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SUBJECT: 23 - ACT 20:26-27 The Minister's Farewell
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The Minister's Farewell
December 11th, 1858
by
C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)
"Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood
of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of
God."-- Act_20:26-27.
When Paul was parting from his Ephesian friends, who had come to bid him
farewell at Miletus, he did not request of them a commendation of his
ability; he did not request of them a recommendation for his fervid
eloquence, his profound learning, his comprehensive thought, or his
penetrating judgment. He knew right well that he might have credit for all
these, and yet be found a castaway at last. He required a witness which
would be valid in the court of heaven, and of value in a dying hour. His one
most solemn adjuration is: "I take you to record this day, that I am pure
from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the
counsel of God." In the apostle this utterance was no egotism; it was a fact
that he had, without courting the smiles or fearing the frowns of any,
preached the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as it had been
taught to him by the Holy Spirit, and as he had received it in his own heart.
O that all ministers of Christ could honestly challenge the like witness!
Now, this morning I propose, by the help of God's Spirit, to do two things.
The first will be to say a little upon the apostle's solemn declaration at
parting; and then, afterwards, in a few solemn words, to take my own
personal farewell.
1. In the first place, THE APOSTLE'S WORD AT PARTING: "I call you to
record I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." The
first thing that strikes us is the declaration of the apostle concerning the
doctrines he had preached. He had preached ALL the counsel of God. By
which I think we are to understand that he had given to his people the entire
gospel. He had not dwelt upon some one doctrine of it, to the exclusion of
the rest; but it had been his honest endeavour to bring out every truth
according to the analogy of faith. He had not magnified one doctrine into a
mountain, and then diminished another into a molehill; but he had
endeavoured to present all blended together, like the colours in the rainbow,
as one harmonious and glorious whole. Of course, he did not claim for
himself any infallibility as a man, although as an inspired man he was
without error in his writings. He had, doubtless, sins to confess in private,
and faults to bemoan God. He had, doubtless, sometimes failed to put a
truth as clearly as he could have wished, when preaching the Word; he had
not always been earnest as he could desire; but at least he could claim this,
that he had not wilfully kept back a single part of the truth as it is in
Jesus.
Now, I must bring down the apostle's saying to these modern times; and I
take it, if any one of us would clear our conscience by delivering the whole
counsel of God, we must take care that we preach in the first place the
doctrines of the gospel. We ought to declare the grand doctrine of the
Father's love towards his people from before all worlds. His sovereign
choice of them, his covenant purposes concerning them, and his immutable
promises to them, must all be uttered with trumpet tongue. Coupled with
this the true evangelist must never fail to set forth the beauties of the
person of Christ, the glory of his offices, the completeness of his work, and
above all, the efficacy of his blood. Whatever we omit, this must be in the
most forcible manner proclaimed again and again. That is no gospel which has
not Christ in it, and the modern idea of preaching THE TRUTH instead of
Christ, is a wicked device of Satan. Nor is this all, for as there are Three
Persons in the Godhead, we must be careful that they all have due honour in
our ministry. The Holy Spirit's work in regeneration, in sanctification and in
perseverance, must be always magnified from our pulpit. Without his power
our ministry is a dead letter, and we cannot expect his arm to be made bare
unless we honour him day-by-day.
Upon all these matters we are agreed, and I therefore turn to points upon
which there is more dispute, and consequently more need of honest avowal,
because more temptation to concealment. To proceed then:--I question
whether we have preached the whole counsel of God, unless predestination
with all its solemnity and sureness be continually declared--unless election
be boldly and nakedly taught as being one of the truths revealed of God. It
is the minister's duty, beginning from this fountain head, to trace all the
other streams; dwelling on effectual calling, maintaining justification by
faith, insisting upon the certain perseverance of the believer, and delighting
to proclaim that gracious covenant in which all these things are contained,
and which is sure to all the chosen, blood-bought seed. There is a tendency
in this age to throw doctrinal truth into the shade. Too many preachers are
offended with that stern truth which the Covenanters held, and to which the
Puritans testified in the midst of a licentious age. We are told that the
times have changed: that we are to modify these old (so-called) Calvinistic
doctrines, and bring them down to the tone of the times; that, in fact, they
need dilution, that men have become so intelligent that we must pare off the
angles of our religion, and make the square into a circle by rounding off the
most prominent edges. Any man who doth this, so far as my judgment goes,
does not declare the whole counsel of God. The faithful minister must be
plain, simple, pointed, with regard to these doctrines. There must be no
dispute about whether he believes them or not. He must so preach them that
his hearers will know whether he preaches a scheme of freewill, or a
covenant of grace--whether he teaches salvation by works, or salvation by
the power and grace of God.
But beloved, a man might preach all these doctrines to the full, and yet not
declare the whole counsel of God. For here comes the labour and the battle;
here it is that he who is faithful in these modern days will have to bare the
full brunt of war. It is not enough to preach doctrine; we must preach duty,
we must faithfully and firmly insist upon practice. So long as you will
preach nothing but bare doctrine, there is a certain class of men of perverted
intellect who will admire you, but once begin to preach responsibility--say
outright, once for all, that if the sinner perish it is his own fault, that if
any man sinks to hell, his damnation will lie at his own door, and at once
there is a cry of "Inconsistency! How can these two things stand together?"
Even good Christian men are found who cannot endure the whole truth, and who
will oppose the servant of the Lord who will not be content with a fragment,
but will honestly present the whole gospel of Christ. This is one of the
troubles that the faithful minister has to endure. But he is not faithful to
God--I say it solemnly, I do not believe that any man is even faithful to his
own conscience, who can preach simply the doctrine of responsibility. I do
assuredly believe that every man who sinks into hell shall have himself
alone to curse for it. It shall be said of them as they pass the fiery portal:
"Ye would not." "Ye would have none of my rebukes. Ye were bidden to
the supper and ye would not come. I called, and ye refused; I stretched out
my hands, and no man regarded. And now, behold, I will mock at your
calamities. I will laugh when your fear cometh." The apostle Paul knew how
to dare public opinion, and on one hand to preach the duty of man, and on
the other the sovereignty of God. I would borrow the wings of an eagle and
fly to the utmost height of high doctrine when I am preaching divine
sovereignty. God hath absolute and unlimited power over men to do with
them as he pleases, even as the potter doeth with the clay. Let not the
creature question the Creator, for he giveth no account of his matters. But
when I preach concerning man, and look at the other aspect of truth, I dive
to the utmost depth. I am, if you will so call me, a low-doctrine man in that,
for as an honest messenger of Christ I must use his own language, and cry:
"He that believeth not is condemned already, because he believeth not on
the Son of God." I do not see that the whole counsel of God is declared,
unless those two apparently contradictory points are brought out and plainly
taught. To preach the whole counsel of God it is necessary to declare the
promise in all its freeness, sureness and richness. When the promise makes
the subject of the text the minister should never be afraid of it. If it is an
unconditional promise, he should make its unconditionality one of the most
prominent features of his discourse; he should go the whole way with
whatever God has promised to his people. Should the command be the
subject, the minister must not flinch; he must utter the precept as fully and
confidently as he would the promise. He must exhort, rebuke, command
with all long-suffering. He must ever maintain the fact that the perceptive
part of the gospel is as valuable--nay, as invaluable--as the promissory part.
He must stand to it, that "By their fruits ye shall know them;" that "Unless
the tree bring forth good fruit it is hewn down and cast into the fire." Holy
living must be preached, as well as happy living. Holiness of life must be
constantly insisted on, as well as that simple faith which depends for all on
Christ. To declare the whole counsel of God--to gather up ten thousand
things into one--I think it is needful that when a minister gets his text, he
should say what that text means honestly and uprightly. Too many
preachers get a text and kill it. They wring its neck, then stuff it with some
empty notions and present it upon the table for an unthinking people to feed
upon. That man does not preach the whole counsel of God who does not let
God's Word speak for itself in its own pure, simple language. If he finds one
day a text like this: "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy," the faithful minister will go all the lengths
of that text. And if on the morrow the Spirit of God lays home to his
conscience this: "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life," or this
other: "Whosoever will, let him come," he will be just as honest with his
text on that side as he was on the other. He will not shirk the truth. He will
dare to look at it straight in the face himself and then he will bring it up
into the pulpit, and there say to it: "O Word, speak for thyself, and be thou
heard alone. Suffer me not, O Lord, to pervert or ministerpret thine own
heaven-sent truth." Simple honesty to the pure Word of God is I think
requisite to the man who would not shun to declare the whole counsel of God.
