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A Wise Desire
A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Morning, July 8, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
"He shall choose our inheritance for us."Psalm 47:4.
The Christian is always pleased and
delighted when he can see Christ in the Scriptures. If he can but detect the footstep of
his lord, and discover that the sacred writers are making some reference to him, however
indistinct or dark he will rejoice there at: for all the Scriptures are nothing except as
we find Christ in them. St. Austin says, "The Scriptures are the swaddling bands of
the man-childChrist Jesus, and were all intended to be hallowed garments in which to
wrap him "So they are; and it is our pleasant duty to lift the veil, or remove the
garment of Jesus and so behold him in his person, in his nature, or his offices. Now, this
text is concerning Jesus Christhe it is who is to "choose our inheritance for
us," he in whom dwelleth all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is the great Being
who is selected as the head of predestinationto choose our lot and our portion, and
fix our destiny. Verily, beloved brethren, you and I can rejoice in this great fact, that
our Savior chooses for us. For were we all to be assembled together in some great plain,
as Israel was of old, to elect for ourselves a king, we should not propose a second
candidate. There would be one who stands like Saul, the son of Kish, head and shoulders
taller than all the rest, whom we should at once select to be our king and ruler of
Providence for us. We would not ask for some prudent sage or deeply taught philosopher; we
would not choose the most experienced senior; but, without a single moment's hesitation,
directly we saw Jesus Christ, in the majesty of his person, we should say, in the words of
the Psalmist, He who redeemed us, he who ransomed us, he who loved us"He shall
choose our inheritance for us."
I remember once going to a chapel where this happened to be the text, and the good man who
occupied the pulpit was more than a little of an Arminian. Therefore, when he commenced,
he said, "This passage refers entirely to our temporal inheritance. It has nothing
whatever to do with our everlasting destiny: for," said he, "We do not want
Christ to choose for us in the matter of heaven or hell. It is so plain and easy that
every man who has a grain of common sense will choose heaven; and any person would know
better than to choose hell. We have no need of any superior intelligence, or any greater
being, to choose heaven or hell for us. It is justify to our own free will, and we have
enough wisdom given us, sufficiently correct means to judge for ourselves, and therefore,
as he very logically inferred, there was no necessity for Jesus Christ, or any one, to
make a choice for us. We could choose the inheritance for ourselves without any
assistance." Ah! but my good brother, it may be very true that we could, but I think
we should want something more than common sense before we should choose aright. For you
must recollect that it is not simply the choosing of heaven or hell; it is the choosing of
pleasure on earth, or of pain of honor or of persecution; and very often the man is
bewildered. If it were just simply hell that a man had to choose, none would prefer it;
but since it is the sin which engenders hell, and the lust which brings him on to
punishment, there comes the difficulty. For by nature we are all inclined to follow the
way which leads downwards, we are naturally willing to walk the road which leads to the
pitwe do not seek the pit itself, but the road that leads to itand were it not
for sovereign grace, none of us would ever have followed the path to heaven. I am daily
more and more convinced that the difference between one man and another is, not the
difference between his use of his will, but the difference of grace that has been bestowed
upon him. So that if one man has his "inheritance in heaven," it will be because
Christ chose his inheritance for him; and if another man has his place in hell, it will be
because he chose his inheritance himself. We do need some one to choose for us in that
matter; we want our Father to fix our eternal destiny, and write our names in the book of
life, otherwise, if justify to ourselves, the road to hell would be as naturally our
choice as for a piece of inanimate matter to roll downwards, instead of assisting itself
upwards.
However, to come at once to our text, and leave every other person's observations alone,
"He shall choose our inheritance for us." First, I shall speak of the text as
being a glorious fact"He shall choose our inheritance for us." And,
secondly, I will speak of it as being a very just and wise prayer"He shall
choose our inheritance for us."
I. First, then, I shall speak of this as being A GLORIOUS FACT. It is a great truth that
God does choose the inheritance for his people. It is a very high honor conferred upon
God's servants, that it is said of them, "He shall choose their inheritance." As
for the worldling, God gives him anything, but for the Christian, God selects the best
portion, and chooses his inheritance for him. Says a good divine, "It is one of the
greatest glories of the Church of Christ, that our mighty Maker, and our Friend, always
chooses our inheritance for us." He gives the worldling husks; but he stops to find
out the sweet fruits for his people. He gathers out the fruits from among the leaves, that
his people might have the best food, and enjoy the richest pleasures. Oh! it is the
satisfaction of God's people to believe in this exalting truth that he chooses their
inheritance for them. But, since there are many who dispute it, allow me just to stir up
your minds by way of remembrance, by mentioning certain facts which will lead you to see
clearly that verily God does choose our lot, and apportion for us our inheritance.
And, first, let me ask, must we not all of us admit an over-ruling providence, and the
appointment of Jehovah's hands, as to the means whereby we came into this world? These men
who think that afterwards we are justify to our own free will by choosing this or the
other to direct our steps, must admit that our entrance into the world was not of our own
will, but that God there had his hand upon us. What circumstances were those in our power
which led us to elect a certain person to be our parent? Had we anything to do with it?
Did not God of himself appoint our parents, native place, and friends? Could he not have
caused me to be born with the skin of the Hottentot, brought forth by a filthy mother who
should nurse me in her "kraal," and teach me to bow down to Pagan gods, quite as
easily as to have given me a pious mother, who should each morning and night bend her knee
in prayer on my behalf? Or, might he not, if he had pleased, have given me some profligate
to have been my parent, from whose lips I might have early heard fearful, filthy, and
obscene language? Might he not have placed me where I should have had a drunken father,
who should have immured me in a very dungeon of ignorance, and brought me up in the chains
of crime? Was it not God's providence that I had so happy a lot, that both my parents were
his children, and endeavored to train me up in the fear of the Lord? To whom do any of you
owe your parentagebe it good, or be it bad? Is it not to be traced to the decree of
God? Did not his predestination put you where you were? Was it not the Lord who appointed
the place of your birth, and the hour thereof? Look again at your bodies, do you not see
the doings of God there? How many children are born into the world deformed? How many come
into it deficient in some one or other of their faculties? But look at ourself. You are
perhaps comely in person, or if not, you have all your limbs; your bones are well set, and
you are strongmust you not trace this up to God? Do you not see that he arranged the
commencement of your life for you? You might have opened your career there, or there, or
there; but he placed you there in that particular spot, without asking your leave. Did he
turn to you and say, O clay! in what shape shall I fashion you? Or, did he who begat you
ask you what you would be? No: he made you what he pleased, and if you have now the
possession of your faculties and limbs, you must acknowledge and confess that there was
the decree of God in it. And, still further, how much of the finger of God must we discern
in our temper and constitution? I suppose no one will be foolish enough to say that we are
all born with the same natural temperament and constitution. I am sure there are some
persons who differ a great deal from others, at least I should like to differ a little
from themsome of those with whom you could not sit a single moment without feeling
that you would rather stand in a shower of rain, and get dripping wet than sit on a sofa
by their side; some persons are so exceedingly warm in their tempers that they actually
burn a hole in their manners and conversationthey cannot speak without being cross,
and testy and angry. Now, although such persons often indulge their temper, yet we must
allow that, in some measure, they are excusable, because they can trace it to the nature
which their mother gave them, (as the worldly poet would say) or rather, that temperament
with which they were bore. As if there should be others here who are naturally
amiablewho have a kind loving spiritwho are not so easily moved to wrath and
passion; in whom there is not so much of that absurd pride which makes man exalt himself
above his fellows: who has formed them aright or fashioned them so well? Has not God done
it and proved himself a Sovereign? And must we not see in this that God in some way or
other has fixed our destiny, from the very fact that the opening bud of life is entirely
in his hands? It does seem rational that since God appointed the commencement of our
existence, there should be some evidence of his control in the future parts of it.
But now a second observation. I will ask any sensible man, above all, any serious
Christian here, whether there have not been certain times in his life when he could most
distinctly see that indeed God did "choose his inheritance for him?" You are a
young manyou are asked what will be your pursuit: you choose such-and-such a thing.
You are about to be apprenticed to that peculiar tradea misfortune happensit
cannot be done. Without your consent, or will, you are placed in another position. Your
will was scarcely consulted; your parents exercised some authority, while the hand of
providence seemed to say to you, "it must be so"and you could not help
yourself. Take another case: you had established a house of businesssuddenly there
came a crushing misfortune which you no more could avoid than an ant could stop an
avalanche. You were driven from your business, and now you occupy your present position
because there was nothing else to which you could betake yourself. Was not that the hand
of God? You cannot trace it to yourself; you were positively compelled to change your
plan; you were driven to it. Perhaps you once had friends on whom you depended; you had no
thought of launching out into the world and being independent of the assistance of others.
Suddenly, by a stroke of providence, one friend dies; then another; then another; and,
without your own volition, you were placed in such circumstances that like a leaf in the
whirlpool, you were whirled round and round, and the employment you now follow, or the
engagement that now occupies you, is not of your own choosing, but is that of God? I do
not know whether all of you can go with me here, but I think you must in some instance or
other be forced to see that God has indeed ordained your inheritance for you. If you
cannot, I can I can see a thousand chances, as men would call them, all working together
like wheels in a great piece of machinery, to fix me just where I am, and I can look back
to a hundred places where, if one of those little wheels had run awryif one of those
little atoms in the great whirlpool of my existence had started asideI might have
been anywhere but here, occupying a very different position. If you cannot say this, I
know I can with emphasis, and can trace God's hand back to the period of my birth through
every step I have taken; I can feel that indeed God has allotted my inheritance for me. If
any of you are so wilfully beclouded that you will not see the hand of God in your being,
and will insist that all has been done by your will without providence: that you have been
justify to steer your own course across the ocean of existence; and that you are where you
are because your own hand guided the tiller, and your own arm directed the rudder, all I
can say is, my own experience belies the fact, and the experience of many now in this
place would rise in testimony against you, and say, "Verily, it is not in man that
walketh to direct his steps.""Man proposes, but God disposes," and
the God of heaven is not unoccupied, but is engaged in over-ruling, ordering, altering,
working all things according to the good pleasure of his will.
A third fact let me mention. If you turn to the pages of inspiration, and read the lives
of some of the most eminent saints, I think you will be obliged to see the marks of God's
providence in their histories too plainly to be mistaken Take, for instance, the life of
Joseph. There is a young man who from early life serves God. Read that life till its
latest period when he gave commandment concerning his bones, and you cannot help
marvelling at the wondrous dealings of providence. Did Joseph choose to be hated of his
brethren? But, yet, was not their envy a material circumstance in his destiny? Did he
choose to be put into the pit? But was not the putting into the pit as necessary to his
being made a king in Egypt as Pharaoh's dream! Did Joseph desire to be tempted of his
mistress? He chose to reject the temptation, but did he choose the trial? Nay, God sent
it. Did he choose to be put into the dungeon? No. And had he aught to do with the baker's
dream, or with Pharaoh's either? Can you not see, all the way through, from first to last,
even in the forgetfulness of the butler, who forget to speak of Joseph till the appointed
time came, when Pharaoh should want an interpreter, that there was verily the hand of God?
Joseph's brethren did just as they liked when they put him into the pit. Potiphar's wife
followed the dictates of her own abandoned lust in tempting him. And yet, notwithstanding
all the freedom of their will, it was ordained of God, and worked according together for
one great end, to place Joseph on the throne; for as he said himself, "Ye meant it
for evil, but God intended it for good, that he might save your souls alive! "There
was the ordinance of God's Providence in it as clearly as there is light in the sun. Or
take again the life of such a man as Moses. I suppose no one will deny that there was a
Providence in his being placed in the ark, just in the particular spot where Pharaoh's
daughter came to wash. And who will deny that it was a providence that she should say,
"Go and fetch me a woman to nurse this child," and his mother, Jochebed, should
come to nurse him? I imagine that no one would consider that there was an absence of
Providence in the fact that the child was comely, and that he grew in all the wisdom of
Egypt, and that he had a mind capacious enough to receive knowledge. Nor will you deny the
providence that led him to the side of Horeb's mountain, or to Jethro's daughter, nor can
you for an instant deny that there was a providence which afterwards brought him before
King Pharaoh, and helped him all his way through. The man was a God's-man. God seems to be
stamped upon his brow in all his acts; in all the three forties of his life, whether the
forty spent in the palace, the forty in the wilderness, or the forty that he was king in
Jeshurun. In all this there seems to be so manifestly God overruling the man's acts, that
you cannot help saying, "Here is the Almighty! here is the hand of God in everything
the man does!" and ye turn from the history of Moses, and say, "Truly God was in
this place though I knew it not." I might refer you to the life of Daniel, fraught
with interest as it was, and in that book you would see how his steps were first of all
sadly guided to Babylon, by being carried captive; and yet that from the degradation of
his banishment there arises the grandeur of Daniel's visions, and Daniel's character is
displayed in all its clearness, so that you must see that a wise hand was dealing with
him, and developing his virtues and his excellencies. More I shall not say here, because I
like you to refer to the Scripture yourselves. Scripture is the best book of providence we
have ever read. If any one should ask me for a book of anecdotes illustrative of
providence, I should refer him to the Bible. There he might find the marvellous story of
the woman who went out into a distant country, and during her absence lost her
inheritance. On a certain day she went to the king to ask him for it, and just as she came
there Gehazi was telling the king concerning a woman whose son Elijah had raised to
lifeand he said, "O, my Lord! this is the woman, and this is the son!"
There were Gehazi and the king talking on the subject, and the woman came in just at the
moment. And yet there are some fools who call that a "chance." Why, sirs, it is
an appointment as clearly as anything could be. And that is just one out of myriads of
instances you could find in Scripture, where you can see God present in the affairs of
man.
But as the Bible, after all, is the best proof of any doctrine we can advance, I beg to
refer you to one or two texts therein: and first, let me ask you to direct your attention
to a passage in the Isaiah, 6,7, "I am the Lord and there is none else. I form the
light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I the Lord do all these
things." Now here is a most direct assertion of the power of God in everything: that
he maketh peace, and that he maketh evilthat he createth light and that he createth
darkness. We may ask as the prophet did of old, "Is there evil in the city and the
Lord hath not done it?" Even providential evil is to be ascribed to God; and in some
marvellous sense which we understand not and cannot comprehend, the ordinance of God has
even reference to the sins of men "He has made even the wicked for the day of his
wrath." "The vessels of wrath fitted to destruction even these shall show forth
his praise. Good and evil in your condition you must ever regard as the work of God.
Whatever your circumstances are this morningare you sick, are you in poverty or are
you much troubled, the evil as well as the good is the work of God; and shall a man
receive good at the hands of the Lord, and shall he not in equal patience receive evil?
Will you not take everything from God which he is pleased to give, seeing that he himself
asserts "I create light I create darkness; I make good and I make evil." Turn
now to a passage in Job 14:5."His days are determined, the number of his months
are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." What a solemn
thought! God has "appointed our bounds." One of the prophets says, "Thou
hast hedged up my way with thorns and made a wall so that I cannot find my paths."
And that is first the truth in regard to man's life. The "bounds" of it are
"appointed!" man only walks within these "bounds;" out of these limits
he cannot get. If this does not imply the hand of God in everything I do not know what
does. Turn now to a proverb from the wise manProverbs 16:33."The lot is
cast into the lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." And if the
disposal of the lot is the Lord's whose is the arrangement of our whole life? You know
when Achan had committed a great sin the tribes were assembled and the lot fell upon
Achan. When Jonah was in the ship they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. And when
Jonathan had tasted the honey they cast lots and Jonathan was taken. When they cast lots
for an apostle who should succeed the fallen Judas, the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was
separated to the work. The lot is directed of God. And if the simple casting of a lot is
guided by him how much more the events of our entire lifeespecially when we are told
by our blessed Savior: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not a sparrow
falleth to the ground without your Father." If it be so; if these hairs are counted;
if an inventory is written of each one of them; and if the existence of each of these
hairs is marked and mapped, how much more precious in the sight of the Lord shall our
lives be. Take one more passage in Jeremiah 21:25: "O Lord I know that the way of man
is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jeremiah said,
"I know" and he was an inspired man, and that satisfies us. "I know."
I have sometimes when quoting a passage out of the apostle Paul been met by somebody
replying that; really they did not think Paul so great an authority as other Scripture
writers." I was astonished at hearing of the following dialogue between two young
persons. One remarked "Mr. Spurgeon is too high in doctrine." Said her friend:
"He is not higher than St. Paul." "No" said she "But St. Paul was
not quite right according to my opinion." I was very glad to sink in the same boat as
Paul for if Paul was not right in the view of poor pitiful creatures, verily Spurgeon
should not care. I would rather be wrong with Paul than right with anybody else because
Paul was inspired. But will they cut out some of the Old Testament too? Will they dare to
accuse Jeremiah of mistake? Jeremiah says, "I know that the way of man is not in
himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."
I may not have proved my point to any person who is an antagonist to this doctrine: but to
you who believe I do not doubt that I have somewhat confirmed it. Let me say one word.
Perhaps some who hear me will say, "Then, sir in the case of Christians you make God
the author of sin if you believe that their lives were ordained of him!" I never said
so! Prove that I said it and then I will come before your bar and try to excuse myself.
But until you hear these lips say, that God is the author of sin go your way and prove
first of all what it means to speak the truth. I have not asserted any such vile doctrine;
but I will tell you who does say that God is the author of sinand that is the man
who does not believe in natural depravitythat man makes God the author of sin. I
remember the case of a minister who most fearfully split on this rock. When a child had
been doing something that was far from right a friend said, "See there brother, there
is original sin in the child; for at its early age see how it sins." "No"
said he, "it is only certain powers God has placed in the child developing
themselves; it is the nature which God has given it originally it is one of God's perfect
creatures." These gentlemen make God the author of sin, because they throw the nature
upon God, whereas had we not fallen, every one of us would have been born with a perfect
nature; but since we have fallen, anything good in us is the gift of God, and that which
is evil springs naturally from our parents, by carnal descent from Adam. I never said God
was the author of sin. I thank you, sir, take the accusation yourself.
II. And now having thus spoken upon the doctrine, we shall have a few minutes concerning
this as A PRAYER. "He shall choose our inheritance for us." Dry doctrine my
friends is of little use. It is not the doctrine which helps us it is our assent to the
doctrine. And now I have been preaching this morning concerning God's ordaining our lives.
Some do not like it, to them the truth will be of no service. But there are some of you,
who if it were not the truth, would say you wish to have it so, for you would say, in your
prayer "Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me."
First, "thou shalt choose my mercies for me." You and I beloved often get
choosing our own mercies. God in his wisdom may have made one man rich. "Ah!"
says he, at night, "would God I had not all this wealth to tease my mind and worry
me. I believe any peasant who toils for me has far more rest than I have." Another
who is a poor man wipes the hot sweat from his brow, and says, "O my Father, I have
asked thee to give me neither poverty nor riches; but here am I so poor that I am obliged
to toil incessantly for my bread, would God I could have my mercies there among the
rich." One has been born with abilities. He has improved them by education, and this
improvement of his natural powers has entailed upon him fearful responsibilities, so that
he has to exercise his thoughts and his brain from morning till night. Sometimes he sits
down and says, "Now if I am not the most hard worked of all mortals. Those who keep a
shop can shut it up; but I am open it all times, and I am always under this
responsibility. What shall I do and how shall I rest myself?" Another who has to toil
with his hands is thinking, "Oh! if I could lead such a gentlemanly life as that
minister. He never has to work hard. He only has to think and read, of course that is not
hard work. He has perhaps to sit up till twelve o'clock at night to prepare his sermon,
that is not work of course. I wish I had his situation." So we all cry out about our
mercies, and want to choose our allotments. "Oh!" says one, "I have health,
but I think I could do without that if I had wealth." Another says, "I have
wealth, but I could give all my gold to have good constitution." One says, "Here
am I stowed away in this dirty London; I would give anything if I could go and live in the
country." Another, who resides in the country, says, "There is no convenience
here, you have to go so many miles for the doctor, and one thing and the other, I wish I
dwelt in London." So that we are none of us satisfied with our mercies. But the true
Christian says, or ought to say, "Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me;" high
or low, rich or poor, town or country, wealth or poverty, ability or ignorance, "Thou
shalt choose my inheritance for me."
Again, we must leave to God the choice of our employment. "Oh!" says the
preacherand I have been wicked enough to say so myself"how would I like
to have all my employment in the week that I might sit in the pew on the Sabbath and hear
a sermon, and be refreshed?" I am sure I should be glad to hear a sermon; it is a
long time since I heard one. But when I do attend one, it always tires meI want to
be improving on it. How would I like to sit down and have a little of the feast in God's
house myself, instead of always being the serving man in God's household. Thank God! I can
steal a crumb for myself sometimes. But then we fancy, O that I were not in that
employment! O that like Jonah we might flee to Tarshish, to avoid going to that great
Nineveh. Another is a Sabbath-school teacher. He says, "I would rather visit the sick
than sit with those troublesome boys and girls. And then the teachers do not seem to be so
friendly with me as they should be." The Sunday-school teacher thinks he can do
anything better than teach; but there is his friend who visits the sick coming down the
stairs, and he says, "I could teach little children, or preach a little; but really I
cannot visit the sick. There is nothing so hard, and that requires so much
self-denial." Another says, "I am a tract distributor. It is not easy work to
have your tracts refused at this door, and then at another; and persons looking at you as
if you came to rob them; could stand up before the congregation and speak, but I cannot do
this." And so we get selecting our employments. Ah! but we ought to say, "Thou
shalt choose my inheritance for me;" and leave our employment to God. "If there
were two angels in heaven," said a good man, "supposing there were two works to
be done, and one work was to rule a city, and the other to sweep a street
crossingthe angels would not stop a moment to say which they would do. They would do
which ever God told them to do. Gabriel would shoulder his broom and sweep the crossing
cheerfully, and Michael would not be a bit prouder in taking the scepter to govern the
city." So with a Christian.
But there is nothing that we oftener want to choose than our crosses. None of us like
crosses at all; but all of us think everybody else's trials lighter than our own. Crosses
we must have; but we often want to be choosing them. "Oh!" says one, "my
trouble is in my family. It is the worst cross in the worldmy business is
successful; but if I might have a cross in my business, and get rid of this cross in my
family, I should not mind." Then, my beloved hearers, in reference to your mercies,
your employments, and your afflictions, say"Lord, thou shalt choose my
inheritance for me! I have been a silly child; I have often tried to meddle with my lot.
Now I leave it. I cast myself on the stream of Providence, hoping to float along. I give
myself up to the influence of thy will." He that kicks and struggles in the water,
they say, will be sure to sink; but he who lies still will floatso with Providence.
He that struggles against it goes down; but he who resigns everything to it, will float
along quietly calmly, and happily.
Having thus spoken upon the extent of the surrender very briefly, I might hint at the
wisdom of it, and show you it is not only good for you to offer this prayer, but it is
better for you, than to control yourself. I might tell you that it is good for you to give
yourself up to God's hands, because he understands your wants, he knows your case and he
will so pity your necessities that he will give you the best supplies. It is better for
you then if you trusted in yourself, for if you had the choosing of your troubles, or your
employments, you would always have this bitter thought, "Now, I chose it myself, and
therefore I must blame my own folly."
But now another thought. What was the cause of the Psalmist saying this? How came he to be
able to feel it? for there are few Christians who can really affirm it and stand to it:
"Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me." I think the cause is to be found in
this, that he had a true experience of God's wisdom. Poor David could indeed thank God for
having chosen his inheritance for him, for he had given him a very goodly one. He had put
him in a king's mansion; he had made him conqueror over Goliath, and had raised him to be
ruler over a great people. David, by a practical experience, could say, "Thou shalt
choose my inheritance for me." Some of you cannot say it, can you? What is the
reason? because you have never witnessed Divine guidance, you have never looked to see the
hand that supplies your mercies. Some of us who have seen that hand in a few instances are
obliged to say from the very force of circumstances,
"Here I raise my Ebenezer."
Then, again
"Hither by thy help I've come."
I hope and trust in that same good pleasure
which has guided me hitherto, that it will bring me safely home.
Again, it was a true faith that made the Psalmist say he relied upon God. He knew him to
be worthy of his trust, so he said, "Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me."
And, again, it was true love, for love can trustaffection can put confidence in the
one it loves; and since David loved his God, he took the unwritten roll of his life, and
he said, "Write what thou wilt, my Lord." "Thou shalt choose my inheritance
for me."
I might finish, if I had time, by telling you the good effects that this produced upon the
Psalmist's mind, and what it would produce upon yours; how it would bring a holy calm
continually if you were always to pray this prayer; and how it would so relieve your mind
from anxiety, that you would be better able to walk as a Christian should. For when a man
is anxious he cannot pray; when he is troubled about the world he cannot serve his Master,
he is serving himself. If you could "seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness," beloved, "all things would then be added to you." What a
noble Christian you would be; how much more honorable you would be to Christ's religion;
and how much better you could serve him.
And now you who have been meddling with Christ's business, I have been preaching this to
you. You know you sometimes sing
"Tis mine to obey, 'tis his to provide,"
but then you have been meddling with
Christ's business, you have been leaving your own; you have been trying the
"providing" pert and leaving the "obeying?" to somebody else. Now, you
take the obeying part, and let Christ manage the providing. Come then, brethren, doubting
and fearful ones, come and see your father's storehouse, and ask whether he will let you
starve while he has stored away such plenty in his garner! Come and look at his heart of
mercy, see if that will ever fail! Come and look at his inscrutable wisdom and see if that
will ever go amiss: Above all, look up there to Jesus Christ your intercessor, and ask
yourself, "while he pleads, can my Father forget me?" And if he remembers even
sparrows, will he forget one of the least of his poor children? "Cast thy burden upon
the Lord and he will sustain thee," "He will never suffer the righteous to be
moved."
This I have preached to God's children: and now one word to the other portion of this
crowded assembly. The other day there was a very singular scene in the House of Commons.
There is a certain enclosure there set apart for the members; into this place a gentleman
ignorantly strayed. By-and- bye some one raised the cry "A stranger in the
house!" The sergeant of the House went up to him, took him by the shoulder and
reminded him that he had no business therenot being a membernot one of the
electnot having been elected by the country. The man of course looked very foolish.
But, as he had made a mistake, he was let go. Had he wilfully strayed within the
enclosure, and taken a seat he might not have got off so easily. When I saw that, I
thought, "A stranger in the House!" This morning is there not a stranger in the
house? There are some here who are strangers to the subject we have been
discussingstrangers to Godstrangers to true religion. "There's a stranger
in the house." It led me to think of that great "assembly and Church of the
first-born, whose names are written in heaven;" and I thought of the people who, last
Sabbath night, sat down to the Lord's table to partake of the Sacrament; and the idea
struck me, "There's a stranger in the house." Now, in the House of Commons, a
stranger cannot sit five minutes without being detected, for all eyes are so soon fixed
upon him; but in Christ's Churchin this churcha stranger can sit in the house
without being found out. Ah! there are strangers sitting here, looking as religious as
other people: some that are not children, some that are not chosen some that are not heirs
of God. They are "strangers in the house." Shall I tell you what will happen
by-and-bye? Though I cannot detect you under the cloak of you profession; though God's
people may not find you out, the grim "sergeant of the house "is
comingDeath is comingand he will discover you! What will be the penalty of
your intrusion, as a professor, into Christ's Church? What will be your lot if you have
been a stranger in his house below, when you find that, though you may have sat for a
little while in this House of Commons below, you cannot sit in the House of Lords above?
What will be your lot when it shall be said, "Depart ye accused?" And you may
exclaim "Lord! Lord! have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence, and taught in thy
streets?" And yet he will say, "Verily, I never knew you!" "You are a
stranger in the house!"" Depart, accursed one!" How can I tell who is
a stranger in these pews, and who are strangers upstairs? Some of us are not strangers!
"We are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of
the household of God." To such of you as are strangers, I pray you think of it, and
go to Christ's throne, and beg of him that yet you may be his children, and numbered with
his people. Then, after that, I will talk with you about my text, but not now. Then I will
bid you pray to God, "Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me."
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