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  SPURGEONS SERMONS VOLUME 42 1896
  by C.H. Spurgeon
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Volume 42 of Spurgeon's collected sermons, a posthumous publication from 1896
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: 11

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    0. Spurgeons Sermons Volume 42 1896
    1. Solitude, Silence, Submission
    2. The Incomparable Bridegroom and His Bride
    3. Jacob and Doubting Souls--A Parallel
    4. The Best of All, God Is With Us
    5. The Best of the Best
    6. An Awful Contrast
    7. The Great Change
    8. |My Garden|--|His Garden|
    9. |This Thing Is from Me|
   10. Darkness Before the Dawn

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  CHAPTER 0: SPURGEONS SERMONS VOLUME 42 1896
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  CHAPTER 1: SOLITUDE, SILENCE, SUBMISSION
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A Sermon (No.2468) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, June 7th, 1896, Delivered
by C. H. SPURGEON, At [1]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On Lord's-day
Evening, June 13th, 1886. "He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath
borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be
hope." -- Lamentations 3:28, 29. THUS the prophet describes the conduct of a
person in deep anguish of heart. When he does not know what to do, his soul, as
if by instinct, humbles itself. He gets into some secret place, he utters no
speech, he gives himself over to moaning and to tears, and then he bows himself
lower and yet lower before the Divine Majesty, as if he felt that the only hope
for him in the extremity of his sorrow was to make complete submission to God,
and to lie in the very dust before him. It seems to me that such conduct as
this, which is characteristic of every truly gracious man in his hour of
trouble, should also be the mark of all who are seeking God's grace, those who
are not yet saved, but who are conscious of their need of salvation. I must,
surely, be speaking right into the heart of some who are feeling the crushing
weight and heavy burden of their guilt. If you cannot do anything else, dear
friends, do what these two verses say, in order that, afterwards, you may be
able to take that grand gospel step of faith in Jesus Christ which will
certainly bring you into peace and joy. Those of you who have the Revised
Version will notice a correction which has been made long ago by all competent
scholars: -- "Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon
him. Let him put his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope." It does not
matter which way you read the passage, because the conduct of one gracious man
is virtually a precept to another; yet it is satisfactory to find that, if we
are under the burden of sin, we are here commanded to do as the prophet did in
his time of need. My object just now is to explain this line of conduct, in the
hope that some who are in trouble will at once heartily follow it.I. First,
then, observe that, in the time of great trouble HOLY SOLITUDE is commended to
us: "Let him sit alone."I earnestly advise you who are under concern of soul to
seek to get alone, and to be quiet and thoughtful in your solitude; not merely
to be alone, but to sit by yourself like a person in the posture of thought.
When a soul is under a deep sense of sin, the more it can be alone, the better.
That sense of sin will be increased by the loneliness; and when it becomes
intolerable, it is highly probable that, in that loneliness, the way of its
removal will be discovered in this age, we all live too much in company; and in
a great city like this, we are busy from morning to night, and we do not get the
opportunities for quiet reflection which our forefathers were wont to take. I am
afraid, therefore, that our religion is likely to become very superficial and
flimsy for the want of solitary, earnest thought. Men, nowadays, usually go in
flocks; someone leads the way, and the rest follow him like sheep that rush
through a gap in the hedge. It would be better for us if we deliberated more, if
we used our own judgment, if we drew near to God in our own personality, and
were resolved that, whatever others might do, we would seek to be personally
guided by the Lord himself.I commend solitude to any of you who are seeking
salvation, first, that you may study well your case as in the sight of God. Few
men truly know themselves as they really are. Most people have seen themselves
in a looking-glass, but there is another looking-glass, which gives true
reflections, into which few men look. To study one's own self in the light of
God's Word, and carefully to go over one's condition, examining both the inward
and the outward sins, and using all the tests which are given us in the
Scriptures, would be a very healthy exercise; but how very few care to go
through it! Yet, beloved friends, if it be a wise thing to look well to your
business, how much more ought you to look to the business which concerns your
immortal souls! If a true shepherd will not neglect his flocks and his herds,
should not a wise man care about his thoughts, his feelings, and his actions?
Must it not be a wretched condition not to know whether one is saved or not? I
sometimes hear people express surprise if they are asked whether they are saved;
yet in what ignorance of your own soul's state must you be if you have never put
that question to yourself, or if, when it is put, you feel inclined to give no
answer to it! I press this matter home upon you, and if you would be saved, you
must know first that you are lost. If you would seek to be healed, you must
first learn that you are sick. It is not possible that you will repent unless
you are aware of your sin; it is not likely that you will look to Christ unless
you first know what it is for which you are to look to him. Therefore, I pray
you, set apart some season every day, or at least some season as often as you
can get it, in which the business of your mind shall be to take your longitude
and latitude, that you may know exactly where you are. You may be drifting
towards the rocks, and you may be wrecked before you know your danger. I implore
you, do not let your ship go at full steam through a fog; but slacken speed a
bit, and heave the lead, to see whether you are in deep waters or shallow. I am
not asking you to do more than any kind and wise man would advise you to do; do
I even ask you more than your own conscience tells you is right? Sit alone a
while, that you may carefully consider your case.Get alone again, dear friend,
-- especially dear young friend, -- that you may diligently search the
Scriptures. I am often astounded at the ignorance there still is of what is
written in God's Word. Many persons who have even been in Sunday-schools for
years, seem to be totally unaware of the plainest truths of the gospel of God's
grace; but how can we know what is revealed unless we read and study it for
ourselves? Alas, the dust upon many men's Bibles will condemn them! God has been
pleased, in this Book, to give us the revelation of the way of salvation, and we
ought to rush to the Book with eager anxiety to know what God has said in it;
but, instead of doing so, though we can get a Bible for sixpence, and perhaps
have a copy in every room in our house, how little do we read it! If you truly
desire to be saved, get alone for the earnest and hearty study of the Word of
God. How often you may meet with persons who profess to be infidels, yet if you
press them closely enough, you will find that they have never even read the New
Testament through. There are many more who are in doubt and anxiety, yet they
have never gone to see what are the promises of God, and what the Lord is ready
to do for them that seek him. I beseech you, as sensible and reasonable beings,
do not let God speak to you, and you refuse to hear. You need to be saved from
sin, in this Book God has revealed the way of salvation, therefore do not shut
up the Book, and fasten the clasps, and leave it neglected. Oh, Book of books,
the map of the way to glory; that man invokes a terrible curse upon his own head
who refuses to study thee! He does, in effect, shut the gate of heaven against
himself, and bar the road to everlasting bliss. If you would be saved, dear
friend, sit alone, and consider your case, and then study God's thoughts
concerning it. Get alone, further, that you may commune with your God. After we
have once learnt the way, we can commune with God anywhere, -- amidst the roar
and turmoil of the crowded city, or on the top of the mast of a ship; but, to
begin with, it is best to be alone with the Lord. My dear hearer, have you ever
spoken to God in all your life? Have you ever realized that there is such a King
in the room with you? There is such a King; it is he who made you, and who has
preserved you up to this good hour. You are, surely, not prepared to deny his
existence; and if you are not, I beseech you, do not ignore that existence, and
live as if there were no God. Oh, speak with him at once! Perhaps five minutes'
earnest speech with him may be the turning-point of your life. "I will arise and
go to my Father," was the turning-point with the prodigal; and it may be the
same with you. "Oh, but I feel so guilty!" Then get alone, and say that to the
Lord. "But I do not feel as I ought." Then get alone, and tell that to God. "Oh!
but I -- I am such an unbelieving being." Get alone, and tell out all the truth
to the Lord; do not entertain a thought or a feeling which you dare not tell to
him. Do not imagine that you can hide anything from him, for he reads your
inmost heart. Then take that heart, and lay it bare before him, and say with the
psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts;
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
As one of God's creatures, I could not bear to think that I had seen the glory
of the midnight stars, or warmed myself in the brightness of the noonday sun,
and yet had never spoken to him who made them all and myself as well. One of our
sweetest joys on earth is to speak with him in prayer and praise, to call him
Friend, and to be on terms of sweet familiarity with the Most High. I do pray
you, then, get alone for these three purposes, first, to consider your case,
next, to study the Scriptures concerning your case, and then, that you may speak
with God in prayer.Get alone also for one other reason, and that is, that you
may avoid distraction. I think that, on the Lord's-day, when people go home,
after service, they sometimes make a mistake in talking with those who do not
feel as they feel. If the arrows of God have entered your heart, go home alone.
If there has been anything in the sermon which has been for your comfort as a
Christian, go home alone. If there was anything in the sermon which has been for
your warning as a sinner, go home alone. How often may even godly and gracious
people talk upon some theme that may rob their fellow-believers of all the good
they have received in God's house; and, as for unconverted persons, I am sure
that, if they ever feel impressed under the Word, it will be their utmost wisdom
to take care of that first impression, and not let it be driven away by foolish
or frivolous conversation.Some of us are old enough to recollect the day before
there were matches of the kind we now use, and early on a frosty morning some of
us have tried to strike a light with flint and steel, and the old-fashioned
tinder-box. How long we struck, and struck, and watched, and waited, and at last
there was a little spark in the tinder, and then we would hold the box up, and
blow on it very softly, that we might keep that little spark alight till we had
kindled the fire that we wanted. That tenderness over the first spark is what I
invite everyone to practice in spiritual matters. If you would be saved, if
there is anything like feeling in your heart, if there is any good desire in
your soul, do not begin to talk as soon as you get out of the Tabernacle; that
would be like placing the lid on the tinder, and putting the spark out; but get
alone, blow on that spark, for peradventure it may come to a flame, and you may
find salvation. I advise all persons under sorrow of soul somehow or other to
break right away from their companions; when the day's work is done, let them
each one say to themselves, "I am not going out with that frivolous person, nor
shall I sit in the house with those who will be talking of trifling matters; I
have a soul that needs salvation, and I must have my soul saved now. I cannot
afford to be in this giddy company.""Let him sit alone." That is good advice
which the prophet gives in the text, and I desire to press it upon every
awakened person who desires to find the Savior.II. The text goes on to say, in
the next place, that we should practice SUBMISSIVE SILENCE: "Let him sit alone
and keep silence."In what respects should seeking souls keep silence? I answer,
first, if the burden of sin is pressing upon thee, be sure to abstain from all
idle talk; for if the idle talk of others, as I have reminded thee, can distract
thy thoughts, how much more would thine own! It ill becomes a man, who is on the
brink of hell, to be laughing and jesting. When God is angry with thee, canst
thou make mirth? I can understand how thou canst be merry when once thou hast
come back to the great Father's house, and the fatted calf is killed, and thy
Father rejoices over thee; but whilst thou art still covered with thy sins, and
art not yet sure of God's forgiveness, sit silent. It is the best thing thou
canst do; quietness becomes thee. Lay thy finger on thy lip till thou hast
something better to speak of than thou hast as yet. Keep silence, then, from all
idle talk. Keep silence also in another respect. Do not attempt to make any
excuse for your sin. Oh, how ready sinners are with their excuses! A man says,
"But, sir, I have a besetting sin." Do you not think that a great many people
make a mistake about besetting sins? There was a negro who used to get drunk,
and he said that it was his besetting sin; but his brother negro said, "No,
Sambo, it is your upsetting sin;" and so it was. If I were to go to-night across
Clapham Common, and half-a-dozen men were to surround me, and rob me of my
purse, then I should be beset; but if I were to know that there were thieves
there, and yet I walked across the common on purpose to meet with them, you
could not say that they had beset me, you would say that I was a fool to walk
into their hands. The besetting sin is that which a man fights against, and wars
against with all his soul, yet he is overcome by it. Do not lay any stress upon
that, as though thy being beset by sin was any excuse to thee, especially if
thou goest into the ways of sin. You go and sit with those who drink, and then
wonder that you get drunk! You go and associate with those who swear or sing
lewd songs, and then you wonder that, the next time you try to pray, a nasty
verse of a bad song comes up! It is your own fault; if you go and wilfully
mingle with sinners, how can you be a child of God? No, when you know that
anything is a sin, keep out of the temptation. He that does not want to get wet
should not go out into the rain. Instead of your excuse making your case any
better, it makes it worse; therefore, keep silence before thy God.And next, keep
silence from all complaining of God. No man is truly saved while he sets himself
up as the judge of God; yet this is the practice of many men. If you give them
the Word of God, they begin to pull it to pieces. They ask, "Is God so severe
that he will mark our faults? Does he even take notice of our evil thoughts? Can
it really be true that, for every idle word that a man shall speak, he will have
to give an account in the day of judgment?" And then, after judging God to be
austere, and too harsh in his dealings with poor fallible flesh and blood, they
go on to snatch from his hand the balance and the rod, and sit upon their little
throne, and dare to impugn the decrees of the great Judge of all. "It would be
wrong," they say, "to cast men into hell, and to punish with eternal wrath the
sins of a short life." And then they begin to traverse all the teaching of
Scripture, and to cavil at this and object to that. O sirs, if you would be
saved, you must give up this wickedness! This kind of conduct will damn you as
surely as you live.When prisoners are tried by an earthly judge, and are
condemned to die, if they are permitted to speak, they can have no hope of
obtaining mercy by criticising the judge, and cavilling at the law. Of course
they are not guilty, poor innocents!" It is the harsh law," they say, "that is
to blame." But the law must maintain its majesty against such cavillers, and it
cannot stoop to mercy, or sheath its sword, while a man is in that humor. So,
sinner, sit thou alone, and keep thou silence; presume not to judge thy God.
Behold, he cometh with clouds! The trumpet will soon proclaim his appearing, and
they who were so free to judge their Maker will cry in another tone when that
great day has at last come. With the earth reeling beneath their feet, and the
heavens themselves on fire, they will beg the rocks to fall on them, and the
hills to hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from
the wrath of the Lamb. Go, thou guilty one, sit thee still, and hold thy tongue,
and bring thy rebellious heart to submission. Shall the flax contend with the
fire, or the stubble fight with the flame? What canst thou do in warring with
thy Maker?Sit thou alone, and keep silence, next, from all claims of merit. I
know that the tendency of the human heart is to say, "I am no worse than other
people, I am a good chapel-going, church-going, psalm-singing person. I give to
the poor, I say my prayers, and attend to all that sort of thing." Thou wilt
never obtain mercy whilst thou hast a word of that kind to plead. Till thou art
like a vessel turned upside down, and drained of every drop of human merit,
there is no hope of salvation for thee. Thou must sit alone, and keep silence
about those good works of thine, for they are all a lie, and thou knowest it.
Thou hast never done a good work in thy life; thou hast either spoilt it by thy
selfish motives before it, or by some carelessness in it, or else by some
vainglorious pride after it. At the best, thou art nothing but a boasting
Pharisee; and though thou mayest wash the outside of thy cup and platter, yet
thine heart is full of wickedness, thy soul is steeped in sin. O man, talk no
more so exceeding proudly, but sit thou still, and hold thy tongue about merit
and deservings before the holy God. There is no way of mercy for any one of us
until we shut our mouths, and utter not a single boastful word, but stand
guiltily silent before the Lord. I think it is well, too, when a poor
sin-burdened soul is silent before God, and unable to make any bold speeches. I
recollect that, when I first was seeking the Lord, I heard some good people
talking about their confidence in God. I had to hold my tongue then, for I could
not say a word about that matter. I heard a young friend say that he had found
Christ; but I had to hold my tongue then, for I knew that I had not found him,
and even after I had found him, there were times when I dared not say so. I felt
in my spirit the question, "Am I self-deceived, or am I not? And if I have
spoken pretty boldly since that time, even now, occasionally, I feel that same
silence creeping over me. It would have been well if Peter had been silent when
he said to his Lord, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." I like a
man who knows, not only how to speak, but how to sit still; but that latter part
is hard work to many. There came a young man to Demosthenes to learn oratory; he
talked away at a great rate, and Demosthenes said, "I must charge you double
fees." "Why?" he asked. "Why," said the master, "I have first to teach you to
hold your tongue, and afterwards to instruct you how to speak." The Lord teaches
true penitents how to hold their tongues. They open not their mouth when he has
laid trouble upon them, and even in the company of good people they are
sometimes dumb with silence, and they hold their tongue even from good. It is
not an ill thing that they should act thus, for often the will of the Lord is
not done with words; and sometimes, that silence which is frost of the mouth is
thaw of the soul, and the heart flows best before God when even praise sits
silent on our tongues. O beloved, in thine hour of darkness because of thy sin,
sit thou still, and hold thy tongue, for it is oftentimes the way of peace to
the soul!III. Now I shall ask your special and patient attention for just a few
minutes to the third point, which is, PROFOUND HUMILIATION: "Let him put his
mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope." Upon this matter, I would
earnestly address those who are not yet saved, but who desire to be.Dear
friends, it often happens that men do not obtain peace with God because they
have not come low enough. The gate of heaven, though it is so wide that the
greatest sinner may enter, is nevertheless so low that pride can never pass
through it. Thou must stoop if thou wouldst enter heaven. "Let him put his mouth
in the dust." I do believe that this precept is needed by very many; and That,
when they obey it, they will get peace, but never till then. "Let him put his
mouth in the dust." Oriental monarchs require very lowly reverence from their
subjects; it is out of keeping with our manners and customs, but the similitude
holds good in our relation to the Lord God. When we come before him, we must
prostrate ourselves till we bow our mouths in the dust. What can this expression
mean? "Let him put his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope."It means,
first, that there must be true, humble, lowly, confession of sin. You say that
you have been praying, yet you have not found peace; have you confessed your
sins? This is absolutely necessary, confess your sins to me? you ask. No, thank
you; I do not want to hear your confession. It would do me much harm, and it
could do you no good to tell them to me; it is to God alone that this confession
should be made. Some men have never really made a confession of their sin to God
at all; they have done it in such general and insincere terms that it did not
amount to a confession. Go you, enter your chamber, shut the door, and get
alone; and there, with words or without words, as you find it best, acknowledge
before God your omissions and commissions, what you have done and what you have
not done. Pour out the whole story before God, and cry with the publican, "God
be merciful to me a sinner." Do not cloak or dissemble before the Almighty. Let
all your sins appear. Take a lowly place; not simply be a sinner in name, but
confess that thou art a sinner in fact and deed. I do believe that some of you
are in darkness much longer than you need to be, because you do not stoop to a
humble confession of your sin. Let the lances into this ugly gathering of yours
that brings you so much inflammation of mind and pain of spirit. Let your
confession flow like water before God; pour out your heart before him. Own to
your sins, take the place of a sinner, for this is a great way towards finding
salvation: "If so be there may be hope."Further than that, dear friends, when it
is said that we are to put our mouths in the dust, it means that we are to give
up the habit of putting ourselves above other people, and finding fault with
others. How often is the value of our penitence destroyed because we have looked
at Mistress Somebody, and said, "Well, I am guilty, but still, -- well, I am not
such a hypocrite as Mrs. So-and-so." What have you to do with her? "Oh!" says
another, "I know I have been a bad man, but then I -- I -- I have never been as
bad as old So-and-so." What have you to do with him? Here are you pretending to
be humble, yet you are as proud as Lucifer. I know you; you are like that man
who went up to the temple, and pretended that he was going to pray, and then he
said, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are," and so forth;" nor
even as this publican;" turning his eye in disdain towards the true penitent.
There is many a man who says, "I am a sinner, but then I am a total abstainer
and wear the blue ribbon; that is a good thing, is it not?" Yes, it is, but not
if you trust in it for salvation. "Oh, but!" says another, "I know that I have
not lived as I ought, but I have always paid 20s. in the pound." So ought every
honest man, but what is there to be proud about in that? Are you going to get to
heaven by paying 20s. in the pound to a man, and not a penny in the pound to
God? Yet that is often the way of men. Or else perhaps we are accusing others
while we pretend that we are ourselves humble. We must get rid of all such bad
habits if we want the Lord to have mercy upon us. I believe a sincere penitent
thinks himself to be the worst man there is, and never judges other people, for
he says in his heart, "That man may be more openly guilty than I am, but very
likely he does not know as much as I do, or the circumstances of his case are an
excuse for him." A woman, convinced of sin, says, "It is true, that woman has
fallen, and her life is full of foulness; but perhaps if I had been tempted as
she was, and had been deceived as she was, I should have been even worse than
she is." Oh, that we might all give up that habit of cavilling at other people,
and put our mouths in the dust in self-abasement before God! I think that
putting our mouths into the dust also means that we realize our own nothingness
in the presence of God. We have nothing to say, nothing to claim, nothing to
boast of; if the Lord should never look upon us in mercy, yet we could not
complain of him. If he were to banish us from his presence for ever, yet could
we not open our mouths to accuse him, but must say, "Thou art just when thou
judges; thou art clear when thou condemnest." That, dear friends, is putting
your mouth in the dust; feeling that, in God's sight, you are only like the
dust. If you have sought the Lord, and have not found him, I do exhort you to
sink yourself lower. Believe that you have no strength, that you have no
righteousness, that you are truly lost and ruined and undone, that you are
nothing but a mass loathsomeness before the thrice-holy God; and bow before him
with this conviction in your heart, "if so be there may be hope."I am not going
to preach upon that last part of the text, because the time has almost gone, and
also for another reason, because I have not to say to you, "If so be there may
be hope." There is hope for any man, or woman, or child here, -- I like to say
"child" as well as "man, or woman," because I believe that children are often
the best part of my congregation. Last Monday week, we had five children before
the church, one after the other, whose testimony for Christ was quite as clear
as that of any of the elders among us. What an important part of the
congregation the boys and girls make up! I believe that there are almost as many
saved among the little ones now in this congregation as there are of grown-up
people, perhaps even more. Well now, if any of you who are guilty, -- whether
old or young, -- come before the Lord, and confess your sin, and trust in Christ
for mercy, you shall have mercy. I do not know who you are, and I do not care
who you are; but whosoever shall come, and confess his sin in all lowliness of
heart, and in faith believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he shall have mercy.
Christ sits on his throne of grace, and stretches out the silver scepter. Bow
before him, and he will forgive your sin. The fountain is opened for sin and for
uncleanness; if thou art sinful and unclean, come to the fountain that Christ
has opened, and which the devil cannot close, and wash and be clean this very
hour. God in infinite mercy is ready to forgive, his heart yearns over the
wanderers. He stretches out his hands, and entreats thee to come back, and he is
grieved until thou dost return. If there be in thy heart any sorrow for having
sinned against thy God, if there be any anxiety to come back to him, come back.
If thou dost but turn thy face towards him, whilst thou art yet a great way off,
he sees, he has compassion upon thee, he runs to thee, he embraces thee. Fall
into his arms now. Believe thou in his Son; trust thyself with Jesus, for he
never yet failed any who trusted him. Make him the Trustee of thy soul, for he
is a Trustee who can be trusted. Deposit in his hands thy spirit, for he is able
to keep that which thou committest unto him against that day.We are getting into
summer, and I feel very anxious that none of my hearers should have to say, "The
harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Then, before the
harvest comes, now that the summer is just beginning, may the Lord incline your
hearts to come and put your trust in Jesus! Many of you are from the country;
you have come to see London. Of all the sights possible to you, the best will be
first to see yourselves, and then to see your Savior. There is no exhibition
like the exhibition of the love of God in Jesus Christ to guilty sinners. May
this be the best day you have ever lived because it shall be the first day you
have ever truly lived with the life of God in your soul! I pray the Lord to
bless my words to every one of you without exception. Surely, there is not
anybody here who would wish to be left out. God bless you all, for Christ's
sake! Amen.Lamentations 3:1-33, AND 55-58.We are about to read a chapter which
is very full of sorrow; while you are listening to it, some of you may be
saying, "We are not in that condition." Well then, be thankful that you are not,
and while you hear of the sorrows of others, bless God for the joys you yourself
experience. At the same time, remember that there is a way of sorrow which leads
at last to rest and piece. There is truth in the words of the poet Cowper, --
"The path of sorrow, and that path alone,Leads to the land where sorrow is
unknown."If you have never known the sorrows of the weeping prophet, or anything
like them, I am not sure that you should congratulate yourselves, for there is a
brokenness of heart that is worth more than the whole world, there is a crushed
and bruised spirit in which the Lord delights, and which is a token for good to
the one who possesses it.Verses 1, 2. I am the man that hath seen affliction by
the rod of his wrath. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into
light.Some of us recollect when we used to go into our own room, and shut the
door, and read such a chapter as this, and say, "Here is a description of my
true condition." We were once broken in pieces, torn asunder, through a terrible
sense of sin. Our thoughts were like a case of knives perpetually pricking us,
and, at such a time, these were our words as well as the words of Jeremiah, "He
hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light." 3, 4. Surely
against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. My flesh
and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.Conviction of sin seems to
dry up the very sap of our life till we become withered with age. Worse than the
agony of a broken bone is the pain of a broken heart. When the Holy Spirit
convinces of sin, believe me, it is no child's play; in the case of some of us,
it was sore wounding.5. He hath builded against me, -- "As if he deliberately
built walls to stop up my way, and erected castles from which to attack my soul,
'He hath builded against me,'" -- 5. And compassed me with gall and travel."He
has shut me up in a circle of bitterness."6, 7. He hath set me in dark places,
as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he
hath made my chain heavy.Like a prisoner in his dungeon, who has to wear
manacles and fetters.8. Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my
prayer.That is the worst trial of all, for there is comfort in prayer; but when
even that seems denied you, into what a terrible state of sorrow is your heart
brought!9-11. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn Stone, he hath made my paths
crooked. He was unto me as a bear Iying in wait, and so a lion in secret places.
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me
desolate.You who remember that experience, bless God that you have passed
through it, that you have gone over that rough road into the place of peace and
rest in Christ. You who have never known this path, it will be well for you when
you do, trying as you may find it.12. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark
for the arrow."Every sermon I hear seems a shot at me, every text of Scripture
seems an arrow aimed at me."13. He hath caused the arrow of his quiver to enter
into my reins."They are not merely shot at me, but they have actually hit me;
they have wounded me; they have pierced me in vital parts."14-17. I was a
derision to all my people; and their song all the day. He hath filled me with
bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth
with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. And thou hast removed my soul
far off from peace: I forgat prosperity."It seems so long ago since I was
prosperous that I forget what it was like. I have been so troubled that I do not
remember what it was to be at ease."18-21. And I said, My strength and my hope
is perished from the LORD: remembering mine affliction and my misery, the
wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in
me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.Notice that, in all his
sorrow, this man still had hope. His soul was humbled, and therefore he had
hope. I think that, in the New Zealand language, the word for hope is "swimming
thought" -- the thought that swims when everything else is drowned. Oh, what a
mercy it is that hope can live on when all things else appear to die!22. It is
of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail
not.Hear that, troubled heart; you are not yet destroyed, you are still in the
land of the living, -- as we say "on praying ground and pleading terms with
God." "It is of Jehovah's mercies that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not."23, 24. They are new every morning: great is thy
faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in
him."With all my troubles, and losses, and griefs, I still have a God; therefore
will I hope in him."25. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the
soul that seeketh him.Even though it be out of the depths of the utmost distress
that you seek God, you shall find him to be good to you. He is hard to none,
unkind to none. Only go thou, and test him and try him, and thou shalt find that
it is even as I say.26, 27. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly
wait for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke
in his youth.And it is not bad for him if he keeps on bearing it in his old age.
Our shoulders ever need the yoke; we are such uncertain creatures that we cannot
bear too much freedom, even from sorrow.28-31. He sitteth alone and keepeth
silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if
so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is
filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever:What music
there is in that line! He may put thee away for a while, and seem to leave thee;
but "the Lord will not cast off for ever." God may seem to put us away from him,
but it is written, "He hateth putting away "There is no divorcement between
Christ and the soul that is once espoused to him, their separation shall not be
perpetual, for nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.32, 33. But though he cause grief, yet will he have
compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict
willingly nor grieve the children of men.Now notice, in the 55th verse, what
came to the prophet after all this sorrow. 55, 56. I called upon thy name, O
LORD, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my
breathing, at my cry.Sometimes our prayers get to be so very weak that they are
only a breathing; yet we must never forget that "Prayer is the breath of God in
men, returning whence it came," and "Praying breath is never spent in vain."57,
58. Thou drewest near in the day that I railed upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul;What a comfort it is that
Christ's in heaven is our great Advocate, and that he has pleaded the causes of
our soul before the throne of God!58. Thou hast redeemed my life.He who is our
Advocate is also our Redeemer, and therefore we are doubly safe. Glory be to his
name!HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 492, 584, 556.


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  CHAPTER 2: THE INCOMPARABLE BRIDEGROOM AND HIS BRIDE
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A Sermon (No.2469) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, June 14th, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [2]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Lord's-day Evening, June 10th, 1886. "What is thy beloved more than another
beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another
beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" -- Song of Solomon 5:9. THIS morning,
[3]we had the great privilege of preaching the doctrine of substitution, and of
directing the minds of God's people to the solid rook of the meritorious
sacrifice of Christ whereon all their hopes of heaven must be built. What we
have to say to-night is less doctrinal, and more practical; therefore let us
guard ourselves at the outset. If we should, with very much earnestness, urge
believers to good works, let nobody suppose that, therefore, we imagine that men
are saved by works. Let no one for a moment dream that, in urging the believer
to bring forth fruit unto righteousness, we are at all teaching that salvation
is the work of man. I have no doubt that all of us who know anything of true
religion are of the same opinion as that celebrated Scotch divine, old David
Dickson, who was asked, when dying, what was the principal subject on which his
thoughts were engaged, and he answered, "I am gathering up all my good works,
and all my bad works, tying them into one bundle, and throwing them all alike
down at the foot of the cross, and am resting alone upon the finished work of
Jesus." It is related of that mighty master in Israel, James Durham, that his
experience at the last was very much akin to that of his friend Dickson, for he
said, "Notwithstanding all my preaching, and all my spiritual experiences, I do
not know that I have anything to hang upon excepting this one sentence spoken by
Christ, 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'" "Ah!" replied
someone who stood by Mr. Durham at the time, "you might well hazard a thousand
souls, if you had them, upon the strength of that one precious text." Having
said so much by way of caution, I want to address some earnest words to the
people of God upon certain practical truths that arise out of our text; and the
first thing I have to say is this, that the daughters of Jerusalem recognized in
the spouse an exceeding beauty, which dazzled and charmed them, so that they
could not help calling her the "fairest among women." This was not her estimate
of herself; for she had said, "I am black, but comely." Nor was it the estimate
of her enemies; for they had smitten her, and wounded her. But it was the
estimate of fair, candid, and impartial onlookers. I. This leads me to remark,
first, that OUR CHARACTER SHOULD GIVE WEIGHT TO OUR PROFESSION OF RELIGION. You
will observe that it was in consequence of thinking her the "fairest among
women" that they asked the spouse, "What is thy Beloved more than another
beloved?" They thought that one so fair might well have her choice of a
Bridegroom, that one so lovely herself would be likely to have an eye to
loveliness in her Husband, and consequently they considered her judgment to be
worth some attention, and they put to her the question why her Beloved was more
than another beloved. Take it for granted, dear friends, as a truth which your
own observation and experience will make every day more and more clear, that
your power to spread religion in the world must mainly depend upon your own
personal character, of course, in absolute reliance upon the Holy Spirit. I
suppose it is the earnest wish of every Christian to win for Christ some new
converts, to bring some fresh province under the dominion of the King of kings.
I will tell you how this may be accomplished.Your power to achieve this noble
purpose must largely depend upon your own personal consistency. It little
availeth what I say if I do the reverse. The world will not care about my
testimony with the lip, unless there be also a testimony in my daily life for
God, for truth, for holiness, for everything that is honest, lovely, pure, and
of good report. There is that in a Christian's character which the world, though
it may persecute the man himself, learns to value. It is called consistency, --
that is, the making of the life stand together, not being one thing in one place
and another thing in another, or one thing at one time and quite different on
another occasion. It is not consistency to be devout on Sunday and to be
dishonest on Monday. It is not consistency to sing the songs of Zion to-day, and
to shout the songs of lustful mirth tomorrow. It is not consistency occasionally
to wear the yoke of Christ, and yet frequently to make yourself the serf of
Satan. But to make your life all of a piece is to make it powerful, and when God
the Holy Ghost enables you to do this, then your testimony will tell upon those
amongst whom you live. It would be ludicrous, if it were not so sorrowful a
thing, to be spoken of even with weeping, that there should be professed
Christians who are through inconsistency among the worst enemies of the cross of
Christ. I heard, the other day, a story which made me laugh. A poor creature, in
a lunatic asylum, had got it into his head that he was some great one, and he
addressed a person who was visiting the asylum in the following words: -- "I am
Sir William Wallace; give me some tobacco!" What a ridiculous contrast between
his proud assertion and his poor request! Who but a lunatic would have said such
a thing? Yet alas! we know people who say, by their actions, if not in words, "I
am a Christian, but I will take advantage of you when I can; I am one of the
blood-royal of heaven, my life is hid with Christ in God, and my conversation is
in heaven, but -- but -- I like worldliness, and sensual pleasure, and carnal
mirth quite as well as other men!" I say again, that this kind of thing would be
superlatively ludicrous if it were not ineffably sorrowful, and it is, anyhow,
utterly contemptible. If your life be not all of a piece, the world will soon
learn how to estimate your testimony, and will count you to be either a fool or
a knave, and perhaps both.But it is not enough to be barely consistent; what the
world expects in Christians is real holiness as well as consistency. Holiness is
something more than virtue. Virtue is like goodness frozen into ice, hard and
cold; but holiness is that same goodness when it is thawed into a clear,
running, sparkling stream. Virtue is the best thing that philosophy can produce,
but holiness is the true fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and of that alone.
