LivePrayerSermon 2741. Salvation by Grace
(No. 2741)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 25, 1901.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A THURSDAY EVENING, IN THE SUMMER OF 1859.
"By Grace you are saved." Ephesians 2:5.
THE cardinal error against which the Gospel of Christ has to contend is the effect of the tendency of the human heart to relyupon salvation by works. The great antagonist to the Truth of God, as it is in Jesus, is that pride of man which leads himto believe that he can be, at least in part, his own savior. This error is the prolific mother of multitudes of heresies!It is through this falsehood that the pure stream of the Truth of God has been tainted so that, instead of flowing on in oneclear pure river, it has been sadly polluted. There have been many who have sought to hinder the flowing of the Water of Life,or to divert the stream from its proper current. Many have tried to mingle the fancies and fallacies of men with the Truthas it is in Jesus, in order, thereby, to make it more palatable to poor, fallen, human nature.
It is my belief that all great reforms in the Church of Christ must have for their basis the declaration of the Doctrine revealedin my text-"By Grace you are saved." The tendency of the Church, like that of the world, is to fly away from this Truth whichis really the sum and substance of the Gospel. A departure from this Doctrine is, in my opinion, the essence of those manyerrors which, springing up from time to time, have troubled and divided the Church and marred the beauty of the spouse ofChrist.
In all times, whenever this Doctrine has been obscured, the Church has become either heretical or Laodicean. She has eitherheld some dangerous and damnable heresy, or she has held only a portion of the Truth and held it with so feeble a grasp thatit has lost its ancient power in her hands-so that her enemies have prevailed against her. The mightiest men in all ages ofthe Church's history-those who have been the means of bringing the greatest good into her midst, and the most usefulness intothe world-have been those who, rising up like Samson when called to do valiant deeds on behalf of Israel, have made this thedistinguishing characteristic of their ministry-the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace in contradistinction of salvation by works.
In Augustine's day, there had been a grievous falling away from the simplicity of the Gospel. And when he arose and preachedto the world this glorious Truth of God, there was an influence for good which, I believe, staved off the great Romish heresy,at least for a time. Had the Church and the world but listened to his voice and accepted his teaching, Popery would have beenan impossibility! Then later, when Romanism had waxed exceedingly strong, the Lord raised up Martin Luther who taught thisas the great central Truth of Christianity, that sinners are justified by faith-not by works. After Luther came another distinguishedteacher of the Doctrine of Grace-John Calvin, a man far better instructed in the Truth of the Gospel than even Martin Lutherwas-and he pushed this grand Doctrine to its legitimate consequences. Luther had, as it were, undammed the stream of Truthby breaking down the barrier which had kept back the living waters in the great reservoir-but the stream was turbid and carrieddown with it much that ought to have been left behind. Then Calvin came and cast salt into the waters and purified them, sothat they flowed on in a clear, sweet, pure stream to gladden and refresh the Church of God and to quench the thirst of poorparched sinners.
Calvin preached, as his great staple Doctrine, the great Truth in my text, "By Grace you are saved." It is common, in thesedays, to call those ministers who dwell mainly upon this Doctrine, "Calvinists." But we do not accept that title without qualification.We are not ashamed of it and we would rather be called "Calvinists" than have any other name
except that which is our true one. We hold and assert again and again, that the Truth of God which Calvin preached, the Truthof God which Augustine thundered out with all his might-was the very Truth of God which the Apostle Paul had long before writtenin his Inspired Epistles and which is most clearly revealed in the discourses of our blessed Lord Himself! We desire to preachthe Truth of God, the whole Truth of God and nothing but the Truth of God! We are not the followers of any mere man-we donot derive our Inspiration from Calvin's Institutes and Commentaries, but from the Word of God itself! Yet we hold the Doctrinescommonly called, "Calvinism," to be none other than the essential basement Doctrines of our holy faith. These were the truthsthat Whitefield preached and that produced the great revival in his days! And these must be the Doctrines to which the Churchof God must again return, if the Church of Rome is to be razed to its deep foundations, or souls to be converted in greatmultitudes, or the Kingdom of Christ to come!
