Christ’s Dying Word for His Church

Christ's Dying Word for His Church

(No. 2344)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JANUARY 21, 1894.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
NOVEMBER 3, 1889.

"It is finished." John 19:30.

IN the original Greek of John's Gospel there is only one word for this
utterance of our Lord. To translate it into English, we have to use
three words, but when it was spoken, it was only one–an ocean of
meaning in a drop of language, a mere drop, for that is all that we can
call one word! "It is finished." Yet it would need all the other words
that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word.
It is altogether immeasurable! It is high–I cannot attain to it. It is
deep–I cannot fathom it. "Finished." I can half imagine the tone in
which our Lord uttered this word, with a holy glorying, a sense of
relief, the bursting out of a heart that had long been shut up within
walls of anguish. "Finished." It was a Conqueror's cry–it was uttered
with a loud voice! There is nothing of anguish about it, there is no
wailing in it. It is the cry of One who has completed a tremendous
labor and is about to die–and before He utters His death-prayer,
"Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit," He shouts His life's
last hymn in that one word, "Finished."

May God the Holy Spirit help me to handle aright this text that is at
once so small and yet so great! There are four ways in which I wish to
look at it with you. First, I will speak of this dying saying of our
Lord to His Glory. Secondly, I will use the text to the Church's
comfort. Thirdly, I will try to handle the subject to every Believer's
joy. And fourthly, I will seek to show how our Lord's Words ought to
lead to our own awakening.

I. First, then, I will endeavor to speak of this dying saying of Christ
TO HIS GLORY. Let us begin with that.

Jesus said, "It is finished." Let us glory in Him that it is finished.
You and I may well do this when we remember how very few things we have
finished. We begin many things and, sometimes, we begin well. We
commence running like champions who must win the race, but soon we
slacken our pace and we fall exhausted on the course. The race
commenced is never completed. In fact, I am afraid that we have never
finished anything perfectly. You know what we say of some pieces of
work, "Well, the man has done it, but there is no, 'finish,' about it."
No, and you must begin with, "finish," and go on with, "finish," if you
are, at last, able to say broadly as the Savior said without any
qualification, "It is finished."

What was it that was finished? His lifework and His atoning Sacrifice
on our behalf. He had interposed between our souls and Divine Justice
and He had stood in our place to obey and suffer on our behalf. He
began this work early in life, even while He was a Child. He persevered
in holy obedience 33 years. That obedience cost Him many a pang and
groan. Now it is about to cost Him His life and, as He gives away His
life to finish the work of obedience to the Father, and of redemption
for us, He says, "It is finished." It was a wonderful work, even to
contemplate–only Infinite Love would have thought of devising such a
plan! It was a wonderful work to carry on for so long–only boundless
patience would have continued at it–and now that it requires the
offering of Himself and the yielding up of His earthly life, only a
Divine Savior, very God of very God, would or could have consummated it
by the surrender of His breath! What a work it was! Yet it was finished
while you and I have lots of little things lying about that we have
never finished. We have begun to do something for Jesus that would
bring Him a little honor and glory, but we have never finished it. We
did mean to glorify Christ–have not some of you intended, oh, so much?
Yet it has never come to anything. But Christ's work, which cost Him
heart and soul, body and spirit–cost Him everything–even His death on
the Cross! He pushed through all that till it was accomplished and He
could say, "It is finished."

To whom did our Savior say, "It is finished"? He said it to all whom it
might concern, but it seems to me that He chiefly said it to His
Father, for, immediately after, apparently in a lower tone of voice, He
said, "Father, into Your hands I com-

mend My spirit." Beloved, it is one thing for me to say to you, "I have
finished my work"–possibly, if I were dying, you might say that I had
finished my work–but for the Savior to say that to God, to hang in the
Presence of Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire, the great Reader and
Searcher of all hearts. For Jesus, I say, to look the dread Father in
the face and say, as He bowed His head, "Father, it is finished; I have
finished the work which You gave Me to do"–oh, who but He could
venture to make such a declaration as that? We can find a thousand
flaws in our best works! And when we lie dying, we shall still have to
lament our shortcomings and excesses. But there is nothing of
imperfection about Him who stood as Substitute for us and, unto the
Father, Himself, He can say, concerning all His work, "It is finished."
Therefore, glorify Him tonight! Oh, glorify Him in your hearts,
tonight, that even in the Presence of the Great Judge of all, your
Surety and your Substitute is able to claim perfection for all His
service!

Just think also, for a minute or two, now that you have remembered what
Jesus finished, and to whom He said that He had finished it, how truly
He had finished it. From the beginning to the end of Christ's life
there is nothing omitted, no single act of service ever left undone!
Neither is there any action of His slurred over, or performed in a
careless manner. "It is finished," refers as much to His Childhood as
to His death. The whole of the service that He was to render to God,
when He came here in human form, was finished in every single part and
portion of it. I take up a piece of a cabinet-maker's work and it bears
a good appearance. I open the lid and am satisfied with the
workmanship. But there is something about the hinge that is not
properly finished. Or, perhaps, if I turn it over and look at the
bottom of the box, I shall see that there is a piece that has been
scratched, or that one part has not been well planed or properly
polished.

But if you examine the Master's work right through–if you begin at
Bethlehem and go on to Golgotha and look minutely at every portion of
it, the private as well as the public, the silent as well as the spoken
part–you will find that it is finished, completed, perfected! We may
say of it that, among all works, there is none like it! It is a
multitude of perfections joined together to make up one absolute
perfection! Therefore, let us glorify the name of our blessed Lord.
Crown Him! Crown Him, for He has done His work well! Come, you saints,
speak much to His honor and in your hearts keep on singing to the
praise of Him who did so thoroughly, so perfectly, all the work which
His Father gave Him to do!

In the first place, then, we use our Lord's words to His Glory. Much
might be said upon such a theme, but time will not permit it.

II. Secondly, we will use the text TO THE CHURCH'S COMFORT.

I am persuaded that it was so intended to be used, for none of the
Words of our Lord on the Cross are addressed to His Church but this
one. I cannot believe that when He was dying He left His people, for
whom He died, without a word. "Father, forgive them; for they know not
what they do," is for sinners, not for saints. "I thirst," is for
Himself, and so is that bitter cry, "My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?" "Woman, behold your son!" is for Mary. "Today shall you
be with Me in Paradise," is for the penitent thief. "Into Your hands I
commend My spirit," is for the Father. Jesus must have had something to
say, in the hour of death, for His Church and, surely, this is His
dying word for her! He tells her, shouting it in her ear that has
become dull and heavy with despair, "It is finished." "It is finished,
O My redeemed one, My bride, My well-beloved for whom I came to lay
down My life. It is finished, the work is done!"–

"Love's redeeming work is done.

Fought the fight, the battle won." "Christ loved the Church and gave
Himself for it." John, in the Revelation, speaks of the Redeemer's work
as already accomplished and, therefore, He sings, "Unto Him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings
and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen." This Truth of God is full of comfort to His
people.

And, first, as it concerns Christ, do you not feel greatly comforted to
think that He is no longer to be humiliated? His suffering and shame
are finished. I often sing, with sacred exultation and pleasure, those
lines of Dr. Watts–

"No more the bloody spear!

The Cross and nails no more,

For Hell itself shakes at His name

And all the heavens adore.

There His full glories shine

With uncreated rays,

And bless His saints' and angels' eyes

To everlasting days." I also like that expression in another of our
hymns–

"Now both the Surety and sinner are free." Not only are they free for
whom Christ became a Surety, but He, Himself, is forever free from all
the obligations and consequences of His Suretyship. Men will never spit
in His face again! The Roman soldiers will never scourge Him again!
Judas, where are you? Behold the Christ sitting upon His Great White
Throne, the glorious King who was once the Man of Sorrows! Now, Judas,
come and betray Him with a kiss! What, man, dare you not do it? Come,
Pilate, and wash your hands in pretended innocence and say, now, that
you are guiltless of His blood! Come, you scribes and Pharisees, and
accuse Him and oh, you Jewish mob and Gentile rabble, newly risen from
the grave, shout now, "Away with Him! Crucify Him!" But look! They flee
from Him! They cry to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us
from the face of Him that sits on the Throne!" Yet that is the face
that was more marred than any man's–the face of Him whom they once
despised and rejected. Are you not glad to think that they cannot
despise Him now, that they cannot entreat Him now?–

"'Tis past–that agonizing hour

Of torture and of shame" and Jesus says of it, "It is finished."

We derive further comfort and joy as we think that not only are
Christ's pangs and sufferings finished, but His Father's will and Word
have had a perfect completion. Certain things were written that were to
be done and these are done. Whatever the Father required has been
rendered. "It is finished." My Father will never say to me, "I cannot
save you by the death of My Son, for I am dissatisfied with His work."
Oh, no, Beloved, God is well pleased with Christ and with us in Him!
There is nothing which was arranged in the eternal mind to be done! No,
not a jot or tittle–Christ has done it all! As His eyes, those eyes
that often wept for us, reads down the ancient writing, Christ is able
to say, "I have finished the work which My Father gave Me to do.
Therefore, be comforted, O My people, for My Father is well pleased
with Me and well pleased with you in Me!"

I like, sometimes, when I am in prayer, to say to the great Father,
"Father, look on Your Son. Is He not all loveliness? Are there not in
Him unutterable beauties? Do You not delight in Him? If You have looked
on me and grown sick of me, as well You may, now refresh Yourself by
looking on Your Well-Beloved. Delight Yourself in Him–

"'Him, and then the sinner see, Look through Jesus' wounds on me.'" The
perfect satisfaction of the Father with Christ's work for His people so
that Christ could say, "It is finished," is a ground of solid comfort
to His Church forevermore!

Dear Friends, once more, take comfort from this, "It is finished," for
the redemption of Christ's Church is perfected! There is not another
penny to be paid for her full release. There is no mortgage upon
Christ's inheritance. Those whom He bought with blood are forever clear
of all charges, paid for to the utmost! There was a handwriting of
ordinances against us, but Christ has taken it away, He has nailed it
to His Cross. "It is finished," finished forever. All those
overwhelming debts which would have sunk us to the lowest Hell have
been discharged–and they who believe in Christ may appear with
boldness even before the Throne of God, itself. "It is finished." What
comfort there is in this glorious Truth of God!–

"Lamb of God! Your death has given Pardon, peace, and hope of Heaven!
'It is finished,'let us raise Songs of thankfulness and praise!" And I
think that we may say to the Church of God that when Jesus said, "It is
finished," her ultimate triumph was secured. "Finished!" By that one
Word He declared that He had broken the head of the old dragon. By His
death Jesus has routed the hosts of darkness and crushed the rising
hopes of Hell. We have a stern battle yet to fight–nobody can tell
what may await the Church of God in years to come–it would be idle for
us to attempt to prophesy. But it looks as if there are to be sterner
times and darker days than we have ever yet known, but what of that?
Our Lord has defeated the foe and we have to fight with one who is
already vanquished! The old serpent has been crushed, his head is
bruised, and we have, now, to trample on him. We have this sure Word of
promise to encourage us, "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under
your feet shortly." Surely, "It is finished," sounds like the trumpet
of victory! Let us have faith to claim that victory

through the blood of the Lamb! And let every Christian, here–let the
whole Church of God, as one mighty army take comfort from this dying
Word of the now risen and ever-living Savior–"It is finished." His
Church may rest perfectly satisfied that His work for her is fully
accomplished!

III. Now, thirdly, I want to use this expression, "It is finished," TO
EVERY BELIEVER'S JOY. When our Lord said, "It is finished," there was
something to make every Believer in Him glad. What did that utterance
mean? You and I have believed in Jesus of Nazareth. We believe Him to
be the Messiah, sent of God. Now, if you will turn to the Old
Testament, you will find that the marks of the Messiah are very many
and very complicated. And if you will then turn to the life and death
of Christ, you will see in Him every mark of the Messiah plainly
exhibited. Until He had said, "It is finished," and until He had
actually died, there was some doubt that there might be some one
prophecy unfulfilled–but now that He hangs upon the Cross, every mark,
every sign and every token of His Messiahship has been fulfilled and He
says, "It is finished." The life and death of Christ and the types of
the Old Testament fit each other like hand and glove. It would be quite
impossible for any person to write the life of a man, by way of
fiction, and then in another book to write out a series of types,
personal and sacrificial, and to make the character of the man fit all
the types–even if he had permission to make both books, he could not
do it. If he were allowed to make both the lock and the key, he could
not do it, but here we have the lock made beforehand! In all the Books
of the Old Testament, from the prophecy in the Garden of Eden right
down to Malachi, the last of the Prophets, there were certain marks and
tokens of the Christ. All these were so very singular that it did not
appear as if they could all meet in one Person. But they did all meet
in One–every one of them–whether it concerned some minute point or
some prominent characteristic! When the Lord Jesus Christ had ended His
life, He could say, "It is finished; My life has tallied with all that
was said of it from the first Word of prophecy even to the last." Now,
that ought greatly to encourage your faith! You are not following
cunningly-devised fables, but you are following One who must be the
Messiah of God since He so exactly fits all the Prophecies and all the
Types that were given before concerning

Him!

"It is finished." Let every Believer be comforted in another respect,
that every honor which the Law of God could require has been rendered
to it. You and I have broken that Law, as all the race of mankind has
broken it! We have tried to thrust God from His Throne. We have
dishonored His Law. We have broken His Commandments willfully and
wickedly. But there has come One who is, Himself, God, the Law-Giver,
and He has taken human Nature, and in that Nature He has kept the Law
perfectly! And, inasmuch as the Law had been broken by man, He has in
the Nature of man borne the sentence due for all man's transgressions.
The Godhead, being linked with the Manhood, gave supreme virtue to all
that the Manhood suffered. And Christ, in life and in death, has
magnified the Law and made it honorable. And God's Law at this day is
raised to even greater honor than it had before man broke it! The death
of the Son of God, the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, has
vindicated the great moral principle of God's government and made His
Throne to stand out gloriously before the eyes of men and angels
forever and ever! If Hell were filled with men, it would not be such a
vindication of Divine Justice as when God spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, and made Him to die, the Just for the
unjust, to bring us to God! Now let every Believer rejoice in the great
fact that, by the death of Christ, the Law of God is abundantly
honored! You can be saved without impugning the holiness of God! You
are saved without putting any stain upon the Divine statute-book! The
Law is kept and mercy triumphs, too.

And, Beloved, here is included, of necessity, another comforting Truth.
Christ might well say, "It is finished," for every solace conscience
can need is now given. When your conscience is disturbed and troubled,
if it knows that God is perfectly honored and His Law vindicated, then
it becomes easy. Men are always starting some new theory of the
Atonement and one has said, lately, that the Atonement was simply meant
as an easement to the conscience of men. It is not so, my Brothers and
Sisters–there would be no easing of the conscience by anything that
was meant for that, alone. Conscience can only be satisfied if God is
satisfied! Until I see how the Law is vindicated, my troubled
conscience can never find rest. Dear Heart, are your eyes red with
weeping? Look to Him who hangs on the tree! Is your heart heavy, even
to despair? Look to Him who hangs on the tree and believe in Him! Take
Him to be your soul's atoning Lamb, suffering in your place. Accept Him
as your Representative, dying your death that you may live His life,
bearing your sin that you may be made the righteousness of God in Him!
This is the best quietus in the world for every fear that conscience
can raise–let every Believer know that it is so.

Once more, there is joy to every Believer when he remembers that, as
Christ said, "It is finished," every guarantee was given of the eternal
salvation of all the redeemed. It appears to me that if Christ finished
the work for us, He will finish the work in us. If He has undertaken so
supreme a labor as the redemption of our souls by blood and that is
finished, then the great, but yet minor labor of renewing our natures
and transforming us even unto perfection, shall be finished, too! If,
when we were sinners, Christ loved us so as to die for us, now that He
has redeemed us, and has already reconciled us to Himself, and made us
His friends and His disciples, will He not finish the work that is
necessary to make us fit to stand among the golden lamps of Heaven and
to sing His praises in the country where nothing that defiles can ever
enter?–

"The work which His goodness began,

The arm of His strength will complete!

His promise is yes and Amen,

And never was forfeited yet!

Things future, nor things that are now,

Not all things below nor above,

Can make Him His purpose forego,

Or sever my soul from His love!" I believe it, my Brothers and Sisters.
He who has said, "It is finished," will never leave anything undone! It
shall never be said of Him, "This Man began, but was not able to
finish." If He has bought me with His blood and called me by His Grace,
and I am resting on His promise and power, I shall be with Him where He
is, and I shall behold His Glory, as surely as He is Christ the Lord
and I believe in Him! What comfort this Truth of God brings to every
child of God!

Are there any of you, here, who are trying to do something to make a
righteousness of your own? How dare you attempt such a work when Jesus
says, "It is finished"! Are you trying to put a few of your own merits
together, a few odds and ends, fig leaves and filthy rags of your own
righteousness? Jesus says, "It is finished." Why do you want to add
anything of your own to what He has completed? Do you say that you are
not fit to be saved? What? Have you to bring some of your fitness to
eke out Christ's work? "Oh," you say, "I hope to come to Christ one of
these days when I get better." What? What? What? What? Are you to make
yourself better and then is Christ to do the rest of the work? You
remind me of the railways to our country towns! You know that, often,
the station is half-a-mile or a mile out of the town, so that you
cannot get to the station without having an omnibus to take you there.
But my Lord Jesus Christ comes right to the town of Mansoul! His
railway runs close to your feet and there is the carriage door wide
open–step in! You have not even to go over a bridge, or under a
subway–there stands the carriage just before you. This royal railroad
carries souls all the way from Hell's dark door, where they lie in sin,
up to Heaven's great gate of pearl where they dwell in perfect
righteousness forever! Cast yourself on Christ! Take Him to be
everything you need, for He says of the whole work of salvation, "It is
finished."

I recollect the saying of a Scotchwoman who had applied to be admitted
to the communion of the Church. Being thought to be very ignorant and
little instructed in the things of God, she was put back by the elders.
The minister also had seen her and thought that, at least for a while,
she should wait. I wish I could speak Scotch, so as to give you her
answer, but I am afraid that I would make a mistake if I tried it. It
is a fine language, doubtless, for those who can speak it. She said
something like this, "Aweel, Sir; aweel, Sir, but I ken ae thing. As
the lintbell opens to the sun, so my heart opens to the name of Jesus."
You have, perhaps, seen the flax flower shut itself up when the sun has
gone and, if so, you know that whenever the sun has come back, the
flower opens itself at once. "So," said the poor woman, "I know one
thing, that as the flower opens to the sun, so my heart opens to the
name of Jesus." Do you know that, Friends? Do you know that one thing?
Then I do not care if you do not know much else! If that one thing is
known by you, and if it is really so, you may be far from perfect in
your own estimation, but you are a saved soul!

One said to me, when she came to join the Church, and I asked her
whether she was perfect, "Perfect? Oh, dear no, Sir! I wish that I
could be." "Ah, yes!" I replied, "that would just please you, would it
not?" "Yes, it would, indeed," she answered. "Well, then," I said,
"that shows that your heart is perfect and that you love perfect
things; you are pining after perfection–there is a something in you,
an, 'I' in you, that sins not, but that seeks after that which is holy.
And yet you do that which you would not, and you groan because you do,
and the Apostle is like you when he says, 'It is no more I, the real I,
that do it, but sin that dwells in me.'" May the Lord put that "I" into
many of you, tonight, that "I" which will hate sin, that "I" which will
find its Heaven in being perfectly free from sin, that "I" which will
delight itself in the Almighty, that "I" which will sun itself in the
smile of Christ, that "I" which will strike down every evil within as
soon as ever it shows its head! So will you sing that familiar prayer
of Toplady's that we have often sung–

"Let the water and the blood From Your riven side which flowed, Be of
sin the double cure, Cleanse me from its guilt and power!" IV. I close
by saying, in the fourth place, that we shall use this text, "It is
finished, TO OUR OWN AWAKENING. Somebody once wickedly said, "Well, if
Christ has finished it, there is nothing for me to do, now, but to fold
my hands and go to sleep." That is the speech of a devil, not of a
Christian! There is no Grace in the heart when the mouth can talk like
that. On the contrary, the true child of God says, "Has Christ finished
His work for me? Then tell me what work I can do for Him!" You remember
the two questions of Saul of Tarsus. The first enquiry, after He had
been struck down, was, "Who are You, Lord?" And the next was, "Lord,
what will You have me to do?" If Christ has finished the work for you
which you could not do, now go and finish the work for Him which you
are privileged and permitted to do. Seek to–

"Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying,

Snatch them in pity from sin and the gra ve. Weep over the erring one,
Lift up the fallen,

Tell them of Jesus, the Mghty to save." My inference from this saying
of Christ, "It is finished," is this–Has He finished His work for me?
Then I must get to work for Him and I must persevere until I finish my
work, too–not to save myself, for that is all done–but because I am
saved! Now I must work for Him with all my might and if there comes
discouragements, if there comes sufferings, if there comes a sense of
weakness and exhaustion, yet let me not give way to it, but, inasmuch
as He pressed on till He could say, "It is finished," let me press on
till I, too, shall be able to say, "I have finished the work which You
gave me to do." You know how men who go fishing look out for the fish.
I have heard of a man going to Keston Ponds on Saturday to fish and
staying all day Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday! There was
another man fishing there and the other man had only been there two
days. He said, "I have been here two days and I have only had one
bite." "Why," replied the other, "I have been here ever since last
Saturday and I have not had a bite yet! But I mean to keep on." "Well,"
answered the other, "I cannot keep on without catching something'"
"Oh!" said number one, "but I have such a longing to catch some fish
that I shall stay here till I do." I believe that fellow would
ultimately catch some fish if there were any to be caught! He is the
kind of fisherman to do it and we need to have men who feel that they
must win souls for Christ–and that they will persevere till they do!
It must be so with us, Brothers and Sisters–we cannot let men go down
to Hell if there is any way of saving them!

The next inference is that we can finish our work, for Christ finished
His. You can put a lot of "finish" into your work and you can hold on
to the end and complete the work by Divine Grace! And that Grace is
waiting for you, that Grace is promised to you. Seek it, find it, get
it! Do not act as some do, ah, even some who are before me now! They
served God, once, and then they ran away from Him. They have come
back–God bless them and help them to be more useful! But future
earnest service will never make up for that sad gap in their earlier
career. It is best to keep on, and on, and on, from the commencement to
the close. May the Lord help us to persevere to the end, till we can
truly say of our lifework, "It is

finished"!

One word of caution I must give you. Let us not think that our work is
finished till we die. "Well," says one, "I was just going to say of my
work, 'It is finished.'" Were you? Were you? I remember that when John
Newton wrote a book about Grace in the blade, and Grace in the ear, and
Grace in the full corn in the ear, a very talkative body said to him,
"I have been reading your valuable book, Mr. Newton. It is a splendid
work and when I came to that part, 'The full corn in the ear,' I
thought how wonderfully you had described me." "Oh," replied Mr.
Newton, "but you could not have read the book rightly, for it is one of
the marks of the full corn in the ear that it hangs its head very low."
So it is and when a man, in a careless, boastful spirit, says of his
work, "It is finished," I am inclined to ask, "Brother, was it ever
begun? If your work for Christ is finished, I should think that you
never realized what it ought to be." As long as there is breath in our
bodies, let us serve Christ! As long as we can think, as long as we can
speak, as long as we can work, let us serve Him! Let us

even serve Him with our last gasp and, if it is possible, let us try to
set some work going that will glorify Him when we are dead and gone!
Let us scatter some seed that may spring up when we are sleeping
beneath the hillock in the cemetery. Ah, Beloved, we shall never have
finished our work for Christ until we bow our heads and give up the
ghost!

The oldest friend here has a little something to do for the Master.
Someone said to me, the other day, "I cannot think why old Mrs.
So-and-So is spared–she is quite a burden to her friends." "Ah," I
replied, "she has something yet to do for her Lord, she has another
word to speak for Him." Sister, look up your work and get it done! And
you, Brother, see what remains of your lifework yet incomplete. Wind
off the ends, get all the little corners finished. Who knows how long
it may be before you and I may have to give in our account? Some are
called away very suddenly–they are apparently in good health one
day–and they are gone the next! I should not like to leave a
half-finished life behind me. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "It is
finished," and your heart should say, "Lord, and I will finish,
too–not to mix my work with Yours, but because You have finished
Yours, I will, by Your Grace, finish mine."

Now may the Lord give us the joy of His Presence at His Table! May the
bread and wine speak to you much better than I can! May every heir of
Heaven see Christ, tonight, and rejoice in His finished work, for His
dear name's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITIONS BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 121. AND 122.

Psalm 121:1. I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from where comes my
help. No help comes from anywhere else but from the eternal hills. Let
us lift up our eyes, therefore, hopefully expecting help from the
hills–it is on the road–it "comes." The Psalmist, with the eye of
faith, could see it coming, so he watched its approach.

2. My help comes from the LORD, who made Heaven and earth. He would
sooner unmake them than desert His people. He that made Heaven and
earth could certainly find shelter for us either in Heaven or in earth.
He cannot, He will not leave us, He will make room for us in Heaven
when there is no room for us here. What a blessed thing it is to look
right away from the creature to the Creator! The creature may fail you,
but the Creator is an ever-springing well of all-sufficient Grace.

3. He will not suffer your foot to be moved. He will not endure it, He
will not suffer it. Many would like to trip you up, but He will not
allow it–He loves you too well.

3. He that keeps you will not slumber. You may slumber, for you are
frail, but He is a Watchman to whose eyes sleep never comes. You are
always safe. Alexander went to sleep, he said, because Parmenio
watched. And you may take the sleep of the beloved because Jehovah
watches over you.

4. Behold, He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Behold
it, that is, mark it–put a nota bene at the side of it, take
cognizance of this as a great and sure Truth of God! Jacob went to
sleep with a stone for his pillow, but He that kept him did not sleep.
He came to him in the night watches and revealed to him His Covenant.

5. The Lord is your keeper: the LORD is your shade upon your right
hand. Oh, what a Keeper we have! Can you not trust Him? Will you not be
at peace in your mind if it is, indeed, true that Jehovah keeps you and
is your Guard in the hour of danger?

6. The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. Then,
when can you get hurt? If you are protected both day and night, these
make up all the time! God does not make a new sun for His people, the
sun would smite us as well as others, but He takes the sting out of the
sun's excessive brightness. And we have the same sickly moon as others
have, with the same influences over us, but God takes care that the
moonbeams do not harm His people. Neither the sun of prosperity nor the
night of adversity–neither the light of Truth of God nor even the
dimness of mystery shall injure one of the chosen seed.

7. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil: He shall preserve your
soul. That is the soul of our preservation–if the life, the soul, is
kept, then are we altogether kept.

8. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in–Your
early days of youth, when you are going out into life–and your coming
in when the older days creep over you and you are coming into God and
Heaven. Your going out into business and your coming in to private
devotion.

8. From this time forth, and even forevermore. Let us, therefore, feel
restful at this time, and even forevermore, having the Lord for our
Keeper and Preserver.

Psalm 122:1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the
house of the LORD. I was glad for their sake, glad to think they were
so willing to go. I was glad, also, for my own sake, for I was glad to
go, too.

2. Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem. Happy men who
were citizens of such a city! Happy worshippers coming together to the
place whose very name signifies the vision of peace, the metropolis of
God, type of the New Jerusalem which is from above!

3. Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together. Not a
conglomeration of huts, but built as a city with substantial
structures. And not a straggling city, like some we read of, that have
been called, "cities of magnificent distances"–but it was "compact
together." Happy is the Church that is at peace–blessed are the people
who are joined together by a gracious brotherly love.

4. Where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony
of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. The Church is the
point of meeting–"Where the tribes go up." The Church is the place of
"testimony"–and saints go to hear testimony and to bear it. I wish
there was more of this bearing testimony among Christian people and
that they looked upon it as a sacred duty to tell others what God has
told them. "To give thanks unto the name of the Lord"–that is another
part of true worship–praise, joyful thanksgiving should be one of the
saints' continual avocations. Let us not forget it at this time. Some
are here who have been sick–let them give thanks unto the name of the
Lord. Some are here who are still weak, yet able to come up with God's
people–let us give thanks unto the name of the Lord. We have all some
special mercy, some choice favor for which to praise His name. Then let
us all give thanks unto the name of the Lord!

5. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of
David. If any of the people had been wronged by the petty magistrates,
they went up to Jerusalem and made their appeal to the king. Here may
we bring our suit before God and order our case before Him, for He is
true and just, and nothing shall go amiss that is left with Him.

6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for it now, breathe a silent
prayer to God.

6. They shall prosper that love You. God loves those who love His
Church and love His cause–and He rewards them with prosperity, as much
of earthly prosperity as they can bear, and prosperity to their souls
beyond measure.

7. Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palace. The
Psalmist bade us pray and now he, himself, prays. He who bids others do
a thing should be prepared to set the example.

8. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now pray, Peace be
within you. Let us say it, for the sake of beloved ones in Heaven, and
dear ones on earth who are on the way there, "Peace be within you."

9. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good. Not
only pray for it, but work for it, give for it, live for it! "I will
seek your good!" God bless to us these two Psalms and put us all in a
right state of heart tonight! Amen.