Delivered on Lord's Day Morning, 3rd, 1872, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
'Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek,
and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.''Matthew 21:5.
IT IS NOT OUR INTENTION to preach alone from this verse, but from the
combined narrative of our Savior's triumphant entry into the city of
Jerusalem, as contained in the four evangelists.
When our Lord was here on earth, he was a humble man before his foes, a
weary man and full of woes, and only now and then did some glimpses of
his native royalty burst forth from him; he had now and then a day in
which his regal rights were assumed and his royal position was claimed.
He is gone from us now as to his actual presence, but he is with us
spiritually, and his spiritual presence here is not unlike what his
bodily presence was in the days of his flesh. For the most part, the
glory of his gospel presence is unobserved, except among his own
disciples, and when perceived by others he is still despised and
rejected of men. He moves up and down among our assemblies, hearing our
prayers and accepting our praises, but still his honor as a prince lies
concealed from the eyes of the many who know him not as king by right
divine. Yet, as in those days, he had his times of clearer display and
his hours of partial manifestation, even so he has now. He gives to his
church her glory periods, her days of thanksgiving, her court days, and
her times of exultation; and I pray God that he may grant such times as
these to his church now, that in the midst of these dull years he may
gird his sword upon his thigh, and ride forth gloriously in his
majesty. Oh, that the streets of his Jerusalem could be gladdened by
the holy pomp and sacred splendor of his gracious and triumphal
presence, beloved, the world doth well to salute righteous kings with
all homage; our nation doth well to honor their well-beloved queen,
whom may God long preserve! but shall Christ the King of kings be
without his homage? I must confess I am jealous for him, jealous with a
burning jealousy that the streets should blaze with splendor for the
Queen of Britain, and that so little should be done in honor of the
King immortal, eternal. Lo, the shouts of the multitude rend the skies
for earthly princes, and I grudge them not; but, should there be no
upliftings of joyful voices for the Prince of Peace? Why this lethargy
in his church? Why such slender zeal for the Chief among, ten thousand?
Why should not earth and heaven ring with His praises? If I might say
so much as a sentence to-day that should lead the tribes to speak a
word to bring the King back again to his own; if I might excite in any
soul a fervent desire that Christ's kingdom should more speedily come,
and his throne should be exalted more on high in the midst of his
people, I should be thrice happy. To that end shall I endeavor to speak
this day. Oh, for the anointing of the Holy Ghost to aid me therein.
Our points of consideration this morning will he, first, that Christ
hath even now his glorious days among men; and secondly, that when
those glorious days come honors are paid to him similar to those
described by the evangelists on the occasion of his entrance into
Jerusalem. In the third place I shall remind you that he is wont on
such occasions to perform the same mighty deeds; and in the close of
our discourse we shall have to observe that even on those brilliant
occasions, 'all is not gold that glitters.'
I. First, then, here is a very pleasant consideration, that THE LORD
JESUS HAS, EVEN NOW, BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS DAYS OF SPECIAL MANIFESTATION
IN HIS CHURCH. He has ridden into his Jerusalem again and again in the
history of the gospel. We call these times revivals; and in yet more
scriptural language they are known as 'times of refreshing from the
presence of the Lord.' They usually occur'(and I shall try to follow
the narrative in all the remarks I make), they usually occur after the
Lord has visited his beloved and quickened them. He came into Jerusalem
after he had raised Lazarus from the dead. His omnipotent voice had
said, 'Lazarus, come forth!' and Lazarus came forth, and the grave
clothes were loosed from him; then and for that cause did the people
come to meet our Lord with palm branches. First doth the Lord speak to
his Church and he saith to her, 'Come forth out of the grave of thy
sloth and thine indifference.' He saith, 'Loose her, take away the
bands of her sloth and her conventionalism, and set her free,' and then
when he hath restored among his church a people whom he loves, and
granted to them renewed vigor of spiritual life in the power of his
resurrection, then it is that the sign of the glory of the Son of Man
is revealed. I despair, beloved, of any revival being of the slightest
value which does not begin with the church of God. It never can
originate outside and work into the interior, this is not the rule of
spiritual life; it must commence with the spiritual in the midst of the
church, it must next quicken the mass of the discipleship, and then it
shall spread to those who are without, and in ever widening circles its
power shall be felt. But, revival must begin at home. Hear ye this ye
professors, and take heed lest ye hinder Christ of his glory. Hear this
ye who profess to be members of his church, and beware lest ye be like
the damp wood which will not kindle, and therefore no fire burneth
among the sons of men. Oh, let not the Well-beloved find his worst
hindrances in his own household; let not the glory of Christ be
obscured most by those who stand nearest to him, and ought therefore to
be most jealous for his holy name. Yet so I fear full often it is; the
children Ephraim being armed and carrying bows turn back in the day of
battle, and so Israel's God is dishonored. Lazarus must arise; our
death must be shaken off, and then shall the Lord Jesus greatly
triumph.
