Sermon 2810. 'Nevertheless at Your Word'

(No. 2810)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 21, 1902.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, JUNE 3, 1877.

"Nevertheless at Your word." Luke 5:5.

OUR Lord Jesus Christ had preached a sermon to the multitude while He was sitting down in Peter's boat. And after the peoplehad gone, He had a private message for Simon. He said to him, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."Christ's discourses to the general public were all full of most blessed teaching, but His little private talks to His intimateacquaintances were even more helpful and precious. They were important Truths of God which He proclaimed to the many, butthe choicest things He reserved for the few. Many a parable which He addressed to the crowd, He explained only to His owndisciples-and many a thing which He never said to the crowd at all, because they could not understand it, and it would havebeen like casting pearls before swine, He whispered in the ears of His disciples. So it was with Simon Peter at this time.First there was the sermon to the many and after the sermon, this word to Peter about launching out into the deep. Mind thatyou, who love the Lord, always look for the private piece after the public sermon. Watch for the sweet Word which your Masteris always willing to utter-and do not be satisfied unless you hear it.

Then, if the message that He gives you shall be a precept, or a command, like that addressed to Simon, bidding him let downhis nets, be careful that you obey it at once. Be not negligent of the special voice of God in your own heart and conscience,for God intends thereby to bestow a great blessing upon you, even as He did upon Simon whose boat was filled with fish almostto sinking! If you give heed to that special private word of your Lord to your own heart and soul, you shall have many a boatfulof fish, or rather, many a heart-full of untold blessing which otherwise you might never have received.

Peter, being exhorted to launch out into the deep and to let down his nets for a catch, reasoned that, according to the ordinarycourse of events, it would be of very little use to do so, for he and his comrades had been toiling hard with their greatnets all through the night, yet they had caught nothing and it did not, therefore, seem probable that they would catch anythingnow. However, feeling that Christ was his Master and Lord, and that it did not become him to raise any question about thematter, he just stated the facts of the case and then added, cheerfully, "Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."

Those four words, "Nevertheless at Your word," seem to furnish me with a topic upon which I shall try to speak thus-First,the word of Christ is our supreme rule. "At Your word." Secondly, the word of Christ is our sufficient warrant. If we havethat at our back, we may well say, "Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." And, thirdly, to keep that word willalways ensure a reward.

I. First, then, THE WORD OF CHRIST IS THE SUPREME RULE OF THE CHRISTIAN. Time out of mind have we spoken to you about theprecious blood of Christ that cleanses all sin and about the blessings that Jesus brings to you when He becomes your Savior.But we are also bound to remind all of you who profess to have believed on Him, and to have become His disciples, that youmust not only acknowledge Him as your Master and Lord, but that you must do whatever He bids you-

"Faith must obey the Savior's will,

As well as trust His Grace."

The moment we become Christians, who are saved by Christ, we become His servants to obey all His commandments. Hence, it isincumbent upon us to search the Scriptures, that we may know what our Master's will is. There He has written it out for usin plain letters and it is an act of disobedience to neglect this search. By refusing to learn what the will of our Lord is,the sin of ignorance becomes willfulbecause we do not use the means by which we might receive instruction. Every servant ofChrist is bound to know what he or she is to do and then, when he knows it, he should at once do it. The Christian's businessis, first, to learn Christ's will and, secondly, to do it! Once learned, that will is the supreme law of the Christian whatevermay seem to oppose it.

Let me just mention a few of the times when it seems difficult to conform to that will, but when we must say, "Neverthelessat Your word."

