Decided Ungodliness
(No. 2655)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 31, 1899.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 20, 1882.
They have refused to return."
Jeremiah 5:3.
THERE is, in the heart of every one of us, the primary evil of sin. We
have all transgressed against the Lord. So far, so bad, but that
natural sin of ours may be greatly increased by a refusal to turn from
it. It is bad enough to have violated God's righteous Law, but to
refuse to repent and to continue presumptuously in our iniquity must
greatly increase our guilt in the sight of God. This guilt may be still
further increased if we refuse to return unto the Lord when we are
earnestly and affectionately invited to yield submission to Him. If
gracious terms of peace are presented to us and matchless promises of
blessing are made to us on condition that we return–and if we are
often warned, often entreated, often threatened and yet we still refuse
to return, then we continue to pile sin upon sin, till we make our
first transgression to be incredibly great.
If I were now to preach to men as simply sinners, it would be a weighty
message for me to have to tell them that "all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God." But, alas, I have to preach to impenitent
sinners, to those who, as our text puts it, "have refused to return,"
yes, and to some who have given that refusal with great deliberation,
after having been long entreated and persuaded to turn from the error
of their ways. Some have been addressed in such tender, pleading
language as this, "Turn you, turn you from your evil ways, for why will
you die, O house of Israel?" Or this–"Seek you the Lord while He may
be found, call you upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake
his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto
the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." If we have heard such language as that and yet have
persisted in refusing to return, we have heaped guilt upon guilt–and
the wrath of God will be in proportion to our sin!
I. My first objective, at this time, is to try to find out who are the
persons to whom our text refers. And, to do so, I ask this question,
WHO HAVE REFUSED TO RETURN? Perhaps I am addressing some persons who
say, "You speak of those who have refused to return, who are they? We
have done no such thing." Listen and let conscience be at work while I
am answering the question.
First, there are some who have refused to return and who have said as
much. Perhaps not many of you, who are in this House of Prayer, have
gone as far as that, but certainly many people in the great world have
actually declared that they will not yield to God. Pharaoh said, "Who
is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice?" And there are many who talk
in the same fashion today. You may cry to them, "Turn you, turn you,
for why will you die?" But they will not turn, they would rather die.
They will sooner burn than turn! They will rather perish in their
iniquities than be pardoned after repenting of their sins! And some
even accompany their refusal with many a jest and gibe–they sneer at
the majesty of Divine Mercy and ridicule that which is their only hope
of safety! Concerning sinners of this type, the Lord says, "They have
refused to return."
Others there are who have promised to return, but they have spoken
falsely. They have uttered fair words and pretty speeches, but there
the matter has ended. When the Lord has said, "Go work today in My
vineyard," they have promptly answered, "Yes, we will go," but they
have not gone. In a very emphatic sense, "they have refused to return,"
because they have promised to do so and then have not done it. He who
says, "I will repent," and then does not turn from his evil ways, is
certainly no better than the man who said that he would not repent! As
a matter of fact, he is even worse, for there is an honesty of
outspokenness about the other man who says, "I will not," while there
is the falseness of gross hypocrisy in the one who says, "I go, Sir,"
but who does not go. I fear I have a large number of this order of
persons in my congregation–they have never flatly refused the Gospel
invitation, as some have openly done, yet they have practically refused
it.
There is many a man who has said to the preacher, by his actions if not
in words, what Felix said to Paul, "Go your way for this time. When I
have a convenient season, I will call for you." But the convenient
season has not yet arrived and, in all probability it never will, for
they have no more idea of receiving the Gospel message today then they
had 10 years ago! With all their friendly appearance and flattering
words, they must be put down among those who "have refused to return."
I am sure that when I say this, I do but speak the words of truth and
justice.
There are some others who "have refused to return" and who have tried
to palliate their offense, and quiet their conscience by offering
something else to God instead of really returning to Him. They will not
turn from sin, but they will "take the sacrament," as they call the
ordinance of the Lord's Supper. They will not leave their lusts, but
they will go to a place of worship. They will not cease from their
wicked ways, but they will go on giving to various charities. They will
not leave off lying, or committing other offenses against God, but they
will assume a pious appearance, they will sing a hymn, they will spend
half an hour in reading the Scriptures and a form of prayer, though
such an occupation is a great burden to them–but all that is utterly
useless! The Lord has said that He will have mercy–not sacrifice. He
desires us to turn from our wicked ways and to return to Him. And if we
will not, any sacrifices that we may bring to Him will be but vain
oblations and God will put them away from Him as things that are
abhorred and detestable in His sight.
Solomon tells us of three things that are an abomination unto the Lord,
"the sacrifice of the wicked," "the way of the wicked" and even "the
thoughtsof the wicked." We may do, or say, or give anything we like,
but nothing will please God except our turning from our sin and
trusting in the atoning Sacrifice of His dear Son. We may pray till our
knees grow hard as iron and weep our eyes away till their sockets are
empty, but we shall never obtain the great blessing of salvation while
we link our arm with sin and go on delighting in iniquity! Alas, the
Lord still has to say of many who make some sort of profession of being
religious, "they have refused to return." They are willing to do almost
anything except that. They will repeat the creed, be confirmed, "take
the sacrament," go to chapel, go to church, go anywhere you like, but
they will not leave their sin–they will not turn from their evil ways!
They will be content to put upon themselves all manner of external
religiousness, but they will not be cleansed from their iniquity.
There are others who, practically, "have refused to return" because
they have only returned in part. They have given up some forms of sin,
but their heart is not right in the sight of God. Yet a man cannot
truly turn in part–he must turn altogether, or not at all. If I am
walking along a certain road, I cannot send one of my legs backward and
the other one forward and, in like manner, I cannot send half my soul
in one direction and the other half another way, though a great many
try to do so! They will give up the grosser sins to which they have
been accustomed, but the smaller sins, the more respectable sort of
sins, these they will keep on committing. Yet God is not pleased by
their changing the form of their guilt. You say that you do not worship
Baal but, if you bow down to Ashtaroth, or any other false god, you are
an idolater! And if there is any sin to which you cling, you are a
sinner in God's sight!
You read, sometimes, a dreadful story of a man being entangled in
machinery. Perhaps it was only one cog of a wheel that caught a corner
of his coat, but it gradually drew him in between the works and tore
him, limb from limb, till he was utterly destroyed. Oh, if that piece
of cloth could have but given way so that man's life might have been
spared! But it did not and though he was only held by the tiniest part
of his garment, yet that was sufficient to drag him in where the
death-dealing wheels revolved. And it is just so with sin–you cannot
get in between the wheels of iniquity and say, "I shall go just so far,
but no farther." No, if you once get in there, you will be ground to
pieces as certainly as you are now alive! There is no way of escape but
to turn yourself right away from the evil thing that God hates. There
must be no union between our heart and that which God abhors! We must
have a clean bill of divorcement separating us, once and for all, from
the love of sin!
"Well," says one, "I have given up strong drink. I am no longer a
drunkard." That is well, but you may go to Hell as a sober man. "I have
given up Sabbath-breaking," says another. I am very glad to hear it, my
Friend, but you may perish by dishonesty. "Oh, but I am no thief! I am
as honest as the day!" Yes, that may be true, and yet you may perish
through pride. "But I am not proud," you say. But you may go to
Perdition through your lust, or even through your
self-righteousness–any one sinharbored and indulged in by the soul
will be the means of your everlasting ruin! Any single poison may
suffice to kill a man–he need not take 50 different drugs–one will be
enough to destroy him. So, if there is but one sin that is loved, that
one sin will be as deadly poison to the soul! And as long as you cling
to even one sin, I lay this charge at your door, that you "have refused
to return." God grant that you may not continue any longer in this
fatal folly and guilt!
I will only mention one more class of those who "have refused to
return." It is those who return to God only in appearance, yet not in
heart. What a very long way a man may go towards being a Christian and
yet miss the mark! He may give up all outward sin, such as his fellow
men condemn, and yet he may be lost. Very solemnly would I say to you,
my Friend, that you may even be a professed disciple of Christ, but so
was Judas. You may preach–so did Judas. You may work miracles–so did
Judas. And you may stay with Christ under much opposition and
persecution–so did Judas. It was only at a certain point, when the
glitter of the pieces of silver was too much for him, that he at last
betrayed his Lord and Master. Many covetous persons are the most
respectable people we know–yet covetousness is idolatry. They are not
likely to give way to sinful lusts–that form of iniquity is too
expensive for them. They are too stingy to spend anything on
themselves. They are not, generally, the men who drink to excess and
waste their substance in riotous living. Oh, no– they are in the shop
from early morning till late at night. Look how they work in their
shirtsleeves, doing all they can to make money and, perhaps, doing it
all honestly. But, still, covetousness is the master-thought with them,
and to be rich is the end and aim of their whole life! That is the one
thing for which they are striving. If it is covetousness that remains
in the soul, there may be great outward reformations even through that
very covetousness, for one sin will often sweep away another. There are
very many sins that are like sharks that swallow up other devouring
monsters. A man may devote himself to some one evil in such a way that
he denies himself all the rest–and yet that one will bore such a hole
in the vessel of his life that the water will get in and sink it just
as surely as if there had been a thousand augers doing their desperate
work.
So, you see, dear Friends, that there are many, many persons who "have
refused to return" to God. And in telling you about them, I have
answered my first question.
' II. Here is a second one. WHAT DOES THIS REFUSAL TO RETURN TO GOD
UNVEIL?
Well, I think that it shows, first, that there is, in the heart of such
a person, an intense love of sin. The man not only sins, but he loves
to sin and, therefore, he will not return to the Lord. The paths of sin
are pleasant to him so, if you cry to him, "Return, return, return," he
heeds you not because he loves both the way and the wages of iniquity.
This refusal to return also unveils a great lack of love to God. The
prodigal son did, at last, return home because, with all his failings
and wickedness, he remembered his father and his father's house–and
there was some sort of love still lingering in his heart, so he said,
"I will arise and go to my father." But many have no such love in their
souls and, consequently, the word, "Return," has no power over them.
They love their sin, but they love not God, so "they have refused to
return."
In many people, there can be no doubt whatever that this refusal to
return unveils a disbelief in God–perhaps not a disbelief in the
existence of God so much as a denial of the evil of sin. These refusers
of God's mercy say to themselves, "Sin is not half as bad as God makes
it out to be, and it will not bring such consequences as He threatens."
When we read to them what the Apostle says about those who "obey not
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the Presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of His power," they do not believe that such a sentence as that
will ever be executed upon them, so they harden their faces like flints
and go on in their sin–and absolutely refuse to return unto the Lord.
Even when He tells them that unless they turn to Him, He will shut them
out of Heaven, they seem to fancy that it does not matter much. Heaven
is no very wonderful and desirable place, after all, so they dream and
again they harden their hearts and continue in their evil ways. There
is, in the heart of every unconverted man, a real atheism–he would be
ashamed to be called an atheist, yet he acts like one, and he is one
practically. He may not be such a fool as to say with his mouth, "There
is no God," but in his hearthe is all the while saying, "No God for me!
I wish there were none. I would gladly escape from the belief even in
His existence."
But, oh, this is a dreadful thing, for a man to love sin and not to
love God–and not even believe that God speaks the truth! Yet there is
a worse evil. This refusal to return is really a despising of God.It is
as if a man said, "I will not submit to Him! I defy Him to do His
worst! Let Him smite me if He can. I am not afraid of His Hell and I do
not need His Heaven. I would sooner have the pleasures of sin for a
season than dwell with God and behold the glory of Christ to all
eternity." Perhaps you think that I am putting the matter too strongly,
but I am not. I am only speaking the truth and I wish to speak it in
love to the souls of those of you who are refusing to return unto the
Lord. You have not that reverence and fear of God which He deserves
from you, otherwise you would turn at His reproof and He would pour out
His Spirit upon you.
Yet once more, I am afraid that this refusal to return shows that there
is, in your heart, a secret resolve to continue in sin. If you "have
refused to return," and done so for years, I fear that you are fixed in
your evil course and that your mind is made up to remain as you are. I
would to God that you would think a little of what the end of such a
life must be! As you read of the eternal doom of others, you may hear
the Lord saying to you, "Unless you repent, you shall all likewise
perish." There is no way of salvation for a man who perseveres in the
way of evil. Then, "Turn you, turn you, from your evil ways," for only
by turning from sin, and unto God, can you find salvation! Yet, alas,
many have resolved not to turn unto the Lord.
There are some who regard their refusal to return as a trifling matter.
They trifle with everything. Heaven and Hell seem to them to be of no
more worth than a boy's tennis racket and balls–their soul appears to
be, at least in their estimation–the merest trifle. I verily believe
that some people think more of their fingernails than they do of their
souls, and there is many a man who spends more on the blacking of his
boots than he does on the cleansing of his soul from sin. Thus are
these all-important things despised by those who "have refused to
return." They make mirth about those matters which have been upon God's
heart from all eternity and, whereas He has given His well-beloved Son
to be the Savior of sinners, many sinners act as if salvation were not
worth the having, or as if it were merely a thing to be talked about
for a while and then to be forgotten forever. O Sirs, surely, these are
the mischiefs of the heart which the refusal to return manifestly sets
before you!
III. I must not say more upon this point, for I want to answer a third
question. WHAT IS IT THAT DEEPENS THE SIN OF REFUSING TO RETURN?
Well, first, it is when correction does not lead to repentance. Let me
read the sentences that precede our text–"You have stricken them, but
they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to
receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they
have refused to return." This passage may be applied to any of you who
have been very ill and made promises of repentance, all of which you
have forgotten. It may also be pressed home upon the consciences of
some of you who, perhaps through your own fault, have been thrown out
of a situation and cast adrift in the world. You have been corrected by
poverty and, possibly, you have also been stricken by affliction, but
all that has not touched your heart–you "have refused to return." I
have known some who have lost child after child, and friend after
friend. Those bereavements have been God's method of correcting them,
so as to bring them to their senses, yet they have not turned to Him.
No, they have even grown all the harder the more they have been
chastened! They have stood out, like Pharaoh, against God's sternest
plagues, and still have said, "Who is Jehovah that we should obey His
voice?" If they have not said so in words, they have said it in their
acts, which have spoken louder than words.
This refusal to return also leads to deepening sin when conscience is
violated. If I were to put the question to any one of you who have not
turned to God, "Ought you not to repent of sin and trust the Savior?" I
feel sure that your answer would be, "Of course I ought to! Do you
think that I am so ignorant as not to know that it is right to forsake
sin and to follow that which is good and holy?" Then, understand, if
you know this, yet do it not, your doom will be terrible, according to
our Lord's words, "That servant which knew his lord's will and prepared
not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes." It is an awful thing, a dreadful thing, to know what you
ought to do–to feel that it is right that you should do it–and yet
remain stubborn and disobedient!
All this adds greatly to a man's guilt in refusing to return unto the
Lord. And so it does when he knows that it would be the best thing for
him. I have often heard a man say, "Oh, yes, Sir, I know that if I
repented of sin, if I believed in Jesus, if I became right with God, I
should be much happier than I am now. Indeed, I cannot rest as I am, I
need to find something better." Then why do you not find it? You cannot
have peace with God all the while that you keep your sin– then why do
you not give them up? Why not turn unto the Lord with full purpose of
heart? When you know that it would be for your present and eternal
good. When you know that you would be happier and holier, and yet you
continue as you are, who shall be found to plead for you? Where is the
advocate, in Heaven or on earth, who will take up the cause of a man
who knows the right and yet will not do it–who is well aware that
turning to God will save him–and yet acts in direct opposition to his
own highest interests? It seems incredible that anyone should be so
foolish, yet multitudes are!
It greatly adds to a man's sin, also, if this refusal to return to the
Lord has been long continued, and I am afraid, in the case of some
here–and, oh, how tenderly would I grasp their hands if I could, and
ask them whether it is not so– that this refusal has gone on for many
years! Is it not so, my dear Friend? You had a tender conscience in
your childhood and you have not quite lost it. You have often been
moved to tears under earnest, faithful preaching and, tonight, you
hardly know how to sit still. You are ready to cry out to me, "Leave
off urging me thus, for I cannot bear it!" And do you expect that God
will spare you for another 10 years, or another 20 years? You cannot
tell that He will. You have no right to think that He will and, if He
does, will you fling the sins of those additional years on to the heap
of your past and present iniquities? Will you make the millstone of
your guilt bigger and yet bigger until, at last, it sinks you into the
lowest Hell?
Take heed, I pray you! It is a great blessing to turn to God in youth,
for early piety often becomes eminent piety– but it is terrible to be
living year after year without God, without Christ and without hope in
the world. Turn unto the Lord speedily, I pray you! Let the time past
suffice for you to have refused the mercy of your God and now, this
very hour, I charge you, before you dare to go from under this roof,
turn unto your God and seek and find pardon and salvation through the
atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His Son!
There is one other thing which sometimes makes this refusal to return
to God become even greater sin, and that is, when there is some evil
reason at the bottom of it. I cannot pry into the hearts of my hearers,
but I did know a man, once, and he was very fair to look upon–and I
often wondered why he did not become a decided Christian. He was
respected by all who knew him until they found out his awful secret–he
had another family in addition to his own family at home. How could he
turn unto God when he was living in sin? I have known others who seemed
to be sure of salvation, but they were drinking in private–I mean
women as well as men–how could they turn to God when they were
secretly indulging in excess? Perhaps it is a very mean and
contemptible thing that is keeping you from the Savior. You would turn
to God, but you have an old friend who would laugh at you if you became
a Christian. Possibly, it is your own father who would despise you, or,
perhaps, dear wife, it is your husband who would oppress you if you
gave yourself up to the Lord. But shall any of these be allowed to ruin
your souls?
They may laugh you into Hell, but they cannot laugh you out again! Men
may put cruel pressure upon you till your fear of them drives you away
from God, but it would be well if your fear of them could be slain by a
greater fear, for it is infinitely better to dread the wrath of God
than to fear the anger of man! For what can man do, after all, even if
he should kill the body? Remember the words of our Lord Jesus upon this
matter, "I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the
body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn
you whom you shall fear: Fear Him, which after He has killed, has power
to cast into Hell; yes, I say unto you, Fear Him." Be not such cowards
as to be lost forever through indulging your cowardice. Pluck up
courage enough to seek your own salvation, for "what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul?" Oh, flee, flee from the wrath to come!
Whatever the ribald crowd may say, what will it matter to you in the
tremendous day when you stand before the Great White Throne? How can
you, then, escape from the wrath of the Lamb if you do not fly to Him
now that you are exposed to the wrath of ungodly men?
IV. Now I must close with my last question. WHAT IS THE REAL REASON OF
THIS REFUSAL TO RETURN?
Well, first, it may be ignorance. I hope it is, for then Christ can
pray, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Notice
how the Prophet put it–"Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they
are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of
their God." He hoped that it was downright ignorance that kept some of
them from yielding their hearts to God, but he said that he would go
and try the rich ones–"I will get me unto the great men, and will
speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the
judgment of their God." But he fared no better there! "These have
altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds." It is still very much
the same–rich and poor alike refuse to return unto the Lord their God.
Then, next, while there are some who are kept away from Christ through
ignorance, there are many others who fail to come to Him through
self-conceit. Perhaps–though it is but a choice of evils–it is better
not to know the way of salvation than to know it, and yet not to walk
in it. Some poor soul says, "I cannot come to Christ, for I do not know
the way." HE is the way! Trust Him and you have already come to Him!
But some great man says, "I do not want to go to Christ. I am good
enough, I have always been religious." Ah, poor deluded creature! You
are defying God by setting up your own righteousness in the place of
Christ's righteousness–and so your "sacraments" and your hearing of
sermons, and your few miserable good works are to stand instead of
yonder amazing Sacrifice upon the Cross where there hangs the Son of
God in agonies and blood? You set up your filthy rags to compete with
the spotless robe of His matchless righteousness? This is an atrocity
which, even if you had committed no other sin, would sink you to the
lowest Hell!
But, to tell you the real reason of this refusal to return, I must say
that men do not turn to Christ because they do not want to be made
holy. An eminent man of God said, "To some sinners, the Gospel comes as
a threat from God that it will make them holy." Is it not a dreadful
thing, that men should actually turn what is the greatest of all
blessings–the being made holy–into a thing of which they are afraid?
They do not want to be true! They do not want to be good! They do not
want to be right in God's sight! They prefer their own ways, they
choose to follow their own devices. That is the top and bottom of the
mischief! Now I have laid my finger upon the very core of the evil. If
you willed to be saved, you would be saved–if you really desired to be
made holy, you would be made holy! It is because your heart's longings
still go after that which is evil that, therefore, you do not turn unto
the Lord! O mighty Spirit of God, change the very nature of men and
bring them to desire the holiness which they now despise, for then will
You work it in them and they shall be saved!
The fact is and this is the last reason for refusing to return, there
is, in most men, a preference for present joy above future blessing.
"Heaven" they say–"well, Heaven–Heaven–we do not know where it is.
It is a long way off and we cannot tell when we shall get there. But
here is an opportunity of spending an evening in pleasurable sin and we
prefer that! 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.'" O foolish
men! Your poor little bird in the hand is not worth one of the birds in
the Paradise of God!
Others cry, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." What? Are you
no better than the brute beasts that per-ish–the cattle in the pasture
fattening for the slaughter? What? Has God given us immortal souls and
yet are we never to look beyond the present life? Has He adapted us to
live with Him at His right hand and yet is the dim horizon of this
little life to shut in all that we care to know? Is it so that when you
are in your coffin, you will have had your all? "I have no fear," says
one. But have you any hope, Sir? That is the point, for many a man has
so drugged his soul with the opiate of self-deception that fear, which
was meant to be like a watchman, has been lulled into deadly slumber!
So listen again–Have you any hope? "No," you answer. Then you are in a
desperate condition, but why are you without hope? Because you are
without God! I would not change places with you even to get rid of all
fear as you have done, for I have a good hope that, through Divine
Grace, though my spirit must be parted for a while from this flesh, yet
it will never be divided from Christ, my Lord, and it shall be my
delight to be–
"Far from a world of grief and sin With God eternally shut in."
God bless you, dear Friend! Believe in Jesus and you live at once!
Believe in Him this moment and this moment you are saved! Trust Christ
now, as soon as this word reaches your ears, and your sin is forgiven,
you are justified and accepted and you may go your way, a sinner
saved–saved to all eternity! God give you that blessed privilege, for
Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HEBREWS2.
Verse 1. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. I t is
well to give heed to what you are now hearing, but it is also important
to give heed to what you have heard. Oh, how much have we heard, but
have forgotten! How much have we heard which we still remember, but do
not practice! Let us, therefore, listen to the words of the Apostle
here–"We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we
have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip"–as it were,
slipping through our fingers and flowing down the stream of time to be
carried away into the ocean of oblivion!
2. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward.
See, Brothers and Sisters, the punishment for disobeying the word
spoken by angels was death. What, then, must be the penalty of
neglecting the great salvation worked by the Divine Redeemer, Himself?
He who does not give earnest heed to the Gospel treats with disdain the
Lord Jesus Christ and he will have to answer for that sin when the King
shall sit upon the Throne of Judgment. Trifle not, therefore, with that
salvation which cost Christ so much and which He, Himself, brings to
you with bleeding hands. And, oh, if you have hitherto trifled with it,
and let it slip, may you now be brought to a better mind, lest haply,
despising Christ, the "just recompense of reward" should come upon you!
And what will that be? I know of no punishment that can be too severe
for the man who treats with contempt the Son of God and tramples on His
blood–and every individual who hears the Gospel and yet does not
receive Christ as his Savior–is committing that atrocious crime.
3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? If we
neglect that salvation, is there any other way by which we can be
rescued from destruction? Is there any other door of escape if we pass
that one by? No, there is none.
3, 4. Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was
confirmed unto us by them that heard Him; God also bearing them
witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and
gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?This Gospel of ours
is stamped with the seal of God! He has set His mark upon it to attest
its genuineness and authority. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit
were the seal that the Gospel was no invention of man, but that it was,
indeed, the message of God. Gifts of healing, gifts of tongues, gifts
of miracles of divers kinds, were God's solemn declaration to man,
"This is the Gospel. This is My Gospel which I send to you; therefore,
refuse it not."
5. For unto the angels He has not put the world to come in subjection,
whereof we speak. We have no angelic preachers. We sometimes speak of
"the seraphic doctor," but no seraph ever was a preacher of the Gospel
of the Grace of God–that honor has been reserved for a lower order of
beings!
6. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that You
are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that You visit him? God speaks
to men by men. He has made them to be the choice and chosen instruments
of His wondrous works of Grace upon earth. Oh, what a solemn thing it
is to be a preacher of the everlasting Gospel! It is an office so high
that an angel might covet it, but one that is so responsible that even
an angel might tremble to undertake it! Brothers and Sisters, pray for
us who preach, not merely to a few, but to many of our fellow
creatures, that we may be the means, in the hand of God, of blessing to
our hearers!
7. 8. You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with
glory and honor, and did set him over the works of Your hands: You
haveput all things in subjection under his feet It was so with Adam in
his measure. Before he fell through his disobedience, all the animals
which God had made were inferior to him and acknowledged him as their
lord and master. It is infinitely more so in that second Adam who has
restored to humanity its lost dignity and, in His own Person, has again
elevated man to the head of creation–"You have put all things in
subjection under his feet."
8. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that
is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
Man does not yet rule the world. Wild beasts defy him. Storms vanquish
him. There are a thousand things not at present submissive to his
control.
9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He, by the
Grace of God, should taste death for every man. Thus lifting man back
into the place where he first stood so far as this matter of dominion
is concerned.
10. For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings. Is it not amazing that the
Christ, who is the Head over all things, could not be perfected for
this work of ruling, or for the work of saving, except by sufferings?
He stooped to conquer! Not because there was any sin in Him, but that
He might be a sympathetic Ruler over His people, He must experience
sufferings like those of His subjects. And that He might be a mighty
Savior, He must be, Himself, compassed with infirmity, that He might
"have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way."
Brothers and Sisters, do you expect to be made perfect without
sufferings? It will never be so with you–
"Thepath of sorrow, and that path alone,
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown." We shall never be fit for
the Heavenly Canaan unless we first pass through the wilderness! There
are certain things about us which require this, so thus it must be.
11. For both He that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of
one. One family. One by nature with Christ our glorious Head.
11. For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Oh, this
blessed condescension of Christ! We are often ashamed of ourselves.
Alas, we are sometimes so base as to be ashamed of Him–but He is never
ashamed to call us brethren.
12. Saying, I will declare Your name unto My brethren, in the midst of
the church will I sing praise unto You. Christ, the center of the
celestial choirs, is also the center of all the bands of true singers
that are yet here below.
13. And again, I willput my trust in Him. This is our Lord Jesus Christ
putting His trust in the Father, overcoming by faith, even as we do.
Oh, what a marvelous oneness there is, here, between Christ and His
people! Well might the Apostle say that "both He that sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all of one."
13, 14. And again, Behold I and the children which God has given Me.
Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He
also Himself likewise took part of the same. We know what it is to be
partakers of flesh and blood. We often wish that we did not. It is the
flesh that drags us down. It is the flesh that brings us a thousand
sorrows. I have a converted soul, but an unconverted body. Christ has
healed my soul, but He has left my body, to a large extent, still in
bondage and, therefore, it still has to suffer. But the Lord will
redeem even that! The redemption of the body is the adoption and that
is to come at the day of the Resurrection. But think of Christ, who was
a partaker of the Eternal Godhead, condescending to make Himself a
partaker of flesh and blood–the Godhead linked with materialism! The
Infinite, an Infant! The Eternal prepared to die and actually dying!
Oh, wondrous mystery, this union of Deity with humanity in the Person
of Christ Jesus our Lord! Why did He become a partaker of flesh and
blood and die upon the Cross? Listen–
14. That through death He might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil That, through dying, He might overthrow
Satan's power for all who trust Him!
15-18. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature
of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Therefore in all
things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might
be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to
make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself
has suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are
tempted. Glory be to His holy name forever and ever! Amen.
PRAY THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL USE THIS SERMON TO BRING MANY TO A SAVING
KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST.