Conversions Encouraged

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 12, 1876,

BY C. H. SPURGEON

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"But if from there you shall seek the Lord your God, you shall find
Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When
you are in tribulation, and all these things are come upon you, even in
the latter days, if you turn to the Lord your God, and shall be
obedient unto His voice; (for the Lord your God is a merciful God); He
will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the Covenant of
your fathers which He swore unto them." Deuteronomy 4:29-31.

LAST Lord's-Day the title of my discourse was, "Conversions Desired"
and my earnest prayer to God has been that the effect of this morning's
sermon may be conversions accomplished. I cannot be happy unless I
indulge the hope that some will, this morning, turn to God with full
purpose of heart, led to do so by the power of Divine Grace. For this I
sought the Lord and at this I resolved to aim. I asked myself, "What is
the most likely subject in the hand of the Holy Spirit to lead men to
the Lord? Shall I preach the terrors of the Lord, or shall I proclaim
the sweetness of Divine mercy? Each of these has its proper use, but
which will be most likely to answer our design today?"

I remembered the fable of the sun and the wind. These rival powers
competed as to which could compel the traveler to cast away his cloak.
The wind blew boisterously and tugged at the garment as if it would
tear it from the traveler's shoulders, but he buttoned it closer about
him and held it firmly with his hands. The battle was not to the strong
and threatening. Then the sun burst forth from behind a cloud, when the
wind had ceased its blustering, and smiled upon the traveler with
warmth of kindness until he loosened his cloak and, by-and- by, was
glad to take it off altogether. The soft, sweet influence of the sun
had vanquished where the storm had raged in vain.

So I thought, perhaps if I preach the tender mercy of God and His
readiness to forgive, it may be to my hearers as the warm beams of the
sun to the traveler and they will cast away the garments of their sin
and self-righteousness. I know that the arrows of love are keen and
wound many hearts which are invulnerable to the sword of wrath. O that
these sacred darts may win the victory this day! When ships at sea
apprehend a storm they will gladly make for an open harbor, but if it
is doubtful whether they can enter the port, they will rather weather
the tempest than run the risk of being unable to enter the harbor's
mouth.

Some havens can only be entered when the tide happens to be at the
flood and, therefore, the captain will not venture. But when the
welcome signals are flying and it is clear that there is plenty of
water and that they may safely run behind the breakwater, they hesitate
no longer, but make sail for the shelter. Let seeking souls know, this
day, that the Lord's harbor of refuge is open, the port of Free Grace
can be reached, that there is sea room for the largest transgressor and
love enough to float the greatest sinner into port! Ho, weather-beaten
vessels, you may come and welcome! There is no need that even for a
solitary hour you should run the risk of the tempest of almighty wrath!
You are invited to find shelter and to enjoy it NOW!

It is rather singular that having these ideas floating in my mind and
desiring to preach Free Grace and abounding mercy, that I should have
found my text in Deuteronomy. Why, that is a book of the Law and is
plentifully besprinkled with terrible threats! And yet I find a Gospel
theme in it, yes, and one of the very richest! As I read it I admired
it for its connection as well as for its own fullness. It seems to me
so pleasant to find this lily among thorns. As in the wintry months of
the opening year one finds a crocus smiling up from the cold soil and
in its golden cup offers a taste of the sunlight which summer will more
fully bring, so amid the uncongenial pages of the Law I see this
precious Gospel declaration which, like the spring flower, assures us
that God's love is yet alive and will bring us happier times.

My thoughts also likened this passage to the water which leaped from
the smitten rock, for the Law is like a rock and the Pentateuch is hard
and stern as granite. But here, in its very heart, we find a crystal
spring of which the thirsty may drink! I likened the text, also, to the
manna lying on the desert sand, the bread of Heaven glittering like a
shining pearl upon the barren soil of the wilderness. Here amid the
fiery statutes of the Law and the terrible judgments threatened by the
God of Sinai, you see this manna of mercy dropped about your tents this
morning, as fresh, I hope, to you as if but newly fallen. May you eat
of it and live forever!

Let us come to our text at once. The Lord, here, encourages sinners to
turn to Himself and find abundant Grace. He encourages sinners who had
violated His plainest commandments, who had made idols and so had
corrupted themselves–and had, consequently, been visited with
captivity and other chastisements–He invites them to turn from their
evil ways and seek His face. I feel moved to say at the commencement of
this discourse that if the text has any limited aspect, if it is to be
regarded as uttered to any special character among transgressors, it
peculiarly belongs to backsliders, for the people to whom it was first
addressed were the people of God. They had set up idols and so had
wandered. And it is to them, chiefly, though not to them exclusively,
that these encouragements to repentance are presented.

And probably there are some backsliders here who once stood in the
Church of God, but have been cut off from there. Who once were very
zealous and earnest in the cause of God, but have now become utterly
indifferent to all religion. I charge such to take this text home to
themselves. Take every syllable of it into your own heart, Backslider.
Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the same–and may the text bring
you to your knees and to your God! It gives you a pointed invitation to
return from your wanderings and end your weary backslidings by coming,
once more, to your Father's house, for He will not forsake you nor
destroy you, nor forget the Covenant of Mercy which He has made on your
behalf! Happy are you that you may return! Happy shall I be if you
return!

I thought I would lay special stress upon this, because the Lord,
Himself, and His ministers with Him, rejoice more over one lost sheep
that returns to the Shepherd of Souls than over 99 that went not
astray! There is rejoicing when a man finds a treasure which he never
had before, but it is scarcely equal to the joy of the woman who found
the piece of money which was hers, already, but which she had lost.
Glad is the house when the babe is born, but deeper is the joy when the
lost son is found. My soul longs to see the Lord bring home His
banished ones and to be the means of gathering His scattered ones!

Still, the text is fully applicable to all sinners–to all who have
corrupted themselves and done evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke
Him to anger. The Ever Merciful encourages them to turn to Him with
full purpose of heart by assuring them that He will not forsake them.
There seems to me to be in the text three points which should induce an
earnest seeking of His face at once, for here is, first, a time
mentioned. Secondly, a way appointed. And thirdly, encouragement given.

I. First, then, in the text there is A TIME MENTIONED. Look at it–"If
from there you shall seek the Lord… When you are in tribulation, and
all these things are come upon you, even in the latter days." The time
in which the Lord bids you seek Him, O you unforgiven ones, is first of
all, "from there," that is, from the condition into which you have
fallen, or the position which you now occupy. According to the
connection of the text, the offending Israelites were supposed to be in
captivity, scattered among various nations, dwelling where they were
compelled to worship gods of wood and stone, which could not see, nor
hear, nor feel, nor eat, nor smell.

Yet "from there"–from the unhallowed heathen villages, from their lone
sorrows by the waters of Babylon, from their captivity in far-off
Chaldea, they were bid to turn unto the Lord and obey His voice! Their
surroundings were not to be allowed to hinder their prayers. Perhaps,
dear Friend, at this time you are dwelling among ungodly relatives. If
you begin to speak about religion, you are put down at once. You hear
nothing that can help you in the way to better things, but very much
that would hinder you. Nevertheless, do not delay, but, "from there,"
even from there, seek the Lord, for it is written–"If you seek Him, He
will be found of you."

It may be you are living in a neighborhood where everything is hostile
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and injurious, even, to your morals. Time
was, and you may remember it with regret, when you were a child upon
the knee of a pious mother, when you spent your Sundays in the Sunday
school, when the Bible was read in your house everyday. But now all
these helps are taken from you and everything around is dragging you
down to greater and yet greater sin. Do not, however, make this a
reason for delay–as well might a man refuse to go to a physician
because he lives in an unhealthy locality, or a drowning man refuse a
lifeboat because a raging sea surrounds him! Hasten, rather than
slacken your speed! Do

not tarry till your position improves–do not wait till you move into a
godly family, or live nearer to the means of Grace, for if you seek Him
"from there" He will be found of you.

