Warning and Encouragement
(No. 3111)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1908.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 13, 1874.
"And Esau said unto his father, Haveyou but one blessing, my Father?
Bless me, even me, also, O my Father. And Esau lifted up his voice and
wept." Genesis 27:38.
You know the story of Esau and Jacob. [See Sermons #239, Volume
5–JACOB AND ESAU and #1718, Volume 29–CERTAIN SINGULAR SUBJECTS] Esau
Was the elder of the twin sons of Isaac and
Rebekah. The birthright was his by right, but he despised it. He was a
profane person who did not prize the hereditary privilege which was
really his. He actually sold his right to it to his younger brother,
Jacob, for a mess of "pottage of lentils." Time rolled on and Isaac,
feeling the infirmities of age creeping upon him, determined to give to
Esau the blessing to which, as his elder son, he was entitled. Rebekah
wanted the blessing to be given to her younger son and, therefore,
resorted to a stratagem in order to make the poor blind father believe
that Jacob was Esau–and in that way Jacob gained the blessing by
fraud. When Esau came in and found that the blessing was given to
Jacob–and that it could not be revoked–he cried bitterly and besought
his father to give him "but one blessing."
The whole story reflects no credit upon any of the persons concerned.
It certainly brings no credit to Isaac–he was a true Believer in God,
but he was a man of an easy-going, gentle spirit who did not control
his household as he ought to have done. And it appears that in his
later days he craved dainty dishes to tempt his appetite–"savory
meat," such as he asked Esau to prepare for him–and so he did not wait
upon God for guidance as to the bestowal of his paternal blessing but,
in direct opposition to the Divine purpose, determined to give the
blessing to the son whom God had not chosen. It was a bad thing for the
household to be divided as it was–the husband and wife at cross
purposes–Rebekah seeking the blessing for her favorite son and Isaac
preferring the bolder spirit of the wilder man. I cannot excuse either
Rebekah or Jacob. They were acting very wickedly in trying to get
Isaac's blessing by fraud and falsehood. Neither can I justify Esau,
for he was trying to keep what he had sold to his brother and what he
had despised and contemptuously called, "this birthright."
One thing is certain–God's Providence, notwithstanding their sin,
carried out God's purpose! It was no business of theirs, as it is no
business of ours, to try to fulfill God's decrees. God would have
managed the whole affair far better without Rebekah's meddling–and the
foolish mother would not have had to send from home her darling son,
nor would he have had to go away as an exile to endure all that he had
to endure at the hands of the grasping Laban! Still, God overruled the
evil and His design was accomplished, as it always is and always will
be.
My special purpose at this time is to take this exceedingly bitter cry
of the disappointed Esau and use it for two purposes. First, by way of
warning and, secondly, by way of encouragement, taking it then out of
its immediate context.
I. First, I am going to use Esau's cry BY WAY OF WARNING.
Beware, my dear Hearers, first, of ever giving up spiritual benefits
for anything that is carnal, or bartering eternal blessings for
anything temporal. Esau came in from the chase hungry and faint.
Jacob's mess of red pottage smelt delicious to him and when he begged
for it as a starving man craves food, his crafty brother sold it to him
in exchange for his birthright as Isaac's elder son. Esau's sin
consisted in his willingness to sell the Covenant blessing at such a
price as that–yet how many nowadays are selling their souls just as
cheaply as Esau sold his birthright!
Some sell their souls for what they call "pleasure." They say that they
wish to be saved, but a little transient gaiety exercises more
fascination over their minds than all eternal joys or the delights of
present fellowship with God. The time
will come when they will rue their fatal choice and call themselves a
thousand fools. But just now they sneer at anything like self-denial
with a view to eternal blessedness and count that man wise who makes
the moments fly most merrily, who is satisfied with the passing
"pleasure" of the hour. Foolish creatures of the day, I would to God
that you were only creatures of a day that would die like the insects
of a summer's evening! But for immortal souls to barter eternal
happiness for present joys is folly indeed!
We have known some sell their souls for gain. They are making money in
a dishonest or disreputable way. To become Christians, they must give
up their business–and they frankly say that they cannot afford it.
Their shop would never "pay" if it were closed on Sundays! Their trade
would never "prosper" if it were conducted on Christian principles!
Possibly it is an evil trade and the gain from it comes out of the
vices of men. There are such trades–God save all of us from having
anything to do with them! But with many, the glitter of the 30 pieces
of silver is more fascinating than the Christ of God and, Judas-like,
they take the silver, deliberately reject the Savior and so commit
spiritual suicide.
We have known some sell their souls for the sake of the love of their
friends. They laughed at you because you frequented a place of worship
and expressed some anxiety about your eternal welfare and made some
little reform in your outward life. And because of that laughter, you
have gone back like a coward. You have turned your back on Heaven and
are going down to Hell merely to escape the jeers and sneers of sinners
like yourself! Such conduct is unworthy of anyone who calls himself a
man. And such conduct will surely bring down the just condemnation of
God upon anyone who is guilty of so acting. Yet how many snatch up the
mess of pottage and push away from them heavenly blessings for fear
somebody or other should call them Methodists or Puritans–and sneer at
them for their precision of character!
Alas, some have even sold their souls for the cup of the drunkard. The
intoxicating cup which is very rarely, if ever, a benefit to anyone,
even when taken in what is called, "moderation," leads to the certain
damnation of many if they touch a single drop of it! It has allured
thousands into the jaws of Hell! They could not resist its spell when
once it fell upon them. It is, alas, only too true that men who were
once honorable and loving husbands and fathers, have become brutes and
monsters! No, I slander the brutes when I compare them with many men
whom I have seen, who have seemed, through strong drink, to have made
themselves into incarnate fiends! There is the "pure river of Water of
Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the
Lamb," and there the fire-water, which has its origin among the flames
of Hell–and yet, when the choice is left to men–many of them prefer
the fiery liquor to that Water which would be in them "a well of water
springing up into everlasting life." Some of those men who are selling
their souls for drink are with us here–oh, that God would give them
Grace enough to see themselves as they really are in His sight–that
they might then ask for the Grace which would make them to be new
creatures in Christ Jesus!
Others have sold their souls for lust–lust which I must not now
describe, lest the cheek of modesty should be caused to blush. Alas!
Alas, we have known some who have stood high in the esteem of their
fellow men, and some who have even dared to enter the visible Church of
God, who, all the time, have preferred their "mistress" to the Messiah!
And as surely as they continue to do so, the day will come when they
will rue it! Oh, that they had the Grace to rue it now and to escape
from their Delilahs! It will need more than human strength to shake off
this deadly hydra, whose cruel folds have twisted themselves so tightly
around them!
Beware, next, of being content with a secondary blessing. Esau did not
seem to care that Jacob had the spiritual blessing. As he could not get
that, he appeared willing to be content with a temporal one. And many a
man says, "Give me a prosperous business, give me plenty to eat and
drink, let me enjoy myself and have my full swing in this life–and
then, as for those joys of which Christians talk, I do not care a snap
of the finger about them! They may have their fine country up among the
stars for all that I care, if I can only have my good things here."
Yes, I know that is how you talk, my Friends, but I charge every
sensible man here not to talk or act like that. Even if you could sell
your soul for 50 years of intense physical or mental delight, what
would become of your soul when the 50 years came to an end? And if you
could have the 50 years extended to 70, or even to a hundred–what
would become of your soul at the end of the century? And what would
become of your soul forevefi It is forever–let men say what they will!
"These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous
into life eternal." "The punishment" is of the same duration as the
"life"–forever and ever! Is it worthwhile to make such a bargain as
that–to buy a mess of red pottage at the price of your immortal soul?
I charge each one of you to buy the Truth of God, and sell it not, to
lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven, to get Christ, to get peace
and pardon, to get acceptance with God, to get Heaven in the way that
this Book tells
you to get it! If you only succeed in getting broad acres of fertile
fields, they must all be left! If you amass a great store of gold and
silver, it must all be left to your heirs who will probably laugh at
the thought of the fool who hoarded so much for them to scatter! Do not
act so foolishly, but seek to get the chief blessing! May God
graciously enable you to get it this very hour!
Remember that if you leave this world without getting this blessing,
you will, like Esau, find no place of repentance, though you seek it
carefully with tears. Isaac could not take back what he had said, and
God will never alter what He has said. There has been spreading in this
country and in other lands, also, the idea of universal salvation–and
mark you, wherever that doctrine spreads, vice must and will spread as
the natural and inevitable consequence! When men are taught to believe
in ultimate universal salvation, their immediate and legitimate
inference is, "Then we may live as we like and all will be right in the
end." And they will live as they like, but all will not be right in the
end! They are ambassadors of the devil who teach that lying doctrine,
and they will have to answer for it at the Judgment Bar of God! I bring
you no such lies as that. I tell you what God's Book of Truth tells me,
which is that if you live and die without repentance, without faith and
without holiness–as surely as the righteous will live forever in
Heaven, just as surely will you live forever in Hell! I implore you, as
you value your immortal soul, do not imperil its eternal interest by
trusting these dreams and fictions, for that is what they are. He who
is righteous when he dies will be righteous forever! And he who is
unrighteous then, will be unrighteous forever! So if you do not wish to
have to weep and gnash your teeth in anguish and in anger at your own
stupidity, fly now, I pray you, to the hope that is set before you in
the Gospel and lay hold of Jesus, who alone can save you! It is no
pleasure to me to have to utter this solemn message. I deliver it from
an aching heart, as the burden of the Lord. And having given you the
warning, I leave it with you as I pass on to the second part of my
subject.
II. Now I have more pleasant work to do. And that is to use my text BY
WAY OF ENCOURAGEMENT.
I would that, this very hour, from many hearts there might arise this
cry of Esau, only giving it a far higher meaning, "Have you but one
blessing, my Father? Bless me, even me, also, O my Father." And first,
unconverted men and women, is it not time that you were blessed by God?
Will not each one of you say to yourself, "Is it not time that I was
blessed by God? So many dear to me have been blessed–my mother has
long been in Heaven. My sister is a member of the Church. Some who sat
side by side with me in this pew have believed in Jesus–when will the
blessing come to me? The shower has fallen all around me–am I to be
left forever dry? The great tide of Grace has seemed to sweep right up
to my feet–will it never cast its gracious spray over me? I am getting
on in years and I was brought here as a child. And now I bring my own
child, but I am not yet saved. Many of my friends have died since first
I heard the Gospel and I have been to their funerals. I have lost first
one relative, and then another. If I had been the one to be taken,
alas, alas, what misery would my soul have been in at this moment! I
have heard a great many plain Gospel sermons. Our minister does not try
to make a display of oratory–he always aims at preaching to our
hearts. I know that he wants to bring me to Jesus and that he would be
delighted if he heard that some word of his, or anybody else's, had
brought me to trust in Christ as my Savior. It is no small privilege to
hear the Gospel faithfully preached and I have at times felt the power
of that Gospel and have resolved to repent, but then I have turned
back, and here I am, still unsaved. It seems a strange thing that some
who were morally worse than I have been have entered into the Kingdom
of Heaven while I have remained outside–and that some who had not
heard the Gospel half as long as I had, accepted it–while I have so
far refused it." I wish you would continue talking to yourself in that
strain, both here and at home. Perhaps God will bless it to you, and
especially if you add to it this prayer, "O Lord, it is time that I had
Your blessing. Bless me, even me, also, O my Father! Pass me not by, O
You loving, gracious, forgiving God! Have mercy upon me and save me!"
The next question that I have to put to you is this. Does not the
plenitude of God's Grace encourage you, whoever you may be, to seek His
blessing? Esau could only say to his father, "Have you but one
blessing?" And, truly, his father had but one that was worth having!
But you are not talking to Isaac–you are talking to Jehovah! And when
you approach Him to seek His blessing, you know that He can bless as
many as He wills and that if He should withhold the blessing, He would
be none the richer–and if He should give it, He would be none the
poorer, for He is an Infinite God, able to do for all who come to Him
all that they need! God has innumerable sons and daughters–why should
not you be among them? He has a blessing for each of them, for of His
children it can be truly said, "If children, then heirs," all of them
heirs! Then why should not you be among them? If I knew that only three
or four persons could be saved, I would not rest till I knew that I was
one of them. But since God has so large a family, surely I may have
good hope in coming to Him if He gives me the Grace to say, "I will
arise and go to my Father, and will say unto Him, Father, I have
sinned."
