I desire to continue the topic of the morning,* only we will look at another side of the same important matter.

We spoke this morning, as you have not forgotten, upon these words, “Your own salvation.” I trust most of us-would God I could hope all of us-were earnest about our own personal salvation. To those who are earnest this second text will be the complement of the first. They desire that their own salvation shall be secure; it is their own salvation when they obtain it; but here is the guide as to what is the right salvation-what our own salvation ought to be. It is not our own in another sense; it is God’s. “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” While it becomes our own by an act of faith, it is not our own so that we can claim any merit or take any part of the glorying to ourselves. The only salvation that is worth being our own is that which is God’s. “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” Having this morning somewhat at length explained what salvation is, showing that it was not a mere deliverance from wrath to come, but from the present wrath of God, and yet more essentially from sin, from the power of evil within us, there is no need that we should go over that again, I trust; but we shall begin by noticing the speciality which is in the text, dwelling upon the divine salvation. “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” So, then, we look at once at:-

The salvation we have already spoken of is God’s, and it is God’s salvation in many ways. It was his in the planning. None but himself could have planned it. In his infinite wisdom he devised it. The salvation which is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ in the gospel is every part of it in all its architecture the fruit of divine skill. We may say, “Or with whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and who taught him knowledge?” In every part the divine hand may be seen; it is of God’s planning and ordaining, or ever the earth was. So is it of God’s providing. You have salvation wrapped up in the gift of the person of Jesus Christ. All of it lies in Christ. Because he died, our sin is put away. Because he lives, we shall live also. And Christ is the pure gift of God. All salvation is in him, and, therefore, all salvation is thus procured by God. It is God’s salvation. And what is more, God not only plans and procures, but he also applies salvation. I believe in free agency, but I never yet met with a Christian man who was able to say that he came to Christ of his own free will without being drawn by the Spirit of God. Whatever our doctrinal view may be, the experimental fact is the same in every case. All believers will confess that they are God’s workmanship, created anew in Christ Jesus. “No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” There is a want of power. “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” There is a want of will, and the Spirit of God, therefore, applies the salvation which God has planned, and which God has provided. And as the first application of this salvation is of God, so is it all the way through. I do not believe, dear brethren, that our religion is like the action of a clock wound up at first by a superior hand, and then left to go alone. No! every day the Holy Ghost must continue to work upon us, and in us, to will and to do according to God’s good pleasure. And if you and I should ever get right up to the gate of pearl, and should hear the songs of the blessed within that gate, we should not be able to take the last step, but should turn back to our sin and folly even, if he that began a good work in us should cease to carry it on. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. “Salvation is of the Lord,” from first to last. He makes the rough draft of it, in conviction, upon our conscience; he goes on to complete the picture; and if there be one touch in the picture that is not of God, it is a blot upon it. If there be anything of the flesh, it will have to be wiped out; it is not consistent with the work of God. Of God is it in all respects. Now we know that this salvation is of God, not only because we are told that he planned it, and provided it, and applies it, but because it has the marks of God upon it. There is a certain line of poetry; I know it is Shakespeare’s. Well, you know, I cannot quite tell you why, but yet I am sure no one ever wrote exactly in that way. I am reading the Psalms through, and I read one and I say, “That is David’s.” I observe certain critics who say, “No; this belongs to the time of the captivity.” I am certain it does not. And why? Because there is a Davidic ring about it, you know. The son of Jesse, and he alone, could have said such things. Now in salvation there are the marks of divine authorship. I once saw a painting by Titian at Venice, and he had written, “Fecit, fecit Titian.” He claimed it twice over, as if to make sure that someone else should not claim it. And God has put it three times over that there should be no doubt whatever that salvation is of God, and he must have the glory of it. Now observe the marks of God-what I may call the broad arrow of the King-set on salvation. It is full of mercy. Here is salvation for the blackest of sinners-salvation for all manner of sin-forgiveness for all manner of sin-salvation so full of grace that only God could have conceived it. “Who is a pardoning God like thee?” But this salvation is equally congenial with justice, for God never absolutely forgives a sin. There is always punishment for sin in every case. Jesus Christ, the Substitute, comes in and satisfies Justice before the word is spoken to the sinner, “Thy transgression is blotted out.” In the salvation which God has provided on the cross by the death of his dear Son there is as much justice as there is mercy; and there is an infinity of both. Now this is God-like. Man, if he brings out one quality, usually clouds another with it; but God exhibits his character in harmonious completeness-as merciful as if he were not just, and as just as if he were not gracious. In the gospel, on this account, we see also divine wisdom. Whatever some may say about the doctrine of substitution, Christ is still the power of God and the wisdom of God. The way, so simple, yet so sublime, by which God is just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth, exhibits the infinite wisdom of the Most High.

But I won’t keep you by mentioning all the divine attributes. It is certain they all shine in the gospel, nor can any tell which of the letters best is writ-the power, the wisdom, or the grace. They are all there, proving the salvation to be of God.

And there is one other matter. True salvation is of God because it draws toward God. If thou hast God’s salvation, thou art being drawn towards thy heavenly Father, nearer and nearer every day. The ungodly forget God; the awakened seek God; but the saved rejoice in God. Ask thyself this question, Couldst thou live without God? The ungodly man would be happier without God than he is with. It would be the best piece of news in the newspaper to thousands, if we could publish it to-morrow, that God was dead. To ungodly men it would be like ringing the bells of universal joy; they would run riot after their own will. And where would the believer be? He would be an orphan. His sun would be blotted out; his hopes would be dead and buried. Judge by this whether thou art saved. If thou art saved, thou art drawn to God, thou seekest to be like God, thou desirest to honour God. If there be none of these things in thee, then I charge thee see to it, for thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity. God have mercy upon thee! I need not further say that the salvation is of God, and God must have all the glory of it. All on earth who are saved, and all in heaven who are saved, will ascribe their salvation entirely to the ever blessed God, and join with Jonah, who in the very depths of the sea made this, his confession of faith, “Salvation is of the Lord.” But now, secondly, our text (having noticed the divine salvation in it) has:-

“I will rejoice in thy salvation.” Here is someone springing out from the common crowd and saying, “I have heard of God’s salvation; I will rejoice in it! I will rejoice in it! Some despise it. They hear it, and they turn a deaf ear. When they have listened to it longest, they are most weary of it. But I will rejoice in thy salvation.” Here is a distinguished character, who is made so, doubtless, by distinguishing grace. Oh! I hope there are many of us here who could stand up and say-if this were the time and place-“Let others say what they will, and count the cross a thing to mock at, and Jesus Christ to be forgotten, I am his servant; I will rejoice in his salvation.” There are some that rest in another salvation. We all did so once. But he who speaks in the text throws aside self-righteousness as filthy rags. He puts it all aside, and says, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” If I were righteous, I would not say so. Had I a perfect holiness, I would not mention it in comparison with the righteousness of Christ; but being an unworthy sinner, without a single merit of my own, I will not be so foolish as to patch up a fictitious righteousness, but I will rejoice in thy salvation. You see them there!-those worshippers of the scarlet woman-they are resting in their priest! He puts on millinery, blue, pink, scarlet, white, and I know not what-all kinds of little toys to please fools with. And there be some that rejoice in that salvation that comes from an “infallible” sinner-that comes from a sham priest of God. But we are looking to Christ, who stands before the eternal throne and pleads the merits of his own blood. We say:-

“Let all the forms that men devise

Assault our faith with treacherous art,

We’ll call them vanity and lies,

And bind the gospel to our heart.”

“I will rejoice in thy salvation.” There may be some to-night to whom I shall speak who are rejoicing in God’s salvation through his abundant grace who have very little else to rejoice in. You are very poor. Ah! how welcome you are to this house! How glad I am that you have come. I feel it always a joy that the people have the gospel preached to them. Well, you have no broad acres, you have no gold rings on your fingers; you come in the garb of toil. Never mind, my brother, lay hold on eternal life and say, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” Perhaps you are sick to-night-your poor weak body could scarcely drag itself up to the assembly of God’s people. Well, well, it is a heavy thing to have to suffer so, but if you cannot rejoice in a hale body, yet rejoice in his salvation. Look to-night to Jesus; put your trust in him alone, and you will have a sufficient well-spring of joy, if you have nothing else. Possibly some of you who lay hold on Christ and rejoice in him will have hard times of it at home-your father will mock at you, your mother will not sympathise with you; your workmates to-morrow, if they hear that you are converted, will laugh, and jest, and jeer at you. What say you? Are you a coward? Will you back out of it becaus it demands a sacrifice? Oh! if it be so, then you are indeed unworthy of the name, and you count yourself so; but if you are what you should be, you will say, “Let them laugh at me as they will, and spit upon me as they please, I will rejoice in thy salvation.”

“If on my face for thy dear name,

Shame and reproach may be;

I’ll hail reproach and welcome shame,

For thou’lt remember me.”

It takes some pluck, but we ought to have it in the cause of Christ. Your mean, miserable wretches that will only go out to follow Christ in sunny weather, and get them gone again when a cloud darkens the sky, deserve well the wrath that comes upon them. They are like the Nautilus, very well on the placid sea, but the first billow that arises they furl their sails and drop into the deep, and are seen no more. Oh! beware, beware, beware of a sunny-weather religion; beware of a religion that will not stand the fire; but be you such that, if all the world forsook Christ, you would say, “I will rejoice in his salvation”; and if you were turned out of doors, if you were turned out of the world itself, and thought not fit to live, you would yet be content to have it so, if you might be numbered with the people of God, and be permitted to rejoice in his salvation. Does this, as I try to speak it, awaken a holy emotion in any soul here? Is there someone who has been a stranger to my Lord who to-night can say, “I desire to rejoice in his salvation”? I cannot forget, when I sat as a young lad under the gallery of a little place of worship, hearing the gospel simply preached-the blessed moment when I was led to resolve to follow Christ. I have never been ashamed of having done so. I have never had to regret it. He is a blessed Master. He has handled me roughly lately, but he is a blessed Master. I would follow at his heels if only like a dog, for it is better to be his dog than to be the devil’s darling. He is a blessed Master. Let him say what he will, and do what he will. Oh! is there no young man here, no youth, no child, no girl; is there no grey-headed one who will say, “I will rejoice in thy salvation”? O eternal Spirit, come and touch some heart, and make this, their spiritual birthright, that they may say, “I-I-I will rejoice in thy salvation.”

But we must pass on, for time presses. We have, in the third place, to consider in the text:-

We have noticed the divine salvation, and the outspoken avowal; now we will notice the delightful emotion. “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” It is an unfortunate thing that Christianity gets associated with melancholy. I will not forbid the banns, for they are not very near of kin, but I wish they were further apart every day. It is a good thing for the melancholy to become a Christian; it is an unfortunate thing for the Christian to become melancholy. If there is any man in the world that has a right to have a bright, clear face and a flashing eye, it is the man whose sins are forgiven him, and who is saved with God’s salvation. In order for any man, however, to rejoice in God’s salvation, he must, first of all, know it. There must be an intelligent apprehension of what it is. Next, he must grasp it by an act of faith as his own. Then, having grasped it, he must study it to know the price at which it was bought, and all the qualities-the divine qualities-that follow from it. Then he must hold it fast, and seek to get out the sweetness from it. What is there in God’s salvation that should make us rejoice? I do not know what to select, for it is all joy and all rejoicing. It is enough to make our heart to ring with joy to think that there should be a salvation at all for such poor souls as we are. We may well hang out all the streamers of our spirits, and strew the streets of our soul with flowers, for King Jesus has come to dwell there. Ring every bell; give him a glorious welcome. Let all the soul be glad when Jesus enters and brings salvation with him, for the salvation of Christ is so suitable that we may well rejoice in it. Dear brother, if you are saved, I know the salvation of Christ suited you. It did me-exactly-it was made on purpose for me. I am as sure of it as if there were no other sinner to be saved. It was the gospel that brought power to the weak, nay, it brought life to the dead; it brought everything to those that had nothing; it is just the sort of gospel for a penniless, bankrupt sinner like myself. We rejoice in the suitability of the gospel; we rejoice in the freeness of it. We have nothing to pay; we have no price to pay, neither of promise, nor of anything that was our own. Salvation was freely given to us in Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice in it, then. Oh! rejoice in the richness of that salvation. When the Lord pardoned our sins, he did not pardon half of them, and leave some of them on the book, but with one stroke of the pen he gave a full receipt for all our debts. When we went down into the fountain filled with blood, and washed, we did not come up half-clean, but there was no spot nor wrinkle upon us-we were white as driven snow. Glory be to God for such a rich salvation as this. And he did not in that day save us with a perhaps and a chance salvation that set us on a rock, and say, “Keep yourself there-you must depend upon yourselves”; but this was the covenant he made with us, “A new heart also will I give thee, and a right spirit will I put within thee.” It was a complete salvation, which would not permit a failure. The salvation, which is given to the soul that believes is on this wise, “I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.” “The water that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” I believe the perseverance of the saints to be the very gem of the gospel. I could not hold the truth of Scripture if this could be disproved to me, for every page seems to have this upon it, if nothing else, that “the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.” In this my soul rejoices, that I have a salvation to preach to you which, if you receive it, will effectually save you if your hearts are given to Christ, and will keep you, and preserve you, and bring you into the eternal kingdom of his glory. I will rejoice in the certain and abiding character of that salvation. Oh! there is enough in the salvation of Christ to make heaven full of bliss; there is enough to make us full of praise. Let us take up the theme; let us talk by the way to one another about it; let us talk to sinners about it; let us recommend religion by our cheerfulness. Levity be far from us, but happiness-let it be the happiest sphere in which we live if we have little else to rejoice in, we have enough here. Whatever may be our condition or prospects, we may still rejoice in God’s salvation, and let us not fail to be filled with this most blissful emotion.

And now I must close. The text has in it a word of the future which we must not quite overlook. Here is a joyful gospel, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” You may read it if you like, “I shall”-“I shall” or “I will”-it would be quite right. The Hebrew has no present. It seems to have given up all tenses-like God himself, who was, and is, and is to come. I shall rejoice in thy salvation. Now here is:

You may live to grow old; well, we shall never grow weary of Christ. If we are his people, we shall never have any cause to part from him; “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” I could bring up to this platform an aged brother whom all of you would know, who has infirmities and has age creeping upon him, but there is not a happier soul in this house than he; and when I had made him speak to you, I could bring you many more aged women too, and I would ask them what they think of Christ, and I am sure they would say with greater emphasis than I can, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” I almost wish my grandfather were alive and behind me to-night, for on one occasion I preached with him in the pulpit, and when I came to speak of experience he pulled my coat-tail and came to the front, and said, “My grandson can tell you that he believes it, but I can tell you experimentally,” and on the old gentleman went with it. Well, many an aged Christian can tell you he has rejoiced in God’s salvation. He does rejoice, and, instead of age making the joy of his youth to become dim, it has mellowed and sweetened the fruit, which was sweet even at the first. Oh! that we may, when these hairs grow hoar with years, and the snows of many winters lie white upon our head, may we still rejoice in God’s salvation. But then, whether we reach old age or not, there is one thing that is certain-we shall assuredly die, and when we come to die, what shall we do? I know what you are thinking of. You say, “I should groan.” Ay, sinner, you are thinking of the friend that is wiping away the clammy sweat from the brow and those closed eyes. Now those may never occur. We often hear them mentioned in reference to dying beds, but they are not so constantly there as to be necessary. And if they were there, if we did lose sight itself before life fails-what then? Why, the vision of the Christ, who is our salvation, and in whom we rejoice, shall then be more gloriously clear and radiantly beautiful, because the sights and sounds of earth have vanished from us.

Now, instead of looking at these outward parts of dying, think of this, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” When I parted from our dear brother, Cook, a few days ago, he could not say much. He was very, very weak, but what he did say was just this, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is all.” Well, I talked, and read, and prayed, and so on, and when we had done, he simply said, “The blood-the blood, the blood-that is all my hope.” Why, he looked as calm in prospect of dying as any of you do in sitting here, and was as delighted with the hope of being where Jesus is as ever bride was at the coming of the marriage day. It was delightful to see the blessed calm and peace that was upon that man of God. And when I come to die, whoever I may be, however little my standing in the Church of God is, if I am in Christ, I will rejoice in his salvation; I will make the dark valley ring with his praises; I will make the river of death itself to roll back as the Red Sea did of old, with my triumphant songs; I will enter heaven with this upon my heart and upon my lip, “I will rejoice in thy salvation! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honour, and power, and dominion, and glory for ever and ever!” And, brethren, if that is what we may do in dying, this is what we shall do for ever and ever, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.” Millions of ages, throughout all the cycles of years that interpose ere Christ delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father, and then onward, even through eternity, this always shall be our own ground of rejoicing, “I will rejoice in thy salvation.”

Now I cannot come and stand at the door and speak to everyone as the congregation withdraws, but if it were possible I should like to stand there and shake the hand of everyone that has been in the house to-night, and say, “Well, friend, how fares it with you? Can you say, ‘I will rejoice in thy salvation?’ ” If I cannot do that, I wish it were possible to speak in the silent shades of night to you when you awoke, so that you might hear a voice ringing in your ears, “Do you rejoice in God’s salvation?” Perhaps some of you may have come a long distance across the sea. You may be by-and-bye on shipboard again. It may be that you will be in peril, or it may be that afterwards you shall be in sickness. Well, may this evening’s congregation in this day of July rise up before your minds, and if you forget the preacher (and that will not matter), yet if you hear a voice that says, “Can you rejoice in God’s salvation?” I hope that, even if it is twenty years to come, it may then be as the voice of God to your soul, and bring you to the Saviour. But better far would it be if you would come to him to-night-and you may. May the Spirit of God bring you! Whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ hath everlasting life. The whole of the gospel is wrapped up in Christ’s message, which he has sent by his apostles, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” To you each this-this-is the word, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” God add his own blessing, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon

1 THESSALONIANS 5

Verses 1, 2. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

The great point is that it comes-will certainly come, and it will come when it is least expected. There are certain signs given, by which the righteous shall know of its appearing, but all study of dates and fixing of the time is contrary to the very spirit of the Christian dispensation. We are to abide, always looking for it, believing it may come to-day, believing it may not come to-day-believing that the secret of the time is with God. Ye do err if ye say it shall be this or that season; ye equally err if ye say it shall not be then. Let it remain as it is, a secret in the heart of God, ye yourselves always girt, expecting it to come.

