C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington,

On Lord’s-day Evening, November 17th, 1889.

“Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.-John 6:37.

Christ will not die in vain. His Father gave him a certain number to be the reward of his soul travail, and he will have every one of them, as he said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” Almighty grace shall sweetly constrain them all to come. My father gave me recently some letters which I wrote to him when I began to preach. They are almost boyish epistles; but, in reading through them again, I noticed in one of them this expression, “How I long to see thousands of men saved; but my great comfort is that some will be saved, must be saved, shall be saved, for it is written, ‘All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.’ ”

The question for each of you to ask is, “Do I belong to that number?” I am going to preach with the view of helping you to find out whether you belong to that “all” whom the Father gave to Christ, the “all” who shall come to him. We can use the second part of the verse to help us to understand the first. “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” will explain our Saviour’s previous words, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.”

I shall have no time for any further preface; I must at once get to my subject, and try to put everything in a condensed form. Kindly give heed to the word, think about it, pray over it; and may God the Holy Ghost apply it to all your hearts!

First, notice in the text the necessity of character: “Him that cometh to me.” If you want to be saved, you must come to Christ. There is no other way of salvation under heaven but coming to Christ. Go wherever else you will, you must be disappointed and lost; it is only by coming to him that you can by any possibility have eternal life.

What is it to come to Christ? Well, it implies leaving all other confidences. To come to anybody, is to leave everybody else. To come to Christ, is to leave everything else, to leave every other hope, every other trust. Are you trusting to your own works? Are you trusting to a priest? Are you trusting to the merits of the Virgin Mary, or the saints and angels in heaven? Are you trusting to anything but the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, leave it, and have done with it. Come away from every other reliance, and trust to Christ crucified, for this is the only way of salvation, as Peter said to the rulers and elders of Israel, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

“To Jesus bleeding on the tree,

Turn thou thine eye, thine heart,”

and come to him at once, and thy soul shall live for ever.

To come to Jesus means, in brief, trusting him. He is a Saviour; that is his business, come you to him, and trust him to save you. If you could save yourself, you would not need a Saviour; and now that Christ has set up to be a Saviour, let him do the business. He will. Come, and lay all your needs at his feet, and trust him. Resolve that, if lost, you will be lost trusting alone in Jesus; and that can never be. Tie up all your hopes into one bundle, and put that bundle upon Christ. Let him be all thy salvation, and all thy desire, and so thou shalt be surely saved.

I have sometimes tried to explain to you what the life of faith is like; it is very much like a man walking on a tight rope. The believer is told that he shall not fall, he trusts in God that he shall not; but every now and then he says, “What a way it is down there if I did fall!” I have often had this experience: I have gone up an invisible staircase; I could not see the next step, but when I put my foot down on it, I found that it was solid granite. I could not see the next stair, and it seemed as if I should plunge into an abyss; yet have I gone on upward, steadily, one step at a time, never able to see farther into absolute darkness, as it seemed, and yet always with a light just where the light was wanted. When I used to hold a candle to my father, of an evening, when he was sawing wood out in the yard, he used to say, “Boy, do hold the candle where I am sawing, don’t look over there.” And I have often thought to myself, when I wanted to see something in the middle of next week, or next year, that the Lord seemed to say to me, “Hold your candle on the piece of work which you have to do to-day; and if you can see that, be satisfied, for that is all the light you want just now.” Suppose that you could see into next week, it would be a great mercy if you lost your sight a while, for a far-seeing gaze into care and trouble is no gain. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” as sufficient unto the day will be the good thereof. But the Lord does train his people for the skies by testing their faith in the matter of his daily care of them. Often, a man’s reliance upon God for the supply of his earthly wants proves that he has trusted the Lord for the weightier affairs relating to his soul’s salvation. Do not draw a line between the temporal and the spiritual, and say, “God will go just so far; but I must not take such and such a thing to him in prayer.” I remember hearing of a certain good man, of whom one said, “Why, he is a very curious man; he prayed about a key the other day!” Why not pray about a key? Why not pray about a pin? Sometimes, it may be as important to pray about a pin as to pray about a kingdom. Little things are often the linch-pins of great events. Take care that you bring everything to God in faith and prayer. “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

I have turned aside from my subject for a minute, but let us now think again of this matter of coming to Christ. To come to Jesus, not only implies leaving all other confidences, and trusting Christ, it also means following him. If you trust him, you must obey him. If you leave your soul in his hands, you must take him to be your Master, and your Lord, as well as your Saviour. Christ has come to save you from sin, not in sin. He will therefore help you to leave your sin, whatever it is; he will give you the victory over it; he will make you holy. He will help you to do whatever you should do in the sight of God. He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him; but you must come to him if you would be saved by him.

To put together all I have said, you must quit every other hope; you must take Jesus to be your sole confidence, and then you must be obedient to his command, and take him to be your Master, and Lord. Will you do that? If not, I have nothing to say to you except this,-he that believeth not in him will perish without hope. If you will not have God’s remedy for your soul malady, the only remedy that there is, there remaineth for you nothing but blackness and dismal darkness for ever and ever.

But, now, secondly, while there is this necessity of character, notice also the universality of persons: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

Granted that he comes to Christ, that is all that is needed. Does some one say, “Sir, I am a very obscure person. Nobody knows me; my name was never in the papers, and never will be; I am a nobody”? Well, if Mr. Nobody comes to Christ, he will not cast him out. Come along, you unknown person, you anonymous individual, you that everybody but Christ forgets! If even you come to Jesus, he will not cast you out.

Another says, “I am so very odd.” Do not say much about that, for I am odd, too; but, dear friends, however odd we are, though we may be thought very eccentric, and some may even consider us a little touched in the head, yet, nevertheless, for all that, Jesus says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Come along with you, Mr. Oddman! You shall not be lost for want of brains, nor yet for having too many; though that is not a very common misfortune. If you will but come to Christ, though you have no talent, though you are but poor, and will never make much headway in the world, Jesus says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

“Ah!” says a third friend, “I do not mind about being obscure, or being eccentric; but it is the greatness of my sin that keeps me back from Christ.” Let us read the text again: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” If he had been guilty of seven murders, and all the whoredoms and adulteries that ever defiled mortal man, if impossible sins could be charged against him, yet if he came to Christ, mark you, if he came to Christ, the promise of Jesus would be fulfilled even in his case, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

“But,” says another, “I am completely worn out, I am good for nothing. I have spent all my days and years in sin. I have come to the very end of the chapter, I am not worth anybody’s having.” Come along with you, you fag-end of life! Jesus says, “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” You have to walk with two sticks, do you? Never mind, come you to Jesus. You are so feeble that you wonder that you are alive at your advanced age. My Lord will receive you if you are a hundred years of age; there have been many cases in which persons have been brought to Christ even after that age. There are some very remarkable instances of that fact on record. Christ says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” If he were as old as Methuselah, if he did but come to Christ, he should not be cast out.

“Alas!” says one, “I am in a worse case than even that aged friend, for beside being old, I have resisted the Spirit of God. I have been many years troubled in my conscience; but I have tried to cover it all up. I have stifled every godly thought.” Yes, yes; and it is a very sad thing, too; but for all that, if you come to Christ, if you can even make a dash for salvation, and come to Jesus, he cannot cast you out.

One friend perhaps says, “I am afraid that I have committed the unpardonable sin.” If you come to Christ, you have not, I know; for him that cometh to him Jesus will in no wise cast out. He cannot, therefore, have committed the unpardonable sin. Come along with you, man, and if you are blacker than all the rest of the sinners in the world, so much the more glorious shall be the grace of God when it shall have proved its power by washing you whiter than snow in the precious blood of Jesus.

“Ah!” says one, “you do not know me, Sir.” No, dear friend, I do not; but, perhaps, one of these days I may have that pleasure. “It will not be any pleasure to you, Sir, for I am an apostate. I used to be a professor of religion; but I have given it all up, and I have gone back to the world, wilfully and wickedly doing all manner of evil things.” Ah! well, if you can but come to Christ, though there were seven apostasies piled one upon another, still his promise stands true, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Whatever the past, or whatever the present, backslider, return to Christ, for he standeth to his plighted word, and there are no exceptions mentioned in my text: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

“Well, Sir,” cries another, “I should like to come to Christ; but I do not feel fit to come.” Then, come all unfit, just as you are. Jesus says, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” If I were woke up in the middle of the night by a cry of “Fire!” and I saw that some one was at the window with a fire-escape, I do not think that I should keep in bed, and say, “I have not my black necktie on,” or “I have not my best waistcoat on.” I should not speak in that way at all. I would be out of the window as quickly as ever I could, and down the fire-escape. Why do you talk about your fitness, fitness, fitness? I have heard of a cavalier, who lost his life because he stopped to curl his hair when Cromwell’s soldiers were after him. Some of you may laugh at the man’s foolishness; but that is all that your talk about fitness is. What is all your fitness but the curling of your hair when you are in imminent danger of losing your soul? Your fitness is nothing to Christ. Remember what we sang at the beginning of the service:-

“Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness he requireth,

Is to feel your need of him:

This he gives you;

’Tis the Spirit’s rising beam.”

Come to Christ just as you are, foul, vile, careless, godless, Christless. Come now, even now, for Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

Is there not a glorious width about my text: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” What “him” is this? It is “him that cometh.” What “him that cometh”? Any “him that cometh” in all the world. If he comes to Christ, he shall not be cast out. A red man, or a black man, or a white man, or a yellow man, or a copper-coloured man, whatever he is, if he comes to Jesus, he shall in no wise be cast out.

When you mean to put a thing broadly, it is always best to state it, and leave it. Do not go into details; the Saviour does not. Some years ago, there was a man, a kind, loving husband, who wished to leave to his wife all his property. Whatever he had, he intended her to have it all, as she ought; so he put down in his will, “I leave to my beloved wife, Elizabeth, all that I have.” That was all right. Then he went on to describe in detail what he was leaving her, and he wrote, “All my freehold and personal estate.” The most of his property happened to be leasehold, so the wife did not get it because her husband gave a detailed description; it was in the detail that the property slipped away from the good woman. Now, there is no detail at all here: “Him that cometh.” That means that every man, and woman, and child, beneath the broad heavens, who will but come, and trust in Christ, shall in no wise be cast out. I thank God that there is no allusion to any particular character, in order specially to say, “People of that character shall be received,” for then the characters left out might be supposed to be excluded; but the text clearly means that every soul that comes to Christ shall be received by him.

The flight of time hurries me on, therefore, I beg you to listen earnestly while I speak to you, in the third place, about the unmistakeableness of the promise: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise”-that is, for no reason, under no circumstances, at no time, under no conditions whatever,-“I will in no wise cast out”; which means, being interpreted, “I will receive him, I will save him, I will bless him.”

Then if you, my dear friend, come to Christ, how could the Lord cast you out? How could he do it in consistency with his truthfulness? Imagine my Lord Jesus making this declaration, and giving it to us as an inspired Scripture, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” and yet casting out somebody, even that unknown somebody up in the corner. Why, it would be a lie; it would be an acted lie! I pray you, blaspheme not my Lord, the truthful Christ, by supposing that he could be guilty of such conduct as that. He could do as he liked about whom he would receive until he made the promise; but after he had pledged his word, he bound himself by the veracity of his nature to keep it; and as long as Christ is the truthful Christ, he must receive every soul that comes to him.

But let me also ask you, suppose that you came to Jesus, and he cast you out, with what hands could he do it? “With his own hands,” you answer. What! Christ coming forward to cast out a sinner who has come to him? I ask again, with what hands could he do it? Would he do it with those pierced hands, that still bear the marks of the nails? The Crucified rejecting a sinner? Ah! no; he hath no hand with which to do such a cruel work as that, for he has given both his hands to be nailed to the tree for guilty men. He hath neither hand, nor foot, nor heart with which to reject sinners, for all these have been pierced in his death for them; therefore he cannot cast them out if they come to him.

Let me ask you another question, What profit would it be to Christ if he did cast you out? If my dear Lord, of the thorny crown, and the pierced side, and the wounded hands, were to cast you away, what glory would it bring to him? If he cast you into hell, you who have come to him, what happiness would that bring to him? If he were to cast you away, you who have sought his face, you who trust his love and his blood, by what conceivable method could that ever render him the happier or the greater? It cannot be.

What would such a supposition involve? Imagine for a moment that Jesus did cast away one who came to him; if it were ascertained that one soul came to Christ, and yet he had cast him away, what would happen? Why, there are thousands of us who would never preach again! For one, I would have done with the business. If my Lord can cast away a sinner who comes to him, I cannot, with a clear conscience, go and preach from his words, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Moreover, I should feel that, if he failed in one promise, he might fail in the others. I could not go and preach a possible but doubtful gospel. I must have “shalls” and “wills” from the eternal throne of God; and if it is not so, our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.

See what would follow if one soul came to Christ, and Christ cast him out. All the saints would lose their confidence in him. If a man breaks his promise once, it is of no use for him to say, “Well, I am generally truthful.” You have caught him false to his word once, and you will not trust him again, will you? No; and if our dear Lord, whose every word is truth and verity, could break one of his promises only once, he would not be trusted by his people any more, and his Church would lose the faith that is her very life.

Ah! me; and then they would hear of it up in heaven; and one soul that came to Christ, and was cast away, would stop the music of the harps of heaven, would dim the lustre of the glory-land, and take away its joy, for it would be whispered among the glorified, “Jesus has broken his promise. He cast away a praying, believing soul; he may break his promise to us, he may drive us out of heaven.” When they began to praise him, this one act of his would make a lump come in their throats, and they would be unable to sing. They would be thinking of that poor soul that trusted him, and was cast away; so how could they sing, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” if they had to add, “But he did not wash all that came to him, though he promised that he would”?

I do not like even to talk of all that the supposition would involve; it is something so dreadful to me, for they would hear of it in hell, and they would tell it to one another, and an awful glee would take possession of the fiendish hearts of the devil and all his companions, and they would say, “The Christ is not true to his word; the boasted Saviour rejected one who came to him. He used to receive even harlots, and he let one wash his feet with her tears; and publicans and sinners came and gathered about him, and he spoke to them in tones of love; but here is one,-well, he was too vile for the Saviour to bless; he was too far gone, Jesus could not restore him, Christ could not cleanse him. He could save little sinners, but not great ones; he could save sinners eighteen hundred years ago. Oh! he made a fine show of them; but his power is exhausted now, he cannot save a sinner now.” Oh, in the halls of Hades, what jests and ridicule would be poured upon that dear name, and, I had almost said, justly, if Christ cast out one who came to him! But, beloved, that can never be; it is as sure as God’s oath, as certain as Jehovah’s being, that he who comes to Christ shall in no wise be cast out. I gladly bear my own witness before this assembled throng that-

“I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary, and worn, and sad:

I found in him a resting-place,

And he has made me glad.”

Come, each one of you, and prove the text to be true in your own experience, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

Expositions by C. H. Spurgeon

PSALM 89:1-37, and JOHN 6:22-40

Psalm 89. Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

That is to say, an instructive Psalm, written by or for one Ethan, one of the great singers of David’s day. He sings of the covenant, the covenant with David, ordered in all things and sure. There is no higher theme for song than the covenant of God’s grace; one marvels that it has not oftener been sung by those who are the gifted children of poesy.

Verse 1. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:

Another subject might wear out, but this glorious topic will never be exhausted. Here is a theme which we can sing of in eternity as well as in time. Let others choose what subject they may, “I will sing of the mercies of Jehovah for ever.”

1. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

God’s faithfulness is the mercy of his mercy. It is the centre-point of his goodness that his goodness endureth for ever. We are not only to sing; we are to teach. The Psalmist says, “With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” In telling his own experience, narrating what he had observed, as well as what he had proved of God’s faithfulness to his promise and his covenant, he would do this so that following generations should know about it. We are the schoolmasters of the ages to come; I mean, saints who have experienced the mercy and the faithfulness of God. We ought to make known Jehovah’s faithfulness to all generations that are yet to come.

2. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever:

What a building,-Mercy! God’s mercy is to be built up for ever.

2. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

Like the great arch you see in the firmament on high, unbuttressed and unpillared, yet it stands fast. So shall God’s faithfulness be built up, settled, and established in the very heavens.

And now God speaks:-

3. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

Well might the psalmist say, in the second verse, “I have said,” when God in the third verse says, “I have sworn.” It is ours to say; it is God’s to say with such tremendous solemnity that doubt cannot be tolerated. “I have made a covenant with my chosen:” King David, who is, however, but the type of his greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the heir of the dynasty of David. With him is this covenant made for ever.

4. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

Whatever may happen in the world, David’s Seed is always reigning; whatever kings may lose their crowns, King Jesus will never lose the many crowns that are on his head. God has sworn it: “Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.”

Then comes the word, “Selah.” Rest; meditate; and truly, here is enough to rest and meditate upon for many a day, if we went no farther into the Psalm.

5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

The psalmist meant to praise God at such a rate that the sun, and moon, and stars, should hear his song, while angels and the host redeemed by blood should learn to praise God better than ever.

“Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints:” one saint begins to sing of God’s faithfulness, and the others take it up, for God is not faithful to one only, but to all his people. This is a subject which, when once started, will produce an echo in every believer’s heart.

6, 7. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,

The holiest are always the most reverent. There is no fear of God in the assembly of the sinners; but he “is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints.”

7. And to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

The nearer they come to him, the more is their awe of him; the greater their love, the deeper is their humility. God will not have those about him who are flippant and irreverent; he is “to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.”

8. O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

Note how the psalmist harps upon that one string,-“faithfulness.” Ah, dear friends, there are times when this is the sweetest note in the whole scale! “Thy faithfulness”: we have a God who never forgets his promises, but keeps them to the moment; a God who never changes; a God who never turns away from his word. “Thy faithfulness.” Oh, what a blessed virtue is this in God! Let us praise him for it for ever. “Thy faithfulness round about thee”: as if the Lord never went outside the ring of faithfulness, never did anything that broke his promises, or that made any of his children to doubt; and it is even so.

9. Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

Are you now in a storm, my brother? My sister, are you now tempest-tossed? Listen to this word, and remember the Lord High Admiral of the fleet on the Lake of Galilee, and how, after he had been asleep for awhile, he arose, and rebuked the winds and the waves: “Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.”

10. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

Rahab was Egypt. The word means “strong”, “mighty”, “proud”, all of which were the characteristics of Egypt, which God brake in pieces at the Red Sea. Pharaoh was the greatest of monarchs at the time; but, oh, how soon he had to yield when God’s right arm was bared for war!

11. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that the earth cannot be God’s; all over the globe man is the master, he claims everything; if men could map out the heavens, we should have owners for every single twinkling star; and, if they could have their way, we should have to buy our light by measure, and our sunshine by weight. But “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof;” and the heavens also are his.

12. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon-East and West, as well as North and South,-

12. Shall rejoice in thy name.

There is not a place where God is not to be found. All the points of the compass are compassed by God. You cannot go where the Lord’s love reigns not, nor where Providence will not follow you.

13-15. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:

There are some who hear it, and yet are not blessed. Blessed are they who “know” it; know its peculiar accent, know its inward power, know its omnipotence, know its unchangeableness, know it by having tried it, and proved it, and rested in it: “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.”

15. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

It is all the light they want. Let God but smile, it makes their day. If every candle were blown out, yet the favour of God would make life bright enough for them.

16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

Even in God’s righteousness. Until we know the Lord, we are afraid of his righteousness; but when we come to know him, his righteousness, which once frowned upon us, becomes our heaven. “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” God is not unrighteous to cast away a soul that puts its trust in Christ. God is one with his people. When we rejoice all the day in his name, we are exalted in his righteousuess.

17-19. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

This is David first; but it is Christ high above David. One of ourselves, the carpenter’s Son, yet has God made him to be the Head over all things for his Church: “I have exalted one chosen out of the people.”

20, 21. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

The full power of God is with Christ. That same arm, that bears the earth’s huge pillars up, and spreads the heavens abroad, is engaged on behalf of the cause and kingdom of the Son of David.

22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

He had enough of that when he was upon the earth; but it is all over now. He has gone into his glory, and the enemy cannot touch him now.

23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

There is the portion of all haters of Christ. God will, somehow or other, in the order of his providence, bring the evil home to them. If they will not have God’s Son, they shall not have his mercy; they shall, sooner or later, be beaten down before his face.

24, 25. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

He shall reign “from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” We may go on to fight for him, for his triumph is sure.

26, 27. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

So he is. Firstborn among men, firstborn of kings, his throne is loftier than the most imperial power on the earth. Blessed be his name! Let us adore him to-night; and here, in the midst of his people, let us crown him Lord of all.

28-36. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

The Son of David is still King in the midst of the true Israel. Still Jesus reigns; and on and on, for ever and for ever, great David’s greater Son shall be King of kings, and Lord of lords.

37. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

Now let us read a passage from the New Testament, showing how the Lord Jesus dealt with the crowds that came to him.

John 6 Verses 22-26. The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone; (howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:) when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

Mixed motives bring multitudes together. How true our Master was, how outspoken! He never tried to win a disciple by keeping back the truth; and often he spoke very plainly indeed, as on this occasion: “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

He seemed to say to them, “Do not come to me for bread and fish; I have given you that. Come for something better; come to me for spiritual food, food for your souls, food for eternity.” It is with that object that we should go to the house of God; not to listen to this preacher or that, but to hear the Word of God, that we may live thereby.

28. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

“What are the best works that we can do? What are the most acceptable?” I wonder what they expected Christ to say. I am sure they did not look for the answer that they received.

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

The greatest, the best, the most acceptable work in all the world is that you come and trust Christ. This saves you; nothing else will do so: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

30, 31. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

See how they came round to the old subject again, bread to eat. The Lord Jesus Christ may point them to something higher and better; but their carnal minds always return to that congenial topic, something to eat. Their stomach was lord of their heart.

32. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

“That which will really feed you, and feed you for all eternity.” Moses could not give the people that bread; the Father only can give “the true bread from heaven.”

33. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the, world.

“The bread of God is he.” What a strange expression, yet what a true one! The bread of heaven is Christ himself. You must come and take him to yourself, and trust him for your salvation, and in that way feed upon him, or you can never have the heavenly bread which both gives life and sustains life.

34-39. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

See how the salvation of Christ reaches right to the end of all things. You and I may die; but though we lie awhile in the grave, the salvation of Christ will preserve us, to raise us up again at the last day. There shall not be a bone, nor a piece of a bone, of a true believer, left in the enemies’ land. All Israel, and all that belongs to Israel, shall come out of this Egypt, through the blood of the Lamb; not a hoof shall be left behind.

40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

May all of us see the Son, and believe on him, that we may have everlasting life, and that he may raise us up at the last day, for his dear name’s sake! Amen.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-492, 538, 658.

“TAKE, EAT”

A Sermon

Intended for Reading on Lord’s-day, March 4th, 1894, delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington,

On Lord’s-day Evening, January 8th, 1888.

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.”-Matthew 26:26.

We are all agreed upon this one point, that the Lord’s supper is an emblem of the death of Jesus Christ, and of the way by which we receive benefit from him. The bread sets forth his broken body, and the cup his shed blood; these, separated from each other, show forth his death. The way by which we receive this bread and this wine is by eating and drinking, and this sets forth the way by which we receive the merit and the virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ, by a faith which is like eating, by a trust which is like drinking, by the reception of Christ spiritually into our hearts, even as we naturally receive the bread and the fruit of the vine into our bodies.

These two words, then, “Take, eat,” are the practical directions concerning the Lord’s supper, and spiritually understood, they are the gospel of the grace of God. Every disciple of the Lord Jesus may hear a spiritual voice saying to him, concerning Christ, “Take, eat;” and you who fear that you are not his disciples, if you wish to be, if there is a craving in your heart to possess him, if you are beginning to feel after him, I venture to say to you also, “Take, eat.” This is the way to have Christ, take him, partake of him, and he is yours.

You probably remember the extraordinary story of the conversion of Augustine, who, after a life of sin, was stricken with compunction of conscience. His sorrow of heart was very great, and he could not find peace till he heard a voice, which may possibly have been that of a child on the other side of the wall,-I cannot tell,-but such a voice he heard, saying over and over again, “Tolle, lege; tolle, lege; tolle, lege;” that is, “Take and read; take and read;” and he took the Book, and read it, studied it believingly, and found peace with God. I have prayed that there may be some young Augustine here to-night. At present, his name may be “dis-gusting,” for he is living in sin and iniquity. I pray that he may be troubled in his conscience, and that he may be led to Christ by these words of the text, “Take, eat.” May this command come home to you, and may you catch at it, and put it in practice, and may my Master make a great saint out of some great sinner, even an Augustine, who shall valiantly defend the gospel of God’s grace, though now he sins desperately against almighty love! Oh, that it may be so!

With that end in view, I come to my text. We cannot have many divisions to it, can we? There are but two words on which I wish specially to speak, so they shall be the divisions of my subject. First, “Take,” and secondly, “eat.”

The first word I want you to notice is, “take.”

Just as a doctor might write at the beginning of a prescription, “Take such and such things,” so the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, “Take.” The word is often translated in our New Testament, “Receive.” Jesus holds out the bread in his hand, and says, “Receive it; let it come into your hand.” “Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it,” and then, holding it out to his disciples, he said, “Take, take, take,” and they took it, and the bread became theirs. This is the way that saints get blessings; they take them. This is the way that sinners also get blessings; by the grace of God, they take them. They do not make them, nor earn them, nor deserve them, but they take them Jesus Christ says to them, “Take,” and they obey his voice, and take.

Nobody at the table said, “Lord, I dare not take;” but when Jesus said, “Take,” they took. Nobody said, though perhaps everybody felt, “I am not worthy to take,” but as Jesus said, “Take,” they took. It is always the best plan to accept any good thing that is offered to you. If you are a very poor man, and anybody offers you a shilling, I venture to give you this piece of advice; you take it. Do not stand, and say to him, “My dear sir, I think that indiscriminate charity is wrong; you have never enquired into my character, you do not know whether I really am one of the unemployed.” If there is a shilling held out to you, my friend, you had better take it. If you are very hungry, and there is bread about, you had better eat it if it is given to you. If it is freely presented to you, freely take it. If that were my case, I would ask no questions, not only for conscience sake, but for my necessity’s sake; and especially would I do so when, by the grace of God, the gift is presented to me by the Lord Jesus Christ. If he says, “Take,” I will take. There is nothing freer than a gift, surely, except that perhaps I should be freer to take than I might be to give; for our poor natures are contracted, and we may not always be free in giving; but, surely, even selfishness might make us free in taking. A holy desire for your own good, and your own salvation, might prompt you to say, “Ay, Lord, if thou dost freely give, I without question will freely take!”

And I do not suppose that the Master stood holding that piece of bread to Peter for half-an-hour. He said, “Take,” and Peter took it. “Take,” he said to John; and John took it. “Take,” he said to Philip; and Philip took it at once. Blessed are they who accept Christ the first time they hear about him. Blessed are all they who accept him at all; but thrice blessed are they who, when he says, “Take,” through his grace, promptly answer, “Ay, Lord, that I will; and thank thee, too, most heartily! “Remember those words that we have so often sung,-

“Life is found alone in Jesus,

Only there ’tis offered thee-

Offer’d without price or money,

’Tis the gift of God sent free;

Take salvation,

Take it now, and happy be.”

I anticipate that someone will say, “Am I then to have Jesus Christ by only taking him?” Just so. Dost thou need a Saviour? There he is; take him. Dost thou desire to be delivered from the power of sin? He can deliver thee; take him to do it. Dost thou desire to lead a holy, godly life? Here is One who can wash thee, and enable thee to live thus. Take him, he is as free as the air: thou hast no more to pay for Christ than thou hast to pay for the next breath that goes into thy lungs. Take him in; take him in; that is all that thou hast to do. If I hear thee say, “I can hardly think that I, a poor unworthy sinner, such as I am, and just as I am, may take Christ,” I answer,-That is the gospel which I have to give thee, for Jesus said, “Take, eat.”

The Lord Jesus said to his disciples, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Well, then, first of all, see how free Christ must be to sinners, because he had a body. Once, he had no body, the blessed Son of God was pure spirit; but he condescended to be born of Mary. I think I see him as an infant cradled in the manger. The Lord of all stooped so low that he hung upon a woman’s breast, and allowed himself to be swaddled like any other babe. The Lord of life and glory has taken human nature; he lives at Nazareth as a child, he grows up as a labouring man, the reputed Son of a carpenter. Working-man, thy God became a Carpenter for thee! Take him. Surely, the very fact that he came amongst men, and took a body like our own, should encourage us to feel that we may freely take him. His name is Immanuel, God with us; and if he be God with us, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, if he has come so far to bless us, let us not doubt that we may freely take what he has come to bring.

Having taken a body, moreover, remember, next, that in that body he suffered. If I had to tell you that Jesus Christ would die to redeem you, I should perhaps try your faith; but when I have to tell you that he has died, that the work of your redemption is accomplished, that Jesus cried, “It is finished,” ere he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost, that to the utmost farthing he has paid your debt, and borne your sins in his own body on the tree, this is good news indeed; for it leads me further to say that, if he has done all this, and died, “the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God,” we may freely take him, depend upon that. God has set forth his Son to be the propitiation for sin; therefore let us hear him say, “Take, take, take,” and let us take what is so freely presented to us.

My dear friends, remember also that, as Jesus Christ had a body, and in that body died, the object of that death must be outside of himself. He could not have become a man to gain anything by it. He could not have died for any purpose that had to do with his own glory alone. He was under no necessity to veil the splendours of his Godhead in a mortal body, and in that body to die; so he must have died for other people; therefore, take him, take him. Dost thou not see that these fruits are not on the tree for the tree itself, but for the passer-by who, being hungry, may lift his hand, and take and eat? Oh, that you might have the sense to see that Christ, for sins not his own, hath died to atone, and that, therefore, you may take him, and take him most freely!

Besides, Jesus himself gives what we are bidden to take. Note how this verse runs: “Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat.” What Jesus gives, thou mayest truly take. I may not go and take another man’s goods; but I may take what he gives me. If I were arrested for stealing something, and I could truly say, “This man gave it to me,” I should be no thief, should I? And if Jesus Christ gives thee grace, and thou dost take it, thou art no thief; in fact, no man ever does lay hold on Christ without a lawful right to do so. If a dog runs into a butcher’s shop, and steals a joint of meat, the butcher may perhaps take it from him, and not let him eat what he has stolen; but there was never a dog of a sinner who came and laid hold on Christ’s mercy, and then Christ took it away from him. Take it, sinner, and thou hast secured it; if thou darest to seize it, God makes the seizing by faith to be a proper thing, for he bids thee do it. Thou canst never have any right to Christ except this right, that he doth freely give to those who need, according to the riches of his grace. Wherefore, hear this word which says, “Take, take, take.” Receive, accept, grasp, appropriate, take.

Jesus Christ, when he said to his disciples, “Take,” was their Master, and Christ’s word was law to the disciples. There was not one of them who could have said, “I will not take,” without being guilty of disobedience. Oh, that some poor soul here to-night would say, “Is there a Saviour? Then I will have him; I will take him.” May the Spirit of infinite love move upon your mind to make you say, as by a kind of holy desperation, “I will even now take him. Whether I may or may not, I will take him. Though my sense of sin says, ‘You must not,’ and though the devil says, ‘You dare not,’ yet I will take him. I do believe, I will believe, I must believe, that Jesus died for me; and I will take him to be my Saviour; I will rest myself wholly and alone on him.” If thou doest this, thou shalt never perish; for to thee, and to everyone who is Christ’s disciple, or who will become his disciple, there comes this word of command, “Take, take, take, take, take.” Oh, blessed news, and sweet command, may the Divine Spirit lead you now to obey it, and to take Christ as your Saviour!

The second head of the sermon is, eat: “Take, eat.”

Eating is such a very simple thing that I do not think I shall try to explain it. Go home to your supper, and you will understand it; every hungry man, nay, every living man, knows what it is to eat. Well, what is eating?

To eat, is the innermost kind of reception. It is taking into your very self the food set before you. Well, now, take Christ, you who are his disciples; take Christ himself, his work, his blood, his righteousness; take them right into you. Say, “This is for me; I take it for myself.” I have no partner in anything I eat; what I have eaten, I have eaten for myself. You cannot eat for your wife or your child; you have to do that for yourself. Now, dear heart, be brave enough to take Christ all to thyself! Say, “This dying Saviour is mine, this risen Saviour is mine. I hope that multitudes of others will have him; but, as for myself, I am going to have him.” When I eat, I am doing an action for myself; it must be so. And now, by faith, I take this blessed Son of God, who became man, living, dying, risen, I take him for myself unto myself. I beseech you to do that to-night. “It is a selfish action,” you say. Ah, but it is a necessary action! You have personally sinned; and you must personally take Christ. You are personally hungry; and you must personally eat. Who is to condemn you for that? You cannot act unselfishly towards others if you do not yourself eat, because you will not be alive long to be either selfish or unselfish. See you to this, then. “Take, eat.” Receive Christ by the innermost kind of reception.

Eating is also a very familiar kind of reception. It is a thing that can be as well performed by a working-man as by a nobleman; indeed, I think it is often better done by the working-man than by the nobleman. How they can eat, some of them! And how simple-hearted people, when they come to Christ, can eat! If you want to see eating, do not bring “my lord and my lady” to the choice dainties of a feast; but invite a lot of poor, hard-working men, I mean, men who have not had sufficient to eat for a month; and there are plenty of that sort about. Set them down to a good joint of meat, and see how they will eat. Eating is a very familiar kind of action; and, therefore, we say, concerning the great salvation of Jesus Christ, “Take, eat;” take him right into you; you can do this as you take your meals, as you hungry, famished ones devour your food, so take in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting him, receiving him into yourself, and saying, “He is, he shall be, altogether mine.”

Now, when food is to be eaten, it is not only taken in, but it has to be masticated. It is in the mouth, and it is turned over and over so that the flavour of it is discerned. Now, in this way think much of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his redeeming work. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the truth. If you feel that you cannot believe, think much of what is to be believed, and of him in whom you are to believe. That mastication will be an admirable way of feeding upon the heavenly food. Jesus died for sinners, Jesus died for sinners, Jesus died in the room and place and stead of sinners. Masticate that great truth, and turn it over and over; chew that great doctrine with the teeth of your thought, until you get the very marrow and essence of it into your soul.

Then there is an inward assimilation that goes on with food. Passing into our innermost parts, it begins to build up our body, till the food that was bread a little while ago becomes flesh and blood. Retain Christ in thy thought, in thy faith, in thy heart, till at last Christ gets to be one with thee, and nourishes thy soul, even as thy food builds up thy body. “Take, eat.” You know, the whole business of eating is, after all, to get the food into yourself. That is the main point, to get it so into you that it becomes your own, and becomes part of yourself. Now, do that with the blessed Lord Christ and all his wonderful work for sinners. Take it till it gets right into yourself, and becomes part and parcel of yourself, and you live through it. “Take, eat.”

I imagine that I hear some one saying, “Oh, but it seems too extraordinary that I, a poor, unworthy one, am to take Christ to be mine, as much as I take a piece of bread to be my food!” Well, listen: he bids you do it; that is warrant enough. If I am the most unworthy one yet out of hell, if Jesus bids me trust him, I may trust him. His bidding is sufficient warrant for my doing it. O child of God, O thou who dost desire to be his child, he bids thee eat; I beseech thee, hesitate not, but let his bidding be thy warrant!

Jesus Christ condescends to compare himself to bread; but what is the good of bread except for it to be eaten? Why is it made into bread, except that it should be eaten? Why does it stand in rows in the bakers’shops? To be looked at? What! Hungry men in the streets, and bread there as an ornament to be looked at? Nay, the very making of bread means food for men; and when the Lord Jesus Christ compares himself to bread, he means that he has put himself into such a shape and form, in the covenant of grace, that he intends us to receive him. Bread that does not get eaten, what can become of it? The manna in the wilderness that was not eaten, but laid up, bred worms, and stank. Our Lord Jesus Christ is of no use unless sinners are saved by him. A Saviour who saves nobody! Why he is like a man who opens a shop, and never sells any goods; or a doctor who comes to a town, and never has any patients! Christ must save sinners, he wants sinners, he longs to save sinners. Come and take him, then. Come and eat of that bread, which misses its purpose, and design, and end, if it be not eaten. Christ as bread, yet not eaten, becomes Christ dishonoured.

“Take, eat.” Well, what does this mean-this eating? I will tell you. When two men, in the East, took a piece of bread, and broke it, and one ate one piece, and the other another piece, it meant friendship. I go into an Arab’s tent, and I cannot tell what kind of a fellow he may be. He may kill me in the night, and rob me; but if he hands me a piece of bread, and I eat with him, he will not hurt me. The rights of hospitality have secured my safety, there is friendship between him and me. Now, see, God takes a great delight in Jesus Christ; will not you also take delight in him? Then, you see, you have broken bread together, for you delight in the same Person. God trusts his honour with Christ; will you trust your soul with Christ? Then you have broken bread with God. “Take, eat,” saith Jesus, and the moment that thou hast done it, there is the friendship, nay, there is the covenant established between thee and the great Father. I know that God loves Jesus Christ better than I do; but I think that I can almost say that he does not more truly love him than I do. Oh, what a Christ he is to my soul! And God loves him, too, so he and I are agreed about one thing; we are agreed about a precious Saviour, and there is a place where we strike hands, and we are friends for ever. Over the sacrifice of Christ is our covenant made. The moment that thou hast eaten of Christ by faith, there is an eternal friendship established between thee and thy God.

Again, when Jesus says, “Take, eat,” his words set forth to us that he is to become the true nourishment of our soul. Souls have to be nourished by the truth of God, that is their spiritual meat; and the Lord Jesus Christ, when we think of him, meditate upon him, believe in him, and receive him, becomes the food of our heart, the sustenance of our spirit. Do think much of him then; do trust him much; do meditate upon him much; for thus shalt thou grow strong in the Lord, and be built up so as to attain unto the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus. This is what is meant by the text, “Take, eat.”

This also pictures the wonderful union that there is between Christ and his people. That which a man has fed upon, becomes indissolubly joined to himself. You cannot get away from him that which he ate yesterday, it has become a part of himself. I have heard of a priest, who took away the New Testament from a little Irish boy. The boy said, “There are ten of the chapters you cannot take away.” “Why?” asked the priest. “Because I have learnt them by heart.” And so, when you receive Christ into your heart, he cannot be taken away from you. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? There is such a union between Christ and the believer that there cannot be a separation between them without the destruction of Christ, and the man, too. They are so interwoven, intertwisted, and intermingled, that there is no possibility of separating them. So, the Saviour says to you, who are his disciples, and to you who wish to be, “Take, eat.” As you will see us, presently, at the communion-table, take the bread, and eat it, so do you take Christ, and feed upon him, for he commands you so to do. “Take, eat.” Dear hearts, there is nothing said about earning it, nothing said about buying it, nothing said about being prepared for it; come then, take the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is yours.

“Oh!” says one, “I will trust Christ, I will take him now.” You young men and young women here to-night, the first Sabbath of my return after my rest, it would be a very happy night for me if you would dare to take Christ. When I was in distress of soul, it seemed to me as if I must not take Christ. Years ago, when I was a boy of fifteen, that used to be my trouble. I dared not think that Christ died for me, and I was afraid to trust him with my soul. It gradually dawned upon me that, if I dared to do it, I might do it; and that, if I did do it, it would be done, and never would be undone, that if I seized the opportunity of Jesus Christ passing by, and touched the hem of his garment, though it would be an awful piece of presumption as it seemed, yet it would be a holy and hallowed presumption, and Christ would not be angry with me for it. And I know that, when first I believed, I seemed as if I was a thief, and had stolen a cure; but then the Lord Jesus never took it away from me. I ventured, I risked, I dared to say, “I do believe that he can save me, and that he has saved me.” I rested myself on him, and then I found peace. Do so to-night. Jesus said, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” He has it now, and it is everlasting, he shall never lose it. He that believeth in Jesus Christ is not condemned, notwithstanding all his past guilt and sin. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Now I have given you the whole gospel; that is how the Master put it, and I have left out no clause of it. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

“Take, eat; take, eat; take, eat.” I should like to say those words so that you people up in the top gallery there would hear them in twenty years’ time, if you are alive; so that, as you recollect these lamps, and these tiers of people, you might still seem to hear a voice crying, perhaps, from my grave, “Take, eat.” But do not wait twenty years, “Take, eat;” do it to-night. God help you all to do it, for Jesu’s sake! Amen.

Expositions by C. H. Spurgeon

PSALM 147, and MATTHEW 26:6-30

Psalm 147 Verse 1. Praise ye the Lord:

This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah. So may this service, and so may our lives, commence and conclude with Hallelujah!

1, 2. For it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem;

Oh, that the Lord would do so here to-night!

2. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

We want that blessing, too. Oh, that some outcasts might be gathered together! It shall make our hearts cry “Hallelujah!” indeed, if there be a building up of the church and an ingathering of the outcasts.

3. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

As we read that, we may well say again, “Hallelujah!”

4. He telleth the number of the stars: he calleth them all by their names.

And the Hallelujah is not louder because of that fact than it is for the other truth. What a condescending God: “He healeth the broken in heart.” How infinite is his mind: “He telleth the number of the stars.”

5, 6. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the meek:

How wonderful it is that the Lord should use the greatness of his power and the infinity of his understanding for the lifting up of those whom men often despise, “the meek”!

6-11. He casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Other kings tell of their cavalry and infantry, they boast of their regiments of horse and foot guards; but our great God finds his delight in them that fear him and even in the feebler sort of these: “those that hope in his mercy.” These are the courtiers of Jehovah. These are the forces of our God, through whom he will win great victories.

12-15. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

Our King’s warrant runs everywhere, all over the world. He has universal power in nature, in providence, and in grace: “His word runneth very swiftly.”

16. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

The Hebrews saw God in all the phenomena of nature; let us do the same. Let us attribute every snow-flake to the divine hand, and every breath of frost to the divine mouth.

17, 18. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them:

It is just as easy for him to send warm weather as to give us the chill of winter.

18. He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

His own soft south wind comes, and the fetters of frost dissolve, and the waters flow. It is the Lord that doeth it all. He is not far from any of us; therefore let us not forget him.

19. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

The rest of the world can only see him in nature; but his own people see him in revelation, in the movements of his Holy Spirit.

20. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.

Therefore, ye who are favoured with his special manifestations of love, take you up the joyous song even if others do not. Hallelujah! “Praise ye the Lord.”

Now let us read in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 26, beginning at the sixth verse.

Matthew 26 Verses 6, 7. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

This is not the woman who anointed Christ’s feet with ointment, but another of the holy women who ministered to him. I believe this was Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who came to Jesus, “having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.”

8, 9. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

When you do the best you can do, from the purest motives, and your Lord accepts your service, do not expect that your brethren will approve all your actions. If you do, you will be greatly disappointed. There was never a more beautiful proof of love to Christ than this anointing at Bethany; yet the disciples found fault with it. As they could not object to the thing itself, they objected that there might have been another thing done that would have been better. There is a great deal of that kind of wisdom in the world which can always teach you how you might have done a thing better; but if you wait until you learn that wisdom, you will never do anything for your Lord. If this devoted and enthusiastic woman had waited for the advice of these prudent people, she would neither have sold the ointment, nor poured it out. She did well to take counsel with her own loving heart, and then to pour the precious nard upon that dear head which was so soon to be crowned with thorns. She thus showed that there was at least one heart in the world that thought nothing was too good for her Lord, and that the best of the best ought to be given to him. May she have many imitators in every age until Jesus comes again!

10. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman?

She had been very happy in the act; probably it was the happiest hour in all her life when she gave this costly gift to the Lord she loved so well. But a cloud passed over her bright face as the whispered complaints reached her ear. She was evidently a tender-hearted soul, so the Saviour said to the disciples, “Why trouble ye the woman?”

10. For she hath wrought a good work upon me.

We cannot do what this woman did; but we can perform good works upon others for Christ’s sake; and he will accept them as though they were done unto himself.

11-13. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

She probably did not know all that her action meant when she anointed her Lord for his burial. We often do much more than we think we do. The consequences of the simplest action done for Christ may be much greater than we suppose. This woman is preparing Christ’s body for his approaching burial. Little dreams she that it is so, but so it is. Go thou, my sister, and do what God bids thee; and it shall be seen that thou hast done far more than thou knowest. Obey the holy impulse within thy spirit, my brother; and thou mayest do ten thousand times more than thou hast ever imagined to be possible. This woman’s outburst of affection, this simple-hearted act of love to Christ himself, is one of those things which are to live as long as the gospel lives. The aroma of this loving deed is to abide as long as the world itself endures.

14, 15. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?

Out of twelve apostles, one was a Judas Iscariot. Marvel not, therefore, if, among thy friends and kinsfolk, thou hast one who turns against thee, and betrays thee to thine enemies.

15. And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

The price of a slave; thus they were fulfilling the ancient prophecy: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.”

16. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

The traitor sold his Master for thirty pieces of dirty silver; yet many have sold Jesus for a less price than Judas received: a smile or a sneer has been sufficient to induce them to betray their Lord.

17, 18. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

How truly royal was Jesus of Nazareth even in his humility! He had only to send two of his disciples “into the city to such a man,” and the guest-chamber, furnished and prepared, was at once placed at his disposal. He did not take the room by arbitrary force, as an earthly monarch might have done; but he obtained it by the diviner compulsion of almighty love. Jesus knew something about this man that you and I do not know, so he said to his disciples, “Just go and say to him, ‘The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.’ ” Was he not himself a disciple? I cannot say; but this I do know, that the Lord Jesus has a certain number who are willing to help his cause, even though as yet they hardly call themselves his disciples. I should think, however, that after this man had once had the Master and his disciples in his house, there must have been a blessing left behind, and he would want to become one of that goodly company. It is well, dear friend, that thou art willing to have the prayer-meeting in thy house; it is well that thou wilt stand up on the side of truth, even if thou hast no share in it as yet, for maybe,-and I hope the “maybe” will become a certainty,-thou wilt yet be one of Christ’s disciples.

19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

They went to this man, delivered Christ’s message, and he showed them a large upper room, furnished and prepared. If Christ’s disciples always loyally did as Jesus appointed them, they would always speed well on his errands. There are many more people in the world ready to yield to Christ than some of us think. The person sitting or standing by your side is quite unknown to you; but, if you will speak to him about the Saviour, he will probably respond to your word. At any rate, try him, and see if it be not so. Whether standing or sitting, there must be someone here not yet a disciple, who only needs for you to speak a kind word, and the deciding work will be done.

20, 21. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

“One of you”-and his eyes would glance round the table as he said it,-“one of you shall betray me.”

22. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

No one said, “Lord, is it Judas?” Perhaps no one of the eleven thought that Judas was base enough to betray the Lord who had given him an honourable place among his apostles. It is certainly a mark of grace that “every one” of the apostles put to their Lord the question, “Is it I?”

23, 24. And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

We learn from our Lord’s words that divine decrees do not deprive a sinful action of its guilt: “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!” The criminality of Judas was just as great as though there had been no “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,” even as it was with those to whom Peter spoke so boldly on the day of Pentecost, when he charged them with the murder of Jesus.

25. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

What a chill that answer must have cast over the little band around the table, especially when Judas rose, and started off, to carry out his dreadful purpose of staining his soul with the blood of his Lord!

26-29. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Thus Jesus took the great Nazarite vow never to drink of the fruit of the vine till he should drink it new with his disciples in his Father’s kingdom. O Lord, thou hast pledged us in this cup, and thou wilt return before long, and then what festivals we will hold with thee, what joy we shall have in thee for ever and ever!

30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Was it not truly brave of our dear Lord to sing under such circumstances? He was going forth to his last dread conflict, to Gethsemane, and Gabbatha, and Golgotha; yet he went with a song on his lips.

The door opens, they go downstairs, they are in the open-air, that night of the full moon, and they wend their way to the Mount of Olives. Then came that desperate struggle in which the great Captain of our salvation wrestled even to a bloody sweat, and prevailed.

Hymns from “Our Own Hymn Book”-548, 942, 944.