Moreover, this is not all, If a man would declare the whole counsel of God,
and not shun to do so, he must be very particular upon the crying sins of the
times. The honest minister does not condemn sin in the mass; he singles out
separate sins in his hearers, and without drawing the bow at a venture he
puts an arrow on the string and the Holy Spirit sends it right home to the
individuals conscience. He who is true to his God does not look to his
congregation as a great mass, but as separate individuals, and he endeavours
to adapt his discourse to men's conscience, so that they will perceive he
speaks of them. It is said of Rowland Hill, that he was so personal a
preacher, that if a man were far away sitting in a window, or in some secret
corner, he would nevertheless feel--"That man is speaking to me." And the
true preacher who declares the whole counsel of God, so speaks, that his
hearers feel that there is something for them; a reproof for their sins, an
exhortation which they ought to obey, a something which comes pointedly,
pertinently and personally home. Nor do I think any man has declared the
whole counsel of God, who does not do this. If there be a vice that you
should shun, if there be an error that you should avoid, if there be a duty
that you ought to fulfil, if all these things be not mentioned in the
discourses from the pulpit, the minister has shunned to declare the whole
counsel of God. If there be one sin that is rife in the neighbourhood, and
especially in the congregation, should the minister avoid that particular vice
in order to avoid offending you, he has been untrue to his calling, dishonest
to his God.
I do not know how I can describe the man who declares the whole counsel
of God better than by referring you to the epistles of St. Paul. There you
have the doctrine and the precept, experience and practice. He tells of
corruption within and temptation without. The whole divine life is
portrayed, and the needed directions given. There you have the solemn
rebuke, and the gentle comfort. There you have the words that "drop as the
rain, and distil as the dew," and there you have the sentences that roll like
thunders, and flash like lightning. There you see him at one time with his
crook in his hand, gently leading his sheep into the pastures; and, anon, you
see him with his sword drawn , doing valiant battle against the enemies of
Israel. He who would be faithful, and preach the whole counsel of God,
must imitate the apostle Paul, and preach as he wrote.
The question, however, is suggested, is there any temptation which arises to
the man who endeavours to do this? Is there anything which would tempt
him from the straight path and induce him not to preach the whole counsel
of God? Ah, my brother, little do you understand the minister's position, if
you have not sometimes trembled for him. Espouse but one phase of the
truth, and you shall be cried up to the very heavens. Become such a
Calvinist that you shut your eyes to one half the Bible, and cannot see the
responsibility of the sinner, and men will clap their hands, and cry
Hallelujah! and on the backs of many you shall be hoisted to a throne, and
become a very prince in their Israel. On the other hand, begin to preach
mere morality, practice without doctrine, and you shall be elevated on other
men's shoulders; you shall, if I may use such a figure, ride upon these asses
into Jerusalem; and you shall hear them cry, Hosanna! and see them wave
their palm branches before you. But once preach the whole counsel of God,
and you shall have both parties down upon you; one crying, "The man is too
high," the other saying, "No, he is too low;" the one will say, "He's a rank
Arminian," the other, "He's a vile hyper- Calvinist." Now, a man does not
like to stand between two fires. There is an inclination to please one or
other of the two parties, and so, if not to increase one's adherents, at least
to get a more ferociously attached people. Ay, but if we once begin to think
of that, if we suffer the cry of either party on either hand to lead us from
that narrow path--the path of right and truth and rectitude, it is all over
with us then. How many ministers feel the influence of persons of wealth. The
minister in his pulpit, perhaps, is inclined to think of the squire in his
green pew. Or else he thinks: "What will deacon so-and-so say?" or, "What will
the other deacon say, who thinks the very reverse?" or, "What will Mr. A, the
editor of such a newspaper, write next Monday?" or, "What will Mrs. B. say
next time I meet her?" Yes, all these things cast their little weight into the
scale; and they have a tendency, if a man be not kept right by God the Holy
Spirit, to make him diverge a little from that narrow path, in which alone he
can stand if he would declare the whole counsel of God. Ah, friends, there are
honours to be had by the man who will espouse the opinion of a clique; but
while there are honours, there are far more dishonours to be gained by him
who will stand firm to the unstained banner of truth, singly and alone, and
do battle against mischief of every shape, as well in the church as in the
world. Therefore, it was no mean testimony that the apostle asked for
himself, that he had not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God.
