That disciple whom Jesus loved is not at all backward to record that Jesus loved Lazarus too: there are no jealousies among those who are chosen by the Well-beloved. Jesus loved Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus: it is a happy thing where a whole family live in the love of Jesus. They were a favoured trio, and yet, as the serpent came into Paradise, so did sorrow enter their quiet household at Bethany. Lazarus was sick. They all felt that if Jesus were there disease would flee at his presence; what then should they do but let him know of their trial? Lazarus was near to death’s door, and so his tender sisters at once reported the fact to Jesus, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” Many a time since then has that same message been sent to our Lord, for in full many a case he has chosen his people in the furnace of affliction. Of the Master it is said, “himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses,” and it is, therefore, no extraordinary thing for the members to be in this matter conformed to their Head.

Notice, first, a fact mentioned in the text: “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” The sisters were somewhat astonished that it should be so, for the word “behold” implies a measure of surprise. “We love him, and would make him well directly: thou lovest him, and yet he remains sick. Thou canst heal him with a word, why then is thy loved one sick?” Have not you, dear sick friend, often wondered how your painful or lingering disease could be consistent with your being chosen, and called, and made one with Christ? I dare say this has greatly perplexed you, and yet in very truth it is by no means strange, but a thing to be expected.

We need not be astonished that the man whom the Lord loves is sick, for he is only a man. The love of Jesus does not separate us from the common necessities and infirmities of human life. Men of God are still men. The covenant of grace is not a charter of exemption from consumption, or rheumatism, or asthma. The bodily ills, which come upon us because of our flesh, will attend us to the tomb, for Paul saith, “we that are in this body do groan.”

Those whom the Lord loves are the more likely to be sick, since they are under a peculiar discipline. It is written, “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Affliction of some sort is one of the marks of the true-born child of God, and it frequently happens that the trial takes the form of illness. Shall we therefore wonder that we have to take our turn in the sick chamber? If Job, and David, and Hezekiah must each one smart, who are we that we should be amazed because we are in ill-health?

Nor is it remarkable that we are sick if we reflect upon the great benefit which often flows from it to ourselves. I do not know what peculiar improvement may have been wrought in Lazarus, but many a disciple of Jesus would have been of small use if he had not been afflicted. Strong men are apt to be harsh, imperious, and unsympathetic, and therefore they need to be put into the furnace, and melted down. I have known Christian women who would never have been so gentle, tender, wise, experienced, and holy if they had not been mellowed by physical pain. There are fruits in God’s garden as well as in man’s which never ripen till they are bruised. Young women who are apt to be volatile, conceited, or talkative, are often trained to be full of sweetness and light by sickness after sickness, by which they are taught to sit at Jesus’ feet. Many have been able to say with the psalmist, “It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.” For this reason even such as are highly favoured and blessed among women may feel a sword piercing through their hearts.

Oftentimes this sickness of the Lord’s loved ones is for the good of others. Lazarus was permitted to be sick and to die, that by his death and resurrection the apostles might be benefited. His sickness was “for the glory of God.” Throughout these nineteen hundred years which have succeeded Lazarus’ sickness all believers have been getting good out of it, and this afternoon we are all the better because he languished and died. The church and the world may derive immense advantage through the sorrows of good men: the careless may be awakened, the doubting may be convinced, the ungodly may be converted, the mourner may be comforted through our testimony in sickness; and if so, would we wish to avoid pain and weakness? Are we not quite willing that our friends should say of us also “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick”?

Our text, however, not only records a fact, but mentions a report of that fact: the sisters sent and told Jesus. Let us keep up a constant correspondence with our Lord about everything.

“Sing a hymn to Jesus, when thy heart is faint;

Tell it all to Jesus, comfort or complaint.”

Jesus knows all about us, but it is a great relief to pour out our hearts before him. When John the Baptist’s broken-hearted disciples saw their leader beheaded, “they took up the body, and went and told Jesus.” They could not have done better. In all trouble send a message to Jesus, and do not keep your misery to yourself. In his case there is no need of reserve, there is no fear of his treating you with cold pride, or heartless indifference, or cruel treachery. He is a confidant who never can betray us, a friend who never will refuse us.

There is this fair hope about telling Jesus, that he is sure to support us under it. If you go to Jesus, and ask, “Most gracious Lord, why am I sick? I thought I was useful while in health, and now I can do nothing; why is this?” he may be pleased to show you why, or, it not, he will make you willing to bear his will with patience without knowing why. He can bring his truth to your mind to cheer you, or strengthen your heart by his presence, or send you unexpected comforts, and give you to glory in your afflictions. “Ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” Not in vain did Mary and Martha send to tell Jesus, and not in vain do any seek his face.

Remember, too, that Jesus may give healing. It would not be wise to live by a supposed faith, and cast off the physician and his medicines, any more than to discharge the butcher, and the tailor, and expect to be fed and clothed by faith; but this would be far better than forgetting the Lord altogether, and trusting to man only. Healing for both body and soul must be sought from God. We make use of medicines, but these can do nothing apart from the Lord, “who healeth all our diseases.” We may tell Jesus about our aches and pains, and gradual declinings, and hacking coughs. Some persons are afraid to go to God about their health: they pray for the pardon of sin, but dare not ask the Lord to remove a headache: and, yet, surely, if the hairs outside our head are all numbered by God it is not much more of a condescension for him to relieve throbs and pressures inside the head. Our big things must be very little to the great God, and our little things cannot be much less. It is a proof of the greatness of the mind of God that while ruling the heavens and the earth, he is not so absorbed by these great concerns as to be forgetful of the least pain or want of any one of his poor children. We may go to him about our failing breath, for he first gave us lungs and life. We may tell him about the eye which grows dim, and the ear which loses hearing, for he made them both. We may mention the swollen knee, and the gathering finger, the stiff neck, and the sprained foot, for he made all these our members, redeemed them all, and will raise them all from the grave. Go at once, and say, “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”

Thirdly, let us notice in the case of Lazarus a result which we should not have expected. No doubt when Mary and Martha sent to tell Jesus they looked to see Lazarus recover as soon as the messenger reached the Master; but they were not gratified. For two days the Lord remained in the same place, and not till he knew that Lazarus was dead did he speak of going to Judæa. This teaches us that Jesus may be informed of our trouble, and yet may act as if he were indifferent to it. We must not expect in every case that prayer for recovery will be answered, for if so, nobody would die who had chick or child, friend or acquaintance to pray for him. In our prayers for the lives of beloved children of God we must not forget that there is one prayer which may be crossing ours, for Jesus prays, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.” We pray that they may remain with us, but when we recognise that Jesus wants them above, what can we do but admit his larger claim and say, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt”? In our own case, we may pray the Lord to raise us up, and yet though he loves us he may permit us to grow worse and worse, and at last to die. Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his life, but we may not gain the reprieve of a single day. Never set such store by the life of any one dear to you, or even by your own life, as to be rebellious against the Lord. If you hold the life of any dear one with too tight a hand, you are making a rod for your own back; and if you love your own earthly life too well, you are making a thorny pillow for your dying bed. Children are often idols, and in such cases their too ardent lovers are idolaters. We might as well make a god of clay, and worship it, as the Hindoos are said to do, as worship our fellow-creatures, for what are they but clay? Shall dust be so dear to us that we quarrel with our God about it? If our Lord leaves us to suffer, let us not repine. He must do that for us which is kindest and best, for he loves us better than we love ourselves.

Did I hear you say, “Yes, Jesus allowed Lazarus to die, but he raised him up again”? I answer, he is the resurrection and the life to us also. Be comforted concerning the departed, “Thy brother shall rise again,” and all of us whose hope is in Jesus shall partake in our Lord’s resurrection. Not only shall our souls live, but our bodies, too, shall be raised incorruptible. The grave will serve as a refining pot, and this vile body shall come forth vile no longer. Some Christians are greatly cheered by the thought of living till the Lord comes, and so escaping death. I confess that I think this no great gain, for so far from having any preference over them that are asleep, those who are alive and remain at his coming will miss one point of fellowship, in not dying and rising like their Lord. Beloved, all things are yours, and death is expressly mentioned in the list, therefore do not dread it, but rather “long for evening to undress, that you may rest with God.”

I will close with a question-“Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus”-does Jesus in a special sense love you? Alas, many sick ones have no evidence of any special love of Jesus towards them, for they have never sought his face, nor trusted in him. Jesus might say to them “I never knew you,” for they have turned their backs upon his blood and his cross. Answer, dear friend, to your own heart this question, “Do you love Jesus?” If so, you love him because he first loved you. Are you trusting him? If so, that faith of yours is the proof that he has loved you from before the foundation of the world, for faith is the token by which he plights his troth to his beloved.

