The Tenderness of God’s Comfort

The Tenderness of God's Comfort

(No. 3189)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1910.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you shall
be comforted in Jerusalem." Isaiah 66:13.

WE do not intend entering into a discussion of the context and its
relationship literally to the Jewish people. We have never hesitated to
assert our conviction that there are great blessings in store for God's
ancient Israel and that the day shall come when her comfort shall
abound, when the glory of the Gentiles shall flow to her like a flowing
stream and she shall be comforted by her God as one whom his mother
comforts. But we believe that these passages are applicable to all the
servants of God, that the comfortable passages of Scriptures are
theirs, that whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, barbarian or Greek,
we are all one in Christ Jesus–and all the promises are ours in
Him–for in Him all the promises are, "yes," and, "amen." I believe,
then, that this passage belongs to every child of God.

It is well that there is such a promise as this on record, for
Believers need comfort. They need comfort because they are men and,
"man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." There has been a
great necessity for consolation ever since the time when man was
expelled from Eden. Men need comfort because they are but men. Although
favored by God, elected by His Sovereignty and called by His Divine
Grace into a peculiar state of acceptance, they are still in the body
and they are made to feel it–being tempted in all points as other men
are and in some points peculiarly tried. They are men and but men at
the best! They need comfort, too, because they are Christians, for if
others escape the rod, Christians must not, yes, shall not The Lord may
be pleased to give to the sinner a long prosperity that he may be
fattened as a bullock for the slaughter, but His promise to His people
whom He calls by His Grace is, "You only have I known of all the
families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your
iniquities." "Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son
whom He receives." We must, therefore, have special consolation, since
as men, as only men, and as Christians, we shall have constant
occasions for comfort.

When I take a text like this, I know there are very many in the
congregation who cannot enter into it. But, my dear Friends, if you are
Christians, it will not be long before you will! You may have to look
back, perhaps, upon the words which I quote in your hearing, and say of
them, "God sent them to me as a preparation before the trial came. He
gave me food as He did Elijah under the juniper tree, because He
determined that I should go 40 days in the strength of that meat."
Despise not the consolations of the Lord because you need them not just
now. You will require them. The calm will not last forever–a storm is
brewing. Say not, "My mountain stands firm, I shall never be moved." He
has but to hide His face and you will be troubled–and then you will
prize that which now you do lightly esteem–you will long to be
comforted "as one whom his mother comforts."

But coming at once to the text, I think we may very well talk of it
under three points. First, who comforts? Secondly, how He comforts. And
thirdly, where He comforts.

I. With regard to the first point, WHO COMFORTS? "As one whom his
mother comforts, so will I comfort you."

The work of comforting His saints is not too low for God to be engaged
in. It is true that He sometimes uses instruments, but all real comfort
to a broken heart must come directly from God, Himself. He does not
say, "I will send an angel to comfort you," but, "I will comfort you."
Nor in the text is it said that the Christian minister shall comfort
you. Alas, dear Brothers and Sisters, often what are we who preach the
Word but broken cisterns that hold no water? But God says, "I will
comfort you." And when He undertakes the work, then we become as
conduit pipes that are full, even to bursting, with the drink that you
require! Your soul shall be satisfied even out of poor earthen vessels.
But it must be

God's work. He must do it, for when a soul is truly humbled, heavily
laden and broken in pieces by God's hand, there is only one hand–the
pierced hand–that can heal the wound!

When we read, in this passage, that God will comfort the soul, we are
to understand, I think, that God does so in the Trinity of His Person.
He is called "the God of Consolation." The Father comforts us. The very
use of that term, "Father," seems to bring good cheer to our spirits.
As long as I can call God, my Father, I shall not be without a star in
my sky. "My Father"–that sweetens all the sorrow that can come to me!
It is a sword, but my Father, it is in Your hand. It is a bitter cup,
but, my Father, You have given it to me, so shall I not drink it? That
word, "my Father," shall make my heart leap for joy in the midst of my
deepest distress! As a Father, God does actively come to the comfort of
His children–and when a filial spirit is shed abroad in us, our souls,
leaning on all-sufficient Grace, rejoice even in the midst of deep
distress! God the Son also comforts us, for is not His name, "the
Consolation of Israel"? When you stand at the foot of the Cross, you
find comfort, there, for all the ills that wring your heart. Sin loses
its weight. Death, itself, is dead. All griefs expire–slain by the
griefs of the Man of Sorrows. Only enter into the Savior's passion and
your own passion is over. Get to understand His sorrows and your
sorrows find at least a pause, if not an end. And as for the blessed
Spirit, He was given for this very purpose, to be our Comforter. He
dwells in all the saints to bring to their remembrance the things which
Jesus spoke and to lead them into all the Truth of God that their joy
in Christ may be full!

It is something very delightful to consider that Father, Son and Spirit
all cooperate to give us comfort. I can understand their cooperating to
make the world. I can understand their cooperation in the salvation of
a soul. But I am astonished at this same united action in so
comparatively small a matter as the comfort of Believers! Yet the Holy
Three seem to think it a great matter that Believers should be happy,
or they would not work together to cheer disconsolate spirits.

We must understand, when God says, "I will comfort you," that He
intends that there are many ways by which He does it. Sometimes He
comforts us in the course of Providence. We may be the lowest spoke of
the wheel, now, but by the revolution of time we may be the uppermost
before long. We may suffer very acute pains, tonight, but by the
morning the Master may have relieved all our pain. The pause between
sickness and health may not be very long. If the Good Physician shall
put His healing hands upon us, we shall soon be restored. How often,
when you thought you were coming to your worst, has there been a sudden
brightening of the sky! It is a long lane that has no turning and it is
a long trouble that never comes to an end. It is when the sea ebbs as
far as it can go that the tide begins to flow–and they say the darkest
part of the night is that which is just before the daybreak. When the
winter grows very cold and keen, we begin to hope that spring will soon
come–and our desperate sorrows, when they reach their worst–are
coming to their close. So let us be of good cheer! There will not be
always such a rough sea, poor troubled Saint. You shall be out of the
Atlantic into the Pacific before long–and you shall be out of the sea,
altogether, and away on the terra firma of eternal joy before many
years have rolled over your head!

However, when the Lord is not pleased thus to comfort us in the way of
Providence, He has a means of doing it by His Omnipotent secret working
on the human heart. Not to speak doctrinally, but rather to give a
particular instance, have you not found that sometimes, when you were
much burdened with trouble, a very peculiar calm came over your spirit?
You had been vexed, almost distracted. But when you woke one morning,
you felt calm and peaceful–you had given up rebellion, left off
murmuring, and you could say to your God–

"'Tis sweet to lie passive in Your hands And know no will but Yours."
And have you not even been conscious, in times of the very severest
trouble, of an unusual joy? You did not sing with your voice, but there
was something that sang with you softly, silently, but still sweetly.
You sometimes look back upon that sick chamber, (I know I do), and
almost wish that you were there now. The trial was sharp, indeed, for–

"Sharp are the pangs that nature gives"– but, oh, the joy that came
with them! It was so surpassing that, in the retrospect, you forget the
pain and only remember the sweetness! How was this? Was it the pain
that did it? Nothing of the kind! God is like a watchmaker who knows,
because he made the watch, how to touch the wheels and regulate them.
He made us and, therefore, He knows how to deal with us so that
everything shall go right where before everything went amiss. He can
open the floodgates of joy and inundate our souls with bliss even in
our darkest days of trouble! "Only hope you in Me, My child," He says,
"for you shall praise Me, who is the help of your countenance and your
God." Though the fig trees do not blossom and God does not

take away the plague from the cattle. Though your substance shall be
diminished and fire shall devour your household goods, yet your God can
make up for all this and cause your days of leanness to be fat
days–and your days of hunger to be days of feasting–and your days of
thirst to be days when you shall drink the wine on the lees
well-refined!

It would not be well to close this point without remarking that God has
been pleased to make a previous provision for the comfort of all His
saints. When He comforts, He has not to invent a novelty to do it–He
has only to bring to us stores which have been laid up, fruits new and
old which have been ready for His beloved. It trouble comes, God has
provided a strength by which you shall meet it, and provided a way
through by which you shall escape from it. There are promises in God's
Word suitable to every conceivable condition of the saints. Out of
millions of God's people living in different countries, under different
forms of government and in different ages–all of them of different
temperaments and constitutions–their trials must take all kinds of
shapes. As in the kaleidoscope, there must be a vast variety in the
tribulations of the Lord's people and yet there never has arisen a
single case in which there has not been a promise which, word for word,
and letter for letter, met the case in hand!

In the great bunch of keys in that good old Book, there is a key for
every lock! And if it were not so, there are one or two promises like
master keys which will fit all. Such a promise is the one in Isaiah
41:10, "Fear you not, for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your
God." It will suit the youth and the gray-head. It will be satisfactory
to you if you have to overcome difficulties or if you have to endure
sufferings. In the calm or in the storm, lying in the trench or
climbing the scaling ladder, that text will still be precious–"Fear
you not, for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God." We
will fall back, then, upon the consolatory Truth that with God are the
consolations of His children, that He is Himself responsible for their
comfort, having engaged to be their Father! And so we may suck marrow
out of our text, "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort
you."

II. But now the second head is to be HOW GOD COMFORTS. "As one whom his
mother comforts."

This is a peculiarly delightful metaphor. A father can comfort, but I
think he is not much at home in the work. When God speaks about His
pity, He compares Himself to the father. "Like as a father pities his
children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him." But when He speaks
about comfort, He selects the mother. When I have seen the little ones
sick, I have felt all the pity in the world for them, but I did not
know how to set to work to comfort them–but a mother knows by instinct
how to do it! There is placed in the mother's tender heart a power of
sympathy and very soon she finds the word or gives the touch that will
meet her darling's case and cheer its troubled soul. The father is
awkward at it–our rougher, sterner nature hardly shines in the matter
of consolation. But the mother can do it to perfection. How, then, does
the mother comfort her child?

We answer, first, she does it very fondly. There is a way of
administering comfort in which you stand apart from the patient and you
tell him, "There is the cup of cordial if you'd like to drink it." But
the mother's way of doing it is to sip the cup and then to put it to
the child's lips, yes, and to do more than that–to take the child
right into her bosom while she gives it. She does not talk to him at
arm's length, but she talks with him at her heart all the while! And
that is probably the secret of her power. And so, when God comforts any
poor heavy-laden sinner or troubled saint, He does not talk to Him at a
distance, but He runs and falls on his neck and kisses him. The
Infinite, Almighty God falls upon the neck of a repentant sinner and
gives him the kiss of His love! And He does just the same to a poor,
troubled and afflicted saint. He comforts fondly. May one venture to
apply such a word as that to the great God? May we say that He has a
fondness for His children? Well, at any rate, we know that if there is
a word more sweet, more dear, indicating a closer affinity and a deeper
and purer love than another, we may use that word concerning our God.
He loves us with a love that has no bottom, no summit and no shore.
Even as He loves His own dear Son, so He loves us! We are in His heart!
We are engraved on the palms of His hands and, therefore, when He
comforts, it is in so fond a manner that we cannot but be cheered! With
all the tenderness a mother feels, God feels for us–and so He comforts
us as a mother comforts her child.

But there is more than fondness here. A mother comforts her child with
much sympathy. She always seems to feel the pain the child is feeling.
To soothe that headache, she lays her cool hand upon the hot, throbbing
little brow, and is herself pained as she thinks of the pain that must
be there. Or she looks at the hand that was made to bleed by a fall,
and her eyes seem as if they would bleed for the little one. She feels
it all and, therefore, she is sure to comfort well. And this is how
Jesus comforts. We have heard of a little child who said to her mother,
"Mother, Mrs. So-and-So, the widow, says she likes me to go in to see
her, for I comfort her so. When she sits and cries, I put my head in
her lap and I cry, too, and she says that comforts her." Ah, yes,
child, there is true philosophy in that! This is just the sort of
comfort we need and this is just what God does. Our Lord in human flesh
still sorrows with His people–hungers in their hunger–thirsts in
their thirsting–and melts in their mourning. Though He reigns on high,
He is not so high that He has no "respect unto the lowly."

