A Sermon
(No. 36)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, August 19, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
"That clouds are the dust of his feet."–Nahum 1:3.
IT IS POSSIBLE for a man to read too many books. We will not despise
learning, we will not undervalue erudition, such acquisitions are very
desirable; and, when his talents are sanctified to God, the man of
learning frequently becomes in the hands ofthe Spirit far more useful
than the ignorant and the unlearned; but at the same time, if a man
acquire his knowledge entirely from books, he will not find himself to
be a very wise man. There is such a thing as heaping so many books on
your brains that they cannot work–pouring such piles of type, and
letters, and manuscripts, and papers, and prints, and pamphlets, and
volumes, and tomes, and folios, upon your weary head, that your brains
are absolutely buried and cannot move at all. I believe that many of
us, whilst we have sought to learn by books, have neglected those great
volumes which God has given us; we have neglected to study this great
book, the Bible! moreover, perhaps, we have not been careful enough
students of the great volume of nature, and we have forgotten that
other great book, the human heart. For my own part, I desire to be
somewhat a student of the heart; and I think I have learned far more
from conversation with my fellow-men than I ever did from reading, and
the examination of my own experience, and the workings of my own heart,
have taught me far more of humanity than all the metaphysical books I
have ever perused. I like to read the book of my fellow creatures;
nothing delights me so much as when I see a multitude of them gathered
together, or when I have the opportunity of having their hearts poured
into mine, and mine into theirs. He will not be a wise man who does not
study the human heart, and does not seek to know something of his
fellows and of himself. But if there be one book I love to read above
all others, next to the book of God, it is the volume of nature. I care
not what letters they are that I read, whether they be the golden
spellings of the name of God up yonder in the stars, or whether I read,
in rougher lines, his name printed on the rolling floods, or see it
hieroglyphed in the huge mountain, the dashing cataract, or the waving
forest. Wherever I look abroad in nature I love to discern my Father's
name spelled out in living characters; and if we had any fields a
little greener than Moorfields, Smithfield, and Spafields, I would do
as Isaac did, go into the fields at eventide and muse and meditate upon
the God of nature. I thought in the cool of last evening. I would muse
with my God, by his Holy Spirit, and see what message he would give me.
There I sat and watched the clouds, and learned a lesson in the great
hall of Nature's college. The first thought that struck me was this, as
I saw the white clouds rolling in the sky–soon shall I see my Saviour
mounted on a great white throne, riding on the clouds of heaven, to
call men to judgment. My imagination could easily picture the scene,
when the quick and the dead should stand before his great white throne,
and should hear his voice pronounce their changeless destiny. I
remembered, moreover, that text in the Proverbs, "He that observeth the
wind shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." I
thought how many a time myself and my brother ministers have regarded
the clouds. We have listened to the voice of prudence and of caution we
have regarded the clouds, we have stops when we ought to have been
sowing because we were afraid of the multitude, or we refused to reap
and take in the people into our churches, because some good brother
thought we were too hasty about the matter. I rose up and thought to
myself, I will regard neither the clouds nor the winds, but when the
wind blows a hurricane I will throw the seed with my hands, if
peradventure the tempest may waft it further still; and when the clouds
are thick, still I will reap, and rest assured that God will preserve
his own wheat, whether I gather it under clouds or in the sunshine. And
then, when I sat there musing upon God, thoughts struck me as the
clouds careered along the skies thoughts which I must give to you this
morning. I trust they were somewhat for my own instruction, and
possibly they may be for yours. "The clouds are the dust of his feet."
I. Well, the first remark I make upon this shall be–the way of God is
generally a hidden one. This we gather from the text, by regarding the
connection, "the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet." When God works his wonders he
always conceals himself. Even the motion of his feet causes clouds to
arise; and if these; clouds are but the dust of his feet," how deep
must be that dense darkness which veils the brow of the Eternal. If the
small dust which he causes is of equal magnitude with our clouds–if we
can find no other figure to image "the dust of his feet" than the
clouds of heaven, then, how obscure must be the motions of the Eternal
one, how hidden and how shrouded in darkness! This great truth
suggested by the text, is well borne out by facts. The ways of God are
hidden ones. Cowper did not say amiss when he sang,–
"He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm."
