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SPURGEON'S BOOKS
ARE,
_SERMONS_,... _Eight Series_.
$1.50 each.
_MORNING BY MORNING._
1 vol. 12mo. Price $1.75.
IN PRESS:
_EVENING BY EVENING_,
By REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
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GLEANINGS AMONG THE SHEAVES.
BY
REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
_SECOND EDITION._
New York:
SHELDON AND COMPANY,
498 & 500 BROADWAY.
1869.
TO
THE NUMEROUS HEARERS
AND TO
THE INNUMERABLE READERS
OF THE
_REV. C. H. SPURGEON'S SERMONS,_
This unpretentious little Volume
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
_BY THE PUBLISHERS_.
THE STEMS GROW UP EVERY WEEK:
THE SHOCKS APPEAR ONCE A MONTH:
THE SHEAVES ARE BOUND TOGETHER ONCE A YEAR:
And it is thought that these samples, gleaned from the Sermons, will
be welcome to many, but chiefly to those who are most familiar with
the ample fields from which they are gathered.
GLEANINGS AMONG THE SHEAVES.
_The Preciousness of the Promises._
The promises of God are to the believer an inexhaustible mine of
wealth. Happy is it for him if he knows how to search out their secret
veins, and enrich himself with their hid treasures. They are an armory,
containing all manner of offensive and defensive weapons. Blessed is he
who has learned to enter into the sacred arsenal, to put on the
breastplate and the helmet, and to lay his hand to the spear and to the
sword. They are a surgery, in which the believer will find all manner of
restoratives and blessed elixirs; nor lacks there an ointment for every
wound, a cordial for every faintness, a remedy for every disease.
Blessed is he who is well skilled in heavenly pharmacy, and knoweth how
to lay hold on the healing virtues of the promises of God. The promises
are to the Christian a storehouse of food. They are as the granaries
which Joseph built in Egypt, or as the golden pot wherein the manna was
preserved. Blessed is he who can take the five barley loaves and fishes
of promise, and break them till his five thousand necessities shall all
be supplied, and he is able to gather up baskets full of fragments. The
promises are the Christian's Magna Charta of liberty; they are the title
deeds of his heavenly estate. Happy is he who knoweth how to read them
well, and call them all his own. Yea, they are the jewel room in which
the Christian's crown treasures are preserved. The regalia are his,
secretly to admire to-day, which he shall openly wear in Paradise
hereafter. He is already privileged as a king with the silver key that
unlocks the strong room; he may even now grasp the sceptre, wear the
crown, and put upon his shoulders the imperial mantle. O, how
unutterably rich are the promises of our faithful, covenant-keeping God!
If we had the tongue of the mightiest of orators, and if that tongue
could be touched with a live coal from off the altar, yet still it could
not utter a tenth of the praises of the exceeding great and precious
promises of God. Nay, they who have entered into rest, whose tongues are
attuned to the lofty and rapturous eloquence of cherubim and seraphim,
even they can never tell the height and depth, the length and breadth of
the unsearchable riches of Christ, which are stored up in the
treasure-house of God--the promises of the covenant of His grace.
_Sorrow's Discipline._
The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.
_The Christian Warfare._
It is a tough battle which the Christian is called to fight; not one
which carpet knights might win; no easy skirmish which he might gain,
who dashed to battle on some sunshiny day, looked at the host, then
turned his courser's rein, and daintily dismounted at the door of his
silken tent. It is not a campaign which he shall win, who, but a raw
recruit to-day, foolishly imagines that one week of service will insure
a crown of glory. It is a life-long war; a contest which will require
all our strength, if we are to be triumphant; a battle at which the
stoutest heart might quail; a fight from which the bravest would shrink,
did he not remember that the Lord is on his side; therefore whom shall
he fear? God is the strength of his life: of whom shall he be afraid?
This fight is not one of main force, or physical might; if it were, we
might the sooner win it; but it is all the more dangerous from the fact
that it is a strife of mind, a contest of heart, a struggle of the
spirit--ofttimes an agony of the soul.
Do you wonder that the Christian is called to conflict? God never gives
strong faith without fiery trial; he will not build a strong ship,
without subjecting it to very mighty storms; he will not make you a
mighty warrior, if he does not intend to try your skill in battle. The
sword of the Lord must be used; the blades of heaven must be smitten
against the armor of the evil one, and yet they shall not break, for
they are of true Jerusalem metal, which shall never snap. We shall
conquer, if we begin the battle in the right way. If we have sharpened
our swords on the cross, we have nothing whatever to fear; for though we
may be sometimes cast down and discomforted, we shall assuredly at last
put to flight all our adversaries, for we are the sons of God even now.
Why, then, should we fear? Who shall bid us "stay," if God bid us
advance?
_The Privileges of Trial._
It is said, that when the stars cannot be seen during the day from the
ordinary level of the earth, if one should go down into a dark well,
they would be visible at once. And certainly it is a fact, that the best
of God's promises are usually seen by His Church when she is in her
darkest trials. As sure as ever God puts His children in the furnace, He
will be in the furnace with them. I do not read that Jacob saw the
angel, until he came into a position where he had to wrestle, and then
the wrestling Jacob saw the wrestling angel. I do not know that Joshua
ever saw the angel of God, till he was by Jericho; and then Joshua saw
the angelic warrior. I do not know that Abraham ever saw the Lord, till
he had become a stranger and a wanderer in the plains of Mamre, and then
the Lord appeared unto him as a wayfaring man. It is in our most
desperate sorrows that we have our happiest experiences. You must go to
Patmos to see the revelation. It is only on the barren, storm-girt rock,
shut out from all the world's light, that we can find a fitting
darkness, in which we can view the light of heaven undistracted by the
shadows of earth.
_The Joy of Victory._
The Christian's battle-field is here, but the triumphal procession is
above. This is the land of the sword and the spear: that is the land of
the wreath and the crown. This is the land of the garment rolled in
blood and of the dust of the fight: that is the land of the trumpet's
joyful sound, the place of the white robe and of the shout of conquest.
O, what a thrill of joy shall be felt by all the blessed, when their
conquests shall be complete in heaven; when death itself, the last of
foes, shall be slain; when Satan shall be dragged captive at the chariot
wheels of Christ; when the great shout of universal victory shall rise
from the hearts of all the redeemed! What a moment of pleasure shall
that be!
Something of the joy of victory we know even here. Have you ever
struggled against an evil heart, and at last overcome it? Have you ever
wrestled hard with a strong temptation, and known what it was to sing
with thankfulness, "When I said my feet slipped, Thy mercy, O Lord, held
me up?" Have you, like Bunyan's Christian, fought with Apollyon, and
after a fierce contest, put him to flight? Then you have had a foretaste
of the heavenly triumph--just an imagining of what the ultimate victory
will be. God gives you these partial triumphs, that they may be earnests
of the future. Go on and conquer, and let each conquest, though a harder
one, and more strenuously contested, be to you as a pledge of the
victory of heaven.
_Light in the Cloud._
"The Lord turned the captivity of Job." So, then, our longest sorrows
have a close, and there is a bottom to the profoundest depths of our
misery. Our winters shall not frown forever: summer shall soon smile.
The tide shall not eternally ebb out: the floods must retrace their
march. The night shall not hang its darkness forever over our souls: the
sun shall yet arise with healing beneath his wings. "The Lord turned the
captivity of Job." Thus, too, our sorrows shall have an end when God has
gotten His end in them. The ends in the case of Job were these, that
Satan might be defeated, foiled with his own weapons, blasted in his
hopes when he had everything his own way. God, at Satan's challenge, had
stretched forth his hand and touched Job in his bone and in his flesh;
and yet the tempter could not prevail against him, but received his
rebuff in those conquering words, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust
in Him." When Satan is defeated, then shall the battle cease. The Lord
aimed also at the trial of Job's faith. Many weights were hung upon this
palm-tree, but it still grew uprightly. The fire had been fierce, yet
the gold was undiminished; only the dross was consumed. Another purpose
the Lord had was His own glory. And truly He was glorified abundantly.
God hath gotten unto His great name and His wise counsels, eternal
renown, through that grace by which He supported His poor afflicted
servant under the heaviest troubles which ever fell to the lot of man.
God had another end, and that also was served. Job had been sanctified
by his afflictions. His spirit was mellowed, and any self-justification
which lurked within was fairly driven out. And now that God's gracious
designs are answered, He removes the rod; He takes the melted silver
from the midst of the glowing coals. God doth not afflict willingly, nor
grieve the children of men for nought, and He shows this by the fact He
never afflicts them longer than there is a need for it. He never suffers
them to be one moment longer in the furnace than is absolutely requisite
to serve the purposes of His wisdom and of His love. "The Lord turned
the captivity of Job." Despair not, then, afflicted believer; he that
turned the captivity of Job can turn thy captivity as the streams in the
south. He shall make thy vineyard again to blossom, and thy field to
yield her fruit. Thou shalt again come forth with those that make merry,
and once more shall the song of gladness be on thy lip. Let not Despair
rivet his cruel fetters about thy soul. Hope yet, for there is hope
concerning this matter. Trust thou still, for there is ground of
confidence. He shall bring thee up again, rejoicing, out of captivity,
and thou shalt yet sing to his praise, "Thou hast turned for me my
mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me
with gladness."
_Good Works._
When once the human heart is put under the microscope of Scripture, and
we see it with a spiritual eye, we perceive it to be so vile, that we
are quite sure it would be just as impossible to expect to find good
works in an unrighteous, unconverted man, as to hope to see fire burning
in the midst of the ocean. The two things would be incongruous. Our good
works, if we have any, spring from a real conversion; yet more, they
spring also from a constant spiritual influence exercised upon us, from
the time of conversion even until the hour of death. Ah, Christian, thou
wouldst have no good works if thou hadst no fresh grace day by day! Thou
wouldst not find the grace given thee at the first hour sufficient to
produce fruit to-day. It is not like the planting of a tree in our
hearts, which naturally of itself bringeth forth fruit; but the sap
cometh up from the root Jesus Christ. We are not trees by ourselves, but
we are branches fixed on the Living Vine.
Our good works spring from union with Christ. The more a man knows and
feels himself to be one with Jesus, the more holy will he be. Why is a
Christian's character like Christ's character? Only for this reason,
that he is joined and united to the Lord Jesus. Why does the branch
bring forth grapes? Simply because it has been engrafted into the vine,
and therefore it partakes of the nature of the stem. So, Christian, the
only way whereby thou canst bring forth fruit to God is by being grafted
into Christ and united with him. If you think you can walk in holiness
without keeping up perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a
great mistake. If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus. Good
works spring only thence. Hence we draw the most powerful reasons
against anything like trusting in works; for as works are only the gift
of God, how utterly impossible it is for an unconverted man to produce
any such good works in himself. And if they are God's gifts, how little
of our merit can there be in them!
_The Knowledge of Christ's Love._
It is the distinguishing mark of God's people that they know the love
of Christ. Without exception, all those who have passed from death unto
life, whatever they may not know, have learned this. And without
exception, all those who are not saved, whatever they may know besides,
know nothing of this. For to know the love of Christ, to taste its
sweetness, to realize it personally, experimentally, and vitally, as
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, is the privilege of the
child of God alone. This is the secure enclosure into which the stranger
cannot enter. This is the garden of the Lord, so well protected by walls
and hedges that no wild boar of the wood can enter. Only the redeemed of
the Lord shall walk here. They, and only they, may pluck the fruits, and
content themselves with the delights thereof.
How important, then, becomes the question, Do I know the love of Christ?
Have I felt it? Do I understand it? Is it shed abroad in my heart? Do I
know that Jesus loves me? Is my heart quickened, and animated, and
warmed, and attracted towards Him through the great truth that it
recognizes and rejoices in, that Christ has really loved me and chosen
me, and set His heart upon me?
But while it is true that every child of God knows the love of Christ,
it is equally true that all the children of God do not know this love to
the same extent.
There are in Christ's family, babes, young men, strong men, and
fathers. And as they grow and progress in all other matters, so they
most certainly make advances here. Indeed, an increase of love, a more
perfect apprehension of Christ's love, is one of the best and most
infallible gauges whereby we may test ourselves whether we have grown in
grace or not. If we have grown in grace, it is absolutely certain that
we shall have advanced in our knowledge and reciprocation of the love of
Christ. Many have believed in Jesus, and know a little of His love; but,
O! it is little indeed they know, in comparison with some others who
have been brought into the inner chamber, and made to drink of the
spiced wine of Christ's pomegranate. Some have begun to climb the
mountain, and the view which lies at their feet is lovely and passing
fair, but the landscape is not such as would greet their eyes if they
could but stand where advanced saints are standing, and could look to
the east and to the west, to the north and to the south, and see all the
lengths, and breadths, and depths, and heights of the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge.
_Clear Shining after Rain._
The sway of Christ as King, according to David's description, is like
"Clear shining after rain," whereby the tender grass is made to spring
out of the earth. So have we often seen it. After a heavy shower of
rain, or after a continued rainy season, when the sun shines, there is a
delightful clearness and freshness in the air that we seldom perceive at
other times. Perhaps the brightest weather is just when the rain has
ceased, when the wind has drifted away the clouds, and the sun peers
forth from his chambers to gladden the earth with his smiles. And thus
is it with the Christian's exercised heart. Sorrow does not last
forever. After the pelting rain of adversity cometh ever and anon the
clear shining. Tried believer, consider this. After all thy afflictions
there remaineth a rest for the people of God. There is a clear shining
coming to thy soul when all this rain is past. When thy time of rebuke
is over and gone, it shall be to thee as the earth when the tempest has
sobbed itself to sleep, when the clouds have rent themselves to rags,
and the sun peereth forth once more as a bridegroom in his glorious
array. To this end, sorrow coƶperates with the bliss that follows it,
like rain and sunshine, to bring forth the tender blade. The tribulation
and the consolation work together for our good. "As the sufferings of
Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." The
clear shining after rain produces an atmosphere that refreshes herbs and
cereals: and the joy of the Lord, after seasons of sorrow, makes the
soul fruitful. Thus we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.
_A Quiet Heart._
Unless the heart be kept peaceable, the life will not be happy. If calm
doth not reign over that inner lake within the soul, which feeds the
rivers of our life, the rivers themselves will always be in storm. Our
outward acts will always tell that they were born in tempests, by being
tempestuous themselves. We all desire to lead a joyous life; the bright
eye and the elastic foot are things which we each of us desire; to carry
about a contented mind is that to which most men are continually
aspiring. Let us remember, that the only way to keep our life peaceful
and happy, is to keep the heart at rest; for come poverty, come wealth,
come honor, come shame, come plenty, or come scarcity, if the heart be
quiet, there will be happiness anywhere. But whatever the sunshine and
the brightness, if the heart be troubled, the whole life must be
troubled too.
_A Rich Life._
When one of our kings came back from captivity, as old chroniclers
tell, there were fountains in Cheapside which flowed with wine. So
bounteous was the king, and so glad the people, that instead of water,
they made wine flow free to everybody. There is a way of making our life
so rich, so full, so blessed to our fellow-men, that the metaphor may be
applicable to us, and men may say, that our life flows with wine when
other men's lives flow with water. Ye have known some such men. John
Howard's life was not like our poor, common lives: he was so benevolent,
his sympathy with the race so self-denying, that the streams of his life
were like generous wine. You have known personally, it may be, some
eminent saint, one who lived very near to Jesus: when he talked, there
was an unction and a savor about his words, a solidity and a strength
about his utterances, which you could appreciate, though you could not
attain unto it. You have sometimes said, "I wish my words were as full,
as sweet, as mellow, and as unctuous as the words of such a one. O, I
wish my actions were just as rich, had as deep a color, and as pure a
taste, as the acts of some other to whom you point. All I can do seems
but little and empty when compared with his high attainments. O, that I
could do more! O, that I could send streams of pure gold into every
house, instead of my poor dross!" Well, Christian, this should stimulate
thee to keep thine heart full of rich things. Never, never neglect the
Word of God; that will make thy heart rich with precept, thy head rich
with understanding, and thy bowels rich with compassion; then, thy
conversation, when it flows through thy mouth, will be from thy soul,
and, like all that is within thee, rich, unctuous, and savory. Only let
thy heart be full of sweet, generous love, and the stream that flows
from thy lips will be sweet and generous. Above all, get Jesus to live
in thine heart, and then out of thee shall flow rivers of living water,
more exhilarating, purer, and more satiating than the water of the well
of Sychar, of which Jacob drank. Go forth, with Christian, to the great
mine of unsearchable riches, and cry unto the Holy Spirit to make thy
heart rich unto salvation. So shall thy life and conversation be a boon
to thy fellows; and when they see thee, thy visage shall shine, and thy
face shall be as the angel of God.
_"He hath Said."_
The apostles, like their Master, were always very ready at quotations.
As inspired men they could have always used fresh words, yet they
preferred (and herein they are an example to us) to quote old words upon
which the seal of divine authority has been set aforetime--"He hath
said." Let us do the same, for, though the words of ministers may be
sweet, the words of God are sweeter; and though original thoughts may
have the charm of novelty, yet the ancient words of God have the ring,
and the weight, and the value of old and precious coins, and they will
never be found wanting in the day when we require to use them. "He hath
said," not only chases away doubts and fears, but it also yields
nourishment to all our graces. When the apostle would make us contented,
he says, "Be content with such things as ye have: for _He hath said_;"
and when he would make us bold and courageous, he puts it thus forcibly,
"_He_ hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." So that
_we_ may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what
man shall do unto me." When the apostle Paul would nourish faith, he
does it by feeding us from Scripture with the examples of Abraham, of
Isaac, of Jacob, of Moses, of Gideon, of Barak, and of Jephthah. When
another apostle would calm us with a lesson of patience, he says, "Ye
have heard of the patience of Job;" or if it be our prayerfulness that
he wants to stir up, he says, "Elias was a man subject to like passions
as we are, and he prayed and prevailed." "_He hath said_," is refreshing
food for every grace, and a decisive death-blow for every sin. Here you
have nourishment for that which is good, and poison for that which is
evil. Search, then, the Scriptures, for so shall you grow healthy,
strong, and vigorous in the divine life.
But besides searching them by reading, and treasuring them by memory,
we should test them by experience, and so often as a promise is proven
to be true, we should make a mark against it, and note that we also can
say, as did one of old, "This is my comfort in my affliction; for Thy
word hath quickened me." "Wait on the Lord," said Isaiah, and then he
added, "Wait, _I say_, on the Lord," as if his own experience led him to
echo the voice of God to his hearers. Test the promise; take God's
bank-note to the counter, and mark if it be cashed. Grasp the lever
which he ordains to lift your trials, and try if it possesses real
power. Cast this divine tree into the bitter waters of your Marah, and
learn how it will sweeten them. Take this salt, and throw it into the
turbid waters, and witness if they be not made sweet, as were the waters
of old by the prophet Elisha. "Taste and see that the Lord is good ...
for there is no want to them that fear Him."
_Safety in Conflict._
The way that God keeps His people in security is not by shutting out
their enemies from attacking them, but by sustaining them while engaged
in the conflict. It is not much to preserve ones' self behind a wall
which cannot be scaled, but to stand where arrows are flying thick as
hail, where lances are being pushed with fury, where the sword-cuts are
falling on every part, and in the midst of all to prove invulnerable,
invincible, immortal, this is to wear a divine life which cannot be
conquered by human power. Such is the calling of the Christian. God will
put us where we must be tried and tempted. If we are not tried, there is
no honor to Him who preserves us; and if we are not tempted, there is no
gratitude to His grace who delivers us out of temptations. The Lord does
not put his plants into a hot-house, as some gardeners do; no, He sets
them out in the open air, and if the frost is coming, He says, "Ah! but
no frost can kill them, and they will be all the sturdier in the summer
for the cold in the winter." He does not shelter them either from the
heat of the sun, or from the chills of the night. In this world we must
have tribulation, and we must have much of it too, for it is through
much tribulation we inherit the kingdom. What God does for His people is
this: He keeps them _in_ tribulation, preserves them in temptation, and
brings them joyfully out of all their trials. So, Christian, you may
rejoice in your security; but you must not think that you are not to be
attacked; you are like a stream from Lebanon, to be dashed down many a
cascade, to be broken over many a rough rock, to be stopped up with many
a huge stone, to be impeded by many a fallen tree; but you are to dash
forward with the irresistible force of God, sweeping everything away,
till you find at last the place of your perfect rest.
_To-morrow._
If to-morrows are not to be boasted of, are they good for nothing? No,
blessed be God. There are a great many things we may do with to-morrows.
I will tell you what we may do with them if we are the children of God.
We may always look forward to them with _patience and confidence_, that
they will work together for our good. We may say of the to-morrows, "I
do not boast of them, but I am not frightened at them; I would not glory
in them, but I will not tremble about them." Yes, we may be very easy
and very comfortable about to-morrow; we may remember that all our times
are in His hands, that all events are at His command; and though we know
not all the windings of the path of providence, yet _He_ knows them all;
they are all settled in His book, and our times are all ordered by His
wisdom. And, therefore, we may look upon the to-morrows as we see them
in the rough bullion of time, about to be minted into every-day's
expenditure, and we may say of them all, "They shall all be gold; they
shall all be stamped with the King's impress, and therefore, let them
come; they will not make me worse--they will work together for my good."
Yea, more, a Christian may rightly look forward to his to-morrows, not
simply with resignation, but also with _joy_. To-morrow to a Christian
is a happy thing; it is one stage nearer glory. It is one step nearer
heaven to a believer; it is just one knot more sailed across the
dangerous sea of life, and he is so much the nearer to his eternal port.
To-morrow! the Christian may rejoice at it; he may say of to-day, "O
day, thou mayst be dark, but I shall bid thee good by, for lo, I see the
morrow coming, and I shall mount upon its wings, and shall flee away and
leave thee and thy sorrows far behind me."
_A Full Heart._
You have seen the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in
which water for the supply of thousands of houses is kept. Now, the
heart is the reservoir of man, from which the streams of his life flow.
That life may flow through different pipes--the mouth, the hand, the
eye; but still all the issues of hand, of eye, of lip, derive their
source from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and
hence there is no difficulty in showing the great necessity that exists
for keeping this reservoir in a proper state and condition, since
otherwise that which flows through the pipes must be tainted and
corrupt. Not only must the heart be kept pure, but it must also be kept
_full_. However pure the water may be in the central reservoir, it will
not be possible for us to have an abundant supply, unless the reservoir
itself be full. An empty fountain will most assuredly beget empty pipes;
let the machinery be never so accurate, let everything else be well
ordered, yet if that reservoir be dry, we may wait in vain for water.
See, then, the necessity of keeping the heart full; and let the
necessity make you ask this question: "But how can I keep my heart full?
How can my emotions be strong? How can I keep my desires burning and my
zeal inflamed?" Christian! there is one text which will explain all
this: "All my springs are in Thee," said David. If thou hast all thy
springs in God, thy heart will be full enough. If thou goest to the foot
of Calvary, there will thy heart be bathed in love and gratitude. If
thou art often in the vale of retirement, talking with thy God, thy
heart shall be full of calm resolve. If you goest with thy Master to the
hill of Olivet, with Him to weep over Jerusalem, then will thy heart be
full of love for never-dying souls. If thou art continually drawing
thine impulse, thy life, the whole of thy being from the Holy Spirit,
without whom thou canst do nothing, and if thou art living in close
communion with Christ, there will be no fear of thy having a dry heart.
He who lives without prayer--he who lives with little prayer--he who
seldom reads the Word--he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh
influence from on high--he will be the man whose heart will become dry
and barren; but he who calls in secret on his God--who spends much time
in holy retirement--who delights to meditate on the words of the Most
High--whose soul is given up to Christ--who delights in His fulness,
rejoices in his all-sufficiency, prays for his second coming, and
delights in the thought of his glorious advent--such a man must have an
overflowing heart; and as his heart is, such will his life be. It will
be a full life; it will be a life that will speak from the sepulchre,
and wake the echoes of the future. "Keep thine heart with all
diligence," and entreat the Holy Spirit to keep it full; for otherwise,
the issues of thy life will be feeble, shallow, and superficial; and
thou mayest as well not have lived at all.
O for a heart thus full, and deep, and broad! Find the man that hath
such a heart, and he is the man from whom living waters shall flow, to
make the world glad with their refreshing streams.
_Persevering Prayer._
Do not give up those prayers which God's Spirit has put in your
hearts--for remember, the things you have asked for are worth waiting
for. Besides, you are a beggar when you are in prayer; therefore you
must not be a chooser as to the time when God shall hear you. If you had
right ideas of yourself, you would say, "It is a wonder that He ever
listens to me at all, so unworthy as I am. Does the Infinite indeed bow
His ear to me? May I hope He will at last listen to me? Then I may well
continue my prayers."
And recollect it is your only hope: there is no other Saviour. This or
none--Christ's blood or else eternal wrath. And to whom shall you go, if
you turn away from Him? None ever yet perished pleading for mercy;
therefore keep on.
Besides, better men than you have had to wait. Kings, and patriarchs,
and prophets have waited; therefore surely you can be content to sit in
the King's antechamber a little while. It is an honor to sit as Mordecai
did at the gate. Pray on--wait on!
"Ah!" says one, "that is just what I have been doing a long time." Yes,
yes, there are different kinds of waiting. A man says, "I have been
waiting:" but he has folded his arms and gone to sleep. You may _wait_
in that way till you are lost. The waiting I mean is "getting all things
ready"--the waiting of the poor sufferer for the physician, who cries
out in pain, "Is the doctor coming?" I will be surety for my Master when
I say that none such will be sent empty away. He will never break his
promise. _Try Him_--TRY HIM!
_Humility._
What is humility of mind? Humility is to make a right estimate of
one's self. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he
ought, though it might rather puzzle him to do that. Some persons, when
they know they can do a thing, tell you they cannot: but you surely
would not call that humility? A man is asked to take part in some good
work: "No," he says, "I have no ability;" yet, if you were to say so of
him, he would be offended at you. It is not humility for a man to stand
up and depreciate himself, and say he cannot do this, that, or the
other, when he knows that it is untrue. If God gives a man a talent, do
you think the man does not know it? If a man has ten talents, he has no
right to be dishonest to his Maker, and to say, "Lord, thou hast only
given me five." It is not humility to underrate your endowments:
humility is to think of yourself, if you can, as God thinks of you. It
is to feel that if we have talents, God has given them to us, and let it
be seen that, like freight in a vessel, they tend to sink us low. The
more we have, the lower we ought to lie. Humility is not to say, "I have
not this gift;" but it is to say, "I have the gift, and I must use it
for my Master's glory. I must never seek any honor for myself; for what
have I that I have not received?" Humility is to feel that we have no
power of ourselves, but that it all cometh from God. Humility is to lean
on our Beloved, saying, "I can do all things through Christ, who
strengtheneth me." It is, in fact, to annihilate self, and to exalt the
Lord Jesus Christ as All in All.
_Look Upwards._
Christian! in all thy troubles, look unto God, and be saved. In all thy
trials and afflictions, look unto Christ, and find deliverance. In all
thine agony, in all thy repentance for thy guilt, look unto Christ, and
find pardon. Remember to put thine eyes heavenward, and thine heart
heavenward too. Bind round thyself a golden chain, and put one link of
it in the staple in heaven. Look unto Christ; fear not. There is no
stumbling when a man walks with his eyes up to Jesus. He that looks at
Christ walks safely.
_The Use of Trial._
Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what
we are made of; they just turn up some of the ill weeds on to the
surface.
_Faith Necessary._
"Whatsoever things are lovely, and pure, and of good report," try and
gain them; but remember that all these things put together, without
faith, do not please God. Virtues, _without faith_, are whitewashed
sins. Unbelief nullifies everything. It is the fly in the ointment; it
is the poison in the pot. Without faith--with all the virtues of purity,
with all the benevolence of philanthropy, with all the kindness of
disinterested sympathy, with all the talents of genius, with all the
bravery of patriotism, and with all the decision of principle--you have
no title to divine acceptance, for "without faith it is impossible to
please God."
Faith fosters every virtue; unbelief withers every virtue in the bud.
Thousands of prayers have been stopped by unbelief; many songs of
praise, that would have swelled the chorus of the skies, have been
stifled by unbelieving murmurs; many a noble enterprise conceived in the
heart has been blighted ere it could come forth by unbelief. Faith is
the Samsonian lock of the Christian: cut it off, and he can do nothing.
Peter, while he had faith, walked on the waves of the sea. But presently
there came a billow behind him, and he said, "That will sweep me away;"
and then another before, and he cried out, "That will overwhelm me;" and
he thought, "How could I be so presumptuous as to walk on the top of
these waves?" And as soon as he doubted, he began to sink. Faith was
Peter's life-buoy--it kept him up; but unbelief sent him down. The
Christian's life may be said to be always "walking on the water," and
every wave would swallow him up; but faith enables him to stand. The
moment you cease to believe, that moment distress and failure follow. O,
wherefore dost thou doubt, then?
_Christ "Altogether Lovely."_
In calling the Lord Jesus "altogether lovely," the Church asserts that
she sees nothing in Him which she does not admire. The world may rail at
His cross and call it shameful; to her it is the very centre and soul of
glory. A proud and scornful nation might reject their King because of
His manger-cradle and peasant-garb, but to her eye the Prince is
glorious in this poor apparel. He is never without beauty to her; never
is His visage marred, or his glory stained. She presses His pierced feet
to her bosom, and looks upon their wounds as jewels. Fools stand by His
cross and find full many a theme for jest and scorn: she discovers
nothing but solemn reason for reverent adoration and unbounded love.
Viewing Him in every office, position, and relationship, she cannot
discover a flaw; in fact, the thought of imperfection is banished far
away. She knows too well His perfect Godhead and His spotless manhood,
to offer a moment's shelter to the thought of a blemish in His
immaculate person; she abominates every teaching that debases Him; she
spurns the most gorgeous drapery that would obscure His beauteous
features; yea, so jealous is she of His honor, that she will hear no
spirit which doth not witness to His praise. A hint against His
undefiled conception or His unsullied purity would stir her soul to holy
wrath, and speedy would be her execration, and relentless her execution
of the heresy. Nothing has ever aroused the ire of the Church so fully
as a word against her Head. To all true believers this is high treason,
and an offence which cannot be treated lightly. Jesus is without a
single blot or blemish, "altogether lovely."
Yet this negative praise, this bold denial of fault, is far from
representing the fulness of the loving admiration of the Church. Jesus
is positively _lovely_ in her eyes. Not barely comely, nor merely fair,
His beauties are attracting beauties, and His glories are such as charm
the heart. Love looks forth from those "dove's eyes, washed with milk,
and fitly set;" it flows from those "lips like lilies dropping
sweet-smelling myrrh," and it sparkles on those hands which are "full of
gold rings, set with chrysolite."
But although this utterance of the Church is the very climax of the
language of praise, and was doubtless intended as the acme of all
description, yet it is not possible that this one sentence, even when
expanded by the most careful meditation, should be able to express more
than a mere particle of the admiration felt. Like a son of Anak, the
sentence towers above all others; but its stature fails to reach the
towering height of Heaven-born love. It is but a faint symbol of
unutterable affection; a choice pearl washed on shore from the deep sea
of love.
_The Remedy for Doubts._
The best way to get your faith strengthened is to have communion with
Christ. If you commune with Christ you cannot be unbelieving. When his
left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me, I cannot
doubt. When my Beloved sits at his table, and He brings me into His
banqueting-house, and His banner over me is Love, then, indeed, I do
believe. When I feast with Him, my unbelief is abashed, and hides its
head. Speak, ye that have been led in the green pastures, and have been
made to lie down by the still waters; ye who have seen His rod and His
staff, and hope to see them even when you walk through the valley of the
shadow of death; speak, ye that have sat at His feet with Mary, or laid
your head upon his bosom with the well-beloved John; have you not found
when you have been near to Christ your faith has grown strong, and when
you have been far away from Him, your faith has become weak? It is
impossible to look Christ in the face and then doubt Him. When you
cannot see Him, then you doubt Him; but you must believe when your
Beloved speaks unto you, and says, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and
come away." There is no hesitation then; you must arise from the
lowlands of your doubt up to the hills of assurance.
_All Things working for Good._
Christ is the arbiter of all events; in everything His sway is supreme;
and He exercises His power for the good of His Church. He spins the
thread of events, and acts from the distaff of destiny, and does not
suffer those threads to be woven otherwise than according to the pattern
of His loving wisdom. He will not allow the mysterious wheel to revolve
in any way which shall not bring good unto His chosen. He makes their
worst things blessings to them, and their best things he sanctifies. In
times of plenty, He blesses their increase; in times of famine, He
supplies all their needs. As all things are working for His glory, so
all things are working for their good.
_The Triumph of Grace._
It is one of the greatest of wonders that all men do not love Christ.
Nothing manifests more clearly the utter corruption of our race than the
fact that "He was despised and rejected of men." Those, however, who
have seen the fountains of the great deep of human depravity broken up,
are not at a loss to account for the treatment of the Messiah. It was
not possible that darkness should have fellowship with light, or Christ
with Belial. Fallen man could not walk with Jesus, for the two were not
agreed. It was but the necessary result of the contact of two such
opposites that the guilty creature should hate the Perfect One. "Crucify
Him, crucify Him," is the natural cry of fallen man. Our first wonder is
displaced, and another wonder fills the sphere of thought. Did we marvel
that all men do not love?--it is a greater marvel still that any man
does love Jesus. In the first case we saw the terrible blindness which
failed to discover the brightness of the sun--with a shudder we saw it,
and were greatly amazed; but in this second instance we behold Jesus of
Nazareth opening the fast-closed eye, and scattering the Egyptian
darkness with the Divine radiance of His marvellous light. Is this less
a wonder? If it was a strange thing to witness the fearful ravings of
the demoniac among the tombs, it is surely far more a prodigy to see
that same man sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right
mind. It is indeed a triumph of grace when man's heart is brought to
give its affection to Jesus, for it proves that the work of Satan is all
undone, and that man is restored from his fallen state.
_Religion a Personal Matter._
Some men say that they will test the holiness of Christ's religion by
the holiness of Christ's people. You have no right, I reply, to put the
question to any such test as that. The proper test that you ought to use
is to try it yourselves--to "taste and see that the Lord is good." By
tasting and seeing you will prove His goodness, and by the same process
you must prove the holiness of His Gospel. Your business is to seek
Christ crucified for yourselves, not to take the representation of
another man concerning the power of grace to subdue corruption and to
sanctify the heart. Inasmuch as God has given you a Bible, He intended
you to read it, and not to be content with reading _men_. You are not to
be content with feelings that rise through the conversation of others;
your only power to know true religion is, by having His Holy Spirit
operating upon your own heart, that you may yourself experience what is
the power of religion. You have no right to judge religion from anything
extra or external from itself. And if you despise it before you have
tried it yourself, you must stand confessed in this world as a fool, and
in the next world as a criminal. And yet this is so with most men. If
you hear a man rail at the Bible, you may usually conclude that he never
reads it. And you may be quite certain if you hear a man speak against
religion, that he never knew what religion was. True religion, when once
it takes possession of the heart, never allows a man to quarrel with it.
That man will call Christ his best friend who knows Christ at all. We
have found many who have despised the enjoyments of this world, but we
never found one who turned from religion with disgust or with satiety,
after having once enjoyed it. No! no! you chose your own delusions, and
you chose them at your own risk; you foster them at your own peril. For
if you take your religion from other people, and are led by the example
of professors to discard religion, you are nevertheless guilty of your
own blood. God has not left you to the uncertain chart of men's
characters: He has given you His own Word; the more sure word of
testimony, whereunto you do well that ye take heed.
_Strength Through Weakness._
The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself. God
poureth no power into man's heart till man's power is all poured out.
The Christian's life is one of daily dependence on the grace and
strength of God.
_Begin Well._
I have known men run the race of religion with all their might, and
yet they have lost it because they did not start right. You say, "Well,
how is that?" Why, there are some people who on a sudden leap into
religion. They get it quickly, and they keep it for a time, and at last
they lose it because they did not get their religion the right way. They
have heard that before a man can be saved, it is necessary that, by the
teaching of the Holy Spirit, he should feel the weight of sin, that he
should make a confession of it, that he should renounce all hope in his
own works, and should look to Jesus Christ alone. They look upon all
these things as unpleasant preliminaries, and, therefore, before they
have attended to repentance, before the Holy Spirit has wrought a good
work in them, before they have been brought to give up everything and
trust to Christ, they make a profession of religion. This is just
setting up in business without a stock in trade, and there must be a
failure. If a man has no capital to begin with, he may make a fine show
for a little time, but it shall be as the crackling of thorns under a
pot,--a great deal of noise and much light for a little while, but it
shall die out in darkness. How many there are who never think it
necessary that there should be heart work within! Let us remember,
however, that there never was a man who had a changed heart without his
first having a miserable heart. We must pass through that black tunnel
of conviction before we can come out upon the high embankment of holy
joy; we must first go through the Slough of Despond before we can run
along the Walls of Salvation. There must be ploughing before there is
sowing; there must be many a frost, and many a sharp shower, before
there is any reaping. But we often act like little children who pluck
flowers from the shrubs, and plant them in their gardens without roots;
then they say how fair and how pretty their little garden is; but wait a
while, and all their flowers are withered, because they have no roots.
This is all the effect of not having a right start, not having the "root
of the matter." What is the good of outward religion, the flower and the
leaf of it, unless we have the "root of the matter" in us--unless we
have been ploughed with the plough of the Spirit, and then have been
sown with the sacred seed of the Gospel, in the hope of bringing forth
an abundant harvest? There must be a good start in running the Christian
race, for there is no hope of winning unless the start be right.
_The Robe of Righteousness._
Our court-dress in heaven, and our garment of sanctification for daily
wear, are the condescending gifts of Christ's love.
_Cross-Bearers._
What an honorable position was that of Simon the Cyrenian, to be
cross-bearer to Jesus Christ! We could almost weep that we were not
there, that we might have had the honor of carrying Christ's cross for
Him. But we need not weep, for we shall have His cross to carry if we
are His people. There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not
cross-bearers here below. There shall be none among the throng of the
glorified who had not their cross on earth. Hast thou a cross, believer?
Shoulder it manfully! Up with it! Go along thy journey with unshrinking
footsteps and a rejoicing heart, knowing that since it is _Christ's_
cross it must be an honor to carry it; and that while you are bearing it
you are in blessed company, for you are _following Him_.
_The Happiness of Religion._