The Witness of the Lord's Supper
(No. 3338)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON JANUARY 23, 1913.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show
the Lord's death till He comes." 1 Corinthians 11:26.
THE center of our holy religion is the Cross. The central thought of
the whole of Christianity is Christ and the great point in Christ's
history is His Crucifixion. We preach Christ–but more–we preach Him
Crucified! Beloved, this, which is the keystone or the whole arch of
our religion, should be more constantly in our minds than it is. It
should more frequently occupy our meditations. It should engage more
incessantly our tongues–we should sing of it more often, we should
pray more in the shadow of it and we should live more under the control
of the impulses its suggests. In the Cross of Christ let each one of us
glory and, like the Apostle, say, "God forbid that I should glory save
in the Cross of Jesus Christ our Lord."
In order to keep in our mind's eye what, alas, we so easily forget–the
death of our blessed Lord–He has been pleased to institute the Supper
which we are about to celebrate. Beneath yon fair white linen cloth we
have memorials of His passion, full of instruction to those who rightly
view them. If any in this place should ask, "What mean you by this
service?" our ready answer shall be according as it is written–"For as
often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's
death till He comes" (1 Cor 11:26). We eat bread and drink wine, not
out of any foolish superstition that these can be transmuted into the
very flesh and blood of Jesus Christ–a superstition which would be a
disgrace to a Bushman–a superstition which is a disgrace to those who
hold it in this enlightened land, and not a disgrace only, but a vast
sin–a black delusion which is given to them that they may believe a
lie–whereby they involve themselves in the doom of Hell! We hold no
such folly. Because we are rational and because we are spiritual, both
our reason and our spiritual nature revolt against anything so
atrocious as to believe that the body of Christ–the absolute flesh and
blood–can be eaten and drank, or that if it could be done, it ought to
be done, or that it could confer any spiritual benefit upon those who
could perform so cannibal and revolting an act! We believe in the real
Presence, but not in the corporeal Presence. We believe that Jesus
Christ comes to us spiritually and refreshes us, and in that sense we
both eat His flesh and drink His blood. But as to any such literal
feast as some believe in, we reject the thought with horror and with
contempt!
The great meaning of "The Lord's Supper," as we call it, is that we
show the Lord's death till He comes. We show it to ourselves and we
show it, or represent it, to others–to unbelievers who may chance to
look on. The former of these is, perhaps, the more important. In coming
to eat of the bread and drink of the wine at this Supper–
I. WE SHOW THE LORD'S DEATH TO OURSELVES.
Not, indeed, that this is the exclusive manner of exhibiting the
passion which our dear Savior endured, or the decease which He
accomplished, for there are, it must be admitted, other methods of
showing the Lord's death. One is by this Book, this Inspired Volume
which contains the record of His Crucifixion–which explains it–which
enforces upon men the duty of putting their trust in the merit of Him
who died. Wherever this Bible is opened there is a showing of Christ's
death! Why, the whole Book is full of it! There is a crimson line of
atoning Sacrifice running from Genesis to Revelation–
"Here I behold my Savor's face Almost in every page."
Every distinct Book of Inspiration is like a mirror reflecting the
image of Jesus–"as in a glass, darkly," it is true, but still
sufficiently clear even for these dim eyes of ours. All the Scriptures
are the swaddling bands of the Child, Christ Je-
sus, as said Augustine of old–If you would see Jesus, you must search
for Him in Holy Scripture and, by the light of the Holy Spirit, you
will not go far until you find Him!
The Lord Jesus Christ's death is also shown forth in public ministry.
There are some who are so fond of painted windows because, they say,
they preach by painting. Brothers and Sisters, we paint by preaching!
That is the only difference and to paint by preaching is an infinitely
better thing than to preach by painting! All the methods that are
adopted to show forth Christ's death throughout all the world are utter
vanity compared with the ministration of the Gospel. It is not possible
for the preacher too much to magnify His office. It is God's
predestinated channel of Grace to the sons of men. "Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God"–and as we speak, God helping
us–Christ is set forth, manifestly Crucified among you! How many in
this place have seen Jesus by what they have heard spoken of Him? The
eye of the mind has seen Him. 'Twere of little use for the eyes of
sense to do so. Thousands saw Christ with their natural eyes and
perished in their sins! But to see Him with the eyes of the
spirit–this it is that saves. The preaching of the Gospel paints
Christ to the mind's eyes, not to the natural eyes, so it is the best
way of depicting Him, for it exactly meets the vision that it is
intended to impress!
Still, over and above the showing of Christ's death in the printed Word
and the Word preached, there comes in this emblematical Supper in which
we show Christ' s death after a manner I will try to explain. We show
to ourselves as we come here that Christ was really Incarnate and so
could die. My Soul, as you take that bread into your fingers, remember
that it is a thing to be handled and to be touched–a material
substance. And so, God, the Infinite, took into union with Himself
actual flesh and blood, such as you have in your own body! A strange
thing that a pure Spirit should condescend to tabernacle in flesh–and
yet it is so written–"The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of Grace and truth." Oh, matchless mystery! He who fills all
things became an Infant of a span long! He who is Eternal and
Omnipotent became a humble working Man, putting on the garment without
seam, suffering, toiling and at last yielding up His life! As each drop
of wine shall pass your lips and you recognize it as a material
substance, you show to yourself, O Believer, that Jesus Christ became
Incarnate. Think of this! Take care that you do not make a God out of
the manhood, nor a man out of the Godhead. Rest assured that as
certainly as Christ was God, without diminution of His splendor, so
certainly He was also Man, pure Man with a Manhood like your own, even
as He, Himself, said–"Handle Me and see; a spirit has not flesh and
bones as you see I have." See, then, Brothers and Sisters, your next of
kin–a sufferer like yourselves–and let the bread and wine remind you
of Him!
Then next, the Supper reminds you of your Lord's sufferings. There is
the bread broken. The wine, the juice of the grape, crushed out with
pain and labor–poured out. Now remember that Jesus Christ, though not
a bone of Him could be broken, was broken in spirit–"Reproach has
broken My heart; I am full of heaviness"–He poured out His soul unto
death. Let the bread and the wine remind you of the bloody sweat in the
Garden–of the anguish unto death which He endured in dark Gethsemane
among the olive trees. Let them bring to your recollection, Beloved in
the Lord, the scourging at the hands of Pilate and of Herod. Imagine
you see Him standing patiently there, giving up His back to the smiters
and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair–hiding not His face
from shame and spitting. That bread broken and that wine poured out
should remind you of the journey along the Via Dolorosa, as He went
fainting beneath the burden of His Cross. They must remind you of the
Cross and the nails, the grief of being forsaken, the anguish of
thirst, the bitterness of scorn, the torment of fever and, at last,
death itself. I do not say that, perhaps you will be able to make the
whole scene pass before your minds, but I bid you try to do so. Drive
away every other thought as Christ drove the buyers and sellers out of
the Temple. Charge your soul to stand with His Virgin Mother at the
foot of the Cross and pray that His blood may fall upon you, drop by
drop, that you may be so enchanted by what you see, withal so dreadful,
but yet so full of bliss, that you may not dare for a moment to let a
stray thought come in! This and this only, think of! Think of Jesus
Incarnate and of Jesus suffering!
But the bread and the wine show more than this. What do I see? Bread,
the flesh. Wine, the life, the blood. Flesh and blood, then, when
separated, are both dead so that the cup and the bread together
distinctly signify the actual death of our Lord. There is no such thing
as a Lord's Supper with the bread, alone, nor with the cup, alone, nor
with the bread and wine mingled! They must both be distinct. Without
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. And until the blood has
been poured forth, the flesh still remains and retains its life. But
put the two, distinctly, and you get the idea of death as clearly as
you can have it. Now, Beloved, I want you to come close up to this
Truth of God, that the Lord of
Glory actually died. For our Savior there was no passing into Heaven by
a chariot of fire. It is not said of Him, as of Enoch, that "He was
not, for God took Him." He must die! You dread death. You look forward
to it frequently with trepidation. But Christ passed absolutely through
it and the Human Soul and the Human Body of our Savior were torn from
each other. He actually descended into the abodes of the dead! He bowed
His head to the great enemy and yielded up the ghost. Had He not so
died, there had been no ransom paid for you, for God's Law demanded a
life. The sentence was, "The soul that sins, it shall die." Christ has
actually died–and let this Supper bring home the thought most sweetly
to yourselves that Jesus died!
We have not yet shown Christ's death wholly to ourselves. The spreading
of that breadand wine on yonder table is a showing to ourselves that
God has made a provision for human needs. A hungry man coming to that
Table thinks at once of eating and drinking. He perceives that if it is
placed there, it is placed there for use. Bread and wine in the
cupboard may be stored, but bread and wine on the table are evidently
for use. Now, child of God, catch that thought and hold it. Jesus
Christ has come into the world, not to withhold, but to give! Not to
reserve, but to distribute! Not to keep to Himself any good thing, but
to bestow all that He has upon His people! Come, then, with all your
great necessities–come to the Savior, for He freely presents Himself
to all Believers! Great Sinner, do you need great pardon? Jesus will
give it to you! He puts on the Table the cup. Do you need, Christian,
great comfort? Come and take it–it is put on the Table! Jesus keeps
open house for all comers who come by faith to Him. Have you the faith
to come and trust Him? Then all that Jesus is and has you may be and
have! Especially you that are His friends, you that have leaned upon
His bosom–do not stint yourselves, for He does not stint you. You are
not straitened in Him–if straitened at all, it is in yourselves. Jesus
puts upon the Table for us, Himself, and, being put there, it is as
good as an open invitation by a loud voice, saying, "O, you hungry,
come and feed! O, you thirsty, come and drink!" There is nothing in
Christ which He will deny to His people! Christ has nothing in Heaven
or on earth which He will keep back from the Believer that dares to
come and ask for it! Come, then! Come boldly! The Lord give you access
unto this Grace!
And do we not show the Lord's death a little further when, after having
spread the Supper, we come to eat it? Then we say to ourselves, "Just
as I must eat this bread, or it will not nourish me, so must I take
Jesus Christ, personally, by a distinct act of faith and take Him to be
mine. And as this bread, after I have taken it, incorporates itself
with me so that there is no distinction between this bread and my body,
but it helps to build up the structure of my body, so when I take
Christ and trust Him, He becomes one with me and I become one with Him
and my life is hid with Him. And He says that because He lives I shall
live also." Now, is not that a wonderful lesson to teach by so simple
an action? You eat, you drink, the food becomes assimilated into
yourselves. You come to Jesus, you trust Him and Christ becomes one
with you and you become one with Him, so that henceforth you can say,
"It is no more I that lives, but Christ that lives in me" and, as for
Jesus, He calls you a member of His body! He calls you a branch from
His stem! He calls you the spouse and He, Himself, your Bridegroom! Oh,
sacred union effected by the act of reception which is the act of
faith!
And now, beloved Believer, as you first lived by receiving Grace, you
can only grow in that life by still receiving it! Do not come to this
Table and say, "What can I bring?" No, but come and say, "What can I
take away?" Do not say, "Am I worthy?" That question never ought to be
asked. You are not worthy! But come, unworthy as you are, and take what
Jesus has provided for unworthy sinners! "Well," says someone, "but we
are to take heed lest we eat and drink being unworthy." No, you are
not! There is no such text in all the Bible! You see, you have left out
a syllable. What it does say is about eating and drinking
unworthily–and that is with respect to the way of eating it. If you
come to this table lightly–if you come to it irreligiously,
profanely–if you come as they did at Corinth, to merely drink. If you
come to get money by it, as some did in years gone by, to qualify
themselves for office or to obtain charity–thatwould be to eat and
drink unworthily! But, unworthy as you are, if your–
"Hope is fixed on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness,"
then come, for such as you the Table is spread!
And when you do come, I do pray you yet once more, do not let unbelief
keep you back from enjoying all that is to be enjoyed. You know a very
hungry man does not stand on many manners. If he is told to eat
everything that is set before him, then his hunger does not permit him
to stand on niceties, but he eats all he can get. And so may you. Yes,
and you may carry away what you will, too, with you. You may come and
get a feast tonight and the sweet remembrance of it in days to come
will be permitted to you. Believe that Christ does not refuse you
anything. When you pray, do not ask as if you were getting something
out of a hard-hearted Being, but come to One whose delight it is to
give–whose very Glory it is to scatter His mercies among His beloved
ones–
"Come, make your needs, your burdens known!
He will present them at the Throne
And angel bands are waiting there,
His messages of love to bear." Thus, you see, in the bread and the
wine, in the bread and wine separated, in the bread broken and the wine
poured out, in the two emblems put on a table– and in these two being
so partaken of that they become united with the fabric of our body–we
set forth the whole mystery of the death of Jesus Christ to ourselves.
May the Spirit of God help us to truly do this!
Observe now that–
II. WE ARE TO SHOW CHRIST'S DEATH TO OTHERS.
As often as we eat this bread and drink of this cup, we do this. We
show to others the fact that Jesus died. I think historians have taken
it as one of the best proofs of a fact when some rite has been
instituted to commemorate it. A pillar with an inscription is not
always a certain index to truth. Our own Monument, for instance, had a
record on it that London was burned down by the Catholics–who had no
more to do with it, certainly, than the Muslims did! The inscription in
that case was not a record of fact! Yes, and a pillar might be erected
to record an event which never occurred at all. But, as a general rule,
large bodies of men will not agree together to continually celebrate
events which never occurred. Nobody doubts, I suppose, the siege of
Londonderry, when the prentice boys meet every year to make a noise and
disturbance. They at least bring before the historian's mind the
certainty that such an event did occur, for it is still thus recorded.
Now, our Lord gave us this simple method of breaking bread and drinking
wine to be our way of setting up our pillar–our mode of keeping up a
great historical fact–that there was a Man who lived in Judea, who
professed to be the Son of God, who was the King of the Jews, who lived
a humble life and died a marvelous death! There is no fact in history
so well attested as this! So that those who have given up the
Inspiration of Scripture have seldom touched either the life or the
death of Jesus, but have conceded both to be facts. And now this very
night, perhaps, in fifty thousand places, at this moment, this
commemorative act of eating bread and drinking wine is about to be
performed in this one country of England. Now that is something by way
of record, and by this act we help to perpetuate to all generations the
fact that Jesus died!
But we do a great deal more than this to others. We assert by coming
here, tonight, and eating this bread and drinking of this cup, that we
believe that this Man, Jesus of Nazareth, was the Son of God and the
Savior of men, and that we go in with Him for everything that is
involved in the story of His life and death. That is to say, if it is a
shame for Christ to die upon the Cross, we are willing to bear part of
the shame. If it is thought to be foolishness to believe in a Crucified
Man–we are fools and come here to avow it. If it is said to be a
stumbling block to many that Jesus of Nazareth should be the Son of
God–we come to declare that it is no stumbling block to us! We accept
Him as Divine! We trust in Him as the Propitiation for our sins!
Beloved, when you shall take that bread, you take part with Christ. You
take lot with Him and, mark you, He often goes up the bleak side of the
hill–and you will have to do the same with the snow between your
teeth! And He often lodges in huts and hovels–yes, He has not where to
lay His head! He has handfuls of the world's filth thrown at Him and
but little of its gold laid at His feet. He is despised and rejected of
men–and if you will keep Him company, you must expect to be despised,
too, and to be as ill-treated as He was–for the servant is not above
his Master, nor the disciple above his Lord! Whoever follows David must
go to him in the wild goat tracks of Engedi, or dwell with him in the
Cave of Adullam. He that would be David's man must share David's needs
and David's disgraces or else he cannot share his crown. Believers,
have you counted this cost? You professors who come to this Table and
who say to the onlookers, "We go with Christ! We are enlisted under His
banner! We have given ourselves to Him"–have we counted the cost?–
"Have you counted the cost? Have you counted the cost?
You followers of the Cross?
And are you prepared for your Masters sake
To suffer all worldly loss?
And can you endure with the virgin band, The lowly and pure in heart,
Who wherever the Lamb does lead, From His footsteps never depart?'
Oh, that so counting the cost, you may continue with Him till life's
journey is over! Thus, you see, you not only assert that Christ died,
but you communicants assert that He died for you and that you are one
with Him and will take shares with Him when He comes into His Kingdom!
You do even more than that. You explain the meaning of Christ's death
by the mere fact of coming to this Table. "How," you ask, "is that?" In
eating the bread and drinking the wine, you set forth a sacrifice–a
libation of blood and a slaughter of flesh–and you say to all the
world, "Our trust for salvation rests in a Sacrifice! We have no hope
of being saved by anything that springs of ourselves–we look wholly
out of self and entirely to the Sacrifice which was offered up on the
Cross." While some of you sit down to the Table, others of you will be
onlookers. I do pray, as you look on, if you have never known this
Truth of God before, learn it now. All your hope of ever entering
Heaven must lie quite out of yourselves and be concentrated in
Another–in God's only and own dear Son! While I am stating this fact,
which is so well known to you that it sounds commonplace, I feel as if
I could burst into a flood of tears to think that it should grow so
commonplace and yet be not believed! Does God become Man and die, and
will you not trust Him? Does my God, that made the heavens and the
earth, of whom I read that without Him was not anything made that was
made–does He become a Man and suffer that sinners might live? And is
it nothing to you, is it nothing to you and will you prefer the tawdry
pleasures of this world to the solid bliss which He can give you? And
will you dash yourselves upon the bosses of Jehovah's buckler and run
upon His glittering spear and ruin yourselves forever rather than close
in with Christ and kiss the Son lest He be angry? I can understand why
it is that you do not love my Lord, for once I was so foolish, myself,
but oh, it is brutish–it is worse than that, it is devilish to despise
a dying Christ! I know not whether I have not maligned the devil in
using his name in such a matter as that, for surely, had Jesus died for
devils, they would not have been such devils as men are who, hearing of
a Savior and believing the story of His passion, yet turn a deaf ear to
it and give their souls up to Madame Wanton, or to base-born Mammon, or
to some other carnal thing which will but delude and destroy them!
There are some of you I shall never see again. I charge you before the
Eternal God, as we shall meet at His Last Judgment Seat, think of
this–that if it is worth God's while to come here and be Incarnate,
and so to suffer to make Atonement, it is not a thing for you to trifle
with! But if you do, you will find that the stone which you refused
will grind you to powder in that day when, like some cliff that is
loosened from its socket, long quivering there, it shall come rolling
down upon the heedless traveler to crush him and utterly destroy him!
God save you, my dear Hearer, stranger to me, and stranger to yourself,
and stranger to my God! And though you may remain a stranger to me, yet
may you begin to know something of yourself, tonight, and something of
my Master, of whom I will say this one thing–If you did but know Him
you would love Him–
"His worth if all the nations knew,
Sure the whole world would love Him too."
Thus, then, do we show the fact of our participation in Christ's death
and the meaning of it.
Does not the voice of ages and of generations after generations speak
to you now in the constancy and frequency of this celebration? And do
you not perceive that we move forward to the boundary which shall
realize the Church's hope? "We do show the Lord's death till He comes."
Then He is coming! He is coming! I know not when, no, nor know the
angel of God that is nearest to the Eternal Book when God unfolds the
leaves. But He is coming! As when the earthquake comes, with divers
signs and prodigies that make men start, and yet they know not what it
is, He comes! As the lightning flash that is seen from east to west, He
comes! As the thief that steals silently through the shadows of the
night and robs the sleeper, so He comes! The Man that wore the crown of
thorns is coming with a crown about His brow more glorious than all the
coronets of earth. He is coming! The Son of Mary is coming to wear no
more the garment without seam, but wrapped–
" With rainbow wreath and robes of storm."
He is coming! The Man that did hang upon the Cross will sit upon the
Great White Throne–
"On cherub wings and wings of wind, Appointed Judge of all mankind."
And you said tonight–you said it and I heard you–that you crucified
Him and you said that yours were the hands that drove the nails and
made the hammer fall. You sang just now–
"Tis I have thus ungrateful been." Now you have confessed it! You who
have trusted in Him will confess it and yet, thank God that out of a
fault springs your salvation! But you who have not trusted Him, what
will you say to Him in that day when He shall come to judge the world?
