Sermon 3555. With Golden Band Girded

(No. 3555)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1917.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He was girded about the chest with a golden band." Revelation 1:13

[The original title of this sermon was WITH GOLDEN GIRDLE GIRT.]

BE assured, my Brothers and Sisters, the more real Jesus Christ is to us, the more power there will be in our religion. Thosemen whose religion lies in believing certain doctrines and contending for certain modes of expression, may be strong enoughin bigotry, but they often fail entirely in developing the spirit of true Christianity. There may be minds so constitutedthat they can live under the power of an idea and they might possibly be able to die for it. But these, I think, must be comparativelyfew. To draw out enthusiasm among men, there must generally be a man as leader and commander in whom the people can implicitlytrust, to whom they will voluntarily tender obedience. Individual men have worked wonders. The thoughts which they incarnatedmay have been, in themselves, strong, yet their strength was never so forcible as when the men who represented those thoughtswere present to give them currency. Then the blood of the many was stirred and every man's heart beat high. The presence ofOliver Cromwell in a regiment was equal to any ten thousand men. He had only to appear and all his soldiers felt so sure ofvictory, they would dash upon the cavaliers as some mighty tornado, driving them like chaff before the wind! The presenceof Napoleon at any moment in a battle was almost always sufficient to turn the scale. Let but "the little corporal" appearand wave his sword, and men seemed to lose all sense of their own personal danger and rushed into the very mouth of deathto gain the victory! In those old days of the Huguenots when they were warring for their liberties, what shouts there were,what beating of hearts, what a glamour of trumpets, what exultation, when Henry of Navarre came riding down the ranks! Theneach man felt he had a giant's arm and, as he rode to battle, struck home for God and for the truth as he gave out his watchword,"Remember St. Bartholomew!"

Now the force of the religion of Jesus, under God the Holy Spirit, it seems to me, is never fully brought out except whenour faith greets the Lord Jesus Christ as a Person and holds to Him as a personal Leader and Commander, loving Him and devotingourselves to Him as an ever-living, ever-gracious Friend. It is not by believing a set of ideas and trying to be enthusiasticover them, that our courage rises or our prowess succeeds. Rather let us feel His Presence, though we cannot see His face,and remembering that there is such an One as Jesus of Nazareth, who became a Baby in Bethlehem for us-who lived, and toiled,and suffered for us-then laid bare His chest to the spear and gave up His life for us. We grow strong when we thus think ofHim as our Savior, when His thorn-crowned head rises before our mind's eye, when we look into that face so marred with shame,and pain, and cruelty, till we are compelled to cry out, "Oh, my Savior, I love You, and for the love I bear Your name wouldgladly learn what I can do to honor You, and I will do it! Point out to me how much of my substance I should place upon Youraltar, and I will be glad to place it there! Put me into the place of suffering, if necessary, and I will account it a placeof honor, for if You are there, I can look into Your dear face and think that I am suffering for You-fire shall be then likea bed of roses to me-and death, itself, seem far sweeter than life!"

We need to have more open testimony concerning the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! I am persuaded of that and we have need,private Christians, to live more in fellowship with Him, the Son of God, the Man, Christ Jesus, who has redeemed us from wrath,and through whose life we live! To Him now-to Him exclusively let all your thoughts be turned. Oh, that you may discern theImage which stood on that Lord's Day clearly before the view of John, the eyes of your understanding being opened, and yourwhole soul being attentive to the Revelation! It is but one part of John's description of our Lord Jesus Christ in Heavento which I propose to direct your attention. "He was girded about the chest with a golden band." What did this golden bandsignify? And what are the golden lessons to be gathered from it? I. THE GOLDEN BAND.

What did it mean? It was designed, first, to set forth our Lord's exceelence in all His offices. He is a Prophet. The Prophetsof old were often girded about with leather bands, but our Savior wears a golden band, for He, above all other Prophets, isvested with authority! What He declares and testifies is true. Yes, it is the pure Truth of God, unalloyed with traditionor superstition. He makes no mistakes. There is no treachery to taint His teaching. Sitting at His feet, you may accept everyword He utters as Infallible. You need not raise a question about it. The band of golden truth is round about Him. He is alsoa Priest. The high priest of old wore a band of many colors for glory and for beauty. Our Lord Jesus Christ wears a band superiorto this. It is of the pure gold, for among the priests He has no peer. Of all the sons of Aaron, none could vie with Him.They must first offer a sacrifice for their own sins. They needed to wash their feet in the laver, and to be touched withthe cleansing blood. But Jesus Christ is without spot, or blemish, or any such thing-

"Their priesthood ran through several bands For mortal was their race."

But Jesus is Immortal and about Him, He wears the golden band to show that He excels all the priests of Aaron's line. As forthose persons who, in modern times, pretend to be priests, our Lord Jesus Christ is not to be mentioned in the same day withthem. They are all deceivers! If they knew the Truth of God, they would understand that there is no class of priests now.All caste of priesthood is forever abolished! Every man that fears God, and every woman, too, is a priest according to theWord of God which is written, "He has made us kings and priests unto God." The priesthood is common to all the saints-notconfined to some! But He wears a golden band among them. Their priesthood would be nothing without His. He has made them priests.They derive their priesthood entirely from Him, neither could they be acceptable before God if they were not accepted in theBeloved. He is a King as well as a Prophet and a Priest, and that band, being made of gold, signifies His supremacy over allother kings! He is mightier far than they-"the Lord mighty in battle." "King of Kings" is His name, and the burden of themusic of Heaven is this, "King of kings, and Lord of lords." The day shall come when He shall grasp His scepter and breakthe kingdoms of earth like a potters' vessels with His rod of iron! He is this day King of the Jews, but He shall openly beso proclaimed. In that day kings shall bow down before Him and He shall gather up sheaves of scepters, while many crowns shallbe upon His glorious brow! There is no kingdom like the Kingdom of Christ. Other kingdoms come and go like the hoar-frostof the morning, or the sheen upon the midnight waves, but His Kingdom stands forever and ever! It shall endure from everlastingto everlasting! As Prophet, Priest and King, He wears a band of gold to show His supremacy in office above all others!

The golden band, moreover, bears witness to His power and authority. Men were often girded with bands when they received office.The Prophet Isaiah said of Eliakim that he received a band of power and dominion. Keys were hung upon the band. The housewife'sband with her keys signified her authority over her servants. The keys at the band of great men signified their power in theirvarious offices, and when we sometimes sing-

"Lo, in His hand the sovereign keys Of Heaven, and death, and Hell," we recognize this meaning of Christ's golden band, thatall power given unto Him in Heaven and in earth. He is the universal Lord. Up in Heaven He enjoys an authority that is undisputed.Angels bow before Him-and on the sea of glass they cast down their crowns and cry, "Hallelujah!" Here on earth all Providenceis ruled by the Man whose hands were pierced. All this dispensation is an economy of mediatorial government, over which JesusChrist presides. He puts down one and sets up another. He makes the wheels of Providence revolve. Everything occurs accordingto His decree and purpose. In all things He rules and He overrules them for the good of His Church, even as Joseph governedEgypt for the good of the seed of Abraham! What a comfort it is, Beloved, for us to think of the authority and the power ofour Lord Jesus Christ! He who had not where to lay His head. He who was despised and rejected of men. He who was a workingMan-the carpenter's Son. He who felt the pangs of hunger, endured the pains of weariness, was neglected, condemned, opposedand cast out by His countrymen and His kinsmen-it is He who is now undisputed Master and unrivalled Lord everywhere! No nameis as famous as that one once branded with infamy-the name of Jesus-whom sinful men rejected, holy angels now adore! On earthHe was condemned and crucified. In Heaven He is hailed with highest honor. Look up to that golden band! See how He descended,step by step, into the meanest depths of humiliation. Then mark how He ascended with rapid flight to the towering heightsof exaltation! Follow Him. With Him take your lot. Be willing to be made of no repute in this day of reproach that you maybe a partaker of His Glory in the day of His appearing!

Girded thus about with a golden band, we have a vivid representation of His activity. The band was used by the Easterns tobind up their long flowing robes. The Hebrew did not usually wear a band indoors. It was only when on a journey, or when engagedin some manual labor that he thus adjusted his attire. So our Lord's having a golden band signifies that He is still readyto serve His servants, to engage on their behalf. You remember how He once took a towel and girded Himself. That was withkind intent to wash their feet. Now it is no more with a linen towel, but with a band of gold that He prepares Himself towork on the behalf of His beloved! He stands not in Heaven with flowing garments, as though all work were done, but He standsthere girded about the chest that He may be still ready and show Himself strong on behalf of His people. Be this your comfort-Jesushas not forgotten to plead for you before His Father's Throne. He never holds His peace, and never will. As long as you havea cause to plead, Christ will be your intercessor! Whatever you need, He is waiting to supply. As long as you have a sin toconfess, Christ will be your Advocate with the Father to purge your guilt and purify your souls. As long as you are persecutedon earth, there will be a Christ to represent you in Heaven. As long as you are in this vale of tears, He, girded with a goldenband, will be the Angel of God's Presence to succor and to save you! In all your afflictions He was afflicted, and He willstill bear and carry you as in the days of old.

Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, how people do sometimes talk about the Christian Church, as if Jesus Christ, who died for us,were still dead! What gloomy forebodings I have read during the last few months! Not that I have believed a word, or takendreams for disasters. I have not even credited their sadness with too much sincerity! I rather thought they wrote for a partypurpose, with motives of policy. Were we to believe half we read, Protestantism, in a few years, would become no more! Wemight have the Pope preaching in St. Paul's Cathedral! Not a few would be doomed to burn in Smithfield, and we know not whatpains and penalties we shall be subject to! Evidently the Church of Christ is quite unable to take care of herself. Unlessshe is provided with so many hundreds or thousands of pounds, she must go to the dogs-for money, the love of which used tobe the root of all evil-somehow or other, is now found out to be the root of all good! As for the good men who have prayedearnestly and worked so zealously, they are all going to leave off praying and preaching, too, when the State pay is stopped!So all the piety towards God and all the good will towards men will come to an end! Well, I suppose this would be very likelyif Jesus Christ were dead, but as long as He is alive, I think He is quite able to take care of the golden candlesticks Himself!And the Church of God will probably be no worse in the next few years than it has been in the years that have passed. No,I will venture to prophesy that the less help she seeks from the world, and the more she leans upon her God, the brighterwill be her future! Should the very foundations of society be shaken and the worst calamities befall us-such as we hope willnever come-yet over the ashes of all earthly renown and government patronage, the supernal splendor of the immortal Churchof God would glow forth with clearer brilliance and brighter glory! She has Long been like a ship tossed in the tempest andnot comforted. She has plowed her way, and the spray that has broken over her has been blood-red with martyr's gore-but shehas still kept on her course towards her desired haven! He that is with her is greater than all they that are against her!So shall it be till the world's end!

Look, then, Beloved, to the golden band of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as you perceive that He is still active to maintainHis own cause, to deliver His people and to prosper His Church, you need not be afraid! And does not the golden band implyHis enduring love? The heart was, in old times, and still is among ourselves, supposed to be the dwelling place of the affections.What, do you think, is the ruling passion in the heart of Christ? What is it that inflames the bosom of Him who was once theMan of Sorrows, but now is King of kings and Lord of Lords? He is girded about the chest with a band of gold. He never ceasesto love His people. The band is an endless thing-it goes right around a man. Christ's heart always keeps within the sacredcircle of undiminished, unchanging, undying affection for all whom His Father gave Him, for all whom He bought with His preciousblood! Never doubt the faithfulness of Christ to you, Beloved, since faithfulness is the band of His loins. Never think thata promise will fail, or that the Covenant will be broken. Trusting in Him, you will never be allowed to perish. It cannotbe! While He wears that golden band, He cannot prove faithless. That heavenly decoration is a goodly order. Invested therewith,He cannot forget or prove untrue to those whom He has engaged to protect. Though Heaven and earth shall pass away, not oneWord of Grace shall fall to the ground. The sun and moon shall expire-dim with age, they will cease to shed their light abroad-butthe love of Jesus Christ shall be as fresh and new as in the day of His espousals, and as delicious as when you first tastedof it! Yours shall it be forever and ever to inherit and enjoy!

In days of yore, moreover, the band was the place where the Eastern kept his money. It was his wallet. Some of the Orientalskeep their cash in their turbans-in our Savior's day it was carried in the band. When our Lord speaks in Matthew about Hisdisciples going without purse or scrip, He mentions there that they are not to carry silver or gold in their bands. This goldenband, then, to use a simple word, may represent the wallet of the Lord Jesus, and we infer from its being golden that it isfull of unequalled wealth and unsurpassed riches. Jesus Christ bears about Him all the available supplies that can be neededby His people. What a multitude of people He has to support, for on Him all His saints depend! They have been drawing uponHim all their lives and so they always will. They are "gentlemen commoners," as one used to say, upon the bounty of God'sProvidence. We are pensioners upon the beneficence of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has supplied us until now. Oh, how much Graceyou and I have needed to keep us from starving, from sinking, from going down to the pit of Hell! And we have had all we needed!In fearful temptations our foot has not slipped. We have passed through many trials, but without being crushed. Arduous hasbeen our service, but as our day, our strength has been. We should long ago have broken any earthly bank and drained the contents,but Christ has been to us like an ever-flowing fountain, a wellhead, a redundant source communicating enough and to spare!What a source! What ready relief for every emergency Christ has at His command! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, have you but littleGrace? Whose fault is it? Not your Lord's! Oh, you who have no spending money! You who are full of doubts and fears! You whohave slender comfort and little joy! You who are saying, like the elder son in the parable, "You never gave me a kid thatI might make merry with my friends"!-whose fault is it? Does not your Father say, "Son, you are always with Me, and all thatI have is yours"? It you are poor in spiritual things, you made yourselves poor, since Christ is yours and with Him all thingsare yours! Do enjoy what God has given you! Take the good that God provides! Seek to live up to your privileges. Rejoice inthe Lord always, and again I say, rejoice! As that golden band gleams from afar, say in your spirit-

"Since Christ is rich, can I be poor? What can I need besides?"

And now let me briefly point out to you-

II. THE GOLDEN LESSONS to be gathered from these five meanings of the golden band.

It will refresh your memories if I remind you that we showed how the golden band set forth the excellency of Christ in allHis offices. The golden lesson, then, is-Admire Him in all His offices! He who loves Christ will never be tired of hearingabout Him. Doubtless when Jacob's sons came back and told him that Joseph was lord over all Egypt, after hearing the storyonce, the old man would be sure to say, "Oh, tell me that again!" I will be bound to say that as he sat in that tent of his,he would ask first one, and then another, to tell the tale-and so he would try to pump them with questions. "Tell me, Judah,now how did he look? Has he grown stouter or thinner since the day he left me and I never thought to see or hear of him anymore?Tell me, Simeon, did he sit on a throne? Was he really like a king? Tell me, Levi, what did the Egyptians seem to think ofhim? Had they a high estimation of his character? Tell me, Zebulon, how did he speak? In what terms did he speak of his oldfather? Was there a tear in his eyes when he referred to Benjamin, your other brother, the little one whom his father wouldnot spare?" Surely I might draw that picture without being suspected of exaggeration. It would be all true. He loved his sonso dearly and doted upon him so fondly that he could not know too much- no, he could not know enough about Joseph! Anybodythat had anything to tell about Joseph would be sure to be welcome! So with every renewed heart-if there is anything to belearned about Jesus, you will want to know it! Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us cultivate this spirit more and more. Letus live in the study of the life of Jesus. These are things the angels desire to look into. Do you not desire to look intothem, too? Watch your Master. Let your experience, as it alters and ripens, reveal to you fresh beauties in your Lord. Asyou turn over page, after page, of Scripture, search after Jesus in it as men search after gold-and be not content unlessyou see your Savior's face revealed on every page!

Does the golden band indicate His power and authority? The golden lesson is that you trustHim. If all power is His, lean onHim! We do not lean on Christ enough. The remark of the Church was, "Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaningon her Beloved?" Lean on Him! He will never sink under your weight. All the burdens that men ever had to carry, Christ carried,and He certainly will carry yours. There can be no wars and lighting that perplex you which did not perplex Him, for in thegreat fight which comprehended yourselves, and the great warfare for all His saints, He overcame. Nothing, then, can be difficultto Him. How often we weary ourselves with walking when we might ride-I mean, we carry our troubles when we might take themto Christ! We fret, and groan, and cry-and our difficulties do not get any the less. But when we leave them with Him who caresfor us, and begin to trust, like a child trusts its father, how light of heart and how strong of spirit we become! The Lordgive us to watch that golden band carefully, and as we see the power of Jesus Christ may we come to lean upon that power andtrust Him at all times.

Or did the golden band signify His activity? The golden lesson is that we imitate Him. Christ is in Heaven, and yet He wearsa band. Christian, always keep your band round your loins. "Stand, therefore, with your loins girded about," says the Apostle,"and your lamps trimmed." This is not the place for the Christian to unbind. Heaven is the place of rest for us-not this worldof temptation and of sin. Always stand ready to suffer or to serve! At the Master's gate, watch and wait to do His bidding.Never, on weekdays, and much less on Sabbath days, let your spirits be out of order for Christian service! We ought so tolive that if called to die at any minute, we would not need to say a prayer-ready for Heaven, ready for a life of serviceor for a death of glory! The true way for a Christian to live in this world is to be always as he would wish to be if Christcame at that moment. And there is a way of living that style-simply depending upon the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ-andthen going out into daily service for Him, moved by love to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, show me what You would have me do."I wish we always were as I have thus said we always should be. The Lord can teach us! Let us ask Him to teach us the lesson.

We told you, moreover, that the golden band indicated His enduring love, inasmuch as it is girded about His chest. Well, then,the golden lesson is, let us love Him in return. Let us wear the golden band, too. Oh, Beloved, love Him with all your heart,and soul, and strength! Let no rival come between you and Jesus. Keep your heart chaste for the Well-Beloved. My greatestlonging is that I may present you as a chaste virgin unto Christ, that there may be nothing by way of error in respect toDoctrine or to holiness of life that may disturb the full union of your souls with Jesus. Oh, to see that golden band, andas we see it, to feel that He has belted us about after the same manner! "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine." I amnot the world's, nor is the world for me-I belong to Jesus, and Jesus belongs to me! May that be the deep feeling and thetruthful expression of everyone of you.

And then does the golden band suggest to us the wealth of Christ, as being His wallet, let it be our golden lesson to rejoicein Him. If He is so rich, and all that He is and all that He has belongs to us, bring here your choicest music and let yoursouls be glad in the name of the Lord! Why are you bowed down? Why distressed? Has your Lord withdrawn, or has He changed?Is He deaf, or is His arm shortened that He cannot deliver? No, but let the children of God be joyful in their King. If youcannot be glad in what is created, be glad in the Creator Himself! If you cannot drink of the streams, go and drink of thefountainhead-the water is sweeter and better there. Blessed wreck which makes us lose everything and cling to our God, forthe loss will be a gain if we get nearer to God, love Him better and prize His friendship more!

Ah, me, the day will come when those of you who do not love Christ will have to look on Him and you will see that golden band,then, but it will bring no comfort to you! You despised Him, therefore in that band there will be no love to you, no blessingfor you, no power for you! But what will there be? Why, that very band, since it is made of faithfulness, will show Him faithfulto His threats! Those who hear Christ preached and reject Him will find that word true, "He that believes not shall be damned."Nothing but condemnation can be the lot of the man or woman who despises pardon and treats forgiveness with contempt. Whensimply to trust Christ saves the soul, to distrust Him is the direst and most damnable of sins! It is suicidal! Unbeliever,you refuse to pass through the only door that can lead you to Heaven! Well, if you never enter there, your blood be on yourown head. Oh, that Grace may lead you just now to seek salvation! The Man with the golden band can save you, and none butHe! Look to Him. Behold Him as He hangs upon the tree with hands and feet fastened there. Look and trust-trust and live! TheLord incline your hearts to espouse and not eschew His rich mercy, for His own dear name's sake. Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW 11

Verse 1. And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach andto preach in their cities. Whatever He commanded, He Himself did. He was always the example as well as the legislator of Hispeople. How well it will be for us who are called upon to teach others, if we can teach them as much by what we do as by whatwe say! "When Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and to preach in theircities."

2, 3. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples. And said unto Him, Are YouHe that should come, or do we look for another?Poor John! His spirit was brave enough amid the wilds when he was by the riverside,but shut up in prison, it was probably otherwise with him. Those bold spirits, when they lose liberty, are apt to be depressed.Perhaps, too, John sent the disciples as much for their sakes as for his own. At any rate, what a question it was to put toour Lord, "Are You He that should come, or do we look for another?" I would call your attention to the quietness of our Savior'smind-the absence of anything like anger. See how He answers them.

4-6. Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see: The blind receive theirsight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and thepoor have the Gospelpreached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. Now if it had been the very least of us who had beenattempting to do such service for God, and we had been questioned about what we were doing, should we not have felt hurt andgrieved? And maybe there are some who would not have given an answer, especially if they were dignified with the name of anoffice. But our blessed Lord does not take a huff at it. He is not vexed, but He answers with the utmost gentleness, not bya word of authority commanding John to believe, but by an exposition of those blessed seals of Grace which were the best evidencethat He was, indeed, the Messiah. He pointed to the very miracles which prophecy declared the Messiah would perform-and Hedid this with that graciousness of temper which was always about our Divine Master, in which let us copy Him.

7-11. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went you out into the wildernessto see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they who wear softclothing are in kings' houses. But what went you out to see? A Prophet? Yes, I say unto you, and more than a Prophet. Forthis is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, which shall prepare Your way before You. VerilyI say unto you, Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist notwithstanding he thatis least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. Never did our Savior bear a more emphatic testimony to John than onthis occasion! And it is remarkable that it should have followed upon the heels of John's doubt and John's question! How generouslythe Master repays His servant-not in his own coin, but in the heavenly coin of love! He seems to say, "Through the infirmityof your flesh you have been half-inclined to question Me, but through the strength of My Grace I turn round and extol you.Time was when you could say, 'He must increase, but I must decrease,' and now I turn round and say to those whom you havesent, and to those who saw your messengers, that there is none like you." Not even Moses, himself, is greater than John theBaptist! Though he who has entered into the Light and the Glory of the Kingdom of Grace since the coming of the Master isgreater than he!

12-15. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it byforce. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, he is Elijah, who is to come. Hethat has ears to hear, let him hear But how many there are that have ears and do not hear! The external organ is affected,but the internal ear of the soul is not reached at all! Blessed are they who, having ears, do in very truth, hear.

16, 17. But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto theirfellows and saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented.The children would not agree! Whatever game was proposed, some of them would not follow it. At one time they imitated thepipers, and then the others would not dance. Then they imitated the lamentations of a funeral, and then the others would notjoin them.

18, 19. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil The Son of Man came eating and drinking, andthey say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. There was no pleasing them! And thereis no pleasing people, now, whoever it is that God sends. One man is much too homely. In fact, he is vulgar. Another is muchtoo rhetorical. In fact, his rhetoric runs away with him. One man is doctrinal. Oh, he is dogmatic! Another man is practical.He is much too censorious. Another man is full of experience. He is mystical. Oh, surely God, Himself, cannot please the eviltempers of ungodly men! One thing is that He does not try to do so, nor do His servants, if they are truly sent of Him. Thatis a matter about which they have small concern.

19. But wisdom is justified of her children.Whoever Christ sends, He sends in wisdom, and there is an adaptation about eachof His servants, even if men do not perceive it. The day shall come when wisdom shall be justified of her children.

20-24. Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not Woe untoyou, Chorazin! Woe unto you Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, theywouldhave repentedlong ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at theDay of Judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, which are exalted unto Heaven, shall be brought down to Hell for if themighty works which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it wouldhave remained until this day. But I say unto you,That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment, than for you.There was a tenderness about thetone of Christ when He spoke thus. The words are burning, but the eyes were full of tears. He could not contemplate the possibilityof the Gospel being rejected without a broken heart. He sighed and cried as He bore testimony against those who refused EternalLife. With what tenderness must Christ regard some that are present here tonight, whose privileges from their childhood untilnow have been so great that they could scarcely be greater-and yet they seem determined to reject the admonitions of loveand trample over tenderness in their desperate resolve to perish! God have mercy upon such.

25. At that time Jesus answered He seemed to answer Himself. He answered to the thoughts that passed through His own mind."At that time Jesus answered."

25-27. And said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent,and have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things are delivered unto Meof My father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomeverthe Son will reveal Him. Did the Lord Jesus Christ, in His address to Bethsaida and Capernaum awaken in His own mind all thosedifficulties that hover round about the Doctrine of Predestination? Did it not seem strange that God should send the Gospelto people who rejected it, and did not send the Gospel to a people who would have received it? How can these things be? Andthe dear Savior answers the question to His own mind by falling back upon that other sublime Truth and to Him, full of thanksgiving-theInfinite Sovereignty of God! I do not know what some of us would do if we did not believe that Truth of God. There are somany things which puzzle us-so many questions, but the Judge of all the earth must be right. He must! He will do as He pleaseswith His own, and it is not for us to question the prerogatives of the Most High. Now the Savior at last seems to give ventto His soul in one grand burst of Gospel preaching! And whenever you and I get worried about any Doctrine, it is always wellto come back to the simplicity of the Gospel and proclaim it again.

28. Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There is no rest in the difficulties ofmetaphysics! There is no rest in the labors of human merit! "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest."

29. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls. FirstHe gives rest to all who come. But afterwards there is a second rest which they find who become obedient and bear His yoke.The rest that comes of pardoned sin is sweet, but the rest that comes of conqueredsin through obedience is sweeter still.The rest He gives is precious, but there is rest upon rest, as there is Grace upon Grace, and let us go in for the highestform of that rest! "You shall find rest unto your souls." The very innermost part of your being shall be full of peace.

30. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Blessed be His name, we have found it so!