Christ's Sympathy With His People
(No. 2885)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1904.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON A LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
DURING THE WINTER OF 1861-2.
"For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid
those who are tempted." Hebrews 2:18.
THAT which is the most simple lesson the Gospel has to teach is often
the most difficult lesson for the Christian to learn. That simple
lesson is that we must not look to ourselves for anything good, but
that we must look to the Lord, alone, for all our righteousness. The
lesson is short, as well as simple. It is easy to repeat but, as often
as our faith is severely tried, we find how apt we are to forget that
which is the very Alpha of the Gospel–that man, in himself, is wholly
lost and that all his hope of help and salvation must rest on Christ,
that apart from God there is nothing upon which faith can fasten
itself–and that without the atoning Sacrifice and justifying
Righteousness of Christ, the quickening and sanctifying work of the
Holy Spirit and the everlasting love of the Father, there is neither
joy, nor peace, nor comfort, nor hope to be found anywhere. This seems
to be a very easy lesson, yet even aged Believers, when their hair is
getting gray and they are about to enter the land of perfect peace and
rest, still find the temptation to unbelief too much for them and they
begin to look for something good in the creature–and to seek for
happiness in themselves–instead of seeking all good in God.
I want to try to teach you this lesson again. And to also learn it
myself, for I need to learn it as much as you do–the lesson of looking
away from our temptations and from our own weakness and inability to
repel those temptations–to Him who, having Himself suffered in being
tempted, "is able to aid those who are tempted." Let us fix our eyes
upon our great High Priest and leave Satan and all his insinuations,
his blasphemies and his temptations out of the question. Or, rather,
let us bring them to Christ and see them all finished in Him! I am
going to address three separate characters that are represented
here–first, the confirmed Believer Secondly, the young beginner. And,
thirdly, the backslider And then, summoning the attention of the whole
company here assembled, I shall try to commend the comfort and
instruction of the text to you all.
I. First, let me speak TO ADVANCED CHRISTIANS.
You all have your trials and those trials are of an advanced character.
The troubles with which the plants of God's right-hand planting are
assailed when they are saplings are quite inconsiderable compared with
those which come upon them when they are like cedars firmly rooted. As
surely as our strength increases, so will our sufferings, our trials,
our labors, or our temptations. God's power is never given to a man to
be stored up unused. The heavenly food that is sent to strengthen us,
like the manna given to the Israelites in the wilderness, is intended
for immediate use. If the Lord sends you much, you shall have nothing
beyond what you can use for Him though, blessed be His holy name, if
you have but little, you shall have no need! When the Lord puts upon
our feet the shoes of iron and brass which He has promised us in His
ancient Covenant, He intends that we should wear them and walk in
them–not that we should put them into our museum and gaze upon them as
curiosities. If He gives us a strong hand, it is because we have a
strong foe to fight. If He gives us a great meal–like that which He
gave to Elijah–it is in order that, in the strength of that meal, we
may go for 40 days or even longer.
Perhaps, my Brother or Sister, you are, just now, in great trouble. You
have grown in Grace and your troubles have also grown. You feel that
you need someone to whom you can tell your trouble–your trouble very
likely arises from the
absence of your Lord. Let me remind you that in this respect you are
very like the Israelites in the wilderness, when Moses had been absent
from them for 40 days. They said, "What shall we do? Our leader is
gone. He who was king in Jeshurun has departed from us and we are left
like sheep without a shepherd." So they went–I dare not say that they
went for counsel, but they went–to the high priest. And you remember
what they said and what he did. Alas, he gave them no good counsel, for
he was as unwise as they were–and as untried. He had always had Moses
by his side ever since the day that the Lord had said, "Is not Aaron
the Levite your brother?…He shall be to you instead of a mouth and
you shall be to him instead of God." Aaron had never been left without
his great leader and so, in his absence, he failed miserably and led
the people in the making and worshipping of the golden calf!
How different it will be with you who mourn the loss of the Light of
your Lord's Countenance, if you go to our Great High Priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ! He knows the meaning of your present trial, for He had
once to cry, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" You tell Him
that your "soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death," and He
tells you that it was so with Him, also, on that night in which He was
betrayed, when, "being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly: and His
sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the
ground." No untried Priest is He! He can sympathize and He can aid you.
Take another case–that of Hannah, the "woman of a sorrowful spirit."
She was in a peculiarly trying position. Her husband's other wife had
children, but she had none. Though she was greatly beloved of her
husband, her adversary vexed her sorely to make her fret. Day by day
this was thrown in her teeth, that, because of some sin, God had not
granted her the desire of her heart. A trial in one's own house is one
of the saddest places where it can come–the saddest, perhaps, with the
exception of a thorn in the flesh which comes still closer home. So
poor Hannah, having that trial at home, thought she would go up to the
sanctuary in Shiloh. There, she "prayed unto the Lord, and wept sorely,
and she vowed a vow." But "she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved,
but her voice was not heard." So Eli, the high priest, thought that she
was drunk and, instead of comforting and consoling her, he spoke
harshly to her, depressed and broken as her spirit was. You, my
Brothers, and you, my Sisters, too, may have some trouble which you
dare not tell to another, though it is sorely vexing you and threatens
even to break your heart. But when you go to the Great High Priest, He
will understand all about it! He will not need you to explain your
sorrow to Him, for He knows exactly what it is. And He will apply the
healing balm to your sorrowful spirit and send you on your way full of
peace and comfort!
I offer, then, to you who are advanced Believers, this very comforting
reflection–in Christ's sufferings you are quite certain to find
something akin to your own and, in Christ's heart, you are quite sure
to find a deep well of Divine Sympathy! So whatever your trial may be,
you need not hesitate to go to Him, or doubt that His loving heart will
overflow with sympathy towards you!
But, more than that, while I would console you by reminding you that
Christ has suffered even as you have, I would also comfort you with the
reflection that this very day He still suffers with you. Suppose, now,
that a man could be so high in stature that his head could be in Heaven
while his feet were on earth, yet, whenever his feet suffered, his head
would suffer, too. In the Canticles, the spouse says of her Heavenly
Bridegroom, "His head is as the most fine gold…His legs are as
pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold." As John saw Him, "in
the isle that is called Patmos," "His eyes were as a flame of fire and
His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace." This
suggests to me a parable–the feet of Christ, which form His Church on
earth, still glow "as if they burned in a furnace." The glorious Head
of the Church, up in Heaven, "is as the most fine gold," but there is
not the least glow of heat, in the feet on earth, which is not felt by
the Head in Heaven. There is not a pang that rends your heart which
Jesus does not feel. There is not a sorrow that cuts deeply into your
soul which does not also cut into His! So you can still sing–
"He feels in His heart all our sighs and our groans
For we are most near Him, His flesh and His bones.
In all our distresses our Head feels the pain,
They all are most necessary, not one is in vain." Does it not comfort
you to know that Christ can sympathize with you and that He must
sympathize with you–can, because He has suffered–must, because He
still suffers?
I may also add, for your comfort, that all this–Christ's suffering as
you do and His suffering with you, must tend to shield you in your
trials. A country minister, preaching upon the text, "Is there no balm
in Gilead; is there no physician there?" made the remark that Christ is
a good Physician. "Ah," he said, "Christ is not like those doctors who
come and
say they are sorry for you, whereas, in their hearts, they are glad you
are ill, for, if you and others were not ill, there would be no work
for them. Or else," said the preacher, "they look down upon you and
pity you, but not half as much as if they, themselves, had your
complaint and felt all the pains that you are feeling. But suppose," he
added, "that the doctor had all your pains, himself–suppose you had
the headache and that he looked down on you and had your headache?
Suppose when you had palpitation of the heart, he had palpitation of
the heart, too–why, he would be very quick to cure you! Certainly he
would not let you lie there a moment longer than was necessary because
he, himself, would be suffering with you." Now there is just one
objection that may be made to the countryman's argument–that is, that
the physician might be willing to raise the patient up at once because
he was suffering with him–yet he might say, "Here are two of us in the
same plight, but my skill fails me here. If I could deliver you, you
can well imagine that I would gladly do so, for, in so doing, I would
deliver myself as well. But, alas, it is beyond my power! I cannot
lighten your burden, nor my own–we can only sit down together and
mingle our tears–but we cannot assist one another."
But it is not so with the Good Physician, for He has both the will and
the power to heal us! One motion of that eternal arm and every cloud
that is wrapped about the sky shall be folded up like a worn-out
vesture, and cast away! Jesus speaks and the boisterous billows cease
their raging and the wild winds are hushed to sleep. "Let there be
light," He says, and over the thick darkness of our affliction and
adversity comes the bright gleam of joy and prosperity! He did but lift
up His voice and "kings of armies did flee apace." O Jesus, our Lord,
when You come forth for the deliverance of Your people, who can stand
before You? As the wax melts before the fire and as the fat of rams is
consumed upon Your altar, so do our trials and troubles melt and vanish
away when You come forth for the deliverance of Your people! Remember,
Believers, that you not only have the love of Christ's heart, but you
also have the strength of Christ's arm at your disposal! He rules over
all things in Heaven, earth and Hell–so rest in Him, for He still
bears the scars of His wounds to show that He has suffered even as you
do. Still does He prove Himself to be Man, seeing that He suffers with
you, yet is He also "very God of very God," into whose hands all power
in Heaven and earth is committed! He can, He must, He will deliver His
people and bring them out of all their trials into His eternal Kingdom
and Glory!
II. Secondly, I am going to speak TO ANXIOUS ENQUIRERS AND YOUNG
BEGINNERS.
I hear a plaintive voice, over yonder, saying to me, "I know, Sir, that
the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all
sin. And I know that the moment I believe in Him, I have nothing to
fear concerning the past, for that sin is blotted out once and for all.
But my fear is that if I commence a Christian life, it will not last
long. I am afraid I shall be like Pliable and turn back at the Slough
of Despond. Or if my neighbors jeer at me, I fear that I shall be
ashamed to go forward in spite of their opposition. Even if I get over
that, I feel that I cannot trust my own evil heart which is so apt to
deceive me. If old temptations should be overcome, new ones will be
sure to arise and I cannot help fearing as to what will become of me. I
have seen some who made a fair show in the flesh, turn back and go
straight to perdition–and I tremble lest it should also be so with me.
How can I hope to withstand the imperious lusts which were too strong
for me when first they allured my simple heart? How much more shall
they be too mighty for me, now that sin has gathered the force of habit
and practice and, like an iron net, has enfolded me in its cruel grip?
When I was a youth, I could not stand against this great enemy of my
soul–how, then, shall I be a match for him now that I have grown old
and feeble? The old Adam will be too strong for the young Melancthon!"
Well, dear Friends, I have seen some persons who have been truly
converted to God who have been greatly troubled with this fear. Indeed,
in some instances I have even known of poor men kneeling down and
praying that God would let them die, then and there, sooner than that
they should live to prove that their feelings were only a delusion and
that their supposed repentance was merely a passing excitement. Some of
us can fully sympathize with those who pray such a prayer as that, for
we have often felt that the most terrible death would be preferable to
the disgrace of bringing dishonor upon the name of Jesus by turning
back to the City of Destruction after we had once started for the
Celestial City. But, my dear Friend, if the Lord has begun a good work
in your soul and led you to trust in Jesus as your Savior, my text will
just meet that fear of yours, for the Apostle here says that Christ "is
able to aid those who are tempted." You will be tempted–I will not
delude you with the notion that you will not–and you cannot, by
yourself, stand up against that temptation! But Christ, "in that He
Himself has suffered, being tempted, is able to aid those who are
tempted." This Truth of God we set before you as a shield against all
these dark, mysterious thoughts–Christ can and He will, if you trust
in Him, protect you from the sin and the temptation which you rightly
dread!
"But how is this to be done?" someone asks. Well, first of all, Christ
can do it by the force of His own example. He can show you as He has
done in His Word. But He can also show you by His Spirit opening up
that Word, how He was once subject to the same temptation that now
assails you. Are you poor, and are you tempted to use wrong means to
get rich? Christ can tell you how, in the wilderness, "when He had
fasted forty days, and forty nights, He was afterwards hungry," and
Satan came to Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, command that
these stones be made bread." Are you a man in a high position and are
you tempted to do some daring and reckless deed? Christ can remind you
how, when He was on a pinnacle of the Temple, Satan said to Him, "If
You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down." Or do you seem, just now,
to have great power within your reach if you will but stain your hand
to grasp it? Christ can tell you how Satan showed Him all the kingdoms
of the world and the glory of them, and said to Him, "All these things
will I give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then He will
remind you how He passed through all these ordeals without sin, for the
prince of this world could find nothing in Him to respond to his
temptations. He was tried and tested again and again, but no trace of
alloy could be discovered even by the devil himself! Though He was
often shot at by His great adversary, He was never wounded by the fiery
shafts! So, inspired by His glorious example, you may say–
"Through floods and flames if Jesus leads I'll follow where He goes."
You not only have Christ's example to keep you from sin, but you also
have His Presence. Do you know what this means? Let me give you an
example of it. There was a certain merchant who had been, again and
again, tempted to an act of sin. It was the usual custom in his
trade–everybody else did it. But he knew that it was wrong and his
soul revolted against it. As he sat in his counting house, he saw,
pictured before his mind's eye, his wife homeless and his children
crying for bread. And the demon whispered to him, "Do it. Do it." Then
another picture flitted before his eyes–he and his wife and children
were rich–their home was filled with good things and again the
adversary said, "Do it. Do it." He saw the advantages that were to be
gained by doing it, but he went home and pondered the whole matter. His
soul was heavy and a stern struggle was proceeding within him. Then he
went to his chamber and shut himself in and, falling upon his knees,
told all his difficulty and temptations to his Father in Heaven. Then,
suddenly, not before his eyes, but to Faith's inner eyes, there
appeared a vision of the Crucified Christ who showed him His pierced
hands, and feet, and side, and then said to him, "He that takes not his
cross and follows after Me is not worthy of Me. You have not yet
resisted unto blood, striving against sin."
The merchant, fixing his tearful eyes upon his Savior, remembered
Paul's words, "Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds." He came
down from his bedroom, his soul was glad, for his mind was made up and
he said to himself, "I will not do it. I can be poor, but I cannot
sin." Others marked the man and wondered at the change in his
appearance. He walked erect, no longer like one bowed down beneath a
heavy burden. Many men marvelled at him and asked what had happened to
him, but none could tell. The secret was that the Crucified Christ had
appeared to him and had given him the support of His Divine Presence.
That was sufficient to aid him in the time of temptation, for Christ,
having Himself suffered, being tempted, was able to aid His faithful
follower when he, also, was tempted.
I know that I am addressing someone who says–I will use, as far as
possible, his own words–"Look here, Sir, I have always been in the
habit of being a jolly fellow, meeting with a number of companions to
drink, chat, sing and so on. I do not know that we did very much amiss,
but still, I could not do it again if I became a Christian. Suppose,
now, that I should be invited to join the same company tomorrow–I am
not sure what I might do–I might refuse their invitation, but if I
were asked again and again, and they jeered at me for refusing, I might
give in. Suppose that I did not yield? There is another difficulty. I
have been a man of such-and-such a character and have formed
such-and-such ha-bits–now, how in the world am I to overcome those
habits? How am I to become a Christian and to continue so to the
end?"
These are very proper questions and I answer–You are utterly helpless
apart from Him who is able to aid those who are tempted. But if you
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will give you a new nature. That
new nature, it is true, will not at once cast out the old nature–your
old nature will still be there, but the new nature will struggle
against it and, ultimately, through the effectual working of the Holy
Spirit, the new nature will prevail over the old nature and you will be
"a new creature in Christ Jesus." Old things will have passed away and
all things will have become new. You will say,
as a young convert did when he came to join the Church, "I don't know
which it is, but either everything else is changed, or else I am." It
was in himself, of course, that the great change had been worked, but
that changed the aspect of everything else!
Let me give you a little parable to illustrate this point. A lion and a
tiger used, frequently, to roam the forests together in search of prey
that might satisfy their bloodthirsty appetites. But one day an angel
came, touched the lion and changed him into a lamb. The next day the
tiger came and wanted the lion to go with him to his feast of blood. Do
you think it was difficult for him to refuse the invitation? Oh, no! "I
have no inclination to go," he said. The tiger laughed scornfully and
said, "Aha, you have become pious, have you? Now you will go to the
sheepfolds and sneak behind the shepherds' heels–you that were once so
brave!" And the tiger despised him and said, "You are miserable to be
thus tied up like a dog and not to dare to come and do as we have
always done." "No," said the lion, "it is not that I dare not go with
you, but I have no wish to go. I am not miserable because I cannot go
with you on such an errand–I would be miserable if I did go. The fact
is, I cannot now do what I once did, for I am not what I once was. My
new nature has brought me new loves, new hatreds, new preferences, new
pursuits–so I cannot go with you on your bloodthirsty expedition."
If God has worked a similar change in you–and transformed the lion
into a lamb and the raven into a dove–it will not be difficult for you
to be kept from sin, for you will hate sin with perfect hatred and have
no fellowship with it! And besides that, as your nature will be
renewed, day by day, by the Holy Spirit, with a constant infusion of
everything that is good, gracious and Godlike, do you not see that sin
shall no longer be like a strong spear to pierce you, but as a fragile
reed which shall snap against the armor of proof which your soul shall
wear?
Let me remind you who are thinking of going upon pilgrimage, but are
afraid of the lions and the dragons in the way, that He, under whose
banner you hope to enlist, never allowed one soldier who was in His
service to perish. If you become a sheep under the care of the Good
Shepherd, remember that–
"His honor is engaged to save The meanest of His sheep."
If you are a mariner, bound for the Fair Havens of eternal felicity,
recollect that the Lord High Admiral of the seas of Providence and
Grace has safely convoyed into port every vessel that has yet been
committed to His charge! Not one has ever been wrecked or lost in any
way. Trust yourself to His protection and guidance and He will bring
you, also, safely in. What if your temper is, naturally, furious? What
if your evil propensities have been indulged until they have become as
giants holding you in cruel captivity? What if your passions boil, burn
and blaze like Vesuvius in eruption? What if your temptations should
come upon you as the Philistines came upon Samson? He to whom you
commit the keeping of your soul shall make you master over all–and you
shall yet be, with the great multitude whom no man can number, more
than conqueror through Him who has loved you! Oh, that the Holy Spirit
would constrain many of you, straightway, to leave your old master and
to enter the service of the Savior! You will never find a better master
than the Lord Jesus Christ!
"Ah," said a sailor, 70 years of age, who had heard a sermon that had
deeply affected him and, I trust, had been the means of renewing his
nature, "I am going to haul down my old flag today. I have sailed under
the colors of the Black Prince all these years, but they are coming
down today–and I am going to run up the blood-red Cross in their
place– and I hope to sail under that flag until I die." So may it be
with many of you! Say, "O Satan, we have served you far too long!
Miserable is your service, despicable are your ways, degrading is our
position and awful must be our end if we remain in your power." Then
turn to the Lord and appeal to Him. Say, "O God, help us! We cry to
You. Bring us, we pray You, from under the tyrant's sway. Help us to
yield ourselves up to You this very hour. Take our hearts, black as
they are, and wash them in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, Your
well-beloved Son. Change the hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Make
us to be Your servants while we live and to enter into Your rest and
Your Glory when we die."
I have thus, I hope, spoken somewhat to the comfort of young beginners
and anxious enquirers.
III. Now, in the third place, I am going to speak briefly TO
BACKSLIDERS.
Where are you, Backslider? I cannot pick you out, but there is an eye
that sees you, and that weeps over you. Ten years ago you used to sit
down at the Communion Table. Twenty years ago you were a reputable
member of the church, but you fell, and, oh, what a fall was yours!
Since that time you have not wholly forsaken the House of God, though
you have wandered here and there–but you have never dared to call
yourself a Christian again. You lost the Light of God's
Countenance long ago and you find the service of Satan very hard, yet
you think you must go downward to despair. You feel that you are in the
iron cage of which Bunyan wrote–and you fear that you will never get
out of it. Poor Backslider, I cannot mention your name without a tear
and if I, a fellow creature, thus weep over you, much more does that
compassionate Savior who suffered, being tempted, and who is able to
aid those who are tempted!
Hark! If you will but incline your ear, you may hear a note that will
cheer your heart and yet break it, too! 'Tis God who speaks and He is
having a controversy with Himself over you. Justice says, "Destroy
him!" But Mercy says, "Spare him!" The very Gospel which you have
despised witnesses against you, but, at the same time, pleads for you.
The Lord still says to backsliders, as He did to His ancient people
when they wandered from Him, "Turn, O backsliding children, says the
Lord, for I am married unto you." "Married unto you!" This marriage
bond cannot be broken! You have played the harlot and gone after many
lovers, but your first Husband hates putting away and even now invites
you to return to Him. So–
"To your Father's bosom pressed, Once again a child confessed From His
house no more to roam, Come, OpoorBackslider, come!"
I may even be addressing some who once drank from the cup of Communion,
but who have turned aside to drink the cup of devils. I may be speaking
to some to whom, for years, the Sabbath has been a day for business
instead of a day for worship. Yet you could never get the sound of the
Sabbath bell out of your ears and, even now, you cannot forget the
profession you once made, nor the joys you once knew–and you cannot be
easy in your sins. There is a spark of heavenly fire that still lingers
within you and it will not die out, even though you seek to quench it
that it may not hinder you from going after your lusts. That is God's
grip still upon you! Oh that I might be His ambassador of peace to
fling wide the doors of His mercy to you! Poor Prodigal, you are clad
in rags! The sty is your only sleeping place and the swine your only
companions–you would gladly fill your belly with the husks that they
eat, but you must not, for you are a God-made man, and swine's food can
never satisfy you. As you stand here, perhaps there is a tear trickling
down your cheek because of the many years that you have spent in sin
and you are saying, "I would arise and go to my Father, but I fear that
He has forgotten me." Oh, say not that! But do as the prodigal
did–arise and come to your Father, for He will give you such a
reception as the prodigal received! You shall have the kiss of
forgiveness upon your brow, the best robe of your Savior's perfect
Righteousness shall be cast all around you, the ring of everlasting
love shall be placed upon your finger, the shoes of peace shall be
fitted to your feet, you shall eat the fat things of the promises of
God, there shall be music in your ears, music in your house, music on
earth and music in Heaven, itself, because he that was dead is alive
again, he that was lost is found!
This should be your consolation–"In that He Himself has suffered,
being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." Did I hear you
say, "But I cannot see how Christ was ever in the same position that I
am in, for He was never a backslider"? That is quite true, but what are
your trials? First, you are tried by the burden of sin that is resting
upon you–and Christ had the sins of all His people resting upon Him,
so He knows what that burden means. Next, you are tried by the loss of
the Light of God's Countenance–so was He, for He cried, "My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?" Then you say that you have lost all
your friends–so had He, for in His time of trial, "they all forsook
Him and fled." You say, also, that you are despised, that you are the
subject of the song of the drunk and the mirth of the mock-er–so was
He, for He could truly say, "Reproach has broken My heart." So Christ
can sympathize–not with your sin, for He never had any of His own–but
with your sorrow, which is the consequence of sin, for He had to bear
all that before you did!
IV. Now I have to close by speaking TO THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY. I think I
might liken you, on a large scale, to that little band of
pilgrims–Christiana, Mercy, Matthew, James and the rest of them who
started from the City of Destruction–who, when they came to the
Interpreter's House, were put under the escort of Mr. Great-Heart. I am
not Mr. Great-Heart–I am but one of the children–but our great Savior
is Mr. Great-Heart, and He is going with us all the way to the
Celestial City! We are but like those boys and girls and we are afraid
of what we may meet on the road. There are lions in the way, but Mr.
Great-Heart can kill them, or restrain them from hurting us. There is
Apollyon in the valley, but our Great-Heart is more than a match for
the arch-fiend. We shall have to go through the Valley of the Shadow of
Death, yet each one of us shall be able to say, "I will fear no evil,
for You are with me." We shall have to go through
the Enchanted Ground, but, as Christ will be with us, we shall not fall
asleep there to our grievous hurt. We shall have to go through Vanity
Fair and to bear the jeer and the jibe of the mocking mob, but we can
bear all that, for we shall have our great Captain with us.
But–and here comes the dark thought to some–we shall at last come to
the dark river without a bridge. Mr. Great-Heart–whom Bunyan meant to
be the minister, had to go through the stream with the rest. But when
we come to the river, our Mr. Great-Heart, Christ Himself–will go
through the river with each one of us! He will put His almighty arm
around us and when we get where our feet cannot feel the bottom, He
will say to each one of us, "When you pass through the waters, I will
be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." To
die with Jesus is better, even, than living with Him except that higher
style of living with Him beyond the river of death, for–
"Jesus can make a dying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on His breast I lean my head
And breathe my life out sweetly there." In this sense, our text shines
like a cluster of stars. Jesus died, Jesus rose again–in that He died,
He can sympathize. In that He rose again, He can aid. Lay hold of this
text whenever you think of death with any gloomy cast in your mind. And
let us go on our way, each one singing–
"Since Jesus is mine, I'll not fear undressing
But gladly put off this garment of clay.
To die in the Lord is a Covenant blessing,
Since Jesus to Glory through death led the way."
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-18.
2 Corinthians 6:1. We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you
also that you receive not the Grace of God in vain. God's servants are
called to take many different positions. They are ambassadors under one
aspect. They are workers under another. As ambassadors, they are
ambassadors for Christ. As workers, they are workers together with God.
Oh, how much it costs to win a soul! I mean, not only how much it cost
the Savior, so that He broke His very heart over it and poured out His
life's blood–but also how much it must cost the messenger of peace! He
must know how to beseech and implore–and when even this fails, he must
still go on toiling, laboring as a worker together with God.
2. (For He says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of
salvation have I succored you: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation). I trust that if I am addressing
any who say that it is too late for them to be saved and that their sin
is too great to be forgiven, this text will drive away that unholy and
unwarranted fear–"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the
day of salvation." Then the Apostle goes on to speak of himself and the
rest of the Apostles and other preachers of the Word.
3, 4. Giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed:
but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. As those
early servants of the Lord really did.
4-10. In much patience, in afflictions in necessities, in distresses,
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in
fasting; bypureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by
the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned, by the Word of Truth, by the power
of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the
left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as
deceivers, andyet true; as unknown andyet wellknown, as dying, and,
behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; aspoor, yet making many rich; as having nothing andyet
possessing all things. All these things Paul and his Brothers were to
be and to do in order to win souls for Christ. Just as the hunters in
the cold North seek after furs and try all sorts of schemes to catch
the wild creatures on which they grow. They will trap them, or snare
them, or shoot them, but, somehow or other, they will get them. They
will be on the alert all day and all night, too. They will learn the
habits of every creature they have to deal with, but they will get the
furs somehow. And so must the true minister of Christ be willing to be
anything, to do anything, to suffer anything, to bear reproach and
shame, to be nothing, or to be all things to all men–if by any means
he may save some.
11, 12. O you Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is
enlarged. You are not straitened in us, but you are straitened in your
own hearts. If they were not saved, it was not because Paul did not
open his mouth to speak to them and to warn and invite them, nor
because he did not open his heart and feel in it the movements of a
sacred compassion for them. Now, having thus spent himself in his
endeavor to bring them to Christ, he writes to those whom he did bring.
13. Now in return for the same. There must be some wages for this
blessed work. The Apostle wisely puts it on that footing, as if,
surely, they were indebted to him, but the payment that he seeks is, of
course, no personal gain to him. He only puts it in that form, but it
is a gain to them.
13. (Ispeak as unto my children), be you also enlarged. ' 'There has
been so much earnest labor to secure your conversion, so be you also in
earnest to bring in others. Get large thoughts of God; be fully
consecrated to Him, spend and be spent for Him. Follow a good example."
Paul could well urge them to that consecration when he had given
himself so completely to the work of winning souls–"Be you also
enlarged."
14. Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Not in any
way–neither in marriage which is the chief of all forms for yoking,
nor yet in business or other partnerships.
14. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And
what communion has light with darkness? You must be in the same world
with them, but keep yourself distinct from them. Go not into their
society by your own choice, nor seek your pleasure with them.
15-18. And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has he
that believes with an infidel? And what agreement has the Temple of God
with idols? For you are the temple of the living God as God has said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; andl will be their Godand
theyshall be Mypeople. Therefore come out from among them, and be you
separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons
and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.