His footsteps cannot be seen, for, planted on the sea, the next wave
washes them out; and placed in the storm, rioting as the air then is,
every impression of his chariot wheels is soon erased. Look at God, and
at whatever he has deigned to do, and you will always see him to have
been a hidden God. He has concealed himself, and all his ways have been
veiled in the strictest mystery. Consider his works of salvation. How
did he hide himself when he determined to save mankind? He did not
manifestly reveal himself to our forefathers. He gave them simply one
dim lamp of prophecy which shone in words like these "The seed of the
woman shall bruise the serpent's head;" and for four thousand years God
concealed his Son in mystery, and no one understood what the Son of God
was to be. The smoking incense beclouded their eyes, and while it
showed something of Jesus, it did hide far more. The burning victim
sent its smoke up towards the sky, and it was only through the dim
mists of the sacrifice that the pious Jew could see the Saviour. Angels
themselves, we are told, desired to look into the mysteries of
redemption, yet though they stood with their eyes intently fixed upon
it, until the hour when redemption developed itself on Cavalry, not a
single angel could understand it. The profoundest sage might have
sought to find out how God could be just and yet the justifier of the
ungodly; but he would have failed in his investigations. The most
intensely pious man might meditate, with the help of that portion of
God's Spirit which was then given to the prophets, on this mighty
subject, and he could not have discovered what the mystery of godliness
was–"God manifest in the flesh." God marched in clouds, "He walked in
the whirlwinds;" he did not deign to tell the world what he was about
to do; for it is his plan to gird himself in darkness, and "the clouds
are the dust of his feet." Ah! and so it always has been in Providence
as well as grace. God never condescends to make things very plain to
his creatures. He always does rightly; and therefore, he wants his
people always to believe that he does rightly. But if he showed them
that he did so, there would be no room for their faith.
Turn your eye along the page of history, and see how mysterious God's
dealings have been. Who would conceive that a Joseph sold into Egypt
would be the means of redeeming a whole people from famine? Who would
suppose that when an enemy should come upon the land, it should be
after all but the means of bringing glory to God? Who could imagine
that a harlot's blood should mingle with the genealogy from which came
the great Messiah, the Shiloh of Israel? Who could have guessed much
less could have compassed, the mighty scheme of God? Providence has
always been a hidden thing.
"Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sov'reign will."
And yet, beloved, you and I are always wanting to know what God is
about. There is a war in the Crimea. We have had some great disasters
at Sebastopol, and we are turning over the papers, and saying,
"Whatever is God doing here?" What did he do in the last war? What was
the benefit of it? We see that even Napoleon was the means of doing
good, for he broke down the aristocracy and made all monarchs respect
for the future, the power, and the rights of the people. We see what
was the result even of that dread hurricane, that it swept away a
pestilence which would have devoured full many more. But we ask, "What
is God doing with this world?" We want to know what will be the
consequences. Suppose we should humble Russia, where would it end? Can
Turkey be maintained as a separate kingdom? And ten thousand other
questions arise. Beloved, I always think, "let the potsherds strive
with the potsherds of the earth," and–as a good old friend of mine
says–let them crack themselves, too, if they like. We will not
interfere. If the potsherds will go smashing one another, why, then
they must. We pray that old England may come off the safest of them
all. But we are not much concerned to know the result. We believe that
this war, as well as everything else, will have a beneficial tendency.
We cannot see in history that this world ever went a step backwards.
God is ever moving it in its orbit; and it has always progressed even
when it seemed retrograding.
