ULMER EET TES ELE EERO LRA EP EELEEESEI GEESE LEE PE EEE ELE ENS | bby RPE IEOLERUS PEEL CG teh ighyd LEALEED SEE! FUSES ASEEAS EC SERRE TELUS TEE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY etree Sp Us 6 Lad La - _ =-- 4 ri ; A. Ky “a ) s = J * ¥ + - “a i 5 q 3 “Sa 4 j < a ral 4 . « ‘ a* is 3 3 Zn ; " | = es - r nae | ’ . a a ata : a4 as ; ; f > j . my ‘ bi Ld ‘ - , { > oat f'> ~ vad ' , ri 3 Engraved by J.C Butme M*Pococke, Architect SPURGEON’S NEW TABERNACLE — LONDON. PREACHED AND REVISED BY THE REY. C. H. SPURGEON. Sixth Series. * NEW YORK: SHELDON & COMPANY. D. W. EVANS & COMPANY. 1860. e By special arrangement Suntpon & Company will publish the Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spureron, and it is the author's wish that no parties should infringe this contract, * Stereotyped by Printed by BiLtuin & BROTHER, Pupney & RUSSELL, 20 North William st. 79 John street. PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT. BA PEIN ) THE Publishers have the pleasure of presenting to the American public a new and splendid volume of sermons by Mr. Spurgeon. This is a fitting occasion to say, that these sermons are published in this book precisely as they came to us from the hand of the author himself, with the revisions marked by his own pen, and without a passage or word being omitted or added. The discourses are marked by that glowing fervor, intense earnestness, strong concep- tion, vigorous expression, and deep evangelical gospel truth that have made this preacher, in the dew of his youth, the most popular preacher in the world. In a letter just received from the author, and which is appended to this note, Mr. Spurgeon expresses his strong *reprobation of the attempts of others to publish his “sermons in this country without his sanction, and without - his revision. It is our design to continue, as we have done hitherto, to give the American people the discourses -of this remarkable man, so long as they maintain the char- acter they now enjoy, ea we have the s same evidenGe of their distinguished usefulness. We trust confidently that this volume will not be found one whit behind any that has preceded it, and that it will rather exhibit the advancing stature of the preacher in his intellectual grasp, his varied learning, and deeper insight into human nature, as well as his increased spirituality and self-devotion. ~~ 5 € Ps Oa Se: / Ky eset 6 i mw 4 [e. Vill PUBLISHER’S ADVERTISEMENT. We cannot ask more than that it shall be received with the same favor that has welcomed its predecessors. To my Reapers 1n America. Brethren :—I do not yet perceive that I have been called te yisit your shores in person, but I am happy to present you with my representative, in the shape of this Sixth Volume of Sermons. Gratefully do I acknowledge the indulgence you have shown to my productions. I could deal more severely with them than my unkindest critics, and therefore thank those gentlemen for their unintentional leniency. I know that God the Holy Spirit has blessed them to many souls, and therefore I thank those favor- able reviewers who have so kindly commended them to notice. May the arrows in this sixth bundle be each shot from the bow of God, and find its target in. some heart which the Lord ordains to bless. I have selected them-from discourses addressed to be- lievers, and shall pray that the living family of God may find something profitable in them. y As a inatter of business, it behooves me to gemark that Messrs, Sheldon & Co. are my only publishers in America. I have no connection whatever with the Waverley paper, and the statement that the sermons are exprgssly reported and revised for that paper is utterly false. Sheldon & Co. have always acted in the most liberal manner towards me, and, in this respect, are a model to all publishers. ‘Ihave been trying for many weeks to get up a few words of preface to the new volume, and, after burning several attempts, I am compelled to give up the matter; for I find it easier to preach a hundred sermons than write one preface. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit, be with all the people of God forever. Amen. Brethren, [am | Yours, ever truly, C. H. Spurezon. CONTENTS. SERMON I. 3 PAGE Tur Srory oF Gop’s MiagHTy ACTS.... cc cece cc cece cece rece ceneces 13 SERMON II. Tue OvuTPoURING OF THE Hoxy SPIRIT’. ss s% Oe ee Pare cio or 31 ¥ SERMON JIL Tur SyMPATHY .OF THE TWO WORLDS ....... De SPUR Seek Pra SE 47 SERMON IV. Tou Conversion oF SAUL OF TARSUS. cece cee ec cec cc eeccreeecenes 61 . SERMON_V. DISTINGUISHING GRACE. 1... eee cece cee ce ence eens ioe /> <' Curist’s MANIFESTATION TO Mary MAGDALENE .......ececcccscceces 4138 ado bey A Lt «ness eee SERMON: XXVIIL Ten Stour or INIQUITY ... 6.0... cscs cc ceccceees eben ee 422 SERMON XXIX. Tar Tanernacte por tum Most Hic ..f.....).02. 5. ee 437 SERMON THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. A ? “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days in the times of old.”—Psatm xliv. 1. Prrunaps there are no stories that stick by us so long as those which we hear in our childhood, those tales which are told us by our fathers, and’in our nurseries. It is a sad reflection that too many of these stories are idle and vain, so that our minds in early infancy are tinctured with fables, and inoculated with strange and lying narratives. Now, among the early Christians and the old believers in the far-off times nursery tales were far different from what they.are now, and the stories with which their children were amused were of a far different class from those which fascinated us in the days of our babyhood. No doubt Abraham would talk to young children about the flood, and tell them how the waters overspread the earth, and how Noah alone was saved in the ark. The ancient Israelites, when they dwelt in their own land, would all of them tell their children about the Red Sea, and the plagues which God wrought in Egypt when he brought his people out of the Rouse of bondage. Among the early Christians we know that it was the custom of parents to recount to their children every thing concerning the life of Christ, the acts of the Apostles, and the like interesting narratives. Nay, among our puritanic ancestors, such were the stories that regaled their chijdhood. Sitting down by the fire- side, before those old Dutch tiles with the quaint eccentric draw- ings upon them of the history of Christ, mothers would teach their children about Jesus walking on the water, or of his multi- plying the loaves of bread, or of his marvellous transfiguration, . 14 , THE STORY OF GOD'S MIGHTY ACTS. — or of the crucifixion of Jesus. Oh, how I would that the like were the tales of the present age, that the stories of our childhood would be again the stories of Christ, and that we would each of us believe that, after all, there can be nothing so interesting as that which is true, and nothing more striking than those stories which are written in sacred writ; nothing, that can more truly move the heart of a child than the marvellous works of God which he did in the olden times. Now, it seems that the psalmist who wrote this most musical ode had heard from his father, handed to him by tradition, the stories of the wondrous things which God had done in his day; and afterwards, this sweet singer in Israel taught it to his children, and so was one generation after another led to call God blessed, remembering his mighty acts. Now, my dear friends, this morning I intend to recall to your minds some of the wondrous things which God has done in the olden time. My aim and object will be to excite your minds to seek after the like, that, looking back upon what God has done, you may be induced to look forward with the eye of expectation, hoping that he will again stretch forth his potent hand and his holy arm, and repeat ‘thone mighty acts he performed -in ancient days. . First, I shall speak of the marvellous stories which our fathers have told us, and which we have heard of the olden time ; secondly, I shall mention some disadvantages under which these old stories labor with regard to the effect upon our minds ; and, then, I shall draw the proper inferences from those marvellous things which we have heard that the Lord did in days-of yore. I. To begin, then, with THz wonDERFUL STORIES WE HAVE HEARD OF THE Lorp’s ANCIENT DOINGS. We have heard that God has at times done very mighty acts. The plain every-day course of the world hath been disturbed with wonders at which men have been exceedingly amazed. God hath not always permitted his church to go on climbing by slow degrees to victory, but he hath been pleased at times to smite one terrible blow, and lay his enemies down upon the earth, and bid his children march over their prostrate bodies. Tora ye back, then, to ancient records, and remember what God hath THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. 15 = done. Will ye not remember what he did at the Red Sea, how he smote Egypt and all its chivalry, and covered Pharaoh’s chariot and horse in the Red Sea? Have ye not heard tell how God smote Og, king of Bashan, and Sihon, king of the Amorites, because they withstood the progress of his people? Have ye riot learned how he proved that his mercy endureth for ever, when he slew those great kings and cast the mighty ones down from their thrones? Have you not read, too, how God smote the children of Canaan, and drove out the inhabitants thereof, and gave the land to his people, to be a possession by lot for ever? Have you not heard how when the hosts of Jabin came against them, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera? The river of Kishon swept them away, “that ancient river, the river Kishon,” and there was none of them left? Hath it not been told you, too, how by the hand of David, God smote the Philis- tines, and how by his right hand he smote the children of Ammon? .Have you not heard how Midian was put te confusion, and the myriads of Arabia were scattered by Asa in the day of his faith? And have ye not heard, too, how the Lord sent a _ blast upon the hosts of Sennacherib, so that in the morning they were all dead men? Tell—tell ye these, his wonders! Speak of them in your streets. Teach them to your children. Let them not be forgotten, for the right hand of the Lord hath done marvellous things, his name is known in all the earth. The wonders, however, which most concern us, are those of the Christian era; and surely these are not second to those under the Old Testament. Have you never read how God won to himself great renown on the Day of Pentecost? Turn ye to this book of the record of the wonders of the Lord and read. Peter the fisherman stood up and preached in the name of the Lord his God. A multitude assembled, and the Spirit of God fell upon them; and it came to pass that three thousand in one day were pricked in their hearts by the hand of God, and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And know you not how the twelve apostles with the disciples went everywhere preaching the Word, and the idols fell from their thrones? The cities opened wide their gates, and the messenger of Christ walked through the street and preached. It is true that at first they were driven hither and 16 - THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. thither, and hunted like partridges upon the mountains: but do ye not remember how the Lord did get unto himself a victory, so that in a hundred years after the nailing of Christ to the cross the gospel had been preached in every nation, and the isles of the sea had heard the sound thereof? And have ye yet forgotten how the heathen were baptized, thousands at a time, in every river? What stream is there in Europe that cannot testify to the majesty of the gospel? What city is there in the land that cannot tell how God’s truth has triumphed, and how the heathen has forsaken his false god, and bowed his knee to Jesus the crucified? The first spread of the gospel is a mix acle never to be eclipsed. Whatever God may have done at the Red Sea, he hath done still more within a hundred years after the time when Christ first came into the world. “It seemed as if a fire from heaven ran along the ground. Nothing could resist its force. The lightning shaft of truth shivered every pinnacle of the idol temple, an Jesus was worshipped from the rising of: the sun to the going down of the same. This is one of the things we have heard of the olden times. And have ye never heard of the mighty things which God did by preachers some hundreds of years from that date? Hath it not been told you concerning Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed, how, whenever he preached, the church was thronged with atten- tive hearers; and there, standing and lifting up holy hands, he spake with a majesty sriparhlloheds the Word of God in truth and righteousness ; the people listening, hanging, forward to eatch every word, aad anon breaking the silence with the clapping of their hands and the stamping f their feet; then silent again for awhile,’spell-bound by the mighty orator ; a anon carried away: with enthusiasm, springing to their feel clapping their hands, and shouting for joy again? Numberless were the con- versions in his day : God was exceedingly magnified, for sinners were abundantly saved. And have your fathers never told you of the wondrous things that were done afterwards when the black darkness ‘of superstition covered the earth, when Popery sat upon her ebon throne and stretched her iron rod across the ndtions and shut the windows of heaven, and quenched the very stars of God and made thick darkness cover the people? Have THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. 17 ye never heard how Martin Luther arose and preached the gospel of the grace of God, and how the nations trembled, and the world heard the voice of God and lived? Have ye not heard of Zwingle among the Swiss, and of Calvin in the holy city of Geneva, and of the mighty works that God did by them? Nay, as Britons, have: ye forgotten: the mighty preacher of the truth—have your ears ceased to tingle with the wondrous tale of the preachers that Wickliffe sent forth into every market town and every hamlet of England, preaching the gospel of God? Oh, doth not history tell us that these men were like firebrands in the midst of the dry stubble; that their voice was as the roaring of a lion, and their going forth like the springing of a young lion ? Their glory was as the firstling of a bullock; they did push the nation before them, and as for the enemies, they said, “ Destroy them.” None could stand before them, for the Lord their God had girded them with might. ° To come down a little nearer to our own times, truly our fathers have told us the wondrous things which God did in the days of Wesley and of Whitfield. The churches were all asleep. Irreligion was the rule of the day. The very streets seemed to run with iniquity, and the gutters were filled full with the ini- qtity-of sin. Up rose Whitfield and Wesley, men whose hearts the Lord had touched, and they dared to preach the gospel of the grace of God. Suddenly, as in a moment, there was heard the rush as of wings, and the church said, “ Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?” They come! they come! numberless as the birds of heaven, with a rushing, like mighty winds that are not to be withstood. Within a few years, from the preaching of these two men, England was permeated with evangelical truth. The Word of God was known in every town, and there was scarcely a hamlet into which the Methodists had not penetrated. In those days of the slow-coach, when Chris- tianity seemed to have bought up the old wagons in which our . fathers once travelled,—where business runs with steam, there oftentimes religion creeps along with its belly on the earth: we are astonished at these tales, and we think them wonders. Yet let’ us believe them; they come to us as substantial matters of history. And the wondrous things which God did in the olden 18 THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. times, by his grace he will yet do again. He that is mighty hath done great things and holy is his name. There is a spank feature to which I would call your attention with regard to the works of God in the olden:time; they derive increasing interest and wonder from the fact that shew were all sudden things. The old stagers in our churches believe that things must grow, gently, by degrees; we must go step by step pvp: Concentrated action and continued labor, they say, will ultimately bring success. But the marvel is, all God’s works have been sudden. When Peter stood up to preach, it did not take six weeks to convert the three thousand. ‘They were con- verted at once, and baptized that very day; they were that hour turned tod God, and became as truly disciples of Christ as they could have been if their conversion