But you will tell me that it is not so much your regret that others are
ungodly among whom you dwell, but that you, yourself, are in a wretched
condition of heart. You have followed after one sin and another until
evil has become a habit with you and you cannot shake it off. Like a
rolling thing before the whirlwind, you are driven on–an awful force
impels you from bad to worse. Awake yourself, O Man, for immediate
action! If you wait till you have conquered this evil force by your own
strength–if you delay to turn unto God until you are free from the
dominion of sin–then assuredly you will wait forever and perish in
your folly. If you could vanquish evil by your own power you would not
need to seek the Lord, for you would have found salvation in yourself,
but be not so infatuated as to dream of such a thing!

Today, "from there," from the place where you now are, turn your face
to your Father who is in Heaven and seek Him through Jesus Christ.
Remember that hymn which ought to be sung every Sunday in our
assemblies–

"Just as I am–and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To You,
whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come."

Every verse begins with, "Just as I am," and so must your prayers, your
faith, your hope begin. The whole hymn commences, "Just as I am," and
so must your Christian life be started. The Lord invites you as you are
and where you are. Are you one of a godless family, the only one in the
house who has felt any serious thought at all? Come, then, and tarry
not, for the Lord invites you! Are you the one man in a large workshop
where all the rest are irreligious? Admire His Sovereign Grace, accept
the call and from now on be the Lord's! The Lord invites those of you
who have gone to the ends of the earth in sin and brought yourselves
into captivity by your rebellion. Today, even today, He bids you seek
Him "with all your heart and with all your soul."

With regard to the time of turning, it is well worthy of our notice
that we are especially encouraged to turn unto the Lord if we are in a
painful plight. Our text says, "When you are in tribulation." Are you
sick? Have you felt ill for some time? Does your weakness increase upon
you? Are you apprehensive that this sickness may even be unto death?
When you are in such tribulation, then you may return to Him. A sick
body should lead us the more earnestly to seek healing for our sick
soul. Are you poor, have you come down from a comfortable position to
one of hard labor and of scant provision? When you are in this
tribulation then turn to the Lord, for He has sent you this need to
make you see your yet greater necessity, even your need of Himself.

The empty purse should make you remember your soul poverty, the bare
cupboard should lead you to see the emptiness of all your carnal
confidences and accumulating debts should compel you to calculate how
much you owe to your Lord. It is possible that your trials are very
bitter at this moment because you are expecting to lose someone whom
you dearly love and this is like tearing half of yourself away. One
dear child is hardly cold in the tomb and your heart is bleeding when
you think of that loss–and now another is sickening and will follow
the first. When you are in this tribulation, then be sure to seek the
Lord, for His pitying heart is open to you and He will sanctify this
grief to noblest purposes.

Is it possible that I speak to one whose sins have become so open as to
have been punished by the law of the land? Have you lost your
character? Will none employ you any longer? When you are in this
tribulation, then turn to your Lord, for He will receive earth's
castaways and make criminals His sons! Have you suffered from the just
verdict of society because you are vicious, dishonest and disreputable?
Are you, at this time, despised and looked down upon? Yet even to you
would I say, when you are in tribulation, when every door is shut, when
all hands are held up against you–even then seek the Lord and He will
be found of you! If your father scarcely dares to think upon your name.
If you have been a grief to your sister's heart and have brought your
mother's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, yet now, even in this
shameful estate when you are in tribulation, turn to the Lord your God!

Doubtless there are some people who will never be saved unless they
come into tribulation. Their substance must all be spent and a mighty
famine must come upon them. The citizens of the far country must refuse
them aid and with hungry bellies they must stand at the trough and be
willing to feed with the swine, or else it will never occur to them to
say, "I will arise and go to my Father." No matter how deep your
trouble, your safest and wisest course is to flee to God in Christ
Jesus and put your trust in Him! Notice further, when you feel that the
judgments of God have begun to overtake

you, then you may come to Him. "When you are in tribulation and all
these things–these threatened things–are come upon you."

