Things to Be Remembered
(No. 3347)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1913.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"A Psalm of David to bring to remembrance." Psalm 38:(Title).
THESE words form the title to the Psalm before us, which we read just
now in your hearing. Let us note, for a short time, the subjects which
David thought it necessary to bring to remembrance. We must all have
noticed that our memories much more readily retain evil than good. The
snatch of a profane song heard in childhood will remain with us to our
graves–while many a holy thought leaves scarcely an impression upon
the tablets of memory. We heard it–it is gone– it would be difficult
to recall it. The draft that flows down the rivers of Sodom, one
retentively collects, but the goodly cedars of Lebanon that are floated
down the stream pass by unheeded. We may well say, "Forget not all His
benefits," for, alas, while the multitude of God's benefits is
forgotten, if there is anything to murmur at, it is pretty sure to be
treasured up as though it were a priceless relic to be carefully
preserved! May the Lord mend our memories. As He makes us new men and
women in Christ Jesus, may the Holy Spirit give to our memories the
power to grip the right and the true–and with a loose hand to let slip
that which is evil and contrary to His rule. The Psalm is "to bring to
remembrance." This seems to teach us that good things need to be kept
alive in our memories, that we should often sit down, look back,
retrace and turn over in our meditation things that are past, lest, at
any time we should let any good thing sink into oblivion. I have read
the Psalm to you and I think you will all agree with me that among the
things which David brought to his own remembrance, the first and
foremost were–
I. HIS PAST TRIALS AND HIS PAST DELIVERANCES.
Come, my Brothers and Sisters, let me stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance. Let me remind you of your past battles and victories, of
your troubles and conflicts and your sweet cheer and safe preservation.
It will do you good to remember them–such a remembrance will prevent
your imagining that you have come into the land of ease and perfect
rest We may have our time of prosperity and say with David, "I shall
never be moved. Lord, by Your favor, You have made my mountain to stand
strong." But soon adversity surprises us, as it suddenly overtook him
and changed his note, "You did hide Your face and I was troubled." This
is not the place for us to have peace and rest! We are as yet at
sea–the vessel has not reached the port. We are as yet in the
wilderness–we have not come to the goodly land, even to Canaan. We are
not yet out of gunshot of the devil. We are not yet beyond afflictions
and trials and if, for awhile, the weather has been calm and the sun
has been bright–and we poor pilgrims have been trudging on along green
pastures and by the side of still waters–let us remember the giants
with whom we fought in days long gone! Let us remember the hills of
difficulty, the valleys of humiliation, the conflicts with
Apollyon–for as it was at the first, so shall it always be till we
come to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Oh, you who are making for yourself a downy nest and building up a
castle in the air, remember you do this without the permission of your
God! No, you do it in the teeth of His warnings, for has not Jesus
said, "In the world you shall have tribulation"? And is it not written,
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous"? Bring to remembrance,
then, your former struggles lest you begin to settle upon your lees and
fancy that there is no more trial for you!
Remember them, too, because they will refresh your memories with regard
to the mercy of God and so will stir you up to gratitude. Oh, we
thought when we were in trouble that if the Lord would guarantee us
deliverance, He would never hear the last of it! We said to ourselves,
"I will praise Him while I have any being if He brings me out of this
strait and sets my feet, once again, in a large room." But our song was
not quite as long as we expected and, after having praised God a
little, the novelty of the mercy departed and our gratitude subsided.
But, oh, my Brothers and Sisters,
have we not much cause to bless God? Have we not cause to bless Him
that we have been delivered from the burden of guilt–a burden that
once bowed us to the earth–that we have been saved in dire afflictions
when it seemed as if we must be crushed, that tribulations have been
averted which threatened us, or that we have been sustained under those
which have actually come upon us? Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song!
And weave that new song out of the remembrances of His past mercies
when He appeared for His servants in the times of trouble and worked
amazingly for them according to the counsels of His love! Blessed be
the name of the Lord at this time as we bring to remembrance trials
past, and mercies that have been received!
Such a remembrance will be of great service to you, my Brothers and
Sisters, if you are at this time enduring the like exercises. What God
was, that He is. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and
forever," is His people's trust and glory. Having begun to deliver you,
He will not afterwards forsake you! He has not brought you this far to
put you to shame. What is the trouble of today? You have passed through
another quite as great. What is the doubt that assails you? You have
already met a doubt quite as gloomy and by faith you have overcome it!
What is the fear which now gathers like a heavy cloud? The time before,
it burst with mercies upon your head–and it shall do the same again!
Draw courage from the recollections of the past and go forward to the
fears of the future–and they shall vanish as you advance confident in
your God. The great point, however, in David's Psalm is–
II. TO BRING TO REMEMBRANCE THE DEPRAVITY OF OUR NATURE.
There is, perhaps, no Psalm which more fully than this one describes
human nature as seen in the light which God, the Holy Spirit, casts
upon it in the time when He convicts us of sin. I am persuaded that the
description here does not tally with any known disease of the body. It
is very much like leprosy, but it has about it certain features which
cannot be found to meet in any leprosy described either by ancient or
modern writers. The fact is, it is a spiritualleprosy–it is an inward
disease which is here described–and David paints it to the very life
and he would have us remember this. Child of God, let me bring to your
remembrance, tonight, the fact that you are by nature no better than
the vilest of the vile! "Children of wrath even as others," are we.
Even you who are favored by Divine Grace to enter into rich fellowship
with Christ are no better, naturally, than the lost spirits in Hell!
There was no difference at birth and no intrinsic essential difference
of moral constitution between Peter and Judas, between Paul and Demas,
between the brightest Apostle and the bloodiest persecutor! We have
grown in Grace–had we been left to ourselves, we would have rotted in
sin! We have gone from strength to strength in the way of holiness, but
if it had not been for Divine Grace that interposed most sovereignly,
we would have gone from depth to depth in the way of crime!
Just turn that over for a minute. By nature not one whit better than
the rest of mankind, see what Grace has done for you in making such a
difference! Why are you not tonight upon the drunkard's bench? Why fill
you not the seat of the scorner? Perhaps you have been there already,
and if Divine Grace had not prevented, you would have continued there!
I think it does us a world of good, when Grace has made the difference,
to still take the place which the publican did. I never feel so well in
spiritual health as when I cry out, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"
Somehow there is a safeness about it, when a sense of sin makes one
cling to the sinner's Savior. Growth in Grace and high frames in
spirituality are very pleasant, but it does us so much good, every now
and then, to come right on the ground again, flat on our face before
the Lord, crying out, "What am I that You have brought me to this? God
forgive me, and accept me through the precious blood, for in myself I
am loathsome, vile and abhorred–and in me there dwells no good thing."
The best mode of living is to live upon Christ every day as you did the
first day of your conversion–always to stand at the foot of the Cross
with–
"Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Your Cross I cling."
A saint, I hope, by Grace, but a sinner certainly by nature. Still,
still dependent upon the same merit of the Substitute, still accepted
through the continual plea of the Divine Intercessor who has espoused
my cause and is able to save to the uttermost, them that come unto God
by Him. "Heirs of wrath even as others"–this is what we were! Sinners
saved by Grace–this is what we are! It is well to bring to the
remembrance of the child of God that although his past sin is all
blotted out, and he is justified by faith which is in Jesus Christ, yet
there still remains in him the old body of this death. Sin, the force
of sin, still dwells in him! Now, Brothers and Sisters, there are times
when everything goes very smoothly with us. Everybody treats us kindly.
We are much in religious exercises. We go from Prayer Meetings to
lectures, from
lectures to sermons, and from sermons to our room and to our Bibles. We
do not get vexed or troubled and we begin to think, "Now I really am
somewhat of a superior being. I think I am not what I used to be–I
never could be roused to that old anger which once flamed out so
furiously, nor could I now be led into such fretfulness as once was
known to overcome me." I have noticed–take my experience for what it
is worth–that the most dangerous time in the Christian's life is when
he has been nearest to God in devotion. You meet the devil and not
expecting him, he is too much for you. It is just when you have been
most spiritual that the temptation which you had almost thought would
never come again, trips you up, and ah, how soon you find that if when
upon the mountain, your face glowed, down in the valley, again, unless
your Master holds you up, your foot will slip and your face will be
covered with the filthiness of the valley! Remember, child of God, let
others say what they will to you, that the dictates of experience and
the teachings of God's Word lead you to the remembrance that there is
still in you a spirit that lusts after all manner of evil, a nature
which, if it were not curbed and confined by the Grace of God, would
make you again to be what you were, yes, and would bring into your
house seven devils worse than the first! Never conceive that any one of
the evils of your nature is so dead that it cannot have a resurrection.
Strive against every form of sin, every thought of sin, every carnal
tendency, every evil pas-sion–and when you have striven most, never
count your victory to be complete until your feet are within the pearly
gate! Never reckon that you may take off your helmet and lay aside your
sword and say, "The battle is fairly won," until you have crossed the
River of Death and go waving the banner of love in the streets of the
New Jerusalem!
David brings this to remembrance and that, too, in the most forcible
words. Some of the children of God can use very terrible words about
what they feel in their own nature, so that ungodly men say of them,
"How bad these Christians must be!" It is not that they are worse than
others, but that they have the sense to see the evil. A man in a black
coat may have a hundred spots and blots upon it, but nobody will see
them–but let him wear a coat of white and if there is only a little a
speck of mire, it is immediately perceived! The holier the Christian
becomes, the more readily he perceives his imperfections and the
wickedness of his sins–and sin, instead of becoming more bearable to a
Christian, becomes growingly more and more intolerable! A man in the
water may bear much–in fact, much of it might roll over his head and
he would not feel the weight of it–but let him come out on the dry
land and put but a small quantity of water in a bucket and how heavy it
is when he carries it upon his head! When he is in the water, he does
not feel the weight, for it presses him on all sides–but get him out
of the water and then he begins to feel its gravity. So, a sinner in
his sin is like a man in the deep–he does not feel the weight of his
sin. But get him out of it, bring him into a new element, and then
immediately sin becomes exceedingly sinful! Oh, if we could but be
perfect! If it were possible to be rid of this evil nature! So we sigh
and so we cry, waiting for the adoption, for the coming of the Lord,
for the perfecting of our nature as it shall be, by-and-by, when the
furnace work of Providence and the refining work of Divine Grace shall
all be done!
It is a gloomy thing to bring to your remembrance, my dear Friends, but
it is often brought to mine, and I know it is good for me–what you
were by nature, and what you still are, unless the Grace of God
prevents it. Remember old John Bradford's remark whenever he saw a man
go by his window to Tyburn to be hanged–and he lived at that time
where he saw them all–"Ah," he said, "there goes John Bradford if the
Grace of God had not prevented." It is said that a Scotchman once went
to see Rowland Hill and, sitting down, he looked at the lines in his
face. He looked a long while, till Rowland smilingly said, "And what
are you looking at, my Friend?" "I am looking at the lines in your
face, Mr. Hill." "And what," said he, "do you make of them?" "Why, that
if the Grace of God had not saved you, you would have been a great
rogue." "Ah," said Rowland, "and you have hit the mark!" It is even so,
and even worse than that! If the Grace of God had not come into our
hearts and made new creatures of us, we had been equal to the devil,
or, at any rate, it would not have been our fault if we had not
excelled even Apollyon, himself, in rebellion and enmity to God! A
third thing the Psalm brings to our remembrance is– III. OUR MANY
ENEMIES.
David says that his enemies laid snares for him, sought his hurt, spoke
mischievous things and devised and imagined deceits all day long.
"Well," says one, "how was it that David had so many enemies? How could
he make so many? Must he not have been imprudent and rash, or, perhaps,
morose?" It does not appear so in his life. He rather made enemies by
his being scrupulously holy. His enemies attacked him not because he
was wicked, but, as he says in this very Psalm, they were his enemies
because he loved the thing which is good. Now, you must not suppose
that because you seek to live in all peaceableness and righteousness,
that, therefore, everybody will be peaceable towards you. Far from it!
Our Lord put us upon the right tack when He said, "I came not to send
peace upon earth, but a sword." The ultimate result of the religion of
Christ is to make peace everywhere–but the first result is to cause
strife. When the Light of God comes, it must contend with the darkness.
When the Truth of God comes, it must first combat error. And when the
Gospel comes, it must meet with enemies–and the man who receives the
Gospel will find that his foes shall be they of his own household. You
shall not be helped by an ungodly father, nor be cheered onward by an
un-Christian mother. One would think that even nature, itself, might
lead parents to admire that which should make their children virtuous,
preserve them in this life and bless them in the life to come. But such
is the enmity of the human heart against Christ and His Gospel, that
hundreds of parents have been monsters to their children when those
children have been obedient subjects to Christ! Why those stakes, those
dungeons and those racks? Why the snows of Piedmont dyed scarlet with
human gore? Why the glens of Scotland marked with the lurking places of
the saints? Because this world hates the people of God! "You are not of
the world," says Christ, "even as I am not of the world, and therefore
the world hates you." It is good to be reminded of this, that we may
not be astonished at the fiery trial as though some strange thing had
happened to us! It is the part and lot of the follower of the true to
have to contend with deadly odds.
And remember, Christian, you have enemies who seek to turn you aside
and do you mischief. You are not now traveling along a road that is
safe for your feet, in which there is no enemy whatever, but behind
every hedge there lurks a foe. Whether you are in high or low estate,
temptation will assail you. It is not possible for you to shut the door
so quickly as to shut out temptations to sin! Snares assail you in your
bed and at your table–snares will be about your feet at home and
abroad, with your fellow workmen and in the bosom of your family. Be
always on the alert then. Travel with a naked sword–never sheath it.
"Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation," and until you have
come out of the enemy's country, into the land that flows with milk and
honey, always hear your Captain say, "What I say unto you I say unto
all–watch." Watch–especially watch against those who come to you with
words softer than butter which inwardly are drawn swords! Watch against
temptations that appeal to your pleasure. You need not be so much
afraid of that which grieves you as of that which charms you. Watch
against the fair siren whose fascinating song will attract you from the
billowy deep with the hope of rest to where, alas, you will find
shipwreck and ruin! Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it
sparkles in the cup, when it moves itself aright. Let the charm of the
temptation be the warning to you. Let the pleasure be the very beacon
which shall make you turn aside from it, feeling that there must be
evil lurking there. Christian, be always on your guard! Never be taken
by surprise. Once more– IV. THE PSALM REMINDS US OF OUR GRACIOUS GOD.
Anything which drives us to God is a blessing and anything which weans
us from leaning on an arm of flesh, and especially that weans us from
trying to stand alone, is a blessing to us! Think awhile how much you
owe to the Grace of God who has preserved you until now. The man who
carries a bombshell within his heart, and has to walk through the midst
of sparks, may wonder that he has not been blown to pieces–
"Kept alive with death so near, I to God the glory give."
With such a heart as mine, if You, O Lord, had not held me fast, I had
long ago declined and turned back to the world! Praise the Grace that
has held you till now! Keep in remembrance the patience of God in
enduring with you, the power of God in restraining you, the love of God
in instructing you and the goodness of God in keeping you to this day.