The Lord was pleased to ride in state when his disciples were obedient
to him. Note well their implicit obedience, for it is a sure prophecy
of glorious displays in the church. He said to two of his disciples,
'Go,' and they went; and others of them having his commission performed
their errands without hesitation. Alas! I fear the disobedience of the
church often hinders the advance of the gospel. The disciples do not at
this day, as they did then, the things which Jesus commanded them. One
of them saith, 'I will follow Paul, another I will follow Cephas''would
God we laid aside all party leadership, and were only led by the master
himself! One saith, 'This institution is venerable if it be not
scriptural,' and another saith, 'I believe this ritual to be impressive
and instructive, even if it be not ordained of God;' and so men excuse
their will-worship. Oh, that we could lay all these things aside, and
recognize that the law of the house is the law which the Master makes,
and not the law which the servant may invent. It is time that we laid
our perverse likes and our dislikes, our whims and our fancies, our
opinions and even our more sober judgments, at the foot of him who is
the only King of Zion; for be assured of this, his sacred majesty will
not manifest its glory to disobedient disciples, except it be in a way
of terror. Take heed, then, O ye who stand in his courts by your
profession, and are his servants in name, that ye labor to do his will
on earth as it is done in heaven, cheerfully, speedily, exactly, and
with reverence to his every word, for otherwise he will veil his glory,
and do but few mighty works among you.
Another indication of our Lord giving us glory days will be found in
the prompt and cheerful sacrifice which his disciples will make. On the
day of his entrance into Jerusalem, the owner of the ass and its colt
cheerfully surrendered them when he heard that the Lord had need of
them: the disciples who brought the ass did not spare their own
contributions, for they took their garments and piled them on the ass;
and others would not be debarred from their share of homage, for they
spread their garments in the way, counting it their greatest honor to
be bare-backed for Christ. All hands contributed, for all hearts were
warm. The willing offerings of the people carpeted the road for the Son
of David when he went through his metropolis to his cathedral. None
appeared before him empty; there was no withholding on that day. A
generous spirit had seized upon all his followers, and mark this word,
for there is more of solemn truth in it than some will think, Christ
Jesus hath often taken away the power of his Spirit from the church
because of the covetousness of many professors, who have grudged the
cause of God what they ought spontaneously and cheerfully to have
offered. They have said of sacrifice to the Lord, 'what a weariness it
is!' They have robbed God in tithes and in offerings. They have counted
the free-will offering to be a tax, when they ought to have considered
it to be an honor and a privilege to be allowed to give to the Lord's
cause. God has been insulted by miserly gifts and penurious
contributions. What they would have been ashamed to offer to the
meanest among princes they have presented to the Lord. How often have I
blushed as I have heard in prayer that text, 'Prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it.' Why have you blushed? say you. Because seldom or never do
I hear that text quoted correctly, its point is dexterously turned
aside. What is the proof which the Lord puts before his people in that
text? How doth he say, 'Prove me now?' By your prayers? No. By your
good works? No. But the text is, 'Bring ye all the tithes into the
store-house that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,' and so on. That is the peculiar
test to which God brings his people, and in that test, alas, how many
fail therein. They buy him no sweet cane with money, neither is he
filled with their sacrifices. They will give their words in plenty,
their lip homage in floods, but if it, comes to their substance they
will have none of it. How few Christians have ever read this text and
understood it, 'Sell what thou hast and give alms.' Their almsgiving
has never come to that; they have given but the cheese parings and the
candle ends to Christ; they never knew they had given them, they made
no sacrifice to do so. Many do not give to Jesus so much in a year as
it costs to clean their shoes. Christ's cause costs them not half the
hire of the most menial servant in their kitchens. Is not this a crying
evil, to be answered for by those who are guilty of it? How can we
expect the kingdom to come and the cause of Christ to grow while in
these days of unreal profession Christ's followers deny him his due,
and straiten the exchequer of his church. If no garments strew the
road, and no man gives up his colt, how shall the prince celebrate a
triumph?
