A Lesson From The Great Panic
DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 13, 1866, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"The removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are
made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." Hebrews
12:27.
IT is a most popular error that the world stands still and is fixed and
immovable. This has been touted as an astronomical theory, but as a
matter of practical principle it still reigns in men's minds. Galileo
said, "No, the world is not a fixed body, it moves." Peter had long
before declared that all these things should be dissolved. At last men
believed the astronomer–but they still doubt the Apostle, or at least
forget his doctrine. Though it is clear as noonday in Scripture and in
experience that stability is not to be found beneath the moon, yet men
are forever building upon earth's quicksand as if it were substantial
rock, and heaping up its dust as though it would not all be blown away.
"This is the substance," cries the miser, as he clutches his bags of
gold. "Heaven and Hell are myths to me." "This is the main chance,"
whispers the merchant as he pushes vigorously his commercial
speculations. "As for spiritual things they are for mere dreamers and
sentimentalists. Cash is the true treasure." Ah, Sirs, you base your
statements upon a foundation of falsehood! This world is as certainly a
mere revolving ball as to human life as it is astronomically! And hopes
founded on it will as surely come to nothing as will card houses in a
storm. Here we have no abiding city and it is in vain to attempt to
build one. This world is not the rock beneath our feet which it seems
to be–it is no better than those green, but treacherously soft and
bottomless bogs which swallow up unwary travelers!
We talk of terra firma as if there could be such a thing as solid
earth! Never was an adjective more thoroughly misused, for the world
passes away and the fashion thereof. Every now and then, in order to
enforce this distasteful truth upon us, the God of Providence gives the
world, in some way or other, a warning shake. The Lord has only to lay
one finger upon the world and the mountains are carried into the midst
of the sea, while the waters of the ocean roar and are troubled until
the mountains shake with their swelling.
The most solid fabrics of human skill and industry are dissolved at the
voice of the Most High. Though they appear to possess the firmness of
earth and claim the sublimity of Heaven, yet one Divine word shakes
earth and Heaven in a moment. Looking back through history you will
observe many periods of very tremendous shakings–the records of which
are indelibly engraved upon human memory. An empire has been piled up
by conquest and cemented by policy and power. Monarchs of gigantic mind
have been sustained by armies of indomitable valor and great dynasties
have been established whose reign promised to be as enduring as the
sun. But God has shaken, and the diadem has fallen, and the kingdom
become desolate.
Babylon sat as a Queen and said, "I shall see no sorrow," but she
became desolate and her palaces crumbled into a heap of ruins. The
power of Persia wore the aspect of permanence and proudly claimed
universal dominion, but the iron rod of Alexander broke it in pieces as
a potter's vessel. Nor could the Macedonian empire long continue but
soon gave place to the mightier power of Rome, which, with all its
valiant legions, lasted but its time and then, like a bowing wall, fell
headlong to the ground. Even as a moment's foam dissolves into the wave
that bears it and is lost forever, so dynasties, republics, empires all
pass away. As a dream, when one awakes, their image is gone forever.
Between the intervals of these great revolutions there have been
changes less extensive but still of the same warning character. Every
now and then in our commerce God gives a serious shake to our affairs.
Men usually have a degree of confidence in their fellow men, and on the
strength of this legitimate confidence, business flourishes. But, all
of a sudden, as though seized with madness, they say in their haste
with David, "All men are liars," and clamor for their gold. The boat is
quite able to ferry them all across the stream if they will have
patience–but they are carried away with the notion that it will soon
be swamped.
And therefore they push and fight to get on board all at once and bring
to pass the very evil which they feared! Had they but a little patience
and a little forbearance–were they much less greedy and much more
considerate of others– things might still go well enough. But
selfishness takes fire at the least suspicion, blazes into mistrust,
and setting its neighbor's house on fire to save its own candle, soon
finds its own dwelling in flames, too. Greed is so afraid lest one
brick of its house should be stolen that it pulls out the cornerstone
to keep it safe under the bed–and the whole building tumbles about its
ears.
Few of us ever dreamed of seeing such a panic as that of the last two
days, and now, pausing in the midst of it, it may be well to look
around. What about these commercial shakings? How can we account for
them? Are they not results of the law of change and instability which
is stamped upon every created thing? Instead of wondering at panics, we
may well wonder that they do not come more often! In considering the
body of the commonwealth, we may say of it as Dr. Watts does of our
natural body–
"Strange that a harp of thousand strings Should keep in tune so long."
