Jehovah-shammah–a Glorious Name for the New Year

Jehovah-shammah–a Glorious Name for the New Year

(No. 2182)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JANUARY 4, 1891,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord Is There [or in
the Hebrew, 'Jehovah-Shammah.']" Ezekiel 48:35

THESE words may be used as a test as well as a text. They may serve for
examination as well as consolation and, at the beginning of a year,
they may fulfill this useful double purpose. In any case they are full
of marrow and fatness to those whose spiritual taste is purified. It is
esteemed by the Prophet to be the highest blessing that could come upon
a city that its name should be, "JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, The Lord Is There."
Even Jerusalem, in its best estate, would have this for its crowning
blessing–nothing could exceed this. Do we reckon the Presence of the
Lord to be the greatest of blessings? If in any gathering, even of the
humblest people, the Lord God is known to be present in a peculiarly
gracious manner, should we make a point of being there? Very much
depends upon our answer to these queries.

Doubtless many would be greatly pleased if there were no God at all,
for in their hearts they say, "No God." God is not to them a father, a
friend, a trust, a treasure. If they were to speak from their hearts
and could hope for a satisfactory answer, they would ask, "Where can I
flee from His Presence?" If a spot could be found where there would be
no God, what a fine building speculation might be made there! Millions
would emigrate to "No God's Land," and would feel at ease as soon as
they trod its godless shore! There they could do just as they liked,
without fear of future reckoning.

Now, Friend, if you would escape from the Presence of God, your state
is clearly revealed by that fact. There can be no Heaven for you, for
Heaven is where the Lord's Presence is fullness of joy. If you could be
happy to be far off from God, I must tell you what your fate will be.
You are now going away from God in your heart and desire and, at last,
the great Judge of All will say to you, "Depart, you cursed"–and you
will then be driven from the Presence of the Lord and from the glory of
His power.

I know that there is a company who can truly say that they feel only
happy when they are conscious that God is with them. The place where
they meet with the Lord is very dear and precious to them because of
His unveilings. The memory of holy convocations is sweet because the
Lord was among them. They would not care to go where God is not. If
there were a place forsaken of God, however happy and full of merriment
men might think it, they would not be found among its guests. Where we
cannot enjoy God's company, we will not go. Our motto is–"With God,
anywhere. Without God, nowhere." In Him we live, and move, and have our
being and, therefore, it would be death to us to be apart from God!
Without God we should be without hope. Ah, my dear Friend, whatever
your difficulties, trials and sorrows, all is well with you if God is
your delight and His Presence your joy! But, however high your temporal
enjoyments may rise, it is all wrong with you if you can rest away from
the God of Grace. The child must be in a sad state of heart when he
does not care to have his father's approving smile. Things must be
terribly wrong with any creature when it can be content to walk
contrary to its Creator. Nothing but the corruption of the heart could
permit any man to be at ease away from God.

Will you permit these thoughts to saturate you for a little time? I
have spoken them with the desire that each one of us may ask himself,
"Is the Presence of God my delight?" If so, I am His, and He will be
with me. On the contrary, "Is the Presence of God a matter of
indifference, or even of dread?" Then my condition is one of guilt,
disease and danger. May the Lord, in His infinite mercy, set me right!

This much may stand as a preface, but it must not be treated as most
prefaces are, namely, left unread, or glanced over and forgotten. I
pray you, carry it with you all along.

I. Now kindly notice that, according to our text, THE PRESENCE OF GOD
IS THE GLORY OF THE MOST GLORIOUS PLACE. The Prophet Ezekiel has been
telling us many remarkable things which I shall not attempt to explain
to you–and my chief reason for not doing so is the fact that I do not
understand them, myself. Even if I could open up every dark saying, now
is not the time to go into an explanation of all the sublime mysteries
which were seen by the eagle eye of Ezekiel, for I seek present,
practical edification–and this we can gain in an easier way. It is
clear from the text that when God shall bless His ancient people and
restore them to their land–and the Temple shall be rebuilt and all the
glory of the latter days shall arrive–this will still be the peculiar
glory of it all, that, "the Lord is there." The Prophet works up a
climax and closes his Book of prophecy with these glorious words, "the
Lord is there."

What a glorious state this world was in at the very first, in the age
of Paradise, for the Lord was there! Our glorious Creator, having taken
the first days of the week to make the world and fit it up for man, did
not bring forward His dear child until the house was built and
furnished and supplied for his use and happiness! He did not put him in
the Garden to dress it till the roses were blooming and the fruits were
ripe! When the table was furnished, He introduced the guest by saying,
"Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." The Lord put man,
not in an unreclaimed plot of soil where he must hunger till he could
produce a harvest–but into an Eden of delights where he was at home
with creatures of every sort to attend him! He had not to water dry
lands, nor need he thirst, himself, for four rivers flowed through his
royal domain, rippling over sands of gold. I might say much of that
fair garden of innocence and bliss, but the best thing I could say
would be the Lord was there! "The Lord God walked in the Garden in the
cool of the day" and communed with man–and man, being innocent, held
high converse with his condescending Maker! The top stone of the bliss
of Paradise was this all-comprehending privilege–"the Lord is there."

Alas, that has vanished. Withered are the bowers of Eden–the trail of
the serpent is over all landscapes, however fair. Yet days of mercy
came and God's saints, in divers places, found choice spots where they
could converse with Heaven. In the first days, our gracious God spoke
with His chosen ones in their daily walk, as Enoch; or under the oak,
as Abraham; or by the brook, as Jacob; or before the bush, as Moses; or
near the city wall, as Joshua. Wherever it might be, the place became
to them the gate of Heaven, for the Lord was there! Amid a torrent of
sin and sorrow, you may cross the stream of time upon the
steppingstones of the places marked, "JEVOHAH-SHAMMAH." The Lord's
delights were with the sons of men and to them, nothing brought such
bliss as to find that the Lord still would be mindful of man and visit
him.

In the days when God had called out unto Himself a chosen nation, He
revealed Himself at Sinai, when the mountain was altogether on a smoke
and even Moses said, "I do exceedingly fear and quake." Well might he
feel a holy awe, for the Lord was there! I will not dwell upon the
Glory of the tabernacle that was pitched in the wilderness, with its
costly furniture and its instructive rites, for, after all, the Glory
of the tabernacle was that the Lord was there! A bright light shone
between the wings of the cherubim and so the Psalmist, in later days
spoke unto the Lord saying, "You that dwells between the cherubim shine
forth." Above the sacred tent was the pillar of fire by night and the
pillar of cloud by day–an emblem of the constant Presence of God, for
all through the wilderness His glorious marching was in the center of
the armies of His Israel. The desert sand glowed with the blaze of the
present Deity! No spot on earth was so like to Heaven's high courts as
that wilderness the Lord, Himself, led His people like a flock. Holy
was Horeb, for the Lord was there! Then were the days of Israel's
espousals, for the Most High tabernacled among her tribes and made them
"a people near unto Him."

In Canaan, itself, the days of sorrow came when the nation went after
other gods and the Lord became a stranger in the land. When He
returned, and delivered His people by the Judges, then the nations knew
that Israel could not be trampled on, for the Lord was there. This was
the Glory of David's reign. Then the Lord made bare His arm and the
enemies of His chosen were driven like snow from the bleak sides of
Salmon when the rough blast carries it away. This was the shout of the
joyful people, "The Lord of Hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our
refuge!" Never were the hills of Judah more fruitful, nor the vales of
Sharon more peaceful, nor the homes of Israel more restful, nor the
sons of Zion more valiant than when to the harp of David the song was
raised, "They have seen Your goings, O God; even the goings of my God,
my King, in the sanctuary. This is the hill which God desires to dwell
in; yes, the Lord shall dwell in it forever."

You remember how, in later ages, when Solomon was crowned and his reign
of peace had been inaugurated, he built for God a Temple adorned with
gold and precious stones, and all manner of cunning, work of the
artificer? But it was not

that glittering roof, it was not those massive pillars of brass in the
forefront, it was not the hecatombs of bullocks whose blood was poured
forth at the altar which were the glory of the Temple on Mount Zion.
Beautiful for situation, it was the joy of the whole earth, but its
Glory lay in this–"God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:
God shall help her, and that right early." The excellence of the Temple
was seen when, on the opening day, the Lord revealed Himself and the
cloud filled the House of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand
to minister because of the cloud–for the "Glory of the Lord had filled
the House of the Lord." Little remains for man to do when in, very
deed, the Lord dwells in the midst of His saints. Apart from priests
and ceremonies, that place is sacred wherein the Lord Most High has His
abode. Say of any place, "Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord Is There," and be
it tent or temple, you have spoken glorious things of it!

I almost tremble while I remind you of the truest Temple of God–the
body of our Lord. The nearest approach of Godhead to our manhood was
when there was found, wrapped in swaddling bands and lying in a manger,
that Child who was born, that Son who was given, whose name was called,
"Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace." As for you, O Bethlehem, favored above all the towns
of earth, out of you He came, who is Immanuel, God With Us! Verily,
Your name is Jehovah-Shammah! All along, through 30 years and more of
holy labor, ending in a shameful death, God was, in Christ, reconciling
the world unto Himself. In the gloom of Gethsemane, among those somber
olives, when Jesus bowed and in His prayer sweat, as it were, great
drops of blood falling to the ground, He was "seen of angels" as the
Son of God bearing human sin! Speak of Gethsemane and we tell you God
was there! Before Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas and on the Cross–the Lord
was there! Though, in a sense, there was the hiding of God, and Jesus
cried, "Why have You forsaken Me?" yet in the deepest sense Jehovah was
there, bruising the great Sacrifice. The thick darkness made a veil for
the Lord of Glory and behind it, He that made all things bowed His head
and said, "It is finished." God was in Christ Jesus on the Cross, and
we, beholding Him, feel that we have seen the Father. O Calvary, we say
of you, "The Lord is there."

Here I might fitly close, for we can mount no higher, but yet we could
not afford to leave out those other dwellings of the Invisible Spirit
who still, by His Presence, makes holy places even in this unholy
world! We have to remind you that God is the Glory of the most glorious
living thing that has been on the face of the earth since our Lord was
here. And what is that? I answer, Jesus is gone–the Prophets are gone
and we have no Temple, no human priest, no material Holy of Holies–

"Jesus, wherever Your people meet, There they behold Your Mercy Seat!
Wherever they seek You, You are found, And everyplace is hallowed
ground."

And yet there is a special place where God dwells among men and that is
in His Church. He has but one–one Church, chosen by eternal election,
redeemed by precious blood, called out by the Holy Spirit and quickened
into newness of life–this, as a whole, is the dwelling place of the
Covenant God! Because God is in this Church, therefore the gates of
Hell shall not prevail against her.

"The Lord is there" might be said of the Church in all ages. I have
seen the crypts and underground chapels of the catacombs. And it made
me feel that they were glorious places when I remembered that the Lord
God was there, by His Spirit, with His suffering people–when holy hymn
and Psalm and solemn prayer went up from the very heart of the earth
from men who were hunted to the death by their foes–the Lord was
there! In those dreary excavations, unvisited by sunlight and wholesome
air, God was as He was not in the palaces of kings and is not in the
cathedrals of priests! In this land of ours, when a few people met
together, here and there, to hear the Gospel and to worship, they made
cottages, caves and hollows in the woods to be "holiness unto the
Lord."

Yes, and when crowds met beneath your Gospel oaks, or gathered together
by the hillside to listen to the pure Word of Grace, the Lord was there
and souls were saved and sanctified! When the Puritans solemnly
conversed together of the things of God and held their little
conventicles for fear of their adversaries–God was there! On
Scotland's bleak moors and mosses, when the Covenanters gathered in the
darkness and the storm for fear of Claverhouse and his dragoons– God
was there! Those who wrote in those days tell us that they never knew
such seasons in days of peace as they enjoyed among the hills, amid the
heather, or by the brook–for Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord was there! And
so onward, to this very day, wherever the chosen of God lift up holy
hands and worship Him, whether it is in cathedral or in barn, beneath

the blue sky or beneath a thatched roof–anywhere and everywhere when
the heart is right and the soul adores the living Lord, this is the
special Glory of the place–"Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord Is There!"

Flying forward, as with a dove's wing, to the future that is drawing
near, we think of the Truth of God that there is to be a millennial
age–a time of glory, peace, joy, truth and righteousness. But what is
to be the Glory of it? Why this, "Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord Is There!"
The Lord Jesus Christ will come and begin His personal reign on earth
among His ancients. In like manner, as He went up into Heaven, and the
disciples saw Him, so will He descend a second time, to be seen here
among men. And His glorious Presence shall fashion the golden age, the
thousand years of peace! Then shall the nations shout, "The Lord Is
Come!" What hallelujahs will then rise to Heaven! Welcome, welcome, Son
of God! How will all His faithful ones rejoice with unspeakable joy and
sing and sing again, for now the day of their reward has come and they
shall shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father! In all the
Glory of the latter days everything is wrapped up in this one phrase,
"the Lord is there."–

"Oh, come, You Day-Spring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Your advent here!

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death's dark shadows put to flight!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

Shall come to you, O Israel!"

Up yonder, where many of our beloved ones have already gone–up yonder,
within that gate of pearl where eyes cannot, as yet, see, what is it
that makes Heaven with all its supreme delights? Not harps of angels,
nor blaze of seraphim! Just this one fact, "the Lord is there." What
must it be to be with God? O soul that loves Him, what will your
fullness of pleasure be when you shall dwell with Him for whom your
soul is hungering and thirsting! What joy to be "forever with the
Lord!" This perfect bliss may be ours this very day! We little know how
near we are to our glorification with our Lord. The veil is very thin
that parts the sanctified from the glorified–

"One gentle sigh, the soul awakes–

We scarcely can say, 'he's gone,'

Before the ransomed spirit takes

Its mansion near the Throne."

The joy and glory of those Divine mansions is that "the Lord is there."
Heaven's loftiest peak shines forever in this clear light–The Lord God
and the Lamb are the Light thereof–"the Lord is there."

Enough of this. I have proved my point, that the Glory of the most
glorious place is that "the Lord is there."

II. Suffer me for a few minutes to speak to you upon another point–THE
PRESENCE OF GOD IS THE BEST PRIVILEGE OF HIS CHURCH. It is her glory
that "the Lord is there." Note this, and mark it well. Brothers and
Sisters, we as a Church have grown to great numbers and we are not
deficient, either, in gifts or in Graces, or in work for our Lord. But
let me solemnly remind you always that our chief, our only strength,
must always lie in this–"the Lord is there." If the Lord should depart
from us, as He has gone from churches which are now apostate, what an
abyss opens before us! If He should take His Holy Spirit from us, even
as the Glory departed from the Temple at Jerusalem, then our ruin would
become a thing to mention with dread, a case to be quoted for a warning
to future generations! O Lord, our God, take not Your flight! Abide
with us, we pray You! Our only hope lies in Your making the place of
Your feet glorious among us!

If the Lord is among us, the consequences will be, first, the
conservation of true doctrine. The true God is not with a lie–He will
not give His Countenance to falsehood. Those who preach other than
according to His Word, abide not under His blessing and are in great
danger of His curse. If any man speaks another gospel (which is not
another, but there are some that trouble us), God is not with him–and
any transient prosperity which he may enjoy will be blown away as the
chaff. God is with those who faithfully speak His Truth, hold it
devoutly, believe it firmly and live upon it as their daily bread. May
it always be said of this Church, "the Lord is there," and, therefore,
they are sound in the faith, reverent towards Holy Scripture and
zealous for the honor of Christ! Trust-deeds and confessions of faith
are useful in their way, even as laws are useful to society, but as
laws cannot secure obedience to themselves, so articles of belief
cannot create faith, or secure honesty. And to men without conscience,
they are not worth the paper they are written upon. No subscription to
articles can keep out the unscrupulous! Wolves leap into the fold
however carefully you watch the door. The

fact is, the most of people say, "Yes, that doctrine is in the creed
and is not to be denied, but you need not preach it. Put it on the
shelf as an ornament and let us hear no more about it." Truth must be
written on the heart as well as in the book! If the Lord is among His
people, they will cling to the eternal Truths of God and love the
doctrine of the Cross, not by force of law, but because Divine Truth is
the life of their souls.

Where God is present, the preservation of purity will be found. The
Church is nothing if it is not holy. It is worse–it is a den of
thieves! Setting the seal of its pestilent example upon evil living, it
becomes the servant of Satan and the destroyer of souls. Who is to keep
the Church pure? None but God, Himself. If the Lord is there, holiness
will abound and fruits of the Spirit will be seen on all sides. But if
the Lord is once withdrawn, then flesh and blood will rule and gender
towards corruption, after its own manner–and the church will become a
synagogue of formalists. Pray, my Brothers and Sisters, continually,
that the Lord may dwell in our Zion, to maintain us in all holy
obedience and purity of life!

Where God is, there is the constant renewal of vitality. A dead church
is a reeking Golgotha, a breeding place of evils, a home of devils. The
tombs may be newly whitewashed, but they are none the less open
sepulchers, haunts of unclean spirits. A Church all alive is a little
Heaven, the resort of angels, the Temple of the Holy Spirit. In some of
our churches everybody seems to be a little colder than everybody else.
The members are holy icicles! A general frost has paralyzed everybody
and though some are colder than others, yet all are below zero! There
are no flowing rills of refreshment. Everything is bound hard and fast
with the frost of indifference. Oh, that the Lord would send forth His
wind and melt the glaciers! Oh, that the Spirit of God would chase
winter out of every heart and every church! No human power can keep a
church from the frostbite which numbs and kills. Unless the Lord is
there, growth, life, warmth are all impossible. You that make mention
of the Lord, keep not silent and give Him no rest, but cry day and
night to Him, "O Lord, abide with us! Go forth with our armies! Make us
to be the living children of the living God!"

When the Lord is there, next, there is continuing power. With God there
is power in the ministry, power in prayer, power in all holy work. We
may do a vast deal of work and yet nothing may come of it, but, on the
other hand, we may only be able to do comparatively little and yet
great results may flow from it, for results depend not on the quantity
of the machinery, but on the Presence of the Lord!

Do you not all know persons who are not peculiarly gifted and yet are
eminently useful? You do not remark anything about them that is
specially noticeable and yet their whole career enlists attention by
its power. Their words are effective, for there is character behind
them. A consistent life gives force to a plain testimony. It is not so
much what is said as who says it! And that is not all–God, Himself, is
at the back of the man who is living for Him. He causes him to speak in
His name so that none of his words fall to the ground. Is it not said
of the godly, "His leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does
shall prosper"? This is so with every Church where the Lord abides. His
Presence makes it a power with its children and adherents, a power with
the neighborhood and a power with the age. Its example, its testimony,
its effort is effective! God uses it and, therefore, it answers its
end. The power is with God–but the Church is the instrument by which
that power exercises itself. He uses a living people for the display of
living power and He gives to them, both life and power, more and more
abundantly. As we desire power with which to labor for God, we must
pray that the God of Power will remain in our midst.

Furthermore, whenever it can be said of an assembly, "the Lord is
there," unity will be created and fostered. Show me a church that
quarrels, a church that is split up into cliques, a church that is
divided with personal ambitions, contrary doctrines and opposing
schemes–and I am sure that the Lord is not there. Where there are
envying, jealousies, suspicions, backbiting and dislikes, I know that
the Holy Dove, who hates confusion, has taken His flight. God is Love
and He will only dwell where love reigns. He is the God of Peace and
will not endure strife. The children of God should be knit together. It
would be a shameful sight, indeed, should children of His family fall
out and chide and fight. Saints who dwell with God love each other
"with a pure heart, fervently." Some professors act as if they hated
each other! I may not say, "with a pure heart," but I will say,
"fervently." Where God is present, the Church is edified in love and
grows up, like a building fitly framed together, to be a holy Temple in
the Lord. Oh, for more of this unity!

Where the Lord is, there is sure to be happiness. What meetings we have
when the Lord is here! It is a Prayer Meeting, but when you have said
that, you have not fully described it, for it is far more. It was an
unusual meeting for prayer, for, God being there, every prayer was
spoken into His ear and all the desires and petitions of the saints
were prompted by His Holy Spirit! Why, the very room was lit up with
the Glory of the Lord! And whether we were in Heaven or not,

we could hardly tell! What happy times we have in preaching the Word of
the Lord when God's own Presence is realized! His paths drop fatness.
What joyous seasons we have frequently enjoyed at the Communion Table!
The provision is but bread and wine, but when, by faith, we perceive
the real and spiritual Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the
breaking of the bread we eat His flesh, and in the fruit of the vine we
drink His blood! When we have gathered in the Lord's Presence we have
sung–

"No beams of cedar or of fir Can with Your courts on earth compare! And
here we wait, until Your love Raises us to nobler seats above." At the
Master's Table I have often been so blessed that I would not have
exchanged places with Gabriel! The Lord was there–what more could I
desire? Joy, delight, rapture, ecstasy–what word shall I use?–all
these have waited around the Table of Fellowship, as musicians at a
king's banquet. If God is there, our Heaven is there!

III. I shall now close by noticing, in the third place, that since this
Presence of God is the Glory of the most glorious place and the choice
privilege of the most privileged, it is our exceeding joy. THE PRESENCE
OF THE LORD IS OUR DELIGHT IN EVERY PLACE.

We will think of our own dear homes. What a delightful family we belong
to if it can be said of our house, "Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord Is
There"! Has it a thatched roof and a stone floor? What does it matter?
The father of the family lives near to God and his wife rejoices to be
his fellow-helper in prayer, while the children grow up to honest toil
and honorable service. Assuredly that cottage home is dear to God and
becomes a place where angels come and go! Because God is there, every
window looks towards the Celestial City. It is a comfort that we need
not go across the road to morning prayer, or step out every evening to
worship, for we are priests, ourselves, and have a family altar at home
where the incense burns both morning and night. We talk not of matins
and vespers, but we glory that "the Lord is there" when we bow the knee
as a household!

What is more delightful than to gather round the family hearth to hear
the Scriptures read and listen to the senior, as he talks to the
younger ones, of what God has done for him and what the Lord is waiting
to give to all who trust Him? Free from all formality, family prayer
makes a house a temple, a family a church and every day a holy day!
Truly, I may say of families of this kind, wherever they dwell, that it
is "none other but the House of God, and it is the very gate of
Heaven," for, "the Lord is there." Friend, is God in your house? If it
has no family prayer, it has no roof to it. There is no true joy in
domestic life unless the Lord is there. All else is fiction! God alone
is true delight. I charge you, if your homes are not such that God
could come to them, set your houses in order and say, "As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord." Will you dare to dwell where God could
not lodge with you? May all men say of your home, "The Lord is there!"

Here is a Christian who lives alone, altogether apart from family life.
All his dear ones are dead, or far away. In his lone chamber, when he
bows his knee in secret prayer, or whenever he takes his walk abroad to
meditate, if he is, indeed, a true lover of the Lord Jesus, "the Lord
is there." Wherever the Believer's lot is cast, if he lives in
fellowship with Christ, he may say of his quiet room, or of the garden
walk, or even of the stable or the loft, "Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord Is
There." Many a humble attic is a right royal residence, for, "the Lord
is there." Better Paul's inner dungeon at Philippi, with his feet fast
in the stocks–and the Presence of the Lord–than the most grand
apartment of Caesar's palace and an unknown god! The Lord is very
gracious to His lonely ones. They can say, "And yet I am not alone, for
the Father is with me." In a hospital, or in a workhouse–what does it
matter if Jehovah is at your side to cheer you?

Some of us can bear witness that we have had the nearest approaches of
God to our souls in times of intolerable pain and even in seasons of
intense depression of spirit as to earthly things. "I was brought low,
and the Lord helped me," said David. And we can say the same. The Lord
has said, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you," as
much as to say, "If I am not with you anywhere else, I will be with you
then." In the furnace, one like unto the Son of God was seen. If
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego never had that glorious fourth Person in
their company before, they had Him when they were cast into the midst
of the glowing coals! Jehovah-Shammah makes a seven-times-heated
furnace a pleasant arbor! We may say of the refining fire, of the
threshing floor and of the oil-press, "God has been there!" In the time
of trouble He has been a very present help. One might almost say, "Send
me back to my prison," as one did say who lost

God's Presence after he had gained his liberty! One might well cry,
"Ah, let me have back my pain if I may again overflow with the joy of
the Lord's Presence."

Dear Friends, I thank God that you and I know what it is to enjoy the
Presence of God in a great many different ways. When two or three of
the people of God meet together and talk to one another about the
things of God, the Lord is never away. You remember that blessed text,
"They that feared the Lord spoke often, one to another." They had holy
talks about heavenly things. It was such sweet conversation that the
Lord, Himself, turned eaves-dropper and listened and heard. What He
heard pleased Him so well that He, then and there, made a note of it.
Yes, and wrote it down and ordered that "a book of remembrance" should
be preserved "for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His
name." Was not this sure evidence of His most gracious Presence? John
Bunyan knew that God was there when he went about tinkering and came to
Bedford–and there were three godly women sitting in the sun, at
work–and as they worked they talked so sweetly that the tinker stood
and listened and was drawn to better things! By such means he became a
Believer and a preacher–and the writer of the "Pilgrim's
Progress"–which has so refreshed us all. The Lord was there and,
therefore, he dreamed a heavenly dream in Bedford jail. Wherever His
people meet, the Lord is graciously near. "Where two or three are
gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."

Yes, but when Christian people go forth to work–when you come to your
Sunday school, or go out with your bundle of tracts, to hand them out
in your district, or when you join a little band and stand on the
street corner, yonder, and lift up your voice in the name of Jesus–you
may expect, if you go with prayer and faith, that it shall be written,
"Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord Is There." It is only a young man standing
up in a cottage to speak and he has not much to say, yet there are
penitential tears and broken hearts–it is so, for God is there! It is
only a humble woman speaking to a few persons of her own class and yet
angels are rejoicing over a repenting sinner–yes, because God is
there! It is only a little room in one of our back streets and the city
missionary has come in. There are a dozen or two of the neighbors
called together and he is talking of Jesus and His love–oh, but if the
Lord is there, do not tell me that the missionary is not in the
Apostolic succession–he need not claim it, he is, himself, an Apostle
of God to those poor people! He needs no gorgeous vestments, nor the
swell of an organ, nor even the thunders of the multitude as they raise
the solemn hymn! The few so simple and so poor have God with them and
it is enough! Wherever you are seeking to do good, in prayerful
dependence upon the Holy Spirit, it shall be said "the Lord is there."

And now, from this time forth, Beloved, you that fear God and think
upon His name, wherever you go, let it be said, "Jehovah-Shammah, The
Lord Is There." I often feel sorry when the Sabbath is nearly over and
so do many of you. I know you wake on Monday morning and take those
shutters down, again, or go off to that workshop where you suffer so
much ridicule, or return to the ordinary grind of daily labor and mix
up with so many of the ungodly–and you do it mournfully. Now, pray
that you may keep up the Sabbath tone all week! Make every place,
wherever you go, to be the House of God. A dear Brother of ours went to
a shop where he worked with four ungodly men–and his Lord went with
him. It was not long before we had the privilege of baptizing that
friend's master and all his shop mates, for the Lord was there! The
other day there came a fresh man to work who could not bear to hear a
word upon religion, but our Brother was the means of his conversion,
too, and the new man is coming among us, warm with his first love! Our
Brother made up his mind that he was not going to be conquered by any
scoffers, but, on the contrary, he was determined to conquer them for
Christ! He will not yield to the influences of sin, but he resolves, in
the name of the Lord, that evil influences shall yield to the power of
the Truth of God and to the attractions of the Cross. Write across your
workshop, "The Lord is here." If you cannot do it literally, do it
spiritually, "Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord Is There."

Do not be found anywhere where you could not say that the Lord was
there! If you are called into the world in the pursuit of your daily
vocation, cry unto the Lord, "If Your Spirit goes not with me, carry me
not up hence." Determine that you will have the Spirit of God with you
and, if it is in busy Cheapside, or in the lonesome country while you
are hoeing the turnips or attending to a flock of sheep–in any field,
any street, or any room–it shall be said that God is there! Take Jesus
with you when you go and, when you come home, may His Spirit still be
with you! God grant that it may be so! The Holy Spirit can work you to
this!

What shall I say to those who do not know the Lord and do not care for
Him? O Friend, the day will come in which Jesus Christ will say to you,
"I never knew you: depart from Me, you workers of iniquity." Do not let
Him say that, but, tonight, commence an acquaintance with Him. May His
Holy Spirit help you to do so! I am sure the Lord Jesus Christ

could not say to me, "I never knew you." It is impossible, because I
could reply to Him, "Never knew me, Lord? Why, I have been to You with
so many burdens. I have run to You with so many troubles that I am sure
You know me as one knows a beggar whom he has relieved many times a
day–

'Do You ask me who I am? Ah, my Lord! You know my name.' You remember
me, for in my despair I cried to You and You did relieve me of my
burden! You know me, for in my sorrow, my broken heart found no comfort
but in You! You have known me all these years in which I have had to
cry to You for something to preach about, and for help while preaching.
You know how I have had to come to You and confess my failures, and
mourn my shortcomings, and lament my sins, and trust in Your blood for
cleansing."

My Lord cannot say that He does not know me, for He has known my soul
in adversity. Blessed be His name, I know Him and lean all my weight
upon Him! They that know Him shall be with Him and He will receive them
unto Himself forever–and this shall be their Glory–"Jehovah-Shammah,
The Lord Is There." With Him shall they dwell, world without end! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Isaiah45:8-25. HYMNS FROM "OUR
OWN HYMN BOOK"–774, 847, 806.

LETTER FROM MR. SPURGEON:

DEAR FRIENDS–In this, the beginning of another year, I find myself in
Mentone gradually recovering health after a period of pain and
weakness. To begin Volume 37 of weekly sermons has fallen to the lot of
no other man. I am grateful for the peculiar privilege and all the more
so because all the previous 36 volumes continue to be purchased and
read, and preached. I beg each friendly reader to breathe a prayer for
the preacher and for these hundreds of sermons, that the Lord may use
both the living voice and the printed page to His own Glory and to the
salvation of men. Man's thoughts change, but the Word of the Lord
endures forever–and this is the Word which in these sermons is
preached to men. May the Holy Spirit acknowledge the testimony! Wishing
to all my readers A HAPPY NEW YEAR, I am their servant for Christ's
sake, C. H. SPURGEON.