2540. Declaring The Works Of The Lord

No. 2540-43:505. A Sermon Delivered in June 1884, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

A Sermon Intended For Reading On Lord’s Day, October 24, 1897.

In connection with the dedication of the Jubilee House, which commemorated the completion of the beloved Pastor’s fiftieth year, June 19, 1884. {a}

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. {Ps 118:17}

 For other sermons on this text:
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2237, “Gratitude for Deliverance from the Grave” 2238}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2540, “Declaring the Works of the Lord” 2541}
   Exposition on Ps 118 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3264, “God’s Care of Elijah” 3266 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Ps 118 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3427, “Blessed Christ, The” 3429 @@ "Exposition"}

1. I could not deal with all the text on the last occasion, so I return to it. May the Holy Spirit bedew the Word afresh, and make it a joy to meditate on it!

2. I. MANY ARE THE WORKS OF THE LORD.

3. Are not all things his workmanship, from the heights of heaven down to the deep places of the earth? From the most remote star blazing in magnificence of light, down to the gnat which dances in the beams of the evening’s sun, the Lord’s hand is seen everywhere. The Lord has made all things: creation is the work of his fingers. He continues to work all things according to the good pleasure of his will. Some of these works are plain and obvious to all; if men have eyes to see, they only have to open them, and they may see God working all around them, — above, beneath, and everywhere. Others of his works are secret, and not discerned by the organs of the body. These things are only to be fully perceived by faith concerning their inner meaning, even when in their historical outcome they are seen by men. The great work of accomplished redemption was seen by those who lived in our Lord’s day, in the offering of the great Sacrifice; yet they did not see it in truth. It is clearly seen by the eye of faith though centuries have rolled away, but the eye of sense did not see it even when transacted openly. That other gracious work of God, which is carried on within the soul, is only to be known to the man who experiences it himself, though its results are obvious enough to others. So that there are works of God which will never be known to the majority of mankind except as his children testify concerning them. It should be with us a great object of our existence to bear witness to these mysterious deeds of grace: we ought to say, in the language of our Master, “For this purpose we were born, and for this reason we came into the world, that we should bear witness to the truth.” We are to live to declare these works of the Lord.

4. Let me very briefly recount certain of those works of God which we can declare. I think that this term may apply in a certain sense to all God’s works. For example, I have said that creation is open to every man’s observation, and that he, if he wishes, may see that God is there; yet very many men do not perceive God to be the Author of nature. They do not wish to perceive him, and it is for you and for me, therefore, whenever we talk about the wisdom which is to be seen in creation, most distinctly to refer the things which exist to the hand of the Lord. A scientific man does great service when he sanctifies his science by pointing out the traces of the divine handiwork. While others see only the creation, he goes further, and sees the Creator. You and I may not rank with the scientific, but that need not hinder us from bearing our testimony to the Lord’s working, for the naked eye suffices to cause wonder and adoration. When we gaze on majestic scenery of mountain and sea, while others are entirely taken up with the beauty of the prospect, it is for us to say with Milton, —

    These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
    Almighty! Thine this universal frame,
    Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!
    Unspeakable, who sitt’st above these heavens
    To us invisible, or dimly seen
    In these thy lowest works; yet these declare
    Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine.

So we can preach the sermon of which the beauty in nature is the text. If men will not go “from nature up to nature’s God,” — as they never will until they first come down from God to nature, — we at least can point the way. We can say to them, “We cannot permit you to look on all these majestic works without telling you who it is who in wisdom has made them all.” So we shall, like the psalmist, “declare the works of the Lord.”

5. Think, next, of the work of God in providence. If men would only observe it, the hand of God is clearly to be seen in human history, both in the great records of nations and in the little stories of private lives. He who will watch for providences need not be long without discovering them. We can see evidences of design as clearly in the deeds of human life as we can in the works of nature; but, often, men will not see them. Consequently, if you do see them, my brother, declare them. Make the ungodly man see the hand of God; or, if you cannot make him see it, yet at least let him know that you see it, and that surely the hand of God is in all the workings of providence. Do you not have some personal story to tell of how the Lord has intervened for your help? I will not insult you with the question; for, if you have led a Christian life for years, you must have many, many such records concerning the lovingkindness of the Lord laid up in store in your memory. Bring these out, do not let them be set aside, as on a mouldy shelf; but bring them out, and tell to others what God has done for you in the ordering of the ordinary or extraordinary events of your life. “Declare the works of the Lord.”

6. Especially and emphatically you and I must often dwell on the work of God in redemption. Are we not too slow to talk about this marvel of all marvels — this greatest wonder of time and of eternity, — that God came here in our flesh to suffer, bleed, and die, so that he might work out our redemption? All this is plainly written in the Word of God, but many men do not read the Bible; then, let them see it, and hear it. Be walking Bibles. Often tell “the old, old story, of Jesus and his love.” Do not wait until you can gather a great congregation; talk about it to your children, to your friends, to any with whom you are brought into contact with by the providence of God. “Declare the works of the Lord” which cluster around the cross. Never did an angel have better news to bring than you have; then, play the angel whenever you can. Be the messenger of God in telling what he has done through the redemption worked out by his only-begotten Son in his wondrous sacrifice on Calvary.

7. And then, dear friends, a further work of God which springs out of our redemption is that of regeneration, and we must also declare that. If men care little for the story of creation, providence, or redemption, they care still less for the great mystery of regeneration. They do not believe in it; some of them, alas! hold it up to ridicule. Do not be ashamed to declare that work of the Lord; and do it mainly by exhibiting its fruit in your life, but also by clearly narrating your own experience whenever you have a fitting opportunity. Oh, it is a wonderful thing to have been twice-born, to have been “begotten again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It is a thing to be spoken of humbly, but yet most boldly, that we have passed from death to life, that we have been brought out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. I think that man who was born blind, to whom our Lord Jesus afterwards gave sight, if he had lived for many years, and had mixed much in society, would have been sure somehow to turn the conversation around so that he might tell how he was once blind, but was afterwards made to see. I would not wonder if, sometimes, his friends and acquaintances were caused to smile because of the oft-told story. They would say to each other, “Before the evening is over, we shall hear once more the story of the Prophet who anointed his eyes with the clay, and then told him to go and wash, and so caused him to find his sight! It does not matter what the subject under discussion may be, he will turn it around somehow, and drag in his narrative of the miracle, which always ends with, ‘Whereas I was blind, now I see.’ ” “Ah!” he would say, “you were speaking about light; do you know, there was a time when I did not know what light was? I had never seen a ray of it, but there came a wondrous Miracle Worker, called Jesus, who opened my eyes.” “You spoke about water, sir, did you not? I remember the pool of Siloam, it was wonderful water for me, when I went, and washed, and received my sight.” “No,” you say; “I was not talking about water, I was speaking about the earth”; but the man who had been blind says, “Oh, but I remember when I had clay put on my eyes, and yet that clay, when I went and washed it off, was made the means of restoring my sight!” I am sure that he would get that familiar story in somehow. Well, take care that you do the same, dear brother or sister. “Declare the works of the Lord,” and tell what he did for you when you were regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

8. Since then, what a scene of wonders has opened up before our astonished gaze! I do not know which day of my life was fullest of mercy since my spiritual birthday, but it does seem to me that the farther I go in the heavenly pilgrimage, the clearer is the light, the more charming the view, the sharper the lines of beauty, the more distinct the colouring, and the brighter the approaching glory. Yes, when God begins to work in us, there is no telling what is to come; it is always “better on before.” The light shines more and more to the perfect day. Therefore, tell more as you learn more, and proclaim more as you experience more; and go on for ever telling what never can be fully told. If you only told the blessings of the past, there would be a lifelong story for you to tell; but as each day seems to exceed its predecessor, as the days of grace so swiftly follow each other, let your testimony continually become more courageous, more clear, more frequent, as you tell to others what God has done for you. “Declare the works of the Lord.”

9. If I were to dwell at length on these great subjects, and then go on to mention everything that the Lord is doing for his Church, and for the maintenance and spread of his eternal truth, I myself should take up all the time with what I want to be only the preliminary to my discourse, so let us advance to my second point.

10. II. THESE WORKS OF THE LORD OUGHT TO BE DECLARED. There are always so many good and valid reasons for every one of God’s commands that, though it ought to be obeyed even if no reason is given, yet it should be obeyed all the more quickly when there are so many reasons clearly apparent to us. Why, then, should we declare the works of the Lord?

11. I answer, first, for God’s glory. This is man’s chief end, “to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” Oh saint, how can you glorify God better than by declaring his works? Will you begin now to adore the Lord? Suppose I were to lead you now in an act of adoration, what should I say? How should I praise God, except by saying what God is, or what God does? We never bring anything to God from outside; but when we want to praise him most, we find the jewels for his crown out of his own regalia. What should we say if we began to praise him? “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them out by the right way, so that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” You see, it is, all through, the story of what he is, and what he has done. This is the only way in which we can truly magnify the Lord, making him great by mentioning the greatness which he already has. Therefore, brethren, since I am sure you would wish to pay your revenue of praise to the great King of kings, be sure that you “declare the works of the Lord.”

12. Do this, also, for the comfort of his people. What is there that can comfort God’s saints like telling them what the Lord has done, his love in time past, his love for others of his people, his love for you? You will comfort many despondent ones if you tell them how you were brought low, and the Lord helped you. One of the quickest and best ways of lighting a candle for a child of God in the dark is to relate your own experience of the goodness of the Lord. Therefore, then, since you want to comfort God’s people, be sure that you proclaim what God has done for you.

13. Moreover, I know that you want to guide the anxious; and how shall they be guided so well as by telling them what the Lord does? If you begin to tell them what they ought to do, you will only entangle them even more in the net, for what can these poor souls do to release themselves? Tell them what the Lord does for sinners, how he delivers them from the fowler’s snare; tell them what a mighty arm he has to lift them out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay; and especially dwell on the fact that he has brought you up out of that horrible pit, and set your feet on a rock, and established your goings. I feel sure that this personal testimony of yours will be one of the best means of leading poor troubled anxious ones to put their trust in God.

14. Moreover, dear brethren, tell what the Lord has done, because it will be such a warning to the self-righteous. They think to go to heaven as they are; they suppose themselves to be quite fit for the spiritual kingdom. Tell them that you have been born again, declare to them what the Spirit of God did in you when he made all things new; and they will say to themselves, “We do not know anything about this matter, we never felt this change.” And, believe me, the narration of the Holy Spirit’s work in you and on you will be more powerful to many of them than any words that I can put together. Your personal declaration of how the Lord takes away the heart of stone, and gives the heart of flesh, will induce many a man to say, “I am ignorant of all this; therefore, what is to become of me?” and this anxiety will lead him to flee to Christ so that he also may experience the new birth, and be saved himself. Do not hesitate, then, to declare everywhere God’s working in you and for you, so that others may be led to rejoice in the same blessings of his grace.

15. Besides, it gladdens the Church of God when any are heard declaring the works of the Lord. Have you not, dear friends, often been comforted when a brother, home from a foreign land, where he has been a missionary, has told you how God has blessed him to some heathen tribe so that it has turned to Christ? Why, as you heard his story, you felt that you also would like to be missionaries. And when God blessed you, my dear sister, in your Sunday School class, tell others about the sweet joy you have had in seeing his Spirit working with your girls or boys; for then they also will want to enter into some holy service for the Master. When a church gets dull and cold, — and it is very apt to do so at times, — and a kind of ignoble despondency steals over the servants of God, come and tell what the Lord did in the ages past, the glorious things which he did in our fathers’ days, and in the old time before them; and then bring in a little of what you yourself have seen, how God has used you, a poor, weak, worthless instrument, to glorify himself, for by this you will put new life into these desponding ones, and they will begin again to be of good courage.

16. “Well,” one says, “I have not said much about what God has done for me. It is not because I do not know him; but I have not thought it necessary to tell it.” I think that no mercy of God ought to be stowed away in the cellar; everything that he does ought to be told. Last Tuesday, I saw about twenty-four people, whose names I was happy to propose for church membership, and I felt very happy and thankful, yet I said to myself as I went home, “I am not half as glad about these numerous conversions as I ought to be.” There was a time when if anyone had said to me when I began to preach, “You will sometimes see forty converts in a day. Sometimes, you shall go week after week, and see a score coming forward each week,” why, I should have said, “No, that is too much; I should die of joy if I ever saw that”; yet I have seen it again and again. Do you not think that God blesses us more than we praise him, and that, sometimes, if our success becomes a little less than usual, he might say to us, “Well, I did use you, you know, yet you did not seem at all grateful for it. I did give you one soul, and that soul was worth a thousand worlds; but you did not seem to think anything of that. I want you to appreciate the blessings I have given before I bestow any more on you.” Why, sirs, a man might give his eyes to win a single soul, and be perfectly satisfied to go into heaven blind, with that one soul at his right hand! Better by far to enter into life blind, halt, maimed, with some companions won for Christ, than to live here with all one’s eyes and faculties, and be a barren soul, and never bring a sinner to the Saviour’s feet.

17. Let us, then, bless the Lord, praise him, and declare his wonderful works. If you do, someone will say that you are an egotist. Whenever anyone says that of me, I feel that it is so true that I do not get angry about it, because if I am not egotistical when I tell what the Lord has done for me, and by me, I daresay that I am about some other matter; and, therefore, if I do not deserve the cut of the whip for that, I do for something else; so I take it as a rebuke that I deserve some way or other. But I am not speaking with egotism any the more for that. When the Lord does a good thing in me, or for me, or by me, I will tell it; and I ask you to do the same. If someone says, “He talks about himself,” answer, “Well, Paul was constantly doing the same thing.” He was one of the humblest men who ever lived; yet he was continually talking about himself. You see, he knew more about himself than he did about anyone else; and he knew more about what God had done for him than of what God had done for Apollos or Cephas; and he was quite right in giving that kind of evidence which, in his own case, would be most powerful with those who had seen him, and known him, and who understood in very deed and truth that God had worked great wonders in him and by him.

18. So, then, we may continue to say that there are good reasons for declaring the works of God.

19. III. Now, thirdly, WHO OUGHT TO DECLARE THESE WORKS OF THE LORD?

20. Well, first, let those declare them who know them. It is a wretched business to go up into a pulpit to declare God’s works, and to pray God the Holy Spirit to help you, and then to put your hand into your pocket, and pull out someone else’s manuscript, which you have bought, to read it to the people. That borrowing or stealing of another man’s testimony is not what the psalmist means, and I do not see how God can be expected to bless it; but when a man speaks out of the fulness of his own heart of what he himself has tasted, and handled, and felt, then there is power in the testimony. You know how pleased those quacks who sell medicine are when they can get a testimonial from someone who says that he has been cured by their remedies. Whether or not most of those testimonials that are published are manufactured at home, I cannot tell; but if they do get a genuine recommendation from some living person, testifying to the beneficial effect of their medicine, how they try to make it known everywhere! Well, surely, there is common sense in that, for men are convinced by the testimony of others.

21. It is for this reason that we who have experienced the working of God’s grace should bear our own personal testimony concerning what he has done for our soul. There is no man who can speak with power about the grace of God, unless he has felt its influence in his own heart; but personal witness-bearing is always effective. “I preached,” said John Bunyan, “very often, like a man in chains to men in chains.” He heard his own fetters rattle while he talked to others about the bondage of sin; and I am sure that then he must have spoken in a most convincing way; but when he regained his liberty, then he spoke of that emancipation like one who had not a fetter left on him, and his hearers began to believe in such freedom as he described, and to ask how they could obtain the same. If you have really tasted that the Lord is gracious, and you declare to others what you have experienced of his graciousness, some at least among your hearers will believe you. There will be the accent of conviction about your message; and even if they do not believe you, then so much the greater will be their sin in remaining in unbelief after they have had the honest and hearty witness of a true man whose word they dare not question.

22. Think, dear friends, if God does not get witnesses among those who have had their sins forgiven, where are his witnesses to come from? If you and I, who have had his love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, do not praise him, who will do so? Are you going to leave this work to worldlings? Then it never will be done. Are you going to delegate the testimony to the preciousness of Jesus to anyone who happens to come along? Oh, let it not be so, but say within yourself, “Surely, the very stones would rise and speak if I remained silent; and the timber out of the wall might cry against me if I did not tell what the Lord has done for my soul.”

23. So I have tried to set before you the works of the Lord which are to be declared, the reasons why we should declare them, and the people who should be engaged in this blessed business of declaring the works of the Lord.

24. IV. Now, in the fourth place, I want, with all my heart, to stir up your hearts and my own also to THE DUTY OF DECLARING GOD’S WORKS.

25. Dear brothers and sisters, as many of you as know the Lord, please declare his works, and be encouraged to do so because, first, it is a very simple duty. I wish that some preachers whom I know would think that it is so. When I have heard most elaborate discourses, or have known brethren to labour at their sermons day after day, I have wondered what their idea of true preaching could be. A minister said to me, some time ago, “I am disappointed with my people, for, when I study very hard, and prepare a sermon that takes me a whole fortnight to complete, they never seem to appreciate it; but the other day,” he said, “I had been so busy that I just went into the pulpit, and talked on a very simple theme concerning Jesus and his love, — just such a sermon as I would deliver if I were suddenly called up from my bed, and told to preach in my shirtsleeves, — and my people greatly enjoyed that simple kind of talk!” “Well then,” I replied, “if I were in your place, I should give them another discourse of the same kind; I should preach some more of those shirtsleeve sermons, if they feed on them, and enjoy them.” The fact is, brethren, it is possible to hammer a sermon so long as to get all the goodness out of it, just as men will beat a beef-steak until they have driven all the juice out of it, and so give you nothing but a tough piece of leather. It is very possible to elaborate a sermon until you have worked all that is good out of it. Do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ meant that his ministers should go into the world, and preach such masterly sermons that they should almost suffer from softening of the brain, and I do not know what else besides, because of the strain and struggle to get at what, according to my Bible, is very plain and simple? Is there not in all this a good deal of desire to shine and to seem to be someone of importance? I believe it is so, but it ought not to be. The very philosophy of preaching is, to “declare the works of the Lord.” I believe that, often, our simplest language is the best we can use. I have some very rare flowers in my conservatory, but I must confess that I like a primrose or even a daisy as well as any of them. When you are teaching, my dear friends, pick your illustrations from the fields and the hedgerows, and they will be better by far than those which are brought from distant lands, and die on the road.

26. Is it not a very simple thing to tell what the Lord has done? Next time you try to preach a sermon, my young friend, you do just that; tell what the Lord Jesus Christ did, and never mind how you do it. Proclaim as well as you ever can what Jesus Christ did, but do not think so much of how you tell it as of what you are to tell.

27. Another time, make known what the Holy Spirit has done in you. “Why, I could tell that!” one says. Of course you could; and that is the very best kind of discourse. “Oh, but,” another says, “we must take time for study!” Certainly, study God’s Word with all your might; but there are parts of it which are so simple that they do not require any study, those parts which you yourself have tasted and handled and felt. The simpler and plainer your personal testimony concerning them is, the more likely you will be to do good by it. Come, then, my brothers and sisters, do not go sailing all over the seas to pick up some rarities to display in a great congregation; but when you get two or three people together, just tell them what you have experienced of the grace of God in your own soul. You know that this is what I cannot tell. “What!” you ask, “is there something we know that you do not?” Yes, of course there is; I can tell what has been done in my own soul, but I cannot tell what has been done in yours. You have a portion of testimony for Christ which no one but yourselves can give. This work of glorifying the grace of God is a mosaic; I can put in my little pieces of stone or marble to form the pattern so far, but there is another part of that mosaic which no one but yourselves can supply. It can be made out of the odds and ends of your spiritual experience, as you think them to be; but insignificant and unimportant as they seem to be, they help to complete the whole design. Therefore, please do not keep back that portion for now you can see what a simple duty it is for every child of God to declare the works of the Lord.

28. Then notice what a very obvious duty it is that you should tell what God has done for you. Does this need any proof? Do you think that the Lord saved you so that you might just be happy, keeping your joy within your own heart, always feeding and fattening it? I do not think the Lord had such a narrow purpose as that in his mind when he saved you. Depend on it, if God has given you a jewel to wear, it is so that other eyes may be gladdened by the sight of it. He never lit the candle of his love for you to go and hide yourself in your own room, shutting the door, and saying to yourself, “What a charming candle I have! What a beautiful light it gives! How I do enjoy its brightness!” No; when the Lord gave you that candle, he intended it to give light to all in the house, and he also meant that other candles might be lit by it. “I had such a sweet experience, the other day,” one says. Did you? Then, do you not think it was given to you because another person needed it as much as you yourself did, and that, therefore, you are to go and tell it? There are some hearers who, if we preach the doctrines of grace, sit and suck them in; but if we try to bring sinners to Christ, they say, “We did not get fed tonight.” And who do you think you are? Do you think that God sent his servant to do nothing but to feed you with a spoon? There are other things for the minister to do besides looking after you. I think that, sometimes, it is our duty to leave the ninety-nine, and to go after the one who has gone astray; not so much to feed the people of God, as to search for those who are out of the way. And I notice that the people of God are generally best fed when that is the case, and they feel the most joy when the preacher is seeking the salvation of sinners. If you, my friends, are not happy when that is being done, there is something wrong with you. You had better ask the great Physician to give you a dose of heavenly medicine to cure you of that sad disease. You are spiritually out of order, for he who is in a right condition towards Christ loves the souls of men, and delights in that teaching which God is likely to bless to their conversion. It is, therefore, an obvious duty for us to tell to others what the Lord has done for us, so that they also may come and drink from the river of the water of life, and never thirst again.

29. Notice also that this is a very profitable duty. I hardly know of anything that is more useful for a Christian than to tell what the Lord has done for him. There is a lad in a school, and he is getting on very well, and he can only have another year’s schooling. I have known this proposal made to his parents: let him become a kind of pupil-teacher, let him continue to learn, and let him also begin to teach others. I was once in that condition myself, and I can bear my testimony that I never learned so much, or learned so thoroughly, as when I had to teach others. When I first began to preach, this was my usual way of working. I was up in the morning early, praying and reading the Word, then all day I was either teaching or studying hard; but at five o’clock every evening, except Saturday, I started out to preach what I had learned during the day. I used to tell the people, simply and earnestly, what I had first received into my own mind and heart; and I found that I derived greater benefit by proclaiming to others what I had learned than if I had kept it all to myself. I do not believe that you can thoroughly know the doctrines of grace until you begin to teach them to other people. You will soon find that they will not receive them, and so you will learn the doctrine of man’s natural depravity. You will speedily discover that your eloquence will not draw them to Christ, and in that way you will learn the doctrine of effectual calling, — that the Holy Spirit himself must come and work on them if they are to be saved. You will prove that some will reject Christ though you thought they were most likely to accept him, and that others, whom you felt sure would refuse him, will be the first to receive him; there you have the great doctrine of divine sovereignty. You see, from your own observation, how the Lord has compassion on whom he will have compassion, and how he has mercy on whom he will have mercy. You will never know the truth in all its fulness until with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, you have attempted to inculcate it into the hearts of others. So that it is a profitable duty to “declare the works of the Lord.”

30. Moreover, it is a very pleasant duty for those who practise it. I can testify that it is one of the most delightful exercises in the world, to proclaim the lovingkindness of the Lord. Old soldiers at Chelsea barracks, or old sailors at Greenwich, who could remember Waterloo and Trafalgar, never tired of telling the familiar story. If you could have crept up behind them, when there were half-a-dozen people around, you would have found that they were talking about the battles they were in many years ago. They would be sure to linger over the details of their escapes and their heroic deeds, for it is a pleasure for old men to fight their battles over again. And, certainly, it must be a pleasure for Christians, who have experienced the wonderful working of God’s grace, to tell that far sweeter story. It seems to me that this ought to be our constant delight; there should be no need for me to have to come here, and urge you to do this happy task. Why, brothers and sisters, you ought to be like the Israelites when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, and with them you should cry, “The Lord has done great things for us; for which we are glad.” Proclaim it among the heathen, make it known to the utmost ends of the earth, that the Lord our God has given his own Son to die, so that we might be redeemed from wrath through him. Do not be silent, beloved, but proclaim night and day the lovingkindness of the Lord.

31. This ought also to be a constant duty with all who love the Lord. When we have once told the story, we ought to feel bound to tell it again and again and again. It is the man who never has spoken for Christ who never does speak for him; he who has been silent is all too apt to continue to be silent. It is good for you young people, when you are newly converted, to bear your testimony at the church meeting. It often opens your mouths for Christ for the first time; and I exhort you, when you begin in the workshop or the work-room as a believer in Jesus, when you begin Christian life anywhere, do not begin it as if you were possessed by a deaf and dumb demon, but as if you first heard the voice of God, and then declare what he had said to you. I may be addressing some who are getting quite old, who have not yet borne their testimony for Christ. Oh my dear friends, wake up! You will have to be quick, or else your opportunity for testifying will be over. I could almost imagine that you would want to come back from heaven to tell someone about Jesus if you had not done it while you were here; then, do not think of going there until you have told all you can about your glorious Lord.

32. “But I cannot,” one says. What can you not do? If you were to be cured of a dreadful disease, I am sure you would be able to tell someone who the doctor was. And if, tonight, a thief were to break into your house, and a policeman came and seized him, I am sure you would tell someone tomorrow about what had happened. “But,” you say, “I am such a poor one at talking.” I am not sorry to hear that; there are many who might be improved if they were like you in that respect; but, still, you can generally tell what happens, and you can certainly tell what the Lord has done for you if you only seek the aid of the Holy Spirit. So, put away all that deadness and dullness of yours, rob God no longer of the glory due to his name, but tell what he has done for your soul.

33. Do you ask, “Whom shall I tell?” Well, good man, tell your wife, if you have never yet spoken to her about these things. Christian woman, do you enquire, “Whom shall I tell?” Why, tell your husband, and your children! You cannot have a better congregation than your own family. Are you in a factory? Tell your work-mates about Jesus Christ. There was a brother, worshipping with us, who went into a certain workshop, and he very soon bore his testimony in such a way that his employer and the three other men in the place were all converted, and now they are all members of this church, and their wives, too. When the husbands had heard the truth themselves, they wanted to go home so that they might tell it to their wives, and so they have all been brought in; and, recently, there has been a new workman brought into the shop, who did not love the things of God, and could not bear religion, but God has blessed our brother to him also. Proclaim it then, tell it, you who have been recently converted, do not hide your light under a bushel. Imitate Brother Gwillim over there, and others in this place who are always glad to have a word with the anxious, after the service is over; speak up for your Lord whenever you have the opportunity.

34. I believe that it is a great help in bringing people to decision when Mr. Moody asks those to stand up who wish to be prayed for. Anything that tends to separate you from the ungodly around you, is good for you. Now, if you have given yourselves to Christ, proclaim it; for, after that, you cannot go back to the world, you will feel that the vows of the Lord are on you. When Alexander the Great landed on a certain shore, he burned the boats behind him, so that his men might know that they must conquer or perish. I advise you to do likewise; burn your boats by a clear and explicit declaration, “The Lord has accomplished this great change in me by his grace, and I am his servant from now on, and for ever.”

35. May God bless you, dear friends, everyone, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen

 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, Names and Titles — The Way” 408}
 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Courage and Confidence — Not Ashamed Of The Gospel” 670}
 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Courage and Confidence — ‘A Good Soldier Of Jesus Christ’ ” 673}

{a} This sermon was the fourth of the series delivered by Mr. Spurgeon in connection with his Jubilee in 1884, and was partly revised by the beloved preacher, but never published. The first was No. 2538, “An Epistle Illustrated by a Psalm.” The second was No. 2539, “The Joy Of Holy Households.” The third was the second last sermon revised by Mr. Spurgeon before he died, No. 2237, “Gratitude For Deliverance From The Grave.”

C. H. Spurgeon Autobiography

Compiled from his diary, letters, and records, by his wife, and his private secretary. Vol. I. 1834-1854.

Special Preliminary Notice. — We are happy to be able to announce that, during the forthcoming book season, Messrs. Passmore and Alabaster will (D. V.) publish the first volume of the long-expected Standard Life of C. H. Spurgeon. It will take the form of an Autobiography, for which Mr. Spurgeon had long been preparing the material before he was “called home.” There are to be four large handsome volumes, at 10s. 6d. each; but in order to bring the work within the reach of all lovers of Mr. Spurgeon, it has been arranged to issue it also in monthly shilling parts. Both volumes and parts can be obtained though all booksellers, or from the Metropolitan Tabernacle colporteurs, or directly from Messrs. Passmore and Alabaster, 4, Paternoster Buildings, London. Orders should be given as early as possible by all who desire to secure copies of the first edition.

The first shilling part will be presented to each purchaser of The Sword and the Trowel for January, 1898, which will be ready on December 15th. The price of that one number of the Magazine will be sixpence; an unprecedented sale is anticipated, so that, to avoid disappointment, it should be ordered at once. Messrs. Passmore and Alabaster will send the January Sword and Trowel and Part I. of the Autobiography post free to any address at home or abroad for 8½d.

 Sermons in this series:
    See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2538, “An Epistle Illustrated by a Psalm.” 2539
    See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2539, “The Joy Of Holy Households.” 2540
    See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2237, “Gratitude For Deliverance From The Grave.” 2238
    See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2540, “Declaring The Works Of The Lord” 2541

Jesus Christ, Names and Titles
408 — The Way
1 Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone,
   He whom I fix’d my hopes upon,
   His track I see, and I’ll pursue
   The narrow way, till him I view.
2 The way the holy prophets went,
   The road that leads from banishment,
   The King’s highway of holiness,
   I’ll go, for all his paths are peace.
3 No stranger may proceed therein,
   No lover of the world and sin;
   Wayfaring men, to Canaan bound,
   Shall only in the way be found.
4 This is the way I long have sought,
   And mourn’d because I found it not;
   My grief and burden long have been,
   Because I could not cease from sin.
5 The more I strove against its power,
   I sinn’d and stumbled but the more;
   Till late I heard my Saviour say,
   “Come hither, soul! I am the Way!”
6 Lo! glad I come; and thou, blest Lamb,
   Shalt take me to thee, as I am;
   Nothing but sin have I to give;
   Nothing but love shall I receive.
7 Now will I tell to sinners round,
   What a dear Saviour I have found;
   I’ll point to thy redeeming blood,
   And say, “Behold the way to God!”
                        John Cennick, 1743, a.

The Christian, Courage and Confidence
670 — Not Ashamed Of The Gospel
1 I’m not ashamed to own my Lord,
      Or to defend his cause;
   Maintain the honour of his word,
      The glory of his cross.
2 Jesus, my God! I know his name,
      His name is all my trust;
   Nor will he put my soul to shame,
      Nor let my hope be lost.
3 Firm as his throne his promise stands,
      And he can well secure
   What I’ve committed to his hands,
      Till the decisive hour.
4 Then will he own my worthless name
      Before his Father’s face;
   And in the New Jerusalem
      Appoint my soul a place.
                        Isaac Watts, 1709.

The Christian, Courage and Confidence
673 — “A Good Soldier Of Jesus Christ” <7s.>
1 Oft in sorrow, oft in woe,
   Onward, Christians, onward go;
   Fight the fight, maintain the strife,
   Strengthen’d with the bread of life.
2 Let your drooping hearts be glad;
   March in heavenly armour clad:
   Fight, nor think the battle long,
   Soon shall victory tune your song.
3 Let not sorrow dim your eye,
   Soon shall every tear be dry;
   Let not fears your course impede,
   Great your strength if great your need.
4 Onward, then to glory move,
   More than conquerors ye shall prove;
   Though opposed by many a foe,
   Christian soldiers, onward go.
               Henry Kirke White, 1806;
               Fanny Fuller Maitland, 1827.