Public Testimony–a Debt To God and Man
DELIVERED BY
C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Then they said to one another, We are not doing right. This day is a
day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light,
some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and
tell the king's household." 2 Kings 7:9.
You are not surprised to find that, when those four lepers outside the
gate of Samaria had made the great discovery that the Syrian camp was
deserted, they first satisfied their own hunger and thirst. And quite
right, too. Who would do otherwise? It is true that they were bound to
go and tell other hungry ones, but they could do that with all the
louder voice and they were the more sure of the truth they had to tell
when they had first refreshed themselves. It might have been a
delusion–they were prudent to test their discovery before they told
it. Having refreshed and enriched themselves, they then thought of
going to tell the besieged and starving citizens. I would advise every
soul that has found Christ to imitate the lepers in this matter. Make
sure that you have found the Savior. Eat and drink of Him; enrich
yourself with Him and then go and publish the glad tidings. I shall not
object to your going as early as possible, but still, I would prefer
that you should not go to assure others until you are quite certain
yourself. I would have you go with a personal witness, for this will be
your chief power with others.
If you run too soon and do not first taste and see that the Lord is
good, you may say to others, "There is abundance in the camp," and they
may reply, "Why have you not eaten of it, yourself?" Thus your
testimony will be weakened, if not destroyed, and you will wish you had
held your peace. It is better that you, first of all, delight yourself
in fatness before you proclaim the fact of a festival. It is good that
your faith should grasp the exceedingly great and precious promises,
and then, when you run as a tidings-bearer, you will testify what you
have seen. If any say to you, "Are you sure that it is true?" you will
answer, "Yes, that I am, for I have tasted and handled of the good Word
of Life." Personal enjoyments of true godliness assist us in our
testimony for Truth and Grace.
But the point I desire to bring out is this–if those lepers had stayed
in the camp all night, if they had remained lying on the Syrian
couches, singing, "Our willing souls would stay in such a place as
this"–and if they had never gone at all to their compatriots, shut up
and starving within the city walls, their conduct would have been
brutal and inhuman! I am going to talk to some at this time, (I do not
know how many of the sort may be here), who think that they have found
the Savior, who believe that they are saved, who write themselves down
as having truly enjoyed religion and who imagine that now their only
business is to enjoy themselves. They delight to feed on the Word of
God and to this I do not object at all. But then, if it is all feeding
and nothing comes of it, I ask to what end are they fed? If the only
result of our religion is the comfort of our poor little souls–if the
beginning and the end of piety is contained within one's self–why, it
is a strange thing to be in connection with the unselfish Jesus and to
be the fruit of His gracious Spirit. Surely, Jesus did not come to save
us that we might live unto ourselves! He came to save us from
selfishness.
I am afraid that some of my hearers have never yet confessed the work
of God in their souls. They feel that, whereas they were once blind,
now they see–but they have never declared what the Lord has done for
their souls. Has all this work been done in a corner for their personal
pleasure? I want to have a drive at them and at all others who have not
yet considered that the objective of their receiving Grace from the
Lord is that God may, through them, communicate Grace to others. No man
lives unto himself! No man should attempt so to live.
My subject will be this–first, to hide the great discovery of Grace is
altogether wrong. In the second place, if we have made that discovery,
we ought to declare it. And, thirdly, this declaration should be
continually made. It should not be a
matter of one solemn occasion, but our whole life should be a witness
to the power and Grace which we have found in
Christ!
I. First, then, dear Friends, TO HIDE THE DISCOVERY OF DIVINE GRACE
WOULD BE WRONG.
Let me ask you to remember the connection of my text. God had come to
the Syrian camp and had, by Himself, routed the whole Syrian host–they
had, every man of them, fled. Though the starving citizens of Samaria
did not know it, the Lord had made provision in abundance for all their
hunger–and there it was–within a stone's throw of the city gates. The
Lord had done it! His own right hand and His holy arm had gotten Him
the victory and had provided for Israel's needs though they did not
know it. These lepers found out the joyful facts and had utilized their
discovery by entering into possession of the treasure–they were
appointed to make known the joyful facts–and if they had concealed
them, they would have been guilty men.
For, first, their silence would have been contrary to the Divine
purpose in leading them to make the discovery. Why were these four
lepers led into the camp that they might learn that the Lord of Hosts
had put the enemy to the rout? Why, mainly that they might go back and
tell the rest of their countrymen! I fear that the doctrine of election
has too often been preached in such a way that thoughtful minds have
objected to it upon the ground of its tendency to selfishness. Men do
not like the doctrine, anyway, but there is no use in putting it in a
needlessly ugly shape. Election is a fact, but a fact which relates to
other facts! The Lord calls out of the world a people, a peculiar
people, whom He makes to be His own–but the ultimate end of the
election of these men is that they may gather in others! As Israel was
chosen to preserve the Light of God for the nations, so has the Lord
chosen His believing people that they may bring in the other sheep
which are not yet of the fold. We are not to get within four narrow
walls and sit and sing–
"We are a garden walled around, Chosen and made peculiar ground! A
little spot enclosed by Grace Out of the world's wide wilderness.'"
Or if we do so sing, we are not to bless ourselves over and over again
as being the end and climax of the Lord's work and wisdom! No, but
since we are a garden walled around, we are to bring forth fruit to Him
who owns us. We are to be a nursery ground. I know a piece of ground
upon which some millions of young fir trees were grown, which were
afterwards planted out upon a range of Scotch hills. Such should our
Churches be. Though comparable in our feebleness to a handful of corn
upon the top of the mountains, we expect that the fruit thereof shall
shake like Lebanon and they of the city shall flourish like grass of
the earth! We are chosen unto salvation that afterwards we may go and
be lights to those who sit in darkness–and spiritual helps to those
that are ready to perish. These four men were allowed to see what God
had done so that they might run home with the cheering news! If they
had not gone to Samaria with the tidings, they would have been false to
the Divine purpose. And so will you be, my Brother, if you continue to
hold your tongue! So will you be, my Sister, if you never say, "The
Lord has done great things for me, of which I am glad." Let the purpose
of God, for which you ought to adore Him every day, be plenteously
fulfilled in you, and let it be seen that He has chosen you to know
Christ that you may make Him known to others!
These people would not only have been false to the Divine purpose, but
they would have failed to do well. They said, one to another, "We are
not doing right." Did it ever strike some of you, dear Friends, that it
is a very serious charge to bring against yourselves, "We are not doing
right"? I am afraid that many are content because they can say, "We do
not drink. We do not swear. We do not gamble. We do not lie." Who said
you did? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves if you did any of those
things. But is this enough? What are you actually doing? "To him that
knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin." I have heard of
perfect people, but I have not seen any. If it came to acts of positive
commission of sin, I could possibly compare notes with such Brothers
and Sisters, for I endeavor to be blameless, and I trust I am–but when
I remember that sins of omission are really and truly sins, I bid
"good-bye" to all notions of perfection, for my many shortcomings
overwhelm me!
No man has done all the good he could have done and ought to have done.
If any man assures me that he has done all the good that might have
been possible for him, I do not believe him. I will say no more, but
let us labor to avoid sins of omission. Dear Friend, if you know the
Lord and you have never confessed His name, then you are not doing
right. If you have been in company and you have not spoken up for
Christ, you are not doing right. If you have had opportunities of
telling the Gospel, even to children, and you have not done so, you are
not doing right. It is a heavy charge, after all,
for a man's conscience to bring against him when it forces him to join
with others in saying, "We are not doing right." That is the reason why
the barren fig tree was cut down. He that kept the vineyard did not
say, "Cut it down, it bears such sour fruit." It bore no fruit at all.
There was the point–it cumbered the ground. Take heed, oh, take heed,
of a religion which does not make you positively do right! If all that
your religion does is to keep you from doing mischief, it has too small
an effect to be the religion of Jesus Christ! He asks, "What do you
more than others? Do not even publicans do so?" God help us, then, to
make an open declaration of what His Spirit has secretly taught us!
Besides this, had those lepers held their tongues, they would actually
have been doing evil. Suppose that they had kept their secret for 24
hours–many hundreds might have died of starvation within the walls of
Samaria. Had they so perished, would not the lepers have been guilty of
their blood? Do you not agree with that? May not neglect be as truly
murder as a stab or a shot? If, in your street, a man shall perish
through not knowing the Savior and you never made an effort to instruct
him, how will you be guiltless at the Last Great Day? If there are any
within your reach who sink down to perdition for lack of the knowledge
of Christ–and you could have given them that knowledge–will your
hands be free from blood in the day when the Great Inquest shall be
held and God shall make inquisition for the blood of Christ? I put it
to the consciences of many silent Christians who have never yet made
known to others what God has made known to them–how can you be clear
from guilt in this matter?
Do not ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" for I shall have to give you a
horrible answer if you do! I shall have to say, "No, Cain, you are not
your brother's keeper, but you are your brother's killer." If, by your
effort, you have not sought his good–by your neglect you have
destroyed him! If I were able to swim and I saw any of you in a stream,
and I merely looked at you, and greatly regretted that you should be so
foolish as to tumble in, but never stretched out a hand to rescue you,
your death would lie at my door! And I am sure it is so with those who
talk about enjoying religion and yet keep it all to themselves and
never rescue the perishing. These are stern Truths of God. Let them go
home where they ought to go home, and may God the Holy Spirit bless
them!
Again, these lepers, if they had held their tongues, would have acted
most unseasonably. Note how they put it themselves. They said, "We are
not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we remain silent." O
Brothers and Sisters, has Jesus washed your sins away and are you
silent about it? I remember the day when I first found peace with God
through the precious blood and I declare that I was forced to tell
somebody about it! I could not have stifled the voice within me. What,
my dear Brother? Are you saved in the Lord with an everlasting
salvation and can you keep the blessing to yourself? Do you not wonder
that all the timbers in your house do not groan at you and that the
earth itself does not open her mouth to rebuke you? Can you be such an
ungrateful wretch as to have tasted of amazing mercy and yet to have no
word to say by way of confessing it? Come, Brother, come, Sister,
overcome that retiring spirit of yours and cry–"I cannot help it! I am
driven to it! I must and will bear witness that there is a Savior, and
a great one." Personally, I cannot hold my tongue and never will while
I can speak–
"Ever since by faith I saw the stream, His flowing wounds supply.
Redeeming lo ve has been my theme, And shall be tiil I die!"
Oh, that God would stir up every silent Christian to speak out for his
Lord! We have had enough of the dumb spirit! Oh, for the Spirit in the
form of tongues of fire!
One thing more–silence may be dangerous. What did these men say? "If
we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us." That
morning light is very close to some of you. If you tarry till tomorrow
morning before you have spoken about Christ, some punishment may come
upon you. I might put it farther off on a grander scale. There is a
morning light which will soon be seen over yon gloomy hills of
darkness–how soon, we cannot tell–but our Master has bid us to be
always on the watch for it. In such an hour as we think not, He will
come, and when He comes, it will be to reward His faithful servants.
There is a text which speaks of our not being ashamed at His coming.
What a wonderful text that is! What if He were to come tonight–would
we not be ashamed? He may come before the unformed word has quit my
lips or reached your ears–the shrill clarion of the archangel may
startle the dead from their graves–and the Christ may be among us on
His Great White Throne!
Suppose He should come tonight, and you, who have thought that you knew
Him and loved Him, should never have sought to win a soul for Him–how
will you face Him? How will you answer your Lord, whom you have never
acknowl-
edged? You knew the way of salvation and you concealed it! You knew the
balm for the wounds of sinners and you let them bleed to death! They
were thirsty and you gave them no draught of Living Water. They were
hungry and you gave them no Bread of Life. Sirs, I cannot venture to
His Judgment Seat with such a blot upon my soul! Can you? Brother, can
you? Sister, can you? What? Your own dear children–your own flesh and
blood–have you never prayed with them, nor sought to bring them to
Jesus? What? The servants of your house–have you never spoken of the
Savior to them? Your wife, your husband, your old father, your brother,
your sister–and you have never yet opened your lips to say, "Jesus has
saved me; I wish you were saved, too"? You might have done as much as
that! You have said bolder things than that to them about worldly
matters. Oh, by the love of God, or even by a lower motive, by the love
of your fellow men, burst your bands asunder and speak out for Christ!
Or else, if your profession is true, you are not doing right, indeed,
and I believe there is reason to question your religion.
Thus much upon the first point–to hide the blessed discovery would
have been wrong for the lepers–and it would be wrong for us.
II. Secondly, if we have made the blessed discovery of Christ's
gracious work in routing our enemies and providing for our needs–and
if we have tasted of the fruit of that glorious victory, ourselves–WE
OUGHT TO MAKE A VERY EXPLICIT AVOWAL OF THAT DISCOVERY. It ought to be
confessed very solemnly and in the way which the Lord, Himself, has
appointed. How can we better show forth all righteousness than by being
buried with Christ in Baptism according to His command? We ought, also,
to unite with the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and to co-operate
therewith in holy service. This ought to be done very decidedly,
because our lord requires it. Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ couples
always, with faith, the confession of it. He that with his heart
believes and with his mouth makes confession of Him, shall be saved.
"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." We constantly find
the two together. The faith that saves is not a sneaking faith, which
tries to get to Heaven by keeping off the road and creeping along
behind the hedge. The true faith comes into the middle of the road,
feeling, "this is the King's Highway and I am not ashamed to be found
in it." This is the faith which Jesus expects of you, the faith which
cries, "I have lifted my hands unto the Lord, and I will not go back."
Next, if you have found Christ, the man who was the means of leading
you to Christ has a claim upon you that he should know of it. Oh, the
joy of my heart, the other day, when I saw some 24 who were my
spiritual children! I felt, then, that I was receiving large wages at
the Master's hands. Many get good from the minister and yet they never
let him know of it. This is not doing as they would be done by. It is
rather like cheating us of the reward of our ministry. To know that God
is blessing us is a great comfort and stimulus. Do not muzzle the mouth
of the ox that treads out the corn!
Next, I think the Church of God has a claim upon all of you who have
discovered the great love of Jesus. Come and tell your fellow
Christians! Tell the good news to the King's household! The Church of
God is often greatly refreshed by the stories of new converts. I am
afraid that we who get over 50 come, by degrees, to be rather
old-fogeyfied, and it is a great blessing to us to hear the cries of
the babes in Grace and to listen to the fresh and vivid testimony of
new converts. It stirs our blood and quickens our souls and thus the
Church of God is benefited. If some of you old folks had been at the
Church Meeting the other Monday evening, and heard some five little
children, one after the other, telling what the Lord had done for their
souls, you would have agreed with me that you could not have done it so
well yourselves! You may know more, but you could not have stated what
you know so simply, so sweetly, so charmingly, as those dear children
did! One of them was but nine years old, or younger, and yet she told
of Free Grace and dying love as clearly as if she had been 80 or
ninety. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings the Lord ordains
strength! Some of you have known the Lord for many years and yet you
have never confessed Him. How wrong it is of you! How much you injure
the Church of your Master!
Besides that, a decided testimony for Christ is due to the world. If a
man is a soldier of the Cross and does not show his colors, all his
comrades are losers by his lack of decision. There is nothing better
for a man, when he is brought to Christ, than for him to decidedly
express his faith and let those about him know that he is a new man.
Unfurl your standard! Decision for Christ and holiness will save you
from many dangers and ward off many temptations. Compromise creates a
life of misery. I would sooner be a toad under a rock than be a
Christian man who tries to conceal his Christianity! It is sometimes
difficult, in this age, for a man to follow his conscience, for you are
expected to run with a party. But I am of this mind–that I would
sooner die than not live a free man. It is not life to have to ask
another man's permission to think. If
there is any misrepresentation, if there is any scorn, if there is any
contempt for being a Christian, let me have my share of it, for a
Christian I am, and I wish to be treated like the rest.
If all Christians came out and declared what the Lord has done for
their souls, the world would feel the power of Christianity and would
not think of it as men now do, as though it were some petty
superstition of which its own votaries were ashamed! If, indeed, you
are soldiers of the Cross, bear your shields into the light of day and
be not ashamed of your Captain! What can there be to make us blush in
the service of such a Lord? Be ashamed of shame, and quit yourselves
like men!
Your open confession is due all round and it is specially due to
yourself. It is due to your spiritual manhood that if the Lord has done
anything for you, you should gratefully acknowledge it! It is also due
to your love of others–and love of others is of the very essence of
Christianity–that you should explicitly declare that you are on the
Lord's side. What more shall I say? What more need I say? I would sound
the trumpet and summon to our Lord's banner all who are good men and
true.
III. THIS DECLARATION SHOULD BE CONTINUALLY MADE. Here I speak of many
who have confessed
Christ publicly and are not ashamed of His name. Beloved, we ought
always to make Christ known, not only by our once-made profession, but
by frequently bearing witness in support of that profession! I wish
that we did this more among God's own people. Miss Havergal very
admirably says, "The King's household were the most unlikely people to
need to be instructed in this good news." So it seems at first sight.
But, secondly, the lepers were the most unlikely persons to instruct
the King's household and yet they did so. You and I might
say–Christian people do not require to be spoken to about our Lord and
His work–they know more than we do. If they do require it, who are we,
who are less than the least of all our Master's household, that we
should presume to instruct them? Thus even humility might check our
bearing testimony in certain companies! If you were in the midst of
uninstructed people, to whom you could do good, you might feel bound to
speak, but among Christians you are apt to be dumb. Have you not said
to yourself, "I could not speak to that good old man. He is much better
instructed in the faith than I am"? Meanwhile, what do you think the
aforesaid good old man is saying? He says to himself, "He is a fine
young man, but I could not speak to him, for he has so much more
ability than I have." Thus you are both as mute as mice when you might
be mutually edified!
Worse, still, perhaps you begin talking upon worthless themes–you
speak of the weather, or of the last wretched scandal, or of politics.
Suppose we were to change all this and each one say, "I am a Christian
and next time I meet a Brother Christian, whether he is my superior or
not, I shall speak to him of our common Master"? If two children meet,
they will do well to speak of father and mother. If one is a very
little child, he may know but little about his father compared with the
knowledge possessed by his big sister, but then he has kissed his
father last and has, of late, enjoyed more caresses from his father
than his grown-up sister has! The elder can tell more of Father's
wisdom and goodness, but the younger has a more vivid sense of his
tenderness and love–and so they can unite in fervent admiration.
Why should Christian people so often meet and part without exchanging
five words about the Lord Jesus? I am not condemning any of you. I am
censuring myself more than anyone else. We do not bear enough testimony
for our Lord! I am sure I felt quite taken aback the other day when a
fireman said to me, "You believe that the Lord directs the way of His
people, don't you, Sir?" I said, "That I do. Do you know anything about
it?" "Why," he said, "yes. This morning I was praying the Lord to
direct my way and you engaged me–and I felt that it was a good
beginning for the day." We directly began talking about the things of
God! That fireman ought not to have been the first to speak! As a
minister of the Gospel, I ought to have had the first word. We have
much to blame ourselves for in this respect. We hold our tongues
because we do not know how a word might be received, but we might as
well make the experiment. No harm could come of trying. Suppose you
were to go into a place where persons were sick and dying and you had
medicine about you which would heal them–would you not be anxious to
give them some of it? Would you say nothing about it because you could
not tell how it might be received? How could you know how it would be
received except by making the offer? Tell poor souls about Jesus! Tell
them how His Grace healed you and, perhaps, they will answer, "You are
the very person I need. You have brought me the news I have longed to
hear."
There are districts in London, to my knowledge, especially in the
suburbs, where, if a man knocks at the door and begins to say a word
about Christ, the poor people answer, "No one ever calls upon us to do
us any good. We are left to
perish." It is shameful that it should be so, but so it is. Men live
and men die in this Christian country as much lost to the knowledge of
the Gospel as if they had lived in the Congo! If they lived in the
Congo, we should all subscribe to send a missionary up the river to
tell them of Jesus and His love–even at the risk of his dying of
fever, we should send a missionary to them–and yet those who live next
door to our homes, or are even in our employ, are left in ignorance of
salvation! The woman that comes in to clean; the man who sweeps up the
mud from the street–these may know no more of Christ than Hottentots
and yet we do not speak about Christ to them. Is not this shocking? We
have satisfied our own hunger and now we allow others to starve!
If I could persuade any Brother here, or any Sister here, who has
tasted that the Lord is gracious, to shake off sinful lethargy, I would
have done good service. Dear Friends, do let us quit indifference and
get to work for Jesus! It is not enough to me that I should, myself,
preach the Gospel. I would gladly turn you all out to proclaim it. Oh,
that the thousands here assembled would go through London proclaiming
Christ! Eternity, alone, could reveal the result of such a crusade! I
spoke from this pulpit, once, about young Christian men who were great
hands at cricket, but could not bowl straight at a sinner's heart. A
gentleman who was present that day, and heard me, said, "That is true
about me. I am a Christian, but yet I am better known as a cricketer
than as a worker." He began to serve his Lord with his whole heart and
he is, at this day, in the front rank of usefulness! Oh, that I could
win another such! The multitudes of London are dying in the dark! I
beseech you, bring them all the light you have! Myriads are perishing
all over this United Kingdom. Hasten to their rescue! The world, also,
remains under the power of evil. I beseech you to reclaim it!
"I do not know anything," says one. Then do not say what you don't
know. "Oh!" cries another, "I hope I am a Christian." Tell others how
you became a Believer and that will be the Gospel. You need not study a
book and try to make a sermon with three heads and a tail–just go home
and say to your biggest boy–"John, I want to tell you how your father
found a Savior." Go home to that sweet little daughter of yours and
say, "Dear Sarah, I want to tell you how Jesus loves me." Before the
morning light you may have had the joy of seeing your dear children
brought to the Savior if, this very evening, you talk to them out of
the fullness of your heart!
Only this I say to you–if you do not love my Master, then turn from
your evil ways! If you have not trusted Jesus, trust Him at once and
find salvation full and free! When you have found that salvation, then
publish the tidings of it. By the love of Him that bled upon the
Cross–by every drop of blood from His pierced heart, awaken yourselves
to serve Him with all your might! Either with tongue or with pen, tell
of the love of Jesus–
"Tell it out among the heathen, That He reigns from the tree!"
Sound it forth everywhere beneath yon arch of Heaven that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. And add, "He has saved me." God
bless you!