Visits From the Lord
(No. 3481)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1915.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 1, 1871.
"Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, It is the
Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, heput on his
outer garment (for he was naked), and plunged into the sea. But the
other disciples came in the little boat; for they were not far from
land (about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fishes." John
21:7, 8.
UNTIL our Lord should pour out the Spirit upon His Apostles, they had
to wait. It was expedient for them that He should go away and ascend
into His Glory. Then when He had received gifts for men and had
distributed those gifts, they would be able to go forth in the power of
the Spirit, preaching the Gospel. Until then they must wait, and they
must not be idle. Therefore they returned to their ordinary trades and
once again the little boat plowed the familiar waves of the sea of
Tiberias. There they had many old associations brought up before them.
And there, moreover, on the memorable night of which we are now to
speak, they learned a lesson which would be instructive to them
throughout the whole course of their fishing for men! Their condition
and position were very much like our own. We, as a Christian Church,
are engaged in the great soul-fishery, seeking by any means to bring
some to Christ. Out on the dark waters of the Dead Sea of Sin we seek
to bring the souls of men, not to destroy them, but that Christ may
save them! This is to be the Church's perpetual work. She must never
cease from it. For this purpose is she kept in the world and if she
does not answer this purpose, she is faulty before her Lord.
Just now we are much in the condition of these Apostles. There is upon
some of our spirits a dissatisfaction with the success that we have had
of late–in fact, a dissatisfaction with all the success that either we
or the Christian Church generally have had for years past. We cannot
quite say, with the Apostles, that we have caught nothing. Glory be to
God, there are thousands of souls that have been won to Christ in this
house, and in many other places where Christ is preached! But compared
with the great mass of mankind–compared with the world that "lies in
the Wicked One–we might almost say, "We have caught nothing."
Relatively, it comes to very, very, very little–and the Gospel-fishery
does not grow, today, as it did at the time of Pentecost, or as it has
done at other seasons when God has granted revival and refreshing from
His Presence. We are, therefore, like the disciples–we are engaged in
the fishing, but we are not satisfied with the results! Now we know
what they, perhaps, at the time forgot–that there is only one thing
that can change the aspect of affairs, and that is for Jesus to appear
in our midst and speak to us, giving us the word of direction and,
also, Himself acting as the attractive power to the souls of men, that
they may come to the Gospel net! I may go round to all our agencies, if
Jesus is absent, and ask them, "What is your success?" The Sunday
school will have to say, "We have taken nothing." The Evangelists at
the street corners will have to say, "We have taken nothing." The young
men sent forth from the college to preach will have to return the same
sorrowful answer! And alas, for us who stand here and preach to this
congregation, we, too, shall have to say, if the Master is not with us,
"We have toiled all night, but we have taken nothing."
Oh, sorrowful account to have to render to God and our fellow men! Yet
such it must be. But if Jesus shall come, how changed it all shall be!
Then shall the preacher become wise! He shall know where and how to
cast the net! He shall select those topics that shall stir the
soul–that shall fire the heart! And then, Jesus being present, men
shall be as willing to receive the Gospel as the preacher is to preach
it! It shall be as much the will of the fish to get into the net, as it
is of the fishermen to cast the net! Oh, may the Master come to us! I
believe He has come. I think I see Him. Some of my Brothers
and Sisters tell me they already perceive it. He has never been
entirely absent from us, but we need Him to speak a mighty word, a
majestic word–a word that shall compel, by sweet constraints of Grace,
tens of thousands of souls to come to Him and live!
Now tonight my one subject is to the Church here, and to God's people
elsewhere, who are in the same state of hope and anxiety. I want to
speak about Jesus Christ's coming. The all-importance of it you all
feel. You all, I trust, as workers for Christ, desire it. Now, Beloved,
let us notice, first, when Jesus comes–
I. WHO WAS THE FIRST TO SEE HIM.
The first to see Jesus was John. He said, "It is the Lord." The other
disciples perceived Him by-and-by. We know they did, for it is written,
"Knowing that He was the Lord"–but the first to see Him was John. What
do we gather from this?
