DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 15, 1882,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let
us have Grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28,29.
As a congregation you have of late been diligently engaged in the
service of God by endeavoring to provide a home for fatherless
children. I have been astonished and delighted at the liberality which
has been shown by all sorts of persons in this good and gracious work.
I felt, sometimes, like the king of old, who said, "Who am I, and what
is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this
sort?" I am sure you have well earned all the commendation that your
fellow Christians can give to you, for the work has been so well and so
heartily done that we all rejoice together! But, now that it is all
over, careful thoughts arise in my mind. It is but a small thing that
you and I should be accepted of one another–the great matter is that
we should be accepted of the Lord. I, who am but as the doorkeeper of
my Master's house, not only approve, but abundantly commend my fellow
servants, but what of that? The great point is that the King, Himself,
should say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
We do but see the fair externals of things, but the great Father of
Spirits searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of
men–and judges after a higher standard. Therefore, with holy anxiety
have I looked at this text and turned it over, hoping that the Holy
Spirit may cause each one who has engaged in our benevolent work to
examine himself and to judge his part in this labor of love, that he
may amend any fault which may hinder his work from being a sacrifice of
sweet savor unto the Most High. What if we should bring our sacrifice
and the Lord should have no respect to it? That would be a repetition
of the sad story of Cain, of whom it is written, "Unto Cain and to his
offering the Lord had not respect." Then, indeed, would our
countenances be fallen–but I trust it would be with repentance rather
than rebellion!
If unaccepted of the Lord, we would weep bitterly and ask Him that the
sin-offering which lies at the door might be available for us. The
chief thing is that our labor should be acceptable unto God and upon
that subject I shall speak this morning, as the Spirit of God shall
enable me. Many things are absolutely necessary for the acceptance of
any service rendered unto God–of these, some are not stated in the
text, but they are so important that I commence with mentioning them.
The first is that the person who attempts to serve God should, himself,
be accepted. The offerer must, himself, be accepted in the Beloved or
his offering will be tainted by his condition and be inevitably
unacceptable. The uncleanness of the person pollutes his sacrifice! He
that has an impenitent heart, an unrenewed will, a disobedient mind, an
unholy life, may perform outward acts of devotion, but the Lord says,
to such–"Who has required this at your hand, to tread My courts? Bring
no more vain oblations unto Me."
The heart, itself, must be given to God, for the offering which comes
from a heartless worshipper is a mere pretense of homage to the Most
High. See well to that, my dear Hearers. God says "My son, give Me your
heart." Give whatever you please afterwards, but the heart must lead
the way–that is essential. Let a traitor in actual rebellion bring
tribute to a king–it will be but a mockery! He must first submit
himself unto his prince and then he may come with his token of loyalty.
The next essential is that the act being performed by a person
accepted, should be distinctly done as unto God. Our text speaks of
serving God. Alas, much is done which is, in itself, externally
commendable, but it is not acceptable to God because it is not rendered
unto Him and with a view to His Glory.
Some, like the Pharisees of old, give alms out of ostentation–they
sound a trumpet before them that they may have praise of men. Verily, I
say unto you, they have their reward and a poor reward it is! Some are
energetic in holy work out of emulation–that they may surpass others
and may have credit for superior ability and goodness. Like Jehu they
cry, "Come, see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts!" Now, inasmuch as in
this they seek their own honor and not the Glory of
God, they cannot be accepted of Him. Better, far, the two mites dropped
into the treasury unobserved of all but the great Master, Himself, than
all the wealth that we could possibly bring if we made the offering
with divided intent!
If we would serve God, we must forget self. There must be the distinct
desire to obey and honor the Lord and we must not act as men-pleasers,
or as laboring for our own exaltation, otherwise the Lord will abhor
our offering. And we must take care that all this is done with faith in
Christ Jesus, for it is a law of universal observation in the Kingdom
of Heaven that, "without faith it is impossible to please God." "Though
I give my body to be burned and have not charity," says Paul, "it
profits me nothing." And the same may be said concerning faith! He who
does not believe in God and yet pretends to be religious, is manifestly
either a deceiver or deceived! As the unbeliever is condemned already,
his service can only be that of a condemned man–how can it give
pleasure to the Lord? We must bring our offering to Jesus, our great
High Priest, and He must present it for us, for it can only be
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
These things being mentioned, I now confine myself to the text, itself,
which has in it a world of solemn, heart-searching thought with regard
to the acceptable service of God.
I. And first, according to the Apostle, it we are to serve God
acceptably it must be UNDER A SENSE OF OUR IMMEASURABLE OBLIGATION TO
HIM. Look–"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved, let us have Grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear." See, Brothers and Sisters, whatever service
we may render to God w e must begin by being receivers. Our first
dealing with the Most High must not lie in our bringing anything to
Him, but our accepting everything from Him! We receive–that is our
first stage and I think it is our last, for if we are ever able to
serve the Lord by our gifts, we shall have to confess, "Of Your own
have we given to You."
When we are privileged to cast our crowns before Emmanuel's Throne,
they will be crowns which He, Himself, bestowed upon us of His own
Sovereign Grace. Every hymn that comes up from saints made perfect is
but an echo of almighty love! They love Him because He first loved
them. They are first receivers and then, like pipes that are
well-filled from the fountainhead, they pour out their contents. First
we receive Grace and then we return service–holy service is a gift
from beginning to end! We must, then, in approaching God, remember what
we have received from Him. And is it not wonderful that it should be
written, "We are receiving a kingdom"? What a gift to receive! This is
a Divine gift we have received, not a pauper's pension, but a
kingdom–"a kingdom which cannot be moved."
The old dispensation or kingdom has passed away. Its ceremonial laws
are abrogated and its very spirit is superseded by a higher spirit! We
have entered upon another kingdom in which the ruling principle is not
law, but love. We are not under the yoke of Moses, but we are the
subjects of King Jesus whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light!
The kingdom of Jesus will never end while time shall last, for He is
the King eternal and immortal–neither will His laws be changed, nor
shall His subjects die. Till that day when He shall deliver up the
kingdom unto God, even the Father, and God shall be All-in-All, Jesus
must reign! And even when the earthly mediatorial reign is consummated,
the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven shall be continued unto us
and we shall still be members and citizens of it! We have received an
eternal kingdom and for this we ought to be eternally grateful.
The shadows have vanished, but the substance abides–we have risen out
of the types of Judaism into His Kingdom by whom Grace and truth have
come unto us. This Gospel state abides. Above the wreck of all things
it remains and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Ours is
the kingdom of Jesus Christ in which the Gospel is the Law, Believers
are the privileged subjects and Grace and Glory are the revenue–a
kingdom daily growing in brightness–a kingdom which shall consummate
its glory in the eternal world when Christ shall have put all enemies
under His feet and His people shall reign with Him forever and ever!
"But," you say, "we have not received this kingdom yet." I answer that
we have received it in a certain sense. We have received it, first, in
the promise. Our Lord said, "I appoint unto you a kingdom as My Father
has appointed unto Me." "Fear not, little flock, for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Now, with a man's
word, if he is a man of honor, we are content. We count his promissory
note as the equivalent of the gold which he promises to pay. Let him
set his hand to a promise and we pass it from hand to hand, regarding
it as the thing, itself, which it promises. Shall we not think as much
of the Word of God? The promise of God is so firm, so sure, so true,
that inasmuch as He has promised a kingdom unto all them that wait for
the appearing of His Son, that kingdom is ours–and by faith we
grasp it this morning. Bless the Lord, we have received a kingdom! Let
us worship Him in that spirit of thankfulness which such a gift should
excite!
More than this, we have received it in the principles of it, for it is
written, "The kingdom of God is within you." As the fairest flower lies
packed away within the little shriveled seed and needs but time and sun
to develop all its beauty, so perfection, glory, immortality and
unspeakable bliss lie slumbering and hidden away within the Grace which
God has given to all His people. " He that believes in Him has
everlasting life." The life of Heaven is begun within the Believer; it
is germinating; it is daily developing–it shall, in God's good time,
come to its absolute perfection! We have the kingdom within us–it is
not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit! The Spirit of God within a man is the earnest of Heaven and an
earnest is of the same nature as that which it guarantees. We who are
born unto God have the first fruits of the Kingdom of God in possessing
the indwelling Spirit–and in the first fruits we see the entire
harvest. Rise to this, my Brothers and Sisters, and under a sense of
your immeasurable indebtedness go forth and serve your God with joyful
thankfulness! This is the spirit in which to worship the Lord who has
given us the kingdom!
Moreover, in a measure we have received this kingdom in the power of
it. Notice the text does not say we have received a little lordship, a
small estate, a scanty portion, but we have received a kingdom. No gift
less than this could content the great heart of our heavenly Father. He
never stops half way in His march of mercy. He made us first His
subjects, then His children, then His heirs and here He makes us kings,
for every heir of God is heir-apparent to a throne! "He has made us
kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign with Him." Brethren, in
the Grace which God has given you, you received a measure of kingly
power–you who have believed in Jesus have power over yourselves, power
over your passions, power over the powers of evil–power, in measure,
over your fellow men for their good!
You also have power in prayer and what a real power is that, when a man
can ask what he wills and it shall be done unto him! God has endowed
you with power from on high by giving you the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit! Thus you have received a kingdom in promise, in principle and
in power! Moreover, you have received much of the provision and
protection of that kingdom. You that are children of God are not left
in the power of the enemy, but being redeemed, the Lord is a wall of
fire round about you. You are garrisoned by angelic strength! You are
led by unfailing wisdom! The all-sufficiency of God is your treasure
house! The Lord has said, "No good thing will I withhold from them that
walk uprightly." This is a royal charter of boundless liberality. "For
all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the
world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are
yours and you are Christ's; and Christ is God's." What royal provision
is thus set apart for you! "All things work together for good to them
that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose."
Everything is arranged for our benefit. There were two brothers, one of
whom had been diligently attentive to his worldly business, to the
neglect of true religion. He succeeded in accumulating considerable
wealth. The other brother was diligent in the service of the Master and
had learned both to distribute to the poor and, for conscience's sake,
to forego many an opportunity of gain. When he lay sick and dying, he
was in straitened circumstances. His brother somewhat upbraided him,
remarking that if it had not been for his religion, he would not have
been dependent upon others. With great calmness the saintly man
replied, "Quiet! Quiet! O Tom, I have a kingdom not begun upon and an
inheritance I have not yet seen."
Speak of laying up for a rainy day–we have infinite goodness laid up
for them that fear the Lord and none can rob us of it! Every child of
God is as David when Samuel anointed him to a throne–he has a kingdom
in reserve, secured by a Covenant of Salt! This kingdom which we have
received has come to us by Grace alone. We could not have earned it, or
merited it, or won it by our own strength. The Lord has given it to us
in Christ Jesus. He has taken the beggar from the dunghill and set him
among princes! He has lifted us up from the ruin of the Fall and
redeemed us from the misery of our ungodly days! And He has enriched us
with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus! Shall we not serve Him
out of gratitude for such inestimable benefits? No crack of the whip
shall drive us to His service, for we have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear.
No fear of Hell, no hope of deserving Heaven shall urge us on to please
our Lord. No, rather this shall be our song–
"Loved of my God, for Him again With love intense I burn!
Chosen of Him before time began, I choose Him in return."
Gratitude is the only fountain of acceptable service! Without it the
streams are far too defiled to flow in the Paradise of God. A large
measure of the splendor of our kingdom lies in this, that it is a
"kingdom that cannot be moved." Other kingdoms go to pieces sooner or
later. You and I, who are in middle life, can remember kingdoms that
have been blown down by the wind, or toppled over at the blow of one
brave man's sword. Empires that have rivaled Caesar's in apparent
strength have been swept down like cobwebs! As houses made of a pack of
cards, so have dynasties fallen, never to rise again.
There was one year in which our great caricaturist pictured kings and
princes out at sea in little rowboats, tossed up and down by the wild
waves of revolution, so frail was their tenure of power at that moment.
Even today, I guarantee you, the last office I would choose would be
that of an emperor in any country! A man might wisely prefer to take
the post of a common crossing-sweeper rather than be a king, or even a
president! As for the Empire of Russia, who would court its deadly
honors? If those who deserve the most severe imaginable punishment for
horrible crimes were compelled to be autocrats, it would be a
punishment too heavy! What must he the strain upon the mind, the
constant fear, the awful unrest of a man who has the sole control of
millions and has deadly foes upon his track?
Glory be to God, our kingdom cannot be moved! Not even dynamite can
touch our dominion! No power in the world and no power in Hell can
shake the kingdom which the Lord has given to His saints. With Jesus as
our Monarch, we fear no revolution and no anarchy, for the Lord has
established this kingdom upon a rock and it cannot be moved or removed!
When the sun and moon are blown out in darkness and when the stars fall
like the withered leaves of autumn, the kingdom in which we rejoice
shall enjoy perpetual prosperity, as it is written, "Your kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all
generations." Receiving such a kingdom, what are we bound to do? I
would cast silver chains about you to hold you fast to your Lord! I
would fasten anew these silken chains upon you to bind you to your God!
You have received a kingdom! You can never pay back the millionth part
of what you owe!
Today, however, let the sweet love of Christ constrain you to judge
that if He made you kings, it is for you to crown Him King with all
your hearts! And if He has given you a kingdom that cannot be moved by
you, it is for you to be "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord." Is it not a splendid thought that when we do
anything for God, though it is but the simple offering of a prayer, or
the helping of a fatherless child, we may do it with all the holy
dignity of princely priests? A certain set of men arrogate to
themselves exclusively the title of priests and so deny the priesthood
of every Believer. In this they act like Korah, Dathan and Abiram,
thrusting themselves into an office which does not belong to them, and
intruding out the true priests of the living God. Has not the Lord said
to all His people, "You are a royal priesthood"?
As for any who receive a supposed priesthood by laying on of hands of
bishops, we know nothing of them except that they err, not knowing the
true dignity of every Believer–they intrude into this priesthood so
far as they pretend to possess priestly power beyond the lowest child
of God, for they that believe in Jesus are, this day, made priests unto
Him! With what sacred orderliness and saintly carefulness ought we to
serve God because we serve Him not as common persons, if we are, indeed
in Christ, but we worship Him as priests and kings! One of our early
Saxon kings was rowed down the river Dee by Kenneth, of Scotland, and
seven other vassal kings who, each one, tugged an oar while their lord
reclined in state. The King of kings this day is served by kings–each
man, each woman among us is made royal by the very fact of holy
service! Let us labor for God not as slaves, but as kings!
Alas, I confess that sometimes I have not served the Lord as a king. I
have put on the ragged robes of my unbelief and I have come up here
mourning and groaning when I ought to have arrayed myself in royal
apparel and served my Lord with joy and gladness! Some of God's own
saints forget what they are and where they are, and they go to His
service as if it were a toil and a drudgery–laboring as if they were
galley slaves–and not rejoicing as princes who wait upon a great King!
Brethren, your high dignity should make you joyful and you should
perform the Lord's service with intense delight because of what He has
done for you! It should be Heaven upon earth to be allowed to do
anything for Jesus! "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved, let us have Grace, by which we may serve God
acceptably."
II. There is much to dwell upon in the first clause, but I must now
turn to my second point. Acceptable service must
be rendered to God IN THE POWER OF DIVINE GRACE. What says the Apostle?
"Let us have Grace, by which we
may serve God acceptably." Note, then, that acceptable service to God
is not offered in the power of nature–not even of nature at its best
when we call it good nature and philanthropy–but in the service of God
everything must be the fruit of Grace! You are to serve the Lord, not
in the strength of your own wit or experience, or talent, but in the
energy of the new life which God has given you and in the power of the
Grace which is continually bestowed upon you, moment by moment, as you
seek it of the Lord. "Let us have Grace," says the Apostle.
I know sometimes you say, and say truly, "What a poor creature I am.
How can I serve God? I have not this and that gift." Just so, do not
attempt to serve Him in the power of gifts. Ask for Grace and then
worship Him in the power of Grace! It is wonderful how Grace can make
use of very slender gifts and turn them to abundant account! It is
great Grace that greatly honors God–and great Grace is always to be
had by the least among us. You may never be an orator but you may have
great Grace! You may never be an organizer and take the lead among your
fellow Christians–but you may have much Grace. You may never attain to
ample wealth so as to be able to distribute largely of your substance
to the poor–but you may have great Grace. Therefore, let us have Grace
that we may serve God acceptably!
I should like to take these words out of their context and hang them up
for our slogan as a Church–"LET US HAVE GRACE." Be this our prayer!
Whatever else we do not have, Lord, let us have Grace! If this or that
means of usefulness shall be denied us, yet let us have Grace. Grace in
our hearts, Grace in our speech, Grace in our lives, Grace in our every
breath! A true Christian should be like Aaron who had the holy oil not
only on his head, but upon the skirts of his garments. Even in our
little things, in our kitchen life, in our parlor life–something of
the holy oil should be upon us! Abundance of Grace is our need.
Now, dear Friends, have you been trying to serve God in the power of
Grace, or in the power of nature? Look well to it. Only Grace can God
accept–can He accept your labor? In the margin of our Testaments–I
mean those of the authorized version which will never be parted with
for the so-called revised version–in the margin of the authorized
version we read, "Let us hold fast to Grace." That is another slogan I
would like to give to this Church–"LET US HOLD FAST TO GRACE." To find
Grace is an act. To have Grace is a state. To hold it fast is to make
the act perpetual and the state continual! "Let us hold fast to Grace."
There is such a thing as serving God and losing Grace while you are so
doing. You may become like Martha, worried about your serving, and you
may be cross with Mary because she does not work as you do, but
preserves her heavenly communion.
It is easy to have so much to do for Jesus that you lose Him amid your
cares. It is possible to be busy, here and there, and to miss the
essence of service by not holding fast to Grace. O to dip our feet in
oil so that every step shall have unction with it and in every movement
we shall hold fast to Grace! Now you may look at the new version if you
like and in the margin you will find another reading which is
allowable, though it has no great certainty about it. There we
read–"Let us have thankfulness." That grand word, Charis or "Grace,"
may be rendered, "thankfulness," and it is in a thankful spirit that we
should serve God. You have received a kingdom, therefore serve God in
the spirit of gratitude. Do everything because you feel you must do it
since such an infinite amount of love has been lavished upon you.
No one suggested to the holy woman in the Gospels to break her
alabaster box over Jesus' head. It was her own thought and her own
deed. Nobody even encouraged her to do it. Some rather looked askance
upon her as she poured out the precious perfume, but she did it all for
Jesus! She loved much, for much had been forgiven her. This is the true
spirit of service! God keep us always filled with it! Let us have
Grace! Let us hold fast to Grace! And in the power of these three
sentences we shall be helped to "serve God acceptably, with reverence,
and godly fear."
III. But now, thirdly, we must advance another step. To "serve God
acceptably" WE MUST DO IT WITH REVERENCE. These two words in the text
are much mixed up in the various readings and it is almost impossible
to divide the sense between them with accuracy. But yet I think I shall
give the whole sense even if I do not allot a due proportion of meaning
to each separate word. Acceptable serving or worshipping of God must be
done with "reverence." The word, according to Bishop Hopkins, signifies
a holy shamefacedness. The angels veil their faces with their wings
when they worship the Most High and we must veil ours with humility!
The angels feel their own littleness when they stand before the
Presence of the dread Supreme.
You and I who are much less than angels and have sinned–we, I say,
should, when we come before God, be covered with blushes. Our heart
should be filled with wonder that we are called to this high privilege
though we are so unworthy of it. Let each one feel, "the Lord has made
me a king; but what a marvel that this deed should be worked on me! Oh
that I should be called to such a noble estate as this!" If some poor
girl were suddenly called away from the milk pail and lifted from
poverty and hard servitude to be the bride of a prince, the very
thought of it would bring crimson to her cheeks! "Can it be?" she would
ask. And I can imagine that when she was brought to court, there would
be a noticeable bashful-ness and shamefacedness about her.
Such holy shame ought to be upon us whenever we stand before the Lord
to minister unto Him. Is it not said, "You shall be ashamed and
confounded and never open your mouth any more"? Not because of a
servile dread of God, but out of an overwhelming sense of His
unutterable love we blush to be so highly favored! This reverence, this
shamefacedness, should come upon us when we remember what we were. When
you stand up in a Prayer Meeting and pray, dear Friends, some of you
cannot help remembering the time when you could swear or sing a
questionable song. You are accepted among your Brethren and honored by
them, but the time was when you kept very different company–do you not
blush as you think of it? You may not only think of what you were, but
of what you are, because even now, though God favors you by allowing
you to do Him service, yet you know what evil lurks within you! A very
Hell of corruption lies within the best saint and if the Grace of God
did not restrain it, he would soon be found among the chief of sinners!
Moreover, bashfulness should be created not only by the thought of what
you might be, but by a sight of your service, itself. Perhaps your
fellow creatures are saying, "That is well done," but you will go home
and lament to yourself, saying, "Ah, they do not know my faults. They
little know what mean motives cropped up even when I was trying to
glorify my God." "That was a fine sermon," said one to Mr. Bunyan. The
good man answered, "You are too late, the devil told me that before I
left the pulpit." Satan soon suggests to God's servants some lofty
notion and they are tempted to appropriate to themselves the honor
which belongs only to God! Ah, what a fool I am that even when I seek
to be lowest at the feet of my Lord, I find myself satisfied with my
humility!
Do we not too often rather mimic humility than actually attain to it?
Besides, it should always make us blush to think of the dignity of the
service to which we are called, for who are we and what is our father's
house that the Lord should have brought us to this? Servants of God!
You Knights of the Garter! You princes of the blood royal! What are all
your earthly honors when compared with the holy dignity of servants of
the Most High? Oh, that in the spirit of lowly gratitude we may always
serve the thrice-holy One!
IV. The other word is, "and godly fear." And this suggests that we
should serve God IN THE SPIRIT OF HOLY CHEERFULNESS. What sort of fear
is this? For, "perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment."
Observe that it is the fear that has torment which perfect love casts
out–but not this godly fear which is quite consistent with our joy in
receiving a kingdom! The more we have of this godly fear, the better
for us. We ought to fear lest we should offend the Lord even while we
are serving Him–fear lest the sacrifice should be a blemished one and
so be rejected at the altar– fear lest there should be something about
our spirit and temper which would grieve the Lord. He is a jealous God
and must be served with holy carefulness. O for more of it!
I do not know how my Brethren feel who say they are perfect, but I am
obliged to confess that when I would do good, evil is present with me,
and that though I would serve God like a seraph, without one stray
thought, or one selfish desire, yet I have by no means reached this
attainment! I press forward towards the mark and hope to reach it, but
it is, at present, far beyond me! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, much of
holy fear should be upon us because we may so easily offend the Lord
when we think we are pleasing Him! Beware of presumptuous boldness
before God! Let us not be rash with our speech, much less rude and
coarse. I know that modes of worship which offend my taste may,
nevertheless, be accepted with God, because He sees through the rough
shell and judges according to the sweet kernel. Yet I fear that
thoughtless, bragging, noisy services must offend the Lord, for it is
so unlike that which was offered by His gentle, tender, well-beloved
Son.
If Christ is the Model which He sets before us, some are far away from
the mark! At any rate, let us never wantonly go into a wild, boisterous
mannerism, for though we are the Lord's children and very near to Him,
yet He is in Heaven and we are upon the earth. He is the thrice holy
and we are sinners. The Psalmist says, "Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling." There is another form of godly fear which
comes over every genuine Christian at times–the fear
lest, after all, he should not be serving God at all. What if I have
preached to others and should be, after all, merely preaching because
it is my vocation? What if you should be teaching in the Sunday school
and should be doing it only because it is customary for professing
people of your station to have some good work to do? My dear Brothers
and Sisters, it is not for me to doubt you and I do not doubt you half
as much as I doubt myself, but it is necessary that we question
ourselves as to whether we are, indeed, the servants of God, or are
living for ourselves.
Knowing that God is to be served in His own way and in that, alone,
there ought to be a godly fear as to whether we are walking in His
ordinances or are following the traditions of men. God does not care
for worship which He has never required at our hands. If a man invents
a ceremony, he may think it helpful and instructive, but he has no
right to practice it if God has not appointed it. If any of you are
practicing rites and ceremonies which are not according to God's Word,
I charge you cease from such will-worship, for the spirit which leads
you to practice these things is the spirit of Rome and of antichrist!
If God has not commanded it, God cannot accept it!
Not only are we to worship the true God, only, which is the Law of the
First Commandment, but we must worship the true God in His own way,
which is the spirit of the Second Commandment. The Second Commandment,
as it forbids all worshipping of God through images, does, in the
spirit of it, forbid all worshipping of God in any other way than He
has prescribed. Therefore when you stand before the Lord, ask yourself,
"Did He require this service of me? Is this the way in which He would
be worshipped?" For if not, it is no better than idolatry and cannot he
accepted by the living God! Oh, what fear and trembling, what solemn
awe, what sacred carefulness should fall upon the man who draws near to
serve and worship the Lord our God!
V. Now, lastly, there is another thing to be remembered in acceptable
services. We must cultivate A PROFOUND SENSE OF THE DIVINE HOLINESS and
of the wrath of God against sin, "For our God is a consuming fire."
Observe, then, from this most solemn sentence, that the God of the Old
Testament is the God of the New Testament! Read Deuteronomy 4:24 and
you will find these words, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,
even a jealous God." The same words describe the God of the New
Testament! I know the boasted wisdom of the age tells us that we have
made a great advance upon Old Testament Revelation. It is not so. We
may understand the Book somewhat better, but the Revelation is the
same. God wears the same Character as in the days of Moses, David and
the Prophets.
The Lord God who is to be served by us, even as our Covenant God, is a
"consuming fire." In love He is severely holy, sternly just. We hear
people say–"God out of Christ is a consuming fire." That is an
unwarrantable alteration of the text. The text is, "Our God," that is
God in Christ is a consuming fire! "Our God" means God in Covenant with
us. It means our Father God, our God to whom we are reconciled–even
our God is still a "consuming fire." A large proportion of nominal
Christians do not believe in this God. They profess reverence to a
merciful God. But the moment you preach His justice, they are
indignant! The God who is a consuming fire is not accepted by this
proud "19th Century." I do this day most solemnly declare my faith in
the God of the Hebrews who will, by no means, spare the guilty! The God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the one and only God and I declare Him,
this day, to be my God!
Jehovah is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He
be called! He that smote Pharaoh at the Red Sea. He that smote kings
and slew mighty kings is my God and I believe in Him as the God and
Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know no God but Abraham's
God, Jehovah, the I AM! Under the New Testament, God is not an atom
less severe than under the Old. And under the Covenant of Grace the
Lord is not a particle less righteous than under the Law. We are so
saved by mercy that no sin goes unpunished–the Law is as much honored
under the Gospel as under the Law! The substitution of Jesus as much
displays the wrath of God against sin as even the flames of Hell would
do!
While the Lord is merciful, infinitely so, and His name is Love, yet
still our God is a consuming fire and sin shall not live in His sight.
If your offering and mine is evil, it will be an abomination unto Him.
He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity! If our worship and service
are mingled with hypocrisy and pride, He will not endure them. You will
be rather surprised when I say that this dreadful sentence is my
hope–it is a joy to me that our God is a consuming fire! Behold two
altars upon Carmel. The Baalites have laid their victim upon one of
them. Do you see them as they prance about the altar and even leap upon
it? Do you hear them as they cry and cut themselves with knives and
lancets? "O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us!" There lies the
sacrifice–there is no trace of Baal's hearing them, for their god is
not a consuming fire!
Now comes Elijah. "Pour water," he says, "on the bullock. Do it a
second time! Do it a third time." And they fetch up, from the sea, huge
buckets and pour the water over everything until the trenches are
filled with it. And now the Prophet lifts up his prayer to Heaven! Down
comes the fire! It is God's sacrifice and God accepts it! He is a
consuming fire and the token of His Presence is so manifest that the
people cry, "Jehovah, He is the God, He is the God!" Turn your eyes,
again, to Solomon's Temple gorgeous with gold and precious stones. The
king pleads with the Lord of the whole earth to accept the shrine.
Lo, the priests are present in their robes of office and the sacrifice
is waiting on the altar. If no fire descends, there is no acceptance.
But we read, "The fire came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices; and the Glory of the Lord filled the
house." If I am a true and sincere man. If I am believing in Jesus and
I have brought my humble sacrifice with fear and reverence before God,
then it will be accepted–for He is a consuming fire–and my sacrifice
will be consumed and go up to Him! It may be some of you who have been
working this week will think to yourselves, "We did very well, we hope
to be honored for it." So you shall be–but if you take credit to
yourselves, you will he robbing the altar of God! If God accepts your
sacrifice, it will all be consumed by His fire. Look, the accepted
sacrifice is all gone, it is utterly consumed!
When God enables us to serve Him and takes away from us all
self-congratulation, we ought to be very thankful. This proves that it
is all burned with fire. If God had not accepted it, then we might have
reserved portions of it for ourselves, to feed our vanity–and that
would be to feed ourselves without fear. But if the Lord has taken
every morsel from the mouth of self, we have great cause for rejoicing!
If the Lord accepts us, His fire will consume us! The zeal of His House
will eat us up! When we go home to the Lord above, we dread not His
Presence, though He is a consuming fire. Those whom He has purified and
made white are not afraid of the flames of His holiness!
Remember that blessed text, "Who among us shall dwell with the
devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burning? He
that walks righteously and speaks uprightly. He that despises the gain
of oppressions, that shakes his hands from the holding of bribes, that
stops his ears from the hearing of blood and shuts his eyes from seeing
evil; he shall dwell on high." It shall be the glory of the gracious
and the true that God is their element! It shall be their bliss to live
in the full splendor of His perfect holiness! They shall be like their
Lord, for they shall see Him as He is. Everything that is holy will
endure Your fire and as for all within us that is impure, let it be
consumed speedily!
So let us serve the Lord with fear, but not with terror. And let this
service be continued all our days. Let us bring the sacrifices of the
last week to Him, with repentance for every fault, humbly pleading that
by His Grace He will accept it, and earnestly desiring that all we have
done may redound to His Glory through Jesus Christ, His Son, to whom be
honor, world without end! Amen.
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The Touch