If Jesus loves you, and you are sick, let all the world see how you glorify God in your sickness. Let friends and nurses see how the beloved of the Lord are cheered and comforted by him. Let your holy resignation astonish them, and set them admiring your Beloved, who is so gracious to you that he makes you happy in pain, and joyful at the gates of the grave. If your religion is worth anything it ought to support you now, and it will compel unbelievers to see that he whom the Lord loveth is in better case when he is sick than the ungodly when full of health and vigour.

If you do not know that Jesus loves you, you lack the brightest star that can cheer the night of sickness. I hope you will not die as you now are, and pass into another world without enjoying the love of Jesus: that would be a terrible calamity indeed. Seek his face at once, and it may be that your present sickness is a part of the way of love by which Jesus would bring you to himself. Lord, heal all these sick ones in soul and in body. Amen.

at school

A Sermon

delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.”-Psalm 143:10.

This is a prayer about doing, but it is perfectly free from legal taint. The man who offered it had no idea of being saved by his doings, for in the second verse of the psalm he had said, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” This is not the prayer of a sinner seeking salvation, for salvation is not by doing the will of God but by believing in Christ. It is the prayer of the man who is already saved, and who being saved devotes himself to the service of God, and wishes to be taught in the fear of the Lord. “Teach me to do thy will, O God.”

The connection leads us to make the remark that David looked upon the doing of God’s will as his best escape from his enemies. He speaks of his cruel persecutors. He declares that though he looked all around he could find none who would help him. Then he prays, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.” And depend upon it, the surest way to escape from harm is to do no ill. If you are surrounded by those who would slander you, your best defence is a blameless life; and if many are watching for your halting and maliciously desiring your fall, your safety lies in holiness. The very best prayer you can pray for your own protection is, “Teach me to do thy will.” If you do right none can harm you.

This prayer was suggested by the perplexity of the psalmist’s mind. He was overwhelmed, and did not know what to do, and therefore he cried, “Teach me to do thy will, O God,” He had come to a place where many roads met, and he did not know which path to take; and so he prayed God to guide him in the way appointed. I commend this prayer to all who may be sorely puzzled and anxious. You have exercised your own judgment, and you have, perhaps, too much consulted with friends, and yet your way seems entirely blocked up: then resort to God with this as your heart’s prayer, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.”

May the Spirit of God now bless us while we open up this short prayer that we may be helped to understand it, and use it. First, we will speak upon the prayer; and then, secondly, upon its answer.

1. And, first, the prayer itself-let us notice its character.

It is a holy prayer. “Teach me to do thy will.” The man who utters this language desires to be free from sin, for sin can never be God’s will. Under no circumstances whatever may I do wrong and fancy that I am doing God’s will therein. I have read of an extremely poor man who wanted fuel for the fire for his children, and the text came to his mind, “All things are yours.” Armed with this text, he thought he would take a little wood from his neighbour’s wood-pile; but very happily there came to his mind another text, “Thou shalt not steal.” He was quite clear about its meaning, and so he let the wood alone; but he recollected afterwards how that text had saved him from a great transgression. Depend upon it, whatever circumstances or impressions may seem to say, it is never God’s will that you should do wrong. There are devil’s providences as well as God’s providences. When Jonah wanted to go to Tarshish, he found a ship going thither; and I dare say he said “How providential!” Yes, but no providence can ever be an excuse for sinning against God. We are to do right, and therefore we pray, “Teach me to do thy will.”

It is a humble prayer-the prayer of a man of deep experience, and yet, for all that, and perhaps because of that, a man who felt that he needed teaching as to every step he should take. When you do not want teaching, brother, it is because you are too stupid to learn: you may depend upon that. It is only a very young lady fresh from a boarding-school, who has “finished her education,” and it is only a great fool of a man who thinks that he can learn no more. Those who know themselves best, and know the world best, and know God best, always have the lowest thoughts of themselves. They have no wisdom of their own except this, that they are wise enough to flee from their own wisdom, and say to the Lord, “Teach me to do thy will.” This is a holy prayer and a humble prayer, and commends itself to every holy and humble heart.

It is, dear friends, a docile prayer-the prayer of a teachable man. “Teach me to do thy will.” It is not merely, you see, “Teach me thy will,” but “Teach me to do it.” The person is so ignorant that he needs to be taught how to do anything and everything. You may tell a child how to walk, but it will not walk for all that. You must teach it to walk. You must take it by the arms as God did Ephraim. He says, “I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms,” just as a nurse teaches her little ones. “Teach me to do.” Lord, it is not enough that thou teach my head and teach my heart, but teach my hands and my feet. “Teach me to do thy will.” Such a suppliant is docile, and ready to learn.

It is an acquiescent prayer also, which is a great thing in its favour. “Teach me to do thy will-not mine. I will put my will on one side.” He does not say, “Lord, teach me to do part of thy will, that part which pleases me,” but all thy will. If there be any part of thy will which I am not pleased with, for that very reason teach it to me, until my whole soul shall be conformed to thy mind, and I shall love thy will, not because it happens to be pleasing, but because it is thy will. It is a prayer of resignation and self-abnegation, and is, perhaps, one of the highest that the Christian can pray, though it may well befit the learner who stands for the first time at wisdom’s door.

And then notice that it is a believing prayer-“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.” There is faith in God in this claim. “Thou art my God;” and there is faith in God’s condescension that he will act as a Teacher. Brethren, we have two faults. We do not think God to be so great as he is, and we do not think God can be so little as he can be. We err on both sides, and neither know his height of glory nor his depth of grace. We practically say, “This trial is too mean; I will bear it without him.” We forget that the same God who rules the stars condescends to be a Teacher, and teaches us to do his will. We heard once of a president of a great nation who nevertheless taught in a Sunday-school: it was thought to be great condescension, but what shall I say of him who, while he sits amid the choirs of angels and accepts their praises, comes down to his little children and teaches them to do his will! The prayer before us is very precious, for it is holy, humble, docile, acquiescent, and believing.

Let us now notice what the actual request is. In so many words it says, “Teach me to do thy will.” So, brethren and sisters, it is a practical prayer. He does not say merely, “Teach me to know thy will”-a very excellent prayer that; but there are a great many who stick fast in the knowing, and do not go on to the doing; these are forgetful hearers, deceiving themselves. An ounce of doing is worth a ton of knowing. The most orthodox faith in the world, if it be accompanied by an unholy life, will only increase a man’s damnation. There must be the yielding up of the members and of the mind unto God in obedience, or else the more we know the greater will be our condemnation.

The psalmist does not say, “Lord, help me to talk about thy will,” though it is a very proper thing to talk about, and a very profitable thing to hear about. But still doing is better than talking. If t’s were w’s there would be more saints in the world than there are; that is to say, if those who talk uprightly would also walk uprightly it would be well; but with many the talk is better than the walk. Better a silent tongue than an unclean life. Practical godliness is preferable to the sweetest eloquence.

The prayer is, “Teach me to do thy will.” There are some who long to be taught in all mysteries; and truly to understand a mystery aright is a great privilege, but their main thought seems to be to know the deep doctrines, the mysterious points. Many go into prophecy, and a nice muddle they make when they get there. We have had I do not know how many theories of prophecy, each one of them more absurd than the rest, and so it will be, I fear, to the world’s end. Truly, it would be a good thing to understand the prophecies, and all knowledge, “and yet show I unto you a more excellent way”; and that excellent way is to live a life of humble, godly dependence and faith, and to show forth in your life the love that was in Christ Jesus. Lord, I chiefly long to know thy will: teach me that, and I am content.

I have already said that this prayer asks that we may do God’s will, not our own. Oh! how naturally our heart prays, “Lord, let me have my own way.” That is the first prayer of human nature when it is let alone; “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? Let me have my own way.” That desire will sometimes enter the Christian’s heart, though I hope it will not long remain there. We may be praying, “Lord, not my will, but thine be done,” and yet the wicked, rebellious heart may be saying inside, “But do let it be my will, Lord: do let it be my will.” Still do we cling to self. May the Lord deliver us from Lord Will-be-will, who is a terrible tyrant wherever he rules; and may this be our prayer, “Teach me to do thy will.”

