Song for the Free–Hope for the Bound
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1887,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke
their chains in pieces. Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He
has broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in two." Psalm
107:14-16.
MY anxious, prayerful desire this morning is that some who have been in
the condition described in the text may come out of it into full
redemption. They have been too long in prison and now the silver
trumpet sounds–liberty to the captives! Jesus has come into the world
to break the gate of brass and to cut the bars of iron in two. Oh, that
my prayer might be heard for those who are in bondage! I trust that
some of those who are now immured in the dungeon of despondency will
say, "Amen," to my prayer and, if they are praying inside and we are
praying outside–and the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, comes to open the
prison doors, then there will be a Jubilee before long.
This passage, of course, literally alludes to prisoners held in durance
by their fellow men. What a sad world man has made of this earth! With
superfluity of evil, man has multiplied his Bastilles! As if there were
not misery enough to the free, he invents cells and chains! One's blood
boils when standing in those living graves in which tyrants have buried
their victims out of sight and hearing! Could the most fierce of wild
beasts display such cruelty to their kind as men have shown to men? By
the horrors of such imprisonments, one must estimate the joy of being
set free. To God it is a glory that, in the order of His Providence, He
often provides a way of escape for the oppressed. Cruel dynasties have
been overthrown, tyrants have been hurled from their thrones and then
enlargement has come to those who were shut up. Liberated ones should,
indeed, "praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works
to the children of men."
But the various scenes in this Psalm were intended to describe
spiritual conditions. The second verse is a key to the whole song–"Let
the redeemed of the Lord say so." The deliverance here intended is one
which is brought to us by redemption–and comes by the way of the great
Sacrifice on Calvary. We are redeemed with the precious blood of Him
who surrendered His own liberty for our sakes and consented to be bound
and crucified that He might set us free. My grateful heart seems to
hear Him saying again, as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane, "If you
seek Me, let these go their way." His consenting to be bound brought
freedom to all those who put their trust in Him.
I shall endeavor, as God shall help me, to speak of the text
spiritually–and we will consider it under the heading of three
questions. First, Who are the favored men of whom the text speaks?
Secondly, How has this remarkable deliverance been worked. Thirdly,
What shall be done about it? The text tells us how to act. "Oh that men
would praise the Lord for His goodness!"
I. First, let us ask, WHO ARE THESE FAVORED MEN?
These favored persons were guilty men, as you will see by the
context–"Because they rebelled against the words of God and despised
the counsel of the Most High." Hear this, you sinful ones, and take
heart! God has worked great wonders for a people whom it seemed
impossible for Him to notice. If they came into prison through
rebellion, you would expect Him to leave them there. Yet rebels are set
free by an act of immeasurable Grace! The Redeemer has received gifts
for men, "yes, also for the rebellious." These men were despisers of
God's Word–was there a Gospel of freedom for them? Yes! It is for them
that Jehovah, in abounding Grace, has worked miracles of mercy.
The persons described by the Psalmist were guilty of overt acts. They
were in actual rebellion against the commands of the Most High. Their
rebellion was not a single hasty act–their entire lives were a
continuance of their wicked revolt. From their childhood, they went
astray. In their youth, they provoked the Lord, and in their manhood
they disobeyed
Him more and more. They were in open opposition to their Creator,
Benefactor and Lord. I have no doubt that I am speaking to many who
must admit that they have been actual and willful transgressors against
the Lord of Love. They have turned unto Him their back, and not the
face–they have not been servants, but rebels.
The persons here spoken of were as evil in their hearts as in their
lives, for they, "despised the counsel of the Most High." Perhaps they
intellectually rejected the teaching of Holy Scripture and scorned to
receive what the Lord revealed. They refused to yield their
understandings to Infallible teaching and judged their own thoughts to
be better than the thoughts of God. The counsel of the Most High,
though marked by the sublimity of Him from whom it came, appeared to
them to be less high than their own soaring theories and, therefore,
they despised it. To some men, any doctrine is more acceptable than
that of Scripture. They gladly hear what doubters say, but they will
not hear what God the Lord shall speak. His counsel of instruction, His
counsel of command, His counsel of promise–His whole counsel they cast
away from them–and they take counsel of their own conceit!
