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SUBJECT: 03 HOS 8:12 The Bible
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The Bible
A Sermon
Delivered on March 18, 1855
by
C.H. SPURGEON
"I have written to him the great things of my law; but they were
counted as a strange thing."-- Hos_8:12
This is God's complaint against Ephraim. It is no mean proof of his
goodness, that he stoops to rebuke his erring creatures; it is a great
argument of his gracious disposition, that he bows his head to notice
terrestrial affairs. He might, if he pleased, wrap himself with might as
with a garment; he might put the stars around his wrist for bracelets,
and bind the suns around his brow for a coronet; he might dwell alone,
far, far above this world, up in the seventh heaven, and look down with
calm and silent indifference upon all the doings of his creatures; he
might do as the heathens supposed their Jove did, sit in perpetual
silence, sometimes nodding his awful head to make the fates move as
he pleased, but never taking thought of the little things of earth,
disposing of them as beneath his notice, engrossed with his own being,
swallowed up within himself, living alone and retired; and I, as one of
his creatures, might stand by night upon a mountain-top, and look upon
the silent stars and say, "Ye are the eyes of God, but ye look not down
on me; your light is the gift of his omnipotence, but your rays are not
smiles of love to me. God, the mighty Creator, has forgotten me; I am a
despicable drop in the ocean of creation, a sear leaf in the forest of
beings, an atom in the mountain of existence. He knows me not; I am
alone, alone, alone." But it is not so, beloved. Our God is of another
order. He notices every one of us; there is not a sparrow or a worm but
is found in his decrees. There is not a person upon whom his eye is not
fixed. Our most secret acts are known to him. Whatsoever we do, or
bear, or suffer, the eye of God still rests upon us, and we are beneath
his smile--for we are his people; or beneath his frown--for we have
erred from him.
Oh! how ten-thousand-fold merciful is God, that, looking down upon
the race of man, he does not smite it our of existence. We see from our
text that God looks upon man; for he says of Ephraim, "I have written
to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange
thing." But see how, when he observes the sin of man, he does not dash
him away and spurn him with his foot; he does not shake him by the
neck over the gulf of hell, until his brain doth reel and then drop him
forever; but rather, he comes down from heaven to plead with his
creatures; he argues with them; he puts himself, as it were, upon a level
with the sinner--states his grievances and pleads his claim. O Ephraim,
I have written unto thee the great things of my law, but they have been
unto thee as a strange thing! I come here to-night in God's stead, my
friends, to plead with you as God's ambassador, to charge many of you
with a sin; to lay it to your hearts by the power of the Spirit, so that you
may be convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of a judgment to come.
The crime I charge you with is the sin of the text. God has written to
you the great things of his law, but they have been unto you as a
strange thing. It is concerning this blessed book, the Bible, that I mean
to speak tonight. Here lies my text--this Word of God. Here is the
theme of my discourse, a theme which demands more eloquence than I
possess; a subject upon which a thousand orators might speak at once;
a mighty, vast, and comprehensive theme, which might engross all
eloquence throughout eternity, and still it would remain unexhausted.
Concerning the Bible, I have three things to say to-night, and they are
all in my text. First, its author, "I have written;" secondly, its subjects--
the great things of God's law; and thirdly, its common treatment--it has
been accounted by most men a strange thing.
I. First, then, concerning this book: Who is the author? The text says
that it is God. "I have written to him the great things of my law." Here
lies my Bible--who wrote it? I open it, and find it consists of a series of
tracts. The first five tracts were written by a man called Moses; I turn
on, and I find others. Sometimes I see David is the penman, at other
times Solomon. Here I read Micah, then Amos, then Hosea. As I turn
further on, to the more luminous pages of the New Testament, I see
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Paul, Peter, James, and others; but
when I shut up the book; I ask myself, who is the author of it? Do these
men jointly claim the authorship? Are they the compositors of this
massive volume? Do they between themselves divide the honor? Our
holy religion answers, No! This volume is the writing of the living God;
each letter was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it
dropped from the everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the
Holy Spirit. Albeit, that Moses was employed to write his histories
with his fiery pen, God guided that pen. It may be that David touched
his harp, and let sweet Psalms of melody drop from his fingers; but
God moved his hands over the living strings of his golden harp. It may
be that Solomon sang canticles of love, or gave forth words of
consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made the preacher
eloquent. If I follow the thundering Nahum, when his horses plough the
waters, or Habakkuk, when he sees the tents of Cushan in affliction; if
I read Malachi, when the earth is burning like an oven; if I turn to the
smooth page of John, who tells of love, or the rugged, fiery chapters of
Peter, who speaks of fire devouring God's enemies; if I turn to Jude,
who launches forth anathemas upon the foes of God, everywhere I find
God speaking; it is God's voice, not man's; the words are God's words,
the words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of
this earth. This Bible is God's Bible, and when I see it, I seem to hear a
voice springing up from it, saying, "I am the book of God; man, read
me. I am God's writing; open my leaf, for I was penned by God; read
it, for he is my author, and you will see him visible and manifest
everywhere." "I have written to him the great things of my law."