We are not to ask to do other people’s will, though some persons are always slaves to the wills of others. Whatever their company is that are they. In Rome they do as Rome does: they try to accommodate themselves to their family; they cannot take a stand, or be decided, but they are ruled and governed, poor slaves that they are, by their connections. They fear the frown of man. Oh that they would rise to something nobler, and pray, “Lord, teach me to do thy will, whether it is the will of the great ones of the earth, or the will of my influential friends, or the will of my loud talking neighbours or not. Help me to do thy will, to take my stand, and say, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ ” It is a blessed prayer. The more we look at it the more we see in it.

What does he mean by doing God’s will? Does he not mean, “Help me to do as thy word bids me”? For the will of God is put before us very plainly in his law, and, especially, in that law as viewed in the hand of Christ. “This is the will of God, even our sanctification.” To serve him devoutly, and to love our neighbour as ourselves-this is the will of God. May his Spirit help us. “Teach me to do thy will, O God.”

That will also takes the form of providence. Out of two courses equally right we sometimes have to ask the question, “Lord, what is thy will here?” There is nothing immoral in either the one or the other, and hence our difficulty, and then we come to the Lord and say, “Here is a case in which thy law does not guide me, otherwise I should decide at once, but wilt thou now show me what thou wilt have me to do?” In another case the will of God may be suggested by opportunity. Dear friend, the will of God is that you should speak to that friend sitting near you about soul-matters. The will of God is that your unconverted servant should have your prayers and your instruction. God puts men in our way on purpose that we may do them good. I have no doubt whatever that many a Christian is made to go where he would not choose to go, and to associate with persons that he would not wish to associate with, on purpose that he may be the means of taking light into dark places, and of carrying life from God to dead souls. So that if you pray this prayer, “Teach me to do thy will,” and carry it out, you will watch for opportunities of serving the Lord.

The prayer seems to me to have all that compass' and much more.

But I would answer another enquiry. What is the intention of the prayer as to manner? It does not say, “Lord, enable me to do thy will,” but, “Teach me to do thy will,” as if there were some peculiar way of doing it that had to be taught, as when a young man goes apprentice to acquire a trade. Lord, I would put myself under indentures to thy grace that thou mayest teach me the art and mystery of doing thy will.

How then ought God’s will to be done?

It should be done thoughtfully. A great many Christians are not half as considerate as they should be. We should go through life, not flippantly like the butterfly that flits from flower to flower, but like the bee that stays and sucks honey, and gathers sweet store for the hive. We should be seriously in earnest; and one point of earnestness should be

“With holy trembling, holy fear,

To make my calling sure,

Thine utmost counsel to fulfil,

And suffer all thy righteous will,

And to the end endure.”

Lord, help me to do thy will, seriously bending all my soul to the doing of it; not trifling in thy courts, nor making life a play, but loving thee with my understanding.

The Lord’s will should be done immediately. As soon as a command is known it should be obeyed. Lord, suffer me not to consult with flesh and blood. Make me prompt and quick of understanding in the fear of God. Teach me to do thy will as angels do, who no sooner hear thy word than they fly like flames of fire to fulfil thy behests.

His will should by done cheerfully. Jehovah seeks not slaves to grace his throne. He would have us delight to do his will: yea, his law should be in our heart. Oh! brothers and sisters, you need to pray this: “Teach me to do thy will,” or else you will miss the mark.

Teach me to do it constantly. Let me not sometimes be thy servant, and then run away from thee. Keep me to it. Let me never weary. When the morning wakes me may it find me ready, and when the evening bids me rest may I be serving thee until I fall asleep.

Teach me to do it also, Lord, universally, not some part of it, but all of it, not one of thy commands being neglected, nor one single part of my daily task being left undone. I am thy servant; make me to be what a good servant is to her mistress, neglecting none of the cares of the household. May I be watchful in all points.

Teach me to do thy will spiritually, not making the outside of cups and platters clean, but obeying thee within my soul. May what I do be done with all my heart. If I pray, help me to pray in the spirit. If I sing, let my heart make music unto thee. When I am talking to others about thy name, and trying to spread the savour of Jesus, let me not do it in my own strength, or in a wrong spirit, but may the Holy Ghost be upon me.

Teach me to do thy will intensely. Let the zeal of thy house eat me up. Oh that I might throw my whole self into it.

This little prayer grows, does it not? Pray it, brothers and sisters, and may the Lord answer you.

Once again, there are necessary qualities which we must seek if we would sincerely pray this prayer, “Teach me to do thy will.” Then, you must have decision of character, for some never do God’s will, though they wish they did, and they regret, they say, that they cannot: they resolve that they will, and there it ends. O you spongy souls! Some of you are sadly squeezable. Whatever hand grips you can shape you. Decision is needed, for you cannot do God’s will unless you know how to say, “No,” and to put your foot down, and declare that whatever may happen you will not turn aside from the service of your God.

If the Lord shall teach you to do his will, you will also need courage. The prayer virtually says, “When my enemies ridicule me, teach me to do thy will. When they threaten me, teach me to do thy will. When they tempt me, teach me to do thy will. When they slander me, teach me to do thy will, to be brave with the bravery which resolves to do the right, and leaves the issues with God.”

“Teach me to do thy will.” It means-Give me resignation, kill in me my self-hood, put down, I pray thee, my pride, make me willing to be anything or to do anything thou wilt.

It is a prayer that necessitates humility. No man can pray it unless he is willing to stoop and wash the saints’ feet. “Teach me to do thy will.” Let me be a scullion in thy kitchen if so I may glorify thee. I have no choice but that thou be all in all.

It is a prayer, too, for spiritual life, and much of it, for a dead man cannot do God’s will. Shall the dead praise him? Shall they that go down to the pit give him thanks? Oh, no, brothers and sisters; you must be full of life if you are to do God’s will. Some professors are not quickened one-third of the way up yet. I hope they have a measure of quickening, but it does not seem to have reached the extremities. There may be a little quickening in the heart, but it has not quickened the tongue to confess Christ, nor quickened the hand to give to Christ, or to work for Christ. They seem to be half-dead. O Lord, fill me with life from the sole of my foot to the crown of my head, for how can I do thy will unless thy Spirit saturates me through and through, till every pulse is consecrated? I would be wholly thine. “Teach me to do thy will.”

I will not detain you many minutes over the second part of our sermon, in which we are to say a little upon its answer. There is the prayer, “Teach me to do thy will.” Will it get an answer? Yes, brethren, it will assuredly obtain an answer of peace.

For, first, there is a reason for expecting it. “Thou art my God.” Oh, yes, if we were asking this of some one else we might fear, but “thou art my God” is blessed argument, because the greater supposes the less. If God has given us himself, he will give us teaching. It is also God’s way to teach:-“Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach transgressors in the way.” It is a quality of a good man to wish to make others good; it is supremely the quality of the good God to make others good. When I think of what the Lord is, I am certain that he will be willing to teach me to do his will. Moreover, he has promised to do it. “I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye.” And, again, he is glorified by so doing, for it brings glory to God when his people do his will; therefore may I expect for all these reasons that he will teach me to do his will.

Again, dear friends, it needs to be answered. “Teach me to do thy will. Lord, there is nobody who can ever teach me thy will except thou do it. I shall never learn it of myself. This scholarship I shall never pick up by chance. Lord, unless thou hold me fast, and teach me with thy supremest art, I shall never learn to do thy will as I desire to learn it.” You see, he turns away from every other teacher to his God, he puts himself to school to God alone. And there is the prayer, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.” Brother, you must have this teaching, or else you will never do God’s will. No strength of nature, no wit of nature, can ever suffice to serve the Lord aright; you must be taught from above.

There are many ways in which God gives his answer to this prayer-“Teach me to do thy will.” We have received one wonderful answer to it already. He has given Jesus Christ to be our Example. There is no teaching like actual example. If you want to know the will of God study the life of Christ.

The Lord is pleased to give us fainter copies of that same will of his in his saints. Read the sacred biographies of the Scriptures. Watch the holy lives of those who are among you, who live near to God, and follow them so far as they follow Christ. They are not complete copies; there are blots and blunders: still, the Lord does teach young people by the godly lives of their parents, and he instructs all of us by the biographies of devoted men and women.

Again, the Lord teaches us by every line of his word, and oftentimes when that word is heard, or carefully read, it comes home with great power to the soul, and guides us in the way of life.

