Part 3
We might pursue our theme and show you that as far as all past
events have gone, God's Word has been verified. But now, though
we keep to history, we shall leave the large volume of the public
records and ask you to take down from its shelf that little diary of
yours, the pocketbook of your own life story–and then observe how
God's Word has been true. You remember the warnings that you
received in your youth, when you were told that the ways of sin
might be pleasantness at first, but would end in sorrow. You were
told that the cup might sparkle at the brim, but that the dregs
thereof were full of bitterness. Did you test that statement in the
days of your early manhood? Ah, then I know you cannot deny that
it was as God had declared. He said, "The wages of sin is
death"–"and it was so." He said it would be bitterness in the end
thereof, "and it was so." He told you that the fascinations of sin
were as destructive as they were alluring and truly, "it was so." If
you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, you will blush as you
answer the question, "What fruit had you then in those things
whereof you are now ashamed?"
It fell on a day, as God would have it, that your eyes were opened
to see your lost estate. And there was a voice which spoke in the
Gospel and said, "If you will return unto Me, return. Only confess
the transgressions that you have sinnedagainst Me, and I will
forgive you. Come and put your trust in My Son, and your iniquity
shall be blotted out like a cloud and your transgressions like a thick
cloud." Led by Sovereign Grace, you came to Jesus. You washed in
the fountain of His blood, guided to it by the Holy Spirit. What is
your testimony? You were promised salvation, pardon, peace. My
testimony is–and it was so! Is not that yours also? Oh, the joy of
believing in Jesus! Oh, the bliss of casting one's self into the
Father's arms and pleading the merits of the Only-Begotten! There
is a peace of God that passes all understanding which comes to our
faith when we exercise it upon Christ! Peace was promised–"and it
was so."
Since the time when you believed in Jesus, you have had many
needs, both spiritual and temporal, but He has promised no good
thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. What say
you, Brothers and Sisters? Your needs have come–have the supplies
also come? I am sure you will say, "it was so"–strangely so–but
always so! As your day, your strength has been. The shoes of iron
and of brass have had rough usage, but they have not worn out. The
all-sufficient God has proved that His Grace is all-sufficient for us.
Our personal history bears witness that with regard to the
Providence of God and to the supplies of His Grace, He said that
He would grant us enough, "and it was so." He told you that when
you believed in His Word, He would hear your prayers. Three times
He put it in varied form, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and
you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Brothers
and Sisters have been to the Mercy Seat and tried whether God
hears prayer, and it has been so–He did hear prayer! We believed
His Word and in due time our faith has been turned to sight and the
promise has been fulfilled. We have read in God's Word that He
would sanctify our trials to us and that, "all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to His purpose." What then, is my witness, after having
been week after week and even month after month racked with pain
and laid low with sickness? What have these things been to me?
Have they worked to my good? Do they bring forth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness? My truthful witness is, "and it was so." I
feel persuaded that every Christian shall have to say of his
afflictions that they have been blessed to him–"Before I was
afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Your Word," said one of
old. And many in these modern times can say the same. "It is good
for me that I have been afflicted"–the Lord said it would be–"and it
was so."
Up to this hour it has always been true with regard to us, His
people, that what the Lord has said, He has surely performed. We
can–
"Sing the sweet promise of His Grace,
And the performing God."
Let me remind you that our history is only the common
experience of all God's people and if there is anything uncommon
in the stories of the saints, then there is only a more than usually
clear confirmation of the Truth of God. Look at the martyrs–they
suffered what we can scarcely bear to read of–yet the Lord said He
would be with them. "And it was so." They wore the chain for
Christ's sake and He promised to be their companion –"and it was
so." Theywent to the stake or bowed their head to the axe and they
were promised that even to the end He would be with them–"and it
was so." Right along through all the history of the Church militant
and, I might also ask the confirmation of the Church triumphant,
too–the saints declare that "it was so." Christ has kept His Word to
the letter! Not one good thing has failed of all that He ever
promised to His people!
II. And now, having taken this very brief run through history, let
me ask you to follow me when I say that, AS IT HAS BEEN IN
THE PAST, SO IT WILL BE IN THE FUTURE!
It is always good reasoning, when we are dealing with God, to
infer the future from the past. "Because You have been my help,
therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice." Having the
same God and the same promises, we may expect to always see the
same results. As for the future, a large part of Scripture is as yet
unfulfilled. Many persons try to interpret it, but the man is not born
who can explain the Revelation. Yet, whatever God has there
declared will be explained by the working out of His Providence–
"God is His own Interpreter,
And He will make it plain."
Whatever He has there promised, it shall be said of it, by-and-by,
"and it was so." We learn that there is to be a widespread of the
Gospel. It is written, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God."
"Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." Therefore be
assured that it shall be so! Let the missionary toil on and the devil
rage on if he will–the devil shall be disappointed and the servant of
God shall have his heart's desire! God will honor His Church when
she has faith enough to believe in His promises.
There is to be, in the fullness of time, a Second Coming of the
Lord Jesus. He who went up from Olivet sent two of His angelic
servants to promise that in the same manner as He went up into
Heaven, He would return again. He shall surely come. Virgin souls
who are awake and watching for the midnight cry will hear it
before long. And when He comes, "the dead in Christ shall rise
first"–there shall be a resurrection of the just at His appearing. So
He has promised" and, "blessed and holy is he that has part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death has no power." There
are no bonds of death that can hold the saints in their graves when
the Lord descends at the sound of the archangel's trumpet! God has
said that they shall arise–and it shall be so. They shall, everyone of
them, return from the land of the enemy and then will follow the
millennial glory–we will not explain that splendor–but we know
that it is promised, and that whatever has been foretold by God
shall surely be! The saints shall possess the Kingdom and shall
reign with Christ!
And Heaven and the eternal future in the Glory Land where the
ever-blessed God shall reveal Himself unto His servants, "and they
shall see His face; and His name shall be on their foreheads"–every
golden word, every sapphire sentence which glows and sparkles
with the Glory of the Most High and the loving kindness of the
Infinite shall be fulfilled! It shall be said of the whole, "and it was
so." Yes! And concerning the dread future of the lost–those awful
words that tell of fires that burn and yet do not consume–and of a
wrath that slays and yet men live beneath its power–verily, verily,
"These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the
righteous into life eternal!" These shall all be fulfilled! Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but not one Word that God has spoken shall
fail. Of doom or of glory, of promise or of threat, it shall be said,
"and it was so." And when the end shall come and Christ shall
deliver up theKingdom to God, even the Father, and the drama of
history shall be ended and the curtain shall drop and God shall be
All-in-All–all shall be summed up in this sentence, "He spoke, and
it was done. He commanded and it stood fast," He said it, "and it
was so."