Now this actual and mental sin, when it is brought home to a man's
awakened conscience, fills him with dismay. Because he has transgressed
with hand and heart, the convicted sinner is in sore dismay. O my
Hearer, are you in distress this day through your own fault? Do you
wonder that you are in trouble? Did you expect to go in the way of evil
and yet to be happy? Did you never hear those words, "There is no
peace, says my God, unto the wicked"? Know you not that they are "like
the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and
dirt"? Now that you find yourself taken in the thorns of your own
folly, are you at all surprised? The Scripture says, "Have you not
procured this unto yourself?" Are not these the wages of sin? Thank God
you have not yet received more than the earnest money of that terrible
wage! But, depend upon it, sin is a hard paymaster! Sin and sorrow are
wedded in the very nature of things and there is no dividing them. They
that sow iniquity shall reap the same. Turn as it may, the river of
wickedness at last falls into the sea of wrath! He that sins must smart
unless a Savior can be found to be his Surety and to smart for him.
So, then, these people who were set free were, by nature, guilty men
who could not have deserved the Divine interposition. Hear this, you
consciously guilty, you that are condemning yourselves and confessing
your faults! This is good news for you, even for you! The Lord sets
free the men whose own hands have forged their manacles. This is Free
Grace, indeed! These marvels of delivering love were performed, not for
the innocent in their misfortune, but for the guilty in their
rebellion. "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."
Go a little further and you will notice that these persons were doomed
men, for they "sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death." It means
that they were in the condemned cell, waiting for execution. No light
could come to them, for their condemnation was clear. No escape could
be hoped for. Not a ray of hope came from any direction. In a short
time they must be taken out to execution, so that the shadow of their
death fell with its damp, dread, deadening influence upon their
spirits. Do I address any such this morning? Ah, my Friend, I can
sympathize with you as you sit here and feel that you are doomed! I,
too, have felt that sentence of death within me! I knew myself to be
"condemned already," because I had not believed on the Son of God. I
recollect how those words, "condemned already," rang in my ears as I
should think the bell of St. Sepulcher's used to sound in the ears of
the condemned in Newgate, warning them that the time was come to go out
upon the scaffold.
When the shadow of eternal wrath falls upon the heart, nothing worse
can be imagined, for the conscience bears sure witness that God is just
when He judges, condemns and punishes. When a man feels the shadow of
death upon him, infidel arguments are silenced, self-conceited defenses
are banished and the heart consents to the justice of the Law of God
which declares, "The soul that sins, it shall die." My Brothers and
Sisters who remember being in this state of conscious condemnation will
join me in praying for those who are now in that condition, for they
need our pity and love. O my Hearers, condemned in your own
consciences, take heart and hope, for you are the sort of people whom
Jehovah, in His Grace, delights to set free! Those doomed ones were the
men of whom our text sings, "He brought them out of darkness and the
shadow of death." It is your condemned condition which needs free mercy
and, behold, the Lord meets your need in His boundless Grace!
To the doomed, the Lord God in Christ Jesus will give free pardon this
morning! I speak with great confidence, for my trust is in the God of
Love. The Lord is going to hear prayer for you sinners. You shall be
brought from under the black cloud which now threatens you with
overwhelming tempest–you shall come forth from the condemned cell, not
to
execution–but to absolution! Blessed be the name of the Lord! He
passes by transgression and does it justly through the Atonement of His
Son!
But next, these persons were bound men, for they, "sat in darkness and
in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron." Their
afflictions were like iron, hard and cold, and such they could not
break from. The iron entered into their souls. The rust cut the flesh
and poisoned the blood. They were bound in a double sense–addiction
within and iron without. It is a terrible thing when a man feels that
he is lost and that he cannot get away from destruction. An evil habit
has got him within its iron grasp and will not relax its hold. Even
though he would, he cannot loosen himself from the thralldom of his
sin. He has become a slave and there is no escape for him. "O my God!"
he cries, "what can I do?" The more he strains, the more the iron seems
to hold him. His attempts to be free from evil only prove to him how
much enslaved he is. What an awful compound is described in the
text–"affliction and iron"! The bondage is mental and physical, too.
The enslaved spirit and the depraved flesh act and react upon each
other and hold the poor struggling creature as in an iron net! He
cannot break off his sins. He cannot rise to a better life.
