Profitable Mixture
DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, JUNE 9, 1889,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them
that heard it." Hebrews 4:2.
THE people that came out of Egypt were an interesting company, if we
think of what God had done on their behalf and of what he proposed to
do for them. They had been lifted up from a state of slavery into one
of freedom and they were on their way to a country where they were to
be settled, each one upon his own portion of land, therein to become
priests and kings unto Jehovah. What an unhappy circumstance that the
high ideal set before them was never realized by any of them save two
lone men–Joshua and Caleb!
You hear them singing at the Red Sea, in exultant joy, and they are on
their way to Canaan, the land that flows with milk and honey–loud are
their songs and high are their hopes. But mark those lines of
graves–those innumerable hillocks which were formed wherever the camp
was pitched in the desert! That is the end of the generation which came
out of Egypt–"Their carcasses fell in the wilderness." Instead of
reaching Canaan and settling, every man under his own vine and fig
tree, they lie in dishonored graves outside of the land of promise. Ah
me, so lofty a destiny before them and so sad a missing of it.
Let us not follow in their tracks. We are far too much inclined to do
so. They were men and we are no better than they by nature. Oh, for
Divine Grace to walk after a higher rule! Let a holy dread seize upon
us at this time, such as that which Paul expresses in the following
words–"Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering
into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." Let us not
find a tomb when we might gain a throne. Let us not go down into the
pit when before us lies the way to Heaven and multitudes are beckoning
us there.
May great Grace be given that we may win where a whole nation failed!
It will be Divine Grace, indeed, if Gentiles shall excel the seed of
Abraham. May heavenly power create within our bosoms a holy caution,
lest by any means we come short of the Grace of God! Let rebellious
Israel be our beacon. From the graves of their lusting let us hear a
voice of warning, lest we also tempt the Lord and constrain Him to shut
us out of His rest.
First, I shall invite you to consider Israel's hearing of the
Gospel–"Unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them." They
heard good news from Moses, which was, at any rate, a Gospel. But to me
it seems that they also heard the Gospel which we hear. Secondly, let
us notice Israel's failure to profit thereby–"The word preached did
not profit them." They heard but heard in vain. Thirdly, let us put our
finger upon the fatal cause of failure, so plainly indicated here by
the words, "not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." The
hearing was alone and without the mixture of faith. It answered no
practical purpose. May the Spirit of God prepare our hearts for this
meditation and may we so consider the lamentable failure of Israel that
we may not fall after the same example of unbelief!
I. First, then, let us think of ISRAEL'S HEARING OF THE GOSPEL. Whether
you take it as our translators have put it in the Authorized Version,
"Unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them," or accept the
Revised rendering, "Indeed, we have had good tidings preached unto us,
even as also they," it comes to much the same meaning. For the message
of Moses and the reports of the faithful spies were both typical of the
Gospel which was brought to us by our Lord and His Apostles. Our Gospel
is more clear than theirs. Yet they had the Gospel also, in all the
essential truths of it and had they fully believed it, it would have
been a saving Gospel to them.
We shall notice, first, that the good news brought to Israel was a
Gospel of rest for slaves, a promise of deliverance for men who cried
by reason of sore bondage. This was a fit emblem of that news which
comes to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen to the words of Moses
in the sixth of Exodus–"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I
am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the
Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage and I will
redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments. And I
will take you to Me for a people and I will be to you a God. And you
shall know that I am the Lord your God, which brings you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land,
concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac and to
Jacob. And I will give it you for an heritage. I am the Lord."
This was exceedingly glad news to the bond slaves in Egypt. These men
were made to labor to exhaustion. They had to work in making bricks
and, as you well remember, they were denied the straw so necessary to
their manufacture. And yet the count of their bricks was not
diminished. They had no rest from toil by day or night. And if they did
not supply the full number of bricks, they were cruelly beaten by their
taskmasters. Truly the tribes of Israel were in a very evil case. They
groaned by reason of their bitter bondage and that promise was a
wonderful Gospel to them–"I will bring you out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians."
This is the kind of Gospel which is preached to us today. Does not
Jesus say, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me and you shall
find rest unto your souls"? Spiritual rest is even more precious than
bodily rest. The great promise of the Gospel is rest from the burden of
guilt, the pressure of fear, the bondage of habit, the slavery of sin,
the scourging of conscience and the dread of wrath to come. Jesus
promises rest for the heart, the intellect, the desires, the fears, the
hopes, the conscience of the man.
