Pentecost
(No. 1783)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 1, 1884,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"The day of Pentecost." Acts 2:1.
[Sermon No. 511, Volume 9, is also entitled, "Pentecost." Its Scripture
verses are Acts 2:1-4.]
LOOKING into a silversmith's window on Thursday last, I observed a
notice card upon which was printed as follows–"This shop will be
closed this evening and will not be re-opened until Tuesday evening." I
looked at the name over the window and observed that it belonged to one
of the house of Israel. I had forgotten till that moment that we have
now reached the Levitical feast of Pentecost which contains, among its
regulations, that no servile work is to be done–and hence all business
is laid aside by the faithful Jew. Surely, the Jews, in their care to
observe their law, deserve much praise. At what an expense must large
trading firms suspend their business! They send a lesson to many
professed Christians who seem to have little regard for the Lord's Day,
break in upon its rest in a thousand frivolous ways and half regret
that they cannot pursue their earthly callings throughout the whole
seven days of the week.
It is true that we consider these days, weeks and sacred festivals to
have become obsolete by the fulfillment of the great Truths of God
which they typified, but as this is not the judgment of the Jew because
he has not received Jesus as the Messiah, we may at least learn from
his strict observance of the Sabbath, the Passover and the feast of
Pentecost, that it becomes us to study the spiritual meaning of these
types, and to guard with care the one great festival which remains to
the Church, namely, the Lord's Day. On our Sabbath let us do no
needless work, but seek rest both for body and soul.
We are now at the season called Pentecost. In the reading of the
Scriptures, I showed you out of Leviticus 23 that the first feast was
the Passover and that there is no feasting, no satisfaction, no peace,
no rest, no joy to any heart till, first of all, we have seen the
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, who is our Passover. When we have
understood the great Truth declared in Jehovah's Word, "When I see the
blood, I will pass over you," then we know what it is to dwell in
safety within the blood-sprinkled doors while the Destroying Angel
passes by. Through the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,
"we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
now received the atonement."
Under the covering of the blood of the Lord's Passover, we feast upon
the Pascal Lamb, and thus our hunger is removed, our desires are
satisfied, our strength is renewed and our heart is made glad. As the
result of that Passover, we do, in fact, what the Jews did in emblem on
the morrow after the Passover Sabbath–we confess that we are not our
own, but are bought with a price–and that all that we have belongs to
our redeeming Lord. On the morrow after the Sabbath, the Israelite
brought the wave-sheaf of his barley harvest, which was waved before
the Lord in type that every product of the soil–and all the result of
man's labor–was from God and belonged to God. So, as soon as we have
fed upon Christ and have come out of the house of bondage, we begin to
enquire, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits
towards me?" It becomes an instinct with us to express our gratitude in
one way or another. Without any deliberation or delay, we conclude that
if He has loved us and given Himself for us, we ought to show our love
to Him in some manifest form.
Seven clear weeks passed away from the waving of the sheaf of the
barley harvest and then came the feast of first fruits for all the
crops, but principally for the wheat harvest which was then in full
operation–this was Pentecost. In 50 days Israel was fully clear of
Egypt, far away in the desert, and quite delivered from all fear of
pursuing armies. Pharaoh's hosts had been destroyed and the Red Sea
rolled between Israel and her former oppressors. Then it was that they
held a holy convocation. They did not bring to God in the wilderness
the loaves of bread of first fruits, for they had not yet
reached the land which would yield them a harvest. But they held their
convocation and were instructed as to what their duty would be when
they came to the promised land. When they actually reached their
possessions in Canaan, they kept the 50th day and held a solemn feast
in which they presented unto the Lord two loaves of bread made of fine
flour from the new wheat. This offering dedicated the harvest.
The teaching of this ceremony is just this–"When you are saved, when
you have entered into rest, when you have considered and deliberated,
then renew your vows unto the Lord, make your consecration more large
and full and deliberate–and dedicate yourself and all that you have
unto the Lord who has given you all things richly to enjoy. You have
already, in the short time since you have known the sprinkled blood,
obtained a harvest of joy and peace–therefore delay not to bring a
worthy portion unto the Lord and say unto Him, 'You have set me free
and made me to be Your servant. And now I offer to You all that I am
and all that I have, for You have bought me with Your precious
blood.'"–
"Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too
small! Love so amazing, so Divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all!"
Thus the three feasts can be understood by us in our own spiritual
experience. We can keep them in spirit; let us do so at once. Let us
again rehearse the Passover by fresh faith in Jesus! Let us renew our
first dedication which was like to the wave-sheaf. And then let us come
with solemn resolve and, after many days of sweet experience, let us
renew our covenant before the Lord, saying–
"High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily
hear: Till in life's latest hour I bow, And bless in death a bond so
dear."
We deliberately wish our loyalty to stand good to the end. We have no
desire to draw back, but rather would we wish to be more completely the
Lord's than we have been. We would bring "a new meat offering before
the Lord" and keep the feast with great joy, ceasing from all servile
work, but in the spirit of obedient children serving the Lord with
gladness. Thus we read Pentecost by the light within.
On the larger platform of the Lord's doings for His Church, the
Passover stands for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus upon the Cross when
He poured out His soul unto death–that by His blood we might be saved
from wrath. The waving of the barley sheaf was carried out by our
Lord's rising from the dead on the morrow after the Sabbath–when He
rose from the dead and became the first fruits of them that slept. The
feast of first fruits 50 days after His death is fulfilled by the
descent of the Holy Spirit, giving to the Church the first fruits of
the Spirit and working the conversion of 3,000 souls who were thus the
first fruits from among the Jews. This beginning of blessing was
followed by a revival which continued with the Church at Jerusalem for
a long time–and extended throughout all the world, till almost every
nation had, in a short time, learned the Doctrine of the Cross and
multitudes had submitted unto Christ!
Of this greater Pentecost we shall not fail to speak this morning–we
shall dwell upon both the type and the antitype–and if I run them a
little into one another, you must forgive me. The type is so admirable
and so many-sided that it has its own actual lesson as well as its
figurative lesson. I scarcely know where the type ends and where the
antitype be-gins–but your meditations will easily set it right if I
should make a muddle.
First, I shall speak upon the consecrated harvest of the field which we
shall illustrate by the passage out of Leviticus. Then, secondly, upon
the consecrated harvest of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, as a practical
lesson, we shall close by considering the consecrated harvest which
should come from each soul unto the redeeming Lord.
I. First, let us speak of THE CONSECRATED HARVEST OF THE FIELD. It may
seem somewhat singular to you that we should be talking of harvest on
this first day of June, but I beg you to remember that the Bible was
not written in England, but in Palestine. And in that country the
harvest is much earlier than in this northerly latitude where the
climate is so much more severe. An early day in June would be the
average time for the fruits of the field to be ripe. At the beginning
of the barley harvest the first ripe ears were presented to the Lord in
due order, but at the fuller festival they brought into God's house,
not the ears of wheat, but two large loaves of bread taken from their
habitations–the fruit of the earth actually prepared for human food.
These loaves were offered unto the Lord with other sacrifices.
What did that mean? It meant, first, that all came from God. "We know
that," says one. Yes, we do know it, but we often talk as if it were
not true. We regard our bread as the fruit of our own labor, which is
also true, but it is only a small part of the truth–for who is He that
gives us strength to labor–and gives the earth the power to bring
forth her harvest from the seed which is sown in her furrows? It is not
every man that accepts the mercies of daily Providence as in very truth
sent from God. I fear in many houses, bread is eaten and the Giver is
forgotten. There may, perhaps, be a formal giving of thanks, but there
is no heart in it. It is a horrible thing that men should live like
brutes–like dumb cattle, grazing but thinking nothing of Him who
causes grass to grow for the cattle–and herbs for the service of man.
If any here have sunken into that brutish condition, may God deliver
them from their degrading ingratitude!
Oh, you Christian people, you are clothed by the charity of God and fed
by His bounty! And if you do not continually acknowledge that every
good gift is from your heavenly Father, may the Lord have pity upon you
and bring you to your right minds! Poverty has been, sometimes, sent
upon men because they were not grateful when they enjoyed abundance.
Persons who can grumble when their table is loaded, must not wonder if,
one of these days, they become so distressed as to pine for the crumbs
which once fell from their table! Let us not provoke God to chasten us
for our murmuring, but let us bless Him, this day, for our life, our
health, our bread and our clothing–yes, and for the very air we
breathe! All that is short of Hell is more than we deserve. Let us, by
grateful offerings to the Lord, express our thankfulness for all the
comforts we enjoy.
The waving of those loaves before the Lord signified, next, that all
our possessions need God's blessing upon them. It would be a horrible
thing to be rich with unblessed riches, yet some are in that condition
and, consequently, the more they hoard, the more curses they lay up for
themselves. Without a blessing from God, His gifts become temptations
and bring with them care, rather than refreshment! We read of some,
that "while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came
upon them and slew the fattest of them." Thus it seems that the very
bread on the table may prove a curse unless God shall bless it. It was,
no doubt, a very joyous sight to see the loaves and the fishes
multiplied for the crowd–but the best part of it was that before fish
or bread had been increased, the Master had looked up to Heaven and
blessed them! The people ate of blessed fish and blessed bread–and
thus it nourished them.
If you have little, my Brother, yet if God has blessed your little,
there is a flavor in it which the ungodly cannot know when they fill
themselves with their stalled oxen! If you have an ample estate, yet if
you have more blessing, your riches shall not be a snare to you, but
you shall be able to endure prosperity which, to many, is like the
height of the craggy rock from which they are dashed down to
destruction! God's blessing is what we need upon common life, yes, upon
the leavened bread of daily life as well as upon the unleavened bread
of our holy things! We need the Lord's blessing from morning to night,
from the first day of the week till Saturday night. We need it on all
we are, and have and do! The Israelites brought the two loaves of
leavened bread, praying the Lord to bless all the other loaves that
would be baked out of the year's harvest–and the Lord did so. Let us
sanctify the bulk of our substance by the sacrifice unto the Lord of
what is needed for His holy service.
It meant, next, all that we have, we hold under God as His stewards.
These two loaves were a kind of peppercorn rent, acknowledging the
superior Landlord who was the true Owner of the Holy Land. The two
loaves were a quit rent, as much as to say, "O Lord, we acknowledge
that this is Your soil and we are tenants at will." We farm our
portions as bailiffs for our God! We gather the fruit of it as stewards
for the Most High and bring a part, thereof, to His altar in token that
we would use the rest to His Glory. Have we all done this with our
substance? Do we continually dedicate all that we have unto our God and
stand to the dedication? Do we make a conscientious use of such
temporal benefits as the Lord entrusts to us? Where is that one talent
of yours, O slothful servant? Where are those five talents, O you man
of influence and of wealth? If you have not traded with them for the
Great Master, what are you but an embezzler of your Master's goods,
false to your trust? Beware lest He come and say to you, "Give an
account of your stewardship, for you may no longer be steward." The
faithful Believer will bring unto the Lord, with gladness, the Lord's
portion, and thus confess that everything He has is, like himself, the
royal possession of the King of kings!
Again, the bringing of those loaves signified that they were afraid
they might commit sin in the using of what God had given. The first
thank-offering, as we have seen, was of barley, fresh plucked from the
field. There was nothing evil about that–and so our Lord, when risen
from the dead, made a pure and perfect presentation unto the Lord. But
this second offering of the first fruits was not wheat as God made it,
but a loaf of bread in which there was leaven. Somehow human
nature seems to crave for leaven with the pure flour and so the
Israelite brought to God not a pure gift, but that form of it which is
used by man for his nourishment. Why was it ordained that they should
present leaven to God? Was it not meant to show us that common life,
with all its imperfections, may yet be used for God's Glory? We may,
through our Lord Jesus, be accepted in our business life as well as in
sanctuary life–in market dealing as well as in sacramental meditation.
Life, as it comes to common people in their daily labor and in their
domestic relationships, is to be holiness unto the Lord!
Yet do not fail to notice that when they brought these two leavened
loaves, they brought with them a burnt offering of seven lambs, without
blemish, and one young bullock and two rams–the Holy Spirit thus
signifying that our daily lives, services and gifts cannot be accepted
in and of themselves–but we must bring with them the true sweet-savor
offering of our Lord Jesus Christ who offered Himself without spot unto
God! The precious blood of His Sacrifice must fall upon our leavened
loaves, or they will be sour before the Lord. We can never be accepted
except in that one ordained way–"He has made us accepted in the
Beloved." Christ's Sacrifice is so sweet that it perfumes our offerings
and renders that acceptable which otherwise would have been rejected.
This poor leavened cake of ours has the elements of corruption in
it–but lo–here, in Jesus, we have a savor which is sweet unto the
Lord and the Lord is well pleased with us for His righteousness' sake!
No, that was not all. In consideration of the loaf being leavened, they
brought with it a sin offering as well. "Then you shall sacrifice one
kid of the goats for a sin offering." See Leviticus 23:19. Confessing,
as each one of us must do– that however hearty our dedication to God,
there is still a faultiness in our lives–we are glad to be cleansed by
the blood of Jesus! However much we labor to live wholly and alone unto
God's Glory, yet, in many things we offend and come short of the Glory
of God. We bring a sacrifice for sin because it is needed. We confess
the iniquities of our holy things. That loaf which we present is of
fine flour, but it is baked with leaven and, therefore, a sin offering
is needed. O man of God, never try to bring any prayer, or any act of
penitence, or any deed of faith, or any gift of love to God apart from
the great sin offering of Jesus Christ! You are a saint, but you are
still a sinner–and though you are clean before men–yet when you come
before God, His pure and holy eyes behold folly and defilement in you
which nothing can put away except the cleansing blood of Christ!
"If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another." Yet we still sin, for it is written, "and the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin," which it could not
do if there were no sin to put away even then. It is, to my mind, a
great joy that you and I can give to God the first fruits of our
substance and can dedicate to Him our time and talents and, in doing so
we need not be afraid of rejection because we bring with us the sweet
savor offering of Jesus Christ, which is His righteousness, and the sin
offering of Jesus Christ which He offered when He was made to be sin
for us!
Let us learn one more lesson–all this was done as an act of joy. A new
meat offering was offered unto the Lord with peace offerings, which two
offerings always signify, among other things, a quiet, happy communion
with God. In addition to all this, they presented a drink offering of
wine which expresses the joy of the offerer. Pentecost was not a
fast–it was a festival! When you give anything to God, give it not as
though it were a tax, but render it freely, or it cannot be accepted!
If you do anything for the Lord, your God, do it not as of forced labor
demanded by a despot, whom you would gladly refuse if you could. You do
nothing unto God if it is not done of a willing mind. God loves a
cheerful giver. He wants no slaves to grace His Throne–you shall hear
no crack of whips in all the domains of our great Lord! His service is
perfect freedom! To give to Him is rapture! To live to Him is Heaven!
When we shall perfectly serve Him, we shall be in our glory, which is
His Glory. The sinking of self is the rising of joy!
Beloved, the Lord would not have any of you give of your substance to
Him with rueful countenance, squeezing it out as though you were losing
a drop of blood. Give nothing if you cannot give heartily–but do
everything unto the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength! The
Lord would not have the Ark of the Covenant dragged by unwilling
beasts, but He ordained that it should be carried upon the willing
shoulders of chosen men, to whom the service was an honor and a
delight. He would have His servants sing in their joyous hymns, "God is
the Lord, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords,
even unto the horns of the altar." He would have each one gladly say,
"O Lord, truly I am Your servant! By Your Grace I am Your servant and
the son of Your handmaid–You have loosed my bonds."
II. Thus far we have been considering part of the lesson of the
original Jewish Pentecost. Now we must hasten on to
consider, in the second place, THE CONSECRATED HARVEST OF OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST as taught by the
events of the great Christian Pentecost described in the Acts of the
Apostles. Our Lord is the greatest of all Sowers, for He sowed Himself.
Did He not say, "Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies,
it abides alone: but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit"? Our Lord
had been sown in His death and burial–and since such a corn of wheat
as this is quick in growing and soon yields a harvest–in 50 days there
comes a time for the ingathering of the first fruits. Had He not said,
"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already
to harvest"? And now, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, the
fruit was seen of them and joyfully gathered!
Let us learn some lessons from the Christian Pentecost. First, learn
that the first harvest of our Lord Jesus Christ was through the Holy
Spirit. There were no 3,000 converts till, first of all, was heard the
rushing of mighty wind! Till the cloven tongues had rested on the
little company of disciples, there were no broken hearts among the
crowd. Until the Believers were all filled with the Holy Spirit, the
minds of their hearers were not filled with conviction. We are longing,
greatly longing, for our Lord Jesus to see of the travail of His soul
and to be satisfied in this congregation and in this city. How we long
to see millions brought to Christ! I am sure some of us will feel a
heartbreak until whole nations come to Jesus' feet–and this cannot be
except by the special power of the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit will bless the world by filling the Church with His own
might. If I want my hearers converted, I must first of all, myself, be
filled with the Holy Spirit. I know that I address a great many workers
and I, therefore, say to each one of them–pay great attention to your
own spiritual state. If you desire to save your class, you must,
yourself, be endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit. You cannot burn
a way for the Truth of God into the heart of another unless the tongue
of fire is given to you from on high. Mind this. I tried, last Lord's
Day, to exhort you to pay much reverence and honor to the Holy Spirit,
who is so often forgotten in the Church of God. I pray you take good
heed to the exhortation. Maintain a grateful spirit towards the Holy
Spirit, paying special honor to Him, for He works all our works in
us–and without Him there will be neither sheaves nor loaves of the
harvest to offer the Lord. The ingathering of the revival at Pentecost
was worked by the Holy Spirit.
That day when the Spirit of God was given may be considered to be the
ordering of the Christian dispensation. You may not have noticed it,
but if you will count the days, you will find that it was exactly 50
days after the original Passover that the Law was given on Mount Sinai.
Many careful readers have observed this, but have feared to attach
importance to the fact because the Jews did not connect it with
Pentecost. Neither Philo nor Josephus speak of the giving of the Law as
happening at the time known as Pentecost. But that has nothing to do
with us. We are not bound to be blind to a matter because Josephus, or
Philo, or all writers did not happen to see it! They are not Rabbis to
us. The Jews did not, at that time, see all in the Law of God which
they have seen since, and we, having the Law in our hands, are bound to
examine for ourselves.
It was at Pentecost that God descended upon Mount Sinai and the
national laws of Israel were proclaimed together with those Ten
Commandments which are the standard of equity for all mankind. Moses
asked of Pharaoh, on the behalf of Israel, that they might keep a feast
unto Jehovah their God in the wilderness–and this was no mere
pretext–but a truthful statement. They did keep a holy season as they
proposed. They summoned a special assembly of the elders and sanctified
the people as soon as the turmoil of their leaving Egypt had subsided.
On the 50th day after the Exodus, the Lord came down in the sight of
all Israel upon Sinai. The trumpet was herd from the top of Horeb and
Sinai was altogether on a smoke. Now, we assert that as the
inauguration of the Law was on Pentecost, so, also, was the
inauguration of the Gospel! At the commencement of the Old Testament
dispensation, what manifestation do we get? God gives His people a law.
At the commencement of the New Testament dispensation, what do we get?
A law? No, the Lord gives His people the Spirit. That is a very
different matter.
Under the Old Covenant, the Commandments were given. But under the New
Covenant, the will and the power to obey are bestowed upon us by the
Holy Spirit. No more have we the Law of God upon stone, but the Spirit
writes the precept upon the fleshy tablets of the heart! Moses on the
mount can only tell us what to do–but Jesus, ascended on high, pours
out the power to do it! Now we are not under the Law, but under Grace,
and the Spirit is our guiding force. In the Church of God, our rule is
not according to the letter of a law, but according to the Spirit of
the Lord! Some peo-
ple look for a specific ordinance for every item of procedure on the
part of the Church. But, as far as I can see, there is a singular
absence of written rule and ritual concerning particulars–apart from
the two great standing ordinances.
I believe that under this dispensation, saints are left to the freedom
of the Spirit and are not specifically commanded in every detail by a
written law. Neither this form of Church government, nor that is forced
upon us–but life is permitted to assume its own necessary form under
the molding power of the Holy Spirit. Because we are to become men in
Christ and to no longer be children, we are directed not so much to a
specific law as to certain great general principles which are made to
be our guide through the Holy Spirit. Servants, you know, must be told
to do this and that, at such an hour and in such a way–but loving,
obedient children may be left free to obey the dictates of their loving
hearts. We love the Inspired Book which reveals to us the mind of God
and we revere it all the more because the Lord, Himself, who inspired
the Book dwells among us to conduct us by its holy instruction in all
things. The Lord is among us in a higher degree than ever He was in
Sinai, where boundaries were set to keep off the trembling people. The
Lord is in the midst of His people in love and fellowship–and by the
indwelling Spirit whereby He leads the sacred marching of His redeemed.
Pentecost was thus the inauguration of the Gospel dispensation.
This Pentecost was also the beginning of a great harvest of Jews and
Gentiles. Were there not two loaves? Not only shall Israel be saved,
but the multitude of the Gentiles shall be turned unto the Lord Jesus
Christ and He shall see of His soul's travail in those whom His Father
gave Him from before the foundation of the world! If the first fruits
were so great, what will the ultimate harvest be? Let us look for whole
kingdoms to submit themselves to Jesus!
That day of Pentecost, or feast of first fruits, what was it? Did it
only consist in many conversions? No. I believe that the filling of the
Apostles with the Holy Spirit was a part of the first fruits of the day
of Pentecost. We, ourselves, who are born to God whenever the Holy
Spirit visits us in His fullness and sanctifies and elevates us, are a
large part of our Lord's reward. A man full of the Holy Spirit rejoices
the heart of Christ! Your poor starveling Christians, who have a name
to live and nothing more, who shiver over Christ's commands and never
plunge into His service to find waters to swim in, bring Him little
honor and little pleasure. But when we are filled with the Holy Spirit,
we make men see the glory of His Grace, and His name is magnified in
the esteem of all onlookers!
Still, the major part of the Pentecostal first fruits will be found in
the great number that were that day converted. How much we desire the
same blessing, as a Church, for ourselves and all other Churches! We
hope to receive some 75, today, but what is this compared to three
thousand? We are not without additions to the Church every month, but,
oh, that the Lord would add to us daily! Why should it not be? Persuade
the people to come and hear! Pray for them and for the preacher while
they are hearing–and watch for their souls after hearing–and we shall
yet see a far larger increase!
The Christian Pentecost is, to us, full of instruction. Learn its
lessons. First, the disciples had to wait for it. "The husbandman waits
for the precious fruit of the earth." Sow on! If you have to wait a
week of weeks or a week of years, wait with confidence, for Pentecost
will yet yield its loaves unto the Lord! They obtained nothing until
they began preaching the Gospel–and then, in one day, the Church was
multiplied by twenty-five. O, when shall each member bring in 25 in a
day by preaching the Word of God? Those 3,000 souls were due to the
testimony of Jesus by the disciples. The Spirit of God was there, but
He did not work upon men apart from the means which He has ordained!
Peter stood up with the eleven. They preached Christ crucified and then
the people believed! Oh, for a great day of preaching when all shall
turn out and preach! If all the Lord's servants and handmaids began to
proclaim His salvation, we would soon wake up these sleepy millions and
London would be all on the move towards better things! A great
multitude must preach the Gospel if we are to have a great multitude
converted by it!
Of all those people saved, it was acknowledged that they belonged unto
the Lord, alone. When they were pricked to the heart and believed in
Jesus, they came at once and were baptized! As they were dead to the
world, it was right that they should be openly buried with Christ in
Baptism. So consecrated were they, that their lives were wholly given
to their Lord! In a very special manner it was so with them, for they
had all things in common–they lived a heavenly life here below. We
read, "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the Temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness
and singleness of heart." Thoroughly did they give unto God the glory
of their salvation, for they were wholly occupied in "praising God"–so
we are told in the last verse of the chapter from which we have culled
our text.
Yet if even we should see 3,000 converted in a day, we must not reckon
that such first fruits would be absolutely perfect. In the first
Pentecost, as we have seen, leavened cakes were presented to God–so in
all our successes and additions, there will sure to be a leaven. Do not
wonder if some converts go back or if others turn out to be hypocrites,
or merely temporary converts. It will always be so and we should not
think it a new and strange trial–tares grow with the wheat and bad
fish are taken in the same net with the good. Therefore let the Church,
in her best success, still keep to Christ and His precious blood–and
daily turn to His finished Sacrifice. Let us use upon the large scale,
as well as in our own personal concerns, the great Sacrifice for
sin–and when we admit members into the Church wholesale, let us
continually plead the precious blood that each one may be dedicated to
God. Be this our motto–"None but Jesus! None but Jesus!" Let us exalt
the Lamb of God, the sin-atoning Lamb! These converts and this success
can only be accepted in the Beloved.
But with all our care and prudence, let us not dampen our joy, for the
feast of first fruits is ever to be a gladsome occasion. So the type
teaches us and so let the fact always be with us. Oh, Brothers and
Sisters, on that day on which I lately saw 40 persons, one by one, and
listened to their experience and proposed them to the Church, I felt as
weary as ever a man did in reaping the heaviest harvest! I did not
merely give them a few words as enquirers, but examined them as
candidates with my best judgment. I thought that if I had many days of
that sort I must die, but I also wished it might be my lot to die in
that fashion! Having so many coming to confess Christ, my mind was
crushed beneath the weight of blessing, but I would gladly be
overwhelmed again! O that my Hearers would thus oppress me every week
of my life! Pray the Lord to send us, day after day, such additions to
the Church that we shall be scarcely able to hear all the testimonies
of what the Lord has done for them! Then let us sing, "Hallelujah,
Hallelujah," every day in the week and every hour of the day! Let us
rejoice and be glad–and give a hearty welcome to those who come into
the Church–and hearty praise to God who sends them!
So much about the Pentecost at Jerusalem. God send a Pentecost like it
to Newington Butts and to every other place!
III. The last thing was to be THE CONSECRATED HARVEST FROM EACH
PARTICULAR PERSON. What I
have to say is not mine, but the Lord's. If you open your Bibles at
Deuteronomy 26, you will find, there, a form of service which I pray
may serve you today. After the first offering on behalf of the nation,
consecrating all the harvest, individuals began to bring their first
fruits personally, even to the very end of the year. Whenever the
olives had been pressed, or the figs had been gathered, or the grapes
had been trodden, or the wheat fields had been reaped, the truly
believing Israelite took a part of his crop to the House of God and
presented it as a love token.
"And it shall be, when you are come in the land which the Lord your God
gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell there; that you
shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall
bring of your land that the Lord your God gives you, and shall put it
in a basket, and shall go unto the place which the Lord your God shall
choose to place His name there. And you shall go unto the priest that
shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the
Lord your God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord swore
unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket
out of your hands and set it down before the altar of the Lord your
God." See how the offerer began–"I profess this day unto the Lord your
God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord swore unto our
fathers for to give us." I wish to stand here, this morning, and to say
for myself, what I hope you can say, each one of you, for himself–"I
have come to the land of peace and rest which the Lord promised to
Believers. I have become a possessor of all things in Christ." That is
the reason why I would bring my offering. If the Lord has brought you
into the goodly land of salvation, you, too, should bring your
sacrifice to Him.
After this, the offerer went on to say–"A Syrian ready to perish was
my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few,
and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the
Egyptians evil entreated us and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard
bondage." Here was an admission of a former state of misery! Must we
not, also, say that we were in bondage, but that the Lord brought us
out with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and set us free
from our oppressors? I can say so and I know I am speaking the mind of
hundreds of you! The Lord has delivered you! Your sin is pardoned! Your
iniquities are covered! You are free from the power of sin! You walk at
liberty in righteousness! You have come into the land of promise! You
have entered into rest! That is abundant reason for bringing your gift
of love to the Lord!
Then the man also said, "The Lord has brought us into this place and
has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey."
Thus we, also, glory in our happiness and peace in Christ Jesus. Ours
is a blessed lot! It is a good
thing to be a Christian! It is a blessed privilege to be a child of
God! It is a delightful blessing to be a partaker of the Covenant and
all the blessings stored up therein. Do we not say so? I am sure we do
and, therefore, it is that we bring our thank offering as a token that
we love the Lord and desire to praise Him for all that He has done for
us. Then the offerer presented his first fruits and said, "And now,
behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land, which You, O Lord,
have given me." When he had made his offering spontaneously and freely
because God had done so much for him, then he went home to enjoy all
the good things which God had given him.
He did not feel as if he were practicing self-indulgence when he ate of
his figs or partook of his pomegranates, for his fruits in the lump
were sanctified by the first fruits being made holy unto the Lord. He
was not afraid to partake of the bounties of Providence, for he had
received of the bounties of Grace. He did not eat what had never been
blessed of God, but he went his way and heard the priest say, as he
left the sanctuary, "You shall rejoice in every good thing which the
Lord your God has given unto you and unto your house, you, and the
Levite, and the stranger that is among you." Then he understood the
language of Solomon–"Go your way. Eat your bread with joy and drink
your wine with a merry heart, for God now accepts your works." Thus may
the true Believer receive with gladness the supplies which his heavenly
Father gives him. And if he, for Christ's sake, and the love of men,
abstains from partaking of wine, he abstains with greater delight than
he ever had in drinking it!
Regarding nothing as common or unclean. Let us, in everything, give
thanks–and whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do–let us glorify
God and feel that He blesses us. This earth which once was accursed,
becomes to holy men a place of blessing, the vestibule of Glory, none
other than the House of God and the very gate of Heaven! Oh, you that
have never eaten of the Pascal Lamb; that have never been sprinkled
with His blood–you cannot know anything about this–you cannot offer
anything to God! You cannot receive His blessing upon your daily lives
because you have not, first of all, accepted salvation by the atoning
blood! I wish you would now come to Jesus! I pray God you may!
But, oh, if you have known the power of the death of Christ and so are
pardoned, do not miss the further joy of a consecrated life–the joy of
spending and being spent for Him who redeemed you! The Lord your God is
so blessed in Himself that when you give yourself to Him, His
blessedness overflows and fills you! Nothing is so much ours as what is
wholly God's! And when we are not our own, then by some strange logic,
we are most our own. When we have most fully practiced self-denial,
then the best riches and the rarest wealth and the truest blessedness
are ours. God help us to test this statement and so to keep the feast!
Amen.