And, first, we must do this with regard to great Gospel Truths when our own reason is staggered. No thoughtful person canseriously consider the Doctrines of Grace without often crying out, "They are high! I cannot attain to them." There are manythings revealed to us in the Scriptures which we cannot understand-no, not even though we give all our mind to endeavor tocomprehend them. There are difficulties in theology. This doctrine does not appear to square with that, or that one with thenext. One Truth, perhaps, appears inconsistent with the love of God, or we may, sometimes, wonder how certain events in God'sProvidential dealings can be consistent with His goodness or justice. Well, my Brothers and Sisters, whenever you put yourhand to your brow and say, concerning anything revealed in the Scriptures, "I cannot comprehend it," lay your other hand uponyour heart and say, "Nevertheless I believe it. It is clearly taught in the Bible and although my reason may find it difficultto explain it, and I may not be able to discover any arguments to prove the truth of it, yet I lay my reason down at my InfallibleMaster's feet and trust where I cannot see." For a man to take his creed blindly from a pope or a priest is to degrade himselfbecause he receives that teaching from his fellow man-but for him to lay his whole mind down at the feet of Jesus Christ isno degradation since Christ is the Wisdom of God, and all wisdom is Infallibly gathered up in Him. I do not expect to fullyunderstand my Lord's will-I only ask to be informed what that will is. I do not suppose that I can comprehend it, but I say,"What is Your will, my Master? If You will reveal it to me, I will believe it."

We must adopt a similar course when we are exposed to the quibbles of our fellow men. Many young persons, especially, findthemselves unable to answer all the objections that are raised by those who oppose the Gospel. It would be a marvel if theycould, for the old proverb says, "One fool can ask more questions than 50 wise men can answer." It is not likely that thosewho are just beginning to learn Divine Truths could be able to overcome all its opponents. When a question has sometimes staggeredme, I have felt, "Well, I cannot answer that, but I believe that it can be answered. I thank God that I have heard it asked,for it has taught me my ignorance upon that point-and I will sit down and study God's Word till I can answer it-but even ifI cannot answer it, it does not matter. Somebody can do so and, above all, God Himself can! Be it mine, sometimes, to leavethe arrows of the adversary sticking in my shield-they will do no harm there. If he likes to see them there, let him be amusedby it, but as long as I cling to Christ's Infallible teaching, they will not hurt me. So let him shoot and shoot again." Youwill find, Beloved, that this will be good exercise for your humility and good exercise for your loyalty to Christ. It willbe shown that you are, after all, a follower of Christ-not a believer in your own infallibility, or relying upon that reasonof yours which, at best, is but a dim candle. It will be shown, I say-that you have really yielded up your mind to the lordshipof your Savior.

Sometimes we shall have to say, "Nevertheless at Your word," when the command of Christ seems contrary to our own experience.It would become a dangerous thing if we were always to follow the experience even of Christians, for the experience of oneman might teach us one thing, but the experience of another might teach us the very reverse. And to make experience the basisof theology-though it is often a helpful illustration of it, would lead to great mistake. I must never say, "I did such-and-sucha thing-I know it was not right, yet good came of it and, therefore, I feel that I may do the same thing again." Neither oughtI to say, "I did such-and-such, which I knew was right, but I suffered great trouble as the result of it and, therefore, Iought not to do it again." No, no! Whatever happens to us, our only course is to pursue the right path and to avoid all thatis wrong. Let each of us say, "My Master, if any act of obedience to You were to cost me many a privilege-cost me my liberty-causeme to be put into prison" (and it has done so to many of the saints of old) "yet I will do as You command me, whatever theconsequences may be."

What said Master John Bunyan, after he had lain in prison many years simply for preaching the Gospel? The magistrates saidto him, "John, we will let you out, but you must promise not to preach again. There are the regular divines of the country-whathave you, as a tinker, to do with preaching?" John Bunyan did not say, "Well, now, I can see that this preaching is a badthing. It has got me into prison and I have had hard work to tag enough laces to keep my wife and that poor blind child ofmine. I had better get out of this place and stick to my tinkering." No, he did not talk like that. He said to the magistrates,"If you let me out of prison today, I will preach again tomorrow, by the Grace of God." And when they told him that they wouldnot let him out unless he promised not to preach, he bravely answered, "If I lie in jail till the moss grows on my eyelids,I will never conceal the Truth which God has taught me."

We are, therefore, not to put our own past experience in the way of obedience to our Lord's will, but to say to Him, "Nevertheless,however costly this duty may prove to be, at Your command I will let down the net, or do whatever You bid me do." But, sometimes,people get remarkably wise through experience, or they think that they do. Old sailors, for instance, fancy that they "knowa thing or two." And Simon Peter, who had been fishing in that lake for a long while, thought he knew all that could be knownabout fishing. And Christ interfered with Peter just in Peter's own line and gave him a command about fishing! The fishermanmight have said, "What is the good of casting the net? We have been fishing all night long and have taken nothing! What isthe good of our fishing anymore?" Peter did not talk so, though he may have thought like that, but he said, "Neverthelessat Your word, since You know far more about fish than I do- since You did make them and can make them come wherever You will.Since, Lord, You command it-I would not do it at anybody else's bidding, but I will do it at Yours-I will let down the net."So, sometimes, there may be something in God's Word, or some path of duty clearly indicated to you which does not seem, tocarnal judgment, to be very wise, but you are to say, "Nevertheless at Your word-no other authority could make me do it-butYour Law is the supreme rule for my conduct and I will do whatever You bid me."

This great principle ought also to prevail when self-love is in the way. Sometimes the command of Christ runs completely contraryto what we would like and obedience to it involves self-denial. It threatens to take away from us much that was very pleasurableto us and then, very likely, something within us says, "Do not obey it. It will go very hard with you if you do." Nevertheless,Brothers and Sisters, may the Holy Spirit so mightily work upon you that you will do anything and everything that Christ commands,however galling to the flesh it may be! We are not our own, so let us never act as if we were. The mark of the precious bloodof Jesus is upon us-we have been bought with it-so it is not right for us to make provision for the flesh, or to be lookingout for our own ease or aggrandizement. It is our duty to do whatever our Lord bids us do and to take the consequences, whateverthey may be. So let us, each one, say, "I know that it will cost me much, my Master, but, nevertheless, I will do whateverYou command me."

Sometimes, there is a still more powerful opposition to the will of the Lord-that is, when love of others would hinder usfrom obeying it. "If I do such-and-such, which I know I ought to do, I shall grieve my parents. If I carry out that commandof Christ, the dearest friend I have will be very angry with me. He has threatened to cast me off if I am baptized. My oldcompanions, who have been very kind to me, will all consider that I have gone out of my mind and will no longer wish to haveme in their company." If a person has a genial heart and a loving spirit, this kind of treatment is very trying and thereis a strong temptation to say, "Well, now, how far can I go in religion and yet manage to save these fond connections? I donot wish to set myself up in opposition to everybody else-can't I, somehow or other, please God and yet please these peopletoo?" But, Brothers and Sisters, if we are indeed Christians, the supreme rule of our Lord's will drives us to say to Him,"Nevertheless, I will do whatever You command." Farewell, our best-beloved, if they stand in the way of Christ our Lord, forHe said, "He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loves son or daughter more than Meis not worthy of Me." Everyone else and everything else must go that we may keep company with Christ!

It sometimes happens that we have God's Word pointing us to a certain course of action, but we do not follow it because ofthe faintness of our own heart. Do you ever feel faint-hearted? There are some people who seem as if they were born withoutnerves, or feelings, for they never appear to be downcast. But some of us, at times, shrink away and seem to be dried up,as if the marrow were gone from our bones and the strength from our hearts. At such a time as that we know what Christ wouldhave us do, but we hesitate to do it. We feel as if we could not-not that we wouldnot, but that we really could not. Thereis a lack of courage-a lack of confidence. We are timid and cannot dash into the fray. Then is

the time-when heart and flesh fail-for us to take God to be the strength of our soul by resolving, let our weakness be whatit may, that we will obey the command of Christ! When your heart is faint, dear Brother or Sister, still follow Christ. Whenyou feel as if you must die at your next step, still keep close at His heels and if your soul is almost in despair, yet holdon to Him and keep your feet in His ways. If anyone who fears the Lord still walks in darkness and has no Light of God, lethim trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God, for so shall His Light break forth as the morning and his heart shallbe once more glad in the Lord.

So you see, whatever obstacle there may be in the way of our obedience to the command of Christ, still let each one of ussay to Him, "Nevertheless at Your word, I will do whatever You command. That shall be the supreme rule and guide for all myactions."

II. Now, secondly, I want to show you that THE WORD OF CHRIST IS OUR SUFFICIENT WARRANT, as well

as our supreme rule.

This is, first, our warrant for believing on Him. If the Lord Jesus Christ has bid you do this, you certainly may do it! Andif any shall ask you why you believe on Him, this shall be your triumphant answer, "The King gave me the command to do so."Listen to this, all you who desire to have eternal life and who have not yet obtained it! The Gospel commission is, "Go youtherefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And thisis the Gospel command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." The poor timid soul says, "How can I ventureto trust my guilty soul with Christ? It would be presumption upon my part. What right have I to come and rely upon Him?" Itmust be right for you to do it, for He bids you do it! And if He bids you do it, this is warrant enough for you! Every sinnerunder Heaven who hears the glad tidings of salvation is commandedto believe on Jesus-and he is warned that if he does notbelieve on Him-he shall be damned! "God now commands all men everywhere to repent." This is the very widest form of command,so I bid each one of you to say, this very moment, "Lord, I am not worthy to be Your disciple, but, nevertheless, at Yourcommand, I will believe in You. I feel that it will be a wonder of Grace if I am saved and it is almost incredible that itshould ever take place-nevertheless, at Your command, I let down my net. I even dare to trust Your precious blood and Yourspotless righteousness and to expect that You will save me." Is not that a blessed form of argument? I pray that some of youmay feel its force and act upon it even now!

Next, this is an excellent reason for being baptized if you are a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody may say to you,"What is the good of Baptism? It will not save you-to be immersed in water will not wash away your sins." I hope you willbe ready to reply, "Yes, I know all that. Nevertheless, at Christ's command, I mean to do it. I ask not what will be the gainto me of obeying His orders. That would be sheer selfishness-He bids me be baptized and that is enough for me." "But such-and-sucha church does not practice the Baptism of Believers, or Baptism by immersion." No, but Christ has ordained it! By His ownexample, by His plain precept, by the preaching and practice of His Apostles, He has revealed His will to us and, therefore,it is for us to obey that will! If any shall accuse us of making too much of the Baptism of Believers, we reply, "Our Lordhas said, 'He that believes and is baptized shall be saved,' and we have no more right to leave out one portion of His wordsthan the other. So, at His command we do this-let men say what they will."

This, Beloved, is also the great argument for our taking up the position which we hold as Dissenters. Is it not a bad thingto dissent from other people! Yes, of course it is, if they are right and we are wrong, but it is just as bad for them todissent from us if we are right and they are wrong! I am not to say, "I will be singular and keep myself separate from otherpeople." It would be wrong for me to act like that. But it is right to say, "Whatever Christ commands is Law in His Church."What synods command, or bishops command, or popes command is not worth the paper it is written on- there is no authority init to a Christian. He is free from all such control as that. But the Law of Christ, as he finds it revealed in the Bible,is binding upon him. I should honor any man who stood absolutely alone, without another individual to support him in his opinion,for having the courage to do so, if he justified his action by the Word of God! To run with the multitude is only too oftento go on the wrong road. To believe a thing because the many believe it is a coward's reason! To slink away from truth becauseshe stands in the pillory-because she is unpopular-because the crowd cries her down-oh, this is a cowardly spirit! I wouldrather be on the side of truth with half a dozen paupers than be on the side of a lie with all the kings and prelates whoever rode in their pomp through the streets of this world, for, at the last, they who were on truth's side, and on Christ'sside, shall be honored and they who had not the conscience and the courage to follow the Lamb shall be dishonored and coveredwith everlasting shame and contempt!

This principle can also be applied to many other matters. "Nevertheless at your word" ought to be an argument for keepingon praying. If you have been asking, for seven years, for the salvation of a soul, and yet that soul is not saved, you maybe tempted to say, with Peter, "We have toiled all night and taken nothing." But if you do, mind that you also add, "Neverthelessat Your word I will let down the net." Still pray on! If you have begun to pray for any man, keep on praying for him as longas you live and he lives! Or if it is some choice blessing for the Church or for the world, which God has evidently promisedand it is laid on your heart to ask for it, still intercede even though for years you should receive no answer to your petition.Still knock at mercy's door! Wrestle till the break of day, for, if in the night the blessing comes not, before the morningsun has risen, the Lord will give you the desire of your heart.

So, too, is it with regard to Christian service. I will suppose that you have begun to labor for Christ and that you feelvery stupid at it. You have not much talent and what little you have, you hardly know how to put it to the best use. Well,Brother, Sister, it looks as if you had better not try again, yet I would advise you to say to your Lord, "Nevertheless atYour word I will go to work, again. I will try once more-no, I will try many times more." Suppose you have been working ina certain district, or class, and you have not succeeded-do not yield! Many a hard piece of soil has, after many efforts,at last brought forth a harvest! If Jesus bade you sow there-and He did, for He told you to sow beside all waters-go, andsay, "Nevertheless at Your word I will do what You command." When I come to address this congregation, I like to feel thatI come because I am told to do so. One of you may say, "If I go to that dark village and stand up on the green to preach,I expect I shall be mobbed. Nevertheless at Your word I will do it." It is a blessed thing to render obedience to Christ underthe most difficult circumstances. To obey Him when it is pleasant to do so-when all that you do prospers-is good as far asit goes, but to obey Him when everything seems against you and nothing appears to prosper-to trust the Lord and still to workon for Him-this is, indeed, making Jesus Christ to be your Lord!

III. I must not dwell longer on this part of my theme lest I weary you. So I will conclude with the last point, which is this,TO KEEP YOUR MASTER'S WORD WILL ENSURE A REWARD TO YOU.

You who believe in Jesus are already saved, so you will understand that I speak not of any legal reward, as of debt, for thisis all of Grace. But the man who carefully and faithfully does everything according to Christ's word shall have, first ofall, the reward of an easy conscience. Suppose you go home, one night, and say to yourself, "Today I have done something thatI thought to be right, but I did not stop to enquire if it was according to my Master's will. I did not wait upon Him in prayerfor guidance." You will feel very uneasy and uncomfortable in your conscience and if any trouble shall arise through it, youwill have to say, "I brought this on myself, for I took my own course." But if you can say, at nightfall, "What I have donetoday will probably be much discussed and possibly it will be censured by some. And it may even be that it will cost me muchpain and even financial loss-but I know that, as far as I could judge, it was my Master's will." You will sleep very sweetlyafter that. "Whatever comes of it," you will say, "I will take it from my Savior's pierced hands and reckon it to be partof the sacrifice that is necessary in being a Christian." It is better to be a loser in that way than to be a gainer in anyother, for, as the old Divine used to say, "He that can wear the flower called heart's ease in his bosom is better off thanhe that wears diamonds in his crown, but who has not true ease of heart." If a man goes up and down in his daily businessin the world and in his family-and is always able, by God's Grace, to feel, "I have labored as in the sight of God to do thatwhich is right according to the teaching and example of my Lord and Sa-vior"-he has a reward in his own heart from that veryfact even if he had no other.

But, next, there is a great reward in being enabled to obey the Master's word, because rightly looked at, it isin itself ablessing of Divine Grace. When you thank God for the good things He has done for you, thank Him not only for keeping you outof sin, but also thank Him for enabling you to do His will. No man has any right to take credit to himself for his own integrity,for, if he is a Christian, that integrity is the gift of God's Grace and the work of God's Spirit within him. If you did,in your youth, form a candid, honest judgment of the Word of God and then, burning all bridges and boats, and severing allconnection with that which was behind you-if you dared to cast in your lot with the despised people of God, bless Him forit and count it as a great favor which He did for you in that He enabled you to act thus! And if, when tempted with heavybribes, you have, up to now been able to say, "Get you behind me, Satan," and to follow close to the heels of Christ, giveGod all the glory of it and bless His holy name! In such a case as this, virtue is its own reward.

To have been obedient to Christ is one of the highest blessings that God can have bestowed upon any man. There are some ofus who have to thank God that when there were pinching times, we did not dare to yield-but when friends and enemies, alike,pointed out another way, we saw what was our Master's way and followed it, by His Grace. We shall have to thank Him to alleternity for this. Once begin to parley with the foe-to stifle your conscience or hide your principles-young man, once beginto follow trickery in trade-once begin to dally with the wrong and you will soon find that you are sowing thorns that willpierce through your pillow when you grow old! Be just, and fear not. Follow Christ though the skies should fall and, in doingthis, you will be rewarded, for it is a blessing in itself!

But, more than this, no man fully does his Master's will without getting a distinct reward. Simon Peter's boatful of fishwas his reward for launching out at Christ's word. And in keeping His commandments there is always a great reward. There isusefulness to others, there is happiness to yourself and there is glory to God. I sometimes fear that we ministers do notpreach enough about practical godliness. We tell you about justification by faith and the Doctrines of Grace-and we cannottoo frequently discourse upon such topics as these-but we must also insist upon it that where there is faithin Christ, therewill be obedienceto Christ! And we cannot too often insist upon it that while the everlasting salvation of the Christian doesnot depend upon what he does, yet his own comfort, his own usefulness and the glory which he will bring to God must dependupon that. Therefore, look you well to it, Beloved, young and old, rich and poor-and henceforth, as long as you live-takethe Word of God to be the polestar to you in all your sailings across the ocean of life and you shall have a blessed voyage,and reach the Port of Peace, not with torn sails and broken cordage, a dismasted wreck, but, "an entrance shall be abundantlyministered to you into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

May God add His blessing, for Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HEBREWS 10:19-39.

Verses 19-22. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new andliving way, whichHe has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; andhaving an High Priest over the house of God; letus draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodieswashed with pure water The place of the Christian is that of the nearest conceivable access to God, for "the Holiest" is "theHoly of Holies"-that innermost part of the tabernacle to reach which the high priest had to pass through the outer court,through the court of the priests and then through the beautiful veil which concealed the Mercy Seat. At the death of Christthat veil was torn from top to bottom, so now there is nothing to keep us back from the Mercy Seat! We, therefore, have boldnessand liberty in that way, "to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus"-where the high priest, himself, could only go once inthe year-we may go at all times! The veil has not been merely lifted up, for a while, and then dropped again. It is not rolledup ready for future use-it is torn in two-destroyed! Since Jesus has died, there is now no separation between the Believerand his God except by means of such a veil as our base unbelief may please to hang up. The crimson way of Christ's shed bloodlies open to all Believers! Therefore, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkledfrom an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water,"

23. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. Not only hold it, but hold it fast without wavering. Letus never have a question about it! God grant that we may have an unquestioning, unstaggering faith! To hold fast the professionof our faith seems good enough-but to hold it fast without wavering is better-and so we ought to do it.

23. (For He is faithful that promised). God gives us no cause for wavering, for He never wavers. If He were an unfaithfulGod, we might naturally be an unbelieving people, but, "He is faithful that promised." Therefore, "let us hold fast the professionof our faith without wavering."

24. And let us consider one another to stir up love and good works. I am afraid there are some who consider one another tostir up in quite a different spirit from this-who watch to discover a tender spot where a wound will be most felt. They observethe weakness of a Brother's constitution and then play upon it, or make jests about it. All this is evil,

so let us avoid it. Let us all seek out the good points of our Brothers and Sisters and consider them, that we may afterwardsbe the means of guiding them to those peculiar good works for which they are best adapted. "Stir up love and good works."I do not know how we can do that better than by being very loving and full of good works, ourselves, for then will othersbe likely to say, "If these people are helped by God's Grace to love like this, and to labor like this, why should we notdo the same?" A good example is often better than a very proper precept.

25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. Yes, there are some who even make a baduse of what ought to be a great blessing, namely, the printing press and the printed sermon, by staying at home to read asermon because, they say, it is better than going out to hear one! Well, dear Friend, if I could not hear profitably, I wouldstill make one of the assembly gathered together for the worship of God. It is a bad example for a professing Christian toabsent himself from the assembly of the friends of Christ. There was a dear Sister, whom many of you knew, who used to attendhere with great regularity-although she could not hear a word that was said. But she said it did her good to join in the hymnsand to know that she was worshipping God with the rest of His people. I wish that some who stay away for the most frivolousexcuses would think of this verse-"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some."

25. But exhorting one another and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching. It is not the work only of the ministerto exhort, but the Brothers, and the Sisters, too, should exhort one another and seek to stir each other up in the faith andfear of God.

26, 27. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice forsins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. This is a solemntext, containing a very terrible Truth of God. If, after having been regenerated and made children of God, we were willfullyand deliberately to let the Savior go and apostatize altogether to the world, there would be no hope for us. What, then, isourhope? Why, that we shall never be permitted to do so-that the Grace of God will keep us so that, although we may fall likePeter, we shall not fall away like Judas-that, though we may sin, there shall not be that degree of studied willfulness aboutit that would make it to be the sin unto death-a deliberate act of spiritual suicide. The Doctrine of the Final Perseveranceof the Saints derives great glory from this other Truth of God that if they did not persevere, there is no second means ofGrace, no other plan of salvation. No man was ever born again twice! No man was ever washed twice in the precious blood ofJesus! The one washing makes us so clean that, "he that is washed needs not save to wash his feet," for which Jesus providesby daily cleansing-but the one grand atoning act never fails. If it did fail, there would remain "no more sacrifice for sins."

28, 29. He that despised Moses' Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: ofhow much sorerpunish-ment, supposeyou, shall he be thought worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the Covenant, wherewithHe was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of Grace. For apostasy from Christ would amount toall this-and if that were possible, what Grace would remain?

30. For we knnowHim that has said, Vengeance belongs unto Me, I wiil recompense, says the Lord. Andagain, The Lord shall judgeHis people. O professors, take this message home to your hearts! Let every one of us take it home- "The Lord shall judge Hispeople." God's fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem! If a man tries nothing else, he will test his gold. And if noothers shall be judged, yet certainly those will be who say that they are the Lord's people! In that dread Day He will separatethe goats from the sheep, the tares from the wheat, and the dross from the gold! His fan will be in His hand and He will thoroughlypurge His floor! He will sit as a refiner of silver and He will purify the sons of Le-vi. He shall be like a refiner's fireand like fuller's soap. Woe to those, in that Day, who are a defilement to His Church and an adulteration to the purity ofHis people!

31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. What a terrible verse that is! It is a text that oughtto be preached from by those who are always saying that the punishment of the wicked will be less than, according to our minds,the Word of God leads us to expect it to be-"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

32. But call to remembrance the former days. The Apostle is not expecting that any of them will ever go back to where theywere before. He is persuaded that they will persevere even to the end. The very warning that he gives is a powerful preventiveagainst apostasy. Now comes the exhortation-"Call to remembrance the former days." Some of you can "call to remembrance" thetime when you joined the Church-when you had to run the gauntlet for Christ's sake.

Then, in your early Christian life, you feared nothing and nobody so long as you could glorify God. You then had great enjoyment,sweet seasons of communion with your Lord-"Call to remembrance the former days."

32, 33. In which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions; partly, while you were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, while you became companions of them that were so used. In your earlyChristian days, you were pointed at and regarded as quite singular for being servants of Christ. Or, possibly, it was notyourselves so much as your pastors, your leaders, your friends who were prominent in the Church at whom the arrows of theadversaries were aimed. They shot at you through them and, sometimes, that pained you much more than when they distinctlyattacked you. Altogether, it was "a great fight of afflictions" that you had to endure.

34. For you had compassion on me in my chains. In those early days the Jewish Believers clung to Paul just as ardently asthe unbelieving Jews persecuted him!

34, 35. And took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in Heaven a better and an enduringsubstance. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence which has great recompense of reward. Be like the brave Spartan who wouldnever lose his shield, but would come home either with it or on it! "Cast not away your confidence." You trusted in God inthose early days and nothing seemed to daunt you, then. "Cast not away your confidence." Rather, get more to add to it! Letthere be no thought of going back, but may there rather be a distinct advance!

36. For you have need of patience. Our supply of that virtue is often very short. It is an article of which there is verylittle in the market and all of us have need of more of it-"You have need of patience."

36. That, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. There must first be the doing of the will ofGod-and then the reward will come afterwards. God will not give to His people their full reward yet. Patience, then, Brother!Patience, Sister! Saturday night will come one of these days-your week's work will then be over and you will be more thanrepaid for anything you have done for your Lord!

37, 38. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now thejust shall live by faith: butif any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. The drawers back-the mere professors-those who say they havebeen illuminated and who have tasted, in a measure, the sweetness of religion, yet who never received Christ in their inmostheart-these are the people in whom God has no pleasure!

39. But we. What a consoling end this is to the chapter! It ought to comfort every Believer in Christ who has been distressedby the earlier verses! "But we"-

39. Are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul May that be true of allof us, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.