The Fullness of Christ the Treasury of the Saints

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 19, 1874,

BY C. H. SPURGEON

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell."
Colossians 1:19.

"And of His fullness we ha ve all received, and Grace for Grace." John
116.

THESE two texts make up a very beautiful sketch of the plan of
salvation. Put before your mind's eye the sinner, empty of all
holiness, of all hope, despairing and ready to die. Put, also, before
your mind, God, full of mercy, willing to come and fill the sinner's
emptiness, to bring all His communicable attributes, dwell in that
sinner and give him, first, the mercy which can blot out his sin, and
then the holiness which can lift him up from his ruined condition. Next
note the difficulty in the way–God cannot come as half a God–all His
attributes must come together. And should the just God come into this
guilty sinner to fill his emptiness, the flame of Justice would destroy
him. It is not possible for God, even our God, who is "a consuming
fire," to come into contact with that which is sinful without
destroying it. What then? Shall the sinner remain empty and shall God's
fullness remain uncommunicated?

Behold the plan which infinite Wisdom has devised! The Eternal Son of
God becomes Man! The Divine Nature comes in all its fullness and dwells
in the Mediator Christ Jesus! Coming into Him, He was made to feel the
mighty burning of Justice, which caused Him agony but could not consume
Him, for in Him there was no sin. Justice burned and blazed within Him
and cast Him into a bloody sweat–yes, brought Him to the Cross and to
death because He stood in the sinner's place. But this golden Vessel,
though heated, was not melted! It could contain the Divine fire and yet
not be destroyed–and now in Christ Jesus dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily and, moreover, the Divine Nature is in Him in such a
way as to be capable of communication to the sons of men. Of course the
essence of Deity is not communicated, for that would be to make men
into Gods–but we are "made partakers of the Divine Nature" in the
sense of receiving the same character–and becoming the children of
God. That which God could not bring to us directly by reason of our
inability to receive it, He has now brought to us through a Mediator,
by placing it in the Man, Christ Jesus, that we, coming to Him, might
freely receive of it.

The next step in the plan of salvation is this–that after the fullness
of God has come to man in the Person of His Son, everyone that comes to
Him by faith receives His Divine Grace. Salvation is not by what you
bring to Christ, but by what you take from Him. You are to be receivers
first, and then, by-and-by, through the power of Grace, you shall give
forth from yourselves rivers of living water to others. In your first
coming you come empty, having nothing but your sin and misery–as
empty, undeserving sinners you receive of His fullness–and all your
life continue to do the same. The Grace already given is not the climax
or the conclusion–you go on receiving more and more! Grace increases
your capacity for Grace and that enlarged capacity becomes filled! And
so the fullness of God comes into you till you are filled with it and
you rise from Grace to Glory, being made like unto God and fitted to
dwell where He is forever and ever.

Now, unconverted ones, take note that this is the plan of salvation,
and the only plan. You must obtain God's love and mercy and holiness by
receiving it through the Mediator, Jesus Christ! You have not yet
received it–I ask you, How long will you tarry without it? You are, in
some degree, aware of your need, for you are not ignorant of the
Gospel. Oftentimes you have heard the voice of its invitation and have
been almost persuaded to receive the fullness revealed in Christ Jesus.
How long will you waver between two opinions? How long will you
hesitate? This is the way, the safe way, the suitable way, the only way
which is open to you–and it is open to you at this very moment–will
your feet never

tread it? Will your disobedient steps forever wander, till, at last,
you sink in despair and die eternally? God have mercy upon you and
bring you to receive of the fullness which the Father has stored up in
His Son, Jesus Christ!

