The Lord’s Own Salvation

The Lord's Own Salvation

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, DECEMBER 16, 1888,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, DELIVERED ON THURSDAY
EVENING, AUGUST 2, 1888.

"But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah and will save them by
the Lord their God and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by
battle, by horses, nor by horsemen" Hosea 1:7.

GOD is very considerate towards the messengers by whom He delivers His
Word to men. They are bound to deliver His Word faithfully, whatever
the tidings may be. Sometimes the burden of the Lord is very heavy. The
Prophets have to denounce woe upon woe, with terrible monotony of
threat. And then it is that God hastens to relieve them by giving them
a gracious Word, so that they may refresh their hearts and not be
altogether crushed beneath their load. We have an instance here of the
Lord's care for His heralds. Hosea was bound to say, in the name of the
Lord, "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel. But I will
utterly take them away."

But when he had said that, with heavy heart and tearful eye, he was
allowed to add, "But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah." The
Lord will not let our spirit fail beneath a burden which is all of
grief. But He will grant us the high privilege of proclaiming Divine
Grace, as well as publishing judgment. Dear Brethren in Christ, if you
have to preach God's Word, preach it faithfully and abate no syllable
of its stern threats. Woe unto him who is afraid to preach the terrors
of the Lord! Woe unto the man who refuses to put his hand into the
bitter box and take out the wormwood and gall which make such salutary
medicine for the souls of men!

We must at times speak lightning and prove ourselves sons of thunder.
We must bring on the storm and tempest in the heart of man if fair
summer-tide discoursing will not touch them. For the most of men there
is no going to Heaven except by the Weeping Cross. And we must drive
them that way with God's thundering sentences of judgment. Let us lead
them by the path of sorrow to the Man of Sorrows, sorrowing ourselves
because it is so hard to bring them to a godly sorrow. It is at our
soul's peril that we allow a warning to lie silent. "If the watchman
warn them not, they shall perish. But their blood will I require at the
watchman's hands."

Let us think of that and give ourselves up to our Master's work, even
when it is heaviest, cheered by the fact that we have to speak of such
glorious Truths, such precious promises, such a gracious Christ, such a
free salvation, such full pardon for the very chief of sinners, such
abundant help for those that have no strength, such fatherly compassion
to those that are out of the way. Our themes of joy by far outweigh our
topics of grief and we find the Lord's service a happy one.

The connection of our text suggests the thought that there is a limit
to the long-suffering of God. He bade Hosea say, "I will no more have
mercy upon Israel." He had borne with that guilty people very long and
overlooked their daring crimes. But He would do so no longer–He would
give them over to the enemy who would carry them far away so that
Israel as a distinct monarchy should cease to be. O my Hearers, God is
very gracious but His Spirit shall not always strive with you. A little
more sin and you may be over the boundary and God may give you up.
Stop, I pray you! Do not further provoke. Repent and turn unto the Lord
with full purpose of heart.

Having made that observation, I would make another, namely, that the
Lord makes distinctions among guilty men according to the Sovereignty
of His Grace. "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel. But
I will have mercy upon the house of Judah." Had not Judah sinned too?
Might not the Lord have given up Judah, also? Indeed He might justly
have done so, but He delights in mercy. Many sin and righteously bring
upon themselves the punishment due to sin–they believe not in Christ
and die in their sins. But God has mercy, according to the greatness of
His heart, upon multitudes who could not be saved on any other footing
but that of undeserved mercy. Claiming His royal right He says, "I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy."

The prerogative of mercy is vested in the Sovereignty of God–that
prerogative He exercises. He gives where He pleases and He has a right
to do so, since none have any claim upon Him. We are all under His rule
and by that rule we are under condemnation. And if He should leave us
there, it would be strictly just. But if any are saved it is an act of
pure, undeserved Grace for which He is to have all the praise. Note,
too, that even in the dark times, when whole nations go astray from
Him, He still reserves unto Himself a people. "I will no more have
mercy upon the house of Israel. But I will have mercy upon the house of
Judah and will save them."

God will have a people even when those who are called His people prove
unworthy of the name. There never was a night so dark but that God had
a star shining through its blackness. There never was a desert so
dreary but God could lead a people through it and make the wilderness
rejoice. There never shall be a time in which Christ will not have a
remnant according to the election of Divine Grace who will maintain His
Truth and the honor of His name. Let us be comforted by this and look
for brighter and better times, however dark the days may seem to be
just now. God will save His own and by His own will keep His Glory
bright among men.

But now the text brings us to consider this fact, that God will save
His own people in His own way. He tells us positively how He will save
the house of Judah and negatively how He will not save them. "I will
have mercy upon the house of Judah and will save them by the Lord their
God and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen." God displays His Sovereignty not only in the
persons saved but in the ways whereby that salvation is worked out.

The point which we shall consider is God's way of saving His people, as
instanced in the text. And we remark, first, that oftentimes God puts
visible means aside in dealing with His people–"Not by bow, nor by
sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." Secondly, He has
good reasons for doing this–He acts with infinite wisdom. Thirdly,
there is a Gospel in this, a Gospel which has special relation to us.
Oh, for a blessing from the Spirit of the Lord!

I. First, then, GOD IS PLEASED VERY OFTEN IN WORKING SALVATION, TO PUT
MEANS ASIDE. He said of Israel, "I will break the bow of Israel in the
valley of Jezebel." He thus struck out of the hands of His people their
only defense. They had trusted in their bow and the Lord destroyed it.

First, the Lord does this in the work of salvation by Divine Grace.
Salvation is of the Lord alone. Salvation is not of human merit, for
there is no such thing. Plenty of demerit you can find anywhere and
everywhere but of merit there is none. "When we have done all, we are
unprofitable servants: we have done no more than it was our duty to
have done." But we have not done all. Alas, on the contrary, we have
done those things which we ought not to have done. And we have left
undone the things which we ought to have done and there is no health in
us. In ourselves we have neither health, help, nor hope. We are not, we
cannot be saved by our works. We dismiss the idea with an honest
indignation, each one of us for himself.

Neither are we saved by any good dispositions which lie dormant and
latent within us, for there are no such things. There is none good, no
not one. The heart is, in every case, deceitful and desperately wicked.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one. If our salvation
depended upon our hearts going after God of themselves and the motions
of our nature ascending towards the Most High of themselves, it would
be a hopeless case. But Divine Grace waits not for man, neither tarries
for the sons of men. When we were yet without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly.

"You has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and in sins." The
first movement is from God to us, not from us to God. As soon expect
the darkness to create the day as expect the sinner to turn his own
heart to the Lord. We are saved by the Lord's Grace, not by our works.
Nor by our feelings, nor by our desires, nor even by our sense of need.
I believe it is one object of God's infinite wisdom in each individual
case to make this doctrine clear to the understanding and the heart.
Certainly it is one object of every faithful ministry. We preach down
the creature and preach up the Savior. Yet, preach as we may,
self-righteousness is so natural to man, self-trust is so congenial to
our proud imbecility, that we cannot get it out of men till the Holy
Spirit comes.

Every man his own Savior is the kind of doctrine which is popular. But
to set aside our own doings is to offend many. I see before me a
picture which was once before the mind of Isaiah. Our nature seems like
a rainbow-colored field of grass in the early days of summer. The
golden kingcups are intermingled with flowers of every hue. What a
luxuriant garden! Wait a moment! A wind comes–a hot sirocco burns its
deadly way. "The grass withers, the flower fades: be-

cause the spirit of the Lord blows upon it: surely the people are
grass." So have we seen men glorious in their own self-righteousness,
boastful of their moral purity and we have half thought, surely there
is something in all this!

We walk over the same field after the withering work of the Holy Spirit
has been there and men have been convicted of sin and we see nothing
but disappointment and hear nothing but confession of failure. We see
no flowers but dead, withered grass. How soon has the glory departed!
The comeliness of the field is passed away as in the twinkling of an
eye! You cannot have forgotten, some of you, when this terrible
self-withering happened to you. When God's rebukes corrected you, your
beauty passed away as the moth. Before I was instructed as to myself, I
thought myself as good a fellow as could be found within fifty miles.
But when the Spirit of God had revealed me to myself, I thought myself
the basest creature within five hundred miles. Or, for that matter,
even outside or inside of Hell itself.

You may, perhaps, have seen a picture drawn by a cunning artist. It
represents a lady, very fair and beautiful to look upon. But the
picture is so contrived that you discover underneath it the form of
death. That which appeared outwardly so lovely is only a veiled
skeleton. Just that kind of change the Spirit of God makes upon our
moral beauty–He turns it into corruption by making us see what we
really are. The bones of the skeleton of depraved nature stand out
through the proud flesh of our self-righteous pride. Then we cry to God
for mercy. Then we give up all idea of saving ourselves. Neither bow,
nor sword, nor horse, nor horsemen are any longer our confidence. The
weapons of our self-help are looked upon by us as weapons of
rebellion–and they really are so.

