PART I, SKETCH LXXIX: THE LITTLE DOGS

“But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15.26, 27.)

Introduction. The brightest jewels are often found in the darkest places. The Lord found great faith in a Canaanitish woman! Our Lord had a very quick eye for spying faith. Charmed with this fair jewel, he resolved to turn it round so that its various points might flash out with brilliance. And so he tried her faith by silence and discouraging replies in order to bring it forth as gold, then set his royal mark upon it with, “O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”

(1) The Mouth of Faith can never be Closed. If ever faith could have been made to shut up, it would have happened in this case. This woman was not staggered even though Jesus acted deaf and dumb to her urgent prayers. If the Lord’s apparent refusal to bless you cannot close your mouth, your faith is of a noble sort, and salvation is yours. And the disciples would have her sent away, but still she persevered. Nor even could doctrine discourage her, for the Lord said, “I am not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Some are tempted to cease from prayer for fear they may not have been predestinated unto eternal life. But reason this way, “Others are included in the election of grace who were as sinful as I have been, so why not me?” Admitting that she was as unworthy as a dog shows that the woman did not seek to win the Lord’s approval by her merit or cause, but depended on the goodness of Christ’s heart. A thousand lions are in the way when the soul attempts to come to Jesus. Just press on through!

(2) Faith never Disputes with the Lord. Faith worships, begs, and prays, but does not dispute. Faith just believes what the Lord says, no matter what. At being compared to a dog, the woman humbly says, “Truth, Lord.” She never wished Israel to be robbed for her. She does not raise a question about the Lord’s right to give out grace at his sovereign pleasure. Faith that saves the soul agrees with the mind of God. Not only did she agree to all that the Lord said, she worshiped him in it, content to act as the dog she was compared to, and goes after fallen crumbs. 

(3) Faith Argues Mightily. She does not dispute with the Lord by saying, “I am no dog.” She just argues by agreeing with him, “Yet the dogs eat the crumbs.” And by that she overcomes the Lord, just as Jacob overcame the angel. She knew her position was hopeful, for there were healings going on. She encouraged herself by calling Jesus Master, even though she was not of Israel. She associated herself with the Lord’s children by putting herself “under the table” with them. As little doggies are sometimes fed a morsel by one of the master’s children, the woman argues that the disciples are willing enough that she would have mercy. Crumbs falling by accident reveals that his was no poor man’s table. It overflowed with love and mercy. Just a little crumb is what she asked for, showing that she valued a little mercy beyond all price. 

(4) Faith Wins her Suit. Faith won her the Lord’s praise; by the faith in her saying she won the healing she sought for her daughter; and the blessing was instant, “The devil is gone out of thy daughter.” This foreign woman knew almost nothing about Jesus, but her faith shames us all! 

Selection from Conclusion. “Have you been praying, and have you not succeeded?…Yet trust in him whose blood has not lost its efficacy, whose promise has not lost its truth, and whose arm has not lost its power to save. Cling to the cross, sinner…There is thy hope. Thou canst not perish there.” 

PART I, SKETCH LXXVIII: EPHRAIM BEMOANING HIMSELF

“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised…turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God” (Jeremiah 31.18.)

Introduction. Jehovah is not like that made up god, Jove, who sits way off, disinterested in lowly creatures. “Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly.” The Lord still hears his Ephraims bemoaning themselves, and sends them the mercy they cry up for. Mourner, your sigh is known to God as soon as you have heaved it. God knows how to interpret your grief and tears. 

(1) A Sinner Bemoaning Himself. The word ‘bemoan’ reminds us of the mourning of doves. Here is one affected in his heart by grace, awakened in his conscience, quickened in his soul. He is in pain, anguish, fear, restlessness, etc. He is bowed down with a peculiar grief. He is not mourning over a death, bodily pain, or poverty. He is bemoaning himself because he has been convicted of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. It is a bitter sorrow, yet sweet too, because of the blessed results. This godly sorrow is well-founded. “I am lost! lost! lost! O that God would have mercy for me!” is his cry. It is a humble sorrow. He is not flattering nor excusing himself, but bemoaning himself, owning up to his sins. It is a thoughtful sorrow. Ephraim recalls all the times he was chastised to no good effect. The bemoaning is hopeless and yet hopeful. He hopes in a change from God, for he is hopeless to change himself. So he prays, “Turn me, and I shall be turned.” Some of you are dashing down the hill of sin. But the Almighty can tame the wildest horse. 

(2) The LORD Observing Him. God heard and understood all that Ephraim said, and was moved by it, for he answers, “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself.” Whether in your bedroom or on a crowded street, God hears your cry more surely than a mother hears her sick little Jane.

(3) The LORD Working in his Effectual Grace. The only turning in the world that is saving and divine is the turning of the heart. A change of notions is not conversion. And a change of church does not change a person any more than a different cage changes a bird. That is a great thing if a thief becomes honest, or a drunk sober. But “ye must be born again.” The renewing of the inward nature by a work of grace in the soul, that is what is needed. How is this done? First, a man must be stopped. A distinct sight of wrath to come stops a man. This is exactly how it happened when God turned me. Next, the awakened conscience is led to see the real nature of sin. Men, before God quickens them, nurse the viper of sin in their bosom, and say, “How nice it is to look at.” But when it bites them, and the hot poison runs in their veins, and the conscience is woken up, then they hate it and try to cast it away. The grand turning-point, though, is at a sight of Christ on the cross. If you ever, by the eye of faith, see Jesus Christ dying for you, sin will never be sweet to you again. We play with sin till we are told it was sin that killed the Lord Jesus, who died out of love to us. Ah! Down with our sins that did such a bloody deed! Further, the sinner is turned by God manifesting his everlasting love to him. If you did know that your worthless name is written on the hands of Christ, would that not affect you? Finally, if you could know and feel the glory of the inheritance to come, this would turn you for sure. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Are you bemoaning yourself? Do you desire to be turned?…Then do not put it off, but this moment pray the silent prayer, ‘Turn me, O Lord, and I shall be turned.’…Oh, that some great sinners might be saved, for they always make the best saints!…Ye great sinners, may great mercy meet with you!…Trust Jesus, and you shall be saved.”

PART I, SKETCH LXXVII: THE COVENANT

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8.10.)

Introduction. The doctrine of the covenant lies at the root of all true theology. Man first stood before God under the covenant of works. A certain law was given to Adam. If he kept it, he and his posterity would be blessed. If he broke it, then he and we would be cursed. Because Adam failed, we too are ruined, for we are of him, and he represented all men. We have all failed in his failure. To be saved by the law is now impossible. But Divine mercy has stepped in and provided a plan of salvation from this fall by Christ Jesus, who is called “the second Adam.” He has accomplished this covenant of works, and gained what the first Adam lost. All blessings acquired by Christ through his work belong to those whom God has chosen to believe in him. This is the covenant of grace. 

(1) What are the Privileges of the Covenant of Grace? By nature we are dark towards God’s will. The first privilege under the covenant of grace is the illuminating of our mind by the Holy Spirit to know the will of God. The next blessing is that God writes his laws in our hearts, not just on them, but in them. This is gracious work! We then delight to do his will, and hate to oppose it. The preacher of the law tells you to do this and to not do that. But the preacher of the gospel tells you that Jesus Christ has done such a work for sinners that God, through Christ, makes them see right, love holiness, and follow after righteousness. A third blessing is that God is ours. This is unfathomable. What! Is God our father? A friend? A rock? A refuge? A fortress? A high tower? A home? A heaven? Yes, but “I will be their God” means all this and more! Comfort, provision, wisdom! Infinity itself is ours, and all that God is or can be! A fourth blessing is that we are God’s people. By God’s right, all men are his in a certain sense. But we are his peculiar people, his peculiar treasure for whom he keeps the world revolving. The world is just a scaffold for the church. Creation will be pulled down once the saints are done with it. 

(2) For Whom has God Made this Covenant? God made it with Christ as the representative of his people. But the question is, “Did Christ Jesus stand in for you?” Well, have you the enlightened mind? Have you a love for good and a hatred for evil? If so, the covenant is yours with all of Canaan’s milk and honey. If not, then I invite you to believe in Jesus. He who does that has eternal life, the blessing of the covenant, and therefore must be in the covenant. To believe in is to ‘trust.’ Whoever will cast away his self-righteousness and all that he depends on, and come and trust in the finished work of the exalted Saviour, is one of the elect. And Christ did not die on the tree to render men salvable, but to actually save them. And saving faith always comes with the new nature and God’s law in the heart. You must have an internal change in order to be saved. Baptism alone is an external washing, like washing the outside of an ink bottle. 

Selection from Conclusion. You may go to-night and renounce all your outward vices—I hope you will; you may go and practice all church ceremonies, and if they are Scriptural I wish you may; but they will do nothing for you, nothing whatever as to your entering heaven, if you miss one thing else, that is, getting the covenant blessing of the renewed nature, which can only be got as the gift of God through Jesus Christ, and as the result of a simple faith in him who died upon the tree…the new heart comes from the bleeding heart of Jesus, and the changed nature comes from the suffering nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look you alone to Jesus, for there all your help is laid.”  

PART I, SKETCH LXXVI: VERY SINGULAR

“He put his household in order and hanged himself” (2 Samuel 17.23.)

Introduction. Ahithophel was for years the friend and adviser of David. Then when David’s son, Absalom, tried to steal David’s throne, Ahithophel crossed over to the popular side, with Absalom. And when Absalom refused his advice, he put his affairs in order and hanged himself. That is very singular, to neatly put your house in order just before you foolishly commit suicide. Don’t laugh, this mixture of thoughtfulness and craziness is almost universal among us.

(1) The Hard Laborer. You may have plowed faithfully for your employer, but have you asked to have your heart plowed with the gospel? You delight in the rose that will wither, but take no thought for your undying nature? I understand and respect that you want to do well at your job, but work is a minor matter compared to eternal concerns. Do you know that your soul will outlast the sun? Will you be a faithful servant of men, and then die as unfaithful to God?

(2) The Careful Businessman. You are careful in business. That’s good. But be careful you are not like that woman who gathered gold coins from off the boat floor, wrapped them around her waist and then leaped off the sinking ship! Like a stone she went down—to her destruction!

(3) The Thoughtful Student. There you are with all your books to help you get the degree. You burn the midnight oil so you can be numbered among the intelligent. When will you look into the Bible? Will you be called into the academy of the smarts, and then miss the roll call of heaven?

(4) The Law-Changing Politician. It seems to me to be the greatest of all contradictions that a man would think himself able to govern the affairs of a country, province, or region, and yet lose his own soul; that he would angrily and forcefully condemn wars and all sorts of evils, and yet be at war with God and a slave to sin. He that preaches freedom should himself be free. 

(5) The Fiery Preacher. I pray God to show me if I am included in any way here. There are masters who preach and teach what they themselves have never experienced and felt. How inconsistent to tell of the fountain and not be washed in it!—to warn of hell and then go there! Let this caution also fall to Sunday-school teachers, Bible women, city missionaries, etc.

(6) The Loving Parent. You are so anxious to pamper your children with every good thing. Do you take as good care of your soul? Is it washed in Jesus’ blood and clothed with his righteousness? Look at your little ones in their cots tonight and say, “They are little sermons to me.”

(7) The Fake Christian. This is my last crayon sketch. It is the oddest and strangest one of all. Why promote a church unless you are spiritually in it? Why defend the faith when you are not justified by faith? Why keep the Sabbath and yet not enter into rest? An unsaved person who contributes to a church is like the men who helped Noah build his ark but refused to get into it.

Selection from Conclusion. “If thou puttest away from thee the Christ, who says, ‘Look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth,’ you may be very wise, and you may arrange your business cleverly, but for all that, you are no wiser than the great fool of my text, who set his house in order and hanged himself. God teach hearers and readers to be wise ere yet this year is gone. Amen.”

PART I, SKETCH LXXV: ELECTION NO DISCOURAGEMENT TO SEEKING SOULS

“I will be gracious upon whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy upon whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33.19.)

Introduction. Because God is the maker and creator and upholder of all things, he has a right to do as he wills with all his works. But God, being who he is, must act in accordance with the principles of kindness. And justice seems to demand that there shall be no punishment where there is no sin. But man has given his rights up as a creature. If he ever had any, he has sinned them away. All God owes us is wrath. Whether we agree about it or not, God should be sovereign, and God is sovereign. We Englishmen are as guilty of political crimes as other nations, like in our opium traffic with China. Yet we have lately had revival. Why not the Japanese? Divine sovereignty is why. In every conversion some beam of the absolute dominion of God shines forth upon mankind. 

(1) This Doctrine does not Oppose Other Scriptural Comforts. “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but had rather that he should turn unto me and live.” There is no conflict at all between God’s sovereignty and God’s goodness. There is nothing in the sovereignty of God that prevents any seeker craving divine grace by humble prayer through Jesus Christ, to be a finder. But it is God who makes a man seek. And there is your evidence of divine election. It is written, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” This agrees with election. If someone says he will not come because he may not be elect, this is nothing but an idle excuse for not doing what he has no mind to do. If you cannot reconcile doctrines together, there is your swimming-room for faith. But for sure, whatever else may be false, the gospel is true, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” The doctrine of election says that God has chosen and has saved some of the greatest sinners who ever lived. 

(2) This Doctrine has a Most Beneficial Effect upon Sinners. To the awakened sinner, next to the doctrine of the cross, the doctrine of distinguishing grace is perhaps the one that blesses and comforts most of all. The doctrine of election, applied by the Holy Ghost, strikes dead forever all efforts of the flesh. Arminian preaching aims to make men active, to excite men to do what they can. Gospel preaching lays men as dead at the foot of God’s throne. “I kill and I make alive,” says God. When a man is killed the work is half done. To set a sinner laboring after eternal life by his own works is to be an ambassador of hell. The hammer of electing sovereignty dashes out the brains of all a man’s works, merits, doings, and willings. And nothing better than this can be done as a stepping-stone to the act of faith. If the world’s authorities were to decide to release from prison either a rich man or a poor man, the poor man would have little chance of being delivered. But when God is the great sovereign the case is different! He saves those who have no influence at all! This doctrine opens the door to the worst of the worst. Those who think to be saved by their own influence will be damned. The doctrine of election causes humility in the one who believes in it. “If God had left me, I had been in hell with others,” he says. And so he holds his opinions, but not savagely. He says, “Why should I blame those who cannot see?—for I could not have seen if God had not opened my own blind eyes.” 

Selection from Conclusion. “What do you say who have made up your minds not to repent…Why, you believe that any day you like you can turn to God…thinking it all depends upon you, and that you will get into heaven just at the eleventh hour. Ah, man! that is not your case…God can damn you now…You are condemned already…’Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.’”  

PART I, SKETCH LXXIV: BAPTISMAL REGENERATION

“And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach this gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16.15, 16.)

Introduction. In the verses above, we have the Lord’s orders for the preachers’ work, with the affirmation that some they preach to will believe and be saved, while others will not and be damned. It is necessary to our success in this work that we understand these verses. This morning I shall attempt, in the Lord’s name, to speak directly and to oppose error as the apostles did. I feel an overwhelming sense of duty to do it. I may provoke hostility—I cannot help it.

(1) Baptism without Faith Saves No One. The error I am opposing is baptismal regeneration. To my knowledge no Protestant church in England teaches it except that church which proudly calls itself the Church of England. The error is boldly declared in her Book of Common Prayer, and very plainly in her Catechism for youth: …in my baptism…I was made a member of Christ….Children, no matter how giddy, idle, or wicked, are caused to say that in baptism they were made members of Christ. I am not now dealing with the question of infant baptism, but with baptismal regeneration, whether in adults or infants, whether by sprinkling, pouring, or dipping. There are ministers of that Church who preach against her own teaching on this point. But to profess one thing in a declaration of faith to your Church, and the contrary thing in your preaching, is to live a lie! And this causes men to think truth must be unimportant. But let us drive at the matter. Jesus rebuked scribes and Pharisees for regarding outward rites more than inward grace. Now look at the facts. Is it not true that so many that have been baptized are now criminals? Is that regeneration? And what a joke when “a dear brother” who has died drunk is buried in a “sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life.” Even Rome never perpetrated a grosser error than this! In baptism by the Prayer-Book a promise is made for a babe that he will renounce the devil and his works and keep God’s holy commandments. But the persons promising for the babe can’t even accomplish this themselves! And we are asked to believe that God accepts the wicked promise, and as a result, the child is regenerated! Why do I cry out against this? Because infants may grow up believing they are born again and saved when they are not! I used to disbelieve that Rome was making progress. But this teaching is just a stepping-stone to Rome, which believes in ceremony for salvation, a teaching which drags the soul to hell! Shake it off you and into the fire as Paul did the viper from his hand. 

(2) Faith is the Absolute Necessity for Salvation. You must believe the Son came into the world and was made flesh, lived a holy life for man, and was offered up to satisfy for sin. Then you must rely on his death and righteousness for your salvation. Do not rest on any ceremony whatsoever.  

(3) The Baptism in the Text is Certainly Connected with Faith. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Baptism follows belief. But I do not insist on the order of the words to convince anyone. Any man believing on Christ knows he has no right to be baptized until he is saved. Baptism is the outward sign of sin being washed away, just as the bread represents Jesus’ body. It is the Holy Spirit who does the rebirthing. Baptism is a testimony of one’s faith; one of the first acts of obedience; not a superstition; but an encouragement to faith.

Selection from Conclusion. “O my beloved friends…cling to the salvation of faith, and abhor the salvation of priests…Believe me, it is no trifle.”

PART I, SKETCH LXXIII: PIETY REPROVED AND JUSTIFIED

“…And Michal…said, how glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids…And David said unto Michal, it was before the Lord….” (2 Samuel 6.20-22.)

Introduction. You will recall that God killed Uzzah for touching the ark that was being improperly carried. Terror seized the minds of all. Three months later we see David dancing before the Lord in a linen ephod after the ark is carried safely. Passing by his house, he is accused of immodesty by his wife. David, not easily angered usually, is provoked, and the Lord strikes Michal with the worst curse an Eastern woman could know—she goes childless to the day of her death. Here is a lesson. David’s joy was on the threshold of grief. Up hill and down hill is the way to heaven. 

(1) David’s Trouble. It came from where it should have been least expected. The chief joy of our heart is often the means of causing us the most pain. The children of this world never did understand the children of the next, and never will. There must be conflicts while there are two natures in the world and two sorts of men. Natural affections are like delicate nerves that cannot be injured without causing a severe sensation. David might recollect that in his worst times, Michal had forgotten him. But he must recall, too, that she saved his life once. The delight of his heart became the foe of his spirit. Happy are the husband and wife who help each other on the path to heaven. When it is otherwise, as with some of you, that is a sore trial. It is curious that when men are going to hell no one will stop them. Get the dog out of his way! But here comes one who wants to go to heaven. Block his path; throw stones in front of him! Good people are employed by Satan to obstruct our way. They do not know any better. 

(2) David’s Justification. David’s justification was God’s election of him. God had chosen him before Michal’s father, Saul. Being lifted up, he stooped to praise and dance with common people. The Christian might be considered enthusiastic. But he has reason to be, for he is forgiven and blessed. Michal would act the same way if she felt as we feel. Be a missionary to the heathen? This is not extravagant for one who has been accepted in the Beloved. Ministers like Whitefield and Wesley, because they knew their calling, were not afraid to dance like David and degrade their clerical character by preaching in lowly places. They chose to suffer for the sake of Christ rather than reign without him. If you do not feel that God has done great things for you, then shun the cross. Tell Michal you are sorry you displeased her. Some of you are ready to object. Sovereign grace has made you give up the pipe and the beer for the Bible and prayer. 

(3) David’s Resolution. May God grant your resolution to be like David’s. If it be vile to serve Christ, serve him even more. An old writer says that in the old days they ate out of oaken bowls, and then they had oaken men. Now we have willow men who can bend every which way. Stand up for every grain of truth. Remember your forefathers: the Baptists, Waldenses, etc. Will you be cowardly sons of heroic fathers? If you are not called to suffer as a martyr, bear the spirit of one. If division happens in your family, be sure it is for faith and not fault. Never blush to suffer for Jesus’ sake. Let your adversary be the hammer. You be the anvil the hammer is broken upon. You may be a flower grown in a conservatory. Pray for those who have to be outside in the frost. This text has a warning for scoffers, hypocrites, and empty professors. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Brethren and sisters in the Lord, ‘stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, in nothing terrified by your adversaries…Amen.’”

PART I, SKETCH LXXII: THE TREASURES OF GRACE

“The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1.7.)

Introduction. As Isaiah spoke more of Christ than any other prophet, so Paul proclaimed the grace of God more than any other apostle. Not that we are at liberty to prefer one apostle over another. But Paul outstripped them all in declaring the grace that brings salvation. The sense of grace pervades his thoughts. He sees grace going before his conversion, attributes his ministry to grace, etc. Ministers who contend most for free, sovereign, unconditional grace are those who before conversion were gross sinners, like Bunyan and Newton. Strange indeed that God would have it so. 

(1) The Riches of his Grace. In the riches of grace there are mines too deep for man to fathom. In men, grace may grow into a habit. But God is gracious by nature. Grace is as necessary to his being as are the attributes of omnipotence and omniscience. Since every attribute of God is infinite, his grace is without bounds. He has grace enough to give anything and everything to the very chief of sinners. As his knowledge comprehends all, so his grace comprehends all the sins, trials, and infirmities of the people his heart is set upon. All that has been taken out of God’s mine of grace has not diminished his store by a particle. Come to the glittering treasury of divine grace. It is called the Covenant, written, signed, sealed, and ratified from old eternity by the Sacred Three. The Father willed to save his chosen; the Son agreed to bleed and die to satisfy justice; the Holy Spirit agreed to quicken, preserve, sanctify, and perfect those called by grace. God has led us to inspect mightier trophies than the monuments of ancient kings. Some trophies of grace come from harlotry, some from taverns, and some from shedding innocent blood. I see the men that nailed the Saviour to the tree. The neighbor you are sitting beside might be a trophy. I think God is gracious when I see others saved. I know he is because he saved me, a wayward, willful boy. The queen of Sheba was amazed at the sumptuousness of Solomon’s table. But just one saint requires so much grace for one day that only the Infinite can supply. And there are many saints, for many years, century upon century, race after race, all drinking to the full and living on the fullness of God in Christ. Even though the broken meat at God’s back door of grace would be enough, saints are all fed like Mephibosheth. And look how God’s people are clothed, each one with a robe divine and complete, better than Adam’s righteousness, and with a drop of blood in every throw of the shuttle. 

(2) The Forgiveness of Sins. The treasure of God’s grace is the measure of our forgiveness. God is as happy to give as we are to receive. Man sometimes forgives ungraciously. When God forgives he draws the mark through every sin, past and future. And when God forgives, he not only forgives all, but once for all. He never punishes afterwards, like a judge, though he chastises like a father. You would perhaps give your first-born as payment to be forgiven. But forgiveness is freely offered. Only acknowledge your sin and put your trust in Christ. 

(3) The Blessed Privileges which Follow. You will have peace of conscience. Instead of thinking of God as a consuming fire, you will feel as if you can talk to him as a friend. You will fear no hell. Even sinning daily, you will feel your sins atoned for. You will know that Jesus was punished instead of you. You will expect heaven. You will know that sudden death is sudden glory. 

Selection from Conclusion. “There is faith, dear brothers and sisters; may we all have it and receive forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Amen.” 

PART I, SKETCH LXXI: FAITH ILLUSTRATED

“…I know whom I have believed…he is able to keep that which I have committed….” (2 Timothy 1.12.)

Introduction. Better than any knife to spill the blood of our boasting is a remembrance of our safety in Christ. Assurance will not only keep us humble in prosperity, but it will preserve us from despair in adversity. Get then, Christian brethren and friends, get assurance. Don’t be content with hope, but get confidence too. Rest not in faith, but labor after the full assurance of faith. Don’t be content until you know your election, are sure of your redemption, and are certain of your preservation. I propose this morning to labor both for the edifying of the saint and the conversion of the sinner. 

(1) The Grandest Action of the Christian’s Life. Many churches and chapels do not give the anxious inquirer a clear idea of what must be done to be saved. I hope to be clear. When the apostle committed himself to Christ, he renounced dependence on his own efforts to save himself. He had been one of the very straightest of the straightest sect of his religion. Then grace intervened. And we hear him say, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” You cannot be saved with one hand on self and the other hand on Christ. Let go, sinner; renounce all dependence on works. There are only two steps to heaven: out of self, and into Christ. When Christ is your all, you’ll be safe. Next, the apostle had implicit confidence that Christ would save him. Some men relinquish self, but then cannot see that Christ will save them. They want an angel, a vision, or a voice. They may think themselves too vile. But the chief of sinners committed himself to Christ just as he was. Repose your all on Christ; lay hold on him. Joab was not safe when he laid hold on the altar. But if you lay hold on Christ, you will be safe from the sword of vengeance. When the guilty sinner flies to the cross, Christ lifts up his wounded hands and cries to Justice, “Stand back! in the secret place of my tabernacle do I hide him.” The viler you are, the more will you honor him by believing he is able to make you clean. The apostle also made a full and free surrender of himself to Christ. He became Christ’s property and servant forever. Salvation is through being bought with a price. You must not be your own, and no longer Satan’s. Like committing your gold to a bank to keep it from thieves, you must commit your soul to our Redeemer to keep it from sin and Satan. Will you now trust him entirely? This act of faith must be continual, through life and in death, in tempest, sunshine, poverty, and wealth. 

(2) The Justification of this Grand Act of Trust. The apostle did not rely upon one whose character he could suspect. Rome should not talk of pardoning others while fornication is licensed there. If you can’t trust a priest with your cash-box, don’t trust him with your soul. Will you be so foolish as to lay your soul at the feet of a man who is likely ten thousand times more wicked than you are? Trust not your soul with anyone but God. Jesus is your God. Paul was not wrong to trust Jesus. He knew Jesus’ Godhead, redemption, resurrection, power, love, etc. He knew these things by faith, but by experience also. Knowledge of Christ is like climbing a mountain. The higher we climb, the more we can see the expanse of his excellencies and beauties. 

(3) The Apostle’s Confidence. See this man. He is sure he shall be saved. But why? Let us catechize the apostle. O apostle, what if you should be chained to the stake? Yea, he says, Jesus will then hold me fast. Paul, Paul, what if a kingdom were offered to you? The world’s flatteries might soon move me to renounce my own soul, he says, but they could not move Jesus to give me up.  

Selection from Conclusion. “O poor sinner! come and put thy soul into the hands of Jesus.” 

PART I, SKETCH LXX: A HOME QUESTION

“But are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God” (2 Chronicles 28.10.)

Introduction. When the children of Israel had bloodthirsty thoughts towards their brethren of Judah, the prophet discouraged them. “Are there not with you…sins against the Lord your God?” This is a good question to pose to nations, sects, and classes among men. Let reformation begin at home before we attempt it elsewhere. We must not shun to declare the full counsel of God. But we must first deal with ourselves. I am not ashamed of being a Baptist. But we have our faults too. The question may be repeated continually in the ears of all. The poor man has his tavern. But the rich man has his drinking parties. We have the same gospel for all. We acknowledge no class distinctions. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

(1) A Home Question. Let me single out the moralist. He has no religion maybe. But he has the outward form of morality. He condemns the thief, and rightly so. My dear moralist, have you never broken a command? Have you never read that the Lord shall judge a man for every idle word? Turn your attention to yourself. And what if other men are worse than you are? Will that save you? Morality is good, but not enough to save. You need a living faith in a dying Saviour. Remember, one sin will sink your soul lower than the lowest hell. Repent, O moralist. I turn now to the accuser of the brethren. I have seen men, and women too, who are prone to observe the evil in another rather than what is good. But what about yourself? If you have directed false accusations against a servant of God, you have brought down upon your head the worst doom that can ever fall on a man. And now I turn to the religious man, the one who tries to carry out every Christian ritual. “If ye say that ye have no sin…the truth is not in you.” Next there is the honest man who professes no religion. Your honesty is a mask. And do you suppose that God will accept you because you are honest about never professing to serve him? Now let this eye look into every face. “Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?” 

(2) A Common Sense Inquiry. They say that common sense is worth all the other senses together. It is a fine thing to use in matters of religion. Young says, “All men think all men mortal but themselves.” But who are you to think you will escape the punishment of sin? Will your fine pedigree exempt you? Even princely blood springs from Adam, the dishonest gardener. It will be vain to plead respectability before the throne of God. Evil works must be punished unless a substitute is found through whom sin can be put away. To the man who hugs or cloaks his sin, there is no pardon, only the sword of divine justice that is ready to be plunged into his heart. 

(3) A Little Advice. Quit your slander, for fiery coals do wait to burn the false tongue. Judge yourself instead. Lay on the whip. Do not spare yourself. He that condemns himself will God forgive. He that stands self-convicted may look to Christ and see his sins forever put away by the sacrifice of him upon the tree. Look to the salvation of your own soul.   

Selection from Conclusion. “What is thy shop, compared with thy soul? Nay, what is thy body, thine eyes, thy senses, thy reason, compared with thine immortal soul?…I beseech thee, look well to thyself, lest eternity should become to thee a sea without a shore, where fiery billows shall forever toss thy wretched soul…Oh! sinner, hear the cry of thy poor starving soul; hear, I beseech thee, the cry of thy poor body. The body does not wish to be cast into fire, and thy soul shrinketh from the thought of everlasting torment…come, I pray you, to penitence and to faith.” 

PART I, SKETCH LXIX: THE CHAFF DRIVEN AWAY

“The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away” (Psalm 1.4.)

Introduction. And who are the ungodly? Open sinners, blasphemers, criminals, atheists? Yes, but the ungodly the Psalmist especially intends to single out are those who, though not openly guilty, are guilty of putting on a mere show of religion. If you are not born again, not made right toward God, not forgiven, then the curses in the Bible, and the one in this text, belong to you. 

(1) A Fearful Negative. The words not so refer back to the previous verse. And so the ungodly are not like a tree planted. They are not pruned and cared for, but are like wild trees of the forest that have no Dresser. Yes, the ungodly are the subjects of God’s general providence, but not special. They are not specially watered and sheltered so that fruit is produced no matter what. The ungodly are not like a tree planted by the rivers of water. They have a casual thunder-cloud that passes over to drop a bit of rain, but no drinks from the fullness of Christ. When the temporary water they have dries up, what then? Only fire. The ungodly do not bring forth fruit in season. Many people imagine that they are in trouble only if they do wrong. But Meroz was cursed by God for not doing right (Judges 5.23.) Meroz would not fight for God. Are you a Meroz? Though you do not fight against God, you do nothing for him? You occupy a seat in church for years, but your inactivity shows you are not even converted. The ungodly man’s leaf shall wither. Rowland Hill was a tree that maintained green leaves till the end by preaching in old age. I have seen the ungodly spreading themselves like a green bay tree, and even envied them. But one day I passed by, and lo, there was not so much as a stump of them left. God had cursed their habitation. Christians have tribulation, yes. But whatever happens, yet their souls are prosperous. The ungodly, if he gets fat, it is for the slaughter.

(2) The Terrible Comparison. “The ungodly are like the chaff.” They are not even like a dead tree, which may be of some service. They are like what remains from the wheat at harvest, and is driven away by the wind. There is no sap of life, no fruit in chaff. A broken piece of pottery may be used by Job to scrape himself with. But chaff is good for nothing. If it is gathered at all, it is only for burning. The ungodly are like chaff. See then, your value, my hearers, if you fear not God. Maybe you think you are good for much, but God says you are good for nothing. 

(3) The Awful Prophecy. “They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” Chaff and grain grow together. How nearly related are the ungodly to the righteous! Maybe you are an ungodly man who is the father of a godly child. You have been to that child what chaff is to wheat. You have been wrapped around it, and have nourished it and cherished it. Is it not awful that you have been so close, only to be separated everlastingly? And you church-goers who are ungodly, are you content to go from the songs of the saints to the shrieks of the doomed? My mother said to me once, after she had long prayed for me, “Ah, my son, if at the last great day you are condemned, remember your mother will say amen to your condemnation.” That really stung me! But does not the wheat say amen to the chaff being blown away? 

Selection from Conclusion. “Jesus Christ himself hath said it—‘he shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ You die, but die not…I beseech you, think of your destiny…The wind, and after the wind the whirlwind, and after the whirlwind the fire…forever…Is sin so luscious to you that you will burn in hell forever for it? Is Christ so hard a master that you will not love him?” 

PART I, SKETCH LXVIII: SIN IMMEASURABLE

“Who can understand his errors?” (Psalm 19.12.)

Introduction. What we know is small compared to what we do not know. He who has descended into the deepest mine must be aware that he has viewed just a part of the mere crust of this world. The astronomer will tell you that the grand clusters of unknown worlds exceed the little we can explore, as a mountain exceeds a grain of sand. In spiritual matters also, concerning God, Christ, the atonement, and sin, we have only begun to learn. “Who can understand his errors?” 

(1) Explaining the Question. “Who can understand his errors?” Any notion that we are without sin should discover to us that we indeed abound in it. Who knows how much a thing may be an error which we imagine to be a virtue? Who among us can tell how much sin is mingled with our goodness? Who is able to detect all the parts of an action so as to determine the proportion of right and wrong in our motive? We can detect the absolute black of sin. But the shades of evil are known by God. And who can understand the number of his errors? The mightiest mind cannot count those of a single day. Who can estimate the guilt of sin? since even a tiny one deserves God’s eternal displeasure? If one single sin remain unforgiven, God must cast his dearest from his presence. The aggravation of sin is such that a minister may be so conscious of his faults that he would give up the ministry if he dared. There is something about each one of us that makes our sins especially aggravating to God, like maybe you struck a deal with him that time you were in trouble, and then after he delivered you, you broke your promise. 

(2) Impressing the Question on the Heart. Before a man could understand his errors he must know several mysteries. First, he must know how much the fall has perverted his judgment and how vicious his nature has become. Until then, he cannot know how guilty he is. Most of our sins are hidden, like worms beneath the ground. Inspired tongues are unable to fully tell how vile man is. God even protects us from knowing all our wickedness to save us from becoming crazy. Second, he must know the law. The commandments look simple to obey, until we realize that they require obedience in act, word, and thought. The law of God is like a star, with brilliant points. But just approach it, and there is a body greater than the sun: “The commandment is exceeding broad.” Third, he must know the perfection of God. To get a full idea of how black sin is, we must know how bright God is. If we are spotted with sin as compared to an apostle, how spotted must we be beside our spotless God! Fourth, he must know about hell. Sin is best measured by the penalty it deserves: an eternity of indescribable agony. Fifth, he’d have to feel and endure the Almighty wrath that Jesus suffered for our sins.

(3) The Practical Application. What folly, then, to hope to save yourselves! Even your good works are evil. And even if you had committed no sins, then skipping the good you should have done is what men will be cast into the lake of fire for. Come, then, with your glory dragging in the mire, and confess. Do not wait until you feel guilty. You’ll never know nor feel how guilty you are. 

Selection from Conclusion. “It is every man’s solemn duty to trust Christ…Trust now in his precious blood…and you shall see his face in heaven…What if thy sins were greater than heaven’s breadth, yet Christ is greater than heaven…If thy sins were deeper than the bottomless hell, yet Christ’s atonement is deeper still…for Christ went to the end of punishment, and deeper thy sins can never plunge…God help thee to believe.”

PART I, SKETCH LXVII: A REVIVAL SERMON

“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper” (Amos 9.13.)

Introduction. God’s promises are not exhausted when they are fulfilled. They continue to overflow as we draw from them. Frequently you find a promise literally fulfilled that shall be fulfilled spiritually, the promise this way continuing to overflow. This is true of the promise before us. The land of Canaan has been a rich and fruitful one. It is barren now, but it will flow with milk and honey again, if once the severity of Turkish rule is removed. The soil is not barren. Neglect and robbers are to blame. But, my dear friends, though Palestine will again thrive, I take it this verse holds more fully a spiritual than an earthly promise. 

(1) A Great Promise of Spiritual Revival. One season, by reason of the abundant harvest, shall run into another: souls will be gathered into the Church like in Whitfield’s time. (This will by no means clear the ministers who have been content with dull routine.) The revival will have in it converts who grow in grace amazingly fast: the plowman shall overtake the harvester. This fruitfulness will come by increased activity: preachers during a revival may preach ten or twelve times in a week. There seems to be no fatigue in being greatly blessed. We are experiencing such beginnings of revival right now. Seed is bringing forth a twenty fold, thirty fold result, yet we hope for a hundred. Anglicans, Independents, Methodists, and Baptists are all busy. “The mountains shall drop sweet wine”—this means that conversions will happen in unusual places. I have seen this, Roman Catholics and military men crowding in to hear the Word from a Puritanic minister. Sailors, men supposed to be the least likely to be reached by the gospel, are calling me brother! Out of one whole crew just three are unconverted. An eyewitness told me, “I never heard such praying before—they pray with such power as only a sailor can pray.” And “the mountains shall drop sweet wine”—this means that some extraordinary sinners will become extraordinary saints, and even, as in John Newton’s case, extraordinary ministers. 

(2) What Doctrinal Lesson is Taught by Revival. When God promises to bless his Church and to save sinners, he does not add, if men are willing. Man has a free will, and God does not abuse it. He just bends it as with a mighty rushing wind, by his grace. God’s power is the doctrine of revival. It is God who causes the increase, whether gradually by slow degrees, or suddenly all at once. 

(3) An Incentive for Further Exertion. If God withholds the dew, we are not to withhold the plow. But what an incentive to further work, when we are having such success! It is time to invest in the Lord! Sow the seed everywhere. There is a wondrous harvest coming. But we must not be proud even of God’s power. All the more in time of revival, God desires to work through instruments. Now clouds of blessing have come to us from America. God sent them. It is our duty to bring down the rain. It’s already falling on some parts of our country. Pray! The Church has often been plagued by God because she did not make proper use of his favor. 

(4) A Word of Warning. In any revival of religion it is often those who are totally unconnected to a church that are brought to hear the gospel, and to repentance. But let me give a warning: It would be the hell of hells to have been in the midst of a revival and die unconverted.  

Selection from Conclusion. “Ah! man, thou mayest laugh thyself into hell, but thou canst not laugh thyself out of it…Give up thy sins.”

PART I, SKETCH LXVI: REMEMBER DEATH

“Oh that they were wise…that they would consider their latter end” (Deuteronomy 32.29.)

Introduction. Man tries hard to put reminders of death from his sight. Perhaps no subject so important is so little thought of. A celebrated author named Drelincourt wrote a valuable piece of work on Death, but it commanded no sale. Men would not trouble themselves with death’s cross-bones. The old Egyptians were wiser. Their custom at feast-time was to place a skeleton at the head of the table to remind them that there was an end of life. Our text tells us that we would be wise to consider our latter end. It would cool our fever for wealth, keep us from evil acts, and maybe set our thoughts on God and convince us to prepare ourselves to meet him. Let’s walk arm in arm with Death—that skeleton teacher. May the Holy Spirit bend our thoughts downward to the tomb. 

(1) Let us Consider Death. Why must I die! So wonderfully made by God, only to return to dust? To have dominion over the earth, and then to waste away? Death is a penalty. If Adam had remained sinless, our life would be endless. Sin is the mother of death! Adam has dug all our graves! Death is certain. Die I must! I may run like the deer, but the dogs of Death will get me yet. The Arabs tell us that there is a black camel upon which Death rides, and that must kneel at every man’s door. My time of Death is already appointed, and the means thereof. It is known to God, unknown to me. From the present spot I stand in, there is a straight path to my grave. A sliver of hair is thicker than our thread of life. Let us then prepare to meet our God. Dying is terrible. To joke about it is no laughing matter. This awful moment of dying is what hell is like, for the second Death is a continual dying. Death is a leaving all you have and all you love. On the other side there is glory and reunion for the believer in Christ, but blackness and howling for the unconverted. There is no chance of repenting after Death. 

(2) The Warnings Death has Given Us. Brothers and sisters, Death has invaded some of our families. It is a warning for us to prepare to meet God. A few weeks ago we were shocked to learn that this captain who had sailed through many a storm died in calm waters. Then we heard about a mill in America that fell over and killed hundreds. Then we heard of passengers on a train, fully at ease in conversation, suddenly snatched from time as the iron horse came off the track. This last week a judge was carried right from his court and whisked away to a greater judgment-seat. Death is doing marvels at home, abroad, and on the sea. O Death! will you never be still? But Death is closer to us than this. You talk of a rotten tooth: it is just part of a rotting man. This is Death presenting its warrant. But Death gives a more thundering sermon: fever, cholera, and still you carelessly live in sin. Death says, “Lord, let me slay him.” The Lord replies, “Spare him a little longer.” What will become of you when Death is finally allowed to let fly his arrow? 

(3) Picture Yourself as Dying. Imagine your last day has come. Loved ones are gathering around your bed. A relative pleads with you to receive his Redeemer. Your lips refuse to speak. You can’t move. Someone whispers, “Is he dead?” There is a hush in the room. What must your sensations be in that solemn moment! Your soul looses from your body. Maybe you are then brother to the angels, if you believed in and loved Jesus. Or maybe the doctor has made it easy for your unbelieving soul to be damned by drugging you to sleep. 

Selection from Conclusion. “The way of salvation is plain: ‘He that believeth and is baptised, shall be saved: he that believeth not, shall be damned.’”

PART I, SKETCH LXV: THE WAILING OF RISCA

“Suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment” (Jeremiah 4.20.)

Introduction. The crying prophet had a heavy heart when he spoke these words about his tents being ransacked. We can’t spare a moment of sympathy for griefs of the distant past today. There is a spot in South Wales, a favorite retreat of mine, where I worshiped and ministered too, which has just been spoiled very much. Oh! valley of Risca, I am like Jeremiah for you! The angel of death has overtaken some two hundred of your strongest men in the mine over there. Our little revival with you has been spoiled! Yes, this judgment speaks to us—there is a sorrowful lesson in each lost life.   

(1) Sudden Losses. Oh! how soon may God snap the ties of love! That is the world we live in. Our dear ones are loans to us from God. Love them, but hold them loosely. Thank God if your loved one is still with you. Treat the members of your family right and have no regrets. So love one another as if death will visit your home tomorrow. Tell your children, especially, about Christ. Work hard at it, tell them about death, even their own, and urge them to kneel down and pray. And when you hear your neighbor’s funeral bell, be guiltless concerning his destiny.

(2) Sudden Death. Death happened in the twinkle of an eye for these men. They did not expect it. There are a thousand gates of death for the rest of us. Satan would have us never mind about that. But God might not give us another tomorrow. Our days are not as many as the sands on the beach. Live for Christ then, and sincerely. Do not live so as to regret what little you did. Get more jewels for the crown of Jesus. You’ll never regret that. Do nothing, say nothing, think nothing, of which you might be ashamed if he appeared. Aim to die in the service of God. It seems, doesn’t it, that all men die but our own selves? But death is like a monster let loose in the city!—no, it’s worse! This monster called death is after each one of us! We must be thinking about it! If we visit the dying, that may help to impress us. I visited a lad once who was dying of alcohol poisoning. After he expired I went out in the streets, and all the bustle began right away to convince me that it was foolish to think about death. Oh, we must be careful of the trickery of activity! Maybe if we could see all who die, that would affect us more. 

(3) The Sudden Exchange at Death. When I think of death I almost long for it, to leave the Sabbath of work for that Sabbath of rest! The exchange will be so surprising. Then comes overwhelming joy, and gratitude to God! But what must the exchange be like for the unconverted man? “Good God,” he says, “I was in London last minute but now I’m in hell!” Have you ever seen someone die without a hope? I read about a woman on her death-bed who tried to repent.  But because of her former decision to live sinfully, she couldn’t. She prayed and fainted, prayed and fainted, and then with eyes bulging out of their sockets, she died with an awful look on her face, just as though she already felt the terrors of another world. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Now if such is the remorse of a spirit before it feels the wrath of God—if the first drops are sufficient thus to destroy all hope…what will the eternal hail be—what will the everlasting sleet of divine wrath be when once it is poured out? Sodom and Gomorrah! Why all their fiery hail from heaven shall be nothing compared with the eternal fire that must fall upon the sinner. Do you think I love to speak on such a theme as this? My soul trembles while I think of it…but it is needful that men may be awakened… I pray you think of these things…Oh that God would take up the work…’Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.’” 

PART I, SKETCH LXIV: WEAK HANDS AND FEEBLE KNEES

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees” (Isaiah 35.3.)

Introduction. In all flocks there must be weak and wounded sheep. If we ourselves have a lion-like spirit, let us never be as the king of beasts toward them. Do not say, as some do, “Ah, if such a person is foolish enough to be so sensitive, let him be.” O speak not so, but deal tenderly with the timid ones. This text especially commands the minister to deal tenderly. Many afflictions and tendencies of body and mind are not removed at conversion. And so among God’s best servants are those who always look to the dark side of every providence. I shall now speak to these persons. 

(1) Hands and Knees are Very Important in getting to Heaven. The root of fear lies in the heart. But the effects of fear are most easily seen in the hands and knees. Hands hang down; knees tremble. So by fear the hands of action grow weak, and the knees of prayer tremble. The Christian life is a life of work and service. But how to pull enemy walls down with trembling hands? How to carry a burden with a weak knee? There is much loss without strength. We would plead the promise, but the hand refuses to clutch it with an iron grasp. Bunyan reminds us that there are hills on our pilgrimage to heaven so steep that they must be climbed on our hands and knees. 

(2) The Ill Effect of Weak Hands and Knees. The ill effect is a stunted progress in the divine life. Some of you must acknowledge that you do not know much more about Christ than you did six years ago. Maybe you even know less. You have neglected prayer; not believed in promises; not trusted God enough. We are dwarfs, content with the small height we have reached. There is no reason for not standing as tall as Luther, or Calvin, or Henry Martin. Up! Christian, up! Another ill effect is that less good is done by us for the good of the world. The plow of divine grace must go through all the continents! Weak hands and feeble knees can’t handle this plow! If we had the strong knees of the apostles, and the mighty hands of the ancient martyrs, nothing could stand against us. Woe unto Rome and its castles once the children of God become strong! Let the fire of prayer begin in the pew, and will not the pulpit catch the flame? The whole church is weak at this time. A third ill effect is that Christ is dishonored. When the believer bows in prayer with a feeble knee, asking but believing weakly, he dishonors his Lord.

(3) Certain Causes of Weak Hands and Feeble Knees. One cause is being new-born. But God would not overdrive his lambs. Only seek to grow in grace by sucking on the milk of the word. A more frequent cause is starvation. There are some ministries by which you get no understanding of the doctrines of God at all, all year through! For example, some ministers believe in final perseverance, but persevere in keeping quiet about it. And all the while they yell, “Do this, do that!” And so church creatures are expected to live on a whip instead of corn. Feed God’s children with the old-fashioned doctrines that Owen, Charnock, and Goodwin preached, and then they’ll go to work. Only never forget, Christ’s soldiers always win their battles on their knees. The praying legion is the thundering legion. Prayer can move the arm that moves the world. We must not be lazy about it. Our prayers become stronger through use. 

Selection from Conclusion. “What a lazy corporation the church of Christ is!…Do not think it is enough to get good; do good…visit the sick, help the poor, teach the ignorant, succor the distressed; and in all these ways you will find that God will bless you, and your hands shall become strong, and your knees shall not totter.”

PART I, SKETCH LXIII: SATAN'S BANQUET

“The governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine…then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2.9, 10.)

Introduction. ‘The good wine first, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse.’ This is the rule with men. Judas presents the dish of fair speech and kindness; then Judas the thief betrays his Master: ‘that which is worse.’ This morning I will introduce you to two houses of feasting.

(1) The Devil’s House. (I) At the first table sit the profligate. First, the governor of the feast brings in the wine cup of pleasure. The young man intends only to sip. But how the drink makes his blood tingle! He drinks deeper. He drinks till his brain begins to reel. He drinks with the harlot and sups with the lustful. Now the subtle governor brings another cup, not so sparkling, the cup of satiety. ‘What more can I do?’ says the man. ‘I have tried every cup of pleasure.’ Many of you are the jaded horses of the fiend of lust. You have gone the round, and like the blind horse at the mill, round you must go again. Next, the fiend bears a black goblet, the third course. The drink is like lava in your bowels! And the last cup, the grave, leads from disease to damnation. Profligate! be not so careless at your cups! Shun the house of sin and folly! (II) At the next table sit the self-righteous. Satan draws a curtain between this table and the first, lest these sanctimonious hypocrites guess what company they are in. First, Satan brings the wine of self-satisfaction. Around the brim you may see the bubbles of pride. Sin as other men do? Not you. If you are not saved, you ought to be, you think. Even many of God’s children admire you. Satan brings a second cup, which, sometimes, he does not like to serve, the cup of discontent. Now comes a shaking in the heart. But wait, there is the third cup, that of dismay at the discovery of your lost condition. Death is close behind you, and forces you onward, and you discover what it is to perish by your attempt to save yourself through your own good works. And your last course must be the same as that of the profligate, the wine-cup of the wrath of God. Put away your high looks. Humble yourselves under God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. (III) The table of worldliness. More great men sit at this table than at any other. ‘Well,’ says one, ‘I dislike the profligate. And I don’t care for religion. I like to know whether the funds rise or fall.’ Satan tells him to get rich quick. This is the first cup. But then mark the next draught, the care of money that sits upon his heart. After this comes the cup of avarice. I do not wonder that God abhors this man. Mammon builds its palace on his heart. You give him a drink, but his thirst increases. ‘More, more, more!’ His final course is to perish. (IV) In the secluded corner, a table for secret sinners. The first cup, how sweet! the cup of secret sin. Then comes the cup of an uneasy fear. He dreads being found out. At last the discovery comes—what a cup! The man who led religious meetings is unmasked, if not here, then at the bar of God. 

(2) The Saviour’s House. (I) His table of outward providences. The first course may include affliction, sorrow, and poverty, like it happened in the olden time for God’s people. After this the cup of consolation arrives. And the best wine comes last, when death leads to immortality. (II) The table of inward experience. First, the cup of conviction. But soon after the cup of forgiving love, filled with the rich crimson of his precious blood. And the best wine is the glory that follows grace. (III) The table of communion. First, the cup of sufferings, for we must suffer with him; then the cup of labor, for we must labor after souls; after that he will give us the cup of his anticipated honors. 

Selection from Conclusion. “O! Christian! thou shalt soon see the King in his beauty.” 

PART I, SKETCH LXII: THE VANGUARD AND THE REREWARD OF THE CHURCH

“The LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward” (Isaiah 52.12.)

Introduction. The church of Christ is continually represented under the figure of an army, yet its Captain is the Prince of Peace. The spirit of war is at the extreme opposite point to the spirit of the gospel, but truth must be a warring thing. The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies. Truth that is friends with error must be suspected of being false. Even so, a church that does not distinguish herself from things unholy must be a false church. The children of God in this world live in enemy territory. The church must always be armed, and always fighting. Our comfort is, that Jehovah God is at the front and at the rear, securing it from defeat. 

(1) The Whole Church is an Army. Remember that a large part of our host is standing upon the hills of glory, while members at the rear are not all in existence yet. The rearguard will be brought up in that day when the last vessel of mercy is full to the brim with grace. Now cast your eyes to the front and see this great truth: “Jehovah shall go before you.” Have you never heard of the eternal counsel and of the everlasting covenant? Before there were any creatures, God in Three Persons settled it that men should be redeemed. Yes, the gospel is older than the aged mountains. And God has gone before the church from the day it left Paradise until now. Floods have gathered round her, but she safely floats in Jehovah’s ark. How can we account for the triumphs of the church? God has gone before her! She has marched right through blood and flames! The time of persecution is the age of heroes. Why? Because God goes on before and provides stores of grace for stores of trouble. Now to the sweet part of the text, “The God of Israel will be your rereward.” This means that God ‘gathers up’ all the stragglers. Heretics and trials to come do not worry me, then. Can you imagine the church of God as completed? She will leave the earth in a world of flames when God gathers up the last of her members! 

(2) Two Troubles: the Future and the Past. We have had our mercies. But we have had years of trouble too. Do you tremble to go forward? Be encouraged! Your future has been marked out in the great orders of predestination. Your troubles have been weighed in the scales of God’s love. You are not a child of chance. If you were allowed to map out your own future, would you? God has gone before your future journey in the preparations of his providence. Old wines of grace are waiting for you to feast on. Jehovah has gone before you in the incarnation of Christ. Jesus has borne your future troubles; was tempted as you shall be; has felt infinitely more sorrows than you ever will. Going before, he has conquered every foe. Cheer up, faint-hearted warrior! Do you dread sin? He nailed it to the cross! Death? He has been the death of Death! Hell? You shall never go there! You may march safely on. Maybe it is the past that troubles you. Beloved, study the titles in our text. The LORD: Jehovah, full of knowledge and power, he goes before you. But it is the God of Israel: the Covenant God of forgiveness who takes up the rear, picking up all your old sins and casting them behind his back. Don’t ever be cast down because of past sin! 

Selection from Conclusion. “And now, are there any here to-day whose hearts God hath touched, who desire to join this great army? Have I one here who has been enlisted in the black army of the devil, and has long been fighting his way against God and against right? I pray that he may be compelled this day to ground his arms, and surrender at discretion of God. Sinner, if the Lord inclines thine heart this day to yield up thyself to him, the past shall all be blotted out…As for thy innumerable sins, leave them to Christ, he will make short work of them; by his blood he will slay them all.”

PART I, SKETCH LXI: THE CHRISTIAN'S HEAVINESS AND REJOICING

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Peter 1.6.) 

Introduction. This verse to a worldly man looks amazingly like a contradiction. Even to a Christian, it is a paradox. Can there be in the same heart great rejoicing, and yet a temporary heaviness? Certainly there can! This is far from being the greatest paradox of the Christian life. Not only is the Christian’s condition a paradox. He is a paradox himself: corrupt and yet purified, mortal and yet immortal, fallen yet exalted far above principalities and powers. 

(1) The Christian’s Heaviness. I never understood this verse until a day or two ago. Commentaries, I’m afraid, have got it wrong. And notice that your friends often say by quoting this verse when you are in trouble, “There is a need for this affliction.” That is a correct scriptural statement. But it comes not out of this text at all. This text says something better. Not only is there a need for the temptation, but for the heaviness in it. Imagine a man of strong faith. He is slandered, or endures persecution, or maybe even gets condemned to death for the gospel, and you say to him, “There is a need for it all. The blood of the martyrs must be the seed of the church.” And suppose that he agrees with you, is unmoved by the slander, rejoices for persecution, and even kisses the stake he is to be burned on. Seek to have faith and love like that man! But our text is not for him. It is for a feebler grade of Christian who needs to go through a season of heaviness and weeping. I myself am such a man. Why is heaviness necessary? Our Lord and Saviour passed through much heaviness. We must too if we would be like him. Sometimes we are given to suffer heaviness to keep our pride down or to bring us thirsting after our Lord. And there are lessons that cannot be learned any other way but through heaviness. Some sights in the valley cannot be seen from on top of the Alps! Men will never become great in divinity until they become great in suffering. “Ah!” says Luther, “affliction is the best book in my library.” Finally, heaviness is necessary to anyone who would afterwards comfort others. A great many Christians could come by more sympathy by a journey through a furnace! God makes his sons of thunder anywhere; but his sons of consolation he makes in the fire. 

(2) The Christian’s Great Rejoicing. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice.” What is the cause of this rejoicing? In this passage the apostle is speaking of election. To be “elect according to the foreknowledge of God,” when meditated upon, can cause any infirmity to be as nothing. He is speaking also of “the blood of Jesus.” All my guilt and sin taken away, and shall I not greatly rejoice? Shall my depression cause me to break my harp, or shall it just hang on the willows for awhile? But the great cheering comfort from the apostle concerns our inheritance. Tell a dying Christian about the milk and the honey and the Lamb, and see his eyes light up! And the reason chiefly intended here for our rejoicing is in the 15th verse. We are kept by the power of God! I don’t know what a man does in affliction who does not believe this doctrine. What would we do in the day of darkness if left to keep ourselves? The Lord shall keep us safe through anything!

Selection from Conclusion. “There are some of you here to whom this precious passage has not a word to say. Our heaviness, O worldling, ‘our heaviness is but for a season.’ Your heaviness is to come; and it shall be a heaviness intolerable, because hopelessly everlasting…I beseech you, look at this matter. Search and see…whether it be well for you to venture into an eternal state as you are; and may God give you grace, that you may feel your need of a Saviour.” 

PART I, SKETCH LX: OUR DECLINE FROM FIRST LOVE

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Revelation 2.4.)

Introduction. It is a great thing to have as much said about us as Jesus praised the church at Ephesus for. Not only had this church works (and some of you do not even have that), but something called labor. Could the Lord Jesus say of you, “I know thy labor?” No. He might say, “I know thy loitering.” And how few of us could be commended for our patience, our continual labor? This church had borne persecutions, difficulties, hardships, embarrassments, and discouragements, but always continued faithful. This church hated evil doctrine and sin, and loved truth and pure practice. I trust that some of us can say the same. But I cannot say as much of myself as Jesus complimented Ephesus for. And I pray that I may return to my first love, and that you may return with me. 

(1) What was our First Love? I am sure that you can recall that first bright spot in your history, that happy hour when the Lord appeared, bleeding on his cross! “I am thy salvation,” he said. I could have easily been a martyr for him then! It is this first love that you and I must confess we have in some measure lost. Some new Christians used to walk five miles to stand in line for two hours just for a chance to get into this church! Now their love is cool enough. Some of you used to be so ridiculously in love that you did a commandment at the first sight of it! What about now? Once you could sing all day long! Now you grumble at the minister. I acknowledge that I could sometimes have held fellowship with Christ, but instead was focusing upon a preacher’s faulty style or grammar. Some of the actions we performed as young Christians, were they not just a little wild? Maybe the little in your pocket was all that you had, yet you gladly gave it to some poor saint. May the Lord deliver us from living on the past! What if the sun decided not to shine anymore on account of all the shining it already did? When we have left our first works, we have lost our first love. When first love departs, we think ten minutes of prayer will do instead of an hour; and that a verse or two will do instead of a portion. In the beginning, some of you could not even take a walk without praying. How about now?

 (2) Where did we Lose our First Love? Have you not lost it in the world? A godly man says, “I have a chance of doing more business, but I will not because I must keep up my business with heaven.” And have you not lost your first love by being too much with worldly people? Seek to have godly friends. And have you maybe forgotten how much you owe to Christ? You and I may get to talking about being saints. But we need often to recall the pit we were dug out of in order to be led, by thankfulness, back to our first love. And is it not easy to do a great deal for Christ instead of living a great deal with him? The planet Mercury, because of where it is, is in a boiling heat, and spins around the sun in rapid orbits. Even so, the heart that is near Jesus must be full of his love. But search your heart, and find out just why you have lost your first love. 

(3) Let’s get our First Love Back. How happy was David before he lost his first love! But after David’s lustful eye fixed upon Bathsheba, it was one long string of afflictions! When love declines, purity declines too. Watch yourself! Unless you are a bastard, the Father will give you the rod if your love cools! Let it never be said of us, “Ah, that church is quite as sleepy as any other.”

Selection from Conclusion. “May not this question arise in our hearts—Was I ever a child of God at all?…may it not have been that I only thought I had love to Christ, and never had it, for if I really had love to Christ should I be as I now am?”