There are many in this world who feel as if their sin had at last found
them out and had commenced to be a Hell to them. The Manslayer has
overtaken them and is striking at them with terrible blows. "Ah," says
one, "my great sins have provoked, at last, God, and all men may see
what He has done to me, for He has removed my choicest mercies from me.
I despised a father's instruction–that father is dead. I did not value
my mother's tears–my mother sleeps under the sod. The dear wife who
used to beg me to walk to the House of God with her–I slighted and
treated her with unkindness– and death has removed her from my bosom.
The little child that used to climb my knee and sing its little hymns
and persuade me to pray, has gone, too. God has found me out, at last,
and begun to strip me. These are only the first drops of an awful
shower of wrath from which I cannot escape.

"Alas, while one mercy after another is removed, my former joys have
been embittered and are joys no more. I go to the theater as I used to
do, but I do not enjoy it. I see beneath the paint and the gilt and it
seems a mockery of my woe. My old companions come to see me and they
would sing me the old songs, but I cannot bear them. Their mirth grates
on my ears–at times it seems to be mere idiotic yelling. I used to get
alone and philosophize and dote upon many things which afforded me
comfort, but now I find no consolation in them–I have no joy of my
thoughts now. The world is dreary and my soul is weary. I am in the
sere and yellow leaf and all the world is fading with me. What little
joy I had before has utterly departed and no new joy comes. I am
neither fit for God nor fit for the devil. I can find no peace in sin
and no rest in religion. Into the narrow way I fear I cannot enter and
in the broad way I am so jostled that I do not know how to pursue my
course.

"Worst of all, there is before me a dreadful outlook. I am filled with
horrible apprehensions of the dread hereafter. I am afraid of the
harvest which must follow the sad seed sowing of my misspent life. I
have a dread of death upon me. I know not how near it may be, but it is
too near, I know, and I am not prepared for it. I am overwhelmed with
thoughts of the judgment to come. I hear the trumpet ringing in my ears
when I am at work. I hear the messengers of God's justice summoning me
and saying, 'Come to judgment, come to judgment, come away.' A fearful
sound is in my ears and I– where shall I go?" Hear, O Man, and be
comforted, for now is the appointed time for you to seek the Lord, for
our text says, "When all these things are come upon you, if you turn
unto the Lord your God, He will not forsake you neither destroy you."

There is yet one more word which appears to me to contain great comfort
in it and it is this, "even in the latter days." This expression may
refer to the latter days of Jewish history, though I can scarcely think
it does, because the Jews are not, now, guilty of idolatry. I rather
think it must refer to the latter days of any one of their captivities
and in our case to the latter days of life. Looking around me I see
that many of you are advanced in years and if you are unconverted I
thank God I am as free to preach Christ to you as if you had been
children or young men! If you have spent 60 or 70 years in rebellion
against your God, you may return, "even in the latter days." If your
day is almost over and you have arrived at the 11th hour, when the sun
touches the horizon and evening shadows thicken, still He may call you
into His vineyard and at the close of the day give you your penny! He
is long-suffering and full of mercy, not willing that any should
perish! And therefore He sends me out as His messenger to assure you
that if you seek Him, He will be found of you, "even in the latter
days."

It is a beautiful sight, though it is mingled with much sadness, to see
a very old man become a babe in Christ. It is sweet to see him, after
he has been so many years the proud, wayward, self-confident master of
himself, at last learning wisdom and sitting at Jesus' feet. They hang
up in the cathedrals and public halls old banners which have long been
carried by the enemy into the thick of the fight. If they have been
torn by shot and shell, so much the more do the captors value them–the
older the standard the more honor is it, it seems, to seize it as a
trophy. Men boast when they have carried off–

"The flag that braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze."

Oh, how I wish that my Lord and Master would lay hold on some of you
worn-out sinners, you who have been set up by the devil as standards of
sin! O that the Prince of the kings of the earth would compel you to
say, "Love conquers even

me."

I will not leave this head till I have said that it gives me great joy
to be allowed to preach an immediate Gospel to you–a Gospel which bids
you turn unto God and find present salvation! Suppose, for a moment,
that the Gospel ran thus–"You, Sinner, shall be saved in 12 months
time if you turn to God." Oh, Sirs, I should count the days for you
till the 12 months were gone. If it were written, "I will be found of
you in March, 1877," I should weary over you till the auspicious season
arrived and say, "Maybe they will die before mercy's hour has struck!
Spare them, good Lord!" Yes, and if it were true that God would not
hear you until next Lord's-Day I should like to lock you up and keep
you out of harm's way, if I could, till that time arrived, lest you
should die before the promised hour.

If there were any way of insuring your lives, though you had to give
all that you have for your soul, you might be glad to insure your life
till next Lord's-Day. But, blessed be God, the promise does not tarry!
It is NOW! "Today if you will hear His voice." The Gospel does not even
bid you wait till you reach your home, or get to your bedside–but here
and now–in that pew and at this moment, if you seek Him with all your
heart and with all your soul, the Lord Jesus will be found of you and
present salvation shall be immediately enjoyed! Is it not encouraging
to think that just now the Lord is waiting to be gracious?

II. But now, secondly, let us look at THE WAY APPOINTED. To find mercy,
what are we bid to do? "If from there you shall seek the Lord your
God." We have not, then, to bring anything to God, but to seek Him. We
have not to seek a righteousness to bring to Him, nor seek a state of
heart which will fit us for Him, but to seek Him at once! Sinner, you
have offended God. None but God can forgive you, for the offenses are
against Himself. Seek Him, then, that He may forgive you. It is
essential that you seek Him as a real existence and a true Person,
believing that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him.

It is all in vain to seek sacraments–you must seek Him. It is idle to
go through forms of prayer, or to utter customary phrases of
devotion–you must seek Him. Your salvation lies in God, Sinner, and
your seeking must be after God. Do you understand this? It is not going
to your priest or to your clergyman, or to your Bible or to your Prayer
Book, or even to your knees in formal prayer–you must draw near to God
in Christ Jesus–and He must be found of you as a man finds a treasure
and takes it to be his own. "But where shall I find Him?" one asks.
When they sought God of old they went to the Mercy Seat, for there the
Lord had promised to speak with them. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
that Mercy Seat, sprinkled with precious blood–and if you want to find
God, you must seek Him in the Person of Jesus

Christ!

Is it not written, "No man comes unto the Father but by Me"? Jesus is
the one Mediator between God and man– and if you would find God, you
must find Him in the Person of Jesus the Nazarene–who is also the Son
of the Highest. You will find Jesus by believing Him, trusting Him,
resting upon Him. When you have trusted Jesus, you have found God in
Jesus, for He has said, "He that has seen Me, has seen the Father."
Then have you come to God when you have believed in Jesus Christ. How
simple this is! How unencumbered with subtleties and difficulties! When
God gives Grace, how easy and how plain is believing! Salvation is not
by doing, nor by being, nor by feeling, but simply by believing.

We are not to be content with self, but to seek the Lord! Being nothing
in ourselves, we are to go out of ourselves to Him. Being, ourselves,
unworthy, we are to find worthiness in Jesus!

We are also to grasp the Lord as ours, for the text says, "You shall
seek the Lord your God." Sinners, that is a part of saving faith, to
take God to be your God. If He is only another man's God, He cannot
save you. He must be yours, yours, assuredly yours, yours to trust and
love and serve all your days, or you will be lost. Now, mark God's
directions–"If you seek Him with all your heart and with all your
soul." There must be no pretence about this seeking. If you desire to
be saved, there must be no playing and toying, trifling and feigning.
The search must be real, sincere, earnest, fervent, intense and
thorough-going or it will be a failure.

Is this too much to ask? Surely if anything in the world deserves
earnestness it is this! If anything ought to awake all a man's powers
to energy, it is the salvation of his soul! You cannot win gold and
attain riches without being in earnest in the pursuit–and what
earnestness does this deserve? This obtaining eternal life, deliverance
from eternal death, acceptance in the Beloved, endless bliss? Oh, men,
women, if you sleep over anything, at any rate be awake here! If you
trifle upon any matters of importance, yet here, at any rate, be
serious, solemn and earnest. Here there must be no idling and no delay.
Note that there is a repetition in the text. "If you seek Him with all
your heart and with all your soul"–we must be doubly in earnest–heart
and soul must be in the pursuit.

Half-hearted seeking is no seeking at all. To ask for mercy from God
and at the same time to be willing to be without it is a mere pretence
of asking. If you are content to be put off with an inferior blessing,
you are not seeking the Lord at all. I remember one who is now a member
of this Church who, in a desperate fit of soul anxiety, said solemnly
to one of us, "I will never go to work again. I will neither eat nor
drink till I have found the Savior." And with that solemn resolve it
was not long before he had found Him! Oh, Sirs, suppose you should be
lost? Suppose you should perish while I am speaking? I know of no
reason why your pulse should continue to beat, or your breath should
remain in your nostrils– and if at this moment you were to die–at
that same instant you would plunge amidst the flames of Hell! Escape,
then, at once!

Even now make soul matters your sole concern. Whatever else you have to
attend to, leave it alone and attend, first, to this chief thing, the
salvation of your soul! If a man were in a sinking vessel, he may have
been a student of the classics, but he will not think of his stopping
to translate an ode of Horace! He may have been a mathematician, but he
will not sit down to work out an equation–he will leap, at once, from
the sinking vessel into the lifeboat, for his objective will be to save
his life. And should it not be so as to our eternal life? My soul, my
soul, this must be saved and with all my heart will I seek God in Jesus
Christ that I may find salvation.

The text further adds that we are to turn to Him. Did you notice the
30th verse–"If you turn to the Lord your God." It must be a thorough
turn. You are looking now towards the world–you must turn in the
opposite direction and look God-ward. It must not be an apparent turn,
but a real change of the nature, a turning of the entire soul–a
turning with repentance for the past, with confidence in Christ for the
present and with holy desires for the future. Heart, soul, life,
speech, action–all must be changed. Unless you are converted you
cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. May God grant you such a turn as
this and to this end pray, "Turn me and I shall be turned."

Then it is added, "and be obedient to His voice," for we cannot be
saved in disobedience. Christ has not come to save His people in their
sins, but from their sins. "If you are willing and obedient, you shall
eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be
devoured with the sword." Do you see, my dear unconverted Hearers, what
God's advice is to you? It is that you obey, now, His Gospel and bow
before the scepter of His Son Jesus. He would have you admit that you
have erred and entreat to be kept from erring again. Your proud
self-will must yield and your self-confidence must be renounced. You
must incline your ear and come unto Him, "Hear and your soul shall
live."

This His Holy Spirit will grant you Grace to do! This is the least that
could be asked of you. You could not expect the great King to pardon
rebels and allow them to continue in rebellion! He could not allow you
to continue in sin and yet partake of His Grace. You know that such a
course would not be worthy of a holy God. Do you feel inclined, at this
moment, to turn to the Lord? Does some gentle power you have never felt
before, draw you beyond yourself? Do you perceive that it would be well
for you to be reconciled to your God and Father? Do you feel some
inkling of regret, some spark of good desire? Then yield to the
impulse! I trust it is the Holy Spirit within, working in you to will
and to do of His own good pleasure. Yield at once–completely yield and
He will lead you by a way you know not and bring you to Jesus, and in
Him you shall find peace, rest, holiness, happiness and Heaven!