had taken seventy years. So was it in the day of Martin Luther: it did not‘take Luther cen- turies to break through the thick darkness of Rome. God lit the candle, and the candle burned, and there was light in an instant. God works suddenly. If any one could have stood in Wurtem- burg, and have said, “Can Popery be made to quail, can the Vatican be made. to shake?” The answer would have been :— “No; it will take at least a thousand years to do it. Pdpery, the great serpent, hath so twisted itself about the-nations, ald bound them so fast in its coil, that they cannot be delivered ex- cept by a long process.” ‘“ Not so,” however, did God say. He smote the dragon sorely, and the nations went free; he cut the gates of brass, and broke in sunder the bars of iron, and the peo- ple were delivered in an hour. Freedom came not in the course of years, but in an instant. The people that walked in darkness saw a great light, and upon them that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, did the light shine. So was it in Whitfield’s day. The rebuking of a slumbering church was not the work of ages; it was done at once. Have ye never heard of the great revival under Whitfield? Take as an instance that at Camslang. He was preaching in the churchyard to a great congregation, that could not get into any edifice; and while preaching, the power of God came upon the people, and one after another fell down as if they were smitten; and at least it was estimated that not less than three thousand persons were.crying out at one THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. 19 : time under the conviction of sin. He preached on, now thunder- ing like Boanerges, and then comforting like Barnabas, and the work spread, and no tongue can tell the great things that God “did under that one sermon of Whitfield. Not even the sermon of Peter on the Day of Pentecost was equal to it. So has it been in all revivals; God’s work has been done sud- denly. As with a clap of thunder has God descended from on high, not slowly, but on cherubim,right royally doth he ride; on the wings of the mighty wind does he fly. Sudden has been the work ; men could scarce believe it true, it was done in so short a space of time. Witness the great revival which is going on in and around Belfast. After carefully looking at the matter, and _ after seeing some trusty and well-beloved brother who lived in that neighborhood, I am convinced, notwithstanding what ene- mies may say, that it is a genuine work of grace, and that God is doing wonders there. A friend, who called to see me yesterday, tells me, that the lowest and vilest men, the most depraved fe- males in Belfast have been visited with this extraordinary epi- lepsy, as the world calls it; but with this strange rushing of the Spirit, as we have it. Men who have been drunkards have sud- denly felt an impulse compelling them to pray. They have resisted; they have sought to their cups in order to put it out ; but when they have been swearing, seeking to quench the Spirit by their blasphemy, God has at Jast brought them on their knees, and they have been compelled to cry for mercy with piercing shrieks, and to agonize in prayer; and then, after a time, the Evil one seems to have been .cast out of them, and in a quiet, holy, happy frame of mind, they have made a profession of their faith in Christ, and have walked in his fear and love. Roman Catho- lics have been converted. I thought that an extraordinary thing ; but they have been converted> very frequently indeed in Bally- mena and in Belfast. In fact, I am told the priests are now sell ing small bottles of holy water for people to take, in order that they may be preserved from this desperate contagion of the Holy Spirit. This holy water is said to have such efficacy, that those who do not attend any of the meetings are not likely to be meddled with by the Holy Spirit—so the priests tell them. But if they go to the meetings, even this holy water cannot preserve * 30 THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. them—they are as liable to fall a prey to the Divine influence. J think they are just as likely to do so without as with it. All this has been brought about suddenly, and although we may ex- pect to find some portion of natural excitement, yet, | am per- suaded, it is in the main a real, spiritual, and an abiding work. There is a little froth on the surface, but there isa deep running current that is not to be resisted, sweeping underneath, and car- rying every thing before it. At least, there is something to awaken our interest, when we understand that in the small town of Ballymena on market day, the publicans have always taken one hundred pounds for whiskey, and now they cannot take a sovereign all day long in all the public houses. Men who were once drunkards now meet for prayer, and people after hearing one sermon will not go until the minister has preached another, and sometimes a third; and at last he is obliged to say, “ You must go, 1 am exhausted.” ‘Then they will break up into groups in their streets and in their houses, crying out to God to let this mighty work spread, that sinners may be converted unto him. “Well,” says one, “we cannot believe it.” Very likely you cannot, but some of us can, for we have heard it with our ears, and our fathers have told us the mighty works that God did in their days, and we are prepared to believe that God can do the like works now. I must here remark again, in all these old stories there is one very plain feature. Whenever God has done a mighty work it has been by some very insignificant instrument. When he slew Goliath it was