There are two symbolical ordinances in the Christian Church, and only two,-Believers’ Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These have been so misinterpreted, perverted, and abused, that the wish has sometimes crossed the mind of spiritual persons that they had never been instituted. We do not wonder that there should be a denomination of Christians who have given them up, though we think that, in this matter, they have not acted according to the Word of God. We ourselves retain them, for this reason only, because we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ ordained them; and we desire to observe them exactly as Christ ordained them; and thus only shall we find them instructive and helpful to our souls.

Baptism, the immersion of the believer in water, is the token of his death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. It sets forth the fellowship which he has with his Lord, as the apostle tells us: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him;”-not that the plunge into the water confers any grace upon the person who is baptized, but it is the type, the emblem, the instructive symbol of the new birth, which new birth consists in passing, by death and resurrection, into newness of life. You all know that we are only born once. A thing can only have one true beginning. Hence, baptism is never to be repeated. Once done, it is done for ever.

The other ordinance is the Lord’s Supper; and, as baptism sets forth, typifies, (mark you, nothing more than typifies,) and is the emblem of the new birth, so the Lord’s Supper is the emblem of the spiritual feeding of that new life. Now, though a man is born only once, he eats a great many more times than once, and drinks a great many more times than once. Indeed, to eat and to drink often, are necessary to the maintenance of our life. If we neglected to do so, we should soon find ourselves in an ill case. Hence, the Supper of the Lord, representing, as it does, the spiritual feeding of the new-born life upon the body and blood of Christ, (and only representing it, mark you,-not really doing it in any carnal sense,) is oftentimes to be repeated. We find that the early Christians very frequently broke bread together; I think they did so almost every day. It is recorded, by some of the early fathers, that the first Christians seldom met together, on any day of the week, without commemorating the death of Christ. Augustine mentions this; and he seems to have taught that, at least once in the week, on that blessed day which celebrates the resurrection of our Lord, Christians should meet for the breaking of bread. I think that, the oftener we meet for this purpose, the better it is for us. The Holy Spirit specifies no particular time; we are not under a law which binds us to this period or to that. Our Lord leaves it very much to our own loving hearts; but the words that Paul quotes, “This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me,” certainly imply that we should often “do this” in remembrance of our dear Lord and Saviour.

A simple feast, even of bread and wine, a feast often celebrated, would be liable to be trifled with and misapplied. Hence, as paradise of old was guarded by cherubim, with a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life, so stands this simple Supper of the Lord guarded with a flaming sword, of which my text is a portion: “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

Now, with this thought upon our minds, let us go to the text itself, and observe how we are bidden to examine ourselves before we come to the table of the Lord. We will speak, first, concerning the necessity for this examination; next, the person who is to perform it; then, the vital points of the examination; and, lastly, the spirit in which we should come to the table after we have examined ourselves.

The sense of that necessity will be very strongly impressed upon us if we remember that many have profaned the table of the Lord. Hence it is incumbent upon us to examine ourselves lest we should do the same. Years ago,-our grandfathers recollect it well,-men had to “take the sacrament,” as it was called, before they could be made mayors of towns, or hold certain offices in the municipalities; and, in that way, the communion table became a passport to secular office. I tremble as I think how the laws of this land compelled men-though they ought never to have yielded obedience to such laws,-to eat and drink judgment or condemnation to themselves as they profaned this holy ordinance. Others have made it, as I fear that some still make it, a means of obtaining alms; coming to the communion table because those who are members of the church are helped in the time of their poverty, or there is a distribution of alms-money among the needy communicants. Ah, dear friends, however poor you may be, it would be better for you even to starve than to get help in this way if you are not really the Lord’s people. If any of you have acted thus, I charge you, before Almighty God, to do so no more. If we have any suspicions that we have ever done such a thing, we may well examine ourselves concerning that matter, and sincerely repent if we have so sinned against the Lord.

Others come to the communion as a piece of sheer superstition, really believing, poor deluded souls, that, when they take the wafer into their mouths, they actually eat the flesh of Christ. Such a monstrous doctrine as that is only fit for cannibals; it is not a doctrine of Christianity. What a profanation of the ordinance it is to come to it with such a notion as that! If any of us have the slightest idea that, to partake of what is called “the sacrament”-though there is no such name as that for it anywhere in Scripture,-confers grace, let all such thoughts be banished from our minds at once.

It is not a converting ordinance, nor a saving ordinance; it is an establishing ordinance and a comforting ordinance for those who are saved. But it never was intended to save souls, neither is it adapted to that end; and if it be so misrepresented, it is apt rather to be the means of damning than of saving the soul, for he that so eats and drinks may, in very deed, be eating and drinking damnation to himself.

I fear that there are others who come to the communion table out of mere form. I find that it is the custom of certain persons to do this always on Christmas day and on Good Friday, though what particular sanctity there can be about those two days, I am sure I cannot tell. I see little enough of holiness about them, and a great deal of sheer superstition. But let all of us be careful that we never come to the communion simply because it is the first Sabbath in the month, or even because it is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, and because, as church-members, we feel that we ought to come there. I mention these things-although I hope, to the most of you, they are unnecessary,-because they are necessary to a certain class of persons who, in one or other of these ways, thoughtlessly profane the table of the Lord.

But, brethren and sisters in Christ, we need to examine ourselves, because it may be that, though free from these evils which I have mentioned, we have come to this solemn feast without due solemnity, without serious thought, without the proper preparation of heart or the right observance of the ordinance. We have come very often to the communion table, yet there has been but little real heart-fellowship with Jesus. There has been bread upon the table, and in our mouths, but we have not discerned the Lord’s body. There has been wine there, but we have not looked through the sign to the blood of which it is only the symbol. If it has been so with any of us, we have, to that extent, eaten and drunk unworthily, and I know not how much of deserved chastisement God may have laid upon us on that account, but the apostle’s words have often been fulfilled since his day, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

This examination is necessary, next, because the purpose of this ordinance requires that we should be in a fit condition for its observance. What is the object of this ordinance? “This do in remembrance of me,” says the Lord Jesus; but you cannot remember what you do not know. Then, how can you remember an unknown Christ? By coming to the communion table, you are supposed to let men see, as they look on at this ordinance, that you believe that Christ lived and died to save sinners. But suppose that you do not believe it,-that you do not, at any rate, in your heart savingly believe it; then, you are not a fit person to proclaim that truth to others by means of this ordinance. The Lord Jesus Christ does not want his enemies to be his remembrancers; he wants his friends to cherish his memory, and to keep the fact of his death prominently and permanently before the eyes of the world. It must be his friends who must do this. Besides, this ordinance is one special means of communion between Christ and his people, but what communion can there be between you and Christ if you are a son of Belial? If you love sin, and continue to live in sin, what possible fellowship can you have with the holy Christ? Will he have communion with a man who even comes to his table drunk,-or who comes from dishonest actions all the week,-or who has been singing a lascivious song, but now turns to join with those who laud and magnify the name of the thrice-holy God? Imagine not that Jesus Christ will welcome such as you are to his table. If you do come, it will be at your most imminent peril. It can do you no good; it must be a curse rather than a blessing to you. So, let us examine ourselves, because those, who come to the table of the Lord, ought to be of such a sort that the purposes and objects, for which the ordinance was instituted, may be realized in them.

But let us specially examine ourselves, because, if we come not aright, we shall incur very severe penalties,-the penalties which I have already mentioned to you. Let me again read to you these solemn words: “Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” And then follows the sure penalty upon true believers who, nevertheless, come in an unfit state to the table. I have read it to you before, but I will read it again: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Rush not in to the sacred place, but come with that gracious timorousness-nay, rather, with that holy boldness-which becomes a sinner who has been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and is robed in his spotless righteousness.

