The Bible
A Sermon (No.
15)
Delivered on Sabbath
Evening, March 18, 1855, by the REV. C.H. SPURGEON At
Exeter Hall, Strand.
"I have written to
him the great things of my law; but they were counted as
a strange thing."-Hosea
8:12
This is
God's complaint against Ephraim. It is no mean proof of
his goodness, that he stoops to rebuke his erring
creatures; it is a great argument of his gracious
disposition, that he bows his head to notice terrestrial
affairs. He might, if he pleased, wrap himself with
might as with a garment; he might put the stars around
his wrist for bracelets, and bind the suns around his
brow for a coronet; he might dwell alone, far, far above
this world, up in the seventh heaven, and look down with
calm and silent indifference upon all the doings of his
creatures; he might do as the heathens supposed their
Jove did, sit in perpetual silence, sometimes nodding
his awful head to make the fates move as he pleased, but
never taking thought of the little things of earth,
disposing of them as beneath his notice, engrossed with
his own being, swallowed up within himself, living alone
and retired; and I, as one of his creatures, might stand
by night upon a mountain-top, and look upon the silent
stars and say, "Ye are the eyes of God, but ye look not
down on me; your light is the gift of his omnipotence,
but your rays are not smiles of love to me. God, the
mighty Creator, has forgotten me; I am a despicable drop
in the ocean of creation, a sear leaf in the forest of
beings, an atom in the mountain of existence. He knows
me not; I am alone, alone, alone." But it is not so,
beloved. Our God is of another order. He notices every
one of us; there is not a sparrow or a worm but is found
in his decrees. There is not a person upon whom his eye
is not fixed. Our most secret acts are known to him.
Whatsoever we do, or bear, or suffer, the eye of God
still rests upon us, and we are beneath his smile-for we
are his people; or beneath his frown-for we have erred
from him.
Oh! how
ten-thousand-fold merciful is God, that, looking down
upon the race of man, he does not smite it our of
existence. We see from our text that God looks upon man;
for he says of Ephraim, "I have written to him the great
things of my law, but they were counted as a strange
thing." But see how, when he observes the sin of man, he
does not dash him away and spurn him with his foot; he
does not shake him by the neck over the gulf of hell,
until his brain doth reel and then drop him forever; but
rather, he comes down from heaven to plead with his
creatures; he argues with them; he puts himself, as it
were, upon a level with the sinner-states his grievances
and pleads his claim. O Ephraim, I have written unto
thee the great things of my law, but they have been unto
thee as a strange thing! I come here to-night in God's
stead, my friends, to plead with you as God's
ambassador, to charge many of you with a sin; to lay it
to your hearts by the power of the Spirit, so that you
may be convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of a
judgment to come. The crime I charge you with is the sin
of the text. God has written to you the great things of
his law, but they have been unto you as a strange thing.
It is concerning this blessed book, the Bible, that I
mean to speak tonight. Here lies my text-this Word of
God. Here is the theme of my discourse, a theme which
demands more eloquence than I possess; a subject upon
which a thousand orators might speak at once; a mighty,
vast, and comprehensive theme, which might engross all
eloquence throughout eternity, and still it would remain
unexhausted.
Concerning the Bible, I have
three things to say to-night, and they are all in my
text. First, its author, "I have written;" secondly, its
subjects-the great things of God's law; and thirdly, its
common treatment-it has been accounted by most men a
strange thing.
I.
First, then, concerning this book: Who is the author?
The text says that it is God. "I have written to him the
great things of my law." Here lies my Bible-who wrote
it? I open it, and find it consists of a series of
tracts. The first five tracts were written by a man
called Moses; I turn on, and I find others. Sometimes I
see David is the penman, at other times Solomon. Here I
read Micah, then Amos, then Hosea. As I turn further on,
to the more luminous pages of the New Testament, I see
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Paul, Peter, James, and
others; but when I shut up the book; I ask myself, who
is the author of it? Do these men jointly claim the
authorship? Are they the compositors of this massive
volume? Do they between themselves divide the honor? Our
holy religion answers, No! This volume is the writing of
the living God; each letter was penned with an Almighty
finger; each word in it dropped from the everlasting
lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit.
Albeit, that Moses was employed to write his histories
with his fiery pen, God guided that pen. It may be that
David touched his harp, and let sweet Psalms of melody
drop from his fingers; but God moved his hands over the
living strings of his golden harp. It may be that
Solomon sang canticles of love, or gave forth words of
consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made
the preacher eloquent. If I follow the thundering Nahum,
when his horses plough the waters, or Habakkuk, when he
sees the tents of Cushan in affliction; if I read
Malachi, when the earth is burning like an oven; if I
turn to the smooth page of John, who tells of love, or
the rugged, fiery chapters of Peter, who speaks of fire
devouring God's enemies; if I turn to Jude, who launches
forth anathemas upon the foes of God, everywhere I find
God speaking; it is God's voice, not man's; the words
are God's words, the words of the Eternal, the
Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of this earth. This
Bible is God's Bible, and when I see it, I seem to hear
a voice springing up from it, saying, "I am the book of
God; man, read me. I am God's writing; open my leaf, for
I was penned by God; read it, for he is my author, and
you will see him visible and manifest everywhere." "I
have written to him the great things of my
law."
How do
you know that God wrote the book? That is just what I
shall not try to prove to you. I could if I pleased,
demonstrate it, for there are arguments enough, there
are reasons enough, did I care to occupy your time
to-night in bringing them before you; but I shall do no
such thing. I might tell you, if I pleased, that the
grandeur of the style is above that of an mortal
writing, and that all the poets who have ever existed
could not, with all their works united, give us such
sublime poetry and such mighty language as is to be
found in the Scriptures. I might insist upon it, that
the subjects of which it treats are beyond the human
intellect; that man could never have invented the grand
doctrines of a Trinity in the Godhead; man could not
have told us anything of the creation of the universe;
he could never have been the author of the majestic idea
of Providence-that all things are ordered according to
the will of one great Supreme Being, and work together
for good. I might enlarge upon its honesty, since it
tells the faults of its writers; its unity, since it
never belies itself; its master simplicity, that he who
runs may read it; and I might mention a hundred more
things, which would all prove, to a demonstration, that
the book is of God. But I come not here to prove it. I
am a Christian minister, and you are Christians, or
profess to be so; and there is never any necessity for
Christian ministers to make a point of bringing forward
infidel arguments in order to answer them. It is the
greatest folly in the world. Infidels, poor creatures,
do not know their own arguments till we tell them, and
then they glean their blunted shafts to shoot them at
the shield of truth again. It is follow to bring forward
these firebrands of hell, even if we are well prepared t
quench them. Let men of the world learn error of
themselves; do not let us be propagators of their
falsehoods. True, there are some preachers who are short
of stock, and want to fill them up; but God's own chosen
men need not do that; they are taught of God, and God
supplies them with matter, with language, with power.
There may be some one here to-night who has come without
faith, a man of reason, a freethinker. With him I have
no argument at all. I profess not to stand here as a
controversialist, but as a preacher of things that I
know and feel. But I too, have been like him. There was
an evil hour when I once shipped the anchor of my faith;
I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored myself
hard by the coasts of Revelation; I allowed my vessel to
drift before the wind; I said to reason, "Be thou my
captain;" I said to my own brain, "Be thou my rudder;"
and I started on my mad voyage. Thank God, it is all
over now; but I will tell you its brief history. It was
one hurried sailing over the tempestuous ocean of free
thought. I went on, and as I went, the skies began to
darken; but to make up for that deficiency, the waters
were brilliant with coruscations of brilliancy. I saw
sparks flying upward that pleased me, and I thought, "If
this be free thought, it is a happy thing." My thoughts
seemed gems, and I scattered stars with both my hands;
but anon, instead of these coruscations of glory, I saw
grim fiends, fierce and horrible, start up from the
waters, and as I dashed on, they gnashed their teeth,
and grinned upon me; they seized the prow of my ship and
dragged me on, while , in part, gloried at the rapidity
of my motion, but yet shuddered at the terrific rate
with which I passed the old landmarks of my faith. As I
hurried forward, with an awful speed, I began to doubt
my very existence; I doubted if there were a world, I
doubted if there was such a thing as myself. I went to
the very verge of the dreary realms of unbelief. I went
to the very bottom of the sea of Infidelity. I doubted
everything. But here the devil foiled himself: for the
very extravagance of the doubt, proved its absurdity.
Just when I saw the bottom of that sea, there came a
voice which said, "And can this doubt be true?" At this
very thought I awoke. I started from that deathdream,
which, God knows might have damned my soul, and ruined
this, my body, if I had not awoke. When I arose, faith
took the helm; from that moment I doubted not. Faith
steered me back; faith cried, "Away, away!" I cast my
anchor on Calvary; I lifted my eye to God; and here I
am, "alive, and out of hell." Therefore, I speak what I
do know. I have sailed that perilous voyage; I have come
safe to land. Ask me again to be an infidel! No; I have
tried it; it was sweet at first, but bitter afterwards.
Now, lashed to God's gospel more firmly than ever,
standing as on a rock of adamant, I defy the arguments
of hell to move me; for "I know in whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him." But I shall neither plead nor
argue this night. You profess to be Christian men, or
else you would not be here. Your professions may be
lies; what you say you are, may be the very contrary to
what you really are; but still I suppose you all admit
that this is the Word of God. A thought or two then upon
it. "I have written to him the great things of my
law."
First,
my friends, stand over this volume, and admire its
authority. This is no common book. It is not the sayings
of the sages of Greece; here are not the utterances of
philosophers of past ages. If these words were written
by a man, we might reject them; but O let me think the
solemn thought, that this book is God's handwriting-that
these words are God's! Let me look at its date; it is
dated from the hills of heaven. Let me look at its
letters; they flash glory on my eye. Let me read the
chapters; they are big with meaning and mysteries
unknown. Let me turn over the prophecies; they are
pregnant with unthought-of wonders. Oh, book of books!
And wast thou written by my God? Then will I bow before
thee. Thou book of vast authority! thou art a
proclamation from the Emperor of Heaven; far be it from
me to exercise my reason in contradicting thee. Reason,
thy place is to stand and find out what this volume
means, not to tell what this book ought to say. Come
thou, my reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen,
for these words are the words of God. I do not know how
to enlarge on this thought. Oh! if you could ever
remember that this Bible was actually and really written
by God. Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers
of heaven, if ye had beheld God grasping his pen and
writing down these letters-then surely ye would respect
them; but they are just as much God's handwriting as if
you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of
authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written
it. Oh! tremble, lest any of you despise it; mark its
authority, for it is the Word of
God.
Then,
since God wrote it, mark its truthfulness. If I had
written it, there would be worms of critics who would at
once swarm upon it, and would cover it with their evil
spawn; Had I written it, there would be men who would
pull it to pieces at once, and perhaps quite right too.
But this is the Word of God; come, search, ye critics,
and find a flaw; examine it, from its Genesis to its
Revelation, and find an error. This is a vein of pure
gold, unalloyed by quartz, or any earthly substance.
This is a star without a speck; a sun without a blot; a
light without darkness; a moon without its paleness; a
glory without a dimness. O Bible! it cannot be said of
any other book, that it is perfect and pure; but of thee
we can declare all wisdom is gathered up in thee,
without a particle of folly. This is the judge that ends
the strife, where wit and reason fail. This is the book
untainted by any error; but is pure, unalloyed, perfect
truth. Why? Because God wrote it. Ah! charge God with
error if ye please; tell him that his book is not what
it ought to be. I have heard men, with prudish and
mock-modesty, who would like to alter the Bible; and (I
almost blush to say it) I have heard ministers alter
God's Bible, because they were afraid of it. Have you
never heard a man say, "He that believeth and is
baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth
not"-what does the Bible say?-"Shall be damned." But
that does not happen to be polite enough, so they say,
"Shall be condemned." Gentlemen, pull the velvet out of
your mouths; speak God's word; we want none of your
alterations. I have heard men in prayer instead of
saying, "Make your calling and election sure," say "Make
your calling and salvation sure." Pity they were not
born when God lived far-far back that they might have
taught God how to write. Oh, impudence beyond all
bounds! Oh full-blown self-conceit! To attempt to
dictate to the All-wise-to teach the Omniscient and
instruct the Eternal. Strange that there should be men
so vile as to use the penknife of Jehoiakim to cut
passages out of the word, because they are unpalatable.
O ye who dislike certain portions of Holy Writ, rest
assured that your taste is corrupt, and that God will
not stay for you little opinion. Your dislike is the
very reason why God wrote it, because you out not to be
suited; you have no right to be pleased. God wrote what
you do not like; he wrote the truth. Oh! let us bend in
reverence before it, for God inspired it. It is pure
truth. Here from this fountain gushes aqua vitae-the
water of life-without a single particle of earth; here
from this sun cometh forth rays of radiance, without the
mixture of darkness. Blessed Bible! thou art all
truth.
Yet once
more, before we leave this point, let us stop and
consider the merciful nature of God, in having written
us a Bible at all. Ah! he might have left us without it,
to grope our dark way, as blind men seek the wall; he
might have suffered us to wander on with the star of
reason as our only guide. I recollect a story of Mr.
Hume, who so constantly affirmed that the light of
reason is abundantly sufficient. Being at a good
minister's house one evening, he had been discussing the
question, and declaring his firm belief in the
sufficiency of the light of nature. On leaving, the
minister offered to hold him a candle to light him down
the steps. He said "No; the light of nature would be
enough; the moon would do." It so happened that the moon
was covered with a cloud, and he fell down the steps.
"Ah!" said the minister, "you had better have had a
little light from above, after all, Mr. Hume." So,
supposing the light of nature to be sufficient, we had
better have a little light from above too, and then we
shall be sure to be right. Better have two lights than
only one. The light of creation is a bright light. God
may be seen in the stars; his name is written in gilt
letters on the brow of night; you may discover his glory
in the ocean waves, yea, in the trees of the field; but
it is better to read it in two books than in one. You
will find it here more clearly revealed; for he has
written this book himself, and he has given you the key
to understand it, if you have the Holy Spirit. Ah,
beloved, let us thank God for this Bible; let us love
it; let us count it more precious than much fine
gold.
But let
me say one thing, before I pass on to the second point.
If this be the Word of God, what will become of some of
you who have not read it for the last month? "Month,
sir! I have not read it for this year." Ay, there are
some of you who have not read it at all. Most people
treat the Bible very politely . They have a small pocket
volume, neatly bound; they put a white
pocket-handkerchief round it and carry it to their
places of worship; when they get home, they lay it up in
a drawer till next Sunday morning; then it comes out
again for a little bit of a treat, and goes to chapel;
that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an airing.
That is your style of entertaining this heavenly
messenger. There is dust enough on some of your Bibles
to write "damnation" with your fingers. There are some
of you who have not turned over your Bibles for a long,
long while, and what think you? I tell you blunt words,
but true words. What will God say at last? When you
shall come before him, he shall say, "Did you read my
Bible?" "No." "I wrote you a letter of mercy; did you
read it?" "No." "Rebel! I have sent thee a letter
inviting thee to me; didst thou ever read it?" "Lord, I
never broke the seal; I kept it shut up." "Wretch!" says
God, "then, thou deservest hell, if I sent thee a loving
epistle, and thou wouldst not even break the seal; what
shall I do unto thee?" Oh, let it not be so with you. Be
Bible-readers; be Bible
II. Our
second point is: The subjects on which the Bible treats.
The words of the text are these: "I have written to him
the great things of my law." The Bible treats of great
things, and of great things only. there is nothing in
this Bible which is unimportant. Every verse in it has a
solemn meaning; and if we have not found it out yet, we
hope yet to do it. You have seen mummies, wrapped round
and round with folds of linen. Well, God's Bible is like
that; it is a vast roll of white linen, woven in the
loom of truth; so you will have to continue unwinding
it, roll after roll, before you get the real meaning of
it from the very depth; and when you have found, as you
think, a part of the meaning, you will still need to
keep on unwinding, unwinding, and all eternity you will
be unwinding the words of this great volume. Yet there
is nothing in the Bible but great things. Let me divide,
so as to be more brief. First, all things in this Bible
are great; but, secondly, some things are the greatest
of all.
All
things in the Bible are great. Some people think it does
not matter what doctrines you believe; that it is
immaterial what church you attend; that all
denominations are alike. Well, I dislike Mrs. Bigotry
above almost all people in the world, and I never give
her any compliment or praise; but there is another woman
I hate equally as much, and that is Mrs.
Latitudinarianism-a well-known character, who has made
the discovery that all of us are alike. Now, I believe
that a man may be saved in any church. Some have been
saved in the Church of Rome-a few blessed men whose
names I could mention here. I know, blessed be God, what
multitudes are saved in the Church of England; she has a
host of pious, praying men in her midst. I think that
all sections of Protestant Christians have a remnant
according to the election of grace; and they had need to
have, some of them, a little salt, for otherwise they
would go to corruption. But when I say that, do you
imagine that I think them all on a level? Are they all
alike truthful? One sect says infant baptism is right;
another says it is wrong; yet you say they are both
right. I cannot see that. One teaches we are saved by
free grace; another say us that we are not, but are
saved by free will; and yet you believe they are both
right. I do not understand that. One says that God loves
his people, and never leaves off loving them; another
says that he did not love his people before they loved
him-that he often loves them, and then ceases to love
them, and turns them away. They may both be right in the
main; but can they both be right when one says "Yes,"
and the other says "No?" I must have a pair of
spectacles, to enable me to look backwards and forwards
at the same time, before I can see that. It cannot be,
sirs, that they are both right. But some say they differ
upon non-essentials. This text says, "I have written to
him the great things of my law." There is nothing in
God's Bible which is not great. Did ever any of you sit
down to see which was the purest religion? "Oh," say
you, "we never took the trouble. We went just where our
father and mother went." Ah! that is a profound reason
indeed. You went where you father and mother did. I
thought you were sensible people; I didn't think you
went where other people pulled you, but went of your own
selves. I love my parents above all that breathe, and
the very thought that they believe a thing to be true,
helps me to think it is correct; but I have not followed
them; I belong to a different denomination, and I thank
God that I do. I can receive them as Christian brethren
and sisters; but I never thought that, because they
happened to be one thing, I was to be the same. No such
thing. God gave me brains, and I will use them; and if
you have any intellect, use it too. Never say it doesn't
matter. Whatever God has put here is of eminent
importance; he would not have written a thing that was
indifferent. Whatever is here is of some value;
therefore, search all questions, try all by the Word of
God. I am not afraid to have what I preach tried by this
book. Only give me a fair field and no favor, and this
book; if I say anything contrary to it, I will withdraw
it the next Sabbath-day. By this I stand, by this I
fall. Search and see; but don't say, "it does not
matter." If God says a thing, it always must be of
importance.
But,
while all things in God's word are important, all are
not equally important. There are certain fundamental and
vital truths which must be believed, or otherwise no man
would be saved. If you want to know what you must
believe, if ye would be saved, you will find the great
things of God's law between these two covers; they are
all contained here. As a sort of digest or summary of
the great things of law, I remember an old friend of
mine once saying, "Ah! you preach the three R's, and God
will always bless you." I said, "What are the three
R's?" and he answered, "Ruin, redemption, and
regeneration." They contain the sum and substance of
divinity. R for ruin. We were all ruined in the fall; we
were lost when Adam sinned, and we were all ruined by
our own transgressions; we are all ruined by our own
evil hearts, and our own wicked wills; and we all shall
be ruined, unless grace saves us. Then there is a second
R for redemption. We are ransomed by the blood of
Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot; we are
rescued by his power; we are ransomed by his merits; we
are redeemed by his strength. then there is R for
regeneration. If we would be pardoned, we must also be
regenerated; for no man can partake of redemption unless
he is regenerate. Let him be as good as he pleases; let
him serve God, as he imagines, as much as he likes;
unless he is regenerate, and has a new heart, a new
birth, he will still be in the first R, that is ruin.
These things contain an epitome of the gospel. I believe
there is a better epitome in the five points of
Calvinism;-Election according to the foreknowledge of
God; the natural depravity and sinfulness of man;
particular redemption by the blood of Christ; effectual
calling by the power of the Spirit; and ultimate
perseverance by the efforts of God's might. I think all
those need to be believed, in order to salvation; but I
should not like to write a creed like the Athanasian,
beginning with "Whosoever shall be saved, before all
things it is necessary that he should hold the Catholic
faith, which faith is this,"-when I got so far, I should
stop, because I should not know what to write. I hold
the Catholic faith of the Bible, the whole Bible, and
nothing but the Bible. It is not for me to draw up
creeds; but I ask you to search the Scriptures, for this
is the word of life.
God
says, "I have written to him the great things of my
law." Do you doubt their greatness? Do ye think they are
not worth your attention? Reflect a moment, man. Where
art thou standing now?
"Lo on a narrow neck of
land,
'Twixt two unbounded seas I
stand;
An inch of time, a moment's
space,
May lodge me in yon heavenly
place,
Or shut me up in
hell."
I
recollect standing on a seashore once, upon a narrow
neck of land, thoughtless that the tide might come up.
The tide kept continually washing up on either side,
and, wrapped in thoughts, I stood there, until at last
there was the greatest difficulty in getting on shore.
