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TOPIC: Spurgeon - C.H. - Sermon Collection (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: Volume 1
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The Wisdom of the Gospel
The gospel is the sum of wisdom; a collection of knowledge; a treasure-house of truth; and a disclosure of mysterious secrets. In it we see how justice and mercy may be associated; here we see unalterable law entirely satisfied, and sovereign love carrying away the sinner in triumph. Our meditation on it broadens the mind; and as it opens to our soul in successive flashes of glory, we stand astonished at the profound wisdom manifest in it. Yes, dear friends! if you seek wisdom, you will see it displayed in all its greatness; not in the firmness of the earth's foundations—not in the measured march of the clouds of the sky, nor in the perpetual motions of the waves of the sea; not in the vegetation with all its intricate forms of beauty, nor in the animal with its marvelous tissue of nerve, and vein, and sinew; nor even in man, that last and loftiest work of the Creator. But turn aside and see this great sight!-an incarnate God upon the cross; a substitute atoning for mortal's guilt; a sacrifice satisfying the vengeance of Heaven, and delivering the rebellious sinner. Here is essential wisdom; enthroned, crowned, and glorified. Admire, you men of the earth, if you are not blind; and you who glory in your learning bow your heads in reverence, and admit that all your skill could not have devised a gospel that is one so just to God, so safe to man.
The Poison of False Teaching
There have been many, destroyed by poisons, given to lull them to sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of "peace, peace," when there is no peace; hearing gentle things, when they ought to be hearing things that convict their hearts. Cleopatra's asp was brought in a basket of flowers; and men's ruin often lurks in fair and sweet speeches. But the Holy Spirit's comfort is safe, and you may rest on it. Let him speak the word, and there is a reality about it; let him give the cup of consolation, and you may drink it to the bottom; for in its depths there are no residue, nothing to intoxicate or ruin; it is all safe.
The Compelling Power of the Cross
What is it that makes the young man devote himself, as a missionary, to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and go into distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it; it is the gospel. What is it that constrains the far away minister, in the midst of cholera, to climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by the bed of some dying creature who has that tragic disease? It must be a thing of power which leads him to risk his life; it is love of the cross of Christ which urges him to do it. What is that which enables one man to stand up before a multitude of his fellows, all unprepared it may be, but determined that he will speak nothing but Christ, and Him crucified? What is it that enables him to cry, like the war horse of Job, in battle, Yes! and more glorious in might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified.
What encourages that timid female to walk down that dark road some wet evening, that she may go and sit by the victim of a contagious fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of thieves, and pass by the depraved and perverted? What influences her to enter into that house of death, and there sit down and whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her do it? They are to poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She will never be known nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What makes her do it? What impels her to it? It is the power, the thing of power; it is the cross of Christ—she loves it, and she therefore says, Were the whole realm of nature mine, As a present it would be far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Look to Calvary
O Young man, build your studio on Calvary! there raise your observatory, and scan by faith the lofty things of nature. Take a recluse's cell in the garden of Gethsemane, and wash your face with the waters of Siloam. Let the Bible be your standard classic-your last appeal in matters of contention. Let its light be your illumination, and you will become more wise than Plato, more truly learned than the seven sages of antiquity.
An Old Fool
O man! of all fools, a fool with a grey head is the worst fool anywhere. With one foot in the grave, and another foot on a sandy foundation, how will I depict you, but by saying to you as God said to the rich man, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
The Rejection of the Gospel
When the gospel was first preached, instead of being accepted and admired, one universal hiss went up to heaven; men could not bear it; its first preacher they dragged to the edge of the cliff, and would have sent Him down headlong; yes, they did more-they nailed Him to a cross, and there they let Him spend His dying life in agony such as no man has borne since. All His chosen ministers have been hated and abhorred by the worldly; instead of being listened to, they have been scoffed at; treated as if they were rubbish, and the very scum of mankind.
Look at the holy men in the early days of the church, how they were driven from city to city, persecuted, afflicted, tormented, stoned to death, wherever the enemy had power to do so. Those friends of men, those real philanthropists, who came with hearts big with love, and hands full of mercy, and lips pregnant with celestial fire, and souls burned with holy influence; those men were treated as if they were spies in the camp, as if they were deserters from the common cause of mankind; as if they were enemies, and not, as they truly were, the best of friends. Do not suppose that men like the gospel any better now than they did then. There is an idea that you are growing better; but the heart within is still the same. The human heart of today dissected, would be just like the human heart a thousand years ago; the gall of bitterness within that bosom of yours, is just as bitter as the gall of bitterness of Simon of old. We have in our hearts the same inherent opposition to the truth of God; and hence we find men, just as in the past, who scorn the gospel.
Staying Alive in Christ
If you feel at any time "death working in you," as doubtless you will, withering the bloom of your religious devoutness, chilling the fervor of your devotions, and quenching the allegiance of your faith, remember, He who first aroused you to life in Christ must keep you alive. The Spirit of God is like the sap that flowed into your poor dry branch, because you were grafted into Christ, and by that sap alone you can ever bring forth fruit to God.
The Trinity
A gospel without a Trinity! it is a pyramid built upside down on its apex. A gospel without the Trinity! it is a rope of sand that cannot hold together. A gospel without a Trinity! then, indeed, Satan can overturn it. But, give me a gospel with the Trinity, and the might of hell cannot prevail against it; no man could any more overthrow it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break a mountain in half. Get the thought of the three persons, and you have the essence of all divinity. Only know the Father, and know the Son, and know the Holy Spirit to be one, and all things will appear clear. This is the golden key to the secrets of nature, and he who understands this, will soon understand as much as mortals ever can know.