by little David, who was but a ruddy youth. Lay not up the sword of Goliath—TI always thought that a mistake of David—lay up not Goliath’s sword, but lay up the ‘stone and treasure up the sling in God’s armory for ever. When God would slay Sisera, it was a woman that must do it with a ham- mer and a nail. God has done his mightiest works by the mean- est instruments: that is a fact most true of all God’s works. Peter the fisherman at Pentecost, Luther the humble monk at the Reformation, Whitfield the potboy of the Old Bell Inn at Gloucester in the time of the last century’s revival; and so it must be to the end. God works not by Pharaoh’s horses or chariot, but he works by Moses’ rod; he doth not his wonders THE STORY OF GOD'S MIGHTY ACTS. 21 * with the whirlwind, and the storm; he doth them by the still | small voice, that the glory may be his and the honor all his own. Doth not this open a field of encouragement to you and to me? Why may not we be employed in doing some mighty work for God here? Moreover, we have noticed in all these stories of God’s mighty works in the olden time, that wherever he has done any great thing it has been by some one who has had very great faith. Ido verily believe at this moment that, if God willed it, every soul in this hall would be converted now. If God chose to * put out the operations of his own mighty Spirit, not the most ob- durate heart would be able to stand against it. “He will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy.” He will do as he pleases; none can stay his hand. “ Well,” says one, “but I do not expect to see any great things.” ‘Then, my dear friend, you will not be disappointed, for you will not see them; but those that expect them shall see them. Men of great faith do great things. It was Elijah’s faith that slew the priests of Baal. If he had had the little heart that some of you have, Baal’s priests had still ruled over the people, and would never have been smitten with the sword. It was Elijah’s faith that bade him say, “If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And again, “ Choose one bullock for yourselves, cut it in pieces, lay it on wood and put no fire under, call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name.of Jehovah.” It was his noble faith that bade him say, “Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape;” and he brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there—a holocaust to God. The reason why God’s name was so magnified was because Elijah’s faith in God was so mighty and heroic. When the Pope sent his bull to Luther, Luther burned it. Standing up in the midst of the crowd, with the blazing paper in his hand, he said, “See here, this is the Pope’s bull.” What cared he for all the Popes that were ever in or out of hell? And when he went to Worms to meet the grand Jiet, his followers said, “ You are in danger, stand back.” “No,” said Luther, “if there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses, I would not fear; I will go;” and into Worms he went, confident in the Lord his God. It was the same with Whitfield; he believed and he expected 23 , THE sTORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. that God would do great things. When he went into his pulpit he believed that God would bless the people, and God did so. Little faith may do little things, but great faith shall be greatly honored. O God! our fathers have told us this, that whenever they had great faith thou hast always honored it by doing mighty works. I will detain you no longer on this point, except to make one observation. All the mighty works of God have been attended with great prayer, as well as with great faith. Have ye ever heard of the commencement of the great American revival? A man, unknown and obscure, laid it up in his heart to pray that God would bless his country. After praying and wrestling and - making the soul-stirring inquiry, “ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” he hired a room, and put up an announcement that there would be a prayer-meet- ing held there at such-and-such an hour of the day. He went at the proper hour, and there was not a single person there; he be- gan to pray, and prayed for half an hour alone. One came in at the end of the half hour, and then two more, and I think he closed with six. The next week came round, and there might have been fifty dropped in at different times. At last the prayer-meeting grew to a hundred; then others began to start prayer-meetings ; at last there was scarcely a street in New York that was without ‘a prayer-meeting. Merchants found time to run in, in the middle of the day, to pray. The prayer-meetings became daily ones, lasting for about an hour; petitions and requests were sent up: these were simply asked and offered before God, and the answers cime; and many were the happy hearts that stood up and testi- fied that the prayer offered last weck had been already fulfilled. Then it was when they were all earnest in prayer, suddenly the Spirit of God fell upon the people, and it was rumored that in a certain village a preacher had been preaching in thorough ear- nest, and there had been hundreds converted in a week. The matter spread into and through the Northern States. These revi- vals of religion became universal, and it has been sometimes said, that a quarter of a million of people were converted to God through the short space of two or three months. Now the same effect was produced in Ballymena and Belfast by the same means, ~ THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. __ 28 The brother thought that it lay at his heart to pray, and he did pray; then he held a regular prayer-meeting; day after day they met together to entreat the blessing, and the fire descended and the work was done. Sinners were converted, not by ones or. twos, but by hundreds and thousands, and the Lord’s: name was greatly magnified by the progress of his gospel. Beloved, I am only telling you fuets.. Make each of you your ownestimate of them if you please. Il, Agreeably to my division, I have now to make a few, ob- servations UpOh THE DISADVANTAGES UNDER WHICH THESE OLD STORIES FREQUENTLY LABOR. When people hear about what God used to do, one of the things they say is, “Oh, that was a very long while ago.” They imagine that times have altered since then. Says one, “Ican believe any thing about the Reformation— the largest accounts that can possibly be given I can take in.” “nd so could I concerning Whitfield and Wesley,” says an- other ; “all that is quite true; they did labor vigorously and suc- cessfully—but that was many years ago. ‘Things were in a different state then from what they are now.” Granted; but [ want to know what the things have to do with it. I thought it was God that did it. Has God changed? Is he not an immuta- ble God, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever? Does not that furnish an argument to prove that what’ God has done at one time he can do at another? - Nay, I think I may push it a little further, and say what he has done once is a prophecy of what hee intends to do again—that the mighty works which have been ac- complished in the olden time shall all be repeated, and the Lord’s song shall be sung again in Zion, and he shall again be greatly glorified. Others among you say, ‘‘Oh, well, I look upon these things as great prodigies—miracles. We are not to expect them every day.” ‘That is the very reason why we do not get them. If we had learnt to expect them, we should no doubt obtain them, but we put them up on the shelf, as being out of the common order of our moderate religion, as being mere curiosities of Scrip- ture history. We imagine such things, however true, to be pro- digies of providence; we cannot imagine them to be according to the ordinary working of his mighty power. I beseech you, my friends, abjure that idea—put it out of your mind. Whatever 24 THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. God has done in the way of converting sinners is to be looked upon as a precedent, for “his arm is not shortened that he cannot saye, nor is his ear heavy that he cannot hear.” I[f we are . Straitened at all, we are not straitened in him, we are straitened in our own bowels. Let us take the blame of it ourselves, and with earnestness seek that God would restore to us the faith of the meni of old, that we may richly enjoy his grace as in the days of old. Yet there is another disadvantage under which these old stories labor. The fact is, we have not seen them. Why, I may talk to you ever so long about revivals, but you wont believe them half so much, nor half so trufy, as if one were to occur in your very midst. If you saw it with your own eyes, then you would see the power of it. If you had lived in — Whitfield’s day, or had heard Grimshaw preach, you would be- lieve any thing. Grimshaw would preach twenty-four times a — week; he would preach many times in the course of a sultry day, going from place to place on horseback. ‘That man ded preach. It seemed as if heaven would come down to earth to . listen to him, He spoke with a real earnestness, with all the fire of zeal that ever burned in mortal breast, and the people trem- bled while they listened to him, and said, “ Certainly this is the voice of God.” It was the same with Whitfield. The people would seem to move to and fro while he spoke, even as the har- vest field is moved with the wind. So mighty was the energy eof God that, after hearing such a sermon, the hardest-hearted men would go away and say, “'There must be something in it; I never heard the like.” Can you not realize these as literal facts? Do they stand up in all their brightness before your eyes? Then I think the stories you have heard with your ears should have a true and proper effect upon your own lives. II. This brings’ me, in the third place, to the PROPER INFER- ENCES THAT ARE TO BE DRAWN FROM THE OLD STORIES OF GOD’S MIGHTY DEEDS. I would that I could speak with the Boh of some of those men whose names I have mentioned. Pray for me, that the Spirit of God may rest upon me, that I may plead with you for a little time with all my might, seeking to exhort and stir you up, that you may get a like revival in your midst. My dear friends, the * «= THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY AOTS. 25 first effect which the reading of the history of God’s mighty works should have upon us,-is that of gratitude afd praise. Have we nothing to sing about to-day ?—then let us sing con- cerning days of yore. If we cannot sing to our well-beloved a song concerning what he is doing in our midst, let us, neverthe- less, take down our harps from the willows, and sing an old song, and bless and praise his holy namie for the things which he did to his ancient church, for the wonders which he wrought in Egypt, and in all the lands wherein he led his people, and brought them out — with a high hand and with an outstretched arm. When we have thus begun to praise God for what he, has done, I think I may venture to impress upon you one other great duty. Let what God has done suggest to you the prayer that he would repeat the like signs and wonders among us. Oh! men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival of reli- gion—men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing in- tercessions that God would #pear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations. Why, look you here in this. present assembly what objects there are for our compassion. Glancing round, I observe one and another whose history I may happen to know; but how many are there still un- converted—men who have trembled and who know they have, but have shaken off their fears, and once more are daring their destiny, determined to be suicides to their own souls and put away from them that grace which once seemed as if it were striving in their hearts? They are turning away from the gates of heaven, and running post-haste to the doors of hell; and will not you stretch out your hands to God to stop them in this des- perate resolve? If out of this congregation there were but one unconverted man, and I could point him out and say, “ There he - sits, one soul that has never felt the love of God, and never has been moved to repentance,” with what anxious curiosity would every eye regard him. I think out of the thousands of Christians here there is not one who would refuse to go home and pray for that solitary unconverted individual, But, oh! my brethren, it a hie 26 f THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY, ACTS. is not one that is in danger of hell fire; here are hundreds and . thousands of our fellow-creatures. Shall I give you yet another reason why you should pray? - Hitherto all other means have been used without ‘effect: God is my witness how often L have striven in this pulpit to be the means of the conversion of men. I have preached my very heart out, I could say no more.than I have said, and I hope the secrecy of my chamber is a witness to the fact that I do not cease to feel what I cease to speak; but I have a heart to pray for those of you who are never affected, or who, if affected, still quench the Spirit of God. , My hearers, I have done my utmost. Will not you come to the help of the Lord against the mighty ? Will not your prayers accomplish that which my preaching fails to do? Here they are; I commend them to you. Men and women whose hearts refuse to melt, whose stubborn knees will not bend, I give them up to you, and ask you to pray for them. — Carry their cases on your knees before God. Wife! never cease to pray for your unconverted husband. Husband! never stay - your supplication till you see your wife converted. And, O fathers and mothers! have you no unconverted children? have you not brought them here many and many a Sunday, and they remain just as they have been? You have sent them first to one chapel and then to,another, and they are just what they were- The wrath of God abideth on them. Diethey must; and should they die now, to a certainty you are aware that the flames of hell must engulph them. And do you refuse to pray for them? Hard hearts, brutish souls if, knowing Christ yourself, ye will not pray for those who come of your own loins—your children according to the flesh. Dear friends, we do not know what God may do for us if we do but pray for a blessing. Look at the movement we have already seen. We have witnessed Exeter Hall, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey crammed to the doors, but — we have seen no effect as yet of all these mighty gatherings. Have we not tried to preach without trying to pray? Is it not likely that the church has been putting forth its preaching hand but not its praying hand? O dear friends! let us agonize in prayer, and it shall come to pass that this Musie Hall shall wit- THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. oT ness the sighs and groans ofthe penitent and the songs of the converted. It shall yet happen that this vast host shall not come and go, as now it does, but little the better; but men shall go » out of this hall, praising God and saying :—* It was good to be ° there; it was none other than the house of God, and the very » gate of heaven.” Thus much to stir you up to prayer. Another inference we should draw is, that all the stories we have heard should correct any self-dependence which may have crept into our treacherous hearts. Perhaps we as a congregation have begun to depend upon our numbers, and so forth, We may have thought, “Surely God must bless us through the ministry.” Now let the stories which our fathers have told us remind you, and remind me, that God’ saved not by many nor by few; that it is not in us to do this, but God must do it all; it may be that some hidden preacher, whose name has never been known, some obscure denizen of St. Giles will yet start up in this city of London, and preach the Word with greater power than bishops or ministers have ever known before. I will welcome him ; God be with him; let him come from where he may ; only let God speed -him, and let the work be done. Mayhap, however, God intends to bless the agency used in this place for your good and for your conversion. If so, I am thrice happy to think such should be the case. But place no dependence upon the instru- ment. No; when men laughed at us and mocked us most, God blessed us most; and now it is nota disreputable thing to attend the Music Hall. We are not so much despised as we once were ; but I question whether we have so great a blessing as once we had. We would be willing to endure another pelting in the pil- lory, to go through another ordeal with every newspaper against ™ us, and with every man hissing and abusing us, if God so pleases, if he will but give us a blessing. Only let him cast out of us any idea that our own bow and our own sword will get us the victory. We shall never get a revival here unless we believe that it is the Lord, and the Lord alone, that can do it. Having made this statement, I will endeavor to stir you up with confidence that the result may be obtained that I have pictured, and that the stories we have heard of the olden time may become true in our day. Why should not every one of 28 THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY .AOTS, my hearers be converted? Is there any limitation in the Spirit of God? Why should not the f€eblest minister become the- means of salvation to thousands? Is God’s arm shortened ? My brethren, when I bid you pray that God would make the ministry quick and powerful, like a two-edged sword, for the salvation of sinners, I am not setting you a hard, much less an impossible task. We have but to ask and to get. Before we call, God will answer; and while we are yet speaking he will hear. God alone can know what may come of this morning’s sermon if he chooses to bless it. From this moment you may pray more; from this moment God may bless the ministry more. From this hour other pulpits may become more full of life and vigor than before. From this same moment the Word of God may flow, and run, and rush, and get to itself an amazing and ' boundless victory. Only wrestle in prayer, meet together in your houses, go to your closets, be instant*be earnest in season and out of season, agonize for souls, and all that you have heard shall be forgotten in what ye shall see; and all that others have told you shall be as nothing compared with what ye shall hear with your ears, and behold with your eyes in your own midst. Oh ye, to whom all this is as an idle tale, who love not God, neither serve him, I beseech you to stop and think for a moment. Oh, Spirit of God, rest on thy servant while a few sentences are uttered, and make them mighty. God has striven with some of you. You have had your times of conviction. You are trying now, perhaps, to be infidels. You are trying to say now “There is no hell—there is no hereafter.” It will notdo. You know there is a hell, and all the laughter of those who seek to *ruin your souls cannot make you believe that there is not. You sometimes try to think so, but you know that God is true. Ido not argue with you now. Conscience tells you that God will punish you for sin. Depend upon it you will find no happi- ness in trying to stifle God’s Spirit. This is not the path to bliss, to quench those thoughts which would lead you to Christ. I beseech you, take off your hands from God’s arm; resist not still his Spirit. Bow the kaee, and lay hold of Christ, and believe _ onhim. It will come to this yet. God the Holy Spirit will have you. Ido trust that in answer to many prayers he intends to save THE STORY OF GOD'S MIGHTY ACTS. 29 —s you yet. Give way now; but oh, remember if you are successful in quenching the Spirit, your success will be the most awful disaster than can ever occur to you; for if the Spirit forsake you, you are lost. It may be that this is the last warning you will ever have. The conviction you are now trying to put down and stifle may be the last you will ever have, and the angel standing with the black seal and the wax may be now about to drop it upon your destiny, and say, “ Let him alone. “He chooses drunkenness— he chooses lust—let him have them ; and let him reap the wages ~ in the everlasting fires of hell.” Sinners, believe on the Lord Jesus: repent, and be converted every one gf you. Iam bold to say what Peter did. Breaking through every bond of every kind that could bind my lip, I exhort you, in God’s name, repent and escape from damnation. A few more months and years, and ye shall know what damnation means, except ye repent. Oh! fly to Christ while yet the lamp holds out and burns, and mercy is still preached to you. Grace is still pre- sented; accept Christ, resist him no longer; come to him now. -The gates of mercy are wide open to-day; come now, poor sinner, and have thy sins forgiven. When the old Romans used to attack a city, it was sometimes their custom to set up at the gate a white flag, and if the garrison surrendered while that white flag was there, their lives were spared. After that the black flag was put up, and then every man was put tothe sword. The white flag is up to-day ; perhaps to-morrow the black flag will be elevated upon the pole of the law; and then there is no repentance or salvation either in this world or in that which is to come. An old eastern conqueror when he came to a city used to light a brazier of coals, and, setting it high upon a pole, he would, with sound of trumpet, proclaim, that if they surrendered while the lamp held out and burned he would have mercy upon them, but that when the coals were out he would storm the city, pull it stone from stone, sow it with salt, and put men, and women, and children to a bloody death. ‘To-day the thunders of God bid you to take the like warning. There is your light, the lamp, the brazier of hot coals. Year after year the fire is dying out, nevertheless there is coal left. Even now the wind of death is 30 THE STORY OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS. trying to blow out the last live coal. ~Oh! sinner, turn while the lamp continues to blaze. Turn now, for when the last coal is dead thy repentance cannot avail thee. Thy everlasting yell- ing in torment cannot move the heart of God; thy groans and briny tears cannot move him to pity thee. To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. Oh, to-day lay hold on Christ, ‘ Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him,” hi SERMON IT. THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word.”—