Peter’s Blunder–a Lesson for Ourselves

Peter's Blunder–a Lesson for Ourselves

(No. 1823)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1885,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON JULY 3, 1884.

"But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is
common or unclean." Acts 10:14.

"NOT SO, Lord." This is a very curious expression. I do not care how
you turn it into English from the original, it is a very strange
compound. If Peter had said, "Not so," there would have been a clear
consistency in his language and tone. But "Not so, Lord," is an odd
jumble of self-will and reverence, of pride and humility, of
contradiction and devotion. Surely, when you say, "Not so," it ought
not to be said to the Lord and if you say, "Lord," you ought not to put
side by side with such an ascription the expression, "AOt so." Peter
always was a blunderer in his early days and he had not grown out of
his old habits of honest impetuosity. He meant well and his expression
was not intended to convey all that we might easily make of it. At any
rate, it is not for us to condemn him. Who are we that we should sit in
judgment on a saint of God? Besides, we are not without fault,
ourselves, in the matter of incorrect speech.

You and I have said some very curious things in our time. We have
uttered exclamations that have been so good that the Lord accepted
them, but they have been so bad that He could not have accepted them if
it had not been for His infinite mercy! In our utterances there has
been faith mixed with unbelief, love defaced with a lack of submission,
gratitude combined with distrust, humility flavored with self-conceit,
courage undermined with cowardice, fervor mingled with indifference. We
are as strange beings as the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his
dream and our speech betrays the fact. When we were fashioned by
nature, first of all, we were "fearfully and wonderfully made." But
when we fell and were unmade by sin, we became monstrosities,
combinations of contrary actions! I will not dwell upon that topic, but
every man who looks within, if the candle of God is shining within him,
must often cry out, "Lord, what is man, that You are mindful of him?
And the son of man, that You visit him?'

In our speech, this mixed estate of ours most plainly shows itself. We
often feel as if we could eat our words, or at the least, unsay them.
Speeches that have had about them real sincerity and true devotion have
been greatly marred by expressions which were not fit for the occasion.
Our tongues need a sevenfold sanctification if we are always to speak
that which is good and acceptable. And, surely, that is what we desire.
Now, we will have a look at Peter and see what we can learn from this
amazing expression of his–this strangely compounded exclamation, "Not
so, Lord."

I. The first Truth of God which we may easily learn is that THE OLD MAN
REMAINS IN THE CHRISTIAN MAN. Albeit we are made new creatures in
Christ Jesus and the life that is within us, the dominant life, is new,
holy and heavenly, yet the old nature still survives. Though crucified,
it is long in dying and struggles hard. Sin dwells in us so that we
painfully discover that, though we are new men, we are yet men–and
though the Grace of God reigns within us, yet there is a struggle for
the kingdom–and the sin that dwells in us strives after the mastery.
We are renewed sinners but we are still sinners. Our hearts and hands
are cleansed by Divine Grace, but they have a sad tendency to become
defiled.

Peter was still Peter. Why, dear Friends, I think that if I had never
before seen this passage in Acts, but had read Peter's life as I find
it in the writings of the four Evangelists, and somebody had newly
shown me the present text and said, "I have left out the name of the
Apostle, but one of them, when he had seen a vision from God and knew
that God spoke to him, nevertheless said, 'Not so, Lord'–what Apostle
was that?" I would not have had to guess twice, I am sure! I would have
been sure that it was Peter. So you see Peter is Peter after the Grace
of God has renewed him. I think we must say the same of ourselves. You,
Thomas, who used to be so thoughtful and careful–and somewhat
particular and nerv-

ous–you are a child of God, but you are still Thomas! And I suspect
that you will be wanting to put your finger into the print of the nails
and to thrust your hand into His side, or else you will not believe.