But, then, let me remark further, while there is this temptation not to
declare all the counsel of God, the true minister of Christ feels impelled to
preach the whole truth, because it and it alone can meet the wants of man.
What evils has this world seen through a distorted, mangled, man-moulded
gospel. What mischiefs have been done to the souls of men by men who
have preached only one part and not all the counsel of God. My heart bleeds
for many a family where Antinomian doctrine has gained the sway. I could
tell many a sad story of families dead in sin, whose consciences are seared
as with a hot iron, by the fatal preaching to which they listen. I have known
convictions stifled and desires quenched by the soul-destroying system
which takes manhood from man and makes him no more responsible than
an ox. I cannot imagine a more ready instrument in the hands of Satan for
the ruin of souls than a minister who tells sinners that it is not their duty
to repent of their sins or to believe in Christ, and who has the arrogance to
call himself a gospel minister, while he teaches that God hates some men
infinitely and unchangeably for no reason whatever but simply because he
chooses to do so. O my brethren! may the Lord save you from the voice of
the charmer, and keep you ever deaf to the voice of error.
Even in Christian families, what evil will a distorted gospel produce! I have
seen the young believer, just saved from sin, happy in his early Christian
career, and walking humbly with his God. But evil has crept in, disguised in
the mantle of truth. The finger of partial blindness was laid upon their eyes,
and but one doctrine could be seen. Sovereigntywas seen, but not
responsibility. The minister once beloved was hated; he who had been
honest to preach God's Word, was accounted as the off-scouring of all
things. And what became the effect? The very reverse of goood and
gracious. Bigotry usurped the place of love; bitterness lived where once
there had been a loveliness of character. I could point you to innumerable
instances where harping upon any one peculiar doctrine has driven men to
excess of bigotry and bitterness. And when a man has once come there, he is
ready enough for sin of any kind to which the devil may please to tempt
him. There is a necessity that the whole gospel should be preached, or else
the spirits, even of Christians, will become marred and maimed. I have
known men diligent for Christ, labouring to win souls with both hands; and
on a sudden they have espoused one particular doctrine and not the whole
truth, and they have subsided into lethargy. On the other hand, where men
have only taken the practical side of truth, and left out the doctrinal, too
many professors have run over into legality; have talked as if they were to
be saved by works, and have almost forgotten that grace by which they were
called. They are like the Galatians; they have been bewitched by what they
have heard. The believer in Christ, if he is to be kept pure, simple, holy,
charitable, Christ-like, is only to be kept so by a preaching of the whole
truth as it is in Jesus. And as for the salvation of sinners, ah, my hearers,
we can never expect God to bless our ministry for the conversion of sinners
unless we preach the gospel as a whole. Let me get but one part of the truth,
and always dwell upon it, to the exclusion of every other, and I cannot
expect my Master's blessing. If I preach as he would have me preach, he
will certainly own the word; he will never leave it without his own living
witness. But let me imagine that I can improve the gospel, that I can make it
consistant, that I can dress it up and make it look finer, I shall find that
my Master is departed, and that Ichabod is written on the walls of the
sanctuary. How many there are kept in bondage through neglect of gospel
invitations. They are longing to be saved. They go up to the house of God,
crying to be saved; and there is nothing but predestination for them. On the
other hand, what multitudes are kept in darkness through practical preaching.
It is do! do! do! and nothing but do! and the poor souls come away and say:
"Of what use is that to me? I can do nothing. Oh, that I had a way shown to me
available for salvation." Of the apostle Paul we think it may be truly said,
that no sinner missed a comfort from his keeping back Christ's cross; that no
saint was bewildered in spirit from his denying the bread of heaven and
withholding precious truth; that no practical Christian became so practical
as to become legal, and no doctrinal Christian became so doctrinal as to
become unpractical. His preaching was of so savoury and consistent a kind,
that they who heard him, being blessed of the Spirit, became Christians
indeed, both in life and spirit, reflecting the image of their Master.
I feel I cannot dwell very long upon this text. I have been so extremely
unwell for the last two days, that the thoughts which I hoped to present to
you in better form, have only come tumbling out of my mouth in far from
an orderly manner.
