3504. Following Christ

A Sermon Published On Thursday, March 23, 1916.

And Ittai answered the king, and said, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” {2Sa 15:21}

For other sermons on this text:

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1512, “Loyal to the Core” 1512}

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3504, “Following Christ” 3506}

   Exposition on 2Sa 15:12-37 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2995, “Very Exceptional” 2996 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on 2Sa 15:13-23 Isa 61; Mr 14:22-41 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3431, “King Crossing Over Kidron, The” 3433 @@ "Exposition"}

1. Some men have a very remarkable power of creating and sustaining friendship in others. David was a man brimming over with affection—a man, notwithstanding all his rough soldier’s life, of a very tender heart—a man, I was about to say—the word was on my tongue—a man of vast humanity. I mean, there was a great deal of manhood about him. He was all that other men are, had suffered their sorrows, and had tasted their joys, and, therefore, I suppose it was that he had a great power of attraction about him, and brought others to him.

2. But there is one Man more than man, whose attracting influence is greater than that of all men put together. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ we see gentleness, meekness, and the most tender affection, and we see the most hearty sympathy with everything that belongs to manhood. The Master has such a vast heart, such boundless, selfless affection, such human sympathy; so near is he to every one of us in his life, and in his experiences, that he attracts the sons of men to him, and when he is lifted up he draws men to him, and afterwards, by the cords of his love, he draws them to himself. It is in the hope that some here may feel the sweet attractions of Christ that I have selected this text, anxiously praying that some here may give themselves to Christ so as never to leave him: and that others who have already done so may be confirmed in their solemn resolution that, in whatever place their Master, the Son of David, the King, shall be, there also will they be as his servants, whether in life or in death.

3. Now this resolution, if any here have formed it, and I know many have—this resolution that surely in whatever place the Lord Jesus shall be, whether in death or in life, even there we, his servants, will be.

4. I. In the first place, it is:—A GOOD RESOLUTION—one which can be supported by abundant reasons.

5. Let me say, in proving this assertion, that Jesus deserves of all who have really tasted of his grace such faithful service, such unswerving following in all cases and under all circumstances. Who else has ever done for us what Jesus has? Our mother gave birth to us, but he has given to us a second birth. Our mother dandled us on her knee, but he has borne us all the days of old, and even to hoary hairs he will carry his people. We have had many kindnesses from friends, but never such love as Jesus showed when, we being his enemies, he redeemed us with his most precious blood. Think of these three words, and try to measure what they mean—Gethsemane—Gabbatha—Golgotha. Let those three words awaken your adoring memories. Gethsemane—with its garden and bloody sweat for you. Gabbatha—with its scourging, its mocking, its shame and spitting for you. Golgotha—with its cross and the five flowing wounds, and all the bitterness of the divine wrath, and the torment of death itself, for you.

6. Men have been known to give away their lives cheerfully for some great military leader whose genius has commanded their admiration, but they were fools to throw their lives away, after all, for these men had done very little or nothing for them to make them their servants and slaves. But this Man, my brethren, if we had a thousand lives, and were to give them all, yet would deserve more from us, for he has redeemed us from going down into the pit, saved us from flames that never shall be quenched, and from a pit that is darkness itself. By the eternal woe from which the blood of Christ has lifted us up, let us, who believe that we have been redeemed from hell, consecrate ourselves for ever to follow the Lamb wherever he goes. His cross is despised; let us be despised with it, for he bore shame for us. His truth is counted a lie; let us be willing to be regarded as liars, for he had reproach cast on him. Sometimes to defend his cause has required the loss of all things; may it be ours, if needs be, to lose all things for him who gave up all—and what an all that was!—the bliss of heaven, and a life itself for us, so that he might redeem our souls. The excellencies of Jesus are such that it would need an angel’s tongue to count them up, even though it was only a summary list. Look at him in what he is himself as his Father’s darling. Look at his character; was there ever such another? Survey the beauties of his person—were there ever such charms combined before? Think of his life, and of his death, and of what he is still doing before the throne, and surely you will feel that it is only right and just that, with Jesus, you should enter into the ship and, with him, sail over the ocean, no matter how rough or smooth.

