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  SPURGEONS SERMONS VOLUME 40 1894
  by C.H. Spurgeon
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Volume 40 of Spurgeon's collected sermons, a posthumous publication from 1894
containing messages prepared by the 'Prince of Preachers' and published after
his death in 1892. These sermons continue to display his characteristic biblical
exposition, vivid illustrations, and passionate gospel proclamation.

  Chapters: 4

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    0. Spurgeons Sermons Volume 40 1894
    1. The Unchangeable Christ
    2. Found by Jesus, and Finding Jesus
    3. The Holy Spirit's Chief Office

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  CHAPTER 0: SPURGEONS SERMONS VOLUME 40 1894
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  CHAPTER 1: THE UNCHANGEABLE CHRIST
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A Sermon (No.2358) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, April 29th, 1894,
Delivered By C. H. SPURGEON, At [1]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington On
Thursday Evening, February 23rd, 1888. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to
day, and for ever." -- Hebrews 13:8. LET me read to you the verse that comes
before our text. It is a good habit always to look at texts in their connection.
It is wrong, I think, to lay hold of small portions of God's Word, and take them
out of their connection as you might pluck feathers from a bird; it is an injury
to the Word; and, sometimes, a passage of Scripture loses much of its beauty,
its true teaching, and its real meaning, by being taken from the context. Nobody
would think of mutilating Milton's poems so, taking a few lines out of Paradise
Lost, and then imagining that he could really get at the heart of the poet's
power. So, always look at texts in the connection in which they stand. The verse
before our text is this, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have
spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of
their conversation: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
Observe, then, that God's people are a thoughtful people. If they are what they
ought to be, they do a great deal of remembering and considering; that is the
gist of this verse. If they are to remember and to consider their earthly
leaders, much more are they to recollect that great Leader, the Lord Jesus, and
all those matchless truths which fell from his blessed lips. I wish, in these
days, that professing Christians did remember and did consider a great deal
more; but we live in such a flurry, and hurry, and worry, that we do not get
time for thought. Our noble forefathers of the Puritanic sort were men with
backbone, men of solid tread, independent and self-contained men, who could hold
their own in the day of conflict; and the reason was because they took time to
meditate, time to keep a diary of their daily experiences, time to commune with
God in secret. Take the hint, and try and do a little more thinking; in this
busy London, and in these trying days, remember and consider. My next remark is,
that God's people are an imitative people, for we are told here that they are to
remember them who are their leaders, those who have spoken to them the Word of
God, "whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." There is
an itching, nowadays, after originality, striking out a path for yourself. When
sheep do that, they are bad sheep. Sheep follow the shepherd; and, in a measure,
they follow one another when they are all together following the shepherd. Our
Great Master never aimed at originality; he said that he did not even speak his
own words, but the words that he had heard of his Father. He was docile and
teachable; as the Son of God, and the servant of God, his ear was open to hear
the instructions of the Father, and he could say, "I do always those things that
please him." Now, that is the true path for a Christian to take, to follow
Jesus, and, in consequence, to follow all such true saints as may be worthy of
being followed, imitating the godly so far as they imitate Christ. The apostle
puts it, "whose faith follow." Many young Christians, if they were to pretend to
strike out a path for themselves, must infallibly fall into many sorrows,
whereas by taking some note of the way in which more experienced and more
instructed Christians have gone, they will keep by the way of the footsteps of
the flock, and they will also follow the footprints of the Shepherd. God's
people are a thoughtful people, and they are an imitative and humble people,
willing to be instructed, and willing to follow holy and godly examples. One
good reason, however, for imitating saints is given in our text; it is because
our Lord and his faith are always the same: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever." You see, if the old foundation shifted, if our faith
was always changing, then we could not follow any of the saints who have gone
before us. If we have a religion specially for the nineteenth century, it is
ridiculous for us to imitate the men of the first century, and Paul and the
apostles are just old fogies who are left behind in the far-distant ages. If we
are to go on improving from century to century, I cannot point you to any of the
reformers, or the confessors, or the saints in the brave days of old, and say to
you, "Learn from their example," because, if religion has altogether changed and
improved, it is a curious thing to say, but we ought to set an example to our
ancestors. Of course, they cannot follow it because they have gone from the
earth; but as we know so much better than our fathers, we cannot think of
learning anything from them. As we have left the apostles all behind, and gone
in for something quite new, it is a pity that we should not forget what they
did, and what they suffered, and think that they were just a set of simpletons
who acted up to their own light, but then they had not the light we have in this
wonderful nineteenth century! O beloved, it almost makes my lips blister to talk
after the present evil fashion, for grosser falsehood never could be uttered
than the insinuation that we have shifted the everlasting foundations of our
faith. Verily, if these foundations were removed, we might ask in many sense,
"What shall the righteous do? Whom shall they copy? Whom shall they follow? The
landmarks having gone, what remains to us of the holy treasury of example with
which the Lord enriches those who follow Christ?"I. Coming to our text, "Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever," my first observation is,
that JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS ALWAYS THE SAME. He is, was, and will be always the
same.Changes of position and of circumstances there have been in our Lord, but
he is always the same in his great love to his people, whom he loved or ever the
earth was. Before the first star was kindled, before the first living creature
began to sing the praise of its Creator, he loved his Church with an everlasting
love. He spied her in the glass of predestination, pictured her by his divine
foreknowledge, and loved her with all his heart; and it was for this cause that
he left his Father, and became one with her, that he might redeem her. It was
for this cause that he went with her through all this vale of tears, discharged
her debts, and bore her sins in his own body on the tree. For her sake he slept
in the tomb, and with the same love that brought him down he has gone up again,
and with the same heart beating true to the same blessed betrothment he has gone
into the glory, waiting for the marriage-day when he shall come again, to
receive his perfected spouse, who shall have made herself ready by his grace.
Never for a moment, whether as God over all, blessed for ever, or as God and man
in one divine person, or as dead and buried, or as risen and ascended, never has
he changed in the love he bears to his chosen. He is "Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever."Therefore, beloved brethren, he has never
changed in his divine purpose towards his beloved Church. He resolved in
eternity to become one with her, that she might become one with him; and, having
determined upon this, when the fulness of time had come, he was born of a woman,
made under the law, he took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh, "and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Yet he never abandoned his purpose, he set his
face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem; even when the bitter cup was put to his
lips, and he seemed to stagger for a moment, he returned to it with a strong
resolve, saying to his Father, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." That purpose is strong upon him
now; for Zion's sake he will not hold his peace, and for Jerusalem's sake he
will not rest, until her righteousness goeth forth as brightness, and her
salvation as a lamp that burneth. Jesus is still pressing on with his great
work, and he will not fail nor be discouraged in it. He will never be content
till all whom he has bought with blood shall become also glorified by his power.
He will gather all his sheep in the heavenly fold, and they shall pass again
under the hand of him that telleth them, every one of them being brought there
by the great Shepherd who laid down his life for them. Beloved, he cannot turn
from his purpose; it is not according to his nature that he should, for he is
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."He is also "the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever," in the holding of his offices for the
carrying out of his purpose, and giving effect to his love. He is a Prophet
still. Men try to set him on one side. Science, falsely so-called, comes
forward, and bids him hold his tongue; but "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." The teachings of the New Testament are as
sound and true to-day as they were eighteen hundred years ago; they have lost
none of their value, none of their absolute certainty; they stand fast like the
everlasting hills. Jesus Christ was a Prophet, and he is "the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever." He is the same, too, as a Priest. Some now sneer at
his precious blood; alas, that it should be so! But, to his elect, his blood is
still their purchase-price, by this they overcome, through the blood of the Lamb
they win the victory; and they know that they shall praise it in heaven, when
they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They
never turn away from this great Priest of theirs, and his wondrous sacrifice,
once offered for the sins of men, and perpetually efficacious for all the
blood-bought race; they glory in his everlasting priesthood before the Father's
throne. In this we do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, that Jesus Christ is our
Priest, "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."And as King he is ever
the same. He is supreme in the Church. Before thee, O Jesus, all thy loyal
subjects bow! All the sheaves make obeisance to thy sheaf; the sun and moon and
all the stars obey and serve thee, thou King of kings, and Lord of lords. Thou
art Head over all things to thy Church, which is thy body. Beloved, if there be
any other office which our Lord has assumed for the accomplishment of his divine
purposes, we may say of him, concerning every position, that he is "the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever."So also, once more, he is the same in his
relationship to all his people. I like to think that, as Jesus was the Husband
of his Church ages ago, he is her Husband still, for he hateth putting away. As
he was the Brother born for adversity to his first disciples, he is our faithful
Brother still. As he was a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother to those
who were sorely tried in the medieval times, he is equally a Friend to us upon
whom the ends of the earth have come. There is no difference whatever in the
relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people at any time. He is just as
ready to comfort us to-night as he was to comfort those with whom he dwelt when
here below. Sister Mary, he is as willing to come down to your Bethany, and help
you in your sorrow about Lazarus, as he was when he came to Martha and Mary whom
he loved. Jesus Christ is just as ready to wash your feet, my brother, after
another day's weary travel through the foul ways of this world; he is as willing
to take the basin, and the pitcher, and the towel, and to give us a loving
cleansing, as he was when he washed his disciples' feet. Just what he was to
them he is to us. Happy is it if you and I can truly say, "What he was to Peter,
what he was to John, what he was to the Magdalen, that is Jesus Christ to me,
'the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.'"Beloved, I have seen men change;
oh, how they change! A little frost turns the green forest to bronze, and every
leaf forsakes its hold, and yields to the winter's blast. So fade our friends,
and the most attached adherents drop away from us in the time of trial; but
Jesus is to us what he always was. When we get old and grey-headed, and others
shut the door on men who have lost their former strength, and can serve their
turn no longer, then will he say, "Even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have
made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you," for he is
"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Thus much,
beloved, with regard to Jesus himself; he is ever the same.II. Now let us go a
step farther. JESUS CHRIST IS ALWAYS THE SAME IN HIS DOCTRINE.This text must
refer to the doctrine of Christ, since it is connected with imitating the
saints' faith: "Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation:
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about
with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be
established with grace." From the connection it is evident that our text refers
to the teaching of Christ, who is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for
ever." This is not according to the "development" folly. Theology, like every
other science, is to grow, watered by the splendid wisdom of this enlightened
age, fostered by the superlative ability of the gentlemen of light and leading
of the present time, so much superior to all who came before them!We think not
so, brethren; for the Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect revelation of God. He
was the express image of the Father's person, and the brightness of his glory.
In previous ages, God had spoken to us by his prophets but in these last days he
has spoken to us by his Son. Now as to that which was a complete revelation, it
is blasphemous to suppose that there can be any more revealed than has been made
known in the person and work of Jesus Christ the Son of God. He is God's
ultimatum; last of all, he sends his Son. If you can conceive a brighter display
of God than is to be seen in the Only-begotten, I thank God that I am unable to
follow you in any such imagination. To me, he is the last, the highest, the
grandest revelation of God; and as he shuts up the Book that contains the
written revelation, he bids you never dare to take from it, lest he should take
your name out of the Book of life, and never dare to add to it, lest he should
add unto you the plagues that are written in this Book. At this time, the
salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ is the same as it was in all ages. Jesus
Christ still saves sinners from the guilt, the power, the punishment, and the
defilement of sin. Still, "there is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved." Jesus Christ still makes all things new; he creates
new hearts and right spirits in the sons of men, and engraves his law upon the
tablets which once were stone, but which he has turned into flesh. There is no
new salvation; some may talk as if there were, but there is not. Salvation means
to you to-day just what it meant to Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus; if
you think it has another meaning, you have missed it altogether.And, again,
salvation by Jesus Christ comes to men in the same way as ever it did. They have
to receive it now by faith; in Paul's day, men were saved by faith, and they are
not now saved by works. They began in the Spirit in the apostolic age, and we
are not now to begin in the flesh. There is no indication in the Book, and there
is no indication in the experiences of God's children, that there is ever to be
any alteration as to the way in which we receive Christ, and live by him. "By
grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God," the gift of God to-day as much as ever it was, for Jesus Christ "is the
same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."Once more, this salvation is just the
same as to the persons to whom it is sent. It is to be preached now, as ever, to
every creature under heaven; but it appeals with a peculiar power to those who
are guilty, and who confess their guilt, to hearts that are broken, to men who
are weary and heavy laden. It is to these that the gospel comes with great
sweetness. I have quoted to you before those strange words of Joseph Hart, -- "A
sinner is a sacred thing,The Holy Ghost hath made him so."He is; the Saviour is
only for sinners. He did not come to save the righteous, he came to seek and to
save the lost, and still "to you is the word of this salvation sent;" and this
declaration still stands true, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with
them." There is no change in this statement, "the poor have the gospel preached
to them," and it comes to those who are farthest off from God and hope, and
inspires them with divine power and energy.Beloved, I can bear witness that the
gospel is the same in its effects upon the hearts of men. Still it breaks, and
still it makes whole; still it wounds, and still it heals; still it kills, and
still it quickens; still it seems to hurl men down to hell in their terrible
experience of the evil of sin, but still it lifts them up into an ecstatic joy,
till they are exalted almost to heaven when they lay hold upon it, and feel its
power in their souls. The gospel that was a gospel of births and deaths, of
killing and making alive, in the days of John Bunyan, has just the same effect
upon our hearts to this day, when it comes with the power that God has put into
it by his Spirit. It produces the same results, and has the same sanctifying
influence as it ever had.Looking beyond the narrow stream of death, we can say
that the eternal results produced by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ are the
same as they ever were. The promise is this day fulfilled to those who receive
him as much as to any who went before; life eternal is their inheritance, they
shall sit with him upon his throne; and, on the other hand, the threatening is
equally sure of fulfilment: "These shall go away into everlasting punishment."
"He that believeth not shall be damned." Christ has made no change in his words
of promise or of threatening, nor will his followers dare to do so, for his
doctrine is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."If you were to try to
think over this matter, and imagine for a minute that the gospel really did
shift and change with the times, it would be very extraordinary. See, here is
the gospel for the first century; make a mark, and note how far it goes. Then
there is a gospel for the second century; make another mark, but then remember
that you must change the colour to another shade. Either these people must have
altered, or else a very different effect must have been produced in the same
kind of minds. In eternity, when they all get to heaven by these nineteen
gospels, in the nineteen centuries, there will be nineteen sets of people, and
they will sing nineteen different songs, depend upon it, and their music will
not blend. Some will sing of "free grace and dying love", while others will sing
of "evolution." What a discord it would be, and what a heaven it would be, too!
I should decline to be a candidate for such a place. No, let me go where they
praise Jesus Christ and him alone, singing, "Unto him that loved us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen." That is what the first-century saints sing; ay, and it is what the
saints of every century will sing, without any exception; and there will be no
change in this song for ever. The same results will flow from the same gospel
till heaven and earth shall pass away, for Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever." III. We may sound the same note again, for a moment,
because JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME AS TO HIS MODES OF WORKING: "Jesus Christ the
same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."How did Jesus Christ save souls in the
olden time? "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe;" and if you will look down through church history, you will find that,
wherever there has been a great revival of religion, it has been linked with the
preaching of the gospel. When the Methodists began to do so much good, what did
they call the men who made such a stir? "Methodist preachers", did they not say?
That was always the name, "Here comes a Methodist preacher." Ah, my dear
friends, the world will never be saved by Methodist doctors, or by Baptist
doctors, or anything of the sort; but multitudes will be saved, by God's grace,
through preachers. It is the preacher to whom God has entrusted this great work.
Jesus said, "Preach the gospel to every creature." But men are getting tired of
the divine plan; they are going to be saved by the priest, going to be saved by
the music, going to be saved by theatricals, and nobody knows what! Well, they
may try these things as long as ever they like; but nothing can ever come of the
whole thing but utter disappointment and confusion, God dishonoured, the gospel
travestied, hypocrites manufactured by thousands, and the church dragged down to
the level of the world. Stand to your guns, brethren, and go on preaching and
teaching nothing but the Word of God, for it pleases God still, by the
foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe; and this text still stands
true, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."But remember
that there must always be the prayers of the saints with the preaching of the
gospel. You must have often noticed that passage in the Acts concerning the new
converts on the Day of Pentecost, "They continued stedfastly in the apostles'
doctrine": they thought a great deal about doctrine in those days. "And
fellowship": they thought a good deal of being in church-fellowship in those
days. "And in breaking of bread": they did not neglect the blessed ordinance of
the Lord's supper in those days: "In breaking of bread." And then what follows?
"And in prayers." Some say nowadays, that prayer-meetings are religious
expedients pretty well worn out. Ah, dear me! What a religious expedient that
was that brought about Pentecost, when they were assembled with one accord in
one place, and when the whole church prayed, and suddenly the place was shaken,
and they heard the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, that betokened the
presence of the Holy Ghost! Well, you may try to do without prayer-meetings if
you like; but my solemn conviction is that, as these decline, the Spirit of God
will depart from you, and the preaching of the gospel will be of small account.
The Lord will have the prayers of His people to go with the proclamation of his
gospel if it is to be the power of God unto salvation, and there is no change in
this matter since Paul's day, Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day,
and for ever." God is still to be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it
for them, and he still grants blessings in answer to believing prayer.Remember,
too, that the Lord Jesus Christ has always been inclined to work by the
spiritual power of his servants. Nothing comes out of a man that is not first in
him. You will not find God's servants doing great things for him, unless God
works mightily in them, as well as by them. You must first yourself be endued
with power from on high, or else the power will not manifest itself in what you
do. Beloved, we want our church members to be better men and better women; we
want baby-Christians to become men-Christians; and we want the men-Christians
among us to be "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." God will
work by his servants when they are adapted to his service; and he will make his
instruments fit for his work. It is not in themselves that they have any
strength; their weakness becomes the reason why his strength is seen in them.
Still, there is an adaptation, there is a fitness for his service, there is a
cleanness that God puts upon his instruments before he works mighty things by
them; and Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever," in
this matter, too.All the good that is ever done in the world is wrought by the
Holy Ghost; and as the Holy Spirit honours Jesus Christ, so he puts great honour
upon the Holy Spirit. If you and I try, either as a church or as individuals, to
do without the Holy Spirit, God will soon do without us. Unless we reverently
worship him, and believingly trust in him, we shall find that we shall be like
Samson when his locks were shorn. He shook himself as he had done aforetime; but
when the Philistines were upon him, he could do nothing against them. Our prayer
must ever be, "Holy Spirit, dwell with me! Holy Spirit, dwell with thy
servants!" We know that we are utterly dependent upon him. Such is the teaching
of our Master, and Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for
ever." IV. I do not want to weary you, my dear brethren; but may I be helped,
just for a few moments, to speak on a fourth point! JESUS CHRIST HAS EVER THE
SAME RESOURCES, for he is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."I will
repeat what I said, Jesus Christ has ever the same resources. We sit down,
sometimes, very sorrowful, and we say, "The times are very dark." I do not think
that we can very well exaggerate their darkness; and they are full of
threatening omens, and I do not think that any of us can really exaggerate those
omens, they are so terrible. But still is it true, "The Lord liveth, and blessed
be my rock."Does the Church feel her need of faithful men? The Lord can send us
as many as ever. When the Pope ruled everywhere, nobody thought, I should
imagine, that the first man to speak out for the old faith would be a monk; they
thought they had taken stock of all the men that God had at his command, and
they certainly did not think that he had one of the leaders of the Reformation
in a monastery; but there was Martin Luther, "the monk that shook the world,"
and though men dreamed not what he would do, God knew all about him. There was
Calvin, also, writing that famous book of his Institutes. He was a man full of
disease, I think he had sixty diseases at once in his body, and he suffered
greatly. Look at his portrait, pale and wan; and as a young man he was very
timid. He went to Geneva, and he thought he was called to write books; but Farel
said to him, "You are called to lead us in preaching the gospel here in Geneva."
"No," said Calvin, for he shrank from the task; but Farel said, "The blast of
the Almighty God will rest upon you unless you come out, and take your proper
place." Beneath the threat of that brave old man, John Calvin took his place,
prompt and sincere in the work of God, in life and in death never faltering.
Then there was Zwingle over there at Zurich, he had come out, too, and
Oecolampadius, and Melancthon, and their fellows, -- who ever expected them to
do what they did? Nobody. "The Lord gave the word, great was the company of them
that published it." And so, to-day, he has only to give the word, and you shall
see starting up all over the world earnest preachers of the everlasting gospel,
for he has the same resources as ever. He is "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever."He has also the same resources of grace. The Holy
Spirit is quite as able to convert men, to quicken, enlighten, sanctify, and
instruct. There is nothing which he has done which he cannot do again; the
treasures of God are as full and as running over now as they were in the
beginning of the Christian age. If we do not see such great things, where lies
the restraining force? It is in our unbelief. "If thou believest, all things are
possible to him that believeth." Ere this year has gone, God can make a wave of
revival break over England, Scotland, and Ireland, from one end to the other,
ay, and he can deluge the whole world with the gospel if we will but cry to him
for it, and he wills to do it, for he is "the same yesterday, and to day, and
for ever," in the resources of his grace.V. So I close my sermon with this fifth
head, on which I will be very short indeed, JESUS CHRIST IS EVER THE SAME TO ME:
"yesterday, and to day, and for ever." I will not talk about myself except to
help you to think about yourselves. How long have you known the Lord Jesus
Christ? Perhaps, only a short time; possibly, many years. Do you remember when
you first knew him? Can you point out the spot of ground where Jesus met you?
Now, what was he to you at first? I will tell you what he was to me.Jesus was to
me at first my only trust. I leaned on him very hard then, for I had such a load
to carry. I laid myself and my load down at his feet; he was all in all to me. I
had not a shred of hope outside of him, nor any trust beyond himself, crucified
and risen for me. Now, dear brothers and sisters, have you got any further than
that? I hope not; I know that I have not. I have not a shadow of a shade of
confidence anywhere but in Christ's blood and righteousness. I leaned on him
very hard at the first; but I lean harder now. Sometimes, I faint away into his
arms; I have died into his life; I am lost in his fulness, he is all my
salvation and all my desire. I am speaking for myself; but I think that I am
speaking for many of you, too, when I say that Jesus Christ is to me "the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever." His cross, before my failing eyes, shall
be my dying comfort as it is my living strength.What was Jesus Christ to me at
the first? He was the object of my warmest love; was it not so with you also?
Was he not chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely? What charms, what
beauties, were there in that dear face of his! And what a freshness, what a
novelty, what a delight, which set all our passions on a flame! It was so in
those early days when we went after him into the wilderness. Though all the
world around was barren, he was all in all to us. Very well, what is he to-day?
He is fairer to us now than ever he was. He is the one gem that we possess; our
other jewels have all turned out to be but glass, and we have flung them from
the casket, but he is the Koh-i-noor that our souls delights in; all perfections
joined together to make one absolute perfection; all the graces adorning him,
and overflowing to us. Is not that what we say of him? "Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever." What was Jesus Christ to me at the first?
Well, he was my highest joy. In my young days, how my heart did dance at the
sound of his name! Was it not so with many of you? We may be huskier in voice,
and heavier in body, and slower in moving our limbs, but his name has as much
charm for us as ever it had. There was a trumpet that nobody could blow but one
who was the true heir, and there is nobody who can ever fetch the true music out
of us but our Lord to whom we belong. When he sets me to his lips, you would
think that I was one of the trumpets of the seven angels; but there is no one
else who can make me sound like that. I cannot produce such music as that by
myself; and there is no theme that can ravish my heart, there is no subject that
can stir my soul, until I get to him. I think it is with me as it was with
Rutherford, when the Duke of Argyle called out, as he began to preach about
Christ, "Now, man, you are on the right string, keep to that." The Lord Jesus
Christ knows every key in our souls, and he can wake up our whole being to
harmonies of music which shall set the world ringing with his praises. Yes, he
is our joy, our everything, "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."Let
us go forward, then, to the unchanging Saviour, through the changing things of
time and sense; and we shall meet him soon in the glory, and he will be
unchanged even there, as compassionate and loving to us when we shall get home
to him, and see him in his splendour, as he was to his poor disciples when he
himself had not where to lay his head, and was a sufferer amongst them.Oh, do
you know him? Do you know him? Do you know him? If not, may he this night reveal
himself to you, for his sweet mercy's sake! Amen.


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  CHAPTER 2: FOUND BY JESUS, AND FINDING JESUS
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A Sermon (No.2375) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, August 26th, 1894,
Delivered By C. H. SPURGEON, At [2]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington On
Lord's-Day Evening, June 24th, 1888. "The day following Jesus would go forth
into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was
of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith
unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." -- John 1:43-45. FOR a soul to
come to Jesus, is the grandest event in its history. It is spiritually dead till
that day; but it then begins to live, and a saved man may reckon his age from
the time in which he first knew the Lord. That day of first knowing Christ is
important in the highest degree, because it affects all the man's past career;
it sheds another light on all the years that have gone by If he has lived in
sin, as no doubt he has, the transaction of that day blots out all the sin. The
day in which a man comes to Christ, that very day his transgressions and
iniquities are blotted out, even as the thick clouds are driven from the sky
when God's strong wind chases them away. Is not that a grand day in which our
sins are cast into the depths of the sea so that henceforth it can be said of
them, "They may be sought for, but they shall not be found; yea, they shall not
be, saith the Lord"? I say that the day in which a soul comes into contact with
Christ is the greatest day of its history, because all the past is changed by
it; and as for the present, what a different life does a man begin to live on
the day in which he finds the Lord! He commences to live in the light instead of
being dead in the darkness; he begins to enjoy the privileges of liberty,
instead of suffering the horrors of slavery; he is started on the way to heaven,
instead of continuing on the road to hell. He is such a new creature that he
cannot tell how changed he is. One said to me, "Sir, the change in me is of this
kind; either the whole world is altered, or else I am." So is it when we are
brought to know Christ; it is a real, total, radical change. With many, it is a
most joyous alteration; they feel like the man who had been lame, and who, when
Peter spoke to him in the name of Jesus, and lifted him up, so that his feet and
ankle bones received strength, was not satisfied with walking, for we read, "He
leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking,
and leaping, and praising God." He was walking, and leaping, and praising God;
do you wonder at it? If you had lost the use of your legs for a while, you would
feel like leaping and praising God when you had them all right again; and thus
is it with a soul when it first finds the Saviour. Oh! happy, happy day, when
the miraculous hand of Christ takes away the infirmities of the soul, and makes
the lame man to leap as a hart, and causes the tongue of the dumb to sing! The
day in which a man comes to Christ is also a wonderful day in its effect upon
all his future. It is as when the helm of a ship is put right about; the man now
sails in a totally different direction. His future will never be what his past
was. There may be faults; there may be infirmities and shortcomings; but there
will never be the old love of sin any more. "Sin shall not have dominion over
you." This is God's own promise to us, given through his servant Paul. When
Christ comes to our soul, he so breaks the neck of sin, that though it lives a
struggling, dying life, and often makes a deal of howling in the heart, yet it
is doomed to die. The cross of Christ has broken its back, and broken its neck,
too, and die it must. Henceforth the man is bound for holiness, and bound for
heaven. Now, dear friends, have any of you come to Christ? I know that you have,
the great mass of you, and I bless God, and so do you, that it is so with you;
but if there are any of you who have never come to the Saviour, I wish that this
might be the night when you should find him. I am but a poor lame preacher; you
are not often troubled with the sight of one sitting down and preaching; yet I
think that if I had lost my legs, and had always to lie on my back, I would like
even then to preach Christ crucified, and to -- "Tell to sinners round,What a
dear Saviour I have found."I do pray that some of you to-night, made to think
all the more by the infirmity of the preacher, may be led to seek and to find
the Saviour, and then it shall be a happy day indeed for you, as it has been for
so many more.I am going to talk to you about Philip's conversion, and first, I
ask you to notice, in our text, the convert's description of it: "Philip findeth
Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and
the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." That is Philip's
description of it: "We have found Jesus." It was a true description, but it was
not all the truth; so, in the second place, we will notice the Holy Spirit's
description of it: "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and
findeth Philip." Philip's account of the incident is that he found Christ; but
the Holy Spirit's record of it is that Christ found Philip. They are both true,
however; although the latter is the fuller. We will talk a little about both
descriptions of Philip's conversion.I. First then, THE CONVERT'S DESCRIPTION OF
HIS COMING TO CHRIST is given in these words, "We have found...Jesus," and what
he says is perfectly true.If any one of you is saved, it will be by finding
Christ, by your personally making a discovery of him, as that man did who found
the treasure that was hid in the field. There must be a search after Christ; but
if there be a search after him, we may be certain of this one thing, that there
will first be a consciousness of needing him.Philip had sought Christ, or else
he would never have said that he had found him; but, before that, Philip knew
that there was need of a Messiah. When he looked round about on the world, and
on the church, he said to himself, "Oh, that the promised Messiah would come!
There is great need of him. The people need him, the church needs him, the world
needs him." When Philip looked into his own heart, he said, "Oh, for the coming
of the Messiah! I feel that I want him; I have urgent need of him." Dear hearer,
do you feel that you need a Saviour? You never will seek him until you do feel
your need of him. You must recognize that there is sin in you, sin for which you
cannot make atonement, sin that you cannot overcome. You must realize that you
need another and a stronger arm than your own, that you need divine help, that
you need One who can be your Brother, to sympathize with you, and be patient
with you, and yet who can be the Mighty God to conquer all your sin for you. You
do need a Saviour; that is the first thing that will prompt you to search for
him.Wanting a Messiah, Philip read the Scriptures concerning him. He speaks
about Moses and the prophets, and of what they had written concerning the
promised Deliverer. O my dear hearers, if you want to find Christ, you must
search the Scriptures, for they testify of him! Oh, that you did search the
Scriptures more, with the definite object of finding the Saviour! Probably, the
great majority of unconverted people never read their Bibles at all; or they
read only just enough to satisfy their curiosity, or their conscience. Perhaps
they read the Bible as a part of literature which cannot be quite ignored; but
they do not take down the Holy Book, and read it carefully and prayerfully,
saying, "Oh, that I might find holiness here! Oh, that I might find Christ
here!" If they did, it would not be long before they found Jesus. Well does Dr.
Watts sing, -- "Laden with guilt, and full of fears,I fly to thee, my Lord,And
not a glimpse of hope appearsBut in thy written Word.The volume of my Father's
graceDoes all my griefs assuage;Here I behold my Saviour's faceAlmost in every
page."He who reads the Bible with the view of finding Christ, will not be long
before some passage of Scripture will seem to leap up, to attract his attention,
as though it were set on fire, and then it will speak to him of Jesus,
whispering to him of the great sacrifice on Calvary, and speaking to his heart
of divine love and mercy. Philip was a searcher after Christ in the place where
Christ loves to be, -- in the pages of Scripture, -- and you must be the same if
you desire to find Jesus.But then Philip also gave himself to prayer. We are not
told so, but we feel sure of it. He asked the Lord to reveal Christ to him, to
guide him to where the Christ would be, to let him know the Christ. Oh, if you
want to be saved, be much in prayer! I do not mean merely saying prayers; what
is the good of that? I do not mean simply saying fine words of your own, merely
for the sake of uttering them. Prayer is communing with God; it is asking the
Lord for what you really feel that you need. What waggon-loads of sham prayers
are shot down at God's door, as if they were so much rubbish thrown away! Let it
not be so with your prayers; but speak to the Lord out of your very soul when
you come to the throne of grace. I cannot give you a better prayer than the one
we have been singing, -- "Gracious Lord, incline Thine ear,My requests vouchsafe
to hear; Hear my never-ceasing cry;Give me Christ, or else I die."Lord, deny me
what Thou wilt,Only ease me of my guilt;Suppliant at Thy feet I lie,Give me
Christ, or else I die."Thou dost freely save the lost!Only in Thy grace I
trust:With my earnest suit comply;Give me Christ, or else I die."Thou hast
promised to forgiveAll who in Thy Son believe;Lord, I know Thou canst not
lie;Give me Christ, or else I die."With the open Bible before you to guide your
understanding, kneel down, and say, "O God, graciously reveal Christ to me by
thy Holy Spirit; bring me to know him, bring me this day to find him as my own
Saviour!"It is certain, also, that Philip realized that he might claim the
Messiah for himself. One of the things that every man, who would find the
Saviour, must do, is to make sure of his right to come and take the Saviour. The
question that puzzles many is, "May I have the Saviour?" My dear friends, every
sinner in the world is permitted to come and trust the Saviour, if he wills to
do so. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." "But," asks some
troubled soul, "will Christ have me?" That is not the question; the question is,
"Will you have Christ?" He says, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out." It is you who cast out the Saviour, not the Saviour who casts you out. The
bolt to the door is on the inside; it is you who have bolted it, and it is you
who must undo the bolt, and invite the Saviour to enter your heart. He is
willing enough to come in; wherever there is a soul that wants him, he comes at
once; therefore, do not raise any quibbling questions about whether a sinner may
come to Christ, or may not come. Is he not bidden to come? We are told to preach
the gospel to every creature, and he who gave us our great commission also
added, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned."Philip accepted Christ as the Messiah. Do you ask, "What am
I to do that I may find the Saviour?" Well, what you have to do is practically
this, accept him. If you were sick, and the doctor stood before you, with the
medicine ready prepared, you would not say, "What am I to do with this medicine,
sir? Am I to rub my hand on the outside of the bottle?" You know very well that
there are certain directions as to how much is to be taken, and how often. What
you have to do with the medicine is to take it. "But I cannot make that medicine
work for my restoration." Who said you could? All you have to do is to take it.
It is just this that you have to do with Christ; take him, accept him, receive
him. Remember the twelfth verse of this chapter out of which our text is taken:
"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name." That is it, you see, receive him, believe on
his name. "But surely I am to do some good works." Certainly, you will do good
works after you have received Christ; but for your soul's salvation, you are to
do no good works, but simply to receive Christ. "Oh, but I must lead a holy
life!" Yes, and you will lead a holy life after you have received Christ; but in
order to the leading of a holy life you must have a new heart, and to get a new
heart, you have to receive Christ. He will change you, he will renew you, he
will make you a new creature in himself. What you have to do is to receive him,
and to believe on his name. O my dear hearers, I do trust that I am speaking to
some this evening who will understand what I am saying. I fear that I am
addressing many who will not believe, though I may put the truth as plainly as
it can be preached. You know that you may hold a candle right against a blind
man's eyes, and yet he will not see even then. The Holy Spirit must open your
eyes to see what is meant by this receiving Christ, or else you will not
understand what you are to do. You are not to give anything to Christ; you are
to take all from him. You are not to give anything to Christ; you are to take
all from him. You are not to bring anything to Christ; you are to come to him
just as you are, and he will bring to you everything that you need. Then, when
you have accepted him by the simple act of faith, you will say with Philip, "We
have found Jesus." That is the convert's description, and a very good one, too:
"We have found Jesus."II. But now, secondly, what is THE HOLY GHOST'S
DESCRIPTION? I will read to you the very words again; here they are: "The day
following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip." Jesus finds
Philip before Philip finds Jesus; Philip finds Jesus because Jesus has found
Philip.Now, notice, that this is the previous work; it came before Philip's own
finding. Jesus would go forth into Galilee to find Philip. Dear friends, I
recollect very well that, after I had found the Lord, I did not at first fully
understand the doctrines of grace. I had heard them preached; but I had not
comprehended them. I think at the time I should have been very much puzzled with
the doctrine of election, if anybody had spoken to me about it; but I was
sitting down, one day, gratefully reflecting on what God had done for me. I knew
that my sins were pardoned, I knew that I was accepted in Christ Jesus, and I
knew that I was renewed in heart, and in one moment the revelation came to me,
"All this is the work of God." The instant I saw that truth, I said to myself,
"Yes, that is the fact, and God be glorified for it! But why has this great work
been wrought in me?" I knew that there was no merit in me before the Lord had
dealt in mercy with my soul, so I said to myself, "This is the effect of
sovereign distinguishing grace." Then I understood in a moment how it is that
God begins with us, and that it is God's will and God's eternal purpose, which,
after all, lie deeper down than our will or our purpose; and God's will and
God's eternal purpose must have the glory. What a revelation it was to me! I saw
the doctrines of grace immediately; and I think that anybody who has been
brought to find the Saviour, and who prayerfully studies the reasons for his
salvation, can see the same truth that the Lord revealed to me. Because, first
of all, you began to be thoughtful, did you not? Who made you thoughtful? You
would never have found the Savour if you had not become thoughtful instead of
careless and indifferent. Who made you think of divine things? What influence
was it which wrought upon you, and caused you to feel that you must think about
eternity, and heaven, and hell? Surely it was God the Holy Ghost going forth, in
the name of Jesus Christ, and dealing with you in mercy. Then you had a sense of
your need and of your sinfulness. There was a time when you had no such sense;
then, who gave it to you? Where do you think that repentance, that sorrow for
sin, that desire after Christ, came from? Did all that grow in your own fallen
human nature? Ah, believe me, that dunghill never brought forth such fair
flowers as these! No, it was Christ who sowed the good seed in your soul; it was
he who made you feel your need of him.Next, when you read the Bible, you
understood it. You perceived that Jesus was the only Saviour of sinners, you saw
his fitness to meet your case, and you understood the plan of salvation. Who
made you understand it? I know that it is plain enough for a child to
comprehend; but no one ever does understand spiritual things except by the
operation of the Spirit of God. It was the Holy Spirit who gave you the
spiritual power by which you were able to grasp the simple truth concerning the
way of salvation.Then you began to pray. I have spoken of that matter already.
But who taught you to pray? You had not been accustomed to real prayer; you had
often had great mouthfuls of words, that was all; but now you began to cry, "God
be merciful to me, a sinner!" Oh, the groaning of your spirit, and the anguish
of your heart, as you cried to God! Who gave you that anguish? Who broke you all
to pieces, and made every broken bone cry out for mercy? Who, indeed, but Christ
who wrought mightily in your soul by the power of the Holy Spirit?And when you
yielded yourself up to Christ, when you believed in Jesus, and found salvation,
where did that faith come from? Is it not always the work of the Spirit of God?
Is not faith the gift of God, and do you not confess that it is so in your case?
Once, when I was a little child, I thought I saw a needle moving across the
table; and I should have been wondering who made the needle march as it did, but
I was old enough to understand that somebody was moving a magnet underneath the
table, and the needle was following the magnet which I could not see. Thus the
Lord, with his mighty magnet of grace, is often at work upon the hearts of men,
and we think that their desire after God, and their faith in Christ, are of
themselves. In a sense, the desire and the faith are their own; but there is a
divine force that is at work upon them, producing these results. It is Jesus
finding Philip, though Philip does not know it. Philip thinks that he is finding
Jesus, but behind the veil it is Jesus finding Philip. This was the previous
work.And, dear friends, this was very delightful work for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice how it is put: "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and
findeth Philip." O my blessed Lord, how he will go forth to find a soul! A
journey is never too long for him, and he never wastes a day. "The day following
Jesus would go forth, and findeth Philip." Oh, may my Lord delight to come
forth, and find some of you! You are to-night in a place where he has found a
good many; I pray that he may find some of you. Perhaps you do not know how it
was that you came here. You did not mean to come out to-night; but here you are
in this crowd, in the thick of this great throng. My Lord has found many a
precious jewel here; to its own self it seemed nothing but a poor pebble, but to
him it was a diamond of the first water. O my Master, find some more of thy
jewels to-night! Lord Jesus, come and find Philip, and find Mary, and then let
Philip and Mary declare that they have found thee!When our dear Master goes
forth to find a soul, it is very effectual work. He said to Philip, "Follow me."
I will gladly end my sermon just here if my Master will preach to some of you
his two-worded sermon, "Follow me," "Follow me," "FOLLOW ME." "Come, poor soul,
you do not know the way! 'Follow me.' You want some one to go before you, to be
your leader. 'Follow me.' You want some one to be your shelter, your companion,
your all. 'Follow me.'" That is what you have to do, good woman. You have been
worrying about what you have heard from different preachers; Christ says to you,
"Follow me." That is what you have to do, young man. You have been reading those
rubbishing modern thought books till you do not know whether you are on your
head or on your heels. Burn them. Jesus says, "Follow me." I know that some of
you have been distracted with all sorts of silly talk; let that go to the dogs.
Jesus says, "Follow me." The crucified Saviour says, "Follow me." Take him for
your atonement. The risen Saviour says, "Follow me." Take him for your life. The
Saviour on the throne says, "Follow me." Take him for your joy. The Saviour
coming in glory hereafter says, "Follow me." Take him to be your hope. "Follow
me," "Follow me," that is the text for to-night, and that is the sermon, too.
Jesus said to Philip, "Follow me," and Philip followed him directly; and he not
only followed Christ himself, but he began immediately to try to get others to
follow him.Please to notice also that Philip was found by Christ in a very
different way from the other disciples. Two of them had been found through the
teaching of John the Baptist; but Philip had apparently had no teaching. Another
of the little company had been found through the private call of his brother;
Philip may not have had any relative or friend to speak to him, but the Saviour
just said to him, "Follow me," and he followed him. Dear friends, do not begin
comparing your conversion with somebody else's. If the Lord Jesus Christ calls
you, and says to you, "Follow me," and you follow him, if there never was
another soul converted in exactly the same way, it does not matter at all. If
you have come to him, if you have trusted in him, you are saved. The pith of all
that I have to say is this. Do not get worrying yourselves, as some of you do,
about God's eternal purpose, and about the secret working of the Holy Spirit,
and about how this can be consistent with your following Christ when he bids
you. They are perfectly consistent. Some persons have asked me at times to
reconcile these two things; and I have said to them, "Very well, tell me the
difficulties, and I will reconcile them." It would be quite as easy to state
them as to meet them, for in fact there are none. "Oh, but," says one, "you tell
me to believe in Christ, and yet you constantly preach that faith is the work of
the Spirit of God." I do. "And yet you say that men are to choose Christ?" I do.
"Well, how do you reconcile those two things?" Show me that there is any
difficulty about the two things, and then I will reconcile them. You imagine the
difficulty, for there is none in reality, there does not exist any in practical
life. I believe that God has predestinated whether I am going down to the Lord's
supper at the close of this service; but I shall go down as well as my legs can
carry me. "Oh!" say you, "you make it out to be a matter of your own free will?"
Yes, I do. "And yet you believe it to be God's eternal purpose?" Yes, I do.
"Well, then, reconcile the two things." Again I say that there is no difficulty
in the case, there is nothing to be reconciled, for both statements are true.
You might as well ask me to reconcile the land and the water, or to reconcile
the dog star, Sirius, and a farthing rushlight. There is no quarrel between
them, and I have no time to waste on needless argument. Come you to Christ; and
if you do, it will be because the Holy Spirit draws you. If you find the
Saviour, it will be because the Saviour first found you. Perhaps, in heaven, you
may see some difficulties, and get them explained; down here, you need not see
them, and you need not ask to have them explained. Salvation is all of God's
grace, from first to last; yet is it true that the grace of God leads men to do
what Moses did, according to our subject this morning,* -- to make a choice and
to choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. God grant that you may make an equally wise
choice!I have done when I have said this one thing more. Philip, and Peter, and
Andrew, were all of Bethsaida: "Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew
and Peter." These three good men, these three apostles, were all of Bethsaida.
That ought to be some comfort to many of you, my dear hearers, because there are
numbers of you, who are here to-night, who are of Bethsaida. Sitting all round
me, I see people who, I believe, are of Bethsaida. "Oh!" say you, "we never were
there in all our lives." Listen. Bethsaida was one of the places in which Christ
had done many of his mighty works; and you remember that, when the people
repented not, Jesus uttered over them that sad lamentation, "Woe unto thee,
Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in
you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in
sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and
Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works,
which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee."Now, there are some of you here
who have heard the gospel for many years, and have seen the power of the grace
of God in your families, and it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, and
for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than it will be for you,
inasmuch as you have rejected the Saviour. But, as there were these three men,
Philip, and Peter, and Andrew, who were of Bethsaida, -- and I should think that
the home of James and John was not very far off from the same place, -- why
should not you come to Christ? Why should not you become members of his Church,
and, if it be the Lord's will, preachers of his Word? God grant that it may be
so!Oh, how I long in my soul for the salvation of every one of you! Many of you,
who have come here to-night, are strangers to me. I trust that you will not be
strangers to my Master. To-night, I pray you, here in the very heat of
midsummer, ere yet the harvest shall be past, and the summer shall be ended,
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him
return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon." Receive Christ, trust in him. God grant that you may do
so, for Jesu's sake! Amen.NOTE: *See the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,
No.2,030, "Moses: his faith and Decision."


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  CHAPTER 3: THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CHIEF OFFICE
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A Sermon (No.2382) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, October 14th, 1894,
Delivered By C. H. SPURGEON, At [3]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington On
Thursday Evening, July 26th, 1888. "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of
mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine:
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you" --
John 16:14-15. IT IS the CHIEF office of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ. He
does many things, but this is what he aims at in all of them, to glorify Christ.
Brethren, what the Holy Ghost does must be right for us to imitate: therefore,
let us endeavour to glorify Christ. To what higher ends can we "devote
ourselves, than to something to which God the Holy Ghost devotes himself? Be
this, then, your emotional prayer, "Blessed Spirit, help me ever to glorify the
Lord Jesus Christ!" Observe, that the Gold Ghost glorifies Christ by showing to
us the things of Christ. It is a great marvel that there should be any glory
given to Christ by showing him to such poor creatures as we are. What! To make
us see Christ, does that glorify him? For our weak eyes to behold him, for our
trembling hearts to know him, and to love him, does this glorify him? It is even
so, for the Holy Ghost chooses this as his principal way of glorifying the Lord
Jesus. He takes of the things of Christ, not to show them to angels, not to
write them in letters of fire across the brow of night, but to show them unto
us. Within the little temple of a sanctified heart, Christ is praised, not so
much by what we do, or think, as by what we see. This puts great value upon
meditation, upon the study of God's word, and upon silent thought under the
teaching of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus says, "He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Here is a gospel word at the very
outset of our sermon. Poor sinner, conscious of your sin, it is possible for
Christ to be glorified by him being shown unto you. If you look to him, if you
see him to be a suitable Saviour, an all-sufficient Saviour, if your mind's eye
takes him in, if he is effectually shown to you by the Holy Spirit, he is
thereby glorified. Sinner as you are, unworthy apparently to become the arena of
Christ's glory, yet shall you be a temple in which the King's glory shall be
revealed, and you poor heart, like a mirror, shall reflect his grace. "Come,
Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,With all thy quickening powers;"and show Christ to
the sinner, that Christ may be glorified in the sinner's salvation!If that great
work of grace is really done at the beginning of the sermon, I shall not mind
even if I never finish it. God the Holy Ghost will have wrought more without me
than I could possibly have wrought myself, and to the Triune Jehovah shall be
all the praise. Oh, that the name of Christ may be glorified in every one of
you! Has the Holy Spirit shown you Christ, the Sin-bearer, the one sacrifice for
sin, exalted on high, to give repentance and remission? If so, then the Holy
Spirit has glorified Christ, even in you.Now proceeding to examine the text a
little in detail, my first observation upon it is this, the Holy Spirit is our
Lord's Glorifier: "He shall glorify me." Secondly, Christ's own things are his
best glory: "He shall glorify me: for he shall shew it unto you;" and, thirdly,
Christ's glory is his Father's glory: "all things that the Father hath are mine:
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."I. To
begin, then, the HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR LORD'S GLORIFIER. I want you to keep this
truth in your mind, and never to forget it; that which does not glorify Christ
is not of the Holy Spirit, and that which is of the Holy Spirit invariably
glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ.First, then, have an eye to this truth in all
comforts. If a comfort which you think you need, and which appears to you to be
very sweet, does not glorify Christ, look very suspiciously upon it. If, in
conversing with an apparently religious man, he prates about truth which he says
is comforting, but which does not honour Christ, do not you have anything to do
with it. It is a poisonous sweet; it may charm you for a moment, but it will
ruin your soul for ever if you partake of it. But blessed are those comforts
which smell of Christ, those consolations in which there is a fragrance of
myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the King's palace, the comfort drawn from
his person, from his work, from his blood, from his resurrection, from his
glory, the comfort directly fetched from that sacred spot where he trod the
wine-press alone. This is wine of which you may drink, and forget your misery,
and be unhappy no more; but always look with great suspicion upon any comfort
offered to you, either as a sinner or a saint, which does not come distinctly
from Christ. Say, "I will not be comforted till Jesus comforts me. I will refuse
to lay aside my despondency until he removes my sin. I will not go to Mr.
Civility, or Mr. Legality, for the unloading of my burden; no hands shall ever
life the load of conscious sin from off my heart but those that were nailed to
the cross, when Jesus himself bore my sins in his own body on the tree." Please
carry this truth with you wherever you go, as a kind of spiritual litmus paper,
by which you may test everything that is presented to you as a cordial or
comfort. If it does not glorify Christ, let it not console or please you.In the
next place, have an eye to this truth in all ministries. There are many
ministries in the world, and they are very diverse from one another; but this
truth will enable you to judge which is right out of them all. That ministry
which makes much of Christ, is of the Holy Spirit; and that ministry which
decries him, ignores him, or puts him in the background in any degree, is not of
the Spirit of God. Any doctrine which magnifies man, but not man's Redeemer, any
doctrine which denies the depth of the Fall, and consequently derogates from the
greatness of salvation, any doctrine which makes sinless, and therefore makes
Christ's work less, -- away with it, away with it. This shall be you infallible
test as to whether it is of the Holy Ghost or not, for Jesus says, "He shall
glorify me." IT WERE BETTER TO SPEAK FIVE WORDS TO the GLORY OF CHRIST, THAN TO
BE the greatest orator who ever lived, and to neglect or dishonour the Lord
Jesus Christ. We, my brethren, who are preachers of the Word, have but a short
time to live; let us dedicate all that time to the glorious work of magnifying
Christ. Longfellow says, in his Psalm of Life, that "Art is long," but longer
still is the great art of lifting up the Crucified before the eyes of the
sin-bitten sons of men. Let us keep to that one employment. If we have but this
one string upon which we can play, we may discourse such music on it as would
ravish angels, and will save men; therefore, again I say, let us keep to that
alone. Coronet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music
are for Nebuchadnezzar's golden image; but as for our God, our one harp is
Christ Jesus. We will touch every string of that wondrous instrument, even
though it be with trembling fingers, and marvellous shall be the music we shall
evoke from it.All ministries, therefore, must be subjected to this test; if they
do not glorify Christ, they are not of the Holy Ghost.We should also have an eye
to this truth in all religious movements, and judge them by this standard. If
they are of the Holy Spirit, they glorify Christ. There are great movements in
the world every now and then; we are inclined to look upon them hopefully, for
any stir is better than stagnation; but, by-and-by we begin to fear, with a holy
jealousy, what their effects will be. How shall we judge them? To what test
shall we put them? Always to this test. Does this movement glorify Christ? Is
Christ preached? Then therein I do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Are men
pointed to Christ? Then this is the ministry of salvation. Is he preached as
first and last? Are men bidden to be justified by faith in him, and then to
follow him, and copy his divine example? It is well. I do not believe that any
man ever lifted up the cross of Christ in a hurtful way. If it be but the cross
that is seen, it is the sight of the cross, not of the hands that lift it, that
will bring salvation. Some modern movements are heralded with great noise, and
some come quietly; but if they glorify Christ, it is well. But dear friends, if
it is some new theory that is propounded, if it is some old error revived, if it
is something very glittering and fascinating, and for a while it bears the
multitudes away, think nothing of it; unless it glorifies Christ it is not for
you and me. "Aliquid Christi," as one of the old fathers said, "Anything of
Christ," and I love it; but nothing of Christ, or something against Christ, then
it may be very fine and flowery, and it may be very fascinating and charming,
highly poetical, and in consonance with the spirit of the age; but we say of it,
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity where there is no Christ." Where he is
uplifted, there is all that is wanted for the salvation of a guilty race. Judge
every movement, then, not by those who adhere to it, nor by those who admire and
praise it, but by this word of our Lord, "He shall glorify me." The Spirit of
God is not in it if it does not glorify Christ. Once again, brethren, I pray
you, eye this truth when you are under a sense of great weakness, physical,
mental, or spiritual. You have finished preaching a sermon, you have completed a
round with your tracts, or you have ended your Sunday-School work for another
Sabbath. You say to yourself, "I fear that I have done very poorly." You groan
as you go to your bed because you think that you have not glorified Christ. It
is as well that you should groan if that is the case. I will not forbid it, but
I will relieve the bitterness of your distress by reminding you that it is the
Holy Ghost who is to glorify Christ: "He shall glorify me." If I preach, and the
Holy Spirit is with me, Christ will be glorified; but if I were able to speak
with the tongues of men, and of angels, but without the power of the Holy Ghost,
Christ would not be glorified. Sometimes, our weakness may even help to make way
for the greater display of the might of God. If so, we may glory in infirmity,
that the power of Christ may rest upon us. It is not merely we who speak, but
the Spirit of the Lord, who speaketh by us. There is a sound of abundance of
rain outside the Tabernacle; would God that there were also the sound of
abundance of rain within our hearts! May the Holy Spirit come at this moment,
and come at all times whenever his servants are trying to glorify Christ, and
himself do what must always be his own work! How can you and I glorify anybody,
much less glorify him who is infinetly glorious? But the Holy Ghost, being
himself the glorious God, can glorify the glorious Christ. It is a work worthy
of God; and it shows us, when we think of it, the absolute need of our crying to
the Holy Spirit that he would take us in his hand, and use us as a workman uses
his hammer. What can a hammer do without the hand that grasps it, and what can
we do without the Spirit of God?I will make only one more observation upon this
first point. If the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ, I beg you to have an eye
to this truth amid all oppositions, controversies, and contentions. If we alone
had the task of glorifying Christ, we might be beaten; but as the Holy Spirit is
the Glorifier of Christ, his glory is in very safe hands. "Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" The Holy Spirit is still to the
front; the eternal purpose of God to set his King upon the throne, and to make
Jesus Christ reign for ever and ever, must be fulfilled, for the Holy Ghost has
undertaken to see it accomplished. Amidst the surging tumults of the battle, the
result of the conflict is never in doubt for a moment. It may seem as though the
fate of Christ's cause hung in a balance, and that the scales were in
equilibrium; but it is not so. The glory of Christ never wanes; it must increase
from day to day, as it is made known in the hearts of men by the Holy Spirit;
and the day shall come when Christ's praise shall go up from all human tongues.
To him every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, lift up the hands that hang
down, and confirm the feeble knees. If you have failed to glorify Christ by your
speech as you would, there is Another who has done it, and who will still do it,
according to Christ's words, "He shall glorify me." My text seems to be a silver
bell, ringing sweet comfort into the dispirited worker's ear. "He shall glorify
me."That is the first point, the Holy Spirit is our Lord's Glorifier. Keep that
truth before your mind's eye under all circumstances.II. Now, secondly, CHRIST'S
OWN THINGS ARE HIS BEST GLORY. When the Holy Spirit wants to glorify Christ,
what does he do? He does not go abroad for anything, he comes to Christ himself
for that which will be for Christ's own glory: "He shall glorify me: for he
shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." There can be no glory added
to Christ; it must be his own glory, which he has already, which is made more
apparent to the hearts of God's chosen by the Holy Spirit.First of all, Christ
needs no new inventions to glorify him. "We have struck out a new line of
things," says one. Have you? "We have found out something very wonderful." I
dare say you have; but Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, wants
none of your inventions, or discoveries, or additions to his truth. A plain
Christ is ever the loveliest Christ. Dress him up, and you have deformed him and
defamed him. Bring him out just as he is, the Christ of God, nothing else but
Christ, unless you bring in his cross, for we preach Christ crucified; indeed,
you cannot have the Christ without the cross; but preach Christ crucified, and
you have given him all the glory that he wants. The Holy Ghost does not reveal
in these last times any fresh ordinances, or any novel doctrines, or any new
evolutions; but he simply brings to mind the things which Christ himself spoke,
he brings Christ's own things to us, and in that way glorifies him.Think for a
minute of Christ's person as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. What can more
glorify him than for us to see his person, very God of very God, and yet as
truly man? What a wondrous being, as human as ourselves, but as divine as God!
Was there ever another like to him? Never. Think of his incarnation, his birth
at Bethlehem. There was greater glory among the oxen in the stall than ever was
seen where those born in marble halls were swathed in purple and fine linen. Was
there ever another babe like Christ? Never. I wonder not that the wise men fell
down to worship him.Look at his life, the standing wonder of all ages. Men, who
have not worshipped him, have admired him. His life is incomparable, unique;
there is nothing like it in all the history of mankind. Imagination has never
been able to invent anything approximating to the perfect beauty of the life of
Jesus Christ.Think of his death. There have been may heroic and martyr deaths;
but there is not one that can be set side by side with Christ's death. He did
not pay the debt of natures as others do; and yet he paid our nature's debt. He
did not die because he must; he died because he would. The only "must" that came
upon him was a necessity of all-conquering love. The cross of Christ is the
greatest wonder of fact or of fiction; fiction invents many marvellous things,
but nothing than can be looked at for a moment in comparison with the cross of
Christ.Think of our Lord's resurrection. If this be one of the things that are
taken, and shown to you by the Holy Spirit, it will fill you with holy delight.
I am sure that I could go into that sepulchre, where John and Peter went, and
spend a lifetime in revencing him who broke down that barriers of the tomb, and
made it a passage-way to heaven. Instead of being a dungeon and a cul-de-sac,
into which all men seem to go, but could ever come out, Christ has, by his
resurrection, made a tunnel right through the grave. Jesus, by dying, has killed
death for all believers.Then think of his ascension. But why need I take you
over all these scenes with which you are blessedly familiar? What a wondrous
fact that, when the cloud received him out of the disciple's sight, the angels
came to convoy him to his heavenly home!"They brought his chariot from above,To
bear him to his throne;Clapp'd their triumphant wings, and cried,'The glorious
work is done.'"Think of him now, at his Father's right hand, adored of all the
heavenly host; and then let your mind fly forward to the glory of his Second
Advent, the final judgment with its terrible terrors, the millennium with its
indescribable bliss, and the heaven of heavens, with its endless and unparalled
splendour. If these things are shown to you by the Holy Spirit, the beatific
vision will indeed glorify Christ, and you will sit down, and sing with the
blessed Virgin, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Saviour."Thus, you see that the things which glorify Christ are all in
Christ; the Holy Spirit fetches nothing from abroad, but he takes of the things
of Christ; and shows them unto us. The glory of kings lies in their silver and
their gold, their silk and their gems; but the glory of Christ lies in himself.
If we want to glorify a man, we bring him presents; if we wish to glorify
Christ; we must accept presents from him. Thus we take the cup of salvation,
calling upon the name of the Lord, and in so doing we glorify Christ.Notice,
next that these things of Christ's are too bright for us to see till the Spirit
shows them to us. We cannot see them because of their excessive glory, until the
Holy Spirt, tenderly reveals them to us, until he takes of the things of Christ,
and shows them to us.What does this mean? Does it not mean, first, that he
enlightens our understandings? It is wonderful how the Holy Spirit can take a
fool, and make him know the wonders of Christ's dying love; and he does make him
know it very quickly when he begins to teach him. Some of us have been very slow
learners, yet the Holy Spirit has been able to teach something even to us. He
opens the Scriptures, and he also opens our minds; and when there are these two
openings together, what a wonderful opening it is! It becomes like a new
revelation; the first is the revelation of the letter, which we have in the
Book; the second is the revelation of the Spirit, which we get in our own
spirit. O my dear friend, if the Holy Ghost has ever enlightened your
understanding, you know what it is for him to show the things of Christ to
you!But next, he does this by a work upon the whole soul. I mean this. When the
Holy Ghost convinces us of sin, we become fitted to see Christ, and so the
blessed Spirit shows Christ to us. When we are conscious of our feebleness, then
we see Christ's strength; and thus the Holy Ghost shows him to us. Often, the
operations of the Spirit of God may seem not to be directly the showing of
Christ to us, but as they prepare us for seeing him, they are a part of the
work.The Holy Ghost sometimes shows Christ to us by his power of vivifying the
truth. I do not know whether I can quite tell you what I mean; but I have
sometimes seen a truth differently from what I have ever seen it before. I knew
it long ago, I owned it as part of the divine revelation; but now I realize it,
grip it, grasp it, or what is better, it seems to get a grip of me, and hold me
in its mighty hands. Have you not sometimes been overjoyed with a promise which
never seemed anything to you before? Or a doctrine, which you believed, but
never fully appreciated, has suddenly become to you a gem of the first water, a
very Koh-I-Noor, or, "Mountain of Light." The Holy Spirit has a way of focussing
light, and when it falls in this special way upon a certain point, then the
truth is revealed to us. He shall take of the things of Christ, and show them
unto you. Have you never felt ready to jump for joy, ready to start from your
seat, ready to sit up in your bed at night, and sing praises to God through the
overpowering influence of some grand old truth which has seemed to be all at
once quite new to you? The Holy Spirit also shows to us the things of Christ in
our experience. As we journey on in life, we pass up hill and down dale, through
bright sunlight and through dark shadows, and in each of these conditions we
learn a little more of Christ, a little more of his grace, a little more of his
glory, a little more of his sin-bearing, a little more of his glorious
righteousness. Blessed is the life which is just one long lesson upon the glory
of Christ; and I think that is what every Christian life should be. "Every dark
and bending line" in our experience should meet in the centre of Christ's glory,
and should lead us nearer and nearer to the power of enjoying the bliss at his
right hand for ever and ever. Thus the Holy Spirit takes of the things of
Christ, and shows them to us, and so glorifies Christ.Beloved, the practical
lesson for us to learn is this, let us try to abide under the influence of the
Holy Spirit. To than end, let us think very reverently of him. Some never think
of him at all. How many sermons there are without even an allusion to him! Shame
on the preachers of such discourses! If any hearers come without praying for the
Holy Spirit, shame on such hearers! We know and we confess that he is everything
to our spiritual life; then why do we not remember him with greater love, and
worship him with greater honour, and think of him continually with greater
reverence? Beware of committing the sin against the Holy Ghost. If any of you
feel any gentle touches of his power when you are hearing a sermon, beware lest
you harden your heart against it. Whenever the sacred fire comes as but a spark,
quench not the Holy Spirit, but pray that the spark may become a flame. And you,
Christian people, do cry to him that you may not read your Bibles without his
light. Do not pray without being helped by the Spirit; above all, may you never
preach without the Holy Spirit! It seems a pity when a man asks to be guided of
the Spirit in his preaching, and then pulls out a manuscript, and reads it. The
Holy Sprit may bless what he reads; but he cannot very well guide him when he
has tied himself down to what he has written. And it will be the same with the
speaker if he only repeats what he has learnt, and leaves no room for the Spirit
to give him a new thought, a fresh revelation of Christ; how can he hope for the
divine blessing under such circumstances? Oh, it were better for us to sit still
until some of us were moved by the Spirit to get up and speak, than for us to
prescribe the methods by which he should speak to us, and even to write down the
very words we mean to utter! What room is there for the Spirit's operations
then?"Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,"I cannot help breaking out into that
prayer, "Blessed Spirit, abide with us, take of the things of Christ, and show
them to us, that so Christ may be glorified."III. I am only going to speak a
minute or two on the last point. It is a very deep one, much too deep for me. I
am unable to take you into the depths of my text, I will not pretend to do so; I
believe that there are meanings here which probably we shall never understand
till we get to heaven. "What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter."
But this is the point, CHRIST'S GLORY IS HIS FAtheR'S GLORY: "All things that
the Father hath are mine: therefore I said I, that he shall take of mine, and
shall shew it unto you."First, Christ has all that the Father has. Do think
that. No more man dares to say, "All things that the Father hath are mine." All
the Godhead is in Christ; not only all the attributes of it, but the essence of
it. The Nicene Creed well puts it, and it is not too strong in the expression:
"Light of Light, very God of very God," for Christ has all that the Father has.
When we come to Christ, we come to omnipotent omnipresent omniscience; we come
to almighty immutability; we come, in fact, to the eternal Godhead. The Father
has all things, and all power is given unto Christ in heaven and on earth, so
that he has all that the Father has.And further, the Father is glorified in
Christ's glory. Never let us fall into the false notion that, if we magnify
Christ, we are depreciating the Father. If any lips have ever spoken concerning
the Christ of God so as to depreciate the God of Christ, let those lips be
covered with shame. We never did preach Christ up as merciful, and the Father as
only just, or Christ as moving the Father to be gracious. That is a slander
which has been cast upon us, but there is not an atom of truth in it. We have
known and believed what Christ himself said, "I and My Father are one." The more
glorious Christ is, the more glorious the Father is; and when men, professedly
Christians, begin to cast off Christ, they cast off God the Father to a large
extent. Irreverence to the Son of God soon becomes irreverence to God the Father
himself. But dear friends, we delight to honour Christ, and we will continue to
do so. Even when we stand in the heaven of heavens, before the burning throne of
the infinite Jehovah, we will sing praises unto him and unto the Lamb, putting
the two evermore in that divine conjunction in which they are always to be
found. Thus, you see, Christ has all that the Father has, and when he is
glorified, the Father also is glorified.Next, the Holy Spirit must lead us to
see this, and I am sure that he will. If we give ourselves up to his teaching,
we shall fall into no errors. It will be a great mystery, but we shall know
enough, so that it will never trouble us. If you sit down and try to study the
mystery of the Eternal, well, I believe that the longer you look, the more you
will be like persons who look into the sea from a great height, until they grow
dizzy, and are ready to fall and to be drowned. Believe what the Spirit teaches
you, and adore your Divine Teacher; then shall his instruction become easy to
you. I believe that, as we grow older, we come to worship God as Abraham did, as
Jehovah, the great I AM. Jesus does not fade into the background; but the
glorious Godhead seems to become more and more apparent to us. Our Lord's word
to his disciples, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." And as we come to
full confidence in the glorious Lord, the God of nature, and of providence, and
of redemption, and of heaven, the Holy Spirit gives us to know more of the
glories of Christ.I have talked with you as well as I could upon this sublime
theme, and if I did not know that the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, I should go
home miserable, for I have not been able to glorify my Lord as I would; but I
know that the Holy Spirit can take what I have said out of my very heart, and
can put it into your hearts, and he can add to it whatever I have omitted. Go ye
who love the Lord, and glorify him. Try to do it by your lips and by your lives.
Go ye, and preach him, preach more of him, and preach him up higher and higher,
and higher. The old lady, of whom I have heard, made a mistake in what she said,
yet there was a truth behind her blunder. She had been to a little Baptist
chapel, where a high Calvinist preached, and on coming away she said that she
liked "High Calvary" preachers best. So do I. Give me a "High Calvary" preacher,
one who will make Calvary the highest of all the mountains. I suppose it was not
a hill at all, but only a mound; still, let us lift it higher and higher, and
say to all other hills, "Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God
desires to dwell in; year, the Lord will dwell in it forever." The crucified
Christ is wiser than all the wisdom of the world. The cross of Christ has more
novelty in it than all the fresh things of the earth. O believers and preachers
of the gospel, glorify Christ! May the Holy Ghost help you to do so!And you,
poor sinners, who think that you cannot glorify Christ at all, come and trust
him, -- "Come naked, come filthy, come just as you are,"and believe that he will
receive you; for that will glorify him. Believe, even now, O sinner at death's
door, that Christ can make thee live; for thy faith will glorify him! Look up
out of the awful depths of hell into which conscience has cast thee, and believe
that he can pluck thee out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and
set thy feet upon a rock; for thy trust will glorify him! It is in the power of
the sinner to give Christ the greatest glory, if the Holy Spirit enables him to
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou mayest come, thou who art more leprous,
more diseased, more corrupt, than any other; and if thou lookest to him, and he
saves thee, oh, then thou wilt praise him! You will be of the mind of the one I
have spoken of many times, who said to me, "Sir, you say that Christ can save
me. Well, if he does, he shall never hear the last of it." No, and he never will
hear the last of it. Blessed Jesus, -- "I will love thee in life, I will love
thee in death,And praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath;And say when the
death-dew lies cold on my brow,If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'Tis now."In
mansion of glory and endless delight,I'll ever adore thee in heaven so
bright;I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,If ever I loved thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now."We will do nothing else but praise Christ, and glorify him, if
he will but save us from sin. God grant that it may be so with every one of us,
for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.John 16:1-16.Verse 1. These things have I
spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.Or, "made to stumble." Christ
would not have you who are his people caused to stumble by anything that happens
to you. He wants you to walk without tripping; his angels bear you up in their
hands lest at any time you should dash your foot against a stone. He himself, as
your Guardian, comes and speaks before hand to let you know what is to occur to
you, that you may not be caused to stumble by any fresh trial that may assail
you.2. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.Christ's disciples
were to expect opposition of the most cruel kind. They were to be put away from
those with whom they had long worshipped; they were even to run the risk of
losing their lives; but Jesus foretold what would happen to them, that they
might not be stumbled at it. Such was their Lord's love to them that he would
not have them attacked unawares; by his grace, they would hold on, and hold out,
they would persevere to the end; but there would have to be a struggle, and to
help them in the fight, Jesus tells them all about it before it begins. We say,
"Forewarned, forearmed." So the disciples were; and so are you. Your Lord tells
you that you will not get to heaven without trials: "In the world ye shall have
tribulation." And he tells you this that it may not surprise you when it comes,
that it may not act upon you like a sudden gust of wind that would upset a
little ship; but that you may just keep everything in trim looking for the storm
to come: "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to
stumble." 3. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known
the Father, nor me.The persecuting Jews professed to be worshippers of Jehovah;
but they did not know the Christ, whom he sent, and, therefore, in very truth
they did not know the Father either. How can you expect that those who do not
know the Father will know the Son, or any of the other children of the divine
family? As they rejected the Elder Brother, will they not also reject the
younger ones? Is the disciple to be above his Master, or the servant to be
treated better than his Lord? Think not so; and therefore expect that you will
not be known, even as the Father and the Son were not known."'Tis no surprising
thing,That we should be unknown:The Jewish world knew not their King,God's
everlasting Son."4. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall
come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto
you at the beginning, because I was with you.Our Lord did tell his disciples
something about "these things." He did warn them to expect opposition, but he
did not dwell upon that theme, he did not expatiate upon it. He did not at first
give that prominence to it which he was about to do, and he explains to his
disciples why he had not talked much upon that topic: "because I was with you."
It did not matter how they were opposed so long as he was with them; his society
more than made up for anything they might have to suffer; and, dear child or
God, if you now enjoy the presence of Christ, and the power of his Spirit, you
need not mind what happens to you.5, 6. But now I go my way to him that sent me;
and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these
things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.They were cast down because he
was going away from them. Love awoke fear. It was a hard thing for them to have
to miss him; they could not tell what might happen to them when their Leader was
gone from their midst. Do you wonder that they were filled with sorrow? Yet
there was no real cause for grief; there was rather reason for rejoicing when
they understood the true lesson of Christ's departure. There is no real cause
for your sorrow, dear friends. If you know all things, you would rejoice
exceedingly in that very thing that now most troubles you.7. Nevertheless I tell
you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.And
the Comforter is better for us that the personal presence of Christ. We do not
always think so; but it is true. It is better for the Church to have the Holy
Spirit in the midst of her, than for Christ to be here in the bodily presence on
the earth.8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment:The world is not as yet convinced, but it is
convicted; though it does not own its guilt, there is more than sufficient
evidence to prove it guilty in the sight of God.9. Of Sin, because they believe
not on me;What must be the depth of human wickedness that sinners will not
accept a Divine Saviour! This is the crowning, crushing proof of human guilt:
"They believe not on me."10. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye
see me no more;Christ was righteous, the righteous One, whom men rejected, for
he has gone up to the Father's side, where he could not have been if he had not
perfected righteousness. The very going back of Christ to the Father's throne
proves that righteousness does exist, and convicts men of sinning against it.11.
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.The gospel judges him,
and dethrones him; and as there has been a judgment of the world's king, so
there will be a judgment of the world itself.12. I have yet many things to say
unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.Some teachers overload their hearers with
truth till I might truly say that they pile on the agony. Truth which cannot be
received is often most irksome and burdensome to the hearer; when the mind is
not in a fit condition to bear any more instruction, it is cruel work to impose
it. Our Lord Jesus did not so overburden his disciples: "I have yet many things
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself;This is a very wonderful expression: "He shall not speak of himself." We
have plenty of men, nowadays, who boast that they do speak of or from
themselves; that is to say, they profess to borrow from no one, not even from
God. They are original thinkers, inventors; they bring forth fresh things out of
the depth of their wonderful minds; but even the Holy Ghost is here said not to
"speak of himself."13. But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak;That is
just our business, to hear God's message, and then to speak it; and if the Holy
Ghost does this, and if Jesus did it, we also may be glad to do the same. We are
no inventors of great novelties; we are simply the message-bearers of the Most
High, the declarers of the old truths which God has revealed to us. 13-16. And
he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of
mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine:
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. A
little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall
see me, because I go to the Father.How wonderful this is! We are to see Jesus
because he has gone to the Father. It looks as if that were a reason why we
should not see him; but we see him better, by faith, now that he has gone to the
Father, than we could have seen him while he was here below covered with the
veil of his humiliation. Yet it is hardly surprising that the disciples were
puzzled by their Lord's words: "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and
again, a little while, and ye shall see me:" and, "Because I go to the
Father."HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 426, 437, 416.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/spurgeons-sermons-volume-40-1894/
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