II. I must now turn away from the apostle Paul to address you A VERY FEW
EARNEST, SINCERE AND AFFECTIONATE WORDS BY WAY OF FAREWELL. "Wherefore I take
you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." I wish not to say
anything in self-commendation and praise; I will not be my own witness as to
my faithfulness; but I appeal unto you, I take you to witness this day, that I
have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Often have I come
into this pulpit in great weakness, and I have far more often gone away in
great sorrow, because I have not preached to you as earnestly as I desired. I
confess to many errors and failings, and more especially to a want of
earnestness when engaged in prayer for your souls. But there is one charge
which my conscience acquits me of this morning, and I think you will acquit me
too, for I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. If in
anything I have erred, it has been an error of judgment; I may have been
mistaken, but so far as I have learned the truth, I can say that no fear of
public opinion, nor of private opinion, has ever turned me aside from that
which I hold to be the truth of my Lord and Master. I have preached to you the
precious things of the gospel. I have endeavoured to the utmost of my ability
to preach grace in all its fulness. I know the preciousness of that doctrine
in my own experience; God forbid that I should preach any other. If we are not
saved by grace, we can never be saved at all. If from first to last the work
of salvation be not in God's hands, none of us can ever see God's face with
acceptance. I preach this doctrine, not from choice, but from absolute
necessity, for if this doctrine be not true, then are we lost souls; your
faith is vain, our preaching is vain, and we are still in our sins, and there
we must continue until the end. But, on the other hand, I can say also, I have
not shunned to exhort, to invite, to entreat. I have bidden the sinner come to
Christ. I have been urged not to do so, but I could not resist it. With bowels
yearning over perishing sinners, I could not conclude without crying: "Come to
Jesus, sinner, come." With eyes weeping for sinners, I am compelled to bid
them come to Jesus. It is not possible for me to dwell upon doctrine without
invitation. If you come not to Christ it is not for want of calling, or
because I have not wept over your sins, and travailed in birth for the souls
of men. The one thing I have to ask of you is this:--bear me witness, my
hearers, bear me witness, that in this respect I am pure from the blood of all
men, for I have preached all that I know of the whole counsel of God. Have I
known a single sin which I have not rebuked? Has there been a doctrine that I
have believed which I have kept back? Has there been a part of the Word,
doctrinal or experimental, which I have wilfully concealed? I am very far from
perfect, again with weeping I confess my unworthiness; I have not served God
as I ought to do; I have not been so earnest with you as I could desire. Now
that my three years' ministry here is over, I could have wished that I might
begin again, that I might fall on my knees before you and beseech you to
regard the things that make for your peace. But here, again, I do repeat it,
that while as to earnestness I plead guilty, yet as to truth and honesty I can
challenge the bar of God, I can challenge the elect angels, I can call you all
to witness, that I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God.
It is easy enough, if one wills to do it, to avoid preaching an objectionable
doctrine, by simply passing over the texts which teach it. If an unpleasant
truth thrusts itself on you, it is not hard to put it aside, imagining that it
would disturb your previous teaching. Such concealment may, for a while
succeed, and possibly your people will not find it out for years. But if I
have studied after anything, I have sought always to bring out that truth
which I have neglected beforehand; and if there has been any one truth that I
have kept back hitherto, it shall be my earnest prayer that from this day
forth it may be made more prominent, that so it may be the better understood
and seen. Well, I simply ask you this question, and if I indulge in some
little egotism, if on this parting day "I am become a fool in glorying;" it is
not for the sake of glorying, it is with a better motive--my hearer, I put
this question to you. There may come sad disasters to many of you. In a little
time some of you may be frequenting places where the gospel is not preached.
You may embrace another and a false gospel. I only ask this thing of you: Bear
me witness that it was not my fault,--that I have been faithful and have not
shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. In a little time some
here who have been restrained by the fact of having attended a place of
worship, seeing the chosen minister has gone, may not go anywhere else
afterwards. You may become careless. Perhaps next Sabbath day you may
be sitting at home, lolling about and wasting the day. But there is one thing
I should like to say before you make up your mind not to attend the house of
God again:--Bear me witness that I have been faithful with you. It may be
that some here who have professedly run well for a time while they have
been hearing the Word, may go back; some of you may go right into the
world again; you may become drunkards, swearers and the like. God forbid
that it be so! But I charge you, if you plunge into sin, do at least say this
one thing for him who desires nothing so much as to see you saved--say, I have
been honest with you; that I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel
of God. Oh, my hearers, some of you in a little time will be on your dying-
beds. When your pulse is feeble, when the terrors of grim death are round
about you, if you are still unconverted to Christ, there is one thing I shall
want you to add to your last will and testament; it is this--the exclusion of
the poor minister who stands before you this day from any share in that
desperate folly of yours which has led you to neglect your own soul. Oh,
have I not cried to you to repent? Have I not bidden you look to it ere death
surprised you? Have I not exhorted you, my hearers, to flee for a refuge to
the hope set before you? Oh, sinner, when thou art wading through the black
river, cast back no taunt on me as though I was thy murderer, for in this
thing I can say: "I wash my hands in innocency; I am clear of your blood."