7. Moreover, brethren, to keep close to Jesus Christ is right. It is in itself to keep close to integrity, for the Lord Jesus never stepped out of the right path. He never asks any of his followers to do anything which is a breach of the right, or which will make them turn aside from uprightness. If we could put our feet down exactly where his feet went down, even though we had to walk up to Calvary itself, it would be our duty to do so, for his path was perfect rectitude, and in him was no sin. We challenge heaven, with its omniscience, to detect a flaw in him. We challenge hell, with its malice, to discover in him anything that is amiss. Lovers of the right and of the true, ask for grace so that you may be as he was. You cannot be more eminent for virtue than he. You cannot serve your God better. You cannot do better than keep close to every step that he has taken, and, whether in life or in death, to follow him. It is right, then, because he deserves it; it is right, again because in itself it is according to the eternal rules of equity.

8. And, my brethren, there is another argument why we should cleave to Jesus, and it is this—why should we leave him? Can anyone suggest a reason why the lover of Christ should turn from him? Polycarp was asked that he should curse Christ, and he replied, “Why should I curse him?” The assembly in the amphitheatre could give no answer to that; all hell could never give a reply to that. What has he done, what has he done that we should leave him? What can he have done, and what is there that the world can offer that would ever repay us for leaving him? Could we prove so false, so traitorous as to turn away from Christ, what should we gain? A little pleasure, gone in a moment, like thorns that crackle beneath the pot. What should we lose, my brethren? We should lose the joy of life; we should lose our support in tribulation; we should lose our hope in death; we should lose heaven, to inherit nothing but the blackness of darkness for ever.

9. I cannot conceive of a bribe heavy enough to weigh against him; I cannot imagine an honour bright enough to compare with him. I cannot conceive of a disgrace that can be black enough to compare with the disgrace of deserting him. The silver mine of Demas is a poor reward for selling his Master. All the wealth of India, if it could be poured into one’s lap, would only be a mockery of a soul that damned itself by casting away its confidence in Christ. To whom should we go, Master; to whom should we go? You have the words of eternal life. To leave Christ would be the basest thing of which any could be capable of. I suppose the devil himself, with all that he has ever done, has never been able to imagine a wickedness that would equal the wickedness, if it were possible, of a truly gracious soul deliberately deserting Jesus for the world, for such a soul knows the hollowness of this world’s joys; such a soul knows something of the sweetness of Jesus; such a spirit has been with him, and has learned from him, has had the enlightenments of his grace, has learned the faithfulness of his promise and the love of his heart. Oh! could such a thing be, could the Lord’s grace so utterly leave a believer that he should turn out an apostate after all, there would be a need to dig another hell, as much lower than hell as hell is lower than the earth; there would be a need to kindle even more furious flames; seven times hotter might the furnace be heated for such an apostate. Glory be to God, it shall not be.

   Grace will complete what grace begins,

   To save from sorrows and from sins;

   The work which wisdom undertakes,

   Eternal mercy ne’er forsakes.

But I speak like this to let you see how reasonable how abundantly necessary it is that we should cling close to Christ in life and death, and that wherever he is there we should be. There is no need to reason further, since the time is brief.

10. II. Let us notice now, in the second place, that:—THIS RESOLUTION, THOUGH GOOD IN ITSELF, SHOULD BE MADE WITH GREAT DELIBERATION, SINCE IT WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE TRIED.

11. Ah! young brother, you today can sing, as others did:—

   ”’Tis done, the great transaction’s done;”

and you sang and felt a joy in singing that last verse:—

   High heaven that heard the solemn vow,

      That vow renewed shall daily hear,

   Till in life’s latest hour I bow,

      And bless in death a bond so dear;

but do you know your weakness? If there were no temptation from without, you are fickle enough in yourself. Ah! we might sooner trust the wind or rely on the glassy waves of the ocean than trust our own frail resolutions. We are changeable, we are false; our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Let him who puts on his harness take care not to boast as him who takes it off. There are dangers ahead and many trials. All is not gold that glitters. Firm resolutions are not always kept; yes, let me add they are never kept if they are made in your own strength; they will go most surely, and you who promised to stand firm will soon turn aside.

12. But, in addition to our own fickleness, we must expect many things to try this resolution. There will be, with some of you, the jeers and sneers of those you work with. They will call you bad names. Perhaps they have started to already. Well, but you do not know what they can invent. The Christian soldier has a gauntlet to run. The Christian worker in many a large factory has to endure a lifelong martyrdom. Men will invent all kinds of gibes and jeers against a believer in Christ, and it is fine sport to pelt a Christian. Can you cleave to your Lord, then? Oh! if you cannot, you do not know him, for he is worth ten thousand times ten thousand sneers, and you should consider it a joy to be permitted to bear a scoff for him. Now are you in your measure partakers with the noble host of martyrs? You cannot in these softer days earn the ruby crown of martyrdom, but you have, at least, the trial of cruel mockings. Bear up manfully, and meet their mockery with your holy bravery and patient endurance.

13. And you will have, probably, a worse trial than that, and that is to see those who professed to go with you, as you thought, turn aside. Oh! for young Christians, this is very staggering. Those of us who are older feel this to be a very particular cross in church life, to be associated with those who are cold-hearted and dead while they profess to be Christians, who, after all, before long betray their hypocrisy; but for young people it seems often almost staggering. If such a man is not a good man, who can be? Is there anything at all in religion if such a man, after all, should turn out to be a deceiver? Oh! but, dear brethren, if you love Christ, you will not turn aside because some of his friends have forsaken him, for a true friend sticks closer then. Like this good man Ittai, whom we are speaking of, you will say, “I never thrust myself on David before; I kept in the background, but now that this rascally Ahithophel has left him, I will go now and offer him my kind and affectionate greetings.” It ought always to make you who love Christ become bolder when these villains turn aside, for now you should say that it behoves every honest man to play the man and come to his friend. If these turn tail, then the true-hearted should lead the vanguard for Christ and for his truth, and if it should even come to pass that a standard-bearer should desert his flag, spring forward, young man, and grasp it in his place, but never turn aside from your Lord because of that.

14. Alas! brethren, you may expect, perhaps, to have sterner trials than these. If you resolve to cling to Jesus Christ with constancy, you must expect to have many trials. God loves to try his people so that he may get glory out of their trials, and I am sorry to say I have known some who in the depths of poverty, when it has suddenly overtaken them like an armed man, have felt as if religion itself could not support them, and they have actually given up their profession. It is poor Christianity that cannot bear the loss of all things. Now you may be poor yet, and you may be severely sick, but may you have such faith that you may be able to say, “Though he kills me, yet I will trust in him.” It is no gold if it will not stand the fire, and it is no grace if it will not bear affliction.

15. You may expect to have great depression of spirit within. Some of us know what this is very, very frequently. There are times when the joy of religion is gone, and our soul is in the dark, and yet is feeling after God, blessed be his name; but this is the pinch, to believe in an angry Christ, to hold onto his hand and never let him go, though that hand should seem to pull itself away; to lodge with Christ when he gives you no supper; to go and sleep in Christ’s bed when he has not made it, but left it hard for you; to say, “With my desire I have desired you in the night, and with my spirit I will seek you early.” May you have faith like that faith, that will not, under any difficulties, turn aside from Christ.

16. So you see, then, that this resolution will be a tried one, and between here and heaven God knows what trials will befall us.

17. III. But again:—THIS RESOLUTION MAY BE CARRIED OUT.

18. What I have said might tempt you to declare that you would not try it, but it may be carried out. There are thousands, tens of thousands on earth who have been with Jesus wherever he has been throughout their entire lives, and will be with him in death, and after death; and there are millions—there they stand—wearing their white robes and waving their palm branches. Listen; you may almost hear their song. These are those who overcame; they endured to the end; they came through great tribulation, and washed their robes in the Lamb’s blood, and, therefore, they are before the throne of God. What was done in them may be done in you.

19. But how was it, then, that they held on and kept close to their Lord? Answer—it was not in their own strength; it was the Holy Spirit, who day by day preserved them, led them in knowledge and true holiness, purged them from sin, and at last made them to enter into the inheritance of the perfect. There was not a single moment in which they persevered apart from the Spirit’s strength. Poor human nature at its best must turn aside like a broken bow. It is only grace that holds a single Christian, and well and truly do we sing in that hymn:—

   ’Tis grace that’s kept me till this day,

   And will not let me go.

20. Now, subject to the power of the Holy Spirit, the way to accomplish our resolve to be with Christ as his servants for ever, is, first of all, to be much in prayer. If you cannot persevere with God, you are not likely to persevere in contesting with man. Many of you, beloved, need more prayer. As your temptations grow, let your prayers become more intense and full of fire, and conquer hell by assaulting heaven. You shall prevail against all temptations if you can prevail with God.

21. Remember, too, that joined to that prayer there must be much holy fear. “Happy is the man,” says Solomon, “who always fears”—not the fear that is distrustful and suspicious of God, but the fear that is distrustful and more than suspicious of self; the fear that is conscious of inward weakness and depravity, that does not dare to go into temptation, but asks to have its eyes turned aside from beholding vanity, lest the look should lead to the desire, and the desire should engender the act.

22. With holy fear there must be much careful walking. He who would persevere to heaven must not hope to go there pell-mell, helter-skelter, heedless, careless, thoughtless concerning his daily life. There must be self-examination, self-inspection, incessant watchfulness. An arrow may pierce you between any joint of your armour unless you hold the shield of faith to catch its barbed shaft, and quench its barbarous flame. May God grant you grace to walk carefully and humbly with your God.

23. To persevere in grace we must seek to use all the means of grace that can assist us—not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; not neglecting either private or public prayer; using what grace we have if we expect to get more; doing what we can for God, as we expect him to do all for us; in short, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who works in us to will and to do his own good pleasure. If these things are in you and abound, they shall be the means of preserving you, and you shall be among the happy number who shall sing, “Now to him who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before his presence with very great joy, to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

24. IV. And now, fourthly and lastly:—THIS RESOLUTION MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED IN AN EMPHATIC SENSE.

25. Understand me, for here it is that I wish to appeal to believers in Christ. This man Ittai said, “Surely in whatever place that my lord the king shall be, whether in death or in life, even there also your servant will be.” You can follow Christ in a general way in the activities of Christian life, and so on, but there is a particular way of following him. You can get, by God’s grace, very near your Master, and by even greater grace you can keep near to him, and keep near to him all your lives. I have never been able to hope for perfection in the flesh, but I believe that every Christian ought to strain after even perfection itself. I am afraid we have set the standard of what a Christian may be a great deal too low; of what a Christian should be it would not be possible to set the standard too high. It is not necessary for a Christian to be sometimes with Christ, and sometimes to lose fellowship. It is not necessary for a Christian to be full of doubts and fears. I met an elderly Christian some years ago who is now in heaven, whose word certainly I could never dare to have doubted, who told me that for forty years he had never had a doubt of his own acceptance in the Beloved, and though he had had many troubles and trials, he did not know that his communion with Christ had once been interrupted. I marvelled at him, but I marvelled a great deal more at myself that I had not tried to get into the same place. Why not? If you are constrained, it certainly is not in your God; you are constrained in your own heart. He never gave you a legitimate reason to doubt him, nor did he ever give you a reasonable excuse for forsaking fellowship with him. Let us, oh! let us aim at keeping as near to Jesus as John did, and not, like Peter, follow afar off. Let it be the great prayer of our lives:

   Abide with me from morn till eve,

   For without thee I cannot live.

26. Let us ask that our communion may be kept up in business hours as well as in the private closet, that we may walk with Christ on the Exchange and in the street, as well as in the Tabernacle, or in the public engagements of worship. Why do we need to leave him, Certainly he will not leave us. Oh! that we may cling to him closely, cling to him and hold him firmly. I like the saying of a dying negro boy, who was asked why he felt so happy in the thought of going to heaven, and he said, “I want to go to heaven principally because Jesus is there.” “Well,” they said, “but do you always want to be with Jesus, then, and with no one else?” “Yes,” he said, “I only care to be where Jesus is.” “But suppose Jesus were to leave heaven?” He said, “I would go with him.” “But suppose Jesus went to hell, what then?” “Ah!” said the boy, “but there could not be any hell where Jesus was; I would go with Jesus wherever he might go.” Oh! that we always had that kind of spirit, and that desire, not to be self-seeking, nor world-seeking, nor getting our joy out of common pleasures, nor hunting after comfort where it cannot be found in these lowland joys; but let us seek to be on the wing with our Master, up aloft, dwelling in the land of communion, where Jesus lets out his very heart to his people, and reveals himself to them as he does not do to the world. May the Lord give to this church many of those favoured men and women, whose communion shall be with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Oh! it is the happiest, holiest, safest, richest, most useful kind of life. May God grant it to you.