Or, perhaps, ye are not agitated about Providence in a nation, you
believe that there God does hide himself; but then there are matters
concerning yourself, which you long to see explained. When I was in
Glasgow. I went over an immense foundry, one of the largest in
Scotland, and there I saw a very powerful steam engine which worked all
the machinery in the entire building. I saw in that foundry such
numberless wheels running round, some one way and some another, I could
not make out what on earth they were all about. But, I daresay, if my
head had been a little wiser, and I had been taught a little more of
mechanics, I might have understood what every wheel was doing, though
really they seemed only a mass of wheels very busy running round and
doing nothing. They were all, however, working at something; and if I
had stopped and asked "What is that wheel doing?" A mechanic may have
said, "It turns another wheel." "Well, and what is that wheel doing?"
"There is another wheel dependent upon that, and that again is
dependent on another." Then, at last, he would have taken me and said,
"This is what the whole machinery is doing." Some ponderous bar of
iron, perhaps, being grooved and cut, shaped and polished–"this is
what all the wheels are effecting: but I cannot tell separately what
each wheel is doing." All things are working together for good; but
what the things separately are doing, it would be impossible to
explain. Yet, thou child of Adam, with thy finite intellect, art
continually stopping to ask, "Why is this?" The child lies dead in the
cradle. Wherefore, was infancy snatched away? Oh, ruthless death,
couldst thou not reap ripe corn; why snatch the rosebud? Would not a
chaplet of withered leaves become thee better than these tender
blossoms? Or, you are demanding of Providence, why hast thou taken away
my property? Was I not left, by a parent, well-to-do, and some ravenous
leech has swept all my substance away! It is all gone; why this, O God?
Why not punish the unjust? why should the innocent be allowed thus to
suffer? Why am I to be bereft of my all? Says another, "I launched into
a business that was fair and honorable; I intended, if God had
prospered me, to devote my wealth to him. I am poor, my business never
prospers. Lord, why is this?" And another says, "Hero I am toiling from
morning till night; and all I do I cannot extricate myself from my
business, which takes me off so much from religion. I would fain live
on less if I had more time to serve my God." Ah! finite one! dost thou
ask God to explain these things to thee? I tell thee, God will not do
it, and God cannot do it–for this reason: thou art not capable of
understanding it. Should the emmet ask the eagle wherefore it dasheth
aloft in the skies? Shall leviathan be questioned by a minnow? These
creatures might explain their motions to creatures; but the Omnipotent
Creator, the uncreated Eternal, cannot well explain himself to mortals
whom he hath created. We cannot understand him. It is enough for us to
know that his way always must be in darkness, and that we must never
expect to see much in this world.
II. This second thought is–GREAT THINGS WITH US ARE LITTLE THINGS WITH
GOD. What great things clouds are to us! There we see them sweeping
along the skies! Then they rapidly increase till the whole firmament
gathereth blackness and a dark shadow is cast upon the world; we
foresee the coming storm, and we tremble at the mountains of cloud, for
they are great. Great things are they? Nay, they are only the dust of
God's feet. The greatest cloud that ever swept the face of the
firmament, was but one single particle of dust starting from the feet
of the Almighty Jehovah. When clouds roll over clouds and the storm is
very terrible, it is but the chariot of God, as it speeds along the
heavens, raising a little dust around him! "The clouds are the dust of
his feet." Oh! could ye grasp this idea my friends, or had I words in
which to put it into your souls, I am sure you would sit down in solemn
awe of that great God who is our Father, or who will be our Judge.
Consider, that the greatest things with man are little things with God.
We call the mountains great, but what are they? They are but "the small
dust of the balance." We call the nations great, and we speak of mighty
empires, but the nations before him are but as "a drop in the bucket."
We call the islands great and talk of ours boastingly–"He taketh up
the isles as a very little thing." We speak of great men and of
mighty–"The inhabitants of the earth in his sight are but as
grasshoppers." We talk of ponderous orbs moving millions of miles from
us–in God's sight they are but little atoms dancing up and down in the
sunbeam of existence. Compared with God there is nothing great. True,
there are some things which are little with man that are great with
God. Such are our sins which we call little, but which are great with
him; and his mercies, which we sometimes think are little, he knows are
very great mercies towards such great sinners as we are. Things which
we reckon great are very little with God. If ye knew what God thought
of our talk sometimes, you would be surprised at yourselves. We have
some great trouble–we go burdened with it, saying, "O Lord God! what a
great trouble I am burdened with." Why, methinks, God might smile at
us, as we do sometimes at a little child who takes up a load too heavy
for it (but which ye could hold between your fingers), and staggereth,
and saith, "Father, what a weight I am carrying." So there are people
who stagger under the great trouble which they think they are bearing.
