Prayer–Its Discouragements and Encouragements
(No. 2841)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JUNE 26, 1903.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON A THURSDAY EVENING, IN
THE SUMMER OF 1861.
"But He answered her not a word." Matthew 15:23.
WITH Christians it is not a matter of question as to whether God hears
prayer or not. There is no fact in mathematics which has been more
fully demonstrated than this fact in experience that God hears prayer.
About some other things in Christianity, young Believers may have a
question, but about the Lord's answering prayer, even they cannot
entertain a doubt while, to the old and advanced Believer who has
tested the power of the Mercy Seat and proved it thousands of times, it
is a matter about which he never allows a question, for he knows that
as surely as that he, himself, exists, and that God lives in Heaven,
the prayers of puny but believing man have power to move the almighty
arm of God!
Probably, in the course of the past week, some of us have met with as
many as a dozen special answers to prayer. Skeptics spend their sneers
in vain upon us. Facts are blessed, as well as stubborn things. Men may
say that it is not possible that the cries and petitions of man can
move the heart of God. They may question it, they may raise doubts
about it, but doubts upon this matter never enter our minds–they never
touch our inner consciousness, for we know that answers to prayer are a
fact–and until we can doubt that we are men, until we can doubt that
we breathe the air or live on food, until we can doubt that which we
see with our eyes and touch with our hands–we cannot doubt that God
IS, "and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
Of course, our confidence that God answers prayer is not an argument to
another man. He who has not tried it cannot have proved it for himself.
But to those who have tried prayer and proved it, we insist upon it
that it amounts to a demonstration as clear as logic itself can make
it, when, having called upon God, not merely once or twice, but
thousands of times throughout their lives, they have invariably met
with the same result, namely, a gracious answer from Him who really
does and will hear prayer! Yet there is, sometimes, a strange thing
which puzzles the earnest Believer. There are times when it seems as if
his prayers were not heard, for certainly it is not answered, or, at
least, not answered as he expected. There are seasons, even with God's
true children–
"When at His feet they groan, Yet take their needs away."
They present their petition before the Lord, yet their request does not
seem to be complied with, then and there. To those who know that this
is no strange thing which has happened to them, it is not a matter
which staggers their faith, for they can say, with Ralph Erskine,
that–
"They're heard when answered soon or late–
Yes, heard when they no answer get
Are kindly answered when refused,
And treated well when harshly used." They understand that God's delays
are not denials and that His denials to particular requests are only
intended to let us know that He will give us something richer and
better than we have asked. If He does not pay your prayers in silver,
He will pay them in gold! And if your prayers are long in coming back,
they shall be like a richly-laden ship which is all the longer on its
way because of its costly freight and which shall amply repay for the
time spent on the voyage by the richness of the cargo it brings from
the far country!
Yet I must again remind you that to some, and especially to young
seekers, it is a staggering experience when, having long cried to
Jesus, He answers them not a word. When, having prayed to Him, they
have seen no smile upon His face and have heard no word of comfort from
those lips of His which drop like honeycombs to others, but seem to be
as dry wells to them. I am going to discuss this matter, now, as God
the Holy Spirit may enable me, and I pray that He may make it
comforting to many a distracted spirit. May some be graciously brought
up out of the deep darkness of their prison and be caused to rejoice in
the liberty with which Christ makes His people free!
I shall speak of the text, first, in reference to those who have been
praying for themselves. And, secondly, in regard to those who have been
praying for others.
I. First, then, I am going to describe the case of SOME WHO HAVE BEEN
PRAYING FOR THEMSELVES, but to whom, as yet, Christ has answered not a
word.
I can describe the case of these people experimentally, for I have felt
the same. As some of you know, I passed through five years of agony
during which my young spirit was crushed almost to despair. During
those five years, if ever a child prayed to God, I did. And if ever a
lad groaned out of a longing spirit to Jehovah in Heaven, I did. You
may remember that part of John Bunyan's "Grace Abounding" where he
speaks of the exercises of his soul and especially of his terror
because his prayers seemed to reverberate from a brazen Heaven and not
to pierce the skies. Such, too, was my experience. I am sure that I was
sincere in my prayers and in my groans that could not be uttered–yet
there were no answers to my supplications. I can speak, therefore, I
trust, with all the more power because I can speak sympathetically of
something which I have known and felt!
