Charles Spurgeon: A Dirge For The Downgrade (Feat. Clay Kraby)

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[00:00:56] Revived Thoughts is a production of Revived Studios.

[00:01:03] This is Troy and Clay, and you are listening to Revived Thoughts.

[00:01:15] Those that love the Church of God desire her prosperity.

[00:01:20] And when they do not see that prosperity, they are depressed.

[00:01:26] Now, if you're used to me saying this is Troy and Joel, normally it is Joel and I, but this week I am being joined by Clay.

[00:01:33] And I'm really excited to tell you about this guy.

[00:01:35] For starters, Clay and I go back a little bit here on the online internet ministry thing.

[00:01:41] The very first person to ever have me on their show to explain the concept of Revived Thoughts.

[00:01:47] The first interview we ever did, I think Revived Thoughts was four episodes old at the time.

[00:01:51] Was Clay on his show, a reasonable theology at the time.

[00:01:55] It was, to me it was so exciting.

[00:01:56] I was like, yeah, see people do want to talk about this.

[00:01:58] And it was the first of many interviews.

[00:02:00] But he was the first guy who kind of believed in us.

[00:02:02] So I really appreciated that.

[00:02:04] But he reached out to me and said, hey, I'm running this website called chspurgeon.com.

[00:02:09] And it has all of these great things on it.

[00:02:12] I don't want to spoil it.

[00:02:13] I'll let Clay describe it to you.

[00:02:14] But when I heard about what he was doing, I thought, yeah, that's absolutely something we would want to highlight and tell other people about.

[00:02:20] And also, it fits really well with what we hear at Revived Thoughts believe in.

[00:02:24] But Clay, I'm saying it, I'm throwing it to you now.

[00:02:26] Why don't you tell everybody just a little bit about yourself and what you're doing?

[00:02:29] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:02:29] It's good to be on with you.

[00:02:31] And as you said, my name is Clay Craby.

[00:02:33] For many years, since about 2012, I've run a website and a podcast called Reasonable Theology.

[00:02:39] And that's at reasonabletheology.org.

[00:02:42] And then in more recent months, I've been focused on a project at chspurgeon.com.

[00:02:48] I've long had an interest in Charles Spurgeon, benefited from him greatly over the years,

[00:02:53] and had an opportunity to take on that site.

[00:02:56] The man that had done it for many, many years faithfully and had done some great audio versions

[00:03:04] delivering Spurgeon sermons that are now featured on the site as well.

[00:03:07] He had passed and his son had reached out through a mutual friend to see if I would be willing to take that on.

[00:03:12] And I jumped at the chance and it's been really fun.

[00:03:14] I've learned a lot from Spurgeon.

[00:03:16] I think we all can benefit a lot from Charles Spurgeon.

[00:03:19] And I'm happy to be a small part of making that readily available to other people.

[00:03:24] Now, what I loved about it is, of course, you're bringing back old sermons.

[00:03:27] And you're not the only, you know, there's not the only resource specifically for Charles Spurgeon sermons.

[00:03:32] There are quite a few of them, but I think what you are doing is great in particular.

[00:03:36] I wanted to highlight that.

[00:03:39] But this kind of leads me to just, I wanted to have a little bit of a conversation with you in this episode

[00:03:43] where we talk about Charles Spurgeon and then our Revive Thoughts audience will listen to a Spurgeon sermon,

[00:03:49] which everyone who's listening to Revive Thoughts are used to doing that.

[00:03:52] We always have an old sermon.

[00:03:53] And we've done many episodes by Spurgeon ourselves over here.

[00:03:57] But one of the reasons I haven't kind of emphasized more is because, like I said,

[00:04:00] I do know that there are other people who are doing that.

[00:04:02] And so I don't want to get into the way of what they're doing.

[00:04:05] We tend to focus more on people that maybe you're not as familiar with through history.

[00:04:09] But my opening question for you, Clay, is why does Spurgeon seem to have such a specifically kind of almost unique impact?

[00:04:19] And that's not to say there aren't other great men of God like, you know, maybe George Whitefield or Martin Luther,

[00:04:24] these guys who have impacted history for a long time.

[00:04:27] But when it comes to the guy that your pastor quotes in a sermon or the guy whose commentary or sermon that you always love,

[00:04:34] the fact that Revive Thoughts is one of the only podcasts that's bringing back, you know, many different sermons from different people.

[00:04:39] But there are multiple people working together around different podcasts to bring back Spurgeon.

[00:04:44] What is it that's just so unique about what he is?

[00:04:46] Well, there's a few things.

[00:04:47] And you're right.

[00:04:48] He is uniquely popular.

[00:04:49] You can hear Spurgeon quoted in a Presbyterian church, a fundamental Baptist church.

[00:04:55] I mean, pretty much across the board, even though they might have some pretty distinct theological differences with Spurgeon,

[00:05:03] people recognize that in Spurgeon they have a brother in the faith and there's so much that we can look to.

[00:05:11] One of the reasons that he's so popular is he just wrote and preached so much.

[00:05:17] He published well over 140 volumes of books of just, you know, not compilations of sermons, but just publishing books.

[00:05:26] He is the most published Christian author in the English language.

[00:05:32] Wow.

[00:05:32] And then you add on top of that the volumes of sermons.

[00:05:35] And as you know, they've got like the New Park Street Pulpit, you know, volumes.

[00:05:39] That's usually like a six-volume thing.

[00:05:41] And then the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit series, that's 66 volumes of sermons.

[00:05:47] You know, one person joke...

[00:05:47] And you've read them all, right?

[00:05:49] For preparation for this episode.

[00:05:50] Oh, yeah, up front?

[00:05:51] A couple of times.

[00:05:51] A couple of times.

[00:05:52] I heard one person joke that, you know, Spurgeon never had an unpublished thought.

[00:05:57] And that seems about right.

[00:05:58] So he was...

[00:06:00] He remains popular because he's so readily available.

[00:06:03] That's for one thing.

[00:06:03] But that alone wouldn't do it.

[00:06:05] He has a clarity in his preaching and his teaching.

[00:06:10] He gets to the heart of a passage, the heart of an issue.

[00:06:14] And he does such a good job of keeping things simple.

[00:06:17] I know it's still Victorian language.

[00:06:19] We don't talk like that anymore.

[00:06:21] So for us, it seems maybe a little bit on the dustier side if we're not used to it.

[00:06:26] But for his day, and once you do get used to it, he strives to be simple in his teaching.

[00:06:33] Very, very clear.

[00:06:34] And making sure things are accessible to the people he was talking to.

[00:06:37] And that continues to teach us today.

[00:06:39] Yeah, no, he definitely speaks in a way that can be understood.

[00:06:42] That's like you said, 200 years later, it's very easy to understand and enjoy his sermons.

[00:06:47] There's both a mixture of story, wisdom, and just biblical analogies that are just all imbued together.

[00:06:55] What's interesting though to me is that he usually just, in my experience,

[00:06:59] he just kind of takes one or two verses and just runs with a thought for 30 to 45 minutes.

[00:07:03] Which is very different than a lot of the current trend in preaching and teaching.

[00:07:07] You've got to do the exegetical, break down the verses and go to the Greek and all that.

[00:07:12] And then you'll listen to Spurgeon who's considered one of the best that ever was.

[00:07:15] And he does not do any of that at all.

[00:07:17] He's running the story idea here.

[00:07:18] He's running this idea here.

[00:07:19] And yet I think it's great.

[00:07:21] I absolutely love what he does.

[00:07:23] But one thing I want to ask you, is this a natural gift?

[00:07:28] Is Spurgeon, you know, is he just a natural talent?

[00:07:30] There's no one else going to be able to replace him or be like him?

[00:07:33] Or were there things that he did in his life to get that good at preaching and teaching?

[00:07:38] Because it does feel like he just kind of had a meteoric rise.

[00:07:41] I mean, at a very young age to how he got to where he'd be.

[00:07:44] Yeah.

[00:07:45] Yeah.

[00:07:46] And, you know, I want to say as an encouragement to others that, you know, he honed his craft and it was repetitions and he got better.

[00:07:52] And I'm sure all that's true.

[00:07:54] But out the gate, Spurgeon was popular.

[00:07:56] His very first sermon, he was essentially tricked into preaching the first time.

[00:08:01] He was part of a ministry organization and he was told that, hey, there's a young man going to preach his first sermon and he would appreciate some company on the way there.

[00:08:10] Spurgeon says, great.

[00:08:11] He thinks the other guy's preaching.

[00:08:12] The other guy thinks he's preaching.

[00:08:13] He gets there and he delivers kind of an impromptu ad hoc sermon that is impactful.

[00:08:19] And it is not long before he has a congregation of his own there in Water Beach.

[00:08:24] And immediately it is starting to fill up.

[00:08:28] They're at capacity.

[00:08:29] And it's not long after that, that he's called to London to preach.

[00:08:33] So he does have a meteoric rise.

[00:08:35] He had natural giftedness.

[00:08:37] Now, one of the things to just know about Spurgeon though, is he was brilliant.

[00:08:42] He came from a line of preachers.

[00:08:45] His dad, his grandfather were both preachers.

[00:08:47] And he devoured Puritan books as a child.

[00:08:51] So he was filled with knowledge and theology and doctrine and devotional texts and all these things.

[00:08:59] And so he was well prepared for that.

[00:09:03] But I would say that God uniquely gifted Charles Spurgeon just to be able to be such a good speaker, such a good preacher.

[00:09:13] And God used that mightily almost immediately.

[00:09:17] He's drawing these great crowds.

[00:09:19] And so that's kind of how it feels to me too.

[00:09:21] It feels like Spurgeon is one of a kind.

[00:09:24] And that I don't know how you could replicate him.

[00:09:27] And I don't mean that to say we should even try.

[00:09:29] We should be replicating Christ and doing what, you know, Christ has for each of us to be where we are.

[00:09:33] But it truly feels like he was a thing that could not happen quite again in the same way.

[00:09:39] And there's a sermon where he's preaching at George Whitfield's tabernacle on like the anniversary of something.

[00:09:45] And they had him come speak.

[00:09:46] And I remember in this sermon, he goes, you know, where is the George Whitfield of today?

[00:09:50] We don't bring men like this anymore around.

[00:09:52] And the irony is if there was a George Whitfield of his day, that would have been him, Charles Spurgeon.

[00:09:57] But he doesn't see it.

[00:09:58] He sees himself as Spurgeon.

[00:09:59] You know, he's thinking we don't have men like that anymore.

[00:10:02] And I'm sure the audience was going like, you, you are that man, David.

[00:10:06] And I feel like that's kind of what's going to happen is we're going to see people wanting to be that next Spurgeon or or maybe not even wanting to just just we were looking for the next version.

[00:10:14] The next guy is going to come is going to look not quite like Spurgeon, but not quite like Whitfield being his own thing.

[00:10:19] But it really does feel like there was a natural talent, a natural giftedness by God that I've always thought just doesn't seem like others have had that particular set of gifts in that particular way.

[00:10:30] No, I agree. And I think one of the reasons that Spurgeon was able to be so impactful is that he wasn't trying to be anybody.

[00:10:36] He was very aware of the giftedness that he had from God, and he just strove to use it for his master service all the time.

[00:10:44] A hundred percent of his day in his week was towards that end.

[00:10:48] And that's why he was impactful.

[00:10:49] I think some people do look at Spurgeon or even modern day prominent preachers and teachers and say, oh, I want to be like that.

[00:10:57] And they're chasing after that. And the Lord's not going to use that in the same way as someone who takes a a humble survey of the gifts that God has given them and seeks to put them to good use.

[00:11:09] Amen.

[00:11:10] No, I think it's a good that that right there is very well said there are many people chasing the the online ministry or trying to be I've heard I've heard one that I hear a lot.

[00:11:18] It's like I want to be the next RC Sproul or I want to be the next this guy. I want to be that next teacher.

[00:11:22] And I go, but when I look at men like Spurgeon or RC Sproul, they don't normally want you to be like them.

[00:11:28] They're out there saying, no, what we need are more Hudson Taylors or what we need are more, you know, with fields like we need more of these other kinds of people.

[00:11:34] And I respect everyone who wants to be the next, you know, wants to be that teacher.

[00:11:38] But I do think we also need to remember we need more evangelists and we need more.

[00:11:42] We need more people out in the field preaching the good word.

[00:11:45] And we need we need people to be doing what they've been called to do.

[00:11:48] Not all aiming to be the next Virgin or the next Sproul or something like that.

[00:11:53] So definitely.

[00:11:55] Now, when you first emailed me, you mentioned specifically a part of Spurgeon's life that we have covered on our show,

[00:12:02] but we've never really directly hammered.

[00:12:05] We have.

[00:12:05] It's been a while that a part of Spurgeon's life that honestly, if it wasn't for this part of his life,

[00:12:11] I don't know that we would remember him as fondly as we do.

[00:12:14] And it's not to say that his sermons and all of his teaching would have been lesser.

[00:12:18] I just think that this is, I don't know, the cherry on top.

