The Infallibility of Scripture
DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, MARCH 11, 1888,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"The mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Isaiah 1:20.
WHAT Isaiah said was therefore spoken by Jehovah. It was audibly the
utterance of a man. But, really, it was the utterance of the Lord
Himself. The lips which delivered the words were those of Isaiah but
yet it was the very Truth of God that, "The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it." All Scripture, being inspired of the Spirit, is spoken by
the mouth of God. How ever this sacred Book may be treated nowadays, it
was not treated contemptuously, nor negligently, nor questioningly by
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and Lord. It is noteworthy how He
reverenced the written Word. The Spirit of God rested upon Him
personally, without measure and He could speak out of His own mind the
Revelation of God and yet He continually quoted the Law and the
Prophets and the Psalms.
And always He treated the Sacred Writings with intense reverence,
strongly in contrast with the irreverence of "modern thought." I am
sure, Brethren, we cannot be wrong in imitating the example of our
Divine Lord in our reverence for that Scripture which cannot be broken.
I say, if He, the Anointed of the Spirit and able to speak Himself as
God's mouth, quoted the Sacred Writings and used the holy Book in His
teachings, how much more should we. We who have no spirit of prophecy
resting upon us and are not able to speak new revelations must come
back to the Law and to the Testimony and value every single Word which
"The mouth of the Lord has spoken."
The like valuation of the Word of the Lord is seen in our Lord's
Apostles. They treated the ancient Scriptures as supreme in authority
and supported their statements with passages from Holy Writ. The utmost
degree of deference and homage is paid to the Old Testament by the
writers of the New. We never find an Apostle raising a question about
the degree of inspiration in this book or that. No disciple of Jesus
questions the authority of the books of Moses, or of the Prophets. If
you want to cavil or suspect, you find no sympathy in the teaching of
Jesus, or anyone of His Apostles. The New Testament writers sit
reverently down before the Old Testament and receive God's Words as
such, without any question whatever.
You and I belong to a school which will continue to do the same–let
others adopt what behavior they please. As for us and for our house,
this priceless Book shall remain the standard of our faith and the
ground of our hope so long as we live. Others may choose what gods they
will and follow what authorities they prefer. But, as for us, the
glorious Jehovah is our God and we believe concerning each doctrine of
the entire Bible, that "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it."
Coming closely, then, to our text, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it," our first head shall be–THIS IS OUR WARRANT FOR TEACHING
SCRIPTURAL TRUTH. We preach because, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it." It would not be worth our while to speak what Isaiah had spoken,
if in it there were nothing more than Isaiah's thoughts– neither
should we care to meditate hour after hour upon the writings of Paul,
if there were nothing more than Paul in them. We feel no imperative
call to expound and to enforce what has been spoken by men. But, since
"The mouth of the Lord has spoken it, "it is woe unto us if we preach
not the Gospel! We come to you with, "Thus says the Lord," and we
should have no justifiable motive for preaching our lives away, if we
have not this message.
The true preacher, the man whom God has commissioned, delivers his
message with awe and trembling because, "The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it." He bears the burden of the Lord and bows under it. Ours is
no trifling theme but one which moves our whole soul. They called
George Fox a Quaker, because when he spoke he would quake exceedingly
through the force of the Truth of God which he so thoroughly
apprehended. Perhaps if you and I had a clearer sight and a closer grip
of God's Word, and felt more of its majesty, we should quake also.
Martin Luther, who never feared the face of man, yet declared that when
he stood up to preach he often felt his knees knock together under a
sense of his great responsibility.
Woe unto us if we dare to speak the Word of the Lord with less than our
whole heart and soul and strength! Woe unto us if we handle the Word as
if it were an occasion for display! If it were our own word, we might
be studious of the graces of oratory. But if it is God's Word, we
cannot afford to think of ourselves–we are bound to speak it, "not
with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of no
effect." If we reverence the Word, it will not occur to us that we can
improve
upon it by our own skill in language. Oh, it were far better to break
stones on the road than to be a preacher, unless one had God's Holy
Spirit to sustain him–our charge is solemn and our burden is heavy.
The heart and soul of the man who speaks for God will know no ease, for
he hears in his ears that warning admonition– "If the watchman warn
them not they shall perish. But their blood will I require at the
watchman's hands." If we were commissioned to repeat the language of a
king we should be bound to do it decorously lest the king suffer
damage. But if we rehearse the Revelation of God, a profound awe should
take hold upon us and a godly fear lest we mar the message of God in
the telling of it. No work is so important or honorable as the
proclamation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus–and for that very reason
it is weighted with a responsibility so solemn that none may venture
upon it lightly, nor proceed in it without an overwhelming sense of his
need of great Divine Grace to perform his office aright.
We live under intense pressure, who preach a Gospel, of which we can
assuredly say, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it." We live rather in
eternity than in time–we speak to you as though we saw the Great White
Throne and the Divine Judge before whom we must give an account of not
only what we say but how we say it.
Dear Brethren, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken the Truth of
God, we therefore endeavor to preach it with absolute fidelity. We
repeat the Word as a child repeats his lesson. It is not ours to
correct the Divine Revelation but simply to echo it. I do not take it
to be my office to bring you new and original thoughts of my own. But
rather to say, "The Word which you hear is not mine but the Father's
which sent me." Believing that, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it,"
it is my duty to repeat it to you as correctly as I can after having
heard it and felt it in my own soul. It is not mine to amend or adapt
the Gospel. What? Shall we attempt to improve upon what God has
revealed? The Infinitely Wise–is He to be corrected by creatures of a
day?
Is the infallible Revelation of the infallible Jehovah to be shaped,
moderated and toned down to the fashions and fancies of the hour? God
forgive us if we have ever altered His Word unwittingly–wittingly we
have not done so, nor will we, by His grace. His children sit at His
feet and receive His Words and then they rise up in the power of His
Spirit to publish far and near the Word which the Lord has given. "He
that has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully," is the Lord's
injunction to us. If we could abide with the Father according to our
measure, after the manner of the Lord Jesus and then come forth from
communion with Him to tell what He has taught us in His Word, we should
be accepted of the Lord as preachers and accepted also of His living
people far more than if we were to dive into the profound depths of
science, or rise to the loftiest flights of rhetoric.
What is the chaff to the wheat! What are man's discoveries to the
teachings of the Lord! "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it."
Therefore, O man of God, add not to His Words lest He add to you the
plagues which are written in His Book and take not from them, lest He
take your name out of the Book of Life!
Again, dear Friends, as, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it," we
speak the Divine Truth with courage and full assurance. Modesty is a
virtue. But hesitancy when we are speaking for the Lord is a great
fault. If an ambassador sent by a great king to represent his majesty
at a foreign court should forget his office and only think of himself,
he might be so humble as to lower the dignity of his prince, so timid
as to betray his country's honor. He is bound to remember not so much
what he is in himself but whom he represents. Therefore he must speak
boldly and with the dignity which beseems his office and the court he
represents. It was the custom with certain Oriental despots to require
ambassadors of foreign powers to lie in the dust before them.
Some Europeans, for the sake of trade interests, submitted to the
degrading ceremony. But when it was demanded of the representative of
England, he scorned thus to lower his country. God forbid that he who
speaks for God should dishonor the King of kings by a pliant
subservience. We preach not the Gospel by your leave. We do not ask
tolerance, nor court applause. We preach Christ Crucified and we speak
boldly as we ought to speak–because it is God's Word and not our own.
We are accused of dogmatism. But we are bound to dogmatize when we
repeat that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We cannot use "ifs"
for we are dealing with God's "shalls" and "wills." If He says it is
so, it is so. And there is the end of it. Controversy ceases when
Jehovah speaks.
Those who fling aside our Master's authority may very well reject our
testimony–we are content they should do so. But if we speak that which
the mouth of the Lord has spoken, those who hear His Word and refuse
it, do so at their own peril. The wrong is done not to the ambassador
but to the King. Not to our mouth but to the mouth of God, from whom
the Truth has proceeded.
We are urged to be charitable. We are charitable. But it is with our
own money. We have no right to give away what is put into our trust and
is not at our disposal. When we have to do with the Truth of God we are
stewards and must deal with
our Lord's treasury, not on the lines of charity to human opinions but
by the rule of fidelity to the God of Truth. We are bold to declare
with full assurance that which the Lord reveals. That memorable Word of
the Lord to Jeremiah is needed by the servants of the Lord in these
days–"You therefore gird up your loins and arise and speak unto them
all that I command you: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound
you before them. For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city
and an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land, against the
kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests
thereof and against the people of the land. And they shall fight
against you. But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,
says the Lord, to deliver you."
When we speak for the Lord against error, we do not soften our tones.
But we speak thunderbolts. When we come across false science, we do not
lower our flag–we give place by subjection–no, not for an hour. One
Word of God is worth more than libraries of human lore. "It is
written," is the great gun which silences all the batteries of man's
thought. They should speak courageously who speak in the name of
Jehovah, the God of Israel.
I will also add under this head, that because, "The mouth of the Lord
has spoken it," therefore we feel bound to speak His Word with
diligence–as often as ever we can and with perseverance–as long as
ever we live. Surely it would be a blessed thing to die in the
pulpit–spending one's last breath in acting as the Lord's mouth. Dumb
Sabbaths are fierce trials to true preachers. Remember how John Newton,
when he was quite unfit to preach and even wandered a bit by reason of
his infirmities and age, yet persisted in preaching. And when they
dissuaded him, he answered with warmth, "What? Shall the old African
blasphemer leave off preaching Jesus Christ while there is breath in
his body?"
So they helped the old man into the pulpit again, that he might once
more speak of free grace and dying love. If we had common themes to
speak about, we might leave the pulpit as a weary pleader quits the
forum. But as, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it," we feel His Word
to be as fire in our bones and we grow more weary with refraining than
with testifying. O my Brethren, the Word of the Lord is so precious
that we must in the morning sow this blessed Seed and in the evening we
must not withheld our hands. It is a Living Seed and the Seed of Life
and therefore we must diligently scatter it. Brethren, if we get a
right apprehension concerning Gospel Truth–that, "The mouth of the
Lord has spoken it"–it will move us to proclaim with great ardor and
seal.
We shall not drone the Gospel to a slumbering handful. Many of you are
not preachers but you are teachers of the young, or in some other way
you try to publish the Word of the Lord–do it, I pray you, with much
fervor of Spirit. Enthusiasm should be conspicuous in every servant of
the Lord. Let those who hear you know that you are all there–that you
are not merely speaking from the lips outwardly–but that from the
depths of your soul your very heart is welling up with a good matter
when you speak of things which you have made, touching the King.
The everlasting Gospel is worth preaching even if one stood on a
burning pyre and addressed the crowd from a pulpit of flames. The
Truths of God revealed in Scripture are worth living for and dying for.
I count myself thrice happy to bear reproach for the sake of the old
faith. It is an honor of which I feel myself to be unworthy. And yet
most truly can I use the words of our hymn–
"Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng,
Soften Your Truths and smooth my tongue?
To gain earth's gilded toys, or flee
The Cross endured, my God, by You?
The love of Christ does me constrain
To seek the wandering souls of men;
With cries, entreaties, tears, to save,
To snatch them from the fiery wave.
My life, my blood I here present,
If for Your Truth they may be spent–
Fulfill Your sovereign counsel, Lord!
Your will be done, Your name adored!" I cannot speak out my whole heart
upon this theme which is so dear to me but I would stir you all up to
be instant in season and out of season in telling out the Gospel
message. Specially repeat such a word as this–"God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life." And this–"Him that comes
to Me I will in no wise cast out." Proclaim boldly, proclaim in every
place, proclaim to every creature, "For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it." How can you keep back the heavenly news? "The mouth of the
Lord has spoken it"–shall not your mouth rejoice to repeat it?
Whisper it in the ear of the sick. Shout it in the corner of the
streets. Write it on your stationery. Send it forth from the press–but
everywhere let this be your great motive and warrant–preach the Gospel
because, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Let nothing be silent
that has a voice when the Lord has given the Word by His own dear Son–
"Float, float, you winds His story,
And you, you waters, roll,
Till like a sea of glory
It spreads from pole to pole."
II. Let us now row in another direction for a moment or two. In the
second place, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it." THIS IS THE CLAIM
OF GOD'S WORD UPON YOUR ATTENTION.
Every Word which God has given us in this Book claims our attention
because of the infinite majesty of Him that spoke it. I see before me a
Parliament of kings and princes, sages and senators. I hear one after
another of the gifted Chrysostoms pour forth eloquence like the
"Golden-mouthed." They speak and they speak well. Suddenly, there is a
solemn hush. What a stillness! Who is now to speak? They are silent
because God the Lord is about to lift up His voice. Is it not right
that they should be so? Does He not say, "Keep silence before Me, O
islands"? What voice is like His voice? "The voice of the Lord is
powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks
the cedars–yes, the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of
the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of
Kadesh. See that you refuse not Him that speaks. O my Hearer, let it
not be said of you that you went though this life, God speaking to you
in His Book and you refusing to hear! It matters very little whether
you listen to me or not. But it matters a very great deal whether you
listen to God or not. It is He that made you. In His hands is your
breath. And if He speaks, I implore you, open your ears and be not
rebellious. There is an infinite majesty about every line of Scripture,
but especially about that part of Scripture in which the Lord reveals
Himself and His glorious plan of saving Grace in the Person of His dear
Son Jesus Christ. The Cross of Christ has a great claim upon you. Hear
what Jesus preaches from the tree. He says, "Incline your ear and come
unto Me: hear and your soul shall
live."
God's claim to be heard lies, also, in the condescension which has led
Him to speak to us. It was something for God to have made the world and
bid us look at the work of His hands. Creation is a picture-book for
children. But for God to speak in the language of mortal men is still
more marvelous, if you think about it. I wonder that God spoke by the
Prophets. But I admire still more that He should have written down His
Word in black and white, in unmistakable language which can be
translated into all tongues, so that we may all see and read for
ourselves what God the Lord has spoken to us. And what, indeed, He
continues to speak.
For what He has spoken He still speaks to us, as freshly as if He spoke
it for the first time. O glorious Jehovah, Do You speak to mortal man?
Can there be any that neglect to hear You? If You are so full of loving
kindness and tenderness that You will stoop out of Heaven to converse
with Your sinful creatures, none but those who are more brutal than the
ox and the ass will turn a deaf ear to You!
God's Word has a claim, then, upon your attention because of its
majesty and its condescension. But, further, it should win your ear
because of its intrinsic importance. "The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it"–then it is no trifle. God never speaks vanity. No line of His
writing treats of the frivolous themes of a day. That which may be
forgotten in an hour is for mortal man and not for the eternal God.
When the Lord speaks, His speech is God-like and its themes are worthy
of one whose dwelling is infinity and eternity. God does not play with
you, Man–will you trifle with Him? Will you treat Him as if He were
altogether such a one as yourself? God is in earnest when He speaks to
you–will you not in earnest listen?
He speaks to you of great things which have to do with your soul and
its destiny. "It is not a vain thing for you. Because it is your life."
Your eternal existence, your happiness or your misery, hang on your
treatment of that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Concerning
eternal realities He speaks to you. I pray you, be not so unwise as to
turn away your ear. Act not as if the Lord and His Truth were nothing
to you. Treat not the Word of the Lord as a secondary thing, which
might wait your leisure and receive attention when no other work was
before you–put all else aside–and hearken to your God.
Depend upon it–if "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it," there is an
urgent, pressing necessity. God breaks not silence to say that which
might as well have remained unsaid–His voice indicates great urgency.
Today, if you will hear His voice, hear it. For He demands immediate
attention. God does not speak without abundant reason. And, O my
Hearer, if He speaks to you by His Word, I beseech you, believe that
there must be overwhelming cause for it! I know what Satan says–he
tells you that you can do very well without listening to God's Word. I
know what your carnal heart whispers–it says, "Listen to the voice of
business and of pleasure. But listen not to God." But, oh, if the Holy
Spirit shall teach your reason to be reasonable and put your mind in
mind of true wisdom, you will acknowledge that the first thing you have
to do is to heed your Maker!
You can hear the voices of others another time. But your ear must hear
God first since He is first, and that which He speaks must be of first
importance. Without delay do you make haste to keep His Commandments.
Without reserve answer to His call and say, "Speak, Lord, for Your
servant hears." When I stand in this pulpit to preach the Gospel, I
never feel that I may calmly invite you to attend to a subject which is
one among many and may very properly be let alone for a time should
your minds be already occupied. No. You may be dead before I again
speak with you and so I beg for immediate attention. I do not fear that
I may be taking you off from other important business by entreating you
to attend to that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
No business has any importance in it compared with this–this is the
master theme of all. It is your soul, your own soul, your ever-existing
soul which is concerned, and it is your God that is speaking to you. Do
hear Him, I beseech you. I am not asking a favor of you when I request
you to hear the Word of the Lord–it is a debt to your Maker which you
are bound to pay. Yes, it is, moreover, kindness to your own self. Even
from a selfish point of view I urge you to hear what the mouth of the
Lord has spoken, for in His Word lies salvation. Hearken diligently to
what your Maker, your Savior, your best Friend, has to say to
you–"Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation," but "incline your
ear and come unto Me–hear and your soul shall live." "Faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the Word of God."
Thus I have handled my text in two ways–it is warrant and motive for
the preacher. It is a demand upon the attention of the hearer.
III. And now, thirdly, THIS GIVES TO GOD'S WORD A VERY SPECIAL
CHARACTER. When we open this sacred
Book and say of that which is here recorded, "The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it," then it gives to the teaching a special character.
In the Word of God the teaching has unique dignity. This Book is
inspired as no other book is inspired and it is time that all
Christians avowed this conviction. I do not know whether you have read
Mr. Smiles' life of our late friend, George Moore. But in it we read
that at a certain dinner party, a learned man remarked that it would
not be easy to find a person of intelligence who believed in the
inspiration of the Bible. In an instant George Moore's voice was heard
across the table, saying boldly, "I do, for one."
Nothing more was said. My dear Friend had a strong way of speaking, as
I well remember. For we have upon occasions vied with each other in
shouting when we were together at his Cumberland home. I think I can
hear his emphatic way of putting it–"I do, for one." Let us not be
backward to take the old-fashioned and unpopular side and say outright,
"I do, for one." Where are we if our Bibles are gone? Where are we if
we are taught to distrust them? If we are left in doubt as to which
part is inspired and which is not, we are as badly off as if we had no
Bible at all. I hold no theory of inspiration. I accept the inspiration
of the Scriptures as a fact.
Those who thus view the Scriptures need not be ashamed of their
company. For some of the best and most learned of men have been of the
same mind. Locke, the great philosopher, spent the last fourteen years
of his life in the study of the Bible and when asked what was the
shortest way for a young gentleman to understand the Christian
religion, he bade him read the Bible, remarking–"Therein are contained
the words of eternal life. It has God for its Author, salvation for its
end and Truth, without any admixture of error, for its matter." There
are those on the side of God's Word whom you need not be ashamed of in
the matter of intelligence and learning.
And if it were not so, it should not discourage you when you remember
that the Lord has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has
revealed them unto babes. We believe with the Apostle that, "the
foolishness of God is wiser than men." It is better to believe what
comes out of God's mouth and be called a fool than to believe what
comes out of the mouth of philosophers and be, therefore, esteemed a
wise man. There is also about that which the mouth of the Lord has
spoken an absolute certainty. What man has said is unsubstantial–even
when true, is like grasping fog–there is nothing of it. But with God's
Word you have something to grip, something to have and to hold. This is
substance and reality.
But of human opinions we may say, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
Though Heaven and earth should pass away, yet not one jot or tittle of
what God has spoken shall fail. We know that and feel at rest. God
cannot be mistaken. God cannot lie. These are postulates which no one
can dispute. If "The mouth of God has spoken it," this is the Judge
that ends the strife where wit and reason fail. And henceforth we
question no more.
Again–if, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it," we have in this
utterance the special character of immutable fixedness. Once spoken by
God, not only is it so now but it always must be so. The Lord of Hosts
has spoken and who shall disannul it? The rock of God's Word does not
shift, like the quicksand of modern scientific theology. One said to
his minister, "My dear Sir, surely you ought to adjust your beliefs to
the progress of science." "Yes," said he, "but I have not had time to
do it today,
for I have not yet read the morning papers." One would have need to
read the morning papers and take in every new edition to know where
scientific theology now stands. For it is always chopping and changing.
The only thing that is certain about the false science of this age is
that it will be soon disproved. Theories, vaunted today, will be
scrapped tomorrow.
The great scientists live by killing those who went before them. They
know nothing for certain except that their predecessors were wrong.
Even in one short life we have seen system after system–the mushrooms,
or rather the toadstools, of thought–rise and perish. We cannot adapt
our religious belief to that which is more changeful than the moon. Try
it who will–as for me, if "The mouth of the Lord has spoken it," it is
the Truth of God to me in this year of Divine Grace, 1888. And if I
stand among you a gray-headed old man, Lord willing, somewhere in 1908,
you will find me making no advance upon the Divine ultimatum. If "The
mouth of the Lord has spoken it," we behold in His Revelation a Gospel
which is without variableness, revealing "Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today and forever."
Brothers and Sisters, we hope to be together forever before the eternal
Throne where bow the blazing Seraphim and even then we shall not be
ashamed to avow that same Truth of God which this day we feed upon from
the hand of our God–
"For He's the Lord, supremely good, His mercy is forever sure; His
Truth, which always firmly stood, To endless ages shall endure."
Here let me add that there is something unique about God's Word because
of the almighty power which attends it. "Where the word of a king is,
there is power." Where the Word of a God is, there is omnipotence. If
we dealt more largely in God's own Word as, "The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it," we should see far greater results from our preaching. It is
God's Word, not our comment on God's Word, that saves souls. Souls are
slain by the sword–not by the scabbard–nor by the tassels which adorn
the hilt of it.
If God's Word is brought forward in its native simplicity, no one can
stand against it. The adversaries of God must fail before the Word as
chaff perishes in the fire. Oh, for wisdom to keep closer and closer to
that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken! I will say no more on this
point, although the theme is a very large and tempting one–especially
if I were to dwell upon the depth, the height, the adaptation, the
insight and the self-proving power of that which, "The mouth of the
Lord has spoken."
IV. Fourthly and very briefly, THIS MAKES GOD'S WORD A GROUND OF GREAT
ALARM TO MANY. Shall I read you the whole verse? "But if you refuse and
rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord
has spoken it." Every threat that God has spoken, because He has spoken
it, has a tremendous dread about it. Whether God threatens a man or a
nation, or the whole class of the ungodly, if they are wise they will
feel a trembling take hold upon them, because, "The mouth of the Lord
has spoken it."
God has never yet spoken a threat that has fallen to the ground. When
He told Pharaoh what He would do, He did it. The plagues came thick and
heavy upon him. When the Lord at any time sent His Prophets to denounce
judgments on the nations, He carried out those judgments. Ask travelers
concerning Babylon and Nineveh and Edom and Moab and Bashan. And they
will tell you of the heaps of ruins which prove how the Lord carried
out His warnings to the letter. One of the most awful things recorded
in history is the siege of Jerusalem. You have read it, I do not doubt,
in Josephus, or elsewhere. It makes one's blood run cold to think of
it. Yet it was all foretold by the Prophets and their prophecies were
fulfilled to the bitter end.
You talk about God as being "love," and, if you mean by this that He is
not severe in the punishment of sin, I ask you what you make of the
destruction of Jerusalem? Remember that the Jews were His chosen nation
and that the city of Jerusalem was the place where His temple had been
glorified with His Presence. Brethren, if you roam from Edom to Zion
and from Zion to Sidon and from Sidon to Moab, you will find, amid
ruined cities, the tokens that God's Words of judgment are sure. Depend
on it, then, that when Jesus says, "These shall go away into
everlasting punishment," it will be so. When He says, "If you believe
not that I am He, you shall die in your sins," it will be so.
The Lord never plays at frightening men. His Word is not an
exaggeration to scare men with imaginary bugbears. There is emphatic
Truth in what the Lord says. He has always carried out His threats to
the letter and to the moment. And, depend upon it, He will continue to
do so, "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."
It is of no avail to sit down and draw inferences from the nature of
God and to argue, "God is Love and therefore He will not execute the
sentence upon the impenitent." He knows what He will do better than you
can infer–He has not left us to inferences for He has spoken pointedly
and plainly. He says, "He that believes not shall be damned," and it
will be so, "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Infer what you
like from His nature. But if you draw an inference contrary to what He
has spoken, you have inferred a lie and you will find it so.
"Alas," says one, "I shudder at the severity of the Divine sentence."
Do you? It is well! I can heartily sympathize with you. What must he be
that does not tremble when he sees the great Jehovah taking vengeance
upon iniquity! The terrors of the Lord might well turn steel to wax.
Let us remember that the gauge of the Truth of God is not our pleasure
nor our terror. It is not my shuddering which can disprove what the
mouth of the Lord has spoken. It may even be a proof of its truth. Did
not all the Prophets tremble at manifestations of God? Remember how one
of them cried. "When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at
the voice; rottenness entered into my bones."
One of the last of the anointed Seers fell at the Lord's feet as dead.
Yet all the shrinking of their nature was not used by them as an
argument for doubt. O my unconverted and unbelieving Hearers, do
remember that if you refuse Christ and rush upon the keen edge of
Jehovah's sword, your unbelief of eternal judgment will not alter it,
nor save you from it. I know why you do not believe in the terrible
threats. It is because you want to be easy in your sins. A certain
skeptical writer, when in prison, was visited by a Christian man who
wished him well but he refused to hear a word about religion.
Seeing a Bible in the hand of his visitor, he made this remark, "You do
not expect me to believe in that Book, do you? Why, if that Book is
true, I am lost forever." Just so. Therein lies the reason for half the
infidelity in the world and all the infidelity in our congregations.
How can you believe that which condemns you? Ah, my Friends, if you
would believe it to be true and act accordingly you would also find in
that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken a way of escape from the
wrath to come! For the Book is far more full of hope than of dread.
This inspired volume flows with the milk of mercy and the honey of
Divine Grace. It is not a Doomsday Book of wrath but a Testament of
Grace.
Yet, if you do not believe its loving warnings, nor regard its just
sentences, they are true all the same. If you dare its thunders, if you
trample on its promises and even if you burn it in your rage, the holy
Book still stands unaltered and unalterable. "The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it." Therefore, I pray you, treat the sacred Scriptures with
respect and remember that, "These are written, that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that believing you might
have life through His name."
V. And so I must finish, for time fails, when I notice, in the fifth
place, that THIS MAKES THE WORD OF THE LORD
THE REASON AND REST OF OUR FAITH. "The mouth of the Lord has spoken
it," is the foundation of our confidence. There is forgiveness. For God
has said it. Look, Friend, you are saying, "I cannot believe that my
sins can be washed away, I feel so unworthy." Yes but, "The mouth of
the Lord has spoken it." Believe over the head of your unworthiness.
"Ah," says one, "I feel so weak I can neither think, nor pray, nor
anything else, as I should." Is it not written, "When we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly"? "The mouth
of the Lord has spoken it." Therefore, over the head of your inability
still believe it, for it must be so.
I think I hear some child of God saying, "God has said, 'I will never
leave you, nor forsake you,' but I am in great trouble. All the
circumstances of my life seem to contradict the promise"–yet, "The
mouth of the Lord has spoken it," and the promise must stand. "Trust in
the Lord and do good. So shall you dwell in the land and verily you
shall be fed." Believe God in the teeth of circumstances. If you cannot
see a way of escape or a means of help, yet still believe in the unseen
God and in the Truth of His Presence–"For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it."
I think I have come to this pass with myself, at any rate for the time
present, that when circumstances deny the promise, I believe it none
the less. When friends forsake me and foes belie me and my own spirit
goes down below zero and I am depressed almost to despair, I am
resolved to hang to the bare Word of the Lord and prove it to be in
itself an all-sufficient stay and support. I will believe God against
all the devils in Hell, God against Ahithophel and Judas and Demas and
all the rest of the turncoats. Yes, and God against my own evil heart.
His purpose shall stand, "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."
Away, you that contradict it–ours is a well-grounded confidence, "For
the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."
By-and-by we shall come to die. The death-sweat shall gather on our
brow and perhaps our tongue will scarcely serve us. Oh that then, like
the grand old German Emperor, we may say, "My eyes have seen Your
salvation," and, "He has helped me with His name." When we pass through
the rivers He will be with us, the floods shall not overflow us–"For
the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." When we walk through the valley
of the shadow of death we shall fear no evil, for He will be with us–
His rod and His staff shall comfort us–"The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it." Ah, what will it be to break loose from these bonds and
rise into the glory? We shall soon see the King in His beauty and be
ourselves glorified in His glory. For "the mouth of the Lord has spoken
it." "He that believes has everlasting life." Therefore a glad eternity
is ours.
Brethren, we have not followed cunningly devised fables. We are not
"wanton boys that swim on floats," which will soon burst under us. But
we are resting on firm ground. We abide where Heaven and earth are
resting–where the whole universe depends–where even eternal things
have their foundation–we rest on God Himself. If God shall fail us, we
gloriously fail
with the whole universe. But there is no fear. Therefore let us trust
and not be afraid. His promise must stand–"The mouth of the Lord has
spoken it." O Lord, it is enough! Glory be to Your name, through Christ
Jesus! Amen.