Moreover the Lord has a way of teaching us by his own Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks in secret whispers to those who are able to hear him. It is not every professing Christian that has the visitations of the Spirit of God in personal monitions, but there are saints who hear a voice behind them saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” God guides us with his eye as well as by his word. Opened eyes can see in a moment what the Lord means. He has gentle means. His daily dealings in loving tenderness are guides to us. Every mercy is a star to pilot us to heaven. When we are not willing to be guided so easily, he will teach us by rough means. The Lord has a bit and a whip for those who need them. He will restrain us by affliction and infirmity, and sometimes chasten us very sore with losses, bereavements, depression of spirit, and the like: but in some way or other he will hear the prayer for teaching, for it is a covenant promise, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” Blessed are they to whom the teaching comes sweetly and softly. It can be so if we are willing to have it so; but surely if we will not be tenderly guided, God will make us to do his will as men compel the bullock to do their will when it is rebellious under the yoke, and must be broken in. The Lord will hear our prayer for instruction; but it may not be quite in the way we should have chosen.

One thing more. I trust we have, all of us who know the Lord, prayed the prayer, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.” Now mind, my dear friend, mind that you do it sincerely, and know what you are at, because after offering such a petition as this, you dare not go into sin. You cannot say, “Teach me to do thy will,” and then go off to frivolous amusements, or spend your evenings in vain and giddy society, because that would be an insolent mockery of God. “Teach me to do thy will,” you say, and then get up and do what you know to be clean contrary to his mind and will: what defiant profanity is this!

Again, do not offer this prayer with a reserve. Do not say, or mean, “Teach me to do thy will in all points but one. That is a point in which I pray thee have me excused.” I am afraid that certain believers do not want to learn too much. I have known them not like to read special passages of Scripture. Perhaps they trouble them doctrinally, or as to the ordinances of the Christian faith, or as to matters of church discipline; if they do not paste those pages together to hide the obnoxious passage yet they do not like them opened too much. They would rather read a verse which looks more to their mind. But, brother, if thou and a text have a quarrel, make it up directly. Thou must not alter the text; alter thy creed, alter thy life, alter thy thought, God the Holy Spirit helping thee; for the text is right, and thou art in the wrong. “Teach me to do thy will,” means, if we pray it honestly, “I will search God’s book to know what his mind is.” Why, there are numbers of you who join with the church you were brought up to, whatever it is. You do not take the trouble to examine as to whether your church is Scriptural or not. This is a blind way of acting. This is not obeying the will of God. Know what God’s book teaches. Search the Scriptures. Many Christians believe what their minister preaches because he preaches it. Do not believe a word of what I preach unless you can find it in the Word of God. “To the law and to the testimony. If we speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in us.” We are all fallible, and though we teach as best we can, and hope that God teaches you much by us, yet we are not inspired, and do not pretend to be. Search you the book of God on your own account, and abide by what you find there, and by nothing else. Where the Bible leads you are bound to follow, and following its guidance you shall not walk in darkness. Seek to know the will of God; and when you know it, carry it out, and pray the Holy Ghost to take away the dearest idol you have known-the thought that pleases you best-out of your mind, if it is contrary to the supreme will of the eternal God. The Lord grant we may thus pray, and thus be heard.

Alas, unconverted people cannot pray after the fashion of my text. They have, first of all, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ before they can do the will of the Lord. May you all be led to believe in the Saviour, and when you have so done then may the Holy Ghost lead you to pray, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.”

The Lord bless you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Portions of Scripture read before Sermon-Psalms 142 and 143.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-119 (Part I.), 708, 143.

Letter from Mr. Spurgeon.

Dear Friends,-I had joyfully expected to set out for home next Monday, but flights of letters have come to warn me against returning while an Arctic temperature freezes our native land. Many matters make me anxious to see my dear home and church, but I submit to the loving advice of my deacons, which has just reached me by telegram; and I shall abide in this warm retreat for another week, hoping for a change of weather.

Yours heartily,

Mentone, January 31, 1880.

C. H. SPURGEON.

pressing questions of an awakened mind

A Sermon

delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

“Who art thou, Lord?.… What wilt thou have me to do?”-Acts 9:5, 6.

Paul fell to the ground overcome by the brightness of the light which outshone the mid-day sun, and as he lay there he cried, “Who art thou, Lord?” After receiving an answer to his first question, he humbly asked another, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

This morning I spent all my strength, and I scarcely have any remaining for this evening, but the subject was well worthy of the greatest exhaustion.* I tried to show that we must receive the kingdom of heaven as little children, or else we could not in any wise enter into it. I wanted, if I could, to add a sort of practical tail-piece to that subject, something that would enable me, yet more fully, to explain the childlike spirit which comes at conversion, and which is absolutely needful as one of the first marks and consequences of the work of the Spirit of God upon the heart. I cannot find a better illustration of the childlike spirit than this which is now before us.

Paul was a great man, and on the way to Damascus I have no doubt he rode a very high horse. He verily thought that he was doing God service. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and had a very high estimate of his own character; and now that he had letters from the high priest upon his person, he felt himself to be armed with great power, and to be no mean man. He would let those poor Christians in Damascus know! He would worry them out of their fanaticism. He would take care to let them see that Saul of Tarsus was greater than Jesus of Nazareth. But a few seconds sufficed for the Lord to alter the man. How soon he brought him down! The manifestation of Jesus Christ himself from heaven soon subdued the great man into a little child, for the two questions which are now before us are exceedingly childlike. He enquires, with sacred curiosity, “Who art thou, Lord?” and then he surrenders at discretion, crying, “What wilt thou have me to do?” He seems to cry, “I give up my weapons. I submit to be thy servant. I only ask to be taught what I am to do, and I am ready to do it. Thou hast conquered me. Behold, at thy feet I lie; only raise me up and give me something to do in thy service, for I will gladly undertake it.” To this spirit we must all come if we are to be saved. We must come to think of Jesus so as to desire to know him; and then we must reverence Jesus so as to be willing to obey his will in all things. Upon those two points I am going to speak with a measure of brevity to-night.

Our first object of thought will be-the earnest enquirer seeking to know his Lord; and the second will be the obedient disciple requesting directions.

First, then, if any one of us would be saved he must be brought by divine grace to be an earnest enquirer after the knowledge of Christ. He must ask the question, “Who art thou, Lord?”

Notice that he is willing to be taught. He lies there with the Christ above him, and he asks him a question. He is not only willing to learn, but he is eager to be taught. “Who art thou, Lord?” is the utterance of his inmost soul. He wants to know. And dost not thou want to know, my hearer? There is but one name given under heaven whereby thou must be saved. Dost thou not wish to know something about him whose name it is? Art thou indifferent to thy soul’s affairs, careless about what shall become of thy immortal soul? Did Jesus die, and is it nothing to thee? Dost thou pass by his cross as though it were the market cross of a village? Dost thou hear of his death as though it were some common-place event in history to be once read and then forgotten? I pray it may not be so with thee. But since thou must either be lost or saved eternally, come thou and ask with deep anxiety, “Who art thou, Lord? Who art thou by whom I am to be saved? What right, what power hast thou to save? What claim hast thou upon my faith? Oh, tell me, for I long to know.” Want of thought ruins half mankind. If men were but anxious to understand the truth they would soon learn it and receive it. If like the Bereans they would search the Scriptures to find the truth, or if like Lydia their hearts were opened to receive it, they would soon know the Lord. Like Paul, we must be willing to learn.

And, next, observe the subject that he wished to be instructed upon. “Who art thou, Lord?” You have heard that Christ is the Saviour, let your ambition be to know all about him. I will tell you one thing: saints on earth, and even saints in heaven, are always wanting to have this question more fully answered to them,-“Who art thou, Lord?” Those who know him best will tell you that there is a something about him which still surpasses all their knowledge; and I suppose that even when we see him face to face there will remain a mystery in his matchless love, and a depth unsearchable in his divine person, into which even then we shall not be able to dive. “Who art thou, Lord?” may well be the question of a soul that is seeking salvation, since it is still the question of those who have found it.

“Who art thou, Lord?” What is thy person? What is thy nature? How is it that thou art able to save? Learn well that he is divine, yet human; the Son of Mary, and yet the Son of God. He is man, thy brother, touched with the feeling of thy infirmities, yet is he God eternal, infinite, full of all power and majesty, assuredly divine. Learn thou this if thou wouldst be saved, and regard the Lord Jesus as God over all, blessed for ever, yet clothed in the form of a servant, and made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Learn that.

