“And It Was So”

"And It Was So"

(No. 3064)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1907.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, DURING THE SUMMER OF 1871.

"And it was so." Genesis 1:7.

You will find those words six times upon the first page of Scripture.
God spoke and said, "Let there be a firmament." "And it was so." He
said, "Let the dry land appear." "And it was so." He bade the earth
bring forth grass, "And it was so." He ordained the sun and moon for
lights in the firmament of Heaven. "And it was so." Whatever it was
that He willed, He did but speak the Word, "and it was so." In no
single case was there a failure. There was not even a hesitation, a
pause or a demand for a more powerful agency than the Divine Word. In
each case, Jehovah spoke, "and it was so." Nor is this first week of
Creation the only instance of the kind, for in no case has the Word of
God fallen to the ground–whether of promise or of threat–the Word has
been confirmed and fulfilled. "As it was in the beginning, it is now,
and ever shall be, world without end." Whatever the mighty God decrees,
foretells, declares, or promises shall, before long come to pass.

I shall ask you to accompany me in a mental voyage down the stream of
history to show that this has been the case as far as all history is
concerned up till now. ' 'And it was so." The Lord's will has been Law.
His Word has been followed by fact. Dictum factum, as the Latins say.
We shall then endeavor to show that with an Immutable God, it will be
so continually in the great and in the small–in the affairs of the
world–and in our own personal matters. What God has promised shall
come to pass! And at the winding-up of all history, it shall be said,
"God said this and that, and it was so."

I. We stand at the fountainhead of human history and hear the Lord
declare to our parents that in the day in which they should break His
commands and eat of the forbidden fruit, they would surely die. "And it
was so." They died that moment. That spiritualdeath which was the great
and essential part of the sentence, was then and there fulfilled! The
likeness and image of God was broken in them immediately and we are
dead in trespasses and in sins by reason of their death. He also warned
them when His wrath, as it were, glanced aslant from them to smite the
soil on which they stood, that the earth would bring forth thorns and
thistles to them, and that in the sweat of their face they should eat
bread, and truly it has been so. The earth has yielded her harvest, but
she has produced her thorns and briars, also. And though the curse of
labor has become a blessing, yet man's toil and woman's travail
vindicate the Divine veracity.

When all flesh had corrupted its way, God repented that He had made
man, and sent His servant Noah as a preacher of righteousness to
threaten a universal flood. It did not appear very probable that the
dense population of the earth could all be swept away and that the
billows should rear their proud heads above the mountains–but it
turned out that Noah was no fool and his prophecy was no raving. God
had said that the world should be drowned "and it was so." The sluices
of the great deep beneath were drawn up, the cataracts of Heaven
descended and none escaped, save the few–that is eight–whom God
enclosed within the ark.

A little further on the Lord appeared to His servant Abraham and told
him that the wickedness of Sodom had been so great that the cry had
gone up even to His Throne and the Lord communicated to His servant
that He would go and see if it was altogether according to the cry
thereof. And if so, Sodom would be destroyed. Abraham pleaded and his
intercession almost prevailed, but as no righteous salt was found in
the filthy cities of the plain, they were doomed to perish. They had
given themselves to strange flesh and a strange judgment must,
therefore, come upon them. Hell must

fall out of Heaven upon such abominable offenders! "And it was so," for
when the morning dawned, Sodom was utterly consumed and the smoke
thereof went up to Heaven.

You know how God kept His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who
were strangers with Him, dwelling in tents, looking for a better city,
that is, a heavenly. Whatever promise was made to the Patriarchs was
fulfilled to the letter! In all respects, "it was so." When they went
down into Egypt, God declared that after 400 years He would bring them
out and though the tribes appeared to be naturalized in Egypt and were
rooted to the soil, yet God would bring them forth. And though Pharaoh
took strong measures and thought to hold them fast, yet God had said
that they should come out with a high hand and an outstretched arm–
"and it was so." Let the wonders which He worked on the fields of Zoan,
the plagues which overthrew the sons of Ham, the going forth out of
Egypt and the terrors of the Red Sea when the depths covered all the
chivalry of Egypt–let these remind you that God had spoken–and so it
was. Pharaoh was hardened, but he was not able to resist the will of
the Almighty! He stands forever in history as a memorial that none
shall harden himself against the Most High and prosper, for the Lord
does as He wills in Heaven and on earth and in all deep places! Has He
said, and shall He not do it? "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