I desire, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, for your consolation,
to bring this Truth of God home to yourselves, if the Spirit of God
will enable me. "It was so"–this has been true and it shall be so to
you. God's promises shall all bekept to you personally. God will
fulfill His Word to you in every letter. Observe there will occur
cases in which there willbe no visible help toward the fulfillment of
the Divine Promise and no tendencies that way. But if God has
pledged His Word, He will keep it. Note well that in the creation of
the world there was nothing to help God. "With whom took He
counsel, and who instructed Him?" When He began to fit up the
world for man and to furnish the house which He had made in the
beginning, there was darkness and that was no aid. There was
chaos and that was no help. Now you are troubled at the present
time. Your condition is one of confusion, disorder, darkness–you
see nothing that could make God's promise come true, not a finger
to help–no one even to wish you well. Never mind! God needs no
helper. He works gloriously alone. See how the earth stands. What
does it hang on? "He hangs the earth upon nothing." Look at the
unpillared arch above it. There are no buttresses, no supports, no
props to the sky–yet it has not fallen and it never will. "Trust you in
the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
And if He has given you a promise and you have laid hold upon it,
though nothing should appear to aid its fulfillment, yet it shall be
fulfilled! You will have to write, "and it was so."
Yes, and this shall be the case though many circumstances tend
the other way. When there seems to be a conflict against God–not
only no help, but much resistance–then do not fear. What does it
matter to God? Though all the men on earth and all the devils in
Hell were against Him, what does it matter? Though heaps of chaff
contend against the wind, what does it matter to the wind? They
shall be whirled along in its fury! What if the wax shall defy the
flame? It shall but melt in the fervent heat! If all the world and all
Hell should declare that God will not keep His promise, yet He will
perform it and we shall have to say, "it was so." No opposition can
stop the Lord!
But you may say, "This cannot be true, surely, in my case. I could
have believed it on a great scale, but not for myself." Ah, does God
speak Truth in great things, and lies in little ones? Will you
blaspheme the Most High by imagining that in public acts of
royalty He is true, but in the private deeds of His family He is
false? What would be a worse imputation against a man than that?
Who shall throw such a charge upon the eternal God? The Lord
promised His servant Elijah that He would take care of him. Did
He not make the ravens feed him? Did He not send him to the
widow of Sarepta and multiply her meal and her oil? He was as
true to him in the ravens' matter, and in the handful of meal matter,
as when, in the business of the great rain, the Prophet bowed his
head between his knees on Carmel and saw at length the heavens
covered with clouds and the land deluged with showers! God will
keep His Word in little things to you. Do not imagine that He
forgets your little problems. The hairs of your head are numbered.
A sparrow lights not on the ground without your Father. Are you
not better than the sparrows which are sold at five for two farthings
in the market? Will you not rest in your Father's care and believe
that His promises shall be fulfilled and that your bread shall be
given you, and your water shall be sure and you shall dwell in the
land and verily, you shall be fed?
God's Word stands true even when our unworthiness is in the
way. I know you have fancied, "If I were a great saint, God would
surely keep His Word to me. But I, being a very grievous sinner,
how shall He be gracious to me?" And do you think that God is
good and truthful only to the good and true? Would you be so
yourself? Surely we must deal honestly with all men, whoever they
may be! Their character is no excuse for our unfaithfulness to our
own promises. Our Lord Jesus has said, "Him that comes to Me I
will in no wise cast out." And if you come to God, He will not
cheat you and say, "I said, 'Who confesses and forsakes his sins
shall have mercy,' but I did not mean the promise for such an one
as you are." No, Christ has said, "Him that comes to Me I will in
no wise cast out" and if you come to Him, though you are the
blackest sinner out of Hell, yet Christ will not reject you, for it is
not your character, but His Character that is to beconsidered in the
promise! Even "if we believe not, yet He abides faithful–He cannot
deny Himself."
Yes, and His promise comes true and we have to say of it, "and it
was so," even in cases of our own confessedincapacity to receive it.
Take the case of Abraham, for that is typical of many others in this
respect. He had the promise of a son and heir. And though, as for
his own body, it was as dead and Sarah was well stricken in years,
Abraham did not consider himself or Sarah, but believed the
promise and, in the fullness of time, there was the sound of
laughter in the tent, for Isaac was born! We err when we become so
depressed by our own incapacity as to conceive doubts of God's
faithfulness. The Lord gives the promise that the barren woman
shall keep house–and it is so. Our desert-hearts shallhave the
blessing–it shall drop upon the pastures of the wilderness and the
little hills shall rejoice on every side! Our weakness shall not
hinder the fulfillment of the Divine Promise. God is able to bless us
even when we feel only fit to be cursed. O empty one, God can fill
you! O dried branch and withered tree, you that stand like an oak
smitten by lightning, only fit for the burning–the Lord, the
everlasting God–can quicken you and put fresh sap in you, and
make your branches to bud again to the glory of His holy name! He
promises and if you believe, you shall have to say, "and it wasso."
It will be thus right on to the end of the chapter. A few days ago I
stood by the side of a dear departing Brother who feebly lifted his
hands from the bed and said just these few words, "Christ, Christ,
Christ is All." And then he said, as I bade him "Good-bye," "We
shall meet in Heaven. I shall go there soon and you will follow, but
I hope it will be a long while before you do." I asked him whether
that was quite a benediction and he said, "You know what I mean.
The Church needs you." About half-past five this afternoon, he
who rejoiced that he would soon be in Heaven entered within the
gate of pearl! He had served us well as a deacon of this Church and
now he sees the face of the Ever-Blessed. He believed, while here
on earth, that it was bliss to be with Christ and he finds it so! He is
saying, "The half has not been told me." Well, well, whether we
live to old age, or depart in mid-life, or die in early youth, what
does it matter? We shall find that passing across the river is
delightful when at eventide it is light. And oh, the glory of the
everlasting daybreak! The splendor of the sun that goes down no
more! Oh, the bliss of beholding saints and angels, and seeing the
King in His beauty! The messengers of God said that Heaven is
blessed–and it is so–it is so! The voice from Heaven said, "Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord," and it is so! [See Sermon
#1219, Volume 21–A VOICE FROM HEAVEN–Read/download
the entire sermon, free of charge, at http://www.spurgeongems.org.]
I would leave a thought with those who are exercised with doubts
and fears about the Lord's sure mercies. It is a very hard thing that
we should doubt our God, but we do. And therefore let us shoot
arrows at unbelief. Note well that when God spoke in the Creation,
"and it was so," there was only His power concerned. Supposing
He had spoken and it had not been so? Then the only result would
have been that God was proved not to be Omnipotent. But His
might did not fail Him! His glorious attribute of power showed its
majesty and what the Lord spoke was accomplished. Yet, in this
instance, only one attribute was at stake. Now, when you consider
any one of God's promises recorded in the Bible, there is more than
one attribute engaged for its fulfillment–there are at least two–for
there is the Divine Truth at stake as well as the Divine Power. If He
said it should be and it is not, it is either that He would not or He
could not–if He could not, then His power has failed. But if He
would not when He promised, then His truth is forfeited! We have,
therefore, a double hold when dealing with Covenant promises and
may rest in two Immutable things wherein it is impossible for God
to lie!
But sometimes, in certain promises, even more is observable. For
instance, you who have known the Lord these 10 or 20 years, have
been helped before. But suppose the Lord were to fail you now?
Then not only would His Power and His Truth be compromised,
but His Immutability also, since He would then have changed and
would no longer be the sameGod today as He was yesterday! Three
attributes are leagued upon your side–you have three sacred
pledges for the fulfillment of the promise! Frequently you also
have God's Wisdom brought into the affair in hand. You have been
in great difficulty and you have seen no means of escape. But you
have laid the case before God and left it there. He has inspired His
servant David to say, "Cast your burden upon the Lord and He shall
sustain you." Now, if He does not sustain you, there are four
attributes at stake! His Power–can He do it? His Truth–will He
keep His promise? His Immutability–has He changed? His
Wisdom–can He find a way of escape?
Frequently, my Brothers and Sisters, the Lord's honor is also
brought into the field in addition to the otherattributes. You
recollect how Moses put it when the Lord said, "Let Me alone, that
My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume
them." Then Moses said, "Why should the Egyptians speak and
say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the
mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?" See,
too, how Joshua uses the same argument with the Lord–"The
Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it…and
what will You do unto Your great name?" Oh, that is grand
pleading–that is grand pleading! Now if the Lord has brought you
into deep waters and you have put your trust in Him and said, "I
know that He will deliver me." If He does not do so, the enemy
will say, "It is a vain thing to trust in God, for the Lord does not
deliver His people." His honor is at stake and, ah, He is a jealous
God! He will rouse Himself and go forth like a man of war to show
Himself strong in the behalf of them that trust in Him!
In addition to all this, Divine Love is included in the issue. How
did Moses put it? The people said, "Because there were no graves
in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness." And
Moses argued thus with the Lord, "Did You bring all these people
out of Egypt that they might die in the wilderness? Have You no
love to them? Will You be cruel to the sons of men?" Even thus
may we plead with the benevolence and pity of the Lord. "Will the
Lord cast off forever? Will He be favorable no more?" Oh, no, that
cannot be! Each child of His can sing–
"And can He have taught me to trust in His name,
And thus far have brought me, to put me to shame?"
"Is it so that He has taught me long after the sweetness of His
Grace and yet will He deny it to me? Does the Lord tantalize men
in this way? I could have been happy enough in my poor ignorant
way as a sinner, but now that I have been made to taste of higher
and sweeter things, I shall be doubly wretched if I may not enjoy
them! If He makes men hunger and thirst, and then does not feed
them, He is not a God of love." But He is a God of love and,
therefore, He cannot treatHis servants so! You remember Luther
used to say that when he saw that God was in his quarrel, he always
felt safe. "Your honor is at stake," he would say, "and it is no
business of Luther's–it is God's business when God's Gospel is
concerned." Every Divine Attribute is pledged as a guarantee that
every Divine Promise shall be kept! Here faith may gather strength,
and rest assured that the Covenant is sure in every jot and tittle! If
one child of God who has put his trust in Jesus should perish, the
everlasting Covenant of Grace would have failed, for this is a part
of its stipulations,will I put within you." And if I have come to
Jesus and rested in Him and, after all, do not find salvation and
eternal life, then the Covenant has become a dead letter to me–and
this it shall never be! "Although my house is not so with God, yet
has He made with me an Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all
things and sure." He will not allow His promise to fail!
Last word of all, remember that the very blood of Christ is at
stake in the matter of God's Promise. If a poor guilty sinner shall
come and rest in Jesus and yet is not saved, then Jesus Christ is
grievously dishonored–He has shed His blood in vain! Shall they
perish on whom His blood is sprinkled? Has the Fountain, after all
its boasted efficacy, become a mockery? Is there no power in the
Atonement of Jesus to cleanse the guilty? Ah, Beloved, He said it
would cleanse and it was so, it is so and it shall be so forever! They
who rest in Christ shall not perish, neither shall anyone pluck them
out of His hand. Each one of us, as we arrive in Heaven, shall add
our testimony to the general verdict of all the saints and say, "It
was so. He said it and He fulfilled it. Glory be unto His name!" If
any soul comes to Jesus at this hour, he shall find eternal life. "He
that believes and is baptized shall be saved." Such is the Gospel.
The Lord grant His great blessing!
Ge 3:1 • An Antidote to Satan's Devices
ERMON 2707
An Antidote To Satan's Devices
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made."
Genesis 3:1
WE understand, of course, that this verse refers to "that old
serpent, called the devil, and Satan." The Samaritan Version reads,
instead of the word, "serpent," "deceiver," or "liar." If this is not
the genuine reading, it nevertheless certainly declares a Truth of
God. That old deceiver, of whom our Lord Jesus said to the Jews.
"When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and
the father of it," was "more subtle than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made." God has been pleased to give to many
beasts subtlety–to some, subtlety and cunning combined with
strength–in order that they may be the more destructive to certain
classes of animals whose numbers require to be kept under. To
others, devoid of very much strength, He has been pleased to give
instincts of most marvelous wisdom for selfpreservation and the
destruction of their prey, and for the procuring of their food. But
the subtlety of Satan far excels the wise instincts and subtlety of all
the beasts of the field by far. In fact, to go further, man has,
perhaps, far more cunning than any mere creature, although animal
instinct sometimes seems as if it did outride human reason–but
Satan has more of cunning within him than any other creature that
the Lord God has made, man included.
Satan has abundant craft and is able to overcome us for several
reasons. I think it would be a sufficient reason that Satan should be
cunning because he is malicious–for malice is, of all things, the
most productive of cunning. When aman is determined on revenge,
it is strange how cunning he is to discover opportunities to vent his
spite. Let a man have enmity against another, and let that enmity
thoroughly possess his soul, and pour venom, as it were, into his
very blood, and he will become exceedingly crafty in the means he
uses to annoy and injure his adversary! Now, nobody can be more
full of malice against man than Satan is, as he proves every day–
and that malice sharpens his inherent wisdom, so that he becomes
exceedingly subtle.
Besides, Satan is an angel, though a fallen one. We doubt not,
from certain hints in Scripture, that he occupied avery high place in
the hierarchy of angels before he fell. And we know that those
mighty beings are endowed with vast intellectual powers, far
surpassing any that has ever been given to beings of human mold.
Therefore, we must not expect that a man, unaided from above,
should ever be a match for an angel, especially an angel whose
native intellect has been sharpened by a most spiteful malice
against us.
Again, Satan may well be cunning now–I may truthfully say,
more cunning than he was in the days of Adam–for he has had long
dealings with the human race. This was his first occasion of dealing
with mankind, when he tempted Eve, but he was, even then, "more
subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."
Since then he has exercised all his diabolical thought and mighty
powers to annoy and ruin men. There is not a saint whom he has
not beset and not a sinner whom he has not misled. Together with
his troops of evil spirits, he has been continually exercising a
terrible control over the sons of men. He is, therefore, well skilled
in all the arts of temptation. Never anatomist so well understood
the human body as Satan does the human soul. He has not been
"tempted in all points," but he has tempted others in all points. He
has tried to assail our manhood from the crown of our head to the
sole of our foot–and he has explored every outwork of our nature–
and even the most secret caverns of our souls.
He has climbed into the citadel of our heart and he has lived
there. He has searched its inmost recesses and dived into its most
profound depths. I suppose there is nothing of human nature that
Satan cannot unravel and though, doubtless, he is the biggest fool
that ever existed, as time continually proves, yet, beyond all doubt,
he is the craftiest of fools, and I may add, that is no great paradox,
for craft is always folly and is but another shape of departure from
wisdom.
And now, Brothers and Sisters, I shall, for a few minutes, first
occupy your time by noticing the craft and subtlety ofSatan and the
modes in which he attacks our souls. And secondly, I shall give you
a few words of admonition with regard to
the wisdom that we must exercise against him and the only means
that we can effectually use to prevent his subtlety from being the
instrument of our destruction.
Let us notice, in the first place, THE CRAFT AND SUBTLETY
OF SATAN as we have discovered it in our own experience.
And I may begin by observing that Satan discovers his craft and
subtlety by the modes of his attack. There is a manwho is calm,
quiet and at ease. Satan does not attack that man with unbelief or
distrustfulness–he attacks him in a more vulnerable point, than
that–self-love, self-confidence, worldliness. These will be the
weapons which Satan will use against him. There is another person
who is noted for lowness of spirits and lack of mental vigor. It is
not probable that Satan will endeavor to puff him up with pride, but
examining him and discovering where his weak point is, he will
tempt him to doubt his calling and endeavor to drive him to
despair! There is another man of strong robust bodily health,
having all his mental powers in full and vigorous exercise, enjoying
the promises and delighting in the ways of God. Satan will possibly
not attack him with unbelief because he feels that he has armor for
that particular point, but he will attack him with pride, or with
some temptation to lust. He will most thoroughly and carefully
examine us–and if he shall find us to be like Achilles, vulnerable
nowhere else but in our heel, then he will shoot his arrows at our
heel.
I believe that Satan has not often attacked a man in a place where
he saw him to be strong. He generally looks well for the weak
point, the besetting sin. "There," he says, "there will I strike the
blow!" And God help us in the hour of battle and in the time of
conflict! We have need to say, "God help us!" for, indeed, unless
the Lord should help us, this crafty foe might easily find enough
joints in our armor to soon send the deadly arrow into our souls so
that we should fall down wounded before him. And yet I have
noticed, strangely enough, that Satan does sometimes tempt men
with the very thing which you might suppose would never come
upon them. What do you imagine was John Knox's last temptation
upon his dying bed? Perhaps there never was a man who more fully
understood the great doctrine that "by Grace are you saved," than
John Knox did. He thundered it out from the pulpit and if you had
questioned him upon the subject, he would have declared it to you
boldly and bravely, denying with all his might the Popish doctrine
of salvation through human merit. But, will you believe it, that old
enemy of souls attacked John Knox with self-righteousness when
he lay adying? He came to him, and said, "How bravely you have
served your Master, John! You have never quailed before the face
of man. You have faced kings and princes, and yet you have never
trembled! Such a man as you are may walk into the Kingdom of
Heaven on your own footing and wear your own garment at the
wedding of the Most High!" And sharp and terrible was the
struggle which John Knox had with the enemy of souls over that
temptation.
I can give you a similar instance from my own experience. I
thought within myself that of all the beings in the world, I was the
most free from care. It had never exercised my thoughts a moment,
I think, to care for temporals–I had always had all I needed, and I
seemed to have been removed beyond the reach of anxiety about
such matters. And yet, strange to say, but a little while ago, a most
frightful temptation overtook me, casting me into worldliness of
care and thought–and though I lay and groaned in agony, and
wrestled with all my might against the temptation, it was long
before I could overcome these distrustful thoughts with regard to
God's Providence, when, I must confess, there was not the slightest
reason, as far as I could see, why such thoughts should break in
upon me! For that reason, and for many more, I hate the devil
worse and worse every day, and I have vowed, if it is possible, by
preaching the Word of God to seek to shake the very pillars of his
kingdom! And I think all God's servants will feel that their enmity
against the arch-enemy of souls increases every day because of the
malevolent and strange attacks that he is continually making upon
us.
The modes of Satan's attack, then, as you will speedily learn, if
you have not already done so, betray his subtlety. Ah, sons of men,
while you are putting on your helmets, he is seeking to thrust his
fiery sword into your heart! Or while you are looking well to your
breastplate, he is lifting up his battle-ax to split your skull! And
while you are seeing to both helmet and breastplate, he is seeking
to trip up your feet. He is always watching to see where you are not
looking–he is always on the alert when you are slumbering. Take
heed to yourselves, therefore. "Put on the whole armor of God."
"Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: whom
resist steadfast in the faith." And God help you to prevail over him!
A second thing in which Satan betrays his cunning is the weapons
which he will often use against us. Sometimes hewill attack the
child of God with the remembrance of a ribald song, or a licentious
joke which he may have heard in the days of his carnal state. But
far more frequently he will attack him with texts of Scripture! It is
strange that it should be so, but it often is the case that when he
shoots his arrow against a Christian, he wings it with God's own
Word! That seemed to be, according to the poet, the very poignancy
of grief, that the eagle, when the arrow was drinking up his heart's
blood, saw that the feather that winged it to his bosom had been
plucked from his own breast! And the Christian will often have a
somewhat similar experience. "Ah," he will say, "here is a text that
I love, taken from the Book that I prize, yet it is turned against me.
A weapon out of God's own armory is made to be the instrument of
death against my soul." Have you not found it so, dear Christian
Friends? Have you not proved that, as Satan attacked Christ with
an, "It is written," so also has he attacked you? And have you not
learned to be on your guard against perversions of Sacred
Scripture, and twisting of God's Word, lest they should lead you to
destruction?
At other times, Satan will use the weapon of our own experience.
"Ah," the devil will say, "on such-and-such a day, you sinned in
such-and-such a way–how can you be a child of God?" At another
time, he will say, "You are selfrighteous, therefore you cannot be
an heir of Heaven." Then, again, he will begin to rake up all the old
stories that we have long forgotten of all our past unbelief, our past
wandering, and so forth, and throw these in our teeth. He will say,
"What? You, YOU a Christian? A pretty Christian you must be!"
Or, possibly he will begin to tempt you after some suchsort as
this–"The other day you would not do such-and-such a thing in
business–how much you lost by it! So-and-so is a Christian, but he
did it. Your neighbor, across the street, is he not a deacon of a
church, and did not he do it? Why may not you do the same? You
would get on a great deal better if you would do it. So-and-so does
it and he gets on, and is just as much respected as you are! Then
why should you not act in the same way?" Thus the devil will
attack you with weapons taken from your own experience, or from
the church of which you are a member. Ah, be careful, for Satan
knows how to choose his weapons! He is not coming out against
you, if you are great giants, with a sling and a stone, but he comes
armed to the teeth to cut you down. If he knows that you are so
guarded by a coat of mail that the edge of his sword shall be turned
by your armor, then he will attack you with deadly poison! And if
he knows that you cannot be destroyed by that means, seeing that
you have an antidote at hand, then he will seek to take you in a
trap. And if you are wary, so that you cannot be overtaken, thus,
then he will send fiery troubles upon you, or a crushing avalanche
of woe so that he may subdue you. The weapons of his warfare,
always evil–and often spiritual and unseen–are mighty against such
weak creatures as we.
Again, the craftiness of the devil is discovered in another thing–in
the agents he employs. The devil does not do allhis dirty work
himself. He often employs others to do it for him. When Samson
had to be overcome, and his Nazarite locks to be shorn away, Satan
had a Delilah ready to tempt and lead him astray–he knew what
was in Samson's heart, and where his weakness was and, therefore,
he tempted him by means of the woman whom he loved. An old
Divine says, "There's many a man that has had his head broken by
his own rib"–and that is certainly true. Satan has sometimes set a
man's own wife to cast him down to destruction, or he has used
some dear friend as the instrument to work his ruin. Remember
how David lamented over this evil–"For it was not an enemy that
reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that
hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have
hid myself from him: but it was you, a man my equal, my guide,
and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked
to the house of God in company."
"Ah," says the devil, "you did not think I was going to set an
enemy to speak evil of you, did you? Why, that would not hurt you!
I know better than that how to choose my agents–I shall choose a
man who is a friend or an acquaintance–he will come close to you
and then stab you under the folds of your garments." If a minister is
to be annoyed, Satan will choose a deacon to annoy him. He knows
that he will not care so much about an attack from any other
member of the church, so some deacon will lift himself up and
domineer over him so that he shall have sleepless nights and
anxious days. If it is a deacon that Satan wants to annoy, he will
seek to set some member or brother-deacon against him–and if
there is no other person that he cares for, it shall be his nearest and
dearest friend who shall do the dastardly deed.
The devil is always ready to take in his hand the net into which
the fish is most likely to go and to spread the snare which is the
most likely to catch the bird. I do not suspect, if you are a professor
of long standing, that you will be tempted by a drunk. No, the devil
will tempt you by a canting hypocrite. I do not imagine your enemy
will come and attack and slander you–it will be your friend. Satan
knows how to use and to disguise all his agents. "Ah," he says, "a
wolf in sheep's clothing will be better for me than a wolf that looks
like a wolf! And one in the church will play my game better and
accomplish it more readily than one out of it." The choice of
Satan's agents proves his craft and cleverness. It was a cunning
thing that he should choose the serpent for the purpose of tempting
Eve. Very likely Eve was fascinated by the appearance of the
serpent. She probably admired its glossy hue, and we are led to
believe that it was a far more noble creature, then, than it is now.
Perhaps, then, it could erect itself upon its coils and she was very
likely pleased and delighted with it. It may have been the familiar
creature with which she played–I doubt not it was before the devil
entered into it. You know how, often, the devil enters into each one
of us. I know he has entered into me, many a time, when he has
wanted a sharp word to be said against somebody. "Nobody can
hurt that man, or grieve that man," says the devil, "as well as Mr.
Spurgeon can! Why, he loves him as his own soul. That's the man,"
says the devil, "to give the unkindest cut of all and he shall give it."
Then I am led, perhaps, to believe some wrong thing against some
precious child of God, and afterwards to speak of it. And then I
grieve to think that I should have been so foolish as to lend my
heart and tongue to the devil! I can therefore warn each of you and
especially myself, and all those who have much love bestowed
upon them, to take heed lest they become instruments of Satan in
grieving the hearts of God's people, and casting down those who
have trouble enough to cast them down, without having any from
us!
And once again, Satan shows his cunning by the times in which
he attacks us. I thought, when I lay sick, that if Icould but get up
from my bed, and be made strong, I would give the devil a most
terrible thrashing because of the way he set upon me when I was
sick. Coward! Why did he not wait till I was well? But I always
find that if my spirits sink and I am in a low condition of heart,
Satan specially chooses that time to attack me with unbelief. Let
him come upon us when the promise of God is fresh in our
memory, and when we aye enjoying a time of sweet outpouring of
heart in prayer before God, and he will see how we will fight
against him! But, no, he knows that, then, we would have the
strength to resist him and, prevailing with God, we would be able
to prevail over him, also. He will therefore come upon us when
there is a cloud between ourselves and our God–when the body is
depressed, and the spirits are weak–then he will tempt us and try to
lead us to distrust God. At another time, he will tempt us to pride.
Why does he not tempt us to pride when we are sick and depressed
in spirit? "No," he says, "I cannot manage it then." He chooses the
time when a man is well, when he is in full enjoyment of the
promises, and enabled to serve his God with delight–then he will
tempt him to pride. It is the timing of his attacks, the right ordering
of his assaults, that makes Satan ten times more terrible an enemy
than he would be otherwise–and that proves the depth of his
craftiness. Verily, the old serpent is more subtle than any beast of
the field which the Lord God has made.
There is one thing about the powers of Hell that has always
amazed me. The Church of Christ is always quarrelling–but did
you ever hear that the devil and his confederates quarrel? There is a
vast host of those fallen spirits, but how marvelously unanimous
they always are! They are so united that if at any special moment
the great black prince of Hell wishes to concentrate all the masses
of his army at one particular point, it is done to the tick of the
clock, and the temptation comes with its fullest force just when he
sees it to be the most likely that he will prevail. Ah, if we had such
unanimity as that in the Church of God, if we all moved at the
guidance of the finger of Christ, if all the Church could, at this
time, for instance, move in one great mass to the attack a certain
evil, now that the time has come for the attack upon it, how much
more easily might we prevail! But, alas, Satan exceeds us in
subtlety, and the powers of Hell far exceed us in unanimity. This,
however, is a great point in Satan's subtlety–that he chooses the
times of his attacks so wisely.
And yet once more, and I will have done with this point. Satan's
subtlety in another thing is very great, that is, in hiswithdrawing.
When I first joined the Christian Church, I never could make out a
saying which I heard from an old man, that there was no temptation
so bad as not being tempted–nor did I understand, then, what
Rutherford meant when he said he liked a roaring devil a great deal
better than a sleeping devil. I understand it now! And you who are
God's children and who have been for some years in His ways,
understand it also–
"More the treacherous calm I dread
Than tempests rolling over my head."
There is such a state of heart as this–you want to feel, but you do
not feel. If you could but doubt, you would think it a very great
attainment. Yes, and even if you could know the blackness of
despair, you would rather feel that than be as you are. "There," you
say, "I have no doubts about my eternal condition! I think I can say,
though I could not exactly speak with assurance, for I fear it would
be presumption, yet I do trust I can say that I am an heir of Heaven.
Yet that does not give me any joy. I can go about God's work and
feel that I love it, yet I cannot feel it is God's work. I seem to have
got into a round of duty, till I go on, on, on, like a blind horse that
goes because it must go. I read the promise, but I see no particular
sweetness in it–in fact, it does not seem as if I needed any promise.
And even threats do not frighten me–there is no terror in them to
me. I hear God's Word. I am perhaps stirred by what the minister
says, but I do not feel impressed by his earnestness as I should. I
feel that I could not live without prayer, and yet there is no unction
in my soul. I dare not sin. I trust my life is outwardly blameless,
still, what I have to mourn over is a lead heart, a lack of
susceptibility to spiritual delight or spiritual song, a dead calm in
my soul like that dreadful calm of which Coleridge's 'Ancient
Mariner' said–
"'The very deep did rot,
Alas, that ever this should be!
Yes, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.'"
Now, dear Friend, do you know anything about your own state of
heart just now? If so, that is the answer to the enigma, that not
being tempted is worse than being tempted! Really, there have been
times, in the past experience of my own soul, when I would have
been obliged to the devil if he had come and stirred me up. I would
have felt that God had employed him, against his wish, to do me
lasting good, to wake me up to conflict. If the devil would but go
into the Enchanted Ground and attack the pilgrims there, what a
fine thing it would be for them! But, you will notice, John Bunyan
did not put him there, for there was no business for him there. It
was in the Valley of Humiliation that there was plentyof work cut
out for Satan–but in the Enchanted Ground the pilgrims were all
slumbering, like men asleep on the top of the mast. They were
drunk with wine so that they could do nothing and, therefore, the
devil knew he was not needed there–he just left them to sleep on!
Madame Bubble and drowsiness would do all his work. But it was
into the Valley of Humiliation that he went–and there he had his
stern struggle with poor Christian. Brothers and Sisters, if you are
passing through the land that is enchanted with drowsiness,
indifference and slumber, you will understand the craftiness of the
devil in sometimes staying out of our way.
II. And now, in the second place, let us very briefly enquire,
WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THIS ENEMY? You and I feel that
we must enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but we cannot enter it while
we stand still. The City of Destruction is behind us and Death is
pursuing us–we must press towards Heaven–but, in the way, there
stands this "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." What
shall we do? He has great subtlety–how shall we overcome him?
Shall we seek to be as subtle as he is? Ah, that would be an idle
task! Indeed, it would be a sinful one. To seek to be crafty like the
devilwould be as wicked as it would be futile! What shall we do,
then? Shall we attack him with wisdom? Alas, our wisdom is but
folly. "Vain man would be wise," but at his very best estate he is
but like a wild ass's colt. What, then, shall we do?
The only way to repel Satan's subtlety is by acquiring true
wisdom. Again I repeat it–man has none of that in himself. What
then? Herein is true wisdom. If you would successfully wrestle
with Satan, make the Holy Scriptures your daily resort. Out of this
sacred magazine continually draw your armor and your
ammunition. Lay hold upon the glorious Doctrines of God's Word–
make them your daily meat and drink. So shall you be strong to
resist the devil and you shall be joyful in discovering that he will
flee from you. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way,"
and how shall a Christian guard himself against the enemy? "By
taking heed thereto according to Your Word." Let us always fight
Satan with an, "It is written"–for no weapon will ever tell upon the
arch-enemy so well as Holy Scripture will! Attempt to fight Satan
with the wooden sword of reason and he will easily overcome you!
But use this Jerusalem blade of God's Word, by which he has been
wounded many a time, and you will speedily overcome him!
But, above all, if we would successfully resist Satan, we must
look not merely to revealed wisdom, but to IncarnateWisdom. O
Beloved, here must be the chief place of resort for every tempted
soul! We must flee to Him "who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." He must
teach us, He must guide us, He must be our All-in-All. We must
keep close to Him. The sheep are never so safe from the wolf as
when they are near the Believer, walk according to His example!
Live daily in His fellowship, Trust always in His blood and in this
way shall you be more than a conqueror even over the subtlety and
craft of Satan himself! It must be a joy to the Christian to know that
in the long run, the craft of Satan shall all be disappointed and all
his evil designs against the saints shall prove of no effect. Are you
not looking forward, Beloved, to the day when all your temptations
shall be over and when you shall be in Heaven? And will you not
then look down upon this arch-fiend with holy laughter and
derision? I believe that the saints, when they think of the attacks of
Satan, shall "rejoice with unspeakable joy" and, besides that, shall
feel a contempt in their own souls for all the craft of Hell when
they see how it has been disappointed.
What has the devil been doing these thousands of years? Has he
not been the unwilling servant of God and of His Church? He has
always been seeking to destroy the living tree, but when he has
been trying to root it up, it has only been like a gardener digging
with his spade and loosening the earth to help the roots to spread
themselves more! And when he has been with his axe seeking to
lop the Lord's trees, and to mar their beauty, what has he been,
after all, but a pruning knife in the hand of God to take away the
branches that do not bear any fruit, and to purge those that do bear
some, that they may bring forth more fruit? Once upon a time, you
know, the Church of Christ was like a little brook–just a tiny
stream–and it was flowing along in a little narrow dell. Just a few
saints were gathered together at Jerusalem and the devil thought to
himself, "Now I'll get a great stone and stop this brook from
running." So he goes and gets this great stone and he dashes it
down into the middle of the brook, thinking, of course, he would
stop it from running any longer. But, instead of doing so, he
scattered the drops all over the world–and each drop became the
mother of a fresh fountain! You know what that stone was–it was
persecution and the saints were scattered by it–but then, "they that
werescattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word," and
so the Church was multiplied and the devil was defeated!
Satan, I tell you to your face, you are the greatest fool that ever
breathed, and I will prove it to you in the day when you and I shall
stand as enemies–sworn enemies, as we are this day–at the great
bar of God! And so, Christian, may you say unto him whenever he
attacks you! Hear him not, but resist him steadfast in the faith and
you shall prevail.
Ge 3:8 • How God Comes to Man
ERMON 2900
How God Comes To Man
"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the Presence of the LORD God among the trees of
the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto
him, Where are you?"
Genesis 3:8, 9
"How will God come to us now that we have rebelled against
Him?" That is a question which must have greatly perplexed our
first parents. They may have said to one another, "Perhaps God will
not come to us at all and then we shall be orphans, indeed. If spared
to live on, we must continue to live without God and without hope
in the world." It would have been the worst thing that could have
happened to our race if God had left this planet to take its own
course and had said, concerning the people upon it, "I will leave
them to their own way, for they are given over to idols."
But if He came to our first parents, in what way would He come?
Surely Adam and Eve must have feared that He would be
accompanied by the angels of vengeance to destroy them straight
away, or, at any rate, to bind them in chains and fetters forever. So
they questioned among themselves, "Will He come and if He does,
will His coming involve the total destruction of the human race?"
Their hearts must have been sorely perplexed within them while
they were waiting to see what God would do to them as a
punishment for the great sin they had committed. I believe they
thought that He would come to them. From their past experience
they knew so much of His graciousness that they felt sure that He
would come. Yet they also understood so much of His holy anger
against sin that they must have been afraid of His coming–so they
went and hid themselves among the trees of the garden although
every tree must have upbraided them for their disobedience, for
everyone of the trees would seem to say, "Why do you come here?
You have eaten of the fruit of the tree of which you were forbidden
to partake. You have broken your Maker's command and His
sentence of death has already gone out against you. When He
comes, He will certainly come to deal with you in judgment
according to His faithful word–and when He does, what will
become of you?" Every leaf, as it rustled, must have startled and
alarmed them. The breath of the evening breeze, as it passed
through the garden, must have filled them with fear and dread as to
the doom awaiting them.
Now, "in the cool of the day," or, as the Hebrew has it, "in the
wind of the evening," when the evening breeze was blowing
through the garden, God came. It is difficult for us to even imagine
how He revealed Himself to our first parents. I suppose He
condescended to take upon Himself some visible form. It was "the
voice of the Lord God" they heard in the garden and you know that
it is the Word of God who has been pleased to make Himself
visible to us in human flesh. He may have assumed some form in
which they could see Him, otherwise, as a pure Spirit, God could
not have been recognized either by their ears or their eyes.
They heard His voice speaking as He walked in the garden in the
cool of the day. And when He called to Adam, albeit that there was
righteous anger in the tone of His voice, yet His words were very
calm and dignified and, as far as they could be, even tender, for,
while you may read the words thus, "Adam, where are you?" You
may also read them thus, "Where are you, poor Adam, where are
you?" You may put a tone of pity into the words and yet not
misread them. So the Lord comes thus in gentleness in the cool of
the day and calls them to account. He patiently listens to their
wicked excuses and then pronounces upon them a sentence, which,
heavy though it is towards the serpent and heavy though it is
towards all who are not saved by the woman's wondrous Seed, yet
has much mercy mingled with it in the promise that the Seed of the
woman shall bruise the head of the serpent–a promise which must
have shone in their sad and sinful souls as some bright particular
star shines in the darkness of the night!
I learn from this incident that God will come to sinful men,
sooner or later, and we may also learn from the way in which He
came to our first parents, how He is likely to come to us. His
coming will be different to different men, but we gather, from this
incident, that God will certainly come to guilty men even if He
waits till the cool of the day. And we are also able to understand a
little about the way in which He will ultimately come to all men.
Remember this, Sinner, however far you may get away from God,
you will have to come close to Him one of these days! You may go
and pluck the fruit that He forbids you to touch and then you may
go and hide yourself among the thick trees in the forest and think
that you have concealed yourself–but you will have to come face to
face with your Maker at some time or other! It may not be today, or
tomorrow. It may not be until "the cool of the day" of time. No, it
may not be till time, itself, shall be no more–but, at last, you will
have to confront your Maker! Like the comet that flies far off from
the sun, wandering into space for an altogether inconceivable
distance and yet has to come back again, however long the time its
circuit takes–so you will have to come back to God, either
willingly, repentantly, believingly, or else unwillingly and in chains
to receive your sentence of doom from the lips of the Almighty
whom you have provoked to anger by your sin! God and you have
to meet as surely as you are now living–at some time or other, each
one of you must hear the voice of the Lord God saying to you, as
He said to Adam, "Where are you?"
Now, from this meeting between God and fallen man, I learn a
few lessons which I will pass on to you as the Holy Spirit shall
enable me.
The first is this. When God did meet with fallen man, it was not
until the cool of the day. This suggests to me GOD'S GREAT
PATIENCE WITH THE GUILTY.
Whether Adam and Eve sinned in the early morning, or in the
middle of the day, or toward evening, we do not know. It is not
necessary that we should know this, but it is probable that the Lord
God allowed an interval to intervene between the sin and the
sentence. He was not in a hurry to come because He could not
come except in anger to bring their sins home to them. You know
how quick the tempers of some men are. If they are provoked, it is
a word and a blow with them, for they have no patience. It is our
littleness that makes us impatient. God is so great that He can
endure far more than we can. And though our first parents' sin
greatly provoked Him–and it is to His Glory that He is so holy that
He cannot look upon iniquity without indignation–yet He seemed
to say to Himself, "I must go and call these two creatures of Mine
to account for their sin. Yet judgment is My strange work–it is
mercy in which I delight. This morning I drew back the curtains
that had shielded them during the night and poured the sunlight in
upon them, not a second beyond the appointed time, and I was glad
to do it. And all day long I have been showering mercies upon them
and the refreshing night-dews are already beginning to fall upon
them. I will not go down to them till the latest possible moment. I
will put it off till the cool of the day." God will do nothing in the
heat of passion–everything shall be deliberate, calm, majestic and
Divine!
The fact that God did not come to question His sinful creatures
till the cool of the day ought to teach us the greatness of His
patience and it should also teach us to be patient with others. How
wondrously patient God has been with some of you who are here!
You have lived many years and enjoyed His mercies, yet you have
scarcely thought about Him. Certainly, you have not yielded your
hearts to Him. But He has not yet come to deal with you in
judgment. He has waited 20 years for you young people–30 years,
40 years, for you middle-aged folk–50 years, 60 years for you who
are getting past that period and perhaps 70 years, or even 80 years
He has been known to tarry for, "He delights in mercy," but He
does not delight in judgment! Seventy years form a long life, yet
many persons spend all that time in perpetrating fresh sin. Called to
repentance over and over again, they only become the more
impenitent through resisting the call of mercy. Favored with
blessings as many as the sands of the seashore, they only prove
themselves the more ungrateful by failing to appreciate all those
blessings.
It is amazing that God is willing to wait till the cool of such a
long, long day of life as 70 or 80 years make up! How patient, then,
we ought to be with one another! Yet are you, parents, always
patient with your children–your young children who may not have
willingly or consciously offended you? What patience you ought
always to exercise towards them! And have you a like patience
towards a friend or a brother who may use rough speech and
provoke you? Yet such your patience ought to be. Never should we
take our brother by the throat and say to him, "Pay me what you
owe," so long as we find God deliberately waiting till the cool of
the day before He comes to those who have offended Him–and
even then uttering no more words of anger than should be uttered
and mingling even those words with mercy that has no boundaries!
II. The second thing that I gather from the Lord's coming to
Adam and Eve in the cool of the day is HIS DIVINE CARE FOR
THE GUILTY.
Though He did not come till the cool of the day, thus manifesting
His patience, He did come then, thus manifesting His care for those
who had sinned against Him. He might have left them all night
long–all night long without their God–all night long without Him
after they had done just what He had forbidden them to do. All
night long–a sleepless night, a fearful night, a night that would
have been haunted with a thousand fears–all night long with this
great battle trembling in the balance, with the great question of
their punishment unsolved and an indefinable dread of the future
hanging over them! Many of you know that the trial of being kept
in suspense is almost worse than any other trouble in the world. If a
man knew that he had to be beheaded, it would be easier for him to
die at once than to have to kneel with his neck on the block and the
gleaming axe lifted up above him, not knowing when it might fall.
Suspense is worse than death! We seem to feel a thousand deaths
while we are kept in suspense of one. So God would not leave
Adam and Eve in suspense through the whole night after they had
sinned against Him, but He came to them in the cool of the day.
There was this further reason why He came to them–
notwithstanding the fact that they had disobeyed Him and that He
would have to punish them, He remembered that they were still His
creatures. He seemed to be saying within Himself, "What shall I do
to them? I must not utterly destroy them, but how can I save them?
I must carry out My threat, for My word is true, yet I must also see
how I can spare them, for I am gracious and My Glory is to be
increased by the display of My Grace towards them." The Lord
looked upon them as the appointed progenitors of His elect and
regarded Adam and Eve, also, let us hope, as His elect whom He
loved notwithstanding their sin So He seemed to say, "I will not
leave them all night without the promise which will brighten their
gloom." It was only one promise and, perhaps, it was not clearly
understood by them–still, it was a promise of God, even though it
was spoken to the serpent–"I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your
head, and you shall bruise His heel." So, not one night were God's
poor fallen creatures left without at least one star to gleam in the
darkness for them and thus He showed His care for them.
And still, dear Friends, though God is slow to anger, yet He is
always ready to pardon and very tender and compassionate even
when He has to pass sentence upon the guilty. "He will not always
chide; neither will He keep His anger forever." You can see His
care and consideration even for the most unworthy of us because
He has not cut us off in our sin! We are–
"Not in torment, not in Hell."
We can see the marks of His goodness in the very garments on
our backs and the food of which we partake by His bounty. Many
of His gifts come not merely to those who do not deserve them, but
to those who deserve to be filled with the gall and wormwood of
Almighty Wrath!
III. Now, thirdly, I want to show you that WHEN THE LORD
DID COME, HE AFFORDED US A PATTERN OF HOW THE
SPIRIT OF GOD COMES TO AWAKEN THE CONSCIENCES
OF MEN.
I have already said that sooner or later God will come to confront
each one of us. I pray that if He has never come to you, dear