“Who art thou, Lord?” What are thy offices? If my eye could see thee I would ask thee, What titles dost thou bear? What offices dost thou sustain? He is a prophet; thou must be instructed by him, and believe his teaching. He is a priest; thou must be washed by his blood, and he must offer sacrifice for thee; nay, rather, he has offered it, and thou must accept it as being for thee and on thy behalf. He is a King, too, and if thou wilt be saved by him thou must let him govern thee. Thou must yield thyself to him and be his subject, and take up his cross and bear his easy yoke, which is no burden to the neck. Prophet, priest, king, and a thousand other offices does he sustain. Ask, thou craving sinner, ask, “Who art thou, Lord?” till thou shalt discover something about him that exactly suits thee, and then thy faith shall light upon it and thy heart shall cry, “He is all my salvation, and all my desire.”

“Who art thou, Lord?” It is a question you may ask about his relationships. Who is he? The Son of the Highest, and yet the brother of the lowest. Who is he? King of angels and King of kings, and yet the friend of sinners and the helper of the humblest that will come to him. He stands as the head over all things to the church: his church’s husband and the world’s ruler, master of providence, sovereign of heaven, conqueror of hell itself. All power is in his hands. The Father has committed it unto him, and now he stands in such relationship to us that if we believe in him he gives us eternal life, and guards us from all ill, for he has said, “I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hands.” O beloved hearer, if thou wouldest be saved, study deeply that question, “Who art thou, Lord?” and be not satisfied till thou knowest christ and art known of him-till there is a mutual knowledge between thee and himself, for it is only so that thou canst be saved. An unknown Christ is no Christ to you. A Saviour whom you do not know is a Saviour who will not know you in the day of his appearing.

“Who art thou, Lord?” Now, that question, as I have said, concerning Christ should be asked by us all, but it is not at all a speculative question. It is a question of the utmost practical importance to every man, and in proportion as a man knows the answer to that question he will receive its practical result. Hearken and perceive this. “Who art thou, Lord?” What will be the first result of having this question answered?

Why, when Paul knew that he whose face had shone upon him brighter than the sun was Jesus of Nazareth, he was seized with the deepest possible contrition. “What!” he seemed to say, “have I persecuted the Lord? When I was hunting down those poor people was I hunting down the Messiah? Was I fighting against the Christ of God?” He had not known that before, but when he knew who the Lord was then his heart was broken within him with a deep sense of sin. Now, come ye hither, some of you; you have been living for years refusing true religion, and despising it, but have you ever thought that you were refusing Jesus Christ the Son of God, and despising the Beloved of God who condescended to come into the world to suffer for love’s sake? When they put Jesus to death he was, as our sweet poet puts it-

“Found guilty of excess of love.”

It was all that could be laid to his dear charge; but for excess of love he died. And thou hast refused him. Thou hast now these twenty years and more refused that thorn-crowned head, that brow so marred, those wounded hands, that gashed and wounded side! Thou hast refused the matchless Saviour, without whom thou art undone for ever! Hast thou known this? Hast thou done it wilfully? I hope thou canst reply, “But I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” Therefore he winks at your ill manners, and he bids you now come to him and he will gladly receive you. He will in no wise cast you out.

To know Christ, then, is a practical knowledge, because it leads to repentance. When Christ is unknown we can go on refusing and even persecuting him; but when we clearly perceive that it is the Son of God and the bleeding Lamb whom we have refused and persecuted, then our hearts melt; we beg his forgiveness, and cast ourselves at his feet.

A second practical result is that then our hope is encouraged; for though Paul at the sight of the Lord Jesus must have been full of bitter anguish, it was by that same sight that he was afterwards cheered and comforted. What! Art thou in heaven brighter than the sun? Art thou the man of Nazareth whom I have persecuted? Art thou he who was rejected and despised? O thou bright and shining one, art thou that same Christ to whom the publicans and harlots drew near? Art thou he who came to seek and to save that which was lost? Art thou exalted on high to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins? Then is there hope for me. It is the sinner’s Christ that is in heaven, the same that took the little children and said, “Suffer them to come to me.” Oh, then, I will trust him. I feel I may, I can, I must. I yield myself to him because I know him now. I did not before. How practical is this knowledge!

And it had another effect upon Paul. It led him to complete submission. He said, “Is this Christ whom I have rejected Lord of all? Then it is indeed hard for me to kick against the pricks. I will not do so any longer. Resist him? That I dare not do! If all power be in his hands, then to oppose him is as hopeless as it is wicked. Behold, I surrender at discretion. Lord Jesus, be my king. Accept me as thy subject. I oppose thee no longer.” How I wish that Jesus would make some here know him who have never known him before-that they may at this very hour yield to him; because if once they knew him it would fire them with ardour in his service. There was never a man yet that did really know Christ whom Christ did not fill with an inward flame, so that he felt he could live or die for him. Some human leaders have had such extraordinary influence over their soldiery that they have commanded and have been cheerfully obeyed, even at the cost of life. The Christ of God has a superlative power over all hearts that know him. See how Paul felt his influence, and scoured the world to win Christ’s lost ones. Perils of robbers; perils of rivers, the deep sea itself, scourging, stoning; all these were nothing to the apostle from the day when he knew Christ. He had been exceedingly hot against him, but now he burns and blazes with zeal for him. And so will it be with all who know Jesus. Right practical, then, is the question, “Who art thou, Lord?” Oh that the Spirit of God would lead every one to ask that question for himself.

Only once more and I leave the question. It is this. While Paul was willing to learn, and his subject was important, for he wished to learn of Christ, and exceedingly practical, for it moved him to every good thing, it is worthy of remark that he sought instruction from the best possible Master; for, my brethren, who can tell us who Christ is but Christ himself? Here is his book. Read it. It is the looking-glass. Jesus is yonder, and he looks into this book, and if you look into it with well-washed eyes, you may see his reflected image in this glass; darkly, however, at the best. So, too, when you hear his faithful servants preach you may see somewhat of Christ; but let me tell you there is no sight of Christ like that which comes personally to your own soul by the Holy Spirit. I do not mean that any men among us will ever see Christ while we are here with these eyes; and if we did, it might not do us good, for thousands saw him who, nevertheless, cried “Crucify him.” But I do mean that there are eyes inside these eyes, eyes of the mind and of the soul, to which Christ himself must reveal himself; and I charge you who have never seen him so to fall on your knees and cry, “Show thyself to me.” You must have personal dealings with him, each one for himself, and you may have these dealings. He is accessible to-night. He will receive you at once if you seek him. He has declared that he will not cast any out that come to him. Oh, will you not ask him to show himself to you? If you knew he would refuse you, you might be excused the prayer; but since he will manifest himself to every contrite, lowly, seeking soul, will you not seek him? Will you not even now humbly put to him this question, “Who art thou, Lord?” Reveal thyself to me, as thou dost not to the world, but as thou dost reveal thyself to seeking souls.

So then I leave that question to come to the second one. May the Holy Spirit help us while we handle it.

“What wilt thou have me to do?” The Obedient disciple requesting direction.

We are always telling you that whosoever believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ has everlasting life. That is the basis-doctrine of the gospel; but recollect that we never told you that you might believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and then live as you liked. That be far from us. He who truly believes in Christ does as Christ bids him, and becomes henceforth Christ’s servant and disciple as well as his saved one. Hence the question, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

You will notice that the apostle here puts himself into the position of a soldier waiting for orders. He will not stir till he has received his officer’s command. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” He stands quite ready to do it; but he wants to know what the order may be, and therefore he looks up, and prays, “Lord, direct me. What wouldst thou have me to do?” It is the Lord’s will alone that he now means to do. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Before it used to be, “What will Moses have me to do?” And with some now present it has been “What should I like to do?” for whatsoever their soul lusteth after that have they done, and whatsoever new pleasure, no matter how sinful it might be, if it were within their reach, they followed greedily after it; but he that would be saved must yield up his own will to his Lord. Now, beloved, take heed unto yourselves that Christ be your Master, and nobody else. It would never do to say, “What would the church have me to do?” As far as the church teaches what Christ taught, obey her, but no farther. It would not even be right to say, “What would an apostle have me to do?” Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” But if Paul does not follow Christ, we must not follow Paul. He says, “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel, let him be accursed;” and so let it stand. I count it to be a sad lowering of a Christian’s standard when he takes any mortal man living, or even any man now in heaven, to be his guide and master. “One is your Master, even Christ;” and your question should be, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I see what I am bidden to do in the Prayer Book. I see what I am bidden to do by learned and godly men, but these things have no authority over my conscience. Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? If it be not thy will and thy word I know there can be no light in it, but what I know not, teach thou me.”

And, then, see that this childlike obedience of the apostle is personal. It is, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I have little enough to do with my neighbours. They have their duty and their calling, but, Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? Other persons must follow the light they have; but, Lord, what wilt thou me to do? My father, my brother, my friend, I have no right to judge these: to their own Master they must stand or fall; but, Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?” You that look at your own inability when you come to Christ, must come to him with a personal faith, pleading for strength to do his will. You must yield to Jesus a personal obedience, even should it separate you from all your family. Let it separate the nearest ties, let it cause your past friends to give you the cold shoulder, let it subject you to persecution even unto death; you have nothing to do with these consequences, your business is to say, “Show me what thou wouldst have me to do, and I will do it.” I mention a little incident in my own personal history, for which I have always had reason enough to thank God. When I was converted to God after some long time of bitter anguish of spirit I found rest; and the very first thing I did when I found rest in Christ was to read for myself the New Testament, and see what the Lord would have me to do. I found in the word of God the duty of believers’ baptism. I had never met with any Baptist friends in my life until I had for myself discovered the truth. I had not even heard of their existence, so negligent had they been in the spreading of their views on that matter; but taking up the New Testament with my lexicon to see what the word meant, I found that the word baptize signified to immerse. When I read the Scriptures I found everywhere that believers were immersed. I did not at first know of the existence of another person who held that opinion, but it did not signify to me the turn of a hair. I was only afraid that I might not find anybody to baptize me, but I meant to attend to the duty in some way or other. I discovered afterwards that there were many who had searched the Scriptures and had come to the same conclusion as myself; but to me, then, it did seem like coming away from all the Christian people that I knew. Have I ever regretted the step? No. Unimportant as some might think it, it gave to my whole spirit and life a tone for which I have reason to thank God. I stood upon my own feet, having read the Bible for myself. I took my own way in obedience to my Lord and Master, and from that day I know not that I have wilfully turned aside from his statutes, either in doctrines or in precept, but I have taught the faith as I have learned it. When I go to my chamber at night with a thousand imperfections to confess, yet I can feel that I have honestly and faithfully followed my Master. If I have erred it has been from want of light, and not from want of will to serve him; but if I had burked that first conviction, and if I had made little nicks in my conscience at first, could I stand before you all this night and declare that I have not shunned both to do and to declare the whole counsel of God? I charge every young man as soon as he believes in Christ to read and search the Bible for himself, and say, “Show me what thou wouldest have me to do.” I would rather be right alone than be wrong with all the world: and every honest Christian man ought to feel that he would rather follow Jesus Christ with two or three than run with a multitude after the traditions of men. God help you, beloved, as soon as you are converted to become thoroughly obedient disciples, searching the Word. I do not set so much importance upon the result of your investigation as I do upon the investigation itself. I care less about the result you arrive at than I do for the spirit which would lead you, as a disciple, earnestly to desire to follow your Master, and would lead you to do everything that you believe to be his will-the little as well as the great. The Lord help us to be anxious to know and do his will in all things, fearless of consequences.

Note again, that the apostle not only puts it personally, but he pleads for grace at once. “Lord, show me what thou wouldst have me to do?” as much as to say, “I will do it directly.” He does not ask to be allowed a little delay, but “What wouldst thou have me to do? Here I, thy willing servant stand.” Young man, if you would have salvation you must be ready to follow Christ to-night. To-night, it may be, is the time when the Spirit of God is struggling with you, and if resisted he never may return. Just now the scales hang in an even balance. Which way shall they turn? It may be to-night for death or life the scale shall turn for the last time. O blessed Jesus in heaven, why should we hesitate if thou wilt indeed save us? We may well make a complete surrender and say, “Now, even now, I enlist beneath thy banner, for I thy willing servant am.”

And observe, once more, that he does not make any kind of conditions. What wouldst thou have me to do? I will do it. If unpleasant to the flesh it shall be pleasant to my heart: and if it appear stern, yet if thou wilt help me I will do it, “What wilt thou have me to do?” Saul little knew when he asked the question What the doing of his Master’s will would involve, but he meant at the time that whatever it would involve he was prepared for it. O you that would be Christians, do not suppose that it is just believing something-an article of a creed, or undergoing a ceremony-that will save you; you must, if you are Christ’s, yield yourselves up to him. He did not come into this world to lead men to heaven by back roads and crooked paths, but he leads them into the way of righteousness, the end whereof is everlasting peace. Will you be child enough to follow him? Will you have the childlike spirit which only wants first to know who he is and then exclaims-

“Through floods or flames if Jesus lead

I’ll follow where he goes.”

The Lord grant it may be so with us!

I close with just this remark, that it is by knowing Christ that you will learn to obey him, and the more you obey him the more easy it will be: and in obeying him you will find your honour. Paul at this day stands in a most honourable place in the church of God, simply because being called of God to do his will he did it faithfully even to the end. Is it not beautiful to see how Paul in one moment seems to have forgotten all his old Pharisaism? All the hard words and bitter blasphemies that he had spoken against Christ, they have all gone in a moment. What strange changes will come over some beings in an instant. One of my students who has been a sailor has preached the gospel for some long time, but his English was far from grammatical. Having been in college some little time he began to speak correctly, but suddenly the old habit returned upon him. He was in the Princess Alice at the time of the lamentable catastrophe, and he escaped in an almost miraculous manner. I saw him some time after, and congratulated him on his escape, and he replied that he had saved his life but had lost all his grammar. He found himself for awhile using the language of two or three years ago: and even now, though he is recovering his spirits,* he declares that he cannot get back what he had learnt. He seems to have drowned his grammar on that terrible occasion. Now, just as we may lose some good thing by a dreadful accident, or occurrence, which seems to sweep over the mind like a huge wave and wash away our treasures, so by a blessed catastrophe, if Christ should meet with any man to-night, much which he has valued will be swept away! You may write on wax, and may make the record fair. Take a hot iron and roll it across the wax, and it is all gone. That seems to me to be just what Jesus did with Paul’s heart. It was all written over with blasphemy and rebellion, and he rolled the hot iron of burning love over his soul and the evil inscription was all gone. He ceased to blaspheme, and he began to praise. May the like be done to many here present to the praise and glory of my Master’s love and power. Amen and amen.

Portion of Scripture read before Sermon-Acts 26.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-505, 589, (“Flowers and Fruits” 109).

a plain answer to an important enquiry

A Sermon

delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”-John 6:29.

Notice the connection, or you will miss the meaning of the words; for at first sight it looks as if our Saviour taught us that it is the work of God for us to believe on him. Now, that would be quite true; and it is very plainly taught in other parts of Scripture that faith is the work of God; but that is not the teaching in this particular instance, as will be very plain if you look at the context. First, our Saviour said to the people, “See how you labour after the bread of your bodies. You have been running all round the coast to find me in order that I might feed you again with loaves and fishes. Now,” says he, “let your labour run after something better. Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth to life eternal.” He gently rebukes them: “Do not spend all your strength in seeking after temporal good, but think about your immortal natures. Satisfy the hunger of your spirits, the better part of you.” They immediately answered, “You tell us to labour after the bread that does not perish. What shall we do that we might work the work of God and so obtain it?” Our translation fails to let us see that they used precisely the same word as the Saviour had done. He said “labour,” and they said, “What shall we do that we may labour this labour of God? What is it?” They took him at his word, and they put a question in accordance therewith.

When men begin to be aroused about spiritual things, they naturally cry, “What must we do to be saved? What must we do that we may work the work of God?” It is a faulty question, it is a question very much shaped by their ignorance and error. They suppose that there are works to be done, and merit to be earned, by doing and obeying a law, and so they put it in that shape-“What shall we do? What shall we work that we may work the work of God?” The Saviour did not chide them for the shape of the question. It was not the time to expect accuracy, but he gave them such truth as they could understand, and he replied, “You want to know what work you must do that shall be ‘the work of God,’ or a work pleasing to God. This then is ‘the work of God’: the work most pleasing to God of all the works that can be done by men, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The teaching here is not that faith is wrought in us by God, which I have already said is a great truth, but it is this-that if men desire to work, the first and chief of all work is that they believe on Jesus Christ whom God hath sent. Does any man object to faith being called the work of man? If he does, I ask him wherefore he objects. It is true that faith is the gift of God, but this does not militate for a moment with the other truth that faith is the work of man: for it is and must be the act of man. No one in his senses can deny that. Will you venture to say that man does not believe? Then I venture to tell you that he who does not personally believe in Jesus is a lost man; and if there be such a thing as a faith which is not a man’s own act and deed it will not save him. The man must himself believe or perish: this is the plain doctrine of Scripture. Repentance is wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, but we must ourselves repent, or we never shall be saved. Faith is wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost does not believe, or repent: these are a man’s own acts. With our hearts we believe unto righteousness. If we do not believe then we are not partakers of the promise which is given to those who do believe. Faith is, therefore, the work of man; and it is the chief of works, the work most pleasing to God, the most godlike work, or, as the text puts it, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

To open up this one thought I pray for help from on high: it is just this, that faith is the most pleasing of all the works that man can do. It is here called “the work,” but not strictly and properly, for it can never be ranged with the works of the law, from which it essentially differs; but the Saviour took up the word which they used, and spoke to their ignorance that he might instruct them.

Regarding it as a work, faith is most pleasing to God; for, first, it is the comprehensive summary of all true work. There lies within the loins of faith every possible form of holiness. As a forest may lie asleep within an acorn, so within the bounds of faith, little though it be, every virtue lies hidden. It may be microscopic in form, but it is certainly there, and only needs development. Repentance dwells in faith, for he that believes in Jesus Christ unto salvation knows that he is a sinner, and he must have some hatred of sin, or else he would not have taken Christ to deliver him from his sin. Love to God is there, for, most assuredly, when I trust a man-completely trust him-it would be impossible for me to do so unless I felt some leaning of my spirit towards him; and the complete trusting of the soul to Christ, which is faith, has had in it no small measure of love to Christ. If I had before me a list of all the graces of the Spirit of God, and I were to take them up one by one, and then analyze faith, I should find some measure of all these good works of the Spirit hidden away in the simple act of believing in Jesus Christ.

I know what some of you have said-“Is that all that I am to do in order to be saved? Am I simply and alone to believe in Christ, that is, trust myself with him?” Yes, that is all, and it is so small an act that the most uneducated heart can perform it, but yet within it there are inconceivable mysteries of goodness. Just as sometimes inside a walnut shell I have seen packed away with careful art all sorts of gems and jewels, “with my lady’s gloves to wear,” so within this little walnut shell of “believe and live” there will be found by any careful eye all the graces of the Spirit of God.

What is more, all the graces come out of faith in due time, for faith sums up the whole of a Christian’s life. Now, my brethren, I challenge you to read the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews, and see if you can think of anything noble, brave, glorious, which has not its counterpart in that chapter. But recollect, it is a description of the heroism-not of this virtue or of that, but of faith. In the long list, beginning with Abel and going down to the last, faith wrought all. From faith comes the power that stops the mouths of lions, quenches the violence of flames; out of weakness becomes strong. It is faith that tramples on temptation, it is faith that overcomes the world. It is faith that attains to holiness. Within the compass of that little babe whom you hold in your hand, a slender weight that you can scarcely feel, there are all the elements of yonder man of six feet, who leads the van in the royal host, and so the true Christian man in the perfection of the stature of Christ is all within the babe in grace who cries, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

I can well understand why our Saviour should say, “If you wish to work the work of God, you must believe in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent”; for in that act lie all the virtues, and out of that act will grow all the virtues in due time.

But now, secondly, this simple matter of trusting Jesus Christ, which is called faith, is, in itself, most pleasing to God.

First, it is the creature acknowledging its God. While a man says, “I do not care about my soul,” he lives in atheism, disowning God, living as if there were no God. When a man says, “I need no saving,” that is contradicting God’s testimony, wherein he declares that we are all gone out of the way and have altogether become abominable. When a man says, “I may be wrong, but I can get right of myself. My own good deeds will save me”; he is setting himself up in independence of his God; in fact, making himself his own God, and so, practically, setting up another God. But when the man cries, “I have sinned,” there is an acknowledgment that the law is good, and holy, and just. When he then adds, “I have so sinned that I deserve punishment, and I submit myself to it,” there is a recognition of the court of heaven, and an admission of the righteousness of its sentences. The rebellious heart submits itself to the authority of God. When he further says, “But I have heard, great God, that thou hast given thy Son to bleed and die for sinners, and that he is able to save to the uttermost them that trust him, and I do trust him,” the submission of the man to God is complete. Before, he said, “I do not believe it. It does not stand to reason,” that is proud reason still a rebel. Or he said, “It may or may not be so, but I do not see the peculiar beauty of an atoning sacrifice.” There again is the proud heart kicking against God. But the man comes into his right place when he believes. When he believes in Jesus Christ and accepts mercy through the great sacrifice, God is well pleased because his poor erring creature has come into its right place, and God sees in the act of faith the restitution of rectitude.

Again, God is pleased with faith because it accepts God’s way of reconciliation. God has given Christ that he might reconcile us to himself by him. When a man says, “I take Christ to be my Saviour,” he accepts God’s way of reconciliation, and then God must be reconciled, for he has promised so to be. As he longs to be reconciled, and willeth not that any should perish, but that they should come to repentance, so does he rejoice when they are willing to make peace with him in his own appointed way. It shows a deference to his wisdom, a confidence in his love, a yielding to his divine will, and that is what he seeks after. All this, I say, is included in faith, and makes it well pleasing to God.

Perhaps the most acceptable element in faith to the eye of God is the fact that it puts honour upon Jesus Christ, for he dearly loves his Son. We cannot tell how deep is the love of the Father towards his only begotten Son. That which dishonours Jesus must be very obnoxious to the Father, and your self-confidence, my friend, is a dishonour to the merit and salvation of Christ, and God abhors it; but when you fling that all away, and have no hope but in the great atonement which he has made, then, I say, because your faith honours Jesus, therefore God delights in it, and he will honour your faith. It is not possible that he should cast a soul away that clings to the great High Priest. Oh, if you look to Jesus, that eye of yours shall never lose its sight: if your heart clings to Jesus, that heart of yours shall never lose its life: if your soul joys in Jesus, that soul of yours shall never lose its joy.

The fact is, that faith puts us into a right relationship with God; for what is the right relationship of a creature to his God but that of dependence? Is it not most suitable that since God made us, and he has all power and all strength, we should depend upon him for our being, as well as for our well-being? See how he hangs the world upon nothing. This round globe never starts nor falters, but is steadily upheld in its mighty march by the unseen hand of God. Yonder stars, mighty worlds though they be, have no power to keep themselves in their places; but the power of God establishes them. All things hang upon him, and the only position for a created being is that of entire dependence; what is that but faith? I believe that there is faith in heaven. Do not tell me there is no faith there. I believe it to be the essence of heaven that the glorified exercise unquestioning faith, and never feel a doubt. It will be the joy of every spirit before the throne to depend every moment for its immortality and bliss upon God, and to be quite confident that he will never fail it. Some sorts of faith will be turned to sight; but if faith be confidence in God, I bless God I shall have a great deal more of it in heaven than I can have here. A perfect child must have a perfect faith in a perfect father. Because faith brings the creature back to conscious dependence, therefore God is well pleased with it.

Faith restores us by putting us into a place of childlike rest. If a son has fallen into the hands of a malicious individual, who has whispered into his ear that his father hates him-that he is doing all he possibly can to ruin him-at first the youth will not believe the accusation, but perhaps after a while he begins to think it true. From that time forward every action that his father does will be interpreted the wrong way; and if there be anything in the father’s life which is more kind than usual, it is highly probable that this poor misled boy will see a deeper subtlety of malice in it than in his father’s ordinary actions. The lad will break his father’s commands, and vex and anger his father. What is the first thing to be done to set that youth right? You may make him dread his father, and then he will behave properly in his outward actions, but he will only be waiting his time to break loose. Suppose it to be possible to make him believe in his father, and to be assured that his father loved him, and had all along been the kindest man on earth, he would run into his father’s arms. He will be willing enough to obey a parent whom he trusts: it will be his delight to do so.

You have won his confidence, and everything is right now. This is what faith does to us. The devil and our own corrupt nature say, “God is unkind, for he has made an awful hell,” and so on. Faith interposes and cries, “He has put away his wrath. He has made full atonement for sin. He is willing to receive us.” Then faith says, “Trust him; trust him implicitly”; and when the soul has done that, then faith testifies “He has loved you with an everlasting love. Jesus died for you, and he has provided a heaven for you.” Let this be known and felt, and what a change takes place! Oh, then, you hate your sin! Oh, then, you are ready to say, “How could I play the fool against one so kind, so good, so right?” Under this impulse you will serve him, and live for him. That simple matter of believing him has done it all. It is the hinge on which character turns. Hard thoughts of God lead to acts of rebellion, but a childlike confidence in infinite love softens the heart, and sanctifies it, and makes the man to be a true child towards the great Father. Do you wonder, then, that there is much in faith in itself which is pleasing to God? And if you ask what great works you are to do to please God, we shall not tell you to build a row of almshouses, or endow an orphanage, or give your body to be burned; believe in Jesus Christ, and you have done more than all these things put together.

And now a third reason why faith is so great a thing is this-that faith in Jesus Christ is the test of working for God, for all the works that ever were, without faith in Jesus Christ, are not works for God at all.

Let me explain and prove my point. Suppose that a person should say, “But I mean to live for the great God, and work for him.” Without faith the spirit of work is wrong. My friend, suppose you said to me, “I will live for you and spend my life in your service, but I am not going to believe what you say”? There would be a point of disagreement between us, which would render it impossible for you to be of any service to me, or for anything that you did to be of any value to me. You call me a liar to begin with, and then say you serve me. Many of you that have heard the gospel may, perhaps, think that you are serving God, though you have never believed in Christ: but, I tell you, your best actions are nothing but whitewashed sins. All that you do must be destitute of real excellence, because you begin by making God a liar. It is a hard word, say you. I cannot help it; it is the word of John, the most gentle spirit amongst all biblical characters. John says, “He that believeth not hath made God a liar, because he hath not believed on the Son of God.” If you begin by calling God a liar, I do not care much what you do after that. I would a great deal rather you should be moral than immoral, and sober than drunken; but, after all, you will be lost in either case if you persevere in calling God a liar. All your holiness will be a sham if you will not believe in Jesus. The test of true work for God is this-“That ye believe on Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.”

Without faith the motive of work fails. “But,” cries another person, “I believe I have deserved well of God; I have kept myself pretty right, and I have performed many good deeds.” What have you done them all for? “I have been working for my salvation,” says one. In other words, you have been working for yourself. Pay yourself, then! Self is first, and last; your works are selfishness from top to bottom. You have been trying to be good to get to heaven by it. It is a mean, beggarly life that begins and ends with self! Your Maker, whom you were bound to love with all your heart, you have not loved at all, except that you have meanly pretended to love him, in order to save yourself. You had a kind of cupboard love to him, such as an ass or an ox might have to a corn-bin, or a stall, but no real affection. How can you perform a virtuous act, while self is your tyrant lord? When you have once believed in Jesus Christ then you are saved, and henceforth you live to glorify the name of the Lord: you live to work out that which he has worked in you, to will and to do of his own good pleasure, but till you are saved by faith self is necessarily your first thought. No man is capable of virtue as long as self is his object; and every man must make self his object till he is saved. When he is saved he rises into a nobler atmosphere altogether, and then his works are acceptable to God. Do you not see that at least you have to get out of self-righteousness, and to be saved by believing in Christ, before you can begin to do anything that will be really working for God? Up to that point it will be all working for yourself, and that is a poor, poor thing, which cannot please the most high God.

Beloved friends, living by faith in Jesus Christ is the evidence of your sincerity in any work that you do for God, for can there be any real working for God while your own pride is uppermost? God tells you that your best works are imperfect and will not save you, and he hangs his own dear Son upon the cross to save you because you are a sinner. You turn your back to the cross; you say “My own merits are good enough,” and then you talk about serving God after that! Can he accept anything at your hands after you have rejected his Son and insulted himself? You have touched the Lord in the very tenderest point when you have taken your own detestable righteousness, which is just a heap of infected rags, a mass of abominable filth in the sight of God, and you have preferred it to the blood and righteousness of his only Son. After such an atrocious crime as this, how dare you talk about doing service to God? It is impossible, sir. There is a lie in the bottom of your heart. Get rid of it. How can you serve the Lord while your pride thus angers him? He tells you that you must bow before his Son and trust in him; but your reply is, “No, I must feel something or do something.” That is as much as saying, “I will be saved in my own way.” You talk about serving God after that naughty “I will” of yours has been defying him. Suppose that one of your family will not do what you tell him. He brazens you out. He says he will have his own way; and then he goes into the garden and he plucks you a flower, and he expects that the gift will please you. What? Brought in a rebellious hand! While he is in a wilful state and boiling over with bad temper! Does he think to please you by such a trifle? You say, “No, my child, that cannot be. You must first bow before your father and acknowledge that you have done wrong.” He may pout his lips, and say he will never obey you, and then ask to kiss you. Will he have his kiss? Assuredly not till first of all he will submit. That is just the condition of many a seeker after God. He has a wicked pride in his heart, and a rebellious will, and if he will believe in Jesus it will be a proof that his pride and rebellion are given up; but if he will not yield and trust neither can he expect that God will save him.

I would say, in the fourth place, that faith in God is a most blessed and acceptable thing, because it is the seal of all other blessings.

Notice that faith in God is the seal-first, of our election. Read the thirty-seventh verse, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” Now, if you come to Christ, dear friend, you are one that his Father gave him. You are one of his elect. Oh, what a blessing this is. The doctrine of election is full of rich comfort to all who are interested in it, and election itself is the greatest of all favours. “But how am I to know that I am one of God’s elect?” By this testimony, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” Every elect soul that reaches adult age is brought to believe in Jesus Christ, and as sure as ever you are brought to believe in Jesus Christ, you may be absolutely certain that you are predestinated to eternal life.

In the next place, faith seals our effectual calling. If you look a little farther down you will see, “No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” These are the express words of Christ, and they show that every man that comes to Christ must have been drawn by the Father; that is to say, that effectual calling has exerted its divine power upon him. No man need say, “Am I drawn of the Father?” after he is once sure that he has faith in Jesus Christ; for you never could have believed in Jesus Christ except this had been given you from heaven. The forty-fourth verse is as plain as possible, “No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” You have come to him, and therefore the Father must have drawn you.

The next thing that faith assures us of is final perseverance. Read the forty-seventh verse-“He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” You need not raise the question, “Have I received everlasting life?” Raise this question first: “Have I believed in Jesus Christ? If so, I have everlasting life.” Not a life, mark you, that will last you up to the end of the quarter, when you take a new ticket-nor a life that will preserve you to old age, and then leave you to temptation and death. No, “he that believeth on him hath everlasting life,” and it is not everlasting life if it does not last for ever. Herein he that believes has the guarantee of final perseverance. Did not Jesus say, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand”? Are we not told of him that believes in Christ that there shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life”? Or, as Christ puts it in this very chapter, “he shall never hunger and he shall never thirst.” He has drunk a draught of eternal life in Christ Jesus, and he shall never thirst again.

This is a great deal for faith to bring to us, but it is not all, for two or three times over we are told here that whosoever believeth in Christ shall be raised up again at the last day: so that faith secures resurrection. Read the thirty-ninth verse and then the forty-ninth verse: “This is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” How do I know that I shall have a blessed resurrection? How can I be certain that though the worms devour this body, yet when Christ shall stand in the latter day upon the earth, in my flesh I shall see God? I may be quite sure of it, because I believe in Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Beloved, faith is the seal at the bottom of the title deed, which secures all things for time and eternity to the man that hath it. If thou be a believer, all the wheels of providence revolve for thee. If thou be a believer, every angel spreads his wings for thee. If thou be a believer, life is thine, and the death which seems to close it is only the appointed janitor to open the door of another and a brighter chamber. If thou believest, God himself is thine, and Christ, his Son, is thine. If thou believest, heaven, with its eternity and infinity of joy, which thy eye hath not seen, nor thy heart conceived of, is thine; nothing shall be kept back from the man that believes his God, and trusts his Redeemer. Oh that the Lord would give faith to you all. “Alas,” you say, “I do not feel right.” Never mind your feelings, trust in Christ. “Oh, but I am such a sinner.” “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” “Alas, but I have tried before.” Away with all your trials before. Have done with trying, and accept the finished work. Trust Jesus now. “Do you mean that if I now do trust myself with Christ, I shall be saved while sitting in the pew?” I mean even so. Be thou whosoever thou mayest be, this night look to Jesus and be saved.

If thou wilt have done with thyself, and will trust thy soul in the hand of Jesus, who has sworn to save those that rest themselves upon him, thou art saved. Oh, that those who have heard this gospel many times would now for the first time really understand it, and say, “Is this, after all, the greatest of all works-that I do believe in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Lord, I believe: help thou mine unbelief, and save me now.” O God, help many to breathe the prayer of faith at this moment, for Jesus’s sake. Amen.

Portion of Scripture read before Sermon-John 6:25-65.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-289, 551, 533.