There is perfect rest to be had, rest from all the burdens which the
cruel Pharaoh of Hell has heaped upon you. It is yours if you will but
have it. What a happy people we ought to be to have Christ among us as
Himself the rest of our souls! We ought to leap toward this blessing
with intensity of spirit and say, "Lord, suffer me to enter at once
into Your rest! Deliver me from the slavery of sin and I will serve You
all my days with gladness and delight. Lay what burden of holy service
You shall please upon me, only ease me of my guilt, and deliver me from
the wrath which lies hard upon me."
The Gospel of rest is preached to you, my Hearers, even as it was
preached to Israel in Egypt. Have you understood it? Have you received
it in your hearts? Have you so mixed faith with the glad news that you
have accepted it and made it true in your own proper persons? Can you
sing–
"My heart is resting, O my God, I will give thanks and sing. My heart
is at the secret source Of every precious thing"?
Note next, that the good tidings to Israel was a Gospel of redemption
in order to their entering into the promised rest. They were slaves to
Pharaoh–how could they become dwellers in Canaan? They might
truthfully say, "We cannot break our bonds." The power of Egypt would
hold Israel as with an iron hand. But with a high hand and an
outstretched arm, Jehovah, their God, determined to bring them out. And
bring them out He did. Connected with that power of arm there was the
price of sacrifice. For they were redeemed typically by the blood of
the Passover Lamb. That blood, sprinkled on the lintel and on the two
side posts, preserved their houses when the destroying angel passed
through the land of Egypt with his death sword.
They stood about their family tables and feasted joyfully while there
was wailing in every house of Egypt–from Pharaoh's palace down to the
lowly chamber of his maidservant. This day I also preach to you rest
through the Divine omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and through the
sprinkling of the precious blood of the Lamb of God. A full atonement
has been made, a sufficient ransom has been presented–by this are men
set free.
Christ Jesus is the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.
He died in the Believer's place that he might rest lawfully and have no
fear of being brought under bondage through the demands of justice. By
the death of our Lord Jesus Christ the Law has been magnified and the
requirements of Divine Justice have been met. God is, in Christ Jesus,
reconciling the world unto Himself. Blessed are the lips that tell you
this good news! I never feel so happy as when I am talking of
redemption through the blood of the Lamb.
I gladly proclaim perfect redemption, efficacious redemption–I joy to
testify that every Believer is justly set free and comes righteously
from under the curse of God, since "He has made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him." Beloved, the Gospel preached to Israel is the Gospel which is
preached to us–only we have it more plainly and see it in substance
rather than in shadow.
You have heard the word of reconciliation and you know its meaning.
Have you rested in it? Have you come to Jesus? Have His wounds become
your resting place? Is His blood your covering? Are you sheltered
beneath the crimson
canopy of His finished sacrifice? There is the point. And in this
respect "unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto
them."
Furthermore, it was a Gospel of separation. When you read the words of
the Lord to His chosen ones, you are compelled to see that He means
them to be a people set apart for His own purposes. He no sooner began
with them than the first summons was to Pharaoh, "Let My people go,
that they may serve Me." Israel was in Egypt–but Israel was not a part
of Egypt. No Israelite could become an Egyptian. As a distinct people
they came into the land of Ham and as a distinct people they went out
of the land. Too much was Israel defiled by the customs of that heathen
nation–it was not absorbed in Egypt, nor did it cease to be a peculiar
race.
The Lord has of old separated to Himself, in His eternal purposes, a
people who are His. And His they shall still be, even till that day in
which He shall make up His jewels. These chosen ones He gave to His
Son, and Jesus claims the gift when He speaks of, "as many as You have
given Me." These belong to the Lord Jesus in a special way. These have
a destiny before them, even in this world, of separation from the rest
of mankind. For Jesus says, "they are not of the world, even as I am
not of the world." "Lo, the people shall dwell alone and shall not be
reckoned among the nations." "You are a peculiar people."
We are the Lord's portion, the lot of His inheritance. It is by means
of this separation that we find rest. There is no rest for us in Egypt,
for it is polluted. Our rest lies where God has prepared it and He
cries, "Arise you, and depart. For this is not your rest." Here we have
no abiding city. Here we are "strangers and foreigners, as all our
fathers were." So even here the Church is distinct from the world and
cannot be made one with it. The eternal choice has made a difference.
And by a heavenly calling and a Divine life working in us, we are set
apart unto the Lord Himself.
The eternal decree of separation is fulfilled in an actual separation
in the thoughts and habits and ways and lives of the chosen. We are not
now what we were, nor what others are. For John says, "You are of God,
little children, and the whole world lies in the wicked one." This is
the Gospel of separation which leads on to rest. Until separated there
is no rest for us. Thus is it written, "Come you out from among them
and be you separate. And I will be a Father unto you and you shall be
My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Thus you see that ours is a Gospel of rest, a Gospel of sacrifice and a
Gospel of separation from the rest of mankind. Hear it with more
earnest heed than Israel gave to it–"For unto us is the Gospel
preached, as well as unto them." Dear Hearers, do you know what this
separation means? Have you been called out? Have you quit your former
haunts and ways? Do you cleave unto the Lord with purpose of heart
though others turn aside? Do you follow the footsteps of the Crucified?
Judge yourselves, that you be not judged.
Still further, the Gospel preached to the Israelites told them of a
glorious heritage which was provided for them. It was described as, "a
land that flows with milk and honey"–a land of wheat and barley and
figs and olive oil, a land which was not irrigated by labor but was
watered by the rain of Heaven. A land of rivers, a land which the Lord
thought upon, a land out of whose heart they might dig brass and iron.
It was the fairest of all countries, an epitome of the whole world. And
it was to be theirs as a freehold forever!
Each tribe was to have its portion, each family its lot. This was good
news to them. And all the more so because within the outward and
temporal good news there was a spiritual Gospel. Even so are you told
that there is a heritage, even a heavenly one, to which God brings His
believing people and of which He gives them an earnest even now, in the
possession of His Holy Spirit. This heritage is, in a measure, ours
even in this life. But into the fullness of its delight we shall enter
when the Lord shall come and receive us unto Himself. Beloved, our
hearts ought to burn within us when we think of the good things of the
Covenant, the fat things full of marrow and the wines on the lees
well-refined.
On these Sabbath days, especially, we should look to enjoy a foretaste
of that heavenly feast to which there will be no end. We enter into the
rest already in a measure–we shall come into the fullness of it very
soon. The snows upon the heads of many of you prophesy that the year of
your wilderness life is drawing to a close and the endless years of
your glory life are hastening on. O my Hearers, you have all heard this
Gospel of glory–have you all accepted it? Are you anticipating the
world to come, whereof this Gospel speaks? Have you already entered
into the life eternal? Is there within you a well of water springing up
unto everlasting life? If so, you are thrice happy. But whether or not,
to you has this Gospel been preached, even as unto Israel of old. They
had also preached to them the Gospel of a Divine calling. For they were
informed that they were not to enter into this land to be idlers in it,
but they were to be a nation of priests. In
that holy land they were to be a holy people. There would they present
sacrifices to God, while others worshipped Baal and Ashtaroth. There
would the sacred oracle speak to them, while the rest of the world
followed lying vanities. There would the glory of the Lord shine out of
the midst of His temple and Israel would rejoice in the light thereof.
They were to preserve the lamp of truth until the day should come when
it would shine on all mankind. Truly, the Israelites who came out of
Egypt had a splendid heritage before them if they could but have
believed God and so have grasped it. To them it would have been
true–"strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and the sons of the
alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be
named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our
God." Happy people!
This, even this, is the Gospel that is preached unto you. We are called
to believe in Jesus. And then, in Him, to become priests and kings unto
our God and in His holy service to spend our happy days. God grant that
we may receive this Gospel indeed and of a truth! Count not yourselves
unworthy of this high honor. Put it not from you, lest the Lord should
swear in His wrath, "They shall not enter into My rest."
Once more–they had a Gospel which promised them help to obtain all
this. It is a poor Gospel which sets Heaven before us but does not help
us to enter it. To these Israelites, journeying mercies and conquering
aids were promised. The Lord said to them, "I will send My fear before
you and will destroy all the people to whom you shall come and I will
make all your enemies turn their backs unto you. And I will send
hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite and
the Hittite from before you."
The like help for the attainment of heavenly blessedness is provided in
the Gospel which we preach. All helps for the winning of the fadeless
crown are waiting for them that believe. "The Spirit helps our
infirmities." The Lord "will subdue our iniquities." "God shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly." "Thanks be unto God, who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." When we are weak then are we
strong. We can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. This
Gospel is preached to us. The Lord, All-sufficient, will be the help of
His people.
He says, "My grace is sufficient for you." Therefore I may gladly sing,
"The Lord is my strength and my song, He also has become my salvation."
We are encouraged to go forward and take possession of the promises,
for the Lord has said, "Certainly I will be with you." My dear Hearer,
do you embrace this Gospel? Do you find in it strength for the journey
of life? See to it that you miss not the blessing.
Enough of this. You will find it an interesting exercise to observe in
how many ways the Gospel preached to Israel runs parallel with the
Gospel preached to us. The true Gospel is no new Gospel–it is that old
wine which is better than the new with all its fermentation and
froth–it is the Gospel of the eternal God, which changes not.
II. But now, secondly, I have the painful business of setting briefly
before you ISRAEL'S FAILURE TO PROFIT BY
THE GOSPEL WHICH THEY HEARD. Though they heard it from many, they clung
to Egypt. One would think they
would have abhorred the land of the iron furnace and the brick kiln.
But no. At the beginning they said, "Let us alone, that we may serve
the Egyptians." The signs and wonders that God worked in the field of
Zoan were almost as much needed to separate Israel from Egypt as to
loosen the cruel grasp of Pharaoh.
The nation had not long been quit of the land before they cried out to
Moses, "Why have you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of
Egypt? It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we
should die in the wilderness." Again and again they sighed for the
leeks and the garlic and the onions of Egypt, whining for the coarse
food of their bondage and despising the bread from Heaven. They talked
as if the Lord had done them a great injury by setting them free from
their taskmasters. Ah me, the Gospel which they heard did not profit
them. For in their hearts they still tarried in the house of bondage.
Worse still, they provoked the Lord. By their murmurings, but chiefly
by their idolatry, they vexed His Holy Spirit. Could you have believed
it? After all the gods of Egypt had been smitten in detail by the
plagues of Jehovah, yet the people remembered the idol god, the ox of
Egypt, and they set up for their own worship what the Lord derisively
called a "calf." They said, "These be your gods, O Israel." Yes, the
chosen people of Jehovah ate and drank in honor of the image of a
bullock which has horns and hoofs and afterwards they rose up to play
the lascivious games which attended such idolatrous worship. They thus
made themselves naked to their shame and the anger of the Lord was
kindled against them. Truly the word preached had not profited them.
Moreover, they were always mistrustful. They could not endure a little
thirst without fear that they would die of it. Whatever trial happened
to them they were frightened and began to complain and were ready to
rebel. The days of their provoking God were many. Their lusting after
the flesh greatly grieved the Lord–when He had prepared them the best
of diet, and "men did eat angels' food," they declared that the soul
abhorred this light bread. When they had flesh they ate till they were
sick of it. They were ever full of distrust and carnality. A
stiff-necked generation.
They went so far as to despise the promised land–they said, "It is a
land that eats up the inhabitants thereof." They would gladly go back
to Egypt rather than advance upon a scene of such great danger. They
dared to speak as if death in Egypt had been preferable to the
wilderness, for they would never be able to conquer the land. Ten of
the spies whom they sent to spy out the land flattered their humor and
defamed the country. They could not deny that it flowed with milk and
honey, for the fruits were before them and the clusters of Eshcol were
convincing evidence of its fertility. But they said it ate up its
inhabitants, implying that it was a deadly place to dwell in. Thus they
set at nothing Heaven's highest gift.
When the time came when they might have advanced against the foe, they
were afraid to go up. When for this the Lord withdrew from them, then
they resolved that they would go up and in consequence they were
smitten by the Canaanites. They feared lest the giants would destroy
them–they felt like grasshoppers in their sight. They dared not hope
to win the country–they turned back in the day of battle.
The end of it was they died in the wilderness. Ah me, the whole
generation died in the wilderness–these very men that stood by the Red
Sea and said, "I will sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed
gloriously. You shall bring them in and plant them in the mountain of
Your inheritance." They sang, "Sorrow shall take hold on the
inhabitants of Palestine. All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt
away." But, on the borders of the land they trembled, turned back into
the wilderness and died. To them the inspiring Gospel of the promised
rest was altogether unprofitable.
O my Hearers, fear and tremble lest it be the same with you! Let me go
over this story once more with a personal application. Do you still
cling to sin? Do you still love it? Would you be willing to go to
Heaven but are you unwilling to part with sin? Is the flavor of the
onion of sinful pleasure still pleasant to your palate? Are you
provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are you setting up idols? Are you
loving self and sin and error and the world? Do you distrust the Lord?
Am I speaking to any Gospel hearers who are still doubters, still
refusing to believe that Jesus Christ can save? Are any still refusing
to trust yourselves with Him who died upon the Cross?
It is sad that it should be so. Do you despise the goodly land? Do you
say in your heart, "Heaven and heavenly things are too visionary for
me. I have too much to do to earn my daily bread"? Are you sighing
after flesh, after worldly wealth and honor and pleasure? Do you loathe
the manna of holy joy, fellowship, bliss and life in Christ? Is it so?
And are you fearing today that you never can do what you should do and
that you can never conquer your evil propensities?
Do you sit down supinely, judging your passions to be too strong to be
subdued, your habits too firmly fixed to be changed? Are the giants too
strong for you to slay them? Have you no trust in God and in His
boundless grace? If so, O Sirs, I fear your carcasses will fall in the
wilderness, your dying hour will come and you will have no hope. The
howling wilderness will be all around you in the hour of your departure
out of this life and you will pass from it to a state still worse and
find that you have missed glory and honor and immortality.
God grant it be not so. Yet I fear it will be so with many of you who
abide in unbelief. A whole nation missed the rest of God–it will not
be a wonder if you and I miss it, who are but one or two, unless we
take earnest heed and are filled with fear–"lest, a promise being left
us of entering into His rest, any of us should seem to come short of
it."
III. So now, thirdly, I am going to put my finger upon THE FATAL CAUSE
OF THIS DIREFUL CALAMITY.
Why was it the Gospel that they heard did not profit them?
Assuredly it was not the fault of the Gospel which they heard. In
itself it is calculated to profit all who receive it. It promised
liberty and this should have made them gratefully obedient. It promised
an inheritance and added to it a high and holy calling, and this should
have aroused their loftiest aspiration. It promised every help to the
getting of the promised blessings and what could they have more?
Concerning the Gospel which I have preached to you, I can truly say
that if you miss blessedness, it is not because you are straitened in
the Gospel, or are discouraged by the narrowness of the Lord's Grace–
"What more can He say,
Than to you He has said?"
What larger provision, what greater promise can God give to guilty man
than this–"He that believes in Him has everlasting life"? Pardon of
sin, justification of your persons, salvation of your souls and
everlasting bliss–what more can be set before you? If this does not
touch you, what will?
In their case it was not the fault of the preacher. For Moses spoke
God's Word with great meekness and gentleness. He set before them the
Truth of God with all fidelity. With all my imperfection, I hope I can
say, also, that if you die in the wilderness I am clear of your blood.
For I have warned you to escape and I have bid you seek, first, the
kingdom of God and His righteousness. Neither was it the fault of a
lack of confirming signs from God. No default of Divine working
hindered Israel's faith. God worked with His Gospel in those days very
mightily.
The daily manna and the water leaping from the rock, with other signs
and wonders, went to prove the Word of the Lord. If men do not believe
the Gospel of Christ, it is not because it does not work wonders still.
You have seen others converted. You have seen others die in perfect
peace. You have seen what the Lord can do for His believing people. And
if you believe not, you will die in your sins. I have heard much of
"honest doubt." But I honestly believe that much of doubt is the most
dishonest thing out of perdition. Take heed that you are not hardened
by the deceitfulness of this sin. It will ruin you if you indulge in
it. "Believe and live," is the Gospel. "Doubt and die," is the
alternative.
Neither was it for lack of the Holy Spirit that these people made the
Gospel a failure to them. For we read that the Holy Spirit spoke to
them and they rebelled and vexed the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy
Spirit who spoke to them and said, "Today, if you will hear His voice,
harden not your hearts." That same Holy Spirit is with the Gospel
still. Oftentimes He stirs your hearts and moves you even to tears–He
makes deep impressions and causes you to long after better things.
Quench not the Spirit. Grieve not the Spirit of God. If He leaves you,
you are lost forever. And He may do so. God grant this may not be the
case!
Well, then, what was the cause? We put our finger on it at once–"Not
being mixed with faith in them that heard it." Where there is no faith
in the Gospel, no good consequence can possibly come of it. If it were
preached to you by angels–yes, if one arose from the dead and
proclaimed it to you–if you believed it not, what could be the
beneficial effect of hearing it?
Men, why do you hear it, if you do not mean to believe it? If you will
be damned, why do you throng this place to hear about salvation? If you
are resolved that you will not have the promise of God, why come and
listen to His servant, who has nothing else to tell you? Are we set up
to be as marionettes, or dancing dolls, for you to stare at? God forbid
that we should ever accept the calling of actors in a play. If we do
not win your hearts for Christ and so save you, we have labored in vain
and spent our strength for nothing.
See the effect of absence of faith and lament it. Where there is no
faith, men remain slaves to the present. If they did not believe in the
milk and honey of Canaan, you see why they hankered for the cucumbers
of Egypt. An onion is nothing comparable to an estate beyond Jordan.
Yet as they think they cannot get the estate, they pine for the onions.
When men do not believe in eternal life, they naturally enough cry,
"Give me bread and cheese. Let me have a fortune here." They keep their
nose to the grindstone, always thinking about this passing life,
because they do not heartily believe in Heaven and its glories. They
are as "dumb driven cattle" that see not into another state–this life
seems real to them but the next life they suspect to be a dream. As
long as there is no faith, this world is all and the world to come is
nothing at all.
If a man hears and has no faith, he learns nothing. What would be the
use of your listening to lectures upon science if you disbelieved what
the professor set forth? You are no pupil, you are a critic. And you
cannot learn. Many professors have no faith and, consequently, whoever
may teach them, they will never come to a knowledge of the Truth of
God. Israel never saw through the almost transparent veil of the types
because they did not believe. If they had believed, they would have
discovered under every symbol a world of wondrous meaning, instructing
them in the things of God. Want of faith means want of eye and want of
perception.
The Truth of God's Word did not affect the hearts of Israel, as it does
not affect any man's heart till he has believed it. If there is a
goodly heritage and I believe it, then I long for it, then I strive for
it. But if it is to me as an idle tale, it does not affect me one whit.
If there is liberty for the captive, I desire it and I cry to God to
give it to me. But if I do not believe that escape is possible, I shall
sit down in despair. If I believe the Gospel, it affects my life, it
changes my character–it takes me down from false hope and it lifts me
up to a surer confidence.
Only that which is believed can operate upon our spiritual nature. As
light is of no use if we cannot see, so is the Gospel of no service if
we have no eye of faith. The Gospel plays on a man like some mighty
minstrel upon his harp. It touches every string of our soul. The Master
sometimes stays His hand to tune each string, that it may yield the
right note. And this once done, what angel voices sing amid those
strings! A man's soul touched by the finger of the Gospel resounds the
music of God! If the Gospel is not believed, those fingers touch mute
strings and no response is heard.
A man that has no faith in what he hears does not appropriate it. One
cries, "There is gold! Let me go and get it." Unbelief restrains him,
as it whispers, "There is no gold, or it is beyond reach." He does not
go to get it, for he does not believe. A hungry man passes by where
there is entertainment for needy travelers. Believing that there is
food for his hunger, he tarries at the door. But if unbelief mutters,
"There is a bare table within, you might as soon break your neck as
break your fast in that place," then the traveler hurries on.
Unbelief palsies the hand and it appropriates nothing. That which is
not appropriated can be of no use to you. Look at your food. How is it
that it builds up your body? Because you take it into the mouth and it
descends into the stomach and there it is mixed with certain fluids and
is digested and ultimately is taken up into the system and becomes a
life-sustaining force. Being properly mixed, it is taken up and
assimilated. And so it is with the heavenly Truth of God–if it is
taken into the heart and then mixed with faith, it is digested and
becomes food to every part of the spiritual nature. Without faith the
Gospel passes through the soul undigested and rather feeds disease than
promotes life. O my Hearers, what a dreadful lack is the lack of faith!
Lastly, these people could not enter in because they had no faith. They
could go to the border of the land but they must die even there. They
could send their spies into the country. But they could not see the
fertile valleys themselves. Without faith they could not enter Canaan.
Shall it be so with us, that, for want of faith, we shall hear the
Gospel, know something about its power and yet miss its glories and
never enter into possession of the life eternal which it reveals? Here
is the point–"They could not enter in because of unbelief."
With two practical points I will conclude. One is this–see the great
value of hearing the Gospel. Do hear it as often as you can. Do not get
into the sluggish habit of those who are content with one spiritual
meal for the whole week. Once on the Sabbath is enough for many
nowadays. Hear as often as you can. On the weeknights come out to hear
the Word. I may not long be able to preach it, nor you to hear it. Hear
it often, for one of these days it may be blessed to your soul, if it
has not been so as yet.
What a mercy to have your hearing! Dear Friends, who used to hear me
preach and are now very old, come to me in the vestry with sad faces
and say, "I cannot hear even you now." When the eyesight also begins to
fail, as it does in some cases and thus they are deprived of reading as
well as of hearing, it is a double trial. You will miss the Gospel if
ever it comes to that with you, as it may in old age. Be sure that you
hear and read while you can and thus store up God's Word in your mind.
Also, pray our Lord to raise up more preachers of the Gospel–they are
few enough. "Pray you the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth
laborers into His harvest." Pray much for those who preach the Gospel
faithfully, that they may be kept true to the Bible and honest to
souls. The Gospel is getting more and more adulterated. One of these
days you will want a microscope to find a grain of evangelical doctrine
in a dozen sermons. Indeed, the small proportion of Gospel to a sea of
words is often like one homeopathic globule in the Atlantic ocean.
There is so little of it. God grant that we may have the Gospel
preserved to us and be enabled to hear it!
But still, the great necessity is faith. Instead of speaking upon that
subject, let me beg you to try and do a little mixing at once. Don't
mix philosophy with the Gospel–by the help of God's Spirit mix faith
with it. Before us is the glorious Word made flesh, in the eternal Son
of God in our nature! He lives for men. He dies to make atonement for
sin. Even He cannot save you unless you now mix faith with all those
truths about Him which the Scriptures teach you.
Now mix faith with what you know concerning the Savior and say, "Lord,
I believe that You are the Son of God. I believe that You did live a
perfect life, which is our righteousness. I believe that You did die a
painful death, which brings us pardon. I believe that You ever live to
intercede. I trust my soul in Your hands." That is mixing faith with
the Gospel and you will in this fashion richly profit by the Gospel.
You will go your way a saved man.
There is proclaimed in the Gospel the pardon of sin. The Lord blots out
the sins of His believing people like a cloud. Mix faith with that
doctrine and say, "Lord, I believe that You can put away all my sins
through Jesus Christ. You can
wash away my crimson stains and scarlet spots and make me whiter than
snow. Lord, I trust You to do this. I rely upon You for the forgiveness
of my transgressions!" By this act of faith you will be profited by the
promise and pardon, for you are pardoned the moment you believe in Him
who is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sins.
Try what you can do with eternal life itself. Say, "Lord, I believe
that there is a spiritual life which You do breathe into Believers. I
believe that this grows from Divine Grace to Glory. You give to
Believers eternal life even here–death cannot kill it and so they live
on and on and on, throughout eternity, forever blessed in Christ. I
believe in the new creation. I appropriate it. I trust in Jesus for it.
This heritage is mine! By faith I take it to myself." God will never
take away what you can grasp by faith. Accept it and the acceptance
makes it yours–for the Lord Himself made it yours long ago in His
eternal purpose and, therefore, He has given you faith as a token that
He ordained Heaven and perfection to be yours.
Mix faith with every promise. Henceforth continue to practice the holy
art of mixing faith with the revelations of Scripture. Compound them as
the dispensers do. Here is a choice drug but it wants mixing with its
proper affinity. The promise must be mixed with faith if it is to be
life-giving to the soul. Mix it, then, with faith and be profited
immediately and eternally. Be united to the Truth of God and it will
save you. Let it come into union with you and you will never perish.
The Lord help you to be joined unto His Truth by faith, for Christ's
sake! Amen.