Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCharles Spurgeon Collection: Spurgeon - C.H. - Sermons from John: 65 JOH 21:15-17 Do You Love Me?
TOPIC: Spurgeon - C.H. - Sermons from John (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 65 JOH 21:15-17 Do You Love Me?
Other Subjects in this Topic:
Lovest Thou Me?
September 7th, 1856
by
C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)
"Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than
these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith
unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love
thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, Lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto
him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest
all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my
sheep."-- Joh_21:15-17.
How very much like to Christ before his crucifixion was Christ after his
resurrection! Although he had lain in the grave, and descended into the
regions of the dead, and had retraced his steps to the land of the living, yet
how marvellously similar he was in his manners and how unchanged in his
disposition. His passion, his death, and his resurrection, could not alter his
character as a man any more than they could affect his attributes as God. He
is Jesus for ever the same. And when he appeared again to his disciples, he
had cast aside none of his kind manners; he had not lost a particle of
interest in their welfare; he addressed them just as tenderly as before, and
called them his children and his friends. Concerning their temporal condition
he was mindful, for he said, "Children, have ye any meat?" And he was
certainly quite as watchful over their spiritual state, for after he had
supplied their bodies by a rich draught from the sea, with fish, (which
possibly he had created for the occasion), he enquires after their souls'
health and prosperity, beginning with the one who might be supposed to have
been in the most sickly condition, the one who had denied his Master thrice,
and wept bitterly--even Simon Peter. "Simon, son of Jonas," said Jesus,
"lovest thou me?"
Without preface, for we shall have but little time this morning--may God
help us to make good use of it!--we shall mention three things: first a
solemn question--"Lovest thou me?" secondly, a discreet answer, "Yes,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee;" and thirdly, a required demonstration
of the fact, "He saith unto him, Feed my lambs;" or, again, "Feed my sheep."
I. First, then, here was A SOLEMN QUESTION, which our Saviour put to
Peter, not for his own information, for, as Peter said, "Thou knowest that I
love thee," but for Peter's examination. It is well, especially after a foul
sin, that the Christian should well probe the wound. It is right that he
should examine himself; for sin gives grave cause for suspicion, and it would
be wrong for a Christian to live an hour with a suspicion concerning his
spiritual estate, unless he occupy that hour in examination of himself. Self-
examination should more especially follow sin, though it ought to be the
daily habit of every Christian, and should be practised by him perpetually.
Our Saviour, I say, asked this question of Peter, that he might ask it of
himself; so we may suppose it asked of us this morning that we may put it
to our own hearts. Let each one ask himself then, in his Saviour's name, for
his own profit, "Lovest thou the Lord? Lovest thou the Saviour? Lovest
thou the ever-blessed Redeemer?"
Note what this question was. It was a question concerning Peter's love. He
did not say, "Simon, son of Jonas, fearest thou me." He did not say, "Dost
thou admire me? Dost thou adore me?" Nor was it even a question
concerning his faith. He did not say, "Simon, son of Jonas, believest thou in
me?" but he asked him another question, "Lovest thou me?" I take it, that is
because love is the very best evidence of piety. Love is the brightest of all
the graces; and hence it becomes the best evidence. I do not believe love to
be superior to faith; I believe faith to be the groundwork of our salvation; I
think faith to be the mother grace, and love springs from it; faith I believe
to be the root grace, and love grows from it. But, then, faith is not an
evidence for brightness equal to love. Faith, if we have it, is a sure and
certain sign that we are God's children; and so is every other grace a sure
and certain one, but many of them cannot be seen by others. Love is a more
sparkling one than any other. If I have a true fear of God in my heart, then
am I God's child; but since fear is a grace that is more dim and hath not
that halo of glory over it that love has, love becomes one of the very best
evidences and one of the easiest signs of discerning whether we are alive to
the Saviour. He that lacketh love, must lack also every other grace in the
proportion in which he lacketh love. If love be little, I believe it is a
sign that faith is little; for he that believeth much loveth much. If love be
little, fear will be little, and courage for God will be little; and
whatsoever graces there be, though faith lieth at the root of them all, yet
do they so sweetly hang on love, that if love be weak, all the rest of the
graces most assuredly will be so. Our Lord asked Peter, then, that question,
"Lovest thou me?"
And note, again, that he did not ask Peter anything about his doings. He did
not say, "Simon Peter, how much hast thou wept? How often hast thou done
penance on account of thy great sin? How often hast thou on thy knees
sought mercy at my hand for the slight thou hast done to me, and for that
terrible cursing and swearing wherewith thou didst disown thy Lord, whom
thou hadst declared thou wouldst follow even to prison and to death?" No; it
was not in reference to his works, but in reference to the state of his heart
that Jesus said, "Lovest thou me?" To teach us this; that though works do
follow after a sincere love, yet love excelleth the works, and works without
love are not evidences worth having. We may have some tears; but they are
not the tears that God shall accept, if there be no love to him. We may have
some works; but they are not acceptable works, if they are not done out of
love to his person. We may perform very many of the outward, ritual
observances of religion; but unless love lieth at the bottom, all these things
are vain and useless. The question, then, "Lovest thou me?" is a very vital
question; far more so than one that merely concerns the outward conduct. It
is a question that goes into the very heart, and in such a way that it brings
the whole heart to one question; for if love be wrong, everything else is
wrong. "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?"
Ah! dear beloved, we have very much cause for asking ourselves this
question. If our Saviour were no more than a man like ourselves, he might
often doubt whether we love him at all. Let me just remind you of sundry
things which give us very great cause to ask this question: "Lovest thou
me?" I will deal only with the last week. Come, my Christian brother, look
at thine own conduct. Do not thy sins make thee doubt whether thou dost
love thy Master? Come, look over the sins of this week: when thou wast
speaking with an angry word and with a sullen look, might not thy Lord
have touched thee, and said, "Lovest thou me?" When thou wast doing
such-and-such a thing, which thou right well knewest in thy conscience was
not according to his precept, might he not have said, "Lovest thou me?"
Canst thou not remember the murmuring word because something had gone
wrong with thee in business this week, and thou wast speaking ill of the
God of providence for it? Oh, might not the loving Saviour, with pity in his
languid eye, have said to thee, "What, speak thus? Lovest thou me?" I need
not stop to mention the various sins of which ye have been guilty. Ye have
sinned, I am sure, enough to give good ground for self-suspicion, if ye did
not still hang on this; that his love to you, not your love to him, is the
seal of your discipleship. Oh, do you not think within yourselves, "If I had
loved him more, should I have sinned so much? And oh, can I love him when I
have broken so many of his commandments! Have I reflected his glorious
image to the world as I should have done? Have I not wasted many hours
within this week that I might have spent in winning souls to him? Have I
not thrown away many precious moments in light and frivolous
conversation which I might have spent in earnest prayer? Oh! how many
words have I uttered, which if they have not been filthy, (as I trust they
have not) yet have not been such as have ministered grace to the hearers? Oh,
how many follies have I indulged in? How many sins have I winked at?
How many crimes have I covered over? How have I made my Saviour's
heart to bleed? How have I done dishonor to his cause? How have I in some
degree disgraced my heart's profession of love to him?" Oh, ask these
questions of thyself, beloved, and say, "Is this thy kindness to thy Friend?"
But I hope this week has been one wherein thou hast sinned little openly as
to the world, or even in thine own estimation, as to open acts of crime. But
now let me put another question to thee, Does not thy worldliness make thee
doubt? How hast thou been occupied with the world, from Monday morning
to the last hour of Saturday night? Thou hast scarce had time to think of
him. What corners hast thou pushed thy Jesus into, to make room for thy
bales of goods? How hast thou stowed him away into one short five
minutes, to make room for thy ledger or thy day-book? How little time hast
thou given to him! Thou hast been occupied with the shop, with the
exchange, and the farmyard; and thou hast had little time to commune with
him! Come, just think! remember any one day this week; canst thou say that
thy goal always flew upward with passionate desires to him? Didst thou
pant like a hart for thy Saviour during the week. Nay, perhaps there was a
whole day went by, and thou scarcely thoughtest of him till the winding up
of it; and then thou couldst only upbraid thyself, "How have I forgotten
Christ to-day? I have not beheld his person; I have not walked with him; I
have not done as Enoch did! I knew he would come into the shop with me; I
knew he is such a blessed Christ that he would stand behind the counter
with me; I knew he was such a joyous Lord Jesus that he would walk
through the market with me! but I left him at home, and forgot him all the
day long." Surely, surely, beloved, when thou rememberest thy worldliness,
thou must say of thyself, "O Lord, thou mightest well ask, 'Lovest thou
me?'"
Consider again, I beseech thee, how cold thou hast been this week at the
mercy-seat. Thou hast been there, for thou canst not live without it; thou
hast lifted up thy heart in prayer, for thou art a Christian, and prayer is as
necessary to thee as thy breath. But oh! with what a poor asthmatic breath
hast thou lived this week! How little hast thou breathed? Dost not remember
how hurried was thy prayer on Monday morning, how driven thou wast on
Tuesday night? Canst thou not recollect how languid was thy heart, when on
another occasion thou wast on thy knees? Thou hast had little wrestling,
mayhap, this week; little agonising; thou hast had little of the prayer which
prevaileth; thou hast scarcely laid hold of the horns of the altar; thou hast
stood in the distance, and seen the smoke at the altar, but thou hast not laid
hold of the horns of it. Come, ask thyself, do not thy prayers make thee
doubt? I say, honestly before you all, my own prayers often make me doubt;
and I know nothing that gives me more grave cause of disquietude. When I
labour to pray--oh! that rascally devil!--fifty thousand thoughts he tries to
inject, to take me off from prayer; and when I will and must pray, oh, what
an absence there is of that burning fervent desire; and when I would come
right close to God, when I would weep my very eyes out in penitence, and
would believe and take the blessing, oh, what little faith and what little
penitence there is! Verily, I have thought that prayer has made me more
unbelieving than anything else. I could believe over the tops of my sins, but
sometimes I can scarcely believe over the tops of my prayers--for oh! how
cold is prayer when it is cold! Of all things that are bad when cold, I think
prayer is the worst, for it becomes like a very mockery, and instead of
warming the heart, it makes it colder than it was before, and seems even to
damp its life and spirit, and fills it full of doubts whether it is really a
heir of heaven and accepted of Christ. Oh! look at thy cold prayers,
Christian, and say is not thy Saviour right to ask this question very
solemnly, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?"
But stop, again; just one more word for thee to reflect upon. Perhaps thou
hast had much prayer. and this has been a time of refreshing from the
presence of the Lord. But yet, mayhap, thou knowest, thou hast not gone so
far this week as thou mightest have done, in another exercise of godliness
that is even better than prayer, I mean communion and fellowship. Oh!
beloved, thou hast this week had but little sitting under the apple tree, and
finding its shadow great delight to thee. Thou hast not gone much this week
to the banqueting house, and had its banner of love over thee. Come,
bethink thyself, how little hast thou seen thy Lord this week! Perhaps he has
been absent the greater part of the time; and hast thou not groaned? hast
thou not wept? hast thou not sighed after him? Sure, then, thou canst not
have loved him as thou shouldst, else thou couldst not have borne his
absence; thou couldst not have endured it calmly, if thou hadst the affection
for him a sanctified spirit has for its Lord. Thou didst have one sweet visit
from him in the week, and why didst thou let him go? Why didst thou not
constrain him to abide with thee? Why didst thou not lay hold of the skirts
of his garment, and say, "Why shouldst thou be like a wayfaring man, and
as one that turneth aside, and tarrieth for a night? Oh! my lord, thou shalt
dwell with me; I will keep thee; I will detain thee in my company; I cannot
let thee go; I love thee, and I will constrain thee to dwell with me this
night and the next day; long as I can keep thee, will I keep thee." But no;
thou wast foolish; thou didst let him go. Oh! soul, why didst thou not lay
hold of his arm, and say, "I will not let thee go." But thou didst lay hold
on him so feebly, thou didst suffer him to depart so quickly, he might have
turned round, and said to thee, as he said to Simon, "Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me?"
Now, I have asked you all these questions, because I have been asking them
of myself. I feel that I must answer to nearly every one of them, "Lord, there
is great cause for me to ask myself that question;" and I think that most of
you, if you are honest to yourselves, will say the same. I do not approve of
the man that says, _I know I love Christ, and I never have a doubt about it;"
because we often have reason to doubt ourselves; a believer's strong faith is
not a strong faith in his own love to Christ--it is a strong faith in Christ's
love to him. There is no faith which always believes that it loves Christ.
Strong faith has its conflicts; and a true believer will often wrestle in the
very teeth of his own feelings. Lord, if I never did love thee, nevertheless,
if I am not a saint, I am a sinner. Lord, I still believe; help thou mine
unbelief. The disciple can believe, when he feels no love; for he can believe
that Christ loveth the soul; and when he hath no evidence he can come to
Christ without evidence, and lay, hold of him, just as he is, with naked
faith, and still hold fast by him. Though he see not his signs, though he
walk in darkness and there be no light, still may he trust in the Lord, and
stay upon his God;--but to be certain at all times that we love the Lord is
quite another matter; about this we have need continually to question
ourselves, and most scrupulously to examine both the nature and the extent of
our evidences.
II. And now I come to the second thing, which is A DISCREET ANSWER.
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" Simon gave a very good answer.
Jesus asked him, in the first place, whether he loved him better than others.
Simon would not say that: he had once been a little proud--more than a
little--and thought he was better than the other disciples. But this time he
evaded that question; he would not say that he loved better than others. And
I am sure there is no loving heart that will think it loves even better than
the least of God's children. I believe the higher a man is in grace, the
lower he will be in his own esteem; and he will be the last person to claim
any supremacy over others in the divine grace of love to Jesus. But mark how
Simon Peter did answer: he did not answer as to the quantity but as to the
quality of his love. He would aver that he loved Christ, but not that he loved
Christ better than others. "Lord, I cannot say how much I love thee; but thou
knowest all things; thou knowest that I do love thee. So far I can aver: as to
the quantity of my love, I cannot say much about it."
But just notice, again, the discreet manner in which Peter answered. Some
of us, if we had been asked that question, would have answered foolishly.
We should have said, "Lord, I have preached for thee so many times this
week; Lord, I have distributed of my substance to the poor this week.
Blessed be thy name, thou hast given me grace to walk humbly, faithfully,
and honestly and therefore, Lord, I think I can say, _I love thee._' We
should have brought forward our good works before our Master, as being
the evidences of our love; we should have said, "Lord, thou hast seen me
during this week; as Nehemiah did of old, "Forget not my good works. O
Lord, I thank thee; I know they are thy gifts, but I think they are proofs of
my love." That would have been a very good answer if we had been
questioned by our fellow man, and he had said, "You do not always love
your Saviour;" but it would be foolish for us to tell the Master that. Peter's
answer was wise; "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." You know the
Master might have said to Peter, had he appealed to his works, "Yes, thou
mayest preach, and yet not love me; thou mayest pray, after a fashion, and
yet not love me; thou mayest do all these works, and yet have no love to me.
I did not ask thee what are the evidences of thy love, I asked thee the fact
of it." Very likely all my dear friends here would not have answered in the
fashion I have supposed; but they would have said, "Love thee Lord? Why,
my heart is all on fire towards thee; I feel as if I could go to prison and to
death for thee! Sometimes, when I think of thee, my heart is ravished with
bliss; and when thou art absent, O Lord, I moan and cry like a dove that has
lost its mate. Yes, I feel I love thee, O my Christ." But that would have been
very foolish, because although we may often rejoice in our own feelings--
they are joyful things--it would not do to plead them with our Lord, for he
might answer, "Ah! thou feelest joyful at the mention of my name. So, no
doubt, has many a deluded one, because he had a fictitious faith, and a
fancied hope in Christ; therefore the name of Christ seemed to gladden him.
Thou sayest, 'I have felt dull when thou hast been absent.' That might have
been accounted for from natural circumstances; you had a headache,
perhaps, or some other ailment. 'But,' sayest thou, 'I felt so happy when he
was present that I thought I could die.' Ah! in such manner Peter had spoken
many a time before; but a sorry mess he made of it when he trusted his
feelings; for he would have sunk into the sea but for Christ; and eternally
damned his soul, if it had not been for his grace, when, with cursing and
swearing he thrice denied his Lord. But no, Peter was wise; he did not bring
forward his frames and feelings, nor did he bring his evidences: though they
are good in themselves, he did not bring them before Christ. But, as though
he shall say, "Lord, I appeal to thine omnipotence. I am not going to tell
thee that the volume of my heart must contain such-and-such matter,
because there is such-and-such a mark on its cover; for, Lord, thou canst
read inside of it; and, therefore, I need not tell thee what the title is,
nor read over to thee the index of the contents. Lord, thou knowest that I
love thee."
Now, could we, this morning, dear friends, give such an answer as that to
the question? If Christ should come here, if he were now to walk down
these aisles, and along the pews, could we appeal to his own divine
Omniscience, his infallible knowledge of our hearts, that we all love him?
There is a test-point between a hypocrite and a real Christian. If thou art a
hypocrite, thou mightest say, "Lord, my minister knows that I love thee;
Lord, the deacons know that I love thee; they think I do, for they have given
me a ticket; the members think I love thee; for they see me sitting at thy
table; my friends think I love thee, for they often hear me talk about thee."
But thou couldst not say, "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee;" thine own
heart is witness that thy secret works belie thy confession, for thou art
without prayer in secret; and thou canst preach a twenty minutes' prayer in
public. Thou art niggardly and parsimonious in giving to the cause of
Christ; but thou canst sport thy name to be seen. Thou art an angry, petulant
creature; but when thou comest to the house of God, thou hast a pious
whine, and talkest like a canting hypocrite, as if thou wert a very
gentlemanly man, and never seemed angry. Thou canst take thy Maker's
name in vain; but if thou hear another do it thou wouldst be mighty severe
upon him. Thou affectest to be very pious, and yet if men knew of that
widow's house that is sticking in thy throat, and of that orphan's patrimony
which thou hast taken from him, thou wouldst leave off trumpeting thy
good deeds. Thine own heart tells thee thou art a liar before God. But thou,
O sincere Christian, thou canst welcome thy Lord's question, and answer it
with holy fear and gracious confidence. Yes, thou mayest welcome the
question. Such a question was never put to Judas. The Lord loved Peter so
much that he was jealous over him, or he never would have thus challenged
his attachment. And in this kind doth he often appeal to the affections of
those whom he dearly loves. The response likewise is recorded for thee,
"Lord, thou knowest all things." Canst thou not look up, though scorned by
men, though even rejected by thy minister, though kept back by the
deacons, and looked upon with disesteem by some--canst thou not look up,
and say, "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee?" Do
it not in brag and bravado; but if you can do it sincerely, be happy, bless
God that he has given you a sincere love to the Saviour, and ask him to
increase it from a spark to a flame, and from a grain to a mountain. "Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou
knowest that I love thee."
III. And now here is A DEMONSTRATION REQUIRED--"Feed my lambs: feed my
sheep." That was Peter's demonstration. It is not necessary that it
should be our way of showing our love. There are different ways for
different disciples. There are some who are not qualified to feed lambs, for
they are only little lambs themselves. There are some that could not feed
sheep, for they cannot at present see afar off; they are weak in the faith,
and not qualified to teach at all. They have other means, however, of showing
their love to the Saviour. Let us offer a few words upon this matter.
"Lovest thou me?" Then one of the best evidences thou canst give is to feed
my lambs. Have I two or three little children that love and fear my name? If
thou wantest to do a deed, which shall show that thou art a true lover, and
not a proud pretender; go and feed them. Are there a few little ones whom I
have purchased with my blood in an infant class? Dost thou want to do
something which shall evidence that thou art indeed mine? Then sit not
down with the elders, dispute not in the temple; I did that myself; but go
thou, and sit down with the young orphans, and teach them the way to the
kingdom. "Feed my lambs."
Dearly beloved, I have been of late perplexing myself with one thought: that
our church-government is not scriptural. It is scriptural as far as it goes;
but it is not according to the whole of Scripture; neither do we practise
many excellent things that ought to be practised in our churches. We have
received into our midst a large number of young persons; in the ancient
churches there was what was called the catechism class--I believe there
ought to be such a class now. The Sabbath-school, I believe, is in the
Scripture; and I think there ought to be on the Sabbath afternoon, a class of
the young people of this church, who are members already, to be taught by
some of the elder members. Now-a-days, when we get the lambs, we just
turn them adrift in the meadow, and there we leave them. There are more
than a hundred young people in this church who positively, though they are
members, ought not to be left alone; but some of our elders, if we have
elders, and some who ought to be ordained elders, should make it their
business to teach them further, to instruct them in the faith, and so keep
them hard and fast by the truth of Jesus Christ. If we had elders, as they had
in all the apostolic churches, this might in some degree be attended to. But
now the hands of our deacons are full, they do much of the work of the
eldership, but they cannot do any more than they are doing, for they are
toiling hard already. I would that some here whom God has gifted, and who
have time, would spend their afternoons in taking a class of those who live
around them, of their younger brethren, asking them to their houses for
prayer and pious instruction, that so the lambs of the flock may be fed. By
God's help I will take care of the sheep; I will endeavour under God to feed
them, as well as I can, and preach the gospel to them. You that are older in
the faith and stronger in it, need not that careful cautious feeding which is
required by the lambs. But there are many in our midst, good pious souls
who love the Saviour as much as the sheep do; but one of their complaints
which I have often heard is, "Oh I sir, I joined your church, I thought they
would be all brothers and sisters to me, and that I could speak to them, and
they would teach me and be kind to me. Oh ! sir, I came, and nobody spoke
to me." I say, "Why did not you speak to them first ?" "Oh !" they reply, "I
did not like." Well, they should have liked, I am well aware; but if we had
some means of feeding the lambs, it would be a good way of proving to our
Saviour and to the world, that we really do endeavour to follow him. I hope
some of my friends will take that hint; and if, in concert with me, my
brethren in office will endeavour to do something in that way, I think it will
be no mean proof of their love to Christ. "Feed my lambs," is a great duty;
let us try to practise it as we are able.
But, beloved, we cannot all do that; the lambs cannot feed the lambs; the
sheep cannot feed the sheep exactly. There must be some appointed to these
offices. And therefore, in the Saviour's name, allow me to say to some of
you, that there are different kinds of proof you must give. "Simon son of
Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I
love thee." Then preserve that prayer-meeting attend to it; see that it is
kept going on, and that it does not fall to the ground. "Simon son of Jonas
lovest thou me?" See to thy servants; see that they go to the house of God,
and instruct them in the faith. There is a sister: Lovest thou Christ? "Yea,
Lord." Perhaps it is as much as you can do--perhaps it is as much as you
ought to do--to train up your children in the fear of the Lord. It is of no
use to trouble yourselves about duties that God never meant you to do, and
leave your own vineyard at home to itself. Just take care of your own
children; perhaps that is as good a proof as Christ wants of you that you are
feeding his lambs. You have your own office, to which Christ has appointed
you: seek not to run away from it, but endeavour to do what you can to serve
your Master therein. But, I beseech you, do something to prove your love; do
not be sitting down doing nothing. Do not be folding your hands and arms, for
such people perplex a minister most, and bring the most ruin on a church--
such as do nothing. You are always the readiest to find fault. I have marked
it here, that the very people who are quarrelling with everything are the
people that are doing nothing, or are good for nothing. They are sure to
quarrel with everything else, because they are doing nothing themselves;
and therefore they have time to find fault with other people. Do not O
Christian, say that thou lovest Christ, and yet do nothing for him. Doing is a
good sign of living; and he can scarce be alive unto God that does nothing
for God. We must let our works evidence the sincerity of our love to our
Master. "Oh!" say you, "but we are doing a little." Can you do any more? If
you can, then do it. If you cannot do more, then God requires no more of
you; doing to the utmost of your ability is your best proof; but if you can do
more, inasmuch as ye keep back any part of what ye can do, in that degree
ye give cause to yourselves to distrust your love to Christ. Do all you can to
your very utmost; serve him abundantly; ay, and superabundantly: seek to
magnify his name; and if ever you do too much for Christ, come and tell me
of it; if you ever do too much for Christ, tell the angels of it--but you will
never do that. He gave himself for you; give yourselves to him.
You see, my friends, how I have been directing you to search your own
hearts, and I am almost afraid that some of you will mistake my intention.
Have I a poor soul here who really deplores the langour of her affections?
Perhaps you have determined to ask yourself as many questions as you can
with a view of reviving the languid sparks of love. Let me tell you then that
the pure flame of love must be always nourished where it was first kindled.
When I admonished you to look to yourself it was only to detect the evil;
would you find the remedy, you must direct your eyes, not to your own
heart, but to the blessed heart of Jesus--to the Beloved one--to my gracious
Lord and Master. And wouldst thou be ever conscious of the sweet
swellings up of thy heart towards him; thou canst only prove this by a
constant sense of his tender love to thee. I rejoice to know that the Holy
Ghost is the Spirit of love, and the ministry of the Spirit is endeared to me
in nothing so much as this, that he takes of the things of Jesus, and shows
them to me, spreading abroad the Saviour's love in my heart, until it
constrains all my passions, awakens the tenderest of all tender emotions,
reveals my union to him, and occasions my strong desire to serve him. Let
not love appear to thee as a stern duty, or an arduous effort; rather look to
Jesus, yield thyself up to his gracious charms till thou art ravished with his
beauty and preciousness. But ah! if thou art slack in the proofs thou givest,
I shall know thou art not walking with him in holy communion.
And allow me to suggest one profitable way of improving the ordinance of
the Lord's Supper. That is: while you are partaking of it, my friends, renew
your dedication to Christ. Seek this morning to give yourselves over afresh
to your Master. Say with your hearts, what I shall now say with my lips:
"Oh I my precious Lord Jesus, I do love thee; thou knowest I have in some
degree given myself to thee up to this time, thanks to thy grace! Blessed be
thy name, that thou hast accepted the deeds of so unworthy a servant. O
Lord, I am conscious that I have not devoted myself to thee as I ought; I
know that in many things I have come short. I will make no resolution to
live better to thine honor, but I will offer the prayer that thou wouldst help
me so to do. Oh! Lord, I give to thee my health, my life, my talents, my
power, and all I have! Thou hast bought me, and bought me wholly: then,
Lord, take me this morning, baptize me in the Spirit; let me now feel an
entire affection to thy blessed person. May I have that love which conquers
sin and purifies the soul--that love which can dare danger and encounter
difficulties for thy sake. May I henceforth and for ever be a consecrated
vessel of mercy, having been chosen of thee from before the foundation of
the world! Help me to hold fast that solemn choice of thy service which I
desire this morning, by thy grace to renew." And when you drink the blood
of Christ, and eat his flesh spiritually--in the type and in the emblem, then
I beseech you, let the solemn recollection of his agony and suffering for you
inspire you with a greater love, that you may be more devoted to his service
than ever. If that be done, I shall have the best of churches; if that be done
by us, the Holy Spirit helping us to carry it out, we shall all be good men
and true, holding fast by him, and we shall not need to be ashamed in the
awful day.
As for you that have never given yourselves to Christ, I dare not tell you to
renew a vow which you have never made, nor dare I ask you to make a vow,
which you would never keep. I can only pray for you, that God the Saviour
would be pleased to reveal himself unto your heart, that "a sense of blood-
bought pardon" may "dissolve your hearts of stone;" that you may be
brought to give yourselves to him, knowing that if you have done that, you
have the best proof that he has given himself for you. May God Almighty
bless you: those of you who depart, may he dismiss with his blessing: and
those who remain, may you receive his favour, for Christ's sake! Amen.
Provided by:
Bible Bulletin Board
internet: hyperlink
modem: 609-324-9187
Box 318
Columbus, NJ 08022
....online since 1986