You and I stand each day on a narrow neck, and there is
one wave coming up there; see, how near it is to your
foot; and lo! another follows at every tick of the
clock; "Our hearts, like muffled drums, are beating
funeral marches to the tomb." We are always tending
downwards to the grave each moment that we live. This
book tells me that if I am converted, when I die, there
is a heaven of joy and love to receive me; it tells me
that angels' pinions shall be stretched, and I, borne by
strong cherubic wings, shall out-soar the lightning, and
mount beyond the stars, up to the throne of God, to
dwell forever.
"Far
from a world of grief and
sin,
With God
eternally shut in."
Oh! it
makes the hot tear start from my eye, it makes my heart
too big for this my body, and my brain whirls at the
thought of
"Jerusalem, my happy
home,
Name
ever dear to me."
Oh! that
sweet scene beyond the clouds; sweet fields arrayed in
living green, and rivers of delight. Are not these great
things? But then, poor unregenerate soul, the Bible says
if thou are lost, thou art lost forever; it tells thee
that if thou diest without Christ, without God, there is
no hope for thee; that there is no place without a gleam
of hope, where thou shalt read, in burning letters, "Ye
knew your duty, but ye did it not;" it tells you, that
ye shall be driven from his presence with a "depart, ye
cursed." Are these not great things? Yes, sirs, as
heaven is desirable, as hell is terrible, as time is
short, as eternity is infinite, as the soul is precious,
as pain is to be shunned, as heaven is to be sought, as
God is eternal, and as his words are sure, these are
great things, things ye ought to listen
to.
III. Our
last point is: The treatment which the poor Bible
receives in this world; it is accounted a strange thing.
What does that mean-the Bible accounted a strange thing?
In the first place, it means that it is very strange to
some people, because they never read it. I remember
reading, on one occasion, the sacred story of David and
Goliath, and there was a person present, positively
grown up to years of maturity, who said to me, "Dear me!
what an interesting story; what book is that in?" And I
recollect a person once coming to me in private; I spoke
to her about her soul, she told me how deeply she felt,
how she had a desire t serve God, but she found another
law in her members. I turned to a passage in Romans, and
read to her, "The good that I would I do not; and the
evil which I would not that I do!" She said, "Is that in
the Bible? I did not know it." I did not blame her,
because she had no interest in the Bible till then; but
I did not wonder that there could be found persons who
knew nothing about such a passage. Ah! you know more
about your ledgers than your Bible; you know more about
your day-books than what God has written; many of you
will read a novel from beginning to end, and what have
you got? A mouthful of froth when you have done. But you
cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting, substantial,
and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the
cupboard of neglect; while anything that man writes, a
catch of the day, is greedily devoured. "I have written
to him the great things of my law, but they were counted
as a strange thing." Ye have never read it. I bring the
broad charge against you. Perhaps, ye say, I ought not
to charge you with any such thing. I always think it
better to have a worse opinion of you than too good an
one. I charge you with this: you do not read your
Bibles. Some of you have never read it through. I know I
speak what your heart must say is honest truth. You are
not Bible readers. You say you have the Bible in your
houses; do I think you are such heathens as not to have
a Bible? But when did you read it last? How do you know
that your spectacles, which you have lost, have not been
there for the last three years? Many people have not
turned over its pages for a long time, and God might say
unto them, "I have written unto you the great things of
my law, but they have been accounted unto you a strange
thing."
Others
there be who read the Bible; but when they read it, they
say it is so horribly dry. That young man over there
says it is a "bore;" that is the words he uses. He says,
"My mother says to me, when you go up to town, read a
chapter every day. Well, I thought I would please her,
and I said I would. I am sure I wish I had not. I did
not read a chapter yesterday, or the day before. We were
so busy, I could not help it." You do not love the
Bible, do you? "No, there is nothing in it which is
interesting." Ah, I thought so. But a little while ago I
could not see anything in it. Do you know why? Blind men
cannot see, can they? But when the Spirit touches the
scales of the eyes, they fall off; and when he puts
eye-salves on, the Bible becomes precious. I remember a
minister who went to see an old lady, and he thought he
would give her some precious promises out of the word of
God. Turning to one, he saw written in the margin "P.,"
and he asked, "What does this mean?" "That means
precious, sir." Further down, he saw "T. and P.," and he
asked what the letters meant. "That," she said, "means
tried and proved, for I have tried and proved it." If
you have tried God's word and proved it-if it is
precious to your soul. then you are Christians; but
those persons who despise the Bible, have "neither part
nor lot in the matter." If it is dry to you, you will be
dry at last in hell. If you do not esteem it as better
than your necessary food, there is no hope for you; for
you lack the greatest evidence of your
Christianity.
Alas!
alas! the worst case is to come. There are some people
who hate the Bible, as well as despise it. Is there such
an one stepped in here? Some of you said, "Let us go and
hear what the young preacher has to say to us." This is
what he has to say to you: "Behold, ye despisers, and
wonder and perish." This is what he hath to say to you:
"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all that
forget God." And this, again he has to say to you:
"Behold, there shall come in the last days, mockers,
like yourselves, walking after your own lusts." But
more: he tells you to-night that if you are saved, you
must find salvation here. Therefore, despise not the
Bible; but search it, read it, and come unto it. Rest
thee will assured, O scorner, that thy laughs cannot
alter truth, thy jests cannot avert thine inevitable
doom. Though in thy hardihood thou shouldst make a
league with death, and sign a covenant with hell-yet
swift justice shall o'ertake thee, and strong vengeance
strike the low. In vain dost thou jeer and mock, for
eternal verities are mightier than thy sophistries, nor
can thy smart sayings alter the divine truth of a single
word of this volume of Revelation. Oh! why dost thou
quarrel with thy best friend, and ill-treat thy only
refuge? There yet remains hope, even for the scorner.
Hope in a Saviour's veins. Hope in the Father's mercy.
Hope in the Holy Spirit's omnipotent
agency.
I have
done when I have said one word. My friend, the
philosopher, says it may be very well for me to urge
people to read the Bible; but he thinks there are a
great many sciences far more interesting and useful than
theology. Extremely obliged to you for your opinion,
sir. What science do you mean? The science of dissecting
beetles and arranging butterflies? "No," you say,
"certainly not." The science, then, of arranging stones,
and telling us of the strata of the earth? "No, not
exactly that." Which science, then? "Oh, all sciences,"
say you, "are better than the science of the Bible." Ah!
sir, that is your opinion; and it is because you are far
from God, that you say so. But the science of Jesus
Christ is the most excellent of sciences. Let no one
turn away from the Bible because it is not a book of
learning and wisdom. It is. Would ye know astronomy? It
is here: it tells you of the Sun of Righteousness and
the Star of Bethlehem. Would you know of botany? It is
here: it tells you of the plant of renown-the Lily of
the Valley, and the rose of Sharon. Would you know
geology and mineralogy? You shall learn it here: for you
may read of the Rock of Ages, and the White Stone with
the name engraven thereon, which no man knoweth saving
he that receiveth it. Would ye study history? Here is
the most ancient of all the records of the history of
the human race. Whate'er your science is, come and bend
o'er this book; your science is here. Come and drink out
of this fair fount of knowledge and wisdom, and ye shall
find yourselves made wise unto salvation. Wise and
foolish, babes and men, gray-headed sires, youths and
maidens-I speak to you, I plead with you, I beg of you
respect your Bibles, and search them out, for in them ye
think ye have eternal life, and these are they which
testify of Christ.
I have
done. Let us go home and practice what we have heard. I
have heard of a woman, who, when she was asked what she
remembered of the minister's sermon, said, "I don't
recollect anything of it. It was about short weights and
bad measures, and I didn't recollect anything but to go
home and burn the bushel." So, if you will remember to
go home and burn the bushel, if you will recollect to go
home and read your Bibles, I shall have said enough. And
may God, in his infinite mercy, when you read your
Bibles, pour into your souls the illuminating rays of
the Sun of Righteousness, by the agency of the
ever-adorable Spirit; then you will read to your profit
and to your soul's
salvation.
We may
say of THE BIBLE:
"God's cabinet of revealed
counsel 't is!
Where weal and woe, are ordered
so
That every man may know which
shall be his;
Unless his own mistake, false
application make.
"It is the index to
eternity.
He cannot miss of endless
bliss.
That takes this chart to steer
by,
Nor can he be mistook that
speaketh by this book.
"It is the book of God. What if I
should
Say, God of books, let him that
looks
Angry at that expression, as too
bold,
His thoughts in silence smother,
till he find such
another."