And you, John–you always were very loving and hearty and, at the same
time, hot in your zeal–and now that you have become a disciple of
Christ, I am sure that you will be more loving than ever. But I would
not wonder if even now you should be heard saying, "Master, send fire
upon those who reject You, and destroy them." The man is still the same
man–he is greatly altered, but he has not lost his identity! Whatever
change has taken place in him, Peter is Peter, and I should like you
young converts to remember that, for perhaps you think that in the day
when you were converted you lost your old selves altogether. I can
assure you that you did not! The hasty temper, the sluggish
constitution, the gloomy tendency, or the fickle humor will still be
there–to be struggled with so long as you are here below! You received
a new self, and a better self, but the old self is still there.

Your mother will be able to recognize you, I dare say, if you live at
home as a young person–she will know that it is the same John, or the
same Mary, for your foibles and weaknesses will crop up, if not your
faults and, therefore, you must keep a watch upon yourself. You are
greatly changed. God has done wonders for you–He has put a new heart
within you and a new song into your mouth, but the inclination to evil
is not dead–your passions, appetites and desires are, each one, prone
to overleap the boundary and transgress. The best of men are men at the
best! And Peter, after the Holy Spirit has fallen upon him, and he has
preached a very wonderful soul-winning sermon, is, nevertheless,
Peter–and you can tell that he is the same person–the accent of his
words still betrays him.

Note that Peter here shows how readily he fell, not precisely into the
same sin, but into the same kind of sin. His tendency was still to err
in a certain direction. This Peter who said, "Not so, Lord," is he not
the same man who, in his impudence rebuked His Master and said, "That
be far from You, Lord"? Impudence, I call it. It was a piece of
impertinence for which he was well rebuked when the Master said, "Get
you behind Me, Satan." Our Lord detected Satan endeavoring to work
through the zealous enthusiasm of Peter, to tempt Him to turn aside
from the great work that He came to do. I do not think that the other
disciples would have gone as far as Peter did–they had faults in other
directions, but it remained for Peter to rebuke his Master–and now we
see him half rebuking his Lord, again, as he declines to kill and eat
the creatures let down from Heaven. Yes, Peter actually says, "Not so,
Lord." May we never be found questioning Providence, or disputing with
Revelation, lest we be taken in the same fault and receive a rebuke for
rebuking our Lord!

Is not this the same man who, at suppertime, refused His Master? When
the Lord Jesus took a towel and girded Himself, and was about to wash
the disciples' feet, Peter said to Him, "Do You wash my feet?" for He
was astounded at such an example of humility. When the Master came with
the basin, Peter said, "You shall never wash my feet." And then you
remember what a turn Peter made when his Lord said, "If I wash you not,
you have no part with Me." Then Peter cried, "Lord, not my feet only,
but also my hands and my head." He was always impulsive and from this
cause he rebukes his Master and he refuses his Master. He acts as if he
fancied that he knew better than his Lord, though in his heart of
hearts he had no such notion. Yes, this is the same Peter who cried,
"Not so, Lord." He refuses for the moment to do his Lord's bidding, for
it happens to be contrary to his ideas of propriety. Oh, that we may be
kept clear of this grave fault!

And this is he who flatly contradicted his Master on another occasion.
When Jesus said to His disciples, "All you shall be offended because of
Me," Peter said, "Though all men shall be offended because of You, yet
will I never be offended." His Lord had told him that he would deny Him
and yet he declared he would not. I know all the excuses that we make
for Peter and I am quite prepared to make them, but, at the same time,
that was the way of Peter–that is the part in which he was weak. He
did this in his earlier days and after the Holy Spirit had come upon
him and he had been baptized into His power, and had risen into quite a
superior condition from that in which he was in the life of our Lord on
earth, yet he still tripped in the same place where he used to fall,
for he said, "Not so, Lord," as if he would again rebuke, refuse and
contradict his Lord.

I therefore put it again. What were your faults before conversion?
Guard against them now. What have been your failures, your weaknesses
and your errors since you have been converted? Watch against them,
still, for if you have now become an experienced Christian and your
Graces have been greatly developed–and you have become exceedingly
useful in the Church of God–yet, beloved Brother or Sister, the points
in which there is a weakness in your natural constitution and in which
you have made failures are the points at which you must set a double
guard of watching and praying lest you be led into temptation by those
special features of your character. Kindly notice this earnest advice,
which my

loving anxiety leads me to press upon you. I have seen so much of the
fruits of presumption that I entreat you not to give way to it. If
anybody tells you that the old man is quite dead, you may say, "Nobody
but the old devil could have set you on to whisper such a lie in my
ear! The truth is not in you."