Great, beloved! There are no great troubles at all: "the clouds are the
dust of his feet." If you would but so consider them, the greatest
things with you are but little things with God. Suppose, now, that ye
had all the troubles of all the people in the world, that they all came
pouring on your devoted head: what are cataracts of trouble to God?–"
Drops in the bucket." What are whole mountains of grief to him? Why,
"he taketh up the mountains as the dust of the balance." And he can
easily remove your trials. Sit not down then thou son of weariness and
want, and say, "My troubles are too great." Hear the voice of mercy:
"Cast thy burden on the Lord and he will sustain thee, he will never
suffer the righteous to be moved." You shall hear two Christians talk.
One of them will say, "O my troubles, and trials, and sorrows, they are
so great I can hardly sustain them; I do not know how to support my
afflictions from day to day." The other says, "Ah! my troubles and
trials are not less severe, but, nevertheless, they have been less than
nothing. I could laugh at impossibilities, and say they shall be done."
What is the reason of the difference between these men? The secret is,
that one of them carried his troubles, and the other did not. It does
not matter to a porter how heavy a load may be, if he can find another
to carry it all for him. But if he is to carry it all himself, of
course he does not like a heavy load. So one man bears his troubles
himself and gets his back nearly broken; but the other cast his
troubles on the Lord. Ah! it does not matter how heavy troubles are if
you can cast them on the Lord. The heavier they are so much the better,
for the more you have got rid of, and the more there is laid upon the
Rock. Never be afraid of troubles. However heavy they are, God's
eternal shoulders can bear them. He, whose omnipotence is testified by
revolving planets, and systems of enormous worlds, can well sustain
you. Is his arm shortened, that he cannot save, or is he weary, that he
cannot hold you fast? Your troubles are nothing to God, for the very
"clouds are the dust of his feet."
And this cheers me, I assure you, in the work of the ministry; for any
man who has his eyes open to the world at large, will acknowledge that
there are many clouds brooding over England, and over the world. I
received lately a letter from a gentleman at Hull, in which he tells me
that he sympathizes with my views concerning the condition of the
church at large. I do not know whether Christendom was ever worse off
than it is now. At any rate, I pray God it never may be. Read the
account of the condition of the Suffolk churches where the gospel is
somewhat flourishing, and you will be surprised to find that they have
had scarcely any increase at all in the year. So you may go from church
to church, and find scarcely any that are growing. Here and there a
chapel is filled with people; here and there you find an earnest
minister; here and there an increasing church; here and there a good
prayer-meeting; but these are only like green spots. Wherever I have
gone through England, I have been always grieved to see how the glory
of Zion is under a cloud; how the precious saints of Zion, comparable
to fine gold have become like earthen pitchers, the work of the hands
of the potter. It is not for me to set myself up as universal censor of
the church, but I must be honest and say, that spiritual life, and
fire, and zeal, and piety, seemed to be absent in ten thousand
instances. We have abundance of agencies, we have good mechanism but
the church, now-a-days is very much like a large steam engine, without
any fire, without any hot water in the boiler, without any steam. There
is everything but steam, everything but life. England is veiled in
clouds. Not clouds of infidelity. I care not one fig for all the
infidels in England, and I do not think it worth Mr. Grant's trouble to
go after them. Nor am I afraid of popery for old England. I do not
think she will go back to that–I am sure she never will. But, I am
afraid of this deadness, this sloth, this indifference, that has come
over our churches. The church wants shaking, like the man on the
mountain-top does when the cold benumbs him into a deadly slumber. The
churches are gone to sleep for want of zeal, for want of fire. Even
those who hold sound doctrine are beginning to slumber. Oh may God stir
the church up! One great black cloud, only broken here and there by a
few rays of sunlight, seems to be hanging over the entire of this our
happy island. But, beloved, there is comfort, "for the clouds are the
dust of his feet." He can scatter them in a moment. He can raise up his
chosen servants, who have only to put their mouth to the trumpet, and
one blast shall awaken the sleeping sentinels, and startle the sleeping
camp. God has only to send out again some evangelist, some flying
angel, and the churches shall start up once more, and she who has been
clothed in sackcloth, shall doff her garments of mourning and put on a
garment of praise, instead of the spirit of heaviness. The day is
coming, I hope, when Zion shall sit, not without her diadem, crownless;
but with her crown on her head, she shall grasp her banner, take her
shield, and, like that heroic maiden of old who roused a whole nation,
shall go forth conquering and to conquer. We hope thus much, because
"the clouds are the dust of his feet."
