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TWELVE 
 
 SERMONS ON HOPE 
 
 BY 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 Publishers of Evangelical Literature 
 
8vo. Cloth. Each, ^Oc. 
 
 THE TWELVE SERMONS SERIES 
 
 By C R SPURGEON 
 
 CHRISTMAS SERMONS 
 NEW YEAR'S SERMONS 
 MISSIONARY SERMONS 
 
 SERMONS FOR THE TROUBLED AND TRIED 
 
 SERMONS ON CONVERSION 
 
 SERMONS ON FAITH 
 
 SERMONS ON PRAISE 
 
 SERMONS ON PRAYER 
 
 SERMONS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 
 
 SERMONS ON THE PLAN OF SALVATION 
 
 SERMONS ON THE PRODIGAL SON, etc. 
 
 SERMONS ON THE RESURRECTION 
 
 SERMONS ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST 
 
 SERMONS ON UNBELIEF 
 
 SERMONS ON VITAL QUESTIONS 
 
 SERMONS FOR INQUIRERS 
 
 SOUL-WINNING SERMONS 
 
 STRIKING SERMONS 
 
 SERMONS FOR CHRISTIAN WORKERS 
 
 SERMONS ON PEACE 
 
 SERMONS ON JOY 
 
 REVIVAL SERMONS 
 
 SERMONS ON HOLINESS 
 
 SERMONS ON HOPE 
 
 SERMONS ON REPENTANCE 
 
 SERMONS ON HEAVEN 
 
 SERMONS TO YOUNG MEN 
 
 SERMONS ON PRECIOUS PROMISES 
 
\ 
 
 THE HOPE OF FUTURE BLISS. 
 
 a Sermon 
 
 Dblivebbd on Sabbath Evening May 20, 1855, by Tiile 
 
 REV. C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT EXETER HALL, STRAND. 
 
 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awalce, with thy 
 likeness." — Ps. xvii. 15, 
 
 It would be diflacult to say to which the gospel owes most, to its friends or to its 
 enemies. It is true, that by the help of God, its friends have done much for it; they 
 have preached it in foreign lands, they have dared death, they have laughed to 
 scorn the terrors of the grave, they have ventured all things for Christ, and so have 
 glorified the doctrine they believed ; but the enemies of Christ, unwittingly, have 
 done no little, for when they have persecuted Christ's servants, they have scattered 
 them abroad, so that they have gone everywhere preaching the Word; yea, when 
 they have trampled upon the gospel, like a certain herb we read of in medicine, it 
 hath grown all the faster: and if we refer to the pages of sacred writ how very 
 many precious portions of it do we owe, under God, to the enemies of the cross of 
 Christ! Jesus Christ would never have preached many of his discourses had not 
 his foes compelled him to answer them; had they not brought objections, we should 
 not have heard the sweet sentences in which he replied. So with the book of 
 Psalms : had not David been sorely tried by enemies, had not the foemen shot their 
 arrows at him, had they not attempted to malign and blast his character, had they 
 not deeply distressed him, and made him cry out in misery, we should have missed 
 many of those precious experimental utterances we here find, much of that holy 
 song which he penned after his deliverance, and very much of that glorious state- 
 ment of his trust in the infallible God. We should have lost all this, had it not 
 been wrung from him by the iron hand of anguish. Had it not been for David's 
 enemies, he would not have penned his Psalms; but when hunted like a partridge 
 on the mountains, when driven like the timid roe before the hunter's dogs, he waited 
 for awhile, bathed his sides in the brooks of Siloa, and panting on the hill-top a 
 little, he breathed the air of heaven and stood and rested his weary limbs. Then was 
 it that he gave honour to God; then he shouted aloud to that mighty Jehovah, who 
 for him had gotten the victory. This sentence follows a description of the great 
 troubles which the wicked bring upon the righteous, wherein he consoles himself with 
 the hope of future bliss. •* As for me," says the patriarch, casting his eyes aloft; "As 
 for me," said the hunted chieftain of the caves of Engedi — " As for me," says the once 
 shepherd boy, who was soon to wear a royal diadem — " As for me, I will behold thy 
 face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness." 
 
 In looking at this passage to-night, we shall notice first of all, the spirit of it, 
 secondly, the matter of it; and then, thirdly, we shall close by speaking of the con" 
 trast which is implied in it. 
 
 I. First, then, the spirit op this utterance, for I always love to look at the 
 spirit in which a man writes, or the spirit in which he preaches; in fact, there is 
 vastly more in that than in the words he uses. 
 
 Now, what should you think is the spirit of these words? " As for me, I will behold 
 thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." 
 
 First, they breathe the spirit of a man entirely free from envy. Notice, that the 
 Psalmist has been speaking of the wicked. " They are inclosed in their own fat : 
 with their mouth they speak proudly.'* " They are full of children, and leave the 
 rest of their substance to their babes." But David envies them not. " Go," sayt 
 
 No. 25 
 
 A 
 
THE HOPE OF FUTURE BLISS. 
 
 he, "rich man, in all thy riches — go, proud man, in all thy pride— go, tY.OM happy 
 man, with thine abundance of children; I envy thee not; as for me, my lot is dif- 
 ferent: I can look on you without desiring to have your possessions; I can well 
 keep that commandment, 'Thou shalt not covet,' for in your possessions there is 
 nothing wcrth my love; I set no value upon your earthly treasures; I envy you not 
 your heaps of glittering dust; for my Redeemer is mine." The man is above envy, 
 because he thinks that the joy would be no joy to him — that the portion would not 
 suit his disposition. Therefore, he turns his eye heavenward, and says, " As for me 
 I shall behold thy face in righteousness." Oh! beloved, it is a happy thing to be 
 free from envy. Envy is a curse which blighteth creation; and even Eden's garden 
 itself would have become defaced, and no longer fair, if the wind of envy could have 
 ' blown on it ; envy tarnisheth the gold ; envy dimneth the silver ; should envy 
 breathe on the hot sun, it would quench it; should she cast her evil eye on the 
 moon, it would be turned into blood, and the stars would fly astonished at her. 
 Envy is accursed of heaven; yea, it is Satan's first-born — the vilest of vices. Give 
 a man riches, but let him have envy, and there is the worm at the root of the fair 
 tree; give him happiness, and if he envies another's lot, what would have been hap- 
 piness becomes his misery, because it is not so great as that of some one else. 
 But give me freedom from envy; let me be content with what God has given me, 
 let me say, Ye may have yours, I will not envy you — I am satisfied with mine;" 
 yea, give me such a love to my fellow creatures that I can rejoice in their joy, and 
 the more they have the more glad I am of it. My candle will burn no less brightly 
 because theirs outshines it. I can rejoice in their prosperity. Then am I happy, 
 for all around tends to make me blissful, when I can rejoice in the joys of others, 
 and make their gladness my own. Envy! oh! may God deliver us from it! But 
 how, in truth, can we get rid of it so well as by believing that we have something 
 that is not on earth, but in heaven? If we can look upon all the things in the 
 world and say, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be 
 satisfied by-and-bye!" then we cannot envy other men, because their lot would not 
 be adapted to our peculiar taste. Doth the ox envy the lion! Nay, for it cannot 
 feed upon the carcase. Doth the dove grieve because the raven can gloat itself on 
 carrion? Nay, for it lives on other food. Will the eagle envy the wren his tiny 
 nest? Oh, no! So the Christian will mount aloft as the eagle, spreading his broad 
 wings, he will fly up to his eyrie amongst the stars, where God hath made him his 
 nest, saying, "As foi- me, I will dwell here; I look upon the low places of this 
 earth with contempt; I envy not your greatness, ye mighty emperors; I desire not 
 your fame, ye mighty warriors; I ask not for wealth, O Croesus; I beg not 
 for thy power, O Caesar; as for me, I have something else ; my portion is the 
 Lord." The text breathes the spirit of a man free from envy. May God give that 
 to us ! 
 
 Then, secondly, you can see that there is about it the air of a man who is looking 
 into the future. Read the passage thoroughly, and you will see that it all has rela- 
 tion to the future; because it says, "As for me, I shall." It has nothing to do with 
 the present: it does not say, " As for me I do, or I am, so-and-so," but " As for me, 
 I ivill behold th}^ face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake." The 
 Psalmist looks beyond the grave into another world; he overlooks the narrow 
 death-bed where he has to sleep, and he says, " When I awake." How happy is 
 that man who has an eye to the future; even in worldly things we esteem that man 
 who looks beyond the present day; he who spends all his money as it comes in will 
 soon bring himself to rags. He who lives on the present is a fool; but wise men 
 are content to look after future things. When Milton penned his book he might 
 know, perhaps, that he should have little fame in his lifetime ; but he said, " I shall 
 be honoured when my head shall sleep in the grave." Thus have other worthies 
 been content to tarry until time has broken the earthen pitcher, and suflered the 
 lamp to blaze; as for honour, they said, " We will leave that to the future, 
 for that fame which comes late is often most enduring," and they lived upon 
 the " shall " and fed upon the future. " I shall be satisfied " by-and-bye. So says 
 the Christian. I ask no royal pomp or fame now; I am prepared to wait, I have 
 an interest in reversion ; I want not a pitiful estate here — I will tarry till I get my 
 domains in heaven, those broad and beautiful domains that God has provided for 
 them that love him. Well content will I be to fold my arms and sit me down in the 
 cottage, for I shall have a mansion of God, " a house not made with hands, eteniaj 
 
 190 
 
THE HOPE OF FUTURE BLISS. 
 
 in the heavens." Bo any of you know what it is to live on the future — to live on 
 expectation — to live on what you are to have in the next world — to feast yourselves 
 with some of the droppings of the tree of life that fall from heaven — to live upon the 
 manna of expectation which falls in the wilderness, and to drink that stream of 
 nectar which gushes from the throne of God? Have you ever gone to the great 
 Niagara of hope, and drank the spray with ravishing delight; for the very spray of 
 heaven is glory to one's soul! Have you ever lived on the future, and said, " As 
 for me I sliall have somewhat, by-and-bye?" Why, this is the highest motive that 
 can actuate a man. I suppose this was what made Luther so bold, when he stood 
 before his great audience of kings and lords, and said, " I stand by the truth that I 
 have written, and will so stand by it till I die; so help me God!" Methinks he 
 must have said, *'I shall be satisfied by-and-bye; I am not satisfied now, but I shall 
 be soon." For this the missionary ventures the stormy sea; for this he treads the 
 barbarous shore; for this he goes into inhospitable climes, and risks his life, because 
 he knows there is a payment to come by-and-bye. I sometimes laughingly tell my 
 friends when I receive a favour from them, that I cannot return it, but set it up to 
 my Master in heaven, for they shall be satisfied when they awake in his likeness. 
 There are many things that we may never hope to be rewarded for here, but that 
 shall be remembered before the throne hereafter, not of debt, but of grace. Like a 
 poor minister I heard of, who, walking to a rustic chapel to preach, was met by a 
 clergyman who had a far richer berth. He asked the poor man what he expected to 
 have for his preaching. " Well," he said, " I expect to have a crown." "Ah!" said 
 the clergyman, " I have not been in the habit of preaching for less than a guinea, 
 anyhow." " Oli !" said the other, " I am obliged to be content with a crown, and what 
 is more, I do not have my crown now, but I have to wait for that in the future." 
 The clergyman little thought that he meant the *' crown of life that fadeth not 
 away!" Christian! live on the future; seek nothing here, but expect that thou shalt 
 shine when thou shalt come in the likeness of Jesus, with him to be admired, and 
 to kneel before his face adoringly. The Psalmist had an eye to the future. 
 
 And again, upon this point, you can see that David, at the time he wrote this, 
 was full of faith. The text is fragrant with confidence. "As for me," says David, 
 no perhaps about it; "I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied 
 when I awake up in thy likeness." If some men should say so novr, they would be 
 called fanatics, and it would be considered presumption for any man to say, " I 
 will behold thy face, I shall be satisfied;" and I think there are many now in this 
 world who think it is quite impossible for a man to say to a certainty, " I know, 
 I am sure, I am certain." But, beloved, there are not one or two, but there are 
 thousands and thousands of God's people alive in this world who can say with an 
 assured confidence, no more doubting of it than of their very existence, " I will 
 behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake in thy like- 
 ness." It is possible, though perhaps not very easy, to attain to that high and 
 eminent position wherein we can say no longer do I hope^ but I know ; no longer do 
 I trust, but I am persuaded; I have a happy confidence; I am sure of it; I am certain; 
 for God has so manifested himself to me that now it is no longer "if" and "per- 
 haps," but it is positive, eternal, " shall." " I shall be satisfied when I awake in 
 thy likeness." How many are there here of that sort? Oh! if ye are talking like 
 that, ye must expect to have trouble, for God never gives strong faith without fiery 
 trial ; he will never give a man the power to say that " shall" without trying him; 
 he will not build a strong ship without subjecting it to very mighty storms ; he 
 will not make you a mighty warrior, if he does not intend to try your skill in 
 battle. God's swords must be used; the old Toledo blades of heaven must be 
 smitten against the armour of the evil one, and yet they shall not break, for they 
 are of true Jerusalem metal, which shall never snap. Oh! what a happy thing to 
 have that faith to say, '*I shall." Some of you think it quite impossible, I know ; 
 but it is the gift of God," and whosoever asks it shall obtain it ; and the very chief 
 of sinners now present in this place may yet be able to say long before he comes to 
 die, I shall behold thy face in righteousness." Methinks I see the aged Christian. 
 He has been very poor. He is in a garret where the stars look between the tiles. 
 There is his bed. His clothes ragged and torn. There are a few sticks on the 
 hearth : they are the last he has. He is sitting up in his chair ; his paralytic hand 
 quivers and shakes, and he is evidently n^ar his end. His last meal was eaten 
 yest^r AMUPti t and m you stand and look at him, poor, weak, and feeble, who would 
 
 191 
 
THE HOPE or FUTURE RLI8S. 
 
 desire his lot? But ask him, " Old man, wouldst thou change thy garret for Caesar's 
 palace? Aged Christian, wouldst thou give up these rags for wealth, and cease to 
 love thy God?" See how indignation burns in his eyes at once! He replies, " * As for 
 me, I shall' within a few more days, ' behold his face in righteousness; I shall be 
 satisfied' soon; here I never shall be. Trouble has been my lot, and trial has been 
 my portion; but I have 'a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."* 
 Bid high; bid him fair; offer him your hands full of gold; lay all down for him to 
 give up his Christ. " Give up Christ?" he will say, "no, never!" 
 
 While my faith can keep her hold, 
 I envy not the miser's gold." 
 
 Oh! what a glorious thing to be full of faith, and to have the confidence of assur- 
 ance, so as to say, "I will behold thy face; I shall be satisfied when I awake with 
 thy likeness.*' 
 
 Thus much concerning the spirit of David. It is one very much to be copied and 
 eminently to be desired. 
 
 n. But now, secondly, the matter of this passage. And here we will dive into 
 the very depths of it, God helping us; for without the Spirit of God I feel I am ut- 
 terly unable to speak to you. I have not those gifts and talents which qualify men 
 to speak ; I need an afflatus from no high, otherwise I stand like other men and have 
 nought to say. May that be given me ; for without it I am dumb. As for the matter 
 of this verse, methinks it contains a double blessing. The first is a beholding — " I 
 will behold thy face in righteousness;" and the next is a satisfaction — "I shall be 
 satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." 
 
 Let us begin with the first, then. David expected that he should behold GocTs 
 face. What a vision will that be, my brethren! Have you ever seen God's hand? 
 I have seen it, when sometimes he places it across the sky, and darkens it with 
 clouds. I have seen God's hand sometimes, when the cars of night drag along the 
 shades of darkness. I have seen his hand when, launching the thunder-bolt, his 
 lightning splits the clouds and rends the heavens. Perhaps ye have seen it in a gen- 
 tler fashion, when it pours out the water and sends it rippling along in rills, and 
 then rolls into rivers. Ye have seen it in the stormy ocean — in the sky decked with 
 stars, in the earth gemmed with flowers; and there is not a man living who can 
 know all the wonders of God's hand. His creation is so wondrous that it would take 
 more than a life-time to understand it. Go into the depths of it; let its minute parts 
 engage your attention; next take the telescope, and try to see remote worlds, and can 
 I see all God's handiwork — behold all his hand? No, not so much as one millionth 
 part of the fabric. That mighty hand wherein the callow comets are brooded by the 
 sun, in which the planets roll in majestic orbits; that mighty hand which holds all 
 space, and grasps all beings — that mighty hand, who can behold it? but if such be 
 his hand, what must his face be? Ye have heard God's voice sometimes, and ye 
 have trembled; I, myself, have listened awe-struck, and yet with a marvellous joy, 
 when I have heard God's voice, like the noise of many waters, in the great thunder- 
 ings. Have you never stood and listened, while the earth shook and trembled, 
 and the very spheres stopped thei? music, while God spoke with his wondrousj 
 deep bass voice? Yes, ye have heard that voice; and there is a joy marvellously 
 instinct with love which enters into my soul, whenever I hear the thunder. It 
 is my Father speaking, and my heart leaps to hear him. But you never heard 
 God's loudest voice. It was but the whisper when the thunder rolled. But if such 
 be the voice, what must it be to behold his face? David said, " I will behold thy 
 face." It is said of the temple of Diana, that it was so splendidly decorated with 
 gold, and so bright and shining, that a porter at the door always said to every one 
 that entered, Take heed to your eyes, take heed to your eyes; you will be struck 
 with blindness unless you take heed to your eyes." But oh! that view of glory! 
 That great appearance. The vision of God ! to see him face to face, to enter into 
 heaven, and to see the righteous shining bright as stars in the firmament ; but best 
 of all, to catch a glimpse of the eternal tnrone I Ah ! there he sits ! 'Twere almost 
 blasphemy for me to attempt to describe him. How infinitely far my poor words fall 
 below the mighty subject I But to behold God's face. I will not speak of the lustre 
 of those eyes, or the majesty of those lips, that shall speak words of love and affec- 
 tion ; but to behold his face ! Ye who have dived into the Godhead's deepest sea 
 and have been lost in its immensity, ye can tell a little of it I Ye mighty ones, who 
 
 m 
 
THE HOPE W FtTTUnE BLISS. 
 
 have lived in heaven these thousand years, perhaps ye know, hut ye cannot tellt 
 what it is to see his face. We must each of us go there, we must be clad with im- 
 mortality. We must go above the blue sky, and bathe in the river of life: we must 
 outsoar the lightning, and rise above the stars, to know what it is to see God's face. 
 Words cannot set it forth. So there I leave it. The hope the Psalmist had was, 
 that he might see God's face. 
 
 But there was a peculiar sweetness mixed with this joy, because he knew that he 
 should behold God's face in righteousness. " I shall behold thy face in righteousness." 
 Have I not seen my Father's face here below ? Yes, I have, through a glass darkly," 
 But has not the Christian sometimes beheld him, when in his heavenly moments 
 earth is gone, and the mind is stripped of matter? There are some seasons when the 
 gross materialism dies away, and when the ethereal fire within blazes up so high that 
 it almost touches the fire of heaven. There are seasons, when in some retired spot, 
 calm and free from all earthly thought, we have put our shoes from oflf our feet, 
 because the place whereon we stood was holy ground; and we have talked with God! 
 even as Enoch talked with him, so has the Christian held intimate communion with 
 his Father. He has heard his love-whispers ; he has told out his heart, poured out 
 his sorrows and his groans before him. But after all he has felt that he has not 
 beheld his face in righteousness. There was so much sin to darken the eyes, so 
 much folly, so much frailty, that we could not get a clear prospect of our Jesus. 
 But here the Psalmist says, " I will behold thy face in righteousness." When that 
 illustrious day shall arise, and I shall see my Saviour face to face, I shall see him 
 "in righteousness." The Christian in heaven will not have so much as a speck 
 upon his garment; he will be pure and white; yea, on the earth he is 
 
 •*Pure through Jesus' blood, and white as angels are." 
 
 But in heaven that whiteness shall be more apparent. Now, it is sometimes smoked 
 by earth, and covered with the dust of this poor carnal world; but in heaven he- 
 will have brushed himself, and washed his wings, and made them clean; and then 
 will he see God's face in righteousness. My God! I believe I shall stand before thy 
 face as pure as thou art thyself; for I shall have the righteousness of Jesus Christ; 
 there shall be upon me the righteousness of a God. " I shall behold thy face in 
 righteousness." O Christian, canst thou enjoy this? Though I cannot speak about 
 it, dost thy heart meditate upon it? To behold his face for ever; to bask in that, 
 vision! True, thou canst not understand it; but thou may est guess the meaning. 
 To behold his face in righteousness ! 
 
 The second blessing, upon which I will be brief, is satisfaction. He will be satis- 
 fied, the Psalmist says, when he wakes up in God's likeness. Satisfaction! this is^ 
 another joy for the Christian when he shall enter heaven. Here we are never 
 thoroughly satisfied. True, the Christian is satisfied from himself; he has that 
 within which is a well-spring of comfort, and he can enjoy solid satisfaction. But 
 heaven is the home of true and real satisfaction. When the believer enters heaven 
 I believe his imagination will be thoroughly satisfied. All he has ever thought of 
 he will there see; every holy idea will be solidified; every mighty conception will 
 become a reality; every glorious imagination will become a tangible thing that he 
 can see. His imagination will not be able to think of anything better than heaven ; 
 and should he sit down through eternity, he would not be able to conceive of any- 
 thing that should outshine the lustre of that glorious city. His imagination will 
 be satisfied. Then his intellect will be satisfied. 
 
 " Then shall I see, and hear, and know. 
 All I desired, or wished, below." 
 
 Who is satisfied with his knowledge here? Are there not secrets we want to know 
 — depths in the arcana of nature that we have not entered? But in that glorious 
 state we shall know as much as we want to know. The memory will be satisfied. 
 We shall look back upon the vista of past years, and we shall be content with 
 whatever we endured, or did, or suffered on earth. 
 
 ** There, on a green and flowery mount, 
 My wearied soul shall sit, 
 And with transporting joys recount 
 The labours Qf my feet," 
 
 193 
 
THE HOPE OF FUTURE BLISS, 
 
 Hope will be satisfied, if there be such a thing in heaven. We shall hope for a future 
 
 eternity, and believe in it. But we shall be satisfied as to our hopes continually: 
 and the whole man will be so content that there will not remain a single thing in 
 all God's dealings, that he would wish to have altered; yea, perhaps I say a thing at 
 which some of 3-ou will demur — but the righteous in heaven will be quite satisfied 
 with the damnation of the lost. I used to think that if I could see the lost in hell, 
 surely I must weep for them. Could I hear their horrid wailings, and see the dread- 
 ful contortions of their anguish, surely I must pity them. But there is no such senti- 
 ment as that known in heaven. The believer shall be there so satisfied with all God's 
 will, that he will quite forget the lost in the idea that God has done it for the best, 
 that even their loss has been their own fault, and that he is infinitely just in it. 
 If my parents could see me in hell they would not have a tear to shed for me, though 
 they were in heaven, for they would say, " It is justice, thou great God, and thy 
 justice must be magnified, as well as thy mercy;" and moreover, they would feel 
 that God was so much above his creatures that they would be satisfied to see those 
 creatures crushed if it might increase God's glory. Oh! in heaven I believe we shall 
 think rightly of men. Here men seem great things to us ; but in heaven they will 
 seem no more than a few creeping insects that are swept away in ploughing a field 
 for harvest; they will appear no more than a tiny handful of dust, or like some 
 nest of wasps that ought to be exterminated for the injury they have done. They 
 will appear such little things when we sit on high with God, and look down on the 
 nations of the earth as grasshoppers, and "count the isles as very little things." We 
 shall be satisfied with everything; there will not be a single thing to complain of. 
 " I shall be satisfied." 
 
 But when? "I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." But not till 
 then. No, not till then. Now here a difficulty occurs. You know there are some 
 la heave 1 who have not yet waked up in God's likeness. In fact, none of those in 
 lieaven have done so. They never did sleep as respects their souls; the waking 
 refers to their bodies, and they are not awake yet — but are still slumbering. 0 
 earth! thou art the bedchamber of the mighty dead ! What a vast sleeping-house this 
 world is! It is one vast cemetery. The righteous still sleep; and they are to be 
 satisfied on the resurrection morn, when they awake. " But," say you, " are they 
 not satisfied now? They are in heaven: is it possible that they can be distressed?" 
 No, they are not ; there is only one dissatisfaction that can enter heaven — the dis • 
 satisfaction of the blest that their bodies are not there. Allow me to use a simile 
 which will somewhat explain what I mean. When a Roman conqueror had been 
 at war, and won great victories, he would very likely come back with his soldiers, 
 enter into his house, and enjoy himself till the next day, when he would go out of 
 the city and then come in again in triumph. Now, the saints, as it were, if I might 
 use such a phrase, steal into heaven without their bodies; but on the last day, when 
 their bodies wake up, they will enter in their triumphal chariots. And, methinks, 
 I see that grand procession, when Jesus Christ, first of all, with many crowns on 
 his head, with his bright, glorious body, shall lead the way. I see my Saviour 
 entering first. Behind him come the saints, all of them clapping their hands, 
 all of them touching their golden harps, and entering in triumph. And when they 
 come to heaven's gates, and the doors are opened wide to let the king of glory in, now 
 wiU. the angels crowd at the windows, and on the house-tops, like the inhabitants in 
 the Roman triumphr. to watch them as they pass through the streets, and scatter 
 lieaven's roses and lilies upon them, crying, "crying, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hal- 
 lelujah ! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth !" " I shall be satisfied" in that glorious 
 day, when all his angels shall come to see the triumph, and when his people shall 
 be victorious with him. 
 
 One thought here ought not to be forgotten; and that is, the Psalmist says we are 
 to wake up in the likeness of God. This may refer to the soul; for the spirit of tlie 
 righteous will be in the likeness of God as to its happiness, holiness, purity, infalli- 
 bUity, eternity, and freedom from pain; but specially, I think, it relates to the body, 
 because it speaks of the awaking. The body is to be in the likeness of Christ. 
 What a thought! It is — and alas! I have had too many such, to-night — a thought 
 too heavy for words, I am to awake up in Christ's likeness, I do not know what 
 Christ is like, and can er.arcel3^ imagine. I love sometimes to sit and look at him 
 in his crucifixion. I care not what men say — I know tbr..t sometimes I have derived 
 benefit from a picture of my dying crucified Saviour; and I look at him with his 
 
THE HOPE OF FUTURE BLISS. 
 
 c^rown of thorns, his pierced side, his bleeding hands and feet, and all those drops 
 
 of gore hanpng from him; but I cannot picture him in heaven, he is so briglit, 
 so glorious; the God so shines through the man; his eyes are like lamps of fire; his 
 tongue like a two-edged sword; his head covered with hair as white as snow, for 
 he is the Ancient of days; he binds the clouds round about him for a girdle; and 
 when he speaks, it is like the sound of many waters! I read the accounts given in 
 the book of Revelation, but I cannot tell what he is ; they are Scripture phrases, 
 and I cannot understand their meaning; but whatever they mean, I know that I 
 shall wake up in Christ's likeness. Oh ! what a change it will be, when some of us. 
 get to heaven! There is a man who fell in battle with the word of salvation on his 
 lips; his legs had been shot away, and his body had been scarred by sabre thrusts; 
 he wakes in heaven, and finds that he has not a broken body, maimed and cut about, 
 and hacked and injured, but that he is in Christ's likeness. There is an old matron, 
 who has tottered on her staff for years along her weary way; time has ploughed 
 furrows on her brow; haggard and lame, her body is laid in the grave. But oh! 
 aged woman, thou shalt arise in youth and beauty. Another has been deformed 
 in his life-time, but when he wakes, lie wakes in the likeness of Christ. Whatever 
 may have been tlie form of our countenance, whatever the contour, the beautiful 
 shall be no more beautiful in heaven than those who were deformed. Those who 
 shone on earth, peerless, among the fairest, who ravished men with looks from their 
 eyes, they shall be no brighter in heaven than those who are now passed by and 
 neglected : for the}' shall all be like Christ. 
 
 III. But now to close up, here is a vert sad contrast implied. We shall all 
 slumber. A few more years and where will this company be? Xerxes wept, because 
 in a little while his whole army would be gone ; how might I stand here and weep, be- 
 cause within a few more years others shall stand in this place, and shall say, *' The 
 fathers, where are they?" Good God! and is it true? Is it not a reality? Is it all to 
 be swept away? Is it one great dissolving view? Ah! it is. This sight shall vanish 
 soon; and you and I shall vanish with it. We are but a show. This life is but " a 
 stage whereon men act;" and then we pass behind the curtain, and we there unmask 
 ourselves, and talk with God. The moment we begin to live we begin to die. The 
 tree has long been growing that shall be sawn to make you a coffin. The sod is 
 ready for you all. But this scene is to appear again soon. One short dream, one 
 hurried nap, and all this sight shall come o'er again. We shall all awake, and as 
 we stand here now, we shall stand together, perhaps, even more thickly pressed. 
 But we shall stand on the level then—the rich and ])oor, the preacher and hearer. 
 There will be but one distinction — righteous and wicked. At first we shall stand 
 together. Methinks I see the scene. The sea is boiling; the heavens are rent in 
 twain ; the clouds are fashioned into a chariot, and Jesus riding on it, with wings of 
 fire, comes riding through the sky. His throne is set. He seats himself upon it. 
 With a nod he hushes all the world. He lifts his fingers, opens the great books of 
 destiny, and the book of our probation,wherein are written the acts of time. With 
 his fingers he beckons to the hosts above. " Divide," said he, " divide the universe." 
 Swifter than thought all the earth shall part in sunder. Where shall I be found 
 when the dividing comes? Methinks I see them all divided; and the righteous are 
 on the right. Turning to them, with a voice sweeter than music, he says, "Come! 
 Ye have been coming — keep on your progress ! Come ! it has been the work of your 
 life to come ; so continue. Come and take the last step. ' Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the 
 world.'" And now the wicked are left alone; and turning to them, he says, "De- 
 part! Ye have been departing aU your lifelong; it was your business to depart 
 from me; ye said, ' Depart from me, I love not thy ways.' You have been departing, 
 keep on, take the last step !' " They dare not move. They stand still. The Saviour 
 becomes the avenger. The hands that once held out mercy, now grasp the sword 
 of justice; the lips that spoke lovingkindness, now utter thunder; and with a deadly 
 aim. he lifts up the sword, and sweeps amongst them. They fly like deer before 
 the lion; and enter the jaws of the bottomless pit. 
 
 But never, I hope, shall I cease preaching, without telling you what to do to be 
 saved. This morning I preached to the ungodly, to the worst of sinners, and many 
 wept — I hope many hearts melted — while I spoke of the great mercy of God. I 
 have not spoken of that to-night. We must take a different line sometimes; led, 1 
 
 19.-: 
 
THE HOPE OF FUTURE BLISS. 
 
 trust, by God*8 Spirit. But oh! ye that are thirsty, and heavy laden, and lost and 
 ruined, meicy speaks yet once again to you! Here is the way of salvation. "He 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." "And wliat is it to believe?" say* 
 one; " is it to say I know Christ died for me?" No, that is not to believe; it is 
 part of it, but it is not all. Every Arminian believes that; and every man in the 
 world believes it who holds that doctrine, since he conceives that Christ died for 
 every man. Consequently that is not faith. But faith is this: to cast yourself on 
 Christ. As the negro said, most curiously, when asked what he did to be saved ; 
 "Massa," said he, "I fling myself down on Jesus, and dere I lay; I fling myself flat 
 on de promise, and dere I lay." And to every penitent sinner Jesus says, " 1 am able 
 to save to the uttermost;" throw thyself flat on the promise, and say, " Then, Lord^ 
 thou art able to save ;we." God says, "C!"ome now, let us reason together; though 
 your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow, and though they be red like 
 crimson they shall be as wool." Cast thyself on him, and thou shalt be saved. 
 "Ah!" says one, "I am afraid I am not one of God's people; I cannot read my 
 name in the book of life." A very good thing you can't; for if the Bible had every 
 body's name in it, it would be a pretty large book; and if your name is John Smith,, 
 and you saw that name in the Bible, if you do not believe God's promise now, you 
 would be sure to believe that it was some other John Smith. Suppose the Emperor 
 of Russia should issue a decree to all the Polish refugees to return to their own 
 country; you see a Polish refugee looking at the great placards hanging on the wall,, 
 he looks with pleasure, and says, " Well, I shall go back to my country." But 
 some one says to him, " It does not say Walewski." " Yes, " he would reply, " but 
 it says Polish refugees : Polish is my Christian name, and refugee my surname, and 
 that is me." And so, though it does not say your name in the Scriptures, it says, 
 lost sinner. Sinner is your Christian name, and lost is your surname; therefore, why 
 not come? It says, "lost sinner;" — is not that enough? " This is a faithful saying, 
 and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners^ 
 of whom I am chief." "Yes, but," another one says, "I am afraid I am not elect." 
 Oh! dear souls, do not trouble yourselves about that. If you believe in Christ,, 
 you are elect. Whoever puts himself on the mercy of Jesus is elect; for he would 
 never do it if he had not been elect. Whoever comes to Christ, and looks for mercy 
 through his blood, is elect, and he shall see that he is elect afterwards; but do not 
 f xpect to read election till you have read repentance. Election is a college to which 
 you little ones will not go till you have been to the school of repentance. Do not 
 begin to read your book backwards, and say Amen before you have said your pater- 
 noster. Begin with" Our Father," and then you will go on to "thine is the king- 
 dom, the power and the glory;" but begin with "the kingdom," and you will have 
 hard work to go back to " Our Father." We must begin with faith. We mu&t 
 begin with — 
 
 ••Nothing in my hands I bring." 
 
 As God made the world out of nothing, he always makes his Christians out of 
 nothing; and he who has nothing at all to-night, shall find grace and mercy, if he 
 will come for it. 
 
 Let me close up by telling you what I have heard of some poor woman, who was 
 converted and brought to life, just by passing down a street, and hearing a child, 
 sitting at a door, singing — 
 
 " I am nothing at all. 
 But Jesus Christ is all in all." 
 
 That is a blessed song; go home and sing it; and he who can rightly apprehend 
 those little words, who can feel himself vanity without Jesus, but that he has i^A 
 things in Christ, is not only fiir from the kingdom of heaven, but he is there in 
 faith, and shall be there in fruition, >iien he shall -rake up in God's lik^^nc^^ir;. 
 
"ALAS FOR us, IF THOU WERT ALL, 
 AND NOUGHT BEYOND, 0 EARTH." 
 
 Delivered on Sunday Morning, March 27th, 18G4, by the 
 
 REV. C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 " If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."— 
 
 1 Corinthians xv. 19^ 
 
 You will understand that the apostle is arguing with professedly 
 Christian people, who were dubious about the resurrection of the dead. 
 He is not saying that all men are now miserable if there be no hope of the: 
 world to come, for such an assertion would be untrue. There are very 
 many who never think of another life, who are quite happy m 
 their way, enjoy themselves, and are very comfortable after a fashion. 
 But he speaks of Christian people — " If we, who have hope in Christ,, 
 are led to doubt the doctrine of a future state and of a resurrection, 
 then we are of all men most miserable." The argument has 
 nothing to do with some of you who are not Christians; it has 
 nothing to do with you who have never been brought out of a state of 
 nature into a state of grace; it only respects those who are real, living 
 followers of the Saviour, and who are known by this, that they have 
 hope in Christ — hope in his blood for pardon, in his righteousness for 
 justification, in his power for support, in his resurrection for eternal 
 glory. " If we who have hope in Christ, have that hope for this life 
 only, then we are of all men most miserable." You understand the 
 argument; he is appealing to their consciousness; they, as Christians,, 
 had real enjoyments, "but," says he, "you could not have these enjoy- 
 ments if it were not for the hope of another life; for once take that 
 away, if you could still remain Christians and have the same feelings 
 which you now have, and act as you now do, you would become of all 
 men most miserable," therefore to justify your own happiness and make 
 it all reasonable, you must admit a resurrection; there is no other 
 method of accounting for the joyous peace which the Christian 
 possesses. Our riches are beyond the sea; our city with firm founda- 
 tions lies on the other side the river: gleams of glory from the spirit- 
 world cheer our hearts, and urge us onward; but if it were not for these,, 
 our present joys would pine and die. 
 
 We will try and handle our text this morning in this way. First,. 
 we are not of all men most miserable; but secondly, without the hope 
 of another life we should be — that we are prepared to confess — because 
 thirdly, our chief joy lies in the hope of a life to como; and thus, fourthly. 
 
 No. 562. 
 
182 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 the future influences the present; and so, in the last place, tve may to-day 
 judge ivliat our future is to he, 
 
 i. First then, ave are not of all men most miserable. Who 
 ventures to say we are? He who will have the hardihood to say so 
 knoweth nothing of us. He who shall affirm that Christianity makes men 
 miserable, is himself an utter stranger to it, and has never partaken of 
 its joyful influences. It were a very strange thing indeed, if it did 
 make us wi^etched, for see to tvhat a position it exalts us I It makes 
 us sons of God. Suppose you that God will give all the happiness to 
 his enemies, and reserve all the mourning for his sons? Shall his foes 
 have mirth and joy, and shall his own home-born children inherit 
 sorrow and wretchedness? Are the kisses for the wicked and the frowns 
 for us? Are we condemned to hang our harps upon the willows, and 
 sing nothing but doleful dirges, while the children of Satan are to 
 laugh for joy of heart? '-We are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ 
 Jesus. Shall the sinner, who has no part nor lot in Christ, call himself 
 happy, and shall we go mourning as if we were penniless beggars? No, 
 we will rejoice in the Lord always, and glory in our inheritance, for 
 we " have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have 
 received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The 
 rod of chastisement must rest upon us in our measure, but it worketh 
 for us the comfortable fruits of righteousness; and therefore by the aid 
 of the divine Comforter, we will rejoice in the Lord at all times. We 
 are, my brethren, married unto Christ; and shall our great Bridegroom 
 permit his spouse to linger in constant grief? Our hearts are knit unto 
 him: we are members of his body, of his flesh, arid of his bones, and 
 though for awhile we may suffer as our Head once suffered, yet we are 
 even now blessed with heavenly blessings in him. Shall our Head 
 reign in heaven, and shall we have a hell upon earth ? God forbid: the 
 joyful triumph of our exalted Head is in a measure shared by us, even 
 in this vale of tears. We have the earnest of our inheritance in the 
 comforts of the Spirit, which are neither few nor small. Think of a 
 Christian I He is a king, and shall the king be the most melancholy of 
 men? He is a priest unto God, and shall he oflfer no sweet incense of 
 hallowed joy and grateful thanksgiving? We are fit companions for 
 angels: he hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the 
 saints in light; and shall we have no days of heaven upon earth? Is 
 Canaan ours from Dan to Beersheba, and shall we eat no fruit from 
 Eshcol's vine on this side of Jordan ? Shall we have no taste of 
 the figs, and of the pomegranates, and of the flowing milk and honey? 
 Is there no manna in the wilderness? Are there no streams in the 
 desert? Are there no streaks of light to herald our eternal sunrising? 
 Heritors of joy for ever, have we no foretastes of our portion? I say 
 again, it were the oddest thing in the world if Christians were more 
 miserable than other men, or not more happy. Think again of what 
 God has done for them ! The Christian knows that his sins are forgiven; 
 there is not against the believer a single sin recorded in God's book. 
 " I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as 
 a cloud, thy sins." More than that, the believer is accounted by 
 God as if he had perfectly kept the law, for the righteousness of Christ 
 is imputed to him, and he stands clothed in that fair white linen 
 
" ALAS FOR US, IF THOU WERT ALL," ETC. 
 
 183 
 
 which is the righteousness of the saiats. And shall the man whom 
 God accepts be "wretched? Shall the pardoned offender be less happy 
 than the man upon whom the wrath of God abideth? Can you conceive 
 such a thing? Moreover, my brethren, we are made temples of the 
 Holy Ghost, and is the Holy Ghost's temple to be a dark, dolorous place, 
 a place of shrieks, and moans, and cries, like the Druidic groves of old? 
 Such is not like our God. Our God is a God of love, and it is his very 
 nature to make his creatures happy; and we, who are his twice-made 
 creatures, who are the partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the 
 corruption which is in the world through lust, is it to be supposed that 
 we are bound by a stern decree to go mourning all our days? Oh! if ye 
 knew the Christian's privilege, if ye understood that the secret of the Lord 
 is laid open to him, that the wounds of Christ are his shelter, that the 
 flesh and blood of Christ are his food, that Christ himself is his sweet 
 companion and his abiding friend, oh! if ye knew this, ye would never 
 again foolishly dream that Christians are an unhappy race. " Happy art 
 thou, 0 Israel: who is like unto thee, 0 people saved by the Lord?" 
 Who can be compared with the man who is " satisfied with favour and 
 full with the blessing of the Lord." Well might the evil prophet of 
 Bethor exclaim, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
 end be like his." 
 
 We will go a step farther. We will not only say that from the nature 
 of his position and privileges, a Christian should be happy, but we 
 declare that he is so, and that among all men there are none who enjoy 
 such, a constant peace of mind as believers in Christ. Our joy may 
 not be like that of the sinner, noisy and boisterous. You know what 
 Solomon says — " The laughter of fools is as the crackling of thorns 
 under a pot" — a great deal of blaze and much noise, and then a 
 handful of ashes, and it is all over. Who hath woe, who hath redness 
 of the eyes? They that tarry long at the wine — men of strength to 
 mingle strong drink." The Christian, in truth, does not know much 
 of the excitement of the bowl, the viol and the dance, nor does he 
 desire to know; he is content that he possesses a calm deep-seated 
 repose of soul. " He is not afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed, 
 trusting in the Lord." He is not disturbed with any sudden fear: 
 he knows that " all things work together for good to them that love 
 God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.'' He is in the 
 habit in whatever society he may be, of still lifting up his heart to 
 God; and therefore he can say with the Psalmist, "My heart is 
 fixed, 0 God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise." 
 
 " He waits in secret on his God ; 
 His God in secret sees ; 
 Let earth be all in arms abroad, 
 He dwells in heavenly peace. 
 
 His pleasures rise from things unseen. 
 
 Beyond this world and time, 
 Where neither eyes nor ears have been, 
 
 Nor thoughts of sinners climb. 
 
 He wants no pomp nor royal throne 
 
 To raise his figure here : 
 Content and pleased to live unkncvvn, 
 
 Till Christ his life appeai\ 
 
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 "There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God.*' 
 Believers drink of that river and thirst not for carnal delights. They 
 are made " to lie down in green pastures," and are led " beside the still 
 waters." Now this solid, lasting joy and peace of mind sets the Christian 
 80 on high above all others, that I boldly testify that there are no people 
 in the world to compare with him for happiness. But do not suppose that 
 our joy never rises above this settled calm; for let me tell you, and I 
 speak experimentally, we have our seasons of rapturous delight and over- 
 flowing bliss. There are times with us when no music could equal the 
 melody of our heart's sweet hymn of joy. It would empty earth's 
 coffers of every farthing of her joy to buy a single ounce of our delight. 
 Do not fancy Paul was the only man who could say, " Whether in the 
 body or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth," for these ecstasies 
 are usual with believers; and on their sunshiny days when their un- 
 belief is shaken off and their faith is strong, they have all but walked 
 the golden streets; and they can say, "If we have not entered within 
 the pearly gate, we have been only just this side of it; and if we have 
 not yet come to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, whose 
 names are written in heaven, if we have not joined the great congre- 
 gation of the perfect in actual body, yet still — 
 
 " E'en now by faith we join our hands 
 With those that went before, 
 And greet the blood-besprinkled bands 
 On the eternal shore." 
 
 I would not change one five minutes of the excessive joy my soul has 
 sometimes felt for a thousand years of the best mirth that the children 
 of this world could give me. 0 friends, there is a happiness which can 
 make the eye sparkle and the heart beat high, and the whole man as 
 full of bounding speed of life as the chariots of Amminadib. There are 
 raptures and high ecstasies, which on festival days such as the Lord 
 allotteth to his people, the saints are permitted to enjoy. I must 
 not fail to remind you that the Christian is the happiest of men 
 for this reason, that Ms joy does 7iot depend upon circumstances. 
 We have seen the happiest men in the most sorrowful conditions. 
 Mr. Renwick, who was the last of the Scotch martyrs, said a little before 
 his death, "Enemies think themselves satisfied that we are put to ! 
 wander in mosses and upon mountains, but even amidst the storm j 
 of these last two nights I cannot express what sweet times I have 
 had when I have had no coverings but the dark curtains of night: 
 yea, in the silent watch my mind was led out to admire the deep , 
 and inexpressible ocean of joy wherein the whole family of heaven I 
 do swim. Each star led me to wonder what He must be who is \ 
 the star of Jacob, and from whom all stars borrow their shining.'^ 
 Here is a martyr of God driven from house and home and from all 
 comforts, and yet having such sweet seasons beneath the curtains of 
 the black night as kings do not often know beneath their curtains of 
 silk. A minister of Christ going to visit a very, very poor man, gives 
 this description. He says, " I found him alone, his wife having gone 
 out to ask help of some neighbour. I was startled by the sight of the 
 pale emaciated man, the living image of death, fastened upright in his 
 chair by a rude mechanism of cords and belts hanging from the ceiling. 
 
'*ALAS FOR US, IF THOU WERT ALL/' ETC. 
 
 185 
 
 totally unable to move hand or foot, having been for more than four 
 years entirely deprived of the use of his limbs, and suffering extreme 
 pain from swellings in all his joints. I approached him full of pity, 
 and I said, " Are you left alone, my friend, in this deplorable situation?" 
 He answered with a gentle voice— his lips were the only parts of his 
 body which he appeared to have power to move — " No, sir, I am not 
 alone, because the Father is with me." I began to talk with him, and 
 I soon observed what was the source of his consolation, for just in front 
 of him lay the Bible upon a pillow, his wife having left it open at some 
 choice Psalm of David so that he might read while she was gone, as he 
 had no power to turn over the leaves. I asked him what he had to 
 live upon, and found that it was a miserable pittance, scarcely enough to 
 keep body aad soul together, " But," said he, " I never want anything, 
 for the Lord has said, ' Your bread shall be given you, and your water 
 shall be sure,' and I trust in him, and I shall never want while God is 
 faithful to his promise." "I asked him," says this minister "whether he 
 did not often repine on account of suffering so acutely for so many years. 
 
 Sir,'' said he, " I did repine at first, but not for the last three years, 
 blessed be God for it, for I know whom I have believed, and though 
 I feel my own weakness and unworthiness more and more, yet I am 
 persuaded that he will never leave me nor forsake me ; and so graciously 
 does he comfort me that when my lips are closed with lock-jaw and I 
 cannot speak a word for hours together, he enables me to sing his praises 
 most sweetly in my heart." Now here was a man to whom the sun of all 
 earthly comfort was set, and yet the sun of heaven shone fall in his face, 
 and he was more peaceful and happy in deep poverty and racking pain 
 than all you or I have been in the health and strength of youth. John 
 Howard spent his time in visiting the gaols and going from one haunt of 
 fever to another, he was asked how he could find any ground of happiness 
 when he was living in miserable Russian villages, or dwelling in dis- 
 comfort in an hospital or a gaol. Mr. Howard's answer was very beautiful. 
 " I hope," said he, " I have sources of enjoyment which depend not upon 
 the particular spot I inhabit. A rightly cultivated mind, under the 
 power of divine grace and the exercise of a benevolent disposition 
 affords a ground of satisfaction that is not to be affected by heres and 
 theres'' Every Christian will bear you his witness that he has found 
 his sad times to be his glad times, his losses to be his gains, his sick- 
 nesses means to promote his soul's health. Our summer does not depend 
 upon the sun, nor our flood-tide upon the moon. We can rejoice even 
 in death. We look forward to that happy hour when we shall close oar 
 eyes in the peaceful slumbers of death, believing that our last day will be 
 our best day. Even the crossing of the river Jordan is but an easy task, 
 for we shall hear him say, "Fear not; I am with thee: be not dis- 
 mayed, I am thy God; when thou passest through the rivers I will 
 be with thee, and the floods shall not overflow thee." We dare to 
 say it, then, very boldly, we are not of all men most miserable: we 
 would not change with unconverted men for all their riches, and their 
 pomp, and their honour thrown into the scale. 
 
 " Go you that boast in all your stores, 
 And tell how bright they shine, 
 Your heaps of glittenng dust are yours, 
 And my Redeemer's mine." 
 
186 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 II. This brings us to the second point — without the hope of 
 
 ANOTHER LIFE, WE WILL ADMIT, THAT WE SHOULD BE OF ALL MEN 
 MOST MISERABLE. 
 
 Especially was this true of the apostles. They were rejected by their 
 countrymen; they lost all the comforts of home; their lives were spent 
 in toil, and were daily exposed to violent death. They all of them 
 suffered the martyr's doom, except John, who seems to have been pre- 
 served not from martyrdom, but in it. They were certainly the twelve 
 most miserable of men apart from that hope of the world to come, 
 which made them of all men the most happy. But this is true, dear 
 friends, not merely of persecuted, and despised, and poverty-stricken 
 Christians, but of all believers. We are prepared to grant it, that take 
 away from us the hope of the world to come we should be more miserable 
 than men without religion. The reason is very clear, if you think that 
 the Christian has renounced those common and ordinary sources of joy from 
 which other men drinh. We must have some pleasure: it is impossible 
 for men to live in this world without it, and 1 can say most truthfully 
 I never urge any of you to do that which would make you unhappy. We 
 must have some pleasure. Well then, there is a vessel filled with 
 muddy filthy water which the camels' feet have stirred: shall I drink it? 
 I see yonder a rippling stream of clear flowing water, pure as crystal and 
 cooling as the snow of Lebanon, and I say, No, I will not drink this 
 foul, muddy stuff; leave that for beasts; I will drink of yon clear stream." 
 But if I be mistaken, if there be no stream yonder, if it be but the 
 deceitful mirage, if I have been deluded, then I am worse off than those 
 who were content with the muddy water, for they have at least some 
 cooling draughts ; bn 1 1 have none at all. This is precisely the Christian's 
 case. He passes by the pleasures of sin, and the amusements of carnal 
 men, because he says, " I do not care for them, I find no pleasure in 
 them : my happiness flows from the river which springs from the throne 
 of God and flows to me through Jesus Christ — I will drink of that,"* 
 but if there were no hereafter, if that were proved to be a deception, 
 then were we more wretched than the profligate and licentious. 
 
 Again, the Christian man has learned the vanity of all earthly joys. 
 We know^ when we look upon pomp that it is an empty thing. We walk 
 through the world, not with the scorn of Diogenes, the cynical phi- 
 losopher, but with something of his wisdom, and we look upon the 
 common things in which men rejoice, and say with Solomon, Vanity 
 of vanities, all is vanity." And why do we say this? Why, because 
 we have chosen eternal things in which there is no vanity, and which 
 are satisfying to the soul. But, my brethren, it is the most unhappy 
 piece of know^ledge which a man can acquire, to know that this world is 
 vain, if there be not another world abundantly to compensate for all 
 our ills. There is a poor lunatic in Bedlam, plaiting straw into a crown 
 Avhich he puts upon his head, and calls himself a king, and mounts his 
 mimic throne and thinks that he is monarch over all nations, and is 
 perfectly happy in his dream. Do you think that I would undeceive 
 him? Nay, verily, if I could, I w^ould not. If the delusion makes the 
 man happy, by all means let him indulge in it; but, dear friends, you 
 and I have leen undeceived; our dream of perfect bliss beneath the 
 skies is gone for ever; what then if there be no world to come? Why 
 
"ALAS FOR US, IF THOU WERT ALL," ETC. 
 
 187 
 
 then it is a most sorrowful thing for us that we have been awakened out 
 of our sleep unless this better thing which we have chosen, this good 
 part which shall not be taken from us, should prove to be real and true, 
 as we do believe it is. 
 
 Moreover, the Christian man is a man who has had high nolle, and 
 great expectations, and this is a very sad thing for us if our expectations 
 be not fulfilled, for it makes us of all men most miserable. I have 
 known poor men waiting and expecting a legacy. They had a right to 
 expect it, and they have waited, and waited, and borne with poverty, 
 and the relative has died and left them nothing; their poverty has ever 
 afterwards seemed to be a heavier drag than before. It is an unhappy . 
 thing for a man to have large ideas and large desires, if he cannot gratify 
 them. I believe that poverty is infinitely better endured by persons 
 who were always poor, than by those who have been rich and have had 
 to come down to penury, for they miss what the others never had, and 
 what the originally poor would look upon as luxuries they consider to 
 be necessary to their existence. The Christian has learned to think of 
 eternity, of God, of Christ, of communion with Jesus, and if indeed 
 it be all false, he certainly has dreamed the most magnificent of all 
 mortal visions. Truly, if any man could prove it to be a vision, the 
 best thing he could do would be to sit down and weep for ever 
 to think it was not true, for the dream is so splendid, the picture of 
 the world to come so gorgeous, that I can only say, if it be not true, 
 it ought to be — if it be not true, then there is nothing here worth living 
 for, my brethren, and we are disappointed wretches indeed — of all men 
 most miserable. 
 
 The Christian, too, lias learned to looh upon everything here on earth 
 as fleeting, I must confess every day this feeling grows with me. I 
 scarce look upon my friends as living. I walk as in a land of shadows, 
 and find nothing enduring around me. The broad arrow of the great 
 skeleton king is, to my eye, visibly stamped everywhere. I go so often 
 to the grave, and with those I least expected to take there, that it seems 
 to be rather a world of dying than of living men. Well, this is a 
 very unhappy thing — a very wretched state of mind for a man to be 
 in, if there be no world to come. If there be no resurrection of the 
 dead, then is the Christian indeed committed to a state of mind the 
 most deplorable and pitiable. But, 0 my brethren, if there be a 
 world to come, as faith assures us there is, how joyous it is to be weaned 
 from the world, and to be ready to depart from it! To be with Christ 
 is far better than to tarry in this vale of tears. 
 
 " The cords that bound my heart to earth 
 Are broken by his hand; 
 Before his cross I find myself, 
 A stranger in the land. 
 
 My heart is with him on his throne, 
 
 And ill can brook delay ; 
 Each moment listening tor the voice, 
 
 ' Make haste, and come away.' " 
 
 May I not pant to be in my own sweet country with my own fair Lord, 
 to see him face to face? Yet, if it be not so and there be no resurrection 
 of the dead, " we are of all men mcsil mifierable." 
 
188 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE FTJLriT. 
 
 III. Our chief joy in the hope of the world to come. Think 
 of the world to come, my brethren, and let your joys begin to kindle 
 jnto flames of delight, for heaven offers you all that you can desire. 
 You are, many of you, weary of toil; so weary, perhaps, that you can 
 scarcely enjoy the morning service because of the late hours at which 
 you have had to work at night. Ah ! there is a land of rest — of 
 perfect rest, where the sweat of labour no more bedews the worker's brow, 
 and fatigue is for ever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the 
 word "rest" is full of heaven. Oh! happy truth, there remaineth a 
 rest for the people of God. " They rest from their labours, and their 
 works do follow them." Others of you are always in the field of battle; 
 you are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that you 
 have little or no peace. I know where your hope lies. It lies in the 
 victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft, and the sword shall be 
 sheathed, and you shall hear your Captain say, " Well done, good and 
 faithful servant ; thou hast fought a good fight ; thou hast finished thy 
 course : henceforth wear thou the crown of life which fadeth not away." 
 Some of you are tossed about with many troubles ; you go from care 
 to care, from loss to loss : it seems to you as if all God's waves and 
 billows had gone over you ; but you shall soon arrive at the land of 
 happiness, where you shall bathe your weary soul in seas of heavenly 
 rest. You shall have no poverty soon ; no mud-hovel, no rags, nor 
 hunger. " In my Father's house are many mansions," and there shall 
 you dw^ell, satisfied with favour, and full of every blessing. You have 
 had bereavement after bereavement; the wife has been carried to the 
 tomb, the children have followed, father and mother are gone, and you 
 have few left to love you here; but you are going to the land where 
 graves are unknown things, where they never see a shroud, and the 
 sound of the mattock and the spade are never heard; you are going 
 to your Father's house in the land of the immortal, in the country of 
 the hereafter, in the home of the blessed, in the habitation of God Most 
 High, in the Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all. Is not 
 this your best joy, that you are not to be here for ever, that you are 
 not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? 
 With all God's people their worst grief is sin. I would not care for any 
 sorrow, if I could live without sinning. Oh ! if I were rid of the 
 appetites of the flesh and the lusts thereof, and the desires which con- 
 tinually go astray, I would be satisfied to lie in a dungeon and rot 
 there, so as to be delivered from the corruption of sin. Well but, 
 brethren, we shall soon attain unto perfection. The body of this death 
 will die with this body. There is no temptation in heaven, for the 
 dog of hell can never cross the stream of death ; there are no cor- 
 ruptions there, for they have washed their robes and made them white 
 in the blood of the Lamb ; there shall by no means enter into that 
 kingdom anything which defileth. Methiiiks as I hear the joyous 
 «ong of the glorified this morning, as I catch floating down from 
 heaven the sound of that music which is like many waters and like the 
 great thunder, and as I hear the harmony of those notes w'hich are 
 sweet as harpers harping with their harps, my soul desireth to stretch 
 her wings, and fly straight to yonder worlds of joy. I know it is so 
 with you, my brethren in the tribulation of Christ —as you wipe the sweat 
 
^'iLlS FOR US, IF THOU WEET ALL," ETC. 
 
 189 
 
 from your brow, is not this the comfort: there is rest for the people of God? 
 As you stand out against temptation and suffer for Christ's sake, is not 
 thi? your comfort: " If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him." 
 When you are slandered and despised by men, is not this your hope: 
 " He will remember me when he cometh into his kingdom. I shall sit 
 upon his throne, even as he has overcome, and sitteth down upon hfe 
 Father's throne?" Oh! yes, this is the music to which Christians dance; 
 this is the wine which maketh glad their hearts; this is the banquet at 
 which they feast. There is another and a better land, and we, though 
 we sleep with the clods of the valley, shall in our flesh see God, when 
 our Eedeemer shall stand in the latter days upon the earth. I think 
 you catch my drift — we are w^?^ of all men most miserable; apart from 
 the future hope we should be, for our hope in Christ for the future is 
 the mainstay of our joy. 
 
 IV. Xow, dear friends, this brings me to a practical observation in 
 the fourth place, which is, that thus the future operates upon 
 
 THE present. 
 
 I had some time ago a conversation with a very eminent man 
 whose fame is familiar to you all, but whose name I do not feel justified 
 in mentioning, who was once a professed believer but is now full of 
 scepticism. lie said to me in the course of our argument, " Why, how 
 foolish you are, and all the company of preachers. You tell people to 
 think about the next world, when the best thing they could do would 
 be to behave themselves as well as they can in this ! " I granted the 
 truth of the observation; it would be very unwise to make people neglect 
 the present, for it is of exceeding great importance, but I went on to 
 show him that the very best method to make people attend to the 
 present was by impressing them with high and noble motives with 
 regard to the future. The potent force of the world to come supplies 
 us through the Holy Spirit with force for the proper accomplishment of 
 the duties of this life. Here is a man who has a machine for the manu- 
 facture of hardware. He wants steam power to work this machine. 
 An engineer puts up a steam engine in a shed at some considerable 
 distance. "Well," saith the other, "I asked you to bring steam 
 power here, to operate upon my machine." " That is precisely," says 
 he, " what I have done. I put the steam engine there, you have but to 
 connect it by a band and your machine works as fast as you like; it is 
 not necessary that I should put the boiler, and the fire, and the engine 
 close to the work, just under your nose: only connect the two, and the 
 one will operate upon the other." So God has been pleased to make 
 our hopes of the future a g:reat engine wherewith the Christian man 
 may work the ordinary machine of every-day life, for the band of faith 
 connects the two, and makes all the wheels of ordinary life revolve with 
 rapidity and regularity. To speak against preaching the future as 
 though it would make people neglect the present is absurd. It is as 
 though somebody should say, " There, take away the moon, and blot 
 out the sun. What is the use of them — they are not in this world?" 
 Precisely so, but take away the moon and you have removed the tides, 
 and the sea becomes a stagnant, putrid pool. Then take away the sun — 
 it is not in the world — take it away, and light, and heat, and life; every- 
 thing is gone. What the sun and moon are to this natural world, the hope 
 
 B 
 
190 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PCJLPIT. 
 
 of the future is to the Christian in this world. It is his light— he looks 
 upon all things in that light, and sees them truly. It is his heat ; it, 
 gives him zeal and energy. It is his very life: his Christianity, 
 his virtue would expire if it were not for the hope of the world to come. 
 Do you believe, my brethren, that apostles and martyrs would ever have 
 sacrificed their lives for truth's sake if they had not looked for a here- 
 after? In the heat of excitement, the soldier may die for honour, bat 
 to die in tortures and mockeries in cold blood needs a hope beyond the 
 grave. Would yon poor man go toiling on year after year, refusing to 
 sacrifice his conscience for gain; would yon poor needle-girl refuse 
 to become the slave of lust if she did not see something brighter than 
 earth can picture to her as the reward of sin? 0 my brethren, the 
 most practical thing in all the world is the hope of the world to come; 
 and you see the text teaches this, for it is just this which keeps us 
 from being miserable; and to keep a man from being miserable, let me 
 say, is to do a great thing for him, for a miserable Christian — what is 
 the use of him? Keep him in a cupboard, where nobody can see him; 
 nurse him in the hospital, for he is of no use in the field of labour. Build 
 a monastery, and put all miserable Christians in it, and there let them 
 meditate on mercy till they learn to smile; for really there is no 
 other use for them in the world. Bat the man who has a hope of the 
 next world goes about his work strong, for the joy of the Lord is our 
 strength. He goes against, temptation mighty, for the hope of the next 
 world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without 
 present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come. He can 
 saffer rebuke, and can afford to die a slandered man, because he knows 
 that God will avenge his own elect who cry day and night unto him. 
 Through the Spirit of God the hope of another world is the most potent 
 force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joy; it is the very 
 channel of usefulness. It is to the Christian what food is to the vital 
 force in the animal frame. Let it be said of any of us, that we are 
 dreaming about the future and forgetting the present, but let the future 
 sanctify the present to highest uses. I fear our prophetical brethren 
 err here. They are reading continually about the last vials, the 
 seventy weeks of Daniel, and a number of other mysteries; I wish 
 they would set to work instead of speculating so much, or speculate 
 even more if they will, but turn their prophecies to present practical 
 account. Prophetical speculations too often lead men away from present 
 urgent duty, and especially from contending earnestly for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints; but a hope of the world to come is, I think, 
 the best practical power which a Christian can have. 
 V. And now, to conclude, this will let us see very clearly what 
 
 OUR FUTURE IS TO BE. 
 
 There are some persons here to whom my text has nothing whatever 
 
"ALAS FOR US, IF THOU WERT ALL," ETC. 
 
 191 
 
 to say. Suppose there were no hereafter, would they be more miserable? 
 Why!! no; they would be more happy. If anybody could prove to them 
 that death is an eternal sleep, it would be the greatest consolation that 
 they could possibly receive. If it could be shown, to a demonstration, 
 that as soon as people die they rot in the grave and there is an end of 
 them— why some of you could go to bed at night comfortable, your 
 conscience would never disturb you, you would be molested by none 
 of those terrible fears which now haunt you. Do you see, then, this 
 proves that you are not a Christian ; this proves as plainly as twice 
 two make tour, that you are no believer in Christ ; for if you were, 
 the taking away of a hereafter would make you miserable. Since it 
 would not tend to make you happy to believe in a future state, 
 this proves that you are no believer in Christ. Well, then, what have 
 I to say to you? Why just this — that in the world to come, you will 
 le of all men most miseralle. "What will become of you?'' said an 
 infidel once to a Christian man, " supposing there should be no heaven?" 
 " Well," said he, " I like to have two strings to my bow. If there be 
 no hereafter I am as well off as you are; if there be I am infinitely 
 better off. But where are you? Where are you?" Why then we must 
 read this text in the future — "If in this life there be indeed a hope 
 of a life to come, then you shall be in the next life of all men most 
 miserable." Do you see where you will be? Your soul goes before 
 the great Judge, and receives its condemnation and begins its hell. 
 The trumpet rings; heaven and earth are astonished; the grave heaves; 
 yonder slab of marble is lifted up, and up you rise in that very flesh 
 and blood in which you sinned, and there you stand in the midst of a 
 terrified multitude, all gathered to their doom. The Judge has come. 
 The great assize has commenced. There on the great white throne 
 sits the Saviour who once said, " Come unto me, ye weary, and I will 
 give you rest;" but now he sits there as a Judge and opens with 
 stem hand the terrible volume. Page after page he reads, and as he 
 reads he gives the signal, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," and 
 the angels bind up the tares in bundles to burn them. There stand 
 you, and you know your doom ; you already begin to feel it. You cry 
 to the lofty Alps to fall upon you and conceal you. " 0 ye mountains, 
 can ye not find in your rocky bowels some friendly cavern where I may 
 be hidden from the face of him who sits upon the throne?" In 
 terrible silence the mountains refuse your petition and the rocks reject 
 your cry. You would plunge into the sea, but it is licked up with 
 tongues of fire; you would fain make your bed even in hell if you could 
 escape from those dreadful eyes, but you cannot; for now your turn is 
 come, that page is turned over which records your history; the Saviour 
 reads with a voice of thunder and with eyes of lightning. He reads, 
 and as he waves his hand you are cast away from hope. You shall 
 
192 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 then know what it is to be of all mm most miserable. Ye had your 
 pleasure; ye had your giddy hour; ye had your mirthful moments; you 
 despised Christ, and you would not turn at his rebuke; you would not 
 have him to reign over you; you lived his adversary; you died un« 
 reconciled, and now where are you? Now, what will ye do, ye who forget 
 God, in that day when he shall tear you in pieces, and there shall be 
 none to deliver you? In the name of my Lord and Master I do conjure 
 you, fly away to Christ for refuge. He that believeth in him shall be 
 saved." To believe is to trust; and whosoever this morning is enabled 
 by faith to cast himself upon Christ, need not fear to live, nor fear to 
 die. You shall not be miserable here; you shall be thrice blessed 
 hereafter if you trust my Lord. 
 
 " Come, guilty souls, and flee away 
 To Christ, and heal your wounds ; 
 This is the welcome gospel -day 
 Wherein free grace abounds." 
 
 0 that ye would be wise and consider your latter end! 0 that ye 
 would reflect that this life is but a span, and the life to come lasts on 
 for ever! Do not, I pray you, fling away eternity; play not the foot 
 with such solemn things as these, but in serious earnestness lay hold 
 upon eternal life. Look to the bleeding Saviour; see there his five 
 wounds, and his face bedewed with bloody sweat! Trust him, trust him^ 
 and you are saved. The moment that you trust him your sins are gone* 
 His righteousness is yours; you are saved on the spot, and you shall be 
 Baved when he cometh in his kingdom to raise the dead from their 
 graves. 0 that the Lord might lead us all thus to rest on Jesus, now 
 and even Amen. 
 
 By C. H. S P U R G E O N. 
 
 LECTURES TO MY STUDENTS- 
 
 In Two Volumes, Cloth, 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 First Series; — The Call to the Ministry— Sermons, their Matter — On 
 the Choice of a Text— On Spiritualizing— On the Voice— Attention 
 — On the Faculty of Impromptu Speaking — The Minister's 
 Fainting Fits— The Minister's Ordinary Conversation — To Workers 
 with slender Apparatus, &c., &c. 
 
 Second Series: — Open- Air Preaching : A Sketch of its History— Open-Air 
 Preaching : Remarks thereon — Posture, Attitude, Gesture, &c. 
 (Two Lectures, with Illustrations of Action) — Earnestness : Its 
 Marring and Maintenance — The Blind Eye and Deaf Ear — On 
 Conversion as our Aim, &c., &c. 
 
MEMORY— THE HANDMAID OF HOPE. 
 
 Delivered on Sunday Morning, October 15th, 1865, by 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 *'This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." — Lamentations iii. 21. 
 
 Memory is very often the servant of despondency. Despairing minds 
 •call to remembrance every dark foreboding in tbe past, and every 
 gloomy feature in the present. Memory stands like a handmaiden, 
 clothed in sackcloth, presenting to her master a cup of mingled gall 
 ■and wormwood. Like Mercury, she hastes, with winged heel, to 
 gather fresh thorns with which to fill the uneasy pillow, and to bind 
 fresh rods with which to scourge the already bleeding heart. There 
 is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom will transform memory 
 into an angel of comfort. That same recollection which may in its 
 left hand bring so many dark and gloomy omens, may be trained to 
 bear in its right hand a wealth of hopeful signs. She need not wear 
 a crown of iron, she may encircle her brow with a fillet of gold, all 
 «pangled with stars. When Christian, according to Bunyan, was 
 locked up in Doubting Castle, memory formed the crab-tree cudgel 
 -v^^ith which the famous giant beat his captives so terribly. They 
 remembered how they had left the right road, how they had been 
 warned not to do so, and how in rebellion against their better selves, 
 they wandered into By-path Meadow. They remembered all their past 
 misdeeds, their sins, their evil thoughts and evil words, and all these 
 were so many knots in the cudgel, causing sad bruises and wounds in 
 their poor suffering persons. But one night, according to Bunyan, this 
 same memory which had scourged them, helped to set them free ; for 
 she whispered something in Christian's ear, and he cried out as one 
 haK amazed, "What a fool am I to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I 
 may as well walk at liberty 1 I have a key in my bosom, called 
 Promise; that wiU, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting 
 Castle." So he put his hand into his bosom, and with much joy he 
 plucked out the key, and thrust it into the lock ; and though the lock 
 of the great iron gate, as Bunyan says, went damnable hard,'' yet the 
 key did open it, and all the others too ; and so, by this blessed act of 
 memory, poor Christian and Hopeftd were set free. 
 
 Observe that the text records an act of memory on the part of 
 
 No. 654. 
 
566 
 
 METROPOLITAIS' TABEENACLE PULPIT. 
 
 Jeremiah: This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." In 
 the previous verse he tells us that memory had brought him to despair : 
 *^My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me." 
 And now he tells us that this same memory brought him to life and 
 comfort yet again : This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." 
 We lay it down, then, as a general principle, that if we would exercise 
 our memories a little more, we might, in our very deepest and darkest 
 distress, strike a match, which would instantanously kindle the lamp ^ 
 of comfort. There is no need for God to create a new thing, in order 
 to restore believers to joy ; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of 
 the past, they would find light for the present ; and if they would turn 
 to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon 
 shine as aforetime. 
 
 I shall apply that general principle to the cases of three persons. 
 
 I. First of all, to the believer who is m deep tkouble. 
 
 This is no unusual position for an heir of glory. A Christian man 
 is seldom long at easQ : the believer in Jesus Christ through much 
 tribulation inherits the kingdom. If you will kindly turn to the chap- 
 ter which contains our text, you will observe a list of matters which 
 recollection brought before the mind of the prophet Jeremiah, and 
 which yielded him comfort. First stands the fact, tJiat, however deep may 
 he our present affliction, it is of the LorcVs mercy that we are not consumed. 
 This is a low beginning certainly. The comfort is not very great, but 
 when a very weak man is at the bottom of the pyramid, if he is ever 
 to climb it, you must not set him a long step at first; give him but a 
 small stone to step upon the first time, and when he gets more strength 
 then he will be able to take a greater stride. Now, consider, thou son 
 of sorrow, where thou mightest have been. Look down now through 
 the gloomy portals of the grave to that realm of darkness, which is as 
 the valley of the shadow of death, full of confusion, and without any 
 order. Canst thou discern the sound as of the rushing to and fro of hosts 
 of guilty and tormented spirits ? Dost thou hear their dolorous wailing 
 and their fearful gnashing of teeth ? Can thine ears endure to hear the 
 clanking of their chains, or thine eyes to see the fury of the flames ? 
 They are for ever, for ever, for ever shut out from the presence of God^ 
 and shut in with devils and despair ! They lie in flames of misery so 
 terrible, that the dream of a despairing maniac cannot realize their 
 woe. God hath cast them away, and pronounced his curse upon them, 
 appointing them blackness of darkness for ever. This might have 
 been thy lot. Contrast thy present position with theirs, and thou hast 
 cause rather to sing than to lament. Why should a living man com- 
 plain ? " Have you seen those foul dungeons of Venice, which are below 
 the water-mark of the canal, where, after winding through narrow, 
 dark, stifling passages, you may creep into little cells in which a man 
 can scarcely stand upright, where no ray of sunlight has ever entered 
 since the foundations of the palace were laid — cold, foul, and black with 
 damp and mildew, the fit nursery of fever, and abode of death ? And yet 
 those places it were luxury to inhabit compared with the everlasting 
 burnings of hell* It were an excess of luxury to lost spirits if they 
 could lie there with moss growing on their eyelids, in lonely inisery, if 
 -they might but escape for a little season from a guilty conscience and 
 the wrath of God. Friend, you are neither in those dungeons nor yet 
 
MEMORY THE HANDMAID OF HOPE. 
 
 567 
 
 in liell; therefore pluck up courage, and sa}^, ^'It is of the Lord's 
 mercy we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Slender 
 comfort this may be, but then, if this flame shall yield but little heat, it 
 may lead to somewhat better. When you are kindhng your household 
 fire, before which you hope to sit down with comfort, you do not first 
 expect to kindle the lumps of coal, but you set some lighter fuel in a 
 blaze, and soon the more solid material yields a genial glow ; so this 
 thought, which may seem so light to you, may be as the kindling of a 
 heavenly fire of comfort for you who now are shivering in your grief. 
 
 Something better awaits us, for Jeremiah reminds us that there are. 
 some mercies, at any rate, which are still continued. His compassions 
 fail not, they are new every nmrning : great is thy faithfulness,^^ You are 
 very poor and have come down for wealth. This is very hard, still you 
 are in good health. Just walk into the hospital, ask to be permitted 
 to witness the work done in the operating room ; sit down by one bed- 
 side and. listen to the story of pain and weariness ; and surely you will 
 leave the hospital feeling, I thank God that with all my poverty 
 I have not sickness to complain of, and therefore I will sing of the 
 mercies which I enjoy." Are you sick, and have you dragged your 
 weary body to this house this morning ? Then I shall invite you to 
 accompany me to those dark cellars and miserable attics where poverty 
 pines away in wretched unpitied obscurity in the heart of this great 
 city ; and if jou mark the hard earned meal, too scant to yield sufficient 
 refreshment, and the miserable heap of straw which is their only rest, 
 you will escape from the foul den of filthy penury, and say, I will 
 bear my sickness, for even that is better than filth, starvation, and 
 nakedness." Evil your plight may be, but there are others in a still 
 worse condition. You can always if you open your eyes and choose 
 to do so, see at least this cause for thankfulness that you are not yet 
 plunged into the lowest depth of misery. There is a very touching 
 little story told of a poor woman with two children who had not a bed 
 for them to lie upon, and scarcely any clothes to cover them. In the 
 depth of winter they were nearly frozen, and the mother took the 
 door of a cellar off the hinges, and set it up before the corner where 
 they crouched down to sleep that some of the draught and cold might 
 be kept from them. One of the children whispered to her when she 
 complained of how badly off they were, Mother, what do those dear 
 little children do who have no cellar door to put up in front of them ?" 
 Even there, you see the little heart found cause for thankfulness ; and 
 we, if we are driven to our worst extremity, will still honour God by 
 thanking him that his compassions fail not but are new every morning. 
 This again is not a very high step, but still it is a little in advance of 
 the other, and the weakest may readily reach it. 
 
 The chapter offers us a third source of consolation. The Lord is 
 my portion^ saith my soul; therefore loill I hope in him P You have lost 
 much Christian, but you have not lost your portion. Your God is your 
 all; therefore, if you have lost all but God still you have your all left 
 since God is all. The text does not say that God is a part of our 
 portion, but the whole portion of our spirit ; in Him we have all the 
 riches of our heart concentrated. How can we be bereaved since our 
 Father lives? How can we be robbed since our treasure is on high? 
 It is daylight and the sun is shining bright, and I have a candle lit, 
 
568 
 
 METROPOLITAN T4BERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 but some one blows it out. Shall I sit me down and weep, because 
 my candle is extinguished? Nay, not while the sun shines. If God 
 be my portion, if I lose some little earthly comfort I will not complain, 
 for heavenly comfort remains. One of our kings, high and haughty 
 in temper, had a quarrel with the citizens of London, and thought to 
 alarm them by a dreadful threat that would cow the spirits of the bold 
 burghers, for if they did not mind what they were at he would remove 
 his Court from Westminster. Whereupon, the doughty Lord Mayor 
 begged to enquire whether His Majesty meant to take the Thames 
 away, for so long as the river remained, his majesty might take himself 
 wherever he pleased. Even so the world warns us, you cannot hold 
 out, you cannot rejoice: — this trouble shall come and that adversity 
 shall befall." We reply, so long as you cannot take our Lord away 
 we will not complain. Philosophers,'' said the wise man, ^*can 
 dance without music;'' and true, believers in God can rejoice when 
 outward comforts fail them. He who drinks from the bottle as did 
 the son of the bondwoman may have to complain of thirst ; but he who 
 -dwells at the well as did Isaac, the child according to promise, shall 
 never know lack. God grant us grace then to rejoice in our deepest 
 distress, because the Lord is our sure possession, our perpetual heritage 
 -of joy. We have now advanced to some degree of hope but there are 
 other steps to ascend. 
 
 The prophet then reminds us of another channel of comfort, namely, 
 that God is evermore good to all who seek him. The Lord is good 
 unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.^^ Let him smite 
 never so hard, yet if we can maintain the heavenly posture of prayer we 
 may rest assured that he will turn from blows to kisses yet. When a 
 beggar wants an alms and is very needy, if he sees another beggar at 
 -the door of some great man he will watch while he knocks, and when 
 i;he door is opened and the man is liberally entertained and generously 
 helped, he who has been looking on knocks with boldness in his turn. 
 My soul, art thou very sad and very low this morning ? The Lord is 
 .good to them that seek him. Thousands have come from his door, 
 but none have had reason to complain of a cold reception, for in every 
 case he hath filled the hungry with good things. Therefore, my soul, 
 go boldly and knock, for he giveth liberally and upbraideth not. In 
 all states of dilemma or of difficulty prayer is an available source. 
 Bunyan tells us that when the City of Mansoul was besieged it was 
 the depth of winter and the roads were very bad, but even then prayer 
 could travel them ; and I will venture to affirm that if all earthly roads 
 were so bad that they could not be travelled, and if Mansoul were so 
 surrounded that there was not a gap left through which we could 
 break our way to get to the king, yet the road upwards would always 
 open. No enemy can barricade that ; no blockading ships can sail 
 between our souls and the haven of the mercy-seat. The ship of 
 prayer may sail through all temptations, doubts and fears, straight 
 up to the throne of God ; and though she may be outward bound with 
 only griefs, and groans, and sighs, she shall return freighted with a 
 wealth of blessings. There is hope then. Christian, for you are allowed 
 to pray. 
 
 " The mercy seat is open still, 
 Here let our souls retreat." 
 
MEMORY THE HANDMAID OF HOPE. 
 
 569 
 
 We are getting into deeper water of joy, let us take another step, 
 and this time we shall win greater consolation still, from the fact that 
 it is good to be afflicted. It is good that a man should hear the yoke in his 
 youth.^^ A little child needs to be coaxed to take its medicine. It may 
 be very ill, and mother may assure it that this medicine will work its 
 cure ; but the child says, No, it is so bitter, I cannot take it." But 
 men need not thus to be persuaded. The bitter is nothing to them ; 
 they think of the health which it will bring, and so they take the 
 draught, and do not even wince. Now we, if we be little children, and 
 have not called to remembrance the fruit which affliction bears, may 
 cry and murmur ; but if we be men in Christ Jesus, and have learned 
 that all things work together for good to them that love God," we 
 shall take the cup right cheerfully and willingly, and bless Grod for it. 
 Why should I dread to descend the shaft of affliction if it leads nie 
 to the gold mine of spiritual experience ? Why should I cry out if the 
 sun of my prosperity goes down, if in the darkness of my adversity 
 I shall be the better able to count the starry promises with which 
 my faithful God has been pleased to gem the sky ? Go thou sun, for 
 in thy absence we shall see ten thousand suns ; and when thy blinding 
 light is gone, we shall see worlds in the dark which were hidden from 
 us by thy light. Many a promise is written in sympathetic ink, which 
 you cannot read till the fire of trouble brings out the characters. *^It 
 is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes." 
 Beloved, Israel went into Eg3^t poor, but they came out of Egypt 
 with jewels of silver and jewels of gold. They had worked, it is true, 
 at the brick-kilns, and suffered bitter bondage, but they were bettered 
 by it; they came out enriched by all their tribulations. A child had a 
 little garden in which it planted many flowers, but they never grew. 
 She put them in, as she thought tenderly and carefully, but they would 
 not live. She sowed seeds and they sprang up ; but very soon they 
 withered away. So she ran to her father's gardener, and when he 
 came to look at it, he said, I will make it a nice garden for you, that 
 you may grow whatever you want." He fetched a pick, and when the 
 little child saw the terrible pick, she was afraid for her little garden. 
 The gardener struck his tool into the ground and began to make the 
 earth heave and shake for liis pickaxe had caught the edge of a huge 
 stone which underlayed almost all the little plot of ground. All the 
 little flowers were turned out of their places and the garden spoiled for 
 a season so that the little maid wept much. He told her he would 
 make it a fair garden yet, and so he did, for having removed that 
 stone which had prevented all the plants from striking root he soon 
 filled the ground with flowers which lived and flourished. So the Lord 
 has come, and has turned up all the soil of your present comfort to get 
 rid of some big stone that was at the bottom of all your spiritual pros- 
 perity, and would not let your soul flourish. Do not weep with the 
 child, but be comforted by the blessed results and thank your Father's 
 tender hand. 
 
 One step more, and surely we shall then have good ground to rejoice. 
 The chapter reminds us that these troubles do not last for ever. When 
 they have produced their proper result they will be removed, for " the 
 Lord toill not cast off for ever^ Who told thee that the night would 
 never end in day ? Who told thee that the sea would ebb out till there 
 
570 
 
 METKOPOLITA^ TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 should be nothing left but a vast track of mud and sand ? "Who told 
 thee that the winter would proceed from frost to frost, from snow, and 
 ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest ? Who ■ 
 told thee this, I say ? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that 
 flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed to winter? 
 Hope thou then ! Hope thou ever I for God fails thee not. Dost thou 
 not know that thy Grod loves thee in the midst of all this ? Mountains, 
 when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God's love is as 
 true to thee now as it was in thy brightest moments. No father chastens 
 always ; he hates the rod as much as thou dost; he only cares to use it 
 for that reason which should make thee willing to receive it, namely, 
 that it works thy lasting good. Thou shalt yet climb Jacob's ladder 
 with the angels, and behold him who sits at the top of it — thy 
 covenant God. Thou shall yet, amidst the splendours of eternity, 
 forget the trials of time, or only remember them to bless the God who 
 led thee through them, and wrought thy lasting good by them. Come, 
 sing on thy bed! Eejoice amidst the flames! Make the wilderness 
 blossom like the rose ! Cause the desert to ring with thine exulting joys, 
 for these light afflictions will soon be over, and then for ever with the 
 Lord," thy bliss shall never wane. 
 
 Thus, dear friends. Memory may be as Coleridge calls it, the bosom- 
 spring of joy," and when the Holy Spirit bends it to his service, it may 
 be chief among earthly comforters. 
 
 n. For a short time, we will speak to the doubting Christian, 
 
 WHO HAS LOST HIS EVIDENCES OF SALVATION. 
 
 It is our habit, in our ministry, to avoid extremes as much as pos- 
 sible, and to keep the narrow path of truth. We believe in the 
 doctrine of predestination, we believe in the doctrine of free agency, 
 and we follow the narrow path between those mountains. So in all 
 other truths. We know some who think that doubts are not sins : 
 we regret their thinking. We know others who believe doubts to be 
 impossible where there is any faith, we cannot agree with them. 
 We have heard of persons ridiculing that very sweet and admirable 
 hymn, beginning 
 
 " 'Tis a point I long to know/' 
 
 We dare not ridicule it ourselves, for we have often had to sing it — 
 we wish it were not so, but we are compelled to confess that doubts 
 have vexed us. The true position, with regard to the doubts and 
 fears of believers, is just this — that they are sinful, and are not to be 
 cultivated, but to be avoided ; but that, more or less, the most of 
 Christians do sufi'er them, and that they are no proof of a man's being 
 destitute of faith, for the very best of Christians have been subject to 
 them. To you who are labouring under anxious thought I now address 
 myself. 
 
 Let me bid you call to remembrance in the first place matters of the past. 
 Shall I pause and let your heart talk to you ? Do you remember the 
 place, the spot of ground where Jesus first met with you ? Perhaps you 
 do not. Well, do you remember happy seasons when he has brought you 
 to the banqueting house ? Cannot you remember gracious deliverances ? 
 " I was brought low and he helped me? Thou hast been my help." 
 When you were isx those circumstances past, you though^; yourselyegj 
 
MEMORY — ^THE HAITDMAID OF HOPE. 
 
 571 
 
 in overwhelming trouble. You have passed through them, and cannot 
 you find comfort in them ? At the south of Africa the sea was gene- 
 rally so stormy, when the frail barks of the Portuguese went sailing 
 south, that they named it the Cape of Storms ; but after that cape had 
 been well rounded by bolder navigators, they named it the Cape of 
 Good Hope. In your experience you had many a Cape of Storms, but 
 you have weathered them all, and now, let them be a Cape of Good 
 Hope to you. Eemember, Thou hast been my help, therefore in the 
 shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." Say with David, Why art thou 
 cast down, 0 my soul, why art thou disquieted in me ? Hope thou in 
 God, for I shall yet praise him." Do I not remember this day some 
 hill Mizars, whereon my soul has had such sweet fellowship with God, 
 that she thought herself in heaven ? Can I not remember moments of 
 awful agony of soul, when in an instant my spirit leaped to the top- 
 most heights of ecstasy at the mention of my Saviour's name ? Have 
 there not been times with me at the Lord's table, in private prayer, 
 and in listening to his word, when I could say, 
 
 " My willing soul would stay 
 In such a frame as this, 
 And sit and sing herself away, 
 To everlasting jbliss." 
 
 Well, let me call this to remembrance and have hope, for 
 
 " Did Jesus once upon me shine. 
 Then Jesus is for ever mine." 
 
 He never loved where he afterwards hates ; his will never changes. It 
 is not possible that he who said, ^ ^ I have graven thee upon the palms 
 of my hands," should ever forget or cast away those who once were 
 dear to him. 
 
 Possibly, however, that may not be the means of comfort to some of 
 you. Pecall, I pray you, the fact that others have found the Lord true 
 to them. They cried to God, and he delivered them. Do you not re- 
 member your mother ? She is now in heaven, and you her son are 
 toiling and struggling onward here below. Do not you recollect what 
 she told you before she died ? She said God had been faithful and true 
 to her. She was left a widow, and you were but a child then, and she 
 told you how God provided for her, and for you, and the rest of that 
 little needy family, in answer to her pleadings. Do you believe your 
 mother's testimony, and will you not rest with your mother's faith 
 upon your mother's God. There are grey heads here who would, if it 
 were the proper season, testify to you that in an experience of fifty and 
 sixty years, in which they have walked before the Lord in the land of 
 the living, they cannot put their finger upon any date and say, Here 
 God was unfaithful or, Here he left me in the time of trouble." I, 
 who am but young have passed through many and sore tribulations 
 after my sort, and can say and must say it, foj* if I speak not, the tim- 
 bers of this house might cry out against my ungrateful silence ; he is a 
 faithful God, and he remembereth his servants, and leaveth them not 
 in the hour of their trouble. Hearing our testimonies, cannot you say 
 in the words of the text, recall this to mind, and therefore I have 
 hope." 
 
572 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 Eemercber, again, and perhaps this may be consolatory to you, that 
 though you think you are not a child of God at all now, yet %f you look 
 within you will see some faint traces of the Holy Spirifs hand. The 
 complete picture of Christ is not there, but cannot you see the crayon 
 sketch — the outline — the charcoal marks? ^^What," say you, *'do 
 you mean?'' Do not you want to be a Christian? Have you not 
 desires after God ? Cannot you say with the Psalmist, My heart and 
 my flesh panteth after God — after the living God?" Oh, I have often 
 had to console myself with this, when I could not see a single Christian 
 :grace beaming in my spirit, I have had to say, I know I shall never 
 be satisfied until I get to be like my Lord." One thing I know, 
 whereas I was blind, now I see ; — see enough, at least, to know my 
 own defects, and emptiness, and misery ; and I have just enough 
 spiritual life to feel that I want more, and that I cannot be satisfied 
 imless I have more. Well, now, where God the Holy Ghost has done 
 as much as that, he will do more. Where he begins the good work, 
 we are told he will carry it on and perfect it in the day of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Call that to mind, and you may have hope. 
 
 But I would remind you that there is a promise in this Booh that 
 exactly describes and suits your case, A young man had been left by his 
 father heir of all his property, but an adversary disputed his right. 
 The case was to come on in the court, and this young man, while he 
 felt sure that he had a legal right to the whole, could not prove it. 
 His legal adviser told him that there was more evidence wanted than 
 he could bring. How to get this evidence he did not know. He went 
 to an old chest where his father had been wont to keep his papers, 
 ■turned all out, and as he turned the writings over, and over, and over, 
 there was an old parchment. He undid the red tape with great anxiety, 
 and there it was — ^the very thing he wanted — his father's will — in 
 which the estate was spoken of as being left entirely to himself. He 
 went into court boldly enough with that. Now, when we get into 
 doubts, it is a good thing to turn to this old Book, and read until 
 at last we can say, *^That is it — ^that promise was made for me." 
 Perhaps it maybe this one : — ^^When the poor and needy seek water, 
 and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will 
 hear them ; I the God of Jacob will not forsake them." Or this one : 
 Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." May, I beg 
 you to rummage the old Book through ; and you, poor doubting, 
 despairing Christian, will soon stumble on some precious parchment, 
 as it were, which God the Holy Ghost will make to you the title- 
 deed of immortality and life. 
 
 If these recollections should not suffice, I have one more. You look 
 at me, and you open your ears to find what new thing I am going to 
 tell you. No, I am going to tell you nothing new, but yet it is the best 
 thing that was ever said out of heaven, Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to save sinner s.^^ You have heard that a thousand times — and is 
 the best music you have ever heard. Lf I am not a saint, I am a 
 sinner ; and if I may not go to the throne of grace as a child, I will 
 go as a sinner. A certain king was accustomed on set occasions to 
 entertain all the beggars of the city. Around him sat his courtiers, 
 aU clothed in rich apparel ; the beggars sat at the same table in their 
 rags of poverty. Now, it came to pass, that on a certain day, one of 
 
MEMORY THE HANDMAID OF HOPE. 
 
 573 
 
 the courtiers had spoiled his silken apparel so that he dare not put it 
 on, and he felt, I cannot go to the king's feast to-day, for my robe is 
 foul." He sat weeping, till the thought struck him, To-morrow, 
 when the king holds his feast, some will come as courtiers happily 
 decked in their beautiful array ; but others will come and be made 
 quite as welcome who will be dressed in rags. Well, well," says he, 
 *^ so long as I may see the king's face, and sit at the king's table^ 
 I will enter among the beggars." So, without mourning because he 
 had lost his silken habit, he put on the rags of a beggar, and he saw 
 the king's face as well as if he had worn his scarlet and fine linen. 
 My soul has done this full many a time, and I bid you do the same ; 
 if you cannot come as a saint, come as a sinner, only do come, and you 
 shall receive joy and peace. In a lamentable accident which occurred 
 in the North, in one of the coal pits, when a considerable number of 
 the miners were down below, the top of the pit fell in, and the shaft 
 was completely blocked up. Those who were down below, sat together 
 in the dark, and sang and prayed. They gathered to a spot where the 
 last remains of air below could be breathed. There they sat and sang 
 after the lights had gone out, because the air would not support the 
 flame. They were in total darkness, but one of them said he had 
 heard that there was a connection between that pit and an old pit that 
 had been worked years ago. He said it was a low passage, through 
 which a man might get by crawling all the way, lying flat upon the 
 ground — he would go and see : the passage was very long, but they 
 crept through it, and at last they came out to light at the bottom of 
 the other pit and their lives were saved. If my present way to Christ 
 as a saint gets blocked up, if I cannot go straight up the shaft and 
 see the Light of my father up yonder, there is an old working, the 
 old fashioned way by which sinners go, by which poor thieves go, by 
 which harlots go — come, I will crawl along lowly and humbly, flat 
 upon the ground — I will crawl along till I see my Father, and cry, 
 "Father, I am not worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of 
 thy hired servants, so long as I may but dwell in thy house." In your 
 very worst case you can still come as sinners. Jesus " Christ cama 
 into the world to save sinners," call this to mind and you may have 
 hope." 
 
 III. I must have a few words with seekers. 
 
 Always in this Congregation we have some who are seeking the 
 Lord — ^would to God we had many more ! It were glorious preaching 
 if all were either seeking or had found. If it were not for the mixed 
 multitude who neither seek nor find our work were easy work indeed. 
 Some of you are seeking God to-day and you are very much troubled 
 with the fear that you cannot be saved. I wiU have a few words with 
 you to recaU to mind some common-place truths which may give hope. 
 
 First of all some of you are troubled about the doctrine of election, 
 I cannot this morning explain it to you. I believe it and receive it 
 with joy, and you may rest assured, however much it troubles you it 
 is true. Though you may not like it, it is true, and remember it is 
 not a matter of opinion as to what you like or do not Hke, as to what 
 you think or do not think; you must turn to the Bible, and if you find 
 it there you must believe it. Listen to me. You have got an idea 
 that some persons will be sent to hell, merely and only because it is the 
 
574 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 will of Q-od that they should be sent there. Throw the idea overboard, 
 because it is a very wicked one, and is not to be found in Scripture. 
 There could not be a hell inside the man's conscience, who knew that 
 he was wretched merely because God willed he should be, for the very 
 essence of hell is sin, and a sense of having wilfully committed it. 
 There could not be the flame of hell if there were not this conviction 
 on the mind of the person suffering it, "I knew my duty but I did it 
 not — wilfully sinned against God and I am here, not because of any- 
 thing He did or did not do, but because of my own sin." If you drive 
 that dark thought away you may be on the road to comfort. Eemember 
 again, that whatever the doctrine of election may be or may not be, there 
 is a free invitation in the gospel given to needy sinners, "Whosoever 
 will let him take of the water of life freely." Now you may say, I 
 cannot reconcile the two." There are a great many other things that 
 you cannot do. God knows where these two things meet though you do 
 not, and I hope you do not intend to wait till you are a philosopher 
 before you will be saved, because it is likely enough that while you 
 are trying to be wise by persistently remaining a practical fool you 
 will find yourself in hell where your wisdom will not avail you. 
 God commands you to trust Christ, and promises that all believers 
 shall be saved. Leave your difficulties till you have trusted Christ, 
 and then you will be in a capacity to understand them better than you 
 do now. In order to understand gospel doctrine you must believe 
 in Christ first. What does Christ say, No man cometh unto the 
 rather but by me." Now election is the Father's work. The Father 
 chooses sinners ; Christ makes the atonement. You must go then to 
 Christ the atoning sacrifice before you can understand the Father as 
 the electing God. Do not persist in going to the Father first. Go to 
 the Son as he tells you. 
 
 Once more recollect that even if your own idea of the doctrine of 
 election were the truth, yet if it were so, you can but perish should you 
 seek the Lord. 
 
 *' I can but perish if I go, 
 I am resolved to try ; 
 For if I stay away I know, 
 I must for ever die. 
 
 But if I die with mercy sought, 
 
 When I the king have tried, 
 That were to die, delightful thought. 
 
 As sinner never died." 
 
 Trust Christ even if thou should perish, and thou shalt never perish 
 if thou trustest in him. 
 
 Well, if that difficulty were removed, I can suppose another, saying, 
 *'Ah! but mine's a case of ^reat sin,^^ Eecall this to mind and you 
 will have hope, namely, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save 
 
MEMORY ^THE HANDMAID OF HOPE. 
 
 575 
 
 sinners, of whom,'^ Paul says, am cMef." '^I am chief." Paul 
 was the chief of sinners, and he went through the door of mercy ; 
 and now there can be none greater than the chief, where the chief 
 went through you can go through ; if the chief of sinners has been 
 saved why not you ? Why not you ? 
 
 We heard Mr. Offord say the other day that he knew a good woman 
 who, when the Salt-ash Bridge was made down at Plymouth, would 
 not go on it. She said she did not believe it was safe. She saw loco- 
 motive engines and trains go over it so that the bridge sustained 
 hundreds of tons at a time, but she shook her head and said she 
 wondered people were so immensely presumptuous as to cross it. 
 When the bridge was totally clear and not an engine on it she was 
 asked if she would not walk on it then. Well, she did venture a little 
 way, but she trembled aU the while for fear her weight should make it 
 fall. It could bear hundreds of tons of luggage, but it could not bear 
 her. You great sinner, it is much the same case with you. The 
 stupendous bridge which Christ has flung across the wrath of God 
 will bear the weight of your sin, for it has borne ten thousand across 
 before, and will bear millions of sinners yet to the shore of their 
 eternal rest. Call that to remembrance, and you may have hope. 
 
 Yes/' says one, *^but I believe I have committed the unpardonable 
 sin^ My dear brother I believe you have not, but I want you to call 
 one thing to remembrance, and that is that the unpardonable sin is a 
 sin which is unto death. Now a sin which is unto death means a sin 
 which brings death on the conscience. The man who commits it never 
 has any conscience afterwards ; he is dead there. Now, you have some 
 feeling ; you have enough life to wish to be sayed from sin ; you have 
 enough life to long to be washed in the precious blood of Jesus. You 
 have not committed the unpardonable sin, therefore have hope. "All 
 manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.'' But, you 
 reply, "Oh, / cannot repent^ my heart is so hard.'' Call to remem- 
 brance, that Jesus Christ is exalted to give repentance and remission 
 of sins, and you may come to him to get repentance, and need not 
 bring it to him. Come without any repentance and ask him to give it 
 to you, and he will give it. Rest assured there is no fear whatever 
 that if the soul seeks softness and tenderness it has that softness and 
 tenderness in a measure even now, and will have it to the fullest 
 extent ere long. " Oh, but," you say, " I have a general unfitness and 
 incapacity for being saved." Then, dear Mend, I want you to caU this 
 to remembrance, that Jesus Christ has a general fitness and a general 
 capacity for saving sinners. I do not know what you want, but I do 
 know Christ has it. I do not know the full of your disease, but I do 
 know Christ is the physician who can meet it. I do not know how 
 hard, and stubborn, and stolid, and ignorant, and bhnd, and dead your 
 nature may be, but I do know that " Christ is able to save unto the 
 
576 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 uttermost them that come unto God by him." What you are has 
 nothing to do with the question, except that it is the mischief to be 
 undone ; the true answer to the question of how you are to be saved 
 lies yonder in the bleeding body of the immaculate Lamb of God. 
 Christ has all salvation in himself. He is Alpha, he is Omega. He 
 does not begin to save and leave you to perish, nor does ho offer to 
 complete what you must first begin. He is the foundation as well as 
 the pinnacle. He commences with you as the green blade, and he 
 will finish with you as the full corn in the ear. 
 
 0 that I had a voice like the trumpet of God that shall wake the 
 dead at last ! If I might only have it to utter one sentence, it would 
 be this one, *'In Christ is your help found." As for you, there never 
 can be found anything hopeful in your human nature. It is death 
 itself, it is rottenness and corruption. Turn, turn away your eyes from 
 this despairing mass of black depravity, and look to Christ. He is 
 the sacrifice for human guilt. His is the righteousness that covers 
 men, and makes them acceptable before the Lord. Look to him 
 as you are, black, foul, guilty, leprous, condemned. Go as you are. Trust 
 Jesus Christ to save you, and remembering this, you shall have a 
 hope that maketh not ashamed," which shall endure for ever. 
 
 1 have laboured to speak comfortable words, and words in season, 
 and I have tried to speak them in homely language too. But, 0 thou. 
 Comforter, what can we do without thee ? Thou must cheer our 
 Badness. To comfort souls is God's own work. Let us conclude, then, 
 with the words of the Saviour's promise, If I go away, I will 
 send you another Comforter, who shall abide with you for ever ; " 
 and let our prayer be, that he would abide with us to his own 
 glory, and to our comfort evermore. Amen. 
 
 By C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 WORDS OF CHEER FOR DAILY LIFE. 
 
 Just Published. 
 Uniform with "Words of Wisdom for Daily Life." 
 Cloth Gilt, 2s. 
 
 WORDS OF WARNING FOR DAILY LIFE. 
 
 Just Published. 
 Uniform with "Words of Wisdom for Daily Life." 
 Cloth Gilt, 2s, 
 
THE MINSTKELSY OF HOPE. 
 
 pennon 
 
 Delivered on Lord's Day Morning, July 5th, 1868, by 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 " God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us." — Psalm Ixvii. 6, 7. 
 
