PART I, SKETCH XX: SECRET SINS

“Cleanse thou me from secret faults” (Psalm 19.12.)

Introduction. Self-righteousness arises partly from pride, but mainly from ignorance of the severity of God’s law. Let the law be revealed to a man, and his self-righteousness will become as a filthy rag in his sight. The Church of Rome once passed a decree that every true believer must confess all his sins once a year to a priest. How absurd! There are a vast mass of sins that only God can detect. “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.” But it is not the men who have sins unknown to themselves that I am after this morning. I am after the men who have sins they keep secret from their fellows.

(1) The Folly of Secret Sins. Pretender, you are nice to look at; your conduct is good and Christian-like. But do you judge the drunkard while you drink in secret? Whatever your sin, you are a fool to think you can hide it. The eye of God has seen your secret. Dig as deep as hell, and you’ll not find earth enough to cover your sin from God. What will you think on that day when God shall read out the story of your secret life to men and angels? Even the holiest man in this congregation would not like his secret thoughts known. Renounce this foolish hope of secrecy.

(2) The Misery of Secret Sins. A drunkard who admits his habit will be unspeakably miserable for worlds to come. Yet he has at least some peace until then for his honesty. But a man who pretends to be religious while he lives in sin is in continual agony of being caught. Better to be a sinner in the open than a hypocrite! A mere profession of religion is like dressing all up just to go to hell. Hypocrisy is a hard game to play at, for it is one deceiver against many observers. “Be sure your sins will find you out.” Men will even tell their secret tales in their dreams. Secret sinner! if you want a foretaste of damnation, continue your secret sinning. A stag followed by hungry hounds with open mouths is far more happy than a man who is chased by his sins!

(3) The Solemn Guilt of Secret Sin. A sin is a sin, whether discovered by others or not. Robbing the till is a sin, even if no one finds out. I hold that secret sin is the worst kind because the man who commits it has Atheism in his heart. He is a practical Atheist. To conceal our sin from creatures and then sin in secret before God is to think more of man’s eye than God’s eye. This is to deny that God is God. Look your secret in the face, confess it, and may God give you grace.

(4) The Danger of Secret Sin. Private sin leads to public sin. You keep your little pet sin at home; but mark this, when the door is ajar the dog will be out in the street. And sin the first time, there are drops of sweat on the brow; next time there’s no sweat, only agitation; then just a sneaky look; and then you are a bold blasphemer. And you Christians, a little sin, like a little pebble in the shoe, will make your travel to heaven a weary one. Let us destroy all our little secret sins. 

(5) A Plea to Secret Sinners. The pleasures of this life are so intoxicating; but the joys of it so ensnaring. Will you have your sin and go to hell, or leave your sin and go to heaven? You may have temporary happiness, then overwhelming woe; or solid peace, and then everlasting joy. 

Selection from Conclusion. “’But,’ says one, ‘sir, I intend to be religious, but I do not hold with your strictness.’ I do not ask you to do so; I hope, however, you will hold with God’s strictness, and God’s strictness is ten thousand times greater than mine. You may say that I am puritanical in my preaching; God will be puritanical in judging…to be out of Christ is a dreadful thing.”

PART I, SKETCH XIX: THE SINNER'S REFUGE

“Then ye shall appoint you cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares (Numbers 35.11.)

Introduction. The principle of blood revenge is a deep-seated one in the eastern mind. The custom goes like this. When a man was murdered or killed by chance, his nearest relative must kill his killer. There are two things mentioned in Scripture that God never approved, but did not forbid. One is polygamy. The other is this matter of blood vengeance. But to prevent a man from being slain for killing someone by accident, God provided cities of refuge for him to flee into for security.   

(1) An Explanation. The city of refuge was not provided for the murderer. A murderer who fled there would be dragged out, tried, and given over to his avenger. Now here is a type. Sinner, the law of God is the blood avenger against you, for you have broken, or killed, God’s commandments. Now there were six cities of refuge. This is a type of Christ. He is everywhere, always at a convenient distance. Though the city of refuge was only for the innocent, and we are guilty, we may flee to Christ for safety. There we are provided for, and kept secure by divine appointment. The penalty for breaking the law cannot touch us there. In the old Jewish dispensation, if the man reached even to the outskirts of the city of refuge, that was enough. And it is enough for our salvation if we can barely touch the hem of Christ’s garment. “Faith as a grain of mustard seed” is enough. The way to the cities of refuge was kept clear by the elders. This is a picture of the road to Jesus and to heaven. Preachers keep the way open by pointing to Christ and declaring, “Believe and live!”—“Refuge, refuge, refuge!”

(2) An Exhortation. Picture a scene. A man is at work in a field. He accidentally strikes his companion dead with a tool. See the horror in his face! See the corpse lying at his feet! What next! He flies from the field, runs with all his might! He does not stop to kiss his kids or say bye to his wife. Soon the victim’s brother is after him! And then a posse! He is like an animal chased by hounds. See him speeding on for miles with veins bulging! And what! He finally sees the outskirts of the city, his pursuers right on his heels with knives and stones! He leaps over the border, exhausted almost to death, but rejoicing! The pursuers dare not touch him now! He has managed to leap into the kingdom of life! Sinner, this is a picture of you, except you are not innocent, but guilty. O! that God would give you grace to sense the danger you are in! The avenger of blood is after you! If you could see the sword of God’s law, you might quiver to death right where you are. If this avenger gets you, it will not be death merely, but eternal death. Do you know anything about damnation? Wrath? The undying worm? The bottomless pit? You cannot know how dreadful these things are. No, the drunkard still drinks; the swearer still swears, etc. Do not act so foolishly! How foolish to carelessly loiter when the city of refuge is ahead and the avenger of blood is behind! Do not say, “There is no city of refuge for me.” That is a sham despair. And make sure it is Christ you flee to, not the city of baptism or confirmation. Jesus’ blood, his wounds, his agonies, his sufferings, his death, these are the gates and walls of the city of salvation. By the terrors of the law, by the day of judgment, by the wrath to come, by the uncertainty of life, and by the nearness of death, this night flee to Christ!

Selection from Conclusion. “Not only doth the night come on; but, lo! the blood avenger is behind. Already he has slain his thousands. Let the shrieks of souls, already damned, come up in your ears….let the torments of hell amaze you. What! will you stop with such a sword behind you?”

PART I, SKETCH XVIII: THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER

“O that I knew where I might find him! (Job 23.3.)

Introduction. We will say nothing at this time about Job. We will take his words as the exclamation of a sinner who knows he’s lost because of sin, and who is looking for the Saviour. There are some who tell us that a man can, if he pleases, in one moment obtain peace from God and joy in the Holy Ghost. Such persons may have experienced it like that. But they are not competent to be judges of others. In many more cases the heart wounded by God finds no consolation by him for a long time after. It was like that for Bunyan. If such is your case, I have a sweet message for you.  

(1) Some Hopeful Signs in being a Seeker. First, the seeker has only one aim. The worldling wants fifty kinds of good, while the quickened sinner says, “These will never satisfy/Give me Christ or else I die.” If your one desire is to find Jesus to be washed from sin by his blood, you’re not far from the kingdom. It is a sign of the divine at work in you. Second, the seeker’s desire is intense. He does not say, “Yes, I’d like to be forgiven.” He says, “O that I might find him!” Is your groan from the heart? Or would you rather be forgiven while you go on in sin? Real emotion of the heart God will not despise. Third, the seeker admits his ignorance. People who think they know all about God know nothing. But the seeker says, “O that I knew!” The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our ignorance. A sense of ignorance is a very excellent sign of grace. Fourth, the seeker would find Christ anywhere. He’ll go to any church of any denomination of any rank of respectability, so long as he might find the Saviour there. I myself was obligated to go to a despised chapel to get saved. Do any of these signs apply to your seeking?

(2) Some Reasons why a Gracious God Delays an Answer. The first reason, to display his sovereignty. Ah, that is a word not often mentioned in pulpits. If God gave all men peace as soon as they asked for it, they would begin to think they had a right to it. And so God makes a delay between penitence and faith. Second, he may delay manifesting forgiving mercy to set the heart searching out some forgotten sin. God would then have that thing dragged out of its corner. Third, to make us more useful after. We must first suffer the things we preach before we can preach with effect. Fourth, it may be our ignorance of the way of salvation that is the cause of delay. The way of salvation is one of the hardest things for a sinner to grasp. “Do you mean I am to be saved purely through what another did?” he asks. He can hardly believe it. The gospel is wrapped up in one word, just as Luther and Calvin believed, ‘Substitution,’ Christ standing in man’s place. He takes on sin, and the sinner puts on his righteousness. The just has died for the unjust. 

(3) Some Advice to Seekers. First, go wherever Christ goes. Go to where Christ is preached, and go to the Bible. Second, cry after him mightily. If a sermon stirs you, pray over it. Cry out until Jesus comes to you. Next, think much about Jesus. Meditate on the course of his sufferings: his sweating in the garden, the cross lifted up, his joints out of their sockets, etc. Then pretty soon you’ll be asking, “Blessed Jesus, is your death not sufficient for me?” Awakened sinner, dare to trust Christ. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Fully rely upon what Christ did, as the way of salvation…But alas! for such of you as will go away and say, ‘The man has talked about salvation, but what matters it to us?’ Yes, go your way; you can afford to laugh to-day at God and his gospel; but…Death is after you, and will soon seize you…You will find it hard work to laugh at Christ then; you will find it dreadful work to scoff at religion then, in that day…Take warning, then, before death comes! take warning!”

PART I, SKETCH XVII: PRESUMPTUOUS SINS

“Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins” (Psalm 19.13.)

Introduction. All sins are great sins. But it is wrong to suppose that because all sins will condemn us, that therefore one sin is not greater than another. Now the presumptuous sins of our text are just the chief of all sins. It is remarkable, that though an atonement was provided under the Jewish law for every kind of sin, there was this one exception: “But the soul that sinneth presumptuously shall have no atonement.” Now, under the Christian age, in the sacrifice of our blessed Lord, there is a great and precious atonement for presumptuous sins. Yet, presumptuous sinners, dying without pardon, must expect to receive a double portion of the wrath of God. 

(1) What is a Presumptuous Sin? First, when a man knows better, and sins anyway, that is presumptuous sinning. That is so, even if conscience be the only light he sins in spite of. But, O! how presumptuous to sin in spite of greater light! What if a mother with tearful eye has warned me first? Or a father with a steady look? And what of friends and religious education? And if you have heard of a sudden death, or have been very sick, then you have sinned against the voice of God, broken promises, and sinned presumptuously. Second, a man may sin in a moment of hot haste; but a deliberate sin, a planned sin, is a sin of high presumption. And so is any sin that is deliberately done habitually. Third, the sin I speak of is like the one by the man in Numbers who designed to gather sticks on the Sabbath, just to show his disrespect for God’s command. Many of you sin just like this today. It is a master-piece of wickedness. There are few that repent of it. Fourth, daring to think we are strong enough to go so far into sin and no farther, like when one goes into a casino—there is a kind of suicide in a sin like that. Or maybe you say, “In a little time I will get serious for religion.” You presume to live until that time? 

(2) Why is the Presumptuous Sin so Enormous? Simply because it is a sin against knowing better. It is the difference between unknowingly being involved in a bad thing, and fighting for the bad cause—or between stealing out of hunger, and stealing to mock the law—or between insulting a man carelessly, and setting out carefully to insult him. O! you that have sinned presumptuously—and who among us has not done so?—bow your heads in silence, confess your guilt, and then open your mouths, and cry, “Lord have mercy upon me, a presumptuous sinner.”

(3) The Appropriateness of this Prayer. “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.” Did David, the “man after God’s own heart” need to pray that? Yes, “Curb thy servant with thine overpowering grace.” The best of men may sin presumptuously. The highest saints may sin the lowest sins, unless kept by divine grace. You old experienced Christians, do not boast, you may trip yet, unless you pray the prayer. Hazael recoiled in horror at the prophecy that he would slay his master. But what did he do? The very next day he went and choked him to death! Think it not enough to hate sin, you may yet fall into it! Job might have said, “I will never curse the day of my birth.” But he lived to do it. If the best need this prayer, what about us?

Selection from Conclusion. “God’s Spirit has found some of you out…I thought when I was describing presumptuous sin that I saw here and there an eye that was suffused with tears…here and there a head that was bowed down…You have greatly sinned, and if God should blast you into perdition now, he would be just…Go home and confess…with cries and sighs…remember…a man who was a God. That man suffered for presumptuous sin.”  

PART I, SKETCH XVI: ISRAEL IN EGYPT

“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15.3.)

Introduction. “The song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” The clause—‘the servant of God’—is inserted by the Holy Spirit to guard the honor of our blessed Lord. Moses’ song is united to the Lord’s in order to show that the glorious overthrow of Pharaoh at the Red Sea symbolized the total destruction of Satan and his host at the great battle of the Lord. There will be a song of triumph then, just as in Moses’ day. Here are three parallels.

(1) The Position of the Children of Israel, Symbolic of our Own. Like the vast host of Israel, the Church of God has been delivered from bondage, from being slaves of sin and Satan in our natural state. The iron yoke is taken from our necks; we no longer serve our lusts and the tyrant of sin. Joyfully we pursue our way through the wilderness. But we are pursued by Pharaoh, and some of us would almost give up and go back. We are not in Canaan yet, though we have tasted a few sweets from there. We are commanded to go forward through the Sea, until the last of us is safe on the other side. Then the world will suddenly be destroyed. 

(2) The Triumph of Moses, a Picture of the Triumph of the Lamb. Now the song of Moses was sung by the side of the sea, which was glassy, and still, with the enemies all sunken to the bottom of it like a stone. The sea upon which God’s people shall walk shall seem to be a sea that is clear, while down in its hollow bosom shall be the horrid depths where the wicked must for ever dwell in the fire—and so we have in Revelation the statement, “a sea of glass mingled with fire.” One reason why Moses sung this song was because all Israel were safe. I strongly believe that there will be cause for singing again, just because of all the safety of the Church. As many as God has chosen, and Christ redeemed, and the Spirit called, as many as believe, shall arrive safe across the stream. The rearguard shall soon be where the vanguard already is. Every last one of God’s elect will one day stand upon the shore. The song would be unpleasant if it were not so. Perhaps the major part of Moses’ joy lay in the destruction of all the enemies of God. “The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” And you wait awhile—there will be singing by us on account of the end of Rome, Mohammed, the Secularist, and all Idolatries. 

(3) Similarities between the two Songs. I think one might well have chosen to be a slave in Egypt, just to have stood in that mighty host who sung such mighty praise. Note, the praise was all to Jehovah, not even a word for Moses, the great lawgiver and miracle maker. And the last song will be wholly to Jehovah too. Even Luther and Whitefield will be like stars that refuse to shine when the sun appears. Note, the song of Moses describes the attack of Pharaoh—it is part of the song. A song is made out of the wrath of Pharaoh. And it shall be so at the last. The wrath of man shall praise God. Yes, fury, hatred, and weapons, all shall be woven into a song. Smite on, smite on, tyrant! The harder your blows, the sweeter our song, and all the worse for you in the end. And note, the emphasis in Moses’ song, “not one”—not one enemy left. And how easy is the overthrow! God, not us, causes his enemies to be “as still as a stone.” Then “the Lord shall reign for ever and ever”—O! may we be there to sing this!

Selection from Conclusion. “May God bless you, and give you all to taste of his salvation, that you may stand upon the sea of glass, and not have to feel the terrors of the mingled fire in the lower depths thereof! God Almighty bless this vast assembly, for Jesus’ sake.”

PART I, SKETCH XV: PREACHING FOR THE POOR

“The poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11.5.)

Introduction. The disciples of John the Baptist came to some doubts about whether Jesus was the Messiah. Then Jesus answered, “Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see…the poor have the gospel preached to them.” The Jews had forgotten Old Testament prophecies too much; they only looked for a Messiah clothed in worldly majesty and dignity. “The poor have the gospel preached to them” will endure three translations.

(1) The Authorized Version. Almost every impostor has aimed his doctrine principally at the rich and the respectable and the princes and nobles. Christ aims first at the poor. He begins at the lowest rank, that the fire may burn upward. The gospel should be preached where the poor will come, or we should take it to them. The only reason I do not take it to the street in London is because this would disturb the peace. My heart is for preaching in the open air. The last time I did it twelve thousand souls surrounded me—and I trembled. Now we should preach attractively. The Puritans were popular because they were not dry. Instead of fancy language, we need the gospel of Christ, complete with parables and true stories. Look at the preaching style of Jesus. People just had to hear such a Preacher! Some gnashed their teeth—but multitudes crowded around him. He was too zealous and earnest to be dull and boring; too humane to be incomprehensible. And the gospel must be preached simply. Latin will do no good. There is a type of preacher, he goes down so deep into the subject that he stirs the mud at the bottom, and cannot find his way up again. John Bunyan, a surpassing genius, became the apostle of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire because he spoke plainly. And we must preach the gospel: sinfulness and restoration, the blood of Christ and the pardon from guilt. Controversy and logic, science and philosophy, these will not do. And the gospel must be preached. The battle must be fought in the pulpit mainly, not the news-press. God will bless preaching.

(2) The Genevan Version. Calvin and Cranmer used this version much. The meaning at our verse is that the poor are ‘gospelized.’ The cheat is made honest, the harlot modest, etc. To gospelize a man is to save him from hell, to blot out his sins, to make him heavenly, etc. It is the greatest miracle in the world, greater than raising the dead. O! we love godliness anywhere! But what is more moving than a poor girl, for instance, in an upper room, with a lean-to roof, with nothing but a bed, a table, and a chair in there, and a candle and a Bible? There she is on her aching knees, wrestling with God! It is an honor to the gospel that those who want it most receive it!

(3) Wyckliffe’s Version. ‘Poor men are taking to the preaching of the gospel.’ But—“Ah!” say some, “they had better be minding their plows or blacksmith’s hammers.” Bunyan was a pot-mender; Whitefield, a pot-washer. And the Reformation in England was more promoted by the poor than by the rich. What an honor to the gospel! Their names are forgotten—but not in eternity. I do not undervalue high learning. The more the better. But it is not absolutely necessary.

Selection from Conclusion. “And now, beloved, I have opened my mouth for the dumb, and pleaded the cause of the poor, let me end by entreating the poor of the flock to consider the poor man’s Christ; let me urge them to give him their thoughts, and may the Lord enable them to yield him their hearts. ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.’ May God bless the high and low, the rich and poor…for his name’s sake.”

PART I, SKETCH XIV: SPIRITUAL REVIVAL THE WANT OF THE CHURCH

“O Lord, revive thy work” (Habakkuk 3.2.)

Introduction. All true religion is the work of God. It is his greatest work. He views the work of grace as being more glorious than the works of nature. I believe the Eternal might sooner forgive the sin of attributing the creation of the heavens and of the earth to an idol, than that of attributing the works of grace to any thing else but God. There are means and agencies employed, but the work of converting the soul is both start and finish wholly the Lord’s. He converts, maintains, completes, and perfects the life of the soul and Church. Therefore, ‘O Lord, revive thy work!’

(1) Revival in Ourselves. We are too quick to flog the church, too fast to magnify her little errors. Let’s lay the whip on our personal shoulders first. I will not flatter you. London is a huge criminal full of sin; if all of its professors of religion were true, this city would be less wicked. Let us admit it, or our enemies will! How many church members are liars or money-chasers, grinding the faces of the poor? Now if these be true Christians, is not their spark smothered, needing to be fanned into a flame? Ah, it is so fashionable to be religious when persecution is taken away! If you are fake, quit pretending! If you are real, quit your errors! Do you think that God would now stoop from heaven to listen to the conversation of his church? Where is the talk of our Lord and Master? Are we too scared to speak of Christ for fear of being called strange? O, we must not talk about this doctrine or the other because so and so disbelieves it! Then we end up with nothing but worldly talk! Now let me ask—when did you last have a love-visit from Jesus? Do you weep and groan over this lack? Maybe you are content without Christ? Ah, you need prayer most of all! There are many that need revival, but only few that feel they need it. Stir up your feelings by recollecting what the Lord has done for you. If you feel your need you will groan to have the ordinances of song, preaching, and communion to seem as sweet as once they were! Is your emptiness an aching void? Forget about resolutions to revive yourself. Instead, pray, ‘O Lord, revive thy work!’ When you really feel the lack of revival, you will never speak of reviving yourself! He that first made you must revive you! 

(2) Revival in the Church. This age is too much the age of form, not enough of life. Men are the rarest things in all the world. Compared with the puritanic times, where are our preachers? our Howes,  our Charnocks? Where is the galaxy of grace that followed Whitefield? We have no real preaching today. Where are the preaching tears? There is a lack of revival because there is a lack in the pulpit. And look at the lack of good teaching. Orthodox men of old would be called heretics today! The decline was gradual, and was begun by ministers who were ashamed to preach the hard doctrines! We need revival of sound teaching. And we need a revival of zeal too. Our prayer meetings are too empty. We are too honorable in the world’s eyes. If we were zealous we would be hated more. Maybe you think we are fine, that there is no need? But some of us will cry out for reviving. We need life, not new plans, forms, and fresh ministers—but life!

Selection from Conclusion. “O! for the days when in this place hundreds were converted sometimes under Whitefield’s sermons. It has been known that two thousand credible cases of conversion have happened under one solitary discourse…O! for the age of deep feeling…Let us ask God for it; let us plead with him for it. Perhaps he has the man, or the men, somewhere, who will shake the world yet; perhaps even now he is about to pour forth a mighty influence upon men!”