A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 14, 1872,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"A newheart also willI give you, and a new spirit will Iput within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you an heart of flesh. And I willput My Spirit within you, and cause
you to walk in My statutes and you shall keep My judgments, and do
them." Ezekiel 36:26,27.
LUTHER has well said that the experience of the minister is the best
book in his library. I am persuaded it is so and that God often leads
His servants through peculiar states of mind, not so much for their own
benefit as for the sake of those to whom they may afterwards minister.
It is not long ago since I felt myself, when engaged in devotion, cold
and dead. And in looking into my own heart I saw no ground of
comfortable assurance as to my being a possessor of the Grace of
God–my feelings towards the great Father in Heaven were not, as far as
I could judge, those of a child–my love towards Jesus Christ for His
redemption was almost extinct.
I thought over the story of His Cross without emotion and I recalled to
my mind the history of His everlasting love without gratitude. My soul
was not, as it sometimes is, like the crystal lake which is ruffled
with every passing breath of the breeze, but like some northern sea
hardened into iron by the fierce reign of endless winter. The sublime
Truths of infinite Grace stirred not my soul. My heart sank within me
for a moment, but only for a moment, for there flashed across me this
thought–"The Holy Spirit can produce within your heart all those
emotions you are seeking for, all those desires you gladly would feel,
all the melting, and the moving, and the yearning, and the rejoicing,
which are significant of the Grace of God."
Under the influence of that Truth of God, as in a moment, my deadness
and coldness were driven away and I was filled with adoring love. Then
I wondered greatly that the Lord should deign to handle such coarse
material as our nature, that He should condescend to work upon such
gross spirits, such groveling minds, such carnal understandings as
ours. And when, by faith, I perceived that He could not only, then and
there, give me to feel spiritual life but could maintain it against all
hazards, and perfect it beyond all imperfections, and bring me safe
into His eternal Kingdom and Glory–an act of faith exerted upon the
Holy Spirit through the Cross of Christ made my soul eager for prayer,
and my joy and peace in believing were more than restored to me!
Then I said within myself, there may be others in a similar case and
especially there may be seeking souls who, seeing what must be worked
in them before they can hope to be partakers of the eternal rest, may
despair that such a work should ever be done, and looking only to
themselves may be inclined to give up all hope, and conclude that
within the pearly gates they can never enter. Perhaps, I thought, if I
remind them that "the Spirit also helps our infirmities," that Jesus
Christ's bequest to us, in virtue of His having gone to Heaven, is an
Omnipotent One who can work all our worlds in us, causing us to will
and to do of His own good pleasure–the thought may encourage their
hearts and enable them to look with restful confidence to Him who works
all our worlds in us.
Our text is a portion of that delightful rendering of the Covenant of
Grace which is given us by Ezekiel, and we will, for a single moment,
ask you to remember the persons with whom the covenant of Grace was
made. An early version of the Covenant of Grace was given to Abraham
and this in Ezekiel is a repetition, expansion, or explanation of the
same. This Covenant, and that form of it made with Abraham, concern the
same individuals. Let us, then, remind ourselves that the Covenant was
not made with the fleshly seed of Abraham. If it had been, it would
have run in the line of Ishmael as well as that of Isaac–but it was
not made with Ishmael, for what says the Scriptures–"Cast out the
bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir
with my son, even with Isaac."
The Covenant of Grace was not made with the children who are born after
the flesh as was Ishmael, but with those who are born according to the
promise as was Isaac–who was not born by virtue of the energy of the
flesh, for of Abraham it was said that he was as good as dead, and as
for Sarah that she was long past bearing. But Isaac, the child of
laughter, the child of joy, the heir of the promise, was born according
to the power of God and not after the energy of nature. Isaac evidently
typifies not the man of works but the man offaith. The man of works is
born after the flesh. He has reformed himself. He has done his best–he
continues to do his best. He is the child of his own energy. He is the
result of human power. He is under the Law–he tries to save himself by
the Law–he is, therefore, the son of Hagar the bondwoman and he is
under bondage. His destiny may be learned from the words, "Cast forth
the son of the bondwoman, he shall not be heir with my son."