No wonder that the machine of commerce sometimes gets out of order! The
wonder is that with so much dirt of trickery, deceit and covetousness,
it goes on at all! Considering the depravity of the heart of man, it is
perfectly marvelous that human governments are so stable and that
mortal affairs run so smoothly. We can only attribute it to the
presiding Providence of God that there are not many more crashes and
disasters. But still what of these shakings? If they must come, what
must we say of them? Why, this much–that ultimately they are among the
greatest blessings which God sends us–for with all their attendant
calamities they shake only the things which may be shaken. While the
things which cannot be shaken remain, and remain in a healthier state
because the unsound and rotten things have been discovered and removed.
We shall regard our text as declaring a great general principle, that
God shakes in order that the things which can be shaken, may fall. And
that the things which cannot be shaken, may remain. We will try to
carry out that principle to practical purpose this morning.
I. First the original drift of the statement refers to THE OLD JEWISH
DISPENSATION. The ceremonial law was a very wonderful system of types
and figures. To the spiritually-minded Israelite it was an illustrated
book full of precious teaching. Prophets and kings delighted to study
it. Such men as David and the like perused its sacred pages both day
and night with ever fresh delight. But, after all, the Jewish
dispensation, with all its outward splendor and inward meaning, was
still a thing that could be shaken–and therefore when its time of
shaking came, all the created part of it passed away–and only its
eternal truths remained.
Today we find the Jew, but we do not find the Mosaic economy. Israel
has neither priest, nor sacrifice, nor altar, nor temple. Jerusalem is
trod under foot by the Gentiles and Zion's hill no longer echoes to the
voice of Psalms. Judah's sons are banished far away and her daughters
dwell in exile. The outward economy was shaken at the coming of our
Lord and as an external thing has ceased to be. How was it that it
could be shaken? One reason was that it had so much to do with
materialism. It needed an altar of earth or stone and such altars the
hand of the spoiler can overturn. It required a bullock that has horns
and hoofs, and such sacrifices the plague may slay. It demanded a
priest of the house of Aaron and a race of men may be cut off from the
families of the nations. It needed a tabernacle or a temple, and a
building made with hands is readily demolished–it could be shaken.
The veil of the temple has been rent. The great stones of the temple
are thrown down. A priest with Urim and Thummim no more appears and a
consecrated altar no longer smokes. Where is the ark with its mystic
cherubim? Where the table of showbread, and the golden candlestick, and
the tables of stone? These were but things which are made, and they
have been shaken and removed. But the things which cannot be shaken
still remain. Our spiritual altar still endures. Our great High Priest
still lives. Our house not made with hands is still eternal in the
heavens. Our spiritual faith depends not upon materialism.
We have no altar of brass or stone–our Lord Jesus sanctifies our
offerings. We have no incense of frankincense and onycha–the merits of
our Savior are sweeter by far. We need no temple nor holy of holies
within the veil, for we worship God in spirit, and–
"Wherever we seek Him He is found, And everyplace is hallowed ground.
We have given up all that which binds unseen realities to the shadows,
which are seen. And now we are no more as to our faith in bondage to
the beggarly elements of matter, time, and space. The Jewish religion
could be shaken because it could be combated by material forces.
Antiochus could profane its altars. Titus could burn its temple and
cast down the walls of the sacred city.
But no invader can pollute the heavenly altar of our spiritual faith by
brute force, or destroy the celestial bulwarks of our hope by fire and
sword. Material forces are not available in our warfare, for we wrestle
not with flesh and blood. The tyrant may burn our martyrs and cast our
confessors into prison, but the pure Truth of Jesus is neither consumed
by fire nor bound with chains! It has within itself essential
immortality and liberty. The doctrine that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners is no more to be wounded by the sword of
persecution than is the ocean to be scarred by the keels of navies.
When winds may be manacled, when waves are fettered, and when clouds
may be shut up in dungeons–then, no not even then–may the Word of God
be bound. The free spirit of the Cross of Christ cannot be vanquished
by armies, nor can legions tread it down. If our devotion hovered
around an earthly shrine and could only be presented by a certain order
of men robed in a peculiar garb and chanting a peculiar ritual, then
the Truth of Christ might be put down for awhile, if not extinguished.
But we depend on none of these things! We can as well worship God in
barns as in basilicas, in catacombs as in cathedrals! Farmers and
paupers are as much priests to God as presbyters or prelates–and
solemn silence may yield as true praise as the voices of the sons of
music with all their pipes and organs. Our religion is so spiritual
that Death itself, in ridding us of these material bodies, shall rather
assist than injure our devotions! We laugh to scorn both spear, and
sword, and buckler! Our holy faith is beyond the reach of carnal
weapons.
Moreover, the Mosaic economy passed away because it could be affected
by time. The ark was made of long-enduring gopher wood, but it has
yielded to time. The veil was one of the most costly and durable
fabrics, but it yielded to the strain and was rent from top to bottom.
The temple itself, if it had not been destroyed by the enemy, would
have grown gray with age, for age strikes with impartial hand buildings
both holy and profane. "Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to
vanish away."
But see the doctrine of the Cross of Christ! No time affects it. The
message of salvation by Divine Grace is as fresh today as when Peter
preached it at Pentecost! The great command, "Believe and live," has as
much life-giving power about it as when it was first applied by the
Holy Spirit. No time affects the promise of the Father, the merit of
the blood of Jesus, or the energy of the Divine Spirit–therefore our
faith remains.
Beloved Friends, many more shakings may come. Romanism, which is a
spurious reproduction of the materialism of Judaism, needs a shake to
destroy it. Puseyism, an equally gross and carnal combination of the
outward and visible with the inward and unseen, will also pass away
when its hour comes. But the faith once delivered to the saints will
outlive every change! The symbol is transient, the spiritual Truth of
God is eternal! Over every form of material worship there shall be
pronounced the sentence, "Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to
ashes"–but the pure spiritual faith of Jesus Christ can never die–the
blessed doctrine that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
Himself, and all those glorious doctrines which cluster around the
Cross of Christ shall survive "the wreck of matter and the crash of
worlds."
They shall not only remain, but remain in greater clearness and in
fuller power because the things that could be shaken are taken
away–created things only dim the luster of the Cross–and art made by
human sin is a veil to hide the Redeemer's glory! The more completely
they are removed the more plainly shall we see the Cross of Christ in
open vision. "They shall perish, but you remain. And they all shall wax
old as does a garment, and as a vesture shall you fold them up, and
they shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall not
fail."
II. We now turn the light of our text upon another subject. ALL THAT IS
TRUE IN OUR PROFESSED CREEDS AND STANDARDS WILL STAND WHEN MERE
OPINIONS ARE SHAKEN. Some of us, though young, are old enough to
recollect a great many theological panics–panics very nearly as
foolish as that in Lombard Street–for there are other old ladies
besides those who rush to the bank to draw out their deposits.
It is not so very long ago that we had a certain "Rivulet" controversy.
Then came the noisier battle of the "Essays and Reviews." By-and-by a
live bishop fired off an arithmetical cannon at Moses and now all sorts
of writers are hammering away at the "Life of Christ." What may be next
we cannot tell. When these attacks occur there is generally a very
great alarm among timid Believers. They say, "What will happen now?
People do not respect authority. They used to receive sound teaching
because they were taught it. Now they want to know the reason of
everything. Alas, Master, what shall we do?"
It is true that men are beginning to raise very serious questions, and
some which will not be answered today nor tomorrow. They want us to
prove that the Bible is the Word of God instead of accepting it as
such. The skepticism which questions everything is very rife and cannot
be stifled, for it persists in putting its questions again and again,
and saying, "No, I will never be quiet until I get an answer." Is there
any real cause for fear in all this? Will the Truth of God, as it is in
Jesus, suffer damage from these attacks? My Brethren, I believe that it
has not suffered and will not sustain an injury, but, on the contrary,
will be made the more triumphant!
I cannot excuse or even make an apology for those who make these
attacks upon the Word of God–to their own Master they stand or fall.
Above all I cannot say a word in the defense of certain professed
ministers of Christ who only exercise their calling to undermine that
which they profess to have been called to defend. But, Brethren,
whoever may be the instruments–whether they are professed men of God
or overt servants of the devil–I do not believe that controversial
shakings can lead to the destruction of a single Truth, but to the
bringing out of that which is true and separating it from falsehood.
During the Reformation period the pulpits resounded with the doctrine
of justification by faith and little else, and many heresies arose
until attention was directed to other Truths equally necessary to
edification–so that a more complete Gospel testimony was promoted.
Just now the tug of war seems to gather around the doctrine of future
punishment which I believe to be as certain as the existence of God and
the inspiration of Holy Scripture! Struggle against it will only bring
out that Truth of God more and more clearly, and will make the
ministers of Christ thunder it out with greater certainty, and so, by
God's Grace, sinners will be alarmed and driven to the Cross of Christ
for comfort. Never be afraid, my Brethren–the Truth of God will bear
threshing and lose nothing but the husk which surrounded it!
Fear not for the Truth of God because of the ability and education of
its foes! The wisest man living is a fool when he fights against the
Truth as it is in Jesus, and you will be a match for him when he is on
the side of wrong. Do not give infidelity credit for a vast amount of
sense and learning–it is only folly masking itself under the garb of
philosophy, metaphysics, and outlandish jargon. If I cannot defend what
I believe, I am afraid I shall begin to doubt it myself–and therefore,
for my own sake, I will make myself master of the point, if possible.
And if in the study of it I do not meet with an answer which may
satisfy my opponent, if I meet with one which satisfies my own
conscience, I shall be all the better and stronger a Christian for it,
and so good will come out of evil.
Shake away, Sir! Sift away! Not one grain of wheat will fall to the
ground! I stood this week by the side of a church which once was a
considerable distance inland but now it stands just by the ocean side.
Almost every year a great mass of the clay cliff falls into the sea,
and in a year or two this parish church must fall. It stands now in
quietude and peace, but on a certain day it will all be swallowed up
into the sea, as certainly as the elements still work according to
their ordinary laws. I could not help thinking that the edifice was a
type of certain ecclesiastical bodies which stand upon the clay cliff
of State-craft, or superstition.
The tide of public enlightenment, and above all the ocean tide of God's
Spirit is advancing and wearing away their foundation till, at last,
the whole fabric must go down. What then? Will you hold up your hands
and cry, "The Church of God is gone?" Forbear the foolish utterance!
God's Church is safe enough. Look yonder–there stands the Church of
God upon a stormy ridge where the sea always dashes and perpetually
rages on all sides–and yet she fears no undermining because she is
built on no clay cliff, but on a Rock against which the waves of Hell
shall not prevail! Then let your earth-born, State-propped churches go!
Swallow them up, O sea of time! Swallow them all up and leave no wreck
behind!
But the Church of the living God shall stand all the more glorious
because of the ruin which has overtaken her rivals and discovered their
human origin. I need not, however, enlarge, because you can all see it
is so, if you look back in history. And you may rest assured that what
was true a hundred years ago will be true now, and that the more there
is of strife against the Gospel, the more the Gospel will prevail!
Therefore let us not fear, but rejoice confidently in our God.
III. The principle may be applied in a third direction: THE REAL IN
OUTWARD PROFESSION STANDS, NOTWITHSTANDING TIMES OF SHAKING. There are
seasons when the professing Church undergoes fearful trials.
She suffered in olden times the ordeal of persecution. Edicts and writs
were issued forbidding all worship in the name of Jesus. Cruel
penalties were the reward of those who were faithful to the doctrine of
the Cross. The rough wind howled dreadfully, and the result was that
the Church, which had been overgrown with hypocrisy, was speedily freed
from pretenders and only those remained whose faith could bear the
fire.
The Church was thus refined by persecution and might have thanked her
persecutors for having put her through the blessed process. Nowadays we
are not so much subject to this test, but the world still hates us. It
now fawns upon the Christian–it invites him to share her joys and bids
him be no longer rigid and strict. It offers him rich rewards and soft
speeches if he will but compromise a little and not be too sternly pure
and upright.
What of this? Is it not the same purifying process? By all means let
those who love the world go to it! And let those who value the world's
pleasures have them! If it were possible for me to put a hedge all
round this church so that none of you should be tempted to enter the
theater or enter into giddy company–if I could put a wall all round so
that none of you should ever be tempted into the gin-palace or the
playhouse–I should not dare to do it! For what would you then be? You
would only cease from these things because you could not get at
them–the taste for such vanities, if it is in your hearts–would be
uncured.
If you were hypocrites you would not be so likely to be found out, if
never tried. And those of you who are genuine would never grow into
strong men, but remain Christian babies–nursed and dressed by
others–but not at all able to run alone. The blandishments of the
world are only another form of that fan which is in Christ's hand, with
which He purges the great visible heap lying upon the threshing-floor
of His Church. When some of you fall into temptation, though we cannot
but weep over you, yet we do not know but what your outwardly falling
into temptation may only have discovered the rottenness and wickedness
of your heart–and so we may be well rid of you! And you yourself, in
the long run, may have your eyes opened to much secret evil which
otherwise you would never have detected.
At certain times discord has marred our churches. Blessed be God we
have not felt it here, but when it does come I am not certain that that
is altogether a matter of regret. There are parties and strife–and all
this is sin–but when the Church is shaken, those that can be shaken
will be shaken. And they will slide off, some this way and some that.
But those who cannot be shaken will stand fast in their integrity and
defend the faith once committed to the saints. There may also happen
great fallings into sin. Some who have been prominent in the Church may
make shipwreck. When this occurs, woe, indeed, is it to the whole
community, and sorrow to every member.
But still I am not certain but what there may be a gain even in the
loss, for then those are discovered whose faith may have stood in the
wisdom of man–who have been depending on human countenance and not
following holiness for its own sake–and others who have merely been
led by associations and not by principle, are led to great searching of
heart. I would sorrow in all cases of failure, but not as though I had
no consolation, for, my Brethren, those only are shaken that may be
shaken. But those who are rooted and grounded in Christ and are truly
what they profess to be will stand fast unto the end.
That old oak in the forest is one of the noblest works of God. Look at
it just now bursting into full leaf, bearing well its verdant honors
and making a picture worthy of the artist's rarest skill. What are
these dry pieces of wood which strew the ground beneath it? What are
these large branches which rot under its shade? It is needless to ask,
for we all know that they fell from the tree during winter's storms. Is
it a cause of regret for the sake of the tree that those rotten
branches were broken off? It may be a lamentation as far as concerns
the broken boughs, but the tree itself would never have been so
healthy, and never looked so complete if the rotten branches had been
suffered to abide. When the hurricane came howling through the woods,
the old tree shivered in the gale and mourned as it heard the cracking
of its boughs. Yet now it is thankful because the sound healthy
branches with sap and life in them are all there, and the withered ones
no longer encumber the trunk.
Summing this matter up in a word or two, I do not think times of storm
to a Church are in the long run to be regretted–a calm is much more
dangerous. The plague-bearing mist settles and festers in the vale till
the atmosphere becomes deadly, even to the casual passenger. But the
storm fiend, as men call him, leaps from the mountains into the sunny
glades of the valley and with terrific vigor hurls down the habitations
of men and tears up the trees by the roots. But meanwhile all is
superabundantly compensated by the effectual purging which the
atmosphere receives. Men breathe more freely and Heaven smiles more
serenely now that the heaviness of the death-damp is gone, and the
poisonous vapor clings no longer to the river's bank and the valley's
side.
IV. We will further apply the principle to OUR OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
Beloved Friends, this principle, which is true without, is equally sure
within. There will come to every sincere Christian a time of inward
shaking, testing and convulsion. We have included much in our
experience which is not real. We think we know a great deal which is
nothing better than boastful ignorance. How many times we have imbibed
the conceit that we were becoming very humble when we were never more
proud than when we thought so! We have felt as if we were conquering
all our besetting sins and at that very moment Satan was laughing at us
because we mistook a sleeping sin for a dead sin!
We are puffed up with the fancy that we are rich and increased in
goods, whereas all that we have put in at the front door has been
stolen at the back door, and more. We have put our spiritual money into
a bag that is full of holes. We have been heaping up that which is not
bread and spending our labor for that which profits not. The soul's
conflict comes and we are troubled because we do not care to be
disturbed in our false peace! But ah, how much we need disturbing! I
know some of you do not relish soul-searching sermons. When I give you
one which acts like the refiner's fire you can scarcely endure it. You
want to have the soft pillows of the promises laid under your head, and
savory meat placed by your side.
Searching sermons you wish to be few and far between. But these times
of self-examination are fully as necessary as times of nourishing and
comfort. And when they visit your inner man they are loaded with
blessings and are to be received with gratitude and thanksgiving. Dear
Friends, let me mention a few methods of soul-shaking. Affliction is
one of them. The man thought that he had resigned everything to
God–death came and took away his child. Where was his resignation
then? Perhaps it stood that trial. But lo, the Lord removes
another–how now, good Sir? A second time– do you still bear it?
Alas, the third shaft smites another beloved one! Can you still, in all
things, own His hand? Do you still stand to the surrender? You say,
"Yes." May it prove so when the trials come! You said the other day,
dear Friend, "I do not think I am worldly-minded. I hope my affection
is set upon things above, and not on things on the earth." How have you
found it during the last two or three feverish days? You sang the other
day, as we sang this morning–
"Let mountains from their seats be hurled Down to the deep, and buried
there. Convulsions shake the solid world– Our faith shall never yield
to fear." How stood your faith on Friday when the banks suspended
payment? Did you play the man or play the fool? When the great waters
were let loose was your ark seaworthy, or did it prove a poor leaky
hulk?
We have, I fear, much more resignation in name than in fact, and more
faith in fancy than in reality. You think sometimes that now you really
do love God with all your heart and soul, and strength–and that
nothing can come in to make you think harshly of Him. But will not a
sharp blow from the rod alter your tune? Do you kiss the rod, or do you
begin to kick like a willful child? Can you say with Job, "Though He
slay me, yet will I trust in Him. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken
away: blessed be the name of the Lord"? Tribulations, losses, crosses,
sicknesses and bereavements are very stern trials–and the things
within us which may be shaken will be shaken by them.
But if we can bear them well and trustingly, and yet praise and bless
God for all–we have evidence of possessing gracious qualities which
cannot be shaken and therefore will remain. What a shake temptation
gives us! We spoke of that last Sunday morning. How commonly is it the
lot of God's people! Temptations will assail us of a sort that we never
dreamed of. We are tempted to deny God, to doubt the Deity of Christ,
to mistrust the Truth of Scripture. We are tempted to presumption, to
every form of sin–and there are times when temptations follow each
other so quickly that we do not know which way to look nor where to
turn!
We use the great shield of faith as best we can, but it seems to us if
it could not avail us to ward off the innumerable darts. Ah, what shall
we do then? Why, Brethren, we shall then know whether our grace is the
Divine Grace of God or the grace of man! We shall now see whether we
have the faith of God's elect or not! The faith of God's elect can
write "Invicta" upon its shield! It is unconquered and unconquerable!
But the faith which springs from mere human reason will speedily give
way like a pasteboard helmet, or a wooden sword. O sharp Temptation!
Terrible as you are to me, yet I thank God for you because the trial of
my faith, which is much more precious than that of gold which perishes,
though it is tried by fire, shall redound to the glory of God and to my
own comfort!
There is a time of shaking coming which none of us shall be able to
avoid. If we could live without affliction and without temptation,
which I think is impossible, yet we cannot enter into the Promised Land
without passing through the river of death, unless the Lord shall come.
What a test will the hour of death be! Beloved Friends, certain
professors cannot endure to have a suspicion raised concerning the
sincerity, vitality, and power of their godliness. They say, "Why
should the minister set me questioning myself as to whether I am saved
or not? Is it not best for me to believe that I am saved and so go on
cheerfully till I die?"
Beloved, may this tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth before I shall
knowingly assist any of you in being comfortable in presumption. True
faith can bear examination, and even courts it! The preaching which
says to its hearer, "You are not to examine yourself. Take it for
granted that it is all well with you," is a preaching that comes from
the bottomless pit and does the devil's work–it is not a ministry
which God has sent! If my faith will not bear human examination it will
never bear God's examination. And if when I am in health I dare not sit
down by the hour together to look over my soul's estate, what shall I
do in the swellings of Jordan?
If even now I am half afraid, what shall I be then? And if I dare not
now look certain texts of Scripture in the face, but am obliged to
forget that they are in the Bible in order to be at peace in my own
heart, oh, what shall I do when those texts will force themselves upon
me, and will not take my indifference for an answer, but will demand of
my conscience that it should feel their power? Let me beseech you while
you rest simply and alone upon Christ–be sure that you rest sincerely
and with your whole heart upon Him. Do not make mistakes about your
soul's eternal matters, for mistakes here will be fatal! Be built upon
the Rock, and be surely built on it!
Do not be afraid of being shaken now, because you must be shaken before
long. That silent chamber must be inhabited by you and on that bed you
must be stretched. You will hear the warning voice of Death in the
silent tread of those who expect your departure, and in the faint
whisper of the physician as he warns your friends that there is no
hope.
You will be compelled to gaze into worlds unknown. You will hear the
booming of the deep sea of eternity. And oh, if a fear should molest
you, then how dark will your descent be into the valley!
But oh, Beloved, if you can be confident then, with what joy will you
face your last hour! And with what triumph enter into eternity! How can
you expect to be confident then if you are self-indulgent now, and will
not dare to try your estate? Come, have a friendly suit, as it were, in
the heavenly chancery between your soul and your hopes today, lest
there should be a fatal suit against you–a suit brought on by Divine
Justice–which shall end in your total bankruptcy throughout eternity!
God grant that we may not be afraid of being shaken. For if we cannot
bear shaking now, what shall we do at the last? What has been the
result of all the shaking through which we have passed up to now? I
think it has been this–we have had a great deal removed from us which
was of no use to us. We could boast once rather more loudly than we
dare to do now. I must confess that the longer I live the more of a
fool I feel myself to be. I am in myself weaker, more distrustful, more
conscious of sin–more hopeless of self-assistance than ever. The more
strength I get from God the weaker I discover myself to be in and of
myself.
There were a few things that I thought I knew once, but except those
things which God has taught me, I now find that I know nothing. I
suppose that the further we proceed in the way to Heaven the more we
shall be dissatisfied with ourselves because our daily trials and
troubles have the effect of bursting many of those bubbles in which we
once put our confidence. All the wooden centers must be taken away from
our masonry, for God builds His arches so that they will stand without
supporting frameworks. The dog-shores must all be knocked away from our
ship, for it is not meant to be high and dry on the shore–it is to be
launched upon a sea of everlasting glory.
The dross is consuming! Blessed be God for that, for the precious metal
gains by the loss. Our outward man decays, but the inward man is
renewed day by day. Go on, Great Shaker of Heaven and earth, and shake
from me my mere pretensions, my presumptions and empty professions, for
the genuine work of Grace will be helped!
V. I must now bring before you ALL THAT YOU HAVE IN POSSESSION. The
things, which can be shaken, will be removed, but things that cannot be
shaken will remain. We have many things in our possession at the
present moment which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man
to set much store by them. The poorest man among us has many
providential blessings for which to be grateful this morning, but the
richest among us has nothing earthly upon which he can depend.
Wife and children make glad our hearth. We have a little place which
may be very homely, but it is our home and we love it. Some of you are
prospering and thriving traders. Others are merchants who have almost
accumulated a competency–be grateful for all this–but do not forget
that these are things which may be shaken. The cheek of the wife may
grow pale. The lustrous eyes of the little ones may soon become dim.
The house may be left a heap of ashes. The property may take to itself
wings and fly away–there is nothing stable beneath these rolling
skies–change is written upon all things.
Yet, my Brethren, some of us have certain "things which cannot be
shaken," and I invite you, this morning, to read over the catalogue of
them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away
you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken and
will remain. In the first place, whatever your losses may have been you
enjoy present salvation. You are, this morning, standing at the foot of
His Cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus' precious blood–and no
rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in
Him–no breaking of banks, no run upon your credit can touch that! A
sinner saved!
I remember the time when I thought that if I had to live on bread and
water all my life, and to be chained in a dungeon all my days, I would
cheerfully submit to that if I might but get rid of my sins. When sin
haunted and burdened my spirit, I am sure I would have counted the
martyr's death to be preferable to a life under the lash of a guilty
conscience. Now, your sins are all gone! There is not one left in God's
book! Through Jesus' blood you are clean, and that is a comfort which
cannot be removed–
"Once in Christ, in Christ forever; Nothing from His love can sever."
In the next place, you are a child of God today. God is your Father. No
change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. If you were a peer of
the realm you might be degraded. If you have walked among the rich you
might be thrust out from their society. Father and mother might forsake
you but you can never lose this joyous fact–you are an heir of God,
joint-heir with Jesus Christ! Coming out of losses and poverty,
stripped bare, you can say, "He is my Father still. Naked I came out of
my mother's womb and naked shall I return–but to my Father shall I
return, and in my Father's house are many mansions–therefore I will
not be troubled."
You have, this day, another permanent blessing, namely, the love of
Jesus Christ. He who is God and Man loves you with all the strength of
His affectionate Nature. Now, nothing can rob you of that! You can look
to the Cross and know that He who died on it died for you! And He who
reigns in Heaven reigns for you and pleads for you. No catastrophes can
deprive you of that. Austria and Prussia may go to war, if they please,
and Italy or France may join in the turmoil. Blood may flow like water.
Established rule may be shaken by revolution and a fierce mob may ride
roughshod over the world. But these things shake not the fact that
Jesus loves you: "My beloved is mine, and I am His."
Cattle plagues may come and mildews may blast the rising corn, but
though the fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may cease from the
field, and the herds from the stall, yet will I rejoice in the Lord,
for Jesus loves me still! Jesus is still faithful! Jesus is still true!
Beloved, you have another thing, namely this Truth of God that whatever
may happen to you, you have God's faithful promise, which holds true,
that all things shall work for your good. Do you believe this? You need
it just now and therefore let me recall it to your recollection. It is
true that you cannot see the good in the trouble itself, but it works
for good. Sometimes deadly poisons may be antidotes against other
poisons, and the worst afflictions may be antidotes against far worse
ones.
The ship rocks! What a wave was that! What a sea the vessel shipped!
She rocks again, the sails fly to ribbons. How the yards are snapping!
The masts will go by the board! The frail ship will be wrecked! The
danger is imminent, she must be wrecked! The rocks are ahead and she
must be dashed upon them! Not so, you passenger in the ship of
Providence, not so! Do you see who it is that is at the helm, and do
you not know that He who steers the ship also wings the winds and gives
force to the waves? God is not the God of the vessel only, but also of
the stormy sea! Therefore go where you may be quiet. Take yourself to
the hind part of the ship near to the Steersman, and go to sleep in
peace. It is the best thing you can do, for the ship is safe–
"Though winds and waves assault her keel, He does preserve it, He does
steer. Even when the boat seems most to reel, Storms are the triumph of
His art. He will not close His eyes, nor yet His heart." Once more. If
everything should melt away, yet you have "a city that has foundations,
whose Builder and Maker is God." Sometimes foreign princes, when they
have been afraid of a revolution, have invested all their money in the
English funds, and then they have said, "Now come what may, my
prosperity is safe." Ah, well, it is a blessed thing to invest all your
wealth in the heavenly funds and then let the earth go to ruin–our
treasure is safe. Let the world, like an old water-logged hulk, go down
if she will–it is a wonder that she keeps afloat so long–let her go,
I am in the lifeboat which can never sink! And I shall soon be on shore
where tempests cannot blow.
Oh, to rest in assured hope, the hope that makes not ashamed! The hope
that shall never be confounded! The hope that when days and years are
passed, we shall see the face of Jesus and dwell with Him forever!
Courage, Brothers and Sisters–our best portion and richest heritage
remains–and cannot be moved. Rejoice in this, and be of good cheer
this day!
Ah, but there are some of you who have only what may be moved, and you
are, therefore, sure to lose your all! Go away and mourn and lament.
Better still, go to the Cross, stand under the foot of it, and you
cannot be shaken there. Look up to the flowing of the Savior's blood
and trust Him, for nothing can ever shake you then! As for those of us
who possess the things which cannot be shaken, let us stand fast and be
of good courage. Whatever may happen during this week, let us play the
man. Let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast
down by what may happen in this poor fleeting state of time. Our
country is Immanuel's land! Our hope is above the sky and therefore
calm as the summer's ocean! We will see the wreck of everything and yet
rejoice in the God of our salvation. The Lord fill us with His peace
for Jesus' sake. Amen.