My text relates to the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace and, coming to it, I ask you to notice, first, that the Apostle addressescertain people who were saved. Next, I want you to notice the meanings of the term, "Grace," as applied in the Scriptures.And I shall finish with some consolatory and practical inferences.
I. In the first place, THE APOSTLE ADDRESSES CERTAIN PEOPLE, TO WHOM HE SAYS, "YOU ARE SAVED." He does not say, "You shallbe saved," or, "You hope to be saved." He speaks to them as persons already "saved." Now, there are no people on the faceof the earth who can be correctly described as "saved" unless it can also be said of them that they are saved by Grace!
I see two things in this part of my text and, first, the Apostle mentions a present salvation. He speaks not to people whowere to be saved when they died, or who hoped to be saved in some future state, but he addresses those who actually were saved-whohad salvation, not in prospect, but in present enjoyment-who had passed out of a state of condemnation into that of salvationand who looked upon their salvation as being as sure, as certain, as really theirs as their houses, their lands, or theirlives!
A present salvation cannot consistently be preached by any beside those who hold the Doctrine that salvation is by Grace.Is there a Roman Catholic, in the whole world, who, in harmony with his own creed, can say that he is saved? No, there isnot one! In fact, lying as that creed does, it does not profess to put anyoneinto a position in which he can say, "I am saved."No, the Romish Church not only postpones salvation to the day of death, but positively beyond it! There was Daniel O'Connell,of whom the Pope said that he was his greatest subject in Europe-yet it is not many years ago that we were informed that hewas in "purgatory." It was a hard thing that such a faithful disciple of the Pope should be sent there, yet he was no worseoff than the bishops, archbishops and cardinals, for, according to the Romish teaching, they all go to "purgatory!" Of course,the Pope lets them out after a certain time, but that is all he professes to offer- salvation after a future indefinite period-henever pretends to say to anyone, "You are saved now." That would be a lie too gross even for the Pope and priests of Rometo utter! There is no such thing as a present salvation in the whole of the Romish Church.
Nor is this possible under any system except that of salvation by Grace. Bring up the good Dissenters, and the good Churchmen,the men and women who are regular in their attendance on outward ordinances. Whatever the ceremonies of their church may be,they observe them with the most indefatigable industry. They have been "baptized" and confirmed. They have "taken the sacrament,"or sat at the communion table-according to the phraseology of their different churches-and they believe that, by their constantattention to the outward observances of worship, they will assuredly be saved! But speak to any one of these people, and askif he can say, "I know that my sins are forgiven"-he will be astonished at your enquiry, and will reply, "I would not havethe presumption to say such a thing!"
Appeal to the very best of them, the most devoted, the most earnest, the most indefatigable of those who are seeking salvationby their own works, and ask if they have obtained eternal life. You cannot find one who has done so-they are all hoping that,through the mercy of God, they may somehow and sometime be saved-but none of them will declare that they are now saved. Fromthose who join us in church fellowship, I frequently hear such remarks as this, "I attended my church every day in the week.I repeated the prayers regularly, but I never found any rest to my soul until I trusted wholly in Christ." From others whoattended certain Dissenting places of worship, I have had such expressions as this, "I went up to the House of God and I heardmy minister exhort me to be patient in sickness, to love my God and my neighbor, and I tried to do my best to obey his exhortations,but I never could say that I was a saved man, or use the con-
fident language of the spouse, 'My Beloved is mine, and I am His,' until I learned that salvation is all of Grace and, byHis Grace, trusted in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ."
No, my dear Friends, under the theory of salvation by works, whatever form it may take-whether it appears in the garb of Popery,or hides itself under the veil of Protestantism-it is always substantially the same-a man's own works cannot pretend to offerto him the blessing of a present salvation! Take the Arminian theory, which is the least objectionable of all forms of salvationby works-cut it asunder-and you will find that there is a strong taint of Popery even there.
"But," asks someone, "do not Arminians rejoice to say that they are already saved?" Yes, but their assertion is contradictedby the assurance which they will give you directly afterwards, that they may finally perish. Although they are now saved,their safety is something like that of a wrecked mariner who, after being tossed to and fro in a stormy sea, is washed upon a rock, from which he may presently be hurled back into the raging billows! Their safety is not like that of the man whohas been carried into the lighthouse, or brought to land in the lifeboat, for they believe that, after all they have experienced,they may be lost. It is not salvation that the Arminian possesses-he is only in a salvable state. His condition is that ofa man who, if he continues to repent and believe, shall be saved, but he is not truly saved now -he has not been built uponthat sure, certain, solid foundation upon which the true Believer is resting. He cannot sing, with Toplady-
"The terrors of Law, and of God
With me can have nothing to do!
My Savior's obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view!
My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase-
Impressed on His heart it remains
In marks of indelible Grace.
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given-
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in Heaven!" Such a salvation as that-a present one, enjoyed now in all its fullness, in all its riches,in all its boundless lengths, and breadths, and depths and heights-is not possible under any other system but that of salvationby Grace, and by Grace alone! We, of all men living, who preach the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace, can proclaim a presentsalvation in all its fullness.
In our text we also see that the Apostle speaks of a perfect salvation. We teach that the moment a man believes in Christ,he is not merely put into a salvable state, not half saved-he is not placed in a position where, if he remains, he will besaved, but concerning which there is a fear that he may fall from it-but that he is already completely saved! I verily believethat the saints in Heaven, albeit they have received the crown of salvation, are not, as to its essential reality, more trulysaved than the meanest and weakest Believer in Christ who is struggling through floods of temptation here upon earth.
For what is it to be saved? It is to have sin forgiven and to be "accepted in the Beloved." The moment a sinner believes inJesus, his sins are as much pardoned as they ever will be! They are as fully and as finally blotted out of God's Book of Remembranceas they would be if he should live a thousand years of piety. He is as completely clear, as far as the forgiveness of hissins is concerned, as he will be when he stands at the right hand of the Judge at the Last Great Day.
To be saved, however, includes more than forgiveness of sins-it includes the imputation of the righteousness of Christ and,in this sense, also, the meanest Believer in Him is as much saved as the celestial spirits in the Paradise above. Is the robeof Christ's righteousness spread over the Apostles? So is it, at this hour, around the poorest person on earth who is trustingin Jesus! Are those who sing God's praises before His Throne in Glory clothed in the fair white linen which is the righteousnessof the saints? Even so are all Believers here below! Each saint is, as John Kent says-
"With his spotless vesture on, Holy as the Holy One."
Covered with Christ's righteousness, God sees no spot in His people!
"But," asks someone, "are not the saints in Heaven more secure than Believers on earth?" Believers on earth are not securefrom temptation, but they are secure from destruction-not from tribulation, but from condemnation! They are not exempt fromcare, woe and suffering, but they are forever delivered from the wrath of God and the damnation of Hell. Not an angel in Heavenis more certain of the eternal love of God than is the feeblest Believer upon earth! If your soul is committed to the handsof Christ, you can never perish! I speak no more strongly than His own utterances warrant, for Jesus has said, "My sheep hearMy voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." To the womanat the well of Sychar, our Savior said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the waterthat I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." We are complete in Him-perfectedin all the essentials of salvation!
Now, mark, under no system of Doctrine whatever is perfect salvation in this world contemplated except under that scheme whichteaches that we are saved by Grace. Under the plan of salvation proposed by the work-mongers, there is no completeness inany of its aspects. Under the old Mosaic dispensation in which God most clearly revealed Himself as the Judge of His people,all "those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually" could not "make the comers thereunto perfect." There was,"in those sacrifices, a remembrance again made of sins every year." However attentive they might be to all the observancesof the Ceremonial Law, their salvation was not perfect. But Christ, "by one offering has perfected forever them that are sanctified"and, therefore, He has "sat down at the right hand of God."
Now if under that noblest form of the Covenant of Works, complete salvation was not to be secured, how is it likely to beattained in any of those corrupt systems in which, while men profess to set aside the old Covenant of Works, they yet expectto find salvation? No man but he who believes the Doctrines of Grace talks about being completely saved. Ask the Arminian-thefairest and best specimen, sometimes the best of men, though miserably mistaken as to his beliefs- what can he say? He tellsyou that if he perseveres in well-doing, in faith and in repentance, he will be saved. Ask him whether he is completely saved,or whether there is something more yet to be done and he will tell you that there is many a step yet to be taken before hewill reach full salvation. He may talk about a finished righteousness, but he does not know how it is attained!
We hold that Believers are complete in Christ even now and that, die whenever they may, they will enter into His Presenceas being already perfect in Him. Oh, how sweet it is to enjoy a present salvation, which is, at the same time, a perfect salvation!How grateful should we be that it is presented to us in the Covenant of Grace and that it is revealed to us in those blessedportions of Holy Scripture which tell us of the wonderful Grace of God which He has manifested towards His people! "You aresaved." Oh, how sweet are these words! Pause, Beloved, a moment or two, and rejoice over them. "You are saved"-saved now,at this present instant-if you are Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ!
II. Now we are to notice THE MEANINGS OF THE TERM, "GRACE," AS EMPLOYED IN THE SCRIP-
TURES-"By Grace you are saved."
First, it means that if we are saved, it must be a matter of free favor. There is nothing in us that could ever merit God'sesteem, or give Him such delight as to lead Him to bestow upon us the blessings of eternal salvation. If we ask why any individualsare rescued from the ruins of the Fall and enabled to believe in Jesus, the only answer is, "Even so, Father, for so it seemedgood in Your sight." Certainly, we were not saved because of our talents, for the most talented often remain unconverted.We were not saved because of our wealth, for most of us have none. We were not saved because of the excellence of our disposition,or the holiness of our character, for, even since our conversion, we cannot think of our best services without shame and confusionof face. If I look upon the people of God, either in the mass or as individuals, instead of imagining that there was anythingin them to cause God to love them, I am compelled to say that there seems to have been far more to move Him to destroy themthan to save them! Will not all Believers here confess that they are saved not because of anything good in them, but becauseof Grace most full, and free, and unconstrained?
Further, we are saved by Grace as a matter of Divine operation. From the first holy desire in the soul, to the last shoutof victory in the dying hour, salvation is by the operation of the Almighty. Whatever is not worked in you, by God's Grace,will be an injury, not a blessing, to you. If any of you have a faith, or a repentance, or any condition of heart or lifewhich is of your own making, get rid of it, for there is nothing good in it! That so-called faith which is not the gift ofGod is really presumption-and that repentance which is not godly sorrow worked by God in the soul, needs
to be repented of! I am sure that all there is of good in any saint must have been put there by the Holy Spirit, for it wouldnot have sprung up of itself. Human hearts will naturally grow weeds, but not those rare exotics, those flowers of Heaven,the Christian Graces! These must be Divinely implanted and nurtured, and grow up entirely by the exercise of that same Omnipotencewhich raised Christ from the dead!
I will go even further and say that if Divine Grace should carry us every inch of the road to Heaven but one, we would belost because of that last inch! If, in the edifice of our soul's salvation, there is even one stone left for us to put inits place, unassisted by God's Grace, that building will never be completed! From first to last, all must be of Grace. I agreewith the highest doctrinalist upon this point, that there is not, and there cannot be a good thing in the heart of any manif it was not worked there by the Sovereign Grace of God.
"Well, but," says one, "is it not the duty of men to repent and to believe?" Certainly it is, but I am not speaking of theirduty. Their lack of power does not excuse them from obedience to God's command. If a man owed another a thousand pounds, itwould be his duty to pay his debt, whether he had the ability or not. And, inasmuch as it is man's duty to repent and to believe,herein is the Glory of God's Grace made manifest, in that He accomplishes, by his Grace, what man could never have done! Ican truly say that as far as I have gone in the Divine life, there has been nothing good in me but that which has come fromGod. Let others give their own testimony-if they have any good thing which they have produced, let them glory in it! But Ihave nothing whereof to glory and must say to the Lord, "You have worked all my works in me as far as they have been any good,but, as for myself, I would cover my face and cry, 'Unclean, unclean, unclean.' Lord, have mercy upon Your servant!"
III. Now, to close, I want to draw some CONSOLATORY AND PRACTICAL INFERENCES.
First, how humble that man ought to be who is saved by Grace! The Arminian says that he can stand or fall according to hisown will. Ought he not to be proud? What a fine fellow he is! Sing a Psalm in your own honor, Sir, and when you get to Heaven,take all the glory to yourself! You say that you have done part yourself-you admit that the Lord did a great deal for you,but that your own free will settled the matter. Very well, then, give the glory to yourself-sing your own praises foreverand ever! But the true Believer says, "I was as clay in the hands of the potter when the Lord began with me. I was senseless,dead, corrupt, till the Lord took me in hand and quickened and changed me, and made me what I am-and I would go back to whatI was before if He did not keep me by His Grace. But I know that what His Grace has commenced, He will certainly complete,and to Him be all the Glory!"
Next, if we are saved by Grace, we, of all people, should have compassion on those who are out of the way If we are on theroad to Heaven, we were brought onto it by Grace and, therefore, we ought to be very considerate of those who are not on it.That good man, John Newton, used to say, "A Calvinist who gets angry with the ungodly" is inconsistent with his profession.He knows that no man can receive this Doctrine except by the Grace of God-so, if God has not given to these men the Graceto receive this Doctrine, rather pray for them than get angry with them-and ask that they may receive the Truth in which yoursoul delights."
Then, once again, here is a word of comfort If we are saved-are saved, mark you-what shall make us sad and unhappy at heart?"Oh!" says one, "I am so poor." Yes, but you are saved! You are a Believer in Christ, so you are saved. "But," says another,"I am so afflicted." Yes, but you are saved. "But," says another, "I am often so neglected and despised." Yes, but you aresaved. Oh, what joy would that thought have caused, a little while ago, when the burden of all your sins was upon you! Youused to say, "Oh, if I could but be sure that I was saved, I would not mind if I had nothing but a crust of bread and a cupof water! If I could but know that my sins were forgiven, I would not mind being shut up anywhere in the world! If I mightknow that I was Christ's, the world might say what it liked about me."
Now you do know it, for you are on the Rock and you are saved-so why are you sad? You may now be despised, but, remember,the time is coming when you shall be glorified with Christ! You may be now forgotten by your friends, but your Savior's eyesare on you and your name is on His heart! You are sad, yes, but you are secure! If you believe in Jesus, you may be cast downbut you cannot be destroyed! You may be forsaken for a while, but you can never be cast away! Come then-
"Children of the heavenly King, As you journey, sweetly sing- Sing your Savior's worthy praise, Glorious in His works andways."
Lastly, one word to those who cannot say that they are saved. My dear Friends, there is very much in this text that shouldcheer and comfort you. The men who are saved are saved by Grace-by God's free favor. There was nothing in them to recommendthem to God. You have been confessing, "O Lord, I do not feel as I ought to feel" He does not want your feelings as a recommendation.If saved, you are to be saved as a matter of free favor and not as a matter of merit in any sense whatever. "But," says one,"I cannot repent, I cannot believe." My dear Friend, you are not going to be saved by anything that youcan do in your ownstrength. You need repentance. Do not try to work it for yourself-the Lord will work repentance in you. You need faith. Donot go about to seek faith in yourself-you will never find it there- seek it from Christ. He is the Author as well as theFinisher of faith!
"By Grace you are saved." Go and carry this text into every den and sty of pollution in London! Tell it to the murderer, thethief, the blasphemer, the harlot! Tell it to the man who cannot repent, and cannot pray, and cannot believe! Tell him thatsalvation is by Grace, and is worked in us by God the Holy Spirit and, as the hymn says-
"Heaven with the echo shall resound, And all the earth shall hear."