Poor Soul, you have been praying for these last few months and your
complaint is that you have not had one gracious answer to your
petitions, or one precious promise applied with power to your soul! Let
me remind you that the poor woman, of whom our text speaks, was in a
similar condition. Indeed, not only did she not receive a promise, but
she received a rebuff from Christ! Instead of a gracious invitation to
come unto Him, she had almost a command to go from Him. When He did
speak to her, He said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the
house of Israel." Yours, then, is not a singular case. You must not sit
down in despair because no promise has come home to your soul. Still
continue to cry unto the Lord. Still be constantly in prayer to Him. He
will, He must hear you, by-and-by, and you shall have your heart's
desire.
"Yes," you say, "but not only have I not had a promise, but I have not
had any comforting sign whatever! The more I pray, the worse I
feel–and the more I groan, the more it seems that I may groan. If my
prayers are arrows, they are arrows that fall downwards and return into
my own heart instead of flying up to God. I must pray, I cannot help
it–my soul would burst if it did not express itself in words–yet my
prayer does me little or no good. I rise from my knees more distressed
than ever and I come out of my closet, not as a man released from
prison, but as he that passes from one dungeon to another! The Lord has
refused to listen to my supplication–He has forgotten to be
gracious–in anger He has shut up the heart of His compassion."
Perhaps you even go further than this and say, "I feel as if my prayer
will never be answered. Something within me tells me that I may pray,
but that after all, I shall perish–that there may be mercy for all
others in the world, but not for me. I may lift the knocker of Mercy's
gate, but the sound shall be only like that of a hammer upon my
coffin–there shall be no music of hope as I rap at the golden gate! I
know that God hears prayer, but not the prayer of the wicked–that is
an abomination unto the Lord. Such, I fear, is myprayer and, therefore,
He will not hear me." Ah, poor Soul! Let me remind you that there is
nothing that is so deluding as feelings. Christians cannot live by
feelings, nor can you. Let me further tell you that these feelings are
the work of Satan–they are not right feelings. What right have you to
set up your feelings against the Word of Christ? He has expressly said,
"For everyone that asks, receives, and he that seeks, finds; and to him
that knocks it shall be opened." It is not a question whether a man who
truly prays shall be saved! He is saved, though he may not know it! He
has the germs of salvation in his prayers! "Behold, he prays," means,
"Behold, he lives! Behold, he is accepted! Behold, Heaven opens its
gates for him!" He prays–Jehovah hears, mercy answers–the man is
blessed. I pray you, then, let not your feelings fly in the teeth of
God's promises, but hope on, for, though your case is very sad, it is
not a strange one–there is hope for you.
Having thus described your case, let me now warn you of a danger. There
is a danger to which all those are exposed who have prayed for any
length of time without consciously receiving an answer from God–and
that is either to get
despairing thoughts of themselves or else hard thoughts of Christ. That
poor Canaanite was a brave woman. She came of an accursed race, but
certainly there was a special blessing resting upon her. If you or I
had been there when Christ spoke to her so harshly, I wonder whether we
would have taken His remarks as well as she did. Do you remember times
when Christ has been silent to you? If so, you can imagine what her
feelings must have been when, "He answered her not a word." Some of you
who have quick tempers, would have said, if that had been your
experience, "Is this the Messiah of whom we have heard so much and who
is said to be so ready to relieve the distressed? Here we have been
crying to Him in tones that seemed piercing enough to make a heart of
adamant melt for us, yet He has not designed to answer us. He seems to
be stone deaf, or, if He hears us, He does not condescend to give us
any reply! Is this the kind and tender spirit of which we have heard so
much?"
And when at last He spoke and said, "It is not meet to take the
children's bread, and to cast it to dogs," some would have said, "If He
would not grant us our request, He need not have used insulting
epithets to us. Dogs, indeed! What means He by that term? He means that
we do not belong to the favored race of Israel and a fine thing it
would be for us if we did! Are they not oppressed under the Roman yoke
and cast off like withered branches?" The Canaanite woman might have
said, "Why does He call me a dog? Am I not a woman and an honest woman,
too, and one who does not deserve such a title as that? I wish I had
never asked for mercy at His hands. To get such an insult as to have
the name of 'dog' thrown at me is too bad and I will not endure it!"
That may be a strong way of putting the matter, but you and I have
probably put it in just that way. Have we not thought because Christ
has not answered our prayers, that there was a mistake about His
graciousness? That He was not the Christ that some said He was? That He
did not mean His invitation when He said, "Come unto Me, all you that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"? That He desired
to tantalize poor souls, making them pray and cry to Him while He meant
to be deaf to their requests? Have you not had harsh thoughts of Christ
like those? If you have, I pray you to put them all away from you and
not to fall into this snare of Satan! Jesus is still the good Christ!
Though He may seem to be stony-hearted, He is not so in reality–He is
always tender, He has a heart of compassion. Slander Him not, then, but
be of good courage and still cry to Him!
Possibly, Satan says to you, "Your prayer is not of the right sort and,
therefore, you never will be heard." Yes, but that Canaanite woman's
prayer to Christ was of the right sort, yet "He answered her not a
word." Notice what her prayer was–"Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of
David." She gave Him the right name. She might have said, "Son of
Abraham." That would have signified that He was the One in whom all the
nations of the earth were to be blessed. That was the Covenant which
the Lord made with Abraham. But this woman said, "Son of David." The
Covenant made with David related not only to blessing and increase, but
also to a kingdom–so this woman seemed to say to Christ, "Man of
Sorrows though You are, You are of royal blood. Your visage is more
marred than that of any man and You wear not a diadem, yet are You
King." She did, as it were, pay Him the homage which Pilate unwittingly
paid Him when he placed over His head the inscription, "This is Jesus
the King of the Jews." "Son of David"–she knew how to address Him.
Then notice how she pleaded with Him. She appealed not to His justice,
but to His mercy, to the love of His tender and compassionate
heart–"Have mercy on me." This was the plea of the publican, the
prayer by which He was justified–"God be merciful to me a sinner."
There was nothing wrong in this woman's prayer to Christ, yet, "He
answered her not a word." So then, poor Heart, your prayers, also, may
be right and proper, and yet not be answered. If they are not answered,
faint not, but continue to pray. The Lord will yet reply to your
petition! He will open the windows of Heaven and shower down His mercy
upon you, and you shall receive it with a gladsome heart.
Now, having reminded you of your danger, let me call to your
recollection the grounds of your comfort. What had this woman to
comfort her? Well, first, she had Jesus Christ's face. He said to her,
"It is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs."
Now, my idea of the Savior is that He could not utter that harsh
sentence without, somehow or other, letting the woman see, by the very
expression of His Countenance, that He was keeping something back– and
that there was love yet in store for her. You know that your children
can soon detect the meaning of what you say to them, for they can read
your face as well as your words. So can poor beggars and so could this
poor woman who was begging of Christ so hard for her child. "Yes," she
seemed to say, "Your lips may utter harsh words, but Your loving eyes
flash not the fire that should go with such severe sentences. I see a
tear lifting up Your eyelids even now. I believe the language of Your
face–that marred face–marred with sympathy for others' sorrows,
marred with the cares and bur-
dens of others which have weighed You down! Your face will not let me
believe that Your heart is harsh." So, Sinner, for your comfort, let me
beseech you to look into the face of Jesus Christ! Do you believe that
He, the Son of Mary, the Man of Sorrows, grief's acquaintance–can
reject you? O Christ, when I picture You before my eyes–especially
when I see Your face caked with bloody sweat in Gethsemane and listen
to Your agonized groans in the Garden–I cannot and I will not believe
that You can ever reject a supplicant who cries to You, "Be merciful to
me!"
Or, if that shall not be enough to cheer you, remember that this poor
woman had something more to comfort her, for she had heard the story of
Christ's good deeds. She had been told, even in Tyre, what He had done
in Capernaum. And she had heard, though far away, what He had done in
Chorazin, so she believed that He who had done such good deeds to
others, could not be harsh to her. So, Sinner, let me tell you of the
good deeds that Christ has done to others! I could bring you hundreds,
or even thousands, who could truly say with the Psalmist, "This poor
man cried, and the Lord heard him." Speak with your eyes, my Brothers
and Sisters, and bear witness to the fact which I now testify–has not
God heard your prayers, though you were sinners even as others, as vile
by nature and as hopeless by depravity? Did He not bring us up out of
the horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set our feet upon a rock,
and establish our goings? Sinner, He who did this for us will and must
do the same for you if you plead for mercy through the precious blood
of His dear Son!
But you have one comfort which this poor woman never had–she could not
be told that Christ had died for her! Sinner, you who are seeking
Christ, say not that He is harsh and that He will not hear you. Come
with me and, by faith, look upon Him on the Cross. Can you behold His
crown of thorns with its lancets piercing His blessed brow, and the
tears streaming down His cheeks already crimsoned with His bloody
sweat? Can you see His hands and feet as pierced by the nails–they
become fountains of blood! There He hangs, naked, despised and rejected
of men. Yet He endured all this agony that He might save sinners! Then,
how can you think so wickedly of Him as to suppose that He, who once
died, the Just for the unjust, now that He lives again, has an
adamantine heart and not of compassion? No, by His wounds, I beseech
you to trust Him! By His bloody sweat, I implore you to continue your
supplication to Him! By His torn side, I urge you to wrestle with Him
yet again, for He will hear you, His mercy shall come unto you and you
shall rejoice in it!
Lend me your ears while I give you a word of counsel as to what you
ought to do. It is the Spirit of God who has taught you to pray. Hehas
made you feel your need of a Savior! It is He who has compelled you to
fall on your knees and to cry for mercy. Now remember that it is your
duty, as well as your privilege, to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit.
What does that voice say to you? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
you shall be saved." That is to say, even though your prayers are not
answered, in the teeth of every hard thought and every harsh word,
trust Christ with your soul! If you do that, you are saved then and
there. The way of salvation is not, "Pray, and be saved," but,
"BELIEVE, and be saved." Christ said, "He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned." Remember
that your main business is not with answers to prayer, but with your
answer to God's call to you–and His call to you, poor
conscience-stricken, awakened Sinner, is, "Come unto Me, and I will
give you rest." Come, then, to Christ just as you are and so you shall
find that answer to your prayers which has been so long delayed! Still
keep on wrestling with God until your prayers are answered. Jericho's
walls did not fall down the first day the hosts of Israel went round
them, but they compassed the city seven days and, on the seventh day,
the walls fell flat to the ground! Elijah, on the top of Carmel, did
not bring the rain the first time he prayed, but he said to his
servant, "Go again seven times." And there have been many other
instances in which God has delayed the blessing, but has given it at
the last!
I have thus preached, as God has enabled me, to poor seeking souls. O
Spirit of God, apply the Word and bring sinners to Christ that they may
find mercy in His wounds!
II. Now, for a few minutes, let us turn to the case of THOSE BELIEVERS
WHO HAVE LONG BEEN PRAYING FOR OTHERS WITHOUT APPARENT RESULT.
There is a father here who has been pleading with God for his daughter.
And though years of supplication have passed away, she is still
unconverted and as hardened as ever. There is a mother here who has
laid her children upon her bosom, in prayer, as once she did for
nourishment when they were but babes–and yet, though she cries day and
night for them, they are not saved. My dear Brothers and Sisters, I
beseech you never to give up praying for your children, or your other
relatives because, although God may not answer you for a while, you
shall certainly have the desire of your heart. Let me just give you one
or two instances in which the power of prayer has been distinctly
proven.
There was a young man who, because of his love for sin and his wish to
be easy in it, became an infidel. As I have often said, infidelity is
far more a matter of the heart than of the head. I am persuaded that
men think there is no God because they wish there were none. They find
it hard to believe in God and to go on in sin, so they try to get an
easy conscience by denying His existence. This young man was not only
an infidel, but he was a very earnest one, and he used to distribute
certain newspapers brought out by the infidel press. His employer was
just as earnest a Christian as the young man was an infidel, and he
used to constantly burn those papers whenever he could get hold of
them! But the young man just as perseveringly procured others and tried
to hand them out among the apprentices and journeymen, that he might
advance his own views. He was always a bold blasphemer and a desperate
sinner. He cared little what others thought of him and he was, at
least, honest in his iniquities.
One day, in a joke, he said to one of his companions, "I'll tell you
what I will do. I'll show you that there is nothing in any of the
Methodist cant and hypocrisy the very first time there is a Prayer
Meeting at such-and-such a Chapel. I'll go and offer myself to the
minister to be prayed for by the members and I shall get some fun out
of them." He went and, with all the impudence and coolness possible,
told the minister that he was a poor troubled soul who wished to find
peace, and that he would be very glad if the Brothers and Sisters would
pray for him. He did not know what he was doing, for, whether it was
that the very deed awoke his slumbering conscience, or whether the
Spirit of God was pleased to show the Sovereignty of His Grace at that
moment, I cannot tell, but, as soon as one or two humble individuals
had prayed for this young man, with tears in their eyes, he was down on
his knees with tears in his own eyes, praying for himself! No, not only
did he then pray, but he never ceased to pray–and he is still praying,
for he could not live without prayer! He found it no matter of fun,
after all. He intended to tempt God and to vex His people, but in that
very act of sin he was arrested and converted! Do you think, then, if
prayer only asked for in sport prevailed with God, that He will not
hear your earnest cries for your own offspring! O Christians, be
fervent in your supplications, for God will surely hear you and your
children shall be saved!
Another instance. There lived, in the village of Berwick St. John, in
Wiltshire, a godly woman who had an ungodly husband. He not only hated
good things, but he hated her for her goodness, for he turned her out
of doors, on a Sabbath night, because she had gone to the Meeting
House. She, like a prudent woman, never told her neighbors, but walked
the fields alone that she might not be noticed by others and that her
husband's shame might not be discovered. She was sometimes driven to
the greatest straits and to a sadness which seemed as if it would bring
her to a premature grave. She resolved to pray for her husband, one
hour a day, for a year. She did so and, at the end of the year, he was
as bad as before, if not worse. Then she thought she would try another
six months–her faith was weak and she was going to give her husband
up, then, if her prayers were not heard. This was wrong, for we must
not limit the Holy One of Israel. But it so happened that, ere the six
months were over, her husband came home once, in the middle of the day,
looking dejected and downcast. Like a true and tender wife, she asked
what was the matter with him, but he could not tell her. He went
upstairs, he did not want his dinner and he did not return to his work
that afternoon, for God was at work with him.
When his wife got him to speak, he said, "O wife, I can't pray!" "Do
you want to pray?" she asked. And he replied, "Oh, I must pray! I do
not know how it was, but, about twelve o'clock today, such a strange
feeling came over me. I feel that I am a lost man, for I cannot
pray–will you pray for me?" You may guess what her feelings were when
asked by that obdurate wretch to pray for him! She did pray. Then they
prayed together and their united prayers were answered! The next
Sabbath they were both in God's House and, in a few more Sabbaths, they
were side by side at the Lord's Table. The godly woman's prayers were
heard at last–and God again proved that He has not said to the seed of
Jacob, "Seek you Me in vain."
Yet another instance. There was a captain, whose name I will not give
in full just now. I will call him Mitchell, for that will suffice. This
captain was a godly man and he once went to sea, leaving his wife at
home expecting soon to give birth to their first-born child. While he
was at sea, one day, a time of deep solemnity came over him, in the
course of which, he penned a prayer. This prayer was for his wife and
for his yet unborn child. He put the prayer into the oak chest in which
he kept his papers. He never came home again, for he died at sea. His
chest was brought home to his wife–she did not open it to look at his
papers, but she thought they might be of use to her son when he grew
up. That son lived and, at the age of sixteen, he joined a regiment at
Boston. In that regiment, he became exceedingly debauched, profane,
blasphemous and sinful in every way.
At the age of fifty-four, while he was living in sin with a wicked
woman, it struck him that he would like to look through the contents of
the old chest which his father had left. He opened it, and, at the
bottom, found, tied up with red
tape, a paper, on the outside of which was written, "The prayer of
Mitchell K_for his wife and child." He opened
it and read it. It was a most fervent plea with God that the man's wife
and child might belong to Christ written 54 years back–and before that
child was born! He shut it up and put it where it was before, and said
that he would not look into "that cursed old chest" again. But that did
not matter, for the prayer had got into his heart and he could not lock
his heart up in that chest. He became thoroughly miserable and the
wretched woman, with whom he lived, asked him what was the matter with
him. He told her what he had read in that paper and she said she hoped
he would not become a hypocrite. All the jokes and frivolities of his
companions could not take out the dart which God had sent into his
heart and, before long, by true repentance and by living faith, that
man was in Christ–a saved soul, married honorably to the woman with
whom he had lived in sin–and walking in uprightness, serving his
father's God as the result of a prayer which had lain in an old chest
for 54 years–but which God's eyes had seen all the while, and which,
at last, He had answered when the set time had come!
Be of good courage, all you who are pleading for your children, for God
will yet answer your supplications! As one of the old divines says,
"Prayer is the rope which hangs down on earth, and there is a bell in
Heaven which it rings and which God hears." Pull that rope again
tonight, praying father and mother! Make the great bell in Heaven ring
again and again, and let its notes be, "Save my children! Save my
husband! Save my wife! Save my brother! Let my sister live before You."
Your prayers shall be heard and God shall yet grant your requests! The
instances I have given you are authenticated and I could give you more
which have come under my own notice, but time fails and I have said
enough upon that matter.
Let me just preach the Gospel at the close plainly and simply, and then
I have done. The Gospel is this–Jesus Christ, of the seed of David,
was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, dead and buried. The third
day He rose again from the dead and ascended into Heaven. He came into
the world to die for sinners. He hung upon the Cross and bled for
sinners. All whom He died for will be saved–He died for sinners and
sinners will be saved. Your only question is, are you in the true
Scriptural sense of the term a confessed and acknowledged sinner? If
so, Jesus died for you. On my doorstep the other night, when I reached
home after preaching, stood a man. I asked him what he wanted, and he
fell on his knees and cried, "I want to know what I must do to be
saved." I thought the man was mad to be there at that time of night on
such an errand, but he cried out concerning his sin, told me I did not
know his guilt, that he had been near committing suicide and that he
dared not go home to rest till he was told the way of salvation.
"Well," I said, "I will tell you." But I could not make it plain to his
poor darkened understanding until I told him a story which I have often
told concerning an event which happened to me some time ago. One
evening when sitting to see enquirers, there came an Irishman upstairs.
"Well, Pat," I said. "How's your reverence?" said he. "Don't call me
'reverence,' "I said," because I am no reverence at all! But how is it
you have not gone to your priest?" Said he, "I have come here to ask
you a question and if you can answer it, that will do." "Well, what is
the question?" "Why, you said, last Sunday, that God would forgive sin.
What I want to know is how that can be, for I have been such a great
sinner that if He doesn't punish me, He ought." Well, I thought I had
got a sinner to deal with, and one who spoke from his heart what he
felt. I said, "God pardons sinners for the sake of Jesus. "But," he
replied, "I do not know what you mean." I told him that Jesus Christ
died and that for the sake of that, God pardoned sinners. Still he
could not comprehend, and he said, "I want to know how God can be
just–He ought to punish sin and yet He does not! How can that be?"
"Well," I said, "suppose you had been committing a murder and the judge
were to say you must be hanged." "I would deserve it," said he. "Well,
how is Pat to be got off and yet the sentence to be carried out?"
"Faith!" he said, "that's what I don't exactly see." "Well," I
continued, "suppose I go to the Queen and say, 'Please, your Majesty, I
am very fond of this poor Irishman. I admit he ought to be hanged, but
I want him to live–will you be so good as to have me hanged instead?"
"Well, she couldn't say, 'Yes,' Pat. But suppose she did and suppose I
went to prison and were hanged instead of you, the murderer–would the
Queen be unjust in letting you go afterwards?" "Faith!" he said, "I
shouldn't ask that–how could she meddle with me afterwards? Because I
should say that gentleman was hung for me, and sure enough I was free.
But," he added, "I don't see what that has to do with the matter."
"Why just this," said I, "Jesus Christ loved sinners so much that
rather than they should perish He was content to die, Himself, instead
of them. And now, since Christ died for sinners, can you not see how
God can be just in letting sinners go free?" "Oh, yes," he said, "I see
it now! But then, how am I to know that Christ died for me, so that I
cannot be punished? You say there are some people that Christ died for,
so that God could not punish them–then how am I to know whether I
belong to them?" "Why, by this–are you a sinner? Because if you are
not in the matter of compliment, but if you are really so and feel it,
then Christ died in your place and you cannot die because God will
never enforce the sentence twice. He will not ask payment, first, at
the bleeding Surety's hands and then at ours." I think I see that man
putting his hands together, and saying, "There! That's Bible. I know
that's true. That must be true–no man could have made that up. That's
wonderful! I know it's God's Bible, for it just fits me. I am a poor
sinner and God has pardoned
me."
And he went on his way rejoicing. Now, doesn't that fit you, too? What
would you give tonight if you could believe that Jesus Christ was
punished instead of you, so that all your sins shall never be mentioned
anymore, but all be forgiven because God punished Christ Jesus instead
of you? I repeat, the only way you can tell is by answering this
question–Are you a sinner? "Well, we are all sinners," says one. No,
no–you are all sinners, but you are not all the sort of sinners that I
mean. Some people say they are sinners but they don't mean it. They are
like the beggars in London apparently full of sores. Many a man we see
in the streets with his leg tied up and seeming desperately lame, will
take off the bandage when he gets to his lodging house– and will dance
before he goes to bed at night! Another man standing against the wall
says he is stone blind–but he will see to count his money when he gets
home after begging all day! There are plenty of people of that sort.
Now, if I invited the lame and the blind, do you think I should receive
those who were only shamming? No, I would only have those who were
really lame and blind! So Christ died only for those who are real
sinners.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EPHESIANS2.
Verse 1. And you has He quickened. Is it so? Can anyone lay his hand on
your shoulder and say right into your ear, "You has He quickened"? If
so, why this deadness of spirit? Why this worldliness? Why these
wanderings? "You has He quickened."
1, 2. Who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you
walked according to the course of this world. You were dead to all that
was good, but you were alive enough to that which was evil! It seems,
from this passage, that dead men walk, yet not in the way of God, but,
"according to the course of this world."
2, 3. According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now works in the children of all disobedience: among whom also we
allhad our conversation in thepast in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. We were not in the least
better, by nature, than the very worst of men! And if we were any
better in practice, it was only because we were restrained by
Providence and by Grace from going into gross sin as others did. Look
unto the hole of the pit from which you were dug and see how humble was
your origin. If you are proud of your fine feathers, as the peacock is,
remember his black legs! See from where you came and recollect the sin
from which you were delivered! Bless God for your deliverance and be
humble as you think of the Grace that has caused you to differ from
others.
4, 5. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were deadin sins, has quickened us together with
Christ, (by Grace you are saved). This is a wondrous Truth of God, that
God loves the sinner even while he is dead in sin. This love is not
caused by any goodness in him, for he is dead–he is wrapped up in the
cerements of his sins. There is nothing lovable about him, yet God,
"for His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, has quickened us together with Christ."
6-8. And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show
the exceeding riches of His Grace and of kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. For by Grace are you saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God. That great Truth was put in the 5th
verse, in a parenthesis. Why did Paul write it twice? Because we cannot
too often be reminded that we were saved by Grace. It is a
Truth which we so soon forget that we have need to have it rung in our
ears as by a peal of bells, "By Grace are you saved, through faith; and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast God cannot endure boasting
and one great objective of the plan of salvation by Grace is to
extinguish boasting, to shut it out! It is intolerable to God, He
cannot endure it.
10. For we are His workmanship. If we have anything good in us, it was
all made by Him.
10-12. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before
ordained that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you,
being in times past, Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh
made by hands; that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. That is a true
description of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers who were certainly heathen
of the heathen, the wildest and most savage of men when Paul wrote this
Epistle! And yet, by Sovereign Grace, we have been brought to the very
forefront of the nations of the earth and we are no longer without God,
nor yet without hope, nor yet without Christ. Neither are we now
strangers to the covenants of promise, nor aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel.
13-22. But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made
near by the blood of Christ For He is our peace, who has made both one
and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having
abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
containedin ordinance; for to make in Himself of two, one newman, so
making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by
the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace
to you which were afar off, and to them that were near. For through Him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore you
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation
of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto
an holy temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit. Happy are the people who enjoy
these high privileges!