Feeling, sight, hearing! What wonderful things these are. If we could exist without them what a wretched condition ours would be. The outer world would be unknown to us if the gates of the senses were shut, and the soul would be famished, like Samaria when it was straitly shut up, and there was no going in nor coming out. Take away from us the power of perception by touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing, and it would be of small account to us that the world was beautiful, for to our consciousness there would scarcely be a world at all. All the colours of the rainbow, the warmth of the sun, the freshness of the breeze, the sweetness of honey, the charms of music, and even the terrors of tempest would cease; the soul would be shut up within the body as within a prison which had neither doors nor windows. The dreariest dungeon of the Bastille would be liberty compared with such a state. Perhaps the mind might exist, but certainly it could not live: it would be a misuse of language to call it life. When any one of the senses is gone it involves great deprivation, and subjects the person enduring it to the pity of his fellows, but if all were absent what wretchedness must ensue. Loss of sight or hearing creates among us a large number of sufferers who deserve our sympathy, but what mourning would suffice for those, if there were indeed any such, who physically had neither heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear!

Transfer your thoughts now from these external senses by which we become conscious of the external world to those spiritual senses by which we perceive the spiritual world, the kingdom of heaven, the Lord of that kingdom, and all the powers of the world to come. There is a heart which should be tender, by which we perceive the presence of God and feel his operations, and even behold the Lord himself, as it is written, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is a spiritual eye by which the things invisible are discerned, blessed are they to whom the Lord has given to see the things of his kingdom, which to the unrenewed remain hidden in parables. There is a spiritual ear by which we hear the gentle whispers of the Spirit, which frequently come to us internally, without the medium of sounds that can affect the ear. Blessed are those who have the ear which the Lord has purged, and cleansed, and opened, so that it listens to the divine call. But there is no blessedness in the case of men devoid of spiritual feeling, sight, and hearing. Theirs is a miserable plight. Just what the blind man, and the deaf man, and the man who is destitute of feeling would be in the outer world, that many men are as to the spiritual world. Alas, there are among us in this congregation this day, and all around us in myriads, poor souls of whom this text is true, “The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.”

This is a very, very mournful case; but perhaps the most lamentable aspect of it is that the persons who are thus devoid of the spiritual senses by which they can converse with the best and highest world, are not conscious of their incapacity, or, if partially conscious of it, seem to be stupidly contented to remain as they are. The naturally blind man would see if he could; what shall I say of those whose inability to see spiritually is wilful, and lies more in their will than anywhere else? The man who cannot hear the voice of his fellow would greatly rejoice if the gates of sound once opened to him; but there are none so deaf as those who will not hear, whose deafness is moral, whose inability to hear the voice of God lies in this fact, that they deliberately close their ears to the voice of holy exhortation. They are ready enough to listen to the siren songs of temptation, and they bend a willing ear to the subtle deceit of the serpent, but they will not regard the tender, loving wisdom of the good Shepherd. They are quick of hearing to evil, but deaf to good. This is the sad part of it: they are blind, and do not want to see; they are deaf, and do not wish to hear. Our poet says-

“How helpless guilty nature lies,

Unconscious of its load.”

In this unconsciousness lies the heart of the mischief. Helpless man is unconscious of his own helplessness. Because they say, “We see,” therefore their sin remaineth. If they were blind and knew it, it were another matter, and signs of hope would be visible; but to be blind and yet to boast of having superior sight, and to ridicule those who see, is the lamentable condition of not a few. They will not thank us for our pity, but much they need it. Eyes have they, but they see not, and yet they glory in their far-sightedness. Multitudes around us are in this plight. When the prophet says, “Bring forth the blind people that have eyes,” we can only wonder where we should put them all if they were willing to assemble in one place. My own spirit feels very heavy in having to preach upon this subject this morning, but I would do so with great tenderness of heart, lamenting while I blame. It seems to me that Moses felt very tenderly to the people whom he here addresses; he puts his meaning in the gentlest conceivable shape when he says, “The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” He does not excuse, but yet he softly chides. He speaks not with the stern severity of Isaiah when he cried in the name of the Lord, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”

What a sad thing it is that so many are rich in all things except the one thing needful. God has given them abundance of earthly possessions, but he hath not given them eyes to see his bounty, nor ears to hear his voice of love, nor a heart to perceive his presence in the mercies which they enjoy. Such see the harvest, but not the Great Husbandman; they enjoy the fruitful seasons, but take no delight in the giver of the rain and the sender of the sunshine. What a sad condition to be in! Alas, poor rich man! He has so much and yet so little! And what a lamentable sight is the educated man of this world who is learned in all the lore of the ancients, and versed in all the science of the moderns; who has pried into the secret chambers of knowledge, and has observed the skill of the Eternal in the starry heavens and in microscopic life; and yet with all his attainments has no knowledge of his Maker, and will not accept the evidence of his presence. How sad that we should have to say to such, “Yes, you know all the facts, and yet cannot see beneath their surface; you allow prejudice to blind your eyes to the plain teaching of creation and Providence. You walk through the studio and admire the pictures, and deny the artist’s existence, whereas if you were candid you would believe in him from his works, and then go on to spell out his character from them. Alas, you have not a heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear unto this day.” Well spake the apostle when he said, “Not many great men after the flesh, not many learned are called.” Often those that know the most of the secular know the least of the sacred. Eyes that seem as if they could pierce through rocks, and read the mysteries of primeval night, turn out to be mere sightless eyeballs as to things divine. Yet they know it not, neither guess at their folly. How sad it is that there should be so many who are quick in reasoning, and ready in invention, who cannot see that the visible argues an invisible Creator, and that providential arrangements prove that a Great Father is over all. As Herbert says, they “walk with their staff to heaven,” they thread the stars like beads upon a string, harness the lightning, and weigh the starry orbs, and yet they have not found out their God, who is above, around, without, and within them. They are open-eyed to all things but unto him who filleth all in all. I fear I must apply to them the language of Paul, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”

This morning I shall speak as I shall be helped by the Holy Spirit, first upon a very mournful fact; secondly, upon a yet more mournful reason for that fact; and thirdly, upon a mournful result, which comes out of that fact. May what is said be taken as a word of warning, and may God the Holy Ghost bless it to the conversion of everyone here present who remains as yet unrenewed. I say everyone, for there is not one among you whom I would knowingly exempt from my prayers.

First, we shall think upon a mournful fact. Here was a whole nation, with but very few exceptions, of whom their leader, who knew them best and loved them best, was obliged to say, “The Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive unto this day.” The mournful part of it was, that this was the nation that had been specially favoured of God above all others. God had not entered into covenant with Edom or with Moab; he had not sent the light of his truth to Egypt, or to Ethiopia, nor to any other of the nations of antiquity; but this comparatively little and insignificant people had been selected that to it might be committed the oracles of God. They were the one candlestick of the human race. They had light in their dwellings while all around there brooded a darkness which might be felt. By his name Jehovah the Lord was made known to them when he spake to Moses in the desert, and manifested himself to him in the burning bush. “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.” He gave to this people revelation after revelation, containing guidance, rule, comfort, and instruction, even as it is written, “He hath not dealt so with any people.” Almost all the light then given was focussed upon Israel, and yet they had not eyes to see. “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not for want of ears which can hear.” Is not this a dreadful thing? I can understand the other nations being blind and senseless, for they were in the dark, and “the times of their ignorance God winked at”; but for this nation, upon whom the sun of righteousness had risen, to choose darkness and abhor the light is a horrible thing. By the preciousness of the privilege the sin of its rejection was greatly enhanced. This is sad, sad to the uttermost degree of sadness; but is it not the case with some of you? Are there not among you those who have the clearest light, and yet choose the ways of darkness? My dear hearers, be honest with yourselves and answer. Born of godly parents, singled out to be carefully instructed in the things of God, attending a faithful ministry from your youth up, reading your Bible, and being thoroughly versed in its contents, and yet, after all, without godly feeling and gracious perception. I grieve that you should have such privileges, and yet remain strangers to salvation. Will it be so for ever? Shall it always be said of you, “The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day”?

Note again, that not only were they a highly favoured people, but they had seen very wonderful acts performed by the Lord himself. Moses says, “Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land, the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs and those great miracles.” Does it not seem deplorable that they could see God lifting his hand against Pharaoh with plague after plague, and yet not acknowledge him to be the only living and true God? Those plagues smote the gods of Egypt, how could Israel ever turn aside to worship such dishonoured deities? Each plague was aimed against some sacred object of Egyptian worship, and the marvel is that these defeated idols should be still reverenced by Israel. Truly, the Lord spoke with a loud voice from heaven, with a voice which even Pharaoh was compelled to hear; and yet his own people heard him not. They saw the plagues, and did not discern the glory of their God so as to remain faithful to him. And that Red Sea! Was not that marvel enough? How often have I wished that I could hare been there to see the eager waters leap on Pharaoh and all his hosts! What joy to have heard the sound of the timbrel, and to hare seen the twinkling feet of the maidens as they danced and chanted, “Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea.” Could men stand there and see that, and yet not perceive that the gods of the heathen are idols, and that only Jehovah is the living and true God; and could they shake off the fear and dread of this mighty God from their souls, and turn to worship a golden calf which their own hands have made? Yes, such is the deplorable wickedness of man that if God were to work over again all the miracles of Egypt in the sight of those of you who are unbelievers you would not thereby be converted to his fear. You would be staggered by the wonder, but you would not be converted by the witness. Something else is wanted over and above all miracles or ever the blinded eye will care to see, or the hardened heart will begin to feel. You also have witnessed great deeds of grace in our midst, and yet you are not convinced. You even believe in all the miracles of Scripture, and in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and yet you do not trust in him. Ah me, what can I say? What can I do but mourn over you?

In addition to this, these people had passed through a very remarkable experience. They had been brought out of Egypt by miracle, and by the same power they had passed through the depths of the sea as on dry land. Moses thus describes their wilderness history. “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord your God.” All these forty years they lived by miracles, and yet they neither feared, nor loved, nor trusted Jehovah their God who wrought all these signs among them. As a nation they did not receive the spiritual teachings which the Lord set before them. Do you blame them? Look at home. Are they the only people who have thus offended? May I not be addressing some to-day whose experience has been singularly full of mercy and love? God has been strangely gracious to you, my friend. He has led you by a way that you knew not, and, if you could but see it, his hand has been conspicuously with you from the time when you left your father’s house unto this day. I know not to whom I may be speaking, but I am persuaded that there are some here whose career has been specially marked by the providence of God. Yours has been no common journey of life. You have been preserved in accident and restored from sickness. The stars in their courses have seemed to fight for you, and the stones of the field have leagued to defend you, and yet you do not observe the hand of the Lord in all this. The Lord has girded you though you have not known him; he has guided you, restrained you, delivered you, instructed you, even though you have not deigned to think of him. Yea, he has saved you from the consequences of your own folly, or you would long ere this have been a beggar, or a mass of sores, or a prisoner in the last dread dungeon. He has interposed to save you from your own folly; and here you are where mercy pleads, and grace holds out her silver sceptre. Alas, even to this day you have not a heart to perceive the longsuffering of God, nor eyes to see your obligations, nor ears to hear the wooings of his love; but you are going on still in rebellion against God. Shall it always be so? It is grievous that it has been thus so long; is there no turning? Is there no relenting? Must you die in your sins?

In addition to all this sight and experience the Israelites had received remarkable instruction. In the wilderness the Lord taught them by Moses and Aaron. The tabernacle was pitched in their midst, according to the pattern which Moses had seen on the mount, and there a worship was instituted, every part of which was singularly rich in instruction, as we all know to this day. There was not a lamb slaughtered, nor a lamp kindled, nor a handful of incense burned on the altar, nor a curtain folded up, nor a silver socket set in its place without some moral and spiritual significance. Had they desired to learn it, they might have discovered in the tabernacle in the wilderness great store of teachings as to those things which make for the peace and salvation of men: but they had no heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear; and so the whole apparatus of teaching was lost upon them. Ah, dear hearers, you may enjoy the most lucid instruction, you may have line upon line, precept upon precept, you may read God’s Book itself, and you may observe the experience of Christians, and you may have all their love and affection to help you to understand the things of God; and yet for all that you may remain without spiritual perception. All the external processes of holy teaching may spend themselves in vain upon you for forty, or fifty, or sixty, or even seventy years, and you may remain still blind and unfeeling. You may know the letter of doctrine, and yet never perceive its meaning; you may see the logical nature and certainty of a sacred truth, and yet never see its bearings upon yourself. Does your present condition prove this assertion? Are ye also without understanding? Are ye still untaught in the things of God? that the Holy Spirit may now create in you a new heart, and bestow both spiritual eyes and ears upon you.

One thing else is worth notice, that these people had been associated with remarkable characters. They were not all blinded, there were a few among them who were gracious, and so were made to perceive. Caleb and Joshua were there, and Aaron and Miriam; but chiefly there was Moses, grandest of men, true father of the nation. It was something to have lived in a camp where you could speak with such a man as Moses, who had seen God face to face, so that upon his brow there rested the glow of Deity when he came down from the mount. You, too, my friends, have met with those whose conversation has been in heaven, and whose lives are bright with communion with the Lord. If we do not see and will not see where another sees so clearly, we stand condemned. A man who counts himself highly intelligent stands with me upon the hill and looks abroad upon a fair landscape, over which hangs a wonderful sky bedecked with fleecy clouds, while at our feet blooms a wealth of lovely flowers; he tells me that in all this he sees no evidence of God. Is he not blind? As for me, I feel myself surrounded by the all-embracing Deity, and his presence is the greatest fact of my consciousness:-

“God hath a presence, and that ye may see

In the fold of the flower, the leaf of the tree;

In the sun of the noon-day, the star of the night;

In the storm-cloud of darkness, the rainbow of light;

In the waves of the ocean, the furrows of land;

In the mountains of granite, the atom of sand;

Turn where ye may, from the sky to the sod,

Where can ye gaze that ye see not a God?”

Now, either I am a liar or else my neighbour is sadly dull of perception; and as I know that I speak the truth I know also that he is blind. If Moses saw, he by that fact left the rest of the people without excuse. That they would not perceive was exceedingly provoking to the Lord, for among them God was manifest in the most remarkable manner. The Lord came from Sinai and the Holy One from Paran, from the top of the smoking mount he spake with voice of trumpet and with sound of thunder: the earth shook and trembled beneath his feet. The Lord was among them conspicuously in the flaming pillar by night and in the shadowing cloud by day. Israel saw the glory of her God, she could not help seeing it; and yet the people refused to behold him, and asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Moses said of them, “They are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” Even to the very end of forty years of patient instruction they remained without the true knowledge of God. Ah me! This is sad, most sad; but I fear that in this congregation we have a number who are in like case. Years have not brought them grace, nor has a lifetime yielded them wisdom. They have seen God’s wonders of grace upon their friends and relatives, they have also tasted of the Lord’s goodness in their own lives, and they have heard his voice in the preaching of the gospel, for Jesus Christ has been set forth evidently crucified among them, and yet they have not seen the Lord, and do not hear him even unto this day. This is no new thing, but it is none the less a grief of heart to those of us who fear the Lord and feel a love for souls. Brethren, remember that these Jews in subsequent generations had great prophets among them, and what was the success of their labour? Did they not cry, “Who hath believed our report?” At length they saw the Son of God among them, and how did he speed? Jesus himself, with all his miracles of grace and words of love, came unto his own people and they received him not, but cried, “Crucify him, crucify him.” How true it is that nothing can bless men till almighty grace renews them. If one should rise from the dead men would not repent unless they were renewed. There is no miracle that God can do, there is no marvel that omnipotence itself can perform, which can make men see who have no spiritual eyes. Nothing can make men feel so long as their hearts remain hardened against the Most High. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Verily is it written with truth, “Ye must be born again.” The unbelief of man, so long as it remains, renders blessing impossible. The gospels represent our Lord himself as baffled, by man’s refusal to believe, as it is written, “He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Oh the wretchedness of this state of things; who shall deliver men from it? Who can attempt the task but God only?

We will now hasten to spend a few minutes in descending into a still lower depth. Let us note the mournful reasons for all this. The reasons for their incapacity to see and perceive lay, first, in the fact that these people never believed in their own blindness. They had no heart to perceive, and they did not perceive their absence of perception: they had no eyes wherewith to detect their own dimness of vision. They were such fools as to dote on their own wisdom, so poor as to think themselves rich, so hypocritical as to profess to be sincere. They thought they knew better than their God, and so they sat in judgment upon his providence, and styled the provision of his wisdom “light bread.” They were so quick of perception that when Moses was gone away for a little while they said, “Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, we wot not what is become of him.” They showed their pretended wisdom by suspecting both the Lord and his servant Moses as soon as they fell into any difficulty. “Because there were no graves in Egypt, therefore has he brought us forth that we may die in the wilderness.” They would fain snatch from Jehovah’s hand the rod of government, and become leaders for themselves. Jeshurun forsook God that made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They were wise in their own conceits, and hence it was that they could not see. Pride is the great creator of darkness, like Nahash, the Ammonite, it puts out the right eye. Men seek not the light, because they boast that they are the children of the day and need no light from above.

More than this, these men never asked for a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear. No man hath ever asked for these things and been refused; no soul has cried in its blindness and darkness, “Open thou mine eyes,” but what a gracious answer has always come. It is the prerogative of the Lord Jesus to open the blind eyes; but this he is ever ready to do whenever men call upon his name. Let but the poor man cry, and the Lord Jesus must and will hear him, and pour the daylight into his soul. In Israel’s case there was a distinct refusal to be blest: “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.” There was no prayer for the heavenly blessing, but an aversion to it. “Ye have not because ye ask not.” “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness.” Rightly are those left in darkness who will not ask God to give them light, or to open their eyes. Is not this the case with some of you? O my hearers, I must be plain and personal with you,-is it not true that some of you are prayerless, Christless, graceless? What will become of you? Your case is all the more to be lamented because you are without excuse.

Then, moreover, what little light they did have they resisted. When they were forced to see, it was only for a moment that they would be instructed, and then they shut their eyes again. “When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.” When he sent fiery serpents among them, or otherwise smote them, then they perceived his presence for a while, but anon they turned back and dealt deceitfully. They took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of their god Remphan, and worshipped graven images in secret in their tents, so that they provoked the Lord to jealousy, and he was incensed against them. They loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. They did not actually cry like Pharaoh, “Who is Jehovah that I should obey his voice?” but in their hearts they meant it. They lusted after the abominable rites of Baal-peor, and fell into filthiness in the days of Balaam, although God himself dwelt among them in all his matchless purity and holiness. Now, this is the gravest crime of all-to leave the holy God for impure idolatries. Oh sinners that love not God, is it not because you love that which is evil? Oh, you that never see him or seek after him, is not the cause of your blindness to be found in your love of sin? “He that doeth evil hateth the light.” This wilfulness of yours, this desperate bent of your hearts towards evil, how will you answer for it? Our fear for you is great: we are afraid that you will perish through your hardness of heart. Oh, that you had a desire towards God! Oh that you willed to turn to Jesus. Oh that his grace would cure you of your stiff-necked rebellions! Jesus stands here this morning, and he cries, “How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” He waits to be gracious. Do you doubt this? He has given you all manner of good things: do you think he would have refused you eyes to see, and a heart to feel, if these had been sought? “He giveth liberally and upbraideth not.” If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? But no: men choose their own delusions; they abide in their darling sins; they perish by suicide. Like Saul, every unbeliever falls upon his own sword. “Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.” Yet thou delightest in thy destruction, and thou enterest into league with that which devours thee. Thou art a prisoner, but thou dost hug thy bonds; thou seest not, for thou dost wilfully blow out the candle; thou hearest not, for thou dost stop thine own ears: thou art spiritually dead, but thou hast chosen corruption. By prejudice, and pride, and hardness of heart thou hast shut out thyself from love. Ah me, that such folly as this should be continued in by any who frequent this house of prayer. Can it be possible that you are so foolish? Blessed be the Lord, many of you have eyes to see and ears to hear. Let all such adore the sovereign grace which has given these boons to them. Let them worship the love which has sweetly conquered their stubborn will, leading their captivity captive, and giving them to feel and know and taste of spiritual things. Not to you be the glory, but to the Lord alone. To those who know not the Lord there is shame and confusion; but to those who have known him there is no self-glorification; for, as the wise man saith, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.” To be blind of heart is our sin; but to be made to see is the gift of grace. Our misery is our own work, but our salvation is of the Lord.

I conclude by noticing what was the mournful result of these people being so highly favoured and privileged, and yet not seeing nor discerning their God. The result was, first, that they missed a happy portion. I can hardly imagine how happy the children of Israel might have been. They left Egypt with a high hand and an outstretched arm, their ears were hung with jewels, and their purses were filled with riches, while around them manna dropped from heaven, and cool streams flowed at their side. They might have made a quick march to the promised land, and at once entered their rest, for their God who had sent the hornet before them would soon have driven out their adversaries. “How should one have chased a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.” In the land of promise they would have dwelt securely, and God would have given them rest. Then would the heavens have heard the earth, and the earth would have yielded such harvests that one year in seven they would have had no need either to sow or reap, but would have spent their whole time in praising God; and then a jubilee would have come every seventh seven, in which with high-sounding cymbals they would magnify the Most High. They would have known no invading enemy, and felt neither blast, nor blight, nor mildew; in fact, they would have been the happiest nation under heaven: “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.” They flung all this on one side: they would not have God, and so they could not have prosperity. They walked contrary to him, and he walked contrary to them; they would not obey him, and therefore his anger smoked against them.

Think, moreover, what a glorious destiny they threw aside. Had they been equal to the occasion, by God’s grace they might have been a nation of kings and priests, they might have been the Lord’s missionaries to all lands, the light-bearers to all peoples. Every arrangement was made to enable them to live a godly, holy, joyous, sanctified life. They ate angels’ food, and they might have lived angels’ lives, acting as heralds, to tell out to others what wonders God had wrought for them. Alas, they could not see the moral grandeur of so high a calling, and they thought more of eating flesh than of honouring the Lord and teaching his law. I would like to say to some of you that God has been setting before you an open door, and yet you have not perceived him, nor loved him. He would make saints of you and you are content to be money-grubbers. You have judged yourselves unworthy of the prize which he has set before you. You do not know what a happy lot you have declined. So lately you were a young man,-you are getting to middle life now,-and you do not know what golden opportunities you have wasted. As Cleopatra melted pearls and swallowed them at a draught, so have you drunk down the possibilities of glory as if they were common things. What might not God have done with some of you if your hearts had been given to him years ago. By this time you might have achieved a life work, glorious to God, honourable to yourself, and happy to your friends. The stuff is in you which might have been moulded into a minister, a missionary, a soul-winner, and you might have been among the happiest and best of men. Nor does the waste end with yourself, you are causing damage to many others. Your children are growing up to follow your follies, wasting their lives as you have squandered yours! Oh, had you yielded to Jesus years ago your sons might have been your honour and comfort, and your daughters your joy and delight. You have flung away such opportunities as could not be bought for gold. Thus saith the Lord, “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord, should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.” Happy are God’s people, but wretched are they who being placed where they could see God’s hand yet will not see it, where they could hear God’s voice yet will not hear it, but refuse the kingdom of heaven which hath come so near unto them.

Another result was that while they missed so high a position, they went on sinning. As they did not learn the lesson God was teaching them, namely, that he was God, and that to serve him was their joy and their prosperity, they went from one evil to another, provoking the Lord to jealousy. From repining and murmuring they went on to rebelling. “Let us make a captain,” said they, “and let us return into Egypt.” From being idolatrous they became lascivious, and fell into the sin of uncleanness with the women of Moab. Often they were actual idolaters, and always they were unstable of heart. So they went from one sin to another because they had not a heart to perceive, nor ears to hear their God.

Hence they frequently suffered. A plague broke out at one time, and a burning at another; at one time they were visited with fever, and anon the earth opened beneath them; one day the Amalekites smote them, another day fiery serpents leaped up from the sand, and they died by thousands, being poisoned by their bites. They suffered much and often, and in all their trials they did but reap what they had sown. A man does not know what he is doing when he sins. We tell our naughty children that we have rods in pickle for them; and this is assuredly the case with the great Father, who hath chastisement laid up for the people who wilfully revolt from him. He brings forth sorrow and wrath for those who harden their hearts and continue in their iniquities. Ah, my hearers, how many of you are this day reaping what your own hands have sown.

At last this evil ended terribly. The Lord lifted his hand to heaven, and swore that the rebellious generation should not enter into his rest, and they began to die by wholesale till Moses cried, “We are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.” Not one of the men that came out of Egypt, save only Joshua and Caleb, reached the promised land. Whenever they pitched their tents at eventide the first thing was to celebrate the funerals of the day. The tribes marched on, and on the march they stumbled into their graves, till the whole of that peninsula in which they had to wander up and down for forty years became one vast cemetery, wherein the thousands of Israel were all buried. Who slew all these? Not by the sword of the enemy nor by the arrow of the foe were they destroyed; but sin laid them in heaps as in the day of battle. They could not enter in because of their unbelief. The land that flowed with milk and honey lay smiling in the calm sunlight, on the other side of Jordan, but they could not enter in because they had no heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear the Lord and his word. And this is the main misery of your condition, O ye careless ones, that you will not be able to enter into God’s rest either here or hereafter. This is the misery of it to me, that I must set Christ before some of you and you will never have him; that I must extol his atoning blood, but you will refuse to be washed in it; that I must go on declaring my Lord’s message as long as this tongue can move, and bidding you believe in Jesus Christ and find eternal life, but still of some of you I shall have always to say, “The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.”

Alas, your eyes will be opened one day, in another sense. “The rich man seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Who was that? That was a Jew of the kind I have described, who had everything in this life, being clothed in purple, and faring sumptuously every day, but he had no heart to perceive nor eyes to see. “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.” Oh, my hearers, hell’s torments will open your eyes. Will you wait till then? O ye ungodly ones, you will think then. I pray God you may have sense enough to think now, while thinking will be of use to you. If there be a heaven, seek it; if there be a hell, escape it; if there be a God, love him; if there be a Christ, trust him; if there be sin, seek to be washed from it; if there be pardon, rest not till you have it. Oh do not mock your Saviour! Do not make game of eternal realities! Be in earnest about this, and in earnest at once. If you must play the fool, trifle with something less precious than your souls. Procure toys less expensive than your own immortal destinies. Oh, that God would bless this word to you careless ones, that you may feel at once that you do not feel as you should, and begin to cry to God to give you feeling; that you may see that you do not see, and begin to cry, “Lord, open my eyes;” that you may hear this morning a voice which shall make you feel that you do not hear as you ought to hear, and therefore must ne’er cry to God to give you hearing. Remember that spiritual life is from God only. It is his gift, and it is not bestowed according to merit, but is given by pure grace to the unworthy. Seek it, and you shall have it, for so it is written, “He that asketh receiveth, he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Will your ears again refuse the language of his grace? Will you still go to your farm and to your merchandise, to your labour and to your amusement, and reject the voice that calls you to glory and immortality? Will you trample upon the bleeding love of Jesus? Oh, then, what shall I do, and to whom shall I turn? I must go back to my Master, mourning with Isaiah, “Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Lord, reveal thine arm, and then they will believe the report. Amen and Amen.

Portion of Scripture read before Sermon-Deuteronomy 29.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-917, 461, 100 (Vers. II).

ACCEPTABLE SERVICE

A Sermon

Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, January 15th, 1882, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.”-Hebrews 12:28, 29.

As a congregation you have of late been diligently engaged in the service of God by endeavouring to provide a home for fatherless children. I have been astonished and delighted at the liberality which has been shown by all sorts of persons in this good and gracious work. I felt sometimes like the king of old, who said, “Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?” I am sure you have well earned all the commendation that your fellow Christians can give to you; for the work has been so well and so heartily done that we all rejoice together. But, now that it is all over, careful thoughts arise in my mind. It is but a small thing that you and I should be accepted of one another; the great matter is that we should be accepted of the Lord. I, who am but as the doorkeeper of my Master’s house, not only approve, but abundantly commend my fellow servants; but what of that? The great point is that the King himself should say,’ “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We do but see the fair externals of things, but the great Father of spirits searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of men, and judges after a higher standard. Therefore, with holy anxiety have I looked at this text and turned it over, hoping that the Holy Spirit may cause each one who has engaged in our benevolent work to examine himself, and to judge his part in this labour of love, that he may amend any fault which may hinder his work from being a sacrifice of sweet savour unto the Most High. What if we should bring our sacrifice, and the Lord should have no respect thereunto! That would be a repetition of the sad story of Cain, of whom it is written, “Unto Cain and to his offering the Lord had not respect.” Then, indeed, would our countenances be fallen; but I trust it would be with repentance rather than rebellion. If unaccepted of the Lord we would weep bitterly, and ask him that the sin-offering which lieth at the door might be available for us. The chief thing is that our labour should be acceptable unto God, and upon that subject I shall speak this morning, as the Spirit of God shall enable me.

Many things are absolutely needful for the acceptance of any service rendered unto God: of these some are not stated in the text, but they are so important that I commence with mentioning them. The first is that the person who attempts to serve God should himself be accepted. The offerer must himself be accepted in the Beloved, or his offering will be tainted by his condition and be inevitably unacceptable. The uncleanness of the person pollutes his sacrifice. He that hath an impenitent heart, an unrenewed will, a disobedient mind, an unholy life, may perform outward acts of devotion, but the Lord saith, to such-“Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations unto me.” The heart itself must be given to God; for the offering which comes from a heartless worshipper is a mere pretence of homage to the Most High. See well to that, my dear hearers. God says, “My son, give me thy heart:” give whatsoever you please afterwards, but the heart must lead the way-that is essential. Let a traitor in actual rebellion bring tribute to a king; it will be but a mockery; he must first submit himself unto his prince, and then he may come with his token of loyalty.

The next essential is that, the act being performed by a person accepted, it should be distinctly done as unto God. Our text speaks of serving God. Alas, much is done which is in itself externally commendable, but it is not acceptable to God, because it is not rendered unto him, and with a view to his glory. Some, like the Pharisees of old, give alms out of ostentation; they sound a trumpet before them that they may have praise of men. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward, and a poor reward it is. Some are energetic in holy work out of emulation, that they may surpass others, and may have credit for superior ability and goodness. Like Jehu they cry, “Come, see my zeal for the Lord of hosts!” Now, inasmuch as in this they seek their own honour, and not the glory of God, they cannot be accepted of him. Better far the two mites dropped into the treasury unobserved of all but the great Master himself, than all the wealth that we could possibly bring if we made the offering with divided intent. If we would serve God we must forget self. There must be the distinct desire to obey and honour the Lord, and we must not act as men-pleasers, or as labouring for our own exaltation; otherwise the Lord will abhor our offering.

And we must take care that all this is done with faith in Christ Jesus; for it is a law of universal observation in the kingdom of heaven that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” “Though I give my body to be burned and have not charity,” saith Paul, “it profiteth me nothing;” and the same may be said concerning faith. He who does not believe in God, and yet pretends to be religious, is manifestly either a deceiver or deceived: as the unbeliever is condemned already, his service can only be that of a condemned man, and how can it give pleasure to the Lord? We must bring our offering to Jesus, our great High Priest, and he must present it for us, for it can only be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

These things being mentioned, I now confine myself to the text itself, which has in it a world of solemn, heart-searching thought with regard to the acceptable service of God.

And, first, according to the apostle, if we are to serve God acceptably it must be under a sense of our immeasurable obligation to him. Look, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” See, brethren, whatever service we may render to God, we must begin by being receivers. Our first dealing with the most High must not be our bringing anything to him, but our accepting of everything from him. We receive, that is our first stage; and I trow it is our last; for if ever we are able to serve the Lord by our gifts, we shall have to confess, “Of thine own have we given unto thee.” When we are privileged to cast our crowns before Emanuel’s throne, they will be crowns which he himself bestowed upon us of his own sovereign grace. Every hymn that comes up from saints made perfect is but an echo of almighty love. They love him because he first loved them. They are first receivers, and then, like pipes that are well filled from the fountain head, they pour out their contents. First we receive grace, and then we return service: holy service is a gift from beginning to end.

We must, then, in approaching to God, remember what we have received of him; and is it not wonderful that it should be written, “We receiving a kingdom”? What a gift to receive! This is a divine gift; we have received, not a pauper’s pension, but a kingdom,-“a kingdom which cannot be moved.” The old dispensation or kingdom has passed away; its ceremonial laws are abrogated, and its very spirit is superseded by a higher spirit, and we have entered upon another kingdom, iu which the ruling principle is not law, but love. We are not under the yoke of Moses, but we are the subjects of King Jesus, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. The kingdom of Jesus will never end while time shall last, for he is the King Eternal, and immortal; neither will his laws be changed, nor shall his subjects die. Till that day when he shall deliver up the kingdom unto God, even the Father, and God shall be all in all, Jesus must reign: and even when the earthly mediatorial reign is consummated, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven shall be continued unto us, and we shall still be members and citizens of it. We have received an eternal kingdom, and for this we ought to be eternally grateful. The shadows have vanished, but the substance abides: we have risen out of the types of Judaism into his kingdom by whom grace and truth have come unto us. This gospel state abideth; above the wreck of all things it remains, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Ours is the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in which the gospel is the law, believers are the privileged subjects, and grace and glory are the revenue,-a kingdom daily growing in brightness, a kingdom which shall consummate its glory in the eternal world when Christ shall have put all enemies under his feet, and his people shall reign with him for ever and ever.

“But,” say you, “we have not received this kingdom yet.” I answer that we have received it in a certain sense: we have received it first in the promise. Our Lord said, “I appoint unto you a kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me.” “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Now, with a man’s word, if he be a man of honour, we are content: we count his promissory note as the equivalent of the gold which he promises to pay. Let him set his hand to a promise, and we pass it from hand to hand, regarding it as the thing itself which it promises. Shall we not think as much of the word of God? The promise of God is so firm, so sure, so true, that inasmuch as he hath promised a kingdom unto all them that wait for the appearing of his Son, that kingdom is ours, and by faith we grasp it this morning. Bless the Lord, we have received a kingdom. Let us worship him in that spirit of thankfulness which such a boon should excite.

More than this, we have received it in the principles of it, for it is written, “The kingdom of God is within you.” As the fairest flower lies packed away within the little shrivelled seed, and wants but time and sun to develope all its beauty, so perfection, glory, immortality and bliss unspeakable lie slumbering and hidden away within the grace which God hath given unto all his people. “He that believeth in him hath everlasting life.” The life of heaven is begun within the believer, it is germinating, it is daily developing, it shall in God’s good time come to its absolute perfection. We have the kingdom within us: it is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God within a man is the earnest of heaven, and an earnest is of the same nature as that which it guarantees. We who are born unto God have the firstfruits of the kingdom of God in possessing the indwelling Spirit; and in the firstfruits we see the entire harvest. Rise to this, my brethren, and under a sense of your immeasurable indebtedness go forth and serve your God with joyful thankfulness. This is the spirit in which to worship the Lord who has given us the kingdom.

Moreover, in a measure we have received this kingdom in the power of it. Notice, the text does not say we have received a little lordship, a small estate, a scanty portion, but we have received a kingdom. No gift less than this could content the great heart of our heavenly Father. He never stops half way in his march of mercy. He made us first his subjects, then his children, then his heirs, and here he makes us kings; for every heir of God is heir-apparent to a throne. “He hath made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign with him.” Brethren, in the grace which God has given you you received a measure of kingly power: you who have believed in Jesus have power over yourselves, power over your passions, power over the powers of evil, power in measure over your fellow-men for their good. You have also power in prayer, and what a real power is that, when a man can ask what he wills and it shall be done unto him. God hath endowed you with power from on high by giving you the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus you have received a kingdom in promise, in principle, and in power.

Moreover, you have received much of the provision and protection of that kingdom. You that are children of God are not left in the power of the enemy, but being redeemed the Lord is a wall of fire round about you. You are garrisoned by angelic strength, you are led by unfailing wisdom. The all-sufficiency of God is your treasure-house. The Lord hath said, “No good thing will I withhold from them that walk uprightly.” This is a royal charter of boundless liberality. “For all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”

What royal provision is thus set apart for you! “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose.” Everything is arranged for our benefit. There were two brothers, one of whom had been diligently attentive to his worldly business, to the neglect of true religion. He succeeded in accumulating considerable wealth. The other brother was diligent in the service of the Master, and had learned both to distribute to the poor and for conscience’ sake to forego many an opportunity of gain, so that when he lay sick and dying he was in straitened circumstances. His brother somewhat upbraided him, remarking that if it had not been for his religion he would not have been dependent upon others. With great calmness the saintly man replied, “Quiet! quiet! O Tam, I have a kingdom no begun upon, and an inheritance I have na yet seen.” Speak of laying up for a rainy day: we have infinite goodness laid up for them that fear the Lord, and none can rob us of it. Every child of God is as David when Samuel anointed him to a throne. He has a kingdom in reversion, secured by a covenant of salt.

This kingdom which we have received has come to us by grace alone, We could not have earned it, or merited it, or won it by our own strength, but the Lord has given it to us in Christ Jesus. He has taken the beggar from the dunghill and set him among princes. He has lifted us up from the ruin of the fall and redeemed us from the misery of our ungodly days, and he has enriched us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus: shall we not serve him out of gratitude for such inestimable benefits? No crack of the whip shall drive us to his service, for we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. No fear of hell, no hope of deserving heaven shall urge us on to please our Lord. Nay, rather this shall be our song:-

“Loved of my God, for him again

With love intense I burn:

Chosen of him ere time began,

I choose him in return.”

Gratitude is the only fountain of acceptable service; without it the streams are far too defiled to flow in the paradise of God.

A large measure of the splendour of our kingdom lies in this that it is a “kingdom that cannot be moved.” Other kingdoms go to pieces sooner or later. You and I who are in middle life can remember kingdoms that have been blown down by the wind, or toppled over at the blow of one brave man’s sword. Empires that have rivalled Cæsar’s in apparent strength have been swept down like cobwebs. As houses made of a pack of cards, so have dynasties fallen never to rise again. There was one year in which our great caricaturist pictured kings and princes out at sea in little cockboats, tossed up and down by the wild waves of revolution. So frail was their tenure of power at that moment. Even to-day, I warrant you, the last office I should choose would be that of an emperor in any country: a man might wisely prefer to take the post of a common crossing-sweeper rather than be a king, or even a president. As for the Empire of Russia, who would court its deadly honours? If those who deserve the severest imaginable punishment for horrible crimes were compelled to be autocrats, it would be a punishment too heavy. What must be the strain upon the mind, the constant fear, the awful unrest of a man who has the sole control of millions, and has deadly foes upon his track? Glory be to God, our kingdom cannot be moved! Not even dynamite can touch our dominion: no power in the world, and no power in hell, can shake the kingdom which the Lord has given to his saints. With Jesus as our monarch we fear no revolution and no anarchy: for the Lord hath established this kingdom upon a rock, and it cannot be moved or removed. When the sun and moon are blown out in darkness, and when the stars fall like the withered leaves of autumn, the kingdom in which we rejoice shall enjoy perpetual prosperity, as it is written, “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” Receiving such a kingdom, what are we bound to do? I would fain cast silver chains about you to hold you fast to your Lord. I would fasten anew these silken bonds upon you to bind you to your God. You have received a kingdom. You can never pay back the millionth part of what you owe. To-day, however, let the sweet love of Christ constrain you to judge that if he made you kings it is for you to crown him King with all your hearts, and if he has given you a kingdom that cannot be moved by you, it is for you to be “stedfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”

Is it not a splendid thought that when we do anything for God, though it be but the simple offering of a prayer, or the helping of a fatherless child, we may do it with all the holy dignity of princely priests. A certain set of men arrogate to themselves exclusively the title of priests, and so deny the priesthood of every believer. In this they act like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, thrusting themselves into an office which belongs not to them, and intruding out the true priests of the living God. Has not the Lord said to all his people, “Ye are a royal priesthood”? As for any who receive a supposed priesthood by laying on of hands of bishops we know nothing of them, except that they do err, not knowing the true dignity of every believer: they intrude into this priesthood so far as they pretend to possess priestly power beyond the meanest child of God, for all that believe in Jesus are this day made priests unto him. With what sacred orderliness, and saintly carefulness ought we to serve God, because we serve him not as common persons, if we are indeed in Christ, but we worship him as priests and kings. One of our early Saxon kings was rowed down the river Dee by Kenneth of Scotland, and seven other vassal kings, who each one tugged an oar while their lord reclined in state. The King of kings this day is served by kings; each man, each woman among us is made royal by the very fact of holy service. Let us labour for God not as slaves, but as kings! Alas, I confess that sometimes I have not served the Lord as a king: I have put on the ragged robes of my unbelief, and I have come up here mourning and groaning when I ought to have arrayed myself in royal apparel and served my Lord with joy and gladness. Some of God’s own saints forget what they are, and where they are, and they go to his service as if it were a toil and a drudgery, labouring as if they were galley-slaves, and not rejoicing as princes who wait upon a great king. Brethren, your high dignity should make you joyful, and you should perform the Lord’s service with intense delight because of what he has done for you. It should be heaven upon earth to be allowed to do anything for Jesus. “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably.”

There is much to dwell upon in the first clause, but I must now turn to my second point. Acceptable service must be rendered to God in the power of divine grace. What saith the apostle? “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.”

Note then that acceptable service to God is not offered in the power of nature, not even of nature at its best, when we call it good nature and philanthropy; but in the service of God everything must be the fruit of grace. You are to serve the Lord, not in the strength of your own wit or experience, or talent, but in the energy of the new life which God has given you, and in the power of the grace which is continually bestowed upon you moment by moment as you seek it of the Lord. “Let us have grace,” says the apostle. I know sometimes you say, and say truly, “What a poor creature I am, how can I serve God? I have not this and that gift.” Just so, do not attempt to serve him in the power of gift. Ask for grace, and then worship him in the power of grace. It is wonderful how grace can make use of very slender gifts, and turn them to abundant account. It is great grace that greatly honours God; and great grace is always to be had by the least among us. You may never be an orator but you may have great grace. You may never be an organiser and take the lead among your fellow Christians, but you may have much grace. You may never attain to ample wealth so as to be able to distribute largely of your substance to the poor, but you may have great grace. Therefore, let us have grace that we may serve God acceptably.

I should like to take these words out of their connection, and hang it up for our motto as a church,-“Let us have grace.” Be this our prayer-whatever else we do not have, Lord, let us have grace. If this or that means of usefulness shall be denied us, yet let us have grace, grace in our hearts, grace in our speech, grace in our lives, grace in our every breath. A true Christian should be like Aaron who had the holy oil not only on his head, but upon the skirts of his garments. Even in our little things, in our kitchen life, in our parlour life something of the holy oil should be upon us. Abundance of grace is our need. Now, dear friends, have you been trying to serve God in the power of grace, or in the power of nature? Look ye well to it. Only grace can God accept; can he accept your labour?

In the margin of our Testaments-I mean those of the authorized version, which will never be parted with for the so-called revised version-in the margin of the authorized version we read, “Let us hold fast grace.” That is another motto I would like to give to this church, “Let us hold fast grace.” To find grace is an act, to have grace is a state; to hold it fast is to make the act perpetual and the state continual. “Let us hold fast grace.” There is such a thing as serving God and losing grace while you are so doing. You may become like Martha worried about your serving, and you may be cross with Mary because she does not work as you do, but preserves her heavenly communion. It is easy to have so much to do for Jesus that you lose him amid your cares. It is possible to be busy here and there, and to miss the essence of service by not holding fast grace. O to dip our foot in oil, so that every step shall have unction with it, and in every movement we shall hold fast grace.

Now you may look at the new version if you like, and in the margin you will find another reading which is allowable though it has no great certainty about it. There we read,-“Let us have thankfulness.” That grand word charis or “grace,” may be rendered “thankfulness,” and it is in a thankful spirit that we should serve God. You have received a kingdom, therefore serve God in the spirit of gratitude. Do everything because you feel you must do it since such an infinite amount of love has been lavished upon you. No one suggested to the holy woman in the gospels to break her alabaster box over Jesus’ head; it was her own thought and her own deed. Nobody even encouraged her to do it: some rather looked askance upon her as she poured out the precious perfume, but she did it all for Jesus; she loved much, for much had been forgiven her. This is the true spirit of service. God keep us always filled with it! Let us have grace! Let us hold fast grace! And in the power of these three sentences we shall be helped to “serve God acceptably, with reverence, and godly fear.”

But now, thirdly, we must advance another step. To “serve God acceptably” we must do it with reverence. These two words in the text are much mixed up in the various readings, and it is almost impossible to divide the sense between them with accuracy; but yet I think I shall give the whole sense even if I do not allot a due proportion of meaning to each separate word. Acceptable serving or worshipping of God must be done with “reverence.” The word, according to Bishop Hopkins, signifies a holy shamefacedness. The angels veil their faces with their wings when they worship the most High, and we must veil ours with humility. The angels feel their own littleness when they stand before the presence of the dread Supreme. You and I who are much less than angels, and have sinned, should, when we come before God, be covered with blushes. Our heart should be filled with wonder that we are called to this high privilege, though we are so unworthy of it. Let each one feel “the Lord has made me a king; but what a marvel that this deed should be wrought on me! Oh that ever I should be called to such a noble estate as this!” If some poor girl were suddenly called away from the milk-pail and lifted from poverty and hard servitude to be the bride of a prince, the very thought of it would bring the crimson to her cheeks. “Can it be!” she would say; and I can imagine that when she was brought to court there would be a noticeable bashfulness and shamefacedness about her. Such holy shame ought to be upon us whenever we stand before the Lord to minister unto him. Is it not said, “Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, and never open thy mouth any more?” Not because of a servile dread of God, but out of an overwhelming sense of his unutterable love we blush to be so highly favoured.

This reverence, this shamefacedness, should come upon us when we recollect what we were. When you stand up in a prayer-meeting and pray, dear friends, some of you cannot help recollecting the time when you could swear or sing a questionable song. You are accepted among your brethren and honoured by them, but the time was when you kept very different company: do you not blush as you think of it? You may not only think of what you were but of what you are; because even now, though God favours you by allowing you to do him service, yet you know what evil lurks within you. A very hell of corruption lies within the best saint; and if the grace of God did not restrain it, he would soon be found among the chief of sinners.

Moreover bashfulness should be created not only by the thought of what you might be, but by a sight of your service itself. Perhaps your fellow creatures are saying, “That is well done;” but you will go home and lament to yourself, saying, “Ah, they do not know my faults. They little know what mean motives cropped up even when I was trying to glorify my God.” “That was a fine sermon,” said one to Mr. Bunyan. The good man answered, “You are too late, the devil told me that before I left the pulpit.” The arch-fiend soon suggests to God’s servants some lofty notion, and they are tempted to appropriate to themselves the honour which belongs to God only. Ah, what a fool I am that, even when I seek to be lowest at the feet of my Lord, I find myself satisfied with my humility! Do we not too often rather mimic humility than actually attain to it. Besides, it should always make us blush to think of the dignity of the service to which we are called; for who are we and what is our father’s house that the Lord should have brought us to this? Servants of God! Ye Knights of the Garter, ye princes of the blood royal, what are all your earthly honours when compared with the holy dignity of servants of the Most High? Oh, that in the spirit of lowly gratitude we may always serve the thrice-holy One!

The other word is, “with godly fear”; and this suggests that we should serve God in the spirit of holy cheerfulness. What sort of fear is this? for “perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment.” Observe that it is the fear that hath torment which perfect love casts out, but not this godly fear, which is quite consistent with our joy in receiving a kingdom. The more we have of this godly fear the better for us. We ought to fear lest we should offend the Lord even while we are serving him; fear lest the sacrifice should be a blemished one, and so be rejected at the altar; fear lest there should be something about our spirit and temper which would grieve the Lord. He is a jealous God, and must be served with holy carefulness. O for more of it! I do not know how my brethren feel who say they are perfect, but I am obliged to confess that when I would do good evil is present with me, and that though I would serve God like a seraph without one stray thought, or one selfish desire, yet I have by no means reached this attainment. I press forward towards the mark, and hope to reach it, but it is at present far beyond me. Oh, brethren and sisters, much of holy fear should be upon us, because we may so easily offend the Lord when we think we are pleasing him. Beware of presumptuous boldness before God. Let us not be rash with our speech, much less rude and coarse. I know that modes of worship which offend my taste may, nevertheless, be accepted with God, because he sees through the rough shell, and judges according to the sweet kernel; yet I fear that thoughtless, bragging, noisy service must offend the Lord, for it is so unlike that which was offered by his gentle, tender, well-beloved Son. If Christ be the model which he sets before us, some are far away from the mark. At any rate, let us never wantonly go into a wild, boisterous mannerism; for though we be the Lord’s children, and very near to him, yet he is in heaven and we are upon the earth, he is the thrice holy, and we are sinners. The psalmist says, “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.”

There is another form of godly fear which comes over every genuine Christian at times-the fear lest after all he should not be serving God at all. What if I have preached to others and should be after all merely preaching because it is my vocation! What if you should be teaching in the Sunday-school, and should be doing it only because it is customary for professing people of your station to have some good work to do! My dear brethren, it is not for me to doubt you, and I do not doubt you half so much as I doubt myself, but it is needful that we question ourselves as to whether we are indeed the servants of God, or are living for ourselves.

Knowing that God is to be served in his own way, and in that alone, there ought to be a godly fear as to whether we are walking in his ordinances or are following the traditions of men. God does not care for worship which he has never required at our hands. If a man invents a ceremony, he may think it helpful and instructive; but he has no right to practise it if God has not appointed it. If any of you are practising rites and ceremonies which are not according to God’s word, I charge you cease from such will-worship, for the spirit which leads you to practise these things is the spirit of Rome, and of antichrist. If God has not commanded it, God cannot accept it. Not only are we to worship the true God only, which is the law of the first commandment; but we must worship the true God in his own way, which is the spirit of the second commandment. The second commandment as it forbids all worshipping of God through images does in the spirit of it forbid all worshipping of God in any other way than he has prescribed. Therefore when thou standest before the Lord ask thyself, “Did he require this service of me? Is this the way in which he would be worshipped?” for if not it is no better than idolatry, and cannot be accepted by the living God. Oh, what fear and trembling, what solemn awe, what sacred carefulness should fall upon the man who draws near to serve and worship the Lord our God!

Now, lastly, there is another thing to be remembered in acceptable services. We must cultivate a profound sense op the divine holiness and of the wrath of God against sin, “For our God is a consuming fire.” Observe, then, from this most solemn sentence that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. Read Deuteronomy 4, at the twenty-fourth verse, and you will find these words, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” The same words describe the God of the New Testament. I know the boasted wisdom of the age tells us that we have made a great advance upon Old Testament revelation. It is not so. We may understand the Book somewhat better, but the revelation is the same. God wears the same character as in the days of Moses, and David, and the prophets.

The Lord God who is to be served by us, even as our covenant God, is a “consuming fire.” In love he is severely holy, sternly just. We hear people say-“God out of Christ is a consuming fire,” but that is an unwarrantable alteration of the text. The text is “Our God,” that is God in Christ is a consuming fire. “Our God” means God in covenant with us; it means our Father God, our God to whom we are reconciled He, even our God, is still a “consuming fire.” A large proportion of nominal Christians do not believe in this God. They profess to reverence a merciful God, but the moment you preach his justice they are indignant; the God who is a consuming fire is not accepted by this proud “nineteenth century.” I do this day most solemnly declare my faith in the God of the Hebrews, who will by no means spare the guilty. The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob is the one and only God, and I avouch him this day to be my God. Jehovah is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called. He that smote Pharaoh at the Red Sea, he that smote kings and slew mighty kings, is my God, and I believe in him as the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I know no God but Abraham’s God, Jehovah, the I AM. Under the New Testament God is not an atom less severe than under the old; and under the covenant of grace the Lord is not a particle less righteous than under the law. We are so saved by mercy that no sin goes unpunished: the law is as much honoured under the gospel as under the law. The substitution of Jesus as much displays the wrath of God against sin as even the flames of hell would do. While the Lord is merciful, infinitely so, and his name is love; yet still our God is a consuming fire, and sin shall not live in his sight. If your offering and mine be evil, it will be an abomination unto him. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; if our worship and service are mingled with hypocrisy and pride, he will not endure them.

You will be rather surprised when I say that this dreadful sentence is my hope: it is a joy to me that our God is a consuming fire. Behold two altars upon Carmel. The Baalites have laid their victim upon one of them. Do you see them as they prance about the altar, and even leap upon it? Do you hear them as they cry and cut themselves with knives and lancets? “O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us!” There lies the sacrifice: there is no trace of Baal’s hearing them, for their god is not a consuming fire. Now comes Elijah. “Pour water,” says he, “on the bullock. Do it a second time: do it a third time”; and they fetch up from the sea huge buckets, and pour the water over everything until the trenches are filled with it. And now the prophet lifts up his prayer to heaven. Down comes the fire! It is God’s sacrifice, and God accepts it. He is a consuming fire, and the token of his presence is so manifest that the people cry, “Jehovah, he is the God, he is the God,” Turn your eyes again to Solomon’s temple, gorgeous with gold and precious stones. The king pleads with the Lord of the whole earth to accept the shrine. Lo, the priests are present in their robes of office, and the sacrifice is waiting on the altar. If no fire descends, there is no acceptance; but we read, “The fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.” If I am a true and sincere man, and I am believing in Jesus, and I have brought my humble sacrifice with fear and reverence before God, then it will be accepted; for he is a consuming fire, and my sacrifice will be consumed, and go up to him.

It may be, some of you who have been working this week will think to yourselves, “We did very well, we hope to be honoured for it.” So you shall be; but if you take credit to yourselves, you will be robbing the altar of God. If God accepts your sacrifice, it will all be consumed by his fire. See the accepted sacrifice is all gone, it is utterly consumed. When God enables us to serve him, and takes away from us all self-congratulation, we ought to be very thankful. This proves that it is all burned with fire. If God had not accepted it, then we might have reserved portions of it for ourselves, whereon to feed our vanity, and that woulde be to feed ourselves without fear; but if the Lord has taken every morsel from the mouth of self we have great cause for rejoicing. If the Lord accepts us, his fire will consume us; the zeal of his house will eat us up.

When we go home to the Lord above, we dread not his presence, though he be a consuming fire. Those whom he has purified and made white are not afraid of the flames of his holiness. Remember that blessed text, “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high.” It shall be the glory of the gracious and the true that God is their element; it shall be their bliss to lire in the full splendour of his perfect holiness. They shall be like their Lord, for they shall see him as he is. Everything that is holy will endure the fire, and as for all within us that is impure, let it be consumed speedily. So let us serve the Lord with fear, but not with terror, and let this service be continued all our days.

Let us bring the sacrifices of the last week to him, with repentance for every fault, humbly pleading that of his grace he will accept it, and earnestly desiring that all we have done may redound to his glory through Jesus Christ his Son, to whom be honour, world without end. Amen.

Portion of Scripture read before Sermon-Hebrews 12.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-186, 174, 189.

THE TOUCH

Exposition and Sermon,

Delivered on Lord’s-day Evening, January 8th, 1882, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

EXPOSITION

Mark 5:21 to 43

Verses 21, 22.-“And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet.”

Paying our Lord respect and deference, as was his due. See here an instructive sight: the law at the feet of the gospel. This is the place for the law; the best work the law can do is to bring us to the feet of Jesus. The elder had an earnest request to make, and therefore he put himself into a lowly, suppliant position: we too shall succeed in prayer when we plead with all humility, bowing in the dust before the Lord.

Verses 23, 24.-“And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.”

We are told elsewhere that this was his only daughter, and twelve years of age. All the father’s heart was set upon her; his life was wrapped up in the child’s life. She was now in extremis. She must die unless the great Teacher will come and raise her up to health again. There was faith in this ruler, and hence we read, “And Jesus went with him.” Faith ensures the aid of Jesus without delay, and if you and I can trust him he will go with us. Friend, canst thou rely on Jesus? Then shall it be written of thee also, “And Jesus went with him.”

Verse 25.-“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years.”

In this passage of our Lord’s life he blesses two women,-the damsel sick unto death, and the matron sorely diseased. A large portion of the cures that Jesus wrought were upon men, but those wrought upon women are nearly all specially noteworthy. Surely of miracles of a spiritual kind the women have a double share. This poor woman had been a sufferer for twelve years, that is to say, just as long as the damsel had lived. How many only live to suffer, their existence being little better than a protracted wasting away.

Verses 26, 27.-“And had suffered may things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment.”

“When she had heard of Jesus.” “Faith cometh by hearing.” My dear hearers, whatever you do not hear, take care that you hear much of Jesus. Some preach the church: it were better by far if they preached the church’s Head. Some preach up a creed, it were wiser to proclaim him who is the essence of the creed. Attend those places where most is said of Christ, for it is by hearing of him that you will be blest as this poor woman was. That which she heard brought her to Jesus; and coming to Jesus is the great thing to be desired. When she had heard of Jesus she determined to obtain for herself the healing which he was able to bestow. Have you no such resolve?

Verse 28.-“For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”

Not “If I may but touch his clothes,” as if she meant to lay stress on the mere touch. The translators were wise to place the “but” after the “touch,” for there the emphasis rests; the woman believed that everywhere Jesus was full of healing energy even to his garments, and therefore she felt,-“If I may touch but his clothes, I shall thus come into contact with him, and I shall be whole.” Nor did she rest content with theory, she carried it out into act: she pressed through the throng, and touched the border of his garment, as Luke informs us. O that all good intentions were as promptly turned into actions!

Verse 29.-“And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.”

“Straightway.” Mark is very fond of that word “straightway” or “immediately;” and truly the instantaneous action of our Lord at the call of faith is so remarkable that we do not wonder that the evangelist should record it. Are there not sick souls here who would gladly obtain an immediate salvation? A touch of Jesus will win it.

Verse 30, 31.-“And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue [or power] had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”

Peter led the way in this remark, acting as the spokesman for the rest. Jesus is always right even when to the eye of sense he appears to be wrong. We ought never to suspect him of making a mistake; indeed, for us to question him would be great presumption.

Verse 32.-“And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.”

He knew who it was; evidently he looked for “her.” He looked round, not to make a discovery of what was unknown, but to look on one whom he would gently bring out of her hiding place. Taking a long and steady gaze around the multitude he at last singled her out.

Verse 33.-“But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.”

Here is another instructive sight. Just now we saw the law at Christ’s feet, and here we have a needy sufferer at Christ’s feet. What a picture! If the ruler of the synagogue had a right to be at Jesus’s feet, much more this poor healed one who owed everything to him. Oh, you that have been saved by Jesus, worship him; fall at his feet with reverence; sit there with attention; and abide there in obedience.

Verses 34, 35.-“And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?”

The word for “troublest” is a very strong one, as if they judged it to be exacting on the ruler’s part to take the Saviour to his house. Surely it implies that there were such signs of weariness upon our Lord that friendly minds judged it to be troubling him to induce him to struggle through the crowd to the house. Sometimes these side lights reveal more of the condition of the Man of Sorrows than the narrative actually records. Ah, there is no fear of troubling Jesus now; it is his joy to visit where he is prayed to come.

Verse 36.-“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”

As much as to say,-“That is all you can do, and all you need do. Just trust me. Be not staggered if death itself be there. I am greater than death.” Would our Lord have spoken thus if he had not been conscious of infinite power, conscious indeed of his Deity? How say some among you that he is not the Son of God? Assuredly he speaks the language of Omnipotence. These are not the words of a mere man. Hear them and practise them,-“Be not afraid. Only believe.”

Verses 37, 38.-“And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.”

That is to say, the hired mourners who came there to mimic sorrow. Everything false and hired must go out when Jesus enters to work his wonders.

Verse 39.-“And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.”

She was not dead for good and all. He knew that she was dead for the time, but he spoke broadly, looking at the future, and in his sense she was not dead, since in a few moments she would be among them alive. Her brief death was in effect no death, but a mysterious sleep.

Verse 40.-“And they laughed him to scorn.”

How this sentence ought to encourage any who, in doing right, meet with obloquy and reproach. “They laughed Him to scorn.” Will you ever think it hard that you should be ridiculed when the Lord, the Prince of Glory, is laughed to scorn? No, my brethren, say in your hearts,-

“If on my face for thy dear name

Shame and reproaches be,

All hail reproach, and welcome shame,

If thou remember me.”

Verse 40.-“But when he had put them all out-”

And here is another flash of Deity. Did you ever notice how the Lord Jesus frequently does things which are perfectly unaccountable if performed by a mere man, as when he went into the temple and cleared out the buyers and sellers with a scourge of small cords, and when in Gethsemane he only said, “I am he,” and they fell backward. Here, again, he put out of the room all the minstrels and hired mourners. Does it not show that occasionally a majesty flashed from the human person of Christ which overwhelmed everybody, and was perfectly irresistible. Yes, in his deepest humiliation our Lord had a glory about him which revealed the indwelling God.

Verse 40.-“He taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with them, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.”

Christ and death together in one room: a grand picture this! Look at the pale, dead child and the life-giving Lord. We know what the issue will be when our Lord enters the lists with the last enemy.

Verse 41.-“And he took the damsel by the hand-”

That chill, motionless hand! See how the maiden lies before him like a dew-laden lily dank with the damps of death.

Verse 41.-“And said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.”

He spake to her in her own dear mother-tongue. How sweet to be recalled to life by sounds which were so familiar. There is sometthing homely about all the calls of heavenly love.

Verse 42, 43.-“And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it.”

He did not wish to have this miracle published. There were reasons why, just then, there should not be much noise made by his miracles. Besides, our blessed Saviour was ever gentle and modest, as it is written, “He shall not strive or cry, or cause his voice to be heard in the streets.” He sought not honour of men. Let us do nothing with the view of its being blazoned abroad.

Verse 43.-“And commanded that something should be given her to eat.”

This command is natural enough, but how singularly it follows a miracle. Could not he who gave her back to life have satisfied her appetite without food? Yes; but Jesus is ever chary of his miracles, and this is the mark of the true Christ. Look at antichrist, and see her lavish marvels at Lourdes, and a thousand shrines-shovelfuls of them. Paul speaks of these signs and lying wonders as the trade-mark of the mystery of iniquity. But the Christ works no needless miracle; he pauses where the need of the supernatural ceases. He also teaches us this lesson, that when he gives spiritual life it is our duty to furnish it with suitable nutriment of divine truth. We should teach and console those who are newly born into the household of faith; especially is this the duty of parents and those who are our fathers in the church. Let us not fail to obey our Lord’s precept, and may God thus bless the reading of his Word to us.

SERMON

“And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”-Mark 5:30, 31.

We just now read the story of this woman who was immediately healed. Spiritual persons know that the miracles recorded by the evangelist are true, because they have seen them reproduced. That is to say, we have not seen an issue of blood stanched by the touch of Christ’s garments, but we have seen the spiritual counterpart of it. We have seen men and women healed of all kinds of spiritual and moral diseases by coming into contact with our Lord Jesus. They have touched Jesus, and they have been made whole; for Jesus lives still, and his healing work is not ended, but has only entered on another phase. Jesus has said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world;” and, being with us, he is not here inactively or ineffectually, but he is here, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, to work the same miracles, only not on men’s bodies, but on their souls. Jesus is present to heal leprosies of the mind, and to open the eyes of the understanding. Yea, he is still among us to raise those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Though we live in a great lazar house, yet are we comforted because we see that Jesus walks the hospitals, and still heals on the right hand and on the left all those who come into contact with him. At the sight of his wonders of grace we cry out as they did in the days of his flesh, “He hath done all things well.”

As the miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ are pictures of his wondrous works in the spiritual kingdom, so are they instructive, because they set forth most vividly much impressive and precious truth. To-night I have but one desire, and that is to lead some poor sin-sick soul to Jesus, and I shall not be satisfied unless very many shall this evening for the first time break through this crowd and press forward to touch the hem of Christ’s robe and find immediate healing thereby.

I shall speak upon three things first, upon this wonderful person, who, if he be but touched, gives out a healing virtue; secondly, upon that very remarkable touch, which is evidently a distinct thing from the touch and pressure of the eager, curious crowd. And then we will ask you to answer the singular personal question which the Saviour puts to this assembly, “Who touched me?” Peradventure some here to-night who shall be able to say with trembling assurance, “I touched fhim, and he has made me whole.” May the Holy Spirit cause it to be so.

First, then, I have the blessed work, far beyond my power, but, oh! how sweet to my soul, of speaking upon this wonderful person.

The Lord Jesus Christ as he stood in the midst of the crowd was charged with a power which is called by our translators “virtue.” An efficacious healing force was in him. Sometimes he emitted it by words, frequently by the touch of his hand, and, in this case, it seemed to stream even from his garments when he was but fitly and properly touched. He was charged with omnipotent blessing, and those who came into contact with him were made whole. Do not think, dear friends, that he is less full of benedictions for the sons of men to-night. Nay, if I may venture to say as much, he is fuller still of healing power, for he has bowed his head to death and worn the thorn-crown, and he has risen from the tomb and gone up into the glory leading captivity captive. In our midst at this moment he is, if it be possible, more charged with energy to bless than even when he walked the fields of Palestine, and healed the feeble men and women of his time.

Observe that Christ’s power to bless lay mainly in the fact of his Deity. That humble, weary, way-worn man was the Son of the Highest. Because he was still very God of very God his will was omnipotent. He did but speak to fever or leprosy, and they went at his bidding; even as the centurion put it, “I am a man under authority, and I say unto this man, Go, and he goeth, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it,” even so the divine Christ did but will it, and diseases fled at his bidding. He is not less divine to-day. At this hour he cries “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

But his power to bless us lay also in the fact that he had become man for our sake. I speak with lowly reverence, but “it behoved Christ to suffer.” He found it needful to be compassed with infirmities that he might save us from our infirmities. He was able to heal not only because he was God, but because he was Emmanuel, God with us. Oh, the blessed mystery of the incarnation! What a fount of mercy it is to us miserable sinners! He that spanned the heavens condescended to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. He that bears up the pillars of the universe was himself weary here below, and by his weakness gave us strength. Because he took our sicknesses, therefore is he able to deliver us from spiritual sickness and make us every whit whole. Oh, see, my brethren, God incarnate present among us, “able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him.”

In addition to this, it is never to be forgotten that our blessed Master, being both divine and human, was also endowed with the Holy Spirit without measure. Often are we told in Scripture that he was able to do these mighty signs and wonders, because the Holy Ghost was with him. Even now that same Holy Spirit is with him in plenitude of power. Jesus, whom I preach to you, the man of Nazareth, the mighty God, has the residue of the Spirit, by which power he can remove from us all the guilt and power of sin, and can make us perfectly whole, that is, holy.

Is not this a thing to be delighted in-that there should be such a Saviour, and such a Saviour accessible to-night? Every sort of spiritual malady the blessed physician of souls can heal. I am able to say that I have seen him heal such maladies. I think I have been witness to the cure of every sort of sin. At any rate, he is healing me of my own maladies, and I am under his tender care, persuaded that he will make even me perfectly whole ere he has done with me. I have seen the proud man, who could not else have been cured of his haughtiness, come and sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of him, until he has been made meek and lowly. I have seen the obstinate man come to Jesus and gladly take Christ’s yoke upon him, and become willingly and joyfully obedient to the supreme will of him who bought him with his blood. Often have I seen the unclean and the lascivious enticed to Jesus by his gentleness, and they have been made pure. Now, often have these eyes seen the despairing that have been on the verge of madness cheered and comforted till they have sung for joy of heart. How frequently have I seen the coward made brave, the morose made gentle, the revengeful made forgiving, by coming into contact with Jesus! You cannot love my Lord and love sin. You cannot trust my Lord and yet delight yourselves in iniquity. Only get near to him, and he will begin a cure upon your character, and, ere long, will perfect it. If your malady should be a delight in the pleasures and the pursuits of the world, he will teach you not to love the world, nor the things of it. Do you suffer from selfishness? He shall teach you to deny yourselves. His lance and nails and cross shall crucify you with himself till self-seeking shall die. Are you afflicted with a sloth that will not let you be active? My Master’s zeal shall fire your soul till, like him, you shall be consumed with energy. I do not mind what your fault is, my brother or my sister; but this I know, there is power in my divine Lord and Master to redeem you from that fault. He can destroy evil and create good. Behold, he makes all things new!

