Sowing and Reaping

Sowing and Reaping

(No. 3109)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 16, 1874.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that
shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7.

I FIND, on reference to Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the
Galatians, and to Calvin's Commentary on this passage, that both those
learned expositors consider that this refers to the treatment of
ministers by their people in the matter of their financial support.
They very properly point out the connection between the 6th verse and
the 7th–"Let him who is taught in the Word share with him who teaches
in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a
man sows, that shall he also reap." I suppose that there was a need for
such an injunction in Paul's day–and there is a need for it now. There
were some hearers of the Gospel, then, who contributed generously
towards the maintenance of the preacher and the Apostle says that what
they gave would be like sowing good seed in return for which God would
give to them an abundant harvest. But there were others who gave
sparingly and who would, therefore, have a proportionately small
return.

But I feel sure that the Apostle had a wider range than that and that
these words express a general principle– "Whatever a man sows, that
shall he also reap." So I begin my discourse by reminding you that our
present lives are of the utmost possible importance, for on these
winged hours hang eternal issues. Our present actions are not trifles,
for they will decide our everlasting destiny. Everything we do is, to
some extent, a sowing of which eternity will be the reaping.

I. So I pray you to notice, first, that our text tells as that GOD IS
NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap."

Some trifle with God by holding, practically, if not theoretically,
that there will not be rewards for virtue, nor punishment for sin–that
one end will come alike to all–that whatever the dignity or the
degradation of character may be, we shall all go to the same place and
sleep there in oblivion. Or that if there isany future life, it will be
common to us all and that, in fact, the whole question concerning the
hereafter is a matter so utterly unimportant that we can afford to
regard it with complete indifference!

But, dear Friends, it is not so. There is an Omnipotent, Omniscient,
and Omnipresent God–and He is the moral Governor of the universe. He
will not see His laws broken with impunity, His name deferred, His
Gospel despised, His Son rejected. He is intensely sensitive to the
actions of mankind. He is not a god of granite or of steel. He takes
note of the acts, words and even of the thoughtsof those whom He has
created! And if they are finally impenitent, sooner or later He will
say, as He did in Isaiah's day, "I will ease Me of My adversaries and
avenge Me of My enemies."

Others seem to suppose that, even if there is a future, an eternity of
rewards and punishments–the reaping of which this life is the
sowing–a bare profession will suffice to save them. They appear to
imagine that if they only compliment their Maker with an occasional
"Thank God!" and utter a few words of mere formal prayer, and are not
grossly licentious, but live tolerably decent lives, that will satisfy
God's requirements. Nothing can be more mistaken than such an idea as
that! God in the highest heavens is Himself perfectly pure–His perfect
Law is like Himself–and it is not for Him to accommodate His righteous
Law to the wills of fallen man! Do not fancy that He will accept the
mere external homage of your being. He must have your heart, soul,
mind, and strength, or He will not be content. It is vain for anyone to
attempt to mock God by supposing that anything will do for Him in place
of that heart-surrender and heart-service that He demands.

There are others who seem to suppose that if they make a profession of
religion, that will suffice. They think that if they attend the parish
church or the dissenting chapel and subscribe regularly to religious
and philanthropic societies, that is all that is required of them. That
is how they mock God–that same God who came to the top of Sinai and
there, amidst thunder and lightning–gave the Ten Commandments! But He
is not to be satisfied by a bare profession of religion. To confess
what we do not really feel is but to increase our sin–a hypocritical
profession is a further aggravation of our sin. Does God accept your
heartless sacrifices, your meaningless words and empty phrases? No! He
is not to be mocked by mere outward religious forms and ceremonies.

Others imagine that God can be imposed upon by a formal compliment when
they are near death. A man is dying and immediately the cry is, "Send
for a minister!" They often send for a dissenting minister, though they
have never attended his ministry! And they appear to imagine that by
some sort of magic we can work wonders even for the poor creature who
is probably unconscious before we get to him! And if he has not trusted
in Christ before that time, no one can enable him to do it then. Yet
his friends call us up in the middle of the night, thinking that we can
do something for him. I am not now speaking of you who regularly hear
the Gospel and who are, therefore, likely to know better–yet this
opinion is very generally held. But I loathe the idea of having
anything of priestly power imputed to me. I have not an atom more power
than any of you, my Brothers and Sisters in Christ! I am only a
preacher of the Gospel and I would gladly hear the Gospel message from
any one of you! It is blasphemous to pretend that sacred unction can be
imparted by a mortal man. You must yourselves repent and turn to God–I
cannot do this for you. It is your own sowing, in this respect, that
must bring you a blessed reaping–not anything that you can get a
so-called "priest" or even a minister of the Gospel to sow

for you! [See Sermon #1250, Volume 21–THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH]

II. Now, secondly, I want to remind you that GOD'S MORAL LAWS, AS WELL
AS GOD, HIMSELF, ARE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH "Whatever a man sows, that
shall he also reap."

First, it is so in nature. If it were possible for God notto observe
what man does, yet what man does is, of itself, full of a power which
will be to him what the harvest is to the soil. And just what he sows,
he will be sure to reap one of these days, or in eternity if not in
time. If a man were to sow his field with garlic and expect to reap
barley, he would be bitterly disappointed. If he were to sow tares, he
might pray as long as he pleased for a crop of wheat, but he would not
get it. God never so changes His Laws as to make tares come up wheat
and He never will! The sowing always is, and always will be, the father
of the reaping.

It is also so in Providence. A man is idle and neglects his
business–he sleeps in the morning when he ought to be at work. He is
dilatory and careless about his affairs and so, as the inevitable
consequence, he goes from bad to worse and soon is a bankrupt. As he
sows, so he reaps. Another indulges in the sins of the flesh. So, when
you see him with a broken constitution and his whole being the very
incarnation of misery, you are not surprised. Another gambles and
wastes all his substance and, sooner or later, he comes to beggary. As
he sows, so he reaps. If a man is a drunkard, the poison he swallows
will take effect sooner or later, however strong a constitution he may
have.

As it is in nature, and in Providence, so it is in the general moral
government of God. Does not a man's own conscience tell him to expect
that what he does will come home to him? And though a man strives to
lull his conscience to sleep, yet now and then it wakes up and shakes
him with its thunders and causes him to be ill at ease. How is it that
graceless men cannot bear to be alone? It is because conscience shakes
them and makes them think of the future and dread still grater misery
than they at present endure! Just suppose, for a moment, that this Law
of God could be reversed and that I could now say to you, "You may sin
as you like, and no evil consequences will follow." Could you imagine
any proclamation which would spread such alarm and terror? Why, the
very fabric of society would be shattered in such a state of things!
Suppose that I had to say, "There is nothing better in being generous
and noble than there is in meanness and vice." Why, it would be enough
to put out the least spark of virtue that might be in existence
anywhere! But we have not to talk in that immoral fashion. There is a
God who judges actions, words and even thoughts–and "he that sows to
his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." God's Word, which is
our ultimate Court of Appeal, tells us that in the great reaping time
that is coming, Christ will "gather His wheat into the garner; but He
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The Book of Revelation,
foretelling the future, says that "the books were opened…and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works." O you gay, light-hearted and frivolous ones,
it is not we who say this, but it is the

declaration of the Spirit of God that, after death, comes the judgment!
And that, at that Judgment Seat you shall all appear! And for the acts
committed in your lives you shall all be tried! And as your lives have
been, so shall your eternal destiny be fixed!

III. This leads me to my third remark, which is that EVIL SOWING WILL
BRING EVIL REAPING. "Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap."

This is seen in the present result of certain sins. "He that sows to
his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." By "the flesh" is meant
our corrupt human nature in such sins as are mentioned in the 19th
verse of the 5th Chapter of this Epistle, where we read, "Now the works
of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders,
drunkenness, revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." These are "the works of the
flesh."

I am not going to expound this passage [Mr. Spurgeon's expositions of
the whole passage, Galatians 5:13-26 will be found in Sermons #2632,
Volume 45 and #2831, Volume 49] fully, but I want briefly to show you
that

there are four classes of sins mentioned here. First, Paul mentions
sins of lust–adultery, which violates the most sacred
ties–fornication, which defiles the body. Uncleanness, which is
secret, not known to others, but which is fully known to God. Fleshly
thoughts, fleshly words and fleshly acts–lasciviousness, the outward
uncleanness which "society" condemns, yet often practices. He who is
doing any of these things is sowing to his flesh and he will, most
surely, "of the flesh reap corruption." You who are true Christians, of
course, hate all these things, as Jude says, "hating even the garment
spotted by the flesh." But mind that you also hate all books in which
these things are worked up into attractive narratives, for you cannot
even casually glance at such books, much less read them, without
polluting your whole being! But as for those who practice these sins,
which the Apostle here enumerates, let them not dream that they can be
saved while they continue to love that which God hates with a perfect
hatred!

The next sins in the Apostle's black catalog are idolatry and
witchcraft. Idolatry, which is forbidden by the Second
Commandment–"You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any
likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow
down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord, your God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me: and strewing
mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments."
To bow in worship before a so-called "altar," or a cross, or an image
or picture of a saint, or before a real or supposed "holy" relic, or
anything of the kind, is nothing but sheer idolatry! Yet multitudes are
committing this great sin under the notion that they are doing God
service! There is a form of idolatry which is not so gross as this, yet
it is also sinful–the idolatry of loving ourselves, or our wife, or
husband, or child, or father, or mother, or sister, or brother more
than we love the Lord.

Then the Apostle mentions witchcraft, by which is intended all real or
pretended communion with evil spirits or with the dead. Necromancy,
spiritualism and everything of the kind are absolutely forbidden to all
who desire to "inherit the Kingdom of God." Then follows a third set of
evils which may be classed under the head of sins of temper–"hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying,
murders"–all kinds of acts and forms of feeling which are not in
harmony with Christian love. If you really want to sow to the flesh,
you have only to make these things your own–if you give way to a
contentious spirit, foster disagreements, are filled with hatred and
envy so that you cannot bear to know that others prosper more than you,
and desire to drag them down to your level–if you give way to bursts
of passion, or indulge in backbiting, for that is strife–you are
sowing to the flesh. I grieve to say that these evil things abound all
around us but, O men and women of God, keep clear of all these things!

Then, lastly, Paul mentions sins of appetite–"drunkenness, reveling
and such like," for you must include gluttony with drunkenness. All who
commit any of the sins in this long black catalog are sowing to the
flesh and not to the Spirit! And when a man sows to the flesh what will
the harvest be? "He shall of the flesh reap corruption"–putridity,
rottenness, death! The sin that the sinner thought was sweet as honey
turns bitter as gall to him. There are many men and women in this world
who have lived in sin till it has become its own punishment. But if it
is not so in this world, it will be so in the world to come!

What a dreadful thing sin is when it comes to the full! If there were
no fire that shall never be quenched and no worm that shall never die,
you need not need any worse Hell than that of wicked men by themselves,
with nobody to control them, no public opinion to hold then in check!
You need not even turn the devil in with them–just leave them to
themselves, with no restraint upon their wickedness–and I can hardly
imagine that Hell itself can be worse than those sinners would soon
become!

Ah, my Friend, if you go on living in sin, you will wake up, one day,
surrounded by the fruition of your own guilt in all its awful enormity.
On every hand the harvest of your sowing to the flesh will stare you in
the face–and God will place in your hand a sharp sickle and will say
to you, "Reap here! Reap there!" You will say, "I cannot do it." But
you sowed it, so you must reap it! What terrible misery there will be
for you there! Yet it will only be your own sin in its ripeness, your
own transgression fully developed–and that awful harvesting will be
infinitely more than you will be able to bear. "Whatever a man sows,
that shall he also reap." The man who gripped the widow's throat, the
other day, and took away her few sticks of furniture, will look upon
her tearful face to all eternity! The man who led a fellow creature to
sin will see her pale sorrow-stricken face before him forever and ever!
He may try to escape from it, but he will not be able to do so. Does
that description fit anyone here? And does he complain that I am very
personal in my remarks? That is what I am and what I mean to be, in the
hope that he may repent of his great transgressions and, looking to
Jesus upon the Cross, may receive forgiveness of his sins before it is
too late!

