A Vision of the Latter-Day Glories
A Sermon
(No. 249)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, April 24th, 1859, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
"And it shall come to pas in the last days that the mountain of the
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto
it."–Isaiah 2:2., & Micah 4:1.
THE PROPHETS OF GOD wore anciently called seers, for they had a
supernatural sight which could pierce through the gloom of the future
and behold the things which are not seen as yet, but which God hath
ordained for the last times. They frequently described what they saw
with spiritual eyes after the form or fashion of something which could
be seen by the eye of nature. The vision was so substantial that they
could picture it in words, so that we also may behold in open vision,
the glorious things which they beheld after a supernatural sort. Let us
imagine Isaiah as he stood upon Mount Zion. He looked about him and
there were "the mountains that are round about Jerusalem" far outvying
it in height, but yielding to Zion in glory. Dearer to his soul than
even the snow-capped glories of Lebanon which glittered afar off was
that little hill of Zion, for there upon its summit stood the temple,
the shrine of the living God. the place of his delight, the home of
song, the house of sacrifice, the great gathering-place whither the
tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord. to serve Jehovah, the God of
Abraham. Standing at the gate of that glorious temple which had been
piled by the matchless art of Solomon, he looked into the future and he
saw, with tearful eye, the structure burned with fire; he beheld it
cast down and the plough driven over its foundations. He saw the people
carried away into Babylon, and the nation cast off for a season.
Looking once more through the glass he beheld the temple rising from
its ashes, with glory outwardly diminished, but really increased. He
saw on till he beheld Messiah himself in the form of a little babe
carried into the second temple; he saw him there, and he rejoiced; but
ere he had time for gladness his eye glanced onward to the cross; he
saw Messias nailed to the tree; he beheld his back ploughed and mangled
with the whip. "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows," arid the prophet, and he paused awhile to bemoan the bleeding
Prince of the House of David. His eye was now doomed to a long and
bitter weeping, for he saw the invading hosts of the Romans setting up
the standard of desolation in the city. He saw the holy city burned
with fire and utterly destroyed. His spirit was almost melted in him.
But once more he flew through time with eagle wing, and scanned
futurity with eagle eye; he soared aloft in imagination, and began to
sing of the last days–the end of dispensations and of time. He saw
Messias ones again on earth. He saw that little hill of Zion rising to
the clouds–reaching to heaven itself. He beheld the New Jerusalem
descending from above, God dwelling among men, and all the nations
flowing to the tabernacle of the Most High God, where they paid him
holy worship.
We shall not, to-day, look through all the dim vista of Zion's
tribulations. We will leave the avenue of troubles and of trials
through which the church has passed and is to pass, and we will come,
by faith, to the last days; and may God help us while we indulge in a
glorious vision of that which is to be ere long, when "the mountain of
the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it."
The prophet saw two things in the vision. He saw the mountain exalted,
and he beheld the nations flowing to it. Now will you use your
imagination for a moment; for there is a picture here which I can
scarcely compare to anything, except one of Martin's magnificent
paintings, in which he throws together such masses of light and shade
that the imagination is left at liberty to stretch her wings and fly to
the utmost height. In the present instance, you will not be able to
outstrip the reality, however high you may endeavor to soar; for that
which is in our text will certainly be greater than that which the
preacher can utter, or that which you may be able to conceive.
Transport yourselves for a moment to the foot of Mount Zion. As you
stand there, you observe that it is but a very little hill. Bashan is
far loftier, and Carmel and Sharon outvie it. As for Lebanon, Zion is
but a little hillock compared with it. If you think for a moment of the
Alps, or of the loftier Andes, or of the yet mightier Himalayas, this
mount Zion seems to be a very little hill, a mere mole-hill
insignificant, despicable, and obscure. Stand there for a moment, until
the Spirit of God touches your eye, and you shall see this hill begin
to grow. Up it mounts, with the temple on its summit, till it
outreaches Tabor. Onward it grows, till Carmel, with its perpetual
green, is left behind, and Salmon, with its everlasting snow sinks
before it. Onward still it grows, till the snowy peaks of Lebanon are
eclipsed. Still onward mounts the hill, drawing with its mighty roots
other mountains and hills into its fabric; and onward it rises, till
piercing the clouds it reaches above the Alps; and onwards still, till
the Himalayas seem to be sucked into its bowels, and the greatest
mountains of the earth appear to be but as the roots that strike out
from the side of the eternal hill; and there it rises till you can
scarcely see the top, as infinitely above all the higher mountains of
the world as they are above the valleys. Have you caught the idea, and
do you see there afar off upon the lofty top, not everlasting snows,
but a pure crystal table-land, crowned with a gorgeous city, the
metropolis of God, the royal palace of Jesus the King. The sun is
eclipsed by the light which shines from the top of this mountain; the
moon ceases from her brightness, for there is now no night: but this
one hill, lifted up on high, illuminates the atmosphere, and the
nations of them that are saved are walking in the light thereof. The
hill of Zion hath now outsoared all others, and all the mountains and
hills of the earth are become as nothing before her. This is the
magnificent picture of the text. I do not know that in all the compass
of poetry there is an idea so massive and stupendous as this–a
mountain heaving, expanding, swelling, growing, till all the high hills
become absorbed, and that which was but a little rising ground before,
becomes a hill the top whereof reacheth to the seventh heavens. Now we
have here a picture of what the church is to be.
Of old, the church was like Mount Zion, a very little hill. What saw
the nations of the earth when they looked upon it?–a humble man with
twelve disciples. But that little hill grew, and some thousands were
baptized in the name of Christ; it grew again and became mighty. The
stone cut out of the mountain without hands began to break in pieces
kingdoms, and now at this day the hill of Zion stands a lofty hill. But
still, compared with the colossal systems of idolatry, she is but
small. The Hindoo and the Chinese turn to our religion, and say, "It is
an infant of yesterday; ours is the religion of ages." The Easterns
compare Christianity to some miasma that creeps along the fenny
lowlands, but their systems they imagine to be like the Alps,
outsoaring the heavens in height. Ah, but we reply to this, "Your
mountain crumbles and your hill dissolves, but our hill of Zion has
been growing, and strange to say, it has life within its bowels, and
grow on it shall, grow on it must, till all the systems of idolatry
shall become less than nothing before it, till false gods being cast
down, mighty systems of idolatry being overthrown, this mountain shall
rise above them all, and on, and on, and on, shall this Christian
religion grow, until converting into its mass all the deluded followers
of the heresies and idolatries of man, the hill shall reach to heaven,
and God in Christ shall be all in all." Such is the destiny of our
church, she is to be an all-conquering church, rising above every
competitor.
We may more fully explain this in two or three ways. The church will be
like a high mountain, for she will be pre-eminently conspicuous. I
believe that at this period the thoughts of men are more engaged upon
the religion of Christ than upon any other. It is true, and there be
few that will deny it, that every other system is growing old: gray
hairs are scattered here and there, although the followers of these
religions know it. As for Mahomet, has he not become now effete with
grey old age? And the sabre once so sharp to slay the unbeliever hath
it not been blunted with time and rested into its scabbard? As for the
old idolatries, the religion of Confucius, or of Budha, where are their
missionaries, where the old activity that made minor idolatries bow
before them? They are now content to be confined within their own
limit, they feel that their hour is come that they can grow no further,
for their strong man is declining into old age. But the Christian
religion has become more conspicuous now than ever it was. In every
part of the world all people are thinking of it; the very gates of
Japan–once fast closed–are now open to it, and soon shall the trumpet
voice of the gospel be heard there, and the name of Jesus the Son of
the Highest shall there be proclaimed by the lips of his chosen
servants. The hill is already growing, and mark you, it is to grow
higher yet; it is to be so conspicuous, that in every hamlet of the
world the name of Christ shall be known and feared. There shall not be
a Bedouin in his tent, there shall not be a Hottentot in his kraal,
there shall not be a Laplander in the midst of his eternal snow, or an
African in that great continent of thirst, that shall not have heard of
Christ. Rising higher, and higher, and higher, from north to south,
from east to west, this mountain shall be beheld; not like the star of
the north which cannot be seen in the south, nor like the "cross" of
the south which must give way before the "bear" of the north–this
mountain, strange to say it, contrary to nature shall be visible from
every land. Far-off islands of the sea shall behold it, and they that
are near shall worship at the foot thereof. It shall be pre-eminently
conspicuous in clear, cloudless radiance gladdening the people of the
earth. This I think is one meaning of the text, when the prophet
declares "that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in
the top of the mountains. and shall be exalted above the hills."
This, however, is but a small part of the meaning. He means that the
church of Christ shall become awful and venerable in her grandeur. It
has never been my privilege to be able to leave this country for any
time, to stand at the foot of the loftier mountain" of Europe, but even
the little hills of Scotland, where half way up the mist is slumbering,
struck me with some degree of awe. These are some of God's old works,
high and lofty, talking to the stars, lifting up their heads above the
clouds as though they were ambassadors from earth ordained to speak to
God in silence far aloft. But poets tell us–and travelers who have but
little poetry say the same–that standing at the foot of some of the
stupendous mountains of Europe, and of Asia, the soul is subdued with
the grandeur of the scene. There, upon the father of mountains, lie the
eternal snows glittering in the sun-light, and the spirit wonders to
see such mighty things as these? such massive ramparts garrisoned with
storms. We seem to be but as insects crawling at their base, while they
appear to stand like cherubims before the throne of God, sometimes
covering their face with clouds of mist, or at other times lifting up
their while heads, and singing their silent and eternal hymn before the
throne of the Most High. There is something awfully grand in a
mountain, but how much more so in such a mountain as is described in
our text, which is to be exalted above all hills, and above all the
highest mountains of the earth.
The church is to be awful in her grandeur. Ah! now she is despised; the
infidel barketh at her, it is all he can do; the followers of old
superstitions as yet pay her but little veneration. The religion of
Christ, albeit that it has to us all the veneration of eternity about
it–"For his goings forth were of old, even from everlasting"–yet to
men who know him not Christianity seems to be but a young upstart,
audaciously contending with hoary-headed systems of religion. Ay, but
the day shall come when men shall bow before the name of Christ, when
the cross shall command universal homage, when the name of Jesus shall
stay the wandering Arab and make him prostrate his knee at the hour of
prayer, when the voice of the minister of Christ shall be as mighty as
that of a king, when the bishops of Christ's church shall be as princes
in our midst, and when the sons and daughters of Zion shall be every
man of them a prince, and every daughter a queen. The hour cometh, yea,
and now draweth nigh, when the mountain of the Lord's house in her
awful grandeur shall be established on the top of the mountains.
There is yet, however, a deeper and larger meaning. It is just
this–that the day is coming when the church of God shall have absolute
supremacy. The church of Christ now has to fight for her existence. She
hath many foes, and mighty ones too, who would snatch the chaplet from
her brow, blunt her sword, and stain her banners in the dust; but the
day shall come when all her enemies shall die; there shall not be a dog
to move his tongue against her. she shall be so mighty that there shall
be nought left to compete with her. As for Rome, you shall seek but
find it not. It shall be hurled like a millstone in the flood. As for
Mahomed's lustful superstition, they shall ask for it, but the imposter
shall not be found. As for false gods, talk to the bittern and the owl,
to the mole, and to the bat, and they shall tell you where they shall
be discovered. The church of Christ at that time shall not have kings
of the earth to bind her, and to control her, as if she were but a puny
thing, nor shall she have them to persecute her and lift up their iron
arm to crush her; but she, then, shall be the queen and empress of all
nations; she shall reign over all kings; they shall bow down and lick
the dust of her feet; her golden sandals shall tread upon their necks;
she, with her scepter, with her rod of iron, shall break empires in
pieces like earthen vessels. She shall say, "Overturn! overturn!
overturn! until he come, whose right it is; and I will give it HIM" The
destiny of the church is universal monarchy. What Alexander fought for,
what Ceasar died to obtain, what Napoleon wasted an his life to
achieve, that Christ shall have:–the universal monarchy of the broad
acres of the earth. "The sea is his, and he made it, and his hands
formed the dry land." The whole earth shall come, and worship, and bow
down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker; for every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father.
You have now, I think, the meaning of the text,–the church growing and
rising up till she becomes conspicuous, venerable, and supreme. And now
let me pause here a moment, to ask how this is to be done.
How is this to be done? I reply, there are three things which will
ensure the growth of the church. The first is the individual exertion
of every Christian. I do not think that all the exertions of the church
of Christ will ever be able to reach the climax of our text. I think we
shall see something more than natural agency, even though employed by
the Spirit, before the church of Christ shall be exalted to that
supremacy of which I have spoken; but, nevertheless, this is to
contribute to it. In the olden times, when men raised cairns to the
memory of departed kings, it was usual to put a heap of stones over the
tomb, and every passer-by threw another stone. In course of age. those
mounds grew into small hills. Now the church of Christ in the present
day is growing something in that way. Each Christian converted to
Christ throws his stone; we each do our measure. By the grace of God
let us each make sure of one stone being deposited there, and strive to
add another by laboring to be the instruments of bringing someone else
to Christ; in this way the church will grow; and as year after year
rolls on, each Christian serving his Master, the church will increase;
and it shall come to pass in the last times, that even by the efforts
of Christ's people, owned by God the Holy Spirit, this mountain shall
be highly exalted in the midst of the hills.
This however, although all that we can do, is not, I think, all that we
have to expect. We can do no more, but we may expect more. Besides, the
church of Christ differs from all other mountains in this:–that she
has within her a living influence. The ancients fabled that under Mount
Etna, Vulcan was buried. Some great giant, they thought, lay there
entombed; and when he rolled over and over, the earth began to tremble,
and the mountains shook, and fire poured forth. We believe not the
fable, but the church of God, verily, is like this living mountain.
Christ seems to be buried within her; and when he moves himself his
church rises with him. Once he was prostrate in the garden; then Zion
was but a little hill; then he rose, and day-by-day as he is lifted up
his church rises with him; and in the day when he shall stand on Mount
Zion, then shall his church be elevated to her utmost height. The feet
is, that the church, though a mountain, is a volcano–not one that
spouts fire, but that hath fire within her; and this inward fire of
living truth, and living grace, makes her bulge out, expands her side,
and lifts her crest, and onwards she must tower, for truth is mighty,
and it must prevail–grace is mighty, and must conquer–Christ is
mighty, and he must be King of kings. Thus you see that there is
something more than the individual exertions of the church; there is a
something within her that must make her expand and grow, till she
overtops the highest mountains,
But mark you, the great hope of the church, although it is reckoned
madness by some to say it, is the second advent of Christ. When he
shall come, then shall the mountain of the Lord's house be exalted
above the hills. We know not when Jesus may come. All the prophets of
modern times have only been prophets from the fact that they have made
profit by their speculations; but with the solitary exception of that
pun upon the word, I believe they have not the slightest claim upon
your credit; not even men who are doctors of divinity, who can spoil an
abundance of paper with their prophesies of second Adventism; "Of that
day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of God." Christ
may come this morning; while I am addressing you Christ may suddenly
appear in the clouds of heaven. he may not come for many a weary age.
but come he must; in the last days he must appear; and when Christ
shall come he will make short work of that which is so long a labor to
his church. His appearance will immediately convert the Jews. They have
looked for Messias a king. there he is, in more than regal splendor.
They shall see him. they shall believe on him; he will then tell them
that he is the Messiah whom their fathers crucified. Then will they
look on him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for their sin,
and gathering round their great Messiah in glorious march they shall
enter and be settled in their own land. They shall once more become a
great and mighty nation, nay, a Jew shall become a very prince among
men, firstborn in the church of God. Then shall the fullness of the
Gentiles be converted and all kindreds and people shall serve the Son
of David. Mark, the church is to rise first, and when the church has
risen to eminence and greatness, the nations will flow unto her. Her
rising will not be owing to the nations, but to the advent of Christ,
and after she has become great, conspicious, and supreme, then will the
nations flow to her. I am looking for the advent of Christ, it is this
that cheers me in the battle of life–the battle and cause of Christ. I
look for Christ to come, somewhat as John Bunyan described the battle
of Captain Credence with Diabolus. The inhabitants of the town of
Mansoul fought hard to protect their city from the prince of darkness,
and at last a pitch battle was fought outside the walls. The captains
and the brave men of arms fought all day till their swords were knitted
to their hands with blood; many and many a weary hour did they seek to
drive back the Diabolians. The battle seemed to waver in the balance,
sometimes victory was on the side of faith, and anon, triumph seemed to
hover over the crest of the prince of hell; but just as the sun was
setting, trumpets were heard in the distance, Prince Emmanuel was
coming, with trumpets sounding, and with banners flying, and while the
men of mansoul passed onwards sword in hand, Emmanuel attacked their
foes in the rear, and getting the enemy between them twain, they went
on, driving their enemies at the swords point, till at last, trampling
over their dead bodies, they met, and hand to hand the victorious
church saluted its victorious Lord. Even so must it be. We must fight
on day-by-day and hour-by-hour; and when we think the battle is almost
decided against us, we shall hear the trump of the archangel, and the
voice of God, and he shall come, the Prince of the kings of the earth:
at his name, with terror they shall melt, and like snow driven before
the wind from the bare side of Salmon shall they fly away; and we, the
church militant, trampling over them, shall salute our Lord, shouting,
"Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."
Thus then, have I explained the first part of the text.
II. The second part of the text we have to consider, is this
sentence–"AND ALL NATIONS SHALL FLOW UNTO IT." Here is a figure,
perhaps not so sublime, but quite as beautiful as the first. Still
endeavor to retain in your minds the picture of this stupendous
mountain, reaching above the clouds, seen by all mankind, in either
hemisphere, a wonder of nature which could not be accomplished by the
ordinary rules of art, but which divine wisdom will be able to perform.
Well, wonder of wonders, you see all the nations of the earth
converging to this great mountain, as to a common center. Once in the
year all the people of Israel were wont to go to the little hill of
Zion; and now, once for all, you see, not Israel, but all the nations
of the earth comming to this great hill of Zion, to worship the Most
High God. The white sails are on the Atlantic, and the ships are dying
before the wind, even as the bird flitteth through the sky. What bear
they? What is their noble cargo? Lo! they come from far, bringing the
sons and daughters of Zion from the ends of the earth. See you there
the camel and the dromedary, the great caravan passing over the
pathless desert? What are these and what is their costly freight? Lo
they are bringing the daughters of God, and the sons of Zion up to the
Most High God, to worship him. From all parts of the earth you see them
coming–from the freezing cold and from the burning heat, from the
far-off islands of the sea, and from the barren sands they come; they
come, all converging towards the great center of their high and holy
worship. This we are not to understand of course, literally, but as a
figure of the great spiritual fact that all the souls of men shall tend
to Christ, and to union with his church.
Again, I beg you carefully to observe the figure. It does not say they
shall come to it, but they shall "flow unto it." Understand the
metaphor. It implies first their number. Now our churches are
increased, converts drop into the churches; drop after drop the pool is
filled. But in those days they shall flow into it; now it is but the
pouring out of water from the bucket; then it shall be as the rolling
of the cataract from the hillside, it shall flow into it. Now our
converts, however numerous, are comparatively few, but then a nation
shall be born in a day. The people shall renounce their gods at once.
Whole nations shall of a sudden by an irresistible impulse flow into
the church, not one by one, but in one vast mass. The power of God
shall be seen in bringing whore rations into the church of God. You
have seen the river flowing onward to the sea, with its banks all
swollen, bearing its enormous contribution to the boundless ocean. So
shall it be in the last days; each nation shall be like a river,
rolling towards the foot of this great mountain, the church of the
living God. Happy, happy, happy day, when India and China with their
teeming myriads, and all the nations of the earth, with their multitude
of tongues, shall flow into the mountain of God!
But the text conveys the idea not only of numbers, but of–(I know the
exact word, but then I do not like to use it, for fear some should not
know the meaning of it, it means that the nations of the earth shall
come willingly to it)–spontaneity. That was the word I wanted to use;
but wherefore should we use big words; when we might find little ones.
They are to come willingly to Christ; not to be driven, not to be
pumped up, not to be forced to it, but to be brought up by the word of
the Lord, to pay him willing homage; they are to flow to it. Just as
the river naturally flows down-hill by no other force than that which
is its nature, so shall the grace of God be so mightily given to the
sons of men, that no acts of parliament, no state churches, no armies
will be used to make a forced conversion. "The nations shall flow unto
it." Of themselves, made willing in the day of God's power, they shall
flow to it. Whenever the church of God is increased by unwilling
converts it loses strength; whenever men join the church because of
oppression, which would drive them to make a profession of religion,
they do not flow, the church is weakened, end not strengthened, but in
those days the converts shall be voluntarily won–shall come in
willingly by divine grace; they shall flow unto it.
But yet again, this represents the power of the work of conversion.
They "shall flow to it." Imagine an idiot endeavoring to stop the river
Thames. He gets for himself a boat, and there he stands, endeavoring to
push back the stream. He objects to it flowing towards the sea. and
with his hands he tries to put it back. Would you not soon hear
laughter along the banks? Ah, fool, to attempt to stop the stream! Now,
the word "flow," here conveys just the idea. "The nations shall flow
unto it." The Secularist may rise up and say, "Oh, why be converted to
this fanatical religion? Look to the things of time." The false priests
may rouse themselves with all their anger to defy Christ, and endeavor
to keep their slaves; but all their attempts to stop conversion will be
like an idiot seeking to drive back a mighty stream with his puny
hands. "All nations shall flow unto it." What an idea it is! Oh, take
your stand to-day, like prophets of the Lord, and look into the future.
To day the church appears like the dry bed of a torrent; here I stand,
and I see a little water flowing in a secret and thread-like stream,
amongst the stones. So little is it that I can scarcely detect it, but
I take the glass of prophecy, I look far onward, and I see a rolling
mass of water, such as is sometimes seen in the rapid rivers of Africa;
and there it is, coming with thundering sound. Wait for a few more
years, and that torrent, like Kishon's mighty river, sweeping all
before it, shall fill this dry bed, and swell on, and on, and on, with
tumultuous waves of joy, till it meets the ocean of Christ's universal
reign, and loses itself in God. Here you see, then, you have more than
your imagination can grasp. This stupendous mountain, and all the
nations of the earth–vast numbers with immense force–spontaneously
coming up to the house of the living God.
Now, I shall close by a practical address, very brief, and I trust very
earnest. Is it not a great subject for praise that the nations of the
earth may flow to the hill of God and to his house? If I were to tell
you that all the nations of Europe were climbing the sides of the Alps,
you would ask me, "And what benefit do they gain thereby? They must
pass over the slippery fields of ice and they may lose their lives in
the midst of the bottomless chasms that are overhung by the mighty
precipices; they may suddenly be overwhelmed and buried in the
all-destroying avalanche, and should they reach the summit they must
fall down exhausted. What is there that men should covet in those
barren heights; rarefied air and cold would soon destroy them, should
they attempt to exist there." Ah, but it is not so with God's hill.
There shall be no snow upon its summit, but the warmth and light of
Jehovah's love, there shall be no chasms in its side wherein souls may
be destroyed, for there shall be a way, and a highway, (the unclean
shall not pass over it) a way so easy that the wayfaring man shall not
err therein.
The mountains of which we read in Scripture were some of them such,
that if they were accessible no one would desire to climb them. There
were bounds set round about Sinai, but had there been no bounds who
would hare wished to ascend it? A mountain that burned with fire, and
upon which there was a sound as of a trumpet waxing exceeding loud and
long. No, brethren, we are not come to a mountain like Sinai with its
supernatural thunders; we are not come to a hill bare, and barren, and
bleak, and difficult to climb, like the mountains of earth; but the
hill of God, though it is a high hill, is a hill up which on hands and
knees the humble penitent may readily ascend. Ye are come to a mountain
which is not forbidden to you. there are no bounds set about it to keep
you off, but you are freely bidden and freely invited to come to it.
And the God who invited you will give you grace to come. If he has
given you the will to come, he will give you grace to climb the sides
of the hill, till you shall reach its upper glories, and stand on its
summit transported with delight. While I am talking about the nations
that will flow to Christ, might we not weep to think that there are so
many in this congregation that are not flowing to Christ but are going
from him? Ah! soul; what are the splendours of the Millennium to thee,
if thou art his enemy? For when he tramples his foes in his hot
displeasure, thy blood shall stain his garments, even as the garments
of the wine-pressers are stained with the blood of the grape. Tremble,
sinner, for the advent of Christ must be thy destruction though it
shall be the church's Joy and comfort. Ye say, "Come quickly." Know ye
not that to you the day of the Lord is darkness and not light, for that
day burneth as an oven, and they that are proud and do wickedly shall
be as stubble, and the fire shall consume them with burning heat. Oh!
ye people that to-day hear the words of Jesus! ye are now this day
invited to come to the mountain of his church, on which stands his
cross and his throne. Ye weary, heavy laden, sin-destroyed sin-ruined
souls, ye that know and feel your need of Jesus ye that weep because of
sin, ye are bidden to come now to Christ's cross. to look to him who
shed his brood for the ungodly, and looking to him, you shall find
peace and rest; so that when he cometh with rainbow wreath, and robes
of storm, you shall be able to see him, not with alarm and terror, but
with joy and gladness. for you shall say, "Here he is, the man who died
for me has come to claim me, he who bought me has come to receive me;
my judge is my Redeemer, and I will rejoice in him." Oh! turn ye, ye
English heathens–turn ye unto God! ye inhabitants of London, some of
you as vile as the inhabitants of Sodom. turn ye, turn ye to God! O
Lord Jesus! by thy grace turn every one of us to thyself! Bring in
thine elect; let thy redeemed rejoice in thee; and then let the
fullness of the nations flow unto then, and thine shall be the glory,
for ever and ever.
Just published, 32mo., in a neat wrapper, price 1d.,
"A TOKEN FOR THE BEREAVED;" by the Rev. C. H. SPURGEON.