The Entreaty of the Holy Spirit

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 1, 1874,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you will hear His voice,
harden not your hearts." Hebrews 3:7.

THE peculiar circumstances in which we are now placed as a congregation
demand of me that my discourses should be principally directed to the
unconverted, that the awakened may be decided, that those may be
awakened who as yet remain unmoved, and that a desire to seek the Lord
may spread all around us. We may leave the 99 in the wilderness for a
little while, just now, and go after that which has gone astray. It is
our duty, usually, to feed the children, but for a while we may leave
that to other agencies, and hand out food to those who are perishing of
hunger. These seasons of revival do not last forever–they come and
they go and, therefore–they must be taken advantage of while they are
with us.

The farmer tells us that he must make hay while the sun shines and we,
also, must attend, in the season, to the labor which it suggests–and
that duty seems to me to look in the direction of the undecided. While
God is speaking so mightily, we should plead with men to hear His
voice! Clearly, it is our wisdom to say, "Amen," to what the Lord is
saying, for as His Word cannot return unto Him void, ours will be sure
to be fruitful when it tallies with the Lord's. Therefore the subject
of my sermon this morning shall be that of our hymn writer–

"'Hear God while He speaks,' then hear Him today. And pray while you
hear, unceasingly pray! Believe in Hispromise, rely on His Word, And
while He commands you, obey your great Lord." I have taken this text
with the earnest hope that God may bless it and I look to the Lord's
people to baptize the text in floods of anxious tears for the unsaved.

I. The first point which it presents for serious consideration is
this–THE SPECIAL VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. "As the Holy Spirit says,
Today if you will hear His voice." The Apostle is continually quoting
from the Old Testament, but he does not often present his quotations in
this peculiar fashion. In the very next chapter, when he is speaking of
the same passage, he uses the expression, "Saying in David"–mentioning
the human author of the Psalm. But in this case, to give full emphasis
to the Truth of God, he quotes the Divine Author alone–"As the Holy
Spirit says."

These words, it is true, are applicable to every passage of sacred
Scripture, for we may say of all the Inspired Books–"As the Holy
Spirit says." But it is designedly used here that the passage may have
the greater weight with us. The Holy Spirit, in fact, not only speaks
thus in the 95th Psalm, but it is His unvarying utterance. The Holy
Spirit says, or continues, still, to say, "Hear you His voice today."
He has a certain doctrine upon one occasion and a still deeper Truth of
God at another period, according as there was need, or as His people
were prepared for it. But this particular utterance is for all time and
for every day of Divine Grace. The Holy Spirit, by Paul, as before by
David, says, "Today."

Yes, that is still the burden which He lays upon His ministering
servants–in every place they entreat and persuade men, saying, "Today
if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." How does the Holy
Spirit thus speak? He says this first, in the Scriptures. Every command
of Scripture calls for immediate obedience. The Law of God is not given
to us to be laid by upon the shelf to be obeyed at some future period
of life! And the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is not so
intended for the 11th hour as to be lightly trifled with during the
first ten. Wherever the Holy Spirit exhorts, He speaks in the present
tense, and bids us now repent, or now believe, or now seek the Lord!

I pray you always remember, whenever you read the Bible, that it is the
Spirit of the living God who there admonishes you to immediate
obedience! The calls of the Inspired Word are not those of Moses, or
David, or Paul, or Peter, but the solemn utterances of the Holy Spirit
speaking through them. With what a dignity does this Truth invest Holy
Scrip-

ture and with what solemnity does it surround our reading of it!
Quibbling with Scripture, trifling with it, disputing its doctrines, or
neglecting its admonitions we grieve the Spirit of God! And this is
very dangerous ground to trespass on, for although He is long-suffering
and pitiful, yet remember it is of the sin against the Holy Spirit that
it is said, "It shall never be forgiven."

