A Test for True Seekers
(No. 2566)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 17, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 15, 1883.
"They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces toward it." Jeremiah
50:5.
This prophecy of Jeremiah was concerning the destruction of Babylon.
Israel and Judah had been carried away into captivity by the
domineering power. The captives lived far away in Babylon and wept when
they remembered Zion. The Prophet foretells that in the day when God
should break the power of Babylon and cast down all their false gods,
then should come the time when the captives should return to their own
land. That seems a very simple observation, but it is full of comfort
when we remember its symbolic meaning. By nature, all are captives
under the power of Satan, sin and death. That is the great Babylon that
has carried captive even the elect of God! And there are multitudes,
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, who are still in bondage
under the powers of darkness. Now, just as Israel found comfort and
hope, and had an expectation of getting back to the promised land when
the might of Babylon was broken, so there is comfort for every sinner
who desires to escape from the power of sin and Satan in this great
fact–that Christ has broken the power of the old dragon. They met in
deadly combat. All the hosts of Hell were mustered in that dark and
dreadful hour when our lone Champion, whom God had anointed that He
might fight our battles, met the whole of them and overthrew them! They
bruised His heel, for He left His body bleeding on the Cross, but He
broke the head of the archenemy. As He cried, "It is finished," He
dashed to pieces the powers that were arrayed against Him–and Babylon
was then and there overthrown! Here is our hope.
Listen, you who are in the fetters of Satan, you may yet overcome him
by the blood of the Lamb, for the Lamb Himself has overcome him and all
who trust in His great Sacrifice shall come off more than conquerors!
He has led captivity captive! He is the master of the situation and His
adversaries He has utterly overthrown. His adversaries, I said, but
they are also your adversaries–therefore let every sinner who desires
to escape from the bondage of Satan, take heart of hope from the good
news that in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah has triumphed
over our great enemy! He has snapped in two the iron yoke, that His
redeemed might go free! Thus, Babylon's destruction is Israel's
salvation.
Notice, next, these words in the fourth verse–"In those days, and in
that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah together"–from which I gather that when men's
hearts are set upon seeking the Lord, it is wonderful how neighborly
they become! You know that the children of Israel and the children of
Judah had separated from one another. They each had a king and they
were frequently at war. They envied one another, though they ought to
have been brethren. But now, when God begins to deal with them and they
start back to seek their God, they become friends with one another!
Well may we forget our enmities against men when we begin to repent of
our enmities against God! It is time for a man to forgive his brother
his trespasses when he, himself, prays to the Lord, "Forgive me my
trespasses." And this must be done! It will be a very great hindrance
to any seeker if he tries to find the Lord and yet, in his heart,
harbors enmity against anyone who has offended him. I believe that
there are many persons who long to find peace with God, who never will
unless they first make peace with their fellow men. Remember our Lord's
words–"If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that
your brother has anything against you; leave there your gift before the
altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then
come and offer your gift."
Will you go and ask the great King to forgive you the enormous debt
that you owe Him when you are about to seize your brother by the throat
because of the few pence he owes you? Then, surely you cannot think
that God will listen to such a suppliant as you are! No, but when God
brings people together to Himself, it is astonishing how close they
come to one another! Israel and Judah will then be praying and weeping
together–and seeking the same Lord. How often this has happened in
times of revival! A man has stood up to be prayed for and he has been
astonished to find that there was a Brother with whom he had quarreled,
months before, who was pleading for mercy at the same time! Neighbors
who have fallen out with one another, have come to the Tabernacle and
found the Savior, together–and have been good friends ever since–for
the God who reconciles us to Himself is sure to make us friendly with
one another! Attend to this hint, then, you who are seeking the Savior!
You who are encouraged by the fact that the power of Satan is broken,
take care that you make up all quarrels and put an end to all envying
and disputes, for thus you will be helped in seeking the Lord.
Notice, next, that the right way for a sinner to return is first to
seek the Lord and then to seek Zion–that is, the Church, or Heaven,
whichever you understand Zion to be. Verse four says, "They shall go
and seek the Lord their God." And then follows our text, "They shall
ask the way to Zion." John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress shows the way to
Heaven, but we ought always to remember that he was not writing to show
sinners the way to Christ, but to show the way to Heaven. Those are two
different things though, in some respects, they are similar, yet there
is a difference between them. The way to Christ is this–"Believe and
live." The way to Heaven is, first, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,"
and then, after that, by His Grace, follow on to know the Lord and go
from strength to strength, from Grace to Grace, till, at last, you are
prepared for the eternal happiness. There is a difference between
seeking Christ and seeking Christ's people that should always be
noticed–you are not to seek Christ's people so as to join with them
until you have, first of all, found Christ! No man, no woman, no child,
has any right to Gospel ordinances till first of all he has trusted
Christ. When you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then Christ is
yours and you are saved! Then come and join with the Church militant,
below, and you shall, in due time, join with the Church triumphant
above! But remember that the first business of a sinner is not to seek
Heaven, nor to join a church, but to seek the Lord. You have to be
reconciled to the God who made you–you have to experience the power of
the God who alone can re-create you and make you a new creature in
Christ Jesus–you have to seek the Lord.
"But, "says one, "God is a consuming fire." I know He is. Therefore,
come to Him that everything in you that can be consumed, may be
consumed, and that God may give you an inconsumable life which shall
dwell even in the midst of the fire and not be consumed! There is no
Heaven apart from God, there is no peace of conscience apart from God,
there is no purification from sin apart from God. The Lord still says,
"Seek you My face." But many make a mistake and go trooping off to join
some Christian people. No, no! Come back–you cannot go to God that
way! First, give yourselves to the Lord and then afterwards, "unto us
by the will of God." You must first be joined to the Head, then to the
members! First to Christ, then to His Church. Take all things in the
right order–begin and go on as God would have you do. "He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved." Let that also be treasured up
in your memory, if you are seeking the Lord.
Another remark arising from the context is this, that many who seek the
Lord seek him weeping. "The children of Israel shall come, they and the
children of Judah together, going and weeping." Notice that
combination, "going and weeping." Some are weeping, but never
going–and some are going, but never weeping. It is a blessed thing
when we have the two together–practically drawing near to God and
passively feeling deep sorrow for sin. There are two kinds of tears and
I think that they who truly seek the Lord shed both of them–the one is
a tear of sorrow because of sin, the other is a tear of joy because of
pardon. I would like to have my eyes full of both, that with my joy for
pardoned sin I might mourn that I pierced the Lord, grieving that I
transgressed God's Law, yet rejoicing that I am forgiven! May you, dear
Friends, have these tears standing in your eyes! They never blind the
eyes–they are like a bright magnifying glass through which we can more
clearly see the mercy of God.
Are any of you beginning to turn to the Lord and do you feel more sad
than you ever did before? Well, if so, I am not sorry for you–that is
the way that many go to Christ –"going and weeping." The old Puritans
used to say that "the way to Heaven is by Weeping-Cross"–by which they
meant that repentance is necessary to salvation–and so it is! He who
has never sorrowed for sin has never rejoiced in a Savior! And the more
you rejoice in Christ, the more you will sorrow for sin. Perhaps the
last repentance of a good man is the deepest that he ever feels. I mean
that he will hate sin more when he stands at the gates of Heaven than
he did when he first of all saw the way to pardon through the Atoning
Sacrifice. Repentance is not a thing to be once manifested and then to
be done with forever–repentance and faith go hand in hand all the way
to Heaven! Good old Rowland Hill said there was only one thing about
Heaven that he regretted and that was that he would not be able to shed
the tears of repentance there, for God will wipe all tears from all
faces there. But till we get to Heaven, at any rate, let us always be
repenting of sin, always lamenting that we ever plunged into it and, at
the same time, be always rejoicing that our sins are forgiven!–
"My sins, my sins, my Savior!
How sad on You they fall,
Seen through Your gentle patience,
I tenfold feel them all.
I know they are forgiven,
But still their pain to me
Is all the grief and anguish
They laid, my Lord, on Thee." Now, with all this by way of preliminary,
though indeed it is part of the sermon, I come to that portion of
Scripture which really forms my text–"They shall ask the way to Zion
with their faces toward it." This passage may be used as a test by
which to try true seekers. I will introduce to you four or five sorts
of seekers and also some who are not seekers at all.
I. First, there are some PERSONS WHO NEITHER ASK THE WAY TO ZION NOR
SET THEIR FACES TOWARD IT.
There may be some such persons to whom I am now speaking. Their
relationship to Christ is that of utter indifference. There are
millions around us in this sad condition. They are not active
opponents–they do not think enough on the things of Christ even to
take that position. They regard eternal things as though they were mere
trifles and they look upon temporal things as though these were
all-important. They call this, "minding the main chance," and, "looking
after the principal thing." But as to their souls, God, Heaven and
eternity, they are utterly indifferent.
Let us think, just for a minute or two, of what it is to which they are
indifferent. They are utterly indifferent to God. He made them and yet
they never think of what they owe to their Creator. Every minute that
they live, the breath in their nostrils is His gift, yet they make Him
no return–He is not at all in their thoughts. You know how many there
are who live as if there were no God at all. This is a terrible thing
because God will require all this at their hands. As surely as they
live, if they break His laws, they will be punished. If they neglect
His great salvation, He will visit it upon them. He knows all their
indifference and He is grieved about it all. Hear how He, Himself, puts
it–"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken. I
have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against
Me. The ox knows his owner and the ass his master's crib: but Israel
does not know, My people do not consider." It is no slight thing to be
utterly indifferent to Christ, to Him who loved mankind so much that He
could not abide in Heaven and let them perish, but, must come here and
be a lowly, suffering, despised, crucified Man, that He might redeem
men. Yet, after all that He has done, which must have astonished the
angels in Heaven and which ravishes the heart of every gracious man on
earth, these people do not care–
'Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? Is it nothing to you that
Jesus should die?"
And they are also utterly indifferent with regard to themselves. They
expect to have troubles in this life; but as to that which comforts
many of us under these troubles, they do not wish to know about it.
They see many of God's people calm and quiet under pain and bereavement
and sorrow–and they are sometimes curious to know what the secret is–
yet their curiosity is not strong enough to stir them from
indifference. Many never cross the threshold of the house where Christ
is preached. Some of your neighbors know, by the sound of the bells,
that it is the Sabbath, but that is all the Sabbath there is for them.
Oh, this is indeed sad! It ought to weigh heavily on every tender heart
that there should be multitudes who neither ask their way to Zion nor
turn their faces toward it. Alas, that they are indifferent to their
own eternal state! They know that they will die–it is very rarely that
you meet with a man who will question that–and some of them believe
that when they die, there is another state and there will be a final
judgment and a giving in of an account before the last tribunal! Yet,
for all that, they go on from day to day "like dumb driven cattle." As
the ox goes to the slaughter and as the lamb goes to the shambles, so
do these people descend into their graves without anxiety and without
thought.
Alas, they will not think of that awakening which is as certain as
death itself, of that rising again which is an undoubted fact and of
that dread appearing before the burning Throne of God where eyes of
fire shall read their hearts and where the tongue of thunder shall
proclaim their deeds recorded in God's Book of Remembrance. Oh, no,
they have no care for all this, it is all a trifle to them! And there
are many such. Pity them, dear Friends, and pray for them–and do it
all the more because "such were some of you." I saw, yesterday, many
working men who, I believe, have really trusted in Christ, and I was
charmed by the way in which they were brought to the Savior by their
fellow workmen. But some of them, who were at least 40 years of age,
told me that they never remembered praying or having a religious
thought at all till the Lord met with them. And He that can meet with
some can meet with others, too, so let it be our prayer that He will do
so to the praise of the glory of His Grace!
Often, when a man is indifferent about Divine things, it is because he
vainly imagines that he is wise. I do not think that you and I ought to
meddle with everything. There are some things we may as well let drift,
but this will never do about God and eternity! I may be indifferent to
God, but He is not indifferent to me. I may forget Him, but He has not
forgotten what I do, think and say. As surely as I live, I shall have
to stand before His judgment bar. I may despise Christ, but I shall
have to see Him sitting on the Great White Throne. And if I will not
have Him as my Savior, then I must appear before Him as my Judge–so
that my indifference is vain!
Another thought that ought to come home to many is that this
indifference is so foolish. When a man is indifferent to his own
happiness, then he is a fool! If a man were sick and there were some
medicine that would heal him, but he was indifferent to it, you would
be very grieved for him, but you would say that he was most foolish. If
a man were miserably poor, although he might be rich, but he was
indifferent about it, you would think him insane. Now, there is no joy
like the joy of salvation in Christ! There is no bliss under Heaven
that can parallel the bliss of the man who has committed himself into
Christ's hands and is resting calmly in Him! Yet these indifferent
people do not care about it. Poor souls, they do not know the value of
Christ. Well said the poet–
"His worth, if all the nations knew, Surely the whole world would love
Him, too." And if they knew the pleasure of religion, they would want
to enjoy it. They say that we are a set of long-faced, miserable,
melancholy folk. I do not think we look so! Do we? At any rate, we do
not feel so–
"The men of Grace have found Glory begun below."
Ours is a singing religion, ours is a joyful faith that helps us to
surmount the trials of each passing hour. Oh, that men would not be
indifferent to this, but would begin to ask their way to Zion with
their faces toward it!
II. Now, secondly, there is another set of people who ASK THE WAY TO
ZION WITH THEIR FACES TURNED AWAY FROM IT.
We meet them, every now and then–some of them come here–their faces
are turned away from God, but they have a pew here and they like to
hear about the Gospel. I cannot make some people out–they take the
trouble to go out on the Sabbath to hear about the way to Heaven, yet
they deliberately walk in the opposite direction! I never dare say
again what I did once, that I almost wished that some who had heard the
Gospel for a number of years and never accepted it, would stay away if
they did not mean to have it–that they might make room for somebody
else who would receive it. I have always been sorry that I said that,
for there is one who has stayed away ever since–and for whose
conversion I have often prayed–but he said there was commonsense in my
remark and as he did not intend to have salvation, he would come no
more to hear of it. And he never has, so far as I know. I sometimes
hope that the very honesty of the man may yet compel him to think–he
has a love to this place and to me, though he does not come–and I pray
God that even that which seemed so sad a result of what I said may turn
out for good in the end. But I will not say it again.
Still, it is a very strange thing that any should say, "Tell us the way
to Heaven," and yet, when we have told them, that they should set off
walking the other way! "Go due east," you say. But they go due west,
directly. Now what can be the reason for that? A man is secretly a
drunk, or he is unchaste, or a woman is living in secret sin, yet
always found listening to the Gospel. Why is this? Do you wish to
increase your own condemnation? Do you deliberately intend that the
Gospel, which you will not permit to be a savor of life unto life to
you, shall be a savor of death unto death to you? Do you really choose
that? I cannot think that it is so!
I hope that you do not come in order that you may hear of things to
quarrel with and quibble over You do not ask your way to Zion that you
may find fault with the way, or pick holes in the reply of him who
tries to answer your enquiry–may that be far from you! Yet there have
been some, no doubt, who have been guilty of that sin. Still, let me
say, even if you come to hear a sermon to ridicule it, come and hear
it! I remember one who was, afterwards, an eminent saint, who first
went to hear Mr. Whitefield because he was a great mimic. He wanted to
hear him so he could later mimic him in a club which they called the
"Hell Fire Club." "Now, my mates," he said, "I am going to give you a
sermon that I heard Mr. Whitefield preach yesterday." And the man
repeated the sermon, but he, himself, was converted while he preached
it–and so were several of his mates who had met for blasphemy! So,
come even if you come for such an evil purpose as that! Still, it is a
sorrowful business that there should be men who ask the way to Zion and
turn their faces in the opposite direction. Turn them, O God, and they
shall be turned!
III. There is a third class of people WHO ASK THE WAY TO ZION, BUT TURN
NOT THEIR FACES.
They are not opposed to religion, yet their faces are not turned
towards it. I do not understand them–they are always wanting to know
how they can be saved and to know all about salvation, but they do not
seem to wish to have it– their faces are not set that way.
What is the meaning of their conduct? Is it an idle curiosity?Do they
want to understand theology as others wish to understand astronomy or
botany? That is almost like drinking wine from the sacred vessels, as
Belshazzar did–and you know how that night he was slain. When men who
have no part nor lot in this matter are discussing this doctrine and
that, it is as if those who are not God's children were playing with
the children's bread, or pulling it in pieces.
Why do such people ask about salvation? Do they dream that mere
knowledge will save them? Do I address one here who imagines that an
orthodox creed will save him? Alas, I suppose that no one is more
orthodox than the devil, yet no one is more surely lost than he! You
may get a clear head, but if you have not a clean heart, it will not
avail you at the last. You may know the Westminster Assembly's
Catechism by heart and you may heartily denounce all who err from that
statement of sound doctrine. But unless you are born again, it will not
benefit you. Did you say that you believed the 39 Articles? There is
one article that is essential–"You must be born again"–and woe to
that man who has not passed through that all-important change!
Perhaps, however, some of those who are asking their way to Zion, but
have not set their faces that way, are asking with a view to quiet
their consciences. It makes them feel better to hear a sermon. Oh, you
are strange people! There is a man who is very hungry–does it make him
feel that his appetite is appeased when he smells the dinner, when he
sees the plates arranged upon the table and hears the clatter of the
knives? Do you think that if you are very poor, you will get rich by
being allowed to walk through the Bank of England and see the great
quantities of bullion there? It is strange that you should imagine
this, for it might rather increase, than diminish, your sense of
poverty to know that there is so much wealth while you are not a
partaker of it.
Is it that you are trying to store up some little knowledge to use,
by-and-by? Are you asking the way to Zion that you may run in it when
it becomes convenient to you? Ah, Sir, are you making a convenience of
God? Do you intend to make Him stand by while you attend to more
important things? What is it that is to come before God? I knew a man
who was religiously inclined in many respects, but there was a harlot
who stood before God. I knew another who had many serious thoughts
about God, but in his case it was the wine cup and the companionship of
certain friends that stood before God. Ah, how many things there are
that are earthly, sensual, devilish–yet men say that God must wait
till they have served their turn with these things! Sirs, He will not
turn lackey to you! And it may come to this as it did with Felix–that
you will never have a convenient time for God–and God will never find
a convenient time for you! Oh, let it not be so! If you ask the way to
Heaven, let it be with your faces toward it.
IV. There is a fourth set of people WHO HAVE THEIR FACES TOWARD IT, BUT
THEY DO NOT ASK THE
WAY.
There are not so many, perhaps, in this class as in those I have been
describing, but there are some of them. They are resolved to be saved.
They are anxious to find Christ. They are willing to join the Church.
They are, above all, longing to get to Heaven–but they do not ask the
way. Do they fancy that there are many ways? How many roads are there
to
Heaven? This Book declares that there is only one! It says, "Other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
And Jesus Himself says, "I am the way." Not, "I am one of the ways,"
but, "I am THE way." I quoted to you, just now, one of His last
sayings–"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." Well,
suppose that he does not believe, what then? "He that believes not
shall be damned." Thus, you see, the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ
is intolerant of all compromise! It will not admit that there may be
other ways to Heaven and other methods of salvation. "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." "He that believes on Him is
not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." There
are some people who, if they happen to be born of parents who believe
the Gospel, will follow their father and mother in the good way. But if
they happen to be born of ungodly parents, they imitate them. If my
father were blind, I do not see any reason why I should put my eyes
out. And if any of you happen to have an extremely poor fathers, do
you, therefore, say, "Well, I shall never try to rise above his
condition. I shall be just as poor as he was and feel a pleasure in
being so"? Surely you do not talk like that! Then why should you follow
your parents in sinning against God? If the father is wrong, there is
the more reason why the child should be earnest to be right! There have
been enough in your family who have been lost–why should not you be
the first to be saved, if there have been no others? Think about this
important matter. Enquire the way to Zion.
Do you ask, "Where are we to enquire?" Well, first of all, enquire of
the Book–
"This is the judge that ends the strife, Where wit and reason fail, Our
guide to everlasting life Through all this gloomy vale." When you have
enquired of the Book, then go on your knees and enquire of the blessed
Spirit who inspired the Book! If you cannot understand the Bible, ask
the Author of it to explain it to you. He gives wisdom, therefore ask
the Holy Spirit for guidance. Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to manifest
Himself unto you as He does not unto the world, and to lead you in His
way. I may also say, but quite secondarily, enquire of His servants. Go
and hear the Gospel! Do not go where there is fine preaching and clever
preaching–unless it is true Gospel preaching. The people of this land
have had to get Acts of Parliament passed to prevent the sale of
adulterated goods–and in London people try to buy milk that has at
least some milk in it–yet they will go into a place of worship and
say, "There is a clever preacher here." Yes, but is it the Gospel that
he preaches? "Oh, they have a very fine organ!" But is the Gospel fully
proclaimed there? "You can see all the colors of the rainbow on the
backs of the fellows who perform at the altar." Yes, but is the Gospel
preached there? That is the one point on which everything depends–all
the rest is of little account. They may try to sell us what they like,
but if it is not the genuine article, we will not buy it–if it is not
the Gospel, what do we want with it? We want that which will really
save us in time and through eternity, so we ask for it of those who
preach the Gospel, and who preach nothing but the Gospel
And I may also add that you will do well to ask about the way from many
of God's people. Although they do not preach, they will be glad to tell
you what they know, and many godly men and women can explain to you
just what you need to know. I like to see men, when they are in
earnest, seeking out some Christian friend and saying, "Tell me, now,
how did you find Christ?" It is good for a young woman to go to the
teacher of her class, or to some matronly Christian, and say to her,
"Let me tell you of my doubts, dear Sister. You have gone a good way on
the heavenly road–tell me how I can get into it." It is a good thing,
thus, to enquire of those who are in the road. You may often get your
mistakes rectified in this way and, before you have wandered very far,
you may be guided into the right road.
V. Now to close. Those are the best enquirers WHO TURN THEIR FACES
TOWARD ZION AND YET ARE
WILLING TO ASK THE WAY.
Is that your condition, dear Friend? Have you set your face towards
Christ, towards holiness and towards Heaven, and are you asking the
way? Well, then, let me say two or three things for your encouragement.
the first is, Thank God that your face is toward it and that you are
asking the way–
"My seeking His face Is all ofHisGrace,"
said one. And so it is. Thank God for the Grace that has made you feel
uneasy in sinning, for the Grace that has made you wish for Grace, for
the Grace that has made you long to be a Christian! Set a high value on
this little Grace, for it is no small thing, after all, and, as you
think of it, bless God for it!
Remember, next, that you must act as far as you know how to act If the
Lord has shown you the right pathway, go in that pathway. Perhaps you
say, "There are many difficulties there." Never mind the
difficulties–cross each bridge as you come to it. "Oh, but there are
some things that I do not understand!" No doubt there are! And there
are many things that I do not understand. And there are some things
that I do not particularly want to understand! If I understand what
really concerns my eternal welfare and the good of my fellow men, and
the glory of God, it is enough for me. As far as I have gone at
present, I can say, with Jack the huckster–
"I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is my All in
All." That map of the road has lasted me so far and I would advise you
to keep to it, at least for the present. "But I want to know all about
the Doctrine of Election and so on." Do you? Well, you shall know, one
of these days, but just now, you need not think so much of that
glorious Truth of God as the Doctrine that God has sent His Son into
the world that men might live through Him! You keep to that line of
Truth at present. You have your face turned toward Zion, then go
straight on! You have asked the way and you have learned enough to know
that Christ is the way–then let Him be the way for you. And if there
is anything else to be learned–and there is–God shall reveal even
this to you.
Of some of the grand Doctrines of the Gospel our Lord might say to you
as He said to His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you,
but you cannot bear them now." You shall bear them, by-and-by. When
your little boy gets his first spelling book, does he begin to whimper
and say, "I can't learn A B C, Mother, because my brother Harry learns
Greek, and I must learn Greek first"? You say, ' 'My dear John, learn
your A B C now, and you shall get to Greek by-and-by if it is
necessary." So, dear Friend, you just keep to such texts as
these–"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." "He that
believes on the Son has everlasting life." If you are now asking the
way to Zion with your face toward it, remember that the Lord has made
the way very plain. He knew that limping feet would travel over it, so
He gathered out the stones. He knew what dim eyes some of the travelers
in it would have, so He lit it up with many a bright lamp and He,
Himself, is still the Light of it!
He knew what a heavy burden you would bear until you began to tread
that narrow way, so He had an open sepul-cher set close by the Cross,
that everyone who looks to Him on that Cross might feel his burden roll
off his back, to be buried in that sepulcher never to be found again! O
dear Friend, run in that road that Christ has made so plain! Trust,
trust, TRUST, TRUST! That is the way–TRUST! Trust God as your Father!
Trust Christ as your Redeemer! Trust the Holy Sprit as your Renewer.
Have done with yourself! Have done with everything but your God, your
Savior, your Comforter. Trust in Jesus and you have found the way! You
are saved, your sins are forgiven you, you are, "accepted in the
Beloved." You are not yet in Heaven, but you shall be, in God's good
time. You have not yet joined Christ's visible Church, but you are
welcome to do so–do not postpone it. You have not yet joined the
Church triumphant, but you shall do so one of these days. Therefore, be
of good cheer, and the Lord bless you! Amen and Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JEREMIAH 31:18-26.
Verse 18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. It is God
who is speaking here. There is never a moan, or a sob, or a cry, or a
sigh, but God hears it. The Lord is very quick of hearing for the
sorrows of penitent sinners. There is no mistake about this matter, for
He says, "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus."
18. You have chastised me, and I was chastised. "No good came of it. I
smarted, but I was not benefited–'You have chastised me, and I was
chastised.'"
18. As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn me, and I shall be
turned, for You are the LORD, my God. There was never a heart that
spoke thus, unless Grace had been secretly at work with it. And depend
upon it, if God has brought us to this point, we are ready to declare
Him to be our God and are anxious to be the subjects of His converting
Grace. It is because God has looked upon us in His wondrous love. If
you desire to be turned towards God, you are already, in a measure,
turned towards Him. The desire to feel is a kind of feeling! The
longing to believe has some measure of faith in it! Be comforted by
this thought, yet be not content to rest where you are, but go on till
you have all the blessing that the Lord is waiting and willing to
bestow upon you! Happy is the man who is saying to God at this moment,
"Turn me, and I shall be turned, for You are the Lord, my God."
19. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was
instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. When a man has "sown his
wild oats" and God, in mercy, helps him to come back from such a
dreadful field as that, he recollects what he has been and he is
ashamed of himself. Sometimes he is more than half ashamed to mingle
with God's people, for he is afraid that they will have nothing to do
with such a wretch as he has been. But he is, most of all, ashamed to
come near to his God because of the sins of his youth. Yet listen to
the Lord's gracious words concerning him.
20. Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spoke
against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart is
troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.
Here we seem to look into the very heart of God and He is represented
to us as though He had contending passions within Him. He speaks
angrily one day, but He earnestly remembers mercy the next. God changes
not, yet His dealings with men must change because their state varies
so much. He sometimes speaks in great wrath while they hold to their
sin, but love lies even at the bottom of that wrath–and soon He
changes His tone and speaks comfortably–and puts away the sinner's sin
when He sees that His anger has worked the due result and the sinner
quits his sin to come to his God. Some of you understand this
treatment, for you have experienced it. But you cannot comprehend the
fullness of mercy and love that is in the heart of God towards the
repenting sinner.
21, 22. Set up signposts, make high heaps: set your heart toward the
highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel,
turn again to these, your cities. How long will you go about, O you
backsliding daughter?How long will you be seeking comfort where you
cannot find it and pleasure where nothing but misery can come?
22, 23. For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth, a woman
shall compass a man. Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel; As
yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities
thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless you,
O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. Jerusalem was cursed
because of sin, but God declared that in His great mercy He would make
it to be a place of blessing, and men should speak of it as the,
"habitation ofjustice, and mountain of holiness."
24-26. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities
thereof together, farmers and they that go forth with flocks. For Ihave
satiated the weary soul, andIhave replenished every sorrowful soul Upon
this Iawaked and beheld, and my sleep was sweet unto me. He that can
sleep and dream as Jeremiah did, may well say that his sleep was sweet
to him. May God grant to us, whether we sleep or wake, to be always
with Him! Then our time shall be indeed sweet unto us!