IV. But now, lastly, I have something better to say, and that is that
GOOD SOWING WILL BRING GOOD REAPING.

I hear someone object, "But is not that salvation by works? Do you not
preach that salvation is all of Grace through faith in Jesus?" Yes, of
course I do, but it is still true that good sowing will bring good
reaping. But what sort of sowing do I mean? Why, the sowing that is
mentioned in the verse following our text–"He that sows to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." When a man sows to the
flesh, he deceives himself, for the flesh is his old fallen nature, and
such sowing is nothing but evil! But to sow well is to sow under the
influence of another Power and to sow in another manner! In fact it is,
as the Apostle says, to "sow to the Spirit."

First, we must sow under the influence of another Power Sowing to the
Spirit lifts our sowing altogether above the idea of human merit. He
who sows to the Spirit is led and guided by the Spirit of God–led to
repent of sin, led to believe in Jesus, led to a new life, led to
holiness, led to sanctification and, therefore, he does not take any
credit to himself for anything in him that is good, for he knows that
it was all implanted there by the Holy Spirit! Ah, my dear Hearers, if
we would have a good harvest, we must give up sowing to ourselves and
must sow to the Spirit. And the Spirit is freely given to all who seek
His aid at the foot of Christ's Cross. Jesus said to His disciples, "If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask Him?" May the Spirit of God come upon you and prompt you so to
pray that you may truly sow to the Spirit as to be regenerated in heart
and renewed in life, for then you shall most assuredly "reap life
everlasting."

We are also to sow in another manner When the Jews, at Capernaum, asked
Jesus, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" He
answered, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has
sent." That is the first thing for you to do if you wish to sow to the
Spirit–"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."
When you have rested upon the great atoning work which Christ forever
finished on the Cross of Calvary, you will begin to walk in newness of
life and you will seek in all things to be conformed to God's will. So
you "shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

In verses 22 and 23 of the 5th Chapter of this Epistle, the Apostle
tells what "the fruit of the Spirit" is. Firstly, "love." You are not
really saved if you have not a loving spirit. Secondly, "joy."
Christians ought to exhibit a joyful cheerfulness, so that all around
might see how happy they are. Thirdly, "peace"–the opposite of
variance. Fourthly, "long-suffering"–patience under provocation.
Fifthly, "gentleness"–consideration for others, readiness to help them
in any way that we can. Sixthly, "goodness"–not any holiness of which
you boast, but such "goodness" as other people can see and admire.
Seventhly, "faith"–reliability, keeping good faith with others, so
that they know that your word is as good as your bond. Eighthly,
"meekness"–that does not push itself to the front and does not easily
get provoked.

Ninthly, "temperance"–which keeps every passion under control, not
only with respect to meats and drinks, but with regard to everything
else.

Now, if you thus sow to the Spirit, you will "reap life everlasting."
The Apostle does not say that you will reap everlasting existence, but
everlasting life, which is quite another thing. "He that believes on
the Son has everlasting life." That is the perfection of love and
joy–you shall have that, and you shall ascend to successive stages of
holiness and virtue through the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus
and the sanctification of the Spirit–and one of these days you shall
throw out the last trace of the slough of sin! And then your
disembodied spirit shall dance before the flaming eyes of Him who is
purer than the sun and, by-and-by, "the Lord Himself shall descend from
Heaven with a shout," and your redeemed body shall rise, purified like
the body of your own dear Lord and Savior, which could not see
corruption because it contained no trace of sin–and then your
perfected body and soul and spirit shall triumph and reign with Jesus
here below in His millennial Glory! And after that you shall have the
fullness of "life everlasting" in the Glory yet to be revealed. All
this honor will be given to you, not because you have deserved it, but
of the free, Sovereign Grace of God. It is only given to those in whom
there is the Spirit of God and who, therefore, in their lives manifest
that holiness of character, "without which no man shall see the Lord."

May the Lord graciously give to all of us His Holy Spirit and may we
all meet in Heaven to part no more forever, for our Lord Jesus Christ's
sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 80; MATTHEW 9:36-38; 10.

Psalm 80:1-3. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You that lead Joseph like
a flock; You that dwell between the cherubims, shine forth. Before
Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Your strength and come and
save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause Your face to shine; and we
shall be saved. To whom could Israel go, in times of distress, but unto
her God? It was well that her Psalmists should teach her thus to pray.
Notice the form of this prayer–"Come and save us. Turn us again, O
God." We cannot be saved except by being turned from the ways of sin
into the path of holiness. But who shall turn us? What power can
reverse the current of the human soul? As well might Niagara begin to
ascend of its own accord as for man to turn to God except as God turns
him!

4-7. O LORD God ofHosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer
of Your people? You feed them with the bread of tears, and give them
tears to drink in great measure. You make us a strife unto our
neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God
ofHosts, and cause Your face to shine; and we shall be saved. Israel
was evidently in very deep distress, yet still God's own. It is no
evidence of our having ceased to be God's people that we are made to
drink deep draughts of tears. We are not to imagine that God has cast
us off because He chastens us. No, rather are we to argue the other
way, "for whom the Lord loves, He chastens."

8-15. You have brought a vine out of Egypt: You have cast out the
heathen, and planted it. You prepared room before it, and did cause it
to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with
the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
Why have You then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass
by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood does waste it, and
the wild beast of the field does devour it. Return, we beseech You, O
God ofHosts: look down from Heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
and the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the branch that
You made strong for Yourself'Notice how a soul, in deep distress,
usually gets to God. Under some aspect or other, by some way or
another, the heart gropes its way till it finds Him out. If poor Israel
is as a vineyard given up to the wild boar of the woods, there is still
hope through that "righteous Branch" of whom the Lord said to Jeremiah,
"In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely."

16, 17. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the
rebuke of Your Countenance. Let Your hands be upon the Man of Your
right hand, upon the Son of Man whom You made strong for Yourself "If
You will not hear us, yet hear Him. If You will put no honor upon us,
we will ask You to put the highest honors upon Him. Save us for His
sake. Deliver Your vineyard from the wild boar and restore the hedges
that have been broken down, for is not this the vineyard of red wine
which all belongs to Him?"

18, 19. So will not we go back from You: quicken us, and we will call
upon Your name. Turn us again, O LORD God ofHosts, cause Your face to
shine; and we shall be saved.

Matthew 9:36. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with
compassion for them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad,
as sheep having no shepherd. The sight that Christ saw, deeply affected
His heart–"He was moved with compassion for them." The expression is a
very strong one indicating that His whole being was stirred with an
emotion which put every faculty into forceful movement.

37, 38. Then said He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is
plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray you therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest. Pretenders
were many, but real "laborers" were few. God only can thrust out or
"send forth laborers." Man-made ministers are useless, yet they abound
all around us–but where are the instructive soul-winning ministries?
Let us plead with the Lord of the harvest to care for His own harvest
and to thrust out His own harvestmen.

Matthew 10:1. And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He
gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal
all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. They were first
Christ's disciples and then He sent them forth as His Apostles, clothed
with power and authority very similar to His own.

2-4. Now the names of the twelve Apostles are these. The first, Simon,
who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the
publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was
Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed
Him. The 12 Apostles linked the spiritual Israel with the 12 tribes of
the literal Israel which had typified it. They are mentioned in pairs,
but this last couple is not a pair, for Simon the Zealot had little in
common with the cool, cunning, calculating Judas Iscariot. There were
only 12 Apostles, yet one of them was a traitor! Among the leaders of
the nominal Christian Church today, is it possible that there is one
traitor in every twelve?

5, 6. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not
into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
you not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This
was "a mission to the Jews" only–meant for the general awakening of
the chosen nation. It was a mission from Israel to Israel–not to the
Gentiles, and not even to the people who were most like the Jews–"Into
any city of the Samaritans enter you not." After our Lord's
Resurrection, He gave the wider commission, "Go you into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every creature."

7, 8. And as you go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:
freely you have received, freely give. They were to be medical
missionaries–preaching the Gospel and healing the sick–and it was all
to be done "freely."

9, 10. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor
scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet
staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.The people at that time
were favorably disposed to our Lord and thus His Apostles might expect
treatment of a more generous kind than can be looked for in these
times. Certain of these regulations were altered on a subsequent
mission, when the people were less favorably disposed.

11-15. And into whatever city or town you shall enter, enquire who in
it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence. And when you come
into an house, salute it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace
come upon it: but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart
out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I
say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and
Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.Disclaim all
fellowship with those who will not have fellowship with your Lord. Let
them know that you leave them because they refuse to receive your
Master's message. If they continue to reject the Savior, their doom
will be even more terrible than that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

16. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. "Behold,
I send you forth." What power there is in the word of the King of
kings! "'I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.' You are
like sheep, helpless and defenseless; yet 'I send you forth,' and
therefore it is right for you to go even into 'the midst of wolves.'"
We might have imagined that the wolves would have devoured the sheep,
yet, at the present time, there are a great many more sheep in the
world than there are wolves. Sheep have always been weak and helpless,
yet they have multiplied! Wolves have always been strong and savage,
yet they have diminished until there is not one of them left in this
land. And in many other countries the same thing has happened. So, the
weak, the helpless who come under the care of "our Lord Jesus, that
Great

Shepherd of the sheep," shall be preserved from all the wolves that
would devour them, and even from the devil, who, "as a roaring lion,
walks about, seeking whom he may devour."

16. Be you therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."Be you
harmless because you are like sheep, but be you wise as serpents
because you have to dwell with wolves." You, too, Beloved, ought to be
very wise because of the wisdom which has been imparted to you by the
Master who has sent you forth. And you ought to use your best wits in
His service, yet never use that wisdom with any ill intent, for the
Christ who sends you does no harm to men, but only good.

17, 18. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the
councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and you shall
be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony
against them and the Gentiles. "Do not try to live on popular applause,
'but beware of men.' Expect ill treatment from them. If they can
persecute you with the scourge, they will do so, but if that is out of
their power, they will persecute you with their tongues. You will be
misunderstood, misrepresented, maligned–expect such treatment for I,
your Lord and Master, have had it before you."

19, 20. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you
shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall
speak. For it is not you that speaks, but the Spirit of your Father
which speaks in you. It is very remarkable what wise answers many of
the martyrs often gave. Illiterate men, when confronted by the learned
ones of the earth, completely baffled them! And weak women nonplused
their assailants and judges. A notable instance of that is recorded in
the history of the brave Anne Askew. After they had tortured her upon
the rack and her poor body was full of pain, she sat upon the cold slab
of her prison and put such questions to the popish bishops and
inquisitors as utterly confounded them! And Christ, still by His Holy
Spirit, enables His faithful followers to triumph over all the craft
and malice of men.

21, 22. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the
father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents
and cause them to be put to death. And you shall be hated of all men
for My name's sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.When
we give ourselves to Christ, we must do it without any reserve and be
prepared to follow Him even to the bitter end if necessary. If all men
should forsake us–if death should be our portion because of our
allegiance to Christ–we dare not draw back! To do that would lead to
our destruction–but to endure unto the end–this is eternal salvation!

23. But when they persecute you in this city, flee you into another:
for verily I say unto you, you shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel, till the Son of Man has come.I suppose Christ here alludes to
that wondrous coming of His in the destruction of Jerusalem. They had
but a short time in which to evangelize that land, so they had to be
quick in gathering out the Lord's elect before He came in that terrible
judgment. This same Truth of God ought to quicken the action of every
servant of Christ today. Be quick about your work, for your Master is
on the road and will soon be here. You may almost hear the rattling of
His chariot wheels, for long ago He said, "Surely I come quickly." The
trumpets are beginning to sound and you will scarcely have gone over
all the cities of the world before the Son of Man shall come unless you
hasten with the great task which He has entrusted to you.

24, 25. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his
lord. It is enough for the disciple that he is as his master, and the
servant as his lord. They that have called the master of the house,
Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?I do not
know what worse names they might give to us than they gave to our
Master, but, no doubt, they might do so, for as the servants are worse
and less than their master, the world might, if it acted upon the rule
of proportion, apply much worse names to us than it has ever done to
our blessed Lord and Master. Are we to be esteemed and reverenced in a
world that persecuted and crucified Christ, our Lord and Savior? Be not
so foolish as to think so! And when you receive scorn and contumely,
accept it as being the lot of a follower of Christ.

26. Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered that shall
not be revealed; and hid that shall not be known. When men slander you,
they cannot take away your good name before God. There will be a
resurrection of reputations as well as a resurrection of bodies. And
good men, though their good names lie deeply buried, will certainly
have a resurrection. There is Wycliffe–how little, comparatively, has
ever been said about probably the greatest man singe the time of the
Apostle Paul! But his name and fame will yet arise and all history will
ring with the praise of it. Depend upon it, no man who has faithfully
served his Savior, shall miss the honor which he has truly deserved.
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of
their Father"–so be content to wait.

27. What I tell you in darkness, that speak you in light: and what you
hear in the ear, that preach you upon the housetops.There must first be
that quiet lonely hearing–that calm sitting at the Master's feet to
learn the lesson. And then afterwards must come the brave telling of it
out–speaking out though kings should hear and never being silenced
because of sinful shame.

28-31. And fear not those who kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in Hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them
shall not fall on the ground without your Father's will But the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear you not, therefore, you are
of more value than many sparrows. Do you not see the force of this
argument? These little creatures that are of so little account among
men are watched over by your Heavenly Father! They cannot die–no, they
cannot even light upon the ground without your Father noting it! Can He
then forget you who are worth so much more than many sparrows? Will He
not deal very gently, and tenderly, and considerately with you?

32, 33. Whoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I
confess also before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever shall deny
Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in Heaven.
You acknowledge Christ here and Christ will acknowledge you there. Dare
to bear reproach for Him and you shall be glorified together with Him,
by-and-by. But if the tenor of your life is that you do not claim
Christ–if you practically live as if there were no Savior, ignoring
Him, depriving Him of the trust which He deserves and the honor which
He has earned–then, when He comes in the Glory of the Father, He will
say, "you never knew Me, and I never knew you. Depart!"

34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send
peace, but a sword. That is to say, the first consequence of Christ's
coming will not be that we shall lead easy and comfortable lives, but,
on the contrary, He comes to enlist us in His army and to make soldiers
of us–and soldiers have to endure many hardships.

35, 36. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and
the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Many of the children of God have found this to be true, greatly to
their sorrow. No foes can wound us so sorely as those of our own
household. They get at our hearts and cut us to the very quick, while
others can only give us flesh wounds. Well, it must be so. Wherever
light comes, darkness will be opposed to it. Truth will always find
error ready to devour it if it can. Expect this, and half the
bitterness of it will be gone when it comes because you expected it.
"To be forewarned" here "is to be forearmed."

37-42. He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy ofMe:
and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And
he that takes not his cross and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me.
He that finds his life shall lose it; and he that loses his life for My
sake shall find it. He that receives you receives Me, and he that
receives Me receives Him that sent Me. He that receives a Prophet in
the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet's reward, and he that
receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a
righteous man's reward. And whoever shall give unto one of these little
ones, a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, verily I
say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.God's great reward
for little service are given, not of debt, but of Grace, "according to
His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus."

–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.