The Double “Come”

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 10, 1881,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say,
Come." Revelation 22:17.

WE have open before us the last page of the Word of God. The Spirit of
God will not dictate a single fresh line of Truth. We have come to the
last chapter and very soon we shall reach the Amen! We are also,
according to Divine Revelation, approaching the last page of human
history. So short a time will elapse before the present economy shall
conclude that the angel says, "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of
this Book: for the time is at hand." How shall the Book finish? If we
have come almost to its last verse, how shall it conclude? If we could
have been asked by the great Spirit of God, "How shall it close?" what
would have been our reply? We must certainly have left it entirely to
His infinite wisdom, but what suggestions might we have made?

Shall it finish with a promise? It is well that it should and there is
the cheering word for the righteous, "Blessed are they that do His
commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may
enter in through the gates into the city." But if we close with comfort
for saints, what about the multitude outside? What about the tens of
thousands who are perishing? Does not our love to sinners suggest that
there should be a word to them? Shall it, then, be a word of threat,
stern and vigorous, to awaken their consciences and convince them of
sin? Here it is–"Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers,
and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie."

Yet one does not like to finish with a sentence of exclusion. The Old
Testament closes with the word, "curse." Let not the New Testament
conclude in the same fashion. What, then, shall it be? Shall the last
sentences be full of tender invitation and earnest entreaty to the
sinner, bidding him come to Christ and live? Yes, let it be so! But
shall we forget the Lord, Himself, while we are thinking of the sinner?
He has told us that He will come–should not the very last word of
Scripture have a reference to Him and to His glorious advent? Should
not the Spirit, at the last, as well as at the first, bear witness to
Jesus? Shall not the last word that shall linger in the reader's ears
speak of the approaching Glory of the Lord? Yes, let it be so!

But it would be best of all if we could have a word that would combine
the four–a promise to the righteous, a threat to the wicked, an
invitation to the poor and needy and a welcome to the coming One! Who
could devise such a verse? The Holy Spirit is equal to the emergency!
He can dictate such a verse–He has dictated it! Here it is in the
words of our text–"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him
that hears say, Come." That, "Come," is a promise to the righteous,
for, "at the coming of the Lord they shall have their portion and their
glory, for His reward is with Him." That, "Come," is a word of thunder
to the wicked, for when He comes He shall break them as with a rod of
iron! He shall dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel!

That, "Come," is a word of invitation to the sinner–"Let him that is
thirsty come. And whoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely."
And yet it is a welcome to our Well-Beloved, for when the Spirit and
the bride say, "Come," they invite the coming One, the Messiah whose
Second Advent our heart desires, to whom we cry, "Even so, come
quickly, Lord Jesus!" I rejoice to find my text, set in the closing
chapter of Scripture, closing Scripture in such a way as Wisdom, alone,
could have dictated–comprehending all the things which are desirable
in the finis of Holy Writ! Oh for Grace to gather from this remarkable
portion the instruction which it contains! "Come," is the word of the
Spirit and the bride–and our text urges us to let it be our word, too,
if we have ever heard it. "Let him that hears say, Come."

In trying to open up this passage we shall notice, first, that here is
a two-fold ministry–we are bid to say, "Come," but it is in a double
sense–we say to Jesus, "Come," and we say to the sinner, "Come."
Secondly, we shall notice how this two-fold ministry is secured–"The
Spirit and the bride say, Come." This is actually and perpetually done
according to the ordinance of God. Then, thirdly, we shall see how this
two-fold ministry is to be increased–let him that hears add

a new voice to that which is already speaking and let him say, "Come!"
In conclusion, you who are hearing ones shall have this two-fold
ministry urged upon you. May the Spirit of the Lord bless our discourse
to him that hears!