I would not weary you, I think, if I were to dwell a little while upon
the promise that God gave to Israel that He would lead the tribes
through the wilderness and surely bring them to their inheritance. It
appeared very unlikely that they would ever enter into Canaan, when,
for 40 weary years, they wandered in the pathless wilderness. Yet the
Jordan was crossed in due season and Jericho was taken. He said that
they should, every man, possess his portion and each tribe its
lot–"and it was so." The Canaanites dwelt in cities that were walled
up to Heaven and they dashed into the battle in chariots of iron, yet
they were overcome, for God had said it–"and it was so." He cast out
the heathen and planted the vine which He had brought out of Egypt. He
overthrew Og and Sihon, "and gave their land for an heritage; for His
mercy endures forever." Many a time, after Israel had been settled in
the land, did they provoke the Lord to jealousy, so that He sent
Prophet after Prophet, and their message was, "If you thus sin against
the Lord, you shall be given into the hands of your enemies…"and it
was so." But when they were sorely smitten, they repented and they
cried unto God and He had pity upon them. And then He sent another of
His servants with a gentle message, saying, "Turn unto Me, and repent,
and I will deliver you." "And it was so."

In every case He kept His Word, whether for chastening them or
delivering them. Evermore was He faithful. When, in the later period of
their history, Sennacherib blasphemed the Lord, His servant Hezekiah
took the cruel letter of Rabshakeh and laid it before the Lord in the
Temple and cried mightily unto Him–and Isaiah came with the promise,
"He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it." Who could put the
hook into the nose of that leviathan? Who could turn him back by the
way that he came? The Lord had said it should be done– "and it was
so"–for that night the destroying Angel went through the host of
Assyrians and there fell corpses on the plain as many as the leaves of
autumn! Has God promised to rescue His children? Then be assured this,
however numerous their foes, His Word shall not fail! Then came that
dark day when Israel and Judah were threatened with captivity in a
strange land. They sinned and, lo, "it was so." They were exiled far
away. By the waters of Babylon they sat down and wept. They wept when
they remembered Zion. But there came a promise to them–a promise which
they had left all unread and forgotten in their Sacred Books, that
after the lapse of 70 years they should return again and once more see
the land of their fathers–"and it was so." God raised up for them a
friend and a helper–and the captives came back again to their land.

Let us quote the grandest instance of all. The Lord promised,
immediately after the Fall, that the Seed of the woman should bruise
the serpent's head. That promise had been succeeded by many others and
those in Israel who knew the Lord waited for the coming of the
Deliverer. The promise tarried long. Day and night devout man cried
unto God, for their patience was sorely tried, yet they confidently
expected the Messenger of God who would suddenly come in His Temple–
and when the fullness of time was come, "it was so." The everlasting
God was found living among men and they "beheld His Glory, the Glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth." It was
the master-promise of all– the promise of the greatest gift that God
has ever bestowed upon mankind! And that promise was kept, kept to the
letter and to the hour. He had said it should be, "and it was so,"
though it was a wonder beyond all wonders!

We might pursue our theme and show you that as far as all past events
have gone, God's Word has been verified. But now, though we keep to
history, we shall leave the large volume of the public records and ask
you to take down from its

shelf that little diary of yours, the pocketbook of your own life
story–and then observe how God's Word has been true. You remember the
warnings that you received in your youth, when you were told that the
ways of sin might be pleasantness at first, but would end in sorrow.
You were told that the cup might sparkle at the brim, but that the
dregs thereof were full of bitterness. Did you test that statement in
the days of your early manhood? Ah, then I know you cannot deny that it
was as God had declared. He said, "The wages of sin is death"–"and it
was so." He said it would be bitterness in the end thereof, "and it was
so." He told you that the fascinations of sin were as destructive as
they were alluring and truly, "it was so." If you have tasted that the
Lord is gracious, you will blush as you answer the question, "What
fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed?"