Needy Sinners, I warn you, do not insult the fullness of Christ by
thinking that you are full enough yourselves! Never think of putting
your own righteousness side by side with the Divine, nor think of
mixing your tears with Jesus' blood, nor of bringing your prayers or
your faith to increase the all-sufficiency of Christ's atoning
Sacrifice! He needs nothing from you! Come and take everything from
Him, for all fullness dwells in Him. As you may not insult His
fullness, so I pray you, do not neglect it. Do not stand by this
Fountain and refuse to drink. Do not pass by the riches of His Grace as
though they were nothing to you, lest haply, when you come to die, your
heart should be wrung with terrible remorse because you have despised
the Savior's love. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a
salvation?" Put not off these matters from month to month, but, "today,
if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Hasten now unto
the place where God Himself has come to meet you–namely, in the Person
of His Son.

Moreover, as I charge you not to neglect the Grace of our Lord Jesus,
so would I encourage you not to distrust it. All fullness dwells in
Jesus–a fullness which is meant to be given out to all who receive it
as the gift of Divine Grace! Believe in this fullness and, empty as you
are, do not despair any longer when you remember that Jesus has a
supply for every possible need. Come, though your head is bowed with
grief, for Jesus never did reject a sinner and he never can. It is His
office and calling to cleanse the guilty and to receive the lost. Come
to Him, now, and may we, before this service is done, be able, all of
us, to sing, "It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell," and, "of His fullness have all we received, and Grace for
Grace."

Let not these words be forgotten by those for whom they are meant. But
still, I have not taken my text, this morning, with the view of so
preaching from it. I have another aim altogether. Moreover, it will be
right for me to say that I do not intend to go into an exposition of
these texts, having explained them several times before. I have only
taken them with one object, namely, to address myself vehemently to the
servants of God–that they may be exhorted to lay hold of the fullness
of the power and holiness which dwell in their Covenant Head.

During this last week I have given to my Brothers in the Conference, a
motto which lay on my own heart. It is, "Forward! Upward!" These are
the watchwords of this morning–Forward! Upward! I want you, dear
Brothers and Sisters, to see that every preparation is made for greater
growth and greater success. I want you to be encouraged to seize upon
that which lies before you, but which is too often treated as if it did
not exist, and to rise, by the power of the Eternal Spirit, to
something higher than you have, up to now, accomplished or even
attempted.

I. My first point this morning is this–THERE IS A GLORIOUS FULLNESS IN
JESUS. Brothers and Sisters, if it is so, why are we so weak,
unfurnished and unhappy? There is an infinite fullness in Jesus! A
fullness of all that any saint can ever need to enable him to rise to
the highest degree of Divine Grace. If there is anything lacking for
the attainment of the Divine image in us, it is not a deficiency
Christward–it is occasioned by shortcomings in ourselves. If sin is to
be overcome, the conquering power dwells in Him in its fullness. If
virtue is to be attained, sanctifying energy resides in Christ to
perfection. If I see before me an eminent child of God, whose
conversation is in Heaven, I may not dare to say that I am not capable
of being as sanctified as he is–for the same Lord is mine as well as
his.

I have in my flesh no power whatever, for I am emptiness itself. In me
the Truth of God is realized, "Without Me you can do nothing." But, on
the other hand, the power to do all things lies in Christ and the power
to become fully consecrated streams forth from Him. "With God all
things are possible." "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily," and they who dwell in Him shall find things impossible with
man become simple everyday facts with themselves if they will but have
faith in the mediatorial fullness.

Beloved, I am going to say nothing but what you all know. And I do not
mean to garnish it with finery of words. The truth is that there are
many who are barely Christians and have scarcely enough Grace to float
them into Heaven. The keel of their vessel is grating on the gravel all
the way. My prayer is that we may reach deep waters and have so much
Grace that we may sail like a gallant ship on the broad ocean with a
glorious cargo on board and all colors flying–and so there may be
administered unto us an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ! Everything is provided for this. Christ has
not merely placed enough bread on the table to keep us from starving,
His oxen and fatlings are killed–He has spread a royal feast.

He has not provided a scanty garment which may barely hide your
nakedness, but He has brought forth the best robe and has procured
earrings for your ears, jewels for your necks and a royal crown for
your heads–for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell for all His saints. If you have not these riches, the fault lies
with yourself. It is there–you might have it if you had but faith to
take it. Too often we sit down like beggars on the dunghill and groan
and cry because of the poverty of our nature when we ought to be
rejoicing in the Lord. I thank God that we can groan, for that is
something! But there is a more excellent way–a better gift to be
earnestly coveted. In Christ you are rich to the fullness of riches!
Get up, I pray you, to the high places and realize for yourselves the
fullness of God in Christ Jesus!

The fullness which dwells in our Lord we may rest assured is sufficient
for the conquest of the world. It is not enough for you or me that we
should be wholly consecrated to Christ–our desire is that the whole
world should be filled with the knowledge of the Lord! We can never be
satisfied while there remains one sinner unsaved, one idol upon its
pedestal, or one single error to darken the minds of men. For Christ we
do not desire England, only, and the civilized nations, but we claim
for Him the darkest dens of cannibalism and the vilest haunts of
piracy. The banner of the Cross shall wave where now black flags poison
the breeze! It shall be lifted high where today Kalee and Juggernaut
set up their ensigns, for the Lord God Omnipotent shall reign from
shore to shore!

We have in Christ Jesus all the might which is needed for subduing the
nations, for all power is given unto Him in Heaven and in earth. We
have, dear Brothers and Sisters, I fear, too often been considering the
amount of money and the number of men which would be needed. Indeed, I
remember a remarkable paper being read explaining to us how much money
it would require to evangelize the world–a calculation which I
regarded as vanity of vanities and nothing more–for if mountains of
money were put before us it might just as well be shoveled into the
infernal deep for all the good it could do–if regarded as at all
essential! Our checkbook needs more golden treasure and, thank God, we
have it!

Depend upon it, when the Church is fit to be trusted with money, she
will have it. Pecuniary straitness is only an index of lack of Divine
Grace and is so far a good thing, because it brings before us in
palpable form our real poverty before the Most High. But Brothers and
Sisters, for the conquest of the world, the strength lies in the man
Christ Jesus, since in Him all fullness dwells! And in Him we have all
the necessary power at our disposal. We are never to say, "Those
thieves and criminals are too depraved to be converted," for in our
Lord there is fullness of power to convert the most abandoned! We are
not to say, "That alley in the darkest part of the city will never be
cleansed from its abominations." Jesus could cleanse Sodom, itself! We
are never to leave a tribe of savages unevangelized because they are
too degraded, nor are we to quail before an uneducated and subtle
nation because it is too skeptical–all power for all cases is in
Jesus–He is the armory of the house of David! In Him we shall find a
thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men! Let us go to the armory
and we shall receive the invincible weapons of our Holy War, yes, and
the strength with which to wield them–the might which ensures victory!

Beloved, the text puts away from us, as far as the east is from the
west, every conceivable objection that may be raised as to what a saint
can do, for surely the very thought of difficulty is rendered absurd by
the fact of all fullness residing in our Lord on our behalf! It is not
a fullness for merely teaching, but a fullness for convincing! It is
not a fullness for simply convincing of sin, but for converting and
bringing to full salvation! It is not a fullness for justifying the
Believer, alone, but a fullness for sanctifying him–and not a fullness
for sanctifying him merely for a little while–but a fullness to keep
him to the end! It is a fullness which can fill him with all the
fullness of God! Come to whatever place you may, you shall not say,
"Here I am at a nonplus," but there will you find a new illustration of
the might of the eternal God which dwells in Christ Jesus!

The fact is, Beloved, we have a superabundant force in Christ and if we
did but know it, instead of talking about the struggles of the Church
and the strain that is put upon us to hold our own, the joy of the Lord
would give such strength to us that we should not remember our own
efforts, but like the flood which rushes down the mountain after the
rain, the flush of life from Jesus would speed on with a tremendous
force, leaping over every obstacle and filling our souls to the brim!
God grant us to feel that we do not serve a little Christ nor a stingy
Lord. Our God is the God of the hills as well as the valleys! And in
the strength of the Lord Omnipotent we triumph in every place! Only let
us serve God in real faith and we know not what we may live to see!

