hath made him the child of God. The earth may shake, the pillars of
the world may tremble under us, the countenance of the heaven may be
appalled, the sun may lose his light, the moon her beauty, the stars
their glory: but concerning the man that trusteth in God,--what is
there in the world that shall change his heart, overthrow his faith,
alter his affection towards God, or the affection of God to
him?"--_Richard Hooker_, 1585.
If you have not yet taken up the cross and become Christ's disciple, you
little know what privileges you are missing. Peace with God now and
glory hereafter,--the everlasting arms to keep you by the way, and the
garner of safety in the end,--all these are freely offered to you
without money and without price. You may say that Christians have
tribulations;--you forget that they have also consolations. You may say
they have peculiar sorrows;--you forget they have also peculiar joys.
You see but half the Christian life. You see not all. You see the
warfare;--but not the meat and the wages. You see the tossing and
conflict of the outward part of Christianity; you see not the hidden
treasures which lie deep within. Like Elisha's servant, you see the
enemies of God's children; but you do not, like Elisha, see the chariots
and horses of fire which protect them. Oh, judge not by outward
appearances! Be sure that the least drop of the water of life is better
than all the rivers of the world. Remember the garner and the crown. Be
wise in time.
If you feel that you are a weak disciple, think not that weakness shuts
you out from any of the privileges of which I have been speaking. Weak
faith is true faith, and weak grace is true grace; and both are the gift
of Him who never gives in vain. Fear not, neither be discouraged. Doubt
not, neither despair. Jesus will never "break the bruised reed, nor
quench the smoking flax." (Isa. xlii. 3.) The babes in a family are as
much loved and thought of as the elder brothers and sisters. The tender
seedlings in a garden are as diligently looked after as the old trees.
The lambs in the flock are as carefully tended by the good shepherd as
the old sheep. Oh, rest assured it is just the same in Christ's family,
in Christ's garden, in Christ's flock! All are loved. All are tenderly
thought of. All are cared for. And all shall be found in His garner at
last.
IV. Let me show, in the last place, the _portion which remains for all
who are not Christ's people_.
The text at the beginning of this paper describes this in words which
should make our ears tingle: Christ shall "burn up the chaff with fire
unquenchable."
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to purge His floor, He shall punish all
who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment. All who are found
impenitent and unbelieving,--all who have held the truth in
unrighteousness,--all who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and set
their affections on things below,--all who are without Christ,--all such
shall come to an awful end. Christ shall "burn up the chaff."
Their punishment shall be _most severe_. There is no pain like that of
burning. Put your finger in the candle for a moment, if you doubt this,
and try. Fire is the most destructive and devouring of all elements.
Look into the mouth of a blast-furnace, and think what it would be to be
there. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live
in air, and earth, and water; but nothing can live in fire. Yet fire is
the portion to which the Christless and unbelieving will come. Christ
will "burn up the chaff with fire."
Their punishment shall be _eternal_. Millions of ages shall pass away,
and the fire into which the chaff is cast shall still burn on. That fire
shall never burn low and become dim. The fuel of that fire shall never
waste away and be consumed. It is "unquenchable fire."
Alas, these are sad and painful things to speak of! I have no pleasure
in dwelling on them. I could rather say with the Apostle Paul, as I
write, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow." (Rom. ix. 2.) But
they are things written for our learning, and it is good to consider
them. They are a part of that Scripture which is "all profitable," and
they ought to be heard. Painful as the subject of hell is, it is one
about which I dare not, cannot, must not be silent. Who would desire to
speak of hell-fire if God had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of
it so plainly, who can safely hold his peace?
I dare not shut my eyes to the fact that a deep-rooted infidelity lurks
in men's minds on the subject of hell. I see it oozing out in the utter
apathy of some: they eat, and drink, and sleep, as if there was no wrath
to come. I see it creeping forth in the coldness of others about their
neighbours' souls: they show little anxiety to pluck brands from the
fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with all my might. Believing
that there are "terrors of the Lord," as well as the "recompense of
reward," I call on all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their
guard.
(_a_) I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They
think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent
with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really
true. The devil of course rejoices in the views of such people. They
help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his own favourite
doctrine: "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.)
(_b_) I know, furthermore, that some do not believe that hell is
eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will
punish men for ever. He will surely open the prison doors at last. This
also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. "Take your ease," he
whispers to sinners: "if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not
for ever." A wicked woman was overheard in the streets of London saying
to a bad companion, "Come along: who is afraid? Some parsons say there
is no hell."
(_c_) I know also that some believe there is a hell, but never allow
that anybody is going there. All people, with them, are good as soon as
they die,--all were sincere,--all meant well,--and all, they hope, got
to heaven. Alas, what a common delusion is this! I can well understand
the feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all the wicked
people were buried, "for she found no mention on the grave-stones of any
except the good."
