it is our strength and our joy, let us at the same time remember that
there is a _temptation_ connected with it. When thou hast gained this
full assurance, believer, then be on thy watch-tower, for the next
temptation will be, "Soul, take thine ease; the work is done; thou
_hast_ attained; now fold thine arms; sit thou still; all will end well;
why needest thou too much to vex thyself?" Take heed in those seasons
when you have no doubts. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation." "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
"I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by Thy favor Thou hast made my
mountain to stand strong." And what next? "Thou didst hide Thy face, and
I was troubled." Bless God for full assurance; but, remember, nothing
but careful walking can preserve it. Full assurance is a priceless
pearl; but when a man has a precious jewel, and he walks the streets, he
ought to be much afraid of pickpockets. So, when the Christian has full
assurance, let him be sure that Satan will try to rob him of it. Let him
be more circumspect in his walk, and more diligent in his watch than he
was before.
_Evidence of the New Life._
"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious," it is _certain
evidence of a divine change_; for men by nature find no delight in
Jesus. I do not inquire what your experience may have been, or may not
have been; if Christ be precious to you, there has been a work of grace
in your heart; if you love Him, if His presence be your joy, if His
blood be your hope, if His glory be your object and aim, and if His
person be the constant love of your soul, you could not have had this
taste by nature, for you were dead; you could not have acquired this
taste by learning, for this is a miracle which none but the God who is
supreme over nature could have wrought in you. Let every tried and
troubled Christian, who, nevertheless, does taste that the Lord is good,
take consolation from this. "The upright love thee."
"_A few Names even in Sardis._"
"Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their
garments." Here we have special preservation. Mark it carefully. "Thou
hast a few names." Only a few; not so few as some think, but not so many
as others imagine. A few compared with the mass of professors: a few
compared even with the true children of God, for many of _them_ have
defiled their garments. There were but a few, and those few were even in
_Sardis_. There is not a Church on earth which is so corrupt but has "a
few."
Take heart, Christians; there are a few in Sardis. Do not be quite cast
down. _Some_ heroes have not turned their backs in the day of battle;
_some_ mighty men still fight for the truth. But be careful, for,
perhaps, you are not one of the "few." Since there are but "a few,"
there ought to be great searchings of heart. Let us look to _our_
garments, and see whether they be defiled. And since there are but
"few," _be active_. The fewer the workmen to do the work, the greater
reason is there that you should be active. "Be instant in season, out of
season." Oh! if we had hundreds behind us, we might say, "Let _them_ do
the work;" but if we stand with only "a few," how should each of those
few exert themselves!
Stir yourselves up, then, to the greatest activity, for verily there
are but a few in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. Above all,
_be prayerful_. Put up your earnest cries to God that He would multiply
the faithful, that He would increase the number of chosen ones who stand
fast, and that He would purify the Church. Cry unto God that the day may
come when the much fine gold shall be no longer dim; when the glory
shall again return to Zion. Beg of God to remove the cloud, to take away
"the darkness that may be felt." Be doubly prayerful, for there are but
few in Sardis who have not defiled their garments.
_Increase of Strength._
The troubles with which the plants of God's right-hand planting are
assailed when they are saplings are very inconsiderable compared with
those which blow about them when they become, like cedars, strongly
rooted. When we grow strong, so sure as our strength increases, our
sufferings, our trials, our labors, or our temptations, will be
multiplied. God's power is never communicated to any man to be laid up
in store. The food which is given to strengthen us, like the manna which
was gathered by the Israelites in the wilderness, is intended for
immediate use. When the Lord puts upon our feet the shoes of iron which
He has promised us in the covenant, it is that we may walk in them--not
that we may put them into our museum, and gaze upon them as curiosities.
If He gives us a strong hand, it is because we have a strong foe to
fight with. If He shall give us a great meal, as He did Elijah of old,
it is that we may go for a forty-day's journey in the strength of that
meal.
_The Triumphant Deliverance._
When the Israelites went forth out of the land of Egypt, they took
with them the whole of their possessions, according to the word of the
Lord--"Not a hoof shall be left behind." What does this teach us? Why,
not only that all God's _people_ shall be saved, but that all which
God's people _ever had_ shall be restored. All which Jacob ever took
down to Egypt shall be brought out again. Have I lost a perfect
righteousness in Adam? I shall have a perfect righteousness in Christ.
Have I lost happiness on earth in Adam? God will give me much happiness
here below in Christ. Have I lost heaven in Adam? I shall have heaven in
Christ; for Christ came not only to seek and to save the people who were
lost, but _that which_ was lost; that is, all the inheritance, as well
as the people; all their property. Not the sheep merely, but the good
pasture which the sheep had lost; not only the prodigal son, but all the
prodigal son's estates. Everything was brought out of Egypt; not even
Joseph's bones were left behind. The Egyptians could not say that they
had a scrap of the Israelites' property--not even one of their kneading
troughs, nor one of their old garments. And when Christ shall have
conquered all things to Himself, the Christian shall not have lost one
atom by the toils of Egypt, but shall be able to say, "O _death_, where
is thy sting? O _grave_, where is thy victory?" O _hell_, where is thy
triumph? Thou hast not a flag nor a pennon to show of thy victory; there
is not a casque or a helmet left upon the battle-field; there is not a
single trophy which thou mayst raise up in hell in scorn of Christ. He
hath not only delivered His people, but they have gone out with flying
colors. Stand and admire and love the Lord, who thus delivers all His
people. "Great are Thy works, O Lord, and marvellous are Thy doings; and
that my soul knoweth right well."
_A Complete Saviour._
It would be inconsistent with the character of Him "by whom are all
things," if He had sent an incomplete Saviour; that is, if He had left
us to do part ourselves, and for Christ to do the rest. Look at the sun.
God wills for the sun to light the earth: doth he ask the earth's
darkness to contribute to the light? Doth He question the night, and ask
whether it has not in its sombre shades something which it may
contribute to the brightness of noon? No; up rises the sun in the
morning, like a giant to run his race, and the earth is made bright. And
shall God turn to the dark sinner, and ask him whether there is anything
in him which may contribute to eternal light? No; Jesus rises as the Sun
of Righteousness, with healing beneath His wings, and darkness is, at
His coming, light. He alone is "the light of the world;" His own arm
brought salvation; He asks no help from man, but giveth all and doeth
all of His own rich grace, and is a complete and perfect Saviour.
_Home-Mercies._
When we realize that all our daily mercies come to us as the gifts of
our Father in heaven, it makes them doubly precious to us. There is
nothing which tastes as sweet to the school-boy as that which comes from
home. So with the Christian. All his mercies are sweeter because they
are home-mercies--they come "from above;" the land in which he lives is
not like the land of Egypt, fed by a river; but it "drinketh water of
the rain or heaven." Happy the lot of that man who thus receives
everything as coming from God, and thanks his Father for it all! It
makes anything sweet, when he knows it comes from heaven. This thought,
also, has a tendency to keep us from an overweening love of the world.
The spies went to Eshcol, and fetched thence an immense cluster of the
grapes which grew there; but you do not find that the people said, "The
fruits we have received from the land of promise, make us contented to
stay in the wilderness." No; they saw that the grapes came from Canaan,
and thereupon they said, "Let us go on and possess the land." And so,
when we get rich mercies, if we think they come from the natural soil of
this earth alone, we might well feel a wish to stay here. But if we know
that they come from a foreign clime, we are naturally anxious to go
"Where our dear Lord His vineyard keeps,
And all the clusters grow."
Christian, rejoice then in the thought that all thou hast cometh from
above; thy daily bread cometh not so much from thine industry as from
thy heavenly Father's care; thou seest stamped upon every mercy heaven's
own inscription, and every blessing comes down to thee perfumed with the
ointment, and the spikenard, and the myrrh of the ivory palaces, whence
God dispenses His bounties.
"_Grace Doth Much More Abound._"
There has never been a period in this world's history when it was
wholly given up to sin. God has always had His servants on earth; at
times they may have been hidden by fifties in the caves, but they have
never been utterly cut off. Grace may be low; the stream might be very
shallow, but it has never been wholly dry. The clouds have never been so
universal as to hide the day. But the time is fast approaching when
grace shall extend all over our world, and "the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." "Grace doth
_much more_ abound;" and whatever possessions the world has lost by sin,
it has gained _far more_ by grace. It is true we have been expelled from
a garden of delights, where peace, love, and happiness found a glorious
habitation, but we have through Jesus a fairer inheritance. The plains
of heaven exceed the fields of paradise in the ever-new delights which
they afford, while the tree of life, and the river from the throne,
render the inhabitants of the celestial regions more than imparadised.
It is true that we have become subject to death by sin, yet has not
grace revealed an immortality for the sake of which we are glad to die?
Life lost in Adam is more than restored in Christ. Our original robes
were rent asunder by Adam, but Jesus has clothed us with a divine
righteousness, far exceeding in value even the spotless robes of created
innocence. We mourn our low and miserable condition through sin, but we
rejoice at the thought, that we are now more secure than before we fell,
we are brought into closer alliance with Jesus than our creature
standing could ever boast. O Jesus! Thou hast won us an inheritance more
wide than Adam ever lost; Thou hast filled our coffer with greater
riches than our sin has ever lavished; Thou hast loaded us with honors,
and endowed us with privileges far more excellent than our natural
birthright could have procured us. Truly, truly, "grace doth much more
abound."
_Unsubmissive Prayers._
When we look at our prayers, we have much reason to deplore the
_unsubmissive spirit_ which too often pervades them. How often have we
in our prayers not simply wrestled with God for a blessing--for that was
allowable--but we have imperiously demanded it! We have not said, "Deny
this to me, O my God, if so thou pleasest;" we have not been ready to
say, as the Redeemer did, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou
wilt;" but we have asked after the blind inclination of our ignorance,
as if we could brook no denial from the omniscient counsel of His will.
Forgetful of a humble deference to our Lord's superior wisdom and grace,
we have asked and declared that we would not be content unless we had
that particular desire upon which our hearts were set. Now, whenever we
come to God, and ask for anything which we consider a real good, we have
a right to plead earnestly; but we err when we go beyond the bounds of
earnestness, and come to _demand_. It is ours to ask for a blessing, but
not to define what the blessing shall be. It is ours to place our head
beneath the mighty hands of divine benediction, but it is not ours to
uplift the hands, as Joseph did those of Jacob, and say, "Not so, my
father." We must be content if He gives the blessing cross-handed; quite
as content that He should put His left hand on our head as the right. We
must not intrude into God's almonry, "It is the Lord, let Him do as
seemeth Him good." Prayer was never meant to be a fetter upon the
sovereignty of God. We must always subjoin at the bottom of the prayer
this heavenly postscript, "Father, deny this if it be most for Thy
glory." Christ will have nothing to do with dictatorial prayers.
"_More than Conquerors._"
The Christian is to be a conqueror at last. Do you think that we are
forever to be the drudges and the slaves of sin, sighing for freedom,
and yet never able to escape from its bondage? No! Soon the chains which
confine me shall be broken, the doors of my prison shall be opened, and
I shall mount to the glorious city, the abode of holiness, where I shall
be entirely freed from sin. We who love the Lord are not to sojourn in
Mesech for aye. The dust may defile our robes now, but the day is coming
when we shall rise and shake ourselves from the dust, and put on our
beautiful garments. It is true we are now like Israel in Canaan. Canaan
is full of enemies; but the Canaanites shall and must be driven out, and
the whole land from Dan to Beersheba shall be the Lord's. Christians,
rejoice! You are soon to be perfect, soon to be free from sin, without
one wrong inclination, one evil desire. You are soon to be as pure as
the angels in light; nay, more, with your Master's garments on, you are
to be "holy as the holy One." Can you think of that? Is it not the very
sum of heaven, the rapture of bliss, the sonnet of the hill-tops of
glory--that you are to be perfect? No temptation can reach you, nor if
the temptation could reach you would you be hurt by it; for there will
be nothing in you which could in any way foster sin. It would be as when
a spark falls upon an ocean; your holiness would quench it in a moment.
Yes, washed in the blood of Jesus, you are soon to walk the golden
streets, white-robed and white-hearted too. O, rejoice in the immediate
prospect, and let it nerve you for the present conflict.
_Christian Gladness._
Eminent as David was for his piety, he was equally eminent for the
joyfulness and gladness of his heart. It is often thought by worldly
people, that the contemplation of divine things has a tendency to
depress the spirits. Now, there is no greater mistake. No man is so
happy, but he would be happier still if he had religion. The man who has
a fulness of earthly pleasure, would not lose any part of his happiness,
had he the grace of God in his heart; rather that joy would add
sweetness to all his prosperity; it would strain off many of the bitter
dregs from his cup, and show him how to extract more honey from the
honeycomb. Godliness can make the most melancholy joyful, while it can
make the joyous ones more joyful still, lighting up the face with a
heavenly gladness, making the eyes sparkle with tenfold more brilliance;
and happy as the worldly man may be, he shall find that there is sweeter
nectar than he has ever drunk before, if he comes to the fountain of
atoning mercy; if he knows that his name is registered in the book of
everlasting life. Temporal mercies will then have the charm of
redemption to enhance them. They will be no longer to him as shadowy
phantoms which dance for a transient hour in the sunbeam. He will
account them more precious because they are given to him, as it were, in
some codicils of the divine testament, which hath promise of the life
which now is, as well as of that which is to come. While goodness and
mercy follow him all the days of his life, he will be able to stretch
forth his grateful anticipations to the future when he shall dwell in
the house of the Lord forever, and to say with the Psalmist, "Thou hast
made me most blessed forever: Thou hast made me exceeding glad with Thy
countenance."
_The Condescension of Christ._
When the Saviour appeared among men, it was not as one lifted up from
the ranks to procure station for Himself, but as one who descended from
the heavens to convey blessings to the people. The ignorant and the
illiterate find in Him their best friend. He is no stern law-giver, who,
wrapped up in His own integrity, looks upon the transgressor with the
eye of justice; neither is He simply the bold enunciator of penalty and
punishment, nor the pitiless denouncer of crime and iniquity. He is the
gentle lover of our souls; the good Shepherd coming forth, not so much
to slay the wolf, as to save the sheep. As the nurse tenderly watches
over her child, so He watches for the souls of men; and like as a father
pitieth his children, so does Jesus pity poor sinners. It is not so much
drawing sinners up to Him, as coming down to them; not standing on the
mountain-top and bidding them ascend, but coming down from the mountain,
and mingling in social intercourse with them; coming down from the high
pastures after His sheep in the glens, and in the ravines, that He may
lay hold of them, lift them on His mighty shoulders, and bear them up to
the place where He shall fold them in purity, bless them with all grace,
and preserve them unto future glory.
_All of Grace._
God's people, after they are called by grace, are preserved in Christ
Jesus; they are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;"
they are not suffered to sin away their eternal inheritance, but as
temptations arise, they have strength given with which to encounter
them; and as sin defiles them, they are washed afresh, and again
cleansed. But mark, the reason why God keeps His people, is the same as
that which made them His people--His own free, sovereign grace. If you
have been delivered in the hour of temptation, pause and remember that
you were not delivered for your own sake. There was nothing in you which
deserved the deliverance. If you have been fed and supplied in your hour
of need, it is not because you have been a faithful servant of God, or
because you have been a prayerful Christian; it is simply and only
because of God's mercy. He is not moved to anything He does for you by
anything which you do for Him; His motive for blessing you lies wholly
and entirely in the depths of His own bosom. Blessed be God, His people
shall be kept.
"Nor death nor hell shall e'er remove
His favorites from His breast;
In the dear bosom of His love
They must forever rest."
But why? Because they are holy? Because they are sanctified? Because
they serve God with good works? No, but because He, in His sovereign
grace, has loved them, does love them, and will love them to the end.
Thus, salvation from first to last is all of grace. Then how _humble_ a
Christian ought to be! We have nothing whatever to do with our
salvation; God has done it all. It is mercy undeserved which we have
received. It is His boundless, fathomless love which has led Him to save
us; and it is the same love and mercy which upholds us now. To Him be
glory!
"_This Man Receiveth Sinners._"
"This man receiveth sinners." Poor sinsick sinner, what a sweet word
this is for thee! Respond, respond to it, and say, "Surely, then, He
will not reject me." Let me encourage thee to come to my Master, that
thou mightest receive His great atonement, and be clothed with all His
righteousness. Mark: those whom I address, are the _bona fide_, real,
actual sinners; not those who only _say_ they are sinners with a general
confession, but those who _feel_ their lost, ruined, hopeless condition.
All these are frankly and freely invited to come to Jesus Christ, and to
be saved by Him. Come, poor sinner, come. Come, because He has said He
will receive you. I know thy fears; I know thou sayest in thy heart, "He
will reject me. If I present my prayer, He will not hear me; if I cry
unto Him, yet per-adventure, the heavens will be as brass; I have been
so great a sinner, that He will never take me into His house to dwell
with Him." Poor sinner! say not so; _He_ hath published the decree. Is
not this enough? He has said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out." Dost thou not venture on that promise? Wilt thou not go to
sea in a ship as stanch as this. _He hath said it_? It has been often
the only comfort of the saints; on this they have lived, on this they
have died. _He hath said it._ What! dost thou think Christ would tell
thee He will receive thee, and yet not do so? Would He say, "Come ye to
the supper," and yet shut the door upon you? No; if He has said He will
cast out none that come to Him, rest assured He cannot, He will not cast
you out. Come, then, try His love on this ground, that He has said it.
Come, and fear not, because remember, if thou feelest thyself to be a
sinner, that feeling is God's gift; and therefore thou mayst very safely
come to One who has already done so much to draw thee. If thou feelest
thy need of a Saviour, Christ made thee feel it; if thou hast a wish to
come after Christ, Christ gave thee that wish; if thou hast any desire
after God, God gave thee that desire; if thou canst sigh after Christ,
Christ made thee sigh; if thou canst weep after Christ, Christ made thee
weep. Ay, if thou canst only wish for Him with the strong wish of one
who fears he never can find, yet hopes he may--if thou canst but hope
for Him, He has given thee that hope. And O, wilt not thou come to Him?
Thou hast some of the King's bounties about thee now; come and plead
what He hath done; there is no suit which can ever fail with God, when
thou pleadest this. Come to Him, and thou wilt find it is true which is
written, that "this man receiveth sinners."
"_Wherein Ye Greatly Rejoice._"