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  SPURGEONS SERMONS VOLUME 16 1870
  by C.H. Spurgeon
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Volume 16 of Spurgeon's collected sermons, containing messages preached during
1870 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. These sermons showcase Spurgeon's powerful
biblical exposition, vivid illustrations, and passionate gospel proclamation
that drew thousands to hear the 'Prince of Preachers' during his Metropolitan
Tabernacle ministry.

  Chapters: 4

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    0. Spurgeons Sermons Volume 16 1870
    1. Sinners Bound with the Cords of Sin
    2. Jesus Only
    3. This document

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  CHAPTER 0: SPURGEONS SERMONS VOLUME 16 1870
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  CHAPTER 1: SINNERS BOUND WITH THE CORDS OF SIN
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A Sermon (No.915) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, February 13th, 1870, by C. H.
SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "His own iniquities shall
take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins." --
Proverbs 5:22. THE first sentence has reference to a net, in which birds or
beasts are taken. The ungodly man first of all finds sin to be a bait, and,
charmed by its apparent pleasantness he indulges in it, and then he becomes
entangled in its meshes so that he cannot escape. That which first attracted the
sinner, afterwards detains him. Evil habits are soon formed, the soul readily
becomes accustomed to evil, and then, even if the man should have lingering
thoughts of better things, and form frail resolutions to amend, his iniquities
hold him captive like a bird in the fowler's snare. You have seen the foolish
fly descend into the sweet which is spread to destroy him, he sips, and sips
again, and by-and-by he plunges boldly in to feast himself greedily: when
satisfied, he attempts to fly, but the sweet holds him by the feet and clogs his
wings; he is a victim, and the more he struggles the more surely is he held.
Even so is it with the sins of ungodly men, they are at first a tempting bait,
and afterwards a snare. Having sinned, they become so bewitched with sin, that
the scriptural statement is no exaggeration: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin,
or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do
evil." The first sentence of the text also may have reference to an arrest by an
officer of law. The transgressor's own sins shall take him, shall seize him;
they bear a warrant for arresting him, they shall judge him, they shall even
execute him. Sin, which at the first bringeth to man a specious pleasure, ere
long turneth into bitterness, remorse, and fear. Sin is a dragon, with eyes like
stars, but it carrieth a deadly sting in its tail. The cup of sin, with rainbow
bubbles on its brim, is black with deep damnation in its dregs. O that men would
consider this, and turn from their delusions. To bring torment to the guilty,
there is little need that God should, literally in the world to come, pile up
Tophet with its wood and much smoke, nor even that the pit should be digged for
the ungodly in order to make them miserable; sin shall of itself bring forth
death. Leave a man to his own sins, and hell itself surrounds him; only suffer a
sinner to do what he wills, and to give his lusts unbridled headway, and you
have secured him boundless misery; only allow the seething caldron of his
corruptions to boil at its own pleasure, and the man must inevitably become a
vessel filled with sorrow. Be assured that sin is the root of bitterness. Gild
the pill as you may, iniquity is death. Sweet is an unholy morsel in the mouth,
but it will be wormwood in the bowels. Let but man heartily believe this, and
surely he will not so readily be led astray. "Surely in vain is the net spread
in the sight of any bird," and shall man be more foolish than the fowls of the
air? will he wilfully pursue his own destruction? will he wrong his own soul?
Sin, then, becomes first a net to hold the sinner by the force of custom and
habit, and afterwards, a sheriffs officer to arrest him, and to scourge him with
its inevitable results. The second sentence of our text speaks of the sinner
being holden with cords, and a parable may be readily fashioned out of the
expression. The lifelong occupation of the ungodly man is to twist ropes of sin.
All his sins are as so much twine and cord out of which ropes may be made. His
thoughts and his imaginations are so much raw material, and while he thinks of
evil, while he contrives transgression, while he lusts after filthiness, while
he follows after evil devices, while with head, and hand, and heart he pursues
eagerly after mischief, he is still twisting evermore the cords of sin which are
afterwards to bind him. The binding meant is that of a culprit pinioned for
execution. Iniquity pinions a man, disables him from delivering himself from its
power, enchains his soul, and inflicts a bondage on the spirit far worse than
chaining of the body. Sin cripples all desires after holiness, damps every
aspiration after goodness, and thus, fettering the man hand and foot, delivers
him over to the executioner, which executioner shall be the wrath of God, but
also sin itself, in the natural consequences which in every case must flow from
it. Samson could burst asunder green withes and new ropes, but when at last his
darling sin had bound him to his Delilah, that bond he could not snap, though it
cost him his eyes. Make a man's will a prisoner, and he is a captive indeed.
Determined independence of spirit walks at freedom in a tyrant's Bastille, and
defies a despot's hosts; but a mind enslaved by sin builds its own dungeon,
forges its own fetters, and rivets on its chains. It is slavery indeed when the
iron enters into the soul. Who would not scorn to make himself a slave to his
baser passions? and yet the mass of men are such -- the cords of their sins bind
them. Thus, having introduced to you the truth which this verse teaches, namely,
the captivating, enslaving power of sin, I shall advance to our first point of
consideration. This is a solution to a great mystery; but then, secondly, it is
itself a greater mystery; and when we have considered these two matters it will
be time for us to note what is the practical conclusion from this line of
thought. I. First, then, the doctrine of the text, that iniquity entraps the
wicked as in a net, and binds them as with cords is A SOLUTION OF A GREAT
MYSTERY. When you and I first began to do good by telling out the gospel, we
labored under the delusion that as soon as our neighbors heard of the blessed
way of salvation they would joyfully receive it, and be saved in crowds. We have
long ago seen that pleasant delusion dispelled; we find that our position is
that of the serpent-charmer with the deaf adder, charm we ever so wisely, men
will not hear so as to receive the truth. Like the ardent reformer, we have
found out that old Adam is too strong for young Melancthon. We now perceive that
for a sinner to receive the gospel involves a work of grace that shall change
his heart and renew his nature. Yet none the less is it a great mystery that it
should be so. It is one of the prodigies of the god of this world that he makes
men love sin, and abide in indifference as if they were fully content to be
lost. It is a marvel of marvels that man should be so base as to reject Christ,
and abide in wilful and wicked unbelief. I will try and set forth this mystery,
in the way in which, I dare say, it has struck many an honest hearted worker for
Jesus Christ.Is it not a mysterious thing that men should be content to abide in
a state of imminent peril? Every unconverted man is already condemned. Our Lord
has said it: "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed on the Son of God." Every unregenerate man is not only liable to the
wrath of God in the future, but the wrath of God abideth on him. It is on him
now, it always will remain upon him; as long as he is what he is, it abideth on
him. And yet in this state men do not start, they are not amazed or alarmed,
they are not even anxious. Sabbath after Sabbath they are reminded of their
unhappy position: it makes us unhappy to think they should be in such a state,
but they are strangely at ease. The sword of vengeance hangs over them by a
single hair, yet sit they at their banquets, and they laugh and sport as though
there were no God, no wrath to come, no certainty of appearing before the
judgment-seat of Christ. See a number of persons in a train that has broken
down. The guard has only to intimate that another train is approaching, and that
it may perhaps dash into the carriages and mangle the passengers; he has only to
give half a hint, and see how the carriage doors fly open, how the travelers
rush up the embankment, each one so eager for his own preservation as to forget
his fellow's. Yet here are men and women by hundreds and thousands, with the
fast-rushing train of divine vengeance close behind them; they may almost hear
the sound of its thundering wheels, and, lo, they sit in all quietness, exposed
to present peril and in danger of a speedy and overwhelming destruction. "Tis
strange. tis passing strange, tis wonderful." Here is a mystery indeed, that can
only be understood in the light of the fact that these foolish beings are taken
by their sing, and bound by the cords of their iniquities.Be it ever remembered
that before very long these unconverted men and women, many of whom are present
this morning, will be in a stale whose wretchedness it is not possible for
language fully to express. Within four-and-twenty hours their spirits may be
summoned before the bar of God; and, according to this book, which partially
uplifts the veil of the future, the very least punishment that can fall upon an
unconverted soul will cause it "weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth."
All they had endured, of whom it is written, that they wept and gnashed their
teeth, was to be shut out into outer darkness, nothing more; no stripes had then
fallen, they had not yet been shut up in the prison-house of hell, only the gate
of heaven was shut, only the light of glory was hid; and straightway there was
weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. What, then, will be the woe of the
lost when positive punishment is inflicted? As for what they will endure who
have beard the gospel, but have wilfully rejected it, we have some faint notion
from the Master's words: "It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in
the day of judgment than for them." We know that it is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God, for "our God is a consuming fire." From this
platform there rings full often that question, "How shall ye escape if ye
neglect so great salvation?" And yet for all this, men are willing to pass on
through time into eternity regardless of the escape which God provides, turning
aside from the only salvation which can rescue them from enduring "the blackness
of darkness for ever." O reason, art thou utterly fled? Is every sinner
altogether brutish? If we should meet with a man condemned to die, and tell him
that pardon was to be had, would he hear us with indifference? Would he abide in
the condemned cell and use no means for obtaining the boon of life and liberty?
Yes, there awaits the sinner a more awful doom, and a more terrible sentence,
and we are sent to publish a sure pardon from the God of heaven; and yet
thousands upon thousands give us no deep heartfelt attention, but turn aside and
perish in their sins. O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of
tears, that I might weep for the folly of the race to which I belong, and mourn
over the destruction of my fellow men! It often strikes us with wonder that men
do not receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, when we recollect that the gospel is
so plain. If it were a great mystery one might excuse the illiterate from
attending to it. If the plan of salvation could only be discovered by the
attentive perusal of a long series of volumes, and if it required a classical
training and a thorough education, why then the multitude of the poor and needy,
whose time is taken up with earning their bread, might have same excuse; but
there is under heaven no truth more plain than this, "He that believeth on the
Lord Jesus hath everlasting life;" "He that believeth and is baptised, shall be
saved." To believe -- that is, simply to trust Christ. How plain! There is no
road, though it ran straight as an arrow, that can be more plain than this.
Legible only by the light they give, but all so legible that be who runs may
read, stand these soul-quickening words, "Believe and live." Trust Christ and
your sins are forgiven; you are saved. This is so plain a precept, that I may
call it a very A B C for infants, yet men receive it not. Are they not indeed
holden by the cords of their sins when they refuse to obey?Moreover, brethren,
there is a wonderful attractiveness in the gospel. If the gospel could possibly
be a revelation of horrors piled on horrors, if there were something in it
utterly inconsistent with reason, or something that shocked all the sensitive
affections of our better part, we might excuse mankind, but the gospel is just
this: man is lost, but God becomes man to save him, "The Son of Man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost." Out of infinite love to his enemies the
Son of God took upon himself human flesh, that he might suffer in the room and
stead of men what they ought to have suffered. The doctrine of substitution,
while it wondrously magnifies the grace of God and satisfies the justice of God,
methinks ought to strike you all with love because of the disinterested
affection which it reveals on Jesus Christ's part. O King of Glory, dost thou
bleed for me? O Prince of Life, canst thou lie shrouded in the grave for me?
Doth God stoop from his glory to be spat upon by sinful lips? Doth he stoop from
the splendor of heaven to be "despised and rejected of men," that men may be
saved? Why, it ought to win every human ear, it ought to entrance every human
heart. Was ever love like this? Go ye to your poets, and see if they have ever
imagined anything nobler than the love of Christ the Son of God for the dying
sons of men! Go to your philosophers, and see if in all their maxims they have
ever taught a diviner philosophy than that of Christ's life, or ever have
imagined in their pictures of what men ought to be, an heroic love like that
which Christ in very deed displayed! We lift before you no gory banner that
might sicken your hearts; we bring before you no rattling chains of a tyrant's
domination; but we lift up Jesus crucified, and "Love" is written on the banner
that is waved in the forefront of our hosts; we bid you yield to the gentle sway
of love, and not to the tyranny of terror. Alas! men must be bound, indeed, and
fettered fast by an accursed love to sin, or else the divine attractions of a
crucified Redeemer would win their hearts.Consider, my friends, you who love the
souls of your fellow men, how marvellous it is that men should not receive the
gospel when the commandment of the gospel is not burdensome! Methinks if it had
been written that no man should enter heaven except by the way of martyrdom, it
had been wisdom for every one of us to give our bodies to be burned, or to be
stretched upon the rack; yea, if there had been no path to escape from the wrath
of God, but to be flayed alive with Bartholomew, enduring present but exquisite
torture, it would have been but a cheap price for an escape from wrath, and an
entrance into heaven. But I find in God's word prescribed as the way of
salvation, no such physical agonies. No austerities are commanded; not even the
milder law which governed the Pharisee when he "fasted thrice in the week." Only
this is written -- "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;"
and the precept of the Christian's life is, "Love thy God with all thy heart,
and thy neighbor as thyself." Most pleasant duties these of love! What more
sweet? What more delightful than to permit the soul to flow out in streams of
affection? The ways of true religion are not irksome, her ways are pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace. What, heaven given for believing? What, heaven's
gate opened only for knocking, and boons all priceless bestowed for nothing but
the asking? Yet they will not ask, they will not knock. Alas, my God, what
creatures are men! Alas, O sin, what monsters hast thou made mankind, that they
will forget their own interests, and wrong their own souls!Further, it is clear
that men must be fast held by the bondage of their sins when we recollect that,
according to the confession of the most of them, the pleasures of sin are by no
means great. I have heard them say themselves that they have been satiated after
a short season of indulgence We know how true the word is, "Who hath woe? who
hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek
mixed wine." No form of sin has ever been discovered yet that has yielded
satisfaction. You shall look at those who have had all that heart could wish,
and have without restraint indulged their passions, and you shall find them to
be in their latter end amongst the most wretched rather than the most satisfied
of mankind. Yet for these pleasures -- I think I degrade the word when I call
them pleasures -- for these pleasures they are willing to pawn their souls and
risk everlasting woe; and all this while, be it remembered, to add to the
wonder, there are pleasures to be found in godliness; they do not deny this,
they cannot without belying their own observation. We who are at least as honest
as they are, bear our testimony that we never knew what true happiness was till
we gave our hearts to Christ; but since then our peace has been like a river. We
have had our afflictions, we have suffered grievous bodily pain, we have endured
mental depression, we have been heavily burdened, we have borne many trials; but
we can say -- "We would not change our blest estateFor all the world calls good
or great.""Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" We can set our seal to
this experimentally. See ye then, my brethren, these poor souls will prefer the
pleasures that mock them to the pleasures that alone can satisfy. If we had to
die like dogs, it would be worth while to be a Christian. If there were no
hereafter, and our only consideration were who should enjoy this life the best,
it would be the wisest thing to be a servant of God and a soldier of the cross.
I say not it would ensure our being rich, I say not it would ensure our being
respected, I say not it would ensure our walking smoothly and free from outward
trouble; but I do say that because of "the secret something which sweetens all,"
because of the profound serenity which true religion brings, the Christian life
out-masters every other, and there is none to be compared therewith. But think
ye for awhile what the ungodly man's life is! I can only compare it to that
famous diabolical invention of the Inquisition of ancient times. They had as a
fatal punishment for heretics, what they called the "Virgin's Kiss." There stood
in a long corridor the image of the Virgin. She outstretched her arms to receive
her heretic child; she looked fair, and her dress was adorned with gold and
tinsel, but as soon as the poor victim came into her arms the machinery within
began to work, and the arms closed and pressed the wretch closer and closer to
her bosom, which was set with knives, and daggers, and lancets, and razors, and
everything that could cut and tear him, till he was ground to pieces in the
horrible embrace; and such is the ungodly man's life. It standeth like a fair
virgin, and with witching smile it seems to say, "Come to my bosom, no place so
warm and blissful as this;" and then anon it begins to fold its arms of habit
about the sinner, and he sins again and again, brings misery into his body,
perhaps, if he fall into some form of sin, stings his soul, makes his thoughts a
case of knives to torture him, and grinds him to powder beneath the force of his
own iniquities. Men perceive this, and dare not deny it; and yet into this
virgin's bosom they still thrust themselves, and reap the deep damnation that
iniquity must everywhere involve. Alas, alas, my God!And now, once more, this
terrible mystery, which is only solved by men's being held by their sins, has
this added to it, that all the while in the case of most of you now present, all
that I have said is believed, and a great deal of it is felt. I mean this: if I
were talking with persons who did not believe they had a soul, or believe in the
judgment to come, or believe in the penalty of sin, or believe in the reward of
righteousness, I should see some reason why they rejected the great salvation;
but the most of you who attend this house of prayer -- I think I might say all
-- have scarcely ever had a doubt about these things. You would be very much
horrified if any one would insinuate that you did not believe the Bible to be
the word of God. You have a little Pharisaism in your soul, that you think you
are not as scoffers are, nor infidels. I own you are not, but I grieve to say I
think you are more inconsistent than they. If these things be a fiction, well,
sirs, your course is rational; but if these things be realities, what shall I
say for you when I plead with God on your behalf? What excuse can I make for
you? If you profess to believe these things, act as though you believe them; if
you do not, practically act so. Why do you profess to own them as the truth? The
case is worse, for you not only believe these thing's to be true, but some of
you have felt their power. You have gone home from this place, and you could not
help it, you have sought your chamber and bowed your knee in prayer; such prayer
as it was, for, alas! your goodness has been like the morning cloud and the
early dew. I know some of you who have had to break off some of your sins, for
your conscience would not let you rest in them. Yet you are unbelievers still,
still you are undecided, still you are unsaved, and at this moment, if your soul
were required of you, nothing would be in prospect but a fearful looking for of
judgment and of fiery indignation. O my hearer, you whose conscience has been at
times awakened, in whom the arrows of the great King have found a lodging place,
in whom they are rankling still, yield, I pray thee, yield to the divine
thrusts, and give up thy contrite spirit to thy Redeemer's hands. But if thou do
not, what shall I say to thee? The kingdom of God has been thrust from you by
yourselves. Be sure of this, it has come near you, and in coming near it has
involved solemn responsibilities which I pray you may not have to feel the
weight of in the world to come.Here, then, stands the riddle, that man is so set
against God and his Christ that he never will accept eternal salvation until the
Holy Spirit, by a supernatural work, overcomes his will and turns the current of
his affections; and why is this? The answer lies in the text, because his own
iniquities have taken him, and he is holden with the cords of his sin. For this
reason he will not come unto Christ that he may have life; for this reason he
cannot come, except the Father which hath sent Christ draw him. II. But now,
secondly, I pass on to observe that though this is the solution of one mystery,
IT IS IN ITSELF A GREATER MYSTERY.It is a terrible mystery that man should be so
great a fool, so mad a creature as to be held by cords apparently so feeble as
the cords of his own sins. To be bound by reason is honorable; to be hold by
compulsion, if you cannot resist it, is at least not discreditable; but to be
held simply by sin, by sin and nothing else, is a bondage which is disgraceful
to the human name. It lowers man to the last degree, to think that be should
want no fetter to hold him but the fetter of his own evil lusts and desires. Let
us just think of one or two cords, and you will see this.One reason why men
receive not Christ and are not saved, is because they are hampered by the sin of
forgetting God. Think of that for a minute. Men forget God altogether. The
commission of many a sin has been prevented by the presence of a child. In the
presence of a fellow creature, ordinarily a man will feel himself under some
degree of restraint. Yet that eye which never sleeps, the eye of the eternal
God, exercises no restraint on the most of men. If there were a child in that
chamber thou wouldst respect it-but God being there thou canst sin with
impunity. If thy mother or thy father were there thou wouldst not dare offend,
but God who made thee and whose will can crush thee, thy lawful sovereign, thou
takest no more account of him than though he were a dog, yea, not so much as
that. Oh, strange thing that men should thus act! And yet with many it is not
because of the difficulty of thinking of God. Men of study, for instance, if
they are considering the works of God, must be led up to thoughts of God. Galen
was converted from being an atheist while in the process of dissecting the human
body; he could not but see the finger of God in the nerves and sinews, and all
the rest of the wonderful embroidery of the human frame. There is not an emmet
or an infusorial animalcule beneath the microscope but what as plainly as tongue
can speak, saith, "Mortal, think of God who made thee and me." Some men travel
daily over scenes that naturally suggest the Creator; they go down to the sea in
ships, and do business on great waters, where they must see the works of the
Lord, and yet they even manage to become the most boisterous blasphemers against
the sacred majesty of the Most High, in his very temple where everything speaks
of his glory. But you will tell me perhaps, some of you, that you are not
engaged in such pursuits. I reply, I know it. Many of you have to labor with
your hands for your daily bread, in occupations requiring but little mental
exercise. So much the more guilty then are you that when your mind is not
necessarily taken up with other things, you still divert it from all thoughts of
God. The working man often find is it very possible to spend his leisure hours
in politics, and to amuse his working hours by meditating upon schemes more or
less rational concerning the government of his country, and will he dare to tell
me therefore that he could not during that time think of God? There is an
aversion to God in your heart, my brother, or else it would not be that from
Monday morning to Saturday night you forget him altogether. Even when sitting
here you find it by no means a pleasant thing to be reminded of your God, and
yet if I brought up the recollection of your mother, perhaps in heaven, the
topic would not be displeasing to you. What owe you to your mother compared with
what you owe to your God? If I spoke to you of some dear friend who has assisted
you in times of distress, you would be pleased that I had touched upon such a
chord; and may I not talk with you concerning your God, and ask you why do you
forget him? Have you good thoughts for all but the best? Have you kind thoughts
of gratitude for every friend but the best friend that man can have? My God! my
God! why do men treat thee thus? Brightest, fairest, best, kindest, and most
tender, and yet forgotten by the objects of thy care!If men were far away from
God, and it were a topic abstruse and altogether beyond reach, something might
be said. But imagine a fish that despised the ocean and yet lived in it, a man
who should be unconscious of the air he breathes! "In him we live and move and
have our being; we are also his offspring." He sends the frost, and he will send
the spring; he sends the seed-time and the harvest, and every shower that drops
with plenty comes from him, and every wind that blows with health speeds forth
from his mouth. Wherefore then is he to be forgotten when everything reminds you
of him? This is a sin, a cruel sin, a cursed sin, a sin indeed that binds men
hard and fast, that they will not come to Christ that they may have life; but it
is strange, it is beyond all miracles a miracle, that such a folly as this
should hold men from coming to Christ.Another sin binds all unregenerate hearts;
it is the sin of not loving the Christ of God. I am not about to charge any
person here with such sins as adultery, or theft, or blasphemy, but I will
venture to say that this is a sin masterly and gigantic, which towers as high as
any other -- the sin of not loving the Christ of God. Think a minute. Here is
one who came into the world out of pure love, for no motive but mercy, with
nothing to gain, but though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor; why
then is he not loved? The other day there rode through these streets a true
hero, a brave bold man who set his country free, and I do remember how I heard
your shouts in yonder street, and you thronged to look into the lion-like face
of Italy's liberator. I blame you not, I longed to do the same myself, he well
deserved your shouts and your loudest praises. But what had he done compared
with what the Christ of God has done in actually laying down his life to redeem
men from bondage, yielding up himself to the accursed death of the cross that
man might be saved through him? Where are your acclamations, sirs, for this
greater Hero? Where are the laurels that you cast at his feet? Is it nothing to
you, is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, is it nothing to you that Jesus
should die? Such a character, so inexpressibly lovely, and yet despised! Such a
salvation, so inexpressibly precious, and yet rejected! Oh, mystery of iniquity!
indeed, the depths of sin are almost as fathomless as the depths of God, and the
transgressions of the wicked all but as infinite in infamy as God is infinite in
love. I might also speak of sins against the Holy Ghost that men commit, in that
they live and even die without reverential thoughts of him or care about him;
but I shall speak of one sin, and that is the mystery that men should be held by
the sin of neglecting their souls. You meet with a person who neglects his body,
you call him fool, if, knowing that there is a disease, he will not seek a
remedy. If, suffering, from some fatal malady, he never attempts to find a cure,
you think the man is fit only for a lunatic asylum. But a person who neglects
his soul, be is but one of so numerous a class, that we overlook the madness.
Your body will soon die, it is but as it were the garment of yourself and will
be worn out; but you yourself are better than your body as a man is better than
the dress he wears. Why spend you then all thoughts about this present life and
give none to the life to come?It has long been a mystery who was the man in the
iron mask. We believe that the mystery was solved some years ago, by the
conjecture that he was the twin brother of Louis XIV., King of France, who,
fearful lest he might have his throne disturbed by his twin brother, whose
features were extremely like his own, encased his face in a mask of iron and
shut him up in the Bastille for life. Your body and your soul are twin brothers.
Your body, as though it were jealous of your soul, encases it as in an iron mask
of spiritual ignorance, lest its true lineaments, its immortal lineage should be
discovered, and shuts it up within the Bastille of sin, lest getting liberty and
discovering its royalty, it should win the mastery over the baser nature. But
what a wretch was that Louis XIV., to do such a thing to his own brother! How
brutal, how worse than the beasts that perish! But, sir, what art thou if thou
doest thus to thine own soul, merely that thy body may be satisfied, and thy
earthly nature may have a present gratification? O sirs, be not so unkind, so
cruel to yourselves. But yet this sin of living for the mouth and living for the
eye, this sin of living for what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink, and
wherewithal ye shall be clothed, this sin of living by the clock within the
narrow limits of the time that ticks by the pendulum, this sin of living as if
this earth were all and there were nought beyond -- this is the sin that holds
this City of London, and holds the world, and binds it like a martyr to the
stake to perish, unless it be set free.Generally, however, there also lies some
distinct form of actual sin at the bottom of most men's impenitence. I will not
attempt to make a guess, my dear hearer, as to what it may be that keeps thee
from Christ, but without difficulty I could, I think, state what these sins
generally are. Some men would fain be saved, but they would not like to tale up
the cross and be despised as Christians. Some would fain follow Christ, but they
will not give up their self-righteous pride; they want to have a part of the
glory of salvation. Some men have a temper, which they do not intend to try to
restrain. Others have a secret sin, too sweet for them to give it up; it is like
a right arm, and they cannot come to the cutting of it off. Some enjoy company
which is attractive, but destructive, and from that company they cannot fly. Men
one way or another are held fast like birds with birdlime, till the fowler comes
and takes them to their destruction. O that they were wise, for then they might
be awakened out of this folly! But this still remaineth the mystery of
mysteries, that those sins absurd and deadly, bind men as with cords, and hold
them fast like a bull in a net.THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER IS THIS, a
message sinner to thee, and saint, to thee.Sinner, to thee. Thou art held fast
by thy sins, and I fear me much thou wilt be held so till thou perish, perish
everlastingly. Man, does not this concern you? I lay last night by the hour
together on my bed awake, tossing with a burden on my heart, and I tell thee
that only burden that I had was thy soul. I cannot endure it, man, that thou
shouldst be cast into the "lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." I believe
that book as thou dost; believing it, I am alarmed at the prospect which awaits
the unconverted. The more I look into the subject of the world to come, the more
I am impressed that all those who would lessen our ideas of the judgment that
God will bring upon the wicked, are waging war against God and against virtue
and the best interests of men. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God." Do not try it, my friend, I pray thee do not try it. Run not
this risk, this certainty of endless misery, I beseech thee, dare it not! What
sayest thou, "What then should I do?" I venture to reply in the words of one of
old, "Break off thy sins by righteousness, for it is time to seek the Lord." But
thou repliest, "How can I break them off? they are like cords and bonds." Ah,
soul, here is another part of thy misery, that thou hast destroyed thyself, but
thou canst not save thyself; thou hast woven the net, thou hast made it fast and
firm, but thou canst not tear it in pieces. Bat there is One who can, there is
One upon whom the Spirit of the Lord descended that he might loose the prisoner.
There is a heart that feels for thee in heaven, and there is One mighty to save,
who can rescue thee. Breathe that prayer, "O set me free, thou Liberator of
captive souls;" breathe the prayer now, and believe that he can deliver thee,
and thou shalt yet, captive as thou art, go free, and this shall be thy ransom
price, his precious blood; and this shall be the privilege of thy ransomed life,
to love and praise him who hath redeemed thee from going down into the pit. But
I said the conclusion of the whole matter had something to do with the child of
God. It has this to do with him. Dear brother and sister in Christ, by the love
you bear to your fellow sinners, never help to make the bonds of their sins
stronger than they are -- you will do so if you are inconsistent. They will say,
"Why, such a one professes to be a saved man, and yet see how he lives!" Will
you make excuses for sinners? It was said of Judah, by the prophet, that she had
become a comfort to Sodom and Gomorrah. O never do this; never let the ungodly
have to say, "There is nothing in it; it is all a lie; it is all a mere
pretense; we may as well continue in sin, for see how these Christians act!" No,
brethren, they have bonds enough without your tightening them or adding to
them.In the next place, never cease to warn sinners. Do not stand by and see
them die without lifting up a warning note. A house on fire, and you see it as
you go to your morning's labor, and yet never lift up the cry of "Fire!" a man
perishing, and yet no tears for him! Can it be so? At the foot of Mr. Richard
Knill's likeness I notice these words, "Brethren, the heathen are perishing,
will you let them perish?" I would like to have each of you apply to your own
conscience the question, "Sinners are perishing, will you let them perish
without giving them at least, a warning of what the result of sin must be?" My
brethren, I earnestly entreat you who know the gospel to tell it out to others.
It is God's way of cutting the bonds which confine men's souls; be instant, in
season and out of season, in publishing the good news of liberty to the captives
through the redeeming Christ.And lastly, as you and I cannot set these captives
free, let us look to him who can. O let our prayers go up and let our tears drop
down for sinners. Let it come to an agony, for I am persuaded we shall never get
much from God by way of conversion till we feel we must have it, until our soul
breaketh for the longing that it hath for the salvation of souls: when your cry
is like that of Rachel, "Give me children or I die I" you shall not long be
spiritually barren. When you must have converts, or your heart will break, God
will hear you and send you an answer. The Lord bless you! May none of you be
held by the cords of your sins, but may ye be bound with cords to the horns of
God's altar as a happy and willing sacrifice to him that loved you. The Lord
bless you for Jesus' sake.PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON -- Proverbs 3.


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  CHAPTER 2: JESUS ONLY
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A Sermon (No.924) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, April 3rd, 1870, by C. H.
SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "And when they had lifted up
their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." -- Matthew 17:8. The last words
will suffice us for a text, "Jesus only." When Peter saw our Lord with Moses and
Elias, he exclaimed, "Master, it is good to be here," as if he implied that it
was better to be with Jesus, and Moses, and Elias, than to be with Jesus only.
Now it was certainly good that for once in his life he should see Christ
transfigured with the representatives of the law and the prophets; it might be
for that particular occasion the best sight that he could see, but as an
ordinary thing an ecstasy so sublime would not have been good for the disciples;
and Peter himself very soon found this out, for when the luminous cloud
overshadowed him, and the voice was heard out of heaven, we find that he with
the rest became sore afraid. The best thing after all for Peter, was not the
excessive strain of the transfiguration, nor the delectable company of the two
great spirits who appeared with Jesus, but the equally glorious, but less
exciting society of "Jesus only." Depend on it, brethren, that ravishing and
exciting experiences and transporting enjoyments, though they may be useful as
occasional refreshments, would not be so good for every day as that quiet but
delightful ordinary fellowship with "Jesus only," which ought to be the
distinguishing mark of all Christian life. As the disciples ascended the
mountain side with Jesus only, and as they went back again to the multitude with
Jesus only, they were in as good company as when they were on the mountain
summit, Moses and Elias being there also; and although Jesus Christ in his
common habiliments and in his ordinary attire might not so dazzle their eyes as
when they saw his raiment bright as the light, and his face shining as the sun,
yet he really was quite as glorious, and his company quite as beneficial. When
they saw him in his everyday attire, his presence was quite as useful to them as
when he robed himself in splendor. "Jesus only," is after all upon the whole a
better thing than Jesus, Moses, and Elias. "Jesus only," as the common Jesus,
the Christ of every day, the man walking among men, communing in secret with his
disciples, is a better thing for a continuance while we are in this body, than
the sight even of Jesus himself in the excellence of his majesty. This morning,
in trying to dwell upon the simple sight of "Jesus only," we shall hold it up as
beyond measure important and delightful, and shall bear our witness that as it
was said of Goliath's sword, "there is none like it," so may it be said of
fellowship with "Jesus only." We shall first notice what might have happened to
the disciples after the transfiguration; we shall then dwell on what did happen;
and then, thirdly, we shall speak on what we anxiously desire may happen to
those who hear us this day. I. First, then, WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED to the
three disciples after they had seen the transfiguration. There were four things,
either of which might have occurred. As a first supposition, they might have
seen nobody with them on the holy mount; they might have found all gone but
themselves. When the cloud had overshadowed them, and they were sore afraid,
they might have lifted up their eyes and found the entire vision melted into
thin air; no Moses, no Elias, and no Jesus. In such a case they would have been
in a sorry plight, like those who having begun to taste of a banquet, suddenly
find all the viands swept away; like thirsty men who have tasted the cooling
crystal drops, and then seen the fountain dried up before their eyes. They would
not have gone down the mountain side that day asking questions and receiving
instruction, for they would have had no teacher left them. They would have
descended to face a multitude and to contend with a demon; not to conquer Satan,
but to stand defeated by him before the crowd; for they would have had no
champion to espouse their cause and drive out the evil spirit. They would have
gone down among Scribes and Pharisees to be baffled with their knotty questions,
and to be defeated by their sophistries, for they would have had no wise man,
who spake as never man spake, to untie the knots and disentangle the snarls of
controversy. They would have been like sheep without a shepherd, like orphan
children left alone in the world. They would henceforth have reckoned it an
unhappy day on which they saw the transfiguration; because having seen it,
having been led to high thoughts by it, and excited to great expectations, all
had disappeared like the foam upon the waters, and left no solid residuum
behind. Alas! For those who have seen the image of the spirits of just men made
perfect, and beheld the great Lord of all such spirits, and then have found
themselves alone, and all the high companionship forever gone. My dear brethren
and sisters, there are some in this world and we ourselves have been among them,
to whom something like this has actually occurred. You have been under a sermon,
or at a gospel ordinance, or in reading the word of God, for a while delighted,
exhilarated, lifted up to the sublimer regions, and then afterwards when it has
all been over, there has been nothing left of joy or benefit, nothing left of
all that was preached and for the moment enjoyed, nothing, at any rate, that you
could take with you into the conflicts of every-day life. The whole has been a
splendid vision and nothing more. There has been neither Moses not Elias, nor
Jesus left. You did remember what you saw, but only with regret, because nothing
remained with you. And, indeed, this which happens sometimes to us, is a general
habit of that portion of this ungodly world which hears the gospel and perceives
not its reality; it listens with respect to gospel histories as to legends of
ancient times; it hears with reverence the stories of the days of miracles; it
venerates the far-off ages and their heroic deeds, but it does not believe that
anything is left of all the vision, any thing for to-day, for common life, and
for common men. Moses it knows, and Elias it knows, and Christ it knows, as
shadows that have passed across the scene and have disappeared, but it knows
nothing of any one of these as abiding in permanent influence over the mind and
the spirit of the present. All come and all gone, all to be reverenced, all to
be respected, but nothing more; there is nothing left, so far as they are
concerned, to influence or bless the present hour. Jesus and his gospel have
come and gone, and we may very properly recollect the fact, but according to
certain sages there is nothing in the New Testament to affect this advanced age,
this enlightened nineteenth century; we have got beyond all that. Ah! Brethren,
let those who can be content to do so, put up with this worship of moral relics
and spiritual phantoms; to us it would be wretchedness itself. We, on the other
hand, say, blessing the name of the Lord that we can say it, that there abides
with us our Lord Jesus. At this day he is with us, and will be with us even to
the end of the world. Christ's existence is not a fact confined to antiquity or
to remote distance. By his Spirit he is actually in his church; we have seen
him, though not with eyes; we have heard him, though not with ears; we have
grasped him, though not with hands; and we feed upon his flesh, which is meat
indeed, and his blood, which is drink indeed. We have with us at this very day
Jesus our friend, to whom we make known our secrets, and who beareth all our
sorrows. We have Jesus our interpreting instructor, who still reveals his
secrets to us, and leads us into the mind and name of God. We have Jesus still
with us to supply us with strength, and in his power we still are mighty. We
confess his reigning sovereignty in the church, and we receive his
all-sufficient succors. The church is not decapitated, her Head abides in vital
union with her; Jesus is no myth to us, whatever he may be to others; he is no
departed shade, he is no heroic personification: in very deed there is a Christ,
and though others see him not, and even we with these eyes see him not, yet in
him believing we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Oh, I trust it
will never be so with us, that as we go about our life work our religion shall
melt into fiction and become nothing but mere sentiment, nothing but thought,
and dream, and vision; but may our religion be a matter of fact, a walking with
the living and abiding Saviour. Though Moses may be gone, and Elias may be gone,
yet Jesus Christ abideth with us and in us, and we in him, and so shall it be
evermore. Now, there was a second thing that might have happened to the
disciples. When they lifted up their eyes they might have seen Moses only. It
would certainly have been a very sad exchange for what they did see, to have
seen Moses only. The face of Moses would have shone, his person would have awed
them, and it would have been no mean thing for man of humble origin like
themselves to walk down the mountain with that mighty king in Jeshurun, who had
spoken with God face to face, and rested with him in solemn conclave by the
space of forty days at a time. But yet who would exchange the sun for the moon?
Who would exchange the cold moonbeams of Moses and the law for the sunny rays of
the Saviour's divine affection? It would have been an unhappy exchange for them
to have lost their Master whose name is love, and to have found a leader in the
man whose name is synonymous with law. Moses, the man of God, cannot be compared
with Jesus, the Son of God. Yet dear brethren, there are some who see Moses
only. After all the gospel preaching that there has been in the world, and the
declaration of the precious doctrines of grace every Sabbath day; after the
clear revelations of Scripture, and the work of the Holy Spirit in men's hearts;
yet we have among us some who persist in seeing nothing but Moses only. I mean
this, there are some who will see nothing but shadows still, mere shadows still.
As I read my Bible I see there that the age of the symbolical, the typical, the
pictorial, has passed away. I am glad of the symbols, and types, and pictures,
for they remain instructive to me; but the age in which they were in the
foreground has given way to a clearer light, and they are gone forever. There
are, however, certain persons who profess to read the Bible and to see very
differently, and they set up a new system of types and shadows -- a system, let
me say, ridiculous to men of sense, and obnoxious to men of spiritual taste.
There are some who delight in outward ordinances; they must have rubric and
ritual, vestments and ceremonial, and this superabundantly, morning, noon and
night. They regard days, and seasons, and forms of words and postures. They
consider one place holy above another. They regard a certain caste of men as
being priestly above other believers, and their love of symbols is seen in
season and out of season. One would think, from their teachings, that the one
thing needful was not "Jesus only," but custom, antiquity, outward performance,
and correct observance! Alas! for those who talk of Jesus, but virtually see
Moses, and Moses only. Ah! unhappy change for the heart if it could exchange
spiritual fellowship with Jesus for outward acts and symbolical representations.
It would be an unhappy thing for the Christian church if she could ever be duped
out of the priceless boons which faith wins from her living Lord in his fullness
of grace and truth, to return to the beggarly elements of carnal ordinances.
Unhappy day, indeed, if Popish counterfeits of legal shadows should supplant
gospel fact and substance. Blessed be God, we have not so learned Christ. We see
something better than Moses only.There are too many who see Moses only, inasmuch
as they see nothing but law, nothing but duty and precept in the Bible. I know
that some here, though we have tried to preach Christ crucified as their only
hope, yet whenever they read the Bible, or hear the Gospel, feel nothing except
a sense of their own sinfulness, and, arising out of that sense of sinfulness, a
desire to work out a righteousness of their own. They are continually measuring
themselves by the law of God, they feel their shortcomings, they mourn over
their transgressions, but they go no further. I am glad that they see Moses, may
the stern voice of the lawgiver drive them to the lawfulfiller; but I grieve
that they tarry so long in legal servitude, which can only bring them sorrow and
dismay. The sight of Sinai, what is it but despair? God revealed in flaming
fire, and proclaiming with thunder his fiery law, what is there here to save the
soul? To see the Lord who will by no means spare the guilty, but will surely
visit transgression with eternal vengeance, is a sight which never should
eclipse Calvary, where love makes recompense to justice. O that you may get
beyond the mount that might be touched, and come to Calvary, where God in
vengeance is clearly seen, but where God in mercy fills the throne. Oh how
blessed is it to escape from the voice of command and threatening and come to
the blood of sprinkling, where "Jesus only" speaketh better things!Moses only,
however, has become a sight very common with some of you who write bitter things
against yourselves. You never read the Scriptures or hear the gospel without
feeling condemned. You know your duty, and confess how short you have fallen of
it, and therefore you abide under conscious condemnation, and will not come to
him who is the propitiation for your sins. Alas, that there should be so many
who with strange perversity of unbelief twist every promise into a threatening,
and out of every gracious word that drips with honey manage to extract gall and
wormwood. They see the dark shadow of Moses only; the broken tablets of the law,
the smoking mount, and the terrible trumpet are ever with them, and over all an
angry God. They had a better vision once, they have it sometimes now; for now
and then under the preaching of the gospel they have glimpses of hope and mercy,
but they relapse into darkness, they fall again into despair, because they have
chosen to see Moses only. I pray that a change may come over the spirit of their
dream, and that yet like the apostles they may see "Jesus only." But, my
brethren, there was a third alternative that might have happened to the
disciples, they might have seen Elijah only. Instead of the gentle Saviour, they
might have been standing at the side of the rough-clad and the stern-spirited
Elias. Instead of the Lamb of God, there might have remained to them only the
lion who roared like the voice of God's own majesty in the midst of sinful
Israel. In such a case, with such a leader, they would have gone down from the
mount, and I wot that if John had said, "Command fire from heaven," Elias would
have consumed his foes; the Pharisees, like the priests of Baal, would have
found a speedy end; Herod's blood, like Ahab's, would have been licked up by
dogs; and Herodias, like another Jezebel, would have been devoured of the same.
But all this power for vengeance would have been a poor exchange for the
gracious omnipotence of the Friend of sinners. Who would prefer the slayer of
the priests to the Saviour of men? The top of Carmel was glorious when its
intercession brought the rain for Israel, but how poor it is compared with
Gethsemane, whose pleadings bring eternal life to millions! In company with
Jesus we are at Elim beneath the palm tree, but with Elias we are in the
wilderness beneath the stunted juniper. Who would exchange the excellency of
Olivet for the terrors of Horeb? Yet I fear there are many who see Elias only.
Prophecies of future woe fascinate them rather than thoughts of present
salvation. Elias may be taken representatively as the preparer of Christ, for
our Lord interpreted the prophecy of the coming of Elias as referring to John
the Baptist. There are not a few who abide in the seeking, repenting, and
preparing state, and come not to "Jesus only." I am not myself fond of even
using the term "preparing for Christ," for it seems to me that those are best
prepared for Christ who most feel themselves unprepared; but there is no doubt a
state of heart which prepares for faith -- a sense of need, a consciousness of
sin, a hatred of sin, all these are preparations for actual peace and comfort in
Christ Jesus, and oh! How many there are who continue year after year merely in
that preliminary condition, choosing the candle and refusing the sun. They do
not become believers, but are always complaining that they do not feel as yet
fit to come to Christ. They want Christ, they desire Christ, they would fain
have Christ, but they stay in desire and longing and go no further. They never
get so far as to behold "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."
The voice from heaven to them they always interpret as crying, "The axe is laid
unto the root of the trees; bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance."
Their conscience is thrilled, and thrilled again, by the voice that crieth in
the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Their souls are rent and torn
by Elijah's challenge, "If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow
him;" but they remain still halting between two opinions, trembling before Elias
and not rejoicing before the Saviour. Unhappy men and women, so near the
kingdom, and yet out of it; so near the feast, and yet perishing for want of the
living bread. The word is near you(ah, how near!), and yet you receive it not.