And, dear friends, once more, there is a necessity for us to examine ourselves, because we must know that there are, among us, some who are, doubtless, partaking of the Lord’s Supper unworthily. We have known, to our great sorrow, of some who have been harbouring an unforgiving spirit, yet who have dared to come to the communion table. When I have really known that this has been the case, I have prevented the wrongdoer from sitting down with us; but, unknown to me, and to other ministers, it must often have happened that persons have come, professing to be Christians, yet all the while not manifesting the true spirit of Christianity toward some offending brother or sister. You remember how even the loving apostle John writes, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

Then, alas! there are some, who, by coming to the communion, profess to be Christians, yet who, nevertheless, are all the while living in shameful sin which they dare not have discovered? This is one of the greatest sources of sorrow to true ministers of Christ, and it has made us often wring our hands with agony, and weep bitter tears before the Lord, when we have seen trees looking fair and green, but which, inwardly, as Bunyan said, were “so rotten that they were only fit to be tinder for the devil’s tinder-box.” Their profession was a false one; for, all the while, their moral character was unsound. There was a rottenness about them which no one discovered till, upon some fatal day,-fatal to their own reputation, but good for the church’s purification,-they were exposed, and driven out with shame. Judas was found out at last; Ananias and Sapphira were at last found out, and cut off from amongst the people of God, and the unclean and unholy among the early Christians were excommunicated from the assembly of the saints.

Now, brethren and sisters, if, to your own personal knowledge, this has been the case with others, forgive me when I ask,-Is there not at least the possibility that it may also be the case with you? At any rate, you will do well to examine yourselves; and if, after having honestly examined, you can say, “No, that is not the case with me,” then bless God that you can truthfully say so. Take no credit to yourselves, but give to God’s grace the whole of the praise. Still, do look thoroughly to this matter. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” I, as a minister, am bound to examine myself, because there have been eminent preachers of the gospel who, nevertheless, have lived unhallowed lives No preacher may dare to say, “My office screens me from this test.” Deacons and elders of the church, you must examine yourselves, because you have known church-officers who have brought disgrace upon the offices that they have filled. And you, Sunday-school teachers, open-air preachers, tract-distributors, and the like,-and you, members of the church,-however useful you may be, and however highly you may be respected by your fellow-members, I beseech you, nevertheless, shirk not this duty, but let each one examine himself ere he comes to sit down at the table of the Lord.

Now, secondly, I am to speak about the person who is to perform this examination: “Let a man examine himself.”

Let not anyone say, “I was examined by the proper officers of the church, before I was admitted into church-membership, so I do not need any further examination.” Now, mark, it is the duty of every church, in receiving members, to judge all applicants by their fruits. “By their fruits shall ye know them,” is our Lord’s own test. We must have a credible profession of faith, supported by a life that is consistent therewith, but that is all upon which we can form a judgment. We cannot examine the heart, and we cannot infallibly judge the life. How very often have we been deceived in these matters! If anyone were to suppose that a certificate of church-membership is to excuse him from the duty of personal self-examination, he is grievously mistaken. No, dear friend, you know what your secret thoughts are, and what your private actions are; and therefore it is to yourself that this duty is committed: “Let a man examine himself.”

“Well, but,” someone may say, “my friends-my private friends-are quite satisfied concerning my spiritual condition. I have been talking to my godly mother; I have been conversing with my praying father; I have had sweet fellowship, just lately, with a good old Christian friend; and they all seem perfectly satisfied with me.” I am glad they are; but Paul says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Let a man examine himself.” There is no greater error under heaven than to try to shift the responsibility of our own personal religion on to friends or to so-called “priests.” There can be no more gigantic imposture than the supposed sponsorship of infants. It amazes me that anybody can dare to say, on any child’s behalf, that it shall renounce the pomps and vanities of this world, and all else that is mentioned in the Church Catechism. But it would be an equally gigantic imposture if we were to establish a sponsorship for grown-up people. Both of them are wicked, and neither of them can be carried out; we cannot guarantee the Christian character of other people, the apostolic rule must remain: “Let a man examine himself.” Look ye well to the state of your own souls; and, to this end, go to God in prayer, and say, as David did, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Now, thirdly, what are the vital points in this examination? There are a good many, but I have arranged them under five heads for the sake of brevity, and to help your memories.

First, my dear friends, examine yourselves concerning your knowledge. There are some who are too ignorant to come to the table of the Lord. They may have taken their M.A. degree at Oxford or Cambridge, they may even be Doctors of Divinity, and yet be too ignorant to come to the Lord’s table. What knowledge is necessary for coming aright to the table? I answer,-Saving knowledge-a living knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, “This do in remembrance of me.” You cannot remember a person you never knew; so you must be acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ if you would observe this ordinance as he instituted it. There is the bread upon the table. Have you ever known what it was to be spiritually hungry? Do you know that Jesus Christ is the only food that can relieve the hunger of your spirit? Have you learned to know him through feeding upon him by faith? Then, you are a fit person to partake of the bread on the communion table, because you are a person who understands what it signifies, you who have been satisfied by feeding upon Christ. There is also the wine-cup upon the table. Were you ever spiritually thirsty? Did you then see how the Lord Jesus Christ, by his atoning sacrifice, has fully met all the needs of your soul? Have you really partaken of Jesus Christ, and has your heart been refreshed, and revived, and cheered by the application to it of the precious blood of Jesus? If so, you understand the meaning of that communion cup, and you are a fit and proper person to partake of it. But if you have never known this spiritual hunger and thirst,-if you have never realized your own spiritual needs, and if you have not known what it is for Christ to supply those needs, I charge you to keep away from this table until you do know these things. Otherwise, you will be eating and drinking in utter ignorance; and the mere physical acts will be of no service whatsoever to you. May the Lord give you to know him whom to know is life eternal; and when you do know him, then come to his table, for you will not then eat and drink unworthily.

Then, next, examine yourselves concerning your faith. Knowledge is all in vain without faith; and the knowledge, of which I have been speaking, is a knowledge that is closely allied with faith. Are you trusting alone in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ? I have asked myself that question many scores of times, and I do not recollect that I ever had any hesitancy about how to answer it. I know that I am trusting in Jesus. If I am really living,-if there is any truth in my own consciousness,-I am sure that I have trusted my soul, for time and for eternity, wholly to the keeping of that Saviour who lived, and died, and rose again for sinners. Well, that being so, I have a right to come to the communion. Christ wants believers at his table; they are his own children. If you are believing in him, he invites you to come, and you will be welcome if you do come. You will not eat and drink unworthily, dear friend, if you apprehend, by faith, that Christ’s flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed. You will come to the table in the right manner.

In the third place, I want you to examine yourselves concerning your repentance. In the emblems upon the communion table, I can see something of what it cost your Lord to redeem you from sin, and death, and hell. The bread, representing the flesh of Jesus, is separate from the wine, which represents his blood, and the separation of the blood from the flesh indicates death,-a bleeding away of life in the most acute anguish. It cost your Lord untold agony to redeem you from going down into the pit, so can you ever imagine that any man is a fit person to participate in the emblems which set forth that agony if he has never felt, in his own soul, any agony on account of sin? What right has an impenitent person to come where the death of Christ, on account of sin, is specially set forth? A heart that has never been broken, because of sin,-shall it come and remember the broken body and broken heart of Jesus? A heart of stone, that has never been melted,-shall it come and remember his precious flesh that was melted in the agonies of Calvary? If your eyes have wept no tears of repentance, how can you properly remember him whose veins wept blood to redeem his people from their sins? It is a contrite heart and a broken spirit that Christ wants here. Only with such persons will God deign to dwell, and only with such will Christ commune, either at his table or anywhere else. See to it, then, that you have genuine repentance.

The next vital point for self-examination is love. Examine yourselves concerning your love. I think, brethren, that none of us can worthily eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, unless we truly love our Lord; so I venture to put the question to each one of you here. I know not your names, but the name that is used by our Lord Jesus will do for you. He says, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” You answer, “Yes,” do you? Then I will put the question again: “Simon, son of Jonas, Jesus says to thee, ‘Lovest thou me?’ ” And yet a third time I may put it: “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” ’Tis Jesus with the pierced hand, and with the pierced feet, who speaks, and he says, “Lovest thou me?” This is the test of whether you may come to his table, or not. Can you answer, “ ‘Yea, Lord; thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.’ Sometimes, my friends hardly know it, for I am not always as consistent as I should be. Sometimes, Lord, I have even to question it myself, but Thou knowest that, deep down in my heart, notwithstanding all my coldness and forgetfulness, all my wanderings, and all my faults, thou knowest that I do love thee.” Come along, brother; come along, sister; you will not eat and drink unworthily if this is true concerning your love to your Lord.

There is one other matter which is vital, and that concerns obedience. Examine yourselves concerning your obedience; for, unless a man obeys the commands of Christ, he does not prove that he really loves Christ. If we truly love him, we shall keep his commandments. If Paul had said that no one had a right to come to the communion unless he was perfect, I certainly could not come, and I feel sure that there is no one in the whole world who would have the right to come. Perfect? Ah, perfect weakness; and if anybody says he is perfect in any other sense than that, he must be possessed of perfect folly. But the obedience that we must have is of this sort. Dost thou desire to be perfectly obedient to thy Lord? Dost thou, in thy heart, desire to be rid of every sin, and to forsake every false way? Is there any sin that thou wouldst fain harbour and indulge? Then, thou art not truly obedient; but canst thou, on the other hand, say, “Lord, I would be purged from every evil of every kind, and I desire to obey thee in all things. No matter how it may grate upon my feelings, or how contrary it may be to my wishes, where thou biddest me, I will go, and what thou commandest me, I will do,-thy grace helping me”? Is that what you say? Then, you may come to the communion, for Jesus himself welcomes you. But if you will not give up sin, if you have even one pet sin that you still determine to keep, you are a traitor to Christ, and you have no more right to come to his table than Judas Iscariot had.

Now, in closing, I want to speak a few words concerning the spirit in which, after this self-examination, we ought to come to the communion.

Ought we not to come, dear friends, each one of us, in the spirit of holy wonder? This is the Lord’s table, and I am coming, with the Lord’s redeemed people, to eat and drink at it; what a wonder that I am here! I never come to the communion without being astonished at the amazing grace of God to me, and especially as I think of this great church which God has been graciously pleased to gather in this place. How much I owe to him! How constantly am I struck with the marvels of his mercy to me! And each one of you, my fellow-believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, has some peculiar reason for feeling the same kind of wonder in your own case.

Next, we ought to come to the communion with a sense of self-abasement. Brethren, we ought to think little of ourselves everywhere; but when we come to the table of our Lord, we ought to shrink to nothing,-yea, to less than nothing. In the wilderness, man did eat angels’ food, but angels never ate such food as this; yet we are permitted to come and partake of it. So, let us sink, and sink, and sink, and sink, and sink, and sink, and sink, till we are lost in wonder, love, and praise that we should ever be permitted to come to this sacred feast.

Let us come, at the same time, in a spirit of strong desire. I believe that, in a sermon, people always get good when they come desiring to get it. A hungry congregation will be sure to be fed; and if we come to the communion table feeling, “My Lord and Master, I desire to meet with thee. The bread alone will not satisfy me; I want to feed spiritually upon thy flesh. The wine will not quench my soul’s thirst; I want spiritually to receive thy blood into my inmost soul. I desire, with all passionateness of holy ardour, to put my finger into the print of the nails, and to thrust my hand into thy side;”-if you come to the communion in this spirit, longing for Christ, you shall have him. Open your mouths and pant for him, and the living waters shall quench your soul’s thirst.

Then come to the table with a believing hope. Perhaps you have not seen your Master’s face lately, you have been sorrowfully walking in darkness. Come to the communion hoping that he will look through the lattice, and reveal himself to you. Do you not know that the two ordinances are windows of agate and of carbuncle to the opened eyes of his people? Mayhap, your loving Lord will look again through one of those windows while you are sitting at his table. So, come expecting him; come with your heart wide open to receive its rightful Lord and Master, and with your eyes of love looking up to him; and, surely, if the eyes of your love look up to him, the eyes of his love will look down upon you. If you come to his table, singing, “My Beloved is mine, and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies;”-if you come passionately desiring to enjoy his company;-then you may also come with the full confidence that his company will be given to you.

I have only one thing more to say. Come to the communion table resolved that if, in the ordinance, you do not find your Lord;-if, in the breaking of bread, he is not manifested to you; and if, in the pouring forth of the wine, you get no taste of his love;-you will still trust in him. Do not depend on outward signs and visible evidences, but say, “ ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him;’ and if his table should yield me no spiritual meat, I will still cleave to my Master; and if he will only let me be as a dog beneath his table, I will eat the crumbs that fall there, and so shall I live, for in every crumb of his mercy there is life everlasting.”

As for you, who perhaps have never thought upon this subject, I have to say just this to you, and then I have done. Remember that religion does not begin with ordinances. While I have been speaking to professing Christians concerning the communion, I hope that none of you have been thinking of it as a saving ordinance. You, as sinners, have to exercise faith in Christ before you have anything to do with believers’ baptism; you have to come to Christ himself before you are qualified to come to the Lord’s table. As soon as you have, by faith, received Jesus Christ himself as your Saviour, the tokens and emblems of his death will become instructive to you; but until Jesus Christ is wholly yours, hands off all these holy things! For, as uncircumcised Philistines would have had no right to be at the Paschal supper, so have those, who are not renewed in heart with that circumcision that is made without hands, no right to come to the feast of Christian love which is reserved for the followers of the Crucified. Come ye to Jesus, to Jesus only, and put your trust in him. God grant that you may do so, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon

MATTHEW 26:17-30; and 1 CORINTHIANS 11:18-34

Matthew 26 Verses 17-26. 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. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. 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. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? 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. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it,

So the Jewish Passover melted away into the Lord’s Supper. Indeed, so gently did the one dissolve into the other that we scarcely know whether this incident, relating to Judas Iscariot, occurred during the Passover or the Supper. According to one account, it would seem to be one; and according to another account, the other; but, indeed, the one ordinance was almost imperceptibly merged into the other.

I want you carefully to notice, as we read this narrative through, whether you can see here any trace of an altar. Look with both your eyes, and see whether you can find any trace of a priest offering a sacrifice. Watch diligently to see whether you can perceive anything about kneeling down, or about the elevation or the adoration of “the host.” Why, even the Romish church knows better than to believe in what it practises. Most of you have seen copies of the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, himself a Catholic of the old school. How does he picture those who were at the institution of the Lord’s Supper? Why, they are all sitting around a table, with the Lord Jesus in their midst. I wonder that they exhibit, and still allow to be in their churches, a picture like that, which, painted by one of their own artists, most effectually condemns their base idolatry, in which a wafer-god is lifted up, to be adored by men, who must be besotted indeed before they can prostitute their intellects so grossly as to commit such an act of sin. What a rebuke to that idolatry is conveyed by this simple statement: “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it,”-

26. And brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

The Romanists do not even break the bread. They have a wafer so as to avoid anything like an imitation of the example set by our blessed Lord and Master. He took a piece of the bread which was provided for the paschal feast,-the ordinary unleavened bread, and he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said to them, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Not, of course, his literal body, which was there at the table; but this was the emblem of his body about to be broken on the cross on the behalf of all his people.

27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

“Every one of you, take your own personal share.” This also the Papists have perverted by denying the cup to the laity.

28-30. 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. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

It was a social feast, somewhat funereal, and tinctured with sadness, for Jesus was about to go from them, to die; still, it was a joyous celebration, closing with a hymn. At the paschal feast, the Jews always sang Psalms 113 to 118. Probably our Lord sang all these through. At any rate, Christ and his apostles sang a hymn; and I always like to think of him as leading the little company,-going to his death with a song upon his lips, his voice full of melody, and made more sweet than ever by the near approach of Gethsemane and Calvary. I would like always to sing, whenever we come to the communion table, after the fashion in which they sang that night: “When they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”

Now let us read what the apostle Paul writes concerning the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 11 Verses 18-22. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

These Corinthians fell into a great many errors. Everybody was a speaker, and said whatever he pleased; and they had no proper order or rule. Among other evils, when they met together to observe the Lord’s Supper, they brought their own food with them, thinking that eating thus together was keeping the sacred feast. So the richer ones feasted to the full, and the poor went almost without anything. “One is hungry, and another is drunken,” says the apostle, and he tells them that this was not the right way of observing the Lord’s Supper. Yet it is evident that the idea which was in their mind was that of feasting together. They had exaggerated it, and carried it to a grievous excess; but that was the idea they had concerning it. Certainly, there was no altar, or priest, or anything of the sort. Now the apostle tells them how the ordinance should be observed.

23-25. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

How wonderfully simple it all is! There is nothing here of the paraphernalia of a “sacrament.” It is a simple memorial festival, that is all.

26, 27. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

He shall be guilty with respect to that body,-not with respect to that bread, against which he cannot sin,-but with respect to that body which is represented by the bread, and with respect to that blood which is represented by the cup. See with what holy solemnity this humble feast is fenced and invested. There is a divinity which doth hedge the simple ordinance of Christ lest men should trifle with it to their eternal ruin.

28, 29. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

“Judgment” or “condemnation” is the word in the original, not “damnation.” That is not a fair translation, neither does it express the truth. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily condemns himself in so doing, he comes under judgment for that act. This is the kind of judgment that falls upon Christians if they come unworthily to the Lord’s table:-

30-32. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Believers, who are rendered sick, or who even die, because of their offence against the Lord’s ordinance, are not therefore condemned to hell. Far from it; it is that they may not be so condemned that God visits them. “When we” the people of God-“are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”

33, 34. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

By due attention to the apostle’s injunctions, they would be able rightly to observe the ordinance; and we also may learn, from what Paul wrote, how we may worthily come to the table of our Lord.

GOOD NEWS

A Sermon

Published on Thursday, January 14th, 1904,

delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington,

On Thursday Evening, January 6th, 1876.

“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”-Proverbs 25:25.

This is a text for summertime rather than for a winter’s evening. It is only on one of our hottest summer days that we could fully appreciate the illustration here employed; we need to be parched with thirst to be able to feel the value of cold waters to quench our thirst. At the same time, I think that we can, without any very great stretch of imagination, put ourselves into the position of some to whom cold waters have been almost like life from the dead. Look at Hagar, in the wilderness with her child, whom she has cast under one of the shrubs, that she may not see him die. The water in the bottle is spent, and she longs for a cooling draught that might save the young lad’s life. Then the Lord opened her eyes, so that she saw a well of water in the desert, and as she filled her bottle from it she understood what cold waters are to a thirsty soul. Think also of the whole nation of Israel in the wilderness crying out in agony because there was no water for them to drink. Then they began to murmur against the Lord, and against Moses; but how joyful they were when the smitten rock poured forth its cooling stream, and they rushed to it, and drank to the full. If you want another personal example of the blessing of cold water to a thirsty soul, think of Samson. Heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass he has slain a thousand men; but the dust of the conflict, and the heat, and the exhaustion had caused such an intense thirst to come upon him that he is ready to die. Then he lifts up his voice to the Lord; and the same God, who had made the jawbone to be so mighty a weapon against the Philistines, opens for him a spring of water in that very jawbone, and he drinks, and is refreshed, and magnifies the name of the Lord. So, you see, there are occasions when cold waters are inexpressibly precious to thirsty souls; and Solomon, who seems to have known something of their value, says that good news from a far country is equally pleasant, and refreshing, and reviving.

This proverb is true in its most literal interpretation. When we are in a far country, separate from those we love, there is no greater pleasure than that of receiving letters from them, with tidings of their welfare. Even the little details about household affairs-the minor events which we should scarcely have noticed if we had been there-become exceedingly interesting to us; and the longer we have been away from home, the more dear everything becomes to us when we hear of it in the far country where, for a while, our lot has been cast. I suppose that merchants, who have costly ventures in distant parts, also long for good news from the far country which is still their home wherever they may be. Solomon had sent his ships to various foreign countries, and when the news came from Joppa that the vessels were in sight which had come back from India, or from the Pillars of Hercules, bringing all manner of precious things, the merchant prince was highly pleased, and felt that “as cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” And this, which is a literal fact, may become an illustration of spiritual truth; and I am going to use it in that way as God, the Holy Spirit, may guide me.

First, good news from God for sinners is like cold waters to a thirsty soul. Secondly, good news from heaven for saints is like cold waters to a thirsty soul. And, thirdly, good news in heaven from earth-the good news which reaches that far country, every now and then,-is to angels and glorified saints as cold waters to a thirsty soul.

First, then, (and may God bless this first head very richly!) good news from God for sinners is like cold water to the thirsty.

Sin has led the sinner into a far country. That part of the description of the prodigal son, who gathered all-together, and went into a far country, aptly describes the condition of the whole human race. Man, before the Fall, was near to God, he communed with him. But when Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,” after they had disobeyed him, they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” Practically, by his sin, Adam set out on a long journey away from his happy home; and, soon, he was so far off that, when God came where he had formerly communed with him, he had to cry to him, “Adam, where art thou?” In like manner, we are alienated from God by wicked works, far off from him in character, for he is light, and we are darkness; he is truth, and we are falsehood; he is love, and we are just the opposite. We are also far off from God in our aims and objects, for we aim, not at the good of others, nor at his glory, but we seek earthly things. We are, by nature, far off from God in the whole bent and current of our life, which no longer runs in a parallel line with the life of God as first imparted to man, but runs rather according to the fashion of the life of Satan, so that we yield ourselves up to the evil influence of that foul spirit who worketh in the children of disobedience.

When a sinner is awakened by the Holy Spirit, he becomes conscious of this distance, and he feels, in a measure, like the lost spirits in hell who realize that there is a great gulf fixed between them and God. At first, the convicted sinner fancies that that gulf can never be passed; and the longer he looks into its awful depths,-the longer his eyes try to gaze across it to the other side,-the more he discovers that he is far off from his God, and that there is a vast, yawning chasm between him and his Maker. If any of you, dear friends, are conscious of being thus at a distance from God, I have come as a messenger from him bringing to you his words of mercy and grace, which should be to you as good news from a far country.

And the first piece of good news that I have to give you is, that God has not forgotten you. You are a lost sheep, and you have almost forgotten your Shepherd; perhaps, you have altogether forgotten him; but your Shepherd has been counting over the number of his sheep, and he finds that there is one missing, for there are only ninety and nine where there should be a hundred, and he is deeply concerned about the one that has gone astray.

God has not only remembered that there is such a person as you, but he remembers you with pity. It is wonderful to notice how he speaks. Sometimes, he cries, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim?” Like as a father pitieth his children, so is it with our God, he pities those who wander away from him. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” God takes no delight in your sin, and no delight in the shame and sorrow which your sin will bring upon you unless you turn from it; but he will take delight in you if you return to him. He still cries to you, “Return ye now every one from his evil way;” and he still remembers you in pity and compassion. Notwithstanding your forgetfulness of him, and your wilful rebellion against him, he doth remember you still; for God is love, and there is love in his heart even towards sinners who are dead in trespasses and sins. That, surely, is good news to you; and if God thus thinks of you in pity, should not you think of God with deep, heartfelt penitence and contrition?

But there is even better news from God for you than this, namely, that he has prepared the way by which you may come back to him. Do you ask, “How can that be, for there is a wall of partition between us? How can I ever get to God? Surely, the justice of God, on account of my sin, raises an impassable barrier between us. That justice stands like the cherubim with a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life, lest, haply, I should attempt to return to my God.” That is quite true, yet listen to this, poor, guilty sinner. God must be just, that is certain; and, being just, he must punish thy sin. But hast thou not heard that he has given his only-begotten Son that he might stand in the sinner’s stead, and bear the punishment that was due on account of the sinner’s guilt? That cherub’s flaming sword has been quenched in Jesu’s precious blood. That middle wall of partition Christ has broken down, even as the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Oh, what a mighty rent was that! Not a little slit, part of the way down; but from the top to the bottom. So has Jesus Christ demolished the barrier which stood between a justly angry God and a guilty but repenting sinner, and now there is a way of approach, for the very worst of men and women, right up to the throne of the Most High. By the blood of Jesus, once shed for many, for the remission of sins, the guiltiest foot of man may come. Ay, by that blood-besprinkled way, the most condemned sinner may come without fear of being repulsed. The chasm has been filled, the gulf bridged over, and if thou truly believest in Jesus Christ, thou mayest, in his name, and for his sake, come back to thy Heavenly Father. That wise resolve within thy heart, which says, “I will arise and go to my Father,” should be at once carried into effect, for thy Father hath prepared the way by which thou mayest come back to him; and, to encourage thee, he has sprinkled it with the blood of his dear Son,-the surest sign and token of his love to sinners that even God himself could give. Here, then, is good news from a far country. Your Father thinks of you, poor prodigal; and he has paved the way for you to come back to his own house and heart.

Is there any more good news for you? Ay, that there is, far more than I can tell you. This is another piece of it, God has sent you his Word, and sent you his servants, to invite you to come back to him. It is very gracious for God to prepare the way; but it is even more gracious for him to invite you to make use of that way. There are, sometimes, cases of necessity when a man thrusts himself upon the notice of another, and seeks his aid in some great emergency. It is a dark and stormy night, and the wanderer, who has lost his way, knocks at the first door he sees, and asks for shelter. But that is not your case. You also are a wanderer, and you need shelter, but mercy’s door stands wide open, and God has sent his messengers to invite you to come in. If the door had been closed, it would have been a wise action, on your part, to knock, and ask for admission, or even to cause the kingdom of heaven to suffer violence, and to take the blessing by force. But that is not necessary. Think, then, of the goodness of God, who invites, entreats, exhorts, and persuades sinners to come unto him. Nay, more, there is a text,-a blessed text, I think,-which says, “Compel them to come in.” The great King bids his servants to seize them by the mighty force of love, and to draw them in with tears and entreaties again and again repeated, until they yield. “Compel them to come in,” says he, “that my house may be filled.” This is good news indeed. Such gracious invitations as these make up still more good news: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: for I have redeemed thee.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “All manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.” “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Is not this good news for poor sinners? O my Master, bless thou thine own words of grace and mercy to all who hear or read them, and make them to be like cold waters to a thirsty soul!

There is still more good news beyond all this, and I will tell you some of it. It is good news that many have already returned to their Father, and have been welcomed. Some of these are your own friends and relatives,-your brother, your sister, your father, your mother. This good news does not relate to anything which is merely a matter of experiment. The experiment has been made so often-the blessed experiment of proving whether God will receive repenting sinners or no,-that it is a matter of certainty now. Why, you even know one, who used to be your companion in every kind of folly and sin,-and he has sought and found the Saviour. Did he not tell you so, the other day? And there was one, who seemed to be even worse than you,-at least, he went further in open sin than you have ever done; yet he sought the Lord, and he was not rejected. Now, when I see so many come to Christ, and find that he never casts out one of them, what ought I to infer from that? Why, that he will not cast me out if I come to him. If from my Master’s door I saw a stream of sinners coming back, with sad countenances, and all shaking their heads, and saying, “We have been denied admittance, we were too guilty to go in;” or, “We were not fit;” or, “We were not sensitive enough;” or something of that kind, then, methinks, I should not dare to go; but if the footprints of sinners all run towards Christ, and never is there a single footprint of a penitent sinner turned back by him;-if I see him drawing men unto himself, according to his word, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me;”-and if I never see him repelling or repulsing one sinner, however black or crimson he may be, I may well say, “Come, my poor guilty soul, why shouldst not thou have acceptance too?” At any rate,-

“I’ll to the gracious King approach,

Whose sceptre pardon gives;

Perhaps he may command my touch,

And then the suppliant lives.

“I can but perish if I go,

I am resolved to try;

For if I stay away, I know

I must for ever die.

“And if I die with mercy sought,

When I the King have tried,

This were to die (delightful thought!)

As sinner never died;”-

for no sinner ever did seek Jesus Christ by faith in vain. That, surely, is good news from a far country.

And, once again, we have to bring this good news,-that the Lord has not only made a way for his poor wandering children to come back to him, but he has provided all the means needed to bring them back. You recollect that, when Joseph sent for his father Jacob to come to him in Egypt, Jacob could not believe that Joseph was still alive; the news, that he was, under Pharaoh, ruler over all Egypt, seemed too good to be true; but when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent, then his spirit revived. “Waggons” is the word in our translation, but I expect that Joseph also sent some of the best chariots that Egypt could produce to carry poor old Jacob and all his family down into Egypt; and I do not wonder that the spirit of the patriarch revived when he saw those waggons or chariots. There is many a poor sinner who says, “Yes, I know that there is a way of salvation; but, then, my feet are lame, so how can I run along that way? I know that there is saving truth in the Bible, and blessed be God for that; but how shall I ever learn that truth? I know that Christ is himself the Truth, but how can that Truth be mine? I know that there is eternal life, and that Christ is the Life, as well as the Truth and the Way, but I am spiritually dead, can I ever have that life?” Yes, you can, for our Lord Jesus Christ is not merely the Way, but he is also the power by which we run in that way. He is not only the Truth, but he gives us the illuminating Spirit to lead us into the Truth; and he is not only the Life, but he puts that Life into us, and sustains and perfects it. You have nothing to do, sinner, but to give yourself up to the leading, guiding, directing, assisting, quickening of the blessed Spirit of God. It is true that you must believe, but he will give you the grace of faith. It is true that you must repent, but it is also true that he works repentance in us. There must and there will be a change of life in all true converts, but it is the Holy Spirit who converts you and turns you completely round. There must be sanctification in genuine believers, but it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you. There is nothing asked of you, in the gospel, but what the gospel itself gives you. Those things which, in one part of Scripture, are put as precepts, are, in other parts of Scripture, among the promises. What the Lord bids the sinner do, he enables the sinner to do, just as, when Jesus said to the man that was paralyzed, “Take up thy bed, and walk,” with the command he gave the power to obey it; and when he said to another man, “Stretch out thy hand, withered though it be,” the miraculous power, that gave the nerves and muscles force again, went with the mandate from the lips of Jesus. In like manner, trust thou the Lord to give thee the power to lay hold on the gospel. The very eye, with which to look at the brazen serpent, is his gift; and that gift he is prepared to bestow upon all who come to him for it. Is not this good news from a far country?

And this, too, is good news,-that thou mayest come to Christ at once. If, at this moment, thou art enabled to trust the Lord Jesus, he is thine. The way home looks very far, but the good news I have to bring you is that you can be there in a moment. That is to say, far off as thou art from God, if thou believest in Jesus, thou art brought to God that very instant. As soon as the Holy Spirit enables thee to trust in Jesus, thou art brought near to God at once. What said our Saviour to the dying thief? “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” You perhaps will not have an immediate entrance into the paradise above, but may live a little longer here; but, as soon as thou dost believe in Jesus, thou shalt be reconciled to God by the death of his Son; thou shalt have instantaneous forgiveness, and, at the same time, it shall be as permanent as it is instantaneous, and as complete as it is immediate. This is the good news which comes to you by the gospel.

And what thou hast to do with it is this, believe the Father’s word, and trust thyself wholly to what Christ has done for sinners. May the Divine Spirit take thee off from all other ways of salvation, and bring thee to trust to this alone, and make thee abhor and loathe, even to detestation, anything like confidence in thy prayers, or thy tears, thy doings, thy sufferings, thy preparings, thy repentings, or anything else; for it is none but Jesus who can bring a sinner near to God. All that you spin, you will have to unravel; all that you build, will have to come down; all that you can bring to God, you will have to take back again. You must come to him empty-handed, with nothing of your own, and simply rest where God himself doth rest,-in the blessed person and the finished work of the Lord Jesus who is all in all.

Now, if thou art spiritually thirsty, this good news will be to thee as a draught of cold water; but if thou art not thirsty, thou wilt not partake of it. It is little use to praise cold water to a man who is already drunk with the world’s intoxicating draughts, or to those who have no thirst, and who will despise it. If there is anyone here who does not feel that he is a sinner, or who thinks that he has no great guilt, and who has no true sorrow of heart on account of his sin,-I might as well walk into St. Paul’s Cathedral, and talk to the statues there, or into Westminster Abbey, and preach to the dust beneath my feet, as preach to you. Cold waters are for the thirsty; and the good news of mercy and salvation is for the guilty. Oh, that the Holy Spirit would make you feel your deep need, and give you intense spiritual thirst; for, then, Jesus Christ and the good news from the far country would be precious to you!

Now I turn to the second part of our subject, which is, good news from heaven for saints. That also is as cold waters to a thirsty soul.

Does someone ask, “Is there any news from heaven?” Yes, there is; and that shall be my first remark in this part of my theme,-that news does still come from heaven. There is an invisible telegraph between us and the glory-land; we are not cut off from communication with those who are there. Jacob dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven, but it was not merely a dream. Never was there anything more real than that vision of the night, for there is a blessed means of communication between this far-off land and the goodly land beyond the river. Our prayers and sighs and tears, our praises and thanksgivings, get there all right; they are not lost en route. They reach the great heart of God, and messages come down to us from him in response to them. How do they come? Well, they come by the Holy Spirit sealing home to the soul the promises of the Word. Do you know, experimentally, what I mean by that? “Ah!” says someone, “do I not?” Every now and then, some blessed portion of Scripture seems as if it were set on fire, and, as you read it, it blazes out before your eyes, just as, sometimes, we see the lamps that are being got ready for an illumination. There is some grand device; and, before it is lit up, it is little more than an array of pipes; but how different it looks after they have lit it all! So, there is many a text of Scripture which is like that design; you can see something of what it means, but you should see it when it is lit up. How very different it is then! You sometimes get a promise from the Word whispered into your ear, and it is just as new to you as if it had never been written down eighteen hundred or three or four thousand years ago. It is as fresh to you as if the eternal pen had written it to-day, and written it for you alone. Some of us-I hope, many of us-know how the Spirit of God takes of the things of Christ, and reveals them unto us,-leads us into the very heart and soul of the precious blessings of the covenant of grace. This is as good news from a far country, and is as cold waters to a thirsty soul.

And often, too, the Lord Jesus Christ sends us news concerning the fellowship which he intends us to enjoy with him. Still do godly men walk with God as Enoch did. Do not imagine that God has gone away, and that no longer may we speak to him as a man speaketh with his friend. No, for “truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Still does Jesus lay bare his heart to his beloved. Still may we say with the spouse, and have the prayer answered, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.” There are still sweet intercourses and blessed love passages between Christ and his chosen, of which the world knows not; but “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” Yes, there is good news from a far country for the saints of God.

And, dear friends, it should be our earnest aim to keep unbroken our intercourse with heaven, for it is the most refreshing thing beneath the sun. This world is like an arid desert where there is no water except as we maintain our intercourse with Christ. So long as I can say that the Lord is mine, all things here below are of small account; but if I once get a doubt about that matter, and if I cease to walk with God, then what is there here below that can content my immortal spirit? Without Christ, this world is to us as thorns without the roses, and as bitters without the sweets of life. But thou, O Lord, makest earth to be a heaven to thy saints even when they lie in dungeons, when thy presence cheers them. But were they translated to the palaces of kings, and thereby lost thy blessed company, those palaces would be worse than prison-houses to them. It is most important that you, who are obliged to mingle with the world, should maintain your intercourse with Christ; for that is the only way to keep yourself clear from its corruptions. And you, who have much to do in the church, must keep up your intercourse with Christ; for that is the only way of preserving your service from becoming mechanical, and of preventing you from doing good works as a mere matter of routine. You, too, who have much to suffer, or even much to enjoy, must keep up this holy intercourse, or else your soul will soon be like a thirsty land where there is no water.

It may be that I am addressing some, who have not had much news lately from the far country of heaven. You are going there, one day, and-

“There your best friends, your kindred, dwell;

There God your Saviour reigns;-

but you have had no news from there lately. If it is so with you, I hope you feel as some of us did, a little while ago, when we were in the South of France. “No letters?” we asked, as the time came for our usual post. When the next day came, and there were still no letters, we enquired, “What is the matter?” and they said, “There is deep snow on the railway, the trains cannot travel, so the mails cannot be brought on.” Another day passed, and as the snow was not gone, we had no letters. When the letters did come, they were very sweet, and all the sweeter because we had had to wait for them. And there were more of them than usual, for those that had been delayed came tumbling in two or three at a time. I hope it may be so with you and your good news from heaven. If there have been any snow-drifts between your soul and Christ,-and that does happen sometimes in this cold world;-if there is, between you and the Saviour, a chilly air, and a frozen mass of unbelief, so that the trains cannot travel to and fro;-oh, cry mightily to the Lord to melt these snows, and clear them away; and, I warrant you, if you do so, when you get communication restored, and fellowship renewed, it will be exceedingly sweet. I hope you will often feel that you cannot have too much of it, and seek to have more and more. Say, as the spouse did in the Song, “It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go.” Let this dark season of interrupted fellowship, into which you have passed, only make you the more desperately in earnest to get out of it, so that, when that fellowship is restored, you may be able to say, “I held him, and would not let him go.” Get such a firm grip of him again, such a grip as you had when first you knew him,-when the love of your espousals was upon you,-when you were newly married to the blessed Bridegroom, and say again, “I held him, and would not let him go.” God grant to you that there may be no more lukewarmness, no more of being neither cold nor hot; and may the cold atmosphere, through which you have passed in his absence, make your heart grow all the warmer towards him now that you have him again! May you cling to him now with an intensity of affection that you have never reached before!

What is this good news of which I have been speaking? Well, dear friends, I think that this good news may be summed up thus. God is working in providence, and making all things work together for your good if you belong to him. Your heart is heavy just now, and your harp is hanging on the willows. Yet God is permitting that to happen for your good. The bitter drugs you have to take are nauseous to you, but they are to work together with other things for your good; wherefore, be of good cheer.

The next piece of good news is that Jesus is pleading for you. Remember how he said to Peter, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” Jesus has thy name upon his breastplate,-yea, graven on the palms of his hands. You are not forgotten of him; is not that good news? When somebody comes to you in a foreign land, you like to hear him say, “When I was at your home, they were all talking about you, and they all sent loving messages to you. I saw your portrait in a locket, and I could tell that you were not forgotten.” You are glad to hear that; and Jesus has your names graven on the palms of his hands, and he is pleading for you before the mercy-seat, you are not forgotten up there.

Another piece of good news is that he is coming here again,-coming here for you,-coming to be admired by you and the rest of his redeemed family when he comes to take his people up to their eternal home. The message which he has sent is, “Behold, I come quickly.” What is your answer to that? I think I hear you say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” It will not be very long before you will be with him, or else he will be with you. In a short time, you will have ended your pilgrimage here; the days of your banishment from home will be over. Wait a little longer; only a few more tears, and, then,-

“Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe on his gentle breast.”

Is not that good news?

There is another piece of news, which you have often heard before,-that is, that a great many of the saints have got home already. There is good news from the Fair Havens. Many have entered there,-thousands, millions,-who have had as stormy a sea to traverse as you yourself have had; but their Pilot has brought them to their desired haven. Many, whom we loved on earth, have gone home to be “for ever with the Lord.” They are all right; all is well with them. The sheep are getting home to the fold; the children are going home to their Father’s house above.

I have another piece of good news, and that is, beloved brother or sister, that there is a house there for you. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made it ready for you. There is a crown there which nobody’s head but yours can ever wear. There is a seat in which none but yourself can sit. There is a harp that will be silent till your fingers strike its strings. There is a robe, made for you, which no one else can wear. And let me also tell you that they are wanting you up there. “Oh!” say you, “they are so happy, and so perfect that they surely do not want me.” But they do. What does Paul say in the Epistle to the Hebrews? “They without us should not be made perfect.” Nor can they; there cannot be a perfect body till all the members are there. It cannot be a perfect heaven till all the saints are there. Jesus Christ has not all the jewels of his crown yet, and he will have a perfect crown. So they are looking for you, and waiting and watching for you, and all is ready for your reception. You shall go home soon; therefore, live in hope; and having this hope within you, purify yourselves, come out from the world more and more. “Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” There is good news for you; is it not like cold waters to a thirsty soul?

Now, lastly, and very briefly. Sometimes, in heaven, they get good news from earth.

Our text may be applied to the angels and to the spirits of just men made perfect: “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” We do not know how they receive news about us; and it is no use speculating concerning the matter; but there is one thing that we are sure of,-that is, in heaven, they know when a sinner repents, for our Lord Jesus Christ has told us that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” That is, to them, good news from a far country. The angels all know about Jesus having died, and every time they see a repenting sinner washed in the blood of the atonement, they must rejoice for Jesus’ sake, because he sees of the travail of his soul, and is satisfied.

I believe, too, brethren, that they get good news from a far country when you who are running the Christian race run well; for how does Paul put it in the 12th of Hebrews? Does he not tell us that we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses? And who are these witnesses? Why, those he had been speaking of,-those brave men and women who had performed such valorous deeds by the power of faith,-whose names he had inscribed on the triumphal arch of the 11th chapter of his Epistle. These are they who gaze upon us from their lofty seats, and they see us as we run the race, and note how we do it; and they clap their hands, as the spectators were wont to do in the old Roman foot races, and rejoice over the grace that is manifested in us, and it is as cold water to their souls when they see what God does for his struggling, suffering people.

And, moreover, there is another piece of good news that reaches the far country; that is, when the Church of God is being built up, and the gospel is spreading in the earth. When the world was created, did not the morning stars sing together, and shout for joy? And do you not think that, as this new spiritual world is being fashioned by the pierced hands, the spirits above are looking down, and watching the wondrous process? I am sure they do. “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory;” and appear, not only to those who are watching here below, who are workers together with him, but also to those who have gone above, who rejoice together with him in his gracious work below.

And I believe it is also good news from a far country when the saints one by one finish their course. They get tidings up there when another saint is crossing the Jordan of death. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,” and it must be precious also in the sight of the angels and the redeemed from among men. John Bunyan pictures the shining ones as coming down to the river’s brink, and I can easily conceive that it is so. I can well imagine their glad welcome to the spirit as, disencumbered of this poor body, it comes forth from the stream of death, and taking it up to the pearly gates of the celestial city. Then there is good news from a far country. I sometimes like to send a message home by some whose hands I grasp as they are in the last article of death. Rowland Hill, when he was very old, said to one aged Christian who was dying, “I hope they have not forgotten to send for old Rowley;” and then he added, “Take my love up to the three glorious Johns, the apostle John, and John Bunyan, and John Newton.” I have sometimes felt inclined to do the same. Surely, a spirit there will not forget anything that was good here below, and pass, in utter unconsciousness, into the next world. It will have enough to do to think of Christ, and to behold his glory; but, mayhap, the mind will be so expanded as to be able to think of other things beside. This, however, I do not know; but this I am sure of,-that, as one by one they, for whom the Saviour died, come home, there must be joy. As they rejoice over repenting sinners, so do they rejoice over perfected saints who are without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and who come up cleansed and delivered from anything like sin through the precious blood of the Lamb. Then is there good news for them from the far country.

I cannot help feeling that I am addressing some who know nothing about the good news of which I have been speaking. For their benefit, let me tell you a story I have heard concerning one of our English pilots. A vessel was off the coast of Kent, gently sailing, as the seamen thought, towards their desired haven. A pilot, who was watching them, observing the extreme danger in which they were, went at his utmost speed to warn them of their peril. He was hardly aboard before he shouted to the captain, “The Goodwins! The Goodwins!” They were almost on to those fatal sands, and they did not know it. At once, the course of the vessel was changed, and all sail possible was set, and they were saved as by the skin of their teeth. So, I come to you thoughtless, careless ones, and I cry to you, “Hell lieth right ahead of you,-eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power. Put your helm hard aport, up with such sail as you have; and may God send the breath of his Eternal Spirit to blow you off these breakers which already seem booming with the certainty of your eternal doom!” O God, almighty and ever-merciful, save them by thy grace! Save them by the precious blood of Jesus, for his dear name’s sake! Amen and Amen.

THE LIFE-LOOK

A Sermon

Published on Thursday, January 21st, 1904,

delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington,

On Lord’s-day Evening, January 9th, 1876.

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”-Isaiah 45:22.

I have preached a good many times from this text.* I hope to do so, if life be spared, many more times. It was about twenty-six years ago,-twenty-six years exactly last Thursday,-that I looked unto the Lord, and found salvation, through this text. You have often heard me tell how I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed-by me, at any rate,-except his text. I remember how he said, “It is Christ that speaks. ‘I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out my soul unto death; I am on the tree, dying for sinners; look unto me! Look unto me!’ That is all you have to do. A child can look. One who is almost an idiot can look. However weak, or however poor, a man may be, he can look; and if he looks, the promise is that he shall live.” Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, “That young man there looks very miserable.” I expect I did, for that is how I felt. Then he said, “There is no hope for you, young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin, but by looking to Jesus;” and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, “Look! Look, young man! Look now!” And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep, and more was falling; so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through my heart, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;” and it seemed as if all nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus Christ.

I have always felt inclined, when this time of the year comes round, to preach from this text. I have sometimes thought,-“They will suppose I must go over the same ground again, and give them the same sermon; and so, perhaps, I shall not have so attentive an audience.” I cannot help it if it is so, for I must preach from this text. As it was blessed to me, I hope it will be blessed to somebody else. I wanted to preach from it last Thursday night, on the exact anniversary of my spiritual birthday; but I was led to take another text, and I am glad I was; for, when I entered my vestry to-night, I found on the table this note:-“Mr. Spurgeon, I want to tell you that your ‘good news,’* last Thursday, was the means of reclaiming a wanderer. How good of Jesus to take such an one as I am back, and give me the joy I had when first I knew him!” The writer encloses a thanksgiving offering, and blesses the name of the Lord. So, this text has been reserved for to-night, and who knows but that there has come here somebody who was not here on Thursday night, and whom the Lord intends to bless? I only hope it may be so; indeed, I know it will be so.

Let us read the text again: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” This message is addressed, as you perceive, not to the Israelites, but to the Gentiles,-to the nations at the very ends of the earth. Alas! many of these nations have long been looking to their idols. They do not feel at rest, they know that they lack something; and very earnestly are devout heathens looking to their false gods for what they need. They make great sacrifices, and spend vast sums of money upon their idol temples; but salvation does not come, and cannot come, through these false gods. Jehovah bids them look to him, that they may be saved. Some among the nations are throwing off the yoke of superstition; but, sad to say, they seem to be falling into scepticism instead. The Hindoo, when educated, turns from his idols only to make an idol of his own judgment. Many men worship their own wisdom. They hope by searching to find out the Almighty unto perfection; and this theory and that they promulgate, and say, “This form of thought and the other will emancipate the human mind.” Ah, it is not so! “The world by wisdom,” in the old Socratic and philosophic days, worked out that problem, and the result was that they “knew not God;” but, “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools;” and that is where man, with his great thought and wisdom, always drifts to,-to some absurdity or another. Only Jehovah can save mankind. Philosophy is powerless in this matter.

The nations have been looking long, first to this thing, and then to that, to save them. Sometimes, they have looked for some great conqueror, who will break the yoke of oppression, and set the people free. But how often have they been deceived, and the idols of the democracy have turned out to be the grossest tyrants that ever lived. Then there are various international and other societies formed, by which men are to lift themselves up by confederation. They will look there, too, in vain; though all men should join hand in hand, they cannot do it. If they looked to God, there would be accomplished what all mankind would not be able to perform. One man advises this policy; another pleads for that form of government. One has this idea, and the other has another. And, every now and then, there seems to be a craze for something or other. Just now, we are told that civilization will do away with war, and I know not what besides. All evil is to be extinguished by the growth of commerce. But the Lord of hosts hath willed it that nothing shall save the nations but himself; and this poor, bleeding earth needs to be told, again and again, that, for her wounds,-and she has many of them,-there is no healing liniment but that which flows from the hands, and feet, and side of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. From the crown of her head to the sole of her foot, she is full of “wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores,” and for all these there is no cure but the blessed balm that flowed from Jesu’s heart on Calvary,-no remedy but the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “Look unto me,” saith he, “and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” O Lord, turn the eyes of the nations to thyself, and to thy Son! When this happens, then shall the day of the world’s salvation have fully come.

The general principle holds good in each particular case. As it is with the nations at the ends of the earth, so must it be with me, so must it be, dear friends, with you. There is no salvation but by looking unto God in Christ. Let us try to turn that thought over, not merely with the view of thinking of it, but that we may carry it into effect,-that, if there be salvation to be had, we may have it, and have it at once. O God, grant that it may be so!

First, we shall ask, What does the word “Look” mean in reference to God? Secondly, for what part of salvation are we to look to God? Thirdly, what is our encouragement to look? And, fourthly, when is the best time to look?

First, Jehovah says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” What does this word “look” mean? It means a great deal more than I can tell you; and, among other things, it means this.

First, consider that there is a God, and enthrone him in your mind as a real Person, the one living and true God. You have been trying to cure yourself of your spiritual maladies; now think of God as the great Physician of your soul. Let your mind turn towards him. You are like that young man who left his father’s house, and whose circumstances became so bad, through his own fault, that he was obliged to take up very low and mean employment; and yet, with all that he could do, he did not earn enough to fill his belly. The best thing that he could do was to remember that he had a father; and the happiest day for him was when he came back to his father, and received a loving welcome from him.

You say that you are not happy, you are not at rest, your conscience is disturbed, and you have tried ever so many things in order to get peace. Now, think about your God. Think about the loving Father who receives his wandering prodigal children; and as you think of him, you will have begun to look to him. While you are thinking about him, I wish you would remember this concerning him,-that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” Think of that wonderful truth that God came here in human flesh and blood, and, for us men and for our salvation, died a cruel death upon the tree. Turn that over and over again, for it is there that your only hope of salvation lies. Do think of that; read often-

“The old, old story

Of Jesus and his love.”

Think over all the details of it; accustom yourself to look towards God in Christ Jesus in your thoughts and contemplations. By the blessing of the Holy Spirit, this will breed faith in you. Set your face that way,-look at God as he has revealed himself in the person of the great Propitiation, Jesus Christ his Son.

Looking to God means, however, more than that. When you have considered him, and taken him into your calculations, then address yourself to him. Speak to him. Tell him where you are, and what you are. Tell him what you feel, and what you do not feel, and what you ought to feel, and what you wish to feel. Tell him what you want which you have not yet got. If you cannot pray, tell him so; if you cannot repent, and cannot believe, tell him so. Only speak to him, for that speaking will be a turning to look, and I find that the Hebrew word used here is not so well expressed by the word “look” as by the phrase “turning to look.” If I want to look at the clock above my head, I must turn to look at it. In that fashion, I want you to turn towards God, to consider him, and then to speak to him. Tell him that you are a wretch undone without his sovereign grace. Tell him whatever you know to be the truth; do not mock him with mere words that do not come from your heart, but let your heart speak to him. Address him, for that is looking to him.

Only, mind that you do get to God. The mischief is, dear friends, that we often stop somewhere short of God when we are seeking salvation. A Romanist, for instance, erects a crucifix, and bows down before it. The original intention of the crucifix, no doubt, was to help the person who used it to remember the death of Christ; but, frequently, the thought rests on the crucifix, instead of upon the Christ. If the Romanist says that he does not worship the image, it is not true, because there is a certain “Our Lady of Lourdes,” and another “Notre Dame de la Garde,” and other “Our Ladies.” Why is it that the Virgin Mary in a certain church, or a certain town, works great cures, and gets more worship, than “Our Lady” in a certain other place? The fact is, it is the image that is worshipped, and so is it with the crucifix; that gets the Romanists’ worship, and not the Christ. They stop there; but why do I talk about this to you Protestants? Why, because many of you do just the same in other respects. You say, “Now, if I am to be converted, I ought to read the Bible.” Yes, that is quite right. Read the Bible; but, if you stop at the Bible, you will no more get to God than if you stop at the crucifix. What you need is to get to God through what you read, and not merely to come to the Book. The Bible, or the most gracious words, or the most appropriate collects, or the most pious prayers, cannot save you; you must pass through these things, which ought to be helps, and not make them into barriers; for, if you make them into barriers by stopping there, you never will be saved. You have to get to God, dear heart,-to God in Jesus Christ; and I pray you, do not stop till you feel, “I have spoken to God in Jesus Christ; I have confessed to him my sins; I have sought his forgiveness; I have asked him for mercy.” You are sure to get it if you have done so. But if you stop at this point,-“I have prayed so often, I have read so much,” these very readings and prayings will get to be idols, and they will keep you away from God. I used, when seeking the Lord, to read very much Doddridge’s “Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul,” and an admirable book it is; and Baxter’s “Call to the Unconverted.” I would wake up as soon as the sun was up in the morning that I might read these books; but I must confess that, for many a day, I stopped at Doddridge’s “Rise and Progress” and Baxter’s “Call.” When I had read so much, and tried to feel what those good men said, there I stuck. Oh, that I had gone to Christ before! Oh, that I had got away from Doddridge’s “Rise and Progress” and Baxter’s “Call”, and gone to Jesus Christ himself! I am not finding fault with those books; I commend them, but I find fault with myself for making so bad a use of the books. In like manner, I do not find fault with prayer or the reading of the Scriptures; God forbid! But I do complain of putting prayer and the reading of the Scriptures into the place of getting to God; for it is looking to him as he is revealed in Jesus Christ that will save the soul, and nothing short of that, be it what it may, will do so. Therefore, looking to God means that we are to consider God, and then to address ourselves to him.

In the next place, to look to him means that we must know that, if we are ever to be saved, salvation must come from God alone. Learn this, O man, that you are helpless and hopeless apart from God;-that you are shut up, and cannot come forth, bound with fetters of iron, and laid like the dead in their graves, numbered among the slain like those that go down into the pit; and no arm can help you but the arm of the Omnipotent; nothing can save you but the blood of Jesus Christ.

Then, next, to look to him means expect that he will save you. Oh, what a step that is for anyone to take! I would that, by God’s grace, you might take it, saying, “Nobody but God can save me. Salvation comes from him, but he is gracious; he has given his dear Son to die for sinners. I, a sinner,-the most unworthy, perhaps, who ever lived,-will, nevertheless, dare to hope that I shall be saved. Nay, more,-

“ ‘He has promised to receive

All who on his Son believe;’-

“so I will now trust his Son, and look to him to give me full and free salvation because I trust him.” Joseph Hart’s hymn puts it,-

“Venture on him, venture wholly,

Let no other trust intrude;