Sermon 5. The Comforter

(No. 5)

Delivered on Sabbath Evening, January 21, 1855, by the

REV. C.H. SPURGEON

At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bringall things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."-John 14:26.

Good old Simeon called Jesus the consolation of Israel; and so he was. Before his actual appearance, his name was the Day-Star;cheering the darkness, and prophetic of the rising sun. To him they looked with the same hope which cheers the nightly watcher,when from the lonely castle-top he sees the fairest of the stars, and hails her as the usher of the morn. When he was on earth,he must have been the consolation of all those who were privileged to be his companions. Wecan imagine how readily the disciples would run to Christ to tell him of their griefs, and how sweetly, with that matchlessintonation of his voice, he would speak to them, and bid their fears be gone. Like children, they would consider him as theirFather; and to him every want, every groan, every sorrow, every agony, would at once be carried; and he, like a wise physician,had a balm for every wound; he had mingled a cordial for their every care; and readily did he dispense some mighty remedyto allay all the fever of their troubles. Oh! it must have been sweet to have lived with Christ. Surely sorrows were thenbut joys in masks, because they gave an opportunity to go to Jesus to have them removed. Oh! would to God, some of us maysay, that we could have lain our weary heads upon the bosom of Jesus, and that our birth had been in that happy era, whenwe might have heard his kind voice, and seen his kind look, when he said, "Let the weary ones come unto me."

But now he was about to die. Great prophecies were to be fulfilled; and great purposes were to be answered; and thereforeJesus must go. It behoved him to suffer, that he might be made a propitiation for our sins. It behoved him to slumber in thedust awhile, that he might perfume the chamber of the grave to make it-

"No more a charnel house to fence

The relics of lost innocence."

It behoved him to have a resurrection, that we, who shall one day be the dead in Christ, might rise first, and in gloriousbodies stand upon earth. And if behoved him that he should ascend up on high, that he might lead captivity captive; that hemight chain the fiends of hell; that he might lash them to his chariot wheels, and drag them up high heaven's hill, to makethem feel a second overthrow from his right arm, when he should dash them from the pinnacles of heavendown to the deeper depths beneath. "It is right I should go away from you," said Jesus, "for if I go not away, the Comforterwill not come." Jesus must go. Weep, ye disciples; Jesus must be gone. Mourn, ye poor ones, who are to be left without a Comforter.But hear how kindly Jesus speaks: "I will not leave you comfortless, I will pray the Father, and he shall send you anotherComforter, who shall be with you, and shall dwell in you forever." He would not leave those few poor sheep alone in thewilderness; he would not desert his children, and leave them fatherless. Albeit that he had a mighty mission which didfill his heart and hand; albeit he had so much to perform, that we might have thought that even his gigantic intellect wouldbe overburdened; albeit he had so much to suffer, that we might suppose his whole soul to be concentrated upon the thoughtof the sufferings to be endured. Yet it was not so; before he left, he gave soothing words of comfort; like the good Samaritan,hepoured in oil and wine, and we see what he promised: "I will send you another Comforter-one who shall be just what I havebeen, yea, even more; who shall console you in your sorrows, remove your doubts, comfort you in your afflictions, and standas my vicar on earth, to do that which I would have done had I tarried with you."

Before I discourse of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter, I must make one or two remarks on the different translations of theword rendered "Comforter." The Rhenish translation, which you are aware is adopted by Roman Catholics, has left the word untranslated,and gives it "Paraclete." "But the Paraclete, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teachyou all things." This is the original Greek word, and it has some other meanings besides"Comforter." Sometimes it means the monitor or instructor: "I will send you another monitor, another teacher." Frequentlyit means "Advocate;" but the most common meaning of the word is that which we have here: "I will send you another Comforter." However, we cannot pass over those other two interpretations without saying something upon them.

"I will send you another teacher." Jesus Christ had been the official teacher of his saints whilst on earth. They called no man Rabbi except Christ. They satat no men's feet to learn their doctrines; but they had them direct from the lips of him who "spake as never man spake." "Andnow," says he, "when I am gone, where shall you find the great infallible teacher? Shall I set you up a pope at Rome, to whomyou shall go, and who shall be your infallible oracle? ShallI give you the councils of the church to be held to decide all knotty points?" Christ said no such thing. "I am the infallibleparaclete, or teacher, and when I am gone, I will send you another teacher, and he shall be the person who is to explain Scripture;he shall be the authoritative oracle of God, who shall make all dark things light, who shall unravel mysteries, who shalluntwist all knots of revelation, and shall make you understand what you could not discover, had it not been for hisinfluence." And, beloved, no man ever learns anything aright, unless he is taught of the Spirit. You may learn election,and you may know it so that you shall be damned by it, if you are not taught of the Holy Ghost; for I have known some whohave learned election to their soul's destruction; they have learned it so that they said they were of the elect, whereas,they had no marks, no evidences, and no works of the Holy Ghost in their souls. There is a way of learning truth in Satan'scollege,and holding it in licentiousness; but if so, it shall be to your souls as poison to your veins and prove your everlastingruin. No man can know Jesus Christ unless he is taught of God. There is no doctrine of the Bible which can be safely, thoroughly,and truly learned, except by the agency of the one authoritative teacher. Ah! tell me not of systems of divinity; tell menot of schemes of theology; tell me not of infallible commentators, or most learned and most arrogant doctors; but tell meofthe Great Teacher, who shall instruct us, the sons of God, and shall make us wise to understand all things. He is the Teacher; it matters not what this man or that man says; I rest on no man's boasting authority, nor will you. Ye are not tobe carried away with the craftiness of men, nor sleight of words; this is the authoritative oracle-the Holy Ghost restingin the hearts of his children.

The other translation is advocate. Have you ever thought how the Holy Ghost can be said to be an advocate? You know Jesus Christ is called the wonderful, thecounsellor, the mighty God; but how can the Holy Ghost be said to be an advocate? I suppose it is thus; he is an advocateon earth to plead against the enemies of the cross. How was it that Paul could so ably plead before Felix and Agrippa? Howwas it that the Apostles stood unawed before the magistrates, andconfessed their Lord? How has it come to pass, that in all times God's ministers have been made fearless as lions, andtheir brows have been firmer than brass; their hearts sterner than steel, and their words like the language of God? Why, itwas simply for this reason; that it was not the man who pleaded, but it was God the Holy Ghost pleading through him. Haveyou never seen an earnest minister, with hands uplifted and eyes dropping tears, pleading with the sons of men? Have you neveradmiredthat portrait from the hand of old John Bunyan?-a grave person with eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in hishand, the law of truth written on his lips, the world behind his back, standing as if he pleaded with men, and a crown ofgold hanging over his head. Who gave that minister so blessed a manner, and such goodly matter? Whence came his skill? Didhe acquire it in the college? Did he learn it in the seminary? Ah, no. He learned it of the God of Jacob; he learned it ofthe HolyGhost; for the Holy Ghost is the great counsellor who teaches us how to advocate his cause aright.

But, beside this, the Holy Ghost is the advocate in men's hearts. Ah! I have known men reject a doctrine until the Holy Ghostbegan to illuminate them. We, who are the advocates of the truth, are often very poor pleaders; we spoil our cause by thewords we use; but it is a mercy that the brief is in the hand of a special pleader, who will advocate successfully, and overcomethe sinner's opposition. Did you ever know him fail once? Brethren, I speak to your souls; has notGod in old times convinced you of sin? Did not the Holy Ghost come and prove that you were guilty, although no ministercould ever get you out of your self-righteousness? Did he not advocate Christ's righteousness? Did he not stand and tell youthat your works were filthy rags? And when you had well-nigh still refused to listen to his voice, did he not fetch hell'sdrum and make it sound about your ears; bidding you look through the vista of future years, and see the throne set, and thebooksopen, and the sword brandished, and hell burning, and fiends howling, and the damned shrieking forever? And did he notconvince you of the judgment to come? He is a mighty advocate when he pleads in the soul-of sin, of righteousness, and ofthe judgment to come. Blessed advocate! Plead in my heart; plead with my conscience. When I sin, make conscience bold to tellme of it; when I err, make conscience speak at once; and when I turn aside to crooked ways, then advocate the cause ofrighteousness, and bid me sit down in confusion, knowing by guiltiness in the sight of God.

But there is yet another sense in which the Holy Ghost advocates, and that is, he advocates our cause with Jesus Christ, withgroanings that cannot be uttered. O my soul! thou art ready to burst within me. O my heart! thou art swelled with grief. Thehot tide of my emotion would well-nigh overflood the channels of my veins. I long to speak, but the very desire chains mytongue. I wish to pray, but the fervency of my feeling curbs my language. There is a groaning withinthat cannot be uttered. Do you know who can utter that groaning? who can understand it, and who can put it into heavenlylanguage, and utter it in a celestial tongue, so that Christ can hear it? O yes; it is God the Holy Spirit; he advocates ourcause with Christ, and then Christ advocates it with his Father. He is the advocate who maketh intercession for us, with groaningsthat cannot be uttered.

Having thus explained the Spirit's office as a teacher and advocate, we now come to the translation of our version-the Comforter; and here I shall have three divisions: first, the comforter; secondly, the comfort; and thirdly, the comforted.

I. First, then, the COMFORTER. Briefly let me run over in my mind, and in your minds too, the characteristics of this gloriousComforter. Let me tell you some of the attributes of his comfort, so that you may understand how well adapted he is to yourcase.

And first, we will remark, that God the Holy Ghost is a very loving Comforter. I am in distress, and I want consolation. Some passer-by hears of my sorrow, and he steps within, sits down, andessays to cheer me; he speaks soothing words, but he loves me not; he is a stranger; he knows me not at all; he has only comein to try his skill. And what is the consequence? His words run o'er me like oil upon a slab of marble-they are like the patteringrain upon the rock;they do not break my grief; it stands unmoved as adamant, because he has no love for me. But let some one who loves medear as his own life, come and plead with me, then truly his words are music; they taste like honey; he knows the passwordof the doors of my heart, and my ear is attentive to every word; I catch the intonation of each syllable as it falls, forit is like the harmony of the harps of heaven. Oh! there is a voice in love, it speaks a language which is its own; it hasan idiom anda brogue which none can mimic; wisdom cannot imitate it; oratory cannot attain unto it; it is love alone which can reachthe mourning heart; love is the only handkerchief which can wipe the mourner's tears away. And is not the Holy Ghost a lovingcomforter? Dost thou know, O saint, how much the Holy Spirit loves thee? Canst thou measure the love of the Spirit? Dost thouknow how great is the affection of his soul towards thee? Go measure heaven with thy span; go weigh the mountains in thescales; go take the ocean's water, and tell each drop; go count the sand upon the sea's wide shore; and when thou hastaccomplished this, thou canst tell how much he loveth thee. He has loved thee long, he has loved thee well, he loved theeever, and he still shall love thee; surely he is the person to comfort thee, because he loves. Admit him, then, to your heart,O Christian, that he may comfort you in your distress.

But next, he is a faithful Comforter. Love sometimes proveth unfaithful. "Oh! sharper than a serpent's tooth" is an unfaithful friend! Oh! far morebitter than the gall of bitterness, to have a friend turn from me in my distress! Oh! woe of woes, to have one who loves mein my prosperity, forsake me in the dark day of my trouble. Sad indeed; but such is not God's Spirit. He ever loves, and loveseven to the end-a faithful Comforter. Child of God, you are introuble. A little while ago, you found him a sweet and loving Comforter; you obtained relief from him when others werebut broken cisterns; he sheltered you in his bosom, and carried you in his arms. Oh, wherefore dost thou distrust him now?Away with thy fears; for he is a faithful Comforter. "Ah! but," thou sayest, "I fear I shall be sick, and shall be deprivedof his ordinances." Nevertheless he shall visit thee on thy sick bed, and sit by thy side, to give thee consolation. "Ah!but I havedistresses greater than you can conceive of; wave upon wave rolleth over me; deep calleth unto deep, at the noise of theEternal's waterspouts." Nevertheless, he will be faithful to his promise. "Ah! but I have sinned." So thou hast, but sin cannotsever thee from his love; he loves thee still. Think not, O poor downcast child of God, because the scars of thine old sinshave marred thy beauty, that he loves thee less because of that blemish. O no! He loved thee when he foreknew thy sin; heloved thee with the knowledge of what the aggregate of thy wickedness would be; and he does not love thee less now. Cometo him in all boldness of faith; tell him thou hast grieved him, and he will forget thy wandering, and will receive thee again;the kisses of his love shall be bestowed upon thee, and the arms of his grace shall embrace thee. He is faithful; trust him,he will never deceive you; trust him, he will never leave you.

Again, he is an unwearied Comforter. I have sometimes tried to comfort persons, and have been tired. You, now and then, meet with a case of a nervousperson. You ask, "What is your trouble?" You are told; and you essay, if possible, to remove it; but while you are preparingyour artillery to battle the trouble, you find that it has shifted its quarters, and is occupying quite a different position.You change your argument and begin again; but lo, it is again gone,and you are bewildered. You feel like Hurcules, cutting off the evergrowing heads of the Hydra, and you give up your taskin despair. You meet with persons whom it is impossible to comfort, reminding one of the man who locked himself up in fetters,and threw the key away, so that nobody could unlock him. I have found some in the fetters of despair. "O, I am the man," saythey, "that has seen affliction; pity me, pity me, O, my friends;" and the more you try to comfort such people, the worsethey get; and, therefore, out of all heart, we leave them to wander alone among the tombs of their former joys. But theHoly Ghost is never out of heart with those whom he wishes to comfort. He attempts to comfort us, and we run away from thesweet cordial; he gives us some sweet draught to cure us, and we will not drink it; he gives some wondrous potion to charmaway all our troubles, and we put it away from us. Still be pursues us; and though we say that we will not be comforted, hesays weshall be, and when he has said, he does it; he is not to be wearied by all our sins, nor by all our murmurings.

And oh, how wise a Comforter is the Holy Ghost. Job had comforters, and I think he spoke the truth when he said, "Miserable comforters areye all." But I dare say they esteemed themselves wise; and when the young man Elihu rose to speak, they thought he had a worldof impudence. Were they not "grave and reverend seigniors?" Did not they comprehend his grief and sorrow? If they could notcomfort him, who could? But they did not find out the cause. They thought he wasnot really a child of God, that he was self-righteous, and they gave him the wrong physic. It is a bad case when the doctormistakes a disease and gives a wrong prescription, and so perhaps kills the patient. Sometimes, when we go and visit people,we mistake their disease; we want to comfort them on this point, whereas they do not require any such comfort at all, andthey would be better left alone, than spoiled by such unwise comforters as we are. But oh, how wise the Holy Spirit is! Hetakesthe soul, lays it on the table, and dissects it in a moment; he finds out the root of the matter, he sees where the complaintis, and then he applies the knife where something is required to be taken away, or puts a plaster where the sore is; and henever mistakes. O how wise is the blessed Holy Ghost; from ever comforter I turn, and leave them all, for thou art he whoalone givest the wisest consolation.

Then mark, how safe a Comforter the Holy Ghost is. All comfort is not safe, mark that. There is a young man over there very melancholy. You knowhow he became so. He stepped into the house of God and heard a powerful preacher, and the word was blessed, and convincedhim of sin. When he went home, his father and the rest found there was something different about him, "Oh," they said, "Johnis mad, he is crazy;" and what said his mother? "Send him into the country fora week; let him go to the ball or the theatre." John, did you find any comfort there? "Ah no; they made me worse, forwhile I was there I thought hell might open and swallow me up." Did you find any relief in the gayeties of the world? "No,"say you, "I thought it was idle waste of time." Alas! this is miserable comfort, but it is the comfort of the worldling; and,when a Christian gets into distress, how many will recommend him this remedy and the other. "Go and hear Mr. So-and-so preach;""have a few friends at you house;" "Read such-and-such a consoling volume;" and very likely it is the most unsafe advicein the world. The devil will sometimes come to men's souls as a false comforter; and he will say to the soul, "What need isthere to make all this ado about repentance? you are no worse than other people;" and he will try to make the soul believe,that what is presumption, is the real assurance of the Holy Ghost; thus he deceives many by false comfort. Ah! there havebeenmany, like infants, destroyed by elixirs, given to lull them to sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of "peace, peace,"when there is no peace; hearing gentle things, when they ought to be stirred to the quick. Cleopatra's asp was brought ina basket of flowers; and men's ruin often lurks in fair and sweet speeches. But the Holy Ghost's comfort is safe, and youmay rest on it. Let him speak the word, and there is a reality about it; let him give the cup of consolation, and you maydrink itto the bottom; for in its depths there are no dregs, nothing to intoxicate or ruin, it is all safe.

Moreover, the Holy Ghost is an active Comforter; he does not comfort by words, but by deeds. Some comfort by, "Be ye warmed, and be ye filled, giving nothing."But the Holy Ghost gives, he intercedes with Jesus; he gives us promises, he gives us grace, and so he comforts us. Mark again,he is always a successful Comforter; he never attempts what he cannot accomplish.

Then, to close up, he is an ever-present Comforter, so that you never have to send for him. Your God is always near you; and when you need comfort in your distress,behold the word is nigh thee; it is in thy mouth, and in thy heart. He is an ever-present help in time of trouble. I wishI had time to expand these thoughts, but I cannot.

II. The second thing is the COMFORT. Now there are some persons who make a great mistake about the influence of the Holy Spirit.A foolish man, who had a fancy to preach in a certain pulpit, though in truth he was quite incapable of the duty, called uponthe minister, and assured him solemnly, that it had been revealed to him by the Holy Ghost that he was to preach in his pulpit."Very well," said the minister, "I suppose I must not doubt your assertion, but as it has notbeen revealed to me that I am to let you preach, you must go your way, until it is." I have heard many fanatical personssay the Holy Spirit revealed this and that to them. Now, that is very generally revealed nonsense. The Holy Ghost does notreveal anything fresh now. He brings old things to our remembrance. "He shall teach you all things, and bring all things toyour remembrance, whatsoever I have told you." The canon of revelation is closed, there is no more to be added; God does notgive afresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory,he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one. There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are oftenrevived. It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over again;he brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture; he unlocks the strong chests in which the truth haslonglain, and he points to secret chamber filled with untold riches; but he coins no more, for enough is done. Believer! thereis enough in the Bible for thee to live upon forever. If thou shouldst outnumber the years of Methuselah, there would be noneed for a fresh revelation; if thou shouldst live till Christ should come upon the earth, there would be no need for theaddition of a single word; if thou shouldst go down as deep as Jonah, or even descend as David said he did into the bellyof hell,still there would be enough in the Bible to comfort thee without a supplementary sentence. But Christ says, "He shalltake of mine, and show it unto you." Now, let me just tell you briefly what it is the Holy Ghost tells us.

Ah! does he not whisper to the heart, "Saint, be of good cheer; there is one who died for thee; look to Calvary, behold hiswounds, see the torrent gushing from his side-there is thy purchaser, and thou art secure. He loves thee with an everlastinglove, and this chastisement is meant for thy good; each stroke is working thy healing; by the blueness of the wound thy soulis made better." "Whom he loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Doubt nothis grace, because of thy tribulation; but believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble, as in times of happiness.And then, moreover, he says, "What is all thy suffering compared with that of thy Lord's? or what, when weighed in the scalesof Jesus' agonies, is all thy distress? And especially at times does the Holy Ghost take back the veil of heaven, and letsthe soul behold the glory of the upperworld! Then it is that the saint can say, "O thou art a Comforter to me!"

"Let cares like a wild deluge come,

And storms of sorrow fall;

May I but safely reach my home,

My God, my heaven, my all."

Some of you could follow, were I to tell of manifestations of heaven. You, too, have left sun, moon, and stars at your feet,while, in you flight, outstripping the tardy lightning, you have seemed to enter the gates of pearl, and tread the goldenstreets, borne aloft on wings of the Spirit. But here we must not trust ourselves; lest, lost in reverie, we forget our theme.

III. And now, thirdly, who are the comforted persons? I like, you know, at the end of my sermon to cry out, "Divide! divide!"There are two parties here-some who are comforted, and others who are the comfortless ones-some who have received the consolationsof the Holy Ghost, and some who have not. Now let us try and sift you, and see which is the chaff and which is the wheat;and may God grant that some of the chaff may, this night, be transformed into his wheat!

You may say, "How am I to know whether I am a recipient of the comfort of the Holy Ghost?" You may know it by one rule. Ifyou have received one blessing from God, you will receive all other blessings too. Let me explain myself. If I could comehere as an auctioneer, and sell the gospel off in lots, I should dispose of it all. If I could say, here is justificationthrough the blood of Christ-free; giving away, gratis; many a one would say, "I will have justification;give it to me; I wish to be justified; I wish to be pardoned." Suppose I took sanctification, the giving up of all sin,a thorough change of heart, leaving off drunkenness and swearing; many would say, "I don't want that; I should like to goto heaven, but I do not want that holiness; I should like to be saved at last, but I should like to have my drink still; Ishould like to enter glory, but then I must have an oath or two on the road." Nay, but, sinner, if thou hast one blessing,thou shalthave all. God will never divide the gospel. He will not give justification to that man, and sanctification to another-pardonto one, and holiness to another. No, it all goes together. Whom he call, them he justifies; whom he justifies, them he sanctifies;and whom he sanctifies, them he also glorifies. Oh; if I could lay down nothing but the comforts of the gospel, ye would fly to them as flies do to honey. When ye come to be ill, ye send for the clergyman. Ah! you allwant yourminister then to come and give you consoling words. But, if he be an honest man, he will not give some of you a particleof consolation. He will not commence pouring oil, when the knife would be better. I want to make a man feel his sins beforeI dare tell him anything about Christ. I want to probe into his soul and make him feel that he is lost before I tell him anythingabout the purchased blessing. It is the ruin of many to tell them, "Now just believe on Christ, and that is all you have todo." If, instead of dying, they get better, they rise up white-washed hypocrites-that is all. I have heard of a city missionarywho kept a record of two thousand persons who were supposed to be on their death-bed, but recovered, and whom he should haveput down as converted persons had they died; and how many do you think lived a Christian life afterwards out of the two thousand?Not two. Positively he could only find one who was found to live afterwards in the fear of God. Is it not horriblethat when men and women come to die, they should cry, "Comfort, comfort?" and that hence their friends conclude that theyare children of God, while, after all, they have no right to consolation, but are intruders upon the enclosed grounds of theblessed God. O God, may these people ever be kept from having comfort when they have no right to it! Have you the other blessings?Have you had the conviction of sin? Have you ever felt your guilt before God? Have your souls been humbled at Jesus'feet? And have you been made to look to Calvary alone for your refuge? If not, you have no right to consolation. Do nottake an atom of it. The Spirit is a convincer before he is a Comforter; and you must have the other operations of the HolySpirit, before you can derive anything from this.

And now I have done. You have heard what this babbler hath said once more. What has it been? Something about the Comforter.But let me ask you, before you go, what do you know about the Comforter? Each one of you, before descending the steps of thischapel, let this solemn question thrill through your souls-What do you know of the Comforter? O! poor souls, if ye know notthe Comforter, I will tell you what you shall know-You shall know the Judge! If ye know not theComforter on earth, ye shall know the Condemner in the next world, who shall cry, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlastingfire in hell." Well might Whitefield call out, "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!" If ye were to live hereforever, ye might slight the gospel; if ye had a lease of your lives, ye might despise the Comforter. But, sirs, ye must die.Since last we met together, probably some have gone to their long last home; and ere we meet again in this sanctuary, someherewill be amongst the glorified above, or amongst the damned below. Which will it be? Let you soul answer. If to-night youfell down dead in your pews, or where you are standing in the gallery, where would you be? in heaven or in hell? Ah! deceive not yourselves; let conscience have its perfect work; and if in the sight of God, you are obliged to say, "Itremble and fear lest my portion should be with unbelievers," listen one moment, and then I have done with thee. "He thatbelieveth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." Weary sinner, hellish sinner, thouwho art the devil's castaway, reprobate, profligate, harlot, robber, thief, adulterer, fornicator, drunkard, swearer, Sabbath-breaker-list!I speak to thee as well as to the rest. I exempt no man. God hath said there is no exemption here. "Whosoever believeth on the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved." Sin is no barrier; thy guilt is no obstacle. Whosoever-thoughhe were as black as Satan, though he were filthy as a fiend-whosoever this night believes, shall have every sin forgiven,shall have every crime effaced; shall have ever iniquity blotted out; shall be saved in the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall standin heaven safe and secure. That is the glorious gospel. God apply it to your hearts, and give you faith in Jesus!

"We have listened to the preacher-

Truth by him has now been shown;

But we want a GREATER TEACHER,

From the everlasting throne;

APPLICATION

Is the work of God alone."