NO. 2271<\/b><\/p>\n
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S-DAY, AUGUST 28TH, 1892,<\/b><\/p>\n
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON,<\/b><\/p>\n
ON LORD\u2019S-DAY EVENING, MARCH 2ND, 1900.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.\u201d-John 16:31, 32.<\/i><\/p>\n
OUR Lord looks for faith as the result of his teaching; and I think that I hear him say, at the end of every Service, \u201cDo ye now believe? You have listened; you have made remarks upon the speaker; do ye now believe? You have been made to feel, you have brushed the tear away; but do ye now believe? For anything short of believing leaves you short of salvation.\u201d I would like to put the question of my text to every hearer in this great house to-night. You have listened now to years of sermons; \u201cDo ye now believe?\u201d You are getting grey now, the gospel is very familiar to your ear; you have heard it preached for many, many years; but \u201cdo ye now believe?\u201d This is the crucial point. According to your answer, truthfully given to this question, you may decide as to your condition before God, \u201cDo ye now believe?\u201d<\/p>\n
Christ loves faith wherever he sees it; it is to him a precious thing. To you that believe, he is precious, he is an honor; and upon him you who believe confer all the honor it is possible for you to confer. Your trust adorns him with jewels, your confidence in him puts the crown on his head. But our Lord is very discriminating; he distinguishes between faith and presumption, and between faith and our idea of faith. These disciples said now that they were sure: \u201cNow are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee.\u201d \u201cYes! Yes!\u201d the Savior seemed to say, \u201cThat is your measure of your own faith; but I do not measure it in the same way that you do.\u201d If there be any here who say, \u201cAs to the matter of faith, I need no caution, I scarcely need admonition, I believe, oh! you cannot tell how firmly.\u201d No, my dear friend, and perhaps you cannot tell how weakly you believe. At any rate, do not mistake your belief in your own faith for faith in Christ; for belief in your own faith may be only self-conceit; but faith in Christ gives glory to God, and brings salvation to the believer.<\/p>\n
To take the disciples down a notch, the Savior reminds them that, whatever faith they had, they were a long while coming to it. \u201cDo ye now believe? Three years have I been teaching you; three years have I wrought miracles in your midst; three years have you seen me, and you might in me have seen the Father, but after all this time have you at last come to a little faith?\u201d Oh! friends, we have never any reason to boast of our faith; for we have been very long coming to it. We do trust Christ now; I hope that many of us can sincerely say that we lean all our weight on him. We believe in God, we believe also in his Son, Jesus Christ; but it took months to drive us out of our self-confidence; it took years to lift us out of despair; it has taken all this time for the Lord, in the power of his own Spirit, to work out what little faith we have.<\/p>\n
Then our Lord reminded them of another thing more humbling still, that as their faith was long in coming, it might be very quick in going. \u201cDo ye now believe?\u201d saith he, \u201cBehold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone.\u201d O beloved, a little trouble arises, an unforeseen difficulty occurs, and where is your faith? A little persecution, the idle banter of an unbeliever, the sarcasm of an agnostic, and where is your faith? Is it not so with many, that while in good company, they can almost brag of their faith; but if the company is changed, they certainly have no faith to brag of? The men who were so glib of tongue are quiet now; and though, before, they wore their helmets bedight with plumes, they would hide them away, and hide their heads, too, if they could. They are ashamed of him, now, in whom, once, they gloried. O friends, let him that glorieth, glory only in the Lord. Let the believer never vaunt his believing, lest he be reminded how long he was in coming to it, and how soon he may be parted from it.<\/p>\n
Our Lord\u2019s disciples did not very readily take this caution. I do not suppose any of them took it; certainly Peter did not, and the rest of them were very much like him. When Peter said to Jesus, \u201cThough all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended;\u201d and \u201cThough I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee;\u201d we read, \u201cLikewise also said all the disciples.\u201d We may say to-night, \u201cThere is no man among us who will ever be a traitor to Christ; there is no woman here who will ever grow cold of heart.\u2019\u2019 That is our self-flattery. What others have done, however base and mean, we too are capable of doing. If we think we are not, it is our pride, and our pride alone that makes us think so. Our Savior, therefore, to call the particular attention of his disciples to their danger, said, not merely \u201cthe hour cometh,\u201d but, \u201cBehold, the hour cometh.\u201d He puts in a \u201cBehold!\u201d an \u201cEcce!\u201d As the old writers used to put a hand in the margin, or an N.B., nota bene, to call attention to something special, so the Savior puts here a \u201cBehold!\u201d \u201cLook here!\u201d \u201cSee this.\u201d You who have just put on your armor think that you have won the victory. \u201cBehold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pray you, therefore, brethren, and I speak to myself as well as to you, let us learn the lesson of our frailty; and though we are honestly trusting in Christ to-night, let each one cry, \u201cHold thou me up, and I shall be safe.\u201d Let the prayer go up from all of you who are in these galleries, and from all who are sitting downstairs in those pews, from the most experienced and best established of you, as well as from those who have but recently been brought to know the Lord, and let each one cry, \u201cLord, keep me, for I cannot keep myself!\u201d Alas! alas! we have seen even the standard-bearers fall; and when that is the case, how sadly do the common soldiers mourn! They who stood like rocks have been made to totter. God keep us! Christ of God, keep us by thy eternal Spirit! Amen.<\/p>\n
Now I am going to take you away from that prefatory consideration, keeping still, however, much in the same vein. Let us learn to-night from our Lord, first, his trial: \u201cYe shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone;\u201d secondly, his confidence: \u201cAnd yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me;\u201d and then, thirdly, his example: for in all this, we are to follow his steps. May we, if we have our Lord\u2019s trial, also have his confidence because we imitate his example!<\/p>\n
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I. <\/b>First, then, notice Our Lord\u2019s Trial, for the like of it may happen to you.<\/p>\n
He was left alone. Why, these eleven apostles that are round him, and to whom he is talking, surely they will not leave their Lord! They are so sure that they will stand any fire that may be directed against them; and yet not one of them will stand firm. They will all forsake him and flee. In the garden, the three who are his bodyguard will fall asleep, and the rest of the disciples will do the same; and when he stands before Pilate and Herod, none of them will be there to defend him; not a solitary voice will be lifted up for him.<\/p>\n
The sure ones left him whom they so certainly believed; and they were honest men, too, when they spoke so confidently. There was no hypocrisy about what they said, they meant it all; they did each one verily believe that he could go to prison and to death, and that he would do so rather than deny his Lord. In their own esteem, they were not boasting; they were only saying what they really intended to do. Here is the bitterness of your trial, when, in your hour of need, your good, honest friends are gone, your real friends fainting and weary. They cannot go your pace; they cannot confront the storm that you are called upon to face, and they are gone. Alas, for our dear Lord, what grief it was to him! They who were so confident, and they who were really true, yet, nevertheless, were scattered, and he was left alone.<\/p>\n
They also really loved Christ. I am sure that Peter\u2019s was not a new love when he said, \u201cThou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.\u201d He did love his Master. Even when he denied his Lord, there was love in his heart towards him. So was it with the other disciples, they all loved their Lord, yet all of them left him, and poor weak things that they were, they turned their backs in the day of battle. It is a grief to our hearts to be forsaken of good friends and loving friends. I do not know; but if you were sure that they had. been hypocrites, you might almost be glad that they were gone; but your very knowledge that they were true at heart, as true as such poor things could be, increases the bitterness that they should leave you. You need not think, when this occurs in your experience that any strange thing has happened to you, for Christ was thus left alone.<\/p>\n
Notice, that he was left by every man. \u201cYe shall be scattered, every man to his own,\u201d \u201cevery man.\u201d When the trial comes, does not John remain? Does not he remember that dear breast on which he leaned, his head? Is John gone? Yes, \u201cevery man.\u201d Christ looked, and there was none to stand by him. He must confront his accusers without a single witness in his favor; every man was gone. Ah, this was a trial, indeed! But one true friend, a Damon or a Pythias, to be faithful to one another even unto death, and the trial is not so overwhelming. But, no; every man is gone to his own, and Christ is left alone; of the people there is none with him, not even one of those who had been his most intimate friends.<\/p>\n
What were they all at? Well, every man was looking to his own safety: \u201cYe shall be scattered, every man to his own.\u201d Is not that the very essence of selfishness and of meanness, \u201cEvery man to his own\u201d? This is all that Christ received from the best of his followers; they left him, and went every man to his own, to his own house, to see to his own security, to screen his own character, to preserve his own life. \u201cEvery man to his own.\u201d Are these thy friends, O Jesus? Lover of men, are these thy lovers? Do you wonder if, sometimes, you find that your friends would take care of you only that they must take care of themselves? They would keep you, but then you cost too much; you are too \u201cdear\u201d a friend! The expense of your friendship has to be looked at, and their income will not bear it. \u201cEvery man to his own.\u201d This also the Savior had to feel.<\/p>\n
And, remember this happened when Christ\u2019s special hour was come. \u201cThe hour cometh,\u201d Christ\u2019s hour, the hour of the power of darkness. It was then that they left him. When he did not need their friendship, they were his very good friends. When they could do nothing for him if they tried, they were his faithful followers. But the pinch has come; now might they watch with him one hour, now might they go with him amid the rabble throng, and interpose at least the vote of the minority against the masses; but they are gone. Like your swallows, they have disappeared or e\u2019er the first frost has covered the brook. Like the green leaves of summer, where are they now in this wintry time? Alas, alas, for friendship, when it fails when most it is needed! And it did fail the Savior then.<\/p>\n
He was left, also, in violation of every bond. These men who left him were pledged to stand by him. They had given him a promise to die with him. These were his choice companions; he had called them from the fishing-smacks of Galilee, and made them his disciples. These were his apostles, the chief men in his new kingdom. They were to sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. These, he had redeemed unto himself; these were to be partakers of his glory in the day of his appearing. Never were men bound to man as they were bound to Christ; and yet they left him alone. Dear friend, do not expect gratitude from your fellow-creatures; it is a very scarce thing in this world. The more you do for men, the less will be their return. I speak not now like one who thinks ill of my fellows; but I know that it is so, alas! in many instances; and if it be not your lot, you may thank God that it is not, and wonder why you are an exception to the rule. If, by-and-by, you shall come down in the world, and need the help of those you helped in days gone by, they will, as a rule, be the last to help you, and the first to tread you down. Certainly, with our Lord Jesus Christ, those who were nearest and who owed him most fled from him, and he derived from them no succor. It was \u201cevery man to his own\u201d; and they left him alone, to be bound and beaten by his unfeeling adversaries, and to be taken away to prison and to death.<\/p>\n
There is the first division of our subject, our Lord\u2019s trial. I say again, that a like trial may happen to some here. It has happened often to bold defenders of the faith, to find themselves left to hold the bridge alone; but it is a sharp, stern trial to the man who is called to endure it.<\/p>\n
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II. <\/b>More cheery talk shall we have on our second head, which is Our Lord\u2019s Confidence. He says, \u201cYe shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Observe, then, that Christ\u2019s confidence was confidence that the Father was with him, and this confidence kept him to his purpose. See, the disciples flee; they are all scattered, every man to his own. Has Christ gone? Not he. John, Peter, James, Thomas, and all the rest are gone; has Christ gone? Not he. There he stands. They have left him alone; but there he is, still standing to his purpose. He has come to save, and he will save. He has come to redeem, and he will redeem. He has come to overcome the world, and he will overcome it. They have left him alone; they have not taken him away with them. He is no coward. From his purpose he doth never fly, blessed be his name! He stood fast in that dread hour when all forsook him and fled. This was because his confidence was in God.<\/p>\n
Next, observe that this confidence in God not only kept him to his purpose, but it sustained him in the prospect of the trial. Notice how it Tuns: \u201cYe shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone.\u201d Christ does not say, \u201cI shall not be alone.\u201d That was true; but he said, \u201cI am not alone.\u201d I love to read the experience of the child of God in the present tense, the gifts, and graces, and promises of God in the present tense: \u201cI am not alone.\u201d \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd,\u201d as well as \u201cI shall not want.\u201d \u201cHe maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.\u201d He is doing everything for me now. The blessed Christ says that the prospect of God\u2019s being with him all through the trouble, and the presence of God with him now, is his comfort in the prospect of it. You who were here this morning know what a sad discourse we had from the text, \u201cMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\u201d I took this text for my evening discourse because it is the counterpart of the one we considered this morning; for our Lord could truly say to his disciples, \u201cAnd yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our Lord\u2019s declaration was contradicted by appearances. Did he not have to say to God: \u201cWhy hast thou forsaken me?