But the man of faith has received his faith supernaturally. It has been
worked in him by the Holy Spirit. It is not the fruit of the creature's
power, it is the gift of God–it is the child of promise and it is the
child of joy and laughter to him–it is a fresh spring of joy within
his soul. The man of faith, therefore, is the heir of the promise and
the partaker of the Covenant since he believes in Jesus, whom God
raised from the dead. The man who rests upon the Grace of God and
believes in God as holy Abraham did–he is a faithful man and,
consequently, he is one of the sons of the father of the faithful. Let
every man, therefore, who believes in Jesus Christ this morning know
assuredly that every word of this text belongs to him and shall be
fulfilled in him.
I earnestly pray that many sinners may put in their claim and say, "I
have no works, but I believe in Jesus Christ. I come now and rest
myself upon the bloody Sacrifice offered upon Calvary and I humbly
receive the mercy of God through Jesus Christ by simply depending on
Him." To everyone who exercises faith in God, even though it is but a
weak and struggling faith, the precious promise we are about to expound
is a heritage which cannot be taken away from him! The main promise of
the text before us is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Observe that
the text divides itself thus–first, it contains an assured promise of
preparation for the Spirit's indwelling. Secondly, a plain promise of
that indwelling. And, thirdly, the blessed results which flow from the
promise.
I. Observe, first, we have here to all God's covenanted people, or in
other words, to all Believers, a promise of PREPARATION FOR THE
SPIRIT'S INDWELLING. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." This promise is
as a cluster of nuts, or a bough with many golden apples. Like the
cherubim of Ezekiel it has four faces, all smiling upon the heirs of
salvation. Like the new Jerusalem it lies four-square. It is a
quadruple treasure worthy of four-fold consideration!
The first of the four blessings is the gift of a new heart. "A new
heart also will I give you." The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the old
heart–it is a filthy place devoid of all good–and full of enmity to
God. His very first operation upon our nature is to pull down the old
house and build Himself a new one that He may be able to inhabit us
consistently with His holy spiritual Nature. A new heart is absolutely
essential. We must be born-again or the Spirit of Truth cannot abide
within us. Observe where the inward work of Grace begins. All man's
attempts at the betterment of human nature begin from without, and the
theory is that the work will deepen till it reaches that which is
within. They profess to emancipate the man from the grosser vices,
trusting that the reform will go further–that he will be brought under
superior influences–and so be elevated in mind and heart.
Theirs is an outward ointment for an inward disease–a bandage upon the
skin to stop the bleeding of the heart. Miserable physicians are they
all! Their remedies fail to eradicate the deep-seated maladies of
humanity. God's way of dealing with men is the reverse. He begins
within and works towards the exterior in due course. He is not a mere
quack, who, seeing in a man the signs of disease, operates upon the
symptoms, and never looks to the root of the mischief. It is very
possible that by potent poisons a charlatan may check unpleasing
indications–and he may kill the man in doing so. But the wise
physician looks to the fountain of the disease, and if it is not
possible to touch the core and center of it, he leaves the symptoms to
right themselves.
If your watch is out of order the watchmaker does not consider it
sufficient to clean the silver case, or to remove dust from the
face–he looks within and may discover that this wheel is broken, this
cog out of order–or the main spring needing to be replaced. He is not
much concerned about setting the hands accurately at first, for he
knows that the external manifestations of the correct time will follow
from the setting to rights the time-keeping machinery within.
Look at our brooks and rivulets which have been, by a lax legislature,
so long delivered over to the tormentors to be blackened into
pestiferous sewers–if we need to have them purged it is of no use to
cast chloride of lime and other chemicals into the stream–the only
remedy is to forbid the pollution, to demand that factories shall not
poison us wholesale, but shall in some other manner consume their
useless products! The voice of common sense bids us go to the original
cause of the defilement and deal with it at its sources.
That is just what God does when He saves a sinner! He begins at the
origin of the sinner's sin and deals with his heart. My Brothers and
Sisters, what a difficult work this is–"A new heart also will I give
you." If it had been said, "A new garment will I give you," many of us
could have conferred the same gift. If it had been said, "A new speech
will I teach you," this, also, with a little skill, might have been
arranged. And, if the promise had been, "new habits will I create in
you," this, also, we could have attempted, and perhaps successfully, to
imitate, for habits are to be engendered. But a new heart? Ah, here
human power and wit are nonplussed. Jannes and Jambres in Egypt could
imitate some of the miracles. They "did so with their enchantment," and
there is much in true religion which men can successfully counterfeit.
But, as in Egypt, a point was reached wherein the magicians were
foiled, so that they confessed, "This is the finger of God." So in the
regeneration of our nature–in the changing the heart–the Lord alone
is seen. Who shall pretend to give another a new heart? Go, boaster,
and suspend the laws of gravitation! Recall the thunderbolt! Reverse
the chariot of the sun! Transform the Atlantic to a lake of fire and
then attempt to change the nature of the heart of man! This, God alone
works, for He only does wondrous things! The affections are the most
powerful part of our nature! They, to a great extent, mold even the
understanding itself. And if the heart is defiled, all the mental
faculties become disturbed in their balance. God, therefore, commences
at the heart–and therein begins a work in which man cannot compete
with Him, nor can he even help Him.
God must do it. The same God who made men must make them new, if the
new-making is to begin with a change of heart. Blessed be God, He is
Omnipotent enough to give us new hearts! He has wisdom enough to renew
us! He has purity sufficient to cleanse us! He has abounding mercy to
bear with us. Mark, He gives us "a new heart," not an old heart
touched-up and mended. Not an old heart a little purified and
improved–but a new heart which enters into a new life, receives new
inspirations, feeds on new food, longs for new happiness, performs new
actions, and is, in fact–an inhabitant of the new heavens and the new
earth wherein dwells righteousness! Brethren, I will read this sentence
over again, "A new heart also will I give you."
And I would call your attention to the style of the language. It is, "I
will," and yet again, "I will." Jehovah's Ego is the great word. It is
not "I will, if," or, "I will, perhaps," or, "I will upon certain
conditions," but–"I will give." He speaks in a God-like tone. It is
royal language, the very word of Him who of old said, "Light be," and
light was! He who spoke the world into being now speaks the new world
of Grace into being in the self-same majestic voice! Turn, now, to the
second blessing–"A new spirit will I put within you." Perhaps this
clause may be explained as an interpretation of the former one. It may
be that the new heart and the new spirit are intended to represent the
same thing. But I conceive there is more than this.
"A new spirit"–does not the term indicate that a new vital principle
is implanted in men? We have often explained to you that the natural
man, is correctly and strictly speaking, a compound of soul and body
only. The first man, Adam, was made a living soul, and, as we bear the
image of the first Adam, we are body and soul only. It is our own
belief that in regeneration something more is done than the mere
rectifying of what was there–there is in the new birth infused and
implanted in man a third and more elevated principle–a spirit is
begotten in him! And, as the second Adam was made a quickening Spirit,
so in the new birth we are transformed into the likeness of Christ
Jesus, who is the second Adam. The implantation, infusion and putting
into our nature the third and higher principle is, we believe, the
being born-again. Regarded in this light, the words before us may be
regarded as an absolute and unconditional promise of the Covenant of
Grace to all the seed that a new spirit shall be put within them.
But, if we view it as some do, we shall then read it thus–the ruling
spirit of man's nature shall be changed. The spirit which rules and
reigns in Godless Christless men is the spirit of a rebellious slave,
the spirit of self. Every natural man's main motive is himself. Even in
his religion he only seeks self. If he is attentive to prayers and
sermons, it is that he, himself, may be saved. And if he fears God, and
dreads the terrors of His Law, it is on his own account–not that he
cares for God's Glory, God's honor, or the rights of God–not one whit!
He has no more interest in God than a rebellious
slave has in the property of his master. He wears the yoke, but he
groans under it. He would gladly enough escape from it if he could. He
is only happy when he is breaking his master's laws and fulfilling his
own selfish will.
But, when the Spirit of God comes upon us to make our spirit a fit
place for His residence, He takes away the spirit of the slave and
gives us the spirit of a child–and from that moment the service of God
becomes a different thing. We do not serve Him now because we are
afraid of the whip, but nobler motives move us. Gratitude binds us to
the Lord's service and love gives wings to the feet of obedience. Now
the Lord is no more regarded as a tyrant, but as a wise and loving
parent. Whatever He may do with us we rejoice in His wisdom and
goodness. We view Him no longer with suspicion and dread, but with
confidence and joy. No more do we ask, "where shall I go from Your
Presence?" But we desire to come near to Him. And in our sorrows our
cry is, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even
to His seat." It is a revolution, indeed, when the hatred and dread of
a slave are exchanged for the loving subjection of a son! This is one
of the precious privileges of the Covenant of Grace, which I trust,
Beloved, many of you have already received, and which I hope others who
have not received it will seek after. If they have believed in Jesus, a
new spirit, a spirit of sonship is their privilege–let them not be
content unless they have it now.
A third and further blessing of the text is the removal of the stony
heart. "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh." I do not
think the Lord removes, all at once, the evil heart out of any man's
flesh–there it remains to be fought with like the Canaanites in Canaan
when Israel had entered there–to prove us and to try us. But He does
take away the stony heart at once. The stony heart is a hard heart. The
moment anything strikes a stone it repels the blow. When the Gospel is
heard by a hard heart it throws it off again. It is not moved by it. It
is not affected by it. You might as well throw feathers at a wall as
preach Gospel sermons to hard hearts if your confidence is in the
sermon itself! Only God's power can make the feather-like sermon
penetrate the heart of stone!
The Lord can do it, but the thing itself cannot be done by Nature. The
natural heart is an impenetrable heart–you may make scratches on the
surface–but you cannot enter within it to reach its inner core. What a
marble heart by nature each one of us has! Till Grace visits us, the
Truth of God cannot enter us any more than light can shine into a
stone. A stony heart is unfeeling–you can make no impression upon
it–it cannot smart, it cannot breathe, it cannot sigh, it cannot
groan. A stony thing because a dead thing. Bruise it and that which
would make flesh black and blue does not affect the stone. Cut it and
that which would cause an agony to living flesh makes no disturbance in
its granite mass. A cold, insensible thing–not to be warmed even by
the rehearsal of the love of Calvary–such is our heart by nature.
Dear Hearers, such is the heart of every one of you till God deals with
you–just a lump of stone! Of course we speak not literally but
spiritually, yet what we assert is a solemn fact. God says, "I will
take away the stony heart." What a wonderful operation to take a stone
out of the heart! How much more wonderful to take the stony heart,
itself, right away and create a fleshy heart in its place! I would ask
you again, though it may seem like a repetition, to notice how royally
the Lord speaks. He does not say, "perhaps I will." He does not say,
"If you are willing I will," but, he says, "I will." Oh, it is
gloriously worded, "I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh." The Lord's Omnipotence can accomplish it!
We have heard of many expedients for softening hard hearts, but none of
them are of any use. I know preachers who delight in talking of a
mother's tears, and a father's gray hairs–of dying children and
consumptive sisters, and I believe these are all legitimate topics. But
no hearts are ever turned from stone to flesh merely by natural
emotion. You may make a man weep over his dead child or his dead wife
till his eyes are red–but his heart will be black for all that. Men's
hearts are changed by quite another agency than oratorical or
rhetorical appeals to the natural affections. I readily admit that such
appeals have their own sphere, but for the renewing of the heart
something much more effectual is needed than natural emotion. It is
written, "/ will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh," and
there is the secret of the matter!
The fourth promise of the preparation of the heart for the indwelling
of the Spirit is this–"I will give you an heart of flesh," by which is
meant a soft heart, an impressible heart, a sensitive heart, a heart
which can feel, can be moved to shame, to repentance, to loathing of
sin, to desiring, to seeking, to panting, to longing after God. It
means a tender heart, a heart that does not require a thousand blows to
move it, but, like flesh with its skin broken, feels the very faintest
touch–such is the heart which the Holy Spirit creates in the children
of God! It is a teachable heart, a heart willing to be guided, molded,
governed by the Divine will–a heart which, like young Samuel, cries,
"Speak, Lord, for Your servant
hears"–an obedient heart, ready to be run into the mold, putty beneath
the sacred hand, anxious to be conformed to the heavenly Pattern.
This is an early work of Grace in the soul, for as soon as ever the
Gospel is heard in power and the Spirit of God comes upon a man, long
before he enters into the liberty where Christ makes men free, he
ceases to have a heart of stone! Long before he can say, "Christ is
mine," he becomes tender and impressible under the Truth, and it is a
great mercy it is so! It is a blessed sign of a work begun which will
be effectually carried on where the heart trembles at God's Word, where
there are earnest desires towards Christ and the man is no longer a
braggart rebel, but a trembling child come back to his father, and
longing to cry, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before You."
Beloved, it is necessary, here, to add a word of caution to some of
you. Do not mistake natural tenderness for that heart of flesh which
God gives. There are many persons who are naturally very impressible,
many among women, and some among men. For this characteristic they are
rather, to me, admired than censured. But, let them not mistake this
for a work of Grace. A heart of wax is soft, but it is not a heart of
flesh. The softness of Nature is not the sensitiveness of Divine Grace.
It is often the case that some persons who are religiously sensitive
are equally sensitive the other way, and, while you can influence them
for good, others can as easily influence them for evil. They happen to
be just now religious because the associations surrounding them have
that tendency, but were they under other influences they would be
skeptical if not utterly irreligious.
They would have been lovers of the pleasures which others pursue had
not home habits sobered their minds, for their hearts are still
unrenewed. Mere religious impressibility is not Grace–it is Nature
alone–and I even fear that to some it is a temptation to be so
extremely impressionable. I am not always sanguine concerning persons
who are readily excited, for they so soon cool down again. Some are
like India rubber and every time you put your finger on them you leave
a mark–but it is wasted time, because they get back into the old shape
again as soon as you have done with them. I was preaching once, in a
certain city, and a very worthy but worldly man went out of the
congregation while I was in the middle of the sermon, the third sermon
he had been hearing from me during the week.
One who followed him out asked him why he left, and he frankly replied
that he could not stand it any longer, "for," he said, "I must have
become religious if I had heard that sermon through. I was nearly gone.
I have been," he added, "like an India rubber doll under this man. But
when he goes away I shall get back into the old shape again." Very many
are of the same quality. They have so much natural amiability, good
sense, and conscientiousness, that the Gospel ministry has a power over
them and they feel its influence, though not so as to be saved by it.
Beware, then, that you do not mistake the gilding of Nature for the
solid gold of Grace.
When God's Grace helps the preacher to wield the Gospel hammer and it
comes down with power upon a piece of flint, how speedily the stone
flies to shivers and what a glorious work of heart-breaking is done!
And then the Lord comes in and gives, by His own almighty Grace, a
heart of flesh! This is the change we need–the taking away of the
stone–the giving of the heart of flesh. Let us read these four
promises again, and I hope they will reach any poor trembling soul who
may be saying, "I would, but cannot repent. I would but cannot feel. If
anything is felt 'tis only pain to find I cannot feel! My heart is so
bad, so hard, so cold, I can believe in Christ but I cannot change my
nature."
Poor Soul, there is no need you should! For there is One who can do the
work for you and these are His absolute promises to you if you are now
looking to Christ upon the Cross and resting all your hopes in Him–"A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you an heart of flesh."
II. But time flies, and therefore let us consider, in the second place,
THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
When the Spirit has thus prepared His habitation, He comes to reside
within the renewed man. I call your attention to each word of the text.
Observe first that the Lord says, "I will put My Spirit within you."
Now it does not say, "the influences of the Spirit shall come within
you"–not that–but, "I will put My Spirit within you." It is literally
the fact that God Himself, the Eternal Spirit in "propria Persona," in
His own Person, resides and dwells within the renewed heart. I again
remark that it is not said, "I will put the Grace of My Spirit, I will
put the work of My Spirit," but, "I will put My Spirit within you."
It is the Holy Spirit Himself who, in very deed, lives in every heart
of flesh–every new heart and right spirit. Can you get that thought?
Simple as it is, it is one of the greatest marvels under the sun! An
Incarnate God is a mystery–the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us–but here is another mystery!
God dwells in every son of God. God dwells in us, and we in Him! The
mystery of the Incarnation is no greater than that of the Holy Spirit's
indwelling, nor does it appear to me to involve more condescension. I
marvel at Christ's dwelling with sinners and I marvel, equally, at the
Holy Spirit's dwelling in sinners! God Himself, for whom the universe
is not too vast a temple! The ever blessed Spirit in whose Presence the
heavens are not clean, yet says, "To this man will I look even to him
that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembles at My Word."
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us implies the exercise of His
influences, the bestowal of His gifts, and the implantation of His
Graces. And, moreover, it involves the exercise of all His sacred
offices, for where the Holy Spirit indwells He acts as a Teacher, an
Illuminator, a Comforter, a Creator, a Strengthener, a Preserver–all
that He is in all His offices He will be according to His own will to
every man in whom He takes up His abode. Note a little word, also, in
the text worthy of your attention. "I will put My Spirit within you."
It is not the spirit of angels. It is not the spirit of good men–it is
God's own Spirit who takes up His residence in every sinners when God
renews it. "My Spirit." And perhaps this may allude to the fact that
this is the same Spirit which abode without measure in our Lord Jesus
Christ.
We have a union of experience with Christ in the fact that the same oil
which anointed Him anoints us. The same dew which fell upon His branch
refreshes ours. The same holy fire which burned in His breast is
kindled in ours. "I will put My Spirit within you." Observe also
carefully the words, "within you." "I will put my Spirit within you."
We thank God that we come near to the Spirit of God when we devoutly
read the Holy Scriptures, for He wrote them and His mind is in them.
But we have a greater privilege than this! We thank God when the Spirit
acts upon us under a sermon, or under any form of Christian teaching so
that we feel the Spirit of God to be with us. But we have a privilege
richer, even, than this. "I will put My Spirit"–not with you, nor side
by side with you, nor in a book, nor in an oracle, nor in a temple, nor
in one of your fellow men, but–"I will put My Spirit within YOU"–in
your own souls, in your own renewed hearts!
This is marvelous! Augustine, when reflecting upon the various glories
which come to God, and the benefits which accrue to men through
redemption–none of which could have been revealed without the fall of
Adam–exclaimed, "O beata culpa." "Oh, happy fault!" And I have the
same expression trembling on my lips. Where sin abounded Grace has much
more abounded. Sin, which laid man in the dust and made him like a
devil, afforded an opportunity for Mercy to step in and lift humanity
higher than before! Where was man in Eden compared with man in Christ?
In Paradise he was perfect in beauty, but in Jesus he wears a radiance
superlative, for the Holy Spirit is within him!
In Adam man was made a living soul, but in Christ Jesus he has now
risen to the dignity and majesty of a quickening Spirit. My brethren,
where the Holy Spirit enters He is able to subdue all things unto
Himself. When the ark came unto the Philistine temple, down went Dagon.
And when the Holy Spirit enters the soul, sin falls and is broken. If
the Holy Spirit is within, we may rest assured He will tolerate no
reigning sin. He is a Spirit of burning, consuming our dross! He is a
Spirit of light, chasing away our darkness. When He makes a heart His
temple, He will scourge out the buyers and sellers who pollute it! He
is not only the Purifier within but the Protector, too–from
temptations that assail us from without He is as an unconquerable
garrison to our soul making us impregnable to all assaults.
Treasonable sins lurk within us, but the Omniscient eye of God discerns
each evil ambush and He lays His hands upon every sin which hides
itself away in the dark recesses of our nature. With such an Indweller
we need not fear–this poor heart of ours will yet become perfect as
God is perfect–and our nature, through His indwelling, shall rise into
complete meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. Oh, what
blessings are here, and in what royal language are they all promised!
"I will put My Spirit within you." How positive! How decisive! Suppose
they will not accept the Spirit? Suppose they strive against the
Spirit? Suppose their free will should get the mastery? Suppose
nonsense!
When the Lord says, "I will," nothing remains to be supposed. If He
speaks to chaos, it is order. Do not ask, "Suppose chaos refuses to be
arranged?" When Jehovah speaks to darkness, it becomes light! Do not
ask, "But, suppose the darkness resists?" What shall resist His fiat?
When the Lord comes forth in His Omnipotence who shall stay His hand or
say unto Him, "What are you doing?" When the Spirit comes to deal in
Sovereign Grace with the hearts of men, without violating their wills
He has the power to accomplish His Divine purpose, and it shall be
accomplished to the praise of the glory of His Grace.
III. Lastly, we must ask you to give your thoughts a moment to THE
BLESSED RESULTS which come from all this. The indwelling Spirit leads
every man in whom He reigns into obedience to the ways of God. I said
that the work of Grace is commenced from within, but the work does not
end there. Before we have considered the whole of the Covenant promise
we shall find that change of life is guaranteed–a change apparent in
works and actions, "You shall keep My judgments and do them." We do not
begin with works, but we go on to works. Faith first receives the
blessing and then produces holy work. We will not allow the effect to
take the place of the cause, but we are equally sure that the effect
follows after the cause.
Now, observe the promise of the text before us–"I will cause you to
walk in My statutes." The soul that possesses the Spirit becomes
active. It walks. It is not passive as one carried by main force–it
works because the Spirit works in it, "to will and to do of His own
good pleasure." The man who has no active godliness may fear whether he
has any Grace at all. If I am only a receiver and have never brought
forth fruit, I may fear that I am the ground that is "near unto
cursing," for if I were a field that the Lord has blessed I should
yield Him a harvest. The Spirit causes us to walk, but yet we ourselves
walk. He works in us to do, but the doing is actually our own. He does
not repent, and He does not believe–He has nothing to repent of, and
He has nothing to believe. Neither does the Spirit perform works for
us–we are led to do these ourselves. We repent and we believe, and we
do good works because He causes us to do so.
A willing walk with God is a sweet result of the Holy Spirit's
indwelling. The Holy Spirit leads us to holy habits, for, mark the
phrase, "I will cause you to walk in My ways." The figure does not
represent us as taking a run now and then, or as leaping a step or two
and then lying down–but as walking on and on, steadily and
continuously. Here excitement may produce momentary zeal and transient
morality, but habitual holiness is the fruit of the Spirit. Note, next,
the delight it implies. "I will cause you to walk in My ways"–not as a
man who toils, but as one who walks at ease. The Believer finds it as
sweet to walk in God's ways as Isaac felt it sweet to walk in the
fields at eventide. We are not slaves sweating in sore bondage, but
children serving with delight! His Commandments are not grievous. His
yoke is easy and His burden is light.
It implies, too, holy perseverance–the words have the meaning of
continuing to follow after holiness. It is a small matter to begin, but
to hold out to the end is the testing point. The text promises to us a
complete obedience–"I will cause you to walk in My statutes, and you
shall keep My judgments." A Christian man is obedient to God–he minds
the first table. He is just to man–he does not despise the second
table. Statutes and judgments are equally dear to Believers. We are not
willing to give a lame, one-sided obedience to God. The Holy Spirit,
when He makes us devout God-ward, makes us honest man-ward. And the
Holy Spirit also works a holy care for righteousness in the soul. "I
will cause you to keep My judgments"–that is, to have an exactness of
obedience–a precision, a deliberation, a willingness to find out God's
will and a care to attend to it in every jot and tittle.
A man in whom dwells the Holy Spirit is careful not to yield himself to
the traditions of men but to the commands of God. He pays no attention
to the statutes of the great councils of the Church, or the ordinances
of popes, or the laws of priests, or the mandates of bishops. He
searches out the will of the Lord, only. The knee of his conscience
bows with lowly reverence before the Lord but nowhere else. He who has
bound us to His altar has loosed all other bonds, so that the
traditions of men and the ordinances of priests are contemptible to us.
To God, and God alone the renewed heart renders obedience, but that
obedience he does render!
Now, to what a delightful consummation has our text conducted us. It
began with a renewed heart and it ends in a purified life. It commenced
with taking away the stone and giving the flesh. Now it gives us the
life of Christ written out in living characters in our daily practice.
Glory be to God for this! O Soul, if you are a partaker of it, you will
join in this thanksgiving! And if you are not renewed as yet, I beseech
you do not go about to find these good things anywhere but where they
are. At the foot of the Cross you will find a change of heart–where
fell the drops of blood from Jesus' nailed hands and feet–there is
salvation! The Spirit of God will give you a right spirit, and,
consequently, a pure life. Look not to your own efforts! Rake not the
dunghill of your own heart! Look to the Holy Spirit through the blood
of the precious Savior.
Now, to close. All this glorifies God doubly. It glorifies God that a
man should walk in His ways. It glorifies God, yet more, that such
obedience should be the result of Divine power. The outward life honors
God, but the inward, spiritual, gracious work which that life produces,
honors Him yet more abundantly. While this glorifies God doubly, it
ennobles the soul supremely. To be made holy is to receive a patent of
nobility. To be made holy by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, oh,
what shall we say to this? Bring here the poorest peasant–let her, if
you will, be an aged woman, wrinkled and haggard with labor and with
years. Let her be ignorant of all learning, but, let me know that in
her there is faith in Christ and that, consequently, the Holy Spirit
dwells in her, and I will reverence her above all emperors and kings,
for she is above them all!
What are these crowned ones but men who, perhaps, have waded through
slaughter to a throne, while she has been uplifted by the righteousness
of Jesus? Their dynasty is, after all, of mushroom growth–but she is
of the blood royal of the skies! She has God within her! She has Christ
waiting to receive her into His bliss! Heaven's inhabitants without her
could not be perfected, nor God's purpose be fulfilled! Therefore is
she noblest of the noble! Judge not after the sight of the eyes, but
judge after the mind of God, and let saved sinners be precious in "your
sight."
Honor, also, the Holy Spirit. Speak of Him with lowly awe. Never take
His name in vain. Take heed lest you blaspheme it. Reverently seek His
company. Rejoice in His gifts. Love Him. Quench Him not. Strive not
against Him. Bow beneath His power, and may He dwell in you and make
you fit to dwell with Him forever, for His name's sake. Amen.
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The Triumph Of Christianity