Remember, I pray you, that merely to prepare for a Saviour is not to be saved;
that to have a sense of sin is not the same thing as being pardoned. Your
repentance, unless you also believe in Jesus, is a repentance that needs to be
repented of. At the girdle of John the Baptist the keys of heaven did never
hang; Elias is not the door of salvation; preparation for Christ is not Christ,
despair is not regeneration, doubt is not repentance. Only by faith in Jesus can
you be saved, but complaining of yourselves is not faith. "Jesus only" is the
way, the truth, and the life. "Jesus only" is the sinner's Saviour. O that your
eyes may be opened, not to see Elias, not to see Moses, but to see "Jesus
only."You see, then, these three alternatives, but there was also another: a
fourth thing might have happened when the disciples opened their eyes -- they
might have seen Moses and Elias with Jesus, even as in the transfiguration. At
first sight it seems as if this would have been superior to that which they did
enjoy. To walk down the mountain with that blessed trio, how great a privilege!
How strong might they have been for the accomplishment of the divine purposes!
Moses could preach the law and make men tremble, and then Jesus could follow
with his gospel of grace and truth. Elias could flash the thunderbolt in their
faces, and then Christ could have uplifted the humble spirits. Would not the
contrast have been delightful, and the connection inspiriting? Would not the
assemblage of such divers kinds of forces have contributed to the greatest
success? I think not. It is a vastly better thing to see "Jesus only," as a
matter of perpetuity, than to see Moses and Elias with Jesus. It is night, I
know it, for I see the moon and stars. The morning cometh, I know it cometh, for
I see no longer many stars, only one remains, and that the morning star. But the
full day has arrived, I know it has, for I cannot even see the morning star; all
those guardians and comforters of the night have disappeared; I see the sun
only. Now, inasmuch as every man prefers the moon to midnight and to the
twilight of dawn, the disappearance of Moses and Elias, indicating the full
noontide of light, was the best thing that could happen. Why should we wish to
see Moses? The ceremonials are all fulfilled in Jesus; the law is honored and
fulfilled in him. Let Moses go, his light is already in "Jesus only." And why
should I wish to retain Elias? The prophecies are all fulfilled in Jesus, and
the preparation of which Elias preached Jesus brings with himself. Let, then,
Elias go, his light also is in "Jesus only." It is better to see Moses and Elias
in Christ, than to see Moses and Elias with Christ. The absence of some things
betokens a higher state of things than their presence. In all my library I do
not know that I have a Lennie's English Grammar, or a Mavor's Spelling Book, or
a Henry's First Latin Exercises, nor do I regret the absence of those valuable
works, because I have got beyond the need of them. So the Christian wants not
the symbols of Moses, or the preparations of Elias, for Christ is all, and we
are complete in him. He who is conversant with the higher walks of sacred
literature and reads in the golden book of Christ's heart, may safely lay the
legal school-book by; this was good enough for the church's infancy, but we have
now put away childish things. "We, when we were children, were in bondage under
the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are
sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ." My brethren, the principle may be carried still
further, for even the most precious things we treasure here below will disappear
when fully realized in heaven. Beautiful for situation was the temple on Mount
Zion, and though we believe not in the sanctity of buildings under the gospel,
we love the place of solemn meeting where we are accustomed to offer prayer and
praise; but when we enter into perfection we shall find no temple in heaven. We
delight in our Sabbaths, and we would not give them up. O may England never lose
her Sabbaths! but when we reach the Jerusalem above, we shall not observe the
first day of the week above the rest, for we shall enjoy one everlasting
Sabbath. No temple, because all temple; and no Sabbath day, because all Sabbath
in heaven. Thus, you see, the losing of some things is gain: it proves that we
have got beyond their help. Just as we get beyond the nursery and all its
appurtenances, and never regret it because we have become men, so do Moses and
Elias pass away, but we do not miss them, for "Jesus only" indicates our
manhood. It is a sign of a higher growth when we can see Jesus only. My
brethren, much of this sort of thing takes place with all Christians in their
spiritual life. Do you remember when you were first of all convinced and
awakened, what a great deal you thought of the preacher, and how much of the
very style in which he spoke the gospel! But now, though you delight to listen
to his voice, and find that God blesses you through him, yet you have sunk the
thought of the preacher in the glory of the Master, you see no man save "Jesus
only." And as you grow in grace you will find that many doctrines and points of
church government which once appeared to you to be all important, though you
will still value them, will seem but of small consequence compared with Christ
himself. Like the traveller ascending the Alps to reach the summit of Mont
Blanc; at first he observes that lord of the hills as one born among many, and
often in the twistings of his upward path he sees other peaks which appear more
elevated than that monarch of mountains; but when at last he is near the summit,
he sees all the rest of the hills beneath his feet, and like a mighty wedge of
alabaster Mount Blanc pierces the very clouds. So, as we grow in grace, other
things sink and Jesus rises. They must decrease, but Christ must increase; until
he alone fills the full horizon of your soul, and rises clear and bright and
glorious up into the very heaven of God. O that we may thus see "Jesus only!"
II. Time hastens so rapidly, this morning, that I know not how I shall be able
to compress the rest of my discourse into the allotted space. We must in the
most rapid manner speak upon WHAT REALLY HAPPENED."They saw no man, save Jesus
only." This was all they wanted to see for their comfort. They were sore afraid:
Moses was gone, and he could give them no comfort; Elias was gone, he could
speak no consolatory word; yet when Jesus said, "Be not afraid," their fears
vanished. All the comfort, then, that any troubled heart wants, it can find in
Christ. Go not to Moses, nor Elias, neither to the old covenant, not to
prophecy: go straight away to Jesus only. He was all the Saviour they wanted.
Those three men all needed washing from sin; all needed to be kept and held on
their way, but neither Moses nor Elias could have washed them from sin, nor have
kept them from returning to it. But Jesus only could cleanse them, and did;
Christ could lead them on, and did. Ah! brethren, all the Saviour we want, we
find in Jesus only. The priests of Rome and their Anglican mimics officiously
offer us their services. How glad they would be if we would bend our necks once
again to their yoke! But we thank God we have seen "Jesus only," and if Moses
has gone, and if Elias has gone, we are not likely to let the shavelings of Rome
come in and fill up the vacancy. "Jesus only," is enough for our comfort,
without either Anglican, Mosaic, or Roman priestcraft.He, again, was to them, as
they went afterwards into the world, enough for a Master. "No man can serve two
masters," and albeit, Moses and Elias might sink into the second rank, yet might
there have been some difficulty in the follower's mind if the leadership were
divided. But when they had no leader but Jesus, his guidance, his direction and
command were quite sufficient. He, in the day of battle, was enough for their
captain; in the day of difficulty, enough for their direction. They wanted none
but Jesus. At this day, my brethren, we have no Master but Christ; we submit
ourselves to no vicar of God; we bow down ourselves before no great leader of a
sect, neither to Calvin, nor to Arminius, to Wesley, or Whitfield, "One is our
Master," and that one is enough, for we have learned to see the wisdom of God
and the power of God in Jesus only.He was enough as their power for future life,
as well as their Master. They needed not ask Moses to lend them official
dignity, nor to ask Elias to bring them fire from heaven: Jesus would give them
of his Holy Spirit, and they should be strong enough for every enterprise. And,
brethren, all the power you and I want to preach the gospel, and to conquer
souls to the truth, we can find in Jesus only. You want no sacred State
prestige, no pretended apostolical succession, no prelatical unction; Jesus will
anoint you with his Holy Spirit, and you shall be plenteously endowed with power
from on high, so that you shall do great things and prevail. "Jesus only." Why,
they wanted no other motive to constrain them to use their power aright. It is
enough incentive to a man to be allowed to live for such a one as Christ. Only
let the thought of Christ fill the enlightened intellect, and it must conquer
the sanctified affections. Let but Jesus be well understood as the everlasting
God who bowed the heavens, and came down and suffered shame and ignominy, that
he might redeem us from the wrath to come; let us get but a sight of the
thorn-crowned head, and those dear eyes all red with weeping, and those sweet
cheeks bruised and battered by the scoffer's fists; let us but look into the
tender heart that was broken with griefs unutterable for our sakes, and the love
of Christ must constrain us, and we shall thus "judge, that if one died for all,
then were wll dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose
again." In the point of motive, believers do not need the aid of Moses. That you
ought to do such a thing because otherwise you will be punished, will but little
strengthen you, nor will you be much aided by the spirit of prophecy which leads
you to hope that in the millennial period you will be made a ruler over many
cities. It will be enough to you that you serve the Lord Christ; it suffices you
if you may be enabled to honor him, to deck his crown, to magnify his name. Here
is a stimulus sufficient for martyrs and confessors, "Jesus only." Brethren, it
is all the gospel we have to preach -- it is all the gospel we want to preach --
it is the only ground of confidence which we have for ourselves; it is all the
hope we have to set before others. I know that in this age there is an
overweening desire for that which has the aspect of being intellectual, deep,
and novel; and we are often informed that there are to be developments in
religion, even as in science; and we are despised as being hardly men, certainly
not thinking men, if we preach today what was preached two hundred years ago.
Brethren, we preach to-day what was preached eighteen hundred years ago, and
wherein others make alterations, they create deformities, and not improvements.
We are not ashamed to avow that the old truth of Christ alone is everlasting;
all else has gone or shall go, but the gospel towers above the wrecks of time:
to us "Jesus only" remains as the sole topic of our ministry, and we want
nothing else. For "Jesus only" shall be our reward, to be with him where he is,
to behold his glory, to be like him when we shall see him as he is, we ask no
other heaven. No other bliss can our soul conceive of. The Lord grant that we
may have a fullness of this, and "Jesus only" shall be throughout eternity our
delight.There was here space to have dilated at great length, but we have rather
given you the heads of thought, than the thoughts themselves. Though the
apostles saw "Jesus only," they saw quite sufficient, for Jesus is enough for
time and eternity, enough to live by and enough to die by.III. I must close,
though I fain would linger. Brethren, let us think of WHAT WE DESIRE MAY HAPPEN
to all now present.I do desire for my fellow Christians and for myself, that
more and more the great object of our thoughts, motives, and acts may be "Jesus
only." I believe that whenever our religion is most vital, it is most full of
Christ. Moreover, when it is most practical, downright, and common sense, it
always gets nearest to Jesus. I can bear witness that whenever I am in deeps of
sorrow, nothing will do for me but "Jesus only." I can rest in some degree in
the externals of religion, its outward escarpments and bulwarks, when I am in
health; but I retreat to the innermost citadel of our holy faith, namely, to the
very heart of Christ, when my spirit is assailed by temptation, or besieged with
sorrow and anguish. What is more, my witness is that whenever I have high
spiritual enjoyments, enjoyments right, rare, celestial, they are always
connected with Jesus only. Other religious things may give some kind of joy, and
joy that is healthy too, but the sublimest, the most inebriating, the most
divine of all joys, must be found in Jesus only. In fine, I find if I want to
labor much, I must live on Jesus only; if I desire to suffer patiently, I must
feed on Jesus only; if I wish to wrestle with God successfully, I must plead
Jesus only; if I aspire to conquer sin, I must use the blood of Jesus only; if I
pant to learn the mysteries of heaven, I must seek the teachings of Jesus only.
I believe that any thing which we add to Christ lowers our position, and that
the more elevated our soul becomes, the more nearly like what it is to be when
it shall enter into the religion of the perfect, the more completely every thing
else will sink, die out, and Jesus, Jesus, Jesus only, will be first and last,
and midst and without end, the Alpha and Omega of every thought of head and
pulse of heart. May it be so with every Christian.There are others here who are
not yet believers in Jesus, and our desire is that this may happen to them, that
they may see "Jesus only." "Oh," saith one, "Sir, I want to see my sins. My
heart is very hard, and very proud; I want to see my sins." Friend, I also
desire that you should, but I desire that you may see them not on yourself, but
on Jesus only. No sight of sin ever brings such true humiliation of spirit as
when the soul sees its sins laid on the Saviour. Sinner, I know you have thought
of sins as lying on yourself, and you have been trying to feel their weight, but
there is a happier and better view still. Sin was laid on Jesus, and it made him
to be covered with a bloody sweat; it nailed him to the cross; it made him cry,
"Lama Sabachthani;" it bowed him into the dust of death. Why, friend, if you see
sin on Jesus you will hate it, you will bemoan it, you will abhor it. You need
not look evermore to sin as burdening yourself, see Jesus only, and the best
kind of repentance will follow. "Ah, but," saith another, "I want to feel my
need of Christ more." You will see your need all the better if you look at Jesus
only. Many a time an appetite for a thing is created by the sight of it. Why,
there are some of us who can hardly be trusted in a bookseller's shop, because
though we might have done very well at home without a certain volume, we no
sooner see it than we are in urgent need of it. So often is it with some of you
about other matters, so that it becomes most dangerous to let you see, because
you want as soon as you see. A sight of Jesus, of what he is to sinners, of what
he makes sinners, of what he is in himself, will more tend to make you feel your
need of him than all your poring over your poor miserable self. You will get no
further there, look to "Jesus only." "Ay," saith another, "but I want to read my
title clear, I want to know that I have an interest in Jesus." you will best
read your interest in Christ, by looking at him. If I want to know whether a
certain estate is mine, do I look into my own heart to see if I have a right to
it? But I look into the archives of the estate, I search testaments and
covenants. Now, Christ Jesus is God's covenant with the people, a leader and
commander to the people. To-day, I personally can read my title clear to heaven,
and shall I tell you how I read it? Not because I feel all I wish to feel, nor
because I am what I hope I yet shall be, but I read in the word that "Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners," I am a sinner, even the devil
cannot tell me I am not. O precious Saviour, then thou hast come to save such as
I am. Then I see it written again, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be
saved." I have believed, and have been baptized; I know I trust alone in Jesus,
and that is believing. As surely then as there is a God in heaven I shall be in
heaven one day. It must be so, because unless God be a liar, he that believeth
must be saved. You see it is not by looking within, it is by looking to Jesus
only that you perceive at last your name graven on his hands. I wish to have
Christ's name written on my heart, but if I want assurance, I have to look at
his heart till I see my name written there. O turn your eye away from your sin
and your emptiness to his righteousness and his fullness. See the sweat drops
bloody as they fall in Gethsemane, see his heart pierced and pouring out blood
and water for the sins of men upon Calvary! There is life in a look at him! O
look to him, and though it be Jesus only, though Moses should condemn you, and
Elias should alarm you, yet "Jesus only" shall be enough to comfort and enough
to save you. May God grant us grace every one of us to take for our motto in
life, for our hope in death, and for our joy in eternity, "Jesus only." May God
bless you for the sake of "Jesus only." Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE
SERMON -- Matthew 17.


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  CHAPTER 3: THIS DOCUMENT
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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/spurgeons-sermons-volume-16-1870/
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