DELIVERED BY
C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"But be you doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves. For if any is a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is
like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholds
himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man
he was. But whoever looks into the perfect Law of liberty, and
continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:22-25.
JAMES has no speculations. "By their fruits you shall know them," seems
to have taken possession of his mind and he is always demanding
practical holiness. He is not satisfied with the buds of hearing–he
wants the fruits of obedience! We need more of his practical spirit in
this age, for there are certain ministers who are not content with
sowing the old seed, the same seed which, from the hand of Apostles,
confessors, fathers, reformers and martyrs produced a harvest unto God.
They spend their time in speculating as to whether the seed of tares
grown under certain circumstances may not bring forth wheat–whether,
at any rate, good wheat would not be the better for the admixture of
just a little sprinkling of tare seed!
We need somebody to take these various theories, put them into a
cauldron, boil them down and see what is the essential practical
product of them. Some of you may have seen in the newspapers a short
time ago an article which fastened itself upon my mind–an article with
regard to the moral state of Germany. The writer, himself a German,
says that the skepticism of the professed preachers of the Word of God,
the continual doubts which have been suggested by scientific men and
more especially by professedly religious men as to Revelation, have now
produced upon the German nation the most frightful consequences.
The picture which he gives makes us fear that our German friends are
treading upon a volcano which may explode beneath their feet. The
authority of the government has been so severely exercised that men are
beginning to weary of it and, meanwhile, the authority of God has been
put so much out of the question that the basis of society is
undermined. I need not, however, ground my remarks upon that article,
for the French Revolution at the end of the last century remains in
history as an enduring warning as to the dread effects of philosophy
when it has cast suspicion upon all religion and created a nation of
infidels. I pray God that the same may not happen here, but the party
of "modern thought" seem resolved upon repeating the experiment! So
greatly is the just severity of God ignored and so trifling an evil is
sin made out to be that if men were to be doers of what they hear and
carry out what has been taught from certain professedly Christian
pulpits, anarchy would be the result! Free-thinking always leads that
way. God keep us from it!
While preachers too often toy with preaching, how much there is among
hearers of the same fashion? Hearing is often merely a critical
exercise and the question after a sermon is not, "How was that Truth of
God fitted to your case?" but, "How did you like him?" as if that had
anything to do with it! When you hear music, do you ask, "How did you
like the trumpet?" No, it is the music–not the instrument–that your
mind thinks about! Yet many persons always consider the minister rather
than his message. Many contrast one preacher with another when they
should contrast themselves with the Divine Law. Thus hearing the Gospel
is degraded into a pastime and judged to be little better than a
theatrical entertainment.
Such things must not be! Preachers must preach as for eternity and look
for fruit–and hearers must carry out what they hear, or otherwise the
sacred ordinance of preaching will cease to be the channel of blessing
and will rather be an insult to God and a mockery to the souls of men!
I shall, not, at great length, but I hope with much earnestness, speak
of two classes of hearers–the unblessed class, and the second, the
class who according to the text, are blessed in their deed.
I. First, THE UNBLESSED CLASS. They are hearers, but they are described
as hearers who are not doers. They hear–some of them pretty regularly,
others of them only now and then just to while away an hour–and they
hear with considerable attention because they appreciate good speaking.
They are interested in doctrine, perhaps, having a little knowledge of
the Christian system, and they like to discuss a point or two.
Moreover, they are anxious to be able to say that they heard
Such-and-Such preach, of whom his fame has gone abroad. But as to doing
what they hear, that has not entered their minds.
They have heard a sermon on repentance, but they have not repented.
They have heard the Gospel cry, "Believe!" but they have not believed.
They know that he who believes purges himself from his old sins, yet
they have had no purging, but abide as they were. Now, if I address
such, let me say to them–it is clear that you are and must be
unblessed. Hearing of a feast will not fill you! Hearing of a brook
will not quench your thirst! The information that there is gold in the
Bank of England will not enrich you–you need cash in your own pocket.
The knowledge that there is a shelter from the storm will not save the
ship from the storm. The information that there is a cure for a disease
will not make the sick man whole. No, gifts must be grasped, blessings
must be appropriated and made use of if they are to be of any value to
us. O Sirs, you know what you should do but you have not done it! You
have been half-inclined to attend to eternal things, but you have let
them go and so you are still among those unblessed hearers who hear in
vain!
Next, these hearers are described as deceiving themselves. "Deceiving
yourselves," says James. What did they deceive themselves about? Why,
probably they thought they were considerably better for being
hearers–much to be commended and sure to get a blessing! They would
not have been happy if they had not heard the Word of God on Sunday and
they look with disgust upon their neighbors who make nothing of the
Sabbath. They, themselves, are very superior people because they are
regular Church-goers or Chapel-goers. They have a sitting, a hymnbook
and a Bible–is not that a good deal? If they stayed away from a place
of worship for a month they would be very uneasy. But though they do
not believe that going to a place of worship will save them, yet it
quiets their conscience and they feel themselves more at ease.
I should like to feed you for a month on your theory. I would rattle
the plates in your ears and see whether you would be fed. I would not
accommodate you with a bed at night. Why should I? I would preach you a
discourse upon the benefit of sleep. Nor need I even give you a room to
occupy–I would read you an eloquent dissertation upon domestic
architecture and show you what a house should be! You would very soon
quit my door and call me inhospitable if I gave you music instead of
meat! And yet you deceive yourselves with the notion that merely
hearing about Jesus and His great salvation has made you better men!
Or, perhaps, the deceit runs in another line–you foster the idea that
the stern Truths of God which you hear do not apply to you. Sinners?
Yes, certainly–the preacher addresses sinners and they may get good
out of it–but you are not a sinner, at least not in any special sense
so as to need looking after. Repentance? Most people ought to repent,
but you do not see any reason why you should repent! Looking to Christ
for salvation? "Excellent doctrine," you say, "excellent doctrine!"
But, somehow, you do not look to Him for salvation. Here is the
Scriptural verdict upon this opinion of yours–"Deceiving yourselves."
The Gospel does not deceive you! It tells you, "You must be born again,
you must believe in Jesus Christ or be lost." The preacher does not
deceive you! He never said half a word to support the notion that
coming to this place would be of any service to you unless you would
yield your hearts to Christ! No, he has learned to speak plain English
about such matters. You deceive yourselves if, being hearers and not
doers, you derive comfort from that which you hear!
And then, again, according to our text, these people are superficial
hearers. They are said to be as a man who sees his natural face in a
glass. Now, even a casual hearer will often find the preaching of the
Gospel to be like looking in a glass and seeing himself. When a glass
was first exhibited to some fresh discovered Negro tribe, the
chieftain, as he sees himself, is perfectly astonished. He looks and
looks again and cannot make it out. So is it in the preaching of the
Word of God– the man says, "Why, those are my words! That is my way of
feeling." I have often known hearers exclaim, "Why, that is the very
expression I used as I was coming along." They feel like she of old who
said, "Come, see a Man which told me all things that I ever did."
Such a person reads his Bible and he says, "Come, see a Book which
tells me all things that I ever did. Is not this God's Book?" The fact
is that the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. As you have seen hanging up in the butcher's shop the
carcasses of animals cut right down the center, so the Word of God is
"quick and
powerful, piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit, ofjoints and
marrow." It opens up a man to himself and makes him see himself. He is
quite astonished and cannot make it out! I have no doubt many of you
here who are unconverted have felt this under a searching sermon.
When you have been reading the Scriptures you have been perfectly
astonished at the way in which you have been revealed to
yourselves–but it has been superficial work. If a man looks at himself
in a glass and then puts down the mirror and goes his way, he has made
but very poor use of it, for it was intended to lead him to remove
spots and improve his personal appearance by washing. Looking in the
glass and noticing a black mark on your forehead is mere child's play
if you do not wash the spot away! To see yourself as God would have you
see yourself in the glass of Scripture is something, but you must
afterwards go to Christ for washing or your looking is very superficial
work. God grant that if you are made to feel the revealing power of the
Word of God you may at once come to the practical point and, "wash and
be clean."
The text accuses these persons of being hasty hearers–"he beholds
himself and goes his way." They hear a sermon and they are off! They
never give the Word time to operate–they are back to business, back to
talk and idle chit-chat the moment the service ends. Enquirers'
Meetings are often eminently useful because they give people a little
opportunity to think over what they have heard–while much of hearing
is not followed up with thought and so it is ineffectual. We get much
more out of meditation than out of hearing. Like the cattle, we must
chew the cud if we would get nutriment from spiritual food, but few do
this.
It is a great mercy for us, considering the quantity of nonsense there
is in the world, that we have two ears so that we can let idle words go
in one ear and out the other! But it is a great pity that we should use
those two ears in such a way in reference to the Word of God. Let it
have a home, dear Friend! Do not let the Gospel come in one ear and out
the other! How are you to prevent it? Why let it come in both ears! Let
it have two roads right down to the soul and shut your ears when the
Truth has thoroughly entered in and compel it to abide in the chamber
of your soul. How much of blessing would come to men if they carried
the Word of God home with them! How much a blessing they would receive
if they took the text to pieces, weighed it, considered it and prayed
for a personal application of it. Then they would become spiritually
wise by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. But, alas, they are hasty
hearers–they look in the glass and go their way.
One other thing is said about them, namely, that they are very
forgetful hearers–they forget what manner of men they are. They have
heard the discourse and that is the end of it. You know the story of
Donald's coming home a little sooner from church than usual and his
wife enquiring, "What? Donald! Is the sermon all done?" He replied,
"No, no, it is all said, but it has not begun to be done yet."
But while it has not begun to be done, it often happens that the sermon
has ended with many hearers. They have listened to it, but it has ran
through them like water through a sieve and they will remember no more
of it till the Judgment Day. There is no sin in having a bad memory,
but there is great sin in refusing at once to obey the Gospel. If you
cannot remember the text, or even remember the subject tomorrow
morning, I shall not blame you. But the remembrance of the spirit of
the whole thing, the drinking in and absorption into yourself of the
Truth of God–that is the main matter and the carrying of the Truth
into practice is the essence of the business.
That traveling dealer did well who, while listening to Mr. William
Dawson, when he was speaking about dishonesty, stood up in the midst of
the congregation and broke a certain yard measure with which he had
been in the habit of cheating his customers. That woman did well who
said that she forgot what the preacher talked about, but she remembered
to burn her bushel when she got home, for that, too, had been short in
measure! Never mind about remembering the sermon if you remember at
once to practice it! You may forget the words in which the Truth of God
was couched if you will but let it purify your life!
It reminds me of the gracious woman who used to earn her living by
washing wool. When her minister called upon her and asked her about his
sermon and she confessed that she had forgotten the text, he said,
"What good could it have done you?" She took him into her back place
where she was carrying on her trade. She put the wool into a sieve and
then pumped on it. "There, Sir," she said, "your sermon is like that
water. It runs through my mind, Sir, just as the water runs through the
sieve. But, then the water washes the wool, Sir, and so the good Word
of God washes my soul." David,
in the 103rd Psalm speaks of those who remember the Lord's commandments
to do them–and that is the best of memory! Mind that you have it.
Thus I have described certain hearers and I fear we have many such in
all congregations–admiring hearers, affectionate hearers, attached
hearers–but all the while unblessed hearers because they are not doers
of the work. We have wondered how it was that they never confessed
themselves to be followers of Christ, but we suspect that they have
never made such a confession because it would not be true. And yet they
are very good, very kind–helpful to a good cause and their lives are
very upright and commendable–but we grieve that they are not decided
Christians. One thing they lack–they have no faith in Christ. It does
surprise me how some of you can be so favorable to everything that has
to do with Divine things and yet have no personal share in the good
treasure.
What would you say of a cook who prepared dinners for other people and
yet died of starvation? Foolish cook, you say. Foolish hearer, say I!
Are you going to be like Solomon's friends, the Tyrians, who helped to
build the temple and yet went on worshipping their idols? Sirs, are you
going to look on at the Table of Mercy, admire it and yet refuse its
provisions? Does it give you a thrill of pleasure to see so many taken
from the highways and the hedges and brought in and will you stand
outside and never partake yourself? I always pity the poor little boys
on a cold winter night who stand outside a steaming cook shop window
and look in and see others feasting, but have none themselves. I cannot
understand you! All things are ready and you are bid and persuaded to
come–and yet you are content to perish with hunger! I pray you think
of yourselves and I ask the Spirit of God to make you doers of the
Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
II. But, now, a few minutes for those who are BLESSED HEARERS–those
who get the blessing. Who are they? They are described in the 25th
verse–"But whoever looks into the perfect Law of liberty, and
continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." Now, notice that this
hearer who is blessed is, first of all, an earnest, eager, humble
hearer. Note the expression. He does not look upon the Law of liberty
and go his way, but he looks into it. It is the same word which is used
in the passage, "which things the angels desire to look into," and the
Greek seems to imply a sort of stooping down to look intently into a
thing.
Thus is it with the hearer who obtains the blessing–he hears of the
Gospel and he says, "I will look into this. There is a something here
worth attention." He stoops and becomes a little child that he may
learn! He searches as men do who are looking after diamonds or gold. "I
will look into it," he says. "My mother used to tell me that there was
something charming in it and my father died triumphantly through the
influence of it–I will investigate it. It shall not be for lack of
examination that I let it slip." Such an individual hears intently and
earnestly, laying his soul open to the influences of the Truth of God,
desiring to feel its holy power and to practice its Divine commands.
That is the right kind of hearer– an earnest listener whose senses are
all awakened to receive and retain all that can be learned.
It is implied, too, that he is a thoughtful, studious, searching
hearer–he looks into the perfect Law. I call you back to the figure.
As a man will put an insect under a glass and inspect it again and
again through the microscope–looking at the wings; at each joint of
the back and at every part of the creature under his eye–so a hearer
who desires a blessing looks closely into the Word of God. He is
sacredly curious! He enquires. He pries. He asks all those who should
know. He likes to get with old Christians to hear of their experiences.
He loves to compare spiritual things with spiritual–to dissect a text
and see how it stands in relation to another–and to its own parts, for
he is in earnest when he hears the
Word.
Alas, dear Friends, as I have said before, many hearers are too
superficial! They listen to what is said and that is the end of
it–they never search for the marrow of the bones. The hearer who
obtains a blessing, first gives his whole heart up to attention and
afterwards keeps his heart saturated with the Truth by an earnest,
diligent, searching study of it! And so, by the Spirit's teaching, he
discovers what is the mind of God to his soul. Then this hearer goes
further. Looking so steadily he discovers that the Gospel is a Law of
liberty–and, indeed, it is so! Blessed is the condition of those who
are free from the Law of Moses and have come under Law to Christ who
emancipates the soul from every form of bondage!
There is no joy like the joy of pardon! There is no release like
release from the slavery of sin! There is no freedom like the liberty
of holiness, the liberty to draw near to God! He who hears the Gospel
aright soon discovers that there is that in it which will remove every
fetter from his soul! He looks and looks, and at last loves that
perfect Law of liberty which
sets his heart at large to run in the way of God's commands! Would God
that all of you understood it and had a share in its benefits. This is
the man who is blessed while he hears!
But it is added that he continues therein. If you hear the Gospel and
it does not bless you, hear it again. If you have read the Word of God
and it has not saved you, read it again. It is able to save your soul!
Have you been searching through one gracious, earnest Book and did it
not seem to fit your case? Try another. Oh, if men would search for
salvation as they search after hidden treasure it would not be long
before they found it! I remember, when I was seeking Christ, how I read
through Doddridge's, "Rise and Progress of Religion" with an avidity
such as I showed when as a boy I read some merry tale, for I devoured
each page greedily.
When I had done with Doddridge, I read Baxter's, "Call to the
Unconverted," which did me good, but yielded me no comfort. I read each
page and drank in every word, though the book was exceedingly bitter to
me. I needed Christ and if I could find Him and Eternal Life through
Him, it did not matter to me how often my eyes grew weary with lack of
sleep while reading! Oh, if you come to that–that you must have
Jesus–you shall have Him! If your soul is brought to feel that you
will search Heaven and earth through, if necessary, but you will find
the Savior, that Savior will soon appear to you! The hearer who gains
salvation, "looks into the perfect Law of liberty," and continues
therein.
Lastly, it is added that this man is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer
of the work and he shall be blessed in his deed. Is he bid to pray? He
prays as best he can. Is he bid to repent? He asks God to enable him to
repent. Is he bid to believe? He says, "Lord, I believe: help my
unbelief." He turns everything that he hears into practice. I wish that
we had thousands of hearers of that sort. I remember reading of a
certain person who heard of giving a 10th of our substance to God.
"Well," said he, "that is right and I will do it." And he kept his
promise. He heard that Daniel drew near to God three times a day in
prayer. He said, "That is right; I will do it." And he practiced a
threefold approach to the Throne of Grace each day. He made it a rule
every time he heard of something that was excellent, to practice it at
once. Thus he formed holy habits and a noble character–and became a
blessed hearer of the Word.
Now, dear Friends, our text does not say that such a man is blessed for
the deed, but it says that such a man is blessed in the deed. He who
does what God bids him shall not be blessed for it, but he shall be
blessed in it. The happy result will come to us in the act of
obedience. May God grant you Grace, whenever the Gospel is preached, to
stir yourself up with the energy which God's Spirit infuses into you
and say, "I will do it. I will not dream about it, or talk about it, or
question about it, or say I will do it and put it off, but now, at
once, the act commanded shall be done." I finish with this practical
suggestion. The remaining portion of life is short with some of you who
hear me this day. Gray hairs are upon you here and there and, according
to the course of nature, you must soon stand before your Judge.
Would it not be well that you thought about another world and
considered how you shall face your Lord at the Last Great Day? The
Gospel says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," which, in other words,
means, "Trust Him." Repent. Confess your sin, forsake it and look to
Christ for cleansing. That is the way of salvation–"He that believes
and is baptized shall be saved." You know all about the way of life. I
am telling you a tale which you have heard a thousand times, but the
question is, when is it going to be done? "Soon, Sir," you say.
But were you not here when this Tabernacle was opened? "Yes," you say,
"I think I was." You said, "soon," then, and you say, "soon" now! You
will say, "soon," I expect, until that word, "soon," will be met with
the heavy sentence– "Too late! Too late! You cannot enter now." Take
heed that this is not your case before this day has ended! Some men die
very suddenly. A sister came to me this morning and said, "My father is
dead. He was well in the morning He came home from the shop, seemed a
little ill and died all of a sudden." Seeing that life is so
precarious, would it not be best that you should immediately seek the
Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near?
I would suggest that you do not begin gossiping and talking on the way
home, today, but that you get alone quietly for a little while. Do you
reply that you have no place where you can be alone–this is not
true–you can find some place or other. I remember a sailor who used to
find his prayer closet at the masthead–nobody came up there to disturb
him. I knew a carpenter who used to get down in a sawpit to pray. There
are many such places. The streets of London, when crowded, are about as
lonely as anywhere and Cheapside may be as good as the mountain side if
your heart desires real solitude.
Some of you, I fear, never think at all. As far as thinking goes, if
your brains were taken out, many of you would get on almost as well
without them. The brains of some people are only useful as a sort of
salt to keep them from rotting by
death. Little thinking is done by the great mass of the people except
the thought, "What shall we eat and what shall we drink?" Do, I pray
you, think a little! Pause and consider what God, the Lord, sets before
you. Be a doer of the work. Do what God bids you. As He bids you
repent, repent. As He bids you believe, believe! As He bids you be
baptized, be baptized. As He bids you pray, pray. As He bids you accept
His Grace, God helping you, do it. Oh, that it might be done at once
and to the Lord shall be praise world without end! Amen.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–James 1. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK"–483, 538, 992.
If those who profit by these sermons will promote their circulation,
they may be doing as much good as if they preached themselves. The
preacher, in returning to his pulpit, would feel greatly cheered if he
found that the circulation of the sermons largely increased. A
judicious word may gain a subscriber to whom the reading may be useful.
Would not some of our readers find the distribution of the discourses
an easy and efficient mode of Christian service?
__________________________________________________________________
The Philosophy and Propriety of Abundant Praise