I. First, then, let us consider THE TWO-FOLD MINISTRY. There is, in the
text, a cry for the coming of the Lord. If you read the verse in
connection with that which goes before it, you will be persuaded that
the cry of the Spirit and the bride is addressed to the Lord Jesus
concerning His Second Advent. As the echo of the Savior's previous
words, "Behold,

1 come quickly," the Spirit and the bride say, Come. This cry is
continually going up from the Spirit and from the Church of God and the
more gracious the season, the more intense the prayer. Because we have
the first fruits of the Spirit we groan within ourselves for the
glorious manifestation of our Lord. Just as the 12 tribes, serving God
day and night, looked for the first coming, so ought all the tribes of
our Israel, day and night, without ceasing, to wait for the Lord from
Heaven. We are looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. "Even so, come, Lord
Jesus" is the desire of every instructed saint.

I shall not go into any details about when He will come. I will not
espouse the cause of the pre-millennial or the post-millennial
advent–it will suffice me, just now, to observe that the Redeemer's
coming is the desire of the entire Church and, "unto them that look for
Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." The
ministry of prayer for the coming of the Lord ought to grow more and
more fervent as the years roll on–even as the watchers look for the
morning the more eagerly as the night wears away. Certainly the time
draws nearer and the event can hardly be far removed. Therefore let the
prayer be general and eager till our Lord hears it–

"Hark how Your saints unite their cries, And pray and wait the general
doom! Come, You, the soul of all our joys! You, the Desire of Nations,
come!" Let everyone that hears the prophecy of our Lord's assured
coming join in the prayer, "Your Kingdom come."

But there is a second ministry of the Church which is the cry for the
coming of sinners to Christ. In this respect, "the Spirit and the bride
say, Come." It is a very sad calamity when any Church ceases from its
mission work. It is clearly out of fellowship with the Spirit of God
and has ceased to work with Him. The cry of, "Come," should never cease
at any time or in any place. It should be addressed to all men as we
have opportunity. The world should ring with, "Come to Jesus! Come to
Jesus! Come and welcome, Sinner, come!" For this purpose the Spirit of
God dwells among men and for this purpose there is a Church left on
earth! If it were not for this, the Holy Spirit might depart and Jesus
Christ might bear His saints away to dwell with Him above.

The Spirit abides here and the Church abides here that together they
may continually cry, "Let him that is thirsty come; and whoever will,
let him take of the Water of Life freely." This, then, is the double
ministry and I want you to notice that the first call is not opposed to
the second. The fact that Christ is coming ought never to make us any
the less diligent in pressing sinners to come to Christ! I deeply
regret when I see persons so taken up with prophecy that they forget
evangelism. Trumpets and vials must not displace the Gospel and its
invitations. By all means, pray fervently for the Advent and search the
roll and see what the Spirit says concerning it–but still, look on the
world that lies in the Wicked One and let its sorrows command your
tears–let its sins excite your zeal. Go out into the world and cry,
"Come," and the Spirit of God will cry with you and by your cry many
shall be brought to Christ that they may live! A desire for the
personal coming of the Lord is by no means antagonistic to the resolve
to labor on in His absence in the hope of subduing the world to His
gracious reign.

Again, take heed that the second call never obscures the first. Albeit
we are to seek sinners with all our might and to compel them to come in
to the marriage supper, yet we must not forget whose marriage it is,
nor cease to pray for the majestic appearing of our Lord, the Prince of
Life. Despise not prophesying. Be taken up with evangelical work–let
it fill your heart, your hands and all your mouth–but, at the same
time, watch for that sudden appearing which, to many, will be as
unwelcome as a thief in the night! Let the two comes leap at the same
moment from your heart, for they are linked together. Christ will not
come until He has gathered unto Himself an elect company! Therefore
when you and I go forth and say to sinners, "Come," and God blesses us
to the bringing in of them, we are doing the best we can to hasten the
advent of the Son of Man.

Jesus will not descend till He has borne long with the ungodly. Until,
indeed, His Word shall have been preached throughout all nations for a
testimony against them and then shall the end be. Brethren, the two
Truths of God work

together as a matter of fact and we are not to dissociate them. Look
for the Lord's coming and then work towards that coming by bidding
sinners come to Christ and live! To my mind the doctrine of the coming
of Christ ought to inflame the zeal of every Believer who seeks the
conversion of his fellow men. How can he be a Believer if he does not
seek this end? The Lord comes quickly–O Sinner, come quickly to the
Lord, or it may be too late for you to come! We who call you may soon
be silenced by His Advent and mercy may have no more to say to you.

"The oxen and the fatlings are killed, all things are ready, come to
the supper before the wrath of the King shall be awakened by your
delays." We beseech you come at once, for the day ofjudgment will soon
be ushered in. I am sure that everybody who is eager to save souls will
soon be driven to desire the Advent. If we vehemently cry, "Come," to
the ungodly and see their rejection of the Gospel, we shall, at times,
become so cast down that we shall cry, "Come, Lord, and end this dreary
age. Men reject and despise You and Your servants are distressed! It is
time for You to interpose, for they make void Your Laws." Go into a
heathen land and see their images and preach to them concerning the
true God! And when they reject your testimony you will be driven to
cry, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

Stand in a Popish country and see them altogether given to their idols
and worshipping crosses and relics–and you will soon cry, "Come, Lord
Jesus. Let Antichrist be hurled like a millstone into the flood, never
to rise again!" The vehemence of your desire for the destruction of
evil and the setting up of the kingdom of Christ will drive you to that
grand hope of the Church and make you cry out for its fulfillment!
There is no need to say more about this two-fold ministry. Only let its
two parts be evenly balanced. Let there be prayer to our Lord–"Come
quickly!" and an equal measure of entreaty to sinners–"Come to
Christ!" Blend the two in wise proportion and set both on fire. Tell of
Christ's coming for judgment and then invite men to come to Christ for
mercy. Warn them that He is on the way, but tell them that He waits to
be gracious and that while He lingers they have space for repentance!

You will thus both drive and draw, both convince and comfort–and your
testimony will have two hands with which to bear men to their Savior!

II. And now, secondly, let us note that THIS TWO-FOLD MINISTRY IS
SECURED. According to our text, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come."
They always say it and always will say it till Jesus comes! The Spirit
says it. What a cry must this be which comes up from the Spirit of God,
Himself! Given at Pentecost, He has never returned nor left the Church,
but He dwells in chosen hearts, as in a temple, even to this day. With
groans that cannot be uttered He makes intercession for us and this is
one of His intercessions, "Come, Lord Jesus." We are sure that Christ
will come, if for no other reason than from this fact–the Spirit
cries, "Come"–for the Spirit cannot plead in vain.

This ministry of the Spirit is, in part, carried on by the Word of God.
This Book tells us that Christ will come and gives a thousand pleas for
the Lord's coming and for the sinner's coming to Him. This is done by
the Spirit, also, in His operations upon the human heart–He bears
witness of judgment to come and He persuades men to come to Jesus. He
is always moving men to pray that Christ may come and moving men to
come to Christ! He dwells with us and shall be in us–and in both the
senses of the Word, the Spirit of God is evermore crying, "Come!" This
also is certainly fulfilled by the Church wherever she is a true
Church. Note that here she is called, "the bride." A bride is one that
has been chosen from among others and set apart by love to be specially
dear to him who chose her.

So is the Church chosen by God's eternal election and by the love of
Christ to be Christ's Beloved forever. A bride is one that, being
chosen, is espoused. The Covenant is an espousal of the Church to
Christ and every conversion–every regeneration of each person making
up the Church–is, so to speak, a renewal of the espousal of the chosen
to the Bridegroom. A bride, however, is more than espoused–she is
expectant of the marriage. It is not long before the wedding day will
come to one who is called, "the bride," and even so it is with the
Church. She is, today, beloved of Christ, chosen of Christ, espoused of
Christ–and the time comes when the marriage shall be
consummated–"Blessed are they that shall sit down at the marriage
supper of the Lamb."

