LivePrayerSermon 1363. Sudden Sorrow
(No. 1363)
DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 8, 1877,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON
"Suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment." Jeremiah 4:20.
"And when you are spoiled, what will you do?" Jeremiah 4:30.
JEREMIAH was describing the havoc of war, a war which was devastating his country and bringing untold miseries upon the people.He says of it, "My soul, my soul! I am pained at my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, becauseyou have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the wholeland is spoiled; suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear thesound of the trumpet?"
How grateful we ought to be that war is not raging in our own land. We should read those terrible stories which come to usconcerning the destruction of human life by the two armies in the East with the utmost regret. On whichever side the victorymay turn, it is still to be daily lamented that men should slaughter men and glory in wholesale murder! How true it is neitherthe elements in their fury, nor wild beasts in their rage, have ever been such terrible enemies to man as men! We should thankGod that we dwell apart and see our harvests ripening without the dread of their being reaped by invaders. We walk our streetswithout the fear of bursting shells and seek our chambers without the apprehension of being awakened in the dead of nightby the shouts of advancing adversaries.
Blessed be the Lord who has given centuries of peace to the fertile hills and valleys of His chosen isle-
"O Britain, praise your mighty God, And make His honors known abroad! He bade the ocean round you flow; Not bars of brasscould guard you so." Let the name of Jehovah our God be praised, this morning, for giving peace in our borders and fillingus with the finest of the wheat. There are, however, in this land, and in all lands, whether at war or peace, many calamitieswhich come suddenly upon the sons of men concerning which they may bitterly lament, "How suddenly are my tents spoiled, andmy curtains in a moment." This world, at its best, is not our rest. There is nothing settled below the moon. We call thisterra firma, but there is nothing firm about it-it is tossed to and fro like a troubled sea forevermore. We are never, forany long time, in one stay-change is perpetually operating.
Nothing is sure but that which is Divine. Nothing is abiding except that which comes down from Heaven. All things change asthey pass before us and perish in the using. At this moment your ship lies becalmed-be not too secure, for within the nextfew minutes you may be driving before a hurricane with bare poles. Today your garden is planted with blooming flowers whichare loading the air with their perfume-rejoice not too much in their sweetness, for within a short time nothing may remain-thespoiler may tear them up by the roots and your garden may become a desolation. There is nothing bright, beautiful, fair, lovely,or desirable beneath the sun which may not be speedily withered!
Even as a vision are all these things-they are, and lo, they are not! They flash upon us as the meteor which blazes in themidnight sky and then leaves the darkness to be blacker than before. "Boast not yourself of tomorrow," yes, boast not yourselfof today, lest haply on that morrow, or even in this very day, you may have to cry with Jeremiah, "How suddenly are my tentsspoiled, and my curtains in a moment!"
This expression may be, without any straining, very readily applied to many matters and to three especially. First, to thesudden spoiling of all human righteousness. Secondly, to the sudden spoiling of all earthly comfort. And, thirdly-
and this is by no means an unusual thing-to the sudden spoiling of human life, itself. May the Holy Spirit bless our meditationsupon the instability of all earth-born things so that we may despise the things which are seen and temporal, and follow afterthe things unseen and eternal!
I. A SUDDEN SPOILING HAPPENS TO HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS. Beloved, when I put those two words together-"human righteousness"-Iinwardly smile. It sounds like a comedy or a satire, I scarcely know which! "What is man that he should be clean? And he thatis born of a woman that he should be righteous?" Mere human nature and righteousness are two things not easily joined together-andwhen they are united for a time, they soon separate-for they agree no better than oil and water. There is a Divine righteousness,worked out by our dear Redeemer and imputed to all His believing people, which will remain-
"That glorious robe the same appears Then ruined nature sinks in years. No age can change its glorious hue, The robe of Christis ever new."
But the righteousness which comes of man is a dream-how suddenly does it vanish from our view! Lighter than the spider's web,more subtle than the mist, more fleeting than the wind-the very name of it is vanity! Let us look at the history of humanrighteousness and begin in the garden of Eden and lament the Fall. Human righteousness existed in the bowers of Paradise andman was happy with his God. Adam was created sinless. His mind was upon an equal balance and without tendency to evil. Hewas placed in a garden of delights, with but one commandment to test him, and that a very simple one, costing but slight self-denialto obey.
We do not know how long Adam was in the garden, but we know that man, being in honor, continues not, and in a very short timehe and our mother, Eve, were spoiled of all they had. The serpent crept in and beguiled them. He who was a murderer from thebeginning plundered them! How suddenly were their tents spoiled and their curtains in a moment, for their eyes were openedand they perceived that they had lost all! The righteousness which covered them much better than a vesture had been takenfrom them so that they were utterly naked before the eyes of the living God. He is a cruel spoiler, indeed, who strips a manof every garment. But thus completely were our first parents robbed and despoiled!
They found that they had lost the garden wherein they had lived in such content, lost peace, lost happiness, lost themselves,lost their posterity, lost all! Everything was taken from them except that which Infinite Mercy stepped in to give them inthe form of a gracious promise concerning the restoring Seed of the woman. Whenever we think of the Fall we ought to be humbledand to be restrained from all idea of self-righteousness, for if Adam, in his perfection, could not maintain his righteousness,how can you and I, who are imperfect from our very birth, hope to do so? If the thieves broke in and stole our ancestor'srighteousness when his tent was pitched amid the sunny glades of Eden, how much more will our curtains be spoiled in thisland of the Ishmaelite and the Amalekite? If the old, wily serpent found a way into the unfallen hearts of our first parentswhen they had no surroundings to mislead them, how vain is it for us to hope to overcome the Evil One so as to attain to everlastinglife by the works of the Law?
A second instance of this very commonly occurs in the failure of the moralist's resolutions. See yonder young people tutoredfrom their childhood in everything that is good! Their character is excellent and admirable, but will it so abide? Will notthe enemy despoil their tents? Often it is so. The young man starts in life with the conviction that he is not of the commonherd of sinners and will never descend to their level. He has heard of other youths who have fallen into temptation and destroyedthemselves by dissipation, but he feels certain that he shall do nothing of the kind. Like Hazael, he cries, "Is your servanta dog that he should do this thing?"
He fancies that his ship can weather all storms and he plumes himself upon the idea that the record of his life will be verydifferent from that of other men. How truly lovely, at first sight, he seems! How honest, generous and true! Even lookingupon him with the eyes of Jesus, we might love him and only mourn that he lacks one thing. The righteousness which he wearsis merely an human one and it is altogether in his own keeping, but he believes that he shall hold it fast and never let itgo. His tent is so well pitched that no wind from the wilderness will ever overturn it!
Have not these delusions been sadly dispelled in hundreds of instances? A fierce temptation arises and the man's resolutionsare carried along like thistle in the wind! The young man did not think that such a temptation could ever happen to him. Hehad been kept by his parents and friends like a flower in a conservatory and he could not believe that the nights could beso bitterly frosty in the cold world outside. But now he has to feel the nipping influence of sin and he
withers speedily. Satan, discovering his weakness, takes him at a tender point. He brings before him that lust to which hehas the greatest tendency, sets before him that dainty delicacy of sin to which he has the sweetest tooth and, by-and-by,the hopeful youth can no longer talk of his virtues nor boast of his purity, for he has fallen low.
The ship Boastful has struck on a rock and is going down! The self-confident young man now finds himself to be human-beinghuman, to be liable to temptation! Being tempted-to be ready to yield to sin. "I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction, andthe curtains of the land of Midian did tremble," for the cords of resolution are broken and the stakes of principle are loosed.Alas, poor human righteousness, you are soon smitten on the forehead and speedily rolled in the dust! How soon does the comelinessof human nature pass away in the hour of trial! Many a young man and young woman, opening their eyes all of a sudden aftertemptation, have had to cry," How suddenly are my tents spoiled and my curtains in a moment!"
Ah, you that think yourselves beyond all danger of falling into sin! But you know not yourselves-you understand not the plagueof your own hearts, for if you did, you would see that you carry within your souls all manner of iniquity which only waitsfor an opportunity to develop itself! And when it finds a fit occasion, it will display its deadly nature and then you willmourn that you did not seek a new heart and a right spirit at the hands of Christ.
My second text asks, "And when you are spoiled, what will you do?" And I would earnestly answer it for any of you who havegone through this experience. Do not try to reestablish that righteousness of yours which has been so thoroughly spoiled,but look for something better! Quit the tent for a mansion! Flee from the curtains of self to the walls of salvation! Yourown resolutions have failed you, therefore leave such a sandy foundation and build upon the Rock of Divine Strength! Go andconfess your sins with deep contrition-ask the Lord Jesus to wash you in His precious blood-and then desire Truth in the inwardparts and ask that in the hidden parts the Holy Spirit may make you to know wisdom. So shall it come to pass that you shallno longer build upon the sand, nor yet with wood and hay and stubble, but on the Rock with gold and silver and precious stones!
Another liability of human righteousness is one which I must not call a calamity, seeing it is the commencement of the greatestblessing. I mean when the Spirit of God comes to deal with human righteousness, by way of illumination and conviction. Herewe can speak of what we know experimentally. How beautiful our righteousness is and how it flourishes like a comely flowertill the Spirit of God blows upon it-and then it withers quite away, like the grass in the hot sun! The first lesson of theHoly Spirit to the heart is to lay bare its deceivableness and to uncover before us its loathsomeness, where we thought thateverything was true and acceptable. What a different character you gave yourself, dear Friend, before the Spirit of God dealtwith you! To what were you compelled to give yourself afterwards!
Truly, your beauty consumed away like a moth. You began to mourn over your holiest things, for you saw the sin which pollutedthem. And as for your transgressions, which you thought so little of, when the Spirit of God set them in a true light, youfound them to be hideous and horrible offenses against the God of Love. Before you emblazoned your name in letters of gold,but when you learned the truth, you chose a black inscription and, with a heavy hand, you wrote out your own condemnation,feeling that you were bound to do so.
Now, it is a great mercy when the Spirit of God brings home the truth to the heart and makes a man see the deceptiveness ofoutward appearances. I pray that it may happen to you all if it has never done so. May your tents be spoiled until you seeyourselves to be utterly undone-for you are so by nature whether you see it or not! I would ask all who are under convictionof sin to answer this question, "When you are spoiled, what will you do?" May you reply, "We know what we will do. We willflee away from self to Jesus! Our precious things are removed and our choice treasure is taken from us, therefore we takethe Lord Jesus to be our All in All."
If such is your resolve, you are fulfilling the end and design of the ever blessed Spirit who works in order to wean us, forthen we turn to Jesus and seeks for that clothing which the matchless righteousness of Christ Jesus, alone, can afford. Butthere will come to all human righteousness one other time of spoiling if neither of those should happen which I have mentionedbefore. Remorse will come and that very probably in the hour of death, if not before. Apart from the Holy Spirit, conscienceoften does its work in a very terrible fashion and tears to pieces, before a man's eyes, the curtains of righteousness whichhe had so laboriously woven.
Have you ever seen a sinner happy and contented, because he is self-deluded? But all of a sudden he has found out that hislies and hypocrisy were known to God and would be all exposed and punished. At such a time, instead of turning
to God, he has despaired and said, "I am lost, there is no hope for me," and therefore he has plunged into deeper sin andbecome worse! And all the while, like the vulture at Prometheus' liver-conscience has continued tearing away at his heart,eating into his very soul and drinking the blood of joy out of his life till he has been dried up by an anguish from whichhe could not escape! I have seen men die so-the consolations of the Gospel have been sounded into a deaf ear! They have liftedup their hands as though they would thrust the minister away!
When he talked of mercy, they replied that there was none for them. And when he spoke of cleansing, they declared that theirsin was of more than scarlet hue and never could be washed away. Oh, how suddenly are their tents spoiled and their curtainsin a moment! And when spoiled thus, what does a man do? What, but give himself up to that everlasting despair, which has,at last, overtaken him! While any man is yet alive I would exhort him to apply to Christ-though it were the last breath hebreathed. I would still hold up the Redeemer before his expiring gaze! But when remorse has fully set in, this is seldom ofany use. They cry, "Too late, too late!" They continue to refuse their Savior and pass away naked, poor and miserable to standbefore God's righteous bar to hear the sentence of their conscience confirmed forever by the mouth of the Eternal Judge!
In that dreadful day their overthrow will be terrible, indeed! God save us from this. I hope, dear Friends, that all of usknow what it is to have seen all our tents spoiled of all the precious things in which our pride boasted itself-and that wehave now become rich in the riches of the Lord Jesus and secure in the cleft of the Rock which was opened in His side. Ifwe have done so, we shall not regret, but greatly rejoice, that our tents were suddenly spoiled and our curtains in a moment!
II. The words of our text are exceedingly applicable to THE SPOILING OF ALL EARTHLY COMFORTS. Sudden destruction to all ourearthly comforts is common to all sorts of men. It may happen to the best, as well as to the worst. Did it not so occur toJob, who on a certain morning was amazed by messenger after messenger hastening to tell him that all his property was sweptaway? Last of all came one who told him that his entire family had been destroyed! Sudden sorrow happened, also, to rebelliousPharaoh as well as to pious Job, for at the dead of night he was awakened to bewail the firstborn of him that sat upon thethrone and heard throughout all the land of Egypt a chorus of lamentations on account of a similar calamity which had happenedto every household.
Neither the just nor the unjust can tell when tribulation will befall them! David returns from among the Philistines and hefinds Ziklag burned with fire and his wives and his children carried away captive. Yet not to the righteous, only, are suchtrials, for Belshazzar feasts in his palace in Babylon and that same night he was slain! An arrow pierces the heart of wickedAhab, but gracious Josiah fell in the same manner-with impartial feet does calamity come to the door of all kinds of men!As darts the hawk upon its prey, so does affliction fall upon the unsuspecting sons of Adam. As the earthquake all of a suddenoverthrows a city, so does adversity shake the estate of mortals.
Sudden trial comes in various forms. Sometimes it is the loss of property as in the instance of Lot when the kings came andtook him captive and all that he had. Then was he utterly spoiled! The same thing has happened in ordinary commerce, as inthe case of Jehoshaphat when he made ships to go to Tarshish and they were broken at Eziongaber. His letters were opened onemorning and the merchant, who thought himself rich as a prince, found that he had become a bankrupt! These are but commonthings in days of panic and convulsion.
Frequently the calamity comes in the form of the loss of one dear to us. So came it to the Shunammite, whose child had beensuch a comfort to her. He fell on a day that he went into the field unto the reapers and he said, "My head, my head," andvery soon the little gift from Heaven had left a childless mother to weep over his little lifeless form. So happened it toJacob, who sent his darling son away with a kiss, but before many hours had passed, he saw his garment covered with bloodand exclaimed, "An evil beast has devoured him! Joseph is, without doubt, torn in pieces." You cannot be sure of child, orwife, or husband. The fondest love may be torn from your side and the dearest babe may be taken from your bosom. Here belownothing is certain but universal uncertainty. One way or another God knows how to bring the rod home to us and to make ussmart till we cry out, "How suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment."
Now, this might well be expected. Do we wonder when we are suddenly deprived of our earthly comforts? Are they not fleetingthings? When they came to us, did we receive a lease with them, or were we promised that they should last forever? Jonah satunder his withered gourd wringing his hands and complaining of God, but if you and I had been there
we might have said, "What ails you, Man? Are you surprised that gourds wither?" "I murmur," he says, "because I have lostthe shade which screened me from the sun." "But, Man, is it not the nature of a gourd to die? It came up in a night! Do youmarvel that it perished in a night? A worm at the root of a gourd surely is no novelty. O Prophet, be not angry with yourGod-this is what you should look for from such a growth."
If our tents are spoiled, we should remember that they are tents and not fortresses. They are curtains and not bulwarks. Thethief can readily enough enter and spoil the habitation which is made of such frail material. Do you wonder that your offspringdie? Why so? Across your children's brows, if you read aright there is written the word, "mortal." Did you expect a mortalmother to bring forth an immortal son? Did you, a dying father, expect to be the parent of a daughter who would never seedeath? Your love is astonishing, but your reason is not! Your affection counts it strange, but your understanding judges itto be according to the frequent course of Nature.
Your children came to you and you received them into your home and heart with the knowledge that they were mortal and, therefore,you are not deceived. Bow, therefore, to the Divine will and say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed bethe name of the Lord." You lament that you have lost your riches. Are you surprised at that? Do you keep birds? Do you wonderwhen they fly away? What are riches but birds of a golden feather? They take to themselves wings, we are told, and fly away!It is not the most marvelous thing in the world, if your boy has a tame bird, and he comes to you and says, "Father, my birdhas taken wings and fled away." "Dear child," you say, "I always wondered that it did not do so before now."
So may you say to the merchant who has lost his property in trading-the marvel is not that wealth departs but that it stayswith any man, seeing it is the nature of winged things to fly away! Clouds dissolve, bubbles burst, snowflakes melt and evenso do this world's treasures waste away! Moreover, our earthly comforts were never given to us to be held forever by a Covenantof Salt. They are always loans and never gifts! All that we possess here below is God's property! He has only loaned it outto us and what He lends, He has a right to take back again. We hold our possessions and our friends, not upon freehold, butupon a lease terminable at the Supreme Owner's option! Do you wonder when the holding ceases?
Do you know the parable of the wise Jewish woman? When her husband, the Rabbi, had gone out to teach, his disciples, certainneighbors in great sorrow, brought home to her the corpses of her only children, two sweet boys who had been drowned. Shetook them upstairs, laid them upon a bed and covered them with a sheet. She then waited in her deep affliction till her husbandcame home, grieving most of all for the sorrow which would overwhelm him. She stood at the door and mournfully said, "My husband,do you know that a great tribulation has happened unto me? A Friend had lent me a treasure and, while I have had it, it hasbeen a great joy to me, but this day He has taken it back, again, and I know not what to do."
"My Beloved," said the Rabbi, "Speak not so! Can it be a sorrow to you to return that which you have borrowed? O daughterof Abraham, you cannot harbor dishonesty in your soul! If the treasure has been lent, be grateful to him who permitted youthe loan and send it back with cheerfulness." "Is this what you say?" she asked. "Come here." Then she turned back the coverletand he gazed upon the cold faces of his two children. And he said "You have spoken wisely, O Woman, for I understand thatGod has lent these children to me and that I must not complain because He has taken back His own."
Don't you see how natural it is that loans should be returned to their lender in due season? Say not, "I am the man that hasseen affliction by the rod of His wrath," as though you were the chief or the only sufferer, for in this thing there has notrial happened to you but such as is common to men. Cry not in dismay, "How suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtainsin a moment!" for when war is raging, it is little surprising that tents should be spoiled! It is according to the natureof things that in a world which brings forth thorns and briars in all its furrows, some of the sharp points should pierceyour flesh!
Once more, we live in a world that is full of thieves, and it is no wonder if our joys are stolen. Our Master has warned usthat our habitations here below are not thief-proof. He forbids us, therefore, to lay up our treasure where thieves breakthrough and steal. The mud houses of the East are very soon entered by burglars. They break a hole wherever they please andsteal a man's wealth while he sleeps. And this present life is of the same fashion. This world swarms with thieves such asfalse friends and deceivers, slanderers and cavilers, losses in business and crosses in our expectations,
unkindness of enemies and fickleness of acquaintances and especially sickness and death! We must not marvel, therefore, ifsome thief or other should take away the dear delight which makes our tent so happy.
Beloved, since these calamities may be expected, let us be prepared for them. "How?" you ask. Why, by holding all earthlythings loosely-by having them as though you had them not-by looking at them as fleeting and never expecting them to abidewith you. Love the creature in the measure in which the creature may be loved and no more! Mortal things may only be lovedin their proportion-never make them your gods, nor suffer your heart to live upon them or stay itself upon them-for if youdo, you are preparing sorrow for yourself and, "When you are spoiled, what will you do?"
You will cry with Micah, "They have taken away my gods." If you suffer your heart to be filled with earthly things while youhave them, you will have your heart broken when they are taken away! Let us take care to make good use of our comforts whilewe possess them. Since they hastily fly by us, let us catch them on the wing and diligently employ them for God's Glory. Letus be careful to place our chief treasure in Heaven, for, as old Swinnock says, "A worldling's wealth lies in the earth. Therefore,like wares laid in low damp cellars, it corrupts and molds. But the godly man's treasure is in Heaven and, like commoditieslaid up in high rooms, it continues sound and safe."
Treasure in the skies is treasure, indeed! Where moth and rust and thief can reach is no fit place for us to store our treasures!Let us commit our all to the custody of God who is our All in All. Such a blessed thing is faith in God that if the Believershould lose everything he possesses here below, he would have small cause for sorrow so long as he kept his faith. If a richproprietor with thousands of acres of land, in walking down the street were robbed of his handkerchief, he would not lie downin despair, nor even make a great noise over his loss. "Ah," he would say, "they could only steal a mere trifle! They couldnot rob me of my parks and farms and yearly incomes."
Believers invest their true wealth in a bank which never breaks. And as for their earthly substance, it is not theirs at all,but their Lord's-and they desire only to employ it for His cause so that if He takes it away they are bound to look upon themselvesas not losers-but as, in some measure, released from responsibility! And they may thank their Lord for such relief. Be sureyou use this world as not abusing it and fix all your joy and love and hope and trust in the eternal God-and then, happenwhat may-you will be safe. "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
But let me solemnly remind you that in times when we meet with sudden calamity, God is putting us to the test and trying thelove and faith of those who profess to be His people. "When you are spoiled, what will you do?" You thought you loved God-doyou love Him now? You said He was your Father, but that was when He kissed you! Is He your Father now that He chastens you?The ungodly kick against God-they can only rejoice in Him while He gives them sweet things. But His true children learn tokiss the rod! Can you believe in Jesus when distress is upon you and when need assails you as an armed man? You talked ofyour faith in summer weather-have you faith, now, in the long, wintry nights?
Can you trust the Lord when the fierce winds from the wilderness threaten to overturn your tent? Has the Holy Spirit givenyou the faith of God's elect which can bear a strain? That faith which cannot endure trial is no faith at all! If the deathof a child, or the loss of wealth, or being struck down by disappointment or sickness shall make you doubt your God, whatwill you do when you come to die? If, in running with footmen you are wearied, what will you do when you contend with horses?If these minor trials overwhelm you, what will you do in the last dread day when all things pass away from your sight? Thisis a trying time for your heart-a testing time for your faith.
If all things are right within us when our tents are spoiled, we shall live closer to God than ever and thus we shall be gainersby our losses because they have increased our spirituality and our peace. It would be a blessed thing to be like the planetVenus, of which it is certain that the earth can never come between her and the sun. The world often hides our God from usand when our comforts are swept away there is all the less likelihood of its doing so. If our bereavements bring us into theclear and ever-abiding sunlight of the Lord's own face, we may be thankful to lose that which before caused the eclipse-
"Nearer, my God, to You! Nearer to You! What, though it is a cross Thatraises me,
This, still, my cry shall be, Nearer to Thee, Nearer to Thee!"
Blessed is he who is resolved with Job and, by God's Grace, is enabled to abide by it, "Though He slay me, yet will I trustin Him." We should learn to give up everything that is dear to us in this present life and find our comfort in the hopes ofthe next world! So that, like David, when his darling child had been taken away, we may say, "I shall go to him. He shallnot return to me." Happy and blessed is the man who acts thus! He shall not be cast down in the cloudy and dark day. "He shallnot be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." Oh, you worldlings, what will you do in the timeof trouble? How will you comfort your hearts in the day of visitation?
Most of you young people are full of fun and mirth and I am glad you have happy times. But the holidays of youth are not forever!Your tents will be spoiled, one of these days, as surely as you live-and what will you do then? All the joy which you candraw from this world's wells will turn to brackish water before long and you will loathe it-what will you do, then? Nothingwill remain of all this momentary mirth when the heyday of your youth is over and the evil days come! And the days draw nearwhen you shall say, I have no pleasure in them. Why, then, are you so taken up with fickle, fleeting joys? I beseech you seeksubstantial happiness! Ask for eternal blessings! Draw near to God by Jesus Christ and seek unfading bliss in His abidinglove.
III. In the third place there may come A SUDDEN SPOILING OF LIFE, ITSELF. In a moment, prostrated by
disease and brought to Death's door, frail man may well cry out, "How suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in amoment!" It is by no means unusual for men to die very suddenly. One does not wish to suggest an unhappy thought, but thisis so salutary a consideration that it ought never to be absent from us-we are but dust and may be dissolved in an instantby death! We are continually surprised that one and another have suddenly been called away-yet it is more strange that somany remain!-
"Our life contains a thousand springs, And fails if one is gone, Strange that a harp of a thousand strings Should keep intune so long."
In this large congregation, Death's work is very manifest to one who stands upon this central tower of observation! Duringthe last few days we, as a Church and congregation, have lost several from our midst. I will not point out the seats whichare, today occupied by others, where old friends have sat for many years. But so it is, that some have gone quite suddenlyfrom us and their graves are scarcely filled in. Who will be next? It frequently happens that those who are apparently veryhealthy and strong are among the first to fall. Our friends who are continual invalids remain with us, some of them, manymonths and even many years after we have sorrowfully given them up.
Consumption keeps many for long months lingering slowly into everlasting life, while strong, hearty persons are in an instanttaken away! It is therefore no new thing for men to die suddenly. Not one man or woman here has a guarantee that he or sheshall live till tomorrow. It is almost a misuse of language to talk about life insurance, for we cannot insure our lives-theymust forever remain uninsured as to their continuance here. If I could be a prophet, this morning, and point out one and anotherand say, "That man will be dead before next Sunday." Or, "That woman will not live a week," I should feel I had a very painfulduty to discharge.
But is it not wise for us to reflect that it may happen to any one of us? There are no reasons by which we can prove thatwe shall escape the mighty Hunter for another day! We are ready enough to think of this for others, for all men think allmen mortal but themselves-but practical wisdom would lead us to suggest to ourselves that we are mortal and that, perhaps,the death arrow which has just left the bow of God may be aimed at our hearts. The question is, "When you are spoiled, whatwill you do?" When all of a sudden the curtains of our tent shall tear in two and the tent pole shall be snapped and the bodyshall lie a desolate ruin, what will we do?
I will tell you what some of us know that we would do. We know that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolvedwe have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens! As poor, guilty sinners, we have fled to Christfor refuge and He is ours and we know that He will surely keep what we have committed to Him until that day! Therefore weare not afraid of all that the Spoiler can do. We are not afraid of you, O Death, for you are the porter that shall open thegates of immortality! And you, you worms, we are not afraid of you, for though you devour
this body, yet you shall not destroy it, for in our flesh we shall see God! O Grave, we are not dismayed at your gloom, forwhat are you but a refining pot out of which this poor earthly body shall arise free from all corruption?
Time, we fear not your trials! Eternity, we dread not your terrors! Our soul shall dwell at ease, come what may! Glory beto the blessed name of the Lord Jesus, we shall rise because He has risen! We shall live because He lives and reign becauseHe reigns! We are not afraid of the Spoiler! But O, Worldling, when you are spoiled, what will you do? Rich men, your acreswill be yours no longer-no parks for you to roam over, no fine trees to boast of, no ancestral halls in which to glorify yourselves!You will have nothing left-no barns, no ripening harvests, no noble horses or fattened sheep-you must leave them all and ifthese are your treasures, what will you do when God requires your soul of you?
Then the largeness of the amount invested will only make it all the harder to die and palaces and gardens will make the pangof separation yet more keen! You will find it a dreadful wrench to be torn away from that in which your heart so much delighted."When you are spoiled, what will you do?" Your money bags will not ease your conscience. All the leases, title deeds and mortgagesthat you can heap upon yourself will not warm your dying heart into the life of hope! What will you do? Alas, what will youdo? And you, you worldlings who have no wealth, but live for present pleasure- where, then, will be your wine cups and yourdances? Where your draughts of mighty ale, your oaths and blasphemies?
Where, then, your midnight revelry and wantonness? When you shall appear before the Judge of all the earth, what will be leftto you? When all these unhallowed pleasures are swept away, what remains? Yes, you lover of pleasure, make merry and rejoicetoday, but "when you are spoiled, what will you do?" With your children about you, rejoice in your home and live at ease withoutGod but, "when you are spoiled, what will you do?" Despise religion if you will-and count it all a dream invented to makemen sour and wretched-but when you are dying and your pulse is faint and failing, what will you do?
What can you do? Opportunities over and space for repentance nearly run out-what will you do? The thought perhaps, will seizeyou, then, "Too late, too late! I cannot enter now." The voice which says, "Behold the Bridegroom comes," will startle youin the midnight of your ignorance just as you are about to die-and then you will wring your hands in everlasting despair becauseyou did not, in due time, seek Him who can save you from the wrath to come! Awake, I beseech you, your sluggish hearts, andlook forward to your latter end! I pray that I may leave one or two solemn thoughts upon the minds of the careless. Betterstill, I pray God the Holy Spirit to lead them, now, to believe on the Lord Jesus to the saving of their souls! Amen.