Delivered by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth.'1 Timothy 2:3, 4.
MAY GOD THE HOLY GHOST guide our meditations to the best practical
result this evening, that sinners may be saved and saints stirred up to
diligence. I do not intend to treat my text controversially. It is like
the stone which makes the corner of a building, and it looks towards a
different side of the gospel from that which is mostly before us. Two
sides of the building of truth meet here. In many a village there is a
corner where the idle and the quarrelsome gather together; and theology
has such corners. It would be very easy indeed to set ourselves in
battle array, and during the next half-hour to carry on a very fierce
attack against those who differ from us in opinion upon points which
could be raised from this text. I do not see that any good would come
of it, and, as we have very little time to spare, and life is short, we
had better spend it upon something that may better tend to our
edification. May the good Spirit preserve us from a contentious spirit,
and help us really to profit by his word.
It is quite certain that when we read that God will have all men to be
saved it does not mean that he wills it with the force of a decree or a
divine purpose, for, if he did, then all men would be saved. He willed
to make the world, and the world was made: he does not so will the
salvation of all men, for we know that all men will not be saved.
Terrible as the truth is, yet is it certain from holy writ that there
are men who, in consequence of their sin and their rejection of the
Savior, will go away into everlasting punishment, where shall be
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There will at the last be
goats upon the left hand as well as sheep on the right, tares to be
burned as well as wheat to be garnered, chaff to be blown away as well
as corn to be preserved. There will be a dreadful hell as well as a
glorious heaven, and there is no decree to the contrary.
What then? Shall we try to put another meaning into the text than that
which it fairly bears? I trow not. You must, most of you, be acquainted
with the general method in which our older Calvinistic friends deal
with this text. All men,' say they,'that is, some men': as if the Holy
Ghost could not have said some men' if he had meant some men. All men,'
say they; that is, some of all sorts of men': as if the Lord could not
have said all sorts of men' if he had meant that. The Holy Ghost by the
apostle has written all men,' and unquestionably he means all men. I
know how to get rid of the force of the alls' according to that
critical method which some time ago was very current, but I do not see
how it can be applied here with due regard to truth. I was reading just
now the exposition of a very able doctor who explains the text so as to
explain it away; he applies grammatical gunpowder to it, and explodes
it by way of expounding it. I thought when I read his exposition that
it would have been a very capital comment upon the text if it had read,
Who will not have all men to be saved, nor come to a knowledge of the
truth.' Had such been the inspired language every remark of the learned
doctor would have been exactly in keeping, but as it happens to say,
Who will have all men to be saved,' his observations are more than a
little out of place. My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views
is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of
Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for
inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear
to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of
God. I never thought it to be any very great crime to seem to be
inconsistent with myself; for who am I that I should everlastingly be
consistent? But I do think it a great crime to be so inconsistent with
the word of God that I should want to lop away a bough or even a twig
from so much as a single tree of the forest of Scripture. God forbid
that I should cut or shape, even in the least degree, any divine
expression. So runs the text, and so we must read it, God our Savior;
who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of
the truth.'
Does not the text mean that it is the wish of God that men should be
saved? The word wish' gives as much force to the original as it really
requires, and the passage should run thus'whose wish it is that all men
should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.' As it is my wish
that it should be so, as it is your wish that it might be so, so it is
God's wish that all men should be saved; for, assuredly, he is not less
benevolent than we are. Then comes the question, But if he wishes it to
be so, why does he not make it so? Beloved friend, have you never heard
that a fool may ask a question which a wise man cannot answer, and, if
that be so, I am sure a wise person, like yourself, can ask me a great
many questions which, fool as I am, I am yet not foolish enough to try
to answer. Your question is only one form of the great debate of all
the ages,'If God be infinitely good and powerful, why does not his
power carry out to the full all his beneficence?' It is God's wish that
the oppressed should go free, yet there are many oppressed who are not
free. It is God's wish that the sick should not suffer. Do you doubt
it? Is it not your own wish? And yet the Lord does not work a miracle
to heal every sick person. It is God's wish that his creatures should
be happy. Do you deny that? He does not interpose by any miraculous
agency to make us all happy, and yet it would be wicked to suppose that
he does not wish the happiness of all the creatures that he has made.
He has an infinite benevolence which, nevertheless, is not in all
points worked out by his infinite omnipotence; and if anybody asked me
why it is not, I cannot tell. I have never set up to be an explainer of
all difficulties, and I have no desire to do so. It is the same old
question as that of the negro who said, Sare, you say the devil makes
sin in the world.' Yes, the devil makes a deal of sin.' And you say
that God hates sin.' Yes.' Then why does not he kill the devil and put
an end to it?' Just so. Why does he not? Ah, my black friend, you will
grow white before that question is answered. I cannot tell you why God
permits moral evil, neither can the ablest philosopher on earth, nor
the highest angel in heaven.
This is one of those things which we do not need to know. Have you
never noticed that some people who are ill and are ordered to take
pills are foolish enough to chew them? That is a very nauseous thing to
do, though I have done it myself. The right way to take medicine of
such a kind is to swallow it at once. In the same way there are some
things in the Word of God which are undoubtedly true which must be
swallowed at once by an effort of faith, and must not be chewed by
perpetual questioning. You will soon have I know not what of doubt and
difficulty and bitterness upon your soul if you must needs know the
unknowable, and have reasons and explanations for the sublime and the
mysterious. Let the difficult doctrines go down whole into your very
soul, by a grand exercise of confidence in God.
I thank God for a thousand things I cannot understand. When I cannot
get to know the reason why, I say to myself, Why should I know the
reason why? Who am I, and what am I, that I should demand explanations
of my God?' I am a most unreasonable being when I am most reasonable,
and when my judgment is most accurate I dare not trust it. I had rather
trust my God. I am a poor silly child at my very best: my Father must
know better than I. An old parable-maker tells us that he shut himself
up in his study because he had to work out a difficult problem. His
little child came knocking at the door, and he said Go away, John: you
cannot understand what father is doing; let father alone.' Master
Johnny for that very reason felt that he must get in and see what
father was doing'a true symbol of our proud intellects; we must pry
into forbidden things, and uncover that which is concealed. In a little
time upon the sill, outside the window, stood Master Johnny, looking in
through the window at his father; and if his father had not with the
very tenderest care just taken him away from that very dangerous
position, there would have been no Master Johnny left on the face of
the earth to exercise his curiosity in dangerous elevations. Now, God
sometimes shuts the door, and says, My child, it is so: be content to
believe.' But,' we foolishly cry. Lord, why is it so?' It is so, my
child,' he says. But why, Father, is it so?' It is so, my child,
believe me.' Then we go speculating, climbing the ladders of reasoning,
guessing, speculating, to reach the lofty windows of eternal truth.
Once up there we do not know where we are, our heads reel, and we are
in all kinds of uncertainty and spiritual peril. If we mind things too
high for us we shall run great risks. I do not intend meddling with
such lofty matters. There stands the text, and I believe that it is my
Father's wish that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge
of the truth.' But I know, also, that he does not will it, so that he
will save any one of them, unless they believe in his dear Son; for he
has told us over and over that he will not. He will not save any man
except he forsakes his sins, and turns to him with full purpose of
heart: that I also know. And I know, also, that he has a people whom he
will save, whom by his eternal love he has chosen, and whom by his
eternal power he will deliver. I do not know how that squares with
this; that is another of the things I do not know. If I go on telling
you of all that I do not know, and of all that I do know, I will
warrant you that the things that I do not know will be a hundred to one
of the things that I do know. And so we will say no more about the
matter, but just go on to the more practical part of the text. God's
wish about man's salvation is this,'that men should be saved and come
to the knowledge of the truth.
Men are saved, and the same men that are saved come to a knowledge of
the truth. The two things happen together, and the two facts very much
depend upon each other. God's way of saving men is not by leaving them
in ignorance. It is by a knowledge of the truth that men are saved;
this will make the main body of our discourse, and in closing we shall
see how this truth gives instruction to those who wish to be saved, and
also to those who desire to save others. May the Holy Spirit make these
closing inferences to be practically useful.
Here is our proposition: IT IS BY A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH THAT MEN ARE
SAVED.
Observe that stress is laid upon the article: it is the truth, and not
every truth. Though it is a good thing to know the truth about
anything, and we ought not to be satisfied to take up with a falsehood
upon any point, yet it is not every truth that will save us. We are not
saved by knowing any one theological truth we may choose to think of,
for there are some theological truths which are comparatively of
inferior value. They are not vital or essential, and a man may know
them, and yet may not be saved. It is the truth which saves. Jesus
Christ is the truth: the whole testimony of God about Christ is the
truth. The work of the Holy Ghost in the heart is to work in us the
truth. The knowledge of the truth is a large knowledge. It is not
always so at the first: it may begin with but a little knowledge, but
it is a large knowledge when it is further developed, and the soul is
fully instructed in the whole range of the truth.
This knowledge of the grand facts which are here called the truth saves
men, and we will notice its mode of operation. Very often it begins its
work in a man by arousing him, and thus it saves him from carelessness.
He did not know anything about the truth which God has revealed, and so
he lived like a brute beast. If he had enough to eat and to drink he
was satisfied. If he laid by a little money he was delighted. So long
as the days passed pretty merrily, and he was free from aches and
pains, he was satisfied. He heard about religion, but he thought it did
not concern him. He supposed that there were some people who might be
the better for thinking about it, but as far as he was concerned, he
thought no more about God or godliness than the ox of the stall or the
ostrich of the desert. Well, the truth came to him, and he received a
knowledge of it. He knew only a part, and that a very dark and gloomy
part of it, but it stirred him out of his carelessness, for he suddenly
discovered that he was under the wrath of God. Perhaps he heard a
sermon, or read a tract, or had a practical word addressed to him by
some Christian friend, and he found out enough to know that he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the
Son of God.' That startled him. God is angry with the wicked every
day:'that amazed him. He had not thought of it, perhaps had not known
it, but when he did know it, he could rest no longer. Then he came to a
knowledge of this farther truth, that after death there would be a
judgment, that he would rise again, and that, being risen, he would
have to stand before the judgment-seat of God to give an account of the
things which he had done in the body. This came home very strikingly to
him. Perhaps, also, such a text as this flamed forth before him,'For
every idle word that man shall speak he must give an account in the day
of judgment.' His mind began to foresee that last tremendous day, when
on the clouds of heaven Christ will conic and summon quick and dead, to
answer at his judgment-seat for the whole of their lives. He did not
know that before, but, knowing it, it startled and aroused him. I have
known men, when first they have come to a knowledge of this truth,
become unable to sleep. They have started up in the night. They have
asked those who were with them to help them to pray. The next day they
have been scarcely able to mind their business, for a dreadful sound
has been in their ears. They feared lest they should stumble into the
grave and into hell. Thus they were saved from carelessness. They could
not go back to be the mere brute beasts they were before. Their eyes
had been opened to futurity and eternity. Their spirits had been
quickened'at least so much that they could not rest in that doltish,
dull, dead carelessness in which they had formerly been found. They
were shaken out of their deadly lethargy by a knowledge of the truth.
The truth is useful to a man in another way: it saves him from
prejudice. Often when men are awakened to know something about the
wrath of God they begin to plunge about to discover divers methods by
which they may escape from that wrath. Consulting, first of all, with
themselves, they think that, if they can reform'give up their grosser
sins, and if they can join with religious people, they will make it all
right. And there are some who go and listen to a kind of religious
teacher, who says, You must do good works. You must earn a good
character. You must add to all this the ceremonies of our church. You
must be particular and precise in receiving blessing only through the
appointed channel of the apostolical succession.' Of the aforesaid
mystical succession this teacher has the effrontery to assure his dupe
that he is a legitimate instrument; and that sacraments received at his
hands are means of grace. Under such untruthful notions we have known
people who were somewhat aroused sit down again in a false peace. They
have done all that they judged right and attended to all that they were
told. Suddenly, by God's grace, they come to a knowledge of another
truth, and that is that by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in the sight of God. They discover that salvation is not by
works of the law or by ceremonies, and that if any man he under the law
he is also under the curse. Such a text as the following conies home,
Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God'; and such another text as this, Ye must be born again,' and
then this at the back of it'that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' When they also find
out that there is necessary a righteousness better than their own'a
perfect righteousness to justify them before God, and when they
discover that they must be made new creatures in Christ Jesus, or else
they must utterly perish, then they are saved from false confidences,
saved from crying, Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. It is a grand
thing when a knowledge of the truth stops us from trusting in a lie. I
am addressing some who remember when they were saved in that way. What
an opening of the eyes it was to you! You had a great prejudice against
the gospel of grace and the plan of salvation by faith; but when the
Lord took you in hand and made you see your beautiful righteousness to
be a moth-eaten mass of rags, and when the gold that you had
accumulated suddenly turned into so much brass, cankered, and good for
nothing,'when you stood stripped naked before God, and the poor cobwebs
of ceremonies suddenly dropped from off you, oh, then the Lord was
working his salvation in your soul, and you were being saved from false
confidences by a knowledge of the truth.
Moreover, it often happens that a knowledge of the truth stands a man
in good stead for another purpose; it saves him from despair. Unable to
be careless, and unable to find comfort in false confidences, some poor
agitated minds are driven into a wide and stormy sea without rudder or
compass, with nothing but wreck before them. There is no hope for me,'
says the man. I perceive I cannot save myself. I see that I am lost. I
am dead in trespasses and sins, and cannot stir hand or foot. Surely
now I may as well go on in sin, and even multiply my transgressions.
The gate of mercy is shut against me; what is the use of fear where
there is no room for hope?' At such a time, if the Lord leads the man
to a knowledge of the truth, he perceives that though his sins be as
scarlet they shalt be as wool, and though they be red like crimson they
shall be as white as snow. That precious doctrine of substitution comes
in'that Christ stood in the stead of the sinner, that the transgression
of his people was laid upon him, and that God, by thus avenging sin in
the person of his dear Son, and honoring his law by the suffering of
the Savior, is now able to declare pardon to the penitent and grace to
the believing. Now, when the soul comes to know that sin is put away by
the atoning blood; when the heart discovers that it is not our life
that saves us, but the life of God that comes to dwell in us; that we
are not to be regenerated by our own actions, but are regenerated by
the Holy Ghost who comes to us through the precious death of Jesus,
then despair flies away, and the soul cries exultingly, There is hope.
There is hope. Christ died for sinners: why should I not have a part in
that precious death? He came like a physician to heal the sick: why
should he not heal me? Now I perceive that he does not want my
goodness, but my badness; he does not need my righteousness, but my
unrighteousness: for he came to save the ungodly and to redeem his
people from their sins. I say, when the heart comes to a knowledge of
this truth, then it is saved from despair; and this is no small part of
the salvation of Jesus Christ.
A saving knowledge of the truth, to take another line of things, works
in this way. A knowledge of the truth shows a man his personal need of
being saved. O you that are not saved, and who dream you do not need to
be, you only require to know the truth, and you will perceive that you
must he saved or lost for ever.
A knowledge of the truth reveals the atonement by which we are saved: a
knowledge of the truth shows us what that faith is by which the
atonement becomes available for us: a knowledge of the truth teaches us
that faith is the simple act of trusting, that it is not an action of
which man may boast; it is not an action of the nature of a work, so as
to he a fruit of the law; but faith is a self-denying grace which finds
all its strength in him upon whom it lives, and lays all its honor upon
him. Faith is not self in action but self forsaken, self abhorred, self
put away that the soul may trust in Christ, and trust in Christ alone.
There are persons now present who are puzzled about what faith is. We
have tried to explain it a great many times to you, hut we have
explained it so that you did not understand it any the better; and yet
the same explanation has savingly instructed others. May God the Holy
Ghost open your understandings that you may practically know what faith
is, and at once exercise it. I suppose that it is a very hard thing to
understand because it is so plain. When a man wishes the way of
salvation to be difficult he naturally kicks at it because it is easy;
and, when his pride wants it to be hard to be understood, he is pretty
sure to say that he does not understand it because it is so plain. Do
not you know that the unlettered often receive Christ when philosophers
refuse him, and that he who has not called ninny of the great, and many
of the mighty, has chosen poor, foolish, and despised things? That is
because poor foolish men, you know, are willing to believe a plain
thing, but men wise in their own conceits desire to be, if they can, a
little confounded and puzzled that they may please themselves with the
idea that their own superior intellect has made a discovery; and,
because the way of salvation is just so easy that almost an idiot boy
may lay hold of it, therefore they pretend that they do not understand
it. Some people cannot see a thing because it is too high up; but there
are others who cannot see it because it is too low down. Now, it so
happens that the way of salvation by faith is so simple that it seems
beneath the dignity of exceedingly clever men. May God bring them to a
knowledge of this truth: may they see that they cannot be saved except
by giving up all idea of saving themselves; that they cannot be saved
except they step right into Christ, for, until they get to the end of
the creature, they will never get to the beginning of the Creator. Till
they empty out their pockets of every mouldy crust, and have not a
crumb left; they cannot come and take the rich mercy which is stored up
in Christ Jesus for every empty, needy sinner. May the Lord be pleased
to give you that knowledge of the truth!
When a man comes in very deed to a knowledge of the truth about faith
in Christ, he trusts Christ, and he is there and then saved from the
guilt of sin; and he begins to be saved altogether from sin. God cuts
the root of the power of sin that very day; hut yet it has such life
within itself that at the scent of water it will bud again. Sin in our
members struggles to live. It has as many lives as a cat: there is no
killing it. Now, when we conic to a knowledge of the truth, we begin to
learn how sin is to be killed in us'how the same Christ that justifies,
sanctifies, and works in us according to his working who worketh in us
mightily, that we may he conformed to the image of Christ, and made
meet to dwell with perfect saints above. Beloved, many of you that are
saved from the guilt of sin, have a very hard struggle with the power
of sin, and have much more conflict, perhaps, than yon need to have,
because you have not come to a knowledge of all the truth about
indwelling sin. I therefore beg you to study much the word of God upon
that point, and especially to see the adaptation of Christ to rule over
your nature, and to conquer all your corrupt desires, and learn how by
faith to bring each sin before him that, like Agag, it may be hewed in
pieces before his eyes. You will never overcome sin except by the blood
of the Lamb. There is no sanctification except by faith. The same
instrument which destroys sin as to its guilt must slay sin as to its
power. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb,' and so must you. Learn
this truth well, so shall you find salvation wrought in you from day to
day.
Now, I think I hear somebody say, I think I know all about this.' Yes,
you may think you know it, and may not know anything at all about it.
Oh, but,' says one, I do know it. I learned the Assembly's Catechism'
when I was a child. I have read the Bible ever since, and I am well
acquainted with all the commonplaces of orthodoxy.' That may be, dear
friend, and yet you may not know the truth. I have heard of a man who
knew how to swim, but, as he had never been in the water, I do not
think much of his knowledge of swimming: in fact, he did not really
know the art. I have heard of a botanist who understood all about
flowers, but as he lived in London, and scarcely ever saw above one
poor withered thing in a flowerpot, I do not think much of his botany.
I have heard of a man who was a very great astronomer, but he had not a
telescope, and I never thought much of his astronomy. So there are many
persons who think they know and yet do not know because they have never
had any personal acquaintance with the thing. A mere notional knowledge
or a dry doctrinal knowledge is of no avail. We must know the truth in
a very different way from that.
How are we to know it, then? Well, we are to know it, first, by a
believing knowledge. You do not know a thing unless you believe it to
be really so. If you doubt it, you do not know it. If you say, I really
am not sure it is true,' then you cannot say that you know it. That
which the Lord has revealed in holy Scripture you must devoutly believe
to be true. In addition to this, your knowledge, if it becomes
believing knowledge, must be personal knowledgea persuasion that it is
true in reference to yourself. It is true about your neighbor, about
your brother, but you must believe it about yourself, or your knowledge
is vain'for instance, you must know that you are lost'that you are in
danger of eternal destruction from the presence of God'that for you
there is no hope but in Christ'that for you there is hope if you rest
in Christ'that resting in Christ you are saved. Yes, you. You must know
that because you have trusted in Christ you are saved, and that now you
are free from condemnation, and that now in you the new life has begun,
which will fight against the old life of sin, until it overcome, and
you, even you, are safely landed on the golden shore. There must be a
personal appropriation of what you believe to be true. That is the kind
of knowledge which saves the soul.
But this must be a powerful knowledge, by which I mean that it must
operate in and upon your mind. A man is told that his house is on fire.
I will suppose that standing here I held up a telegram, and said, My
friend, is your name so-and-so?' Yes.' Well, your house is on fire.' He
knows the fact, does he not? Yes, but he sits quite still. Now, my
impression is about that good brother, that he does not know, for he
does not believe it. He cannot believe it, surely he may believe that
somebody's house is on fire, but not his own. If it is his house which
is burning, and he knows it, what does he do? Why he gets up and goes
off to see what he can do towards saving his goods. That is the kind of
knowledge which saves the soul'when a man knows the truth about
himself, and therefore his whole nature is moved and affected by the
knowledge. Do I know that I am in danger of hell fire? And am I in my
senses? Then I shall never rest till I have escaped from that danger.
Do I know that there is salvation for me in Christ? Then I never shall
be content until I have obtained that salvation by the faith to which
that salvation is promised: that is to say, if I really am in my
senses, and if my sin has not made me beside myself as sin does, for
sin works a moral madness upon the mind of man, so that he puts bitter
for sweet and sweet for bitter, and dances on the jaws of hell, and
sits down and scoffs at Almighty mercy, despises the precious blood of
Christ and will have none of it, although there and there only is his
salvation to be found.
This knowledge when it comes really to save the soul is what we call
experimental knowledgeknowledge acquired according to the exhortation
of the psalmist, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good'acquired by
tasting. Now, at this present moment, I, speaking for myself, know that
I am origin ally lost by nature. Do I believe it? Believe it? I am as
sure of it as I am of my own existence. I know that I am lost by
nature. It would not be possible for anybody to make me doubt that: I
have felt it. How many weary days I spent under the pressure of that
knowledge! Does a soldier know that there is such a thing as a cat when
he has had a hundred lashes? It would take a deal of argument to make
him believe there is not such a thing, or that backs do not smart when
they feel the lash. Oh, how my soul smarted under the lash of
conscience when I suffered under a sense of sin! Do I know that I could
not save myself? Know it? Why, my poor, struggling heart labored this
way and that, even as in the very fire with bitter disappointment, for
I labored to climb to the stars on a treadwheel, and I was trying and
trying and trying with all my might, but never rose an inch higher. I
tried to fill a bottomless tub with leaking buckets, and worked on and
toiled and slaved, but never accomplished even the beginning of my
unhappy task. I know, for I have tried it, that salvation is not in
man, or in all the feelings, and weepings, and prayings, and Bible
readings, and church goings, and chapel goings which zeal could crowd
together. Nothing whatsoever that man does can avail him towards his
own salvation. This I know by sad trial of it, and failure in it.
But I do know that there is real salvation by believing in Christ. Know
it? I have never preached to you concerning that subject what I do not
know by experience. In a moment, when I believed in Christ I leaped
from despair to fullness of delight. Since I have believed in Jesus I
have found myself totally new'changed altogether from what I was; and I
find now that, in proportion as I trust in Jesus, I love God and try to
serve him; but if at any time I begin to trust in myself, I forget my
God, and I become selfish and sinful. Just as I keep on being nothing
and taking Christ to be everything, so am I led in the paths of
righteousness. I am merely talking of myself, because a man cannot bear
witness about other people so thoroughly us he can about himself. I am
sure that all of you who have tried my Master can bear the same
witness. You have been saved, and you have come to a knowledge of the
truth experimentally; and every soul here that would be saved must in
the same way believe the truth, appropriate the truth, act upon the
truth, and experimentally know the truth, which is summed up in few
words:'Man lost: Christ his Savior. Man nothing: God all in all. The
heart depraved: the Spirit working the new life by faith.' The Lord
grant that these truths may come home to your hearts with power.
I am now going to draw two inferences which are to be practical. The
first one is this: in regard TO YOU THAT ARE SEEKING SALVATION. Does
not the text show you that it is very possible that the reason why you
have not found salvation is because you do not know the truth? Hence, I
do most earnestly entreat the many of you young people who cannot get
rest to be very diligent searchers of your Bibles. The first thing and
the main thing is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but if you say,'
I do not understand it,' or I cannot believe,' or if there be any such
doubt rising in your mind, then it may be because you have not gained
complete knowledge of the truth. It is very possible that somebody will
say to you, Believe, believe, believe.' I would say the same to you,
but I should like you to act upon the common-sense principle of knowing
what is to be believed and in whom you are to believe. I explained this
to one who came to me a few evenings ago. She said that she could not
believe. Well,' I said, now suppose as you sit in that chair I say to
you, Young friend, I cannot believe in you': you would say to me, I
think you should.' Suppose I then replied, I wish I could.' What would
you bid me do? Should I sit still and look at you till I said, I think
I can believe in you'? That would be ridiculous. No, I should go and
enquire, Who is this young person? What kind of character does she
bear? What are her connections?' and when I knew all about you, then I
have no doubt that I should say, I have made examination into this
young woman's character, and I cannot help believing in her.' Now, it
is just so with Jesus Christ. If you say, I cannot believe in him,'
read those four blessed testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
and especially linger much over those parts where they tell you of his
death. Do you know that many, while they have been sitting, as it were,
at the foot of the cross, viewing the Son of God dying for men, have
cried out, I cannot help believing. I cannot help believing. When I see
my sin, it seems too great; hut when I see my Savior my iniquity
vanishes away.' I think I have put it to you sometimes like this: if
you take a ride through London, from end to end, it will take you many
days to get an idea of its vastness; for probably none of us know the
size of London. After your long ride of inspection you will say,' I
wonder how those people can all be fed. I cannot make it out. Where
does all the bread come from, and all the butter, and all the cheese,
and all the meat, and everything else? Why, these people will be
starved. It is not possible that Lebanon with all its beasts, and the
vast plains of Europe and America should ever supply food sufficient
for all this multitude.' That is your feeling. And then, to-morrow
morning you get up, and you go to Covent Garden, you go to the great
meat-markets, and to other sources of supply, and when you come home
you say, I feel quite different now, for now 1 cannot make out where
all the people come from to eat all this provision: I never saw such
store of food in all my life. Why, if there were two Londons, surely
there is enough here to feed them.' Just so'when you think about your
sins and your wants you get saying, How can I be saved?' Now, turn your
thoughts the other way; think that Christ is the Son of God: think of
what the merit must be of the incarnate God's hearing human guilt; and
instead of saying, My sin is too great,' you will almost think the
atoning sacrifice too great. Therefore I do urge you to try and know
more of Christ; and I am only giving you the advice of Isaiah, Incline
your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live.' Know,
hear, read, and believe more about these precious things, always with
this wish'I am not hearing for hearing's sake, and I am not wishing to
know for knowing's sake, but I am wanting to hear and to know that I
may be saved.' I want you to be like the woman that lost her piece of
silver. She did not light a candle and then say, Bravo, I have lit a
candle, this is enough.' She did not take her broom and then sit down
content, crying, What a splendid broom.' When she raised a dust she did
not exclaim, What a dust I am making! I am surely making progress now.'
Some poor sinners, when they have been seeking, get into a dust of
soul-trouble, and think it to be a comfortable sign. No, I'll warrant
you, the woman wanted her groat: she did not mind the broom, or the
dust, or the candle; she looked for the silver. So it must be with you.
Never content yourself with the reading, the hearing, or the feeling.
It is Christ you want. It is the precious piece of money that you must
find; and you must sweep until you find it. Why, there it is! There is
Jesus! Take him! Take him! Believe him now, even now, and you are
saved.
The last inference is for YOU WHO DESIRE TO SAVE SINNERS. You must,
dear friends, bring the truth before them when you want to bring them
to Jesus Christ. I believe that exciting meetings do good to some. Men
are so dead and careless that almost anything is to be tolerated that
wakes them up; but for real solid soul-work before God' telling men the
truth is the main thing. What truth? It is gospel truth, truth about
Christ that they want. Tell it in a loving, earnest, affectionate
manner, for God wills that they should be saved, not in any other way,
but in this way'by a knowledge of the truth. He wills that all men
should be saved in this way'not by keeping them in ignorance, but by
bringing the truth before them. That is God's way of saving them. Have
your Bible handy when you are reasoning with a soul. Just say, Let me
call your attention to this passage.' It has a wonderful power over a
poor staggering soul to point to the Book itself. Say, Did you notice
this promise, my dear friend? And have you seen that passage?' Have the
Scriptures handy. There is a dear brother of mine here whom God blesses
to many souls, and I have seen him talking to some, and turning to the
texts very handily. I wondered how he did it so quickly, till I looked
in his Bible, and found that he hind the choice texts printed on two
leaves and inserted into the book, so that he could always open upon
them. That is a capital plan, to get the cheering words ready to hand,
the very ones that you know have comforted you and have comforted
others. It sometimes happens that one single verse of God's word will
make the light to break into a soul, when fifty days of reasoning would
not do it. I notice that when souls are saved it is by our texts rather
than by our sermons. God the Holy Ghost loves to use his own sword. It
is God's word, not man's comment on God's word, that God usually
blesses. Therefore, stick to the quotation of the Scripture itself, and
rely upon the truth. If a man could be saved by a lie it would be a
lying salvation. Truth alone can work results that are true. Therefore,
keep on teaching the truth. God help you to proclaim the precious truth
about the bleeding, dying, risen, exalted, coming Savior; and God will
bless it.
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON'1 Timothy 2.
HYMNS FROM Our Own Hymn Book'551, 546, 556.
LETTER FROM MR. SPURGEON.
DEAR FRIENDS,'Accept again my heartiest salutations. I hope soon to
issue sermons preached at home on the previous Sabbaths, for I purpose,
if the Lord will, to leave this shelter on February 2, or thereabouts.
Six weeks of continuous fine weather have by God's blessing delivered
me from my pains, and enabled me to regain a large measure of strength;
and the daily good tidings from home has also helped to quiet my mind
and revive my spirit. O that I may be the better for this affliction.
As after heavy showers the fountains and brooks run with new force and
fullness, so may it be with these sermons now that with me the rain is
over and gone.' If you, dear readers, are the more refreshed I shall
count pain and weakness to be a small cost for so blessed a result.
Yours most heartily
C.H. Spurgeon
Menton, January 16, 1880.
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For the Candid and Thoughtful
A Sermon