27. But oh! dear friends, there are some here to whom all this talk is nothing, for they have never taken up the cross of King Jesus at all. Do you know it is very seldom I come into this pulpit, very seldom indeed, without my seeing here and there that mournful colour which indicates that another person has departed this life? We are so numerous that there are two or three deaths every week, and sometimes five or six, and as I happen to know when each one is taken away I am continually reminded of the mortality of my congregation—never twice alike—never under any circumstances—always some here who will never be here again or were not here before; always some here who are just on the brink of the grave. Now I speak to you tonight who may, though you do not know it, be on the brink of the grave, and I shall ask you to ask yourselves this question, How will it fare with you when you pass into the spirit world, and stand before your God, when you are not considered a friend of Christ, but have to take your stand among his enemies? You would not wish to take that place even tonight. You are halting between two opinions; but, my dear friend, that halting of yours must come to an end very soon, or otherwise death will decide it, and where death finds you judgment will leave you, and hell will perpetuate you in that state. Oh! please lay hold on eternal life, and tonight cast in your lot with Christ. Oh! he is the brightest leader any soldier ever had. He is the fairest Prince under whom anyone could serve. His cause is such as will ennoble you. To fight under his banner makes each private soldier into a prince, ennobles each one into a king. Before you can serve him, remember you must be washed by him. There is a fountain filled with blood; if you trust him, that blood will make you white as snow. If you trust him now, his Holy Spirit will give you grace to enlist in his army, and to continue a faithful soldier until you shall lay down your battle with your life, and cease at once to fight and live, and enter into the victory for ever and ever. By the horror of Christ’s defeated foes, among whom I would not have you numbered; by the glory of Christ’s victorious friends, among whom I would gladly see you muster, look to Christ and live tonight, and may he help you to do so. Amen.

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {Ps 106:1-48}

1. Praise the LORD, oh give thanks to the LORD: for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.

In this Psalm we have the history of God’s people turned to practical account. I have heard of some very unwise people, who have said. “I do not care about the histories of Scripture. I do not profit by them.” Tell me, dear friends, what other Bible did David have but the history—the first five books? And what more wonderful teaching can there be than is contained in this Psalm, which is the essence of the history, “Praise the Lord”—or Hallelujah to Jah? Hallelujah is praise to God.

2-5. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can proclaim all his praise? Blessed are those who keep judgment, and he who does righteousness at all times. Remember me, oh LORD, with the favour that you bear to your people: oh visit me with your salvation: that I may see the good of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

If I may fare as God’s people fared, I will be well content; and if God himself will come and bring me salvation, I shall have all that I want. Is that your thought now, dear hearer? Then utter the prayer, and may the Lord answer it while you are still in your seat.

6. We have sinned with our forefathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

Three times the confession of sin is made here. It is a good beginning when we can begin with confessing sin. I wish that some people had begun there, when they took up with religion; but they too often jump into it, and I am afraid that they will jump out of it again. That harvest which does not come from ploughing is one which will never fill a barn, and that salvation which does not come from a sense of sin will never come to much.

7. Our forefathers did not understand your wonders in Egypt;

They saw them; they were surprised by them; but they could not figure them out, could not tell what God was doing when he struck the Egyptians. A lack of understanding of divine truth is a very fatal lack.

7. They did not remember the multitude of your mercies;

What we do not understand we soon forget.

7. But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

They had not been long out of Egypt; they had scarcely eaten the bread that they brought out of their ovens, when they began to doubt God. They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, so that he might make his mighty power to be known.

He could not save them for their own sake, but he saved them for his own name’s sake.

9. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

The bottom of the sea was made as dry and as easy for their feet as the plains of the wilderness, and God led them through.

10-12. And he saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then they believed his words: they sang his praise.

It is almost a sarcasm. They believed when they saw. When the promise was fulfilled, then they believed it. Ah! my dear hearers, are there not some of you of whom the same might be said—I mean some people of God? You believe as far as you can see; and that is not believing at all. Let us trust God, whether or not. Red Sea or no Red Sea, let us believe the promise of God, and be sure that it will be true.

Then they believed his words; they sung his praise.

13. They soon forgot his works:

They were in a hurry to forget.

13-15. They did not wait for his counsel: but greatly lusted in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

They had quails to eat. They had the food that they begged for, but their hearts were starved; their souls were famished. Ah! me, what people they were!

16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

They began to pick holes in their character. Good men who lived for them, and were ready to die for them—they began to spit on them.

17-20. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked, They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. So they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eats grass.

See! they had been in Egypt. They had seen the Egyptians worship the god Apis in the form of a bull, so that they needed to have a bull too. I daresay that they said, “The bull is an emblem of strength. We do not worship the image; the image is only used to help us to think of the power of God.” But God forbids us to worship him under any image of any kind. “You shall not make for yourself any carved image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, nor in the earth beneath. You shall not bow down to them, nor worship them.” All images, pictures, crucifixes—the whole lot of them are abhorrent and abominable to God. We must have nothing to do with them as helps to worship, for they are not helps. They are destroyers of the worship of God. But, you say to me, “You tell us that it was a bull.” Yes, and, in contempt, the man of God here calls it a calf. You cannot be too disrespectful to objects of idolatrous worship. They may be esteemed by others, but do not show any kind of respect to them yourself; but if there is a name that you can give them that is full of sarcasm, let them have it.

21-23. They forgot God their saviour, who had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

They had found fault with Moses, yet Moses stood up as their intercessor, and through his pleading their lives were preserved. You see, again, what a sinful people they were. Ah! indeed they were! Look into this mirror and see yourself.

24, 25. Yes, they despised the pleasant land, they did not believe his word: but murmured in their tents, and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

This murmuring in your tents is a very obnoxious thing to God. Always grumbling and complaining. “It is an Englishman’s privilege,” one says. Watch that it does not turn out to be an Englishman’s ruin, for God cannot endure that we should be always murmuring at his providence.

26-28. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifice of the dead.

They tried to practise necromancy—to have communion with spirits; they tried to learn the dark science and the black art; and also God abhors this.

29, 30. So they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague broke in on them. Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stopped.

In his hot zeal he ran the spear through two who were rebelling against God. He did it with all his might, and sometimes it is a kindness to a people to deal severely with them. Sin is not to be treated with white kid-gloves. It has to be dealt with sometimes with a mailed hand. Phinehas did this.

31, 32. And that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went badly with Moses for their sakes:

Poor Moses who loved them, and lived with them, yet lost his temper.

33. Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

What a people to have to deal with! Who would wish to be Moses, and who would wish to be a minister?

34, 35. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them. But were mixed among the heathen, and learned their works.

They did not keep themselves separate. They would go and join this lot and that lot. They mixed among the heathen, and learned their works.

36-39. And they served their idols: which were a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. And they shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. So they were defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

“What a dreadful people,” you say. These were God’s chosen people, Israel; the best people in the world at that time; and yet how could they be much worse? Oh! what a God of mercy God is to deal with such people at all!

40-43. Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen: and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times he delivered them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Listen to this.

44, 45. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry. And he remembered for them his covenant, and relented according to the multitude of his mercies.

You would have thought that he would have been provoked beyond endurance, but, after all he had struck, he still had a tender heart towards them.

46-48. He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captives. Save us, oh LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to your holy name, and to triumph in your praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD.

Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress, drawn by C. H. Spurgeon. A Commentary on Portions of John Bunyan’s Immortal Allegory, with Prefatory Note by Thomas Spurgeon. (Eighteen Illustrations.) Cloth Gilt, 2/6.

Flashes of Thought; being One Thousand Choice Extracts from the works of C. H. Spurgeon. Alphabetically arranged, and with a copious index, 3/6.

Lectures to My Students. A Selection from Addresses delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle. By C. H. Spurgeon, President. First Series. 42nd thousand, 2/-.

Second Series of Lectures to My Students. With Illustrations of Posture and Action. 25th thousand, 2/-

The Art of Illustration; Third Series of “Lectures to My Students.” A Selection from Addresses delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle. By C. H. Spurgeon, President. 2/-

My Sermon Notes. A Selection from Outlines of Discourses delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Part I. Genesis to Proverbs I. to LXIV. Part II. Ecclesiastes to Malachi. LXV. to CXXIX. Published at 2/6 each, offered at 2/- each. Parts I. and II. bound together in one volume. Cloth 4/-. Part III. Matthew to Acts. CXXX. to CXCV. Part IV. Romans to Revelations. CXCVI. to CCLXIV. 2/- each. Parts 3 and 4., bound together in one volume, 4/-

When a preacher whether he is a lay or regular preacher, finds himself severely pressed for a subject, he will find here an outline clearly drawn, a good deal of filling up, and a little lot of stories or pithy bits to season the whole.

An All-Round Ministry. Addresses to Ministers and Students, Cloth guilt, 2/6.