[00:12:22] Like this is the the thing in my life where I go that that's a man who loves God is willing to risk it all at the height of it all.

[00:12:29] And that is the downgrade controversy.

[00:12:31] Can you just kind of introduce to us what it is and what what parts of it maybe stand out as relevant to us today?

[00:12:38] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:12:39] So just a kind of a 10,000 foot view of the downgrade controversy to start things off.

[00:12:45] So Spurgeon is a prominent preacher in London, England, and this is in the 1800s.

[00:12:50] So this is really going to get going towards the end of Spurgeon's life.

[00:12:55] 1880s, 1887, it kind of kicks off.

[00:12:58] And the issue at hand and what downgrade refers to is really a watering down of the gospel,

[00:13:05] an encroachment of some theological liberalism that was coming onto the scene in Spurgeon's day that he saw,

[00:13:13] that he taught against his whole life.

[00:13:15] This isn't this didn't just come out of nowhere.

[00:13:17] He was always against anyone that would, you know, take away from from key doctrines of the faith and what he saw at the time and others with him.

[00:13:26] He's actually not the first one that one coined the term downgrade or even put the first, you know, volley out there in terms of this.

[00:13:34] He had a magazine called Sword in the Trowel, and it was originally published anonymously.

[00:13:39] It was his friend Robert Schindler published an article on the downgrade, and Spurgeon heartily agreed with it.

[00:13:48] But what it was was basically a historical survey of how did we get to where we are and where along the line did faithful Christian churches and denominations start letting go of core tenets of the faith?

[00:14:02] And Spurgeon joined in that fight.

[00:14:04] He put out many of his own articles from 1887 to 1888.

[00:14:08] Every single issue of that magazine of his had something on the downgrade.

[00:14:13] He preached on it.

[00:14:14] He taught on it.

[00:14:15] And the main things that they were actually concerned about, they were not small things.

[00:14:19] And that's one thing I want people to know.

[00:14:21] Spurgeon was not a fighter.

[00:14:23] He wasn't pugilistic.

[00:14:24] He wasn't schismatic.

[00:14:26] He was happily in association with people with different views than him.

[00:14:31] He had Presbyterians fill his pulpit when he couldn't be there.

[00:14:35] So he wasn't schismatic.

[00:14:37] The things that he was concerned about was the sacrificial atonement of Christ being, you know, that he's the substitutionary atonement for our sins.

[00:14:48] He was concerned about the authority and the infallibility of Scripture being denied.

[00:14:53] There were people that were teaching that there was no hell or that, you know, you'd go to hell for a short time and then you'd just be eliminated.

[00:15:02] Or once you're in hell, you'll get a second chance to, you know, to accept Jesus.

[00:15:07] They had this larger hope theory that they had.

[00:15:10] So there was significant theological issues.

[00:15:14] And so these things were happening all over.

[00:15:18] Spurgeon was particularly concerned with that happening in the Baptist world that he was in.

[00:15:23] And he was preaching and teaching and publishing articles against it.

[00:15:28] I think he did a great job.

[00:15:30] That's exactly right.

[00:15:31] One thing that I always love is that what started this was a controversy over him just going through, not just him, but going through church history.

[00:15:40] It's like, oh, see, church history.

[00:15:41] You got to know it, guys, because if you don't, you're going to, when you find out, you might be surprised by what you see.

[00:15:47] And the other thing is he's 100% correct.

[00:15:50] It's been 140, 50 years or so since those articles went out.

[00:15:55] And I feel like the idea that these institutions that were created to be Christian, that were created to be doing good things for God,

[00:16:03] will eventually drift into a liberal direction, will eventually come crashing down and burning.

[00:16:10] Has history not just shown that to be absolutely the case?

[00:16:14] How many once great Christian institutions are now completely, if anything, almost apostate machines?

[00:16:20] I think at the time Spurgeon was talking about that, the Princeton Theological Seminary was in a lot of ways at the height of its glory with Jay Gresham Machen and B.B. Warfield.

[00:16:29] And now it's not where you would normally expect to find strong, fundamental, conservative Christian believers at a place like that.

[00:16:37] You know what I mean?

[00:16:37] It's just all of these things have just furthermore come out to be true as time has gone on.

[00:16:44] But why was it – why did this become such a controversial thing?

[00:16:48] I feel like today actually a lot of us would say I not only agree with him, but I see that.

[00:16:52] And yeah, there might be progressive Christians who maybe are listening and going, no, that doesn't happen.

[00:16:57] It's not that way.

[00:16:58] But for the most part we would say, yes, history has shown what he said to be true.

[00:17:02] What was it that made that such a controversial thing at the time?

[00:17:05] I think it was the cultural climate of the time.

[00:17:09] So there's things that are already well seeped in to religious society in Victorian England in this era.

[00:17:17] So there was higher criticism kind of coming over from Germany and bringing a lot of doubt as to whether everything in Scripture was truly true.

[00:17:27] The miracles, the virgin birth, things like this were starting to get question marks.

[00:17:31] You've got Charles Darwin pretty much at the same time with Charles Spurgeon.

[00:17:37] And so there's more doubt and other confusions coming onto the scene.

[00:17:43] And then they have what they would call new theology.

[00:17:46] And that was a little bit of, you know what?

[00:17:48] Thanks for all your help, old guys, but we're going to take it from here.

[00:17:52] Us young guys know what we're doing and we're going to take Christianity to the next level and leave these things behind.

[00:17:58] And also making a lot of room for people just indulging their own, not even just their sin, but amusements and things like that.

[00:18:07] They were far more concerned with going to the theater than they were going to hear a sermon.

[00:18:12] And so all of those things were at play here so that there was great offense taken when someone would point out,

[00:18:20] Hey, you are on what we would call a slippery slope.

[00:18:24] You are on a downgrade towards really bad things.

[00:18:28] And they throw their hands up and say,

[00:18:30] That's not fair.

[00:18:31] That's not kind.

[00:18:32] That's not right.

[00:18:33] We're still Orthodox Christians.

[00:18:36] And Charles Spurgeon's position was,

[00:18:39] This is not Christianity.

[00:18:41] It's funny you say the theater thing.

[00:18:43] I don't think it was Spurgeon immediately,

[00:18:44] but D.L. Moody had multiple times mentioned in some of his sermons,

[00:18:48] just you guys go to the theater and you read the newspapers too much.

[00:18:51] Like you're spending all your time thinking about the wrong things and it's going to come to you.

[00:18:55] And if you're listening right now, you're going,

[00:18:56] Well, I don't read a newspaper.

[00:18:57] I don't, I don't, I don't.

[00:18:58] Okay.

[00:18:59] Today that would translate.

[00:19:00] Do you spend too much time watching TV or,

[00:19:02] you know,

[00:19:03] Netflix and you spend too much time looking at the headlines?

[00:19:05] And if that doesn't make you feel a little guilty,

[00:19:08] well, good, great.

[00:19:08] But I think a lot of us go,

[00:19:09] You already got me there.

[00:19:11] That one is probably something I struggle with too.

[00:19:13] I think he said it very well that this was something that was hitting them right at the right moment at the right time,

[00:19:18] because it was true.

[00:19:19] And I think that we see honestly a lot of that same stuff happening in today's Christianity as well,

[00:19:25] where people are going,

[00:19:27] Look, I believe in the Trinity.

[00:19:28] I'm sticking with orthodoxy.

[00:19:30] I'm just kind of adopting some of these worldly values or,

[00:19:32] or maybe I'm just adopting some of this worldly lifestyle to help,

[00:19:36] you know,

[00:19:36] make the culture or whatever,

[00:19:37] whatever the excuse it often is,

[00:19:39] or our church is just doing these things.

[00:19:41] And it may look like this,

[00:19:43] but we have a greater goal in mind or whatever the thing is.

[00:19:47] I think it's very tempting for churches and individuals to go down that road,

[00:19:51] because it's hard to go it the other way,

[00:19:54] to stick to truth,

[00:19:55] to go with just sticking with the very fundamental Christian beliefs.

[00:19:59] And like you mentioned,

[00:20:00] Charles Darwin,

[00:20:01] that the ideas that we don't need God,

[00:20:04] and the ideas that this world is rejecting him,

[00:20:06] has only gotten stronger in society since that's happened.

[00:20:09] And there's even,

[00:20:09] you're going to take even more criticism to be a Christian today,

[00:20:12] I think,

[00:20:12] than you were going to in that time during Victorian England.

[00:20:15] And yet,

[00:20:17] look at how successful Spurgeon was.

[00:20:20] He took that,

[00:20:20] you know,

[00:20:22] the road less traveled.

[00:20:23] He took that narrow way.

[00:20:26] And I think that his ministry,

[00:20:28] God blessed him with a very rewarding,

[00:20:31] successful after-death ministry,

[00:20:34] partially because he was showing them,

[00:20:36] this is us,

[00:20:37] this is the path to take.

[00:20:38] Yeah.

[00:20:39] I can hardly remember the names of any of the people that went down the other way,

[00:20:43] that when they went up against Alexander White,

[00:20:45] agreed with them.

[00:20:45] That's one of the only names I can even remember from that era.

[00:20:48] We don't know these other guys very well.

[00:20:50] They get forgotten,

[00:20:51] but Spurgeon,

[00:20:52] that's someone that we rallied behind and we remember because of the stand that he took.

[00:20:56] Yeah,

[00:20:57] absolutely.

[00:20:57] And there,

[00:20:58] that's not to say that Spurgeon didn't take a tremendous hit in his life.

[00:21:02] In,

[00:21:02] in some popularity,

[00:21:03] there was some,

[00:21:04] some big financial backers of his ministry and the orphanage and the pastor's college that just wrote

[00:21:09] him a letter,

[00:21:09] said,

[00:21:10] I'm done.

[00:21:10] I'm not giving you another dime.

[00:21:12] There was friends that he lost.

[00:21:14] There were students that he,

[00:21:15] you know,

[00:21:16] taught in the pastor's college that turned on him.

[00:21:18] So he,

[00:21:19] he'd faced a lot of backlash,

[00:21:21] but he never was unpopular.

[00:21:25] He might've taken a little bit of hit in popularity,

[00:21:27] but he had,

[00:21:28] he had attacks in the press from the moment he stepped foot on the pavement in London.

[00:21:34] Uh,

[00:21:35] early,

[00:21:35] early in his ministry,

[00:21:36] he was always attacked in the press.

[00:21:37] So that was nothing new for him.

[00:21:39] I think what,

[00:21:40] what was new was the,

[00:21:42] the fellow believers,

[00:21:44] former friends turning on him.

[00:21:45] So he did take a bit of a hit in,

[00:21:48] in popularity or in public opinion,

[00:21:50] but he was still preaching to thousands.

[00:21:54] I mean,

[00:21:54] he never really waned during his lifetime.

[00:21:57] And as you point out,

[00:21:59] since then,

[00:22:00] especially with the benefit of hindsight and seeing how right he was on these issues.

[00:22:03] And now we look to him and say,

[00:22:05] wow,

[00:22:05] what an example of someone who stood firm in the face of,

[00:22:09] you know,

[00:22:10] a theological downgrade.

[00:22:12] We see that.

[00:22:13] And we just recognize that that's someone that God was using well.

[00:22:17] And so we just get that much more out of the resources he's left us.

[00:22:20] Yeah.

[00:22:21] For me,

[00:22:21] that is a big part of it.

[00:22:22] You know,

[00:22:22] it's,

[00:22:23] it's not,

[00:22:23] I don't want to sound like I'm downplaying it for me.

[00:22:26] It's not just that you said these great things and you were able to word your speech as well,

[00:22:30] but I can see your faith lived out when,

[00:22:31] when the,

[00:22:32] when the,

[00:22:32] when the,

[00:22:33] when the,

[00:22:34] when the,

[00:22:34] when the cards are stacked against you,

[00:22:35] when it was all very difficult,

[00:22:37] you stood firm,

[00:22:37] when you had everything to lose and you did lose a lot of things.

[00:22:41] Yeah.

[00:22:41] You stood firm for truth.

[00:22:43] And I remember there was a vote in his,

[00:22:45] I believe denomination where they were kind of putting his ideas to the test and he got voted

[00:22:49] down 2000 votes to seven on his side.

[00:22:53] And I just think to myself,

[00:22:54] man,

[00:22:54] oh man,

[00:22:55] that that's a real stinging rebuke of saying you are really truly on your own.

[00:22:59] And these were not just,

[00:23:00] you know,

[00:23:01] this was not just a,

[00:23:02] a,

[00:23:02] a vote of people.

[00:23:03] He didn't know these were his friends.

[00:23:05] He preached at their churches.

[00:23:06] He,

[00:23:06] he'd helped inaugurate some of their chapels.

[00:23:08] Like he,

[00:23:09] they were all in community with one another.

[00:23:12] But when the time came to stand for truth,

[00:23:14] they all left him kind of by the side.

[00:23:17] And I just think that that must've been huge as a personal cost.

[00:23:20] And yet also it shows,

[00:23:22] in my opinion,

[00:23:23] amazing courage that Christians,

[00:23:25] ministers,

[00:23:25] pastors,

[00:23:26] students,

[00:23:27] and husbands and wives,

[00:23:28] we could all learn to be that kind of courageous for the truth today.

[00:23:32] Yeah.

[00:23:33] Yeah.

[00:23:33] There was a couple of points along the way.

[00:23:34] So after this came to a point where Spurgeon thought,

[00:23:38] I'm not able to reform this.

[00:23:39] There's no hope for this,

[00:23:41] this association,

[00:23:42] which was the Baptist union.

[00:23:44] And so Spurgeon left that union and he was a,

[00:23:47] he was a big prominent part,

[00:23:49] the most prominent part of it.

[00:23:51] But his position was,

[00:23:52] I can't be united to,

[00:23:55] to an association where they're also letting in people that deny the Trinity,

[00:24:00] that deny the,

[00:24:00] the penal substitution of Christ on our behalf for sin,

[00:24:03] that deny hell,

[00:24:04] that deny scripture.

[00:24:05] And so he left shortly after there was a vote of about a hundred of the leaders of that to censure him.

[00:24:13] And basically they said,

[00:24:14] you're wrong.

[00:24:15] You ought not to have done this.

[00:24:16] You ought to name names,

[00:24:17] which Spurgeon refused to do in public,

[00:24:19] in private.

[00:24:20] He was talking to the president,

[00:24:21] the secretary,

[00:24:22] all these people,

[00:24:23] but publicly he wasn't naming names in particular churches.

[00:24:27] He was after an issue.

[00:24:28] So that took place.

[00:24:29] That was a deep wound to him.

[00:24:31] And then as you say,

[00:24:32] there was other things along the way.

[00:24:33] Spurgeon was pushing hard that the Baptist union would adopt a creed.

[00:24:39] At that time,

[00:24:40] the only creed they had was baptism by immersion is the only proper baptism.

[00:24:46] That was all you had to agree to.

[00:24:49] And that's one of the other reasons he didn't name names.

[00:24:50] What are you going to do about it?

[00:24:51] If they're going to baptize people by immersion,

[00:24:53] you can't get come out.

[00:24:55] And so they were put to a vote of whether they would adopt a creed or not,

[00:25:00] and what that creed would include.

[00:25:01] Well,

[00:25:01] they put a really watery,

[00:25:04] wishy-washy creed out there.

[00:25:07] Some that voted for that took that as a,

[00:25:10] hey,

[00:25:10] we're here to support Spurgeon.

[00:25:12] And some took that as a rebuke to Spurgeon.

[00:25:13] So it was a little murky.

[00:25:15] You know,

[00:25:15] his own brother agreed with putting that creed in place.

[00:25:19] So,

[00:25:20] but along the way,

[00:25:21] there was several points where he was,

[00:25:23] he was rebuked.

[00:25:25] He was,

[00:25:25] I even slandered to a degree by former friends and students and fellow pastors.

[00:25:32] I think I,

[00:25:33] he's not alone in that.

[00:25:35] We have an episode we just put out by Jonathan Edwards,

[00:25:38] a farewell sermon where he also was kind of,

[00:25:41] you know,

[00:25:41] kicked out of his church quite publicly.

[00:25:43] And so this is something that you don't think of these great,

[00:25:46] honestly,

[00:25:46] both of those people famous for their preaching famous to even maybe non-believers

[00:25:50] have heard of their names,

[00:25:51] at least yet kicked out of their local churches or their,

[00:25:55] or their local denominations.

[00:25:57] And I think that should just be it to me.

[00:25:58] I think it's a great encouragement.

[00:25:59] If you're in ministry,

[00:26:00] you're going through a tough spot.

[00:26:02] It's,

[00:26:02] it happened.

[00:26:03] If it's going to happen to people like Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards,

[00:26:05] it's okay.

[00:26:06] If it's not okay,

[00:26:07] if it happens to you,

[00:26:08] but don't take it maybe too personal.

[00:26:09] It's,

[00:26:10] it's a normal part of what goes on out there.

[00:26:13] But I think,

[00:26:14] I think that for me,

[00:26:16] the part that I just,

[00:26:17] I hope that people take away from the downgrade controversy is that,

[00:26:20] that standing for truth is going to be worth it in the long run.

[00:26:23] God blesses it when you do it.

[00:26:25] And it may be,

[00:26:26] it may be tough.

[00:26:26] And with those council votes and all that stuff,

[00:26:29] people on the outside are not going to know what your heart is.

[00:26:31] And as you mentioned,

[00:26:32] they're not going to know that you are privately naming names.

[00:26:34] It's going to look murky.

[00:26:36] It's going to look rough.

[00:26:37] And there's going to be a season for sure where you are just getting,

[00:26:40] it really can look like everyone's against you.

[00:26:42] But given time,

[00:26:44] giving God that air and breathing room,

[00:26:48] oftentimes he makes it all clear.

[00:26:50] The fog of war goes away.

[00:26:51] And when it's all said and done,

[00:26:52] if you're standing by integrity and you're walking with God,

[00:26:55] standing for truth,

[00:26:56] you may not end up where you wanted to end up per se,

[00:26:59] but you will be able to walk away with your conscience clear.

[00:27:01] And those who follow Christ should be able to recognize what role you've had in that.

[00:27:05] I know that I've had situations in ministry where it felt like I had to act that way.

[00:27:10] And I imagine, even if you're not in ministry,

[00:27:12] if you're listening and you're just a student or you're just, you know,

[00:27:15] a young person or you're enjoying as a congregation,

[00:27:18] maybe you're new, whatever your role is,

[00:27:20] you're going to have these moments still.

[00:27:22] It's a part of being a Christian.

[00:27:24] There's going to be moments where they're saying bad things about you

[00:27:26] for living out for Christ.

[00:27:28] Do like Spurgeon and don't compromise.

[00:27:35] Do you want to see you someone who understands you like no other?

[00:27:39] Someone who let your wishes be true and wants to experience with you

[00:27:42] the best of your life in your life?

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[00:28:35] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:28:37] He's got a lot of great quotes to that effect of basically

[00:28:39] now is the time for decision.

[00:28:42] Now is the time for action.

[00:28:43] And he was always most concerned about adhering to Scripture

[00:28:49] and being faithful to his Lord.

[00:28:51] That was his predominant concern through the whole thing.

[00:28:54] And so I think we learned that as well.

[00:28:56] Spurgeon knew when to take a stand and say no further.

[00:29:02] He wasn't, again, he was not doing this because, you know, one church, you know, did communion this way and he did it that way.

[00:29:10] He wasn't doing this because he wasn't doing this for silly reasons.

[00:29:13] He did this when it was core doctrinal issues and not before that.

[00:29:19] Yeah, I know.

[00:29:20] I appreciate you saying that he's not doing this over small theological stuff because that's very true.

[00:29:25] We see that today where people will get, especially maybe in the online world, but even in real life,

[00:29:29] people will get kind of upset with each other over these things.

[00:29:33] Spurgeon was great friends with George Mueller, who would have been Plymouth Brethren in the dispensationalist camp.

[00:29:37] He was also great friends with D.L. Moody.

[00:29:39] He's over there.

[00:29:39] He's an evangelist kind of style, more charismatic.

[00:29:42] He would have been over here friends with people like, oh, my gosh, I'm blanking his name.

[00:29:47] It's Theodore Kyler, who was a Presbyterian in New York City.

[00:29:51] That's what I was looking for.

[00:29:52] Like people who are very different walks today.

[00:29:54] They might fight each other.

[00:29:55] But he was friends with all these different people from Hudson Taylor down to all these different ministers in London,

[00:30:03] seemed to have a friendship with them, Joseph Parker, all of these different guys.

[00:30:06] I'm not saying these names all just to kind of confuse anybody listening,

[00:30:09] but just more just to say, like he had a wide range of people he got along with very, very well

[00:30:14] because he wasn't dividing over the third issue stuff.

[00:30:18] He was sticking to, are we primarily brothers and sisters in Christ?

[00:30:22] Okay, then let's get along.

[00:30:24] And what can we do to share the gospel with more people?

[00:30:26] That's where his focus really seemed to be.

[00:30:29] Yeah.

[00:30:30] And during the controversy, one of the things that got said, though, was, oh, Spurgeon just wants us all to be

[00:30:36] hardcore Calvinists, and he's throwing a fit.

[00:30:39] Spurgeon made clear throughout, both in his letters to the president of the union,

[00:30:45] the secretary of the union, in his published articles in the Sword and the Trowel,

[00:30:49] is this is not a Calvinism, Arminianism thing.

[00:30:52] This is not someone needs to be agreed with me in 100 points out of 100.

[00:30:56] He made it very clear this is not to force unity.

[00:31:01] He didn't want them to adopt a creed that would be the same that the Metropolitan Tabernacle had.

[00:31:08] He wanted one that basically said, this is what a Christian is, and if you don't meet these things,

[00:31:13] you can't be in the club.

[00:31:14] That's all he wanted.

[00:31:16] But at the same time, that was what was leveled against him, was that he was being dogmatic

[00:31:22] and schismatic and was just pushing for his view.

[00:31:25] He made no apologies for being a Calvinist, ever.

[00:31:28] But that's not what this was about.

[00:31:30] That's what it often got painted as, though.

[00:31:33] All right, Clay, I know you don't have a lot of time,

[00:31:34] so do you have any final thoughts or wisdom on Spurgeon that you would like to share with the audience?

[00:31:38] What do you got?

[00:31:39] I just encourage people to, if you have not taken the opportunity to read

[00:31:45] or, you know, in a way to listen to Spurgeon,

[00:31:47] we don't have any actual recordings of him,

[00:31:49] but there's people that have on your episodes, on the chspurgeon.com site,

[00:31:54] where you can go to listen to someone either read or, better yet, I think, deliver those sermons,

[00:31:59] you're going to see very quickly why he was popular in his day

[00:32:03] and why he has remained popular.

[00:32:05] It is very easy to be edified by Charles Spurgeon,

[00:32:10] and I would recommend that people could pick up a book of his.

[00:32:14] If you're looking for a place to start, a great one would be All of Grace,

[00:32:17] a short little book that is just a very sweet focus on the gospel and the grace of Christ.

[00:32:25] Also recommend that people just give him a chance.

[00:32:28] If someone is listening to this, they're probably less afraid.

[00:32:32] Your audience is probably less afraid of some of the older language

[00:32:35] and Victorian terms and some of the context you're not going to pick up on.

[00:32:40] But if there is somebody that doesn't take that dive in because they're worried about that,

[00:32:46] I promise you're going to get two pages into something and it's not going to be an issue anymore.

[00:32:50] Again, Spurgeon strives for clarity, but most of all, he strived to point people to Jesus,

[00:32:56] and you can't read or listen to Spurgeon without him doing that.

[00:32:59] So I would just commend Charles Spurgeon to you.

[00:33:03] That is not to put him up on a pedestal and have you look to Spurgeon,

[00:33:09] but look at where Spurgeon is pointing constantly.

[00:33:13] He's pointing to Jesus Christ.

[00:33:14] And I think people will be blessed by his ministry still all these years later.

[00:33:20] I absolutely agree.

[00:33:21] We obviously love old sermons here at Revive Thoughts.

[00:33:24] That's what we do.

[00:33:24] And I never seem to be running out of a well here of just wisdom and just there's so many good things in these sermons that we miss out on.

[00:33:34] And one thing I really like is you never have to worry about these guys going down in a big public scandal or anything like that

[00:33:40] because we already know all their faults.

[00:33:42] They're dead.

[00:33:43] It was A.W. Tozer who said, don't make a hero out of a Christian until he dies.

[00:33:46] And well, the good news is Spurgeon is very much in heaven.

[00:33:49] He's alive with Christ, but he is dead on earth.

[00:33:51] So we know what's going on in their lives.

[00:33:54] You can enjoy those sermons.

[00:33:55] Sit back, relax, and read them.

[00:33:57] He has the testimony, as we just talked about through the downgrade controversy,

[00:34:01] he has that living proof of how Christ is working in him.

[00:34:04] And so I think you can just enjoy his sermons with a, not saying no discernment,

[00:34:08] but just with a relaxation of knowing this is good content coming from a good brother in Christ whose ministry is still reaping a reward long after he died.

[00:34:17] You can enjoy that.

[00:34:17] We're about to listen to a sermon here on Revive Thoughts that is coming from C.H. Spurgeon.

[00:34:22] They are giving one for us to be able to use so we can have it on our show.

[00:34:24] And if you like it, we hope you will go to C.H. Spurgeon.com and listen to more of Spurgeon episodes.

[00:34:29] You know, when you've caught up on Revive Thoughts, you've got that weekly break.

[00:34:32] You need to go and check out some of those on the In Between Times.

[00:34:35] And if you're not sure where that is, you'll find the link down in the comments.

[00:34:39] Not the comments.

[00:34:40] You'll find the link down in the description below.

[00:34:42] I'll be reading your comments, but we won't be putting the link in the comments.

[00:34:46] So with no further ado, let us listen to this sermon.

[00:35:05] Rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn.

[00:35:13] A mourner is always an interesting person.

[00:35:19] We pass by joyful people without a thought.

[00:35:23] But when we see the ensigns of woe, we pause and sympathize even if we dare not inquire.

[00:35:30] The new-made widow, the fatherless child, the bereaved husband, these have a history in which

[00:35:37] our common humanity is interested.

[00:35:40] One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

[00:35:45] And when that nature touch comes from the hand of sorrow, that kinship is quick to show itself.

[00:35:52] The highest style of mourner is one whose griefs are neither selfish nor groveling.

[00:35:59] He who bears spiritual sorrow on account of others is of a nobler order than the man who laments his personal woes.

[00:36:08] This man has not only bowed his shoulder to the inevitable load of personal trouble,

[00:36:13] but he is obeying the command,

[00:36:17] bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

[00:36:23] The most excellent style of mourner is the mourner in Zion.

[00:36:30] The mourner for Zion.

[00:36:33] The mourner with Zion.

[00:36:38] If you love the church of God, you will share her joys.

[00:36:43] But when she passes through the dark defiles of persecution or the rushing waters of discord,

[00:36:49] you will mourn with her.

[00:36:54] God has a great regard for mourners in Zion.

[00:36:58] For in loving this city, they love the king.

[00:37:03] Christ himself has come to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes,

[00:37:10] the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

[00:37:15] It is no small work of grace to make a man so one with Christ and with Christ's mystical body

[00:37:22] that he sorrows with the Lord and his spouse.

[00:37:27] Whenever the ways of God languish and we languish also,

[00:37:30] it is a mark that grace is an active exercise.

[00:37:33] Those who have learned this heavenly mourning are called to rejoice.

[00:37:38] Rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her.

[00:38:14] This question.

[00:38:16] Why should we personally mourn with Jerusalem?

[00:38:21] Surely, we have each a portion here.

[00:38:28] Who are those that mourn with Jerusalem?

[00:38:32] Those that love the church of God and desire her prosperity,

[00:38:37] and when they do not see that prosperity, they are depressed in spirit.

[00:38:44] At this present time, the causes for such depression are exceedingly numerous.

[00:38:51] Nothing can make the heart of the people of God more heavy than to think that the gospel glory of the church is declining.

[00:38:59] There was a time when the gospel of the free grace of God sounded forth from our pulpits as from a trumpet,

[00:39:06] but that time has passed.

[00:39:09] In years come by, you could pretty surely reckon upon hearing the gospel

[00:39:13] if you went into a non-conformist place of worship.

[00:39:17] But you cannot reckon in that fashion nowadays,

[00:39:19] for in some places false doctrine is openly taught,

[00:39:23] and in others it is covertly advanced.

[00:39:28] In former times, good men differed, as they always will,

[00:39:33] as to the form of their doctrinal system,

[00:39:35] but with regard to fundamental points, they were at one.

[00:39:40] It is not so now.

[00:39:43] The deity of our Lord and of his great atoning sacrifice,

[00:39:47] his resurrection and his judgment of the wicked,

[00:39:50] never were moot points in the church,

[00:39:52] but they are questioned at this time.

[00:39:56] The work of the Holy Spirit may be honored in words,

[00:40:00] but what faith can be placed in those to whom he is not a person,

[00:40:05] but a mere influence.

[00:40:08] God himself is by some made into an impersonal being,

[00:40:13] or the soul of all things,

[00:40:15] which is much the same as nothing.

[00:40:19] Pantheism is atheism in a mask,

[00:40:22] the plenary inspiration of Holy Scripture,

[00:40:25] as we have understood it from our childhood,

[00:40:27] is assailed in a thousand insidious ways.

[00:40:31] The fall of Adam is treated as a fable,

[00:40:33] and original sin and imputed righteousness are both denounced.

[00:40:39] As for the doctrines of grace,

[00:40:41] they are ridiculed as altogether out of vogue,

[00:40:45] and even the solemn sanctions of the law

[00:40:48] are scorned as bugbears of the dark ages.

[00:40:54] For many a year, by the grand old truths of the gospel,

[00:40:58] sinners were converted,

[00:40:59] and saints were edified,

[00:41:01] and the world was made to know that there is a God in Israel.

[00:41:06] But these are too antiquated for the present cultured race of superior beings.

[00:41:12] They are going to regenerate the world by democratic socialism

[00:41:16] and set up a kingdom for Christ without the new birth or the pardon of sin.

[00:41:21] Truly the Lord has not taken away the seven thousand

[00:41:25] that have not bowed the knee to Baal,

[00:41:28] but they are in most cases hidden away,

[00:41:31] even as Obadiah hid the prophets in a cave.

[00:41:37] The latter-day gospel is not a gospel by which we were saved.

[00:41:43] To me it seems a tangle of ever-changing dreams.

[00:41:46] It is, by the confession of its inventors,

[00:41:49] the outcome of the period,

[00:41:51] the monstrous birth of a boasted progress,

[00:41:54] the scum from the cauldron of conceit.

[00:41:58] It has not been given by the infallible revelation of God.

[00:42:03] It does not pretend to have been.

[00:42:06] It is not divine.

[00:42:08] It has no inspired scripture at its back.

[00:42:12] It is, when it touches the cross,

[00:42:14] an enemy.

[00:42:17] When it speaks of him who died thereon,

[00:42:19] it is a deceitful friend.

[00:42:23] Many are at sneers at the truth of substitution.

[00:42:28] It is irate at the mention of the precious blood.

[00:42:33] Many a pulpit where Christ was once lifted high

[00:42:36] in all the glory of his atoning death

[00:42:38] is now profaned by those who cavil at justification by faith.

[00:42:44] In fact, men are not now to be saved by faith,

[00:42:48] but by doubt.

[00:42:50] Those who love the church of God feel heavy at heart

[00:42:53] because the teachers of the people cause them to err.

[00:42:57] Even from a national point of view,

[00:42:59] men of foresight seek cause for grave concern.

[00:43:04] Cowper is saying in his day,

[00:43:06] words worthy to be remembered now,

[00:43:09] when nations are to perish in their sins,

[00:43:13] tis in the church the leprosy begins.

[00:43:16] The priest whose office is with zeal sincere

[00:43:19] to watch the fountain and preserve it clear,

[00:43:23] carelessly nods and sleeps upon the brink,

[00:43:28] while others poison what the flock must drink.

[00:43:31] His unsuspecting sheep believe it pure

[00:43:33] and tainted by the very means of cure,

[00:43:36] catch from each other a contagious spot.

[00:43:40] The foul forerunner of a general rot.

[00:43:44] Then truth is hushed that heresy may preach,

[00:43:49] and all is trash that reason cannot reach.

[00:43:56] The old motto of the city of Glasgow was,

[00:44:00] let Glasgow furnish by the preaching of the word.

[00:44:04] Our country has flourished by the preaching of the word,

[00:44:07] and under God she has been raised to eminence

[00:44:10] because of her Protestant Christianity.

[00:44:12] And when she departs from this,

[00:44:15] the reason for maintaining her greatness

[00:44:17] will have ceased.

[00:44:19] This makes us mourn.

[00:44:23] Another cause of mourning

[00:44:25] is when we see the holiness

[00:44:27] of the visible church be clouded.

[00:44:32] I trust I am not given to finding fault

[00:44:35] where fault there is not.

[00:44:38] But I cannot open my eyes

[00:44:39] without seeing things done in our churches

[00:44:42] which 30 years ago were not so much as dreamed of.

[00:44:46] In the matter of amusements,

[00:44:49] professors have gone far in the way of laxity.

[00:44:52] What is worse,

[00:44:54] the churches have now conceived the idea

[00:44:56] that it is their duty to amuse the people.

[00:45:01] Dissenters who used to protest against going to the theatre

[00:45:05] now cause the theatre to come to them.

[00:45:09] Ought not many schoolrooms to be licensed for stage plays?

[00:45:15] If one were here to see to the rigid carrying out of the law,

[00:45:19] would they not be required to take out a license for theatricals?

[00:45:25] I dare not touch upon what has been done at bazaars and fancy fairs.

[00:45:31] If these had been arranged by decent worldly people,

[00:45:34] could they have gone further?

[00:45:38] What folly has been left untried?

[00:45:42] What absurdity has been too great

[00:45:45] for the consciences of those who profess to be the children of God

[00:45:48] who are not of the world

[00:45:49] but called to walk with God in a separated life?

[00:45:54] The world regards the hypertensions of such men as hypocrisy.

[00:46:00] And truly I do not know another name for them.

[00:46:04] Think of those who enjoy communion with God playing the fool in costume.

[00:46:11] They talk of wrestling with the Lord in secret prayer,

[00:46:14] but they jiggle with the world in unconcealed gambling.

[00:46:19] Can this be right?

[00:46:22] Have right and wrong shifted places?

[00:46:27] Surely there is a sobriety of behavior

[00:46:29] which is consistent with a work of grace in the heart,

[00:46:31] and there is a levity which betokens

[00:46:34] that the spirit of evil is supreme.

[00:46:37] Ha says,

[00:46:39] there may have been a time when Christians were too precise,

[00:46:42] but it has not been in my day.

[00:46:46] There may have been such a dreadful thing as Puritanic rigidity,

[00:46:49] but I have never seen it.

[00:46:52] We are quite free from that evil now,

[00:46:55] if it ever existed.

[00:46:57] We have gone from liberty to libertinism.

[00:47:03] We have passed beyond the dubious into the dangerous,

[00:47:06] and none can prophesy where we shall stop.

[00:47:12] Where is the holiness of the church of God today?

[00:47:16] Ah,

[00:47:18] were she what she professed to be,

[00:47:21] she would be fair as the moon,

[00:47:23] clear as the sun,

[00:47:25] and then terrible as an army with banners.

[00:47:30] But now,

[00:47:32] she is dim as smoking flax,

[00:47:34] and rather the object of ridicule

[00:47:36] than of reverence.

[00:47:40] May not the measure of the influence of a church

[00:47:43] be estimated by its holiness?

[00:47:47] If the great host of professing Christians

[00:47:50] were in domestic life

[00:47:52] and in business life,

[00:47:54] sanctified by the Spirit,

[00:47:56] the church would become a great power in the world.

[00:48:00] God's saints may well mourn with Jerusalem

[00:48:02] when they see spirituality and holiness

[00:48:04] at so low an ebb.

[00:48:07] Others may regard this as a matter of no consequence,

[00:48:10] but we view it as the breaking forth of a leprosy.

[00:48:16] Moreover,

[00:48:17] we see in the church

[00:48:19] that her sacred ardor

[00:48:20] is cooling.

[00:48:23] There is still fervor in certain believers,

[00:48:26] and fervor of the best kind,

[00:48:28] for the divine spirit

[00:48:29] has not utterly departed from us.

[00:48:32] We have around us Christian men and women

[00:48:34] who will do and dare anything for Jesus

[00:48:37] and bear a witness for him in the open street.

[00:48:40] Thank God for such.

[00:48:42] They are a standing protest

[00:48:44] against a lukewarm age.

[00:48:48] And we have still our gracious young men

[00:48:50] who will give their lives

[00:48:51] to bear the name of Christ among the heathen

[00:48:54] amid the fevers of the Congo River.

[00:48:56] We have also an abundant seed of the faithful

[00:48:59] who labor day and night

[00:49:01] for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom.

[00:49:03] Still things are not in Israel

[00:49:05] as we could desire.

[00:49:09] Very seldom are believers nowadays

[00:49:11] charged with being fanatical,

[00:49:14] nor even with being too enthusiastic.

[00:49:18] And this is a sign

[00:49:19] that we are below the right heat.

[00:49:23] When the world calls us fanatics,

[00:49:27] we are nearing that point of ardor

[00:49:29] which is our Lord's due.

[00:49:32] If we were indeed fanatical,

[00:49:33] it would be an error.

[00:49:34] But when we are called so,

[00:49:36] since the world's judgment is erroneous,

[00:49:39] we may conclude that we are only so earnest

[00:49:42] that the cold world is inconvenienced

[00:49:45] by our warmth.

[00:49:49] Oh, for the passionate love of a Rutherford.

[00:49:53] Oh, to seek the souls of men

[00:49:55] with a vehement zeal of a Whitfield,

[00:49:58] with a persevering purpose of a Wesley.

[00:50:01] Oh, to be carried away

[00:50:02] by the divine passion of compassion.

[00:50:05] Oh, to be wholly consecrated

[00:50:07] to him who is our King,

[00:50:10] our Lord,

[00:50:11] our all.

[00:50:13] His glory should be the one

[00:50:15] object of our lives.

[00:50:18] There is cause to grieve

[00:50:20] over many churches and individuals

[00:50:21] that they are neither cold

[00:50:23] nor hot.

[00:50:25] Let us be personal

[00:50:27] and practical

[00:50:29] and see whether we have not cause

[00:50:32] to grieve over ourselves

[00:50:33] in that respect.

[00:50:37] There is grave cause

[00:50:39] for mourning in Zion

[00:50:42] because the services of God's house

[00:50:44] are neglected.

[00:50:46] In certain large places of worship

[00:50:49] which once were crowded to the door,

[00:50:52] I hear that there are more pews

[00:50:54] than people.

[00:50:57] Where the gospel is gone

[00:50:59] from the pulpit,

[00:50:59] listeners soon go

[00:51:01] from the pews.

[00:51:02] Nothing is more like a sham

[00:51:04] than the apparent religious provision

[00:51:06] for this great metropolis,

[00:51:08] for we have churches

[00:51:09] and chapels in abundance

[00:51:11] so that to build more

[00:51:12] would seem to be altogether needless

[00:51:14] and yet when we make inquiry

[00:51:16] we find the congregations

[00:51:17] to be in some instances

[00:51:19] so ludicrously small

[00:51:20] that if the building did not exist

[00:51:22] it would be no more mist

[00:51:24] than a drop from the sea.

[00:51:26] I do not know where

[00:51:28] to send my converts

[00:51:29] with the hope

[00:51:30] that they will hear the gospel,

[00:51:31] said a soul winner to me

[00:51:33] the other day

[00:51:34] concerning a certain London district.

[00:51:36] I cannot conceal from myself

[00:51:38] the gloomy fact

[00:51:39] that the habit of going

[00:51:40] to a place of worship

[00:51:41] is being altogether

[00:51:42] lost in this city.

[00:51:45] There are streets upon streets

[00:51:47] where only one or two persons

[00:51:49] are in the habit

[00:51:49] of attending the house of God.

[00:51:52] a man becomes even notable

[00:51:54] because he goes on the Sabbath day

[00:51:55] to a place of worship.

[00:51:58] I was amused with one

[00:51:59] who attended this tabernacle

[00:52:01] one Thursday night

[00:52:02] and became so much interested

[00:52:04] in the service

[00:52:05] that he came on several Thursdays

[00:52:07] but when a friend said to him

[00:52:09] will you not come on Sunday

[00:52:11] he replied

[00:52:12] oh no

[00:52:13] I have not to go so far as that.

[00:52:16] But I don't feel

[00:52:17] that I could become

[00:52:18] a Sunday chapel goer.

[00:52:22] We from our point of view

[00:52:23] think better

[00:52:24] of the weekday here

[00:52:25] than of one

[00:52:26] who only attends

[00:52:27] on the Lord's Day

[00:52:29] but his point of view

[00:52:30] was very different.

[00:52:32] No one would blame him

[00:52:34] for going

[00:52:34] where he pleased

[00:52:36] during the week

[00:52:37] but to observe the Sabbath

[00:52:39] would be a decided step

[00:52:41] which he was not prepared

[00:52:42] to take

[00:52:43] for it would involve

[00:52:45] losing a name

[00:52:45] for irreligion

[00:52:46] among his associates.

[00:52:49] This straw

[00:52:50] shows which way

[00:52:52] the wind blows.

[00:52:54] A last time was

[00:52:56] when it was thought

[00:52:57] to be a duty

[00:52:58] to observe the Sabbath

[00:53:00] but it is now a day

[00:53:02] for lying late in bed

[00:53:05] loafing about

[00:53:06] in shirt sleeves

[00:53:07] or mending rabbit hutches

[00:53:09] and pigeon houses.

[00:53:11] Do not think

[00:53:12] that I am exaggerating.

[00:53:14] I am speaking

[00:53:16] in sober seriousness

[00:53:17] and sad truth

[00:53:19] which has been reported

[00:53:21] to me by city missionaries

[00:53:22] district visitors

[00:53:23] and working men

[00:53:25] who live among it.

[00:53:27] In many of our villages

[00:53:28] and country towns

[00:53:29] there is a healthy habit

[00:53:30] of church going

[00:53:32] and chapel going

[00:53:33] though even there

[00:53:34] it is not so general

[00:53:36] as it used to be.

[00:53:37] But in London

[00:53:39] the general habit

[00:53:41] is the reverse.

[00:53:44] This is lamentable.

[00:53:47] How has it come about?

[00:53:50] I fear that it is

[00:53:52] very much the case

[00:53:55] because if the people

[00:53:56] did go to many places

[00:53:58] of worship

[00:53:59] they could not understand

[00:54:00] what they would hear

[00:54:02] and what is worse

[00:54:03] if they did understand it

[00:54:05] it would not be

[00:54:06] of much use

[00:54:07] to them.

[00:54:09] The criticisms

[00:54:10] of modern thought

[00:54:11] are of no value

[00:54:13] to the working man.

[00:54:15] If the old gospel

[00:54:16] is brought to the front

[00:54:18] in all its simplicity

[00:54:19] and preached

[00:54:20] with fervor

[00:54:21] we may hope

[00:54:21] to see the people

[00:54:22] back again

[00:54:23] to hear it

[00:54:23] but the task

[00:54:24] of calling them

[00:54:25] back is not

[00:54:26] an easy one.

[00:54:28] Coincident

[00:54:29] with the prevalence

[00:54:29] of a questioning

[00:54:30] theology

[00:54:31] comes this

[00:54:33] religious indifference.

[00:54:35] Under the prevailing

[00:54:37] form of doctrine

[00:54:38] our city

[00:54:39] is becoming more

[00:54:40] heathenish

[00:54:41] than Christian.

[00:54:43] Between the childishness

[00:54:45] of superstitious

[00:54:47] sacramentarianism

[00:54:49] and the willful

[00:54:50] wickedness of doubt

[00:54:51] the masses

[00:54:53] are sliding

[00:54:53] into an utter

[00:54:54] disregard

[00:54:55] of holy things.

[00:54:58] Reverence

[00:54:59] is dying out

[00:55:00] and as surely

[00:55:02] as it dies

[00:55:02] we shall see

[00:55:03] a fierce attempt

[00:55:04] at anarchy.

[00:55:08] The evil

[00:55:09] over which

[00:55:09] I now mourn

[00:55:10] is not only

[00:55:10] prevalent

[00:55:11] among the outlying

[00:55:12] masses

[00:55:13] but it taints

[00:55:14] Christians themselves.

[00:55:17] Look at your

[00:55:18] half

[00:55:18] Sunday

[00:55:19] professors

[00:55:21] content

[00:55:22] with only

[00:55:22] one service

[00:55:23] and weary

[00:55:24] of that.

[00:55:25] How is it

[00:55:26] with many

[00:55:27] Christian people

[00:55:28] as to

[00:55:28] meetings

[00:55:29] for prayer?

[00:55:31] Prayer

[00:55:31] meetings

[00:55:31] are the

[00:55:32] very

[00:55:32] soul

[00:55:33] of

[00:55:33] church

[00:55:33] work

[00:55:34] and

[00:55:35] they

[00:55:35] bring

[00:55:35] down

[00:55:35] the

[00:55:35] blessing

[00:55:36] upon

[00:55:36] our

[00:55:36] spiritual

[00:55:36] agencies

[00:55:37] yet

[00:55:37] they

[00:55:38] are

[00:55:38] despised

[00:55:39] by our

[00:55:39] high

[00:55:40] flyers.

[00:55:42] In many

[00:55:42] chapels

[00:55:43] two services

[00:55:43] in the week

[00:55:44] have proved

[00:55:44] too great

[00:55:45] an effort

[00:55:45] for the

[00:55:45] constitution

[00:55:46] of the

[00:55:46] ministers

[00:55:47] and too

[00:55:48] much

[00:55:48] of a

[00:55:48] tax

[00:55:48] upon

[00:55:49] the

[00:55:59] people

[00:56:00] who

[00:56:01] would

[00:56:01] propose

[00:56:02] such

[00:56:02] a

[00:56:02] thing.

[00:56:04] So

[00:56:05] a

[00:56:05] compromise

[00:56:06] has been

[00:56:07] invented

[00:56:07] for the

[00:56:08] relief

[00:56:08] of the

[00:56:08] distressed

[00:56:10] and they

[00:56:11] have set

[00:56:11] up a

[00:56:11] kind

[00:56:12] of

[00:56:12] service

[00:56:13] which

[00:56:13] is

[00:56:14] half

[00:56:14] lecture

[00:56:15] half

[00:56:16] prayer

[00:56:17] meeting

[00:56:17] so as

[00:56:18] to get

[00:56:19] the

[00:56:19] pious

[00:56:19] business

[00:56:20] all over

[00:56:20] at once

[00:56:21] and a

[00:56:22] very little

[00:56:22] affair

[00:56:23] is that

[00:56:23] one

[00:56:24] service.

[00:56:26] This

[00:56:26] is not

[00:56:27] only

[00:56:27] bad

[00:56:27] in itself

[00:56:28] but it

[00:56:30] is a

[00:56:30] sign

[00:56:30] of

[00:56:30] something

[00:56:31] worse.

[00:56:33] Men

[00:56:34] who can

[00:56:34] pray

[00:56:35] to

[00:56:35] edification

[00:56:36] are in

[00:56:37] some

[00:56:38] directions

[00:56:38] becoming

[00:56:40] rare.

[00:56:42] One

[00:56:42] pastor

[00:56:43] told me

[00:56:43] the other

[00:56:44] day

[00:56:44] that out

[00:56:46] of a

[00:56:46] considerable

[00:56:46] congregation

[00:56:47] he found

[00:56:47] it hard

[00:56:48] to make

[00:56:48] up a

[00:56:48] prayer

[00:56:49] meeting

[00:56:49] at all

[00:56:49] because

[00:56:50] he had

[00:56:51] so few

[00:56:52] praying

[00:56:52] men.

[00:56:55] It

[00:56:55] is a

[00:56:55] dreadful

[00:56:56] impeachment

[00:56:56] against

[00:56:57] the

[00:56:57] churches.

[00:56:59] But

[00:56:59] faithfulness

[00:57:00] compels

[00:57:00] me

[00:57:00] to

[00:57:01] state

[00:57:01] it

[00:57:01] before

[00:57:02] things

[00:57:03] grow

[00:57:03] still

[00:57:04] worse.

[00:57:05] You

[00:57:06] can

[00:57:06] get a

[00:57:07] crowd

[00:57:07] to a

[00:57:07] concert

[00:57:08] but

[00:57:08] hardly

[00:57:08] a

[00:57:09] dozen

[00:57:09] to

[00:57:09] prayer.

[00:57:11] I

[00:57:12] know

[00:57:12] what I

[00:57:12] say.

[00:57:13] Because

[00:57:14] of all

[00:57:14] this

[00:57:15] the ways

[00:57:15] of Zion

[00:57:16] languish.

[00:57:17] Those

[00:57:18] ways which

[00:57:19] once were

[00:57:19] best trodden

[00:57:20] namely the

[00:57:20] ways of

[00:57:21] prayer

[00:57:21] and

[00:57:21] praise.

[00:57:24] Surely

[00:57:25] the Lord

[00:57:25] will visit

[00:57:26] the churches

[00:57:27] for this.

[00:57:29] There

[00:57:29] are grand

[00:57:30] exceptions

[00:57:30] for which

[00:57:31] God

[00:57:31] be thanked

[00:57:32] but still

[00:57:33] it is

[00:57:33] so

[00:57:34] that the

[00:57:34] purely

[00:57:35] devotional

[00:57:35] service

[00:57:36] is at

[00:57:36] a

[00:57:37] discount.

[00:57:38] To hear

[00:57:39] a clever

[00:57:40] man they

[00:57:40] will come

[00:57:41] but not

[00:57:42] to wait

[00:57:42] upon

[00:57:42] God.

[00:57:44] If there

[00:57:45] had been

[00:57:45] a magic

[00:57:46] lantern

[00:57:46] or a

[00:57:47] penny

[00:57:47] reading

[00:57:48] or a

[00:57:48] recitation

[00:57:49] with comic

[00:57:49] songs

[00:57:50] the pious

[00:57:50] people would

[00:57:51] have strained

[00:57:51] a point

[00:57:52] to be

[00:57:52] here.

[00:57:53] But to

[00:57:54] pray

[00:57:54] is much

[00:57:55] too

[00:57:55] dull

[00:57:56] work

[00:57:56] for

[00:57:56] novel

[00:57:57] reading

[00:57:57] theater

[00:57:58] haunting

[00:57:59] professors.

[00:58:02] These

[00:58:02] remarks

[00:58:03] will seem

[00:58:03] strange

[00:58:04] to good

[00:58:04] old

[00:58:04] fashioned

[00:58:05] believers

[00:58:06] but when

[00:58:07] they hear

[00:58:08] them

[00:58:08] and know

[00:58:08] them

[00:58:09] to be

[00:58:09] true

[00:58:10] I am

[00:58:11] sure it

[00:58:11] will cause

[00:58:11] them to

[00:58:12] take their

[00:58:12] places

[00:58:12] as mourners

[00:58:14] with Zion.

[00:58:17] Another

[00:58:17] very great

[00:58:18] and grave

[00:58:20] cause for

[00:58:21] mourning

[00:58:21] to all

[00:58:21] true

[00:58:22] Christians

[00:58:23] is the

[00:58:24] multitude

[00:58:25] of sinners

[00:58:25] that remain

[00:58:27] unsaved.

[00:58:29] Oh my

[00:58:30] dear

[00:58:30] hears

[00:58:30] did you

[00:58:31] ever

[00:58:31] realize

[00:58:31] what

[00:58:32] it

[00:58:32] is

[00:58:32] for

[00:58:33] a

[00:58:33] soul

[00:58:33] to

[00:58:34] be

[00:58:34] unsaved?

[00:58:36] If on

[00:58:37] your way

[00:58:37] home

[00:58:37] you were

[00:58:37] to stumble

[00:58:38] over a

[00:58:39] corpse

[00:58:39] you would

[00:58:40] stoop down

[00:58:41] and look

[00:58:41] and ascertain

[00:58:42] that the

[00:58:42] person was

[00:58:43] really

[00:58:43] dead

[00:58:43] and then

[00:58:45] what a

[00:58:45] ton it

[00:58:45] would give

[00:58:46] you to

[00:58:46] find yourself

[00:58:46] so near

[00:58:47] the dead.

[00:58:49] You

[00:58:50] would not

[00:58:50] forget it

[00:58:50] for weeks

[00:58:52] yet men

[00:58:53] are dead

[00:58:53] in trespasses

[00:58:54] and sins

[00:58:55] and we

[00:58:56] believe

[00:58:56] that it

[00:58:57] is so

[00:58:57] but it

[00:58:57] does not

[00:58:57] affect us

[00:58:58] in any

[00:58:58] special

[00:58:59] manner.

[00:59:00] Lord

[00:59:00] arouse

[00:59:01] us!

[00:59:02] If we

[00:59:03] had passed

[00:59:03] a prison

[00:59:04] yard

[00:59:04] and had

[00:59:04] seen a

[00:59:05] man

[00:59:05] in chains

[00:59:05] and heard

[00:59:06] the clanking

[00:59:06] of his

[00:59:07] fetters

[00:59:07] the iron

[00:59:08] would have

[00:59:08] entered

[00:59:08] into our

[00:59:09] souls

[00:59:09] and we

[00:59:10] should

[00:59:10] have felt

[00:59:10] sad for

[00:59:11] the

[00:59:11] prisoner

[00:59:11] and yet

[00:59:12] around us

[00:59:13] in this

[00:59:13] congregation

[00:59:14] there are

[00:59:14] men and

[00:59:14] women bound

[00:59:15] fast with

[00:59:15] the chains

[00:59:16] of sin

[00:59:17] and we

[00:59:17] are not

[00:59:18] distressed

[00:59:18] for them.

[00:59:20] We do

[00:59:21] not realize

[00:59:22] their bondage.

[00:59:23] We do

[00:59:24] not dispute

[00:59:24] the fact

[00:59:25] neither do

[00:59:25] we feel

[00:59:26] its sadness.

[00:59:28] Look at

[00:59:29] the many

[00:59:29] round about

[00:59:29] us who

[00:59:30] are living

[00:59:30] in open

[00:59:31] evil

[00:59:31] going after

[00:59:32] their lusts

[00:59:33] plunging

[00:59:34] deeper and

[00:59:35] deeper into

[00:59:35] what must

[00:59:36] be their

[00:59:36] destruction.

[00:59:38] Looking

[00:59:39] at the

[00:59:39] many that

[00:59:39] are blind

[00:59:40] though they

[00:59:40] have eyes

[00:59:41] that hear

[00:59:42] not though

[00:59:43] they have

[00:59:43] ears that

[00:59:44] feel not

[00:59:44] though they

[00:59:45] are rational

[00:59:46] beings.

[00:59:48] How can

[00:59:48] we bear

[00:59:49] it?

[00:59:51] How can

[00:59:52] we bear

[00:59:52] it that there

[00:59:53] should be

[00:59:53] any among

[00:59:54] us who

[00:59:54] know not

[00:59:55] God who

[00:59:55] love not

[00:59:55] the Lord

[00:59:56] Jesus Christ

[00:59:57] who are

[00:59:58] yet in

[00:59:59] their sins?

[01:00:01] If an

[01:00:01] ungodly man

[01:00:02] could realize

[01:00:03] his own

[01:00:04] condition he

[01:00:05] would not

[01:00:05] dare to

[01:00:06] sit still

[01:00:06] on his

[01:00:07] seat.

[01:00:08] If we

[01:00:09] had

[01:00:09] compassionate

[01:00:10] hearts and

[01:00:10] could clearly

[01:00:11] see the

[01:00:12] fact that

[01:00:12] our own

[01:00:13] children and

[01:00:14] our own

[01:00:14] dearest

[01:00:15] relatives or

[01:00:16] our nearest

[01:00:17] neighbors were

[01:00:17] condemned

[01:00:18] because of

[01:00:18] sin and

[01:00:19] drawing every

[01:00:20] moment near

[01:00:20] to a terrible

[01:00:21] judgment we

[01:00:22] should bestir

[01:00:23] ourselves and

[01:00:24] we should give

[01:00:24] God no rest

[01:00:25] but cry

[01:00:26] day and

[01:00:27] night to

[01:00:28] him until

[01:00:29] the perishing

[01:00:29] ones are

[01:00:30] saved.

[01:00:32] An

[01:00:32] unsaved

[01:00:33] soul is

[01:00:34] a sight that

[01:00:35] might well

[01:00:36] transform us

[01:00:37] into Niobe's

[01:00:38] and cause us

[01:00:38] to weep

[01:00:39] perpetual

[01:00:40] showers of

[01:00:40] pity and

[01:00:41] grief until

[01:00:42] the arm of

[01:00:42] mercy should

[01:00:43] interpose

[01:00:44] to work

[01:00:45] salvation.

[01:00:48] Darkest

[01:00:49] thought for

[01:00:49] a true

[01:00:50] heart is

[01:00:51] that while

[01:00:52] souls are

[01:00:57] they are

[01:00:57] passing away

[01:00:58] into that

[01:00:59] hopeless state

[01:00:59] in the

[01:01:00] next world

[01:01:00] which our

[01:01:01] Lord speaks

[01:01:02] of as the

[01:01:02] place of

[01:01:03] the worm

[01:01:03] which dieth

[01:01:04] not in

[01:01:05] the fire

[01:01:05] which is

[01:01:05] not

[01:01:06] quenched.

[01:01:08] They are

[01:01:08] going from

[01:01:09] this place

[01:01:10] where mercy

[01:01:11] is proclaimed

[01:01:12] to that

[01:01:13] dread tribunal

[01:01:14] where the

[01:01:15] voice of

[01:01:15] judgment cries

[01:01:16] depart you

[01:01:17] curse it.

[01:01:19] They are

[01:01:20] hastening

[01:01:20] away to

[01:01:20] appear before

[01:01:21] the great

[01:01:22] white throne

[01:01:23] unsaved

[01:01:24] unrenewed

[01:01:25] unforgiven.

[01:01:27] O God

[01:01:28] have mercy

[01:01:29] upon our

[01:01:29] fellow men

[01:01:30] we pray

[01:01:30] thee but

[01:01:31] first give

[01:01:32] us grace

[01:01:32] to have

[01:01:33] mercy upon

[01:01:33] them.

[01:01:34] He who

[01:01:35] can see

[01:01:35] a soul

[01:01:36] lost in

[01:01:36] yet is

[01:01:37] not

[01:01:37] distressed

[01:01:37] how dwelleth

[01:01:38] the love

[01:01:38] of God

[01:01:39] in him.

[01:01:41] We ought

[01:01:41] to be

[01:01:42] filled with

[01:01:42] sorrow when

[01:01:43] men perish

[01:01:43] willfully under

[01:01:44] the gospel.

[01:01:45] When our

[01:01:46] adversaries

[01:01:47] tell us that

[01:01:47] our dreadful

[01:01:48] belief with

[01:01:49] regard to

[01:01:49] the hopeless

[01:01:50] future of

[01:01:51] a lost

[01:01:51] soul ought

[01:01:51] to break

[01:01:52] our hearts

[01:01:53] we admit

[01:01:53] the truth

[01:01:54] of what

[01:01:54] they say

[01:01:55] admit it

[01:01:56] to the

[01:01:56] fullest extent

[01:01:57] but we

[01:01:58] reply that

[01:01:59] if they

[01:01:59] conceive that

[01:02:00] we are

[01:02:00] not as

[01:02:00] tender as

[01:02:01] we ought

[01:02:01] to be

[01:02:02] while believing

[01:02:03] that terrible

[01:02:03] truth which

[01:02:04] seems to us

[01:02:04] to be

[01:02:05] plainly taught

[01:02:06] in the

[01:02:06] scriptures

[01:02:06] to what a

[01:02:07] depth of

[01:02:08] callousness

[01:02:08] should we

[01:02:09] not descend

[01:02:11] if they

[01:02:11] could make

[01:02:12] us doubt

[01:02:12] what we

[01:02:13] now believe

[01:02:14] believe

[01:02:15] if they

[01:02:16] could persuade

[01:02:17] us of

[01:02:18] their

[01:02:18] comfortable

[01:02:19] fictions

[01:02:20] if they

[01:02:21] could induce

[01:02:22] us to

[01:02:22] accept

[01:02:23] their

[01:02:23] larger

[01:02:24] hope

[01:02:25] should we

[01:02:26] not cease

[01:02:27] from that

[01:02:27] slender degree

[01:02:28] of pity

[01:02:28] which their

[01:02:30] charity may

[01:02:30] confess

[01:02:31] we now

[01:02:31] possess

[01:02:32] brethren

[01:02:36] we are

[01:02:37] as

[01:02:37] compassionate

[01:02:38] as they

[01:02:39] are

[01:02:39] though that

[01:02:41] is not

[01:02:41] saying

[01:02:42] much

[01:02:43] at least

[01:02:44] we dare

[01:02:45] to incur

[01:02:47] unpopularity

[01:02:47] in the

[01:02:49] sardonic

[01:02:49] senses of

[01:02:50] the wise

[01:02:51] and prudent

[01:02:52] in order

[01:02:52] that we

[01:02:53] may give

[01:02:53] honest

[01:02:54] warning

[01:02:54] of the

[01:02:54] terrible

[01:02:55] woe

[01:02:55] which men

[01:02:55] are bringing

[01:02:56] upon

[01:02:56] themselves

[01:02:58] they talk

[01:02:59] as if

[01:03:00] we were

[01:03:00] to blame

[01:03:00] for the

[01:03:01] hell

[01:03:01] we proclaim

[01:03:03] will they

[01:03:04] give us

[01:03:04] an equal

[01:03:04] share of

[01:03:05] honor for

[01:03:05] the heaven

[01:03:05] we preach

[01:03:08] we create

[01:03:09] neither the

[01:03:09] one

[01:03:10] nor the

[01:03:11] other

[01:03:13] but they

[01:03:13] might at

[01:03:14] least cause

[01:03:14] their

[01:03:14] imputations

[01:03:15] to face

[01:03:16] both ways

[01:03:16] my brethren

[01:03:18] the tares

[01:03:19] of the

[01:03:20] world to

[01:03:20] come

[01:03:21] to those

[01:03:22] who willfully

[01:03:23] reject the

[01:03:24] savior ought

[01:03:24] to affect

[01:03:25] us far

[01:03:25] more than

[01:03:26] they do

[01:03:28] none are

[01:03:28] more ready

[01:03:29] to acknowledge

[01:03:29] this than

[01:03:30] we are

[01:03:32] let us lay

[01:03:33] to heart

[01:03:33] the sins

[01:03:34] of our

[01:03:34] age

[01:03:35] and the

[01:03:35] ruin

[01:03:35] of our

[01:03:36] fellow

[01:03:36] men

[01:03:38] they

[01:03:39] love not

[01:03:39] god

[01:03:40] they

[01:03:41] trust

[01:03:41] not his

[01:03:41] dear

[01:03:42] son

[01:03:43] they

[01:03:44] are

[01:03:44] mad

[01:03:45] after

[01:03:45] sin

[01:03:46] they

[01:03:46] are

[01:03:46] enemies

[01:03:47] to

[01:03:47] holiness

[01:03:48] this

[01:03:49] is a

[01:03:49] heavy

[01:03:49] burden

[01:03:50] to

[01:03:50] a

[01:03:50] godly

[01:03:50] heart

[01:03:52] they

[01:03:53] are

[01:03:53] dying

[01:03:53] in

[01:03:54] their

[01:03:54] sins

[01:03:54] and

[01:03:54] coming

[01:03:54] under

[01:03:55] everlasting

[01:03:55] punishment

[01:03:56] and these

[01:03:57] things

[01:03:57] should

[01:04:15] people

[01:04:15] and then

[01:04:16] turn

[01:04:16] turn

[01:04:17] on the

[01:04:17] world

[01:04:18] in

[01:04:18] reference

[01:04:19] to

[01:04:19] the

[01:04:20] church

[01:04:20] can

[01:04:21] walk

[01:04:21] up and

[01:04:22] down

[01:04:22] down

[01:04:22] streets

[01:04:23] exhibiting

[01:04:23] a

[01:04:24] perpetual

[01:04:24] gayety

[01:04:26] of

[01:04:26] spirit

[01:04:26] other

[01:04:29] truths

[01:04:29] operate

[01:04:30] on us

[01:04:30] to make us glad, but this drags us down.

[01:04:35] There must be times when we get alone

[01:04:37] and pour out our hearts like water before the Lord

[01:04:40] and cry, O Lord, how long before Thou will put forth Thy saving power?

[01:04:45] How long before Thine arm shall be made bare

[01:04:47] and the work of grace shall be carried on to the rescue of the fallen millions?

[01:04:55] I have at least shown you

[01:04:58] that we are not without overflowing fountains of grief.

[01:05:03] But now, beloved, having mourned unto you,

[01:05:08] it is time for me to change my note.

[01:05:11] May the Lord cause the fountains of your pity to flow,

[01:05:15] but at the same time enable you to follow me

[01:05:18] while I say in the second place

[01:05:20] that we may yet rejoice with Jerusalem.

[01:05:25] Why may we do so amid such reasons for mourning?

[01:05:33] We may rejoice with the chosen of the Lord

[01:05:36] when we remember, first of all,

[01:05:40] God has not changed,

[01:05:42] either in nature or in love to His people

[01:05:45] or in the purpose of His grace.

[01:05:49] Before we were born,

[01:05:51] He was able to achieve His purposes of love

[01:05:53] and He will accomplish the good pleasure of His will

[01:05:56] when we are no more praying and working here below.

[01:05:58] When His church was faithful,

[01:06:01] His divine decree was carried out.

[01:06:04] And if His church is unfaithful,

[01:06:06] He is still omnipotent

[01:06:08] and can therefore work out His great designs.

[01:06:11] He has not changed His system of working.

[01:06:15] He intends still to bless the world through the church.

[01:06:19] He means to use His saved ones for the saving of others.

[01:06:23] I believe that He will fight this battle

[01:06:25] to a happy end upon the same lines as hitherto

[01:06:29] and that in the end He shall have great glory,

[01:06:33] notwithstanding all the infirmities and imperfections of His servants.

[01:06:38] An unchanging God is our security for ultimate victory.

[01:06:44] We fall back upon this truth.

[01:06:46] Our Lord knows not the shadow of a change

[01:06:50] and His eternal purpose shall stand.

[01:06:53] Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

[01:06:56] Let us exceedingly rejoice.

[01:07:00] A further reason for this joy is this.

[01:07:04] We may expect the Lord to appear.

[01:07:10] Take notice of the fifth verse of the chapter before us.

[01:07:14] For there we read,

[01:07:16] He shall appear to your joy

[01:07:20] and they shall be ashamed.

[01:07:24] God will not desert His own cause.

[01:07:28] Allow no such thought to afflict you.

[01:07:32] We have felt the hiding of His power.

[01:07:35] We shall yet see the unveiling of it.

[01:07:39] We have had to mourn

[01:07:41] that He allows the enemy to behave Himself exceedingly proudly.

[01:07:47] But before long He will make them sing to another tune.

[01:07:53] The Lord will awake like a mighty man that has been sleeping.

[01:07:59] And then when He plucks His right hand out of His bosom,

[01:08:03] He will make short work of the insects that chirp against His glory in Godhead.

[01:08:10] Jehovah will win the victory.

[01:08:14] Oppose who may?

[01:08:17] There never has yet been a dark night to patience

[01:08:20] which has not ended in a bright morning to faith.

[01:08:24] They that sat in darkness and in the valley of death's shade

[01:08:27] have seen a great light.

[01:08:29] It has sprung up when the blackness was most intense.

[01:08:33] In the Middle Ages the darkness deepened into a sevenfold night.

[01:08:38] But as in a moment God said,

[01:08:40] Let there be light and Luther and Calvin and Zwingli

[01:08:44] and other stars shone forth in the midnight sky

[01:08:46] and made the gloom to disappear right speedily.

[01:08:50] Our glorious God can do so at this present crisis.

[01:08:55] Oh, for a word from the throne.

[01:08:58] Oh, for a fiat lux, light be.

[01:09:03] From the Lord and giver of light in this darkness

[01:09:07] which may be felt will be felt no more.

[01:09:12] I am not discouraged, though I am greatly saddened.

[01:09:17] The battle is not ours, but the Lord's.

[01:09:22] God knows no difficulty.

[01:09:26] Omnipotence has servants everywhere

[01:09:28] and power to create as many more agents of its purpose

[01:09:32] as there are sands on the seashore.

[01:09:37] Sitting in the chimney side tonight,

[01:09:42] a young Luther is preparing

[01:09:45] as he looks in the fire to burn the bulls

[01:09:49] of the philosophic hierarchy of today.

[01:09:51] In the workhouse among the poorest children

[01:09:54] there is a Moses who shall confront our Pharaoh

[01:09:57] and deliver Israel's tribes.

[01:10:00] The coming man who shall startle the world

[01:10:04] with his brave witness to the everlasting gospel

[01:10:06] is at school.

[01:10:09] Never have a doubt about it.

[01:10:11] God will appear.

[01:10:14] Lord, when iniquities abound and blasphemy grows bold,

[01:10:19] when faith is hardly to be found

[01:10:22] and love is waxing cold,

[01:10:24] is not thy chariot hastening on?

[01:10:27] Hast thou not given this sign?

[01:10:29] May we not trust and live upon a promise so divine?

[01:10:35] When the Lord shall put on strength,

[01:10:37] then shall his church be aroused.

[01:10:42] I read you in the chapter,

[01:10:44] Before she travailed, she brought forth.

[01:10:48] Before her pain came,

[01:10:50] she was delivered of a man-child.

[01:10:54] The Lord can soon bring upon his church

[01:10:56] her fruitful birth pangs

[01:10:58] and make the barren woman to keep house.

[01:11:01] I hope to see before I die

[01:11:03] a revived church

[01:11:04] holding truthful doctrine

[01:11:07] or agonizing over lost souls

[01:11:09] and blessed with hosts of converts.

[01:11:13] Glory be to the name of the Lord,

[01:11:15] for all is as a desert

[01:11:16] he can make a garden.

[01:11:20] Aaron's dry rod shall bud and blossom again.

[01:11:24] His folds shall be filled

[01:11:26] and there shall be a great sound

[01:11:28] as of the bleating of a countless sheep.

[01:11:31] Since God is almighty in the spiritual realm

[01:11:34] as well as in the material world,

[01:11:36] nothing is too great for us to expect.

[01:11:40] He that raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead

[01:11:43] can arouse a moribund church,

[01:11:46] and he that cut Rahab and wounded the dragon

[01:11:48] can break the power of infidel criticism.

[01:11:52] Once more he will shake not only earth

[01:11:55] but also heaven.

[01:11:57] Wherefore let us rest in the Lord

[01:11:58] and sing with joyful confidence

[01:12:00] since no good thing will be withheld

[01:12:02] from his church

[01:12:03] and no evil thing will he long permit

[01:12:06] to do her damage.

[01:12:11] Oh, that the days of refreshing were come.

[01:12:14] Then shall the church have many converts

[01:12:18] proving her power

[01:12:19] and increasing her influence.

[01:12:21] Thousands shall turn to Jesus

[01:12:23] at the expected Pentecost.

[01:12:28] Then shall she

[01:12:30] nourish them well

[01:12:31] and feed them with knowledge

[01:12:35] and understanding.

[01:12:39] I fear that if in certain churches

[01:12:41] there were to be many converts

[01:12:43] they would not know what to do with them.

[01:12:46] But when the Holy Spirit comes into her midst

[01:12:49] when the church shall be a nursing mother

[01:12:52] we read of the breasts of her consolations.

[01:12:54] See verse 11.

[01:12:56] How abundantly she supplies loving,

[01:12:58] living nutriment to her newborn children

[01:13:01] when God blesses her.

[01:13:04] Yes, the Lord being present

[01:13:06] the ministry becomes a means

[01:13:07] of spiritual sustenance, comfort

[01:13:09] and growth to those

[01:13:10] who are as little children in grace.

[01:13:13] And indeed all the members of the church

[01:13:15] become assiduous in their care

[01:13:17] of those who have lately come to Christ.

[01:13:20] I pray that it may be so among us.

[01:13:23] Yes, we have added to us

[01:13:25] during the last two months

[01:13:27] first 70 and then 90

[01:13:31] fresh members

[01:13:32] for which I thank God

[01:13:36] it is a little church in itself.

[01:13:38] But unless you all look after them

[01:13:41] and try to help them on

[01:13:42] we shall be embarrassed

[01:13:43] by such large additions to our number.

[01:13:48] Oh, that this church may carefully see

[01:13:50] to all the children

[01:13:51] that the Lord gives her.

[01:13:54] And if so, we shall indeed

[01:13:56] have the fullest reason

[01:13:57] for rejoicing with her.

[01:14:01] Then shall we sing

[01:14:02] the Lord has increased the people

[01:14:04] and multiplied the joy.

[01:14:08] At such times there is

[01:14:09] an abundant degree of peace and joy

[01:14:11] in all believing hearts.

[01:14:15] For thus saith the Lord

[01:14:16] behold, I will extend peace to her

[01:14:19] like a river

[01:14:20] and the glory of the Gentiles

[01:14:24] like a flowing stream.

[01:14:28] It is a sad, sad thing

[01:14:31] when a church is not hearty in its love

[01:14:34] and unanimous in its action.

[01:14:38] We've heard of churches

[01:14:39] of which the Apostle Paul

[01:14:40] would have said,

[01:14:41] I have heard that there are

[01:14:43] divisions among you.

[01:14:46] But when it is so,

[01:14:48] the power to do good

[01:14:49] is not present.

[01:14:51] God will appear for his church

[01:14:53] and end her sore dissensions

[01:14:56] and set the hearts

[01:14:57] of his people together

[01:14:58] and when it is so,

[01:14:59] then shall there be

[01:15:00] a great rejoicing

[01:15:01] and we will take our part in it.

[01:15:05] Nor is this all.

[01:15:08] God will raise up men

[01:15:12] fitted to do his work.

[01:15:16] Read the 21st verse.

[01:15:20] I will also take of them

[01:15:21] for priests

[01:15:23] and for Levites,

[01:15:25] saith the Lord.

[01:15:27] When the Holy Spirit

[01:15:30] visits a church,

[01:15:33] he is sure to bestow

[01:15:34] special gifts

[01:15:35] and give special calls.

[01:15:39] As the Holy Ghost said,

[01:15:41] separate me Barnabas

[01:15:42] and Saul for the work

[01:15:43] whereunto I have called them.

[01:15:45] So will he say

[01:15:46] in our churches

[01:15:47] to our great delight.

[01:15:50] When God sent Pastor Harms

[01:15:52] to Hermannsburg,

[01:15:54] it was a mere heath.

[01:15:57] And there were few

[01:15:58] on that heath

[01:15:59] that knew the Lord.

[01:16:01] But under his zealous preaching,

[01:16:02] the whole village

[01:16:03] was turned into

[01:16:04] a missionary society.

[01:16:07] Oh, that we could do

[01:16:08] anything like that.

[01:16:11] Farmers and laborers,

[01:16:13] men and women,

[01:16:13] became missionaries

[01:16:15] for Christ to Africa.

[01:16:17] And a large proportion

[01:16:18] of the population

[01:16:19] went abroad

[01:16:20] either to preach

[01:16:21] the gospel

[01:16:21] or to form little colonies

[01:16:23] to work with the missionary

[01:16:24] and support him.

[01:16:25] They sold house

[01:16:27] and land

[01:16:28] and everything

[01:16:28] and thus made

[01:16:29] Hermannsburg

[01:16:30] the starting place

[01:16:31] of a great evangelizing

[01:16:33] enterprise.

[01:16:36] My beloved people,

[01:16:37] I hardly dare

[01:16:39] be so ambitious

[01:16:40] as to hope

[01:16:41] that you will ever

[01:16:41] reach such consecration.

[01:16:44] See how it was

[01:16:46] among the Moravians.

[01:16:47] Every man

[01:16:48] becoming a member

[01:16:49] of their church

[01:16:50] became himself

[01:16:51] a teacher

[01:16:52] of the word.

[01:16:54] every man,

[01:16:56] woman and child

[01:16:57] among them

[01:16:57] sought to bring

[01:16:58] souls to Christ.

[01:17:01] Would God

[01:17:02] that the power

[01:17:03] of the Lord

[01:17:03] would come in that way

[01:17:04] upon all our churches.

[01:17:08] And we may expect it

[01:17:10] if it be the true gospel

[01:17:12] which we preach,

[01:17:13] if it be the gospel

[01:17:15] which we love,

[01:17:16] if it be in the power

[01:17:19] of the gospel

[01:17:20] that we live.

[01:17:22] So it must be.

[01:17:26] The Lord

[01:17:26] will yet be taking

[01:17:28] numerously

[01:17:29] out of the midst

[01:17:29] of his people

[01:17:30] to be priests

[01:17:32] and Levites.

[01:17:35] What is to become

[01:17:36] of India,

[01:17:37] Africa

[01:17:38] and China

[01:17:40] if we go on

[01:17:41] at the rate

[01:17:42] at which we have been

[01:17:42] crawling forward

[01:17:44] for these many years?

[01:17:48] Good as all mission work

[01:17:49] has been yet,

[01:17:50] what a drop

[01:17:51] in the bucket

[01:17:51] it is

[01:17:52] compared with

[01:17:53] what remains

[01:17:54] to be done.

[01:17:58] Oh,

[01:17:59] that the Lord

[01:17:59] would come

[01:17:59] and quicken

[01:18:01] his poor

[01:18:02] dead church

[01:18:03] with a diviner life

[01:18:06] when she is quickened

[01:18:08] from the crown

[01:18:08] of her head

[01:18:09] to the sole

[01:18:09] of her foot

[01:18:10] when the nations

[01:18:11] of the earth

[01:18:12] shall know

[01:18:12] that God

[01:18:13] is in the midst

[01:18:14] of his people

[01:18:15] even the infinite

[01:18:16] Jehovah

[01:18:16] whose name

[01:18:17] is salvation.

[01:18:20] May the Lord

[01:18:21] Jesus take

[01:18:21] his servants

[01:18:22] as Samson

[01:18:23] took the foxes

[01:18:24] and fastened

[01:18:25] the firebrands

[01:18:26] to them

[01:18:27] and send them

[01:18:28] among the standing

[01:18:29] corn till the whole

[01:18:29] earth is on blaze

[01:18:31] with the flame

[01:18:32] that came down

[01:18:32] from heaven.

[01:18:33] How great

[01:18:34] then will be

[01:18:35] our joy.

[01:18:39] Brethren,

[01:18:40] the providence

[01:18:40] of God

[01:18:41] is with us.

[01:18:44] All its

[01:18:45] terrors

[01:18:46] as well as

[01:18:46] all its bounties

[01:18:47] work for the

[01:18:49] advance of the

[01:18:49] Lord's kingdom.

[01:18:51] The wheels

[01:18:52] full of eyes

[01:18:53] all look

[01:18:54] this way.

[01:18:56] Brethren,

[01:18:57] the promise

[01:18:57] of God

[01:18:58] is with us.

[01:19:01] Our Lord

[01:19:02] Jesus must reign

[01:19:03] till all his

[01:19:05] enemies are put

[01:19:05] beneath his feet.

[01:19:07] Brethren,

[01:19:08] prayer is with

[01:19:09] us still.

[01:19:10] The mercy seat,

[01:19:12] the comforter

[01:19:12] and the advocate.

[01:19:14] If we know

[01:19:15] how to use

[01:19:15] the mighty engine

[01:19:16] of all prayer

[01:19:17] we may yet

[01:19:18] shake the gates

[01:19:19] of hell.

[01:19:20] Brethren,

[01:19:21] the Holy Ghost

[01:19:22] is with us still.

[01:19:24] He came down

[01:19:25] at Pentecost

[01:19:25] and he has never

[01:19:26] gone back again.

[01:19:28] He abides

[01:19:29] in his church

[01:19:29] forever

[01:19:31] and works

[01:19:31] mightily.

[01:19:33] We are but

[01:19:34] to call upon him

[01:19:35] to carry on

[01:19:37] his sacred mission

[01:19:38] and we shall

[01:19:39] see greater

[01:19:40] things than

[01:19:40] these.

[01:19:44] Now my time

[01:19:45] is nearly

[01:19:45] gone

[01:19:46] so I must

[01:19:47] finish by

[01:19:48] asking

[01:19:50] why should

[01:19:51] we

[01:19:51] personally

[01:19:53] be of the

[01:19:54] number that

[01:19:54] mourn with

[01:19:55] the church

[01:19:56] and that

[01:19:56] rejoice with

[01:19:57] her?

[01:19:59] perhaps some

[01:20:00] of you

[01:20:01] do not

[01:20:01] belong

[01:20:01] to that

[01:20:02] honorable

[01:20:03] company.

[01:20:06] I pray

[01:20:06] the Holy Spirit

[01:20:07] to make you

[01:20:08] of that host

[01:20:08] at once

[01:20:09] for first

[01:20:13] there is

[01:20:13] our own

[01:20:13] sin

[01:20:14] and ruin

[01:20:16] to mourn

[01:20:17] over.

[01:20:20] I spoke

[01:20:20] just now

[01:20:21] of how we

[01:20:21] ought to

[01:20:22] feel

[01:20:22] for a lost

[01:20:23] soul

[01:20:23] but how

[01:20:24] ought

[01:20:24] that

[01:20:24] lost

[01:20:25] soul

[01:20:25] to feel

[01:20:26] for itself?

[01:20:29] Poor

[01:20:30] soul

[01:20:30] if we

[01:20:31] ought to

[01:20:31] mourn

[01:20:31] for you

[01:20:32] how much

[01:20:33] more

[01:20:33] should

[01:20:33] you

[01:20:33] mourn

[01:20:34] for

[01:20:34] yourself?

[01:20:35] If you

[01:20:36] should be

[01:20:37] lost

[01:20:38] if I

[01:20:39] have been

[01:20:39] faithful

[01:20:40] to you

[01:20:40] I

[01:20:41] shall

[01:20:41] be

[01:20:41] no

[01:20:42] loser.

[01:20:44] What if

[01:20:45] you go

[01:20:45] down

[01:20:45] to hell

[01:20:46] your

[01:20:47] mother's

[01:20:47] pleadings

[01:20:48] being

[01:20:48] in vain

[01:20:49] your

[01:20:49] mother

[01:20:49] will not

[01:20:50] be robbed

[01:20:50] of her

[01:20:51] glory

[01:20:51] because

[01:20:52] you

[01:20:52] refuse

[01:20:53] the

[01:20:54] Savior?

[01:20:56] It

[01:20:56] is

[01:20:57] your

[01:20:57] soul

[01:20:58] your

[01:20:58] own

[01:20:59] soul

[01:20:59] your

[01:21:00] only

[01:21:00] soul

[01:21:01] that

[01:21:01] is

[01:21:01] in

[01:21:01] jeopardy.

[01:21:03] For

[01:21:04] man

[01:21:04] is

[01:21:04] a

[01:21:05] bankrupt

[01:21:05] here

[01:21:06] he

[01:21:06] may

[01:21:06] start

[01:21:07] in

[01:21:07] business

[01:21:08] again

[01:21:08] but

[01:21:09] if

[01:21:09] you

[01:21:09] make

[01:21:09] a

[01:21:09] bankruptcy

[01:21:10] of

[01:21:10] this

[01:21:10] mortal

[01:21:11] life

[01:21:11] no

[01:21:11] second

[01:21:12] commencement

[01:21:12] is

[01:21:12] possible.

[01:21:16] In

[01:21:16] a

[01:21:16] campaign

[01:21:18] a

[01:21:18] lost

[01:21:19] battle

[01:21:19] is

[01:21:20] a

[01:21:20] great

[01:21:20] evil

[01:21:20] yet

[01:21:21] the

[01:21:21] next

[01:21:21] fight

[01:21:22] may

[01:21:22] retrieve

[01:21:23] the

[01:21:23] disaster

[01:21:25] but

[01:21:26] if

[01:21:26] the

[01:21:26] battle

[01:21:27] of

[01:21:27] life

[01:21:27] be

[01:21:28] lost

[01:21:28] you

[01:21:29] will

[01:21:29] never

[01:21:30] again

[01:21:30] be

[01:21:30] able

[01:21:30] to

[01:21:30] enter

[01:21:31] the

[01:21:31] list

[01:21:31] and

[01:21:31] do

[01:21:31] better.

[01:21:34] I

[01:21:34] pray

[01:21:34] you

[01:21:34] therefore

[01:21:35] mourn

[01:21:35] over

[01:21:36] your

[01:21:36] own

[01:21:36] condition

[01:21:37] at

[01:21:37] once

[01:21:38] sitting

[01:21:39] in

[01:21:39] that

[01:21:40] pew

[01:21:40] a

[01:21:41] sinner

[01:21:42] unforgiven

[01:21:43] a

[01:21:43] rebel

[01:21:44] against

[01:21:44] God

[01:21:45] with

[01:21:45] enmity

[01:21:46] in

[01:21:46] your

[01:21:46] heart

[01:21:47] against

[01:21:47] your

[01:21:48] best

[01:21:48] friend

[01:21:48] what a

[01:21:49] state

[01:21:49] you

[01:21:50] are

[01:21:50] in

[01:22:23] name of Christ and you have dishonored the cause which you professed to love.

[01:22:30] You have made the enemy blaspheme and you cannot wonder that your rest is

[01:22:34] broken. If anybody ought to be a mourner you should be. You should take front rank

[01:22:41] among those who lament for the Church of Christ seeing that you have done her so

[01:22:45] much damage that you will never be able to undo it even by a long life of

[01:22:50] usefulness. Brethren, do you not think that we might all wisely become mourners

[01:22:58] when we think of our own want of zeal and want of care for the souls of others?

[01:23:08] The preacher would smite upon his breast and he invites you to do the same. Who

[01:23:14] among us spends half the thought that he should spend upon the conversion of his

[01:23:18] fellow men? We all think of them a little. I hope the most of you are doing

[01:23:24] something for Jesus and his cause. Not many things are left undone which as a

[01:23:31] church we can do but the things that are done are they always done in a right

[01:23:36] spirit? Are they always baptized in prayer? Are they wrought out humbly, earnestly, and

[01:23:44] in entire dependence upon the Spirit of God? I'm afraid that our faulty service

[01:23:50] towards other men must place us among the mourners in Zion if there were nothing else

[01:23:56] to do it. We need not be ashamed to be among them. For if we sorrow with the Lord's church we

[01:24:05] shall also one day rejoice with her. May we not add to this our own failures in the matter of holiness.

[01:24:19] It is easy enough to drag the whole church up as I did just now and scourge her as she well deserves.

[01:24:27] But it is not so easy for each guilty person to flagellate himself.

[01:24:33] Yes, this is what is needed.

[01:24:37] Ask, have I been as holy as I should be? Has my house been ordered aright?

[01:24:47] Is there a family prayer observed not as a matter of form but in life and power? Am I towards my

[01:24:55] children, towards my husband, towards my wife, towards my servants as I ought to be? Are we as

[01:25:02] upright and generous as we should be in our business and in our connection with common daily life?

[01:25:08] Oh, sirs, we may each of us become mourners with the church of God if we examine ourselves with care.

[01:25:17] Let me add that we have all a great concern in this matter and we ought therefore to join with the church in all her griefs.

[01:25:30] If the ministry of our pastors be not successful, we shall lose by its want of power.

[01:25:37] If the gospel is not preached, our souls will not be fed.

[01:25:42] Instead, see to it that you do not encourage false doctrine or wink at the modern apostasy.

[01:25:51] Suppose the gospel is not preached with saving power, then we shall have our children unconverted and they will not be our joy and crown.

[01:26:02] There cannot be a deficiency in the pulpit without its bringing mischief to our households.

[01:26:08] We are members of one body and if any part of the body suffers, every other part of the body will have to suffer too.

[01:26:17] If worldliness abounds as it does,

[01:26:20] we shall see our children becoming worldly.

[01:26:23] We shall see them sucked into the vortex of infidelity

[01:26:28] and frivolity which now seems to sweep down and carry into the abyss so many hopeful young men and women.

[01:26:36] None of us will be able to escape scot-free from the terrible damage which evil is working all around.

[01:26:44] When false doctrine breaks forth like the water floods, it will surge all around our houses.

[01:26:52] Let us therefore cry, cry mightily unto God, not for ourselves only,

[01:26:58] but for the one great universal church and for this great city and for this wicked world.

[01:27:05] O Lord, our God, arise for thy cause and for thy crown.

[01:27:09] Take hold on sword and buckle and plead thine own cause for Jesus' sake.

[01:27:14] Amen.

[01:27:26] Thank you for listening to today's episode of Revived Thoughts.

[01:27:30] Today's sermon was narrated by Clay Craby.

[01:27:33] Big thanks to him for coming on the show and chatting with Choi.

[01:27:36] I enjoyed listening to that along with you guys.

[01:27:38] Do not hesitate to visit his website.

[01:27:41] Link is in the description of the podcast.

[01:27:43] Go ahead and follow that and see more of what he's up to.

[01:27:46] This is Joel and Troy and this is Revived Thoughts.