But the day is coming when we shall all meet again. This great assembly
shall be submerged into a greater, as the drop loses itself in the ocean. And
I shall stand on that day to take my trial at God's bar. If I have not warned
you, I have been an unfaithful watchman, and your blood will be required at
my hands; if I have not preached Christ to you, and bidden you flee for
refuge, then, though you perish, yet shall your soul be required of me. I
beseech you, if you laugh at me, if you reject my message, if you despise
Christ, if you hate his gospel, if you will be damned, yet at least give me an
acquittal of your blood. I see some before me who do not often hear me; and
yet I can say concerning them, they have been the subject of my private
prayers; and often, too, of my tears, when I see them going on in their
iniquities. Well, I do ask this one thing, and as honest men you cannot deny
it me. If you will have your sins, if you will be lost, if you will not come
to Christ, at least, amid the thunders of the great day, when I stand for
trial at God's bar, acquit me of having destroyed your souls.
What can I say more? How shall I plead with you? Had I an angel's tongue,
and the heart of the Saviour, then would I plead; but I cannot say more than
I have often done. In God's name I beseech you flee to Christ for refuge. If
all hath not sufficed before, let this suffice thee now. Come, guilty soul,
and flee away to him whose wide open arms are willing to receive every soul
that fleeth to him with penitence and faith. In a little time the preacher
himself will lie stretched upon his bed. A few more days of solemn meeting,
a few more sermons, a few more prayers, and I think I see myself in yon
upper chamber, with friends watching around me. He who has preached to
thousands now needs consolation for himself. He who has cheered many in
the article of death is now passing through the river himself. My hearers,
shall there be any of you whom I shall see upon my death bed who shall
curse me with being unfaithful? Shall these eyes be haunted with the visions
of men whom I have amused, and interested, but into whose hearts I have
never sought to plunge the truth? Shall I lie there, and shall these mighty
congregations pass in dreary panorama before me, and as they subside
before my eyes, one after the other, shall each one curse me as being
unfaithful? God forbid. I trust you will do me this favour: that when I lie a-
dying you will allow that I am clear of the blood of all men, and have not
shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. I see myself standing at the
last great day a prisoner at the bar. What if this shall be read against me:--
"Thou hast had many to listen to thee; thousands have crowded to hear the
words which fell from my lips; but thou hast misled, thou hast deceived,
thou hast wilfully mistaught this people." Thunders such as have been never
heard before must roll over this poor head, and lightnings more terrific than
have ever scathed the fiend shall blast this heart, if I have been unfaithful
to you. My position--if I had but one preached the Word to these crowds, not
to speak of many thousands of times--my position were the most awful in
the whole universe if I were unfaithful. Oh may God avert that worst of ills-
-unfaithfulness--from my head. Now, as here I stand, I make this my last
appeal: "I pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God." But if ye will
not be, I ask you this single favour--and I think you will not deny it me--
take the blame of your own ruin, for I am pure from the blood of all men,
since I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
This much by way of calling you to witness. Now, I come to put up a
request. I have a favour to ask of all here present. If in aught you have been
profited, if in anything you have ever had comfort, if you have found Christ
in any way during the preaching of the gospel here, I beg you, even though
you should not listen to my words again, I beg you to carry me up in your
heart before the throne of God in prayer. It is by the prayers of our people
that we live. God's ministers owe more to the prayers of their people than
they ever know. I love my people for their prayerfulness for me. Never
minister was so much prayer for as I have been. But will those of you who
will be compelled to separate from us by reason of distance, and the like,
will you still carry me in your thoughts before God, and let my name be
ungraven on your bosoms as often as you present yourselves before the
mercy seat. It is a little thing I ask. It is simply that you say: "Lord, help
thy servant to win souls to Christ." Ask that he may be made more useful than
he has ever been; that if he is in aught mistaken he may be set right. If he
has not comforted you, ask that he may do so in the future; but if he has
been honest with you, then pray that your Master may have him in his holy
keeping. And while I ask you to put up this request for me, it is for all
those that preach the truth in Jesus. Brethren, pray for us. We would labour
for you as those that must give account. Ah, it is no little thing to be a
minister if we are true to our calling. As Baxter once said, when someone told
him the ministry was easy work: "Sir, I wish you would take my place, if you
think so, and try it." If to agonize with God in prayer, if to wrestle for the
souls of men, if to be abused and not to reply, if to suffer all manner of
rebukes and slanders, if this be rest, take it, sir, for I shall be glad to
get rid of it. I do ask that you would pray for all ministers of Christ, that
they may be helped and upheld, maintained and supported, that their strength
may be equal to their day.
And, then, having put up this request for myself, and therefore a selfish one,
I have an entreaty to put up for others. My hearers, I cannot shut my eyes to
the fact, that there are still many of you who have long listened to the Word
here, but who have still not given your hearts to Christ. I am glad to see you
here, even though it should be for the last time. If you should never tread
the hallowed courts of God's house again, never hear his Word, never listen
to hearty invitation or honest warning, I have one entreaty to put up for you.
Mark, not a request, but an entreaty; and such a one, that if I were begging
for my life I could not be more honest and intensely earnest about it. Poor
sinner, stop awhile, and think. If thou hast heard the gospel and been
profited by it, what wilt thou think of all thy lost opportunities when thou
art on thy dying bed? What wilt thou think when thou art cast into hell,
when this thought shall come ringing in thy ears: "Thou didst hear the
gospel, but thou didst reject it;" when the devils in hell shall laugh in thy
face, and say: "We never rejected Christ, we never despised the Word," and
they shall thrust thee into a deeper hell than ever they themselves
experienced. I entreat thee, stop, and think of this. Are the joys that thou
hast in this world worth living for? Is not this world a dull and dreary
place? Man, turn over a fresh leaf. I tell thee, there is no joy for thee
here, and there is none hereafter whilst thou art what thou art. Oh, may God
teach thee that the mischief lies in thy sin. Thou hast unforgiven sin about
thee. As long as thy sin is unforgiven, thou canst neither be happy here, nor
in the world to come. My entreaty is, go to thy chamber; if thou knowest thy
self to be guilty, make a full confession there before God; ask him to have
mercy upon thee, for Jesus' sake. And he will not deny thee. Man, he will not
dent thee; he will answer thee; he will put all thy sins away; he will accept
thee; he will make thee his child. And as thou shalt be more happy here, so
shalt thou be blessed in the world to come. Oh, Christian men and women, I
entreat you, implore the Spirit of God to lead many in this crowd to full
confession, to real prayer, and humble faith; and if they have never repented
before, may they now turn to Christ. Oh, sinner, thy life is short, and death
is hastening. Thy sins are many, and if judgment has leaden feet, yet has it a
sure and heavy hand. Turn, turn, turn, I beseech thee. May the Holy Spirit
turn thee. Lo, Jesus is lifted up before thee now. By his five wounds, I
beseech thee, turn. Look thou to him and live. Believe on him and thou shalt
be saved, for whosoever believeth on the Son of Man hath everlasting life,
and he shall never perish, neither shall the wrath of God rest upon him.
May the Spirit of God now command his own abiding blessing, even life for
evermore, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
****************************************************************************
At the commencement of the Service, Mr. SPURGEON said:--"The service of this
morning will partake very much of the character of a farewell discourse and a
farewell meeting. However sorrowful it is to me to part with many of you,
whose faces I have so long seen in the throng of my hearers, yet for Christ's
sake, for the sake of consistency and truth, we are compelled to withdraw from
this place, and on next Sabbath morning hope to worship God in Exeter Hall. On
two occasions before, as our friends are aware, it was proposed to open this
place in the evening, and I was then able to prevent it by the simple
declaration, that if so I should withdraw. That declaration suffices not at
this time; and you can therefore perceive that I should be a craven to the
truth, that I should be inconsistent with my own declarations, that in fact,
my name would cease to be SPURGEON, if I yielded. I neither can nor will give
way in anything in which I know I am right; and in the defence of God's holy
Sabbath, the cry of this day is, 'Arise, let us go hence!'"
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