Wanted, A Guest Chamber!
A sermon
(No. 785)
Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, DECEMBER 15, 1867, by
C.H.SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"The Master says, Where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the
Passover with My disciples."- Mark 14:14.
As far as we know, out of the many thousands who had come to Jerusalem
from the utmost ends of the earth to keep the Passover, none were left
unaccommodated with a guest chamber except our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jerusalem, at the time of the Passover, was one great inn–the whole of
the houses were occupied not only by the regular tenants, but by their
friends from the country parts of Judea. Each one had invited his own
friends and all the houses were filled. But there was found no one to
invite the Savior and He had no dwelling of His own. He who received
sinners, was excluded by all. The Friend of man was houseless, and at
the national festival He was no man's guest. He would have been left in
the streets, if by His own supernatural power He had not found Himself
an upper room in which to keep the feast.
It is so even to this day–Jesus is not received among the sons of men
save only where by His supernatural power and Grace He makes the heart
anew. Every pursuit has its eager followers, every art its votaries,
every object its devotees, but Jesus is uncared for and neglected. Art,
science, poetry, literature, mechanics, politics, wealth–all these
obtain a willing homage. Men need no renewal of their minds to follow
after these! But to the natural man the Lord Jesus has no form nor
comeliness and He, therefore, is despised and rejected. "He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not." Like the Levite in the days of
the Judges, "There was no man that took him into his house to lodging."
All doors are open enough to the Prince of Darkness, but Jesus must
clear a way for Himself or lodge in the streets. I think I hear Him
crying even to His own Church, "Open to Me, My sister, My love, My
dove, My undefiled–for My head is filled with dew and My locks with
the drops of the night." Doubtless one reason for this may be found in
the fact that it was dangerous to receive Christ at that season. The
rulers were hunting Him–thirsty for His blood–and they had issued the
command that if any man knew where He was, he should tell them, that
they might take Him. In the first place, to harbor Christ was to run
the risk of being put out of the synagogue, to become the object of
public contempt. In the second, and perhaps in conclusion, to meet with
a sudden and violent death!
Therefore, prudent, careful men closed their doors against Him and
argued that they could not expose their families to so much peril. They
might in their hearts admire Him. In their souls they might lament that
He was so harshly dealt with, but they could not run the risk of
declaring themselves to be on His side by entertaining Him at that
moment of excitement. So is it at this hour, men always have a good
reason, as they think, for that most unreasonable of all
unkind-nesses–the rejection of Jesus, their best Friend. The farm, the
merchandise, the newly-married wife–all these are the transparent,
weak excuses for not coming to the Gospel supper.
Preoccupation of mind with some other pursuit, or the self-denials
which Christianity would involve, or the difficulties which are
supposed to beset a consistent Christian profession–any, or all of
these, and worse than these–serve to satisfy the human conscience with
the shadow of an excuse. Jesus Christ is kept on the cold side of the
door and our worst enemies are welcomed! Though it is the highest honor
that man can have to entertain Him, yet a cruel refusal is given Him
and any excuse in the world is thought to be sufficient. Yet there was
one who was willing to entertain the Savior, and the Lord knew Him and
where to find Him according to that ancient saying, "The Lord knows
them that are His."
There shall never be a time in the world's history so dark but surely
the Lord will have His chosen stars shining brightly amid the gloom.
Christ shall never be so much despised but what there will be found
here and there elect souls, hearts that the Lord has touched, who will
say, "Come in and welcome most sweet Lord! We rejoice to render You the
hospitality of our loving hearts." Be of good courage, my Brothers and
Sisters! Piety may be at a low ebb, but it shall never run dry! The
lamp may flicker, but it cannot be extinguished! Our ranks may be
thinned, but the host shall hold the
battlefield! There are a few names even in Sardis! There is one Lot, at
least, even in Sodom! And in the raging Sanhedrim a Nicodemus holds a
seat!
In the worst times of superstition God raises up witnesses for His
Truth. We need never fear for the Church–an imperishable seed is in
her and nothing shall destroy her. The gates of Hell shall not prevail
against her. Though her ministers may fall and many of her professed
members may apostatize, yet the Lord will keep up the succession of the
saints, and Jesus shall not lack a man to bear up the standard of the
Cross! So long as the earth remains, the everlasting kingdom of the Son
of David shall stand!
