Comfort From Christ’s Omniscience

Comfort From Christ's Omniscience

(No. 2669)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 8, 1900.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 15, 1882.

"Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." John 21:17.

PETER was somewhat pressed. He felt that he was pushed into a corner
and compelled to look into his own heart and divulge its innermost
secret. To be asked once, in the presence of his Brothers, whether he
loved his Lord more than they did, had a tendency to humiliate him, for
he had boastfully declared that, though all men should be offended
because of Christ, he would not. But to be asked, next, whether he
really loved Christ at all, sank him to the ground with holy shame. And
when his Master asked him, the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you
love Me?" Peter was grieved–not angry–that could not be his condition
under such circumstances, nor was he rebellious, but, at last, his
heart was effectually touched by his Master's skillful hands and he was
grieved, just as true love is always grieved when it is questioned, but
most of all grieved when it is questioned again, and again, and again.
Now, the enormity of his guilt in denying his Lord has come home to
him–and the grief which he had caused his gracious Master is now
reflected in his own deep and contrite sorrow. "Peter was grieved
because He said unto him the third time, Do you love Me?"

Our Savior's thus pressing him closely was no doubt necessary as a
salutary discipline to Peter. It was not unkind-ness, but the highest
form of honest tenderness which led our Lord to act in this way. I
suppose that if such a thing had occurred in any of our churches as for
some leading member to deny that he knew Christ, and to go the length
of denying it with oaths and curses, and to commit that great sin three
times in the presence of many witnesses, so that the fact could not
possibly be doubted, it would have been absolutely necessary, according
to the teaching of the New Testament, to exercise discipline upon such
a man–and I think that he would have been excluded from church
fellowship. The Apostle Paul, writing concerning one who had been
guilty of gross sin, says that with such a man we can have no
fellowship– no, not so much as to eat with him. And he would have said
the same about Peter.

Peter had denied Christ with oaths and curses. It was a most heinous
sin and surely the purity of the Church would be put in jeopardy–the
very existence of the Church as a testimony for Christ would be
hazarded by the retaining of such a man in its communion. According to
such a rule as that, I suppose we must always judge. But the Lord Jesus
Christ possessed attributes which we have not. He was Omniscient and,
therefore, He could read Peter's heart. It was not necessary for Him to
do what it might be lawful and even necessary for us to do. He knew
that Peter's heart was right, notwithstanding all the evil of which he
had been guilty. So, instead of refusing to have fellowship with him,
the Savior first eats with him–Christ literally bids him come to
breakfast. And then He exercises what I may call a sort of church
discipline upon him, though I mean that expression in no hard or unkind
sense.

Paul wrote to Timothy, "Then that sin rebuke before all, that others
also may fear," and our Lord acted in that manner on this occasion. The
six other Brothers, who might fitly be regarded as representing the
entire Church, were present, and the Savior began gently, but firmly,
to probe Peter's heart and to probe it again, and yet again, until He
perceived that He had touched him in the most tender possible
place–and had drawn from him this last and most solemn declaration of
the sincerity of his love–"Lord, You know all things; You know that I
love You." Thrice had he denied his Lord. It was right, therefore, that
he should thrice confess his love. And so his Master constrained him to
do by His thrice-repeated question, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
Me?"

Let us, dear Friends, as we think over this sad incident of Peter's
sin, and of our Lord's gracious way of restoring him to his former
office by a gentle act of discipline, put ourselves through a little
heart-searching. It may be that, thanks to the restraining Grace of
God, we have not sinned as Peter did, but we have sinned in some other
way. We have, all of us, sinned quite enough to make us ask, "Lord, do
we love You?" Instead of waiting for Him to put the question to us, we
will ask it of ourselves–Do we really and truly love the Lord? Let us
also believe that our Lord, as He stands at this moment among us and
walks from pew to pew, bows His head over each one of us, and asks, "Do
you love Me?"

As He does so, let us not evade the question, or play tricks with it.
Let not, any one of us, say, "I hope I do," or, "I am afraid I do not."
We either do or we do not–and the only answer that will be
satisfactory will be, "Yes," or, "No." If we say, "No," it will be so
far satisfactory that we are speaking the truth and, possibly, we may
be helped to start back from so terrible a truth as that–that we do
not love the Lord Jesus Christ–and that will be good for us,
especially if it shall lead us to yield to Him. A man should always
know the consequences of what he is doing, that he may do it with his
eyes open and, then, perhaps, he will see the folly and the sin of it
and take to a better course. But if, dear Friend, you can answer,
"Yes," to Christ's question, then say it. Slowly, thoughtfully, as in
the Presence of the Eternal God, say, "Lord, I ask You to bear witness
on my account, for Your word is faithful and true. 'You know all
things; You know that I love You.'" If you can say that, it will be a
happy thing for yourself, and it will be a blessed thing for those who
are round you, for, now, being assured of your own love to Christ, you
will endeavor to win others to share that love, that many of you
together may be able to say to Christ–

"Yes, we love You, and adore; Oh, for Grace to love You more!"

Now, coming to the text, I am going to try to do two things–first, to
examine Peter's reply. And then, secondly, to invite you to examine
yourselves to see whether you can each give the same reply.

I. First, let us EXAMINE PETER'S REPLY. "Lord, You know all things; You
know that I love You."

I begin with the observation that it is quite clear, from his reply,
that Peter was no Unitarian. He had no doubts about the Divinity of
Christ, for he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things." Now, there is
no being conceivable as knowing all things except God! And if it is
true that Jesus Christ knows all things, then He possesses that
Omniscience which is one of the essential attributes of Deity. I find
that, nowadays, there is a sad increase of that pestilent heresy which
is practically a return to the old Arianism which sought to rob Christ
of His true Glory and reduce Him to the level of a mere man. We, at any
rate, are not tainted with that fatal error–God grant that we never
may be! No, He who as Man, is our Brother, is also God, our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, whom we worship and adore! And we think and speak
of Him as possessing every attribute that is essential to the Deity
and, therefore, as possessing this one–that He knows all things. He
searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of men, for He
is, assuredly, "very God of very God," or, as Paul says, in his Epistle
to the Romans, He "is over all, God blessed forever."

My next remark upon our text is that Peter's mention of Omniscience in
connection with Christ, and in connection with our declaration of love
to Him, may be regarded as a fact very full of awe, because the Christ
with whom we have to deal knows everything of which we are thinking. He
reads all that is in the very core and center of our soul! We are in
the Presence of One whose Infinite knowledge takes in, at one glance,
the whole of our lives–past, present and future.

My dear Friends, if we remember that fact, it becomes a very solemn
thing for us to make an appeal to Him to bear witness that we do really
love Him. Peter said to Christ, "Lord, You know all things," which in
his case meant, "Lord You know that when the damsel said to me, 'You,
also, were with Jesus of Galilee,' I denied it and said, 'I know not
what you say.' And when another maiden said, 'This fellow was also with
Jesus of Nazareth,' I denied with an oath, and said, 'I do not know the
Man.' And then, as if to settle the matter once and for all, and make
my accusers believe that I could not be one of Your followers, I took
to profane swearing and, with oaths and curses, like any son of Belial
or lewd fellow of the streets, I did blaspheme and swear."

Yes, the Master had read the inner thoughts of Peter, as well as heard
his words. Jesus knew all about how mean and cowardly he was to be
afraid of a couple of silly maids and of those who stood with the
throng in the High Priest's palace. Yet Peter says, "Lord, You know all
things; You know that I love You." As we think of poor Peter and his
answer to Christ's question, let us remember that Jesus also knows
everything that we have done since we were converted as well as
before–all those times in which our thoughts have been impure and
unclean, or our desires have wandered beyond the

bounds of that which is right and proper–or our temper has been hasty
and hot, or our spirit has been angry and proud. He sees the whole of
our life in a single instant! God's mind does not need a certain space
of time to think of one wrong thing which we have done and then,
afterwards, to think of another–it is all present before His eye at
the same moment! As when a man rises in a balloon, above London, and
sees it all at once spread before him, so God, from His Throne on high,
sees our whole life at one glance. Just think of His pure and holy eyes
seeing every portion of all your lives–your life at the table, your
life in the parlor, your life in the kitchen, your life at your work,
your life in the bedchamber, your life everywhere–and, as you think of
all that being under His immediate gaze, I think it must become a very
solemn thing for you to say to Him, "Lord, You know all this and yet I
dare call You to witness that I do love You notwithstanding all that
You have seen." Brothers and Sisters, it is not by any means a trifling
matter if our Lord only knows the sin of last week. Will you just think
for a minute what it has been? Perhaps some of you may have grievously
wronged the Savior during the week. If so, and remembering that He
knows it all, can you yet creep up to Him and say, "Lord, though I am
fully conscious that You know all that has happened, yet, for all that,
I do say, You also know that I love You." That is a fact full of awe.

It is, in the next place, a fact which suggests to us that we should be
very sincere, for, if the Lord knows all things, then anything like an
attempt to profess a love which we do not possess is utterly foolish,
for God will search it through and through and discover its falseness.
Then, in addition to being very foolish, it must be very wicked and
insulting to the Lord. To tell another human being, whom you do not
love, that you love him, would be a most cruel thing to do, and also a
most impudent and impertinent thing. But to voluntarily express to God
an affection which you do not feel is a very near approach to
blasphemy! If it is not blasphemy in words, it certainly is in thought
and intent. God knows, Friend, whether, when you joined the Church, you
were really a follower of Christ. That night, when you were baptized,
He saw all that was done and He knew exactly whether it was to you only
an outward form, or whether you were really, in a spiritual sense, dead
and buried with Christ. And when this service is over, it will be vain
and futile for you to come to the Communion Table and eat the bread,
and drink of the cup, unless in your very soul you are trusting Christ
and believing in Him unto salvation. If you are determined to deceive
someone, deceive your equal–play tricks with your fellow
creatures–but never think to deceive the Most High who sees through
you as if you were made of crystal and, at this moment, is watching
each beat of your heart and reading not only what is on your tongue,
but what is in your mind and will come forth from your lips, by-and-by!
Oh, let us never, in our testimony, talk beyond our own line, or boast
of virtues which we never possessed! And in our prayers, let us never
pray as if we had an experience which we have never felt, but let us
say to Jesus, "Lord, You know all things." Let us be intensely sincere
before Him and it shall be a blessed thing if, being so, we then dare
to say, "yet You know that I love You."

Further, dear Friends, this is a fact which not only fills us with awe
and suggests to us sincerity, but it is a fact which inspires us with
hope. At times, the Grace that is really in us is scarcely visible to
ourselves. I have often rejoiced that God's Omniscience has enabled Him
to spy out Grace in me which I could not see–and I feel sure that
there must be some of you who sometimes are led to question whether
there is any Grace in you or not. You ask, "Where is that grain of
mustard seed?" Fie on you! Fie on you! You ought to have watered it
till it grew into a tree! But remember that even when you cannot see
the Grace that is in you, God can! When you are brought into such a
state of diffidence and despondency that you are half afraid there is
not any real love to Christ in your soul at all, yet, if it is there,
He can see it, for He put it there, and He values it very highly and
has a quick eye to spy it out.

"Lord, You know all things; therefore, I do bless You that You know
every place where I have been and You know my secret love passages with
You." That is a blessed thought. I have no doubt that when Peter said
to Christ, "You know all things," he not only remembered his sin, but
he recollected his going out and weeping bitterly. And he also
remembered that look that Jesus gave him–such a look as you and I
could not give to anyone. I do not know what Peter said to the Lord
while he was weeping bitterly, but there must have been many a sigh,
many a groan and many a tear in that time of anguish. Peter no doubt
got away into a corner, all alone, and he was ready to cover himself
with sackcloth and ashes, as he there groaned, wrestled and cried. He
did not know what to do with himself and while he was thus praying,
perhaps his Lord let in the light of the Gospel and made him recollect
some such promise as this, "He that covers his sins shall not prosper:
but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy." And Peter had
some comfortable gleams of hope even amid the darkness and, after a
while, he even dared to speak to his Lord, and tell Him how he loved
Him.

And now Peter says, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love
You, for between You and me there has been some love passages which
nobody knows but Yourself and myself. My eyes, all full of tears, have
met Your eyes all full of love. And my heart all breaking has touched
Your heart which was pierced upon the tree. Your wounded hands have
been laid to my sores and Your weeping eyes have looked my tears away.
You know, Lord. You know all things; You know that I love You." So,
dear Friends, you see that there is something exceedingly sweet about
that Omniscience which has read the secret motions of our spirit
towards the Lord. Even when they have been so feeble that we could
scarcely see them, ourselves, God has seen them!

And do you not think, dear Friends, that there is something very
blessed in Peter's plan of bringing in Christ's Omniscience to answer
his Lord's question about his love, inasmuch as it meets our inability
to speak?Some of us can speak fast enough, but others have the holy
gift of silence which is a great blessing. They cannot say much, but
they can look up to their Savior and say, "Lord, You know all things;
You know that we love You." I have heard of a young Christian woman who
was asked to tell before the church the story of her experience, but
she could not utter a word, till, just as she was going out of the
room, she turned around and said, "I cannot speak for Jesus Christ, but
I could die for Him." Then the one who was in charge of the meeting,
said to her, "Come back, dear Sister, you have said quite enough for us
to know that you love the Lord."

No doubt there are many who find it easier to live for Christ than to
speak for Him–they have not that gift of speech. Let me remind you who
must always be the silent members of the Church, that you may be
blessed in your silence by reflecting upon this fact–God knows all
about what you cannot explain to your fellow Christians. His
Omniscience sets aside the necessity of your being able to express your
love fluently and you, also, can say, "Lord, You know all things; You
know that we love You."

And is not this fact a sweet encouragement to any of you who are
persecuted for Christ's sake? Our enemies do not burn us now, or
stretch us on racks, but they still have many methods of showing their
malice. They know how to torture us and some of them are very ingenious
in the art of tormenting. I have known some say–ungodly parents will
say it to their daughters–sometimes, wicked men will say it to their
gracious wives–"You know very well that all your idea about being
religious is that you want to be different. You go to your place of
worship because you like to be different from everybody else–that is
the only reason you have." Possibly, you do not know what to say to
them, but you can always say thisto your Savior, "Lord, You know all
things; You know that I love You."

Then, again, if there is some little fault to be found with you in the
family, down they come upon you, crying, "Ah! that is your
Christianity, is it? You are one of those who have professed to be
religious and joined the Church!" Mark you, Friends, they will do a
hundred times worse things, themselves, and think nothing of it, but if
they can catch you tripping in the slightest degree, they magnify your
little slip into a grievous fall! Now, it would be quite fair for them
to do so if you set up to be perfect, but as you never did that, it is
an unfair thing to charge you with insincerity because of imperfection.
Do not let them have the opportunity of saying even that, if you can
help it. Yet, sometimes, when you have given them no occasion for
finding fault with you, they will make one–invent an accusation for
which there is no foundation. Well, if they do so, never mind. Let them
say what they will, but lift up your eyes to Heaven, and say, "Lord,
You know all things; You know that I love You."

A man of God–as upright a Christian man as I know–came to me, not
long ago, in great trouble because somebody had said that he had been
drunk. He was dreadfully cut up about it, for he had been a teetotaler
for many years, and nothing of the kind had occurred. "Well," I said,
"you are only tarred with the same brush as others of us." And then I
added, "As for me, I have had all manner of false and cruel things said
about me! I remember that an influential daily paper said of me, at the
time of the Surrey Gardens accident, 'We would place in the hand of
every right-thinking man, a whip to scourge from society such a ranting
charlatan.' Yet I am still here, notwithstanding all that was said.
Moreover, when most abused, I used to go to bed at the same hour as I
would have done if they had not slandered me–and I believe that I ate
my dinner with as hearty an appetite as if everybody had been praising
me."

One gets by degrees into such a condition that it does not matter what
people say. And, after all, does it ever really matter what they say?
Let them throw mud at you till you are covered with it from head to
foot–the kind of mud they fling has a tendency to come off when it is
dry and to make the garment that it once sullied look even brighter
than it was before! Do not fret yourselves about these slanderers and
persecutors, but just get alone and say to the Lord, "You know

all things." They do not and it is a good thing for us that they do
not! If they did, then they might find plenty of fault with us–and
find some real faults in us–but they do not know everything, and they
generally hit on the very thing of which we are quite innocent, but,
"Lord, You know all things; You know that we love You."

This seems to me to be a blessed text for you to take home and to carry
with you wherever you go in the midst of a ribald world, for it will
often remind you of a precious Truth of God– " 'You know all things;
You know that I love You." Of course He does! If you do really love
Him, it is His own love in you returning to where it came! And He knows
that it is there. If you do love Him, it was He who made you love Him!
This plant of paradise never grows of its own accord in the dunghill of
our nature–neither does it grow anywhere unless it is planted by the
hand of God. He who gave you that love watches over it to bring it to
perfection. Being a plant of His own right-hand planting, He will water
it every moment and, lest any hurt it, He will keep it night and day.
Having loved the Lord here on earth, you shall love Him, by-and-by, in
Heaven, where, with all the blood-washed company, you shall find it the
very Heaven of your Heaven to live forever adoring Him whose eternal
love, Sovereign Grace and almighty power have at last made you perfect
and brought you Home to love Him even as He loves you, according to
your capacity.

II. There I must leave the text, so far as it especially concerns
Peter, and come now to speak briefly upon the second part of the
subject, which is, TO INVITE YOU TO EXAMINE YOURSELVES TO SEE WHETHER
YOU CAN EACH GIVE THE SAME REPLY–"Lord, You know all things; You know
that I love You."

First, some say the same as Peter did, though they ought not to do so.
They say that they love Christ. "Yes, oh, yes, we love Him!" Let us
talk to one of these glib speakers for a few moments. When did you
begin to love the Lord? "Oh, I–I–I always loved Him." When were you
converted and renewed in heart? "Oh, I do not know that I ever was."
Stop, then, Friend, before you say again that you love the Lord. Do you
truly trust the Savior? Are you resting the whole weight of your soul
upon Him? If you say, "No," then you do not love Him, for the only love
which Christ will accept is born of faith. Love is the flower which
grows out of the root of faith.

Perhaps you think that you are very good and that you will probably get
to Heaven by your goodness. If that is your notion, then I am sure you
do not really love Christ. You admire your beautiful self–you have
been so good and so excellent that you do not want to be saved by the
sinners' Savior! You want a special, particular Savior for you–a
saint-Savior, not a sinner's Savior. Then I know you do not love the
Christ of the Bible–the Christ of Calvary. You may love a sort of
antichrist of your own inventing, but you do not love the Christ of
God. Let me ask you another question. You say that you love Christ,
well, then, for what do you thank Christ? "Well, I believe that there
are some imperfections in me, and that Christ makes up for them." Do
you? Then, in your esteem, He is only a makeweight, just to compensate
for your deficiencies. His seamless robe of righteousness is to be torn
to patch up your old rags! How many of you want to make Christ a kind
of extra horse to drag the load up the hill? That is all you think of
Him–but do you imagine that Christ and your poor team are to be joined
together like that? Is it to be partly self-salvation and partly
salvation by Christ? If that is your idea, you insult the Savior–it
may be unwittingly, but I am sure you cannot really love Him.

I have heard of a very excellent man–one of the holiest and best of
men–who, when he lay dying, said, "Lord, when I estimate my works, I
have to remember that Your estimate is so very different from mine that
I think it best to leave this business altogether–and only trust my
Savior." I have heard of another who said, when he was dying, that he
began to sort out his works and some he thought were good, and some
were bad. But after he had sorted them a little, he felt that the good
ones were so very like the bad ones, when he came to really look
closely into them, that he pitched the whole lot overboard and just
trusted himself to Christ. That was a very wise and sensible thing to
do! And I am sure that no man among you loves Christ unless he is
trusting to Him only, and to Him wholly.

What is your view of Christ, dear Friend! Is He your Master as well as
your Savior? This is a question which I want to put very pointedly, for
I heard a person ask, the other day, "Is Baptism essential to
salvation?" Listen! This man means to do only that which is essential
for his own salvation–that is all. To get into Heaven is all that he
cares about, so he asks, concerning one thing or another, "Is it
essential to salvation?" A soldier in her Majesty's army says, when an
order is given to him, "Is this essential? Shall I be shot if I do not
obey it?" Drum him out of the regiment, for what is the good of him? I
look upon Christ as my Lord and Master and if He bids me do something,
though there may be in it nothing whatever to my profit, I am bound to
do it because He ismy Master and Lord! "Is it essential to salvation?"
is a sneak's question! I dare not use a milder term. I am often ashamed
to answer those who make such an enquiry. The mes-

sage to you is, "Whatever He says to you, do it." Did you come into the
world merely that you might get saved? Is that all? Oh, poor, mean
wretch! The Lord save you from being so selfish! How can you even get
to Heaven when your sole ambition is, somehow or other, to save your
own skin? To get inside the pearly gates and enjoy yourself–that is
your notion of Heaven! But that is the very thing from which you have
to be saved! I hope you will come to have quite another idea. I live
not to save myself, but to glorify Him who has saved me. I work not
because I hope to escape from Hell by what I do, or to get to Heaven by
what I do, but because Christ has saved me and now, out of gratitude to
Him, if there is anything He wishes me to do, I do it without a
question, saying to Him–

"Have You a lamb in all Your flock

I would disdain to feed?

Have You a foe, before whose face

I fear Your cause to plead?"

Get rid of selfishness, or else you cannot truthfully say that you love
Christ! You are only loving yourself and baptizing selfishness with the
name of Christianity.

But, next, I think that there are some persons who ought to say what
Peter did and yet they are afraid to do so. Some of the most beautiful,
tender, loving, genuine, true-hearted people in the world are,
nevertheless, so timid and so jealous of themselves–and they have such
brokenness of spirit–that they dare not say that they love Christ,
though I am sure that, if any people in the world do love Him, it is
these poor people! There are many who are so hard and harsh towards
these dear tender, broken-hearted ones, that I like to cheer them all I
can. I wish that they would grow stronger. I wish that they would
become bolder. I wish they were braver, but, then, I know that among
these who dare not say publicly that they love Christ, are many who
love Him vastly more than some who can talk very glibly about it.

I have told you before of the two friends who were shut up in prison
and one said to the other, "Oh, I do dread tomorrow morning! I am
afraid that when I come to feel the fire, I shall recant. I know that I
never was good at bearing pain and I have heard that the pain of being
burnt to death is very dreadful." So the other turned round upon him
and said, "I am ashamed of you talking like that! You know very well it
is for Christ's cause that we are going to die. I am sure that I shall
not have any such fear–I could bear a thousand deaths for Christ! I
feel such courage in my spirit that I do not dread the pain and I am
ashamed that you do." They both came to be chained to the stake and the
boastful man recanted and saved his skin. But the poor timid man stood
bravely in the midst of the fire and burned to death–and kept saying,
"Lord, help me! Lord, help me!"

I believe that it often happens that those who are so trembling in
themselves, are, nevertheless, sound to the core, while many of your
high-flying gentlemen who get perfect in about three minutes and then
begin to preach to those of us who have been, perhaps, 30 years in
Christ, and tell us that we ought to be as perfect as they are–which
we were before they were born–will be blown away like thistledown by
the first wind that comes! And that the solid, weighty lumps of
gold–these humble broken-hearted saints–will endure even to the end.
Still, dear Brother, where are you? Mr. Despondency, I mean. I want you
to say, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Where
are you, Mrs. Much-Afraid? I think I have read about you in The
Pilgrim's Progress. Mrs. Much-Afraid, Mr. Despondency, Mr. Feeble-Mind
and Mr. Ready-to-Halt, who had the crutches, and went limping all his
life, yet, once upon a time, when Mr. Great-Heart cut off Giant
Despair's head and brought it to the pilgrims, they said that they
would all dance, and Ready-to-Halt danced on his crutches and said that
he hoped, by-and-by, to be where he should not be encumbered with them.

Come along, all you poor tried souls, let this be a time of rejoicing
with you! Say in your spirit, if not in words, "Yes, Lord, we cannot
hold back any longer! We must say it–'You know all things; You know
that we love You.'" And when you have once said it, keep on saying it,
my dear Brothers and Sisters, and the Lord keep you up to that blessed
mark till, when the trumpet sounds in the morning and you wake up in
the endless day, you shall say, "Yes, Lord, I did love You and I love
You now, and I will love You forever." God grant that we may allsay
that, for Christ's sake! Amen.

Before we go, let us sing this one verse–

"I will love You in life, I will love You in death, And praise You as
long as You lend me breath. And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my
brow, If ever I loved You, my Jesus, 'tis now."

Comfort from Christ's Omniscience

HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–711, 788, 639, 804.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH 26:1-14.

Verse 1. In that day. Or, rather, as we may read it now, "In this
day"–

1-3. Shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong
city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open you the
gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.
You willkeep him inperfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because
he trusts in You. Here is the song which we are to sing in this Gospel
day. The theme of it is God and the city which He has built, and which
He has given to us to be our heritage forever. "We have a strong city."
Yes, Beloved, a very strong one, for although the devil has exercised
all his ingenuity for these thousands of years, he has not been able to
destroy it. He has thrown in the bombshell of persecution. He has tried
to undermine it with his subtlety and cunning of false doctrine, but he
has not yet been able to do anything effectually against the strong
city. "We have a strong city" and she is just as strong, now, after all
the desperate attacks that have been made upon her walls, as ever she
was. Against her, the gates of Hell cannot prevail!

The Church of Christ is never in danger. "We have a strong city;
salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." After noticing the
security of the city, the Prophet bids us "open the gates, that the
righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in." It is the Gospel
minister's business to seek to open the gates. It is the Christian's
business, in some sense, to open the gates. Yes, we should all of us be
endeavoring, if possible, to "open the gates, that the righteous
nation"–that is, the righteous people–"may enter" into the Church.
But, after all, the Lord Jesus Christ is the great Opener of the gates!
He opens the gates to let His people in. And, mark you, they do not all
come in at one gate. The command is, "Open you the gates." Some come in
by means of one Doctrine, and some by means of another. We are not all
converted by the same agency. Some come in at the Sunday school gate.
Others come in at the gate which is kept by pious parents. Many come in
at the gate of the preached Word. But all the gates should be
open–"Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the
truth may enter in."

The Prophet next describes the peaceableness of this city. The gates
are open, but no enemy ever enters in, for he says to the Lord, "You
will keep Him in peace–peace," as the original has it, in double
peace. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
You." There is nothing like staying the mind on God. If you stay the
mind on anything else, you cannot have perfect peace, for that
something else may fail you. If you trust in horses and in chariots,
horses may tire, and the wheels of the chariots may break. But he who
trusts in the Lord shall dwell "in perfect peace." Let the earth be all
in arms abroad, the Believer dwells "in perfect peace, because He
trusts in You."

4, 5. Trust you in the Lord forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAHis
everlasting strength: for He brings down them that dwell on high. Some
of you dwell so much "on high" that you do not believe the Doctrine of
Original Depravity. You are very good by nature, according to your own
ideas. Well, remember this declaration of the Prophet–"He brings down
them that dwell on high." Others of you boast of your free will
capacity and you think you have power to do anything outside the
assistance of the Holy Spirit. Ah, but, "He brings down them that dwell
on high." Others of you do not know what a doubt or a fear is, but you
wrap yourselves up complacently in your self-sufficiency and say, "We
are secure!" Ah, but, "He brings down them that dwell on high."

5. The lofty city, He lays it low. No one can lay God's city low, but
God can lay the lofty city low.

5-7. He lays it low, even to the ground; He brings it even to the dust
The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps
of the needy. The way of the just is uprightness: You, most upright, do
weigh the path of the just God "weighs the path of the just" in scales.
We read elsewhere that God weighs the spirits and weighs our actions.
Here we are told that He "weighs the path of the just." Those words,
which were used by the Prophet when he went to Heze-kiah and said,
"What have they seen in your house?" would serve for a very striking
text. But it is still more important to consider what Godhas seen in
ourhouse and in our hearts, for God weighs our actions. He weighs our
private thoughts and our public deeds. He "weighs the path of the
just." But, according to the Prophet, "the way of the just is
uprightness," even after it is weighed! Notwithstanding all the sin
that is mixed with it, in the main it is "uprightness" ascending
towards God.

8, 9. Yes, in thee way of Your judgments, O LORD, have we waited for
You; the desire of our soulis to Your name, and to the remembrance of
You. With my soul have I desired You in the night; yes, with my spirit
within me will I seek You early: for when Your judgments are in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Alas, it
is often the case that when God's "judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" for a little while–and
then forget it. All too often they are like the child who merely learns
his lesson by rote and repeats it under the fear of the rod–and then
forgets all about it on the morrow. They "learn righteousness," but,
soon, the effect of the warning is all gone and then God sends fresh
judgments upon the earth to teach the inhabitants further lessons.

10-12. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn
righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and
willnot behold the majesty ofthe LORD. LORD, when Your handis lifted
up, they willnot see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy
at the people; yes, the fire of your enemies shall devour them. LORD,
You will ordain peace for us: for You also have worked all our works in
us. Troubled saint, what a precious passage this is for you! Poor,
tempest-tossed soul, what a glorious utterance! "Lord, You will ordain
peace for us." There shall come an ordinance from God that His people
shall have peace! "You will ordain peace for us: for You also have
worked all our works in us"–so they must be good works, but those
works which God did not work in us are bad ones.

13, 14. O LORD our God, other lords beside You have had dominion over
us: but by You only will we make mention of Your name. They are dead,
they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise. Many of us
can look back to the time when we made idols of business and of worldly
things. But now these lords are dead and they shall not live
again–they are buried out of our sight–and they shall not rise from
their graves.

14. Therefore have You visited and destroyed them, and made all their
memory to perish. And a blessed thing it is when the memory of our sins
perish and we have no desire to be enslaved by them again!