Joy, joy, joy awaits the elect Church Of Christ. Before long shall
Heaven and earth be filled with the splendor of the nuptials of the
King of Kings when He shall take to Himself His great power and reign
and take to Himself His bride who shall then be called the Lamb's wife!
Even today the Church is the bride of Christ, reserved unto Him, alone.
She has no Head but Christ. She acknowledges no rule and sovereignty
but that of Christ. This Church, which deserves to be called, "the
bride," is always fulfilling the double ministry which lies in the cry
of, "Come." Her prayers rise to Heaven incessantly for her Bridegroom's
appearing–

"Come, Lord, and tarry not! Bring the long-looked-for day! Oh, why
these years of waiting here, These ages of delay?"

And then she turns round to an ungodly world and she cries, "Ho,
everyone that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money,
let him come!"

So, you see, the Church speaks up to her Lord that she may bring Him
down and she speaks down to the world that she may bring sinners up to
Christ! Thus our God secures the ceaseless double ministry, for while
the Spirit is upon the earth and the Church is yet among men, the two,
together, will continually say, "Come." Many things make it certain
that the Spirit of God and the bride of Christ will always maintain
their two-fold ministry. For, first, the sin of man grieves the Holy
Spirit and moves Him to say, "Come, Lord," while He says to sinners,
"Turn you, turn you and come to Jesus." The Church, also, is vexed with
abounding sin. She is sorrowful to be compelled to dwell in the tents
of Kedar and the wickedness of men makes her cry aloud, "Come, Lord
Jesus," while in pity to guilty man she cries, "Come and be cleansed
from your iniquities."

Thus sin provokes the double cry which will yet secure its overthrow.
The character of the two pleaders guarantees this perpetual ministry,
for the Spirit of God is such a lover of holiness that He cannot but
cry, "Come, Lord, and end the reign of sin!" He cannot but cry to men,
"Flee away from your sins and come to Jesus!" The true bride of Christ
has, also, such a delight in purity that from force of holiness she
must always cry, "Come, Savior, and end the reign of evil," and she
must cry to men, "Come to Jesus, that you may live by His salvation!"
Brethren, the love which the Spirit bears both to Christ and to men and
the love which the Church bears both to Christ and men are combined in
one force and lead to the one cry! Because of this common love, the
Spirit and the bride must unitedly say, "Come," in the two-fold sense.

There is also the desire for Christ's Glory which is in the heart of
the Spirit of God. He delights to glorify Christ! It is His office to
do so and, therefore, He never will stay from the double work of
crying, "Come, Lord," and, "Come, sinner!" The true Church also desires
Christ's Glory. What a throne she would make for Him! What a crown
would she put upon His head! Therefore does she cry, "Come, Lord, and
reign!" And then she exhorts sinners to come and submit at His feet.
There is also the longing for Christ's Presence which the Spirit of God
has and which the bride has. Should not the bride long for the coming
of the bridegroom? There are secret bonds of unity that bind both the
Spirit and the bride to the great Bridegroom and while there are these
bonds, we cannot wonder that they unitedly cry, "Come! Come!"

There is, moreover, before the Spirit's eyes and before the eyes of the
Church, the future victory–the day when all things shall be under the
feet of Christ and He shall reign forever and ever! The Spirit works to
this same end. All His operations of conviction, of regeneration, of
comforting, tend towards the glorious triumph of the right and the true
in the Person of Jesus! The Church laughs for joy of heart as she
thinks of the splendor of the latter days and, like the spirits before
the Throne of God, in the prospect of the conquest of the world by her
glorious Husband! This prospect leads both the Spirit and the bride to
say to Christ with groans, "Come"–and to say to sinners with accents
of entreaty, "Come unto Him, that He may give you rest."

I think I have sufficiently shown the character of this two-fold
ministry and how our God has provided for its continuance.

III. I need your practical attention and your prayers while we speak
upon the way in which THIS TWO-FOLD MINISTRY IS INCREASED. "Let him
that hears say, Come." The hearing man is to say, "Come," but the
unconverted man is not bid to do so. I want you to notice the
gradations. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come"–that is actually
done. The man that "hears" is bid to say, "Come"–this should be done.
But the man who is thirsting is not told to say, "Come." No, he cannot
say, "Come," till he has first come for himself! The exhortation, then,
to say, "Come," is only addressed to those who drink of the Water of
Life. You that are not saved cannot invite others. How can you? You do
not know the way! You do not know the blessing to be found in that way!

A more pitiable being than a man who tries to preach before he is
converted, I can hardly imagine, and it is lamentable that there are in
England hundreds of men ordained to the Christian ministry who,
themselves, do not know what it is to be born again! They are preaching
mysteries in which they have no fellowship! This is unhappy work and
unlawful work. "Unto the wicked God says, What have you to do to
declare My statutes?" Yet all of you who have really heard the

Gospel with open ears and received the Truth of God, by faith, into
your souls are called upon to cry, "Come!" Every man that has really
heard and learned the Word of God is to go forth and bid others come to
Christ!

See, Brothers and Sisters, how this perpetuates the cry. I have cried,
"Come," but my voice will be hushed in the grave before long. Younger
men who have heard through my voice, will cry, "Come," when I am
silent, and those that hear them shall cry, "Come," when that
generation shall have passed away. As in the old Greek games the
athletes ran with torches and one handed the light to another and thus
it passed along the line, so is it with us. Each man runs his race, but
he passes the torch on to another, that the Light of God may never go
out from generation to generation. "Let him that hears say, Come."

Let the fathers teach the children and the children their children. And
while the sun and the moon endure, let the voice that cries, "Come," to
Christ, go up to Heaven and let the voice that cries, "Come" to
sinners, be heard in the chief places of concourse! This precept
secures the swelling of the volume of the cry, for if every man that
hears the Gospel is to cry, "Come," then there will be more voices and
yet more! What a feeble few they were who stood up at Pentecost and by
the mouth of Peter began to say, "Come!" When each man went out to
preach, though they spoke in all kinds of voices, they were but a few
that said, "Come," but before the sun went down there were 3,000
baptized into Christ–every one ready to say, "Come." Before centuries
had passed, all Europe had heard the voice of those who said, "Come."

The Lord gave the Word–great was the company of them that published
it. If at this time we could only awaken all that hear the Gospel to
say, "Come," what a chorus it would be! All the world would hear it! If
all who go down to the sea in ships knew the Lord and would say,
"Come"–yes, if every Christian traveler would take care to proclaim
the Gospel wherever he went–what holy voices would be heard in nations
that as yet are ignorant of Christ! The volume swells, the sound rolls
like thunder along the heavens when all that hear it say, "Come." And
how the force of it is strengthened! When one man says, "Come," and
tells out the Gospel tale, men may doubt it. Another steps in and says,
"Come," and in the mouth of two witnesses the whole shall be
established. If another and another shall say, "Come." If each one
shall bear witness to the sweetness and the love of Christ, many will
be driven to Christ by the power of such repeated testimonies!

There is a young man whose sister has been saved. He laughs at her. His
mother is converted. He smiles at her. His father is converted. He
begins to think. His brother is converted–one after another all in the
house are renewed. They all beseech him; they pray for him; they tell
him the way of salvation and at last he must yield. When so many
surround him, the testimony is so strengthened that the Spirit of God
blesses it to his conversion! Consider, moreover, that not only does
the testimony gain in strength, but the adaptation of it is remarkable!
I may preach as long as I live and I shall never do good to certain of
you. It may be that I am not the man that God is likely to bless to
certain peculiar persons. But if all that hear me would say, Come, some
man among you would fit them, or some woman, at least, would reach
their case. If all would say, Come, though the sinner is like
leviathan, some weak place in his scales would be found out and the
sword of the Gospel would come at him!

The adaptation of the testimony is half the battle. Thus, dear Friends,
you see that there are great reasons why everyone that hears should
say, "Come." Then would the Word of God travel into strange places. The
waiter at the inn and the sergeant at the barracks would become a
blessing. The warden of the jail would bear the Gospel to his
prisoners. The nurse in the hospital would speak of Jesus to the sick.
Places that never will be reached by the most earnest city missionaries
or ministers will be open to the Church if everyone that hears will
say, "Come!" Down in the heart of the earth the miners sing and praise
God when their fellow miner tells of Christ! In the palace, Christ is
made known when the humble porter at the gate talks of Jesus! Every
place would be accessible to the Gospel if all who heard it would say,
"Come." We should then be as irresistible as the locusts when they go
forth in swarms.