Why, first, that the brightest eyes in the Church are the eyes of those
who love most. They perceive Christ first who have most affection for
Him! If He is gone, these are the first to sigh. If He returns, these
are the first to rejoice with unspeakable joy. Knowledge is said to
open the eyes, but as for me, the dust of many learned tomes has often
beclouded them. It is thought that men of education will be the first
to perceive the Savior, but it was not so in the Savior's day, for
these things were hidden from the wise and prudent–but they were
revealed unto babes! Let love be your education. Grow in love. To love
is better than to know, for a man may know, and only eat of the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil–and perish by it–but he that loves, obeys,
and he shall eat of the Tree of Life and dwell in the midst of the
Paradise of God! Blessed John! Your head had been on the Savior's bosom
and, therefore, your eyes were like the eagle's. No angel, one would
think, could see as well as Milton's angel, Uriel, that dwelt in the
midst of the sun. He was familiar with the light. He dwelt in the full
blaze of the orb of day–in the very midst of it! And, "He that dwells
in love dwells in God." And "God is Light," so he who dwells in the
Light of God sees all things. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God." The heart that is purified with the celestial flame of
Divine Love is the heart that can see God!
But note that in the text John does not describe himself as loving
Christ. Much more humbly and instructively does he put it. "That
disciple who loved Jesus said unto Peter, It is the Lord!" No, that is
my misreading of it! It is, "That disciple whom Jesus loved." Oh, yes,
and that is the way that Grace in the heart always teaches us to read
it! It is not so much that we love Him, as that He loved, and still
loves us! Superabundant love in the heart of the Man, Christ Jesus,
towards that choice and chosen spirit had made John a loving disciple.
He had not loved so much if Christ had not loved more. He would have
told you if you had questioned him about his love, as Peter did–"The
Lord who knows all, knows that I love Him." But if you had spoken about
Christ's love to him, ah, then his face would have brightened, his eyes
would have flashed with delight and he would have said, "He loves me.
Ah, and I have had many a sweet word from Him. And my head has often
been healed of all its aches when I have laid it down upon His breast."
He would have ascribed it all to Christ's love and had little to say of
his own! So, Brothers and Sisters, if the love of God is shed abroad in
your hearts, you will be quick to see the same. It will not be so much
your love as His love that makes you quick of the eye. Then will your
eyes become like the eyes of the spouse in the song, "As the eyes of
doves by the rivers of water, washed with milk and fitly set." Now the
dove, no doubt, can see its home from a very, very long way. Let the
pigeon loose and it flies to its dove-cote at once. Ah, those whose
eyes Christ has "washed with milk and fitly set" can see their Lord
afar off, and they fly to Him with swift and clipping wings–nor are
they satisfied till they roost once more at His feet or on His bosom.
Thus, then, those that are quick to see the Savior are those who love
Him–better still, those whom He loves much.
Now note that even John appears to have perceived the Presence of
Christ very much through His work. As soon as the fishes were taken in
the net, then John said, "It is the Lord." And, Brothers and Sisters,
if we want to be assured of the Master's Presence in the Church, it
must be by the results! I am ashamed of some Christians who are afraid
of anything like a holy excitement, or a gracious revival. If there are
two or three added to the Church in a year, they say, "This is the
finger of God," but if there are many, then straightway they begin to
question! Now I think this is not reasonable, for surely when there are
great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three, then we may say, "It is
the Lord." We may be pretty sure when there are so many brought that
God is at work there, and we may perceive the Presence of Christ. I was
noticing the other day some statistics that have been given of certain
revivals in different districts of the United States. It has been said
that those gathered in during a period of revival are usually an injury
to the Church, and more frequently back-
slide than any other–but taking a range of some eight years in certain
churches, it was found that of those persons added during seasons of
refreshing from God, the percentage who afterwards backslid was much
less than–scarcely, indeed, one half–the percentage of backslider in
those churches which had not experienced revival, but had only grown at
the slow plodding rate which some of our "sound" Brothers and Sisters
so greatly admire! It was found that instead of being worse material,
they were better material–and that these stood the fire even better
than any other. This I know–that I would like to run the risk–I would
like to run the blessed risk of seeing thousands coming forward to
profess their faith in Christ! 'Tis true, we will have some, no doubt,
that will turn out to be hypocrites, but I would not refuse some chaff
if I could get ten times as much wheat! Who will give up a gold mine
because there is quartz in it? Who is it that will shut up a coal pit
because there happen to be some slates amidst the coal? No, blessed
Master, come! and let us have the net full to bursting if You will–and
then we shall say–"It is the Lord!" His great works reveal Him even to
the eyes of love!
Note, further, that the man who first discovered that Christ was
present did not long keep the secret, but, turning round to his
neighbor in the boat, he whispered to him, "It is the Lord." Ah, and
this is a lesson to us. If any of you that are the King's favorites and
have close fellowship with Him, should perceive that He is in the
Church, oh, tell it to us, for we are of your mind! We count the King's
Company to be the most grand blessing out of Heaven! Whisper to some of
us, for we shall be so rejoiced to hear the blessed news! But John did
not tell all of them. He told it to Peter, for Peter was very near to
him. I think John had been partly the means of Peter's falling. I think
so. You notice how John tells us and no one else does–that he was a
kinsman to one who kept the door and he took Peter in? And I fancy that
he used to smite himself about that, and say, "I ought not to have run
the risk of taking Peter there. I ought not to have put him where he
would have those questions asked." And he seems always to stick hard
and fast to Peter and to be with him, because though he, of course, had
none of Peter's sin, he felt that somehow, accidentally or unwittingly,
he had led Peter into the place where he sinned–and so he loved him
very much and he gave him the first intimation of the good news. Said
he to him, "Brother Peter, it is the Lord." Oh, if you perceive the
Lord, tonight–if you get a good word from His lips–have not you some
Beloved one that you can tell–one, perhaps, that has been a backslider
and is now returning to the Lord with broken bones? Oh, tell him! Tell
him! Tell him at once, "The Lord is here amidst us. Our Beloved stands
and shows His wounds and His pierced hands. Look, my Brother! Look to
Him and rejoice with me!" Ah, but you may also tell it to whomever you
will, for this is a piece of good news that nobody need ever keep
secret! Tell it! Tell it wherever you have the opportunity–that Jesus
Christ is visiting His Church! Bid poor sinners come and look to Him
whom they have pierced, and live! When you have told it to some, tell
it to many more and bid them communicate the blessed tidings that
Jesus, mighty to save, still waits to receive sinners and to blot out
their transgressions–
"Tell it unto sinners–tell– Jesus Christ can save from Hell," and is
present, revealing Himself to His Church and doing wonders in the
congregation!
Thus much upon those who first see Him. Now a few words upon–
II. THOSE WHO FIRST GET AT JESUS CHRIST.
Peter–quick, hot, impulsive–no sooner hears that it is the Lord than
he buckles on his coat, plunges into the sea, and swims to shore to
reach his Master! They were not all Peters–it was a mercy they were
not. But there was one Peter and it was mercy that there was. Nobody
may blame Peter. Nobody may blame those who did not follow Peter. They
were quite as right who stayed in the boat as Peter was, who swam to
the shore! But I know that wherever Jesus Christ is truly present,
there will be some bold noble spirits that will make a dash to get at
Him. They love Him–they will be among the first to reach Him–to enjoy
His Presence. Yet if any of them feel moved tonight to do some deed of
enthusiasm, let me take them by the hand a moment. Peter would reach
his Master, but he first girds on his coat. There is reverence in
Peter, though there is haste and enthusiasm. He will not come before
Christ all in a careless manner–unclothed. He has too much respect for
His Master. O Soul, if you would serve the Lord, serve Him with holy
fear, for though He is very near to you, He is God–and you are man.
Take off your shoes when you would serve Him, for the place where you
stand is holy ground! Be not rash in your worship, nor in your vows,
nor in your actions! Gird yourself and then serve Him.
But that once done, Peter commits himself boldly to the waves! Sink or
swim, he will be at his Master's side and so he strikes out right
gallantly for the shore. Nothing can stop him. He impetuously gets
through the breakers and the surf,
and is at his Master's feet! Oh, how I wish there were some Peters in
this congregation, true lovers of Christ, who, feeling that Christ is
come among us, would say, "For the love I bear His name, I will be one
of the first to serve Him! Here I wrap myself in the garment of zeal.
It shall be my cloak and from this day I will give up all for Christ. I
will serve Him beyond all others if I can, and if any can exceed me, it
shall be my lack of power that makes me second, but not my lack of
will!" It would not do for me to say who Peter is, nor to suggest to a
man who is not Peter that he should act as Peter would, but I have
noticed that every so often in the Church there will rise up men and
women who will say, "We will consecrate ourselves unto the Lord."
Sometimes they do it by going forth into the mission field. Perhaps I
have a young Peter here who, like Carey of old, and Marshman, and that
band of heroes, may feel in his soul the fire burning and say, "I must,
and I will preach Christ in the regions beyond." Possibly, however, it
may be at home that the same gifts and Graces may be exercised, and I
have one here, perhaps, who says–oh, I would I had many hundreds who
are saying–"God helping us, we will enter upon something which, though
it is apparently beyond our strength, and rather venturesome, yet shall
be done! We will plunge into the sea to reach our Master. We will brave
anything so that we may get to Him!"
Ah, there are those who will always repress anything like Divine
enthusiasm and yet, mark you, the brightest ages of the Church have
been those in which men consecrated to God have risen above the
dictates of common prudence and have dared for Christ what others of a
cooler temperament could have not dared! Oh, may the Master send the
sacred fire into this congregation! I shall never rest content until I
have going out of this Church many who count not their lives dear to
them to preach the Gospel among the heathen! I wonder how it is this
has not broken out among us before? Is it my ministry that is faulty in
this respect? It may be so. Then will I cry to Heaven to be taught
better. But at Hermansberg, under Pastor Harms, the whole village
seemed to be moved with a desire to carry Christ's Gospel to
Africa–and they emigrated in shiploads to become missionaries there!
Of course, many said that Harms was infatuated. Blessed infatuation!
May it fall upon many of Christ's ministers! The Moravian Church in
years gone by had scarcely a member who was not a missionary. When they
joined the Church, they gave themselves up to the Church and to Christ.
Oh, when shall we come to this–if not all of us, yet, at any rate, the
Peters who shall throw themselves into the sea that they may get to
their Master? Knowing that it is the Lord who is in their midst, they
shall be able to do venturesome deeds, brave deeds, for the glory of
His name!
But I will not dwell on that, but just mention next how the rest came
to Christ We have seen who first saw Him. Afterwards they all saw Him.
We have seen who first reached Him. Afterwards they all reached Him and
I think the second did no worse than the first. For how came the rest
of the disciples? In a little boat–I suppose in their fishing vessel,
dragging the net after them. I feel that to be my particular department
and suppose the lot of most of my dear Brothers here. We are tied to
this Church, and we have the net. And though I would gladly enter often
into fellowship with Christ by a bold dash, somehow or other I
generally have to drag a net after me! I want to commune with Christ,
but I have about a thousand souls that I have to preach to on the
coming Sabbath. I want to rejoice in the Lord with unspeakable joy, but
often get cumbered with much serving. There is this poor soul in
trouble, and that poor heart who needs consolation. Well, well, if the
Master bids us drag the net, we won't leave it, but keep a hold of it
and if we come a little more slowly, nevertheless, if we are doing His
bidding, our slow pace shall be as accepted as Peter's swimming! And
many of you, dear Friends, would be very wrong if you were to give up
your common callings. You are like the fishermen with the net–you have
to drag it. If you should say, "I will give myself up to Christ. I will
row to shore. I shall renounce my business. I shall leave all my
earthly callings"–I think, unless I was quite certain you were a
Peter, I would say, "Brother, go back! Drag the net. It must be brought
to shore. There are your children. Oh, what a care they need and how
wrong you would be if you neglected them!"
I remember a man, whose children were most neglected, who used to
frequently go out preaching in the country villages. I know that once
or twice he was spoken to about it, but he never mended matters. While
he would be preaching, his children would be in the streets! He lived
to see them grow up reprobates–and the sin was at his door. Stick to
Christ! Drag your net and bring your family after you. Let this be your
vehement desire–that your children shall be brought to Him! Or you
have servants, or a little district in some place in London. Don't run
away from your work! A Brother wrote to me some time ago telling me how
much distressed he was in his mind. He said he thought he should never
be happy till he got out of business. I said, "Don't run away from
Satan. Fight the devil where you are! Tell the devil you will grapple
with him where you are, and you mean to beat him right there." Oh, if
God in His Providence has made
you a servant, very well–beat the devil as a servant! And if you are a
tradesman, don't say, "I cannot keep this trade and honor God." Do not
let it be said that our God is the God of the hills and not the God of
the valleys, and that it is only certain people in certain places who
can honor Him! No, in every place you can honor your Master! Keep to
your net. Drag it to Christ, however. Oh, what a drag it will be,
sometimes, to bring it Christ's way!–all the business and all the work
you have to do–to do all for Christ! Yet this is true religion–to
sanctify not only the vessels of the altar, but the pots and the bells
that are upon the horses–to make everything holiness unto the Lord!
God grant us Grace to do this! May He send us here and there a Peter
and, at the same time, may He keep the bulk of you, while steadfast in
your callings and diligent in business, to be "fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord." Oh, blessed Church that shall thus unanimously be
drifting towards Christ and be heartily seeking after fellowship with
the dear Redeemer–some impetuously, all industriously–and all
successfully!
Now this leads me a little farther on. Supposing we should reach the
Savior, as I trust we may, each man after His own order–
III. WHAT WILL BE THE RESULT OF COMING TO CHRIST?
Three results. The first will be refreshment. He will say to us, "Come
and dine." Ah, how well fed are those whom Christ feeds! When we go up
to the House of Prayer and look to the pulpit, we are disappointed. But
if we go and look to the hills from where comes our help, we are never
disappointed! What can the pastor do unless the superior Shepherd shall
give us the daily food? I might well say to hungry souls, as the King
of Israel said to the woman in Samaria, when she spoke of their having
eaten her child in famine, and asked the king to help her–"Woman, if
the Lord does not help you, how shall I help you?" And so might we all,
with the most anxious desire to do good, yet reply, "If the Lord does
not help you, how can we help you?" No, Brothers and Sisters, it is not
in the power of ordinances, any more than of ministers, to feed souls!
There is nothing in the bread and wine of the Communion Table that can
spiritually nourish us. There you have bread–no more–wine–no more.
It is only when, through these, you get to Jesus–when you pass through
the doorway of the outward and get into the inward, into the
spiritual–it is only then that your souls are entertained! And once
get there, His banqueting table is better than that of Ahasuerus! There
is no such feast as that which Jesus gives–of "fat things full of
marrow, of wines on the lees, well refined." By your enjoyments in the
past, my Brothers and Sisters–by those ravishing moments when your
souls have burned within you with intense delight–ask Him to come to
you again! Beseech Him to favor you tonight with this refreshment. And
mark you, that prayer need not be a selfish one, for all the strength
that is gained in communion with Christ will afterwards be spent in the
service of Christ!
But again. When the disciples had all come to our Lord, and had dined,
the next thing was examination. It was addressed to Peter
especially–but it must have been a lesson to all the rest of them–"Do
you love Me?" The very first question that we should ask ourselves
concerning our Christianity is this, "Do you love Me?" The second is,
"Do you love Me?" The third is, "Do you love Me?" Answer that, and all
is answered! The old orator said that the first essential of eloquence
was delivery or action. The second was delivery. The third was
delivery. So we will say that the first essential of a truly healthy
Christianity is to love Christ! And the second is to love Christ! And
the third is to love Christ! Our Lord would not talk of commonplace
things at that time. He selected a vital topic, and this is always
vital–"Do you love Me? Do you love Me? Do you love Me?" Beloved
Brothers and Sisters, I hope you will always be sound in the faith but
then that is little comparatively to what it is to be sound in loving
Christ! I trust, Brothers and Sisters, you will always be holy in
life–but that can only be as you love Him in the heart. Out of the
heart the life proceeds! He is the fountain–our actions are but the
streams. Do, then, pass the question round among you, "Do you love Me?"
I desire to put it to myself. I beg you to put it to yourselves. Pause
a moment. Do you love Christ? What say you? With a true love? With a
love that is such as He demands, that is above the love of mother or of
child? "Do you love Me? You are coming to My Table, you are
baptized–you are a member of the Church–but do you love Me?" Is it
so? I trust you can reply, "Lord, You know all things: You know that I
love You."–
"Yes, I love You and adore– Oh, for Grace to love You more!"
Well, then, lastly, after coming to the Savior, who had given them
refreshment and caused them to examine themselves, the next thing was
that it ensured for them commissions of service. Before the Lord
blesses a Church, He prepares it for the blessing. A number of sailors
wrecked on a desert island are thirsting for water, but suppose a
shower comes at
once–it will be a wasted blessing! They must be so thirsty that they
are led to put up an apparatus for catching the water when it
comes–otherwise the water comes too soon and is lost! I love to see a
Church in such state of agony for God's Grace that it has, as it were,
the reservoirs ready to hold the Grace when it cones! "They that pass
through the Valley of Baca make it a well." They "make it a well." The
water does not rise in the well. "The rain also fills the pools." Yet
they dig the wells to hold the rain–and the rain comes. Remember that
notable incident when Israel and Judah were engaged against the King of
Edom! The Prophet said, as he took his harp and began to play by
Inspiration, "Make this valley full of ditches!" And they wondered
why–but they dug the trenches and made the troughs all along the
valley. By-and-by, the water came and filled the valley, and the host
was refreshed! We need to make this valley full of ditches. We need, as
a Church, to be ready and waiting for the blessing!
You see, Christ prepared Peter and all the Apostles by saying to them,
"Feed My lambs. Feed My sheep. Shepherd My flock." And He says to you,
tonight, "Are you refreshed by My Presence? Have you examined yourself
and seen that you love Me? Now, then, gird up your loins and prepare
for the service of the Church." I want, Brothers and Sisters, to see
among us men and women who are looking after Christ's sheep and lambs!
I hope it is not so everywhere, but I met the other day with a good
Brother who has attended for a long time this Tabernacle, to whom
nobody has ever spoken yet, as he told me. I do not know where he
sits–at least, I half think I do, but I shall not tell you, because
then somebody or other would find out who he was. But I will suppose he
sits anywhere you like, all around you, and your own consciences shall
judge. Now ought it to be so? Ought a person to come here Sunday after
Sunday, and no one ever give him a brotherly salutation, or say a word
concerning his soul? Oh, that you were looking out in the neighborhoods
where you live, and in the part of this building where you sit, for
opportunities of doing good! I know that there are persons who are
longing to be spoken to, and they wonder why you do not speak to them!
They are Christ's lambs and they need carrying in some kindly bosom.
Oh, Look after them and help them! You do not know how half a word said
in Christ's name during your journeying about your business may be life
from the dead! As it is said by Herbert, "a verse may strike him whom a
sermon flies." So a little word from you may be effectual where the
most earnest public ministry might fail!
Oh, Beloved, the Lord is not slack! We are slack! If we have not a
blessing, we are straitened somewhere, but it cannot be in Him! We are
straitened in our own hearts and sympathies. What is that memorable
text of the Prophet, "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that
there may be meat in My house; and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord
of Hosts, if I will not pour you out a blessing that there shall not be
room enough to receive it." We are not to say that we are proving the
Lord to give us a blessing because we pray. The test He puts us to is
bringing the tithes into the storehouse–that is to say, what is God's
due! Am I giving less of my substance than I ought to give? Am I giving
less of my time than I ought to give? Am I giving less of my talent
than I ought to give? If I withhold anything that is really God's
tithe, I am not proving God! But when we are all giving and doing to
our utmost, then we prove God and we shall see whether He will not open
the windows of Heaven and pour us out a blessing such as we shall not
have room enough to receive!
I charge you, my Beloved–you who have been the flock of my care these
many years–remember the history that God has given us during these 17
years. We were very few when we began, but there was a living seed
among us, and there was mighty prayer–and a blessing came. "By
terrible things in righteousness" God answered us! But the answer did
come. What Prayer Meetings we had at Park Street! How often we sat down
and wept under the Divine Influence! Thank God, the Holy Spirit
overshadowed us! What ardor there was among you, then, and how many
souls were brought to Christ! Since then He has led us on from strength
to strength. He has never failed us! Never is this place empty or
deserted. Crowds still come to listen to the Word of God! Oh, shall we
not have a blessing as we had it before? I trust we may. And we shall
if you are all, to the full measure of your obligations, engaged in the
service of your blessed Master and seeking strength from on high! By
the hands that were nailed for you–by the feet that were pierced for
you–by the head that was crowned with thorns for you–by the heart
that poured out blood and water for you–by the Christ who died for
you–I implore and beseech you, lay yourselves out upon the altar of
God, and say, "Henceforth, for us to live is Christ. Christ is all. We
desire to say continually, 'The Lord be magnified.'"
Oh, that some here who know little enough about this might desire to
know it! Poor Soul, if you desire Christ, Christ desires you! And if
you will have Him tonight, you shall have Him! If you believe that
Jesus is Christ, and have put your trust in Him as your Savior, you are
saved! Look to Him now! God help you to do it, for Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE24:13-35.
Verses 13-15. And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village
called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And
they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it
came to pass, that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus,
Himself drew near, and went with them. Where two talk of heavenly
things they shall not be long without a third! Jesus loves holy
company, and He will join Himself to those who in their conversation
join themselves to Him.
16, 17. But their eyes were held that they should not know Him. And He
said unto them, What manner of communications are these that you have,
one to another, as you walk, and are sad?The first part of that
question some professors might be ashamed to answer, "What manner of
communications are these that you have, one to another, as you walk?"
It is not always that all Sunday talk is Sabbath talk–not always that
we converse as we should upon the things of God. We are, many of us,
blameworthy here.
18, 19. And one ofthem, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto
Him, Are You only a stranger in Jerusalem, and have not known the
things which are come to pass there in these days? And He said unto
them, What things? And they said unto Him, Concerning Jesus of
Nazareth, which was a Prophet mighty in deed and in word before God and
al the people. Just as a schoolmaster, though he knows more than the
children, yet asks them questions to see what they know. So did the
Savior, "What things?…And they said to Him, Concerning Jesus of
Nazareth, which was a Prophet mighty in word and deed." I ought to have
said, "in deed and word." You see my mistake. That is how we put it,
"word and deed," for our words go first, but with Christ, the practical
comes first, and then commences the doctrinal.
20-24. And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be
condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we trusted that it had
been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today
is the third day since these things were done. Yes, and certain women,
also of our company, made us astonished, which were early at the
se-pulcher; and when they found not His body, they came, saying, that
they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive.
And certain ofthem which were with us went to the sepulcher, and found
it even so as the women had said: but Him they saw Him not They made
out a very clear case against their own unbelief here. They had the
evidence of the women, and they had the evidence of the men of their
own company. The women, they knew were honest. About their own company
they could have no doubt, but yet they did not draw the inference which
was clear enough, namely, that Jesus had risen and that what He said He
was, He had proven Himself to be.
25, 26. Then He said unto them. O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the Prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and to enter into His Glory] Is not this just what He
said He would do?
27, 28. And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And they drew
near unto the village, where they went: and He made as though He would
have gone further. Never had they had a shorter walk in their lives!
His holy talk had made the journey seem as nothing, and sorry they were
to see the village–and especially when they found that their Companion
had an idea of going further.
29. But they constrained Him saying, Abide with us: for it is toward
evening and the day is far spent. AndHe went in to tarry with them. O
wise disciple, when you have your Master to hold Him! "I held Him,"
says the spouse; "I held Him, and I would not let Him go." So may it be
with us.
30, 31. And it came to pass, as He sat at dinner with them, He took
bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their
eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their
sight.Sometimes when you do not remember a friend who has greatly
changed, or from whom you have been long apart, some old familiar sign
will bring it all back and as with a rush of memory, you know him at
once! Now if this were an ordinary meal, as perhaps it was, Jesus was
so in the habit of giving thanks that they knew Him by that. I wish we
knew every Christian by the same sign. Or if this were, indeed, a
celebration of His own sacred festival, then again they knew, for is
not this the sign between Christ and His people? And is not this Table
the place where Jesus meets His Beloved? "And their eyes were opened,
and they knew Him." But they knew Him to see Him no more that night.
32-35. And they said, one to the other, Did not our hearts burn within
us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the
Scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem,
and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
Saying, the Lord is risen, indeed, and has appeared to Simon. And they
told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in
breaking of bread. Did they go to their beds? The day was far
spent–late traveling was dangerous in Israel. Ah, dangerous or not,
they are so overwhelmed with joy that they must go and communicate what
they had seen!