 God, even our own God." What an exceedingly sweet title ! What 
 a loveliness and liveliness of heart must have been in the man who first 
 applied that endearing name to the God of Jacob! Though it be 
 thousands of years ago since the sweet singer of Israel thus spake of 
 the Lord of hosts, the name has a freshness and even a novelty about it 
 to believing ears, God, even our own God'' I cannot resist touching 
 that string again, the note is so enchanting to my soul ! That word 
 
 oivn^' or our own,'' seems always to throw an atmosphere of delicious 
 fragrance about anything with which it is connected. If it be our 
 country — 
 
 " Lives there a man with soul so dead. 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 * This is my own, my native land '? " 
 
 Whether it be a land of brown heath and shaggy wood, or a far 
 extended plain, all men love their own fatherland, and in exile they are 
 smitten with home sickness for their own country. It is so with regard 
 to the house in which we were reared. That old roof tree, that ancient 
 homestead — it may have been covered with thatch, and have been one 
 of a group of poor cottages, but still it was our own home, and a 
 thousand kindly thoughts gather around the fireside where we in child- 
 hood nestled beneath a parent's wing. " Our own;" why, all our rela- 
 tives are endeared to us by the fact that they are our own. "Father" 
 is a silver word at all times ; but " our father," our own father," how 
 the name grows richer and turns to a golden word! " Our own child," 
 "our own brother," " our own husband," "our own wife" — the words 
 are most melodious. We even feel the Bible to be all the dearer to us 
 because we can speak of it as " our own old Enghsh Bible." As the Jew's 
 book, coming from God in Hebrew; as a book for the Greek, coming 
 in its latter half to the Gentile in the Greek tongue, it was a priceless 
 treasure ; but translated into our own familiar Saxon tongue, and on the 
 No. 819. 
 c 
 
S74 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 whole translated so well, our own English Bible is doubly deer to us. 
 The sweetness of the words, *'our own" led me to call the hymn-book 
 from which you sing, **Our Own Hymn-Book," hoping* that perchance 
 the very name might help to weave your affections round about it. But 
 what shall I say of our oiim God'' ? Words fail to express the depth 
 of joy and delight which is contained within these three monosyllables, 
 
 Our own God." " Our own " by the eternal covenant in which he 
 gave himself to us with all his attributes, with all that he is and has, 
 to be our portion for ever and ever. The Lord is my portion, saith my 
 Boul." " Our own God," by our own choice of him, a choice most free, 
 but guided by his eternal Spirit, so that we who should have chosen 
 our own ruin, were sweetly led to make our election of the Lord, because 
 he had made his election of us. Our own God," ours to trust, ours 
 to love, ours to fly to in every dark and troublous night, ours to com- 
 mune with in every bright and balmy day, ours to be our guide in life, 
 our help in death, and our glory in immortality. Our own God," 
 affording us his wisdom to guide our path, his power to sustain our 
 steps, his love to comfort our lives, his every attribute to enrich with 
 more than royal wealth. The man who can truthfully, out of a pure 
 heart, look up to the tlirone of the infinite Jehovah, and call him, 
 
 Mine own God," hath said a more eloquent thing than ever flowed 
 from the lips of Demosthenes, or fell from the tongue of Cicero. You 
 are favoured beyond all men, you to whom this is a household word, 
 " our own God." 
 
 " Our God ! how pleasant is the sound ! 
 How charming to repeat! 
 Well may those hearts with pleasure bound, 
 Who thus their Lord can greet!'* 
 
 Methinks the psalmist used this expression in this sublime ode as a 
 kind of argument and assurance of the blessing which he foretold. 
 " God shall bless us " — that is true, it is to be believed—but, " our 
 own God shall bless us," that sentence flashes conviction upon the 
 most timorous ; it wears assurance as a frontlet between its eyes ; it bears 
 upon its surface its own evidence. If the Lord has been gracious enough 
 to make himself our own God, he did not do this for nothing, there is a 
 loving intention in it ; if in the tenderness of his compassion he has 
 said, " I will be their God, and they shall be my people," it must be 
 with a design to bless us with unspeakable blessings in Christ Jesus. 
 Covertly there is a powerful reason urged in the delightful title, and 
 the more we think upon it the more we shall see it. 
 
 This morning I intend simply to keep to the words, " God shall bless 
 us, God shall bless us." They have been sounding in my ears like far- 
 off bells, ringing their way with a march of music into the deeps of 
 my soul. May the same angelic melody charm the ears of all my 
 brethren in Christ Jesus. God shall bless us ; God shall bless us." 
 
 Three personified passions I shall introduce into the pulpit this 
 morning, and we shall discourse with them a little, or let them speak 
 with us. 
 
 I. Tiie first is Pear. 
 
 Pale-faced fear will be found everywhere, she meddles with every 
 
THE MINSTRELSY OF HOPE. 
 
 375 
 
 matter, i.:truding into the bedchamber of Faith, and disturbing the 
 banquets of Hope. Fear lodges with some as an abiding guest, and is 
 entertained as though she were a dear, familiar friend. Wiiat does 
 Fear say to us this morning in reply to our cheering text ? Fear enquires 
 **Will God indeed bless us; for of late he has withheld his hand? 
 There have been many hopeful signs, but they have disappointed us. 
 We have expected the blessing long, we have thought we have seen the 
 signs of it, but it has not come. We have heard of revivals and 
 rumours of revivals ; men have risen up who have preached the word 
 with power, and in some districts, there have been many conversions, 
 but still, to a great extent, we have not received the blessino-, God has 
 not visited us as of old. We have seen the early cloud and expected 
 rain, watched the morning dew and hoped for moisture, but all these 
 have vanished, and we are still left without the blessing. A thou- 
 sand disappointments past lead us to fear that the blessing may not 
 come." Listen, 0 Fear, aud be comforted. What if thou, too hasty 
 and rash, hast jnisjudged the will of the Lord, is this any reason why 
 he should forget his promise and refuse to hear the voice of prayer ? 
 Clouds have passed over the sky every day these many weeks, and we 
 have said full often, Surely it must rain, and the thirsty fields must be 
 refreshed," but not a drop as yet has fallen ; yet rain it must ere long. 
 Even so is it with God's mercy. It may not come to-day, and to- 
 morrow may not see it, but still he is not slack concerning his pro- 
 mise as some men count slackness. He has his own appointed time, 
 and he will be punctual to it, for, while he never is before it he 
 never is behind it : in due season, in answer to the entreaties of his 
 people, he will give them a shower of liberalities ; all manner of gra- 
 cious blessings shall descend from his right hand ; he will rend the 
 heavens, and in majesty come down — for " God shall bless us." 
 
 Yes," says Fear, "but we have seen so many counterfeits of the 
 blessing. We have seen revivals in which intense excitement has seemed 
 for a season to produce great results, but the excitement has subsided, 
 and the results have disappeared. Have we not again and again 
 heard the sound of trumpets, and the loud boastings of men, but vain- 
 glory was the sum of it?" This is most sorrowfully true. There is 
 no doubt that much of revivalism has been a sham ; that there has 
 been a wind-bag filling — a bladder-blowing in the Christian church, 
 which has been terribly mischievous ; the very name of " revival," 
 has been made to stink in some places by reason of the mischiefs 
 associated therewith. But this is no reason why there should not 
 yet come a glorious and real revival from the presence of the Lord ; 
 and such, my brethren, I earnestly hope for, and vehemently pray for. 
 Remember the revival which passed over New England in the days 
 of Jonathan Edwards. No one could call that spurious ; it was as 
 true and real as any work of God on the face of the earth could be. 
 Nor could any one describe the work of Whitfield and of Wesley as 
 a mere spasm or a thing of transient existence; it was God's right 
 hand made bare and put to the work of grace in a marvellous manner ; 
 and a work was done which exists in England to this day, and shall re- 
 main even to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We may expect then^ 
 since it has been already given at other times, that God will bless his 
 
376 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 people with real and substantial advances, and will yet come to the 
 front and make his enemies see that there is an irresistible power in 
 the gospel of Jesus Christ. 0 Fear, remember, if thou wilt, the delu- 
 sions of the past to be counselled thereby, but do not recall them as 
 reasons for being dispirited and cast down, for God, even our own God, 
 shall bless us. 
 
 But Fear replies, See how much there is in the present which 
 is unlike a blessing, and which, instead of prophesying good, por- 
 tendeth evil ! How few there are," saith Fear, " who are proclaiming 
 the gospel boldly and simply, and how many, on the other hand, 
 oppose the gospel with their philosophies or with their superstitions." 
 But listen, 0 fear, " God shall bless us," few though we be, for he 
 savetli not by many nor by few. Eemember his servant Gideon, and 
 how he went up to the fight against the Midianites, not with the 
 thousands, for they were too many for the Lord of Hosts, but with 
 the few hundred men that lapped, and with these, with no other 
 weapons than their broken pitchers, and uncovered lamps, and sound- 
 ing trumpets, with these did he put to rout the multitudes of 
 Midian. Say not that Omnipotence can be short of instruments ; he 
 could quicken the very dust by the seashore into preachers of the 
 gospel if he pleased, and if he wanted tongues to tell out of his love, 
 he could make each stone a preacher, or each twinkling leaf upon the 
 trees a witness for Jesus. It is not instrumentality that is necessary first 
 and foremost, we need most the power which moves the instrumen- 
 tality, which makes the weakest strong, and without which even the 
 strongest are but weak. We heard it said, the other day, that the 
 religion of Jesus Christ could not be expected to prosper in some places 
 unless it had a fair start. Did that remark come from an infidel, or 
 from a bishop? If I were asked and knew not, I know what my 
 answer would be. A fair start indeed! Put the religion of Jesus 
 Christ into any arena, and it asks but liberty to use its weapons ; and 
 even where that is denied it, it triumphs still. It only wants its 
 own innate strength to be developed, and to be let alone by the kings 
 and princes of this world, and it will work its own way. To Ibe 
 let alone, I said : let them oppose it if they like, yet still our faith will 
 overcome the regal opposition; only let them withdraw their patronage, 
 that deadly thing which paralyses all spiiitual life, and the unshackled 
 truth of God will most surely prevail. We do not tremble, then, we 
 must not, because the servants of God may be poor, or may not be 
 gifted, or may be but few. God shall^ even our own God, shall bless 
 us ; and if we be few, as the twelve fishermen, and as unlettered as they, 
 yet as the twelve fishermen made old Rome's empire to shake from 
 end to end, and laid colossal systems of idolatry even with the ground, 
 even so will the Christianity of to-day, if God do but return in power 
 unto her, in the midst of her weakness wax valiant in fight, and turn 
 to flight the armies of the aliens. 
 
 But Fearfindeth always room for murmuring, and tlierefore she saith. 
 The future^ the black and gloomy future ! Whai have we to expect from 
 this wicked generation, this perverse people, but that we shall be given up 
 once more to be devoured by the jaws of Antichrist, or to be lost in 
 the mists of infidelity ?" " Our prospects are indeed appalling," so 
 
THE MINSTRELSY OF HOPE. 
 
 377 
 
 Fear says, though I confess, not using her telescope, I discern no such 
 signs of the times. Yet Fear saith so, and there may be reason in it ; 
 yet whatever that reason may be, it is counterbalanced in our mind hy 
 the belief that God, even our own God, will bless us. Why should he 
 change ? He has helped his church aforetime, why not now ? Is she 
 undeserving ? She always was so. Does she backslide ? She has done 
 so ofttimes before, yet has he visited her, and restored her, and why not 
 now ? Instead of forebodings and fears, there seems to me cause for 
 the brightest expectations, if we can only fall back upon the divine 
 promise, and believe that God, even our own God, shall yet, in this 
 very age, bless us as he was wont to do in days of old. Remember 
 the ship tossed with tempest on the Galilean lake. There was, indeed, 
 a dreary out-look for the steersman of the boat. She must, ere long, 
 be driven on the rocky headland, and she and her cargo must sink 
 beneath the wave. Not so, not so, for see ye not walking upon the 
 billows, which congeal to glass beneath his feet, the Man who loves the 
 company within the vessel, and will not see them die ? It is Jesus 
 walking on the waves of the sea. He comes into the vessel, and imme- 
 diately the calm is as profound as if wave had not lifted its head, nor 
 wind had blown. So in the darkest times of the church's history, 
 Jesus has always in due time appeared walking upon the waves of her 
 troubles, and then her rest has been glorious. Let us not, therefore, 
 be afraid, but casting fear away, let us rejoice with gladdest expectation. 
 What can there be to fear ? God is with us." Is not that the battle- 
 cry before which devils fly, and all the hosts of evil turn their backs ? 
 " Immanuel, God with us !" Who dare stand against that ? Who will 
 defy the Lion of the tribe of Judah? Ah, bring your might, and come 
 to push of pike, ye mighty ones, but if God be for us, who can be against 
 us, or if against us, who can stand ? God is our own God, will he let 
 his own church be trampled in the mire ? Shall the bride of Christ be 
 led into captivity ? Shall his beloved, whom he bought with blood, be 
 delivered into the hands of her enemies ? God forbid ! because he is 
 God, because he is for us, because he is our own God, therefore set 
 we up our banners, and each man among us cheerily sings — 
 
 ** For yet I know I shall him praise, 
 Who graciously to me 
 The health is of my countenance, 
 Yea, mine own God is he.'* 
 
 II. We shall change the strain altogether when we introduce a second 
 character, namely. Desire. 
 
 Quick of step, bright of eye, warm of heart. Desire saith, ^^Ah, 
 God shall bless us, but 0 that w^e had the blessing! We hunger 
 and w^e thirst after it ; we are covetous for it as the miser after 
 gold." Therefore, Desire saith, But what blessing will come, 
 and after what fashion shall our own God bless us ?" The reply to 
 Desire is this: when God comes to bless his people he bringeth all 
 grace with him, for in the treasures of the covenant there are not some 
 things, but all things, not a few supplies for some of the church's 
 necessities, but a redundant store from which all her needs shall be 
 replenished. When the Lord shall bless his church, he will give to all 
 
378 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 her members the grace of revival; they will begin to live after a higher, 
 nobler, happier sort than they have done before. To bestir the church, 
 and make it active, is one of the highest gifts of the Holy Ghost, and 
 this is greatly wanted. I believe it is wanted among us. Some of the 
 most earnest Christians out of heaven are members of this church ; but 
 some are a very long way off from that, and need to be brought into a 
 sounder spiritual state. What is true of this one church is true of all 
 the churches of Jesus Christ. They are too much like the virgins who 
 slept because the bridegroom came not — too much apathy, too little love 
 to God, too little consecration to his cause, too little pining and pant- 
 ing after the souls of men. When the Lord shall visit his church, the 
 first effect will be the quickening of the life of his own beloved: 
 then will the blessing come in the next shape, namely, conversions in 
 her borders, and additions to her membership. I hope that we shall 
 never think that God is blessing us unless we see sinners saved. It is 
 a very solemn delusion when ministers think they are prospering, and 
 yet do not hear of conversions. We, I trust, will be most uneasy if 
 conversions should slacken in number among us. If God return to us, 
 and to all his churches, the cry will be heard on the right hand and 
 on the left, " What must we do to be saved?" The astonished church 
 will see such a multitude of children born to her, that she will cry in 
 amazement, Who hath begotten these? Who are these that fly as a 
 cloud, and as the doves to their windows ?" When these two blessings 
 come, a quickened church and souls converted, then will be fulfilled 
 the word of the Lord, The Lord will give strength unto his people, the 
 Lord will bless his people with peace." The church will be strong. She 
 will have wherewithal to refute her adversaries by pointing to her con- 
 verts. She will become bold because she sees the result of her work. 
 She will cease to doubt, for faith will be replenished with evidences. 
 Then peace will reign. The young converts shall bring in a flood of 
 new joy ; their fresh blood shall make the old blood of the church to 
 leap in its veins, and old and young rejoicing together, shall rejoice in 
 the abundance of peace. Brethren, I would if I had time this morning, 
 paint you a picture of a church blessed of God; but we must not; you 
 know what it is — many of you have been members of such a church. 
 May the blessing continue, may it be increased, and may all the churches 
 throughout Christendom receive the benediction from the God of Israel, 
 such as shall make them rejoice with joy unspeakable. 
 
 But Desire says, "I see what the blessing is, but in what degree will 
 God give it, and in what measure may we expect it?" We say to 
 Desire, 0 thou large-hearted one, God will give thee according to the 
 measure of thy confidence in him.'' We are all too soon satisfied when 
 the blessing begins to drop from above. We stop, like the king oi old, 
 when we have shot but one or two arrows, and deserve to be rebuked 
 in the language of the prophet, Thou shouldst have smitten five or 
 six times, then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it." 
 We are content with drops when we might have the cup full to the 
 brim ; we are childishly satisfied with a mere cruse of water when we 
 might have flagons, firkins, rivers, oceans, if we had but faith enough to 
 receive them. If there should be half-a-dozen persons converted to-day 
 in this house, we should all be jubilant with thanksgiving, but ought 
 
THE MINSTRELSY OF HOPE. 
 
 379 
 
 vre not to be sorry if there are not half-a-dozen hundred? Who are we 
 that, by our narrow expectations, we limit the holy One of Israel ? 
 Can we draw a line around Omnipotence and say, Hitherto shalt thou 
 go, but no further"? Were it not wiser to extend our desires, and 
 expand our hopes, since we have to deal with One who knows neither 
 limit nor boundary ? Why not look for years of plenty, eclipsing the 
 famous seven of Egypt ? Why not expect clusters excelling those of 
 Eshcol? Why are we so mean, so dwarfed, so straitened in our expec- 
 tancies ? Let us grasp at greater things, for it is reasonable, with the 
 Lord to trust in, to look for greater things. I reckon upon days in which 
 every sermon shall shake the house with its power, in which the hearers 
 shall be converted to God by thousands, as in the day of Pentecost. 
 Was that to be the greatest trophy of God's power, the Pentecost ? Is 
 the first sheaf to be greater than the harvest ? How can it be ? We 
 do believe that if God will again visit his church, and I trust he is 
 going to do so, we shall see nations born in a day, and the gospel of 
 Jesus, which has painfully limped like a wounded hind, will suddenly 
 take to itself wings as of a miohty angel, and fly throughout the midst 
 of heaven, proclaiming Jesus Christ both Lord and God. Why not ? 
 Who can justify the absence of the liveliest hope, since he is able to do 
 exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or even think ? 
 
 I hear Desire say, Yes, I understand what the blessing is, and 
 that it can be had in any measure, but how is it to be obtained, 
 and when will it come ?" Follow me in a very brief review of the 
 Psalm before us, because that will help us to answer the question, 
 When is it that ^'God, even our own God, shall bless us?" The 
 Psalm begins with God be merciful unto us ; " that is the voice 
 of a penitent people, confessing their past misdeeds. God will bless 
 his church when she acknowledges her faults and humbles herself; 
 when, with an evangelical repentance, she stands before the mercy-seat, 
 and cries, God be merciful unto us." We must never expect that the 
 Lord will bless a proud and conceited church, a hard-hearted and 
 indifferent church. When humbled and laid in the dust under a 
 sense of her own shortcomings, then shall God be pleased to look upon 
 her in mercy. I gather from the tenor of the first verse, that God 
 blesses his people when they begin to pray, as well as when they 
 confess their sins. The prayer is urgent, humble, and believing, and 
 therefore it must speed. "God be merciful unto us, and bless us, 
 and cause his face to shine upon us." These agonising desires are a 
 part of the wailing of a church conscious of having somewhat lost the 
 blessing, and ill at ease until it is restored. We are sure to receive the 
 benediction from God when the entire church is instant and constant in 
 intercession. Prayer is the best resort of an earnest people. Are we not 
 witnesses of it ? We have had prayer meetings in this house, in which 
 we have all been stirred as the trees of the wood are moved in the wind, 
 and then we have always had the presence of God afterwards in the 
 conversion of souls. Our best praying times have always been followed 
 joyfii^ harvest homes. The churches everywhere must be prayerful, 
 intensely so, or else they cannot expect that the sound of abundance of 
 rain should be heard throughout their land. Awake to confess sin, O 
 
380 
 
 METROrOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 Zioii, awake to soul-travail for the souls of men, and then shall God, 
 thy Lord, visit thee from on high. Come, Holy Spirit, and arouse thy 
 slumbering people ; bestir thy sluggard host, for when thy power is 
 felt, then hath the bright day of triumph dawned upon us. 
 
 As the Psalm runs, it speaks not so much of prayer as of praise, 
 Let the people praise thee, 0 God ; let all the people praise thee. 
 Then shall the earth yield her increase." The church of God needs to 
 get into a better state with regard to her praising her God. When 
 mercy is received, if we accept it silently, and without gratitude, we 
 cannot expect to have more ; but when every drop of favour makes us 
 bless the Lord who gives to such undeserving ones, we shall soon have 
 more, and yet more, and more. The praise ought to be universal. 
 " Let all the people praise thee." It ought to be joyfal and hearty, 
 each man rejoicing in the exercise, and casting all his strength into it. 
 When shall we all wake up to this, when shall all the Lord's elect 
 magnify his glorious name as they should do ? When shall we sing 
 at our work, sing in our households, sing everywhere the praises of 
 God ? If prayer and praise be sacredly blended, and the church 
 become thoroughly anxious for the divine blessing, then God, even our 
 God, will bless us. 
 
 If I were asked now to give some indications as to when a blessing 
 may be expected, I should have to run somewhat in the same vein as 
 we did last Thursday evening, but that I cannot avoid. I believe that 
 when a great visitation of mercy is coming upon the church, there are 
 certain signs which are given to the more spiritual, which assure them 
 that it is coming. Elijah could hear *^a sound of abundance of rain'* 
 before a single drop had fallen, and many a saint of God has had the 
 conviction that a time of refreshing is coming long before it has come. 
 Some souls are especially sensitive to divine workings, just as some 
 men's bodies are peculiarly sensitive to changes of weather before 
 they arrive. As Columbus was sure that he was coming to land, 
 because he saw strange land birds and floating pieces of sea-weed and 
 ; broken wood, so oftentimes the Christian minister feels sure that he is 
 . drawing near to a time of amazing blessing. He can scarce tell another 
 why he feels so sure, and yet the indications to him are all-sufiicient. 
 There are doves that come flying into our hands that tell us that 
 the waters of indifference and worldliness are assuaging; they bring 
 us olive branches of hopeful graces flourishing among our people, 
 which let us know that the time to favour Zion is surely coming. Have 
 you never seen the ancient seer arise and take his harp down from the 
 wall, begin to tune it, put every string in order, lay his fingers amongst 
 the unaccustomed strings, and commence to sweep the strings with 
 unusual energy of delight ? Have you not enquired of him, ^' Harper 
 grey, minstrel consecrated to the Lord, wherefore dost thou strike thy 
 
THE MINSTRELSY OF HOPE, 
 
 381 
 
 harp with song so full of cheer?" He replies, ^'Because I see afar the 
 silken banners of a triumphant host returning victorious from the 
 fray. It is the church made more than conqueror through him who 
 loved her. I hear the moving of the wings of angels; they are 
 rejoicing over penitents, and the church is glad, for her glory returneth, 
 seeing that her sons are many." Men enlightened with the light of 
 heaven feel the shadow of the coming mercy, and hear the far-off wheels 
 of the chariot of mercy. 
 
 These tokens, of course, will only be appreciable by the few, but 
 there are others, tokens which are instructive to the many. It is a 
 very certain sign that the Lord will bless his people when they feel in 
 themselves an unusual and insatiable craving for the divine visitation ^ 
 when they feel as if the church could not go on longer as she now is 
 doing ; begin to fret, and pant, and sigh, and hunger, and thirst after 
 something better. I would to God that all the members of this church 
 were gloriously dissatisfied without more conversions. And when this 
 dissatisfaction arises in the Christian mind, pretty generally it is a sure 
 indication that God is enlarging the hearts of his people, that they may 
 receive a larger blessing. Then there will come into prepared minds 
 sacred heavings of intense excitement, throes of awful purpose, myste- 
 rious longings to which they were strangers before. These will gravitate 
 into impulses which they will be unable to resist. Men will suddenly 
 find a tongue who had been dumb before ; others will become mighty 
 in prayer who never were known as master suppliants up to that 
 momeut. There will be tears in eyes loug dry aforetime. We shall find 
 professors talking to sinners and winning converts who kept in the rear 
 in days now past, and were never zealous until now. These stirrings of 
 God's hand, these sacred and mysterious motions of his ever blessed 
 Spirit, are signs tha.t he intends to bless his church, and that to a large 
 degree. And, brethren, when every man begins to search himself, to 
 see whether there is any obstacle in him to the blessing ; when every 
 single member of the church exposes his heart to the search of God, 
 and cries, " Take away from me everything that hinders thy work, 
 fit me for greater usefulness, put me where thou wilt win glory by me, 
 for I am consecrated to thee," then we shall hear the sound as of a £rom<^ 
 in the tops of the mulberry trees, as David of old; then shall we see the 
 flowers spring up, and we shall know that the time of the singing of 
 birds is drawing near, and that spring and summer are close at hand. 
 God send us more and more of these gracious signs ! I think I see 
 them even now. Perhaps my wish is father to my thought, but I think 
 I see comfortable signs that God intends to visit his Zion, even now : 
 and if we will but believe it, will but accept it, and work in accordance 
 with sueh expectation, unitedly praying and praising, and labouring and 
 striving, rest assured this year, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, will not 
 
382 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 come to its close Ayithoufc such a display of the divine power as shall 
 make it an annus mimbilis, a year of our Lord, a year of grace, a year 
 whose days shall be as the days of heaven upon the earth. 
 
 III. Lastly, I introduce to you a far fairer being than either of 
 the other two — the sweet bright-eyed maiden Hope. 
 
 Have you never heard the story of her matchless song ? She learned 
 in her youth a song, which she sings evermore to the accompaniment 
 of a well-tuned harp. Here are the words of her enchanting lay: 
 " God will bless us, God will bless us." She has often been heard 
 singing this in the night, and, lo ! stag's have suddenly shone out 
 of the black sky. " God will bless us." She has been known to 
 sing this in the midst of tempests, and calms have followed the sooth- 
 ing song. Once on a time, certain strong labourers were sent forth 
 by the great King to level a primeval forest, to plough it, to sow it, 
 and to bring to him the harvest. They w^ere stout-hearted and strong, 
 and willing enough for labour, and well they needed all their strength 
 and more. One stalwart labourer was named Industry — consecrated 
 work was his. His brother Patience, with thews of steel, went with 
 him, and tired not in the longest days, under the heaviest labours. To 
 help them they had Zeal, clothed with ardent and indomitable energy. 
 Side by side, there stood his kinsman Self-denial, and his friend Impor- 
 tunity. These went forth to their labour, and they took w^ith them, to 
 cheer their toils, their well-beloved sister Hope; and well it was they 
 did, for the forest trees were huge, and needed many sturdy blows of 
 the axe ere they w^ould fall prone upon the ground. One by one they 
 yielded, but the labour was immense, and incessant. At night when 
 they went to their rest, the day's work always seemed so light, for as 
 they crossed the threshold, Patience, wiping the sweat from his brow, 
 would be encouraged, and Self-denial would be strengthened, for they 
 heard a sweet voice within sing, ^' God will bless us, God even our own 
 God, will bless us." They felled the giant trees to the music of that 
 strain ; they cleared the acres one by one ; they tore from their sockets 
 the huge roots ; they delved the soil ; they sowed the corn, and waited 
 for the harvest, often much discouraged, but still in silver chains and 
 golden fetters by the sweet sound of the voice which chanted so con- 
 stantly,*' God, even our own God, will bless us." They never could 
 refrain from service, for she never could refrain from song. They 
 were ashamed to be discouraged, they were shocked to be despairing, 
 fur still the voice rang clearly out at morn and eventide, " God will 
 bless us, God even our own God, will bless us." You know the parable, 
 you recognise the voice : may you hear it in your soulg to-day ! 
 
 God tuill bless us! We are few, too few for this great work, but God 
 will bless us, and therefore wu are enough. We are feeble, but little 
 taught, with little experience and slender wisdom, but God will bless 
 
THE MINSTRELSY OF HOPE. 
 
 383 
 
 as, and we shall be wise enough and strong enough. We are unde- 
 serving, full of sin, fickle and frail ; but God will bless us, and our 
 undeservingness shall be a foil in which to set the precious diamond of 
 his mercy. God ivill bless us — there are glorious promises which 
 guarantee the blessing ; they must be kept, for they are yea and amen 
 in Christ Jesus. The nations must bow down before Messias ; 
 Ethiopia must stretch out her arms to receive her king. God wiU 
 bless us. He has blessed his people. Let Egypt tell how God over- 
 threw his Israel's enemies. Let Canaan witness how he slew kings, 
 and overthrew mighty kings, and gave their land for a heritage, even 
 a heritage unto his people. God will bless us. He has given us his 
 Son, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ? He 
 has given us his Holy Spirit to abide with us for ever; how can he 
 deny us any needful aid or requisite benediction ? 
 
 Here is a song for each Christian man and woman engaged in holy 
 work ! Here is a song for your Sunday-school classes this afternoon, 
 ye diligent teachers of our youth ! If ye have seen no good come of 
 your work, and ye grow somewhat dispirited, here is a psalm to raise 
 your sinking spirits, "God will bless us." Go on and teach the 
 gospel to the youngsters with redoubled zeal. Here is a sweet note for 
 the minister who has been ploughing a thankless soil, and seen no 
 harvest yet. God will bless us." Cease not from your energetic 
 labours ! Go back to your work, for you have such a blessing yet 
 to come that you may well rejoice even in the prospect of its coming. 
 Let each worker go forth to that form of Christian service which 
 his Master has appointed him, hearing this bird of paradise warbling 
 in his ears, God will bless us." Like David's minstrelsy before 
 Saul, it charms away despair : like the silver trumpets of the priests, 
 it proclaims a jubilee — 0 that like the rams' horns of Israel, it may 
 level Jericho ! Why, if for once this morning I could address with 
 the eloquence of Peter the Hermit, when preaching the crusade, he 
 made his hearers shout aloud, Deus vuU!'' I too would stir your 
 blood with the war-note of my text. Methinks this God tvill 
 Mess us^'' might just as much stir you, and move you, and make you 
 dash along like a mighty host of warriors as did the " God wills it," 
 of the Hermit. God is with us, he will bless us. W^hy flag ye ? why 
 grow ye weary ? why look ye to a human arm for strength ? why fear 
 ye your enemies ? why seek ye slothful ease ? why get ye to your beds 
 of rest ? God will bless us ! Up, ye men-at-arms, and snatch the 
 victory I Grasp your sickles, ye husbandmen, and gather in the 
 harvest ! Hoist your sails, ye mariners, for the favouring winds are 
 coming 1 " God iuill bless us." 0 for fire from off the altar to touch 
 our lips ! And what can be a better instrument with which to carry the 
 flaming coal, than the golden tongs of the text, " God will bless us "? 
 
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 One word of warning, and we have done. Suppose the Lord should 
 bless ^*us" in the plural, and not '' you," dear hearer, in the singular I 
 What if there should be showers of mercy, and they should not drop 
 on you ? What if he should bestow a token for good upon his people, 
 but you should be left out ? It may be so, for it has been so ; and if 
 such be the dreary fact, it will make you worse instead of better, for 
 none so dry as the fleece which remains unmoistened when the floor is 
 wet : none so lost as those who are lost where others are saved. 
 Tremble lest that should be your case I Yet it need not be so ; oh ! 
 blessed be God, I hope I can say it shall not be so. " Seek ye the 
 Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." He 
 has abundant pardons to bestow, and he will give them freely to all 
 who ask. All he asks of you is that you trust his Son, and this faith 
 his Holy Spirit gives. Do trust him ! Rest upon the merit of his 
 precious blood, and you will not be left out when he dispenses hia 
 favours, but you shall sing as cheerfally as all the rest, God, even our 
 own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us." 
 
 Portions of Scripture read before Sermon— 
 Psalms Ixvii. and Ixviii., 1 to 18. 
 
 The Clue of the Maze : A Voice lifted up on behalf of Honest 
 Faith. By C. H. Spueoeon. New enlarged edition. Cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 Gleanings among the Sheaves. By C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 Cloth, Is. 
 
 The Mourner's Comforter. By C. H. Spurgeon. Cloth, Is. 
 The Bible and the Newspaper. By C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 Cloth, Is. 
 
 The Spare Half-Hour. By C. H. Spurgeon. Cloth, Is. 
 
 All of Grace. An Earnest Word with those who are Seeking 
 
 Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. Price Is. Persian Morocco, gilt edges, 2s. 
 Fourth edition. Fiftieth thousand. 
 
 According to Promise; or, The Metliod of the Lord's Dealing 
 with His Chosen People. By C. H. Spukgeon. Cloth, Is. Persian Morocco, 
 gilt edges, 2s. Thirtieth thousand. 
 
 Around the Wicket Gate; or, A Friendly Talk with Seekers 
 concerning Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By C. H. Spurgeon. Cloth, Is. 
 Morocco, 2s. Fortieth thousand. 
 
 Eccentric Preachers. By C. H. Spurgeon. Cloth, Is. 
 Good Cheer. By C. H. Spukgeox. Cloth, Is. 
 
HOPE IN HOPELESS CASES. 
 
 ^ pennon 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, July 19th, 1868, bt 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 "Bring him hither to me.'* — Matthew xvii, 17. 
 
 Our real text will be the entire narrative, but as it seems necessary to 
 select some one sentence, vre have chosen that before ns as the true 
 hino'e of the story. 
 
 The kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, while on earth, was so exten- 
 sive as to touch the confines both of heaven and hell. We see him at 
 one moment discoursing with Moses and Elias in his glory, as though 
 at heaven's gates, and lo, in a few hours, we see him confronting a foul 
 spirit, as though defying the infernal pit. There is a long journey from 
 patriarchs to demons, from prophets to dumb devils ; yet mercy prompts 
 him and power supports him, so that he is equally glorious in either 
 place. What a glorious Lord he was even while in his humiliation ! 
 tlow glorious is he now ! How far his goodness reaches ! Truly he 
 hath dominion from sea to sea; to the extremes of human condition 
 his empire reaches. Our Lord and Master hears with joy the shout of 
 a believer, who has vanquished his foe, and, at the same hour, he bows 
 his ear to the despairing wail of a sinner, who has given up all confi- 
 dence in self, and is desirous to be saved by him. At one moment he 
 is accepting the crown which the warrior brings him from the well- 
 fought fight, at another moment he is healing the broken in heart, 
 and binding up their wounds. There is a notable difference between 
 the dying scene of the triumphant believer as he enters into rest, and 
 the first weeping repentance of a Saul of Tarsus as he seeks mercy 
 of the Saviour whom he has persecuted ; and yet the Lord's heart and 
 eye are with both. Our Lord's transfiguration did not disqualify him 
 for casting out the devils, nor did it make him feel too sublime and 
 spiritual to grapple with human ills, and so at this hour the glories of 
 heaven do not take him off from the miseries of earth, nor do they 
 make him forget the cries and tears of the feeble ones who are seeking 
 him in this valley of tears. 
 
 The case of the deaf and dumb demoniac, which we read in your 
 hearing, and to which I call your particular attention this morning, is 
 a very remarkable one. All sin is the evidence that the soul is under 
 the dominion of Satan. All unconverted persons are I'eally possessed 
 of the devil in a certain sense : he has established his throne within their 
 
 No. 821. 
 
898 
 
 METROPOLrrAN TABERNACJ.E PUTiPIT. 
 
 hearts, and there he reigns, and rules from thence the members of their 
 body. *'The spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience", 
 is the name which Paul gives to the prince of darkness. But these \ 
 possessions are not alike in every case, and the casting out of Satan, 
 though always effected by the same Lord, is not always wrought after 
 the same fashion. We bless God, many of us, that when we lived in 
 sin, yet we were not given over to a furious delirium of it — there was 
 method in our madness. We claim no credit for this, but we do thank 
 God for it, that we were not whirled along like rolling things before 
 the tempest, l)ut were restrained and kept within the bounds of outward 
 propriety. We are also grateful that when, being aroused and alarmed, 
 we fell under the iron rod of Satan, we were not all brought into that 
 utter despair, that horror of great darkness, that inward torment and 
 agony, which some are made to endure ; and when Jesus came to save 
 us, although we were much hindered by Satan, yet there was none of 
 the foaming of pride, and wallowing of obstinate lust, and tearing of 
 raging desperation, of which we have read in memorable instances, but 
 the Lord opened our hearts gently with his golden key, entered into the^ 
 chamber of our spirits, and took possession. For the most part, the 
 conquests which Jesus achieves in the souls of his people, though 
 wrought by the same power, are more quietly accomplished than in the 
 case before us. For this let thanks be rendered to the God of grace. 
 Yet every now and then there are these strange, out-of-the-way cases, 
 persons in whom Satan seems to run riot and to exert the utmost force 
 of his malice, and in whom the Lord Jesus displays the exceeding 
 greatness of his power, when in almighty love he dethrones the tyrant 
 and casts him out never to return again. If there should be only one 
 such person here this morning, I shall be justified in looking after him, 
 for what man is there among you, who, having a hundred sheep, if one 
 of them should go astray, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the 
 wilderness, and go after that which is gone astray ? I ask the prayers 
 of such as have, in years gone by, been brought to Jesus and are now 
 rejoicing in him, that we may this morning find out the far-off wanderers, 
 and may, by the Holy Ghost's anointing, liberate those that are bound 
 with fetters of iron, that they may become to-day the Lord's freed ones, 
 for if the Son shall make them free, they shall be free indeed. 
 
 I shall, by my Lord's help, first enlarge upon the deploralJe case; 
 then we shall meditate upon the one resource ; and conclude by admiring 
 the sure result. 
 
 I. First, let us look, so far as time permits, into the details of the 
 DEPLORABLE CASE before us. 
 
 We understand the physical miracles of Christ to be types of his 
 spiritual works. The wonders which he wrought in the natural world 
 have their analogies in the spiritual world ; the outward and natural is the 
 symbol of the inward and spiritual. Now the demoniac who was brought 
 by his father for healing is not so distinctly representative of a case of 
 gross sin, though the spirit is called a foul one, and Satan is everywhere 
 defiling, but it is an instance of the great horror, disturbance of mind, 
 and raving despair, caused by the evil one in some minds to their tor- 
 ment and jeopardy. You will observe concerning it, that the disease 
 appeared every now and then in overwhelming attacks of mania ^ in which 
 
HOPE IN HOPELESS CASES. 
 
 393 
 
 the man tvas utterly leijond his own control. The epileptic fit threw the 
 noor yictim in all directions. So have we seen melancholy persons in 
 whom despondency, mistrust, unbelief, despair, have raged at times 
 with unconquerable fury; they have not so much entertained these 
 evil guests as been victims to them. As Mark puts it, The spirit 
 taketh him," so have such forlorn ones been captured and carried off 
 by Giant Despair. The fairies have scourged them onward over dry 
 places, seeking rest and finding none ; they refused to be comforted, 
 and like sick men their souls abhorred all manner of meat; they 
 evinced no power to struggle with their melancholy — resistance did 
 not suggest itself to them ; they were taken off their feet and carried 
 clean out of themselves in a rapture of woe. Such cases are not at all 
 uncommon. Satan knowing that his time is short, perceiving that 
 Jesus is hastening to the rescue, lashes his poor slave with excess of 
 malice, if by any means he may utterly destroy his yictim before the 
 deliverer arrives. 
 
 The poor patient before us was filled at such times with a terrible 
 anguish, an anguish which he expressed by foaming at the mouth, by 
 wallowing upon the ground, and by crying out. At such times in his 
 dreadful falls he bruised himself, and his delirium led him to dash 
 himself against anything which stood before him, so causing to himself 
 new injuries. None can tell but those who have felt the same, what are 
 the pains of conviction of sin when aggravated by the suggestions of 
 the enemy. Some of us have passed through this in our measure, and 
 can declare that it is hell upon earth. We have felt the weight of the 
 hand of an angry God. We know what it is to read the Bible, and not 
 find a single promise in it that would suit our case ; but rather to see 
 every page of it glowing with threatenings, as though curses like 
 lightning blazed from it. Even the choicest passages have appeared to 
 rise up against us as though they said, Intrude not here. These 
 comforts are not for you ; you have nothing to do with such things as 
 these." We have bruised ourselves against doctrines, and precepts, and 
 promises, and even the cross itself. We have prayed, and our very prayer 
 has increased our misery, even against the mercy-seat we have fallen, 
 judging our prayers to be but babbling sounds obnoxious to the Lord. We 
 have gone up with the assembly of God's people, and the preacher seemed 
 to frown upon us, and to rub salt into our wounds, and aggravate our 
 case ; even the chapter, and the hymns, and the prayers, appeared to be 
 in league against us, and we went home to our retirement more despond- 
 ing than before. I hope none of you are passing through such a state 
 of mind as this, for it is of all things, next to hell itself, one of the 
 most dreadful, and in such a plight men have cried out with Job, 
 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of 
 my spirit ; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea, 
 or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me ? When I say. My bed 
 shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint ; then thou scarest 
 me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions : so that my soul 
 chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. I loathe it; I 
 would not live alway : let me alone; for my days are vanity." Thanks 
 be unto God, the issues out of this slavery are often such as make 
 angels sing for joy, but while the black night endures it is a horror of 
 
400 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 darkness indeed. Put a martyr upon the rack, or even fasten him with 
 an iron chain to the stake, and let the flames kindle about him, and if 
 his Lord shall smile upon him, his anguish will be just nothing compared 
 with the torture of a spirit scorched and burned with an inward sense of 
 the wrath of God. Such a man can join in the lament of Jeremiah, 
 and cry, He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 
 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my 
 chain heavy. Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my 
 
 prayer He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the 
 
 arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my 
 
 reins He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me 
 
 drunken with wormwood." The spirit of a man will sustain his in- 
 firmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear ? To groan over unforgiven 
 sin, to dread its wxll-deserved punishment, to fear the everlasting burn- 
 ings, these are things which make men suffer with an emphasis, and 
 make them think life to be a burden. 
 
 We learn from the narrative that the evil spirit at the times when it 
 took full possession of the man, sought his destruction by hurling him 
 in different directions. Sometimes it casteth him into the fire, and 
 sometimes into the water." So is it with deeply distressed souls. One 
 day they seem to be all on fire with earnestness and zeal, with im- 
 patience and anxiety, but the next day they sink into a horrible coldness 
 and apathy of soul, from which it appears to be utterly impossible to 
 arouse them. All sensitive yesterday, all insensible to-day. They are 
 uncertain; you know not where to find them. If you deal with them 
 as for a spirit that is in danger from the fire of petulance, you have 
 lost your pains, for in the next few minutes they will be in danger 
 from the water of indifference. They fly to extremes. They are like 
 the souls fabled to be in purgatory, of whom legends say that they 
 suffer by turns in an oven and in cells of ice. You would suppose from 
 the way in which they speak to-day that they felt themselves to be the 
 blackest of sinners, but in a short time they deny that they feel any 
 sort of repentance for sin. You would imagine, to hear them talk at 
 one time, that they would never cease to pray till they found the 
 Saviour, but by-and-by they tell you that they cannot pray at all, and 
 that it is but a mockery for them to bend the knee. They ring all the 
 changes; they are more fickle than the weather; their colour comes 
 and goes like that of the chameleon ; they are all fits and starts, con- 
 vulsions and contortions. He were more than human who could reckon 
 upon them for a month, for they vary oftener than the moon. Their 
 malady laughs us to scorn, their trouble baffles all our consoling efforts ; 
 only Jesus Christ himself can deal with them. It is well that we can 
 add that he has a peculiar art in dealing with desperate diseases, and 
 finds his delight in healing those whom all others have left for lost. 
 
HOPE m HOPELESS CASES. 
 
 401 
 
 To add to the difficulties of this deplorable case, this child was deaf, 
 BO our Lord tells us in Mark, Come out of him, thou deaf and dumb 
 spirit." There was therefore no way of reasoning with him at all; not 
 a sound could pass through that sealed ear. With other men you 
 might speak, and a soft word might calm the perturbations of their mind, 
 but no word, however gentle, could reach this poor tormented spirit, 
 to sound and sense alike impervious. And are there not such still, to 
 whom words are wasted breath ? You may quote promises, you may 
 supply encouragements, you may explain doctrines, but it is all nothing ; 
 they end where they began : like squirrels in revolving cages, they are 
 never the forwarder. Oh, the twistings and turnings, the convolutions 
 and the windings, of poor tormented minds! It is easy enough certainly 
 to tell them to believe in Jesus, but if they understand you, it is in such 
 a dark manner that you had need to explain again, and that explanation 
 you will have to explain still farther. To cast themselves simply upon 
 the blood of sprinkling, and to rest upon the finished work of Jesus, 
 is of all things most plain, the very child's A B C cannot be plainer, 
 and yet for all that it is not plain to them ; they will appear to compre- 
 hend you, and then start aside at a tangent ; they will appear to be 
 convinced, and for a time to give up their doubts and fears, but meet 
 them half-an-hour afterwards, and you will find you have been speaking 
 to a wall, addressing yourself to the deaf. Oh, lamentable case ! The 
 Lord of mercy look on such, for hopeless is man's help. Glory be to 
 God, he hath laid help upon one that is mighty, who can make the deaf 
 to hear, causing his voice to ring with sweet encouragements in the 
 deathlike stillness of the dungeons of despair. 
 
 Next to this it appears that the afflicted one was duml), that is to say, 
 incapable of articulate speech by reason of the demoniacal possession ; 
 since he cried out when the devil left him, it would seem to have been 
 a case in which all the instruments of speech were present, but articu- 
 lation had not been learned. There was utterance of an incoherent sort; 
 the noise-making apparatus was there, but nothing intelligible came forth 
 except the most heartrending cries of pain. Such dumb ones abound ; 
 they cannot explain their own condition, if they talk to you it is inco- 
 herent talk ; they contradict themselves every five sentences — you know 
 that they are speaking what they believe to be true, but if you did not 
 know that, you might think that they were telling you falsehoods which 
 confound each other. Their experience is a string of contradictions, 
 and their utterance is even more complicated than their experience. It 
 is very hard and difficult long to talk with them, it wears out one's 
 patience; and if it wear out the patience of the hearer, how burdensome 
 must it be to the unhappy speaker ! They pray, but they dare not call it 
 prayer, it is rather the chattering of a crane or a swallow. They talk 
 with God what is in their poor silly hearts; but ah ! it is such a confusion 
 
 D 
 
402 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 and mixture, that when it is done they wonder whether they have prayed 
 or no. It is the cry, the bitter anguishing cry of pain, but it is untrans- 
 latable into words; it is an awful groan, an unutterable yearniug and 
 longing of the Spirit, but they scarce know themselves what it means. 
 
 You are weary with the details of this dolorous case, but I have not 
 yet concluded the tale of woe. If any of you have never experienced 
 the like, thank God for it, but at the same time pity and pray for those 
 who are passing through this state of mind, and invoke now silently 
 the hope of the great Healer, that he would come and deal with them, 
 for their plight is past the art of man. 
 
 The father told Jesus that his son was pining away. How could it 
 be otherwise, with one borne down by such a mass of disorders, so 
 perpetually tormented that the natural rest of sleep was constantly 
 broken ? It was not likely that the strength would long be maintained 
 in a system so racked and torn ; and, mark you, despair of mind is an 
 exceedingly weakening thing to the soul. I have known it even weaken 
 the body, till the worn out sufferer has said with David, " My moisture 
 is turned into the drought of summer." To feel the guilt of sin, to fear 
 the coming punishment, to have a dreadful cry in one's ears of the 
 
 wrath to come," to fear death and to expect it every moment, above 
 all to disbelieve God, and write bitter things against him, this is a 
 thing to make the bones to rot, and the heart to wither. Read John 
 Bunyan's Grace Abounding,*' and behold a picture there, drawn to the 
 live, of a soul that was left as a heath in the desert, so that it could not 
 see when good came to it ; you see a mind tossed up and down on ten 
 thousand waves of unbelief, never resting at any time, but perpetually 
 disturbed and distracted with surmises, suspicions, and forebodings. 
 If these attacks continued always, and were net sometimes iiitermitted> 
 if there were not little pauses, as it were, between the fits of unbelief, 
 surely man would utterly fail and go to his long home, a prey to his own 
 cruel unbelief. 
 
 The worst point in the case was, all tliis had continued for years, 
 Jesus asked how long he had been in this case, and his parent replied, 
 "From a child." Sometimes God permits, for purposes which we do 
 not understand, the deep distress of a tempted soul to last for years ; I 
 cannot tell for how many years, but certainly some have had to battle 
 with unbelief on the very confines of the grave, and only at eventide 
 has it been light to them. When they thought they must die in the 
 dark, the Holy Spirit has appeared to them, and they have been cheered 
 and comforted. The Puritans were wont to quote the I'emarkable 
 experience of Mrs. Honeywood as an instance of the singular way in 
 which the Lord delivers his chosen. She, for year after year was in 
 bondage to melancholy and despair, but she was set at liberty by the 
 gracious providence of God in an almost miraculous way. She took 
 
HOPE IN HOPELESS CASES. 
 
 403 
 
 np a slender Venice glass, and saying, I am as surely damned as that 
 glass is dashed to pieces," she hurled it down upon the floor, when, to 
 her surprise, and the surprise of all, I know not by what means, the 
 glass was not so much as chipped or cracked. That circumstance first 
 gave her a ray of light, and she afterwards cast herself upon the Lord 
 Jesus. Sometimes extraordinary light has been given to extraordinary 
 darkness, God has brought up the prisoner out of the innermost ward 
 where his feet had been fast in the stocks, and after years of bondage, 
 he has at last given perfect and delightful liberty. 
 
 One thing more about this case. The disciples had failed to cast the 
 devil out. On other occasions they had been successful — they said to 
 their Master, " Even the devils are subject unto us." But this time 
 they were utterly foiled. They did their best ; they appear to have 
 had some faith, or they would not have attempted the task, but their 
 faith was not at all equal to the emergency. Scribes and Pharisees 
 gathered around them, and began to mock them, and if there had been 
 power in all the company of the apostles to have wrought the deed, 
 they would gladly have done it ; but there they stood, defeated and 
 dismayed — the poor patient before them racked and tormented, and 
 they unable to give him the slightest ease. Ah! it becomes a painful 
 case when an anxious soul has gone to the house of God for years, and 
 yet has found no consolation; when the troubled spirit has sought help 
 from ministers, from Christian men and women; when prayers have 
 been offered and not answered, tears have been shed and have been 
 unavailing ; w^hen books which have been consolatory to others have 
 been studied without result ; when teachings which have converted 
 thousands fail to create a good impression ; and yet there are such 
 instances, in which all human agency is put to the rout, and when it 
 seems as impossible to comfort the poor troubled one as to calm the 
 waves of the sea, or hush the voice of the thunder cloud. Hearts are 
 to be met with still in which the evil spirit and the Holy Spirit are 
 brought into distinct conflict, in which the evil spirit displays all his 
 malignity, and brings the soul to the uttermost pitch of distress, in 
 which I trust yet the Holy Spirit will display his saving power, and 
 lead the soul out of its prison to praise the name of the Lord. 
 
 I thought I heard from some ungodly person a kind of whisper to 
 himself, " I thank God I know nothing about these things." Pause 
 before thou thankest God for this, for evil as this is and to be deplored, 
 it were better that thou hadst all this than remain altogether without 
 spiritual sensibility. It were better to go to heaven burnt and branded, 
 scourged and scarred every step of the road, than to slide gently down 
 to hell as many of 7^1 are doing — sleeping sweetly while devils carry 
 you along the road to perdition. It is little after all to be for a season 
 tormented and troubled by disturbance within if it shall ultimately, by 
 
404 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 God's interposition, end in joy and peace in believing, but it is beyond 
 measure a dreadful thing to have " Peace, peace," sung in one's ears 
 where there is no peace, and then for ever to discover one's self a cast- 
 away in the pit from which there shall be no escape. Instead of being 
 thankful, I would rather ask you to tremble. Yours is that terribly 
 prophetic calm which the traveller frequently perceives upon the 
 Alpine summit. Everything is still. The birds suspend their notes, 
 fly low, and cower down with fear. The hum of bees among the flowers 
 is hushed. A horrible stillness rules the hour, as if death had silenced 
 all things by stretching over them his awful sceptre. Perceive ye not 
 what is surely at hand? The thunder is preparing; the lightning will 
 soon cast abroad its mighty fires. Earth will rock ; granite peaks will 
 be dissolved; all nature will shake beneath the fnry of the storm. 
 Yours is that solemn calm to-day, 0 sinner. Rejoice not in it, for the 
 tempest is coming, the whirlwind and the tribulation which shall sweep 
 you away and utterly destroy you. Better to be molested of the devil 
 now than be tormented by him for ever. 
 
 II. I have thus brought before you a very dolorous subject, but now, 
 secondly, and may the Holy Spirit help us while I remind you of the 
 ONE resource. 
 
 The disciples were baffled. The Master, however, remained unde- 
 feated, and cried, " Bring him unto me." We ought to use the m(^ans 
 so far as the means will go. We are bound, further, to make the 
 means more effectual than they ordinarily are. Prayer and fasting are 
 prescribed by our Lord as the means of stringing up ourselves to 
 greater power than we should otherwise possess. There are conversions 
 which will never be wrought by the agency of ordinary Christians. We 
 have need to pray more, and by self-denial to keep our bodies more 
 completely under, and so to enjoy closer communion with God before 
 we shall be able to handle the more distressing cases. The church of 
 God would be far stronger to wrestle with this ungodly age if she were 
 more given to prayer and fasting. There is a mighty efficacy in these 
 two gospel ordinances. The first links us to heaven, the second 
 separates us from earth. Prayer takes us into the banqueting-house 
 of God ; fasting overturns the surfeiting tables of earth. Prayer gives 
 us to feed on the bread of heaven, and fasting delivers the soul from 
 being encumbered with the fulness of bread which perish eth. When 
 Christians shall bring themselves up to the uttermost possibilities of 
 spiritual vigour, then they will be able, by God's Spirit working in them, 
 io cast out devils which to day, without the prayer and fasting, laugh 
 ihem to scorn. But for all that, to the most advanced Christian, there 
 ^ill still remain those mountainous difficulties which must be directly 
 Drought to the Master's personal agency for help. Still he tenderly 
 commands us, " Bring them unto me." 
 
HOPE IN HOPELESS CASES. 
 
 405 
 
 To make the text appear practical, let me beg you to remember that 
 Jesiis Christ is still alive. Simple as that truth is, you need to be 
 reminded of it. We very often estimate the power of the church by 
 looking to her ministers, her ordinances and her members ; but the 
 power of the church does not lie here, it lies in the Holy Ghost, and 
 in an ever living Saviour. Jesus Christ died, it is true, but he lives, 
 and we may as truly come to him to-day as did that anxious father in 
 the days of our Lord's earthly sojourn. Miracles have ceased it is 
 said : so natural miracles have, but spiritual miracles have not. We 
 have not the power to work either the one or the other. Christ hath 
 the power to work any kind of wonder, and he is still willing and able 
 at this present hour to work spiritual miracles in the midst of his 
 church. I do delight to think of my Lord as a living Christ, to whom 
 I can speak and tell him of every case that occurs in my ministry ; 
 a living Helper to whom I may bring every diflBculty that occurs in 
 my own soul, and in the souls of others. 0 think not that he is 
 dead and buried ! Seek him not among the dead ! J esus lives, and, 
 living, is as able to meet with these cases of distress and sorrow as 
 when he was here below. 
 
 Eemember, too, that Jesus lives in the 'place of authority. When he 
 was here he had power over devils, but yonder he hath greater power 
 still ; for here on earth he veiled the splendour of his Godhead, but 
 yonder his glory beams resplendent, and all hell confesses the majesty 
 of his power. There is no demon, however forceful, who will not 
 tremble if Jesus doth but speak, or even so much as look at him. To- 
 day Jesus is the Master of hearts and consciences; he by his secret 
 power, can work upon every one of our minds ; he can depress us or 
 he can exalt ; he can cast down or he can lift up. There cannot be a 
 case which shall be hard to him. We have but to bring it to him. He 
 lives — and he lives in the place of power, and he can achieve the desire 
 of our hearts. Moreover, Jesus lives in the place of observation^ and he 
 graciously interposes still. I know we are tempted to think of him as 
 of one far away, who does not behold the sorrows of his church, but I 
 tell you, brethren, Christ's honour is as much concerned at this moment 
 in the defeat or victory of his servants as it was when he came down 
 from the mountain top. From the battlements of heaven Jesus looks 
 to-day upon the work of his ministers ; and if he sees them foiled he is 
 jealous for the honour of his gospel, and is as ready to interpose and 
 win the victory now as he was then. We have but to look up to our 
 Lord. He sleeps not as Baal did of old. He is not callous to our 
 woes, nor indifferent to our griefs. Blessed Master, thou art able to 
 succour, and strong to deliver ! We have but to bring the matter which 
 distresses us before thee, and thou wilt deal with it now according to 
 thy compassion. 
 
406 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 We should also recollect, for our warning, Jesus Christ expeds us 
 to treat him as a living^ jpoiverful^ interposing one^ and to confide in him as 
 such. We do nofc know what we miss through want of faith ; we con* 
 ceive that certain persons are in a hopeless condition, and thus we 
 dishonour Christ and injure them. We leave some cases, and give them 
 up instead of presenting them constantly to him ; we limit the hol}^ One 
 of Israel; we grieve his spirit and vex his holy mind ; but if, as children 
 trust their father, we would trust in Jesus unstaggeringly with an 
 Abrahamic faith, believing that what he hath promised he is able also 
 to perform, then should we see even such cases as that before us soon 
 brought into the light of day : the oil of joy given instead of mourning, 
 and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. 
 
 Now, I earnestly urge parents and relatives, and any who have 
 children or friends in distress of mind, to make a point of taking their 
 dear ones to Jesus. Do not doubt him — you vex him if you do; do 
 not hesitate to come and tell him this morning the position of your 
 beloved one. Hasten to him, lay the sick one before him, and even if 
 while in prayer the case should become worse instead of better, still 
 hesitate not, you are dealing with the infinite Son of God, and you need 
 not fear, you must not doubt. God grant us grace in all things in our 
 daily troubles, and especially in soul affairs, to bring all matters to the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 III. Lastly, and with brevity, the sure result. 
 
 When the child, or the man, or whichever he may have been, was 
 brought before our Lord, the case looked thoroughly hopeless. He was 
 deaf and dumb : how could the Master deal with him ? Beside that, he 
 was foaming and wallowing: what opening did there seem for the 
 divine power? I cannot wonder that his father said, ''If thou canst 
 do anything, have compassion upon us." In most other instances the 
 voice of Jesus calmed the spirit ; but that voice could not reach the 
 mind, for the ear was sealed. Never was there before the Saviour a 
 more thoroughly far-gone case, to all appearance hopeless ; and yet the 
 cure was divinely certain, for Jesus, without hesitating for a moment^ 
 said to the unclean Spirit, *' Thou foul spirit, thou deaf and dumb 
 spirit, I charge thee come out of him." Christ has power to charge 
 devils with authorit3^ They dare not disobey. '* And return no more 
 unto him," said the Saviour. Where Jesus heals he heals for ever. 
 OncQ bring the soul out of prison, it shall not go back again. If he 
 saith, " I forgive," the sin is forgiven ; if he speaks peace, the peace 
 shall be like a river that never ceases, running until it melts away into 
 the ocean of eternal love. The cure was hopeless in itself, yet absolutely 
 certain when Jesus put forth his healing hand. 0 ye w^ho are broken 
 down and desponding this morning, there is nothing that you can do 
 or that / can do; but there is nothing which he cannot do. Only go 
 
HOPE IN HOPELESS CASES. 
 
 407 
 
 yourself this morning to him, and with a word he will give you peace, 
 a peace that shall never be broken again, but shnll last till you enter 
 into eternal rest. 
 
 Nevertheless the word of Christ, though sure to win its way, was 
 stoutly opposed. The devil had great wrath, for he knew that his 
 time was short. He began to rend and tear, and put out all his 
 devilisli force upon the poor child, and the poor creature, foaming 
 and wallowing, fell down as if he were dead, under a terrible excitement. 
 So often will it happen that at first the voice of Christ will make the 
 Spirit more troubled than before, not because Jesus troubles us, but 
 because Satan revolts against him. A poor tempted creature may even 
 lie down in despair as dead, and those around may cry, He is dead," 
 but even then shall come the healing hand of tenderness and love, at 
 whose touch the Spirit shall survive. Ah, soul! if thou shouldst judge 
 thyself to be as one dead, if thy last hope should expire, if there should 
 seem now to be nothing before thee but a fearful looking for of judg- 
 ment and of fiery indignation, it is then that Jesus will interpose, 
 licarn the lesson that you cannot have gone too far from Christ. Be- 
 lieve that your extremities are only extremities to you and not to him. 
 The highest sin and the deepest despair together cannot baflBe the 
 power of Jesus. If you were between the very jaws of hell, Christ 
 could snatch you forth. If your sins had brought you even to the 
 gates of hell, so that the flames flashed into your face, if then you 
 looked to Jesus he could save you. If you are brought to him when 
 you are at death's door, yet still eternal mercy will receive you. How 
 is it that Satan has the impudence to make men despair ? Surely it is 
 a piece of his infernal impertinence that he dares to do it. Despair ! 
 when you have an omnipotent God to deal with you ? Despair! when 
 the precious blood of the Son of God is given for sinners ? Despair ! 
 when God delights in mercy ? Despair ! when the silver bell rings, 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest"? Despair! while life lasts, while mercy's gate stands wide 
 open ; while the heralds of mercy beckon you to come, even though 
 your sins be as scarlet, for they shall be as wool; though they be like 
 crimson they shall be white as snow ? I say again, it is infernal im- 
 pertinence that has dared to suggest the idea of despair to a sinner. 
 Christ unable to save? Never can it be. Christ outdone by Satan and 
 by sin? Impossible. A sinner with diseases too many for the great 
 Physician to heal ? I tell you that if all the diseases of men were met 
 in you, and all the sins of men were heaped on you, and blasphemy and 
 murder, and fornication and adultery, and every sin that is possible or 
 imaginable had all been committed by you, yet the precious blood of 
 Tesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanseth us from all sin. If thou 
 wilt but trust my Master, and he is worthy to be trusted and 
 
408 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PtILPIT. 
 
 deserves thj confidence — if thou wilt but trust him, he will save thee 
 even now. Ah ! why delay, why raise questions, why debate, why de- 
 liberate, mistrust and suspect ? Fall into his arms — he cannot reject 
 thee, for he hath himself said, ^' Him that cometh to me I will in no 
 wise cast out." Yet, poor wretch, I do despair of converting thee unless 
 the Master do it. It is mine to tell thee this, but I know thou wilt 
 not hear it, or, hearing it, thou wilt reject it unless Christ shall come 
 with power by his Spirit. 0 may he come to-day, and say to the evil spirit 
 within thee, Come out of him, thou foul spirit, and go no more into 
 him. Let such a one be free, for I have redeemed him with my most 
 precious blood." 0 pray, dear friends, that weak as my words have 
 been this morning, disconnected as my thoughts have been, yet, never- 
 theless, God the blessed Spirit may bless them to the unfastening of 
 bars of iron, that gates of brass may be opened, and captive onea 
 brought forth to libertv. The Lord bless such for his name's sake. Amen, 
 
 Portion of Scripture Eead before Sermon. — Mark ix. 1 — 29. 
 
 SERMONS IN CANDLES. 
 
 By C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 Illustrations which may be found in Common Candles. Paper, is. 
 
 Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2S. 
 
 "For originality and quaintness, for some smartly written views on religious truth, 
 this little work stands unsurpassed. The Lectures are unique." — Freeman, 
 
 By C, H. SPURGEON. 
 
 A Commentary on the Book 
 
 of Psalms. 
 
 The Treasury of David. 
 
 Containing an Original Exposition of the Book of Psalms ; a Collection 
 of Illustrative Extracts from the whole range of Literature ; a Series 
 of Homiletical Hints upon almost every verse ; and a list of Writers 
 upon each Psalm. Complete in 7 Volumes, price 8s. per volume* 
 May also be had in calf and half-calf bindings. 
 "No man, whatever his theological predilections may be, who has a spark of justice 
 in him, will hesitate to pronounce the work of gr^t merit, revealing an intellect oi 
 remarkable vivacity and vigour, and a soul aflame with religious earnestness." — 
 Homilist, 
 
 New Issue of The Treasury of David. 
 
 In Monthly Parts. One Shilling. 
 
THE PERFUMING OF THE HEART. 
 
 Delivered on Lord's Day Morning, Sepiember 6th, 1868, by 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 " And hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." —Romans v. 5. 
 
 The apostle sets before us a ladder like to that which Jacob saw, the 
 foot whereof resteth upon the earth, but the top ascendeth to heaven. 
 Tribulation is the foot, but we mount as we see that it worketh patience; 
 and we climb again, for patience worketh experience ; and we ascend 
 yet once again, for experience sustaineth hope; and hope that maketh 
 not ashamed climbs up to the very heart of God, and the love of God h^ 
 shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. 
 I might compare these verses to those songs of degrees which were sung 
 by the people as they went up to the temple : as they halted at each 
 fitage of the pilgrimage they sang a fresh Psalm, and so David said, 
 *'They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion 
 appeareth before God." The pilgrim sefcteth out from the dull and 
 desolate vale of tribulation, he journeys on to patience, and lifts up 
 his Psalm under the shadow of the rock ; he removes his tent and jour- 
 neys on to experience — beneath its wells and palm trees he refreshes 
 himself ; soon he marches on again from experience to hope, and never 
 stayeth till the love of God is shed abroad in his heart, and he has 
 reached the New Jerusalem, where he worships the ever blessed God 
 and drinks full draughts of his eternal love. 
 
 In this text it seems to me as though our great Melchisedek, the Lord 
 Jesus, came forth to refresh his warfaring and w^ayfaring people with 
 bread and wine. You read of tribulations : these are the battles of 
 the faithful, and in them they overcome even as Abraham overthrew the 
 kings, and made them as driven stubble before his bow. The Lord's 
 warriors are often faint and weaiy in them, but the love of God is 
 graciously shed abroad in their hearts ; and this is that sacred bread 
 and wine that stayeth the Lord's people in their time of hunger, and 
 becomes a sweet morsel to refresh them by the w^ay, and keep them in 
 good case till they eat the heavenly bread and drhik the new wine all 
 fresh and sparkling at the table of the marriage banquet, where they 
 shall sit for ever and ever with the glorious Bridegroom. 
 
 This morning, if we may be so helped of the Holy Ghost, we shall, 
 first of all say a little upon the love of God; then upon the love of God shed 
 air Odd in the heart hy the Holy Ghost; and then upon the confirmation 
 
 No. 829. 
 
491 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 tuliich Ihis gives to our Jiope^ since the apostle tells us that our hop^ is. 
 not ashamed, for this reason, that the love of God cheers and sustain*, 
 us, being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 I. First, then, some little upon the lo\V of God; a theme for 
 breadth and depth like unto the vast Atlantic, whereon my little skiff 
 loses itself, as a mere speck on the infinite expanse. How shall I 
 profess fully to express truths so vast that the greatest divines miirht 
 lose themselves, and the most eloquent of speakers might fail ? The 
 love of God — how shall I attempt to speak of it ? T nmst but skim 
 the surface; to dive into its depths were impossible to me. 
 
 Think for a minute, first of all, of what it is — the Jove of God, 5^ow 
 the pity of God towards the suffering I can understand, because of the 
 goodness of his nature. The kindness of God towards the needy I can 
 comprehend, because of the liberality of his character. That he should 
 have compassion upon such as are ignorant and out of the way ; that he 
 should look constantly with tenderness upon those that are sore broken 
 and ready to perish is easy enough for me to believe ; but this is not 
 what is spoken of in the text. It is not compassion, nor tenderness, 
 nor pity, but it is love, which is something more than all these. You 
 pity the beggar whom you could not love ; you have compassion upon 
 the villain in whom you could have no complacency ; you look with 
 tenderness upon sufferers who have nothing in their character or in 
 their persons to attract your affection. Men usually think that they 
 have gone far enough when they have rendered kindness, even if the 
 heart glow with no affection, and they, as a rule, take this to be 
 the rendering of love towards their neighbour; when they have per- 
 mitted their compassion and tenderness to exhibit themselves, they feel 
 that all is done that is demanded of them. But the text speaketh not 
 of this, but of love, direct attachment and affection, and of the love of 
 God. I beseech you, my brethren, as you sit here, lift up your souls," 
 bid your understandings stand on tiptoe, and endeavour fully to 
 grasp the idea of divine love. If ye be in Christ [Jesns, this day God 
 loves you, but whereunto shall I liken love as it streams from the heart 
 of Jehovah ? We try to guess at what God's love to one of his people 
 may be by our love to our own children, to our spouse, to our friend. 
 Now in a far higher degree and sublimer sense, and after a loftier sort, 
 even so God loves the people of his choice. Consider this believer and 
 be astonished, that love should come from God to such a one as 
 yourself. The Lord loves you. He has a complacency and a delight 
 in you. You give him pleasure ; he watches for your good ; you are 
 one of his household ; your name is written on his heart. He loves 
 you; can you catch the thought? If so there is no praise that can 
 express your gratitude. Solemn silence will perhaps be the only 
 vehicle that shall seem fitting for your soul's adoration. Revolve 
 the personal thought again and again in your soul ! He that 
 made the heavens and the earth loves me ! He whose angels fly as 
 lightning to obey his behests, the tramp of whose marching shakes both 
 heaven and earth, whose smile is heaven, and whose frown is hell, loves 
 me ! Infinite, almighty, omniscient, eternal, a mind inconceivable, a 
 spirit that is not to be comprehended; but he, even he has set his love 
 upon the sons of meU; and upon me. Let each believer say in his 
 
TK^ c^:Rr uMING OF THE HEART, 
 
 495 
 
 heart, Upon me among the rest." Oh, but this is astoiindino:, tliis is 
 marvellous ! He liath said to us what he never said to angels, for unto 
 which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son" ? to which 
 of all the glorified spirits hath he said, I have loved thee with an 
 everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee " ? 
 Where read you that he shed his blood for angels, or poured out his 
 heart for seraphim and cherabim ? 
 
 " Never did angels taste above 
 Kedeeming grace and dying love." 
 
 God's dearest love has been hoarded up for worms, saved for tha 
 creatures of a day, reserved for us poor ephemera who are and are not 
 that we should be favoured above all that live. It is not for tongues t(* 
 tell out this wonder, but spiritual minds helped from on high may 
 feel in solemn stillness what a mystery is here. 
 
 If you would have, this morning, this love shed abroad in your hearts, 
 I must ask you to consider carefully tvho it is that loYes you, namely, 
 the Most High God. To be loved I have already said is a sublime 
 thought, but to be loved of Mm is a right royal thing, su:rpassing 
 thought as far as the heaven is above the earth. A courtier will 
 often think it quite enough for him if he hath the favour of his prince. 
 What means that favour? It means riches, it means pleasure, it means 
 honour. All tliat the courtier wants is wrapped up in the royal smile. 
 And, believer, what means the love of the King of kings to you ? If you 
 estimate it rightly, not only all that you now want, but all that you 
 ever can need, all that the flights of fancy or the conceptions of under- 
 standing can bring before you are contained in that one fact, that the 
 Lord loves you. For when Jehovah loves he brings his power to help 
 his love, his infinite wisdom to contrive ways for delighting the objects 
 of his choice, and every other attribute of his transcendent nature 
 works and co-operates with love for the good of the chosen ones. Thou 
 hast all things if thou hast thy Father's love, 0 child of God. Thou 
 hast no ambition surely. Here all thine aspirations may sit down con- 
 tent — to be loved of God is enough and more than enough for the 
 largest wish. Csesar's imperial couch is hard compared with the bosom 
 of God. Cagsar's sceptre is a cumbrous thing compared with the ring 
 of love which surrounds our finger. Give us but the Father's love, 
 and who will may have the Indies. Ay, let the worlds be given to 
 whom God may please, as men give husks to swine, if we have his love 
 it is enough, our soul is filled to the brim, and floweth over with 
 satisfaction. Consider, I say, who it is that loves you, and surely your 
 heart will leap at the very sound of his name, and feel it to be a match- 
 less thing to be loved of Jehovah, the only living God. 
 
 Think yet again of tahat he is tvho so loves you. Very much of 
 the value of affection depends upon the object from whom it comes. It 
 would be a very small thing, certainly, to have the complacency of 
 some of our fellow creatures, whose judgment is so perverted that their 
 praise might almost be considered censure. To have the love of the 
 good, the holy, and the excellent, this is truest wealth ; and so to enjoy 
 the love of God is an utterly priceless thing ! No mention can be made of 
 coral, and as for rubies they shall not be mentioned in comparison there- 
 with. God, the thrice holy One, who cannot love that which is unholy 
 
496 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 and defiled, cannot take complacency in that which is contrary to him- 
 self—yet looks on us through his Son, and, viewing us in Christ Jesus, 
 seeth no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity in Israel, and, therefore, can love 
 us with complacency and delight. Oh, how this exalts us! We are 
 nothing in ourselves; but how this makes us feel the gentleness of the 
 Lord in making such base things to be so great by merely loving them. 
 See ye nofc how graciously the Lord can fit a man to be loved, and then can 
 shed abroad within his heart an abundance of love, which must have been 
 an unknown thing there unless grace had changed and renewed it. To be 
 loved of God ! 0 sirs, some think it a great thing to be applauded of the 
 3iowd ; but watch the breath of the multitude — how soon it is blown 
 aside! from men upon whom it was most lavished, from them it is 
 soon taken. What think ye of the approval of the wisest and best of 
 men ? What is their wisdom but folly in the sight of God? and what 
 is their approbation often but a mistake ? But to be approved of him 
 before whom the heavens are not pure, and who charged his angels 
 with folly ! Beloved, this is such a thing as might make you sit 
 down and lose yourselves in blissful meditation, even until ye found 
 yourselves in heaven. 
 
 Still farther to lead your minds into this love of God, let me remind 
 you of the remarkable characteristics of that love. The love of God 
 towards his people is a heaven-born aff'ection ; it sprang from no source 
 but itself. God loves his people because he will love them, and for 
 no other reason known to us. Divine love is not caused by any excel- 
 lence in the creature, either created or foreseen ; its springs are within 
 itself. We do not believe in the eternity and self-existence of matter, 
 but we do believe in the eternity and self-existence of divine love. The 
 Godhead seeks no reason for love to fallen men beyond its own determi- 
 nation and purpose. The Lord chose his people at the first in the exercise 
 of his sovereign will. He loved them then because he will have com- 
 passion on whom he will have compassion." He then united them to 
 Christ, and viewing them as Christ's bride, beholding them as members 
 of Jesus' body, he loved them with divine complacency: ,the love not 
 springing from anything in them, but altogether from that which is 
 within himself and in his own dear Son ; a causeless love, so far as 
 outward causes are concerned, caused only by the fact that God in his 
 nature and essence is love. 
 
 As this love was uncreated, so it is self -sustaining . It is like the 
 Deity itself. It borrows nothing from without, it bears its life and 
 strength within its own bowels. The Lord loves you not to-day. Christian, 
 because of anything you are doing, or being, or saying, or thinking, 
 but he loves you still, because his great heart is full of love, and it 
 runneth over to you. I do rejoice to think that this love sits on 
 no precarious throne, nor borrows leave to be. It lives, and shall live 
 as long as God lives. None shall separate us from the love of God 
 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and so long as God exists, this fire 
 of love, fed upon its own fuel, unsupplied by any human hand, shall 
 continue still to flame forth towards the chosen seed. 
 
 This love too, it is sweet to remember, is utterly unlounded and 
 altogether 'unequalled. You cannot say of God's love it has gone 
 thereto, but it shall go no further. It is impossible to conceive a point 
 
THE PERFUMING OF THE HEART. 
 
 497 
 
 beyond its glorious tide; but if there were such a point, it v^^ould yet 
 reach it, for the love of God glories to be without limit of any kind 
 towards his people. He loves us much better than we love our 
 children, for we often love them so badly that we bring them up 
 to evil, and we tolerate them in sin. He loves us better tfian we love 
 ourselves, for self-love it is that ruins us; but God's love it is that 
 saves us, and lifts us up to heaven and to perfection. There 
 is no love that can any more be compared with God's, than the 
 faint gleam of a candle can be likened to the blaze of the sun at 
 noonday. He loves his people so much that he gives them all that he 
 hath. "^Earth, with all its providential arrangements, he consecrateth 
 to them, that all things may work together for their good. Heaven itself 
 he gives them, and since he wills it so, they shall even sit upon the throne 
 of Christ, to reign with him. xis for his own Son, his choicest and 
 greatest treasure, a treasure the like of which heaven and earth could not 
 match, God spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for 
 us all; how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" The 
 divine love has no shore. Enterprising mariner, thy thought may 
 spread its sail and catch the favouring wind of the eternal Spirit, but if 
 thou shalt fly on, and on, for ever and for ever, over ceaseless waves of 
 new discovery, yet shalt thou never find a limit either to the infinite 
 God, or to his infinite love, for the two are as one. As the Father hath 
 loved Christ, even so hath he loved his people, and herein let them 
 rejoice, for they rest. A love without a parallel ! Blessed be God for it. 
 
 So, beloved, let us reflect too, that this love is imvarying and unsleep^ 
 ing. He never loves them less, he cannot love them more. Grod loveth 
 each one of his people as much as if there were only that one created 
 being in all heaven or earth, and as if there were no other object for 
 him to set his love upon. For the multiplicity of the saints doth not 
 diminish the infinite love which each one enjoys. The Lord would not 
 love better the one only redeemed one, if but one had been bought with 
 blood, than he loveth each one ransomed from the fall. A greater 
 excess of love there cannot be; God loveth his people with all his 
 heart : diminution of love there shall not be, for he hath said that there 
 is neither variableness nor- shadow of a turning with the Father of 
 lights. He changeth not, therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed. 
 Brethren, how sweet it is to think that though a mother's love towards 
 a child cannot, when her weariness has worn her out, keep her awake 
 every night when the child is sick — and perhaps the little one may be 
 in want while the mother necessarily is asleep — yet this can never 
 happen to our God. No fatigue, no exhaustion, no faintness, can ever 
 make a pause in the Lord's loving oversight of the saints. Never for a 
 single moment does he forget his church. His heart alw^ays beats high 
 towards liis chosen, and at every moment he showeth himself strong 
 \ov the defence of those that trust him. If there were a minute in which 
 God left you, child of God, you might indeed be wretched ; but since 
 there is no such period, rejoice exceedingly in the daily presence of your 
 heavenly Father, and endeavour to walk worthy of it. Let every day 
 be a holy day bright with the light of this constant love. Put on your 
 garments as though they were priestly vestments; go forth to your daily 
 labour as to sacerdotal service; go to your house as to a temple; come 
 
498 
 
 ]\rETROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULriT. 
 
 hither to the assembly of God's saints like a great conoTe;];ation of 
 priests, who come together on the feasts of the Most High to offer 
 sacrifices to their ever present God. Well may you into "whose eyes 
 this love has gleamed, and upon whose hearts the divine warmth 
 of this love is perpetually streaming, live after a nobler fashion than 
 the common herd of men. 
 
 Lastly upon this matter of the love of God, we triumphantly believe 
 that it is undying and im failing, God will never cease to love the objects 
 of his choice. They shall grow grey with age, but not his love. They 
 shall live on when this poor earth has melted, and the elements have 
 dissolved, but his love shall remain with them ; it shall not perish in 
 the conflagration, nor shall the covenant of his grace be consumed. 
 They shall live on when the universe has gone back to its original 
 nothingness, if so the Lord ordaineth it, but in the eternities to come 
 still shall that love of God be ever fresh and ever new. To my mind, 
 it always seems to be the very sweetest part of the gospel, that when 
 the love of God has once been shed abroad in a man's soul, and he has 
 I'eally enjoyed it, and known by the witness of the Holy Ghost that he 
 is the object of the divine affection, there is no fear that he shall ever 
 be driven from the divine presence, or become an outcast and an apostate; 
 for whom Jesus loves he loveth even to the end. He keepeth the feet 
 of his saints; none of those that trust in him shall be desolate. He 
 gives unto his sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither 
 shall any pluck them out of his hand. Because I live ye shall live 
 also," saith he. Oh, precious truth, the very marrow and fatness of the 
 word of God ! May you have the grace to feel it, as well as believe it, 
 to rejoice in it as well as understand it, and so may the love of God be 
 shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost which he hath given 
 unto you. 
 
 II. The love of God is shed abroad. 
 
 Shall we try to illustrate these words by common things ? Here is an 
 alabaster box of very precious ointment, it holds within the costly 
 frankincense of the love of God : but we know nothing of it, it is closed 
 up, a mystery, a secret. The Holy Spirit opens the box, and now the 
 fragrance fills the chamber wherein the ten thousand times ten thousand 
 of the elect are sitting, for now the love is shed abroad ; every spiritual 
 taste perceives it, heaven and earth are perfumed with it. Frequently 
 at the great Eoman games the emperors, in order to gratify the citizens 
 of Rome, would cause sweet perfumes to be rained down upon them 
 through the awning which covered the amphitheatre. Behold the vases, 
 the huge vessels of perfume ! yes, but there is nought here to delight 
 you so long as the jars are sealed; but let the vases be opened, and the 
 vessels be poured out, and let the drops of perfumed rain begin to 
 descend, and every one is refreshed and gratified thereby. Such is the 
 love of God. There is a richness and a fulness in it, but it is not 
 perceived till the Spirit of God pours it out like a rain of fragrance 
 over the heads and hearts of all the living children of God. See, then, 
 the need of having the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy 
 Ghost ! 
 
 Observe that no one can shed abroad the love of God in the heart 
 but the Holy Ghost. It is he that first puts it there. Men live in 
 
THE PERFUMING OF THE HEART. 
 
 499 
 
 neglect of this love till he first impresses them with a sense of the value 
 of it ; and they continue to seek after it in vain till he opens the door 
 and introduces them into the secret chamber of its mystery. It is the 
 Holy Ghost who educates us in the art of divine love. Not a letter can 
 we read in God's love-book till we are taught of the Holy Ghost. He 
 is the great Master of the house, the great Steward bringing forth the 
 precious things of God to our souls. No man can say that Jesus is 
 the Christ but by the Holy Ghost, much less can a man be assured that 
 he is the object of eternal love but by a revelation made to him by 
 the Holy Spirit who makes this delightful truth clear to his mind. 
 
 Do you enquire in what way is the love of God shed abroad ? I 
 reply, that to the best of my knowledge and experience, the gracious 
 operation is somewhat upon this wise. The Holy Spirit enables the 
 man to be assured that he is an object of the divine love in the first 
 place. The man comes to the cross as a guilty sinner, looks up to the 
 five wounds, those dear founts of pardoning grace, trusts himself in 
 the living Saviour's hands, and then he cries, ''I am saved, for I have 
 God's promise to that effect. Now, since I am saved, I must have been 
 the object of the Lord's love; there must have been a marvellous love 
 which gave that blessed Son of God to bleed for me." The man does 
 not doubt it, he is assured of it in his own spirit, and then the Spirit 
 of God, whose operations are far beyond all our knowledge, confirms the 
 testimony of his conscience. We need not attempt to comprehend 
 the working of the Holy Spirit, for as we know not even how the wind 
 bloweth, much less shall we know how the Comforter works; but 
 this we know, that he adds a confirmatory testimony to the witness 
 of our own hearts, he be^^eth witness with our spirits that we are born 
 of God, and so we become infallibly and beyond all possibility of mistake 
 assured that the love of God is ours, and that we have a part and an 
 interest in it. 
 
 Then, the next thing the Spirt of God doth, is to make the man 
 clearly understand what kind of love this is which God giveth to him. 
 He leads him not all at once, perhaps, but by degrees, into all truth. 
 He takes of the things of Christ and reveals them to the believer's 
 heart, till the believer understands that this love of God to him is such 
 a love as I have been describing just now. He clearly perceives 
 Jehovah's love in its length, and breadth, and height, and wonders at 
 it for all the marvels which it has wrought. This admirable enlighten- 
 ment is no small part of the shedding abroad of the love of God. A 
 man must know before he can enjoy, and in proportion as the eyes 
 ^f his understanding are opened will he be able to enter into the de- 
 lightful experience of the secret love of Jesus. 
 
 But then comes the point — the essence of the matter — the Holy 
 ipirit enables the soul to meditate upon this love, casts out the cares 
 of the world, lifts it up above doubts and fears, and temptations, 
 makes a blessed quiet, a divine Sabbath within the heart, and then 
 the man, while he meditates, finds a fire begins to burn within his 
 gcul. Meditating yet more, he is as it were carried off his feet, lifted 
 up from the things of earth. Meditating still, and considering, and 
 weighing, he comes to be in an amazement, he marvels, he is astonished, 
 and then he is filled with strong emotion. He is devoutly grateful. 
 
500 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 Blessed be the Lord," saith he, ''who hath remembered my low 
 estate, and hath loved one so unworthy." He breaks out into a soiio- 
 like that of the Virgin, '' My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my 
 spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Then while gratitude is 
 still within his soul, a divine resignation to all the Master's will keeps 
 rule within him. Jehovah loves me, then what matters though every 
 bone should ache, and the heart should throb, and the head be heavy? 
 What matters though the cottage wall be bare, and the table be but 
 scantily furnished ? my Father, do thou as thou wilt. Then follows a 
 rapturous leaping over this devout calm, a joy unutterable, next akin 
 to heaven fills the heart ; and this joy sometimes takes the character 
 of ecstasy, until whether the man is in the body or out of the body, he 
 cannot tell, God knoweth. Then if he be alone perhaps time flies*^ and 
 he seems to anticipate eternity, forgetting the lapse of hours ; and if he 
 be in company with others, his lips teach many, his w^ords are better 
 than pearls, and his sentences than strings of coral. The Master's 
 love makes him to wear a brightness about his countenance and a trans- 
 figuration glory about his character which others who have tasted of 
 the like understand, but which to the worldling seemeth to be the 
 effect of madness or of drunkenness with new wine, like that of the 
 famous Pentecostal morning. Yes, brethren and sisters, if you know 
 what it is to have the love of God shed abroad in your "^hearts by 
 the Holy Ghost, you will perhaps wonder that I cannot paint it 
 better, but I would like any of you to try. You shall find it far easier 
 to enjoy it than to depict it, for this seemeth to me to be one of those 
 things in its heights and depths which it were almost unlawful for a man 
 to utter. This master-thought of Jehovah's4ove to us, beareth us as 
 on eagles' wings, takes us up beyond the smoke and din and dust of 
 this poor world, sets us in the heavenly places at the right hand of 
 Christ, enthrones us, puts a crown upon our head, ennobles us, wraps 
 us about with the white linen that we are to wear for ever; makes us, 
 while yet we are poor, to be as angels in the midst of the sons of men. 
 The Lord give us this soul-elevating influence more and, more. May 
 this transcendent experience be our constant and daily enjoyment, so 
 shall we be ripening for heaven, and it will not be long before the 
 gates of pearl shall open to admit us into the presence of God, for 
 which this experience is a most fitting preparation. 
 
 III. Lastly, this inexpressible sweetness of which we have spoken 
 becomes the confirmation of our hope. 
 
 Hope rests itself mainly upon that which is not seen; it builds 
 itself upon the promise of God, whom eye hath not beheld. Still it is 
 exceedingly sweet to us while we are in this body, if we receive some 
 evidence and token of divine love which we can positively enjoy even 
 now. You recollect Master Bunyan in the Pilgrim, how he writes the 
 dialogue which took place when the Pilgrim was met by Atheist. 
 Atheist snaps his fingers, and he cries, with jeer and laugh, Ye fools, 
 ye are seeking for a New J erusalem ; there is no such place. I have 
 been seeking this city these twenty years, but find no more of it than I 
 did the day I first set out. I tell you there is no such thing as a 
 world beyond the stream, there are no harps of gold, no brightness— 
 you are deceived men." /'But," said Hopeful, how say you so, did 
 
THE PERFUMING OF THE HEART. 
 
 501 
 
 we not see the gate of the city from the Delectable Mountains V* He 
 might have added, " I do remember when I stood with the shepherds 
 on the top of Mount Clear that I saw the city, I looked through the 
 telescope, and I saw it, and therefore I am not deceived, but I follow 
 after that which mine eyes have gazed upon." See you then how the 
 present enjoyments of divine love in the soul become to us arguments 
 for the reality of the things which we are hoping for, and our hope is 
 not ashamed, because God gives to us, even here, such emotions of 
 spiritual delight, that we anticipate the raptures of the hereafter, and - 
 confidently press forward to reach the promised rest. Why, blessed 
 be God, there are some of us who do not want Butler's Analogy, or 
 Pale/s evidences, to back our faith ; we have our own analogy and 
 our ovm evidences within our own souls, vsritten by the Holy Spirit 
 on the day when we tasted that the Lord is gracious. No Jesus Ohrist! 
 with whom then have we spoken all these years, and upon whose bosom 
 have we leaned ? No Holy Spirit ! what mysterious agency then is that 
 which strings the chords of our soul, and fetches superhuman music 
 from them, causing us to delight in sublime and celestial themes to 
 which once we were strangers? What is that power which casts us down 
 to the earth in solemn awe ot the Great Invisible, and then again bears 
 us out of ourselves up to the seventh heaven ? No Father God ! Tell 
 not his children so barefaced a lie! It was not long ago, I am informed, 
 that a certain infidel lecturer gave an opportunity to persons to reply 
 to him after the lecture, and he was of course expecting that some 
 young men would rise to bring the general arguments for Christianity 
 which he was quite prepared to overturn and laugh at. But an old 
 lady, carrying a basket, and wearing an ancient bonnet, and altogether 
 dressed in the antique fashion, which marked both her age and her 
 poverty, came on the platform. Putting down her basket and umbrella, 
 she began, and said, " I paid threepence to hear of something better 
 than Jesus Christ, and I have not heard it. Now let me tell you what 
 religion has done for me, and then tell me something better, or else you 
 you've cheated me out of the threepence which I paid to come in. 
 Now," she said, " I've been a widow forty years, and I had ten children, 
 and I trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ in the depth of poverty, and he 
 appeared for me and comforted me, and helped me to bring up my 
 children so that they have grown up and turned out respectable. I was 
 often very sore pressed, but my prayers were heard by my Father in 
 heaven, and I was always delivered. Now you are going to tell me 
 something better than that ; better for a poor woman like me ! I have 
 been to the Lord sometimes when I've been very low indeed, and there's 
 been scarcely anything for us to eat, and I've always found his 
 providence has been good and kind to me. And when I lay very 
 sick, I thought I was dying, and my heart was ready to break at 
 leaving my poor fatherless little ones, and there was nothing kept me 
 up but the thought of Jesus and his faithful love to my poor soul, 
 and you tell me it was all a mistake. Now, tell me something better, 
 or else why do you cheat us of these threepences ? Tell us something 
 better." Well, poor soul, the lecturer was a good hand at an argument, 
 Imt such a mode of controversy was novel, and not readily met, and 
 therefore he gave up the contest, aud merely said, really the dear old 
 
502 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 woman was so happy in her deception, he should not like to undeceive 
 her. ^' No," she said, that won't do. Facts are facts. Jesus Christ 
 has been all this to me, and I could not sit down in the hall and hear 
 you talk against him without coming and saying this, and asking you 
 whether you could tell me something better than what he has done 
 for me. I've tried and proved him, and that's more than you have." 
 Ah ! it is that ; it is the testing and proving of God ; it is the getting 
 the love really shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost which 
 affords us an argument which cannot be answered. Experience is the 
 iron file against which the viper breaks his teeth, but cannot prevail. 
 God gives us even here a foretaste of heaven's supernatural enjoyment, 
 in the forms of peace, calm, bliss, exultation, delight. This may seem 
 fanatical talk to some, and a mere dream to others ; but, sirs, we are 
 as honest men as you are, and we as much claim to be believed when 
 we assert that we enjoy these things as you claim our credence when 
 you make an assertion. And if this convince you not, and you still 
 doubt us, rest assured that it convinces us, and that shall suffice. The 
 love of God shed abroad in the heart makes our hope, so that it is 
 not ashamed. 
 
 See, bretliren, the love of God is often shed abroad in the heart when 
 we are very sick. When pain is most severe, joy has often been at its 
 fullest. This love has come to paupers in the union house, and turned 
 the workhouse into a palace. It has come to the dying in the hospitals, 
 and made the wards to ring with heavenly music. It has come to some 
 of us in nights of the deepest depression through which the human 
 mind could pass, and it has lifted us right up out of the mist and the 
 cloud, and set us in the sunlight of God. Now, these things coming at 
 such times tend greatly to make the child of God feel that his hope is 
 as sure in the dark as it is in the light, and that he can trust his God 
 though all things should seem to belie the promise. These things are 
 of such an elevated nature that they help to maintain an elevated hope. 
 If our comforts were gross and carnal, to be received by the mouth or 
 by the ear, of what service would they be to that high and holy hope 
 which comes from God himself? But the enjoyments of which I have 
 been speaking in the reception of the divine love in the heart, are so 
 elevating that they precisely suit the character of our hope, and out- 
 hope is confirmed thereby. For, beloved, a sense of the love of God 
 confirms everything that we hope for. For, if God loves me, then I am 
 forgiven; if God loves me, then I am secure; if God loves me, then my 
 circumstances are well ordered; if God loves me, then he will bear me 
 through my trials ; if God loves me, then he will keep me from the touch 
 of sin; if God loves me, he will not suffer temptation to overcome 
 me, but he will keep me pure and holy, and receive me to himself at the 
 last; if God loves me, then the heaven which he has prepared for his 
 
THE PERFUMING OF THE HEART. 
 
 503 
 
 people must be mine, and with those that have gone before, I shall see 
 his face, I shall drink draughts of his love, and be with him for ever 
 and ever. Like a master-key that locks up every lock in the house, so 
 does the sense of the love of God lock up every treasure in the covenant 
 of grace ; and if we have it within us it affords us admission to every 
 blessed thing, so that we may take at our will, and rejoice in God on 
 account of it. 
 
 Now I have no more to say upon this point, upon which I have 
 spoken so exceedingly feebly to my own consciousness, but I would to 
 God that you all knew even the little that I can tell you spiritually. 
 To hear of divine love with the ear is nothing, it is like the rattle of the 
 dishes in the ear of a hungry man when there is nought given to him to 
 feed on. To understand this theoretically is nothing, it is like being able 
 to cast up thousands of pounds upon the slate, but having not a farthing in 
 the purse. My dear hearer, what is your hope ? What are you resting 
 upon ? Has your hope anything to do with the love of God shed abroad 
 in your heart by the Holy Ghost? Depend upon it, if your hope is founded 
 on anything that you have done for yourself, or that any man may do for 
 you, it will not excite in your soul a sense of the love of God. The thought 
 of it, if it be a mere ceremonial hope, will excite no such emotions as 
 those I have described. But if your hope be true and genuine, fixed 
 on the Rock of Ages, built on the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus 
 Christ, then the thought of that hope will make you love God, and a 
 sense of God's love to you will sway you to obedient service. Such a 
 hope will endure the trial hour, but no other hope will. 
 
 And what will you do if your hope shall fail you? if at last you are made 
 ashamed of your hope ? 0 see then, sirs, see then the overwhelming 
 downf^P which awaits vou ! The house was hastily built, it was fair 
 and lofty, with many -coloured windows, and fine gables and rare orna- 
 ments. But the floods are out, the rain descends, the wind blows, and 
 where is the palace now ? Its foundation was on the sand, and it is gone 
 like a dream. See the fragments of it floating down the torrent, while 
 the owners are washed away and lost. And so shall it be with your fine 
 hopes, 0 self-righteous or careless. 0 build on the rock, on the rock 
 of what Christ has done : build with a humble faith, build with an 
 earnest love : build not with wood, hay, and stubble, but build with 
 gold, and silver, and precious stones of love, and trust, and holy fear. 
 And when the deluge comes, you shall laugh at it and sing in the midst 
 of storm, for God is your preserver, and under his wings shall you 
 trust. 
 
 Ah, I would that everyone now listening to this voice could enter 
 into so bright a hope, and enjoy such a love. And if they long to do 
 so, behold the open door ! The entrance into a good hope is by the door of 
 divine love; and would you see divine love, there it shines in its 
 
504 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PUTjPIT. 
 
 resplendence on yonder cross where the Son of God, made flesh, gave his 
 hands to the nails, and his feet to be fastened to the wood. There where 
 every nerve is a road for the hot feet of pain to travel on, where his whole 
 body is tortured with pangs unutterable, and the soul pressed as beneath 
 the feet of Deity, in the winepress of eternal wrath, there, sinner, there is 
 your hope. Not your tears, but Ms blood ; not your sufferings, but his 
 woes ; not your penance, but his agonies ; not your life nor your death, 
 but his life and death. 0 look to him! " There's life in a look at 
 the crucified One." Guilty one, depraved one, thou all but damned 
 one, look through the mists of Satan's temptations, and the dews of 
 your tears, look to Jesus dying on Calvary, and thou shalt live this day. 
 God help thee of his blessed Spirit so to look— thine shall be the 
 salvation, and his the honour of it. Amen and Amen. 
 
 POBTION OF SCRIPTURB ReAD BEFORE SeRMON. — EomauS * . 
 
 By C. H. SRURGEON. 
 
 Feathers for Arrows; 
 
 Or, Illustrations for Preachers and Teachers, from my Note Book. 
 Cloth, 28. 6d. 
 
 Illustrations and Meditations; 
 
 Or, Flowers from a Puritan's Garden. Distilled and Dispensed by 
 C. H. Spurgeon. Cloth, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Flashes of Thought; 
 
 Being One Thousand Choice Extracts from the Work^ of 
 C. H. Spurgeon. Alphabetically arranged, and with a copious 
 Index. Price 5 s. 
 
 Spurgeon's Gems; 
 
 Being Brilliant Passages Selected from the Discourses of 
 C. H. Spurgeon. Large Type, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Types and Emblems; 
 
 A collection of Sermons preached on Sunday and Thursday 
 evenings at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Price 3s. 
 
 The Golden Alphabet of the Praises of Holy 
 
 Scripture, setting forth the BeHever's Delight in the Word of 
 the Lord : being a Devotional Commentary upon the One Hundred 
 and Nineteenth Psalm. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Christ's Glorious Achievements. By 0. H. SpimaEON. 
 
 Cloth. Is. 
 
THE ANCHOR 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, May 21st, 1876, by 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, 
 
 "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the 
 immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath : that by two immutable things, 
 in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who 
 have fled lor refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us : which hope we have 
 as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which enter eth into that within 
 the veil ; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even J esus, made an high priest 
 for ever after the order of Melchisedec." — Hebrews vi. 17 — 20. 
 
 Faith is the divinely-appointed way of receiving the blessings of grace. 
 " He that believeth shall be saved," is one of the main declarations of the 
 gospel. The wonders of creation, the discoveries of revelation, and the 
 movements of providence are all intended to create and foster the prin- 
 ciple of faith in the living God. If God reveals aught it is that we 
 should believe it. Of all the books of Holy Scripture it may be said, 
 these are written that ye might believe, and that believing ye might 
 have life.'* Even if God conceals anything, it is that we may be able to 
 confide in him ; since what we know yields but httle space for trust 
 compared with the unknown. Providence sends us divers trials, aE 
 meant to exercise and increase our faith, and at the same time in answer 
 to prayer it brings us varied proofs of the divine faithfulness which serve 
 as refreshments to om^ faith. Thus the works and the words of God co- 
 operate to educate men in the grace of faith. You might imagine, 
 however, from the doctrine of certain teachers that the gospel was " Who- 
 soever doubts shall be saved," and that nothing could be more useful or 
 honourable than for a man's mind to hang in perpetual suspense, sure of 
 nothing, confident of the truth of no one, not even of God himself. The 
 Bible raises a mausoleum to the memory of its heroes, and writes upon it 
 as their epitaph "these all died in faith"; but the modern gospel derides 
 faith, and sets up instead thereof the new virtue of keeping abreast with 
 the freshest thought of the age. That simple trust in the truthfulness 
 of God's word, which our fathers inculcated as the basis of all religion, 
 would seem to be at a discount now with "men of mind " who are able 
 to cope with "modern thought." Shame upon professed ministers of 
 No. 1,294 
 
278 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULriT. 
 
 Christ that some of these are worshipping at this shrine, and are labour- 
 ing after the repute of being intellectual and philosophical by scattering 
 doubts on all sides. The doctrine of the blessedness of doubt is as opposed 
 to the gospel of Jesus Christ as darkness is to light, or Satan to Christ 
 himself ; it is invented as a quietus to the consciences of those proud 
 men who refuse to yield their minds to the rule of God. 
 
 Have faith in God, for faith., is in itself a virtue of the highest order. 
 No virtue is more truly excellent than the simple confidence in the 
 Eternal which a man is helped to exhibit by the grace of the Holy Spirit. 
 Nay, not only is faith a virtue in itself, but it is the mother of all virtues. 
 He that believeth becomes strong to labour, patient to suflPer, fervent to 
 love, earnest to obey, zealous to serve. Faith is a root from which may 
 grow all that can adorn the human character. So far from being opposed 
 to good works, it is the ever-flowing fountain from whence they proceed. 
 Take faith away from the professed Christian and you have cut the 
 sinew of his strength, like Samson you have shorn him of his locks, and 
 left him with no power either to defend himself or to conquer his foes. 
 "The just shall Hve by faith," — faith is essential to the vitality of 
 Christianity, and any thing which weakens that faith weakens the very 
 mainspring of spiritual power. Brethren, not only does our own experi- 
 ence teach us this, and the word of God declare it, but the whole of 
 human history goes to show the same truth. Faith is force. Why, even 
 when men have been mistaken, if they have believed the mistake they 
 have displayed more power than men who have have known the truth, 
 but have not heartily beheved it; for the force that a man hath in dealing 
 with his fellow men lies very much in the force of conviction which his 
 behefs have over his own soul. Teach a man the truth so that his whole 
 heart believes in it, and you have given him both the fulcrum and the 
 lever with which he may move the world. To this very moment the 
 whole earth is tremulous like a mass of jelly beneath the tread of Luther, 
 and why? Because he was strong in faith. Luther was a living believer, 
 and the schoolmen with whom he had to contend were mere disputers, 
 and the priests, and cardinals, and popes with whom he came into contact 
 were mere traders in dead traditions, therefore he smote them hip and 
 thigh, with great slaughter. His whole manhood believed in what he 
 had learned of God, and as an iron rod amongst potters' vessels, so was 
 he among the pretenders of his age. What has been true in history all 
 along is most certainly true now. It is by believing that we become 
 strong: that is clear enough. Whatever supposed excellencies there 
 may be in the much vaunted receptive condition of the mind, the 
 equilibrium of a cultured intellect, and the unsettled judgment of 
 " honest disbelief, I am unable to discern them, and I see no reference 
 to them in Scripture. Holy writ neither offers commendations of un- 
 belief nor presents motives nor reasons for its cultivation. Experience 
 does not prove it to be strength in life's battle, or wisdom for life's 
 labyrinth. It is near akin to creduhty, and unhke true faith, it is prone 
 to be led by the nose by any falsehood. Unbelief yields no consolation 
 for the present, and its outlook for the future is by no means comforting. 
 We discover no intimation of a subhme cloud-land, where men of self- 
 appreciating brain-power will eternally puzzle themselves and others : 
 we hear no prophecy of a celestial hall of science were sceptics may weave 
 
THE ANCHOR. 
 
 279 
 
 fresh sophistries, and forge new objections to the revelation of God. 
 
 There is a place for the unbelieving, but it is not heaven. 
 
 Coming to our text, whose tone is far removed from all uncertainty, 
 we see clearly that the Lord does not desire us to be in an unsettled 
 condition, but would put an end to all uncertainty and questioning. As 
 among men a fact is established when an honest man has sworn to it, 
 so " God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the 
 immutability of his covenant, confirmed it by an oath." Condescending 
 to the weakness of human faith, he himself swears to what he declares, 
 and thus gives us a gospel doubly certified by the promise and oath of 
 the everlasting God. Surely angels must have wondered when God lifted 
 his hand to heaven to swear to what he had promised, and must have 
 concluded that thenceforth there would be an end of all strife, because 
 of the confirmation which the Lord thus gave to his covenant. 
 
 In working out our text, I must direct you to its most conspicuous 
 metaphor. This world is like a sea, restless, unstable, dangerous, never 
 at one stay. Human affairs may be compared to waves driven with the 
 wand and tossed. As for om-selves, we are the ships which go upon the 
 sea, and are subject to its changes and motions. We are apt to be 
 drifted by currents, driven by winds, and tossed with tempests : we have 
 not yet come to the true terra firma, the rest which remaineth for the 
 people of God ; God would not have us carried about with every wind, 
 and therefore he has been pleased to fashion for us an anchor of hope 
 most sure and stedfast, so that we may outride the storm. I shall not 
 attempt to preach from the whole of the great text before us, for it 
 would require seven years at least, and a Dr. John Owen, or a Joseph 
 Caryl to bring forth a tithe of its meaning. I am simply going to work 
 out the one set of truths suggested by the image of an anchor, and may 
 God grant that all of us this morning who know the meaning of that 
 anchor may feel it holding us fast by its grip within the veil ; and may 
 others, who have never possessed that anchor before, be enabled to cast 
 it overboard this morning for the first time, and feel throughout all the 
 rest of their lives the strong consolation w^hich such a holdfast is sure to 
 bestow upon the believing heart. 
 
 I. First, let me call your attention to the design of the anchor 
 of which our text speaks. 
 
 The design of an anchor, of course, is to hold the vessel firmly to one 
 place when winds and cuiTents would otherwise remove it. God has 
 given us certain truths, which are intended to hold our minds fast to 
 truth, holiness, perseverance — in a w^ord, to hold us to himself. But 
 why hold the vessel ? The first answer which would suggest itself would 
 be to keep it from being wrecked. The ship may not need an anchor in calm 
 waters ; when upon a broad ocean a little drifting may not be a very serious 
 matter: but there are conditions of weather in which an anchor becomes 
 altogether essential. When a gale is rushing towards the shore, blow- 
 ing great guns, and the vessel cannot hold her course, but must surely be 
 driven upon an iron-bound coast, then the anchor is worth its weight in 
 gold. If the good ship cannot be anchored there will be nothing left of 
 her in a very short time but here and there a spar ; the gallant vessel 
 will go to pieces, and every mariner be drowned; now is the time to 
 let down the anchor, the best bower anchor if you will, and let the good 
 
280 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 ghip defy the wind. Our God does not intend his people to be ship- 
 wrecked ; shipwrecked and lost, however, they would be if they were 
 not held fast in the hour of temptation. Brethren, if every wind of 
 doctrine whirled you about at its will you would soon be drifted far 
 away from the truth as it is in Jesus, and concerning it you would 
 make shipwreck ; but you cost your Lord too dear for him to lose 
 you ; he bought you at too great a price, and sets too great a store 
 by you for him to see you broken to pieces on the rocks ; therefore he 
 has provided for you a glorious holdfast, that when Satan's temptations, 
 your own corruptions, and the trials of the world assail you, hope may be 
 the anchor of your soul, both sure and stedfast. How much we need 
 it ! For we see others fall into the error of the wicked, overcome by 
 the deceivableness of unrighteousness, and left for ever as castaways. 
 " Having no hope and without God in the world.'*' If you have done 
 business on the great waters for any length of time, you must be well 
 aware that were it not for everlasting truths which hold you fast, your 
 soul had long since been hurried into everlasting darkness, and the 
 proud waters had long ere this have gone over your soul. When the 
 mighty waves have lifted up themselves, your poor bark has seemed to 
 go down to the bottom of the mountains, and had it not been for un- 
 changing love and immutable faithfulness, you heart had utterly faintedo 
 Nevertheless, here you are to-day, convoyed by grace, provisioned by 
 mercy, steered by heavenly wisdom, and propelled by celestial power. 
 Thanks to the anchor, or rather to the God who gave it to you, no storm 
 has overwhelmed you ; you are under way for the port of glory. 
 
 An anchor is also wanted to keep a vessel from discomfort, for even if 
 it be not wrecked it would be a wretched thing to be driven hither and 
 thither, to the north and then to the south, as winds may shift. Un- 
 happy is he who is the creature of external influences, flying along like 
 thistledown in the breeze, or a rolling thing before the whirlwind. We 
 require an anchor to hold us so that we may abide in peace, and find 
 rest unto our souls. Blessed be God, there are solid and sure truths 
 infallibly certified to us, which operate powerfully upon the mind so 
 as to prevent its being harassed and dismayed. The text speaks of 
 
 strong consolation." Is not that a glorious word, — we have not merely 
 consolation which wiU hold us fast and bear us up against the tempest in 
 times of trouble, but strong consolation so that when affliction bursts 
 forth with unusual strength, like a furious tornado, the strong con- 
 solation, hke a sheet anchor, may be more than a match for the 
 strong temptation, and may enable us to triumph over all. Very restful 
 is that man who is very believing. 
 
 " Hallelujah ! I believe ! 
 Now the giddy world stands fast, 
 For my soul has found an anchor 
 Till the night of storm is past.'' 
 
 An anchor is wanted, too, to preserve us from losing the headway 
 which we have made. The vessel has been making good way towarck 
 port, but the wind changes and blows in her teeth ; she will be borne 
 back to the port from which she started, or to an equally undesirable 
 port, unless she can resist the foul wind ; therefore, she puts down her 
 
THE ANCHOR. 
 
 281 
 
 anchor. The captain says to himself, " I have got so far and I am not 
 going to be drifted back. Down goes my anchor, and here I stop." 
 Saints are sometimes tempted to return to the country whence they came 
 out, they are half incKned to renounce the things which they have 
 learned, and to conclude that they never were taught of the Lord at all. 
 Alas, old Adam plucks us back, and the devil endeavours to drive us 
 back, and were it not for something sure to hold to, back we should 
 go. If it could be proved to be, as certain cultivated teachers would 
 have us beheve, that there is nothing very sure, that although black 
 is black it is not very black, and though white is white it is not very 
 white, and from certain standpoints no doubt black is white and white is 
 black ; if it could be proved, I say, that there are no eternal verities, 
 no divine certainties, no infallible truths, then might we wiUingly sur- 
 render what we know or think we know, and wander about on the ocean 
 of speculation, the waifs and strays of mere opinion : but while we have 
 the truth, taught to our very souls by the Holy Ghost, we cannot drift 
 from it, nor will we though men count us fools for our stedfastness. 
 Brethren, aspire not to the charity which grows out of uncertainty ; there 
 are saving truths and there are " damnable heresies"; Jesus Christ is 
 not yea and nay ; his gospel is not a cunning mixture of the gaU of hell 
 and the honey of heaven, flavoured to the taste of bad and good. There 
 are fixed principles and revealed facts. Those who know anything 
 experimentally about divine things have cast their anchor down, and 
 as they heard the chain running out, they joyfully said, " This I know, 
 and have believed. In this truth I stand fast and immovable. Blow 
 winds and crack your cheeks, you wiU never move me from this anchor- 
 age : whatsoever I have attained by the teaching of the Spirit, I will 
 hold fast as long as I live." 
 
 Moreover, the anchor is needed that we may possess constancy and 
 usefulness. The man who is easily moved and believeth this to-day and 
 that to-morrow, is a fickle creature. Who knows where to find him ? Of 
 what use is he to the younger sort and the feeble folk, or indeed to any 
 one else ? Like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, 
 what service can he render in the work of the Lord, and how can he 
 influence others for good ? He believes not, how can he make others 
 believe ? I beheve that the orthodox disbeliever is more largely a creator 
 of infideUty than the heterodox believer : in other words, I fear that 
 the man who earnestly believes an error has a less injurious influence 
 upon others than the man who holds the truth in indifference, and 
 secret unbelief : this man is tolerated in godly company, for he pro- 
 fesses to be one of ourselves, and he is therefore able to stab at piety 
 beneath her shield. The man knows nothing, certainly, but only 
 hopes and trusts, and when defending truth he allows that much may 
 be said on the other side, so that he kisses and stabs at the same 
 time. 
 
 Our God has provided us an anchor to hold us fast lest we be ship- 
 wrecked, lest we be unhappy, lest we lose the progress we have made, and 
 lest our character should become unstable, and therefore useless. These 
 purposes are kind and wise ; let us bless the Lord who has so graciously 
 cared for us. 
 
 11. Secondly, I invite you to consider the make of the anchob 
 
282 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 — " That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to 
 lie, we might have a strong consolation." 
 
 Anchor-making is very important work. The anchor-smith has a very 
 responsible business, for if he makes his anchor badly, or of weak ma- 
 terial, woe to the shipmaster when the storm comes on. Anchors are 
 not made of cast iron, nor of every kind of metal that comes to hand, 
 but they are made of wrought iron, strongly welded, and of tough, com- 
 pact material, which will bear all the strain that is likely to come upon 
 it at the worst of times. If anything in this world should be strong it 
 should be an anchor, for upon it safety and life often depend. 
 
 What is our anchor ? It has two great blades or flukes to it, each of 
 which acts as a holdfast. It is made of two divine things. The one is 
 God's promise, a sure and stable thing indeed. We are very ready to 
 take a good man's promise, but perhaps the good man may forget to fulfil 
 it, or be unable to do so : neither of these things can occur with the 
 Lord, he cannot forget and he cannot fail to do as he has said.- 
 Jehovah's promise, what a certain thing it must be ! If you had nothing 
 but the Lord's bare word to trust to surely your faith should never 
 stagger. To this sure word is added another divine thing, namely, 
 God's oath. Beloved, I scarcely dare speak upon this sacred topic. God's 
 oath, his solemn assertion, his swearing by himself! Conceive the 
 majesty, the awe, the certainty of this ! Here, then, are two divine 
 assurances, which like the flukes of the anchor hold us fast. Who dares to 
 doubt the promise of God ? Who can have the audacity to distrust his 
 oath? 
 
 We have for our anchor two things, which, in addition to their being 
 divine, are expressly said to be immutaile — that is, two things which can- 
 not change. When the Lord utters a promise he never runs back from it — 
 " the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Hath he said 
 and shall he not do it? Hath he promised and shall it not stand fast? 
 He changeth never, and his promise abideth from generation to genera- 
 tion. Then comes the oath, which is the other immutable thing; how 
 could that be altered ? God has pledged the honour of his name, and it 
 is not supposable that, under such circumstances, he will retract his 
 engagements and deny his own declarations. Ah, no — 
 
 " The gospel bears my spirit up. 
 A faithful and unchanging God 
 Lays the foundation for my hope 
 In oaths, and promises, and blood." 
 
 Notice next of these two things that is said — " Wherein it is impos- 
 sible for God to lie'' It is inconsistent with the very idea and thought 
 of God that he should be a liar. A lying God would be a solecism in 
 language, a self-evident contradiction. It cannot be, God must be true, 
 true in'his nature, true in his thoughts, true in his designs, true in his 
 acts, and assuredly true in his promises and true in his oath. " Wherein 
 it is impossible for God to lie." Oh, beloved, what blessed holdfasts 
 have we here!" If hope cannot rest on such assurances what could 
 it rest upon ? 
 
 But now, what is this promise, and what is this oath ? The promise 
 is the promise given to Abraham that his seed should be blessed, and 
 
THE ANCHOR. 
 
 28.^ 
 
 in this seed should all nations of the earth be blessed also. To whom was 
 this promise made? Who are the "seed"? In the first place, the 
 «eed is Jesus, who blesses all nations ; and next, our apostle has proved 
 that this promise was not made to the seed according to the flesh, but to 
 the seed according to the spirit. Who, then, are the seed of Abraham 
 according to the spirit? Why, believers ; for he is the father of the 
 faithful, and God's promise, therefore, is confirmed to all who exhibit 
 the faith of believing Abraham. To Christ himself, and to all who are 
 in Christ, is the covenant made sure, that the Lord will bless them for 
 ever and make them blessings. 
 
 And what is the oath ? That may refer to the oath which the Lord 
 sware to Abraham after the patriarch had offered up his son, for which see 
 the twenty- second chapter of Genesis: but I think you will agree with 
 me if I say it more probably refers to the oath recorded in the one hun- 
 dred and tenth Psalm, which I would have you notice very carefully, — 
 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever 
 after the order of Melchisedec." I think this is referred to, because the 
 twentieth verse of our text goes on to say, " Whither the forerunner is 
 for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order 
 of Melchisedec." Now, beloved, I want you to see this anchor. Here 
 is one of its hold-fasts, — God has promised to bless the faithful, he has 
 declared that the seed of Abraham, namely believers, shall be blessed, 
 and made a blessing. Then comes the other arm of the anchor, which 
 is equally strong to hold the soul, namely, the oath of the priesthood, 
 by which the Lord Jesus is declared to be a priest for ever on our 
 behalf ; not an ordinary priest after the manner of Aaron, beginning 
 and ending a temporary priesthood, but without beginning of days or end 
 of years, living on for ever ; a priest who has finished his sacrificial 
 work, has gone in within the veil, and sits down for ever at the right 
 hand of God, because his work is complete, and his priesthood abides in 
 its eternal efficacy. This is a blessed anchor to the soul : to know that 
 my Priest is within the veil ; my King of righteousness and King of 
 eace is before the throne of God for me, representing me, and therefore 
 am in him for ever secure. What better anchor could the Comforter 
 himself devise for his people ? What stronger consolation can the heirs 
 of promise desire ? 
 
 III. We have no time to hnger, though tempted to do so, and there- 
 fore I ask you to advance in the third place to notice OUR hold of the 
 ANCHOR. It would be of no use for us to have an anchor, however 
 good, unless we had a hold of it. The anchor may be sure, and may 
 huxe a stedfast grip, but there must be a strong cable to connect the 
 anchor with the ship. Formerly it was very general to use a hempen 
 t:able, but large vessels are not content to run the risk of breakage, and 
 tlierefore they use a chain cable for the anchor. It is a grand thing to 
 liave a solid substantial connection between your soul and your hope ; to 
 have a confidence which is surely your own, from which you can never 
 be separated. 
 
 Our text speaks plainly about this laying hold of the anchor in the 
 «nd of the 18th verse — " That we might have a strong consolation, who 
 have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." We must 
 personally lay hold on the hope ; there is the hope, but we are bound to 
 
284 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 grasp it and hold it fast. As with an anchor the cable must pass 
 through the ring, and so be bound to it, so must faith lay hold upon the 
 hope of eternal life. The original Greek signifies ^' to lay hold by main 
 force and so to hold as not to lose our hold when the greatest force 
 would pull it from us." We must take firm hold of firm truth. Ah, 
 brethren, as some men have a cloudy hope, ao they would seem to have 
 a very doubtful way of laying hold upon it : I suppose it is natural it 
 should be so. For my part, I desire to be taught something certain, and 
 then I pray to be certain that I have learned it. Oh to get such a grip 
 of truth as that old warrior had of his sword, so that when he fought and 
 conquered he could not separate his hand and his sword, for his hand 
 clave to his sword as if it were glued to it. It is a blessed thing to get 
 hold of the doctrine of Christ in such a way that you would have to be 
 dismembered before it could be taken from you, for it has grown into 
 your very self. Mind you have a sure hold of your sure anchor. 
 
 Well," saith one, " but may we lay hold upon it " ? My answer is, 
 the text says it is ^^set before us," — to "lay hold of the hope set before 
 us." You may grasp it for it is set before you. If any of you were very 
 faint and hungry, and you came to a person's house, and he said "sit 
 down," and you sat down at the table, and when you sat there the 
 master set before you a good joint of meat and some very pleasant 
 fruits, and the like, you would not long question whether you might 
 eat them, but would infer your Hberty to do so because the food was 
 set before you. Assuredly this is the welcome of the gospel. The hope 
 is set before you. For what purpose is it so set ? That you may turn 
 your back upon it ? Assuredly not. Lay hold upon it, for wherever 
 truth is met with it is both our duty and our privilege to lay hold upon 
 it. All the warrant that a sinner wants for laying hold on Christ is 
 found in the fact that God has set Christ forth to be a propitiation for 
 our sins. Christian man you are in a storm ; here is an anchor. Do 
 you ask " May I use that anchor " ? It is set before you for that 
 very purpose. I warrant you there is no captain here but what if he 
 were m a storm, and saw an anchor set before him, he would use it at 
 once and ask no questions. The anchor might be none of his, it 
 might happen to be on board as a piece of merchandise ; he would not 
 care an atom about that. " The ship has got to be saved. Here is an 
 anchor ; over it goes." Act thus with the gracious hope which God 
 provides for you in the gospel of Jesus Christ : lay hold on it now and 
 evermore. 
 
 Now, notice that our hold on the anchor should be a present thing 
 and a conscious matter, for we read, " which hope we have'' We are con- 
 scious that we have it. No one among us has any right to be at peace 
 if he does not know that he has obtained a good hope through grace. 
 May you all be able to say, " which hope we have." 
 
 As it is well to have a cable made of the same metal as the anchor; so 
 it is a blessed thing when our faith is of the same divine character as the 
 truth upon which it lays hold : it needs a God-given hope on our part to 
 seize the God-given promise of which our hope is made. The right mode 
 of procedm^e is to grasp God's promise with a God-created confidence : 
 then you see that right away down from the vessel to the anchor the 
 holdfast is all of a piece, so that at every point it is equally adapted to 
 
THE ANCHOR. 
 
 285 
 
 bear the strain. 0 to have precious faith in a precious Christ ! A 
 precious confidence in precious blood. God grant it to you, and may 
 you exercise it at this very moment. 
 
 IV. Fourthly, and very briefly, let us speak of the anchor's hold of 
 us. A ship has hold upon her anchor by her chain cable, but at the 
 same time the most important thing is that the anchor keeps its hold 
 upon the ship; and so, because it has entered into the ground of the sea 
 bottom, holds the vessel hard and fast. Brethren, do you know anything 
 about your hope holding you ? It will hold you if it is a good hope ; 
 you wiU not be able to get away from it, but under temptation and 
 depression of spirit, and under trial and afSiction, you will not only hold 
 your hope — that is your duty, but your hope will hold you — that is your 
 privilege. When the devil tempts you to say, " I will give it all up," a 
 power unseen will speak out of the infinite deeps, and will reply, " But 
 I shall not give you up, I have a hold of you, and none shall separate 
 us." Brethren, our security depends far more upon God's holding us 
 than our holding to him. Our hope in God that he will fulfil his oath 
 and promise has a mighty power over us, far more than equal to all the 
 efforts of the world, the flesh, and the devil to drag us away. 
 
 How is it that our divine anchor holds so fast ? It is because it is in 
 its own nature sure — " Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, 
 both sure and stedfast." It is in itself sure as to its nature. The 
 gospel is no cunningly devised fable; God has spoken it, it is a mass of 
 fact, it is pure, unalloyed truth, with the broad seal of God himself set 
 upon it. Then, too, this anchor is " stedfast " as to its hold, it never 
 moves from its lodgment. It is sure in its nature, and stedfast when in 
 use, and thus it is practically safe. If you have believed in Christ unto 
 eternal life, and are expecting that God will be as good as his word, 
 have you not found that your hope sustains you and maintains you in 
 your position? 
 
 Brethren, the result of the use of this anchor will be very comfortable 
 to you. " Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and 
 stedfast." It wiU not prevent your being tossed about, for a ship at 
 anchor may rock a good deal, and the passengers may be very sea-sick, 
 but she cannot be driven away from her moorings. There she is, and 
 her passengers sufiPer discomfort, but they shall not suffer shipwTeck. A 
 good hope through grace wiU not altogether deliver you fi:om inward 
 conflicts, nay, it will even involve them : it will not screen you from out- 
 ward trials, it will be sure to bring them : but it will save you from aU 
 real peril. I may say to every behever in Jesus, that his condition is 
 very like that of the landsman on board ship when the sea was rather 
 rough, and he said, " Captain, we are in great danger, are we not "? As 
 an answer did not come, he said, Captain, don't you see great fear ?" 
 Then the old seaman gruffly replied, " Yes, I see plenty of fear, but not 
 a bit of danger." It is often so with us ; when the winds are out and 
 the storms are raging there is plenty of fear, but there is no danger. 
 We may be much tossed, but we are quite safe, for we have an anchor 
 of the soul both sure and stedfast, which will not start. 
 
 One blessed thing is that our hope has such a grip of us that we know 
 it. In a vessel you feel the pull of the anchor, and the more the wind 
 rages the more you feel that the anchor holds you. Like the boy with 
 
286 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 his kite : the kite is up in the clouds, where he cannot see it, but he 
 knows it is there, for he feels it pull; .30 our good hope has gone up to 
 heaven, and it is pulling and drawing us towards itself. We cannot 
 see our anchor, it would be of no use if we could see it ; its use begins 
 when it is out of sight, but it pulls, and we can feel the heavenly 
 pressure. 
 
 V. And now, lastly, and best of all, the anchor's unseen grip^ 
 " which entereth into that within the veil." Our anchor is hke every 
 other, when it is of any use it is out of sight. When a man sees the 
 anchor it is doing nothing, unless it happen to be some small stream 
 anchor or grapnel in shallow water. When the anchor is of use it is 
 gone : there it went overboard with a splash; far down there, all among 
 the fish, lies the iron holdfast, quite out of sight. Where is your hope, 
 brother ? Do you believe because you can see ? That is not believing 
 at all. Do you believe because you can feel ? That is feeling, it is not 
 believing. But " blessed is he that hath not seen and yet hath believed." 
 Blessed is he who believes against his feelings, ay, and hopes against hope. 
 That is a strange thing to do, hoping against hope, believing things 
 impossible, and seeing things invisible : he who can do that hath learned 
 the art of faith. Our hope is not seen, it lies in the Avaves, or, as the 
 text says, "within the veil." I am not going to run the figure too 
 closely, but a mariner might say that his anchor is within the watery 
 veil, for a veil of water is between him and it, and so it is concealed. 
 Such is the confidence which we have in God, whom having not seen 
 we love. -^^^ winds blow, and billows roll, 
 
 Hope is the anchor of my soul. 
 
 But can I by so slight a tie. 
 
 An unseen hope, on God rely ? 
 
 Steadfast and sure, it cannot fail, 
 
 It enters deep Avithin the A-^eil, 
 
 It fastens on a land unknown. 
 
 And moors me to my Father s throne." 
 
 Albeit our anchor is gone out of sight, yet thank God it has taken a 
 very firm grip, and " entered into that which is within the veil." What 
 hold can be equal to that which a man hath upon his God when he can 
 cry, " Thou hast promised, therefore do as thou hast said"? What 
 grasp is firmer than this, Lord, thou hast sworn it, thou canst not run 
 back. Thou hast said that he that believe th in thee is justified from all 
 sin. Lord, I believe thee, therefore be pleased to do as thou hast said. 
 I know thou canst not lie, and thou hast sworn that Christ is a priest 
 for ever, and I am resting in him as my priest who has made a fall atone- 
 ment for me. I therefore, pledge thee to thine oath, accept me for the 
 sake of Jesus' sacrifice. Canst thou reject a soul for whom thine own 
 Son is pleading ? He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto 
 God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for me : my Lord, 
 this is the hold I have upon thee, this is the anchor which I have cast 
 into the deep, mysterious attributes of thy wondrous nature. I beheve 
 thee, and thou wilt not make me ashamed of my hope." Oh, brethren, 
 what a hold you have upon the living God when you rely on his oath 
 and promise ! Thus you hold him as Jacob held the angel, and the 
 blessing you will surely win at his hands. 
 
THE ANCHOR. 
 
 287 
 
 Note next, that when an anchor has a good grip down below, the 
 more the ship drags the tigliter its hold becomes. At first, when the 
 anchor goes down, perhaps, it drops upon a hard rock, and there it 
 cannot bite, but by-and-by it slips off from the rock and enters into the 
 bottom of the sea ; it digs into the soil, and, as the cable draws it on, 
 the fluke goes deeper and deeper till the anchor almost buries itself, and 
 the more it is pulled upon the deeper it descends. The anchor gets 
 such a hold at last that it seems to say, "Now, Boreas, blow away, you 
 must tear up the floor of the sea before the vessel shall be let go." 
 Times of trouble send our hope deep down into fundamental truths. 
 Some of you people who have never known affliction, you rich people 
 who never knew want, you healthy folks who were never ill a week, 
 you have not half a grip of the glorious hope that the tried ones have. 
 Much of the unbelief in the Christian Church comes out of the easy 
 lives of professors. When you come to rough it, you need solid 
 gospel. A hard-working hungry man cannot live on your whipped 
 creams and your syllabubs — he must have something solid to nourish 
 him; and so the tried man feels that he must have a gospel which is 
 true, and he must believe it to be true, or else his soul will famish. 
 Now, if God promises and swears, have we not the most solid of assur- 
 ances ? The firmest conceivable faith is no more than the righteous due 
 of the thrice holy and faithful God. Therefore, brethren, when greater 
 trouble comes believe the more firmly, and when your vessel is tossed 
 in deeper water believe the more confidently. When the head is aching, 
 and the heart is palpitating, when all earthly joy is fled, and when death 
 comes near, believe the more. Grow surer and surer yet that your Father 
 cannot he ; yea, Let God be true and every man a liar." In this way you 
 will obtain the strong consolation which the Lord intends you to enjoy. 
 
 The text concludes with this very sweet reflection, that though our 
 hope is out of sight we have a friend in the unseen land where our hope 
 has found its hold. In anxious moments a sailor might almost wish 
 that he could go with his anchor and fix it firmly. That he cannot do, 
 but we have a friend who has gone to see to everything for us. Our 
 anchor is within the veil, it is where we cannot see it, but Jesus is there, 
 and our hope is inseparably connected with his person and work. We 
 know of a certainty that Jesus of Nazareth, after his death and burial, 
 rose from the grave, and that forty days afterwards, in the presence of 
 his disciples, he went up into heaven, and a cloud received him. We know 
 this as an historical fact ; and we also know that he rose into the heavens^ 
 as the comprehensive seed of Abraham, in whom are found aU the faithful. 
 As he has gone there we shall surely follow, for he is the firstfruits of the 
 full harvest. 
 
 According to the text, our Lord Jesus has gone within the veil as our 
 high priest Now, the high priest within the veil is in the place of 
 acceptance on our behalf. A Melchesidec high-priest is one who has 
 boundless power to bless and to save unto the uttermost. Jesus Christ 
 has offered one bloody sacrifice for sin, namely, himself, and now for 
 ever he sits down at the right hand of God, even the Father. Brethren, 
 he reigns where our anchor has entered ; we rest in Christ's finished 
 work, his resurrection power, and his eternal kingship. How can we 
 doubt after this ? 
 
288 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 We are next inforaied that Jesus has gone within the veil as a fore- 
 runner. What is a fore-runner if there be not others to run after him ? 
 He has gone to lead the way, he is the pioneer, the leader of the great 
 army, the first fruits from the dead, and if he has gone to heaven as a 
 forerunner, then we who belong to him will follow after. Should not 
 that reflection make our hearts glad ? 
 
 We are told next that as a fore-runner our Lord has for us entered — 
 that is entered to take possession in our name. When Jesus Christ 
 went into heaven he did as it were look around on all the thrones, and 
 all the palms, and all the harps, and all the crowns, and say "I take 
 possession of all these in the name of my redeemed. I am their 
 representative and claim the heavenly places in their name." As surely 
 as Jesus is there, the possessor of all things, so shall we also each one 
 come to his inheritance in due time. 
 
 Our Lord Jesus by his intercession is drawing us to heaven, and we 
 have only to wait a little while and we shall be with him where he is. 
 He pleads for our home-bringing, and it will come to pass ere long. 
 No sailor likes his anchor to come home, for if it does so in a storm 
 matters look very ugly ; our anchor will never come home, but it is 
 drawing us home ; it is drawing us to itself, not downwards beneath 
 devouring waves, but upwards to ecstactic joys. Do you not feel 
 it ? You who are growing old, do you not feel its home drawings ? 
 Many cords hold us here, but they are getting fewer with some of 
 you — the dear wife has faded away, or the beloved husband has 
 ^one ; many of your children have gone too, and a host of friends. 
 These are all helps to draw you upward. I think at this very moment 
 you must feel as if your barque were about to change by some magic 
 power from a ship which floats the waters to an eagle which can fly the 
 air. Have you not often longed to mount while singing 
 
 " Oh that we now might grasp our guide ! 
 Oh that the word were given ! 
 Come, Lord of hosts, the waves divide, 
 And land us all in heaven ! 
 
 My cable has grown shorter of late, a great many of its links have 
 vanished, I am nearer my hope that when I first believed. Every day 
 hope nears fruition, let our joy in it become more exultant. A few 
 more weeks or months, and we shall dwell above, and while we shall 
 need no anchor to hold us fast, we shall eternally bless that divine 
 condescension which produced such a holdfast for our unstable minds 
 while tossed upon this sea of care. 
 
 What will those of you do who have no anchor ? for a storm is coming 
 on. I see the lowering clouds, and hear the distant hurricane. What 
 will you do ? May the Lord help you at once to flee for refuge to the 
 hope set before you. Amen. 
 
 Sermons in Candles. Hlustrations which may be found in 
 Common Candles. By C. H. Spuegeon. Stiff covers, Is. Cloth, gilt edges, 2s. 
 
 The Royal Wedding. The Banquet and the Guests. By 
 C. H. Spueqeon. Cloth, Is. 
 
THE HOPE LAID UP IN HEAVEN. 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, October 13tii, 1878. by 
 
 AT THE metropolitan TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 " For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the. 
 word of the truth of the gospel." — Colossians i. 5. 
 
 Three graces should be always conspicuous in Christians — faith, love, 
 and hope. They are each mentioned by Paul in the opening verses of the 
 epistle from which our text is taken. These lovely graces should be so 
 conspicuous in every believer as to be spoken of, and consequently heard 
 of even by those who have never seen us. These flowers should yield so 
 sweet a perfume that their fragrance may be perceived by those who have 
 never gazed upon them. So was it with the saints at Colosse. Paul 
 says, ''We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of .your faith in Christ 
 Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which 
 is laid up for you in heaven." May our characters be such as can be 
 reported of without causing us to blush ; but that can never be the case 
 if these essential virtues are absent. If these things be in us and abound 
 we shall not be barren or unfruitful, but if they be lacking we are as 
 withered branches. We should, therefore, be rich in faith, which is the 
 root of every grace ; and to this end we should daily pray, " Lord, in- 
 crease our faith." We should strive to be full even to overflowing with 
 love, which is of God, and makes us like to God ; and we should also 
 abound in hope, even that heavenly hope which causeth a man to purify 
 himself in readiness for the inheritance above. See ye to it that neither 
 of these three divine sisters are strangers to your souls, but let faith, 
 liope, and love take up their abode in your hearts. 
 
 Note, however, the special character of each of these graces as it exists 
 in the Christian. It is not every faith and love and hope that will serve 
 onr turn, for of all precious things there are counterfeits. There is a 
 kind of faith in all men, but ours is faith in Christ Jesus, faith in him 
 whom the world rejects, whose cross is a stumblingblock, and whose 
 doctrine is an ofi*eno«. We have faith in the man of Nazareth, who is 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 No. 1,438. 
 
566 
 
 METROPOLETAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 also the Son of God, faith in him who having made atonement by his 
 own blood once for all, is now exalted to his Father's right hand. 
 Our confidence is not placed in ourselves, nor in any human priest nor 
 in the traditions of our fathers, nor in the teachings of human wisdom, 
 but alone in Christ Jesus. This is the faith of God^s elect. 
 
 The love of Christians, too, is also special, for while a Christian man 
 is moved by universal benevolence and desires to do good unto all men, 
 yet he has a special love unto all the saints, and these the world loves 
 not, because it loves not their Lord. The true believer loves the perse- 
 cuted, the misrepresented, and despised people of God for Christ's sake. 
 He loves them all, even though he may think some of them to be mis- 
 taken in minor matters ; he has love to the babes in grace as well as to 
 the grown saints, and love even to those saints whose infirmities are 
 more manifest than their virtues. He loves them not for their station, 
 or for their natural amiability, but because Jesus loves them, and because 
 they love Jesus. You see the faith is in Christ Jesus, but the love 
 extends beyond Christ himself to all those who are in union with him : 
 while hope takes a still wider sweep, and includes the eternal future in its 
 dircuit ; thus do our graces increase in range as well as in number. 
 
 Our hope, too, upon which we are to speak this morning, is special, 
 because it is a hope which is laid up for us in heaven; a hope, therefore, 
 which the worldling cares not one whit about. He hopes that to-morrow 
 may be as this day, and yet more abundant, but he cares nothing for the 
 land where time has ceased to flow. He hopes for riches, or he hopes for 
 feme ; he hopes for long life and prosperity ; he hopes for pleasure and 
 domestic peace ; the whole range of his hope is within the compass of his 
 eye : but our hope has passed beyond the sphere of sight, according to 
 the word of the apostle, " What a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? 
 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." 
 Ours is a hope which demands nothing of time, or earth, but seeks its 
 all in the world to come. It is of this hope that we are about to speak. 
 May the Holy Spirit lead us into a profitable meditation upon it. 
 
 The connection of our text seems to be this : the apostle so much re- 
 joiced when he saw the saints at Colosse possessing faith, love, and hope, 
 that he thanked God and prayed about them. He saw these seals of 
 God upon them, these three tokens that they were a really converted 
 people, and his heart was glad. All the faithful ministers of Christ re- 
 joice to see their people adorned with the jewels of faith, and love, and 
 hope ; for these are their ornament for the present, and their preparation 
 for the future. This I beUeve to be the connection, but yet from the 
 form of the language it is clear that the apostle intended to state that 
 their love to the saints was very much prodiiced in them by the hope 
 which was laid up in heaven. You notice the word "for," which stands 
 there : " The love which ye have to all the saints for," or on account of , 
 or because of, the hope which is laid up for you in heaven." There 
 can be no doubt that the hope of heaven tends greatly to foster love to 
 all the saints of God. We have a common hope, let us have a common 
 aflfection : we are on our way to God, let us march in loving company ; 
 we are to be one in heaven, let us be one on earth. One is our Master 
 and one is our service; one is our way and one is our end; let us be 
 knit together as one man. We all of us expect to see our Well-beloved 
 
THE HOPE LAID UP IN HEAVEN. 
 
 567 
 
 face to face, and to be like him ; why should we not even now love all 
 those in whom there is anything of Christ ? Brethren, we are to live 
 together for ever in heaven : it is a pity we should quarrel. We are 
 for ever to be with Jesus Christ, partakers of the same joy, of the 
 same glory, and of the same love ; why should we be scant in our love 
 to each other ? On the way to Canaan we have to fight the same enemy, 
 to publish the same testimony, to bear the same trials, and to fly to the 
 same helper : therefore let us love one another. It were not difficult to 
 show that the hope Which is laid up in heaven should be productive of 
 love among the saints on earth. This connection of my text with the 
 clause immediately before it does not at all prevent its being regarded 
 in the sense which I first mentioned, namely, that it was a subject for 
 joy with the apostle that the Colossians had faith and love and hope ; 
 for he would rejoice none the less because their faith was fostered by 
 tlieir hope. It commendeth these sweet graces, that they are so won- 
 derfully intertwisted with each other and dependent upon one another. 
 There would be no love to the saints if there were not faith in Christ 
 Jesus, and if there were not faith in Christ Jesus there would be no hope 
 laid up in heaven. If we had no love it w^ould be certain that we had 
 no true faith, and if we had no hope, faith would be assuredly absent. 
 If we entertain one of the graces we must receive her sisters, for they 
 cannot be separated. Here are three brilliants set in the same golden 
 setting, and none must break the precious jewel. " Now abide th faith, 
 hope and love, these three," and blessed is he who hath them abiding 
 in his own heart. 
 
 Now we will let faith and love stand by for a little while, and we 
 will talk about hope, the hope mentioned in our text, the hope which is 
 laid up for you in heaven. First, it is a very marvellous hope; secondly, 
 it is a very secure hope ; and thirdly, it is a very poiverftilly influential 
 hope. May the Holy Ghost bless these three thoughts to us all. 
 
 I. First, then, we speak of our hope which is laid up for us in heaven 
 as A VERY MARVELLOUS HOPE, and it is so, if we only consider that it 
 is a great act of grace that sinners should have a hope at all. That when 
 man had broken his Maker's law there should remain a hope for him is 
 a thought which should make our hearts leap with gratitude. Do you not 
 recollect when you felt it to be so ? When sin lay heavily upon your con- 
 science Satan came and wrote over the lintel of your door, " No hope," 
 and the grim sentence would have stood there to this day had not a loving 
 hand taken the hyssop, and by a sprinkling of precious blood removed 
 the black inscription. Wherefore remember that at that time ye were 
 without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world." That 
 was our condition once ; and it is a marvellous thing that it should be 
 thoroughly changed, and that assurance should have taken the place of 
 despair. In our carnal estate many false hopes, like will-o'-the-wisps, 
 danced before us, deceived us, and led us into bogs of presumption and 
 error, but we really had no hope. This is a dreadful condition for a man 
 to be in : ^ it is, indeed, the very worst of all ; never is the storm so terrible 
 as when in the howling of the winds the man distinctly hears the words 
 ''No hope.'' Yet into the thick darkness of no hope we once steered our 
 course, and each time we tried to rely upon good works, outward cere- 
 monies, and good resolutions, we were disappointed anew, and the words 
 
568 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 rung into our souls with dread monotionj, ^^No hope, no hope," until 
 we were fein to lie down and die. Now, sinners though we be, we have 
 a hope. Ever since by faith we looked to Jesus on the cross, a hope full 
 of glory has taken possession of our hearts. Is not this a marvellous 
 thing ? 
 
 More marvellous still is it that our hope should venture to he associated 
 with heaven. Can there be heaven for such as we are ? It seems almost 
 presumptuous for a sinner who so richly deserves hell even to lift up his 
 eyes towards heaven. He might have some hope of purgatory, if there 
 were such a region, but a hope of heaven, is not that too much ? Yet, 
 bretiiren, we have no fear of hell or of purgatory now, but we expect to 
 taste ^he joys laid up in heaven. There is no purgatory for anyone, and 
 theR . (){}r >hell for saints, heaven awaits all believers in Jesus. Our hope 
 is fti ^ 5 for it has to do with the glory of Christ, whom we hope 
 to bt ;ost thou expect then, thou who wast black with lust, that 
 
 thq^" j; u among the angels ? ^* Ay, that I do," saith the beUever, 
 ",f)"^ ,!^;id'er to the throne than they." And thou who hast plunged into 
 every form of uncleanness, dost tnou expect to see G-od, for none but the 
 jture in heart can behold him ? " Aye, that I do," saith he, " and not 
 only to see him, but to be like his Son, when I see him as he is." What 
 a divine hope is this ! Not that we shall sit down on heaven's door- 
 step, and hear stray notes of the songs within, but that we shall sing with 
 the happy band ; not that we shall have an occasional glance within the 
 gates of pearl, and feel our hearts hankering after the unutterable joys 
 within the sacred enclosure, but we shall actually and personally enter 
 into the halls of the palace, and see the king in his beauty in the land 
 which is very far off. This is a brave hope, is it not ? Why, she aspireth 
 to all that the best of saints have received, she looketh for the same vision 
 of glory, the same ecstasy of delight; she even aspireth to sit upon the 
 throne of Christ, according to the promise, " To him that overcometh 
 will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and 
 am set down with my Father in his throne." Hope reckons to be among 
 the overcomers, and to partake in their enthronement. This is marvellous 
 hope for a struggling believer to entertain ; yet it is not presumption, but 
 confidence warranted by the word of God. Is it not a miracle of love 
 that such poor creatures as ourselves should be enabled thus to hope in 
 God? 
 
 This hope is the more marvellous because it is so sulstantial. In our 
 text the apostle scarcely seems to be speaking of tfie grace of hope, since 
 that can hardly be said to be laid up in heaven, but dwells in our bosoms : 
 he rather speaks of the olject of hope, and yet it is clear that in his mind 
 the grace of hope as well as the object must have been intended, because 
 that which is laid up in heaven is not a hope except to those who hope 
 for it ; it is clear that no man has a hope laid up in heaven, unless he 
 has hope within himself. The truth is that the two things — the grace of 
 hope and its object — are here mentioned under one term, which may be 
 intended to teach us that when hope is wrought in the heart by the Holy 
 Ghost, it is the thing hoped for, even as faith is the thing believed, 
 because it realizes and secures it. Just as faith is the substance of things 
 hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, so is hope the substance 
 of the thing it expects, and the evidence of the thing it cannot see. 
 
THE HOPE LAID UP IK HEAVEN. 
 
 569 
 
 Paul in this case, as in many others, uses language rather according to 
 the theological sense which he would conyey than according to the 
 classical usage of the Greek tongue. The words of a heathen people 
 must be somewhat strained from their former use if they are to express 
 divine truth, and Paul does thus stretch them to their utmost length in 
 this case. The hope of the true believer is so substantial that Paul even 
 speaks of it as though it were the thing itself, and were laid up in heaven. 
 Many a man hath a hope of wealth, but that hope is a different thing 
 froni being wealthy. There is many a shp 'twixt the cup and the lip, 
 saith the old proverb, and how true it is ! A man may have a hope of 
 old age, yet he may never reach even middle life, and thus it is clear 
 that the hope of long life is not in itself longevity ; but he that hp h the 
 divine hope which gTows out of faith and love hath a hope - ^ J. shall 
 never be disappointed, so that the apostle speaks of it as^ -* ' tical 
 with the thing hoped for, and describes it as laid up in h. iVhat 
 a marvellous hope is this which long before its realization i as 
 
 a matter of actual attainment, and spoken of as a treasure rb*.^! " in 
 the coffers of heaven ! 
 
 One marvellous point about our hope is this, that it is the subject ofMviu:* 
 revelation. No one could ever have invented this hope, it is so glorious 
 as to baflle imagination. The prince of dreamers could never have 
 dreamed it, nor the master of the art of logic have inferred it by reason : 
 imagination and understanding are both left upon the ground, while the 
 Bible idea of heaven soars upward like a strong-winged angel. The 
 eternal hope had to be revealed to us ; we should never have known it 
 else, for the apostle says, Whereof ye heard before in the word of the 
 truth of the gospel." That a sinful man should have a hope of enjoying 
 the perfect bliss ©f Paradise is a thing not to be thought of, were it not 
 that the Lord hath promised it. I say again, imagination's utmost 
 stretch had never reached to this, neither could we have had the pre- 
 sumption to suppose that such a bliss could be in store for men so un- 
 worthy and undeserving, had we not been assured thereof by the word of 
 God. But now the word of God hath opened a window in heaven and 
 bidden us look therein and hope for the time when we shall drink of its 
 living fountains of waters, and go no more out for ever. 
 
 This is marvellous, and it is even more marvellous to think that fhiz 
 hojpe came to us simply by hearing. Whereof ye heard before in the 
 word of the truth of the gospel." "Faith cometh by hearing," and hope 
 comes by faith ; and so the divine hope of being in heaven came to us 
 by hearing, — not by working, not by deserving, not by penance and 
 sacrifice, but simply by hearkening diligently unto the divine word, and 
 beheying unto hfe. We heard that the pierced hand of Jesus had opened 
 the kingdom of heaven to all believers, and we believed, and saw a way 
 of entrance into the holiest by his blood. We heard that God had pre- 
 pared for them that love him joys indescribable, and we believed the mes- 
 sage, trusting in his Son. Our confidence is in the word which we have 
 heard, for it is written, "Hear and your soul shall live "; and we find 
 that by hearing our confidence is strengthened, and our heart filled with 
 inward assurance and joyful expectation, therefore do we love the word 
 more and more. Will we not prize to the uttermost that sacred word 
 which hajs brought us suck a hope? Yes, tiiat we wiU; till we exchange 
 
570 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 hearing for seeing, and the message of Jesus for Jesus himself, we wiil 
 always" lend a willing ear to the testimony of Jesus. 
 
 This hope is marvellous, once more, because the siilstance of it is most 
 extraordinary. Brethren, what is the hope which is laid up for us in 
 heaven ? It would need many a sermon to bring out all the phases of 
 dehght which belong to that hope. It is the hope of victory^ for we 
 shall overcome every foe, and Satan shall be trodden under our feet. A 
 palm of victory is prepared for our hands, and a crown for our heads. 
 Our life struggle shall not end in defeat, but in complete and eternal 
 triumph, for we shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb. Nor do 
 we hope for victory only : but in our own persons we shall possess per- 
 fection. We shall one day cast off the slough of sin, and shall be seen in 
 the beauty of our new-born life. Truly, " it doth not yet appear what 
 we shall be/' but when we think of the matchless character of our Lord 
 Jesus, we are overjoyed by the assurance that "we shall be like him." 
 What an honour and a bliss for the younger brethren to be like the first- 
 born ! To what higher honour could God himself exalt us ? I know 
 not of aught which could surpass this. Oh, matchless joy to be as holy, 
 harmless, and undefiled as our own beloved Lord ! How delightful to 
 have no propensity to sin remaining in us nor trace of its ever having 
 been there ; how blissful to perceive that our holy desires and aspirations 
 have no weakness or defect remaining in them. Our nature will be 
 perfect and fully developed, in all its sinless excellence. We shall love 
 God, as we do now, but oh how much more intensely ! We shall rejoice 
 in God, as we do now, but oh what depth there will be in that joy ! 
 We shall delight to serve him, as we do now, but there will then be no 
 coldness of heart, no languor of spirit, no temptation to turn aside. 
 Our service will be as perfect as that of angels. Then shall we say to 
 ourselves without fear of any inward failure, " Bless the Lord, 0 my 
 soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name." There will be no 
 recreant affection then ; no erring judgment, no straying passion, no 
 rebellious lust : there will remain nothing which can defile, or weaken, 
 or distract. We shall be perfect, altogether perfect. This is oar hope — ■ 
 victory over evil and perfection in all that is good. If this were all our 
 hope it would be marvellous, but there is more to be unfoklod. 
 
 We expect to enjoy security also from every danger. As there will be 
 no evil in us, so there will be none around us or about us to cause us 
 alarm. No temporal evil, such as pain, bereavement, sorrow, labour, or 
 reproach shall come near us : all will be security, peace, rest, and enjoy- 
 ment. No mental evil will intrude upon us in heaven ; no doubts, no 
 staggering difficulties, no fears, no bewilderments will cause us distress. 
 Here we see through a glass darkly, and we know in part, but there shall 
 we see face to face, and know even as we are known. Oh, to be free from 
 mental trouble ! What a relief will this be to many a doubting Thomas ! 
 This is a marvellous hope. And then no spiritual enemy will assail us, no 
 world, no flesh, no devil will mar our rest above. What will you make 
 out of it, ye tried ones ? Your Sabbaths are very sweet now on earth, 
 but when they are over you have to return to yon cold world again ; but 
 there your Sabbath shall never end, and your separation from the wicked 
 wiU be complete. It will be a strange sensation for you to find no 
 Monday morning, no care to be renewed, no toil to be encountered, no 
 
THE HOPE LAID UP IN II RAVEN. 
 
 571 
 
 harness to be buckled on afresh ; above all, no sin to be di'eaded, nc 
 temptation to be escaped. Heaven is so peaceful that the storms of earth 
 are there unknown, the stirrings of the flesh are never felt, and the 
 bowlings of the dog of hell are never heard. There all is peace and 
 purity, perfection and security for ever. 
 
 With this security will come perfect rest : Yea, saith the Spirit, for 
 they rest from their labours." Heavenly rest is quite consistent with 
 continual service, for, like the angels, we shall rest on the wing, and find 
 it rest to serve God day and night. But there you shall not toil till the 
 sweat bedews your face, neither shall the sun smite you, nor any heat. 
 No weary limb nor- fevered brain shall follow upon the blessed service of 
 the glory-land. It is a paradise of pleasure, and a palace of glory ; it is 
 a garden of supreme delights, and a mansion of abiding love ; it is an 
 everlasting sabhatismos, a rest which never can be broken, which ever- 
 more remaineth for the people of God ; it is a kingdom where all are 
 kings, an inheritance where all are heirs. My soul panteth for it. Is 
 not tihiis a charming hope ? Did I not say well when I declared it to be 
 marvellous ? 
 
 Nor is this all, brethren, for we expect to enjoy in heaven a Jiappmess 
 beyond compare. Eye hath not seen it, nor ear heard it, nor hath the 
 heart conceived it ; it surpasses all carnal joy. We know a little of it, 
 for the Lord hath revealed it unto us by the Spirit, who searcheth all 
 things, even the deep things of God ; yet what we know is but a mere 
 taste of the marriage feast : enough to make us long for more, but by 
 no means sufficient to give us a complete idea of the whole banquet. If 
 it be so sweet to preach about Christ, what must it be to see him and be 
 with him ? If it be so delightful to be ravished by the music of his 
 name, what must it be to lie in his bosom ? Why, if these few clusters 
 of Eshcol which are now and then brought to us are so sweet, what will 
 it be to abide in the vineyard, where all the clusters grow ? If that one 
 bucketful from the well of Bethlehem tasted so sweetly that we scarce 
 dared to drink it, but poured it out before the Lord as a thankoffering, 
 what a joy will it be to drink at the well-head without stint for ever ? 0 
 to be eternally at the right hand of God, where there are pleasures for 
 evermore ! 
 
 This is our hope, and yet there is more, for we have the hope of ever- 
 lasting fellowship with Christ. I would give ten thousand worlds, if I 
 had them, to have one glimpse of that dear face, which was marred with 
 sorrow for my sake ; but to sit at my Lord's feet and look up into his 
 countenance, and hear his voice, and never, never grieve him, but to 
 participate in all his triumphs and glories for ever and for ever, — what 
 a heaven will this be ? Then shall we have fellowship with all his 
 saints, in whom he is glorified, and by whom his image is reflected ; and 
 thus shall we behold fresh displays of his power and beamings of his 
 love. Is not this surpassing bliss ? Said I not well when I declared 
 that ours is a marvellous hope ? Had I eloquence and could pile on 
 goodly words, and could a poet assist me with his sweetest song, to tell 
 of the bliss and joy of the eternal world, yet must preacher and poet 
 both confess their inability to describe the glory to be revealed in us. 
 The noblest intellect and the sweetest speech could not convey to you 
 so much as a thousandth part of the bliss of heaven. 
 
572 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 There I leave the first head. It is a very marvellous hope. 
 
 II. Secondly, let us remark that it is a most secure hope. It is 
 so according to the text, because it is laid up or secured. The recent 
 calamities which have occurred in connection with the Glasgow City Bank 
 will make business men very careM where they lay up their treasures ; 
 but no one can entertain any fear of the safety of that which God himself 
 takes under his charge. If your hope is laid up with him it becomes sinful 
 to doubt its security. It is "laid up," the text says, and this means that 
 it is hidden in a safe place like a treasure which is well secured. We find 
 it hard to lay up our valuables safely in this world because thieves break 
 through and steal ; the iron safe, the strong room, and all sorts of in- 
 ventions are employed to preserve them from felonious grip ; but when 
 God becomes the guardian of our treasure he lays it up where none can 
 touch it, and neither man nor devil can steal it. Our hope is laid up just 
 as crowns and wreaths were laid up at the Grecian games for those who 
 gained them : no one could snatch them away from their rightful owners, 
 but the rewards were safely retained for the winners, to be distributed 
 when the contest was over. You see not as yet your hope, beloved, but 
 it is laid up: it is hidden with Christ in God, and made as safe as the 
 throne of God himself. 
 
 Notice the next word, it is laid up ''for you^ It is something to have 
 your hope laid up, but it is much better to have it laid up for yourself. 
 *^ Laid up for you''; that is, for you whose faith is in Christ Jesus, and 
 who have love to all the saints. There is a crown in heaven which will 
 never be worn by any head but yours ; there is a harp in glory that 
 never will be touched by any finger but yours. Make no mistake about 
 it; it is laid up in heaven for you, "reserved in heaven for you, who are 
 kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." " For you''i 
 — " Fear not, Uttle flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
 you the kingdom." Lay the stress there, and get honey out of it. " Laid 
 up for you,'' 
 
 Where is it laid up ? The next word teUs us. '' Laid up for you m 
 imveriy^ '' where," says the Saviour as though he were expounding the 
 text, "neither moth nor rust doth corrupt." This means that no pro- 
 cess of decay will cause your treasure to become stale and worn out ; no 
 secret moth will eat the garments of heaven's courtiers, and no rust will 
 tarnish the brightness of their crowns. Our Lord adds, " Nor do thieves 
 break through nor steal." We cannot imagine a burglar's breaking 
 through the walls of heaven. We could not imagine Satan himself 
 undermining the bastions of the New Jerusalem, or leaping over the 
 bulwarks which guard the city of the Great King. If your hope is laid 
 up in heaven it must be perfectly safe. If your hope lies in the bank, 
 it may break ; if it lies in an empire, it may melt away ; if it lies in an 
 estate, the title-deeds may be questioned ; if it lies in any human creature, 
 death may bereave you ; if it Hes in yourself, it is deceitful altogether : but 
 if your hope is laid up in heav^, how secure it is. Be glad, and bless 
 the Lord. 
 
 To show how secure is our hope, the apostle tells us that we have an 
 indisputable certificate and guarantee for it. He says, " We heard of it 
 in the word of the trutli of the gospel." Notice these three emphatic 
 words — " In the wm^d of the truth of the gospel." First, " In the word." 
 
THE HOPE LAID UP IN HEAVEN. 
 
 57o 
 
 What word is that? Man's word? Man's words are so much wind. 
 Bat this is God's word, the same word that made heaven and earth, a 
 word of power which cannot fail and of truth which cannot lie. You 
 first hear of this blessed hope through the word of God, and tfeat word 
 is the best of evidence. You know how a person will say, My word for 
 it" — here you have God's, word for it. We take a good man's word 
 freely; and will we not take God's word much more readily? You 
 have the word of God for the sure hope that believers in Christ Jesus 
 shall be blessed for ever : is not this security enough ? 
 
 Our text goes on to say, "the word of the truth''-, so, then, it is not a 
 word of guess, conjecture, or of probable inference, but of infallible truth. 
 My brethren of the modern school, my wise brethren, have a word of 
 excogitation, and outcome, and development ; but the word the apostle 
 preached was " the word of the truth " — something positive, dogmatic, 
 and certain. Ugly as the word may sound, the Lord grant that we may 
 never be ashamed of the thing called dogmatism nowadays, which is none 
 other than faith in God's truth. We believe the word of God not only 
 to be true, but to be "the word of the truth." "Let God be true and 
 every man a liar." There may be other true things in the world, but 
 God's word is the essence of truth, the truth beyond all things else that 
 may be true, for he hath said, " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but 
 my word shall never pass away." The apostle saith in another place, 
 " All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. 
 The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away ; but the word 
 of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word whioh by the 
 gospel is preached unto you." 
 
 Note the next word, " The word of the truth of the gospel,^ or of the 
 good news. That is to say, the sum and substance of the good news 
 is to be found in this glorious hope. If you extract the essence of the 
 gospel, and get the truth, which is the central germ of the glad tidings, 
 you come at that blessed hope most sure and steadfast, which entereth 
 into that within the veil. 
 
 Now, then, before your God-created hope can fail the word of God 
 will have to be broken, but the word of God cannot be broken : the 
 truth will have to fail, but the truth abideth for ever, and is by force of 
 its own nature eternal ; and the gospel will have to be disproved, but 
 that cannot be, since the glory of God is made to hang upon it. Ye 
 have heard it, then, " in the word of the truth of the gospel," what 
 better assurance do you need? Hold to it and rejoice in it, and you 
 shall never be ashamed of your hope. 
 
 III. I close by saying that it is a most powerfully influential 
 HOPE. Brethren, I have already said to you that this hope is the parent 
 and nurse of love, because the text says, The love which ye have to all 
 the saints for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven." Now, that 
 is no trifling fountain of action which leads believing hearts to love, 
 since love is always a working grace. Oh, for more love in this distracted 
 world. Whatsoever in this world promotes Christian love is to be 
 admired, and since the hope that we shall be for ever together before the 
 throne of God hfts us above the little disagreements of society, and 
 makes us aflectionate to each other, it is a thing to cultivate with care. 
 
 Love is one part of the powerful operation of hope upon ourselves, but 
 
574 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 hoppfuhwss affects oihers also. Where the Tiopefnlness of saints is con- 
 spicuous, it ]eads ministers and gracious people to give thanks to God. 
 Paul says, We give thanks to God and the Father, praying always for 
 you since we heard of your hope.'* I do not know a greater delight that 
 a minister can have than the thought of all his people entering the bliss 
 of heaven, and of his meeting them all there. We hardly have time to 
 know each other here below ; we have loved each other in the Lord, and 
 we have striven together in the service of God, and some of us are old 
 fellow-soldiei'S now, after many years of Christian warfare, how pleasant 
 it will be to dwell together above world without end ! Some have gone 
 home whom we dearly loved, and would almost have detained if we 
 could ; and there are others among us who in the order of nature will 
 soon be translated ; happy are we because we cannot long be separated. 
 The age of some among us prophesies their speedy departure, and fore- 
 shadows that they will soon go over to the majority : but it is a most 
 blessed reflection that all of us who are in Christ shall meet together 
 above. We shall have ample room and verge enough for fellowship 
 when we have reached eternity, and what will our joy be then ! Perhaps 
 some of you will say to me when we converse in heavenly language, — 
 " You remember talking to us concerning the blessed hope on that fine 
 Lord's-day morning, but you did not know much about it. We said 
 then, ^ The half has not been told us'; but now we perceive you did not 
 tell us the one-hundredth part. Still we were glad to share in the joy 
 of what little we did know, and in the blessed hope of knowing so much 
 more." Oh yes, dear friends, because the hope of heaven in us helps to 
 make other people thank God on our account, it is a sweet grace and 
 mightily influential, and the more we have of it the better. 
 
 Moreover, hearing of their hope, led the apostle to pray, and if you 
 will follow me in reading the words which succeed the text, you will see 
 what he desired for his friends at Colosse. In the ninth verse you will 
 see what he prayed for. He says, " For this cause we also, since the day 
 we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be 
 filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual under- 
 standing." Having believed in Jesus, and loving his people, you are 
 going to heaven ; and so Paul says " I desire that you be filled with the 
 knowledge of his will," and well may he so desire, since to do that will 
 is the joy and business of heaven. Is not our prayer, ^' Thy will be 
 done on earth as it is in heaven" ? Brethren, let us learn the will of the 
 Lord now, and so be educated for the skies. Here we ai'e to go through 
 our apprenticeship, that we may be able to take up our freedom as 
 citizens of the New Jerusalem. Here we are at school, preparing to 
 take our degree above among the instructed saints of God. Are we to 
 enter heaven ignorant of what the will of the Lord is? Surely we 
 ought to know something of the ways of the place, something of the 
 rules of the court. This part of our life below is intended to be a prelude 
 to our life above, a preparation for perfection. Here below we undergx) 
 the tuning of the instruments. It is not meet that there should be discord- 
 ant scrapings and screwings of strings in heaven. No, let us do all that 
 here. Let us have our harps tuned below, so that when we reach the 
 orchestra of the skies we may take our right place, and drop into the 
 right note directly. A good hope should make you eager to know the 
 
THE HOPE LAID UP IN HEAVEN. 
 
 575 
 
 will of the Lord. It should purify you even as Christ is pure, and make 
 you anxious to begin the perfect service of heaven while yet you linger 
 below. 
 
 Then the apostle prays that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto 
 all pleasing." Is it not fit that you who are to rise to Enoch's heaven 
 sihould walk as he did, and have this testimony that you please God ? 
 You are going to dwell at God's right hand, where there are pleasures 
 for evermore, would not you wish to do all you can to please your Lord 
 before you see him ? You are a son of a king : you have not put on 
 your glittering array as yet ; your crown is not yet on your head ; but 
 surely you wish to behave yourself as becometh one who is fore-ordained 
 for so much honour and glory. If a son is in a distant country and is 
 coming home, he begins to think What can I take home ? What can 
 I do to please the beloved father whom I am soon to see ? " Begin, 
 beloved, to see what you can do to please God, because you are so soon 
 to enter into his pleasure, and dwell with those that wear white robes, 
 " for they are worthy." 
 
 Next he says, " Being fruitful in every good work." Why, if there is 
 to be such a rich reward of grace, let us bear all the gracious fruit we can, 
 and if the time of working is so soon to be over, let us be instant in every 
 holy labour while yet the season is with us. Who wants to go into heaven 
 empty-handed ? Who wishes to spend the time of his sojourning here 
 in idleness ? Oh no ; let us seek to be fruitful to the glory of God that 
 so we may have an abundant entrance into the kingdom. 
 
 The apostle further adds, " Increasing in the knowledge of God." If 
 I am going to dwell with God, let me know somewhat of him ; let me 
 search his word and see how he has revealed himself ; let me endeavour 
 to have fellowship with him and his Son Jesus that I may know him. 
 How can I enter heaven as a total stranger to him who is the king of it ? 
 Is not the knowledge of God as needful as it is desirable ? Those who 
 have a good hope of heaven will not rest without knowing the Lord, 
 from the least even to the greatest of them. If anyone were to make 
 you a present of a great estate, no matter in what country it might be 
 situated, you would feel an interest in the land and its neighbourhood, and 
 before nightfall you would be found enquiring about the place. No 
 matter how rustic the neighbourhood or remote the locality, you would 
 set your thoughts towards it if you knew the estate to be yours. As a 
 usual thing, one of the driest documents in all the world is a rich 
 man's will. If you have ever heard one read you will know how it 
 proses on and on in that rigmarole fashion dear to lawyers : but if you are 
 present when it is read to the family, please notice how " my son John's " 
 eyes clear up when it comes to the clause w^hicli concerns himself, and 
 how even the aged countenance of " my faithful servant Jane " brightens 
 when her small legacy is mentioned. Everyone is on the alert when 
 his own interests are affected. Even so he that hath a hope in heaven 
 and an interest in Christ's great testament, will at once take an interest 
 in divine things, and will desire to increase in the knowledge of God. 
 
 Once again, the apostle says, ^' strengthened with all might, according 
 to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyful- 
 nese." A hope of heaven is a mighty strengthener for bearing the ills of 
 life and ttie persecutions of the adversary. It will soon be over," says 
 
576 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 a man who looks for heaven, and therefore he is not over- weigh ted witli 
 grief. "It is an ill lodging/' said the traveller, "but I shall be away ii) 
 the morning." Well may we be strengthened with all might by the 
 hope of heaven : it is but reason that the exceeding weight of glory 
 should cast into the shade this light affliction, which is but for a 
 moment. 
 
 You will say, " But have you not wrought this part of the chapter 
 into your subject without any warrant ?" No. Here is my u^arrant in 
 the next verse : " Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us 
 meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in hght." I 
 have been following the evident track of the apostle's thoughts, The 
 Lord gives us a hope of glory, and then he gives us a meetness for it, and 
 that meetness is largely wrought in us by the Holy Spirit through the 
 instrumentality of our hope. Cultivate, then, your hope, dear brethren. 
 Make it to shine so plainly in you that your minister may hear of your 
 hopefulness and joy ; cause observers to take note of it, because you spealc 
 of heaven, and act as though you really expected to go there. 
 Make the world know that you have a hope of heaven : make 
 worldlings feel that you are a believer in eternal glory, and that you 
 hope to be where Jesus is. Often surprise them as they see what they 
 call your simplicity, but what is in truth only your sincerity, while you 
 treat as matter of fact the hope laid up for you in heaven. The Lord 
 grant it for, Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
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THE THREE WHATS. 
 
 DELIVERED BY 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, 
 
 On a night when the Tabernacle was thrown open to all comers^ the ordinaryi 
 hearers vacating their seats for the occasion. 
 
 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened ; that ye may know what is 
 the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the 
 saints, and what is the, exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, ac- 
 cording to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he 
 raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.'* 
 — Ephesians i. 18—20. 
 
 You see the text begins with a personal experience within the mind and 
 judgment — " the eyes of your understanding being enhghtened." Every- 
 thing depends upon the opened eye : the scene may be fair, and the hght 
 may be bright, but if the sight be gone all is in vain. Zedekiah had his 
 eyes put out by the king of Babylon, and then he was taken down to 
 the imperial city, but for aught he could enjoy of all its splendour 
 he might as well have been in a desert. There were vast halls and 
 palaces, and hanging gardens and a city wall which was the wonder of the 
 world, so that Babylon is called by the prophet ^the glory of kingdoms 
 and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency"; but the bhnded monarch 
 beheld nothing of all the grandeur of the golden city, and to him her 
 wealth was as though it had not been. Thus is it with us by nature, 
 we have no apprehension of spiritual things, no power to discern eternal 
 good, but our foolish heart is darkened. Therefore the Lord must first 
 enlighten the eyes of our understanding, or else, however precious the 
 truth, and however clearly it may be stated, we shall never be able to 
 apprehend it. 
 
 I find there is a rendering of the text which runs thus, " The eyes of 
 your heart being enlightened," and it strikes me that this version has 
 about it the appearance of being the correct one, because divine things are 
 usually better seen by the heart than by the understanding. There are a 
 thousand things which God has revealed which we shall never understand, 
 and yet we can know them by a loving, trustful experience. Our Saviour 
 says, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'' The 
 purifying of the heart is the enlightening of the spiritual eye. Strange 
 Ko. 1,466. 
 
182 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 as it may seem, the true eye of the renewed man is seated rather in the 
 heart than in the head : holy affections enable us to see, and as far as 
 possible to understand divine things. I pray that in each one of us the 
 eyes of our heart may be enlightened, that we may know spiritual things 
 as they are best known. 
 
 Now, the prayer of our text was offered for Christians — for converted 
 persons, for those who had faith in Christ Jesus and love to all the saints; 
 yet Paul says that he never ceased to pray that their eyes might be 
 enlightened. Yes, brethren, he who sees most needs to have his eyes 
 enlightened to see more, for how little as yet of the glory of God have 
 any of us beheld ! Even that favoured pilgrim who has been led by the 
 shepherds to the top of Mount Clear, to stand there with telescopic 
 glass and gaze into the glories of ImmanueFs land, has yet only com- 
 menced to perceive the things which God has prepared for them that 
 love him. I pray God that if we do already see, we may see more, until 
 our eye shall be so strengthened that the hght of the New Jerusalem 
 shall not be too strong for us, but amid the splendour of God which 
 outshines the sun we shall find ourselves at home. 
 
 But if believers need to have their eyes enlighten(*d, how much more 
 must those who are unconverted. They are altogether blinded, and con- 
 sequently their need of enlightenment is far greater. They were born 
 blind, and the god of this world takes care yet farther to darken their 
 minds. Around them there broods a sevenfold midnight, the gloom of 
 spiritual death. " They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope 
 in the noonday as in the night." 0 blind eye, may Jesus touch thee ! 
 May the Spirit bring his sacred eye-salve and make thee see, and to- 
 night though it is not ours to give thee eyes, we would tell thee what 
 is to be seen, hoping that, peradventure, while we give the description, 
 God may give thee eyes with whicli to verify our report. Perhaps even 
 the reporting of these things may set thee longing for them, and, when 
 thou hast but a longing, God will hear thee. If that longing be turned 
 into a prayer, and that prayer be kindled by a spark of faith, that longing 
 shall be the beginning of light to thy soul, and thou shalt see the salva- 
 tion of God. 
 
 To-night, then, there are two things we shall ask about, what things 
 are to he seen and known according to the text; and, secondly, tvhy it is 
 our anxious desire that every person here should see and know these things. 
 
 I. First, then, what is to be seen and known ACCOROiNa to 
 THE TEXT ? When you heard me read it, you must have noticed that 
 it contains three " whats." The eyes of your understanding being en- 
 lightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the 
 riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and tvhat the exceed- 
 ing greatness of his power to us-ward who believe." Upon these three 
 "whats" I shall try to speak to-night, and may the Holy Ghost speak 
 through me to all jom souls. 
 
 Our first point iii. ''What is the hope of his calling?'' A great many 
 persons never thinl' about religion, because they cannot believe that 
 there is much in it. Tf they had half an idea of what is to be gained 
 by it even now, and ol the unspeakable blessedness which will come of it 
 throughout eternity, surely their own desire to benefit themselves would 
 incline them diligently to consider it, even if they went no further. So 
 
THE THREE WHATS. 
 
 183 
 
 promising a matter is at least worth looking into, for it would be a great 
 pity to miss present and eternal happiness if it can be had. But no, 
 they suppose it to be a very small and trifling thing, fit only for the 
 thoughts of priests and women^ and such weak folk, and so they neglect 
 it, despise it, and look after other business. To-night, while I try to tell 
 what is the hope of the Christian man's calling, I boldly claim your best 
 consideration. If the preacher may not request it on his own account he 
 may assuredly ask it on the ground that his theme deserves it. Perhaps 
 while we are speaking of the worth of this hope, and you are lending an 
 attentive ear, the Lord may lead you to seek his face. Is it not written 
 
 Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and your soul shall live" ? 
 Many a man has been tempted to start upon a voyage by hearing much 
 of the land to which he sails. Praise his goods and you will find the 
 merchant buyers. Such is our desire at this time : we would so speak of 
 the hope of our calling as to allure those who are eager after sweets to 
 taste and see that the Lord is good. 
 
 The idea of the text seems to me to be illustrated well by the 
 patriarch Abraham. Abraham was living in his father's house in Ur of 
 the Chaldees when a call came to him. That call came from God. He 
 was to separate himself entirely and to get away to a land which he had 
 never seen. What was the hope of that calling ? It was the hope that 
 God would give him a seed, and give to that seed a land to dwell in. 
 Thus spake the Lord unto him : " I will make of thee a great nation, 
 and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; and thou shalt be a 
 blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that 
 curse th thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." 
 The great nation which should spring from him would possess the land 
 in which he was to wander as a pilgrim and a stranger, according to 
 the word of the Lord — For all the land which thou seest, to thee will 
 I give it, and to thy seed for ever." For the sake of that hope he for- 
 sook everything, and dwelt in tents, a pilgrim and a sojourner with God, 
 living entirely by faith, but living grandly and sublimely, and thus be- 
 coming the father of all believers throughout all ages, greater than a 
 prince among the sons of men. Now, there comes to every man who is 
 a true Christian a call from God. We speak of it by the name of 
 "effectual calling." The Spirit of God personally applies the truth of 
 Scripture to the heart, and makes the chosen man to feel that it belongs 
 to him. The believer^ perceives that he is separated from others by the 
 sovereign grace of God, and that therefore he must come out from the 
 world, and no longer live according to the sight of the eyes and the 
 hearing of the ears, but must live by faith upon God, as seeing him who 
 is invisible. This makes the beUever very different from the rest of 
 mankind. Those who walk by sight do not understand him. They 
 generally misrepresent him, and frequently they hate him, but he is con- 
 tent to be unknown, for he remembers it is written, " Ye are dead, and 
 your Kfe is hid with Christ in God." Therefore the world knoweth us 
 not because it knew him not." 
 
 Bat what is the prospect which leads the believer to this life ? What is 
 the hope of his calling? Brethren, let me describe the hope of those ot* 
 us who have come out to walk by faith in Christ Jesus. We have already 
 obtained enough abundantly to reward us for obedience to the call, and 
 
184 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 even if nothing were shut np in the closed hand of Hope, her open hand 
 has greatly enriched us. Christian man, you have in possession already 
 the forgiveness of your sin, acceptance in Christ, adoption into the divine 
 tamily, and the nature, rank, and rights of a child of God. You already 
 possess that which makes you amongst the happiest of mankind, and 
 often do you feel that if it should turn out that there is no hereafter and. 
 if you should die like a dog, yet still your faith in God has given you 
 such consolation and such strength, such peace and such joy that you 
 would bless God that ever you had it. Our hope has not injured us 
 either as to character or to happiness, and even if it turned out to be 
 false we are at least as well off as the unbeliever. Still our main pos- 
 session lies in hope. We carry a bag of spending money in our hands, 
 but the bulk of our wealth is deposited in the Bank of Hope. What 
 then is the Christian's hope ? 
 
 Well, first, he hopes and believes that he shall be under divine pro- 
 tection for ever and ever, that he shall be the object of divine love time, 
 out of mind, and when time shall be no more. He hopes that all things 
 shall work together for his good in the future as he perceives they have 
 done in the past, and as he is persuaded they are doing now. He expects 
 a stormy voyage, but because Christ is at the helm he hopes to come to 
 the fair havens at the last. He expects to be tempted, but he hopes to 
 be upheld. He expects to be slandered, but he hopes to be cleared. He 
 expects to be tried, but he hopes to triumph. Sustained by this hope 
 he dreads no labours and fears no difficulties. 
 
 " He holds no parley with unmanly fears, 
 Where duty bids he confidently steers, 
 Faces a thousand dangers at her call, 
 And, hoping in his God, surmounts them all." 
 
 His hope is that all through life, whether that be long or short (and he 
 has not much care about the number of his years), underneath him will 
 be the everlasting arms. He hopes that the Lord will be his shepherd, 
 and he shall not want. He hopes that goodness and mercy will follow 
 him all the days of his life. Hence he is not afraid to die, for then he 
 expects to come into actual possession of his best possessions. He looks 
 for his best things last. He believes that when it is time for him to 
 depart, Jesus will come and meet him, and the thought of that meeting 
 puts aside all idea of the grim terrors of the grave. His hope leaps over 
 the grave, and lands him in a glorious resurrection. Does not the hope 
 of our calling open grandly ? 
 
 We hope also, and have good ground for it, that after death at the day 
 of judgment we shall have, as we believe we have now, a perfect justifica- 
 tion. A dread assize will be held. Upon a great white throne reflecting 
 all things, and brilliant with its purity, Jesus the Judge of all will sit, 
 and he shall separate the mass of mankind into two portions as a shep- 
 herd divides the sheep from the goats. We know that in that day he 
 will discern those who believed in him and trusted him and obeyed him 
 and sought to be like him, and we hope that we shall be of that blessed 
 number. For us there shall be no sentence of condemnation, for it is 
 written, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in 
 Christ Jesus." We hope for a sentence of acquittal, and we therefore 
 
THE THREE WHATS. 
 
 185 
 
 challenge the judgment which others dread. Clothed with a righteous- 
 ness divine we await with expectation the day which shall make the 
 impenitent wish that they had never been born. Hope takes into her 
 consideration the most dreaded of all events, and weaves it into her 
 song. The end of all things is not the end of hope. Is not this brave 
 hoping ? The hope of a man who sings on for ever, — living in the circle 
 of divine love, dying beneath the protection of divine power, and abiding 
 in the judgment justified by divine justice : accepted in the beloved, and 
 beloved of the Father. 
 
 What else hope we for ? We hope for absolute perfection. The God 
 who has changed our hearts will continue the good work of sanctifica- 
 tion till he has taken every sin out of us, every desire for sin, every 
 possibility of sin. We expect him to renew our minds and prevent our 
 making so many mistakes in judgment. We expect him to renew our 
 hearts that they may be wholly set on divine and heavenly things. We 
 expect him to renew our entire spirit till when the prince of this world 
 comes he shall find nothing in us — no tiuder for his sparks, no corruption 
 in which to sow his evil seed. We hope to be perfect, even as God is 
 perfect. As Adam, when he came from his Maker's hand, so shall we 
 be, and something more, for we shall possess a life in Christ which our 
 unfallen progenitor knew not in Paradise. 
 
 We hope, also, that this body of ours will be perfected. It will lie in 
 the grave and moulder into dust, unless our Lord Jesus should come 
 before our death hour. Of this we make small account, having no very 
 intense desire to avoid the grave wherein our glorious Redeemer lay. 
 We have nothing to lose, but much to gain, by dying, for therein we put 
 off our mortality that at the resurrection we may put on immortality. 
 
 " Corruption, earth, and worms 
 
 Shall but refine this flesh, 
 Till when the Lord our Saviour comes 
 
 We put it on afresh." 
 
 We expect that this our body shall be raised — changed, but still the same 
 as to identity. For us is the promise of the Scripture — I will ransom 
 them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from death." 
 When our body awakes, though sown in corruption it shall be raised in 
 incorruption, though sown in weakness it shall be raised in power, though 
 -sown a body only fit for the soul it shall be raised a body meet for our 
 highest nature, even for our spirit. As w^e have borne the image of the 
 earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Oar body shall be 
 fashioned like unto the body of Jesus Christ himself. We are looking 
 forward to a time when we shall have done with aches and pains, with 
 weariness and decay, with old age and its infirmities, and with all liability 
 to death. We expect perpetual youth to be our portion, and that joy 
 shall thrill through every nerve and sinew of our frame, which now, alas, 
 so often becomes the theatre of agony. Yes, this is our hope, perfection 
 of spirit, soul, and body ; for Christ has redeemed the whole, and he will 
 have the whole to be his inheritance, and in the whole of our manhood 
 his glorious image shall be reflected for ever. 
 
 What else is the hope of our calling ? Why, that being thus cleared 
 in judgment and made absolutely perfect, we shall for ever — for eternal 
 
 G 
 
18d 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 duration is the glorj of our heritage — we shall for ever enjoy infinito 
 happiness. AVe do not know what form the joys of eternity will take, 
 but they will take such form as shall make us the most happy. We shall 
 have heaven's best, yea God's best, and what that is who among us can 
 ^ guess, though he use all his knowledge and give the reins to his expect- 
 ancy ? " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into 
 the heart of man the things which G-od hath prepared for them that love 
 him ; but he hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit," and, as far as 
 \ we understand that revelation we are taught by it that we shall enter into 
 a state of complete rest and perfect peace ; a state of holy delight, and of 
 serene and blissful activity ; a state of perfect praise ; a state of satis- 
 faction ; a state, probably, of progress, but still of completeness at every 
 inch of the road ; a state in which we shall be as happy as we are capable 
 of being, every vessel, little or great, being filled to the brim. We shall 
 be supremely blessed, for at the right hand of God there are pleasures for 
 evermore. This is the hope of our calling. 
 
 Nor even now have we come to an end, for something more yet re- 
 mains. You say, " Can more be Yes, we expect for ever to be in a 
 condition of power, and honour, and relationship to God. We hope to 
 be brought so near to God that all the universe shall distinctly see that 
 we are courtiers of the palace of the great King, yea, princes of the blood 
 royal of the skies. We shall be very near to God, for we shall be 
 with Jesus where he is, and sit upon his throne. We shall serve our God, 
 and see his face while we serve him ; and his glory will be reflected 
 upon us and from us, and we shall be his dear sons and daughters in 
 Christ Jesus for ever and ever. There is not an angel in heaven with 
 whom the meanest saint might wish to change estates, for though the 
 angels excel us now, we shall certainly excel them in the world to come : 
 we shall be nearer the eternal throne than any one of them, inasmuch as 
 Christ Jesus is our brother and not the brother of angels. He is God- 
 and-man in one person, and there was never God and angel in like union. 
 We shall be next to the Creator — let us speak it with bated breath but 
 leaping heart — we shall be next to the eternal God, one with his only- 
 begotten Son, who is one with himself. This is the hope of our calling. 
 
 Oh, sirs, is not this worth the having ? Is not this worth striving for ? 
 When you count the cost, what cost is worth the counting ? Might not 
 a man for this lay down all that he has, yea, and his life also, to keep 
 this pearl of exceeding price ? And what if you should miss it ? What, 
 if you should miss it ? What, if it could be proven, as it never will be, 
 that there are no pains of hell and no eternal wrath, yet is not this 
 enough — to have lost this immortality of glory, this immortality of honour, ^, 
 and of hkeness to God ? This pain of loss, may none of us ever incur 
 it : for it is hell to lose heaven, it is infinite misery to miss infinite felicity* 
 To be within an inch of an immortality of bliss and honour, and yet to 
 let it shp by, will not this be an endless torment to the soul ? To clutch 
 the pleasures of an hour, all earth-stained as they are, shall we renounce 
 the ecstacies of eternity ? To snatch at bubbles which break ere we can 
 grasp them, shall we let unfading glories go? For the mere sake of 
 dwelling at ease by escaping thought shall we let boundless blessings run 
 by us, counting ourselves unworthy of them, and so losing them ? I do 
 pray that you may know " what is the hope of his calling," and that when 
 
THE THREE WHATS. 
 
 187 
 
 yon know it you may cry, " I will have it. If it is to be had, by G-od's 
 grace, I will have it now." So may it be, for Christ's sake. 
 
 And now I turn to the second " what " of the text, and that is more 
 marvellous still. I am sure I cannot preach the text out, it is too great 
 for me ; but here it is — " That ye may know what are the riches of the 
 glory of his inheritance in the saints J ^ 
 
 Mark well that God's people are by grace made to be his saints, his 
 select, his holy ones, and then they are viewed as his inheritance. The 
 whole world is God's. The cattle on a thousand hills and all lands and 
 seas are his, and yonder starry worlds which in profusion are sown in 
 space are all his, but he deigns to call sanctified men and women his in- 
 heritance in a special sense. They are his peculiar treasure, his crown- 
 jewels, dear and precious to him. " The Lord's portion is his people, 
 Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." I want you to think of this grand 
 truth, because practical results flow from it. If you and I are believers 
 in Jesus we are God's inheritance, and the Lord has what the apostle 
 calls " the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." But 
 how can God make riches out of poor men and women ? They are 
 believers in Jesus, but what is there in them that he counts to be riches — 
 riches of glory, too ? 
 
 We answer, first, he has spent riches of love upon them, for he loves 
 them, poor as they are, and sick and sorry as they often are. He loved 
 them from before the foundation of the world : and you know how precious 
 a thing becomes when you love it. It is a beloved keepsake, and you 
 would not part with it for a mint of gold. It may have little intrinsic 
 value, but if you have long set your heart upon it how dear it becomes 
 to you. God has loved his people so long and so intensely, with such an 
 unbounded love, that there is a wealth in them to his heart. Oh, that 
 we knew something of " the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the 
 saints" as measured by the gauge of love. 
 
 Moreover, the Lord has spent a wealth of wisdom on his saints. A 
 material may be almost valueless at first, but when a wise man has exer- 
 cised his thought and skill upon it, the value may be enhanced a 
 thousand-fold. But God has thought of his saints for ever. Eternal 
 wisdom found her dehghts with the sons of men and occupied herself on 
 their behalf before the foundation of the world. " How precious also are 
 thy thoughts unto me, 0 God, how great is the sum of them ! " God's 
 wisdom has exhibited itself at its fall in the plan of redemption. I 
 scarcely hear of his deliberating for any purpose except for the salvation 
 of his people, but in that matter we continually read of " the counsel of 
 his will," to show us that, speaking after the manner of man, the Lord 
 has reasoned within himself how best to save his own people. His 
 thoughts of wisdom and prudence have been exercised upon his saints, 
 and hence it is that there is a riches of glory about them. 
 
 What is more, when the riches of his love, and of his wisdom, had been 
 expended it came to pass that it was necessary that he should spend a 
 life of sufiFering upon them. Look ye to the glorious landscapes of rock 
 and hill, and dale and mountain ; turn your eye from grassy slope to 
 snowy summit sparkling in the sun, and while ye admire all things re- 
 member that God hath costlier works than these. None of these cost 
 the Lord an incarnation and a death. Look, if ye will, to all the majestic 
 
188 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 halls of heaven, where the lamps of glory are lit with supernal splendour, 
 but neither angel, nor cherubim, nor seraphim cost their Lord a bloody 
 sweat. Then look you at his people; view "his inheritance in the 
 saints,'' for it is there that the Son of God, taking upon himself human 
 nature, sighed and groaned and sweat great drops of blood, and felt the 
 agonies of death. As the Lord looks over all that he has made he sees 
 nothing that has cost him suffering and death till he comes to his people. 
 Jesus knows what the saints cost him. He estimates them at a rate 
 usual among men, for men say, " The price is what it will fetch,'' and 
 Jesus knows what his people fetched when he redeemed them by giving 
 himself for them. Measured by that standard God hath indeed riches of 
 glory in his inheritance in the saints. 
 
 And then there comes great glory to God from the workmanship which 
 he puts into his people. When he made the world it was with a voice. 
 " He spake, and it was done." When he made the things that are he had 
 but to will and they stood forth, but in the making of a Christian it needs 
 the labour of the Godhead : Father, Son and Holy Spirit must all work to 
 create a new creature in Christ Jesus. The Father must beget, the Son 
 must redeem, the Spirit must regenerate ; and when this is done the God- 
 head's omnipotence must be put forth to keep a Christian alive, and to 
 perfect him, and present him " faultless before the presence of God with 
 exceeding joy." An artisan can put into a small piece of iron, of no^ 
 worth at all, so much labour that it shall be valued at scores of pounds, 
 and the Triune God can expend so much workmanship upon our poor 
 nature that a man shall be more precious than the gold of Ophir. 
 Valued thus, the Lord may well speak of " the riches of the glory of his 
 inheritance in the saints." 
 
 Now, as I want if I can to lead you into a sense of this glory for a 
 minute, I should like you to accompany me while I speak somewhat 
 carefully but yet enthusiastically about what the Christian becomes 
 when God has perfected his work upon him. 
 
 Notice, then, that when at the last the believer shall have been perfected 
 by the work of the Spirit, as he will be, man will be an extraordinary 
 creature. Look ye. God has made matter, and upon matter has im- 
 pressed his will, and fi'om the tiniest drop to the mightiest orb, matter 
 never disobeys the law which God imposes upon it. This is a great 
 triumph. Call it " the law of gravitation," or what you will, it is quite 
 certain that all inanimate nature is put under law by the Most High and 
 ^hat it never rebels. Huge as this great universe is, God has as complete 
 power over it, as you have over the ball which you toss in your hand. 
 This is glorious, but still it is small glory compared with that w^hich God 
 obtains from his people when they arrive at heaven, for they will not be 
 mere dead, inert matter governed by laws, but they will be full of life 
 and moral freedom, and yet they will be as completely subject to the 
 divine mind as are the atoms of matter. This will be an achievement 
 indeed — to have produced free agents which will be under no control of 
 force, but perfectly at liberty, and yet will be for ever absolutely obedient 
 to the divine will. 
 
 Listen again. The perfected saints will be creatures of a very peculiar 
 form, for they will not be pure spirit, dissociated from matter. I under- 
 gtand yonder spirits before the throne standing in their obedience. 
 
THE THREE WHATS. 
 
 189 
 
 "because they have no materialism to hamper them and drag them down. 
 Angels are spirits without material bodies, and they obey God, hearken- 
 ing to his commandments ; but a perfected saint is a creature in which 
 the material is linked with the spiritual. Such are we now, and I sup- 
 pose, in a measure, such shall we abide, and yet there will be no sin in 
 us, no violation of the divine command. Man is a strange mixture. 
 He is next akin to Deity, and yet he is brother to the worm. We are 
 partakers of the divine nature, and the children of God ; and yet as to 
 our bodies we are linked to rocks and stones, and grosser things. Man 
 renewed by grace touches the centre in Christ Jesus, but being still man 
 he sweeps the circumference of creatureship, and includes within him- 
 self a summary of the whole creation. He has been called a microcosm, 
 or a little world, and so indeed he is. Such a creature God is now 
 perfecting. A being in whom dust and Deity each own a kindred. 
 Such a being, purified from taint of evil, shall greatly glorify God. 
 
 Think, again, dear friends. There once stood a bright spirit in 
 heaven, leader of the angels, but the place was too high for him, and the 
 son of the morning fell from heaven and dragged others with him. God 
 is making, by his grace, beings who will stand next his throne, but will 
 remain reverently loyal for ever. They will be peers in his kingdom, 
 but they will never be proud or ambitious. We, my brethren, though in 
 full possession of our free agency, shall never fall from our eternal glory, 
 but shall be faithful for ever. We shall have passed through such an 
 experience of sin, we shall so intensely feel our indebtedness to grace, we 
 shall so fervently love the dear Redeemer, that we shall cast our crowns 
 at his feet, and we shall ascribe our joy to him alone, and so shall never 
 dream of revolting from him. God is thus making beings whom it will 
 be safe to exalt to honours so near his own : will not this be a triumph 
 of power and goodness ? Can you think of it, that you will be one of 
 such favoured creatures, if indeed you are a believer ? 
 
 These beings will have known evil. Think of that. The unfallen 
 angels have never actually known evil, but in restored man shall be fulfilled 
 the devil's lie made into God's truth, — " Ye shall be as gods, knowing 
 good and evil." They shall hate evil as the burnt child dreads the fire, 
 and they shall love righteousness because by righteousness they have 
 been saved, and in righteousness they have been created anew. How 
 wonderful will that creature be which has known sin, and remains a 
 free agent, and yet will never yield to folly, but abide forever in holiness, 
 held by bonds of love. Oh, when I think of the destiny of a child of 
 God, my eyes sparkle, but my tongue refuses to utter what I think. 
 What a being art thou, 0 man! What art thou that God should visit 
 thee ? He has made thee " a little lower than the angels," but in Christ 
 Jesus he has crowned thee with glory and honour, and given thee 
 dominion over all the works of his hands, yea, in Christ he has raised 
 thee up and made thee to sit with him in the heavenly places, far above 
 principalities and powers, and thy time to reign and triumph for ever is 
 hard at hand. How glorious is God in his people! God in Christ 
 Jesus, seen in the church, who is like unto thee ? 
 
 Now, the point is, that if this be the riches of God's glory in his in- 
 heritance in the saints, you may read it in another way, and say, This 
 is the riches of our inheritance too, for what shall we be if God is to have 
 
190 
 
 METROPOLITAlf TABERNACLE PULriT, 
 
 US for an inheritance ?" Will you miss it ? Will you miss it ? Will 
 you miss it ? If this be a dream, I could wish to die rather than have 
 the illusion dispelled. But it is fact, as God's word is true. Will you 
 miss it, then ? Oh, if there were crowns to be scrambled for, most 
 men are ambitious enough to seek for one, though it might be a curse 
 to them. If there be gold, or if there be fame, men have but to hear 
 the chink of the metal or the blast of the trumpet, and many stir them- 
 selves to win ; but here is honour, and glory, and immortality in Christ, 
 and it is to be had for the asking ; it is to be had by simply believing and 
 trusting in Jesus Christ, — Will you not have it ? Oh, false hand that is 
 not stretched out to receive it ! Oh, false heart that does not pray for 
 it ! God grant you to know w^hat is the " riches of his inheritance in 
 the saints," that you may seek to be a part in that inheritance and seek 
 it now. 
 
 Now, the third "what": ^'What is the exceeding greatness of his power 
 to uS'Ward tuho heUeve, according to the working of his mighty power, 
 tvhich he ivrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set 
 him at his own right hand in the heavenly places'^ I thought I heard 
 somebody saying, " Woe is me ! Woe is me ! I hear of w^hat man may 
 be, I hear of what God may make of him, but w^oe is me ; it will never 
 come to my lot. I am so weak, so fickle, so irresolute, so frail. Woe is 
 me ; I am undone. I have no strength." Now, the third " what " is 
 this : " that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power 
 to US-ward, who believe." 
 
 Now, learn ye this and know it — that in the conversion, preservation, 
 and salvation of any one person God exhibits as great power as he 
 manifested when he raised Jesus Christ from the dead and set him at his 
 own right hand in the heavenly places. The salvation of no man in the 
 world is by his own strength. It is by the power of God, *^ for we are his 
 workmanship." This fact should greatly relieve you who are discouraged : 
 the thing is impossible with you, but it is not impossible, or even hard, 
 with God. He that has wrought us to the selfsame thing is God, and he 
 is quite as able to work it in you, my dear hearer, as to work it in the 
 apostle Paul himself. God can do all things. Now, when our Lord Jesus 
 lay in the tomb he was dead, but God quickened him. Jesus was im- 
 prisoned in the sepulchre, and the stone at the grave's mouth w^as sealed 
 and guarded ; but the stone was rolled away and the guards were 
 affrighted, and the Lord of life rose from among the dead. Every sinner 
 is shut up in the tomb of sin by evil habit, but Christ can roll away the 
 stone, and the sinner can come forth a living man. Our Lord continued 
 on earth among men for several days ; but, despite human enmity, no 
 man hurt him, for he had received a life and a glory which they 
 could not approach. The saints also abide here among men, and many 
 seek to destroy them, but God has given them a new life, Avhich can 
 never be destroyed, for he hath hedged it about from all its adversaries. 
 All the powers of darkness fought against the Lord Jesus Christ, but yet 
 through the power of God he conquered them all. I think I see him 
 now ascending up on high leading captivity captive in the power of 
 God. So, my brother, you will be opposed by the powers of darkness, 
 and by your own evil heart ; but you shall conquer, for God will put forth 
 the same power in you which he manifested in his dear Sou, and you, too, 
 
THE THREE WHATS. 
 
 191 
 
 shall lead captivity captive. I see the Lord Jesus entering the pearly 
 gates and climbing to his throne, and there he sits, and none can pluck 
 him down : and you, too, believing in Jesus, shall have the same power 
 to tread down all your foes, your sins, your temptations, till you shall 
 rise and sit where Jesus sits at the right hand of God. The very same 
 power which raised Christ is waiting to raise the drunkard from his 
 drunkenness, to raise the thief from his dishonesty, to raise the Pharisee 
 from his self-righteousness, to raise the Sadducee from his unbelief. God 
 has power among the sons of men, and this power he puts forth in 
 making them to be a people that shall show forth his praise. Oh, that 
 you knew w^hat is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who 
 believe, because then you would fling away despair. There remains 
 nothing for you in this case but to submit to the divine power. God 
 will work in you ; be willing to be worked upon. 0, Spirit of the Lord, 
 w^ork in our hearers this good will. Drop yourselves like plastic clay, at 
 the potter's feet, and he will put you on the wheel and mould you at 
 his pleasure. Be willing, it is all he asks you ; be trustful, it is all his 
 gospel requires of you, and indeed, both will and trust he gives you. 
 '^If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land." Be 
 wilhng to let go the sin which ruins you, be wilhng to learn the truth 
 W'hich will renew you ; be willing to sit at Jesus' feet, be willing to accept 
 a finished salvation at his hands ; and all the powxr that is wanted to 
 lift you from this place to the starry gates of heaven is w^aiting to be 
 shed upon you. God give you to know this, and so to rest in Jesus and 
 be saved. 
 
 II. The last word is to be upon the second head : why we wish 
 YOU TO see and know ALL THIS. I have in effect been all along en- 
 forcing this second head as the sermon has progressed, and so I shall not 
 need to detain you many minutes, except wdth a practical recapitulation. 
 
 We w^ant you to know the hope of his calling that you may not 
 neglect it, nor set anything in competition with it. I tried, as my 
 poor words enabled me to tell you, what a hope the calling of God 
 gives the Christian. I charge you, do not let it go. I shall, probably, 
 never meet the most of you again, and if any shall say to you afterwards. 
 
 Well, what said the man ?" I would like you to be compelled to say, 
 " He said this — that there is a future before us of such glory that he 
 charged us not to lose it. There are the possibilities of such intense 
 delight for ever and ever that he besought us to ensure that delight by 
 accepting Christ and his way of salvation." 
 
 Next we want you to believe the riches of the glory of his inheritance 
 in the saints, that you may see where your hope lies. Your hope lies 
 in not being your own anymore, but in being the Lord's, and so realizing 
 *'the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints." The 
 saints belong to their Lord: your salvation will be found in experi- 
 mentally knowing that you are not your own, because you are bought 
 with a price ; yea, in admitting at this moment that your honour and 
 happiness is found in being the Lord's. If you are your own you 
 will spend yourself and be ruined, but if you are Christ's he will take 
 care of you. Oh, if I thought that I had a hair of this head that be- 
 longed to myself alone I would tear it out ; but to be owned by Jesus 
 altogether, spirit, soul, and body; to be Christ's man in the entireness 
 
192 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE TULriT. 
 
 of my being, this is glory, and immortality, and eternal life. Be your own, 
 and you will be lost : be Christ's, and you are saved. 
 
 The closing thought is this. We want you to know the exceeding 
 greatness of God's poiver, that you may not doubt, or d-espond, or despair, 
 
 V but come now and cast yourselves upon the incarnate God, and let 
 him save you. Yield yourselves unto him, that the great glory of his 
 
 . power may be manifest in you as in the rest of his people. I am 
 loth that you should go till you have really hidden these things in 
 
 I your hearts to ponder them in after days. I set bread before you, do 
 not merely look at it, but eat a portion now and carry the rest home to 
 eat in secret. Our preaching is often too much like a fiddler's playing. 
 People come to see how it is done, and then they pass round the question. 
 What think ye of him Now, I do not care two straws what you 
 think of me^ but I do care a whole world what you think of Christ and of 
 yourselves, and of your future state. I pray you forget the way in which 
 I put things, for that may be very blundering and faulty ; but if there 
 be anything in the things themselves consider them with care. If you 
 judge the Bible to be a fraud, and that there is no heaven to be had, 
 then go, sport and laugh as you please, for you will only act consistently 
 with your erroneous imagination ; but if you believe God's w^ord to be 
 true, and that there is a glorious hope connected with the Christian's high 
 calling, then in the name of prudence and common sense why do you nofc 
 seek it ? Give no sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids tilt 
 you find it. I ask the Lord's people here present, and I know that there 
 are many such in the audience to-night, to pray that this appeal may have 
 an efiect upon many in this great crowd, that they may seek the Lord 
 at once with fall purpose of heart. 0 Spirit of God, work it, for Jesus 
 Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
 Portion of Scripture Read before Sermon — Ephesians i., and 
 
 chapter ii. 1st verse. 
 
 Hymns from "Our Own Hymn Book" — 176, 757, 728. 
 
 By C. H. SPURQEO N. 
 
 THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 A Course of Lectures addressed to the Students of the Pastors' College. 
 Never before published. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 Contents: — Lecture Illustrations in preaching; 2, Anecdotes from 
 the Pulpit; 3, The uses of Anecdotes and Illustrations; 4, VVhere 
 can we find Anecdotes and Illustrations?; 5, Cyclopaedias of 
 Anecdotes and Illustrations; 6, Books of Fables, Emblems, and 
 Parables ; The Sciences as Sources of Illustration — Astronomy. 
 
 Speeches at Home and Abroad. By 0. H. Sfurgeoit. 
 
 Paper covers, Is. Cloth, 2s. 6d.. 
 
SAVED IN HOPE. 
 
 i 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, August 28th, 1881, by 
 
 AT TIIK MF/niOPOIilTAN TABKItNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 ** For we are saved by hope : "but hope that is seen is not hope : for what a man 
 setith, why doth he yet hope for ? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we mtb 
 patience wait for it." — Eomans viii. 24, 25. 
 
 According to our version ^'we are saved by hope," but that is scarcely in 
 accordance with other parts of Holy Scripture. Everywhere in the word 
 of God we are told that we are saved by faith. See the first verse of the 
 fifth chapter : '^Therefore being justified hj faith.'' Faith is the saving 
 grace, and not hope — save only as hope is under some aspects tantamount 
 to faith. Faith is the saving grace, and the original should be rendered 
 — and one wonders that it is not so in the Revised Version — We were 
 saved in hope." It would prevent misapprehension if the passage were 
 so rendered ; for as that eminent critic, Bengel, well says, " the words do 
 not describe the means, but the manner of salvation : we are so saved 
 that there may even yet remain something for which we may hope, both 
 of salvation and glory." Believers receive the salvation of their souls as 
 the end of their faith, and it is of faith that it might be of grace. They 
 are saved by faith and in hope. 
 
 At this present moment believers are saved, and in a certain sense 
 completely saved. They are entirely saved from the guilt of sin. The 
 Lord Jesus took their sin and bore it in his own body on the tree, and 
 offered an acceptable atonement, by which the iniquity of all his people is 
 once and for ever put away. By faith we are at once saved from the 
 defilement of evil, and have free access to God our Father. By faith we 
 are saved from the reigning power of sin in our members. As saith the 
 Scripture, Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under 
 the law, but under grace.'' The crown is removed from the head of sin, 
 and the arm of its strength is broken in the heart of every Christian by 
 the power of faith. Sin strives to get the mastery, but it cannot win the 
 day, for he that is born of God doth not commit sin with delight, or as 
 his daily habit, but he keepeth himself so that that evil one toucheth 
 him not. As to the penalty of sin, that has been borne by our great 
 Substitute, and by faith we have accepted his sacrifice, and " he that 
 believeth in him is not condemned." We rejoice, therefore, at this 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 No. 1,616. 
 
48 G METROPOLITAN* TABERNACLE PULPIT, 
 
 moment in salvation already obtained and enjoyed by faith which is 
 in Christ Jesus. Yet ^ve are conscious that there is something more than 
 this to be had. There is salvation in a larger sense, which as 
 yet we see not ; for at the present moment we find ourselves in this 
 tabernacle, groaning because we are burdened. All around us the 
 creation is evidently in travail ; there are signs of birth-pangs in a 
 certain unrest, upheaval, and anguish of the creation. Things are 
 not as God originally made them. Thorns are in earth's furrows, a 
 blight has fallen on her flowers, a mildew on her grain. The heavens 
 weep and saturate our harvests, earth's bowels move and shake our 
 cities. Frequent calamities and disasters are portents of a great future 
 which shall be born of this travailing present. Nowhere on earth 
 can a perfect paradise be found. Our best things are expectant of 
 something better. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
 with us. Even we that have received the firstfruits of the Spirit, 
 and so are blessed and saved, nevertheless groan within ourselves, 
 waiting for a further something, a glory not seen as yet. We have not 
 yet attained, but are pressing on. Our first soul-thirst as sinners 
 has been quenched ; but there are within us still greater desires, by 
 which we hunger and thirst after righteousness with longings in- 
 satiable. Before we ate of the bread of heaven we hungered for mere 
 husks ; but now our newborn nature has brought us a new appetite, 
 which the whole world could not satisfy. 
 
 What is the cause of this hungering ? AVc are tinder no difficulty 
 whatever in answering the question. Our griefs and longings, and 
 unsatisfied desires are principally gathered up in two things. First, we 
 long to be totally free from sin in every form. The evil which is in the 
 world is our burden ; we are vexed with the evil conversation of the 
 ungodly, and are grieved by their temptations and persecutions. The 
 fact that the world lieth in the wicked one, and that men reject Christ 
 and perish in unbelief is a source of much affliction to our hearts. We 
 have said with David, " Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell 
 in the tents of Kedar ! " We could wish for a lodge in a wilderness, far 
 off from the haunts of men, that we might in peace commune with God, 
 and hear no more of blasphemy, murmuring, wantonness, and crime. This 
 is not our rest, for it is polluted, and so far we look for a great deliverance 
 when we shall be taken out of this world to dwell in perfect company. Yet 
 even the presence of the ungodly were a small matter if we could be com- 
 pletely delivered from sin within ourselves. That is among the things 
 not seen at yet. If a man were free from all tendency to sin he would 
 no longer be liable to temptation, or under necessity to watch against it. 
 That which cannot possibly be burned or blar^kened has no need to 
 dread the fire. We feel that we must shun temptation, because we are 
 conscious that there is material within us which may soon take fire. 
 " The Prince of this world cometh," said our Lord, " and hath nothing 
 in me"; but when he comes to us he finds not only something, but 
 much congenial to his purpose. Our heart all too readily echoes 
 to the voice of Satan. When he sows the tares the furrows of the old 
 nature soon produce a harvest. Evil doth remain even in the regenerate, 
 and it infects all the powers of the mind. Oh that we could get rid of 
 the memory of sin ! AVhat a torment it is to us to remember snatches 
 
SAVED m HOPE. 
 
 487 
 
 of loose soncrs, and woHs of ill savour. Oh, that we were rid of the 
 imagination of sin I Do we mourn enough over sins of thought and fancy ? 
 A man may sin, and sin horribly, in thought, and yet may not have sinned 
 in act. Many a man hath committed fornication, adultery, theft, and 
 even murder in his imagination, by finding pleasure in the thought thereof, 
 and yet he may never have fallen into any one of the overt acts. Oh that our 
 imagination, and all our inward parts, were purged of the corrupt matter 
 which is in them, and which fermenteth towards foulness. There is in us 
 that which makes us cry out from day to day, " 0 Avretched man that I am ; 
 who shall deliver me ? " If any man here says, I feel no such emotions," 
 I pray God that he may soon do so. Those know very little of true 
 spiritual perfection who are content with themselves. A perfect child 
 grows, and so does a perfect child of God. The nearer we come to 
 perfect cleanness of heart the more shall we mourn over the tiniest 
 spot of sin, and the more shall we see that to be sin which once we 
 excused. He who is most like Christ is most conscious of imperfection, 
 and most weary that the least iniquity should hang about him. When 
 a man saith, I have reached the goal," I fear he has not begun to 
 run. As for me, I endure many growing pains, and feel far less pleased 
 with myself than I used to be. I have a firm hope of something better, 
 but were it not for hope I should account myself truly unhappy to be 
 so conscious of need ai*d so racked with desires. This is one great 
 source of our groaning. We are saved, but we are not completely 
 delivered from tendencies to sin, neither have we reached the fulness of 
 holiness. " There is yet very much land to be possessed." 
 
 Another cause of this winter of our discontent is our body. Paul 
 calls it a *^ vile body," and so indeed it is when compared with what it 
 shall be when fashioned in the imao'e of Christ Jesus. It is not vile in 
 itself viewed as the creature of God, for it is fearfully and wonderfully 
 made ; and there is something very noble about the body of a man, 
 made to walk erect, and to look upward and gaze toward heaven. A 
 body so marvellously prepared to be the tenement of the mind, and 
 to obey the soul's behests, is not to be despised. A body which can be 
 the temple of the Holy Ghost is no mean structure, therefore let us not 
 despise it. It is a thing for which to be eternally grateful, that we have 
 been made men if we have been also made new men in Christ Jesus. 
 The body came under the power of death through the Fall, and it 
 remains so ; and, remaining so, its lot is to die sooner or later, unless 
 the Lord should suddenly appear, and even then it must be changed ; 
 for flesh and blood, as they are, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. 
 And so, poor body, thou art not well matched with the new-born soul, 
 since thou hast not been born again. Thou art a somewhat dull and 
 dreary dwelling for a heaven-born spirit ! What with aches and pains, 
 weariness and infirmity, thy need of sleep, and food and clothing, thy 
 liability to cold, heat, accident, decay, as well as to excessive labour 
 and exhausting toil, thou art a sorry servant of the sanctified soul. 
 Thou dost drag down and hamper a spirit which else might soar aloft. 
 How often doth a penury of health repress the noble flame of high 
 resolve and holy aspiration ! Hoav often do pain and weakness freeze 
 the genial current of the soul ! When shall we be emancipated from 
 the shackles of this natural body and put on the wedding dress of the 
 
488 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 spiritual body ? What with the sin dwelling in our breast, and this 
 vesture of mortal clay, we are glad that now is our salvation nearer thaa 
 when we believed, and we long to enter into the full enjoyment of it. 
 
 Here my text gives us good cheer. From the sources of our present 
 groaning there is a full deliverance, a salvation so wide that it covers 
 the whole area of our wants, yea, of our desires. A salvation awaits us 
 whose sweep is eternity and immensity. All our capacious powers can 
 wish are compassed within it, and of this the text says, *^We were 
 saved in hope." That grandest, widest salvation, we have seized by 
 hope. Glory be to God for this. 
 
 This, then, is the subject of our present meditation : the hope which 
 embraces the grander salvation for which we long. 
 
 I. Let us begin by recapitulating under the first head, the object 
 OF THIS HOPE. I have already gone over the principal points. Our 
 hope, first of all, embraces our otvn ahsoluie perfection. We have set our 
 faces towards holiness, and by God's grace we will never rest till we 
 attain it. Every sin that is in us is doomed, not only to be conquered, 
 but to be slain. The grace of God does not help us to conceal our in- 
 firmities, but to destroy them. We deal with sin as Joshua did with the 
 five kings when they went into the cave at Makkedah. While he was 
 busy in the battle, he said, " Roll great stones upon the mouth of the 
 cave." Our sins for awhile are shut up by restraining grace, as in a 
 cave, and great stones are rolled at the cave's mouth ; for they would 
 escape if they could» and once more snatch at the reins : but m the 
 power of the Holy Spirit we mean to deal with them more effectually 
 by-and-by. Bring out those five kings unto me," said Joshua, and 
 " he smote them, and slew them, and hanged them." By God's grace 
 we will never be satisfied till all our natural inclinations to sin shall be 
 utterly destroyed, execrated and abhorred. We expect a day when there 
 will not remain in us a taint of sin past, or an inclination for sin future. 
 We shall still be possessed of will and freedom of choice, but we shall 
 choose only good. Saints in heaven are not passive beings, driven along 
 the path of obedience by a power which they cannot resist, but as in- 
 telligent agents they freely elect to be holiness unto the Lord. We shall 
 enjoy for ever the glorious liberty of the children of God, which lies in 
 the constant voluntary choice of that which should be chosen, and a 
 consequent unbroken happiness. Ignorance also shall be gone, for we 
 shall all be taught of the Lord, and we shall know, even as we are 
 known. Perfect in service and clean delivered from all self-will and 
 carnal desire, we shall be near our God and like him. As Watts has it, — 
 
 " Sin, my worst enemy before, 
 Shall vex my eyes and ears no more ; 
 My inward foes shall all be slain. 
 Nor Satan break my peace again." 
 
 What a heaven this will be ! I think, if I could be sure of getting free 
 from every liability to sin, I would not have a choice as to where I 
 should live, whether on earth or in heaven, at the bottom of the sea 
 with Jonah, or in the low dungeon with Jeremiah. Purity is peace : 
 holiness is happiness. He who is holy as God is holy will in conse- 
 quence be happy as God is happy. This is one main object of our hope. 
 
SAVED IN HOPE. 
 
 489 
 
 The otiier object of our desire is Ihe o^edempiion of ihe hody. Let us 
 read the verses in which Paul teaches us that truth: *'And if Christ be 
 in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the Spirit is life because of 
 righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the 
 dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also 
 quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." When 
 we die we shall leave our body behind us for awhile : we shall not, 
 therefore, as to our entire manhood, be perfect in heaven till the resur- 
 rection : we shall be morally perfect, but as a complete man is made up 
 of body as well as soul, we shall not be physically perfect, while one 
 part of our person shall remain in the tomb. When the resurrection 
 trumpet shall sound, this body will rise, but it will rise redeemed ; and 
 as our soul regenerated is very difierent from our soul under the bondage 
 of sin, so the body when it is risen will be widely dilferent from the 
 body as it now is. The infirmities caused by sickness and age will be 
 unknown among the glorified, for they are as the angels of God. None 
 shall enter into glory halt or maimed, or decrepit or malformed. You 
 will have no blind eye there, my sister ; no deaf ear there, my brother ; 
 there shall be no quivering of paralysis or wasting of consumption. There 
 we shall possess everlasting youth ; the body which is sown in weakness 
 shall be raised in power, and shall at once fly upon the errands of its Lord. 
 Paul says, It is sown a natural (or soulish) body/' fit for the soul ; it is 
 raised a spiritual body,'' fit for the spirit, the highest nature of man. I 
 suppose we shall inhabit such a body as cherubs wear when they fly upon 
 the wings of the wind ; or such as may be fit for a seraph when like a 
 flame of fire he flashes at Jehovah's bidding. Whatever it is, poor 
 irame of mine, thou shalt be very much changed from what thou art 
 now. Thou art the shrivelled bulb, which shall be put into the earth, 
 but thou shalt arise a glorious flower, a golden cup to hold the sun* 
 light of Jehovah's face. The greatness of thy glory thou knowest not 
 as yet, except that thou shalt be fashioned like the glorious body of the 
 Lord Jesus. This is the second object of our hope, a glorified body to 
 consort with our purified spirit. 
 
 Viewed in another light, the object of our hope is this — that we shall 
 miter upon our inheritance, Paul saith, If children, then heirs ; heirs 
 of God ; joint heirs with Christ." Whether we have little or much in 
 this life our estate is nothing when compared with that which we have 
 in reversion, secured to us against the day when we shall come of age. 
 The fulness of God is the heritage of the saints : all that can make a man 
 blessed, and noble, and complete is laid up in store for us. Measure, if 
 you can, the inheritance of the Christ, who is heir of all things ! What 
 must be the portion of the well-beloved Son of the Highest ? Whatever 
 that may be, it is ours ; for we are joint heirs with Christ. We shall be with 
 him and behold his glory ; we shall wear his image, we shall sit upon his 
 throne. I cannot tell you more, for my words are poverty-stricken. I 
 wish we all meditated upon what the Scripture reveals upon this subject 
 till we knew all that can be known. Our hope looks for many things, 
 yea for all things. Rivers of pleasure, of pleasures for evermore are 
 flowing for us at God's right hand. 
 
 Paul speaks of the glory which shall he revealed in us,'^ and tells us 
 in another place that it is " a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 
490 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 of glory." What a word is that, — Glory ! Glory is to be ours. Even 
 ours, poor sinners as we are. Grace is sweet, but what must glory be ? 
 And it is to be revealed in us, and about us, and over us, and through us 
 to all eternity. 
 
 Paul also speaks of the glorious lilerty of the children of God'' 0 
 charming word, liberty ! We love it even as we hear it rung from the 
 silver bugles of those who fight with tyrants ; but what will it be when 
 the trumpets of heaven shall proclaim eternal jubilee to every spiritual 
 bondslave ! Liberty ? the liberty of the children of God ! Liberty to 
 enter into the holiest, to dwell in God's presence, and behold his face 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 The apostle speaks also of the manifestation of the sons of Gody 
 Here we are hidden away in Christ as gems in a casket ; by-and-by 
 we are to be revealed as jewels in a crown. As Christ had his 
 time of manifestation to the Gentiles after he had for awhile been 
 hidden, so we who are now unknown are to have a manifestation 
 before men and angels. ^^Then shall the righteous shine forth as 
 the sun in the kingdom of their Father." What our manifestation 
 shall be, 0 my brothers and sisters, I cannot tell you ; eye hath not 
 seen it, nor ear heard it, neither hath it entered into the heart of 
 man; and though God hath revealed it unto us by his Spirit, yet 
 how small a part of that revelation have our spirits been able to 
 receive. I suppose that only he who has seen the home oi the per- 
 fect can tell us what it is like, and I conceive that even he could not do 
 so, for language could not set it forth. When Paul was in Paradise he 
 heard words, but he does not tell us what they were, for he says they 
 were not lawful for a man to utter : thev were too divine for mortal 
 tongue. Not yet, not yet, but by-and-by the object of our hopes shall 
 be clear to us. Do not think the less of it because we say by-and-by, 
 for the interval of time is a trifling matter. It will soon be gone. What 
 are a few months or years? What if a few hundred years should 
 intervene before the resurrection ? They will soon have swept by us 
 like the wing of a bird, and then! Oh, then! The invisible shall be 
 seen, the unutterable shall be heard, the eternal shall be ours for ever 
 and ever. This is our hope. 
 
 II. Let us now muse upon the nature of this hope. We are 
 saved in hope. What kind of hope is it in which we are saved ? 
 
 First, our hope consists of three things — belief desire, expectancy. 
 
 Our hope of being clean delivered from sin as to our soul, and 
 rescued from all infirmity as to our body, arises out of a solemn 
 assurance that it shall be so. The revelation of him who hath brought 
 life and immortality to light bears witness to us that we also shall ob- 
 tain glory and immortality. We shall be raised in the image of Christ, 
 and shall partake in his glory. This is our belief because Christ is risen 
 and glorified, and we are one with him. This also we desire, 0 how 
 ardently ! We so desire it that we at times wish to die that we may 
 enter into it. At all times, but especially when we get a glimpse of 
 Christ, our soul pines to be with him. This desire is accompanied witii 
 confident expectation. We as much expect to see the glory of Christ, 
 and to share it, as we expect to see to-morrow morning : nay, perhaps 
 we shall not see to-morrow's sun, but we siiall certainly see the King 
 
SAVED IN HOPE. 
 
 491 
 
 in his beauty in the land that is very far off. We believe it, we desire 
 it, and we expect it. That is the nature of our hope. It is not an 
 indefinite, hazy, gronndless wish that things may turn out all right, 
 such as those have who say, " I hope it will go well with me,'* though 
 they live carelessly, and seek not after God ; but it is a hope made up of 
 right knowledge, firm belief, spiritual desire, and warranted expectancy. 
 
 2Vm hojje is grounded v;pon the ivord of God, God has promised us 
 this ; therefore do we believe it, desire it, and expect it. He has said, 
 " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," and the widest 
 sense that we can give to that word "saved" must be God's sense of 
 it, since his thoughts are always above our thoughts. We expect God 
 to do as he has said to the fullest extent of his promise, for he will 
 never run back from his word, nor fail in his engagement. We have 
 committed our souls to the keeping of the Saviour, who has declared 
 that he will save his people from their sins. We are trusting in our 
 Redeexier, and our belief is that our Eedeemer liveth, and that when he 
 shall stand in the latter day upon the earth, though after our skin 
 worms destroy this body, yet in our flesh we shall see God. Many and 
 precious are the words of God to the same eflfect, and we lay hold upon 
 them, being certain that Avhat he has promised he is able also to per- 
 form. We shall die without a doubt of rising again, even as we have 
 already committed to the dust many of our beloved ones in sure and 
 certain hope of their resurrection to eternal life. As the farmer drops 
 his grain into the ground, and does not doubt to see it rise again, so do 
 we bury the bodies of the saints, and so shall we resign our own bodies, 
 in the certain expectation that they shall as surely live again as they 
 have lived at all. This is a hope worth having, for it is grounded on 
 the word of God, the faithfulness of God, and his power to carry out 
 his own promise, and therefore it is a hope most sure and steadfast, 
 which maketh no man ashamed who hath it. 
 
 This hope is turoughi in us ly the Spirit of God, We should never 
 have knoAvn this hope if the Holy Ghost had not kindled it in our bosoms. 
 Ungodly men have no such hope, and never will have. It is only 
 when men are renewed that this hope enters into them, the Holy Ghost 
 dwelling in them. And herein do I exult with joy unspeakable, for if 
 my hope of perfection and immortality has been wrought in me by 
 God, then it must be fulfilled, for the Lord never could inspire a hope 
 which should put his people to shame. The true God never gave men 
 a false hope. That cannot be. The God of hope who has taught thee, 
 my brother, to expect salvation from sin and all its elTects, will do unto 
 thee according to the expectation which he has himself excited ; there- 
 fore be thou very confident, and patiently wait the joyful day of the 
 Lord's appearing. 
 
 This hope operates in us in a holy manner, as every gracious and holy 
 thing that comes from God must do. It purifies us, as saith John, 
 " He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as God is pure." 
 We ai'e so certain of this inheritance that we prepare for it by putting 
 off all things contrary to it, and putting on all things which suit it. 
 We endeavour to live as in the prospect of glory. How often has it oc- 
 curred to me, and I doubt not to you, my brothers, to say of such and 
 such a thing, " How will this,look in the day of judgment ? " And we 
 
492 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 have done this act of generosity or that act of consecration, not because 
 we cared a whit wliat men would think of it, but because we looked at 
 it in the light of the coming glory. To us the grandest stimulus is 
 that there is laid up for us a crown of life that fadeth not away. 
 
 This blessed hope makes us feel that it is a shame for us to sin, a 
 shame that princes of the blood imperial of the skies should dabble in 
 the mire like children of the gutter. We would fain live as those who are 
 destined to dwell in the blaze of the light ineffable. We caunot walk 
 in darkness, for we are to dwell in a splendour before which the sun grows 
 pale; in the very Godhead itself are we to baptize ourselves in fellow- 
 ship. Shall we, therefore, be the slaves of Satan, or the serfs of sin ? 
 Ood forbid ! This blessed hope draws us towards God, and lifts us out 
 of the pit of sin. 
 
 III. Having described the object and the nature of this blessed 
 hope, I come more closely still to the text to observe the antici- 
 patory POWER OF THIS E'OPE, for the apostle says in our text, " We 
 were saved in hope"; that is to say, we did get the greater salvation, 
 about which we are now speaking, when we were taught to know this 
 hope. We obtained the first part of salvation, the forgiveness of sin, 
 and justification of our persons, hy faith, and we have fellowship with 
 Ood, and access into countless blessings hy faith: some of us are as 
 oonscious of this as that we eat and drink. Bat, beside all this, we 
 have in hope the fuller range of salvation, total deliverance of the soul 
 from sin, and complete redemption of the body from pain and death. 
 We have this salvation in hope; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of 
 God. How is this ? 
 
 Why, first, hope saiv it all secured hy the promise of grace. As soon as 
 «ver we believed in Christ our faith secured forgiveness, and we cried, 
 I am not yet free from tendencies to sin, but inasmuch as I have be- 
 lieved in Christ unto salvation I shall surely be perfected, fpr Christ 
 <5ould not have come to give me a partial and imperfect salvation : he 
 •vvill perfect that which concerneth me." Thus hope saw within the 
 promise of salvation much that as yet was not actually experienced. 
 Knowing that the whole of the promise is of equal certainty, hope ex- 
 pected the future mercy as surely as faith enjoyed the present blessing. 
 
 Moreover, hope saw the full harvest in the firstfruits. When sin was 
 subdued by grace, hope expected to see it utterly exterminated. When 
 the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the body, hope concluded that the body 
 would be delivered as surely as the soul. The moment that faith in- 
 troduced hope into the heart she sang, I have the complete salvation 
 — not in actual enjoyment, but in sure reversion in Christ Jesus." 
 Hope waved the first sheaf, and so took possession of the harvest. Ask 
 any farmer who holds up a little handful of ripe wheat-ears whether he 
 has ripe wheat, and he tells you that it is even so. But you have not 
 reaped it yet." No, not yet, but it is mine, and in due season I shall 
 reap it : these full ears are a full assurance of the existence of the wheat, 
 and of the fact that it is ripening." So when God gave to you and 
 me love to Jesus and deliverance from the dominion of evil, these firstfruits 
 betokened a perfect salvation yet to be revealed in us. Our first joy 
 was the tuning of our harps for everlasting song. Our first peace was 
 the morning light of a never-ending day. When first we saw Christ, 
 
SAVED IN HOPE. 
 
 493 
 
 and worshipped him, our adoration was the first bowing before the 
 throne of God and of the Lamb. So that in hope we were saved : it 
 brought us the principle of perfection, the pledge of immortality, the 
 commencement of glorification. 
 
 Moreover, hope is so sure about this coming favour that she reckons it 
 as ohtained. You get an advice from a merchant with whom ycFu have 
 traded beyond sea: he says, have procured the goods you have 
 ordered, and will send them by the next vessel ; which will probably 
 arrive at such a time." Another trader calls in and asks you whether 
 you wish to buy such goods ; and you reply, " No, I have them." Have 
 you spoken the truth ? Certainly ; for though you have them not in 
 your warehouse, they are invoiced to you ; you know they are on the 
 way, and you are so accustomed to trust your foreign correspondent, 
 that you regard the goods as yours. The deed is done that makes 
 them yours. So it is with heaven, with perfection, with immortality : 
 the deed is done which makes these the heritage of saints. I have 
 advices from One whom I cannot doubt, even my Lord, that he has 
 gone to heaven to prepare a place for me, and that lie will come 
 again and receive me to himself. So sure is hope of this fact, that 
 she reckons it, and makes comparisons and draws practical conclusions. 
 A good old proverb tells us, Never reckon your chickens before they 
 are hatched," but here is a case in which you may reckon as accurately 
 while the bird is in the egg as when it is fledged, for the apostle says, 
 
 1 reckon that the suflPerings of this present time are not worthy to be 
 compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." He is so sure 
 of it that he keeps a debtor and creditor account about it : he puts 
 down the sufferings of this present time in his expenditure and the 
 glory which shall be revealed among his assets, and he declares that the 
 one is so vast, and the other so utterly insignificant as not to be worth 
 notice. 
 
 Nay, he is not only so sure as to reckon upon it, but to groan after it 
 We that are in this body do groan for the full adoption. Our groanings 
 do not arise from doubt, but from eagerness : we are urged by our con- 
 fident expectancy to vehemence of desire. It is idle to cry for that which 
 you will never have. The child is foolish which cries for the moon. But 
 to groan for what I am sure to have is proper and fit, and shows the 
 strength of my faith. 
 
 The apostle is so sure of it that he even triumphs in it. He says 
 that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us — that 
 is to say, although we are not perfect yet, and although our body is not 
 delivered from pain, yet we are so sure of perfection and complete deli- 
 verance that we joyfully endure all things, triumphing over every difficulty. 
 Friend, you will not be poor many weeks longer: you shall dwell where 
 the streets are paved with gold. Your head will not ache many months 
 longer, for it shall be surrounded with a coronet of glory and of bliss. 
 Never mind shame, they will not be able to laugh at you long : you shall 
 be at the right hand of God, even the Father, and the glory of Christ 
 shall clothe you, world without end. Oh, it is an infinite blessing to 
 have such a hope, and to be so sure of it as to anticipate its joys before 
 they actually come to us. We were saved in hope." 
 
 IV. Let us for a moment observe the proper sphere of hope. 
 
 H 
 
494 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 The sphere of hope is " things not seen." Hope that is seen is not hope, 
 for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for ? Therefore, brethren, 
 a Christian's real possession is not what he sees. Suppose God prospershim 
 in this world and he has riches : let him be grateful, but let him confess that 
 these are not his treasure. One hour with the Lord Jesus Christ will 
 bring taore satisfaction to the believer than the largest measure of wealth. 
 Although he may have been prospered in this world, the saint will 
 ridicule the idea of making the world his portion. A thousand worlds 
 with all the joy which they could yield are as nothing compared with our 
 appointed inheritance. Our hope does not deal with trifles ; it leaves 
 the mice of the barn to the owls, and soars on eagle wings where nobler 
 joys await her. 
 
 " Beyond, beyond this lower sky, 
 IJp where eternal ages roll ; 
 Where solid pleasures never die, 
 And fruits immortal feast the soul.*' 
 
 But it is clear that we do not at present enjoy these glorious things 
 for which we hope. The worldling cries, Where is your hope ? " and 
 we confess that we do not see the objects of our hope. For instance, 
 we could not claim to be already perfect, neither do we expect to do so 
 while we are in this body, but we believe that we shall be perfected in 
 the image of Christ at the time appointed of the Father. By no means 
 is our body free from infirmity at this moment, aches and pains and 
 weariness remind us that the body is under death because of sin ; yet 
 our firm conviction is that we shall bear the image of the heavenly even 
 as we now bear the image of the earthly. These are subjects of hope, 
 and therefore outside of present experience. Let us not be cast down 
 because it is so : we must have something reserved for hope to feed on. 
 We cannot have all of heaven and yet remain on earth. Dearly beloved, 
 if you feel tormented by indwelling sin, and your holiness seems battered 
 and blotted, yet be fully persuaded that he who has promised is able to 
 perform. 
 
 Away, then, with judging by what you do, or see, or feel, or are. 
 Eise into the sphere of the things which shall be. Can you not do 
 that ? When there is no joy in the present, there is an infinite joy in 
 the future. Do not say, " Oh, but it is a long way oflP." It is not so. 
 Many among you are sixty, seventy, or even eighty years of age ; your 
 time for the sight of Christ in your disembodied state cannot be far 
 away, for the thread of life is snapping. Some of us are in middle age, but 
 as we have already reached the average of life, we are bound to reckon 
 that our lease is far advanced ; and as so many are snatched away in 
 their prime, we may at any moment be caught up to the land for which 
 we hope. We ought not to fret about what we shall do ten years hence, 
 for it is very likely that we shall by that time have entered into the , 
 promised rest, and shall be serving the Lord day and night in his 
 temple, and beholding his face with joy unspeakable. Even suppose 
 that any of us should be doomed to exile from heaven for another fifty 
 years, the time of our sojourn will soon fly away. Let us labour to our 
 utmost for the glory of God while we are here, for the moments flash 
 away. Do you not recollect this time last year when autumn's ripeness 
 was all around? It seems but the other day. You boys and. girls 
 
SAVED IN HOPE. 
 
 495 
 
 think it a long year, but the old folks are of another opinion. We 
 have no long years now that we are growing grey. For me time travels 
 so fast that its axles are hot with speed. Fear cries — Oh for a little 
 breathing space ! But hope answers, — No, let the years fly, we shall be 
 home the sooner. There is but a step between us and heayen ; do not 
 let us worry ourselves about things below. We are like people in an 
 express train who see a disagreeable sight in the fields, but it is gone 
 before they have time to think of it. If there should be some discomfort 
 in the carriage, if they have been put into a third-class compartment 
 when they had a first-class ticket they do not trouble if it is a short 
 journey. ^^See," says one, ^^we have just passed the last station, and 
 shall be in the terminus directly : never mind." Let us project our- 
 selves into the future. We shall not need much dynamite of imagina- 
 tion to send us upward : we can leap that little distance by hope, and 
 seat ourselves among the thrones above. Resolve, my brethren, that, 
 at least for to-day, you will not tarry in this cloudy, earth-bound time, 
 but will mount unto the bright, cloudless eternity. 0 to leave these 
 turbid streams and bathe in the river of hope, whose crystal floods flow 
 from the pure fountain of divine joy. 
 
 V. Our time has fled, and we must close by merely glancing at the 
 EFFECT OF THIS HOPE, which is thus described : " Then do we with 
 patience wait for it." We wait, and must wait, but not as criminals for 
 execution ; our tarrying is rather that of the bride for the wedding. 
 We wait with patience, constancy, desire, and submission. The joy 
 is sure to come, we have no doubt about it: therefore we do not com- 
 plain and murmur, as though God had missed his appointment, and put 
 us to needless delay. No, the time which God has settled is the best, 
 and we are content with it. We would neither desire to tarry here nor 
 to depart at any time but the Lord's. Dear Rowland Hill is said to 
 have searched out an aged friend who was dying, that he might send a 
 message up to heaven, to John Berridge and other beloved Johns who 
 had gone before him, and he playfully added a word of hope that the 
 Master had not forgotten old Rowland, and would let him come home in 
 due time ; yet he never dreamed that he could be passed over. Among 
 the last expressions of the famous John Donne was this — "I were 
 miserable if I might not die." This would be a horrible world, indeed, 
 if we were doomed to live in it for ever. Fancy such a dreadful certainty 
 before us. I saw a gentleman some time ago who told me that he would 
 never die, but should at certain intervals cast off the effects of age 
 and start on a new term of life. He kindly came to tell me how 
 I might enjoy the same favour ; but as I am not ambitious of earthly 
 immortality, such an offer did not tempt me. He told me I could 
 renew my youth, and become young again for the space of hundreds of 
 years, but I refused his conditions, and declined the boon at any price. 
 I have no desire for anything of the sort ; my most comfortable pros- 
 pect about this life is that it will melt away into life eternal. It 
 seems to me that the most joyous thing about the most joyous life is 
 that it leads upward to another and a better state. I am not unhappy 
 or discontented, but since I have a good hope of perfection for my soul 
 and body, and a sure prospect of face-to-face fellowship with God, how 
 can I speak well of anything which divides me from my joy ? Yes, ic 
 
496 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 will come, surely come ; therefore let us patiently wait for it. When 
 Satan would buifet us, when temptation would overcome us, when 
 affliction would wear us down, when doubts would torment us, let 
 us bear the temporary trial with constancy, for we shall soon be out 
 of range of gunshot. The consummation shall come, and must come, 
 and when it cometh we shall remember no more our travail for joy that 
 our heaven is born to us and we to it. 
 
 Now, then, ye that do not believe in God, tell us what your hope is. 
 Publish it in the world, and let all men estimate it. What is your hope ? 
 To live long ? Yes, and what then ? To bring up a family ? Yes, and 
 what then ? To see them comfortably settled in life ? Yes, and what 
 then ? To be a grandfather to a numerous progeny ? Yes, and what then ? 
 To reach extreme old age in peaceful retirement ? Yes, and what then ? 
 The curtain falls. Let me lift it. The cemetery. The throne of God. 
 Sentence on your soul. The trumpet of resurrection. Final doom. 
 Body and soul in hell for ever. You have no better prospect. Pray 
 look out of the window, and see what is to be seen. The Lord have 
 mercy upon you, and give you a better hope. As for you believers in 
 Christ, I charge you begin to sing to-day the sonnets of the hereafter* 
 Charm your pilgrim life with the minstrelsy of hope. 
 
 Portion of Scripture read before Sermon — Rom. viii. 1 — 25^ 
 
 Hymns from "Our Own Hymn Book'— 874, 848, 878. 
 
 Illustrated Catalogue 
 
 OF 
 
 6. fl. SPORgEON'S WORKS 
 
 Post Free on application to 
 PASSMORE & ALABASTER, 
 Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G. 
 
COEDS AND CART-ROPES. 
 
 Intended for Reading on Lord's-day, February 8th, 1885, 
 
 delivered by 
 
 C. H. SPURGE ON, 
 
 AT THE MKTROPOLTTAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, 
 On Decemeee Uth, 1884. 
 
 "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a 
 cart rope." — Isaiah v. 18. 
 
 The text begins with Woe ; " but when we get a woe in this book of 
 blessings it is sent as a warning, that we may escape from woe. God's 
 woes are better than the devil's welcomes. God always means man's 
 good, and only sets ill before him that he may turn from the dangers of 
 a mistaken way, and so may escape the ill which lies at the end of it. 
 Think me not unkind at this time because my message sounds harshly, 
 and has a note in it of sorrow rather than of joy. It may be most for 
 your pleasure for ages to come, dear friends, to be for a while displeased. 
 It may make the bells ring in your ears for ever if to-night, instead of 
 the dulcet sound of the harp, you hear the shrill clarion startling you to 
 thoughtfulness. Mayhap " Woe, woe, woe," though it should sound 
 with a dreadful din in your ear, may be the means of leading you to 
 seek and find your Saviour, and then throughout eternity no woe shall 
 ever come near to you. May the good Spirit of all grace put power 
 into my warning, that you may profit by it. 
 
 This is a very singular text. It is not very easy to understand it at 
 first sight. Here are some who are said to draw sin with cords of vanity, 
 which are slender enough, and yet they also draw it as with a cart-rope, 
 which is thick enough. They are harnessed to sin, and the traces 
 appear to be fragile, insignificant, and soon broken. You can hardly 
 touch them, for they are a mere sham, a fiction — vanity. What can be 
 thinner and weaker than cobweb-cords of vanity? Yet when you 
 attempt to break or remove them they turn out to be cart-ropes or 
 wagon-traces, fitted to bear the pull of horse or bullock. Motives 
 which have no logical force, and would not bind a reasonable man for 
 a moment, nre, nevertheless, quite sufficient to hold the most of men in 
 boadage. Such a slave is man to iniquity, that unworthy motives and 
 Ko.a,821. 
 
62 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT, 
 
 indefensible reasons which appear no stronger than little cords neverthe- 
 less hold him as Avith bonds of steel, and he is fastened to the loaded 
 wagon of his iniquity as a horse is fastened by a cart-rope. That is 
 our subject at this time, and may God make it useful to many. Beyond 
 all things I would have you saved, you who are tugging away in the 
 harness of sin. God grant it. .. May the free Spirit set you free. 
 
 I shall first of all explain the singular description — explain it by 
 enlarging upon it, and quoting instances from daily life. Secondly, I 
 shall enlarge upon the woe that is certainly connected with being bound 
 to sin ; and then thirdly, as God shall help me, / will encourage you to 
 get out of the traces. I pray that you may have these cart-ropes cut, 
 that you may not be drawing iniquity and sin after you any longer. 
 Oh that this might be salvation's hour to many of you, in which, like 
 Samson, you may break the cords and ropes with which you have been 
 bound ! 
 
 I. First, let us explain the singular description. Here are 
 persons harnessed to the wagon of sin — harnessed to it by many cords, 
 all light as vanity and yet strong as cart-ropes. 
 
 Let me give you a picture. Here is a man, who, as a young man, 
 heard the gospel and grew up under the influence of it. He is an 
 intelligent man, a Bible reader, and somewhat of a theologian. He 
 attended a Bible class, was an apt pupil, and could explain much of 
 Scripture, but he took to lightness and frothiness. He made an amuse- 
 ment of religion and a sport of serious things. Sermons he frequented 
 that he might talk of them and say that he had heard the preacher. 
 After the sermon, when others were impressed, he was merry. He had 
 discovered some mistake in the preacher, in his pronunciation, in the 
 grammatical construction of a sentence, or in a misquotation from a 
 poet, and this he mentioned with gusto, passing by all the good that 
 was spoken. That was only his way : he did not mean any hurt by it ; 
 at least, he would have said so had any one seriously reproved him. 
 
 He came under the bond of this religious trifling, bat it was a cord of 
 vanity small as a packthread. Years ago he began to be bound to his 
 sin by this kind of trifling, and at the present moment I am not sure 
 that he ever cares to go and hear the gospel or to read the word of 
 God, for he has grown to despise that which he sported with. The wanton 
 witling has degenerated into a malicious scoffer : his cord has become 
 a cart-rope. His life is all trifling now. You could not make him 
 serious. He spends his time in one perpetual giggle. Every holy thing 
 is now the subject of comedy. Like Belshazzar, he drinks his wine 
 out of the sacred vessels of the temple. Earnestness hath a pleasantry 
 of its own, and a bold spirit yokes mirth and laughter to its car, and 
 subdues all the faculties of the mind to God, not even excepting humour; 
 but this man owns no Lord within his heart, but laughs at the most 
 solemn truths and does not seem capable of anything higher or better. 
 His life is a sneer. He would pull a feather out of an angel's wing and 
 wear it in his cap. On the solemn day of Pentecost he would have drawn 
 a picture of the cloven tongues upon his thumb nail that he mi^ht show ifc 
 as a curiosity. There is nothing sacred to him now, nor will there be 
 till he is in hell, and then he will have done with his jibes and flouts* 
 The habit of being contemptaous has grown to be a carc-rope with him, 
 
CORDS AND CAllT-ItOPES. 
 
 63 
 
 and it holds him most sconrely. I say, jouni^ men, break those wretched 
 cords of vanity before tliey stren^xtheii into cart-ropes. AVhile yet there 
 is but a slender thread snap it, before thread gathers to thread, and 
 that to another, and that to another, till it has come to be a cable, 
 which even a giant could not pull asunder. There are many lament- 
 able instances of triflers ripening into scoffers, and it were a great pity 
 that you should furnish further illustrations. Avoid trifling with religion 
 as you would avoid common swearing or profanity, for in its essence it 
 is irreverent and mischievous. 
 
 I have seen the same thing take another shape, and then it appeared 
 as captious questioning. We are not afraid to be examined upon any- 
 thing in the Word of God ; but we dread a cavilling spirit. I, for one, 
 believe that the more the Word of God has been sifted the more fully 
 has it been confirmed. The result has been the better understanding 
 of its teaching. The pure gold has shone the more brightly for being 
 placed in the crucible. But there is a habit which begins thus — 
 "1 do not see this; and I do not understand that; and I do not ap- 
 prove of this; and I question that'^ It makes life into a tangle of 
 thorns and briars where ten thousand sharp points of doubt are for ever 
 tearing the mind. This doubting state reminds one of the old serpent's 
 
 Yea, hath God said? If the statement made had been the opposite, 
 the gentleman would have questioned it; for he is bound to doubt 
 everything. He is one who could take either side and refate; but 
 neither side and defend. He could do like the eminent barrister, who 
 had made a mistake as to his side of the case, and he got up and gave 
 all the arguments most tellingly, till his client's lawyer whispered to him, 
 
 You have done for us, you have used all the arguments against your 
 own client." The barrister stopped and said, " My lord, I have thus 
 told you all that can be urged against my client by those upon the 
 other side, and I will now show you that there is nothing in the allega- 
 tions; " and with equal cleverness he went on to disprove what he had 
 proved before. There are minds constructed in such a way that they 
 can act in every way except that of plain up and down. Their 
 machinery is eccentric, it would puzzle the ablest tongue to describe it. 
 I like the old-fashioned consciences that go up and down, yes and no, 
 right and wrong, true and false— the kind which are simple and need no 
 great intellect to understand their methods. We are growing so 
 cultured now that many have become like the old serpent, " more subtle 
 than any beast of the field." The new-fashioned consciences act upon 
 the principle of compromise and policy, which is no principle at all. 
 To each enquiry they answer, " Yes and no. What is the time of day ?" 
 for it is yes or no according to the clock, or according to the climate, 
 or more generally according to the breeches' pocket, for so much de- 
 pends upon that. Practically many are saying, Upon which side of the 
 bread is the butter ? Tell us this, and then we will tell you what we 
 believe.'' People of that sort begin at first with an enquiring spirit, 
 then go on to an objecting spirit, then to a conceited spirit, and then 
 to a perpetually quibbling spirit. In the case to which I refer, there is 
 nothing earnest ; for when a man is a sincere questioner, and is willing 
 to receive an answer, he is on the high road to truth ; but when he 
 D[ierely questions and questions and questions, and never stops for an 
 
64 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 answer, and is nothing but a heap of cavils, lie is not Torth clearing 
 away. The lasfc thing he wants is an answer, and the thing he dreads be- 
 yond everything is that he should be compelled to believe anything at 
 all. Such a man at last gets bound as with a cart-rope : he becomes 
 an atheist or worse ? for all capacity for faith departs from him. He is 
 as frivolous as Voltaire, whose forte seemed to lie in ridiculing everything. 
 You cannot save him. How can faith come to him? How can he 
 believe who must have everything explained ? How can he believe in 
 Christ himself when he requires him, first of all, to be put through a 
 catechism and to be made to answer cavils ? Oh, take heed of tying 
 up your soul with cart-ropes of scepticism ; take heed of a truth-denying 
 spirit. God help you to break the bonds. Enquire, but believe. Ask, but 
 do accept the truth ; and be in earnest in your resolve that if you prove 
 all things you will also hold fast that which is good. To be always 
 using the sieve but never to be using the mill is starving work : to be 
 always searching after adulterations, but never to drink of the genuine 
 milk, is a foohsh habit. Cavilling is a curse, and carping is a crime. 
 Escape from it while yet it is but as a cord of vanity, lest it come 
 to be a cart-rope which shall bind you fast. 
 
 I hear one say, This does not touch me. I have not fallen either 
 into trifling or into questioning." No, but perhaps you may be a prisoner 
 bound with other cords. Some have a natural dislike to religious things 
 and cannot be brought to attend to them. Let me qualify the statement 
 and explain myself. They are quite prepared to attend a place of worship 
 and to hear sermons, and occasionally to read the Scriptures, and to give 
 their money to help on some benevolent cause ; but this is the point at 
 which they draw the line — they do not want to think, to pray, to repent, 
 to believe, or to make heart-work of the matter. Thinking, you know, 
 is awkward work, and to them it is uncomfortable work, because there is 
 not much in their lives that would cheer them if they were to think of 
 it. They had rather not see the nakedness of the land. There is an 
 ugly thing which they do not want to have much to do with — called 
 repentance : of this they require much, but they are averse to it. The 
 more children dislike medicine the more they want it ; and it is the same 
 with repentance. These people would rather shut their eyes and go on to 
 destruction than stop and see their danger and turn back. To think 
 about the past — why, they might have to mourn it, and who is eager after 
 sorrow ? Then there is such a thing as a change of heart, and they are 
 rather shy of thaty for they are almost heartless and do not like prying 
 deep. If there were something to be done that could be managed in a 
 day or two, if there were some pilgrimage to make, some penance to 
 endure, some dress to be worn, they would not mind that ; but thought, 
 repentance, prayer, and seeking God — they cannot endure such spiritual 
 exactions. If there were some sacrifice to be made, they would do that ; 
 but this being at peace with God, this seeking to be renewed in the spirit 
 of their mind — well, they have no mind to it. The world is in their 
 hearts and they have no wish to get it out. They have heard some 
 people say that all conversation about God, the soul, and eternity is dull 
 Puritanic talk, so they have picked up an expression as parrots often do, 
 and they say No, we do not want to be Puritans. We do not care to 
 be extra precise and righteous over much." What a misery it is that 
 
CORDS AND OAllT-ROPES. 
 
 65 
 
 there should be persons who are bound with such cords of vanity as those ! 
 These are unreasonable feelings, insane aversions, unjustifiable prejudices: 
 the Lord save you from them, and instead thereof give you a mind 
 to know him, and a heart to seek after him. Why, as a boy, when I 
 began to feel a sense of sin within me, I resolved that if there was 
 such a thing as being born again, I would never rest until I knew it. 
 My heart seemed set upon knowing what repentance meant and what 
 faith meant, and getting to be thoroughly saved ; but now I find 
 that large numbers of my hearers back out of all serious dealing with 
 themselves and God : they act as if they did not wish to be made happy for 
 eternity. They think hardly of the good way. You see it is such radical 
 work : regeneration cuts so deep, and it makes a man so thoughtful. 
 Who knows what may have to be given up ? Who knows what may have 
 to be done ? 0, my hearer, if you indulge in such demurs and delays 
 and prejudices in the first days of your conviction, the time may come 
 when those little packthreads will be so intertwisted with each other 
 that they will make a great cart-rope, and you will become an opposer 
 of everything that is ^ood, determined to abide for ever harnessed 
 to the great Juggernaut car of your iniquities, and so to perish. God 
 save you from that. 
 
 I have known some men get harnessed to that car in another way, and 
 that is by deference to compmiions. The young man liked everything 
 that was good after a fashion, but he could not bear for anybody to say on 
 Monday morning, So you were at a place of worship on Sunday." He 
 did not like to say outright, Of course I was; where were you ? " But 
 the rather he said, — Well, he did look in at the chapel, or he did go to St. 
 Paul's or the Abbey to hear the music. Oh,'' says one, I hear you 
 were at the Tabernacle the other day." Yes, he went in from curiosity, 
 just to see the place and the crowd. That is how he puts it, as if he 
 were ashamed to worship his Maker and to be found observing the 
 Sabbath-day. 0, poor coward ! That young man at another time was 
 charged with having been seen in the enquiry room, or weeping under 
 a solemn sermon. He said it was rather affecting, and he was a little 
 carried away and over-persuaded, but he apologised to the devil and 
 begged that he might hear no more of it. He began giving way to his 
 ungodly friends, and soon he became their butt. One companion pulled 
 his ear that way, and another pulled his ear another way, and in this 
 manner he developed very long ears indeed. He did not go very far 
 wrong at first ; but having allowed sinful men to saddle him, they took 
 care to ride him harder and harder as the days ran on. It was only a 
 packthread sort of business that held him to sin by a kind of wicked 
 courtesy ; but after a while he became obsequious to his equals, and fawned 
 upon his superiors, doing their bidding even though it cost him his 
 fioul. He was vastly more attentive to the will and smile of some 
 downright vicious comrade — far more thoughtful of a fool's opinion — 
 than he was of the good pleasure of God. It is a shocking thing ; but 
 there is no doubt that many people go to hell for the love of being re- 
 spectable. It is not to be doubted that multitudes pawn their souls, and 
 lose their God and heaven, merely for the sake of standing well in 
 the estimation of a profligate. Young women have lost their souls for 
 very vanity, sinning in the hope of securing the love of a brainless, 
 
66 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 heartless youth. Youns^ men have flung away all hope of salvation in 
 order that they might be thought to be men of culture ; they have 
 abjured faith in order to be esteemed ^'free-thinkers " by those whose 
 opinions were not worth a pin's head. I charge you, dear friend, if you 
 are beginning at all to be a slave of other people, break these wretched 
 and degrading bonds. I scorn that mental slavery in which many 
 glory. What matters it to me to-day what anybody thinks of me ? In 
 this respect I am the freest of men. Yet do I know times when, had I 
 yiftided to the packthread, I should soon have felt the cart-rope. He 
 who sins to please his friend is making for himself a slavery more cruel 
 than the negro ever knew. He that would be free for ever must break 
 the cords ere yet they harden into chains. 
 
 Some men are getting into bondage in another way; they are forming 
 gradual habits of eviL How many young men born and bred amid 
 Christian associations do that ! It is a little sip, and such a little. I 
 do not take above half a glass." Then why run such great risks for so 
 small an indulgence ? **The doctor" — 0 you doctors, what you have 
 got to answer for ! — " the doctor says I ought to take a little, and so I 
 do." By-and-by the little thread becomes a cart-rope : the tale about 
 the doctor ends in doing what no doctor would justify. Will he say, 
 " The doctor says I ought" when he comes rolling home at night, scarce 
 can find his way to bed, and wakes up with a headache in the morning? 
 He would have done better to ask God for grace to escape while yet he had 
 small pleasure in the fascinating fire-water, and was the master of his 
 appetite. The cart-rope is hard to break, as many have found, though 
 I would encourage even these by God's grace to struggle for liberty. 
 
 " Well," says the young man, " that is not my sin." I am glad it is 
 not ; but any other sin if it be persevered in will destroy you. I will 
 not try to describe your sin. Describe it yourself, and think over it ; 
 but will you please recollect the deceitfulness of sin — the way in which 
 it comes to men, as the frost in the still evening in the wintry months 
 comes to the lake ? The pool is placid, and the frost only asks that it 
 may thinly glaze the surface. The coating is so thin, you could scarce 
 call it ice ; but having once filmed the pool, the sheet of ice has com- 
 menced ; soon it is an inch thick, and in a few hours a loaded wagon 
 might pass over it without a crash, for the whole pool seems turned 
 to marble. So men give way to one evil passion or another — this vice or 
 that ; and the habit proceeds from bad to worse, till the cords of vanity 
 are enlarged into cart-traces, and they cannot escape from the load to 
 which they are harnessed. 
 
 I fear that not a few are under the delusive notion that they are safe 
 as they are. Carnal security is made up of cords of vanity. How can 
 a sinner be safe while his sin is unforgiven ? How can he be at peace 
 while he is a slave to evil, and an enemy to God ? Yet many fancy that 
 they are as good as need be, and far better than their neighbours. Surely 
 such as they are must surely be secure, since they are so respectable, so 
 well inclined, and so mnch thought of. A man may accustom himself 
 to danger till he does not even notice it, and a soul may grow used to its 
 condition till it sees no peril in impenitence and unbelief. As the 
 blacksmith's dog will lie down and sleep while the sparks fly about him, 
 so will a gospel-hardened sinner sleep on under warnings and pleadings^ 
 
CORDS AND CAUT-ROPES. 
 
 67 
 
 At first the bearer had to do violence to his conscience to escape from 
 the force of truth, bub at last he is encased in steel, and no arrow of tlie 
 word can wound him. 0 ye that are at ease in Zion, I beseech you 
 listen to my admonition and fly from carnal security. 0 Lord, arouse 
 them from their slumbering condition ! 
 
 This is a word of warning. I have not the time to-night to go into 
 all the details. I wish I had. Beware of the eggs of the cockatrice. 
 Eemember how drops wear stones, and little strokes fell great oaks. Do 
 not play with a cobra, even if it be but a foot long. Keep from the 
 edge of the precipice. Fly from the lion ere he springs upon you. Do 
 not forge for yourself a net of iron, nor become the builder of your 
 own prison-house. May the Holy Ghost deliver you. May you touch 
 the cross, and find in it the power which will loose you and let you go. 
 
 II. But, oh, how I wish that every person here who has not yet 
 found liberty, but is harnessed to his sin, could escape to-night, for — and 
 this is my second pomt — there is a woe about remaining harnessed 
 TO THE CART OF SIN, and that woe is expressed in our text. 
 
 // has been hard work already to tug at sin's load. If I am addressing 
 any here that have fallen into great sin, I know that you have fallen into 
 great sorrow. I am sure you have. Much of history is happily covered 
 with a veil so that its secret griefs do not become open miseries, else 
 were the world too wretched for a tender heart to live in it. Could we 
 lift the tops of the houses, could we exhibit the skeletons hidden in 
 closets,' could Ave take away the curtains from human breasts — what 
 sorrows we should see ; and the mass of those sorrows — not the whole 
 of them, but the mass — would be found to come from sin. When the 
 young man turns to paths of unchastity or of dishonesty, what grief he 
 makes for himself : what woe, what misery ! His bodily disease, his 
 mental anguish we have no heart to describe. Ah ! yes, ''The way of 
 transgressors is hard." They put on a smile ; they even take to uproarious 
 laughter, but a worm is gnawing at their hearts. Alas, poor slaves ! 
 They make a noise as they try to drown their feelings ; but as the crack- 
 ling of thorns under a pot such is the mirth of the wicked — hasty, noisy, 
 momentary ; gone, and nothing but ashes left. I would not have you 
 proceed in the path of sin if there were nothing in it worse than what 
 has happened to you already. Surely the time past may sufiice for folly: 
 you have reaped enough of the fire-sheaves without going on with the 
 harvest. I would as a brother urge you to escape from your present 
 bondage. 
 
 But remember, if you remain harnessed to this car of sin, the weight 
 increases. You are like a horse that has to go a journey and pick up 
 parcels at every quarter of a mile : you are increasing the heavy luggage 
 and baggage that you have to drag behind you. A man starting in 
 life is somewhat like a horse with but a slender load in the cart, but 
 as he goes on from youth to manhood, and from manhood to his riper 
 years, he has been loaded up with more sin ; and what a weight there is 
 behind him now ! Grinning devils, as they bring the heavy packages 
 and heap them up one upon another, must wonder that men are such 
 fools as to continue in the harness and drag on the dreadful load as if it 
 were fine sport. Alas, that men should sin away their souls so lightly, as if 
 €elf-destruction were some merry game that they were playing at, whereas 
 
68 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 it is a heaping up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and the 
 perdition of ungodly men. 
 
 Further, I want you to notice that as the load grows heavier, so 
 the road becomes worse, the ruts are deeper, the hills are steeper, and 
 the sloughs are more full of mire. In the heyday of youth man finds 
 beaded babbles about the brim of his cup of sin, the wine moveth 
 itself aright, it giveth its colour in the cup ; but as he grows older and 
 drinks deeper he comes nearer to the dregs, and those dregs are as gall 
 and wormwood. An old man with his bones filled with the sin of his 
 youth is a dreadful sight to look upon ; he is a curse to others, and a 
 burden to himself. A man who has fifty years of sin behind him is 
 like a traveller pursued by fifty howling wolves. Do you hear their 
 deep bay as they pursue the wretch ? Do you see their eyes glaring 
 in the dark, and flaming like coals of fire ? Such a man is to be pitied 
 indeed : whither shall he flee, or how shall he face his pursuers ? He 
 who goes on carelessly when he knows that such a fate awaits him is a 
 fool, and deserves small pity when the evil day comes. 0 you that are 
 drawing the wagon of sin, I implore you stop before you reach tho 
 boggy ways of infirmity, the tremendous swamps of old age ! 
 
 Remember, friends, if any of you are still harnessed to your sins, and 
 have been vso for years, the day will come when the load will crush 
 the horse. It is a dreadful thing when the sins which were drawn at 
 last drive the drawer before them. In the town where 1 was 
 brought up there is a very steep hill. You could scarcely get out of 
 the town without going down a hill, but one is specially precipitous, and 
 I remember once hearing a cry in the streets, for a huge wagon had 
 rolled over the horses that were going down the hill with it. The 
 load had crushed the creatures that were supposed to draw it. There 
 comes a time with a man when it is not so much he that consumes the 
 drink as the drink that consumes him ; he is drowned in his cups, 
 sucked down by that which he himself sucked in. A man was 
 voracious, perhaps, in food, and at last his gluttony swallowed him ; at 
 one grim morsel he went down the throat of the old dragon of 
 selfish greed. Or the man was lustful, and at last his vice devoured 
 him. It is an awful thing when it is not the man that follows 
 the devil, but the devil that drives the man before him as though 
 he were his laden ass. The man's worst self, that had been kept in the 
 rear and put under restraint, at last gets up and comes to the front, and 
 the better self, if ever he had such, is dragged on an unwilling captive 
 ^t the chariot wheels of its destroyer. 
 
 I am sure that there is nobody here who desires to be eternally a 
 sinner : let him then beware, for each hour of sin brings its hardness 
 and its difficulty of change. Nobody here wants to get into such a 
 •condition that he cannot help any longer sinning : let him not be so un- 
 wise as to play with sin. When the moral brakes are taken oflP, and the 
 engine is on the down-grade, and must run on at a perpetually quicken- 
 ing rate for ever, then is the soul lost indeed. I am sure there is not 
 a man here who wants to commit himself to an eternity of hate of 
 God, an eternity of lust, an eternity of wickedness and consequent 
 wretchedness. Why then do you continue to harden your hearts ? If 
 you do not wish to rush down the decline, put on the brake to-night : 
 
CORDS AND CART-ROPES. 
 
 69 
 
 God help you so to do ; or, to come back to the text, let the pack- 
 threads be broken, and the cords of vanity be thrown aside, ere yet 
 the cart-rope shall have fastened you for ever to the Juggernaut car of 
 your sin and your destruction. 
 
 III. Now I want to oflFer some encouragement for breaking 
 LOOSE. It is time I did. I do not wish to preach a sad unhappy ser- 
 mon to-night ; but I do long to see everybody here saved from sin. My 
 heart cries to God that as long as I am able to preach, I may not preach 
 " in vain. God knows I have never shunned to speak what I have 
 thought, and to speak very plainly and very home to you. I never come 
 into this pulpit with the notion that I must not say a sharp thing, or 
 somebody will be offended, and I must not deal with common sins, for 
 somebody will say that I am coarse. I care not the snap of a finger what 
 you choose to say about me, if you will but forsake sin and be reconciled 
 to God by the death of his Son. That is the one and only thing my 
 heart craves, and for that end I have given earnest warnings at this 
 time. I may not much longer be spared to speak with you, and there- 
 fore I am the more earnest to impress you while I may. Help me, O 
 Spirit of God I 
 
 Now, listen. There is hope for every harnessed slave of Satan. 
 There is hope for those who are most securely bound. " Oh," you 
 say, I am afraid that I have got into the cart-rope stage ; for I seem 
 bound to perish in my sin, I cannot break loose from it." Listen. 
 Jesus Christ has come into the world to rescue those who are 
 bound with chains. That is to say, God himself has taken upon 
 himself human nature, with this design— that he may save men from 
 their sins. That blessed, perfect babe, such as never mother before had 
 ever seen, — that virgin's child — when they named him, it was said, 
 " Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their 
 sins." He has come to this world in our nature on purpose to save men 
 from their sins. He can cut the traces which bind you to Satan's chariot. 
 He can take you out of the shafts. He can set you free to-night. 
 You have been dragging on for years, and you think there is no chance 
 for you ; but there is more than a chance, there is the certainty of 
 salvation if you trust in Jesus. I remember reading a famous writer's 
 description of a wretched cab-horse which was old and worn out and 
 yet kept on its regular round of toil. They never took him out of 
 harness for fear they should never be able to get his poor old carcase 
 into it again. He had been in the shafts for so many years that they 
 feared if they took him out of them he would fall to pieces, and so they 
 let him keep where he was accustomed to be. Some men are just like 
 that. They have been in the shafts of sin so many years that they 
 fancy that if they were once to alter they would drop to pieces. But 
 it is not so, old friend. We are persuaded better things of you, and \ 
 things that accompany salvation. The Lord will make a new creature ' 
 of you. When he cuts the traces and brings you out from between those 
 shafts which have so long held you, you will not know yourself. When 
 old things have passed away you will be a wonder unto many. Is it nob 
 said of Augustine that after his conversion he was met by a fallen 
 woman who had known him in his sin, and he passed her by ? She 
 said, Austin, it is I and he turned and said, "But I am not Austin. 
 
70 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 I am not the man you once knew, for I have become a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus." That is what the Lord Jesus Christ can do for you. Do 
 you not beUeve it ? It is true, whether you beheve it or not. Oh that 
 you would look to Jesus and begin to live ! It is time a change was 
 made ; is it not ? Who can change you but the Lord Jesus ? 
 
 Let me tell you another thing that ought to cheer you, and it is this. 
 You are bound with the cords of sin, and in order that all this sin of 
 yours might effectually be put away, the Lord Jesus, the Son of the 
 Highest^ was himself iound. They took him in the garden of Gethsemane, 
 and bound his hands, and led him off to Pilate and Herod. They 
 brought him bound before the Eoman governor. He was bound when 
 they scourged him. He was bound when they brought him forth bearing 
 his cross. He was fastened hand and foot as they drove in the nails, 
 and thus fixed him with rivets of iron to his cross. There did he hang, 
 fastened to the cruel tree, for sinners such as you are. If you come 
 and trust him to-night you shall find that for you he endured the 
 wrath of God, for you he paid the penalty of death, that he might set 
 you free. He bore it that you should not bear it : he died for you 
 that you might not die. His substitution shall be your deliverance. 
 Oh, come, all bound and guilty as you are, and look to his dear cross, 
 and trust yourself with him; and you shall be set free. 
 
 God grant that it may be done at this very moment. 
 
 I will tell thee another cheering fact to help thee to overcome thy sin, 
 and break the cart-ropes that now bind thee, — There is in this world a 
 mysterious Being whom thou Jcnowestnot, but whom some of usknoia, who 
 is able to work thy liberty. There dwells upon this earth a mysterious 
 Being, whose office it is to renew the fallen, and restore the wandering. 
 We cannot see him, or hear him, yet he dwells in some of us, as Lord of 
 our nature. His chosen residence is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. 
 That most powerful Being is God, the third person of the blessed 
 Trinity, the Holy Ghost, who was given at Pentecost and who has never 
 been recalled, but remains on earth to bless the people of God. He is here 
 still ; and wherever there is a soul that would be free from sin this free 
 Spirit waits to help him. Wherever there is a spirit that loathes its 
 own unholiness, this Holy Spirit waits to cleanse him. Wherever there is a 
 groaning one asking to be made pure, this pure Spirit is ready to come 
 and dwell in him, and make him pure as God is pure. 0, my hearer, 
 he waits to bless you now : he is blessing you while I speak. I feel as 
 if his divine energy went forthwith the word and entered into your soul 
 as you are listening. I trust I am not mistaken. If thou believest in 
 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, believe thou also in the power of the 
 Holy Spirit to make thee a new creature, and cleanse thee, and deliver 
 thee from every fetter, and make thee the Lord's free man. 
 
 I will tell thee one thing more, and I will have done. Our experience 
 should be a great encouragemsnt to you. I have tried to preach to you 
 that are in the traces ; poor worn-out cab-horses to the devil, post-horses 
 of Satan that seem never to have a holiday, dragging your cart of sin 
 behind you through the slush of the foul city of Vanity. The mercy is 
 that you are not horses, but men born for nobler purposes. You may 
 be free, for some of us are free. Oh, what a load I had behind me once : 
 my wagon of imbred sin was a huge one indeed. Had it not been for 
 
CORDS AND CART-ROPES. 
 
 71 
 
 the grace of God I should have perished in the impossible attempt to 
 move it. I do not think that my load as to overt sin was at all like 
 that which some of you are dragging, for I was but a child, and had not 
 yet plunged into the follies of the world ; but then I had a dogged will, 
 a high spirit, an intense activity, and a daring mind, and all this would 
 have driven me headlong to perdition if the Spirit of God had not 
 wrought in me to subdue me to the will of the Lord. I felt within my 
 spirit the boilings up of that secret cauldron of corruption which is in 
 every human bosom ; and I felt that I was ruined before God, and that 
 there was no hope for me. My burden of inward sin at fifteen years of 
 age was such that I knew not what to do. We have seen pictures of the 
 Arabs dragging those great Nineveh bulls for Mr. Leyard, hundreds of 
 them tugging away ; and I have imagined how Pharaoh's subjects, the 
 Egyptians, must have sweated and smarted when they had to drag some 
 of the immense blocks of which his obelisks were composed, — thousands 
 of men dragging one block of masonry; and I seemed to have just 
 such a load as that behind me, and it would not stir. I prayed, and it 
 would not stir. I took to reading my Bible, but my load would not 
 stir. It seemed stuck in the mire, and no struggling would move 
 the awful weight. Deep ruts the wheels were in. My load would 
 not be moved, and I did not know what to do. I cried to God in my 
 agony, and I thought I must die if I did not get delivered from 
 my monstrous cumber : but it would not stir. I have no drag behind 
 me now. Glory be to God, I am not bound with a cart-rope to the old 
 wagon. I have no hamper behind me, and as I look back for the old 
 ruts where the cart stopped so long I cannot even see their traces. 
 The enormous weight is not there ! It is clean gone ! There came 
 One by who wore a crown of thorns : I knew him by the marks in 
 his hands and in his feet; and he said, " Trust me, and I will set thee 
 free." I trusted him, and the enormous weight behind me was gone. 
 It disappeared. As I was told, it sank into his sepulchre, and it lies 
 buried there, never to come out again. My cart-rope snapped, my 
 cords of vanity melted, I was out of harness. Then I said, ^'The snare 
 is broken, and my soul hath escaped as a bird out of the snare of the 
 fowler. I will tell the story of my deliverance as long as I live.'' I 
 can say to-night, 
 
 ** E'er since by faith I saw the stream 
 His flowing wounds supply, 
 Redeeming love has been my theme. 
 And shall be tilll die." 
 
 Oh, my beloved hearers, believe in Christ as I did. The gospel comes 
 to each sorrowing sinner, and it says, — ^Trust the Saviour and there is 
 joy for thee. There is but a veil of gauze between thee and peace ; 
 move the hand of faith, and that veil will be torn to pieces. There is 
 but a step between thy misery and music and dancing and a life of 
 perpetual delights ; take that step out of self and into Christ, and all 
 is changed for ever. Ask Jesus to break thy bonds, and with a touch 
 of his pierced hand, he will make thee free as the swallow on the wing 
 which no cage can hold. Thou shalt see him, and see thy sin never 
 again for ever. 
 
72 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 God bless thee, and break the cart-ropes, and remove the cords 
 of vanity, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
 Listen now ! the Lord bath done it ! 
 
 For he loved us unto death ; 
 It is finished ! He has saved us ! 
 
 Only trust to what he saith. 
 He hath done it ! Come and bless him, 
 
 Spend in praise your ransomed breath 
 Evermore and evermore. 
 
 ** Oh, believe the Lord hath done it ! 
 
 Wherefore linger? Wherefore doubt ? 
 All the cloud of black transgression 
 
 He himself hath blotted out. 
 He hath done it ! Come and bless him, 
 Swell the grand thanksgiving shout, 
 Evermore and evermore." 
 
 Portion of Scripture read before Sermon — Isaiah v. 
 
 Hymns from "Our Own Hymn Book"— 235, 587, 553. 
 
 By C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 THE GOSPEL FOR THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Sixty Short Sermons, with a Sketch of Mr. Spurgeon's Life, and 
 Fourteen Portraits and Engravings, with Preface by Pastor Thomas 
 Spurgeon. Cloth Gilt, 5s. 
 
 These Short Sermons have been selected from the Series with a view to 
 their being used in Mission Halls, and other similar places. They 
 are about half the length of the ordinary Sermons, 
 
 FAG-SIMILE PULPIT NOTES, 
 WITH THE SERMONS PREACHED FROM THEM. 
 
 By C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 CLOTH EXTRA, 2/6. 
 
 This Volume contains 12 fac-simile reproductions of Mr. Spurgeon's 
 written notes used by him when preaching. With two Portraits and 
 view of interior of Tabernacle with Congregation. 
 
 "This is the yolume to which widespread attention has been called by notices in the religious and 
 aecular newspapers, and many of our readers will joyfully welcome its publication. . . . The pub- 
 lication of the pulpit notes, with the sermons preached from them, will not only furnish interesting 
 mementoes of the beloved preacher, but they will also afford information ai to his usual method of 
 Mrmon construction.'*— rAe Sword and the Trowel, 
 
THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLORIOUS HOPE. 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, June 13th, 1886, by 
 
 **And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. '^—Romans v. 5. 
 
 Pentecost is repeated in the heart of every believer. Let me give you 
 a little bit of hislorkal analogy to illustrate the text. The Lord's 
 disciples were made to sorrow at his cross. Sore was the tribulation 
 which came upon them as they thought upon his death, and his burial 
 in Joseph's sepulchre. But after a little patience and experience, their 
 hope revived ; for their Lord rose from the dead, and they beheld him 
 ascending into heaven. Their hopes were bright concerning their Lord, 
 who had gone into glory, and had left them a promise to come again, 
 and to make them partakers of his victory. After that hope had been 
 begotten in them, they were in due time made partakers of the Holy 
 Spirit, whose divine influence was shed abroad upon them, so that they 
 were filled with his power. Then were they made bold. They were not 
 ashamed of their hope, but proclaimed it by the preaching of Peter and 
 the rest of them. The Holy Spirit had visited them, and therefore they 
 fearlessly proclaimed to the world the Lord Jesus, their hope of glory. 
 
 Truly, history repeats itself. The history of our Lord is the fore- 
 shadowing of the experience of all his people ; that which happeneth to 
 the First-born befnlleth in measure all the brethren. We have before 
 us in our text an admirable example. First comes our tribulation, our 
 agony, our cross-bearing. Out of our patience and experience there 
 arises in due season a blessed hope : we are quickened by our Lord's 
 resurrection life, and come forth from our sorrow : he raiseth us up from 
 the grave of our woe. Then comes the divine visitation of the Holy 
 Ghost, and we enjoy our Pentecost : " The love of God is shed abroad 
 in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." I trust we 
 know what this means, and are tiow enjoying it. Consequent upon 
 that visitation our hope becomes clear and assured, and we are led 
 to make a full outspoken testimony concerning our hope, and that 
 blessed One who is the substance of it. I hope that many of us have 
 already proved that we are not ashamed, and that others of you will yet 
 do so. Our God has visited us in mercy, and endowed us with the Holy 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. 
 
 No. 1,904. 
 
 I 
 
814 
 
 Metropolitan tarerkaol*! pulpit. 
 
 Ghost, who is his choice gift to his children. The Holy Spirit dwellin(y 
 in lis has caused us to know and feel the love of God, and now we cannot 
 but speak and tell forth to others of what the Lord has made known to 
 us. Thus on a small scale have we rehearsed a portion of early church 
 history in our own personal story. You shall jfind that not only in this 
 case, i3ut in all qases, the life of the believer is in miniature the life of 
 Christ. He who originally said, " Let us make man in our image " still 
 in the new creation follows the model of Christ in the new-making of 
 chosen men. 
 
 Now let me give you a little passage of experimental mystery. You 
 have it here spread before you in a little map of the inner life : — Tribula- 
 tion worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; and experience, hope : 
 and hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad 
 in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." This passage 
 can only be fully understood by those people of God who have had it 
 written in capital letters on their own hearts. "Tribulation worketh 
 patience," says the apostle. Naturally it is not so. Tribulation worketh 
 impatience, and impatience misses the fruit of experience, and sours 
 into hopelessness. Ask many who have buried a dear child, or have 
 lost their wealth, or have suffered pain of body, and they will tell 
 you that the natural result of affliction is to produce irritation against 
 providence, rebellion against God, questioning, unbelief, petulance, and 
 all sorts of evils. But what a wonderful alteration takes place when 
 the heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit ! Then, but not till then, tribu- 
 lation worketh patience. He that is never troubled cannot exercise 
 patience. Angels cannot personally exhibit patience, since they 
 are not capable of suffering. It is necessary to the possession and 
 exercise of patience that we should be tried ; and a great degree of 
 patience can only come by a great degree of trial. Ye have heard of the 
 patience of Job : did he learn it among his flocks, or with his camels, or 
 with his children when they were feasting ? Nay, verily, he learned it 
 when he sat among the ashes, and scraped himself with a potsherd, and 
 his heart was heavy because of the death of his children. Patience is 
 a pearl which is only found in the deep seas of affliction ; and only grace 
 can find it there, bring it to the surface, and adorn the neck of faith 
 therewith. 
 
 It comes to pass that this patience wwketh in us experience : that is 
 to say, the more we endure, the more we test the faithfulness of God, 
 the more we prove his love, and the more we perceive his wisdom. He 
 that hath never endured may believe in the sustaining power of grace, 
 but he has never had experience of it. You must put to sea to know 
 the skill of the divine Pilot, and you must be buffeted with tempest 
 before you can know his power over winds and waves. How can we see 
 Jesus in his full power unless there be a storm for him to turn into a 
 calm ? Our patience works in us an experimental acquaintance with the 
 truth, the faithfulness, the love, and the power of our God. We bow in 
 patience, and then we rise in happy experience of heavenly support. 
 What better wealth can a man have than to be rich in experience ? Ex- 
 perience teaches. This is the real High School for God's children. I 
 scarcely think we learn anything thoroughly without tlie rod of affliction. 
 Certainly we know best that which has been a matter of personal 
 
THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLORIOUS HOPE. 315 
 
 experience. We need that truth should be burned into us with the hot 
 iron of affliction before we know it effectually : after that no man may 
 trouble us, for our heart bears the brand of the Lord Jesus. Thus 
 patience worketh experience. 
 
 It is rather singular that it should then be said, " and • experience 
 works hope/' — not singular in the sense of being questionable, for there 
 is no hope so bright as that of the man who knows by experience the 
 faithfulness and love of God. But does it not seem singular that this 
 heavy tribulation, this grievous affliction, this painful chastisement 
 should nevertheless bring forth for us this bright particular light, this 
 morning star of hope, this herald of the everlasting day of glory ? 
 Brethren, how wonderfully doth divine alchemy fetch fine gold out of 
 metal which we thought to be worthless ! The Lord in his grace spreads 
 a couch for his own upon the threshing-floor of tribulation, and there, 
 like Boaz, we take our rest. He sets to music the roar of the water-floods 
 of trouble. Out of the foam of the sea of sorrow he causeth to arise the 
 bright spirit of " hope that maketh not ashamed." 
 
 This passage from which we have taken our text is a choice extract 
 from the inner life of a spiritual man : it is a fragment of the believer's 
 riddle ; let him read it that hath understanding. 
 
 Before I plunge into my subject, let me point out to you that this text 
 is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven. Behold a 
 temple for the worship of the Divine Trinity in my text. Read the 
 fifth and sixth verses together : — " The love of God (the Father) is shed 
 abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For 
 when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the un- 
 godly." Behold the blessed Three in One 1 It needs the Trinity to 
 make a Christian, it needs the Trinity to cheer a Christian, it needs the 
 Trinity to complete a Christian, it needs the Trinity to create in a Chris- 
 tian the hope of glory. I always like these passages which bring us so 
 near to the Trinity, Let us pause a while and adore : Glory be unto 
 the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ; as it was in the 
 beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end ! Amen." It 
 is most sweet to be called upon to ofier special worship unto the one 
 God in the Trinity of his divine Persons, and to feel your heart readily 
 inclined thereto, as we do at this hour. By faith we bow with the 
 hosts of the redeemed before the all-glorious throne, and worship him 
 that liveth for ever. How heartily may we do this when we think of the 
 unity of the Sacred Three in our salvation ! We have divine love bestowed 
 by the Father, made manifest in the death of the Son, and shed abroad 
 in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Oh, to feel at this moment communion 
 with the Triune God ! Let us bow before the sacred majesty of Jehovah, 
 and then by the teaching of the Holy Spirit let us enter the temple of 
 our text. 
 
 The text runneth thus: *^Hope maketh not ashamed; because the 
 love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is 
 given unto us." The apostle had worked up the subject till he came to 
 the hope of glory. When he had reached that height he could not help 
 saying somewhat concerning it. Turning away from his main sub- 
 ject, as is often his custom, he makes a diversion, and gives us a few 
 glowing sentences upon the believer's hope. 
 
316 
 
 METROPOLITAN TATJF.RNAOLF. PULPIT. 
 
 Our firsfc head will be the confidence of our hope— the hope maketh not 
 ashamed ; secondly, the reason of this our confidence, which I hope we 
 ai*e enjoying to-day, for we are confident about our hope that we shall 
 never be disappointed in it, because the love of God is shed abroad 
 ill our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Thirdly, 
 we shall have a word or two to say upon the result of this confidence of 
 hope, since, for this cause we bear testimony to the world, and declare 
 that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 I. First then, consider the confidence of our hope. We are 
 not ashamed of our hope. Some persons have no hope, or only one of 
 which they might justly be ashamed. Ask many who deny the Scrip- 
 tures what is their hope for the future. I shall die hke a dog," says 
 one. ^' When I am dead there's an end of me." If I had such a 
 wretched hope as that, I certainly would not go about the world pro- 
 claiming it. I should not think of gathering a large congregation like 
 this, and saying to you, Brethren, rejoice with me, for we are all to 
 die like cats and dogs." It would never strike me as being a matter to 
 be gloried in. The Agnostic knows nothing, and therefore I suppose he 
 hopes nothing. Here, also, I do not see much to stir enthusiasm. If I 
 had no more hope than that, I should be ashamed. The Romanist's best 
 hope when he dies is that he may come right in the end, but that mean- 
 while he will have to undergo the purging fires of purgatory. I do not 
 know much about that place, for I cannot find mention of it in Holy 
 Scripture ; but those who know it well, because they invented it, and 
 keep its kejs, describe it as a dreary region, to which even great bishops 
 and cardinals must go. I have seen, pei'sonally seen, invitations to the 
 faithful to pray for the repose of the soul of a late eminent cardinal ; 
 and if such be the lot of the princes of the church, where must ordinary 
 people go ? There is no great excellence in this hope. I do not think 
 1 should call you all together in order to say to you, " Rejoice with me, 
 for when we die we shall all go to purgatory." You would fail to see 
 the special ground of rejoicing. I do not think I should say much 
 about it; and when anybody questioned me thereon, I should endeavour 
 to evade the point, and declare that it was a deep mystery, which had 
 better be left to the clergy. But we are not ashamed of our hope, we 
 Christian people, who believe that those believers who are absent from 
 the body are present with the Lord. We look for a city which hath 
 foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. We are not ashamed to 
 hope for glory, and immortality, and eternal life. 
 
 IVe are not ashamed of the object of our hope. We do not believe in 
 gross carnal delights as making up our heaven. We do not believe in 
 a Mahometan paradise of sensual delights, or we might very well be 
 ashamed of our hope. Whatever imagery we may use, we intend thereby 
 pure, holy, spiritual, and refined happiness, such as the False Prophet 
 would not have regarded as a sufficient bait for his followers. Our hope i 
 is this : that our Lord will come a second time, and all his holy angels 
 with him ; then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the 
 kingdom of their Father. We believe that if we fall asleep before that 
 time we shall sleep in Jesus, and shall be blessed with him. " To day 
 shalt thou be with me in paradise," is not for the thief only, but for all 
 of us who have trusted our souls with the crucified Saviour. At hia 
 
THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLORIOUS HOPE. 317 
 
 comin^^ we expect a glorious resurrection. When he shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the trump of the archangel, and the voice of 
 God, then shall our souls be restored to our bodies, and our complete 
 manhood shall live with Christ. We believe, and are sure, that 
 from that day we shall be for ever with him. He will give us to be 
 partakers of his throne, and of his crown, and of his heaven ; and 
 that for ever and ever. The more we talk about the promised 
 bliss, the more we feel that we could not be ashamed of the hope of 
 glory. The ultimate reward of faith, the ultimate reward of a life of 
 rigliteousness, is. such that we joy and rejoice in prospect of it. Our 
 glorious hope contains within it purity and perfection : freedom from 
 all sin, and the possession of every virtue. Oar hope is, that we shall 
 be like our perfect Lord, and shall be with Jesus where he is, that we 
 may behold his glory. Our hope is fulfilled in that promise, Because 
 I live ye shall live also." We shall not merely exist, but live, which is 
 another and a higher matter. Our life shall be the life of God in our 
 spirits for ever and ever. We are not ashamed of this hope : but we 
 press forward to the attaining of it. 
 
 Furthermore, tve are not ashamed of the ground of our hope. Our 
 hope rests upon the solemn promises of God, which he hath made to us 
 by his prophets and apostles, and confirmed in the person and work of 
 his dear Son. Inasmuch as Jesas Christ died and rose from the dead, 
 we that are one with him by faith are sure that we shall rise again from 
 the dead, and live with him. The fact of Christ's resurrection is the 
 assurance of our resurrection, and his entrance into glory is the pledge* 
 of our glorification, because we are made one with him by the purpose 
 and grace of God. As we fell in Adam by virtue of our being in him, 
 so we rise and reign with Jesus because we are in him. God is not the 
 God of the dead, but of the living ; yet is he the God of Abraham, of 
 Isaac, and of Jacob, and therefore these men are yet alive. Even thus do 
 we believe concerning all who die in the faith that they have not ceased 
 to be, but they all live unto him. Our hope is founded, not upon 
 reasoning, which, possibly, may dimly prove the immortality of the 
 soul and the future reward of the righteous; but upon Revelation, 
 which states it clearly and plainly, and leaves no room for question. If 
 this Book be a lie, our hope must be giveu up ; but inasmuch as we have 
 not followed cunningly devised fables, but have received the testimony 
 of faithful eye-witnesses of our Lord's resurrection and ascension, we 
 believe the holy record, and are not ashamed of our hope. What God 
 hath promised is sure, and what God hath done fully confirms the same, 
 and therefore we have no fear. 
 
 And, brethren, ive are not ashamed of our personal appro i^riation of 
 this hope. Somebody may sneeringly say to us, " You expect to be in 
 glory, do you ? " Yes, we do, and we are not ashamed to own the soft 
 impeachment; for our confidence is well grounded. Our expectation is 
 not based upon any proud claim of personal deservings, but upon the 
 promise of a faithful God. He hath said, " He that believeth in him 
 bath everlasting life." We do believe in him, and therefore we know 
 that we have eternal life. He has declared in his Word that, " whom 
 he justified, them he also glorified"; and we are justified by faith, there- 
 fore we shall be glorified. Our hope is not based on mere feeling, but oit 
 
818 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACTiE PULPIT. 
 
 the facfc that God hath promised everlasting Hfe to them that beh'eve in 
 his Son Jesus. We have heard our Lord pray, *^ Father, I will that 
 they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they 
 may behold my glory." We believe that the Father gave us to Jesus 
 because we have been led to put our trust in him, and faith is the sure 
 sign and token of divine election : therefore, being Christ's, we expect 
 to be with him where he is. Reading in the Word of the Lord the 
 word, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life/' we hold on to that promise, and know that we have 
 everlasting life. This seems to us to be strictly logical argument : 
 unless it be a mistake, and God hath not said that the believer shall live 
 for ever, then we are under no delusion in expecting so to live. Gdd's 
 Word is the surest thing that can be, and we are not ashamed to h»ld 
 on to any claim which truthfully arises out of it. We dare believe that 
 God will keep his word to us and to all other believers. 
 
 Brethren, we are not ashamed as to the absolute certainty that our hope 
 tvill be realized. We believe that if indeed we are justified by faith, and 
 have peace with God, we have a hope of glory which will not fail us in 
 the end, nor on the way to the end. We do not expect to be deserted, 
 and to be left to fall from grace, for He hath said, I will never leave 
 thee nor forsake thee." We do not expect to be left to ourselves, which 
 would mean our sure and certain ruin ; but we do exp^^ct that he that 
 hath begun a good work in us will perfect it unto the day of Christ : 
 we are certain that he that hath wrought this hope in us will justify 
 that hope by fulfilling it in due time. He will preserve us through 
 long life if we are to live long ; will maintain a living hope in us when 
 we come to die ; and will remember even our dust and ashes when these 
 are hidden in the tomb. "Who shall separate us from the love of 
 God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?" It is written, '^He that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved." And so it shall be. He shall 
 not perish from the way, nor in the way. Hath he not said, "I will put 
 my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me"? He 
 keepeth the feet of his saints. give unto my sheep," saith he, 
 
 "eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck 
 them out of my hand." Never shall we be deceived in our trust in Jesus. 
 No man shall say, " I trusted the Lord Christ to keep me, and he has 
 not kept me ; I rested in Jesus to preserve me, in spiritual life, and he 
 has not preserved me." Never. We shall not be ashamed of our hope. 
 
 II. As 1 have introduced to you that confidence which makes believers 
 — especially tried and experienced believers — full of hope which maketh 
 not ashamed, my second object is to dwell upon the reason of this 
 CONFIDENCE. AVhy is it that men who possess the good hope are so far 
 from being ashamed of it that they rejoice in it? 
 
 My answer, is first, because that hope has for one of its main supports 
 the love of God. I expect one day to sit among the angels, and to behold 
 the face of my Best-beloved ; but I do not expect this because of 
 anything in me, or anything which may ever be done by me, but simply 
 because of the infinite love of God. I trust not to my love of God, but 
 to God's love to me. We trust him because he loves us. We are sure 
 that he will fulfil our hope because he is too loving to fail us. It is 
 from the love of God that all our hopes begin, and it is upon the love of 
 
THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLOBTOTJS HOPE. 319 
 
 God that all our hopes depend. If it were not for the Father's love, there 
 had never been a covenant of grace; if it were not for his infinite love, no 
 atoning sacrifice had been provided ; if it were not for his active love, no 
 Holy Spirit would have quickened and renewed us ; if it were not for 
 his unchanging love, all that is good in us would soon pass away ; if it 
 were not for love almighty, love immutable, love unbounded, we should 
 never hope to see the face of the King in his beauty in the land that is 
 very far oflP. He loveth us, and therefore he leadeth us, and feedeth us, 
 and keepeth us evermore. Do not your hearts confess this ? If that 
 love could be suspended for a moment, if its outgoings were for an 
 instant to cease, where would you be ? We fall back upon the love of 
 God as the final reason of our hope in him. 
 
 Observe, dear brethren, the actual cause of our confidence is that the 
 love of God has teen shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, 
 Let me try and explain what this means. The Holy Spirit is in 
 the heart of every believer, and he is occupied in many gracious acts. 
 Amongst other things he sheds abroad the love of God in the heart 
 wherein he resides. The figure is taken from a box of precious perfume 
 being poured out in a chamber. There lies the slumbering scent 
 within the alabaster box : it is a very choice thing, but no one has 
 yet perceived its odour. The love of God brought within the soul is 
 that rare fragrance ; but till it is shed abroad it is not enjoyed. Now 
 the Holy Spirit takes that box and opens it, and the sweet savour of 
 divine love streams forth, and fills all the capacity of the believer. This 
 love penetrates, and permeates, enters, and occupies the entire being. 
 A delightful perfume streams through the entire room when the otto of 
 roses is poured out ; and even so when the love of God is thought upon 
 by the devout heart, and the Holy Spirit helps its meditations, the 
 theme fills the mind, the memory, the imagination, the reason, and the 
 affections. It is an engrossing subject, and is not to be confined to any 
 one faculty any more than you could keep the aroma of spices within a 
 certain narrow space. 
 
 Moreover, as perfume gives delight to the nostril, so the love of God, 
 when shed abroad in the power of the Holy Spirit, imparts a singular 
 sweetness to our emotions. All the garments of the Lord of love smell 
 of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. W[iere can such sweetness be as in 
 the love of God ? That the eternal and the infinite One should really 
 love men, and love them at such a rate as he has done, is a truth at 
 once surprising and gladsome. It is a root from which springs the lily 
 of perfect joy. This is an ivory palace wherein every dweller is made 
 glad. You may meditate upon that love till you are ravished, and 
 carried away by it, and your soul, or ever you are aware, becomes like 
 the chariots of Amminadib. 
 
 Yet again, wherever perfume comes, it not only spreads itself abroad, 
 and gives delight to all who are in the place, but it abides there. Take 
 the ointment away if you will, but the sweet odour remains for many an 
 hour in the room which was once filled with it. Some scent appears 
 bo abide for ever. You went to your drawer the other day, and 
 there was a delicious flavour of lavender ; yet there had been no lavender 
 there since last summer : fragrance lingers. A few drops of the true 
 otto will perfume a wide space, and remain long after the vase from 
 
320 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 which it was poured has been taken away. The love of God when it 
 comes into the heart, and is shed abroad by the Holy Ghost, who is the 
 great Master of the art of diffusing love, abides in the heart world 
 vvif-hout end. All things else may cease, but love abides. For a moment 
 we may seem to forget the love of God amidst the business of the world; 
 but no sooner is the pressure removed than we return unto our rest. 
 Tlie sweet perfume of divine love overcomes the rankness of the odour 
 of sin, and never quits the heart that has once known its exceeding 
 deliciousness. If I change the figure, I may say that the love of God is 
 shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost like one of yonder rain 
 clouds, black with exceeding blessing, which pours forth a shower of 
 silver drops innumerable, fertilizing every place whereon it falls, making 
 the drooping herbs to lift up their heads and rejoice in the heaven-sent 
 revival. After a while, from that spot where fell the rain, there rises a 
 gentle steam, which ascends to heaven and forms fresh clouds : thus is 
 the love of God poured upon our heart, and shed abroad in our nature 
 till our spirit drinks it in, and its new life is made to put forth its 
 flowers of joy and fruits of holiness, and by-and-by grateful praise 
 ascends like the incense which in the temple smoked upon Jehovah's 
 altar. Love is shed abroad in us, and it works upon our heart to love 
 in return. 
 
 To leave the figures : the shedding abroad of the love of God in the 
 heart by the Holy Ghost means this — he imparts to us an intense appre- 
 ciation and sense of that love. We have heard of it, believed in it, and 
 meditated upon it, and at last we are overpowered by its greatness * 
 " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." We 
 cannot measure such love. We become affected by it ; we are filled 
 with wonder and admiration. Its greatness, its singularity, its speci- 
 ality, its infinity — all these amaze us. It is shed abroad in our hearts. 
 Then there comes an appropriation of it. We cry, " He loved me, and 
 gave himself for me^ We begin to feel that God's love was not only 
 love to men in general, but love to ourselves in particular, and we are 
 now fairly carried off our feet. In a belief of this special love to us we 
 are ready to dance for joy. Faith perceives that it is even so, and then 
 we praise the Lord upon the high-sounding cymbals. Then follows, as 
 a matter of course, that return of love which the human heart must 
 feel : we love him because he first loved us. We did doubt his love 
 once ; we cannot doubt it now. If we were asked three times, " Lovesfc 
 thou me ? " we should answer hum!)ly, but most emphatically, Lord, 
 thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. I could nob 
 live without loving thee. I would rather a thousand times that I had 
 never been born than be without love to thee ; and though I do not 
 love thee as I ought, and my heart craves after a far greater love, yet I 
 do love thee in deed and in truth. Thou knowest that I do ; and I 
 should be false to my own consciousness if I denied it." This is to 
 have the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost which 
 is given tons : to know it, enjoy it, appropriate it, rejoice in it, and come 
 under its divine influence. May this bundle of myrrh never be removed 
 from the chamber of my soul ! 
 
 But I want you to notice the special sweetness ivliich struck our apostle 
 as being so amazingly noteworthy. He goes on to tell us what most 
 
THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLORIOUS HOPE. 
 
 321 
 
 affected him. He says ^'AVhen we were yet without strength, in dne 
 time Christ died for the ungodly." That is the first point to be dwelt 
 upon : that God should give his Son to die/(9r the iwgodly. That God 
 should love those who love him, that God should love his renowned 
 people who arc striving after hoHness, is indeed delightful ; but the most 
 overpowering thought of all is that he loved us when there was nothing 
 o'ood in us whatever. He loved us from before the foundation of the 
 world : regarding us as being fallen and lost, his love resolved to send 
 his Son to die for us. Jesus came not because we were good, but because 
 we were evil ; he gave himself not for our righteousness, but for our sins. 
 The moving cause of love in God was not excellence in the creature then 
 existing or foreseen to exist, but simply the good pleasure of the God of 
 love. Love was born of God himself. It was so great in the heart of 
 God that 
 
 He saw us ruined in the fall. 
 Yet loved us notwithstandinjr all.'' 
 
 He loved us when we hated him ; he loved us when we opposed him, 
 when we cursed him, when we persecuted his people, and blasphemed his 
 ways. Marvellous fact ! Oh, that the Holy Ghost would bring home 
 that truth to our hearts, and make us feel its energy ! I cannot put the 
 thought fitly before you, much less shed it abroad within you, but the 
 Holy Ghost can do it, and then how charmed you will be, how humbled 
 and yet how full of praise to the Most High God ! 
 
 The apostle is not content with bringing that point before us ; he 
 would not have us forget that Christ died for us. Brethren, that Christ 
 should love us in heaven was a great thing ; that he should then come 
 down to earth and be born in Bethlehem was a greater thing. That he 
 should live a life of obedience for our sakes was a wonderful thing ; but 
 that he should die, this is the climax of love's sacrifice: the summit 
 of the Alp of love. Some sights in the world astonish us once or twice, 
 and then grow commonplace ; but the cross of Christ grows upon us : 
 the more we know of it the more it surpasses knowledge. To a saint 
 who has been saved two thousand years, the sacrifice of Calvary is even 
 more a marvel than when first he saw it. That God himself should 
 take our nature, and that in that nature he should die a death 
 like that of a felon upon a gibbet to save us who were his enemies, 
 is a thing which could not be believed if it had been told us on 
 less authority than the divine. It is altogether miraculous ; and if 
 you let it take possession of your soul until it is shed abroad in your 
 heart by the Holy Ghost, you will feel that there is nothing worth 
 knowing, believing, or admiring when compared with this. Nothing can 
 ever rival in interest the cross of Christ. Let us study what books we 
 may, the knowledge of a crucified Saviour will still remain the sublimest 
 of all the sciences. 
 
 Furthermore, the apostle then goes on to say that the Lord must ever 
 love us now that we are reconciled. He puts it thus — If God loved us 
 when we were enemies, he will surely continue to love us now that we 
 are friends. If Jesus died for us when we were rebels, he will refuse 
 us nothing now that he has reconciled us. If he reconciled us by his 
 death, surely he can and will save us by his life. If he died to reconcile 
 enemies, surely he will preserve the reconciled. Do you see the whole 
 
322 
 
 METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE PULPIT. 
 
 ars^nment ? It is very full of reasons for the upholding of our hope of 
 glory, and causing us not to be ashamed of it. When the great God 
 makes us feel the exceeding greatness of his love, we banish all doubt 
 and dread. We infer from the character of his love as seen in the past 
 that he cannot possibly cast us away in the future. What, die for us, 
 and then leave us ! What, pour out his heart's blood for our redemp- 
 tion, and yet permit us to Ibe lost I Will he manifest himself to us as 
 he doth not to the world, robed in the crimson of his own atonement 
 through death, and then will he after all say to us, "Depart, ye 
 cursed " ? Impossible ! He changes not. Our hope has for the key- 
 stone of its arch the unchanging love of Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
 day, and to-day, and for ever. The Holy Ghost has so shed abroad the love 
 of God in Christ Jesus in our hearts that we feel quite sure that none 
 can separate us from it, and so long as we are not divided from it our 
 hope of glory is sure as the throne of the Eternal. 
 
 Once more : the apostle reminds us in the eleventh verse that we have 
 now received the atonements We already feel that we are at one with 
 God. Through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus we are at peace with 
 God. We love him ; our quarrel with him is ended : we delight in him, 
 we long to glorify him. Now this delightful sense of reconciliation is a 
 satisfactory assurance of grace and glory. The hope of glory burns 
 in the golden lamp of a heart reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. In- 
 asmuch as we are now in perfect accord with God, longing only to be 
 and to do just what he would have us to be and to do, we have the 
 beginnings of heaven within us, the dawn of the perfect day. Grace is 
 glory in the bud. Agreement with God is the seed-corn of perfect holi- 
 ness and perfect happiness. If we are under the dominion of holiness; 
 if there is no wish in our soul but what we would unwish if we knew it 
 to be contrary to the mind of our holy Lord, then are we assured that he 
 has accepted us, and that we have his life in us, and shall finally come 
 to his glory. He that has brought his enemies to be his hearty friends 
 will not permit this gracious work to be undone, or his holy purpose to 
 fail. In our present delight in God we have the earnest of our endless 
 joy in him. Therefore we are not ashamed of our hope. 
 
 One word more on this point : note well that the apostle not only 
 mentions the love of God and its being shed abroad in our hearts, but 
 he mentions the divine Person ly ivhom this has been done. The 
 shedding abroad of God's love in the heart has been wrought by the 
 Holy Ghost who has been given to us. Only by the Holy Ghost could 
 this have been done. Would you ever have been charmed with the love 
 of God through the influence of the devil ? Would you ever have been 
 overpowered and filled with excessive joy in the love of God through the 
 power of your own fallen human nature ? Judge ye ! They that hate 
 felt the love of God shed abroad in their heart can say witliout a doubt, 
 "This is the finger of God ; the Holy Ghost has wrought this in me." 
 Nothing short of the Holy Spirit can effect it. Thank God," saith 
 one, I sat under an earnest ministry ! " So you might, and yet 
 have never felt the love of God within your heart. We can shed that 
 love abroad by preaching, but we cannot shed it abroad in the heart. 
 A higher influence than that of human oratory must deal with the 
 inner nature. Perhaps you were alone in your chamber, or walking by 
 
THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLORIOTTS HOPE. 823 
 
 the roadside, when the sweet savour of love stole into your soul. 
 Oh, the love of God ! The amazing, immeasurable, incomprehen- 
 sible love of the Father ! Oh, to feel this till our very souls are inflamed 
 with it, and our unloving nature is all on fire with love to the 
 great Lover of the souls of men ! Who can do this but the Holy 
 Ghost ? And how come we to have the Holy Ghost but by the free 
 gift of God, whose gifts and calling are without repentance " ? God 
 does not give and take ; but his gifts are ours for ever. If the Holy 
 Ghost has been given to you, is he not the pledge of God's love ? Does 
 not the New Testament describe him as the earnest of the inheritance ? 
 Is not an earnest the security for all the rest ? Does the Holy Ghost 
 set his seal to a document, which, after all, is so faulty that it will not 
 effect its purpose ? Never. If the Holy Ghost dwells in you, he is the 
 guarantee of everlasting joy. Where grace is given by his divine 
 indwelling, glory must follow it. The Holy Ghost, when he comes into 
 the soul, comes that there he may take up his dwelling-place ; and there 
 he will abide till we shall be caught up to the higher realms, to behold 
 our Lord's face for ever. 
 
 III. Lastly, let us hint at the result of this confident hope. 
 Let the context instruct us. 
 
 First, this confident hope breeds inward joy. The man that knows 
 that his hope of glory will never fail him because of the great love of 
 God, of which he has tasted, that man will hear music at midnight ; 
 the mountains and the hills will break forth before him into singing 
 wherever he goes. Especially in times of tribulation he will be found 
 "rejoicing in hope of the glory of God." His profoundest comfort will 
 often be enjoyed in his deepest affliction, because then the love of God 
 will specially be revealed in his heart by the Holy Ghost, whose name 
 is *^ the Comforter." Then he will perceive that the rod is dipped in 
 mercy, that his losses are sent in fatherly love, and that his aches and 
 pains are all measured out with gracious design. In our affliction God is 
 doing nothing to us which we should not wish for ourselves if we were as 
 wise and loving as God is. 0 friends ! you do not want gold to make you 
 glad, you do not even need health to make you glad ; only get to know and 
 feel divine love, and the fountains of delight are unsealed to you — you 
 are introduced to the banquets of felicity. 
 
 This brings with it the grace of holy boldness in the avowal of our 
 hope. Christian people do not often enough show worldlings the joy of 
 their hope. We do not wear our best liveries, nor say enough of the' 
 joy of being in the Lord's service, nor speak enough of the wages which 
 our Lord will pay at the end of the day. We are as silent as if we were 
 ashamed of our hope. We even go mourning, although we have reason 
 to be the happiest men on God's earth. I fear we have not enough 
 experience of divine love shed abroad in our hearts. If the perfume 
 were within, it would be perceived by those who are around us. You 
 pass a factory of perfume, and at once perceive that sweetness steals abroad. 
 Let us make worldlings know the fragrance of our joyous hope : especially 
 let us tell those who seem most likely to laugh at us ; for we have 
 learned by experience that some of these are most likely to be impressed. 
 Often has a new convert written to a worldly friend to tell him of his 
 great change and of his new joy, and that worldly friend has put the 
 
824 
 
 METROt>OLITAN fABERNACLB PITLPIT. 
 
 letter aside with a sneer or a jest ; but after a while he has thought 
 it over, and he has said to himself, " There may be something in it. I 
 am a stranger to this joy of which my friend speaks, and I certainly 
 need all the joy I can get, for I am dull enough." Let me tell 
 you that all worldHngs are not such fools as some would take them 
 for ; they are aware of an unrest within their bosoms, and they hunger 
 after something better than this vain world can give them ; so that 
 it frequently happens that as soon as they learn where the good is 
 they accept it. Even if they do not hunger, I do not know any 
 better way of making a man long for food than yourself to eat. The 
 looker-on feels his mouth water : an appetite arrives on a sudden. In 
 the parable of the prodigal son the servants were ordered to bring forth 
 the best robe and put it on him, and to put a ring on his hand, and 
 shoes on his feet : but the father did not tell them to take the son and 
 make him eat. What he said was, " Let us eat and be merry." He 
 knew that at the sight of others feasting his hungry son would fall to. 
 When you who belong to the divine family eat and drink in happy fel- 
 lowship, and are merry with the Lord in feasting upon love divine, the 
 poor hungry brother will desire to join you, and he will be encouraged 
 to do so. 
 
 Come, then, you that have a hope of glory ; let all men see that you 
 are not ashamed of it. Act as decoy birds to others : let the sweet 
 notes of your happy life charm them to Jesus ! May the Lord cause you 
 to spread abroad what he has shed abroad, and may that which per- 
 fumes your heart also perfume your house, your business, your conversa- 
 tion, and your whole life ! May we so enjoy true godliness that we may 
 never bring shame upon it, nor feel shame concerning it ! 
 
 Portions of Scripture read before Sermon — Romans v. 1 — 11 ; 
 
 Psalm Ixxi. 
 
 Hymns from "Our Own Hymn Book'— 457, 782, 250. 
 
 By C. H. SPURGEON. 
 THE GOSPEL FOR THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Sixty Short Sermons, with a Sketch of Mr. Spurgeon's Life, and 
 Fourteen Portraits and Engravings, with Preface by Pastor Thomas 
 Spurgeon. Cloth Gilt, 5s. 
 
 These Short Sermons have been selected from the Series with a vjew to 
 their being used in Mission Halls, and other similar places. They 
 are about half the length of the ordinary Sermons. 
 
6 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA