A Stir–and What Came of It
(No. 2939)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1905.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, APRIL
11, 1875.
"And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying,
Who is this?" Matthew 21:10.
MANY things make a stir in a city and, sometimes, these stirs are full
of evil. I always think, each time I read Carlyle's history of the
French Revolution, how thankful we ought to be that the city of London
has not been excited, from end to end, by political storms as the
unhappy city of Paris was at that time and has been many times since.
We are not grateful enough, I fear, for the social order and quiet
which reign in our midst. There are other countries where the people,
when they go to bed at night, cannot tell what will be the form of
government when they wake in the morning– whether they will still be
free nations or beneath a tyrant's heel. I heard an excellent man–one
highly esteemed among us–prophesy that before long the streets of
London will run with blood. He was afraid of the power of the democracy
of whom he stood in great terror. I confess that I have never
participated in his fears for a single moment, for I fully believe
that, by God's Grace, our country will continue for many years to enjoy
the blessing which results from having a form of government which with
all its faults and imperfections, is so satisfactory on the whole. May
God grant that we may not, on some future day, have to remember with
regret our ingratitude for the peace we now possess–when we have lost
it– and may we all do our best to cement the various classes of
society together and promote that Christian love, that spirit ofjustice
and that spirit of philanthropy which will tend to hold together the
whole nation in bonds that cannot easily be broken. Let us not be
envious. Let us not be proud. Let us not oppress one another and let us
not demand too much from one another. Let the golden rule be the rule
of life to all with whom we are brought into contact. Let us do to
others as we would they should do to us and so may our country and its
capital never be stirred by those terrific senses of strife which would
make the pavements run with blood, but may our land enjoy, for many a
century, unless Christ should come, the same peace which we have seen
in our day!
But there are such things as good stirs–stirs for the better–stirs
which help to remove the evil consequences of stagnation. There are, at
certain times and seasons, blessed blowing of the sacred wind from
Heaven through the garden of mankind and I think, at this period,
London is, to a large extent, enjoying just such a stir as that. At
this moment I might almost say concerning this city what was said
concerning Jerusalem at the time mentioned in our text, "All the city
was moved, saying, Who is this?" There is a great religious excitement
at the present time–and a spirit of enquiry and an unusual desire to
hear the Word of God. There is more than this, for there is a Divine
Power going forth to convert the people–thousands have of late have
been converted to the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. For one, I am
devoutly thankful for this stir and pray God to continue it for a long
time and to bring the richest possible results out of it.
Concerning the stir mentioned in our text, I want to, ask, first, what
caused this stir Secondly, what was the enquiry, "Who is this?" And how
do we answer it? And then, lastly, what came of this stir? I. First,
WHAT CAUSED THIS STIR? "All the city was moved."
The first cause of this moving of the city was that Jesus was
proclaimed King. True, the proclamation was uttered by children and by
the common people and not by the officers of the State, yet He was
proclaimed–and wherever Jesus Christ is proclaimed as King and Lord,
there is sure to be a stir! Even if it is nothing but opposition to
Him, there must be some movement, for Christ is never without influence
either one way or another. He is never savorless–He is always either a
savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. It matters very little
who it is that proclaims Jesus as King, for the
2 A Stir–And What Came of It Sermon #2939
power is not in the voice that utters the proclamation, but in the
Truth of God which is uttered! If God is pleased to call men of humble
birth and small education to preach Jesus Christ, He will get all the
more glory because of the feebleness of the instruments He uses! If He
should call little children to yell out the Gospel–out of the mouths
of babes and sucklings would He perfect His praise. It is whatis said,
not who says it, that is the important matter. If it is the Gospel,
that Gospel will shake the world! Let Luther's preaching bear witness
to that fact. The Gospel preached by a tinker will have an everlasting
effect upon those who hear it–let Bunyan's preaching be the witness to
that fact. The Gospel preached by one who had been a servant at an inn
may influence the entire nation, as witness the case of George
Whitefield! It is the Gospel, not the man–the Truth, not the mere
utterer of it–which is the more important!
Now, dear Brothers and Sisters, at this time we have Jesus Christ very
widely proclaimed in London. I believe that most ministers are
preaching more about Jesus Christ than they ever did before. Some of
our Brothers and Sisters have become very philosophical–they have
given way a great deal to modern thought and have lost power
thereby–but I believe there is a pretty general return to the lifting
up of the bronze serpent on the pole–the preaching of Jesus Christ and
Him Crucified. And whenever this is the case, if He is proclaimed, the
village, the town, the city must be moved thereby!
But there was more than that when all the city of Jerusalem was moved,
for Jesus Christ Himself was present. He was not proclaimed in His
absence. He was riding through the streets in that humble pomp which
well suited His Character, as well as fulfilled the ancient prophecy
concerning Him. But He was there and I guarantee you that if the
proclamation of the Gospel is a power, much more a power is the
Presence of Jesus Christ who is the sum and substance of the Gospel!
There must be a stir wherever He is. When He goes where demons make
their haunts, they flee before Him. When He stands amid the raging
elements and says, "Peace: be still," immediately there is a great
calm. All Nature and all created beings feel the majesty of the
Presence of the Crucified. The wicked tremble when they perceive Him,
but the saints of God, when Jesus comes to them, are stirred in a very
different fashion, for they grow strong in His Presence!
Some of our troops, in one of the battles in the Peninsula War, seemed
likely to give way, the assault of the French upon them being so
terrible. But, just then, the Duke of Wellington rode up into the
center of them and one man said to his fellow, "Here comes the Duke!
How glad I am to see his face! He is worth more to us than ten thousand
men–we will soon drive those Frenchmen to the winds now." And so they
did, for the presence of their leader seemed to make each man grow into
a giant! And at this time there is a shout of a King is in our midst,
for our Lord Jesus Christ has come in the power of His Spirit! He has
come with His ministers who preach the Gospel simply and faithfully and
He is scattering His foes and putting them to rout! And He is saving
souls and so magnifying His holy name. Where Jesus is proclaimed, and
where Jesus Himself is, there must be a stir, as there was in Jerusalem
when "all the city was moved, saying, Who is this is?"
I do not wonder that there was a stir in Jerusalem when we reflect that
all Christ's disciples were that day in a very lively state. They were
often inclined to be sleepy or sluggish, as we are. Oh, how idle some
Christians are and how readily do we slumber! And if the Church of
Christ is not itself thoroughly awake, it cannot be expected to awaken
the world. Some preaching is a kind of articulate snoring in which the
preacher does not appear to be certain whether he is, himself awake
and, therefore, it is not very likely that he will be able to awaken
others. But that day in Jerusalem Christ's disciples were all full of
joy and full of praise to God for all the mighty works that they had
seen! Every man's eyes shone with delight. They were, as we say, "all
there," all alive and all in earnest! That day, too, they were all
generous, for they took off their outer garments and laid them on the
colt, or strewed them in the way where Jesus was to ride. There was not
one of Christ's disciples who was cowardly that day–they were all
ready to give what they could to grace His triumph! We shall never see
the world converted while the Church is so stingy as it often is. There
are Christian people who will sing that–
"They love their God with zeal so great That they would give Him all,"
but they never go even to the verge of giving Him all. They seem to
have a "saving" faith, in a very bad meaning of that term. But when
Christ's Church once brings all her tithes into the storehouse, then
will God fulfill His ancient declaration, "Prove Me now herewith, says
the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven and
pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive
it."
That day, too, Christ's disciples were all obedient to His orders. They
did as their Master commanded them concerning the fetching of the ass
and the colt. You sometimes wonder that the Gospel does not spread more
rapidly in the earth. But are disobedient servants likely to do their
Master's work well? If there are commands of Jesus which we
persistently ignore–if there are precepts of the Savior which, year
after year, we forget–if there are Doctrines and other parts of His
teaching to which we turn a deaf ear, can we expect Him to bless us? O
servants of the Lord, obedience within the Church will be sure to bring
power outside the Church! And the Church, moving according to the
orders of the great Captain of our salvation, step by step and rank by
rank, in Gospel order, will be certain to march on to victory! God will
be sure to send a stir when His people are in a right state of heart
and life.
A further reason for the stir in Jerusalem was that multitudes were
thronging around Christ. There is something that stirs one in the sight
of a crowd and, oftentimes, we gather power in our preaching by the
very sight of the multitude of those who have come to listen to our
message. And certainly there is a great charm in that mighty volume of
praise which we heard just now, which seemed to roll like the waves of
the sea in glory and grandeur! A preacher is delighted to see crowds
coming to hear the Gospel, for he knows that it is good fishing where
there is an abundance of fish! So there was a stir in Jerusalem because
there were such crowds of people thronging around Christ. I am glad to
hear that crowds are going to listen to the Gospel preached and sung by
our two American Brothers, Moody and Sankey. God grant that in their
services, there may not be merely the excitement of multitudes
gathering together, but the power of the Spirit of God working upon the
hearts and consciences of the hearers, for where that is felt, there is
sure to be a stir in the city!
In Jerusalem there were not only multitudes thronging around Christ,
but miracles were being worked by Christ. The lame were leaping, the
blind were seeing, the deaf were hearing, the dumb were speaking and,
not long before that, a man who had been dead four days had been raised
from the grave by the voice of Jesus calling to him, "Lazarus, come
forth!" No wonder, then, that the whole city was moved! And nothing
moves a family like the salvation of a soul in it. Nothing moves a
parish like the conversion of some gross vagabond, some outrageous
rebel against his God. If the Lord will but go on saving people in
London, we need have no fear about London being moved. Soul-saving
work–life to the dead in sin, sight to the spiritually blind, leaping
to the spiritually lame–this is what will stir London more than
anything else! Therefore, pray for it, O you people of God, and you
shall see more and more of it!
Hence it was that crowds in Jerusalem were crying, "Hosanna." How could
they help it when Christ was distributing His royal favors on the right
hand and on the left? My own heart is ready to cry, "Hosanna," even
over the hope that many have been converted to Jesus! And if it is
really so, the angels are rejoicing over those who have repented and
returned to the Lord. They must have been having a grand time of it for
the last two or three months at least! Heaven's music has them
constantly increasing in volume as Christ has called together His
friends and neighbors and has said to them, "Rejoice with Me; for I
have found My sheep which was lost." Have the angels been rejoicing
with Christ over the finding of any of you, dear Friends? If they have
not, God grant that they soon may do so!
II. Secondly, WHAT WAS THE ENQUIRY IN JERUSALEM, AND HOW DO WE ANSWER
IT? "Who is this?"
They could all see that this movement was around a Person, so they did
not ask, "What is this?" but, " Who is this?" And any preaching that is
worth anything tells of the Person of Jesus Christ. You cannot enkindle
enthusiasm about a mere doctrine. You may lay down certain theses as
logically as you will, but they will not stir the soul–you must rally
men around a person! It is the presence of his sovereign that makes the
soldier brave in the day of battle and it is the preaching of
Christ–telling about the Person of Christ–lifting Him up in our
preaching even as once He was lifted up upon the Cross that is sure to
stir the hearts of men! So the crowd asked, "Who is this?" because the
Personality of Christ had come to the front.
Some probably asked the question in a scoffing, contemptuous
fashion–"'Who is this?' Oh, the Son of a carpenter of Nazareth! A
pretty thing this, for Him to be riding thus through the city! We may
expect next to see fishermen and sailors, and tinkers and tailors
riding in triumph through our streets." I have heard that kind of
remark many a time, haven't you? Christ will give His own answer to
that, one of these days, so I bid every scoffer here to prepare for
what my Master will say to him at the last. You will talk in quite
another tone then, Sir–would God that you might change your tune now!
There were others, no doubt, who asked this question in some such style
as this, "'Who is this?' The crowd, which is mostly composed of fools
is always running after some novelty or other. 'Who is this?'" And
there are plenty of persons
nowadays who ask questions about great religious movements in that
supercilious, offhand kind of way. "I wonder what is up now? What can
all this stir be about?" And there the enquiry ends, as far as they are
concerned, but a dying Savior, a risen Redeemer is not to be treated in
that style! He may be saying to some of you at this very moment, "Is it
nothing to you, all you that pass by? Behold and see if there is any
sorrow like unto My sorrow which is done unto Me wherewith the Lord has
afflicted Me in the day of His fierce anger?"
I feel sure, however, that there were others who asked this question in
quite another spirit. They said, "Who is this?" There was a blind man
in Jerusalem and his friends told him of a great Miracle-Worker who had
opened the eyes of the blind. So he cried out eagerly, "'Who is this?'
Tell me where I can find Him, that I may go to Him and have my eyes
opened!" And there was a poor lame man lying at home who could not rise
from his bed and he said, "What did you say?–that So-an-So, who has
been paralyzed for so many years has been restored to health and
strength? Oh, 'who is this?' Who is performing such miracles of mercy
as this? Could you not carry me to Him, that I might ask Him to heal me
also?" Doubtless there were many other sufferers in Jerusalem whose
hearts leaped within them as they heard of what Christ had done, and
said, "Who is this?" And I do hope that among you who are not yet
saved, there are some who long to be, and that each one of you is
saying, "'Who is this?' If other people are being saved, why should not
I be? Tell me how I can be saved! Tell me the old, old story. Let me
know the good news about Jesus, the Savior of sinners! Let me
understand how Christ is able to save the guilty, that I also may be
saved and that, in my case, salvation to the uttermost may be
displayed!" Blessed are all of you who ask the question in that way.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and
it shall be opened unto you." Look to Jesus by simple faith and He will
work wonders of Grace and mercy for you.
Now I want, briefly, to speak about how we answer this enquiry–"Who is
this?" How shall we answer it? Who is this Jesus, about whom we are
always preaching? We have really only one answer to that question, but
it takes two or three forms. Our one answer to the sons of men
is–Jesus, whom we preach, very God of very God, who deigned, more than
1800 years ago, to descend to this earth and to take upon Himself our
nature, and so to be both God and Man in one Person and, in that dual
Nature, suffered and died upon the Cross in the place of all who
believe in Him. We preach this Jesus to the sons and daughters of men
as able to cleanse them from sin, to give them pardon, to change their
natures and to lift them up from the degradation into which their
transgressions have sunk them. No, we do not only preach Him as One who
can save, but as the One who has been sent into this world on purpose
to save the lost! The One whom God has set forth to be the Propitiation
for sin!
And, more than that, God has sent Christ with this authority, that
whoever will accept Him and trust in Him shall be eternally saved, but
that whoever rejects Him shall, beyond all hope of mercy, perish
forever! The message we have to deliver to you is not this–"Here is
Christ and you may have Him or leave Him, as you please–and it is left
to your own choice which you will do." No! But it is this–"In the name
of God we commandyou to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and it will be
at your peril that you will reject Him, for He is soon to come to be
your Judge. And if you reject Him as your Savior, He will certainly
destroy you in that day. "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish
from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little." O Sirs, we who
preach to you are men of like passions with yourselves, with no
priestly authority or power to pardon sin! But we are sent to you, in
the name of God, lovingly and earnestly to tell you the Truth of God
revealed in His Word and, in the name of Jehovah–the Creator of the
Heavens and the earth, at whose absolute disposal your breath is–we, I
say, are sent by Him to urge you to be at peace with Him! And you
cannot be at peace with Him unless you accept Christ whom He, Himself,
in Infinite Grace, has given to bleed that you might not suffer–and to
die that you might not perish!
There is Christ on the Cross–refuse Him and you irrevocably seal your
destruction. There is Christ on the Cross– look to Him. Lovingly trust
Him and you are at once and forever saved! This is God's plan of
salvation and this is the answer to the question, "Who is this?" It is
no common Person whom we preach, no stranger to whom you have no
relation, but we preach Jesus Christ by whom alone you can be
saved–and without whom you must perish forever! Oh, I implore you,
give good heed to our solemn message and, since it so intimately
concerns you, give it your most earnest attention! Lay hold on eternal
life, I do beseech you. May the Spirit of God lead you to do so!
But while our answer to the question, "Who is this?" is always the same
in substance, it takes different forms according to the person who puts
the enquiry to us, "Who is this?" I think I see here a member of a
Christian Church who
is no credit to that Church and I hear him saying, "Who is this?" What
is the meaning of all this stir? I have always gone to a place of
worship where I could hear quiet preaching and where everything was
conducted in an orderly, decorous fashion. But what is the reason for
all this excitement, all this enthusiasm? Who is this?" Brother, it is
your Lord and Master who has caused this stir! Unless your profession
has been a false one, it is your Savior's Presence which has stirred up
this excitement! It is He who bought you with His blood who has come
here and He finds you asleep! His power to save is being displayed all
over this city, yet you, who ought to be helping Him–who ought to be
pleading with sinners and praying for them, are fast asleep! Look at
that lamp of yours, my Sister! Do you not see that there is smoke,
instead of light, coming from it? It is almost out! Does that mean that
you are one of the foolish virgins? Have you no oil in your vessel with
your lamp? If you have, trim your lamp and be ready to go forth to meet
the Bridegroom, for the call is even now sounding through London,
"Behold, the Bridegroom comes! Go you out to meet Him." Up, you
sluggards! Awake yourselves! Behold, Jesus is coming–will you not be
found enlisted beneath His banner and fighting His battles? Remember
that ancient message to David, "When you hear the sound of a going in
the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall bestir yourself, for
then shall the Lord go out before you to smite the host of the
Philistines." When the angels' feet trod lightly over the green leaves
at the tops of the trees, then were David and his warriors to march
onward to victory! It seems to me that the angels' wings are rustling
all round us just now and, better still, that Jehovah, Himself, has
come riding upon the wings of the wind to save the multitudes that are
perishing! Awake, you slumbering professors! Oh, that I had a voice of
thunder that could pierce through ear and heart at once–and make the
whole Church wake up! This should be sufficient to awaken you, that He
who has come is your Lord and Master! Therefore go you forth to meet
Him!
I know also that there are in this congregation, as there are in all
congregations, backsliders. You used to be in fellowship with the
Church of Christ but you disgraced your profession, you dishonored your
Lord and Master, you oppressed the spirit of your minister, you made
the whole Church sorrowful and you filled the mouths of the wicked with
scoffing because of your backsliding. And this Christ who has come into
our midst is He whom you have crucified afresh and put to an open
shame! He has not yet come to execute judgment–He has come to display
yet more of His mercy. Where are you, Backslider? Do you feel as if you
must run away from Him? Oh, do not, but stay, my Brother, and look up
into the face of Jesus! He is looking down upon you and may that glance
of His be like the look which He gave to Peter, who went out and wept
bitterly at the remembrance of his backsliding. Your Lord still loves
you! Come back to Him. He has redeemed you–yield your whole soul to
Him. Come, Backslider, and kiss the feet which were pierced for you and
give yourself again to Jesus. You have wandered away from the good
pasture and from the rest of the sheep, but Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
is seeking you, so wander no longer, but return unto Him who waits to
welcome you. God bless this message to you and make you know that this
is a special time of Grace for backsliders!
There is a young man who has lately come up from the country and who
has heard of this stir and excitement and he has been asking, "What is
this? "I must have a word or two with him. Young man, I will tell you
who is the cause of all this stir–it is your mother's Savior! That
kiss which she gave you when you left home is still warm upon your
cheek. She begged you to read the Scriptures every day, but you have
done nothing of the kind. There are some of you who have a father and
mother in Heaven, but you are not following in their footsteps. Now
that Christ is saving sinners on the right hand and on the left, will
He not save the children who have been the subjects of so many
anxieties and so many intercessions? Young man, young man, may the Lord
save you before you leave this building! Prayer has come up to Heaven
on your behalf and it is not lost–may it bring salvation down to you
even now!
There is one who asks, "Who is this?" who is really seeking the Savior,
but cannot find Him. You say that you have been praying a long time,
but have not yet found peace? Do you not know that praying is not the
way to find peace? The way to obtain peace with God is not by praying,
but by believing. "Who is this who is being preached as the one hope of
lost mankind? It is Jesus Christ who says, "Believe on Me, and you
shall be saved." O you guiltiest of the guilty, you hardest of the
hard, you most careless of the careless and you most despairing of the
despairing–there is salvation in Jesus Christ even for you if you will
only trust Him! Look unto Him and be you saved–and look unto Him right
now! This is the Glorious One who has come into our midst, the Almighty
Savior who is able to save unto the uttermost all them that come unto
God by Him!
If there are any here who despise Christ, I beseech them to remember
that He who has come and whom we preach unto you as the Savior of all
who believe in Him, will, if you refuse Him, assuredly come with a rod
of iron to break His adversaries in pieces! I cannot too often remind
you that the Lord shall surely come to judge both the quick and the
dead–and every one of us must appear before Him! Let me ask you, you
who scoff at Him now–will you scoff at Him then, when the Lamb of God
shall come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah–and the meek and lowly
Jesus, who was once crucified on Calvary, shall come in all the Glory
of His Father and of the holy angels? Will you utter your infidelities
and your mockeries then? No! I can tell you what you will do–you will
want to fly from His Presence and you will cry to the rocks and to the
hills to hide you from the face of Him that sits upon the Throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb–the wrath of Him who wept over Jerusalem
and who laid down His life for sinners! Ah, yes! it will be from His
wrath that you will want to hide and you will cry, "What fools we were
to ever be at enmity against Infinite Love, to rebel against such
marvelous mercy, to fight against such amazing tenderness and to show
spite against Him who is and always was surpassingly lovely." May the
God of mercy and Grace forbid that any one of you should ever have to
utter such a lament as that! Yet you will, some of you, as surely as
you now live, unless you turn to God! And it may be that some of you
will not have many days, or even hours, in which you will be able to
turn to Him.
III. I must speak only very briefly upon the last question I mentioned,
WHAT CAME OF THIS STIR? I have talked about the stir, the enquiry and
the answer to it. Now, what came of this stir?
Well, there were some who entered very heartily into this movement and
nobody has ever heard that any of them regretted doing so. As for this
present stir in the city of London, I urge every Christian to have a
share in it. Even if you do not agree with all that is said, or the way
it is said, or the way the work is being done, never mind, Brothers and
Sisters–go and do God's work in your own way. If your way of doing the
Lord's work is really so much better than the plans that others have
adopted, that is all the more reason why you should press forward and
help all you can. We never had a better opportunity of seeking to
extend the Redeemer's Kingdom than we have just now! And if the Church
of God does not bestir herself now, it may be that she will have a long
and dreary winter and remain for years without the spiritual harvest
which now seems ripe for reaping. I do not say, "Join this revivalist,
or that," but I do urge you all to do something and to do all that you
can to bring honor to the Lord Jesus out of the present stir. As some
of Christ's disciples cut down branches of trees and others took their
garments and placed them at His disposal, so let each of you, in your
own way, do something to honor the Savior now that so many are moved to
ask, "Who is this?"
There were other people who were opposed to that movement Some of them
even went to Christ to complain about the children crying in the
Temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David." They said, "'Hear you what these
say?'" A pack of boys and girls–'hear you what these say?"' Yes, the
chief priests and scribes did not approve of that stir, and there are
some who say, nowadays, "We do not want all this excitement. We can go
on very well in our own quiet way." My reply to that remark is that
there have been far too many already damned on the quiet and I think it
is high time that more souls were saved, even if the work is done in an
unusual fashion! But, after all, this talk about excitement in religion
has not much in it. About three weeks ago I stood in the Bourse at
Paris and looked down from the gallery upon a mass of men all shouting
together and endeavoring to sell their various stocks and shares. I
thought to myself, "We are sometimes charged with being excited at our
services, but we never made such a noise as this!" The din could be
heard outside even above the roar of Paris and I felt that I was never
in a place before so much like Bedlam. There was a terrible row all
about making money, yet, if some poor souls get excited under
conviction of sin, or finding salvation through the Savior, somebody is
sure to talk about "hair-brained fanaticism!"
I have told you before what good old Rowland Hill said upon this
matter, "People say, when I preach the Gospel very earnestly, 'How
excited Mr. Hill gets!' Why," he said, "I was walking through
Wotton-Under-Edge the other day and saw some men digging gravel. All of
a sudden, the earth gave way and buried two or three of their men. I
ran off, as fast as my old legs would carry me, and I shouted, 'Help!
Help! Help!' but people did not say, 'Poor old Mr. Hill is getting
dreadfully excited.'" Oh, no! He might be as excited as he pleased when
men's lives were in danger, but when a man's soul is in danger, the
proper thing would be to say to him, very quietly and calmly, "My dear
Friend, unless something shall interpose and you shall, one of these
days, become somewhat different from what you now are, it will not be
quite so well for you in another world as, perhaps, you might desire."
No, we have had far too much of that sort of
preaching already! We must talk to men in a very different fashion from
that if we would impress them with the solemn Truths of God that we are
commanded to preach in the name of Jesus!
There is one sad fact of which I want to remind you before I finish my
discourse. Within a few days from the time when all that stir was made
about Christ, there was quite another kind of stir concerning Him.
Instead of, "Hosanna! Hosanna!" there was heard the cruel cry, "Crucify
Him, crucify Him, crucify Him." They were as eager on that occasion as
they had been on the previous one–but what a revulsion of sentiment
was thus manifested! Yes, and if this present stir does not lead to
decision, to vital godliness, to real faith in Jesus, it will make you
worse than you are now and it will make London worse than it is–and
the last end of our city will be worse than the first. And, under God,
it depends upon Christians whether it shall be so or not! If you get
metal up to a certain heat many times, it is harder to heat afterwards.
You cannot readily melt cast iron and so is it with people who have
been stirred up by religious excitement. If it does not lead to real
conversion, they will be worse than they were before! Skepticism and
every form of irreligiousness will be more rampant than ever in this
city unless we take this opportunity of calling in the arm of the Lord
to make real work of it and not to let it be sham. Anyway, God's
purpose was fulfilled in Jerusalem, even though some did reject the
Savior, and so will it be fulfilled in this city, whether men are lost
or saved, for God is not dependent upon men for the accomplishment of
His purposes or the Glory of His Throne. He will be magnified in His
Justice, if He is not in His Mercy! That it may be the latter rather
than the former, come to Jesus, lay hold upon Him by faith and live
forevermore! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW 21:1-5.
Verses 1-3. And when they drew near unto Jerusalem, and were come the
Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway
you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring
them unto Me. And if any man says anything unto you, you shall say, The
Lord has need of them; and straightway he will send them. The time was
for our Lord to finish His great work on earth. And His going up to
Jerusalem was with this intent. He now determines to enter the capital
city openly and there to reveal Himself as King. To this end, when He
came near to the city, Jesus sent two disciples t o bring Him the foal
of an ass whereon He would ride. His orders to the two disciples whom
He commissioned, when they were come to Bethphage, are worthy of our
serious attention. He directed them as to the place where they would
find the animal–"Go into the village over against you." The Lord knows
where that which He requires is to be found. Perhaps it is nearer to us
than we dream–"over against you." He told them that they would not
have to search–"straightway you shall find." When the Lord sends us on
an errand, He will speed us on our way. He described the condition of
the creatures–"an ass tied, and a colt with her." Our Lord knows the
position of every animal in the world and He counts no circumstances to
be beneath His notice. Nor did He leave the disciples without orders
how they were to proceed–"loose them, and bring them." Demur and
debate there would be none–they should act at once! To stand
questioning is not for the messengers of our King–it is their duty to
obey their Lord's orders and to fear nothing. The two animals would be
willingly yielded up by their owner when the disciples said, " The lord
has need of them." No, he would not only give them up, but "straightway
he will send them." Either the owner was a secret disciple, or some awe
of the Lord Jesus was on his mind, but he would right joyfully consent
to lend the ass and its foal for the purpose for which they were
required.
What a singular conjunction of words is here, "the Lord" and, "has
need"! Jesus, without laying aside His Sovereignty, had taken a Nature
full of needs, yet, being in need, He was still the Lord and could
command His subjects and requisition their property. Whenever we have
anything of which the Lord's cause has need, how cheerfully should we
hand it over to Him! The owner of the ass and her colt regarded it as
an honor to furnish Jesus with a creature to ride upon. How great is
the power of Jesus over human minds, as that by a word He quietly moves
them to do His bidding!
We have here the record of two disciples being sent to fetch an
ass–those who do little things for Jesus are honored thereby. Their
errand appeared strange, for what they did might seem like robbery, but
He who sent them took care to protect them from the least shade of
suspicion. The messengers raised no question, offered no objection and
met with no difficulty. It is ours to do what Jesus bids us, just as He
bids us and becauseHe bids us, for His command is our authority! 4, 5.
All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Prophet, saying, tell you the daughter of Sion, Behold, your King comes
unto you, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
Matthew is always reminding us of the Old Testament, as well, indeed,
he may, for our Lord is always fulfilling it! Every point of detail is
according to the prophetic model–All this was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet. The Old and New Testaments
dovetail into each other. Men have written "Harmonies of the Gospels,"
but God has given us a Harmony of the Old and New Testament! The
passage referred to is in Zechariah 9:9. It represents Zion's King as
meek and lowly even in the hour of His triumphant entrance to His
metropolis, riding, not upon a warhorse, but upon a young ass, whereon
no man had sat. He had before said of Himself, "I am meek and lowly in
heart," and now He gives one more proof of the truth of His own words
and, at the same time of the fulfillment of prophecy–"Tellyou the
daughter of Sion, Behold, your King comes unto you, meek and sitting
upon an ass."He did not, like Solomon, fetch horses out of Egypt to
minister to His pride, but He who was greater than Solomon was content
with a colt the foal of an ass, and even that humble creature was
borrowed, for He had none of His own. The tenderness of Jesus comes out
in the fact of His having the ass brought with her foal that they might
not be parted. He was, as a King, all gentleness and mercy! His
grandeur involved no pain, even for the meanest living thing. How
blessed is it for us to be ruled by such a King!