will be able to defy the power of Satan to drive you out of your joy in God. I know also that you will try to live more to his praise. As you see him bring you out of one difficulty and then another you will feel bound to his service by fresh bonds. You will become more a consecrated man than you ever have been. You will jealously protect your remaining days from being wasted by sloth or desecrated by sin. And let me tell you that even when you die, and come up the banks of Jordan on the other side, you will long to glorify your God. When the angels meet you I should not wonder but what one of the first things you will do will be to say, "Bright spirits, I long to tell you what the Lord has done for me." Even as you are going up towards the celestial gates, as Bunyan pictures, I should not wonder if you began to say to your guide, "Help me to sing; I cannot be silent. I feel I must 'Sing with rapture and surprise His lovingkindness in the skies.' Should the bright spirit remind you that you are climbing to the choirs where all the singers meet, you may answer, "Yes, but I am a special case: I came through such deep waters; I was greatly afflicted. If one in heaven can praise him more than another, I am just that one." The angel will smile and say, "I have escorted many a score up to glory who said just the same." We each one owe most to God's grace, and hope to praise him best. Some of you may think that you are love's deepest debtors, but I know better. I am not going to quarrel with you, but I know one who is so undeserving and yet receives such mercy that he claims to take the lowest place, and most humbly to reverence boundless grace. Yea, I myself, less than the least of all saints, claim to have received most at his hands. I would fain love him most, for towards me he has shown the utmost love in treating me as he has done. Am I not saying for myself that which you each would say for yourself? I know it is so, and hence it is that God is glorified by the reverence and love of those whom he delivers in answer to prayer. I want you to notice with care the persons mentioned in the first clause of the text. You do not see yourself; you only hear of yourself. It is "Call upon me." God is there. There is no direct mention of you; you are hidden; you are such a poor, broken-down, dispirited creature that all you can do is to utter a cry and lie in the dust. There stands the mighty God, and you call upon him. Now, look at the next clause, "I will deliver thee." Here are two persons: the Lord stands first, the Ever-Glorious and Blessed, "I," and far down there are you. "I will deliver thee," poor, humble, but grateful "Thee." Thus we see the Lord unites with his poor servant, and the link is deliverance. When you come to the third clause, do you see where you are? You are placed first, for the Lord now calls you into action-" Thou shalt glorify me." What a wonderful thing it is! For God to put glory upon us is easy enough, but for us to put glory upon him, this is a miracle of condescension on the part of our God. "Thou shalt glorify me." "But," saith one in this place, "I do love the Lord, but I cannot glorify him. I wish I could preach, I wish I could write sweet hymns, I wish I had a clear voice with which to sing out the Redeemer's praises, but I have no gifts or talents, and therefore I shall never be able to glorify him." Listen: you will be cast into trouble one of these days, and when you are in trouble you will find out how to glorify him. Your extremity will be your opportunity. Like a lamp which shines not by day you will blaze up in the dark. When the day of trouble is come you will cry, "Lord, I could not do anything for thee, but thou canst do everything for me. I am nothing, but Lord, in my nothingness, I, poor I, do trust thee, and fling myself upon thee." Then you shall find that you have glorified him by your faith. I think you might almost be content to have the trouble, might you not? It seems as if you could not glorify him anyhow else, and to glorify him is the main object of your existence. Some Christians would scarcely have brought any glory to God if they had not been led by paths of sorrow, and made to wade through seas of grief. God gets very little glory out of many professors, and he would have still less if they had been allowed to rust their souls away in comfort. The brightest of the saints owe much of their clearness to the fire and the file. It is by the sharp needle of sorrow that we are embroidered with the praises of the Lord. We must be tried that the Lord may be glorified. We cannot call upon him in the day of trouble if we have no such day; and he cannot deliver us if we have no trouble to be delivered from: and we cannot glorify him if we are not made to see the danger and the need in which he displays his love. I leave the blessed subject of the text with you, as a souvenir, till we meet again. The Lord be with you till the day break and the shadows flee away. Pray, also, that he may abide with me, and with all my brethren in the ministry; and may we all in yonder world of rest glorify him, who will then have delivered us completely from all evil, to whom be glory for ever. Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-Psalm 1. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"-194, 196, 700. LETTER FROM MR. SPURGEON. DEAR FRIENDS,-I have prepared this sermon for the press in a warm and sunny clime, where the leaves have not yet left the trees, and one may sit under his vine and figtree from sunrise to sunset and feel no chill. I am most happy to have escaped my annual season of pain and afflic tion, and I am gratefully consecrating every day to such mingled rest and study as may, under the divine blessing, enable me to return physically, mentally, and spiritually fitted for my work. My heart is at home with my people, with the College, with the Orphanage, and all the other works. Specially do I miss the Monday evening prayer-meetings, dear seasons of holy intercourse and sacred joy. Do not forget me when it is well with you. If I have ever been made the means of blessing to your souls implore the smile of the great Father for me. If there be any love between us for the truth's sake, and because of the union of the saints in Christ Jesus, pray for me. How much I need the aid of your prayers for the discharge of my ministry over so great a flock God alone knows. I am persuaded that the Lord will be with you, and cause you to abound in all spiritual blessings, for he is faithful to his promise, and evermore preserves and sanctifies those who abide in the truth. The Holy Ghost will teach, comfort, and perfect you, for it is his delight to bless his people. May it come to pass that our churches may be more and more the saviours of the age, the salt amid surrounding corruption, the lights of a dark time. Watch for the good of our beloved country in changes which may soon transpire, and be in earnest for the cause of truth and righteousness, and the cause and kingdom of our Lord Jesus. My hearty Christian love is with all the brethren in Christ Jesus. C. H. SPURGEON. FRAMPTON'S PILL OF HEALTH. THIS FAMILY MEDICINE is the most effective remedy for indigestion, bilious and liver complaints. For FEMALES these Pills are truly excellent, removing headache, depression of spirits, dulness of sight, nervous affections, blotches, pimples, and sallowness of the skin, and giving a healthy bloom to the complexion. Sold by all Chemists, at 18. 1 d. and 2s 9d. per box. SMITH'S TASTELESS DANDELION ANTIBILIOUS PILLS. They clear the liver, stomach, head, and kidneys-free the skin of humours, and purify the bloodthey are tasteless, never give cold, may be taken at all times by either sex, and regulate the bowels with comfort and safety. They greatly aid in change of life. Sole maker, W. F. SMITH, M.P.S., 280, Walworth Road, and 281, Brixton Road, and proprietor of Fowler's Corn, Bunion, and Chilblain Plasters, who will send a box of either, free by post, for 15 or 36 stamps. To be had of all Chemists. OLLOWAY'S PILLS preserve the body from disease, and the mind tive power and tonic qualities render them safe under all circumstances, and peculiarly adapt them for long suffering invalids. CLARKE'S WORLD FAMED BLOOD MIXTURE. Is warranted to cleanse the blood from all impurities Chemist, Apothecaries' Hall, Lincoln. London Depot, CHAMBERLAIN'S OPHTHALMIC OINTMENT, FOR THE CURE OF INFLAMMATIONS, SPECKS, FILMS, BRUISES, AND OTHER EXTERNAL DISORDERS OF THE In numberless instances has proved superior to every other specific, and has been successful after Post free 2s. 6d. HOW CAN I BEST HELP MY CHILDREN? PARENTS are enabled to do it by the Lessons contained in THE SYSTEMATIC BIBLE TEACHER, 700 Lessons BIBLE VOICES for the Young, 1d., 2d., 3d. Testimonials-" Results wonderfully cheering and satisfactory." my parish, I am induced to invite the attention of my brethren to it." "I can recommend it with the greatest satisfaction and confidence." "The wonders wrought under God in my parish alone demand that I should wish it God-speed." For further particulars apply to "Has been so successful in THE SYSTEMATIC BIBLE TEACHER DEPOSITORY, 67, PATERNOSTER Row, LONDON, E.C. BOOKS SUITABLE FOR CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR'S GIFTS, Published by JAMES NISBET & Co. Just Published, New Edition. Small 4to, cloth elegant, 12s. 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"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever forsake not the works of thine own hands."-Psalın cxxxviii. 8. CONTINUALLY I am clearing the ground and laying the foundation of eternal salvation in the grace of God which was manifested in Christ Jesus when he came into the world to save sinners. This I did this morning, and the Lord has set his seal thereon right speedily, which is to me a sure proof that the frequent preaching of the foundation truths is according to the mind of God. That necessary work cannot be done too often, for men need to hear the true gospel as often as they hear the striking of the hour, and even then they forget it. Yet do not all forget; there are a few, like those who were saved with Noah, who seek the ark of salvation and live. To those who have newly come to put their trust in Jesus I wish to speak this evening, and I do so with much delight, for as the sight of the new-born babe makes glad the mother, so does the news of a new-born soul fill me with exceeding joy. Good tidings have come to my ears. We do not often sow and reap quite so quickly as I have done on this occasion, for since this morning's service I have hopeful evidence that God has blessed the word to many souls, and my beloved fellow-helpers, who watch around this congregation like scouts around an army, report that the slain of the Lord have been many. Now, between half-past twelve o'clock this morning and this time in the evening such souls have gone a day's journey towards heaven, and already they have begun, I dare say, to question themselves, and possibly to be exercised with some few fears. Thus early they may have met with lions in the way, or have found worse than real lions in their own fears. They have only lately known the Lord, but already they are growing anxious, and looking into the future with a No. 1,506. "The Faithful Saying," No. 1,416. |