3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Sudden and acute shall be the terror of the ungodly when the Lord Jesus in flaming fire shall be manifested.

4. But ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

You are brought out of darkness into his marvellous light. Your element is light. “Ye are all the children of light”; “ye are not in darkness that the day should overtake you as a thief.” You know the signs, and, being watchful, you will observe them when the hour cometh.

5, 6. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

It is the proper and fitting season for it. That the children of darkness should slumber is no wonder. They are the children of a sleepy time. Ye are the children of the day; if ye sleep, ye will be acting contrary to your nature.

7. For they that sleep, sleep in the night? and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

People were a little more decorous in the Apostle’s day than they are now, for there are some who are drunk in the day now-a-days, and though we have certainly improved in some things, we seem to have gone back in this. But, at any rate, drunkenness may seem suitable to benighted persons, but it is not suitable to those who profess to have the light of God’s grace.

8. But let us, who are of the day, be sober; putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

We are of the day, but it is a day of battle. Put on armour, therefore. Be as soldiers that are covered with a panoply. Especially take care of your heart-put on the breastplate. Faith and love are the sacred protection for this. Take care that ye have both. Take care of your head-that also is a vital part; put on the helmet. Hope will do that. A good hope in Christ Jesus will guard you from many violent attacks that will be made upon your judgment.

9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

See there is no ordination to condemnation. Believing in Christ, we have the evidence that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the spirit and obedience, and sprinkling of blood.

10, 11. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

It is a good church of which we can say this, especially if we can say it of all the members that they edify one another. Living stones in a living temple should seek to build each other up. May we all try to have a sacred commerce in our knowledge, and other gifts as one trading with another. All may enrich and edify one another. “As also ye do.” Why did he tell them to do it, then, if they were doing it? Answer-that they might keep on doing it. The horse that runs best may still be the better for a spur.

12, 13. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.

Consider them in your prayers; give them all the help you can; do not be strangers to their office, and to the burden which it brings. God has set them over you. Regard them in that light. Esteem them very highly, not as masters, as though they were lords, but as being over you. “Esteem them highly in love for their works’ sake.”

13. And be at peace among yourselves.

There is an end to church prosperity when there is an end of peace.

14. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly,

There are some that never will be ruled; their very idea of being a Christian is that they shall do just as they like. It is a somewhat happy circumstance that there are sects where they can do so. There are formed now-a-days those little knots of people who will have no rule and church government, and who meet to edify one another. Though they speedily go to pieces, it is perhaps the better for the churches that they are quit of them.

14. Comfort the feeble-minded,

They want cheering. You needed it once; return the benefit you have received. Do not be out of patience with them for being so foolish. If their minds be feeble, you cannot expect much better from them.

14. Support the weak,

Give them something to cling to. As some climbing plants put out their tendrils and need to be helped up, so may you be a prop to these climbers.

14. Be patient toward all men.

Think of what patience God has with you. “Be patient toward all men.”

15. See that none render evil for evil unto any man;

Not in any case. The world advises you to pay a man in his own coin, but if he pays you bad coin, he is wrong, and if you pay him bad coin there will be two wrongs. Do not do so.

15, 16 But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore.

You have always something to rejoice in; make the world ring with Christian music.

17. Pray without ceasing.

Praise and prayer are fit companions. You will soon leave off rejoicing if you leave off praying. By ejaculations, keep up your prayers while at your books. You will not disturb your avocations by continuing still in supplication and prayer. That provender hinders no man’s journey.

18. In every thing give thanks;

Try to do so for everything, and if you cannot do it, in everything give thanks for something else-when you are in circumstances which do not excite your thankfulness just then.

18. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

God wills it. This moved the Crusaders to the war. Let this suffice to move you in thanksgiving.

19. Quench not the spirit.

Do not hinder his movements in yourself; do not try to hinder them in others. If any man hath a gift which he might use to edification, do not discourage him, but rather encourage him to get more grace. God may find him opportunities of making use of it. Quench not the Spirit.

20. Despise not prophesyings.

If they are vain and false, despise them if you will, but that prophecy especially which deals with the Word of God, for the Word here does not signify merely prophecies of the future-it is often used of regular preaching. Despise not anyone who speaks in God’s name. He may speak with blunders of grammar-forget them; if he be correct in his teaching of divine truth, if he speaks to your heart, if he warns you, if he warns under the Spirit of God, never despise him.

21. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

That first sentence is got to be quite a proverb, but that last, I believe, is taken away, which is another instance of the common truth that half the truth is a lie. You must give it all or none. “Prove all things, is mischievous teaching, unless you “hold fast that which is good.” And, after all, in the very first sentence it is not so much “Prove all things,” as “Prove all things”-that is, take nothing on trust. Do not believe it because you are told so. Search the Scriptures; test what you have received, but when you have tested it, do not go about to be for ever proving it. Hold it fast; grip it; grapple it to you as an ox to the stall. Hold fast that which is good.

22. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

By which is not meant as some read it, “from everything that somebody likes to say looks like evil.” This would be to mar the Christian liberty. But wherever evil puts in an appearance, when it appears to be good, when it has been dressed out-for the word may refer to a Roman spectacle, or grand procession. Avoid evil even when dressed out in its best, when it comes on in all its gallant show to attract you. Avoid every species and kind of evil-that might almost be the translation-abstain from it altogether.

23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Christian man there is a trinity. His nobler nature is that which he got when he was regenerated, and it is his spirit. His soul he has got, in common with other men. His body he has in common with animals. All, however, must be fully consecrated to God. I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

What a word of good cheer that is. Sanctification often seems to be a thing far off, but he will do it. He that called will perfect. The work which his wisdom began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise is yea and amen. God never did forget yet.

25. Brethren, pray for us.

Because sometimes people think that those of high spiritual attainments do not need their prayers. Remember, if they have a higher position, they have greater dangers.

26. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.

This was the token of friendship in the East. To attempt to import it to the West would be not only absurd, but wicked. I may properly read them, “Greet all the brethren with a hearty shake of the hand; keep up the outward form of fellowship, for if you don’t you will soon forget the fellowship itself.” The kiss was the Oriental custom; it was to be kept up. The shake of the hand is our Western custom. Let it be kept up. And I delight to see it when Christians meet, and cordially greet each other after the custom of their land.

27. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren

The Pope would charge you that it be read to nobody; but who is he? It seems that this Epistle was intended to be read by all the Church, and so also the whole Bible. It is said it is not safe to trust it with the brethren; it is not safe to trust them without it; it is not safe to keep back God’s Word from any man. Let the whole Book he read, and I am sure the more read the better, especially if the last verse be true of every reader.

28. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

FOLLOWING CHRIST

A Sermon

Published on Thursday, March 23rd, 1916.

delivered by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the metropolitan tabernacle, newington.

On Lord’s-day Evening, August 22nd, 1889.

“And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.”-2 Samuel 15:21.

Some men have a very remarkable power of creating and sustaining friendship in others. David was a man brimming over with affection-a man, notwithstanding all his rough soldier-life, of an exceedingly tender heart-a man, I was about to say-the word was on my tongue-a man of vast humanity. I mean, there was a great deal of manhood about him. He was all that other men are, had suffered their sorrows, and had tasted their joys, and, therefore, I suppose it was that he had a large power of attraction about him, and brought others to himself.

But there is one Man more than man, whose attracting influence is greater than that of all men put together. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ we see gentleness, meekness, and tenderest affection, and we see the most hearty sympathy with everything that belongs to manhood. Such a vast heart has the Master, such boundless, disinterested affection, such human sympathy; so near is he to every one of us in his life, and in his experiences, that he attracts the sons of men to himself; and when he is lifted up he draws men unto him, and afterwards, by the cords of his love, he draws them unto himself. It is in the hope that some here may feel the sweet attractions of Christ that I have selected this text, anxiously praying that some here may so give themselves to Christ as never to leave him; and that others who have already done so may be confirmed in their solemn resolution that, in whatsoever place their Master, the Son of David, the King, shall be, there also will they be as his servants, whether in life or in death.

Now this resolution, if any here have formed it, and I know many have-this resolution that surely in what place the Lord Jesus shall be, whether in death or in life, even there will we, his servants, be, in the first place, is:-

A good resolution-one which can be supported by abundant reasons.

Let me say, in opening out this assertion, that Jesus deserves of all who have really tasted of his grace such faithful service, such unswerving following in all cases and under all circumstances. Who else has ever done for us what Jesus has? Our mother brought us forth, but he has given to us a second birth. Our mother dandled us upon her knee, but he has borne us all the days of old, and even to hoar hairs will he carry his people. We have had many kindnesses from friends, but never such love as Jesus showed when, we being his enemies, he yet redeemed us with his most precious blood. Think of these three words, and try to measure what they mean-Gethsemane-Gabbatha-Golgotha. Let those three words awaken your adoring memories. Gethsemane-with its garden and bloody sweat for you. Gabbatha-with its scourging, its mocking, its shame and spitting for you. Golgotha-with its cross and the five flowing wounds, and all the bitterness of the divine wrath, and the torment of death itself, for you. Men have been known to give away their lives cheerfully for some great military leader whose genius has commanded their admiration, but they were fools to throw their lives away, after all, for these men had done but little or nothing for them to make them their servants and slaves. But this Man, my brethren, if we had a thousand lives, and were to give them all, yet would deserve more of us, for he hath redeemed us from going down into the pit, saved us from flames that never shall be quenched, and from a pit that is darkness itself. By the eternal woe from which the blood of Christ hath uplifted us, let us, who believe that we have been redeemed from hell, consecrate ourselves for ever to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. His cross is despised; let us be despised with it, for he bore shame for us. His truth is counted a lie; let us be willing to be regarded as liars, for he had reproach cast on him. Sometimes to defend his cause has required the loss of all things; be it ours, if needs be, to lose all things for him who gave up all-and what an all that was!-the bliss of heaven, and a life itself for us, that he might redeem our souls. The deserts of Jesus are such that it would need an angel’s tongue to tell them out, even though it were but in brief catalogue. Look at him in what he is himself as his Father’s darling. Look at his character; was there ever such another? Survey the beauties of his person-were there ever such charms eommingled before? Think of his life, and of his death, and of what he is doing still before the throne, and surely you will feel that it is but right and just that, with Jesus, you should enter into the ship and, with him, sail the ocean over, be it rough or be it smooth.

Moreover, brethren, to keep close to Jesus Christ is right. It is in itself to keep close to integrity, for the Lord Jesus never stepped out of the right path. He never asks any of his followers to do anything which be a breach of the right, or which will make them turn aside from uprightness. If we could put our feet down exactly where his feet went down, even though we had to walk up to Calvary itself, it would be our duty so to do, for his path was perfect rectitude, and in him was no sin. We challenge heaven, with its omniscience, to detect a flaw in him. We challenge hell, with its malice, to discover in him an aught that is amiss. Lovers of the right and of the true, ask grace that you may be as he was. You cannot be more eminent for virtue than he. You cannot serve your God better. You cannot do better than keep close to every step that he has taken, and, whether in life or in death, to follow him. It is right, then, because he deserves it; it is right, again, because in itself it is according to the eternal rules of equity.

And, my brethren, there is another argument why we should cleave to Jesus, and it is this-wherefore should we leave him? Can anybody suggest a reason why the lover of Christ should turn from him? Polycarp was asked that he should curse Christ, and he replied, “Wherefore should I curse him?” The assembly in the amphitheatre could give no answer to that; all hell could never give a reply to that. What hath he done, what hath he done that we should leave him? What can he have done, and what is there that the world can offer that would ever repay us for leaving him? Could we so false, so traitorous prove as to turn away from Christ, what should we gain? A little pleasure, gone in a moment, like thorns that crackle beneath the pot. What should we lose, my brethren? We should lose the joy of life; we should lose our support in tribulation; we should lose our hope in death; we should lose heaven, to inherit nothing but the blackness of darkness for ever. I cannot conceive a bribe heavy enough to weigh against him; I cannot imagine an honour bright enough to compare with him. I cannot conceive a disgrace that can be black enough to compare with the disgrace of deserting him. The silver mine of Demas is a poor reward for selling his Master. All the wealth of India, could it be poured into one’s lap, were but a mockery of a soul that damned itself by casting away its confidence in Christ. To whom should we go, Master; to whom should we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. To leave Christ would be the meanest thing of which any could be capable. I suppose the devil himself, with all that he has ever done, has never been able to compass a wickedness that would equal the wickedness, if it were possible, of a truly gracious soul deliberately deserting Jesus for the world, for such a soul knows the hollowness of this world’s joys; such a soul knows something of the sweetness of Jesus; such a spirit has been with him, and has learned of him, has had the enlightenments of his grace, has learned the faithfulness of his promise and the love of his heart. Oh! could such a thing be, could the Lord’s grace so utterly leave a believer that he should turn out an apostate after all, there is need to dig another hell, as much lower than hell as hell is lower than the earth; there is need to kindle yet more furious flames; seven times hotter might the furnace be heated for such an apostate. Glory be to God, it shall not be.

“Grace will complete what grace begins,

To save from sorrows and from sins;

The work which wisdom undertakes,

Eternal mercy ne’er forsakes.”

But I speak thus to let you see how reasonable, how abundantly necessary it is that we should cling close to Christ in life and death, and that where he is there we should be. There is no need to reason further, as the time is brief, and so let us notice now, in the second place, that:-

This resolution, though good in itself, should be made with great deliberation, since it will most certainly be tried.

Ah! young brother, you to-day can sing, as others did:-

“’Tis done, the great transaction’s done”;

and you sang and felt a joy in singing that last verse:-

“High heaven that heard the solemn vow,

That vow renewed shall daily hear,

Till in life’s latest hour I bow,

And bless in death a bond so dear”;

but do you know your weakness? If there were no temptation from without, you are fickle enough in yourself. Ah! we might sooner trust the wind or rely upon the glassy waves of the ocean than trust our own frail resolutions. We are changeable, we are false; our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Let him that putteth on his harness take care not to boast as him that putteth it off. There are dangers ahead and many trials. All is not gold that glitters. Firm resolutions are not always kept; yea, let me add they are never kept if they are made in your own strength; they will go most surely, and you that promised to stand fast will soon turn aside.

But, in addition to our own fickleness, we must expect many things to try this resolution. There will be, with some of you, the jeers and sneers of those you work with. They will call you ill names. Perhaps they have began it already. Well, but you do not know what they can invent. The Christian soldier has a gauntlet to run. The Christian worker in many a large factory has to endure a life-long martyrdom. Men will invent all sorts of gibes and jeers against a believer in Christ, and it is fine sport to pelt a Christian. Can ye cleave to your Lord, then? Oh! if you cannot, you do not know him, for he is worth ten thousand times ten thousand sneers, and you should count it a joy to be permitted to bear a scoff for him. Now are you in your measure partakers with the noble host of martyrs. You cannot in these softer days earn the ruby crown of martyrdom, but you have, at least, the trial of cruel mockings. Bear up manfully, and meet their mockery with your holy bravery and patient endurance.

And you will have, probably, a worse trial than that, and that is to see those who professed to go with you, as you thought, turn aside. Oh! to young Christians, this is very staggering. Those of us who are older feel this to be a very peculiar cross in church life, to be associated with those who are cold-hearted and dead while they profess to be Christians, who, after all, ere long betray their hypocrisy; but to young people it seems often almost staggering. If such a man is not a good man, who can be? Is there anything at all in religion if such a man, after all, should turn out to be a deceiver? Oh! but, dear brethren, if you love Christ, you will not turn aside because some of his friends have forsaken him, for a true friend sticks closer then. Like this good man Ittai, that we are speaking of, you will say, “I never thrust myself on David before; I kept in the background, but now that this rascally Ahithopel has left him, I will go now and offer him my kind and affectionate greetings.” It ought always to make you who love Christ become bolder when these villains turn aside, for now you should say that it behoves every honest man to play the man and come to his friend. If these turn tail, then should the true-hearted lead the van for Christ and for his truth, and if it should even come to pass that a standard-bearer should desert his flag, spring forward, young man, and grasp it in the stead of him, but never because of that turn aside from your Lord.

Alas! brethren, you may expect, perhaps, to have sterner trials than these. If you resolve to cling to Jesus Christ with constancy, you must expect to have many trials. God loves to try his people that he may get glory out of their trials, and I am sorry to say I have known some who in the depths of poverty, when it has suddenly come upon them like an armed man, have felt as if religion itself could not support them, and they have actually given up their profession. It is poor Christianity that cannot bear the loss of all things. Now you may be poor yet, and you may be sore sick, but may you have such faith as that you may be able to say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” It is no gold if it will not stand the fire, and it is no grace if it will not bear affliction.

You may expect to have great depression of spirit within. Some of us know what this is very, very frequently. There are times when the joy of religion is gone, and our soul is in the dark, and yet is feeling after God, blessed be his name; but this is the pinch, to believe in an angry Christ, to hold to his hand and never let him go, though that hand should seem to pull itself away; to lodge with Christ when he gives you no supper; to go and sleep in Christ’s bed when he has not made it, but left it hard for you; to say, “With my desire have I desired thee in the night, and with my spirit will I seek thee early.” May you have faith like that faith, that will not, under any difficulties, turn aside from Christ.

Thus you see, then, that this resolution will be a tried one, and between here and heaven God knows what trials will befall us. But again:-

This resolution may be carried out.

What I have said might tempt you to declare that you would not try it, but it may be carried out. There are thousands, tens of thousands upon earth who have been with Jesus wherever he has been throughout the whole of their lives, and will be with him in death, and after death; and there are millions-there they stand-wearing their white robes and waving their palms. Listen; you may almost hear their song. These are they that overcame; they endured unto the end; they came through great tribulation, and washed their robes in the Lamb’s blood, and, therefore, are they before the throne of God. What was done in them may be done in you

But how was it, then, that they held on and kept close to their Lord? Answer-it was not in their own strength; it was the Holy Spirit, who day by day preserved them, led them in knowledge and true holiness, purged them from sin, and at last made them to enter upon the heritage of the perfect. There was not a single moment in which they persevered apart from the Spirit’s strength. Poor human nature at its best must start aside like a broken bow. ’Tis only grace that holds a single Christian, and well and truly do we sing in that hymn:-

“Tis grace that’s kept me till this day,

And will not let me go.”

Now, subject to the power of the Holy Spirit, the way to accomplish our resolve to be with Christ as his servants for ever, is, first of all, to be much in prayer. If you cannot persevere with God, you are not likely to persevere in contest with man. More prayer, beloved, many of you want. As your temptations grow, let your prayers become more intense and full of fire, and conquer hell by assaulting heaven. You shall prevail against all temptations if you can prevail with God.

Remember, too, that joined to that prayer there must be much holy fear. “Happy is the man,” says Solomon, “that feareth always”-not the fear that is distrustful and suspicious of God, but the fear that is distrustful and more than suspicious of self; the fear that is conscious of inward weakness and depravity, that dares not into temptation go, but asks to have its eyes turned aside from beholding vanity, lest the look should lead to the desire, and the desire should engender the act.

With holy fear there must be much careful walking. He that would persevere to heaven must not hope to go there pell-mell, helter-skelter, heedless, careless, thoughtless as to his daily life. There must be self-examination, self-inspection, watchfulness incessantly. An arrow may pierce thee between any joint of thy armour unless thou hold the shield of faith to catch its barbed shaft, and quench its barbarous flame. God grant thee grace to walk carefully and humbly with thy God.

To persevere in grace we must seek to use all the means of grace that can assist us-not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; not neglecting either private or public prayer; using what grace we have if we expect to get more; doing what we can for God, as we expect him to do all for us; in fine, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure. If these things be in you and abound, they shall be the means of preserving you, and you shall be among the happy number that shall sing, “Now unto him that is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before his presence with exceeding joy, unto him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” And now, fourthly and lastly:-

This resolution may be accomplished in an emphatic sense.

Understand me, for here it is that I wish to appeal to believers in Christ. This man Ittai said, “Surely in what place that my lord the king shall be, whether in death or in life, even there also will thy servant be.” You can follow Christ in a general way in the activities of Christian life, and so on, but there is a peculiar way of following him. You can get, by God’s grace, very near your Master, and by still greater grace you can keep near to him, and keep near to him all your lives. I have never been able to hope for perfection in the flesh, but I believe that every Christian ought to strain after even perfection itself. I am afraid we have fixed the standard of what a Christian may be a deal too low; of what a Christian should be it would not be possible to fix the standard too high. It is not needful for a Christian to be sometimes with Christ, and sometimes to lose fellowship. It is not necessary for a Christian to be full of doubts and fears. I met an elderly Christian some years ago who is now in heaven, whose word certainly I could never dare to have doubted, who told me that by the space of forty years he had never had a doubt of his own acceptance in the Beloved, and though he had had many troubles and trials, he did not know that his communion with Christ had once been interrupted. I marvelled at him, but I marvelled a great deal more at myself that I had not tried to get into the same place. Why not? If you are straitened, it certainly is not in your God; you are straitened in your own bowels. He never gave you legitimate cause to doubt him, nor did he ever give you a reasonable excuse for forsaking fellowship with him. Let us, oh! let us aim at keeping as near to Jesus as John did, and not, like Peter, follow afar off. Let it be the great prayer of our lives:-

“Abide with me from morn till eve,

For without thee I cannot live.”

Let us ask that our communion may be kept up in business hours as well as in the private closet, that we may walk with Christ on the Exchange and in the street, as well as in the Tabernacle, or in the public engagements of worship. Why need we leave him? Certainly he will not leave us. Oh! that we may cling to him closely, cling to him and hold him fast. I like the saying of a dying negro boy, who was asked why he felt so happy in the thought of going to heaven, and he said, “I want to go to heaven principally because Jesus is there.” “Well,” said they, “but do you always want to be with Jesus, then, and with nobody else?” “Yes,” said he, “I only care to be where Jesus is. “But suppose Jesus were to leave heaven?” Said he, “I would go with him.” “But suppose Jesus went to hell, what then?” “Ah!” said the boy, “but there could not be any hell where Jesus was; I would go with Jesus wherever he might go.” Oh! that we had that kind of spirit, and that desire ever more, not to be self-seeking, nor world-seeking, nor getting our joy out of common pleasures, nor hunting after comfort where it cannot be found in these low-land joys; but let us seek to be on the wing with our Master, up aloft, dwelling in the land of communion, where Jesus lets out his very heart to his people, and reveals himself to them as he doth not unto the world. The Lord give to this church many of those favoured men and women, whose communion shall be with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Oh! it is the happiest, holiest, safest, richest, most useful kind of life. God grant it to you.

But oh! dear friends, there are some here to whom all this talk is nothing, for they have never taken up the cross of King Jesus at all. Do you know it is very seldom I come into this pulpit, very seldom indeed, without my seeing here and there that mournful colour which indicates that another person has departed this life? We are so numerous that there are two or three deaths every week, and sometimes five or six, and as I happen to know when each one is taken away I am continually reminded of the mortality of my congregation-never twice alike-never under any circumstances-always some here that will never be here again, or were not here before; always some here who are just on the brink of the grave. Now I speak to you to-night who may, though you know it not, be on the brink of the grave, and I shall ask you to put to yourselves this question, How will it fare with you when you pass into the spirit-world, and stand before your God, when you are not reckoned as a friend of Christ, but have to take your stand among his enemies? You would not wish to take that place even to-night. You are halting between two opinions; but, my dear friend, that halting of yours must come to an end very soon, or otherwise death will decide it, and where death finds you judgment will leave you, and hell will continue you. Oh! I pray you lay hold on eternal life, and this night cast in your lot with Christ. Oh! he is the brightest leader ever soldier had. He is the fairest Prince under whom anyone could serve. His cause is such as will ennoble you. To fight under his banner makes each private soldier into a prince, ennobles each one into a king. Before thou canst serve him, remember thou must be washed by him. There is a fountain filled with blood; if thou dost trust him, that blood will make thee white as snow. If thou dost trust him now, his Holy Spirit will give thee grace to enlist in his army, and to continue a faithful soldier until thou shalt lay down thy battle with thy life, and cease at once to fight and live, and enter into the victory for ever and ever. By the horror of Christ’s defeated foes, among whom I would not have you numbered; by the glory of Christ’s victorious friends, among whom I would fain see you muster, look unto Christ and live to-night, and may he help you to do so. Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon

PSALM 106

Verse 1. Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord: for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

In this Psalm we have the history of God’s people turned to practical account. I have heard of some very unwise persons, who have said. “I do not care about the histories of Scripture. I do not profit by them.” Tell me, dear friends, what other Bible had David but the history-the first five books? And what more wonderful teaching can there be than is contained in this Psalm, which is the essence of the history, “Praise ye the Lord”-or Hallelujah to Jah? Hallelujah is praise to God.

2-5. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation: That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

If I may fare as God’s people fared. I will be well content, and if God himself will come and bring me salvation, I shall have all that I want. Is that your thought now, dear hearer? Then utter the prayer, and may the Lord answer it while you are yet in your seat.

6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

Three time is the confession of sin here made. It is a good beginning when we can begin with confessing sin. I wish that some people had begun there, when they took up with religion; but they too often jump into it, and I am afraid that they will jump out of it again. That harvest which does not come of ploughing is one which will never fill a barn, and that salvation which does not come from a sense of sin will never come to much.

7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;

They saw them; they were surprised by them; but they could not make them out, could not tell what God was at when he smote the Egyptians. A want of understanding of divine truth is a very fatal want.

7. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies;

What we do not understand we soon forget.

7. But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

They had not been long out of Egypt; they had scarcely eaten the bread that they brought out of their ovens, but they began to doubt God. They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mightg power to be known.

He could not save them for their own sake, but he saved them for his own name’s sake.

9. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through depths, as through the wilderness.

The bottom of the sea was made as dry and as easy for their feet as the plains of the wilderness, and God led them through.

10-12. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words: they sang his praise.

It is almost a sarcasm. They believed when they saw. When the promise was fulfilled, then they believed it. Ah! my dear hearers, are there not some of you of whom the same might be said-I mean some people of God? You believe as far as you can see; and that is not believing at all. Let us trust God, whether or no. Red Sea or no Red Sea, let us believe the promise of God, and make sure that it will be true.

Then believed they his words; they sung his praise.

13. They soon forgat his works:

They were in a hurry to forget.

13-15. They waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

They had quails to eat. They had the food that they begged for, but their hearts were starved; their souls were famished. Ah! me, what people they were!

16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord.

They began to pick holes in their character. Good men that lived for them, and were ready to die for them-they began to spit upon them.

17-20. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burnt up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

See! they had been in Egypt. They had seen the Egyptians worship the god Apis in the form of a bull, so that they must needs have a bull too. I daresay that they said, “The bull is an emblem of strength. We do not worship the image; the image is only used to help us to think of the power of God.” But God forbids us to worship him under any image of any sort. “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, nor in the earth beneath. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them.” All images, pictures, crucifixes-the whole (rut) of them are abhorrent and abominable to God. We must have nothing to do with them as helps to worship, for they are not helps. They are destroyers of the worship of God. But, you say to me, “You tell us that it was a bull.” Yes, and, in contempt, the man of God here calls it a calf. You cannot be too disrespectful to objects of idolatrous worship. They may be esteemed by others, but do not show any kind of respect to them yourself; but if there be a name that you can give them that is full of sarcasm, let them have it.

21-23. They forgat God their saviour, which had done great thinge in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

They had found fault with Moses, yet Moses stood forward as intercessor, and through his pleading their lives were preserved. You see, again, what a sinful people they were. Ah! indeed they were! Look in this looking-glass and see yourself.

24, 25. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and harkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

This murmuring in your tents is a very obnoxious thing to God. Always grumbling and complaining. “It is an Englishman’s privilege,” says one. Mind it does not turn out to be an Englishman’s ruin, for God cannot endure that we should be always murmuring at his providence.

26-28. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifice of the dead.

They tried to practice necromancy-to have communion with spirits; they tried to learn the dark science and the black art; and this also God abhors.

29, 30. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was staged.

In his hot zeal he ran the spear through two who were rebelling against God. He did it with all his might, and sometimes it is a kindness to a people to deal severely with them. Sin is not to be treated with white kid gloves. It has to be dealt with sometimes with a mailed hand. Phineas did this.

31, 32. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

Poor Moses who loved them, and lived with them, yet lost his temper.

33. Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips

What a people to have to do with! Who would wish to be Moses, and who would wish to be a minister?

34, 35. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them. But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

They did not keep themselves separate. They would go and join this lot and that lot. They mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

36-39. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

“What a dreadful people,” say you. These were God’s chosen people, Israel; the best people in the world at that time; and yet how could they be much worse? Oh! what a God of mercy God is to deal with such people at all!

40-43. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen: and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Listen to this.

44, 45. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

You would have thought that he would have been provoked beyond endurance, but, after all he had smitten, he still had a tender heart towards them.

46-48. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord.