Without Christ–Nothing

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 23, 1881,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5.

THIS is not the language of a man of ordinary mold. No saint, no
Prophet, no Apostle would ever have addressed a company of faithful men
and have said to them, "Without me you can do nothing." Had Jesus
Christ been, as some say, a good man and nothing more, such language as
this would have been unseemly and inconsistent. Among the virtues of a
perfect man we must certainly reckon modesty, but this from a mere man
would have been shamelessly immodest! It is impossible to conceive that
Jesus of Nazareth, had He not been more than man, could ever have
uttered the sentence, "Without Me you can do nothing." My Brothers and
Sisters, I hear, in this sentence, the voice of that Divine Person
without whom was not anything made that was made! The majesty of the
words reveals the Godhead of Him that uttered them. The "I Am" comes
out in the personal word, "Me," and the claim of all power unveils the
Omnipotent!

These words mean Godhead or nothing! The spirit in which we listen to
this language is that of adoration. Let us bow our heads in solemn
worship and so unite with the multitude before the Throne of God who
ascribe power and dominion and might to Him that sits upon the Throne
and to the Lamb. In this adoring state of mind we shall be the better
prepared to enter into the innermost soul of the text. I am not going
to preach upon the moral inability of the unregen-erate, although in
that doctrine I most firmly believe–for that Truth of God did not come
in our Lord's way when He uttered these words–and neither did He
allude to it.

It is quite true that unregenerate men, being without Christ, can do no
spiritual action whatever, and can do nothing which is acceptable in
the sight of God. But our Lord was not speaking to unregenerate men at
all, nor speaking about them. He was surrounded by His Apostles, the 11
out of whom Judas had been weeded, and it is to them as branches of the
true Vine that He says, "Without Me you can do nothing." The statement
refers to such as are in the Vine and even to such as have been pruned
and have, for a while, been found abiding in the stem which is
Christ–even in such there is an utter incapacity for holy produce if
separated from Christ!

We are not called upon, just now, to speak upon all forms of doing, as
beyond us, but of that form of it which is intended in the text. There
are certain forms of doing in which men excel who know little or
nothing of Christ. But the text must be viewed in its own context and
the Truth of God is clear. Believers are here described under the
figure of branches in the vine–and the doing alluded to must,
therefore, be the bearing of fruit! I might render it, "Apart from Me
you can produce nothing, make nothing, create nothing, bring forth
nothing." The reference, therefore, is to that doing which may be set
forth by the fruit of the vine's branch and, therefore, to those good
works and Divine Graces of the Spirit which are expected from men who
are spiritually united to Christ. It is of these that He says, "Without
Me you can do nothing."

Our text is only another form of the fourth verse–"As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can
you, except you abide in Me." I am therefore going to address myself to
you who profess to know and love the Lord and are anxious to glorify
His name. And I have to remind you that union to Christ is essential,
for only as you are one with Him and continue to be so, can you bring
forth the fruits which prove you to be truly His.

I. Reading, again, this solemn sentence, "Without Me you can do
nothing," it first of all excites in me AN ASPIRATION OF HOPE. There is
something to be done–our religion is to have a grand practical
outcome! I have been thinking of Christ as the Vine, and of the myriads
of branches in Him, and my heart has hoped for great things. From such
a root, what a vintage must come! Being branches in Him, what fruit we
must produce! There can be nothing scanty or poverty-stricken in the
fruit of a Vine so full of sap! Fruit of the best quality, fruit in the
utmost abundance, fruit unrivalled must be borne by such a Vine. That
word, "do," has music in it! Yes, Brethren, Jesus went about doing good
and,

being in Him, we shall do good! Everything about Him is efficient,
practical–in a word, fruit bearing–and being joined to Him, much will
yet be done by us.

We have been saved by the almighty Grace of God apart from all doings
of our own and now that we are saved, we long to do something in
return! We feel a high ambition to be of some use and service to our
great Lord and Master. The text, even though there is a negative in it,
yet raises in our soul the hope that before we go from here and are no
more, we may even here on earth do something for Christ! Beloved, there
is the ambition and hope before us of doing something in the way of
glorifying God by bringing forth the fruits of holiness, peace and
love. We would adorn the Doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things. By
pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by love unfeigned, by every
good and holy work we would show forth the praises of our God!

Apart from the Lord Jesus we know we cannot be holy–but joined unto
Him we overcome the world, the flesh and the devil–and we walk with
garments unspotted from the world! The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance and all manner of holy conversation. For none of these
things are we equal of ourselves, and yet by faith we say with Paul, "I
can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." We may be
adorned with plentiful clusters. We may cause the Savior to have joy in
us that our joy may be full! Great possibilities are before us! We
aspire not only to produce fruit in ourselves, but to bear much fruit
in the conversion of others, even as Paul desired concerning the
Romans, that he might have fruit among them.

In this matter we can do nothing whatever, alone, but being united unto
Christ we bring forth increase unto the Lord. Our Lord Jesus said, "The
works that I do shall you do also, and greater works than these shall
you do, because I go unto the Father." Brothers and Sisters, a hope
springs up in our bosom that we may, each one of us, bring many souls
to Jesus! Not because we have any power in ourselves, but because we
are united to Jesus, we joyfully hope to bring forth fruit in the way
of leading others to the knowledge of the Gospel! My soul takes fire of
hope and I say to myself, if it is so, all these branches and all
alive–how much fruit of further blessing will ripen for this poor
world? Men shall be blessed in us because we are blessed in Christ!

What must be the influence of ten thousand godly examples? What must be
the influence upon our country of thousands of Christian men and women
practically advancing love, peace, justice, virtue, holiness? And if
each one is seeking to bring others to Christ, what numerous
conversions there must be and how large must the Church of God be
increased? Do you not know that if there were only 10,000 real
Christians in the world, yet if each one of these brought one other to
Christ every year it would not need 20 years to accomplish the
conversion of the entire population of the globe? This is a simple sum
in arithmetic which any schoolboy can work out. Certainly it is a small
thing that each one should bring another to the Lord! And surely, if we
are one with Him, we may hope to see it done!

So I sit down and dream right comfortably, according to the promise,
"Your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams."
See these thousands of branches proceeding from such a stem as Christ
Jesus–and with such sap as the Holy Spirit flowing through them, why,
surely, this vine must soon clothe the mountains with its verdure and
there shall not remain a single barren rock unadorned with the blessed
foliage! Then shall the mountains drop sweet wine and all the hills
shall melt! Not because of any natural fertility in the branches, but
because of their glorious root, stem and sap, each one shall bear full
clusters and each fruitful branch shall run over the wall!

Beloved Friends in Christ, have you not strong desires to see some such
consummation? Do you not long to take a share in the high enterprise of
winning the world to Christ? Oh, you that are young and full of
spirits, do you not long to press to the front of this great crusade?
Our souls pine to see the knowledge of the Lord covering the earth as
the waters cover the sea! It is glad tidings to us that, joined unto
Christ, we can do something in this great business–something upon
which the Lord will smile–something which shall redound to the glory
of His name! We are not condemned to inaction. We are not denied the
joy of service, the superior blessedness of giving and of doing. The
Lord has chosen us and ordained us to go and bring forth fruit, fruit
that shall remain! This is the aspiration which rises in our soul–may
the Lord grant that we may see it take actual form in our lives!

II. But now, in the second place, there passes through my heart a
shudder–A SHUDDER OF FEAR. Albeit I glow and burn with strong desire
and rise upon the wing of a mighty ambition to do something great for
Christ, yet I read the text and a sudden trembling takes hold upon me.
"Without Me"–it is possible, then, that I may be without Christ and so
may be utterly incapacitated for all good! Come, Friends, I want you to
feel, even though it casts a cold chill over you,

that you may possibly be, "without Christ." I would have you feel it in
the very marrow of your bones–yes, in the center of your hearts.

You profess to be in Christ, but are you? The large majority of those
to whom I speak this morning are visible members of the visible Church
of Christ. But what if you should not be so in Him as to bring forth
fruit? Evidently there are branches which, in a certain sense are in
the vine, and yet bring forth no fruit! It is written, "Every branch in
Me that bears not fruit He takes away." Yes, you are a member, perhaps
an elder, perhaps a deacon, possibly a minister–and so you are in the
Vine–but are you bringing forth the fruits of holiness? Are you
consecrated? Are you endeavoring to bring others to Jesus Christ?

Or is your profession a thing apart from a holy life and devoid of all
influence upon others? Does it give you a name among the people of God
and nothing more? Say, is it a mere natural association with the
Church, or is it a living, Supernatural union with Christ? Let the
thought go through you and prostrate you before Him who looks down from
Heaven upon you! He lifts His pierced hands and cries, "Without Me you
can do nothing." My Friend, if you are without Christ, what is the use
of carrying on that Bible class, for you can do nothing? What is the
use of my coming to this pulpit if I am without Christ? What is the use
of your going down into the Sunday school this afternoon if, after all,
you are without Christ?

Unless we have the Lord Jesus, ourselves, we cannot take Him to others!
Unless within us we have the Living Water springing up unto eternal
life, we cannot overflow so that out of our midst shall flow rivers of
Living Water! I will put the thought another way–What if you should be
in Christ, but not so in Him as to abide in Him? It appears from our
Lord's words that some branches in Him are cast forth and are withered.
"If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is
withered." Some who are called by His name and reckoned among His
disciples–whose names are heard whenever the roll of the Church is
read–yet do not continue in Him. My Hearer, what if it should happen
that you are only in Christ on Sunday, but in the world all the rest of
the week?

What if you are only in Christ at the Communion Table, or at the Prayer
Meeting, or at certain periods of devotion? What if you are off and on
with Christ? What if you play fast and loose with the Lord? What if you
are an outside saint and an inside devil? Ah me, what will come of such
conduct as this? And yet, some persist in attempting to hold an
intermittent communion with Christ–in Christ today because it is the
Sabbath–out of Christ tomorrow because it is the market and obedience
to Christ might be inconvenient when they buy and sell. This will not
do! We must be so in Christ as to be always in Him, or else we are not
living branches of the living Vine and we cannot produce fruit.

If there were such a thing as a vine branch that was only occasionally
joined to the stem, would you expect it to yield a cluster to the
farmer? So neither can you, if you are off and on with Christ. You can
do nothing if there is not constant union. One year when I was
traveling towards my usual winter resting place, I stopped at
Marseilles, and there was overtaken by great pain. In my room in the
hotel I found it cold and so I asked for a fire. I was sitting in a
very desponding mood, when suddenly the tears came to my eyes, as if
struck with a great sorrow. I shall never forget the thoughts which
stirred my heart! The porter came in to light the fire. He had in his
hand a bundle of twigs.

I called to him to let me look at it. He was about to push it into the
stove as fuel with which to kindle the fire. As I took the bundle into
my hand, I found it was made of vine branches–branches that had been
cut off, now that the pruning time was come. Ah me, I thought, will
this be my portion? Here I am, away from home, unable to bear fruit, as
I love to do. Shall I end with this as my portion? Shall I be gathered
for the fire? Those vine shoots were parts of a good vine, no
doubt–branches that once looked fair and green–but now they were fuel
for the flame. They had been cut off and cast off as useless things!
And then men gathered them and tied them in bundles and they were
ignobly thrust into the fire.

What a picture! There goes a bundle of ministers into the fire! There
is a bundle of elders! There's another bundle of deacons! Next a bundle
of Church members, a bundle of Sunday school teachers! "Men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." Dear brothers and
Sisters, shall this be the lot of any of us who have named the name of
Christ? Well did I say a shudder may go through us as we listen to
those words, "without Me." Our end without Christ will be terrible,
indeed! First, no fruit; then no life; and, at last, no place among the
saints, no existence in the Church of God! Without Christ we do
nothing, we are nothing, we are worse than nothing! This is now the
condition of the heathen

and it was our own condition once–God forbid that we should find it to
be our condition now–"without Christ, having no hope!" Here is grave
cause for heart-searching and I leave the matter with you to that end.

III. Having come so far in our second head, under the third I behold A
VISION OF TOTAL FAILURE. "Without

Me," says the text, "you can do nothing"–you can produce nothing. The
visible Church of Christ has tried this experiment a great many times,
already, and always with the same result. Separated from Christ, His
Church can do nothing which she was formed to do. She is sent into the
world upon a high enterprise, with noble aims before her and grand
forces at her disposal–but if she should cease from communion with
Christ–she would become wholly incapable!

Now what are the outward signs of any community being apart from
Christ? Answer–first, it may be seen in a ministry without Christ in
its doctrine. This we have seen, ourselves. Woe is the day that it is
so! History tells us that not only in the Romish Church and the
Anglican Church, but among the Nonconformist Churches, Christ has been,
at times, forgotten! Not only among Unitarians, but among
Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists–all round, Jesus has been
dishonored. Attempts have been made to do something without Christ as
the truth to be preached. Ah me, what folly it is! They preach up
intellectualism and hope that this will be the great power of God, but
it is not.

"Surely," they say, "novelties of thought and refinements of speech
will attract and win converts! If the preachers aspire to be leaders of
thought–will they not command the multitude and charm the intelligent?
Add music and architecture and what is to hinder success?" Many a young
minister has given up his whole mind to this–to try and be exceedingly
refined and intellectual–and what has he done with these showy means?
The sum total is expressed in the text–"Nothing." "Without Me you can
do nothing." What emptiness this folly has created–when the pulpit is
without Christ, the pews are soon without people!

I knew a chapel where an eminent divine was to be heard for years. A
converted Jew, coming to London to visit a friend, set out on Sunday
morning to find a place of Christian worship and he chanced to enter
the chapel of this eminent divine. When he came back he said that he
feared he had made a mistake–he had turned into a building which he
hoped was a Christian place of assembly, but as he had not heard the
name of Jesus all the morning, he thought, perhaps, he had fallen in
with some other religionists. I fear that many modern sermons might
just as fairly have been delivered in a Muslim mosque as in a Christian
Church! We have too many preachers of whom we might complain, "they
have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid Him."

Christianity without Christ is a strange thing, indeed. And what comes
of it where it is held up to the people? Why, by-and-by there are not
enough people to support the ministry! Empty benches are plentiful and
the thing gets pretty nearly wound up. Blessed be God for it! I am
heartily glad that without Christ these pretended ministers cannot
prosper! Leave Christ out of the preaching and you shall do nothing.
Only advertise it all over London, Mr. Baker, that you are making bread
without flour–put it in every paper, "Bread without flour"–and you
may soon shut up your shop, for your customers will hurry off to other
bakers!

Somehow there is a strange prejudice in people's minds in favor of
bread made with flour and there is also an unaccountable prejudice in
the human mind which makes men think that if there is a Gospel, it must
have Christ in it. A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle and
end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution! However grand
the language, it will be merely much ado about nothing if Christ is not
there. Yes, and I mean by Christ not merely His example and the ethical
precepts of His teaching, but His atoning blood, His wondrous
satisfaction made for human sin and the grand doctrine of, "believe and
live." If, "Life for a look at the Crucified One" is obscured, all is
dark! If justification by faith is not set in the very forefront in the
full blaze of light, nothing can be accomplished! Without Christ in the
doctrine you shall do nothing!

Further, without acknowledging always the absolute supremacy of Christ,
we shall do nothing. Jesus is much complimented, nowadays, but He is
not submitted to as absolute Lord! I hear many pretty things about
Christ from men who reject His Gospel. "Lives of Christ" we have in any
quantity! Oh for one which would set Him forth in His Glory as God, as
Head of the Church and Lord of All! I should greatly like to see a,
"Life of Christ," written by one who know Him by communion with Him and
by reverently sitting at His feet! Most of the pretty things about
Jesus which I read nowadays seem to have been written by persons who
have seen Him through a telescope at a great distance and know Him,
"according to Matthew," but not according to personal fellowship! Oh,
for a "Life of Christ," by Samuel Rutherford or George Herbert, or by
some other sweet spirit to whom the Ever-Blessed One is such a familiar
Friend!

Certain modern praises of Jesus are written upon the theory that, on
the whole, the Savior has given us a religion that is tolerably suited
to the enlightenment of the 19th Century and may be allowed to last a
little longer. Jesus is commended by these critics and somewhat admired
as preferable to most teachers–but He is, by no means, to be blindly
followed. It is fortunate for Jesus that He commends Himself to the
"best thought" and ripest culture of the period, for, if He had not
done so, these wise gentlemen would have exposed Him as being behind
the times! Of course they have, every now and then, to rectify certain
of His dogmas, especially such as Justification by Faith, or Atonement,
or the Doctrine of Election!

These are old-fashioned things which belong to an older and less
enlightened period and, therefore, they adapt them by tearing out their
real meaning. The Doctrines of Grace, according to the infallible
critics of the period, are out of date–nobody believes them and they
settle off old-fashioned Believers as non-existent! Christ is rectified
and squared– and His garment without seam is taken off and He is
dressed out in proper style–as by a West-End clothier. Then He is
introduced to us as a remarkable teacher and we are advised to accept
Him as far as He goes. For the present the wise ones tolerate Jesus,
but there is no telling what is to come–the progress of this age is so
astonishing that it is just possible we shall, before long, leave
Christ and Christianity behind!

Now, what will come of this foolish wisdom? Nothing but delusions,
mischief, infidelity, anarchy and all manner of imaginable and
unimaginable ills. The fact is, if you do not acknowledge Christ to be
All, you have virtually left Him out and are without Him! We must
preach the Gospel because Christ has revealed it. "Thus says the Lord,"
is to be our logic. We must preach the Gospel as ambassadors delivering
their message–that is to say, in the King's name–by an authority not
their own. We preach our doctrines, not because we consider that they
are convenient and profitable, but because Christ has commanded us to
proclaim them. We believe the Doctrines of Grace, not because the
enlightenment of the age sets its wonderful imprimatur upon them, but
because they are true and are the voice of God!

Age or no age has nothing to do with us. The world hates Christ and
must hate Him–if it would boldly denounce Christ, it would be to us a
more hopeful sign than its deceitful Judas kiss. We keep simply to
this–the Lord has said it and we care not who approves or disapproves.
Jesus is God and Head of the Church–and we must do what He bids us and
say what He tells us–if we fail in this, nothing of good will come of
it. If the Church gets back to her loyalty, she shall see what her Lord
will do, but without Christ as absolute Lord, Infallible Teacher and
honored King, all must be failure even to the end.

Go a little further–you may have sound doctrine and yet do nothing
unless you have Christ in your spirit. I have known all the Doctrines
of Grace to be unmistakably preached and yet there have been no
conversions–for this reason–that they were not expected and scarcely
desired. In former years many orthodox preachers thought it to be their
sole duty to comfort and confirm the godly few who by dint of great
perseverance found out the holes and corners in which they prophesied.
These brethren spoke of sinners as of people whom God might possibly
gather in if He thought fit to do so–but they did not care much
whether He did so or not. As to weeping over sinners as Christ wept
over Jerusalem; as to venturing to invite them to Christ as the Lord
did when He stretched out His hands all the day long; as to lamenting
with Jeremiah over a perishing people–they had no sympathy with such
emotions and feared that they savored of Arminianism.

Both preacher and congregation were cased in a hard shell and lived as
if their own salvation was the only design of their existence. If
anybody did grow zealous and seek conversions, straightway they said he
was indiscreet, or conceited. When a Church falls into this condition
it is, as to its spirit, "without Christ." What comes of it? Some of
you know by your own observation what comes of it. The comfortable
corporation exists and grows for a little while, but it comes to
nothing in the long run. And so it must–there can be no fruit-bearing
where there is not the Spirit of Christ as well as the doctrine of
Christ. Unless the Spirit of the Lord rests upon you, causing you to
agonize for the salvation of men even as Jesus did, you can do nothing!

But above all things we must have Christ with us in the power of His
actual Presence. Do we always think of this– "Without Me you can do
nothing"? We are going out this afternoon to teach the young–shall we
be quite sure to take Christ with us? Or on the road shall we suddenly
stop and say, "I am without my Master and I must not dare go another
step"? The abiding consciousness of the love of Christ in our soul is
the essential element of our strength. We can no more convert a sinner
without Christ than we could light up new stars in the sky! Power to
change the human will–power to

enlighten the intellect as to the things of God and to influence the
mind as to repentance and faith–must come entirely from the Most High.

Do we feel that? Or do we put our thoughts together for an address and
say, "Now, that is a strong point, and that will produce effect." And
do we rest there? If so, we can do nothing at all! The power lies with
the Master, not with the servant! The might is in the hand, not in the
weapon! We must have Christ in these pews and in these aisles–and in
this pulpit–and Christ down in our Sunday school! And we must have
Christ at the street corner when we stand there to talk of Him! And we
must feel that He is with us even to the end of the world, or we shall
do nothing! We have, then, before us a vision of total failure if we
attempt, in any way, to do without Christ. He says, "Without Me you can
do nothing." It is in the doing that the failure is most conspicuous.

You may talk a good deal without Him. You may hold congresses,
conferences and conventions. But doing is another matter! Without Jesus
you can talk any quantity, but without Him you can do nothing. The most
eloquent discourse without Him will be all a bottle of smoke. You shall
lay your plans, arrange your machinery and start your schemes, but
without the Lord you will do nothing! Immeasurable cloudland of
proposals and not a spot of solid doing large enough for a dove's foot
to rest on–such shall be the end of all! You may have all the money
that generosity can lavish, all the learning that your universities can
supply and all the oratory that the most gifted can lay at your feet,
but, "without Me," says Christ, "you can do nothing." Fuss, flare,
fireworks and failure–that is the end of it! "Without Me you can do
nothing."

Let me repeat those words again, "Do nothing." "Do nothing" and the
world dying around us! Africa in darkness, China perishing! India sunk
in superstition and a Church which can do nothing! No bread to be
handed out to the hungry and the multitude fainting and dying! The rock
to be smitten and the Water of Life to leap out for the thirsty, but
not a drop forthcoming because Jesus is not there! Ministers,
evangelists, churches, salvation armies, the world dies for need of you
and yet, "you can do nothing" if your Lord is away! The age shall
advance in discovery and men of science shall do their little best, but
you shall do "nothing" without Christ–absolutely nothing! You shall
not proceed a single inch upon your toilsome way, though you row till
the oars snap with the strain! You shall be drifted back by winds and
currents unless you take Jesus into the ship.

Remember that all the while the great Husbandman is watching you, for
His eye is on every vine branch. He sees that you are producing no
grapes and He is coming round with that sharp knife of His, cutting
here and there! What must become of you who produce nothing? It makes
one's very soul curdle within him to think that we should live to do
nothing! Yet I fear that thousands of Christians get no further than
this! They are not immoral, dishonest, or profane–but they do nothing!
They think of what they would like to do and they plan and they
propose–but they do nothing. There are plenty buds, but not a single
grape is produced and all because they do not get into that vital,
overflowing, effectual communion with Christ which would fill them with
life and constrain them to bring forth fruit unto the Glory of God!
There is a vision, then, of the failure all along the line if we try to
do without Christ.

IV. But now, fourthly, I hear A VOICE OF WISDOM, a still small voice
which speaks out of the text and says to us who are in Christ, let us
acknowledge this. Down on your knees, bow your mouths in the dust and
say, "Lord, it is true! Without you we can do nothing, nothing whatever
that is good and acceptable in the sight of God! We have not ability of
ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our ability is of God."
Now, do not speak thus, as if you paid a compliment which orthodoxy
requires you to make–but from the deeps of your soul, smitten with an
absolute self-despair, acknowledge the truth unto God. "To will is
present with me, but how to perform that which I would, I find not.
Lord, I am a good-for-nothing do-nothing! I am a fruitless, barren,
dry, rotten branch without You, and this I feel in my inmost soul. Be
not far from me, but quicken me by Your Presence."

Next, let us pray. If without Christ we can do nothing. Let us cry to
Him that we may never be without Him! Let us, with strong crying and
tears, entreat His abiding Presence. He comes to those who seek
Him–let us never cease seeking! In conscious fellowship with Him, let
us plead that the fellowship should always be unbroken. Let us pray
that we may be so knit and joined to Jesus that we may be one spirit
with Him, never to be separated from Him again. Master and Lord, let
the life floods of Your Grace never cease to flow into us, for we know
that we must be thus supplied or we can produce nothing! Brothers and
Sisters, let us have much more prayer than has been usual among us.
Prayer is appointed to convey

the blessings God ordains to give–let us constantly use the appointed
means and may the result be always increasing from day to day.

Next, let us personally cleave to Jesus. Let us not attempt a life of
separation, for that were to seek the living among the dead! Do not let
us depart from Him for a single minute! Would you like to be caught at
any one second of your life in a condition in which you could do
nothing? I must confess I should not like to be in that state,
incapable of defense against my enemies, or of service for my Lord. If
an awakened one should come before you under distress of mind and you
should feel quite incapable of doing any good for him–what a sad
perplexity! Or if you did not feel incapable and yet should really be
so–and what if you should, therefore, talk on in a religious way but
know no power in it? Would it not be a sad thing? May you never be in
such a state that you would be a do-nothing, with opportunities
afforded and yet without strength to utilize them! If you are divided
from Christ you are divided from the possibility of doing good; cling
therefore, to the Savior with your whole might and let nothing take you
away from Him–no, not for an hour!

Heartily submit yourselves, also, dear Friends, to the Lord's headship
and leadership, and ask to do everything in His style and way. He will
not be with you unless you accept Him as your Master. There must be no
quarrel about supremacy–you must yield yourself up absolutely to Him,
to be, to do, or to suffer according to His will. When it is wholly so,
He will be with you and you shall do everything that is required of
you. Wonderful things will the Lord perform through you when once He is
your All in All! Will we not have it so?

Once more–joyfully believe in Him. Though without Him you can do
nothing, yet with Him all things are possible! Omnipotence is in that
man who has Christ in him! Weakness, itself, you may be, but you shall
learn to glory in that weakness because the power of Christ rests upon
you if your union and communion with Christ are continually kept up! Oh
for a grand confidence in Christ! We have not believed in Him, yet, up
to the measure of the hem of His garment, for even that faith made the
sick woman whole! Oh to believe up to the measure of His infinite
Deity! Oh for the splendor of the faith which measures itself by the
Christ in whom it trusts! May God bring us there! Then shall we bring
forth much fruit to the Glory of His name.

V. And now, lastly. While I was listening to my text, as a child puts a
shell to its ear and listens till it hears the deep sea rolling in its
windings, I heard within my text A SONG OF CONTENTMENT. "Without Me you
can do nothing."

My heart said, "Lord, what is there that I want to do without You?
There is no pain in this thought to me. If I can do without You, I am
sorry to possess so dangerous a power. I am happy to be deprived of all
strength except that which comes from You. It charms, it exhilarates
and delights my soul to think that You are my All. Your have made me
penniless as to all wealth of my own that I might dip my hand into Your
treasury! You have taken all power away from every sinew and muscle of
mine that I may rest on Your bosom." "Without Me you can do nothing."

Be it so. Brothers and Sisters, are you not all agreed? Do you wish to
have it altered, any of you that love His dear name? I am sure you do
not, for suppose, dear Friends, we could do something without Christ?
Then He would not have the Glory of it. Who wishes that? There would be
little crowns for our poor little heads, for we should have done
something without Him. But now there is one great crown for that dear
head which once was pierced with thorns–for all His saints put
together cannot do anything without Him! The goodly fellowship of the
Apostles; the noble army of martyrs and the triumphant host of the
redeemed by blood, all put together, can do nothing without Jesus! Let
Him be crowned with majesty who works in us both to will and to do of
His own good pleasure! For our own sakes, for our Lord's sake, we are
glad that it is so!

All things are more ours by being His! And if our fruit is His, rather
than our own, it is none the less, but all the more ours! Is not this
rare music for a holy ear? I feel so glad that without Christ we can do
nothing because I fear that if the Church could do something without
Christ she would try to live without Him! If she could teach the school
and bring the children to salvation without Christ, I am afraid Christ
would never go into a Sunday school again. If we could preach
successfully without Jesus, I suspect that the Lord Jesus Christ would
seldom stand on high among the people again. If our Christian
literature could bless men without Christ, I am afraid we should set
the printing press going and never think about the Crucified One in the
matter. If there could be work done by the Church without Jesus, there
would be rooms into which He would never be invited–and these would
soon become a sort of Blue Beard's chambers full of horror. A something
that we could do without Christ? Why the mass of the Church would get
to working that machin-

ery tremendously and all the rest would be neglected–and so it is a
blessed thing for the whole Church that she must have Christ
everywhere! "Without Me you can do nothing."

As I listened to the song within these words I began to laugh–I wonder
if you will laugh, too? It was to myself I laughed, like Abraham of
old. I thought of those who are going to destroy the orthodox doctrine
from off the face of the earth. How they boast of the decline and death
of old-fashioned evangelism! I have read once or twice that I am the
last of the Puritans, the race is all dying out! To this I object–I am
willing to be esteemed last in merit–but not last as ending the race!
There are many others who are steadfast in the faith! They say our old
theology is decaying and that nobody believes it. It is all a lie! But
wise men say so and, therefore, we are bound to consider ourselves
obsolete and extinct. We are, in their esteem, as much out of date as
antediluvians would be could they walk down our streets. Yes, they are
going to quench our coal and blot us out from Israel.

Newspapers and reviews and the general intelligence of the age all join
to dance upon our graves! Put on your nightcaps, you good people of the
evangelical order, and go home to bed and sleep the sleep of the
righteous, for the end of you is come! Thus say the Philistines, but
the armies of the Lord think not. The adversaries exult exceedingly,
but Christ is not with them. They know very little about Him. They do
not work in His Spirit, nor cry Him up, nor extol the Gospel of His
precious blood–and so I believe that when they have done–their little
best will come to nothing. "Without Me you can do nothing." If this is
true of Apostles, much more of opposers! If His friends can do nothing
without Him, I am sure His foes can do nothing against Him! If they who
follow His steps and lie in His bosom can do nothing without Him, I am
sure His adversaries cannot–and so I laughed at their laughter and
smiled at their confusion.

I laughed, too, because I remembered a story of a New England service
when the pastor, one afternoon, was preaching in His own solemn way,
and the good people were listening or sleeping, as their minds
inclined. It was a substantial edifice where they assembled, fit to
outlive an earthquake. All went on peacefully in the Meeting House that
afternoon till suddenly a lunatic jumped up, denounced the minister and
declared that he would at once pull down the Meeting House about their
ears! Taking hold of one of the pillars of the gallery, this newly
announced Samson repeated his threat!

Everybody rose. The women were ready to faint. The men began to rush to
the doors and there was danger that the people would be trampled on as
they rushed down the aisles! There was about to be a great tumult. No
one could see the end of it, when suddenly one cool Brother sitting
near the pulpit produced calm by a single sentence. "Let him try!" was
the stern sarcasm which hushed the tempest!

Even so, today the enemy is about to disprove the Gospel and crush out
the Doctrines of Grace! Are you distressed, alarmed, astounded? So far
from that, my reply to the adversary's boast that he will pull down the
pillars of our Zion is only this –LET HIM TRY! Amen.
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The Principal Wheat