul and life--baptized into His death, quickened by
   His life--and so brought to be members of His body, one with the whole
   Church of which He is the Head. We cannot have communion with Christ
   until we are in union with Hm. And we cannot have communion with the
   Church till we are in vital union with it.

   I. The teaching of the Lord's Supper is just this--that while we have
   many ways of COMMUNION WITH CHRIST, yet the receiving of Christ into
   our souls as our Savior is the best way of communion with Him.

   I said, dear Friends, that we have many ways of communion with Christ.
   Let me show you that it is so.

   Communion is ours by personal union with the Lord Jesus. We speak with
   Him in prayer, and He speaks with us through the Word. Some of us speak
   more often with Christ than we do with wife or child--and our communion
   with Jesus is deeper and more thorough than our fellowship with our
   nearest friend. In meditation and its attendant thanksgiving we speak
   with our risen Lord. And by His Holy Spirit He answers us by creating
   fresh thought and emotion in our minds. I like sometimes, in prayer,
   when I do not feel that I can say anything, just to sit still and look
   up--then faith spiritually catches sight of the Well-Beloved and hears
   His voice in the solemn silence of the mind. Thus we have

   union with Jesus of a closer sort than any words could possibly
   express. Our soul melts beneath the warmth of Jesus' love and darts
   upward her own love in return. Think not that I am dreaming, or am
   carried off by the memory of some unusual rhapsody--no, I assert that
   the devout soul can converse with the Lord Jesus all day and can have
   as true fellowship with Him as if He still dwelt bodily among men! This
   thing comes to me, not by the hearing of the ears, but by my own
   personal experience--I know of a surety that Jesus manifests Himself
   unto His people as He does not unto the world!

   Ah, what sweet communion often exists between the saint and the
   Well-Beloved, when there is no bread and wine upon the table, for the
   Spirit Himself draws the heart of the renewed one and it runs after
   Jesus, while the Lord, Himself, appears unto the longing spirit! "Truly
   our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ." Do
   you enjoy this charming union?

   Next, we have communion with Christ in His thoughts, views and
   purposes, for His thoughts are our thoughts according to our capacity
   and sanctity. Believers take the same view of matters as Jesus
   does--that which pleases Him pleases them, and that which grieves Him
   grieves them, also. Consider, for instance, the greatest theme of our
   thought, and see whether our thoughts are not like those of Christ. He
   delights in the Father, He loves to glorify the Father--do not we? Is
   not the Father the center of our soul's delight? Do we not rejoice at
   the very sound of His name? Does not our spirit cry, "Abba Father"?
   Thus it is clear that we feel as Jesus feels towards the Father and so
   we have the truest communion with Him. This is but one instance--your
   contemplations will bring before you a wide variety of topics wherein
   we think with Jesus. Now, identity ofjudgment, opinion and purpose
   forms the highway of communion--yes, it is communion.

   We have also communion with Christ in our emotions. Have you never felt
   a holy horror when you have heard a word of blasphemy in the street?
   Thus Jesus felt when He saw sin and bore it in His own Person--only He
   felt it infinitely more than you do. Have you never felt, as you looked
   upon sinners, that you must weep over them? Those are holy tears and
   contain the same ingredients as those which Jesus shed when He lamented
   over Jerusalem. Yes, in our zeal for God, our hatred of sin, our
   detestation of lies, our pity for men, we have true communion with
   Jesus.

   Further, we have had fellowship with Christ in many of our actions.
   Have you ever tried to teach the ignorant? This Jesus did. Have you
   found it difficult? So Jesus found it. Have you strived to reclaim the
   backslider? Then you were in communion with the Good Shepherd who
   hastens into the wilderness to find the one lost sheep--finds it, lays
   it upon His shoulders and brings it home rejoicing! Have you ever
   watched over a soul night and day with tears? Then you have had
   communion with Him who has borne all our names upon His broken heart
   and carries the memorial of them upon His pierced hands! Yes, in acts
   of self-denial, liberality, benevolence and piety, we enter into
   communion with Him who went about doing good. Whenever we try to
   disentangle the snarls of strife and to make peace between men who are
   at enmity, then are we doing what the great Peacemaker did and we have
   communion with the Lord and Giver of peace! Wherever, indeed, we
   co-operate with the Lord Jesus in His designs of love to men, we are in
   true and active communion with Him.

   So it is with our sorrows. Certain of us have had large fellowship with
   the Lord Jesus in affliction. "Jesus wept." He lost a friend and so
   have we. Jesus grieved over the hardness of men's hearts--we know that
   grief. Jesus was exceedingly sorry that the hopeful young man turned
   away and went back to the world--we know that sorrow. Those who have
   sympathetic hearts and live for others readily enter into the
   experience of "the Man of Sorrows." The wounds of calumny, the
   reproaches of the proud, the venom of the bigoted, the treachery of the
   false and the weakness of the true--we have known in our measure and
   therein have had communion with Jesus.

   Nor this only--we have been with our Divine Master in His joys. I
   suppose there never lived a happier man than the Lord Jesus. He was
   rightly called, "the Man of Sorrows," but He might with unimpeachable
   truth have been called "the Man of Joys." He must have rejoiced as He
   called His disciples and they came to Him--as He bestowed healing and
   relief and gave pardon to penitents, and breathed peace on Believers.
   His was the joy of finding the sheep and taking the piece of money out
   of the dust. His work was His joy--such joy that for its sake He
   endured the Cross, despising the shame! The exercise of benevolence is
   joy to loving hearts--the more pain it costs, the more joy it is. Kind
   actions make us happy and in such joy we find communion with the great
   heart of Jesus.

   Thus have I given you a list of windows of agate and gates of carbuncle
   through which you may come at the Lord. But the ordinance of the Lord's
   Supper sets forth a way which surpasses them all I t is the most
   accessible and the most

   effectual method of fellowship. Here it is that we have fellowship with
   the Lord Jesus by receiving Him as our Savior. We, being guilty, accept
   of His Atonement as our sacrificial cleansing and in token thereof, we
   eat this bread and drink this cup. "Oh," says one, "I do not feel that
   I can get near to Christ. He is so high and holy--and I am only a poor
   sinner." Just so. For that very reason you can have fellowship with
   Christ in that which lies nearest to His heart! He is a Savior and to
   be a Savior there must be a sinner to be saved! Be you that one, and
   Christ and you shall at once be in union and communion--He shall save
   and you shall be saved! He shall sanctify and you shall be
   sanctified--and two shall thus be one! This Table sets before you His
   great Sacrifice. Jesus has offered it--will you accept it? He does not
   ask you to bring anything--no drop of blood, no pang of flesh--all is
   here and your part is to come and partake of it, even as of old the
   offerer partook of the peace offering which he had brought and so
   feasted with God and with the priest. If you work for Christ, that will
   certainly be some kind of fellowship with Him, but I tell you that the
   communion of receiving Him into your inmost soul is the nearest and
   closest fellowship possible to mortal man! The fellowship of service is
   exceedingly honorable when we and Christ work together for the same
   objectives! The fellowship of suffering is exceedingly instructive,
   when our heart has engraved upon it the same characters as were
   engraved upon the heart of Christ. But still, the fellowship of the
   soul which receives Christ and is received by Christ is closer, more
   vital, more essential than any other! Such fellowship is eternal! No
   power upon earth can henceforth take from me the piece of bread which I
   have just now eaten! It has gone where it will be made up into blood,
   nerve, muscle and bone. It is within me, and ofme. That drop of wine
   has coursed through my veins and is part and parcel of my being! So he
   that takes Jesus by faith to be his Savior has chosen the good part
   which shall not be taken away from him. He has received Christ into his
   inward parts and all the men on earth, and all the devils in Hell
   cannot extract Christ from him! Jesus said, "He that eats Me, even he
   shall live by Me." By our sincere reception of Jesus into our hearts,
   an indissoluble union is established between us and the Lord--and this
   manifests itself in mutual communion. To as many as received Him, to
   them has He given this communion, even to them that believe on His
   name!

   II. I have now to look at another side of communion, namely, THE
   FELLOWSHIP OF TRUE BELIEVERS WITH EACH OTHER. We have many ways of
   communing, the one with the other, but there is no way of mutual
   communing like the common reception of the same Christ in the same way!
   I have said that there are many ways in which Christians commune with
   one another--and these doors of fellowship I would mention at some
   length.

   Let me go over much the same ground as before. We commune by holy
   converse. I wish we had more of this. Time was when they that feared
   the Lord spoke often, one to another. I am afraid that now they more
   often speak one against another. It is a grievous thing that full often
   love lies bleeding by a brother's hand. Where we are not quite so bad
   as that, yet we are often backward and silent--and so miss profitable
   converse. Our clannish reserve has often made one Christian sit by
   another in utter isolation, when each would have been charmed with the
   other's company. Children of one family need not wait to be introduced
   to each other--having eaten of this one bread, we have given and
   received the token of brotherhood. Let us therefore act consistently
   with our relationship and fall into holy conversation next time we
   meet! I am afraid that Christian brotherhood in many cases begins and
   ends inside the place of worship. Let it not be so among us! Let it be
   our delight to find our society in the circle of which Jesus is the
   center and let us make them our friends who are the friends of Jesus.
   By frequent united prayer and praise, and by ministering, the one to
   the other, the things which we have learned by the Spirit, we shall
   have fellowship with each other in our Lord Jesus Christ!

   I am sure that all Christians have fellowship together in their
   thoughts. In the essentials of the Gospel we think alike--in our
   thoughts of God, of Christ, of sin, of holiness, we keep in step. In
   our intense desire to promote the Kingdom of our Lord we are as one.
   All spiritual life is one. The thoughts raised by the Spirit of God in
   the soul of men are never contrary to each other. I say not that the
   thoughts of all professors agree, but I do assert that the minds of the
   truly regenerate in all sects and in all ages are in harmony with each
   other--a harmony which often excites delighted surprise in those who
   perceive it! The marks that divide one set of nominal Christians from
   another set are very deep and wide to those who have nothing of
   religion but the name. Yet living Believers scarcely notice them.
   Boundaries which separate the cattle of the field are no division to
   the birds of the air! Our minds, thoughts, desires and hopes are one in
   Christ Jesus--and herein we have communion.

   Beloved Friends, our emotions are another royal road of fellowship. You
   sit down and tell your experience and I smile to think that you are
   telling mine! Sometimes a young Believer enlarges upon the sad story of
   his trials and temptations, imagining that nobody ever had to endure so
   great a fight, when all the while he is only describing the common
   adventures of those who go on pilgrimage and we are all communing with
   him! When we talk together about our Lord, are we not agreed? When we
   speak of our Father and all His dealings with us, are we not one? And
   when we weep, when we sigh, when we sing and when we rejoice--are we
   not all akin? Heavenly fingers touching like strings within our hearts
   bring forth the same notes, for we are the products of the same Maker
   and tuned to the same praise! Real harmony exists among all the true
   people of God--Christians are one in Christ!

   We have communion with one another, too, in our actions. We unite in
   trying to save men--I hope we do. We join in instructing, warning,
   inviting and persuading sinners to come to Jesus. Our life-ministry is
   the same--we are workers together with God. We live out the one desire,
   "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven."

   Certainly we have much communion, one with the other, in our
   sufferings. There is not a poor sick or despondent saint upon the earth
   with whom we do not sympathize at this moment, for we are fellow
   members and partakers of the sufferings of Christ. I hope we can each
   one say--

   "Is there a lamb in all Your flock, I would disdain to feed? Is there a
   foe, before whose face, I fear Your cause to plead?"

   No, we suffer with each other, bear each other's burdens and so fulfill
   the Law of Christ. If we do not, we have reason for questioning our own
   faith! But if we do so, we have communion with each other.

   I hope we have fellowship in our joys. Is one happy? We would not envy
   him, but rejoice with him! Perhaps this spirit is not so universal as
   it should be among professors. Are we at once glad because another
   prospers? If another star outshines ours, do we delight in its
   radiance? When we meet a Brother with ten talents, do we congratulate
   ourselves on having such a man given to help us, or do we depreciate
   him as much as we can? Such is the depravity of our nature that we do
   not readily rejoice in the progress of others if they leave us
   behind--but we must school ourselves to this. A man will readily sit
   down and sympathize with a friend's griefs, but if he sees him honored
   and esteemed, he is apt to regard him as a rival and does not readily
   rejoice with him. This ought not to be! Without effort we ought to be
   happy in our Brother's happiness. If we are ill, be this our comfort,
   that many are in robust health! If we are faint, let us be glad that
   others are strong in the Lord! Thus shall we enjoy a happy fellowship
   like that of the perfected above.

   When I have put all these modes of Christian communion together, not
   one of them is so sure, so strong, so deep as communion in receiving
   the same Christ as our Savior and trusting in the same blood for
   cleansing unto eternal life! Here on the Table you have the tokens of
   the broadest and fullest communion. This is a kind of communion which
   you and I cannot choose or reject--if we are in Christ, it is and must
   be ours! Certain brethren restrict their communion in the outward
   ordinance, and they think they have good reasons for doing so. But I am
   unable to see the force of their reasoning, because I joyfully observe
   that these brethren commune with other Believers in prayer, praise,
   hearing of the Word and other ways! The fact is that the matter of real
   communion is very largely beyond human control and is to the spiritual
   body what the circulation of the blood is to the natural body--a
   necessary process not dependent upon volition. In perusing a
   deeply-spiritual Book of Devotion, you have been charmed and benefited,
   and yet upon looking at the title page, it may be you have found that
   the author belonged to the Church of Rome. What then? Why, then it has
   happened that the inner life has broken all barriers and your spirits
   have communed! For my own part, in reading certain precious works, I
   have loathed their Romanism and yet I have had close fellowship with
   their writers in weeping over sin, in adoring at the foot of the Cross
   and in rejoicing in the glorious enthronement of our Lord. Blood is
   thicker than water, and no fellowship is more inevitable and sincere
   than fellowship in the precious blood and in the risen life of our Lord
   Jesus Christ! Here, in the common reception of the one loaf, we bear
   witness that we are one. And in the actual participation of all the
   chosen in the one redemption that unity is in very deed displayed and
   matured in the most substantial manner. Washed in the one blood, fed on
   the same loaf, cheered by the same cup, all differences pass away, and
   "we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of
   another."

   III. Now then, dear Friends, if this kind of fellowship is the best,
   LET US TAKE CARE TO ENJOY IT. Let us at this hour avail ourselves of
   it!

   Let us take care to see Christ in the mirror of this ordinances. Have
   any of you eaten the bread and yet have you not seen Christ? Then you
   have gained no benefit. Have you drank the wine, but have you not
   remembered the Lord? Alas, I

   fear you have eaten and drunk condemnation to yourselves, not
   discerning the Lord's body! But if you did see through the emblems, as
   aged persons see through their spectacles, then you have been thankful
   for such aids to vision! But what is the use of glasses if there is
   nothing to look at? And what is the use of the communion if Christ is
   not in our thoughts and hearts?

   If you did discern the Lord, then be sure, again, to accept Him. Say to
   yourself, "All that Christ is to any, He shall be to me. Does He save
   sinners? He shall save me. Does He change men's hearts? He shall change
   mine. Is He All-in-All to those who trust Him? He shall be All-in-All
   to me." I have heard persons say that they do not know how to take
   Christ. What said the Apostle? "The word is near you, even in your
   mouth, and in your heart." If you have something in your mouth that you
   desire to eat, what is the best thing to do? Will you not swallow it?
   That is exactly what faith does. Christ's Word of Grace is very near
   you--it is on your tongue--let it go down into your inmost soul! Say to
   your Savior, "I know I am not fit to receive You, O Jesus, but since
   You do graciously come to me as bread comes to the hungry, I joyfully
   receive You, rejoicing to feed upon You. Since You come to me as the
   fruit of the vine to a thirsty man, Lord, I take You willingly, and I
   thank You that this reception is all that You require of me. Has not
   Your Spirit so put it, 'As many as received Him, to them gave He power
   to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name'"?

   Beloved Friends, when you have thus received Jesus, fail not to rejoice
   in Him as having received Him! How many there are who have received
   Christ, who talk and act as if they never had received Him! It is a
   poor dinner of which a man says, after he has eaten it, that he feels
   as if he had not dined! And is it a poor Christ of whom anyone can say,
   "I have received Him, but I am none the happier, none the more at
   peace." If you have received Jesus into your heart, you are saved. You
   are f ustified. Do you whisper, "I hope so"? Is that all? Do you not
   know? The hoping and hopping of so many are a poor way of going--put
   both feet down and say, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
   that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against
   that day." You are either saved or not! There is no state between the
   two! You are either pardoned or condemned and you have good reason for
   the highest happiness or else you have grave causes for the direst
   anxiety. If you have received the Atonement, be as glad as you can be!
   And if you are still an unbeliever, rest not till Christ is yours!

   Oh, the joy of continually entering into fellowship with Christ in such
   a way that you never lose His empathy! Be this yours, Beloved, every
   day and all the day! May His shadow fall upon you as you are in the
   sun, or stray in the gardens! May His voice cheer you as you lie down
   upon the seashore and listen to the murmuring of the waves. May His
   Presence glorify the main solitude as you climb the hills! May Jesus be
   to you an all-surrounding Presence, lighting up the night, perfuming
   the day, gladdening all places and sanctifying all pursuits! Our
   Beloved is not a Friend for Lord's-Days only, but for weekdays too! He
   the inseparable passion of His loving disciples. The who have had
   fellowship with His body and His blood at this Table may have the Lord
   as an habitual Guest at their own tables! Those who have met their
   Master in this supper room may expect Him to make their own chamber
   bright with His royal Presence! Let fellowship with Jesus and with the
   elect brotherhood be henceforth the atmosphere of our life, the joy of
   our existence! This will give us a Heaven below and prepare us for
   Heaven above!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW26:14-35.

   Verses 14-16. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto
   the chief priests, and said unto them, What will you give me, and I
   will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with Him for thirty
   pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray
   Him. It was one of the twelve who went to the chief priests, to bargain
   for the price of his Lord's betrayal! He did not even mention Christ's
   name in his infamous question, "What will you give me, and I will
   deliver Him unto you?" The amount agreed upon, thirty pieces of silver,
   was the price of a slave and showed how little value the chief priests
   set upon Jesus--and also revealed the greed of Judas in selling his
   Master for so small a sum. Yet many have sold Jesus for a less price
   than Judas received--a smile or a sneer has been sufficient to induce
   them to betray their Lord! Let us who have been redeemed with Christ's
   precious blood, set high store by Him, think much of Him and praise Him
   much. As we remember with shame and sorrow these thirty pieces of
   silver, let us never undervalue Him, or forget the priceless
   preciousness of Him who was reckoned as worth no more than a slave.

   17, 18. Now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the
   disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, Where will You that we
   prepare for You to eat the Passover? And He said, Go into the city to
   such a man, and say unto him, The Master says, My time is at hand; I
   will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples. How truly royal
   was Jesus of Nazareth even in His humiliation! He had no home of His
   own wherein He could "keep the Passover"with His disciples. He was soon
   to be put to a public and shameful death, yet He had only to send two
   of His disciples "into the city to such a man," and the guest chamber,
   furnished and prepared, was at once placed at His disposal! He did not
   take the room by arbitrary force, as an earthly monarch might have
   done, but He obtained it by the Divine compulsion of Almighty Love.
   Even in His lowest estate, our Lord Jesus had the hearts of all men
   beneath His control. What power He has now that He reigns in Glory!

   19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made
   ready the Passover. If Christ's disciples always loyally did as Jesus
   appointed them, they would always speed well on His errands. There are
   many more people in the world ready to yield to Christ than some of us
   think. If we would only go to them as Peter and John went to this man
   in Jerusalem, and say to them what "the Master says," we would find
   that their hearts would be opened to receive Christ even as this man's
   house was willingly yielded up at our Lord's request!

   20, 21. Now when the evening was come, He sat down with the twelve. And
   as they did eat, He said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall
   betray Me. Our Lord remained in seclusion until the evening and then
   went to the appointed place and sat down, or rather, reclined at the
   paschal table with the twelve. And as they did eat, He said, "Verily I
   say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me." This was a most
   unpleasant thought to bring to a feast, yet it was most appropriate to
   the Passover, for God's commandment to Moses concerning the first
   paschal lamb was, "With bitter herbs they shall eat it." This was a
   painful reflection for our Lord, and also for His twelve chosen
   companion--"One of you," and His eyes would glance round the table as
   He said it, "One of you shall betray Me."

   22. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and began, each of them, to
   say unto Him, Lord, is it I?That short sentence fell like a bombshell
   among the Savior's bodyguard! It startled them--they had all made great
   professions of affection for Him and, for the most part, those
   professions were true. And they were exceedingly sorrowful--and well
   they might be! Such a revelation was enough to produce the deepest
   emotions of sorrow and sadness. It is a beautiful trait in the
   character of the disciples that they did not suspect one another, but
   each of them enquired, almost incredulously, as the form of the
   question implies-- "Lord, is it I?"No one said, "Lord, is it Judas?"
   Perhaps no one of the eleven thought that Judas was base enough to
   betray the Lord who had given him an honorable place among His
   Apostles. We cannot do any good by suspecting our brethren--but we may
   do great services by suspecting ourselves! Self-suspicion is near akin
   to humility.

   23, 24. And He answered and said, he that dips his hand with Me in the
   dish, the same shall betray Me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of
   Him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It had
   been good for that man if he had not been born. A man may get very near
   to Christ, yes, may dip his hand in the same dish with the Savior, and
   yet betray Him. We may be high in office and may apparently be very
   useful, as Judas was--yet we may betray Christ. We learn from our
   Lord's words that Divine decrees do not deprive a sinful action of its
   guilt--"The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him: but woe unto that
   man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." His criminality is just as
   great as though there had been no "determinate counsel and
   foreknowledge of God." "It had been good for that man if he had not
   been born'" The doom of Judas is worse than non-existence! To have
   consorted with Christ as he had done--and then to deliver Him into the
   hands of His enemies--sealed the traitor's eternal destiny!

   25. Then Judas which betrayed Him, answered and said, Master, is it I?
   He said unto him, You have said.Judas appears to have been the last of
   the twelve to ask the question, "is it I?" Those who are the last to
   suspect themselves are usually those who ought to be the first to
   exercise self-suspicion. Judas did not address Christ as, "Lord," as
   the other disciples had done, but called Him, Rabbi--"Master."
   Otherwise his question was like that of his eleven companions. But He
   received from Christ an answer that was given to no one else--He said
   unto him, "You have said." Probably the reply reached his ears alone,
   and if he had not been a hopeless reprobate, this unmasking of his
   traitorous design might have driven him to repentance, but there was
   nothing in his heart to respond to Christ's voice. He had sold himself
   to Satan before he sold his Lord.

   26-28. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and
   broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is My
   body. AndHe took the cup and gave thanks andgave it to them, saying,
   Drinkyou all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament, which is
   shed for many for the remission of sins. The Jewish Passover was made
   to melt into the Lord's Supper, as the stars of the morning dissolve
   into the light of the sun. As they were eating, while the paschal
   supper was proceeding, Jesus instituted the new memorial which is to be
   observed until He comes again. How simple was the whole ceremony! Jesus
   took bread, and blessedit, and broke it, andgave it to His disciples,
   andsaid, "Take, eat; this is My body'" Christ could not have meant that
   the bread was His actual body, for His body was reclining by the table!
   But He intended that broken bread to representHis body which was about
   to be broken on the Cross. Then followed the second memorial, the cup,
   filled with "the fruit of the vine," of which Christ said, "Drinkyou
   all of it." There is no trace here of any altar or priest--there is
   nothing about the elevation or adoration of the "host." There is no
   resemblance between the Lord's Supper and the Romish "mass." Let us
   keep strictly to the letter and spirit of God's Word in everything, for
   if one adds a little, another will add more, and if one alters one
   point, and another alters another point, there is no telling how far we
   shall get from the Truth of God! The disciples had been reminded of
   their own liability to sin--now their Savior gives them a personal
   pledge of the pardon of sin, according to Luke's record of His words,
   "This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you."

   29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of
   the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's
   Kingdom. Thus Jesus took the great Nazarite vow never to drink of the
   fruit of the vine till He should drink it new with His disciples in His
   Father's Kingdom. He will keep His tryst with all His followers, and
   they, with Him, shall hold high festival forever!

   30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of
   Olives.Was it not truly brave of our dear Lord to sing under such
   circumstances? He was going forth to His last dread conflict, to
   Gethsemane and Gabbatha and Golgotha--yet He went with a song on His
   lips! He must have led the singing, for the disciples were too sad to
   start the Hallel with which the paschal feast closed. And when they had
   sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Then came that
   desperate struggle in which the great Captain of our salvation wrestled
   even to a bloody sweat and prevailed.

   31. 32. Then said Jesus unto them, All you shall be offended because
   ofMe, this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the
   sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen
   again, I wiil go before you into Galilee.Observe our Lord's habit of
   quoting Scripture! He was able to speak words of Infallible Truth, yet
   He fell back upon the Inspired Record in the Old Testament! His
   quotation from Zechariah does not seem to have been really necessary,
   but it was most appropriate to His prophecy to His disciples-- "All you
   shall be offended because ofMe this night: for it is written, I will
   smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
   abroad." Jesus was the Shepherd who was about to be smitten, but He
   foretold the scattering of the sheep! Even those leaders of the flock
   that had been first chosen by Christ and had been most with Him would
   stumble and fall away from Him on that dread night, but the Shepherd
   would not lose them--there would be a reunion between Him and His
   sheep-- "After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee."
   Once again He would resume, for a little while, the Character of their
   Shepherd-King, and with them He would revisit some of their old haunts
   in Galilee before He ascended to His heavenly home. "I will go before
   you," suggests the idea of the Good Shepherd leading His flock after
   the Eastern manner. Happy are His sheep in having such a Leader! And
   blessed are they in following Him wherever He goes!

   33. Peter answered and said unto Him, Though all men shall be offended
   because of You, yet will I never be offended. This was a very
   presumptuous speech, not only because of the self-confidence it
   betrayed, but also because it was a flat contradiction of the Master's
   declaration! Jesus said, "All you shall be offended because of Me this
   night," but Peter thought he knew better than Christ, so he answered,
   "Though all men shall be offended because of You, yet will I never be
   offended." No doubt these words were spoken from his heart, but "the
   heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Peter
   must have been amazed, the next morning, as he discovered the
   deceitfulness and wickedness of his own heart as manifested in his
   triple denial of his Lord! He who thinks himself so much stronger than
   his brethren is the very man who will prove to be weaker than many of
   them, as did Peter, not many hours after his boast was uttered.

   34. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, That this night, before
   the cock crows, you shall deny Me thrice. Jesus now tells His boastful
   disciple that before the next morning's cockcrowing, he will thrice
   deny his Lord. Not only would he stumble and fall with his fellow
   disciples, but he would go beyond them all in his repeated denials of
   that dear Master whom he professed to love with as intense an affection
   as even John possessed. Peter declared that he would remain true to
   Christ if he were the only faithful friend left. Jesus foretold that of
   all the twelve, only Judas would exceed the boaster in wickedness!

   35. Peter said unto Him, Though I shall die with You, yet will I not
   deny You. Likewise also said all the disciples. Here again Peter
   contradicts his Master straight to His face. It was a pity that he
   should have boasted once after his Lord's plain prophecy that all the
   disciples would that night be offended. But it was shameful that Peter
   should repeat his self-confident declaration in the teeth of Christ's
   express prediction concerning him! He was not alone in his utterance,
   for likewise also said all the disciples. They all felt that under no
   circumstances could they deny their Lord. We have no record of the
   denial of Christ by the other ten Apostles, although they all forsook
   Him and fled, and thus practically disowned Him. Remembering all that
   they had seen and heard of Him, and especially bearing in mind His most
   recent discourse, the communion in the upper room, and His wondrous
   intercessory prayer on their behalf, we are not surprised that they
   felt themselves bound to Him forever. But, alas, notwithstanding their
   protests, the King's Prophesy was completely fulfilled, for that night
   they were all "offended."
     __________________________________________________________________

Praise for Jesus

   (No. 3296)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
   FEBRUARY 25, 1866.

   "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise." Genesis 49:8.

   THESE words were spoken by the Patriarch Jacob when he blessed his sons
   as he lay a-dying. But before he finished Judah's blessing, the good
   old man seemed to forget his son and to turn his thoughts to Jesus, our
   Lord, of whom Judah was a very significant type. Jacob compared Judah
   to a lion and a lion's whelp--and in the Revelation we read that one of
   the elders said to John, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of
   David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loosen the seven seals
   thereof." In the 10th verse of this Chapter we have Jacob's notable
   prophecy concerning the coming of Christ, "The scepter shall not depart
   from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes
   and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."

   I intend only to speak about Judah so far as he is a type of Christ,
   and I trust that I shall, by the Holy Spirit's gracious guidance, move
   all the brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ to praise Him, so that I
   shall be able to reverently say to Him, "Jesus, You are He whom Your
   brothers shall praise." So I shall speak, first, concerning the praise
   of Judah and the praise of Jesus. And then, secondly, concerning the
   glories of Judah as setting forth the glories of Jesus.

   I. First, then, let us think about THE PRAISE OF JUDAH AND THE PRAISE
   OF JESUS.

   Jacob said to Judah, "You are he who your brothers shall praise." Judah
   was preeminent above his brethren in several things for which he
   deserved to be praised. The first was the eloquence and prevalence of
   his intercession. Judah seems to have been the gifted one out of the 12
   sons of Jacob, and his pleading prevailed with his father when all
   others were powerless. When "the lord of the land" of Egypt, whom his
   brothers failed to recognize although he knew them, said to them, "You
   shall not see my face, except your brother be with you," they went back
   home with heavy hearts and their father stoutly refused to allow
   Benjamin to go down into Egypt. But when all their corn was eaten up,
   and they were obliged to go again to buy more, it was Judah who
   persuaded Jacob to let Benjamin go with them. Reuben and Levi were
   obliged to be silent in that critical period, for they had lost their
   rightful position in the family by their transgressions, and Simeon was
   a hostage in the hands of Joseph--but Judah was able to step into the
   breach and his intercession prevailed.

   We, Brothers and Sisters, are by nature like those sinful sons of
   Jacob. We have offended our Father who is in Heaven, and it is in vain
   for us to attempt to approach Him as sinners without an intercessor.
   But our Judah-Jesus, if I may so call Him, stands before His Father's
   face--and whatever our desire or our request may be, provided it is a
   right one--it is sure to be granted when Jesus pleads for us before the
   Throne of God! "If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father,
   Jesus Christ, the Righteous." Turn your eyes upward, Beloved, and see
   our Great High Priest appearing there in the Presence of God for us!
   And as He points to the print of the nails in His hands and feet, and
   to the scar of the soldier's spear in His side, and pleads our cause,
   be certain that His plea must prevail with His Father! Remember the
   argument of the Apostle when writing concerning the Melchisedec
   priesthood of Christ, "this Man, because He continues forever, has an
   unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able also to save them to the
   uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He always lives to make
   intercession for them." If Judah was praised because his intercession
   prevailed with Jacob, much more shall Jesus be praised because His
   intercession prevails with Jehovah! Clap your hands, O you saints, at
   the remembrance of His prevalence on your behalf when you sought Him
   out of the depths of your despair! And praise Him that He still lives
   to carry on His people's cause above! Have you any burden on your mind
   at this moment? Is there anything that

   distresses you? Have you been much in prayer without getting answers to
   your supplications? Then put your case into the hands of Christ--He has
   never lost a suit yet--and that is more than the best of earthly
   advocates can say about the cases entrusted to them! Therefore praise
   Him, you who have committed yourselves into His hands! And as for you
   who are going to do so now, begin to praise Him, for your most sanguine
   anticipations of blessing shall not be disappointed!

   That was a wonderful scene when Joseph said that Benjamin should not go
   back with his brothers, but should remain in Egypt as his servant
   because the silver cup had been found in his sack, and Judah pleaded
   with Joseph, not knowing that "the lord of the land" was his own
   brother! You remember how he pictured their old father at home, who
   would certainly die of a broken heart if Benjamin did not return to him
   in safety and how, at last, he offered to be a bondman to Joseph if he
   would but let Benjamin go free. You see, he pleaded for substitution,
   and he also told Joseph how he became surety for the lad unto his
   father--and his plea was so effectual that Joseph could refrain himself
   no longer, but bursting into tears declared that he was their long-lost
   brother! So, dear Friends, if the great Lord of Heaven and earth seems
   angry with you because of your sins--"and He is angry with the wicked
   every day"--put your case into the hands of the sinners' Advocate,
   Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and when He stands up to plead with His
   Father for you, He will soon bring a smile of forgiveness upon the
   righteously severe Countenance of His Father and you shall gladly say,
   "Jesus, You are He whom Your brethren shall praise because of Your
   almighty power in pleading for them."

   We find that at a later period, the tribe of Judah was foremost in
   wisdom and skill. If you turn to Exodus 35:30, you will see that when
   the tabernacle was to be erected in the wilderness, "Moses said unto
   the children of Israel, See, the Lord has called by name Bezaleel the
   son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled
   him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in
   knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise curious
   works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting
   of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of
   cunning work." And, surely, I may metaphorically apply this description
   to our Judah-Jesus! What wisdom there is in Him and what skill! What is
   there that He cannot do? Bezaleel could cut, polish, and set precious
   stones--but Jesus can take the worthless pebbles of the brook and
   transmute them into diamonds! Jesus takes "base things of the world,
   and things which are despised," and works such marvelous changes in
   them that the Lord of Hosts says concerning them, "They shall be Mine
   in that day when I make up My jewels." He is a wonderful Lapidary! Some
   of us have been upon the wheel under His hand for a long time--and we
   are apt to think that He has cut us most cruelly-- but the cutting is
   intended to bring out our brilliance and to make us fit to shine in the
   diadem of the King in due time! Bezaleel was also a worker in wood--and
   our great Judah-Jesus came to us when we were growing wild in the
   forest of sin. It was His axe of conviction that cut us down and it has
   been His hand of skill that has been fashioning and carving us to make
   us worthy to be pillars in His Temple!

   What is there that Jesus cannot do? Has He not worked out for us a work
   which required far more skill than the erecting of the Tabernacle in
   the wilderness and the making of the Ark of the Covenant, the veil
   which hung before the Most Holy Place, the high priest's garments of
   glory and beauty and all the cunning work devised by Bezaleel and his
   helpers? Did He not spend His whole life in working out for us a
   matchless robe of righteousness in which we may even dare to stand
   before the all-seeing eyes of God? Angels will keep on wondering
   throughout eternity at the wisdom of their Lord and ours! The wisdom of
   His teaching is Divine. "Never man spoke like this Man." The wisdom
   with which He deals with each individual case that is brought to Him is
   matchless! He is the Great Physician and there is no earthly doctor who
   has such skill as He has. Let Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, have all
   due praise, but let Jesus, the Son of God, have far more! All wisdom is
   to be found in Him! His very name is "Wisdom." Solomon calls Him by
   that name. The wisest of men was not at all wise in comparison with
   Incarnate Wisdom, the Wisdom of God as manifested in Jesus Christ.
   Jesus, we bless You, You who have worked out a perfect righteousness
   for us, You who make us into living stones and then build us, stone by
   stone, into the marvelous edifice of Your Church! Jesus, You are He
   whom Your brethren shall praise for Your wondrous wisdom and skill!

   Further, the tribe of Judah had precedence in presenting offerings unto
   the Lord. In Numbers 7:12, we read, "He that offered his offering the
   first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah." The
   Lord had said to Moses, "They shall offer their offering, each prince
   on his day, for the dedicating of the altar," and the prince of the
   tribe of Judah, therefore, led the way by bringing his offering on the
   first day. We know that our Lord sprang out of Judah, so he was first
   with his offering. "No," says someone, "Abel was first with his
   offering." Yes, apparently He was in the or-

   der of time, but Christ's offering was much more ancient than his, for
   He was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." In the Divine
   Purpose, His sacrifice was offered long before the great tragedy on
   Calvary! And the merit of His Atonement was reckoned to His people's
   account long before man was created--but certainly in order of
   precedence Christ's offering comes first. Christ brought for His
   offering His own most precious body and blood and we, by faith, present
   the same offering when we come to God in the name of Jesus. What
   sacrifice could we bring if Judah's Prince had not first brought His
   one offering by which He has perfected forever them that are
   sanctified? Did I say just now that Christ's offering had precedence? I
   must correct myself, for it is first, it is last, it is midst, it is
   the onlySacrifice that can put away sin and make us acceptable unto
   God! And there is no sacrifice either of prayer or of praise that we
   can present to God unless we being it by virtue of Christ's one great
   Sacrifice. Let us, therefore, praise our Judah-Jesus! Let us give Him
   our loudest hallelujahs, for He comes first to the altar, and we
   afterwards approach it through Him. Jesus, You are He whom Your
   brethren shall praise for Your wondrous atoning Sacrifice!

   Yet again, Judah had the singular precedence of always leading the van
   when the tribes were on the march. In Numbers 10:14 we read that, when
   the fiery-cloudy pillar moved, "in the first place went the standard of
   the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies." First in
   the encampment, first on the march, first everywhere was Judah's lion!
   The tribe of Dan brought up the rear, but the tribe of Judah always
   went in front. And here again let Jesus Christ be praised, for He
   always leads the way! If I descend into the Valley of Humiliation, I
   shall see His footprints all down the slippery steeps. If I pass
   through the Enchanted Ground where so many fall asleep, I shall see the
   track of the Wakeful One all along that dangerous way. If up the Hill
   Difficulty I have to scramble on my hands and knees, I shall see the
   marks of the blood drops where His hands were torn by the thorns and
   His feet were cut by the flints as He, too, climbed there! And when I
   go down to the river, I shall still see His footprints--and up the
   other side I shall see the track of my risen Lord! All up the eternal
   hills I shall but follow where He leads the way! Yes, and up to the
   very Throne of God He has gone before us, clearing a way for His people
   and leading them along it.

   Yet once more, Judah afterwards attained to the sovereignty, for David,
   of the tribe of Judah, was in due time proclaimed king over all Israel.
   We also have a King of the line of Judah, one who is mightier than
   David, and wiser than So-lomon--and happy are we in having such a King
   to reign over us! Who among us that loves Christ would not set Him up
   upon a high throne? Oh, that we could continually exalt Him yet more
   and more! Let your sweetest songs be all in His praise! Let your most
   daring deeds be done for Him. Give Him, you gracious women, your
   alabaster boxes full of precious ointment! Prepare your feasts, you
   wealthy men, and invite Him to preside at the table! Come, you
   children, and strew branches in the way while He rides along
   triumphantly! Let, "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!" be the joyful strain
   which comes from every lip and heart because Jesus reigns over us, the
   King of kings and Lord of lords! Do praise Him, do extol Him this very
   moment, lift up your hearts and your voices while we sing this familiar
   strain--

   "Jesusis worthy to receive

   Honor and power Divine.

   And blessings more than we can give

   Be, Lord, forever Thine." (The congregation joined in singing, and then
   the preacher continued his sermon).

   II. The second part of our subject was to be THE GLORIES OF JUDAH AS
   SETTING FORTH THE GLORIES OF JESUS. They are illustrated in the
   sentence concerning Judah that follow our text.

   The first of them mentions the victories of Judah--"Your hand shall be
   on the neck of your enemies." You know what it means when a man seizes
   his enemy by the throat, or when a lion gets its prey by the neck and
   shakes the very life out of it. Thus has Jesus Christ done with all the
   enemies of His people. Shall I tell you again the grand old story?
   'Twas one dark night when the Great Shepherd was watching His flock
   that He heard the roaring which told Him that the old lion of the pit
   was about to leap into the fold to tear the sheep in pieces. Then the
   Shepherd whispered to Himself, "This is the dreadful hour and the power
   of darkness." Taking His place in the midst of His blood-bought flock,
   He waited for the next terrific roar. And as the lion sprang into the
   fold, He received him upon His bare bosom, and began at once to grapple
   with Him. He was wounded in His hands, in His feet, and in His
   side--and in the desperate struggle "His sweat was, as it were, great
   drops of blood falling down to the ground." It was a dreadful fight
   which had been foreseen before

   the world was made, and which shall be the theme of grateful song when
   the world has ceased to be! But in the end the Shepherd tore the lion
   as though it had been a kid and, crying, "It is finished," He Himself
   fell prostrate over His foe, slain, but dying only to rise again and
   live in everlasting triumph! In that dread combat, His hand was,
   indeed, on the neck of His enemy--and now He has gone to Glory, leading
   captivity captive! You who have been delivered by Him from the old lion
   of the pit may well exclaim, "Jesus, You are He whom Your brethren
   shall praise."

   The next thing for which Judah was to be praised was Jacob's prophecy,
   " Your father's children shall bow down before you." Now, who in this
   house is a child of God? You will not be long in answering that
   question when I put to you another, "Do you bow down before the Lord
   Jesus Christ?" Here we are, a vast multitude assembled in this
   Tabernacle, but we are not all the children of God by faith in Christ
   Jesus. We cannot all truly say, "Our Father, who are in Heaven." Our
   text gives us the means of knowing who are the children of God, for the
   great Father says to His Son, "Your Father's children shall bow down
   before You." Do you bow down before the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He your
   only trust? Do you rest your whole weight upon Him? Do you depend for
   time and eternity upon Judah-Jesus whom God has anointed and appointed
   to be the only Savior of sinners? If so, you have proved your sonship
   by bowing down before your great elder Brother!

   The third Glory of Judah was his lion-like power Jacob said, "Judah is
   a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you are gone up. He stooped
   down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him
   up?" This seems to be a picture, first of Judah, and then of the Lord
   Jesus Christ. As a young lion, He has gone up and tore His prey in
   pieces. Sin, death and Hell He has torn asunder! And now that He is
   like a mighty, full-grown lion, woe be unto those who provoke Him to
   anger--but blessed are they who have Him on their side! Many of you
   have seen that beautiful engraving of Una, the type of innocence,
   riding upon a lion's back. That lion, according to Spenser, protecting
   her from all ill. That is how every penitent soul rides, by the Grace
   of God! The Lion of the tribe of Judah is the Guardian of every
   believing heart. You have but to trust yourself to Jesus and He will
   see to it that you are never destroyed. He will preserve and deliver
   you from all evil of every kind and, at last, shall safely bring you
   where you shall see His face and rejoice in Him forever and ever! But
   woe to any of you who reject Him! Woe to you who deny His Deity! Woe to
   you who break His Sabbaths, abhor His Word and despise His Cross! In
   that last tremendous Day, His anger against the wicked shall be so
   terrible that they shall say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us
   and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the Throne, and from the
   wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who
   shall be able to stand?" Oh, bow before Him, accept His Grace, trust in
   His atoning Sacrifice and then the very power which should make you now
   tremble will be exerted on your behalf and cause you to rejoice
   forever!

   Further, Jesus is to be extolled for His perpetual Sovereignty. "The
   scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between His
   feet until Shiloh comes." Judah's sovereignty came to an end, but Jesus
   always reigns. His kingdom here on earth has often seemed as if it were
   in jeopardy, but it has never been overthrown and it never will be. In
   the martyr days, they sewed the Christians up in the skins of wild
   beasts and cast them to the dogs. They dragged them at the heels of
   horses. They burned them at the stake. They stripped off their clothes
   and tortured then with hot irons on every part of their body. I dare
   not mention all the cruelties that were practiced on the followers of
   Jesus, but nothing availed to shake their allegiance to their King! In
   all these trials they were more than conquerors through Him who loved
   them and who gave them the Grace to endure all these things for His
   sake! Neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution nor famine,
   nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword could separate them from the love
   of Christ! And thus His Kingdom was perpetuated during even the darkest
   ages of its history--which in another sense were also the brightest
   because of the Glory that the faithfulness of His followers brought to
   their King! His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom--"of the increase of
   His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of
   David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
   judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever."

   Now we get clear of Judah and come to Shiloh, of whom Jacob says, "unto
   Him shall the gathering of the people be." Ah, Beloved, there are no
   gatherings of the people anywhere else like those who come to Christ!
   It is no small thing that, all these years, the multitudes have
   gathered in this house, Sabbath by Sabbath, and why do they come? I
   confidently affirm that the only reason why such crowds gather here is
   because the preacher's theme is Christ! Feebly as he sometime preaches,
   his unvarying theme is the Cross, the precious blood, the
   all-sufficient Sacrifice of Christ offered once for all on Calvary!
   This is a theme which never palls upon the ear! This is a subject which
   never grows stale. "We preach Chr-

   ist Crucified," for this is the magnet that draws the people to Him.
   Jesus Himself said, "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
   men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die." The
   crowds that come here are nothing in comparison with the multitudes
   that have been and are still being drawn to Christ by the magnet of His
   death! I see His Cross standing on yonder hill and I see the people
   gathering to it from every quarter. There was a little stream at first,
   but it grew, and none of us can tell how many have already been drawn
   to Christ--and still they come! While I have been speaking to you, they
   have kept on coming to Him, and so they shall until "He shall have
   dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the
   earth." "Yes all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall
   serve Him." "To Him shall the gathering of the people be." They may
   seem to us to be long in coming, but they must come. The vision may
   tarry, but it is sure--and at the appointed time there shall be heard a
   great shout from the dwellers in the land, and from those far off upon
   the sea and from the glorified in Heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this
   world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He
   shall reign forever and ever."

   At the last, good old Jacob seems to have had his eyes opened, and to
   have seen a very singular vision of Judah's King--"Binding His foal
   unto the vine, and His ass's colt unto the choice vine." Yes, 'tis He,
   the very same of whom the Prophet wrote, "Behold, your King comes unto
   you, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass."
   This is Judah-Jesus! He is a King, but He goes not down to Egypt for
   horses. He is meek and lowly, so He is content to ride upon the humble
   ass in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem! The mention of "the vine"
   and "the choice vine" naturally turns our thoughts to His most
   instructive parable of the Vine and the branches. And as the ass's colt
   was bound to the vine, so is the Church of God bound to Him who said,
   "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman."

   Jacob's next words are also very suggestive--"He washed His garments in
   wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes." You know the meaning of
   the allegory. Jesus went to Gethsemane and there "the blood of grapes"
   upon the true Vine--I mean, the bloody sweat that exuded from every
   pore of His sacred body--was so copious as to make His garments appear
   as though they had been washed in wine! They took Him to Gabbatha and
   there they scourged Him so cruelly that again His clothes looked as if
   they had been washed in the blood of grapes. And so He passed on
   through the streets of Jerusalem until He came to Golgotha. Can you
   bear to see Him taking His last bloodbath on Calvary?--

   "His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o'er His body on the tree."
   After that terrible bloodbath, how does He look? What aspect does He
   bear? Jacob said, "His eyes shall be red with wine, and His teeth white
   with milk." His eyes were red with wine, but again it was the red wine
   of His own most precious blood flowing down from His thorn-crowned
   brow! And the white teeth seem to suggest the spotless purity of the
   Son of God even when He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we
   might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Oh, we must praise our
   blessed Judah-Jesus, for He was still fairest of the fair even when His
   face was marred more than the face of any man! Let us humbly bow before
   Him. Let us gratefully adore Him as we remember that, "being found in
   fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death,
   even the death of the Cross." But that was not the end of Him, for He
   was buried--but the third day He rose again and, after tarrying a while
   with His disciples, He ascended to His Father and our Father, to His
   God and ours! And He is coming back again, one of these days, "to be
   glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe" in
   Him!

   Long ago, Isaiah asked, "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed
   garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in His apparel, travelling
   in the greatness of His strength?" And the answer came at once, "I that
   speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Then the Prophet asked, "Why
   are You red in Your apparel, and Your garments like he that treads in
   the wine vat?" And He answered, "I have trodden the winepress alone;
   and of the people there was none with Me: for I will tread them in My
   anger, and trample then in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled
   upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. For the day of
   vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come." To all
   who trust Him, our great Judah-Jesus is still "mighty to save." All
   blood-bedewed from Calvary, He cries, "Come unto Me, all you that labor
   and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." To every sincere
   penitent, He still speaks in righteousness and says, "I washed My
   garments in wine, and My clothes in the blood of grapes when I trod the
   winepress of Jehovah's wrath for Your sake; when there was none to
   help, My own arm brought salvation unto Me, but it was for you that I
   suffered." Oh, believe Him, sinner! Trust Him and so become a child of
   God by faith in Christ Jesus, and then go forth

   to serve Him and to praise Him all your days--and to glorify Him
   forever. Let us all go our way still singing the praises of our blessed
   Lord and Master--

   "Let Him be crowned with majesty Who bowed His head to death; And be
   His honors sounded high By all things that have breath! Jesus, our
   Lord, how wondrous great Is your exalted name! The glories of Your
   heavenly state Let the whole earth proclaim!"

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GENESIS49:1-28.

   Verses l, 2. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather
   yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in
   the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob;
   and hearken unto Israel your father.It must have been a great comfort
   to the old man to have all his 12 sons with him. What a quiet answer
   this was to his former unbelief! They were all there, yet he could
   remember the time when he had said, "Me have you bereaved of my
   children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin
   away." Ah, we also shall have in our later days to chide ourselves for
   our foolish unbelief! "Jacob called unto his sons." So he was not
   bereaved after all! They are all here, Jacob! It falls to the lot of
   few fathers to have 12 sons--but still fewer to have all 12 of them
   gathered about his dying bed! "Gather yourselves together." They were
   to keep together as a family--and shall not the people of God keep
   together? Come away from the world, Beloved, but come close to one
   another! Be one household. Be it your delight to assemble around your
   elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ! "Gather yourselves together, that
   I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days." We are
   not told, nowadays, everything about the future, but much of the future
   is unfolded to us in the great principles of the Law and the Gospel.
   And we may learn very much of holy foresight by coming to the oracles
   of God.

   3. Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my
   strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power The
   Patriarch fixes his eyes on his first-born. He must say something sharp
   that would dishonor him, but he does not deny him the rights of
   birthright. He clothes him with the robes and the jewels of
   primogeniture, and then he strips him--

   4. Unstable as water, you shallnot excel; because you went up to your
   father's bed; then defledyou it: he went up to my couch.So a man may
   have great opportunities and yet lose them. Uncontrolled passions may
   make him very little who otherwise might have been great. Reuben was
   "the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power," yet his
   father had to say to him, "You shall not excel."

   5. Simeon and Levi--They stood next according to the order of birth.
   "Simeon and Levi"--

   6. Are brothers. They are very much like each other.

   6-7. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come
   not you into their secret; unto their assembly, my honor, be not you
   united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they
   dug down a wall Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their
   wrath, for it was cruel: I wiil divide them in Jacob, and scatter them
   in Israel Hence we do not read of the tribe of Simeon in the blessing
   of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy. But the Levites had this curse
   turned into a blessing, for, though they were scattered, yet they were
   scattered as priests and instructors to the other tribes. Happy is that
   man who, though he begins with a dark shadow resting upon him, so lives
   as to turn even that shadow into bright sunlight! Levi gained a
   blessing at the hands of Moses--one of the richest blessings of any of
   the tribes. This holy man, Jacob, in dying, did not express himself
   according to the rules of natural affection but he yielded himself up
   to the Spirit of God--therefore he had to say very much what must have
   been very bitter for a father to say, and he said it in all
   faithfulness being taught of the Spirit concerning things to come.

   8. Judah Now the Patriarch changes his tone, for he has come to that
   tribe which would take the birthright, out of which the Christ would
   come--"Judah"--

   8. You are he whom your brothers shall praise.They praised God for him,
   they praised God by him, they praised God in him! He is the type of
   Jesus, of whom we can say all this with great emphasis.

   8. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's
   children shall bow down before you. In the person of David, in the long
   line of kings of the tribe of Judah, all this came true. And in the
   Person of the great Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, all this has
   come true to a very high degree!

   9. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he
   stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse
   him up?The coat of arms of Judah was a lion couchant, in the fullness
   of his strength, keeping still, waiting to spring upon his adversary.
   Our Lord Christ is such a Lion today--"the Lion of the tribe of
   Judah"-- couchant, lying down. "Who shall rouse Him up?" Ah, if He is
   once fully aroused, what power will He put forth when He shall spring
   upon His adversaries?

   10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
   between his feet until Shiloh comes; and unto him shall the gathering
   of the people be.Jacob's eyes were dim, but he could see a very long
   way! He could see to the coming of Christ, the Shiloh, the Pacificator,
   the Peace-Maker--he could see that day when the Jews would cry, "We
   have no king but Caesar," for the Shiloh would have come and the
   scepter would have departed from Judah's tribe. "Unto Him shall the
   gathering of the people be." Oh, that it might be so today! May many be
   gathered to Christ! He is the true center and we gather unto Him. May
   the divisions of the Church be soon healed by a general gathering unto
   Christ who alone is the center of the Church. "Unto Him shall the
   gathering of the people be."

   11-12. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his donkey's colt unto the
   choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the
   blood of grapes: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white
   with milk They were to have a land in which would be milk for babes and
   wine for strong men! Surely this land is "Your land, O Emmanuel!" What
   nourishing milk there is in the Gospel, and what exhilarating wine for
   those who know the love of Christ!

   13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an
   haven of ships; and his brother shall be unto Zidon. When the land was
   divided by lot, the lot was disposed by God to the complete fulfillment
   of Jacob's prophecy. Many things may seem to be left to chance, but
   they are not--the hand of God still guides and controls. This blessing
   is very suggestive. "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and
   he shall be for a haven of ships." If God puts you by the sea, mind
   that you are a haven for ships. The Lord, in His Providence, fixes your
   position--see that you turn it to account for the good of others.

   14-15. Issachar is a strong donkey couching down between two burdens:
   and he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and
   bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
   Issachar's was a poor case. He was so idle, so fond of rest, that he
   was willing to become a servant unto tribute. This seems hardly a
   blessing yet it was true of Issachar. He was strong, but then he was a
   donkey as well as strong, so he liked couching down between two burdens
   much better than bearing either one of them--yet he had to bow his
   shoulder to bear and became a servant unto tribute.

   16-17. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan
   shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the

   path that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall
   backward.This tribe would show more cunning than courage. It would
   excel rather in the strategy of war than in the force of arms. Here the
   old man paused and refreshed himself by saying--

   18. I have waited for Your salvation, O LORD. What a happy breathing
   space is this! When you and I, also, are near our journey's end, may we
   be able to say, as Jacob did, "I have waited for Your salvation, O
   Lord." He could not have said that once. This is the very Jacob who
   had, in his earlier days, been full of crafty policy and tricks and
   schemes! But he has done with all that now, and he is able to
   truthfully say, "I have waited for Your salvation, O Lord."

   19. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
   This has been the blessing of many a child of God--to fight and
   apparently to lose the battle, yet to win it at the end. O you who are
   striving against sin, or seeking to win souls for Christ, after many
   disappointments may you be able to clutch this sweet assurance, "He
   shall overcome at the last."

   20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal
   dainties. Asher was a tribe that was placed in a very fertile region
   where everything was crowned with delight. Oh, to have our inheritance
   where we feed upon the bread of Heaven, and where the deep Truths of
   God become to us royal dainties!

   21. Naphtali is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words. Naphtali was a
   tribe notable for those that could speak freely, helped of God with a
   holy freedom in bearing testimony to His Truth.

   22. Joseph Ah, now the Patriarch comes to his beloved Joseph, and here
   the old man lingers long, longer than upon any other of his sons.
   "Joseph"--

   22. Is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose
   branches run over the wall The Hebrew puts it, "Joseph is a son of
   fruits, even a son of fruits by a well; whose daughters run over the
   wall."

   23, 24. The archers have surely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated
   him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hand were made
   strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from there is the
   Shepherd, the Stone of

   Israel). [See Sermon #17, Volume 1--JOSEPH ATTACKED BY THE ARCHERS.]

   Joseph is a type of Him who is both the Shepherd and the Stone to
   us--the Shepherd who defends us, provides for us, and dies for us. And
   the Foundation on which we build for time and eternity.

   25-28. Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the
   Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of Heaven above, blessings
   of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
   the blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my
   progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall
   be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was
   separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall prey as a wolf: in the
   morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the
   spoil All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that
   their father spoke unto them, and blessed them; every one according to
   his blessing he blessed them
     __________________________________________________________________

David and His Volunteers

   (No. 3297)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold
   to the wilderness men of might, and men ofwar fit for the battle, that
   could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of
   lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains; Ezer the
   first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, Mishmannah the fourth,
   Jeremiah the fifth, Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, Johanan the
   eighth, Elzabad the ninth, Jeremiah the tenth, Machbanai the eleventh.
   These were of the sons of God, captains of the host: one of the least
   was over an hundred, and the greatest over a thousand. These are they
   that went over Jordan in the first month when it had overflowed all his
   banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the
   east, and toward the west" 1 Chronicles 12:8-15.

   DAVID, compelled to flee from his own country, and to hide himself from
   the malice of Saul, was eminently a type of our Lord Jesus Christ who,
   in the days when He dwelt here among men, was despised and rejected of
   men. And at this moment it is well known to the true Church of God and
   it becomes palpably evident to every earnest Believer in the Gospel
   that Jesus, the Son of David, is not received, acknowledged, or
   tolerated in this present evil world. He has gone forth outside the
   camp. All who would repair to Him must go forth likewise, bearing His
   reproach. These eleven Gadites--all of them remarkable men--espoused
   the cause of David when he was in his very worst condition--they left
   the ease and comfort, the honors and elements of their own homes to
   associate themselves with him when he was regarded as an outlaw under
   the ban of society. And to this day, every Christian who is faithful to
   his profession must separate himself from his fellow men to be a
   follower of the despised Jesus. In that way and with that faith which
   men still count heresy, must he join himself with that to which is
   everywhere spoken against, running the gauntlet of the age if he would
   espouse the cause of the Lord's Anointed!