I know that some of you who are here at this time are in this case. You
long to be delivered, but you are unable to cut the cords which hold
you. You are greatly troubled, day after day, and cannot rest–and yet
you get no farther. You are striving to find peace, but peace does not
come. You are laboring after emancipation from evil habits, but the
habits still hold you! Friend thus bound, to you I have to tell the
glad news that Jesus Christ has come on purpose that He might proclaim
the opening of the prisons to them that are bound! "He has broken the
gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in two." God is able to
liberate men from every bond of sin over which they mourn! Would you be
free? He will open the door! There is no habit so inveterate, there is
no passion so ferocious, but God can deliver you from it! If you will
but trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, His Grace is a hammer that
can break your chains! Let Jesus say, "Loosen him and let him go," and
not even devils can detain you! Christ's warrant runs over the whole
universe and, if He makes you free, you will be free, indeed!
To advance another step, these persons were weary men, for we read of
them, "He brought down their heart with labor." This does not happen to
all in the same degree, but to some of us, this labor was exceedingly
grinding and exhausting. Our hearts were lofty and needed bringing
down–and the Lord used means to do it. With some, temporal
circumstances go wrong–where everything used to prosper, everything
appears to be under a blight. From abundance they descend to need.
Perhaps the health also begins to give way and from being strong and
hearty men they become sickly and feeble. How often this tames proud
spirits! If it is not outward sorrow, it is within that they labor till
their heart is brought low. They cannot rest and yet they try all
earthly remedies for ease–they go to the theater, they sport with
frivolous companions, they laugh, they dance, they plunge into
vice–but they cannot shake off the burden of their sin!
It will not be removed. As the giraffe, when the lion has leaped upon
him, bears his enemy upon his shoulders and cannot dislodge him, even
though he rushes across the wilderness like the wind, so the sinner is
being devoured by his sin while he madly labors to shake it off. While
the unconverted seek to rest themselves, they do but increase their
weariness. They labor, yes, labor as in the very fire, but it is labor
in vain! In vain do they hasten to every religions service and attend
to every sacred ceremony! In vain do they try to mourn–how can they
put feeling into a heart of stone? If they could, they would make their
tears flow forever and their prayers forever rise, but, to their
horror, they accomplish nothing! The whip of the Law sounds and they
must get to their tasks, again–but the more they do, the more they are
undone. Like one that, having fallen into a slough, sinks all the
deeper into the mire through every struggle that he makes, so do they
fall lower and lower by their efforts to rise!
I understand those awful struggles of yours, so desperate and yet so
unavailing. God is bringing down your heart with labor, but have you
not had enough of this? Do you not remember that love word, "Come unto
Me, all you that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest"?
Sweet promise! Will you not believe it and avail yourselves of it? Will
you not come to Jesus and take the rest which He gives? How I wish you
would come this very day! I beseech the Holy Spirit to turn you to
Jesus. The Lord has come forth with power to draw you and to bring you
away from your weariness unto the sweet rest which remains for the
people of God! Poor doves, fly no further! Return to your Noah! These
of whom we speak at this time were as weary men as ever you can be, but
Jesus gave them rest–why should He not give rest to you? Though bad,
and banned, and bound, and burdened, there is yet hope, for the Lord
can set you free!
Again, these persons were downcast men–"they fell down, and there was
none to help." "We cannot go on any longer," they said. "It is useless
to exert ourselves. We cannot escape God's wrath and yet we cannot bear
it. We are at our wits' end. There is no use in our trying to be
better. We must give it up in despair." "They fell down." This shows
that they were quite spent. The captive has been grinding at the mill
till he cannot go another round. Even the lash cannot make him take
another step–he falls in faintness–as though life had gone. So have
we known men forced to acknowledge that they are, "without strength."
This was always true, but they did not always feel it. Now they have
come to this, that if Heaven could be had for one more effort–and Hell
escaped for one more good work–yet they could not do it! They fall
down and there they lie, a heap of helplessness, dead in trespasses and
sins! Where is the boasted power of their free will?
Now it is to you who have fallen down, even to you, that the word of
this salvation is sent! The Lord Jesus delights to lift up those that
lie at His feet. He is a great over-turner–"He has put down the mighty
from their seats and exalted them of low degree." He that flies aloft
on the eagle's wings of pride shall be brought low by the shafts of
vengeance. But he that humbles himself to the dust shall be lifted up!
He that has fallen down and lies in the dust at the feet of Jesus, lies
on the doorstep of eternal life! The Lord will give power to the weak
and increase strength to those who have no might. I rejoice when I hear
any one of you acknowledge his weakness, since the Lord Jesus will now
show forth His power in you!
In fact, these persons were helpless men–"They fell down and there was
none to help." What a word that is–"None to help"! The proverb says,
"God helps those who help themselves." There is a sort of truth in it,
but I venture to cover it with a far greater Truth of God–"God helps
those that cannot help themselves." When there is none to help you,
then God will help you. "There was none to help"–no priest, no
minister, not even a praying wife, or a praying mother could do
anything! The man felt that human helpers were of no use. His bed was
shorter than that he should stretch himself upon it and his covering
was narrower than that he should wrap himself up in it. Now he saw that
there was no balm in Gilead, there was no physician there–and he
looked to a higher place than Gilead for balm and medicine! The balm
for such a wound as his must come from Heaven, for on earth there was
"none to help." This is a fitting epitaph to be placed over the grave
of self-righteousness! This also is the death-knell of priestcraft,
birthright membership and sacra-mentarianism. The conscience sees that
there is "none to help." Is this your case? Then you are the men and
women in whom God will work the marvels of His Grace–and bring you out
where you shall walk in light and peace!
There was only one good point about these people–they did, at last,
take to praying–"Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble." It
was not much of a prayer to hear. It was too shrill to be musical. It
was too painful to be pleasant. "They cried" like one in sore anguish.
They cried like a child that has lost its mother. "They cried" like
some poor wounded animal in great pain. Do you tell me that you cry,
but that your cry is a very poor one? I know it and I am glad to hear
you say so, for the less you think of your cry, the more God will think
of it! Do you value yourself according to your prayers? Then your
prayers have no value in them! When you think that your prayers are
only broken words, hideous moans and wretched desires, then you begin
to form a right estimate of them and thus you are on true ground where
the Lord of Truth can meet you.
"They cried." Was it any credit to them to cry? Why, no, it was what
they were forced to do! They would not have cried to the Lord, even
then, if they could have done anything else. They cried when their
hearts had been brought so low that they fell down. It is a good fall
when a man falls on his knees. O my dear Hearer, whatever else you do,
or do not do, are you crying to God in secret for His Grace? Then, as
surely as the Lord lives, you shall come out into liberty! A praying
man shall never be sent to perdition. There is that about prayer which
makes it a token for good, a pledge of blessings on the road, a door of
hope in dark hours. Where is the man that cries? Where is the man that
prays? That is the man of whom it shall be said, and of others like he,
"The Lord brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and
broke their chains in pieces."
May the Lord bless the description which I have given, so that some of
you may see yourselves as in a mirror and be encouraged to hope that
the Lord will save you as He has saved others like you! If you see
yourself in the text, take home the comfort of it and make use of it.
Do not look at it and say, "This belongs to somebody else." You
Brothers and Sisters in bondage; you self-despairing sinners–you are
the ones for whom Christ went up to the Cross! If you saw a letter
directed to yourself, would you not open it? I should think so! The
other day a poor woman received in a letter a little help sent to her
by a friend. She was in great distress and she went to that very friend
begging for a few shillings. "Why,"
said the other, "I sent you money yesterday, by an order in a letter!"
"Dear, dear!" said the poor woman, "that must be the letter which I put
behind the mirror!" Just so–and there are lots of people who put God's
letters behind the mirror and fail to make use of the promise which is
meant for them! Come, all you that labor and are heavy-laden, come and
taste my Master's love, yes, take of it freely and be filled with
heavenly rest!
II. Secondly, may God's Spirit go with us while we answer the
question–HOW HAS THIS DELIVERANCE BEEN WORKED? You that have been set
free should tell how you were emancipated! Let me tell my story first.
It was the best news I ever heard when it was told me that Jesus died
in my place. I sat down in my misery, hopeless of salvation, ready to
perish, till they told me that there was One who loved me and for love
of me was content to yield His life for my deliverance! Wonder of
wonders, He had actually borne the death penalty for me! They said that
the Lord of Glory had become Man to save men and that if I trusted Him,
I might know assuredly that He had suffered in my place and had blotted
out my sins. I marveled much as I heard this, but I felt that no one
could have invented news so strange! It surpassed all fiction, that the
offended God should, Himself, take my nature and, in the Person of the
Lord Jesus Christ should pay my debts, suffer for my sins and put those
sins away!
I heard the blessed tidings–there was some comfort even in hearing
it–and I believed it and clutched at it as for life. Then did I begin
to live! I believe that Truth of God today–all my hope lies there. If
any of you wonder that I show zeal for the substitutionary Sacrifice of
Christ, you may cease to ponder! Would not any one of you stand up for
his wife and children? This Truth is more to me than wife and
children–it is everything to me! I am a damned man for all eternity if
Christ did not die for me! I will put it no more softly than that. If
my Redeemer had not borne my sins in His own body on the tree, then I
would have to bear them in my own body in the place of endless misery!
I have no shade of a hope anywhere but in the Sacrifice of Jesus! I
cannot, therefore, give up this Truth of God–I had sooner give up my
life!
I heard that the Son of God had suffered in my place that I might go
free. I believed it and I said to myself, "Then I have no business to
be sitting here in darkness and in the shadow of death." I shook myself
from my lethargy. I arose and went out of my prison–and as I moved to
go out, a light shone round about me and my fetters fell clanking to
the ground! What glorious musical instruments they were! The very
things that had galled me so long, now brought me joy! I found that the
iron gate, which I thought could never be unlocked, opened to me of its
own accord. I could not believe that it was true, it seemed too
wonderful! I thought I must be dreaming. I very soon knew of a surety
that it was I, myself–the cold night air blew down the street of my
daily care and I said, "Oh, yes, I am still on earth and it is true!
And I am free from despair and delivered from the curse!" This is how I
came out to liberty–I believed in Jesus, my Redeemer. Today, my dear
Brothers and Sisters here, hundreds of them, would, each one, tell the
story in a different way, but it would come to the same thing.
Follow me while we go a little into Scriptural detail and learn from
David how the Lord sets free the captives.
First, our deliverance was worked by the Lord Himself Listen–"HE
brought them out of darkness." Write that, "HE," in capital letters,
Mr. Printer! Have you in the house any specially large letters? If so,
set up that word in the most prominent type you have–"HE brought them
out of darkness." Read also the 16th verse–"HE has broken the gates of
brass." Did the Lord send an angel to liberate us? No, HE came Himself
in the Person of His dear Son! When the Lord Jesus Christ had paid our
enormous debt, did He leave us to accept our quittance entirely of our
own free will, apart from His Grace? Ah, no! The Holy Spirit came and
made us willing in the day of His power! "HE." "HE." "HE" worked all
the work for us and all our works in us! "HE brought them out of
darkness and the shadow of death." "Oh that men would praise the Lord,
for HE has broken the gates of brass." It is the Lord's doing! It is
marvelous in our eyes. There is no salvation worth the having which has
not the hand of the Godhead in it. It needs Father, Son and Holy Spirit
to save a soul! None but the Trinity can deliver a captive soul from
the chains of sin and death and Hell. Jehovah Himself saves us!
Next, the Lord did it alone–"He has broken the gates of brass." Nobody
else was there to aid in liberating the prisoner. When our Lord Jesus
trod the winepress, He was alone. When the Spirit of God came to work
in us eternal life, He worked alone. Instruments are condescendingly
used to convey the Word of Life, but the life of the Word is wholly of
God. As to the Divine Father, is it not true, of "His own will begat He
us by the Word of Truth"? He is the Author of our spiritual life and
He, alone. None can share the work of our salvation with Him and none
can divide the Glory. Ho, you that are captives, are you looking for
some man to help you? Remember, I pray you, that there is "none to
help."
"Salvation is of the Lord." Remember that verse, "Look unto Me and be
you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none
else." That is to say, there is no one else in the work of salvation
except God! O Soul, if you have to do with Christ Jesus, you must have
Him at the beginning; you must have Him in the middle; you must have
Him in the end and you must have Him to fill up every nook and corner
from the first to the last. He alone has done it!
Note, too, that what He did was done by the Lord's own goodness, for
the Psalmist says, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
goodness!" His goodness took the form of mercy, as it is said in the
first verse of this Psalm, "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is
good: for His mercy endures forever!" It must have been mercy, because
those whom it blessed were as undeserving as they were miserable! They
were guilty–guilty in action and guilty in thought–they had rebelled
against the Words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. Yet
He came and set them free! You and I are always needing to know before
we give alms to beggars, "Are they deserving people?" God gives the
alms of His Grace only to the undeserving! We respond to those who have
a claim upon us–God remembers those who have no claim whatever upon
Him! "Ah," says one, "but the people cried!" I know they did, but they
did not even do that till He first of all brought down their heart with
labor! Prayer is a gift from God as well as an appeal to God. Even
prayer for mercy is not a cause, but a result! Divine Grace is at the
back of prayer and at the base of prayer. These prisoners would not
have prayed if God had not worked upon them and driven and drawn them
to pray.–
"No sinner can be beforehand with Thee. Your Grace is most so vereign,
Most rich and most free."