It fell on a day, as God would have it, that your eyes were opened to
see your lost estate. And there was a voice which spoke in the Gospel
and said, "If you will return unto Me, return. Only confess the
transgressions that you havesinned against Me, and I will forgive you.
Come and put your trust in My Son, and your iniquity shall be blotted
out like a cloud and your transgressions like a thick cloud." Led by
Sovereign Grace, you came to Jesus. You washed in the fountain of His
blood, guided to it by the Holy Spirit. What is your testimony? You
were promised salvation, pardon, peace. My testimony is–and it was so!
Is not that yours also? Oh, the joy of believing in Jesus! Oh, the
bliss of casting one's self into the Father's arms and pleading the
merits of the Only-Begotten! There is a peace of God that passes all
understanding which comes to our faith when we exercise it upon Christ!
Peace was promised–"and it was so."

Since the time when you believed in Jesus, you have had many needs,
both spiritual and temporal, but He has promised no good thing will He
withhold from them that walk uprightly. What say you, Brothers and
Sisters? Your needs have come–have the supplies also come? I am sure
you will say, "it was so"–strangely so–but always so! As your day,
your strength has been. The shoes of iron and of brass have had rough
usage, but they have not worn out. The all-sufficient God has proved
that His Grace is all-sufficient for us. Our personal history bears
witness that with regard to the Providence of God and to the supplies
of His Grace, He said that He would grant us enough, "and it was so."
He told you that when you believed in His Word, He would hear your
prayers. Three times He put it in varied form, "Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you." Brothers and Sisters have been to the Mercy Seat and tried
whether God hears prayer, and it has been so–He did hear prayer! We
believed His Word and in due time our faith has been turned to sight
and the promise has been fulfilled. We have read in God's Word that He
would sanctify our trials to us and that, "all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His
purpose." What then, is my witness, after having been week after week
and even month after month racked with pain and laid low with sickness?
What have these things been to me? Have they worked to my good? Do they
bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness? My truthful witness
is, "and it was so." I feel persuaded that every Christian shall have
to say of his afflictions that they have been blessed to him–"Before I
was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Your Word," said one
of old. And many in these modern times can say the same. "It is good
for me that I have been afflicted"–the Lord said it would be–"and it
was so."

Up to this hour it has always been true with regard to us, His people,
that what the Lord has said, He has surely performed. We can–

"Sing the sweet promise of His Grace, And the performing God."

Let me remind you that our history is only the common experience of all
God's people and if there is anything uncommon in the stories of the
saints, then there is only a more than usually clear confirmation of
the Truth of God. Look at the martyrs–they suffered what we can
scarcely bear to read of–yet the Lord said He would be with them. "And
it was so." They wore the chain for Christ's sake and He promised to be
their companion–"and it was so." They went to the stake or bowed their
head to the axe and they were promised that even to the end He would be
with them– "and it was so." Right along through all the history of the
Church militant and, I might also ask the confirmation of the Church
triumphant, too–the saints declare that "it was so." Christ has kept
His Word to the letter! Not one good thing has failed of all that He
ever promised to His people!

II. And now, having taken this very brief run through history, let me
ask you to follow me when I say that, AS IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST, SO IT
WILL BE IN THE FUTURE!

It is always good reasoning, when we are dealing with God, to infer the
future from the past. "Because You have been my help, therefore in the
shadow of Your wings will I rejoice." Having the same God and the same
promises, we may expect to always see the same results. As for the
future, a large part of Scripture is as yet unfulfilled. Many persons
try to interpret it, but the man is not born who can explain the
Revelation. Yet, whatever God has there declared will be explained by
the working out of His Providence–

"God is His own Interpreter, And He will make it plain."

Whatever He has there promised, it shall be said of it, by-and-by, "and
it was so." We learn that there is to be a wide spread of the Gospel.
It is written, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." "Ethiopia
shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." Therefore be assured that
it shall be so! Let the missionary toil on and the devil rage on if he
will–the devil shall be disappointed and the servant of God shall have
his heart's desire! God will honor His Church when she has faith enough
to believe in His promises.

There is to be, in the fullness of time, a Second Coming of the Lord
Jesus. He who went up from Olivet sent two of His angelic servants to
promise that in the same manner as He went up into Heaven, He would
return again. He shall surely come. Virgin souls who are awake and
watching for the midnight cry will hear it before long. And when He
comes, "the dead in Christ shall rise first"–there shall be a
resurrection of the just at His appearing. So He has promised" and,
"blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on
such the second death has no power." There are no bonds of death that
can hold the saints in their graves when the Lord descends at the sound
of the archangel's trumpet! God has said that they shall arise–and it
shall be so. They shall, everyone of them, return from the land of the
enemy and then will follow the millennial glory–we will not explain
that splendor–but we know that it is promised, and that whatever has
been foretold by God shall surely be! The saints shall possess the
Kingdom and shall reign with Christ!

And Heaven and the eternal future in the Glory Land where the
ever-blessed God shall reveal Himself unto His servants, "and they
shall see His face; and His name shall be on their foreheads"–every
golden word, every sapphire sentence which glows and sparkles with the
Glory of the Most High and the loving kindness of the Infinite shall be
fulfilled! It shall be said of the whole, "and it was so." Yes! And
concerning the dread future of the lost–those awful words that tell of
fires that burn and yet do not consume–and of a wrath that slays and
yet men live beneath its power–verily, verily, "These shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal!"
These shall all be fulfilled! Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not
one Word that God has spoken shall fail. Of doom or of glory, of
promise or of threat, it shall be said, "and it was so." And when the
end shall come and Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the
Father, and the drama of history shall be ended and the curtain shall
drop and God shall be All-in-All–all shall be summed up in this
sentence, "He spoke, and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast,"
He said it, "and it was so."

I desire, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, for your consolation, to
bring this Truth of God home to yourselves, if the Spirit of God will
enable me. "It was so"–this has been true and it shall be so to you.
God's promises shall all be kept to you personally. God will fulfill
His Word to you in every letter. Observe there will occur cases in
which there will be no visible help toward the fulfillment of the
Divine Promise and no tendencies that way. But if God has pledged His
Word, He will keep it. Note well that in the creation of the world
there was nothing to help God. "With whom took He counsel, and who
instructed Him?" When He began to fit up the world for man and to
furnish the house which He had made in the beginning, there was
darkness and that was no aid. There was chaos and that was no help. Now
you are troubled at the present time. Your condition is one of
confusion, disorder, darkness–you see nothing that could make God's
promise come true, not a finger to help–no one even to wish you well.
Never mind! God needs no helper. He works gloriously alone. See how the
earth stands. What does it hang on? "He hangs the earth upon nothing."
Look at the unpillared arch above it. There are no buttresses, no
supports, no props to the sky–yet it has not fallen and it never will.
"Trust you in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength." And if He has given you a promise and you have laid hold
upon it, though nothing should appear to aid its fulfillment, yet it
shall be fulfilled! You will have to write, "and it was so."

Yes, and this shall be the case though many circumstances tend the
other way. When there seems to be a conflict against God–not only no
help, but much resistance–then do not fear. What does it matter to
God? Though all the

men on earth and all the devils in Hell were against Him, what does it
matter? Though heaps of chaff contend against the wind, what does it
matter to the wind? They shall be whirled along in its fury! What if
the wax shall defy the flame? It shall but melt in the fervent heat! If
all the world and all Hell should declare that God will not keep His
promise, yet He will perform it and we shall have to say, "it was so.
"No opposition can stop the Lord!

But you may say, "This cannot be true, surely, in my case. I could have
believed it on a great scale, but not for myself." Ah, does God speak
Truth in great things, and lies in little ones? Will you blaspheme the
Most High by imagining that in public acts of royalty He is true, but
in the private deeds of His family He is false? What would be a worse
imputation against a man than that? Who shall throw such a charge upon
the eternal God? The Lord promised His servant Elijah that He would
take care of him. Did He not make the ravens feed him? Did He not send
him to the widow of Sarepta and multiply her meal and her oil? He was
as true to him in the ravens' matter, and in the handful of meal
matter, as when, in the business of the great rain, the Prophet bowed
his head between his knees on Carmel and saw at length the heavens
covered with clouds and the land deluged with showers! God will keep
His Word in little things to you. Do not imagine that He forgets your
little problems. The hairs of your head are numbered. A sparrow lights
not on the ground without your Father. Are you not better than the
sparrows which are sold at five for two farthings in the market? Will
you not rest in your Father's care and believe that His promises shall
be fulfilled and that your bread shall be given you, and your water
shall be sure and you shall dwell in the land and verily, you shall be
fed?

God's Word stands true even when our unworthiness is in the way. I know
you have fancied, "If I were a great saint, God would surely keep His
Word to me. But I, being a very grievous sinner, how shall He be
gracious to me?" And do you think that God is good and truthful only to
the good and true? Would you be so yourself? Surely we must deal
honestly with all men, whoever they may be! Their character is no
excuse for our unfaithfulness to our own promises. Our Lord Jesus has
said, "Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." And if you
come to God, He will not cheat you and say, "I said, 'Who confesses and
forsakes his sins shall have mercy,' but I did not mean the promise for
such an one as you are." No, Christ has said, "Him that comes to Me I
will in no wise cast out" and if you come to Him, though you are the
blackest sinner out of Hell, yet Christ will not reject you, for it is
not your character, but HisCharacter that is to be considered in the
promise! Even "if we believe not, yet He abides faithful–He cannot
deny Himself."

Yes, and His promise comes true and we have to say of it, "and it was
so," even in cases of our own confessed incapacity to receive it. Take
the case of Abraham, for that is typical of many others in this
respect. He had the promise of a son and heir. And though, as for his
own body, it was as dead and Sarah was well stricken in years, Abraham
did not consider himself or Sarah, but believed the promise and, in the
fullness of time, there was the sound of laughter in the tent, for
Isaac was born! We err when we become so depressed by our own
incapacity as to conceive doubts of God's faithfulness. The Lord gives
the promise that the barren woman shall keep house–and it is so. Our
desert-hearts shall have the blessing–it shall drop upon the pastures
of the wilderness and the little hills shall rejoice on every side! Our
weakness shall not hinder the fulfillment of the Divine Promise. God is
able to bless us even when we feel only fit to be cursed. O empty one,
God can fill you! O dried branch and withered tree, you that stand like
an oak smitten by lightning, only fit for the burning–the Lord, the
everlasting God–can quicken you and put fresh sap in you, and make
your branches to bud again to the glory of His holy name! He promises
and if you believe, you shall have to say, "and it was so."

It will be thus right on to the end of the chapter. A few days ago I
stood by the side of a dear departing Brother who feebly lifted his
hands from the bed and said just these few words, "Christ, Christ,
Christ is All." And then he said, as I bade him "Good-bye," "We shall
meet in Heaven. I shall go there soon and you will follow, but I hope
it will be a long while before you do." I asked him whether that was
quite a benediction and he said, "You know what I mean. The Church
needs you." About half-past five this afternoon, he who rejoiced that
he would soon be in Heaven entered within the gate of pearl! He had
served us well as a deacon of this Church and now he sees the face of
the Ever-Blessed. He believed, while here on earth, that it was bliss
to be with Christ and he finds it so! He is saying, "The half has not
been told me." Well, well, whether we live to old age, or depart in
mid-life, or die in early youth, what does it matter? We shall find
that passing across the river is delightful when at eventide it is
light. And oh, the glory of the everlasting daybreak! The splendor of
the sun that goes down no more! Oh, the bliss of beholding saints and
angels, and seeing the King in His beauty! The messengers of God said
that Heaven is blessed–and it is so–it is so! The voice from Heaven
said, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," and it is so! [See
Sermon #1219, Volume 21–A VOICE FROM HEAVEN.]

I would leave a thought with those who are exercised with doubts and
fears about the Lord's sure mercies. It is a very hard thing that we
should doubt our God, but we do. And therefore let us shoot arrows at
unbelief. Note well that when God spoke in the Creation, "and it was
so," there was only His power concerned. Supposing He had spoken and it
had notbeen so? Then the only result would have been that God was
proved not to be Omnipotent. But His might did not fail Him! His
glorious attribute of power showed its majesty and what the Lord spoke
was accomplished. Yet, in this instance, only one attribute was at
stake. Now, when you consider any one of God's promises recorded in the
Bible, there is more than one attribute engaged for its
fulfillment–there are at least two–for there is the Divine Truth at
stake as well as the Divine Power. If He said it should be and it is
not, it is either that He would not or He could not–if He could not,
then His power has failed. But if He would not when He promised, then
His truth is forfeited! We have, therefore, a double hold when dealing
with Covenant promises and may rest in two Immutable things wherein it
is impossible for God to lie!

But sometimes, in certain promises, even more is observable. For
instance, you who have known the Lord these 10 or 20 years, have been
helped before. But suppose the Lord were to fail you now? Then not only
would His Power and His Truth be compromised, but His Immutability
also, since He would then have changedand would no longer be the same
God today as He was yesterday! Three attributes are leagued upon your
side–you have three sacred pledges for the fulfillment of the promise!
Frequently you also have God's Wisdom brought into the affair in hand.
You have been in great difficulty and you have seen no means of escape.
But you have laid the case before God and left it there. He has
inspired His servant David to say, "Cast your burden upon the Lord and
He shall sustain you." Now, if He does not sustain you, there are four
attributes at stake! His Power–can He do it? His Truth–will He keep
His promise? His Immutability–has He changed? His Wisdom–can He find
a way of escape?

Frequently, my Brothers and Sisters, the Lord's honor is also brought
into the field in addition to the other attributes. You recollect how
Moses put it when the Lord said, "Let Me alone, that My wrath may wax
hot against them, and that I may consume them." Then Moses said, "Why
should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them out,
to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the
earth?" See, too, how Joshua uses the same argument with the Lord–"The
Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it…and
what will You do unto Your great name?" Oh, that is grand
pleading–that is grand pleading! Now if the Lord has brought you into
deep waters and you have put your trust in Him and said, "I know that
He will deliver me." If He does not do so, the enemy will say, "It is a
vain thing to trust in God, for the Lord does not deliver His people."
His honor is at stake and, ah, He is a jealous God! He will rouse
Himself and go forth like a man of war to show Himself strong in the
behalf of them that trust in Him!

In addition to all this, Divine Love is included in the issue. How did
Moses put it? The people said, "Because there were no graves in Egypt,
have you taken us away to die in the wilderness." And Moses argued thus
with the Lord, "Did You bring all these people out of Egypt that they
might die in the wilderness? Have You no love to them? Will You be
cruel to the sons of men?" Even thus may we plead with the benevolence
and pity of the Lord. "Will the Lord cast off forever? Will He be
favorable no more?" Oh, no, that cannot be! Each child of His can
sing–

"And can He have taught me to trust in His name, And thus far have
brought me, to put me to shame?" "Is it so that He has taught me long
after the sweetness of His Grace and yet will He deny it to me? Does
the Lord tantalize men in this way? I could have been happy enough in
my poor ignorant way as a sinner, but now that I have been made to
taste of higher and sweeter things, I shall be doubly wretched if I may
not enjoy them! If He makes men hunger and thirst, and then does not
feed them, He is not a God of love." But He isa God of love and,
therefore, He cannot treat His servants so! You remember Luther used to
say that when he saw that God was in his quarrel, he always felt safe.
"Your honor is at stake," he would say, "and it is no business of
Luther's–it is God's business when God's Gospel is concerned." Every
Divine Attribute is pledged as a guarantee that every Divine Promise
shall be kept! Here faith may gather strength, and rest assured that
the Covenant is sure in every jot and tittle! If one child of God who
has put his trust in Jesus should perish, the everlasting Covenant of
Grace would have failed, for this is a part of its stipulations, "From
all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit

will I put within you." And if I have come to Jesus and rested in Him
and, after all, do not find salvation and eternal life, then the
Covenant has become a dead letter to me–and this it shall never be!
"Although my house is not so with God, yet has He made with me an
Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure." He will not
allow His promise to fail!

Last word of all, remember that the very blood of Christ is at stake in
the matter of God's Promise. If a poor guilty sinner shall come and
rest in Jesus and yet is not saved, then Jesus Christ is grievously
dishonored–He has shed His blood in vain! Shall they perish on whom
His blood is sprinkled? Has the Fountain, after all its boasted
efficacy, become a mockery? Is there no power in the Atonement of Jesus
to cleanse the guilty? Ah, Beloved, He said it would cleanse and it was
so, it is so and it shall be so forever! They who rest in Christ shall
not perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of His hand. Each one
of us, as we arrive in Heaven, shall add our testimony to the general
verdict of all the saints and say, "It was so. He said it and He
fulfilled it. Glory be unto His name!" If any soul comes to Jesus at
this hour, he shall find eternal life. "He that believes and is
baptized shall be saved." Such is the Gospel. The Lord grant His great
blessing!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM107:33-43.

[The previous portion of this Exposition was published with Sermon
#3061, Volume 53–THE RULE OF GRACE.]

Verse 33, 34. He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs
into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of
them that dwell therein. Hearken unto this, you who are men of
understanding! God can soon take away from any people the privileges
which they cease to prize. He sent barrenness upon the earth in the
days of our first father, Adam, and He has long cursed with barrenness
the very land in which this Psalm was written. He can give us what He
pleases, and He can take it all away when He pleases. And, spiritually,
God can easily turn a fruitful land into barrenness. The means of
Grace, the ministry of His Word which was once very rich and fertile to
you, may suddenly lose all its savor and all its fruitfulness. Yes,
even His own Word, which may be compared to water springs, may suddenly
seem to you to be but as dry ground. And your secret devotions, your
reading of godly books, your conversation with gracious men and
women–all of which were like wells of water–may seem to be dried up.
If you walk contrary to God, He will walk contrary to you. "He turns a
fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell
therein." When the people of God fall from their steadfastness. When
they wander from the paths of holiness, it is easy for God to let them
know that the best means are only means–and that the best earthly
supplies are barrenness, itself, apart from Him. God grant that it may
never be so with any of us! But now see what happens when the Lord
turns His hand the other way.

35. He turns the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into
water springs. He can make the sandy desert into a lake of water! He
can make that which was barren as the desert of Sahara to become as
fruitful as the Garden of the Lord. And if you are just now mourning
your barrenness, believe in the Omnipotence of His Grace which can work
such wonderful transformations as these for you. "All my fresh springs
are in You," said the Psalmist. And so they are with us! Therefore, why
should not those fresh springs now flow into our nature so as to make
the dry ground into water springs?

36, 37. And there He makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a
city for habitation; andsow the fields, and plant vineyards which may
yield fruits of increase. See, Brothers and Sisters, when God blesses
us, then we begin to work for Him. When He works, we work. He blesses
the barren land with fruitfulness and then we sow the fields and plant
vineyards. We do not sit still because God is at work–no, rather, we
obey the Apostolic injunction, "Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, for it is God which works in you both to will and to do
of His good pleasure."

38, 39. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and
allows not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are diminished and
brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. God has a great
many rods and we get a great many smarts because of our many sins. If
we were but saved from our sins, we would not need all these rods,
"oppression, affliction and sorrow"–tribulation, anguish, pain and
distress. I will not tell you the names of all of them,

but they are very many and their strokes are very painful. May God
grant that we may be rid of sin, for only so shall we be rid of many of
these sorrows!

40. He pours contempt upon princes, and causes them to wander in the
wilderness, where there is no way. God makes very little of earth's
biggest men–"He pours contempt upon princes." He has wonderful ways of
making very poor those who are very rich in themselves. He makes those
who were lords of all the fields to be exiles and wanderers in the
wilderness where there is no way. Do not get proud, Brothers and
Sisters, or else that may be your lot. He who is so near perfection
that he need not pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner," may before
long be so near desperation that he will not have to pray even the
publican's prayer! Let none of us become too great, lest we soon be
made very little.

41. Yet sets He the poor on high from affliction and makes him families
like a flock. God always has an eye of pity for the poor, and
especially for the spiritually poor. While "He pours contempt upon
princes" with one hand, He is lifting the poor from the dunghill with
the other!

42. The righteous shall see it and rejoice. When God's Providence and
Grace are at work with men, the righteous shall see it, understand it
and be glad.

42. And all iniquity shall stop her mouth. She is generally very noisy
and boastful, but sometimes, when God's judgments are abroad, she is
obliged to hold her tongue. "All iniquity shall stop her mouth." O
Lord, stop it speedily, for she is making a great noise just now!

43. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the loving kindness of the LORD. Those who watch Providence
will never be without a Providence to watch!