   In tracing out the parallel, let me now draw your attention, first, to
   the leader who commanded the voluntary homage of good and valiant men.
   And then to the recruits who joined themselves to him, of whom we find
   a graphic description it our text.

   I. THE LEADER, whom we regard as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, was
   David, the son of Jesse. And in tracing out some points of analogy, we
   begin by noticing that like David, our Lord was anointed of God to be
   the Leader of His people. Hence the words of prophecy concerning Him,
   "I will make an Everlasting Covenant with You, even the sure mercies of
   David. Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the people, a Leader
   and Commander to the people." The Spirit of God is upon Jesus of
   Nazareth, for Him has God the Father anointed. "Unto Him shall the
   gathering of the people be." We may well be ready to follow a Leader
   whom God has appointed and commended to us with such high praise! "I
   have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out
   of the people. I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I
   anointed him: with whom My hand shall be established: My arm also shall
   strengthen him." The Lord, in His own Sovereignty, with wisdom and
   prudence, has been pleased to fix His choice upon the Man Christ Jesus
   to be our federal Head, our King and our Commander. What other
   justification do we need for following Christ than that God Himself
   thus sets Him forth? To this choice of God our soul agrees. Never be
   afraid, young man, of acknowledging Christ! Never let any of us blush
   to acknowledge the blessed impeachment that we are followers of the
   Lamb! It is an honor to follow One who has the highest sanction of
   Heaven in taking the command and exercising the authority that pertains
   to Him!

   Jesus was like David, too, in that He was personally fit to be a
   Leader. David, alike by his character and his deeds of prowess, had
   become the foremost man of his times. So our blessed Lord, as to His
   Person, is just such a King as one might desire to obey. And as for His
   achievements, O tell what His arm has done--what spoils from death His
   right hand won! Let His fame be spread over all the earth! He stood in
   the gap when there was none to help. He vanquished the foe who
   threatened our destruction. He set His people free. He led their
   captivity captive. In point of courage and in feats of war He so
   outstripped David that I may safely say, "David has slain his
   thousands, but Jesus His tens of thousands! He is a Man of war. The
   Lord is His name." He has defeated all the principalities and powers
   and put to rout all the hosts of Hell that came against His people.
   Therefore let Him be acknowledged as King. Who else should be exalted
   among the people but He who has done such wonderful things for the
   people? It is no marvel that the men of Israel gathered around David
   with a glowing enthusiasm and proved their patriotism by their
   allegiance to his sovereignty. Nor need we wonder that the children of
   God should shout--

   "All hail the power of Jesus' name

   Let angels prostrate fall,

   Bring forth the royal diadem

   And crown Him Lord of all!" Right well does He deserve all the homage
   we can ever ascribe to Him!

   But our Lord, though anointed of God, and meriting the distinction
   which He gained, was, nevertheless, like David, rejected of men. Poor
   David! Saul thirsted for his blood and put him upon dangerous missions,
   in the hope that he might die. And when he saw that God was with him,
   he hated him yet more--till he hunted him like a partridge upon the
   mountains! He could find shelter nowhere. If he went to the priests of
   Nob, the king sent and slew all the inhabitants of the city. Or if he
   went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and saved the
   inhabitants of Keilah, yet by-and-by they were willing to give him up
   to his enemies! He was safe nowhere. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ here
   upon earth was in the same manner despised and rejected of men--nor has
   the offense of His Cross ceased to this day. You may be a nominal
   Christian and have the good esteem of all men, but if you are a true
   disciple of Jesus, obeying Him from the heart, openly avowing His cause
   and diligently testifying His Truth, you will meet with bitter
   hostility in all sorts of places and among all sorts of people! Rest
   assured that until Christ comes again, it will be true that if you were
   of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of
   the world, but Christ has chosen you out of the world, therefore the
   world hates you.

   There may be Christians placed in such sheltered nooks and living among
   such godly families that they do not come into collision with the
   outside world--but if you do come into connection with the world in any
   way, you will be sure to prove its enmity! As the world is in rebellion
   against God and hostile to Christ, it will be intolerant of you. So
   Ishmael persecuted Isaac even in Abraham's own household! So the seed
   of the serpent hates the Seed of the woman. So, too, those that are
   under the Law own no kindred with those that are the children of the
   promise. Marvel not, then--it scarcely becomes you to murmur, though it
   sometimes appears to you a hard lot--Jesus Christ is still as a root
   out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness to the mass of mankind!
   True religion is not to be found in fashionable circles. It finds
   little favor among the great and mighty, though today it does not hide
   its head in the clefts and caves of the rocks. While the violence of
   persecution is abated in its outward manifestations of terror, the
   malice out of which it grew still survives and the people of God are
   harassed by it in a thousand ways. The iron is made to enter into their
   soul. Thus the cruel jealousy and the galling animosity with which
   David was driven forth and hunted from place to place, find a
   counterpart in the treatment that Christ, Himself, received--and that
   all His faithful followers have in their measure to endure!

   But notwithstanding the pains and penalties they incurred in those dark
   days, the really good and pious people in Israel rallied to the
   standard of David. I know it is said that those who were in debt, those
   who were in distress and those who were discontented came to David.
   That is quite true and well it typifies the abject condition of those
   poor sinners who come to Christ for refuge! But many of those
   Israelites were reduced in circumstances and brought into debt through
   the bad government of Saul. Probably the very best people in the
   country were to be found among those who gathered around David. And
   certainly there was with David, Abiathar the priest. He came to David
   as the representative of the godly, the Puritan Party! With David,
   likewise, there was Gad the Prophet. And you know how, in the early
   days of David's persecution, he resided with Samuel, the Prophet of the
   Lord, so that the gracious party was always on David's

   side. Does not the same thing happen among those who ally themselves
   with the Son of David at this day? Although He whom we worship is
   despised and rejected of men, yet unto you who believe, He is precious!
   They that fear the Lord, love Christ and embrace His Gospel. Those that
   have a new heart and a right spirit are not at all dubious which side
   to take. They have lifted up their hands to the Crucified One and they
   are sworn to do battle for His cause as long as they live! We need not
   be ashamed to side with Jesus, for we shall be in good company--not in
   the company of the nobles of the earth, those who bear its titles, own
   its wealth, or enjoy its empty fame--but in the company of the pure in
   heart, of the heirs of the promises, of those to whom God has been
   pleased to reveal Himself, yes, of the babes out of whose mouths He has
   perfected praise! Oh, we may well be content to cast in our lot with
   God's elect, be they who they may in the world's esteem, or be their
   lot what it may in their pilgrimage to the better country! With them
   would we be numbered! With them would we be associated! With them would
   we go! Let Christ's people be our people. Where they toil, we would
   toil. With them would we live. With them would we die. With them would
   we be buried, in the glad hope that with them we shall rise again to
   live forever in the fellowship of the saints!

   Mark one thing more. Despised as David was among men, yet, being
   anointed of God, his cause in the end was successful. He did come to
   the throne--and so it is with our Lord Jesus Christ. Notwithstanding
   all the opposition that still rages against His cause, it must prosper
   and prevail. "He shall see His seed. He shall prolong His days and the
   pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." Well may the enmity of
   the wicked provoke the irony of Heaven. "Why do the heathen rage, and
   the people imagine a vain thing?" "He that sits in the heavens shall
   laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." It is Jehovah Himself who
   says it, "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." God's
   decree has placed Him there! Do you think the conspiracy of kings and
   rulers can unseat Him? No--there must He sit till all His enemies are
   beneath His feet! Oh, it is good to be with Christ, today, for then we
   shall be with Him tomorrow! It is good to be with Him in the stocks,
   for if we can bear the reproach, we shall one day be with Him on His
   Throne to share the Glory! If you will walk with Christ through the
   mire when He goes barefoot, you shall be with Him in the golden streets
   when He puts on the golden sandals and the angels fall down and worship
   Him! If you can foot it with Him in His deeds of service when He grows
   weary and footsore, you shall ride with Him when He rides on His white
   horse of victory, when all the armies of Heaven shall follow Him in His
   great achievements! If you are with Him in His humiliation, you shall
   be with Him in His triumph!

   I think I have told you before a little parable which I will venture to
   repeat in this place. There was a certain king whose son was set upon
   an errand to a far country. And when he came into that country,
   although he was the lawful prince of it, he found that the citizens
   would not acknowledge him. They mocked him, made fun of him and took
   him and set him in the stocks! And there they scoffed at him and pelted
   him with filth. Now, there was one in that country who knew the
   prince--and he alone stood up for him when all the mob was in tumult
   raging against him. And when they set him on high as an object of
   scorn, this man stood side by side with him to wipe the filth from that
   dear royal face. And when, from cruel hands, missiles were thrown in
   scorn, this man took his full share of them and, whenever he could, he
   thrust himself before the prince to ward off the blows from him if
   possible--and to bear the scorn instead of him. Now it came to pass
   that after a while the prince went on his way and, in due season, the
   man who had been the prince's friend was called to the king's palace.
   And on a day when all the princes of the court were roundabout and the
   peers and nobles of the land were sitting in their places, the king
   came to his throne and he called for that man, and said, "Make way,
   princes and nobles! Make way! Here is a man more noble than you all,
   for he stood boldly forth with my son when he was scorned and scoffed
   at! Make way, I say, each one of you, for he shall sit at my right hand
   with my own son. As he took a share of his scorn, he shall now take a
   share of his honor." And there sat princes and nobles who wished that
   they had been there, yes, envied the man who had been privileged to
   endure scorn and scoffing for the prince's sake!

   You need not that I interpret the parable. May you make angels envious
   of you if envy can ever pierce their holy minds! You can submit for
   Christ's sake to sufferings which it is not possible for seraphim or
   cherubim to endure!

   II. Having thus drawn your attention to the Leader, whom David, the son
   of Jesse, prefigured, let me turn now to

   speak a little OF THOSE WHO GATHERED ROUND HIM AND ENLISTED IN HIS
   SERVICE. The recruits who

   came to David were eleven in number.

   The first characteristic we read about them is that they were
   separated. "Of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David"
   eleven persons. Observe that they separated themselves. They seem to
   have been captains of the militia of

   their tribe. The very least among them was over a hundred, and the
   greatest over a thousand, but they separated themselves from their
   commands over their tribes--separated themselves from their brethren
   and their kinsfolk. I daresay many of their friends said to them, "Why,
   what fools you are! You must be mad to espouse the cause of a fellow
   like David!" And then they would call David all manner of foul,
   opprobrious names. "Are you going to be among those who associate with
   him--a troop of bandits with that ragged regiment?" I'll be bound to
   say they had terms for David and his men which, in polite ears, it
   would not be meet to quote! It is a mercy that the language of those
   men of Belial has not been recorded. But these men all said, "Yes, we
   will separate ourselves." And, for that matter, they did not merely
   tear themselves away from their friends, but from their kinsfolk, too!
   David needed their right arms and he would have them! He needed valiant
   men--and they would go and fight for David--whatever fond connection
   should be sundered thereby!

   Dear Friends, in these times it is most important that everyone who is
   a Christian should understand that he must separate himself from the
   world. You cannot serve Christ and the world, too. You cannot be of the
   world and of Christ's Church. You may be nominally of the Church and
   really of the world--but really of the world and really of the Church
   you cannot possibly be! The Christian must differ from the world in
   many things. His language must not be the speech of Babylon, but the
   chaste, pure language which Christians use. His actions, his customs,
   his manners, his habits, must not be like those of other men. He is not
   to be full of affectation and eccentricity. He need not adopt a
   peculiar garb, or discourse in quaint phrases or speak with an
   unnatural twang. All that may be mere formalism! Still, there is ample
   room for separateness in that which meets the eye and addresses the ear
   of the observer. We need not display vanity in our attire. In dress,
   Christians will be simple and chaste, not ornate and gaudy. In their
   speech, too, the children of God will certainly never use an oath, or
   lend their tongue to the semblance of a lie! And from foolish talking
   and jesting, which are not convenient, they will rigidly abstain! The
   tongue of a Believer, my Brothers and Sisters, ought to be as a
   fountain which sends forth sweet water--in our conversation there
   should be the meekness of wisdom! And when we cannot speak to profit,
   our silence must bear witness to our sincerity. But it is in his
   dealings with the world that the Christian shows the moral force of his
   character. There it comes out because it cannot be hid. If his trade
   has become used to tricks and stratagems which will not bear the Light
   of God, he cannot conform to them! He will shrink from them with
   abhorrence! He must keep a clean conscience. Other men may do the thing
   without compunction. It may have become "the custom." But no antiquity
   or universality of custom will authorize that which is obviously
   wrong--so he cannot do it and will not do it, for he is a Christian! He
   counts that a higher morality is required of him than of an ordinary
   man and after this higher morality he diligently seeks!

   From the world's religion the man of God will likewise stand aloof. He
   never asks himself, "What kind of religion does the present age
   consider most expedient?" Nor does he wish to find out the fashionable
   taste in Doctrine, or the order of devotion which is most agreeable to
   the undevout! He seeks after God. He diligently enquires for God's
   Truth. He joins himself to God's Church and earnestly promotes its
   welfare. Moreover, he loves God's ways and desires to be under the
   power of God's Spirit. After this manner he separates himself. Does not
   the Church in these days need to hear sounded every day, as a thunder
   clap, that Divine Commandment, "Come out from among them, and be you
   separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will
   receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons
   and daughters, says the Lord Almighty"? Oh, the shameful conformity of
   some professors with the world! It degrades the Church and it debases
   themselves! God grant that we may be staunch in our nonconformity to
   the world! To whatever church we may belong, may we be "holy, harmless,
   undefiled and separate from sinners."

   But, observe that these people separated themselves unto David. You may
   separate yourself and yet not separate yourself unto Christ! And if
   not, you only change from one form of worldly-mindedness to another. We
   are not to separate ourselves unto self-righteousness, or unto
   affectation, or unto a sect, but unto Christ! The people got away from
   their friends that they might get to David--we are to get away from the
   world that we may get closer to Christ! We often sing--

   "Oh, for a closer walk with God!"

   But if our walk is to be close with God, it must be a long way from the
   world! We must separate ourselves, by Divine Grace, unto Christ! And
   then, as you read that they separated themselves unto David in the
   wilderness, let me entreat you to ask yourselves if you are ready to
   take part with a rejected, Crucified Christ! Tens of thousands would
   separate them-

   selves to David if he were in Hebron on the throne of Israel. They
   would go there to crown David in the day of his prosperity--but the
   thing was to separate themselves unto David in the wilderness! That is
   the work of real Divine Grace in the heart which leads us to take sides
   with a despised Christ. It is a blessed thing when God teaches you to
   say, "I will follow the Truth wherever it leads me. I will follow it
   though some shall say to me, 'You are inconsistent.' I do not care
   about that. Though they shall say, 'Why, you have landed, now, in
   fanaticism.' I do not care about that. I will be a fanatic. If the
   Truth of God leads me there, I will separate myself unto Christ in the
   wilderness." Though they should tauntingly say, "You only go to some
   'Little Bethel' which is frequented by a few ignorant and vulgar
   people," be it so! If Christ goes there, what matters that to us? If
   the Truth of God should lead us down into a hovel where we could only
   associate with the very lowest of the low--if they were the Lord's
   people, they should be our delight! I wish this spirit were in all
   Christians--that they would be loyal to the Truth of God and not pander
   to the world! Do not be continually asking yourselves, "What will
   So-and-So think? And what will So-and-So say?" Do the right and fear
   not! Believe the Truth of God, let what will come of it! Follow the
   straight line and do not trim your way. Go not round about for the sake
   of policy, but take sides with Jesus Christ in the day of scoffing, on
   the ground of principle!

   Do I speak to some men here who work in factories? Oh, acknowledge
   Christ when other men laugh at Him! Stand up for Jesus when the whole
   shop is full of jesting and jeering against religion! If your religion
   is worth having, it is worthwhile enduring a little banter for it. He
   that is a friend must be a friend in need. If you would be a friend of
   Jesus, you will defend His name when it needs a defender and everybody
   is raging at Him. To come to the Tabernacle and join your fellow
   Christians in praising Jesus is very easy and involves no self-denial.
   But the thing is, you merchants, to praise Jesus among your fellow
   merchants who are ungodly--to bear witness, you working men, among
   others who fear not the Lord--to separate yourselves unto David in the
   wilderness, to cleave to Christ where He is scoffed at and despised!
   That is a true Christian! I beseech you, test yourselves by this, for
   if you are ashamed of Him in this evil generation, He will be ashamed
   of you when He comes in His Glory. But if you, out of a pure heart, can
   confess Him before a godless world, He will acknowledge you in the day
   when He comes in the Glory of His Father and all His holy angels with
   Him! Oh, for Grace to be separated unto Christ in this way!

   Note, next, about these men that they were men of might. It is said of
   them that they were "men of might. . .whose faces were like the faces
   of lions, and they were as swift as the roes upon the mountains." All
   who came to David were not like that. David had some women and children
   to protect, but he was glad to receive others who were men of might.
   Now there came to Jesus, the Greater David, in His day, the weak ones
   of the flock--and He never rejected them. He was glad to receive even
   the feeblest! But there also came to our Lord and Master eleven men
   who, by His Grace, were like these Gadites. Truly, I may say of His
   Apostles, after our Divine Lord had filled them with His Spirit, that
   they had faces like lions and feet like hinds' feet, so swift were they
   for service and so strong for combat! How wondrously they ran to and
   fro to the very ends of the earth, like the roes of the mountains! And
   how bravely they faced persecution and opposition, like lions that
   could not flinch from their prey! And what grand works they did for
   Jesus! Would to God that we were like they, Beloved! The Grace God can
   make us like they were. The Grace of God can make us brave as lions, so
   that wherever we are, we can hold our own, or rather can hold our
   Lord's Truth and never blush nor be ashamed to speak a good word for
   Him at all times! He can make us quick and active, too, so that we
   shall be like the roes upon the mountains! I am afraid that, often, we
   are like the donkey that couches down. We need the whip and the spur to
   make us move! We are like bulls unaccustomed to the yoke of service.
   Yet it ought not to be so. Loved as we have been with such great love
   and having tasted, as some of us can testify, of such choice favors
   from our Lord, being indulged with such intimate fellowship with Him
   and sustained as we are now with such joy and peace in Him, we ought to
   serve Him with quickness and activity, with courage and confidence! We
   really should outlive the lion for his bravery and the hinds and the
   wild goats of the rock for their swiftness. I pray that it may be so.
   May God send to this Church men--and women, too--of this order--"strong
   in the Lord, and in the power of His might!" To whom the joy of the
   Lord shall be their strength, who shall go about their Father's
   business with all their might--that might which is given them of
   God--and do great exploits for our greater David while He is in the
   wilderness and needs their aid!

   But it is worth noticing that they were men of war, conditioned to
   discipline--"men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield
   and buckler." Now there are some men of might who do not seem to be
   good men of war because they cannot keep rank. What exploits they may
   do, they must do alone, for they cannot march with the army. There are
   some Brothers and Sisters I know who are most excellent people as
   individuals, but they seem never to be meant to march in the
   ranks--they must, everyone of them, lead--they feel they must, they
   cannot be second to anybody! Neither can they be under any discipline
   or rule. Instead of taking their place in Christ's Church, they seem to
   consider themselves independent of the Church and its organization.
   However, the men Christ needs in the Church--and I pray Him to multiply
   their number in our midst, and enlist all of us among them--are such as
   can keep step, observe the rule and preserve order in the march, or in
   the fight or the service of the Lord! Men who can smite the foe, who
   can handle the sword and buckler, and ward off the arrows of the
   enemy--who can use the shield of faith and withstand the assaults of
   the adversary--we need these! May God teach us how to keep our places
   and to do our work!

   Some men have swords, but their swords seem to be more dangerous to
   their friends than to their foes. They are the people one wishes to
   keep clear of. They are, no doubt, very zealous, but if they had a
   little love as well as a lot of zeal-- and were endowed with a capacity
   for fellowship--it would greatly improve their character! This,
   however, seems to be their defeat--they have such an excess of
   individuality and they are, therefore, so exclusive that we can hardly
   imagine how they could pray, "Our Father, which are in Heaven," or
   recognize anybody else as belonging to the family of the Most High! May
   God make us men of might, but may He also make us men of discipline!
   While we keep our place and do our own work, may we delight to see
   others do their share of the work, too! When we smite the foe, may we
   delight to see others use the weapons of Christian warfare with skill
   and success! Do not shrink from the drill or revolt against discipline,
   for it is a great trait of a good soldier that he should know how to
   keep rank.

   These Gadites, likewise, furnish us with a noble example of strong
   revolution. When the eleven men determined to join David, they were
   living on the other side of a deep river which at that season of the
   year had overflowed its banks-- so that it was extremely deep and
   broad. But they were not to be kept from joining David when he needed
   them by the river. They swam across the river that they might come to
   David. Oh, I would like to hold up my Master's banner and be His
   recruiting sergeant tonight, if I could entertain the hope that out of
   this company there would come men of such mettle whose hearts the Lord
   has touched to join themselves to the Lord and fight for His Cross,
   whatever might impede and block their way! Do you stand back and shrink
   from avowing your attachment to the standard of God's Anointed because
   it would involve loss of reputation, displeasure of friends, the frowns
   of your associates in the world, or the heartbreaks of anguish of those
   you tenderly love? Know, then, that our Lord is worthy of all the
   troubles you incur and all the risks you run! And be assured that the
   peace which a soul enjoys that once joins Christ in the hold and abides
   with Him in the wilderness, well repays a man for all that he has to
   part with in getting to his Lord and Master! We have known some of the
   rich who have joined Christ's Church who have had to swim through
   overflowing rivers of contumely--the unkindness they have braved has
   indeed been cold and chilling. We have known many a poor woman who has
   had to suffer from her husband's brutality--and many a poor man who has
   had to run the gauntlet of a thousand cruel tongues! But who is afraid
   of such treatment as that? Once see the King in His beauty and your
   fears will vanish like smoke! Did you ever see His face stained with
   spit and black and blue with the blows of mailed hands? Did you ever
   see that head surrounded with the crown of thorns and mark the painful
   agony that was upon His visage, more marred than any man's? And have
   you not said, "Savior, since You endured all this for me, there is
   nothing that I will count too difficult to endure for You. I will count
   shame for You to be my glory, and Your reproach shall be greater riches
   to me than all the treasures of Egypt"? Have you not said that? If you
   have said so from your very soul, God the Holy Spirit writing it upon
   your heart, I know you have resolved to endure any pain or shame if you
   could but get to your Lord and stand side by side with Him! They swam
   the river to get to David, so, Believer, swim the river to be with
   Christ!

   Now, it would appear that after they had got across the river, they
   were attacked, but we are told that "they put to flight all them of the
   valleys, both toward the East, and toward the West." They were men of
   such resolution that if they had to fight to be on David's side, they
   would fight! And, notwithstanding the position of those on the right
   hand and the opposition of those on the left, they still pushed their
   way, lion-like men as they were, through all the forces that would
   impede them! O you that love our Lord and Master, I beseech you, in
   this evil day, this day of blasphemy and rebuke--stand not back--be not
   cowards! Cast in your lot with Him and with His people! Come to the
   front, hide not away like cowards, for this is the day when he shall be
   accursed that comes not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the
   Lord against the mighty! See you not everywhere how the Truth of God is
   fallen in the streets--how the old idols of Rome are once more set up
   in the high places of this land? The whole nation seems to have gone
   after the idols which our

   fathers removed! O you that love Christ, come out and separate
   yourselves from all acquaintance, all association with this evil thing!
   Come and join yourself unto the Son of God by a holy covenant! If He is
   your Beloved, and if His Grace is in your heart, fear not! What have
   you to fear? Greater is He who is with you than all they that are
   against you! Fear not. The battle is not yours, it is the mighty God's!
   If truth is with you, you must conquer! If Christ the Incarnate Truth
   is with you, you are already more than a conqueror through Him that has
   loved you! Never be ashamed! Never turn aside from Him who gave Himself
   to you! Be steadfast, immovable. For this steadfastness you need to
   pray much and often to God, for many are the seductions of the world--

   "Can you cleave to your Lord, can you cleave to your Lord,

   When the many turn aside?

   Can you witness that He has the living Word,

   And none upon earth beside?

   Do you answer, 'We can'? Do you answer, 'We can,

   Through His love's constraining power'?

   But do you remember the flesh is weak,

   And will shrink in the trial hour?

   Yet yield to His love, who around you now

   The bands of a man would cast

   The cords of His love, who was given for you,

   To His altar binding you fast." Examine yourselves. Prove your own
   hearts. Consider what manner of men you ought to be. Let the precepts
   of the Word admonish you. Let the esprit de corps stimulate you. Never
   let disciples of Christ fall behind followers of David in warmth of
   attachment, or in order of service. The nearer you get to the Person of
   your Lord, the more you will catch of His Spirit! I think, Beloved, you
   need direction more than exhortation. The more you live under His eyes
   and the more often you listen to His voice, the better, truer, nobler
   men and women you will prove to be and the happier recognition you will
   find in the day of His appearing!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM56.

   To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam (a golden
   Psalm) of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.

   Verse 1, 2. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up: he
   fighting daily oppresses me. My enemies would daily swallow me up: for
   they are many that fight against me, O You Most High David was in such
   peril from man that he cried to God to come to his rescue. Man was
   merciless to him, so he prayed, "Be merciful unto me, O God." His
   enemies were many and mighty, so he appealed to the One who was
   Almighty--who could destroy them or put them all to flight.

   3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in You. He is a happy man who
   can trust in God when he is afraid. But he is still happier who can
   say, "I will trust, and not be afraid."

   4. In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will
   not fear what flesh can do unto me. The trusting soul is a singing soul
   and it soon becomes a courageous soul! Faith in God drives out the fear
   of man--"In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do
   unto me."

   5. 6. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me
   for evil They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they
   mark my steps when they wait for my soul David had many enemies--Saul,
   Doeg the Edo-mite, the Philistines and some even in his own
   household--but all their malice and craft were in vain since the Lord
   was on his side! We, too, have enemies who wrest our words, whose
   thoughts against us are evil, who lay traps for us and lie in ambush to
   take us unawares. But we need not fear any of them, not even the great
   adversary, himself, if we are trusting in the Lord!

   7. Shall they escape by iniquity? In Your anger cast down the people, O
   God. They sought to cast him down, so he prayed to the Lord to cast
   them down, and we know how graciously the Lord answered his
   supplication.

   8. You number my wanderings: put my tears into Your bottle: are they
   not in Your book?David was such a wanderer at that time that he might
   not remember all the places where he had hidden away from Saul. But God
   had a record of them and even of his tears--"are they not in Your
   book?" There is nothing that concerns the Lord's chosen people that is
   not noted and remembered by Him.

   9. When I cry unto You, then shall my enemies turn back: this I know;
   for God is for me. David's confidence in God was not misplaced! He who
   can truthfully say, "God is for me," need not fear however many may be
   against him!

   10. 11. In God will Ipraise His word: in the LORD will Ipraise His
   word. In God have Iput my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do
   unto me. He repeats the declarations he made in verse four--such holy
   confidence may rightly be published again and again! It is most
   pleasing and honoring to the Lord and it is most likely to lead other
   tried Believers to follow such a worthy example! The praising and
   trusting man fears not what man can do to him.

   12. Your vows are upon me, O God I will render praises unto You. David
   had not forgotten the vows that he had made unto the Lord. Vows should
   not be lightly made, but once made, they should be sacredly remembered,
   and faithfully performed.

   13. For You have delivered my soul from death: will not You deliver my
   feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the
   living?So the Psalm ends, as it began, with prayer--a prayer that was
   most graciously answered, as we can see if we turn to Psalm 116:8,
   9--"You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears and my
   feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the
   living."
     __________________________________________________________________

Lessons From Christ's Baptism

   (No. 3298)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MARCH
   4, 1866.

   "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up immediately out of the water:
   and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit God
   descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo, a Voice from
   Heaven, saying, This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
   Matthew 3:16,17.

   [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon upon verse 17 is #2409, Volume 41--A
   GREAT SERMON BY THE GREATEST PREACHER.]

   I WANT to teach two lessons tonight. The first will be a most necessary
   one for the unconverted. The second will be more suitable to believers
   in the Lord Jesus Christ.

   I. Without any preface, let us at once try to learn the first lesson
   from the text which relates to THE CO-WORKING OF THE TRINITY IN THE
   MATTER OF OUR SALVATION.

   There are some who seem to suppose that Jesus Christ is our Savior to
   the exclusion of God the Father and of God the Holy Spirit, but this is
   a most erroneous idea. It is true that we are saved by the precious
   blood of Christ, but it is equally true that God the Father and God the
   Holy Spirit have had their share in the great work of our salvation. In
   order that we might not fall into the error in which some have been
   entangled, it pleased God to give us, at the very beginning of Christ's
   public ministry, a very distinct intimation that He did not come alone
   and that He did not undertake the work of our redemption apart from the
   other adorable Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity.

   Try to picture to yourselves the scene that our text describes. There
   is Jesus Christ who has just been baptized in Jordan by John. And John
   bears witness that He is the Son of God because the sign from Heaven
   for which he had been told to look for had been given. As Jesus comes
   up out of the water, the Spirit of God descends upon Him in a visible
   shape-- in appearance like a dove--and rests upon Him. John says that
   "it abode upon Him," as though the Spirit was thenceforth to be His
   continual Companion and, truly, it was so. At the same time that the
   dove descended and lighted upon Christ, there was heard a Voice from
   Heaven, saying, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
   This was the voice of God the Father--He did not reveal Himself in a
   bodily shape, but uttered wondrous words such as mortal ears had never
   before heard! The Father revealed Himself not to the eyes as the Spirit
   did, but to the ears--and the words He spoke clearly indicated that it
   was God the Father bearing witness to His beloved Son. So that the
   entrance of Christ upon His public ministry on earth was the chosen
   opportunity for the public manifestation of the intimate union between
   God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

   Now, Sinner, from this day forward, if you have never done so before,
   think humbly, reverently and lovingly of all the three Persons of the
   most blessed Trinity in Unity! Bless the Son of God for becoming Man in
   order that He might redeem us from destruction. He left His Glory in
   Heaven and was made in the likeness of men that He might suffer in our
   place as the Lamb of God's Passover and that we might shelter beneath
   His sprinkled blood--and so escape the sword of vengeance. Do you know
   that when Christ was baptized, He gave, as it were, a picture of His
   great work of Redemption? He said to John, "Thus it becomes us to
   fulfill all righteousness," by which I understand not that He fulfilled
   all righteousness by being baptized, but that His Baptism was a picture
   or emblem of the fulfillment of all righteousness. What was done with
   Christ when He was baptized? Why, first, He was regarded as one who was
   dead and, therefore, He was buried beneath the waters of Jordan. He
   thus set forth, by a most significant symbol, the fact that He had come
   to earth

   to be obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross--and that in due
   time He would actually die and be really bu-ried--as now He was
   submerged beneath the yielding wave in a metaphorical burial. But
   baptism does not consist of merely plunging the person into the
   water--he must be lifted out again--otherwise he would be drowned, not
   baptized. So the Savior, when He rose up out of the water, set forth
   His own Resurrection. By His Baptism, He figuratively said, "I shall
   die for sinners, I shall rise again for sinners and I shall go back to
   Heaven to plead for sinners. My death will put away their offenses and
   my Resurrection will complete their justification." Go, you who long
   for salvation, and by faith look to the Savior dying on the Cross at
   Calvary! See Him buried in Joseph's tomb. See Him rise the third day
   and after forty days, see Him ascend to Heaven leading captivity
   captive! His dying, His burial, His rising, His ascension--these are
   the fulfillment of all righteousness--and it is by these that you must
   be saved--it is not your being baptized that can save you! It is
   Christ's being baptized for you with that Baptism of blood when He
   poured out His soul unto death that you might live forever! It is not
   your suffering, but His suffering that avails for your salvation! It is
   not your being or your doing that is the secret of blessing, but it is
   His being and His doing on which you must depend for everything! Trust
   in Jesus Christ and you shall find salvation in Him!

   Now I want you to look with humbly grateful eyes to God the Holy
   Spirit. You remember how Jesus Christ applied to Himself the words He
   read in the synagogue at Nazareth--"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, to preach deliverance to the
   captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
   that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." It was
   the Spirit of God who gave success to Jesus Christ's ministry--and if
   you, dear Friend, would be saved--it is only the Holy Spirit who can
   take away from you the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh! I
   pray you to think with holy reverence of that mighty, mysterious Being
   who works in human hearts and molds them according to the will of God.
   By nature you are spiritually dead--and only the Spirit of God can give
   you spiritual life. By nature you are spiritually blind--and only the
   Spirit of God can give you spiritual sight. Even the work of Christ on
   the Cross does not avail for you until the Holy Spirit takes of the
   things of Christ and reveals them to you. You must look to Christ, or
   He will not save you! You must trust in Christ, or His precious blood
   will not be applied to you! But you will never look to Him or trust in
   Him unless the Father who sent Him, shall draw you to do so by His
   Spirit effectually working in you. When we are thinking and speaking of
   the Holy Spirit, let us always feel as if we must take off our shoes
   for the place whereon we stand is peculiarly holy. You remember how
   solemnly Christ warns us as to the consequences of even speaking
   against the Holy Spirit? "Whomever speaks a word against the Son of
   Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whoever speaks against the Holy
   Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, neither in
   the world to come." Whenever we mention the name of the Holy Spirit,
   let us do it with holy awe and reverence, remembering that it is the
   Spirit that quickens, it is the Spirit that instructs, it is the Spirit
   that sanctifies, it is the Spirit that preserves, it is the Spirit that
   makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
   light! So unto the ever-blessed Spirit of God as well as unto the
   well-beloved Son of God be Glory and honor, praise and power, forever
   and ever!

   With equal reverence and with equal awe let us also think of God the
   Father. What does the Father here say concerning Christ? First, He
   calls Him His Son. There has been much disputing about how Christ can
   be equal with the Father, and equally eternal, and yet be the Son of
   the Father. This is a great deep into which you and I, dear Friends,
   will do well not to pry. We usually speak of Christ being the Son of
   the Father by what is called "eternal generation." I confess that there
   is a mystery here which I can neither understand nor explain, but as
   the Father calls Him His Son, I unhesitatingly believe that He is what
   the Scripture constantly calls Him, "the Son of God." In our text we
   find that the Father not only calls Christ His Son, but He says, "This
   is My Beloved Son." What wondrous love there must be in the heart of
   each one of the Divine Persons in the sacred Trinity towards each of
   the others! How blessedly they must look upon one another with Divine
   benignity and complacency! There never could be any diversity in their
   interests, for they are one in heart, one in purpose, one in every
   respect, even as Jesus said, "I and My Father are One."

   Now, Sinner, the point to which I want to especially direct your
   thoughts is this--that God not only calls Christ His Son and His
   beloved Son, but that He says He is well-pleased with Him. And this
   concerns you in that if you are so united to Christ as to be one with
   Him, God will also be well-pleased with you for His dear Son's sake!
   But can a sinner ever be pleasing to God? Not in himself, apart from
   Christ, but all who are in Christ are "accepted in the Beloved." His
   Father is so pleased with Him that all whom He represents are pleasing
   unto God for His sake! "But," asks one, "how can I be in

   Christ?" My dear Friend, if you are one of the Lord's chosen, you are
   already in Christin God's eternal purpose. But the way in which you
   must experimentally get into Christ is by true faith in Him. To trust
   in Jesus is to be in Jesus. To rely upon the atoning Sacrifice of
   Christ is to be one with Christ. Faith is the uniting bond which binds
   together the Christ in whom we believe and those who believe in Him. If
   you are truly trusting in Christ, God looks upon you as a part of
   Christ's Mystical Body and He is well-pleased with you for Christ's
   sake.

   Thus you have the Son suffering for you, the Spirit applying to you the
   merit of His atoning Sacrifice and the Father well-pleased with you
   because you are trusting in His beloved Son! Or, to put the Truth in
   another form, the Father gives the great Gospel feast, the Son is the
   feast and the Spirit not only brings the invitations, but He also
   gathers the guests around the table. Or, to use another metaphor, God
   the Father is the Fountain of Grace, God the Son is the Channel of
   Grace and God the Holy Spirit is the Cup from which we drink of the
   flowing stream. I wish that I could really make you see Jesus Christ
   standing by Jordan's brink as He came up out of the water after He had
   been baptized by John--and the Spirit of God descending and lighting
   upon Him and that I could make you hear the voice of the Father
   saying--"This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." If I could
   do this, all I would have to add would be John's message, "Behold the
   Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." There is eternal
   life for everyone who truly looks to Him by faith--

   "There is life for a look at the Crucified One! There is life at this
   moment for thee! Then look, Sinner, look unto Him, and be saved Unto
   Him who was nailed to the tree!"

   II. In beginning my sermon, I told you that the second lesson I wanted
   you to learn tonight would be more suitable to believers in the Lord
   Jesus Christ, though at the same time it may also be useful to the
   unconverted, just as I hope the first lesson has been helpful to the
   people of God though especially intended for those who are not yet
   avowedly on the Lord's side. This second lesson, upon which I have now
   to speak, relates to THE DESCENT OF THE SPIRIT UPON BELIEVERS, but I
   would not have dared to take the text without also calling your
   attention to the first lesson upon which I have already spoken.

   I want you to clearly understand that as the Holy Spirit rested upon
   Christ, so He rests upon all who are in Christ. Indeed, when the Spirit
   rested upon Christ, He rested upon the whole Church that was
   represented by Christ. You remember that David says the unity of
   brethren is "like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down
   upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his
   garments." So the anointing that Christ received from the Holy Spirit
   ran down to the very lowest, least and last of the members of that
   Church of which He is the Head!

   When the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven like a dove and lighted upon
   Christ, that descent was intended to teach us several lessons which we
   will now try to learn. Consider, first, the swiftness of that descent.
   The heavens were opened--there was no delay, but swiftly as a flash of
   lightning the Spirit descended and lighted upon Christ. Beloved
   Brothers and Sisters in Christ, do you feel dull and heavy tonight? Are
   you depressed in spirit? There is no reason why, within the next
   second, you should not be in quite a heavenly frame of mind, for the
   Spirit of God can descend upon you like a dove and immediately you
   shall be lifted up out of your dullness and despondency! The Spirit
   needs no time in which to work. The motions of matter are necessarily
   tardy--matter can only move at a certain rate and there are many things
   that slow it down. But as you know, the motion of mind is far more
   rapid--your thoughts can fly to America and back again more swiftly
   than I can describe their flight! In a flash your mind can be soaring
   away up among the stars millions and millions and millions of miles
   away! Now, the mind of the Spirit is the highest order of mind, for He
   is Divine and, therefore, His motions are swift as light--no, they are
   incomparably swifter than that! He descended like a dove in order to
   set forth the rapidity of His flight. You remember that expression in
   the Song of Solomon, "Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the
   chariots of Amminadib." So is it when the Spirit comes to us--our soul
   is, as it were, borne along in a swiftly-driven chariot! It does not
   take the Holy Spirit an hour to convert a soul. The vital spark that
   regenerates a soul is kindled in an instant! Instantaneous conversion
   is not the exception, it is the rule--there cannot be any conversion
   but that which is instantaneous! The growth, the development of the
   work of Grace in the heart and life is gradual, but there is a moment
   in which the soul passes from death unto life, from slavery to liberty,
   from sin to righ-

   teousness! And I have already said to you, Christian Friends, that you
   can, in a moment, be transported out of a dull, languishing state of
   heart into one of holy peace and joy. Breathe the prayer--

   "Come, Holy Spirit heavenly Dove, With all Your quickening powers,
   Come, shed abroad a Savor's love, And that shall kindle ours"-- and
   there is no reason why He should not grant your request even before you
   have finished your petition!

   The figure of a dove also represents softness as well as swiftness.
   Speed generally causes some measure of sound--we usually associate
   hurry with noise, but it is not so with the Spirit of God. He descended
   with silent wings and alighted upon Christ as He came up out of the
   river where He had been baptized. If it had been recorded that the
   Spirit descended like an eagle, we would have thought of the whirring
   of great wings. But the dove's flight is of a far gentler and quieter
   order. So, Beloved, the Spirit of God may come down upon some of us in
   this house tonight, yet no one may be aware of His coming except those
   upon whom He rests as He rested that day upon Christ! Your neighbor may
   not perceive what has happened to you--there need be no outcry, no
   shouting, no violent contortions as there have been in certain revivals
   of which we have heard. No, the blessed Spirit frequently works
   invisibly, as the wind blows where it wishes--and sometimes blows so
   softly that we are not conscious of the slightest sound from the gentle
   zephyrs that fan our cheeks. I pray that in the solemn silence of the
   mind, many of you may thus experience the descent of the Holy Spirit
   like a dove, so swift yet so soft, so gentle yet so strong!

   Besides this, wherever the Spirit comes, He works according to His own
   holy Nature. He comes like a dove and He operates in a dove-like
   manner. And if He graciously operates upon you, you also will have
   dove-like qualities given to you. What are they? Well, I think that the
   first thought we associate with a dove is that of purity. You remember
   that the spouse in the Song of Solomon says of her Beloved, "His eyes
   are as the eyes of doves." And the Bridegroom says to His spouse, "You
   are fair, My love; behold, you are fair; you have doves' eyes"--that
   is, eyes of purity, bright sparkling eyes that care not to look upon
   that which is unclean! The dove is no carrion-loving bird and you will
   recollect that it was the only bird that was offered to God in
   sacrifice under the old dispensation. Perhaps someone says, "Oh, but it
   was written in the Law, "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons!"
   Yes, it was so written. But then I remind you that a pigeon is only one
   member of the great dove family and that it was only among the doves,
   of all feathered creatures, that there was found a bird that was clean
   enough to be offered unto God as a sacrifice! So the selection of a
   dove as the emblem of the Holy Spirit is very suggestive, for, wherever
   He goes, He breeds purity. If a man shall live a life of uncleanness,
   hatred, malice, and then say that he has the Holy Spirit dwelling in
   him, he lies, for the Spirit first makes us pure and then peaceable.
   Unless you, my dear Hearer, have shaken off from you the love of all
   that is evil and have resolved in God's strength to live as becomes the
   Gospel of Christ, you prove that you have not experienced the dove-like
   influence of the Holy Spirit! In my early days in the country, I was
   horribly shocked when I heard of a man standing on a public house table
   and saying though at the time he was almost drunk, "I can say what none
   of you fellows can say, that I am one of God's elect." All of us who
   knew anything of the man used to shudder at the thought of his
   blasphemy in pretending to be one of the elect. Why, if the Grace of
   God does not make a man holy, what is it worth? My dear Friend, if you
   are determined to be damned, leave religion out of it--and do not
   pretend to be a child of God and yet live in sin. To profess to be an
   heir of Heaven and then to live as an heir of Hell is such detestable
   hypocrisy that I pray God that all of you may be preserved from ever
   falling into it! Where the Spirit of God dwells, there is sure to be
   purity!

   And next to purity comes peace. The dove with the olive leaf in its
   mouth was the token of peace to Noah and those who were with him in the
   Ark. And the dove has long been used as a symbol of peace. If the
   Spirit of God, like a dove, shall dwell with you, my dear Friend, you
   will have peace in your own conscience, peace with your fellow men,
   peace with God. As Paul puts it in writing to the Philippians, "the
   peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your heart and
   mind through Christ Jesus." Those worrying, distracting thoughts of
   yours do not come from the Holy Spirit! Those carking cares, those
   disquieting anxieties are not the Spirit's work! Where the Spirit, like
   a dove, dwells in a Believer's heart, that ancient assurance is
   fulfilled, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
   You: because he trusts in You." May you enjoy this perfect peace
   through the coming of the Spirit to you!

   The dove is, next, the picture of gentleness. You do not expect to see
   doves fighting like vultures or ravens. I suppose doves do quarrel
   sometimes but, as a rule, their gentle and amiable nature makes them
   harmless and lovable. So, Chris-

   tians should be the most gentle of all men. We are to be willing to be
   struck on one cheek and then to turn the other to the smiter. I know
   some professing Christians who, as soon as ever a contrary word is
   spoken to them, boil over with rage. Well, it is not their Christianity
   that makes such a display as that--and it is a poor excuse to say that
   it is their infirmity! "Oh," says one, "but if you tread on a worm, it
   will turn." Yes, the poor little creature turns in its agony, but is a
   worm to be a model for your conduct? Surely it would be better to ask
   the Holy Spirit to give you the Grace to take the Lord Jesus Christ as
   your example! Have you never heard of the Christian who killed his
   neighbor by kindness? When his oxen got into his neighbor's field, the
   cross-grained man put them into the pound and said that if they came
   astray again he would deal with them in the same way. By-and-by, his
   own oxen wandered into his neighbor's field--and then the Christian man
   fed them and sent word that if they came there again, he would treat
   them in the same way. That is the style in which we should endeavor to
   act towards any who treat us unkindly--by heaping coals of fire upon
   their heads, we may in time burn love into their hearts!

   I am afraid that all professing Christians are not as gentle as they
   should be, though gentleness is one of the prominent characteristics of
   true Christians. I am not a Quaker, but I must say that in this
   particular quality of gentleness, the Society of Friends has set a good
   example to the whole Christian Church. I wish that the spirit of
   non-resistance was more generally prevalent among Christians than it
   often is. It is certainly in accordance with both the teaching and
   example of our Lord Jesus Christ, "who, when He was reviled, reviled
   not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself
   to Him that judges righteously." These words of the Apostle Peter
   follow immediately after his declaration that "Christ also suffered for
   us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps." Where the
   dove-like Spirit dwells, there will be a gentleness of spirit in
   harmony with His own Nature. I am charmed with the change that is often
   apparent in the converts who come to join this Church. When I hear of a
   man who before his conversion used to rage and rave in such a way as to
   be a terror to his family, yet who now, though he is at times greatly
   provoked, just walks away and says nothing, I feel that the Grace of
   God is really working in his heart. If what you call Grace does not
   change your evil tempers, you had better exchange it for the true Grace
   of God which will do so! For surely it is one of the first evidences
   that the Spirit of God is dwelling within a man when it makes him
   "gentle, showing all meekness unto all men."

   A dove is also one of the most harmless of all God's creatures. And a
   Christian must never intentionally hurt or harm others. Our Lord Jesus
   Christ was willing to suffer, but He did not make others suffer--and He
   would not have us seek to propagate His Truth in a bitter spirit. If
   you are dealing with an infidel, let him see that, however strongly you
   disapprove of his principles, you endeavor to win him away from them
   not by unkindness, but by love. I doubt if anybody is ever bullied into
   accepting the Gospel. Certainly, more flies are caught with honey than
   with vinegar--and more sinners are brought to Christ by kindness than
   by unkindness. Never let anyone be truthfully able to say of you,
   "There is a professed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ who has done me
   most serious injury." But rather let it be said concerning you, "There
   goes a man whom I grossly injured, yet he bore it patiently and said
   nothing against me because he is a Christian."

   You know, too, that in Scripture the dove is spoken of as a type of
   love. When the turtledove has lost its mate, everybody knows how it
   will sit and moan and mourn. "The voice of the turtle is heard in our
   land" is the Scriptural description of a spiritual springtime, the
   season of love and joy. If the dove-like Spirit has come into your
   heart, my Friend, your soul will be full of love to Jesus. But if you
   are not conscious of His Presence, you will mourn like the bereaved
   dove and will dolefully sing--

   "I cannot bear Your absence, Lord. I cannot live without Your smile."

   If I cannot rejoice in Christ, the next best thing is to weep because I
   cannot enjoy sweet fellowship with Him. If I cannot rest in Christ, it
   is a good thing if I cannot rest anywhere else. Ah, Soul, if you have
   the Spirit of God within you, you will pine and sigh and cry until
   Christ is very near and very dear to you! And when He is both near and
   dear to you, then your soul will be like a vessel that is filled to the
   brim, yet still remaining under the running stream, and you will
   overflow with love and gratitude to your dear Lord who has done such
   great things for you!

   Time flies, so I must close with just one more thought. You remember
   that when this world was created, "the earth was without form, and
   void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God
   moved upon the face of

   the waters." Everything was in a state of chaos and confusion--there
   was neither life nor order! But when the Spirit of God spread His great
   wings over the face of the deep and brooded, like a bird upon its nest,
   it was not long before the Voice of God was heard and soon disorder
   gave place to order, darkness to light, and death to life! The Holy
   Spirit comes into our heart now to work the same kind of change as
   that. He finds our soul in a state of chaos--formless, empty, dark--but
   when He mysteriously spreads His dove-like wings over our soul--life,
   light and order soon appear. We then begin to see what we never saw
   before! We put God into His rightful place and we realize how great He
   is. And we put ourselves into our rightful place and we realize what
   nothings we are! We put the Law into its rightful place and recognize
   how terribly stern it is. And we put sin into its rightful place and we
   tremble before its terrible power! When the Spirit of God broods over
   us, one of the first signs of the new life appearing in our soul is the
   penitent cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Those sorrow-filled
   eyes, those swiftly-falling tears, that brokenhearted sigh--all these
   are the result of the brooding of the Spirit of God upon our disordered
   nature! And when at last you can truthfully say--

   "I rest My soul on Jesus,

   This weary soul of mine.

   His right hand me embraces

   I on His breast recline"--

   that also is the result of the brooding of the Spirit! He has quickened
   you! He has given you life, for only a living soul can truly say, "I do
   believe in Jesus." That is a sure sign of the new creation! It is a
   certain proof that Christ has made all things new in you by the
   effectual working of His ever-blessed Spirit. To any here who have
   never realized the dove-like energy of the Holy Spirit, I commend the
   prayer Charles Wesley wrote--

   "Expand your wings, celestial Dove,

   Brood over our nature's night!

   On our disordered spirits move

   And let there now be light." Dr. Watts gives us another prayer in which
   Christians can heartily unite--

   "Descend from Heaven, immortal Dove,

   Stoop down and take us on your wings

   And mount and bear us far above

   The reach of these inferior things!

   Beyond, beyond this lower sky

   Up where eternal ages roll,

   Where solid pleasures never die

   And fruits immortal feast the soul!

   Oh for a sight, a pleasing sight

   Of our Almighty Father's Throne!

   There sits our Savior crowned with light,

   Clothed in a body like our own!

   When shall the day, dear Lord, appear,

   That I shall mount to dwell above,

   And stand and bow among them there,

   And view Your face, and sing, and love?" May the Lord bless everyone of
   you, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMANS 6.

   Verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that Grace
   may abound?\f the sinfulness of man has really given an opportunity for
   the display of Divine Mercy, then the devil's logic would be, "Let us
   commit more sin, that there may be more room for Grace to work!" But
   Christians have learned their reasoning in another school--and to such
   diabolical arguments they answer in the words of the Apostle --

   2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
   therein?The two terms are exactly opposite to one another. If, through
   Grace, we are dead to sin how can we live in it? If, sinners as we are,
   we come to Christ to be saved from sin, then it would be a complete
   misuse of language to talk of being saved from sin, yet still to
   continue in it! Besides, the Apostle goes on to show that the
   ordinance, by which believers in Jesus are to be admitted into the
   visible Christian Church will not allow them to continue in sin.

   3, 4. Know you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
   Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him
   by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
   by the glory of the Father,

   even so we also should walk in newness of life. [See Sermons #1627,
   Volume 27--BAPTISM--A BURIAL and #2197, Volume 37--CHRIST'S
   RESURRECTION AND OUR NEWNESS OF LIFE.] You remember, My Brothers and

   Sisters in Christ, that hallowed hour when you went down into the
   liquid tomb, when, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy
   Spirit, you were immersed upon profession of your faith in Jesus
   Christ? By that solemn act you set forth your death to sin and when you
   were raised again out of the opening element, you thereby made a
   profession of your faith in Christ's Resurrection. And moreover, you
   did then and there, seeing that you had received the Grace of God in
   truth, profess to rise unto newness of life! How could you, then, go
   back to sin? That would be to make your Baptism a lie! Indeed, you are,
   all of you, unbaptized unless you have been baptized into Christ's
   death.

   5, 6. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His
   death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: knowing
   this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin
   might be destroyed, that henceforth we

   should not serve sin. [See Sermon #882, Volume15--THE OLD MAN
   CRUCIFIED.] God has driven the nails through the active powers of our
   sin--both hands and feet are fastened to the Cross of Christ. And
   though the heart and the head may sometimes wander, yet our old man is
   crucified with Christ that the body of sin may be destroyed--and we are
   looking forward to that happy day when the old man shall be dead
   altogether, and we shall be made meet to enter into the inheritance of
   the saints in light. We believe that our old man will never die until
   we die, but we thank God that the death of our body will also be the
   death of the body of sin.

   7. For he that is dead is freed from sin. He can no longer live in it,
   for he is dead. And if we are really dead in Christ, we can no longer
   live in sin as we were known to do.

   8-11. Nowifwe are dead with Christ, we believe that we shallalso live
   with Him: knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no
   more; death has no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died
   unto sin once: but in that He lives, He lives unto God. Likewise reckon
   you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God

   through Jesus Christ our Lord [See Sermons #503, Volume 9--DEATH AND
   LIFE IN CHRIST and #2933, Volume 51--DEAD, YET ALIVE.] If Christ could
   die again, then Believers might lose their spiritual life and there
   might be such a thing as falling from Grace! But while Jesus lives, no
   member of His Mystical Body can die. His own promise is, "Because I
   live, you shall live also." He died unto sin once--we do the same. He
   lives no more to die-- we also do the same. Highly privileged are they
   who are dead with Christ! And blessed is that ordinance in which we set
   forth our death and burial with Him.

   12, 13. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you
   should obey it in the lusts thereof Neither yield you your members as
   instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God,
   as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
   of righteousness unto God.Your legs used to carry you to the theater--
   compel them now to carry you to the House of God even though you are
   weary. Your eyes could look long enough upon wickedness--let not their
   lids fall when you are sitting to hear a sermon! Let all the members of
   your body which once served Satan now serve God! Consider that your
   whole body is a consecrated temple and be not satisfied unless the
   whole of it is reserved for the great God Himself!

   14, 15. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under
   the Law, but under Grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not
   under the La w, but under Grace?[See Sermons #1410, Volume
   24--believers free from the dominion

   OF SIN and #1735, Volume 29--THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE DO NOT LEAD TO
   SIN.]

   This is another of the Antinomian suggestions that were made in the
   Apostle's time--and that are still made now! And how does Paul answer
   it? Why, with this solemn adjuration--

   15-18. God forbid! Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves
   servants to obey, his servantsyou are to whom you obey: whether of sin
   unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked,
   that you were the servants

   of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which
   was delivered you. Being then made free from sin,

   you became the servants of righteousness. [See Sermon #1482, Volume
   25--OUR CHANGE OF MASTERS.] Is not that a glorious sentence, "Being
   then made free from sin"? Yes, the fetters are all gone! We have put up
   our feet upon the block and the chains have been knocked off! We have
   put our hands down and the irons have been broken in pieces. Free from
   sin! 'Tis true that sin still tempts us, but it cannot prevail against
   us--it tries to put the bit in our mouth and to ride us as once it did,
   but we no longer submit to its sway! Sin is now an enemy to fret and
   worry us, but not a king to trample upon us and rule over us.

   19, 20. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of
   your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to
   uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your
   members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were the
   servant of sin, you were free from righteousness. You disdained the
   silken bonds of pie-ty--you said that you would never wear what you
   called the iron fetters of Grace! You were "Free from righteousness."
   So, surely, now that you are the servants of righteousness, you should
   seek to be free from sin!

   21-23. What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now
   ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free
   from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto
   holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death;
   but the gift of Godis eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord [See
   Sermon #1868, Volume 31--DEATH AND LIFE--THE WAGE AND THE GIFT.]
     __________________________________________________________________

Ho! Ho!

   (No. 3299)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters." Isaiah 55:1.

   THERE is a thirst which is peculiar to the Believer. He can say with
   David, "As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul
   after You, O God." Delightful thirst! Would God we had more of it! May
   we be longing and panting after our God in that sense until we shall be
   filled with His Spirit and shall dwell in His Presence to go no more
   out forever!

   But I wish now to speak of another kind of thirst to another class of
   thirsting ones, who thirst they scarcely know for what. They have a
   sense of unrest, of longing, of yearning--yet they have a very
   indistinct idea of what it is their souls are pining for. It may be
   that they will find out presently what it is their thirst requires.
   Better still, if perhaps, by God's blessing, that thirst shall be
   quenched by their drinking that Living Water of which they are bidden
   freely to take.

   I shall not detain you with a long preface, nor, indeed, with a long
   discourse. I will try to make each portion of my address brief,
   practical and pointed. May the Holy Spirit make it effectual!

   Learn from my text that God has made plenteous soul-provision and that
   to every thirsty soul this provision is perfectly free and gratuitous.

   I. In the first place, GOD HAS MADE AN ABUNDANT SOUL-PROVISION.

   We read here of "water." Water has been pronounced the simplest,
   purest, fittest drink for all persons of all ages and temperaments.
   Now, there is a thirst in man's body which makes him require drink. He
   drinks and that thirst is removed. There is a similar thirst in man's
   spiritual'nature. He needs something and he feels uneasy until he gets
   it. The Grace of God, which is proclaimed to us in Christ Jesus, is
   that which meets the longing of man. That is the spiritual water for
   man's spiritual thirst. In the text, the word is put in the plural,
   "Come you to the waters," I suppose to show the abundance thereof, as
   though there were many rivers of it, so that none might fear that they
   should require more than was provided--

   "Rivers of love and mercy here

   In a rich ocean join.

   Salvation in abundance flows,

   Like floods of milk and wine.

   Great God, the treasures of Your love

   Are everlasting mines--

   Deep as our helpless miseries are,

   And boundless as our sins."

   The mercy of God is not a little brook which can be almost drained up
   by a passing ox, but it is a vast river--it is many rivers, rivers to
   swim in! "Ho, everyone that thirsts!" Stand not back because you think
   there is not enough, but come you to the waters!