There must be about us an unworldliness, a something out of the common and
ordinary way, or else, mark you, that uncommon gospel, that heavenly gospel,
which we hold, will not seem to be bringing forth its legitimate fruit. If you
are just barely honest, and no more, if you are barely moral, and no more, it is
of no service that you should try to speak of Christ; the world will not reckon
you as the fairest among women, and it will not enquire anything about your
Well-beloved.But, brethren and sisters, I feel as if, instead of exhorting you
thus, I might better turn to confession myself, and ask you to join me in
confessing how far short we come of being anything like the fairest among women
as to character. We do hope that we have something Christ-like about us; but oh,
how little it is! How many imperfections there are! How much is there of the old
Adam, and how little of the new creature in Christ Jesus! Archbishop Usher was
once asked to write a treatise upon Sanctification; this he promised to do, but
six months rolled away, and the good Archbishop had not written a sentence. He
said to a friend, "I have not begun the treatise, yet I cannot confess to a
breach of my promise, for, to tell you the truth, I have done my best to write
upon the subject; but when I came to look into my own heart, I saw so little of
sanctification there, and found that so much which I could have written would
have been merely by rote as a parrot might have talked, that I had not the face
to write it." Yet, if ever there was a man renowned for holiness, it was
Archbishop Usher; if ever there was a saintly man who seemed to be one of the
seraphic spirits permitted to stray beyond the companionship of his kind among
poor earth-worms here, it was Usher; yet this is the confession that he makes
concerning himself! Where, then, shall we hide our diminished heads? I am sure
we may all say, with good Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley, who was another bright
example of seraphic holiness, that what we want is more grace. He had written a
pamphlet on some political matter, and Lord North wrote to know what he could
give him in return. His answer was, "I want what your lordship cannot give me,
-- more grace." That is also true of us, we want more grace. It is to be had;
and if we had it, and it transformed us into what we should be, oh, what lives
of happiness and of holiness we might lead here below, and what mighty workers
should we be for our Lord Jesus Christ! How would his dear name be made to sound
to the utmost ends of the earth! I fear me it is but a dream; but just conceive
that all of you, the members of this church, were made to be truly saintly,
saints of the first water, saints who had cast off the sloth of worldliness, and
had come out in the full glory of newness of life in Christ Jesus, oh, what a
power might this church become in London, and what a power to be felt the wide
world over! Let us seek it, let us strive after it, recollecting that it is a
truth never to be denied that only in proportion to the sanctity and
spirituality of our character will be our influence for good amongst the sons of
men. II. Advancing now a step, our second remark will be, that WE SHOULD CHARGE
OTHERS CONCERNING CHRIST. "What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, that
thou dost so charge us?"The "fairest among women" was asked why she had so
spoken: "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my Beloved, that ye
tell him, that I am sick of love." By this "charge" is meant, I suppose, that
the spouse adjured them, and spoke solemnly to them about her Beloved.
Christians, be troublesome to the world! O house of Israel, be like a burdensome
stone to the world! You are not sent here to be recognized as honorable citizens
of this world, to be petted and well-treated. Even Christ himself, the peaceable
One, said, "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be
already kindled?" What I mean is this, we are not to be quiet about our
religion. The world says to us, "Hold your tongue about religion, or at least
talk about it at fit times; but do not introduce it at all seasons so as to
become a pest and a nuisance." I say again, and you know in what sense I mean
it, be a nuisance to the world; be such a man that worldlings will be compelled
to feel that there is a Christian in their midst. An officer was walking out of
the royal presence on one occasion, when he tripped over his sword. The king
said to him, "Your sword is rather a nuisance." "Yes," was the officer's reply,
"your majesty's enemies have often said so." May you be a nuisance to the world
in that sense, troublesome to the enemies of the King of kings! While your
conduct should be courteous, and everything that could be desired as between man
and man, yet let your testimony for Christ be given without any flinching and
without any mincing of the matter.This afternoon, I was reading a sermon by a
certain divine, whose subject of discourse was, why the working-classes do not
go to a place of worship, and the preacher seems to have made up his mind that,
whatever is preached in this Tabernacle, is especially obnoxious to laboring men
and women. The reason he gives why the working-classes do not attend places of
worship is that we preach such dreadful doctrines. It is very remarkable that
places where these truths are preached are crowded, while places where the
opposite things are proclaimed are often empty! It is curious, if the doctrine
of the gospel is such a very horrible thing that it drives people away, that at
the places where it is preached there are more people than can get in, whereas
where some of the modern doctrines are declared, you may see more spiders than
people! It is a singular circumstance, certainly, yet one for which we can
easily account. A Socinian minister was once asked by one who preached
Evangelical truth, "If I, who proclaim doctrines which you say are obnoxious to
common reason, have my place full, and you, who preach such pretty, reasonable
doctrines, can get nobody to hear you, do you not think it is because the people
have an idea that what I teach is true, and that what you preach, though it is
very pleasant and palatable, is not true, and therefore they do not care to hear
it?" It is not by altering our testimony that we are to hope to win an audience,
and it is not by hiding the light of the gospel under a bushel that you or I
shall discharge our obligations to our Lord. We must speak up for Christ, and so
speak up for Him that men will be moved to ask us the question, "What is thy
Beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?"I have read that
Mr. Kilpin, of Exeter, had every pew in the chapel where he preached sketched
out on a plan, and the names of all the occupants of the pews written on it, so
that he might pray for every one, and, if possible, speak to everyone. Such a
plan might not be practicable in so large a building as this, but it is an
excellent method; and if we cannot adopt it, let this place be mapped out in
your own mind, and let every believer, wherever he sits, consider that there is
a little district allotted to him, and let him seek to have a word of courteous
Christian conversation about divine things with all who sit near him. I suggest
this as a very excellent mode of beginning to "charge "others about Christ; and
then in your daily business, in the workshop, at fit times and seasons, at
periods when Christian prudence and Christian zeal would give their voice
together, introduce Christ, and begin to talk of him, and hold him up as the
great cure-all for human diseases, the great staff and support for human
weakness. We shall never see as much blessing as we might until the work of the
Church becomes far more general than it is at present. There is something which
every believer can do for his Lord. He must be able to tell of what he has
tasted and handled of the Word of Life, and if he has not tasted and handled it,
then he is not a child of God at all. The best teaching in the world is
experimental; nothing wins upon men like personal witnessing, not merely
teaching the doctrine as we find it in the Book, but as we have felt it in its
living power upon our own hearts. When we begin to tell of its effect upon
ourselves, it is wonderful what power there is upon others in that testimony. A
person talks to me about a certain medicine, how it is compounded, what it looks
like, how many drops must be taken at a dose, and so on. Well, I do not care to
hear all that, and I soon forget it; but he tells me that for many months he was
bed-ridden, he was in sore distress and in great pain, and like to die; and,
looking at him as he stands before me in perfect health, I am delighted with the
change, and he says that it was that medicine which restored him. If I am a sick
man in the same state as he was, I say to him, "Give me the name and address,
for I must try that medicine for myself." I believe that the simple witness of
converted boys and girls, converted lads and lasses, especially the witness of
converted fathers and mothers and friends beloved, the witness that comes of the
grey head that is backed up by years of godly living, has a wonderful power for
the spread of the gospel, and we cannot expect that God will give us any very
large blessing until the whole of us shall be at work for our Lord. We need not
all climb up the pulpit stairs, but each one of us can proclaim Christ according
to our ability, and according to the circumstances in which he has placed us.
When we shall do that, then we may expect to see "greater things than these."
Days that shall make us laugh for very joy of heart, and well nigh make us dance
like David did before the ark, will come when all the rank and file of the army,
and even those who halt upon their crutches, shall march unanimously against the
foe. III. Thirdly, it is important for us to MAKE ALL WHO COME IN CONTACT WITH
US FEEL THAT CHRIST JESUS IS FIRST AND FOREMOST WITH US.You perceive that the
question of the text is not, "What is thy Beloved that he should be equal to
others?" It is, "What is thy Beloved more than another beloved?" The idols of
the heathen are all made to stand in the Pantheon face to face, and there is no
quarrelling among them; but as soon as you introduce Christ there, they must all
go down, or he will not stay. The principle of the toleration of every form of
doctrine -- I mean not, of course, civil toleration, which we hold to be always
necessary and right, but I mean mental toleration, -- the principle of the
mental toleration of all forms of doctrine, and all forms and shades of action,
is heathenish, for where Christ comes he comes to reign; and when once he enters
the soul of a man, it is down, down, down with everything else.There is a text
which is often misunderstood. I heard it read thus only last Sunday: "No man can
serve two masters." I very much question whether he cannot; I believe he could
serve, not only two, but twenty. That is not the meaning of the text; the true
reading of it is, "No man can serve two masters." They cannot both be masters;
if two of them are equal, then neither of them is really master. It is not
possible for the soul to be subject to two master-passions. If a man says, "I
love Christ," that is well; but if he says, "I love Christ, and I love money,
and I love them both supremely," that man is a liar, for the thing is not
possible. There is only one that can be the master-passion; and where Jesus
enters the soul, love to him must be the master-passion of the heart.It strikes
me that a Christian, living fully up to his privileges, would be such a man as
this; -- if he had, on one side, the opportunity to enjoy pleasure, and, on the
other side, a painful opportunity of honoring Christ, he would prefer to honor
Christ rather than to enjoy himself. If, on the one hand, there were gain, even
lawfully to be had, and on the other hand, Christ could be honored in a way that
would bring no monetary gain, the man would prefer the glorifying of his Master
to the obtaining of the advantage in cash which was held out to him. And if it
comes to this, that by soft speeches he may get himself into good repute, and
that by sternly speaking out and rebuking error he may honor his Master but
bring much contempt upon himself, if he be a genuine Christian he will always
take the latter course. The first question he will ask will be, "How can I most
honor my Lord? How can I best glorify him?"It is clear that Christ is not first
in every nominal Christian's heart. No, alas! he is not first, and he is not
even second, he is very far down in the scale. Look at them, -- good honest
tradespeople, perhaps, but from the first dawn of Monday morning to the putting
up of the shutters on Saturday night, what is the main business of their life?
It is only, "What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we
be clothed?" Now, where is Christ in such a case as that? Look at others; with
them the question is, "Where shall I invest such-and-such an amount of spare
cash? How shall I best lay by such-and-such a sum? What field shall I buy next?
What house shall I add to my estate?" As for the Lord Jesus, he is put off with
the cheese-parings and the candle-ends; he gets a little now and then dropped
into the offering-box, but it is only a mere trifle compared with what he ought
to receive. The man's words are nine hundred and ninety-nine for himself, and
perhaps not much more than half a one for Christ; almost all his time goes to
the world, and not to his Lord; his whole self goes to himself, and not to the
Savior to whom he professes to belong.This is not the case with the truly
Christ-like man. With him, Christ is first, Christ is last, Christ is midst,
Christ is all in all; and when he speaks about anything connected with Christ,
his words come with such a solemn earnestness, that men are impressed with what
he says, and they turn round to him, and ask, as the daughters of Jerusalem
enquired of the spouse, "What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, that
thou dost so charge us?"IV. Our last thought is this; if ever, through the grace
of God, we should possess such a character, and bear such a testimony as we have
been talking about, so that men shall ask us the question of the text, IT WILL
BE WELL FOR US TO BE PREPARED TO ANSWER IT.This is an age in which the world
asks many questions, and from some Christians it cannot get an answer. I will
say one thing which some of you may not like to hear, perhaps, but I cannot help
that. There are some of you who are Baptists; but why? Well, I suppose, because
I happen to be one, and you have followed me without carefully studying the
teaching of the New Testament upon the question. I fear it is so with some of
you, and there are others of you who are Wesleyans, or Independents, or Church
people, but the only reason you can give for being so, is that your grandmother,
or your mother, happened to be of that denomination. This is an age in which
people do not estimate truth as they should do. A good earnest controversy seems
to me to be a very healthy thing, because it turns men's attention somewhat more
than usual to divine things; but you know how it is, even with many professing
Christian people. They think it would be wicked to read a novel; but if it is
written upon a religious subject, it is a very proper thing then. There is
hardly a weekly newspaper, nowadays, or even a penny magazine, that can live
without having a novel in it; and there must be a market for all this rubbish or
it would not be supplied so plentifully. Why, sirs, in Puritanic times, men read
solid books like John Owen "On the Mortification of Sin"; they studied such
works as Richard Gilpin "On Satan's Temptations", or Stephen Charnock on "The
Divine Attributes"; but, in these days, people who ought to read these solid
books, so as to be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them, are often
wasting their time over poor stuff which only addles the brain, and does the
soul no good. I would to God that we could again see a race of sturdy believers,
who would hold to nothing but what they had tested by the Word of God; who would
receive nothing merely because it was taught by their minister, or by their
parents, or by any human authority, but who would accept with unquestioning
faith everything that is revealed in the Inspired Book. Our motto still should
be, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them." We want to breed again -- and oh, may
God give us grace to do so! -- a race of men who shall be rooted and grounded in
the faith, and who, when they are asked for a reason for the hope that is in
them, shall be able to give it, not with fear and trembling and hesitation, but
with holy boldness and determination, because they have tested and tried the
matter for themselves. See how the spouse does; she does not pause a minute
before she gives her reply. She is asked, "What is thy Beloved more than another
beloved?" and she has the answer, as we say, at her fingers' ends, and why was
this? Why, because she had it in her heart. So she says, "My Beloved is white
and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand." She does not say, "Stop a bit, I
must read up on that question; I must get myself well-instructed upon it," but
it is such a vital point, had one so dear to her, as it touches the person of
her Lord, that she answers at once, "Is my Beloved better than any other
beloved? Certainly he is, and here are the reasons." She puts them together one
after another without a pause, so that the daughters of Jerusalem must have been
convinced; and I commend her example to you also, my beloved in Christ Jesus, Do
study the Word, that your faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. I beseech you, if I have taught you anything that is not revealed
in the Scriptures, or if you have received anything only as by my authority,
give it up until you have tested and tried it by the Word of the Lord. I am not
afraid what the result will be, for if in anything I have erred, I pray the Lord
to teach me and also to teach you, so that we may grow together in the unity of
the Spirit in the bonds of the faith. Do let us all seek to be taught of God;
and then, with a holy life added to this divine instruction, and a clear
testimony for Jesus Christ constantly borne by us, our witnessing must tell upon
the age in which we live.Oh, that the Lord would send us times of true revival
once again! Run your finger down the page of history till you come to the
Reformation; what was there in Luther, in Calvin, in Zwingle, that they should
have been able to shake the world any more than there is in men who are living
nowadays? Nothing but this, that they believed what they did believe, and they
spoke with an awful earnestness, like men who meant what they said, and
straightway there arose a noble race of men, men who felt the power of faith,
and lived it out, and the world was made to feel that "there were giants in
those days." Then, again, in later times, when the Church had fallen into a
fatal slumber, there came the age of Whitefield and Wesley. What was the power
of the early Methodists? Why, simply the power of true sincerity combined with
holiness! What if I say that it was the power of intruding religion upon men, of
forcing men to hear God's voice, of compelling a sleeping world to wake out of
its slumbers? As I sat, last week, in the hall of the Free Church Assembly in
Edinburgh, just beneath the Castle, I started in my seat, I thought the whole
hall was going to fall, for at one o'clock the gun on the Castle was fired from
Greenwich by electricity. It startled every one of us, and I noticed that nearly
everybody took out his watch to see whether it was right by the gun. I thought
to myself, "That is just what the Christian Church ought to do. It ought, at the
proper time, to give a loud, clear, thundering testimony for God and for truth,
so that every man might examine his own conscience, and get himself put right
where he is wrong." Our testimony for Christ ought not to be like the ticking of
an ordinary clock, or as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, but a mighty
booming noise that commands and that demands a hearing. Let our soul be but
linked with heaven, let the Spirit of the Lord flash the message along the
wires, and our life may be just as accurate and just as startling as that
time-gun at Edinburgh. So, when men ask us, "What is thy Beloved more than
another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" we shall have an answer ready for
them, which may God bless to them, for Christ's sake! Amen.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK" -- 386, 807, 802.Song of Solomon 1.We will this evening read in the
one Book of the Bible which is wholly given up to fellowship; I allude to the
Book of Canticles. This Book stands like the tree of life in the midst of the
garden, and no man shall ever be able to pluck its fruit, and eat thereof, until
first he has been brought by Christ past the sword of the cherubim, and led to
rejoice in the love which hath delivered him from death. The Song of Solomon is
only to be comprehended by the men whose standing is within the veil. The
outer-court worshippers, and even those who only enter the court of the priests,
think the Book a very strange one; but they who some very near to Christ can
often see in this Song of Solomon the only expression which their love to their
Lord desires.Verses 1-2.The song of songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me
with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.The Person here
alluded to is not named; this omission is very common and usual to all-absorbing
love. The spouse is thinking so much of Christ Jesus her Lord that it is not
necessary for her to name him; she cannot make a mistake, and she is so
oblivious of all besides, that she does not think of them, nor of those who
would ask, "Who is this of whom you speak?" The communion is so close between
herself and her Lord that his name is left out: "Let him kiss me." By the kiss
is to be understood that strange and blessed manifestation of love which Christ
gives from himself to his children. Inasmuch as the word "kisses" is in the
plural, the spouse asks that she may have the favor multiplied; and inasmuch as
she mentions the "mouth" of her Bridegroom, it is because she wishes to receive
the kisses fresh and warm from his sacred person. "For thy love is better than
wine." It is better in itself, for it is more costly. Did it not flow out in
streams of blood from a better winepress than earth's best wine hath ever known?
It is better, too, in its effects; more exhilarating, more strengthening, and it
leaves no ill results.3. Because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is
as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.The spouse surveys
all the attributes of Christ, and she compares them to separate and precious
ointments. Christ is anointed as Prophet, Priest and King, and in each of these
anointings he is a source of sweetness and fragrance to his people. But as if
jealous of herself for having talked of the "ointments" when she should have
spoken of him, she seems to say, "Thy very name is as an alabaster box when it
is opened, and the odour of the precious spikenard fills the room.""Jesus, the
very thought of theeWith sweetness fills my breast.""Thy name is as ointment
poured forth," and the spouse addeth, as a note of commendation, "therefore do
the virgins love thee."4. Draw me, we will run after thee:She feels, perhaps, as
you do now, beloved brethren, heavy of heart; she cannot fly, nor go to reach
her Lord; but her heart longs after him, so she cries, "Draw me, we will run
after thee." While she prays the prayer others feel it suitable to them also, so
they join with her. When Christ draws us, we do not walk, but "run" after him;
there is no heavy going then. When Christ draws us, how swiftly do we fly, as
the dove to the dove-cote, when Jesu's grace enticeth us.Running soon brings the
spouse to her Lord; for notice the next clause: -- 4. The king hath brought me
into his chambers:It is done: "The King hath brought me into his chambers." Come
you to him in prayer, and mayhap, while you are yet speaking, he will hear;
while you are musing, the fire shall burn, and you shall be able to say, "Yes,
he has brought me near to himself, to the retired chamber where I may be alone
with him, to the chamber of riches and delights, where I may feast with him."4.
We will be glad and rejoice in thee,This is the sure result of getting into the
inner chamber with Christ.4. We will remember thy love more than wine: the
upright love thee.Not only the just in heart, those pure and lowly ones who,
whithersoever the Lamb doth lead, from his footsteps ne'er depart, but the
upright, those who love moral excellence and virtue, they must love Christ.Now
the singer's note changeth: -- 5. I am black,Ah, my soul, how true is that of
thee! "I am black," -- 5. But comely,Oh, glorious faith, that can, through the
blackness, still see the comeliness! We are comely when covered with the
righteousness of Christ, though black in ourselves. "I am black, but comely," --
5. O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar,Smoke-dried, foul, filthy,
poverty-stricken.5. As the curtains of Solomon.Bedecked with embroidery made
with gold and silver threads, and fit for a king's tent, so strangely mixed is
the nature of the believer: "black but comely," . . . "as the tents of Kedar, as
the curtains of Solomon."6. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the
sun hath looked upon me:Perhaps you are afraid, beloved, that the Master should
look at you, for you feel yourself so unworthy.6. My mother's children were
angry with me;You have been persecuted until your spirit is broken.6. They made
me the keeper of the vineyards;Perhaps you have been put to some ignoble work;
you have toiled under the whip of the law; but you have a worse sorrow even than
this, for you have to add: -- 6. But mine own vineyard have I not kept.You are
conscious that you have restrained prayer, that you have neglected searching the
Word, that you have not lived as near to God as you ought to have done; and all
this seems to make you feel as if you could not come into close communion with
Christ. Come, my brother, my sister, shake off your unbelief, may the Master
shake it off from you! Then once again you can change the note, as the spouse
does here: -- 7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth
aside by the flocks of thy companions?There are other shepherds, though they are
false ones, and these pretend to be companions of Christ; but why should we turn
aside to them? And yet we shall, O our Beloved One, unless thou dost tell us
where to follow thee, and how to abide close by thy side, or dost tell us where
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon! Here comes the answer: -- 8. If thou know
not, O thou fairest among women, -- Just note that; she said that she was black,
but Christ says that she is the fairest among women; in fact, there is a passage
in the Song where he twice over calls her fair; as Erskine puts it, -- "Lo! thou
art fair, lo! thou art fair,Twice fair art thou, I say;My grace, my
righteousness becomesThy doubly-bright array."O ye faithful ones, what joy is
contained in this encomium which your Lord gives to you!" If thou know not, O
thou fairest among women, -- 8. Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,
and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.There are two ways of finding
Christ; first, follow after true believers; most of you know some experienced
Christians; follow their footsteps, and you shall so find their God. Or else, go
to the shepherds' tents; wait on the ministry of the Word; the Lord is often
pleased to manifest himself to his people when they are willing to hear what
messages he sends through his ambassadors.9. I have compared thee, O my love, to
a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.True believers are as strong, as
noble, as beautiful as the horses in Pharaoh's chariot, which were renowned
throughout all the world. Let us be like those horses, let us all pull together,
let us draw the great chariot of our King behind us, let us be content to wear
his harness, that we may be partakers of his splendid triumph.10. Thy cheeks are
comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.Christ here praises his
Church. Orientals were in the habit of wearing jewels in such abundance that
their cheeks were covered with them, and then they multiplied the chains of gold
upon their necks; and the graces which Christ gives to his people, and
especially the various parts of his own finished work, become to them like rows
of jewels and chains of gold.11. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of
silver.As if Father, Son, and Holy Ghost would all work together to make the
believer perfectly beautiful.12-13. While the king sitteth at his table, my
spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved
unto me;Not a sprig, mark you, but a bundle of myrrh.13. He shall lie all night
betwixt my breasts.Christ, as a bundle of myrrh, shall always be near our
hearts, so that every life-pulse shall come from him.14. My beloved is unto me
as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.He is not, I say again, one
sprig or spray of camphire, but a ouster of it. The spouse, you see, multiplies
figures to describe her Bridegroom, and even when she has done so, she cannot
reach the height of his glory."Nor earth, nor seas, nor sun, nor stars,Nor
heaven, his full resemblance bears;His beauties we can never trace,Till we
behold him face to face."16. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art
fair; thou hast doves' eyes.So Christ speaks of his Church, she has the soft,
mild, tender eyes of a dove. Besides, she has the discerning eye by which the
dove can distinguish between carrion and fit food; and then she has a clear eye
like that of the dove. You know that the dove, or pigeon, when it is taken far
away from home, and wants to reach its cote, flies round and round till it gets
up high, and then it looks for miles, perhaps for hundreds of miles, till it
tracks with unerring eye its own resting-place, or some familiar landmark, and
then, with cutting wing, it flies through the ether till it reaches its home.
So, every believer should have doves' eyes, -- eyes that can see from earth to
heaven, and see Christ in his glory, even when his cause is disowned by men.16,
17. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The
beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.We have the word "rafters"
here, but it should be "galleries." The "bed" expresses the near fellowship
which Christ has with his people. The "house" is a larger expression, and
perhaps denotes the whole Church; and the "galleries" signify the ordinances of
grace. You notice that these are made of unrotting wood, the one of cedar and
the other of fir; and truly, dear friends, in closing our reading, we can say to
our Lord, -- "No beams of cedar or of firCan with thy courts on earth
compare;And here we wait, until thy loveRaise us to nobler seats above."


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  CHAPTER 3: JACOB AND DOUBTING SOULS--A PARALLEL
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A Sermon (No.2470) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, June 21st, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [4]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Lord's-day Evening, June 20th, 1886. "And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my
son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die." -- Genesis 45:28. I THINK
THAT THE PATRIARCH JACOB may well serve as the type and emblem of a doubting
soul, one who has been told the good news of salvation, the gospel of God's
grace, but who cannot bring his mind to believe it. Let us think for a few
minutes of old Jacob. First of all, he was a man who was very ready to believe
evil tidings. When his sons held up before him a coat dipped in the blood of a
kid, and asked him if it was not the coat he had given to Joseph, the patriarch
answered, "It is my son's goat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is
without doubt rent in pieces." He had no doubt about it, yet it was not true;
and we have many hearers who will believe anything that is very terrible, even
though it may not be true. If there is something in the sermon which seems to
condemn them, even though it may not be meant to condemn them, they are sure to
take home that part of the discourse. If they see any passage of Scripture that
appears to frown upon them, they retain that in their memory, and they keep on
stinging themselves with it, often making themselves unhappy with that which was
never intended to apply to them. I wish that readiness to believe the dark
sayings could be turned to an equal readiness to receive the consolations of the
Word of God. Surely, we ought not to be so prejudiced against ourselves as to
accept every evil thing and to reject every good thing. No, let us fairly weigh
the evidence for either form of teaching, and believe, or reject either,
according as the evidence for it may be strong or weak. Jacob would, all the
while, have willingly believed that which was good, if he could have believed
it. If you could have asked him if he had any objection to believe that Joseph
was alive, the old man would have answered, "Oh, no! it would be the joy of my
heart if I could but think it to be true." There are some whom I am now
addressing who are in similar case. Ask them whether they have any objection to
believe that Jesus Christ is their Savior, that he loved them, and gave himself
for them, and they would every one reply, "Object to believe this? Why, I would
give my eyes, -- I would give my life, -- if I could but think it to be true."
Such an unbeliever as that is a ye hopeful one, because it is evident that he is
not a wilful unbeliever; he does not desire to be so. His heart longs to grasp
the truth which, for the moment, his mind dares not accept. Jacob in this
respect is the type of very many who hear the gospel, but dare not receive it;
and yet oh, how they wish they could! Their very soul hungers and thirsts after
it, but they are afraid to take it lest they should be taking that which is not
truly theirs. So far, the parallel between Jacob and the doubting soul runs very
properly. Next notice that, to the patriarch, the truth about his son Joseph
seemed altogether incredible. Joseph was alive, and governor over all the land
of Egypt; but the old man had so long believed the contrary, that he could not
readily get out of the rut. He had sorrowfully said, "Joseph is without doubt
rent in pieces;" and this idea, though it was most painful to him, had,
nevertheless, eaten its way into his belief, and he could not get it out of him.
So do I know some who have written bitter things against themselves. "I shall be
lost, I know I shall; it is not possible that Christ will save me. He will
certainly reject me." And, although that is quite untrue, -- as untrue as
Jacob's belief that Joseph was dead, -- yet they have hugged their despair so
long that they cannot give it up. They are like the man who refused to be
comforted, or those afflicted ones of whom we read, "Their soul abhorreth all
manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death." Oh, that the Holy
Spirit would come upon these poor unwilling doubters, and help them to know that
a falsehood, however long it is believed, is not the truth! Though we may be in
despondency of spirit for years, yet, if there is no real cause for that
despondency, it is a pity that we should continue in it. Oh, that the Holy
Spirit would enable us to break those bands asunder, and joyfully to believe
what is true, -- that there is a Savior, an all-sufficient Savior, that all
power is committed into his hands, and that he will rejoice this very hour to
save and bless our souls!The news appeared incredible to Jacob because it seemed
"too good to be true." His eyes flashed for the moment with a joyful light.
"Joseph alive? Joseph -- my Joseph -- ruler over all the land of Egypt?" And
then the very brightness of the thought seemed to blind the eye of his faith.
"It cannot be true," said he; "it is too good to be true." Suppose that one of
you had lost a son many years ago, and that a person met you outside the
Tabernacle, and said to you, "That boy of yours, who was reported dead twenty
years ago, is not dead; he is in Australia, alive and well," you would be
staggered, would you not? And I have no doubt you would say to yourself, "It
must be somebody like him, or somebody else of the same name; it cannot be my
son; it is impossible, do I not know that he is dead?" You would hardly believe
it; therefore, do not blame poor old Jacob for his doubts. There are many who
are, spiritually, just in that state. They say, "What! you say that Jesus died
for me, that I have been redeemed with his most precious blood, that I can have
my sins forgiven? It cannot be. What! that I can be taken up to dwell with
Christ in heaven? Oh, that it were true! It cannot be true. I did sing, just
now, -- "'Even me, even me,Let thy mercy light on me;'""but oh, surely, it
cannot come to me! I must be left out; when the showers of blessing are falling,
I cannot hope that there will be even a drop for me." Well, then, you and old
Jacob are very much alike; I think you must be first cousins. Yet Jacob was
wrong and so are you; the news is not "too good to be true."Through not
believing his sons, Jacob began to faint in spirit. When they told him that
Joseph was yet alive we read that "Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them
not." There is nothing that so stops the action of the heart, and brings on
faintness of the spirit, as unbelief. As soon as the old man began to believe
the good tidings that his sons brought, "the spirit of Jacob their father
revived." Faith makes our spirits revive, but unbelief seems to strike us dead.
I do not wonder that some of you are sad, and dull, and unhappy; as long as you
cherish your unbelief, you must be so. O Holy Spirit, deliver them from this
unbelief! Revive them by enabling them to believe what is true, that there is a
Savior, a Savior yet alive, a Savior who is Lord of all, able and willing to
save them.There, then, is the parallel between Jacob and a doubting soul.But, at
last, Jacob rose out of his despondency and doubt; according to our text,
"Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him
before I die." I think the time has come for some others to say, "It is enough."
After having been attendants on the means of grace, perhaps for thirty years or
more, they ought to be able to say, "It is enough." There came in here, last
Lord's-day, from a distant part of the country, an aged man, a farmer. He came
up on Saturday for no other reason but to find the Savior. He heard me say that
I would see enquirers on Tuesday, so he was here then. He said, "I left my farm,
though it is a large one, "and then he told me something about himself, and he
added, "I want to find the Savior. I thought, sir, I would come and see if I
could find Christ on the Sabbath day, and I waited on that I might go to the
prayermeeting on Monday night, and then come and speak to you about my soul." I
thought, "Yes, and it is worth while to leave your farm to find a Savior, it is
worth while to come from a distant county of England, it would be worth while to
come from the ends of the earth if one might but find the Savior." Ere I left
him, I think he could say, "It is enough; Jesus is yet alive, I will trust him
even now;" and he went on his way rejoicing. Oh, that some others might be able
to say with him, "It is enough"! There are two points upon which I think Jacob
could say, "It is enough." First, the evidence was enough to convince him: "It
is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive." Secondly, the conviction was enough to
move him: "I will go and see him before I die." The second point is quite as
important as the first; indeed, it is that to which the first ought practically
to lead us.I. The first point is, that Jacob had ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO CONVINCE
HIM: "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive."The question for us to consider
concerns, not Joseph, but Jesus. He is yet alive. He died upon the cross, but he
has risen from the dead, and gone into the glory; "wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them."The evidence that good old Jacob had received was
personal testimony. His sons said concerning Joseph, "We have been to Egypt, and
we have seen him." There have been many witnesses to testify that Christ is yet
alive. Not only did the eleven apostles see him many times, but over five
hundred brethren at once saw the Son of God after he had risen from the dead.
