The Honored Guest
(No. 3487)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1915.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully." Luke
19:6.
ARE YOU prepared, like Zaccheus, to give the Lord Jesus Christ a glad
and grateful welcome? If we would obtain the full benefit of His
devoted life, His atoning death and His triumphant Resurrection, we
must receive Him into our hearts by simple faith and entertain Him with
tender love. Outside the door of our heart, Jesus is a stranger–He is
no Savior to us–but inside the heart which has been opened, by Divine
Grace, to admit Him, His power is displayed, His worth is known and His
goodness is felt! My dear Hearers, you have heard of His fame, you have
witnessed the miracles He has worked upon others and now it remains
that you receive Him, yourself, to ensure your own well-being. He
stands at the door and knocks! You must open to Him. The promise is,
"If any man will open unto Me, I will come in and sup with him." "To as
many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God."
Not upon all who heard was the privilege conferred, for many, when they
heard, did not believe. Alas, they provoked Him, and so they perished
in their sins! But those who hail Jesus as a Friend, salute Him as an
honored Guest, sit at His feet, hang on His lips and find how He lights
every chamber of their soul with joy, satisfies every craving of their
better nature and enriches them with all the endowments of adopted
children!
In many respects Zaccheus supplies us with a noble example. He shows us
how to receive the Savior. You will observe that he received Him
speedily. "He made haste and came down." It is not always easy to come
down from a tree with great speed. He came down, however, as fast as he
could. There was no hesitancy in his manner. I daresay his heart was
down before his feet! In like manner they who would receive Christ must
receive Him now. This is not a call or a counsel to be trifled with.
The procrastination of Felix, which led him to say, "When I have a more
convenient season I will send for You," is a very dangerous spirit. Let
those who talked as Felix talked beware lest they perish as Felix
perished! "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts."
Zaccheus made haste. They who receive Christ heartily must receive
Christ immediately!
We notice, too, that Zaccheus received the Lord obediently. When the
Master said, "Make haste," he made haste. Hardly had He said, "Come
down," when down he came. If you, my Hearers, be likewise willing and
obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land. Christ likes us to be
obedient to Him, though He speaks to us less as a Lawgiver than as a
Savior and a Friend. If we refuse to take His yoke upon us and learn of
Him, how can we reasonably expect to find rest unto our souls? The
words of Jesus must be deeply respected and diligently observed by
those who would have Him for their Rock, their Refuge and their Hiding
Place. Let Him be your Counselor if you want to partake of His
redemption! Render allegiance to Him as your King if you would enjoy
all the Grace of His priestly mediation and intercession!
There was also a thorough heartiness on the part of Zaccheus in
receiving Christ He made a great feast for Him. He did not admit Him as
one who intruded. It was not with cold civility, but with cordial
hospitality that he greeted Him. I think I see the satisfaction that
sparkled in his face! I think I hear the salutation that leaped from
his tongue, "Come in– come in, my gracious Lord! Never did my house
entertain so welcome a guest as You are!" Would you receive Christ, you
must throw the doors of your heart wide open! Then your eyes, your
lips–every muscle of your body will express your earnestness. Your
whole spirit, soul and strength will be stirred to enthusiasm if you
know His worth and feel the honor He confers on you. A man who finds a
treasure hid in a field will congratulate himself on his good fortune.
A woman, when she embraces her first-born child, will dote on him with
exquisite fondness. Shall no strong emotions prove our sincerity when
we receive the Lord of Life and Glory?
And mark you, too, this Chief of the Publicans received Christ
spiritually. His convictions were in keeping with his conduct. When he
distributed his goods to the poor, and made a bold confession of his
faith before his fellow men, there
was proof positive that Christ had not only crossed the threshold of
Zaccheus' house, but had also penetrated the chambers of his heart! Ah,
Beloved, it is useless to receive Christ nominally, professionally,
ceremonially, or with rites and ceremonies, to do Him empty homage! By
a sincere reception of Him who was sent of God, your nature, your
disposition and your habits will be transformed from what they were,
and conformed to what He is–and the change will be conspicuous, for if
you are in Christ, and Christ is in you, all will become new!
A prominent feature, however, so distinctly stated that it should not
be carelessly overlooked was this, that he received Him joyfully. This
was crowning evidence of the purity of his motives and the artlessness
of his actions. In such mirth there could be no guile. Ask now, Why do
not all men thus receive Jesus Christ joyfully? How is it that some men
receive Him with such exuberant joy? In what ways do those show their
joy who have thus received the Master?
I. WHY IS IT THAT ALL MEN DO NOT RECEIVE CHRIST JOYFULLY?
This is our first question. They need Him, all of them. There is no
difference in this respect. Whether Jews or Gentiles, they are all sold
under sin. God has concluded the whole race of man in unbelief. He has
shut them all up in condemnation! There is no escape from the universal
doom except by the way of the Cross. Jesus Christ comes to save– comes
with pardon in His hands, with messages of love, with tokens of
favor–yet most men bar the doors of their hearts against Him! There is
no cry heard in their souls, "Lift up your head, O you gates! And be
you lifted up, you everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come
in!" Instead thereof, there is a sullen cry, "Come prejudice! Come
unbelief! Come hardness of heart! Come love of sin–bar the doors and
barricade the gates lest, perhaps, the King of Glory should force an
entrance!" Men treat the Savior as they would treat an invader who
attacked their country! They seek to drive Him away! They would gladly
be rid of Him. They cannot endure His Presence. No, they can scarcely
endure, some of them, to hear about Him in the street! Why is this? The
chief reason lies in the depravity of man's nature. You never know how
bad man is till he comes in contact with the Cross!
Although the crimes of savage, uncivilized men may appear to you far
more heinous than any that are committed in our favored country where
just laws are, for the most part, enacted, and opportunities of
education generally enjoyed, yet the propensity to do that which is
evil in the teeth of a knowledge of that which is good, the subtlety of
perverting the Truth of God in the clear light of Divine Revelation,
the faithlessness of that foul ingratitude which can betray the most
tender friendship, are never so painfully illustrated as in view of the
Crucified! To despise the name of Jesus, to reject the love of God, to
conspire against the Ambassador of Peace, to take the inhuman, devilish
counsel–"This is the heir; let us kill Him!"–this was the last
offense of the wicked husbandmen in the parable. Nor does the parable
exaggerate the treachery. For this is the greatest offense of human
nature, when it says, in effect, "This is the Incarnate God, let us
reject Him. This is the Word made flesh, let us disgrace Him. This is
the Father's beloved Son–let us betray Him!" Oh, Human Nature, how
blind must be your heart, how seared your conscience not to see the
beauties of Christ! How base must you be to despise the love and
tenderness of such a Savior!
Were we to select secondary causes, however, which spring out of this
deep-seated depravity and discriminate between the various classes of
offenders, we would say that many men reject Christ instead of
receiving Him joyfully out of sheer ignorance. For this ignorance there
is not much valid excuse. There are thousands of persons, even in this
highly-favored, greatly-enlightened country, who really do not know
what the Gospel means! The knowledge of salvation is within their
reach, but they have no desire to acquaint themselves with this best of
all the sciences. We are all sinners, they say, but they do not know
what they mean. In the jargon of general confession, they lose sight of
their own personal transgressions. The plan of salvation by a
Substitute, which is the gist of the whole matter, never dawned on
their understanding. They do not know the great Truth of God that Jesus
took our sins and suffered for us in our place that justice might be
satisfied, that mercy might be magnified and that we sinners might be
liberated and, therefore, it comes to pass that whoever trusts in
Christ is saved! Being ignorant of this, they are still depending upon
their own works, merits and professions–or they are relying upon their
baptism, their confirmation, or their identification with some
ecclesiastical system by means of some outward ceremony–instead of
understanding that salvation is by faith, a thing of the heart in the
spirit, and not in the letter. This ignorance of the blessed Savior
prevents many from receiving Him joyfully. So was it with the woman of
Samaria–hence the Savior said to her, "If you had known the gift of
God and who it is that speaks to you, you would have asked, and He
would have given you living water." Lest you perish through lack of
knowledge, Brothers and Sisters, do entreat the Lord to guide you in
the reading of Scripture, and in listening to the exposition of
Scripture, that you may get a clear understanding of the way of the
Lord. "That the soul should be without knowledge is not good," for
ignorance is the parent of many infatuations!
To refuse attention, to resist evidence, to rebut exhortation in the
instance of full many, exhibits a spirit of gross unbelief. They will
not believe in Jesus. They will not acknowledge Him to be the Son of
God–they will scarcely believe that the Man ever lived who had a right
to the homage which His few disciples offered Him! The Atonement they
look upon as an old wives' tale and they account the Resurrection from
the dead as an idle dream! I will say but little of their excuse. They
are not open to conviction. They live in darkness because they have
barred every window of their soul against the Light of God. The
precious Doctrine of Christ bears on its face the genuine stamp. Its
authenticity is engraved upon its very forefront. Their stolid
disputations cannot diminish its value or its virtue. They wrong
themselves when they denounce or disparage the Truth of God as it is in
Christ.
Others are actuated by a positive aversion to the Savior. They have no
sinister reflections to cast on the story of His life, the purity of
His manners, the holiness of His Character, or the benevolence of His
mission–but they do not desire to be saved from their sins–they
rather enjoy reveling, unrebuked and undisturbed, in the gratification
of their own sensual propensities! They do not want to be saved from
drunkenness! They would rather go on with the drink. They do not want
to be saved from the lusts of the flesh–they would sooner pamper its
gross appetites! They do not want to be saved from pride or
self-confidence–they would rather indulge their towering ambition!
They do not want, in fact, to have a divorce proclaimed between them
and their sins–they would sooner discard the high obligations of the
Divine Law and act upon the expedience of the life that now is–than
forego a pursuit or a pleasure in hope of eternal life! Hence they
cannot bear the name of Jesus! They recoil from it, unable to conceal
their enmity. Religion is not merely insipid–it is positively nauseous
to them! The singing of a hymn in the house would put them out of
temper. Did their wife or their child mention the Cross of Christ, or
faith in His precious blood, they would either sneer and ridicule with
unseemly jest, or else their temper would boil over with malice and
wrath! The Lord pluck that black heart out of you, Man! The Lord give
you a new heart and a right spirit! You will have to bend or else to
break! If you will not turn, you will burn! If you do not repent of
this hatred of Christ, now, you will feel remorse enough for it
hereafter. In the day when He comes in the clouds of Heaven to judge
the quick and the dead, you will seek in vain to elude His eyes, or
escape from His wrath!
You will find that the reason for not receiving Christ in many others
is the fact that they are worldly, and eaten up with too many cares. A
pitiful apology and very perilous! Such paltry excuses will bring
poignant regrets. The hour of death can do little to rectify the years
of life misspent. Not then can you seek God, if you have never sought
Him before! Oh, you are taken up with the farm and the merchandise,
with your daily labors and diversions, your losses and your gains
heaping up, not knowing who shall inherit. These canker worms eat up
your souls. Would that men were not such fools as to be always
providing for this poor tenement of the body, while they neglect the
precious jewel it encloses– their immortal soul–occupied with trivial
personalities, while reckless of their real estate. They are crying,
"Buy, buy," in Vanity Fair, while the Lord of Life and Glory passes by!
Yet they heed not. Talk of the main chance, but they miss the wise
choice. They sell gold for dross–they lose their souls and get Hell!
Still more inexcusable, I think, are those who reject Christ because
they are taken up with the world's frivolities. Some people live in a
whirl of fashion where repentance would be accounted vulgar! Not in
sportive gaieties, but in pensive solitudes do penitence and contrition
find room for exercise. Ridiculous as it may sound, some people are far
too genteel to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! He is fit company, in
their esteem, for publicans and sinners, but into their drawing rooms,
were He to enter, He would soon be expelled! They want Him not in the
upper circle of the haut ton– neither would He be kindly received in
the lower circles, among the frequenters of music halls and dancing
saloons. Ah, no–as of old, so now–"There is no room for Him in the
inn." The world is ready enough to welcome actor, singer, dancer,
punster, anyone who can amuse them! But as for Christ, who stands with
bleeding hands and cries, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest," they
despise Him! They miss the soul of beauty for gaudy charms and bubbles!
They turn from the source of real joy to indulge in silly laughter!
They push away the real and leap after the shadow! They forsake the
overflowing fountain and fly to the broken cisterns that can hold no
water!
Ah, Brothers and Sisters, this is a miserable spectacle! It is a dreary
sight to see a sinner despising mercy, a drowning man rejecting the
lifebelt, a sick man declining the physician, a man entering the gates
of death refusing life and immortality! Oh, Sin, how you have fooled
men! How you have made them hate themselves and act cruelly to their
own souls! What suicides they commit! What a sacrifice of their noblest
nature! They go down to Hell with a verdict of felo de se. O Israel,
you have destroyed yourself! You have destroyed yourself! They reject
Him shamefully whom they should have received joyfully! They carry out
their own will and they perish in their willfulness! And now we ask in
the next place–
II. WHY DO SOME MEN RECEIVE HIM JOYFULLY?
The answer is simply because Divine Grace has made them to differ.
Grace has subdued their stubborn will, illuminated their darkened
understanding, changed their depraved affections and made their whole
mind to judge of things after a different fashion. Do not suppose that
we who have received Christ were naturally any better disposed to Him
than others. Oh, no! If, when the seed was sown, we were like the
honest and good ground in which it took root, there had been a previous
tillage upon our hearts to make them ready! We would not have been
found willing had it not been the day of God's power! I think we all
unite in saying–
"'Twass the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly forced us in,
Else we had still refused to taste
And perished in our sin."
As for the reasons and inducements which prompted us to receive Christ
joyfully, I may speak very plainly for myself. I received Christ
because I could not help it. I was at my wits' ends. I think no man
ever flees to Christ for refuge, or seeks shelter in the Port of Gospel
Peace until he is quite certain that every other harbor is shut up. We
make Christ our last resource! We try everything else. We make grand
resolutions to do good works, or to attend gorgeous ceremonies. We try
trivial formalities, or paltry superstitions–anything–the silliest
conceit or the emptiest quackery! We go the round of folly before we
discover the path of wisdom. At length I must go to Christ, or else woe
is unto me if I win Him not! Helpless and hopeless, in sheer distress
we cry out, "Give me Christ, or else I die." Henceforth He is not
merely our choice, but a positive necessity to us to have Him as our
hourly, daily and eternal portion! Oh, the strait unto which I was
brought when I received Christ! It was Christ or death! Salvation by
Christ, or damnation without Him! I received Him because I could not
help it. I had no alternative. How many of you are in the same dilemma?
How many of you will fly to Him in similar destitution? Driven before
the tempest, catching a glimpse of the lighthouse, you cry out–
"Jesus, lover of my soul Let me to Your bosom fly."
Well may we receive Christ joyfully since He works such wonderful
changes in us, and so beneficent! He cheers the grievous past. It was
all black and threatening with the memory of our provocations. He
sprinkles His blood upon it and now it becomes bright and beaming with
mementos of the loving kindnesses and tender mercies of the Lord. He
illuminates the present. There was nothing but gloom and black despair
till He shone as the Light of Life in our dwelling! Then life and
salvation dawn upon us like the dayspring from on high. He disperses
the clouds that hung over the future. The outlook was dark and
threatening till Jesus came, bright and glorious, and we discovered a
hereafter. Beyond the black river of death we now discern the gleaming
of the spirit land, and the place of meeting where we shall see His
face! Thus, when Jesus comes into the heart, the three realms of the
past, the present and the future all glow with the Light of God! When
the sun rises, the hills, valleys and rivers, above and beneath, are
all sown with orient pearl!
Right joyfully do we receive Christ because He comes into our hearts
with such gracious offices. He came as a Priest to put away sin! Who
could but be glad? He came as a King! Who would not receive such a
Monarch with sound of trumpets and flaunting of banners? He came to us
as a Shepherd! Shall not the flock of His pasture be glad of the sight
of Him? He came as a dear and tender Friend–does not His sweet
sympathy excite any joy? Think, too, of the yet more endearing
relationship in which He came. He came as a Husband and our souls are
married unto Him. Blessed Bridegroom! Adorable Savior, You have
engrossed our heart and won our love! Does not the bride rejoice when
the husband comes home? Is there not gladness in her heart when the
nuptial day approaches? Oh, well, well might we welcome Christ when He
comes, dressed in such robes and wearing such offices as these! When He
came, He came with such wondrous blessings– pardon and peace,
justification and acceptance, sanctification and honor, wisdom and
righteousness–all these! And now He proclaims Himself to be our
Protector! His paths drop fatness. He makes rich and adds no sorrow.
Such as find Him find in Him such wealth of goodness–deep, mysterious,
unknown–as far exceeds earthly pleasure, all worldly fortune! Surely
on the lowest ground we might afford Him the loftiest welcome! Even
churlish Laban received Eliezer with courtesy when he saw the presents
he brought–the bracelets, the earrings and the jewels–and should not
we receive Jesus when we mark those costly gifts in His hands–the
purchase of His own blood which He freely gives to those who receive
Him?
And shall we not receive Him joyfully because He comes in such blessed
spirit? He upbraids not. He was all gentleness, meekness, Grace, when
here below–though of Divine pedigree–the Only-Begotten of the Father,
full of Grace and Truth. Should we not, then, receive Him with sound of
the trumpet, with the psalter and harp, yes, and with un-
speakable joy of heart? Let me add that the better we know Him, the
more joyfully we receive Him for His own sake. Oh, I could stand here
and weep to think that I do not speak better of my Lord and Master!
Truly I know more of His Grace and goodness than I should ever be able
to tell! I trust you can say the same. It is one thing to know the
sweetness of His savor, and quite another thing to have to tell that
savor to others There is no exaggeration in the language of the spouse
when she says, "Yes, He is altogether lovely." Such as receive Him with
their hearts, will find that the most rapturous expressions that saints
have ever used do not exceed, but fall infinitely short of the delight,
the heavenly joys, which He brings into the soul! If one might choose a
Heaven upon earth, it would be to rest forever in quiet meditation upon
the beauties of His Person, the perfection of His Character, the power
of His blood, the prevalence of His plea, the Glory of His
Resurrection, the majesty of His Second Advent! Everything about Christ
is delightful. There is not a Truth of God He ever teaches but is
fragrant with choice perfume. There is not a word He utters but smells
of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces from which He
came!
If you have not received Christ, my dear Hearers, you have missed the
brightest feature of Divine Revelation. For a foreigner to visit
England and never see the Metropolis of London. For a man to have lived
in the world without ever seeing the sun. For one to have beheld tables
spread with the most sumptuous provisions, but never to have tasted any
of them–in any such case there would be little cause for
congratulations! So you do not know what life is–you are dead to all
its charms. You do not know what light is–you have only dwelt in the
shade, or in the twilight at the best–if you have not beheld the
Savior, entertained Him, and tasted that He is gracious! You have
missed the cream. You have been staying outside in the farmyard feeding
with the swine! You do not know what the fatted calf is, upon which the
children feed at the Father's table. You have been a dog, satisfied
with the bones, not knowing the fatness and the marrow of true life.
But the Christian, dear Friends, finds Christ to be so inconceivably
precious, such a fountain of delight, such a river of mercy, that when
he receives Him, he receives Him joyfully–and the longer he knows Him,
the more joyful he is to think that he ever received Him at all! And
now, such being the reasons why some receive Christ joyfully, let us
ask– III. HOW DO THEY SHOW IT? IN WHAT WAYS AND BY WHAT MEANS DO THEY
EXPRESS THEIR JOY? I have known some who have taken very strange ways
of showing their joy. They have been inclined to stand up and shout in
the very place where they found the Savior, while others could only sit
still and water the floor with their tears, feeling as if for the next
week or two they did not want to look anybody in the face, but just in
solemn silence of the mind to revel in the company of their adorable
Lord! We do not wonder that some people show a little strange
enthusiasm when they first come to know Christ. It is no marvel. When a
man has been in prison for months, he may well be a little
demonstrative in his joy on obtaining his liberty–so when a soul has
been under the burden of sin and bound with its galling chain, he may
well leap, as Bunyan tells us his Pilgrim did when the burden was
loosed off him and rolled away!
Yet there are other and better ways of expressing satisfaction and
pleasure than these which have much of the flesh, much of the natural
disposition about them. Though not to be condemned, still they are not
to be commended. A better way of showing that you have received Christ
joyfully is by turning out His enemies. When you receive Christ in at
the front door, you must not keep the devil in the back parlor! Every
traitor sin must be ejected when the Great King takes up His residence
in your heart! The thorough cleansing of your house from every
defilement is the smallest tribute we can expect you pay in deference
to your royal Guest. The soul that receives Christ joyfully, sighs and
groans because it cannot make, as it would, a clean sweep of its sin! I
know you do not love Christ if you cling to your sins! If you love
Christ heartily, you will put away your iniquities–
"The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be; Help me to tear
it from its throne, And worship only Thee."
And when you do receive Christ joyfully, you will be eager to obey His
instructions. Like Zaccheus, you will ask, "Lord, what would You have
me do?" Christ was going to Zaccheus' house, and you know what people
say when they have a guest they are anxious to please. They entreat him
thus, "Now just do as you like. Consider yourself at home. Whatever you
want, ask for, only tell us what we can do to make you happy, and we
shall we glad to do it." This is how every cheerful holy soul deals
with Christ. He says, "Lord, tell us what You would have me do. Only
let me know Your will– tell me by Your Word, by Your minister, by Your
Holy Spirit! Work in my own heart, personally–teach me Your way, and
oh, my God, my heart shall be glad to conform to Your wishes." Have you
all done this? Have you been obedient to all the Savior's commands, or
have you sought to observe them? If you have, this should be an
evidence of your joyfully receiving Him!
Another proof of our joy in receiving Christ is receiving His people.
This, in more ways than one, He has made the test of attachment to
Himself. "Love one another." "Feed My lambs." "If you have done it unto
one of the least of My brethren, you have done it unto Me." Just as
Laban said when he took in Eliezer, "There is room for you, and room
for the camels," so let there be room in our hearts for Jesus. There
will be room for some of these poor troubled ones, these burdened
saints. They may not always be pleasant company, but we shall be
willing to receive them, and to join with them because of their Master.
Now, dear Friends, if you are a Christian, and have received Christ,
unite yourselves with His people–make a profession of your faith, come
out and join the people of God–and do not be ashamed with them to
suffer the reproach of Christ.
And if you have received Christ joyfully, you will love His Cross. I
mean not only the Cross which He had to carry, but the cross which you
now have to carry for Him. You will count it a great privilege to
suffer reproach for His sake. You will love the Cross. "No cross, no
crown," is an ancient motto, but it is just as true today as it was a
thousand years ago! The faith that Moses illustrated, you will follow,
counting the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures
of Egypt. If you receive the Master in good part, you will say, "Come
in, my Master! Come in, and bring Your Cross, too, and I will bear it
cheerfully, for Your sake."
Moreover, you will prove the grateful welcome you give Him by wishing
that other people may receive Him joyfully, too. I cannot believe you
know my Master if you do not wish to make Him known. Were you cured of
some sad disease and met with a sufferer as bad as you once were, your
tongue would be quick to tell him of the medicine that can cure him.
And surely, if you have been saved by Christ from the damning power of
sin, you will want to be telling it to the sons of men that there is
balm in Gilead and that there is a Physician there! Perhaps you cannot
preach. Possibly not half a dozen people might be edified were you to
try. But you can talk to a neighbor. You can speak with your children.
I was pleased, today, in reading the life of John Wesley's mother, to
notice how she set apart Monday to speak to one of her daughters,
Tuesday to speak to another, Wednesday to speak, as she says, "to
Jack," meaning John Wesley, and Thursday to speak to Charles–so that
they each had a day–and there was an hour each day given to speak to
each child about the affairs of the soul. That is the way to win the
children for God! Depend upon it, Reader, the blessing of God, the Holy
Spirit, if we experimentally know the joy of religion, ourselves, will
be the means of much good to others if we make it a point to "tell to
sinners round what a dear Savior we have found."
May the Lord, in His mercy, call you as He called Zaccheus! May many of
you receive Him joyfully as Zaccheus did! Seek Him and He shall be
found of you. Trust Him–He will not deceive you. Cast your soul upon
Him–He will be as good as His Word. Mark His promise, "Him who comes
unto Me I will in nowise cast out." Faithful is He that gives you this
grateful encouragement! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, now, and
through countless ages you will look back upon this fleeting hour with
unspeakable, perennial joy –with gratitude that eternity cannot be
exhausted! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MARK2:1-14.
Verses 1, 2. And again He entered into Capernaum after some days; and
it was heard that He was in the house. And immediately many were
gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no,
not even near the door: and He preached the Word unto them.We expect to
see the crowd round the door, but there was not room, even for the
doorway hearers, when Jesus Christ was preaching! There is an
attracting power about the Voice of Jesus. We may expect that if we
will let Jesus speak in the ministry, and not speak too much our own
thoughts and our own words, there will still be the same attraction
about the Gospel. "He preached the Word unto them."
3. And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy. A paralyzed
person–that is the exact word–one who could not come himself, but had
a very anxious desire to come. They came to Him, bringing a paralytic.
3. Which was borne of four. Your neighbors agreed to lift him
4. And when they could not come near unto Him for the crowd—They had
tried the door many times, but could not possibly enter.
4. They uncovered the roof above where He was. They, perhaps, went up
the stairway of the next house, and then from one flat roof to another,
till they came to the top of the veranda which sheltered Christ while
He preached to the people in the court. They uncovered this roof above
where He was.
4. And when they had broken it up For it does not seem to have been a
very light structure, but to have required some labor. Yet they broke
it up.
4. They let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.Where there
is a will there is a way, and when there is no way, a resolute will can
make one. Better to come to Christ through the ceiling than not to come
at all. Better to be let down to Him by a rope than not to be in His
Presence!
5. When Jesus saw their faith For He has a very quick eye to faith–and
though we do not read that they had said anything and, therefore, they
had not expressedtheir faith–yet this bold and venturous action in
breaking up the roof and letting all the dust fall about the Savior's
head, not fearing that they would provoke Him, but trusting in His
gentleness and patience, showed their confidence that they had only to
get the man where Christ could see him, and good would come of it.
"When he saw their faith."
5, 6. He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins are forgiven
you. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning
in their hearts–They had come with a bad motive. They wanted to find
fault and they took their seats that they might hear everything very
carefully, take notes of it and put it down–and make as much mischief
of it as they could! They had their ears open. They did not know,
however, that He could read their hearts, or they might not have been
so forward in coming into His Presence. They were "sitting there, and
reasoning in their hearts."
7. Why does this Man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but
God? Which was quite true, but then He was God and, therefore, it was
not blasphemy! Blasphemy it would have been had he not been Divine.
8, 9. And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so
reasoned within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason you these
things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the sick of thepalsy,
Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, and take up your bed, and
walk?Do they not each require a Divine power? If I am Divine, I shall
prove I am by healing this man. Then I have a right to say, "Your sins
are forgiven you."
10-12. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to
forgive sins, (he said to the sick of the palsy, ) I say unto you,
Arise, and take up your bed, and go your way into your house. And
immediately he arose, took up his bed and went forth before them all;
insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never
saw anything like this. Admire and imitate the faith and the obedience
of this paralytic! He did better than some, for there have been some
who, out of very gratitude, have disobeyed Christ. I mean, when He said
to one that he should not tell what Christ had done, he did tell it.
But this man, though no doubt his gratitude would have prompted him to
stay and throw himself at his Benefactor's feet, or to stop at least
and sing a hymn of thankfulness to God, yet he knows that to obey is
the best form of gratitude–and as Christ had told him, "Go your way
into your house," he did just that! The best thing to do for Christ is
to do what Christ bids you. There are many glittering forms of
gratitude, but all is not gold that glitters. The most golden gratitude
is that which scrupulously renders obedience to every command of Jesus
Christ. Take this to heart, and do you likewise.
13. And He went forth again by the seaside, and all the multitude came
unto Him, and He taught them. Better air than there was in the house,
and more room, but He kept to the same Gospel. He taught them.
14. And as Hepassed by, He sawLevi, the son ofAlphaeus, sitting at the
receipt of custom, andsaid unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and
followed Him.Swept up his shekels–gathered up his account
books–stayed no longer. He rose from taking tolls to follow the
Master! Oh, for just such a word tonight to some here present. "Follow
Me." And would to God there would be such a heart in them as there was
in this man named Levi, alias Matthew, that they, too, might come and
follow Jesus!