   Or the word may be in the plural to signify variety. The soul needs
   many things. Viewing eternity, God and judgment from different points
   of view, it needs manifold and multitudinous mercies. They are all
   provided and the word, "waters," indicates that many fresh springs of
   consolation are ready for those who thirst for all spiritual blessings
   as soon as the eye sees or the ear hears tell of them! You need not
   fear if you need the pardon of sin, or the renewal of your nature, or
   guidance in perplexity, or comfort in distress--you need not fear but
   what you shall find it. "Come you to the waters." There is an infinite
   variety in the Grace of God! He is called "the God of all Grace." All
   the Grace that all the

   sinners that ever come to Him can need, they shall find stored up in
   the Gospel provisions of the Covenant of Grace. "Ho, everyone that
   thirsts, come you to the waters," for God has provided for soul-needs
   in plentiful abundance and endless variety!

   Now, are you thirsting? It surely is not the mere play of imagination,
   but the sober apprehension of a fact that convinces me there are
   persons here who are thirsting in a spiritual sense. I think one of
   them says, "I thirst, I thirst to have my sins forgiven and to be
   reconciled to God. I know that I have done wrong--for me to plead that
   I have been innocent would be to add a lie to all my other iniquities.
   I am sensible in my inmost heart that I have both by omission and
   commission, transgressed the Divine Law. I deserve punishment, but I
   would that, by some means, I might be put into the Divine favor. I
   cannot bear to think that God should be angry with me every day! Once I
   laughed at this, but now I feel its meaning and it is like an arrow
   sticking in my loins. Oh, that I could have my Maker to be my Friend! I
   cannot fight the battle with Him--He could crush me in a moment! I
   would, therefore, cast down the weapons of my rebellion and be
   reconciled to Him." Come, then, you thirsty one, come and have what you
   need! Come and put your trust in Jesus and your sin is forgiven and you
   are reconciled--for, far off as you are, you shall be brought near by
   the blood of Christ! Do you know how? It is thus--God must punish sin.
   Your sin has incurred penalty, but He exacted your debt from your
   Surety. He punished Jesus for your sins which you have committed, if
   you believe in Jesus as your Substitute! He endured, that you might
   never endure, the whole of the Divine wrath! God can now, therefore,
   without marring His justice, reconcile to Himself the offending sinner,
   be agreed with him, receive him into friendship, yes, receive him into
   sonshipand adopt him as His child! That troubled conscience of yours
   will soon have peace if you will but trust in the bleeding Sacrifice of
   the Lamb of God for slain sinners! Put your hands upon His dear head,
   once crowned with thorns for you, and you shall prove that God is our
   Friend, and know that your sin is forgiven! Ho, everyone that thirsts
   for pardon and for reconciliation, come you to the waters, and have
   there your desire!

   I think I hear another say, "I desire that same blessing, but I need
   something more. I want to conquer the sin that dwells in me.I want to
   be pure and holy! I cannot bear to be in the future what I have been in
   the past! I feel the chains of habit that bind me--I need to snap them
   off. I would no longer be an example of vice--I want to be a pattern of
   everything that is lovely and of good repute. But I have struggled
   against sin and it gets the mastery over me. I do for a time escape,
   but still I bear my fetters upon me and am dragged back to my prison. I
   cannot be what I would, oh, that I could escape from the power of sin!"
   Ah, you thirsty one, it is a blessed thing to desire as you desire! And
   let me tell you that God will give you the desire of your heart, for
   Jesus died that He might deliver His people from the power of Satan! He
   came on purpose that He might destroy the power of sin in His people
   and make them so free that they should not serve sin, but become a
   people zealous for good works. If you will come to Jesus and simply
   believe in Him--that is, rely upon Him, trust Him--His Grace will come
   and refine you, implanting a new nature, taking away the heart of stone
   and giving a heart of flesh--and you shall yet put your foot upon the
   neck of all your corruptions! You shall cast them out little by little,
   and you shall be made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the
   saints in light! Ho, everyone that thirsts for purity and virtue and
   for victory over indwelling sin, let him come to the waters that flowed
   with the blood from Jesus' side--and let him taste and his thirst shall
   be appeased forever!

   In some persons this soul-thirst takes the shape of an anxious desire
   for perseverance and security. "I would like," says one, "oh, how I
   would like to know myself saved, and so saved that I never can be lost!
   Would that I could get on the Rock and feel the steadfastness of my
   refuge, that I might be able to sing--

   "'My name from the palms of His hands

   Eternity will not erase!

   Impressed on His heart it remains

   In marks of indelible Grace!'''

   1 recollect how I longed and panted after this, for no salvation ever
   seemed to me to be worth the having that would not last me to the end.
   No sign of Grace within seemed worth the having, but a sign that could
   never be cut off. The dread, "perhaps," haunted me lest the enterprise
   should be, after all, a failure, and the prospect of final deliverance
   should be defeated by some superior power of evil. I wanted the
   indwelling of Eternal Life, of that incorruptible life which lives and
   abides forever! Now, such a life as this it is that we read of in the
   Bible. Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, "Whoever drinks of the water
   that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall
   give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
   life." You who want security, who wish to know that you are saved and
   to rejoice in it,

   may well listen to these words--"Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to
   the waters." If you come to Christ for this blessed satisfaction, you
   shall have it! Give yourselves up to Christ and you shall sing, in the
   words of our song--

   "I know that safe with Him remains Protected by His power, What I've
   committed to His hands Till the decisive hour."

   Yes, be your thirst for pardon, for reconciliation, for sanctification,
   for deliverance from sin, or for perseverance and safety, you shall
   have any and all of these in the waters which God has made to flow!

   There are persons in the world, however, whose thirst takes another
   form. They have a thirst for knowledge. They want to know, to know
   infallibly. Through how many theories some people wade! There are minds
   so naturally inclined for cavil and controversy, for reasoning and
   reconsidering, that the more they study, the more skeptical they grow.
   Always learning, they never come to the knowledge of the Truth of God.
   "Oh," such a man seems to say, "if I could but get hold of something
   that was true, some fact, some certainty." Well, Sir, if you thirst for
   this, let your soul be given up to a belief in Christ and you shall
   soon find certainty! I believe that the religion of Jesus Christ is so
   certain a truth to that man who has believed it, that it is so verified
   to his inner consciousness, and so interweaves itself with his entire
   being that no proposition of Euclid could ever be more demonstrable, or
   more absolutely conclusive! We have known and believed the Revelation
   that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. We have tasted, felt and
   handled the good Word of Life. I know, and many here know, that since
   we have believed in Jesus we have come to live in an entirely new
   world. We have broken through the veil that parted us from a kingdom of
   which we know nothing, and we have been brought into this new Kingdom
   and live in it, and are as conscious of new sensations, new emotions,
   new sorrows and new joys as we are conscious of the old sensations
   which we possessed before! It is true, Sirs, certainly true! Have not
   our martyrs stood at the stake and burnt for this Truth of God? That is
   a stern Truth for which a man will dare to burn! Twisted as their
   nerves and muscles were upon the rack, and their very hearts searched
   after with hot claws of fire by their tormentors, yet have they learned
   to sing in the midst of anguish, to tell of present enjoyment and to
   triumph in the absolute Truth of the Doctrine whereof they were the
   witnesses! If you need to get your foot upon a bit of rock, to feel
   your footing and express your conviction--"Now, this is true whatever
   else is not"--you must believe in Jesus Christ! Then you will be no
   more shifted about like an unguided vessel by every wind and every
   current, but you will be sailing with the heavenly Pilot on board,
   directing you to the haven of everlasting peace!

   But there are those whose thirst is that of the heart It is not so much
   something to believe as something to love which they need. Well, my
   dear Friend, if you would have something worthy of your affection, a
   Person whom you may love to the fullest possible extent and never be
   deceived, whom you may adore and never become an idolater, let me say
   to you--Come you to the waters, and drink of the love of Christ, for
   they that love Him much may love Him more--they cannot love Him too
   much! He never disappoints any confidence that is reposed in Him. His
   dear, sweet love which He pours into the souls of those who love Him is
   recompense for any sorrow they may have endured for His sake--a
   recompense that makes them forget their wrongs and woes in the
   exceeding weight of glory which it entails!

   Oh, did you but know my Master, you would find out that to know Him is
   to love Him! All things else in this world are insignificant in
   comparison with Him. As a candle is not to be compared to the sun at
   noonday, so the joys of this world are not worthy to be mentioned in
   the same century as the joys of communion with Christ! Get this, and
   you shall have overflowing joy! You shall be satisfied with marrow and
   fatness and drink of the wines on the lees well-refined!

   But time would fail me if I were to try to mention all the different
   forms of soul-thirst. Whatever they may be, God has provided a supply
   for them all. Sinner, you cannot need anything which God cannot give
   you! Your soul cannot crave for anything but He can bestow it. You
   cannot be so soul-sick but He has medicine that will heal you. You
   cannot be so naked but He can clothe you, nor so black but He can wash
   you, nor so devilish but He can sanctify you, nor so near being damned
   but He can save you! Christ is All-in-All. If you are just now ready to
   die. If you have brought yourself down to the gates of the grave by
   your sin. If you are suffering in the body the results of your
   iniquities. If your own conscience has pronounced on you the dread
   sentence of doom--know this--my Master's arm is strong, and long as
   well as strong! He is able to reach the worst, the vilest, and the most
   abandoned! And when He once reaches them, He will never let go of them
   till He has taken them out of the miry clay, out of the horrible pit
   and set their feet upon a rock and estab-

   lished their goings! I wish I had an angel's tongue, or could sound a
   trumpet that would be heard right round this world! How loudly, then,
   would I proclaim the glad tidings that God has in store for needy
   ones--everything they need! No sinner need die of famine, for there is
   no famine in this land of Grace. No traveler through this world needs
   to die of thirst, for the well is deep, and it eternally springs up. No
   sinner needs to starve, for the oxen and fatlings are killed and the
   Gospel message is, "Come, for all things are ready." God grant that
   knowing how bountifully all these things are provided, we may, none of
   us, keep back, turn a deaf ear to the general call, refuse the special
   invitation, slight the Grace, or scorn the Gospel!

   II. Observe, secondly, that THE GOSPEL PROVISIONS ARE FREE TO ALL
   THIRSTY SOULS.

   Do you notice the first word of the text? "Ho!" That is like the cry of
   the salesman at a fair. He calls out to passersby, "Ho! Look! listen!
   Turn here! Here is a bargain--something worth your attention!" So God
   condescends, as it were, to cry out to those who are busy with this
   world's cares, its business and its barter, its buying and selling,
   "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here is something worth your minding, you that would be
   rich at little cost, you that are in want, you that are in need, you
   that would find something that shall exactly meet your case." Ho!--this
   is the Gospel note! A short, significant appeal, urging you to be wise
   enough to attend to your own interests. Oh, the condescension of
   God--that He should, as it were, become a beggar to His own creature
   and stoop from the magnificence of His Glory to cry, "Ho!" to foolish
   and ungrateful men!

   Notice the next words, "Ho! Everyone"--not some of you that thirst, but
   everyone--you rich ones, you poor ones, you great men, you little men,
   you old people, you young folk. "Ho! Everyone that thirsts." Now, it
   does not say, "Everyone except--except--except." No, no! Here is an
   amnesty published without exception or exemption. Here is an invitation
   given to every longing, thirsting one--and not a single name struck
   out--"Ho! Everyone that thirsts."

   And then it is added, "come." Not, "make yourselves ready." Not, "bring
   your money," or, "prove your title," but, "come!" Come just as you are.
   The coming is believing, trusting. Believe, trust, then, while you are
   as you are! Rely upon Christ--"comeyou to the waters." Come now. Read
   the invitation for yourselves. It is written in the present tense. Obey
   the summons--come, come at once! Though you have no money, you may come
   and take a drink, for it is freely provided for you. As I walked over a
   long sandy road one day last week when the weather was sultry and the
   heat far beyond our common experience in this country--almost
   tropical--I saw a little stream of cool water and, being parched with
   thirst, I stooped down and drank. Do you think I asked anybody's
   permission, or enquired whether I might drink or not? I didn't know to
   whom it belonged and I didn't care! There it was and I felt, as it was
   there, it was enough for me. Nobody was there to call out, "Ho!" My
   inward craving called out, "Ho!" I was thirsty and water was there
   inviting to my taste! I noticed, after I had drunk, that two poor
   tramps came along and they stooped down and drank in like manner. I
   didn't find anybody marching them off to prison. There was the
   stream--and the stream being there, and the thirsty men being
   there--the supply was suited to their need and they promptly partook of
   it. How strange it is that when God had provided this Gospel, and men
   need it, they should require somebody to call out to them, Ho! Ho! Ho!
   And then they will not come, after all! Oh, if they were a little more
   thirsty, if they did but know their need more, if they were more
   convinced of their sin--then they would scarcely need an invitation,
   but the mere fact of a supply would be sufficient for them and they
   would come and drink--and satisfy the burning thirst within.

   Now, although the Gospel provision is free to all thirsty souls, there
   are many who cannot believe this. Some cannot believe it because they
   stumble at the Doctrines. What Doctrine frightens you, dear Friend? Is
   it the Doctrine of Election? Well now, I believe the Doctrine of
   Election, and I thank God that I do. It is a precious Doctrine. And let
   me tell you, dear Friend, that the Doctrine of Election shuts nobody
   out, though it shuts a great many in. "But I may not come and trust
   Christ." How do you know that? God says you may--in fact, He says, "He
   that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed,"
   thus making it a sin not to believe! So you really have such a right to
   believe that it becomes even your duty! Whatever the Doctrine of
   Election may be, or may be meant to be, we will not talk of that just
   at present, for it is quite certain that it cannot contradict any plain
   practical direction of Scripture. Here is a plain text, which no one
   can deny, "He that believes on Him is not condemned." If, then, you
   believe on Jesus Christ, you are not condemned--election or no
   election! But let me tell you, if you believe in Christ you are one of
   His elect! And it is because He elected you that you come to believe in
   Him--it is because He chose you that you are led to desire Him and made
   to accept Him! Let not that Doctrine ever terrify you, or provoke your
   distrust, for if you rightly understand the

   Revelation, it is rather a finger beckoning to Christ than a specter
   that should intimidate you, or drive you away from

   Him!

   Then your spirit of legality will tell you that the Gospel is not free
   to you. Why not? Oh, because you are not fit to receive it. This, I
   say, is a spirit of legality and is clearly contrary to the Gospel!
   There is no fitness needed to receive Christ! You see men go to wash.
   What is the fitness for washing? Why, to be dirty--and that is no
   fitness. All the fitness a sinner can have for Christ is simply to need
   Christ. If you are empty, you are fit for Christ and He will come and
   fill you. If you are poor, you are fit for Christ to make you rich. He
   that is sick is fit for a physician. He that is needy is fit for pity.
   He that is guilty is fit for mercy. I beseech you, get rid of that
   pestilent and soul-destroying idea of fitness for Christ! You cannot
   come to Godas you are, but you may come to the Savior as you are. All
   black and unwashed you may come and wash in the fountain which He has
   opened! Let nothing, then, by way of legality, make you think that the
   Gospel provisions are not free to you.

   But what if your unbelief should tell you that the provisions of Grace
   are not for you because you have been such a great sinner? Did not
   Jesus come into the world to save the very greatest of sinners? He
   said, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." You
   may have soared as high as the mountains in your sin, but God's flood,
   like, that of Noah, can go over the tops of all your iniquities! Do not
   limit the Holy One of Israel by your unbelief! Believe Him and you
   shall be forgiven, even though you were worse than you are!

   Ah, Brothers and Sisters! Whatever the devil may say, and whatever your
   irritated conscience may say against the freeness of God's mercy, I
   tell you solemnly it is as free to every thirsty one as the drinking
   fountain at the street corner! It is as free as the air that blows over
   the mountain and into the valleys--free to every lung that breathes--so
   free is the mercy of God! God stints not His mercy when men need it. Be
   they but thirsty, let them but long for it, and they shall have it! If
   there is any difficulty, it is on your part, not on God's part. You are
   not straitened in Him--you are straitened in yourselves. O guilty
   Sinners, if you find no mercy, it is not because God is unwilling to
   give, but because you will not trust Him! Because you will not think
   that He can save you! The prodigal never could have believed his
   father's heart to be so kind as it was had he not tried and proved it.
   Come and try my Master's heart! I tell you that He will blot out your
   sins like a cloud and your transgressions like a thick cloud! Only rest
   on Him and you shall find Him better than you ever dreamed Him to be!
   As for my words, they cannot fully set Him forth. May you be brought to
   try Him, for then you will be sure to find that He is a mighty Savior!

   The provisions of Grace must be free to thirsty ones, why else were
   they provided?Why should there be a Savior for sinners if God will not
   give salvation to sinners? Why those wounds? Why that bloody sweat? Why
   that crown of thorns, why those expiring throes if God will not receive
   sinners? The dying Savior is the best answer to the caviling of
   unbelievers. He must be willing to forgive who spared not His own Son!
   If the Gospel were not free to thirsty ones, why is it published? If it
   were not meant for you, why are we bid to tell it to you and to
   continue sounding it in your ears? If it were meant for a few in a
   corner, why publish it in the streets? Why gather the crowds together,
   as we are bound to do, and find out those in the highways and hedges
   with a mandate to compel them to come in? Why do all this if God
   intends to bar the door in their faces? The very fact that the Gospel
   is preached to the sinner is God's love-token that He will accept you
   if you will come to Him! Why is there a Mercy Seat? Why are you allowed
   to pray? Why are you bid to pray, if God will not hear? This were a
   mockery of which you cannot accuse God--that He should encourage a
   sinner to pray with no intention of hearing him! Let me ask you
   again--How is it that others have found God's mercy so free when they
   have come and trusted Christ? Why is that multitude in Heaven, all once
   as guilty as you are, but all having washed their robes in the precious
   blood of Jesus? Why those on earth who have found peace? They had
   nothing to recommend them any more than you have. They will all tell
   you that they came just as they were, in all their rags and beggary,
   and Jesus did not reject them. No, glory be to His name, He received us
   freely!

   Come, then, fellow Sinners, come! May the eternal Spirit draw you now!
   Even now, "come you to the waters." Though you have no money and no
   price and no goodness, come and rest in Jesus and find everlasting
   life! Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters." That is my
   message. There is your welcome. Come! Do come! So my errand will speed.
   So your souls will be blessed. So God's name will be glorified! Amen.

   ISAIAH55.

   Verse 1. Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he that
   has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price. [See Sermons #1161, Volume 20--without
   money and without price and

   #1726, Volume 29--BUYING WITHOUT MONEY.] The description of Gospel

   blessings grows sweeter as it advances. "Waters'' first, "wine and
   milk" next, and still all "without money and without price." We preach
   no narrow salvation--we rejoice in the Covenant of Grace--it is the
   backbone of our theology, but the Gospel has wide arms, a loud voice
   and persuasive tones! "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the
   waters." In Christ there is a full supply for all our
   necessities--bread and water and yes, there are luxuries sufficient for
   our largest desires--wine and milk and He wants us to bring nothing in
   payment for them! "Without money and without price." That is, indeed,
   Free Grace! Some people object to that expression and say that it is
   tautology, for Grace must be free--but we mean to keep on using it that
   all may know that Grace is free, gratis, all for nothing!

   2. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor
   for that which satisfies not? The less value there is in any religion,
   the more you have to pay for it. The pardon that costs a shilling is
   not worth a farthing, but that which costs us nothing is worth more
   than the whole world!

   2. Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat you that which is good, and let
   your soul delight itself in fatness. [See Sermons

   #2278, Volume 38--FEEDING ON THE WORD and #2786, Volume 48--THE SOUL'S
   BEST FOOD.] All that your largest desires can long for, you will find
   in Christ. You shall have not only necessities, but delicacies,
   delights that shall satisfy you to the fullest! You shall not be able
   to conceive of anything that shall be more rich and full than the Grace
   of God. The Gospel is "that which is good." Yes, it is the best food
   our souls can ever eat! It gratifies, it satisfies and fills our
   spirits with holy joy and exhilaration!

   3. Incline your ear, and come unto Me-[See Sermons #2092, Volume
   35--GOD'S OWN GOSPEL CALL and #2316, Volume 39--TWELVE COVENANT
   MERCIES.] This is the gate by which salvation enters into

   man--Ear-Gate--by hearing and believing. "Incline your ear," bend it
   forward as if you would catch every word-- "and come unto Me"--

   3. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting
   covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Only think of a
   Covenant made with needy sinners, thirsty sinners! God striking hands
   with guilty men in the Person of Jesus Christ. It is a sure Covenant,
   too--not made up of "ifs" and "buts" and "perhapses," but a Covenant
   sealed with blood and signed by Him who gives an oath with it that He
   will never turn from it, that you may have "strong consolation."

   4. Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a Leader and
   Commander to the people. [See Sermons #2534, Volume

   43--THE GREATEST GIFT IN TIME OR ETERNITY and #2787, Volume
   48--CHRIST'S TRIPLE CHARACTER.] He who is our greater David comes to us
   to bear witness to the Immutable Love of God and to be to us our
   Captain and our King! Happy are the souls that accept this David to be
   their Leader. You remember how David, in the Cave Adullam, gathered to
   himself "everyone that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt,
   and everyone that was discontented, and he became a captain over them."
   Even so, the great Antitype, David's Son and David's Lord, is willing
   now to gather to Himself those who are spiritually bankrupt,
   discontented and weary with the world, and God says, "I have given Him
   for a witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people."

   5. Behold, You shall calla nation that You knownot, andnations that
   know You notshallrun unto You because of the LORD Your God and for the
   Holy One oflsrael; for He has glorified You. What joy this gives to you
   who love Him! Jehovah has glorified His Son, and given to Him the power
   to call to Himself a people that He knew not in a saving sense, and He
   shall so call nations that knew Him not that they shall run unto Him!
   We do not preach the Gospel at hapha-zard--we are sure of results. If
   we speak in faith, in the name of Christ, men must be saved, they must
   run to Christ. It is not left to their option--there is a Divine hand
   that secretly touches the springs of the will of men so that, when
   Christ calls them, they run to Him! Oh, that He would just now call
   them, even those that are furthest off, that they may run to Him and
   that He may be glorified! A Savior without souls saved by Him would be
   only a Savior in name. A head without a body would be a very ghastly
   thing. A shepherd without sheep would be a man without occupation. A
   Christ anointed to save the lost, and yet no lost ones coming to
   Him--where would His Glory be? But sinners, drawn by His Almighty
   Grace, run to Him, and so God glorifies Him!

   6. Seek you the LORD while He may be found, call you upon Him while He
   is near. In those happy Gospel times when Christ is set forth on
   purpose that "He may be found," seek Him, call upon Him! He is very
   near when the Gospel is preached with holy unction, when Christians are
   praying, when hearts are breaking for the conversion of sinners, and
   when His Spirit is working in their hearts that they may repent of sin.

   7. Let the wicked forsake his way--It is a bad way, it is a downward
   way, it is a way that will end in destruction! Do not follow it any
   longer. "Let the wicked forsake his way."--

   7. And the unrighteous man his thoughts. "Thoughts!" says one, "We
   shall not be hanged for our thoughts!" Oh, but you may be damned for
   your thoughts! No man has really forsaken the way of wickedness until
   he hates the very thought of wickedness. If your thoughts run after
   evil, your tongues will soon utter evil and your hands will soon do
   evil.

   7. And let him return--he is like one who has wandered from his
   father's house--"let him return." He is like the dove that flew away
   from Noah's ark and was ready to faint. "Let him return"--

   7. Unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for
   He will abundantly pardon. [See Sermons

   #1195, Volume 20--ABUNDANT PARDON and #2797, Volume 48--THE NEED AND
   NATURE OF CONVERSION.] What a blessed word, "abundantly," is here!
   Abundant pardon to cover abundant sin, abundant provocation, abundant
   rejection of His Word!

   8. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My way,
   says the LORD. "Says the Lord," as if He would not leave the Prophet to
   speak any longer on His behalf! He Himself appears upon the scene and
   speaks--"For My thoughts are not your thoughts." No doubt He refers
   here to the pardon of sin. Our thoughts are narrow! We find it hard to
   forgive great offenses, to forgive many offenses, to forgive many
   offenders, to continue completely to forgive-- all this is very
   difficult to man.

   9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher
   than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Think of the
   biggest thought you ever had concerning God's forgiveness of sins. Try
   again. Let your thoughts rise still higher--you cannot have reached the
   utmost height yet, "for as the heavens are higher than the earth," so
   are His thoughts and ways higher than yours!

   10. 11. For as the rain comes down and the snow from Heaven and returns
   not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that
   it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall My Word
   be that goes forth out ofMy mouth: it shall not return unto Me void but
   it shall accomplish that which Iplease, and it shallprosper in the
   thing whereto I sent it. If you believe this great promise, you shall
   have the full benefit of it. Let this gracious rain drop on you, and it
   must refresh you. Let these blessed snowflakes come down on you, and
   they shall melt into your bosom, and remain there to bless you
   forever--they shall not go back to God with their mission unfulfilled!
   As for us who preach that Word, or teach it in the Sunday school--we
   may have a full assurance that we shall not labor in vain, nor spend
   our strength for nothing! No, no--the raindrops go not on an errand
   that can fail and the snowflakes that fall to the earth accomplish the
   end for which they are sent! Much more shall the purpose of God's Word
   be accomplished! Behold, it drops like the gentle rain--like snowflakes
   fly the messages of mercy from the lips of the Lord, Himself, and they
   shall not fall in vain, blessed be His holy name!

   12. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace: the
   mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and
   all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.There shall seem to
   be joy everywhere when there is joy in your heart. When you receive
   Christ, you have put everything round about you into its true position.
   The whole Creation is a vast organ, and man puts his tiny fingers on
   the keys and evokes thunders of harmony to the praise of God! When the
   heart is filled with joy and peace, mountains and hills break forth
   before us into singing and all the trees of the field clap their hands!

   13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. The thorn is
   everywhere, today, pricking our feet and maiming our hands. But
   "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree." Where is the thorn,
   then? I see it upon the bleeding brow of Christ--He has taken it away
   and worn it as a crown!

   13. And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it
   shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting

   sign that shall not be cut off [See Sermons #833, Volume 14--THE LORD'S
   NAME AND MEMORIAL; #2410, Volume 41--SPRINGTIME IN NATURE AND GRACE and
   #3044, Volume 53--SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATIONS.] It shall make

   men know what He is like, what gracious power He has, what goodness
   dwells in Him! "It shall be to Jehovah for a

   name"--"An everlasting sign." That sign is exhibited today in the eyes
   of men. An evil and adulterous generation called for a sign, and this
   is the sign that God has given--His converting Grace in His Church.
   Instead of miracles, we have the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts
   of sinners--and if any will not believe when this sign is sent to them,
   neither would they believe though one rose from the dead! It stands as
   "an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
     __________________________________________________________________

Titles of Honor

   (No. 3300)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL
   5, 1886.

   "Brethren beloved of the Lord." 2 Thessalonians. 2:13.

   THE verse from which my text is taken begins thus, "But we are bound to
   give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord," so I
   will commence my discourse by saying that we might often find comfort
   and relief from gloomy apprehensions by associating with those who are
   "beloved of the Lord." If you read the Chapter through, you will
   perceive that Paul's mind was greatly exercised concerning the perilous
   times which were to come to the Church of Christ. He wrote to warn the
   Thessalonians concerning the coming of antichrist, and then said that
   there were some to whom God would send "strong delusion, that they
   should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not
   the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous." The Apostle 's heart was
   so heavily burdened with that sorrowful theme that he was glad to turn
   his pen to quite a different subject and, therefore, he wrote, "But we
   are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the
   Lord." Just now, there is a general opinion that the growth of Popery
   in this land is most alarming and that the declension of vital
   godliness is very serious. And while we do not fully agree with the
   alarmists, we are obliged to admit that these are times of peculiar
   peril. The tendency of those who look only at the black side of the
   question is to fret and worry--and to feel that God's Church is in
   danger. Brethren, I would not have you shut your eyes to the dangers by
   which we are surrounded, but I would not have you dispirited by them,
   either! There are still many saints left in the world. There are still
   they who, like those in Sardis, have not defiled their garments. There
   are still some who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. There are still
   many earnest and faithful testifiers to the Truth of God as it is in
   Jesus. So, although you may mourn over the evils of the times, you are
   bound to always give thanks to God that there are some "brethren
   beloved of the Lord" still left upon the face of the earth! David spoke
   of the saints that were on the earth in his day as "the excellent, in
   whom is all my delight." And David's Lord, our blessed Master, no doubt
   found no small solace, as a Man, in associating with Mary, Martha and
   Lazarus, for He seems to have withdrawn from the multitude who mocked
   and scoffed and to have retired into the privacy of domestic piety--and
   there to have found joy and comfort in the midst of the happy family
   that was so closely attached to Him. There are still in the world many
   of the precious sons of Zion who are comparable to fine gold and
   concerning whom the Lord says, "They shall be Mine in that day when I
   make up My jewels." Be wise, my Brothers and Sisters, and let it be
   said of you as it was said of them of old, "They that feared the Lord
   spoke often, one to another," for there is comfort to be found in the
   society of God's saints-- let the times be ever so perilous and dark.

   But I would advance a step beyond this preliminary observation and
   remark that when things are outwardly not as the children of God would
   like them to be, and when there is much within them that is not as it
   should be, they may often derive much solace by reflecting upon their
   true condition in the sight of God in connection with the Lord Jesus
   Christ. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I know that many of you have
   grievous trials to endure. And I am well aware that if you look within,
   you will see much that will distress you. You will perceive that the
   old Adam still lurks within you and that notwithstanding all the force
   that has been brought against him by Divine Grace, he is still far too
   vigorous! It is true that some of you have also to suffer from poverty
   and that your lot is a very difficult one--yet we are bound to give
   thanks always to God for you, and you are, yourselves, bound to give
   thanks on your own behalf because notwithstanding your poverty, and
   notwithstanding your infirmity, and notwithstanding even the sin of
   which you have such cause to mourn, you are still "beloved of the
   Lord"--and in the Person of Jesus Christ you are "without spot, or
   wrinkle, or any such thing"! When faith recognizes the vital union
   which exists between Christ and the soul and realizes the consequent

   blessedness and security of the saint, then it cries, "I am bound to
   give thanks always unto God, for I am still beloved of the Lord
   notwithstanding all that causes me often to weep and mourn."

   It is my purpose, this evening, to invite all of you who are trusting
   in the Lord Jesus Christ to contemplate your true standing in the sight
   of God--that you may be uplifted from the dunghills of your complaints,
   shake off the ashes of your doubts, unwind the sackcloth of your fears,
   put on your beautiful garments of holy rejoicing and sing aloud unto
   Him through whose Grace you are made worthy to be called "brethren
   beloved of the Lord." There are two topics on which I have to speak.
   First, the titles mentioned in the text And, secondly, the wearers of
   those titles.

   I. First, then, let us think for a while of THE TITLES MENTIONED IN THE
   TEXT--"brethren" and, "beloved of the Lord."

   "Brethren" is a very special word--the utterance of it awakens an echo
   in every Believer's heart. It is naturally a silver word, but
   spiritually God has transmuted it into gold. I do not wonder that a
   certain sect has appropriated this title, yet we equally claim the name
   of, "brethren," as our own, and we share it with all who are the
   children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. The title, "brethren," is
   very hallowed and very precious to us--let us try to find out what it
   implies.

   First, it indicates a common nature. Whatever opinions any may hold
   concerning the unity of the human race, there can be no difference of
   opinion about the unity of nature in those who are born of the same
   parents. Where should I expect to find a person more in sympathy with
   myself than my own brother? Where should I expect to find, beneath the
   cope of Heaven, another soul that should be more akin to mine than the
   soul of my brother? If there are not peace and love between us, where
   can they be found? However much we may differ from one another in some
   respects, there must be certain lineaments of feature or traits of
   character in which we are alike. But even if this is not so naturally,
   it certainly is so spiritually! All Believers are alike partakers of
   the Divine Nature--we are all equally begotten again unto a lively hope
   by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! The inner life of
   all true Christians is the same--there is not a Baptist life and a
   Methodist life, or a Nonconformist life and a Church of England life.
   The Divine Life is one wherever it is bestowed. The life of my hand and
   the life of my foot are one and the same, pulsating from the same
   central source and maintained by the same power. And the life of God is
   the same in all the members of the Mystical Body of Christ. This is
   something more than brotherhood--that idea does not cover the whole
   truth although it includes much of it. There is a distinct unity of
   nature in all the saints of the living God! Hence, Brothers and
   Sisters, I can never tolerate any attempts to limit communion between
   those who are really one in Christ. It always seems to me that it would
   be an infraction of the Divine Law if I were to say to a Brother in
   Christ that I could not commune with him because of certain minor
   matters in which we do not quite agree. Besides, whether I am willing
   to do so or not, I cannot help communing with him for he is a part of
   Christ's Mystical Body of which I also am a part! So that unless I
   could myself get out of that body, or he could get out of it, which is
   impossible for either of us, I must remain in spiritual communion with
   him whatever I may do concerning the outward and visible symbols of
   that communion. No, more than that, if I could go to Heaven and that
   Brother still tarried here upon the earth, our communion would not be
   broken, for Dr. Watts was right when he sang--

   "The saints on earth, and all the dead,

   But one communion make!

   All join in Christ, their living Head,

   And of His Grace partake."

   The term, "brethren," also implies a common experience. The brethren in
   an earthly family have the same parents, they live in the same house,
   they partake of the some food, they share all the privileges and varied
   experiences of the same household. So is it with those who are of the
   household of faith, the family of God. Their experiences may vary even
   as one child in the home differs from another, but there is much more
   similarity than there is diversity in the experiences of the living
   children of the living God. We have all been broken in pieces. We have
   all been bound up. We have all been emptied. We have all been brought
   to the Cross. We have all been led by one Spirit to drink of the same
   precious Truth! We have not all subscribed to the same creed, yet in
   substance and in effect, the Doctrine of all the children of God is, to
   a large extent, identical. They rely for salvation upon the atoning
   Sacrifice of Christ, and therein they are all one. Their pilgrim path
   is through the same wilderness, they eat the same manna, they drink of
   the same Rock, they are led by the same cloudy-fiery pillar, and they
   come at last to the same heavenly Canaan and go no more out forever!
   They are and they must be one, not only because they are one in nature,
   but because the various processes through which that nature has to pass
   are so largely the same.

   More than this, the title, "brethren," implies that we love one
   another. It is said that there is a lack of love in certain churches
   that profess to be Christian. Well, perhaps there is. I am not going to
   be an accuser of the brethren in that re-

   spect, but I believe there is a great deal more love existing among
   Christians than many persons imagine. Possibly, those who say there is
   a lack of love in our midst judge by the state of their own hearts,
   while those who really love the saints find that the saints also love
   them. Do not suppose, dear Friends, because the preacher has sometimes
   to proclaim very unpalatable Truths of God and because he sometimes
   delivers his message in stern tones, that therefore he has not a tender
   heart! Fidelity to the Truth of God requires that it should be spoken
   in such a fashion as to secure public attention, and this involves the
   use of great plainness of speech and a manner of delivery which some
   may resent. And the man who honestly and fearlessly acts thus is more
   acceptable to God and has far greater and truer love in his heart than
   the one who says, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace! As I hate
   Satan and all his works, so my soul hates every false doctrine in this
   Church and in every Church! But as I love God and all that God loves,
   so am I desirous to love every child of the loving God. And I will
   further say that not only do I desire to love every child of God, but I
   think I really do. Do you not feel, beloved Brothers and Sisters in
   Christ, whenever you meet a Believer in Jesus, and begin to talk of the
   things that belong to His Kingdom, you have fellowship with him in
   heart and spirit even though you had never seen him before? When we
   talk of Jesus, our love to one another soon begins to flow! The true
   basis of our communion with one another is that we are there in Christ
   Jesus--and that union manifests itself in love to all who are, as our
   text puts it, "brethren beloved of the Lord."

   This word, "brethren," is a far-reaching word, for it further implies
   that all Christians have a common Father. Let all Believers rejoice
   that they can unite in saying, "Our Father, who are in Heaven." There
   is a straight line from my heart to the heart of God--and so there is
   from your heart, my Brother or my Sister in Christ--so our Father's
   heart is our common meeting place! We were there in purpose before this
   world was created. We are there by faith at this moment and we shall be
   there by blessed experience when this world has passed away and time
   shall be no more! Having the same Father, we share equally in that
   Father's love. We may not always feel the same love to all our Brothers
   and Sisters in Christ, but God's love to us and His love to them knows
   no variation. I trust you all realize that our Father is quite
   impartial in His love to all His children and that all who are truly
   members of His family through their union to Christ shall have an equal
   share of it. Hence the tie of Christian brotherhood become a very
   solemn and a very precious thing, for it not only binds us fast to our
   Father in Heaven, but it also binds us closely to one another! I pray
   that the members of this Church may always act toward each other as
   Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I wish that among all the saints there
   might be a sort of spiritual Freemasonry so that whenever we might
   meet, we should recognize one another by the holy grip of Christian
   love. There are certain sacred passwords that are common to all the
   saints and I will defy the hypocrite or the worldling to pronounce them
   aright--but if he should be able to utter them with his lips--he can
   never really know their meaning in his heart. There are certain
   experiences that cannot be learned without the teaching of the Holy
   Spirit. There is a certain way of speaking about Christ that can never
   be acquired as a parrot learns to talk. There is a certain ring which
   God gives to His gold which is never bestowed upon baser metal--and
   there is a certain something about a true child of God which enables
   him to recognize others of the same family and which also enables them
   to recognize him so that when they come together, their hearts leap up
   at the thought that they are "brethren beloved of the

   Lord."

   Perhaps I have lingered too long over that first title, so now I must
   turn to the second one, "beloved of the Lord." You do need my
   explanations here, for the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle to give the
   Divine explanation of this title of honor. Turn to the verse from which
   our text is taken and you will see that the first thought concerning
   the Lord's love to you is that of its antiquity--"We are bound to give
   thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God
   has from the beginning chosen you." You always were "beloved of the
   Lord"! He did not begin to love you when you first repented and turned
   to Him. He saw you in the glass of His eternal purpose and he loved you
   then! That love He proved many centuries before you knew anything about
   it, for His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, had
   redeemed you 1800 years before you were born--He gave the fullest proof
   of His affection for you in laying down His life for you. There was
   nothing in you to merit this wondrous Self-Sacrifice on the part of
   Christ--on the contrary, you were His enemies, you profaned His holy
   name, and despised His Sacrifice after you learned what He had done!
   But He gave Himself for you because from eternity He had loved you with
   a love that would not be turned from its purpose by anything that He
   foresaw would be done by you!

   In addition to the antiquity of the Lord's love to you, think also of
   its richness. The Apostle says, "God has from the beginning chosen you
   to salvation." Have you grasped the full meaning of that word,
   salvation, Beloved? It does not merely mean salvation from Hell, though
   that is included in it, but it means salvation from sin, salvation from
   the guilt

   and power of sin, salvation from your doubts, your fears, your
   troubles--salvation from that besetting infirmity of yours, salvation
   from the devil's dominion over you, salvation in all its fullness from
   first to last! To all this "God has from the beginning chosen you" who
   are "brethren beloved of the Lord"! This is no mean inheritance, no
   slender portion, no slight gift--indeed, it is not easy to find words
   in which adequately to describe all that God has done for you in
   choosing you "to salvation." It will need all eternity to fully explain
   the meaning of that great word! You are, indeed, "beloved of the Lord"
   in having such a priceless portion as this bestowed upon you!

   Notice, next, the wisdom, of the Lord's love to you. "God has from the
   beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
   and belief of the truth." Had it been possible for you to have had
   salvation without sanctifica-tion, it would have been a curse to you
   instead of a blessing. If such a thing were possible, I cannot conceive
   of a more lamentable condition than for a man to have the happiness of
   salvation without the holiness of it! Happily, it is not possible. If
   you could be saved from the consequences of sin, but not from the sin,
   itself, and its power and pollution, it would be no blessing to you.
   But the salvation to which God has from the beginning chosen you is
   inseparably linked with the cleansing and sanctifying work of the Holy
   Spirit who operates within you through the instrumentality of faith!
   Your belief of the Truth of God has a purifying influence upon your
   whole life and makes you desire to follow in the footprints of your
   dear Lord and Savior. Thus God shows His wisdom in the choice of the
   means which He blesses to your salvation--blessing you as much by the
   means as by the salvation, itself--blessing you as much in the road as
   in the end to which it leads! You are, indeed, "beloved of the Lord" in
   having the Spirit of God thus dwelling in you and bestowing upon you
   that precious gift of faith by which you are enabled to believe the
   Truths of God!

   Observe, too, in order to increase your joy in the Lord, the signs of
   this love. In the next verse, the Apostle goes on to say, "whereunto He
   called you by our Gospel." Do you not remember, you who are "beloved of
   the Lord," when you were called by the Gospel? Then was the eternal
   purpose of God fulfilled in your experience. Go back in thought to the
   time of your espousal to Christ. Recall the sound of the silver trumpet
   that then brought you into Gospel liberty. You had been to the House of
   God hundreds of times before when that same trumpet was ringing out the
   glad refrain--

   "The year of jubilee is come! Return, you ransomed sinners, home"-- but
   your ears and heart had been sealed to the message! But that day the
   Lord opened your heart and unstopped your ears, so that you were
   numbered among the happy people who heard the joyful sound! Your
   calling proved your election, and it stands to you still as gracious
   evidence of God's eternal love to you. Happy are we, too, if we can say
   with the Apostle, "whereunto He called you by our Gospel." I know that
   however many may preach the Gospel better than I do, there is no one
   who can preach a better Gospel than the one I preach, for it is that
   Gospel which "is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
   believes." "Our Gospel" is the best of gospels, the richest of gospels,
   it cannot be excelled, it cannot be equaled! In fact, it is the only
   Gospel that is worthy of the name! You remember how Paul wrote to the
   Galatians, "I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called
   you into the Grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not
   another." That is to say, it is not another gospel and it brings only a
   curse both upon him who preaches it and those who receive it! But
   blessed are you who have been called unto salvation by "our Gospel."

   There is yet one more sign of God's eternal love which is to be seen by
   us in the future--"to the obtaining of the Glory of our Lord Jesus
   Christ." We who believe in Jesus are so "beloved of the Lord" that He
   will never be satisfied until we share His Glory! So be glad in the
   Lord and rejoice in the glorious prospect that He has set before you!
   God was not content to choose you to happiness here, but He has also
   chosen you to happiness hereafter! He was not satisfied with making a
   little Heaven for you here below, but He has made a great Heaven for
   you up above! He has not appointed an earthly paradise where He might
   sometimes come to you as He came to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden,
   but He has prepared a place for you in His own Home in Glory that you
   may dwell forever in your Father's House where there are many abiding
   places. Rejoice, then, "beloved of the Lord," that He has "called you
   by our Gospel to the obtaining of the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ"!

   Of course it is not in my power to enable every Christian here to suck
   all the sweet out of this title, but it is in the power of the Holy
   Spirit to enable you to--and by the exercise of faith you may draw much
   of it out. I claim this title for myself--"beloved of the Lord"--and
   each Brother or Sister in Christ may claim it for himself or herself.
   "O man greatly beloved" was the title given to Daniel, and that is the
   title that is given to every Believer in Jesus. "That disciple whom
   Jesus loved" was the distinguishing title of one of His followers when
   Christ was here in the flesh. And now that after the flesh we know
   Christ no more, we are His in such a special sense that every child of
   God is "that disciple whom Jesus loves." May you get a firm grip of
   that Truth of God, Beloved, and realize that Jesus loves you! You
   cannot obtain this

   assurance except by faith, but when you have believed, joy and peace
   will quickly follow upon the heels of faith. No, they come hand in
   hand, for we have joy and peace in believing!

   II. I have taken so long in speaking of these titles of honor that I
   have very little time left for speaking of THE

   WEARERS OF THESE TITLES.

   Suppose, dear Friends, you had all heard the Gospel preached and that
   you understood the dignity and happiness of a Christian--what sort of a
   person would you suppose him to be? If I try to picture him for you,
   you will see how far your ideas and mine agree. I should think you
   would so imagine that a man who is "beloved of the Lord" would be the
   happiest man in the world. You naturally suppose that if the eternal
   God has loved him, if the infinite heart of the Most High has been set
   upon him from all eternity, he must experience the greatest imaginable
   delight in such a belief and he must feel that whatever else he may or
   may not possess, he is rich to the fairest possible extent in having
   the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit who is
   given unto him! I know that a sorrowful friend over yonder is saying,
   "If I really could say that Jesus is mine, I would be quite content to
   be poor. If I were 'beloved of the Lord,' I would not mind if I had to
   lie in a dungeon or even to be burned to death for His sake." So I
   conceive that those who are "beloved of the Lord" must be the most
   happy and joyful people to be found anywhere upon the face of the
   earth!

   I suppose, too, that the influence of this love upon them would make
   them very careful not to offend their loving Lord. Naturally, the love
   of Christ would exercise such a constraining influence upon them that
   they would feel that men so highly favored as they are ought not to
   live as other men do--but that, being distinguished by such peculiar
   privileges, they should be "a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
   Without violating the proprieties of conjecture, I can conceive that
   the "beloved of the Lord" would be most heavenly-minded people. Having
   such treasure in Heaven, they would naturally not care about the things
   of earth, but would set their affection on things above so that where
   their treasure is there would their heart be also. I think the Believer
   would be longing and panting to get a peep through the pearly gates and
   that until he could be there with his loving Lord, he would often be
   singing--

   "My heart is with Him on His Throne, And ill can brook delay! Each
   moment listening for the voice, 'Rise up, and come away!'"

   Further, I can suppose that the "beloved of the Lord" are so grateful
   for their Lord's love that they are constantly telling others the story
   of that love. And that when they meet their fellow Christians, their
   constant theme of conversation is the riches of Divine Grace. I can
   suppose that these people are so different from others that wherever
   they go, they are looked upon with astonishment! Difficulties I suppose
   they have, but being "beloved of the Lord" they take their difficulties
   to Him and He enables them to overcome them by His Grace. Trials I
   suppose they have, but they are sure to go to God about them and He
   either removes them or gives the necessary strength to endure them. I
   suppose they are people who compass sea and land, not to make
   proselytes to their particular sect, but by holy self-denial and
   consecrated service to glorify God and extend the Redeemer's Kingdom on
   earth.

   Is not this what you are longing to do, Beloved? Well, it is a good
   thing to have high aspirations, but it is an even better thing to turn
   those aspirations to practical account. Is there not something that we
   can do for Christ tonight? The Israelites found the manna in the
   wilderness, not by looking up to Heaven, but by looking down on the
   ground. And instead of looking up to Heaven for means of glorifying
   God, we may find opportunities of doing so all around our daily path!
   Let us, each one, ask ourselves these questions and answer them as in
   the sight of God--What can I do for God in my own family circle? What
   can I say about Jesus to my friends? How can I bring most Glory to God
   in my own spiritual life? What choice gift can I bring to my Savior as
   Mary brought the costly ointment of spikenard and anointed the feet of
   Jesus? What tears of penitence can I weep before His marred visage?
   What holy faith can I now exercise in His risen and glorified Person?
   Let me, as the "beloved of the Lord," with my largest ideas concerning
   His Glory and the coming of His Kingdom, see what I can practically do
   to show that I truly love Him by whom I am so greatly beloved!

   I wish, Brothers and Sisters, that the portrait of the happiest man in
   the world that I tried to draw a few minutes ago might prove to be your
   own likeness. Some of you are sad and despondent, yet you are the
   "beloved of the Lord." Then why are you so dispirited? You are heavy of
   heart tonight, but since you are the "beloved of the Lord," you should
   rejoice in Him whatever there may be to cause you present heaviness of
   spirit! You have been struggling with inbred sin and the fight has been
   so fierce that you have feared that you would be defeated--but as you
   are the "beloved of the Lord," you must be more than conquerors through
   Him who has loved you!

   Some of you have come here tonight from the workshop where you have
   been laughed at and mocked--you have most painful recollections of the
   scorn with which you were assailed this very afternoon--but since you
   are the "beloved of the Lord," the day will come when these things will
   be reckoned among your highest honors. "Take that, John Bu-nyan," said
   one to a certain Christian as he pushed him into the gutter. "Oh," said
   the other, "you may push me into the gutter again if you can only prove
   my right to bear that noble name!" So may you say to those who
   persecute you for Christ's sake, "You may do it again if it pleases
   you, for it would be an honor to me to be spit upon because I belong to
   Christ." Cultivate that spirit, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and let
   the thought that that you are the "beloved of the Lord" make amends for
   every cruel act or word on the part of His enemies. When the last
   trumpet sounds, and the innumerable hosts of the redeemed are gathered
   together unto Christ--and you whom God has from the beginning chosen to
   salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,
   you whom He has called by our Gospel--when you obtain, I say, the Glory
   of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will forget the little suffering that you
   have ever borne on His account and rejoice with unspeakable joy and
   full of Glory that you are forever to be numbered among the "beloved of
   the

   Lord"!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMANS 8:1-14.

   This wonderful Chapter is the very cream of the cream of Holy
   Scripture! What a grand keynote the Apostle strikes in the first verse!

   Verse 1. There is therefore nowno condemnation to those who are in
   Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but

   after the Spirit [See Sermon #1917, Volume 32--IN CHRIST NO
   CONDEMNATION.] "No condemnation"--that is the first note of the
   Chapter. In the last verse it is "no separation." What glorious music
   there is here--no condemnation to those who are in Christ, no
   separation of them from Christ! Happy are the people who have a share
   in this double blessing--but unhappy are the men and women who know
   nothing of it! We will read it again--"There is therefore now no
   condemnation." There is a great deal of accusation, and a great deal
   more of tribulation, but there is no condemnation--not the least hint
   of it! Some condemnation we might have expected, but "there is
   therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who
   walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

   2. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free
   from the Law of sin and death. I have broken away from its thralldom!
   The new Law, the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the Law of
   Grace has set me free from the domination of the Law of sin and death!
   Happy is the free man who is thus liberated by the Grace of God.

   3. For what the Law could not do--God has done by His Grace. "What the
   Law could not do"--

   3. In that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in
   the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin--Or, as the marginal reading
   renders it, "by a sacrifice for sin"--

   3-5. Condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the Law
   might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
   Spirit For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh.
   Unregenerate men, the men who remain in the state in which they were
   born. The men who allow their lower nature to have the predominance.
   "They that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh." That is
   all that they care about, all that they think about, all that they toil
   for, all that they really "mind."

   5. But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit Those
   in whom there is a new life begotten by the Holy Spirit--these mind the
   things of the Spirit. Each nature seeks its own things--the flesh seeks
   the things of the flesh, the spirit seeks the things of the Spirit.
   Judge you, my Hearers, to which case you belong by this test--for what
   are you living for? That which you live for is the true index of your
   nature. Do you mind spiritual things or the things of the flesh?

   6, 7. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded
   is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is

   enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither
   indeed can be. [See Sermons #20, Volume 1--the carnal mind ENMITY
   AGAINST GOD and #1878, Volume 32--A TRAITOR SUSPECTED AND CONVICTED.]
   The old nature never will obey the Law of God--it can never do so.
   What, then, is to be done with

   it? Improve it? No, my Hearers, the only thing to be done with it is to
   let it die and then to bury it. In Baptism you have a

   most significant symbol of what is to be done with the flesh--you are
   to treat it as a dead thing and, therefore, to bury

   it. Let the old life be crucified and put to death with Christ and let
   the new life take its place!

   8. So then they that are in the flesh--Those who are still in the old
   nature, living for it, living to it--

   8. Cannot please God. Men may wash this old nature, they may clothe it,
   they may decorate it, they may educate it, but there is no evolution
   which can produce Grace out of Nature. The child of Nature may be
   finely dressed, but it is a dead child however gaudily it is attired.
   There is a vital eternal difference between the old nature and the new.

   9. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
   Spirit of God dwells in you. You saints of Rome to whom Paul was
   writing, and you who believe in Christ now--"You are not in the flesh,
   but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you."

   9. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. If
   Christ's Spirit has not quickened you, you do not belong to Christ.
   Some ministers preach a very general sort of gospel in which everybody
   has a share, but the Bible knows nothing of that sort of gospel! "If
   any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." Do you know
   what it is to have the Spirit of Christ? If not, my Hearer, do not
   deceive yourself--you are none of His. "If any man"--be he prince or
   magistrate, a member of Parliament or a doctor of divinity--"if any man
   has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."

   10. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the
   Spirit is life because of righteousness. Hence the body suffers, the
   body is sick, the body decays, the body is under the dominion of death
   because of sin--but the Spirit is full of life because of
   righteousness.

   11. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells
   in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
   mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you. You Believers may have
   a good hope concerning your bodies! "He that raised up Christ from the
   dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies." Wait a while, therefore--
   what God has done for your souls He will, in due time, also do for your
   bodies! This should make you long for the day of

   Christ's appearing, as Paul says in the 23r verse of this Chapter,
   "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body," when
   Christ shall appear, and we shall be raised--

   "From beds of dust and silent clay"-- the body itself born a second
   time, regenerate like the soul!

   DEBTOR--Read/download the entire sermon, free of charge, at
   http://www.spurgeongems.org.] We owe the flesh nothing! I mean the law
   of sin in our

   members--we owe nothing to that. It has been a curse and a plague to
   us. We are not debtors to the flesh, so we must not "live after the
   flesh."

   13. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. If you live simply
   to gratify your ambition. If you live for avarice. If you live to
   please yourself--if you live for any earthly object which can be
   comprised under the term "after the flesh"-- you will certainly be
   disappointed, for you will die and your hope will die with you!

   13. But if you, through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
   you shall live. If you seek, by the Holy Spirit's power, to kill sin.
   If you try to crush all sinful desires. If you keep evil with a rope
   about its neck--if you mortify it--put it to death, then you shall
   live! Holiness is the mode of the Christian's life--sin is the way of
   the sinner's death.
     __________________________________________________________________

A Prophetic Warning

   (No. 3301)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold."
   Matthew 24:12.

   Christ had spoken to His disciples of earthquakes in divers places,
   famines and pestilences--but these were only the beginning of sorrows.
   Such things as these need not trouble Christians, for though the earth
   is removed and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea, yet
   may the Believer be confident and his heart may abide at rest. Even
   when the Master told His disciples that they would be hated of all men
   for His name's sake, that needed not afflict them. He had taught them
   before, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
   the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and
   body in Hell." They were thus braced up to meet the fiery trial.
   Earthquake, pestilence, war and persecution fail to disturb the
   serenity of Believers in Christ! But the evil spoken of in our
   text--this is the wound, this is the sorrow! Here is something to
   tremble at! "Because iniquity shall abound"--that is worse than
   pestilence-- "the love of many shall grow cold"--that is worse than
   persecution! As all the water outside a vessel can do it no harm until
   it enters the vessel, itself, so outward persecutions cannot really
   injure the Church of God. But when the mischief oozes into the Church
   and the love of God's people grows cold--ah, then the boat is in sore
   distress! I fear that we are much in this condition at the present
   hour. May the Holy Spirit bless the alarming prophecy now before us to
   our awakening!

   I. Notice, first, THE CAUSE OF THAT GRIEVOUS CHILL OF HEART which is
   here spoken of--"Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
   grow cold." When love grows cold, it is a serious sign. Then the heart
   is affected--affected with a chill! Is not this the forerunner of
   death? What is the cause of it? According to our text, it is the
   abounding of iniquity!

   Sin does its best to destroy Divine Grace. So much sin, so much the
   less of holiness, so much the less of every Christian Grace! Sin is
   like a poisonous atmosphere--if a man has to live in it, he has good
   need to pray that he may not be overcome by it. You and I, seeing that
   we are in this world and cannot go altogether out of it, will come into
   contact with evil. In our daily avocations however careful we are, we
   must encounter this infection. We cannot but feel that the evil around
   us is a hindrance to our holiness and a detriment to our growth in
   Grace. When the society around the Christian becomes flagrantly wicked,
   corrupt and offensive, it is difficult for him to maintain the purity
   of his life and the strength of his spiritual character. At this time,
   we live in an atmosphere which hinders our growth, yet in the early
   days of Christianity the Lord's people had, as a, rule, to live in
   worse society than that which surrounds us today! I will not say this
   without an exception. There are quarters of London, I am told, as
   vicious as ever existed in Corinth, or in old Rome. And I am afraid
   that some of the grossest vices which we dare not even mention, abound
   in this city. We have a fringe of respectability which barely conceals
   the licentiousness and abomination which abound. I have been reading
   today some details as to the number of illegitimate births and I am
   perfectly astounded at the awful wickedness of this land! We call
   ourselves a Christian country. Do not dareto speak so falsely! This is
   growing to be a heathen land--part of it bowing before images, another
   part howling out, "There is no God," and a third secretly reveling in
   unutterable filthi-ness.

   Still, the most of us do not come into contact with vice to the same
   degree as the first Christians did. Society in the Roman Empire was
   utterly rotten. It is a wonder that God permitted the world to exist in
   that loathsome age! It tended greatly to the depression of Christian
   principle for infamous crimes to be tolerated in the society which
   surrounded the faithful. Look at these first Churches which some think
   so much of! They were not half as good as the Churches of today,

   bad as these are. Take the Church at Corinth, for instance. Did you
   ever hear of a Church in our day which allowed drunkenness at the
   Lord's Supper? Have we personally met with a Church which would
   knowingly allow a person living in incest to remain in its membership?
   I hope not! But gross offenses had become so common in general society
   in Paul's day that it did not strike even Christian people that some of
   these things were wrong! Iniquity abounded and it was greatly
   detrimental to Grace.

   Again, iniquity is especially injurious to the growth of love. Because
   iniquity abounded, therefore the love of many grew cold. Men inside the
   Christian Church found themselves betrayed by other members of the
   Church. Frequently, the heads of the Brothers and Sisters were sold to
   the executioner by hypocrites like Judas. That would greatly tend to
   injure Christian love. Men began to suspect one another. You did not
   know that the man who sat next to you at the Lord's Table would not
   tomorrow inform against you and get blood-money for you! Therefore
   suspicion entered with its wintry breath. It was natural that it should
   be so, albeit that there was sin in it, yet you and I would have
   probably fallen into the same. All around, men were so loathsome that
   Christian love, which teaches us to pity the most degraded and to do
   good to the most unworthy, found it a difficult struggle to live. Godly
   men endeavored to win the ungodly from their lusts, but they found
   themselves persecuted in consequence--the more they sought to do good,
   the more they were hated--and this put their love to a severe test.

   I think that you can see why our Savior has given us a warning in this
   particular form.

   Iniquity is naturally opposed to Grace, but it is most of all injurious
   to the Grace of love. If sin abounds in a Church, it is little wonder
   if the love of many should grow cold. Young members introduced into the
   Church after a short time find that those whom they looked upon as
   being examples are walking disorderly and using lightness of speech and
   of behavior. Those young people cannot be very warm in love--they are
   led to stumble and are scandalized. Older saints who have for years
   held onto their way in integrity, and by Grace have kept their garments
   unspotted from the world, see those around them who have come into the
   Church who seem to be of quite another race, who can drink of the cup
   of Belial and of the cup of the Lord, who seem to follow Christ and the
   devil, too! Seeing this evil, these godly men and women gather up their
   garments in holy indignation and find it difficult to feel the love of
   purer days.

   Oh, Friends, if the frost of sin rules in a Church, every tender flower
   is injured and nothing flourishes! Love is a sensitive plant and if it
   is touched by the finger of sin, it will show it. The lilies of Love's
   Paradise cannot bloom amid the smoke and dust of unholiness!

   Because iniquity abounds even in the professing Church, the love of
   many is growing cold today. What a sermon one might preach upon
   this!--but I shall not do anything of the kind. I am not so desirous to
   deplore the evils of others as to watch against evils within myself. I
   am not so anxious to make you discover transgression in the Church as
   to make you watch against it in your hearts--for rest sure of this--if
   you give sin any license in your heart, your love will grow cold! You
   cannot walk in love to Christ and yet live in the love of sin. If today
   you have indulged an unholy temper, if you have given way to
   covetousness, if you have in any way transgressed against the Lord, you
   will not feel that warmth of love towards Jesus Christ which you felt
   yesterday! Your life will have lost much of its beauty and its
   sweetness. Cry to God that He would give it back to you! Do not rest
   satisfied until it is perfectly restored.

   II. Now let us consider THE SERIOUS CHARACTER OF THIS EVIL. "The love
   of many shall grow cold." It is a very dreadful thing that love in any
   man's heart should grow cold. Observe the bearings of Christian love
   and you will see the sin of it under various aspects.

   Our love is, first, a love to the great Father--our Father who chose us
   before ever the earth was, by whom we have been begotten again and
   received into His family. If our love to Him grows cold, what mischief
   that must bring! Coldness towards the father in a family--do you know
   any household afflicted in that way? I should be very sorry to be a
   member of it! Coldness of love to the father? Why, that household is
   scarcely a family! It has lost the bond which holds it together and
   constitutes it a family. May the good Lord save us from this ruin of
   all holy unity!

   Next, our love is love to Jesus Christ, "who loved us and gave Himself
   for us." If love to Jesus should grow cold, the result would be
   grievous! Is there any spiritual Grace within you that can be in a
   healthy condition when your love to Christ is declining? Are you right
   anywhere if your heart is wrong towards your Lord? Can you do anything
   earnestly when love to Jesus is chilled? Can you sing aright? Can you
   pray aright? Can you live aright? Do not let us dream of

   bearing fruit if we are severed from the Vine! It is vitally important
   that we should love Jesus with all our heart, soul and strength!

   Christian love also embraces the Truths of God. They that love God and
   His Divine Son, love the Truth which He has committed to them. The
   Church is the trustee of the Gospel--she is "the pillar and ground of
   the Truth." And when men begin to play with the Truth of God and think
   that one set of Doctrines is as good as another, and that nothing is of
   any particular importance, evil must come! In former days our fathers
   counted it a small thing to go to prison for a Doctrine, or to be burnt
   to death for a testimony! Look at the multitudes in Holland who were
   drowned, or who were tied to ladders and roasted to death for nothing
   but their conviction that Believers should be baptized! Nowadays,
   people consider Scriptural views of Baptism to be a mere trifle. I
   question whether our present Broad Churchmen think that there is any
   Doctrine worth a person's losing the first joint of his little finger
   for! As to burning to death for a Truth of God-- that must seem a great
   absurdity to these liberal theologians! Now that things have reached
   this pass, need we wonder that heresies and all manner of errors rush
   in torrents down our streets? When she can afford to trifle with the
   Truths of God, what is the Church worth?

   Our love is also love to our fellow Christians. This is a vital
   principle. "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we
   love the brethren." But when members of Churches have no love to one
   another. When a professor does not care at all what becomes of his
   Brothers and Sisters, has the Church any Christianity left? No, it has
   a name to live, and is dead! Christianity is gone when the heart is
   cold--its very life is mutual affection.

   Then, again, we are to love the ungodly and the unconverted. It is by
   love that we are to win them to Christ. But if the Church has no love
   to the dying sons of men, what is she worth? Where will be her
   missionary operations? What will be the use of her ministry? Think of
   her Sunday schools without love to the children! Think of people
   pretending to win souls who have no love for them and do not care
   whether they are lost or saved. Can the Church sustain a worse loss
   than the losing of her fervent love to perishing men? And yet, if
   iniquity abounds, this is the great risk we run-- compassionate love
   will cease to minister to man's miseries!

   Beloved, when we love best, how little is our love compared with what
   it ought to be for Him who left the royalties of Heaven for the shame
   and sorrow of our Nature! If we glowed with seraphic fire night and day
   through a life as long as that of Methuselah, our love could not repay
   the love of Christ! If that love, poor as it is, grows colder, what
   will it come to? Oh, eyes that are to look upon the Well-Beloved
   forever and ever, if you cease to see beauty in Him, now, what has
   blinded you? Oh, hearts that are to glow forever with delight in the
   Presence of the Reigning One, who once was crucified, what ails you if
   you grow cold when you most need His love and are receiving most from
   Him? I cannot bear it that we should love Jesus so little! It seems to
   me horrible! Not to have your heart all on fire for Christ Jesus is
   immoral! Let us love Him to the utmost! Let us ask Him to give us
   larger hearts and to fire them with the same love that is in His own,
   that we may love Him to the utmost possibilities of affection!

   Ah, then, Beloved, think again. Suppose our love grows cold--do you not
   see how it paralyzes the entire system? If the reservoir is empty, you
   cannot expect to get much water from the pipes. If the heart grows
   cold, everything will be coldly done. When love declines, what cold
   preaching we have! All moonlight--light without heat--polished like
   marble and as cold! What cold singing we get--pretty music made by
   pipes and wind, but oh, how little soul-song!--how little singing in
   the Holy Spirit, making melody in the heart unto God! And what poor
   praying! Do you call it praying? What little giving! When the hot is
   cold, the hands can find nothing in the purse and Christ's Church, and
   Christ's poor, and the heathen may perish, for we must hoard up for
   ourselves and live to grow rich! Is there anything that goes on as it
   ought to go when love grows cold? I should like to act throughout life
   as I have when my soul has been stirred to its inmost depths with
   affection for my Lord! I would continually act as if I had just seen
   Him and had put my fingers into the print of the nails! I would live as
   if I had been just sitting with Mary at His feet, yes, and were still
   sitting there! I would speak for Him, work for Him and give for Him as
   if I had freshly lifted my head from John's place upon His bosom!

   m. Thirdly, THE SOLEMN DANGER of the spread of this mischief.

   I will read you the text translated accurately. "Because iniquity shall
   abound, the love of the many shall grow cold." That is a more saddening
   expression than "the love of many." It is, "the love of the many." That
   is, of the major part of the Church--the bulk of it. This supposes a
   dreadful state of things because when the many have become cold, they
   keep one another in countenance. One cold Brother says to the other,
   "What is your temperature?" "I think I am far below

   zero." "So am I," says the first one, "and we are about right." If the
   majority are warm, then the cold ones are thawed, but if they are all
   below zero, then they freeze into a wretched compactness! It is the
   most sober, respectable Church you ever knew--they have no
   quarrelling--everything is so comfortable and orderly. Alas, they are
   frozen together, and their peace is that of death! The love of the many
   has grown cold and they are full of mutual admiration for their
   quietness.

   They have nobody to rebuke them. If the many have grown cold, then the
   few among them, instead of being able to rebuke with authority, are
   themselves snubbed. "He is a terribly fanatical young man! That zealous
   fellow never leaves anyone alone!" "He will grow out of that," says
   one, "by the time he gets to my age he will be as prudent as I am."
   Yonder good woman feels great anxiety for the conversion of souls and
   she is making a stir. A lady of repute declares that she is too
   forward, or has got a bee in her bonnet. Active people are looked upon
   as rather troublesome when the love of the many grows cold. The few
   have a hard time of it and if they do venture upon a rebuke, they are
   soon snuffed out-- this confirms the evil.

   And then the tendency is to grow still colder. They go on freezing.
   There is no telling how cold people can be. I have been burnt with cold
   and I suppose you have been too. I have preached in places whose
   spiritual temperature was that of an icehouse and, preach as hard as I
   could, nothing could possibly come of it, for my words fell to the
   ground like lumps of ice! Colder and colder Churches become till, at
   last, the great God who breaks up icebergs in due season, destroys a
   Church and its place knows it no more!

   IV. In the presence of the danger which is seriously threatening many
   Churches, there is A CALL FOR SERIOUS ACTION ON OUR PART. What is that
   serious action?

   Why, it is, first, that we should remember that if the love of the many
   may grow cold, then our love may grow cold! What are we that we should
   think ourselves secure where others are in danger? If other men as good
   as we are have gradually cooled down, may not we? Let us be watchful
   and careful--and let us go to God for more Grace.

   Let us notice, next, that if the love of the many grows cold, it is not
   much use our complaining about it, but the few must get together and
   pray. The real vitality of a Church seldom lies in the many, but
   generally in the few. Inside the election there is another election. Do
   you remember that out of Christ's disciples there were twelve? Out of
   the 12 there were three? Out of the three there was one? And so
   election has rings within rings. Inside the nominal Church--(we cannot
   say whether they are all God's people or not)--the many may grow cold,
   but there ought to be a remnant who abide in life and love. God grant
   that we may belong to it! We must at once grow warmer. We must live
   nearer to Christ. We must be more enthusiastic. Oh for a band of choice
   spirits--men fit to walk with Christ in white, for they are worthy--
   men who will be prepared to follow the Lamb wherever He goes! The
   Spirit said, "You have a few names even in Sardis which have not
   defiled their garments." And so in every Church there are some that
   have not grown idle or heretical! Let them get together and help each
   other! I thank God for those whom the Lord keeps very near to Him--may
   their number be daily increased! May each one of us be filled with the
   Spirit! When I hear of one minister after another giving up the
   old-fashioned Gospel, do you know what I say to myself? I resolve that
   I will stick the closer to it! If the many cannot bear Calvinistic
   Doctrine, I will be more Calvinistic than ever! The more men do not
   like the Truths of God, the more they shall have it! Let this be our
   line of action. If men become more worldly, we will become more
   Puritanical. If professing Christians do not exhibit the Spirit of
   Christ, we will ask our Lord to give us sevenfold of His Spirit, that
   we may maintain His Truths!

   Suppose you expected a famine in London as there was in Paris during
   the siege? Everybody who could do so, would get in a hundred-fold
   supply of provisions. Every good housewife would lay out every penny
   that she could get and fill her cellars full of food. There is going to
   be a spiritual famine--therefore buy the Truth of God and sell it not.
   Go to your Lord and get larger supplies from Him. Do not go to one
   another for it. That will be like saying, "Give us of your oil"--and
   your companions will wisely reply, "Not so, lest there be not enough
   for us and you." Go to your Master and ask Him to fan the fire within
   you to a great heat, that if there should be cold everywhere else,
   there may be warmth in your bosoms! The Lord help you to do this, dear
   Friends, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW24:1-28.

   Verse 1, 2. And Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple: and His
   disciple came to Him to show Him the buildings of the Temple. And Jesus
   said unto them, See you not all these things? Verily I say unto you,
   There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be
   thrown down. The King, having finished His first discourse in the
   Temple, left it, never to return--"Jesus went out and departed from the
   Temple." His ministry there was ended. As His disciples moved away with
   Him towards the Mount of Olives, they called His attention to the great
   stones of which the Temple was constructed and the costly adornments of
   the beautiful building. To them the appearance was glorious, but to
   their Lord it was a sad sight. His Father's House, which ought to have
   been a House of Prayer for all nations, had become a den of thieves and
   soon would be utterly destroyed! Jesus said unto them, "See you not all
   these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one
   stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Josephus tells us
   that Titus at first tried to save the Temple, even after it was set on
   fire, but his efforts were of no avail--at last he gave orders that the
   whole city and Temple should be leveled, except a small portion
   reserved for the garrison. This was so thoroughly done that the
   historian says that there was but nothing to make those that came there
   believe it had ever been inhabited!

   We sometimes delight in the temporal prosperity of the Church as if it
   were something that must certainly endure-- but all that is external
   will pass away or be destroyed. Let us only reckon that to be
   substantial which comes from God, and is God's work. The things which
   are seen are temporal.

   3. And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him
   privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall
   be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?The little
   procession continued ascending the Mount of Olives until Jesus reached
   a resting place from which He could see the Temple (Mark 13:3). There
   He sat down and the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, "Tell
   us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your
   coming, and of the end of the world?" These are the questions that have
   been asked in every age since our Savior's day. There are here two
   distinct questions, perhaps three. The disciples enquired first about
   the time of the destruction of the Temple, and then about the sign of
   Christ's coming and of "the consummation of the age" (R.V. margin). The
   answers of Jesus contained much that was mysterious and that could only
   be fully understood as that which He foretold actually occurred. He
   told His disciples some things which related to the siege of Jerusalem,
   some which concerned His Second Advent and some which would immediately
   precede "the end of the world." When we have clearer light, we may
   possibly perceive that all our Savior's predictions on this memorable
   occasion had some connection with all three of these great events.

   4-6. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man
   deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and
   shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see
   that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
   the end is not yet Jesus was always practical. The most important thing
   for His disciples was not that they might know when "these things"
   would be, but that they might be preserved from the peculiar evils of
   the time. Therefore, Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that
   no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am
   Christ; and shall deceive many." They were to beware lest any of the
   pretended Messiahs should lead them astray--as they would pervert many
   others. A large number of impostors came forward before the destruction
   of Jerusalem, giving out that they were the Anointed of God--almost
   every page of history is blotted with the names of such deceivers--and
   in our own day we have seen some come in Christ's name, saying that
   they are Christ's. Such men seduce many, but they who heed their Lord's
   warning will not be deluded by them.

   Our Savior's words, "You shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars," might
   be applied to almost any period of the world's history. Earth has
   seldom had a long spell of quiet--there have almost always been both
   the realities of war and the rumors of war. There were many such before
   Jerusalem was overthrown. There have been many such ever since and
   there will be many such until that glorious period when "nation shall
   not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
   anymore." "See that you be not troubled" is a timely message for the
   disciples of Christ in every age! "For all these things must come to
   pass." Therefore let us not be surprised or alarmed at them, "but the
   end is not yet." The destruction of Jerusalem was the beginning of the
   end--the great type and anticipation of all that will take place when
   Christ shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. It was an end, but
   not the end--"the end is not yet."

   7, 8. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
   kingdom: and there shall be famine, and pestilences, and earthquakes in
   divers places. All there are the beginning of sorrows. One would think
   that there was sorrow enough in "famines, and pestilences, and
   earthquakes in divers places," but our Lord said that "all these" were
   only "the beginning of sorrows"--the first birth-pangs of the travail
   that must precede His coming, either to Jerusalem, or to the whole
   world. If famines, pestilences and earthquakes are only "the beginning
   of sorrows," what may we not expect the end to be? This prophecy ought
   both to warn the disciples of Christ what they may expect and wean them
   from the world where all these and greater sorrows are to be
   experienced!

   9. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:
   and you shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake. Our Lord not
   only foretold the general trial that would come upon the Jews and upon
   the world, but also the special persecution which would be the portion
   of His chosen followers. "Then shall they deliver you up to be
   afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations
   for My name's sake." The New Testament gives abundant proof of the
   fulfillment of these words. Even in Paul's day, "this sect" was
   "everywhere spoken against." Since then, has there been any land
   unstained by the blood of the martyrs? Wherever Christ's Gospel has
   been preached, men have risen up in arms against the messengers of
   mercy and afflicted and killed them wherever they could.

   10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and
   shall hate one another This would be a bitter trial for the followers
   of Christ, yet this they have always had to endure. Persecution would
   reveal the traitors within the Church as well as the enemies outside.
   In the midst of the chosen ones there would be found successors of
   Judas who would be willing to betray the disciples as he betrayed his
   Lord. Saddest of all is the betrayal of good men by their own
   relatives--but even this they have, many of them, had to bear for
   Christ's sake.

   11. 12. And many false prophets shall rise, andshall deceive many. And
   because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold. What
   could not be accomplished by persecutors outside the Church and
   traitors inside, would be attempted by teachers of heresy--"Many false
   prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." They have risen in all
   ages! In these modern times they have risen in clouds till the air is
   thick with them, as with an army of devouring locusts! These are the
   men who invent new doctrines and who seem to think that the religion of
   Jesus Christ is something that a man may twist into any form and shape
   that he pleases. Alas that such teachers should have any disciples! It
   is doubly sad that they should be able to lead astray "many." Yet, when
   it so happens, let us remember that the King said that it would be so.

   Is it any wonder that where such "iniquity abounds" and such
   lawlessness is multiplied, "the love of many shall grow cold"? If the
   teachers deceive the people and give them "another gospel which is not
   another," it is no marvel that there is a lack of love and zeal. The
   wonder is that there is any love and zeal left after they have been
   subjected to such a chilling and killing process as that adopted by the
   advocates of the modern "destructive criticism." Verily, it is rightly
   named "destructive," for it destroys almost everything that is worth
   preserving!

   13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
   Again our Savior reminded His disciples of the personal responsibility
   of each one of them in such a time of trial and testing as they were
   about to pass through. He would have them remember that it is not the
   man who starts in the race, but the one who runs to the goal who wins
   the prize--"He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
   saved." If this Doctrine were not supplemented by another, there would
   be but little good tidings for poor, tempted, tried and struggling
   saints in such words as these! Who among us would persevere in running
   the heavenly race if God did not preserve us from falling and give us
   Persevering Grace? But, blessed be His name, "the righteous shall hold
   on his way." "He which has begun a good work in you will perform it
   until the day of Jesus Christ."

   14. And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world
   for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.The world
   is to the Church like a scaffold to a building. When the Church is
   built, the scaffold will be taken down--the world will remain until the
   last elect one is saved--"Then shall the end come." Before Jerusalem
   was destroyed, "this Gospel of the Kingdom" was probably "preached in
   all the world" as far as it was then known. But there is to be a fuller
   proclamation of it "for a witness unto all nations" before the great
   consummation of all things--"then shall the end come" and the King
   shall sit upon the Throne of His Glory, and decide the eternal destiny
   of the whole human race!

   15-18. When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation
   spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever
   reads, let him understand), then let them which be in Judaea flee into
   the mountains: let him who is on the housetop not come down to take
   anything out of his house: neither let him who is in the field return
   back to take his clothes. This portion of our Savior's words appears to
   relate solely to the destruction of Jerusalem. As soon as Christ's
   disciples saw "the abomination of desolation," that is, the Roman
   ensigns with their idolatrous emblems, "stand in the holy place," they
   knew that the time for them to escape had arrived--and they did "flee
   into the mountains." The Christians in Jerusalem and the surrounding
   towns and villages "in Judaea," availed themselves of the first
   opportunity for eluding the Roman armies, and fled to the mountain city
   of Pella, in Perea, where they were preserved from the general
   destruction which overthrew the Jews. There was no time to spare before
   the final investment of the guilty city. The man "on the housetop"
   could "not come down to take anything out of his house," and the man
   "in the field" could not "return back to take his clothes." They must
   flee to the mountains in the greatest haste, the moment that they saw
   "Jerusalem compassed with armies" (Luke 21:20).

   19-21. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give
   suck in those days! But pray you that your flight is not in the winter,
   neither on the Sabbath: for then shall be great tribulation, such as
   was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
   shall be.It must have been a peculiarly trying time for the women who
   had to flee from their homes just when they needed quiet and rest. How
   thoughtful and tender was our compassionate Savior in thus sympathizing
   with suffering mothers in their hour of need! "Flight. . .in the
   winter" or "on the Sabbath" would have been attended with special
   difficulties, so the disciples were exhorted to "pray" that some other
   time might be available. The Lord knew exactly when they would be able
   to escape, yet He bade them pray that their flight might not be in the
   winter, nor on the Sabbath! The wise men of the present day would have
   said that prayer was useless under such conditions--not so the great
   Teacher and Example of His praying people--He taught that such a season
   was the very time for special supplication!

   The reason for this injunction was thus stated by the Savior. "For then
   shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
   world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Read the record written by
   Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem and see how truly our Lord's
   words were fulfilled. The Jews impiously said, concerning the death of
   Christ, "His blood be on us, and on our children." Never did any other
   people invoke such an awful curse upon themselves and upon no other
   nation did such a judgment ever fall! We read of Jews crucified till
   there was no more wood for making crosses--of thousands of the people
   slaying one another in their fierce faction fights within the city. Of
   so many of them being sold for slaves that they became a drug in the
   market, and all but valueless! And of the fearful carnage when the
   Romans at length entered the doomed capital and the blood-curdling
   story exactly bears out the Savior's statement uttered nearly 40 years
   before the terrible events occurred!

   22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh
   saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.These
   were the words of the King as well as of the Prophet and, as such, they
   were both authentic and authoritative. Jesus spoke of what "should be,"
   not only as the Seer who was able to gaze into the future, but as the
   Sovereign Disposer of all events. He knew what a fiery trial awaited
   the unbelieving nation and that "except those days should be shortened,
   there should no flesh be saved." If the horrors of the siege were to
   continue long, the whole race of the Jews would be destroyed! The King
   had the power to cut short the evil days and He explained His reason
   for using that power--"For the elect's sake, those days shall be
   shortened." Those who had been hated and persecuted by their own
   countrymen became the means of preserving them from absolute
   annihilation! Thus has it often been since those days--and for the sake
   of His elect the Lord has withheld many judgments and shortened others.
   The ungodly owe to the godly more than they know, or would care to
   admit.

   23-26. Then ifanyman shallsay unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
   believe it not. For there shallarise false Chr-ists, and false
   prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it
   were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told
   you before. Therefore if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the
   desert; go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it
   not. It is a grand thing to have such faith in Christ that you have
   none to spare for imposters. It is important not to distribute your
   faith too widely. Those who believe in a little of everything will, in
   the end, believe nothing of anything. If you exercise full faith in
   that which is sure and steadfast, "false Christs and false prophets"
   will not be able to make you their dupes! In one respect, the modern
   teachers of heresy are more successful than their Judean prototypes,
   for they do actually "deceive the very elect," even though they cannot
   "show great signs and wonders." One of the saddest signs of the times
   in which we live is the ease with which "the very elect" are deceived
   by the smooth-tongued "false Christs and false prophets" who abound in
   our midst. Yet our Savior expressly forewarned His followers against
   them--"Behold, I have told you before." Forewarned is forearmed. Let it
   be so in our case. Our Savior's expressive command may be fitly applied
   to the whole system of "modern thought" which is contrary to the
   inspired Word of God--"Believe it not."

   27. For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto
   the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. When HE comes,
   we shall know who He is and why He has come. There will be no longer
   any mystery or secret about "the coming of the Son of Man." There will
   be no need to ask any questions then! No one will make a mistake about
   His appearing when it actually takes place. "Every eye shall see Him."
   Christ's coming will be sudden, startling, universally visible-- and
   terrifying to the ungodly! "As the lightning comes out of the east, and
   shines even unto the west." His first coming to judgment at the
   destruction of Jerusalem had terrors about it that till then had never
   been realized on the earth--His last coming will be still more
   dreadful.

   28. For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered
   together. Judaism had become a "carcass," dead and corrupt--fit prey
   for the vultures or carrion-kites of Rome. By-and-by there will arrive
   another day when there will be a dead church in a dead world--and "the
   eagles" of Divine Judgment "will be gathered together" to tear in
   pieces those whom there shall be none to deliver! The birds of prey
   gather wherever dead bodies are to be found--and the judgments of
   Christ will be poured out when the body, politic or religious, becomes
   unbearably corrupt!
     __________________________________________________________________

Faith in Christ's Ability

   (No. 3302)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL
   12, 1866.

   "Jesus sai unto them, Believe you that I am able to do this?" Matthew
   9:28.

   [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon verses 27 to 30, are #1355, Volumen
   23--OUR LORD'S QUESTION TO THE BLIND MEN and #1560, Volume 26-- THE
   PLAIN MAN'S PATHWAY TO PEACE.]

   I WANT to lay special emphasis on the word, "this," in the
   text--"Believe you that I am able to do this?" The question of Jesus
   referred to one particular thing--it was not intended to apply to the
   general power of Christ to heal the sick or to raise the dead--it
   concerned the specific malady from which these two men were suffering.
   The question meant did they believe that Christ was able to cure their
   blindness? Among professing Christians, there is much so-called faith
   that is not really faith. Many of us profess much more in our creeds
   than we believe in our hearts and we hold a great deal more in theory
   than we do in reality. For instance, I suppose there is no professor of
   religion here who would dispute the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to
   do anything and everything--we believe that He has all power in Heaven
   and in earth. And yet, if it came to be a matter of personal detail and
   He said to us, "Believe you that I am able to do this?" we might not
   all be able to answer as promptly and as confidently as the blind men
   did, "Yes, Lord."

   I. I am going to speak about this matter, and I start with the very
   simple statement that FAITH, IN SO FAR AS IT IS TRUE, DEALS IMMEDIATELY
   WITH THE CASE IN HAND.

   True faith believes that Jesus Christ is "able to do this." It
   believes, of course, that He is able to do twenty thousand other
   things, but it believes especially that He is "able to do this"--to
   forgive this sin of which I am so deeply conscious, to remove this
   trial with which I am now so sorely afflicted, to sustain me under this
   temptation which so fiercely assails me, to strengthen me to accomplish
   this duty which so clearly is before me. As each special case arises,
   faith will exercise itself upon that particular thing and believe that
   Christ is "able to do this."

   There are solemn thoughts connected with unbelief concerning "this"
   which Christ is able to do. Over there is a Brother who is in such a
   plight that he thinks there is no way of deliverance for him out of it.
   He has a task before him which he hardly dares ask his Lord to enable
   him to perform because he lacks the necessary faith in his Lord's power
   and willingness to help him! Now, my dear Friend, as you are in doubt
   in this case, I want to ask you what is to prevent you from doubting in
   the next difficulty that occurs to you--and then in the next after
   that, and so on? You say that it is only upon this one point that you
   are in doubt and that you think you have very good reasons for not
   believing in this particular case? But the next circumstances that
   occurs to you will very probably furnish you with just as weighty
   reasons for doubting--and so will it be with each succeeding case as it
   arises. It seems to me that you are shut up to this alternative, either
   to trust God in this case or else to confess that you do not intend to
   believe Him in any case. I know you will urge that the present case is
   a very peculiar one, but I shall remind you that the next one will also
   be a very peculiar one. I have not lived as long as some of you have
   but, during the years that I have been able to observe what has been
   passing around me, I have noticed that every year of my life has been a
   crisis in the affairs of the nation--at least so the papers have always
   told us and so have some good people always told us! I think it is very
   likely that the present time is a most solemn crisis and I also think
   with equally good reason, that this is a most solemn crisis in your
   history and that if you do not believe now, you are not likely to
   believe in the next crisis that comes to you. The fact is, you must
   either believe God always or you must never believe Him! If you think
   Christ is not "able to do this"--forgive this sin, remove this trial,

   overcome this temptation, or strengthen you for this duty--you will
   probably think the same when the next testing times comes.

   Moreover, it seems to me that if you doubt God concerning any one
   trial, you give up the whole case. You would have me believe that your
   present trial is very peculiar and strange. Well, suppose I admit that
   it is? Still, if you do not believe concerning this, you have given up
   the whole case, for what Christ claims is Omnipotence--and if there is
   any one thing that He cannot do, then He is not Omnipotent! If there is
   any one heart too hard for Him to break, if there is any one sin too
   strong for Him to enable me to abandon, then He is not Omnipotent. If
   you look this thought fairly in the face, I think you will scarcely
   dare to rob your Lord of one of the most glorious of His attributes!
   You would surely hesitate to put forth that right hand of yours to
   snatch from His crown one of its most precious gems! No, you would
   sooner lose your life than commit so traitorous a crime as that--yet
   you do practically commit it if you do not believe that He is "able to
   do this," whatever, "this," may be and, therefore, you do virtually say
   that He is not Almighty!

   Besides, your doubt concerning God's power sets up a new god. Do you
   start in alarm at that statement? It is true, for that which is
   mightiest in the world is God--but if there is anythingwhich surpasses
   the power of God--something that is more potent than Omnipotence, that
   something must be god! I only put the matter thus to show you that you
   are obliged to believe that God can deliver you out of your present
   desperate plight, or else you must become an idolater! You must feel
   that your difficulties and trials are greater than God and, therefore,
   you deify them! Of course you do not mean to do that! You feel a cold
   shiver go through you at the bare thought of such blasphemy, yet you
   practically do it whenever you doubt that God is "able to do this,"
   whatever, "this," may be!

   Further, to doubt God's power to do "this," whatever it may be, is
   challenging every attribute of the Divine Character. I could prove this
   if I had the time, but I will indicate only one attribute of God, that
   is, His truthfulness. Take such a promise as this, "He shall call upon
   Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble." Now, if you
   doubt God's power to fulfill that promise, you practically challenge
   His veracity! Can you calmly contemplate such a sin as that would be?
   Yet it seems to me that you cannot avoid committing that sin unless
   now, by simple faith, you believe that He is "able to do this." But
   grant that God is Omnipotent, once really accept that Truth of God in
   your heart and then you will feel that there remains no strait into
   which you can be brought out of which He cannot deliver you, that there
   is no temptation which may assail you from which He cannot preserve
   you, that there can be no position of peril in which He cannot protect
   you and out of which He cannot bring you unharmed! May the Holy Spirit
   graciously reveal to us the unsafe, treacherous, boggy pit that would
   swallow us up if we doubt that God is "able to do this"--and may He
   enable us to realize that it is safe walking and happy walking when we
   walk by faith!

   II. My second statement, which is as simple as the first, is that TRUE
   FAITH, ESPECIALLY IN THE MATTER OF SALVATION, MUST BE PERSONAL.

   If I have any true faith in Christ at all, I must believe that He is
   "able to do this"--that is, that He is able to do for me what He has
   done for many who are now in Glory--and what He is doing for many who
   are rejoicing in His salvation here on earth! I know that I am
   addressing many who believe in the Bible. At least you say that you do
   and that you believe that Jesus Christ is able to do everything. That
   is the theory of your faith, yet you do not believe this--that Jesus
   Christ is able to save you now. You have got an idea in your mind that
   for some reason or other, on account of some lack of preparation in
   you, or for some equally foolish reason, the simple act of faith in
   Christ would not be the means of bringing salvation to your soul! You
   imagine that your case is not one that is covered by the promise of
   God, or encompassed by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

   If that is what you think, that Christ cannot save you--why do you not
   doubt whether He can save others? In fact, why do you not doubt whether
   He can save any sinner who ever lived? You tell me that your case is a
   very peculiar one. I will grant you that, but then the case of the next
   sinner you meet will also be a peculiar one. He is as honest a man as
   you are and he will tell you that there is something very peculiar
   about his case. I have very seldom talked with any person under
   conviction of sin who did not think that his case was different from
   that of anybody else--and very surprised has he been when I have told
   him that his words just described my own experience when I was under
   conviction of sin! If you believe that Christ cannot save you because
   of some peculiarity in your case, is it not equally reasonable or
   unreasonable that you should believe that He cannot save another sinner
   because of some peculiarity in his case? In this way you would soon get
   to believe that Jesus Christ cannot save at all! "No," you say, "I
   shall never believe that." But that is practically

   what you do believe! You do not believe that Jesus Christ is a potent
   Savior! You may think that you do, but if the matter were put to the
   test and you regarded every other sinner's case as you regard your own,
   there would be just as good reason to suppose every other case to be
   hopeless as to conclude that there is no hope of salvation for
   yourself! If you are strictly reasonable in your belief, you must
   either believe that Christ can save you or that He can save nobody at
   all!

   Then, as I said before under the previous head, if you do not believe
   that Christ can save you, you give up the whole case. You have
   probably, all of you, held as one of the undisputed articles of the
   Christian faith that Christ is Omnipotent. But supposing that your case
   is one in which His blood has no cleansing efficacy--supposing that you
   are so vile that He cannot and will not receive you, supposing that
   your heart is so hard that He cannot soften it--then He is not
   Omnipotent! That is as clear as anything can be, for here is a case
   that has defied and defeated Him! Oh, tell it not in Gath, publish it
   not in the streets of Askelon that there is a man here who professes to
   believe the Bible, yet He holds that Christ is not Omnipotent! "Oh,"
   you say, "I do not hold that!" But you do practically hold it, for if
   you thought Him to be Omnipotent, you must conclude that He is "able to
   do this," that is, to save you!

   More than that, disbelieving Christ's power to save in your own case is
   virtually making yourself god. "Oh, no!" you say in horror at the bare
   mention of such a thing! "I never did that!" Stay a moment and let me
   prove it to you. You believe that there is something in you which
   cannot be overcome by Divine Power. You think that there is something
   in you which makes it impossible that you can be saved. Now listen, the
   most mighty of all forces must belong to Deity-- but if there is in you
   some force of wickedness, some hardness of heart, some obstinate
   willfulness which you imagine God really cannot overcome, then you are
   practically making out that the evil in you is more powerful than
   Omnipotence and greater than God! Is not this very strange, as well as
   very wicked? You thought you were making yourself out to be very
   humble, but it turns out that you are very proud, lifting up yourself
   to the very Throne of God and seeking to usurp His place! This is what
   you are practically doing when you assume that Christ is not "able to
   do this," that is, to save you. My dear Friend, look at the enormous
   guilt in which such unbelief would involve you and start back from it
   with the utmost abhorrence! And believe that Christ is mighty to save,
   yes, that He is Almighty to save even you!

   I say again, as I said upon the first part of my subject, this unbelief
   of yours challenges all the Divine Attributes. In believing that Christ
   cannot save you, you are dishonoring the Character of God in the Person
   of His well-beloved Son, for you have set a limit to His power although
   He said that all power in Heaven and in earth had been given to Him!
   When He asks, "Is My arm shortened that it cannot save you?" you
   answer, "Yes, Lord." When He says, "Is My ear heavy that it cannot hear
   your cry?" you reply, "Yes, Lord." You may not dare to say it with your
   lips, but you really mean it in your heart--and that is even worse! You
   are denying the Truth of Christ's promise. He said, "Come unto Me, all
   you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Yet
   yousay, "Lord, I would come to You, but I would never get any rest. I
   would trust you, but I would never be saved." You suppose either that
   Christ has promised more than He can perform, not knowing that He was
   doing so, which is challenging His Omniscience, or that He has
   deliberately promised more than He knew that He could do, which is
   challenging His truthfulness and honor! He has commanded that this
   message should be preached to every creature in all the world--"He that
   believes and is baptized shall be saved." He also said, "He that
   believes on the Son has everlasting life." This is His declaration
   concerning every believing soul, so that if you believe on Him, it is
   notpossible that your case could be beyond the limit of His power to
   save! I am not talking now about His willingness to save. If I were, I
   would speak just as confidently, but just now I am referring to His
   power. Christ's own question to you, my dear Friend, is the same that
   He put to the blind men, "Believe you that I am able to do
   this?"--that, is, to save you! Think of the solemn consequences of
   unbelief--see how shamefully it maligns and slanders the Character of
   Jesus and then may His gracious Spirit sweetly compel you to believe
   that He is "able to do this," and to save even you!

   After Christ had cured these blind men, He healed a dumb man who was
   possessed with a devil. And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was
   never so seen in Israel." I wonder if there is one here who thinks
   himself the biggest sinner in the world, the most hardened, the most
   hopeless? If so, and he believes in Jesus, Jesus will save him and then
   he, also, will be able to say, "It was never so seen in Israel." I know
   that when I found peace through believing in Jesus, I thought that it
   had never been so seen in Israel! And I have met with many others who
   have felt just the same about their own conversion. Well, supposing
   that it wasnever so seen in Israel, then there are new honors and fresh
   glories for Immanuel and there is no reason why it should not be seen
   here tonight! At any rate, I pray God to show you the inconsistency of
   professing to believe the Bible and yet thinking that for some reason
   or other, or for all the reasons in the world put together, Christ is
   unable to save you!

   III. My third statement, which is as simple as the first and second
   were, is that IN ALL MATTERS AFFECTING THE SOUL, THE VITAL QUESTION IS
   THAT OF FAITH.

   "Believe you that I am able to do this?" must be the vital question
   concerning a soul's salvation! Personal faith with regard to Christ's
   power to save must be the main matter. Jesus did not say to these blind
   men, "Have you a proper sense of your blindness? Are you sufficiently
   sensible of the deprivation from which you suffer through the loss of
   your eyesight? Do you feel the degradation of the poverty which compels
   you to beg? Have you wept, moaned, groaned and grieved because you
   cannot see?" No such questions as these were put to them by our Lord!
   He simply asked them, "Believe you that I am able to do this?" There
   are various questions that many of you ask yourselves although Christ
   never puts them to you--His one enquiry is, "Believe you that I am able
   to do this?" If you can answer that question satisfactorily, you need
   not trouble about your own queries!

   You will notice, too, that Christ did not ask the blind men whether
   they loved Him. He did not say to them, "I am not going to do anything
   for you unless your hearts are burning with love to Me." Oh, no! It
   would have been clean contrary to our Savior's nature to say to these
   men, "Are you really fond of Me? Then I will do what you desire." So,
   Sinner, Christ does not ask you whether you love Him because He knows
   that you do not--yet you ask yourself this question again and
   again--"Do I love the Lord or no? Am I a lover of Jesus? I have heard
   His people say that they love Him, but do I love Him?" Now, this is a
   very proper question for you to ask yourself after you have believed in
   Jesus--but you must have the root-grace of faith, first, before you
   begin to look for its fruits. I hope that you will afterwards attain to
   that burning, fervent love that many advanced Believers have to Jesus,
   but this is not the matter that concerns you just now. The question
   that Jesus puts to you now is, "Believe you that I am able to do this?
   Believe you that I can take your sins away and make you clean tonight?
   Believe you that I can take away your heart of stone and give you a
   heart of flesh? Believe you that I can turn you, a lion, into a lamb?
   Believe you that I can give you the Grace of repentance though you
   cannot repent without My aid? Do you believe that I am able to do all
   that needs to be done in order to save you?" This is the question
   Christ asks you now. I trust the time will come when He will say to
   you, "Do you love Me?" and that you will be able truthfully to answer,
   "Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You."

   There was another question which Christ did not put to the blind men.
   He did not say to them, "Have you feared whether you would ever have
   your sight? Have you been frightened at the thought that you may have
   to grope about in darkness and poverty all your days? Have you been in
   such despair that you have almost feared that you would commit suicide
   unless your blindness could be cured?" No, Christ did not ask any such
   questions as these! His one enquiry was, "Believe you that I am able to
   do this?" Friends tell us sometimes about the terrors they have
   experienced before they came to Christ by simple faith, but it would be
   quite wrong on our part to conclude that such terrors are necessary! I
   believe that they are nevernecessary and that they are seldom
   useful--it certainly cannot be right to put them in the place of faith
   in Christ! Dear Friend, I wish that you would answer the Master's
   question and leave all other matters alone until He asks you about
   them. He does not question you concerning your fears and your terrors,
   the plowing and harrowing Law work of which some brethren are so fond
   of talking about. His first question is, "Believe you that I am able to
   do this?" Give Him an answer and may the Holy Spirit enable you to give
   the right reply, "Yes, Lord," even as the blind men did when Christ put
   a similar question to them! The vital matter is faith in Jesus. "Do you
   believe on the Son of God?" O Sinner, how glad and thankful I would be
   if I knew that you were saying in your heart, "I do believe that Christ
   is both able and willing to save me. And I cast myself into His arms
   now." If you have really done that, you are saved, and now you know,
   feel, and rejoice in His power to save all those who come unto God by
   Him! Trust in Jesus, for this is the vital sign by which we discern
   those who are chosen of the Father, regenerated by the Holy Spirit and
   redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus! If you truly believe in Jesus,
   you are born of God--you need not fear that you shall ever perish, but
   you may even now rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of Glory!

   IV. I close with this fourth observation, that THIS QUESTION IS ONE
   WHICH WE MIGHT NATURALLY

   HAVE CONCLUDED THAT JESUS WOULD ASK.

   It was a vitally important question, and it was by no means an
   unreasonable one. If the blind men had not believed that Jesus was
   "able to do this," they would not have asked Him to have mercy upon
   them. It would have been an imper-

   tinence on their part, or something worse than that, if they had
   pleaded for mercy and yet had not believed that He was able to grant it
   to them! I should not feel pleased if a blind man came to me and said,
   "Will you be so good as to open my eyes?" I should feel morally certain
   that he was mocking me, for he would know as well as I do that I have
   not the power to give sight to the blind! Now, dear Friends, some of
   you have been praying to the Lord to have mercy upon you--so you see
   that you have committed yourselves just as these blind men had! You
   have not told anybody about it. Possibly it was behind the hedge, or up
   in the hayloft, or in that little bedroom of yours when no one but God
   could see you. Well then, how did you dare to pray thus if you did not
   believe that the Lord could do for you what you asked of Him? You did
   not mean to insult Him, did you? I think the very fact of your praying
   drives you to the conclusion that you do believe that He is "able to do
   this." If you do not, you must not pray anymore! "Oh," you say, "I
   cannot help praying." I am glad you cannot and I hope you never will
   cease praying, but if you go on praying, yet do not believe in Christ's
   power to save you, it is very much like a mockery of the Savior, for
   how can you pray with any sort of justification unless you can truly
   say, "O Lord, I do believe that You are able to save, and able to save
   even me"? I do not know whether the blind men at first fully believed
   in the Deity of Jesus, but I assume that all of us hold that He is
   "very God of very God." I hope none of you have been led astray by the
   false Doctrine that Christ is a mere man. You believe that He is the
   Son of God, so what is more reasonable than that He should say to you,
   "Believe you that I am able to do this?" You must give up your belief
   that He is Divine or else you must believe that He is able to do this,
   that is, to save you! I have already shown you that Omnipotence is
   essential to Deity, so if you doubt that Christ is Omnipotent, I do not
   see how you can believe that He is the Son of God. But inasmuch as you
   say that you do believe that He is the Son of God, and I have no reason
   to question your veracity, how can it be a question with you whether He
   is able to save you?

   Besides, you know that Christ has saved a great many other people and
   this should encourage you to believe that He can save you. The blind
   men had probably heard of His miracles of mercy and so were stimulated
   to cry to Him on their own account. You have seen the change that
   Christ has worked in some of your relatives or friends--and this being
   the case, Christ certainly has the right to expect that you should
   believe that what He was able to do for them, He is also able to do for
   you! Your case is not by any means as peculiar as you imagine. It can
   easily be matched by others where Christ's power to save has been
   abundantly proved. If you are a drunk, we can produce drunks who have
   been saved by Christ. If you are a swearer, we can show you swearers
   who have been saved by Christ. If you are a harlot, we can bring
   harlots who have been washed in the precious blood of Jesus and who are
   now living chaste and holy lives. If, on the other hand, you have led
   an outwardly moral life and cannot feel the deep conviction of sin that
   others have experienced--if you say, with Cowper--

   "I hear, but seem to hear in vain, Insensible as steel. If anything is
   felt, 'tis only pain To find I cannot feel"--

   we can find plenty of cases to match yours! Suppose you have a bad leg
   and you go to a doctor and say to him, "Doctor, you see what is the
   matter with my leg, but I don't believe you can cure it." He would
   certainly not feel flattered by your doubt concerning his skill, yet he
   might say to you, "Well, it so happens that I have had many cases
   exactly like yours, and in every instance the remedies I have
   prescribed have been the means of producing a complete cure." If, after
   that, you still persist in saying that you do not believe the doctor
   can cure you, he would be fully justified in saying to you, "Then I
   think your unbelief is very unreasonable. Here in my book I have the
   record of many cases almost identical with yours, and as I was able to
   cure them, I have no doubt that I can cure you if you will only commit
   yourself to my hands and do as I tell you." In a similar manner, I
   venture to say that there is not a case in this house--there is not a
   case in the whole world to which there has not been a very close
   parallel in which the power of Christ has already been displayed-- and,
   therefore, He has the right to ask every unsaved soul, "Believe you
   that I am able to do this for you?"

   My dear Hearer, I can most confidently assure you that He is "able to
   do this." I know the ways of unbelief, for I have walked there. But oh,
   happy, happy, happy day when I understood my Savior's Grace and power
   at least in some degree! When I saw that, although I was a sinner, He
   came to save sinners, and although I was black with sin, His precious
   blood was able to wash me whiter than snow--and although I was naked,
   His righteousness supplied me with a robe in which I might even dare to
   appear before God, and although I was spiritually dead, His Holy Spirit
   was given to

   quicken me and make me live forever--thus in Christ all my soul's needs
   were fully met--and desperate as my case had appeared to myself, I had
   proved as so many before me and since have also proved that, "with God
   all things are possible." May you come to the same conclusion, dear
   Friend, and cast yourself now upon the naked promise of God made in
   Covenant with Christ and ratified by His most precious blood! If He
   does not save you when you trust Him, this Bible is not true. If any
   soul can truly trust Him and then be a castaway, I have no Gospel to
   preach to guilty sinners! But that can never be the case, for He has
   Himself declared--oh that I could pronounce the words as He uttered
   them!--"Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." Come then,
   everyone of you, and prove the truth of His blessed promise and so you
   shall be saved--and He shall have the Glory forever and ever! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW9:18-38.

   Verse 18. While He spoke these things unto them, behold, there came a
   certain ruler and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dead:
   but come and lay Your hand upon her, and she shall live. This was grand
   faith on the ruler's part, believing that the touch of Christ's hand
   would raise his dead daughter to life! We do not wonder that the Savior
   honored such faith as that at once!

   19, 20. And Jesus arose, and followed him, andso didHis disciples. And,
   behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve
   years, came behind Him and touched the hem of His garment This was
   while He was on the way to the ruler's house. Jesus Christ can work
   many miracles while He is on the way to work other miracles.

   21. For she said within herself, If I may but touch His garment, I
   shall be whole. This also is wonderful faith-in this Chapter we get
   among the

   great Believers! The man believes that the touch of Jesus can raise the
   dead. The woman believes that the touch of His garment will make her
   whole!

   22. But Jesus turned about, and when He saw her, He said, Daughter, be
   of good comfort; your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made
   whole from that hour. [See Sermon #3020, Volume 53--good cheer from
   grace received.] Christ never comes short of our faith, but He often
   goes beyond

   it!

   23. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels
   and the people making a noise. These were hired men and women who were
   brought in to act as mourners

   24. 25. He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but
   sleeps. And they laughed Him to scorn. But when the people were put
   out, He went in--There is a good deal that has to be "put out" before
   the Lord Jesus Christ will fully reveal His power to bless. He would
   have you put out your doubts, your fears, your wandering thoughts, your
   self-trust--in fact, everything that is contrary to His righteous rule.
   "When the people were put out, He went in"--

   25-27. And took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame
   hereof went abroad into all that land. And when Jesus departed from
   there, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, You Son of
   David, have mercy on us! See how busy our Lord was, and how ready for
   every application that was made to Him! And note how He adapted His
   power to every case that came before Him. First He heals an issue of
   blood. Then He raises the dead and now He is ready to open blind eyes!
   I wish the Lord might have such blessed business among us here--and He
   may have--for if you will cry to Him for your child, dead in trespasses
   and sins, He will make her live! If you will bring your blind eyes to
   Him, He will open them! And if you will come to Him with a disease that
   is sapping your very life, He will heal you! Give the Lord plenty of
   this holy work to do! Drawn wells, they say, are sweetest--and a Savior
   who is constantly used is most enjoyed!

   28. And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and
   Jesus said unto them, Believe you that I am able to do this?That is the
   question the Lord puts to any who are in soul-trouble. "'Believe you
   that I am able to do this?'--to forgive your sins once and for all--to
   give you a new Nature at this very moment--to make you, a sinner, into
   a saint--to save you, not merely for the next few weeks, but to save
   you eternally so that you shall see My face in Glory with exceeding
   joy--'Believe you that I am able to do this?'"

   28, 29. They said unto Him, Yes, Lord. Then touched He their eyes,
   saying, according to your faith be it unto you. That is what Jesus says
   to every person here, "According to your faith be it unto you." If you
   believe Christ a little, He

   will bless you a little, but if you believe Him up to the hilt, He will
   bless you to the fullest! Your faith shall never outrun the
   manifestations of Divine Love. Believe you this? Then you shall see it!
   "According to your faith be it unto you."

   30-32. And their eyes were opened and Jesus immediately charged them,
   saying, See that no man knows it But they, when they were departed,
   spread abroad His fame in all that country. As they went out, behold,
   they brought to Him a dumb man possessed with a devil. These miracles
   were worked so rapidly, and they concerned such different cases that as
   we read of them, we rejoice to see how Christ was ready for anything
   and ready for everything! It did not matter what case was brought to
   Him, He was never taken aback. Here He is just as fully prepared to
   heal the dumb as just now He was to cure the blind!

   33. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spoke --There is nothing
   like going at once to the root of the matter. Christ did not heal the
   dumb man, and leave the devil in him, but He first cast the devil out
   and then, "the dumb spoke." And this is His way of saving men. He
   renews them by His Spirit, He casts the devil out and then their
   despair goes, their prayerlessness disappears, their love of vice is
   killed! All evil is expelled when once the root of the evil is pulled
   up. "When the devil was cast out, the dumb spoke"--

   CURE--Read/download the entire sermon, free of charge, at
   http://www.spurgeongems.org.] Christ had worked such miracles as the
   multitudes had

   never before seen! And they might well marvel.

   34, 35. But the Pharisees said, He casts out devils through the prince
   of the devils. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages-- What
   the Pharisees said was of such very small consequence that, for the
   time being, Christ vouchsafed them no answer but this, "Jesus went
   about all the cities and villages." In like manner, it will be your
   best plan not to reply to slander. There are some lies that smell so
   strongly of the Pit from which they come that everybody will recognize
   their origin and, therefore, you need not take the trouble to point out
   that they are lies. And the best reply to all scandal and slander is to
   go on with your work just as if you had never heard it. The Pharisees
   said that Christ cast out devils through the prince of the devils, and
   the very next sentence is, "And Jesus went about all the cities and
   villages"--

   35- 36. Teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the
   Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
   But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for
   them--Yet Christ, while upon the earth in the flesh, never saw such
   multitudes as are gathered in London today! He never saw such
   multitudes as make up this nation! There never passed before the eyes
   of the Redeemer such multitudes as are crowded together in China and
   India today! No, the population of the world has wondrously increased
   since those days, so what must be the compassion of His heart when He
   sees the multitudes that are living in the world today? "When He saw
   the multitudes He was moved"--in the original, this is a very striking
   word--it signifies that He trembled with emotion, His inmost powers
   were moved, His heart was stirred "with compassion on them"--

   36- 37. Because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having
   no shepherd. Then said He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is
   plenteous, but the laborers are few. Not the preachers, but the
   laborersare few! Not the talkers, but the laborers--the patient,
   plodding, resolute, disinterested, industrious toilers who really go in
   for winning souls for Christ--the men and women who do real work for
   God and do not play at Christian service as some do, making it a kind
   of amusement to go and do some little good now and then! It is these
   laborers who are few. You know the difference between a dock laborer,
   or a farm laborer, and the gentleman who takes a tool in his hand just
   for a pastime now and then.

   38. Pray you therefore the Lord of the Harvest, that He will send forth
   laborers into His harvest [See Sermon #1127, Volume 19--HARVEST MEN
   NEEDED.] It is earnest workers that we are to

   pray God to thrust forth into His harvest, for still the harvest is
   plenteous and the laborers are few.

   was never before seen in Israel.
     __________________________________________________________________

A Very Early Bible Society

   (No. 3303)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 14,
   1885.

   "And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the
   Book of the Law in the house of the LORRD. And Hilkiah delivered the
   book to Shaphan... Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying,
   Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the
   king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the
   Law, that he tore his clothes." 2 Chronicles 34:15,18,19.

   ~ON BEHALF OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY-

   HILKIAH had found THE BOOK and it was a more important find than if he
   had discovered a mine of diamonds, or perpetual motion, or a new world!
   Oh, that Book, that wonderful Book! Was there ever anything like it
   under Heaven? Well may it be a power when we come to think of what it
   is--the Book of the Law of the living God! How reverently did he lift
   it from its hiding place, remove its dust and commence to read its
   title and contents! This particular Book of the Law was probably the
   first five Books of Moses, commonly called the Pentateuch. Some have
   thought that it was only the Book of Deuteronomy, but it is too late in
   the day for us to decide with confidence its exact form. We know that
   it was "a Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses" (2 Chron 34:14),
   probably an autographed copy by Moses. Of that we cannot be sure, but
   whatever hand may have written the letters, what a Book the Law of the
   Lord is! The Old Testament is a Divine light which has led multitudes
   of saints to the Lord's right hand--and its luster is not dimmed by the
   New Testament, but increased thereby. Not one tittle of it has failed,
   or shall fail--it lives and abides forever! Taking an enlarged view of
   the Law of the Lord today and holding in our hands two Testaments, both
   the Old and the New, what a marvelous Book the Bible is! Earth does not
   contain an equal wonder!

   It is a Book which has God for its Author, for though there are many
   authors and the Book is divided into many treatises, yet it is all of
   one as to its innermost authorship, since holy men of old spoke as they
   were moved by the Holy Spirit. A Divine originality runs through it
   all--marks of the Divine Mind abound in every portion and the Holy
   Spirit still inspires it all and breathes it into the hearts of
   believing readers. Matthew and Mark, and Luke and John are here, but we
   scarcely observe them as compared with the higher light, the Light of
   God which illuminates every page! The Book is saturated with a heavenly
   life!

   What God has written is to be received with the utmost reverence. It is
   a pity that so many treat this Sacred Volume as they would treat any
   ordinary book. They sit on the throne of judgment and sway the scepter
   of criticism, as if they would call God, Himself, to their bar! Surely
   they have never heard in their heart and conscience the sound of that
   question, "Who are you that replesagainst God?" If God is not its
   Author, this Book is a gross imposture and the sooner we treat it as
   such the better! But if God is its Author, let us bow before it
   obediently and accept it as our Infallible Directory.

   As it has God for its Author, so it commends itself to us as
   inestimably precious because it has God's mind for its matter. In this
   Book of the Lord the chief subject is Himself and His ways and His
   Grace towards us, His creatures. Here the Lord does not so much explain
   His works as His own personal ways, thoughts and designs to our fallen
   race. He does not take the pen in hand to explain to us what He has
   written in the stone book, or to open up to us what He has printed in
   letters of light in yonder constellations, but to reveal His glorious
   Grace which He has caused to dwell in all its fullness in Christ Jesus
   our Lord! He has left us to find out what we may of visible things--a
   happy and healthful exercise for our

   minds, but He had something nobler to tell us when He inspired this
   Book. Herein He has told us His thoughts of man and of the Man, Christ
   Jesus. His thoughts upon our sin and the ruin that comes of it. His
   thoughts as to how we may be saved and what shall come out of that
   salvation. The windows of this Book look towards Heaven and truly they
   are windows of agate--themselves precious and giving us a view of still
   more precious things! Its doors open into eternity and its gates lead
   into Glory. Every page points to holiness and felicity and attracts us
   thereto. Precious Book! I would say of you what David said of Goliath's
   sword "There is none like that. Give it to me." You are marrow and
   fatness, honey, wines on the lees well-refined--yes, manna of angels
   and water from the Rock, Christ Jesus! Of all soul medicines you are
   the most potent! Of all mental dainties you are the sweetest! And of
   all spiritual food you are the most sustaining!

   As the Book has God for its Author, and God's mind for its matter, so
   does it become invaluable to us because it is directed to us. It is not
   a letter written from God to the angels, nor is it sent to a race of
   beings alien from ourselves. This Book is for men and it is directed
   not to our curiosity, nor to any of our lower faculties, but to the
   soul of our life, to the vital spirit of our manhood! It is God's Word
   to the innermost man--to our immortal part. He speaks here not only to
   our ears, but to our souls. He directs His teaching not to that part of
   us which shall die, but to that part of us which shall never cease to
   be, but shall be immortal as Himself! If ever a man ought to
   concentrate all his faculties and pray to be in the best mental order,
   it should be when he comes to study the Word of God upon matters which
   concern his noblest being. God grant, therefore, that in our hearts we
   may feel deep reverence for this marvelous Book which we shall not now
   lose as Israel almost lost it--whose copies will never become scarce,
   as they were in Josiah's day. The Word of the Lord will always be
   precious, but not through scarcity of copies, now that the Bible
   Society is scattering them thick as autumn leaves! They will always be
   gems for value and yet as pebbles of the brook for multitude!

   He that reads this wondrous Book aright may well value it because of
   the blessings which it will bring him. It will tell him how to be rid
   of all his sin and free himself from the slavery of Satan. It will
   teach him how to bear his present burdens and quit all needless cares.
   It will be a guide to him through the maze of life, a pillow for the
   bed of death! It will give him joy and peace through believing when the
   thickest troubles shall gather round about him, and it will make him
   ready for the future world when brightest glories shall shine upon him!
   Whatever you need for time or for eternity, this Book shall either give
   it to you, or point you to Him who has it ready to give to you if you
   will bend your knee before Him! It is a golden mine of the Truth of God
   and infinitely more--it is a treasury of blessings and delights, and
   even then I have not fully described it. It has for you, O sheep of the
   Lord, all that your Good Shepherd sees that you have need of! Here are
   the green pastures wherein He makes you to feed and to lie down--and
   here flow the still waters, whereof if a man drinks, he shall never
   thirst, but shall joy and rejoice in God forever! I do not wonder that
   Hilkiah and Shaphan had the same value for the smaller Book which we
   Believers in Christ have for the larger edition of it--for even a
   fragment of it is priceless! I do not wonder that they considered their
   treasure to be worthy of being brought before the king. If they had
   discovered where hidden coffers had been concealed by Solomon and the
   great kings that succeeded him, they would not have procured so
   glorious a present for the king of Judah as when they suddenly stumbled
   upon this Book of the Law of the Lord!

   I. Tonight I shall try to speak of the whole question under three
   heads. And the first will be this--here is an instance of that PECULIAR
   PRESERVATION which God has extended to the Scriptures which He has
   Inspired. It would seem, from this narrative, that copies of the Word
   of God had become extremely rare, for no other copy was known to exist.
   If anyone had known where there was a copy of the Pentateuch, the
   priest would have known, or the pious king's secretary would have been
   informed of it. These appear to have been gracious men, learned
   men--and men to whom the people came--surely if such a thing was
   procurable, they would have possessed a copy of the Law of the Lord.
   Perhaps the faithful scattered up and down through Israel and Judah had
   copies of the Book, but they had grown so accustomed to conceal them
   from their persecutors that they kept the secret to themselves. If
   there were other copies, they were not known to those who had the best
   means of discovering them.

   When Hilkiah discovered this copy of the Word of God, he was greatly
   surprised and overjoyed. What a singular Providence it was that the
   Book was not quite destroyed! How fortunate that the one copy should
   have been left! It is believed by many--and I think that their belief
   is correct--that this was a standard copy If it was not the original,
   yet it was an authorized transcript which was to be regarded as the
   correct text--and it had been laid up in the Ark of the Lord for that
   purpose. Perhaps in some dark hour, for fear that it would be
   discovered even in the secret shrine of the

   tabernacle, a priest had hidden it away. The tradition is that it was
   buried beneath a heap of stones when Ahaz was seeking out copies of the
   Word to destroy them. By the Divine Providence of God this one standard
   copy had been preserved and now came to light! It may have been hidden
   carefully and then Providence had provided the caretaker. It may have
   been thrown away carelessly--then Providence had made even that
   carelessness to be the means of preserving the treasure. In any case,
   the Law was still among men and it had now fallen into careful and
   reverent hands. The God who gave it had preserved it!

   Now look along through all the ages and if you are a reverent Believer
   in the Word, you will be filled with grateful wonder that the Sacred
   Roll has been preserved to us! Through what perils it has passed and
   yet, as I believe, there is not a Chapter of it lost--no, nor a verse
   of any Chapter! The misreading of the copies are really so
   inconsiderable and are so happily corrected by other manuscripts, that
   our Bible is a marvel in literature for the comparative ease with which
   the correct text is discoverable! It seems to me that God's Divine Care
   has extended itself to the whole text, so that, with far less care than
   would be needed by any classic author, the very words of the Holy
   Spirit may be known! As the wings of cherubim overshadowed the Mercy
   Seat, so do the wings of Providence protect the Book of the Lord! As
   Michael guarded the body of Moses, so does a Divine Care secure the
   Books of Moses! I invite lovers of history and of famous books to look
   into the interesting story of the immortality of Scripture. Let us
   think of that special preservation with reverent gratitude.

   The God of Israel had given rules for the preservation of the
   Scriptures, but they had evidently fallen into disuse. It is expressly
   laid down in the Book of Deuteronomy that each king was to copy out the
   Book of the Law for himself. We have no evidence that anyof them did
   so! Most of the ordinances of the Lord to His chosen people were
   neglected almost as soon as they were given. Even in the wilderness,
   during 40 years, the rite of circumcision, which lay at the base of
   everything, was unobserved! The feast of tabernacles was not kept for
   many and many a year. And the Passover, the most solemn of all rites,
   was not carefully celebrated--indeed, it had never been properly
   observed from the days of Samuel to the days of Josiah! It had been
   altered and debased from its original form. Alas, Christian ordinances
   have suffered from the some tendency to change! This proves the
   depraved nature of man, and his unwillingness to walk in the path of
   obedience. The plan of preserving the Sacred Book by the kings' copying
   it had fallen into disuse and, therefore, the extreme scarcity of
   manuscripts around the court--yet even then, the Word did not fail!

   Nor was the Scripture alone in danger from the neglect to preserve it,
   but furious persecutions had been raised against the Holy Volume. The
   haters of it slew the Prophets, broke down the memorials of God's
   goodness to His people and polluted the Holy Place of the Most
   High--and their rage did not spare His statutes. The Law must be
   destroyed, or they would still be rebuked. You know, Brothers and
   Sisters, how from century to century that church which has no
   foundation in the Word of God has, with desperate determination, hunted
   after every copy of the Inspired Volume to destroy it! It is not very
   long ago since that unchangeable church called the Scriptures
   "dangerous pastures." Who and what must the shepherds be who use such
   language concerning the Law of the Lord? But with all their burnings,
   they have not destroyed the Book! With all their inquisitions and
   torture chambers, faith in Scripture has survived! Still the Book
   teaches and preaches with a Divine Unction and Authority. What Popery
   could not do, infidelity shall not do! Infidelity, some years ago, was
   going to blot out the name of Jesus from under Heaven! Its boastful
   champion said that he was but one man, but in a few years he would undo
   all that was accomplished by the 12 Apostles! His name is left to
   curse--the work of God goes on better than ever it did and the grand
   old Book is scattered everywhere, falling fast and thick as snowflakes
   in the time of winter! I might almost say that the copies of the Bible
   are in number comparable to the sands of the sea! Think of nearly a
   million penny Testaments being scattered in a single year in this one
   land! These are leaves of the Tree of Life for the healing of the
   nations! There is a blessing in every line of the Sacred Record both
   for the present age and for years to come. This Word will abide among
   men till time shall be no more. God be thanked for it!

   The passage before us is a very beautiful instance of how under every
   difficulty, when every regulation has been neglected, and the utmost
   fury goes forth against the Word, yet the Word lives and abides
   forever! The fact is that Providence is the ally of Revelation. From
   the Word of the Lord, Creation began--by the Word of the Lord Creation
   is sustained and everything seems to know the source from which it
   came--and every creature lends itself to the preservation of that grand
   Word by which it exists! Depend upon it, Brothers and Sisters, the Book
   is not alone--God is always with it! God has put a wall of fire around
   the Revelation of His will and with Omnipotence He guards it against
   all who would harm it! God is always with those who tremble at His
   Word. And when there shall come times of darkness and of sorrow, and
   you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, never question what the end
   will be, for "the Word of the Lord endures forever." He that sits on
   the floods as King forever and ever, will so order all things that His
   Word shall have yet greater sway and His Gospel shall conquer the
   hearts of men!

   But, oh, how should we love the Book, and how should we stand up for
   it, and guard it jealously, since God has guarded it so well! Let every
   man of God be like Solomon's valiant men of Israel who watched about
   the bed of the king, each man with his sword upon his thigh because of
   fear in the night--for there is much fear just now for the Truth of
   God. I mean, of course, to us poor puny beings there is danger--there
   is no fear in the great heart of the Eternal! There is no fear as to
   the accomplishment of His purposes, for He is strong in power and not
   one fails. What our fathers preserved with their blood, we will
   preserve with our lives. That which bore them to a martyr's death,
   singing as they went, we will not consent to throw away! If any man has
   another gospel, let him keep it--I am satisfied with mine. If any man
   has found another bible, let him read it--I am satisfied with my
   mother's old Bible and the Bible of my ancestors. If discoveries are to
   be made concerning a new way of the salvation of men, let them make
   them who care to do so--the old way has saved me and the old way has
   saved multitudes of others--and therein shall I abide, God helping me,
   come what may! And so will you, my Brothers and Sisters--and together
   we will rejoice that God preserves His Book and continues to give His
   Holy Spirit with it! God will uphold His Truth that is in this Book and
   the men that hold that Truth shall be upheld. "Forever, O Lord, your
   Word is settled in Heaven!" And similar eternal settlements are made
   for all whose hope is fixed upon that Word!

   II. Having glanced at this, I ask you to think for a little upon
   another point--THE COMMENDABLE COMMUNICATION CONCERNING THIS BOOK.
   Hilkiah finds it. Hilkiah hands it to the royal secretary, whose name
   was Shaphan. Shaphan reads a bit of it and makes quite sure that it is
   what it professes to be--and then immediately he goes with it to the
   king. The king holds a Bible-reading with him and when the king has
   read the Scared Roll, himself, he summons all the people and reads the
   Book to them. The point is this--if you have found the Word of God,
   make it known to others! Keep not this honey to yourself!

   Hilkiah handed to Shaphan the Book without note or comment. It was the
   Book with no apocryphal matter rolled up with it. It was the Book of
   the Law of God in its purest state. He who found the Book delighted in
   it, but he passed it on--and the next passed it on and the next passed
   it on--and the next circulated it still further. All the nation soon
   heard of what was written in the Book. The handlers of the Volume do
   not appear to have tarried long. Hilkiah rejoiced and said to secretary
   Shaphan, "I have found the Book of the Law!" And Shaphan did not delay
   a month, but went straight away to let the king know. And the king,
   after he had tore his clothes, expressed his sorrow for national sin
   and enquired at the hand of the Lord's Prophetess, published the Divine
   message to the people and read the Law to them. The moral
   is--continually make known God's Holy Word! If you have obtained light,
   let your brother light his candle at your candle. If you have seen
   anything of God, tell your brother what you have seen. Let not God's
   Book grow moldy in your own hand, but pass it on and let another read
   what you have read to your salvation and to your comfort, that he also
   may be saved and comforted! Let your light shine! Scatter the bread of
   Heaven! Distribute the balm of Gilead!

   How can we do this? Well, I believe that it is the duty of every
   Christian man not only to preach the Gospel, and to tell to others of
   his own experience of it, but also literally to pass on the Book,
   itself. You may possibly make a mistake as to your explanation of it,
   but you will make no mistake if you give away the Book, itself, and
   pray the Spirit of God, Himself, to explain it to the reader. Money
   should be spent by each one of us in scattering Bibles. With Testaments
   at a penny, who would not give Testaments away? With Bibles so cheap as
   they are, and withal so beautiful to look upon, many of them, who would
   not think it a good investment frequently to give to the young, to your
   relatives, to your friends, a copy of the Book? Suit the size of the
   copy to the person and so give that your present will be valued. What
   better marriage gift than a family Bible? What better present for an
   aged person than one of the large-print Bibles? Oh, what gladness you
   might give to many a humble cottager by the present of such a Book! I
   have seen them with their old thumbed Bibles, trying to read them when
   they have strained their eyes and I have pitied them. We who are
   getting old know the luxury of a fine large print! You who have the
   means should take care that there is not an elderly person who, for
   lack of large type, is unable to read the Word of God! I hope that few
   houses are without a copy of the Word of

   God--but while I hope so, I have often had my hopes very rudely dashed
   to the ground by discoveries of people who possess no Bible at all!

   I also fear that millions who possess copies of the Word of God, never
   think of reading them! I have been at night, not far from here, in the
   houses of persons thought to be respectable--and there has been death
   very near and I have said, "Bring me the Bible, that I may read a
   passage of Scripture." And they have hunted high and low and none has
   been found! This was not for lack of means to buy, but for lack of care
   to have! It is for us, at any rate, to endeavor liberally to scatter
   copies of the Word of God.

   You are doing this when you help the man who spends his life in the
   work of translation. How can there be Bibles to give away in foreign
   languages until the Book has been translated into them? The scholar
   must live while he has the work of translation to do. Subscriptions
   given to the Bible Society are a handing over of the Scriptures to
   tribes that sit in darkness--who by this means shall see a great light.

   If you cannot give away Bibles, I believe you do a good work when you
   sell them, or give money to help to produce them cheaply. If you cannot
   afford a whole Bible, something is done when a portion is given away,
   or a Gospel is left in a cottage. You can never tell what may come of a
   single portion of the Word of Gold--yes, of a leaf of it! Instead of
   regretting, as I have heard some do, that Bibles are sometimes sold for
   waste paper, and goods are done up in them, I am glad that it should be
   so! I admire the enterprise of Andrew Fuller, and some others long ago,
   who printed hymns upon papers which were to be used in the sale of
   cottons and other small wares. They gave those papers to tradesmen that
   they might do their goods up in them. So long as the Truth of God does
   but travel, it does not matter how. If you can place the Bible where
   men may read it, who knows what may result? I knew a friend who, in
   purchasing his tobacco, found it done up in a passage of the Word of
   God--and by the perusal of that portion became a converted man! Let us
   not be afraid of what will become of the Book, for it is quite able to
   take care of itself--only let us imitate Hilkiah and Shaphan and
   Josiah, and make it known wherever we have the opportunity! Have you
   bread to eat while the multitudes are dying of hunger in the streets,
   and will you eat your morsel alone? Then shame on you! Is the plague
   mowing down its thousands, and have you medicine that can stop the
   disease, and do you conceal the recipe and hide the remedy in your own
   chest? Then shame on you! Do you see millions going down to Hell and
   have you the good news of how they may escape that place of misery and
   enter into Glory? And will you not tell it, or will you not hand it on
   in the form of the Book? Then shame upon you! How is he a Christian who
   has no sympathy with the Bible Society? How is he a Christian who, in
   some shape or other, does not spread this matchless Word?

   III. And now, lastly, I want to call your attention to the best thing
   of the whole and that is, notice THE IMPORTANT INFLUENCE OF THIS BOOK
   WHEN IT WAS READ.

   We find that as soon as the king heard the words of the Law, he tore
   his clothes. First of all, he read it. The Book has no value if it is
   not read. Nowadays, we do not so much need Bibles as Bible-readers. Are
   any of you in that condition-- that you would not be without a Bible in
   your house--and yet you never read it? Do you treat this Book as a
   fetish? Do you reverence words which you do not care to read? Is there
   some kind of witchcraft about paper and binding in a certain form? Do
   you think it a very pious thing to put a big Bible under your arm and
   march to a place of worship with it, and yet never read it? Oh, fall
   not into such folly! It is the reader and the one who understands the
   Word who gets the blessing from it! This Book is like a nut--you must
   crack the nut by reading and meditation--and so get the kernel, or it
   will not feed your soul!

   Now, the first result of this Book upon the king was that he tore his
   clothes. How many here present, if they would but read the Word and if
   the Holy Spirit would bless it to them, would have to tear their
   hearts, if not their garments? You, my Friend, if you are not
   born-again, if you are not a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, are in
   such a condition that if you knew your danger, the joints of your loins
   would be loosened and for fearful astonishment you would be ready to
   fall to the ground! You are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds
   of iniquity, but do not know it! You lie under the wrath of God! The
   curse of the Law is upon you and you do not know it--and all for lack
   of reading and believing what this Book would tell you--would tell you
   most assuredly and Infallibly! I fear there is never a congregation
   without a considerable number who have need to read this Book, if for
   nothing else, in order that they might know their real state. There is
   a prayer which I often pray and I venture to commend it to many here. I
   pray, "Lord, let me always know the worst of my case." I cannot bear
   the idea of being self-deceived, of fancying that I am rich and
   increased in goods and have need of nothing when, in God's sight, I am
   naked, poor and miserable! Read your Bibles, that you may be honest
   with yourselves--that you may not deceive by thinking that you are
   something when you are nothing! That is the first effect of the Word.
   "Oh," you say, "it would make me miserable even to read it." Very
   likely it would, but by such misery you would come to sure and
   healthful happiness. By such a disturbance you would come to a lasting
   and acceptable peace.

   After the king had tore his garments, he then began to enquire after
   the God who had sent this Book. Now, notice this. If any of you have
   never done this, pray that you may read the Book--yes, read the more
   terrible parts of it as well as the more cheering portions--in such a
   way that, having read it, you may seek this God who thus speaks to you
   in loving faithfulness. Endeavor to learn of Him how you may be saved.
   Labor to know Him personally, for it is written, "Acquaint now yourself
   with God and be at peace." It is of no use to be acquainted with the
   Scriptures if you are not acquainted with God! You may read the
   Scriptures till you perish unless you see God in the glass of
   Scripture, for it is to Him that you must come! A personal Christ must
   have personal dealings with a personal sinner, or else there will be no
   personal salvation. And the value of the Book lies mainly in this--that
   it does not let you stop at itself, but it points as with a finger of
   light to the Cross, and with a still small voice it whispers, "There
   your hope lies. Look there!" The Lord Jesus takes up the cry of the
   Book and utters that gracious command, "Look unto Me, and be you saved,
   all the ends of the earth." O that you would look and live! Scatter the
   Bible, Christian people, in order that it may be like a sharp two-edged
   sword to kill self-righteousness and that it may also be a finger of
   love to point sinners to the Cross of Christ!

   After this happened and Josiah began to understand the Book, he entered
   upon a reformation. I will not say how many things in England need
   reformation, but certainly we need it in a great many
   forms--ecclesiastical, doctrinal, social, moral and political. The
   Bible is the greatest of reformers. You thought, perhaps, I should have
   applied that term to Luther, or Calvin, or Zwingli--but this is the
   reformer that reformed Luther! This is the teacher that instructed
   Calvin! This is the Prophet that fired the heart of Zwingli! While this
   Book is extant, error will always be in danger of overthrow. An open
   Bible, and men may quibble and criticize, and invent new doctrines if
   they please--but this is the Rock on which they will split. As God
   lives, His Truth must live! And all that is of man's imagining and
   scheming, and that comes not out of this Book shall be broken to
   pieces! The grass withers, but the Word abides. "Whoever shall fall
   upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomever it shall fall, it will
   grind him to powder." If you seek to have the social fabric purged of
   the leprosy which now eats into its very walls, scatter this Book! If
   you want to uplift the fallen and to purify the defiled, scatter this
   Book that men may be cleansed by it! If you want to see the Church of
   God made one and her various dividing errors put away, scatter this
   Book! If you desire to see a blessed unity in the Truth, scatter this
   Book! If you would dispense a perfect blessing, scatter the Bible, for
   all good lies here! We need no novel teachings to restore the Glory of
   the Church--we only need to come back to the purity of Scripture! That
   great Reformation which broke down all the idols in Judah and Israel
   came of the discovery of this Book! And there remains for us at this
   day no better means of reform and revival! God send to England this
   choice mercy, that it may become a Bible-reading nation, a Bible-loving
   nation, a Bible-obeying nation--and that shall be the best thing that
   can happen to our native land. God grant it!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CHRONICLES34:14-33.

   Verse 14, 15. And when they brought out the money that was brought into
   the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a Book of the Law of
   the LORD given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the
   scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD. And
   Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. This was a very remarkable find.
   Of all the discoveries that they might have made, they could have
   discovered nothing that would work so much good to all the people as
   this "Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses."

   16-19. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king
   word back again, saying, All that was committed to your servant, they
   do it And they have gathered together the money that was found in the
   house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the
   overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told
   the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book And Shaphan
   read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard
   the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Such was his horror
   upon discovering how they

   had all sinned and how many terrible judgments were to be inflicted
   upon them because of all that long time of sin, that he tore his
   clothes.

   20, 21. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
   and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a
   servant of the king's, saying, Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for
   them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the
   book that is found. Oh, that all who read God's Book now would do as
   young Josiah did! If there is any difficulty in a book, the short way
   to get to understand it is to enquire of the author. And, surely, never
   is there greater wisdom than having read any of the deep mysteries or
   solemn threats in this Volume and feeling ourselves staggered by them,
   we enquire of the Lord concerning them! I believe that there is many a
   puzzling passage in the Bible on purpose that we may be driven to
   enquire of the Lord about it. If the Book were all so easy of
   understanding that at the first reading of it, we could comprehend all
   its meaning, we might, perhaps, stay away from God--but He has
   purposely given us many dark sentences and made the sense to be
   somewhat obscure in order that we may wait upon His enlightening Spirit
   and so obtain instruction, for the Spirit of God is more useful to us
   even than the Word itself is! Great as the blessing of the Book is, the
   blessing of the living Spirit is still greater and anything is good
   that drives us to Him. That which had influenced the mind of Josiah was
   the terror of the Book.

   21-28. For great is the wrath ofthe LORD that ispoured out upon us,
   because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after al
   that is written in this book. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had
   appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of
   Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe, (now she dwelt in
   Jerusalem in the college), and they spoke to her to that effect And she
   answered them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Tell you the man that
   sent you to me, Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this
   place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are
   written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:
   because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods,
   that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands;
   therefore My wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not
   be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire
   ofthe LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel
   concerning the words which you have heard, because your heart was
   tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard His
   words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and
   humbled yourself before Me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before
   Me, I have even heard you, also, says the LORD, Behold, I will gather
   you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace,
   neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this
   place, and upon the inhabitants ofthe same. So they brought the king
   word again. When God selects an instrument for His own service, how
   well He tunes it for the use to which it is to be put! Here is a woman,
   a married woman, and she is selected to be the Lord's Prophetess to the
   king--but never has any man spoken more bravely than she did. Her
   opening words show a holy courage which is lifted above all fear of
   men--"Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell you the man that sent you
   to me," for before God kings are only men and though Huldah was only a
   subject of Josiah, see with what real dignity God's ordination had
   invested her. Josiah was not to succeed in the reformation of Israel.
   He was true and sincere, but the people were steeped in hypocrisy,
   formality and idolatry--and they did not go with the king in all his
   root and branch reforms. They still clung in their hearts to their
   idols and, therefore, they must be destroyed and the nation must be
   carried away captive. It was, however, a very singular promise that God
   gave to Josiah--"I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be
   gathered to your grave in peace." Yet he was mortally wounded in
   battle, so how could that promise be fulfilled? You know how it could
   be! However we may die--if sword or plague or fire consume the saints
   among the rest of mankind--their very deaths and graves are blessed!
   There was no fighting about Josiah's grave--he was buried in peace.
   Pharaoh-Necho had killed him, but he did not destroy the land--and
   Josiah was allowed to be buried amid the great lamentations of a people
   who only began fully to appreciate him when he was taken away from
   them!

   29, 30. Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of
   Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house ofthe LORD,
   and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the
   priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he
   read in their ears all the words ofthe Book ofthe Covenant that was
   found in the house of the LORD. That was a grand Bible-reading, with a
   king for reader and all his princes and all his people gathered to
   listen to the Word of God! What could he have said better, had he been
   the greatest of orators? To read out of this blessed Book must surely
   be to the edification of the hearers.

   31-33. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the
   LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, and His
   testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and with all his
   soul, to perform the words of the Covenant which are written in this
   Book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to
   stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the
   Covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the
   abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of
   Israel and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve
   the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following
   the LORD, the God of their father
     __________________________________________________________________

Grace Abounding

   (No. 3304)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, APRIL
   15, 1866,

   "But where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound." Romans 5:20.

   [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon the whole verse are #37, Volume 1
   --LAW AND GRACE and #2012, Volume 34-- GRACE ABOUNDING OVER ABOUNDING
   SIN.]

   THERE has been a long battle in this world between man's sin and God's
   Grace. If it had been a fight between man's sin and God's Justice, it
   would soon have come to an end. Picture to yourself the flames of Hell
   and see there what God's Justice can do when it comes into conflict
   with human guilt. When God goes forth to war against the ungodly, His
   might is indeed terrible. Divine Justice makes short work of sin--it
   treads it under foot and stamps it out--even as men do with sparks of
   fire, for God hates sin with a perfect hatred. And when His anger is
   aroused against it, He tears it in pieces as the lion tears his prey in
   his fury. But, happily for us, the conflict with which we are just now
   concerned is not that between Justice and sin but that between Grace
   and sin! God's milder attribute of Mercy has entered the field and in
   our text Paul tells us the result of the battle. It looked for a time
   as if sin would gain the victory, for it abounded more and more, but at
   the last the banner of Grace waved triumphantly over the battlefield,
   for "where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound."

   I. Without any further preface I am going to give you several
   illustrations of the Truth of our text, beginning with those we find in
   the Chapter itself. Paul has been writing concerning the principle of
   representation--THE FEDERAL HEADSHIP, FIRST OF ADAM AND THEN OF OUR
   LORD JESUS CHRIST. He has been telling us about our fall in the first
   man and our salvation in the second Man, the Lord from Heaven. He has
   been describing our ruin under our first federal head and our
   Redemption by our second Covenant Head, the Lord Jesus Christ--and in
   both cases, our text is clearly illustrated. It does seem at first
   sight as if the setting up of Adam as the representative man had been
   the means of making sin to abound because as soon as sin overcame Adam,
   it overcame the whole race of mankind! It appears as if it would have
   been better to have put every man on probation on his own account and
   to have let him stand or fall according to his own good or ill
   behavior. It seems as if it must have been a comparatively easy victory
   for sin to overthrow the whole race by a single blow. Certainly, sin
   did gain a great victory in the Garden of Eden and therein it abounded.
   But Paul shows that it was by this very principle of representation
   that "Grace did much more abound," for it is through the death of One,
   even Jesus Christ, our Lord, that all Believers live! It is the
   righteousness of this One that a multitude whom no man can number shall
   attain unto everlasting life!

   Now it appears to me that if the other system had been adopted, the
   plan of each one standing or falling by himself, there would have been
   no hope of salvation for any one of the whole race of mankind! We
   believe that the angels did so stand or fall, each on his own account.
   Satan was not the federal head of all the angels and consequently, when
   he fell, they did not all fall, but a considerable number of them
   did--and no hope of their restoration to the favor of God is given, but
   we are told that, "the angels which kept not their first estate, but
   left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under
   darkness unto the judgment of the Great Day." I think it is more than
   probable that, had you and I been left to stand or fall on our own
   account, we would all have fallen--and then we would have fallen to
   rise no more. But now, as we fell in the person of one representative,
   it has become possible for us to rise through another
   Repre-sentative--and as many of us as have believed in Jesus, have
   risen from the fall of Adam--and are delivered from the death which was
   the consequence of Adam's sin and are made alive in Christ Jesus by a
   new spiritual life in virtue of our

   union with our risen Lord! By the federal headship of Adam, sin did
   indeed abound--the floodgates were pulled up and torrents of iniquity
   inundated the whole human race! But by the federal headship of Christ,
   Divine Grace does much more abound, so that all who believe in Him
   shall be eternally saved! I think this was the meaning of the Apostle
   when he wrote the words of our text. And this is one illustration of
   the general Truth of God that "where sin abounded, Grace did much more
   abound."

   II. A second illustration of this Truth of God can be found in the
   first part of the verse from which our text is taken. "The Law entered,
   that the offense might abound." Through no fault in itself, but through
   our depravity, THE LAW INCREASES THE GRAVITY OF OUR OFFENSES.

   You know that if you give your child no commands, he cannot disobey
   you. But the moment you give a command, the natural inclination of the
   child to disobedience turns the command into an occasion for sin. The
   more commands God gives, the more possible it is for man to sin. When
   water is cast upon lime there follows great heat and smoke. Yet the
   water was not hot. Put your lips to it and you will find that it is a
   sweet and cooling draught, but it produced heat when mixed with the
   lime because of the inherent heat in the lime. So, when God's
   commandment is cast upon a man and he kicks against it, the fault is
   not in the commandment, but in the man's wicked heart which rebels
   against it. Paul says, "I had not known sin, but by the Law." He would
   have been just as truly a sinner in himself, but the sinfulness would
   not have come out if it had not been for the Law's prohibitions and
   restrictions against which he rebelled. The Law of God is something
   like the medicine which a doctor gives to a patient who has some
   internal disease, but the medicine throws it out upon the skin--yet it
   is far better that it should be thus thrown out than that it should lie
   hidden in the system and lead to the patient's death. The Law acts like
   this, especially upon those who are under conviction--it throws out the
   sin that is within them and lets them see it in its true character. The
   Law comes like a policeman with a search warrant, and says, "There is a
   criminal concealed here, and I have come to discover him." Perhaps you
   say, "There is no criminal here, I never harbor thieves or other bad
   characters." But the officer produces his warrant and searches you
   through and through and at last you have to admit that he is right even
   though you did not suspect the true state of affairs.

   It seems a very dreadful thing that the effect of the Law should be to
   make the sinner worse than he was before--"the Law entered that the
   offense might abound." But that is just where our text comes in--"where
   sin abounded, Grace did much more abound." The more necessary the Law's
   exposure of sin is, the more glorious is the Grace that cleanses from
   the sin! The Law, like a candle, shows me my blackness, but that same
   Revelation, of which the Law is only a part, also shows me the precious
   blood of Jesus which takes all my blackness away and makes me whiter
   than snow! As I hear the thunders of Sinai and am full of terror as the
   lightning sets the sky ablaze, I turn to the dear, patient Lamb of God,
   and as I see Him suffering for me, I say to Him, "Oh, what wondrous
   Grace it must have been by which You did deliver me from all this
   terrible wrath! Blessed Lamb of God, how much I owe to You, for You
   have hushed the Law's loud thunder and given my soul a quiet and safe
   hiding place!" The work of the Law upon the enlightened conscience is a
   very healthy operation--it is like a sharp needle that goes through the
   soul, but it draws the golden thread of Mercy after it--or like the
   sharp plow which breaks up the ground and prepares it for the seed
   which in due time shall bring forth the harvest to God's praise and
   Glory! Whenever the entrance of the Law makes the offense to abound,
   may God grant us Grace to receive the Gospel so that Grace shall much
   more abound!

   III. Now follow me in thought while I conduct you to a spot where we
   shall find a third illustration of the Truth of our text, that is, THIS
   PLACE CALLED CALVARY. Surely that is the spot where sin did most
   abound, yet where Grace abounded even more!

   Look in at the council chamber of the Sanhedrim and hear them charge
   the Son at God with blasphemy, and say if sin did not abound there! See
   Him hurried away to Pilate's Hall and to Herod's judgment seat,
   "despised and rejected of men." Behold how they set Him at nothing and
   mocked Him--how they plucked out His hair, defiled His blessed visage
   with their accursed spit, crowned Him with thorns and assailed Him with
   insult upon insult and cruelty upon cruelty-- and then say if sin did
   not, indeed, abound there! See Him toiling painfully through the
   crowded streets, scoffed at by the ribald multitude, but mourned by the
   daughters of Jerusalem. Watch Him as at last He ascends the hill of
   doom. See Him hanging on the Cross in indescribable agony while the
   heartless spectators jeer and scoff and make a jest even of His dying
   cries, and then say if sin did not abound there! What foaming billows
   of iniquity rolled up around that accursed tree, swelling and rising
   until they completely immersed the Lord of Life and Glory in their
   horrible depths! Yes, verily sin

   abounded there--surely it was the darkest day in human history! Wicked
   men had killed kings before, but that day they killed the King of
   kings! They had been regicides before, but now they became Deicides!
   They killed the Son of God and cast Him out of the vineyard, saying,
   "This is the Heir, and now that we have killed Him, the inheritance
   shall be ours." Sin abounded so much that it put out the light of the
   sun! So heavy was it that it cracked the solid earth and tore the rocks
   asunder and caused graves to open, while the great veil of the Temple
   was torn in two from the top to the bottom!

   Yet "where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound." Oh, for an
   angel's tongue to tell out the wondrous mystery! My poor lips are quite
   unequal to this tremendous task--it is vain for me to attempt to
   describe the Grace that so gloriously abounded in our Lord upon the
   Cross--the Grace that flashed benignantly from those languid eyes! The
   Grace that fell in cleansing drops from those opened veins! The Grace
   that poured in torrents from that pierced side! The Grace that heaved,
   tossed and struggled convulsively in those tortured limbs! The Grace
   that fought and wrestled and, at last, conquered in that anguished
   spirit--the Grace that even then began interceding for the
   transgressors as Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not
   what they do"--the Grace that cried with a mighty voice, "It is
   finished," before the Savior bowed His head and gave up the ghost. The
   Grace that ascended up on high, leading captivity captive and giving
   gifts unto men. Of this Grace I will not dare to speak further than to
   say--may it be your happy lot to sail upon that sea of Grace, for
   fathom it you never can! May you drink from that fountain of Divine
   Grace, for you shall never be able to drink it dry! May God give you
   the bliss of knowing in your own experience how much Grace abounds
   through the atoning Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross!

   Oh, that I had the tears of Baxter and that my soul were all aglow as
   the soul of Whitefield used to be, while I plead my Master's cause! O
   my Hearers, nothing so clearly shows the terrible depravity of human
   nature as this--that man has become so utterly wicked and debased as to
   believe that Christ is not still "mighty to save"! What a vile wretch
   man must be and what a base thing human nature must be when any can
   deliberately doubt the power of Christ to save the lost! The Inspired
   declaration is that "He is able to save them to the uttermost that come
   unto God by Him seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them."
   Yet this wicked heart of ours finds it impossible to believe this until
   the Holy Spirit comes and with supernatural energy enlightens the
   understanding, sways the will, controls the judgment and brings the
   soul to rest in Jesus Christ! Oh, how guilty we must be that we will
   not believe that what God says it true, that we will not believe though
   millions of witnesses before the Throne of God attest the Truth of God
   that "where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound."

   IV. Thus we have had three illustrations of the Truth of our text. And
   we may find a fourth IN MAN'S NATURE, for there, also, "where sin
   abounded, Grace did much more abound."

   Look at Adam in the Garden of Eden, a noble being, supreme among all
   the creatures around him. The lion crouches at his feet, the leopard
   sports about him, the dove nestles in his bosom and all birds and
   beasts come at his call and yield obedience to his command. But do you
   see that serpent coiled around a tree? That is the brute embodiment of
   sin and it has come there to do incalculable mischief! Wait a little
   while and you may see Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden where they
   were once so happy--for the sin to which they so readily yielded has
   brought a heavy curse upon them and upon all their descendants. As you
   read the stern sentences pronounced upon each of them by the lips of
   Jehovah, Himself, you realize that in their case sin has indeed
   abounded! Then remembering what I have already said to you about the
   principle of representation, you will realize that Adam's fall involved
   the fall of everyone of us! What Mark Anthony is supposed to have said
   concerning the death of Julius Caesar might well be said with regard to
   the effect of Adam's fall upon us--

   "Oh, what a fall was there, my countrymen Then I, and you, and all of
   us fell down."

   If you want to see how sin has abounded, go down the street and look
   upon some of those who have been drinking what has been truly called
   "liquid damnation." I need not describe the sight, for all of us are,
   alas, more or less familiar with it. Nor need I picture other fallen
   creatures in whom sin is to be seen in some of its most repulsive
   aspects. We will not think of them in the self-righteous spirit of the
   Pharisee who thanked God that he was not as other men, but we will
   sorrowfully confess that what they now are, any of us might have been
   had Providence and Grace not prevented it!

   If you want to see further what ruin sin has worked, I would take you
   to the graveyard. We will not ask the sexton to open the graves--the
   sight and smell would be more than we could endure--but he could tell
   us some strange tales of

   the remains of the noble being whom God made to have dominion over all
   the works of His hands. This is what he has come to now--an empty skull
   and a few dry bones! This is what sin has brought him down to--to be
   food for worms!

   But I will not linger over that dark part of the subject. Think how
   Grace has much more abounded even where sin did most abound. Grace
   comes in and finds man under sentence of death--hopeless and polluted
   and full of everything that is obnoxious in God's sight! What does
   Grace do in such a case at that? I answer by pointing you to that
   wondrous vision that John had in Patmos when he saw, "One like unto the
   Son of Man. . .His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as
   snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine
   brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of
   many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His
   mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His Countenance was as the sun
   shines in his strength." Who is this for whom all Heaven rings with
   hallelujahs, while Hell trembles at His word, and millions upon earth
   own allegiance to Him? Who is this? Why, 'tis the Man, Christ Jesus,
   who once slept as a helpless Babe in His mother's arms, who afterwards
   toiled at the carpenter's bench at Nazareth and who breathed out His
   earthly life amid the untold agonies of Calvary--but who is now exalted
   at His Father's right hand, "far above all principality, and power, and
   might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
   world, but also in that which is to come." "Ah," you say, "that is all
   true concerning Hm, but we are not up there with Him." But faith says
   that we are if we are truly trusting in Jesus, for "God, who is rich in
   mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead
   in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by Grace you are
   saved) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in
   heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show
   the exceeding riches of His Grace in His kindness toward us through
   Christ Jesus." Now you see how gloriously true our text is! Sin did us
   untold damage, but Grace has given us more than sin ever took away! Sin
   robbed us of silver, but Grace has given us gold! Sin slew this body of
   flesh, but Grace has given us a spiritual body which shall live
   forever! Sin threw us down among the masses of this fallen race, but
   Grace has lifted us up and set us among the children of God by faith in
   Christ Jesus! Yes, Beloved, "now are we the sons of God, and it does
   not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear,
   we shall be like He, for we shall see Him as He is." Verily, "where sin
   abounded, Grace did much more abound."

   V. There is a further illustration of the Truth of our text in some WHO
   ARE NOW PRESENT WITH US.

   There are some now in this house in whom sin abounded in certain
   special ways at which I shall only just hint. They were drunks,
   swearers, unchaste. They dishonored their father and mother, they
   sinned against light and knowledge, they disregarded God's Word, they
   stifled the rebukes of conscience. In brief, "sin abounded" in them.
   But now, through Grace, a great change has come over them and they have
   been made new creatures in Christ Jesus! And among us all there are
   none who love Christ more than they do--and none who serve Him more
   zealously than they do! You know that it is very often the case that
   those who have been the greatest sinners became the greatest saints.
   Those who were the devil's corporals and sergeants, no--his captains
   and generals--when they are truly converted, become the boldest and
   bravest soldiers of the Cross! It is hardly necessary to remind you of
   John Bunyan, once a very notable sinner, who became a very prince in
   our Israel and who felt that, in his case, Grace had indeed abounded to
   the chief of sinners! Many of us ought, indeed, to love much, as I
   trust we do, because we have been forgiven much. Divine Mercy has
   covered and blotted out a vast mass of sin that we had committed and
   now, remembering with humility and shame all our past offenses, we pray
   that we may prove in all our future lives what holy and useful men and
   women God's Grace can make of us. Surely, dear Friends, you will not
   serve God worse than you served the devil! When you had a bad master,
   you were a good servant to him--but now that you have a good Master,
   the best Master you can ever have--do not be a bad servant to Him! May
   the Lord grant that great Grace may abound in all who have been great
   sinners!

   But as there are exceptional cases, I will come to something that will
   include us all. Kindly turn to the little book that records your life
   history written out upon the pages of memory. As you look over those
   pages, you who have known the Lord for some years, what do you think of
   yourselves? The men who think much of themselves must surely be those
   who do not think at all! But those who really do think must see very
   much in their past lives which causes them to blush. Looking back upon
   the years since we first came to Christ, what a multitude of sins we
   have committed! If our own children had treated us as badly as we have
   treated our heavenly Father, what would we have done with them? What a
   marvel of patience our heavenly Father has been in His dealings with
   us! I look at my pulpit work and I have to confess that sin has
   abounded there. I look at my private life and I have to acknowledge
   that sin has abounded there. As you look at your

   Sunday school class, my Brothers and Sisters, I think that you, too,
   must admit that sin has abounded there. As a husband, as a wife, as a
   child, as a master, as a servant, as a tradesman, as a
   statesman--whatever may be your position in society, do you not have to
   say with sorrow that sin has abounded there? But, dear Friends, has not
   Grace also abounded? Yes, that it has, for "where sin abounded, Grace
   did much more abound." Do not ever got into such a state of heart as to
   groan over yourselves so that you cannot praise the Lord for His
   abounding Grace! Oh, do praise Him, do bless Him, for He well deserves
   to be praised! Sin abounds, so be humble. But Grace much more abounds,
   therefore be thankful! Sin abounds, so be watchful. But Grace does much
   more abound, therefore be confident that God will give you the victory
   through Him who has loved you!

   VI. Now lastly, IN THIS WORLD SIN ABOUNDS ON A VERY LARGE SCALE.

   Stand on your watchtower, Christian, and look over the world as far as
   you can. A great proportion of it is still shrouded in the dense
   darkness of heathenism and uncounted millions are bowing down before
   blocks of wood and stone. Think, too, of the vast multitudes who put
   their trust in the false Prophet, Mohammed, and are quite content with
   the parody of Christianity that they find in the Koran. Then remember
   with sorrow how large a proportion of those who are called Christians
   are simply worshippers of Mary instead of Believers in Jesus, or who
   bow down before images, icons, relics, crosses, and I know not what! If
   we turn to Protestant Christianity, what a vast mass of hypocrisy,
   formality, inconsistency and everything else that is evil is mixed with
   that which is genuine and true! All over the world sin abounds. See how
   many lands are still cursed by war. What infamies are perpetuated in
   all our great cities! Yes, and in many of our little country villages,
   too! God must have been amazingly patient to have borne so long with
   our wicked race. As the flood in Noah's day was universal, so does sin
   cover the earth today--it prevails over the tops of the mountains, it
   abounds in all the valleys and plains.

   This prospect is very alarming and for missionaries it would be very
   depressing if they did not believe that where sin abounds, Grace shall
   much more abound. But the day is coming oh, hasten, you wheels of time,
   and bring the happy hour!--when suddenly the pedestal upon which any
   false god is seated shall shake and totter to its fall! When the
   crescent of Mohammed shall wane forever! When the harlot of the seven
   hills shall cease to corrupt the earth with her fornication and when
   the beast, and the false prophet, and the devil and all his hosts shall
   be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone to be tormented day and
   night forever and ever. Yes, the day is coming--God speed it!--when the
   people on every island and of every continent shall hear the joyful
   sound of the Gospel of God's Grace! The day is coming when Ethiopia
   shall stretch out her hands unto God, when India's many millions and
   the far-off Chinamen and Japanese and other children of the East shall
   no longer sound the praises of any false god, but shall delight in
   confessing that Jesus Christ, the Son of David, is also the Son of God,
   King of kings, and Lord of lords, and their own and only Savior! The
   little spring that burst up like a rippling rivulet from the foot of
   Calvary's Cross has swollen into a mighty river even now--its tides are
   increasing, its floods are swelling, its depth is growing and the day
   is coming when, like a mighty ocean, it shall cover the whole earth as
   the waters cover the deep! And floating across that Sea of Glory shall
   be heard the millennial anthem, "The kingdoms of this world have become
   the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever
   and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"

   Then, at the last, so many of us as have believed in Jesus shall be
   gathered with Him in that great city, the New Jerusalem, whose twelve
   gates are twelve pearls, whose walls are jasper, and whose street is of
   "pure gold, as it were transparent glass"--that city of which John
   says, "I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
   are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of
   the moon, to shine in it: for the Glory of God did lighten it, and the
   Lamb is the light thereof." Well may we sing--

   "Jerusalem! My happy home! Name ever dear to me-- When shall my labors
   have an end, In joy, and peace, and thee? Oh when, you city of my God,
   Shall I your courts ascend, Where congregations ne'er break up, And
   Sabbaths have no end?''

   Ah, well, in due time we shall get there and then, when looking down
   from our serene abode, we shall be able to read the whole drama of
   human history, from the Creation to the Fall of Adam, from the Fall to
   the Cross of Christ, and then to the final consummation of all
   things--this will be the summary of it all, at least as far as we are
   concerned--"Where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound!" If it
   should be my happy privilege up there, upon some sunny mount, to
   descant upon this theme in more flaming words than I can use tonight,
   and of you who are of a kindred spirit with me will help to tell the
   story to the principalities and power in heavenly places, and the
   harpers standing on the sea of glass will strike their harps afresh and
   sing again the Song of Moses the servant of God, and the Song of the
   Lamb--their songs will be in harmony with our theme tonight--"Where sin
   abounded, Grace did much more abound." So let us go forth to our
   various occupations on the morrow believing that, though sin abounds,
   Grace shall yet more abound! Let us live so that all may see how Grace
   abounds in us and let us help to spread the wondrous story of what this
   Grace has done for us, that others may seek that Grace for
   themselves--that Grace which abounds to the chief of sinners, that
   Grace which is the portion of all who believe in Jesus, that Grace
   which shall in God's good time be crowned with Glory, that "Grace
   wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved!" Oh, that all here
   might share in that Grace! God grant it for Jesus' sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMANS 5:1-11.

   Verse 1. Therefore being justified by faith--But why, "therefore"?
   Because of the verse preceding it--"Who was delivered for our offenses,
   and was raised again for our justification." Christ died to atone for
   our sins, Christ rose again to secure our justification, "Therefore
   being justified by faith"-- We have peace with God through our lord
   Jesus Christ

   [See Sermon #1456, Volume 25--PEACE--A FACT AND A FEELING.] We have

   peace, we know that we have. We enjoy it. It is not a thing of the
   future. We have peace, a deep calm like that which came to the
   disciples when Christ hushed the winds and waves to sleep. "We have
   peace with God." His peace has entered into us, we possess it now, but
   it is all "through our Lord Jesus Christ." It is all war apart from
   Him, but all peace through Him. We poor sinners, being justified by
   faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

   2. By whom also we have access by faith--That is to say, we come near
   to God. We have the entry of the King's pa-lace--"we have access by
   faith"--

   2. Into this Grace wherein we stand. With firm foot and confident
   heart, we stand in God's Presence. Happy people!

   2. And rejoice in hope of the Glory of God. What a window hope is! It
   looks toward Heaven--we have only to look out that way and then we can
   "rejoice in hope of the Glory of God."

   3. And not only so, but we glory--We hope for Glory--"the Glory of
   God," and we already, "glory." But in what do we glory? "We glory"--

   3. In tribulations also That is the blackest thing a Christian has--his
   tribulations. So if we can glory in them, surely we can glory in
   anything! "We glory in tribulations also"--

   3. Knowing that tribulation works patience. A man cannot prove that he
   has patience if he has never been tried. Christian patience is not a
   weed--it is a cultivated plant. We only get patience through our
   trials.

   4. And patience, experience; and experience, hope. You cannot make an
   experienced Christian without trouble. You cannot make an old sailor on
   shore, nor make a good soldier without fighting. Here is that window of
   hope, again. Sanding at the back of our experience, we look out the
   window and what God has done for us is a token of what God will do for
   us!

   5. And hope makes us not ashamed.Peace gives us courage, hope takes the
   blush out of the cheek when we confess Christ, for we remember the
   Glory that is to be revealed in Him and in us, so how can shame come
   in?

   5. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
   Spirit which is given unto us. [See Sermons #829, Volume 14--THE
   PERFUMING OF THE HEART and #1904, Volume 32--THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND
   THE GLORIOUS HOPE.] God's love is like sweet per: me in an alabaster
   box--the Holy Spirit breaks that box,

   pours out the love of God into our souls and the perfume fills our
   entire nature!

   6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for
   the ungodly. [See Sermons #1191, Volume 20--for whom

   DID CHRIST DIE? and #1345, Volume 23--FOR WHOM IS THE GOSPEL MEANT?.]

   When we had no power to do anything that was good, when we were weak
   and hopeless, then Christ died for us! This is a wonderful Gospel
   expression which ought to bring comfort to those here who have no
   pretense of godliness, "Christ died for the ungodly."

   7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. However upright and
   just a man may be, nobody thinks of dying for

   him.

   7. Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.That is to
   say, for a generous, kind, noble-hearted man, some might dare to die.

   8. But God commends His love toward us, in that while we were yet
   sinners, Christ died for us. [See Sermon #104, Volume

   2--LOVE'S COMMENDATION--Read/download the entire sermon, free of
   charge, at http://www.spurgeongems.org.] We were neither righteous nor
   yet

   good, yet Christ died for us. "Oh," said a little boy once to his
   mother, "I do not think so much of Christ dying for men. I think I
   would be willing to die if I could save a hundred men by dying." But
   his mother said," Suppose it was a hundred mosquitoes--would you die
   for them?" "Oh, no!" he said, "I would let the whole lot of them die."
   Well, we were much less in comparison with Christ than mosquitoes are
   in relation to men, yet He died for us--good-for-nothing creatures that
   we are! Well does one say, "God shows part of His love to us in many
   different ways, but He shows the whole of His love in giving Christ to
   die for us." Here you see His heart laid bare, the very heart of God
   laid open for the inspection of every believing soul! To die for saints
   would be great love, but to die for sinners, while they are yet
   sinners, and regarding them as sinners--this is love with emphasis--the
   very highest commendation that even Divine Love can have!

   9. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved
   from wrath through Him. See, it is a less thing for God to preserve us
   when we are justified than it is for Him to justify us while we are yet
   sinners! The final perseverance of the saints may well be argued from
   their conversion--their entrance into Glory is guaranteed by the ransom
   price that Christ has paid for their Redemption. He died to save
   sinners, so how is it possible that He should let saints perish? Oh no,
   that can never be! "Much more then, being now justified by His blood,
   we shall be saved from wrath through Him."

   10. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
   of His Son, much more, being reconciled,

   Notice that while we were His enemies, He blessed us. So now that we
   are reconciled to Him, will He not still bless us? If He reconciled us
   to Him by the death of His son, will He not save us by His life, now
   that we are reconciled to Him? Does He make us His Friends, intending
   afterwards to destroy us? Perish such a thought! This verse is like a
   trident, it is a three-pronged argument for our eternal safety! I will
   read it again. "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
   by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
   by His life."

   11. And not only so--Surely we have got high enough when we have
   reached an absolute certainty of our eternal salvation! Yet we are to
   go still higher! "And not only so"--

   11. But we also joy in God---Even now we joy in God, "although the fig
   tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor
   of the olives shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; the flock
   shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
   stalls," yet do "we joy in God"--

   11. Through our Lord Jesus Christ--Every blessing comes to us through
   Him! How Paul delights to harp upon that string! He says continually,
   "through our Lord Jesus Christ"--

   JOY IN GOD--Read/download both sermons, free of charge, at
   http://www.spurgeongems.org.] Through our Lord Jesus Christ we are at
   one with

   God! We are reconciled to Him by the death of His Son. All our sin is
   forever put away. We have received the Atonement and we rejoice in the
   God of our salvation. Glory be to His holy name forever and ever!

   we shall be saved by His life. [See Sermon #2587, Volume --"MUCH
   MORE".]
     __________________________________________________________________

A Clear Understanding

   (No. 3305)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "Jesus said unto them, Have you understood all these things?" Matthew
   13:51.

   THIS is a question which might often be asked of us when we have been
   reading the Scriptures, when we have been attending upon the public
   means of Grace, or when we have been partaking of the Lord's
   Supper--"Have you understood all these things?" It were well for
   someone to run up to us, as Philip did to the eunuch, who on his return
   from Jerusalem was reading in his chariot, and say to us as Philip did
   to him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Or the question might
   be put to us, "Do you understand what you hear? Do you understand even
   what you say?" I fear there are hundreds of religionists in this
   country who never think of understanding that which they attend to
   under the name of religion. They pass through the habitual forms,
   listening to and it may be, joining in the liturgy, till at length the
   service is finished, the day is over and the thing is done! The
   language of devotion has thus slipped through the lips without having
   leaped from the heart. Among ourselves, I fear there may be many who
   are content with listening to the sound of gracious words, who never
   pierce through the shell of the words into the kernel of the
   meaning--satisfied with the external, which is nothing--they miss the
   internal, which is everything!

   "Do you understand these things?" then, is a question which may be
   asked and should be asked often of every worshipper, for it is only so
   far as we enter into religious worship, understanding what we are
   doing, and casting our hearts into it, that it can be at all acceptable
   to God. The Lord's Prayer is quite as good said backwards as forwards
   if you do not say it from the heart. There is quite as much likelihood
   of a benediction in a number of words thrown out pell-mell, without any
   kind of connection, as there would be in the best-arranged sermon, if
   there is not an attentive ear and an understanding heart. Words that
   touch not the understanding glide over us as oil over a slab of marble,
   without effect. Men may perish with the Gospel in their houses! They
   often do perish with the Gospel ringing in their ears, for until they
   understand its importance, it cannot became a soul-saving word to them!

   Nor can it become a sanctifying word to any except as far as they
   receive it into the understanding. If we were to hear the Gospel in
   Latin, after a fashion never so orthodox, one might be no more edified
   by it than by listening to so much blasphemy, because it is not the
   thing heard, but the thing understood and received into the heart which
   blesses the soul. Do let me exhort all of you who are in the habit of
   going up to the House of God, never to be content unless you feel that
   you have got a hold upon the Truth of God that is being taught. O you
   Christian people, I beseech you not to be satisfied with merely the
   terms of theology without getting into the pith and marrow of them! To
   realize in your own soul, by experience, the meaning of a Doctrine is
   the only way of knowing it! Those men never forget a Truth who have had
   it burned into them as with a hot iron, by feeling the bitterness of
   their soul for need of it and the preciousness of that Truth to their
   soul when they receive it. He who does not receive the Truth of God in
   the very power and force of it has but a name to live while he is dead.

   I think these observations are warranted from the fact that though our
   Lord preached the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven in the plainest
   parables to the listening crowd, the very plainness of His speech, in
   using familiar metaphors to make spiritual Truths common, became,
   through the hardness of their hearts, embarrassing to them--they
   stumbled at the mere outward figure, but never learned the inward
   meaning! It was to His own chosen twelve, His favored and elect ones,
   He expanded the riddles when He took them aside and then afterwards
   enquired of them lest they should have missed the meaning of His
   exposition, "Have you understood all these things?" The outward
   testimony of the Gospel may be addressed to the multitude, but the
   understanding of it is conveyed with transparent clearness to His own
   people.

   To hear it is a privilege, but such a privilege as may end without the
   salvation of your soul and with the aggravation of your doom! But to
   understand it is the privilege which leads to eternal life--and happy
   are they who thus find the way to God's right hand.

   I. Let us first consider this searching question--"Have you understood
   all these things?"--as spoken to those who can humbly, but yet
   confidently, say, "YES, WE HAVE UNDERSTOOD THESE THINGS."

   I believe there are many of us here who, although we would not like to
   boast of what we know and could but confess our ignorance before God,
   yet dare not be so false to our own experience as to deny that we do
   know the things which make for our eternal peace. We can say with the
   man whose eyes were opened, "One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now
   I see." We understand at least as much as this--that we are sinners,
   lost and ruined in ourselves, and that in Jesus all our help is found.
   We understand that we were cast away in the first Adam, and that our
   rescue is found in the Second Adam, to whom we look and to whom we are
   now united by a union that can never be broken. We understand this,
   also, that upon His Advent into this world, upon His holy life, His
   blessed death, His Resurrection, His Ascension and the power which He
   now possesses at the right hand of the Father--upon Him in all these
   respects we rest, and rest entirely! If we have not learned enough to
   understand all mysteries and open up all prophesies, yet we do know
   that Christ is precious to our soul, that He is the appointed Savior,
   that He is our Savior and that we are saved through Him. Yes, blessed
   be His name, we can say that we have understood, in our measure, all
   these things--not as we shall understand them, not as we shall know
   them, by-and-by, when clouds and darkness shall all have disappeared
   and we shall be in the clear light of the Throne of God--but we have
   understood these things sufficiently to be led to cast ourselves on
   Jesus and to be affected in our daily life and conversation by the
   Truths which Jesus Christ has taught us!

   If we have thus understood all these things, what then? Let us be
   thankful to God with all our hearts that we can say as much as this,
   for this understanding of Divine Truth is not due to any natural
   intelligence that we possess! We were by nature blind as bats to the
   things of Divine Truth. Neither is it by searching that we have found
   out God, for it was by His searching after us rather than by our
   searching after Him. If we have received an understanding to know Him
   and the height and depth of His precious love, truly we have received
   it as a Free Grace gift from the hand of our Lord! Had He withheld it,
   we would never had found the Savior! But it is because He, out of His
   own good pleasure, irrespective of anything in us, was pleased to touch
   our eyes with eye-salve that we should see, and to bring us out of
   darkness into His marvelous light! It was because of His rich, free,
   Sovereign, distinguishing Grace that we have been made what we are!
   Come, then, let us bless the name of God! Do we feel distressed with
   remaining sin? Yet let each one of us remember, "by the Grace of God I
   am what am." If I have but little Grace, let me be thankful for that
   little--I might have had none at all. And if I am struggling with
   corruption, let me be thankful that I have Grace to struggle with it,
   for time was when I would have enjoyed my corruptions instead of
   lamenting and deploring them! Whatever trial may depress my spirit, let
   me not rob my God of a song, but if, indeed, He has made me to
   understand the things which save my soul, let me praise Him and extol
   Him for His amazing Grace towards such an undeserving one--the least
   deserving of all His family!