Nor ought we ever to forget with regard to our inward depravity and the
Grace of God, that mighty work which the Holy Spirit has undertaken. I
was trying the other day in my own mind to weigh in the scales the work
of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit–and the only conclusion I
could come to was this–that I did not know which in its execution was
the more difficult, or which in its results was the more precious. For
Christ to take the guilt of sin and suffer was certainly a marvelous
thing, but for the Holy Spirit to condescend to dwellin our hearts and
to combat day by day with our sin until He should eradicate the very
principle of selfishness and make us to be holy even as God is
holy–this is a work worthy of God! And if the former work, that of
Christ, was Divine, certainly this is no less so! Oh, let us never
depreciate the Holy Spirit's work, but looking forward to what we are
to be, as well as backwards upon what we were, let us magnify the Holy
Spirit with our heart, soul and strength who has worked all our works
in us and by whom we shall be presented faultless before the Presence
of God without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing!
"My God, I thank You for reminding me of Yourself, of Your Son by whom
I am cleansed, of Your Holy Spirit by whom I am sanctified, of Yourself
by whom I am daily succored. Oh, bind me to Yourself with tenfold cords
and as your Providence brings me where I have to encounter new sins,
and new trials, and to experience new deliverances and new mercies, may
You be brought more closely to my soul and may everything bring You to
remembrance." We never walk so safely as when we walk with God. We are
never so rich as when we are poor in everything without Him, and never
so strong as when we are weakness, itself, except for such strength as
we get from our invisible Helper. Lean heavily there, Christian. Lean
heavily! You can never make that arm weak. Bear with all your
weight–He can never tire. Cast all your burden upon Him. You may even
be glad to have a burden to cast there, so that you may have
opportunities of knowing and proving the power and faithfulness of your
God. Tonight, as your troubles have been brought to remembrance, let
those bring your weakness to remembrance–let that bring your God to
remembrance and so do you go up the rungs of the ladder from the bottom
of the horrible pit and of the miry clay, to the very heights ofjoy and
gladness! And as you go say, "My God, You are mine–mine, despite my
sin–mine to deliver me from it all and to make me like Yourself, to
dwell with You forever."
Brothers and Sisters, the mercy is that all the badness that we see in
ourselves does not at all affect our standing before God, or our belief
in our own personal safety! Though I see within myself all that is foul
and corrupt, everything that is villainous and even devilish, by
nature, yet do I know that I am saved and rejoice that neither death
nor Hell shall divide me from my Master's bosom, for our standing rests
not in ourselves, but wholly in what Christ has done! His perfect work
presents to us a foundation upon which we can build securely–and
though we grieve daily over indwelling sin and have come to God with
many a bitter accusation against ourselves, yet glory be to His name,
Christ changes not and our acceptance in the Beloved does not wax and
wane like the moon, but abides in one sacred, high, eternal noonday
never to go down! Glory be to God, and let our souls exult in such
mercy as this!
I would to God as I bring these things to your remembrance, that you
would remember how many have forgotten these things all their lives.
How many of your own companions live as if there were no God and no
hereafter? I bring them to your remembrance. Pray for them and do what
you can to lead them to Jesus!
I wish I could bring to theirremembrance that they must die and that
after death there comes the judgment–and that the judgment for an
unpardoned soul means eternal destruction from the Presence of the
Lord! Oh you who have much remembrance for the things of this world
that are not worth remembering, for awhile use that faculty for nobler
ends. Scrape not up the mire of the streets, but begin to gather a
little of the pure gold that God puts before you! Think upon your
latter end! Think upon the Gospel which now is preached to you. Think
upon the time when it shall be preached to you no more! Think of the
hour when you shall be called to account for having rejected the
Gospel's invitation. Whoever trusts Jesus shall be saved. Rely upon
what Jesus has done and, guilty as you are, your sins shall be
forgiven!
God grant that it may be so with you, for His love's sake. Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMANS 6.
Verse 1 What shall we say, then?Shall we continue in sin that Grace may
abound?The 5th Chapter ends up in this way, that "where sin abounded,
etc.. Jesus Christ our Lord." Then he goes on to say, "What shall we
say, then?" What inference shall we draw from the fact that where sin
abounded, Grace did much more abound? Shall we be base enough to draw a
wicked inference from a gracious statement? Shall we continue in sin
that Grace may abound? It is a horrible suggestion and yet it is one
which has come into the minds of many men, for some men are bad enough
for anything–they will curdle the sweet milk of love into the most
sour argument for sin! "Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound?
God forbid!" With all the vehemence of his nature, he says–
2. God forbid! How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?The Grace of God makes us dead to sin. This is the Grace of God
which delivers us from the power of evil–and if this is so, how can we
live any longer therein?
3. Know you not, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into His death? If we are in Christ at all, we are
partakers of His death and as His was a death for sin and a death to
sin, we are made partakers of it–we are really dead because Christ
died and we are in Him. Therefore we are dead to the old life, to the
old way of sin. We signify that by our baptism.
4. Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life. Our Baptism, solemn as it was,
was a great acted lie, a living pretense unless we are dead to our
former way of living and have come to live unto God in a new life
altogether, by virtue of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead!
5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness ofHis death, we
shall be also in the likeness ofHis Resurrection. If we have partaken
of His death, we partake also of His rising power. We live because He
lives and we live as He lives, not after the old manner, but in newness
of life.
6. Knowing this, that our oldman is crucified with Him, that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.We
are to regard ourselves as persons that have been dead. We are
ourselves, it is true, and yet in another sense we are not ourselves.
We are not to look upon ourselves as though we owed any kind of service
to the power which we obeyed before we knew the Lord. We are new
people–we have a new life and have entered upon a new exis-tence–the
old man is crucified with Him
7. 8. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we are dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.There was no
getting free from the power of sin except by dying to it but, being
dead to it, we are free from it and, now being dead that way, we have
entered into a new life that we might live as Christ lives!
9. Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more; death
has no more dominion over Him. So we, being raised from our former
death, shall die no more–death has no more dominion over us. That is
to say, sin cannot reign in us again–we are dead to it, we are brought
into a new life that can never end, even as our Lord Jesus Christ is.
There is a parallel between us and Christ, even as there is a union
between us.
10. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He lives,
He lives unto God. And so do we! We have died unto sin once, but now
that we live, we live unto God.
11. 12. Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto
sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin,
therefore, reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the
lusts thereof It is in the body that it tries to reign. These poor
things, these mortal frames of ours, have so many passions, so many
desires, so many weaknesses, all of which are apt to bring us under the
dominion of sin unless we watch with great care.
13. Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from
the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
"Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto
sin"–neither eyes, nor ears, nor hands, nor feet–neither suffer any
of these to become the tools of sin, "but yield yourselves unto God."
He is ready to use you! Lay all the powers of your nature out as tools
for Him to use. "Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from
the dead." He is not the God of the dead–He cannot use the dead, but
He is the God of the living–and as you profess to have received a new
life in Christ, yield up all the faculties of this new life unto the
living God, "and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God."
14. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the
Law, but under Grace. When you were under the Law, sin did get dominion
over you! That Law which was ordained to life, worked towards death.
The evil concupiscence of your nature revolted against the command and
led you astray. But now, Beloved, it is of love and Grace, and now sin
cannot get in–stronger motives shall hold you to holiness than ever
held you before, and the Grace of God, itself, like a wall of fire,
shall guard you from the dominion of sin!
15. What then?Shall we sin because we are not under the Law, but under
Grace? God forbid!That must not be! Again the evil spirit crops up,
trying to turn the Grace of God into licentiousness, and to make us
feel free to sin because of God's love–that must not be!
16. Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?It is a wonderful heart-searching text, is
this! Let us put ourselves under its power. Whatever you obey, that is
your master! And if you obey the suggestions of sin, you are the slave
of sin! And it is only as you are obedient to God that you are truly
the servants of God. So that, after all, our out-
ward walk and conversation are the best test of our true condition.
Without holiness no man shall see the Lord, nor can he have any reason
to believe that he belongs to God.
17. But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Or
into which you were delivered. God has taken you, melted you down, and
poured you into a new mold! God be thanked for that–you are not what
you used to be. Although you are not what you hope to be, yet you have
reason to bless God you are not what once you were–you have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine into which you were delivered.
18. Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of
righteousness. The fetters are struck off, the lusts of the flesh do
not hold us any longer. We are the Lord's free men and women–and out
of gratitude for this glorious freedom, we become the willing servants
of the righteous God!
19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanliness
and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants
to righteousness unto holi-ness.It needs no explanation. In the days of
our sin, we sinned with all our power. There was not one part of us but
what became the willing servant of sin and we went from iniquity into
iniquity! But now the Cross has made us entirely new and we have been
melted down, poured out into a fresh mold. Now, let us yield every
member of our body, soul and spirit to righteousness, even unto
holiness, till the whole of us, in the wholeness and consequently the
holiness of our nature, shall be given unto God.
20. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from
righteousness. You did not care about righteousness then. When you
served sin, you felt it was utterly indifferent to you what the claims
of righteousness might be. Well, now that you have become the servant
of righteousness, be free from sin! Let sin have no more dominion over
you, now, than righteousness used to have when you were the slaves of
sin! "What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now
ashamed?" What profit did they ever bring you? There was a temporary
delight, like the blossom on the tree in spring, but what fruit did you
find? Did it ever come to anything? Is there anything to look back upon
with pleasure in a life of sin? Oh no, those things whereof we are now
ashamed were fruitless to us, "for the end of those things is death."
22, 23. But now beingmade free from sin, and being servants to God, you
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
ISAIAH53.
This is a Chapter which you have read hundreds of times, perhaps. I am
sure it is one that needs no comment from me. I shall read it through
with scarcely a sentence of comment.
Verses 1-9. Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm ofthe
LORD revealed? For He shallgrow up before Him as a tender plant, and as
a root out of a dry ground: He has no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is
despised and rejected of men; a Man of Sorro ws and acquainted with
grief: and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and
we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His
stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the
iniquity of us all He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He
opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. He was
taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare His
generation? For He was cut off out ofthe land ofthe living: for the
transgression of My people was He stricken. And He made His grave with
the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He has done no
violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth A strange reason for
making His grave with the wicked, and yet remember, if it had not been
that He had done no violence, He would not have been fit to be a
Substitute for sinners! And so He was numbered with transgressors to
redeem men.
10, 11, 12. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to
grief when You shall make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see
His seed. He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure ofthe Lord shall
prosper in His hands. He shall see ofthe travail ofHis soul, and shall
be satisfied; by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many;
for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore willIdivide Him aportion
with the great, andHe shall divide the spoil with the strong because He
has poured out His soul unto death; and He was numbered with the
transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for
the transgressors. How clearly you have before you, here, our blessed
Redeemer, and how strong are the expressions used by Isaiah to set
forth His Substitution. If he intended to teach us the Doctrine that
Christ suffered in the place of His people, he could not have used more
expressive words. And if he did not intend to teach us that Truth of
God, it is marvelous that he should have adopted a phraseology so
likely to mislead. Yes, we believe and hold it fast, that Christ did
take the sins of His people verily and truly upon Himself and did, in
proper Person make a complete expiation for the guilt of all His
chosen! And in this we find our hearts' best confidence–
Our soul can on this Doctrine live,
Can on this Doctrine die!"
Have you and I an interest in this Atonement, or must the complaint be
made concerning us–"Who has believed our report, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed?" While I was reading just now, could you say
by faith, "Yes, surely He has borne our griefs and carried oursorrows"?
Have you an appropriating faith which takes the sufferings of Christ to
be its own? Do you now humbly, but yet confidently, look to Jesus
Christ, the great Burden-Bearer on yonder tree, and know that your
guilt was there? If so, rejoice and walk worthily of your calling! If
not, Soul, you do not know the first letters of the alphabet of
religion! May the Lord teach you, for His name's sake.