\u201d How, then, could he say, \u201cThe Father is with me\u201d? It was true; and in a part of my morning sermon I tried to show that, while God forsook him in his official capacity as the Lawgiver and the Executive of the law, yet in his personal relation to him he did not and could not forsake him. The Father was with him. Oh, is it not blessed on the part of Christ to stand to this? He knows that his Father is with him, even when he feels in another sense that the Father has forsaken him. Beloved, if everybody leaves you, and God seems to leave you, still hold to your confidence in God. Do not believe that God can forsake his own; do not even dream it; it cannot be. He never did forsake his own; he never can; and he never will. The Father is with Jesus Christ, even when he knows that he will have to say, \u201cWhy hast thou forsaken me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet, it was assuredly true that the Father was with Christ when he was left alone. How was the Father with him, then? Beloved, even when the Father did not look on Christ, or give him one smile, or one word of comfort, he was still with him. How so? Well, he was with him as to his eternal purposes and covenant. They had entered into covenant together for the redemption of men, for the salvation of the elect, and they had crossed hands, and pledged each other to carry out the divine purpose and the everlasting covenant. I remember that passage about Abraham going with Isaac to mount Moriah, where Isaac was to be offered up. It is written, \u201cSo they went both of them together.\u201d So did the Eternal Father and his Well-beloved Son when God was about to give up his own Son to death. There was no divided purpose; they went both of them together. All the work of Christ was the work of the Father, and the Father supported him in it to the very full.<\/p>\n
In the design and method of the atonement, the Father and the Son were together. \u201cGod so loved the world that he gave his Only begotten Son;\u201d but Jesus so loved the world that he gave himself. The atonement was the gift of the Father; but it was the work of the Son. In all that he suffered he could say, \u201cThe Father is with me in it. I am doing that which will glorify him, and content him.\u201d He went not alone to prison and to death. In all things he did that which pleased the Father, and the Father was with him in it all.<\/p>\n
All the decrees of God were at the back of Christ. It is written in the sealed book, but who shall read it except the Christ? Whatever is written there is written in support of Christ. There is not a decree in the book of destiny but works out for Christ\u2019s glory, and according to Christ\u2019s mind. It is not merely twelve legions of angels that are behind the cross, but the God of the angels is there, too. It is not merely the forces of Providence that shall work together to achieve the purpose of the Creator, but the God of Providence, the infinite Jehovah, is in league with Jesus; and he can say it, as he goes out to die, \u201cI am not alone: because the Father is with me.\u201d Is not this a glorious truth, that our Lord Christ was not alone? So far as earthly companions were concerned, the words written by Isaiah could be literally uttered by Christ, \u201cI have trodden the winepress alone.\u201d Every man was gone, but God was always with him.<\/p>\n
Since then, it has been made manifest that God was with Christ. He proved it by raising him from the dead. Did not the Father also prove that he was with the Son by sending the Holy Ghost at Pentecost with divers signs and wonders? Jesus is not alone. All the work of the Holy Spirit since, in convincing men of sin, and leading them to Jesus, is a proof that he is not alone. Beloved, all the history of Providence, since the day when Christ was taken up into heaven, proves that he is not alone. Alone? The Christ alone? Why, the beasts of the field are in league with him; the stars in their courses fight for him. Every event of history, give it but time and space, will make his kingdom come. Every turn of yonder enormous wheels of Providence shall make his chariot of triumph come nearer and nearer over the necks of his foes. Even now, by faith, \u201cwe see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, ye saints, the sight is glorious,
See the \u201cMan of Sorrows\u201d now;
From the fight returned victorious,
Every knee to him shall bow:
Crown him, crown him;
Crowns become the Victor\u2019s brow.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Jesus is the focus of all power and wisdom. God is with him; and the day comes when he shall appear in his glory. In his millennial reign among the sons of God it shall be seen that he is not alone; and when he shall come in the glory of the Father, and all his holy angels with him, then shall he be able to say with even greater emphasis, \u201cI am not alone: because the Father is with me.\u201d And when he sits upon the great white throne, and divides mankind, his friends to the right, his foes to the left, and pronounces eternal wrath upon rebels, and opens heaven to believers, then shall all worlds know that the Man of Nazareth is not alone. Alone? I seem as if I must laugh at the very thought. All heaven and earth, things present and things to come, time and eternity, life and death, are all with him. Men may forsake him, but he is not alone.<\/p>\n
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III. <\/b>Now, I want, in the third place, to teach the lessons of Our Lord\u2019s Example. As my time has nearly gone, I must very briefly speak of these lessons.<\/p>\n
First, learn fidelity when others fail. Are you a Christian? Do you trust Christ? Do you love him? Then, never desert him. \u201cOh! but,\u201d says one, \u201cthe current runs the other way now.\u201d Brother, let it run; it will leave off when it has run away. I believe in him who rose again from the dead, whose righteousness doth justify me, whose blood doth wash me whiter than snow. \u201cBut the philosophers tell us that this is not scientific.\u201d I am unscientific, then, and I delight to be unscientific. \u201cOh, but the deep thinkers say this is inconsistent with progress!\u201d Well, let it be inconsistent with progress. \u201cOh, but all the world denies it!\u201d So much the worse for the world. Let it deny the truth if it will. That was a grand spirit of Athanasius when he said, \u201c Athanasius contra mundum\u201d; that is, \u201cAthanasius against the whole world.\u201d And every Christian may be of this spirit, and ought to be of this spirit. Is this Book true? What matters it though every Torn Fool says that it is a lie! Let Tom Fools say that if they will; but it is true, and hold you to it. If God the Holy Ghost has taught you to trust in Christ, trust you in Christ, whatever other people do. What? Do you live on the breath of other men\u2019s nostrils? Do you count heads, and then jump with the larger number? Is that your way? Why, surely such a man as that is hardly worth saving. Is he a man, or is he not a cat that must look before he jumps? Nay, if thou art a man, and thou believest in Christ, stand up for Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cStand up! Stand up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the cross!
Lift high his royal banner;
It must not suffer loss:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
From victory unto victory
His army shall he lead,
Till every foe is vanquish\u2019d,
And Christ is Lord indeed.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cStand up! Stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet-call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict,
In this his glorious day;<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Ye that are men, now serve him,
Against unnumber\u2019d foes;
Your courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
And when the many turn aside, stand you the more boldly and the more confidently, for your confidence and boldness are all the more needed at such a time. Your Lord did not forsake his grand errand when all men forsook him. Do not renounce your lifework and your faith, even though all others should renounce theirs.<\/p>\n
Next, with your Master, believe that God is all-sufficient. Read this: \u201cYe shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because \u201c-what? \u201cBecause there will be half-a-dozen of you faithful\u201d? No. \u201cBecause three of you will cling to me?\u201d No. \u201cBecause the Father is with me.\u201d Oh, we do not count as we should. There is a million against you. Is God for you? Well, then, you are in the majority. What is a million, after all, but one and so many ciphers? Trust thou in God, and let the millions go their way. God is enough. When he that spoke in the academy found everybody leaving him in his speaking except Plato, he still kept on; and one said, \u201cSpeaker, thou hast no audience but Plato.\u201d \u201cNo audience but Plato?\u201d says he; \u201cPlato is enough for fifty orators.\u201d So, truly, if thou hast no other helper but God, stand thou where thou art; for God is not only enough for thee, but for all the faithful, weak as they may be.<\/p>\n
Next, learn another lesson. Rest in God, despite appearances. Art thou very poor? Art thou weak? Art thou slandered? Art thou scourged with God\u2019s heaviest rod? Yet kick not thou at him, any more than thy Lord did. He said, \u201cThe Father is with me,\u201d even though he had to cry, \u201cWhy hast thou forsaken me?\u201d Believe him when thou canst not see him; believe him when he smiles not; believe him when he frowns; believe him when he smites; believe him when he slays, for that is the climax of it all, to say like Job, \u201cThough he slay me, yet will I trust in him.\u201d It is his to do what he likes; it is mine to trust him, let him do as he will. I throw my arms about my God, and say, \u201cMy God, my God,\u201d even when no sensible joys are felt, and I am obliged to walk by faith.<\/p>\n
Lastly, struggling child of God, standing firm for the truth and the right, expect that thy trouble will not last long. Did you notice how Christ puts it, \u201cBehold, the hour cometh\u201d? Only an hour. \u201cBehold, the hour cometh.\u201d It is not a year, brother, it is not a year; it is not a month; it is not a day; it is but an hour. \u201cThe hour cometh.\u201d To Christ it was a long hour certainly, when he hung upon the cross; but he calls the whole period from the bloody sweat to the death of the cross, \u201cthe hour.\u201d It is the part of faith to shorten days to hours. It is your part, to-night, to recollect that, if you have to suffer, and to stand alone for Christ, it is but for an hour. How willingly have we waited when it has been but for an hour! How cheerfully have we gone on in the dark when we have known that it was only for an hour! Our trial is but for an hour. Literally, before another hour strikes, some of us may be with God; but whether it is so with us, or not, we may still sing,-<\/p>\n
\u201cLet doubt, then, and danger my progress oppose,
They only make heaven more sweet at the close:
Come joy or come sorrow, whate\u2019er may befall,
An hour with my God will make up for them all.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
But if not literally only an hour, yet certainly the longest reign of persecution is but short. It is soon over when we once get home. I think that it will help to make a merry holiday in the land that flows with milk and honey, to sit one of these days by one of those rippling streams, and say, \u201cI remember when so-and-so forsook me, and I stood fast by the truth as I knew it and believed it. They all forsook me, and it did seem hard to bear at the time; but my loneliness did not last long, it was soon over; and when the Lord said, \u2019Well done, good and faithful servant,\u2019 it did not seem then that it had been an hour, but only the winking of an eye, or as when, in the night, the candle is blown out, and lighted again by its own smoke, so short was the time of darkness.\u201d So it shall seem in heaven as if we never had suffered anything for Christ. The martyr shall go in the red-hot chariot from the stake; and when he gets to heaven, he shall have forgotten that he burned to death, in the exceeding joy of beholding his Master. It is but an hour, and we shall meet before the golden throne, and stand upon the sea of glass, and sing for ever, \u201cUnto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n
EXPOSITION BY C.H. SPURGEON <\/p>\n
JOHN 16:16-33.<\/b><\/p>\n
Verse 16. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.<\/i><\/p>\n
Remember that the disciples were on the verge of great trouble. Their Leader and Friend was about to be taken away from them by a cruel death. They were to be tried as they had never been tried before. The Savior therefore prepared their minds for the trial. I have often noticed that, before a great trouble comes, the Spirit of God secretly comforts in a very remarkable manner those who are to be tried. Perhaps, to-night, without knowing it, we may be near some great affliction or sorrow. If so, may the Lord store us with comfort and strength for the coming hour of need!<\/p>\n
17, 18. There said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shalt see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.<\/i><\/p>\n
It was only too plain. We often do not understand our Master because we imagine that there is some deep significance in his words when their meaning lies upon the very surface. If you would understand the gospel as you understand the common talk of life, it would be wise. If we could but bring men to believe God as a child believes its mother, practically and really, then their salvation would be a very simple and speedy matter.<\/p>\n
19, 20. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice:<\/i><\/p>\n
Sometimes the world appears to have the best of it. Its mouth is full of laughter while the child of God cannot speak for sorrow. Ah! well, there is time enough for a change. We may very well let those laugh to-day who will have to gnash their teeth for ever. Judge not God by your present circumstances. Take the rough with the smooth. Be willing to go to heaven up the bleak side of the hill.<\/p>\n
20. And ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.<\/i><\/p>\n
So, the more of it the better. If your sorrow is to be turned into joy, then the more sorrow, the more joy. Happy is he who endureth trial, since his trial is to be turned into happiness.<\/p>\n
21, 22. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow:<\/i><\/p>\n
But your sorrow is the pang of life.<\/p>\n
22. But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.<\/i><\/p>\n
The joy that comes by sorrow in connection with Christ is the joy of which we shall never be bereaved. Let us thank God that there is a joy which no man can take away. Happy are they who have it.<\/p>\n
23. And ire that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.<\/i><\/p>\n
This is a grand promise. If we dare ask in the name of Christ, and it is not everything that we could ask for in his name-if our petition is such that we honestly judge that we may put Christ\u2019s name to it, if it is a thing that Christ would have asked, if it is a thing that Christ could have asked, let us ask in Christ\u2019s name, and the Father will give it.<\/p>\n