(_d_) And I know very well that some believe there is a hell, and never
like it to be spoken of. It is a subject that should always be kept
back, in their opinion. They see no profit in bringing it forward, and
are rather shocked when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to
the devil. "Hush, hush!" says Satan, "say nothing about hell." The
fowler wishes to hear no noise when he lays his snares. The wolf would
like the shepherd to sleep while he prowls round the fold. The devil
rejoices when Christians are silent about hell.
All these notions are the opinions of man. But what is it to you and me
what man thinks in religion? Man will not judge us at the last day.
Man's fancies and traditions are not to be our guide in this life. There
is but one point to be settled: "What says the Word of God?"
(_a_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is real and
true_. It is true as heaven,--as true as justification by faith,--as
true as the fact that Christ died upon the cross,--as true as the Dead
Sea. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt if
you doubt hell. Disbelieve hell, and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin
everything in Scripture. You may as well throw your Bible away at once.
From "no hell" to "no God" there is but a series of steps.
(_b_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell will have
inhabitants_. The wicked shall certainly be turned into hell, and all
the people that forget God. "These shall go away into everlasting
punishment." (Matt. xxv. 46.) The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a
throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgment, and men will
see there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb." (Rev. vi. 16.) The
same lips which now say, "Come: come unto Me!" will one day say,
"Depart, ye cursed!" Alas, how awful the thought of being condemned by
Christ Himself, judged by the Saviour, sentenced to misery by the Lamb!
(_c_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell will be
intense and unutterable woe_. It is vain to talk of all the expressions
about it being only figures of speech. The pit, the prison, the worm,
the fire, the thirst, the blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the
gnashing of teeth, the second death,--all these may be figures of speech
if you please. But Bible figures mean something, beyond all question,
and here they mean something which man's mind can never fully conceive.
The miseries of mind and conscience are far worse than those of the
body. The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter
recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future, will
never be thoroughly known except by those who go there.
(_d_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is eternal_.
It must be eternal, or words have no meaning at all. For ever and
ever--everlasting--unquenchable--never-dying,--all these are expressions
used about hell, and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must
be eternal, or the very foundations of heaven are cast down. If hell has
an end, heaven has an end too. They both stand or fall together.--It
must be eternal, or else every doctrine of the Gospel is undermined. If
a man may escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or
sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and
there was no such great need for Christ making an atonement. And where
is there warrant for saying that hell can ever change a heart, or make
it fit for heaven?--It must be eternal, or hell would cease to be hell
altogether. Give a man hope, and he will bear anything. Grant a hope of
deliverance, however distant, and hell is but a drop of water. Ah, these
are solemn things! Well said old Caryl: "FOR EVER is the most solemn
saying in the Bible." Alas, for that day which will have no
to-morrow,--that day when men shall seek death and not find it, and
shall desire to die, but death shall flee from them! Who shall dwell
with devouring fire? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (Rev.
ix. 6; Isa. xxxiii. 14.)
(_e_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is a subject
that ought not to be kept back_. It is striking to observe the many
texts about it in Scripture. It is striking to observe that none say so
much about it as our Lord Jesus Christ, that gracious and merciful
Saviour; and the apostle John, whose heart seems full of love. Truly it
may well be doubted whether we ministers speak of it as much as we
ought. I cannot forget the words of a dying hearer of Mr. Newton's:
"Sir, you often told me of Christ and salvation: why did you not oftener
remind me of hell and danger?"
Let others hold their peace about hell if they will;--I dare not do so.
I see it plainly in Scripture, and I must speak of it. I fear that
thousands are on that broad way that leads to it, and I would fain
arouse them to a sense of the peril before them. What would you say of
the man who saw his neighbour's house in danger of being burned down,
and never raised the cry of "Fire"? What ought to be said of us as
ministers, if we call ourselves watchmen for souls, and yet see the
fires of hell raging in the distance, and never give the alarm? Call it
bad taste, if you like, to speak of hell. Call it charity to make things
pleasant, and speak smoothly, and soothe men with a constant lullaby of
peace. From such notions of taste and charity may I ever be delivered!
My notion of charity is to warn men plainly of danger. My notion of
taste in the ministerial office is to declare all the counsel of God. If
I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was
profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil.
I beseech every reader of this paper, in all tender affection, to beware
of false views of the subject on which I have been dwelling. Beware of
new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment.
Beware of manufacturing a God of your own,--a God who is all mercy, but
not just,--a God who is all love, but not holy,--a God who has a heaven
for everybody, but a hell for none,--a God who can allow good and bad to
be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and
bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as really as Jupiter
or Moloch,--as true an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian
temple,--as true an idol as was ever moulded out of brass or clay. The
hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the
God of the Bible, and besides the God of the Bible there is no God at
all. Your heaven would be no heaven at all. A heaven containing all
sorts of characters indiscriminately would be miserable discord indeed.
Alas, for the eternity of such a heaven! there would be little
difference between it and hell. There is a hell! There is a fire for the
chaff! Take heed lest you find it out, to your cost, too late.
Beware of being wise above that which is written. Beware of forming
fanciful theories of your own, and then trying to make the Bible square
in with them. Beware of making selections from your Bible to suit your
taste,--refusing, like a spoilt child, whatever you think
bitter,--seizing, like a spoilt child, whatever you think sweet. What is
all this but taking Jehoiakim's penknife? (Jer. xxxvi. 23.) What does it
amount to but telling God, that you, a poor short-lived worm, know what
is good for you better than He. It will not do: it will not do. You must
take the Bible as it is. You must read it all, and believe it all. You
must come to the reading of it in the spirit of a little child. Dare not
to say, "I believe this verse, for I like it. I reject that, for I do
not like it. I receive this, for I can understand it. I refuse that, for
I cannot reconcile it with my views." Nay, but, O man, "who art thou
that repliest against God?" (Rom. ix. 20.) By what right do you talk in
this way? Surely it were better to say over every chapter in the Word,
"Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."--If men would do this, they
would never deny hell, the chaff, and the fire.
And now, let me say four things in conclusion, and then I have done. I
have shown the two great classes of mankind, the wheat and the chaff.--I
have shown the separation which will one day take place.--I have shown
the safety of the Lord's people.--I have shown the fearful portion of
the Christless and unbelieving.--I commend these things to the
conscience of every reader of this paper, as in the sight of God.
(1) First of all, settle it down in your mind that the things of which I
have been speaking are _all real and true_.
I do believe that many never see the great truths of religion in this
light. I firmly believe that many never listen to the things they hear
from ministers as realities. They regard it all, like Gallio, as a
matter of "names and words," and nothing more; a huge shadow,--a formal
part-acting,--a vast sham. The last novel, the latest news from France,
India, Australia, Turkey, or New York,--all these are things they
realize: they feel interested and excited about them. But as to the
Bible, and heaven, and the kingdom of Christ, and the judgment
day,--these are subjects that they hear unmoved: they do not really
believe them. If Layard had dug up at Nineveh anything damaging the
truth and authority of the Old Testament Scriptures, it would not have
interfered with their peace for an hour.
If you have unhappily got into this frame of mind, I charge you to cast
it off for ever. Whether you mean to hear or forbear, awaken to a
thorough conviction that the things I have brought before you are real
and true. The wheat, the chaff, the separation, the garner, the
fire,--all these are great realities,--as real as the sun in heaven,--as
real as the paper which your eyes behold. For my part, I believe in
heaven, and I believe in hell. I believe in a coming judgment. I believe
in a day of sifting. I am not ashamed to say so. I believe them all, and
therefore write as I do. Oh, take a friend's advice,--live as if these
things were true.
(2) Settle it down in your mind, in the second place, that the things of
which I write _concern yourself_. They are your business, your affair,
and your concern.
Many, I am satisfied, never look on religion as a matter that concerns
themselves. They attend on its outward part, as a decent and proper
fashion. They hear sermons. They read religious books. They have their
children christened. But all the time they never ask themselves, "What
is all this to me?" They sit in our churches like spectators in a
theatre or court of law. They read our writings as if they were reading
a report of an interesting trial, or of some event far away. But they
never say to themselves, "I am the man."
If you have this kind of feeling, depend upon it it will never do. There
must be an end of all this if ever you are to be saved. You are the man
I write to, whoever you may be who reads this paper. I write not
specially to the rich. I write not specially to the poor. I write to
everybody who will read, whatever his rank may be. It is on your soul's
account that I am pleading, and not another's. You are spoken of in the
text that begins this paper. You are this very day either among the
"wheat" or among the "chaff." Your portion will one day either be the
garner or the fire. Oh, that men were wise, and would lay these things
to heart! Oh, that they would not trifle, dally, linger, live on
half-and-half Christians, meaning well, but never acting boldly, and at
last awake when it is too late!
(3) Settle it down in your mind, in the third place, that if you are
willing to be one of the wheat of the earth, _the Lord Jesus Christ is
willing to receive you_.
Does any man suppose that Jesus is not willing to see His garner filled?
Do you think He does not desire to bring many sons to glory? Oh, but you
little know the depth of His mercy and compassion, if you can think such
a thought! He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He mourns over the
impenitent and the thoughtless in the present day. He sends you
invitations by my mouth this hour. He invites you to hear and live, to
forsake the way of the foolish and go in the paths of understanding. "As
I live," He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.
Turn ye, turn ye: why will ye die?" (Ezek. xviii. 32.)
Oh, if you never came to Christ for life before, come to Him this very
day! Come to Him with the penitent's prayer for mercy and grace. Come to
Him without delay. Come to Him while the subject of this paper is still
fresh on your mind. Come to Him before another sun rises on the earth,
and let the morning find you a new creature.
If you are determined to have the world, and the things of the
world,--its pleasures and its rewards,--its follies and its sins;--if
you must have your own way, and cannot give up anything for Christ and
your soul;--if this be your case, there is but one end before you. I
fairly warn you,--I plainly tell you:--You will sooner or later come to
the unquenchable fire.
But if any man is willing to be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ stands
ready to save him. "Come unto Me," He says, "weary soul, and I will give
you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon.
Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life." (Matt.
xi. 28.)
Let that passage be a word in season. Arise and call upon the Lord. Let
the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul. Let the courts of
heaven hear the good tidings that one more lost sheep is found.
(4) Settle it down in your mind, last of all, that if you have committed
your soul to Christ, _Christ will never allow that soul to perish_.
The everlasting arms are round about you. Lean back in them and know
your safety. The same hand that was nailed to the cross is holding you.
The same wisdom that framed the heavens and the earth is engaged to
maintain your cause. The same power that redeemed the twelve tribes from
the house of bondage is on your side. The same love that bore with and
carried Israel from Egypt to Canaan is pledged to keep you. Yes! they
are well kept whom Christ keeps! Our faith may repose calmly on such a
bed as Christ's omnipotence.
Take comfort, doubting believer. Why are you cast down? The love of
Jesus is no summer-day fountain: no man ever yet saw its bottom. The
compassion of Jesus is a fire that never yet burned low: the cold, grey
ashes of that fire have never yet been seen. Take comfort. In your own
heart you may find little cause for rejoicing. But you may always
rejoice in the Lord.
You say your faith is so small. But where is it said that none shall be
saved except their faith be great? And after all, "Who gave thee any
faith at all?" The very fact that you have any faith is a token for
good.
You say your sins are so many. But where is the sin, or the heap of
sins, that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away? And after all, "Who
told thee thou hadst any sins?" That feeling never came from thyself.
Blessed indeed is that mother's child who really knows and feels that he
is a sinner.
Take comfort, I say once more, if you have really come to
Christ. Take comfort, and know your privileges. Cast every care
on Jesus. Tell every want to Jesus. Roll every burden on Jesus:
sins,--unbelief,--doubts,--fears,--anxieties,--lay them all on
Christ. He loves to see you doing so. He loves to be employed as
your High Priest. He loves to be trusted. He loves to see His
people ceasing from the vain effort to carry their burdens for
themselves.
I commend these things to the notice of every one into whose hands this
volume may fall. Only be among Christ's "wheat" now, and then, in the
great day of separation, as sure as the Bible is true, you shall be in
Christ's "garner" hereafter.
XXI
ETERNITY!
"_The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which
are not seen are eternal._"--2 Cor. iv. 18.
A subject stands out on the face of this text which is one of the most
solemn and heart-searching in the Bible. That subject is _eternity_.[16]
16: The following pages contain the _substance_ of a sermon which I
preached, by invitation, in the nave of Peterborough Cathedral, on
the fourth Sunday in Advent, 1877,--the _substance_ and not the
precise words. The plain truth is, that the sermon was not intended
for publication. It was preached from notes, and was one of those
popular addresses which will not bear close reporting. A style of
language which satisfies the ear when listened to, will seldom
satisfy the mind when read. On receiving a manuscript report from
the publisher, I soon found that it would require far more labour to
condense, correct, paragraph, punctuate, and prepare the sermon for
the press, than to write it out roughly from my own notes and
recollection. From want of time I had no alternative but to adopt
this course, or to object altogether to publication. The result is
that the reader has before him the matter, order, heads,
arrangement, and principal thoughts of my sermon, but not, I repeat,
the precise words.
The subject is one of which the wisest man can only take in a little. We
have no eyes to see it fully, no line to fathom it, no mind to grasp it;
and yet we must not refuse to consider it. There are star-depths in the
heavens above us, which the most powerful telescope cannot pierce; yet
it is well to look into them and learn something, if we cannot learn
everything. There are heights and depths about the subject of eternity
which mortal man can never comprehend; but God has spoken of it, and we
have no right to turn away from it altogether.
The subject is one which we must never approach without the Bible in our
hands. The moment we depart from "God's Word written," in considering
eternity and the future state of man, we are likely to fall into error.
In examining points like these we have nothing to do with preconceived
notions as to what is God's character, and what _we think_ God ought to
be, or ought to do with man after death.[17] We have only to find out
what is written. What saith the Scripture? What saith the Lord? It is
wild work to tell us that we ought to have "noble thoughts about God,"
independent of, and over and above, Scripture. Natural religion soon
comes to a standstill here. The noblest thoughts about God which we have
a right to hold are the thoughts which He has been pleased to reveal to
us in His "written Word."