Read Your Bible
You know more about your ledgers than your Bible; you know more about your magazines and novels than what God has written; many of you will read a novel from the beginning to the end, and what have you got? A mouthful of foam when you are 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 a man writes, a best seller of the day, is greedily devoured.
The Science of Jesus Christ
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 you know astronomy? It is here—it tells you of the Son of Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem.
Would you know 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 engraved thereon, which no man knows except he who receives it.
Would you study history? Here is the most ancient of all the records of the history of the human race. Whatever your science is, come and bend over this book; your science is here. Come and drink out of this pure fountain of knowledge and wisdom, and you will find yourself made wise unto salvation.
God's Gift of Change
Have you now a sweet temper, whereas you once were hot-blooded? Do not boast of it; you will be angry yet again if He allows you. Are you now pure, whereas you were once unclean? Do not boast of your purity; it is a plant, the seed of which was brought from heaven; it never was within your heart by nature; it is God's gift, and God's alone.
The Attraction of Christ
Our world has two forces; it has one tendency to run off at a tangent from its orbit; but the sun draws it by a centripetal power, and attracts it to itself, and so between the two forces it is kept in a perpetual circle. Oh! Christian, you will never walk right, and keep in the orbit of truth, if it were not for the influence of Christ perpetually attracting you to the center. You feel, and if you do not always feel, it is still there-you feel an attraction between your heart and Christ, and Christ is perpetually drawing you to Himself, to His likeness, to His character, to His love, to His bosom, and in that way you are kept from your natural tendency to fly off and be lost in the wild fields of sin. Bless God, that Christ lifted up draws all His people unto Him in that fashion.
Free Will
"Do you see the cat? She sits there, and will lick her paws and keep herself clean." "I see that," said the other. "Well," said the first speaker, "Did you ever hear of one of the hogs taken out of the pigsty that ever acted like the cat?" "No," he said. "But he could if he wanted to," said the other. "Yes! truly he could if he wanted to; but it is not according to his nature, and you never saw such a thing done, and until you have changed the swine's nature, he cannot perform such a good action, and God's Word says the same thing of man."
Tell It to God
Cast your troubles where you have cast your sins; you have cast your sins into the depths of the sea, there cast your troubles also. Never keep a trouble half an hour on your own mind before you tell it to God. As soon as the trouble comes, quick, the first thing, tell it to your Father in heaven. Remember, that the longer you take telling your trouble to God, the more your peace will be impaired. The longer the frost lasts, the more likely the ponds will be frozen.
The Wisdom of the Holy Spirit
How wise the Holy Spirit is! He takes the soul, lays it on the table, and dissects it in a moment; He finds out the root of the matter, He sees where the evil is, and then He applies the knife where something is required to be taken away, or puts dressing and ointment where the sore is, and He never makes a mistake. O, how wise is the blessed Holy Spirit; from every other comforter I turn and leave them all, for You are He who alone gives the wisest consolation.
Commanded to Smile
Cultivate a cheerful disposition; endeavor as much as you can to always wear a smile; remember that this is as much a command of God as that one which says, "You shall love the Lord with all your heart."
The Perfect Preacher
Christ Jesus was an exciting preacher; He sought all means to set a pearl in a frame of gold, that it might attract the attention of the people. He was not willing to place Himself in a local church, or to preach to a large congregation, like our good brethren in the city, but would preach in such a style that people felt they must go to hear Him. Some of them gnashed their teeth in rage and left His presence in anger, but the multitudes still thronged to Him to hear and to be healed. It was no commonplace experience to hear this King of preachers, He was too straightforward to be dull, and to humane to be incomprehensible.
Our Watchman
It was once said by Solon, "No man ought to be called a happy man until he dies," because he does not know what his life is to be; but Christians may always call themselves happy men here, because wherever their tent is carried, they cannot pitch it where the cloud does not move, and where they are not surrounded by a circle of fire. "I myself will be a wall of fire around them, and I will be their glory within." They cannot live where God is not the head of the house, watchman, and safeguard of salvation.
"All my ways shall ever be
Ordered by His wise decree."
The Peace of Christianity
Oh! you that are not Christians, it would worthwhile to be Christians, if it were only for the peace and happiness that religion gives. If we had to die like dogs with no future, still this religion would be worth having to make us live here like angels. Oh, if the grave were what it seems to be, the goal of all existence, if the black nails of the coffin were not so bright with stars, if death were the end and our lamps were quenched in darkness, when it was said, "Dust to dust and earth to earth; "yet it would be worthwhile to be a child of God, only to live here.
Dreams
We dream of everything in the world, and a few things more! If we were asked to tell our dreams, it would be impossible. You dream that you are at a feast; Behold! the foods change into a flying horse, and you are riding through the air; or again, suddenly transformed into a morsel for a monster's meal. Such is life. The changes occur as suddenly as they happen in a dream. Men have been rich one day, they have been beggars the next. We have witnessed the exile of monarchs, and the flight of a king—or, in another direction, we have seen a man, neither reputable or honorable in status, at a single stride exalted to a throne; and you who would have shunned him in the streets before, were foolish enough to throng your streets to stare at him. Ah! such is life. Leaves of the tree were not more easily moved by the winds, nor are dreams more variable—"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
Bible Light
It is better to 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 shiny letters on the darkness of night; you may discover His glory in the ocean waves. Yes, in the trees of the field; but it is better to read it in two books than in only 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. Yes, beloved, let us thank God for this Bible; let us love it; let us count it more precious than much fine gold.