24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:<\/i><\/p>\n
You have not been bold enough. You have asked a few petty things, but you have never fully made use of Christ\u2019s name. How many Christians have never learned to pray in the name of Christ! They say at the end of their petition, \u201cFor Christ\u2019s sake.\u201d That is good as far as it goes. I may ask a man to give me such and such a thing for the sake of another; that is good pleading so far as it goes. But if I dare to use the authority that my friend gives me to put his name at the bottom of my request, that is another and a higher thing. To ask in the name of Christ, to plead under his authority, this is to pray indeed.<\/p>\n
24. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThat your joy may be full,\u201d a ripe joy, a joy that fills your being, that sparkles in your eye, dances in your feet, leaps in your heart, an unutterable, inexpressible joy: \u201cThat your joy may be full.\u201d<\/p>\n
25, 26. These things have spoken unto you ire proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shalt ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:<\/i><\/p>\n
Though that be true,<\/p>\n
27. For the Father himself loveth you,<\/i><\/p>\n
What a delightful little sentence! \u201cThe Father himself loveth you.\u201d<\/p>\n
27. Because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.<\/i><\/p>\n
God\u2019s first love to us is from himself alone. Then there is another love that grows in his heart because of our love to his Son. You love your child. The reason lies in your own heart. After a while, that dear, loving, affectionate child has won a farther place in your affection, and you love him because of his choice and special love to you. Remember that Psalm, \u201cBecause he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.\u201d Our love of God wins from him another love, of a different sort, although it comes from the same fountain as the first: \u201cFor the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.\u201d<\/p>\n
28-30. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any mare should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.<\/i><\/p>\n
One does not see any reason why they should have been made so strong in faith just then. But we were not there to hear Christ\u2019s words. There is many a message, which depends upon the tone and manner of the speaker for its influence over the people who hear it. When you read the story afterwards, without the earnest manner and the living tone of the speaker, you do not see why it had such a strange effect upon his hearers. So we do not quite see here, by the calm reading of this narrative, why the disciples leaped all of a sudden into such confidence.<\/p>\n
31. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?<\/i><\/p>\n
He did not feel so sure of their faith as they did. We often think we have great heaps of the gold of faith; and it glitters very brightly, but it is not the precious metal after all. So Jesus said, \u201cDo ye now believe?\u201d<\/p>\n
32. Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shalt leave me atone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.<\/i><\/p>\n
These poor creatures, who were so bold and so oversure, would all be runaways. If persecution were to arise in our day, I wonder how many of us would be found true men. Ah! you think you are true blue; but you would run at the first touch of water, not to mention fire. Are there not many of us who are but poor believers? If our faith were sharply tried, would it stand the test?<\/p>\n
33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.<\/i><\/p>\n
Christ wants his disciples to have peace. Are you fretting to-night? Are you afraid of Monday? Are you fearful about the trials of the week? Christ wants you to be at peace. Be quiet. Be quiet. Let all be still within your heart, and wait your Father\u2019s will. \u201cIn the world ye shall have tribulation:\u201d on God\u2019s threshing-floor the flail will be kept going. If you are a child of God, you will have to suffer. The Captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings; and good soldiers of Jesus Christ must expect to pass through the same experience. As long as you are here, you will be tried: \u201cIn the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.\u201d Think of that; the Christ who is about to sweat great drops of blood, and to die on the cross of Calvary, says, \u201cI have overcome.\u201d It is not Julius Caesar\u2019s\u201d Veni, vidi, vici;\u201d but it is Christ\u2019s\u201d Veni, vidi, vici; \u201c-\u201dI came, I saw, I conquered:\u201d \u201cI have overcome.\u201d And as he has overcome, so shall you, if you be his true follower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 2271 INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S-DAY, AUGUST 28TH, 1892, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD\u2019S-DAY EVENING, MARCH 2ND, 1900. \u201cJesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me … Continue reading “ALONE, YET NOT ALONE.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}