Lessons From a Dovecot

Lessons From a Dovecot

(No. 3051)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1907.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MARCH
24, 1872.

"Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?"
Isaiah 60:8.

THE chapter from which our text is taken predicts very glorious times
for the true Church of God. The promises recorded in this chapter were,
in a measure, fulfilled when Jews and Gentiles were gathered into the
fold of Christ in great numbers in the days of the Apostles. But God's
promises are not like man's. When a man has kept his promise once, it
does not stand good any longer–but God's promises may be fulfilled a
hundred times over and yet remain just as valid as when He first gave
them. So what God did for His Church at Pentecost, He is prepared to do
today–and He will do it on a yet larger scale in those happy times
that are yet to come–the latter days for which we look and long with
joyful expectation!

I do not intend, however, to explain the text in its strict connection,
but shall try to turn it to profitable account with regard to
ourselves. You will notice that the question indicates a measure of
surprise and that surprise reveals some dark fear which must have been
lurking in the background. The Church sees an innumerable company of
converts coming to join her ranks and she cries out in amazement, "Who
are these that fly as a cloud?" She could not, therefore, have been
expecting them. Her faith must have been weak and, in consequence, a
great gloom had settled upon her mind. And a similar kind of gloom
comes over our minds when our faith is weak and our expectations are
slender. I think that all of us who love the work of God and who
especially love that work in connection with our own branch of Christ's
Church are apt, at times, to feel a deep anxiety of soul and to fear
lest God should forsake His work among us because of our sins. God may
leave a Church that He has formerly greatly honored if it grows
lukewarm, as did the Church at Laodicea, or has left its first love, as
did the Church at Ephesus. There will always be a Church of God in the
world, but there may not always be a Church in any particular place.
There will always be a people whom He has chosen to show forth His
praise and to proclaim His Gospel–but they may not be found in this
place, or in any other where the Lord has been known to meet with them.

The idolatrous church of Rome calls itself the only true church,
outside which none can find salvation, but although the church in Rome
was once a bright and glorious church, God forsook it and for many a
day it has been the very center of apostasy and abomination! It is like
Shiloh where the Ark abode for a time, but concerning which God said,
"Go you now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at
the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people
Israel." And it may be so with any professed Church of Christ
today–and my fear often is lest, in any measure, it may be so with us.
Have we not, even in this Church, sins enough to provoke the Lord to
leave us? Have we not, at any rate, sufficient sins of omission in our
lack of earnestness, our lack of prayerfulness and our lack of
Christ-likeness, to cause Him to say, as He is reported to have been
heard to say during the siege of Jerusalem, "Arise, let Us go from
here"? Then would "Ichabod" be written on these walls and we might make
this building like the Jews' place of wailing, for if the Lord should
forsake us, we might well say, "The glory is departed. The Church has
lost her strength, her honor and, indeed, her very life!" We fear,
then, lest the Lord should leave us. But, Brothers and Sisters in
Christ, if you turn your fears into prayersthere may be no longer any
need for your fears!

My other fear has been lest converts should not continue to come into
this Church and that appears to also have been the fear of the Church
in Isaiah's day, or else she would not have been so surprised to see
them come. I watch, each month, and each week, with prayerful anxiety
and ask–Will there be more Believers putting on Christ in Baptism?
Will there be

more sinners crying out, "What must we do to be saved?" Will there be
more of our hearers boldly but truthfully declaring–

"We are on the Lord's side. We will serve the King!"?

I would rather suffer any personal affliction or calamity than that
God's work of Grace should be stopped among us. It is a terrible thing
when a professing Church continues to exist, in a fashion, yet is
unfruitful–a vine whereon hang no ripe clusters–a field that yields
no harvest. There may be some ministers who can be content when their
churches do not grow, but I am thankful to say that I am not one of
them! My heart is troubled, and I trust, my Brothers and Sisters in
Christ, that your heart is also troubled unless converts continue to
come to us "as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows."