A mother also comforts her child very diligently. She is not satisfied
with saying half a dozen words and putting her child down. She takes it
up and if it won't be dandled on one knee, she tries the other, and if
that form of comfort will not do, she will try another. We have heard
of a good mother who wanted to teach her child something but when
someone complained that she had to repeat the same thing 20 times, she
answered, "Yes, I did that because 19 times would not do." So God
perseveres. Sometimes a mother may have to comfort her child when it is
very sick and very fretful, and its poor little head and heart are out
of order. She has to comfort it again, and again, and again, and again.
Soft words are always on her lips. She can do nothing else but console
the little one and she does not tire of it. Oh, those mothers of ours!
They never grow tired when we are sick and ill! They seem to be up all
night and all day long. And if a nurse comes in for a few hours, they
are up, then, too, looking after the nurse, so that I do not know that
much ease comes with the helper. Our mothers are so untiringly kind!
Well, I say to you–to "you who unto Jesus for refuge have fled"–that
our God is kinder than any mother! His Book is full of attempts to
comfort His children and those attempts–blessed be God–are not
without success!

Again, a mother comforts her child seasonably. A true mother is not
always comforting her child. If she is a silly mother, she brings up
her child so delicately that it turns out to be a viper in her bosom.
But if she is a wise mother, she saves her comforts till they are
needed. When it is sick, then she gives the cordials. Well, God does
not always comfort His saints, but when they are in affliction, then
they shall have consolation. As our tribulations abound, so our
consolations abound by Jesus Christ. There is a balance kept up. If
there is an ounce of trouble, there will be an ounce of comfort. If
there is a ton of trouble, there will be a ton of consolation. When the
child has been doing wrong and the parent has chastised it, if the
little lip curls, if the proud foot is stamped, if there is a frown on
the brow–the wise mother does not comfort it. But when the child comes
and prays to be forgiven, the mother's heart is ready for it directly.
"Sin no more," she says, "and the past shall be forgotten and
forgiven." Well, this is how God comforts us. While we are proud and
stand out against Him, we shall feel His hand. But when we confess our
faults and come humbly to Him for pardon, we shall have seasonable
comfort, "as one whom his mother comforts."

Again, a mother's comfort has this point about it–she usually comforts
in a most efficient manner–and the child goes away smiling, though it
seemed to say before, "I shall never be happy again." Five minutes of a
mother's wise talk and sweet comfort, and the child is as happy as
before! "Ah," you say, "that will do for children, but it won't do for
men." But God keeps His saints as children before Him. May God grant us
Grace to be as little children, or we cannot enter the Kingdom of
Heaven! Then, when our God comes to comfort us, I am quite sure He will
do it more effectually than the most tender mother can.

But, once more, a mother comforts all her life. "A mother is a mother
all her life," says an old proverb. There is no change there. "Can a
woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on
the son of her womb?" It seems impossible, but the Lord says, "Yes,
they may forget, yet will I not forget you." A mother casts not away
her child. Fathers sometimes have done such a thing, but mothers, I
should hope, never! But even if they have–

"Yet," says the Lord, "should Nature change, And mothers monsters
prove, Sion still dwells upon the heart Of everlasting love."

God will not cease to comfort His people! Perhaps there is a Brother
who is passing through a very severe trial and he thinks he shall never
be comforted again. Well, but your mother will not forsake you–and do
you think God will? "But," says one, "you do not know my difficulty. It
is a crushing one." My dear Friend, I know I do not know it, but your
heavenly Father knows it. And do you suppose if an earthly mother
sticks fast by her child, that He will leave you? Go to Him! His heart
is as near to you, now, as when you were on the mountain rejoicing in
the full sunshine of His love. The very shadow of a change is unknown
to Him. Go to Him with confidence and humble faith and you shall find
the text, true, "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort
you."

III. Now I have just a little to say upon the third point, that is,
WHERE GOD COMFORTS His people. The text

says, "in Jerusalem."

Why, for His ancient people, that was where they had their troubles.
The city had been under siege. O daughter of Salem, how were you made
to weep! What sorrow rolled over your head–to see the city dismantled
and her palaces become ruins–wild fowls and bitterns inhabiting the
place where once the assembled tribes were glad! O Jerusalem, what
grief is in your name to your inhabitants as they remember these, your
glory, all departed, and your sorrow lasting still! Yes, but God will
comfort His people in the very place of their trouble! This will be
fulfilled on a large scale in the Millennial Glory when our world,
which has been the scene of the saints' sorrow, will also be the scene
of their triumphant reign with Christ Jesus!

Meanwhile, you, His servants, must not suppose that because you have
trials, you are in the wrong place. The vine is not in the wrong place
because the vinedresser often uses the knife! It may be the best place
for that vine where it gets most of the vinedresser's pruning. Beware,
especially young friends, beware of self-will in seeking to change your
troubles! Some of you think when you are single you have peculiar
troubles–do not be in at hurry to incur the troubles of married life!
And you who are servants who think you are very harshly done by, do not
be so wondrously fast to wish to be masters! I sometimes find my cross
not just what I like it to be, but I should be very much afraid to
attempt to alter it. "It were better in all wisdom to bear the ills we
have than fly to others that we know not of." That man whom you envy,
you would probably pity if you knew more about him! Be content to stay
in Jerusalem.

Remember, the comfort which God gives will be a comfort to suit your
present place and position. "In Jerusalem," where you have seen the
furnace of God placed, for His fire is in Zion and His furnace in
Jerusalem," even there shall you have your comfort! It is a joy to
think of Daniel in the lions' den. I believe that Daniel never had a
sweeter night's rest than he had when he had some old lion for his
pillow, and the younger lions to be his guardians. And in the case of
Sha-drach, Meshach and Abednego, the Master did not break down the
furnace walls and take them out at once, but He was with them in the
fire and cheered them in the midst of the flames! So shall the comfort
of God come to you in your time of need.

Take another view of this matter. God will comfort you who are here
below. "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!" says one. Now what would
you do if you had them? They would be a very awkward equipment for a
man! But suppose you hadthe wings of a dove, what would you do? Would
you fly away? Well, you would hardly dare to do that, for to fly to God
without a permit would be taking the matter into your own hands. Why
cannot God comfort you where you are? "Ah," says one, "I expect to have
my happiness in another world." So do I, but I hope to have some, here,
too. "One Heaven will be enough for me," says one. But why not have
Heaven here and Heaven hereafter, too?–

"The men of Grace have found

Glory begun below.

Celestial fruits on earthly ground

From faith and hope may grow.

The hill of Zion yields

A thousand sacred sweets

Before we reach the heavenly fields,

Or walk the golden streets.

Then let our songs abound,

And every tear be dry–

We're marching through Immanuel's ground

To fairer worlds on high!"

It is true that the fairer worlds are on high, but it is equally true
that we are on Immanuel's ground even now! "In Jerusalem–the place of
your trials–will I comfort you," says the Lord.

And now, to come to another meaning of the passage, "in Jerusalem,"
that is, in the Church of God. The richest comforts are reserved for
those who, fearing the Lord, often speak, one to another, and are not
ashamed to acknowledge His name. And I think, dear Friends, the place
of comfort is the assembly of God's people. Therefore live, "not
forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some
is." There are people in the world who never go out to a

weeknight service in the evening, and never think of doing such a
thing! They get by the fireside after that day's business and there
they sit, and say, "We are full of doubts and fears. We cannot rejoice
as we used to do–

"What peaceful hours we once enjoyed!

How sweet their memory still!'"

And so on. Now, those people expect God to go to their house and
comfort them. By what reason should they expect any such thing when
they refuse to go to God's House for the comfort? Our Lord will
sometimes withhold a sense of His Presence from us in order to make us
feel our wrong-doing in staying away from the use of the means which He
has appointed for our comfort and consolation. I would that all
congregations come out as well as you usually do. I must not say
anything to you about not coming out on a weeknight, for you do
come–and anything I might say about people not coming would be like
Dean Swift's sermon about those who go to sleep in church. When he
finished it, he thought he had done no good, "for," he said, "only you
who were awake have heard it."