I shall now call your attention to the whole incident of our Lord's
finding a guest chamber in which to keep the Passover. I shall regard
the question which I have selected for a text, first, as the mighty
word of the Master's effectual Grace, and next, as the affectionate
enquiry of the servant's obedient solicitude.
I. First, the Master says, "Where is the guest chamber?" This question
may be regarded as THE MIGHTY WORD OF THE MASTER'S EFFECTUAL GRACE. Our
Lord intended to celebrate the Passover in the large upper room
belonging to the person to whom He sent Peter and John. The message
which He sent by their lips was all-powerful–the man at once yielded
up his furnished parlor without difficulty or demur, because there went
a power with the word which the man was unwilling and unable to resist.
Viewing this as a symbolical representation of the way in which hearts
are won for Jesus, we observe, in the first place, that the time and
the circumstances were all appointed. Two Apostles were commanded to go
to the city and when they should come to the city, Providence would be
there working before them–they were to meet a man just at the entrance
of the city. He was to be there at the very moment of their arrival–he
and none but he. This man must bear a pitcher–the pitcher must be
filled with water. The water carrier must proceed to a certain house,
and to no other. This house must contain an upper room, large enough to
receive Christ and 12 others. This room must be in the possession of a
person who would be perfectly willing to receive the Master and His
disciples, and the good man of the house must be home to show the room
and give the messengers admittance at once.
Here were several very unlikely things to meet together at one
particular juncture, and yet they did so meet! Providence arranges that
when the Apostles are at the city gates, the tankard-bearer is there,
too, with his pitcher full of water. He goes to the house, the house is
the right habitation–the man who possesses it shall be the right man,
and Christ shall be entertained. Beloved, there are quite as many
notable circumstances to be observed in the conversion of each one of
God's people! I do not doubt that the Lord has settled, concerning
every one of His elect, the exact time when they shall pass from death
unto life. He has determined the precise instrumentality by which they
shall be converted. He has determined the exact word that shall strike
with power upon their mind, the period of conviction which they shall
undergo, and the instant when they shall burst into the joyful liberty
of a simple faith in Christ!
It is all settled, all arranged and predetermined in the Divine
purpose. If the very hairs of our head are all numbered, much more the
circumstances of the most important of all events which can occur to
us! This may not seem to be a very practical Truth of God, and yet I
think it is. I may go, for instance, a journey by rail. It is left to
my option at what time to start, and in what carriage I shall ride. Yet
I select a particular hour and carriage, and soon a person is thrown in
my way whom I have never seen before. The conversation is directed
towards holy things. That person is already anxious, and my
conversation is so consoling that it seems to him that I am sent for
the very purpose of relieving his anxiety!
As we converse upon Divine things he is led to see what he never saw
before–the way of salvation by the Substitu-tionary Sacrifice is
opened up to him and he casts himself into the hands of the Savior!
Now, who shall say but what there was an arrangement there which God
Himself, in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to make for the designed end?
You have two ways, today, of going home from the Tabernacle. You know
not why, but you select one of the two, and in that street, if you are
on the alert as you should be–and anxious to deliver souls from going
down to the pit– you may meet with an individual whom you would not
have seen if you had taken the other route. And it may be that you, by
a few words concerning eternal salvation, shall direct that person into
the way of peace and lead him to lay hold on eternal life. He who
observes Providence shall never need a Providence to observe. And he
who watches Providence with the view of discovering occasions for
usefulness will find himself surrounded with golden opportunities for
soul-winning.
I would have you, therefore, respect the workings of Divine Providence
by being upon your watchtower to avail yourselves of them. You know
nothing of the secret decree of God but you can see what the decree
brings forth. And if you are wise, you can benefit your neighbors by
it. Believe firmly that God has a purpose to serve by everything that
occurs and that He would have you, His servants, watchful for all
opportunities that you may bring men to a knowledge of the Truth. I
hope, this morning, that there are some here who scarcely know why they
are in the Tabernacle and the secret is that eternal purposes of Divine
Grace towards them are now ripe for fulfillment!
Remarkable circumstances may have worked together to bring them here!
Possibly had it been finer weather, the crowd would have filled the
place earlier, and they would have been excluded for lack of room–this
wet weather gave them a chance of admission where the Gospel is
preached, and so the very drops of rain may have been God's messengers
of mercy to them, indirectly working for their salvation! There may be
circumstances which I cannot pretend to guess, which revolve round some
of you concerning which God has said, "Thus and thus it shall be, that
I may bring this man to the spot where I intend to arrest him by Divine
Grace, and make him a saved soul." I do trust this may be the case and
that miracles of mercy may be worked by our Redeemer according to the
counsel of His will.
Note further a second thing, albeit the circumstances were all
foreordained, yet Christ's entrance into this man's house was worked by
instrumentality. Had our Lord pleased to do so, He could have remained
where He was. He could have secretly sent forth His Spirit into the
householder's mind to constrain him to lend his upper room. Certainly
there was no need why Peter and John should go as pioneers, for, if the
Lord had gone Himself in Person, at once He would, of course, have
obtained quite as ready admission as His servants.
But He chose to work by means. So it is in conversion! The Lord could
save souls, if He willed, without ministers, without teachers, without
prayerful parents, without even the written Word! But He does not
choose to do so. There are a few instances in which men have been
suddenly impressed where no cause for the impression was apparent
beyond the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit. Apart from
instrumentality men have been awakened and aroused in the midst of
their sins, like Saul of Tarsus, who was struck down while on the road
to persecute the saints in Damascus. The most obstinate have been
suddenly subdued, but the general rule is that "Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God." And men do not hear without a
preacher, but God sends the preacher and the hearing ear, and then
gives the willing heart by His effectual Grace.
So, Beloved, we must never fall into the delusion that the purposes of
God set aside the use of means. I have heard thoughtless or critical
talkers say, "If God works out His purposes, then there is no need for
preaching or any other means." Ah, simpleton that you are, if we teach
you that God works out His purposes by means, how crazy must you be to
charge us with thinking lightly of the means! If God accomplishes His
eternal purposes by preaching, then the more need for preaching! And
the more encouragement in it, for what were the use of preaching if God
had not purposed to bless it? What were the use of plowing and sowing
if God had not predestinated a harvest by such means?
We do not believe in a decree which ordains effects without causes–the
ordinance of God is comprehensive, and takes in all
things–instrumentality is as much in the decree as is the result of
such instrumentality. God, who determined to save, determined also to
save by means–He determined to save no man without faith, and to give
no man faith except through the knowledge of the Truth. The means are
as much in the decree as in the result, and in using the means we hope
to see the result following according to the will of God.
The Apostles who were sent to the householder afford us a few
instructive lessons. Mark carefully that all the disciples were quite
willing to go. You observe it is said, "His disciples said unto Him,
Where will You that we go and prepare that You may eat the Passover?"
So every Christian should be anxious and willing to win souls to
God–as well the Sisters as the Brothers! As well the weak as the
strong! As well the babes as the full-grown men–we should all stand
prepared to evangelize the world, and all be anxious to have our
Master's blessing upon our work! Let everyone here this morning who
knows Christ in his heart, be saying, "Lord, what will You have me to
do?" Let us each be in the spirit of Isaiah when he cried "Here am I;
send me!"
At the same time, the Master did not employ the whole of the 12 in this
case, but preferred to send Peter and John. So in the conversion of His
people, He more frequently blesses His chosen servants–His ministers
of Truth–these turn many to righteousness and bring many captives to
the Captain. He chooses His Peters and his Johns who have had the most
familiar acquaintance with Himself and are best adapted to deliver His
gracious message. And upon these He puts
special honor, thus manifesting His Sovereignty in the distribution of
both gifts and Graces. Let every man who seeks to preach the Gospel
learn to do his Lord's work in the style of Peter and John who went not
without being sent and commissioned.
No man has any right to aspire to the Christian pastorate without a
call from the Most High. There must come to us a setting apart, an
ordination not of man, but by the Eternal Spirit making us to be
vessels of mercy unto the nations. When we obtain this anointing and
appointment, we must take care that we go about our work in our
Master's way. These men were not to go blundering into the city,
hurrying to knock at the first door they might hit upon! They must look
out for the man with the water pot, and follow him. I think I see them.
How anxiously they look around! And when they see the man they ask no
questions of him–that was not in the command–they follow blindly
where he leads.
I mark the holy joy in their faces as they see the water carrier stop
at a door and put down his load! How confidently they enter the house
and enquire for the landlord! The Master has given them the sign, they
see the countersign and feel that all is well. The story reminds you of
Eleazar, the servant of Abraham, when seeking a wife for Isaac. He,
too, had an appointed sign–the damsel shall say, "Drink, and I will
give your camels drink also." And lo, Rebekah came, and just what he
had asked she might do, she did! And then the man lifted up his heart
to God and blessed the God of his Master Abraham for giving him good
speed on his errand.
If we would seek souls we must follow the indications of God's will! We
must be like the handmaidens whose eyes watch their mistresses. We must
be anxious to detect the first sign of Divine Grace, to observe the
kindling of the newborn life in the awakened soul, to discover the
first incomings of the Divine light into the thick darkness of the
natural heart. And then we must follow our Master's will–not inventing
this clap-trap, and that excitement as new methods of revival, not
fashioning new gospels of our own–but keeping close to the all-perfect
Gospel of our blessed God! We must preach the Truth of God simply after
the Apostolic precedent, believing that in this way, and in this way
only, we may expect to see the revival which we seek. The Master's word
of power comes to men, then, by instrumentality.
Dear Hearers, you who are not converted, never neglect the means of
Divine Grace, because it is through the means that God's blessing will
be most likely to come to you. "Being in the way, the Lord met with
me." I have heard of a young lad who was observed to be especially
attentive to the sermon, and when he was asked the reason, he said,
"Because I believe that if there is anything likely to do me good,
Satan is sure to prevent my hearing it if possible, and therefore I
listen with all my heart in the hope that I may hear to my soul's
profit." You will not listen long in vain, if you listen so.
In the pools of the Gospel, men mostly catch what they fish for, and if
you come to hear the Word desiring salvation, you will, I trust, soon
obtain it. If you resort to the place of worship merely to pass the
time away, or to hear a popular preacher, you cannot expect a blessing
from God. But if you come here breathing the prayer, "Lord, meet with
me. Jesus, save me today," I do not doubt that whoever the preacher may
be, God will visit you through him and hear your prayer.
In the third place, although we are now speaking of Christ's effectual
power, yet the man's will was consulted. Peter and John said to him,
"The Master says, Where is the guest chamber?" They did not push
themselves into the guest chamber and say to the owner, "We take
possession of this parlor in the Master's name whether you like it or
not. We have come here, and we mean to stop here. Our Master sent us,
and we shall not go away." Nothing of the kind! The man's chamber was
his own, and the Lord Jesus Christ respects the man's household rights
by calling him "the good man of the house"–the master, the proprietor,
the landlord of it.
So it is in conversion. Men are brought to God by the effectual power
of Divine Grace, but Grace never violates, though it subdues, the human
will. They make a great mistake who think that God treats men as if
they were logs–God knows they are not logs, and never treats them so.
He has made them in His own image, to be free, intelligent agents and
He acts upon them as free agents. It is difficult for some men to
understand how Grace can be effectual and almighty, and yet man can
still be a free agent. Now, if persons cannot see this, we are not
bound to give them understandings, but the two things are consistent
enough–prejudice creates the difficulty–and there is none, really.
A man may be free enough, and yet he may be so overwhelmingly persuaded
to a certain course that he cannot do otherwise. Such moral power does
not at all interfere with true liberty. If we taught that men were
saved against their wills, and that physical force was put upon them to
make them Christians, we should deserve to be denounced as talking
nonsense, or worse! But the power which we speak of is moral,
spiritual, persuasive, and operates in strict accordance with the usual
laws of mind. The Grace of God does no violence to the will, but
sweetly overcomes its obstinacy, making
it a willing captive. The force that we speak of at any time when we
speak of the power of Divine Grace, must be understood by you all to be
a force in consistency with the original constitution of manhood. And
evermore, although our Lord works upon men according to His own will,
yet He always so works upon them as thinking, judging, willing men, and
not as substances which are to be hammered, broken, or twisted by brute
force.
My Hearers, you must not expect that you will be lugged into Heaven by
the ears, or whirled into salvation by the hair of your heads! If you
are ever saved, the heart must be changed, and your whole being must
freely consent to the rule of Grace. If you are ever born again, you
will be made willing in the day of God's power. His Grace will come to
you to remove your prejudices, to overcome your obstinacy, and to make
you willingly obedient to the Divine sway. How anxiously I wish that
you had such a will this morning! May the Lord bow your will by the
Divine power of His love, and may you say today, "Lord, I will to be
saved. I am willing to renounce sin and lay hold on eternal life." You
shall never find God's will behind yours. Where He gives a willing
mind, think it to be the indication of His own merciful willingness.
When Grace has brought you to be willing to accept Christ, then be not
afraid, but believe at once!
But now, in the next place, although his will was consulted, yet,
through a mysterious power exerted by our Lord, the householder raised
no question but at once cheerfully and joyfully opened his guest
chamber. He was not compelled to give up his upper room, but yet he did
it as surely as if force had been used. We do not observe the slightest
hesitation. He acted as if he had said, "Come in, and welcome. I owe
too much to your Master to refuse." Perhaps this man had seen his child
raised to life. Perhaps he had been a leper, and been healed. Perhaps
he had been lame and been restored. At any rate, he was a friend of
Christ.
Who he was, and what he was, we do not know, but he joyfully accepted
the honor which the Redeemer proposed to confer upon him. By this shall
we know, today, who are the Lord's chosen and who are not. For when the
Gospel comes to some, they fight against it and will not have it. But
where men receive it, welcoming it, and blessing God that it has come
to them, this is a sure indication that there is a secret work going on
in the soul and that God has chosen them unto eternal life. Are you
willing, dear Hearer, to receive Christ? Are you this day content to
take Him and hold Him to be your All in All? Then there is no
difficulty in the way–you may have Him–His own power is working with
you, making you willing, and the invitation is, "Whoever will, let him
take of the water of life freely."
As for this man, I may say in conclusion that he had the unspeakable
honor of entertaining Christ in his upper room at the last supper at
which our Savior sat before His death! And, O Brethren, if you and I
receive Christ into our hearts, what an honor to entertain the Son of
God this side the stars! The Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him! All
the glories of Paradise are too little for the splendor of His Person
and the dignity of His merits, and yet He condescends to find a house
within our narrow hearts!
We are not worthy that He should come under our roof, but what an
unutterable privilege when He condescends to enter, for then He makes a
feast and causes our souls to feast with Him upon such royal dainties
as Solomon, in all his glory, could not spread! We sit at a banquet
where the viands are immortal, and give immortality to those who feed
on them. If you have ever feasted with the Well-Beloved, I am sure you
will wish the festival would never break up. You will long for the time
when you may eat the bread of Heaven in Heaven, and drink the wine of
the kingdom new in Glory and go no more out, but abide with the Father
world without end. Happy, thrice happy is the man who entertains the
angels' Lord.
Thus have I outlined the story of effectual Grace. Christ's Grace comes
to us while we are yet dead in sin–we are called by it.
Instrumentality is used, yet the secret power of God does it all, and
as a result of it, we, by entertaining the Savior, are greatly honored
and eminently blessed. Now, is there not here, for Believers, a theme
for earnest praise? Brethren, if Christ has entered into your hearts
and mine, and that entrance was effected wholly through His Grace, let
us magnify Him exceedingly!–
" 'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly forced us in,
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin."
Let us extol the amazing love which has worked in us so mightily to
redeem us from our natural hardness of heart! Let those refuse to sing
who have never known their obligations to Sovereign Grace! But those of
us who feel our debt must praise the lavish hand which has dealt so
bountifully with us!
And ought not this, moreover, to encourage every worker for God?
Brethren, if the Master can thus find a banqueting house when He seems
to be altogether destitute, and find it with but a word, let us never
despair of the salvation of any man! Let us go forth to our labor for
souls believing that the Lord will still find Himself a lodging within
men's hearts! What if nine out of 10 of the unconverted here should
say, "We will not admit the Savior," yet there is a remnant according
to the election of Grace who will welcome Him! We may be content to be
rebuffed with a 100 negatives if but one soul is obedient to our
message!
If we had to preach to thousands year after year, and never rescued but
one soul, that one soul would be a full reward for all our labor, for a
soul is of countless price! Let us be of good courage, the Master may
give us all our hearers as our hire if He wills to do so! He can subdue
the most hard heart with a word, and make our ministry, which has been
barren up to this moment, suddenly become fruitful to His glory! God
grant that many this day may learn what effectual Grace is, and Christ
shall have all the praise.
II. During the second part of our discourse we shall regard the
question of the text as the AFFECTIONATE ENQUIRY OF THE LORD'S
SERVANTS. We have not, this morning, any verbal direction as to any
special person in this house. I am not told to speak especially to that
young man, or to yonder young woman. I am not directed to address the
appeals of the Gospel to those who may be sitting in this area, or to
those in the galleries. I am not at all directed, as were Peter and
John–still the directions to the Gospel-preacher are very sufficient
and plain.
Here they are, "Go you into all the world, and preach the Gospel to
every creature." I am not called to preach to the elect alone–I do not
know them. I know that my message will be of no service to any but the
chosen, but, in order that it may come to these, it is our work to
address it to all. We cast the net into the sea and the Lord sends us
what fish He wills. To one and all, therefore, of you who have not
known Christ, I have this question to ask–"The Master says, Where is
the guest chamber?"
I will explain the question first. Christ Jesus would have
entertainment in the human heart. He says, "Where is the heart in which
I may dwell? Where is the soul that is ready, this morning, to open its
gates that I may enter in and dwell there?" Now, observe that I am not
asking you the question, "Where is Christ?" for your answer would be a
very distressing one–you have not found Him! There are, I hope, many
scores and hundreds here who have admitted Him into the inner chamber
of their spirits, and are now enjoying fellowship with Him. But to you
unconverted ones I put no question as to that matter, for you are
strangers to communion with Jesus.
Nor am I asking, "Where is there a feast for the Master? Where will He
find a festival of virtue and good works?" No, but, "Where is there
room for Him?" He will bring the feast–the chamber is all He asks.
Christ asks nothing good from you–he only asks the empty room in which
He may spread the good things which He will bring with Himself. The
Master asks you not to prepare the feast, for you are penniless in your
natural estate. You have absolutely nothing upon which He can feed, for
you have not even food for your own soul! And you have spent your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies
not. He asks an empty chamber–this is all. Room for the Savior! Room
for the Savior! Room for the Savior to enter and dwell!
It is not your virtues, your excellencies, nor anything good of you
that He asks for, but simply the empty room in which you are willing to
entertain Him. The question is, simply and alone, "Where is the guest
chamber?" Not, Where is the guest chamber that is sumptuously decorated
and made fit for the great King? Not, Where is the chamber that is
glittering with gilded panels and pavements of mosaic? Jesus seeks no
lofty chamber in which to lodge! No, if there is one of you that has a
heart lofty and proud, Christ will not come to you–for all the
splendor of your pretended goodness are faded and stained in His sight.
He dwells not with the proud, nor with the great.
But if you have a broken heart and a contrite spirit, "to this man will
I look, and with this man will I dwell, says the Lord." Are you guilty?
Well, that need not keep the sin-atoning Priest away. Is the guest
chamber of your heart all soiled and foul? Is it full of evils? Jesus
Christ does not enquire concerning that! He only asks you if you are
willing that He should come in and dwell there, and if you say, "Yes,"
it will be His business to cleanse the chamber and fit it for Himself.
Only, "Where is a guest chamber?" Is there a heart here, this morning,
that is open to Jesus? Is there a man or woman who has room for the
Lord of Glory?
Still further explaining the question, let me remark that some offer
Christ a room which He cannot accept as a guest chamber. Yes, they will
receive Christ into their heads, they have no objection to believe the
Truths taught in the Bible
concerning Him with a notional faith. My Lord will not eat the Passover
there. No, you may be very orthodox, indeed, and exceedingly sound in
doctrine, but when Jesus comes into the house He will have the best
parlor, namely, the heart. Not here in the cold attic of the brain, but
there in the warm parlor of the heart–there must Jesus dwell! Are you
willing this day to have Christ to be your Lord and Savior?
Soul! Soul, are you willing to trust Christ with your eternal
interests? Are you willing, now, to hang upon Him as the vessel hangs
upon the nail, having no other dependence? Are you willing to become
His servant, to do what He bids you? Are you willing to be His friend,
to find your best solace in fellowship with Him? Are you willing now,
all guilty and defiled as you are, to accept His righteousness as your
righteousness, and His blood as your cleansing? Does your mind bring
out the keys of the heart's castle and offer them to the King, and do
you say, "Come in, my Lord, come in! I have too long stood out against
You and resisted all the invitations of Your Grace, but now lift up
your heads, O you gates, and be you lift up, you doors of my spirit,
that the King of Glory may come in"?
That is all I ask of you. No merits am I sent to seek after! Nothing
good am I bid to seek in you! Only if you are willing and obedient, you
shall eat the good of this land. If you are willing to trust Him, then
I have found out the man with whom Christ is predestinated to dwell!
God has given the will–He will surely work the way. He has made you
cheerfully to be His host–He is equally willing to be your guest.
Where is the guest chamber? I cannot very well come round to all of you
and take you by the hand and say, "Is there a guest chamber, my Friend,
in your heart?"–it might take too long a time to pass from pew to pew
to put to you the question, but I do desire to put it (and to press it
very earnestly) to each one, "The Master says, Where is the guest
chamber?"
Did you notice, when I read the passage in Luke just now, that it ran a
little differently from what it does in Mark?–"The Master says unto
you, Where is the guest chamber?" I trust He says that to some of you
in the singular, and with singular power. The Master says to you, this
morning, this day of Grace, this hour of love which you have been
spared to see, though you might well have been cut down in your
sins–the Master says unto you, "Mary, John, Where is the guest
chamber?" Take my advice and give a speedy affirmative answer to that
question, and may this be the day when Jesus shall enter in triumph
into your soul!
I will tell you in a minute or two why it is that I feel earnest to
press this question, "The Master says, Where is the guest chamber?" I
press it, first, for His sake–yes, all His true servants long to get
Him entertainment in human hearts. Sometimes I have thought upon my own
ministry, and I have said, "Yes, during the time in which I have been
pastor of the Church, we have carried out many great works. We have
built a vast house for prayer, erected houses for alms-women,
orphanages for the young and carried on the college. But what would all
this be if these were the only results of gathering this people
together, and preaching to them from Sunday to Sunday? The only success
that is worth having is the winning of souls! If we do not see souls
brought to Christ to bow at His feet, and own Him as King, we go back
to our closet, crying, "Who has believed our report, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed?"
Christ must be crowned in men's hearts or we pine with grief! We cannot
be satisfied to see Him stand in the street, His head wet with dew, and
His locks with the drops of the night–we must have the Son of God
entertained, for oh, it grieves us even unto brokenness of heart–it
troubles us exceedingly that He should be used so ill who loved us so
well! That He should be rejected who gave up Heaven and all its glories
that He might redeem us from going down to Hell! By the wounds of
Christ, and by the bloody sweat that covered Him when He redeemed us
from our sins, we do beseech you listen to this voice, "Where is the
guest chamber?" and reply, "Lord, that guest chamber is in my soul
today."
We press this upon you also for our own sake. We are afraid lest we
shall be found unprofitable servants. If you can be won to Christ, so
much the more joy and rejoicing to us, for what is our crown of
rejoicing? Is it not you, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ? But most
of all, we press this upon you for your own soul's sake. O Beloved, if
you do but entertain Christ, you will have entertained Heaven! You will
be no losers by loving Christ, but unspeakable gainers! Trust in Jesus
and your sins are forgiven you, a bright future is secured and the vile
past is blotted out! Get Christ, and if you are ever so poor, or ever
so full of pain, yet are you to be envied!
But oh, if you live and die without Christ, we scarcely dare to picture
the scene around your dying bed– imagination refuses to lift the
curtain and to view your soul in a disembodied state driven forever
from hope! We recollect that dreadful text, "These shall go away into
everlasting punishment." We cannot bear it that you should know the
eternity of God's wrath! That you should have to feel the perpetual
flame of the Divine anger! Oh, for your own sake, if
you have any true self-love and would be delivered from eternal misery,
open wide your heart that Jesus Christ may enter
in!
Do you still ask, "But what do you mean by 'Where is the guest
chamber?' " I will answer it yet again. Jesus Christ deserves from you
a simple, personal, immediate, undivided faith in Himself. Wherever
Christ comes, He comes to be trusted–you must trust Him
wholly–rejecting all confidences of your own. Trust Him at this moment
and do not postpone or put off faith to a more convenient season. If
Jesus Christ is to be the Guest in the guest chamber of your heart, you
must now give yourself up wholly to Him, for–
"Know, nor of the terms complain, To reign, and with no partial sway–
Where Jesus comes, He comes to reign, Lusts must be slain that
disobey."
If you trust Christ, you must then obey Christ. In the power of the
Spirit sin will have to be cast out, for Christ will not eat the
Passover with sin reigning in the chamber. All the lusts of the flesh
must be renounced. He will make you to renounce them, for Christ will
not feast with you while you enjoy the dainties of sin. Christ will
have no fellowship with Belial. He will not sit at the same table as
the devil. Are you willing now? It is all I ask. Has His Spirit made
you willing by His power to give up favorite sins, to renounce secret
lusts, to be molded and fashioned by the Divine hand, and made to be
vessels fit for Divine use? Are you willing to have Christ for your
Master and your Savior?
Where, where is the guest chamber? My Master, You know! Would God some
voice would say, "Here it is." For, remember (and then I have done), if
you entertain not Christ now, the day will come when you will wish you
had, but wish in vain! In the day you shall see Him upon His Throne and
He shall say to you, "You rejected Me, and now I reject you. You heard
the Gospel–you were invited, you were pleaded with–but you had no ear
to all My invitations." In that day, when He has no ear for you, but
when He deals out the thunderbolts of His just anger, you will wish
that you had hearkened to Him!
Oh, I would to God I could make men look upon their Sabbaths and the
sermons they hear as they will look upon them another day. How many
there are today wringing their hands in torment, and crying, "O that we
could hear the Gospel again! O for another invitation to come to
Christ! But it is past now. The hour of mercy is struck, and we have
come into the eternity of vengeance where there are no acts of pardon
passed, and no hopes held out for souls to escape from their
everlasting misery!" O be wise, now! "Today, if you will hear His
voice, harden not your hearts." Today, while yet His Spirit pleads with
men, make your souls guest chambers for Him, and, if you admit Him now,
you will now rejoice exceedingly in that day when He comes in His
glory!
It will be no mean joy to the Believer to say, when He sees His Lord in
the clouds of Heaven, "By His effectual Grace I have known Him before.
I received Him into my heart when men spoke evil of Him–when He was
rejected, I accepted him. When He walked through the streets, and they
were miry, and He was clothed in rags, I took Him in. He was hungry and
I fed Him. He was sick and in prison, and I visited Him, and ministered
to Him."
Oh, it will be a joy unspeakable for the soul to hear Him say,
"Inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these My Brethren, you
did it unto Me. You have been with Me in My temptations, you shall be
with Me in My glory. You shared My tribulations and humiliations, and
now you shall partake in all My triumphs. You shall sit on My right
hand forever and ever." Be this the portion of every person within
these walls, and may God be glorified in each one of us, not in His
justice, but in His mercy, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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The Great Mystery of Godliness
A sermon