"Sitting By"
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 13, 1887,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there
were Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting by." Luke 5:17.
A CONGREGATION is a strange aggregate–it is like the gatherings of a
net, or the collections of a dredge. If it is a very large one, it is
especially remarkable. What strange varieties of creatures meet in the
Noah's ark of a crowded House of Prayer! If anybody could write the
histories of all gathered here, the result would be a library of
singular stories.
You, my dear Friends, who usually worship here, have probably no idea
of the strange medley of nations, ranks, professions, conditions and
religions which are represented in one of the great congregations of
this Tabernacle. I am often myself greatly startled when I come across
the tracks of people quite unknown to me, except by the newspapers, who
have mingled in these vast assemblies. I could not have imagined that
they would ever have entered a place where the Gospel is preached! It
is noteworthy that God always selects our congregations for us–and His
arrangements are always wise. I have frequently said to myself, "I
shall have a picked congregation tonight," and in some instances this
has been very singularly the case. Persons have come here who had,
themselves, no thought of coming, till some special matter drew
them–and then the Word of God spoken has been so manifestly suited to
their case that it made them marvel! If they had sent notice of their
coming and the preacher had known all about them, he might not have
ventured to be quite so personal, for he has unwittingly entered into
minute details and secret items which, knowingly, he would never have
revealed! The Lord who knows what is done in the closet, knows how to
direct His ministering servant so that he shall speak to the point and
speak to the heart.
In the present congregation we have a large company of people who have
long known the Lord and have, for years, rejoiced in His name. We have
another company of persons who do not know the Lord savingly, but yet
are well acquainted with the Gospel and are not far from the Kingdom of
God. They are almost persuaded. They tarry in the border land. Oh, that
they would cross the frontier and become dwellers in Immanuel's Land!
We have also among us some who are far removed from Divine life–a
people about whom we have little or no hope. Yet it is from among these
that we reap the richest spoils for Christ, for He has compassion on
the ignorant and on those that are out-of-the-way. I am fond of that
word, "out-of-the-way." The Lord save all of you who are out-of-the-way
ones!
In every congregation we have a fourth class who would decline to be
classed at all–they may be said to be here and not here! They are
spectators rather than hearers. Like the gentlemen mentioned in our
text, they are "sitting by." They are too respectable to be numbered
with the vulgar crowd. No, no–they are only callers, sitting by. They
would not like to have it supposed that they are regular hearers, much
less converts–they are "sitting by." They are not repenting. They are
not believing. They are not entering into the Truth of God at all. But,
they are, "sitting by." They have come to look on, take notes and make
remarks. They are on the outskirts of the battle, but they are not
combatants at all–they are "sitting by"–where they hope they are out
the range of gunshot!
It is about these who are "sitting by "that I shall now speak, for I am
afraid they are becoming by far too easy in the seats which they have
chosen. They are sitting as God's people sit and yet they are not truly
among them, but only, "sitting by." They are a very irritating and
disappointing part of our assemblies, but, at the same time, there they
are and we would not turn them out if we could! We are glad to have
these persons to quarry from, for who knows but that out of
them, God, in infinite mercy, may select individuals who will never
again "sit by," but who will be heart and soul with Christ and His
people–and even become leaders of the host of God?
Let me freely speak to you concerning certain of those who sat by. They
were by no means to be despised, for some of them were eminent persons.
They were Pharisees, members of the separate sect, who kept themselves
to themselves, and were punctilious about the externals of religion.
Very superior, indeed, were these Pharisees–and you could see by their
faces that they felt themselves to be persons of importance. With these
were doctors of the Law of God, the learned men who had studied the
Scriptures very carefully, counted the words of each Holy Book and
found out the middle letter of it. These doctors of the Law had come to
hear the unlettered peasant from Nazareth, concerning whom they had a
very strong, but by no means favorable opinion. They had heard about
Him and they condescended to give Him a hearing, half blushing at their
own modesty in doing so. Not, of course, that He could teach them
anything–they were merely, "sitting by," and nothing more. We do not
see many of these great folk among our crowds and, perhaps, there are
none such here on this occasion, but we cannot be sure. I do not much
care to know whether the learned and profound are here, but they do
come among us at times, though it is only to sit by. I will say no more
about these remarkable people just now, for many others come into
congregations merely to sit by. They have not come with any wish to
learn, or understand, or feel, or be saved–they are only "sitting by."