Cloudy Future
How foolish are those men who wish to pry into the future; the telescope is ready, and they are looking through; but they are so anxious to see, that they breathe on the glass with their hot breath and they dim it, so that they can discern nothing but clouds and darkness.
Hypocrisy
Every now and then we turn over fair looking stone which lies upon the green grass of the professing church, surrounded with the growth of apparent goodness, and to our astonishment we find beneath all kinds of filthy insects and loathsome reptiles, and in our disgust at such hypocrisy, we are driven to exclaim, "All men are liars; there are none in whom we can put any trust at all." It is not fair to say so of all; but really, the discoveries which are made of the insincerity of our fellow creatures are enough to make us despise our kind, because they can go so far in appearances, and yet have so little soundness of heart.
The Blood Stained Book
Our Bible is a blood-stained book. The blood of martyrs is on the Bible, the blood of translators and believers. The pool of holy baptism in which you have been baptized is a bloodstained pool—many have had to die for the vindication of that baptism which is the answer of a good conscience towards God. The doctrines which we preach to you are doctrines that have been baptized in blood-swords have been drawn to kill the confessors of them; and there is not a truth which has not been sealed by them at the stake, or the block, or far away on the lofty mountains, where they have, been slain by hundreds.
God's Eyes on Us
God might, if He pleased, wrap himself with night as with a garment; He might put the stars around His wrist for bracelets, and bind the suns around His brow for a crown; 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 false god 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 within his own being, swallowed up within himself, living alone and retired; and I, as one of his creatures, might stand at night upon a mountain-top, and look upon the silent stars and say, "You are the eyes of God, but you do not look 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 leaf in the forest of beings, an atoll in the mountain of existence. He does not know me; 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 that continues to live apart from His decrees. There is not a person upon whom His eye is not fixed. Our most secret acts are known to Him. Whatever we do, or endure, or suffer, the eye of God still rests upon us, and we are under His smile-for we are His people; or under His frown-for we have sinned against Him.
The Power of God
Any farmer can get a good crop out of good soil; but God is the farmer who can grow cedars on rocks, who can not only put the hyssop upon the wall, but put the oak there too, and make the greatest faith spring up in the most unlikely place. All glory to His grace! The great sinner may become great in faith. Be of good cheer, then, sinner! If Christ should make you repent, you have no reason to think that you will be the least in the family. Oh! no! your name may yet be written among the mightiest of the mighty and you may stand as a memorable and triumph instance of the power of faith.
Seeing Jesus
If we look at something in the pitch blackness of the dark, we cannot see it; but we have done what we were told. So, if a sinner only looks to Jesus, He will save him, for Jesus in the dark is as good as Jesus in the light; and Jesus, when you cannot see him, in as good as Jesus when you can.
The Anchor of Calvary
There was an evil hour once when I released the anchor of my faith; I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored myself tight to the coasts of the Revelation of God; I allowed my vessel to drift with the wind; I said to reason, "You be my captain;" I said to my own brain, "You be 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 the glitter of brilliancy. I saw sparks flying upward that pleased me, and I thought, "If this is free thought, it is a good thing." My thoughts seemed like gems, and I scattered stars with both my hands; but before long, instead of these flashes of glory, I saw grim fiends, fierce and horrible, come up from the waters, and as I rushed on, they gnashed their teeth, and grinned at me; they seized the bow of my ship and dragged me on, while I, in part, was impressed at the swiftness 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 a dreadful speed, I began to doubt my very existence; I doubted if there were a world, I doubted if there were such a thing, as myself. I went to the very verge of the dreamy realms of unbelief. I went to the very bottom of the sea of Unbelief. 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 death-dream, which, God knows, might have damned my Soul, and ruined my body, if I had not awoke. When I arose, faith took the helm; from that moment I no longer doubted. 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."
Traveling to Our Destiny
This world is turning around on its axis once every twenty-four hours; and besides that, it is moving around the sun in the 365 days of the year. So that we are all moving; we are all flitting along through space. And as we are traveling through space, so we are also moving through time at an incalculable rate. Oh! what an idea it is, if we could we grasp it! We are all being carried along as if by a giant angel, with broad outstretched wings, which he flaps to the sound of thunder, and flying before the lightning, makes us ride on the winds. The whole multitude of us are hurrying along-to a place that will be decided by the test of our faith and the grace of God; but it is certain, we are all traveling. Do not think that you are stable things; do not fancy that you are standing still; you are not. Your pulses each moment beat the funeral marches to the tomb. You are chained to the chariot of rolling time; there is no slowing of the horses, or leaping from the chariot; you must be constantly in motion.
A Trip to Heaven
Christ is the chariot in which souls are drawn to heaven. The people of the Lord are on their way to heaven, they are carried in everlasting arms; and those arms are the arms of Christ. Christ is carrying them up to His own house, to His own throne; in time His prayer-"Father, I want those you have given Me to be with Me where I am" shall be completely fulfilled. And it is being fulfilled now, for He is like a strong charger drawing His children in the chariot of the covenant of grace unto Himself. Oh! blessed be God, the cross is the plank on which we swim to heaven; the cross is the great covenant transport which will weather out the storms, and reach its desired heaven. This is the chariot, the sides are made of gold, and the bottom of silver, it is lined with the purple of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God's Book
The Bible 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. Even though 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 songs 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 plowed 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 of 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 pages, 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."