You shall look on Him whom you have pierced and you shall weep and wail
because of Him! Oh, that you would look at His wounds now and trust
Him, for if you do not, you shall look on them, then, and you shall
say, "I made those wounds." And that thought will shake you as when a
lion shakes its prey. That thought will melt your bones as though they
were but ice in the heat of the sun! And your loins shall be loosed and
your soul shall sink in dismay. I pray you–I beseech you by the love
you bear to yourself, and to your soul that can never die–look unto
Jesus and be saved! Look unto Him now! You must look one day–look
tonight! You must look, either with repentance and faith, or else with
terror and despair! Choose which it shall be. Choose now! Young men and
women who have stepped in here tonight, I pray God that you may have
Grace to decide for Jesus now. Old men and fathers, maidens and
matrons, may you also have Grace to say, "I will take Him as my Savior,
not as my Judge"–
"But if your ears refuse
The language of His Grace,
And hearts grow hard like stubborn Jews,
That unbelieving race.
The Lord in anger dressed,
Shall lift His hand and swear,
' You that despise My promised rest
Shall have no portion there.'"
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EZEKKIEL 36:16-38.
Verses 16-20. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son
of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled
it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before Me as the
uncleanness of a removed woman. Therefore I poured My fury upon them
for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols
wherewith they had polluted it and I scattered them among the heathen,
and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way
and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto
the heathen, where they went, they profaned My holy name, when they
said to them, these are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out
of His land.All through Scripture we are told that God has great regard
to the honor of His holy name. "The Lord your God is a jealous God."
And this is no small blessing to us, for it has so happened that when
there has been no other reason for mercy, God's regard to His own name
has found Him a reason for dealing mercifully with His unbelieving,
undeserving people! See how He had scattered His chosen people. He had
sent them away into captivity, justly, on account of their sins. But it
came to pass that wherever they went, whether it was into Persia or
Babylonia, the people said, "These are Jehovah' s people! These are
Jehovah' s people and they are gone forth out of His land." What was
the consequence of this?
21. But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had
profaned among the heathen, where they went. He had pity for His own
name! He had a reverence and esteem for His own renown and standing,
even among these heathen nations!
22, 23. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus says the LORD GOD;
do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel but for My holy name's
sake, which you haveprofaned among the heathen, where you went And I
will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen which
you have profaned in the midst of them: and the heathen shall know that
I am the LORD says the LORD GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you
before their eyes. Brothers and Sisters, what must God think of a
nation like ours which has come to be called by His name, albeit it so
little deserves that great
honor? What, I say, must He think of the fact that if there are any
vices yet unknown, white men will teach them to the heathen? And when
the heathen have heard the Gospel, the great sources of doubt are the
white men–Englishmen! Full often the greatest oppressors will spring
out of our own nation! Certainly we hold the belt for drunkenness and
where our fellow countrymen go, the name of Christianity is rendered
base among the heathen! The Muslims say of such a man, "He has been
drunk and turned a Christian." I will grant that much that is said is
said unwisely, untruthfully and slanderously in exaggeration, for these
men are no Christians! They know not the Lord. It is not a Christian
country–it is a heathen country, as some of us know, not only by what
we read, but by what we see and hear! Can you walk the streets without
hearing blasphemies more black than might be heard in any streets under
Heaven? This is a heathen country, but yet it has somehow come to be
thought to be a Christian country and, therefore, its conduct is
bringing dishonor upon the name of the Most High! Oh, that He would
have pity upon that name and interpose, and once more establish the
Truth of God and set up a throne of righteousness and turn the hearts
of the people to Himself in this country! Oh, that it were so, for His
great name's sake! He cannot bless us for our own sakes, for we deserve
nothing but His wrath–but, oh, that He would once again have pity upon
His holy name that is profaned–and bless this, our land! The Lord goes
on to say concerning His people–
24. For I will take you from among the heathen, andgather you out ofall
countries, and will bringyou into your own land. Now, this stands true
of Israel after the flesh. It will assuredly be fulfilled in the latter
days. But it stands even more certain concerning Israel, the true
Israel, of whom the natural Israel is but the type. Now, we read one
form of that New Covenant made with God concerning His elect,
comprehending all that have believed in Christ, or ever shall believe
in Him. This is the Covenant that He makes with us in these days–
25, 26. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be
clean: from all your flthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse
you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and
I will give you an heart of flesh. Here is, first of all, full
justification. "From all your filthiness will I cleanse you." And here
is, next, regeneration–"A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you." These are unconditional promises of that
Covenant which He has made with His redeemed in the Person of Christ
Jesus, their Covenant Head! See how majestically it is worded–"I will"
and, "You shall." There is not an "if" or a "but" all through it!
27. And I willput My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My
statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them.Here is
sanctification! Here is final perseverance! Blessed promises of the
Covenant of Grace!
28. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers: and
you shall be My people, and I will be your God. That is the greatest
promise of all! If a man were to preach a series of sermons upon this
text during every day in the year, he could never exhaust the fullness
of its meaning. "You shall be My people, and I will be your God."
29. I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for
the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And,
spiritually, how true this is–that whenever God saves us from sin, He
also saves us from every form of famine. No heart was ever left to
hunger and thirst in vain when it was cleansed from its sin! Our needs
come out of our sins, but when we walk with God, He lays no famine upon
us in spiritual things.
30. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the
field, that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the
heathen. "Then," when I have blessed you thus–when I have fully saved
you, when I have brought you up from all the places where I have
scattered you, when I have enriched you and indulged you with mylove–
31. Then shallyou remember your own evil ways, andyour doings that were
not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your
iniquities and for your abominations. Repentance is not the root of
Grace, but the lily-like flower of it. It is not a thing for the early
morning of Christian life, alone. Repentance will go side by side with
faith all through the ways of righteousness till we get to Heaven Gate!
It is when we have most of mercy that we have most loathing for sin–
"Law and terrors do but harden All the while they work alone. But a
sense of blood-bought pardon Soon dissolves a heart of stone!"
32. Not for your sakes do I do this, says the LORD GOD. Be it known
unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, Ohouse of
Israel. There is no man saved for his own sake. There is no man
redeemed for his own sake. It is for God's own Glory's sake. There is
no motive so high–there is none so worthy of God, as the making known
to all generations and all realms the majesty of His love and the
faithfulness of His Covenant.
33-36. Thus says the LORD GOD: In the day that I shall have cleansed
you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the
cities, and the wastes shall be built. And the desolate land shall be
tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And
they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the Garden
of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become
fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about
you shall know that I, the LORD, build the ruined places, and plant
that, that was desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
Now, as He will do this, I doubt not, in Palestine, in due season, so
does He always make the most desolate places to be built when His
people live near to Him. Let us have courage, Brothers and Sisters,
about London, about England, about the world! It is very wicked, but if
we will keep close to God, we are able to overcome this wickedness in
Christ's name. Let us have comfort about these evil days in which the
most of men seem to be departing from the Gospel. We can "hold the
fort" till Christ comes–let us but have courage! God will give us yet
to see better and brighter days. He was thought to be a good citizen
who never despaired of his country and he is a good Christian who never
indulges a dreary thought about the ultimate triumph of Christ and the
coming of His Kingdom–"for Yours is the Kingdom," even now, "and the
power and the glory," and so shall it be, forever and ever!
37. Thus says the LORD GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the
house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like
a flock. There must be the spirit of prayer and supplication poured out
first. We shall see Israel restored to her land when Israel is restored
to the Mercy Seat–and we shall see great prosperity as a Church and
the blessing of God will rest upon our nation when once God's people go
up to the top of Carmel with their faces between their knees and cry,
and cry, and cry again, expecting that yet the heavenly shower shall
end this long drought of the curse–and the blessing shall come. "I
will yet be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them."
38. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;
so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall
know that I am the LORD. And that is the great end of it all–to make
men know that the I AM is– that the true and real God is still potent
among the sons of men and does His will both here and among the armies
of Heaven. Unto His name be glory forever and ever!