It should encourage you to seek God's blessing when you think of the
plenitude that there is in Jesus Christ, God's Son. The merit of Christ
was Infinite! The sheep for whom He laid down His life are innumerable
as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore! All who have
believed in Him and all who shall yet believe in Him belong to that
redeemed flock! So why should not you be among them? "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved," for "He is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."
You ought also to be encouraged to seek God's blessing by the plenitude
and power of the Holy Spirit. He is able to soften the hardest heart
and to subdue the most stubborn will. There is no sinful habit that He
cannot overcome. He can give you the Grace to enable you to resist the
strongest temptation and to conquer the fiercest besetting sin. There
is almighty power in the ever-blessed Spirit, so that there is no limit
to His regenerating and sanctifying work!
Well, then, with the Infinite Father, the Infinite Redeemer and the
Infinite Spirit, you need not say, "Have you but one blessing?" but you
may open your mouth wide so that God may fill it! We are still
authorized by the Giver of the great Gospel feast to cry, "Yet there is
room." The provisions of that royal banquet are not merely for the few
who belong to some insignificant little sect and who reckon themselves
to be all of the Lord's elect! I can, by faith, see enormous tables
laden with the oxen and the fatlings that have been killed, for the
great King has made a great supper in honor of His Son's marriage–and
He has bidden many to come to it! I know that Heaven is not meant for a
small, select company of saints, for John saw there "a great multitude,
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues," who "stood before the Throne, and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a
loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits upon the Throne, and
unto the Lamb." [Mr.
Spurgeon's Exposition on this passage and the remaining verses of
Revelation 7, is given in Sermon #2704, Volume 46–"FLEE FROM THE WRATH
TO COME"] Then why should you not be among them? Ask yourself that
question on your knees before God. If I were ill and there was only one
physician in the whole of London, I would try to seek him out, but I
could not be very hopeful of being healed by him. But the Hospital of
Grace has room in it for all the patients who ever come to it! And
never did the porters have to shut the door and say, "There is no room
for any more." That can never be the case! God "delights in mercy."
There is such a fullness of Grace in Christ Jesus that whoever comes to
Him, He will in no wise cast out. [See Sermon #3000, Volume 52–NO.
3000–OR, COME AND WELCOME] Then should not this encourage each one of
you to believe in Jesus Christ and so to live forever, for "he that
believes on the Son has everlasting life"?
Further, dear Friends, are there any valid reasons why you should not
be blessed? Do you really want to be blessed by God? Someone says, "Oh,
that my sins were pardoned! Oh, that I had a new heart and a right
spirit! I gladly would find the Savior if I could." Is there any reason
why you cannot find Him? "I have been a very great sinner." That is no
reason, for many great sinners have found Christ! So why should not
you? "But I have a very hard heart." That is no reason why you should
not be saved, for many very hard hearts have been softened by the Holy
Spirit! And when you have a redemption which is of Infinite value and a
Holy Spirit with Infinite Power to renew the heart, the greatness of
past sin or the deepness of present depravity cannot be a reason why
Infinite Mercy should not be shown to you! Can you find me any text in
the Bible where it is written that you cannot be saved? I have heard an
anxious soul sometimes say, "I know I never shall be saved." But how do
you know that? I believe that it is not so! Christ Himself said that
"all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." And even
under the old dispensation, God said, by the mouth of the Prophet
Isaiah, "Come now, and let us reason together…though your sins are as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like
crimson, they shall be as wool." You cannot put your finger upon a
single passage of Scripture which proves that you will be lost, so do
not believe that it must be so till you have it from God's own mouth!
Never imagine that you are excluded from His pardoning mercy till He,
Himself, says that you are–and He has never said that yet.
Who is there that stands in your way? I know that the devil does, but
then Christ is the devil's Master and He can enable you to overcome
him! Do you know of one true minister of the Gospel who would push you
back if he saw you coming to the Savior? I know one who would gladly
give you a helping hand and draw you to Christ if he could! Would your
godly mother be grieved if she heard that you were converted? Is
anybody (except Satan) praying that you may not
be saved? I never heard of a prayer of that sort–and I never
shall–but day and night the Lord's elect cry unto Him, "Bring the
wanderers in! Let Jesus see of the travail of His soul until He is
satisfied."
Did you ever hear me preach a sermon to prove that you had no right to
lay hold on eternal life? I have heard of very discouraging sermons
preached by ministers who seemed to be afraid that too many people
would get to Heaven–as if it were "a close borough" for a few special
favorites in the very small congregation at "Rehoboth" or "Jireh." That
is dying out and I bless God that it never has been heard here. We
preach to you a great Gospel and a free Gospel–and our hearts are
yearning over you with a strong desire that you may be saved!
Can you point to any attribute in God, or to any action on God's part
which looks like malevolence towards you? You tell me that He has dealt
severely with you in His Providence. If so, it was that He might drive
you to Himself. Has He broken your idols in pieces? If so, it is that
you may worship the one living and true God! Are you very poor? Perhaps
it is the best thing that could happen to you. How few rich folk ever
enter the Kingdom of Heaven! Can you see anything in Jesus Christ that
forbids sinners from coming to Him? Look at His wounds–do they say,
"Sinner, stay away from Me"? Look at His thorn-crowned brow–does that
say, "I do not want you to come to Me"? Look at His widely-extended
arms upon the Cross–do they repel you? No, rather, are they not kept
open that the biggest sinners may get at His heart and find peace and
pardon there? Think of the Holy Spirit and read about what He has
done–and then see if there is anything in Him to show that He does not
want you to come to Christ! Why, He is the blessed Spirit who draws
sinners to Christ–He does not drive them away from Christ! If the
Spirit convinces you of sin, it is not in order to make you
despair–except to make you despair of saving yourself–and that is a
good work, for it will lead you to look to Jesus, that you may find
eternal life in Him! I dare to say that there is nothing in the Father,
there is nothing in the Son and there is nothing in the Holy Spirit
which should make any truly repenting and believing sinner say, "Mercy
is not for me." On the contrary, there is a great attraction about each
blessed Person of the Divine Trinity to draw sinners to Himself.
Now let me suggest one or two reasons why you should find mercy, if you
come for it in God's way–and God's way is that you should believe in
His Son, Jesus Christ–that you should trust your soul into His eternal
keeping. If you do that, there are many reasons why you may expect to
find mercy at His hands. First, it would be an answer to the prayers of
God's people. It is certain that God hears His people's prayers. I know
that many have been praying that you may be saved. So your salvation
would assure them that their prayers had been heard–and surely that is
what God delights to do! It would be wrong for you to rely upon other
people's prayers for your salvation, but I do bid you take comfort from
the thought that it would cheer the saints of God to see you saved. The
happiest Church Meetings that we ever have are those when there are
many converts coming forward to tell what the Lord has done for their
souls! Now the Lord Jesus very dearly loves His Church–she is His
spouse–and as a good husband loves to please his wife, so Jesus loves
to please His Church! And nothing can please His Church so much as to
see sinners saved! So I think that is one good reason why we may expect
that He will save many of you.
Besides that, if you are saved, whether you are a great sinner or a
smaller one, Christ will have a new servant. And if you have been a big
black sinner, Christ will have an especially good servant if He
converts you from the error of your ways. Whatever you do, you do it
heartily–you now persecute the saints with all your might–but if you
were converted, you would love Christ as Mary Magdalene did, or as Saul
of Tarsus did–and our Master delights to have such a servant as you
would make! I trust, therefore, that you will be encouraged by the
thought that as He wants many such servants, perhaps He will have you
as one of them.
And, again, if you were converted, it would make the angels glad. Fresh
hallelujahs and hosannas would resound throughout high Heaven if you
were born-again, a new creature in Christ Jesus! They would set all the
bells a-ringing with celestial carillons because another sinner had
been saved from going down to the Pit! I think God will do it, for He
loves to hear the melodies of the holy angels and of the spirits ofjust
men made perfect.
Besides, it would be to His own Glory in Heaven above and down here
among the sons of men. Oh, if the Lord would but convert some of the
cardinals and priests of the Church of Rome–and some of the great
infidel philosophers of the present day, and some of the licentious
"nobility," as they are called–what high honor would be brought to the
name of Jesus Christ! I must not detain you longer, but I must just
urge you, if you really want the blessing of God in the shape of
pardoned sin and acceptance by Christ, to seek it from the Lord as
earnestly as Esau sought the blessing of Isaac. He sought in vain, but
you will not seek in vain. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you shall be
saved, be you who or what you may! We have God's Word for it–the Word
of God who cannot lie! Esau pleaded piteously with his father, "Bless
me, even me also, O my father." He was a rough, wild man, yet
plaintively he put his plea before his old father, Isaac–"Bless me,
your elder son, your Esau, your favorite." Then, at last, he burst into
tears, backing up his entreaties with his tearful appeal, "Bless me,
even me also, O my father!" You will not seek God's blessing in vain if
you do but seek it sincerely and earnestly. Without His blessing, you
are already condemned. Without His blessing, you will be condemned
forever. With His blessing, there is Heaven for you–without it, there
is Hell. With His blessing, there is peace and joy–without it, there
is a gloomy future, ever growing darker and darker until it becomes
eternal midnight! Cry mightily to God right now for His blessing! And
while you cry, look to Jesus on the Cross, bleeding out His life for
the guilty. One believing look at Him saves your soul forever!
Again I quote Paul's words to the jailer at Philippi, "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." I do not know what more I
can say. If I have been talking to sensible men who value their
immortal souls–and God blesses my message–I have said enough. If I
speak to those who are besotted with their sin and bent on committing
spiritual suicide, I could not say enough though I spoke till your ears
could no longer hear and my tongue could no longer speak. Eternal
Spirit, arrest the elect of God this very hour and bring them to see
themselves as they are–and then to see Christ as their Savior and
force from each one of them this cry–"Bless me, even me also, O my
Father." Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HEBREWS 12.
The Apostle, having described the heroes of the faith, represents them
as witnesses of the great race [See Sermon #2037,
Volume 34–THE RULES OF THE RACE] which Christians in all ages have
to run. All through the chapter he keeps up the idea of the great
Olympic games and represents the saints as occupied with spiritual
athletics in the Presence of God, the angels and glorified men.
Verse 1. Therefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is
set before us. In those games, those who ran and wrestled wore very
little clothing, or often nothing at all. A runner might lose the race
through being entangled by his scarf, so he laid aside everything that
might hinder or hamper him. Oh, for that blessed consecration to our
heavenly calling, by which everything that would hinder us shall be put
aside, that we may give ourselves, disentangled, to the great Gospel to
race!
2. Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the
joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God. His race is
complete. His wrestling is over, so He sits down with the great Judge
of All as the One who has won His crown forever. Let us look to Him.
[See Sermon
#1073, Volume 18–A HONEYCOMB]
3. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
Himself lest you be wearied and faint in your
minds. [See Sermon #236, Volume 5–THE SHAMEFUL SUFFERER]
.1 Think how He wrestled. Think how He ran and let your consideration
of Him nerve you for your struggle, and brace up every muscle of your
spirit so that you will be determined that, as He won, so will you by
the Divine help of Him who is "the Author and Finisher of our faith."
4. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Paul
reminds you that in yourwrestling, you may have to endure a still
sterner struggle–"You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving
against sin."
5-7. Andyou have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as
unto children, My son, despise notyou the chastening of the Lord, nor
faint when you are rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loves, He
chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure
chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom
the father chastens not?The Apostle's intention is to harden us to any
suffering that may come to us in this mortal life. He does so first by
showing us that we are like wrestlers and racers and that we must
expect to endure much hardship if we are to win the crown. We are to
"endure hardness." The crown cannot be won without it. You know what
men will do to win an earthly crown–but the heavenly crown is an
immortal, unfading one–so how much more may be expected of you in the
way of patient endurance in your heart to win it. Then Paul changes the
figure and says, "You are the sons of
God, and that is the reason why you are admitted to the arena where
this sacred struggling takes place, and as you are
the sons of God, you must endure the chastening rod [See Sermon #48,
Volume 1 –CHASTISEMENT] as a part of your training." Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ, will not each one of you thankfully accept it and
say, "As this is one of the evidences of my sonship, I will thank God
for every cut of the rod and bless His holy name for every twig of it."
8. But if you are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then
are you bastards, and not sons. A man may neglect such a child as that,
for he is not his legitimate child. And God does not care for
professors who, though they seem to be His children, are not His true
sons, so they are pampered, indulged, spoiled and left to enjoy
themselves while they are here, as the Lord well knows that they will
have nothing but sorrow and misery hereafter.
9, 10. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us,
and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we
might be partakers of His holiness. God is the Father of our spiritual
nature, so if He pleases to chasten us for our profit, shall we not
humbly yield ourselves up to Him and let Him do with us whatever He
wills?
11. Now no chastening for the present seem to be joyous, but grievous.
It would not be chastening if it were a joy to us! It is necessary, in
order that it may be chastening, that it should be grievous.
11. Nevertheless afterwards. [See Sermon #528, Volume
9–CHASTISEMENT–NOW AND AFTERWARDS] Oh, what melodious music there is
in those two words to ears and hearts that are Divinely taught to
appreciate it! "Nevertheless afterwards"–
11-14. It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who
are exercised thereby. Therefore lift up the hands which hang down, and
the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that
which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Follow peace with all men. Run after it. It will often seem to run away
from you, so you must pursue it and capture it. "Follow peace with all
men."
14, 16. And holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking
diligently lest any man fail of the Grace of
God [See Sermon #940, Volume 16–THE WINNOWING FAN] "Lest he should
come short of the Grace of God and, as it were, fall back. Paul is
still keeping to his illustration drawn from the wrestling at the
Olympic games. Sometimes the wrestler gave his opponent a back fall and
down he went, and so lost the crown. Beware lest such a fall should
happen to you in your spiritual wrestling!
15, 16. Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and
thereby many are defiled; lest there be any fornicator Fornication was
the special sin of that age–in fact, it was so common that the heathen
did not reckon it to be a sin at all! Knowing of the tendency to
licentiousness in all around them, Paul specially warned the Hebrew
Christians against that horrible evil.
16, 17. Or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his
birthright For you know how that afterwards, when he would have
inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of
repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. His father could
not transfer to him the blessing which he had given to Jacob.
18-21. For you are not come unto the Mount that might be touched, and
that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they
that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any
more: (for they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so
much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust
through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I
exceedingly fear and quake)."You have come to something very different
from that mountain of terror–even to a great gathering of holy beings
in the midst of whom you should exceedingly rejoice."
22-27. But you are come unto Mount Zion, [See Sermon #1689, Volume
29–THE GENERAL CONVOCATION AROUND MOUNT ZION] and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church
of the first-born, which are written in Heaven, and to God, the Judge
of All, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the
Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that
speaks better things than that of Abel See that you refuse not Him that
speaks. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth,
much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks
from Heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now He has promised,
saying, Yet once more I
shake not the earth only, but also Heaven. And this word, Yet once
more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of
things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may
remain. All that is eternal must, of course, endure forever. The
Everlasting Covenant, "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God," the
purchase of the Savior's blood, the work of the Holy Spirit–all these
shall stand fast forever, they can never be shaken." [See Sermon #690,
Volume 12–A LESSON FROM THE GREAT PANIC] The Immutable Word spoken by
the mouth of the unchanging God lives and abides forever!
28, 29. Therefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us
have Grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire. The God who gave the Law
on Sinai has never changed–the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
the God of Moses who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea,
and slew Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and the multitude of murmurers,
idolaters and fornicators in the wilderness–"this God is our God
forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death."
I would again remind you of what I have often said concerning the
wickedness of putting into this passage words that the Holy Spirit
never inspired Paul to write. Many people say, "God out of Christ is a
consuming fire." But Paul wrote nothing of the sort! It is "our
God"–and He is not "our God" except as we view Him in Christ–who is
"a consuming fire." How greatly we ought to reverence Him and how
earnestly we ought to ask of Him that the Divine Fire may burn up
everything in us that ought to be consumed–that only that may remain
which will first endure the great shaking and which will afterwards
endure the great burning. May the Lord graciously grant to each one of
us that Grace which shall abide the fire!