Let this be the happy day. Bend before the Spirit's breath as the reed
bows in the wind. Quench not the Spirit, grieve Him no more–

"Lest slighted once, the season fair Should never return again."

Beware lest bleeding love should never woo again, lest pitying Grace
should never more entreat and tender mercy should never more cast its
cords around you. The spouse said, "Draw me, we will run after
You"–say the same. Behold, before you is an open door and within that
door a waiting Savior! Will you perish on the threshold?

' III. Thirdly, the text contains VERY RICH ENCOURAGEMENTS. How does it
run? "For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not forsake
you'" Look at that, Sinner! "He will not forsake you." If He were to
say, "Let him alone, Ephraim is given unto idols," it would be all over
with you. But if you seek Him, He will not say, "Let him alone," nor
take His Holy Spirit from you. You are not yet given up, I hope, or you
would not have been here this morning to hear this sermon.

I thought, when I woke this morning and saw the snow and pitiless sleet
driven by a vehement wind, that it was a pity I had studied such a
subject, for I would like to have the house crowded with sinners and
they are not so likely to

come out in bad weather. Just then I remembered that it was upon just
such a morning as this that I found the Savior, myself, and that
thought gave me much courage in coming here. I thought the congregation
cannot be smaller than that of which I was one on that happy day when I
looked to Christ. I believe that many will, this morning, be brought
out and saved, for the Lord has not forsaken this congregation! I used
to think He had given me up and would not show me mercy after so long
seeking in vain. But He had not forsaken me, nor has He cast you off, O
Sinner! If you seek Him with all your heart and soul, you may rest
assured He will not forsake you.

And then it is added, "Neither destroy you." You have been afraid He
would. You have often thought the earth would open and swallow you. You
have been afraid to fall asleep lest you should never wake again, but
the Lord will not destroy you. No, rather He will reveal His saving
power in you. There is a sweeter word, still, in the 29th verse–"You
shall find Him if you seek Him." I wish I could sing and could
extemporize a bit of music, for then I would stand here and sing those
words–"You shall find Him if you seek Him." At any rate, the words
have sweet melody in them to my ears and heart–"You shall find Him if
you seek Him." I should like to whisper that sentence softly to the
sick and to shout it to the busy. It ought to linger long in your
memories and abide in your hearts–"You shall find Him if you seek
Him." What more, poor Sinner, what more do you need?

Then there are two reasons given–"For the Lord your god is a merciful
God." Oh, guilty Soul, the Lord does not want to damn you! He does not
desire to destroy you! Judgment is His strange work. Have you ever had
to chasten your child? When you have felt bound to punish him severely
by reason of a great fault, has it not been very hard work? You have
said to yourself a hundred times over, "What shall I do? What shall I
do to escape from the misery of causing pain to my dear child?" You
have been driven to chasten him or you would not have done it. God
never sends a sinner to Hell till justice demands it. He finds no joy
in punishing. He swears, "As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure
in the death of him that dies."

Look at the judge when he puts on the black cap, does he do so with
pleasure? No, some of our judges speak with choked utterance and with
many tears when they say to the prisoner, "You must be taken to the
place from where you came, there to be hanged by the neck till you are
dead." God never puts on the black cap without His heart yearning for
men! His mercy endures forever and He delights in it. Notice how the
Lord teaches us His care even over the most guilty by the comparisons
He makes. "What man of you," says He, "having a sheep gone astray, will
not go after it until he finds it? What man of you, having a sheep that
is fallen into a ditch, will not pull it out?" Any animal which belongs
to us causes us concern if we lose it, or if it is in trouble. I
noticed the other night how even the little kitten could not be missing
without causing anxiety to the household. What calling and searching!

Rougher natures might say, "If the kitten will stay out of doors all
night, let it do so." But the owner thought not so, for the night was
cold and wet. I have seen great trouble when a bird has been lost
through the opening of a cage door and many a vain struggle to catch it
again. What a stir there is in the house about a little short-lived
bird! We do not like to lose a bird, or a kitten–and do you think the
good God will willingly lose those whom He has made in His own image
and who are to exist forever? I have used a very simple and homely
illustration, but it commends itself to the heart. You know what you
would do to regain a lost bird, but what will not God do to save a
soul? An immortal spirit is better than 10,000 birds!

Does God care for souls? Yes, that He does, and in proof thereof Jesus
has come to seek and to save the lost. The Shepherd cannot rest while
one of His flock is in danger. "It is only one sheep! You have 99 more,
good man, why do you go and bother yourself about one?" He cannot be
pacified. He is considering where that sheep may be. He imagines all
sorts of perils and distresses. Perhaps it is lying on its back and
cannot turn over, or it has fallen into a pit, or is entangled among
briars, or the wolf is ready to seize it. It is not merely its
intrinsic value to him, but he is concerned for it because it is his
sheep, and the object of his care. Oh, Soul, God has such a care for
man! He waits to be gracious and His Spirit goes forth towards
sinners–therefore return to Him!

Now dwell upon that last argument–"He will not forget the Covenant of
your fathers." The Covenant always keeps open the path between God and
man. The Lord has made a Covenant concerning poor sinners with His Son
Jesus Christ. He has laid help upon One that is mighty and given Him
for a Covenant to the people. He always remembers Jesus and how He kept
that Covenant. He calls to mind His sighs, tears, groans and
death-throes–and He fulfills His promise for

the great Sufferer's sake. God's Grace has kept His Covenant on behalf
of men! God is even eager to forgive that He may reward Christ and give
Him to see of the travail of His soul!

Now, listen to me, you who are still unconverted. What solid ground
there is, here, for your hope! If the Lord were to deal with you
according to the Covenant of Works, what could He do but destroy you?
But here is a Covenant of Grace made in Jesus Christ on the behalf of
sinners and all that believe in Jesus are partakers in that Covenant
and are made partakers of the countless blessings which that Covenant
secures. Believe in Jesus! Cast yourself upon Him and by the Covenant
mercies of God you shall assuredly be saved! You have heard me preach
like this before, have you not, a good many times? Yes, and I am,
sometimes, fearful lest God's people should grow tired of this kind of
sermon. But then you need it over and over again.

How many more times will some of you need to be told this? How many
more times must the great mercy of God be set before you? Are we to
keep on inviting you, again and again and again, and go back with no
favorable answer from you? I have been questioning myself in the night
watches about this and I have said, "These people are unconverted. Is
it my fault? Do I fail in telling them my Lord's message? Do I mar the
Gospel? Well," I thought, "if it is so, yet I will charge them not to
be partakers of my fault." Brothers and Sisters, God's mercy is so rich
that even when the story of it is badly told, it ought to influence
your hearts! It is so grand a thing that God should be in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself by a wondrous Sacrifice, that if I
stuttered and stammered, you ought to be glad to hear it! Or even if I
told you in terms that were obscure, you ought to be so eager to know
it that you would search out my meaning!

In secret correspondence a cipher is often used, but inquisitive people
soon discover it. Ought there not to be more interest taken in the
Gospel? But, my Friends, I do not speak obscurely. I am as plain a
speaker as one might meet in a day's march and with all my heart I set
Christ before you and bid you trust Him! Will you do so this morning?
Or will you not? See how dark it is outside, even at noon? God has hung
the very heavens in mourning. Never fear, the sun will soon break forth
and light up the day and even so–

"Our hearts, if God we seek to know

Shall know Him and rejoice!

His coming like the morn shall be,

As morning songs His voice.

So shall His Presence bless our souls,

And shed a joyful light;

That hallowed morn shall chase away

The sorrows of the night."

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Deuteronomy 4. HYMN FROM "OUR
OWN HYMN BOOK"–199, 555, 40.
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The Sealing of the Spirit