There is another fear that often passes across my mind like a dark
threatening cloud–and that is lest some of those already brought into
the Church should grow cold and others should apostatize altogether
because they never had "the root of the matter" in them–and lest the
rest should stand still in mere dead formality and not live in the
Light of God. We need to have churches and church members that are full
of life! And if there really is true spiritual life within us, we need
to "have it more abundantly." Cold or lukewarm religiousness is to be
found on all sides, but where can we find such holy fervor as blazed in
England in the days of Whitefield and Wesley? Even on the old Methodist
altar, it burns but very feebly. Oh, that everywhere it could be fanned
into a vehement flame! We have some of this fervor here, but we pray
that it may come with still greater force. Some of you, dear Friends,
have had it and have been very zealous for the Lord of Hosts–are you
growing cold? If so, may the Master revive you! Are you curtailing your
efforts? Are you shortening your prayers? Are your offerings less
generous than they used to be? Is your consecration to Christ less
complete than it once was? Oh, for a great revival to begin with us at
home–for if the Lord is not with us, warming our hearts, fanning our
zeal and inflaming our love–we cannot expect that our efforts on
behalf of others will be attended by any great measure of success! Paul
truly wrote to Timothy, "The husbandman that labors must be first
partaker of the fruits." The water must gush up at the fountainhead
otherwise it cannot flow down the hills to make fertile the meadows and
make glad the vales. May God grant that inasmuch as these fears of ours
have good reason for existing, we may not put them away, but may turn
them into earnest prayers such as these–"O Lord, do not forsake us! O
Lord, do not leave us without continual additions to our membership! O
Lord, do not let us, as a Church, be without many true conversions! O
Lord, do not allow Your people to grow cold–to become dead–but 'visit
us with Your salvation!'"

Now I can advance a step further. Our text, though it came to persons
possessed by gloomy fears, contains in itself a very bright picture.
You will understand the metaphor that is used in it if I just tell you
that a traveler in the East saw, near Ispahan, many large round towers
crowned by conical spiracles through which the pigeons descended.
Inside they were like a vast honeycomb, pierced with a thousand holes,
in each one of which pigeons could build. And he said that when he saw
them fly back to their homes at night, they were so numerous and so
compact that they might well be compared to a cloud–and the swiftness
with which they flew back to their dovecot forcibly reminded him of
this passage, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to
their windows?" We have here, then, a beautiful picture of souls coming
to Christ and to Christ's Church in great numbers and with great speed!
And we will ask and try to answer three questions concerning them.
First, why should they come? Secondly, how should they come? And
thirdly, why should so many of them come?

I. First, WHY SHOULD THEY COME?

There is a very complete answer to that question with regard to the
doves. It is natural that doves should come to their dovecots and there
is an equally complete answer to the question, Why should souls come to
Christ? There are four reasons why they should come.

First, because Christ is the true food of souls. No doubt the doves or
pigeons were often fed at the dovecot. Therefore they knew where it was
and they gladly flew to it. Hungry Soul, Christ is the only food that
can ever appease your hunger–are you as eager to get to Him as the
hungry doves are to get to the dovecot? Do you long for peace,
happiness, forgiveness, salvation? All these are to be found in Christ!
Yes, all that your empty soul can require to fill it to the brim is
stored up in Christ Jesus! Therefore you should come to Him–and our
prayer is that you may come to Him even now.

Next, the doves came to the dovecot because it was a place of security
for them–and for the same reason sinners should come to the Savior.
They are unsafe as long as they are out of Christ. Go where you may, O
Soul–until you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, you are in jeopardy!
Whether you live in sin or in self-righteousness, you are equally
liable to be destroyed until you come to Christ! The whole world is the
City of Destruction and Christ is the only Gate of Salvation, as Paul
says in writing to the Galatians, "Scripture has concluded all under
sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ

might be given to them that believe." [Sermon #1145, Volume 19–THE
GREAT JAIL–AND HOW TO GET OUT OF IT.]

But next, the doves came to their dovecot because it was their home.
And the only true home of any human heart is in the wounds of Jesus. He
who really finds Christ finds rest, enjoyment, peace, tranquility–in
fact, all that the word, "home," really means. The man who truly
believes in Jesus is forgiven. He is reconciled to God. For him there
is no gloom with regard to the world to come–no Hell to dread and only
a Heaven of bliss to enjoy! Moses wrote, "Lord, You have been our
dwelling place in all generations." And God is still the dwelling place
of His people–they find rest and peace in Him. Therefore should souls
go to Christ, even as the doves go to the dovecot. The fourth reason
why the doves came to the dovecot was because it was a fit place in
which to lay their young. Some of you may remember a sermon

I preached on Psalm 84:3, [Sermon #3041, Volume 53–THE SPARROW AND THE
SWALLOW.] "Yes, the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest
for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O Lord of
Hosts, my King and my God." A saved man has at least a greater
probability than any unsaved man has of seeing his children saved. On
the day of Pentecost, in answer to the question, "Men and brethren,
what shall we do?" Peter said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call." So, for your children's sake as well as for
your own sake–

"Come, guilty souls and flee away,

Like doves, to Jesus' wounds!

This is the welcome Gospel-Day

Wherein Free Grace abounds!" II. Secondly, the text answers the
question, HOW SHOULD THEY COME? They should come "as a cloud, and as
the doves to their windows."

That is, they should come very swiftly. A dove's flight is very rapid
and when a cloud of doves is driven by the wind, they fly very swiftly
through the air. That is the way for sinners to come to Christ–come at
once without delay. The very best time to trust the Savior is NOW, for,
"behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation." I cannot give you a promise of salvation tomorrow, but I
find many promises in the Word of God concerning the present time. Oh,
that God would, by His Grace, incline some soul to break away from the
bands of procrastination and say, "Since it may be 'now or never' with
me, it shall be NOW! I will fly to Christ at once."

There are many reasons why you should fly to Christ at once. First,
because you are in present danger Should not the dove fly at once to
its windows when the hawk is after it? And Sinner, sin is after you and
wrath is after you if you are out of Christ. "He that believes
not"–and mark, this is God's Word–"he that believes not is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God." "Condemnedalready." Then you are in a condition of present
danger and I say to you as the angel said to Lot, "Escape for your
life! Look not behind you, neither stay you in all the plain; escape to
the mountain, lest you be consumed." Already the venom of the fiery
serpent's poison is boiling in your veins! Look then, at once to Him
who is lifted up before you as the bronze serpent was lifted up before
the bitten Israelites, for there is healing in a single glance at
Christ Crucified! Though you are at the very ends of the earth, the
message can reach you, for the Lord says, "Look unto Me, and be you
saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none
else." So come to Christ at once because you are in present danger.
[See Sermon #60, Volume 2–

SOVEREIGNTY AND SALVATION.]

Besides that, there is great reason why you should fly at once to
Christ because time is flying faster than you can fly. And with the
flight of time, the approach of the night of death is certain. The dove
seeks its dovecot before nightfall, for it knows the dangers to which
it would be exposed in the darkness. The night is fast approaching with
some of you. In the nature of things, you cannot live much longer, yet
how strange it is that men often think that they will continue to live

though they expect that others will die! I heard, only this week, of a
man of 86 who expects some property to come to him, but there is
another man's life that delays his possession of it–and he is
eighty-four. Yet the older man told a friend of mine that he expected
very soon to inherit the property as the person who held it was a very
old man and could not live much longer, though he himself was two years
older–an admirable commentary on the words of the poet, "All men think
all men mortal but themselves." Yet if we use our wits, we shall know
that we are also mortal. Possibly old age is already creeping over us
or, if not, there is an unseen hand that may be, even at this moment,
tugging at our heartstrings–some fatal disease or sudden stroke from
God may swiftly come upon us and we shall be gone from earth as so many
others have gone. Fly, O you doves, for death's arrows are flying! Fly,
for the fowler's nets are spread all around you! Fly, for true life is
only to be found through those blessed windows which Christ has opened
for guilty souls!

I am praying for conversions tonight. Brothers and Sisters, you who
know how to pray, join with me in praying for conversions tonight that
before the unsaved sleep, they may come to Jesus and be saved!

III. Now, having spoken of why they should come and how they should
come, I have to answer the third question,

WHY SHOULD SO MANY COME? They are to fly in such a vast flock that they
shall be like a cloud! My heart rejoices at the very thought of great
numbers of sinners coming to Christ, but why should so many come?

Well, first, because there is room for them. There is room in the
dovecot for every dove that comes and there is room in the heart of
Christ for every soul that ever will come to Him. There never was a
true penitent whom Christ repelled, saying, "I did not shed My blood
for you." There never was a Believer whom Christ refused, saying, "You
had no right to believe in Me." No, His gracious message still stands–

"Engraved as in eternal brass,"–

"Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." [See sermon #3000,
Volume 52, COME AND WELCOME.] Write that truly golden text in starry
letters across the sky, or, better still, ask the Holy Spirit to write
it in your memory so that you will never forget it–"Him that comes to
Me I will in no wise cast out." Though he may have been a drunk, a
swearer, or a thief–though he may have been unchaste or unjust–though
he may even now be black or red with crime–if he does but come and
trust in Jesus Christ, he cannot be cast out! There is room in Christ's
heart for all who come to Him, so let many come now.

Besides, 'tis sweet for many to go together How glad I am when I can
receive husband and wife into the Church at the same time! And I am
still more glad when there is a little train of their sons and
daughters behind them, all coming together to confess their faith in
Christ! You know that if only one member of a family is brought to
Christ, that one will be like a speckled bird in the home-nest, but
when the Lord draws the whole family to Himself, how blessed it is for
them all to walk hand in hand to Heaven! I think that, if necessary, I
should have been glad to go on pilgrimage alone, as Christian went, but
I should have liked much better to have gone with Christiana, Mercy and
the children, and with Mr. Greatheart, and old Father Honest and all
that noble party of pilgrims who went together to the Celestial City.

Further, the same reason that should make one go to Christ should make
others go to Him. When I used to preach at Waterbeach, the chapel was
crowded, but when I first came to London, I was very much discouraged
by the sight of so many empty seats. But somebody said, "You may depend
upon it that the Gospel that will draw 600 in a country village will
draw 6,000 in London." And I have found it so all these years. If
Christ can draw one soul to Himself, why can He not draw twenty? And if
He can draw twenty, why not twenty thousand, and why not thousands of
millions? Why should not we live to see many millions of souls
converted to God? Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to present the
irresistible attractions of Christ to the hundreds of millions in the
whole human race!

And then, Beloved, when sinners come to Christ in great numbers, think
what honor it brings to Him. A soul saved here, and another saved there
may go unremarked–but what a joy it is to us, and what Glory it brings
to God–when hundreds, or thousands, as on the day of Pentecost, are
converted at once! Then the Church is refreshed, revived and
encouraged! And the world hears of it and other churches hear of it and
ask for the same blessing. I do, therefore, beg you, my Brothers and
Sisters in Christ, to join with me in prayer that we may have a cloud
of converts flying to Christ– multitudes of precious souls coming to
Him as the doves fly to their windows!

IV. My time fails me, so I must close by again reminding you that OUR
TEXT SETS BEFORE US A BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL PICTURE–"Who are these that
fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?"

Shall I tell you who they are? I am not going to speak of them as being
God's elect, though that is true. And Christ's redeemed, though that is
also true. And the Holy Spirit's effectually called ones, though that,
too, is true! But I am going rather to dwell upon another phase of the
subject and that is this. Some of those that will fly as a cloud, if
our prayers are heard, and they do really come to Christ, will be our
own sons and daughters. It has been one of the greatest joys of every
revival season which we have ever had, that among the converts there
has always been a considerable proportion of the sons and daughters of
the members of the Church. Does not the very mention of that fact make
your mouths water? Do not your prayers now go up, "O Lord, bring my boy
in! Lord, save my girls! Let our children live in Your sight"? Perhaps
you have other young people living with you who are not literally your
sons and daughters, but who stand to you in almost the same
relationship. They are your nephews and nieces, or some orphan children
for whom you are caring, or it may be your pupils. Well, may the Lord
grant that when you ask the question, "Who are these that fly as a
cloud?" the answer may come, "Why, they are the very ones who dwell
with you! God has blessed those who are nearest and dearest to you!"
Dear young people, we cannot wish for you a greater blessing than that
you may be brought to Christ early and be united to His Church!

Yet again, how delighted would many of you be if, in answer to this
question, "Who are these that fly as a cloud?" it would be said, "Why,
some of them are from the Sunday school–and you would be even more
gratified if the reply would be, "Some are from your own class, the
very scholars for whom you have been especially praying–the boy to
whom you spoke so seriously–the girl whom you so affectionately sought
to come to Jesus." Teachers, would you not clap your hands for joy if
that could be truly said to you? Why should it not be the case? God has
often blessed such instrumentality and His arm is not shortened that it
cannot save, nor is His ear heavy, that He cannot hear. Go in faith and
ask for the blessing–and then work in real earnest, believing that it
will come–and it will assuredly be bestowed upon you and upon those
whose salvation you are seeking!

It would be peculiarly gladdening to my heart if the answer to the
question of our text should be, "Some of those that are flying to
Christ, as the doves fly to their windows, are your old hearers, old
seat-holders who have long been unconverted." I thank God that there
are not very many such hearers, for the Lord has brought in one after
another until there are not many of those who have long heard the Word
who still remain unsaved. The axe of Grace has cut down these trees of
sin, one after another, and built them into the Temple of God! Our
unconverted seat-holders are getting to be fewer and fewer–and my
prayer is, "O Lord, bring Your sharp axe and cut every one of them
down!" I am sorry that there are any of my old hearers who are still
unsaved–how I would praise the Lord if, after ten, twelve and some of
you 18 years of hearing the same voice preach the same Gospel, you
should be saved at last!

Probably, however, there will be another answer to the question of our
text. "Some strangers, some of your casual hearers, have been brought
to Christ.." Dear Friends, I repeat the request that I have often
made–Please look after those who come here only occasionally to hear
the Word. Do all you can to make them comfortable and then, if there is
any sign of attention to the preacher's message, or of impression
produced by it, do not let anyone be able to say, "I went to the
Tabernacle half-a-dozen times, yet nobody ever spoke to me." Be sure
that no one shall be able to truthfully say, "Why, I am still quite a
stranger there, though I have been attending for years! But nobody has
spoken to me." We used to have–I wish we had more of the same sort
now–some very gracious people who were always on the watch for anxious
souls. I remember one young man who joined the Church in this way–he
came up from the country–we were then worshipping at the Surrey
Gardens Music Hall. And the first time he was at our service, one of
our brethren took him into the hall and gave him a seat. On another
Sunday, when he saw him again, he asked him home to dinner and he
talked to him about the things of God in such a way that, in a very
short time, that young man became a Christian and joined the Church,
though before he had lived without the fear of God. Would it not be
something for which to praise the Lord for many a day if, among those
that fly to Christ, as the doves fly to their windows, there should be
one to whom youhad spoken–a casual hearer, smitten by the Word
preached, but brought into peace and liberty through a few sentences
which you spoke privately to him?

I pray that among those who are brought to Christ, there may be many
rank outsiders. I do not know when I ever more enjoyed speaking, or
hearing anybody else speak, than I did while speaking or listening to
my Brother Varley last Wednesday when we had the area of this
Tabernacle full of butchers. They appeared to be thoroughly in earnest
and they drank in the Gospel–and I do trust that some of them retained
it in their hearts and will bring forth fruit in their lives.

We must constantly try to lay hold of men who are outside all ordinary
religious worship. You who go with tracts all round this district, you
who visit the people in their homes, you who stand at the corners of
the streets and preach, you who are spiritual Uhlans, riding ahead of
the main army of God, you who are breaking up fresh ground and trying
to increase the area of ground that is being cultivated for Christ–may
you all have a present reward as you see the converts coming to Christ
as the doves fly to their windows! May our Bible classes for men and
women be richly blessed in bringing many to Christ and His Church! May
our College be richly blessed and every man become abundantly useful in
the Master's cause! And may every one of us seek to have a share in the
great additions to our numbers which we trust God will soon send to us!

I have only to ask one more question and then I will close. Among these
that are to fly as a cloud, and as doves to the dovecot, will you be
one, my Hearer? "Do you want me to join this Church?" I did not say
that! I did not say anything about your joining any church. You must be
joined to Christbefore you can join His Church. That was the Apostolic
way–"They first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the
will of God." I do not first ask if you are willing to be baptized. I
do not want you to be baptized before you believe in Christ. That is
useless–no, it is worse than that– it is wicked! There is no
Scriptural warrant for the Baptism of an unbeliever. To sprinkle a
baby, or to immerse an adult who does not believe in Jesus is a
transgression of Christ's Law! He has laid down the order, "He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved." Do you ask, "What do you want
me to do?" I want you to be one of those who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ! Is the Spirit of God working in your heart and saying to you,
"Turn you, turn you, for why will you die?" Is He saying to you, "Trust
yourself to Christ"? Then, yield to that gracious influence now, and
say–

"Now to be Yours, yes, Yours alone,

OLamb of God, I come!"

If that is your sincere utterance, you are a saved soul! Now be
baptized, now join the Church! But first see to it that you believe in
Jesus, for that is the first business. May God bring you to Christ and
may the blessing of the Triune Jehovah be with you forevermore! Amen
and amen!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMANS 10.

This chapter is a Gospel in itself–it very clearly points out the plan
of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is
that they might be saved. Paul had a tender heart towards all
unconverted men and women and he longed and pleaded with God that they
might be saved. Have all of us this unselfish compassionate feeling? I
am afraid that there are some Christians who are very deficient in it,
yet in the dread of an immortality to be spent in unutterable woe by
all unbelievers, our hearts' desire and perpetual prayer should be as
Paul's prayer for Israel was, "that they might be saved." And if there
is one class among the ungodly which should touch our hearts more than
all the rest, it is those who are earnestly seeking salvation but who
are seeking it where they will never find it, namely, by the works of
the Law.

2. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge. It is not sufficient for a man to be sincere in
his zeal for God–sincerity must be according to knowledge if it is to
be of any value. If a man travels North, his sincere belief that he is
on the right road will not bring him to his destination in the South!
If a man, in all sincerity, drinks poison under the belief that it is a
cheering cordial, it will kill him, notwithstanding his sincerity. And
if a man sincerely believes a lie, it will turn out to be a lie
notwithstanding his sincerity. So that it is not enough to be sincerely
zealous for God, or sincerely anxious to be saved–but you must seek
salvation in God's revealed wayif your search is to be a successful
one.

3. For they being ignorant ofGod's righteousness, andgoing about to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God.This is not an error on the part of only the
Jews–it is to be found also among many Gentiles. Such people must have
a righteousness of their own and Paul says they are continually "going
about" to establish it. To do this they will undertake any labor,
endure any suffering, or perform any self-denial, but all the while
they despise God's righteousness–despise it by the very act of
preferring their own, or seeking another way of salvation instead of
walking in the one which God has provided! How sad it is that so many,
in all sincerity of blind zeal,

should be dishonoring God and virtually dethroning Him by the attempt
to set up a righteousness of their own when He has already provided a
perfect one which they will not accept.

4. For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that
believes.Even the Law itself has this for its main drift and
purpose–that it may introduce Christ. Its end, its intent, is to show
to us our need of Christ, to point us to Christ and to make us willing
to have Christ as our Savior. And as even the Law aims at this
objective, much more clearly does the Gospel. Oh, that none of us might
miss the aim and objective of this blessed design of God–that we might
find righteousness through believing in Christ!

5. For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the Law. And he
does it in very brief, concise and satisfactory terms.

5. That the man which does those things shall live by them. That is the
beginning and end of the Law, "Do and live."

6-8. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say
not in your heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring
Christ down from above), or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is,
to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what says it? The word is
near you. The saving, life-giving word is not to be sought above, nor
below, nor afar off–it is "near you."

8. Even in your mouth, and in your heart It is not a matter of doing
with the hands but of believing with the heart and of confession with
the mouth!

8, 9. That is the word of faith which we preach; that if you shall
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. The Gospel's
command, "Believe and live," is quite as clear and plain and positive
as the Law's command, "Do and live."

10, 11. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says,
Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. He shall never be ashamed
of having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ! If he really believes on
Him, he shall never be ashamed of the result of so believing, for that
result will be eternal salvation to him–there is no doubt about that!

12. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.If there are
great numbers to be saved at one time, Christ will not have to do as we
do when we have too many guests at a feast, namely, cut the portion of
each one smaller. Oh, no! For "the same Lord over all is rich unto all
that call upon Him," whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

13. For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Let us read that blessed verse again.

13, 14. For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed?When I hear anyone say, "I cannot believe in Christ, but I
will pray to Him for faith." I say, surely the prayer is more difficult
than the believing–"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have
not believed?"

14, 15. And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach,
except they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things.'We, dear Friends, have had this whole process carried out in
our midst. The Gospel has been preached–preached, I trust, by one who
can prove, by the many seals to his ministry, that he has been "sent"
by God who has given him these confirmations of his commission in the
constant conversion of those to whom he has preached. Then many of you
have heard the preaching and have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
and, therefore, you are "saved" to all eternity. But, alas, there are
some of you who have not believed in Jesus! Yet you must be saved by
this process, or you can never be saved at all, for God will never try
any other plan! His way of saving men is to send the preacher whom He
has called and qualified to preach. The preacher preaches. The people
hear. By hearing they believe and by believing they are saved! This is
God's way of saving sinners and He will not depart from it! So let us
walk in it. May His gracious Spirit take away from us all our proud,
foolish and wicked objections to His simple plan and may we all believe
and live!

16. But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who
has believed our report?So you see that even the Prophet Isaiah had the
idea that salvation comes to sinners by believing. He mourned and cried
to his God because men did not believe the "report" which he had been
sent to deliver to them concerning that Man who was "despised and
rejected of men," that Man of whom the Prophet truly said, "Surely He
has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.. .He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed."

17. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
With what solemnity this invests our hearing! I often hear people say,
"We go to such-and-such a place of worship, to hear so-and-so preach."
That is well if the preacher is, like John the Baptist, "a man sent
from God," for, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of
God." Only let us all so hear the Word of God that hearing it we
believe on Jesus Christ whom God has sent–believing on Him, we confess
our faith in the Divinely appointed way, devoutly worship and adore the
ever-blessed God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–and do all we can to
make the Savior known to others.

18, 19. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I
say, Did not Israel know?These Jews for whom Paul prayed–these people
who were so zealous in seeking to establish their own
righteousness–did not they know God's way of salvation? Did not they
know Jesus of Nazareth, the Divinely appointed Savior? Yes, they did,
but they refused to believe on Him–they would not walk in God's way of
salvation.

19-21. First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Isaiah is
very bold, and says, I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made
manifest unto them that asked not after Me. But to Israel he says, All
day long I have stretched out My hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people. Oh, that God would soon bring these "disobedient and
gainsaying people"–whether Jews or Gentiles–to submit themselves unto
His righteousness and so to be saved! May He graciously grant it, for
Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

–Adapted from The C. H. Spurgeon Collection, Version 1.0, Ages
Software, 1.800.297.4307

PRAY THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL USE THIS SERMON TO BRING MANY TO A SAVING
KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST.