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692 lines
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<h4 style="text-align: center">
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A Sermon<br>
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(No. 289)<br>
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Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 11th, 1859, by<br>
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the<br>
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REV. C.H. SPURGEON<br>
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at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens,<br>
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Upon the last occasion of his preaching in that place.<br>
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</h4>
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<p class="scripture">
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"Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from
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the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto
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you all the counsel of God."— <a onClick="return mV('Act', 20, '26-27');">Act 20:26-27</a>
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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WHEN Paul was parting from his Ephesian friends, who had come
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to bid him farewell at Miletus, he did not request of them a
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commendation of his ability; he did not request of them a
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recommendation for his fervid eloquence, his profound learning,
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his comprehensive thought, or his penetrating judgment. He knew
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right well that he might have credit for all these, and yet be
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found a castaway at last. He required a witness which would be
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valid in the court of heaven, and of value in a dying hour. His
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one most solemn adjuration is: "I take you to record this day,
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that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not
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shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." In the
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apostle this utterance was no egotism; it was a fact that he
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had, without courting the smiles or fearing the frowns of any,
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preached the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
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as it had been taught to him by the Holy Spirit, and as he had
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received it in his own heart. O that all ministers of Christ
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could honestly challenge the like witness!
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Now, this morning I propose, by the help of God's Spirit, to do
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two things. The first will be to say a little upon <i>the
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apostle's solemn declaration at parting;</i> and then,
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afterwards, in a few solemn words, to <i>take my own personal
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farewell.</i>
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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1. In the first place, THE APOSTLE'S WORD AT PARTING: "I call
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you to record I have not shunned to declare unto you all the
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counsel of God." The first thing that strikes us is the
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declaration of the apostle concerning <i>the doctrines he had
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preached.</i> He had preached ALL the counsel of God. By which
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I think we are to understand that he had given to his people
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the entire gospel. He had not dwelt upon some one doctrine of
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it, to the exclusion of the rest; but it had been his honest
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endeavour to bring out every truth according to the analogy of
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faith. He had not magnified one doctrine into a mountain, and
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then diminished another into a molehill; but he had endeavoured
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to present all blended together, like the colours in the
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rainbow, as one harmonious and glorious whole. Of course, he
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did not claim for himself any infallibility as a man, although
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as an inspired man he was without error in his writings. He
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had, doubtless, sins to confess in private, and faults to
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bemoan God. He had, doubtless, sometimes failed to put a truth
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as clearly as he could have wished, when preaching the Word; he
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had not always been earnest as he could desire; but at least he
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could claim this, that he had not wilfully kept back a single
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part of the truth as it is in Jesus.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Now, I must bring down the apostle's saying to these modern
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times; and I take it, if any one of us would clear our
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conscience by delivering the whole counsel of God, we must take
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care that we preach in the first place the <i>doctrines of the
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gospel.</i> We ought to declare the grand doctrine of the
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Father's love towards his people from before all worlds. His
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sovereign choice of them, his covenant purposes concerning
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them, and his immutable promises to them, must all be uttered
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with trumpet tongue. Coupled with this the true evangelist must
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never fail to set forth the beauties of the person of Christ,
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the glory of his offices, the completeness of his work, and
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above all, the efficacy of his blood. Whatever we omit, this
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must be in the most forcible manner proclaimed again and again.
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That is no gospel which has not Christ in it, and the modern
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idea of preaching THE TRUTH instead of Christ, is a wicked
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device of Satan. Nor is this all, for as there are Three
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Persons in the Godhead, we must be careful that they all have
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due honour in our ministry. The Holy Spirit's work in
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regeneration, in sanctification and in perseverance, must be
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always magnified from our pulpit. Without his power our
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ministry is a dead letter, and we cannot expect his arm to be
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made bare unless we honour him day-by-day.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Upon all these matters we are agreed, and I therefore turn to
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points upon which there is more dispute, and consequently more
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need of honest avowal, because more temptation to concealment.
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To proceed then:—I question whether we have preached the
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whole counsel of God, unless predestination with all its
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solemnity and sureness be continually declared—unless
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election be boldly and nakedly taught as being one of the
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truths revealed of God. It is the minister's duty, beginning
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from this fountain head, to trace all the other streams;
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dwelling on effectual calling, maintaining justification by
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faith, insisting upon the certain perseverance of the believer,
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and delighting to proclaim that gracious covenant in which all
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these things are contained, and which is sure to all the
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chosen, blood-bought seed. There is a tendency in this age to
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throw doctrinal truth into the shade. Too many preachers are
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offended with that stern truth which the Covenanters held, and
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to which the Puritans testified in the midst of a licentious
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age. We are told that the times have changed: that we are to
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modify these old (so-called) Calvinistic doctrines, and bring
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them down to the tone of the times; that, in fact, they need
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dilution, that men have become so intelligent that we must pare
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off the angles of our religion, and make the square into a
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circle by rounding off the most prominent edges. Any man who
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doth this, so far as my judgment goes, does not declare the
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whole counsel of God. The faithful minister must be plain,
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simple, pointed, with regard to these doctrines. There must be
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no dispute about whether he believes them or not. He must so
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preach them that his hearers will know whether he preaches a
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scheme of freewill, or a covenant of grace—whether he
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teaches salvation by works, or salvation by the power and grace
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of God.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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But beloved, a man might preach all these doctrines to the
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full, and yet not declare the whole counsel of God. For here
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comes the labour and the battle; here it is that he who is
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faithful in these modern days will have to bare the full brunt
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of war. It is not enough to preach doctrine; we must preach
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<i>duty,</i> we must faithfully and firmly insist upon
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practice. So long as you will preach nothing but bare doctrine,
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there is a certain class of men of perverted intellect who will
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admire you, but once begin to preach responsibility—say
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outright, once for all, that if the sinner perish it is his own
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fault, that if any man sinks to hell, his damnation will lie at
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his own door, and at once there is a cry of "Inconsistency! How
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can these two things stand together?" Even good Christian men
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are found who cannot endure the whole truth, and who will
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oppose the servant of the Lord who will not be content with a
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fragment, but will honestly present the whole gospel of Christ.
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This is one of the troubles that the faithful minister has to
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endure. But he is not faithful to God—I say it solemnly, I
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do not believe that any man is even faithful to his own
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conscience, who can preach simply the doctrine of
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responsibility. I do assuredly believe that every man who sinks
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into hell shall have himself alone to curse for it. It shall be
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said of them as they pass the fiery portal: "Ye would not." "Ye
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would have none of my rebukes. Ye were bidden to the supper and
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ye would not come. I called, and ye refused; I stretched out my
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hands, and no man regarded. And now, behold, I will mock at
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your calamities. I will laugh when your fear cometh." The
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apostle Paul knew how to dare public opinion, and on one hand
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to preach the duty of man, and on the other the sovereignty of
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God. I would borrow the wings of an eagle and fly to the utmost
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height of high doctrine when I am preaching divine sovereignty.
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God hath absolute and unlimited power over men to do with them
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as he pleases, even as the potter doeth with the clay. Let not
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the creature question the Creator, for he giveth no account of
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his matters. But when I preach concerning man, and look at the
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other aspect of truth, I dive to the utmost depth. I am, if you
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will so call me, a low-doctrine man in that, for as an honest
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messenger of Christ I must use his own language, and cry: "He
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that believeth not is condemned already, because he believeth
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not on the Son of God." I do not see that the whole counsel of
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God is declared, unless those two apparently contradictory
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points are brought out and plainly taught. To preach the whole
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counsel of God it is necessary to declare the promise in all
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its freeness, sureness and richness. When the promise makes the
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subject of the text the minister should never be afraid of it.
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If it is an unconditional promise, he should make its
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unconditionality one of the most prominent features of his
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discourse; he should go the whole way with whatever God has
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promised to his people. Should the command be the subject, the
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minister must not flinch; he must utter the precept as fully
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and confidently as he would the promise. He must exhort,
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rebuke, command with all long-suffering. He must ever maintain
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the fact that the perceptive part of the gospel is as
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valuable—nay, as invaluable—as the promissory part.
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He must stand to it, that "By their fruits ye shall know them;"
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that "Unless the tree bring forth good fruit it is hewn down
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and cast into the fire." Holy living must be preached, as well
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as happy living. Holiness of life must be constantly insisted
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on, as well as that simple faith which depends for all on
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Christ. To declare the whole counsel of God—to gather up
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ten thousand things into one—I think it is needful that
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when a minister gets his text, he should say what that text
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means honestly and uprightly. Too many preachers get a text and
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kill it. They wring its neck, then stuff it with some empty
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notions and present it upon the table for an unthinking people
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to feed upon. That man does not preach the whole counsel of God
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who does not let God's Word speak for itself in its own pure,
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simple language. If he finds one day a text like this: "It is
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not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
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that sheweth mercy," the faithful minister will go all the
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lengths of that text. And if on the morrow the Spirit of God
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lays home to his conscience this: "Ye will not come unto me
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that ye might have life," or this other: "Whosoever will, let
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him come," he will be just as honest with his text on that side
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as he was on the other. He will not shirk the truth. He will
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dare to look at it straight in the face himself and then he
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will bring it up into the pulpit, and there say to it: "O Word,
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speak for thyself, and be thou heard alone. Suffer me not, O
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Lord, to pervert or ministerpret thine own heaven-sent truth."
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Simple honesty to the pure Word of God is I think requisite to
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the man who would not shun to declare the whole counsel of God.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Moreover, this is not all, If a man would declare the whole
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counsel of God, and not shun to do so, he must be very
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particular upon the crying sins of the times. The honest
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minister does not condemn sin in the mass; he singles out
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separate sins in his hearers, and without drawing the bow at a
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venture he puts an arrow on the string and the Holy Spirit
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sends it right home to the individuals conscience. He who is
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true to his God does not look to his congregation as a great
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mass, but as separate individuals, and he endeavours to adapt
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his discourse to men's conscience, so that they will perceive
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he speaks of them. It is said of Rowland Hill, that he was so
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personal a preacher, that if a man were far away sitting in a
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window, or in some secret corner, he would nevertheless
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feel—"That man is speaking to me." And the true preacher
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who declares the whole counsel of God, so speaks, that his
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hearers feel that there is something for them; a reproof for
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their sins, an exhortation which they ought to obey, a
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something which comes pointedly, pertinently and personally
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home. Nor do I think any man has declared the whole counsel of
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God, who does not do this. If there be a vice that you should
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shun, if there be an error that you should avoid, if there be a
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duty that you ought to fulfil, if all these things be not
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mentioned in the discourses from the pulpit, the minister has
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shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. If there be one
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sin that is rife in the neighbourhood, and especially in the
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congregation, should the minister avoid that particular vice in
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order to avoid offending you, he has been untrue to his
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calling, dishonest to his God. I do not know how I can describe
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the man who declares the whole counsel of God better than by
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referring you to the epistles of St. Paul. There you have the
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doctrine and the precept, experience and practice. He tells of
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corruption within and temptation without. The whole divine life
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is portrayed, and the needed directions given. There you have
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the solemn rebuke, and the gentle comfort. There you have the
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words that "drop as the rain, and distil as the dew," and there
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you have the sentences that roll like thunders, and flash like
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lightning. There you see him at one time with his crook in his
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hand, gently leading his sheep into the pastures; and, anon,
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you see him with his sword drawn , doing valiant battle against
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the enemies of Israel. He who would be faithful, and preach the
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whole counsel of God, must imitate the apostle Paul, and preach
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as <i>he</i> wrote.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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The question, however, is suggested, is there any temptation
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which arises to the man who endeavours to do this? Is there
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anything which would tempt him from the straight path and
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induce him not to preach the whole counsel of God? Ah, my
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brother, little do you understand the minister's position, if
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you have not sometimes trembled for him. Espouse but one phase
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of the truth, and you shall be cried up to the very heavens.
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Become such a Calvinist that you shut your eyes to one half the
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Bible, and cannot see the responsibility of the sinner, and men
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will clap their hands, and cry Hallelujah! and on the backs of
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many you shall be hoisted to a throne, and become a very prince
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in their Israel. On the other hand, begin to preach mere
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morality, practice without doctrine, and you shall be elevated
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on other men's shoulders; you shall, if I may use such a
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figure, ride upon these asses into Jerusalem; and you shall
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hear them cry, Hosanna! and see them wave their palm branches
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before you. But once preach the whole counsel of God, and you
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shall have both parties down upon you; one crying, "The man is
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too high," the other saying, "No, he is too low;" the one will
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say, "He's a rank Arminian," the other, "He's a vile hyper-
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Calvinist." Now, a man does not like to stand between two
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fires. There is an inclination to please one or other of the
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two parties, and so, if not to increase one's adherents, at
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least to get a more ferociously attached people. Ay, but if we
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once begin to think of that, if we suffer the cry of either
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party on either hand to lead us from that narrow path—the
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path of right and truth and rectitude, it is all over with us
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then. How many ministers feel the influence of persons of
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wealth. The minister in his pulpit, perhaps, is inclined to
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think of the squire in his green pew. Or else he thinks: "What
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will deacon so-and-so say?" or, "What will the other deacon
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say, who thinks the very reverse?" or, "What will Mr. A, the
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editor of such a newspaper, write next Monday?" or, "What will
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Mrs. B. say next time I meet her?" Yes, all these things cast
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their little weight into the scale; and they have a tendency,
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if a man be not kept right by God the Holy Spirit, to make him
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diverge a little from that narrow path, in which alone he can
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stand if he would declare the whole counsel of God. Ah,
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friends, there are honours to be had by the man who will
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espouse the opinion of a clique; but while there are honours,
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there are far more dishonours to be gained by him who will
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stand firm to the unstained banner of truth, singly and alone,
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and do battle against mischief of every shape, as well in the
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church as in the world. Therefore, it was no mean testimony
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that the apostle asked for himself, that he had not shunned to
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declare the whole counsel of God.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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But, then, let me remark further, while there is this
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temptation not to declare all the counsel of God, the true
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minister of Christ feels impelled to preach the whole truth,
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because it and it alone can meet the wants of man. What evils
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has this world seen through a distorted, mangled, man-moulded
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gospel. What mischiefs have been done to the souls of men by
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men who have preached only one part and not all the counsel of
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God. My heart bleeds for many a family where Antinomian
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doctrine has gained the sway. I could tell many a sad story of
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families dead in sin, whose consciences are seared as with a
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hot iron, by the fatal preaching to which they listen. I have
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known convictions stifled and desires quenched by the
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soul-destroying system which takes manhood from man and makes
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him no more responsible than an ox. I cannot imagine a more
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ready instrument in the hands of Satan for the ruin of souls
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than a minister who tells sinners that it is not their duty to
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repent of their sins or to believe in Christ, and who has the
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arrogance to call himself a gospel minister, while he teaches
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that God hates some men infinitely and unchangeably for no
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reason whatever but simply because he chooses to do so. O my
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brethren! may the Lord save you from the voice of the charmer,
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and keep you ever deaf to the voice of error.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Even in Christian families, what evil will a distorted gospel
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produce! I have seen the young believer, just saved from sin,
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happy in his early Christian career, and walking humbly with
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his God. But evil has crept in, disguised in the mantle of
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truth. The finger of partial blindness was laid upon their
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eyes, and but one doctrine could be seen. Sovereigntywas seen,
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but not responsibility. The minister once beloved was hated; he
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who had been honest to preach God's Word, was accounted as the
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off-scouring of all things. And what became the effect? The
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very reverse of goood and gracious. Bigotry usurped the place
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of love; bitterness lived where once there had been a
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loveliness of character. I could point you to innumerable
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instances where harping upon any one peculiar doctrine has
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driven men to excess of bigotry and bitterness. And when a man
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has once come there, he is ready enough for sin of any kind to
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which the devil may please to tempt him. There is a necessity
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that the whole gospel should be preached, or else the spirits,
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even of Christians, will become marred and maimed. I have known
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men diligent for Christ, labouring to win souls with both
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hands; and on a sudden they have espoused one particular
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doctrine and not the whole truth, and they have subsided into
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lethargy. On the other hand, where men have only taken the
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practical side of truth, and left out the doctrinal, too many
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professors have run over into legality; have talked as if they
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were to be saved by works, and have almost forgotten that grace
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by which they were called. They are like the Galatians; they
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have been bewitched by what they have heard. The believer in
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Christ, if he is to be kept pure, simple, holy, charitable,
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Christ-like, is only to be kept so by a preaching of the whole
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truth as it is in Jesus. And as for the salvation of sinners,
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ah, my hearers, we can never expect God to bless our ministry
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for the conversion of sinners unless we preach the gospel as a
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whole. Let me get but one part of the truth, and always dwell
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upon it, to the exclusion of every other, and I cannot expect
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my Master's blessing. If I preach as he would have me preach,
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he will certainly own the word; he will never leave it without
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his own living witness. But let me imagine that I can improve
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the gospel, that I can make it consistant, that I can dress it
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up and make it look finer, I shall find that my Master is
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departed, and that Ichabod is written on the walls of the
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sanctuary. How many there are kept in bondage through neglect
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of gospel invitations. They are longing to be saved. They go up
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to the house of God, crying to be saved; and there is nothing
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but predestination for them. On the other hand, what multitudes
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are kept in darkness through practical preaching. It is do! do!
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do! and nothing but do! and the poor souls come away and say:
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"Of what use is that to me? I can do nothing. Oh, that I had a
|
|
way shown to me available for salvation." Of the apostle Paul
|
|
we think it may be truly said, that no sinner missed a comfort
|
|
from his keeping back Christ's cross; that no saint was
|
|
bewildered in spirit from his denying the bread of heaven and
|
|
withholding precious truth; that no practical Christian became
|
|
so practical as to become legal, and no doctrinal Christian
|
|
became so doctrinal as to become unpractical. His preaching was
|
|
of so savoury and consistent a kind, that they who heard him,
|
|
being blessed of the Spirit, became Christians indeed, both in
|
|
life and spirit, reflecting the image of their Master.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
I feel I cannot dwell very long upon this text. I have been so
|
|
extremely unwell for the last two days, that the thoughts which
|
|
I hoped to present to you in better form, have only come
|
|
tumbling out of my mouth in far from an orderly manner.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
II. I must now turn away from the apostle Paul to address you A
|
|
VERY FEW EARNEST, SINCERE AND AFFECTIONATE WORDS BY WAY OF
|
|
FAREWELL. "Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am
|
|
pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to
|
|
declare unto you all the counsel of God." I wish not to say
|
|
anything in self-commendation and praise; I will not be my own
|
|
witness as to my faithfulness; but I appeal unto you, I take
|
|
you to witness this day, that I have not shunned to declare
|
|
unto you all the counsel of God. Often have I come into this
|
|
pulpit in great weakness, and I have far more often gone away
|
|
in great sorrow, because I have not preached to you as
|
|
earnestly as I desired. I confess to many errors and failings,
|
|
and more especially to a want of earnestness when engaged in
|
|
prayer for your souls. But there is one charge which my
|
|
conscience acquits me of this morning, and I think you will
|
|
acquit me too, for I have not shunned to declare the whole
|
|
counsel of God. If in anything I have erred, it has been an
|
|
error of judgment; I may have been mistaken, but so far as I
|
|
have learned the truth, I can say that no fear of public
|
|
opinion, nor of private opinion, has ever turned me aside from
|
|
that which I hold to be the truth of my Lord and Master. I have
|
|
preached to you the precious things of the gospel. I have
|
|
endeavoured to the utmost of my ability to preach grace in all
|
|
its fulness. I know the preciousness of that doctrine in my own
|
|
experience; God forbid that I should preach any other. If we
|
|
are not saved by grace, we can never be saved at all. If from
|
|
first to last the work of salvation be not in God's hands, none
|
|
of us can ever see God's face with acceptance. I preach this
|
|
doctrine, not from choice, but from absolute necessity, for if
|
|
this doctrine be not true, then are we lost souls; your faith
|
|
is vain, our preaching is vain, and we are still in our sins,
|
|
and there we must continue until the end. But, on the other
|
|
hand, I can say also, I have not shunned to exhort, to invite,
|
|
to entreat. I have bidden the sinner come to Christ. I have
|
|
been urged not to do so, but I could not resist it. With bowels
|
|
yearning over perishing sinners, I could not conclude without
|
|
crying: "Come to Jesus, sinner, come." With eyes weeping for
|
|
sinners, I am compelled to bid them come to Jesus. It is not
|
|
possible for me to dwell upon doctrine without invitation. If
|
|
you come not to Christ it is not for want of calling, or
|
|
because I have not wept over your sins, and travailed in birth
|
|
for the souls of men. The one thing I have to ask of you is
|
|
this:—bear me witness, my hearers, bear me witness, that
|
|
in this respect I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have
|
|
preached all that I know of the whole counsel of God. Have I
|
|
known a single sin which I have not rebuked? Has there been a
|
|
doctrine that I have believed which I have kept back? Has there
|
|
been a part of the Word, doctrinal or experimental, which I
|
|
have wilfully concealed? I am very far from perfect, again with
|
|
weeping I confess my unworthiness; I have not served God as I
|
|
ought to do; I have not been so earnest with you as I could
|
|
desire. Now that my three years' ministry here is over, I could
|
|
have wished that I might begin again, that I might fall on my
|
|
knees before you and beseech you to regard the things that make
|
|
for your peace. But here, again, I do repeat it, that while as
|
|
to earnestness I plead guilty, yet as to truth and honesty I
|
|
can challenge the bar of God, I can challenge the elect angels,
|
|
I can call you all to witness, that I have not shunned to
|
|
declare the whole counsel of God.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
It is easy enough, if one wills to do it, to avoid preaching an
|
|
objectionable doctrine, by simply passing over the texts which
|
|
teach it. If an unpleasant truth thrusts itself on you, it is
|
|
not hard to put it aside, imagining that it would disturb your
|
|
previous teaching. Such concealment may, for a while succeed,
|
|
and possibly your people will not find it out for years. But if
|
|
I have studied after anything, I have sought always to bring
|
|
out that truth which I have neglected beforehand; and if there
|
|
has been any one truth that I have kept back hitherto, it shall
|
|
be my earnest prayer that from this day forth it may be made
|
|
more prominent, that so it may be the better understood and
|
|
seen. Well, I simply ask you this question, and if I indulge in
|
|
some little egotism, if on this parting day "I am become a fool
|
|
in glorying;" it is not for the sake of glorying, it is with a
|
|
better motive—my hearer, I put this question to you. There
|
|
may come sad disasters to many of you. In a little time some of
|
|
you may be frequenting places where the gospel is not preached.
|
|
You may embrace another and a false gospel. I only ask this
|
|
thing of you: Bear me witness that it was not my
|
|
fault,—that I have been faithful and have not shunned to
|
|
declare unto you the whole counsel of God. In a little time
|
|
some here who have been restrained by the fact of having
|
|
attended a place of worship, seeing the chosen minister has
|
|
gone, may not go anywhere else afterwards. You may become
|
|
careless. Perhaps next Sabbath day you may be sitting at home,
|
|
lolling about and wasting the day. But there is one thing I
|
|
should like to say before you make up your mind not to attend
|
|
the house of God again:—Bear me witness that I have been
|
|
faithful with you. It may be that some here who have
|
|
professedly run well for a time while they have been hearing
|
|
the Word, may go back; some of you may go right into the world
|
|
again; you may become drunkards, swearers and the like. God
|
|
forbid that it be so! But I charge you, if you plunge into sin,
|
|
do at least say this one thing for him who desires nothing so
|
|
much as to see you saved—say, I have been honest with you;
|
|
that I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God.
|
|
Oh, my hearers, some of you in a little time will be on your
|
|
dying-beds. When your pulse is feeble, when the terrors of grim
|
|
death are round about you, if you are still unconverted to
|
|
Christ, there is one thing I shall want you to add to your last
|
|
will and testament; it is this—the exclusion of the poor
|
|
minister who stands before you this day from any share in that
|
|
desperate folly of yours which has led you to neglect your own
|
|
soul. Oh, have I not cried to you to repent? Have I not bidden
|
|
you look to it ere death surprised you? Have I not exhorted
|
|
you, my hearers, to flee for a refuge to the hope set before
|
|
you? Oh, sinner, when thou art wading through the black river,
|
|
cast back no taunt on me as though I was thy murderer, for in
|
|
this thing I can say: "I wash my hands in innocency; I am clear
|
|
of your blood." But the day is coming when we shall all meet
|
|
again. This great assembly shall be submerged into a greater,
|
|
as the drop loses itself in the ocean. And I shall stand on
|
|
that day to take my trial at God's bar. If I have not warned
|
|
you, I have been an unfaithful watchman, and your blood will be
|
|
required at my hands; if I have not preached Christ to you, and
|
|
bidden you flee for refuge, then, though you perish, yet shall
|
|
your soul be required of me. I beseech you, if you laugh at me,
|
|
if you reject my message, if you despise Christ, if you hate
|
|
his gospel, if you will be damned, yet at least give me an
|
|
acquittal of your blood. I see some before me who do not often
|
|
hear me; and yet I can say concerning them, they have been the
|
|
subject of my private prayers; and often, too, of my tears,
|
|
when I see them going on in their iniquities. Well, I do ask
|
|
this one thing, and as honest men you cannot deny it me. If you
|
|
will have your sins, if you will be lost, if you will not come
|
|
to Christ, at least, amid the thunders of the great day, when I
|
|
stand for trial at God's bar, acquit me of having destroyed
|
|
your souls.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
What can I say more? How shall I plead with you? Had I an
|
|
angel's tongue, and the heart of the Saviour, then would I
|
|
plead; but I cannot say more than I have often done. In God's
|
|
name I beseech you flee to Christ for refuge. If all hath not
|
|
sufficed before, let this suffice thee now. Come, guilty soul,
|
|
and flee away to him whose wide open arms are willing to
|
|
receive every soul that fleeth to him with penitence and faith.
|
|
In a little time the preacher himself will lie stretched upon
|
|
his bed. A few more days of solemn meeting, a few more sermons,
|
|
a few more prayers, and I think I see myself in yon upper
|
|
chamber, with friends watching around me. He who has preached
|
|
to thousands now needs consolation for himself. He who has
|
|
cheered many in the article of death is now passing through the
|
|
river himself. My hearers, shall there be any of you whom I
|
|
shall see upon my death bed who shall curse me with being
|
|
unfaithful? Shall these eyes be haunted with the visions of men
|
|
whom I have amused, and interested, but into whose hearts I
|
|
have never sought to plunge the truth? Shall I lie there, and
|
|
shall these mighty congregations pass in dreary panorama before
|
|
me, and as they subside before my eyes, one after the other,
|
|
shall each one curse me as being unfaithful? God forbid. I
|
|
trust you will do me this favour: that when I lie a-dying you
|
|
will allow that I am clear of the blood of all men, and have
|
|
not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. I see myself
|
|
standing at the last great day a prisoner at the bar. What if
|
|
this shall be read against me:—"Thou hast had many to
|
|
listen to thee; thousands have crowded to hear the words which
|
|
fell from my lips; but thou hast misled, thou hast deceived,
|
|
thou hast wilfully mistaught this people." Thunders such as
|
|
have been never heard before must roll over this poor head, and
|
|
lightnings more terrific than have ever scathed the fiend shall
|
|
blast this heart, if I have been unfaithful to you. My
|
|
position—if I had but one preached the Word to these
|
|
crowds, not to speak of many thousands of times—my
|
|
position were the most awful in the whole universe if I were
|
|
unfaithful. Oh may God avert that worst of
|
|
ills—unfaithfulness—from my head. Now, as here I
|
|
stand, I make this my last appeal: "I pray you in Christ's
|
|
stead be ye reconciled to God." But if ye will not be, I ask
|
|
you this single favour—and I think you will not deny it
|
|
me—take the blame of your own ruin, for I am pure from the
|
|
blood of all men, since I have not shunned to declare unto you
|
|
all the counsel of God.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
This much by way of calling you to witness. Now, I come to put
|
|
up a request. I have a favour to ask of all here present. If in
|
|
aught you have been profited, if in anything you have ever had
|
|
comfort, if you have found Christ in any way during the
|
|
preaching of the gospel here, I beg you, even though you should
|
|
not listen to my words again, I beg you to carry me up in your
|
|
heart before the throne of God in prayer. It is by the prayers
|
|
of our people that we live. God's ministers owe more to the
|
|
prayers of their people than they ever know. I love my people
|
|
for their prayerfulness for me. Never minister was so much
|
|
prayer for as I have been. But will those of you who will be
|
|
compelled to separate from us by reason of distance, and the
|
|
like, will you still carry me in your thoughts before God, and
|
|
let my name be ungraven on your bosoms as often as you present
|
|
yourselves before the mercy seat. It is a little thing I ask.
|
|
It is simply that you say: "Lord, help thy servant to win souls
|
|
to Christ." Ask that he may be made more useful than he has
|
|
ever been; that if he is in aught mistaken he may be set right.
|
|
If he has not comforted you, ask that he may do so in the
|
|
future; but if he has been honest with you, then pray that your
|
|
Master may have him in his holy keeping. And while I ask you to
|
|
put up this request for me, it is for all those that preach the
|
|
truth in Jesus. Brethren, pray for us. We would labour for you
|
|
as those that must give account. Ah, it is no little thing to
|
|
be a minister if we are true to our calling. As Baxter once
|
|
said, when someone told him the ministry was easy work: "Sir, I
|
|
wish you would take my place, if you think so, and try it." If
|
|
to agonize with God in prayer, if to wrestle for the souls of
|
|
men, if to be abused and not to reply, if to suffer all manner
|
|
of rebukes and slanders, if this be rest, take it, sir, for I
|
|
shall be glad to get rid of it. I do ask that you would pray
|
|
for all ministers of Christ, that they may be helped and
|
|
upheld, maintained and supported, that their strength may be
|
|
equal to their day.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
And, then, having put up this request for myself, and therefore
|
|
a selfish one, I have an entreaty to put up for others. My
|
|
hearers, I cannot shut my eyes to the fact, that there are
|
|
still many of you who have long listened to the Word here, but
|
|
who have still not given your hearts to Christ. I am glad to
|
|
see you here, even though it should be for the last time. If
|
|
you should never tread the hallowed courts of God's house
|
|
again, never hear his Word, never listen to hearty invitation
|
|
or honest warning, I have one entreaty to put up for you. Mark,
|
|
not a request, but an entreaty; and such a one, that if I were
|
|
begging for my life I could not be more honest and intensely
|
|
earnest about it. Poor sinner, stop awhile, and think. If thou
|
|
hast heard the gospel and been profited by it, what wilt thou
|
|
think of all thy lost opportunities when thou art on thy dying
|
|
bed? What wilt thou think when thou art cast into hell, when
|
|
this thought shall come ringing in thy ears: "Thou didst hear
|
|
the gospel, but thou didst reject it;" when the devils in hell
|
|
shall laugh in thy face, and say: "We never rejected Christ, we
|
|
never despised the Word," and they shall thrust thee into a
|
|
deeper hell than ever they themselves experienced. I entreat
|
|
thee, stop, and think of this. Are the joys that thou hast in
|
|
this world worth living for? Is not this world a dull and
|
|
dreary place? Man, turn over a fresh leaf. I tell thee, there
|
|
is no joy for thee here, and there is none hereafter whilst
|
|
thou art what thou art. Oh, may God teach thee that the
|
|
mischief lies in thy sin. Thou hast unforgiven sin about thee.
|
|
As long as thy sin is unforgiven, thou canst neither be happy
|
|
here, nor in the world to come. My entreaty is, go to thy
|
|
chamber; if thou knowest thy self to be guilty, make a full
|
|
confession there before God; ask him to have mercy upon thee,
|
|
for Jesus' sake. And he will not deny thee. Man, he will not
|
|
dent thee; he will answer thee; he will put all thy sins away;
|
|
he will accept thee; he will make thee his child. And as thou
|
|
shalt be more happy here, so shalt thou be blessed in the world
|
|
to come. Oh, Christian men and women, I entreat you, implore
|
|
the Spirit of God to lead many in this crowd to full
|
|
confession, to real prayer, and humble faith; and if they have
|
|
never repented before, may they now turn to Christ. Oh, sinner,
|
|
thy life is short, and death is hastening. Thy sins are many,
|
|
and if judgment has leaden feet, yet has it a sure and heavy
|
|
hand. Turn, turn, turn, I beseech thee. May the Holy Spirit
|
|
turn thee. Lo, Jesus is lifted up before thee now. By his five
|
|
wounds, I beseech thee, turn. Look thou to him and live.
|
|
Believe on him and thou shalt be saved, for whosoever believeth
|
|
on the Son of Man hath everlasting life, and he shall never
|
|
perish, neither shall the wrath of God rest upon him.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
May the Spirit of God now command his own abiding blessing,
|
|
even life for evermore, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<br align="center">
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>At the commencement of the Service, Mr. SPURGEON
|
|
said:—"The service of this morning will partake very
|
|
much of the character of a farewell discourse and a
|
|
farewell meeting. However sorrowful it is to me to part
|
|
with many of you, whose faces I have so long seen in the
|
|
throng of my hearers, yet for Christ's sake, for the sake
|
|
of consistency and truth, we are compelled to withdraw from
|
|
this place, and on next Sabbath morning hope to worship God
|
|
in Exeter Hall. On two occasions before, as our friends are
|
|
aware, it was proposed to open this place in the evening,
|
|
and I was then able to prevent it by the simple
|
|
declaration, that if so I should withdraw. That declaration
|
|
suffices not at this time; and you can therefore perceive
|
|
that I should be a craven to the truth, that I should be
|
|
inconsistent with my own declarations, that in fact, my
|
|
name would cease to be SPURGEON, if I yielded. I neither
|
|
can nor will give way in anything in which I know I am
|
|
right; and in the defence of God's holy Sabbath, the cry of
|
|
this day is, 'Arise, let us go hence!'"</p>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<p>
|
|
</p>
|
|
</div></div>
|
|
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