   Further, Brothers and Sisters, if you have been led to understand these
   things, ought not this to encourage you to seek to understand more? The
   young beginner in Grace should feel that it will not be impossible for
   him to grow to the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus because
   Grace has quickened him and made him a babe. That is the greatest
   thing--to be made alive at all! When Grace has gone so far as to give
   me life and put me in the family of God, I need not fear but what Grace
   will nurture that life and ultimately bring me to perfection! If I find
   myself growing in God's garden, though I am the tiniest plant in all
   the bed, yet it is such a mercy to be in the garden at all--I who was a
   wild rank weed out in the wilderness before--that I will not doubt but
   what He will water me when I need it and that He will tend and care for
   me till I shall come to perfection. Never think, dear Christian Friend,
   that you cannot master the Gospel Doctrine! Why, you have learned that
   Christ is yours--that is the secret of the Lord! All other Doctrines
   after this are learnable and comparatively easy. Give yourself up to
   the teaching of the Divine Spirit. Wait upon Him in believing prayer
   and He that has led you through the veil will not keep back the keys of
   any of the chambers of the Temple that shall be profitable for you to
   enter! Having understood so much, it behooves you to hope to understand
   more--and as an intelligent Believer in Christ, it becomes you to seek
   to understand more!

   And surely if you have understood all these things, my dear Christian
   Friend, you should not be backward to tell them to others! We are not
   sent in the Divine School to be scholars merely for ourselves. We are
   to be in this world as

   pupil-teachers--pupils always, but teachers, too! Pupils learning
   constantly at the Master's feet and, at the same time, teachers
   instructing others in the Truths of God we know. Let it never be
   supposed that the office of teaching in the Christian Church can
   exclusively belong to one man, or to one class of men! It belongs to
   every Christian man, and to every Christian woman, too! You cannot
   teach beyond what you have been taught of God, and it is in proportion
   as you are taught of God that your teaching takes a wider sphere. But
   you must teach what you know! You will seldom learn much to your own
   profit unless you are diligent in imparting knowledge and edifying one
   another, for it is in the distribution to the rest of the brotherhood
   of the good things which God has given you that you shall enjoy the
   blessing of the Lord which makes rich! If you will not communicate to
   the backsliding, to the desponding and to the feeble, the comforts
   which God gives you, you have cause to fear that in your time of
   trouble you may have those comforts withheld which you once stifled in
   your own breast, not knowing how to use them for the Church's benefit!
   Never keep a Truth of God to yourself, my Brother! Have you found
   honey? There are other mouths that would gladly know its flavor and
   there is enough in that Jonathan's forest of the Scripture for all the
   hosts of Israel to eat! They cannot exhaust it! Thus would I have you
   tell others what a dear Savior you have found. Let other candles be lit
   from your candle and your candle shall burn none the less brightly! But
   rather in this it may be said that to enrich yourselves in all
   knowledge, you must enrich others with the knowledge that you have!

   "Have you understood all these things?" There I will leave you, dear
   people of God. May your hearts glow and your thoughts be stirred in
   pondering this question of the text when you are alone!

   II. But SOME WHO THINK THEY UNDERSTAND ALL THESE THINGS DO NOT
   UNDERSTAND THEM.

   In all our congregations we have many who would say, as quickly as the
   question was heard, "Do you understand all these things?" "Indeed I do!
   I have been a hearer these 30 years. I tell you, Sir, I know the
   difference between Calvinism and Arminianism! A man is not going to
   deceive me--as soon as I hear a sermon, I can tell at once whether it
   is sound or unsound." Well then, dear Friend, I am glad to hear that
   you have so much knowledge. But I want to ask you--Is your life in
   accordance with what you know? Knowing the right from the wrong so
   well, is your life conformed to the image of Christ Jesus, or are you
   living for all the world as if you did not know anything about these
   things? Because, let me say to you, dear Friends, it is a very, very
   solemn thing to have a sort of understanding of Divine Truth, but not
   to be affected by it so as to repent of sin, so as to live unto God, so
   as to seek after holiness! All this religion of yours will be a painted
   pageantry for you to go to Hell in--it will be nothing better than a
   millstone tied about your neck to sink you deeper and deeper! It were
   better, very likely, for you that you never had known the way of
   salvation at all than that having known it, you should have done
   despite to it and have lived in opposition to its spirit and its
   precepts! You had better have been born in the interior of Africa and
   never have listened to the missionary telling of the Crucified One,
   than to have been born in London and fostered under an orthodox
   ministry, if you befool your soul with a name to live while you are
   dead, boasting about your knowledge, but never proving your holiness!
   Talking about faith, but having a faith that is lifeless, producing no
   fruits, resulting in no works answerable to your profession! I charge
   you, knowing professor, to remember your solemn responsibility! I
   beseech you, as you love your own soul, not to make a downy bed out of
   your knowledge, for it shall be a thorn in your dying pillow! I charge
   you not to make Hell hotter to yourself than it need be by taking all
   this knowledge in and panting after more, while you forget that "to
   obey is better than sacrifice," to trust is better than to boast, to
   love is better than to rival and to serve out of simple affection is
   better than to chatter, to discuss, to criticize and to censure!

   It were well if everyone who understands the things of the Gospel, or
   who think he does, would constantly examine himself about this
   business, especially those of us who are ministers. It is a very easy
   thing for us to be self-deceived-- probably more easy for us than for
   any other people because, having a sacred office for a secular
   vocation, we handle these things every day. Assuming it to be our duty
   to admonish others, we are prone to resent admonition ourselves. If we
   have not been converted, it is the least likely thing in all the world
   that we ever will be. I have made the remark myself, and I have heard
   it verified by others, that for pew-openers to be converted is a thing
   probably unheard of. They are busy here and there, till they are known
   to forget their own obligation to worship! Unless they are converted
   before they take that office--concerning which I think we should make
   strict enquiry--in all likelihood they never will be because they are
   so concerned about the pews, and about putting people in them, and I
   know not what besides, that it seems impossible for them to give their
   ears to hear, or their conscience to feel, or that the voice of Truth
   should ever reach them. Next to them comes the preacher who is always
   dealing with the shell of Truth. When he sits down to read the Bible,
   he cannot help thinking whether this or that text would make a sermon.
   When he is praying, often the temptation is to glide into a kind of
   ministerial prayer--not the prayer of a poor sinner coming near to God!

   Perhaps, after all, the least likely person to get a blessing is the
   knowing professor! I tell you that the drunk and the harlot are often
   rescued when such professors are not even reached with the thrilling
   message! The sermon which is made useful to a man who never heard the
   Gospel before is of no use to the hard-headed critic, because he knows
   too much to get any good out of it! Oh, there are some people you
   cannot preach to aright. If the Holy Spirit Himself were to speak, they
   would accuse Him of being heterodox! If an angel from Heaven were to
   deliver the Truth of God fresh from the mouth of God, he would not
   satisfy them. They are always on the look-out for a word amiss. They
   are always seeking, if they can, to pick holes, detect flaws and find
   fault--this is their trade, their craft, the thing at which they are
   expert--to make the message of mercy a kind of target into which they
   may shoot their arrows! These men seldom, I might almost say, never,
   get a blessing. I do not see how they can. The infinite mercy of God
   can do what it will, but seldom does God's Sovereignty light on these
   shallow professors who are eaten up with conceit. Oh, for a solemn
   searching, a sincere self-examination of our hearts! Perhaps we may
   find that our heads are growing and our hearts are shriveling. Some
   children die early because they get the rickets. Their heads are too
   big, poor things, and there are many professors with big heads and
   small hearts. Alas, they have not got the life of God in them at all!
   God save us from this temptation!

   III. Are there not in every congregation SOME WHO WOULD HARDLY KNOW HOW
   TO ANSWER THIS

   QUESTION--"Have you understood all these things?"

   They do understand them, yet they do not. They do up to a point
   theoretically comprehend them, but spiritually and experimentally, they
   discern them not. Fearing lest there might be in the present assembly
   such as really do not understand the very first principles of the Truth
   of God, I would pointedly and earnestly address myself to their
   particular case. My dear Friend, it would be a very dreadful thing for
   your soul to be lost for lack of knowledge and to perish for lack of
   understanding! Solomon says that for the soul to be without knowledge
   is not good. You tell me that you understand the Gospel. I reply to
   you, Then why do you not accept it? You know you are lost, you tell me.
   You know that Jesus Christ is set forth as the only Savior and you know
   that a simple trust in Him will save you. How is it you can continue
   peaceful and happy while you are not a partaker of the Grace of God?
   How is it you can remain satisfied when knowing there is but one way of
   salvation, you have not yet entered upon it, when, acknowledging Christ
   to be the Son of God, and to be the only way of salvation, you have
   lived up till now a despiser or a neglecter of Him? I would gladly
   hope--for it would be the only excuse I could offer for you--that
   perhaps, after all, you really do notunderstand these things which you
   think you do. Let me remind you now--you are an unsaved sinner, you are
   lost, your sin has condemned you, you fell in Adam, you have sinned
   personally and actually and you are condemned to die! It is not that
   one day you will be condemned--you are already condemned! At this
   present moment you are spared and allowed to go about this world, but
   you are like a criminal in a condemned cell! The sentence has gone out
   against you and only God's long-suffering keeps that gleaming axe from
   falling and utterly destroying you! Do you understand that? Have you
   really got that thought into your mind? There you are, just like a man
   about to be beheaded, with your neck on the block, and the axe lifted
   up--and it may fall--while I am yet speaking, the axe of death may fall
   and you, soul and body, may be lost forever before that clock ticks
   again! You know this, but do you really understand it? Will you try to
   understand it? Will you try to make it real to your thoughts tonight?
   For I think if you would, there might be some hope that now you would
   escape from your present ruin and lift up your heart to the great
   Father of Mercies, and say, "Lord, save me, or I perish."

   You know another Truth of God and you say you understand it. Let me put
   it to you. Jesus Christ came into this world. He was God's
   only-begotten Son, but He became Man and as Man, for man He suffered.
   God most punish sin, but He punished Jesus Christ for the sins of His
   people. And those who trust Him are secure because Jesus Christ was
   their Substitute--and they go free. Now, there is no other hope of
   redemption from the fiery wrath of God but by having a part and lot in
   the substitutionary work of Christ! You know that, but you have not got
   a part and lot in it and you must be lost if you continue without that
   part or lot. How is it that you can be quiet? You sleep soundly at
   night. You eat and drink cheerfully and you sometimes enjoy a merry
   ringing laugh. How can you revel in the pleasures of sense? How can you
   give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids until you get the
   one thing necessary, the one thing which alone can

   make eternity happy--that infinite future upon which you are so soon to
   enter? If Jesus Christ, standing in Heaven, is preached to you tonight
   and you are bid to believe in Him, and you do not believe in Him, then
   you do, as far as you can, crucify Him afresh and open His wounds again
   and make them bleed! Do you mean to do that? Do you understand that
   this is what you are doing every day? Would you, dear Friend, would you
   call God a liar? And yet the Apostle John says that, "He that believes
   not God, has made Him a liar because he believes not the record that
   God gave of His Son." Do you understand what this unbelief of yours
   really is? You doubt Christ! That is to say, you do not think Christ to
   be truthful, or good, or able, or strong! Oh, but you say, you know
   better than that! Then, if you know better why do you act as if you did
   not know better? If He is able to save, and willing to save, O my dear
   Hearer, why not come to Him as you are and cast yourself at His
   feet--and rest in Him in whom your only rest can be found? "Have you
   understood all these things?" then, is a question which you cannot,
   after all, answer in the right way! I beseech you never to rest until
   you can!

   Should there be, my dear Hearers, something which keeps you back from
   Christ, arising not so much from your need of will as from your need of
   knowledge, may God the Holy Spirit stir up your desire and never let
   you rest till you know Christ, till you so hear that your soul shall
   live! How shall you know? He is the great Teacher, but in the use of
   means He will teach you. Be content in attending the House of God where
   Christ is most preached. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think
   you have eternal life, and these are they that testify of Him. Go to
   the Father of Mercy and plead with Him ere you sleep. Pray to Him thus,
   "Father, if there is some sin that I do not know to be a sin, that I am
   indulging in, and that keeps me from Christ, show it to me and enable
   me to give it up. Or if it is a sin which I do know, but seem to have
   struggled with in vain, my Father, strengthen me that I may cut off the
   right arm and pluck out the right eye sooner than cherish those vain
   delights which bode my everlasting destruction." Plead with Him
   thus--"O my God, I want to know Your Son; reveal Your Son in me, for so
   I read You do to Your people. Reveal your Son in me by the Holy Spirit!
   I am a poor, blind, ignorant sinner, but teach me, for have You not
   given the Spirit of God on purpose to be the Teacher of the ignorant
   and the Instructor of the babes?" Plead with the Lord, and plead always
   with the recollection that you cannot ask because you deserve, but you
   must ask because Christ deserves! Plead His wounds, His blood, His
   death, His infinite merit and you shall, before long--I am certain of
   it--you shall before long, in answer to your cries, receive light from
   the Word, and in that light you shall see light and you shall
   understand the things which make for your peace!

   I am deeply concerned for some of you, especially for such of you as
   often listen to my voice, that I may not forever keep on talking into
   your ears and never reach your hearts. What? Am I to rock your cradle
   and send you to sleep that you may sleep yourselves into Hell? Is mine
   to be the voice that is really to increase your responsibility and not
   to be the means of bringing you to Jesus? I pray God to avert so
   dreadful a result to all our ministry, but may you be led this very
   night--for God's people have been praying for you--may you be led this
   very night to confess that you do not understand what you ought to
   understand and go to the great and wise God to teach and instruct you!
   And as surely as His Word is the Truth of God, He will instruct you and
   teach you in the way that you should go and bring you to Himself. He
   that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved! Thus says His
   own Word, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved."
   Trust--that is the main matter. To believe is to trust, to rely on, to
   depend upon--he that depends upon Jesus, trusts Him, believes in Him,
   is saved! May we be of that blessed number and His shall be the Glory.
   Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW 13:1-23.

   Verses 1, 2. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the
   seaside. And great multitudes were gathered together unto Him, so that
   He went into a boat, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the
   shore. I think I can see the little ship at a convenient distance from
   the shore so as to keep off the multitudes of people, in order that the
   Savior might speak more freely. There He sits with a boat for a pulpit.
   There were no conventionalities about the Lord Jesus when He was upon
   the earth--He was willing to speak to the people anywhere from any
   pulpit whatever!

   3. And He spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
   sower went forth to sow. [See Sermon #2842, Volume

   49--THE SOWER.] It was probably at that season of the year when

   the sowers were going forth to sow their seed, so Jesus pointed to them
   as to a living text. He was always wide-awake to

   make use of everything that occurred round about Him. "A sower went
   forth to sow." For what else should he go forth? Yet some sowers that I
   know of do not go forth to sow, but to exhibit themselves and to show
   how well they can do their work. This man aimed at sowing and nothing
   else. Oh, that all preachers did the same!

   4. And when he sowed, some seeds feel by the wayside.He could not help
   that. He was not sent to pick the soil, that would be too much
   responsibility for him. If we had to preach only to certain characters,
   we should be taking up all our time in picking out those characters!
   And probably we would make many mistakes while trying to do it. Our
   business is to scatter the Good Seed broadcast. We are not to dibble in
   the Word of God--we are to throw it as far as we can, and to let it
   fall wherever God pleases. "Some seeds fell by the wayside"--on ground
   trodden hard by the passers-by.

   4. And the fowls came and devoured them up. Those fowls are always
   ready to devour the Good Seed. Wherever there is a congregation met to
   hear the Word, there are always plenty of devils ready to do their evil
   work! "The fowls came," they had not far to fly. The birds know a sower
   by the very look of him, so they hurry up and come wherever the seed
   may be cast that they may devour it. O Lord, keep the fowls away or,
   better still, break up the soil so that the seed may enter and not lie
   upon the surface!

   5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth. There
   was a pan of unbroken limestone an inch or two below the soil, but
   there was no depth of earth where the seeds could grow.

   5. And forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth.
   They seemed to be converts, but they proved to be worthless. They were
   enthusiastic, carried away with excitement, but all was soon over with
   them "because they had no deepness of earth." Everything was
   superficial, there was no depth of character, or feeling, or emotion.

   6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no
   root, they withered away. [See Sermon #2844,

   Volume 49--THE SEED UPON A ROCK.] They seemed to be alive at the

   top, but they were really dead below. How many there still are of that
   sort--they make a bold profession, but it is only for a while--and then
   they wither away.

   7. 8. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked
   them: but other fell into good ground-- Thank God we do not lose all
   our efforts! If one in four succeeds, it is great deal for which we
   ought to praise the Lord. So, Brother, Sister--

   "Sow in the morn your seed, At eve hold not your hand. To doubt and
   fear give you no heed, Broadcast it over the land."

   8. And brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
   thirtyfold. There are degrees even in fruit-fulness--Christians are not
   all alike. Oh, that we had a hundredfold return for our sowing
   everywhere! We do not get it, and can scarcely expect it, but let us
   thank God if we have "some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
   thirtyfold."

   9-12. Who has ears to hear, let him hear And the disciple came and said
   unto Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered and said
   unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
   Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For whoever has, to him
   shall be given, andhe shall have more abundance: but whoever

   has not, from him shall be taken away even that he has. [See Sermon
   #1488, Volume 25--MORE AND MORE, OR LESS AND LESS.] It is so even in
   common things--the man of intelligence who has a good groundwork of
   education, picks up something everywhere--but the ignorant man learns
   nothing anywhere. He only finds out more and more of his own ignorance
   till there is taken away from him even that which he had. Oh, that the
   Lord would give us a good groundwork of saving knowledge so that we
   might go on learning more and more under the Holy Spirit's teaching!

   13-16. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing, see
   not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them
   is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall
   hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not
   perceive: for this people's heart is grown gross, and their ears are
   dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they
   should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
   understand with their heart, andshould be converted, and I should heal
   them. But blessedare your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they
   hear.It is awful thing when God gives men up to spiritual blindness and
   dullness and hardness, but it does happen. If you hear the Word and
   refuse to receive it, you do, to that extent, harden your heart. And if
   you continue to do so, you will by degrees lose the capacity for
   understanding the Word. Take heed what you hear! O my

   dear Hearers, I am afraid that many of you are not aware of the solemn
   responsibility of hearing the Gospel and of the terrible peril of
   having your ears made dull and your heart made hard! I am responsible
   for preaching faithfully to you, but you are equally responsible for
   hearing what is preached. Let us not waste any opportunity that we have
   of hearing the Word, but use it wisely and well that we may be able to
   give a good account of it before God in our fruitfulness.

   Now, if the Savior's main design, in the use of parables, had been that
   men should not understand Him, He could have answered that end better
   by not speaking at all. But see how mercy blends with justice, and
   gives them another opportunity of hearing the Word. They might have
   come to Jesus even as His disciples did, and asked Him questions, and
   He would have explained the truth to them. If any of you today hear
   anything which you do not understand, go to the Lord about it in
   private prayer and He will explain it to you. I tremble lest any of you
   should hear the Word and not receive it and yet be content! That is the
   worst state of all for anyone to be in! May God save you from it! But
   as for you who know the lord, "blessed are your eyes, for they see."
   Those are blessed eyes that can really see. Eyes that cannot see are a
   trial, but "blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for
   they hear." It is nothing but the Grace of God that can make our ears
   spiritually hear. He that made the ear can alone make an open passage
   from the ear to the heart. If you have received this blessing, be very
   grateful for it, and bless the God of Grace for giving it to you!

   17. For verily I say unto you, That many Prophets and righteous men
   have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them;
   and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them. To
   you Christian people, there is given a very full revelation of the
   Truth of God. You live in the mid-day Glory of the Gospel, but the
   "Prophets and righteous men" of old lived in the morning twilight. Be
   the more grateful and bless the Lord with all your hearts.

   18, 19. Hear you, therefore, the parable of the sower When anyone hears
   the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the Wicked
   One and catches away that which was sown in his heart This is he which
   received the seed by the wayside.There are many such Hearers! They just
   hear the Word and that is all. They are very much like the countryman
   who said that he liked Sunday, for it was such an easy day--he had
   nothing to do but go to church, put up his legs and think of nothing.
   There are far too many hearers of that sort who think of nothing and,
   therefore, they get no good out of what they hear.

   20, 21. But he that received the seed in the stony places, the same is
   he that hears the word, and with joy receives it, yet has he not root
   in himself, but endures for a while: but when tribulation or
   persecution arises because of the word, by-and-by he is offended.He
   soon ceases even to profess to be a Christian! He jumped into religion
   and he jumps out again. Revival always produce a large quantity of such
   people, and yet, if there is one soul truly saved, the revival is a
   success as far as that one is concerned.

   22, 23. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears
   the word, and the care of this world, and the de-ceitfulness of riches,
   choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful But he that received seed in
   the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it Knows
   what it means, thinks it over, takes it in as the good ground takes in
   the seed and keeps it--

   23. Which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some
   sixty, some thirty. I say again--Oh, that we had a hundredfold return
   for our sowing! Yet let us not forget to give God thanks if we have
   sixtyfold or even thirty-

   fold.
     __________________________________________________________________

Satan, Self, Sin and the Savior

   (No. 3306)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL
   19, 1866.

   "And He asked him, What is your name? And he answered, saying, My name
   is Legion: for we are many." Mark 5:9.

   I THINK the text suggests to us something about Satan, something about
   self and also something about sin and the Savior

   I. Without any preface, let us at once seek to find in the text
   SOMETHING ABOUT SATAN.

   Although an unclean spirit, Legion, like his master, Satan, is very apt
   to lie. There is no doubt that here, in the Presence of Christ, he
   spoke the truth when he said, "My name is Legion: for we are many." So
   the first thought suggested by the name, "Legion," is that there are
   many demons against whom we have to be on the watch in this world.
   There is one great master power of evil who is called, "your adversary
   the devil," but there are also multitudes of demons under his control
   who are all, like himself, full of hatred to God and to goodness and
   bent upon doing as much harm as they can to the Kingdom of Christ among
   men. We do not know how numerous these evil spirits are, but there is
   reason to believe that there are very many of them, so that it will be
   no easy task to overcome them--and it is no wonder that there is so
   much evil in the world when there are so many evil spirits constantly
   seeking to lead men astray.

   The next idea connected with the name, "Legion," is that of
   organization, for a Roman legion was not merely a large band of
   soldiers, but it was a thoroughly organized band of several thousands
   of men who had taken the oath of allegiance to the Roman emperor and
   who yielded implicit obedience to the centurions and other officers who
   were placed in authority over them. In like manner we have reason to
   believe that the vast multitudes of evil spirits are not an
   undisciplined mob, but that they are organized and controlled even as
   they were when the devil and his angels fought against Michael and his
   angels. No doubt they are able to consult and conspire together, and to
   work unitedly for the attainment of some common end. Satan is called
   the Prince of the power of the air, and the name, Prince, implies
   followers who come and go at his command and do his bidding. We who
   have most to do with fighting against this demoniacal legion know that
   we have no easy task, and we can say, as Paul did, "We wrestle not
   against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
   against the ruler of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
   wickedness in high places." It would be impossible for us to be victors
   in this dread conflict had we not on our side One who is more mighty
   than all who can be against us!

   But the name, "Legion," not only suggests the idea of many who are
   thoroughly organized for fighting, it also conveys the idea ofunity.
   The unclean spirit said, "My name is Legion," as if the legion were
   himself and he were the legion. It is a great art in war when a whole
   battalion can be made to move as one man. The Roman phalanx was so
   often victorious because the men composing it were compacted into one
   solid body--and that seems to be one of the characteristics of the
   powers of darkness. It is a sickening thought that while Christians
   frequently quarrel, we never hear of devils doing so. The Church of God
   is divided but the kingdom of darkness appears to be one. Whatever
   internal strife there may be between evil spirits, we have no hint of
   it here--they all seemed to act in complete unison. Whether hate is a
   more compacting principle than love, I will not venture to say, but
   certainly these haters of God and of His Truth appear to be knit
   together as though they were one devil rather than a multitude of evil
   spirits! Yet the lovers of the Lord Jesus Christ are not knit together
   as one man under His blessed rule. Herein lies the force of the Evil
   One--that his host is so united as to be called a legion, moving
   forward in absolute union as one great evil power! As you, Beloved,
   think of this great host all banded together for one purpose--and that
   purpose your destruction--flying like vast hordes of locusts bent on

   devastating every place they visit, you must realize that you can never
   overcome the numerous, organized, united forces of evil by your own
   unaided strength!

   The name, "Legion," also suggest a great band of soldiers marshaled for
   war--not a company of people engaged in peaceful avocations, but an
   armed host marching to battle at their commander's orders! The Roman
   legionnaires were protected with heavy armor and they carried short
   sharp swords with which they did terrible execution. When they went
   forth to war, it was as when a tornado sweeps away the stubble or a
   fire sets a forest ablaze until it is utterly consumed. They were
   mighty men, trained and disciplined for war from their youth up! And
   Satan and his myrmidons have been for these six thousand years familiar
   with the art of injuring and ruining men! They are expert in the use of
   their deadly weapons--they know what arrows in their quiver will find
   the joints in your harness, my Brother, and what fiery darts will be
   most effective against you, my Sister. While reading the 18th Psalm
   today, I especially noticed what David says in the 5th verse, "The
   sorrows (the marginal reading is "the cords") of Hell compassed me
   about," as though some infernal powers had cast ropes all around him
   and were drawing them ever more tightly hoping to enclose the Psalmist
   in bonds from which he could not escape! Then he adds, "The snares of
   death confronted me," as though his enemies, whether men or devils, had
   laid deadly traps in which they hoped to ensnare him. This is what the
   evil spirits are constantly doing with regard to you, Beloved, and you
   wild be wise if you do what David tells us that he did--"In my distress
   I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of
   His Temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears"-- and then
   you, too, will before long be able to say with David, "He delivered me
   from my strong enemy, and from them who hated me: for they were too
   strong for me."

   Further, the name, "Legion," is of historical interest. I have not time
   to relate the brave deeds of some of the most noted of the Roman
   legions. The record of them was cherished by their successors just as
   the heroic exploits of famous British regiments are kept in memory in
   our own land today. As you think of the legions of evil spirits that
   are still doing their wicked master's will, you will see that they have
   some things in their past history wherein they can glory, though their
   glory will be turned to shame. The banners of our soldiers tell of
   victories won on many a hard-fought field. The first inscription on the
   black flag of Diabolus is the one word, "Eden." If Satan can be capable
   of any enjoyment, it must be a very sweet morsel for him to roll under
   his tongue when he thinks of the victory that he gained in Paradise,
   when the whole human race, in the person of its representative, Adam,
   was so ignominiously overthrown! It is true that since then he has had
   more defeats than victories and that, by this time, he must have had at
   least many a foretaste of that final bruising of his head which was
   foretold in the Garden, yet he still perseveres in his hopeless task of
   leading on his condemned legions against the followers of that great
   King against whom he revolted so long ago. The indomitable pluck of
   Satan is a thing which deserves to be imitated by Christians. The only
   point in which I can hold him up for your admiration is this--desperate
   as his cause is, he still presses on with it! Foiled as he has been ten
   thousand times, he is still ready for the fray. Oh, that we had half as
   much holy courage as he has of unholy impudence, that we might face our
   foes as boldly as he faces his! With such a blessed cause as our
   Master's is, oh, that we had valor worthy of it!

   So, Christian, I bid you again to look at your great adversary, that
   you may realize how stern is the conflict in which you are engaged. You
   are often afraid of Satan, but he is never afraid of you. If you turn
   your back in the day of battle, it is not likely that he will turn his.
   If you are to come off more than conqueror in this lifelong fight, you
   must be no mere feather-bed soldier. If you have only the name of a
   Christian, and not the nature of a Christian, defeat must certainly
   await you. Count the cost of this campaign before you commence it--see
   whether your force of one thousand is likely to prevail against your
   adversary's hundred thousand--and then, as you realize your own
   insufficiency, cry to the Strong for strength! Rely upon your Almighty
   Ally, and in His might go forth to this holy war rejoicing in the
   assurance that "the God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
   shortly."

   II. Now, turning from that part of the subject, let us next find here
   SOMETHING ABOUT SELF. I believe there are some persons in this
   congregation who are, in a measure, desirous of salvation, yet they
   despair of ever being able to attain to it. We generally have some in
   these seats who are anxious about their eternal safety, but who fear
   that they never can be saved--their sins are too many, their
   infirmities too great, their temptations too strong and the
   circumstances in which they are placed too unfavorable. They conclude
   that while other sinners may be saved, there is no hope for them. Let
   us see how the case of this poor demoniac resembles theirs! Someone has
   said that his answer to Christ's question was, first, the proud
   opposition of a heart that wanted an argument for resistance to Christ
   and, se-

   condly, the mournful complaint of a being conscious of its miserable
   condition! In each case it may be instructive to some here.

   First, there was much pride in the answer, "Legion, for we are many."
   And there is also much pride in those sinners who despair of being
   saved because of the greatness of their sin. When men are resolved not
   to part with their sins, they generally use one of these two arguments.
   They either say, "Our sins are so great that we know we shall never get
   to Heaven, so we may as well keep on sinning." Or else, "We can turn
   from sin whenever we please. Repentance is such a simple matter that we
   can attend to it at any time, so we will put it off as long as we can."
   These are quite opposite extremes, but the exchange from the one to the
   other can be made very rapidly. If a man needs an excuse for clinging
   to his sin, he can always find one, and any lie will satisfy the soul
   that is resolved not to be saved! Suppose, my Friend, you were
   suffering from some deadly disease which a noted physician offered to
   cure, but you were unwilling to take his medicine? Your foolish heart
   might suggest to you two reasons for not taking it. The first would be,
   "My case is so desperate that no medicine can do me any good." And the
   other would be, "The medicine is so potent that if I take it in a
   year's time, when I am much worse than I am now, it will still cure
   me." Neither of these would be a valid reason for not taking the
   medicine at once! And if a man died through refusing to take it, a
   verdict of felo de se would be perfectly justifiable! There are
   multitudes of souls who are lost because they do not believe that
   Christ can save them and, on the other hand, probably there are quite
   as many lost because they think it is such an easy thing to be saved
   that it can be settled any time that they please! I implore you, dear
   Friends, not to use any argument for refusing Christ! Why should you
   argue yourselves into eternal ruin? Have you not some better use to
   which to put your wits than to reason on Satan's side to your own
   destruction? Rather, account the testimony of God's Word that your
   sins, even though they may be a legion, or more than that, are not too
   many to be forgiven! Believe that there is efficacy in the precious
   blood of Jesus to make you whiter than snow and that He is "mighty to
   save" even you, for, "He is able to save them to the uttermost that
   come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for
   them." If you are possessed by a legion of demons, trust in Him whose
   almighty arm can overthrow the whole lot of them!

   This name, "Legion," also suggests to us the mournful utterance of
   self-consciousness sorrowing over its sin. Surely in this congregation
   there are some who are saying, "Alas, our sins are many and they have
   brought us into a most pitiful plight! We have not only withered hands,
   but we have lame feet, we have blind eyes, we have deaf ears and, worst
   of all, a heart that is dead as the stones of the street! From the
   soles of our feet to the crown of our head there is no soundness in
   us--just wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores." My dear Friends,
   if you truthfully utter that sorrowful lament, I am glad to hear it!
   And whether you know it or not, that state of things is really a reason
   why God is likely to save you! Let me remind you of some of the
   arguments that we find in the Word of God. There is one in the 18th
   Psalm to which I referred you just now. David says of the Lord, "He
   delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for
   they were too strong for me." He was unable to cope with his
   adversaries, so he trusted the Lord to deliver him--and He did! There
   is a similar argument concerning the stone that covered the Savior's
   sepulcher. The women said, "Who shall roll us away the stone from the
   door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw that the stone
   was rolled away, "for"--for what?--"for it was very great." If it had
   not been very great, they might have rolled it away themselves! But as
   it was too heavy for them to move, the angel rolled it away for them.
   David is a great master of this kind of argument. In Psalm 25:11, he
   prays, "For Your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity; for it is
   great." That seems a strange plea to urge, yet it is one that prevails
   with God. If I plead to be pardoned because I am not a great sinner, I
   am legal and carnal. But if I plead to be pardoned because I am such a
   great sinner, I am moved by an evangelical motive and there is room for
   the display of Divine Grace to one who confesses his need of it! This
   is like the poor sufferer who cries out to the doctor, "O Sir, do
   attend to me, for mine is a desperate case!" Or like the beggar in the
   street who pleads, "Give me help, for I am starving." You must use your
   need and the greatness of your need as an argument with the Lord! There
   are some whom I know here who would almost give their eyes if they
   could only feel their sin as much as you do. They want to be troubled
   more about it, they want to despair more over it. Well, they are
   foolish, and so are you! They are foolish in desiring to despair more,
   and you are foolish in wishing that you did not despair as much. You
   should, all of you, give up looking to yourselves, and go to Jesus just
   as you are and trust to Him to save you!

   III. Now I come to the last point, SOMETHING ABOUT OUR SINS AND OUR
   SAVIOR. Our sins are very much

   like Satan--they are his children and they are very much like their
   father.

   Our sins may rightly be called legion. Oh, how many they are! I cannot
   count them, they are more in number than the sands of the sea or the
   stars of the sky! Yet while they are so many, I may also say of them
   that they are one, for there is a dreadful unity about our sin. One sin
   very seldom checks another, it sometimes does, but more frequently one
   sin incites another. I have heard it said that some men would be mean
   if they were not proud, but I have seen people who have been very proud
   and also very mean. I have known some who have been very bad-tempered,
   but it was said that they would not display their temper in certain
   places because they feared they would be losers by doing so, only it
   was added that they indulged themselves all the more freely in other
   directions and so made up for their selfish self-restraint. Except in
   such ways as these, I do not think that one sin is a check upon
   another, but on the other hand, one sin very often leads to others. If
   you turn one devil out at the front door, he often comes in again at
   the back--and brings with him 10 other devils worse than himself! You
   must have proved how easy it is to get rid of one vice only to fall
   into another. Did you ever pray with all your heart against sloth, and
   then feel proud to think how busy you were getting? Then, when you got
   rid of your pride, you found that despondency was following close
   behind! And when you had fought against despondency and overcome it,
   there was presumption pressing to the front! So will you find it till
   your dying day, but I trust that you will also find that though your
   sins are many, and though there is a terrible unity about them by which
   they work together to ruin you, your experience will be, like David's,
   so that you will be able to say, "They were too strong for me, but the
   Lord delivered me."

   That brings me to my last point, which is this, the Lord Jesus Christ
   can as easily cast out a legion of sins as He can cast out one. If I
   had only committed one sin in the whole of my life, I should have
   needed an Omnipotent Savior to put away that one sin by the Sacrifice
   of Himself. And if I could have committed all the sins that have ever
   been committed by all the sinners in the whole world, I should not have
   needed any greater Savior than I have now! If I had only one
   disposition towards evil, one vice that needed to be overcome, or one
   evil tendency that had to be counteracted, I should need the Almighty
   Power of the ever-blessed Spirit to accomplish the task. And if my
   heart is a cage full of unclean birds, that same Holy Spirit can drive
   them all out! When the Lord comes into the field of battle, we need not
   trouble about counting the numbers of the enemy, for He is the Lord of
   Hosts, and He is, in Himself, mightier than all who can be gathered
   against Him--He can overthrow all the forces of evil as easily as He
   cast the legion of devils out of that poor demoniac!

   Perhaps some of you are just now in great trouble because of your
   inward corruptions. It may be that you have lately had such a sight of
   them as you have never before had in all your lives. Well, dear
   Friends, this may humble you, but I pray that you will not let it cause
   you to dishonor the Lord Jesus Christ. Never forget that the King of
   kings is still reigning supreme over all the powers of darkness! Satan
   may rage and rave in his great wrath, but there is a bit in his mouth
   and a bridle on his jaws--and he can be controlled and restrained just
   as the Lord pleases. He who rules the roaring billows and rides upon
   the wings of the wind can make all the forces of evil subservient to
   His will. Even when the devil is permitted to attack the children of
   God, there is always a limit set beyond which he cannot go, as there
   was in the case of Job. To my mind, the poor Patriarch sitting down
   among the ashes, smitten with sore boils from the sole of his feet to
   the crown of his head, and yet resignedly saying to his wife, "Shall we
   receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" is a
   much nobler being than Satan reigning among the fiends of the Pit! Job
   might have laughed Satan to scorn as messenger after messenger came to
   tell him that his oxen and asses were stolen and his servants slain by
   the Sabeans, that his sheep had been burned up by lightning, that his
   camels had been carried away by the Chaldeans and last and worst of
   all, that his children had been killed by the great wind from the
   wilderness that smote the four corners of the house where they were
   eating and drinking. And I think that was what Job practically did
   when, with sublime resignation, he said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord
   has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." How glorious was the
   Patriarch's victory when he had been still further tried, yet was able
   to utter that grand declaration of his faith in God, "Though He slays
   me, yet will I trust in Him"!

   But how much more glorious was the victory of the Man, Christ Jesus,
   over His great adversary and ours! When "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
   the Jews," was nailed to the Cross, Satan thought that he had won the
   day. The old serpent had stung Him to death, vainly imagining that all
   was over with Him. I think I see the arch-fiend gloating over the awful
   agonies of the dying Savior and maliciously taunting Him as He hung
   there apparently forsaken by God and man. "Ah," he said, "Seed of the
   woman, I have indeed bruised Your heel. I have made men reject You and
   put You to death! I have vexed and tormented You, I have scorned and
   scouted You and You have not a word to say for Yourself. And now Your

   soul must soon depart out of Your body." Yet as the devil was still
   pouring out his vainglorious boasts and taunts, with a mighty voice,
   the expiring Savior cried, "It is finished," and in that moment His
   soul sprang upon the enemy and utterly routed him forever! "You have
   conquered, O Galilean!" is said to have been the dying cry of Julian
   the apostate, and Satan might have said the same, for when Jesus nailed
   to His Cross the handwriting that was against us, "having spoiled
   principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing
   over them in Himself," for that is the marginal reading of Colossians
   2:15 and, therefore, with Dr. Watts--

   "I sing my Savior's wondrous death;

   He conquered when He fell!

   'Tis finished! 'said His dying breath,

   And shook the gates of Hell!

   His Cross a sure foundation laid

   For Glory and renown,

   When through the regions of the dead

   He passed to reach the crown " Yes, Jesus triumphed in the very hour
   that looked like the time of His defeat! So praise Him, you bright
   spirits before the Throne of God, and imitate Him, you saints still
   here below, for--

   "As surely as He overcame,

   And triumphed once for you,

   So surely you that love His name

   Shall triumph in Him too"-- even though your foes are named Legion, for
   they are many. God bless you, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MARK5.

   Verses 1-6. And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the
   country of the Gadarenes. And when He was come out of the boat,
   immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean
   spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind
   him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with
   fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and
   the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And
   always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs,
   crying, and cutting himself with stones. What a pitiful object this
   poor creature must have been--a terror to the whole region! So far as
   man was concerned, he was in an utterly hopeless condition, yet there
   was hope for him, for Jesus had crossed the sea apparently with the
   special purpose of healing him! Our Savior had proved His power over
   the winds and waves and He was about to show that demons were equally
   subject to His control.

   6, 7. But when he saw Jesus afar off he ran and worshipped him, and
   cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with You, Jesus,
   You Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, that You torment me
   not [See Sermon #2966,

   Volume 51--RESISTANCE TO SALVATION.] The voice was the voice of the

   man, but the devil so completely dominated the whole of his being that
   he could only speak as the unclean spirit directed him.

   8. For He said unto him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit So
   that the demon's adjuration was an answer to the Lord's command, "Come
   out of the man, you unclean spirit."

   9-13. And He asked him, What is your name? And he answered, saying, My
   name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought Him much that He would
   not send them away out of the country. Now there was there near unto
   the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils
   besought Him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into
   them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went
   out and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep
   place into the sea, (they were about two thousand) and were drowned in
   the sea.It is clear from this narrative that the demons knew that Jesus
   was the Son of the Most High God, and that He had absolute power to do
   with them whatever He pleased. It is also clear that they believed in
   prayer, and that they were all agreed in their supplication to Him--and
   it is significant that Jesus granted their request. "Send us into the
   swine, that we may enter into them." There was a certain congruity in
   the unclean spirits entering into the unclean animals, so, "forthwith
   Jesus gave them leave."

   14, 16. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and
   in the country. And they went out to see what it

   was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and saw him that was
   possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and
   in his right mind: and they were afraid. What a wonderful sight that
   was for them to see! Yet they need not have been afraid--they ought
   rather to have rejoiced to see the poor demoniac "sitting, and clothed,
   and in his right mind."

   16, 17. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was
   possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began
   to pray him to depart out of their coasts.Here is a second prayer in
   which many united--a very foolish and wicked prayer--yet the Savior did
   as these people wished. He would not force His company upon those who
   wanted Him to go, so He at once turned His face to the boat that He
   might "depart out of their coasts."

   18, 19. And when He was come into the boat, he that had been possessed
   with the devil prayed Him that he might be with Him. Howbeit Jesus
   allowed him not, but said to him, go home to your friends, and tell
   them how great things the

   Lord has done for you, and has had compassion on you [See Sermon #2262,
   Volume 38--CHRIST'S CURATE IN DECAPOLIS.] This is the third prayer in
   this chapter. Not like the two previous ones--the petition of many who
   were not Christ's followers. It was the earnest supplication of one who
   was so grateful for what Jesus had done for him that he longed to be
   always with Him. Yet it was not granted, because Jesus saw that the man
   could serve Him better by bearing testimony among those who knew him to
   the great things the Lord had done for him.

   20. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things
   Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. His testimony not only
   made men marvel, but it helped to prepare the people to welcome the
   Savior when He returned to that region.

   21. And when Jesus had passed over again by boat unto the other side,
   many people gathered unto Him: and He was near unto the sea. How many
   missionary voyages Jesus made, sometimes to one side of the sea,
   sometimes to the other side! What an example of holy diligence He is to
   us! So long as He lived here below, He never ceased to labor for He
   never ceased to love.

   22. And, behold, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus
   by name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His feet.It was an unusual
   thing for a ruler of the synagogue to be at the feet of Jesus, yet that
   is the best place for us all! If God has placed any of you in an
   eminent position, it will well become you to fall at the feet of Jesus
   as Jairus did. There is no place more suitable, no place more
   honorable, no place more profitable than at the feet of Jesus! What
   brought Jairus there? It was his great need--and that is what will
   bring us there--a sense of our great need.

   23. And sought Him greatly, saying, My little daughter lies at the
   point of death: I pray You, come and lay Your hands on her, that she
   may be healed; and she shall live. This was great faith, yet it was
   also little faith, for he limits Christ's power to His bodily Presence
   and he stipulates about the way in which the cure is to be worked! "I
   pray You, come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed." Yet
   we never like to criticize faith, there is so little of it, and it is
   so precious a thing that we are glad to see it anywhere--and especially
   in a ruler of the synagogue! Oh, that we all prayed thus for our little
   daughters and our little sons--"Lord, come and lay Your hands on them!
   There is sin in them and sin means spiritual death--come and lay Your
   hands on them, that they may be healed and live forever."

   24. And Jesus went with him.He will always regard true prayer! If we
   can believe, Jesus will come.

   24, 25. And much people followed Him, and thronged Him. And a certain
   woman--There were many in the throng around Jesus who did not touch
   Him, and there were many who touched Him, but not as she did! So she is
   singled out from the crowd. "A certain woman,"--

   25-28. Which hadan issue ofblood twelve years, and had suffered many
   things of many physicians, andhad spent all

   that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she
   had heard of Jesus, came in the pres behind,

   and touched His garment. For she said, If I may touch but His clothes,
   I shall be whole. [See Sermons #827, Volume 14--the faculTY
   BAFFLED--THE GREAT PHYSICIAN SUCCESSFUL and #1382, Volume 23--THE
   TOUCH.] Was this woman sent, do you think, to encourage the faith of
   Jarius? It has been well said that the

   child of Jairus had been twelve years living, but this woman had been
   twelve years dying, so, if Christ could heal the

   woman who had been twelve years dying, He could raise the child who had
   been twelve years living! It is significant that

   there should have been this equalization of the number of years in the
   two cases. Although Jairus seemed strong in faith,

   he was not really so. He put the best side of his faith forward, while
   this woman, who was strong in faith, yet coming behind Christ and
   touching Him, as it were, by stealth, put the worst side of her faith
   forward. We have known this to be the case in others--some who seem to
   be strong in faith are none too strong. And some who seem to be very
   weak in faith are much stronger than they seem.

   29-31. And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she
   felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus,
   immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out ofHim, turned
   Him about in thepress, and said, Who touched My clothes? And His
   disciple said unto Him, You see the multitude thronging You, and say
   You, Who touched Me? They spoke too fast, as we also sometimes do. It
   would have been well if they had said nothing which looked like
   questioning their Master's word.

   32, 33. And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
   But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came
   and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truthi. [See Sermon
   #514, Volume 9--tell it

   ALL.] The miracle had been worked in her, yet she was fearing

   and trembling because she perceived the imperfection of her way of
   approaching the Savior! Probably, after we are saved, we see more of
   our mistakes than we did before. And when the blessing really comes to
   us, we begin to be anxious lest we should lose Christ because of some
   misapprehension in our way of finding Him. The woman "fell down before
   Him, and told Him all the truth."

   34. And He said unto her, Daughter This was a very unusual way for
   Christ to speak to a woman, so careful was He in His speech, but then
   she was a very exceptional woman! "Daughter"--

   34, 35. Your faith has made you whole, go in peace, and be whole of
   your plague. While He yet spoke, there came from the ruler of the
   synagogue's house a certain man who said, Your daughter is dead: why
   trouble you the Master any further? This ruler of the synagogue was on
   the brink of getting the blessing he sought and then the very worst
   news comes to him! It may be that just now some of you have seemed to
   receive the sentence of death to all your hopes, yet you are on the
   very verge of getting the blessing. It is often so--just when the devil
   knows that the blessing is near, he struggles the hardest with the soul
   that is seeking it. Do not be cast down if that sentence of death comes
   to you, but still believe.

   36-39. As soon as Jesus heard the words that was spoken, he said unto
   the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And He
   suffered no man to follow Him, save Peter and James, and John the
   brother of James. And He came to the house of the ruler of the
   synagogue, and saw the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
   And when He was come in, He said unto them, Why make you this ado, and
   weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleeps.Jesus knew what He was about
   to do and, speaking with the knowledge of the miracle He was about to
   perform, He said, "The damsel is not dead but sleeps." A charlatan, who
   wanted to make himself famous, and in order to increase the effect of
   the miracle, would have said, "The damsel is really dead," but the
   Savior, in His infinite modesty of heart, puts it thus, "The damsel is
   not dead, but sleeps."

   40. And they laughed Him to scorn. Can you picture the scene? These
   people who had been hired to weep and wail, had not much of the spirit
   of mourning in them, for they laughed directly and derisively--they
   turned upon the mighty Master of life and death and "laughed Him to
   scorn."

   40. But when He had put them all out That was the best way to answer
   the scorners. It is no good arguing with people who can cry or laugh to
   order! "When He had put them all out"--

   40-42. He took the father and the mother of the damsel, and they that
   were with Him, and entered in where the damsel was lying. And He took
   the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is,
   being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto you, arise. And immediately
   Notice how this word, "immediately," comes in again! It is the
   characteristic word in reference to Christ's miracles--they are usually
   worked at once. We read in the 29th verse, "Immediately the fountain of
   her blood was dried up." Now we read, "Immediately"--

   42. The damsel arose, and walked.Oh, that the Lord Jesus Christ would
   work some "immediately" miracles in our midst just now! He can do it if
   He pleases! Before this service ends, there may be some who shall have
   passed from death unto life, out of the darkness of sin into the
   marvelous light of Grace! Blessed be God for this--who will it be?

   42, 43. For she was of thee age of twelve years. And theey were
   astonished with a great astonishment. And He charged them immediately
   that no man should know it. He did not want to blaze abroad the story
   of these wondrous deeds of His. The crowd was already inconveniently
   large, so that "He charged them immediately that no man should know
   it."

   43. And commanded that something should be given her to eat. She might
   have continued to live by a miracle as she had been miraculously raised
   from the dead, but it was needless, and Christ never worked an
   unnecessary miracle. Do not look for miracles when ordinary means will
   suffice. "He commanded that something should be given her to eat." When
   life is given or restored, the next thing needed is nourishment! When
   you are made spiritually to live, be sure to attend a soul-feeding
   ministry--and diligently read the Word--that you may get all necessary
   nourishment for your soul out of it.
     __________________________________________________________________

Over the Mountains

   (No. 3307)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "My beloved is mine, and I am His: He feeds among the lilies. Until the
   day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be You like
   a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether." Solomon's Song
   2:16,17.

   [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same verses are #1190, Volume
   20--A SONG AMONG THE LILIES; #2442, Volume 41--"MY BELOVED IS MINE" and
   #2477, Volume 42--DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.]

   IT may be that there are saints who are always at their best and are
   happy enough never to lose the light of their Father's Countenance. I
   am not sure that there are such persons, for those Believers with whom
   I have been most intimate have had varied experiences and those whom I
   have known who have boasted of their constant perfectness, have not
   been the most reliable of individuals. I hope there is a spiritual
   region attainable where there are no clouds to hide the Sun of our
   soul, but I cannot speak positively, for I have not traversed that
   happy land. Every year of my life has had a winter as well as a summer,
   and every day its night. I have hitherto seen bright days and heavy
   rains, and felt warm breezes and fierce winds. Speaking for the many of
   my Brothers and Sisters, I confess that though the substance is in us,
   as in the olive tree and the oak, yet we do lose our leaves and the sap
   within us does not flow with equal vigor at all seasons. We have our
   downs as well as our ups, our valleys as well as our hills! We are not
   always rejoicing--we are sometimes in heaviness through manifold
   trials. Alas, we are grieved to confess that our fellowship with the
   Well-Beloved is not always that of rapturous delight, but we have at
   times to seek Him and cry, "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!"
   This appears to me to have been in a measure the condition of the
   spouse when she cried, "Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away,
   turn, my Beloved."

   I. These words teach us, first, that COMMUNION MAY BE BROKEN.

   The spouse had lost the company of her Bridegroom. Conscious communion
   with Him was gone, though she loved her Lord and sighed for Him. In her
   loneliness she was sorrowful, but she had by no means ceased to love
   Him, for she calls Him her Beloved and speaks as one who felt no doubt
   upon that point. Love to the Lord Jesus may be quite as true, and
   perhaps quite as strong when we sit in darkness as when we walk in the
   light. No, she had not lost her assurance of His love to herand of
   their mutual interest in one another, for she says, "My Beloved is
   mine, and I am His." And yet she adds, "Turn, my Beloved." The
   condition of our Grace does not always coincide with the state of our
   joys. We may be rich in faith and love, and yet have so low an esteem
   of ourselves as to be much depressed. It is plain, from this sacred
   Canticle, that the spouse may love and be loved, may be confident in
   her Lord and be fully assured of her possession of Him, and yet there
   may, for the present, be mountains between her and Him. Yes, we may
   even be far advanced in the Divine Life, and yet be exiled for a while
   from conscious fellowship. There are nights for men as well as babes,
   and the strong know that the sun is hidden quite as well as do the sick
   and the feeble. Do not, therefore, condemn yourself, my Brothers and
   Sisters because a cloud is over you--cast not away your confidence--but
   rather let faith burn up the gloom and let your love resolve to come at
   your Lord again whatever barriers which divide you from Him may be!

   When Jesus is absent from a true heir of Heaven, sorrow will ensue. The
   healthier our condition, the sooner will that absence be perceived and
   the more deeply will it be lamented. This sorrow is described in the
   text as darkness--this is implied in the expression, "until the day
   breaks." Till Christ appears, no day has dawned for us. We dwell in
   midnight darkness! The stars of the promises and the moon of experience
   yield no light of comfort till our Lord, like the sun, arises and ends
   the night! We must have Christ with us or we are benighted--we grope
   like blind men for the wall and wander in dismay.

   The spouse also speaks of shadows. "Until the day breaks and the
   shadows flee away." Shadows are multiplied by the departure of the sun,
   and these are apt to distress the timid. We are not afraid of real
   enemies when Jesus is with us, but when we miss Him, we tremble at the
   shade. How sweet is that song, "Yes, though I walk through the Valley
   of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your
   rod and Your staff they comfort me"! But we change our note when
   midnight is come and Jesus is not with us! Then we people the night
   with terrors--specters, demons, hobgoblins and things that never
   existed save in fancy, are apt to swarm about us--and we are in fear
   where there is no fear!

   The spouse's worst trouble was that the back of her Beloved was turned
   to her and so she cried, "Turn, my Beloved." When His face is towards
   her, she suns herself in His love, but if the light of His Countenance
   is withdrawn, she is sorely troubled. Our Lord turns His face from His
   people though He never turns His heart from His people. He may even
   close His eyes in sleep when the vessel is tossed by the tempest, but
   His heart is awake all the while. Still, it is pain enough to have
   grieved Him in any degree--it cuts us to the quick to think that we
   have wounded His tender heart. He is jealous, but never without cause.
   If He turns His back upon us for a while, there is doubtless a more
   than sufficient reason. He would not walk contrary to us if we had not
   walked contrary to Him. Ah, it is sad work this! The Presence of the
   Lord makes this life the preface to the celestial life! But His absence
   leaves us pining and fainting, neither does any comfort remain in the
   land of our banishment. The Scriptures and the ordinances, private
   devotion and public worship are all as sundials--most excellent when
   the sun shines, but of small use in the dark. O, Lord Jesus, nothing
   can compensate us for Your loss! Draw near to Your beloved yet again,
   for without You, our night will never end--

   "See! I repent and vex my soul, That I should leave You so! Where will
   those vile affections roll That let my Savior go?"

   When communion with Christ is broken, in all true hearts there is a
   strong desire to win it back again. The man who has known the joy of
   communion with Christ, if he loses it, will never be content until it
   is restored. Have you ever entertained the Prince Emmanuel? Is He gone
   elsewhere? Your chamber will be dreary till He comes back again. "Give
   me Christ, or else I die," is the cry of every spirit that has lost the
   dear Companionship of Jesus! We do not part with such heavenly delights
   without many a pang. It is not with us a matter of "maybe He will
   return, and we hope He will," but it must be, or we faint and die! We
   cannot live without Him--and this is a cheering sign, for the soul that
   cannot live without Him shall not live without Him! He comes speedily
   where life and death hang on His coming. If you must have Christ, you
   shall have Him! This is just how the matter stands--we must drink of
   this well or die of thirst. We must feed upon Jesus or our spirit will
   famish!

   II. We will now advance a step and say that when communion with Christ
   is broken, THERE ARE GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF ITS RENEWAL.

   It is much easier to go downhill than to climb to the same height
   again. It is far easier to lose joy in God than to find the lost jewel.
   The spouse speaks of "mountains" dividing her from her Beloved--she
   means that the difficulties were great. They were not little hills, but
   mountains that closed up her way! Mountains of remembered sin, Alps of
   backsliding, dread range of forgetfulness, ingratitude, worldliness,
   coldness in prayer, frivolity, pride, unbelief! Ah me, I cannot teach
   you all the dark geography of this sad experience! Giant walls arose
   before her like the towering steeps of Lebanon. How could she get to
   her Beloved?

   The dividing difficulties were many as well as great. She does not
   speak of "a mountain," but of "mountains." Alps rose on Alps, wall
   after wall. She was distressed to think that in so short a time, so
   much could come between her and Him of whom she sang just now, "His
   left hand is under my head, and His right hand does embrace me." Alas,
   we multiply those mountains of Bether with a sad rapidity! Our Lord is
   jealous and we give Him far too much reason for hiding His face. A
   fault which seemed so small at the time we committed it, is seen in the
   light of its own consequences, and then it grows and swells till it
   towers aloft and hides the face of the Beloved! Then has our sun gone
   down and Fear whispers, "Will His light ever return? Will it ever be
   daybreak? Will the shadows ever flee away?" It is easy to grieve away
   the heavenly sunlight, but ah, how hard to clear the skies and regain
   the unclouded brightness!

   Perhaps the worst thought of all to the spouse was the dread that the
   dividing barrier might be permanent. It was high, but it might
   dissolve. The walls were many, but they might fall. But, alas, they
   were mountains, and these stand fast for ages! She felt like the
   Psalmist when he cried, "My sin is always before me." The pain of our
   Lord's absence be-

   comes intolerable when we fear that we are hopelessly shut out from
   Him. A night one can bear, hoping for the morning, but what if the day
   should never break? And you and I, if we have wandered away from Christ
   and feel that there are ranges of immovable mountains between Him and
   us, will feel sick at heart. We try to pray, but devotion dies on our
   lips. We attempt to approach the Lord at the Communion Table, but we
   feel more like Judas than John. At such times we have felt that we
   would give our eyes to behold once more the Bridegroom's face and to
   know that He delights in us as in happier days. Still, there stand the
   awful mountains--black, threatening, impassable--and in the far-off
   land the Life of our life is away and grieved.

   So the spouse seems to have come to the conclusion that the
   difficulties in her way were insurmountable by her own power She does
   not even think of herself going over the mountains to her Beloved, but
   she cries, "Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, turn, My
   Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of
   Bether." She will not try to climb the mountains, she knows she cannot.
   If they had not been so high, she might have attempted it, but their
   summits reach to Heaven! If they had been less craggy or difficult, she
   might have tried to scale them, but these mountains are terrible, and
   no foot may stand upon their long crags! Oh, the mercy of utter
   self-despair! I love to see a soul driven into that close corner and
   forced, therefore, to look to God alone! The end of the creature is the
   beginning of the Creator! Where the sinner ends, the Savior begins! If
   the mountains can be climbed, we shall have to climb them, but if they
   are quite impassable, then the soul cries out with the Prophet, "Oh
   that You would rend the heavens, that You would come down, that the
   mountains might flow down at Your Presence, as when the melting fire
   burns, the fire causes the waters to boil to make Your name known to
   Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your Presence! When
   You did terrible things which we looked not for, You came down, the
   mountains flowed down at Your Presence." Our souls are lame, they
   cannot move to Christ and lo, we turn our strong desires to Him and fix
   our hopes alone upon Him! Will He not remember us in love and fly to us
   as He did to His servant of old when He rode upon a cherub and did fly,
   yes, He did fly upon the wings of the wind?