God grant us to know this first Truth of God that there is a fullness
in Christ–and in the strength of that fullness we may cry–"Forward
and upward!"

II. The next encouraging fact is that THE FULLNESS IS IN JESUS NOW. "It
pleased the Father that in Him

should all fullness dwell." The glory of the past exercises a
depressing influence upon many Christians. "We have heard with our ears
and our fathers have told us the wondrous things which You did in their
day and in the old time before them." But we dolefully complain that
the golden age of Christianity is over–its heroic times are matter of
history. Indeed, this feeling is transformed to fact, for scarcely any
Church now existing realizes that it can do what its first promoters
did! All appear to be quite sure that these are bad times and but
little is to be done in them. We do not expect, nowadays, to find a
Methodist so full of fire as the first field preachers. The Quakers are
never as fanatical and even the Primitives are not Ranters now! The old
reproach has ceased because the old ardor which provoked it has cooled
down. So far so bad.

I see grave cause for sorrow in all this. A people are in an evil case
when all their heroism is historical. We read the biographies of former
worthies with great wonder and respect. But we do not attempt to follow
in their steps with equal stride. Why not? It has pleased the Father
that in Jesus all fullness should dwell, a fullness for Paul, a
fullness for Luther, a fullness for Whitfield, and blessed be God, a
fullness for me and a fullness for you! All that Jesus has given forth
has not exhausted Him! Christianity has not lost its pristine
strength–we have lost our faith–there's the calamity! Oh, ignoble
sons of glorious sires, you have degenerated, but not your Master! And
if, even in your degeneracy, you would cast yourselves upon your
unchanging God, you would rise to more than the strength of your sires
and do yet greater things than they!

The fullness of Jesus is not changed. Then why are our works so feebly
done? Pentecost, is that to be a tradition? The reforming days, are
these to be only memories? I see no reason why we should not have a
greater Pentecost than Peter saw and a Reformation deeper in its
foundations, and truer in its building up than all the reforms which
Luther or Calvin achieved! We have the same Christ, remember that! The
times are altered, but Jesus is the Eternal and time touches Him not.
"But we are not such men as they." What? Cannot God make us such? Are
we weaker than they? The fitter to be instruments for the mighty God!
Away with the cowardice which thinks the past is never to be outdone!
Is not the Lord of Hosts with us? Is anything too hard for Him? We must
labor to eclipse the past as the sunlight eclipses the brightness of
the stars!

The mass of professors have their eyes only on the future. The good
times are coming, by-and-by, but they are not here yet. We look forward
with much hope to the golden age that is to be, when we shall see the
fullness of Jesus and nations will be born in a day! Brothers and
Sisters, does my text say, "It pleased the Father that in Him all
fullness shall one day dwell"? No, but, "in Him should all fullness
dwell." Whatever has been done can be done now–and whatever shall yet
be done, can be done today, by His Grace. Our laziness puts off the
work of conquest. Our self-indulgence procrastinates. Our cowardice and
lack of faith make us dote upon the millennium instead of hearing the
Spirit's voice today! Happy days would begin from this hour if the
Church would but awake and put on her Strength, for in her Lord all
fatness dwells.

When the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the earth? Some
doubting ones say, "We do not wonder that there is success in such a
place," but we cannot have it. We hear of earnest ministers and we
conclude that where they labor God will send the blessing, but not to
our ministry. We conclude that when yonder woman gathers the young
people around her, it is no wonder that blessing comes. Does Christ
depend on ministers or on holy women? Have you said, "Alas, I cannot
have the blessing." Why not? How dare you limit the Holy One of Israel?
You who dwell in towns where all is cold around you, do you despair? Is
it in your minds that Christ is dependent upon the circumstances in
which He has placed His servants? "It pleased the Father that in Him
should all fullness dwell." What if the servants are empty–their
Master is not! If the means of Grace lack power, Grace from above is
still Omnipotent. Only fly to the Fountain and the dried up streams
need not distress you.

Furthermore, our Churches believe that there is a great fullness in
Christ and that sometimes they ought to enjoy it. The progress of
Christianity is to be by tides which ebb and flow. There are to be
revivals like the spring and these must alternate with long lethargies
like the winter. O accursed Unbelief, will you always pervert the Truth
of God? Will you never understand this Word of God–"It pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell"? It is not the Lord's
purpose that a fullness should reside in Jesus during revivals and then
withdraw. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever! The
highest state of revival should be the normal condition of the Church.
When her martyrs are

most self-sacrificing, her missionaries most daring, her ministers most
bold, her members most consecrated, she is, even then, below her
standard–she has not fully reached her high calling–to come down from
her position would be sin!

God grant us Grace to feel that we have not to drink of an intermittent
spring, nor to work for Christ with an occasional industry–but as all
fullness dwells in Him–it is ours to believe that today we can have
all the blessing of a true revival! That today we can go forward in the
power of God! That at this very hour we lack for nothing which can lift
the Church into her highest condition of spirituality and power! God
grant us to receive Grace for Grace today!

III. Thirdly, THE POSITION OF THIS FULLNESS IS RICHLY ENCOURAGING TO US
IN THE MATTER OF

OBTAINING IT. "It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell." Brothers and Sisters, you have heard what we have said about
the fullness–our words are very poor and poverty-stricken compared
with the fact–but listen! The fullness is placed where you can receive
it–where you can receive it now, for it is placed in Him who is your
Brother–bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh! It dwells in Him
who loves to give it, because, as our Head, He delights to communicate
with His members!

The plenitude of Divine Grace dwells in Him who is, Himself, yours!
Since He is yours, all that is in Christ is yours! You need not pray as
if you had no inheritance in the blessing which you seek. Christ is the
Trustee of the fullness of God and the property of it is vested in His
people–you have only to ask of Him and He will give you that which is
yours, already! Why do you hesitate? How can you linger? The Father has
placed His Grace in Christ because it gratifies His love to His Son. It
pleases the heart of the great God to see Jesus adorned with the
fullness of Deity and every time Jesus gives to Believers, the great
heart of God is gladdened! How can you hesitate about receiving it if
it pleases God for you to partake in it? You may go with great spirit
and comfort, since Jesus Himself is honored by your going to Him. He
obtains Glory by distributing of His fullness to empty sinners, who,
when they receive Grace, are sure to love Him–how can you think Him
reluctant to bestow the gift which will increase His Glory?

Do you not know, too, that when you go to Christ, you gain even by the
act of going? I am so thankful that Christ has not put my fullness in
myself, for then I should not require to go to Him so often, or if I
did go to Him I should not have an errand to go upon of such importance
as to justify my seeking an audience. But now, every time I get to
Christ's door I can plead necessity. We go to Him because we must go.
When is there an hour when a Believer does not need to receive from
Jesus? Go, then, Beloved, since it blesses the Church, it honors
Christ, it pleases God and it is the way of soul enrichment for
yourselves! What place of resort could be so attractive as the Person
of the Well-Beloved? If God had put His fullness into an angel, we
should not feel greatly drawn to him–but since He has caused it to
dwell in Jesus, He has put it where we love to have it–where we feel
at home, where we are glad to go often! Yes, where we would love to
abide and never to go away, but to be forever receiving of Him.

I delight to think that this fullness is placed in Christ because He is
the Man who receives sinners and, therefore, you saints who have lost
your evidences, you Believers who have acted inconsistently and have
not lived up to your privileges, you may say, "we cannot go for this
fullness to God, Himself, but we will joyfully go to the Savior of
sinners." If you have been, till now, self-deceived, and your
experience has all been a mistake, you can still come to the sinner's
Savior, to whom the thief looked up in his expiring hour–and from whom
your first mercy came! Come, Brothers and Sisters, why do you hesitate?
Why do you linger? You who know what Christ is, come, I pray you, with
swift feet to the place where all you need is stored–and take all your
heart requires! Yes, come for the highest degrees of Grace and for the
largest measures of success–and you shall have them, for Christ
delights to give exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think!

IV. And now I have to pass on to another argument. I want to use each
head as a hammer–and may God's own

Spirit wield it. The next is this, that FROM THIS FULLNESS WE HAVE,
MANY OF US, ALREADY RECEIVED. Is

not that an argument for still further exercising faith in Jesus? I
know of no argument equal to that of practical experience. They must
come who have come before! The sweetness of this honey remains upon the
tongue and we long for more and cannot be satisfied till we have taken
up the dripping honeycomb once again.

Now, see, Beloved, the text says, "Of His fullness we have all
received." That is, all the saints in former days have received of this
fullness. There was not in John any good thing but what he received
from his Master. There was not in the noble martyr Stephen one grain of
courage but what he received from Christ. Paul, Apollos, or
Cephas–these had nothing but what they took from Him If they received
everything, why should we hesitate to do the same? Of ourselves it

is also true that all our Graces came from Jesus. This is true of the
greatest saint and true of the least. Do you remember when you first
received Divine Grace? It brings to my mind right joyful memories of
the hour when first these eyes looked to Him and were lightened–when I
received pardon from His dying love and knew myself forgiven!

Since your conversion, dear Brothers and Sisters, everything good you
have ever had, you have received from our Lord. What? Have you drunk
out of your own cistern? What treasure have you found in your own
fields? Nakedness, poverty, misery, death–these are the only
possessions of Nature. But life, riches, fullness, joy–these are gifts
of Divine Grace through Jesus Christ! Are you accepted before God? He
justified you! Have you been kept? He has preserved you! Are you
sanctified? He has cleansed you by His blood! Do you know, by full
assurance, your interest in the Father's love? He gave you that
assurance! All you have and all you ever will have–all that every
saint that shall ever be born shall have that is worth having comes out
of the fullness of Christ!

The crowded ranks of the white-robed above, without exception, confess,
"Of His fullness we have all received." I hear them sing, this morning,
as they keep a glorious Sabbath Day above–and this is one sweet stanza
of their song, "Of His fullness we have all received, and Grace for
Grace." Come then, Brothers and Sisters, what prevents us from
receiving? "Ah," you say, "I cannot imagine that I can be a Christian
of the highest type." Why not? Have you not received life? Why should
you not receive life more abundantly? Have you not already been
pardoned? Why should you not have the full assurance of that pardon?
Have you not already been taken up from the horrible pit and out of the
miry clay? What hinders but that Christ should set you upon a rock and
put a new song into your mouth and establish your goings?

"But I cannot hope to be so useful as some are." Why not? According to
your faith so shall it be to you! God has given you one convert, why
cannot He give you a hundred? You have been blessed to a dear child in
Sunday school and you have rejoiced over that one jewel as a precious
God-send! Why should you not dive, again, and bring up other pearls for
your Immanuel's crown? I would stir in you a sacred ambition! I would
provoke you to the highest style of Christian manhood and the most
heroic form of Christian service! What you have received is the pledge
of what you may receive, but, indeed, you have already obtained a good
deal more than yet remains to be received!

Christ is yours and by that fact all things are yours! What you now
need is included in what you already have! You only need to realize
it–by faith call it your own–and practically to live upon it. May God
enable you to do so! Of His fullness have we all received–why should
we not receive more?

IV. The last blow of the hammer shall be this–THE GIFTS WE HAVE
ALREADY HAD ARE NOT TRIFLES, for John says we have received "Grace for
Grace," which is a mode in the Greek language of expressing the
superlative. We have received the highest Grace, superlative Grace. The
gift of Jesus Christ is the highest Grace that even God, Himself, can
bestow–nothing can go beyond that! Listen to this, then–"He that
spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" I charge you,
let that text enter into your hearts–and when you feel straitened in
prayer and tempted to say, "No, not here, I cannot rise so high, I am
not qualified for that attainment"–do, I pray you, remember the gifts
already received by which Jesus opens your mouth and bids you ask great
things.

The Father has given you His Son! How can He deny you anything? The
expression, "Grace for Grace," may mean Grace answering to Grace–Grace
which was in accordance with Grace already given–Grace preparatory to
what is yet to come. Has not the Father given you such Divine Grace as
you had capacity to receive? If there had been more room you would have
had more. If you had exercised more faith, He would have given you more
joy. If you had possessed more hope, you would have had more
realization. He has always come up to, and even gone beyond, the
measure of our expectation. Is there, in your soul, this morning, an
enlargement? I feel it in my own heart! I feel a dissatisfaction with
my present attainments! I pant to know my Lord better! I am
discontented with what I have done for Him up to now! I long to do 10
times more for His Glory!

Do you feel the same? Oh, then He will keep in touch with you! Yes, He
will do exceeding abundantly above all you ask, or even think! That
text does not say, "Above what you can ask or think," as people will
persist in saying. That is not true because we can ask and can think as
great things as God Himself will give, and He means us to ask before He
gives. Our capacity for asking is, as a general rule, the measure of
His giving, but the Scriptures say He will do exceeding

abundantly above what you ask or think. Now, are you thinking great
things and asking great things? Do not be afraid! The Lord will not let
you outstrip Him! Be enlarged–and as large as your faith–so large
shall the blessing be.

Then, dear Friends, Grace for Grace may mean Grace upon Grace, like
Pelion upon Ossa–one mountain piled upon another–each Grace eclipsing
the light of that which went before. This we have already known. When
we first believed in Christ, pardon for sin seemed everything. But when
we came to know that we were justified in Christ Jesus, that appeared
to be a much greater blessing. And when we understood that we were
adopted and were the sons of God, that new delight surpassed the former
joy! The Lord has led you into Divine Grace which has surprised you and
lifted you up from one point to another. I speak to many Brothers and
Sisters here who must confess that their present state is very
different from their Christian infancy–they now know what they never
thought they could know. Why, there are doctrines that some of you can
enjoy this morning which you used to think frightfully high doctrines!
You once could not appreciate them, yet they are simplicities to you
now! And there are conquests over sin which you could not have achieved
in your boyhood. But now in your Christian manhood you can take up
dragons and destroy them.

Now, dear Brethren, as you have been surprised with mercy, you are to
be surprised with more mercy, and the Lord says to you, "Son of man, I
will show you greater favors than these." Greater joys are yet to be
known! You have entered the room of silver–that inner door will lead
you to a chamber of gold! And beyond that there is a door in the wall
which he that is taught of God shall open–a door which will admit you
into a chamber of diamonds! And when you shall come there and have seen
the Glory and the exceeding riches of the Grace of God, there is still
an inner chamber where that which eye has not seen nor ear heard shall
be revealed to you–a joy unspeakable, unthinkable, indeed! May we
comprehend with all the saints what are the heights and depths–and
know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.

Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have a
fullness in Christ as Believers which we ought to use in the following
manner –First, believe in great things! Do not sit down, as some do,
in the little Meeting House where about 50 Brethren meet and expect the
Lord to send a convert once every 12 months. And when He does send him,
they worry him by the month together for fear he should not be one of
the right sort! And when he finally comes in, they rejoice over him as
one that finds great spoil in having picked up one solitary soul after
12 months' ministry!

Oh, Brothers and Sisters, we have a greater God than this would imply!
The little narrow thoughts which Christians have had as to the success
of the Gospel cannot have come from a great God, can they? The day was
when the very idea of sending the Gospel to the heathen was regarded by
our orthodox Brethren as a piece of Don Quixotism, not to be attempted,
and even now, if you say, "All the world for Jesus," they open their
eyes and say, "Ah, we are afraid you are tainted with universal
redemption, or are going off to the Arminian camp." God grant these
dear Brethren new hearts and right spirits–at present their hearts are
too small to bring Him much glory! May they get larger hearts, hearts
something like their Lord's–and may they have Grace given them to
estimate the precious blood at a higher rate–for our Lord did not die
to buy a few hundred souls, or to redeem to Himself a handful of
people! He shed His blood for a number which no man can number–and His
elect shall excel in multitude the sands which belt the sea!

Let us have great faith in what God intends to do. Believing these
great things, let us expect them. Be on the qui vive for spiritual
miracles. Expect to see hundreds converted! Wonder, when you hear a
Gospel sermon, that the Holy Spirit does not save 3,000 by it! "Ah,"
says one, "I should be very much astonished if He did." I know you
would, and that is why we do not see it! But we ought to wonder that
there are not, and when we are as we should be, we shall see greater
things than these! There is no weakness with God! That limping sinew is
in Jacob's thigh, it is not in the Angel's. That palsied arm is man's,
not God's–no sinew of His arm can decay.

Sirs, do you think that He who smote the fields of Zoan with plagues is
not Lord of idols and King of heathens? Do you think that He who
divided the Red Sea cannot lead His people like a flock through the
wilderness and bring them into the promised possession? Do you think
that He cannot bring up His Church out of her bondage and set her feet
in a large room? The Lord of Hosts is with us! Therefore let us expect
things! Expecting great things, let us attempt great things! Let us
each set about doing something for Christ, in the power of the Holy
Spirit! Let us try what can be done! Let us not, if we are Sunday
school teachers, be satisfied with going through the day's lesson and
feeling, "There, that will do." Aim at the immediate conversion of
every child in the class!

Do not let us say, as we go round with the tracts this afternoon, "We
will leave them and not say a word." Aim at getting a word about Jesus
Christ with every person you meet with! As for myself, the preacher,
let me come here to preach to you, not with the hope that perhaps, here
and there, one will find a Savior, but with an earnest cry to Heaven
that the Holy Spirit will comprehend, in the lines of His electing and
redeeming love, the whole mass of you, and make this Tabernacle into a
golden casket in which all of us shall be the jewels, and take it right
up and keep it in His bosom forever!

Last of all, let us not talk about this, but let us set about doing it!
Shall we never have, in our midst, men who will go among the heathen to
preach Jesus Christ? We had two lately, are there not two more? Young
men and young women, will you not consecrate yourselves to the Lord and
go into exile for His sake? Have we none such? We have here, this
morning, good women and good men, too, who are at work among the
heathens of the east end of London and the worst parts of our city. Are
there no others to do the same? There is room for scores of you to be
as devoted to God as our dear Brother, Dr. Barnardo, or our Sister,
Miss MacPherson–and why not you? Why should not the same anointing
come upon you and qualify you for useful work?

Will you not, this very day, preach Christ in the streets? Will you not
consecrate yourselves to be whole burnt offerings unto Christ, for Him
to live, for Him to die? O soldiers of the Cross, will you loiter in
the march? The enemy still holds citadels which belong to Christ and
you, by a desperate push, may seize them! Swift as eagles and strong as
lions, press onward and win the victory! Why do you hesitate? The
powers of evil linger not! The hosts of Hell are raging–they call up
all their strength against the Lord of Hosts–and will you stand back?
Have you no courage? Is your blood turned to water? Has the Spirit of
God departed from you?

Oh, let it not be so, but may God launch us upon the enemy like
thunderbolts from His own Omnipotent hand! And yet may it be seen
throughout the world that there are men who have received of the
fullness of the Crucified One and who, therefore, can give it forth to
others and point them to Him in whom the Father is well-pleased that
all fullness shall dwell. The Lord be with you all. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–John 1:1-34. HYMNS FROM "OUR
OWN HYMN BOOK"–436, 415, 249.
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