Ah, now, if I were addressing myself to a number of persons that were blind, or deaf, or sick, and I told them that Christ was here to heal them of their bodily infirmities, what a rush there would be. Set Jesus up in Trafalgar-square to be touched by all manner of sick folk, and I warrant you the crowd would press one another to death in their eagerness to get at him. But, surely, spiritual maladies are worse. It is worse to have a blind spiritual eye than a blind bodily eye. But men do not think so, and consequently they are not anxious for spiritual health. I may praise up my Master, as I fain would, even to the skies, and yet men will care nothing for him, for they would just as soon be morally and spiritually sick as not; and some of them are even proud of their sicknesses. Well, what shall become of you? In that day when God shuts out the spiritually-sick folk-the diseased, the pestilential, the putrid, the corrupt-when he casts them into Tophet, because they cannot be permitted to stand among his saints in his holy house in heaven, whose fault shall it be that ye were not healed? Who shall bear the blame that ye died in your sins? Not the Lord Jesus Christ; but yourselves, because you chose your own delusions, and would have none of him.

Thus have I feebly tried to set him forth; and oh, how I would that ye desired him and longed for him, for he is here, and a touch of him will save you! Poor souls, must he pass you by?

And now, secondly, I want to say a little, by God’s help, about the remarkable touch of this woman.

Such a touch as hers may be given to Jesus at this good hour. We cannot by our finger literally touch his mantle; but there is a spiritual touch that can still be given to Christ, which will draw virtue out of him, so that all our spiritual diseases shall straightway be healed. This contact is not always described in Scripture as a touch; sometimes it is represented as hearing. “Incline your ear and come unto me. Hear and your soul shall live.” There is a link between you and me to-night in the fact that I speak and you hear. Well, a spiritual connection, of which this is the analogy, if it be set up between Christ and you, will cure you of your sin. Sometimes this contact is described as being formed by a look. This is the favourite symbol. “Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth.” It is apparently a very meagre connection which is set up by a glance; and yet if you have such a contact between you and Christ as the eye made between the dying Israelite and the brazen serpent, it will save you. Here in this narrative the contact is symbolised by a touch. The patient by her touch was linked with Jesus, and felt in her body that she was healed of her plague.

Now, do you not wish to touch Jesus and to be made whole, that is, holy? If you do, remember that the touch must be a voluntary one. If any of you were brought into a supposed connection with Christ when you were children, without consciousness of what was done, I charge you, do not put any confidence in the ceremony. Religion performed for you, when you were unconscious and gave no consent to it, cannot possibly save you. Whatever there might be in it, there is nothing saving in it. You must come into a voluntary union with Jesus if you would be made whole. It must be an intentional contact. Some were pressed against the Saviour as they pushed against each other, and as the crowd surged to and fro; but this woman was not driven against Christ without her consent. Oh no, she was eager to get at him. She pushed; she strove; and at last she reached the fringe of his mantle, and a contact was established intentionally by her finger. She wished to be made whole, and she touched Christ with that view. You, too, must come to Jesus with the view of being delivered from the guilt, penalty, and power of sin; and you must get into contact with Christ with the intent that he should be your Saviour. I entreat you to see to this, and may the Holy Spirit lead you to do it at once.

“Oh,” say you, “but I do not know how to get into contact with the Saviour.” The best way, the only way, is by believing in him. If you, to-night, say in your heart, “I trust Christ to save me,” there is immediately a contact between you and Christ of the right kind: you are the trusting one, and he is the person trusted in. There is a point of union between you and Christ, and this will save you; for there never was one yet that did wholly trust the blood and righteousness of Jesus without finding himself fully justified in so trusting. The rule of the kingdom is-“According to thy faith so be it unto thee.” If your faith be only as a grain of mustard seed, if it is genuine faith, it shall work in you the cure of your soul’s disease, and you shall live unto righteousness. The point of contact is a main consideration, and I pray you look to it. Do you not see that when the woman’s finger touched Christ’s garment there was established at once a connection between the two, along which the divine virtue flashed? I will not illustrate this by electricity, for such a figure will suggest itself to you all; but the fact is that faith sets up a contact between the sinner and Christ, and through this the healing virtue comes to us.

Faith on our part is an act of reception. We agree to receive Christ as what God has made him to be: a propitiation for sin. We accept him as our Saviour, Teacher, Leader, Ruler, and in all these senses he is ours. Whatever God the Father says that Jesus is, we agree that he is that, and we take him to ourselves to be all that to us. Especially since he has come to save his people we accept him as our Saviour. I have sometimes quoted to you the words of Luther, who often put a truth so broadly that he overshadowed other truths, and uttered language which would not bear to be closely looked into, though most fit to set forth his immediate meaning. Luther says, “I will have nothing to do with saving myself. Jesus Christ is a Saviour: I leave my soul wholly in his hands.” That puts it very broadly, but it is what I mean within a little: that is to say, you must just go and say, “I cannot deliver myself from the power of sin, but I know that Jesus can deliver me, and I put myself into his hands that he may do it. When faith thus unites us to Jesus, the healing virtue will flow from him to us.

“Oh, well,” says one, “I have often heard you preach about being saved from sinning by Christ, but I do not feel that I can do anything.” Just so. That is why I want you to get Christ to work in you, and for you. “Oh, but I am nobody.” That is the very sort of person I delight to find out, that Jesus Christ may make you into somebody; and say, “Somebody has touched me.” Nobody is made into somebody when he once touches Jesus Christ. “Oh, but I am-”. There will be no end to these objections, and therefore let me say plainly, never mind what you are. The question is, What is the Lord Jesus Christ? If he is able to save you, trust him, rely upon him, rest your soul with him. Did I hear one reply, “I do not see how that will make me better”? My speedy answer is that faith, simple as it seems, is the one thing which, by God’s grace, shall make you a new man. Here is the philosophy of it-If you trust Jesus you will love him: if you love him, you will serve him. Believing that Jesus has saved you, gratitude springs up in your heart and becomes the motive power by which a new life is begun and continued. I pray you try it. I do remember years ago when I tried the power of faith in Jesus. It was a poor, feeble trembling touch that I gave to Christ, but by it from sadness and despair I rose to gladness and hope. I had something to live for, and I had the expectation of being able to accomplish it, too, when I had touched Him. And at this hour, when I am sick and sad and sorry and sinful, I go to him, and I am blest. If I want washing, he must wash me: if I want clothing, he must clothe me; if I want strength, he must invigorate me. He is all in all to my soul; and so I do but tell you what I know myself, and persuade you by my own experience to trust him.

Lastly, the poor woman, having touched the hem of Christ’s garment, and being made whole, was about to slink away, when the Master asked the remarkable question which brought her to the front, so that she was obliged to confess what Christ had done for her.

I would to God that all of you who have felt the power of Christ would bear testimony to the fact. As a rule those who have been converted in this place have not been backward to confess Christ, but still some among you who love my Lord have never yet avowed your attachment to him. You are on Christ’s side, but you do not wear his uniform, and own his cause. You do not confess him, though he has promised that those who do so he will confess at the last. We are all too fond of ease, and so it happens in this world of ours that much of the force of goodness remains unused because men are inactive and retiring. Who covets the front of the battle? Only a bold, brave man whose heart God has touched. He comes to the front, and remains the butt of opposition when prudence might dictate that he should shelter himself from the conflict. Oh, my dear friend, if you love Jesus Christ, my Master, I ask you never to be ashamed to be on his side, and on the side of the right and the true, the just, and the kind. Take your place like a man, and avow yourself a soldier of the cross. Too many are like the timid woman of our text, they receive benefits from Jesus, and then try to lose themselves in the crowd. I will tell you a little about that.

The touch that brings virtue out of Christ is one that cannot be perceived by our fellow-men. That young man over yonder touched Christ to-night, but he who sits close to him is not aware of it. The saving act is done in secret, and sometimes it is almost a secret to the person himself: he hardly dares to think that he has been so bold. This poor woman shrank into herself: she knew that she was cured, but she was afraid to think of what she had done to get the cure. I have known many poor souls believe in Christ and yet feel as if it was presumption to do so. It appears to a truly humbled conscience to be so great a mercy to be forgiven that it feels hardly justified in daring to think that Jesus could have put away its sin. Listen to me you who are trembling. Let not your fears rob your Lord of his honour. You must confess your faith, for Jesus loves that those whom he heals should own it. That is why he turned round and said, “Who touched my clothes?” He delights in that tender avowal, wet with many tears. If you have done good to one of your neighbours, you think it hard if no word of thanks is spoken. I have known benevolence almost shrivelled up for lack of gratitude. My Master is not of such a temper, but still he welcomes words of humble acknowledgment. He loves to hear the bleating of the sheep which his shoulders have brought back to the fold. He loves that much love which comes of having much forgiven. Do not, then, hold your tongue. If Jesus has indeed healed you, tell him of it, and tell his people of it to his praise. Such grace ought to be known. Is there anything to be ashamed of? For my part I glory in being saved by Christ. If he that is a Christian is a fool, write me down among the fools. Say you not so, poor working brother? When you go into the workshop and they say, “These Christian people are a set of hypocritical Presbyterians,” will you not answer, “Then put me down among them.” If your Lord and Master did not grudge to stand in the pillory for you till they did spit in his face, what a coward you must be if you ever draw back from avowing your faith in him from the fear of ridicule. If he owned your cause even unto death, never blush to be regarded as his follower. Let every craven thought be banished from your spirit. If Jesus saved you from going down into the pit and made you a new creature, never be ashamed in any company to say, “The Christ has made me whole, and henceforth I am his.”

From that day, the healed woman and Jesus had instituted a friendship that never ended: they had conversed together, and their lives were openly linked together. Would you not wish the like thing to happen to you?

To this woman Christ said, “Go in peace.” What a blessing she gained by being fetched out of her hiding-place; for had she gone away without an open confession, she might often have been disturbed in mind by the fear that a stolen cure would not be permanent. The Master said, “Go in peace,” and a profound calm fell upon her spirit, as when the sea-birds sit on the waves and all the winds have fallen into a deep sleep. She was a happy woman from that day, for Jesus had said, “Go in peace,” and what could trouble her more?

Now, it may be that some of you who love Christ will go to heaven safely enough; but you will miss a mint of comfort on the road because you have never openly confessed that you belong to Christ. Peradventure certain of you will never get peace till you avow your discipleship, and link your whole life with Jesus. When you do that, and take up his cross with all its shame, and are known to be a Christian in every society into which you enter, then shall your peace be like a river.

I have done, only I would put to the whole congregation the question, “Who has touched Christ to-night?” O that some would answer in their hearts, “I have touched him to-night by faith.” Why should you not all trust the appointed Saviour? Do you tell me that you do not understand what faith is? It is trusting:-trusting wholly upon the person, work, merit, and power of the Son of God. Some think this trusting to be a strange business, but indeed it is the simplest thing that can possibly be. To some of us truths which were once hard to believe are now matters of fact about which we should find it hard to doubt. If one of our grandfathers were to rise from the dead, and come into the present state of things, what a deal of trusting he would have to do. He would say to-morrow morning, “Where are the flint and steel? I want a light;” and we should give him a little box with tiny pieces of wood in it, and tell him to strike one of them on the box. He would have to trust a good deal before he would believe that fire would thus be produced. We should next say to him, “Now, that you have a light, turn that tap and light the gas.” He sees nothing but is annoyed with an offensive smell. How can he believe that light will come of that invisible vapour? And yet it does. “Now come with us, grandfather. Sit in that chair. Look at that box in front of you. You shall have your likeness directly.” “No, child,” he would say “it is ridiculous. The sun take my portrait? I cannot believe it.” “Yes, and you shall ride fifty miles in an hour without horses.” “I do not believe it,” says he. “What is more, you shall speak to your son in New York, and he shall answer you in a few minutes.” Should we not astonish the old gentleman? Would he not want all his faith? And yet these things are believed by us without effort, because experience has made us familiar with them. Faith is greatly needed by you who are strangers to spiritual things; you seem lost while we are talking about them, and our very words puzzle you. But oh, how simple it is to us who have the new life and have communion with spiritual realities. We have a Father to whom we speak and he hears us, and a blessed Saviour who hears our heart’s longings, and helps us in our struggles against sin. It is all plain to him that understandeth. May the Spirit of God bring every one of you to understand it! What a joy it would be if we all touched the Saviour, should all be healed of sin, and all be admitted to stand at his right hand for ever. Then, whoever we may be, and however much we may differ in rank and talent, we shall all heartily join to sing the new song, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen.”

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-373, 602, 598, 538.

GREAT SPOIL

A Sermon

Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, January 22nd, 1882, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

“I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.”-Psalm 119:162.

In the preceding verse David had avowed his reverence for God’s word in the following language: “My heart standeth in awe of thy word.” It is clear that holy awe is perfectly consistent with intense delight. Fear seems to stand far apart from joy, and yet in the experience of the child of God they are next of kin. We are familiar with combinations such as this: “They returned from the sepulchre with fear and great joy.” “Happy is the man that feareth always.” “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” These two emotions are like two notes which are widely different apart, but yet sound harmoniously together: the one is far down and the other is high up in the scale, but they melt into one with sweet accord in the experience of God’s people. It is a blessed thing both to reverence the word and to have an intense joy in it. May we all know what the mixed emotion means.

More than this, I will go the length of saying that unless we do have deep awe of the word we shall never have high joy over it. Our rejoicing will be measured by our reverencing. If I think upon the Bible, as some seem to do, as though it were an ordinary piece of literature, I shall have no very special joy in it; or if I rise no higher than many critics of the present day, and conceive the holy book to be in a certain sense inspired, but still to be marred with imperfection and open to rectification by the growing intelligence of the age,-if I have such small reverence for the word I shall have a correspondently little joy in it. A man rejoices in gold rather than in clay because the gold is more precious, and as the treasure rises in valuation so his delight in it will rise. The more, then, we think of the Scriptures, the greater will be our delight in them if we see that they relate to us. “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.” If they become to us the infallible voice of truth, that pure light which never misleads, that metal which is entirely free from alloy; then will our joy in Holy Writ overflow as we read in it the mind and will of our Father in heaven; and then shall we borrow the language of the Psalmist, saying first, “My heart standeth in awe of thy word,” and next, “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.”

Observe, dear friends, concerning this joy of David in the word which he reverenced, that he expresses it with a martial figure. My text is quite a soldierly verse: “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.” It is a figure taken from men of war, who after they have overcome their enemy divide the plunder among them. This expression is most natural as coming from David. David had been a soldier from his youth up, and he knew personally and literally what it was to divide the spoil; hence he did not go far to find his metaphor, but plucked it from the garden of his own life. How I like to hear men both in prayer and praise speak like themselves! I notice that if a sailor has been converted to God, he can in cool blood utter proper sentences, such as one might borrow from collects and forms of prayer; but if his soul grows warm within him, he ceases to speak according to the books, and begins to pray like an “ancient mariner.” When he breaks through the bonds of restraint and gets quite free, he takes you among the rolling billows, and many of his expressions have a salt spray upon them, possibly also a suspicion of yarn and pitch. You soon find that you have fallen in with a shipmate whose soul has done business on the great waters. So must it be with the soldier: if cold, dead propriety rules him you will not know whether he is a soldier or a citizen; but let him grow enthusiastic, let his very heart speak out, and his speech betrayeth him; wars and rumours of wars are in his utterances; he sings and prays to martial music. Hence I like to hear David saying that his heart rejoices at God’s word as one that findeth great spoil, for it is his own manner of speech, and sounds fitly from a warrior. Do not cut away the naturalness of your utterances in prayer: never grow so strictly proper as to pray like somebody else. You may take a bird and teach it to pipe half-a-dozen set notes, and it will be thought to be a wonder: but no piping bullfinch in the world, to my ear, sings so sweetly as the finches in my own garden, whose wild songs are all their own. The laboured notes of the trained bird’s little tune may be remarkable, but are they not also somewhat grotesque and unnatural? The notes of nature more truly reveal the bird, and are a fitter utterance for it than the ditty it has learned so painfully. It is a pity that men should speak with God in a constrained and artificial style, it far more befits them to pray in their own natural manner. If you are ploughmen, or artisans, or labourers, be not ashamed that your speech should savour of your calling. If you are soldiers, pray like soldiers: let your truest selves speak out when you speak with God, for he is truth itself, and needs not that you put on artificial manners in his presence.

Having thus prefaced my discourse I come to look into this joy of David over God’s word, which he compares to the joy of a warrior when he finds great spoil. To such overflowing joy we are not strangers: we feel quite at home with the text.

Let me first observe that this great joy is sometimes aroused by the fact that there is a word of god.

This is true if we regard the Scriptures as a revealing of God. After going up and down in the world searching after deity it is a great delight to come upon a book in which the one only living and true God has unveiled himself to those who care to behold him. It is a great “find” for a man to discover that after all he is not left in a fog to grope his way, but that God has kindled a sun that honest hearts may walk in the light of it, and in that light see all things clearly. I say that a revelation of God is a great discovery over which a man rejoices “as one that findeth great spoil.” For, dear friends, there can be no revealing of God except by God himself. The apostle Paul tells us very truly that the things of a man knoweth no man, but the spirit of a man that is in him. You cannot read a man until that man brings out somewhat from within, and thus reveals himself. A man must speak, or act, or we cannot know his mind. The chief means of a man’s revealing himself is by his word: language is the gate of the soul. If the man be true and honest, his word will be a window through which you may see his mind. Even so, saith the apostle, as the heart of a man is only known to the man himself, so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. The divine thought must be hidden in the heart of God for ever until the Spirit of God is pleased to tell it out to us: there is therefore an absolute necessity for a revelation, since none can by searching find out God. This written word is the revelation of God, and when the Spirit of God shines upon it, we herein see the Lord as in a mirror. Oh, but what a blessing that the Spirit of God should still be with his people, bearing witness with the word which he has of old inspired! What a comfort that we have this sure word of testimony in which God hath spoken to us in terms so distinct, so clear, so unquestionable. He who feels the power of this revelation in his own soul may well rejoice “as one that findeth great spoil.”

Nor does our valuation of Holy Scripture depend upon this one view of it, for we also prize it as the guide of our life. Often we come to positions in which we know not which way to take. It is a great discomfort to have to be questioning, questioning, and for ever questioning. To hear within the soul the enquiries, “How?” “What?” “Which?” “When?” and to be confused by dubious voices is a great affliction: suspense is killing. How delightful to turn over the sacred page and find therein a guidance like that of the Urim and Thummim of old. This Book tells us the right and bids us follow it; it teaches us the way of wisdom, and the path of understanding, and supplies motives for walking therein. Submitting ourselves to the Spirit of God we hear him speak in this volume and say, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” As a bewildered wanderer in a wood hails the light in a cottage window, hoping there to find a guide to set him his homeward path, so do we hail the light of holy writ which shineth in a dark place. As the mariner prizes his chart and compass, so do we welcome the law of the Lord. Tossed on the changing sea of life our eye is gladdened by the clear ray of this pole-star of heaven, the fixed light of God.

If we had been left to purblind reason we should soon have stumbled into the ditch; but with inspiration to conduct us we have a plain path before us, and are glad. No longer in a perpetual quandary, guessing and surmising, the way of life is definitely mapped out for us, and we pursue our route with confidence, knowing that “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” This becomes our daily song, “Thou shall guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” O happy man that finds such sure direction as this! He can rejoice “as one that findeth great spoil.”

More than this, if you think of it, dear friends, a word from God apprehended in the soul is a sure pledge of mercy. Consider what words those words of God are; how full of love, and grace, and tenderness. I will not stay to quote the exceeding great and precious promises, for they are, I hope, your daily food. You know what great things the Lord has spoken concerning you. But here is a thought worth pondering,-these promises are backed by the word of God; nay, they are each one the word of God. When a man has given his word, if he be an upright, honourable man, there is an end to further question: he has pledged his word, and that is enough. Now the Lord hath given to his people his word, his right honourable word that cannot be broken, which must stand fast for ever and ever. Happy are those who are willing to take God at his word, and accept his promise as the equivalent for the thing promised; for what the Lord hath promised he will surely perform. When a man grasps a promise of forgiveness, of acceptance in prayer, of sanctifying grace, of daily providence, of divine anointing, of comfort in death, or of eternal glory, he may well rejoice “as one that findeth great spoil.” Within the word of promise there lieth the blessing itself: the word is to the apprehension of faith the substance of the thing hoped for. That which is guaranteed by God-that cannot lie-is already ours. Well may he rejoice that findeth it.

Notice still further, that Holy Scripture, when it comes to us with power as the word of God, is the beginning of communion with God. It will strike you in a moment that when the Lord speaks to a man communion has in a measure begun. It may be that God speaketh to a deaf ear, but even then it showeth great goodness and condescension on God’s part that he should speak to men at all, and especially to those who refuse to hear him; but oh, if you actually hear the voice of God in his word, if it sinks into your soul by the accompanying power of the Holy Ghost, what remaineth then but for you to answer the Lord, and to let him speak again? This Bible talks: “When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.” This is God’s side of a heavenly conversation, which ought to be kept up throughout all the days of our pilgrimage. God saith. this and that in the word, and we in prayer, in faith, in holy action reply to him; and then he speaks again, and we again answer him. When you are alone, and wish to have communion with God, you probably begin with prayer. Do so. But sometimes you feel that you cannot pray. Very well; do not try. Say, “I desire to converse with God, and if I cannot speak I will hear him speak.” Get down the Bible; read a Psalm, or some precious portion of Holy Writ, and after God has thus spoken to you the conversation has begun. God’s words will suggest heart-words with which you can speak to the Most High. If it does not, do so read again, till at last within your spirit there is communion with the Eternal One. Oh, what a bliss it is that God does speak to any one of us: to me, a poor, worthless, sinful creature! How highly favoured is man to have a word from the great King! Many would give their eyes to be spoken to by a monarch, but here are we spoken to daily by the King of kings if we are but willing to incline our ear to his sweet voice: and this is the commencement of a communion which may continue throughout life and consummate itself in glory everlasting.

Personally I can sometimes realise my text in a peculiar sense, when the word of God becomes to me the instrument of usefulness. How often do I look around me anxiously for the next theme of discourse! My mind enquires, What shall I preach to the people? What shall be my message? Wherewith shall I feed my church? This is a trying question after twenty-eight years preaching to one congregation. At last a passage comes home to my soul with power. I have found it. What joy fills the preacher’s heart! No warrior was ever gladder when he heaped up the mountains of prey.

You meet with a person who is anxious: you want to say the right word to him, and therefore you look all around prayerfully, until a text suggests itself, which proves to be the exact word for the person whose good you are seeking. Have you not felt great joy in handling such a passage as the instrument of usefulness? Have you not been ready to cry like the old Greek philosopher, “I have found it; I have found it”? Have you not wanted to be off to tell it not only to the one person you are anxious about, but to fifty thousand more? Ah, yes, you have rejoiced as one that findeth great spoil.

You see then that there is distinctly a joy which cometh to the man who getteth God’s word into his soul,-a joy which arises out of the fact that there is a word of God which comes to us as the revelation of God, as an infallible guide through life, as the pledge of divine mercy, the beginning of divine communion, and the instrument of usefulness. Upon all those things we might profitably enlarge, but time would not allow it, so I beg you to follow me to the next point. May the Holy Spirit lead our minds.

Secondly, let us remark that frequently the joy of the believer in the word arises out of his having had to battle to obtain A grasp of it. Read the text again: “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.” Covered with sweat, begrimed with dust, bleeding from many a wound, wearied and faint, the fighting man has smitten the enemy, and now he staggers forward to seize his portion of the prey, finding new strength in the joy of victory. Did you ever have to do that with God’s word, for I have had to do so many times, and I will try to describe the battling as I know it. “O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.”

We have had to fight over certain doctrines before we could really come at them. Learning doctrines out of books, or merely learning them as matters of catechism, is never enough. Such teaching is all very useful and helpful, but the sure way to learn a doctrine is to have it burned into your soul as with a hot iron. “Oh,” they say of me,” that man speaks so dogmatically.” I cannot help it. Why should I speak with bated breath when I feel absolutely certain of what I say? If I were not certain I would hold my tongue until I was. I could not dare to come here to talk of matters which may or may not be true: I dare not thus waste your time and thought. I have not only found the doctrines of the gospel in God’s word, but I have tested and tried them in my own experience, and they have been so powerfully operative upon my own soul that I must speak as I find. To me the things I preach are as assured as my existence; in fact they are a part of my existence, since they are my life, my hope, my joy, and strength. I am positive in speech because I am assured in mind. Nor can I see the gain which would accrue from the opposite style of speech. Of what avail is this cloudy doubt? Unless a man speaks up to the best of his knowledge and belief, most positively, who is likely to believe him? Wise men will bid the speaker make up his own mind before he can hope to influence other minds. I have no doubt about the existence of a God. Have you? If you have, do not set up to be a minister for God by any manner of means. I have no doubt about the mediatorial power of his precious blood. Have you? If you have, do not pretend to be a Christian teacher, for your whole weight will be on the wrong side. Faith receives more stabs from waverers than from avowed sceptics. Sowers of doubt are no friends to the gospel, for men are saved by faith, but nobody was ever saved by unbelief. “We know and have believed the love which God hath towards us.” “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” But how do we get to this assurance? Why, by fighting our way to it. A doctrine of God’s word comes before us: our heart exclaims, “Yes, this seems to be the teaching of Scripture, and therefore I must believe it.” But carnal reason rebels, and conjures up a phalanx of difficulties, while our proud human nature revolts from a truth which is so little to its taste. These things have to be battled with. Faith has to bring all the faculties of the child of God upon their knees, and to say to them, “Be quiet; listen while God speaks: let God be true and every man a liar, and every faculty in the man a liar too, sooner than God be distrusted.” This is the victory we have to strive after the triumph of a firm belief in the veracity of God. A doubt rises, and then another, and another, like a flight of bats when a dark cave is startled by the blaze of torches. Away they fly, and light seizes on their dreary realm.

Some minds have for a time to contend with doubts, army after army. Do not wonder if you have to strive even unto blood, till your very soul bleeds over the doctrine; but rejoice that when once you thus win it you will doubt no more, and the truth will become doubly precious to you ever afterwards. You have gained the truth by fighting for it, and therefore you cry, “This is my spoil, and none shall rob me of it.” Take away the giant’s head from David? He is not to be so defrauded. Did he not cut it off himself? Did he not throw the stone which sank into the Philistine’s forehead? So when a man has slain a thousand doubts in conflict over a doctrine, and has at last come to assured belief, straightway he rejoices “as one that has found great spoil.”

What a fight there is sometimes over a promise. Have you never entered into such a contest? O gracious promise, most suitable to my case! How it would comfort my soul! But may I appropriate it? The devil says, “Certainly not.” He pushes us back from it. Our feeble hope assures us that it is too good to be true to us. A thousand doubtful suggestions assail us, till at last the soul, by a desperate effort, seizes the portion and holds it against all comers. We drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and take possession of their strongholds. Then does a man rejoice over a promise when he has believed it in the teeth of a thousand improbabilities, and proved it to be true. He feels that he took the blessing out of the hand of the Amorite with his sword and with his bow, and henceforth it is a peculiar portion to his soul, and he rejoices over it “as one that findeth great spoil.” It is a good thing to mark your Bibles when you have received a promise. Mark the margin with T and P, and let it stand for “tried and proved.” Mark the passage which the Lord fulfils to you with some private seal, bearing witness to its truth. David set his own hand to the margin in many places; as, for instance, when he exhorted us to wait on the Lord, and then added, “Wait, I say, on the Lord.” May that which is written with ink in the Bible be written with grace on our hearts. May the public promise become a private promise to each one of us by the living experience of our own soul.

Sometimes the hardest fight is round a precept. God has bidden us do this and that, but carnal ease cries, “Let the precept alone,” and love of self says, “That command is too humbling; pass it by.” But oh, when you can battle with yourself and win the victory till your heart cries,” I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved,” then your rejoicing will be great indeed! What a joy to conquer yourself! What bliss to master your surroundings, and all the peculiarities of your disposition and temperament, so as to come to love the selfsame precept which a little while ago was irksome. How the believer loves the law when he has fought down his rebellious will, vanquished his obstinacy, crushed his pride, fettered his levity, and yielded himself wholly to the word of the Lord. Holy Spirit, vouchsafe us this joy.

A sharp warfare often goes on over the threatenings. I have had many a wrestling match over them. A voice whispers in my ear, “that threatening of God is too severe: that sentence of Scripture is too harsh.” Certain of my brethren carry a bit of pumice-stone with them, and rub down the rough texts. Whenever they find God speaking in wrathful indignation against sinners, they meet his terrors with a “larger hope.” Things that are revealed belong to me, but things that are not revealed seem to belong to them. They have many learned ways of softening down disagreeable truth. Now, if I find my mind quarrelling with any line of Scripture I say to my soul, “You are wrong, or else you would be in accord with every word of the Judge of all the earth.” If I cannot yield unfeigned assent, and consent to the justice of God, it does not occur to me to alter the Scripture, but to school my own heart till it bows before the thunder of divine judgment. I try to get my heart into such a state that I can say, “If my soul were in God’s stead, this is exactly what I would say to the ungodly; this is precisely the measure I would deal out. For it must be right, it must be just or Jehovah would not so deal with men.” When you are thus agreed with God you will rejoice as one that findeth great spoil; for you will be confident that to the sternest problems there is a gracious answer, and for the direst difficulties a sweet solution. It is hazardous to take the soul out of texts of Scripture, and to attempt to give them souls of our own invention. Let us learn God’s meaning, and then become friends with it. Grow accustomed to the terrible texts till like Daniel you feel safe even in the lions’ den. The doctrine of eternal punishment is no longer difficult of belief to me since I am confident that it is taught in the Scriptures: the difficulties of it are for God to solve, and there I leave them, being well assured that in some way or other all that he does will be consistent with his justice and his love Not without a battle does one consent unto the darker side of sacred writ, but that once fought there is rest.

Yet, once more, this is true about the word which reveals Christ. We know not Christ aright till we are conformed to what we know of him. If Christ be lovely we shall not understand that loveliness till we are in a measure lovely ourselves. The pure in heart see the pure and holy God because every man sees what he is. When the lady said to Mr. Turner, “Sir, I have seen that spot many times, but I never saw that which you have pictured.” “No, ma’am,” he replied, “I dare say you have not; but don‘t you wish you could.” Just so, the artist’s eye sees what another eye cannot, and the pure in heart see in God what nobody else can see, because they are like to God. When our minds become moulded like the mind of Christ then we understand Christ. If there be aught about the character of our divine exemplar which staggers us, let us pray our way into it. We must get to be like him; and oh, when we do, then every lineament of that dear face will be conspicuously and transcendentally charming to us, because we have come to it through suffering.

The inner experience of many a child of God lies much in conflict and contention, and scarcely an inch of Scripture is truly gained without fighting for it foot to foot with those who would rob us of our inheritance. Canaan was given to Israel by the Lord himself by a covenant of salt, but we all remember the long list of enemies that already occupied it. What is the name of them? Hivites, Hittites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Jebusites-I will not trouble you with more, so many and so ugly are the names of those who would keep back the believer from his portion in the covenant. One of old said, “They compassed me about like bees: like bees they compassed me about”; and yet he added, “But in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.” May it be our resolve that we will take every part of the word to be our heritage, and rejoice over it “as one that findeth great spoil.”

We shall now tarry a moment upon a third thought, which is altogether different from that which has gone before. At times the joy of the believer lies in enjoying god’s word without any fighting at all. In the text I am not sure that fighting is certainly mentioned or necessarily implied, though it is highly probable. David says, “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil,” as if he fell upon it all on a sudden, like the lepers at the gate of Samaria, who to their surprise found all the way they traversed covered with garments, and gold and silver vessels. They had not lifted a finger in war, yet they found great spoil; like the man in the parable who, when he was ploughing, found a treasure hid in the field. He had never looked for it, but he had great joy in discovering it. In infinite mercy the Lord makes his word open up before his people when they are not seeking it, according to the promise,” I am found of them that sought me not.” Have you never experienced what this means, and have you not rejoiced as one that suddenly finds a spoil?

The word of the Lord is often as spoil found, not fought for. The promise lies before me on the way, and I find it, and by the law of the kingdom of grace it becomes mine for the finding. There it is, and the Spirit of God reveals it to me, and I take it, asking no leave whatever, since all covenant blessings are free to us when we are free to take them. Our warrant for feeding at the banquet of love is the fact that God has set before us an open door, and we are invited to enter in. What joy is this!

This spoil, however, must have cost somebody else most dear, though it has cost us nothing. If we did not fight for it somebody else fought for it once. Ah, what a fight was that! Let Gethsemane and Calvary tell. What joy there is in seizing the spoil which Jesus has left us as the result of his life’s warfare! We have not trodden the wine-press, but yet we drink the wine. The blessing is free to us, but it cost him groans and tears, and bloody sweat, and death. “This is David’s spoil.” Look down and see the mark of the victor’s feet! See you not where the nails went in? The Crucified One has been here and smitten all our adversaries, and left this spoil for us poor creatures to divide among ourselves.

Great is the spoil: all the spoils of death and hell; all that father Adam was robbed of is recovered from the robbers. Life, light, peace, joy, holiness, immortality, heaven,-all these are brought back by our great Conqueror who has taken the prey from the mighty, and brought back the lawful captives, leading captivity captive. O, brethren, we do rejoice when we get a hold of the precious treasures of the word as Jesus Christ’s spoil, fought for by himself, and then distributed to us.

What a joy there is in our heart when we recollect what foes our Lord overcame to gain for us all this spoil; sin has been routed, death has been slain, and hell has been stripped of its prey: our direst enemies are broken in pieces, and the crown of their head is crushed by him who is the seed of the woman, the Messiah of God.

Whenever a passage of Scripture sings to you of itself sing with it before the Lord: whenever in reading the verse seems to leap out of the page into your bosom there let it lodge for ever. Whenever in hearing the word it darts into your heart, then will you understand what David meant when he said that his soul rejoiced over God’s word “as one who,” by a happy, blessed find, “findeth great spoil.”

My fourth head is the principal one, and I want all your attention while I dwell on it for a short time. There is a joy arising out of the very fact that Holy scripture may be considered to be a spoil. I will show you that in five particulars.

First, a spoil is the end of the uncertainty. Whenever a fight begins it is questionable who will win; while it rages the result still hangs quivering in the balances; but we know who has won the battle when the victor begins to divide the spoil. No question now remains; the debate is ended. Blessed is that man who has found in Scripture a spoil in the sense that he has come to the end of uncertainty, and arrived at something like certitude. All men that think crave after certainty, and gradually settle down to one standard or another. I have heard of two brothers, equally honest and thoughtful men, who commenced life at the same point, but parted in their search after a foundation firm and strong. One of them at last gravitated to the Church of Rome, for he thought he discovered certainty in an historical church, and in one at the head of it whose utterances are regarded as infallible. I do not envy him his ideal certainty: it seems to me to be a mass of fraud, a great historical imposture. The other brother found his resting-place in his own reason, or in the fact that he could not be sure of anything. There is a certainty in being certain that you are not certain of anything; but certainly it is not a certainty which would afford comfort to me; for my reason would be to me a sorry guide for eternal things, since even in everyday concerns it has misled me. We must find certainty somewhere, or believe that we have found it, or else we shall be of all men most miserable.

If a man has no standard of infallibility outside he tries to find it in himself, and becomes his own pope: and depend upon it a pope in England is as likely to err as a pope in Rome. I would not give twopence for the two of you, and if I threw myself in it would not add an extra farthing to the value. When a man has in experience fought up to confidence in the word of the Lord, or has had it effectually laid home by the Holy Spirit to his own soul, then he reaches the end of the controversy so far as he himself is concerned: he is dividing the spoil, for he says, “We have known and believed the love which God hath towards us.” Of course, people come round and say, “You are mistaken.” Our answer is, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. It may not be certainty to you, but it is to me.” If a man should assert, “Oh, that medicine is all quackery,” he has a right to speak his mind; but his decision is not final. “Not so,” cries another, “I have been ill half-a-dozen times, and on each occasion I have speedily recovered through its use: call it quackery if you like, it is no quackery to me, at any rate, for I am certain about its good effects.” So is it when a man has at last, by the application of the Spirit of God, felt the power of God’s word over his soul, he says, “I am not going to fight that battle over again. I am sure of the truth of that Scripture.” Such a man is restful about that matter. I would to God that all of you had this certainty as some of us have. How horrible it is to grope in the eternal fog, to flounder in primeval chaos, seeing no road or landmark; turning this way and finding it night, and the other way equally darkness; to the right disorder, to the left questioning. Oh, to get to know that God loves me, and that I love God, and Christ hath redeemed me, and my sin is put away, and to feel all this witnessed in my soul by the Holy Spirit! This is to rejoice in the end of uncertainty as one that divides the spoil.

The next idea that comes out of the figure of spoil is this. It is the weakening of the adversary for any future attacks; for when they divide the spoil they say to one another, “The invaders will be here again, no doubt, before long; but they will not have this great gun to turn upon us; we have spiked it. Their stock of ammunition will be somewhat diminished by the capture of their magazine, and they will not have this huge chest of gold with which to purchase more martial store; for we have taken it from them. We have weakened the adversary. Have we not entered their strongholds? Have we not captured their quadrilateral? They may again take up arms; but their force is broken.” Every doubt a man conquers by resting on the infallible word has weakened the power of unbelief within him, and strengthened his faith. Blessed is that man who has so trusted in his God that doubts now are but as the grasshopper which is only a burden to the feeble. O the joy of saying, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him”; or to cry with the once blind man, “One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see.” Tasting and handling of the good things of the kingdom, we rise into a region of fact, and leave suppositions and quibbles far below. In this lies a part of the joy of taking the spoil: we hope for less disturbance of heart, less peril of intellect, less struggle of soul from this time forth. The horns of the adversary have been broken, and they cannot harm us as aforetime.

Next, in dividing the spoil there is always a sense of victory, and so there is in believing God’s word. In getting firm hold upon the faithful testimony of our God, we achieve a conquest over doubts, fears, disquietudes, and all our proud judgments of God. There is a sense of conquest when we overcome our passions and propensities, and do the Lord’s bidding according to his precepts and statutes. When that which at one time was difficult, if not impossible, becomes easy and delightful, then we wave the palm-branch over a defeated enemy. When the mind is brought into subjection to all and every revealed truth, then have we done more than if we had taken a strong city. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” May we have more of it, and go from strength to strength, doing valiantly in the name of the Lord.

Again, in dividing the spoil there is profit, pleasure, and honour. I am not about to justify the deeds of war, for these I hate: as to plunder and rapine, such as have been indulged in by the general run of conquerors, they are detestable crimes. Men have made themselves worse than devils to men. No calamities have ever befallen nations that are so much to be deplored as the atrocities of war. I use the warlike metaphor, but condemn the fact. Men conceive when they divide the spoil that there is honour in it. Look at the crowds that gathered along the Via Sacra when the Roman conquerors came down from the Appian Way, passed under the arch, and marched towards the Capitol. Then did the populace crowd the house roofs, and the chimney tops, that they might see a Scipio or a Cæsar expose his captives and display his spoils. They shouted till they were hoarse, and wearied themselves with applause at the sight of the spolia opima which were borne in the procession. Thus men judge of plunder in war. See how Napoleon thought to glorify himself by placing in Paris the works of art which he had taken from the capitals of Europe. What are most trophies but stolen goods, or that which is purchased by them? But when you and I lay hold on Holy Scripture then have we grasped a prey more precious than royal treasures, a prey which we may hold with justice and honour. When we can say that the things which God has revealed are ours, then we are rich beyond a miser’s dream; and when we can hold them against all comers, then that which we believe becomes our honour and gives glory to us, and glory to faith, and chief glory to him who wrought our faith in us by his almighty Spirit.

Last of all, the spoil is a prophecy of rest, and so is that delightful dividing up of the word of God, and the appropriation thereof by faith. “Ah,” said the Romans when they spoiled old Carthage, “we shall never see another Hannibal at our gates, nor dread the ships of Carthage in our seas.” They had overcome their most potent adversary when they utterly spoiled her, and then they looked for a long period of peace. And that is the joy of receiving the word. When we can believe that Jesus took our sins, and suffered for them on the tree, we are no more troubled as to the guilt of sin. When we believe that our heavenly Father overrules all things for the good of his people, then sorrow and sighing, fear and fretting flee away. Well may he rest who sees even evil made to work his good. When we believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead, then the fear of death which haunts so many receives its mortal wound. Knowing the meaning of the word, “He that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live,” the dread of death has no more dominion over us.

The appropriation of the divine promise, as the soldier appropriates his share of the booty, is to us the prophecy that the war is over. We may rest now, and be quiet. And oh, what joy, what blessedness is this! How I would that all those who are here present were believers, first in Jesus the great incarnate Word, and then in this book, the written word; and that you did not only believe these things to be true, but took them to yourselves as warriors take the spoil. Happy and blessed would you be, and your rejoicing this day would be as the joy of harvest, or as the shouting of them that divide the spoil. God grant it may be so, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Portion of Scripture read before Sermon-Psalm 119:145-168.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-84 (Part III.), 624, 632.

“VERILY, VERILY”

A Sermon

Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, January 29th, 1882, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”-John 5:24.

“Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”-John 6:47.

The words “Verily, verily,” as they were solemnly used by our divine Lord, indicate an utterance of special importance. If Jesus says, “Verily, verily,” there is something coming to which we should attend with all our hearts. The subject which he thus introduces is our possession of eternal life, and our being delivered from condemnation by faith in himself. Can any theme be more important? Many questions may be asked, but they can all afford to wait till we get the answer to that first enquiry, “What must I do to be saved?” What shall it profit a man if he compass the whole world of knowledge and knows not the way of life? If he wins a world in this life, what will that avail him if he misses the life everlasting? It is very considerate on our Lord’s part to call us with such great solemnity to think about our souls and eternal life. Let us attend to his appeal. Come hither, dear hearer, and bend over the words which Jesus commends to you with a double Nota Bene, saying, “Verily, verily.”

Our Lord used this “Verily, verily” to denote a clear and certain revelation. There must be an end to all doubt when Jesus says, “Verily, verily.” His ordinary word is true; for nothing but truth can come from him who is “the Truth;” but when he uses his strongest asseveration, “Verily, verily,” then we must regard the statement with special reverence if we be indeed his loyal subjects. When Jesus says, “Verily, verily,” we see two armies of verities gathered around his royal standard. His declaration is to be accepted as indisputable, immutable, infallible truth. Do you not agree to this?

Carefully notice where this certainty lies: it rests solely upon the word of Jesus-“I say unto you.” In the matter of our salvation carnal reason never arrives at certainty. Mere argument can never bring a troubled heart to a sure anchorage. The certainty which Christ sets before us rests upon his own solemn assertion. Instead of proof the incarnate Son of God gives us-“Verily, verily, I say unto you.” If you are his disciples indeed, and would enjoy the benefits of his salvation, you must accept your Lord’s statement without question. Doubts and reasonings must lie down at his feet, and it must be enough that Jesus says it. The ipse dixit of a mere man is not enough; but those of us who adore the Lord Jesus as the Son of God desire no better assurance than the word of his lips. Here is our ultimate ground of faith, our main argument with mankind, our final answer to Satan, and the eternal quietus of every misgiving:-Jesus says it. We shall never arrive at certainty as to the life everlasting except by a conviction that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is infallible in everything that he says. I had rather have one word from Jesus than volumes of human reasonings, however conclusive they may appear. Our judgment has often deceived us, even our senses play us false, and our emotions are no more to be depended on than the winds and waves; but here is a rocky foundation, firm as the pillars of heaven,-“Verily, verily, I say unto you.”

It is clear that the teaching of this present verse must be accepted by all Christians. They must either believe it or reject their Lord, for he does, as it were, stake his own character for truth upon this utterance by prefacing it with “I say unto you.” Jesus does not leave the way of life a moot point, but decides it with all authority, states it in plain terms, and sets it forth formally in a declaration for which he will be responsible for ever. If you reject this teaching, you must reject the Teacher himself. Nothing of authority remains to Jesus if you take liberty to question this point; for he does not put it as a matter of report, or inference, but as a truth to be accepted on his own authority: “Verily, verily, I say unto you.”

I have heard some who call themselves Christians talk about the doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ as if it were a mere theory of what they are pleased to call the Evangelical School: but is it so? Is it not our Lord’s own teaching? Our opponents have full liberty to canvass the peculiar tenets of a party, and the more they do so the better; but this teaching is none of ours, it is the teaching of him whom these critics call Master and Lord. Is this their reverence for the Son of God? Do they challenge him to his face, and question that which he asserts with a double verily, and certifies by the dignity of his person and the veracity of his character?

I am equally at issue with those who admit the doctrine of justification by faith and then add that it is to be guardedly stated and cautiously presented. Does Jesus teach dangerous doctrine? This truth is constantly assailed by the carnally wise; but is that a reason for mistrusting it when Jesus puts it forward in such a form? Understand clearly that if you reject the doctrine of life through believing you reject the authority of Jesus. It is useless to talk about being a Christian if you are not prepared to believe what Jesus Christ asserts; for one of the first requisites for a true disciple is faith in his Master. What kind of follower can he be who takes liberty to question when his Master stands erect in all the dignity of his glorious perfection and cries, “Verily, verily, I say unto you”? Are any of you such hypocrites as to call yourselves Christians and give Christ the lie? Dare you treat him as if he were one of yourselves, to be disputed with and criticized at pleasure? This is not reverence, but rejection-I might justly call it blasphemy.

Note well the verse which precedes the text: “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.” On the heels of that claim comes this assertion of everlasting life through hearing his word and believing on him that sent him: as much as to say, “Believe what I am now about to say, even as if the Father spake, for implicit faith is due to me. If you would honour me believe in me; but if you refuse what I say, you do me the greatest dishonour.” Jesus regards this point as being so vital that he pledges his own character for veracity as a guarantee for the doctrine. He does as good as say, “If you would honour me, believe this truth which I now declare upon my own authority.”

I feel this morning great restfulness of heart as to what I have to say. I shall not speak at haphazard upon a matter of opinion, speculation, or probability, nor shall I beg your consent and agreement thereto as a matter of favour; I stand fair and square before you, and I demand the assent of all who profess and call themselves Christians upon a point which Jesus has set at rest for ever by the solemn declaration, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in me hath everlasting life.” Such as are prepared to reject the authority of the Lord Jesus may do so, to them I have no word this morning; but to all such as own his Messiahship and Deity I present the doctrine of the text as worthy of all acceptation. May the Holy Spirit help me to set it out with clearness, and enable you to receive it into your inmost souls.

Our Saviour is speaking of a great blessing, and our first head is the person to whom this blessing comes,-“He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life.” We shall speak, secondly, upon the blessing itself,-“He hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”; and thirdly, and this will be the point I shall lay most stress upon, the singular assurance with which it is stated, the wonderful firmness and distinctness with which it is asserted by the Master, and backed up with, “Verily, verily, I say unto you.”

First, then, the person to whom this blessing comes. Read the passage, and you notice, first, that the privileged individual is a hearer who is also a believer. “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life.” It does not appear from our text that everlasting life is communicated by drops of water, or in any other ceremonial manner; but the command is, “Hear, and your soul shall live.” Men are not expected to believe that which they have never heard; they are not to take the articles of the church rolled up, as it were, into a pill, silver-coated, and to swallow them, be they what they may, without instruction. We are to act towards saving truth as we do in reference to other information: we are to hear it with attention, and so receive it. Those who find everlasting life first hear of Jesus, his mission, his person, his work, his sufferings, his offices, his power, and the blessings he has come to communicate: listening to all this, they are grateful for being permitted to hear things which kings and prophets desired to hear but heard not. Do not expect that you can be saved if you shut your ears to the gospel. Do not reckon that the same blessing will come to you if you carelessly walk the streets on the Sabbath as might come to you if you were diligent in listening to the word of the Redeemer. Hear what the Lord saith, and let your whole heart yield itself to the truth.

But these people, while they are hearers to begin with, do not stop there; they become believers. They believe that Jesus is the appointed Saviour, and they accept him as such for themselves. They believe that his blood cleanses men from sin, and therefore they trust in his blood to cleanse them, and are cleansed by it. Since his righteousness justifies, they are glad to accept that righteousness, and so to be justified. Theirs is not a dreamy, inactive hearing; but when they know the truth, they practise what they know. They not only know that the brazen serpent will heal, but they look to it and are healed. I am talking to some of the best hearers in the world, and yet I fear that many of you come short, because you are hearers only, and not doers of that word which saith, “Believe and live.”

Note again, these favoured persons are believers who remain hearers in the fullest sense. These persons believe in God who hath sent the Lord Jesus into the world, and consequently they believe that what Jesus says must be true, and then they hear his voice with a discerning, spiritual ear. Our Lord uses the word “hear” in a special sense when he says, “My sheep hear my voice.” They hear their Shepherd, but they know not the voice of strangers. “Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.” Believers are taught of the Lord to perceive the difference between truth and error, between the teachings of mere legalists and the voice of the gospel of grace. Of others it is said, “their ears are dull of hearing”; but upon these a miracle of grace has been wrought, so that they hear the voice of the Son of God. Dear friend, is this your case? Is the name of Jesus sweet to you? Is a promise pronounced by his voice most comforting to your soul? Then be of good cheer, for you have everlasting life and come not under condemnation. You are resting upon the faithful promise of the Father, brought to you by the word of his own Son, and because of this you are quickened and justified. Jesus declares it is so. Do not doubt him, lest you do despite to that blessed “Verily, verily” with which he prefaces the word.

The quickened ones are described in our second text as believers in the Lord Jesus. “He that believeth in me hath everlasting life.” They have a personal faith in a personal Saviour. They believe that God must punish sin, that God has punished sin in the person of Jesus, and that he has therefore set forth his Son Jesus Christ to be a propitiation for sin, that “whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.” This they believe, and on this they lean the full weight of their souls. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”; and they come to him for rest, and receive rest. This is the main point in the character of those who have everlasting life: they are not here said to do anything, or achieve anything, but they believe in Jesus the Christ.

The saved are also described as believers in Jesus because of the witness of the Father. “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me.” Why do I believe that Jesus Christ is my Saviour? Because the Father hath sent him, and borne witness to him. I am sure that he can save me, for he is divinely commissioned, divinely furnished, and the pleasure of the Lord must prosper in his hand. I believe to-day that he who came to the waters of Jordan to be baptized was the Son of God, for the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” I believe that he who went up to the mountain, and was transfigured in the presence of his three disciples, was the Son of God; for once again the Father said in an audible voice, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.” I believe that Jesus Christ can save me; for when he prayed a voice was heard from heaven bearing witness that he was heard of the Father. The people that stood by knew not the meaning, but said that it thundered: yet there were some that heard that voice, and knew it to be the witness of the Lord. Those who have everlasting life believe in Jesus as the Christ of God, because the Father has given witness to him in many ways-by an audible voice, by miracles, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and by constantly fulfilling in the ministry of Christ’s word the promises which he made unto us in connection therewith. This faith in God our Father and in our Lord Jesus Christ saves the soul.

But notice, that our Lord has spoken these words of every such believer: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life.” Whatever else he may have or may not have, this is the vital point. “But, Lord, he is full of fault and imperfection.” There is no exception made on that ground; for “by him all that believe are justified from all things.” “But the believing man makes many mistakes in points of theology.” Nothing is said in the text as to errors upon other points; but the text positively saith, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life.” If there be genuine faith in Jesus, there will be a sincere desire to understand all his teachings, and a readiness to believe them; but as for ignorances and mistakes, they are covered with all our other sins by the great atonement which is received by faith. “But, Lord, he is himself afraid that he has not attained to everlasting life. He trembles lest he should be found wanting when put into the balances.” No exception is made on account of timidity and diffidence. If any man believeth in Christ Jesus, the statement is made absolutely of him and of everyone like him, that he “hath everlasting life.” Old or young, rich or poor, learned or illiterate, talented or obscure, there is no difference: all believers have everlasting life.

But, mark you, there is no statement made as to the salvation of any other sort of person. Nothing is said about the baptized person who is not a believer. He has been made a member of Christ, an heir of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven in baptism, according to the Prayer-book; but is it true? Our text says nothing about the baptized, confirmed, and sacramented unbeliever having everlasting life: there is not a word like it from Genesis to Revelation. Other books may say what they will; but this Book of God makes no account of any man who is devoid of faith. Did you tell me that such a one has been a professor of religion for many years, and his outward life has been most commendable? So far, so good; but that is not all. Indeed, it is beside the mark as to the teaching now before us; for the text saith absolutely nothing about outward morality and correctness of conduct. These things are sure to be found where faith is found; but alone and by themselves they answer not to the qualification laid down by our Lord. If a man believe not on Christ there is no cheering word for him, be he what he may. No one is left without eternal life that believes in Jesus, and no unbeliever is blessed with that life. What saith the Scriptures? “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

We now know the persons to whom the blessings of salvation have come; I hope that many of us are numbered with them.

Very briefly let us notice the blessings which belong to believing.

First, our Lord asserts that the believer “hath everlasting life.” He was condemned to die, and reckoned as a dead man; but he is now acquitted, and his life is granted him. He was spiritually dead; but the fact that he believes in Jesus is sufficient evidence that he has received spiritual life. John tells us in his epistle, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” This spiritual life is not a thing of time only, it is expressly called “everlasting.” Those who in these days make out that “everlasting” does not mean unending, will, I dare say, squeeze the life-blood out of our text; but the most of us take the word to mean what it says, and to signify life which will never end. If I have received life in Jesus Christ I have received a life which will endure as long as the everlasting covenant, as long as everlasting love, as long as the everlasting God. According to a certain theology a man may have life in Christ one day and lose it the next: how, then, is it everlasting life? If a man has lost his life that life could not have been everlasting: that is clear. That which comes to an end could not have been everlasting. But we teach with the authority of Christ that the man that believeth on Christ has at this moment within him a life that can never expire. The man may die after the flesh, but he can never die after the Spirit. There is for him no second death possible, unless the Bible expression be a mere trifling with language. The believer has within him a life which is derived from Christ himself,-“I in them”; and this life depends upon the life of Christ, even as he has put it, “Because I live ye shall live also.” The believer has this everlasting life now; for it is not said, “shall have,” but “hath everlasting life.” What a boon is this! To be born in the image of God; to be a partaker of his nature; to be placed beyond all reach of the second death. Glory be to God for this!

Notice, next, that the believer is in a condition of non-condemnation. He “shall not come into condemnation.” The translation would be more accurate if it were put, “and cometh not into judgment”: that is to say, as soon as a man has believed in Christ he receives the benefit of Christ’s substitution, and is no longer under judgment, much less condemnation. In Christ the believer has been judged, condemned, and punished, and the believer is therefore clear of the law and all its penalties. If we have by our Surety answered all the demands of justice, what has the law to do with us? How can it bring us into judgment? How can it cause us to know condemnation? But will not the righteous be present in the judgment of the last day? Undoubtedly we shall all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; but the judgment of that day will not be a judgment to us in the dreadful sense of the term. When a man is perfectly clear, and called into court on purpose to be publicly acquitted, it is no judgment to him. “The Lord shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people”; and this is our joy, that “our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” It will be no penalty, but a great delight, to stand before the great King and hear him say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Our text has another sentence of privilege,-he “has passed from death unto life.” Notice where judgment is. See, here is death! Yonder is life and resurrection! Judgment, as it were, stands between, the two. We have passed from death to life, and so we have passed by the judgment. There is a doctrinal error which cannot be too much condemned, that the resurrection is past already: but there is a blessed spiritual truth that cannot be too firmly grasped, that believers are already the children of the resurrection by having received quickening as to their spirits. In regeneration lies the essence and major portion of resurrection. We have already passed from the kingdom of death into the kingdom of life, and so have passed by the judgment, since Jesus was judged for us, condemned for us, and made to die in our stead. Abraham was called a Hebrew, or passer-over, and we, too, are Hebrews, having passed from one kingdom to another, being delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, and through him we live. If Christ has suffered in our stead we cannot suffer for sin; justice demands that we go free. What a miracle of mercy is this, that every one that has believed in Jesus has left death behind him, never to return to it; has entered the realm of life, never to be banished from it; and has on the road passed under the rod of judgment and the sword of condemnation, so that neither of these can further afflict him in time or in eternity.

Did I hear some one object, “You make too much of so small a matter as believing. You make out that simply by trusting in Jesus. Christ there is a difference made between one man and another of a most extraordinary kind, and that it is made at once”? Yes, I do say that, exactly that, and so far as I am concerned I do not care how much you quarrel with it, I shall not tone down the statement: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

I hear you mutter, “I think you are very uncharitable.” Say so, if you please; I shall prove my charitableness by bearing it. But see! Here is a person standing right in the middle of a railway track, and I say to him, “My dear fellow, if you do not come out of that you will be smashed to atoms within the next five minutes, for an express train is thundering along the line.” He laughs and answers, “Do you mean to say that my shifting the position of my body a couple of feet will make all that difference? Do you tell me that if I move I shall be safe, and that if I stand here I shall be cut to pieces?” “Yes, I do say it; and say it with tears; begging you to believe me, and come out of the track.” “Then,” he says, “you are very uncharitable.” “Yes,” I reply, “and you are very insane.” What more can I say? It is never uncharitable to speak the truth for the good of the person concerned. A small matter may suffice to shape the destiny of an immortal soul. In those ill times, when there were slaves across the Atlantic, a lady went down to one of our ships, accompanied by her negro servant. The lady remarked to the captain that if she were to go to England and take this black woman with her, she would become free as soon as she landed. The captain replied, “Madam, she is free already. The moment she came on board a British vessel she was free.” When the negro woman knew this, do you think she went on shore with her mistress? By no means; she chose to keep her liberty. But what made her rise from a slave to a free woman? Why, only a few inches of separation from the shore. I do not know how far the ship was from land; the distance may have been very little; still it made all the difference; she was free on board, and a slave on land. How slight the change of place; but how great the difference involved; marvel not that faith involves such great things.

I heard a grumbler say, “We do not want this doctrine. What we want is more morality and honesty.” Just so. You remind me of a poor little child. His father planted bulbs to come up in the spring, and make the garden gay with golden flowers; but the boy said, “We don’t want bulbs; we want crocus cups and daffodils.” The child forgot that flowers never grow without roots. You, too, good sir, forget that holy lives cannot grow without a cause, and faith is the root of virtue. Flowers stuck into the ground without roots are babes’ follies, and good works without faith are childish vanities. We preach faith in order that good works may follow, and they do follow, and are the fruits of that eternal life which men receive by faith. Are you not willing to get the flowers through the roots? Go, silly children, and grow wiser.

I close with my last head, which is, the assurance with which this doctrine is stated in my text. It was that which attracted me to it.

First, the doctrine of this text is certified to us by the terms in which our Lord utters it. I have already told you this, but I mean to go over it again. Our Lord Jesus, whose name is Faithful and True, here pledges his honour as God, his veracity as man, upon the certainty of this doctrine. He says, “Verily, verily.” These two words sound to me like great guns levelled against unbelief. Like the two brazen pillars called Jachin and Boaz, these two verities stand in the porch of mercy’s temple, and show us where there is establishment and strength in the word of the Son of man.

Our Lord then adds, “I say unto you.” Then it must be so, or else the Lord speaks in error, and none think that for a moment, for he is Wisdom itself. Is he not the only wise God, our Saviour? Do you dream that these words may mean less then they say? That were to charge the Lord with insincerity, mocking poor souls with great words and small meanings? No, you would count it profane to imagine such a thing. “He that believeth in me hath everlasting life” must, then, mean what it says. Christ knows what is everlasting life and who has it; for there is no eye like his that can discern life wherever it may be, and discriminate between the false and the true. Others might be mistaken and deceived; but Christ knows what is the true life, being himself the living and true God. Jesus also knows whether we shall be judged and condemned or not; for he is himself the Judge. The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and if the Judge himself says that we shall never come into condemnation we can have no cause for fear. Who is he that condemneth? Christ that died, who sitteth at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us? Impossible.

Our Lord Jesus also knows the future; it is before him as if it were present. He foresees everything that can possibly happen; and so if he testifies of the believer “he shall never come into condemnation,” then depend upon it the fact is sure. If a prophet speaks ye believe him,-shall ye not much more believe the Son of God? The believer has everlasting life: it is true, it is most surely true.

The question may be raised, Why does our Lord need to put it so very, very positively? Did I hear any one of you grumbling in your hearts just now at my going over the same ground? I did it on purpose, because it is with such great difficulty that you can get men to accept this humbling truth. Human nature revolts against it. As for the unconverted, even when they begin to feel their need of a Saviour they cannot think it true that by believing in Jesus Christ they will pass from death to life. Salvation must be by faith that it may be of grace, and it must be of grace or not at all; but proud souls will not have it so. A man must be driven to self-despair before he will agree to be saved by faith in Christ. You who deal much with souls know how they try to escape their own mercy and avoid the lovingkindness of the Lord. Even you that have believed and are saved are not half as sure as you ought to be. Are there not times with you when you say, “I do not feel as I wish, and therefore I am not saved”? What argument is there in that? Can your feelings make Christ untrue? Recollect the evidence of your being saved as a believer lies wholly in that “I say unto you.” Perhaps you are not sure that you have everlasting life, and yet you are sure that you are a believer in Jesus. How is this? This is a questioning of Christ’s veracity. His strongest affirmation is, “Verily, verily.” Is he not to be believed on this? You, as his dear disciple, lover, and friend, would be very indignant if anyone cast a suspicion upon his truthfulness-why will you do it yourself? Accept the truth heartily. Never doubt it, but let it stand as a fact most sure and steadfast that your faith has saved you.

It is, then, if you are a believer, absolutely certain that you shall never be condemned, but have passed from death unto life: the Lord puts it so positively that we may be right positive about it. Why are you not, as a believer, absolutely certain of your possession of eternal life? The Master, who knew our unbelief, has put the matter so straight and plain that nobody can get over it without rejecting his word. It is certain that he that believeth in him hath everlasting life: certain, then, that we are saved if believers. We need not be afraid to believe this with great confidence, and to rejoice because of it. Some one says, “Ah, but it might be presumption.” Presumption to believe that Jesus speaks the truth! I will tell you what is presumption, and that is, to question anything that our Lord has said. Is he your Master and Lord? If he be not, say so; but if he be so, will you venture to sit upon the throne and judge the sayings of your own Lord, and say, “This may be true, and that may be false”?

Another objector cries, “But I think a person may be too certain.” A person may be a great deal too certain if the argument be based upon inference; but if a statement be based upon the personal testimony of the Lord Jesus, we cannot be too certain of it. Circumstantial evidence is often very powerful, and to some minds irresistible; yet the inference drawn from it may be false; but the witness of a person who cannot err is worth all the circumstantial evidence in the world. Jesus Christ cannot be suspected of falsehood or error, either in his divine character or in his perfect human character, and therefore the basis of our confidence cannot be shaken. Our rest must be found entirely in that grand word, “I say unto you.” The weight of your doubt, if you have any, must fall upon his personal character, and there also the stress of your faith must be fixed. If Jesus speak the truth, then the believer has everlasting life; if the believer questions whether he has life or not, he questions the veracity of Christ. We are bound by our discipleship to be at rest. Happiness becomes a duty, and peace a matter of obligation. Happy men, who are under bonds to be joyful! We are partakers of life eternal, we come not into condemnation. What delight, what peace flows through our spirits. If it be indeed so that we have commenced the selfsame life which is to be developed in eternal glory, then what gratitude ought to fill us, and how that gratitude should urge us to holiness, and to perfect obedience to him who has given us this inestimable blessing! Come, let us not play with these things, but act as it behoves us to act, seeing that these things are indeed so. If they were mere myths or dreams we might treat them carelessly; but accepting them as true, let us feel the force of their truth, and let us rejoice this day in him who hath called us with so high a calling.

One thing I want you to notice, and that is that our Lord does not desire us to keep this doctrine in the background. This doctrine that “whosoever believeth in him hath everlasting life,” is not for our own private comfort alone, it is to be proclaimed upon the housetops. Those Jews in Christ’s day were a company of cross-grained fault-finders, who picked holes in him about everything and nothing. Very harpies were they, full of spite at his excellence. They had just been finding fault with his healing a man on the Sabbath-day, and he had answered them out straight without reserve; and when he had their ear, he told them a truth which would cut them to the quick. It was not a wanton casting of pearls before swine, and yet the men were not worthy to hear so divine a truth. Jesus tells it to them that we may tell it to all. Never let us conceal what Jesus thus unveiled. There stands the precious Master, and he says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, you quarrelsome Jews, whose grovelling minds cannot comprehend me, that he that believeth in me hath everlasting life. Your hands even now are near the ground seeking for stones to hurl at me; but I say it to you, as a thing I mean you to know, even if you gnash your teeth over it, that he that believeth in me hath everlasting life.” Oh, brothers, let that be our answer to the present critical age: let us turn the bull’s-eye of our lantern full in its face. Let us cry again and again, “Believe in Jesus and live.” They will reply to you with philosophical deduction and learned quibble, and they will dig all sorts of pits for you, hoping to entrap you. Never mind their pits, or their quibbles, or their deductions, but just go on telling out the truth that “whosoever believeth in Jesus hath everlasting life.”

But why tell it to these Jews that were so wroth with him? Perhaps some of them would be converted by it. Tell it to all men with this view; for the gospel often begets faith in violent opposers. But if they were not converted they would be left without excuse, and this is something. Whatever may come of it, this truth is meant to be written across the brow of heaven; it is to be published throughout all nations, that all may know it. One of our ministers years ago, travelling by coach, asked an erroneous preacher who was on the same coach this question-“How is a sinner justified in the sight of God?” This gentleman replied, “Ah, I know you: if I were to let you know my views, you would put them in your sermon and spread them all over England.” “Ah,” cried our friend, “you are ashamed of your notions, are you? Well, I will give you the answer, and I will be glad if you will put it in all your lectures and publish it all the world over-a man is justified in the sight of God by faith in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.” Our doctrine is not special truth for the élite and initiated, to be dubiously taught in a back-room among a handful of students; it is the everlasting gospel, and we wish to have it proclaimed in market and street, before learned Brahmins and ignorant Hottentots: we would have it told out in the back slums of London, and preached before lords and ladies and royalty itself. It does not matter where: salvation by faith is never out of place. This is a doctrine never to be covered up, nor veiled, nor qualified. “He that believeth in him hath everlasting life,”-out with it and hesitate not.

It is a pretty thing which is told of the father of Mr. Newman Hall, and the author of “The Sinner’s Friend,” that his common seal that he always delighted to use was a crown with an anchor fixed into it, with just these words, “Other refuge have I none.” Well, if you do not use that seal, if you do not write the words over the door of your house, yet take care that you bear their meaning in your hearts. Have my text written in your hearts by the Spirit, so that you are sure and certain of it beyond all doubt upon the matter, and also do so glory over it that you never hesitate on any occasion to confess that you are saved by faith in Christ Jesus.

Dear hearers, do you really know this truth in your own souls, “Have you believed in Jesus, or have you not?” Are any of you trying to establish a righteousness of your own? Are you labouring as in the very fire to get peace where you will never find it? Oh, come away from your ceremonies and your sacraments; come away from your feelings, come away even from your prayers and your almsgivings; come away from everything upon which you rely, and believe in Jesus, the appointed Saviour. Come away even from your own faith, for you must not rely upon it. Come and trust alone in Jesus, who, being very God of very God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and in that servant form bled even to the death in the sinner’s room and place, that whosoever will trust him may be justified in the sight of God. Rest there, one and all of you. Oh may God help you at this very moment so to do, and then we will meet in heaven all of us; if there be no exception to the believing there shall be no exception in the salvation, for “He that believeth in him hath everlasting life.”

Portion of Scripture read before Sermon-John 5.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-912, 397, 551.