Buying the Truth
(No. 3449)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1915.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING JUNE
26, 1870
"Buy the truth, and sell it not." Proverbs 23:23.
John Bunyan pictures the pilgrims as passing at one time through Vanity
Fair, and in Vanity Fair there were to be found all kinds of
merchandise, consisting of the pomp and vanities, the lusts and
pleasures of this present life and of the flesh. Now all the dealers,
when they saw these strange pilgrims come into the fair, began to cry,
as vendors will do, "Buy, buy, buy–buy this, and buy that." There were
the priests in the Italian row with their crucifixes and their beads.
There were those in the German row with their philosophies and their
metaphysics. There were those in the French row with their fashions and
with their pretty things. But the one answer that the pilgrims gave to
all the dealers was this– they looked up and they said, "We buy the
truth. We buy the truth." And they would have gone on their way if the
men of the Fair had not laid them by the heels in the cage and kept
than there–one to go to Heaven in a chariot of fire and the other,
afterwards, to pursue his journey alone. This is very much the
description of the genuine Christian at all times. He is surrounded by
vendors of all sorts of things, beautifully got up and looking
exceedingly like the true article. And the only way in which he will be
able to pass through Vanity Fair safely is to keep to this–that he
buys the truth–and if he adds to that the second advice of the text,
and never sells it, he will, under Divine Guidance, find his way
rightly to the skies. "Buy the truth, and sell it not."
Is not the parable we have just read a sort of enlargement of our text?
When the merchantman had traveled all over the world to find some pearl
that should have no flaw, some diamond of the purest water, fit to
glisten in the crown of royalty, at last in his searches, he met with a
gem the like of which he had never seen before and, knowing that here
was wealth for him in the joy of his discovery, he sold all that he had
that he might buy that pearl! Even so, the text seems to tell us that
truth is the one pearl beneath the skies that is worth having, and
whatever else we buy not, we must buy the truth! And whatever else we
may have to sell, yet we must never sell the truth, but hold it fast as
a treasure that will last us when gold has cankered, silver has rusted,
the moth has eaten up all goodly garments and all the riches of men
have gone like a puff of smoke, or melted in the heat of the Judgment
Day like the dew in the beams of the morning sun! Buy the truth. Here
is the treasure. Cost it what it may, buy it. Here is the piece of
merchandise which you mustbuy, but must notsell! You may give all for
it, but you may take nothing in exchange for it, since there is nothing
that can be likened to it.
With this as a preface, let us now came straight to the text, and you
shall notice– I. THE COMMODITY THAT IS SPOKEN OF.
"Buy the truth" shall not speak tonight of those common forms of truth
that relate to politics, to history, to science, or to ordinary life,
yet would I say of all these–buy the truth. Never be afraid of the
truth. Never be afraid in anything of having your prejudices knocked on
the head. Always be determined, come what may, even though truth should
prove you to be a fool, yet to accept the truth–and though it should
cost you dearly, yet still pursue it, for in the long run they who
build mere speculations, fancies and errors, though they may seem to
build suitable structures for the time, shall find that they are wood,
hay, and stubble, and shall be consumed–but he that keeps to what he
knows, to matters of fact, and matters of truth, builds gold, silver,
and precious stones, which the trying fire of the coming ages shall not
be able to destroy! I would sooner discover one fact and lay down one
certain truth, than be the author of ten thousand theories, even though
those theories should, for a while, rule all the thought of mankind!
But I speak now of religious truth Buy that truth! Buy that truth above
all others. And here we must have three heads. First, in the matter of
doctrinal truth, buy the truth Holy Scripture is the standard of the
Truth of God. To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not
according to this Word, it is because there is no truth in them. "Your
Word is Truth." Here is silver tried in the furnace and purified seven
times. Speak of Infallibility? It is not at Rome, but it is here in
this Book! Here is an Infallible Witness to the Truth of God, and he
that is taught of the Holy Spirit to understand it gets at the Truth of
God. Now, dear Brothers and Sisters, do aim to get the right Truth, the
real Truth as to matters of Doctrine. Count it not a trifle to be sound
in the faith. Think no error to be harmless, for the Truth of God is
very precious, and error, even when we do not see it to be so, may lead
to the most solemn consequences of mischief. In this world we see too
much of salvation without Christ–I mean we meet with many who believe
that they are saved because they have been baptized, or confirmed, or
passed through the ceremonies of the church to which they belong. They
have not looked to the precious blood! They are not depending simply
upon the finished work of the Redeemer, but something else than Christ
has become their confidence. Now, avoid that, and buy the Truth which
lies here, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."
We hear too much, now-a-days, of regeneration without faith–the
supposed regeneration of unconscious babies, the new birth of people
through drops of water when they are not able to understand what is
performed upon them! I beseech you believe that there is no new birth
where there is not a confidence in Christ, and that the regeneration
which does not lead to repentance and faith, which is not, indeed,
immediately attended therewith, is no regeneration whatever! Buy the
truth in this matter. Stand to it that it is the work of the Holy
Spirit in rational and intelligent beings, leading them to hate sin and
to lay hold of eternal life! Alas, we have in some quarters too much of
faith without works. A kind of faith is preached, a kind of faith is
trusted in which is not practical. Men say they believe, but they do
not prove it by their lives. They remain in sin and yet wrap themselves
up in the belief that they are God's chosen ones. From such, turn away,
and remember that a faith without works is dead, and only the faith
that changes the character, sanctifies the life and leads the man to
God, is the faith which will save the soul! We must see to it that in
our Doctrine we bow our judgment to the teachings of Scripture and try
to be conformed to all the Revelation of God and especially to all the
teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ! May we not fall into one error or
another. Scylla is there and Charyb-dis there, and he is a happy
helmsman who can steer between the two! You shall fall into this 'ism'
or into that, unless you keep to the Truth of God! Never mind whether
you can make the Truth always consistent to your own judgment or not.
If it is the Truth of God, believe it! And though it should seem to
contradict another Truth, yet hold to it, if it is in the Word, waiting
till clearer Light of God shall reveal to you that all these Truths
stand in a wonderful harmony and consistency which, at first, you could
not perceive. In Doctrine, buy the Truth!
But, secondly, buy experimental Truth. I know not another word to use.
I mean Truth within, the Truth experienced. See that this is real
Truth. How easy it is to be deceived with the notion that we are
converted when we still need to be converted–to fancy that because we
have the approbation of our minister and of our Christian friends, we
must, therefore, necessarily be the people of God! There is only one
true new birth, but there are 50 counterfeits of it. In this respect,
then, buy the Truth. Let me have you beware of an experience which has
a faith in it that was never attended with repentance. I am afraid of a
dry-eyed faith! That faith seems to me to be the faith of God's elect,
whose eyes are full of tears. If you have never felt yourself a sinner,
never trembled under the Law of God, never felt that you have deserved
to be cast into Hell, I am afraid your faith is a mere presumptionand
not the faith that looks to Christ. Beware of an experience that lies
in talk and not in feeling! Mr. Talkative, in Bunyan's Pilgrim could
speak very glibly about religion–no man more so than he–he was fit to
take the chair in an assembly of divines, but it was not heart-work, it
was all surface-work. Plow deep, my Brothers and Sisters! Feel what you
believe! Let it be with you real home-work, soul-work, the work of God
the Holy Spirit–not a temporary excitement, not head-knowledge, not
theory! May the Truth of God be burned into your souls by the operation
of the Holy Spirit! In this respect, buy the Truth.
Alas, we see now-a-days in many professors, a great deal of life
without struggle–and I think I have learned that all spiritual life
that is not attended with struggles is a mistake, for Isaac, the child
of the promise, is sure to be mocked by Ishmael! No sooner does the
Seed of the woman come into the world than the seed of the serpent
tries to destroy it. You must, and will, find a battle going on within
you if you are a Believer! Sin will contest with Grace, and Grace will
seek to reign over sinful corruptions. Be afraid of too easy an
experience. "Moab is at ease from his youth; he has not been emptied
from vessel to vessel; for the time comes when the Lord will search
Jerusalem with candles and punish the men that
are settled upon their lees." There must be strivings within, or we may
well beware of such an experience! And I think I have noticed a growing
feeling abroad of confidence without self-examination. I would have you
hold to believe God's Word, but do not take your own state at
haphazard. Do not conclude that you are a Christian because you thought
you were one ten years ago. Day by day bring yourself to the
touchstone. He that cannot bear examination will have to bear
condemnation! He that dares not search himself will find that God will
search him. He that is afraid to look himself in the face had need to
be afraid to look the Judge in the face when the Great White Throne
shall be placed, and all the world summoned to judgment! Confidence is
quite consistent with self-examination and I pray you in this thing,
buy the Truth and seek to have a religion that will bear the test–a
true faith, a living faith, a faith that moves your soul, a deep-rooted
faith, a faith which is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, for
the time comes when, as the Lord lives, nothing short of this will
stand you in good stead!
Again, I spoke of three sorts of the Truths of God–doctrinal Truth,
experimental Truth, and now practical Truth. By practical Truth I mean
our actions being consistent, and those of a right and straightforward
course. In this matter, buy the Truth of God! You profess to be a
Christian–be a Christian! You say that you are a follower of
Christ–follow Him, then! You know it is right to be a person of
integrity and uprightness–be so! Let dirty tricks of trade, let no
meanness, let none of those white lies which degrade commerce now days,
ever come across your path except to be reprobated and abhorred. Walk
straight forward. Learn not to tack. Do not wish to understand policy,
craft and cunning. Buy the Truth. It will yet shame the world! He that
speaks out his mind, says what he means, and means what he says, does
the just thing, does the right thing, fears no man and lifts his head
boldly in the face of all Creation if it dares to whisper that it will
enrich him by his doing wrong–that is the man that buys the Truth
practically. You know how it can be carried out in commerce readily
enough, in the parlor, in the drawing room, and in the kitchen. There
is a truthful way for a shoeblack to blacken shoes in the street, and
there is a lying way of doing it. There is a truthful way of doing the
most common actions, and there is a false method of doing the very same
thing. In this respect, then, buy the Truth, as to the
straightforwardness, the clean, sharp transparency of your moral
character and of your Christian conduct! Never seem to be what you are
not, or if you must, for a while, be in that position, count that you
are unfortunate and escape from it as soon as you can! Never do what
you are ashamed of–it matters not who sees. Think always that God
sees, and with God for a Witness, you have enough observers! Only do
that which you would have done if all eyes were fixed on you and you
were observed even by your most cruel critics. Never stifle conscience.
Carry out your convictions. If the skies fall, stand upright. What
God's Holy Spirit tells you, do. What you find in this Book, carry out.
If you bring any mischief to other people through it, that is their
business. If I stay on the correct side of the road and run over
any-body–that is his fault–he should have stayed out of the way. I
would not run over him if I could help it, but I cannot turn aside from
the correct road. Stand in your place. Let malignant eyes look at you,
but, like the sun, shine on. And if others envy you, fret not because
of them, neither be grieved to do the Truth of God–but in this
respect, again, fulfill the text and–"buy the Truth."
So have I shown you what the commodity is–doctrinally, experimentally,
and practically. "Buy the Truth." Now let us come and think especially
of the first part of the text. II. HOW THIS COMMODITY IS OBTAINED.
"Buythe truth." Let us correct an error here. Some might suppose that
Christ, the Gospel and salvation–all of which are included in the
Truth of God–can be bought. They can, but they cannot. They can in the
sense of the text. They cannot in any other sense. You cannot purchase
salvation–merit cannot win it. Christ's price is, "Without money and
without price." Has not the Prophet so worded it? "Yes, come, buy wine
and milk, without money and without price." Salvation is of Free Grace,
and is, from the very necessity of its nature, gratis. You cannot merit
it! You cannot earn it! It is not of the will of man, nor of blood, nor
of birth, but, "He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He
will have compassion on whom He will have compassion."
What, then, does the text mean? I will try to expound the Word. It
means, first, to be saved, give up everything that must be given up in
order to your receiving the free salvation. Every sin must be given up.
No man shall go to Heaven while he lives in and favors any one sin. A
man may sin, and be saved, but he cannot love sin and be saved! Give
up, then, your drunkenness, if that is your sin. Give up, then, your
unchaste living if that is your sin. Conquer that angry temper, that
love of greed–whatever it is that keeps you back from Christ. Buy the
Truth and give up these. You will not merit salvation, then, but if
this must be given up, let it not stand in your way. Give it up, Man!
Since you cannot have your sin and have Christ, too, get a divorce from
your sin and take holiness and take the Savior! You must also give up
all your self-righteousness. Some are trusting in their prayers. Some
are trusting in their tears, their repentances, their feelings, their
church or chapel attendance and I know not what men will not trust in!
Give them all up. They are all lies! There is no reliance to be placed
on anything you can do. Come and trust what Christ has done, and if it
is, as it certainly is necessary for you to give up your own
righteousness to win Christ and be found in Him, then do it, and in
this sense part with all you have that you may buy Christ!
Yourself–your sinful self and your righteous self–oh, that you might
be willing to part with both, that you might buy the true salvation!
And the text means this, again, that if, in order to be saved, it
should cost you a deep experience and much pain, yet never mind it. It
is better that you should bear all that and get the Truth of God, than
that you should escape without this heart-searching work and be
deceived at the last. If the price at which you shall have a true
experience is that of sorrow, buy the Truth at that price. Be willing
to let the doctor's knife wound you, if thereby he shall heal you. Be
willing to lose the right eye or the right hand if, thereby, you shall
enter into eternal life!
It also means this–buy the Truth of God–that is, be willing at all
risks to hold to the Truth. Buy it as the martyrs did when they gave
their bodies to be burned for it! Buy it as many have done when they
have gone to prison for it. Buy it if you should lose your job for it.
Lose your job sooner than tell a lie! Like the three holy children, be
rather willing to go into the fiery furnace than to worship the image
which Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Run the risk of being poor. Do not
believe, as all the world says, that you must live. There is no
absolute necessity for it. Sometimes it is a grander thing to die. Let
the necessity be, "We must be honest. We must do the right. We must
serve God," for that is a far greater necessity than that of merely
living. Count all things but dross that you may be a true man, a godly
man, a holy man, a Christly man, and in this sense make sacrifice of
all, and thus "buy the Truth."
I think that is what the word means. I expound it to mean this–give
anything and everything, sooner than part with Christ, part with the
living work of Grace in your heart, or part with the integrity of your
conduct. And now let me–
III. PARAPHRASE THESE WORDS.
"Buy the Truth." Then I say, buy only the Truth of God. Do not be
throwing away your life, your abilities, your zeal and your
earnestness, for a lie. Some are doing it. Thousands of pounds are
given to erect edifices for doing mischief. Multitudes of sermons are
preached, very zealously, to propagate lies and sea and land are
compassed to make proselytes, who shall be ten times more children of
Hell than they were before! Buy only the Truth. Do not buy the
glittering stuff they call truth. Never mind the label–look to see if
it is the Truth of God. Bring everything that is propounded as the
Truth of God to the test, to the trial. If it will not stand the fire
of God's Word, then do not buy it! No, do not have it as a gift! No, do
not keep it in the house! Run away from it! It eats as does a
canker–let it not come near you. Buy only the
Truth of God!
"Buy the Truth" at any price, and sell it at no price. Buy it at any
price. If you lose your body for it, if you lose not your soul, you
have made a good bargain! If you lose your estate for it, yet if you
have Heaven in return, how blessed the exchange! You certainly will not
need for it to lose your peace of mind, but you may lose everything
else, and you shall make a good bargain. Come to no terms with Christ.
Throw all into the soul bargain. Let all go as long as you may, but
have Truth in the Doctrine, Truth in the heart, Truth in the life and
Christ, who is the Truth, to be your treasure forever!
Buy all the Truth. When you come to the Bible, do not pick and choose.
Do not try to believe half of it and leave out the other half. Buy the
Truth–that is, not a section of it that suits your particular
idiosyncrasy, but buy the whole! Why need you break up pearls and
dissolve them? Buy all that is true. One Doctrine of God's Word
balances another. He who is altogether and only a Calvinist probably
only knows half the Truth of God, but he who is willing to take the
other side, as far as it is true, and to believe all he finds in the
Word of God, will get the whole pearl.
Buy the Truth now –buy the Truth tonight. It may not be for you to buy
tomorrow. You may be in that land where God has cast forever the lost
souls away from all access to the Truth of God, where Truth's shadow,
cold and chill, shall fall upon you, and you, in outer darkness, shall
weep and wail, and gnash your teeth because you shut out the Truth of
God from you, and now Truth has shut you out, and all your knockings at
her door shall be answered with the dolorous cry, "Too late, too late!
You cannot enter now!"
Thus I have paraphrased the text. Buy only the Truth. Buy all the
Truth. Buy the Truth at any price and buy the Truth now. Briefly let me
give you–
IV. THE REASONS FOR THIS PURCHASE.
You need the Truth of God and you will never be received by God at last
unless you bring the Truth in your right hand. Only the truthful can
enter those gates of pearl. You need the truth now. You are not fit to
live any more than to die without an interest in the Truth of God as it
is in Jesus. Accept Christ to be truly yours, so truly yours as to make
you true! You know not how to fight the battle of life at all without
the Truth. Your life will be a blunder, and the close of it will be a
disaster unless you buy the Truth. God grant that you may buy the Truth
now. You need it. You need it now, and you will need it forever. Oh, I
would to God that that hymn we sang should not merely be heard by you,
but felt by you–
"Hasten, Sinner, to be wise, And stay not for the morrow's sun."
Oh, that fatal "tomorrow!" Over the cliffs of "tomorrow" millions have
fallen to their ruin! Tomorrow, yes, "tomorrow! Here are these
put-offs, and these delays, and yet God has never given you a promise
of mercy tomorrow! His Word is, "Today, if you will hear His voice,
harden not your hearts." A better day shall never come than this day.
Oh, that you would accept it now!–
"If you tarry till you're better, You will never come at all."
And till times are more propitious, if you wait, you will wait on
forever and forever! God grant you may buy His Truth now, for the text
is in the present tense, for now you need it. Let me direct you to–
V. THE MARKET WHERE YOU CAN BUY IT.
These are the Words of Jesus Christ when He appeared to His servant
John, "I counsel you, buy of Me." There is no place where Truth can be
found in its power and life, except in Jesus Christ! Truth is in His
blood–it will wash away what is false in you. Truth is in His
Spirit–it will eradicate what is dark and vile in you. His love will
make you true by conforming you to Himself. Come to Christ. Bring
nothing with you. Come as you are, empty-handed, penniless and poor.
The rivers of milk and wells of wine are all with Him. He is the
banquet giver, and the Banquet, too. To trust Him is to live. To look
to Him, alone, for salvation is to find salvation in that look! Oh,
that these simple words might point someone to the place where he shall
buy the Truth! And now let me repeat my text again, "Buy the Truth."
Do not misread it. It does not say hear about the Truth. That is a good
thing, but hearing is not buying, as many of you tradesmen know to your
cost. You may tell people where to go, but you do not want them merely
to hear–you are not content with that–you want them to buy! Oh, that
some of you, my Hearers, would become buyers of the Truth! I know some
of you. I happen to look about and find out here and there one–some of
you, whom I know, and respect, and esteem, and pray for. I had thought
that you would have bought the Truth long ago–it often staggers me why
you have not! Oh, that you were decided for God! I am afraid I am
preaching some of you into a hardened state. If the Gospel does not
save you, it will certainly be a curse to you–and I am afraid it is
being so to some of you. Do think of this, I pray you! Why should you
and I have the misery of doing each other hurt when our intention is on
both sides, I am sure, to do that which is kind and good? Oh, yield to
my Master! The Light of the World is, with His hand, softly knocking at
your door tonight! Do you not hear the knock of the hand that was
pierced? Admit Him! He comes not in wrath–He comes in mercy! Admit
Him! He has tarried long, even these many years, but no frown is yet
upon His brow. Rise now and let Him in! Be not ashamed. Though ashamed,
be not afraid, but let Him in, and blushing, with tears in your face,
say to Him, "My Lord, I will trust You. Worthless worm as I am, I will
depend upon You!" Oh, that you would do it now, this moment! The Lord
give you Grace to do it! Do not only hear about it, but buy the Truth!
Do not merely commend the Truth by saying, "The preacher spoke well,
and he spoke earnestly, and I love what he said." The preacher had
almost rather that you said nothing than that, if you do not buy the
Truth! How it provokes the salesman when a customer says, "Yes, it is a
beautiful article, and very cheap, and just what I need"–and then
walks out
of the shop! No, buy the Truth and you shall commend it afterwards–and
your commendation shall be worth the hearing.
And, I pray you, do not stand content with merely knowing about the
Truth Oh, how much some of you know! How much more you know than even
some of God's people! You could correct many of my blunders. But ah, he
that knows is nowhere unless he also has. To know about bread will not
satisfy my hunger. To know that there are riches at the bank will not
fill my pocket. Buy the Truth, as well as know it! That is, make it
your own.
And do not, I pray you, intend to buy it.Oh, intentions, intentions,
intentions! The road to Hell–not Heaven– that is a mistake of the
proverb–the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Oh, you
laggards, pull up the paving stones and hurl them at the devil's head.
He is ruining you! He is decoying you to your destruction! Turn your
intentions into actions and no longer intendto buy, but buy the Truth!
And do not, tonight, wish that the Truth were yours, but buy it! You
say the cost is too great. Too great? It is nothing. It is "without
money and without price." Do you mean, however, to say, that it is too
great a cost to give up a sin? What? Will you burn in Hell rather than
give up a lust? Will you dwell in everlasting burnings sooner than give
up those cups that intoxicate you? Must you have your silly wantonness
and lascivious mirth, or any kind of sin? Must you have it? Will you
sooner have it than Heaven? Then, Sirs, your blood be on your own
heads. You have been warned. I hope you are sober and have not yet gone
to madness, but if you are, you will see that no pleasures of an hour
can ever recompense for casting yourselves under the anger of God
forever and forever! Buy the Truth! Do not merely talk about it and
wish for it, but buy, buy the Truth! And then, lastly–
VI. A WARNING AS TO LOSING THE PURCHASE.
"Sell it not." My time has gone and, therefore, as I never like to
exceed it, there shall be but these few words. When you have once got
the Truth, I know you will not sell it. You will not, I am sure, at any
price. But the exhortation, nevertheless, is a most proper one. There
have been some who have sold the Truth to be respectable. They used to
hear the Gospel, but now they have got on in the world and have a
carriage–and they do not like to go where there are so many poor
people–so away they go where they can hear anything or nothing, so
that they may be respectable! Ah, I have the uttermost contempt for
this affectation of gentility and respectability that leads men to be
so mean as to forsake their Christian friends! Let them go! They are
best gone! Such chaff had better not be with the wheat, and those that
can be actuated by such motives are too base to be worth retaining!
Some sell the Truth for a livelihood. I pity these far more. "I must
have a job, therefore I must do what I am told there. I must break this
Law of God and that, for I must keep my family." Ah, poor Soul, I pity
your unfortunate position, but I pray that you may have Grace, even
now, to play the man and never soil the Truth of God, even for bread.
Some sell the Truth for the pleasures of the world. They must have
enjoyment, they say, and so they will mingle with the multitude that do
evil–and give up their Christian profession.
Others seem to sell the Truth for nothing at all. They merely go away
from Christ because religion has grown stale with them. They are weary
of it, and they go away. I shall put the question painfully to
all–will you also go away? Will you, to be respectable, will you to
have a livelihood, will you to have the pleasures of sin for a season,
will you out of sheer weariness–will you go away? No, we can add–
"What anguish has that question stirred, If I will also go!
Yet, Lord, relying on Your Word, I humbly answer, No."
Sell it not! Sell it not! It cost Christ too dear! Sell it not! You
made a good bargain when you bought it. Sell it not. Sell it not! It
has not disappointed you–it has satisfied you and made you blessed!
Sell it not–you need it. Sell it not, you will need it. The hour of
death is coming on and the Day of Judgment is close upon its heels.
Sell it not! You cannot buy its like again–you can never find a
better. Sell it not–you are a lost man if you part with it. Remember
Esau, and the morsel of meat, and how he would again have found his
birthright if he could. Remember Demas. Remember Judas, the son of
perdition! You are lost without it. It is your life. Skin for skin,
yes, for the Truth, part with all that you possess, and be resolved,
come fair or come foul, come storm or come calm, come sickness or come
health, come poverty or come wealth, come death, itself, in the
grimmest form, yet none shall separate you from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus your Lord, and none shall make you part from the
Truths you have learned and received from His Word–the Truths
you have felt and have had worked into your soul by His Spirit–and the
Truths which in action you desire should tone and color all your life.
God bless you, dear Friends, and keep you. And when the Great Shepherd
shall appear, may you have the mark of the Truth of God upon you, and
appear with Him in Glory.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW13:24-50.
Verse 24. Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom
of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.He
knew that it was good. It had been tested–it was unmixed–it was good
throughout.
25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat, and went his way. It was a very malicious action. The thing has
been done many times. Bastard wheat was sown in among the true wheat,
so as to injure the crop.
26-27. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and
said unto him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? From
where, then, has it tares? We often have to ask that question. How did
this come about? It was a true Gospel that was preached, from where,
then, come these hypocrites–these that are like the wheat, but are not
wheat? For it is not the tare that we call a tare in England that is
meant here, but a false wheat–very like wheat, but not wheat.
28. He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The enemy could not do a
worse thing than to adulterate the Church of God! Pretenders outside do
little hurt. Inside the fold they do much mischief.
28-30. The servants said unto him, Will you, then, that we go and
gather them up? But he said, No, lest while you gather up the tares,
you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the
harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather
you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them:
but gather the wheat into my barn.The separation will be more in
season, more easily and more accurately done when both shall have been
fully developed–when the wheat shall have come to its fullness and the
counterfeit wheat shall have ripened.
31, 32. Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom
ofHeaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took
andsowedin his field, which, indeed, is the least of allseeds. Commonly
known in that country.
32-35. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and
becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the
branches thereof. Another parable spoke He unto them: The kingdom
ofHeaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. All these things spoke
Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke He
not unto them: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Prophet, saying, I will open My mouth inparables; I will utter things
which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.How
thoroughly impregnated our Lord was with the very spirit of Scripture!
And He always acted as if the Scriptures were uppermost in His mind.
They seemed to be always in their fullness before His soul.
36. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and
His disciples came unto Him–Those house talks–those explanations of
the great public sermons and parables–were sweet privileges which He
reserved for those who had given their utter confidence to Him.
36-44. Saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son
of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the
Kingdom; but the tares are the children of the Wicked One. The enemy
that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world and
the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of
Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His
Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. And shall
cast them unto a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom
of their Father Who has ears to hear, let him hear Again, the Kingdom
of Heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field which a man has found,
and for joy over it–Stumbling upon it, perhaps, when he was at the
plow–turning up the old crop in which it was concealed.
44. He goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.Some persons
do stumble upon the Gospel when they are not looking for it. "I am
found of them that sought Me not" is a grand Free Grace text. Some of
those who have been
most earnest in the Kingdom of Heaven were at one time most indifferent
and careless, but God, in Infinite Sovereignty, puts the Treasure in
their way–gives them the heart to value it and they obtain it to their
own joy!
45. Again, thee Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking
goodly pearls. He does not stumble on it– he is seekigpearls.
46, 47. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold
all that he had, and bought it Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like
unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered fish of every
kind–Bad fish and good fish, and creeping things and broken shells,
and bits of seaweed, and pieces of old wreck. Did you ever see such an
odd assortment as they get upon the deck of a fishing vessel when they
empty out the contents of a drag net? Such is the effect of the
ministry. It drags together all sorts of people. It is quite as well
that we have not eyes enough to see one another's hearts tonight, or
else I dare say we would make about as strange a medley as I have
already attempted to describe as being in the fisherman's vessel!
48. Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. All a mixture.
We cannot sort one from the other, now, but when the net comes to
shore, then will be the picking over the heap. No mistakes will be
made. The good will go into vessels, and the bad, and none but the bad,
will be cast away!
49, 50. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come
forth andsever the wicked from among thejust. And shall cast them into
the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Not
fire, then, which annihilates, but fire which leaves in pain and causes
weeping and gnashing of teeth!