Not every sin against the Holy Spirit is unpardonable–God be thanked
for that! But there is a sin against the Holy Spirit which shall never
be forgiven. Therefore do we tread, I say, on very delicate ground when
we vex Him, as we do if at any time in reading His Word we count His
teachings to be light matters. Beware, I say, you men of England, who
have your Bibles in your houses among whom the Word of the Lord is
common as wheat bread! Beware how you treat it, for in rejecting it you
reject not only the voice of Apostles and Prophets, but the voice of
the Holy Spirit Himself! The Holy Spirit says, "Today." He bids His
people make haste and delay not to keep the commands of God! And He
bids sinners seek the Lord while He may be found–and call upon Him
while He is near. Oh, may you hear His warning voice and live!

Further, while the Holy Spirit speaks in Scripture in this way, He
speaks in the same manner in the hearts of His people, for He is a
living and active Agent. His work is not ended–He still speaks and
writes–the pen is still in His hand! Not to write with ink upon paper,
but upon the fleshy tablets of prepared hearts! Now the Spirit of God
has been in this Church communicating with His people, and the tenor of
the communication has been this–"Seek to win souls." And I will
guarantee this assertion, that in no case has the Spirit said, "Seek
the conversion of sinners at the end of the year– awake to earnestness
about their souls when you have become more mature in years and
judgment." But every man and woman here saved by Grace, who has felt
the Holy Spirit within him, has felt an impulse to seek the conversion
of sinners at once! He has felt a longing that they should no longer
abide in sin, that they should now be awakened, should immediately lay
hold of eternal life and find instantaneous peace in Christ.

I appeal to my Brothers and Sisters if it is not so. Have you not felt,
"it is high time to awake out of sleep"? Have you not felt the force of
the admonition, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your
might"? At other times we have been satisfied to feel that there was a
good work going on secretly, that the soil was being prepared for
future harvests, that somehow or other God's Word would not return unto
Him void. But now we are not so readily contented! We feel as if we
must, during each service, see the Lord at work and we plead for
immediate conversions! We are as eager for souls as misers are for
money! I say not that all of you feel this, but I say that all who have
been fully influenced by the Holy Spirit during this period of gracious
visitation have been filled with agony for the immediate salvation of
souls.

Like unto a woman in travail they have longed eagerly to hear the cry
of new-born souls. Their prayer has been, "Today, good Lord, answer our
entreaties and lead our fellow men to hear Your voice that they may be
saved." I appeal to the people of God whether the Holy Spirit, when He
stirs them up to soul-winning, does not say, "Today–today seek the
salvation of men." The same is also true when the Holy Spirit speaks in
the awakened. They are not yet numbered with the people of God, but
they are under concern of soul–and I shall make my appeal to them,
also.

You are now conscious that you have offended your God–you are alarmed
to find yourselves in a condition of alienation from Him–you want to
be reconciled and you pine for the assurance that you are really
forgiven. Do you wish to wait for that assurance till six or seven
years have passed away? Do you feel, this morning, that you could be
perfectly satisfied to go out of this house in the state you are now
in–and continue in it month by month? If such delay would satisfy you,
the Spirit of God has not spoken with you in an effectual manner. You
have been but partially influenced, like unhappy Felix, and having
said, "When I have a more convenient season I will send for you," we
shall hear no more of you.

If the Spirit of God is upon you, you are crying "Help, Lord, help me
now! Save me now or I perish! Make haste to deliver me, make no
tarrying, O my God. Hasten on wings of love to pluck me from the pit of
destruction which yawns beneath my feet."–

"Come, Lord, Your fainting servant cheer,

Nor let Your chariot wheels delay.

Appear, in my poor heart appear,

My God, my Savior, come away!" A truly awakened sinner pleads in the
present tense and cries mightily for a present salvation! And it is
certain that whenever the Holy Spirit strives with men, He urgently
cries, "Today! Today!"

Once more, the Holy Spirit speaks, thus, by His deeds as well as by His
words. We have a common proverb that actions speak more loudly than
words. Now the acts of the Holy Spirit, in the leading of many in this
place to the Savior, are so many practical invitations, encouragements
and commands to others. The gate of Mercy stands open everyday of the
year–and its very openness is an invitation and a command to
enter–but when I see my fellow men go streaming through, when I see
hundreds finding Christ as we have seen them, do not all these, as they
enter the portal of Grace, call to others to come? Do they not say,
"This way may be trod by such as you are, for we are treading it! This
way assuredly leads to peace for we have found rest in it!"

It is surely so! This way of speaking from the Holy Spirit has come
very closely home to some of you, for you have seen your children enter
the kingdom, and yet you are not saved yourselves! Some of you have
seen your sisters saved, but you still remain unconverted! There is a
husband, yonder, whose wife has told him with sparkling eyes of the
rest she has found in the Savior, but he himself refuses to seek the
Lord! There are parents here who have found Jesus, but their children
are a heavy burden to them, for their hearts are unrenewed! Did I see
my brother pass the gate of salvation? May I not take that as an
intimation from God's Spirit that He is waiting to be gracious to me,
also? When I see others saved by faith, may I not be sure that faith
will also save me?

Since I perceive that there is Grace in Christ for the sins of others
exactly like myself, may I not hope that there is mercy, also, for me?
I will venture to hope and dare to believe! Should not that be the
resolve of each? And is not that the point to which the Holy Spirit
would lead us? Is not the bringing of one sinner to Himself intended to
allure others? "The Holy Spirit says, Today." But why so urgent,
blessed Spirit, why so urgent? It is because the Holy Spirit is in
sympathy with God–in sympathy with the Father who longs to press the
prodigal to His bosom–in sympathy with the Son who is watching to see
of the travail of His soul!

The Holy Spirit is urgent because He is grieved with sin and would not
see it continued for an hour! And every moment that a sinner refuses to
come to Christ is a moment spent in sin. Yes, that refusal to come is,
in itself, the most wanton and cruel of offenses! The hardness of man's
heart against the Gospel is the most grievous of all provocations!
Therefore does the Holy Spirit long to see man rid of it, that he may
yield himself to the Omnipotent power of love. The Holy Spirit desires
to see men attentive to the voice of God because He delights in that
which is right and good. It is to Him a personal pleasure. He is glad
to behold His own work in the sinner carried on till salvation is
secure. Besides, He waits to execute His favorite office of Comforter,
and He cannot comfort an ungodly soul! He cannot comfort those who
harden their hearts.

Comfort for unbelievers would be their destruction. As He delights to
be the Comforter and has been sent forth from the Father to act
specially in that capacity, that He may comfort the people of God, He
watches with longing eyes for broken hearts and contrite spirits, that
He may apply the balm of Gilead and heal their wounds. Therefore "the
Holy Spirit says, Today." I leave this fact with you. The special voice
of the text is not of man, but of the Holy Spirit Himself. He that has
ears to hear let him hear–

"Then while 'tis called today,

Oh, hear the Gospel sound!

Come, Sinner, hurry, oh, hurry today,

While pardon may be found."

II. The text inculcates A SPECIAL DUTY. The duty is that we should hear
the voice of God. If you so read it, the text bids us hear the voice of
the Father saying, "Return unto Me, you backsliding children. Come now,
and let us reason together: though your sins are as scarlet they shall
be as wool." Or it may be the voice of Jesus Christ, for it is of Him
that the Apostle is here speaking. It is Jesus who calls, "Come unto
Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
In fact, the voice to be heard is that of the Sacred Trinity, for with
the Father, the Son and the Spirit also say, "Come." We are bid to hear
and that, surely, is no hard duty. The grand evangelical precept is,
"Incline your ear and come unto Me, hear and your soul shall live,"
for, "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Hear,
then, the Lord's voice!

"Well," says one, "we do hear it. We read the Bible and whatever is
preached on Sunday we are willing enough to hear." Ah, my dear Hearers,
but there is hearing and hearing. Many have ears to hear, but they do
not hear in reality. The kind of hearing which is demanded of us is the
hearing with reverence. The Gospel is God's Word, not man's–the voice
of your Maker, your Lord–the voice of Infallible Truth, of Infinite
Love, of Sovereign Authority and therefore no com-

mon attention should be bestowed upon it. Listen to it devoutly,
summoning all your powers to adoring attention. Angels veil their faces
in Jehovah's Presence–and shall man trifle before Him? When God speaks
do not regard it as the voice of merely a king, to whose message it
might be treason to turn a deaf ear, but as the voice of your God,
towards whom it is blasphemy to be inattentive!

Hear Him earnestly, with anxiety, to know the meaning of what He says,
drinking in His doctrine, receiving with meekness the engrafted Word
which is able to save your soul, bowing your understanding to it,
longing to comprehend it, desirous to be influenced by it. "Hear His
voice"–that is, hear it obediently, eager to do what He bids you, as
He enables you. Do not hear and forget, as one that looks in a glass
and sees his face, and afterwards forgets what manner of man he is?
Retain the Word in your memories and, better still, practice it in your
lives? To hear in this case is, in fact, to yield yourselves to the
will of God, to let yourselves be as the elastic clay and His Word as
the hand which molds you, or your tears as the molten metal and the
Word as the mold into which you are delivered.

Hear the Lord when He instructs you. Be willing to know the Truth of
God. How often are men's ears stopped up with the wax of prejudice, so
that they are dull of hearing? They have made up their minds as to what
the Gospel ought to be and will not hear what it is. They think
themselves the judges of God's Word, instead of God's Word being their
judge. Some men do not want to know too much–they might be
uncomfortable in their sins if they did. And, therefore, they are not
anxious to be instructed. When men are afraid of the Truth of God there
is abundant reason to fear that the Truth of God is against them. It is
one of the worst signs of a fallen condition when a son of Adam hides
away from the voice of His Creator.

But, O dear Hearers, today hear His voice! Learn of Jesus! Sit as
scholars at His feet, for, "Except you are converted and become as
little children, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Hear Him as
scholars hear their teacher, for all the children of Zion are taught of
the Lord. But the Lord does more than instruct you–He commands. Let
men say what they will, the Gospel to be preached to the ungodly is not
merely warnings and teachings, it has its solemn, positive commands.
Listen to this–"The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now
commands all men everywhere to repent." As to faith, the Lord's Word
does not come as a mere recommendation of its virtues, or as a promise
to those who exercise it, but it speaks on this wise–"Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He that believes and is
baptized shall be saved; he that believes not shall be damned." The
Lord puts the solemn sanction of a threat of condemnation upon the
command to show that it is not to be trifled with!

"All power," says Christ, "is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth,"
and therefore clothed with that authority and that power, He sends out
His disciples, saying to them, "Go you, therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit." The Word goes forth with Divine authority, saying,
"Repent you and believe the Gospel." This is as much God's command as
that which says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart," and there is this much the more of solemn obligation, that
whereas the Law was given by Moses, the Gospel command was given by the
Son of God Himself!

"He that despised Moses' Law died without mercy: of how much sorer
punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trod under
foot the Son of God! Hear, then the commands of Jesus, for be sure of
this–His Gospel comes to you with the imperial authority of the Lord
of All! But the Lord does more than command, He graciously invites.
With tenderness He bids sinners come to His banquet of mercy, for all
things are ready. As though He pleaded with men and would gladly
persuade where He might command, He cries, "Ho, everyone that thirsts,
come you to the waters; and you that have no money, come buy wine and
milk without money and without price."

Many of the Lord's invitations are remarkable for their extreme
sympathy, as though it were rather He that would suffer than the
sinner, if the sinner remained obstinate! He cries, "Turn you, turn
you, why will you die, O house of Israel?" Like a father pleading with
a beloved but disobedient son who is ruining himself, God, Himself,
pleads as if the tears stood in His eyes–yes, the Incarnate God in
very deed wept over sinners, and cried–"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her
chickens under her wings, and you would not." Will you not listen,
then, when God instructs? Shall He give light and your eyes be closed?
Will you not obey when God commands? Do you intend to be rebels against
Him? Will you turn your backs when God invites? Shall His love be
slighted and His bounty treated with scorn? God grant it may not be so!
The good Spirit asks no more than is just and right when He cries,
"Hear you the voice of the Lord."

But the Lord does more than invite, He adds His promises. He says,
"Hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an Everlasting Covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David." He has told us that, "if we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Glorious promises are there in
His Word–exceedingly great and precious! Oh, do not, I beseech you,
count yourselves unworthy of them, for if so, your blood will be on
your own heads! The Lord also threatens as well as entreats. He warns
you, "If you turn not, He will whet His sword: He has bent His bow and
made it ready." He declares that the despisers shall wonder and perish.
He asks, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"

He says, "The wicked shall be cast into Hell with all the nations that
forget God." Though He has no pleasure in the death of him that dies,
but had rather that he should turn unto Him and live, yet He will by no
means clear the guilty, but every transgression and iniquity shall have
its just recompense of reward. If Christ is rejected, eternal wrath is
certain! By that door you enter Heaven, but if you pass it by, even He
who at this hour stands with pierced hands to woo you, will, at the
Last Great Day come with iron rod to break you. "Today, if you will
hear His voice, harden not your hearts." I leave these thoughts with
you. May God grant they may make impressions where His will designs
they should.

III. There is, in our text, A SPECIAL TIME EMPHASIZE. "The Holy Spirit
says, Today." Today is the set time for hearing God's voice. Today,
that is, while God speaks. Oh, if we were as we should be, the moment
God said, "Seek you My face," we should reply, "Your face, Lord, will I
seek." As soon as the invitations of mercy were heard there would be an
echo in our souls to them and we should say, "Behold, we come unto You
that we may be saved."

Observe how in creation God's voice was heard in an instant. The Lord
said, "Let there be light, and there was light." He said, "Let the
waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature," and straightway it
was so. There were no delays. God's fiat was immediately executed. Oh,
you whom God has made men and endowed with reason, shall the insensible
earth be more obedient than you? Shall the waves of the sea swarm with
fish and the earth teem with grass as soon as Jehovah speaks–and will
you sleep on when the heavenly voice cries, "Awake, you that sleep, and
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you life"? Hear God today,
for today He speaks.

The Apostle says in the next chapter, "Today–after so long a time,"
and I will dwell upon that phrase–"after so long a time." I see that
some of you have bald heads, or gray hairs lie thick upon them. If you
are unconverted, well may the Holy Spirit say, "Today, after so long a
time, hear His voice." Is it not long enough to have provoked your God
these 60 years? Man, are not 70 years of sin enough? Perhaps you have
almost fulfilled your fourscore years and still you hold out against
the overtures of Divine mercy! Is not a graceless old age a standing
provocation of the Lord? How long do you intend to provoke Him? How
long will it be before you believe Him? You have had time enough to
have found out that sin is folly and that their pleasures are vanity.
Surely you have had time enough to see that if there is peace it is not
to be found in the ways of sin! How long do you intend to linger on
forbidden and dangerous ground? You may not have another day, O aged
man, in which to consider your ways! O aged woman–you may not have
another year granted you in which to provoke your God. "After so long a
time," with sacred pressure would I urge you–"Today, if you will hear
His voice."