You and I know that inbred sin is our daily plague, a fact past all
question with our souls. We have not to go many steps on our journey
before we painfully feel that the sins which we thought we had subdued
and should never be subject to, any more, suddenly awaken themselves
out of their graves and fight with us as if they had never been
conquered! If we did not cry to God with tears and agony for hourly
holding up, we should find ourselves falling into the same ditches into
which we fell years ago! My venerable Friend, that point in which you
feel that you are quite safe is the place where you lie most open to
attack. Listen to my words and see if they are not verified. Where you
say to yourself, "I am past danger on that account," there the enemy
will get an advantage over you. "But I am strong," you say. Nonsense!
You are weak as water! You dream of perfection, but you are a mass of
needs, infirmities and conceits! And if it were not for the infinite
mercy of God, who deals tenderly with you, you would soon have most
painfully to know it to your own dis-honor–and to the grief of your
Brothers and Sisters around you. Peter is still Peter, notwithstanding
what Grace has done.

You notice about Peter this thing still remaining, that he blurts out
what he feels. Be it for bad or good, prompt deliverance of his mind is
still the characteristic of Peter. He has seen the vision and he has
heard the voice of God saying to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." And
without a minute's deliberation Peter replies, "Not so, Lord." That was
how he did before. He was always blundering because he was in such a
hurry. If he had put his finger to his forehead for half a minute, he
would not have said many things which he did. This was a man whose
wisdom always lay at the back of his head, instead of at the front of
it. It came in to tell him that he had made a mistake, but it never
came to hand soon enough to prevent the error! And Peter after
Pentecost had not lost this trait of his character.

I may be addressing young folk here who are very impulsive and speak
out in a hurry, things which they, afterwards, are sorry for. I should
not wonder if you continue to be impulsive when you grow older. Perhaps
it will be one of your snares through life. Be on your guard against
it! It is a strength if it is rightly managed. Give me the man who, in
a good cause, does not think twice, but acts upon the warm impulses of
a ready mind! Give me the man who understands that second thoughts are
not always the best, for they are apt to chill–and the best thought is
that which comes from a heart fired with the love of Christ! The best
Christian workers to lead the van, to make a dash with a forlorn hope
have been those brave, impulsive, Peter-like spirits!

But that same characteristic, if not kept in proper order by the Spirit
of God, may lead you into a world of mischief. You say your say so
quickly, but you cannot unsay it, even in years and ages. You cannot
call back the words which now cause you to bite your tongue with
regret. You once grew very angry. It is true that 10 minutes calmed you
and you were as sorry as possible for all your bitter speeches, but
that could not undo the injury, nor heal the cruel wound that you had
given to your faithful friend. You must cry to God that if you are
impulsive, the impulses may always come from Him– and you must ask
Him, daily, to lead and guide you in the way of understanding. I pray
that you may not often pull out your sword and cut off a man's ear, for
Jesus is not here to work miracles, as He was at hand, fortunately,
with Peter. And you may cut somebody's ear off and not be able to put
it on again! Ask Him to keep you in check, that you may not be working
mischief in your haste which you will have to repent of in your
leisure.

But Peter is still Peter and so does the renewed man betray the
infirmities which were with him before his renewal. Yet Peter as Peter
still has good points, for he acknowledges all this. Luke could not
have recorded this incident in the Acts of the Apostles unless Peter
had personally told him, for no one else knew of it. And in the next
chapter we find that when Peter was brought up before the other
Apostles for what he had done, he narrated the whole affair and
confessed, "But I said, 'Not so, Lord.'" You see he was always
outspoken, honest and clear as the day. There was a trace of
dissimulation in him once, but I should think that it was strange work
with him. As a general rule, the bluff fisherman spoke what first came
to hand and had no cunning about him.

In this let us be at one with him. If you carry that trait of character
with you into the things of Grace, so much the better, for there is no
Christian that is so little a Christian as the man who is great at
tricks and mighty at "prudence." I think that is the name folks often
give it. "Cunning," I call it. The man who blurts out his mind so that
you know what he thinks, may get himself into lots of trouble, but he
does not get so many other people into trouble as the double-

minded man would do and, by the Grace of God, it often happens that his
directness, sincerity and truthfulness work together to effect a great
blessing in the midst of his Brethren. May the Spirit of God sanctify
our peculiarities, that they may make us especially useful–but save us
from our constitutional infirmities, that we may not, by them, be led
into sin!

There is the first head–the old man still remains in the regenerate
man. It was apparent in Peter and it is evident enough in us.

II. But now, secondly, THE OLD MAN GENERALLY FIGHTS AGAINST GOSPEL
PRINCIPLES, for this was the point upon which Peter differed from his
Lord. This, "Not so, Lord," applied to grand Gospel principles which
had been put before him, as, for instance, the abolition of the
Ceremonial Law. Peter was to know that those Ceremonial Laws which
forbade the eating of this and that, were now to be abrogated. By
Christ's coming here on earth and bearing a mortal body about with Him,
He has taken away the ban from all forbidden meats, so far as they were
forbidden upon religious grounds. God has cleansed them and what God
has cleansed, Peter was not to call common. Peter, at the first,
revolted from this–"I have never eaten anything that is common or
unclean. Not so, Lord; not so! I cannot arise and kill, and eat."

Many to this day quarrel with God's glorious Gospel on ceremonial
grounds. The Scripture says that men are to be saved by faith but these
formalists say, "Surely, they must be regenerated in Baptism–they must
be further fed by the blessed Eucharist." Persons who are evangelical
in their hearts and who unwittingly preach the Gospel, nevertheless
muddle it up with a number of outward ordinances and thus they say,
practically, "Not so, Lord." Ritualism is practically battling against
that Gospel which lies in faith in Christ and not in ceremonies–that
Gospel which demands spiritual life and not external performances! All
of us are apt to err in this manner, for we incline to attach undue
importance to matters which are proper and useful in their places, but
which are, by no means, essential to salvation!

One person thinks a great deal of confirmation which is purely an
ordinance of man! Another thinks equally much of attending class
meetings which is an instructive practice, but not a subject of Divine
command. Where Jesus has made no rule, we are not to make any! We are
to receive all whom Christ receives! None are unclean whom He has
cleansed! None are to be set aside if He admits them to His love. Yet
this lesson is not soon learned by sticklers for propriety–they
question any man's salvation who follows not with them and, when bid to
commune with them, they start aside with Peter's cry in their hearts,
if not on their lips, "Not so, Lord!"

The same battle is carried on by certain people who have never eaten
anything common or unclean in the sense that they have never associated
with any but very respectable people. Here the fight is concerning the
equality of men before the Law and under the Gospel. An evangelist
brings into the congregation all the poor people of the district and
the very worst of characters gather to hear him. This ought to be a
great joy, but in certain cases it is not. Many are offended and in
effect say, "Not so, Lord. Well, really, I–I–I do not like sitting
next to one who is dressed so badly and smells so vilely. I saw a woman
of loose character come in and I felt as if I must leave my pew." Oh,
you very respectable people, you know that you get into that state of
mind! You do not say much about it when we hear you, because you know
that it would not answer your purpose–yet you squeeze up against the
corner of the pew to get away from the poor and needy!

Do you not? If a man with a smock-frock, or with a dirty face comes in
here, you would just as soon that he would sit on the flaps in the
aisle as sit in your seat, and a great deal sooner, I dare say. There
is a great deal of that kind of feeling about and it may be very
natural, but it certainly betrays feebleness of Christian love. Truly,
it is an instinct of cleanliness to shrink from the unwashed, but then
it is an instinct of the new life to rejoice in the salvation of souls
and, for the sake of it, to put up with greater discomforts than can
arise from contact with the fallen. I suppose that in the days of
James, when he rebuked those who beckoned the rich to sit near them,
the Roman or the Jewish pauper was quite as disliked as any that are
among us at this day, yet he makes no allowance for this. Let us prize
the common and unclean so much that we never think of them in that
light! Never let us set up the tyranny of caste and rebuild the middle
wall of partition which our Savior died to throw down!

"God has made of one blood all nations of men"–we sprang of a common
parent and for men there is but one Savior! Let us know no
partialities, but desire, with equal earnestness, the salvation of peer
and pauper, of matron and harlot, of gentleman and vagabond! To hear
some people speak of their fellow men is sickening to me–they talk of
them as if they were mere offal and rubbish–not worthy of their
genteel notice! I bless God that I seldom hear it, for it arouses my
wrath! A minister in a certain neighborhood used solemnly to warn his
people against all such wicked persons as

Moody and Sankey and the like, because they were the means of saving
the lower orders. He said, "I see people in this district professing to
be saved and yet they never before went to a place of worship at all.
Therefore," he said, "I do not believe in their salvation, for surely
if God were about to save a great number, He would, first of all, save
those who have for years regularly attended our places of worship."

That was a bit of Peter-like propriety coming up and saying, "Not so,
Lord." Oh, the cruelty of respectability! If you have anything of that
left in your nature, ask God to turn it out! It was in the great
Father's own house that there lived an elder brother who said, "As soon
as this, your son was come, which has devoured your living with
harlots, you have killed for him the fatted calf." He was angry and
would not go in. He was a very excellent man, indeed, a very
respectable person–and he was not going in with such rag-tag as this
prodigal brother of his. He did not like so much fuss made over a
profligate. My Friend, that proud propriety is of the old man! Whenever
that disposition comes up in you, it is your baser part–the part that
ought to die–and in this way it shows its enmity to the Gospel of the
Grace of God.

I love to believe in the perfect equality of men in the sight of God as
to the work of His Grace. If they do but seek the Lord and put their
trust in Him, there is no difference–and this we must all maintain, as
Christian men and women, by receiving all classes with joy. Otherwise,
we shall be just getting where Peter was when he said, "Not so, Lord,"
for he said that he had not eaten anything common or unclean–and we
say that we have not associated with any person living in a back slum.

The same kind of battle takes place when our old man fights against the
Gospel in its great principle of Free and Sovereign Grace. You war
against it yourself when you are conscious of having done wrong and,
therefore, doubt the Grace of God. At once the old man says, "You have
sinned and, therefore, you are out of God's favor–He will cast you
away, and you will perish." But the Gospel principle is–

"Whom once He loves He ne ver leaves, But loves them to the end."

The tendency to legalism, which is natural to us, kicks against the
glorious doctrine of Free Grace and unchanging love–and sometimes we
say, "I am afraid that I am not good enough to pray, or fit to
participate in the Grace of God"–as if God needed some good in us
before He could bestow His Grace upon us! A diseased man is fit to be
healed; a poor man is fit for alms; a drowning man is fit to be
rescued; a sinful man is fit to be forgiven! God would have us come to
Him all empty, feeble, sinful and erring–and just receive of His free
favor in Christ Jesus, spontaneously given on His part, without
anything in us that can merit His esteem.

Oh, it is a grand thing to be able to spell that word,
"Grace–Grace–Grace"! Somebody said the other day that to say, "Free
Grace" was to use a redundancy. That is so. But there is such a real
redundancy in Grace that we do not mind using a redundancy of
expression when we are talking about it. "Free Grace" we still mean to
say, for, as some people will not believe that Grace is free, it is
still necessary to make it very clear that it is so, and to say not
only, "Grace," but "Free Grace." Christ did not die for saints, but for
sinners. He came not into the world because of our righteousness, but
He died for our sins.

The work of God is not to save men deserving salvation, but men who are
altogether undeserving of it. The great flood of Divine Mercy overflows
and drowns all our sins–rising and yet rising, 50 cubits upwards–till
the tops of the mountains of our iniquity are all covered, never to be
seen again. What a grand article of the creed is that–"I believe in
the forgiveness of sins"! Why are we so slow to believe it? Is it not
our old man rising, even as it did in Peter, to give battle to Free
Grace with its, "Not so, Lord"?

III. Thirdly, and as briefly as I can, I would remind you that THE OLD
NATURE SHOWS ITSELF IN MANY WAYS, always fighting against God. "Not so,
Lord," is often the cry of our unregenerate part. It is so against the
Doctrine of the Gospel. Some persons do not believe the Gospel because
they do not want to believe it. They studiously omit to read all such
parts of Scripture as would enlighten their minds. They are not
convincible because they have already persuaded themselves as to what
truth ought to be. "Not so, Lord," is their cry! Beloved, never get
into that state of mind! Follow God's Word anywhere, believing what the
Spirit says–let Him teach you what He may. Whatever your notions may
have been, when you come across a clear statement in the Word of God,
bow your every thought to it and accept its teaching, for it is true,
whatever your thoughts may be. It is mine to believe what the Bible
teaches. It is not mine to object and cry, "Not so, Lord."

This old nature of ours sometimes cries out against God in matters of
duty. We can do anything except the special duty of the hour and as to
that one thing, we say, "Not so, Lord." Yonder young woman knows, that
according to God's Word, she must not marry that young man, for she
would be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. Now, she was
quite willing to be baptized and she is heartily willing to give her
money to the Lord and, in fact, to do anything except that one act of
self-denial which would require her to cease from a fond friendship.
Yet, my Friend, I do not know what sorrow you will make for yourself if
you really break that salutary rule. I have seen many instances of
mixed marriages, but I have had to mourn over nearly all of them as the
cause of untold wretchedness. Take the precept and, knowing that it is
God's mind concerning you, never dare, even for a moment, to hesitate.
"Whatever He says unto you, do it." Never let your lips say, "Not so,
Lord," for it is disobedience to go against the command of the Lord
your God!

As it is with your practice, so let it be with everything else. Our
corrupt nature will dare to quibble at processes of sanctification. We
are anxious to bear fruit, but we do not care to be pruned. We are glad
to be delivered from dross, but not by the fire. Rebukes are
undervalued, searching Truths of God are avoided, faithful friends are
shunned and awakening Scriptures are neglected–for carnal ease pleads
hard for indulgence–and the flesh whines, "Not so, Lord."

Even in the dispensation of the Kingdom self-will comes in–we like not
that God should bless men by a sect to which we do not belong! We are
envious for our own Moses, lest the irregular Eldads and Medads should
eclipse him. I have known old folks object to the Lord's blessing that
rather obtrusive young woman, that very forward lad, that overzeal-ous
person! Let God bless us, certainly, but not by objectionable people!
Many would prefer Apostles from Athens rather than from Nazareth–they
prefer the smell of study lamp oil to that of the fishing boats of
Galilee! We pray for conversions, yet certain persons would not believe
in them if they happened out of the regular way. We are too masterful
by half and are far from taking up our proper position as servants. Too
much of the Peter clings to us and our tongue is much too ready to cry
out, "Not so, Lord."

Our natural corruption is apt to quarrel with the Lord concerning our
sufferings. Against this, also, be always watchful. Whenever you are
called to endure trial, do not complain of the particular form it
takes. Perhaps it is great bodily pain and you say, "I could bear
anything better than this." That is a mistake. God knows what is the
best for His child. Do not cry, "Not so." "Oh, I could bear sickness,"
says another, "but I have been slandered! My character is taken away
and I cannot bear that." Thus our will asserts its place and we pine to
be our own god and ruler! This must not be. You must, my dear Friend,
bear that which the Lord appoints, or else you will make the matter a
lot worse. If you need anything done well, do it yourself, with this
exception–that if you need your character defended, you should always
let that alone. Somebody else will take care of that for you and if
slander is the rod under which you are to smart, many of us have felt
it before you, and you need not complain so bitterly, as if a strange
thing had happened to you. Do not cry, "Not so, Lord," but let the Lord
appoint you care or calumny, sickness or slander, for He knows best.

"But I am afraid that I shall lose my wife, or a favorite child. I
think that I could have suffered anything but that." Yes, you see, a
rebellious spirit contends with God, one way or another–it cannot be
quiet. I was greatly struck with a story a dear Sister told me
yesterday. She was very nearly being removed from the Church–she had
quarreled with the Lord for taking away her husband and she would not
go to any place of worship she felt so angry about her loss. But her
little child came to her one morning and said, "Mother, do you think
Jonah was right when he said, 'I do well to be angry, even unto
death'?" She replied, "O child, do not talk to me," and put the little
one away, but she felt the rebuke– and it brought her back to her God
and back to her Church–humbly rejoicing in Him who had used this
instrumentality to set her right with her Lord!

O Friends, let us be silent before the Lord and judge His ways no
longer, for in this judgment there is no benefit to ourselves or
others! Do not say, "Not so," but rather, "It is the Lord, let Him do
what seems good to Him." When Jacob crossed his aged hands to bless the
two sons of Joseph, according to the Divine will, Joseph said, "Not so,
my Father"– but he could not alter his father's act. Jacob guided his
hands wittingly and the blessing came as God would have it. Perhaps a
great blessing is coming on you in a cross-handed manner. The Patriarch
had experienced many a cross-handed blessing, himself, and, therefore,
he knew what he was doing–

"Cross-handed came the blessing down On Jacob's hoary head, When
Joseph's bloody coat was shown As numbered with the dead."

Many a wonderful blessing has come to us in that cross-handed way. Bow
your head, therefore, and silence your tongue–and have done forever
with arraigning your Maker before your petty judgment seat! Shall not
the heavenly Father do that which is right and good?

Sometimes our corrupt nature quarrels with God about our service. The
Lord says, "Go into the Sunday school." "I should have liked to
preach," says the young man. "Go into the Sunday school." "Not so,
Lord," he says, and he will not go, and thus he misses his life-work.
It will not do for us to choose what work we will do. Who would employ
servants who, when they are told to do this or go there, should say,
"No, Sir, I prefer another engagement"? They will get their money on
Saturday night with the advice to find a new master! We may well pray–

"Dismiss me not Your service, Lord," if we have been pickers and
choosers of our work. Do what the Lord bids you, when He bids you,
where He bids you, as He bids you, as long as He bids you–and do it at
once! Never say, "Not so, Lord."

"But," you say, "Hi's Providence is very strange to me. I am called
away from the place where my heart has struck its roots. God deals with
me in a terrible manner." Truly His way is in the storm. Yet, never
say, "Not so, Lord." It is not a pretty position for a child of God to
be in to be trying to amend the arrangements of the great Father! The
Omniscient knows best! You think so, do you not? Do not act as if you
thought the contrary. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, an obedient heart, a
yielding spirit, a submissive mind and an acquiescence in the Divine
will are the necessary elements of happiness–the spirit of, "Not so,
Lord," is the mother of all the mists and fogs that darken our pathway!
If you will walk contrary to God, He will walk contrary to you. "Unto
the froward He will show Himself froward," but to the humble and
contrite, the submissive and obedient, He will show Himself exceedingly
gracious!

If you will stoop, you shall conquer. If you will yield, you shall have
your desire. If you will be nothing, God will make much of you. If you
will be lowly, God will exalt you. But if you will stand out against
your Lord, as surely as He loves you, He will correct you and He will
teach you better manners before He is done with you!

IV. Let us leave that point and close with a fourth observation–IT IS
A GREAT PITY WHEN THIS KIND OF

WILLFULNESS STANDS IN THE WAY OF USEFULNESS. It would have been so with
Peter if the Lord had not used the process by which He overcame him.
"Not so, Lord," said Peter. "Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten
anything that is common or unclean." In some things, Peter was a great
deal too conservative. He says, "Not so, Lord," and some read it,
"Never, Lord, never, Lord, for I have never!" That is, "I must never do
a thing I have never done." Many are of this mind–they cannot advance
an inch! This is the hymn they sing each morning before breakfast, "As
it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen." And until they go to bed at night, it is the tune they keep on
singing, "As it was in the beginning. As it was in the beginning." They
will never do what has not been done, nor learn what they have not
learned!

Many will only act as others act. They must keep in the fashion. Now
this is a rule which I never accepted, for it always seemed to me that
I was probably to do what nobody had done before me–for was I not, in
some points, different from everyone else? One likes to look about and
search for methods of usefulness which have not been tried, for a novel
form of labor may be like a bit of virgin soil which will yield a
better crop than our own arable lands which have been drained so long.
Do you not think that Christian men are apt to be stereotyped in their
ways? You must always sing so many verses and no more–you must pray at
a certain time and go right round Europe, Asia, Africa and America
before you close your petitions. Certain people must always do what
they have done, even though they fall asleep in the doing of it! This
kind of routine forbids enlarged usefulness, prevents our getting at
out-of-the-way people and puts a damper upon all zeal. Let us struggle
against the spirit which would bind us hand and foot–where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty! Let us not say, "Never, Lord, for I
have never," but, on the contrary–"Right speedily will I attempt this
work of usefulness because I have neglected it so long–I will make
haste and delay no longer to keep Your commandments."

Propriety hinders very many–decorum is their death. I do not know the
precise meaning of it, but there are genteel people about who consider
that the finest thing on earth is, "propriety." Mr. Rowland Hill was
said to have ridden on the back of all order and decorum. "No," he
said, "I cannot ride on the back of two horses, but I have two horses
to my carriage and I have called one of them, 'Order,' and the other,
'Decorum,' to make the report come as nearly right as possible." Order
and decorum were never put to a better use than when they drew Mr.
Rowland Hill from town to town

preaching the Gospel! And I, for one, am glad that he never took those
horses into the pulpit! He was just as disorderly and indecorous as a
Christian man ought to be–that is to say, he was perfectly natural and
spoke the Truth of God from his heart and men that heard it felt the
power of it–and so he became a blessing to this part of London and,
indeed, to the whole world! Shake yourself up a little, my Brother! If
you are too precise, may the Lord set you on fire and consume your
bonds of red tape! If you have become so improperly proper that you
cannot commit a proper impropriety, then pray God to help you to be
less proper, for there are many who will never be saved by your
instrumentality while you study propriety!

Again, I doubt not that some are hindered in their usefulness by their
great dignity. It is amazing what noble creatures men can grow into if
they are left alone. "This great Babylon that I have built," cries
Nebuchadnezzar! That is the same gentleman who, afterwards, ate grass
like the oxen and whose nails grew like birds' claws. We have seen
very, very, very great little people and very, very little great people
who have given themselves mighty airs–but we have never seen any good
come of their greatness! Few people are blessed by these gorgeous
individuals. God seldom sends His Elijahs bread and meat by peacocks.
If you ladies are very finely dressed and go visiting into the houses
of the poor and you "condescend" to them, they will not want to see you
any more. But if you go in and sit at their side and show them that you
are their true friends, you get at their hearts.

Love yourself less and less and love your God more! Love the soul of
every man with all the intensity of your being. Struggle and agonize to
bring sinners to the Savior's feet and God will help you. But if you
stand on your dignity and say, "Lord, not so; for I have never eaten
anything common or unclean," it will be a serious injury to you. I said
to one of our classes, "Let I grow very small, and let J grow very
great," and the Brothers and Sisters did not need an explanation. May
we so love our Lord Jesus that we cease to care for dignity and are
willing to be nothing for His sake!

Are there any here who have not yet believed in Jesus? I hope they will
trust their souls with Him at once and, when they have done so, let
them come forward without delay and confess His name and be baptized
into the sacred Three! Then let them try to grow downward lower and
lower, till they sink into nothing, that Christ may be All in All!
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