NO. 2349<\/b><\/p>\n
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S DAY, FEBRUARY 25TH, 1894,<\/b><\/p>\n
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.<\/b><\/p>\n
ON LORD\u2019S-DAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 17TH, 1889.<\/p>\n
\u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d \u2014 John 6:37.<\/i><\/p>\n
Christ will not die in vain. His Father gave him a certain number to be the reward of his soul travail, and he will have every one of them, as he said, \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me.\u201d Almighty grace shall sweetly constrain them all to come. My father gave me recently some letters which I wrote to him when I began to preach. They are almost boyish epistles; but, in reading through them again, I noticed in one of them this expression, \u201cHow I long to see thousands of men saved; but my great comfort is that some will be saved, must be saved, shall be saved, for it is written, \u2019All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The question for each of you to ask is, \u201cDo I belong to that number?\u201d I am going to preach with the view of helping you to find out whether you belong to that \u201call\u201d whom the Father gave to Christ, the \u201call\u201d who shall come to him. We can use the second part of the verse to help us to understand the first. \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,\u201d will explain our Savior\u2019s previous words, \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shall have no time for any further preface; I must at once get to my subject, and try to put everything in a condensed form. Kindly give heed to the word, think about it, pray over it; and may God the Holy Ghost apply it to all your hearts!<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
I. <\/b>First, notice in the text The Necessity Of Character: \u201cHim that cometh to me.\u201d If you want to be saved, you must come to Christ. There is no other way of salvation under heaven but coming to Christ. Go wherever else you will, you must be disappointed and lost; it is only by coming to him that you can by any possibility have eternal life.<\/p>\n
What is it to come to Christ? Well, it implies leaving all other confidences.<\/i> To come to anybody, is to leave everybody else. To come to Christ, is to leave everything else, to leave every other hope, every other trust. Are you trusting to your own works? Are you trusting to a priest? Are you trusting to the merits of the Virgin Mary, or the saints and angels in heaven? Are you trusting to anything but the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, leave it, and have done with it. Come away from every other reliance, and trust to Christ crucified, for this is the only way of salvation, as Peter said to the rulers and elders of Israel, \u201cNeither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Jesus bleeding on the tree,
Turn thou thine eye, thine heart,\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
and come to him at once, and thy soul shall live for ever.<\/p>\n
To come to Jesus means, in brief, trusting him.<\/i> He is a Savior; that is his business, come you to him, and trust him to save you. If you could save yourself, you would not need a Savior; and now that Christ has set up to be a Savior, let him do the business. He will. Come, and lay all your needs at his feet, and trust him. Resolve that, if lost, you will be lost trusting alone in Jesus; and that can never be. Tie up all your hopes into one bundle, and put that bundle upon Christ. Let him be all thy salvation, and all thy desire, and so thou shalt be surely saved.<\/p>\n
I have sometimes tried to explain to you what the life of faith is like; it is very much like a man walking on a tight rope. The believer is told that he shall not fall, he trusts in God that he shall not; but every now and then he says, \u201cWhat a way it is down there if I did fall!\u201d I have often had this experience: I have gone up an invisible staircase; I could not see the next step, but when I put my foot down on it, I found that it was solid granite. I could not see the next stair, and it seemed as if I should plunge into an abyss; yet have I gone on upward, steadily, one step at a time, never able to see farther into absolute darkness, as it seemed, and yet always with a light just where the light was wanted. When I used to hold a candle to my father, of an evening, when he was sawing wood out in the yard, he used to say, \u201cBoy, do hold the candle where I am sawing, don\u2019t look over there.\u201d And I have often thought to myself, when I wanted to see something in the middle of next week, or next year, that the Lord seemed to say to me, \u201cHold your candle on the piece of work which you have to do to-day; and if you can see that, be satisfied, for that is all the light you want just now.\u201d Suppose that you could see into next week, it would be a great mercy if you lost your sight a while, for a far-seeing gaze into care and trouble is no gain. \u201cSufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,\u201d as sufficient unto the day will be the good thereof. But the Lord does train his people for the skies by testing their faith in the matter of his daily care of them. Often, a man\u2019s reliance upon God for the supply of his earthly wants proves that he has trusted the Lord for the weightier affairs relating to his soul\u2019s salvation. Do not draw a line between the temporal and the spiritual, and say, \u201cGod will go just so far; but I must not take such and such a thing to him in prayer.\u201d I remember hearing of a certain good man, of whom one said, \u201cWhy, he is a very curious man; he prayed about a key the other day!\u201d Why not pray about a key? Why not pray about a pin? Sometimes, it may be as important to pray about a pin as to pray about a kingdom. Little things are often the linch-pins of great events. Take care that you bring everything to God in faith and prayer. \u201cBe careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.\u201d<\/p>\n
I have turned aside from my subject for a minute, but let us now think again of this matter of coming to Christ. To come to Jesus, not only implies leaving all other confidences, and trusting Christ, it also means following him<\/i>. If you trust him, you must obey him. If you leave your soul in his hands, you must take him to be your Master, and your Lord, as well as your Savior. Christ has come to save you from<\/i> sin, not in<\/i> sin. He will therefore help you to leave your sin, whatever it is; he will give you the victory over it; he will make you holy. He will help you to do whatever you should do in the sight of God: He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him; but you must come to him if you would be saved by him.<\/p>\n
To put together all I have said, you must quit every other hope; you must take Jesus to be your sole confidence, and then you must be obedient to his command, and take him to be your Master, and Lord. Will you do that? If not, I have nothing to say to you except this, \u2014 he that believeth not in him will perish without hope. If you will not have God\u2019s remedy for your soul malady, the only remedy that there is, there remaineth for you nothing but blackness and dismal darkness for ever and ever.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
II. <\/b>But, now, secondly, while there is this necessity of character, notice also The Universality Of Persons: \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Granted that he comes to Christ, that is all that is needed. Does some one say, \u201cSir, I am a very obscure person.<\/i> Nobody knows me; my name was never in the papers, and never will be; I am a nobody\u201d? Well, if Mr. Nobody comes to Christ, he will not cast him out. Come along, you unknown person, you anonymous individual, you that everybody but Christ forgets! If even you come to Jesus, he will not cast you out.<\/p>\n
Another says, \u201c I am so very odd<\/i>.\u201d Do not say much about that, for I am odd, too; but, dear friends, however odd we are, though we may be thought very eccentric, and some may even consider us a little touched in the head, yet, nevertheless, for all that, Jesus says, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d Come along with you, Mr. Oddman! You shall not be lost for want of brains, nor yet for having too many; though that is not a very common misfortune. If you will but come to Christ, though you have no talent, though you are but poor, and will never make much headway in the world, Jesus says, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAh!\u201d says a third friend, \u201cI do not mind about being obscure, or being eccentric; but it is the greatness of my sin<\/i> that keeps me back from Christ.\u201d Let us read the text again: \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d If he had been guilty of seven murders, and all the whoredoms and adulteries that ever defiled mortal man, if impossible sins could be charged against him, yet if he came to Christ,<\/i> mark you, if he came to Christ, the promise of Jesus would be fulfilled even in his case, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut,\u201d says another, \u201cI am completely worn out, I am good for nothing.<\/i> I have spent all my days and years in sin. I have come to the very end of the chapter, I am not worth anybody\u2019s having.\u201d Come along with you, you fag-end of life! Jesus says, \u201cHim that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.\u201d You have to walk with two sticks, do you? Never mind, come you to Jesus. You are so feeble that you wonder that you are alive at your advanced age. My Lord will receive you if you are a hundred years of age; there have been many cases in which persons have been brought to Christ even after that age. There are some very remarkable instances of that fact on record. Christ says, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d If he were as old as Methuselah, if he did but come to Christ, he should not be cast out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlas!\u201d says one, \u201cI am in a worse case than even that aged friend, for beside being old, I have resisted the Spirit of God.<\/i> I have been many years troubled in my conscience; but I have tried to cover it all up. I have stifled every godly thought.\u201d Yes, yes; and it is a very sad thing, too; but for all that, if you come to Christ, if you can even make a dash for salvation, and come to Jesus, he cannot cast you out.<\/p>\n
One friend perhaps says, \u201cI am afraid that I have committed the unpardonable sin.<\/i>\u201c If you come to Christ, you have not, I know; for him that cometh to him Jesus will in no wise cast out. He cannot, therefore, have committed the unpardonable sin. Come along with you, man, and if you are blacker than all the rest of the sinners in the world, so much the more glorious shall be the grace of God when it shall have proved its power by washing you whiter than snow in the precious blood of Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh!\u201d says one, \u201cyou do not know me, Sir.\u201d No, dear friend, I do not; but, perhaps, one of these days I may have that pleasure.\u201d It will not be any pleasure to you, Sir, for I am an apostate.<\/i> I used to be a professor of religion; but I have given it all up, and I have gone back to the world, wilfully and wickedly doing all manner of evil things.\u201d Ah! well, if you can but come to Christ, though there were seven apostasies piled one upon another, still his promise stands true, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d Whatever the past, or whatever the present, backslider, return to Christ, for he standeth to his plighted word, and there are no exceptions mentioned in my text: \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Sir,\u201d cries another, \u201cI should like to come to Christ; but I do not feel fit to come.<\/i>\u201c Then, come all unfit, just as you are. Jesus says, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d If I were woke up in the middle of the night by a cry of \u201cFire!\u201d and I saw that some one was at the window with a fire-escape, I do not think that I should keep in bed, and say, \u201cI have not my black necktie on,\u201d or \u201cI have not my best waistcoat on.\u201d I should not speak in that way at all. I would be out of the window as quickly as ever I could, and down the fire-escape. Why do you talk about your fitness, fitness, fitness? I have heard of a cavalier, who lost his life because he stopped to curl his hair when Cromwell\u2019s soldiers were after him. Some of you may laugh at the man\u2019s foolishness; but that is all that your talk about fitness is. What is all your fitness but the curling of your hair when you are in imminent danger of losing your soul? Your fitness is nothing to Christ. Remember what we sang at the beginning of the service: \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201cLet not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness he requireth,
Is to feel your need of him:
This he gives you
\u2019Tis the Spirit\u2019s rising beam.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Come to Christ just as you are, foul, vile, careless, godless, Christless. Come now, even now, for Jesus said, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is there not a glorious width about my text: \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d What \u201chim\u201d is this? It is \u201chim that cometh.\u201d What \u201chim that cometh\u201d? Any \u201chim that cometh\u201d in all the world. If he comes to Christ, he shall not be cast out. A red man, or a black man, or a white man, or a yellow man, or a coppercoloured man, whatever he is, if he comes to Jesus, he shall in no wise be cast out.<\/p>\n
When you mean to put a thing broadly, it is always best to state it, and leave it. Do not go into details; the Savior does not. Some years ago, there was a man, a kind, loving husband, who wished to leave to his wife all his property. Whatever he had, he intended her to have it all, as she ought; so he put down in his will, \u201cI leave to my beloved wife, Elizabeth, all that I have.\u201d That was all right. Then he went on to describe in detail what he was leaving her, and he wrote, \u201cAll my freehold and personal estate.\u201d The most of his property happened to be leasehold, so the wife did not get it because her husband gave a detailed description; it was in the detail that the property slipped away from the good woman. Now, there is no detail at all here: \u201cHim that cometh.\u201d That means that every man, and woman, and child, beneath the broad heavens, who will but come, and trust in Christ, shall in no wise be cast out. I thank God that there is no allusion to any particular character, in order specially to say, \u201cPeople of that character shall be received,\u201d for then the characters left out might be supposed to be excluded; but the text clearly means that every soul that comes to Christ shall be received by him.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
III. <\/b>The flight of time hurries me on, therefore, I beg you to listen earnestly while I speak to you, in the third place, about The Unmistakeableness Of The Promise: \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise\u201d \u2014 that is, for no reason, under no circumstances, at no time, under no conditions whatever, \u2014 \u201cI will in no wise cast out\u201d; which means, being interpreted, \u201cI will receive him, I will save him, I will bless him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then if you, my dear friend, come to Christ, how could the Lord cast you out?<\/i> How could he do it in consistency with his truthfulness? Imagine my Lord Jesus making this declaration, and giving it to us as an inspired Scripture, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,\u201d and yet casting out somebody, even that unknown somebody up in the corner. Why, it would be a lie; it would be an acted lie! I pray you, blaspheme not my Lord, the truthful Christ, by supposing that he could be guilty of such conduct as that. He could do as he liked about whom he would receive until he made the promise; but after he had pledged his word, he bound himself by the veracity of his nature to keep it; and as long as Christ is the truthful Christ, he must receive every soul that comes to him.<\/p>\n
But let me also ask you, suppose that you came to Jesus, and he cast you out, with what hands could he do it?<\/i> \u201cWith his own hands,\u201d you answer. What! Christ coming forward to cast out a sinner who has come to him? I ask again, with what hands could he do it? Would he do it with those pierced hands, that still bear the marks of the nails? The Crucified rejecting a sinner? Ah! no; he hath no hand with which to do such a cruel work as that, for he has given both his hands to be nailed to the tree for guilty men. He hath neither hand, nor foot, nor heart with which to reject sinners, for all these have been pierced in his death for them; therefore he cannot cast them out if they come to him.<\/p>\n
Let me ask you another question, What profit would it be to Christ if he did cast you out?<\/i> If my dear Lord, of the thorny crown, and the pierced side, and the wounded hands, were to cast you away, what glory would it bring to him? If he cast you into hell, you who have come to him, what happiness would that bring to him? If he were to cast you away, you who have sought his face, you who trust his love and his blood, by what conceivable method could that ever render him the happier or the greater? It cannot be.<\/p>\n
What would such a supposition involve?<\/i> Imagine for a moment that Jesus did cast away one who came to him; if it were ascertained that one soul came to Christ and yet he had cast him away, what would happen? Why, there are thousands of us who would never preach again! For one, I would have done with the business. If my Lord can cast away a sinner who comes to him, I cannot, with a clear conscience, go and preach from his words, \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d Moreover, I should feel that, if he failed in one promise, he might fail in the others. I could not go and preach a possible but doubtful gospel. I must have \u201cshells\u201d and \u201cwills\u201d from the eternal throne of God; and if it is not so, our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.<\/p>\n
See what would follow if one soul came to Christ, and Christ cast him out. All the saints would lose their confidence in him. If a man breaks his promise once, it is of no use for him to say, \u201cWell, I am generally truthful.\u201d You have caught him false to his word once, and you will not trust him again, will you? No; and if our dear Lord, whose every word is truth and verity, could break one of his promises only once, he would not be trusted by his people any more, and his Church would lose the faith that is her very life.<\/p>\n
Ah! me; and then they would hear of it up in heaven; and one soul that came to Christ, and was cast away, would stop the music of the harps of heaven, would dim the lustre of the glory-land, and take away its joy, for it would be whispered among the glorified, \u201cJesus has broken his promise. He cast away a praying, believing soul; he may break his promise to us, he may drive us out of heaven.\u201d When they began to praise him, this one act of his would make a lump come in their throats, and they would be unable to sing. They would be thinking of that poor soul that trusted him, and was cast away; so how could they sing, \u201cUnto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,\u201d if they had to add, \u201cBut he did not wash all that came to him, though he promised that he would\u201d?<\/p>\n
I do not like even to talk of all that the supposition would involve; it is something so dreadful to me, for they would hear of it in hell, and they would tell it to one another, and an awful glee would take possession of the fiendish hearts of the devil and all his companions, and they would say, \u201cThe Christ is not true to his word; the boasted Savior rejected one who came to him. He used to receive even harlots, and he let one wash his feet with her tears; and publicans and sinners came and gathered about him, and he spoke to them in tones of love; but here is one, \u2014 well, he was too vile for the Savior to bless; he was too far gone, Jesus could not restore him, Christ could not cleanse him. He could save little sinners, but not great ones; he could save sinners eighteen hundred years ago. Oh! he made a fine show of them; but his power is exhausted now, he cannot save a sinner now.\u201d Oh, in the halls of Hades, what jests and ridicule would be poured upon that dear name, and, I had almost said, justly, if Christ cast out one who came to him! But, beloved, that can never be; it is as sure as God\u2019s oath, as certain as Jehovah\u2019s being, that he who comes to Christ shall in no wise be cast out. I gladly bear my own witness before this assembled throng that \u2014 <\/p>\n
\u201cI came to Jesus as I was
Weary, and worn, and sad:
I found in him a resting-place,
And he has made me glad.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Come, each one of you, and prove the text to be true in your own experience, for the Lord Jesus Christ\u2019s sake! Amen.<\/p>\n
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON.<\/p>\n
PSALM 89:1\u201337, AND JOHN 6:22\u201340.<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalm 89. Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.<\/i><\/p>\n
That is to say, an instructive Psalm, written by or for one Ethan, one of the great singers of David\u2019s day. He sings of the covenant, the covenant with David, ordered in all things and sure. There is no higher theme for song than the covenant of God\u2019s grace, one marvels that it has not oftener been sung by those who are the gifted children of poesy.<\/p>\n
Verse 1. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever:<\/i><\/p>\n
Another subject might wear out, but this glorious topic will never be exhausted, Here is a theme which we can sing of in eternity as well as in time. Let others choose what subject they may, \u201cI will sing of the mercies of Jehovah for ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.<\/i><\/p>\n
God\u2019s faithfulness is the mercy of his mercy. It is the center-point of his goodness that his goodness endureth for ever. We are not only to sing; we are to teach. The Psalmist says, \u201cWith my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.\u201d In telling his own experience, narrating what he had observed, as well as what he had proved of God\u2019s faithfulness to his promise and his covenant, he would do this so that following generations should know about it. We are the schoolmasters of the ages to come; I mean, saints who have experienced the mercy and the faithfulness of God. We ought to make known Jehovah\u2019s faithfulness to all generations that are yet to come.<\/p>\n
2. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever:<\/i><\/p>\n
What a building, \u2014 Mercy! God\u2019s mercy is to be built up for ever.<\/p>\n
2. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.<\/i><\/p>\n
Like the great arch you see in the firmament on high, unbuttressed and unpillared, yet it stands fast. So shall God\u2019s faithfulness be built up, settled, and established in the very heavens.<\/p>\n
And now God speaks: \u2014 <\/p>\n
3. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,<\/i><\/p>\n
Well might the psalmist say, in the second verse, \u201cI have said,\u201d when God in the third verse says, \u201cI have sworn.\u201d It is ours to say, it is God\u2019s to say with such tremendous solemnity that doubt cannot be tolerated. \u201cI have made a covenant with my chosen:\u201d King David, who is, however, but the type of his greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the heir of the dynasty of David. With him is this covenant made for ever.<\/p>\n
4. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.<\/i><\/p>\n
Whatever may happen in the world, David\u2019s Seed is always reigning; whatever kings may lose their crowns, King Jesus will never lose the many crowns that are on his head. God has sworn it: \u201cThy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then comes the word, \u201cSelah.\u201d Rest; meditate; and truly, here is enough to rest and meditate upon for many a day, if we went no farther into the Psalm.<\/p>\n
5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonder, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.<\/i><\/p>\n
The psalmist meant to praise God at such a rate that the sun, and moon, and stars, should hear his song, while angels and the host redeemed by blood should learn to praise God better than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cThy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints:\u201d one saint begins to sing of God\u2019s faithfulness, and the others take it up, for God is not faithful to one only, but to all his people. This is a subject which, when once started, will produce an echo in every believer\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n
6, 7. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the lions of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,<\/i><\/p>\n
The holiest are always the most reverent. There is no fear of God in the assembly of the sinners; but he is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints.\u201d<\/p>\n
7. And to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.<\/i><\/p>\n
The nearer they came to him, the more is their awe of him; the greater their love, the deeper is their humility. God will not have those about him who are flippant and irreverent; he is \u201cto be had in reverence of all them that are about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
8. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?<\/i><\/p>\n
Note how the psalmist harps upon that one string, \u2014 \u201cfaithfulness.\u201d Ah, dear friends, there are times when this is the sweetest note in the whole scale! \u201cThy faithfulness\u201d: we have a God who never forgets his promises, but keeps them to the moment; a God who never changes; a God who never turns away from his word. \u201cThy faithfulness.\u201d Oh, what a blessed virtue is this in God! Let us praise him for it for ever. \u201cTry faithfulness round about thee\u201d: as if the Lord never went outside the ring of faithfulness, never did anything that broke his promises, or that made any of his children to doubt; and it is even so.<\/p>\n
9. Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.<\/i><\/p>\n
Are you now in a storm, my brother? My sister, are you now tempest-tossed? Listen to this word, and remember the Lord High Admiral of the fleet on the Lake of Galilee, and how, after he had been asleep for awhile, he arose, and rebuked the winds and the waves: \u201cThou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.\u201d<\/p>\n
10. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.<\/i><\/p>\n
Rahab was Egypt. The word means \u201cstrong\u201d, \u201cmighty\u201d, \u201cproud\u201d, all of which were the characteristics of Egypt, which God brake in pieces at the Red Sea. Pharaoh was the greatest of monarchs at the time, but, oh, how soon he had to yield when God\u2019s right arm was bared for war!<\/p>\n
11. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them.<\/i><\/p>\n
Sometimes we are tempted to think that the earth cannot be God\u2019s, all over the globe man is the master, he claims everything; if men could map out the heavens, we should have owners for every single twinkling star and, if they could have their way, we should have to buy our light by measure, and our sunshine by-weight. But \u201cthe earth is the Lord\u2019s, and the fullness thereof;\u201d and the heavens also are his.<\/p>\n
12. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon-<\/i><\/p>\n
East and West, as well as North and South, \u2014 <\/p>\n
12. Shall rejoice in thy name.<\/i><\/p>\n
There is not a place where God is not to be found. All the points of the compass are compassed by God. You cannot go where the Lord\u2019s love reigns not, nor where Providence will not follow you.<\/p>\n
13\u201315. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:<\/i><\/p>\n
There are some who hear it, and yet are not blessed. Blessed are they who \u201cknow\u201d it, know its peculiar accent, know its inward power, know its omnipotence, know its unchangeableness, know it by having tried it and proved it, and rested in it: \u201cBlessed is the people that know the joyful sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
15. They shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.<\/i><\/p>\n
It is all the light they want. Let God but smile, it makes their day. If every candle were blown out, yet the favor of God would make life bright enough for them.<\/p>\n
16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.<\/i><\/p>\n
Even in God\u2019s righteousness. Until we know the Lord, we are afraid of his righteousness, but when we come to know him, his righteousness, which once frowned upon us, becomes our heaven. \u201cGod is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love.\u201d God is not unrighteous to cast away a soul that puts its trust in Christ. God is one with his people. When we rejoice all the day in his name, we are exalted in his righteousness.<\/p>\n
17\u201319. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favor our horn shall be exalted. For the LORD is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then thou spakest in Vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.<\/i><\/p>\n
This is David first, but it is Christ high above David. One of ourselves, the carpenter\u2019s Son, yet has God made him to be the Head over all things for his Church: \u201cI have exalted one chosen out of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
20, 21. I have found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.<\/i><\/p>\n
The full power of God is with Christ. That same arm, that bears the earth\u2019s huge pillars up, and spreads the heavens abroad, is engaged on behalf of the cause and kingdom of the Son of David.<\/p>\n
22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him,<\/i><\/p>\n
He had enough of that when he was upon the earth; but it is all over now. He has gone into his glory, and the enemy cannot touch him now.<\/p>\n
23. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him,<\/i><\/p>\n
There is the portion of all haters of Christ. God will, somehow or other, in the order of his providence bring the evil home to them. If they will not have God\u2019s Son, they shall not have his mercy; they shall, sooner or later, be beaten down before his face.<\/p>\n
24, 25. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.<\/i><\/p>\n
He shall reign \u201cfrom sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.\u201d We may go on to fight for him, for his triumph is sure.<\/p>\n
26, 27. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth,<\/i><\/p>\n
So he is. Firstborn among men, firstborn of kings, his throne is loftier than the most imperial power on the earth. Blessed be his name! Let us adore him to-night; and here, in the midst of his people, let us crown him Lord of all.<\/p>\n
28\u201336. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripe. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.<\/i><\/p>\n
The Son of David is still King in the midst of the true Israel. Still Jesus reigns; and on and on, for ever and for ever, great David\u2019s greater Son shall be King of kings, and Lord of lords.<\/p>\n
37. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.<\/i><\/p>\n
Now let us read a passage from the New Testament, showing how the Lord Jesus dealt with the crowds that came to him.<\/p>\n
John 6:22\u201326. The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone; (howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks) when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.<\/i><\/p>\n
Mixed motives bring multitudes together. How true our Master was, how outspoken! He never tried to win a disciple by keeping back the truth; and often he spoke very plainly indeed, as on this occasion: \u201cYe seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.\u201d<\/p>\n
27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.<\/i><\/p>\n
He seemed to say to them, \u201cDo not come to me for bread and fish; I have given you that. Come for something better; come to me for spiritual food, food for your souls, food for eternity.\u201d It is with that object that we should go to the house of God; not to listen to this preacher or that, but to hear the Word of God, that we may live thereby.<\/p>\n
28. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the best works that we can do? What are the most acceptable?\u201d I wonder what they expected Christ to say. I am sure they did not look for the answer that they received.<\/p>\n
29. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the word of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.<\/i><\/p>\n
The greatest, the best, the most acceptable work in all the world is that you come and trust Christ. This saves you; nothing else will do so: \u201cThis is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.\u201d<\/p>\n
30, 31. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.<\/i><\/p>\n
See how they came round to the old subject again, bread to eat. The Lord Jesus Christ may point them to something higher and better; but their carnal minds always return to that congenial topic, something to eat. Their stomach was lord of their heart.<\/p>\n
32. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThat which will really feed you, and feed you for all eternity.\u201d Moses could not give the people that bread; the Father only can give \u201cthe true bread from heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
33. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThe bread of God is he.\u201d What a strange expression, yet what a true one! The bread of heaven is Christ himself. You must come and take him to yourself, and trust him for your salvation, and in that way feed upon him, or you can never have the heavenly bread which both gives life and sustains life.<\/p>\n
34\u201339. Then said they unto him, lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and harm that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father\u2019s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.<\/i><\/p>\n
See how the salvation of Christ reaches right to the end of all things. You and I may die; but though we lie a while in the grave, the salvation of Christ will preserve us, to raise us up again at the last day. There shall not be a bone nor a piece of a bone, of a true believer, left in the enemies\u2019 land. All Israel and all that belongs to Israel, shall come out of this Egypt, through the blood of the Lamb; not a hoof shall be left behind.<\/p>\n
40. And this is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.<\/i><\/p>\n
May all of us see the Son, and believe on him, that we may have everlasting life, and that he may raise us up at the last day, for his dear name\u2019s sake! Amen.<\/p>\n
HYMNS FROM \u201cOUR OWN PRAYERBOOK\u201d \u2014 492, 538, 658.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 2349 A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD\u2019S DAY, FEBRUARY 25TH, 1894, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. ON LORD\u2019S-DAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 17TH, 1889. \u201cHim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.\u201d \u2014 John 6:37. Christ will not die in vain. His Father gave him a … Continue reading “ALL COMERS TO CHRIST WELCOMED.”<\/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-3680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3680","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=3680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}