There is no fact in history that is better attested than the fact that he was
crucified, and that he rose again. The resurrection is as true after nearly
nineteen hundred years as it was the day it happened; the distance of time does
not alter the fact. Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died on Calvary, and was
buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, the third day rose from the dead, no
more to die, and ascended into heaven, where he sitteth at the right hand of
God. To this fact, his disciples bore unfaltering witness; they were honest,
simple minded men, without enough imagination to make up the story. They were so
sure of this truth that they died rather than deny it; most of them died by the
most painful forms of death, yet nothing could ever make one of them speak a
word to the contrary. They declared that they had seen him, that they had eaten
with him, some of them could say that they had touched him, and one had put his
finger into the print of the nails. Yes, brethren, Jesus Christ is yet alive,
and I pray that each one here may say, "The testimony of these many witnesses is
true, I believe it. It is enough; Jesus is yet alive."Moreover, the Holy Ghost
bore witness to this fact, for after the ascension of the Savior, the Holy
Spirit descended upon the apostles and their companions, and they began to speak
with other tongues. They went into all the countries of the world, and wherever
they went, they were able to speak the language without having to learn it. At
the same time, the Holy Ghost enabled them to work miracles by which the sick
were healed; and these two things together were the witness of the Holy Ghost
that Jesus Christ the Son of God still lived, and that in his name salvation was
to be preached to the sons of men. To me, this is evidence enough, -- the
witness of faithful men, and the works of the Holy Ghost.Beside that, there are
many of us who are witnesses teat, in answer to prayer, we have received pardon
through the living Christ. We have also received, through that living Christ, a
new life into our soul; we have passed from death unto life, and those who knew
us before our conversion must notice a very remarkable change in us. They may
not all admire it, but they must all admit it, and bear witness that we are now
other than we used to be. The Lord Jesus, in whom we have trusted, has given us
new motives, new desires, in fact, a new nature, and a new life, and we are
witnesses to this truth that he is a living Savior, still mighty to save. I wish
you could all say, with regard to these witnesses, "It is enough." I do not know
what more witnesses we can give you, and I may say of the apostles, and of all
those who bear witness by the Holy Spirit, "If ye receive not their witness,
neither will ye believe though men should rise from the dead and bear testimony
to the fact that Jesus lives to save the sons of men."But then, Jacob had, in
addition to this personal testimony of witnesses, the testimony of accurate
reports, for we find that Jacob's sons told their father "all the words of
Joseph, which he had said unto them." Those words of Joseph were remarkable
words, for he traced God's providence in all that had happened. He said to his
brethren, "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and
to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me
hither, but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his
house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." Jacob knew that those
words were after the manner of Joseph, for Joseph always lived in the fear and
love of God. As for our Lord Jesus Christ, he has come to teach us of the
Father. He reveals God to us; that which he speaks to us, he speaks not of
himself, but in the power and in the name of God, and we know that his word is
true, because it is a word which glorifies God and not man.Joseph also spoke
somewhat about his own position and power. "Tell my father," he said, "thus
saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt." So, the Lord Jesus
Christ has told us that all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth, and
therefore we are to go and teach all nations, and bring them as disciples to his
feet. The words he speaks concerning himself are not boastful or false; but they
are the utterance of a humble, meek, and lowly Savior who never said a word more
or less than the truth. Joseph had also spoken to them very tenderly and kindly
about their father. He would do everything for his father and his brethren,
giving them the best of the land; and our Lord Jesus has spoken very tenderly to
us. "Come unto me," saith he, "all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." The words of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you hear them or read
them, are their own witness. There is a certain distinct unique majesty about
the language of Jesus Christ which somehow penetrates to the hearts of men, and
carries its own convincing witness into the mind. I pray you, then, -- you who
have for years heard his words, -- say, "It is enough; we have heard quite
sufficient from him to compel us to believe that he liveth, and that he is able
to save." How long must he continue to speak to you who are now getting old
hearers of the gospel, and yet have not believed it? How much longer must we
persuade, entreat, exhort in the name of the Lord Jesus? How much longer must
his words be read and quoted in your hearing? May God the Holy Ghost speedily
end your indecision, and bring you each one to say, "It is enough; Jesus is
alive, there is a living Savior, I will take him to be my Savior"!There were
also abundant tokens which greatly helped to convince old Jacob: "When he saw
the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him," he said, "It is enough." To what
shall I liken these wagons? It seems to me that some of you, who are doubting
whether Christ will save you, ought to think to yourselves, "Well, there is the
Sabbath day, which is a special token of God's love." As I came here this
evening, I thought to myself, "Why has God appointed a Sabbath day if he does
not mean to give rest to men?" What a mockery it is to have one day in seven set
apart for you to think of God if God does not mean to think of you! The very
institution of the Sabbath seems to me to be a "wagon" in which to bring you to
Christ. And why does God send ministers to preach his gospel? I said to myself,
as I came here this evening, "I am going on the silliest errand that ever moved
the foot of man, unless God means to save men by the message he has given me to
deliver." What is the use of my talking, and talking, and talking, unless there
is a living Christ, and unless that living Christ is really able to save? He has
sent you a minister who, with all his faults, loves your souls, and who would do
anything within the compass of a human mind to bring you to Christ if he only
knew how to do it. Surely, God did not send us to speak in his name, and move us
to an agony about your souls, if he did not mean to bless you. So, the Christian
ministry itself is like a "wagon" in which to bring men to Christ. I have often
thought to myself, when I have been going home after preaching, "I have put the
truth before my hearers so plainly that, if they want to be saved, I have very
clearly shown them the way to Christ." I used to attend the means of grace very,
very often when I was under concern of soul, and to the best of my knowledge and
belief I never heard the gospel simply and plainly put to me while I was
listening for it. This is the pity, that so often our brethren preach very fine
sermons, but they are no good to seeking souls, and they do not lead them to
Christ. But as soon as I heard that poor Primitive Methodist preach Christ, --
and he preached Christ alone, because he did not know anything else, and I
myself am very much in that condition, -- why, as soon as ever I heard that, I
laid hold of it. When fish are hungry, they bite at the bait; and if you really
want Christ, you will at once lay hold of him. If you do not accept him, at any
rate he has been plainly set before you; and if you refuse him, you shall
deliberately and wilfully reject and refuse him. I pray that you may not do
that. O sinner, play not the fool with your own soul! If you must play, go home
to your children, pick up their toys, throw their balls and twist their
skipping-ropes; but trifle not with your souls, and with God, and heaven, and
hell! If I have lied to you about these matters, condemn me, for I deserve it;
but if I have spoken the truth to you, hear me, or if you hear not me, hear the
still small voice of your own conscience, or rather, hear the voice of God which
has been speaking through me. Believe in Jesus now that you are under the
influence of a ministry which may be to you what Joseph's wagons were to old
Jacob.Think also, why is it that you are instructed in the truths revealed in
the Word of God? Why is it that there are so many expostulations and warnings in
it? Why is it that this precious Book is put into all your homes? Why is it so
full of invitations and promises, but that all this is intended to be a "wagon"
to bring you to your Joseph, even to Jesus? When you see God, as it were, moving
heaven and earth to help you to salvation, bending providence in the direction
of aiding you to hear and to believe the gospel, surely you ought to say, "It is
enough; Jesus is yet alive; God means mercy for me; Christ Jesus can save me,
and he will save me." "Jesus sits on Zion's hill,And receives poor sinners
still."The evidence brought before Jacob was sufficient to convince him; he said
"It is enough." Oh, that you also may say the same concerning the evidence
brought before you!II. But now comes the tug of war: THE CONVICTION WAS ENOUGH
TO MOVE HIM. "Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go
and see him before I die."Oh! how many people there are in the world who say,
"Yes, there is a Savior;" and yet they are not saved! Some of you have often
sung, -- "There is a fountain fill'd with blood,Drawn from Immanuel's veins;And
sinners, plunged beneath that flood,Lose all their guilty stains."Is it so? Do
you believe that? Then, why have not you lost all your guilty stains? "He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." You never doubted the truth of that
text, and yet you have not believed on the only-begotten Son of God and you have
not received everlasting life. I can understand those who reject the Scriptures
altogether, and who deny that there is any Savior for sinners; I see where they
are, and feel that there is some kind of consistency in their conduct, deeply as
I grieve over it; but I cannot comprehend what you mean when you admit the truth
of what we preach, yet do not practically obey it. If the gospel be true, why do
you not believe it? If you believe it, why do you not act upon it? It is not
sufficient merely to say that you trust Christ for salvation, and then to fancy
there is nothing further to be done. I have often tried to expose that delusion
by representing a pilot as being brought on board a vessel, and the captain and
sailors saying that they all had confidence in him, that he would take the ship
safely into the haven. They said they trusted him, but having declared their
faith in him, they all went below, and lay down to sleep. Now, of course, the
pilot wanted to have the sails attended to, and the ship put in good trim, and
he needed the helmsman to manage the rudder, so he called out, "What are you all
doing down there? Why have you all run away from me?" And one of them answered,
"Because we trust in you; you are the pilot, and you said you would bring us
safely into port. We trust in you; so the captain has gone to his cabin, and all
the sailors have gone to the fo'c'sle. You see, it is a wet night, a strong
nor'wester is blowing, it is very cold, and we would rather be comfortable and
snug in our berths than up there on deck. You said that you would bring us to
the haven, and we trust in you to do it." The pilot would of course reply, "You
do not really trust in me, for if you did, you would do as I bid you. You are
mocking me, you are insulting me; you have brought me on board your ship to make
a fool of me; if you really trusted me, every man would take his proper place,
and do his duty, and then, as I gave the word of command, it would be obeyed,
and so you would be brought safely into port." It is just so with Christ and
ourselves; we trust him entirely to save us, but we have no right to say that we
are saved if we do not practically obey him. It is beyond all excuse that men
should know that they need a Savior, and that there is a Savior, and yet that
they should not trust that Savior. It is as if Jacob had said, "Joseph is yet
alive; but I shall not trouble my head about him." Oh, no, no, no! The patriarch
does not talk like that, but he says, "Joseph is yet alive. I will go and see
him before I die." And, straightway, the poor old man and his household started
to go down into Egypt; for the very next verse reads, "And Israel took his
journey with all that he had."One reason why Jacob wanted to go to Egypt was
because he wished to see his son. Some of us know the delight of seeing again a
dear son who has been absent from us for years, and of seeing him return again
well. It is not so much a matter for us to talk about, it is rather a thing for
our own hearts to rejoice over and to remember; and we often breathe the prayer,
"God grant that we may see our beloved son again!" Yet, after all, to see a son
is but the gratification of a natural affection; there is a great deal more
reason why we should, by faith, see our Savior, for he who truly sees the Son of
God shall live for ever. O dear hearts, -- "There is life for a look at the
Crucified One!"A faith-look to God in human flesh, a believing sight of him who
bore our sins in his own body on the tree, will bring you life for evermore. I
think that every sinner who knows that there is a living Christ ought to say, "I
will go and see him, whatever else I do not go to see." There are some sights in
the world of which we say, "I should like to go and see that." Well, you may
forego all the things of beauty that ever charmed the eyes of men; but, I charge
you, do not forego this sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the heaven of
angels; he is the delight of God himself; there is no true life for you other
than that which will come through your looking to him who says, "Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth." Since you believe that there is a
Savior, I pray that you may be moved at once to say, "I will go and see him."
May you be preserved from putting it off even till the daylight breaks again!
This very hour, through your tears, look straight away to the gross; and may the
Lord Jesus Christ reveal himself to you, that in his light you may see light!
Further, this old man, who said, "I will go and see my son," yet felt that it
was but for a little while. He says, "I will go and see him before I die." He
had seventeen more years to live, but he did not know that; he felt so old a man
at one hundred and thirty that he thought he should only just manage to see his
son, and perhaps die on his neck. He said, "But I will go and see him, even
though it be only with my dying eyes. I will die with the sight of Joseph before
me, and that will be enough to make me happy." And, dear souls, if you did but
get to Jesus, you might be happy if you could only say, "Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." But it need
not be death to you any more than it was to Jacob. Indeed, when you have seen
him, you shall live, and never die; but your eyes shall be opened to see yet
more and more of him, and the light of Christ shall so shine into your soul that
you shall behold him after a still more glorious fashion till he shall be the
joy of your heart, and the heaven of your soul for ever. Therefore, singe there
is such a living Savior, go to him, I pray you, and you shall not merely see him
for a little while, and then die, but you shall see him and live for ever.
Therefore, hasten by faith to see him this very moment.Old Jacob also felt that
age should not hinder, but rather speed him. He believed that he was soon going
to die, but he said, "I will go and see him before I die." I think that Jacob's
age really made him go more quickly. "Ah!" said he to himself, "I shall be dead
soon; therefore, let me hasten down to Joseph, that I may see him before I die."
So, dear friends, do not let anyone gay, "I am too old to be saved." Who is too
old to trust Christ? Who is too old to seek and find the Savior? I have often
heard stories told about people not being converted after they are
five-and-forty, or thereabouts; but that is all untrue, and I do not believe a
word of it. I have seen just as many people in proportion converted at one age
as at another. There are more young people in the world than there are aged
persons, and therefore there are more people converted, by God's grace, while
they are young. There are fewer old people than young ones; but I do thank God
that, even in this building, I could point out a great many who I know were
baptized after their hair had grown grey. Some of them put their trust in Jesus
when they were threescore years and ten, and others even later than that. There
was a dear old brother, who came in here when he was past eighty years of age,
and he found the Savior. He was such a Little-faith or Feeble-mind that he
hardly dared to "peak to any of us as he came in and out amongst us, but at last
he said to himself, "I must join the church." I fancy that he was eighty-eight
when he was baptized, and he was so happy with us for about six months, and then
he gently slipped away and went home. I am sure I never saw a more childlike
person, or a more genuine conversion than that of this dear old man. However old
you are, friend, come along. If Methuselah were here, I would preach to him the
same gospel that I would teach to one of these dear girls; for, however old a
sinner is, there is nothing in the gospel about limiting it to persons of a
certain age. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature;" does not mean, go and begin picking out the creatures, and saying, "I
only preach the gospel to people who are under a specified age." Go home, and go
to bed, sir, if that is how you talk; Christ never sent you on such an errand as
that. He sent us to preach the gospel to every creature; and to you who are
almost worn out, if there be but life in you, I cry, "Come along, trust in
Jesus, and he will save even you.""While the lamp holds out to burn,The vilest
sinner may return;"and, returning, he shall find Christ.Be quick about it,
however, you who are getting on in life, you who are far advanced in years, and
may God bless you! Yesterday, I had many kind letters congratulating me on
completing my fifty-second year, but there was one that did a little surprise
and amuse me. One brother writes that he has read my sermons for many years, and
that, at my advanced age, he cannot pray that I may have many returns of the
day; but he does trust that God may spare me at least two or three years longer
for the good of the church. Well, as I read the letter, I could not help
smiling, as you do, for I do not feel that I am quite as advanced in age as
that; but still, I thought that, perhaps, this brother's letter might be
prophetic. We may be older than we think we are, and two or three years may be
all the time we are to have here. At any rate, I will try to work for Christ as
earnestly as if I had only two or three years to live, and then it may be that
he will add to us yet more; and, if not, what matters it? We shall go home to
him who sent us, and be gathered to our Father in peace.Once more, old Jacob was
not kept back from going to see his son because it was a long journey into
Egypt. Journeys appear longer to old men than they do to young folk, and it was
a very great undertaking to go so far with those seventy and more people around
him. There would be a deal of packing up to be done, and there were no
Pantechnicon vans in those days to carry everything for the whole company. It
was the transplanting of a grand old tree, and it was a difficult task to move
so venerable an oak, with such wide-spreading roots and branches. Yet Jacob
said, "I will go and see Joseph before I die." Now, dear friend, if it does seem
a long way to Jesus, yet undertake the journey; and if you can persuade your
wife and all your children also to go, so much the better. Christ will receive
them all in Goshen, and they shall dwell with him for ever. I wish that there
might be a blessed migration of many who have been rooted to the soil of the old
Canaan, the sinful place, who will now go, not down to Egypt, but up to Jesus in
the land of plenty and of purity, to dwell with him for ever. That which ruins
so many is that hesitancy, that delaying, that halting between two opinions,
which I find in the original is hopping upon two twigs, and never resting upon
either; let not that be the case with you. Procrastination is the devil's net in
which myriads are entangled to their utter destruction; may the Lord deliver any
of you who have been caught in it! Decide for Christ now, I beseech you; may the
Holy Spirit constrain you to decide at once, for Christ's sake! Amen. HYMNS FROM
"OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 241, 508, 607.Genesis 45:9-28; and John 5:24-44.Genesis
45:9. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son
Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not:Joseph,
having made himself known to his brethren, bids them return to their father, and
bring him down to Egypt to see his long-lost son.10-11. And thou shalt dwell in
the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and
thy children's children, and thy flocks and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
and there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest
thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.It in just like
Joseph to speak thus kindly, and to put the invitation so attractively to his
father: "Thou shalt be near unto me." That would be the greatest joy of all to
old Jacob; and this is the greatest joy to a sinner when he comes to Christ, our
great Joseph, "Thou shalt be near unto me." It is not merely that he gives us
the land of Goshen to dwell in, but he promises that we shall be near unto him,
and that is best of all.12-22. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyed of my
brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell
my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have Been; and ye shall
haste and bring down my father hither. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's
neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his
brethren and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. And
the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are
come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and so, get you
unto the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come unto
me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat
of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land
of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father and
come. Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is
your's. And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons,
according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To
all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three
hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.Benjamin was his full
brother, so he loved him best, and gave him most.23, 24. And to his father he
sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten
she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he
sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye
fall not out by the way.This was a sure sign that Joseph knew his brethren, and
they might well recognize him even by that precept, for their consciences must
have told them that it had been their common habit to fall out either with or
without occasion, so he bids them not to do so.20-28. And they went up out of
Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and told him,
saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And
Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the world
of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph
had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel
said,See how quickly the patriarch changes from Jacob into Israel; when his
spirit if revived, he becomes Israel.28. It is enough; Joseph my son is yet
alive: I will go and see him before I die.Now we are going to read in the Gospel
according to John, the fifth chapter, beginning at the twenty-fourth verse.John
5:24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, -- .If we truly believe the word of
Christ, and trust in him who sent his Son into the world, we have at this moment
everlasting life.24. And shalt not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life.What a grand verse this is! It is worthy to be written in
letters of gold at every street corner; would that we all knew the fullness of
its meaning by heartfelt experience!25-30. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so
hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for
the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his
voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of
life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of
mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I
seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. Christ as
Mediator did the will of the Father, and yet also did his own will, for his will
was always the same as his Father's.31. If I bear witness of myself, my witness
is not true.He did bear witness to himself by his miracles, but that was not the
witness upon which he relied, nor was it the only witness to the truth of his
mission.32-40. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the
witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare
witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I
say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were
willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than
that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same
works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the
Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither
heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word
abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the
scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which
testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.They were
great Bible-readers, great students of the letter, but they would not come to
Christ; and hence the Scriptures themselves became a sepulcher in which they
were entombed.41-44. I receive not honor from men. But I know you, that ye have
not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me
not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye
believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only?Some men find it difficult to believe in Christ because they are
always seeking honor for themselves; desire for the praise of men often blinds
the mind and prejudices the spirit. How boldly our great Master speaks! There is
no flattery on his lips. He is the faithful and true Witness, the very Word of
God. Oh, that all men would give heed to his message!


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  CHAPTER 4: THE BEST OF ALL, GOD IS WITH US
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A Sermon (No.2471) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, June 28th, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [5]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Thursday Evening, June 24th, 1886. "Is not the Lord your God with You?" -- 1
Chron.22:18. WHILE WE WERE READING this chapter, you must all have been struck
with the melting of one man's life into another. Here is David most anxious
about the building of the temple at Jerusalem; he is not permitted to erect it
himself, and therefore he sets to work with diligent care to gather together the
gold and the silver, the brass and the iron, the timber and the stone, that
would be required. He also instructed the workmen who would be needed, so that,
when he was gone, and his son Solomon had ascended the throne, the temple might
be built. Did David live in vain? Can it be truly said that he failed in the
grandest project of his life? Assuredly not; he did all that he was permitted to
do, and by making those elaborate preparations, he was really the means of the
building of the temple. Let every man and every woman among us judge of our
life, not merely from that little narrow piece of it which we ourselves live,
for that is but a span; but let us judge it by its connection with other lives
that may come after our own. If we cannot do all we wish, let us do all we can,
in the hope that someone who shall succeed us may complete the project that is
so dear to our heart. That is a blessed prayer which Moses wrote in the 90th
Psalm, "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their
children." We shall be quite satisfied to do the work, and scarcely see the
glory, if we may but know that, in another generation, the work that we shall
have dons shall produce glory to God which shall be seen among the sons of men.
No, Elijah, thou must not do all the Lord's work; but thy mantle must fall upon
Elisha, and with it shall come a double portion of thy spirit, and he shall work
twice as many miracles as ever thou didst, and shall do greater things for the
Lord God of Israel. I do not think it ought ever to be any question of ours what
people will do after we are dead and gone. The God who did very well without us
before we were born, will do very well without us after we are dead. It is
enough for us to do to-day's work in the day; let somebody else do to-morrow's
work if we are not spared to do it. To-day, do that which cometh to thy hand,
and be not dreaming of the future. Put down that telescope; you have nothing to
do with peering into the next hundred years. The important matter is, not what
you spy with your eye, but what you do with your hand. Do it, and do it at once,
with all your might, believing that God will find somebody else to go on with
the next piece of the work when you have finished your portion. There is also
another delightful thought here, and that is, the continuity of the divine
blessing. God was with David in the gathering together of the great stores of
treasure for the building of the temple; but then God was also with Solomon. Oh,
what a mercy it is that God did not give all his grace to other people before we
came into the world! The God of grace did not empty the whole horn of grace upon
the head of Whitefield or Wesley; he did not pour out all the blessings of his
Spirit upon Romaine and John Newton, so as to leave nothing for us. No; and to
the end of time he will be the same God as he was yesterday, and as he is
to-day. There is no break in the Lord's blessing; he has not ceased to be
gracious, his arm is not shortened that he cannot save, nor is his ear heavy
that he cannot hear. God buries his workmen, but his work goes on; and he, the
Great Worker, wearies not of it, nor shall he ever fail or be discouraged. All
his everlasting purposes shall be accomplished, and Christ shall see of the
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Wherefore, let us be of good heart,
if we have been apt to look upon the future with fear. The Lord Jesus still
lives, and he will take care that his Church shall live and work on until he
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God. This text seems to me, dear friends, to have a very
immediate bearing upon ourselves. David is talking to Solomon and the princes of
Israel about the building of a temple; we are not building a material temple,
but we are building a spiritual temple. We do not believe in gorgeous
architecture, nor in the expenditure of needless gold and silver upon the house
wherein we meet to worship God, for we still hear our Lord and Master say, "The
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." We
sing with Cowper, -- "Jesus, where'er thy people meet,There they behold thy
mercy-seat:Where'er they seek thee, thou art found,And every place is hallow'd
ground."We believe that God is as much present beneath the blue sky, and out
there in the street, as he is in any kind of building that we can erect for Him.
It is very singular that, as soon as ever the temple was built, true religion
began to decline; the day when Solomon opened it was the culmination of the
glory of true godliness in Israel, and from that hour it began to darken down
into an awful night. Yet it was proper that there should be a temple which, in
its magnificence, should call for the respect of men towards God, being typical
of that far greater temple, not made with hands, even the glorious person of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.We, however, are engaged in the building of a
temple, in a spiritual sense. God has sent his servants into the world, to
gather together for his beautiful house, stones hewn out of the quarry of
nature, to be shaped, polished, and prepared for building into the temple of his
grace. The Church is the living temple of God, "exceeding magnifical." It is a
wondrous idea that men's hearts and souls can be blended together, and built up
into a spiritual temple wherein God will dwell. This temple is to be builded of
stones taken from the quarry of nature, and, God being with us, you and I are to
go forth, and to hew out and shape and prepare the stones for the building of
this house of the Lord which shall endure for over.In order to do this, we
certainly need the presence and the help of God; for what can we do without him?
In the work of conversion, what can be done without the Spirit of God? I would
like anybody who thinks he can convert another person without divine help, to
try and do it, and see what a wretched failure he will make of it, or what a
dire hypocrisy he will produce by his apparent success. We must have God with us
for this work; we cannot create a spark of grace, how then can we create a new
heart and a right spirit? Conversion is an absolute creation, regeneration is a
miracle of divine grace, the work of the Spirit of God; and this is altogether
beyond our power. We need the Spirit of God to aid us in the building of a
temple for God; but, brethren, with the Lord's presence we can do it.The text
says, "Is not the Lord your God with you?" I will go any length with the brother
who likes to preach upon the incapacity of man, the utter and entire weakness of
the creature apart from the Creator. You cannot, I think, exaggerate there; but
do not always keep dwelling upon your own weakness, recollect that, when you are
weak, thou you are strong, if you do but fall back upon the omnipotence of God.
"Is not the Lord your God with you?" Has he sent us into the world will the
gospel, and will he not be with us in the preaching of it? Has he sent us to be
the means of seeking souls, and made our hearts to ache because of the sins that
men have committed against him, and will he not be with us? Do not let us talk
as if we had to live and labor without our God. We have been brought to know
him, we have been made members of the mystical body of Christ the Holy Spirit
dwells in us, if we are what we profess to be, -- the Church of the living God;
will he not occupy the house that he has built? "Is not the Lord your God with
you?" Then, what can be too difficult for you?Now, dear friends, I shall treat
our text, first, as an assertion; for, oftentimes, in Scripture, a question is
one of the strongest modes of assertion when it is anticipated that to that
question there can be no other reply than "Yes." Secondly, I shall treat it as a
question, for there are some here to whom it is a question, some doubting,
trembling ones to whom we must say, "Is not the Lord your God with you?" When I
have handled it first as an assertion and then as a question, I will briefly use
it as an argument: "Is not the Lord your God with you?" Therefore, arise and be
doing. Something great and glorious ought to be done by men who have so divine a
Helper with them.I. First, then, this is AN ASSERTION.Brethren and sisters in
Christ, the Lord our God is with us. I do not entertain any doubt upon that
point, and I hope you do not. Is the Lord your God? Is he your God by a holy
covenant? Have you entered into bonds of fellowship with him? Have you taken him
to be your God by trust, by love, and by the consecration of your body, soul,
and spirit to him? Can you say of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, "This God is our
God for ever and ever: he will be our Guide even unto death"? Very well, then,
if he be your God, he is with you. Do you ask how I know that? Well, I know it,
first, because he has pledged himself to be with his people. "He hath said, I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Is not the Lord your God with you,
then? Assuredly he is, if he keeps his promise; and you do not doubt his
fidelity, do you? Can he forget his promise, or, remembering it, will he treat
it as if it were more verbiage, words without moaning? There are men who can do
that, we know; but coos God act so? Can you suppose it possible? No, not for an
instant; then, as he hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," he
will keep his word. We say, "Never is a long day," and so it is, for it covers
all time; and the Lord hath said, "I will never leave thee," -- in poverty, in
sickness, in slander and reproach, in depression of spirit, in the hour of
death, in the day of judgment, -- "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
He has pledged himself to this, and God forbid that we should, for even a
moment, doubt that he will keep his word! To believers in their church capacity,
there is a pledge given by the blessed Lord Jesus himself which refers
especially to his work: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." "Lo, I am with you,"
says Christ, as much as to say, "Not only do I promise to be with you, but I am
with you, I am already fulfilling my promise to you. For the past, for the
present, and for the future, 'Lo, I am with you alway.'" Let not any Church of
God hesitate to answer this question, "Is not the Lord your God with you?" If he
be your God, he is with you as individuals, and he is especially with you as a
Christian community going forth to preach his gospel to every creature. That
ought to be enough, surely? He has pledged himself to be with us.Next, he is
pleased to be with us. It is the good pleasure of God to be with his people. He
is our Father; and do not fathers love to be with their children? The loving
father says, when he has little ones at home, "I will get back from my business
early, that I may spend my evening in the family." We feel ourselves happiest
when, laying aside external cares, we leave the world, and rest with our loved
ones at home; so God is at home with his people, as a Father he delights in his
children. Remember how Divine Wisdom said, "My delights were with the sons of
men." It in a wonderful thing to be able to say, but God takes a great deal more
pleasure in us than we do in him; yet there seems in us nothing that can give
him pleasure, while in him there is everything that can afford us delight. The
Lord so loves his people that he is never long away from them. You know that
dear relationship into which our Lord has entered with his Church; she is his
bride, he loves her as he loves his own soul. In some respects, he loves her
better than he loves himself, for he gave himself for her; and do you think that
he is happy away from his bride, his spouse? It is not so; he saith to her, "Let
me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy
countenance is comely;" and whenever she calls for him, saying, "Let my Beloved
come into his garden," his quick answer is, "I am come into my garden, my
sister, my spouse." He so loves us that, when we shut the door against him, he
stands and knocks, and cries to us, "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my
undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the
night." Do not think that he has gone from you when he loves you so as your
Father, and as the Husband of your soul. Moreover, he will be with his Church in
her work, because her work is his work; and wherever there is a heart on the
earth, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, in sympathy and harmony with the heart of
Christ, depend upon it he is assuredly there, for that sympathy and that harmony
are created by his very presence. Well, then, as he has pledged himself, and he
is himself pleased to be with his people, we believe the assertion which is
implied in the enquiry, "Is not the Lord your God with you?"I hope also,
brethren beloved, we can say that we have had proofs that God is with us. In
this house we have had many plain proofs of the Lord's presence. If you could
have been with me last Tuesday week, and the Tuesday before that, it might have
made your hearts ring for joy, all the bells of your soul would have given forth
blessed chimes as you heard how God had saved one and another who had strolled
in here as if by accident, and others who had come in great heaviness of heart,
but who here found the Lord. Our ministry is nothing, but the Lord makes it
something, he makes it everything to many souls; and blessed be his name for
that! And you, brethren and sisters, in your labor and service for the Master,
have brought many souls to Christ; therefore I say to you, "Is not the Lord your
God with you?" Assuredly he is, or you would not have beheld all this
blessedness. The Lord has proved his presence with us by preserving us in the
hour of temptation. Some of you who have been lately converted to God have had
very fierce temptations since then. In this wicked city, our young people -- yet
I do not know that I need say our young people alone, -- have been exposed to a
furnace of temptation which has been seven times heated. The days in which we
live are grievous to the last degree; and if the Lord had not been with us, our
soul would not have escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler. Often
our feet have well-nigh slipped, and we should have fallen if the Lord had not
been with us to preserve us. "Is not the Lord your God with you" when you have
boon kept alive with death so near? Assuredly, he is.Some of you also know that
the Lord is with you because you have been so greatly comforted in time of
trouble. A sister said to me, the other day, "I could not have thought that I
could have lived through the bereavements I have lately endured. When I used to
think of the possibility of my husband's death, it seemed to me that I must die
with him." Yet she is not dead; and she does not despair; though she had to
endure that bereavement, and another as well, she said, "Oh, how good God was to
me to sustain me as he did!" "Is not the Lord your God with you?" I know some
dear friends who have experienced very great temporal trouble through heavy
losses in these trying times; yet they are as happy as when they had ten times
as much. The little bird still sings at the window, the blue sky hovers
overhead, and the heart's-ease still grows in their garden, and they love it
well. Yes, dear friends, the comforts that God gives us in times of deep trouble
are a sufficient proof that he is with us.Beside that, there have been times
when we have been in the house of prayer, or when we have been alone in our
chamber, ay, in the middle of the night sometimes, when pain has kept us from
sleeping when we have felt that we did not want to sleep; for we have been
flooded with delight. Did you ever feel that deep calm which sometimes comes
over a believer, when there seems to be no evil in the world, when we could not
invent a doubt if we tried, when we could not have a dark thought concerning our
Lord? After our Savior had been tempted in the wilderness, angels came and
ministered unto him. Do you know what that experience is when there seem to be
angels upstairs, and downstairs, and all through the house, ministering to you,
and your life seems set to a gentle psalm tune, and instead of the sound of the
trumpet calling you to battle, there is only the dulcet music of an instrument
of ten strings praising the God who has given you rest? So, when the question is
put, "Is not the Lord your God with you?" you can answer, "Ay, that he is, and
blessed be his holy name!" Oh, what a blessing it is to live with a present God!
If anyone says to me that there is no God, he might as well tell me that there
is no air. I cannot we it, but I know that I am living in it, and that I could
not live without it; so, "in him we live, and move, and have our being." The
Lord is life, and light, and love, and liberty, and all in all to some of us.
"Is not the Lord your God with you?" is no question to us, for we know that he
is with us, and we glorify his holy name that so it is.II. Now, secondly, we
must devote a few minutes to those poor weary souls to whom this is A QUESTION:
"Is not the Lord your God with you?""Oh!" says one, "I have no joy; I have very
little rest; I nave nothing but trouble; deep calleth unto deep at the noise of
his waterspouts, and I am so weak, so feeble, so faint, I cannot imagine that
the Lord is with me. I see no signs of his presence, neither do I perceive even
a star of hope amid the dense darkness of the night." Listen, dear friend; have
you taken him to be your God? Are you trusting him? Are you determined to rely
on nothing but the finished work of Christ? Then, he is with you; though you do
not perceive his Holy Spirit, in the deepest darkness he is with you.If the Lord
had not been with you, your despondency might have become despair. If he had not
been with you, your despair might have gone further still. You are yet alive,
remember, you have not laid violent hands upon yourself, as you might have done
if you had been left to yourself. God is with you, keeping you, even while you
live on the very brink of despair. I know that there are some here who were sure
God was with them in their darkness because it did not grow any darker. It was a
black night, but still it was not altogether dark, there was a gleam of light
left. Ah, yes! it was your gracious Lord who gave you that little ray of
hope.Tell me, sad heart, what is it that causes you to hate sin, and makes you
so wretched without the presence of the Savior? It is because you have his
presence though you do not know it. You have, perhaps, seen your boy play with a
magnet and a needle; the needle is above the table, and the magnet, though out
of sight, acts upon it, the needle feels the attraction of the magnet, and moves
after it; and those desires, those groans, those cries, that inward anguish,
that self-despair, that horror of great darkness, all these prove that God is
secretly working with you, and drawing you to himself. He is with you; and if
you take him afresh to be your God, if you come and trust in his promises, I
should not wonder but that, even now, your midnight shall burst into a glorious
meridian. The Lord send it to you right speedily! Only, do rest in him. The Lord
is not far from any one of us; a cry will fetch him, he will hear even a groan,
and he will quickly come to the rescue of those who call upon him. Do but trust
him, do but take him to be yours, and then he cannot leave you. "Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." There is such love in
God's heart towards the very feeblest of his people, that he cannot turn away
from them. Mother, is it not so in your family, that the child who is most ill,
most weak, most full of pain, is the one who is best remembered by you? While
you have been sitting here, this evening, you have not thought of John and
Thomas, who have grown up, and gone out into the world, and are strong and
healthy, but you have thought of poor little Jane, whose spine is injured, or of
the little boy who has to lie still so many hours a day, and who suffers so
much. I am sure that, while I have been preaching, your thoughts have been
trotting home to that dear child, and you have been thinking much of him. Well,
remember that, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them
that fear him;" and remember also how the Lord takes the mother's part as well
as the father's, and says, "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort
you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." These are cheering truths for
those who do raise the question; I wish they could enable you to get rid of that
question, and to know assuredly that the Lord is with you. I recollect how Mr.
Joseph Irons used to say of some who were always hoping, "It is all very well to
have hope, but do not keep on hoping and hoping, or hopping and hopping, but put
both feet down, and begin to run." I trust you may do the same, and get beyond
the "hoping" and the "hopping" to the full assurance of faith."And art thou with
us, gracious Lord,To dissipate our fear?Dost thou proclaim thyself our God,Our
God for ever near?"Then, as Doddridge continues to sing, -- "Why droop our
hearts, why flow our eyes,While such a voice we hear?Why rise our sorrows and
our fears,While such a Friend is near?"III. Our last point is that, here is AN
ARGUMENT: "Is not the Lord your God with you?"It is a reason for us to arise,
and be doing. You observe how it is put in the sixteenth verse, "Arise
therefore, and be doing, and the Lord shall be with thee," -- so it is in the
original let all true Christian people arise, and be doing, because the Lord is
with them. Perhaps, I need not say much to my own people about that matter, for
most of you are doing what you can for your Lord. There is a brother who is just
going out to Australia; when he came to bid me farewell, he gave me a little
sketch of his life during three-and-twenty years. It has been a time of
incessant activity in the church; and he said to me, "Yes, sir, you drove me out
to work for Christ, you would not let me be idle. You said, 'The worst kind of
lazy people are lazy Christians,' and you also said, 'To come here twice on a
Sunday, and hear me preach, and to be doing nothing for the Master, is not at
all the right thing.'" Then the good man added, "I do not often get to hear you
now. I have been secretary of a Sunday-school for some time, and I often go out
preaching, so I cannot come to the Tabernacle." I do delight in so many of the
members not coming to hear me because they are doing the Master's work
elsewhere! I know that in many churches the main thing is to sit down in a
corner pew, and be fed. Well, of course, every creature needs to be fed, from
the pig upwards; -- you must excuse my mentioning that unclean animal, for he is
the creature whose principal business it is to food, and he is not a nice
creature at all, and I do not at all admire Christian people whose one business
is to feed and feed. Why, I have heard them even grumble at a sermon that was
meant for the conversion of sinners, because they thought there was no food for
them in it! They are great receptacles of food; but, dear Christian people, do
not any of you live merely to feed, -- not even on heavenly food; but if God be
with you, as you say he is, then get to his work."What shall I do?" asks one.
That is no business of mine; you have to find work for yourself. He who works
for God does not need to go to this man, or that man, and enquire, "What shall I
do?" Why, do the first thing that comes to hand, but do get to work for your
Master! Many Christians live in country villages where there is no preaching of
the gospel; then, preach it yourself, brother, "Oh, but I could not!" Well then,
get somebody who can. "But we have no chapel," says one. What do you want with a
chapel these bright days? Preach on the village green, where the old trees that
were cut down a year or two ago are still lying, and will serve for seats. "I
could not preach," says one, "I should break down." That would be a capital
thing to do; break-down sermons are often the best for breaking down other
people as well as the preacher. Some of the greatest enterprises in the world
have sprung from very little causes; the forest of the mightiest oaks in the
world was once only a handful of acorns. Oh, that we might all do what we can
for him who laid down his life for us, and who still continues to abide in us,
to be our joy and our strength! David also exhorted these people to set their
hearts upon what they had to do: "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the
Lord your God." Oh, how much there is of our religion that is a kind of
celestial going to sleep! The preacher preaches as if he had not really woke up
yet; and the people hear in the same fashion. Are there not, even in our
churches, many who, if a guinea were to jingle, would be sufficiently wide awake
to look for it, but when the gospel is being preached, they are not thoroughly
aroused? As to speaking to strangers, and saying a word for the Master, that has
not yet occurred to them."I do not know what I can do," says one. Brother, if
the text is true, I do not know now what you cannot do. The text says, "Is not
the Lord your God with you?" "Well, I could not -- " "Could not, -- could not;"
do you put God and "could not" together? I think it would be infinitely better
to put God and "can" or God and "shall" together. If God be with us, what can be
impossible, what can be even difficult to us? God being with his people, "he
that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David
shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them."I cannot speak longer to
you, nor is there any need that I should do so. If you Christians will all go
out and seek to save sinners, you will be prolonging my sermon, not only for a
few minutes, but for many a day and many a year to come. God be with you,
brothers and sisters, in this holy service! And if any to whom I am speaking are
obliged to say, "No, God is not with me, I am not saved;" remember that the way
of salvation is to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. If you trust him, he is with
you, and you are saved; for "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life." God is with you if you are trusting him, and you may go forth in his
might to serve the Lord who has redeemed you. God bless you, for Jesus Christ's
sake! Amen.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 46 (Version II.), 338, 766.1
Chronicles 21:7-30; and 22.Chapter 21:7. And God was displeased with this
thing;This numbering of Israel, which David had carried out in spite of Joab's
protest: "God was displeased with this thing:" -- 7-15. Therefore he smote
Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this
thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have
done very foolishly. And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer saying, GO and
tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee
one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto
him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee either three years famine; or three months
to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies
overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence,
in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of
Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that
sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into
the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into
the hand of man. So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of
Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it:
and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and
said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand.See the
power of the mercy of God; even when the angel has drawn his sword, and is
already executing the Lord's just judgments, God's mercy interposes, and holds
back the blade of death. Should we not love the Lord for his great longsuffering
toward us? "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities."15, 16. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor
of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the
LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand
stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were
clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.This was the very best clothing and
the very best posture for men who were under the chastising hand of God; they
had put on sackcloth, and they had fallen upon their faces. O guilty sinner, if
God's sword of vengeance is drawn against you, you cannot do better than put
sackcloth upon your soul, if not upon your body, and prostrate yourself before
the Most High.17. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people
to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed, but as for
those sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be
on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be
plagued.Here we see David at his beat; and what a true patriot he is! He
interposes himself, willing rather that he should be destroyed than that the
people should die. This was the spirit of Moses when he said to the Lord, "If
thou wilt forgive their sin -- ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy
book which thou hast written." And this was the spirit of Paul, when he wrote,
"I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh." There are times when our great love for others will
overflow all bounds of moderation, when we shall say, and say from our hearts,
what we should not have dared to utter in cooler moments. 18-27. Then the angel
of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up
as altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David
went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD. And Ornan
turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now
Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw
David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his
face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this
threshingfloor, that I may build as altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt
grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that
which is good is his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings,
and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I
give it all. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the
full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer
burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred
shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD, and he
answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the LORD
commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.See
what was done by David's intercession and sacrifice; and remember that there is
a greater David who, with a richer sacrifice and mightier intercession, sheathes
the sword of God, so that his people are spared.28-30. At that time when David
saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite,
then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in
the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the
high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he
was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.Chapter 22:1. Then
David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the
burnt offering for Israel.From that moment, this place was set apart as the site
of the future temple, and the center of the hopes of the people of God, and,
dear friend) went better site could have been selected than the spot where the
angel sheathed his sword, where prayer was heard, and where sacrifice was
accepted? And now, to-day, you and I have only one temple, and that temple is
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Well-beloved, for in him the sword is
sheathed, in him the sacrifice if accepted, and in him intercession still
prevails.2-4. And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in
the land of Israel and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of
God. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the
gates, and for the joinings and brass in abundance without weight; also cedar
trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood
to David.See, a great deliverance brings a great offering. Because God has
bidden the angel sheath his sword, there is to be a temple commenced, and David
is busy preparing for it. O you who have been saved from death and hell, what
can you render unto God for all his benefits toward you?5. And David said,
Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the
LORD must be exceedingly magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all
countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared
abundantly before his death.If he might not build the temple, he would at least
gather the materials for it. So, let us try to do all we can in the cause of
God. There is said to have been a king, who felt so grateful to God for some
special favor, that he determined to build a great temple, and pay for it all
himself; no one was to help at all in it. One night, in his dreams, he was told
that the honor of building that temple would not belong to him as he desired,
and be thought within himself, "To whom then can it be, for I have not allowed
any person to work for me without full wage, and I have done it all?" At last,
he discovered that there was a poor woman in his kingdom, who also loved his
God, and not daring to help in the temple building, she had brought little
handfuls of hay to give to the horse that had dragged the stones, so hers was to
be the greater honor. If you may not do all you would, do all you can; for God
will accept it of you if it be rendered by a willing mind and a loving
heart.6-9. Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house
for the LORD GOD of Israel. And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was
in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God; but the word of
the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made
great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed
much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who
shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round
about: for his name shall be Solomon, -- That is, peaceful, or peaceable, --
9-14. And I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall
build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father;
and I will establish the throne of his Kingdom over Israel for ever. Now, my
son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD
thy God, as he hast said of thee. Only the LORD give thee wisdom, and
understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou takest heed to
fulfill the statues and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning
Israel: be strong and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed. Now, behold
in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand
talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver, and of brass and
iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I
prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.At the very lowest calculation, David had
laid up eighteen millions of money for the building of this house for the Lord.
It was an enormous sum, and he must have been long in saving it, yet he gives
Solomon leave to increase it: "Thou mayest add thereto." I like that way of
putting the matter; and when some of you see good help rendered to the cause of
God by others who are able to do more than you can, do not therefore say, "I
need not give anything," but remember what David said to Solomon, "Thou mayest
add thereto." There is room in the treasury of God for your mite us well as
David's millions.15. Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers
and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner
of work.God will always find the right man in time for his own work, in his
Church there are "all manner of cunning men for every manner of work."16-19. Of
the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise
therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee. David also commanded all the
princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, Is not the LORD your God with
you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the
inhabitants of the land into mine land, and the land is subdued before the LORD,
and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your
God, arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the
ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house
that is to be built to the name of the LORD.


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  CHAPTER 5: THE BEST OF THE BEST
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A Sermon (No.2472) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, July 5th, 1896, Delivered
by C. H. SPURGEON, At [6]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On Thursday
Evening, May 19th, 1881. "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."
-- Song of Solomon 2:1. THE time of flowers has come, and as they are in some
faint degree emblems of our Lord, it is well, when God thus calls, that we
should seek to learn what he desires to teach us by them. If nature now spreads
out her roses and her lilies, or prepares to do so, let us try, not only to see
them, but to see Christ as he is shadowed forth in them. "I am the rose of
Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." If these are the words of the
Well-beloved, -- and I have no doubt that they are, -- then it may be suggested
by some that here we have the Savior praising himself; and it is true; but in no
unworthy sense, for well may he praise himself since no one else can do it as it
should be done. There is no human language that can ever set forth his beauties
as they deserve to be told. As good John Berridge says, -- "Living tongues are
dumb at best, We must die to speak of Christ"as he should be spoken of. He will
never fully be described unless he shall describe himself. For certain, we
should never have known God if he had not revealed himself; and every good thing
that you or I know of him, he himself has told us. We make no discoveries of God
except as God discovers himself to us. If, then, any cavillers were to find
fault with the Christ of God because he did commend himself, I would answer,
Does not God commend himself, and must not his well-beloved Son do the same? Who
else is there that can possibly reveal him to us unless he unveils his own face
to our admiring gaze?Moreover, be it always remembered that human self-praise is
evil because of the motive which underlies it. We praise ourselves, -- and,
alas! that we should be so foolish as to do so, -- we do it out of pride; but
when Christ praises himself, he does it out of humility. "Oh!" say you, "how can
you prove that to be true?" Why, thus; he praises himself that he may win our
love; but what condescension it is on his part that he should care about the
love of such insignificant and undeserving persons as we are! It is a wonderful
stoop that the Christ of God should speak about having a bride, and that he
should come to seek his bride among the sons of men. If princes were to look for
consorts among beggars, that would be after all but a small stoop, for God hath
made of one blood all nations of men that dwell upon the face of the earth; but
for Christ to forsake the thrones and glories of heaven, and the splendours of
his Father's courts above, to come down to win a well-beloved one here, and for
her sake to take upon himself her nature, and in her nature to bear the shame of
death, even the death of the cross, this is stupendous condescension of which
only God himself is capable; and this praising of himself is a part of that
condescension, a necessary means of winning the love of the heart that he has
chosen. So that this is a matchless instance, not of pride, but of humility,
that those dear lips of the heavenly Bridegroom should have to speak to his own
commendation, and that he should say, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of
the valleys." O human lips, why are ye silent, so that Christ must speak about
himself? O human hearts, why are ye so hard that ye will never feel until Christ
himself shall address you? O human eyes, why are ye so blind that ye shall never
see till Christ shows himself in his own superlative light and loveliness? I
think I need not defend my Master, though he used these sweet emblems to set
forth himself; for this is an instance, not of his pride, but of his humility.It
is also an instance of the Master's wisdom, for as it is his design to win
hearts to himself, he uses the best means of winning them. How are hearts won?
Very often, by the exhibition of beauty. Love at first sight has been begotten
by the vision of a lovely countenance. Men and women, too, are struck with
affection through the eye when they perceive some beauty which charms and
pleases them; so, the Savior lifts the corner of the veil that conceals his
glories, and lets us see some glimpse of his beauty, in order that he may win
our hearts. There are some who seem to think that they can bully men to Christ;
but that is a great mistake. It is very seldom that sinners can be driven to the
Savior; his way is to draw them. He himself said, "I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should
die." And the drawings of Christ are not, as it were, with a cart rope, but with
silken bonds, ay, with invisible chains, for his beauty is of such a character
that it creates love, his beauty is so attractive that it draws the heart. So,
in infinite wisdom, our Lord Jesus Christ sets forth his own beauties that
thereby he may win our hearts. I do believe that there is no preaching like the
exaltation of Christ crucified. There is nothing so likely to win the sons of
men as a sight of him; and if God the Holy Ghost will but help all his
ministers, and help all his people, to set forth the beauties of Christ, I shall
not doubt that the same Spirit will incline men's hearts to love him and to
trust him. Note, then, the condescension and also the wisdom which are
perceptible in this self-commendation on the part of Christ: "I am the rose of
Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."I think that our Lord also speaks thus as
an encouragement to timid souls; his tender familiarity in praising himself to
us is one of the most effectual proofs of his lowliness. Does Christ commend
himself to us? Does he say to us, for instance, "I am meek and lowly in heart"?
What is his object in speaking thus but that we may take his yoke upon us, and
may learn of him, and that we may find rest unto our souls? And if he says, "I
am the rose of Sharon," what does he mean but that we may pluck him, and take
him for our own? If he says, "I am the lily of the valleys," why does he take
the trouble to tell us that but because he wants us to take him, and to have him
for our very own? I think that it is so sweet of Christ to praise himself in
order to show that he longs for us to come to him. He declares himself to be a
fountain of living water; yet why is he a fountain but that we may come unto
him, and drink? He tells us, "I am the bread which came down from heaven;" but
why does he speak of himself as bread, whereof if a man eat, he shall never
hunger? Why, because he wants us to partake of him! You need not, therefore, be
afraid that he will refuse you when you come to him. If a man praises his wares,
it is that he may sell them. If a doctor advertises his cures, it is that other
sick folk may be induced to try his medicine; and when our Lord Jesus Christ
praises himself, it is a kind of holy advertisement by which he would tempt us
to "come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." If he praises
himself, it is that we may fall in love with him; and we need not be afraid to
come and lay our poor hearts at his feet, and ask him to accept us, for he would
not have wooed us by unveiling his beauties if he had meant, after all, to
trample on our hearts, and say, "I care nothing for such poor love as yours." I
feel most grateful, then, that I have not at this time so much to praise my
Master as to let him speak his own praises, for "never man spake like this Man."
When he commends himself, what would have been folly in others is wisdom in him;
and whereas we say to our fellow-man, "Let another man praise thee, and not
thine own mouth," I would say to Christ, "My Master, praise thyself, for thou
alone canst do it as it ought to be done." As for thy poor servant, he would try
to be the echo of thy voice, and that will be infinitely better than anything he
can say of himself.I think, also, that there is good reason for our Lord to
praise himself in the fashion that he does in our text, because, after all, it
is not praise. "What!" say you, "and yet you have been talking all this while as
if it was praise." Well, so it is in one sense, to us, but it is not so to
Christ. Suppose the sun were to compare itself with a glow-worm, would that be
praise? Suppose an angel were to compare himself with an emmet, would that be
praise? And when my Lord and Master, whose eyes outshine the sun, and who is
infinitely higher than the mightiest of the angels, compares himself to a rose
and a lily, is that praise? Well, it is so to you and to me, but it certainly
cannot be so to him. It is a marvellous stoop for Christ, who is "God over all,
blessed for ever," and the Light of the universe, to say, "I am a rose; I am a
lily." O my blessed Lord, this is a sort of incarnation, as when the Eternal God
did take upon himself an infant's form! So here, the Everlasting God says, "I
am" -- and what comes next? -- "a rose and a lily." It is an amazing stoop, I
know not how to set it forth to you by human language; it is a sort of verbal
rehearsal of what he did afterwards when, though he counted it not robbery to be
equal with God, "he took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross." "I am God, yet," saith he, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the
valleys."What does our text mean? I think it means that our Lord Jesus Christ is
exceedingly delightful, so, let us speak, first, of the exceeding delightfulness
of our Lord; and then, inasmuch as he uses two emblems, first the rose, and then
the lily, surely this is to express the sweet variety of his delightfulness;
and, inasmuch as he speaks of himself as the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the
valleys, I shall have to show you, in the last place, that this hints to us the
exceeding freeness of his delightfulness.I. First, then, the text sets forth THE
EXCEEDING DELIGHTFULNESS OF OUR LORD.He compares himself here, not as in other
places to needful bread and refreshing water, but to lovely flowers, to roses
and lilies. What is the use of roses and lilies? I know what the use of corn is;
I must eat it, it is necessary to me for food. I know why barley and rye and all
sorts of roots and fruits are created; they are the necessary food of man or
beast. But what do we want with roses? What do we want with lilies? They are of
no use at all except for joy and delight. With their sweet form, their charming
color, and their delicious fragrance, we are comforted and pleased and
delighted; but they are not necessaries of life. A man can live without roses;
there are millions of people, I have no doubt, who live without possessing
lilies of the valley. There are all too few roses and lilies in this smoky
Babylon of ours; but, when we do get them, what are their uses? Why, they are
things of beauty, if not "a joy for ever." Jesus is all that and more; he is far
more than "a thing of beauty," and to all who trust him he will be "a joy for
ever." To you who are Christ's people, he is your bread, for you feed on him,
and he makes you live; you could not do without him as the sustenance of your
soul. He is the living water, and your soul would pine and perish of a burning
thirst if you did not drink of him. But that is not all that Jesus is to you;
God has never intended to save his people on the scale of the workhouse, to give
you just as much as you absolutely need, and nothing more. No, no, no; he means
you to have joy as well as to have life, to look upon beauty as well as to be in
safety, and to have not only a healthy atmosphere, but an atmosphere that is
laden with the odour of sweet flowers. You are to find in Christ roses and
lilies, as well as bread and water; you have not yet seen all his beauties, and
you do not yet know all his excellence.The exceeding delightfulness of Christ is
suggested to our mind by his declaration, "I am the rose, and I am the lily."
And first, he is in himself the delight of men. He speaks not of offices, gifts,
works, possessions; but of himself: "I am." Our Lord Jesus is the best of all
beings; the dearest, sweetest, fairest, and most charming of all beings that we
can think of is the Son of God, our Savior. Come hither, ye poets who dream of
beauty, and then try to sing its praises; but your imagination could never reach
up to the matchless perfection of his person, neither could your sweetest music
ever attain to the full measure of his praise. Think of him as the God-man, God
incarnate in human nature, and absolutely perfect; I was going to say something
more than that, for there is not only in him all that there ought to be, but
there is more than your thoughts or wishes have ever compassed. Eyes need to be
trained to see beauty. No man seeth half or a thousandth part of the beauty even
of this poor, natural world; but the painter's eye -- the eye of Turner, for
instance, -- can see much more than you or I ever saw. "Oh!" said one, when he
looked on one of Turner's landscapes, "I have seen that view every day, but I
never saw as much as that in it." "No," replied Turner, "don't you wish you
could?" And, when the Spirit of God trains and tutors the eye, it sees in Christ
what it never saw before. But, even then, as Turner's eye was not able to see
all the mystery of God's beauty in nature, so neither is she most trained and
educated Christian able to perceive all the matchless beauty that there is in
Christ. I do not think, brethren, that there is anything about Christ but what
should make his people glad. There are dark truths concerning him, such as his
bearing our sin; but what a joy it is to us that he did bear it, and put it away
for ever! It makes us weep to look at Jesus dying on the cross, but there is
more real joy in the tears of repentance than there is in the smiles of worldly
mirth. I would choose my heaven to be a heaven of everlasting weeping for sin,
sooner than have a heaven -- if such a heaven could be, -- consisting of
perpetual laughing at the mirth of fools. There is more true pleasure in
mourning before God than in dancing before the devil. Christ is, then, all
beauty; even the dark parts in him are light, and the bitter parts are sweet. He
has only to be seen by you, and you must perceive that, whether it be his
Godhead or his manhood, whether it be his priesthood, his royalty, or his
prophetic office, whether it be on the cross or on the throne, whether it be on
earth, or in heaven, or in the glory of his second coming, every way, -- "All
over glorious is my Lord,Must be beloved, and yet ador'd;His worth if all the
nations knewSure the whole earth would love him too."But, next, our Lord is
exceedingly delightful to the eye of faith. He not only tells us of what delight
is in himself, -- "I am the rose, and I am the lily," -- but he thereby tells us
that there is something to see in him, for the rose is very pleasing to look
upon. Is there a more beautiful sight than a rose that is in bud, or even one
that is fullblown? And the lily -- what a charming thing it is! It seems to be
more a flower of heaven than of earth. Well now, Christ is delightful to the eye
of faith. I remember the first time I ever saw him; I shall never forget that
sight, and I have seen him many a time since, and my grief is that I ever take
off my eyes from him, for it is to look away from the sun into blackness; it is
to look away from bliss into misery. To you who look at Christ by faith, a sight
of him brings such peace, such rest, such hope, as no other sight can ever
afford; it so sweetens everything, so entirely takes away the bitterness of
life, and brings us to anticipate the glory of the life that is to come, that I
am sure you say, "Yes, yes; the figure in the text is quite correct; there is a
beauty in Jesus to the eye of faith, he is indeed red as the rose and white as
the lily."And, next, the Lord Jesus Christ is delightful in the savor which
comes from him to us. In him is a delicious, varied, abiding fragrance which is
very delightful to the spiritual nostril. Smell is, I suppose, a kind of
delicate feeling; minute particles of certain substances touch sensitive
membranes, and we call the sensation that is produced smelling. It is a
mysterious sense; you can understand sight and hearing better than you can
understand smelling. There is a spiritual way of perceiving the savor of Christ;
I cannot explain it to you, but there is an ineffable mysterious sweetness that
proceeds from him which touches the spiritual senses, and affords supreme
delight; and as the body has its nose, and its tender nerves that can appreciate
sweet odours, so the soul has its spiritual nostril by which, though Christ be
at a distance, it yet can perceive the fragrant emanations that come from him,
and is delighted therewith.What is there that comes from Christ, from day to
day, but his truth, his Spirit, his influence, his promises, his doctrines, his
words of cheer? All these have a heavenly sweetness, and make us, with the
psalmist, say to our Lord, "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and
cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." Whenever
these sweet odours are wafted down to us, they make us also glad; anything that
has the savor of Christ in it is sweet to a Christian. If Christ has touched it,
let me put it in my bosom, and keep it there as a sweet forget-me-not, until I
see his face in glory. Ay, the very stones he sat on, I was about to say, the
very mountains at which he looked, have become dear to us. We have no idolatrous
or superstitious reverence for Palestine, or even for the garden in which he
sweat great drops of blood; but for spiritual things with which he has to do, we
have a never-ceasing reverence and affection. Everything that comes from him is
wondrous as the songs of the angels must have been to the shepherds of
Bethlehem, and sweet to the taste as the manna that dropped from the skies
around Israel's desert camp. Yes, brethren and sisters, there is a sweet savor
about the Lord Jesus Christ; do you all perceive it?Once more, in all that he
is, Christ is the choicest of the choice. You notice, the Bridegroom says, "I am
the rose." Yes, but there were some particularly beautiful roses that grew in
the valley of Sharon; "I am that rose," said he. And there were some delightful
lilies in Palestine; it is a land of lilies, there are so many of them that
nobody knows which lily Christ meant, and it does not at all signify, for almost
all lilies are wondrously beautiful. "But," said he, "I am the lily of the
valleys," the choicest kind of lily that grew where the soil was fat and damp
with the overflow of mountain streams. "I am the lily of the valleys:" that is
to say, Christ is not only good, but he is the best; and he is not only the
best, but he is the best of the best. He is a flower; ay, but he is a rose, that
is the queen of flowers; ay, but then he is the best rose there is, he is the
rose of Sharon. He is a Savior, and a great one; yea, the only Savior. He is a
Husband; but what a Husband! Was there ever such a Bridegroom as Christ Jesus
the Lord? He is the Head; but Father Adam was a poor head compared with him. He
is inexpressibly, unutterably, indescribably lovely; I might as well leave off
talking about him, for I cannot hope to set him forth as he deserves. If you
could but see him, I would leave off, for I am sure I should be only hanging a
veil before him with the choicest words that I could possibly use. Suppose you
had a dear son, or husband, or friend, far away, and that I was a painter who
could carry pictures in my mind's eye, and then draw them to the very life. If I
stood here, trying to paint your well-beloved friend, laying on my colors with
all the skill I possessed, and doing my best to reproduce his features; suppose,
while I was at work, that the door at the back was opened, and he came in, I
should cry out, "Oh, stop, stop, stop! Let me put away my canvas, let me pack up
my brushes and my paints. Here is the loved one himself; look at him! Look at
him, not at my portrait of him!" And you would rise from your seat, and say, "It
is he! It is he! You may talk as long as you like, dear sir, when he is away;
but when he is himself here, your talk seems but mere chatter." Well, I shall be
quite content that you should think so, I shall be even glad if you do, provided
that the reason shall be that you can say, "We have seen the Lord. He has
manifested himself to us as he does not unto the world." "I am the rose of
Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." The best of the best, the fairest of the
fair, the sweetest of the sweet, is Jesus Christ to you and to me if we are
indeed his people. I cannot say more about the exceeding delightfulness of my
Lord; I wish I could. II. I must pass on, next, to notice THE SWEET VARIETY OF
CHRIST'S DELIGHTFULNESS.He is not only full of joy, and pleasure, and delight to
our hearts, but he is full of all sorts of joy, and all sorts of pleasure, and
all sorts of delights to us."Nature, to make his beauties known,Must mingle
colors not her own."The rose is not enough, you must have the lily also, and the
two together fall far short of the glories of Christ, the true "Plant of
renown.""I am the rose." That is the emblem of majesty. The rose is the very
queen of flowers; in the judgment of all who know what to admire it is enthroned
above all the rest of the beauties of the garden. But the lily -- what is that?
That is the emblem of love. The psalmist hints at this in the title of the
forty-fifth Psalm. "Upon Shoshannim, a Song of love." Shoshannim signifies
lilies, so the lily-psalm is the love-song, for the lilies, with their beauty,
their purity, their delicacy, are a very choice emblem of love. Are you not
delighted when you put these two things together, majesty and love? A King upon
a throne of love, a Prince, whose very eyes beam with love to those who put
their trust in him, a real Head, united by living bonds of love to all his
members; -- such is our dear Lord and Savior. A rose and yet a lily; I do not
know in which of the two I take the greater delight, I prefer to have the two
together. When I think that my Savior is King of kings and Lord of lords, I
shout, "Hallelujah!" But when I remember that he loved me, and gave himself for
me, and that still he loves me, and that he will keep on loving me for ever and
ever, there is such a charm in this thought that nothing can excel it. Look at
the lily, and sing, -- "Jesu, lover of my soul,Let me to thy bosom fly,While the
nearer waters roll,While the tempest still is high!Hide me, O my Savior,
hide,Till the storm of life be past;Safe into the haven guide;Oh receive my soul
at last."Then look at the rose, and sing, -- "All hail the power of Jesus'
name!Let angels prostrate fall;Bring forth the royal diadem,And crown him Lord
of all;"then put the rose and the lily together, and let them remind you of
Christ's majesty and love. The combination of these sweet flowers also suggests
our Lord's suffering and purity."White is his soul, from blemish free,Red with
the blood he shed for me."The rose, with its thorn, reminds us of his suffering,
his bleeding love to us, his death on our behalf, his bearing of the thorns
which our sin created. Christ is a royal rose beset with thorns; but the lily
shows that -- "For sins not his ownHe died to atone."Jesus, when on earth, could
say, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." The devil
himself could not see a spot or speck in that lovely lily. Jesus Christ is
perfection itself, he is all purity; so you must put the two together, the rose
and the lily, to show Christ's suffering and perfection, the infinitely pure
infinitely suffering. In which of the two do you take the greater delight?
Surely, in neither, but in the combination of both; what would be the value of
Christ's sufferings if he were not perfect? And of what avail would his
perfections be if he had not died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God?
But the two together, the rose and the lily, suffering and purity, fill us with
delight.Of both of these there is a great variety. I wonder how many different
sorts of roses there are, I should not like to have to tell you; they vary
exceedingly, perhaps there are as many kinds as there are days in the year. How
many varieties of lilies are there? Possibly, there are as many sorts of lilies
as there are of roses, for both of them are wonderfully diversified; but the
joys that flow from our Lord Jesus Christ are as abundant and as varied as the
roses and the lilies. Bring me which rose you please, and I will tell you that
it smells sweet; bring which lily you choose, and I will say, "Yes, that also
has a delicate perfume; that will do, with the rose, to serve as an emblem of
Christ." Our Lord Jesus possesses every kind of beauty and fragrance. "He is all
my salvation, and all my desire." All good things meet in Christ; in him all the
lines of beauty are focussed. Blessed are they who truly know him.Further,
Christ is the very essence of the sweetness both of the rose and of the lily.
When he says, "I am the rose," he means, not only that he is like the rose, but
that he made all the sweetness there is in the rose, and it is still in him; and
all the sweetness there is in any creature comes to us from Christ, or else it
is not sweetness such as we ought to love. I like to look upon the bread I eat
as his gift to me, and to bless his providential hand that bestows it. I like to
look upon all the landscape on such a fair day as this has been, and to say,
"Christ is in all this, giving this charming view to such a poor, unworthy
creature as I am." He is in all there is that is good, he is the goodness of all
the good there is. He is the very soul of the universe, whatever there is in the
universe that is worthy of our soul's love. All good for our soul comes from
him, whether it be pardon of sin, or justification, or the sanctification that
makes us fit for glory hereafter, Christ is the source of it all; and in the
infinite variety of delights that we get from him, he is himself the essence of
it all. We can become tired of most things, I suppose that we can become tired
of everything earthly; but we shall never tire of Christ. I remember one who,
when near his death-hour, forgot even his wife, and she was greatly grieved that
he did not recognize her. They whispered in his ear the name of his favourite
child; but he shook his head. His oldest friend, who had known him from his
boyhood, was not recognized. At last they asked him, "Do you know Jesus Christ?"
Then he said, "Ah, yes! and I am going to him." The ruling passion was strong in
death; Christ was nearer and dearer to him than those he loved best here. All
Bowers will fade, even roses and lilies among them; but not this blessed Rose of
Sharon, and Lily of the valleys. Christ does not say, "I was a rose, and I was a
lily;" but "I am the rose, and I am the lily." He is now all that he ever was,
and he will be in life, in death, and throughout all eternity, to the soul that
knows him, an infinite variety of everything that is delightful. III. I must now
very briefly take up the last head of my discourse, which is, THE EXCEEDING
FREENESS OF OUR LORD'S DELIGHTFULNESS.It is not very pleasant or satisfying for
hungry people to stand in the street, and hear someone praising a good meal, of
which they cannot get even a taste. I have often noticed boys standing outside a
shop window, in which there have been all sorts of dainties; they have flattened
their noses against the window-pane, but they have not been able to get anything
to eat.I have been talking about my Master, and I want to show you that he is
accessible, he is meant to be plucked and enjoyed as roses and lilies are. He
says in the text, "I am the rose of Sharon." What was Sharon? It was an open
plain where anybody might wander, and where even cattle roamed at their own
sweet will. Jesus is not like a rose in Solomon's garden, shut up within high
walls, with broken glass all along the top. Oh, no! he says, "I am the rose of
Sharon," everybody's rose, the flower for the common people to come and gather.
"I am the lily." What lily? The lily of the palace of Shushan, enclosed and
guarded from all approach? No; but, "I am the lily of the valleys," found in
this glen, or the other ravine, growing here, there, and everywhere: "I am the
lily of the valleys."Then Christ is as abundant as a common flower. Whatever
kind of rose it was, it was a common rose; whatever kind of lily it was, it was
a well-known lily that grew freely in the valleys of that land. Oh, blessed be
my Master's name, he has brought us a common salvation, and he is the common
people's Christ! Men in general do not love him enough, or else they would have
hedged him in with all sorts of restrictions; they would have made a franchise
for him, and nobody would have been able to be saved except those who paid I
know not how much a year in taxes. But they do not love our Lord enough to shut
him in, and I am glad they have never tried to do so. There he stands, at the
four-cross roads, so that everybody who comes by, and wants him, may have him.
He is a fountain, bearing this inscription, "Let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." "I am the rose of
Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." Why do roses grow in Sharon? Why do lilies
grow in the valleys? Why, to be plucked, of course! I like to see the children
go down into the meadow when it is decked in grass, and adorned with flowers,
gilded with buttercups, or white with the day's-eyes; I love to see the children
pluck the flowers, and fill their pinafores with them, or make garlands, and
twist them round their necks, or put them on their heads. "O children,
children!" somebody might cry, "do not spoil those beautiful flowers, do not go
and pick them." Oh, but they may! nobody says they may not; they may not go into
our gardens, and steal the geraniums and the fuchsias; but they may get away
into the meadows, or into the open fields, and pluck these common flowers to
their heart's content. And now, poor soul, if you would like an apronful of
roses, come and have them. If you would like to carry away a big handful of the
lilies of the valleys, come and take them, as many as you will. May the Lord
give you the will! That is, after all, what is wanted; if there be that
grace-given will, the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valleys will soon be
yours. They are common flowers, growing in a common place, and there are plenty
of them; will you not take them?Even to those who do not pluck any, there is one
strange thing that must not be forgotten. A man passes by a rose-bush, and says,
"I cannot stop to think about roses," but as he goes along he exclaims, "Dear,
dear, what a delicious perfume!" A man journeying in the East goes through a
field that is full of lilies; he is in a great hurry, but, for all that, he
cannot help seeing and smelling the lilies as he rushes through the field. And,
do you know, the perfume of Christ has life in it? He is "a savor of life unto
life." What does that mean but that the smell of him will save? Ah! if you do
but glance at him, though you were so busy that you could not come in till the
sermon had begun, yet a glance at this Lily will bring you joy and peace, for he
is so free that, often, even when men are not asking for him, he comes to them.
"What?" say you, "is it so?" Yes, that it is; such is the freeness of Christ's
grace that it is written, "I am found of them that sought me not." He sends his
sweet perfume into nostrils that never sniffed after it. He puts himself in the
way of eyes that never looked for him. How I wish that some man who has never
sought for Christ, might find him even now! You remember the story that Christ
tells of the man that was ploughing the field; he was only thinking of the
field, and how much corn it would take to sow it; and he was ploughing up and
down, when suddenly, his plowshare hit upon something hard. He stopped the oxen,
and took his spade, and dug, and there was an old crock, and it was full of
gold. Somebody had hidden it away, and left it. This man had never looked for
it, for he did not even know it was there, but he had stumbled on it, as men
say, by accident. What did he do? He did not tell anybody, but he went off to
the man who was the owner of the field, and he said, "What will you take for
that field?" "Can you buy it?" "Yes, I want it, what will you take for it?" The
price was so high that he had to sell the house he lived in, and his oxen, and
his very clothes off his back; but he did not care about that, he bought the
field, and he bought the treasure, and then he was able to buy back his clothes,
his house, and his oxen, and everything else. If you find Christ, and if you
have to sell the coat off your back in order to get him, if you have to give up
everything you have that you may find him, you will have such a treasure in him
that, for the joy of finding him, you would count all the riches of Egypt to be
less than nothing and vanity; but you need not sell the coat off your back,
Christ is to be had for nothing, only you must give him yourself. If he gives
himself to you, and he becomes your Savior, you must give yourself to him, and
become his servant. Trust him, I beseech you, the Lord help you so to do, for
Jesus' sake! Amen. Genesis 8:15-22; and Jeremiah 33:15-26.Genesis 8:15-21. And
God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy
sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing
that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in
the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth,
and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: every beast, every
creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after
their kinds, went forth out of the ark. And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD,
and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt
offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savor;Until then, the earth
had been obnoxious to Jehovah. He had put it away from him as a foul thing,
drowned beneath the flood; but after the offering of Noah's sacrifice, the Lord
smelled "a savor of rest."21, 22. And the LORD said in his heart, I will not
again curse the ground. And any more for man's sake, for the imagination of
man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every
thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.Thus
we see what we may expect so long as the earth remains, for the mouth of the
Lord hath spoken it.Now let us read a few verses from Jeremiah's
prophecy.Jeremiah 33:15. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the
Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and
righteousness in the land.In the latter days, at the glorious appointed time,
Jesus Christ will grow up like a Branch out of the stem of Jesse. The dynasty of
David now seems like a tree out down, whose stock is buried under the ground,
but "the Branch of righteousness" shall appear in due time, and Jesus, the Son
of David, "shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land."16. In those
days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the
name wherewith the shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.What a wonderful
unity there is between Christ and his Church! She actually takes his name: "The
Lord our righteousness."17, 18. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want
a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel, neither shall the priests
the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat
offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.This shows that the covenant was not
a literal and fleshly one, made with David and his seed according to the flesh,
or with the priests and their seed according to the flesh. There is a Kingdom
that can never be moved, and our Lord sits on that throne; there is a Priesthood
which is everlasting, it is held by that great High Priest who hath offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, and who abides a Priest for ever after the order of
Melchisdec.19, 22. And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying Thus
saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the
night, and that there should not be day and night in their season, then may also
my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to
reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. As the
host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will
I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto
me.So that they are at this day the seed of Jesus, the Son of David, who shall
count them? And the company of those whom he hath made to be kings and priests
unto God, who but he can number them?23-26. Moreover the word of the LORD came
to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying,
The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus
they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
Thus saith the LORD, If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not
appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of
Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be
rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their
captivity to return, and have mercy on them.This shall be literally fulfilled in
the latter days, I doubt not, but it is even now being fulfilled to the
spiritual seed of Jacob and David. The covenant of grace is made sure to all the
seed, even to as many as have believed on Christ's name.


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  CHAPTER 6: AN AWFUL CONTRAST
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A Sermon (No.2473) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, July 12th, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [7]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Lord's-day Evening, July 11th, 1886. "Then did they spit in his face." --
Matthew 26:67. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away." -- Revelation 20:11. GUIDED BY
OUR TEXT in Matthew's Gospel, let us first go in thought to the palace of
Caiaphas the high priest, and there let us, in deepest sorrow, realize the
meaning of these terrible words: "Then did they spit in his face." There is more
of deep and awful thunder in them than in the bolt that bursts overhead, there
is more of vivid terror in them than in the sharpest lightning flash: "Then did
they spit in his face." Observe that these men, the priests, and scribes, and
orders, and their servitors, did this shameful deed after they had heard our
Lord say, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. "It was in contempt of this claim, in
derision of this honor which he foretold for himself, that "then did they spit
in his face," as if they could bear it no longer, that he, who stood to be
judged of them, should claim to be their Judge; that he, whom they had brought
at dead of night from the garden of Gethsemane as their captive, should talk of
coming in the clouds of heaven: "Then did they spit in his face." Nor may I fail
to add that they thus assaulted our Lord after the high priest had rent his
clothes. My brethren, do not forget that the high priest was supposed to be the
representative of everything that was good and venerable among the Jews. The
high priest was the earthly head of their religion; he it was who, alone of
mortal men, might enter within the mysterious veil; yet he it was who condemned
the Lord of glory, as he rent his clothes, and said, "He hath spoken blasphemy;
what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his
blasphemy." It makes me tremble as I think of how eminent we may be in the
service of God, and yet how awfully we may be enemies of the Christ of God. Let
none of us think that, though we even clamber up to the highest places in the
church, we are therefore saved. We may be high priests, and wear the Urim and
the Thummim, and put on the breastplate with all its wondrous mystic stones, and
bind around us the curious girdle of the ephod, and yet, for all that, we may be
ringleaders in expressing contempt of God and of his Christ. It was when
Caiaphas, the high priest, had pronounced the word of condemnation against
Christ, that "then did they spit in his face." God grant that we may never take
upon ourselves any office in the Church of God, and then, girt about with the
authority and influence which such an office might lend to us, be the first to
pour derision and contempt upon the Christ of God! Yet I do not hesitate to say
that when men look to the earthly priesthood instead of looking to Christ, the
great High Priest, when men are taught to trust in the mass instead of trusting
in Christ's one sacrifice for sin upon the cross, it is then that the very
priests do lead the way in spitting in his face. Antichrist never more surely
dwells anywhere than in the place where Christ is thus dishonored, and none do
him such dire disgrace as those who ought to bow at his feet, and lift him high
among the sons of men, yet who reject him, and refuse his rightful claims."Then
did they spit in his face," after he had proclaimed his Godhead as King and
Judge of all, and after the man who ought to have been his principal earthly
servant had turned arch-traitor, and led the way in contempt of him by accusing
him of blaspheming. "Then did they spit in his face."There are two or three
thoughts that come to my mind when I think that these wicked men did actually
spit in Christ's face, -- in that face which is the light of heaven, the joy of
angels, the bliss of saints, and the very brightness of the Father's glory. This
spitting shows us, first, how far sin will go. If we want proof of the depravity
of the heart of man, I will not point you to the stews of Sodom and Gomorrah,
nor will I take you to the places where blood is shed in streams by wretches
like to Herod and men of that sort. No, the clearest proof that man is utterly
fallen, and that the natural heart is enmity against God, is seen in the fact
that they did spit in Christ's face, did falsely accuse him, and condemn him,
and lead him out as a malefactor, and hang him up as a felon that he might die
upon the cross. Why, what evil had he done? What was there in his whole life
that should give them occasion to spit in his face? Even at that moment, did his
face flash with indignation against them? Did he look with contempt upon them?
Not he; for he was all gentleness and tenderness even towards these his enemies,
and their hearts must have been hard and brutal indeed that "then did they spit
in his face." He had healed their sick, he had fed their hungry, he had been
among them a very fountain of blessing up and down Judaea and Samaria; and yet,
"then did they spit in his face." I say again, relate not to me the crimes of
ancient nations, nor the horrible evils committed by uncivilized men, nor the
more elaborate iniquities of our great cities; tell me not of the abominations
of Greece or Rome; -- this -- this, in the sight of the angels of God, and in
the eyes of the God of the angels, is the masterpiece of all iniquity: "Then did
they spit in his face." To enter into the King's own palace, and draw near to
his only-begotten Son, and to spit in his face, -- this is the crime of crimes
which reveals the infamous wickedness of men. Humanity stands condemned of the
blackest iniquity now that it has gone as far as to spit in Christ's face.My
meditation also turns towards the Well-beloved into whose face they spat; and my
thought concerning him is this, how deep was the humiliation he had to endure!
When he was made sin for us, though he himself knew no sin; when our Lord Jesus
Christ took upon himself the iniquities of his people, and was burdened with the
tremendous weight of their guilt, it became incumbent upon the justice of God to
treat him as if he were actually a sinner. He was no sinner, and he could be
none; he was perfect man and perfect God, yet he stood in the place of sinners,
and the Lord caused to meet upon him the iniquity of all his people. Therefore,
in the time of humiliation, he must not be treated as the Son of God, neither
must he be held in honor as a righteous man; he must first be given up to shame
and to contempt, and then to suffering and to death; and, consequently, he was
not spared this last and most brutal of insults: "Then did they spit in his
face." O my Lord, to what terrible degradation art thou brought! Into what
depths art thou dragged through my sin, and the sin of all the multitudes whose
iniquities were made to meet upon thee! O my brothers, let us hate sin; O my
sisters, let us loathe sin, not only because it pierced those blessed hands and
feet of our dear Redeemer, but because it dared even to spit in his face! No one
can ever know all the shame the Lord of glory suffered when they did spit in his
face. These words glide over my tongue all too smoothly; perhaps even I do not
feel them as they ought to be felt, though I would do so if I could. But could I
feel as I ought to feel in sympathy with the terrible shame of Christ, and then
could I interpret those feelings by any language known to mortal man, surely you
would bow your heads and blush, and you would feel rising within your spirits a
burning indignation against the sin that dared to put the Christ of God to such
shame as this. I want to kiss his feet when I think that they did spit in his
face. Then, once more, my thoughts run to him again in this way, I think of the
tender omnipotence of his love. How could he bear this spitting when, with one
glance of his eye, had he been but angry, the flame might have slain them, and
withered them all up? Yet he stood still even when they did spit in his face;
and they were not the only ones who thus insulted him, for, afterwards, when he
was taken by the soldiers into Pilate's hall, they also spat upon him in cruel
contempt and scorn."See how the patient Jesus stands,Insulted in his lowest
case!Sinners have bound the Almighty hands,And spit in their Creator's face."How
could he bear it? Friends, he could not have borne it if he had not been
omnipotent. That very omnipotence, which would have enabled him to destroy them,
was omnipotence of love as well as omnipotence of force. It was this that made
him -- if I may so say, -- "restrain himself," for there is no omnipotence like
that which doth restrain omnipotence. Yet so it was that he could endure this
spitting from men; but can you think of this marvellous condescension without
feeling your hearts all on fire with love to him, so that you long to do some
special act of homage to him, by which you may show that you would fain
recompense him for this shame if you could?I will not say more about that point,
for the shameful fact stands indelibly recorded in the Scripture: "Then did they
spit in his face;" but I want to bring the truth home, brethren, and to show you
how we may have done to Christ what these wicked men did. "Oh!" says one, "I was
not there; I did not spit in his face." Listen; perhaps you have spat in his
face, perhaps even you have spat in his face. You remember that touching hymn
that we sometimes sing, -- "My Jesus! say what wretch has daredThy sacred hands
to bind?And who has dared to buffet soThy face so meek and kind?"My Jesus I
whose the hands that woveThat cruel thorny crown?Who made that hard and heavy
crossThat weighs thy shoulders down?"My Jesus! who with spittle vileProfaned thy
sacred brow?Or whose unpitying scourge has madeThy precious blood to flow?"'Tis
I have thus ungrateful been,Yet, Jesus, pity take!Oh, spare and pardon me, my
Lord,For thy sweet mercy's sake!"There are still some who spit in Christ's face
by denying his Godhead. They say, "He is a mere man; a good man, it is true, but
only a man;" though how they dare say that, I cannot make out, for he would be
no good man who claimed to be God if he was not God. Jesus of Nazareth was the
basest of impostors who ever lived if he permitted his disciples to worship him,
and if he left behind him a life which compels us to worship him, if he was not
really and truly God; therefore, of all those who declare that he is not God, --
and there is a very great company of them even amongst the nominally religious
people of the present day, -- we must sorrowfully, but truthfully say, "Then did
they spit in his face."They also do the same who rail at his gospel. There are
many, in those days, who seem as if they cannot be happy unless they are tearing
the gospel to pieces. Especially is that divine mystery of the substitutionary
sacrifice of Christ the mark for the arrows of the wise men, I mean those who
are wise according to the wisdom of this world. We delight to know that our Lord
Jesus Christ suffered in the room and place and stead of his people."He bore
that we might never bearHis Father's righteous ire."Yet I have read some
horrible things which have been written against that blessed doctrine, and as I
read them I could only say to myself, "Then did they spit in his face." If there
is anything that is beyond all else the glory of Christ, it is his atoning
sacrifice; and if ever you thrust your finger into the very apple of his eye,
and touch his honor in the tenderest possible point, it is when you have aught
to say against his offering of himself a sacrifice unto God, without blemish and
without spot, that he might put away the iniquities of his people. Wherefore
judge yourselves in this matter, and if ye have ever denied Christ's Deity, or
if ye have ever assailed his atoning sacrifice, it might truly have been said of
you, "Then did they spit in his face."Further, this evil is also done when men
prefer their own righteousness to the righteousness of Christ. There are some
who say, "We do not need pardon, we do not want to be justified by faith in
Christ, we are good enough already," or, "We are working out our own salvation;
we mean to save ourselves." O sirs, if you can save yourselves, why did Jesus
bleed upon the cross? It was a superfluity indeed that the Son of God should die
in human form if there be a possibility of salvation by your own merits; and if
you prefer your merits to his, it must be said of you also, "Then did they spit
in his face." Your righteousnesses are only filthy rags; and if you prefer these
to the fair white linen which is the righteousness of saints, if you think to
wash yourselves in your tears, and so you despise that precious blood apart from
which there is no purging of our sin, still to you does our text apply, "then
did they spit in his face," when they preferred their own righteousness to
Christ's. I have often spoken to you about the parable of the prodigal son; but,
possibly, your case is more like that of the elder brother in the parable; you
have your portion of goods, it is all your own, and you are keeping it. You are
rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing. You are self-righteous,
you think that you can do very well without God and without Christ, and you half
suspect that God can hardly do without you. You are doing so very well in the
observance of rites and ceremonies, and the performance of charity and devotions
that, if you go into the far country, you will cut a very respectable figure;
you will be one of those excellent citizens of that country who will, in due
time, send some poor prodigal into your fields to feed your swine. I am inclined
to believe that your case is even more sad and hopeless than that of the
prodigal himself. You, too, have gone far away from God, you are living without
him. He is not in all your thoughts, you could almost wish that there were no
God, for then there would be no dark cloud hovering in the distance to spoil
your summer's day, no fear of storms to come to mar the joy of the hour. Just as
truly as of the avowed infidel who openly rejects Christ, it must be said of
you, "Then did they spit in his face."The same thing is, oh! so sadly true when
anyone forsakes the profession of being a follower of Christ's. There are some,
alas! who, for a time, have appeared to stand well in the Church of God, -- I
will not judge them, -- but there have been some who, after making a profession
of religion, have deliberately gone back to the world. After seeming for a while
to be very zealous, they have become worldly, gay, and perhaps even lascivious
and vile. They break the Sabbath, they neglect the Word of God, they forsake the
mercy-seat; and their last end is worse than their first. When a man forsakes
Christ for a harlot, when he gives up heaven for gold, when he resigns the joys
he professed to have had in Christ in order that he may find mirth in the
company of the ungodly, it is another instance of the truth of these words,
"Then did they spit in his face." To prefer any of these things to Christ, is
infamous; and the mere act of spitting from the mouth seems little compared with
this sin of spitting with the very heart and soul, and pouring contempt upon
Christ by choosing some sin in preference to him. Yet, alas! how many are thus
still spitting in Christ's face. Perhaps some now present are doing it.If, dear
friends, our conscience in any measure accuses us of this sin, let us at once
confess it; let us humble ourselves before the Lord; and with the very mouth
that spat upon him, let us kiss the Son lest he be angry, and we perish from the
way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.And when we have confessed the sin,
let us believe that he is able and willing to forgive us. I know that it
requires a great act of faith, when sin is consciously felt, to believe in the
splendor of divine mercy; but, dear friends, do believe it. Do the Lord Jesus
the great honor of saying to him, "Gracious Lord, wash me in thy precious blood;
though I did spit in thy face, wash me in that cleansing fountain, and I shall
be whiter than snow;" and according to your faith, so shall it be done unto you.
You shall have the forgiveness even of this great sin if you confess it, and
believe that Christ is both able and willing to forgive it.And when you have
done that, then let your whole life be spent in trying to magnify and glorify
him whom you and others have defamed and dishonored. Oh, I think that, if I had
ever denied Christ's Deity, I should want to stand in this pulpit night and day
to revoke what I had said, and to declare him to be the Son of God with power! I
think that, if I had ever set up anything in opposition to him, I should want
day and night to be setting him up above everything else, as indeed, I long to
do. Come, Christian brethren and sisters, let us do something unusual in
Christ's honor; let us find out something or invent something fresh, either in
the company of others or all by ourselves, by which we may further glorify his
blessed name.Yet once more, if ever anybody should despise us for Christ's sake,
let us not count it hard, but let us be willing to bear scorn and contempt for
him. Let us say to ourselves, "'Then did they spit in his face.' What, then, if
they also spit in mine? If they do, I will 'hail reproach, and welcome shame,'
since it comes upon me for his dear sake." See, that wretch is about to spit in
Christ's face! Put your cheek forward, that you may catch that spittle upon your
face, that it fall not upon him again, for as he was put to such terrible shame,
every one who has been redeemed with his precious blood ought to count it an
honor to be a partaker of the shame, if by any means we may screen him from
being further despised and rejected of men.There, dear friends, I have not
preached, I have just talked very, very feebly, and not at all as I wished and
hoped I might be able to do, about this wonderful text: "Then did they spit in
his face." Now try to follow me, just for a few minutes, while I let you see
that same face in a very different light. Our second text is in the 20th chapter
of the Revelation, at the 11th verse: -- "And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the ear and heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them."This passage needs no words of mine to explain it.
Notice how the apostle begins: "I saw." Oh, I wish I had the power to make you
also see this great sight! Sometimes, vividly to realize a truth even once, is
far better than to have merely heard it stated ten thousand times. I remember
the story of a soldier who was employed in connection with one of the surveys of
Palestine. He was with some others of the company in the valley of Jehoshaphat,
and without thinking seriously of his words, he said to his comrades, "Some
people say that, when Christ shall come a second time to judge the world, the
judgment will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat, in this very place where
we now are." Then he added, "When the great white throne shall be set, I wonder
whereabouts I shall be." It is said that he carelessly exclaimed, "I shall sit
here upon this big stone," and he sat down; but in an instant he was struck with
horror, and he fainted, because in the act of sitting down he had begun to
realize somewhat of the grandeur and the terror of that tremendous scene. I wish
I knew how to do or say anything by which I could make you realize this scene
that John saw in vision. The Lord Jesus Christ went up to heaven from the top of
Olivet in his own proper body, and he shall so come in like manner as he was
taken up into heaven; but he shall come, not the lowly Man of sorrows, but as
Judge of all seated upon a great white throne; and John says, "I saw it." As we
sang, a few minutes ago, -- "The Lord shall come! but not the sameAs once in
lowliness he came;A silent lamb before his foes,A weary man, and full of
woes."The Lord shall come! a dreadful form,With rainbow wreath and robes of
storm;On cherub wings, and wings of wind,Appointed Judge of all mankind."I wish,
dear friends, that even in your dreams you might see this sight, for, though I
have no trust in dreams by themselves, yet any realization of this great truth
will be better than the mere hearing of it."I saw," said John, "a great white
throne." He saw a throne, for Christ now reigns, he is King of kings, and Lord
of lords; and when lie comes again, he will come in the power of universal
sovereignty as the appointed Judge of all mankind. He will come upon a
throne;That throne is said to be white. What other throne can be so described?
The thrones of mere mortals are often stained with injustice, or bespattered
with the blood of cruel wars; but Christ's throne is white, for he doeth justice
and righteousness, and his name is truth.It will also be a great white throne,
-- a throne so great that all the thrones of former kings and princes shall be
as nothing in comparison with it. The thrones of Assyria, and Babylon, and
Persia, and Greece, and Rome, shall all seem only like tiny drops of dew to be
exhaled in a moment; but this great white throne shall be the recognized seat of
the King of kings, the Sovereignty over all sovereignties: "I saw a great white
throne."John not only saw the great white throne, but also "HIM that sat upon
it." What a wondrous sight was that! John saw him, whose eyes are "as a flame of
fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace." John
saw him whose divine majesty shall shine resplendent even through the
nail-prints which he shall still wear when seated on the great white throne.
What a sight it was to John, who had leaned his head upon Christ's bosom, to
behold that same Master, whom he had seen die upon the cross, now sitting upon
the throne of universal judgment: "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat
upon it."Now notice what happened: "from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away." As soon as ever this great white throne appeared, heaven and earth
began to roll away like a wave receding from the shore. What must HE be before
whose face heaven and earth shall retreat as in dismay?Observe, first, Christ's
power. He does not drive away the heaven and the earth; he does not even speak
to them; the sight of his face is all that is needed, and the old heaven, and
the old sinstained earth, shall begin to flee away, "the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned
up;" and all that by the mere showing of Christ's face. He does not have to lift
his arm, he has not to seize a javelin, and to hurl it at the condemned earth;
at the sight of his face, heaven and earth shall flee away.Behold the terror of
Christ's majesty. And what will you do in that day, -- you who did spit in his
face, you who did despise him? What will you do in that day? Suppose the great
judgment day had already come, suppose that the great white throne was just over
yonder, and that when this service was over, you must appear with all the risen
dead before your Judge. One would have to say, "I have refused him; how shall I
dare to look in his face?" Another would cry, "He drew me once, I felt the
tugging of his love, the drawings of his spirit but I resisted, and would not
yield. How can I meet him now? How can I look him in the face?" Another will
have to say, "I had to strive hard to escape from the grasp of his hand of
mercy; I stifled conscience, and I went back into the world." You will all have
to look into that face, and that face will look at all of you. One will have to
say, "I gave up Christ for the world." "I gave him up for the theater," another
must say. "I gave him up for the dancing saloon," another will say. "I gave him
up for the love of women," another will say. "I gave him up that I might carry
on my business as I could not carry it on if I was a true Christian; I gave up
Christ for what I could get." You will have to say all this, and that very soon.
As surely as you see me upon this platform now, you shall see the King upon the
great white throne then, that King who was once despised and rejected of men. O
sirs, I would that ye would think of all this! It is not one hundredth part so
much my concern as it is yours; I am not afraid to see Christ's face, for he
hath looked on me in love, and blotted out all my sin, and I love him, and long
to be with him for ever and ever. But if you have never had that look of love,
if you have never been reconciled to him, I ask you; by the love you bear
yourselves, to begin to think about this matter. Begin to prepare to meet this
King of men, this Lord of love, who, as surely as he is the Lord of love, will
be the King of wrath, for there is no anger like the anger of love. There is no
indignation like "the wrath of the Lamb," of which we read a few minutes ago.
Divine love, when it has become righteous indignation, burns like coals of
juniper, and is quenchless as hell. Wherefore, -- "Ye sinners, seek his
grace,Whose wrath ye cannot bear;Fly to the shelter of his cross,And find
salvation there;"and ere heaven and earth begin to flee away from the face of
him who sits upon the throne, and ere ye yourselves begin to cry to the rocks to
cover you and the mountains to hide you from that face, -- seek ye his face with
humble penitence and faith, that you may be prepared to meet him with joy in
that last tremendous day.If what I have been saying be all a dream, dismiss it,
and go your ways to your sins; but if these things be the very truth of God, --
and verily they are, -- do act as sane men should, think them over, and prepare
to meet your Judge. God help you to do so, for Christ's sake! Amen.Matthew
26:57-68. Revelation 6:12-17, 19:11-16, 20:11-15, 21:1.We shall read two or
three short portions of God's Word in order to bring before you the wonderful
contrast to which I am about to direct your thoughts.Matthew 26:57. And they
that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the
scribes and the elders were assembled.It was night, but these wicked men could
sit up for this gruel deed, to judge the Lord of glory, and to put the innocent
One to shame. They "led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes
and the elders were assembled."58. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high
priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.I have
heard Peter represented as if he did wrong to follow Christ "afar off." I think
he was the bravest of all the apostles, for scarcely one of them followed Christ
at all at that time. Afterwards, John bethought himself, and came into the
judgment hall. Peter kept at a distance from his Lord, but he did follow him,
and he did go into the high priest's palace. He "went in, and sat with the
servants, to see the end." Peter was right enough in following Christ; it was
afterward, when the temptation came, that he fell so grievously.59, 60. Now the
chief priests, and elders, and as the council, sought false witness against
Jesus, to put him to death; but found none:Because they did not agree, they
would not hold together. This is the weakness of falsehood, that it contradicts
itself. These men felt that they must have some show of truth-likeness even in
condemning Christ, and this they could not get at first even from their false
witnesses.60, 61. Yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At
the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to
destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.Brethren, observe, that
this was a little twisting of Christ's words, but that slight wresting made them
as different as possible from what Christ had really said. I suppose that, if
you want to know how this twisting or wresting is done, any one of our general
elections will give you the most wonderful examples of how everything that any
man may say can be twisted to mean the very reverse of what he said. If there is
one thing in which English people are expert beyond all others, it is in the art
of misquoting, misstating, and misrepresenting. As our Lord was wronged in this
fashion, nobody need be surprised if the like should happen unto him. "This
fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three
days."62. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing?
what is it which these witness against thee?What was the good of answering? What
is ever the good of answering when the only evidence brought against one is
palpable and wilful misrepresentation? So the Savior was silent; and thus, he
not only proved his wisdom, but he also fulfilled that marvellous prophecy of
Isaiah, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he
is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."63. But Jesus held his peace. And the high
priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou
tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God.Now came the answer, the good
confession that our Lord witnessed before his cruel adversaries.64. Jesus saith
unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven. How that sentence must have come with the vividness of a lightning flash
before their faces! What a declaration of power from One who stood there bound
before his enemies, apparently helpless, and about to die!65-68. Then the high
priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need
have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye?
They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face,
and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying,
Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?Our Lord had told these
mockers that they should one day see him coming in the clouds of heaven. Let us
read in the Book of the Revelation concerning that great event.Revelation
6:12-16. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as fig tree
casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven
departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island
were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman,
and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains
and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of
him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:Think of the
contrast between this awful cry and the sentence we read just now: "Then did
they spit in his face." "Mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the
face of him that sitteth on the throne." Think, too, of the contrast of which we
were reminded in our opening hymn, -- "While sinners in despair shall
call,'Rocks' hide us; mountains, on us fall!'The saints, ascending from the
tomb,Shall joyful sing, 'The Lord is come!'"17. For the great day of his wrath
is come; and who shall be able to stand?Let us read further on in the same
Book.Revelation 19:11, 12. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse,
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were
many crowns;"Bright with all his crowns of glory,See the royal Victor's
brow."Again note the contrast: "Then did they spit in his face." "And on his
head were many crowns;" -- 12-16. And he had a name written, that no man knew,
but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name
is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth
a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them
with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of
Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING
OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.And this is he in whose face his enemies did spit.Now
turn to the next chapter.Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.Driven, like chaff before the wind, from the
face of him who sat upon the throne.12-15. And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:
and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.Revelation
21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"
-- 364, 275, 363.


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  CHAPTER 7: THE GREAT CHANGE
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A Sermon (No.2474) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, July 19th, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [8]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Lord's-day Evening, July 18th, 1886. "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any
more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree.
From me is thy fruit found." -- Hosea 14:8. THIS PASSAGE IS in very vivid
contrast to what Ephraim had previously said, as it is recorded in the early
part of Hosea's prophecy. If you turn to the second chapter, and the fifth
verse, you will find this same Ephraim saying, "I will go after my lovers, that
give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink."
These lovers were the idol gods, and Ephraim was determined to go after them,
for she ascribed to them her various comforts, her bread and her water, her wool
and her flax, her oil and her drink. So desperately set was this Ephraim upon
going after her idols that God had much ado to drag her away from them, for that
second chapter continues, "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with
thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow
after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but
shall not find them." So, you see, this people had been desperately set upon
following after idols; yet, before the prophecy is ended, we find this same
Ephraim saying, "What have I to do any more with idols?" What a change the grace
of God works in the heart! It reverses the action of the entire machinery of our
being. It puts, "No," for "Yes," and "Yes," for "No." It is a radical change;
that which we hated, we come to love; and that which we loved, we come to hate.
Whereas we said, concerning this and that, "I will," and "I shall," the grace of
God makes us change our note and we say "I will not; by God's grace, I will not
act as I said I would, for what have I to do any more with idols?" At the
beginning of this discourse, I would like to put to each one whom I am
addressing this question, "Have you, my friend, ever experienced this great and
total change?" Remember, if you have not, it is imperatively necessary that you
should if you desire to be numbered among the Lord's people. "Ye must be born
again," and this being born again is not the evolving of some good thing out of
you that is already there hidden away, but the putting into you of something
which is not there. It is the quickening of you from your death in sin. It is a
change in you as great as was wrought upon the person of our Lord Jesus when,
after lying in the grave dead, he was brought to life. Nothing short of this new
birth, this resurrection, this thorough, total, radical change will make you
meet to enter heaven. You have no right to expect that you will ever stand
within yon gates of pearl unless you have been created anew in Christ Jesus. He
that sitteth on the throne saith, "Behold, I make all things new;" and he must
make you new, or else, into the new kingdom where there is a new heaven and a
new earth, you can never come; nay, you cannot even see that kingdom, for our
Lord's words are as true to-day as when he said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Let that searching thought remain
with you, and try yourselves by it. But now I shall take you at once to the
words of the text, that we may think of the change which was wrought upon
Israel, or Ephraim. We will consider, first, the character of this change:
"Ephraim shall say, What have I any more to do with idols?" Then, secondly, let
us note the cause of this change; and, thirdly, the effect of this change. I.
First, then, we are to consider THE CHARACTER OF THIS CHANGE.Ephraim had been
besotted with her idolatry. The Israelites were never contented with idols of
one sort; they went to Moab, to Egypt, to Philistia, to Assyria, to the
Hittites, and to any other ites, to borrow idols. They introduced fresh idols
from distant countries, they were never satisfied with the number of their
images; yet now, when God has effectually wrought upon their hearts, they say,
one voice speaking for all, "What have I to do any more with idols?"Notice, that
this change was a very hearty and spontaneous one. Ephraim did not say, "I
should like to worship idols, yet I dare not." She did not say, "I should like
to set up graven images, but I must not." On the contrary, she herself said,
"What have I to do any more with idols?" I wish that some people whom I might
mention understood what conversion means. They say to us, "So you do not attend
the theatre; what a denial it must be to you!" It is nothing of the kind, for we
never have a wish or desire to go there. What have we, the twice-born, to do
with these vain things of the world? "Oh, but the drunkard's cup -- it must be a
very great piece of self-denial to you to abjure it!" On the contrary, it is
loathsome to us; we have come to feel as if the most nauseous medicine that
could be mixed would be sweeter to us than that cup. What have we to do any more
with idols?So, each thing that is evil becomes to the real convert a disgusting
and distasteful thing. He does not say, "Oh, how I should like it! How I long
for it! What a hungering I have after it!" If he detects in himself the least
hankering after evil of any kind, he cries out, "O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But as far as the work of God's
Spirit has been wrought upon him, he has a thorough hearty severance and divorce
from those things which he once loved, and he has as great a horror of them as
once he had a desire for them. Now he sings, -- "Let worldly minds the world
pursue,It has no charms for me;Once I admired its trifles too,But grace has set
me free."Its pleasures now no longer please,No more content afford;Far from my
heart be joys like these,Now I have seen the Lord."As by the light of opening
dayThe stars are all conceal'd;So earthly pleasures fade away,When Jesus is
reveal'd."I say again, the change is a very spontaneous and hearty one. Ephraim
shall herself freely say, "What have I to do any more with idols? I have done
with those things, and I am glad to have done with them. Oh, that I had done
with them once for all!" I asked a convert, this last week, perhaps to a dozen I
have put the same question, "My dear brother, are you perfect?" "No, sir," each
one has said, "I am not." Then when I have enquired, "Would you not like to be
perfect?" the answer in every case has been, "Yes, indeed I would; it would be
heaven on earth if I could but be perfectly holy. Oh, that I were clean rid of
sin!" So we sing, with Cowper -- "The dearest idol I have known,Whate'er that
idol be,Help me to tear it from thy throne,And worship only thee."Let the idols
go; smash them all up, break them in pieces like potter's vessels. If there be a
lust, if there be a passion, if there be a joy, if there be a desire, that is
not according to the mind of God, away with it. We cannot endure the evil thing,
and want to get rid of it. Ephraim shall say, and shall say it cheerfully,
spontaneously, heartily, "What have I to do any more with idols?"Observe also,
that this change is the work of God's effectual grace. Notice the wording of the
text: "Ephraim shall say." It is God who says, Ephraim shall say." Perhaps you
ask me, "Did you not say that Ephraim said this voluntarily, spontaneously, with
all her heart, and of her own free will?" Yes, that is so; but the Holy Spirit,
without violating the freedom of man's will, is the Master of that will. There
used to be great wars and fightings among Christian people about free will and
free grace; and when I read the reports of those controversies, I am struck with
the great amount of truth that was spoken on both sides. When I hear a man
stoutly affirm that, if there be any good thing, it is all of the grace of God,
I know that it is so; but when another declares that man is a free agent, and
that, if he acts virtuously at all, his free will must consent to it, and that
this condition is essential to the very making of virtue, is not that also true?