But we must pass on from that; those three things are, however, very
significant signs of Christ's glory days; a quickened people, an
obedient discipleship, and a general self-sacrifice. Let us see these,
and we shall be sure that one of Christ's glory days has come.
Furthermore, the glory of Christ is seen when Jesus Christ is publicly
proclaimed as King. Evermore, beyond doubt, we acknowledge Christ to be
King in the church; I hope all believers are sound upon that point: but
in what holes and corners doth the church whisper out the truth, which
he hath told us in the closet. Years ago, many of the churches were
quite content to hide their light under any bushel, meeting in the
queerest courts, and lanes, and alleys, where nobody but an angel and
themselves could ever find them out. This content with obscurity is
contrary to the genius of the gospel; let moles and bats seek out the
hidden places and dwell therein; the children of light are not ashamed,
but make it their glory that these things are not done in a corner. It
is a grand day for the kingdom of Christ when the King is proclaimed in
the streets, when the great trumpet is sounded, when the disciples
stand in the highways, and the voice of wisdom is lifted up in the
chief places of concourse, at the going in of the gates. Then are
things well ordered when Zion lifts up her voice, yea, lifts it up with
strength, and saith unto the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God.' Our
commission as preachers is to every creature, and, therefore, the more
public the teaching of the gospel the better. Truly, there was grace in
the earth when in popish times God was loved by men in quiet, and when
Christ was worshipped by little knots in secret; but that was a grander
day when Luther stood out in the open air and said that Christ was
King, and salvation was by his blood. Then, when all over Europe the
crowds began to gather in the fields, or beneath the gospel oak, or in
the public squares, to listen to the men who not in a corner, not with
bated breath, but aloud and boldly, before them all declared that
antichrist must come to an end and that the Lord Jesus Christ must be
exalted, and faith in him must be declared to be the salvation of the
sons of men, oh, it was then that Christ and his church behests a
glorious day. Blessed be God for the Reformation, but we must not rest
in faded laurels, we need new victories. We desire the blessings of the
gospel to be extended; and we ought to pray that the gospel may have
free course and be glorified, that every street may ring with its
charming music, that every alley and court may brighten with salvation,
ay, and that not a house in London may he left without knowing that
'Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' It is a notable
day when in the great gatherings of the people the Lord Jesus is
declared to be the Lord of all.
On such days, one part of the glory consists in many going forth to
meet Christ. I wish I might live to see the facts of the gospel
narrative fulfilled spiritually before our eyes. The people in
Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Jesus,
glad that he was coming into the city, willing to swell the pomp of his
entrance; and even thus God moves often on bright days upon the mass of
the people making them willing to receive the gospel. There are times
when the preacher feels that he is sowing on stony ground, but on other
days when God's Spirit is abroad, the soil seems broken up, friable,
ready to receive the grain, and the seed suddenly springs up, and a
speedy harvest is produced. Pray, my brethren, that God would move our
fellow countrymen to go forth to meet King Jesus. Pray that there may
come a great cave of religious thought over the minds of the people.
God can cause it; he has the keys of human hearts, and can secretly
guide them according to his will. Pray that there may be a great
religious movement among the people, for then we may look for one of
the days of the Son of Man, as the days of heaven upon earth.
Then, too, as another sign, we shall see enthusiasm prevailing on all
sides. When Christ rode through Jerusalem, it was not possible for men
to be cold at the sight of his majesty. Those who hated burned with
malignity, but those who loved him were full of flaming affection
towards him. It is one speciality of Christ's character that men can
scarcely be indifferent in his presence; he that is not with him is
against him. What enthusiasm there was in the crowd that day when the
city rang again. The children climbed the trees and threw down the
branches; their parents waved them in triumph and then cast them in the
roadway that the Savior might ride over them. The shouts were loud and
long, the day was full of gladness to the many. Ah, and it is a mark of
Christ's presence when the church becomes enthusiastic. We sometimes
hear complaints about revivals being too exciting, perhaps the censure
is deserved, but I would like to see a little of the fault. This age
does not generally sin in the direction of being too excited concerning
divine things. We have erred so long on the other side that, perhaps, a
little excess in the direction of fervor might not be the worst of all
calamities; at any rate, I would not fear to try it. Doubtless our
Lord's presence, like the rising of the sun scatters heat as well as
light on all sides. Oh to be scorched by that sun, to be parched with
that heat. Blessed would they be who should be guilty of too great a
love for him, convicted of too consuming a zeal for the glory. I would
gladly die of that heavenly malady.
On that triumphal day, beloved brethren, where there was no enthusiasm,
there was inquiry, for all the city was moved, saying, 'Who is this?'
When our Lord grants revivals to his church, the congregations and the
multitude outside begin to ask, 'Wherefore this stir? what meaneth all
this? Who is this Christ, and what is his salvation?' This spirit of
inquiry is eminently desirable. It is just now a matter to be sought
for by importunate prayer. Would God that all this vast metropolis were
stirred by the inquiry, 'Who is this?' and that everywhere men said,
'What is this gospel about which so much noise is made?' May the Lord
in his mercy move men's hearts as the trees of the wood are shaken with
the wind. This is that shaking which the prophet saw in the valley of
vision when bone came together to its bone, before the breath of the
Spirit made the slain to live. Be instant day and night O ye chosen men
of God, and pray that like Nineveh in the days of Jonah this whole city
may be moved by the preaching of the word.
The strange thing about the matter was that when Jesus entered
Jerusalem, all his enemies were quiet. He rode publicly through the
streets where Herod and Pilate held their courts, yet they did not
attempt to molest him. The Romans were very jealous of their authority,
they were always prompt to seize upon any person who pretended to be a
king, and yet not a solitary pretorian guard laid his rough hand upon
the King of the Jews, neither did Herod's men of war appear upon the
scene. It does not appear that any information was carried to head
quarters concerning this singular procession, neither was it laid to
the Lord's charge by his enemies on his trial. As for the scribes and
Pharisees, they did no more than bark a little, but bite they could
not, for they feared the people. That day every foeman cowered down
before the Lord, like dogs when a lion roareth. When he entered the
temple he was unattended by armed followers, he took with him no sword,
but simply a scourge made of small curds, and yet with that slight
weapon he chased out the buyers and sellers, overturning their tables,
and overthrowing the seats of them that sold doves; and yet it does not
appear that any resistance was made to him; he was Lord of the hour.
Against him durst not a dog move his tongue; in the presence of the
King of Zion the enemy was as still as a stone till he and his people
had passed through the city, and the day of the royal pomp was over. In
like manner it is remarkable that, in times when the Lord is blessing
his church, he restrains the wrath of his enemies or causes it to
praise him. He hath power to make the proudest humble themselves, and
the most stout-hearted bow their necks, and he uses that power to the
glory of his name.
While I am thus describing what the glorious days of Christ are when
they dawn upon us, surely you, my dear fellow members, are all pleading
with God and earnestly praying, 'O king of grace, Grant us one of these
royal days in this church;' and you, the members of other churches, are
crying, 'would God that Jesus would come to our town in that fashion,
and that he would rule in our church, after that manner.' Let us pray
for it unanimously and continually, and let us be of good cheer, for
Jesus loves his church and he will give her what her heart is set upon.
Let us plead with him for it, and we shall yet see the day in which the
many shall cry, 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.'
II. But, time could fail us if we lingered here, and therefore we pass
to the second head, which is this, that ON THESE GLORY DAYS OF JESUS
CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH, LIKE HONORS ARE PAID TO HIM NOW AS THEN.
And first, he is at this time as loudly praised and as greatly rejoiced
in among his people as he was then. They clapped their hands and called
him 'Blessed;' and the whole multitude of his disciples rejoiced with
an exceeding loud voice, and cried, 'Hosanna, Hosanna.' Oh, beloved, we
are dull enough when Christ is away; how can the children of the
bridechamber rejoice when the bridegroom is gone from them; but when
his Spirit comes with power into our midst how can we fast? Oh, then
our hearts rejoice, and leap along in glee like the long frozen brooks
when the soft breath of spring hath set them free. Send us but a
revival, O God, and Ready-to-halt shall leap upon his crutches, and
Much-afraid, and Fearing, and Despondency, shall sing with holy mirth.
No joy is like the joy of Christ's presence with his people. Oh, that
we might have it! Bickerings soon cease, murmurings come to an end,
complaints of one another, and of God's providence are all hushed; the
sense that Jesus Christ is with his people drowns every note of sorrow,
and every heart is tuned to loudest notes of thankfulness. O thou, my
soul, bless God the Lord, and all that in me is be stirred up, his holy
name to magnify and bless, on that auspicious day, when the power of
Jesus Christ is revealed in the city of his choice. It is a gladsome
time, a time of singing, a time of shouting, a time of exultation, and
of intense delight when we go forth to meet our King Solomon to crown
him anew. I need not say to you, should he favor us with such a
delightful period, let us rejoice and be glad in him, for you would be
sure to do it. When the Lord turns again the captivity of Sion, then is
our mouth filled with singing and our tongue with laughter.
The point that I shall dwell upon here would be that Christ's peculiar
honor lay not only in the joy and rejoicing which flowed around him,
but in the multitude who felt the contagion of that joy. It was said by
those who saw the pageant of last week that the great sight of all was
the multitude; the thing to look at and to wonder at was the crowd the
dense, far-reaching, eager, surging crowd. And, surely, in Christ's
glory days the thing which brings him much honor is the crowd, the
multitude; for when he makes bare his arm, and his gospel is preached
with power, the multitude are sure to listen to his gospel, and men
say, 'Behold the whole world is gone after him.' It may seem strange
and unaccountable, but so it is, that the very gospel which is opposed
by men has a strange attraction for their ears, they cannot help
hearing it; and though to this day there is an opposition in the human
heart to the truth as it is in Jesus, yet is it a remarkable fact that
men love to hearken to it. The numerical strength of Christ's church
lies still in the multitude; the common people hear him gladly. Though
it was known that Christ was coming, the princes did not go to meet
him, the priests did not go to meet him; there were no long files of
Jewish nobility to greet their King; but the people went in their
thousands, the masses cheered him. I dare say the Pharisees called them
the mob, the rabble, the unwashed. Yes, and let it stand for fact,
'this man receiveth sinners;' he is the people's King, the helper of
the poor and needy. The poor of this world have been rich in faith in
him. In the old days of persecution, and of burning, who were the men
that played the man most nobly at the stake? Here and there a bishop
and a noble did so, but the rank and file of the heroes were from the
poor or the middle class. There was one great man, with an unworthy
right hand that recanted, and yet did well at the last; but the poor
weavers of Colchester, and the cobblers of Bow, never recanted at all,
but gloried in being made a burnt-offering for the truth. Wherever the
gospel has been mainly upheld by the great ones of the earth it has had
little success. Take, for instance, Spain and Italy, the converts of
the Reformation there nearly all belonged to the higher ranks, and ere
long its doctrines became extinct, but it lived among German peasants
and British artisans. The valiant of Israel still come from the loom,
the smithy, the plough, and the bench. Wherever the gospel entrenches
itself among the common people, the devil himself cannot destroy it: it
is then like a lion in its own forest, and none can drive it forth. The
priests and the mighty ones may uphold what cause they will, but if the
people are for King Jesus, his advocates have no need to blush. It is
this day the glory of Christ that he doth save the poor and the needy,
and that he is the prince of the multitude. 'I have exalted,' saith the
Lord, 'one chosen out of the people''Jesus is the people's Christ, the
people's man. He still hath honor out of the mouth of those whom others
despise, for he hath chosen the base things of the world and the things
that are not to bring to nought the things that are. Here was a part of
Christ's glory.
And then, observe, that, on that day it was Christ's glory that he
received all sorts of homage from all kinds of people. As I have
already said, he who had a beast that Christ might ride upon cheerfully
surrendered it: he who had no beast had at least a garment, and he gave
it; and he who was so poorly clad, that his best garment when spread in
the way might seem rather to insult than to honor the king, gave a
branch from the tree. He who could brought a palm, which probably he
had to purchase with money; but those who could not buy palm branches,
climbed the trees that were common and grew by the highway, and threw
the branches down. I suppose these were branches of olives, for they
were hard by the Mount of Olives: let the fatness of the earth honor
him! There were also branches of the figtree, for Bethphage was the
house of figs: let the sweetness of the earth honor him! Doubtless
there were branches of the cedars: let the honor and strength of the
earth adore him! There were branches of the myrtle: let all earth's
honor and victory glorify him! I do not read that Christ rejected so
much as one attempt to do him honor. He rebuked no disciple and
silenced no child. Oh, in the day when Christ is glorious all his
people try to serve him, each one brings his portion; the prince brings
much, but the peasant brings his share, and the Lord accepts them all.
No Christian when the Lord is abroad shirks his duty or forgets to
bring his sacrifice, nor doth the Lord reject so much as one honest
gift of a sincere heart.
And, on that day, oh, it was a sweet thing to notice and delightful to
remember, it will always be so when Christ is glorious, the little ones
were conspicuous. Did not the boys in the Temple cry 'Hosanna!
Hosanna!' and their throats here not hoarse half so soon as their
fathers' were. They kept up the mirth of that gladsome day'a joyful
holiday was it for them. Even thus where there is true grace working
powerfully in a church I always expect to see young converts, boys and
girls will be brought to Christ in any true revival, and where they are
not, methinks we have good reason to suspect that the movement is not
genuine, for had it been the work of the Spirit of God, the little ones
would have been suffered to come unto him as well as those of older
growth. Oh, may such honors be heaped on Christ in this Tabernacle!
Would God I could hear the little ones say, 'Hosanna!' while their
fathers and their mothers join the song. The Lord grant that the
Sabbath-school may send up a noble regiment for the King's army. Oh,
that on all sides, you men with wealth, and you men with none, you with
great gifts, and you with few, you with much time and leisure, and you
with scarce an hour to call your own, you aged men and you youngsters,
would unite in magnifying the Redeemer. Oh, that I could see you all
strewing somewhat in the way of Christ to glorify him in the midst of
his church.
III. But, I must not dwell there, though the theme is very tempting,
but notice that when Christ comes into the church HE EXECUTES THE SAME
DEEDS AS HE DID THEN.
What was the first thing he did that we observe? He was seated on the
colt, and as he rode along and heard the shouts of the people, I have
no doubt that a smile was over his face, and when he saw the little
ones in all their ardor, he looked at them with love; but, on a sudden,
just as he came where he could see Jerusalem, though it was the day of
his triumph he stopped, and all around could see that some mighty
emotion was swelling his heart to bursting, and at last the tears
coursed adown those cheeks, and he burst into this lament, 'O that thou
hadst known, even thou, in this thy day.' I know that everywhere Christ
is in the church in the power of his Spirit, compassion for souls
becomes very prominent. Christ weeps through his people's eyes, and
yearns through his children's hearts. He makes them pitiful and full of
compassion. They cannot bear it that men should be damned, it grieves
them that the day of a gracious visitation should come, and yet so many
should reject Christ. Oh, my brethren, you who live near to Christ, and
feel a sympathy with him, ask the Lord to give you heart-ache over
dying souls; ask him to make you feel an anguish because men will not
come unto him that they might have life, but will persist in committing
spiritual suicide, by putting far from them life eternal. Oh, that we
might see a holy passion for souls in the church. For that would be a
blessed sign of rich grace.
At the same time, on that very same occasion, there was conspicuous the
judgments of Christ, for his compassion did not permit him to keep back
the tidings of future punishment. He said, 'If thou hadst known, even
thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!
but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee
that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee
round, and keep thee in on every side. And shall lay thee even with the
ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee
one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation.' I have noted that in genuine revivals, the preachers of
Gods truth are not backward in preaching the threatenings, as well as
the promises. We are told that men are drawn to Christ by love, and the
statement is true; but, at the same time, 'knowing the terrors of the
Lord,' we are to persuade men, and not to keep back from them the evil
tidings. Even Christ with weeping eyes and tender heart does not
hesitate to tell Jerusalem of its coming destruction, and I believe it
is a token that Christ is in the church when those terrible things of
his are not kept back to please the popular taste; when there is no
trying to cut them down and moderate them, in order to make the wrath
to come look less terrible than it is. It must be thundered out again
and again, 'except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' It must be
told the sinner that if he goeth on in his iniquity, he shall be driven
away from hope and salvation, 'where their worm dieth not, and their
fire is not quenched.' Christ is not present in an unfaithful church,
and this is a point upon which some churches are very apt to grow
unfaithful. We must deliver the whole truth, even the dark side of it
as well as that which smiles with mercy and Christ is not present
unless it be so. The sympathy of Jesus led him, as it should lead us,
to be lovingly honest with the sons of men.
But, you notice in the reading that our Lord, when he rode through the
streets of his metropolis, went straight away to the cathedral gate,
and when he entered there he began to purge the temple. With the
scourge in his hand he smote right and left, and he overthrew the
tables of those that were changing the shekels, and he cast out the
cages of doves that were stored there for merchandise. Even thus doth
Christ do. No church can remain long impure with Jesus in her midst;
his presence brings reformation, things tolerated before become
intolerable where he is. While a church is without the Spirit of God it
will keep in its old way, it will plead precedent, it will endure
grievous abuses, it will make excuses for this, and excuses for that;
but, let the Lord once come, and out the hawkers and hucksters must go,
tables, money-bags, doves, and all. He will not have them in his house
of prayer; bag and baggage they must go when he comes in, and he only
in his truth and power must reign in the midst of his own church. I do
not believe we shall thoroughly purify any church by Acts of
Parliament, nor by reformation associations, nor by agitation, nor by
any merely human agency. No hand can grasp the scourge that can drive
out the buyers and sellers, but that hand which once was fastened to
the cross. Let the Lord do it and the work will be done, for it is not
of man, nor shall man accomplish it.
Then, when Christ had purged the church, the next thing was to heal the
sick who came to him in the temple. The place which might not be a mart
was allowed to be an hospital. So the glory days of Christ are always
notable for the great cures that he works; the sons of men receive
lasting benefits, and are relieved of grievous maladies. Eyes are
opened, understandings are enlightened. Infirmities are removed, the
lame walk. Wills are subdued; hearts are cleansed; and natures are
changed. Where Jesus comes, salvation follows with all the train of
blessings which it includes.
And, then, we find that that day his foes were all confounded. They
came to meet him with their questions, but he soon answered them; and
what did they say the one to the other? 'Perceive ye how we prevail
nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.' O master, give us to see
such times as these: our soul now longeth for them. Cause thou our
enemies to lament, and say, 'We thought we had put down these old
doctrines, but we have prevailed nothing, behold the multitude is moved
by them.' The devil thought in England years ago that the gospel light
was put out; he had lulled the Church of England and Dissenters too
into a deep sleep, and Arianism and all sorts of errors had spread all
over the land: but the Lord touched the heart of Whitefield, and
Wesley, and the godly ones; the Spirit of God came down, the multitude
heard the Gospel gladly, and many an enemy of Christ as he stood at his
window and saw the streets thronged to hear those men as they never had
been thronged before, and heard the song borne on the distant breezes
of the wide open spaces outside the towns and villages, said, 'Why,
after all, no have not put this thing down: though we fancied we had
destroyed it.' There is hope of this celestial tree; if it be cut down
it will sprout again; at the scent of water it will bud. This child is
not dead, but sleepeth. A certain vainglorious party of Pretenders to
intellect and culture tell us now that the old Puritanic faith is
nearly extinct; there are only a few of us ignorant people who now hold
the same truths as John Owen, John Bunyan, Goodwin, and Charnock; but
all the elite of the world, those who have all the 'sweetness and
light' to themselves, the thinkers, the mental gentility have all been
sensible enough to give their votes for something more suitable to the
times. In the name of God, we shall show them the difference yet, and
by his Spirit He will din their ears with the gospel ram's horn till
they and their Jericho come down in a common ruin. The evangelical
doctrine which shook Europe will shake it yet again, and England shall
yet know that the self-same truth, for which her martyrs died and for
which her Puritans fought on many a wellcontested field, shall break
the rationalism and ritualism of this land in pieces yet, and all else
that standeth in the way of the true gospel of the living God. We are
not afraid nor discouraged, but we cry mightily unto the King that we
may once more lift up a shout because of his presence, for then human
philosophy shall be ashamed, and old Rome shall know, and all the cubs
of the beast of Rome shall know, that the Lord liveth, and his
invincible truth shall win the day.
IV. Now lastly, I said that even on the occasion, when Christ came into
Jerusalem, ALL WAS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERED, and so we must not expect
it to be in any revival of religion. They said, 'Hosanna! Hosanna!
Hosanna!' till the heavens rang again, but there was an undercurrent,
there were Pharisees and men of other classes with them, grizzling and
snarling, trying there and then to devise a plan by which to destroy
the Lord, and there was Judas at that very time plotting, planning,
ready to sell his Master. However, what did that signify? The worst
thing of all was this, that those same tongues which were that day
crying 'Hosanna!''oh, shame to our humanity that we should have to
mention it!'those same tongues which cried 'Blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord,' within that self-same week said, 'crucify
him! crucify him!' I say not all, but some. It was the mob of Jerusalem
that brought him in as their King, but when they found that he would
not assume the throne, and that he spoke of a spiritual kingdom, and
not an earthly one, then they were instant with loud voices, saying,
'Let him be crucified! let him be crucified!' Expect not, therefore,
when many hearts are impressed with the gospel, that all will be
steadfast towards Christ. Do not reckon that every pious feeling will
end in genuine conversion. The florist does not expect all his slips to
become shrubs. Look ye at the trees which, in a few short days, will be
smothered with blossoms and glorious with beauty; do you expect those
blossoms all to become fruit? No gardener thinks that such a thing can
be. He understands that full many of those flowers will wither, will be
blown off in the March gales, or smitten by the evening's frost. He
looks for fruit proportionate to the blossoming, but not to a fruit
that shall be equal to the full promise of the bloom. And so, think not
ill of Christ's great days, because they seem to inexperienced eyes
greater on the surface than they are. Thank God there is a residuum of
reality, be thankful for that; but, do not be disappointed, much less
scoff, because it is not all that you had hoped it was. If some be
saved we are glad; if I had a thousand professed converts, and only a
hundred of them turned out to be genuine, I would be more grateful than
if all my converts were genuine, and there was only half a dozen of
them. Large dealers look for some losses and bad debts, and yet hope to
gain much in the long run. So long as I do but get the number of real
converts, I will forget, and my heart shall outlive, the disappointment
of having expected more. Go on; brethren, go on praying, hoping,
working, for the Lord will bless his people, the Lord will bless his
people with peace. Amen and amen.
As a very large number of friends from a distance desire occasionally
to attend the Tabernacle, but do not like to encounter the crowds at
the doors, the deacons have resolved to issue early admission tickets,
which will admit the holder before the general public, during the month
of issue. They will be purchasable at the price of one shilling, and
can be had by letter, enclosing twelve penny stamps, and one half-penny
stamp for postage, of Mr. C. Blackshaw, Tabernacle, Newington Butts.
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'Pray Without Ceasing'
A Sermon