How do you know that God wrote the book? That is just what I shall
not try to prove to you. I could if I pleased, demonstrate it, for there are
arguments enough, there are reasons enough, did I care to occupy your
time to-night in bringing them before you; but I shall do no such thing.
I might tell you, if I pleased, that the grandeur of the style is above that
of an mortal writing, and that all the poets who have ever existed could
not, with all their works united, give us such sublime poetry and such
mighty language as is to be found in the Scriptures. I might insist upon
it, that the subjects of which it treats are beyond the human intellect;
that man could never have invented the grand doctrines of a Trinity in
the Godhead; man could not have told us anything of the creation of
the universe; he could never have been the author of the majestic idea
of Providence--that all things are ordered according to the will of one
great Supreme Being, and work together for good. I might enlarge upon
its honesty, since it tells the faults of its writers; its unity, since
itnever belies itself; its master simplicity, that he who runs may read it;
and I might mention a hundred more things, which would all prove, to a
demonstration, that the book is of God. But I come not here to prove it.
I am a Christian minister, and you are Christians, or profess to be so;
and there is never any necessity for Christian ministers to make a point
of bringing forward infidel arguments in order to answer them. It is the
greatest folly in the world. Infidels, poor creatures, do not know their
own arguments till we tell them, and then they glean their blunted
shafts to shoot them at the shield of truth again. It is follow to bring
forward these firebrands of hell, even if we are well prepared t quench
them. Let men of the world learn error of themselves; do not let us be
propagators of their falsehoods. True, there are some preachers who
are short of stock, and want to fill them up; but God's own chosen men
need not do that; they are taught of God, and God supplies them with
matter, with language, with power. There may be some one here to-
night who has come without faith, a man of reason, a freethinker. With
him I have no argument at all. I profess not to stand here as a
controversialist, but as a preacher of things that I know and feel. But I
too, have been like him. There was an evil hour when I once shipped
the anchor of my faith; I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored
myself hard by the coasts of Revelation; I allowed my vessel to drift
before the wind; I said to reason, "Be thou my captain;" I said to my
own brain, "Be thou my rudder;" and I started on my mad voyage.
Thank God, it is all over now; but I will tell you its brief history. It was
one hurried sailing over the tempestuous ocean of free thought. I went
on, and as I went, the skies began to darken; but to make up for that
deficiency, the waters were brilliant with coruscations of brilliancy. I
saw sparks flying upward that pleased me, and I thought, "If this be
free thought, it is a happy thing." My thoughts seemed gems, and I
scattered stars with both my hands; but anon, instead of these
coruscations of glory, I saw grim fiends, fierce and horrible, start up
from the waters, and as I dashed on, they gnashed their teeth, and
grinned upon me; they seized the prow of my ship and dragged me on,
while , in part, gloried at the rapidity of my motion, but yet shuddered
at the terrific rate with which I passed the old landmarks of my faith.
As I hurried forward, with an awful speed, I began to doubt my very
existence; I doubted if there were a world, I doubted if there was such
a thing as myself. I went to the very verge of the dreary realms of
unbelief. I went to the very bottom of the sea of Infidelity. I doubted
everything. But here the devil foiled himself: for the very extravagance
of the doubt, proved its absurdity. Just when I saw the bottom of that
sea, there came a voice which said, "And can this doubt be true?" At
this very thought I awoke. I started from that deathdream, which, God
knows might have damned my soul, and ruined this, my body, if I had
not awoke. When I arose, faith took the helm; from that moment I
doubted not. Faith steered me back; faith cried, "Away, away!" I cast
my anchor on Calvary; I lifted my eye to God; and here I am, "alive,
and out of hell." Therefore, I speak what I do know. I have sailed that
perilous voyage; I have come safe to land. Ask me again to be an
infidel! No; I have tried it; it was sweet at first, but bitter afterwards.
Now, lashed to God's gospel more firmly than ever, standing as on a
rock of adamant, I defy the arguments of hell to move me; for "I know
in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him." But I shall neither plead nor argue
this night. You profess to be Christian men, or else you would not be
here. Your professions may be lies; what you say you are, may be the
very contrary to what you really are; but still I suppose you all admit
that this is the Word of God. A thought or two then upon it. "I have
written to him the great things of my law."
First, my friends, stand over this volume, and admire its authority. This
is no common book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece; here
are not the utterances of philosophers of past ages. If these words were
written by a man, we might reject them; but O let me think the solemn
thought, that this book is God's handwriting--that these words are
God's! Let me look at its date; it is dated from the hills of heaven. Let
me look at its letters; they flash glory on my eye. Let me read the
chapters; they are big with meaning and mysteries unknown. Let me
turn over the prophecies; they are pregnant with unthought-of wonders.
Oh, book of books! And wast thou written by my God? Then will I
bow before thee. Thou book of vast authority! thou art a proclamation
from the Emperor of Heaven; far be it from me to exercise my reason
in contradicting thee. Reason, thy place is to stand and find out what
this volume means, not to tell what this book ought to say. Come thou,
my reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen, for these words are
the words of God. I do not know how to enlarge on this thought. Oh! if
you could ever remember that this Bible was actually and really written
by God. Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers of heaven, if ye
had beheld God grasping his pen and writing down these letters--then
surely ye would respect them; but they are just as much God's
handwriting as if you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of
authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written it. Oh! tremble,
lest any of you despise it; mark its authority, for it is the Word of God.
Then, since God wrote it, mark its truthfulness. If I had written it, there
would be worms of critics who would at once swarm upon it, and
would cover it with their evil spawn; Had I written it, there would be
men who would pull it to pieces at once, and perhaps quite right too.
But this is the Word of God; come, search, ye critics, and find a flaw;
examine it, from its Genesis to its Revelation, and find an error. This is
a vein of pure gold, unalloyed by quartz, or any earthly substance. This
is a star without a speck; a sun without a blot; a light without darkness;
a moon without its paleness; a glory without a dimness. O Bible! it
cannot be said of any other book, that it is perfect and pure; but of thee
we can declare all wisdom is gathered up in thee, without a particle of
folly. This is the judge that ends the strife, where wit and reason fail.
This is the book untainted by any error; but is pure, unalloyed, perfect
truth. Why? Because God wrote it. Ah! charge God with error if ye
please; tell him that his book is not what it ought to be. I have heard
men, with prudish and mock-modesty, who would like to alter the
Bible; and (I almost blush to say it) I have heard ministers alter God's
Bible, because they were afraid of it. Have you never heard a man say,
"He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth
not"--what does the Bible say?--"Shall be damned." But that does not
happen to be polite enough, so they say, "Shall be condemned."
Gentlemen, pull the velvet out of your mouths; speak God's word; we
want none of your alterations. I have heard men in prayer instead of
saying, "Make your calling and election sure," say "Make your calling
and salvation sure." Pity they were not born when God lived far--far
back that they might have taught God how to write. Oh, impudence
beyond all bounds! Oh full-blown self-conceit! To attempt to dictate to
the All-wise--to teach the Omniscient and instruct the Eternal. Strange
that there should be men so vile as to use the penknife of Jehoiakim to
cut passages out of the word, because they are unpalatable. O ye who
dislike certain portions of Holy Writ, rest assured that your taste is
corrupt, and that God will not stay for you little opinion. Your dislike is
the very reason why God wrote it, because you out not to be suited;
you have no right to be pleased. God wrote what you do not like; he
wrote the truth. Oh! let us bend in reverence before it, for God inspired
it. It is pure truth. Here from this fountain gushes aqua vitae--the water
of life--without a single particle of earth; here from this sun cometh
forth rays of radiance, without the mixture of darkness. Blessed Bible!
thou art all truth.
Yet once more, before we leave this point, let us stop and consider the
merciful nature of God, in having written us a Bible at all. Ah! he
might have left us without it, to grope our dark way, as blind men seek
the wall; he might have suffered us to wander on with the star of reason
as our only guide. I recollect a story of Mr. Hume, who so constantly
affirmed that the light of reason is abundantly sufficient. Being at a
good minister's house one evening, he had been discussing the
question, and declaring his firm belief in the sufficiency of the light of
nature. On leaving, the minister offered to hold him a candle to light
him down the steps. He said "No; the light of nature would be enough;
the moon would do." It so happened that the moon was covered with a
cloud, and he fell down the steps. "Ah!" said the minister, "you had
better have had a little light from above, after all, Mr. Hume." So,
supposing the light of nature to be sufficient, we had better have a little
light from above too, and then we shall be sure to be right. Better have
two lights than only one. The light of creation is a bright light. God
may be seen in the stars; his name is written in gilt letters on the brow
of night; you may discover his glory in the ocean waves, yea, in the
trees of the field; but it is better to read it in two books than in one.
You will find it here more clearly revealed; for he has written this book
himself, and he has given you the key to understand it, if you have the
Holy Spirit. Ah, beloved, let us thank God for this Bible; let us love it;
let us count it more precious than much fine gold.
But let me say one thing, before I pass on to the second point. If this be
the Word of God, what will become of some of you who have not read
it for the last month? "Month, sir! I have not read it for this year." Ay,
there are some of you who have not read it at all. Most people treat the
Bible very politely . They have a small pocket volume, neatly bound;
they put a white pocket-handkerchief round it and carry it to their
places of worship; when they get home, they lay it up in a drawer till
next Sunday morning; then it comes out again for a little bit of a treat,
and goes to chapel; that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an
airing. That is your style of entertaining this heavenly messenger. There
is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write "damnation" with your
fingers. There are some of you who have not turned over your Bibles
for a long, long while, and what think you? I tell you blunt words, but
true words. What will God say at last? When you shall come before
him, he shall say, "Did you read my Bible?" "No." "I wrote you a letter
of mercy; did you read it?" "No." "Rebel! I have sent thee a letter
inviting thee to me; didst thou ever read it?" "Lord, I never broke the
seal; I kept it shut up." "Wretch!" says God, "then, thou deservest hell,
if I sent thee a loving epistle, and thou wouldst not even break the seal;
what shall I do unto thee?" Oh, let it not be so with you. Be Bible-
readers; be Bible
II. Our second point is: The subjects on which the Bible treats. The
words of the text are these: "I have written to him the great things of
my law." The Bible treats of great things, and of great things only.
there is nothing in this Bible which is unimportant. Every verse in it has
a solemn meaning; and if we have not found it out yet, we hope yet to
do it. You have seen mummies, wrapped round and round with folds of
linen. Well, God's Bible is like that; it is a vast roll of white linen,
woven in the loom of truth; so you will have to continue unwinding it,
roll after roll, before you get the real meaning of it from the very depth;
and when you have found, as you think, a part of the meaning, you will
still need to keep on unwinding, unwinding, and all eternity you will be
unwinding the words of this great volume. Yet there is nothing in the
Bible but great things. Let me divide, so as to be more brief. First, all
things in this Bible are great; but, secondly, some things are the
greatest of all.
All things in the Bible are great. Some people think it does not matter
what doctrines you believe; that it is immaterial what church you
attend; that all denominations are alike. Well, I dislike Mrs. Bigotry
above almost all people in the world, and I never give her any
compliment or praise; but there is another woman I hate equally as
much, and that is Mrs. Latitudinarianism--a well-known character, who
has made the discovery that all of us are alike. Now, I believe that a
man may be saved in any church. Some have been saved in the Church
of Rome--a few blessed men whose names I could mention here. I
know, blessed be God, what multitudes are saved in the Church of
England; she has a host of pious, praying men in her midst. I think that
all sections of Protestant Christians have a remnant according to the
election of grace; and they had need to have, some of them, a little salt,
for otherwise they would go to corruption. But when I say that, do you
imagine that I think them all on a level? Are they all alike truthful? One
sect says infant baptism is right; another says it is wrong; yet you say
they are both right. I cannot see that. One teaches we are saved by free
grace; another say us that we are not, but are saved by free will; and
yet you believe they are both right. I do not understand that. One says
that God loves his people, and never leaves off loving them; another
says that he did not love his people before they loved him--that he
often loves them, and then ceases to love them, and turns them away.
They may both be right in the main; but can they both be right when
one says "Yes," and the other says "No?" I must have a pair of
spectacles, to enable me to look backwards and forwards at the same
time, before I can see that. It cannot be, sirs, that they are both right.
But some say they differ upon non-essentials. This text says, "I have
written to him the great things of my law." There is nothing in God's
Bible which is not great. Did ever any of you sit down to see which
was the purest religion? "Oh," say you, "we never took the trouble. We
went just where our father and mother went." Ah! that is a profound
reason indeed. You went where you father and mother did. I thought
you were sensible people; I didn't think you went where other people
pulled you, but went of your own selves. I love my parents above all
that breathe, and the very thought that they believe a thing to be true,
helps me to think it is correct; but I have not followed them; I belong to
a different denomination, and I thank God that I do. I can receive them
as Christian brethren and sisters; but I never thought that, because they
happened to be one thing, I was to be the same. No such thing. God
gave me brains, and I will use them; and if you have any intellect, use it
too. Never say it doesn't matter. Whatever God has put here is of
eminent importance; he would not have written a thing that was
indifferent. Whatever is here is of some value; therefore, search all
questions, try all by the Word of God. I am not afraid to have what I
preach tried by this book. Only give me a fair field and no favor, and
this book; if I say anything contrary to it, I will withdraw it the next
Sabbath-day. By this I stand, by this I fall. Search and see; but don't
say, "it does not matter." If God says a thing, it always must be of
importance.
But, while all things in God's word are important, all are not equally
important. There are certain fundamental and vital truths which must
be believed, or otherwise no man would be saved. If you want to know
what you must believe, if ye would be saved, you will find the great
things of God's law between these two covers; they are all contained
here. As a sort of digest or summary of the great things of law, I
remember an old friend of mine once saying, "Ah! you preach the three
R's, and God will always bless you." I said, "What are the three R's?"
and he answered, "Ruin, redemption, and regeneration." They contain
the sum and substance of divinity. R for ruin. We were all ruined in the
fall; we were lost when Adam sinned, and we were all ruined by our
own transgressions; we are all ruined by our own evil hearts, and our
own wicked wills; and we all shall be ruined, unless grace saves us.
Then there is a second R for redemption. We are ransomed by the
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot; we are
rescued by his power; we are ransomed by his merits; we are redeemed
by his strength. then there is R for regeneration. If we would be
pardoned, we must also be regenerated; for no man can partake of
redemption unless he is regenerate. Let him be as good as he pleases;
let him serve God, as he imagines, as much as he likes; unless he is
regenerate, and has a new heart, a new birth, he will still be in the first
R, that is ruin. These things contain an epitome of the gospel. I believe
there is a better epitome in the five points of Calvinism;--Election
according to the foreknowledge of God; the natural depravity and
sinfulness of man; particular redemption by the blood of Christ;
effectual calling by the power of the Spirit; and ultimate perseverance
by the efforts of God's might. I think all those need to be believed, in
order to salvation; but I should not like to write a creed like the
Athanasian, beginning with "Whosoever shall be saved, before all
things it is necessary that he should hold the Catholic faith, which faith
is this,"--when I got so far, I should stop, because I should not know
what to write. I hold the Catholic faith of the Bible, the whole Bible,
and nothing but the Bible. It is not for me to draw up creeds; but I ask
you to search the Scriptures, for this is the word of life.
God says, "I have written to him the great things of my law." Do you
doubt their greatness? Do ye think they are not worth your attention?
Reflect a moment, man. Where art thou standing now?
"Lo on a narrow neck of land,
'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand;
An inch of time, a moment's space,
May lodge me in yon heavenly place,
Or shut me up in hell."
I recollect standing on a seashore once, upon a narrow neck of land,
thoughtless that the tide might come up. The tide kept continually
washing up on either side, and, wrapped in thoughts, I stood there,
until at last there was the greatest difficulty in getting on shore. You
and I stand each day on a narrow neck, and there is one wave coming
up there; see, how near it is to your foot; and lo! another follows at
every tick of the clock; "Our hearts, like muffled drums, are beating
funeral marches to the tomb." We are always tending downwards to the
grave each moment that we live. This book tells me that if I am
converted, when I die, there is a heaven of joy and love to receive me;
it tells me that angels' pinions shall be stretched, and I, borne by strong
cherubic wings, shall out-soar the lightning, and mount beyond the
stars, up to the throne of God, to dwell forever.
"Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in."
Oh! it makes the hot tear start from my eye, it makes my heart too big
for this my body, and my brain whirls at the thought of
"Jerusalem, my happy home,
Name ever dear to me."
Oh! that sweet scene beyond the clouds; sweet fields arrayed in living
green, and rivers of delight. Are not these great things? But then, poor
unregenerate soul, the Bible says if thou are lost, thou art lost forever;
it tells thee that if thou diest without Christ, without God, there is no
hope for thee; that there is no place without a gleam of hope, where
thou shalt read, in burning letters, "Ye knew your duty, but ye did it
not;" it tells you, that ye shall be driven from his presence with a
"depart, ye cursed." Are these not great things? Yes, sirs, as heaven is
desirable, as hell is terrible, as time is short, as eternity is infinite, as
the soul is precious, as pain is to be shunned, as heaven is to be sought,
as God is eternal, and as his words are sure, these are great things,
things ye ought to listen to.
III. Our last point is: The treatment which the poor Bible receives in
this world; it is accounted a strange thing. What does that mean--the
Bible accounted a strange thing? In the first place, it means that it is
very strange to some people, because they never read it. I remember
reading, on one occasion, the sacred story of David and Goliath, and
there was a person present, positively grown up to years of maturity,
who said to me, "Dear me! what an interesting story; what book is that
in?" And I recollect a person once coming to me in private; I spoke to
her about her soul, she told me how deeply she felt, how she had a
desire t serve God, but she found another law in her members. I turned
to a passage in Romans, and read to her, "The good that I would I do
not; and the evil which I would not that I do!" She said, "Is that in the
Bible? I did not know it." I did not blame her, because she had no
interest in the Bible till then; but I did not wonder that there could be
found persons who knew nothing about such a passage. Ah! you know
more about your ledgers than your Bible; you know more about your
day-books than what God has written; many of you will read a novel
from beginning to end, and what have you got? A mouthful of froth
when you have done. But you cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting,
substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the
cupboard of neglect; while anything that man writes, a catch of the day,
is greedily devoured. "I have written to him the great things of my law,
but they were counted as a strange thing." Ye have never read it. I
bring the broad charge against you. Perhaps, ye say, I ought not to
charge you with any such thing. I always think it better to have a worse
opinion of you than too good an one. I charge you with this: you do not
read your Bibles. Some of you have never read it through. I know I
speak what your heart must say is honest truth. You are not Bible
readers. You say you have the Bible in your houses; do I think you are
such heathens as not to have a Bible? But when did you read it last?
How do you know that your spectacles, which you have lost, have not
been there for the last three years? Many people have not turned over
its pages for a long time, and God might say unto them, "I have written
unto you the great things of my law, but they have been accounted unto
you a strange thing."
Others there be who read the Bible; but when they read it, they say it is
so horribly dry. That young man over there says it is a "bore;" that is
the words he uses. He says, "My mother says to me, when you go up to
town, read a chapter every day. Well, I thought I would please her, and
I said I would. I am sure I wish I had not. I did not read a chapter
yesterday, or the day before. We were so busy, I could not help it."
You do not love the Bible, do you? "No, there is nothing in it which is
interesting." Ah, I thought so. But a little while ago I could not see
anything in it. Do you know why? Blind men cannot see, can they? But
when the Spirit touches the scales of the eyes, they fall off; and when
he puts eye-salves on, the Bible becomes precious. I remember a
minister who went to see an old lady, and he thought he would give her
some precious promises out of the word of God. Turning to one, he
saw written in the margin "P.," and he asked, "What does this mean?"
"That means precious, sir." Further down, he saw "T. and P.," and he
asked what the letters meant. "That," she said, "means tried and
proved, for I have tried and proved it." If you have tried God's word
and proved it--if it is precious to your soul. then you are Christians; but
those persons who despise the Bible, have "neither part nor lot in the
matter." If it is dry to you, you will be dry at last in hell. If you do not
esteem it as better than your necessary food, there is no hope for you;
for you lack the greatest evidence of your Christianity.
Alas! alas! the worst case is to come. There are some people who hate
the Bible, as well as despise it. Is there such an one stepped in here?
Some of you said, "Let us go and hear what the young preacher has to
say to us." This is what he has to say to you: "Behold, ye despisers,
and wonder and perish." This is what he hath to say to you: "The
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all that forget God." And this,
again he has to say to you: "Behold, there shall come in the last days,
mockers, like yourselves, walking after your own lusts." But more: he
tells you to-night that if you are saved, you must find salvation here.
Therefore, despise not the Bible; but search it, read it, and come unto
it. Rest thee will assured, O scorner, that thy laughs cannot alter truth,
thy jests cannot avert thine inevitable doom. Though in thy hardihood
thou shouldst make a league with death, and sign a covenant with hell--
yet swift justice shall o'ertake thee, and strong vengeance strike the
low. In vain dost thou jeer and mock, for eternal verities are mightier
than thy sophistries, nor can thy smart sayings alter the divine truth of a
single word of this volume of Revelation. Oh! why dost thou quarrel
with thy best friend, and ill-treat thy only refuge? There yet remains
hope, even for the scorner. Hope in a Saviour's veins. Hope in the
Father's mercy. Hope in the Holy Spirit's omnipotent agency.
I have done when I have said one word. My friend, the philosopher,
says it may be very well for me to urge people to read the Bible; but he
thinks there are a great many sciences far more interesting and useful
than theology. Extremely obliged to you for your opinion, sir. What
science do you mean? The science of dissecting beetles and arranging
butterflies? "No," you say, "certainly not." The science, then, of
arranging stones, and telling us of the strata of the earth? "No, not
exactly that." Which science, then? "Oh, all sciences," say you, "are
better than the science of the Bible." Ah! sir, that is your opinion; and it
is because you are far from God, that you say so. But the science of
Jesus Christ is the most excellent of sciences. Let no one turn away
from the Bible because it is not a book of learning and wisdom. It is.
Would ye know astronomy? It is here: it tells you of the Sun of
Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem. Would you know of botany?
It is here: it tells you of the plant of renown--the Lily of the Valley, and
the rose of Sharon. Would you know geology and mineralogy? You
shall learn it here: for you may read of the Rock of Ages, and the
White Stone with the name engraven thereon, which no man knoweth
saving he that receiveth it. Would ye study history? Here is the most
ancient of all the records of the history of the human race. Whate'er
your science is, come and bend o'er this book; your science is here.
Come and drink out of this fair fount of knowledge and wisdom, and ye
shall find yourselves made wise unto salvation. Wise and foolish,
babes and men, gray-headed sires, youths and maidens--I speak to you,
I plead with you, I beg of you respect your Bibles, and search them
out, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and these are they which
testify of Christ.
I have done. Let us go home and practice what we have heard. I have
heard of a woman, who, when she was asked what she remembered of
the minister's sermon, said, "I don't recollect anything of it. It was
about short weights and bad measures, and I didn't recollect anything
but to go home and burn the bushel." So, if you will remember to go
home and burn the bushel, if you will recollect to go home and read
your Bibles, I shall have said enough. And may God, in his infinite
mercy, when you read your Bibles, pour into your souls the
illuminating rays of the Sun of Righteousness, by the agency of the
ever-adorable Spirit; then you will read to your profit and to your soul's
salvation.
We may say of THE BIBLE:
"God's cabinet of revealed counsel 't is!
Where weal and woe, are ordered so
That every man may know which shall be his;
Unless his own mistake, false application make.
"It is the index to eternity.
He cannot miss of endless bliss.
That takes this chart to steer by,
Nor can he be mistook that speaketh by this book.
"It is the book of God. What if I should
Say, God of books, let him that looks
Angry at that expression, as too bold,
His thoughts in silence smother, till he find such another."
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