Sermon 225. Satan's Banquet

(No. 225)

Delivered on Sabbath Morning, November 28th, 1858, by the

REV. C.H. SPURGEON

at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

"The governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine;and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now."-John 2:9-10.

THE governor of the feast said more than he intended to say, or rather, there is more truth in what he said than he himselfimagined. This is the established rule all the world over: "the good wine first, and when men have well drunk, then that whichis worse." It is the rule with men; and have not hundreds of disappointed hearts bewailed it? Friendship first-the oily tongue,the words softer than butter, and afterwards the drawn sword. Ahithophel first presents thelordly dish of love and kindness to David, then afterwards that which is worse, for he forsakes his master, and becomesthe counsellor of his rebel son. Judas presents first of all the dish of fair speech and of kindness; the Saviour partookthereof, he walked to the house of God in company with him, and took sweet counsel with him; but afterwards there came thedregs of the wine-"He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me." Judas the thief betrayed his Master,bringingforth afterwards "that which is worse." Ye have found it so with many whom ye thought your friends. In the heyday of prosperity,when the sun was shining, and the birds were singing, and all was fair and gay and cheerful with you, they brought forth thegood wine; but there came a chilling frost, and nipped your flowers, and the leaves fell from the trees, and your streamswere frosted with the ice, and then they brought forth that which is worse,-they forsook you and fled; they left you inyour hour of peril, and taught you that great truth, that "Cursed is he that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm."And this is the way all the world over-I say it once again-not merely with men, but with nature too.

"Alas, for us, if thou wert all,

And nought beyond O earth;"

for doth not this world serve us just the same? In our youth it brings forth the best wine; then we have the sparkling eye,and the ear attuned to music; then the blood flows swiftly through the veins and the pulse beats joyously; but wait a littleand there shall come forth afterwards that which is worse, for the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong menshall bow themselves; the grinders shall fail because they are few, they that look out of the windowsshall be darkened, all the daughters of music shall be brought low; then shall the strong man totter, the grasshoppershall be a burden, and desire shall fail, the mourners shall go about the streets. First there is the flowing cup of youth,and afterwards the stagnant waters of old age, unless God shall cast into those dregs a fresh flood of his lovingkindnessand tender mercy, so that once again, as it always happeneth to the Christian, the cup shall run over, and again sparkle withdelight.O Christian, trust not thou in men; rely not thou upon the things of this present time, for this is evermore the rulewith men and with the world-"the good wine first, and when ye have well drunken, then that which is worse."

This morning, however, I am about to introduce you to two houses of feasting. First, I shall bid you look within the doorsof the devil's house, and you will find he is true to this rule; he brings forth first the good wine, and when men have well drunk, and their brainsare muddled therewith, then he bringeth forth that which is worse. Having bidden you look there and tremble, and take heedto the warning, I shall then attempt to enter with you into thebanquetting house of our beloved Lord and Master Jesus Christ, and of him we shall be able to say, as the governor of the feast said to the bridegroom, "Thou hast kept the good wine untilnow;" thy feasts grow better, and not worse: thy wines grow richer, thy viands are daintier far, and thy gifts more preciousthan before. "Thou hast kept the good wine until now."

I. First, we are to take a warning glance at the HOUSE OF FEASTING WHICH SATAN HATH BUILDED: for as wisdom hath builded herhouse, and hewn out her seven pillars, so hath folly its temple and its tavern of feasting, into which it continually temptsthe unwary. Look within the banquetting house, and I will shew you four tables and the guests that sit thereat; and as youlook at those tables you shall see the courses brought in. You shall see the wine cops brought, and youshall see them vanish one after another, and you shall mark that the rule holds good at all four tables-first the goodwine, and afterwards that which is worse-yea, I shall go further-afterwards, that which is worst of all.

1. At the first table to which I shall invite your attention, though I beseech you never to sit down and drink thereat, sitthe PROFLIGATE. The table of the profligate is a gay table; it is covered over with a gaudy crimson, and all the vessels uponit look exceedingly bright and glistening. Many there be that sit thereat, but they know not that they are the guests of hell,and that the end of all the feast shall be in the depths of perdition. See ye now the great governorof the feast, as he comes in? He has a bland smile upon his face; his garments are not black, but he is girded with arobe of many colours, he hath a honied word on his lip, and a tempting witchery in the sparkle of his eye. He brings in shecup, and says, "Hey, young man, drink hereat, it sparkleth in the cup, it moveth itself aright. Do you see it? It is the wine-cupof pleasure." This is the first cup at the banquetting house of Satan. The young man takes it, and sips the liquor. Atfirst it is a cautious sip; it is but a little he will take, and then he will restrain himself. He does not intend toindulge much in lust, he means not to plunge headlong into perdition. There is a flower there on the edge of that cliff: hewill reach forward a little and pluck it, but it is not his intention to dash himself from that beetling crag and destroyhimself. Not he! He thinks it easy to put away the cup when he has tested its flavour! He has no design to abandon himselfto itsintoxication. He takes a shallow draught. But O how sweet it is! How it makes his blood tingle within him. What a foolI was, not to have tasted this before! he thinks. Was ever joy like this? Could it be thought that bodies could be capableof such ecstacy as this? He drinks again; this time he takes a deeper draught, and the wine is hot in his veins. Oh! how blestis he! What would he not say now in the praise of Bacchus, or Venus, or whatever shape Beelzebub chooses to assume? He becomesavery orator in praise of sin? It is fair, it is pleasant, the deep damnation of lust appeareth as joyous as the transportsof heaven. He drinks, he drinks, he drinks again, till his brain begins to reel with the intoxication of his sinful delight.This is the first course. Drink, O ye drunkards of Ephraim, and bind the crown of pride about your head, and call us foolsbecause we put your cup from us; drink with the harlot and sup with the lustful; ye may think yourselves wise for so doing,butwe know that after these things there cometh something worse, for your vine is the vine of Sodom, and of the fields ofGomorrah, your grapes are grapes of gall, the clusters are bitter; your wine is the poison of dragons and the cruel venomof asps.

Now with a leer upon his brow, the subtle govenor of the feast riseth from his seat. His victim has had enough of the bestwine. He takes away that cup, and he brings in another, not quite so sparkling. Look into the liquor; it is not beaded overwith the sparkling bubbles of rapture; it is all flat, and dull, and insipid; it is called the cup of satiety. The man has had enough of pleasure, and like a dog he vomits, though like a dog he will return to his vomit yetagain. Who hath woe? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine. I am now speaking figuratively of wine,as well as literally. The wine of lust bringeth the same redness of the eyes; the profligate soon discovers that all the roundsof pleasure end in satiety. "What!" says he, "What more can I do? There! I have committed every wickedness that can be imagined,and I have drained every cup of pleasure. Give me something fresh! I have tried the theatres all round: there! I don'tcare so much as one single farthing for them all. I have gone to every kind of pleasure that I can conceive. It is allover. Gaiety itself grows flat and dull. What am I to do?" And this is the devil's second course-the course of satiety-a fitfuldrowsiness, the result of the previous excess. Thousands there are who are drinking of the tasteless cup of satiety everyday, and some novel invention whereby they may kill time, some new discovery whereby they may give a fresh vent to theiriniquity would be a wonderful thing to them; and if some man should rise up who could find out for them some new fashionof wickedness, some deeper depths in the deeps of the nethermost hell of lasciviousness, they would bless his name, for havinggiven them something fresh to excite them. That is the devil's second course. And do you see them partaking of it? Three aresome of you that are having a deep draught of it this morning. You are the jaded horses of the fiend of lust, the disappointedfollowers of the will-o'-the-wisp of pleasure. God knows, if you were to speak your heart out you would be obliged tosay, "There! I have tried pleasure, and I do not find it pleasure ; I have gone the round, and I am just like the blind horseat the mill, I have to go round again. I am spell-bound to the sin, but I cannot take delight in it now as I once did, forall the glory on it is as a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer.

Awhile the feaster remains in the putrid sea of his infatuation, but another scene is opening. The governor of the feast commandethanother liquor to be broached. This time the fiend bears a black goblet, and he presents it with eyes full of hell-fire, flashingwith fierce damnation. "Drink of that, sir," says he, and the man sips it and starts back and shrieks, "O God! that ever Imust come to this!" You must drink, sir! He that quaffs the first cup, must drink thesecond, and the third. Drink, though it be like fire down your throat! Drink it, though it be as the lava of Etna in yourbowels! Drink! you must drink! He that sins must suffer; he that is a profligate in his youth must have rottenness in his bones, and disease within hisloins. He who rebels against the laws of God, must reap the harvest in his own body here. Oh! there are some dreadful thingsthat I might tell you of this third course. Satan's house has a front chamber full ofeverything that is enticing to the eye and bewitching to the sensual taste; but there is a back chamber, and no one knoweth,no one hath seen the whole of its horrors. There is a secret chamber, where he shovels out the creatures whom he hath himselfdestroyed-a chamber, beneath whose floor is the blazing of hell, and above whose boards the heat of that horrible pit is felt.It may be a physician's place rather than mine, to tell of the horrors that some have to suffer as the result of theiriniquity. I leave that; but let me tell the profligate spendthrift, that the poverty which he will endure is the resultof his sin of extravagant spendthriftcy; let him know, also, that the remorse of conscience that will overtake him is notan accidental thing that drops by chance from heaven,-it is the result of his own iniquity; for, depend upon it, men and brethren,sin carries an infant misery in its bowels, and sooner or later it must be delivered of its terrible child. If we sow theseed we must reap the harvest. Thus the law of hell's house stands-"first, the good wine, then, afterwards, that whichis worse."

The last course remains to be presented. And now, ye strong men who mock at the warning, which I would fain deliver to you with a brother'svoice and with an affectionate heart, though with rough language. Come ye here, and drink of this last cup. The sinner hasat the end brought himself to the grave. His hopes and joys were like gold put into a bag full of holes, and they have all vanished-vanished for ever; and now hehas come to the last; his sins haunthim, his transgressions perplex him; he is taken like a bull in a net, and how shall he escape. He dies, and descendsfrom disease to damnation. Shall mortal language attempt to tell you the horrors of that last tremendous cup of which theprofligate must drink, and drink for ever? Look at it: ye cannot see its depths, but cast an eye upon its seething surface,I hear the noise of rushing to and fro, and a sound as of gnashing of teeth and the wailing of despairing souls. I look intothat cup,and I hear a voice coming up from its depths-"These shall go away into everlasting punishment;" for "Tophet is preparedof old, the pile thereof is wood and much smoke, the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, shall kindle it." Andwhat say ye to this last course of Satan? "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell witheverlasting burnings?" Profligate! I beseech thee, in the name of God, start from this table! Oh, be not so careless at thycups;be not so asleep, secure in the peace which thou now enjoyest! Man! death is at the door, and at his heels is swift destruction.As for you, who as yet have been restrained by a careful father and the watchfulness of an anxious mother, I beseech you shunthe house of sin and folly. Let the wise man's words be written on thine heart, and be thou mindful of them in the hour oftemptation-"Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: for the lips of a strange woman dropas an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword. Herfeet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."

2. Do ye see that other table yonder in the middle of the palace? Ah! good easy souls! Many of you had thought that you neverwent to the feast of hell at all; but there is a table for you too; it is covered over with a fair white cloth, and all thevessels upon the table are most clean and comely. The wine looks not like the wine of Gomorrah, it moveth aright, like thewine from the grapes of Eshcol; it seems to have no intoxication in it; it is like the ancient winewhich they pressed from the grape into the cup having in it no deadly poison. Do ye see the men who sit at this table?How self-contented they are! Ask the white fiends who wait at it, and they will tell you, "This is the table of the self-righteous: the Pharisee sits there. You may know him; he has his phylactery between his eyes; the hem of his garment is made exceedingbroad; he is one of the best of the best professors." "Ah!" saith Satan, as he draws the curtain and shuts off thetable where the profligates are carousing, "be quiet; don't make too much noise, lest these sanctimonious hypocrites shouldguess what company they are in. Those self-righteous people are my guests quite as much as you, and I have them quite as safely."So Satan, like an angel of light, brings forth a gilded goblet, looking like the chalice of the table of communion. And whatwine is that? It seems to be the very wine of the sacred Eucharist; it is called the wine of self-satisfaction,and around the brim you may see the bubbles of pride. Look at the swelling froth upon the bowl-"God, I thank thee, thatI am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." You know that cup, my self-deceivinghearers; Oh that ye knew the deadly hemlock which is mixed therein. "Sin as other men do? Not you; not at all. You are notgoing to submit yourself to the righteousness of Christ: what need you? You are as good as your neighbours; if you are notsaved,you ought to be, you think. Don't you pay everybody twenty-shillings in the pound? Did you ever rob anybody in your life?You do your neighbours a good turn; you are as good as other people." Very good! That is the first cup the devil gives, andthe good wine makes you swell with self-important dignity, as its fumes enter your heart and puff it up with an accursed pride.Yes! I see you sitting in the room so cleanly swept and so neatly garnished, and I see the crowds of your admirers standingaround the table, even many of God's own children, who say, "Oh that I were half as good as he." While the very humilityof the righteous provides you with provender for your pride. Wait awhile, thou unctious hypocrite, wait awhile, for thereis a second course to come. Satan looks with quite as self-satisfied an air upon his guests this time as he did upon the troopof rioters. "Ah!" says he, "I cheated those gay fellows with the cup of pleasure-I gave them, afterwards, the dull cup ofsatiety, and I have cheated you, too; you think yourselves all right, but I have deceived you twice, I have befooled youindeed." So he brings in a cup which, sometimes, he himself doth not like to serve. It is called the cup of discontent and unquietness of mind, and many there be that have to drink this after all their self-satisfaction. Do you not find, you that are very good in yourown esteem, but have no interest in Christ, that when you sit alone and begin to turn over youraccounts for eternity, that they do not square somehow-that you cannot strike the balance exactly to your own side afterall, as you thought you could? Have not you sometimes found, that when you thought you were standing on a rock, there wasa quivering beneath your feet? You heard the Christian sing boldly,-

"Bold shall I stand in that great day,

For who aught to my charge shall lay?

While, thro' thy blood, absolv'd I am

From sin's tremendous curse and shame."

And you have said, "Well, I cannot sing that, I have been as good a Churchman as ever lived, I never missed going to my churchall these years, but I cannot say I have a solid confidence." You had once a hope of self-satisfaction; but now the secondcourse has come in, and you are not quite so contented. "Well," says another, "I have been to my chapel, and I have been baptized,and made a profession of religion, though I was never brought to know the Lord in sincerity andin truth, and I once thought it was all well with me, but I want a something which I cannot find." Now comes a shakingin the heart. It is not quite so delightful as one supposed, to build on one's own righteousness. Ah! that is the second course.Wait awhile, and mayhap in this world, but certainly in the hour of death, the devil will bring in the third cup of dismay, at the discovery of your lost condition. How many a man who has been self-righteous all his life, has, at the lastdiscovered that the thing whereon he placed his hope had failed him. I have heard of an army, who, being defeated in battle,endeavoured to make good a retreat. With all their might the soldiers fled to a certain river, where they expected to finda bridge across which they could retreat and be in safety. But when they came to the stream, there was heard a shriek of terror-"Thebridge is broken, the bridge is broken!" All in vain was that cry; for the multitude hurrying on behind, pressedupon those that were before and forced them into the river, until the stream was glutted with the bodies of drowned men.Such must be the fate of the self-righteous. You thought there was a bridge of ceremonies; that baptism, confirmation, andthe Lord's Supper, made up the solid arches of a bridge of good works and duties. But when you come to die, there shall beheard the cry-"The bridge is broken, the bridge is broken!" It will be in vain for you to turn round then. Death is closebehindyou; he forces you onward, and you discover what it is to perish, through having neglected the great salvation, and attemptingto save yourself through your own good works. This is the last course but one: and your last course of all, the worst wine,your everlasting portion must be the same as that of the profligate. Good as you thought yourself to be, inasmuch as you proudlyrejected Christ, you must drink the winecup of the wrath of God; that cup which is full of trembling. The wicked of theearth shall wring out the dregs of that cup, and drink them; and you also must drink of it as deep as they. Oh, bewarein time! Put away your high looks, and humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ andye shall be saved.

3. Some of you have as yet escaped the lash, but there is a third table crowded with most honourable guests. I believe therehave been more princes and kings, mayors and aldermen, and great merchants sitting at this table, than at any other. It iscalled the table of worldliness. "Humph," says a man, "Well, I dislike the profligate; there's my eldest son, I've been hard at work saving up money all mylife, and there's that young fellow, he will not stick tobusiness: he has become a real profligate, I am very glad the minister spoke so sharp about that. As for me-there now;I don't care about your self-righteous people a single farthing; to me it is of no account at all; I don't care at all aboutreligion in the slightest degree; I like to know whether the funds rise or fall, or whether there is an opportunity of makinga good bargain; but that's about all I care for." Ah! worldling, I leave read of a friend of yours, who was clothed in scarlet,and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. Do you know what became of him? You should remember it, for the sameend awaits yourself. The end of his feast must be the end of yours. If your God is this world, depend upon it you shall findthat your way is full of bitterness. Now, see that table of the worldly man, the mere worldling, who lives for gain. Satanbrings him in a flowing cup, "There," says he, "Young man, you are starting in business; you need not care about theconventionalities of honesty, or about the ordinary old-fashioned fancies of religion; get rich as quick as ever you can.Get money-get money-honestly if you can, but, if not, get it anyhow," says the devil; and down he puts his tankard. "There,"says he, "is a foaming draught for you." "Yes," says the young man, "I have abundance now. My hopes are indeed realised."Here, then, you see the first and best wine of the worldling's feast, and many of you are tempted to envy this man. "Oh, thatI had such a prospect in business," says one, "I'm not half so sharp as he is, I could not deal as he deals; my religionwould not let me. But how fast he gets rich! O that I could prosper as he does." Come, my brother, judge not before the time,there's a second course to come, the thick and nauseous draught of care. The man has got his money, but they that will berich, fall into temptation and a snare. Wealth ill-gotten, or ill-used, or hoarded, brings a canker with it, that does notcankerthe gold and silver, but cankers the man's heart, and a cankered heart is one of the most awful things a man can have.Ah! see this money-lover, and mark the care which sits upon heart. There is a poor old woman, that lives near his lodge gate.She has but a pittance a week, but she says, "Bless the Lord, I have enough!" She never asks how she is to live, or how sheis to die, or how she is to be buried, but sleeps sweetly on the pillow of contentment and faith; and here is this poor foolwithuntold gold, but he is miserable because he happened to drop a sixpence as he walked along the streets, or because hehad an extra call upon his charity, to which the presence of some friend compelled him to yield; or perhaps he groans becausehis coat wears out too soon.

After this comes avarice. Many have had to drink of that cup; may God save any of us from its fiery drops. A great American preacher has said, "Covetousnessbreeds misery. The sight of houses better than our own, of dress beyond our means, of jewels costlier than we may wear, ofstately equipage, and rare curiosities beyond our reach, these hatch the viper brood of covetous thoughts; vexing the poor,who would be rich; tormenting the rich, who would be richer. Thecovetous man pines to see pleasure; is sad in the presence of cheerfulness; and the joy of the world is his sorrow, becauseall the happiness of others is not his. I do not wonder that God abhors him. He inspects his heart as he would a cave full of noisome birds, or a nest of rattling reptiles, and loathes the sightof its crawling tenants. To the covetous man life is a nightmare, and God lets him wrestle with it as best he may. Mammonmight build its palace on such a heart, andPleasure bring all its revelry there, Honour all its garlands-it would be like pleasures in a sepulchre, and garlandson a tomb." When a man becomes avaricious, all he has is nothing to him; "More, more, more!" says he, like some poor creaturesin a terrible fever, who cry, "Drink, drink, drink!" and you give them drink, but after they have it, their thirst increases.Like the horse-leech they cry, "Give, give, give!" Avarice is a raving madness which seeks to grasp the world in its arms,andyet despises the plenty it has already. This is a curse of which many have died; and some have died with the bag of goldin their hands, and with misery upon their brow, because they could not take it with them into their coffin, and could notcarry it into another world. Well, then, there comes the next course. Baxter, and those terrible old preachers used to picturethe miser, and the man who lived only to make gold, in the middle of hell; and they imagined Mammon pouring melted gold downhisthroat, "There," say the mocking devils, "that is what you wanted, you have got it now; drink, drink, drink!" and themolten gold is poured down. I shall not, however, indulge in any such terrible imaginations, but this much I know, he thatliveth to himself here, must perish; he who sets his affections upon things on earth, hath not digged deep-he has built hishouse upon the sands; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, down must come his house, and great must be the fallthereof.It is the best wine first, however; it is the respectable man,-respectable and respected,-everybody honours him,-and afterwardsthat which is worse, when meanness has beggared his wealth, and covetousness has maddened his brain. It is sure to come, assure as ever you give yourself up to worldliness.

4. The fourth table is set in a very secluded corner, in a very private part of Satan's palace. There is the table set forsecret sinners, and here the old rule is observed. At that table, in a room well darkened, I see a young man sitting to-day, and Satan isthe servitor, stepping in so noiselessly, that no one would hear him. He brings in the first cup-and O how sweet it is! Itis the cup of secret sin. "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret ispleasant." How sweet that morsel, eaten all alone! Was there ever one that rolled so delicately under the tongue? Thatis the first; after that, he brings in another,-the wine of an unquiet conscience. The man's eyes are opened. He says, "Whathave I done? What have I been doing? Ah," cries this Achan, "the first cup you brought me, I saw sparkling in that a wedge of gold, and a goodly Babylonish garment; and I thought, 'Oh, I must have that;' but now my thought is, What shallI do tohide this, where shall I put it? I must dig. Ay, I must dig deep as hell before I shall hide it, for sure enough it willbe discovered."

The grim governor of the feast is bringing in a massive bowl, filled with a black mixture. The secret sinner drinks, and isconfounded; he fears his sin will find him out. He has no peace, no happiness, he is full of uneasy fear; he is afraid thathe shall be detected. He dreams at night that there is some one after him; there is a voice whispering in his ear, and tellinghim "I know all about it; I will tell it." He thinks, perhaps, that the sin which he has committed insecret will break out to his friends; the father will know it, the mother will know it. Ay, it may be even the physicianwill tell the tale, and blab out the wretched secret. For such a man there is no rest. He is always in dread of arrest. Heis like the debtor I have read of; who, owing a great deal of money, was afraid the bailiffs were after him: and happeningone day to catch his sleeve on the top of a palisade, said, "There, let me go; I'm in a hurry. I will pay you to-morrow,"imaginingthat some one was laying hold of him. Such is the position in which the man places himself by partaking of the hiddenthings of dishonesty and sin. Thus he finds no rest for the sole of his foot for fear of discovery. At last the discoverycomes; it is the last cup. Often it comes on earth; for be sure your sin will find you out, and it will generally find youout here. What frightful exhibitions are to be seen at our police courts of men that are made to drink that last black draught ofdiscovery. The man who presided at religious meetings, the man who was honoured as a saint, is at last unmasked. And whatsaith the judge-and what saith the world of him? He is a jest, and a reproach, and a rebuke everywhere. But, suppose he shouldbe so crafty, that he passes through life without discovery-though I think it is almost impossible-what a cup he must drinkwhen he stands at last before the bar of God! "Bring him forth, jailor! Dread keeper of the dungeon of hell, lead forththe prisoner." He comes! The whole world is assembled, "Stand up, sir! Did you not make a profession of religion? didnot every body think you a saint?" He is speechless. But many there are in that vast crowd who cry, "We thought him so." Thebook is open, his deeds are read: transgression after transgression all laid bare. Do you hear that hiss? The righteous, movedto indignation, are lifting up their voices against the man who deceived them, and dwelt among them as a wolf in sheep'sclothing. Oh, how fearful it must be to bear the scorn of the universe! The good can bear the scorn of the wicked butfor the wicked to bear the shame and everlasting contempt which righteous indignation will heap upon them, will be one ofthe most frightful things, next to the eternal endurance of the wrath of the Most High, which, I need not add, is the lastcup of the devil's terrible feast, with which the secret sinner most be filled, for ever and ever.

I pause now, but it is just to gather up my strength to beg that anything I may have said, that shall have the slightest personalbearing upon any of my hearers, may not be forgotten. I beseech you, men and brethren, if now you are eating the fat, anddrinking the sweet of hell's banquet, pause and reflect what shall the end be? "He that soweth to the flesh, shall of theflesh reap corruption. He that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting."I cannot spare more time far that, most assuredly.

II. But you must pardon me while I occupy only a few minutes in taking you into the HOUSE OF THE SAVIOUR, where he feastshis beloved. Come and sit with us at Christ's table of outward providences. He does not feast his children after the fashion of the prince of darkness: for the first cup that Christ brings to themis very often a cup of bitterness. There are his own beloved children, his own redeemed; who have but sorry cheer. Jesus bringsin the cup of povertyand affliction, and he makes his own children drink of it, till they say, "Thou hast made me drunken with wormwood, andthou hast filled me with bitterness." This is the way Christ begins. The worst wine first. When the serjeant begins with ayoung recruit, he gives him a shilling, and then, afterwards, come the march and the battle. But Christ never takes his recruitsso. They must count the cost, lest they should begin to build, and not be able to finish. He seeks to have no disciples whoaredazzled with first appearances. He begins roughly with them, and many have been his children who have found that the firstcourse of the Redeemer's table has been affliction, sorrow, poverty, and want.

In the olden time, when the best of God's people were at the table, he used to serve them worst, for they wandered about insheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy, and they kept on drinkingof these bitter cups for many a day; but let me tell you afterwards he brought out sweeter cups for them, and you that havebeen troubled have found it so. After the cup of affliction, comes the cup of consolation, and, oh,how sweet is that! It has been the privilege of these lips to drink that cup after sickness and pain; and I can bear witness,that I said of my Master, "Thou hast kept the best wine until now." It was so luscious, that the taste thereof did take awayevery taste of the bitterness of sorrow; and I said, "Surely the bitterness of this sickness is all past, for the Lord hasmanifested himself to me, and given me his best wine." But, beloved, the best wine is to come last. God's people will finditso outwardly. The poor saint comes to die. The master has given him the cup of poverty, but now no more he drinks thereof,he is rich to all the intents of bliss. He has had the cup of sickness; he shall drink of that no more. He has had the cupof persecution, but now he is glorified, together with his Master, and made to sit upon his throne. The best things have comelast to him in outward circumstances. There were two martyrs once burned at Stratford-le-Bow; one of them was lame, and theother blind, and when they were tied to the stake, the lame man took his crutch and threw it down, and said to the other,"Cheer up, brother, this is the sharp physic that shall heal us, I shall not be lame within an hour of this time nor shaltthou be blind." No, the best things were to come last. But I have often thought that the child of God is very much like thecrusaders. The crusaders started of on their journey, and they had to tight their way through many miles of enemies and tomarchthrough leagues of danger. You remember, perhaps, in history, the story that when the armies of the Duke of Bouillon camein sight of Jerusalem, they sprang from their horses, clapped their hands, and cried, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem." Theyforgot all their toils, all the weariness of the journey and all their wounds, for there was Jerusalem in their sight. Andhow will the saint at last cry, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," when all sorrow, and all poverty, and sickness are past, and he isblestwith immortality. The bad wine-bad did I say? nay the bitter wine is taken away, and the best wine is brought out, and the saint sees himself glorified for ever with Christ Jesus.

And now, we will sit down at the table of inward experience. The first cup that Christ brings to his children, when they sit at that table, is one so bitter that, perhaps, no tonguecan ever describe it,-it is the cup of conviction. It is a black cup, full of the most intense bitterness. The apostle Paul once drank a little of it, but it was so strongthat it made him blind for three days. The conviction of his sin overpowered him totally; he could onlygive his soul to fasting and to prayer, and it was only when he drank of the next cup that the scales fell from off hiseyes. I have drank of it, children of God, and I thought that Jesus was unkind, but, in a little while, he brought me fortha sweeter cup, the cup of his forgiving love, filled with the rich crimson of his precious blood. Oh! the taste of that wineis in my mouth this very hour, for the taste thereof is as the wine of Lebanon, that abideth in the cask for many a day. Doyounot remember, when, after you had drunk the cup of sorrow, Jesus came and showed you his hands and his side, and said,"Sinner, I have died for thee, and given myself for thee; believe on me?" Do you not remember how you believed, and sippedthe cup, and bow you believed again and took a deeper draught, and said, "Blessed be the name of God from this time forthand for ever; and let the whole earth say, 'Amen,' for he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder,and letthe captives go free?" Since then the glorious Master has said to you, "Friend, come up higher!" and he has taken youto upper seats in the best rooms, and he has given you sweeter things. I will not tell you, to-day, of the wines you havedrank. The spouse in Solomon's Song may supply the deficiency of my sermon this morning. She drank of the spiced wine of hispomegranate; and so have you, in those high and happy moments when you had fellowship with the Father, and with his Son, JesusChrist.But tarry awhile, he has kept the best wine yet. You shall soon come near the banks of the Jordan, and then you shallbegin to drink of the old wine of the kingdom, that has been barrelled up since the foundation of the world. The vintage ofthe Saviour's agony; the vintage of Gethsemane shall soon be broached for you, the old wine of the kingdom. You are come intothe land "Beulah," and you begin to taste the full flavour of the wines on the lees well refined. You know how Bunyan describesthestate which borders on the vale of death. It was a land flowing with milk and honey; a land where the angels often cameto visit the saints, and to bring bundles of myrrh from the land of spices. And now the high step is taken, the Lord putshis finger upon your eyelids and kisses your soul out at your lips. Where are you now? In a sea of love, and life, and bliss,and immortality. "O Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, thou hast indeed kept the best wine until now! My Master! I have seen thee on theSabbath,but this is an everlasting Sabbath. I have met thee in the congregation, but this is a congregation that shall ne'er breakup. O my Master! I have seen the promises, but this is the fulfilment. I have blessed thee for gracious providences, but thisis something more than all these: thou didst give me grace, but now thou hash given me glory; thou wast once my shield, butthou art now my sun. I am at thy right hand, where there is fullness of joy for ever. Thou hast kept thy best wine until now.All I ever had before was as nothing compared with this."

And, lastly, for only time fails me, I could preach a week upon this subject. The table of communion is one at which God's children must sit. And the first thing they must drink of there, is the cup of communion with Christin his sufferings. If thou wouldst come to the table of communion with Christ, thou must first of all drink of the wine ofCalvary. Christian, thy head most he crowned with thorns. Thy hands must be pierced, I mean not with nails, but,spiritually thou must be crucified with Christ. We must suffer with him, or else we cannot reign with him; we must labourwith him first, we must sup of the wine which his Father gave him to drink, or else we cannot expect to come to the betterpart of the feast. After drinking of the wine of his sufferings, and continuing to drink of it, we must drink of the cup ofhis labours, we must be baptized with his baptism, we must labour after souls, and sympathise with him in that ambition ofhisheart-the salvation of sinners, and after that he will give us to drink of the cup of his anticipated honours. Here onearth we shall have good wine in communion with Christ in his resurrection, in his triumphs and his victories, but the bestwine is to come at last. O chambers of communion, your gates have been opened to me; but I have only been able to glance withinthem; but the day is coming when on your diamond hinges ye shall turn, and stand wide open for ever and ever; and I shallenter into the king's palace and go no more out. O Christian! thou shalt soon see the King in his beauty; thy head shallsoon be on his bosom; thou shalt soon sit at his feet with Mary; thou shalt soon do as the spouse did, thou shalt kiss himwith the kisses of thy lips, and feel that his love is better than wine. I can conceive you, brethren, in the very last momentof your life, or rather, in the first moment of your life, saying, "He has kept the best wine until now." When you begin toseehim face to face, when you enter into the closest fellowship, with nothing to disturb or to distract you, then shall yousay "The best wine is kept until now."

A saint was once dying, and another who sat by him said-"Farewell, brother, I shall never see you again in the land of theliving." "Oh," said the dying man, "I shall see you again in the land of the living that is up yonder, where I am going; this is the land of the dying." Oh brethren and sisters, if we should never meet again in the land of the dying, have we a hope that we shall meet in theland of the living, and drink the last wine at last.