I would rather propose to you that whenever you meet a friend who is
greatly in lack of comfort and is complaining that he has not got it,
you would give as judicious a hint as you can that it may be that they
miss the comfort who miss the means of Grace! He who will not go to the
shop and buy, cannot wonder if he has not any oil for his lamp. He who
will not take the trouble to go to the stream must not marvel if he has
to suffer thirst. O let us, dear Friends, as often as we can, gather
together with the Lord's people for praise and prayer! No doubt, "in
Jerusalem" we shall find our comfort! There are those among you to whom
it does one good to listen when you speak of your enjoyments in this
house. Of course there are some who are not edified by the ministry
here, but if that is the case, why do they not go somewhere else? Their
seats could be filled by others who would be edified. But there are
some who say, "Master, it does us good to come here, and we can bless
the Lord that He here makes the place of His feet glorious. We long for
Sunday to come round again, for we feel the place to be like an Elim."
In your case, God always makes His House to be a fountain of Living
Waters to your souls and streams from Lebanon.

To that end, I pray the Master to help all His servants. Pray for your
ministers, but remember that the comfort cannot come from them. It may
come through them, but it must come from the Master, Himself. With that
exhortation, we will come back to the words of the text, and the
gracious promise, "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort
you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. "

May God add His blessing and bring troubled sinners to look to Christ,
and Christ shall have the glory! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: COLOSSIANS2.

Verse 1. For I would that you knew what great conflict Ihave for you
and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in
the flesh. Paul had not met these Colossian Christians, but he had
heard of their faith, hope, and love–and he so desired their good that
he had a continual care for them in his heart. He carried that care to
God in prayer, yet he still bore them in loving remembrance. They were
always on his heart as a sick child is always on the heart of its
mother.

2, 3. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in
love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to
the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of
Christ In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He
wanted them to know God and to rest comforted and happy in what He
revealed. He saw in them a tendency to look abroad for something more
than that–a desire to tack something else to the Gospel, a wish to try
and find some fresh light outside the Word–and over this he greatly
grieved. He himself was more than satisfied with the Gospel and he
wanted them to be, in that respect, as he was.

4. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
They did not openly contradict the Gospel. They pretended to have a
great affection for it and then they tried to tear the very heart out
of it with their enticing words of man's wisdom!

5. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the
spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your
faith in Christ He never forgot them and it was his joy, when he found
them standing fast in Christ–but his sorrow and his horror when they
went away after anyone else.

6. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in
Him. "Do not turn away from Him, do not dream of going beyond Him. You
received Him very simply at first–you trusted in Him entirely–so go
on doing so. You were satisfied with Christ when you first came to Him,
so be satisfied with Him, still, for you do not need anything more than
Christ–and there is nothing more than Christ!"

7. Rooted and built up in Him. "Take a living hold of Christ as a tree
does of the soil. Also be built up in Him–as a building settles down
upon the foundation–so do you settle down upon Christ."

7. And established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. When a man is established in the Truth of
God that he knows, and rejoices in what he has already received, he
will not go away from it.

8. Beware lest any man spoil you, (it might be rendered, "plunder
you"), through philosophy and vein deceit "Beware of those who pretend
that they are going to enrich you, but whose real objective is to
plunder you. They say that they will give you advanced thought, deeper
ideas, a system more congruous with the age. But it is–

8. After the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ "What do you want with their traditions? Christ has
revealed His Truth to you. What do you want with the world's rudiments?
You have gone beyond such elementary, useless knowledge as that, for
you have got the Truth of God itself!"

9. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Christ
we enter into the fullness and completeness of life both materially and
spiritually!

10. 11. Who is the Head of all principality andpower: in whom also you
are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ
"The Jew boasts that he is a circumcised man, but you have spiritually
all that circumcision meant literally! Even though you have not the
wound in your flesh, you have more than that, for you have the death of
the flesh and your very flesh has been buried with Christ. All that
circumcision can possibly mean you have in Christ."

12. Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him
through the faith of the working of God, who has raised Him from the
dead. "You have death, burial and resurrection, all in Christ. And you
received the outward sign and token of this when you were baptized, so
believe firmly that it is so and do not look anywhere else for it. You
are neither dead nor buried apart from Christ, nor are you driven apart
from Him–all you have is in Him."

13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, has He quickened together with Him, having forgiven all your
trespasses. "You do not need to go to a 'priest' for pardon, for Christ
has forgiven you all your

trespasses. [See Sermons #2101, Volume 35–LIFE AND PARDON and #2605,
Volume 45–DEATH AND ITS SENTENCE ABOLISHED.] You are so complete in
Christ that confession to man and priestly absolution from man would be
of no use to you."

14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His
Cross. "All the Mosaic ceremonies from which you were shut out as
Gentiles, are abolished! Christ has driven a nail through them and
fastened them up to His Cross." As sometimes a banker stamps a check
when it is paid, so has Christ cut through the very heart of all Jewish
ordinances by what He has done for His people.

15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it [See

Sermon #273, Volume 5–CHRIST TRIUMPHANT.] Exhibiting them as His

prisoners in a triumphal procession, as the victorious Roman generals
did when they returned from war!

16. Let no one, therefore, judge you in food, or in drink, or regarding
a festival, or ofthe newmoon, or ofthe Sabbath. "Do not put yourselves
under rules and regulations which God has not ordained. If you think it
is right for you to abstain from certain drinks, do so, but do not act
thus simply because others do so. If you abstain from certain foods
because they have been offered to idols, and the consciences of others
might be offended if you partook of them, do not act thus as though it
would save you. Do not make yourself subject to the judgment of other
men, for Christ is your Lawgiver and Lord."

17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the substance is of
Christ "You can do without the shadow, now that you have the substance,
so keep to that." Some men multiply church ordinances–they have this
form and that form. Well, let them have them if they find them of
service, but do not bring yourself under subjection to anything of the
kind! Follow the New Testament and above all things keep close to
Christ, for He is everything to you.

18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in false humility We know
those who say, "We do not know anything, we are only seekers, trying to
find out the truth." They talk very humbly considering how desperately
proud they really are, but that humility which makes men doubt is mock
humility and is not of God! "Let no man beguile you of your reward."
When you have learned the Truth of God from the Scriptures, be dogmatic
about it! Do not be afraid of the presumption of which some will accuse
you, or the bigotry which they will impute to you.

18. And worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not
seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Agnostics by their name
confess that they do not know, but do not let them take away from you
what you knowand set you to investigate matters which are beyond you
with a judgment which they would lead you to think is well-near
infallible, whereas your judgment is very fallible, indeed. Be not
puffed up by your fleshly mind!

19. And not holding the Head. That is the point–these people get away
from the Deity of Christ! They get away from the atoning blood. They
get away from glorifying Him who alone is the Truth!

19. From which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment
ministered, and knit together, increased with the increase of God. Take
away the Head and there is death–everything is out of order then. If
the Head is denied–if any Doctrine is taught which is contrary to the
Glory of Christ, you have killed the body however much you may pretend
to be increasing and feeding it!

20-22. Therefore if you are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the
world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to
ordinances? (Touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish
with the using), after the commandments and doctrines of men? You may
and you should feel that there are some things which you will not
touch, or taste, or handle. You had better leave poisonous drugs alone,
but at the same time, if any man seeks to impose upon you any
regulation concerning them as a part of the faith, you may resist it
and repudiate it–and plead your freedom in Christ.

23. Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in wiil-worship. There
were some of the Jews who would not eat certain kinds of meat, and
others who would fast for long periods. Some thought it was very wicked
to eat meat on a certain day–and there were many such notions–and
similar superstitions still survive among us, such as not eating meat
on Fridays, being afraid of 13 people sitting at table and so on! But
you have nothing to do with all that kind of rubbish, so get away from
it! If you are a Believer in Christ, tread all such nonsense under your
feet. "Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship."–

23. And humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor. There
is no honor about such things, they are con-temptible–"not in any
honor"–

23. To the satisfying of the flesh. That is all such things would
do–make you seem better than other people–so do not be led into these
ways, but stand fast in the liberty in which Christ has made His people
free!