I. Let our first head answer the enquiry–WHAT WERE THESE PEOPLE DOING?
They were "sitting by." There is a good deal in this. First, they were
indulging their curiosity. They had come out of every town of Galilee,
Judea and Jerusalem to know what this stir was all about. They had
heard the great fame of Christ for working miracles and this drew them
into the throng which continually surrounded Him. Besides, the crowd,
itself, drew them. Why was there such a large company? What could it be
all about? They would like to know for the sake of curiosity. They
would, for once, hear the Man, that they might be able to say that they
had heard Him–but they were not going to be influenced by what they
heard–they would hear Him as outsiders, "sitting by." They were
curious, but not anxious.
As a rule, very little comes of this kind of attendance at places of
worship. And yet, I had sooner people come from this motive than not at
all! Curiosity may be the stepping-stone to something better, but, in
itself, what good is there in it? Persons on the Sunday go to St.
Paul's, to Westminster Abbey, to the Tabernacle, to this place and to
that–and they suppose that they are worshipping God–whereas they
might just as well have gone to see a show! In fact, it is going to a
show and nothing more as far as their motive is concerned! Do not
flatter yourselves–if you go to places of worship merely to look about
you or to hear music, you are not worshipping God! If you come to this
great house to gratify your own fancy, you are no more worshipping God
than you would be if you walked in the fields! You are only, in a very
poor and groveling sense, "sitting by."
Many come into our assemblies and sit by in this respect–that they are
altogether indifferent. I do not suppose that these scribes and
Pharisees were quite good enough to be altogether indifferent–they
leaned the wrong way and were bitterly opposed. Too many act as if they
said, "I come to hear a noted preacher, but what his doctrine may be I
neither know nor care." They do not enquire, "What is this doctrine of
the Fall? What is this depravity of heart? What is this work of the
Spirit? What is this vicarious Sacrifice?" They do not care to know
whether they are concerned in anything that is spoken of. Nor do they
ask, "What is this new birth, this translation from darkness to Light,
this sanctification of nature?" They hear a theological term and
dismiss it as no concern of theirs. They do not want to know too much.
This atoning Sacrifice–they hear so much about it. This shedding of
the precious blood of Jesus. This putting away of sin by the Sacrifice
of Jesus–they will not lend an ear to this saving mystery–but treat
it as a matter of little or no consequence. It is nothing to them that
Jesus should die!
O dear Sirs, it ought to be something to you! If there is anything
worth enquiring into, it is your own state before God, your position as
to eternal things, your condition at this moment in reference to
sin–whether it stains you scarlet, or whether you have been washed
from it in the fountain which Christ has opened! If there is anything
worthy of a man's enquiry, it is the matter which concerns his own soul
for eternity! Would God you would no longer be found, "sitting by," but
would in earnest feel, "There is something here for me. Perhaps for me
there is a peace which I have never known, a joy which I have never
imagined. I will see for myself. Perhaps for me there is a Heaven of
which I have, up to now, despised. I will make a searching enquiry and
see whether it is so or not." May that be your resolve and may you no
longer be among those who sit by in stolid indifference!
The scribes and Pharisees were sitting by in another and a worse,
sense, for they were there to criticize in an unfriendly spirit, and
either find faults, or invent them. I see them take out their notebooks
to jot down a Word the Savior said which they thought could be twisted.
How they nudged one another as He said something which sounded unusual
and bold! Oh, could they but catch Him! When, at last, He said to the
sick man, "Your sins are forgiven you," I think I see their eyes flash
with malignant fire! "Now we have got Him! Now we have got Him! This
Man blasphemes!" They hoped He had now said more than He could stand to
and they asked in triumph, "Who can forgive sins but God only?" They
were, "sitting by," watching the Savior as a cat watches a mouse! How
eagerly they spring upon Him!
My Hearers, this was a wretched business, was it not? It is a very poor
business to go to the House of God to criticize a fellow mortal who is
sincerely trying to do us good. It will not, in the present case,
affect the preacher much, for his skin is hardened and he feels not the
tiny strokes of ordinary censure. In no case can ungenerous criticisms
do any good. But the pity of it is that when we earnestly desire to
show you the way of salvation, some of you should hinder us by petty
observations upon a faulty mannerism, a slight blunder, a
mispronunciation of a word, or an inaccurate accent! Alas, what small
things put the eternal Truth of God on one side! I do not know and I
would not like to say if I did know, what petty trifles people will
carry away and talk of, after we have been solemnly pleading with them
about Heaven, Hell, the Judgement Day and the wrath to come–and the
way to escape from it! Was it Carlyle who spoke of the cricket as
chirping amid the crack of doom?
I am apt to think that many people are like that cricket–they go on
with their idle chitchat when Christ, Himself, is set before them on
the Cross. Assuredly this is poor work! I am hungry. I come to a
banquet, but, instead of feasting upon the food, I begin to criticize
the dress of the waiters, abuse the arrangements of the banqueting hall
and vilify the provisions! I shall go home as hungry as I came and who
will be blamed for it? The best criticism that you can possibly give of
your friend's entertainment is to be hearty in partaking of it! The
greatest honor that we can do to Christ Jesus is to feed upon Him, to
receive Him, to trust Him, to live upon Him! Merely to complain and to
question will bring no good to the most clever of you. How can it? It
is a pitiful waste of time for yourself and a trial of temper to
others. Yet there are many who, like the scribes and Pharisees, are in
this manner, "sitting by."
Now, I do not care to go farther into these different forms of "sitting
by," but no doubt some kindly admire, but do not profit. Hundreds of
people are "sitting by" who are attentive hearers and warm friends–and
yet have no part nor lot in the matter. They have been more or less
regular attendants at this House of Prayer for, say 12, 14, 15, 20
years–and yet they are not one whit the better! Some go from public
worship to the public house–and yet they would not neglect church or
chapel on any account! Many are no better at home for all they have
heard–their wives are sorrowful witnesses to that fact. Why, some of
you have been prayed for time out of mind and you have been preached at
as well, but still, you are, "sitting by." I cannot make out why you
come so constantly and yet profit so little! It would seem to all who
knew you a very odd thing if you were seen loafing about a certain shop
for an hour and a half one day in the week for 20 years and yet you
never bought a pennyworth of goods! Why do you hang about the Gospel
shop and yet purchase nothing? On your own showing you are a fool! I do
not like using a hard word, still, it is used in Scripture for such as
you are. He who believes a thing to be so important that he spends one
day in the week in hearing about it, and yet does not think it
important enough to accept it as a gift, stultifies himself by his own
actions! How will you answer for it at the Last Great Day when the
Judge shall say, "You believed enough to go and hear about salvation.
Why did you not believe enough to accept it? You believed enough to
quarrel for it. You would stand up for the doctrine of the Gospel– and
yet you, yourself, perished in your sin." What answer will you give,
you that are "sitting by"? You will have to give some answer, what will
it be? Oh, that you would use a little commonsense about your souls and
would quit the seat of the foolish for the stool of the penitent–and
no more be of those who are "sitting by!"
II. Secondly, let us enquire WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHILE THESE PERSONS
WERE "SITTING BY"? They had entered the room where Jesus was preaching,
where crowds were listening, where miracles of mercy were being worked.
They were criticizing, carping and quibbling–but what was happening to
them all the while?
Well, first, they were incurring responsibility. Sirs, you cannot hear
the Gospel and refuse it, and yet remain as you were! You are either
better or worse after hearing the Gospel. It is made to you either a
savor of life unto life, or else of death unto death! Remember, it will
be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgement, than
for Bethsaida and Chorazin, who had heard the Gospel. The refusal of
the Gospel is a crowning crime–there is no sin like
it! Does not the Word of God say so? This is no gloomy talk of mine.
The Lord Jesus taught that the men of Nineveh would condemn the men of
Jerusalem because they heeded warning and Jerusalem did not. Oh, you
that have heard the Gospel so long, and have been "sitting by" all the
while, what a mountain of guilt rests upon you! How shall you escape?
What must become of you after such base ingratitude?
Besides that, they were gathering hardness of heart. Every hour that
you listen to the Gospel–and bar your heart against it–you are less
and less likely to admit it. The bolt that is rusted is hard to move
back from its place. The path that has long been trodden by daily
traffic has become hard, as though it were paved with stone–hearts
that have often been traversed by the Gospel become like iron beneath
its tread. I fear your consciences have grown hardened by the traffic
of the Gospel. I know that it is so with many. The Lord forgive them!
If I could have a congregation that never heard the Gospel before, I
should feel more hopeful than I do when I speak to you who have heard
it for years. What is now likely to affect you? What fresh arguments
can I bring? I can tell you some new story, perhaps, but what of that?
You have had too many stories already! It is not so easy a matter to
retain your attention, now, as it once was–the voice has grown
familiar and the manner is stale to you. Can I hope that I shall now
reach the hearts at which I have shot so many arrows which have all
missed the mark? O God, have mercy upon those who have been "sitting
by" so long!
Once again, let me remind you that those who were "sitting by" were
obstructing Christ all that they could. There is a something–every
preacher has felt it–there is a something in a congregation itself
which affects the preacher, even as he affects the congregation. I soon
feel when godly men are praying for me and crying, "O Lord, help him to
preach!" I cannot tell you how it is, but so it is, that some
congregations freeze me and others set me on fire. When the doctors of
the Law and the Pharisees are, "sitting by," they drag us down and we
cannot do many mighty works. If my eye catches the glance of one of
these ice men. If I perceive his wretched indifference and detect his
half-concealed sneer, I am weakened by it. I fancy I hear such folks
saying, "We care nothing for what you say. We do not belong to those
whom you can influence. We are clad in mail against your weapons." This
chills one to the marrow.
Now, this is the tendency of your conduct if you are "sitting by"–you
chill the preacher–and in chilling the preacher you do boundless
mischief to the congregation. Don't you know that it was said, even of
Jesus, "He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief?
Even He, as Man, was, in a measure, dependent upon those who surrounded
Him! When He saw their faith, He healed the sick of the palsy! And at
another time, when He saw their unbelief, He looked round with
indignation! It is a terrible fact that certain of you may be so acting
as to hinder the salvation of others by your indifference to the sacred
message! I believe that this is eminently the case with you that are
very good people in all but the one thing necessary–you do not fear
God and your very goodness works for evil! The example of a rank and
rotten profligate will not influence certain minds, for they are
disgusted by its grossness and driven to seek something better. But
when young men see an excellent person like you, so moral and amiable,
without religion, they gather from your example that godliness is not
absolutely necessary and take license to do without it! Thus, you who
are "sitting by" may be a curse when you little suspect it–you may be
encouraging others in the attempt to live without the Savior!
Yet let me not finish this head without repeating the remark that we
are glad to have these people, "sitting by," rather than not coming at
all! Being in the way, the Lord may meet with them. If you go where
shots are flying, you may be wounded one of these days. Better to come
and hear the Gospel from a low motive than not to come at all! Remember
Hugh Latimer's quaint story when he urged all his hearers to go and
hear the Gospel? He even praised that sleepless woman who had been
taking sleeping medicine, but found that there was no drug strong
enough to make her sleep till, at last, she said, "If you would take me
to the parish church I know that I could go to sleep, for I have slept
there every Sunday for many years." She was taken to that place of rest
and was soon at peace! "Well, well," said Latimer, "she had better come
for sleep than not come at all." And so I say–even if you come here to
sleep, the Lord may awake you to seek and find the Savior! Still it is
a wretched business–this, "sitting by."
III. Next, let us enquire WHAT WAS THE REASON THESE PEOPLE WERE
"SITTING BY"? Why did they come to hear Jesus and yet did not become a
part of the really attentive congregation, but were hovering round the
skirts of it and, "sitting by"? I would not needlessly offend any of
those who have come here at this time, but let me quietly say a few
things which may be applicable to them.
In the first place, in the case of the scribes it was self-conceit
which made them sit by. They were divided from the common throng by a
sense of superiority. They said, "What have we to do with hearing Jesus
of Nazareth and His message concerning the pardon of sin?" "Why," they
said, "we are highly educated people and do not need to listen to so
plain a preacher. His salvation we do not need, for we are not lost."
Jesus, Himself, said, "They that are whole need not a physician; but
they that are sick," thus indicating that it was their good idea of
themselves which kept them back from Him. That is the reason why so
many sit by–in their own opinion they are quite as good as the best
and are not in need of any great change. They are most respectable
people and they believe that they are also upright and generous.
There went a man out of this place one evening who was spoken to by one
of our friends who happened to know him in trade and had him in good
repute. "What? Have you been to hear our minister tonight?" The good
man answered, "Yes, I am sorry to say I have." "But," said our friend,
"why are you sorry?" "Why," he said, "he has turned me inside out and
spoiled my idea of myself! When I went into the Tabernacle I thought I
was the best man in Newington, but now I feel that my righteousness is
worthless." "Oh," said the friend, "that is all right, you will come
again, I am sure. The Word of God has come home to you and shown you
the truth–you will get comfort soon." That friend did come again and
he is here tonight–he takes pleasure in that very Truth of God which
turned him inside out! And he comes on purpose that the Word of the
Lord may search him and try him–and be to him as a refiner's fire! He
that is most afraid to be turned inside out is the man who most needs
to undergo that process!
Alas, many will not let the Word of God search them! They say within
themselves, "That is good, very good. But it is not for me." Such are
those that sit by. They sit in a corner, out of the wind of the
winnowing fan. Do you not see them draw themselves up and look very
solemnly at other people, as if they would say to their neighbor,
"There, you take that home! That doctrine is good for you sinners, but
the preacher has no reference to me."
These people were "sitting by" because there was, in them, no sense of
personal need, no perception of their own nakedness which only Christ
can cover, no sense of inward hunger which only Jesus can remove. They
did not need a Savior for themselves, though quite willing to hear Him
preached to others. They did not require mercy for themselves, though
pleased that sinners should hear of it. They could see and, therefore,
needed not that their eyes should be opened. They had all things and
had no poverty to plead. So it always will be in the preaching of the
Word–those will hear it with gladness who perceive that they need what
it presents to them–but others will take no interest in it. Conscious
need inclines the ear to hear–and until the Spirit of God works this
in us, we shall be deaf as posts to the voice of love–and continue
"sitting by."
There was also about these people a mass of prejudice. Their
conservative tendency kept them aloof. Carried a certain distance, this
tendency is good, but it may turn a man into a pillar of salt and
prevent his fleeing for his life. Having drunk the old wine, these
immovable people do not desire new because they feel sure that the old
is better. Yet if the old wine is sour or musty and the new wine is
sweet and good, it is a pity to prefer the bad to the good! The old
intoxicating wine of salvation by human merit, or by ceremonies, is, by
many, preferred to our Lord's own new wine of the Kingdom, namely
Justification by His righteousness through faith. "Believe and live" is
set aside for, "the man that does these things shall live by them."
They prefer Sinai to Calvary, their own filthy rags to the Lord's
perfect robe of righteousness! They stick to the Old Covenant, which is
taken away, and cannot endure the Everlasting Covenant of Grace. The
prejudice of proud human nature is hard to overcome–men are not
willing to search the Scriptures and see whether they are right or
not–they stick to their inherited falsehoods.
Many are "sitting by" because of resolute unbelief and determined
self-confidence. O Friends, it is born in us by nature to believe in
ourselves! What is that but clear idolatry? It is not till we are born
again that we come to believe in Jesus Christ and so to trust in the
living God and receive a living hope! May the Lord deliver us from that
old, good-for-nothing confidence in self, confidence in works,
confidence in outward ceremonies, confidence in the flesh! Oh, that we
might pour the old and musty wine on the ground–and taste of the new
wine, crushed from the cluster by the dying Son of God–the new wine of
salvation by Grace, through faith, unto the glory of God! Would God
that those who are "sitting by" on account of their vainglorious
prejudices, may be brought into the marriage feast of Grace and made
willing to wear the wedding garment and honor Him who has prepared it!
Prejudice is the ruin of thousands! They might be made to see if they
did not think that they already saw! They might be happy in the Lord if
their groundless conceit did not make them to be "sitting by."
IV. WHAT SHALL WE SAY OF THESE SITTERS-BY? Just a word by way of
forming an estimate of them and then I will have done with them. Oh,
that the Lord, Himself, might deal with them by His Holy Spirit! These
sitters-by, these people who do not go in for the Truth of God and
faith of the Gospel, but hear it, play with it, talk about it and then
have done with it–what shall I say of them?
Why, first, they seem to me to be wonderfully out of place when you
think of the Lord who was preaching. How could they be indifferent in
His Presence? He was at a white heat and they were blocks of ice. He
was all energy and they were "sitting by." He spending and being
spent–and they "sitting by." He engaged all night in prayer with His
Divine Father and now, coming forth clothed with Divine Power to
heal–and they, "sitting by." Pretending to be doctors and teachers of
the people and, therefore, under great responsibility, they were yet
content to be, "sitting by," when Jesus was pouring out His soul! O
Sirs, none of us ought to be indifferent in the Presence of the Christ
of God! He is clad with zeal as with a cloak–how can we be lukewarm?
He laid down His life for the sheep–how can we live for self? He still
lives for His people and holds not His peace, but by His incessant
pleading He proves His everlasting interest in our cause –for us to
be, "sitting by," is horrible ingratitude! Men who have received great
salvation, "sitting by," while the Savior dies? Or even men who are in
danger of sinking at once to Hell carelessly, "sitting by," when the
gate of mercy is set open before them by the pierced hand of Jesus? Oh,
it is sadly strange! Lord, teach this foolish generation wisdom! Let
them not still be, "sitting by"!
It was equally incongruous with the condition of the rest of the
congregation. Look, there is such a crowd around the Lord Jesus that
they are trying to bring in a man who is sick of the palsy, but they
cannot get him near. Nobody will make way–they are all so eager to
hear and to get a blessing! At last they take the palsied man to the
roof–they actually break up the tiling! They lower the man down with
ropes over the heads of the people! Yes, right in among the learned
lawyers and the proud Pharisees! The pieces of the tiles are falling
everywhere! The dust is on the doctors and divines! Look how eager, how
earnest, how impetuous the people are! And yet these gentlemen
Pharisees and lawyers are, "sitting by" with cold indifference!
Look at them taking out their notebooks to jot down an expression with
which they may find fault! See how they coolly observe little points in
what is done! They are not moved–not they! A man is about to be healed
who has long been paralyzed–and they treat it as if it were an
interesting case in the hospital–around which a company of medical
students gather, as to a show. How can they act in this way? Are they
made of stone or iron? One would think common humanity might affect
them–but no, they will not enter into anything that Jesus says or
does–they are merely, "sitting
by."
It will be an awful thing for some of you to be cast away forever–and
then to remember that you sat next to people that were saved–sat next
them at the very time when they heard unto eternal life! How will you
bear to know that these people were saved by that powerful sermon which
drove even you to your knees, but you shook off the impression, grew
careless and again continued in your sin? This reflection will sting
you as does a serpent when you are past hope and are driven forever
from the Presence of God. This will be as the worm that never
dies–when you say to yourself–"I was present when Jesus, by His
Grace, renewed men's hearts. I was present when my companion heard,
believed and was saved, but I willfully refused to hear and turned away
from the only Savior." What shall I say to yonder husband who will have
to remember that she who in this world lay in his bosom, wept for him,
told him that she had found a Savior and begged him to think of his
immortal soul and turn unto the Lord? You will remember how you steeled
your heart against the blessed influence and refused the holy tears of
one you loved so well!
Or is it so, that your darling child came home from the Sunday school
weeping on account of sin and you, the mother who ought to have thanked
God for blessing your offspring, ridiculed your child's repentance?
This is, "sitting by," in a most horrible way–"sitting by" to scoff
and oppose! While others are saved–you are "sitting by." Why, if I
were sick of the palsy, tonight. If I were lying here and I saw the
Master healing you who were sick, I think I should at least cry out as
best I could, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on me!" I exhort any of you
who are unconverted to take these words out of my mouth and with your
whole heart use them in prayer. Cry, "Lord have mercy upon me! Christ
have mercy upon me!"
V. I had much more to add upon this point, but time admonishes me. Let
me in a few sentences speak to some WHO SHOULD NOT BE AMONG THOSE WHO
ARE "SITTING BY." You that feel your soul-sickness will not be of that
number. You feel your guilt–you feel your need of Christ. You are
broken down–then do not, for a moment, sit by! Rise, He calls you!
Press through the crowd to Jesus! Believe in Him and live! May His
Spirit lead you to do so at once!
Before I found the Savior, I visited nearly every place of worship in
the town where I lived, but I did not find full salvation at any one of
them. I believe that it was through my own ignorance. In the little
Primitive Methodist chapel, when I heard Christ preached and was bid to
look, alone, to Him, I found rest unto my soul! But the reason why I
found Him was because His Grace had made me know that I needed Him. I
do not suppose that the sermon which was made useful to me had anything
in it more remarkable than other Gospel sermons. The special point was
that the Lord had prepared me to receive the Gospel message. They say
that the water of the Nile is very sweet. We have heard some of our
countrymen assert that a very little of it was too much for them and
that they never wished to drink of it again. There is no use in
disputing about tastes, but surely, people might agree upon the quality
of water! Yet some praise this Nile water to the skies and others call
it muddy stuff. The reason why the water of the Nile is so sweet to
Egyptians is that their climate is dry and the people are thirsty–and
other water is scarce. Under a burning sun, a drink of water is very
refreshing. To the soul that is thirsty after mercy and reconciliation
and eternal life, every promise of the Lord is delightful! Nothing puts
such a savor and flavor into the Gospel as that work of the Holy
Spirit, by which we are made to feel our great need of it!
Oh, if you have not found Christ–you that are seeking Him–go to every
place where Christ is preached till you find Him! If you do not get the
heavenly blessing in one place, go to another! Do not stop where there
is no blessing merely because it is your regular place of assembly. You
need bread and if one baker has not got it, go to another! Seek after
the Savior as men dig for gold or search for diamonds.
I have heard of a man who had long attended one of the Churches in
Scotland, but as he did not get any good, he went off to listen to
certain irregular preaching and there he found peace with God. The old
minister warned him of his wickedness in being away from the Church and
said, in Scotch, what I must put into English, "Donald, you should not
have gone to hear that man! He is not of the old Church." "Well," said
Donald, "but I needed a blessing and I felt I must go anywhere to get
it." "Well," said the minister, "Donald, you should have waited at the
pool, like the man in the Gospels, till the water was stirred." "Well,
Sir," said the man, "but you see that man saw that the water was
sometimes stirred and though he did not get in, himself, yet he knew
that others stepped in and were healed. And that encouraged him to wait
a little longer, in the hope that his turn might yet come. But I have
lain at your pool these 40 years and I never saw the water stirred,
neither did anybody get healed in it. And so I thought it was time for
me to look somewhere
else."
Indeed it was! We cannot afford to be lost for the sake of churches or
chapels. O my Hearer, seek the Lord with all your heart! And seek Him
on and on till you find Him! Do not be a mere sitter-by any longer, but
obey the call which bids you draw near. Be not content to sit in any
pretended House of Prayer where prayer is not heard and souls are never
saved. Do not let down your bucket into any more dry wells. Go where
Jesus is! Traverse all the denominations and stay not till you can say,
"I have found Jesus." If He is not preached in one place, hasten to
another. Keep your ears and your hearts open. "Seek you the Lord while
He may be found; call upon Him while He is near." Do not fall into the
habit of going to a place because you always went there and always mean
to go there. Why, some of you have almost grown to your seats and are
as wooden as that which bears you up! O mere sitter-by, I implore you,
do not remain in this wretched case! May your cry to the Lord be, at
this moment–
"Give me Christ, or else I die!" May God help you to make your hearing
a reality, your sitting under the Gospel a true reception of it!
You that are in great sorrow I do not think it possible that you can be
altogether sitters-by! You have been disappointed in love. You have met
with a world of trouble, or else you have been the round of amusements
and have seen no end of gaiety–but you are sick of it–and weary of
the world and of yourself. You feel that you might as well try to fill
your belly with wind as fill your soul with the world's amusements–and
you have come here jaded and nauseated. Your heart is laboring and
heavy laden and you pine for rest. Come and try my Master! He invites
you. He entreats you to come. He cries to you, "Come unto Me, all you
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He means
what He says. You have labored enough for the world, and its wages are
not worth having. Come now to Him whose gift is eternal life! May His
Holy Spirit lead you to come at once and delay no longer! You are one
of those that cannot afford to be, "sitting by," for sin curses you,
death threatens you and eternal wrath pursues you! I know how it will
be with you
unless Grace prevents–you will go home and the sermon will be
over–and the many of you will still be sitters-by, for you will shake
off conviction and still be careless. Remember, I have warned you. Will
you despise the warning?
A poor fallen woman is here at this time, worn out with her crimes.
Does she desire to know the Savior? Let her confess her sin and forsake
it–then she will not be "sitting by." There is a broken-hearted youth
here who begins to reap the wild oats he has sown. Will he sit by? Does
he wish to know how his heart can be changed, his sin forgiven, his
soul comforted? Let him arise and go to his Father–and no longer be
"sitting by."
And so I close with a full and free Gospel call! Come and welcome, you
that gladly would come to Jesus. Come just now, with all your sins
about you, and behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world! If you want to know what it is to come to Him, know that it is
to trust Him. Go to your chamber, and look up and say, "Jesus, I cannot
see You; but You are wherever there is a broken heart. Behold, I seek
You; reveal Yourself to me. I trust You to forgive me and to renew me."
Jesus will not refuse you, for He casts out none that come to Him. I
said, "Go home," but I will alter that. Keep your seats and seek Him
where you are and as you are! Before you leave this place, commit
yourselves into those dear hands which were pierced for the guilty and
are always ready to grasp a sinner. As the pearl fisher is happy when
he finds a handful of pearls, so is Jesus happy when He lays hold on
poor sinners and takes them to be His own! Commit your souls to His
keeping. Wholly trust Him! Trust him only! Trust him now! Today, escape
for your lives and find refuge in the Rock of Ages! Jesus cries, "Look
unto Me and be you saved, all the ends of the earth." O Lord, lead all
these sinners to look to Jesus by Your Holy Spirit for Your mercy's
sake! Amen.