Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

Well now, you Christian people, I want you to come also. If you believe your Lord he will be faithful to you. Suppose it is a time of trouble with you: he will be faithful to you; go and cast your burden upon him. Suppose at this time you are much exercised with spiritual distress: go to the Lord as you did at first, as poor, guilty, rebellious sinners, and cast yourself upon him, and you will find him faithful. "He cannot deny himself." If my Lord were not kind to me to-night when I go to him with my burden I should think that I had knocked at the wrong door; because the Lord has been so good and so faithful to me hitherto that it would take my breath away if I found him changed. Oh, how good, how exceeding good is my Lord! Did not we sing just now"He by my side has always stood:

His lovingkindness, oh, how good!"

I could sing that with all my heart, and I hope many of you could earnestly join with me. You have a dear mother, or a fond wife, or a choice friend, and none of them has ever spoken anything but kindness to you; and therefore if in some dark hour you were to go to them, and instead of showing sympathy they gave you sharp words, and you could evidently see that they did not love you, how surprised you would be! So should I be if I were to meet anything but love from my dear Lord after all these years of tenderness. There is no fear of it, for "he cannot deny himself."

So I finish by saying that we shall find it so in connection with the things of his kingdom and the concerns of his truth. There is a great uproar just now about the God of providence, and they call me I know not by what names for speaking the truth for my Master, Well, what comes of it? Shall we, therefore, be afraid? No; but if we believe we shall find him faithful. He will not deny himself. Is the good old cause really in danger from scepticism and superstition? Speaking after the manner of men, it may seem so; but it never really is so. Even if it were tottering we must not put our hand upon the ark of the Lord to steady it. God's cause is always safe. I do not know whether we may live to see it, but as surely as the Lord lives the truth will be triumphant in England yet. They may tell us that Puritanism is thrust to the wall, but it will take the crown of the causeway yet. The old cause goes back a little to take breath, but she will make such a leap in this land as shall utterly surprise the soothsayers; for the Lord will make the diviners mad, and they that count the towers and say that Zion is utterly fallen shall not know where to hide their heads. The devil once flew all over Europe, and said, "It is all mine. Here they are selling indulgences, and the Pope and I are master of it all." But there was a poor monk who had not himself seen the light any long time, who nailed his theses on the door of a church, and from that hour the light began to spread all over Europe. And do you think the Lord is short of Luthers? Do you imagine that he has no sword or spear left in his armoury? I tell you he has as many instruments within reach as there are stars in the sky. When the influence of the gospel appears to recede it is like the tide when it is ebbing out. Steadily it goes back, and if we did not know better we should begin to think that the silver waves would all give place to mire and shingle: yet when the hour comes, at

the very minute, the waters pause and remain at one point awhile. Then up comes the first wave of the wash, and another, and another, and another, and another, rising, advancing, conquering the shore, till the sea has come to her fulness again. So must it be, and so shall it be with the ocean of truth; only let us have faith, and we shall see the gospel at the flood again, and old England covered with it. Doubt what you like, brethren, but do not doubt divine truth, or doubt God. Hold you on to the side that is most disgraced and dishonoured, and that has the worst word from men; for Christ and his church usually have the bleak side of the hill. Be content to breast the stream with courage learned from your Redeemer and Lord, for the day comes when to have stood with the truth and with the Son of the Highest will be the grandest honour that a creature can have worn.

May that honour be ours, for Jesus's sake. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-2 Timothy ii.

HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"-192, 664, 196.

TO MY BELOVED CHURCH AND CONGREGATION. DEAR FRIENDS, -After a long and severe illness I am now on my way to the South of France to seek rest and gather strength in a less trying climate. The church has requested me to take three months' furlough, and as this corresponds with the serious counsel of physicians and judicious friends, I shall probably accept the considerate advice. I have promised to correspond with you, and with my sermon readers, week by week, by a note appended to the sermon, or by a short discourse such as I have written during the last two weeks. This, then, to commence with: I have reached Paris (Jan. 18) by easy stages, and I am none the worse for the travelling, but all the better for the change. Snow is falling heavily, and may detain us, but if not we hope to be at Mentone next Wednesday.

It would have been a far greater pleasure to me to have been able to occupy my pulpit, but as this must not be, I am right glad to speak by the press. May the weekly sermon be used by the Lord in a greater degree now that the preacher's voice ceases for awhile to proclaim the gospel.

One great favour I have to ask of you all-will you unite in hearty prayer that there may be a great revival at the Tabernacle during my absence? You have united to celebrate the twenty-fifth year of my pastorate by a noble Testimonial, which I have dedicated to the Lord's work; now unite with even greater ardour in seeking a great, a surpassing, a crowning spiritual blessing. The Lord's own word is, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove me now, herewith, if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that ye shall not have room enough to receive it." You have fulfilled the precept, now enquire for the promise. The Lord has guaranteed a heavenly blessing, a divine blessing, an overwhelming blessing; do not be content without it, or it will look as if you despised the promise of the Lord. We stand on vantage ground now; let us plead with double importunity, saying, "I will not let thee go unless thou bless me." Then will the windows open, and the divine hand pour out the benediction of his Spirit, and salvation shall come to multitudes through Christ Jesus our Lord.

My love be with you all.

Yours for Jesus' sake,

C. H. SPURGEON.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

WRITTEN WHEN AWAY FROM HIS PEOPLE, BY

C. H. SPURGEON.

"David's place was empty."-1 Samuel xx. 27.

IT was quite right that David's place should be empty, because Saul sought to slay him, and he could not safely sit in the presence of an enemy who had twice before cast a javelin at him to "smite him even to the wall with it." Self-preservation is a law of nature which we are bound to obey; no man should needlessly expose himself to sudden death. It were well if many a seat were empty for this reason; for there are places exceedingly dangerous to the soul, from which men should rise and flee at once. Where Satan sits at the head of the table no man should tarry. There is the seat of the scorner, of which the Psalmist spoke : God grant that those who have occupied it may leave it in trembling haste. There is the settle of the drunkard, and the chair of the presumptuous, and the bench of the sluggard, from each of which it were wisdom to depart. May the grace of God make such a change in all who have frequented the gatherings of the frivolous and the assemblies of the wicked that they may never be found in them again, but may be missed by their old companions, who shall ask, "Wherefore cometh the son of Jesse, neither yesterday nor to-day?" The javelin of temptation may soon destroy character, prospects, and life itself, and he is guilty of the grossest folly who exposes himself to it by placing himself where the arch-enemy finds chosen opportunities to work his deadly will.

At this time I shall use David's empty place for quite another purpose, and shall note first that in your assemblies at this time there are SEATS EMPTIED BY DEATH. Before I had left the shores of England for the space of two days I received the grievous intelligence that two out of the membership of my church had been called home in one day. Of a sister, the wife of an earnest and well-beloved deacon it must be saidher place is empty; and of a brother, who had been her friend and mine, the same expression must be employed. Our sympathies must now flow forth to a bereaved husband, and also to a widow, in whose hearts there are places sorrowfully emptied, and in whose homes there will be an empty chair and an empty couch, which will force from their eyes rivers of tears whenever they look upon them. It is our firm hope and confident belief that in these cases the loss of the house of God below is the gain of Nos. 1,454-5.

the house of God above: they fill other and better places, and even those who loved them best, and miss them most, would not wish to call them back again. Jesus wills that his own should be with him where he is, and we cannot deny that he has a right to have them. Do not their eyes behold the King in his beauty? Would we deprive them of the vision? May the thought of the bliss of the departed yield solace to the surviving, and may divine consolations be richly given by the Holy Ghost in the hour of painful bereavement.

66

Our places will be empty soon, and we shall be missed from our accustomed pews in the house of prayer; let the seats which have been just vacated remind us of this, and silently call to our remembrance the precept, Be ye also ready." Use well your places for hearing the gospel, for gathering at the communion table, and for meeting for prayer while yet the opportunities remain to you, for the time is short, and an account will have to be rendered. Love well those who are spared to you, and do them all the good you can, for their places will not hold them for ever. Cheer the aged, console the desponding, help the poor, for they will soon be beyond your reach, and when you look for them you will be told that David's place is empty.

Permit me also to remind you that among your assemblies there are SEATS EMPTIED BY SICKNESS for awhile. You will not forget one place, the most conspicuous, which would be empty were it not filled by willing ministers who supply our lack of service. The providence which empties that place is so wise and good that, though we cannot understand its object, we are sure that it will work for good and for the glory of God. May I ask that, often as I am missed, I may have a fresh interest in your prayers; for these are a minister's wealth, a pastor's portion. Many others of the Lord's family are also sicl, and detained at home. They sigh as they remember the happy days when they went up to the house of God in company, and mingled in the solemn feasts of Zion; but for them there are now no more the thunders of our united shouts of praise, nor the deep Amens of our forms of prayer, and they envy the very swallows that build their nests under the eaves of the sanctuary. Many of us have such afflicted ones in our own families, and God forbid that we should cease to sympathize with them in their deprivations. Yet long continuance of health may dry the founts of pity, and lead to forgetfulness of the sorrows of others; and therefore it is no superfluity when we remind the healthy that there are others far less favoured to whom it is one of their sharpest sorrows that their places at public worship are empty. Let us pray that a portion may be sent to their homes, according to the old law of David, "as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." Let us try to make this rule of battle a matter of fact by carrying home to the Lord's prisoners as much of the sermon as we can. Jacob did not go down at the first to Egypt, for he was aged and infirm, but his sons brought back corn for him none the less. In telling the sick and bedridden the truths which we have heard our own memories will be refreshed. We are bound with those who are in bonds, and we suffer with the suffering, and therefore, if we are living members of our Lord's mystical body, it is to us a matter of personal interest that David's seat is empty.

In every well-ordered congregation there are SEATS EMPTIED BY HOLY SERVICE. Many Christian professors appear to think that their entire religious duty begins and ends with attendance upon the means of grace: no village station receives their ministry, no ragged school enjoys their presence, no street corner hears their voice, but their pew is filled with commendable constancy. We do not condemn such, yet show we unto them a more excellent way. We know scores of brethren and sisters who come to one service on the Sabbath for spiritual food, and then spend the rest of the day in active labour for their Lord. They are not so unwise as to leave their own vineyard untended by neglecting personal edification, but when this is earnestly attended to they hear their Master's call and go forth into the great harvest and use the strength which their spiritual meal has given them. In this way they are even more benefited than if they were always "feeding," for holy exercise helps their mental digestion, and they all the more completely assimilate their sacred food; in addition to which they have struck a blow at the spiritual selfishness which tempts us to enjoy religious feasts and to make ourselves comfortable while sinners are perishing around us. Many are the Christians whose places ought to be empty during part of the Lord's day: they are able-bodied and gifted, and they ought not to eat the fat and drink the sweet all day long, but should be engaged in carrying portions to those for whom otherwise nothing would be prepared. When the great king made a wedding-feast for his son he sent forth his servants into the highways and hedges to compel the wanderers to come in. Did he starve those servants? Assuredly not. Yet he was not content to invite them to the table and leave the outsiders to hunger and faint. His servants found it to be their meat and their drink to do the will of him that sent them, and to finish his work. Even so will believers receive edification while they are seeking the good of others: like swallows, which feed on the wing, they shall find heavenly meat while they fly in the ways of service. The Holy Spirit delights to give more "oil for the light" to those who are diligently shining amid the darkness.

Yet, let me add a warning here: I have known some young believers who have lacked prudence, and have carried a good thing too far. Before they have well learned they have been eager to teach, and to do so they have ceased learning: multiplied engagements have left them no time for their own instruction, and they have left an edifying ministry to enter upon labour for which they were not qualified. Wisdom is profitable to direct. The most of Christians need to fill their seats for a part of the Sabbath, to hear the word of God, and very few can afford to spend the whole day in seeking the good of others. We grieve to meet with some who are absent from the Lord's table for months because of their zealous occupations. This is presenting one duty to God stained with the blood of another. It is the positive duty of every disciple to obey the Lord's command, "This do ye in remembrance of me"; and efforts which necessitate neglect of the divine precept must be curtailed. Often ought we to show his death until he come. School-teaching, streetpreaching, sick-visiting, and so forth cannot be regarded as a substitute for hearing the Word, and commemorating the death of the Redeemer. We must have time to sit at the Master's feet with Mary, or soon, like Martha, we shall be cumbered. Nevertheless, despite

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »