PART I, SKETCH LVII: "AS THY DAYS, SO SHALL THY STRENGTH BE"

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deuteronomy 33.25.)

Introduction. Beloved, it seems a sad thing that every day must die and be followed by a night. But if it were not for nights, we would never have considered the work of God’s fingers: the moon and the stars. Likewise, our sin and ruined condition has been made the means of revealing the excellences of God’s character. Without trouble, we never could have had the promise, As thy days, so shall thy strength be. We do not love the nights, but we do love the stars; we do not love weakness, but we do bless God for the promise that upholds us in our weakness. 

(1) Self-weakness Hinted at in the Text. A self-sufficient man can no more understand this promise than a coal-miner can understand Greek. A sense of weakness is what is needed. Have you never been overcome with horror at your weakness to fulfill a duty to God? I have learned my own weakness right here in the pulpit. But we prove our weakness more visibly by suffering. Women suffer well. Ah! people of God, it is one thing to look at the doctor’s knife, quite another to feel it. Another thing which proves our weakness is progress. Just try and live a life of sacrifice like Henry Martyn did, and you will soon find your own weakness. Pray to love the Lord more, and he may answer by making you feel the hidden evils of your heart, and it will be as though you love him less than you did before you prayed! Temptation too, will prove your weakness. A strong tree that resisted many frosts one day gets stretched upon the ground by a howling wind. I have seen many professing Christians break just like that by the wind of temptation. You think you’re strong enough to resist this or that sin? Satan knows you better than you do. He can find out your Achilles heel, just as the Philistines found out Samson’s. 

(2) The Great Promise. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” God’s promise is well guaranteed. If God can feed the burning furnace of the sun, he can supply your strength. Do not think for a moment that the Creator has out-promised himself. But his promise is a limited one. What! Yes, it does not say, as thy desires are, but as thy days are. To have more strength than you need might be like having more manna than you can eat. And so it breeds worms and begins to stink. And it does not say, as thy fears are. Some people must have a factory out behind the house where they manufacture fears. Maybe you are sick and are praying for grace to die smoothly. But why should God give dying grace now if he intends for you to live awhile? When your cup gets empty, then God will fill it. God does not give extra strength just for you to put into storage. Next, it does not say, as thy weeks or months shall be. Why should you get Monday’s grace on Sunday? Get a week’s grace all at once, and maybe the devil will get a good deal of it. As in Job’s case, your strength will grow as your troubles grow. The bed of grace is never shorter than a man can stretch himself upon it. If you were called to be as brave as Luther was, even so your strength would be. And this promise of God adjusts to circumstances that fly at us. As thy days: and so there is given a shield for an arrow. Finally, this promise is long enough that it will outlive you. You shall, after death, have strength to bear even the brightness of the Most High! 

(3) The Lesson Drawn. Christians, whether young or bashful, why do you fear? Your days shall never be more troublesome than your strength shall be full of deliverance.

Selection from Conclusion. “And as for you that have not God to be yours…your days shall become heavier, but your strength shall become lighter…all your hopes shall die, and your fears shall live.”

PART I, SKETCH LVI: PROVIDENCE

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10.30.)

Introduction. My mind has been much directed to this subject because of the accident that occurred at Halifax, where I preached on Wednesday. Had the gallery collapsed a little sooner than it did, many more had fallen, and there might have been a panic such as we had in this place once. Instead of two thousand persons falling, only two persons were hurt. And their bones, we trust, will mend. And had the snow not melted through the roof and onto us during the service, the whole structure had fallen sooner than it did, killing us by thousands. If we are to avoid all atheism, we will learn to see God in creation, grace, and providence. Participants in this event I just mentioned will hardly deny Providence, but generally, Providence is denied very much, more than creation and grace.

(1) The Minuteness of Providence. Every man can see the hand of God in the avalanche, the whirlwind, the earthquake, pestilence, war, etc. But Providence must involve the microcosm just as much. We must believe all chance or else all God. “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Study the particulars in the life of Joseph and you will encounter Providence, not accident. Take away any link in the story, and the whole thing falls apart. And be diligent to give attention to the timings in the circumstances, and Providence will show itself still more. You may see this in other lives than Joseph’s, of course. God is in every detail. In the life of Mohammed just a sparrow turned the course of a whole empire. God has appointed every movement, even the winging of a bat. Yet this is not fate, for unlike fate, Providence has eyes and reason, and is designed to hit a target. Even every thought, even those thoughts that are born only to die, are under the hand of God, and therefore every idle word too. God has ordered everything that comes to pass. He who wings an angel guides a sparrow. 

(2) God’s Kind Consideration in Providence. What mother has counted the hairs on her infant’s head? But God has! And every believer has a half-miracle to tell about: how he was preserved by God up until the day of his conversion. And then God preserves us from sinning by timing our temptations, doesn’t he? And he guides us into our careers, very noticeably in my case. And are you poor? Then you know more about Providence than the rest of us. 

(3) Our Response in Light of Providence. We who see order in every wave, music in every breath of wind, we can be calm and bold (but not presumptuous.) And if one of us is plucked away, even in some frightening Providence, then it is as if the Gardener just plucked one of his roses, that’s all. Our graves are not filled by accident! This doctrine, if believed, ought to keep us on the level. That is the happiest state of mind. If good things come, thank God; but do not set your heart upon them; if good things go, thank God that he has taken them, and still bless his name. Not only will you be delivered from much anxiety by a full belief in Providence, but in this quieter temper you will experience higher exercises of communion with Christ. 

Selection from Conclusion. “But as for you who fear not God, remember, the stones of the field are in league against you; the heavens cry to the earth and the earth answereth to the heavens, for vengeance upon you on account of your sins. For you there is nothing good, every thing is in rebellion against you. Oh that God might bring you into peace with him, and then you would be at rest with all beside. ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.’ The Lord bless you in this, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” 

PART I, SKETCH LV: A CALL TO THE UNCONVERTED

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3.10.) 

Introduction. Are you in Christ? Have you fled for refuge to him who is the only hope for sinners? You are either under the wrath of God, or you are delivered from it. If you know not which, better to think the worst than go on presuming until the pit of hell wakes you from your self-deception. Can you swear that you have passed from death to life? If you are truly converted and regenerated, then Christ was cursed in your place and you are secure. But I am convinced that a large proportion of this assembly dare not say so. You are what you always were, and that is the most you can say. 

(1) Trying the Prisoner. Unconverted man, are you guilty, or not guilty? Have you continued ‘in all things that are written in the book of the law?’ Do you know what the law is? “Thou shalt have no other gods before me?” What! have you never loved anything better than God? Have you never made a god of your belly, business, family, or person? “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Has no impurity ever stirred your imagination? “Thou shalt not covet.” We have all desired more than God has given us. One pleads not guilty, for he claims to have done his best. That is a lie. We have none of us done the best we could. Another says that he has been no worse than others. That is a sorry argument. To be damned in a crowd is no more comfortable than to be damned alone. And God will deal with you as if there were never another sinner in the world. I think I have kept the law for a bit, says another. Hear the sentence again: ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law.’ Suppose you have been virtuous and have avoided many vices. But you must perform all virtues, for the text says, ‘all things.’ Maybe you were never a drunkard. Yet you will be damned if you’ve been a fornicator. And it is not the act, merely, that will damn a man. The imagination of sin is sufficient. 

(2) Declaring the Sentence. I would rather preach on the love of Jesus. But sinner, you are cursed tonite. You are not yet in hell. But the curse of God is a present thing. See Deuteronomy 28. You are cursed in your business, in your recreation, and in your fruit. This curse is visible on some men. When the drunkard goes home, his children run upstairs to bed. When they begin to imitate him, the man is cursed in the fruit of his body. All sin brings the curse. The curse in this life is as nothing compared with the curse to come. The wrath to come is no dream, no fraud, no whim, no wives’ story. I think I see that terrible day. Now comes the funeral of damned souls. The Man that died on Calvary has thunder on his brow. I will not tell of quenchless flames, miseries of body, or tortures for the spirit. But hell is terrible. Oh, escape!

(3) Deliverance Proclaimed. I have not condemned you. God has done it. Are you condemned? My whole spirit is stirred for you. Do you think I enjoy preaching like this? My harshest words are far more full of love than the smooth words of soft-speaking ministers, who say, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. I will have a sweet word with you now. Do you feel that your works can never save you? That you are condemned through sin? Do you hate sin? Do you repent? Has God the Spirit taught you that you are accursed? Has he made you cry, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner?’ Then, my dear friend, Christ was cursed for you, and you are not cursed.

Selection from Conclusion. “Say…‘Lord Jesus, I know I am nothing…be thou my precious all in all.’”

PART I, SKETCH LIV: THE DEATH OF CHRIST

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53.10.)

Introduction. Myriads of eyes behold the starry orbs. But there is one great event that attracts more admiration: the death of Christ. Upon Christ, the myriad eyes of the redeemed are perpetually fixed. 

(1) The Cause of Christ’s Death. He who reads the Bible, not as a mere history, but with the eye of faith, traces the death of Christ to something beyond Roman cruelty and Jewish malice. He sees the solemn decree of God fulfilled by men who were the ignorant but guilty instruments of its accomplishment. We dare not impute to God the sin, though ‘it pleased Jehovah to bruise him.’ Jesus Christ did not die to make God loving; he died because God was loving. (I) The death of Christ is traceable to God the Father in decree. This decree is the very core of predestination; this death is the foundation-stone of all sacred architecture. (II) Christ’s coming into the world to die was the effect of the Father’s will and pleasure. Herein was matchless love, that the offended Judge should permit his co-equal Son to suffer the pains of death for the redemption of a rebellious people. Faith and obedience made Abraham bind Isaac to the altar. Love constrained God to yield his only Son for our redemption. What great love was that which completed in act what Abraham did only in intention! See on the cross the bleeding victim of awakened justice! (III) There is a martyr who sings a Psalm while his limbs are burning. Picture another scene. The Saviour is weak with suffering. His soul is so sick and sad that he faints beneath a cross that many a criminal might have carried. They nail him to a tree. He utters no song of praise. Why? God cheered the martyr; he withdrew from Christ. 

(2) The Reason of Christ’s Death. God is just. But he desires to pardon man. How can it be done? The Son of God shall stand in man’s place, and be offered instead of man. When you see Christ hurled upon the cross, you see the company of his elect there, in their substitute. Christ really died; but it was in the place of all believers. For sin man was condemned to live forever in hell. Christ’s grief was a valid payment for an eternity of fire. Though we owe God gratitude, we owe him no justice, for Christ took all our sins and was punished for them. Hell consists in the hiding of God’s face from sinners. God hid his face from Christ. There is no atonement except in this doctrine of substitution. Some believe that Christ satisfied for the sins of all. In that case, his dying was so ineffectual that multitudes are damned afterward. Such an atonement I despise and reject. I had rather believe in a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is efficacious for nobody, unless the will of man be joined with it. Are you afraid that you are not elect? and if not, that Christ did not die for you? This is the infallible proof of election—a sense of need and a thirst after Christ. 

(3) The Effects of Christ’s Death. (I) ‘He shall see his seed.’ Men have offspring by life; Christ had an offspring by death. It is not that by his death many may be saved. “By his righteousness he shall justify many.” (II) ‘He shall prolong his days.’ He rose from the dead to die no more. (III) By his death the Father’s good pleasure was effected and prospered. This poor planet shall one day be redeemed; and all the gods shall lose their thrones and be cast out to the moles and bats. 

Selection from Conclusion. “The hour approacheth when…one King shall reign.” 

PART I, SKETCH LIII: PAUL'S SERMON BEFORE FELIX

“And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24.25.)

Introduction. How mighty must that gospel be, which cannot be driven out of the heart even by trouble, persecution, and sorrow! When Paul is brought before Felix to be tried, he reasons ‘of righteousness, continence, and judgment to come.’ The judge trembles while the prisoner tries him. 

(1) The Appropriate Sermon. As Governor of Judea, Felix extorted to such an extent that the Emperor Nero had to restrain him. How appropriate of the apostle Paul to reason with him concerning righteousness. Drusilla was noted for her superlative charms and unbridled voluptuousness. She had been engaged to Antiochus, who refused to marry her; was later married to Azizus, a king, whom she deserted; and at the time of Paul’s address was living as the wife of the lascivious Felix. How appropriate of Paul to reason with her on continence. And how appropriate, since Felix was the judge, of Paul to reason with him on the ‘judgment to come.’ What the apostle did, every minister ought to do. He selected a topic appropriate to his audience. Many ministers would flatter kings and princes, trim their doctrine, and make themselves pleasing. What we must do is unsheathe the sword and let the majesty of naked truth smite at your hearts. But we talk about generalities today; we are afraid to point you out and tell you of your sins personally. Blessed be God, from that fear I have been delivered long ago. The best eulogy that could be passed on the apostle Paul was the fact that ‘Felix trembled.’ 

(2) The Afflicted Audience. The prisoner has everything to his disadvantage: the chain, the prison dress, the slandered character. But with believing hand, he lays hold on the sword of truth, and with this, forces apart the joints and marrow. Who does not see here more than human eloquence at work? What is it that makes men tremble under the sound of the Gospel? Conscience, if not thoroughly seared, will blush the cheeks. But conscience is so thoroughly corrupt that it is not enough to make a man tremble. The Holy Spirit works in some men’s hearts with restraining Grace only. This quickened the conscience of Felix, and compelled him to tremble. It is a temporary work that can be quenched. Its design is not salvation. But what shall be said of you who never so much as tremble? You have been mouthing high heaven with your blasphemies; now you stand unmoved in the house of God. O race of evil doers! He that has lost feeling has lost hope; he that is past conscience God the Holy Spirit has given up.   

(3) The Lamentable Disappointment. Stop Felix; let Paul continue. You have business to get to; have you no business for your soul? It will live forever. And you have no hope in heaven, no blood of Christ, no pardon of sin, no sanctifying Spirit, no imputed righteousness. As the lamb licks the knife, you go back to the lust that ruins you. Many of you have often been impressed under the ministry. You must have a little more pleasure? Will you count it pleasure when you come to die? You hope for a more convenient season? The young man may die; the old man must! You procrastinate when the knife is at your throat? How do you know you will ever feel like this again? Men have their warnings, and all men who perish have had a last warning. Unless you repent, you must perish; unless you trust Christ, you must be cast away forever. Take heed! 

Selection from Conclusion. “To be laughed at is no great hardship to me…Laugh at me: but o! believe in my Master! Make my body as the dirt of the streets, if you will: but damn not your own souls!”

PART I, SKETCH LII: THE IMMUTABILITY OF CHRIST

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13.8.)

Introduction. It is well that there is one person who is the same. Your raptures and ecstasies may have turned to depression and forebodings. Alas! for our changes, and hallelujah to him that has no change. Kingdoms have trembled; the whole world has changed. As the anchor gives stability to the ship, even so does our hope give stability to our spirit when it fixes itself in the truth of our text. 

(1) Explanation. Jesus Christ is the same in his person. We change perpetually. We begin in ignorance, grow up learning, attain some knowledge, then totter back to imbecility. One moment we are holy, kept through God’s power; the next minute we are sinning, led astray by our lusts. Our Master is pure, firm, ever the same, never changing. He is as loving, approachable, generous, and kind as when he first visited earth, unchanged by all his glories, triumphs, and joys. He is the same as ever with regard to his Father. He was his Father’s well-beloved before all worlds and while he was on the cross, and just as much now as then. By trusting him you may be sure of the Father’s love to you. He is the same to his people as ever. We have delighted to think of him that loved us when we had no being. He may distress us with a sense of sin, yet his heart is just the same to us as ever. It is written, “As the Father hath loved me, even so have I loved you.” A higher degree of love we cannot imagine. He cannot love you more; he will not love you less. He is the same to sinners as he was yesterday. He that received the thief upon the cross is the same today as he was then. Oh! come and try him! You that are empty, Christ is as full as ever. You that are black with sin, the fountain can still purify. He is the same in the teachings of his Word. They tell us that the improvements of the age require improvements in theology. But theology can have nothing new in it but that which is false. The preaching of Paul must be the preaching of ministers today. Knox’s gospel is my gospel. A mongrel mixture of Arminianism and Calvinism is the delight of the present age. But Christ has not changed his doctrines. They shall not be removed or altered. This is equally true of the promises and threatenings.

(2) Objections. Unbelief says, ‘How can that be true? Surely God has changed: look at the saints of old. What happy men they were!’ If there be any change it is for the better, for you have not yet “resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” But remember that does not affect Christ. It is true that your child has not been raised from the dead, but neither was David’s. Your days are no more full of trouble than the days of Job. Your troubles are proof of Christ’s faithfulness. You have one half of his legacy: tribulation. And you shall have the other half: peace. With regard to ministers, the day may be dark, but not so dark as days have been. You that are sick, the day is coming when you will find that the flame has consumed your dross and refined your gold. 

(3) Lessons. Set not your affections on changing things. Put your affections in Christ, your hope in his glory, your trust in his efficacious blood, and your joy in his presence. Trust him who will go with you through the black current of death’s stream. Trust all your concerns with him who will never leave you, and who will never let you leave him. Next, imitate him: be ever the same. With more faith, you would be as happy in the furnace as on the mountain; you would have far less of tossings up and down. Come what may, while Jesus Christ is the same, you are safe. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Sinner, he will be as good as his word. He has said, ‘He that believeth not shall be damned.’ He will damn you if you believe not, depend upon it.”

PART I, SKETCH LI: GOD, THE ALL-SEEING ONE

“Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts…of men?” (Proverbs 15.11.)

Introduction. You have often smiled at the ignorance of heathens who bow themselves before gods of wood and stone, for these gods can neither see nor hear. Your God can both see and hear. But in nine cases out of ten, the doctrine of Divine Omniscience, although received and believed, has no practical effect upon our lives at all. May God drive some of your practical atheism out of you. 

(1) A Great Fact Declared. ‘Hell and destruction are before the Lord.’ (I) The word translated ‘hell’ may be translated ‘death,’ or the state of departed spirits. About death we know very little. God understands all its secrets. The many who have died alone, amid dreary forests, frozen seas, and devouring snowstorms—they and their sepulchres, are known to God. You cannot tell where Adam’s tomb is. God knows, for death and Hades are open before the Lord. Not only this, but God knows the history of men’s bodies. The infidel has often asked, ‘How can the body of man be restored, when it may have been eaten by the cannibal?’ We do not think it necessary to resurrection that God should track every atom. But it is within his range to do this and to rebuild every body. As the body, so the soul, when separated from it, is before the Lord. ‘His soul has fled,’ we say. Can we form even a conjecture of what the flying of that soul may be? The Most High could reveal to us the condition of every man that is dead, whether he be in the sunlight of his Master’s countenance, or plunged into hell to wait in dreary woe the awful trial. (II) The word ‘destruction’ signifies ‘hell,’ or the place of the damned. That land of terror is unknown. The groans and shrieks of hell are not to be heard here. But they are known to God; yea, it is his look that makes hell what it is. His eyes, full of fury, flash the lightnings that scathe his enemies, who see that fearful vision of the Most High. Hell itself is naked before his vision. 

(2) A Great Fact Inferred. ‘How much more then the hearts of the children of men.’ (I) Why? With one glance God sees death and hell—their bottomless depths and their boundless miseries. Surely he can behold all the actions of the little thing called man’s heart. Death is an ancient monarch. He preyed on mighty creatures long before Adam was here. How old, too, is Hell!—old as the first sin. Hell was digged when Satan led the third part of the angels astray. We are creatures of a day, and know nothing. (II) How? How well does God understand man? He searches the heart. No partial search, like that of Laban, when he went into Rachel’s tent to look for his idols. God looks into the camel’s furniture, and all. God also tries the reins. The goldsmith examines his gold, and says, ‘I don’t understand this gold yet: I must try it.’ He thrusts it into a furnace to find out what there is of dross, and what of gold. Now, God knows to the very carat what we are made of—how much of hypocrisy, how much of truth. God is also said to weigh the heart. He puts his own Word in the scale and the heart in the other. He knows whether we have grace in the heart, which makes us good weight. Might not God say of many of you, “Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting”? (III) What? What does God see in man’s heart? He sees all the heart’s imaginations. The heart is full of every thing that is hideous once it begins to make carnival and revelry concerning sin. God sees the heart’s devices. Perhaps you have determined to curse God. He knows it. And he knows the resolves of the heart, how you resolved to repent but quit as soon as you were beyond the temporary danger. (IV) When? He beholds all our motions when we think they are hidden. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Swearer! could you swear if you could see God’s eye looking at you?”