Pilgrimage of a Pious Life
A pilgrim sets out in the morning, and he has to journey many days before he gets to the shrine which he seeks. What varied scenes the traveler will behold on his way! Sometimes he is on the mountains, and in time he will descend into the valleys; here he will be where the brooks shine like silver, where the birds sing out, where the air is balmy, and trees are green, and luscious fruits hang down to gratify his taste; and in time he will find himself in the arid desert, where no life is found, and no sound is heard, except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where he finds no rest for the sole of his foot – the burning sky above him, and the hot sand beneath him – no roof of trees, and no house to rest himself; at another time he finds himself in a sweet oasis, resting by the wells of water, and plucking fruit from palm trees. One moment he walks between the rocks in some narrow gorge, where all is darkness; at another time he ascends the hill, Mizar; now he descends into the valley of Baca; and in time he climbs the hill of Bashan, "a high hill is Bashan;" and yet again going into a den of leopards, he suffers trial and affliction. Such is life—ever changing. Who can tell what may come next? Today it is fair, the next day there may be the thundering storm; today I may need nothing, tomorrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone for my pillow and the heavens for my curtains. But what a happy thought it is, though we do not know where the road winds, we know where it ends. It is the straightest way to heaven to go round about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after all, the nearest path to Canaan. We may have to go through trail and affliction; the pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe; we cannot trace the river upon which we are sailing, but we know it ends in floods of bliss. We cannot track the roads, but we know that they all meet in the great metropolis of heaven, in the center of God’s universe. God help us to pursue the true pilgrimage of a pious life!
Life's Goal
There is no loss in being a Christian, and making God the first object; but make anything else your goal, and with all your running, should you run ever so well, you shall fall short of the mark; or if you gain it, you shall fall uncrowned, unhonored to the earth. "My soul, wait only upon God."
The Simple Gospel
If it would take me seven years to describe the way of salvation, I am sure you would all long to hear it. If only one learned doctor could tell the way to heaven, how would he be sought after! And if it were in hard words, with a few scraps of Latin and Greek, it would be all the better. But it is a simple gospel that we have to preach. It is only "Look!" "Ah!" you say, "is that the gospel? I shall not pay any attention to that." But why has God ordered you to do such a simple thing? Just to take down your pride, and to show you that he is God, and that beside him there is none else. Oh, mark how simple the way of salvation is. It is, "Look! Look! Look! Four letters, and two of them alike! "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth."
What is Faith?
Faith is to say, that "mountains, when hidden in darkness, are as real as in the day." Faith is to look through that cloud, not with the eye of sight, which sees nothing, but with the eye of faith, which sees everything, and to say, "I trust him when I cannot see him; I tread as firmly as I would on the rock; I walk as securely in the tempest as in the sunshine, and lay myself to rest upon the surging billows of the ocean as contentedly as upon my bed."
Holy Spirit Power
As a man does not make himself spiritually alive, so neither can he keep himself so. He can feed on spiritual food, and so preserve his spiritual strength; he can walk in the commandments of the Lord, and so enjoy rest and peace, but still the inner life is dependent upon the Spirit as much for its future existence as for its birth. I do truly believe that if it should ever be my lot to put my foot upon the golden threshold of Paradise, and put this thumb upon the pearly latch, I would never cross the threshold unless I had grace given me to take that last step whereby I might enter heaven. No man himself, even when converted, has any power, except as that power is daily, constantly, and perpetually infused into him by the Holy Spirit.
Waiting Upon God
Oh! It is a happy way of smoothing sorrow, when we can say, "We will wait only upon God." Oh, you agitated Christians, do not dishonor your religion by always wearing a frown of concern; come, cast your burden upon the Lord. I see you staggering beneath a weight which He would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him nothing but a small amount of dust. See! The Almighty bends his shoulders, and he says, "Here, put your troubles here."
School of Trouble
Most of the great truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them. No man is competent to judge in matters of the kingdom, until first he has been tried; since there are many things to be learned in the depths which we can never know in the heights. We discover many secrets in the caverns of the ocean, which, though we had soared to heaven, we never could have known. He shall best meet the needs of God’s people as a preacher who has had those needs himself; he shall best comfort God’s Israel who has needed comfort; and he shall best preach salvation who has felt his own need of it.
Meeting with the Lord
If I desired to put myself into the most likely place for the Lord to meet with me, I would prefer the house of prayer, for it is in preaching, that the Word is most blessed; but still I think I should equally desire the reading of the Scriptures; for I might pause over every verse, and say, "Such a verse was blessed to so many souls; then, why not to me? I am at least in the pool of Bethesda; I am walking among its porches, and who can tell but that the angel will stir the pool of the Word, while I lie helplessly by the side of it, waiting for the blessing?"
Obedience that Will Not Save
Oh! It is not some heretic flush upon the cheek of consumptive irresolution that God counts to be the health of obedience. It is not some slight obedience for an hour that God will accept at the Day of Judgment. He said "continued;" and unless from my early childhood to the day when my gray hairs descend into the tomb, I shall have continued to be obedient to God, I must be condemned. Unless I have from the first dawn of reason, when I first began to be responsible, obediently served God, until, like a shock of corn, I am gathered into my Master’s barn, salvation by works must be impossible to me, and I must (standing on my own footing), be condemned. It is not, I say, some slight obedience that will save the soul. You have not continued "in all things which are written in the book of the law," and therefore, you are condemned.