I hope it is not only I pleading with you but, I trust, the Holy
Spirit, also, says in your conscience, "Today attend the voice of God."
"Today," that is, especially while the Holy Spirit is leading others to
hear and to find mercy. Today, while the showers are falling. Today,
receive the drops of Grace! Today, while there are prayers offered up
for you. Today, while the hearts of the godly are earnest about you.
Today, while the footstool of Heaven's Throne is wet with the tears of
those who love you. Today, lest lethargy should seize the Church again.
Today, lest the preaching of the Word of God should come to be a matter
of routine and the preacher, himself, discouraged, should lose all zeal
for your soul! Today, while everything is peculiarly propitious, hear
the voice of God! While the wind blows, hoist the sail! While God is
abroad on errands of love, go forth to meet Him!

Today, while yet you are not utterly hardened–while there is still a
conscience left within you–today, while yet you are conscious of your
danger in some degree, while yet there is a lingering look towards your
Father's house–hear and live! Today, lest, slighting your present
tenderness, it should never come again–and you should be abandoned to
the shocking indifference which is the prelude of eternal death! Today,
young people, while yet you are undefiled with the grosser vices.
Today, you young men who are new to this polluting city, before you
have steeped yourselves in its streams

of lust. Today, while everything is helpful to you, hear the loving,
tender, wooing voice of Jesus and harden not your hearts!

To me the text seems wonderfully Gospel-like when it says "Today," for
what is it but another way of putting the doctrine of that blessed
hymn–

"Just as I am, without one plea."

"Today"–that is, in the circumstances, sins and miseries in which you
now are–hear the Gospel, and obey it! Today, since it finds you in
yonder pew, hear God's voice of mercy in that pew! Today, you who have
never been concerned before, while God speaks, let it concern you!
"Ah," you say, "if I were living in another house." You are culled
today, even if you are living with the worst of sinners! "I will
hearken when I have enjoyed that sinful pleasure which I promised to
myself next Wednesday" you say. Ah, if it is a sinful one, flee from
it, or it may make a turning point in your history and seal your soul's
ruin. "Today, if you will hear His voice."

"Ah, if I had attended a few more revival meetings, and felt in a
better state, I would obey." It is not so written, Sinner! It is not
so! I am not told to preach the Gospel to those of you who are ready to
receive it and say, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved,
if he is already, in a measure, prepared to believe." No, but to every
creature here I have the same message to deliver! In the name of Jesus
of Nazareth, who is also God Almighty at the right hand of the Father,
believe in Him and you shall live, for His message to you is for
TODAY–it admits of no delay. "But I must reform, I must amend and then
will I think about believing." That is to put the effect before the
cause! If you will hear His voice, the reforming and the amending shall
come to you. But you must not begin with them as the first matter.

The voice of God does not say that, but it says, "Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ." Oh, hear that voice! I must occupy a moment in showing
you why the Lord in mercy says, "Today." Do you not know that other
people die? Why may you not die, yourself? During these present
services several have been taken from among us. I was surprised when I
came home to find how many have died of late concerning whom I should
have predicted a much longer life. Why may you not die speedily? "I am
robust and healthy," says one. If you ever hear of a sudden death, does
it not generally happen to the robust? It seems as if the storm swept
over the sickly and they bowed before it like reeds–and so escaped its
fury–while the vigorous in health, like powerful forest trees, resist
the storm and are torn up by it. How often does sudden death come just
where we least expected it! "Today, if you will hear His voice."

I will put a question to you which that holy man, Mr. Payson, puts to
the awakened. He says, How would you like to arrange that you would
find Christ at the end of the year and that your existence should
depend upon the life of another person? Select the strongest man you
know, and suppose that everything in reference to your eternal welfare
is to depend upon whether he lives to see the next year. With what
anxiety would you hear of his illness! How concerned you would be about
his health! Well, Sinner, your salvation is risked by you upon your own
life–is that any more secure? If you are procrastinating and putting
off repentance, why should you be any more secure about your own life
than you would be if all depended upon the life of another? Be not such
fools as to trifle yourselves into your graves and trifle your souls
into

Hell.

"You would not stake your fortune on the cast of the dice, as the mad
gambler does, and yet you are staking your soul's eternity upon what is
quite as uncertain, for you do not know, when you fall asleep tonight,
whether you shall awake tomorrow in your bed or in Hell! You do not
know that the next breath you are expecting will ever come–and if it
does not come you will be driven forever from God's presence." Oh,
Sirs, if you want to play at hazards, hazard your gold, or hazard your
reputations, but do not jeopardize your souls! The stakes are too heavy
for any but those who are made mad by sin. Risk not your souls, I beg
you, upon the hazard of your living another day, but listen to the
voice of God today!

IV. I have little time for my last point, but I still must have space
for it even if I detain you beyond the accustomed time of departure.
The last point is this–The SPECIAL DANGER which is indicated in the
text. "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts'" That
is the special danger. And how is it incurred? When persons are under
concern of soul their heart is, in a measure, softened–but they can
readily harden it–first, by willingly relapsing into their former
indifference– by shaking off all fear and saying in willful rebellion,
"No, I will have none of it."

I once preached in a certain city and I was the guest of a gentleman
who treated me with great kindness. But I noticed on the third occasion
of my preaching that he suddenly left the room. One of my friends
followed him out of the place and

said to him, "Why have you left the service?" "Well," he said, "I
believe I should have been converted altogether if I had stayed any
longer, for I felt such an influence coming over me. But it would not
pay–you know what I am–it would not pay." Many persons are of that
kind. They are shaped, for a while, according to the earnest word they
hear, but it is all in vain–the dog returns to his vomit and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. This is to harden your
heart and provoke the Lord.

A common way of provoking God and hardening the heart is that indicated
by the context. "Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, in the
day of temptation in the wilderness"–that is to say, by unbelief–by
saying, "God cannot save me, He is not able to forgive me. The blood of
Christ cannot cleanse me. I am too black a sinner for God's mercy to
deal with." That is a copy of what the Israelites said–"God cannot
take us into Canaan; He cannot conquer the sons of Anak." Though you
may look upon unbelief as a slight sin, it is the sin of sins! May the
Holy Spirit convict you of it, for "when the Spirit of Truth is come He
shall convince the world of sin," and especially of sin, "because they
believe not on Jesus." "He that believes not is condemned already,"
says Christ, "because he has not believed on the Son of God," as if all
other sins were inconsiderable in power to condemn in comparison with
this sin of unbelief!

Oh, do not, therefore, doubt my Lord! Come, you blackest, filthiest
sinner out of Hell! Jesus can cleanse you! Come, you granite-hearted
sinner, you whose affections are frozen like an iceberg so that not one
melting tear of penitence distils from your eyes! Jesus' love can
soften your heart! Believe Him, believe Him, or else you harden your
heart against Him! Some harden their hearts by asking for more signs.
This, also, is after the manner of the Israelites. "God has given us
manna. Can He give us water? He has given us water out of the Rock, can
He give us meat, also? Can He furnish a table in the wilderness?" After
all that God had done, they wanted Him to work miracles or they would
not believe!

Let none of us harden our hearts in that way. God has already worked
for men a miracle which transcends all others and is, indeed, the
compendium of all wonders! He has given His own Son out of His bosom to
be a Man and to die for sinners! The sinner who is not content with
that display of the mercy of God will never be satisfied with any proof
of it! Christ on the tree is the sum of all miracles under the Gospel
dispensation. If you will not believe God, who "so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life," then you will never believe!

"Oh, but I want to feel! I want the influence that is abroad to come
upon me in a strange manner! I want to dream at night, or to see
visions by day." Do you? You are hardening your heart! You are
rejecting what God gives and demanding Him to play the lackey to
you–and to give you what your petulant pride demands. If you had these
things you would still not believe! He who has Moses and the Prophets
and rejects them, would not believe, even though one came to him from
the dead! Christ on the Cross is before you–do not reject Him! For if
you do, nothing else can convince you and there must you
remain–hardening your heart in unbelief.

Those also harden their hearts who presume upon the mercy of God and
say, "Well, we can turn when we please." Ah, how different will you
find it. "We have only to believe and be saved." Yes, but you will
find, "only believing," to be a very different thing from what you
imagine! Salvation is no child's play, believe me. I have heard of one
who woke up one morning and found himself famous–but you will not find
salvation in that way. "He that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it
shall be opened." You harden your hearts if you plunge into worldly
pleasures–if you allow loose companions to talk with you–if on this
holy day you indulge in idle talk, or listen to unhallowed mirth. Many
a tender conscience is hardened by the company which surrounds it. A
young woman hears a powerful sermon and God is blessing it to her, but
she goes off tomorrow to spend the evening in a scene of gaiety–how
can she expect that the Word of God will be blessed to her? It is a
deliberate quenching of the Spirit and I wonder not that God should
swear in His wrath that those who do so shall not enter into His rest.
Oh, don't do these things, lest you harden your hearts against God!

Now, I must conclude, but I must put the matter fully before you. I
want every sinner here to know his position this morning. God commands
all men everywhere to repent! Christ commands men to believe in Him
today. One of two things you have to do, you have no other
choice–either you must say that you do not intend to obey God's
command, or else you must yield to it. Like Pharaoh, you must say, "Who
is the Lord that I should obey His voice?" Or else, like the prodigal
son, you must resolve, "I will arise and go unto my Father." There is
no other choice! Do not attempt to make excuses. God makes short work
with sinners' excuses. Those who were invited to the great supper said,
"We are going to

our farm and our merchandise. We are about to try our yokes of oxen, or
we have married a wife," but all the Lord said about it was, "None of
the men which were bidden shall taste of My supper." That was the end
of it.

There was a man, once, who had a talent, and he buried it in a napkin
and said, "I knew that You were an austere man," and so on. What notice
did his Master take of that speech? He merely said, "Out of your own
mouth will I condemn you. You knew that I was an austere man, and
therefore, for that very reason you ought to have been the more
diligent in My service." The Lord sees through your excuses, therefore
do not insult Him with them! I have you here, this morning, before me,
and you shall say one thing or the other before the living God–and
before Christ–who shall judge the quick and the dead. He bids you turn
from your sin and seek His face now, and believe in His dear Son. Will
you do it or not? Yes or no? And mark you, that, "Yes," or, "No," may
be final.

This morning the last appeal may have been made to you! God commands
and I charge you, if your heart intends rebellion, say, if you dare, "I
will not obey." Then you will know where you are and you will
understand your own position. If God is not God, fight it out with Him.
If you do not believe in Him, if He really is not the Lord who made you
and who can destroy you, or if you mean to be His enemy–take up your
position and be as honest, even, if you are as proud as Pharaoh, and
say–"I will not obey Him." But, oh, I pray you, do not thus rebel! God
is gracious! Will you be rebellious? God is love! Will you, therefore,
be hard-hearted? Jesus, by His wounds, invites you to come to Himself!
And the Holy Spirit, Himself, is here and is saying in the text, "Today
harden not your hearts." Yield yourselves now to His love–

"Who round you now

The bands of a man would cast,

The cords of His love who was given to you

To His altar binding you fast."

At His altar may you be found safe in the day of His appearing! God
bless you. I beg those of you who know how to pray to implore a
blessing on this word, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON: Numbers13:26-33,14:1-23;
Psalm 95. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–98 (VERSION II), 497, 546.

A MESSAGE FROM BROTHER SPURGEON, IN 1874, TO HIS READERS [IN THE 21st
CENTURY?]:

Those readers who think this sermon likely to be useful are earnestly
requested to give it away, that it may be useful to others. The
preacher is most anxious that his message should be scattered broadcast
over the land.
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