So it has been with others and, therefore, have I hope that it will be
so with you, my beloved Hearers! In the greatness of His goodness I
trust my Lord will come and save you. It is not your goodness, but His
goodness, which is the cause of hope. It is not your merit, but His
mercy is His motive for blessing you. How greatly do I rejoice to
remember that the Lord delights in mercy! It is His joy to pardon sin
and pass by the transgressions of the remnant of His people.
Note, once again, that while we are describing this great deliverance,
we cannot help seeing that the Lord effected it most completely. What
did He do? Did He bring them out of darkness? That was to give them
light. Yes, but a man that is chained is only a little better off for
getting light, for then he can see his chains all the more! Notice what
follows–"and out of the shadow of death"–so the Lord gave them life
as well as light. That "shadow of death" is gone. It can no longer
brood over their darkened spirits. Yes, but when a man has light and
life, if he is still in bondage, his life may make him feel his bondage
the more vividly–and his light may make him long the more for liberty.
But it is added, "and he broke their chains in pieces," which means
liberty. The Lord gave light, life and liberty–these three things. God
does nothing by halves. He does not begin to save and then say, "I have
done enough for you. I must stop midway." Dear Heart, if the Lord comes
to your prison, He will not merely light a lamp in your dungeon, though
that were something. He will not merely revive your spirit and give you
more life, though that were something. But He will break your chains
and bring you out into the liberty with which Christ makes men free! He
will finish His emancipating work. Do it, Lord! Do it now! Help men to
believe in Jesus at this moment!
There is one more point which I want you to notice very carefully. When
the Lord does this, he does this everlastingly. He "broke their chains
in pieces." When a man was set free from prison in the old times when
they used iron chains, the blacksmith came and took the chains off and
then they were hung up on the walls. Have you never been in ancient
prisons and seen the fetters and manacles hanging up ready for use?
Yes, for use upon those who have already worn such jewelry–if they
should come that way again! This is not the case, here, for He "broke
their chains in pieces." Note this right well, O child of God! You were
once shut up as with gates of brass and bars of iron–and the devil
thinks that one of these days he will get you behind those gates again!
But he never will, for the Lord "has broken the gates of brass." All
the powers of darkness cannot shut us up with broken gates! Satan
thinks he will imprison us again, but the bars of iron are cut in two!
The means of our captivity are no longer available!
My mind carries me to a certain scene and my eyes almost behold it.
Behold Samson, the hero of Israel, shut in within the walls of Gaza.
The Philistines boast, "Now will he be our captive." He slept till
midnight and then he arose. He found that he was shut up within the
city and so he went to the gate. That gate was barred and locked, but
what difference does it make? Israel's champion bowed his great
shoulders down to the gate–he took hold of both the posts, gave a
tremendous heave–and in an instant tore up the whole construction from
the earth in which it had been firmly placed!
"He lifted the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and
went away with them, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them
up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron." See in this thing a
symbol of what our Lord Jesus Christ did when He arose from the dead.
He carried away all that which held us captive–posts and bar and all!
"He led captivity captive."
When our Lord had led us forth from our prison, He said to Himself,
"They shall never be shut up again, for now I will make sure work of
it," and therefore He broke the gates of brass, and cut the bars of
iron in two. How then, can any child of God be shut up within the Gaza
of sin again? How shall we be condemned when the Lord has put away our
sin forever? No, the liberty received is everlasting liberty–we shall
not see bondage any more. Oh, dear Souls, I want you to lay hold on
this! You doomed and guilty! You downcast and wearied, there is
everlasting salvation for you–not that which will save you today and
will let you go back to your bondage tomorrow–but that which will make
you the Lord's free men forever! If you believe that Jesus is the
Christ. If you believe in Him to save you, you shall be saved! It is
not said half-saved, but saved! "He that believes and is baptized shall
be saved." That cannot admit that we should go to Hell. Jesus says, "I
give unto My sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of My hand." "He has broken the gates of
brass, and cut the bars of iron in two." Lord, help some poor souls to
sing this song today and receive, at this moment, everlasting
salvation!
III. I close with a practical question–WHAT IS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS?
If such people as we have described have been brought into liberty,
what is to be done about it? I do not want to tell you what to do. I
would have you do it by instinct. Gladly would I, like Miriam, take a
timbrel and go first and bid all the sons and daughters of Israel
follow me in this song–"Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed
gloriously. He has brought out His captives and set His people free."
It naturally suggests itself to the liberated spirit to magnify the
Lord. So the Psalmist put it, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for
His goodness!"
First, then, if the Lord has set any of you free–record it. See how
David wrote it down. Write it in your diary. Write it so that friends
may read it. Say, "The Lord has done great things for us."
When you have recorded it, then praise God. Praise God with all your
heart. Praise God, everyone of you! Praise God every day! When you have
praised God, yourselves, then entreat others to join with you! The
oratorio of God's praise needs a full choir. I remember, years ago, a
bill connected with a religious service of a very pretentious
character, and on this bill it promised that the Hallelujah Chorus
should be sung before the sermon. The friend who led the singing for me
at that time came in to me and asked if I could spare him. "See here,"
he said, "a person has come from the service which has been advertised
to say that they have nobody to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. The
minister wants me to go down and do it." I answered, "Yes. By all means
go! If you can sing the Hallelujah Chorus, alone, don't throw yourself
away on me."
Then we smiled and, at last, broke out into a laugh–it was too much
for our gravity! Surely, for a man to think that he can sufficiently
praise God, alone, is much like attempting to sing the Hallelujah
Chorus as a solo! The Psalmist therefore utters that great, "Oh!" "Oh
that men would praise the Lord!" I do not think he said, "men," for the
word, "men," is in italics–the translators are accountable for it. He
means, "Oh that angels! Oh that cherubim and seraphim would praise the
Lord! Oh that all creatures that have breath would praise the Lord for
His goodness!" Even that would not be enough–let the mountains and the
hills break forth before Him into singing–and let all the trees of the
forest clap their hands. Let the sea roar and the fullness, thereof,
the world and they that dwell therein. With a great, "Oh!" With a
mighty sigh over the holy business which was far too great for himself,
David felt moved to call upon all others to praise the Lord!
I close with that, my Brothers, my Sisters–you that have been saved,
praise God! Praise Him with the blessings He has lavished on you. I
described them in three ways. With your light praise Him–the more you
know, the more you see, the more you understand–turn it all into
praise. Next, with your life praise Him–with your physical life, with
your mental life, with your spiritual life–with life of every sort,
even unto eternal life, praise the Lord. Liberty has been given us–let
our freedom praise Him. Be like that man who was made straight, who
went out of the Temple, walking and leaping and praising God. God has
made you free, feel free to praise Him! And if men will not give you
leave to praise, take French leave. Yes, take heavenly leave and praise
God anywhere and everywhere!
Listen how they sing the songs of Bacchus and of Venus in the streets
and even wake us up in the night–therefore why may we not sing God's
praises in the same public fashion? We must praise Him! We will praise
Him! We do praise Him! And we shall praise Him forever and ever!
Praise Him with the heart He has changed, with the lips He has loosed,
with the lives He has spared! A little while ago you could not speak a
cheerful word, but now you can rejoice in God. Let those lips, from
which He has taken the muzzle of dumb despair, be opened in His praise.
Praise Him with all the talents He has lent you. If you have any power
of thought, if you have any fluency of speech, praise Him! It you have
any voice of song, praise Him. If you have health and strength, praise
Him. Let every limb of your body praise Him–those members which were
servants of sin, let them be instruments of righteousness unto God!
Praise Him with your substance. Let your gold and silver, yes, and your
bronze, praise Him! Praise Him with all that you have and with all that
you are–and with all that you hope to be. Lay your all upon the altar.
Make a whole burnt-offering of it. Praise Him with all the influence
you have. If He has delivered you from the shadow of death, let your
shadow, like that of Peter, become the instrument of God's healing
power to others!
Teach others to praise God. Influence them by your example. Fill your
house with music from top to bottom– perfume every room with the
fragrance of living devotion! Make your houses belfries and be,
yourselves, the bells forever ringing out the loud praises of the Lamb
of God. He bore your sins–you bear His praises. He died for you,
therefore live for Him! He has heard your prayers–let Him hear your
praises! Let us together sing "hallelujah to God and the Lamb." Let us
stand upon our feet and with one voice and heart let us sing–
"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, you heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!"