Aye, and what clouds rest on the world at large! What black clouds of
Catholic superstition, Mahommedanism, and idolatry. But what are all
these things? We do not care about them at all, brethren. Some say that
I am getting very enthusiastic about the latter-day glory, and the
coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Well, I don't know. I get all the
happier the more enthusiastic I am, so I hope I shall keep on at it,
for I believe there is nothing so comforts a servant of God as to
believe that his Master is coming. I hope to see him. I should not be
surprised to see Jesus Christ to-morrow morning. He may come then. "In
such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." He who learns to
watch for Christ, will never be surprised when he cometh. Blessed shall
that servant be, whom, when his Lord cometh, he shall find busy about
his duty. But some say he cannot come yet; there are so many clouds,
and so much darkness in the sky, it cannot be expected that the sun
will rise yet. Is that a fair reason? Do the clouds ever impede the
sun? The sun moves on despite all the mists; and Jesus Christ can come
clouds or no clouds. We do not want light before he appears; he will
come and give us light, afterwards, scattering the darkness with the
glory of his own eyes. But you say, "How are these idolatrous systems
to be cast down?" God could do it in an hour if he pleased. Religion
never moves by years and weeks. Even false religions grow like
mushrooms; much more true ones. False religions attained colossal
proportion in a very few years. Take the case of Mahommedanism–the
new-born faith of Islam became the religion of millions in an
increditable short period and if a false religion could spread so
quickly, shall not a true one run along like fire amidst the stubble,
when God shall speak the word? Clouds are but "dust of his feet." A
little while ago some of us were fretting about this Mormonism, and we
said, "It will never be broken up." Some stupid fellows in America
began to kill the poor Mormonites, and so carve them into saints, which
was the very way to establish them. Christians trembled, and said,
"What can this be? We shall have Sodom over again." But did you read
the Times newspaper of Thursday last? You will there see a wonderful
instance of how God can scatter the clouds and make them dust of his
feet. He has caused to come out of the ground, near Salt Lake, at Utah,
thousands of crickets, and all kinds of noxious insects, that devour
the crops; creatures that have not been seen in Utah before, with
swarms of locusts, have made their appearance; and the people, being so
far from civilized nations, cannot of course carry much corn across the
desert, so that they will be condemned to starve or else separate and
break up. It seems to all appearance that the whole settlement of the
Mormonites must entirely be broken up, and that by an army of
caterpillars, crickets, and locusts.
III. Now, one more remark. "The clouds are the dust of his feet." Then
we learn from that, that THE MOST TERRIBLE THINGS IN NATURE HAVE NO
TERROR TO A CHILD OF GOD. Sometimes clouds are very fearful things to
mariners; they expect a storm when they see the clouds and darkness
gathering. A cloud to many of us, when it forebodes a tempest is a very
unpleasant thing. But let me read my text, and you will see what I mean
by my remark that the most terrible things in nature are not terrible
to the saints. The clouds are the dust of HIS feet,"–of God's feet. Do
you not see what I mean? There is nothing terrible now, because it is
only the dust of my Father's feet. Did you ever know a child who was
afraid of the dust of his father's feet? Nay; if the child sees the
dust of his father's feet in the distance, what does he do? He rejoices
because it is his father, and runs to meet him. So the most awful
things in nature, even the clouds, have lost all their terror to a
child of God, because he knows they are but the dust of his Father's
feet. If we stand in the midst of the lightning storm, a flash rives
yon cedar, or splits the oak of the forest; another flash succeeds, and
then another, till the whole firmament becomes a sea of flame. We fear
not, for they are only the flashes of our Father's sword as he waves it
in the sky. Hark to the thunder as it shakes the earth, causes the
hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests; we shake not at the sound.
"The God that rules on high,
And thunders when he please,
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas.
"This awful God is ours,
Our Father and our love."
We are not afraid, for we hear our Father's voice. And what favored
child ever quaked at his Father's speech. We love to hear that voice;
although it is deep, bass, sonorous, yet we love its matchless melody,
for it issues from the depths of affection. Put me to sea, and let the
ship be driven along, that wind is my Father's breath let the clouds
gather, they are the dust of my Father's feet; let the waterspout
appear from heaven, it is my Father dipping his hand in the laver of
his earthly temple. The child of God feareth nothing. All things are
his Father's; and divested now of everything that is terrible, he can
look upon them with complacency, for he says, "The clouds are the dust
of his feet."
"He drives his chariot through the sky,
Beneath his feet his thunders roar;
He shakes the earth, he veils the sky,
My soul, my soul, this God adore–
He is thy Father, and thy love."
Fall down before his feet and worship him, for he hath loved thee by
his grace. You know there are many fearful events which may befall us;
but we are never afraid of them, if we are saints, because they are the
dust of his feet. Pestilence may ravage this fair city once again; the
thousands may fall, and the funeral march be constantly seen in our
streets. Do we fear it? Nay; the pestilence is but one of our Father's
servants, and we are not afraid of it, although it walketh in darkness.
There may be no wheat, the flocks may be cut off from the herd and the
stall; nevertheless, famine and distress are our Father's doings, and
what our Father does we will not view with alarm. There is a man there
with a sword in his hand–he is an enemy, and I fear him My father has
a sword, and I fear him not; I rather love to see him have a sword,
because I know he will only use it for my protection.
But there is to come a sight more grand, more terrific, more sublime,
and more disastrous than anything earth hath yet witnessed; there is to
come a fire before which Sodom's fire shall pale to nothingness; and
the conflagration of continents shall sink into less than nothing and
vanity. In a few more years, my friends, Scripture assures us, this
earth and all that is therein, is to be burned up. That deep molten
mass which now lies in the bosom of our mother earth is to burst
up–the solid matter is be melted down into one vast globe of fire; the
wicked–shrieking, wailing, and cursing, shall become a prey to these
flames that shall blaze upward from the breast of earth; comets shall
shoot their fires from heaven; all the lightnings shall launch their
bolts upon this poor earth, and it shall become a mass of fire. But
does the Christian fear it? No. Scripture tell us we shall be caught up
together with the Lord in the air, and shall be for ever with the Lord.
IV. To conclude. The fourth observation is, ALL THINGS IN NATURE ARE
CALCULATED TO TERRIFY THE UNGODLY MAN. Ungodly men and women now
present in this place of worship, it is a very solemn fact that you are
at enmity with God; that having sinned against God, God is angry with
you–not angry with you today, but angry with you every day, angry with
you every hour and every moment. It is, moreover, a most sad and solemn
fact that there is a day coming, I, ungodly men, when this anger of God
will burst out, and when God will utterly destroy and devour you. Now
listen to me for a moment, while I try to make all nature preach to you
a solemn warning, and the wide world itself a great high priest,
holding up its finger and calling you to flee for mercy to Jesus
Christ, the King of kings. Sinner, hast thou ever seen the clouds as
they roll along the sky? Those clouds are the dust of the feet of
Jehovah. If these clouds are but the dust, what is he himself? And
then, I ask thee, O man, art thou not foolish in the extreme to be at
war with such a God as this? If "the clouds are the dust of his feet,
now foolish art thou to be his enemy. Dost thou think to stand before
his majesty? I tell thee, he will snap thy spear as if it were but a
reed. Wilt thou hide thyself in the mountains? They shall be melted at
his presence; and though thou cry to the rocks to hide thee, they would
fail to give thee aught of concealment before his burning eyes. O do
but consider, my dear fellow creatures, you who are at enmity with God,
would it not be folly if you were to oppose yourself to an angel? Would
it not be the utmost stupidity if you were to commence a war even with
her majesty the Queen? I know it would, because ye have no power to
stand against them; but consider how much more mighty is the Eternal
God. Why, man, he could put his finger upon you at this moment and
crush you as I could an insect. Yet this God is your enemy; you are
hating him, you are at war with him! Consider, moreover, O man, that
thou hast grievously rebelled against him; that thou hast incensed his
soul, and he is angry, and jealous, and furious against every sinner.
Consider what you will do in that great day, when God shall fall upon
you. Some of you believe in a god that has no anger, and no hatred
towards the wicked. Such a god is not the God of Scripture? He is a god
who punishes the ungodly. Let me ask the question of inspiration: Canst
thou stand before his indignation? Canst thou abide the fierceness of
his anger? When his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are
thrown down by him, bethink thee, sinner, will it be a good thing to be
in the hands of the Almighty, who will rend thee in sunder? Wilt thou
think it easy to lie down in hell with the breath of the Eternal
fanning the flames? Wilt thou delight thyself to think that God will
invent torments for thee, sinner, to make thy doom most cursed if thou
dost not repent and turn to him? What, man! are the terrors of Jehovah
nothing to thee? Dost thou not tremble and shake before the fierceness
of his fury? Ah! thou mayest laugh now; thou mayest go away, my hearer,
and smile at what I have said; but the day shall declare it: the hour
is coming–and it may be soon–when the iron hand of the Almighty shall
be upon thee; when all thy senses shall be the gates of misery, thy
body the house of lamentation, and thy soul the epitome of woe. Then
thou wilt not laugh and despise him.
But now to finish up, let me just give you one word more; for, beloved,
wherefore do we use these threats; wherefore do we speak of them? It is
but the word of the angel, who, pressing Lot upon the shoulder, said,
"Look not behind thee stay not in all the plain," and then pointing to
the fire behind, said, "On! on! lest the fiery sleet overtake thee, and
the hail of the Eternal shall overwhelm thee!" We only mentioned that
fire behind, that the Spirit might make you flee to the mountain lest
ye should be consumed. Do you ask where that mountain is? We tell you
there is a cleft in the Rock of Ages where the chief of sinners may yet
hide himself–"Jesus Christ for us men, and for our salvation, came
down from heaven;" and whoever here this morning is a sinner, we now
invite to come to Christ. Ye Pharisees who do not own the title, I
preach no gospel to you; ye self-righteous, self-sufficient ones, I
have nought whatever to say to you, except what I have said–the voice
of threatening. But, whoever will confess himself a sinner, has the
warrant this morning to come to Jesus Christ. Sinnership is the only
title to salvation. If you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners, Christ
died for you. And if you put your trust in him, and believed that he
died for you, you may rely upon him, and say, "Lord, I will be saved by
thy grace." Your merits are good for nothing; you can get no benefit by
them. Your own work is useless; you err like the man in the prison
working the treadmill–you never get anything by it–grinding oyster
shells without any benefit to yourself. Come to Jesus Christ. Believe
in him; and after you have believed in him, he will set you
working–working a new work. He will give you works, if you will have
but faith–even faith is his gift. O may he give it to you now, my
hearers, for; he giveth liberally and upbraideth not." "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized, and thou shalt be saved."