Certainly it is, and why should we not believe both? Ephraim cheerfully says,
"What have I to do any more with idols?" and yet at the back of that, is the
great mysterious energy and work of the Holy Ghost bringing to pass the eternal
purpose and decree of God, so that they are fulfilled. For God to work his will
with mere materialism, with dead blocks of wood or stone, with rivers or with
tempests, is but ordinary omnipotence; but for God to leave men absolutely and
responsible agents, and never to interfere with the freedom of their agency, and
yet for him to accomplish his eternal purposes concerning them to every jot and
tittle, this is, if I may so say, omnipotent omnipotence, this is almighty power
carried to a climax. It is just so with the grace of God; we spontaneously quit
our sin, but it is because almighty grace is working within us to will and to do
of God's own good pleasure. "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with
idols?" because God in his effectual grace has weaned her from her idols. Notice
next, dear friends, that this change is always a very personal one. Ephraim
says, "What have I to do any more with idols?" She does not say, "What have the
nations to do with idols?" That would be a wise question; but, as a rule,
national or general religion does not amount to much; we say, with Mr. Bunyan,
"Those are generals, man, come to particulars." Believe all truth with the
general company of those who hold it; but mind that you come to particulars, and
say, "What have I to do any more with idols?" Do not ask, "What has my mother to
do with idols? What has my brother to do with idols? What has my neighbour to do
with idols?" but, "What have I to do with idols?" If all other men go into sin,
I must not. I ask each believing one to who I am speaking to feel, "God has done
so much for me that I must turn away from sin. To me, wilful wickedness would be
a horrible thing. I must quit all iniquity. Whatever all the rest of the world
may do, I must not go with the multitude to do evil; I must loathe it and leave
it. 'As for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord.' 'Ephraim shall say, What
have I to do any more with idols?'" Abhor selfishness and egotism; but, at the
same time, be very personal and individual about your own religion. You were
born alone, and you will die alone, and you have need to be born again
individually and personally; and it must come to a personal transaction between
yourself and God, so that you can for yourself say, as we did in our singing, --
"'Tis done! the great transaction's done;I am my Lord's, and he is mine:He drew
me, and I follow'd on,Charm'd to confess the voice divine."High heaven that
heard the solemn vow,That vow renewed shall daily hear;Till in life's latest
hour I bow,And bless in death a bond so dear.""What have I to do any more with
idols?" The change here implied must be spontaneous and hearty; it must be the
result of divine grace; and it must be personal.And then, dear friends, it must
also be a truly repentant change: "What have I to do any more with idols?" There
is in that question a confession that the speaker has had to do with idols
already. Let the time past suffice us to have wrought the will of the flesh.
Brother, if thou art resolved to serve God, through his grace, yet ere thou
beginnest that service, remember how thou hast in the past served the devil.
Quit not thy old way without many a tear of regret, and many a blush of deep
humiliation, for whatever thou mayest do in the future, thou canst not undo the
past. Thy wasted time, thy injured faculties, thy angered God, thy friends about
thee influenced for evil by thy example, thou canst not blot out all these;
therefore, at least stay thou a while, and shed penitent tears over the graves
of thy dead sins, and ask thy God to help thee to feel that thou hast had enough
of thy evil ways, and sin, and neglect. Say, "What have I to do any more with
idols? I have had far too much to do with them already. O Satan, O self, O
world, I have served you all too long; and now, my God, with deep regret for all
the past, I turn my face to thee!"This change must also be, dear friends,
life-long. Notice two words in our text, "What have I to do any more with
idols?" Where the grace of God really converts a man, he is not converted merely
for the next quarter of a year, with the possibility of falling from grace
afterwards. That is a human conversion which can ever come to an end; but if God
converts you, you can never be unconverted. As conversion is the work of the
Spirit of God, it is clear that it must need the same power to undo it as first
did it. He who has made you a Christian will keep you a Christian; and unless a
stronger than he shall come in, and undo his work, you shall never go back to
your old idols again."Where God begins his gracious work,That work he will
complete,For round the objects of his love,All power and mercy meet."Man may
repent him of his work,And fail in his intent;God is above the power of
change,He never can repent."Each object of his love is sureTo reach the heavenly
goal:For neither sin nor Satan canDestroy the blood-wash'd soul."Oh, how I love
to preach this glorious doctrine of everlasting salvation! The salvation that
only carries you a little bit of the way to heaven, I never thought worthy of my
acceptance, I would not have it as a gift, and I never thought it worth
preaching to you. I remember hearing one of the revival preachers say that there
are some who go on the road to heaven, and just take a ticket to the next
station; then they get out and take a new ticket, and rush back to the train;
and so they keep on. "But," said the man, "when I started I took a ticket all
the way through." That is the way to travel to heaven; when you start, get a
ticket all the way through. Listen to these words of Christ: "My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand." Listen also to the words of our Lord to the woman
of Samaria: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life." O my brothers, God does not play at saving men; first doing
the work, and then undoing it. If he saves you, you are saved. "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved." There is the gospel which we are sent
to preach to you; so that, when once converted, truly converted, you will say,
"What have I any more to do with idols?" Perhaps someone asks, "Ay, but do not
some professors go back, and do you say that, if men, after making a profession
of religion, live in sin, they shall be saved?" Certainly we say nothing of the
kind; we say, on the contrary, that if truly converted they will not live in
sin, but if the work of grace be wrought in them, they will be kept from sin; or
if they shall, through sudden temptation, fall, they shall be speedily restored;
weeping and sighing, they shall be brought back again to the good way. We never
said that men could live in sin, and yet go to heaven. That were damnable talk,
not fit for a Christian to utter; but he who is truly saved is saved once for
all, and he can say, "What have I any more to do with idols?" Throughout the
rest of his life he will have done with them, he will have quitted them. He will
burn his boats behind him, never to go back to the country which he has quitted
once for all. This is a salvation worth having; wherefore, I pray you, believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be a partaker of it.Yet once more, notice that
this is a very thorough change: "What have I to do any more with idols?" O you
who have done with idols, remember that you have also done with the idol
temples, you have done with the false priests, you have done with the so-called
"sacred thread" and other idolatrous tokens; you have done with everything
appertaining to idolatry! You who once were drunkards have done for ever with
the public-house and the drunkard's cup. You who once were lascivious, if the
grace of God has changed you, what have you to do with fornication, what have
you to do with any kind of uncleanness? You who were aforetime dishonest, if the
grace of God has changed you, what have you to do with the tricks of the trade?
What have you to do with fraudulent bankruptcies? What have you to do with
cheating and lying? Let each true believer cry, "What have I to do any more with
idols?" Begone, sin and Satan, bag and baggage! What has a man, who is bought
with the blood of Christ, to do any more with idols? He quits them once for all,
by God's good grace.I find that the rest of my text would take up far too much
time for me to expound it fully, so that I shall have to content myself with the
second division of the subject.II. This was to be, you will remember, THE CAUSE
OF THE GREAT CHANGE.The first cause of this change is the grace received. In the
previous part of the chapter, we find the Lord saying, "I will heal their
backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him."
Then our text naturally follows, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more
with idols?" We cannot get you to give up sin, however earnestly we may exhort
you to forsake it; but if, by God's grace, you receive Christ as your Saviour,
then you will abandon sin as a natural consequence. What is the best way to keep
chaff out of a bushel measure? Fill it full of wheat; and when the heart of a
man is full of Christ, there will be no room for the world, the flesh, and the
devil. These things cannot find an entrance where Christ has full possession.
When God is as the dew of our soul, and we receive freely of his grace, then we
do not need telling, and urging, and driving but we at once say, "What have I to
do any more with idols?"Another cause of this great change lies in our
perception of the beauties of the Lord. I do not quite know whether what I am
going to say is the exact teaching of the text, but I think it is. It is very
difficult, sometimes, in these prophecies to know who is speaking. There are
often dialogues, and the dialogues are not always so clearly marked that we can
tell who is the speaker. I have always thought, when I have read this chapter
that it was the Lord who said, "I have heard him, and observed him;" but on
thinking the passage over very carefully, I am not quite sure that it is so. Let
me give you another version, which I met with in two verses by an unknown poet;
and then see whether this is not the, meaning of the passage: -- "I have heard
him, and observed him,Seen his beauty rich and rare,Seen his majesty and
glory,And his grace beyond compare."What have I to do with idols,When such
visions fill my eye?How be occupied with shadowsWhen the substance passes
by?"Does the text mean, then, "I will have nothing more to do with idols, for I
have heard my God, and I have observed him; I have heard Christ speak, and I
have observed the excellence of his character"? This much I know, -- whether
that be the teaching of this passage, or not, -- nothing weans the heart from
idols like a sight of Christ. O you worldly Christians, who are getting to be so
fond of this world, I am sure that you have not seen your Master lately! If you
had, the world would sink in your esteem. O you who are beginning to be fond of
human wisdom, you cannot have heard him speak of late, or else he would be made
of God unto you wisdom, and everything else would be folly! O you who are
seeking to live for self and for earthly gain, your heads have not been lately
pillowed on the Saviour's bosom, you have not recently looked into those dear
eyes which are more radiant than the glories of the morning! You cannot have
known the fragrance of those garments which smell of myrrh, and aloes, and
cassia, or you would never be enamoured of this poor, foul, unsavoury world. "I
have heard him, and observed him: what have I to do any more with idols?" "I
have heard him say, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love.' I have
observed him go up to the cross, and lay down his life for me; 'what have I to
do any more with idols?'" When thou, as the bride of Christ, lovest thy first
Husband as thou shouldst love him, then thy wanderings will be at an end. When
all thy heart goes after the Well-beloved, and he enraptures thee with
manifestations of his love and of his grace, then wilt thou say, "What have I to
do with idols, -- I so favoured, I so enriched with divine blessings, I who am
on the road to heaven, I who am so soon to see the face of him I love, -- what
have I to do with idols?" That seems to me to be a grand meaning perfectly
consistent with earnest Christian experience, so I leave it with you. This great
change, then, is wrought in us by the grace of God, and by a sight of the true
beauties of our Lord.But now, taking the text as it is generally understood, you
will get another meaning. One cause for this great change is the sense of
answered prayer: Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do any more with idols?" And
God says of Ephraim, "I have heard him." I recollect, even as a child, God
hearing my prayer; I cannot tell you what it was about, it may have been
concerning a mere trifle, but to me as a child it was as important as the
greatest prayer that Solomon ever offered for himself, and God heard that
prayer, and it was thus early established in my mind that the Lord was God. And
afterwards, when I came really to know him, -- afterwards, when I came to cry to
him intelligently, I had this prayer answered, and that petition granted, and
many a time since then, -- I am only speaking what any of you who know the Lord
could also say, -- many a time since then he has answered my requests. I cannot
tell you all about this matter; there is many a secret between me and my dear
Lord. This very week, I have had a love-token from him which, if I could tell
you about it, would make your eyes wonder and fill with tears. I asked, and I
received, as manifestly as if I had spoken to my brother in the flesh, and he
had said, "Yes, there, take all you need." Well now, I always find that, in
proportion as I am conscious that God is answering my prayers, my heart says,
"What have I to do any more with idols?" If I can have from my God whatever I
ask for, why need I cringe and bow my knees to men? If I have but to go to God,
and wait upon him, and he will give me the desires of my heart, what have I to
do with the fretting, and fuming, and being anxious? What have I to do with
idols? If there is everything in Christ, and that everything is to be had for
the asking, what have I to do with idols? It is wonderful how you are weaned
from the dry breasts of the world when you can drink in all that your soul
desires from the living God. If God, the Jehovah of hosts, be no more to you
than the gods of the heathen, or the gods of the men of the world, why then you
will have to do with idols; but if your God is the God that heareth prayer, and
if you live in his presence, and you speak to him, and he speaks to you, if you
keep up perpetual intercourse with him, so that God can say to you, "I have
heard him, and observed him," then I am sure that you will also say, "What have
I to do any more with idols?"If I am addressing any poor soul that has been
craving mercy from God, one who has been crying for months to God to give him
forgiveness through Jesus Christ, why, dear heart, if you will only believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall get all that you are asking, you shall receive
peace, and pardon, and joy, and rest; and then you will say, "What have I to do
any more with idols?""Oh!" says one, "my dear sir, I have been trying to
overcome sin, and I cannot." I know you cannot; but if you begin by receiving
Christ, by praying to God, and getting the answer, then you will be able to say,
"What have I to do any more with idols?" You want to wash yourself first, and
then to come to the fountain. That will not do; you must come, black as you are,
and wash, and be cleansed. You want to get rich spiritually, and then to come to
God to enrich you. No; you must come to him poor, come without anything of your
own, just as you are, and trust the boundless mercy of God in Christ Jesus, he
will give you all you need, and then you will say, "What have I to do any more
with idols, for God has heard me, and he doth observe my soul?"You see, then,
some of the ways in which this very great and wonderful change is wrought. I had
to omit many other points on which I meant to speak, but I do pray that this
change may be wrought in every one of you. Do not wait to have the change
wrought, and then come to God, but come to God for it. If you have a broken
heart, come to Christ with it; but if you do not feel your sin, come to Christ
that you may be made to feel it. If there is any good thing in you, thank God
for it, and come to him for more; but if there is no good thing whatever in you,
come without any good thing, and let Christ begin at the very beginning with
you, in all your emptiness, and need, and spiritual beggary and loathsomeness.
Come to him just as you are, for he still says, "Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out." May his sweet Spirit graciously attract every one of you
till you shall be drawn to him, and so drawn from your idols, and to him shall
be glory, for ever and ever! Amen.Psalm 34; and Hosea 14.Psalm 34. Verse 1. I
will bless the LORD at all times:"At dark times, and bright times; when I am
alone, and when I am in company; when I feel like doing it, and when I do not
feel like doing it: 'I will bless the Lord at all times.'"1. His praise shall
continually be in my mouth. "I will not only feel it in my heart, but I will
give expression to it with my mouth. Those who do not care for this blessed
employment may leave it alone; but as for me, 'his praise shall continually be
in my mouth.'"2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear
thereof, and be glad."I will ride the high horse when I begin to talk of the
goodness of God: 'My soul shall make her boast in the Lord;' and whereas
boasters are generally very vexatious to humble-minded people, this kind of
boasting shall please them: 'the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.'"3. O
magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.Come my brethren
and sisters, I cannot perform this happy service alone; it is too much for me
all by myself. This bunch of grapes is too heavy to be carried by one. "O
magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."4. I sought the
LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.Should not the
prayer-hearing God be praised? If he hears the cries of his people, should he
not also hear the praises of his people? It is not one only to whom God has thus
listened, but many can say with the psalmist, "I sought the Lord, and he heard
me."5, 6. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not
ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all
his troubles.It is God's delight to hear the cry of the poor men. Sometimes, he
passes by the rich and great, and gives heed to the poor and desolate. It is our
need that has the loudest cry with God; if our necessities are urgent, our
prayer will be powerful.7. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that
fear him, and delivereth them.God's children are always attended like princes,
legions of angels form their body-guard. The angel of the Lord, and companies of
holy angels with him, pitch their celestial tents round about them that fear
God.8. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth
in him.Do try him, dear friends, and prove for yourselves how good and gracious
he is: "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth
in him.""Oh, make but trial of his love;Experience will decideHow blest are
they, and only they,Who in his truth confide!"9. O fear the LORD, ye his saints:
for there is no want to them that fear him.He will supply all their wants. You
need not fear for anything else when once you fear God.10. The young lions do
lack, and suffer hunger:They are strong, and fierce, and crafty, and
unscrupulous, yet still they suffer hunger: -- 10. But they that seek the LORD
shall not want any good thing.Though they be neither cruel, nor cunning, nor
strong, "they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." What a promise
for you to plead in prayer, dear friends! If you are in any need, do not
hesitate, but by an act of faith take this gracious word, and plead it with the
promise-keeping God: "Hast thou not said that, 'they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing'? Then, Lord, do as thou hast said."11-13. Come, ye
children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is he
that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue
from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.He who can manage his tongue can
manage his whole body; for the tongue is the rudder of the ship, and if that be
properly held, the vessel will be rightly steered. If thou wouldst escape the
quicksands and the rocks, look well to thy tongue; keep it from evil, that it
speak neither blasphemy against God nor slander against thy fellow-men; and keep
thy lips from guile, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one
thing and meaning another, or making other people think that you men another, --
an art all too well understood in these days. God make us plain-speaking men,
who say what we mean, and mean what we say! When, by the grace of God, we are
taught to do this, we have learnt a good lesson.14. Depart from evil, and do
good; seek peace and pursue it.If it runs away from you, run after it. Never run
into or after a quarrel, but always run after peace: "Seek peace, and pursue
it."15. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto
their cry.The Lord is always watching them, and he is always listening that he
may hear everything they say, especially when they cry unto him.16. The face of
the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from
the earth.He will not only destroy the wicked, but he will blot out the very
memory of them. They may become great and famous in their wickedness, but they
shall not be kept in memory as the righteous are. As Solomon says, "The name of
the wicked shall rot."17, 18. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and
delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are
of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.Men do not care
for broken hearts, but God does. "Give me a sound heart and a brave heart," says
man. "Give me a broken and contrite heart," says the Lord. If you have such a
heart as that, be not afraid to draw near to your God, through Jesus Christ, for
he is already nigh unto you. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but
the LORD delivereth him out of them all.Many who read this verse admit that the
first part of it is true: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." Yes, but
the latter clause is also true: "but the Lord deliereth him out of them all." Do
not omit either portion of the passage, for one part is as true as the other.20.
He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.God's people shall suffer no
real, lasting, vital injury. You may have flesh wounds; but as to the bones of
your spirit, as it were, the solid part of it, "not one of them is broken."21.
Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be
desolate.They shall want nothing else to make an end of them but their own sins:
"Evil shall slay the wicked."22. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants:
and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.Now we are going to read
the last chapter of the Book of the prophet Hosea, the first of the minor
prophets.Hosea 14. Verse 1. O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou
hast fallen by thy iniquity.When we fall by sin we must regain our comfort by
going back to the place where we lost it: "Return unto the Lord thy God; for
thou hast fallen by thy iniquity." Then, to help us return, God, through his
servant, actually makes a prayer for us.2. Take with you words, and turn to the
Lord:"What words am I to take?" asks the poor convinced sinner. "I cannot put
words together." Here are the words put into your mouth: -- 2. Say unto him,
Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves
of our lips.Come with humble confession, come with sincere repentance, come with
earnest supplication, come trusting to the grace of God, come bringing your
heart with you, and rendering it to God as a living sacrifice.3. Asshur shall
not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the
work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless find mercy.If you
come to God to be saved, you must bring no other saviour with you. What an
encouragement is given to us to come to God! He calls himself the Father of the
fatherless. O thou, whose soul is orphaned, thou who art left disconsolate in a
world of grief, come thou to him in whom the fatherless find mercy, for so shalt
thou find mercy!4, 5. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely:
for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto
Israel:"Swiftly and mysteriously will I come and refresh him."5. He shall grow
as the lily,Quickly, beautifully, -- 5. And cast forth his roots as Lebanon.He
shall be as permanent as he is fair, like a cedar as well as like a lily.6. His
branches shall spread,The dew of the Lord imparts influence to men; it gives
them, as it were branches, with which they cast a wide shadow.6. And his beauty
shall be as the olive tree,The beauty of fruitfulness. God grant all of us this
beauty!6. And his smell as Lebanon.Oh, to stand in holy repute among men, so
that there is a fragrance going forth from us, like the sweet odours from the
wild thyme and other products of Mount Lebanon!7. They that dwell under his
shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the
scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.When God blesses men, he also
blesses those round about them. Your children, your servants, your neighbours,
shall all be the better if the grace of God comes to you. So may it be!8, 9.
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and
observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is
wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for
the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the
transgressors shall fall therein.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 377, 657,
658.


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  CHAPTER 8: |MY GARDEN|--|HIS GARDEN|
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A Sermon (No.2475) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, July 26th, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [9]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Thursday Evening, July 2oth, 1882. "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south;
blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come
into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." -- Song of Solomon 4:16. WHAT A
DIFFERENCE there is between what the believer was by nature and what the grace
of God has made him! Naturally, we were like the waste howling wilderness, like
the desert which yields no healthy plant or verdure. It seemed as if we were
given over to be like a salt land, which is not inhabited; no good thing was in
us, or could spring out of us. But now, as many of us as have known the Lord are
transformed into gardens; our wilderness is made like Eden, our desert is
changed into the garden of the Lord. "I will turn unto you," said the Lord to
the mountains of Israel when they were bleak and bare, "I will turn unto you,
and ye shall be tilled and sown;" and this is exactly what he said to the
barrenness of our nature. We have been enclosed by grace, we have been tilled
and sown, we have experienced all the operations of the divine husbandry. Our
Lord Jesus said to his disciples, "My Father is the husbandman," and he has made
us to be fruitful unto his praise, full of sweetness where once there was no
fruit, and nothing that could give him delight. We are a garden, then, and in a
garden there are flowers and fruits, and in every Christian's heart you will
find the same evidences of culture and care; not in all alike, for even gardens
and fields vary in productiveness. In the good ground mentioned by our Lord in
the parable of the sower, the good seed did not all bring forth a hundredfold,
or even sixty-fold; there were some parts of the field where the harvest was as
low as thirty-fold, and I fear that there are some of the Lord's gardens which
yield even less than that. Still, there are the fruits and there are the
flowers, in a measure; there is a good beginning made wherever the grace of God
has undertaken the culture of our nature. I. Now coming to our test, and
thinking of Christians as the Lord's garden, I want you to observe, first, that
THERE ARE SWEET SPICES IN BELIEVERS. The text assumes that when it says, "Blow
upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." There are in the Lord's
garden sweet flowers that drip with honey, and all manner of delightful
perfumes. There are such sweet apices within the believer's heart; let us think
of them for a few minutes, and first, let me remind you of the names of these
sweet spices.For instance, there is faith; is there anything out of heaven
sweeter than faith, -- the faith which trusts and clings, which believes and
hopes, and declares that, though God shall slay it, yet will it trust in him? In
the Lord's esteem, faith is full of fragrance. He never delighted in the burning
of bulls and the fat of fed beasts, but he always delighted in the faith which
brought these things as types of the one great sacrifice for sin. Faith is very
dear to him. Then comes love; and again I must ask, -- Is there to be found
anywhere a sweeter spice than this, -- the love which loves God because he first
loved us, the love which flows out to all the brotherhood, the love which knows
no circle within which it can be bounded, but which loves the whole race of
mankind, and seeks to do them good? It is exceedingly pleasing to God to see
love growing where once all was hate, and to see faith springing up in that very
soul which was formerly choked with the thorns and briers of doubt and unbelief.
And there is also hope, which is indeed an excellent grace, a far-seeing grace
by which we behold heaven and eternal bliss. There is such a fragrance about a
God-given hope that this poor sin-stricken world seems to be cured by it.
Wherever this living, lively hope comes, there men lift up their drooping heads,
and begin to rejoice in God their Savior. You do not need that I should go over
all the list of Christian graces, and mention meekness, brotherly kindness,
courage, uprightness, or the patience which endures so much from the hand of
God; but whatsoever grace I might mention, it would not be difficult at once to
convince you that there is a sweetness and a perfume about all grace in the
esteem of him who created it, and it delights him that it should flourish where
once its opposite alone was found growing in the heart of man. These, then, are
some of the saints' sweet spices.Next notice, that these sweet spices are
delightful to God. It is very wonderful that we should have within us anything
in which God can take delight; yet when we think of all the other wonders of his
grace, we need not marvel at all. The God who gave us faith may well be pleased
with faith. The God who created love in such unlovely hearts as ours may well be
delighted at his own creation. He will not despise the work of his own hands;
rather will he be delighted with it, and find sweet complacency therein. What an
exaltation it is to us worms of the earth that there should ever be anything in
us well-pleasing unto God! Well did the psalmist say, "What is man, that thou
art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" But God is
mindful of us, and he does visit us. Of old, before Christ came into this
world-in human form, his delights were with the sons of men; much more is it so
now that he has taken their nature into heaven itself, and given to those sons
of men his own Spirit to dwell within them. Let it ravish your heart with
intense delight that, though often you can take no complacency in yourself, but
go with your head bowed down, like a bulrush, and cry, "Woe is me!" yet in that
very cry of yours God hears a note that is sweet and musical to his ears.
Blessed is repentance, with her tear-drops in her eyes, sparkling like diamonds.
God takes delight even in our longings after holiness, and in our loathings of
our own imperfections. Just as the father delights to see his child anxious to
be on the best and most loving terms with him, so does God delight in us when we
are crying after that which we have not yet reached, the perfection which shall
make us to be fully like himself. O beloved, I do not know anything that fills
my soul with such feelings of joy as does the reflection that I, even I, may yet
be and do something that shall give delight to the heart of God himself! He has
joy over one sinner that repenteth, though repentance is but an initial grace;
and when we go on from that to other graces, and take yet higher steps in the
divine life, we may be sure that his joy is in us, and therefore our joy may
well be full.These spices of ours are not only delightful to God, but they are
healthful to man. Every particle of faith that there is in the world is a sort
of purifier; wherever it comes, it has a tendency to kill that which is evil. In
the spiritual sanitary arrangements which God made for this poor world, he put
men of faith, and the faith of these men, into the midst of all this corruption,
to help to keep other men's souls alive, even as our Lord Jesus said to his
disciples, "Ye are the salt of the earth." The sweet perfumes that flow out from
the flowers which God cultivates in the garden of his Church are scattering
spiritual health and sanity all around. It is a blessed thing that the Lord has
provided these sweet spices to overpower and counteract the unhealthy odours
that float on every breeze. Think, then, dear friends, of the importance of
being God's fragrant flowers, which may yield perfumes that are delightful to
him, and that are blessed and healthful to our fellow-men. A man of faith and
love in a church sweetens all his brethren. Give us but a few such in our midst,
and there shall be no broken spiritual unity, there shall be no coldness and
spiritual death; but all shall go well where these men of God are among us as a
mighty influence for good. And, as to the ungodly around us, the continued
existence in the earth of the Church of Christ is the hope of the world. The
world that hates the Church knows not what it does, for it is hating its best
friend. The spices with which God is conserving this present evil age, lest his
anger should destroy it because of the growing corruption, are to be found in
the flowers which he has planted in the garden of his Church. It sometimes
happens that these sweet odours within God's people lie quiet and still. There
is a stillness in the air, something like that which the poet Coleridge makes
"The Ancient Mariner" speak of in his graphic description of a calm within the
tropics. Do you, dear friends, never get into that becalmed condition? I
recollect, when I was young, reading an expression, -- I think of Erskine's, --
in which he says that he lines a roaring devil better than a sleeping devil. It
struck me then that, if I could keep the devil always asleep, it would be the
best thing that could possibly happen for me; but now I am not so sure that I
was right. At all events, I know this, when the old dog of hell barks very
loudly, he keeps me awake; and when he howls at me, he drives me to the
mercy-seat for protection; but when he goes to sleep, and lies very quiet, I am
very apt to go to sleep, too, and then the graces that are within my soul seem
to be absolutely hidden. And, mark you, hidden grace, which in no way reveals
itself by its blessed odours, is all the same as if there were none, to those
that watch from the outside, and sometimes to the believer himself. What is
wanted, in order that he may know that he has these sweet perfumes, is something
outside himself. You cannot stir your own graces, you cannot make them more, you
cannot cause their fragrance to flow forth. True, by prayer, you may help to
this end; but then, that very prayer is put into you by the Holy Spirit, and
when it has been offered to the Lord, it comes back to you laden with blessings;
but often, something more is needed, some movement of God's providence, and much
more, some mighty working of his grace, to come and shake the flower bells in
his garden, and make them shed their fragrance on the air. Alas! on a hot and
drowsy day, when everything has fallen into a deep slumber, even God's saints,
though they be wise virgins, go as soundly asleep as the foolish virgins, and
they forget that "the Bridegroom cometh." "While the Bridegroom tarried, they
all slumbered and slept;" and, sometimes, you and I must catch ourselves nodding
when we ought to be wide awake. We are going through a part of that enchanted
ground which John Bunyan describes, and we do not know what to do to keep
ourselves awake.At such times, a Christian is very apt to ask, "Am I indeed
planted in God's garden? Am I really a child of God?" Now, I will say what some
of you may think a strong thing; but I do not believe that he is a child of God
who never raised that question. Cowper truly wrote, -- "He has no hope who never
had a fear;And he who never doubted of his state,He may, perhaps, -- perhaps he
may -- too late."I have sung, and I expect that I may have to sing again, --
"'Tis a point I long to know;Oft it causes anxious thought;Do I love the Lord or
no?Am I his, or am I not?"I cannot bear to get into that condition, and I cannot
bear to keep in it when I am in it, but still, there must be anxious thought
about this all-important matter. Because you happened to be excited on a certain
occasion, and thought you were converted and were sure of heaven, you had better
look well to the evidence on which you are relying. You may be mistaken after
all; and while I would not preach up little faith, I would preach down great
presumption. No man can have a faith too strong, and no assurance can be too
full, if it comes really from God the Holy Spirit; but if it comes merely out of
your fancying that it is so, and, therefore, will not examine yourself, whether
you be in the faith, I begin to make up my mind that it is not so, because you
are afraid to look into the matter. "I know that I am getting rich," says a
merchant, "I never keep any books, and I do not want any books, but I know that
I am getting on well in my business." If, my dear sir, I do not soon see your
name in the Gazette, I shall be rather surprised.Whenever a man is so very good
that he does not want to esquire at all into his position before God, I suspect
that he is afraid of introspection, and self-examination, and that he dare not
look into his own heart. This I know; as I watch the many people of God
committed to my care here, I see some run on for ten years or more serving God
with holy joy, and having no doubt or fear. They are not generally remarkable
for any great depth of experience, but when God means to make mighty men of
them, he digs about them, and soon they come to me crying, and craving a little
comfort, telling me what doubts they have, because they are not what they want
to be. I am glad when this is the case, I rejoice because I know that they will
be spiritually better off afterwards. They have reached a higher standard than
they had previously attained, they have a better knowledge now of what they
ought to be. It may be that, before, their ideal was a low one, and they thought
that they had reached it. Now, God has revealed to them greater heights, which
they have to climb; and they may as well gird up the loins of their mind to do
so by divine help. As they get higher, they perhaps think, "Now we are at the
top of the mountain," when they are really only on one of the lower spurs of it.
Up they go, climbing again. "If once I can reach that point, I shall soon be at
the summit," you think. Yes, and when you have at length got there, you see the
mountain still towering far above you. Bow deceptive is the height of the Alps
to those who have not seen them before! I said to a friend once, "It will take
you about thirteen hours to get to the top of that mountain." "Why," he replied,
"I can run up in half-an-hour." I let him have a try, and he had not gone far
before he had to sit down to pant and rest. So you think of a certain height of
grace, "Oh, I can easily reach that!" Yea, just so; but you do not know how high
it is; and those who think that they have reached the top do not know anything
about the top; for he who knows how high is the holiness to which the believer
can attain will go on clambering and climbing, often on his hands and knees, and
when he has reached that point which he thought was the summit, he will sit down
and say, "I thought I had reached the top, but now I find that I have but begun
the ascent." Or he may say with Job, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear:" (and then I did not know much of thee, or of myself either,) "but now mine
eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." You
see, then, that there are sweet spices lying in Christians, like hidden honey
and locked-up perfume within the flowers on a hot day.II. What is wanted is that
THOSE SWEET ODORS SHOULD BE DIFFUSED. That is to be our second head. Read the
text again: "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden,
that the spices thereof may flow out."Observe, first, that until our graces are
diffused, it is the same as if they were not there. You may go through a wood,
and it may be abounding in game, yet you may scarcely see a hare or notice a
pheasant anywhere about. There they lie all quiet and undisturbed; but,
by-and-by, the beaters go through the wood making a great noise, and away the
pheasants fly, and you may see the timid hares run like hinds let loose, because
they are disturbed and wakened up. That is what we sometimes need, to be aroused
and stirred from slumber. We may not know that we have any faith till there
comes a trial, and then our faith starts boldly up. We can hardly know how much
we love our Lord till there comes a test of our love, and then we so behave
ourselves that we know that we do love him. Oftentimes, as I have already
reminded you, something is needed from without to stir the life that lies hidden
within. It is so with these sweet flowers in the Beloved's garden, they need
either the north wind or the south wind to blow upon them that they may shed
abroad their sweet odours.Notice next, that it is very painful to a Christian to
be in such a condition that his graces are not stirring. He cannot endure it. We
who love the Lord were not born again to waste our time in sinful slumber; our
watchword is, "Let us not sleep, as do others." We were not born to inaction;
every power that God has put within us was meant to be used in working, and
striving, and serving the Lord. So, when our graces are slumbering, we ourselves
are in an unhappy state. Then we long for any agency that would set those graces
moving. The north wind? Oh, but if it shall blow, then we shall have snow! Well,
then, let the snow come, for we must have our graces set in motion, we cannot
bear that they should continue to lie quiet and still. "Awake, O north wind!" --
a heavy trial, a bleak adversity, a fierce temptation, -- anything so long as we
do but begin to diffuse our graces. Or if the north wind be dreaded, we say,
"Come, thou south!" Let prosperity be granted to us; let sweet fellowship with
our brethren rouse us, and holy meditations, full of delight, stir our souls;
let a sense of the divine life, like a soft south wind, come to our spirit. We
are not particular which it is, let the Lord send which he pleases, or both
together, as the text seems to imply, only do let us be aroused. "Quicken thou
me, O Lord, according to thy Word,"-whichever Word thou shalt choose to apply,
only do quicken thy servant, and let not the graces within me be as if they were
dead!Remember, however, that the best Quickener is always the Holy Spirit; and
that blessed Spirit can come as the north wind, convincing us of sin, and
tearing away every rag of our self-confidence, or he may come as the soft south
wind, all full of love, revealing Christ, and the covenant of grace, and all the
blessings treasured for us therein. Come, Holy Spirit! Come as the Heavenly
Dove, or as the rushing mighty wind; but do come! Drop from above, as gently as
the dew, or come like rattling hail, but do come, blest Spirit of God! We feel
that we must be moved, we must be stirred, our heart's emotions must once again
throb, to prove that the life of God is really within us; and if we do not
realize this quickening and stirring, we are utterly unhappy.You see also, dear
friends, from this text, that when a child of God sees that his graces are not
diffused abroad, then is the time that he should take to prayer. Let no one of
us ever think of saying, "I do not feel as if I could pray, and therefore I will
not pray." On the contrary, then is the time when you ought to pray more
earnestly than ever. When the heart is disinclined for prayer, take that as a
danger-signal, and at once go to the Lord with this resolve, -- "I will approach
thee -- I will forceMy way through obstacles to thee:To thee for strength will
have recourse,To thee for consolation flee!"When you seem to yourself to have
little faith, and little love, and little joy, then cry unto the Lord all the
more, "cry aloud, and spare not." Say, "O my Father, I cannot endure this
miserable existence! Thou hast made me to be a flower, to shed abroad my
perfume, yet I am not doing it. Oh, by some means, stir my flagging spirit, till
I shall be full of earnest industry, full of holy anxiety to promote thy glory,
O my Lord and Master!" While you are thus crying, you must still believe,
however, that God the Holy Spirit can stir your spirit, and make you full of
life again. Never permit a doubt about that fact to linger in your bosom, else
will you be unnecessarily sad. You, who are the true children of God, cannot
ever come into a condition out of which the Holy Spirit cannot uplift you. You
know the notable case of Laodicea, which was neither cold nor hot, and therefore
so nauseous to the great Lord that he threatened to spue her out of his mouth,
yet what is the message to the angel of that church?" Behold, I stand at the
door, and knock." This is not said to sinners, it is addressed to the angel of
the church of the Laodiceans: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with me." Oh, matchless grace! He is sick of these lukewarm
professors, yet he promises to sup with them, and that they shall sup with him.
That is the only cure for lukewarmness and decline, to renew heart-fellowship
with Christ; and he stands and offers it to all his people now. "Only do you
open the door, and I will sup with you, and you shall sup with me." O you whose
graces are lying so sinfully dormant, who have to mourn and cry because of "the
body of this death" -- for death in you seems to have taken to itself a body,
and to have become a substantial thing, no mere skeleton now, but a heavy,
cumbrous form that bows you down, -- cry still to him who is able to deliver you
from this lukewarm and sinful state! Let every one of us put up the prayer of
our text, "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; and blow upon my garden,
that the spices thereof may flow out." III. Our third and closing head will help
to explain the remaining portion of our text: "Let my Beloved come into his
garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." These words speak of THE COMPANY OF CHRIST
AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF OUR FRUIT BY CHRIST.I want you, dear friends, specially to
notice one expression which is used here. While the spouse was, as it were, shut
up and frozen, and the spices of the Lord's garden were not cowing out, she
cried to the winds, "Blow upon my garden." She hardly dared to call it her
Lord's garden; but now, notice the alteration in the phraseology: "Let my
Beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." The wind has blown
through the garden, and made the sweet odours to flow forth; now it is no longer
"my garden," but "his garden." It is wonderful how in increase of grace
transfers our properties; while we have but little grace, we cry, "my," but when
we get great grace, we cry "his." Wherein you are sinful and infirm, brother,
that is yours, you rightly call it "my"; but when you become strong, and joyous,
and full of faith, that is not yours, brother, and you rightly call it "his."
Let him have all the glory of the change while you take all the shame and
confusion of face to yourself that ever you should have been so destitute of
grace. As the spouse says, "Let my Beloved come into his garden. Here are all
the sweet perfumes flowing out; he will enjoy them, let him come and feel
himself at home amongst them. He planted every flower, and gave to each its
fragrance; let him come into his garden, and see what wonders his grace has
wrought."Do you not feel, beloved, that the one thing you want to stir your
whole soul is that Christ's should come into it? Have you lost his company
lately? Oh, do not try to do without it! The true child of God ought not to be
willing to bear broken communion for even five minutes; but should be sighing
and crying for its renewal. Our business is to seek to "walk in the light as God
is in the light," fully enjoying communion with Christ our Lord; and when that
fellowship is broken, then the heart feels that it has cast all its happiness
away, and it must robe itself in sackcloth, and sorrowfully fast. If the
presence of the Bridegroom shall be taken away from thee, then indeed shalt thou
have cause to fast and to be sad. The best condition a heart can be in, if it
has lost fellowship with Christ, is to resolve that it will give God no rest
till it gets back to communion with him, and to give itself no rest till once
more it finds the Well-beloved.Next observe that, when the Beloved comes into
his garden, the heart's humble but earnest entreaty is, "Let him eat his
pleasant fruits." Would you keep back anything from Christ? I know you could not
if he were to come into his garden. The best things that you have, you would
first present to him, and then everything that you have, you would bring to him,
and leave all at his dear feet. We do not ask him to come to the garden, that we
may lay up our fruits, that we may put them by and store them up for ourselves;
we ask him to come and eat them. The greatest joy of a Christian is to give joy
to Christ; I do not know whether heaven itself can overmatch this pearl of
giving joy to the heart of Jesus Christ on earth. It can match it, but not
overmatch it, for it is a superlative joy to give joy to him, -- the Man of
sorrows, who was emptied of joy for our sakes, and who now is filled up again
with joy as each one of us shall come and bring his share, and cause to the
heart of Christ a new and fresh delight.Did you ever reclaim a poor girl from
the streets? Did you ever rescue a poor thief who had been in prison? Then I
know that, as you have heard of the holy chastity of the one, or of the sacred
honesty of the other of those lives that you have been the means of restoring,
you have said, "Oh, this is delightful! There is no joy equal to it. The effort
cost me money, it cost me time, it cost me thought, it cost me prayer, but I am
repaid a thousand times." Then, as you see them growing up so bright, so
transparent, so holy, so useful, you say, "This work is worth living for, it is
a delight beyond measure." Often, persons come to me, and tell me of souls that
were saved through my ministry twenty years ago. I heard, the other day, of one
who was brought to Christ by a sermon of mine nearly thirty years ago, and I
said to the friend who told me, "Thank you, thank you; you could not tell me
anything that would give my heart such joy as this good news that God has made
me the instrument of a soul's conversion." But what must be the joy of Christ
who does all the work of salvation, who redeems us from sin, and death, and
hell, when he sees such creatures as we are, made to be like himself, and knows
the divine possibilities of glory and immortality that lie within us?What are we
going to be, brothers and sisters, we who are in Christ? We have not any idea of
what holiness, and glory, and bliss, shall yet be ours. "It doth not yet appear
what we shall be." We may rive even while on earth to great heights of holiness,
-- and the higher the better; but there is something better for us than mortal
eye has ever seen or mortal ear has ever heard. There is more grace to be in the
saints than we have ever seen in them, the saintliest saint on earth was never
such a saint as they are yonder who are before the throne of the Most High; and
I know not but that, even when they get there, there shall be a something yet
beyond for them, and that through the eternal ages they shall still take for
their motto, "Onward and upward!" In heaven, there will be no "Finis." We shall
still continue to develop, and to become something more than we have ever been
before; not fuller, but yet capable of holding more, ever growing in the
possibility of reflecting Christ, and being filled with his love; and all the
while our Lord Jesus Christ will be charmed and delighted with us. As he hears
our lofty songs of praise, as he sees the bliss which will ever be flashing from
each one of us, as he perceives the divine ecstasy which shall be ours for ever,
he will take supreme delight in it all. "My redeemed," he will say, "the sheep
of my pasture, the purchase of my blood, borne on my shoulders, my very heart
pierced for them, oh, how I delight to see them in the heavenly fold! These my
redeemed people are joint heirs with me in the boundless heritage that shall be
theirs for ever; oh, how I do delight in them!" "Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words," beloved, and cry mightily that, on this church, and on all
the churches, God's Spirit may blow, to make the spices flow. Pray, dear
friends, all of you, for the churches to which you belong; and if you, my
brother, are a pastor, be asking especially for this divine wind to blow through
the garden which you have to cultivate, as I also pray for this portion of the
garden of the Lord: "Let my Beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant
fruits." The Lord be with each one of you, beloved, for his dear name's sake!
Amen.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 811, 814, 778.John 20:11-29.Verses 11-12.
But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped
down, and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the
one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.You
see, dear friends, love is very patient and persevering. The other disciples had
gone away home, but not so Mary, she stands outside the sepulcher, and still
waits, for she cannot go till she has seen her Lord. Love, however, has many
sorrows for, as Mary stood without the sepulcher, she was weeping. Oftentimes
your love to Christ will make you sorrowful when you for a while lose his
presence; it will be a great sorrow to you if your Lord should seem to have
hidden himself from you. But see how quick-sighted love is; Mary saw the angels,
whom the other disciples might have seen if they had not gone home. One of the
beatitudes is, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God;" and love
is one of the most eminent signs of purity. I do not wonder, therefore, that
love saw angels, since love sees God himself.13. And they say unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou?They could not understand Mary's tears, their question seemed
to say "Christ the Lord is risen from the dead, and all the streets of heaven
are ringing with hallelujahs because the great Conqueror has returned bearing
the spoils of his victory. Why weepest thou? Art not thou one of those for whom
this redeeming work was done? 'Woman, why weepest thou?'"13. She saith unto
them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
him.That was enough to make any of Christ's loved ones weep, and if ever you
hear a sermon which has not Christ in it, you may well go down the aisle
weeping, and if any ask why you weep, you may reply, "Because they have taken
away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."14. And when she had thus
said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was
Jesus.A strange and sad unbelief had taken possession of her, and there is
nothing that blinds the eye so quickly as unbelief. Christ is near thee, poor
soul, near thee in thy trouble, but thou dost not know that it is Jesus. Open
thine eyes, may God the Holy Spirit touch them with his heavenly eye-salve, that
thou mayest see that it is Christ himself who is close beside thee!15. Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him
to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me
where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.Her supposition was wrong in
one way, but right in another, for Jesus is the Gardener, and his Church is his
garden. There was one gardener in whom we fell; here is another and a better
Gardener in whom we rise. It is he, and he alone, who can properly tend all the
plants of his Father's right-hand planting. He is the Gardener, though not the
one that Mary supposed, but what a strange request this was for her to make: "If
thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him
away." Could she have carried away the body of Jesus if it had been there? If
so, what a ghastly load for her tender frame to bear! Ay, but she would have
done it somehow or other; for, if faith laughs at impossibilities, and cries,
"It shall be done," it is love that actually does the deed of holy daring. The
task that seems well-nigh impossible is readily performed when the spirit is
invigorated by love.16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary.In the simple utterance of
her name, there were tones which she could not mistake, it was the sweetest
music she had heard since her Lord's last message from the cross: "Mary." "Why,
surely," she must have thought, "it was the Master's voice calling me by
name!"16. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say,
Master.Or, "My Master!" The word "Rabboni" means something more than "Master."
Mary seems to say, "Greatest and best of all teachers, I know thy voice; now
that thou hast called me by my name, I recognize thee, and I wait to listen to
the instruction thou art ready to impart to me."17. Jesus saith unto her, Touch
me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father:"There will be time enough for
the fellowship your heart craves:" -- 17. But go to my brethren, and say unto
them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your
God.Practical service is better than personal rapture. Mary would fain have held
her Lord, but he says to her, "Go to my brethren." You will always find that it
is best and safest to do what Jesus tells you, when he tells you, and as he
tells you. What a delightful message is this from the risen Christ! "Go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my
God, and your God." 18, 19. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she
had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. Then the same
day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the
midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.If they had possessed more faith,
they would have left a door open for Jesus to come in, however anxious they
might have been to shut out the Jews. I am afraid, dear brethren and sisters,
that we also are sometimes more anxious about shutting out the Jews than we are
about letting in Christ. I mean, we are very particular in trying to keep out
our own troubles and cares, but if we get Jesus within, we shall not think of
the Jews, nor of our troubles and cares; they will all disappear as soon as he
appears.20. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.That was enough to make
them glad. The gladdest sight out of heaven, and the gladdest sight in heaven
itself, is to see the Lord.21. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you:
as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."I am the Messiah, the sent One;
you, too, shall be my missionaries, my sent ones;" it is but another form of the
same word.22, 23. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.That is to say,
"As you proclaim my gospel, I will back up your message; when you preach of
pardoning blood, I will make it efficacious. When you declare to penitent
sinners that their sins are remitted, it shall be so; and when you tell those
who believe not that they are condemned already, and that except they repent
they shall abide in condemnation, their sins shall still be retained." The true
minister of God speaketh not apart from the Word of God, and when he speaks the
Word of God, the God of the Word is himself there to make it effectual. It shall
be no brutum fulmen, no wasted thunderbolt; it shall fall in reality, and what
the servant of Christ declares, according to the Scriptures, shall really be
proved to be true.24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not
with them when Jesus came.Possibly he did not go out of an evening; it may be
that he was a halfdead sort of Christian, like a great many people are in
London. They think they have done finely if they go out on the Sabbath morning,
but the evening, -- well, it is too cold for them, or they must find some other
excuse for keeping indoors: "Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not
with them when Jesus came." That was a great pity, because Thomas would not only
be a loser by his absence, but he would be sure to influence others, for he was
an apostle. Surely, whenever it is possible, we who are leaders in the church,
ministers, deacons, and elders, should take care that we are not absent from the
house of the Lord.25. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen
the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of
the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe.There is something good about that declaration of
Thomas, for a man is not bound to believe merely on the testimony of others. He
should, if he can, endeavor to get evidence for himself, and as Christ is still
alive, the very best thing is to go to him. But there was also much that Thomas
said which was very wrong, he had no right to demand that he should see the
nailprints in Christ's hands, and, worse still, that he should be permitted to
put his finger into them, and to thrust his hand into his Lord's side. There was
more than a little impertinence about that utterance, and something more even
than an ordinary unbelief; and when we ask for signs and wonders from God, and
say that we will not believe except we have them, we are guilty of very
presumptuous conduct. We are bound to look for evidence concerning Christ; but
when the evidence is sufficient, we ought not out of curiosity to crave for
more.26. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with
them.That was an improvement upon the meeting of the previous Lord's-day
evening; Thomas had learnt by this time what he had lost the week before, so he
was present on this occasion.26, 27. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and
stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas,Picking
out the one who most needed to be addressed, like the Good Shepherd seeking out
the sick sheep first: "Then saith he to Thomas," -- 27, 28. Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my
side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto
him, My Lord and my God.It has been well observed that Thomas was the first
person who ever proved to himself the Deity of Christ from the exhibition of his
wounds. There is a good argument in it, which we cannot stay to explain at this
time; but the very humanity of Christ has in it the doctrine of his Deity; you
can easily argue from the one to the other. How divine must he be who, in his
condescension, took upon himself our nature! 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed.That blessedness can be reached by all of us who
believe in Christ. Those who lived in this world before Christ came, saw his day
by faith, and they were blessed; those who lived in his day, and saw him in the
flesh, and trusted him, were blessed; but we who cannot see him, yet believe in
him, are the most blessed of them all.


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  CHAPTER 9: |THIS THING IS FROM ME|
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A Sermon (No.2476) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, August 2nd, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [10]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Thursday Evening, July 22nd, 1886. "Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor
fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his
house; for this thing is from me." -- 1 Kings 12:24. IT IS VERY DELIGHTFUL to
read a history in which God is made prominent. How sadly deficient we are of
such histories of our own English nation! Yet surely there is no story that is
more full of God than the record of the doings of our British race. Cowper, in
one of his poems, shows the parallel between us and the house of Israel, and he
dwells upon various special incidents in our history, and draws valuable lessons
therefrom. God's wisdom and power have been conspicuous from the time when this
now full-grown nation was but like a puling chit. He has nursed and watched over
it, protecting it against gigantic foes, and making it to be the defender of his
truth, the favored abode of his people. Oh, for a historian who could dip his
pen in thoughts of God, and who, from beginning to end of his history, would not
be showing us the crafty policy of kings and cabinets, but the finger of God! We
want, nowadays, to have history written in some such style as appears in these
Books of Samuel, and Kings, and Chronicles; then might history become almost
like a new Bible to us. We should find that, as the book of revelation agrees
with the book of creation, so does the book of divine providence in human
history agree with both of them, for the same God is the Author of all these
works. If we cannot get anybody to write such histories, yet let us continually
amend the errata, and add appendices to such records as we have, for God is God,
and God is everywhere, and blessed is the man who learns to spy him out. Notice,
next, what I pointed out to you in our reading, what power was possessed by
God's prophets under the Old Testament. Here is one Shemaiah, -- some of you
never heard of him before, perhaps you will never hear of him again; he appears
once in this history, and then he vanishes; he comes, and he goes, -- only fancy
this one man constraining to peace a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men,
warriors ready to fight against the house of Israel, by giving to them in very
plain, unpolished words, the simple command of God: "Thus saith the Lord, Ye
shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel: return
every man to his house;" and it is added, "they hearkened therefore to the Word
of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the Word of the Lord." Why
have we not such power? Peradventure, brethren, we do not always speak in the
name of the Lord, or speak God's Word as God's Word. If we are simply tellers
out of our own thoughts, why should men mind us? If we speak the word which we
ourselves have fashioned, what is there in our anvil that it should command
respect for what we make upon it? But if we can rise to the height of this great
argument, and speak the truth as messengers of God, and there leave it,
believing in it ourselves, and expecting great results from it, I wot that there
will come more from our ministries than we have ever seen as yet. When the
apostle Peter spoke to the lame man at the temple gate, he said, "In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk;" and he did rise up and walk because
the name of Jesus Christ was relied upon; and we have need to preach the gospel,
not as though our suasion, much less our oratory, were to prevail with men, but
believing that there is an intrinsic power in the gospel, and that God the Holy
Ghost will go with it to work the divine purpose, and accomplish the decrees of
the Most High. We have need to stand near to God, and to be more completely
overshadowed by his presence, and to be ourselves more fully believers in the
Divine Majesty, and then shall we see greater things than these. Surely, God
must have meant that, under the New Testament, there should be a power in his
Word even greater than that which rested on it under the Old Testament. Note one
more lesson conveyed by this incident. It would be a grand thing to preach only
one sermon, and to be as successful as Shemaiah was; it would be far better than
to preach ten thousand, and to accomplish nothing by them all I hope the net
result of our ministry will not be like that of the famous leader who with his
troops marched up a hill and then marched down again. A man may take many years
to say nothing, and he may very elaborately and very eloquently discharge
himself of that which it was totally unnecessary for him to have said; but it
would be better far to be surcharged with one message, and to deliver that one
in the power of Almighty God, even if the speaker's voice is never heard again.
I pray that those of us who do preach the gospel may preach each sermon as if
that one discourse were worth a lifetime, worth the putting forth of every
faculty that we possess, so that, if we never preached again, we might
nevertheless have done a life-work in a single sermon. What an opportunity is
mine to-night! What an opportunity you also will have, my brother, when you
confront your congregation next Lord's-day, an opportunity which angels might
envy you! Though you do not gather together a hundred and eighty thousand men,
yet you may reach as many as that through the one sermon you are going to preach
next Sabbath, for one person converted by the Holy Ghost, through you, may be
the means of bringing in many others, and eventually there may come out of your
one effort a harvest that cannot be counted. A forest once slept within a single
acorn-cup. The beginning of the great lies in the little. Let us therefore
earnestly pray God that we may preach as dying men to dying men, and deliver
each discourse as if that one message was quite enough to serve for our whole
life-work. We need not wish to preach another sermon provided we are enabled so
to deliver that one that the purpose of God shall be accomplished by us, and the
power of his Word shall be seen upon our hearers. With these remarks by way of
preliminary observations, I want to prove to you from our text that, first, some
events are very specially from God; secondly, when they are seen to be from God,
they are not to be fought against; and, thirdly, this general principle has many
special applications, some of which we shall try to make.I. First, SOME EVENTS
ARE SPECIALLY FROM GOD: "This thing is from me."I do not know what some people
believe, for they seem to try to do without God altogether; but I believe that
God is in all things, -- that there is neither power, nor life, nor motion, nor
thought, nor existence apart from him. "In him we live, and move, and have our
being." By him all things exist and consist. Like foam upon the wave, all things
would dissolve away did not God continue them, did not God uphold them. I see
God in everything, from the creeping of an aphis upon a rose-bud to the fall of
a dynasty. I believe that God is in the earthquake and the whirlwind; but I
believe him to be equally in the gentlest zephyr, and in the fall of the sere
leaf from the oak of the forest. Blessed is that man to whom there exists
nothing in which he cannot see the presence of God. It makes this world a grand
sphere when God is seen everywhere in it from the deepest mine to the remotest
star. This earth is a wretched dark dungeon if once the light of the presence
and the working of God be taken away from it.Notice also, dear friends, that God
is in events which are produced by the sin and the stupidity of men. This
breaking up of the kingdom of Solomon into two parts was the result of Solomon's
sin and Rehoboam's folly; yet God was in it: "This thing is from me, saith the
Lord." God had nothing to do with the sin or the folly, but in some way which we
can never explain, in a mysterious way in which we are to believe without
hesitation, God was in it all. The most notable instance of this truth is the
death of our Lord Jesus Christ; that was the greatest of human crimes, yet it
was foreordained and predetermined of the Most High, to whom there can be no
such thing as crime, nor any sort of compact with sin. We know not how it is,
but it is an undoubted fact that a thing may be from God, and yet it may be
wrought, as we see in this case, by the folly and the wickedness of men; neither
does this in the least degree interfere with human agency in its utmost freedom.
Some who have held that man is a free agent have attempted to vindicate free
agency as if predestination were the contradiction of it, which it is not; we
who believe in predestination also believe in free agency as much as they do who
reject the other truth. Others hold predestination, and straightway they begin
to rail at all who believe in the responsibility and free agency of men. My
brothers, there is nothing to rail at in either doctrine, the two things are
equally true. "How, then," asks someone, "do you reconcile them?" These two
truths have never fallen out, as far as I know, and it is poor work to try to
reconcile those who are true friends. "But," says the objector, "how do you make
them seem to be true friends?" I do not make them seem to be true friends. I
bless God that there are some things in the Bible which I never expect to
understand while I live here. A religion which I could perfectly understand
would be no religion to me; when I had mastered it, it would never master me.
But to my mind it is a most delightful thing for the believer to bow before
inscrutable mysteries, and to say, "My God, I never thought that I was infinite,
I never dreamt that I could take thy place, and understand all things; I
believe, and I am content." So I believe in the free agency of men, in their
responsibility and wickedness, and that everything evil cometh of them; but I
also believe in God, that "this thing" which, on the one side of it, was purely
and alone from men, on another side of it was still from God, who rules both
evil and good, and not only walks the garden of Eden in the cool of a summer's
eve, but walks the billows of the tempestuous sea, and ruleth everywhere by his
sovereign might.How, then, was "this thing" from God? Well, clearly, it was from
God in two ways. First, it was so as a matter of prophecy. The prophet Ahijah
had prophesied that the ten parts of the rent garment which were given to
Jeroboam should be symbolic of the ten tribes that would be given to him when
they had been torn away from the house of David. The prophecy was literally
fulfilled, as God's words always are.And, secondly, "this thing" was from God as
a matter of punishment. He sent it as a punishment for the sins of the house of
David of which Solomon had been guilty when he set up other gods before the Most
High, and divided the allegiance of his kingdom from Jehovah by bringing in the
gods of Moab, and Ammon, and Egypt. God ordained this evil that he might
chastise the greater evil of want of loyalty to himself on the part of his
servant Solomon. Yea, my brethren, God setteth evil against evil that he may
destroy evil, and he uses that which cometh of human folly that he may manifest
his own wisdom. So there are some events which are specially from the Lord,
although it seemeth not so; and this is to us often a great source of
consolation. We have said to ourselves, "However did things get into this tangle
and snarl?" Look at the professing church at this present moment, what is there
about it that can at all cheer the child of God? All things appear dark and
complicated; they seem to be built on a quicksand; and that which is
superficial, and unsubstantial, and dreamy, and deceptive is everywhere. Still,
the Lord liveth, and the rock of our salvation faileth not. As he makes the
wrath of man to praise him, so doth he also with the folly and the wickedness of
man, and the remainder of both he doth restrain. "The Lord sitteth upon the
floods; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever." Hallelujah!II. The second thing
evidently taught by our text is that, WHEN EVENTS ARE SEEN TO BE FROM THE LORD,
THEY ARE NOT TO BE FOUGHT AGAINST.Rehoboam had summoned his soldiers to go to
war against the house of Israel; but, inasmuch as it was from God that the ten
tribes had revolted from him, he must not march into the territories of Israel,
nor even shoot an arrow against them.The thing that is happening to you is of
the Lord, therefore resist it not, for it would be wicked to do so. If it be the
Lord's will, so may it be. To put our will against his will, is sheer rebellion
against him. Trace an event as distinctly from God, and then the proper course
of action is that which the psalmist took, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;
because thou didst it." Absolute submission is not enough, we must go on to
joyful acquiescence in the will of God. If the cup be bitter, our acquiescence
must take it as cheerfully as if it were sweet. "Hard lines," say you. "To hard
hearts," say I; but when our hearts are right with God, so well do we love him
that, if it ever came to a conflict anywhere, whether it should be our will or
his will that should prevail, we should at once end the conflict by saying,
"Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." It is nothing but wickedness,
whatever form it assumes, when we attempt to resist the will of God.But, next,
while it is wicked, it is also vain, for what can we do against the will of God?
Shall the rush by the river resist the north wind? Shall the dust rise up in
conflict with the tempest? God is almighty; if that were all, it were enough,
for who can stand against his power? But he is also all-wise; and if we were as
wise as he is, we should do as he does. Moreover, he is all goodness, and he is
ever full of love. Judged of according to the divine understanding, everything
that he willeth must be right. Why, then, shall I dare contend against his
strength, his wisdom, and his love? It must be useless so to do. Who hath
resisted his will? Who could succeed if he did?Next, it would be mischievous,
and would be sure to bring a greater evil upon us if we did resist. Had this
king Rehoboam gone out to fight with the far greater tribes which had revolted,
it might have resulted in the desolation of Judah and the destruction of
Jerusalem. He was much wiser in putting up his sword into its sheath, for it
would have been disastrous to the last degree for him to break the command of
God, and go to war against Israel. And depend upon it, brothers, there is no way
of bringing afflictions upon ourselves like refusing to bear afflictions. If we
will not bear the yoke that is laid upon us, and heed the gentle tugging of the
rein, then the goad and the whip will be used upon us. Nothing involves us in so
much sorrow as our refusal to submit to sorrow. If we will not take up the
cross, the cross, mayhap, will take us up; and that is a far worse lot than the
other. Endure, submit, acquiesce, it is the easiest way, after all; for if thou
art a child of God, and thou rebellest against him, thou wilt have to smart for
it. But if thou art not his child, and thou rebellest, like proud Pharaoh, God
will set thee up to be a monument for men to wonder at as they see how sternly
Jehovah dealeth with stubborn sinners who say, "Who is the Lord, that I should
obey his voice?" Whenever, therefore, a thing is distinctly from the Lord, it is
not to be resisted.III. Now I come to what may be more interesting to you, that
is, to make a practical application of this subject, for THIS GENERAL PRINCIPLE
HAS MANY SPECIAL APPLICATIONS. I believe it often happens that events are most
distinctly from the Lord, and when it is so, our right and proper way is to
yield to them.I could narrate many very singular things that have happened to
me, but I will not; only I am reminded just now of one that I will tell you.
There sat, one Sabbath day, in that left-hand gallery, a young Hindoo gentleman
wearing a scarlet sash. I preached that morning from this text, "What if thy
father answer thee roughly?"[11]* and I had hardly reached the vestry at the
back before this young Hindoo gentleman was there with an aged man, who is now
with God, -- a well-known Christian man, -- and all in a hurry the young man
said, "Sir, has Mr. E____ told you about me?" "No," I said, "I have not seen him
for months; what could he have told me about you?" "Are you sure that you never
heard of me before?" "To my knowledge, I never heard of you, and never saw you
before." "Well then, sir," he said, "there is a God, and that God is in this
place." "How so?" I asked. "Last night, I told this gentleman here," he
answered, "that I was almost persuaded to be a Christian; but that, when I went
home to India, I should be disinherited by my father, and I felt sure that I
should not have the courage to stand out as a Christian; and then my friend
said, 'Come and hear Mr. Spurgeon to-morrow morning,' and I came in here, and
you preached from those words, 'What if thy father answer thee roughly?'
Verily," he said, "the God of the Christians is God, and he has spoken to me
this day." That was another illustration of our text, "This thing is from me."
Has it not often happened so? The providential working of the Holy Ghost is a
very wonderful subject. They who are the Holy Ghost's servants learn to depend
upon him for every word they are to utter; they sometimes feel their flesh
creep, and almost every hair on their head stand on end at the way in which they
have unconsciously spoken so as to depict to the very life the character of
their hearers, -- casual hearers, perhaps, -- as if they had photographed them
though they knew them not. Oh, you who are the Lord's workers, commit yourselves
to God's guidance; the more you can do it, the better, for often and often you
will have to say of an event that happens to you, "This thing is from the Lord."
Again, dear friends, another case in which this principle applies is when severe
afflictions arise. I think that, of all afflictions to which we should bow most
readily, those take the first place that are distinctly from the Lord; for
instance, the deaths of dear friends, or when we cannot accuse ourselves of
having done anything that can have contributed to the affliction that has come
upon us, or when we have suffered losses in business though we have been engaged
honestly and industriously in doing all we can to provide things honest in the
sight of all men. There are some afflictions which remind me of a term which I
have seen in the charters of ships, -- "the act of God." Certain calamities at
sea are called "the act of God." So there are certain events in life which may
be very terrible and very sorrowful, but if they are the act of God, they come
to us thus distinguished, "This is from God." Will you not accept it from the
Lord?" Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
Will we not say, with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord"? "This thing is from me." O thou who art his child,
accept the chastisement from thy Father's hand, and kiss the rod with which he
smites thee!Sometimes, also, we are troubled by certain disquieting plans
proposed by our friends or our children. We do not like their schemes, and we
say, "No, do not act so; it seems to me to be quite wrong;" yet, sometimes, a
boy will do this and that; or a friend has made up his mind to take a certain
course, and, at last, when you have pleaded, and persuaded, and urged, and done
your best to turn them from their purpose, if the thought should creep into your
mind, "Peradventure, this thing is from God," then stay your persuasions, as
Paul's friends when he would not be persuaded, ceased to argue with him.
Sometimes, that which seems to be a great mistake may, nevertheless, in the hand
of God, prove to be the right course; our judgment is but fallible, but the
judgment of the Most High is always correct. Struggle not too long, lest thou
bring thyself into another sorrow; but be willing to yield at the right time,
saying, "Peradventure, this thing is from the Lord."A very pleasant phase of
this same truth is when some singular mercy comes. Have not many of you
experienced some very remarkable deliverances? Has not God been pleased to open
for you rivers in the desert, and waters in high places, where waters are not
usually found? Well, whenever singular and startling mercy comes to you, say,
"This is from God." It is a delightful thing when you get a present from a very
choice friend who says, "This is from me." You value it all the more because of
the person from whom it comes. If thou hast nothing but a crust of bread, take
thy knife and cut it, and say, "This is from the Lord." But if he has given thee
a downy bed on which to rest thy weary limbs, and if he has indulged thee with
many luxuries, say thou, "This is from the Lord," and everything shall be the
brighter and the better to thee because he gave it. It is the best part of the
gift. Often, a little thing, which we might despise in itself, becomes
invaluable because of the giver; and all thy life shall be full of rich
treasure, ay, with very "curios" worthy to be stored away, and looked at with
admiration throughout the rest of thy days, because "This is from me," is so
clearly written upon them all.Still applying the principle of our text, let me
remind you that, when a man receives a very striking warning, he ought to hear a
voice at the back of it, saying, "This thing is from me." When near to die,
wrecked, almost aground, or delivered out of an awful accident, if such has been
thy case, hear thou, man, out of all the hurry-burly from which thou hast
escaped, "This is from me." A soldier, who has heard the bullets whistle by his
ear, or who comes out of a battle lopped of a limb but still alive, should hear
this voice, "This is from me." Oh, that men would hear the voice of God, and
turn from their sins! If the Lord has been so gracious as to spare thy life,
count that his long-suffering means to thee repentance, and that his sparing
thee is a call to thee to give up thy sins, and turn to him.The same principle
applies when it is not a striking warning, but when it happens that men have
some tender emotions stealing over them. Some of you to whom I am speaking are
unconverted, but there have been times when, in the house of God, you have felt
very strangely. You may not have actually prayed, but you have almost prayed
that you might pray. "Please God I once get home," you have said, "I will go to
my room, and fall upon my knees before him." Have not even the most thoughtless
of you, when alone, felt as if you must think? In the watches of the night, have
you not been made to consider? A policeman, who came to join the church this
week, said to me, "Often, when I tread my solitary beat, I feel as if I must
think of God. He seems so very near me when there is not a sound to be heard
except the tread of my own feet." Well, if ever you feel that, yield to it. O
dear hearts, if ever you find an unusual softness stealing over you, do not
resist it! It may be that it is the blessed Spirit come to emancipate you from
your obstinacy and hardness, and to bring you into the new life, -- the life of
tenderness and love. When he draws thee, run after him. Let tender impulse and
gentle drawing suffice thee, for all is for thy good. Yield yourselves to the
Spirit's influence even now. While he bids thee, believe in Jesus, and live.
While he whispers to thee, "Repent," repent, and be converted. God grant it, of
his infinite mercy! Our time has gone; but may what has been spoken be
remembered throughout eternity because it can truly be said, "This thing is from
me, saith the Lord." 1 Kings 11:40-43; and 12.God threatened Solomon, on account
of his setting up other gods, that he would rend away a great part of the
kingdom from him, and that he would set up another king in his place.1 Kings
11:40-43. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jereboam. And Jeroboam arose, and
fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of
Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his
wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? And the time
that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon
slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and
Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.After great mountains there usually come
low hills. After Solomon comes Rehoboam. Grace does not run in the blood, we may
be sure, for even human wisdom does not descend from father to son. There is no
necessary transmission of gifts and talents, much less of grace, from one
generation to another.1 Kings 12:1-3. And Rehoboam went to Sheehem: for all
Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the
presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) that they sent and
called him.It was a sure sign of great discontent when the people sent for a
rebel to be their spokesman.3, 4. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of
Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous
now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke
which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.This was a very natural
request; these Oriental monarchs took their thrones as by a kind of divine
right, and there was a tendency among the people to demand something like a
constitution, some regulations by which they should not be so heavily oppressed.
I do not know whether they had been oppressed by Solomon or not; certainly, the
realm as a whole was greatly enriched under his government; but the wisest ruler
must not expect that he will have the uniform love of the people, there will be
come discontented ones in every community.5. And he said unto them, Depart yet
for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.One commentator
says that it is the only sign of wisdom that there is in Rehoboam, that he took
three days to consider the answer to this question. Peradventure, if he had
answered it rightly, it would have been better if answered immediately. Still,
it is a good rule, when there is an important question before you, to take time
to consider it. The mischievous point is that Rehoboam did not wait upon God for
guidance in this emergency. Had he been like his grandfather David, those three
days would have been spent with God in prayer, and he would have come back, with
a greater wisdom than even his father Solomon possessed, to answer the people in
this thing. We often blunder over very ample matters when we speak without
asking guidance of God; but in the most intricate circumstances our course will
be perfectly clear if we commit our way unto the Lord.6-8. And king Rehoboam
consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet
lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? And they spake
unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt
serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy
servants for ever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had
given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and
which stood before him:He was probably a man forty years of age, and therefore
no longer young; but he had all the while been playing the part of a young man.
He had not been old in wisdom when he was young in years; it would have been
well for him if he had been.9-11. And he said unto them, What counsel give ye
that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying Make the yoke
which thy father did put upon us lighter? And the young men that were grown up
with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that
spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it
lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be
thicker than my father's loins. And now whereas my father did lade you with a
heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips,
but I will chastise you with scorpions.Old men are not always wise, and young
men are not always wise; he who consults with men only shall yet learn the truth
of this verse, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his
arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." Among Rehoboam's counsellors, the
old men had no real principle to guide them, they said to the king, in effect,
"Just butter these people with soft words, delude and deceive them with the idea
that you are going to yield to them, and then, when you once get the reins into
your own hands, you can govern the nation as you like." This was a wicked
policy; but the young men said to the king, "No, no, no; do not pretend that you
will listen to the people. There is nothing like putting a bold face on it, and
just letting the people know that you will not yield to them. They will be
startled by what you say; have you not the authority and example of your father
Solomon? Nobody ever dared speak a word of this kind to him, so do you put it
down at once, and be bold." There is no principle, you see, about the advice in
either case; it is all policy, but the latter policy is sure not to succeed. I
counsel you, brother, -- nay, I will give you no counsel except that I counsel
you to take counsel of God. Wait upon him, for he knows what you should do in
every difficulty that may arise. If Rehoboam had only had wit enough and grace
enough to lay this case before his God he would have given him somewhat of the
largeness of heart and the wisdom which he gave to his father Solomon. 12-15. So
Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had
appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. And the king answered the
people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; and spake
to them after the counsel of the young men, saying My father made your yoke
heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but
I will chastise you with scorpions. Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the
people; for the cause was from the LORD,The great, deep, mysterious providence
of God was quietly working even behind the folly and the domineering pride of
this foolish man.15, 16. That he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake
by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the Son of Nebat. So when all Israel saw
that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying,
What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse:
to your tents O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed
unto their tents.He that speaks roughly must expect to be answered roughly. Let
us learn from this incident as one might who sees the warning light of a beacon,
and tacks his ship to avoid the rock on which it is placed.17, 18. But as for
the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over
them. Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute;Having made
trouble, the king tried to make piece. He selected one of the ancient officers
of his father Solomon to be his ambassador, but he selected the very worst that
he could have found, "Adoram, who was over the tribute." The man who had been a
leader in exactions from the people, or who had been thought to be so, was not
the one to act as peace-maker.18-20. And all Israel stoned him with stones, that
he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to
flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that
they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all
Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah
only.See what mischief may be done by one foolish man; and let me add, see what
evil may come of the ill conduct of a wise man. Some think that Rehoboam was
Solomon's only son, though he had a multitude of wives. That I cannot tell: but
it is a singular thing that so wise a man should have but one son mentioned
here, and that he should be such a foolish one. Yet what could be expected to
come out of such a family as Solomon's was? He whose own house is so disorderly
as his was, must expect that those who come after him will be no better than
they should be. Blessed is that home where the Lord is the Master, where his law
is loved, and his word is obeyed.21-24. And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem,
he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and
fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house
of Israel to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the
word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying Speak unto Rehoboam, the
son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and
to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up,
nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his
house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the
LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.It is a very
striking fact that this one prophet did but speak in God's name, and that vast
host disbanded in obedience to his word. It gives us some hope concerning
Rehoboam, yet we cannot be cure that it was he who was thus obedient to the
prophet. The people may have been better than their king; at any rate, they did
not fight against their brethren, but they went their way. Oh, that God's
servants in these days could speak with anything like such power as Shemaiah
possessed!25-27. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt
therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his
heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up
to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of
this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and
they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.Jeroboam is moved by
policy, you see. It is very hard, I believe, to be a ruler over men, and yet to
be a servant of God. There seems to be connected with politics in every country
something that besmears the mind, and defiles the hand that touches it. The king
of Judah had but little wit, and this king of Israel has too much cunning; he is
a far-seeing man, and perceives that, if the people go up to Jerusalem to
worship, they may by-and-by return to their allegiance to the house of David.28.
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto
them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Truly, history repeats itself,
only, if it be bad history, it is apt to grow worse. "Behold thy gods O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." This is almost exactly what
they said in Aaron's days, when he made the ox which Scripture sarcastically
calls a calf, the Egyptian image of strength. Jeroboam makes not merely one
calf, but two; and he speaks of them in nearly the same language as they used
concerning the golden calf in the wilderness: "Behold thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."29, 30. And he set the one in Beth-el,
and the other put he in Daniel And this thing became a sin: for the people went
to worship before the one, even unto Dan.I suppose that Jeroboam did not mean to
draw them away from worshipping Jehovah; but he would have Jehovah worshipped
under some visible image, and not according to the rule which God had laid down.
That is just where mischief often begins, both in the church and in the world.
Men are willing to worship God if they are allowed to have a ritual and symbols
which they have themselves devised; so, instead of the divine simplicity of the
New Testament, they have many things added, things to please the taste,
aesthetic, beautiful, sensuous; all of which take off the mind from that sublime
worship of the invisible God which alone can be acceptable before him. It is not
for us to determine how we will worship God; we are to worship him after his own
manner, for his commandments are still in force: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve
them.""Well, but the cross," someone says, "surely that is a truly venerable
symbol?" Let it be as venerable as you please; but we must not use it in divine
worship. The ox was supposed to set forth strength; surely it was an admirable
emblem of the Almighty, yet God pours contempt upon it when he bids his inspired
servants to speak of it as the image of an ox that eateth grace, as if that
could be any symbol of the Most High! "This thing became a sin."31. And he made
an house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were
not of the sons of Levi.For the sons of Levi went over to Judah, and remained
faithful to God; and the better sort of people probably dreaded to assume the
office to which God had called the sons of Levi, and none would undertake it but
the very lowest of the people.32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth
month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in
Judah,He shifted the month, but retained the day, -- the fifteenth day of the
eighth month instead of the seventh. "That was quite unimportant," say some. I
do not agree with them, for nothing is unimportant that has to do with the law
of God's house. Disobedience may be more plainly seen in some of the
non-essentials than in an essential thing. At all events, we have no right to
alter jot or tittle of the divine command.32, 33. And he offered upon the altar.
So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he
placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made. So he
offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the
eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart;It is a
strong condemnation of anything in religion if it be devised by a man's own
heart. We are to do what God bids us, as God bids us, when God bids us, and
because God bids us; but that which is merely of our own free will, ordained and
manufactured by ourselves, is practically the worship of ourselves, and not the
worship of God.33. And ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he
offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.Thus Israel was led astray at the very
beginning. She came to the turning of the roads, and took the wrong course, and
she went from bad to worse. God save all of us from following her evil example,
but may we all serve the one living and true God, for our Lord Jesus Christ's
sake! Amen.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 71 (Song I), 208, 211.* See
Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No.1,188, [12]"A Word for the Persecuted."


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  CHAPTER 10: DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN
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A Sermon (No.2477) Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, August 9th, 1896,
Delivered by C. H. SPURGEON, At [13]the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. On
Lord's-day Evening, August 1st, 1886. "Until the day break, and the shadows flee
away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the
mountains of Bether." -- SONG OF SOLOMON 2:17. THE SPOUSE SINGS, "Until the day
break, and the shadows flee away," so that the beloved of the Lord may be in the
dark. It may be night with her who has a place in the heart of the Well-beloved.
A child of God, who is a child of light, may be for a while in darkness; first,
darkness comparatively, as compared with the light he has some times enjoyed,
for days are not always equally bright. Some days are bright with a clear
sunshine, other days may be overcast. So the child of God may one day walk, with
full assurance of faith, in close fellowship with the Father and with his Son
Jesus Christ; and at another time he may be questioning his interest in the
covenant of grace, and may be rather sighing than singing, rather mourning than
rejoicing. The child of God may be, then, in comparative darkness. Yes, and he
may be in positive darkness. It may be very black with him, and he may be
obliged to cry, "I see no signs of returning day." Sometimes, neither sun nor
moon appears for a long season to cheer the believer in the dark. This may arise
partly through sickness of body. There are sicknesses of the body which in a
very peculiar way touch the soul; exquisite pain may yet be attended with great
brightness and joy, but there are certain other illnesses which influence us in
another way. Terrible depressions come over us; we walk in darkness, and see no
light. I should not like to guess how heavy a true heart may sometimes become;
there is a needs-be that we be in heaviness through manifold trials. There is
not only a needs-be for the trials, but also for the heaviness which comes out
of them. It is not always that a man can gather himself together, and defy the
fierce blasts, and walk through fire and through water with heavenly equanimity.
No, brethren, "a wounded spirit who can bear?" and that wounded spirit may be
the portion of some of the very fairest of the sons of God; indeed, the Lord has
some weakly, sickly sons who, nevertheless, are the very pick of his family. It
is not always the strong ones by whom he sets the most store; but, sometimes,
those that seem to be driven into a corner, whose days are spent in mourning,
are among the most precious in his sight. Yes, the darkness of the child of God
may be comparative darkness, and it may to a great extent be positive darkness.
But yet it can only be temporary darkness. The same text which suggests night
promises dawn: "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away," says the song
of the spouse. Perhaps no text is more frequently upon my lips than is this one;
I do not think that any passage of Scripture more often recurs to my heart when
I am alone, for just now I feel that there is a gathering gloom over the church
and over the world. It seems as if night were coming on, and such a night as
makes one sigh and cry, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away." I am
going to speak upon three things which are in our text. The first will be, our
prospect. We have a prospect that the day will break, and the shadows flee away.
Secondly, our posture "until the day break, and the shadows flee away." Thirdly,
our petition: "Turn, my Beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the
mountains of division." We are content to wait if he will come to us; if
gladdened with his presence, the night shall seem short, and we can well endure
all that it brings. Let the prayer of our text be put up by any of you who are
waiting in the darkness, and may it be speedily answered in your happy
experience!I. First of all, let us consider OUR PROSPECT. Our prospect is, that
the day will break, and that the shadows will flee away. We may read this
passage in many ways, and apply it to different cases.Think, first, of the child
of God, who is full of doubt. He is afraid that, after all, his supposed
conversion was not a true one, and that he has proved it to be false by his own
misbehaviour. He is afraid, I scarcely know of what, for so many fears crowd in
upon him. He is crying to God to remove his doubts, and to let him once again --
"Read his title clearTo mansions in the skies."His eyes are looking toward the
cross, and somehow, he has a hope, if not quite a persuasion, that he will find
light in Christ, where so many others have found it. I would encourage that hope
till it becomes a firm conviction and a full expectation. The day will break for
you, dear mourner, the shadows will yet flee away. While I say that, I feel able
to speak with great confidence, for my eye, as it looks round on this
congregation, detects many brethren and sisters with whom I have conversed in
the cloudy and dark day. We have prayed together, dear friends, -- have we not?
I have repeated in your hearing those precious promises which are the pillows of
our hope; yet, at the time, it seemed as if you would never be cheered or
comforted. Friends who lived with you grieved much to see you so sad; they could
not understand how such as you who have lived so scrupulously as you believed to
be right, should, nevertheless, come into sadness and despondency. Well, you
have come out of that state, have you not? I can almost catch the bright
expression in your eye as you flash back the response, "It is so, sir; we can
sing among the loudest now, we can leap as a hart, and the tongue that once was
dumb can now sing praises unto the Lord who delivered us." The reason of this
great change is that you did still cling to Christ even when it seemed to be no
use to cling. You had a venturesome faith; when it seemed a risky thing even to
believe, you did believe, and you kept on believing, and now the day has dawned
for you, and the shadows have fled away. Well, so shall it be to all who are in
like case if they will but trust in the Lord, and stay themselves upon our God.
Though they walk in darkness, and see no light, yet by-and-by the day shall
break for them also.This expression is equally applicable when we come into some
personal sorrow not exactly of a spiritual kind. I know that God's children are
not long without tribulation. As long as the wheat is on the threshing-floor, it
must expect to feel the flail. Perhaps you have had a bereavement, or you may
have had losses in business, or crosses in your family, or you have been sorely
afflicted in your own body, and now you are crying to God for deliverance out of
your temporal trouble. That deliverance will surely come. "Trust in the Lord,
and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." "I
have been young," said David, "and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken." The Lord will yet light your candle, and surround your path with
brightness. Only patiently hope and quietly wait, and you shall yet see the
salvation of the Lord. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." Hark that;
you know that part of the verse is true, and so is the rest of it: "but the Lord
delivereth him out of them all." Clutch at that, for it is equally true. "In the
world ye shall have tribulation." You know that is true. "Be of good cheer,"
says Christ, "I have overcome the world." Therefore, expect that you also will
overcome it through your conquering Lord. Yes, in the darkest of all human
sorrows, there is the glad prospect that the day will break, and the shadows
will flee away.This is the case again, I believe, on a grander scale with
reference to the depression of religion at the present time. Some of us are
obliged to go sorrowing when we look upon the state of the church and the world.
We are not accustomed to take gloomy views of things, but we cannot help
grieving over what we see. More and more it forces itself upon us that the
old-fashioned gospel is being either neglected or trampled in the dust. The old
spirit, the old fire that once burned in the midst of the saints of God, is
there still, but it burns very low at present. We want -- I cannot say how much
we want a revival of pure and undefiled religion in this our day. Will it come?
Why should it not come? If we long for it, if we pray for it, if we believe for
it, if we work for it, and prepare for it, it will certainly come. The day will
break, and the shadows will flee away. The mockers think that they have buried
our Lord Jesus Christ. So, perhaps, they have; but he will have a resurrection.
The cry is, "Who will roll us away the stone?" The stone shall be rolled away,
and he, even the Christ in whom our fathers trusted, the Christ of Luther and of
Calvin, of Whitefield and of Wesley, that same Christ shall be among us yet in
the fullness and the glory of his power by the working of the Holy Ghost upon
the hearts of myriads of men. Let us never despair; but, on the contrary, let us
brush the tears from our eyes, and begin to look for the light of the mowing,
for "the morning cometh," and the day will break, and the shadows will flee
away. Let me encourage any friends who have been laboring for Christ in any
district which has seemed strikingly barren, where the stones of the field have
seemed to break the ploughshare. Still believe on, beloved; that soil which
appears most unfruitful will perhaps repay us after a while with a hundred-fold
harvest. The prospect may be dark; perhaps, dear friends, it is to be darker yet
with us. We may have worked, and seemed to work in vain; possibly the vanity of
all our working is yet to appear still more; but for all that, "the morning
cometh." "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." We must not be in the least
afraid even in the densest darkness; but, on the contrary, look for the coming
blessing.I believe that this is to be the case also in this whole world. It is
still the time of darkness, it is still the hour of shadows. I am no prophet,
nor the son of a prophet, and I cannot foretell what is yet to happen in the
earth; it may be that the darkness will deepen still more, and that the shadows
will multiply and increase; but the Lord will come. When he went up from Olivet,
he sent two of his angels down to say, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." He is surely coming;
and though the date of his return is hidden from our sight, all the signs of the
times look as if he might come very speedily. I was reading, the other day, what
old Master William Bridge says on this subject: -- "If our Lord is coming at
midnight, he certainly will come very soon, for it cannot be darker than it now
is." That was written two hundred years ago, but our Lord has not come yet, and
I might say much the same as Master Bridge did. Do not doubt as to Christ's
coming because it is delayed. A person lies dying, and the report concerning him
is, "Well, it does not look as if he could live many hours." You call again, and
they say, "Well, he still survives, but it seems as if he would scarcely get
through the night." Do you go away and say, "Oh, he will not die; for I have
expected, for several days, to hear that he has passed away"? Oh, no! but each
time you hear the report, you feel, "Well, it is so much nearer the end." And so
is our Master's coming; it is getting nearer every hour, so let us keep on
expecting it. That glorious advent shall end our weary waiting days, it shall
end our conflicts with infidelity and priestcraft, it shall put an end to all
our futile endeavors; and when the great Shepherd shall appear in his glory,
then shall every faithful under-shepherd and all his flock appear with him, and
then shall the day break, and the shadows flee away.As to the shadows fleeing;
what are those shadows that are to fly at his approach? The types and shadows of
the ceremonial law were all finished when Christ appeared the first time; but
many shadows still remain, -- the shadows of our doubts, the grim mysterious
shadows of our fears, the shadows of sin, so black, so dense, -- the shadows of
abounding unbelief, ten thousand shadows. When he cometh, these shall all flee
away; and with them shall go heaven and earth, -- the heaven and earth that now
are, for what are these but shadows? All things that are unsubstantial shall
pass away when he appeareth; when the day breaks, then shall everything but that
which is eternal and invisible pass away. We are glad that it shall be so; and
we pray that soon the day may break, and the shadows flee away. This, then, is
our prospect.II. Now I want to occupy a few minutes of your time in considering
OUR POSTURE "until the day break, and the shadows flee away." We are here, like
soldiers on guard, waiting for the dawn. It is night, and the night is
deepening; how shall we occupy ourselves until the day break, and the shadows
flee away?Well, first, we will wait in the darkness with patient endurance as
long as God appoints it. Whatever of shadow is yet to come, whatever of cold
damp air and dews of the night is yet to fall upon us, we will bear it. Soldiers
of the cross, you must not wish to avoid these shadows; he who has called you to
this service knew that it would be night time, and he called you to night duty;
and being put upon the night watch, keep at your post. It is not for any of us
to say, "We will desert because it is so dark." Has not the thought sometimes
grossed your mind, "I am not succeeding; I will run away"? Have you not often
felt, like Jonah, that you would go to Tarshish that you might escape from
delivering your Master's message? Oh, do not so! The day will break, and the
shadows flee away; and until then, watch through the night, and fear not the
shadows. Play the man, remembering through what a sevenfold night your Master
passed, when, in Gethsemane, he endured even to a bloody sweat for you. When, on
the gross, even his mid-day was midnight, what must have been the darkness over
his spirit? He bore it; then bear you it. Let no thought of fear pass over your
mind; or, if it does, let not your heart be troubled, but rise above your fear
until the day break, and the shadows flee away. Be of good courage, soldiers of
Christ, and still wait on in patient endurance. What next are we to do until the
day break? Why, let there be hopeful watching. Keep your eyes towards the East,
and look for the first grey sign of the coming morning. "Watch!" Oh, how little
is done of this kind of work! We scarcely watch as we ought against the devil;
but how little do we watch for the coming of our Master! Look for every sign of
his appearing, and be ever listening for the sound of his chariot wheels. Keep
the candle burning in the window, to let him see that you are awake; keep the
door on the latch, that when he cometh you may quickly open unto him. Hopefully
watch until the day break, and the shadows flee away.Then, further, dear
friends, while we maintain patient endurance and hopeful watching, let us give
each other mutual encouragement. Men who have been shipwrecked will give each
other a hand, and say, "Brother, mayhap we shall escape after all." Now that it
is midnight all around, let every Christian give his fellow-soldier a grip of
his hand. Courage, brothers; the Lord has not forgotten us. We are in the dark,
and cannot see him; but he can see us, and he knows all about us, and maybe he
will come, walking on the stormy waters in the middle watch of the night when
our little bark seems ready to be sunk beneath the waves by the boisterous wind.
I seem just now as though I were a soldier in this great guard-room, and as if
we were sitting in these shadows, and perhaps in the darkness, and seemed very
much dispirited; and I would say to you my comrades, "Come, brothers, let us
cheer up. The Lord hath appeared to one and another of us. He hath given to some
of us the light of his countenance, and he is coming back to welcome us all unto
himself. Let us not be dismayed; our glorious Leader forgets not the weakest and
feeblest of us, neither is any part of the battle-field beyond the reach of the
great Captain's eye. He sees which way the struggle is going, and he has
innumerable reserves, which he will bring up at the right time. I seem to hear
the music of his horse's hoofs even now. He is coming who shall turn the scale
in the worst moment of the conflict, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will
deliver the enemy into our hand. Let no man's heart fail him because of yonder
Goliath; the God who has raised up men to slay the lion and the bear, will yet
find a David and a smooth stone to kill this mighty giant. Wherefore, brothers,
be of good courage."What further should we do in the dark? Well, one of the best
things to do in the dark is to stand still and keep our place. "Until the day
break and the shadows flee away," let us keep our place, and firmly maintain our
position. A brother who sat at the back of me, twenty years ago, dropped in
again recently to hear me preach; and he said to me, after the service, that he
had been back in America, and come over here again after twenty years, and he
added, "It is the same old story, Spurgeon, as when I was here before; you are
sticking to the same old gospel" I replied, "Yes, and if you will come in twenty
years' time, if God spares me, I shall still be sticking to the same old gospel,
for I have nailed my colors to the mast, and I do not mean to have anything to
do with this new-fangled progressive theology." To me, the gospel came to
perfection long ago in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it can never go
beyond that perfection. We preach nothing but that gospel which has saved our
own souls, and saved the souls of the myriads who have gone to their eternal
rest, and we do not intend preaching anything else until somebody can find us
something better, and that will not be to-morrow, nor the day after, nor as long
as the world stands. It is dark, very dark, so we just stop where we are, in
steadfast confidence in the Lord who has placed us where we are. We are not
going to plunge on in a reckless manner, we mean to look before we leap; and as
it is too dark to look, we will not leap, but will just abide here hard by the
cross, battling with every adversary of the truth as long as we have a right
hand to move in the name of the Almighty God, "until the day break, and the
shadows flee away."What else ought we to do? Keep up a careful separateness from
the works of darkness that are going on all around us. If it seems dark to you,
gather up your skirts, and gird up your loins. The more sin abounds in the
world, the more ought the Church of God to seek after the strictest holiness. If
ever there was an age that wanted back again the sternest form of Puritanism, it
is this age. If ever there was a time when we needed the old original stamp of
Methodists, we need them now, -- a people separated unto God, a people that have
nothing to do but to please God and to save souls, a people that will not in any
way bow themselves to the fashions of the time. For my part, I would like to see
a George Fox come back among us, ay, Quaker as he was, to bear such a testimony
as he did bear in the power of the Spirit of God against the evils of his time.
God make us to feel that now, in the dark, we cannot be even as lenient as we
might have been in brighter days towards the sin that surrounds us! Are any of
you tempted into "society" so-called, and into the ways of that society? Every
now and then, those who read the papers get some little idea of what is going on
in "society." The stench that comes from "society" tells us what it must be
like, and makes us wish to keep clear of it. The awful revelations that were
once before made, which caused us to be sick with shame and sorrow, might be
made again; for there is just the same foulness and filthiness beneath the
surface of the supposed greater decency. O Christian people, if you could but
know, as the most of you ought not to know, how bad this world is, you would not
begin to talk about its wonderful improvements, or to question the doctrine of
human depravity. We are going on, according to some teachers, by "evolution"
into something; if I might prognosticate what it is, I should say that it is
into devils that many men are being evolved. They are going down, down, down,
save where eternal grace is begetting in the heart of men a higher and better
and nobler nature, which must bear its protest against the ignorance or
hypocrisy which this day talks about the improvements of our civilization, and
the progress that we are making towards God. "Until the day break, and the
shadows flee away," keep yourselves to your Lord, and hear you this voice
sounding through the darkness, the voice of a wisdom that sees more than you
see, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty." "Until the day
break, and the shadows flee away," lift your hands to heaven, and pledge
yourselves to walk a separated pilgrim life, until he cometh before whose face
heaven and earth shall flee away. III. Now I close by noticing OUR PETITION:
"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be thou
like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."I am not going to
preach upon that part of our text, but only just to urge you to turn it into
prayer. We have to wait, brothers and sisters; we have to wait in the darkness,
cheered here and there with the light from a golden lamp that glows with the
light of God. The world lieth in darkness, but we are of God, little children,
therefore this must be our prayer to our Well-beloved, "Come unto us." "Turn to
me, O my Beloved, for thou hast turned away from me, or from thy Church. Turn
again, I beseech thee. Pardon my lukewarmness, forgive my indifference. Turn to
me again, my Beloved. O thou Husband of my soul, if I have grieved thee, and
thou hast hidden thy face from me, turn again unto me! Smile thou, for then
shall the day break, and the shadows flee away. Come to me, my Lord, visit me
once again." Put up that prayer, beloved.The prayer of the spouse is in this
poetic form: "Come over the mountains of division." As we look out into the
darkness, what little light there is appears to reveal to us Alp upon Alp,
mountain upon mountain, and our Beloved seems divided from us by all these
hills. Now our prayer is, that he would come over the top of them; we cannot go
over the top of them to him, but he can come over the top; of them to us, if he
think fit to do so. Like the hinds' feet, this blessed Hind of the morning can
come skipping over the hills with utmost speed to visit and to deliver us. Make
this your prayer, Great Master, sweetly-beloved One, come over the mountains of
division, and come quickly, like a roe or a young hart. Come easily, come
unexpectedly; as roes and harts let no man know when they will come, so come
thou unto me." I wish that, even while we are sitting here, our Divine Lord
would come to our spirits with all his ravishing charms, so that we might cry,
"Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib." Have you
never felt an influence steal over you which has lifted you out of yourself, and
made you go as on burning wheels with axles hot with speed, where before you had
been sluggish and dull? Our Well-beloved can come and visit us, all on a sudden,
without any trouble to himself. It cost him his life's blood to come to earth to
save us; it will cost him nothing to come just now to bless us. Remember what he
has already done; for, having done so much, he will not deny you the lesser
blessing of coming to you. Are you saved by his grace? Then do not think that he
will refuse you fellowship with himself. Pray for it now. Before we come to the
communion table, pray for it, and while you are sitting there, let this be your
cry, "Come to me, my Beloved, over the hills of division; come as a roe or a
young hart;" and he will come to you. Put up your prayer in the sweet words we
sang just now, -- "When wilt thou come unto me, Lord?O come, my Lord most
dear!Come near, come nearer, nearer still,I'm blest when thou art near."When
wilt thou come unto me, Lord?Until thou dost appear,I count each moment for a
day,Each minute for a year."Oh, that this might be one of those happy seasons
when you shall not be fed by the preacher's talk, but by the Master revealing
himself to you! May God graciously grant it!I may be addressing some who long to
find the Savior. This morning, I got, from a friend who came in to see me, an
illustration which I will give to you. He told me -- and oh, how he made my
heart rejoice! -- that, six years ago, he was, so the apostle says, "going about
to establish his own righteousness." He is a man of reputation, and when a
friend sent him some of my sermons to read, he thought to himself, "What do I
want these sermons for? I am as good so any man can be." But he did read them,
and the friend asked him, "Have you read those sermons of Mr. Spurgeon's that I
sent you?" "Yes," he replied, "I have; but I have got no good out of them." "Why
not?" "Why," he said, "he has spoiled me; he has dashed my hopes to the ground,
he has taken away my comfort and my joy; I thought myself as good as anybody
living, and he has made me feel as if I were rotten right through." "Oh!" said
his friend, "that medicine is working well, you must take some more of it." But
the more of the sermons he read, the more unhappy he became, the more he saw the
hollowness of all his former hopes; and he came into a great darkness, and the
day did not break, and the shadows did not flee away. But, on a sudden, he was
brought out into the light. As he told me the story, this morning, his eyes were
wet, and so were mine. This is how the Lord led him into peace; I wish the
telling of it might bring the same blessing to some of you. He said, "I went
with my friend to fish for salmon in Loch Awe. I threw a fly, and as I threw it,
a fish leaped up, and took it in a moment." "There," said the friend to him,
"that is what you have to do with Christ, what that fish did with your fly. I am
sure I do not know whether the fly took the fish, or the fish took the fly; it
was both, the bait took the fish, and the fish took the bait. Do just so with
Christ, and do not ask any questions. Leap up at him, take him in, lay hold of
him." The man did so, and at once he was saved; I wish that somebody else would
do the came. I never ask you to answer the question whether it is Christ who
takes you or you who take Christ, for both things will happen at the same
moment. Will you have him? Will you have him? If you will have him, he has you.
If you are willing to have Christ, Christ has already made you willing in the
day of his power. Throw yourself upon Christ, as the salmon opened his mouth,
and took in the bait; so do you take Christ into your very soul. Writing to the
Romans, Paul says, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth." What is the thing
to do with that which is in your mouth when you want to keep it? Why, swallow
it, of course! Do so with Christ, let him go right down into your soul I put him
into your mouth, as it were, while I am preaching. Accept him, receive him, and
he is yours directly. Then shall the day break, and the shadows flee away, and
your Beloved shall have come to you over the mountains of division, never to
leave you again, but to abide with you for ever. God bless you! Amen. Luke
12:22-48.Verses 22-23. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you,
Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye
shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.If
you are God's servants, he will clothe you. There is no servitor of the Lord of
hosts who will have to go without his livery, and not one who belongs to his
vast household, even though he is but a menial in God's kitchen, who will ever
be permitted to starve.24-26. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor
reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much
more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add
to his stature one cubit? If ye then be able to do that thing which is least,
why take ye thought for the rest?How little you can do for yourself after all!
Therefore, leave the whole with God."Make you his service your delight,He'll
make your wants his care."The best cure for the cares of this life is to care
much to please God. If we loved him better, we should love the world far less,
and be less troubled about our portion in it.27, 28. Consider the lilies how
they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of those. If then God so clothe the
grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how
much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?What a title to address to
us, -- "O ye of little faith!" -- but, depend upon it, we deserve it when we are
full of anxious care. Much care argues little faith. When faith is strong, she
casts all her care on him who careth for us. Oh, that we could but be rid of
that which, after all, is not our business, and give our whole mind, and heart,
and soul, to what is our business, namely, to please our Creator, our Redeemer,
our Friend!29, 30. And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink,
neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all those things do the nations of the world
seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.Is not
that a sweet word? "Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things."
There used to be a hymn which was sung a good deal at revival meetings, it had a
very sweet refrain, "This my Father knows." If you cannot yourselves understand
your ease, your Father knows all about it. If you cannot make other people
comprehend it, yet your Father knows all that needs to be known. Whatever you
really require, even for the present life, need not be any cause of anxiety to
you, believers, for "your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things."
There is no need, therefore, for you to seek "what ye shall eat, or what ye
shall drink."31, 32. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all those things
shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom.He gives others a good many things, but he will
give you the kingdom. Just as Abraham gave portions to the sons of Keturah, and
sent them away; but Isaac had the covenant blessing; so, "it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom."33. Sell that ye have, and give alms;Not
only give to the poor till you pinch yourself, but even pinch yourself to do
it.33-35. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens
that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about,
and your lights burning;Never be undressed, as it were, in a moral or spiritual
sense: "Let your loins be girded about." Never be in the dark spiritually. Keep
in the light; let your lamp be ever burning. Not only walk in the light of God
but let your light shine before men.36. And ye yourselves like unto men that
wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh
and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.Brethren, whatever theory we
hold about the future, may God grant that it may never prevent our looking for
the coming of Christ as an event which may happen at any moment, and being on
the watch for it as a matter the date of which we do not know! The practical
essence of all Scriptural teaching upon that subject is just this, "Ye
yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the
wedding."37. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find
watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to
sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.I will not attempt fully to
explain this passage of Scripture in the few moments which I can give to it, but
it is very wonderful. Our Lord has been here once, and girded himself to serve
us; but is it not extraordinary that here is an intimation of a second girding
of himself that he may serve us? Oh, how fond is Christ of being the servant of
servants, ministering unto those who delight to minister unto him! What an honor
does the Captain of our salvation put upon the meanest soldiers in this war when
he declares that, if we be found faithful, he will gird himself, and come forth
and serve us! 38-40. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the
third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that
if the good-man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would
have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye
therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think
not.Peradventure he will not come when the modern prophetic say that he will
appear, but he will come when least of all he is expected. Therefore, expect the
unexpected; look for your Lord to come when the many go to deep. Perhaps, while
yet I am speaking, ere this gathered assembly shall disperse, there may be heard
the cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Are our loins
girded? Are our lamps burning? God bless his own truth to the effecting of both
those ends!41-43. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable
unto us, or even to all? And the lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise
steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their
portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he
cometh shall find so doing.Distributing the bread of life, giving milk to babes
and meat to strong men; not behaving as if he were master, but acting only as a
steward who serves out, not his own, but his master's stores. Oh, that we who
are ministers of Christ may be always doing this! So shall we obtain the
blessing promised to "that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so
doing."44, 45. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all
the he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and
drink, and to be drunken;First, he becomes lordly, he acts as if he were master,
beats his fellowservants, he is harsh and ungenerous, and assumes great dignity
and gives himself airs. Let him mind what he is at, for his Master will come,
and catch him usurping his place. The next danger is that he begins to enjoy
himself, to be voluptuous, self-indulgent: "To eat and drink, and to be
drunken." He becomes intoxicated with pride, he is carried away with divers
errors; in making much of himself he loses his head, and acts like a fool.46.
The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at
an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him
his portion with the unbelievers.Truly, our Lord uses very strong words; the
Savior is not one of your effeminate preachers like those of modern times, who
seem as if the very word "hell" would burn their lips, and who will not warn men
to flee from the wrath to come. It is an unkind and heartless want of humanity
which prevents their being faithful to the souls of men. The great Lord, who is
full of tenderness, does not hesitate to use the sternest figure, and the most
terrible language, simply because he does not consult his own feelings but aims
at the highest good of those with whom he deals. This is a terrible word for us
if we are unfaithful at the last: "He will cut him in sunder, and will appoint
him his portion with the unbelievers." It is an awful thing that the unfaithful
servant gets his portion with those who do not believe in Christ. The Lord
preserve all of us from such a doom!47, 48. And that servant, which knew his
lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall
be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy
of stripes, shall be beaten with a few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of
him they will ask the more.Under the shadow of such solemn texts as these, let
us draw near to God in earnest prayer.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK" -- 810,
766.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/spurgeons-sermons-volume-42-1896/
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