Go, then, my Brothers and Sisters, and spread the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace, for this old watchword of the Church isthe source of her victory! And when once this shall be her battle-cry, her triumph is sure! The headstone of God's spiritualtemple shall be brought forth with shouts, crying, "Grace, Grace unto it."
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1 CORINTHIANS 12; 13:1-3.
1 Corinthians 12:1, 2. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant You know that you were Gentiles, carried away untothese dumb idols, even as you were led. Although the members of the church at Corinth were highly favored with spiritual gifts,they do not seem to have known how to use them. Paul points out to them, in this chapter, how ignorant they were concerningthe very gifts which they possessed. They did not know how to put them to proper use in the service of God. The Apostle, therefore,reminds these gift-exalted Corinthians that, only a little while before, they were heathens, carried away by lies and superstition,and worshipping dumb idols. They had nothing, therefore, to boast of and it is probable that if we look back to the hole ofthe pit from where we were dug, we shall find no more occasion for boasting than they had.
3. Therefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God call Jesus accursed. I suppose that in theirassemblies, where everybody talked who liked, there were some people who even spoke blasphemy. They professed to be underthe guidance of the Spirit of God and yet they stood up and called Jesus accursed. Where there is no rule nor order, thereis pretty sure to be something very mischievous before long. Paul gives them to understand that this kind of talk could notgo unrebuked.
3. And that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit If a man really knows Jesus as his Lord, and hedeclares that Truth of God, then you may fully accept it as being in harmony with the teaching of the Spirit of
God.
4-7. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spiritis given to every man to profit all. It is given in order that he may, himself, profit, and also that he may be the meansof profiting those who hear him.
8. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. He is prudent-an experienced man-fit to lead the young, the feebleand those who are less instructed than he is himself.
8. To another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. He has a wide range of practical acquaintance with God's Word andthough he may not be so judicious as the Brother who was just mentioned, yet he is a man of knowledge.
9. To another faith by the same Spirit. Paul probably means here some special kind of faith. Perhaps the faith that enabledits possessor to work miracles.
9, 10. To another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to anotherdiscerning of spirits. So that he is able to detect the impostors who come even into the nominal Church of Christ. They didcome then, and they will continue to come even to the end.
10, 11. To another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongue: but all these works that one and thesame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will Whatever our gifts as a church, or as individuals, may be, they allcome from the same Spirit. This should tend to promote unity among us. Let us all trace whatever gift we have to the handthat gave it, and to the Spirit that worked it. Let us feel that we are so many pipes connected with one fountain and, therefore,as all the good that we convey comes from the one Source, let us give all the honor and glory of it to the Spirit of God fromwhom it comes.
12. For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so alsois Christ That, is to say, Christ visible-the Church of Christ. We are members of His mystical body. He is the Head, but allwho are quickened by the Spirit of God are one with Him.
13, 14. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are bond or free;and have been all made to drink into one Spirit For the body is not one member, but many. By the way in which some peopleact, you might almost imagine that the body was one member and that the one member was a tongue-but it is not so. God neverintended that in the assembly, all should speak. Let those speak to whom He has given the power to speak. He does not layall burdens upon one back-let each man bear the personal burden which God has placed upon his back.
15. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? Where are you,dear child of God, who are in the position of the foot? Have you been comparing yourself with some eminent Christian who didmuch in his Master's service? And have you sorrowfully asked, "Why cannot I do what he did? I am only a poor foot, alwaystouching the ground, often limping and frequently needing to be washed." Well, suppose you could be made into a hand, it mightbe a gain to you in some respects, but it might be a loss to the rest of the body. It would certainly be a loss to any ofyou if your feet were to be turned into hands, for you have need of feet! And the Church, which is here called by the nameof Christ, needs its feet as much as it needs its hands. The mercy is that even if you have, in your anxiety-perhaps I oughtto say in your unbelief-been saying, "Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body," it does not matter what you have said,for that does not alter the fact! "Is it therefore not of the body?" Of course, it is still of the body, whatever it may say!
16. And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?Oh, by no means!The ear has its proper purpose to fulfill. It is designed for a special service in the body which no other member can render.We must never compare ourselves among ourselves and wish to be somebody else. You are bad enough as you are, dear Friend,but you would probably be much worse if you were somebody else. You may think that you are a very poor ear, but you woulddecidedly make a much worse eye. Even if your ear is dull of hearing, it can, at any rate, hear better than it can see! Itcan do its own work better than it could do the work of any other member of the body-and so can you as a member of Christ'smystical body.
17. 18. If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But nowhas God set the members, everyone of them in the body as it has pleased Him. That is the best rule for each part of our body-"asit has pleased Him." Could any of you suggest a better place for your eyes than where they are? We have read the old heathenfable of a giant who had one eye in the middle of his forehead-and whenever I have seen his portrait sketched by fancy, Ihave felt, at once, that it was no improvement upon the human face! No, the eyes are best where they are-and so the ears-andso is the mouth. They are all best just where they are. So are you, my Brother or my Sister, best where you are, if you arein the place where God evidently meant you to be.
19. Andifthey were all one member, where were the body?There would be no body at all!
20, 21. But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of you. Youknow how very quick the hand always is to go up to the eye when it is in danger. You do not have to wait to tell it what todo, but in an instant, the hand is up, for there is a feeling between the members of the same body. "The eye cannot say untothe hand, I have no need of you." And the hand never feels that it may leave the eye to take care of it-self-it is ready toprotect it at once.
21-23. Nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No, much more those members of the body which seem to be morefeeble are necessary: and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundanthonor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. They are covered and concealed and so we take more trouble withthem than we do with other parts of our body.
24. For our comely parts have no need: but God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that partwhich lacked. Here is a lesson for us with regard to church fellowship-always to take most notice of those who are the leastnoticeable, and to be most gentle with those who require the most tenderness. You know that there are some of our fellow memberswho are not all we should like them to be. We believe that they are children of God, but they are, somehow or other, "cuton the cross." They are crotchety and weak in many ways. Now, we should try, as far as we can, to adapt ourselves to them.If you have ever had the gout very badly, you know that if a person walks across the room too heavily, you feel it. Do you,therefore, say to your father, when he is thus laid aside, "You cannot expect me to take notice of such a thing as that? Norwould you be so cruel as to say to anybody else, "If he has a gouty foot, I cannot help it and I shall tread on it every nowand then." No, you are not so brutal as that! So, if there is a member of the body that is more tender than the rest, andespecially if that tenderness is the result of disease, let us try to minister to it as far as we possibly can. Let us give"more abundant honor to that part which lacks."
25. That there should be no schism in the body. That is, no division, no tear in the body. 25, 26. But that the members shouldhave the same care, one for another. And whether one member suffers, all the
members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. I am afraid that this second half of theverse refers to a duty which is more neglected than is the other. It is an easier thing to suffer with those that suffer thanit is to rejoice with those that rejoice. And I will tell you why it is so-because, in giving compassion to those that suffer,you have some sense of dignity. Condescension is often a sort of pride, but when a Brother is better off than you are- whenhe has more talent than you have-when he is more successful than you are-for you to go and rejoice with him and be as gladas if it were all your own gladness-yes, to enter into his joy, and say, "God be thanked, my Brother, for your prosperity!I would increase it if I could, for I feel that I am a partner with you!"-ah, this needs great Grace. So, may God continuallygive us more Grace and deliver us from everything like envy, which is of Satan, and yet is all too common even among professingChristians!
27-31. Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God has set some in the church, first Apostles, secondarilyProphets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are allApostles? Are all Prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak withtongues? Do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinklingcymbal And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith,so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, andthough I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing. God grant us Grace, then, that we may aboundin this most excellent Grace of a true Christian life which is infinitely more essential than the highest gifts or the mostremarkable talents that God Himself can bestow upon us!