The gospel is the sum of wisdom; a collection of knowledge; a treasure-house of truth; and a disclosure of mysterious secrets. In it we see how justice and mercy may be associated; here we see unalterable law entirely satisfied, and sovereign love carrying away the sinner in triumph. Our meditation on it broadens the mind; and as it opens to our soul in successive flashes of glory, we stand astonished at the profound wisdom manifest in it. Yes, dear friends! if you seek wisdom, you will see it displayed in all its greatness; not in the firmness of the earth's foundations—not in the measured march of the clouds of the sky, nor in the perpetual motions of the waves of the sea; not in the vegetation with all its intricate forms of beauty, nor in the animal with its marvelous tissue of nerve, and vein, and sinew; nor even in man, that last and loftiest work of the Creator. But turn aside and see this great sight!-an incarnate God upon the cross; a substitute atoning for mortal's guilt; a sacrifice satisfying the vengeance of Heaven, and delivering the rebellious sinner. Here is essential wisdom; enthroned, crowned, and glorified. Admire, you men of the earth, if you are not blind; and you who glory in your learning bow your heads in reverence, and admit that all your skill could not have devised a gospel that is one so just to God, so safe to man.
The Poison of False Teaching
There have been many, destroyed by poisons, given to lull them to sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of "peace, peace," when there is no peace; hearing gentle things, when they ought to be hearing things that convict their hearts. Cleopatra's asp was brought in a basket of flowers; and men's ruin often lurks in fair and sweet speeches. But the Holy Spirit's comfort is safe, and you may rest on it. Let him speak the word, and there is a reality about it; let him give the cup of consolation, and you may drink it to the bottom; for in its depths there are no residue, nothing to intoxicate or ruin; it is all safe.
The Compelling Power of the Cross
What is it that makes the young man devote himself, as a missionary, to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and go into distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it; it is the gospel. What is it that constrains the far away minister, in the midst of cholera, to climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by the bed of some dying creature who has that tragic disease? It must be a thing of power which leads him to risk his life; it is love of the cross of Christ which urges him to do it. What is that which enables one man to stand up before a multitude of his fellows, all unprepared it may be, but determined that he will speak nothing but Christ, and Him crucified? What is it that enables him to cry, like the war horse of Job, in battle, Yes! and more glorious in might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified.
What encourages that timid female to walk down that dark road some wet evening, that she may go and sit by the victim of a contagious fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of thieves, and pass by the depraved and perverted? What influences her to enter into that house of death, and there sit down and whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her do it? They are to poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She will never be known nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What makes her do it? What impels her to it? It is the power, the thing of power; it is the cross of Christ—she loves it, and she therefore says, Were the whole realm of nature mine, As a present it would be far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Look to Calvary
O Young man, build your studio on Calvary! there raise your observatory, and scan by faith the lofty things of nature. Take a recluse's cell in the garden of Gethsemane, and wash your face with the waters of Siloam. Let the Bible be your standard classic-your last appeal in matters of contention. Let its light be your illumination, and you will become more wise than Plato, more truly learned than the seven sages of antiquity.
An Old Fool
O man! of all fools, a fool with a grey head is the worst fool anywhere. With one foot in the grave, and another foot on a sandy foundation, how will I depict you, but by saying to you as God said to the rich man, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
The Rejection of the Gospel
When the gospel was first preached, instead of being accepted and admired, one universal hiss went up to heaven; men could not bear it; its first preacher they dragged to the edge of the cliff, and would have sent Him down headlong; yes, they did more-they nailed Him to a cross, and there they let Him spend His dying life in agony such as no man has borne since. All His chosen ministers have been hated and abhorred by the worldly; instead of being listened to, they have been scoffed at; treated as if they were rubbish, and the very scum of mankind.
Look at the holy men in the early days of the church, how they were driven from city to city, persecuted, afflicted, tormented, stoned to death, wherever the enemy had power to do so. Those friends of men, those real philanthropists, who came with hearts big with love, and hands full of mercy, and lips pregnant with celestial fire, and souls burned with holy influence; those men were treated as if they were spies in the camp, as if they were deserters from the common cause of mankind; as if they were enemies, and not, as they truly were, the best of friends. Do not suppose that men like the gospel any better now than they did then. There is an idea that you are growing better; but the heart within is still the same. The human heart of today dissected, would be just like the human heart a thousand years ago; the gall of bitterness within that bosom of yours, is just as bitter as the gall of bitterness of Simon of old. We have in our hearts the same inherent opposition to the truth of God; and hence we find men, just as in the past, who scorn the gospel.
Staying Alive in Christ
If you feel at any time "death working in you," as doubtless you will, withering the bloom of your religious devoutness, chilling the fervor of your devotions, and quenching the allegiance of your faith, remember, He who first aroused you to life in Christ must keep you alive. The Spirit of God is like the sap that flowed into your poor dry branch, because you were grafted into Christ, and by that sap alone you can ever bring forth fruit to God.
The Trinity
A gospel without a Trinity! it is a pyramid built upside down on its apex. A gospel without the Trinity! it is a rope of sand that cannot hold together. A gospel without a Trinity! then, indeed, Satan can overturn it. But, give me a gospel with the Trinity, and the might of hell cannot prevail against it; no man could any more overthrow it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break a mountain in half. Get the thought of the three persons, and you have the essence of all divinity. Only know the Father, and know the Son, and know the Holy Spirit to be one, and all things will appear clear. This is the golden key to the secrets of nature, and he who understands this, will soon understand as much as mortals ever can know.
Read Your Bible
You know more about your ledgers than your Bible; you know more about your magazines and novels than what God has written; many of you will read a novel from the beginning to the end, and what have you got? A mouthful of foam when you are 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 a man writes, a best seller of the day, is greedily devoured.
The Science of Jesus Christ
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 you know astronomy? It is here—it tells you of the Son of Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem.
Would you know 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 engraved thereon, which no man knows except he who receives it.
Would you study history? Here is the most ancient of all the records of the history of the human race. Whatever your science is, come and bend over this book; your science is here. Come and drink out of this pure fountain of knowledge and wisdom, and you will find yourself made wise unto salvation.
God's Gift of Change
Have you now a sweet temper, whereas you once were hot-blooded? Do not boast of it; you will be angry yet again if He allows you. Are you now pure, whereas you were once unclean? Do not boast of your purity; it is a plant, the seed of which was brought from heaven; it never was within your heart by nature; it is God's gift, and God's alone.
The Attraction of Christ
Our world has two forces; it has one tendency to run off at a tangent from its orbit; but the sun draws it by a centripetal power, and attracts it to itself, and so between the two forces it is kept in a perpetual circle. Oh! Christian, you will never walk right, and keep in the orbit of truth, if it were not for the influence of Christ perpetually attracting you to the center. You feel, and if you do not always feel, it is still there-you feel an attraction between your heart and Christ, and Christ is perpetually drawing you to Himself, to His likeness, to His character, to His love, to His bosom, and in that way you are kept from your natural tendency to fly off and be lost in the wild fields of sin. Bless God, that Christ lifted up draws all His people unto Him in that fashion.
Free Will
"Do you see the cat? She sits there, and will lick her paws and keep herself clean." "I see that," said the other. "Well," said the first speaker, "Did you ever hear of one of the hogs taken out of the pigsty that ever acted like the cat?" "No," he said. "But he could if he wanted to," said the other. "Yes! truly he could if he wanted to; but it is not according to his nature, and you never saw such a thing done, and until you have changed the swine's nature, he cannot perform such a good action, and God's Word says the same thing of man."
Tell It to God
Cast your troubles where you have cast your sins; you have cast your sins into the depths of the sea, there cast your troubles also. Never keep a trouble half an hour on your own mind before you tell it to God. As soon as the trouble comes, quick, the first thing, tell it to your Father in heaven. Remember, that the longer you take telling your trouble to God, the more your peace will be impaired. The longer the frost lasts, the more likely the ponds will be frozen.
The Wisdom of the Holy Spirit
How wise the Holy Spirit is! He takes the soul, lays it on the table, and dissects it in a moment; He finds out the root of the matter, He sees where the evil is, and then He applies the knife where something is required to be taken away, or puts dressing and ointment where the sore is, and He never makes a mistake. O, how wise is the blessed Holy Spirit; from every other comforter I turn and leave them all, for You are He who alone gives the wisest consolation.
Commanded to Smile
Cultivate a cheerful disposition; endeavor as much as you can to always wear a smile; remember that this is as much a command of God as that one which says, "You shall love the Lord with all your heart."
The Perfect Preacher
Christ Jesus was an exciting preacher; He sought all means to set a pearl in a frame of gold, that it might attract the attention of the people. He was not willing to place Himself in a local church, or to preach to a large congregation, like our good brethren in the city, but would preach in such a style that people felt they must go to hear Him. Some of them gnashed their teeth in rage and left His presence in anger, but the multitudes still thronged to Him to hear and to be healed. It was no commonplace experience to hear this King of preachers, He was too straightforward to be dull, and to humane to be incomprehensible.
Our Watchman
It was once said by Solon, "No man ought to be called a happy man until he dies," because he does not know what his life is to be; but Christians may always call themselves happy men here, because wherever their tent is carried, they cannot pitch it where the cloud does not move, and where they are not surrounded by a circle of fire. "I myself will be a wall of fire around them, and I will be their glory within." They cannot live where God is not the head of the house, watchman, and safeguard of salvation.
"All my ways shall ever be
Ordered by His wise decree."
The Peace of Christianity
Oh! you that are not Christians, it would worthwhile to be Christians, if it were only for the peace and happiness that religion gives. If we had to die like dogs with no future, still this religion would be worth having to make us live here like angels. Oh, if the grave were what it seems to be, the goal of all existence, if the black nails of the coffin were not so bright with stars, if death were the end and our lamps were quenched in darkness, when it was said, "Dust to dust and earth to earth; "yet it would be worthwhile to be a child of God, only to live here.
Dreams
We dream of everything in the world, and a few things more! If we were asked to tell our dreams, it would be impossible. You dream that you are at a feast; Behold! the foods change into a flying horse, and you are riding through the air; or again, suddenly transformed into a morsel for a monster's meal. Such is life. The changes occur as suddenly as they happen in a dream. Men have been rich one day, they have been beggars the next. We have witnessed the exile of monarchs, and the flight of a king—or, in another direction, we have seen a man, neither reputable or honorable in status, at a single stride exalted to a throne; and you who would have shunned him in the streets before, were foolish enough to throng your streets to stare at him. Ah! such is life. Leaves of the tree were not more easily moved by the winds, nor are dreams more variable—"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
Bible Light
It is better to 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 shiny letters on the darkness of night; you may discover His glory in the ocean waves. Yes, in the trees of the field; but it is better to read it in two books than in only 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. Yes, beloved, let us thank God for this Bible; let us love it; let us count it more precious than much fine gold.
Cloudy Future
How foolish are those men who wish to pry into the future; the telescope is ready, and they are looking through; but they are so anxious to see, that they breathe on the glass with their hot breath and they dim it, so that they can discern nothing but clouds and darkness.
Hypocrisy
Every now and then we turn over fair looking stone which lies upon the green grass of the professing church, surrounded with the growth of apparent goodness, and to our astonishment we find beneath all kinds of filthy insects and loathsome reptiles, and in our disgust at such hypocrisy, we are driven to exclaim, "All men are liars; there are none in whom we can put any trust at all." It is not fair to say so of all; but really, the discoveries which are made of the insincerity of our fellow creatures are enough to make us despise our kind, because they can go so far in appearances, and yet have so little soundness of heart.
The Blood Stained Book
Our Bible is a blood-stained book. The blood of martyrs is on the Bible, the blood of translators and believers. The pool of holy baptism in which you have been baptized is a bloodstained pool—many have had to die for the vindication of that baptism which is the answer of a good conscience towards God. The doctrines which we preach to you are doctrines that have been baptized in blood-swords have been drawn to kill the confessors of them; and there is not a truth which has not been sealed by them at the stake, or the block, or far away on the lofty mountains, where they have, been slain by hundreds.
God's Eyes on Us
God might, if He pleased, wrap himself with night as with a garment; He might put the stars around His wrist for bracelets, and bind the suns around His brow for a crown; 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 false god 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 within his own being, swallowed up within himself, living alone and retired; and I, as one of his creatures, might stand at night upon a mountain-top, and look upon the silent stars and say, "You are the eyes of God, but you do not look 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 leaf in the forest of beings, an atoll in the mountain of existence. He does not know me; 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 that continues to live apart from His decrees. There is not a person upon whom His eye is not fixed. Our most secret acts are known to Him. Whatever we do, or endure, or suffer, the eye of God still rests upon us, and we are under His smile-for we are His people; or under His frown-for we have sinned against Him.
The Power of God
Any farmer can get a good crop out of good soil; but God is the farmer who can grow cedars on rocks, who can not only put the hyssop upon the wall, but put the oak there too, and make the greatest faith spring up in the most unlikely place. All glory to His grace! The great sinner may become great in faith. Be of good cheer, then, sinner! If Christ should make you repent, you have no reason to think that you will be the least in the family. Oh! no! your name may yet be written among the mightiest of the mighty and you may stand as a memorable and triumph instance of the power of faith.
Seeing Jesus
If we look at something in the pitch blackness of the dark, we cannot see it; but we have done what we were told. So, if a sinner only looks to Jesus, He will save him, for Jesus in the dark is as good as Jesus in the light; and Jesus, when you cannot see him, in as good as Jesus when you can.
The Anchor of Calvary
There was an evil hour once when I released the anchor of my faith; I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored myself tight to the coasts of the Revelation of God; I allowed my vessel to drift with the wind; I said to reason, "You be my captain;" I said to my own brain, "You be 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 the glitter of brilliancy. I saw sparks flying upward that pleased me, and I thought, "If this is free thought, it is a good thing." My thoughts seemed like gems, and I scattered stars with both my hands; but before long, instead of these flashes of glory, I saw grim fiends, fierce and horrible, come up from the waters, and as I rushed on, they gnashed their teeth, and grinned at me; they seized the bow of my ship and dragged me on, while I, in part, was impressed at the swiftness 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 a dreadful speed, I began to doubt my very existence; I doubted if there were a world, I doubted if there were such a thing, as myself. I went to the very verge of the dreamy realms of unbelief. I went to the very bottom of the sea of Unbelief. 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 death-dream, which, God knows, might have damned my Soul, and ruined my body, if I had not awoke. When I arose, faith took the helm; from that moment I no longer doubted. 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."
Traveling to Our Destiny
This world is turning around on its axis once every twenty-four hours; and besides that, it is moving around the sun in the 365 days of the year. So that we are all moving; we are all flitting along through space. And as we are traveling through space, so we are also moving through time at an incalculable rate. Oh! what an idea it is, if we could we grasp it! We are all being carried along as if by a giant angel, with broad outstretched wings, which he flaps to the sound of thunder, and flying before the lightning, makes us ride on the winds. The whole multitude of us are hurrying along-to a place that will be decided by the test of our faith and the grace of God; but it is certain, we are all traveling. Do not think that you are stable things; do not fancy that you are standing still; you are not. Your pulses each moment beat the funeral marches to the tomb. You are chained to the chariot of rolling time; there is no slowing of the horses, or leaping from the chariot; you must be constantly in motion.
A Trip to Heaven
Christ is the chariot in which souls are drawn to heaven. The people of the Lord are on their way to heaven, they are carried in everlasting arms; and those arms are the arms of Christ. Christ is carrying them up to His own house, to His own throne; in time His prayer-"Father, I want those you have given Me to be with Me where I am" shall be completely fulfilled. And it is being fulfilled now, for He is like a strong charger drawing His children in the chariot of the covenant of grace unto Himself. Oh! blessed be God, the cross is the plank on which we swim to heaven; the cross is the great covenant transport which will weather out the storms, and reach its desired heaven. This is the chariot, the sides are made of gold, and the bottom of silver, it is lined with the purple of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God's Book
The Bible 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. Even though 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 songs 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 plowed 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 of 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 pages, 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."
Pilgrimage of a Pious Life
A pilgrim sets out in the morning, and he has to journey many days before he gets to the shrine which he seeks. What varied scenes the traveler will behold on his way! Sometimes he is on the mountains, and in time he will descend into the valleys; here he will be where the brooks shine like silver, where the birds sing out, where the air is balmy, and trees are green, and luscious fruits hang down to gratify his taste; and in time he will find himself in the arid desert, where no life is found, and no sound is heard, except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where he finds no rest for the sole of his foot – the burning sky above him, and the hot sand beneath him – no roof of trees, and no house to rest himself; at another time he finds himself in a sweet oasis, resting by the wells of water, and plucking fruit from palm trees. One moment he walks between the rocks in some narrow gorge, where all is darkness; at another time he ascends the hill, Mizar; now he descends into the valley of Baca; and in time he climbs the hill of Bashan, "a high hill is Bashan;" and yet again going into a den of leopards, he suffers trial and affliction. Such is life—ever changing. Who can tell what may come next? Today it is fair, the next day there may be the thundering storm; today I may need nothing, tomorrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone for my pillow and the heavens for my curtains. But what a happy thought it is, though we do not know where the road winds, we know where it ends. It is the straightest way to heaven to go round about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after all, the nearest path to Canaan. We may have to go through trail and affliction; the pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe; we cannot trace the river upon which we are sailing, but we know it ends in floods of bliss. We cannot track the roads, but we know that they all meet in the great metropolis of heaven, in the center of God’s universe. God help us to pursue the true pilgrimage of a pious life!
Life's Goal
There is no loss in being a Christian, and making God the first object; but make anything else your goal, and with all your running, should you run ever so well, you shall fall short of the mark; or if you gain it, you shall fall uncrowned, unhonored to the earth. "My soul, wait only upon God."
The Simple Gospel
If it would take me seven years to describe the way of salvation, I am sure you would all long to hear it. If only one learned doctor could tell the way to heaven, how would he be sought after! And if it were in hard words, with a few scraps of Latin and Greek, it would be all the better. But it is a simple gospel that we have to preach. It is only "Look!" "Ah!" you say, "is that the gospel? I shall not pay any attention to that." But why has God ordered you to do such a simple thing? Just to take down your pride, and to show you that he is God, and that beside him there is none else. Oh, mark how simple the way of salvation is. It is, "Look! Look! Look! Four letters, and two of them alike! "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth."
What is Faith?
Faith is to say, that "mountains, when hidden in darkness, are as real as in the day." Faith is to look through that cloud, not with the eye of sight, which sees nothing, but with the eye of faith, which sees everything, and to say, "I trust him when I cannot see him; I tread as firmly as I would on the rock; I walk as securely in the tempest as in the sunshine, and lay myself to rest upon the surging billows of the ocean as contentedly as upon my bed."
Holy Spirit Power
As a man does not make himself spiritually alive, so neither can he keep himself so. He can feed on spiritual food, and so preserve his spiritual strength; he can walk in the commandments of the Lord, and so enjoy rest and peace, but still the inner life is dependent upon the Spirit as much for its future existence as for its birth. I do truly believe that if it should ever be my lot to put my foot upon the golden threshold of Paradise, and put this thumb upon the pearly latch, I would never cross the threshold unless I had grace given me to take that last step whereby I might enter heaven. No man himself, even when converted, has any power, except as that power is daily, constantly, and perpetually infused into him by the Holy Spirit.
Waiting Upon God
Oh! It is a happy way of smoothing sorrow, when we can say, "We will wait only upon God." Oh, you agitated Christians, do not dishonor your religion by always wearing a frown of concern; come, cast your burden upon the Lord. I see you staggering beneath a weight which He would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him nothing but a small amount of dust. See! The Almighty bends his shoulders, and he says, "Here, put your troubles here."
School of Trouble
Most of the great truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them. No man is competent to judge in matters of the kingdom, until first he has been tried; since there are many things to be learned in the depths which we can never know in the heights. We discover many secrets in the caverns of the ocean, which, though we had soared to heaven, we never could have known. He shall best meet the needs of God’s people as a preacher who has had those needs himself; he shall best comfort God’s Israel who has needed comfort; and he shall best preach salvation who has felt his own need of it.
Meeting with the Lord
If I desired to put myself into the most likely place for the Lord to meet with me, I would prefer the house of prayer, for it is in preaching, that the Word is most blessed; but still I think I should equally desire the reading of the Scriptures; for I might pause over every verse, and say, "Such a verse was blessed to so many souls; then, why not to me? I am at least in the pool of Bethesda; I am walking among its porches, and who can tell but that the angel will stir the pool of the Word, while I lie helplessly by the side of it, waiting for the blessing?"
Obedience that Will Not Save
Oh! It is not some heretic flush upon the cheek of consumptive irresolution that God counts to be the health of obedience. It is not some slight obedience for an hour that God will accept at the Day of Judgment. He said "continued;" and unless from my early childhood to the day when my gray hairs descend into the tomb, I shall have continued to be obedient to God, I must be condemned. Unless I have from the first dawn of reason, when I first began to be responsible, obediently served God, until, like a shock of corn, I am gathered into my Master’s barn, salvation by works must be impossible to me, and I must (standing on my own footing), be condemned. It is not, I say, some slight obedience that will save the soul. You have not continued "in all things which are written in the book of the law," and therefore, you are condemned.