   III. Here arises that PRAYER OF THE TEXT WHICH FULLY MEETS THE
   CASE--"Turn, my Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the
   mountains of Bether."

   Jesus can come to us when we cannot go to Him. The roe and the young
   hart, or, as you may read it, the gazelle and the ibex, live among the
   crags of the mountains and leap across the abyss with amazing agility.
   For swiftness and sure-footedness they are unrivalled. The sacred poet
   said, "He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high
   places," alluding to the feet of those creatures which are so fitted to
   stand surely on the mountains' sides. Our blessed Lord is called in the
   title of the 22nd Psalm, "the Hind of the Morning"--and the spouse in
   this golden Canticle sings, "My Beloved is like a roe or a young hart;
   behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills."

   Here I would remind you that this prayer is one that we may fairly
   offer, because it is the way of Christ to come to us when our coming to
   Him is out of the question. "How?" you ask. I answer that of old He did
   this, for we remember "His great love wherewith He loved us, even when
   we were dead in sin." His first coming into the world in human
   form--was it not because man could never come to God until God had come
   to him? I hear of no tears, or prayers, or entreaties after God on the
   part of our first parents--but the offended Lord spontaneously gave the
   promise that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head.
   Our Lord's coming into the world was untaught, unsought, unthought
   of--He came altogether of His own free will, delighting to redeem--

   "Withpitying eyes the Prince of Grace Beheld our helpless grief! He
   saw, and oh, amazing love-- He ran to our relief."

   His Incarnation was a type of the way in which He comes to us by His
   Spirit. He saw us cast out, polluted, shameful, perishing--and as He
   passed by, His tender lips said, "Live!" In us is fulfilled that
   ancient word, "I am found of them that sought Me not." We were too
   averse to holiness, too much in bondage to sin to ever have returned to
   Him if He had not turned to us. What do you think? Did He come to us
   when we were enemies and will He not visit us, now that we are friends?
   Did He come to us when we were dead sinners and will He not hear us,
   now that we are weeping saints? If Christ's coming to the earth was
   after this manner and if His coming to each one of us was after this
   style, we may well hope

   that now He will come to us in like fashion, like the dew which
   refreshes the grass and waits not for man, neither tarries for the sons
   of men.

   Besides, He is coming again in Person, in the latter days, and
   mountains of sin, error, idolatry, superstition and oppression stand in
   the way of His Kingdom--but He will surely come and overturn, and
   overturn till He shall reign over all! He will come in the latter days,
   I say, though He shall leap the hills to do it--and because of that I
   am sure we may comfortably conclude that He will draw near to us who
   mourn His absence so bitterly. Then let us bow our heads a moment, and
   silently present to His most excellent Majesty the petition of our
   text, "Turn, my Beloved, and be You like a roe or a young hart upon the
   mountains of Bether."

   Our text gives us sweet assurance that our Lord is at home with those
   difficulties which are quite insurmountable by us. Just as the roe or
   the young hart knows the passes of the mountains and the
   stepping-places among the rugged rocks, and is void of all fear among
   the ravines and the precipices, so does our Lord know the heights and
   depths, the torrents and the caverns of our sin and sorrow. He carried
   the whole of our transgression and so became aware of the tremendous
   load of our guilt. He is quite at home with the infirmities of our
   nature. He knew temptation in the wilderness, heartbreak in the garden,
   desertion on the Cross. He is quite at home with pain and weakness,
   for, "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sickness." He is at
   home with despondency, for He was "a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted
   with grief." He is at home even with death, for He gave up the ghost
   and passed through the sepulcher to Resurrection. O yawning gulfs and
   frowning steeps of woe, our Beloved, like hind or hart, has traversed
   your glooms! O my Lord, You know all that divides me from You and You
   also know that I am far too feeble to climb these dividing mountains so
   that I may come to You. Therefore, I pray You, come over the mountains
   to meet my longing spirit! You know each yawning gulf and slippery
   steep, but none of these can stop You. Hasten You to me, Your servant,
   Your beloved, and let me again live by Your Presence.

   It is easy, too, for Christ to come over the mountains for our relief.
   It is easy for the gazelle to cross the mountains-- it is made for that
   end. So is it easy for Jesus, for to this purpose was He ordained from
   of old that He might come to man in his worst estate, and bring with
   Him the Father's love. What is it that separates us from Christ? Is it
   a sense of sin? You have been pardoned once and Jesus can renew most
   vividly a sense of full forgiveness! But you say, "Alas, I have sinned
   again! Fresh guilt alarms me." He can remove it in an instant, for the
   fountain appointed for that purpose is opened and is still full! It is
   easy for the dear lips of redeeming love to put away the child's
   offenses since He has already obtained pardon for the criminal's
   iniquities. If with His heart's blood He won our pardon from our Judge,
   He can easily enough bring us the forgiveness of our Father. Oh, yes,
   it is easy enough for Christ to say again, "Your sins are forgiven!"
   "But I feel so unfit, so unable to enjoy communion." He that healed all
   manner of bodily diseases can heal with a word your spiritual
   infirmities! Remember the man whose ankle bones received strength so
   that he ran and leaped? And she who was sick of a fever and was healed
   at once, and arose and ministered unto her Lord? "My Grace is
   sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

   "But I have such affliction, such troubles, such sorrows that I am
   weighted down and cannot rise into joyful fellowship." Yes, but Jesus
   can make every burden light and cause each yoke to be easy! Your trials
   can be made to aid your heavenward course instead of hindering it. I
   know all about those heavy weights and I perceive that you cannot lift
   them. But skilful engineers can adapt ropes and pulleys in such a way
   that heavy weights lift other weights. The Lord Jesus is great at
   gracious machinery and He has the art of causing a weight of
   tribulation to lift from us a load of spiritual dead-ness, so that we
   ascend by that which, like a millstone, threatened to sink us down!
   What else hinders you? I am sure that if it were a sheer impossibility,
   the Lord Jesus could remove it, for things impossible with men are
   possible with God!

   But someone objects, "I am so unworthy of Christ. I can understand
   eminent saints and beloved disciples being greatly indulged, but I am a
   worm and not a man, utterly below such condescension!" Say you so? Know
   you not that the worthiness of Christ covers your unworthiness and He
   is made of God unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and
   redemption? In Christ, the Father thinks not so meanly of you as you
   think of yourself! You are not worthy to be called His child, but He
   does call you so and reckons you to be among His jewels! Listen, and
   you shall hear Him say, "Since you were precious in My sight, you have
   been honorable, and I have loved you. I gave Egypt for your ransom;
   Ethiopia and Seba for you." Thus, there remains nothing which Jesus
   cannot leap over if He resolves to come to you and reestablish your
   broken fellowship!

   To conclude, our Lord can do all this IMMEDIATELY. As in the twinkling
   of an eye the dead shall be raised incorruptible, so in a moment can
   our dead affections rise to fullness of delight! He can stay to this
   mountain, "Be you removed and be you cast into the midst of the sea,"
   and it shall be done. In the sacred emblems now upon this Supper Table
   Jesus is already among us. Faith cries, "He has come!" Like John the
   Baptist she gazes intently on Him and cries, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
   At this Table Jesus feeds us with His body and blood. His corporeal
   Presence we have not, but His real spiritual'Presence we perceive. We
   are like the disciples when none of them dared ask Him, "Who are You?"
   knowing that it was the Lord. He is come! He looks forth at these
   windows--I mean this bread and wine--showing Himself through the
   lattices of this instructive and endearing ordinance. He speaks. He
   says, "The winter is past, the rain is over and gone." And so it is. We
   feel it to be so--a heavenly spring-tide warms our frozen hearts. Like
   the spouse, we wonderingly cry, "Or ever I was aware, my soul made me
   like the chariots of Amminadib." Now in happy fellowship we see the
   Beloved and hear His voice! Our heart burns! Our affections glow! We
   are happy, restful, brimming over with delight! The King has brought us
   into His banqueting house and His banner over us is love. It is good to
   be here!

   Friends, we must now go our ways. A voice says, "Arise, let us go
   hence." O Lord of our hearts, go with us! Some will not be home without
   You. Life will not be life without You. Heaven itself would not be
   Heaven if You were absent. Abide with us! The world grows dark, the
   glooming of time draws on. Abide with us, for it is toward evening. Our
   years increase and we near the night when dews fall cold and chill. A
   great future is all about us! The splendors of the last age are coming
   down and while we wait in solemn, awe-struck expectation, our heart
   continually cries within herself, "Until the day breaks and the shadows
   flee away, turn, my Beloved!"

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN 14.

   Let us read that well-known and most blessed Chapter, John 14, which so
   clearly shows our Savior's tender consideration for the comfort of His
   people, lest the great grief excited in them by His impending death
   should altogether break their hearts.

   Verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe
   also in Me. [See Sermon #1741, Volume 29--"let not your

   HEART BE TROUBLED.] I think our Savior meant to say and really

   did say, "If you believe in God, you are believing in Me; and if you
   believe in Me, you are believing in God; for there is such a perfect
   unity between us that you need not, when I die, make any distinction
   between Me and God, but still believe in Me as you believe in the
   Father."

   2. In My Father's house are many mansions: ifit were not so, I would
   have told you. "Wicked men will shut you out of My Father's house
   below: the Temple at Jerusalem, through being still used for Jewish
   worship after all its ritual and ceremonialism have been abolished,
   will cease to be My Father's house to you; but there is a building of
   God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, and there is
   room for all of you there. When this country gets to be a desert to
   you, remember that there is the Home Country, the blessed Glory Land,
   on the other side of the river, and the Father's house there with its
   many mansions."

   2, 3. I go to prepare a place for you [See Sermon #2751, Volume 47--"A
   PREPARED PLACE FOR A PREPARED PEOPLE."] And if I go and prepare a place
   for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I
   am, there you may be also. Jesus often keeps this promise in many
   senses. By His gracious Spirit, He has come again. By His Divine
   Presence in the means of Grace, He full often comes again. By-and-by,
   if we die, He will come again to meet us. And if we do not die, then
   will the promise be fulfilled to the greatest possible extent, for
   Jesus will come again and receive in His own proper Person those who
   are alive and remain unto His coming.

   Anyhow, "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself," remains one
   of the sweetest promises that was ever given to Believers by the Lord
   Jesus Christ! He did not say, "I will receive you to Heaven." He
   promised something far better than that--"I will receive you unto
   Myself." Oh, what bliss it will be to get to Christ, to be with Him
   forever and ever!

   4. And where I go you know, and the way you know. "At least, I have
   taught it to you. I have explained it to you. I have told you that I am
   the goal of your way, and the way to your goal. That I am the end, and
   also the way to that end."

   5. Thomas said unto Him, Lord, we know not where You go and how can we
   know the way?Oh, how much ignorance there may be where there ought to
   be much knowledge! It is not always the man who lives in the sunlight
   who sees the most. Thomas had been one of the 12 Apostles for years. He
   had, during all that time, had Christ for his Teacher, yet he had
   learned very little. With such poor teachers as we are, it is no wonder
   if our hearers and scholars learn but little from us, yet they ought to
   learn much from Christ--although I think that we learn nothing even
   from Jesus Christ, Himself, except under the teaching of the Holy
   Spirit!

   6. Jesus said unto him, Iam the way the truth, and the life: no man
   comes unto the Father, but byMe. [See Sermons #245,

   Volume 5--THE WAY TO GOD; #942, Volume 16--THE WAY and #2938, Volume
   51--JESUS THE WAY.] "I am going to the Father--that is where I am
   going, Thomas, and you can only come to the Father by Me--don't you
   know that?"

   7. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. For Christ
   is the express Image of His Father, so that you always see the Father
   when you see the Son!

   7. And from henceforth you know Him, and have seen Him. Thomas had made
   an advance in heavenly knowledge. He had taken a higher degree in
   Divinity now that the Master had taught Him so much upon this most
   important point--"from henceforth you know Him, and have seen Him."

   8. Philip said unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us.
   It was not merely one of Christ's scholars, you see, who was so dull of
   comprehension--here is another of the dunces--Philip.

   9. Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have
   you not known Me, Philip? He that has seen Me has seen the Father; and
   how say you, then, Show us the Father?He who really knows Christ and
   understands Christ's Character, understands, as far as it can be
   understood by man, the Character of God. We know more of God from the
   life of Christ than we can learn from any other source.

   10-12. Believe you not that Iam in the Father, and the Father in Me?
   The words that Ispeak unto you Ispeak not of Myself: but the Father
   that dwells in Me, He does the works. Believe Me that Iam in the Father
   and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very work's sake.
   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on Me, the works that
   I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because
   I go unto My Father The Lord Jesus Christ, after He had gone back to
   Heaven, gave to His servants the power to do these "greater works"--the
   Holy spirit resting upon them--in the gathering in of the nations unto
   their Lord. Whereas Christ kept to one little country, He sent His
   first disciples and He sends us still to preach the Gospel to every
   creature in the whole world, and He clothes His servants with all
   necessary authority and power to do the work He has committed to their
   charge.

   13-14. And whatever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the
   Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in My
   name, I will do it There is the only limit to true believing prayer!
   There are some things which we could not ask in Christ's name--that is,
   using His authority in asking for them. There are some wishes and whims
   that we may cherish, and that we think we may pray about, but we have
   not Christ's name or authority to warrant us in expecting that we shall
   realize them and, therefore, we cannot ask for them in His name. To
   say, "For Christ's sake," is one thing, but to say, "I ask this in
   Christ's name," is quite another matter! He never authorized you to
   make use of His name about everything. There are only certain things
   about which you can pray in His name, such as are the express subject
   of a Divine promise--and when you pray for one of those things, you
   shall prove Christ's words to be true, "If you shall ask anything in My
   name, I will do it."

   15-16. Ifyou love Me, keep My commandments. AndI willpray the Father,
   andHe shall give you another Comforter, [See Sermons #1074, Volume
   18--THE PARACLETE and #1932, Volume 32--LOVE'S LAW AND LIFE.] The
   Paraclete, the Succorer, the Helper. The word, "Comforter," has lost
   its old meaning. You get

   it in certain old writings, when you read of such-and-such a man that
   he gave to someone else succor and comfort. There

   is more here than merely giving us consolation. It means Helper--"He
   shall give you another Helper." Advocatus is the

   Latin, and that, too, is the correct word. "He shall give you another
   Advocate"--

   16, 17. That He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth
   whom the world cannot receive because it sees

   Him not, neither knows Him, but you know Him; for He dwells with you,
   andshall be in you [See Sermons #4, Volume 1--the PERSONALITY OF THE
   HOLY SPIRIT; #754, Volume 13--THE SAINT AND THE SPIRIT and #2074,
   Volume 35--INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT--.] Worldly men are
   not cognizant of the existence of the Holy Spirit. They do not believe
   in Him--they say that there may or may not be such a Divine Being in
   the world as the Holy Spi-

   rit, but they have never come across His path. This, then, is one of
   the tests of true Believers, the twice-born--they have received a new
   nature which enables them to recognize the existence of the Spirit of
   God and to feel the influence of His work--"You know Him; for He dwells
   with you, and shall be in you."

   18, 19. I willnot leave you orphans: I will come to you. Yet a little
   while, and the worldsees Me no more; butyou

   see Me. [See Sermon #2990, Volume 52--THE BELIEVER NOT AN ORPHAN.]

   "Your spiritual sight, which discerns the Presence with you of the Holy
   Spirit, will also discern My continued Existence when I have gone away
   from you."

   19, 20. Because Ilive, you shalllive also. At that day you shall know
   that Iam in My father, and you in Me, and Iin

   you [See Sermon 968, Volume 17--LIFE IN CHRIST.] This is something more

   for us to know. To know that Christ is in the Father is one thing, but
   it is still more for us to understand the next mystic unity, "you in
   Me, and I in you." Oh, wondrous combination of the Father and the Son,
   and of Immanuel, God with us, and ourselves!

   21, 22. He that has My commandment, andkeeps them, He it is that loves
   Me; andHe that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love
   him, and will manifest Myself to him. Judas said unto Him, not
   Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself unto us, and
   not unto the world?'[See Sermon #29, Volume 1--christ manifesting
   himself to his

   PEOPLE.] Large-hearted Judas, very different from Judas Isca-

   riot! He wants Christ to manifest Himself to all the world! He seems to
   have been a man of very broad views. He does not comprehend
   discriminating love and electing Grace--He wants all the privileges of
   the children of God to be the privileges of the King's enemies--but
   that cannot be.

   23. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves Me, he will keep
   My words: and My Father will love him, and

   We will come unto him, and make our abode with him. [See Sermon #2895,
   Volume 50--A BLESSED GOSPEL CHAIN.] Christ is sure to manifest Himself
   to those who love Him, but how can He manifest Himself to those who
   love Him not? They cannot see Him! They would not appreciate Him if
   they couldsee Him-- they have no spiritual taste with which to enjoy
   Him.

   24-26. He that loves Me not keeps not My saying: and the word which you
   hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me. These things have I
   spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which
   is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall
   teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever
   I have said unto you.Do we sufficiently look to the Holy Spirit for
   Divine teaching? We read our Bibles, I trust, with diligence--and also
   any explanatory books by which we may better understand our Bibles--but
   do we look up to the Holy Spirit and ask Him distinctly and immediately
   to teach us what is the meaning of Christ's words, and to bring them to
   our remembrance? I wish we did this more than we do.

   27. Peace I leave with you. "That is My legacy to you."

   27. My peace I give unto you--[See Sermons #247, Volume 5--THE BEST OF
   MASTERS and #300, Volume 6--SPIRITUAL PEACE.] My own deep calm of
   spirit, which is not ruffled or broken though the contradiction of
   sinners continually annoys Me--"My peace I give unto you." Christ puts
   His hand into His heart and takes out of that priceless casket the
   choicest jewel it contains--His own peace! And He says, "Wear that on
   your finger, the seal and token of My love." "My peace I give unto
   you"--

   27. Not as the world gives, give I unto you."With an expectation of
   getting a reward for it. Neither do I give it to take it back again.
   Nor do I give it in mere pretence--I give it in reality, sincerely,
   disinterestedly, as your freehold possession forever."

   27-28. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You
   have heardhow I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If
   you loved Me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father:
   for My Father is greater than I.Christ as Man had condescended to
   become less than the Father--He had taken upon Himself the form of a
   Servant, but now He was going back to take His own natural dignity
   again. We ought to rejoice in His gain! Though you may think it a loss
   not to have His corporeal Presence, yet would you like to call Him away
   from yonder harps that ring out His praises and the perfect love of the
   Father with whom He reigns supreme? Oh, no, blessed Master, stay where
   You are!

   29-31. AndnowIhave told you before it comes to pass, that when it is
   comes to pass, you might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with
   you; for the Prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me. But
   that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave
   Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

   --Adapted from The C. H. Spurgeon Collection, Ages Software,
   1.800.297.4307

   PRAY THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL USE THIS SERMON TO BRING MANY TO A SAVING
   KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST.
     __________________________________________________________________

Gathering in the Chosen

   (No. 3308)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORDS-DAY EVENING, APRIL
   29, 1866.

   "Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from
   the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the
   woman with child and her that travails with child together; a great
   company shall return there. They shall come with weeping, and with
   supplications I will lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers
   of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a
   Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born." Jeremiah 31:8,9.

   THERE IS a wonderful variety in the acts of God and yet there is a most
   singular uniformity. So complete is this uniformity that any one
   deliverance which God works for His people will be found to be, in its
   main features, just like any other of His deliverances.

   Starting--for it is a convenient starting-point--with the deliverance
   of God's people out of Egypt, there are many points of similarity
   between that marvel of mercy and the bringing back of the banished
   tribes from Babylon to their own land. There was a manifestation of the
   same gracious consideration, of the same Omnipotent power, of the some
   efficient purpose worked out in all points according to God's Eternal
   Covenant. Then, taking another great leap, that return from Babylon is,
   no doubt, a very fair picture and a very excellent type of the
   gathering together in their own land of the Jews in the days that are
   yet to come when they shall say to one another, "Let us go up to the
   house of our God." Everybody will admit that it will be as great a
   wonder to see the Jews, who are now a nation scattered abroad
   throughout the whole world, once more dwelling together in Palestine,
   as it was for them to have been brought out of Egypt or delivered out
   of Babylon in days long past! But taking a still greater leap, this
   again is a type of the greatest of all deliverances--the deliverance
   neither of the Jews alone nor of the Gentiles alone, but of the whole
   chosen company who shall be brought out from all the lands of sin and
   error into which they have been driven by their first parents' fall and
   their own actual transgressions! They shall be brought out by the same
   almighty power, only on a far greater scale, and they shall meet, as in
   a common focus, in that Jerusalem above which is the home of all the
   chosen! I want to turn your thoughts toward that glorious future when
   the vast assembly of the redeemed will "sing the Song of Moses, the
   servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous
   are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, You
   King of saints."

   I. And, first, I am going to show you that we have, in the text, DEITY
   MANIFESTED.

   There is a Divine ring about the text as there was in that ancient fiat
   which startled the darkness and caused it to flee away. "Let there be
   light, and there was light." So here the Lord says, "I will bring them
   and gather them.. .and they shall come.. .I will lead them. I will
   cause them to walk; they shall not stumble." It is, "I will," and,
   "they shall" all the way through! There is no admission of doubt or of
   the possibility of failure. Jehovah speaks in the Sovereignty of His
   power and says, "I will do this, and I will do that," and there is not
   an, "if," or a, "perhaps," or a "maybe" to mar the certainty of the
   Divine Declarations--"I will" and "they shall."

   Remember, Beloved, that it was so in Egypt. " Moses and Aaron went in
   and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go,
   that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said,
   Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know
   not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Yet, when the Lord smote
   his first-born with all the first-born throughout the land of Egypt,
   "he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up and get you
   forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and
   go, serve the Lord as you

   have said." And when the time came for captive Israel to return from
   Babylon, God had but to speak and the iron bars snapped in sunder and
   the gates of brass flew open! So also shall it be in the latter days
   when the Jews are restored to their own land. By some mysterious
   influence which probably many of them will not be able to understand,
   they will be irresistibly drawn from all parts of the earth to
   Emmanuel's land and, meanwhile, that same Divine Energy is gathering
   together the chosen unto the great Shiloh, for "unto Him shall the
   gathering of the people be." Invisible bands of love are continually
   drawing to Christ those for whom He died. The mighty magnet of His
   atoning Sacrifice is constantly attracting to Him the members of His
   redeemed family--more in one age than in another, yet always according
   to the eternal purpose and decree of God--for although He acts
   mysteriously and silently, yet He always "works all things after the
   counsel of His own will."

   I do not know any theme upon which one might dilate with greater joy
   than that of the Omnipotent energy of God as displayed in the salvation
   of sinners, yet it must always be understood that we proclaim this
   Truth in complete harmony with the responsibility of man and his
   absolute free agency. I have always taught you that the Omnipotence of
   God over the human heart is never exercised in such a way as to violate
   the free will of man. It would be a clumsy kind of Omnipotence that
   would do as it pleased with men whether they were willing or not! But
   it is Divine Omnipotence that molds the will, enlightens the judgment
   and fashions the heart and mind and character of man according to the
   Lord's eternal purpose. Yet, on the other hand, let me beseech you
   never to let your ideas of the free agency of man prevent you from
   adoring the Omnipotent Sovereignty of God. We are not to have man's
   free will sitting on the throne! Its place is that of a humble servant
   waiting at Jehovah's feet. Let the glorious Truth of God that "the Lord
   reigns" be proclaimed in its fullest sense and let the man who dares to
   limit the Sovereignty of God answer for it before Him who, with a rod
   of iron, would dash in pieces the potter's vessel that presumed to say,
   "Why have you made me thus?" We believe that when the great drama of
   human history is complete, it will conform in every jot and tittle to
   the eternal plan that was in the mind of God long before He spoke the
   great creative word which called the Heaven and the earth into
   existence!

   In the bringing up of Israel out of Babylon there were a great many
   questions to be considered. Would the king be willing to let them go?
   Would they themselves be willing to go? By what process could they be
   ranged under one leader? How could they be provided for and provisioned
   for such a long journey? By what means could they be safely conducted
   through the perils of the wilderness? How could they again be settled
   in a land which had become barren through the curse of God resting upon
   it? Yet, when the set time came, all these difficulties vanished! As
   God was in that plan of bringing His people back from Babylon, the
   king's heart was turned as the husbandman turns the channel of
   irrigation in the midst of the garden! As God was in it, the Jews
   sighed and longed to return to Jerusalem! As God was in it, they went
   back, not like trembling doves flying from a pursuing hawks but like a
   bannered host returning from the conquest loaded with spoil!

   Just so is it with the sinner and the salvation of his soul--there are
   many questions that he may want to ask. How can prejudice be subdued?
   How can ignorance be overcome? How can the stubborn will be controlled?
   How is it possible for the Ethiopian to change his skin and the leopard
   his spots? But, when God comes forth to save, it is as though a man
   walked through cobwebs and brushed them away from him on either side,
   or as though a giant stalked through a host of pigmies and made them
   fly to right or left--

   "When He makes bare His arm,

   What shall His work withstand?" When He puts forth the fullness of His
   strength to effect His Divine Purpose, who shall say to Him, "What are
   You doing?" Therefore, you ministers of God, be bold, for you serve the
   Lord God Omnipotent! You servants of Christ in every sphere, be brave,
   for you have not espoused a losing cause! Everyone of you, though you
   may be but little in the army of the Lord, yet are--

   "Strong in the Lord of Hosts, And in His mighty power"--

   for His Kingdom cannot be overthrown, it must spread until it fills the
   whole earth! And God, even our own God, must be exalted and the praises
   of His holy name and of His glorious work must go on ringing down the
   ages forever and ever! II. Now turning to the second point, we see in
   the text DIFFICULTIES REMOVED.

   Difficulties would naturally be suggested by unbelieving minds. It
   would be said, in the first place, that the people had gone too far
   away ever to be gathered. Yet the Lord says, "I will bring them from
   the north country, and gather

   them from the coasts of the earth." There may be at the present time,
   some of the Lord's chosen far away in Greenland, Labrador, and other
   lands of snow and ice. There were some, in the olden times, when the
   Moravian Brethren went forth at God's command to bring to Christ those
   who belonged to Him in "the north country." There were also others in
   the far-away islands of the south--cannibals given up to the wildest
   passions--but Christ had bought them with His precious blood and a
   sacred instinct compelled John Williams and many other martyrs and
   missionaries to go forth to the Apostolic task of turning savages into
   saints! It may be that God has many of His chosen ones at the present
   moment in the center of Africa--and if it is so, they shall not die
   before the Gospel has been made known to them and they have been
   brought to trust in Him who loved them and gave Himself for them!
   Distance is no distance in the sight of God! He sees all the
   inhabitants of the globe at a single glance and His gaze is fixed upon
   the blood-bought sons and daughters of men wherever these may be
   dwelling! And He will gather them from all the coasts of the earth
   where their lot has been cast.

   And as distance of space is no obstacle to the bestowed of God's mercy,
   so neither is the distance that is caused by the greatness of sin. "Now
   in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the
   blood of Christ." There may be one among those whom I am now addressing
   who has gone to the cold "north country" of infidelity, where he stands
   shivering in the biting winds of doubt and skepticism. Ah, but my
   Friend, God is able to bring you to Himself even from that dreary
   region! There may be some who have gone to the uttermost coasts of sin
   until they have become masters in iniquity, trafficking upon the broad
   sea of transgression and doing business in the deep waters of infamy
   and perhaps of blasphemy. Ah, but if you are among these who were given
   to Christ, God will gather you sooner or later--even if you have sold
   yourself to the devil, "your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
   and your agreement with Hell shall not stand." If you are, indeed,
   "bought with a price," Christ will surely gather you with the rest of
   His redeemed! By might and main He will make a conquest of you, for,
   when the Lord determines to bring His people to Himself, neither
   material distance nor moral distance can prevent Him from doing so!

   There was also another difficulty--not only were these people in
   Babylon far away from Jerusalem, but some of them were blind. What did
   it matter to them where they lived? No landscape, even though it was as
   grand as that which Moses saw from the top of Pisgah, could have any
   attraction for them. Even if others go back, shall not the blind be
   left behind? Of what service are the blind? How shall they behold the
   beauty of the Lord? But the Lord said that He would bring back the
   blind with the others from the north country, and from the outcasts of
   the earth, and we may apply this promise to those who are spiritually
   blind. How can you get at a man who will not see his own sin and who
   will not or cannot see the beauty of God's plan of salvation? How are
   you to get at those whose eyes are covered with the scales of
   prejudice? How can you reach the Romanist whose eyes are plastered up
   with ceremonies and superstitions? How can you convince the work-monger
   that his own good deeds, of which he thinks so much, are blinding him
   to the beauties of Christ? How can these blind ones be saved? Ah,
   Beloved, no eye is too blind for God to pour light into it! And some of
   us can bear our personal testimony upon this matter. We would never
   have known the Grace of God in truth if that Grace had not come to us
   in our blind ignorance and enlightened us! May it be so with some who
   are here tonight! Is there a very ignorant person here? Well, my dear
   Friend, do you know that you are a sinner, that you are guilty in the
   sight of God? Then do you know that Christ Jesus came into the world to
   save such guilty sinners as you are? If so, and you put your trust in
   Him, you are already wise unto salvation however little you may know
   about other matters! Learn the great Truth that Christ died in the
   place of all who believe in Him and you will no longer be numbered
   among the spiritually blind!

   With those blind people in Babylon there seem to have been some lame
   folk and an objector might have said, "Surely, if the caravan is to
   pass through the desert, it would be better to leave these poor limping
   ones at home! How can they ever be brought to Jerusalem?" But the Lord
   said, "The blind shall be led, and the lame shall be carried, but they
   must not be left behind." Now, there are some who are morally lame. If
   ever they enter into life, it will be among the crippled and the
   maimed. They seem as if they could not walk uprightly, there is a limp
   in their gait. Their knees are weak, they cannot pray as they would.
   Lame Sinners--are you here tonight? Do you feel as if you cannot get to
   Christ, and cannot pray, and cannot do anything right? Well, do but cry
   to Him, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Turn your eyes to Christ,
   think of Him as He hung upon the Cross and trust Him to save you, and
   you shall find that, lame as you are, you shall be brought safely Home!
   Mr. Ready-to-Halt shall get to Heaven as surely as Mr. Great-Heart
   himself!

   Then there were some others of whom it was said that they could not
   possibly join the caravan--"the woman with child and her that travails
   with child.''" These were certainly unfit to go--they were in such a
   weak state that they could not take that long journey from Babylon to
   Jerusalem, yet the Lord said, "I will gather them and bring them," and
   so He did! Well, there are some like them in our midst tonight,
   burdened ones who have a load of sin pressing upon them, fainting ones
   whose souls are in a sacred travail. They would gladly run, but they
   cannot even stand! And they are all too apt to fall. But, O you who are
   thus soul-distressed, the blessing is that Jesus Christ will not leave
   you behind! You shall be brought with the rest of the chosen seed to
   the heavenly Jerusalem to praise and magnify your great Deliverer
   forever and ever!

   III. Now in the third place, we have in the text not only Deity
   manifested, and difficulties removed, but we also have

   DESCRIPTIONS GIVEN.

   How shall this great company be brought to the Jerusalem which is
   above? Listen! There is a mighty host on the march, but I hear no sound
   of trumpet, no voice of mirth, no song of joy! What do I hear? Weeping,
   mourning, lamentation--"They shall come with weeping." That is the
   music to which sinners usually set out for the heavenly Canaan-- seldom
   if ever is that start made without tears! It is not the shriek of
   despair. It is not the groan of disappointment. It is not the yell of
   rage, and hate. It is the plaintive wail of a soul that says to God, "I
   have sinned against Heaven and before You, and are no more worthy to be
   called Your son." From those who compose that throng you may, every now
   and then, catch such sorrowful sentences as these, "I acknowledge my
   transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." "My sorrow is
   continually before me. For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry
   for my sins." This is the kind of music that we hear from those who are
   setting out for Heaven! Have you, my Friend, ever practiced it? You
   will never sing in Glory if you have never wept over your sin! I do not
   merely mean such tears as men and women shed, though these will
   probably not be absent, but I mean that you will experience that
   spiritual sorrow which is often too deep for tears. May God the Holy
   Spirit teach us to weep at the remembrance of our sin, to weep at the
   foot of the Cross as we look upon Him whom our sins have pierced, and
   mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and be in bitterness for
   Him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born!

   Listen again! Now I hear another note rising from the great caravan,
   the note of supplication. It is the hour of prayer. They have got
   beyond weeping into anxiety, desire, petition, request--and I hear many
   voices crying, "Save Your people who trust in You. Be merciful unto us,
   and bless us, and cause Your face to shine upon us." In our day, the
   supplication takes some such form as this, "Reveal Yourself unto us, O
   Christ, for in You do we put our trust! In Your name have we set up our
   banners. Come forth, O Lord, as our Helper and Deliverer!" The march is
   with weeping and supplication--and I believe these two things will
   attend that caravan right up to the brink of Jordan! The last tear will
   be dropped in Jordan's flowing stream, for we shall sorrow no more and
   repent no more when we stand before the Eternal Throne of God! And the
   last prayer--at any rate, the last prayer that has any sense of sin in
   it--shall be breathed on the bank of the river which we cross to enter
   into Glory!

   I must next direct your attention to something in our text about the
   road the caravan has to traverse--"I will cause them to walk by the
   rivers of waters." They had to pass through a wilderness in going from
   Egypt to Canaan, and also in returning from Babylon. And we, also, have
   to traverse the wilderness of this world in journeying to the better
   Promised Land above. But as they had water in abundance on their long
   marches, we, also, have "the rivers of waters" of Divine Grace and
   Almighty Love. When we first began to seek the Lord, we found that one
   of the channels in which the precious rivers were flowing was this
   precious Bible at which we still quench our spiritual thirst. Then,
   when we trusted in Jesus, and confessed our faith in Him, we found the
   two ordinances that He instituted--Believers' Baptism and the Lord's
   Supper--to be as refreshing to our spirit as cold water is to the
   thirsty. I trust that you, Beloved, while sitting under the sound of
   the Word of God, have often been able to drink of the brook by the way.
   And certainly private prayer and intimate fellowship with God, and,
   above all, the secret and mysterious indwelling of the Holy Spirit have
   caused you "to walk by the rivers of waters," so that although the
   earth is in itself arid, "a dry and thirsty land where no water is,"
   you have found that from the foot of the Cross there flows a living
   stream from which all the chosen may continue to drink until they come
   to that "pure river of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out
   of the Throne of God and of the

   Lamb."

   In the description of the caravan route we are next told that it is "a
   straight way." The path to Heaven is not at all difficult to find. It
   would be very difficult to find the way to Heaven by the rites and
   ceremonies about which some are so particular, but to those who trust
   in Jesus, the way of salvation is a very simple one, so simple that the
   wayfaring man, though a fool in other things, need not err therein! If
   any of you are trying to find your way to Heaven by the road of your
   own good works, you may well be puzzled, for you are off the right
   track altogether! But the Believer's path is straight and plain. He
   trusts and he is saved! He looks and he lives! He believes God's Word
   and he proves that it is true! You know that the way of policy, such as
   ungodly men often follow in this world, is a very crooked way, and
   Christians are sometimes tempted to tread that treacherous path. But
   that is the slimy way into which the devil led our first parents, and
   nothing but evil can come to those who walk in it! The giving up of the
   whole heart and soul to Christ is the simple way of being saved--and
   then yielding complete obedience to Christ is the simple way of living.
   The Lord's promise is, "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of
   waters in a straight way"--not in a crooked, twisting, winding,
   in-and-out way, but in a straight way--the way of faith in Christ and
   of unquestioning obedience to His commands.

   The description of this straight way concludes thus, "Wherein they
   shall not stumble." It is a good thing to have a straight road, but it
   is a better thing to have also a sure foot! And God, who teaches His
   people to do right, also gives them Grace to do it. These blind ones
   and lame ones and weak ones of whom I have been speaking, are upheld by
   Sovereign Grace in the narrow way in which the Lord is leading them. My
   eye seems to catch the glorious vision! I see the blind finding their
   way to the great center of eternal blessedness. I see the lame come
   running as though they had wings on their feet to speed them onward to
   the pearly gates above! I see the vast blood-bought throng, from the
   North, and the South, and the East, and the West, casting away, by
   Divine Grace, all their burden and their cares! And with the fetters of
   their sins snapped forever, streaming in crowds to the one blessed
   center--

   "Jerusalem the golden, With milk and honey blest"--

   where we ourselves expect, by-and-by, to be! Angels and the redeemed
   from among men must be continually witnessing the arrival of those who,
   first chosen by the Father, then redeemed by the Son, then regenerated
   by the Holy Spirit, have repented of sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus
   Christ and by Grace have been preserved in their march through the
   wilderness and brought Home to that blessed city from which they shall
   go no more out forever! Well may we sing--

   "O Paradise eternal!

   What bliss to enter you,

   And once within your portals,

   Secure forever be!

   In you no sin nor sorrow,

   No pain nor death is known--

   But pure glad life, enduring

   As Heaven's benignant throne!

   There all around shall love us,

   And we return their love

   One band of happy spirits,

   One family above."

   IV. Now I must close when I have spoken but for a minute upon the last
   point, which is DIGNITY BESTOWED. "For I am a Father to Israel, and
   Ephraim is My first-born."

   Those who are brought out of the bondage of sin, as Israel was brought
   out of Egypt and Babylon, by the almighty power and Grace of God, are
   acknowledged by Him as His children. John writes concerning Jesus, "He
   came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as
   received Him, to them gave Him power (the right, or privilege) to
   become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." This
   relationship cannot be disputed and cannot be disturbed--and this is
   the relationship which exists between God and every pardoned sinner!
   Happy soul! Though once in the family of Satan and an heir of wrath,
   you are now a child and an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus
   Christ!

   I think there are some here whose mouths are set a-watering for this
   same blessing and who are longing to be found among the innumerable
   multitude who shall be gathered in the heavenly Jerusalem at the last!
   Well, if you truly desire to

   be the Lord's, that is a sign and token that the Lord also desires to
   have you as His child! That is a true declaration in one of our hymns--

   "No sinner can be beforehand with You."

   If you really desire to have God as your God, and Christ as your
   Savior, God desires it, too, and Christ desires it. If you are willing
   to be saved, do not imagine that Christ is unwilling to save you! If
   you are coming to Christ, Christ is coming to you. No, He HAS come to
   you, or you would never want to come to Him! "Only believe." These are
   Christ's words to you now--believe that He is able to save you through
   the merit of His atoning Sacrifice and through the prevalence of His
   intercession before His Father's Throne above. Trust Him! Trust Him to
   save you now, and then you also shall be among the redeemed of the Lord
   who shall return and come with singing unto Zion! Everlasting joy shall
   be upon your head! You shall obtain gladness and joy--and sorrow and
   mourning shall flee away from you forever!

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JEREMIAH31:1-28.

   Verse 1. At the same time, says the LORD, willIbe the God ofall the
   families ofIsrael, and theyshall be Mypeople. How divinely He talks--as
   only God can talk! These people had rejected Him, yet He says, "They
   shall be My people," not only some of them, but all of them! "I will be
   the God of all the families of Israel." Behold the wonderful power of
   Divine Grace upon the hearts of rebellious sinners. There are no "ifs,"
   and no, "buts," here! It is, "I will" and, "they shall." God knows how
   to work out His own purposes of love and mercy!

   2. Thus says the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found
   Grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest
   If we ever do get true rest of soul, God must cause us to rest. As
   David said, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." The rest of
   the heart is a miracle of Divine Power!

   3. The LORD has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yes, I have loved you
   with an everlasting love: therefore with

   loving kindness have I drawn you. [See Sermons #1914, Volume 32--SECRET
   DRAWINGS GRACIOUSLY EXPLAINED; #2149, Volume 36-- EVERLASTING LOVE
   REVEALED and #2880, Volume 50--NEW TOKENS OF ANCIENT LOVE.] There is
   the source of everything that is good and gracious-- "everlasting
   love." When God has once set that love upon His people, anything and
   everything that is for their good may come out of it! All temporal good
   and all eternal blessings will come out of everlasting love. Oh, that
   we might, each one of us, have Grace to appropriate these blessed words
   to himself--"I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with
   loving kindness have I drawn you." They were given to Israel of old,
   but the spiritual Israel possess all the privileges of the natural
   Israel, and much more.

   4. Again I will build you, and you shall be built Whatever God does is
   done effectually--there is never any failure in His work.

   4. O virgin ofIsrael: you shall again be adorned with your tabrets, and
   shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry. They had wept and
   mourned, but they were to dance! They had been very sad and
   disconsolate, but they were to take down their harps from the willows,
   and even to have their tabrets or timbrels again.

   5. You shall yet plant vines upon the mountain of Samaria: the planters
   shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. God makes the
   luxuries of Grace to be common things to His people. Fare that once
   seemed so rare as to be enjoyed only on high days and holidays shall
   become everyday meat to His people when their Lord reveals Himself to
   them!

   6. For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon the MountEphraim
   shall cry, Arise you, andlet usgo up to Zion unto the LORD our God. For
   many a year Israel had gone to Bethel to worship the calves, or stayed
   at home to adore the shrine of Ashtaroth. Now they were to go to Zion
   to serve Jehovah! See what the Grace of God can do even for idolaters?
   If any of us have been bowing down to our idols, may we this day turn
   to the living God! May the power of His Grace lead us to go heartily
   and unanimously to worship the Lord our God.

   7. 8. For thus says the LORD; Sing with gladness, for Jacob, andshout
   among the chief ofthe nations: publish you, praise you, and say, O
   LORD, save Your people, the remnant ofIsrael. Behold, I will bring them
   from the north country, and gather them from the coasts ofthe earth,
   and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that
   travails with child together: a great company shall return there.
   Whatever God does, He does thoroughly. When He shall restore His
   ancient people, He will not leave the weak ones behind and if, today,
   we are enjoying His Presence, the most

   afflicted and the most infirm among us shall know what the joy of the
   Lord means! The Lord grant it, and we will praise His holy name.

   9. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead
   them.Weeping and prayer go well together. There is no prayer like a wet
   prayer saturated with the tears of repentance.

   9. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight
   way---Hear this, you mourners! God will supply your need with rivers of
   waters, and He will make you walk in a straight way. Sometimes we are
   perplexed because the road seems to wind in and out like a labyrinth,
   but God can lead us in a straight way! "I will cause them to walk by
   the rivers of waters in a straight way"--

   9. Wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a Father to Israel and
   Ephraim is My first-born. They had forgotten their relationship to
   Jehovah, but He still remembered that they were His children.

   10, 11. Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, and declare it in the
   isles afar off and say He that scattered Israel will gather him and
   keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob
   and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. They
   were the Lord's chosen people even when they were in captivity in
   Babylon! He had scattered them because of their sin, but He would
   gather them in His mercy.

   12-14. Therefore they shall come and bring in the height of Zion and
   shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat and for wine
   and for oil, and for the young ofthe flock and ofthe herd: and their
   soul shall be as a wa-teredgarden; and they shallnot sorrow any more at
   all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance both young men and old
   together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort
   them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the
   soul ofthe priests with fatness, and Mypeople shall be satisfied with
   My goodness says the LORD. What a blessed change this was for those who
   had sorrowfully cried, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
   land?" And we rejoice in a still greater change when the Lord brings us
   into spiritual liberty!

   15-17. Thus says the LORD, A voice was heardin Ramah, lamentation and
   bitter weeping; Rachel weeping, for her children refused to be
   comforted, for her children, because they were not. Thus says the LORD;
   Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your
   work shall be rewarded says the LORD; and they shall come again from
   the land ofthe enemy. And there is hope in your end, says the LORD,
   that your children shall come again to their own border A mother's
   sorrow over her lost babies is very great and long-enduring, but if she
   is a Christian, she shall meet them again in the land of the blessed,
   and shall be parted from them no more forever.

   18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. [See Sermons
   #743, Volume 13--ephraim bemoaning himself and #2104,

   Volume 35--THE INNER SIDE OF CONVERSION.] What a wonderfully expressive
   word that word, "bemoaning," is!

   18, 19. You have chastised me and I was chastised as a bullock
   unaccustomed to the yoke: turn You me, and I shall be turned; for You
   are the LORD my God. Surely after that I was turned I repented; and
   after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yes,
   even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Hear what
   the Lord says about these bemoaning ones, these sin-loathing ones--

   20. Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? Or we may render
   it, "Is this Ephraim, My dear son? Is this My pleasant child?" He is
   all that now that he begins to hate his sin!

   20. For since Ispoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still
   Think of this, you who forget your God, you backsliders, wanderers from
   your Father's house!

   20, 21. Therefore My heart is troubled for him; I will surely have
   mercy upon him, says the LORD. Set you up way marks, make you high
   heaps. Raise signs along the road at various points to let other
   travelers know the way in which they should go.

   21, 22. Setyour heart toward the highway, even the way which you went:
   turn again, O virgin ofIsrael, turn again to these your cities. How
   long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the LORD has
   created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. Whereas
   the enemy had compassed Jerusalem round about, now Jerusalem was to be
   the besieger, and to compass her enemies and defeat them. Some
   interpreters think this is an allusion to the birth of the Savior, that
   "new thing in the earth"--the Incarnation of the Son of God.

   23-25. Thus says the LORD ofHosts, the God ofIsrael; Asyet theyshall
   use this speech in the land of Judah andin the cities thereof, when I
   shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless you, O habitation of
   justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah
   itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they
   that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I
   have replenished every sorrowful soul. This prophecy is to be fulfilled
   in the restoration of Israel to Palestine. Until that happens, the
   promise bears a spiritual meaning to all the children of God. O weary
   Soul, you shall be satiated--that is more than being satisfied! You
   shall have as much of holiness and joy as you can hold! Plead His
   promise now, O sorrowful Soul, and may God fulfill it to you!

   26. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
   Well might it be. Poor Jeremiah, who so often wept over the woes of
   Israel, was the very man to be refreshed when he heard from God that He
   would visit His people in mercy, and bring them back to their own land!
   Happy dreamer, who dreams such a blessed dream as this, a dream that
   came true in due time!

   27-28. Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will sow the house
   of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the
   seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched
   over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to
   destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to
   plant, says the LORD. What a black list of words we first have here!
   God's way of dealing with His people when they wander away from Him is
   very stern. They must be brought back, but it will be over a very rough
   road. The Lord says that He "watched over them, to pluck up, and to
   break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict." And in
   the same measure He now declares that He will watch over them to do
   them good. As our tribulations abound, so also shall our consolations
   abound by Christ Jesus! If you have been bitterly convicted of sin, you
   shall be sweetly convicted of pardon. The deeper God digs the
   foundation, the higher He means to build the house. Those who are
   brought to Him in great affliction very often afterwards know more of
   Christ and more of the love of God than any others!
     __________________________________________________________________

Christ the Seeker and Savior of the Lost

   (No. 3309)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
   Luke 19:10.

   [Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same text are Sermons #204,
   Volume 4--THE MISSION OF THE SON OF MAN; #1100, Volume 19-- GOOD NEWS
   FOR THE LOST; #2756 Volume 47--SAVING THE LOST and #3050, Volume
   53--THE ERRAND OF MERCY.]

   We have now considered six of the glorious achievements of our Divine
   Lord and Savior and it is time to conclude

   the series. [The other Sermons in the series are #1325, Volume
   22--CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW; #1326, Volume 22--CHRIST THE CONQUEROR
   OF SATAN; #1327, Volume 22--CHRIST THE OVERCOMER OF THE WORLD; #1328,
   Volume 22--CHRIST THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS NEW; #1329, Volume 22--CHRIST
   THE DESTROYER OF DEATH and #273, Volume 5--CHRIST TRIUMPHANT.] How

   shall we crown the edifice? The best wine should be kept for the last,
   but where shall we find it? The choice is wide, but amid so many
   wonders, which shall we select? What shall be the seventh great work
   concerning which we shall extol Him? Many marvels suggested themselves
   to me and each one was, assuredly, worthy to occupy the place, but as I
   could not take all, I resolved to close with one of the simplest and
   most practical. His saving sinners seemed to me to be practically the
   chief of all His works, for it was for this purpose that the rest of
   His achievements were attempted and performed. Had it not been for the
   salvation of men, I know not that we had ever known our Lord as the
   Destroyer of Death or the Overcomer of Satan and, certainty, if He had
   not saved the lost, I am unable to perceive what Glory there would have
   been in the overcoming of the world, or in the creation of all things
   new. The salvation of men was the prize of His life's race--for this He
   girded up His loins and distanced every adversary! The salvation of the
   lost was "the joy which was set before Him," for the sake of which He
   "endured the Cross, despising the shame."

   Although it seems, at first sight, that in selecting our present topic
   we have descended from the transcendent glories of our Champion to more
   common things, it is, indeed, notso. The victories of our Lord which
   are written in the Book of the wars of the Lord, when He led captivity
   captive and robbed death of his sting, may strike us as more
   astounding, but yet in very truth this is the summing-up of His great
   works--this is the issue, the flower, and crown of all! "The Son of Man
   is come to seek and to save that which was lost," is a sentence as
   majestic as Prophet ever penned when in fullest Inspiration he extolled
   the Prince of Peace!

   I. Notice, first, OUR LORD'S GRACIOUS MISSION--" The Son of Man is
   come."

   When He was here among men, He could use the present tense and say, "is
   come." That was an improvement upon what Prophets had to say, for they
   only spoke of Him as The Coming One--as One who, in the fullness of
   time, would be manifested. The promise was amazing, but what shall I
   say of the actual performance when the Word made flesh could say, "The
   Son of Man is come"? To us, today, the coming of Christ to seek and to
   save the lost is an accomplished fact, a matter of history, most sure
   and certain. And what a fact it is! You have often thought of it, but
   have you ever worked your mind into the very heart of it--that God has
   actually visited this world in human form--that He before whom angels
   bow has actually been here, in fashion like ourselves, feeding the
   hungry crowds of Palestine, healing their sick and raising their dead?
   I know not what may be the peculiar boast of other planets, but this
   poor star cannot be excelled, for on this world the Creator has stood!
   This earth has been trodden by the feet of God and yet it was not
   crushed beneath the mighty burden because He designed to link His Deity
   with our humanity! The Incarnation is a wonder of wonders, but it does
   not belong to the realm of imagination or even of expectation, for it
   has actually been beheld by mortal eyes! We claim your faith for a fact
   which has really taken place. If we asked you by faith to expect a
   marvel yet to come, we

   trust the Spirit of God would enable you to do so, that, like Abraham,
   you might foresee the blessing and be glad. But the miracle of miracles
   has been worked! The Son of the Highest has been here. From Bethlehem
   to Calvary, He has traversed life's pilgrimage. Thirty years or more
   yonder canopy of sky hung above the head of Deity in human form. O
   wondrous joy! Say rather, O matchless hive of perfect sweets, for a
   thousand joys lie close compacted in the word, "Im-manuel"--God With
   Us!--

   "Welcome to our wondering sigh.

   Eternity within a span!

   Summer in winter! Day in night!

   Heaven in earth! And God in man!

   Great Little One, whose glorious birth

   Lifts the earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to earth." Our Lord had come
   upon His sacred mission as soon as He was really the Son of Man, for
   before He was known only as the Son of God. Others had borne the name
   of "son of man," but none deserved it so well as He. Ezekiel, for
   reasons which we need not now stay to consider, is called, "son of
   man," a very large number of times. Perhaps, like John in Christ's own
   day, Ezekiel had much of the spirit and character which were manifest
   in our Lord--and so the name was the more suitable to him. Certainly he
   had Christ's eagle eyes, Christ's spiritual Nature and was filled with
   light and know-ledge--and so, as if to remind him that he who is like
   his Lord in excellence must also have fellowship with Him in lowliness,
   he is again and again reminded that he is still "the son of man."

   When our Lord came into this world, He seemed to select that title of
   "Son of Man" for Himself and make it His own special name--and worthily
   so, for other men are the sons of this man or that, but His is no
   restricted humanity--it is manhood of the universal type. Jesus is not
   born into the race of the Jews so much as into the human family. He is
   not to be claimed for any age, place, or nationality--He is "the Son of
   Man"--and this, I say, is how He comes to man. So that as long as
   Christ is the Son of Man, we may still say of Him that He comes to seek
   and to save the lost! I know that, in Person, He has gone back to
   Heaven. I know that the cloud has received Him out of our sight. But
   the very taking upon Himself of our humanity was a coming down to seek
   and save the lost--and as He has not laid that Humanity aside, He is
   still with men, continuing to seek and to save even to this day! "He is
   able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He
   ever lives to make intercession for them." So that, if I treat the text
   as if Jesus were still among us, I would not err, for He is here in the
   sense of seeking the same end, though it is by His Spirit and by His
   servants rather than by His own bodily Presence! He has said, "Lo, I am
   with you always, even unto the end of the world," and that saying is
   found in connection with the agency which He has established for
   seeking and saving lost men, by making men disciples and teaching them
   the way of life! As long as this dispensation lasts, it will still be
   true that the great Savior and Friend of man has come among us and is
   seeking and saving the lost!

   II. Now, secondly, let us see HIS MAIN INTENT IN COMING HERE
   BELOW--"The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was
   lost." The intent breaks itself up into two points, the persons--the
   lost. And the purpose-- the seeking and the saving of them.

   Christ's main intent in coming here bore upon the lost. Proud men do
   not like us to preach this Truth of God. It was but yesterday that I
   saw it alleged against Christianity that it discourages virtue and
   patronizes the guilty. They say that we ministers lift the sinful into
   the most prominent place and give them the preference above the moral
   and excellent in our preaching. This is a soft impeachment to which, in
   a better sense than is intended by those who bring it, we are glad to
   plead guilty! We may well be excused if our preaching seeks the lost,
   for these are the persons whom our Lord has come to seek and to save.
   The main stress and intent of the Incarnation of God in the Person of
   Christ lies with the guilty, the fallen, the unworthy, the lost. His
   errand of mercy has nothing to do with those who are good and righteous
   in themselves, if such there is, but it has to do with sinners--real
   sinners, guilty not of nominal but of actual sins--and who have gone so
   far therein as to be lost! Why do you quibble at this? Why should He
   come to seek and to save that which is not lost? Should the Shepherd
   seek the sheep which has not gone astray? Answer me. Why should He come
   to be the Physician of those who are not lost? Should He light a candle
   and sweep the house to look for pieces of silver which are not lost,
   but lie bright and untarnished in His hand? To what purpose would this
   be? Would you have Him paint the lily and gild it with refined gold?
   Would you make Him a mere busybody offering superfluous aid? With those
   who think them-

   selves pure, what has the cleaning blood of Jesus to do? Is the Savior
   a needless Person and was His work a needless business? It must be so
   if it is intended for those who do not need it!

   Who needs a Savior most? Answer this. Should not mercy exercise itself
   where there is most need for it? This world is like a battlefield over
   which the fierce hurricanes of conflict have swept and the surgeons
   have come to deal with those who lie upon its plains. To whom shall
   they go first? Shall they not turn first to those who are most terribly
   wounded and who are bleeding almost to the death? Will you quarrel with
   us if we declare that the first to be taken to the hospital should be
   those who are in direst need? Will you be angry if we say that the
   liniment is for the wounded, that the bandages are for the broken limbs
   and that the medicine is for the sick? A strange quarrel this would be!
   If ever it should begin, a fool must begin it, for no wise man would
   ever raise the question! Blessed Christ of God, we will not quibble
   because You also come in Your mercy to those who need You most, even to
   the lost!

   And who do you think will love Him best and so reward Him best if He
   comes to them? The proud Pharisee in his perfection of imaginary
   holiness--will he value the Christ who tells him that He comes to wash
   away his sin? He turns upon his heels with scorn! What sin has he to
   wash away? The self-satisfied moralist who dares to say, "All these
   commands I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?"--is he likely
   to become a disciple of the Great Teacher whose first lessons are, "Yet
   must be born-again," and, "Except you are converted and become as
   little children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven"? The
   fact is that Jesus has no form nor comeliness to those who have a
   beauty of their own! Christ gets most love where He pardons most sin.
   And the sweetest obedience to His command is rendered by those who once
   were most disobedient, but who are gently led beneath His sway by the
   force of grateful love. Yon sterile hills of fancied holiness yield Him
   no harvest and, therefore, He leaves them to their own boastfulness.
   But meanwhile, He scatters plenteous grain among the lowlands where the
   ground is broken and lies ready for the seed. He preaches pardon to
   those who know that they have sinned and confess the same--but those
   who have no sin, have no Savior.

   But after all, dear Friends, if Jesus did not direct His mission of
   salvation to the lost, to whom else could He have come? For truth to
   say, there are none but the lost on the face of this whole earth! The
   proudest Pharisee is but a sinner and all the more a sinner for his
   pride. And the moralist who thinks himself so clean is filthy in the
   sight of God! Though he labors to conceal the spots, the self-righteous
   man is a leper and will forever remain so unless Jesus cleanses Him. It
   is a thrice-blessed fact that Christ came to save the lost, for such
   are we all--and had He not made lost ones the object of His searching
   and saving, there would have been no hope for us!

   What is meant by "the lost"? Well, "lost" is a dreadful word. I would
   need much time to explain it, but if the Spirit of God, like a flash of
   light, shall enter into your heart and show you what you are by nature,
   you will accept that word, "lost," as descriptive of your condition and
   understand it better than a thousand words of mine could enable you to
   do! Lost by the Fall! Lost by inheriting a depraved nature! Lost by
   your own acts and deeds! Lost by a thousand omissions of duty and lost
   by countless deeds of overt transgressions! Lost by habits of sin! Lost
   by tendencies and inclinations which have gathered strength and dragged
   you downward into deeper and yet deeper darkness and iniquity! Lost by
   inclinations which never turn of themselves to that which is right, but
   which resolutely refuse Divine Mercy and Infinite Love! We are lost
   willfully and willingly--lost perversely and utterly! But still lost of
   our own accord which is the worst kind of being lost that can possibly
   be! We are lost to God, who has lost our heart's love, lost our
   confidence and lost our obedience! We are lost to the Church, which we
   cannot serve. Lost to the Truth of God which we will not see. Lost to
   right, whose cause we do not uphold. Lost to Heaven, into whose sacred
   precincts we can never come! Lost--so lost that unless Almighty Mercy
   shall intervene, we shall be cast into the Pit that is bottomless to
   sink forever! "LOST! LOST! LOST!" The very word seems to me to be the
   knell of an impenitent soul. "Lost! Lost! Lost!" I hear the dismal
   tolling! A soul's funeral is being celebrated! Endless death has
   befallen an immortal being! It comes up as a dreadful wail from far
   beyond the boundaries of life and hope, forth from those dreary regions
   of death and darkness where spirits dwell who would not have Christ to
   reign over them. "Lost! Lost! Lost!" Ah me, that ever these ears should
   hear that doleful sound! Better a whole world on fire than a lost soul!
   Better every star quenched and yon skies a wreck than a single soul to
   be lost!

   Now, it is for souls that soon will be in that worst of all conditions
   and are already preparing for it, that Jesus came here seeking and
   saving. What joy is this! In proportion as the grief was heavy, the joy
   is great. If souls can be delivered from going down into such a state,
   it is a feat worthy of God, Himself. Glory be to His holy name!

   Now note the purpose--He "came to seek and to save that which was
   lost." Ah, this is a Truth of God worth preach-ing--this Doctrine that
   Jesus Christ came to seek and to save sinners. Some people tell me that
   He comes "to make men salvable"--to put all men into such a condition
   that it is possible that they may be saved. I believe that men may be
   saved, but I see no very great wonder in the fact. It does not stir my
   blood, or incite me to dance for joy. I do not know that it makes even
   the slightest impression upon me! I can go to sleep and I am sure I
   shall not wake up in the night and long to get up at once to preach
   such poor news as that Jesus came to make men salvable! I would not
   have become a minister to preach so meager a Gospel! But that our Lord
   came to savemen--that is substantial and satisfying news, far exceeding
   the other! To make men salvable is a skeleton, bones and skin--but to
   save them is a living blessing! To make men salvable is a farthing
   blessing, but to save them is untold wealth!

   They say also that Jesus came into the world to let men be saved if
   they will. I am glad of that. It is true and good. I believe that every
   truly willing soul may be saved, yes, such an one is, in a measure,
   saved already! If there is a sincere will towards
   salvation--understand, towards true salvation--that very will indicates
   that a great change has commenced within the man and I rejoice that it
   is written, "Whoever will, let him take the water of life freely." But
   now just read our text as if it ran thus--"The Son of Man is come that
   whoever wills to be saved may be saved." The sense is good, but very
   feeble! How the wine is mixed with water! But, oh, what flavor, what
   essence, what marrow, what fatness there is in this, "The Son of Man is
   come to seek and to save that which was lost"! This is the Gospel! And
   the other is but a part of the Good News. Again, read the text another
   way, "The Son of Man is come to help men to save themselves." This will
   not do at all. It is something like helping men to march who have no
   legs, or helping blind men to judge colors, or helping dead men to make
   themselves alive. Help to those who can do nothing at all is a
   miserable mockery. No, we cannot have our Bibles altered that way! We
   will let the text stand as it is--in all its fullness of Divine Grace!

   Nor is it even possible for us to cut down our text to this, "The Son
   of Man is come to save those who seek Him." If it ran so, I would bless
   God forever for it, for it would be a glorious Gospel text even then.
   There are Scriptures which teach that Doctrine and it is a blessed
   Truth for which to be supremely grateful. But my text goes very much
   further, for it says, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that
   which was lost." I met with a question and answer the other day, "Where
   did the Samaritan woman find the Savior? She found Him at the well." I
   do not quibble at that mode of expression, but mark you, that is not
   how I would ask the question! I should rather enquire, "Where did the
   Savior find the woman?" For, surely, she was not seeking Him--I see no
   indication that she had any such idea in her mind! She was looking
   after water from the well--and if she had found that--she would have
   gone home satisfied. No, those are the finders, surely, who are the
   seekers! And so it must be that Christ found the woman, for He was
   looking after her. While I bless my Lord that He will save you if you
   seek Him, I am still more thankful that there are men and women whom He
   will seek as well as save! No, that there never was a soul saved yet
   but Christ sought it first! He is the Author as well as the Finisher of
   faith. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending of
   the work of Grace! Let His name be praised for it! The text must stand
   as it is and we will adore the length and breadth, the height and depth
   of the love which has made it true! Successful seeking and complete
   saving belong to the Son of Man--some of us have experienced both. Oh,
   that all of us might yet do so!

   III. Now we pass on, thirdly, to notice A DOUBLE DIFFICULTY. We see
   Christ's errand and we at once perceive that He has come to deal with
   people who are lost in two senses and in each sense a miracle of Grace
   is needed for their deliverance. They are so lost that they need
   saving, but they are also so lost that they need seeking. Persons may
   be so lost on land or on sea as to need saving and not seeking--but we
   were spiritually lost so as to need both saving and seeking too.

   I heard, a little while ago, of a party of Friends who went to the
   lakes of Cumberland and endeavored to climb the Langdale Pikes. One of
   the many found the labor of the ascent too wearisome and so resolved
   that he would go back to the little inn from which they started. Being
   a wiser man than some, in his own esteem, he did not take the winding
   path by which they had ascended. He thought he would go straight down,
   for he could see the house just below, and fancied he should pitch upon
   it all of a sudden and show the mountaineers that a straight line is
   the nearest road! Well, after descending and descending, leaping many a
   rugged place, he found himself, at last, on a ledge from which he could
   go neither up nor down. After many vain attempts, he saw that he was a
   prisoner. In a state of wild terror, he took off his garments and tore
   them into shreds to make a line and, tying the pieces together, he let
   them down, but he found that they

   reached nowhere at all in the great and apparently unfathomable abyss
   which yawned below him. So he began to call aloud, but no answer came
   from the surrounding hills except the echo of his own voice! He shouted
   by the half-hour together, but there was no answer, neither was there
   anyone within sight. His horror nearly drove him out of his wits. At
   last, to his intense joy, he saw a figure move in the plain below and
   he began to shout again. Happily it was a woman, who, hearing his
   voice, stopped. And as he called again, she came nearer and called out,
   "Stay where you are. Do not stir an inch. Stay where you are!" He was
   lost, but he no longer needed seeking, for some friendly shepherds soon
   saw where he was. All he needed was saving--and so the mountaineers
   descended with a rope, as they were known to do when rescuing lost
   sheep--and soon brought him out of danger. He was lost, but he did not
   need seeking--they could see where he was.

   A month or two ago, you must have noticed in the papers a notice about
   a gentleman who had left Wastwater some days before to go over the
   hills and had not been heard of since. His friends had to seek him so
   that, if still alive, he might be saved. And there were those who
   traversed hill and moor to find him, but they were unable to save him
   because they could not find him. If they could have found out where he
   was, I do not doubt that had he been in the most imminent peril, the
   bold hill-men would have risked their lives to rescue him. But, alas,
   he was never found or saved--his lifeless corpse was the only discovery
   which was ultimately made. This last is the true image of our
   deplorable condition--we are by nature, lost--so that nothing but
   seeking and saving together will be of a service to us.

   Let us see how our Lord accomplished the saving. That has been done,
   completely done. My dear Friends, you and I were lost in the sense of
   having broken the Law of God and having incurred His anger. But Jesus
   came and took the sin of men upon Himself and, as their Surety and
   their Substitute, He bore the wrath of God so that God can henceforth
   be just and yet the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus. I would
   like to die talking of this blessed Doctrine of Substitution and I
   intend, by Divine Grace, to live proclaiming it, for it is the keystone
   of the Gospel! Jesus Christ did literally take upon Himself the
   transgression and iniquity of His people and was made a curse for them,
   seeing that they had fallen under the wrath of God! And now every soul
   that believes in Jesus is saved because Jesus has taken away the
   penalty and the curse due to sin. In this let us rejoice!

   Christ has also saved us from the power of Satan. The Seed of the woman
   has bruised the serpent's head so that Satan's power is broken. Jesus
   has, by His Almighty Power, set us free from Hell's horrible yoke by
   vanquishing the Prince of Darkness and has, moreover, saved us from the
   power of death, so that to Believers it shall not be death to die!
   Christ has saved us from sin and all its consequence by His most
   precious death and Resurrection--

   "See God descending in the Human frame, The Offended suffering in the
   offender's name! All your deeds to Him imputed see, And all His
   righteousness devolved on thee."

   Our Lord's saving work is, in this sense, finished, but there is always
   going on in the world His seekingwork--and I want you to think of it.

   He can save us, blessed be His name! He has nothing more to do in order
   to save any soul that trusts Him. But we have wandered very far away,
   and are hidden in the wilds of the far country. We are very hungry and
   though there is bread enough and to spare, what is the use of it while
   we are lost to the home in which it is so freely distributed? We are
   very ragged--there is the best robe and it is ready to be put on
   us--but what is the good of it while we are so far away? There are the
   music and the dancing to make us glad and to cheer us, but what is the
   use of them while we still tarry among the swine? Here, then, is the
   great difficulty. Our Lord must find us, follow our wanderings and,
   treating us like lost sheep, He must bear us back upon His shoulders
   rejoicing!

   Many need seeking because they are lost in bad company. Evil companions
   gather around men and keep them away from hearing the Gospel by which
   men are saved. There is no place to be lost in like a great city. When
   a man wants to escape the police, he does not run to a little
   village--he hides away in a thickly populated town. So this London has
   many hiding places where sinners get out of the Gospel's way! They lose
   themselves in the great crowd and are held captives by the slavish
   customs of the evil society into which they are absorbed. If they do
   but relent for a moment, some worldling plucks them by the sleeve and
   says, "Let us be merry while we may! Why are you so melancholy?" Satan
   carefully sets a watch upon his younger servants to prevent their
   escaping from his hands. These pickets labor earnestly to

   prevent the man from hearing the good news of salvation lest he should
   be converted. Sinners therefore need seeking out from among the society
   in which they are imbedded--they need as much seeking after as the
   pearls of the Arabian Gulf!

   The Lord Jesus Christ, in seeking men, has to deal with deep-seated
   prejudices. Many refuse to hear the Gospel-- they would travel many
   miles to escape its warning message! Some are too wise, or too rich to
   have the Gospel preached to them. Pity the poor rich! The poor man has
   many missionaries and evangelists seeking him out, but who goes after
   the great ones? Some come from the East to worship, but who comes from
   the West? Many more will find their way to Heaven out of the back slums
   than ever will come out of the great mansions and palaces! Jesus must
   seek His elect among the rich under great disadvantages, but blessed be
   His name, He does seek them!

   See how vices and depraved habits hold the mass of the poor classes!
   What a seeking out is needed among working men, for many of them are
   besotted with drunkenness! Look at the large part of London on the
   Lord's-Day--what have the working population been doing? They have been
   reading the Sunday newspaper and loafing about the house in their
   shirtsleeves and waiting at the posts of the doors--not of wisdom, but
   of the drink shop! These have been thirsting, but not after
   righteousness. Baachus still remains the god of this city and
   multitudes are lost among the beer barrels and the spirit casks! In
   such pursuits men waste the blessed Sabbath hours. How shall they be
   sought out? The Lord Jesus is doing it by His Holy Spirit!

   Alas, through their ill ways, men's ears are stopped, their eyes are
   blinded and their hearts hardened so that the messengers of mercy have
   need of great patience! It would be easy work to save men if they could
   but be made willing to receive the Gospel, but they will not even
   hearit. When you do get them for a Sabbath-Day beneath the sound of a
   faithful ministry, how they struggle against it! They need seeking out
   50 times over! You bring them right up to the Light of God and flash it
   upon their eyes, but they willfully and deliberately close their
   eyelids to it! You set before them life and death, and plead with them
   even unto tears that they would lay hold on eternal life--but they
   choose their own delusions. So long and so patiently must they be
   sought that this seeking work as much reveals the gracious heart of
   Jesus as did the saving work which He fulfilled upon the bloody tree!

   Notice how He is daily accomplishing His search of love. Every day,
   Beloved, Jesus Christ is seeking men's ears. Would you believe it? He
   has to go about with wondrous wisdom even to get a hearing. They do not
   want to know the love message of their God. "God so loved the
   world"--they know all about that and do not want to hear any more.
   There is an Infinite Sacrifice for sin--they turn on their heels at
   such stale news. They would rather read an article in an infidel Review
   or a paragraph in the Police News. They want to know no more of
   spiritual matters! The Lord Jesus, in order to get at their ears, cries
   aloud by many earnest voices. Thank God He has ministers yet alive who
   mean to be heard and will not be put off with denials! Even the din of
   this noisy world cannot drown their testimony. Cry aloud, my Brother!
   Cry aloud and spare not, for cry as you may, you will not cry too
   loudly, for man will not hear if he can help it. Our Lord, to win men's
   ears, must use a variety of voices--musical or rough--as His wisdom
   judges best. Sometimes He gains an audience by an odd voice whose
   quaintness wins attention--He will reach men when He means to save
   them!

   That was an odd voice--surely the oddest I ever heard of--which came a
   little time ago in an Italian town to one of God's elect ones there. He
   was so depraved that he actually fell to worshipping the devil rather
   than God! It chanced, one day, that a rumor went through the city that
   a Protestant was coming there to preach. The priest, alarmed for his
   religion, told the people from the altar that Protestants worshipped
   the devil and he charged them not to go near the meeting room. The
   news, as you may judge, excited no horror in the devil-worshipper's
   mind. "Yes," he thought, "then I shall meet with brethren!" And so he
   went to hear our beloved missionary who is now laboring in Rome.
   Nothing else would have drawn the poor wretch to hear the Good
   Word--but this lie of the priest's was overruled to that end! He went
   and heard, not of the devil, but of the devil's Conqueror--and before
   long was found at Jesus' feet--a sinner saved!

   I have known my Lord, when His ministers have failed, take out an arrow
   from His quiver and fix upon it a message, put it to His bow and shoot
   it right into a man's bosom till it wounded him. And as it wounded him
   and he lay moaning upon his bed, the message has been and accepted. I
   mean, that many a man in sickness has been brought to hear the message
   of salvation. Often, losses and crosses have brought men to Jesus'
   feet. Jesus seeks them so. When Absalom could not get an interview with
   Joab, he said, "Go and set his barley field on fire." Then Joab came
   down to Absalom and said, "Why have your servants set my field on
   fire?" The Lord sometimes sends losses of property to men who will not
   otherwise hear Him--and at last their ears are gained! Whom He seeks,
   He in due time finds!

   Well, after my Lord has sought men's ears, He next seeks their desires.
   He will have them long for a Savior--and this is not an easy thing to
   accomplish! But He has a way of showing men their sins--and then they
   wish for mercy. He shows them at other times the great joy of the
   Christian life--and then they wish to enter into the same delight. I
   pray that at this hour He may lead some of you to consider the danger
   you are in while you are yet unconverted, that so you may begin to
   desire Christ and in this way may be sought and found by Him!

   Then He seeks their faith He seeks that they may come and trust
   Him--and He has ways of bringing them to this, for He shows them the
   suitability of His salvation and the fullness and the freeness of it!
   And when He has exhibited Himself as the sinners' Savior, and such a
   Savior as they need, then do they come and put their trust in Him. Then
   has He found them and saved them!

   He seeks their hearts, for it is their hearts that He has lost. And oh,
   how sweetly does Christ, by the Holy Spirit, win men's affection and
   hold them fast! I shall never forget how He won mine--how first He
   gained my ear and then my desires, so that I wished to have Him for my
   Lord! And then He taught me to trust Him. And when I had trusted Him
   and found that I was saved, then I loved Him and I love Him still! So,
   dear Hearer, if Jesus Christ finds you, you will become His loving
   follower forever! I have been praying that He would bring this message
   under the notice of those whom He means to bless. I have asked Him to
   let me sow in good soil. I hope that among those who read these pages,
   there will be many whom the Lord Jesus has specially redeemed with His
   most precious blood--and I trust that He will appear at once to them
   and say to each one of them, "I have loved you with an everlasting
   love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you." May the eternal
   Spirit open your ears to hear the still small voice of love! By
   Omnipotent Grace may you be made to yield to the Lord with the cheerful
   consent of your conquered will and accept that glorious Grace which
   will bring you to praise the seeking and saving Savior in Heaven! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JEREMIAH31:29-37.

   (Concluded from Sermon #3308).

   29, 30. In these days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a
   sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But everyone
   shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his
   teeth shall be set on edge. God was going to deal with the Israelites
   individually, personally--and that is how He will deal with us. 31.
   Behold.Here is something worth beholding--read this great promise with
   tears in your eyes-- 31-33. The days come, says the LORD, that I
   willmake a new Covenant with the house ofIsrael, and with the house of
   Judah: not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in
   the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of
   Egypt; which My Covenant they broke, although I was an husband unto
   you, says the LORD: but this shall be the Covenant that I will make
   with the house ofIsrael After those days, says the LORD, I will put My
   Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be
   their God, and they shall be My people. [See Sermons #1687,

   Volume 28--THE LAW WRITTEN IN THE HEART and #2992, Volume 52--GOD'S
   WRITING UPON MAN'S HEART.] It is all wills and shalls--it is all
   Covenant life! No longer the Law engraved upon the tablets of stone,
   but the Law written on the heart--no more the Lord's command without
   man's power and will to obey it, but God will renew our nature and
   change our disposition so that we shall love to do what once we
   loathed--and shall loathe the sins that we once loved! What a wonderful
   mass of mercies is included in the Covenant of Grace!

   34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man
   his brother, saying, know the Lord: for they shall all know Me--"All
   your children shall be taught of the Lord." All Believers, whatever
   else they may not know, do know their Lord--"they shall all know Me"--

   34. From the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD.
   How will they learn to know the Lord? Well, it will be in a very
   wonderful way--

   34. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
   more. [See Sermon #2006, Volume 34--knowing the lord

   THROUGH PARDONED SIN.] Let me read that again, and may some

   poor wandering children of God hear the promise and be glad that it
   applies to them--"I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember
   their sin no more."

   35-37. Thus says the LORD, which gives the sun for a light by day, and
   the ordinances ofthe moon and ofthe stars for a light by night, which
   divides the sea when the waves thereof roar The LORD of Hosts is His
   name: if these ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then
   the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me
   forever Thus says the LORD; If Heaven above can be measured, and the
   foundation ofthe earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all
   the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD.
     __________________________________________________________________

Prompt Obedience

   (No. 3310)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 11H, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 17,
   1866.

   "As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall
   submit themselves unto me." Psalm 18:44.

   THERE is no doubt that we have David speaking to us in this Psalm, but
   it is equally certain that we must not limit it to David. Paul quoted
   verses 2 and 49 as applying to David's Lord, and we shall not be wrong
   in following his example with regard to our text.

   I. I am going to make several observations upon the text, and the first
   is that IT TELLS US THE SAVIOR'S CLAIMS UPON THE HEARTS OF MEN. He
   claims that they should obey Him and submit themselves unto Him. The
   great practical end of the Gospel is to bring the human heart into
   obedience to Christ and to make the stubborn will acknowledge
   allegiance to His sway.

   Now, in this matter many great mistakes are made by men. Some think it
   is sufficient to go to a place of worship and to hear or repeat solemn
   words. This is a good thing to do, of course, but if all ends there,
   the purpose of the Gospel is not served. Such people will find, to
   their cost, that it is not the mere hearers of the Word, but the doers
   of it who are blessed. We still need the message that the Apostle James
   wrote long ago, "If any is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is
   like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholds
   himself and goes his way, and immediately forgets what manner of man he
   was." It is the wayside hearers who simply hear the Word, but neither
   understanding nor receiving it, they derive no benefit from it. Let
   none of us be numbered among them, nor among those who merely repeat
   certain forms of words without feeling the force and power of them in
   their hearts.

   Others think it is enough if they carefully attend to the Gospel. If
   they do that, they seem to imagine that this is all that can be
   expected of them. This also is good as far as it goes--we have not a
   word to say against it, but much to say in its favor. But, my dear
   Hearer, if you pay ever so much outward attention to the Word of God,
   unless you submit your soul and spirit to its dominion, you cannot
   possibly expect to receive benefit from it. You are in the position of
   one who pays much attention to his physician's prescription who spells
   out the Latin words, notes the quantities of the various drugs that are
   to be compounded, but who never gets a chemist to make up the
   prescription, or if he does go as far as that--never tastes the
   medicine! Such a man will never be cured of his malady in that way, nor
   will you be cured of your soul-sickness unless you actually take the
   remedy which the Great Physician has so graciously prescribed. You may
   carefully note all the bakers' shops that you pass on your way home
   tonight. You may correctly calculate the quantity of bread that would
   be required for your family--and you may accurately estimate what it
   would cost--yet your household will not be fed unless you actually
   purchase the bread and give to each one a portion in due season. And
   your soul will not be fed unless you really partake of the Bread of
   Life.

   What Christ requires of you who hear His Word is that you should obey
   Him and submit yourselves unto Him. How are you to do this? The Apostle
   John writes, "This is His commandment, That we should believe on the
   name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us
   commandment." This is Christ's claim upon us, that we should trust
   Him--trust Him as our Savior, trust Him as our Lord and Master--trust
   Him so as to obey Him in all that He has commanded us. If we do this,
   we shall find that His commandments are not grievous and that obedience
   to them will yield to us the peaceable fruits of righteousness. He says
   to you, Sinner, "Give up all other confidences and come and trust in
   Me. If you would be saved, do not merely hear Me say to you, 'Look unto
   Me,' but really look unto Me, believe in Me, trust Me, forsake all your
   false refuges, leave those Babel buildings of your own devices and come
   to the sure Rock

   whereon a soul may safely build for time and for eternity." When you
   hear this command of Christ, give heed to it--obey Him and submit
   yourself to Him!

   Then, if obedience to that command is truly rendered, there will follow
   obedience to all the Savior's commands. No man is really saved unless
   he is, in his heart, obedient to Christ. I do not say that you will be
   perfect, but you will desire to be so. I do not say that you will not
   be tempted to sin until you die, but there will be no sin that you will
   love, there will be no sin from which you will not long to be
   delivered. Your spirit will cheerfully bend down its neck to wear the
   collar of sacred service and as far as your inner and spiritual man is
   concerned, you will cry mightily unto God against the very thought of
   sin--and pray that you may walk in holiness and in the fear of the Lord
   all the days of your life.

   If any of you have thought that trusting Christ does not involve
   obeying Him, you have made a great mistake. They do very wrong who cry
   up believing in Christ and yet depreciate obedience to Him, for obeying
   is believing in another form and springs out of believing. Neither may
   anyone say, "I will obey one command of Christ, but I will not obey
   another." The very principle of trustful obedience lies in your not
   making any choice as to which commands you will obey. A soldier asks no
   question and makes no objection when he receives his orders--his
   captain bids him go and he goes--or he bids him come and he comes. He
   never says, "I will go thus far in obedience, but no further." So must
   it be with you if you enlist under the banner of the Captain of our
   salvation--your obedience must be wholehearted and complete. If tonight
   you are the Lord's, you must say to Him out of the very depths of your
   soul, "Show me, my Master, what You would have me do. You have bidden
   me trust You, and I do trust You. And out of that trust springs a
   reverent desire to submit absolutely to Your holy will. Help me, by
   Your gracious Spirit, to obey You in everything. And from this time
   forth, O blessed Savior, reign as the undisputed Lord of my whole
   life!"

   We see, then, what the claim on Christ upon the hearts of men really
   is. And we who preach the Gospel must never rest satisfied until our
   hearers really submit themselves unto Him. It brings tears to our eyes
   as we recall how earnestly they often listen to our message--and how
   they even compliment us upon our faithfulness in delivering it--yet how
   they will be obedient to a part of it and yet be disobedient to the
   rest, for they will not obey Christ and submit themselves unto Him. Oh,
   that they had more submissive hearts, but neither you nor I can give
   them such hearts. We can proclaim the Truth of God in their hearing and
   we can weep before the Lord if they do not receive it--but the power to
   save them lies not in human hands--we must look up to the Almighty
   Savior and trust that He will bless the message which we have delivered
   in His name!

   II. The second inference which we draw from the text is that IN ORDER
   TO RENDER OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST, THERE IS NO NEED OF A LONG
   PROBATION--"As soon as they hear of Me, they shall obey Me: the
   strangers shall submit themselves unto Me."

   It seems that some, as soon as they heard of Christ, yielded themselves
   up to Him. It used to be a very common notion, and the idea still
   prevails in some churches, that in order to have faith in Christ there
   must be long preparatory exercises. Many of the Puritans, excellent as
   they were, made a mistake in this matter. They felt afraid to say to a
   sinner, when they found him just as a sinner, "Believe on Christ"--they
   thought it was necessary that he should first undergo a certain amount
   of Law-working and conviction-plowing--and then they might come in with
   the preaching of the Gospel. I owe much to Doddridge's Rise and
   Progress of Religion in the Soul, and I used to recommend it to others,
   but I do not do so now. That book does show the way of salvation, but
   it is done in a roundabout fashion--very different from the simple
   Gospel plan, "Believe and live," "Look and be saved." It is true that
   many do have the experiences which Doddridge describes, but that is no
   proof that they needhave them! It is probable that most Christians do
   go through that Slough of Despond which Bunyan so graphically
   describes, but it is not absolutely necessary that any one of them
   should go through it! "He that believes on the Son has everlasting
   life," whether he has been in the Slough of Despond or not!

   If it were necessary, I could pick out scores of members of this Church
   whose conversion is beyond question, and who have been faithful
   followers of Christ for years, yet their faith in Christ came all of a
   sudden. The Gospel just knocked at the door of their hearts and entered
   at once--no, in many cases, it seemed to enter without knocking! Think
   of Saul of Tarsus, "breathing out threats and slaughter against the
   disciples of the Lord," yet suddenly arrested near Damascus, and crying
   out to that very Jesus whom he was persecuting, "Lord, what will You
   have me to do?" Think of the jailer at Philippi--a rough heathen who
   was about to commit suicide, almost immediately crying out, "What must
   I do to be

   saved?" And very soon afterwards baptized, "believing in God with all
   his house." Think of the thief on the cross, joining with his fellow
   malefactor in reviling at Christ, yet presently praying, "Lord,
   remember me when You come into Your Kingdom," and receiving the
   cheering answer from Christ, "Today shall you be with Me in Paradise"!
   These were sudden conversions which were worked without that long and
   painful preparation which has been so cried up in some of our churches
   that it has become a great hindrance to many! We must put nothing
   before the Cross of Christ--His great atoning Sacrifice is the one
   object to which we must direct the sinner's gaze! Genuine evangelical
   repentanceruns in double harness with faithand they should never be
   separated. To suppose that we are to go through a sort of quarantine
   before we can be admitted into the harbor of salvation is a very
   serious mistake. Our text flatly contradicts this idea, for it says,
   "As soon as they hear of Me, they shall obey Me."--

   "There is life for a look at the Crucified One." There is life for a
   look--even though the heart should be as hard as the nether millstone!
   There is life for a look-- even though as yet the character has
   undergone no change! There is life for a look--even though you cannot
   see any signs of Grace--

   "There is life for a look at the Crucified One."

   Jesus Christ does not look for anything in you except sin and need, but
   finds in Himself both the source of mercy and the means by which that
   mercy may come to the very chief of sinners. May the Holy Spirit make
   it very clear to you that there is no necessity for you to wait a long
   while before the blessing of salvation may be given to you, but that
   you may have it this very moment! The pool at Bethesda was only
   efficacious for the healing of the first one who stepped into the water
   after it had been troubled by the angel, so that the afflicted might
   wait there for years and still remain unhealed. But the pool which
   Christ filled with His precious blood always has efficacy in it, so
   that whoever steps in, though he may not have been waiting by the pool
   for even a minute, though it may be the first time he ever heard of the
   precious blood of Christ--if he trusts in the finished work of God's
   dear Son, he shall be immediately saved!

   III. A third remark which I think may be fairly based upon the text is
   this--IN SOME CASES, THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION WINS A VERY SPEEDY
   VICTORY.

   It was very remarkable that three thousand persons should have believed
   on Christ after Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. We scarcely
   seem to expect, nowadays, to see three thousand souls converted,
   baptized and added to the Church in a single day, but when the Gospel
   was first proclaimed, converts were gathered very rapidly. It seemed as
   though a great pile of dry wood had been accumulated and it only needed
   a torch to set it aflame at once! In the time of the Reformation, so
   rapidly was the Gospel spread that men said that the writings of Luther
   were borne on the wings of angels--and so many of all classes believed
   the Truth of God that hallelujahs arose from the plowman in the field
   and the servants in the kitchen as well as from the lords and ladies of
   the land! "The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that
   published it," and still greater the multitude of those that received
   it! When Whitefield preached to great crowds of people who had never
   heard the Gospel before, it was like plowing virgin soil--the Truth
   appealed to them with all the force of novelty--and also with the
   conviction that it was exactly suited to their case so that they
   received it with sudden joy and thousands were converted!

   Many persons come to this Tabernacle who have never previously listened
   to the Gospel--and it often happens that the very first sermon they
   hear is blessed to them! Last Tuesday, when I saw some 33 candidates
   for Baptism, one or two of them said that they had never been to any
   place of worship until they came here. Curiosity had prompted them to
   come and they were surprised to find that the preacher seemed to know
   all about them, for his message exactly suited their case. They
   received the Word suddenly, but so mightily did it affect them that
   they would not give it up, for it had come to them "in demonstration of
   the Spirit and of power." There is no place where I feel so happy or so
   much at home in preaching as on this familiar spot--with your eyes
   fixed upon me and your heart drinking in the Truth of God--but for the
   winning of souls in great numbers, give me a congregation that has
   never heard the Gospel! If I were a fisherman and were asked where I
   would prefer to fish, I would answer, "Where nobody else has ever
   fished." So, if a preacher of the Gospel might pick his place, he might
   well say, "Let me preach where the people have never yet heard the
   Gospel." If we can get among certain classes of society, high or low,
   to whom the Gospel is a novelty, I feel persuaded that the grand
   prophecy of the text shall be gloriously fulfilled in their midst--"As
   soon as they hear of Me, they shall obey Me: the strangers shall submit
   themselves unto Me." Let us expect this blessed result of our labors
   and be constantly in earnest

   breaking up fresh soil and casting the Gospel net into waters that have
   never yet been fished. Oh, that some who are here for the first time
   tonight may obey Christ as soon as they hear of Him! He came into the
   world to save sinners! He took upon Himself our flesh and took upon
   Himself our sins--and suffered in our place for our sins--"the Just for
   the unjust, that He might bring us to God." If we trust in Him who bore
   our sins in His own body on the Cross, that trust brings us salvation!
   And it works in us peace and joy, gratitude and love--and helps us to
   serve the Lord with reverence and holy fear!

   IV. Now we advance to a fourth point which is that STRANGERS WILL ALSO
   YIELD THEMSELVES TO CHRIST.

   The point to which I want now to call your very special attention is
   not so much the suddenness of the conversion as the condition of the
   people who, according to our text, shall submit themselves to Christ.
   There are some who, in the fullest sense of the term, are "aliens from
   the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of praise,
   having no hope, and without God in the world." Some of you who
   regularly attend a place of worship, are "aliens" in the sense in which
   Paul used the word--you are like the mixed multitude that came up with
   the children of Israel out of Egypt. Though you are not part of "the
   commonwealth of Israel" spiritually, you are at present eternally
   mingled with the true Israelites, the believing children of Abraham.
   But there are many others who are in a very definite way, "strangers."
   The Sabbath bell brings no Sabbath music to them. They may rest on
   Sunday, but their rest consists in simply lolling about in their
   shirtsleeves and reading the Sunday newspaper. They never think of
   going into a place of worship unless it is for a wedding, or a funeral,
   or what they call "a christening." There are thousands in this
   so-called Christian land who have never looked inside a Bible and know
   absolutely nothing of its contents! I have no doubt that there are to
   be found in London thousands of persons who, if they were asked what is
   meant by the Atonement, would reply that they had never heard of such a
   thing! And as to the simple Doctrine of trusting for salvation to the
   merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, there could not be a greater piece of
   news to many of our fellow citizens than this!

   Well now, these people whom I have been describing are, indeed,
   strangers to Christ, yet He says in our text, "the strangers shall
   submit themselves unto Me." They do not know Him. But "the Lord knows
   them that are His" and I trust that among the strangers there are many
   whom the Lord has foreknown from all eternity who shall, in due time,
   hear His voice and follow Him, rejoicing in that eternal life which is
   the portion of His sheep! In the very heart of the apostate Church of
   Rome, God may have some of His elect--and I have no doubt that He has!
   I pray that His Spirit may soon bring them forth into the light. Among
   those who are besotted with superstition and among those who have given
   themselves up to work with both hands in the way of carnal confidence,
   God may have His chosen ones. And if He has, He will surely fetch them
   out. Never despair concerning the Church of God! The greatest
   blasphemer may yet become the boldest preacher of the Gospel! He who
   hates Christ most today may love Him most tomorrow--and he will do so
   if the Spirit of God takes possession of him! It is not merely in the
   House of Prayer that God has His elect--they may be tonight in the
   alehouse, or in the theatre, or in still worse places--but the Spirit
   of God can find them wherever they are! Jesus Christ, the Good
   Shepherd, not only takes care of the 99 that are safely sheltered in
   the fold, but He goes out to seek and to find the one sheep that is
   lost! Even though all Hell's hosts may have surrounded the poor
   wanderer, the prey shall be taken from the mighty, and the lawful
   captive shall to delivered.

   Are you a stranger, dear Friend? Are you a stranger to the Gospel, a
   stranger to Grace, a stranger to your God? Are you a stranger to the
   bended knee and the Throne of Grace? Are you a stranger to this blessed
   Bible and to the hope of Heaven which it clearly reveals? "Oh, yes!"
   you say, "I am indeed a stranger and there is no hope for me!" But
   listen to the text, Friend--"the strangers shall submit themselves unto
   Me." Give good heed to other gracious messages in this most precious
   Book. "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." The heart of Everlasting Love
   is moved with pity towards you and God, Himself, speaks through a man's
   voice as He cries to you from Heaven, "Look unto Me, and be you saved,
   all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." "As I
   live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;
   but that the wicked should turn from his way and live: turn you, turn
   you from your evil ways, for why will you die?" Surely, if there are
   any of these strangers here tonight, they ought to be compelled to
   yield to Christ by the prophecy of the text, "the strangers shall
   submit themselves unto Me."

   V. Now I come to my fifth remark which is that OUR TEXT BEING TRUE, IT
   SHOULD GREATLY ENCOURAGE THOSE OF US WHO ARE WORKING FOR CHRIST.

   Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am devoutly thankful to God that so many
   of you are watching for souls, and not only so, but that you are
   winners of souls! It was but little that you could do, dear Friend, but
   you saw a stranger here and you spoke kindly to him. Perhaps you gave
   him a tract, certainly you prayed for him! And God blessed your efforts
   and the stranger yielded himself to Christ. You have sometimes visited
   a neighbor in time of sickness and have dropped a word in season for
   Christ, and you did well, for that kindly action was the means of
   winning a soul for the Savior! So let the past cheer you and let the
   text encourage you to persevere in such holy service. Possibly you know
   some persons who never go to a place of worship and who are quite
   ignorant of the Gospel. Do not think of them as unlikely to be blessed!
   On the contrary, believe that they are the very persons who are the
   most likely to be influenced for good when once they are brought under
   the sound of the Gospel! There are, alas, many who have so long heard
   the Word preached that they have become Gospel-hardened--the Truth of
   God has become to them a savor of death unto death instead of a savor
   of life unto life. But it is not so with these people of whom I am
   speaking--they are not Gospel-hardened, so be hopeful about them--go
   and seek them out, bring them to hear the Gospel and then pray that
   they may be among the strangers who shall submit themselves to Christ!

   If I had bread to give away, I should not be in a hurry to take it to
   those who had refused it again and again. But if I knew where there was
   a colony of hungry folk who had not tasted food for days, I think it
   would be among them that I should be made welcome! The place to take
   the Gospel is not where the Light of God has long been shining and men
   have closed their eyes to it--but down the dark court and alley where
   they have not before had the Light and, consequently, have not had the
   opportunity of rejecting it. Take the Gospel there and it may be that
   the very first time you do so, souls will be converted! If not, go
   again and again! Keep on sowing the Good Seed of the Kingdom, believing
   that ancient promise, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He
   that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come
   again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

   If one should spend one's whole life for God and win only one soul by
   the most earnest and devoted effort, it would be a rich reward to see
   that one star shining forever in the firmament of Heaven, to see that
   one gem glistening forever in the diadem of Christ, to see that one
   sheep feeding forever in the pastures of Eternal Life! It strikes me
   that it will help to make Heaven even more heavenly to us when God has
   blessed us to the bringing of other souls to share our bliss in Glory.
   Some of us will not be among strangers when we have passed through the
   gates of pearl! We have spiritual children already there for whom we
   have travailed in birth until Christ was formed in them! And whatever
   may be the fate of all earthly relationships, our spiritual
   relationships will abide forever. How blessed it will be to be welcomed
   there by those whom we have begotten through the Gospel and with what
   joy we shall present them to our God as we humbly yet gratefully say,
   "Here am I, Father, and the children whom You have given me"!

   VI. My last remark is a sad one. It has been uppermost in my mind all
   the while I have been speaking upon the other points. It is this, that
   albeit there are some who obey as soon as they hear the Gospel and
   others who once were strangers

   who willingly yield themselves unto Christ, yet it is painfully evident
   that THERE ARE SOME WHO DO JUST THE OPPOSITE.

   As for hearing the Word, there are some of you who are always hearing
   it! You scarcely ever miss an opportunity of hearing it! Thickly as the
   leaves in autumn fall from the trees will the remembrances of Gospel
   ministrations come back to you, but they are all as faded and as
   worthless to you, now, as are those dead leaves themselves! Some of you
   will never be lost for lack of hearing the Gospel--what would others
   give if they could only hear what you have heard? Some of you have
   heard the story of the Cross from your early childhood. The softest and
   sweetest of all lips, your mother's, told it to you as long ago as you
   can remember. Then you heard it again and again from the lips of the
   earnest Sunday school teacher in whose class you sat so long. Some of
   you heard it from a loving wife or from a fond husband. You heard the
   Gospel preached by a godly minister now in Glory. And last of all, you
   have heard it from me, also, and I can add that you have heard it
   preached very plainly, for whatever my faults may be, clouding the
   Gospel or hiding its meaning is not one of them. Yes, you have heard
   the Gospel all these years--and while others have believed it and have
   been saved-- you appear to be no nearer doing so than when first you
   heard it! And I tremble lest those solemn words of the Lord Jesus
   Christ should be true concerning you, "Verily I say unto you, that the
   publicans and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you."
   Remember how the Savior upbraided the cities wherein most of His mighty
   works were done because "they repented not"--and beware lest their doom
   should also be yours!

   Our text says, "The strangers shall submit themselves unto Me," but you
   have not submitted yourselves to Christ. The great sinners, the very
   chief of sinners, have yielded themselves up to the sway of Christ, but
   you have not done so. This is not because you do not understand the way
   of salvation, for you know clearly what the Gospel is and what it
   requires. With some of you it is not because of lack of feeling, for
   you have felt a great deal--you have been the subjects of all sorts of
   impressions. Your thoughts have often been like a case of knives
   cutting into your inmost spirit, or like a nest of adders stinging your
   soul. Friend, it has come to this pass with you--mere hearing of the
   Word is of no service to you, even the bare remembrance of it is of no
   use--you must either yield to Christ or you must perish! There must be
   no more tarrying, delaying, dilly-dallying. You are lingering on the
   very brink of the precipice and you must either fall over or be saved
   by clutching at the garments of the Savior who stands close beside you.
   O Soul, is it not a mercy that you are pushed to this extremity? Is it
   not a blessing that you are brought to this emergency--that you must
   either yield yourself to Christ or die as His enemy? Oh, submit
   yourself to Him! Your hand trembles, but stretch it out and touch the
   hem of His garment. You cannot save yourself, but He can save you! Look
   unto Him, for again I remind you that--

   "There is life for a look at the Crucified One." When the bronze
   serpent was lifted up in the wilderness there was no need for the
   serpent-bitten Israelites to come up close to the pole on which it was
   suspended--all they had to do was to look--and as many as looked,
   lived! That is what you have to do! Look to Jesus! Look and live! Give
   the faith-look at Him who died upon the Cross as the sinner's
   Substitute and Surety--and as soon as you look, you shall live--and
   live forever! There is no need for you to uncover your wounds to show
   where the serpent has bitten you. There is no need for you to wait
   until the venom of the serpent reveals its deadly character more than
   it has already done. But look at once, lest you should tarry until you
   are unable to look!

   Let me ask you a most solemn question--Does the Son of God, Himself,
   bleed and die for sinners and is not that all that is required to put
   away your guilt? Is Jehovah, Himself, satisfied with the sufferings of
   His well-beloved Son? And are you notsatisfied? Has Christ woven the
   spotless and perfect robe of righteousness in which sinners may stand
   forgiven before the Great White Throne, and are you seeking to add to
   it some of the filthy rags of your own righteousness? O Soul, think not
   that you can share the work and the Glory of salvation with the
   almighty Savior! Yoke a gnat with an archangel if you will, but never
   think of linking yourself with Christ in order to complete the great
   work of salvation. Oh, no! In that matter it must be none but Jesus,
   for--

   "None but Jesus Can do helpless sinners good."

   I wish I could put the Truth of God so plainly that you could not help
   seeing it, yet I know that the Holy Spirit must open your eyes or you
   will never see it, however clearly it is set before you. I pray Him to
   do it and to do it now--and so to fulfill those two glorious "shalls"
   in my text--"As soon as they hear of Me, they shall obey Me: the
   strangers shall submit themselves unto Me." This is my comfort--He who
   gave this promise and prophecy in its fullest and deepest meaning will
   certainly fulfill it! Blessed Master, make these potent "shalls" true
   in our midst tonight! Many have heard of You--give them the Grace to
   obey You! There are strangers here--may they submit themselves unto You
   and so be no longer strangers, "but fellow citizens with the saints;
   and of the household of God"! So may it be, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

   EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW 9:1-17.

   Verses 1, 2. AndHe enteredinto a boat, andpassed over, and came into
   His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy,
   lying on a bed: and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of
   the palsy; Son, be of good

   cheer; your sins are forgiven you. [See Sermons #2337, Volume 39--THE
   PHYSICIAN PARDONS HIS PALSIED PATIENT and #3016, Volume 52--GOOD CHEER
   FROM FORGIVEN SIN.] Our Lord dealt first with the greater evil,

   for sin is worse than even such a dreadful disease as the palsy.
   Forgiveness of sin is an even greater mercy than the healing of
   sickness.

   3-7. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This
   Man blasphemes. And Jesus knowing their thoughts, said, why thinkyou
   evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, Your sins are
   forgiven you; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that you may know that
   the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins (then said He to the
   sick of the palsy), Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house.
   And he arose, and departed to his house. Jesus first proved His
   Divinity by reading the secret thoughts of the caviling scribes--and
   then gave a further evidence of it by working this very notable
   miracle!

   8-9. But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God,
   which had given such power unto men. And as Jesus passed forth from
   there, He saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of customs:
   and He said to him,

   charge, at http://www.spurgeongems.org .] This was another notable
   miracle, and equally set forth the power of Divine Grace.

   10-11. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold,
   many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His
   disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples,
   Why eats your Master with publicans and sinners?He was more at home
   with publicans and sinners than with scribes and Pharisees! And they
   were more likely to welcome Him as their Lord and Savior.

   2-13. But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, They that are whole
   need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go you and learn what
   that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to
   call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.If He had come to call
   the righteous, where would He have found them? His call was not likely
   to be heeded by the self-righteous, but sinners heard it with joy--and
   so were made righteous by Him.

   14. Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the
   Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples fast not? We must not suppose
   that because a thing is proper for ourselves, it must, therefore, be
   binding upon everybody else. It might be fit and right that the
   disciples of John should often fast--their circumstances might require
   it--but it might be quite wrong for the disciples of Christ to fast, as
   they might be in very different circumstances.

   15. And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber
   mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them?Could Christ's disciples
   fast while Christ fed them with heavenly foods? While His Presence was
   to them like Heaven begun below, it would have been inconsistent for
   them to be mourning and fasting.

   15. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them
   and then shall they fast.And nobody would say that they were turncoats
   if, when their circumstances had so greatly altered, they acted in
   harmony with their changed circumstances. The disciples could not mourn
   while Christ was with them! Can you, Believer, fast while Christ is
   with you? It cannot be. But when He has gone from you, then you will
   sorrow fast enough. So we must neither judge others by ourselves, nor
   judge ourselves at one time by what we were at some other time.

   16. No man puts a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that
   which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment-- When it
   shrinks--

   16. And the tear is made worse. There must be a fitness about things.
   Do not impose fasting upon a joyful heart, or the singing ofjoyful
   hymns upon a sad spirit.

   17. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles
   break, and the wine runs out, and the bottles perish: but they put new
   wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.Do not expect from a
   young beginner that which would be unsuitable to him, even though it
   should be most comely and seemly in an aged Christian. And do not
   expect to see in an aged Christian all the vigor and alertness of
   spirit that you look for in ardent souls in all the fervor of their
   first love to Christ. Let us mind the relations of things.

   arose, and followed Him. [See Sermon #2493, Volume 42--"A MAN NAMED
   MATTHEW"]
     __________________________________________________________________

The Water and the Blood

   (No. 3311)

   A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1912.

   DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

   AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

   "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith
   came there out blood and water." John 19:34.

   IT is with much fear and trembling that I usually stand upon this
   platform--not that I shrink before the face of the multitude however
   large, but the weight of the subject which I have continually to bring
   before your minds fills my own soul with awe. And yet it is with more
   than usual anxiety I approach my subject this evening, because although
   it is full of tender interest and touching pathos, I feel that without
   the unction of the Holy Spirit, it would be insipid and unprofitable.
   And yet, on the other hand, with that Divine anointing, it is one of
   the richest topics that can possibly engage our meditation!

   Readers of old theology will have remarked how constantly the fathers
   were accustomed to dwell upon the wounds of Jesus slain. And this fifth
   wound which penetrated His heart was peculiarly attractive to them.
   They said a great many things about it. Some, indeed that were
   fanciful, but other remarks that were truly excellent and well deserve
   to be treasured up. I would it were more the practice of Believers
   nowadays than it is to study the very Person of Christ, as well as the
   Doctrines of the Gospel, and to learn the Divine lessons which are
   discoverable in the wounds of Jesus as well as the sacred admonitions
   bequeathed to us by the words of His mouth.

   One of these old Divines says that Jesus Christ was typified by our
   first father, Adam. As Adam fell asleep, and out of his side Eve was
   taken, so Jesus slept upon the Cross, the sleep of death, and from His
   side, where the spear was thrust, His Church was taken. He who redeemed
   us unto God by His blood, formed us as a peculiar people for Himself.
   The Church is one with Him--she came out of His side, and as He looks
   upon her, He can say--"You are bone of My bone, and flesh of My flesh.
   With My blood have I redeemed you." Others have been pleased to compare
   Christ to the Rock in the wilderness, which was smitten, and this
   spear-thrust is the great cleft in the Rock. You may remember how
   Toplady puts it--

   "Rock of Ages, cleft for me! Let me hide myself in Thee."

   And he clearly has this in view, for the next lines are--

   "Let the water and the blood

   From Your riven side which flowed,

   Be of sin the double cure,

   Cleanse me from its guilt andpower " I do not consider this allusion
   fanciful, nor can I think it distorts the type. Moses hidden in the
   cleft of the rock, that he might see God's Glory, had not a standing
   place one-half so glorious as you and I have when, sheltered in the
   wounds of the Savior slain, we see the glorious Justice and the
   Infinite Love of God reconciled in the Person of the dying Lamb.

   In the course of reading, I have met with some remarkable expressions
   in regard to this great wound of Christ. Some have called it, "a gate
   of Heaven." Why should I object to the title? Do we not enter into
   Heaven through the wounds of Jesus? It is, of course, a metaphorical
   expression, yet quite allowable. If the teaching is that there is no
   other way of access to God except through the torn veil of Christ's
   body--and that veil was torn in two, indeed, when the soldier with the
   spear pierced His side--we may, without straining the thought, call
   that wound one of the gates of Heaven. Another calls it "a celestial
   window, a window of Paradise," and we have versified that idea in one
   of our own familiar sonnets--

   "Look through Jesus' wounds on me;

   Him, and then the sinner see."

   Another writer, carried away by the consideration of this spear-thrust,
   calls it "a palace of refuge." A palace! Surely, never kings had such
   an one! Solomon's palace of ivory was nothing like it! And what a
   refuge it is! When the poor heart, like the dove hunted by the hawk,
   needs a shelter, if it can fly to Jesus' wounds, it is sheltered from
   all its sins. Well does our song put it--

   "Come, guilty souls, and flee away Like doves to Jesus' wounds! This is
   the welcome Gospel Day, Wherein free Grace abounds."

   1 forget the name of the writer, who, in speaking upon his Master's
   wounds, seems to get so exalted and carried away by the subject that He
   calls this wound "the sacred wellhead of the rivers of golden sand
   which cover all the earth"--two rivers, one of water and the other of
   blood. Two quickening rivers that carry life through the realms of
   death. Two purifying rivers cleansing the Augean stable of this filthy
   world. Two mighty rivers which bear the elect vessels onwards towards
   the sea of everlasting bliss, not one of them suffering shipwreck on
   the voyage, for this mighty river is too deep to have quicksands, too
   broad for the mariner to be cast away upon a rock-bound shore! I like
   the thought, and so let it be--the sacred wellhead of that river of
   more than golden sand--the streams whereof make glad the multitudes of
   God's chosen throughout the earth!

   In this wound of Christ, caused by the soldier, I discern four obvious
   meanings. It has many more, but these four will be enough to occupy our
   attention this evening.

   I. It was THE MARK OF PROPHECY. In order that it might be fully known
   that Jesus Christ was the Messiah that was to come, the Prophets had
   given many marks, all of which must be found in the Person of the Man
   who should be the Great Deliverer. Among the rest was this one that
   John quotes, "A bone of Him shall not be broken." This description
   concerned the paschal lamb, of which it was expressly said by the Lord,
   through Moses, that they were never to break a single bone of it. Its
   joints were to be separated after it had been roasted with fire, but
   not a bone was to be snapped. Now, if Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God's
   Passover, it is necessary that He should never have a broken bone. And
   yet it looked as if His bones would be broken. The rough soldier
   brought up a great iron crowbar and, with an awful blow, smashed the
   legs of the poor thief who hung on one side of our Lord, but half-dead,
   in order to hasten his dissolution. It was a strange thing that he
   passed by Christ, who was in the middle. I know not what it was that
   made him do so-- whether some flash of majesty beamed from that dead
   face, or whether some singular instinct checked his arm. But he went
   and administered the dreadful blow to the thief on the other side. And
   now he came to Christ and perhaps raised the iron rod--when he saw that
   He was already dead! His head was hanging down upon His bosom and the
   man saw clearly that there was no need to administer the deathblow to
   Him. It was a strange thing that his hands should be so restrained. The
   soldiers of that day were wanton enough. They were just as likely as
   not to have broken the bones even though the man were dead--but Divine
   Prophecy must have it so and, therefore, not a bone of Jesus can be
   broken!

   And then the Prophet Zechariah had said concerning the Messiah, "They
   shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
   Him as one mourns for his only son." Now up till that moment our Lord
   had not been pierced, except as to His hands and feet, and this would
   scarcely have been a carrying out of the word, "pierced." Somebody
   would have said, "Well, but He never was pierced so as to cause His
   death--there was no such piercing as the text indicates." But now that
   the soldier, moved by the mysterious impulse, lifts his lance and
   thrusts it deep into the side of Christ--now did Prophecy set its mark
   upon Christ--now did history identify Him--the Man without broken bones
   yet the Man whose side was pierced! Him for whom Israel should one day
   mourn! Him whom His enemies should one day confess to be their King!

   My dear Brothers and Sisters, has it ever struck you with admiring
   wonder that Jesus Christ should answer to Prophecies so complicated and
   types so manifold--should answer even with coincidences the most minute
   to them all? It would be almost impossible to count the types of Christ
   which are given in the Old Testament. It would, perhaps, be easy to
   count the prophecies, but very difficult for anybody to form a
   character in which all these should be blended and fulfilled! It has
   been said that if you were to give all these types and all these
   prophecies to the wisest of men of all ages, and say to them, "You are
   required to compile a biography of a man who shall answer to all
   these," they must certainly give up in despair! You can find men who
   will make a key to fit any lock--by diligence of labor, no matter how
   complicated the mechanism may be, the thing may at last be done. But I
   will defy all the wisdom that ever was in humanity to form a

   key that will fit the exceedingly complex words of all the types of the
   Old Testament and all its prophecies! How palpable then the evidence
   is. Our Lord Jesus Christ answers to them all. Just as the stamp in the
   wax answers to the seal that stamped it, the Providence that transpired
   corresponds with the predictions that forestalled His course! He went
   as it was written of Him! There He is and He fulfils types that look
   the most opposite and prophecies which seem to run counter to one
   another!

   If anybody thinks that the stories told by the four Evangelists are
   spurious, I would suggest to him to go and write a fifth--to try to
   write another that would as much correspond with the Old Testament--and
   with the other four, as those four do with the Old Testament and with
   each other! And when that task was done, I would then give him another
   problem to solve before he could have reasonable ground for suspicion
   that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah. Account for the incredulity
   of the Jews in the presence of those evidences that have produced
   conviction among the Gentiles upon any other hypotheses than that which
   ratifies their own Scripture! If the Old Testament is the Word of God,
   it seems marvelous to us that men do not receive Jesus as being the
   Shiloh that was to come, the promised Messiah, the Prince of the kings
   of the earth! Jewish unbelief amazes us! Yet I suppose if we judged
   aright, our own lack of faith in Jesus, notwithstanding the rational
   credit we give to His mission as a popular creed, is still more
   amazing! If that is gross unbelief which rejects Christ, while
   acknowledging the Old Testament, what shall I say of you who refuse
   allegiance to Him and yet profess to believe both the Old and the New?
   If they that receive the first yet stumble at the second, what shall I
   say of those who receive both and yet, over the head of this double
   belief professed, give not their hearts to the Crucified Son of God,
   and put not their trust in the merit of His precious blood, but still
   continue afar off from Him by wicked works?

   Some time ago, when in Italy, at a town on the Italian side of the
   Alps, I saw one Sunday afternoon, in a quiet walk alone, a sight which
   struck me very much and which remains fixed upon my memory. There was
   outside the town a mountain and the way up the sides of which were
   different representations of the progress of our Lord, from the Garden
   where Judas betrayed Him to the place of His Resurrection. The figures
   were as large as life, carved in either stone or wood, and painted to
   imitate nature. When I got to the very summit of the hill, there was a
   church. There was no one in it and I pushed open the door and went in.
   All was still. It was a large building and all around it were images of
   the Prophets and the Apostles. There stood Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
   and all the rest--one knew the usual portraits of them. And up in the
   dome, at the very top of the church, was a large and striking image of
   the Savior. Now, what struck me about the church was this--that the
   images of those Prophets and Apostles who stood there had their fingers
   all pointed upwards, so that, when I went in, I could not help looking
   up to the top to see what they were pointing at! All round the church
   there were the words, in Latin, "Moses and the Prophets spoke
   concerning Him." And there stood Moses and the Prophets, carved in
   stone, and all pointing to Him! Isaiah had a little scroll in his hand
   on which was written, "The Lord has made to meet on Him the iniquity of
   us all." Jeremiah had a scroll in his hand, on which was written,
   "Behold, and see if there is any sorrow like unto My sorrow, which is
   done unto Me." I think the church just represented the Truth in that
   case. It is even so. All the Prophets stand as a complete circle of
   distinct testifiers and, with uplifted fingers, they all concur with
   John the Baptist when he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes
   away the sin of the world." They all point to Christ. If you read the
   life of Christ and then read what they said of Him, you will be
   persuaded that this is He which was to come!

   II. But to pass on, we may look upon the spear-thrust in the side of
   Christ as THE ESCUTCHEON OF SHAME.

   While our Lord lived, He was the subject of every form of scorn. He was
   scourged as none but a felon might be according to the Roman Law. He
   was spat upon and mocked, as even a felon ought not to have been. That
   crown of thorns, that reed scepter and that old scarlet cloak--who
   could have invented a more shameful insignia for One who was greater
   than all the kings on the earth but who was brought exceedingly low?
   And our Lord's death, itself, was a great portion of His shame. It was
   a shame for Him to die--and ignominy for Him to die the death of
   hanging on the Cross. Heraldry has so emblazoned the symbol that we do
   not ordinarily apprehend the real shame to which Christ was exposed.
   Were I to preach to you tonight that a certain man who was hanged was
   very God, people would begin to say, "Why do you preach of one who died
   on the gallows as a felon?" Literally and truly, that is just how Jesus
   Christ died, according to the customs of His times. Crucifixion was to
   the Romans what hanging is to us, only it was worse. It was more
   shameful, for crucifixion was reserved for the very worst of crimes.
   Not all murderers were so punished, but only the worst and vilest
   crimes with murder to aggrava