And by God's Grace we throw them away and will have nothing further to
do with them. The man upon whom there is found a bad coin is very
earnest in declaring that it is none of his–somebody must have slipped
it into his pocket. He will not own it. A little while ago he thought
to himself, "What a splendid imitation it is! How well I have cheated
the Queen!" Self-righteousness is nothing but a piece of counterfeit
coin. And when all goes well with us, we say, "How well I have done it!
How splendid is my righteousness!" But when the Spirit of God arrests
us, then we are anxious to get rid of the very thing wherein we
gloried. What was our righteousness we reckon to be as filthy rags–and
we reckon according to the Truth of God.

Thus God saves us, not by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by
horses, nor by horsemen but by His Grace, which comes to us freely when
Jesus is made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and
redemption.

It is so in the actual salvation of men and it is often so in their
calling to this salvation. Was any man ever converted in the way in
which he expected to be? I hardly think so. I know what you thought
would happen–at least I know what many expect. They look for an
interesting incident. They suppose, perhaps, that they will have a very
wonderful dream. Or that, going to hear a minister, there will be
something very striking in the sermon which will alarm or depress them,
so that they will be tempted to commit suicide, or do some other
outrageous thing. Possibly, on the other hand, they half expect that
there will happen a sudden death in the family, or sickness upon many
and that so they will be impressed. Or, possibly, like Martin Luther
with his friend Alexis, they may be walking out in a thunderstorm and
Alexis will be killed and they will be aroused in that way.

I, myself, always looked for something very remarkable but it did not
come to me. And yet something happened which was more remarkable than
the most remarkable thing would have been–I simply heard the Gospel
command, "Look unto Me and be you saved." I looked and I lived! And
that is all the story I have to tell you. Dear Hearer, that is all the
story, very likely, you will ever have to tell. You have come in here
tonight and perhaps you have even desired that something very wonderful
may take place. Nothing of the sort may happen and yet the infinite
mercy of God may visit your heart and sweetly melt it. Before you are
even aware, you may say to yourself–

"I do believe, I will believe, That Jesus died for me"

and on a sudden, that change will come over you of which you have so
often heard–by no means the physical change which you have looked for,
the extravagant delirium of sorrow struggling with delight.

You will simply drop into the arms of Christ and rest in His great
sacrifice and find peace. That will be all. You will not be saved by
bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen but by
a simple trust in the Lord alone. What more do you want? What more can
you hope to receive? I feel very grateful to God whenever a person
attributes his conversion to me. I feel both honored and humbled. But
if you are brought to the Lord Jesus and no word of

mine shall be used but only that still small voice which speaks in
solemn silence to the heart, I shall be equally pleased, so long as you
are saved.

If hungry souls receive the bread of Heaven, I will not fret because
they took it from some other hand than mine, Oh, that even now the Lord
Himself might come like the dew which falls in its own special way and
may He refresh your hearts unto eternal life and fulfill this word–"I
will save them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow, nor
by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."

In the next place, the same thing is true with regard to the progress
of religion and the work of revivals. Let every man work as he feels
called to do, provided he follows the rules of his Lord. But we have
seen revivals of which it was said at the first, "We will get up a
revival." Revivals can be got up but are they worth the trouble? What
has been the end of them all? A few years after, the result, where is
it? I hear an echo say, "Where is it?" I cannot tell you what has
become of it. In many cases I fear that the disappointed Church has
become more hard to stir than it was before.

Brethren, I hopefully believe that there will soon come a deep,
widespread, lasting revival of religion and it may be it will come just
as it used to in Apostolic times. How did they act in Jerusalem? What
did they do throughout Asia Minor? What was the Apostles' plan? I
cannot find, for the life of me, that they did anything else but preach
the Gospel, while at the same time they went from house to house and
held meetings for prayer–and thus the kingdom of Christ came. They did
not work up a revival but they prayed it down. They simply waited upon
the Lord in supplication and service. They might have tried other plans
had they been so unwise as to think of them.

They would never have tolerated the dodges of the present period, the
adaptations of the Gospel and the degrading of it by secular lectures,
entertainments and so forth. They never dreamed of keeping abreast of
the times with liberal philosophical teaching. But I recollect that
Paul was so resolutely ignorant as to say, "I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Standing all
together the chosen preachers of the first days could say–"We preach
Christ crucified." They could all say that and say it emphatically. All
the men of the College of the Apostles stuck to that theme. And see the
effect!–

"Nations, the learned and the rude, Were by these heavenly arms
subdued, While Satan raging at his loss, Abhorred the doctrine of the
Cross."

I wish all the Churches would try this old way again, for it seems to
me that the world will never be subdued to Christ by the wooden sword
of reason, but only by the true Jerusalem blade of a Gospel revealed
from Heaven. Until we take up such methods as our Lord has ordained and
make our sole confidence to be in the Lord our God, who "will not save
by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen," we
shall never see great results. Grand preaching, fine preaching,
eloquent preaching! Yes–but the Apostle was afraid of it, lest the
faith of his converts should stand in the wisdom of men. Though he
could have spoken with the tongue of an orator, he did not use the
wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be of no effect.

"But, surely," cries one, "we must have some advancement in theology.
We ought to know more than our old fathers did." This is the pride of
our hearts. Would you advance beyond the Apostles? Into what can you
advance but into the ditch of error? They did not crave for an advance
in the Apostolic times. But they were satisfied to speak over again,
"all the Words of this life." They remained true to the "faith once and
for all delivered to the saints," and they found salvation in this
primitive Revelation. Why should we go gadding elsewhere? Depend upon
it–God will not save men by advanced thought, nor by eloquent
discourses, nor by literary beauties–He "will save them by the Lord
their God and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle,
by horses, nor by horsemen."

I believe that the same great Truth will be made apparent as to the
establishment of the Truth of God in this land. How my soul has been
burdened with the many that have turned aside and the few that remain
faithful to the Covenant God of Israel! These last are not so very few
as some would make them out to be but yet they are sadly scant in
number. God has reserved unto Himself seven thousand that have not
bowed their knee to Baal. Oh, that there were a thousand times as many!
But we have striven with all our might to bear our outspoken testimony
for the old faith and we have hopefully thought that many would rally
to the cry.

But it is not so, nor, perhaps, is it God's mind that it should be. Men
of eminence have held their tongues and Brethren once ardent for the
Gospel have practically gone over to the enemy. I am sure that the Lord
will confound the adver-

sary and bring forth His Truth as the noonday. But it may not be as we
would suggest. He has His own way. Let us watch for Him to make bare
His arm. Perhaps those who are faithful must stand alone, must bear
their witness in solitary places and be the objects of general
derision. Perhaps for many a year the heavenly fire will only smolder
amidst the ashes. But it is all right–Truth shall hold the crown of
the causeway, yet, and Christ's own Word shall lift its head from the
waves that have washed over it and be the fairer for the washing.

The Truth has God's might with it and it must prevail. He "will save
them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow, nor by sword,
nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." We must be content to
subside. To be nothing. To be never heard of. To die. So be it, if the
Truth shall live. This will be better than if we formed a numerous band
and carried everything by majorities and set up a strong party and won
the day–for then man might be great and God be forgotten–but now He
shall be All in All. When you have seen how I fail and those that are
with me and how plans and efforts are futile, you will all the more
clearly see what the Lord can do.

Dear Friends, I would make one other application of these words and I
trust it may be profitable to you. The text has a voice to God's people
in the day of trouble. I may be addressing godly people who are in most
terrible distress. You have faith in God that He will bring you out of
your affliction. Maintain that faith. And if for a long time no
deliverance should come, still maintain it. Perhaps you have hopes from
a certain quarter. Those hopes may come to nothing–that cistern will
leak. You have another friend to whom you can apply. Yes, you can
apply. That is all that will happen, for that tank also holds no water.
When you have tried all the cisterns, be wise enough to recollect the
Fountain.

It may be that there will come a day when every door will be fast
closed and you will see no way of relief whatever. But you will then
think that there will remain the one Way, which you should have
followed at the first. In such an hour let my text speak with you–"He
will save them by the Lord their God and He will not save them by bow,
nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." What a
glorious vision is that of Jehovah alone with His own right hand
getting to Himself the victory! When Israel came out of Egypt, what
armies vanquished Pharaoh? Who fought on Israel's side to bring them
out of Egypt? Nobody.

Then there was no human victor to extol, no human warrior to praise.
But clear and plain the hymn rang out– "Sing unto the Lord, for He has
triumphed gloriously." If there had been an ally with God the glory
might have been divided. But as it was, the Lord, alone, was exalted in
that day. When Israel fought with Amole it is evident that the battle
never depended upon their fighting, for–

"While Moses stood with arms spread wide,

Success was found on Israel's side;

But when through weariness they failed,

That moment Amole prevailed!" So that the real fighting was done by
those uplifted hands that brought down the Divine success and made
Joshua mighty in the battle.

When Israel crossed the Jordan and came into the promised land to fight
the Canaanites, the very first conquest was that of Jericho. Did they
bring battering-rams to the walls? Did they gradually throw down the
structure with their axes and picks? Oh, no! They compassed the city
seven days and God made the walls to fall when the people gave a shout.
In the memorable deliverances of God's people, God has said to the
second cause, "Stand back. Let My glory come to the front." The bow,
the sword, the battle, the horses and the horsemen–He has sent them
all about their business. And then the Lord their God has led the van
and His enemies have been scattered like the dust of the threshing
floor.

When He takes up the quarrel of His Covenant He makes short work of it,
for "the Lord is a man of war; Jehovah is His name." And when He lays
bare His arm to defend the cause of His people, He wants no helpers.
Now can you lean on the Lord? Can you grasp the Invisible? Can you lean
alone on God and forego all helpers? Can you grasp His bared arm and
let all other things go? O man of God, if you can, you shall glorify
God and you shall surely be delivered! If you must have your bow and
your sword, or else give up hope, then the battle rests with yourself.
How can you plead the promise

of God?

But when you put the bow aside and the sword is hung on the wall, then
can you go to Him who is better to you than bow and sword and rest in
Him and He will work gloriously, so that His own name shall be
magnified and you shall be blessed. I pray the Holy Spirit to apply
that Truth to any heart here that is heavy by reason of sore conflict
at this time.

Oh, for Divine Grace to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him,
for in His own time and way He will work and none shall hinder Him.

So much upon our first point, that oftentimes God puts the means aside
in dealing with His people.

II. But now, secondly, God has GOOD REASONS FOR THIS. I shall very
briefly touch upon this theme. The Lord

is full of wisdom and His doings are ever prudent. He always has good
reasons for everything but one of the things we should never do is to
ask why. It is an unreasonable thing to ask God to give reasons for
what He does. His answer to arrogant questioners is–"May I not do as I
will with My own?" Oh for Divine Grace to be silent where God is
silent! Is He not God and we worms of the dust? Who shall presume to
ask Him why or what He does? Better far to say, "It is the Lord, let
Him do what seems Him good." If He never gave us a reason for what He
did, we ought to be well content to leave all with Him, knowing that He
must do that which is best and wisest.

But, so far as in humility we may dare to look, we have looked and we
believe that the Lord's ways are intended, first, to prevent all
boasting. How prone we are to self-esteem! How wickedly we rob God to
honor ourselves! If God uses us–if God uses any sort of means–yet
there is no credit to the means which He uses but to Himself only. I
read the other day of a certain writer who says, "I wrote the four
hundred pages of this book with one pen." Where is that pen? Does
anybody want it? If it were advertised as an exhibition, I should not
go to see it. I care a deal more for the hand that wrote and for what
was written, than for the pen with which it was written.

A common goose-quill it was in the case referred to and no more. Ah,
how plainly can we see where the quill came from! God uses men for a
certain purpose, as we use a hammer, or a saw, or an awl. Suppose that
when we had done with such tools and put them back into the box, they
all began to cry, "See what we have done! What a sharp saw I was! What
a heavy hammer I was! Did I not hit the nail on the head?" Such
boastings would be foolishness. Shall the axe boast itself against him
that hews? We do not judge that the instrument ought to take credit to
itself. But it does so in our case whenever it can and this is a great
injury to us.

Some of us might have enjoyed a much larger blessing if we had not
grown top-heavy with the blessing we already enjoyed. God saved a soul
or two by you, my dear Friend, and you began to rub your hands and
think that you were something better than an angel. You were running
away with God's glory and thus ending your own influence. Often this is
the cause of the drying up of hopeful usefulness. The instrument began
to exalt itself and so the Lord put up the bow, the sword, the horses
and the horsemen and then all men saw what powerless things these were.
Oh, that the Lord may never feel compelled to leave you and me to
ourselves! Oh, that He may deign to honor us by using us to His Glory.
I had far rather die than stand a withered tree in the vineyard of the
Lord and yet, what better should I be if He withdrew the dew of His
Grace from me?

Next, He does this to take us off from all reliance upon second causes
and outward means. You people of God–the process of weaning is, with
you, often a long and tedious one. But if ever it is accomplished, your
faith will rejoice, even as Abraham made a great feast at Isaac's
weaning. My dear Hearers, some of you are not saved yet and I will tell
you what happens with many of you. You come here on Sabbaths, and to
Monday Prayer Meetings, and Thursday services and I am glad to see you.
You also read your Bibles. I am glad of that. You say a thing you call
a prayer–I do not know whether I am glad about that. But I will tell
you what you are doing. You are making yourselves quite comfortable, as
if, by some singular process, salvation would insensibly penetrate you
by your being found in good company, hearing the Word, and so on.

Let me remind you that these things were never prescribed as the way of
salvation. I do not want you to run away from hearing the Word, or from
the use of the means. But I do want to assure you that, if you trust in
these means, you will be disappointed in the result. These are mere
pitchers but they will not quench your thirst if there is no water in
them. Look to God, not to your minister. Get to Jesus Himself rather
than to the sacred Book. Remember how the Savior puts it–for this is
not a wrested reading–"You search the Scriptures. For in them you
think you have eternal life: but you will not come to Me that you might
have life." Pass beyond the Scriptures to the Christ whom the
Scriptures reveal. Do not stay in the porch of the Word but enter the
house of the Truth itself, which is Christ Jesus.

It is not singing hymns and saying prayers. It is getting to the Lord
in praise and really coming to Christ in prayer. I wish you not to stay
away from any of the services. I wish you to be where the means may be
blessed to you. But the means, themselves, cannot save you. There is
nothing in preaching–there is nothing in public service that can
mechani-

cally bring salvation to you. And do not expect it. "You must be born
again!" You must distinctly go to Christ for yourselves. The Lord saves
men by the Lord Jesus Christ and He will not save them by books and
Prayer Meetings and sermons any more than He would save Judah by the
bow, the sword, the battle, the horses and the horsemen.

The Lord set aside horse and horsemen to bring the people to Himself.
And often He lays people up so that they cannot get out to hear the
minister, or He drafts them away to some portion of the country where
they get no sermon, that then they may go to the God of all true
sermons and may find salvation in Jesus Christ Himself.

Again, Beloved, the Lord blesses His people, Himself, that He may
endear Himself to them. He reveals Himself to them apart from other
things that they may see Him and know what He can do. You do not know
to the full what God can do so long as He keeps within the bounds of
the ordinary means, or you feel that you are well provided for by
ordinary methods. You are apt to forget that God provides for you
because your quarterly allowance is received so regularly. Now, suppose
that your business fails. Ah, then God must provide for you–then you
will see what God is doing. Suppose that, instead of being in one
place, you should be kicked about like a football and still the Lord
should give you rest in Himself–then you will see what He can do.

When we are in fine feather and everybody is kind to us, we hardly know
the loving kindness of the Lord, it is so smothered up by secondary
agencies. When we get quite alone and nobody is kind to us and we
approach to the Lord in solitary trust and prove His power to comfort
us, then we know more of what He is in Himself to His people. The night
reveals the stars and sorrow and loneliness manifest the Lord's
presence. But, Beloved, God does this to endear Himself to us, that
seeing more of Him we may love Him more and may say to ourselves, "What
a gracious God He is to take notice of me, to interpose for me, to
come, and by His own mighty power, do for me what the ordinary ways and
means fail to do!" In this way, also, the Lord often gives a double
blessing–a blessing in the gift, and a blessing in the way of giving.

Now look at Hezekiah's case. Supposing Hezekiah had gone out to fight
Sennacherib and had defeated him–a certain number of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem would have been killed in the battle. But when the Lord
delivered Hezekiah without a battle, then there were no funerals in
Jerusalem. Nobody was wounded. Nobody was slain. So frequently God not
only blesses us by the favor given but by the way in which the gift is
sent–He saves us from pains which any other method would have
involved. The Lord often spares us the humiliation of being dependent
upon a person who would have made his patronage bitter to us.

If we had received the blessing through some great one, he might have
crowed over us all the rest of his life. I like that bit in Abraham's
life when the king of Sodom offered him the property which he had
captured. Abraham had a right to it, for he had taken it in war. But he
said, "I will not take from a thread to a shoe-latchet, lest you should
say, I have made Abram rich." No, no. The servant of the Lord would not
have a king talk as if he had been the maker of the Lord's own servant.
God Himself will so help you, so bless you, so carry you through, that
you shall not have to take off your hat to any king of Sodom. Neither
shall he be able to go up and down the city and say, "I have made Abram
rich." God will put the king of Sodom away with the horses and the
horsemen and double the mercy to you by handing it out with His own
hand after His own way.

I think that the Lord does this also to encourage you in all future
troubles–He has rescued you in a way beyond means, without means and
even against means! Therefore you cannot be in a condition from which
He will be unable to rescue you. If you should come to be more
friendless and more feeble than you now are–what then? Are your
resources within yourself or dependent upon friends? If so, you are in
an evil case. But if all your supplies are in the Lord, you are no
worse off than you used to be. When the Lord strips you bare of your
own garments then you can go to His wardrobe and put on the raiment
which He has provided. You cannot wear God's clothes while you glory
that you are wearing your own. When want has swept your table, then all
the bread on it will come from your God.

When the Lord has brought you down to the bare rock, then you can go no
lower and there is a chance to build a house which will stand against
flood and wind. Be reliant upon Him who can work by means but can
equally well work without means whenever it seems good in His sight! In
such confidence you will find security against all ill weathers. The
Lord changes not, and therefore you shall not be consumed.

III. My time is done, or else I was going to say, thirdly, THERE IS A
GOSPEL IN THIS TEXT for those here present. I can only hint at this in
a few words.

The first Gospel is that salvation is possible in every case. Notice,
"I will save them." What can stand against a Divine "I will"? With God
nothing is impossible. If there is nothing to help Him, what does it
matter? He does not need help. He expressly abjures the aid of a
creature when He says, "I will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor
by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." My dear Hearer, whoever you may
be, there is hope in your case–if God saves, then you can be saved. If
you had to save yourself, you would not be saved. But as there is
nothing wanted of you–God works salvation with His own right
hand–your case is hopeful. How clear is this! And how bright with
comfort!

Next, salvation is to be sought of God alone. Do not go wandering about
to the second cause. Go straight to the Lord, Himself, and go at once.
Straightforward is the best running in the world. Go straightforward to
your God, your Savior. Let there be no waiting for tears, feelings,
repentance, sanctification, or anything else. But arise at once and go
to your God, and for Christ's sake, plead with Him to have mercy upon
you at this moment. As salvation does not necessarily come through the
outward means, if I address any here who have neglected the outward
means, let them come away to God at once, though they have neglected
His courts, profaned His day and despised His ministers.

You came in here with no idea of worshipping God but only just to see
the place and what the preacher is like. Never mind, look to the Lord
Jesus Christ straight away! With those eyes that are so blinded, look!
If you cannot see, it may be that in your obedient attempt to look, the
Lord will give you sight. He does not command you to see but He does
command you to look to Him and be saved–so that, if you turn your eyes
towards Jesus, though they be sightless eyeballs– He will make them
see. If you will trust in Christ you may cast your guilty soul on Him
at this moment. Why should you not do so? Then for you the rain will be
over and gone and you will see the bright light in the clouds. Instead
of the dark and dismal winter of doubt, you shall have a summertime of
hope and comfort. These dreary weeks of cold despair shall give place
to a season in which Heaven and earth shall blend in your experience in
a joy unspeakable. The Lord grant it, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

LETTER FROM MR. SPURGEON

DEAR FRIENDS–I am still somewhat like Mephibosheth, who "did eat
continually at the king's table and was lame on both his feet." But the
fine summer weather of this place and the complete rest are rapidly
restoring me. I ask prayer that strength may return in such a way as to
remain with me, that I may, for a long period afterwards, abide in my
work. As also that the Divine blessing may rest on the preaching of the
Word.

I have great cause for gratitude because of the continual items of news
which I receive concerning the influence of the sermons. This is a rare
restorative. May my readers still find in these simple discourses food
for their souls and comfort for their hearts. When they distribute them
among the unsaved, may the Spirit of God make them to minister life to
the spiritually dead.

I am most happy in being remembered in the prayers of many saints–and
I would beg for more intercession–not for myself only, but for all who
truly preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Yours ever heartily, C H.
Spurgeon Mentone, Dec. 8th, 1888