I have seen those creatures invade a land! They climb up the walls and
down them! They march across the roads and pass over the rivers and
none can stand against them! If once the Church of Christ were full of
the Spirit of God and all that heard the Gospel would say, "Come," we
should be perfectly irresistible! The Spirit of God being with us,
nation after nation would yield! Popery would be swept away and errors
would vanish! But because we forget this command, therefore the Church
languishes, the darkness thickens and the gloom threatens to deepen
into everlasting night. In all this I fall back upon the Divine
guarantee in the first part of the text, "The Spirit and the bride say,
Come"–but, oh, that God would move His entire Church to fulfill her
mission and cause every one of her members to say, "Come!"

IV. I may not linger longer over this, for I must advance to the fourth
part which is the most practical. This is my

point–THIS TWO-FOLD MINISTRY IS URGED UPON ALL WHO HAVE HEARD THE WORD
OF GOD. I will

leave the point of saying, "Come, Lord Jesus," till the close of the
sermon and, as it is not easy to ride upon two horses at once, I will
keep to that part of our ministry which consists in bidding the
thirsting ones come to Jesus. First, dear Brother, dear Sister, you who
have with the ear of your inner nature heard the Word of God, you are
called to cry to others, "Come to Christ." You are called to this work
by an obligation–the fact that you have received a very gracious
privilege.

Somebody else brought the Gospel to you, for faith comes by hearing and
you heard the report and, therefore, you live. Are you not under a
moral obligation to carry the Gospel to others that they, also, may
hear it and be saved? Remember how many lived and died to bring you the
Gospel! Had it not been for men who burned at the stake, there might
have been no Gospel preaching in England! Had it not been for those
near and dear to you who loved you, prayed for you and wrestled for
your salvation, you might have been in the midst of Gospel Light and
yet never have seen a ray of it! Are you not a debtor, from now on, to
all around you? Ought you not to repay your debt by laboring for others
as others labored for you?

Remember, dear Hearers, though it is no privilege to listen to my
voice, yet it is a great privilege to hear the Gospel! Prophets and
kings desired it, but they heard it not. The clear manifestation of the
Glory of God in the Person of Christ was known to none in olden time as
it is to you. The very least in the kingdom of Heaven enjoys privileges
greater than any of those who lived under the legal dispensation. Are
you not grateful for this? Will you deny to the next generation the
Light of God which your fathers preserved for you? Above all, remember
that your ears have been opened by an act of Sovereign Grace. You might
have been left as thousands are, to hear and not to hear–to listen to
a voice, but not to perceive its meaning.

But the Eternal Spirit, in the sovereignty of His Grace, has visited
you and given you a new life! And with it, all the privileges of the
children of God. Can you be indifferent to this? Will you not feel that
now the precious Seed of God must be scattered by your hands in the
broad furrows of the world, out of gratitude to another hand that first
gave the Seed to you and made it take root in the garden of your heart?
Here, then, is your obligation. Now, listen to your commission–"Let
him that hears say, Come." A Believer preaching in the street was
accosted by a gentleman who had been ordained to the ministry. Hands
which belonged to arms decorated with lawn sleeves had been laid upon
this gentleman's consecrated head and he was, thereby, made into an
authorized minister. A wonderful thing this!

How is it that those of us who were never the subjects of this solemn
imposition manage to win souls for Christ? However, this man preaching
the Gospel in the street was stopped and asked by this successor of the
Apostles what right he had to preach. And he was not slow to give an
answer. The preacher quoted this text–"Let him that hears say, Come."
"I have heard the Gospel in my own soul," he said, "and that is my
permission to go and preach it. And I shall not be stopped by you." You
who preach the Gospel in the streets are often called lay preachers,
but, indeed, you are as much God's clergy as any others! The Apostle
Peter distinctly calls the whole Church, or, if you please, the mere
laity, God's heritage or, in the Greek, God's clerks in that memorable
verse addressed to ministers which warns them against being "lords over
God's clergy."

All of you who believe in Jesus are God's clergy and are authorized to
speak the Word of God in some form or other. Yes, the women have their
places. Even though they are forbidden to preach in the public
assembly, there are times when they may address their own sex and
others, much to the Glory of God. Let them speak without fear, as often
as God gives them opportunity, in their own modest, affectionate way.
Let them tell of Jesus and His love. Somehow or other you are all to
say, "Come," whether you are men or women, ignorant or learned! And
here is your permit for doing it–"Let him that hears say, Come."

But this verse is more than a permission, it is a commission! It means
that the hearing man ought to speak and this he should do personally.
The text does not say, "Let them that hear say, Come," for what is
everybody's business is nobody's business. No, it says, "Let him that
hears say, Come"–that is to say–each man who knows the Gospel in his
heart is bound to say, "Come." When is he bound to say it? Why, now, at
once! Let him that hears say, "Come," upon the first opportunity that
presents itself! And when is he to stop saying it? Never at all! Let
him that hears still say, "Come." Let him begin to say it as soon as he
has heard it! Let him keep on saying it as long as He lives!–

"His only righteousness I show, His saving truth proclaim.

'Tis all my business here below

To cry, 'Behold the Lamb!' Happy, if with my latest breath I may but
gasp His name. Preach Him to all, and cry in death,

Behold, behold the Lamb!'"

This is your commission. Mind that you attend to it. O you commissioned
officers of Christ, see that you sound aloud your Master's Word!

Next, dear Brethren, attend to this ministry, not only because you are
under obligation to do it and commissioned to do it, but because you
are qualified to do it. "How?" you ask. Why, your qualification is
this–that you have heard! A man can tell what he has heard. It has
been thought by some that the qualification for preaching the Gospel is
great power of thought. Press your fingers upon your brow and fetch the
doctrine out! Think on as hard as you can till you have brewed a new
Gospel! Produce a new Gospel every six weeks! Yes, but that is not so,
otherwise preachers would be few, indeed! If you need a servant to
answer the door for you who is never to come in and tell you who calls,
but who is to answer the door according to her own sense and wit, you
will have to pick a long while before you find such a person!

But if all you need is one who will tell you what is said and then go
and say to the person at the door what you tell her, you can find such
a maid pretty soon. This last is the true idea of a preacher–he is to
say what God says to him and he must not go any further. If it is so
said in the Word of God let him repeat it. This makes preaching a
humbler work than some think it is and a more Divine power by far! We
do not believe in the cry, "Every man his own savior." No, we speak of
the good old way which is the only way! Yes, Brothers and Sisters, you
are qualified to say, "Come," to others because you have heard a voice
saying, "Come," in your own soul!

The text says not, "Let him that has heard," but, "him that
hears"–that is to say, let the man who is still hearing the voice of
God speak. Hear and then tell what you hear! I have seen pictures of a
pope which represent him with a dove sitting upon his
shoulder–insinuating that he receives Divine intimations. I am afraid
that the bird is a raven in the case of these so-called heads of the
church–but in the case of humble Believers, the Spirit is present
revealing Christ to the heart and that which is revealed is to be
spoken by us. There is your qualification! You have proven the Truth of
God in your own soul and so can speak experimentally! You have found
Christ! You have drunk the Living Water and you can say, "Come."

I needed a drink of water, one day, in a thirsty place in Italy. And by
the coachman's help I asked at a house for water. The owner of the
house was busy and did not come to show me where the water could be
found, but he sent a girl with me. She was very little, but she was
quite big enough, for she led the way to a well and I was soon
refreshed. She had not to make a well, but only to point it out and,
therefore, her youth was no disadvantage. We have not to invent
salvation, but to tell of it and, therefore, you who are but babes in
Grace can perform the work! You have heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Stoop down and drink, and live"–go forth and echo that voice till
thousands quench their thirst! Your message is a very simple one–"Let
him that hears say"_–a long and difficult sentence in Latin?

No! Is he to repeat a very complicated piece of Miltonic blank verse?
No! "Let him that hears say, Come." "I can say that," says somebody.
Mind you do, Brother. Just go and tell people that Jesus died. Tell
them that, "whoever believes in Him is not condemned." Do not be too
long over it, it is only one word, you know–"Let him that hears say,
Come." Be very earnest about it. There are many ways of saying it–mind
you say it in the best possible manner. And then, as the message is
very short, repeat it often–

"Tell me the story often, For I forget it soon."

Tell it over and over again, since it is all in one word, "Come." Mind
you do not add anything else to it. Do not tell them to bring a price!
Do not tell them to prepare themselves and to do this or that–just
say, "Come, come, come away from yourselves! Come away from your sins!
Come away from your righteousness! Come to Jesus! Come to Jesus,
Sinner, come!"

It is a very short message. And so I conclude by saying, take care to
remember that yours is a two-fold ministry and so when you have said,
"Come," to the sinner, mind you back it all up with prayer! Go home and
say, "Lord, come to these poor sinners by Your Grace. Lord, come, I
pray You, come, that this poor work of mine may be ended, because a
greater work shall be accomplished by Your coming." Let your heart cry
to your Lord, "Come!" for then you will not be engrossed with the
world. No man will be anxious for Christ to come while he has
everything he wants here below and is quite satisfied with it. The
miser and the sensualist do not want the Lord to come–they are so
glued to this world that they dread anything that might change their
relation to it. You must let loose of the world or you cannot sincerely
say to Jesus, "Come," and that is the very spirit of an earnest worker.
You must say, "Come," because you are ready to welcome

Christ!

That is the way in which to preach the Gospel. I have no right to
preach a sermon which I should be ashamed for Christ to hear. You and I
ought to live so that if our Lord were to come we should not be afraid,
but should just go on doing what we have in hand. We ought to live so
that if it were a part of the program that Christ would come at 12
o'clock, we should finish life beautifully at that very hour and look
at the great Judge and rejoice to appear before Him! This is the spirit
in which to go on saying, "Come," to sinners! Hear the wheels of your
Master's chariot behind you? Then you will not be dull in preaching the
Gospel! Feel that men will soon have to stand before the Judgment Seat
of Christ–then you will not be cold in your delivery!

Expect that very soon you, too, must give your account before the Great
White Throne and even think you see it– and see yourself and your
hearers standing before it–then will you preach as though you never
might preach again! You will preach as a dying man to dying men and so
the, "Come," of prayer will help you when you deliver the, "Come," of
invitation and you will be enabled to make full proof of your ministry!
I must add how pleased I was when I was seeing applicants who wished to
join the Church, to see that God is blessing many of you in the
conversion of souls. One or two of the number were converted under my
ministry out of some 15 or 16, but the most of them were under your
ministries–one and another of my beloved members had brought others to
Jesus!

I noticed four little rooms in and about Bermondsey to each of which
God had been pleased to give conversions through Prayer Meetings, or
the preaching of certain younger Brothers. I am right glad of that and
I wish we had hundreds of such room and cottage meetings. This big city
of London will never be evangelized by our great assemblies. If all the
chapels were filled, which they are not, and if all the Churches were
filled, which they certainly are not, then a large proportion of the
people could not get in. But, alas, they do not come to worship–they
will not come! I do not think they understand some of my fellow
ministers, for they talk too grandly–some ministers have not learned
to talk Eng-lish–they speak a kind of French-Latin English.

It is not the Saxon English which the people know and as they do not
understand what is preached, they do not care to come. The way to get
at the masses is to reach them by twos and threes–I am sure of it! Get
them into your houses, talk about Jesus Christ in your parlors, in your
kitchens, in your bed-chambers, in the corners of the streets,
anywhere! I am so glad that very many of you do so–go on and prosper!
It will not matter whether I live or die if you all become ministers.
Would God that all the Lord's servants were Prophets. May every one of
you live to win souls. "Let him that hears say, Come." God help you to
do it, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
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Faith–What Is It? How Can It Be Obtained?