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Dare you stand in the streets and in the by-ways to tell of Heaven's accomplished salvation, and of Christ's finished work that saves from death and Hell? The nations of the earth need the Gospel! Christ is opening the gates of brass to our missionaries—are there no young men here who will follow Christ's banner as it gleams afar?

Have I no young John Williams here? Is there no young man here who will be a Robert Moffat or a William Knibb? There is the Standard-Bearer— Christ is not in the background! Oh, why should we be so slow to follow Him? We are not straitened in Him, but in ourselves! Lift up your eyes to Heaven and see Him, there, bearing the Standard at the right hand of God!

The troops are marshalling! The bugle sounds for some of us! Gray-heads, are you ready?

Young men and maidens, are you ready? If the trumpet sounds in your ears tonight, are you ready to rally round that Standard and to sing the praises of Him who has called you? He is coming soon and then, when the Standard-Bearer is here, shall we have a share in His triumph? Shall we rise to shame and confusion of face, or shall we rise to participate in the splendor of His universal reign? God grant that we may all love and trust the Divine Standard-Bearer and that we may all be found among His faithful soldiers forever-more! You know who it is that speaks these words, our Lord Jesus, Himself.

Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. The Divine Messiah comes to usher in the true Jubilee—the blessed day in which the poor shall have the Gospel preached to them and in which the broken-hearted shall find their brokenness healed. He comes to bring the captive ones back from the Babylon of sin and to deliver from prison all those who, because of their transgressions, are bound with fetters.

In a word, He comes to proclaim that now is the accepted time, now is the day of Grace, now is the year of Jubilee. As for the adversaries of His people, to them it shall be "the day of vengeance of our God," for the Lord will deal out to them, measure for measure, as they have dealt to His oppressed and persecuted people. To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty—Or, "a coronet"—.

For ashes, the oil ofjoy for mourning, the garment ofpraise for the spirit ofheaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. There is no sorrow at His coming to those who receive Him—it is gladness—gladness repeated and gladness multiplied.

Not only does joy come in one form, but in many, as the verses of this chapter so sweetly remind us! And that which comes is permanent, making those that receive it to be like long-standing trees, for they shall outlive their sorrows and prove that they were planted by God for His own Glory.

Christ's Love to His Spouse

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And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. Truly, God's living Church today shall do all this! The Jewish Church became a waste and God's Glory seemed to be trodden under the foot of His foes, but the true children of the promise—they who are counted for the seed, even as many as believe, who are thus the seed of believing Abraham—shall build up all these wastes and happy shall they be in such joyous service!

And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. Because of the sin of His people, the aliens and the foreigners trample upon them. But if you and I are truly of the holy seed, having living faith in Christ, we shall look upon the whole race of men as enduring all their care and toil on our behalf.

They shall be our plowmen and our vinedressers, but we shall be the ministers of God, the priests of the Lord, making use of every new invention—traveling by steam, speaking by telephone—using everything for God's Glory, letting men invent all they can and we, ourselves, turning all things to account for the honor and Glory of our God. I know that there is another fulfillment of this test for God's ancient people, but this is also a fulfillment of it to us who are His spiritual people, His real children, born according to the promise.

For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. That is a sweet state of heart for any of us to be in—to rejoice in our portion! Oh, what a wonderful portion we have to rejoice in! How blessed is the lot of God's chosen people! However small a part of our portion may be visible to the eyes here below, yet we can sing—. The purchase of a Savior's blood! While the good Spirit shows us how To use and to improve them too. Instead of confusion such as once was the lot of the righteous, "they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess the double: Here is another choice expression—"everlasting joy.

For I the LORD love judgment, Ihate robbery for burned offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. That is why they have everlasting joy. There would be no everlasting joy if it were not for the Everlasting Covenant! Those gentlemen who want to cut that word, "everlasting," out of our Bibles will find that it will be a very long while before we shall agree to be rid of it!

No, we shall neverconsent to give it up! We shall always rejoice that we have God's everlastinglove and an Everlasting Covenant and, therefore, that we shall have everlastingjoy! And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles. They shall be discerned and distinguished. Just as surely as you may know a Jew anywhere in the world, today, so shall men know the people of God. Though they wear no peculiar garb, yet their speech shall betray them. There shall be a something about them which shall bear testimony to the fact that "they are the seed which the Lord has blessed.

And their offspring among the people: Not only shall my lips be full ofjoy, but my inmost nature, the very essence of my being—"my soul shall be joyful in my God. For He has clothed me with the garment of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. The loveliest sight in the world is one of God's people. We sometimes sing, and sadly sing, concerning this earth—.

But there is another side to that picture, for when the "man" is a true child of God, we can say—. Well did the Psalmist sing, "You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You wear a nature that is akin to that of the Only-Begotten! Indeed, it is the same nature as His! Glory, then, in this great Truth of God—that you are covered with the robe of righteousness, decked with ornaments like a bridegroom, and adorned with jewels like a bride!

For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. They are sown in the earth at present, but, as the seeds come up in the springtime beneath the genial showers and the shining of the sun, so righteousness and praise shall, in due time, come up in a golden harvest on every hill and valley of this poor sinful world! Hasten it, O Lord, hasten it in Your own good time! And shall it ever be? A mortal man ashamed of Thee! Ashamed of You, whom angels praise, Whose glories shine thro' endless days?

Sooner far Let evening blush to own a star! He sheds the beams of light Divine O'er this benighted soul of mine. Just as soon Let midnight be ashamed of noon! That dear Friend On whom my hopes of Heaven depend! When I blush, be this my shame, That I no more revere His name. And if ever there was a Leader who deserved that men should speak His praises, not— "With 'bated breath, and whispering humbleness," but with manly enthusiasm, that Leader is the Christ of God who loved you and gave Himself for you! We love those who possess true excellence and, therefore, we must love Christ, for He has every excellence in perfection!

Oh, if your heart is truly set on Christ, you have a portion so rich that you need not envy even the angels, for— "Never did angels taste above, Redeeming Grace and dying love. Only trust Him, guilty Sinner! Anyhow, we believe with good John Berridge— "Living tongues are dumb at best, We must die to speak of Christ. The great transaction's done! I am my Lord's, and He is mine! He drew me and I followed on, Charmed to confess the voice Divine.

High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily hear Till in life's latest hour I bow And bless in death a bond so dear. The standard-bearer should be a stronger man than all the rest of the host, for— "If the standard-bearer falls, As fall full wel he may," what mischief would come to the host and what confusion to this hearts of all the warriors!

The Lord be with you, Beloved, for His dear Son's sake! To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty—Or, "a coronet"— 3. However small a part of our portion may be visible to the eyes here below, yet we can sing— "All things are ours, the gift of God, The purchase of a Savior's blood! We sometimes sing, and sadly sing, concerning this earth— "Where everyprospect pleases, And only man is vile. This book has been accessed more than times since June 1, Help others find pages by topic by adding a topic tag if this page is a good resource no commas or spaces.

If you truly desire to be saved, get alone for the earnest and hearty study of the Word of God! How often you may meet with persons who profess to be infidels, yet if you press them closely enough, you will find that they have never even read the New Testament through! There are many more who are in doubt and anxiety, yet they have never gone to see what are the promises of God and what the Lord is ready to do for them that seek Him. I beseech you, as sensible and reasonable beings, do not let God speak to you and refuse to hear!

You need to be saved from sin! In this Book God has revealed the way of salvation, therefore do not shut up the Book, fasten the clasps and leave it neglected. Oh, Book of books, the map of the way to Glory!

Carte Blanche

That man invokes a terrible curse upon his own head who refuses to study you! He does, in effect, shut the gate of Heaven against himself and bar the road to everlasting bliss! If you would be saved, dear Friend, sit alone, consider your case and then study God's thoughts concerning it. Get alone, further, that you may commune with your God. After we have once learned the way, we can commune with God anywhere—amidst the roar and turmoil of the crowded city, or on the top of the mast of a ship—but, to begin with, it is best to be alone with the Lord.

My dear Hearer, have you ever spoken to God in all your life? Have you ever realized that there is such a King in the room with you? There is such a King! It is He who made you and who has preserved you up to this good hour! You are, surely, not prepared to deny His existence? And if you are not, I beseech you, do not ignore that existence and live as if there were no God!

Oh, speak with Him at once! Perhaps five minutes' earnest speech with Him may be the turning point of your life. Do not imagine that you can hide anything from Him, for He reads your inmost heart. Then take that heart and lay it bare before Him and say with the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: One of our sweetest joys on earth is to speak with Him in prayer and praise, to call Him, Friend, and to be on terms of sweet familiarity with the Most High. I do pray you, then, get alone for these three purposes, first, to consider your case.

Next, to study the Scriptures concerning your case And then that you may speak with God in prayer. Get alone, also, for one more reason, and that is that you may avoid distraction. I think that, on the Lord's Day, when people go home, after service, they sometimes make a mistake in talking with those who do not feel as they feel.

If the arrows of God have entered your heart, go home alone. If there has been anything in the sermon which has been for your comfort as a Christian, go home alone. If there was anything in the sermon which has been for your warning as a sinner, go home alone. How often may even godly and gracious people talk upon some theme that may rob their fellow-Believers of all the good they have received in God's House and, as for unconverted persons, I am sure that if they ever feel impressed under the Word, it will be their utmost wisdom to take care of that first impression—and not let it be driven away by foolish or frivolous conversation.

Some of us are old enough to remember the day before there were matches of the kind we now use. And early on a frosty morning some of us have tried to strike a light with flint and steel, and the old-fashioned tinderbox. How long we struck, and struck, and watched, and waited and, at last, there was a little spark in the tinder! And then we would hold the box up and blow on it very softly, that we might keep that little spark alight till we had kindled the fire that we needed. That tenderness over the first spark is what I invite everyone to practice in spiritual matters!

If you would be saved—if there is anything like feeling in your heart, if there is any good desire in your soul, do not begin to talk as soon as you get out of the Tabernacle—that would be like placing the lid on the tinder and putting the spark out! But get alone, blow on that spark, for perhaps it may come to a flame and you may find salvation! I advise all persons under sorrow of soul, somehow or other to break right away from their companions! When the day's work is done, let them, each one, say to themselves, "I am not going out with that frivolous person, nor shall I sit in the house with those who will be talking of trifling matters.

I have a soul that needs salvation and I must have my soul saved now. I cannot afford to be in this giddy company. In what respects should seeking souls keep silent? I answer, first, if the burden of sin is pressing upon you, be sure to abstain from all idle talk, for if the idle talk of others, as I have reminded you, can distract your thoughts, how much more would your own! It ill becomes a man, who is on the brink of Hell, to be laughing and jesting!

When God is angry with you, can you make mirth? I can understand how you can be merry when once you have come back to the great Father's House and the fatted calf is killed and your Father rejoices over you.

But while you are still covered with your sins and are not yet sure of God's forgiveness, sit silent! It is the best thing you can do—quietness becomes you. Lay your finger on your lips till you have something better to speak of than you have as yet. Keep silent, then, from all idle talk. Keep silent, also, in another respect. Do not attempt to make any excuse for your sin.

Oh, how ready sinners are with their excuses! A man says, "But, Sir, I have a besetting sin. There was a man who used to get drunk and he said that it was his besetting sin. But his brother said, "No, Sam, it is your upsetting sin!

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If I were to go, tonight, across Clapham Common and half-a-dozen men were to surround me and rob me of my wallet, then I should be beset. But if I were to know that there were thieves there, and yet I walked across the common on purpose to meet with them, you could not say that they had beset me—you would say that I was a fool to walk into their hands! The besetting sin is that which a man fights against and wars against with all his soul, yet is overcome by it. Do not lay any stress upon that, as though your being beset by sin was any excuse to you, especially if you go into the ways of sin.

You go and sit with those who drink and then wonder that you get drunk? You go and associate with those who swear or sing lewd songs and then you wonder that, the next time you try to pray, a nasty verse of a bad song comes up? It is your own fault if you go and willfully mingle with sinners! How can you be a child of God? No, when you know that anything is a sin, stay away from the temptation!

He that does not want to get wet should not go out into the rain. Instead of your excuse making your case any better, it makes it worse! Therefore, keep silent before your God. And next, keep silent from all complaining of God. No man is truly saved while he sets himself up as the judge of God, yet this is the practice of many men. If you give them the Word of God, they begin to pull it to pieces!

They ask, "Is God so severe that He will mark our faults? Does He take notice, even, of our evil thoughts? Can it really be true that for every idle word that a man shall speak, he will have to give an account in the Day of Judgment? O Sirs, if you would be saved, you must give up this wickedness! This kind of conduct will damn you as surely as you live! When prisoners are tried by an earthly judge and are condemned to die, if they are permitted to speak, they can have no hope of obtaining mercy by criticizing the judge and questioning the law!

Of course they are not guilty, poor innocents! So, Sinner, sit alone and keep silent. Presume not to judge your God! Behold, He comes with clouds! The trumpet will soon proclaim His appearing and they who were so free to judge their Maker will cry in another tone when that great day has, at last, come! With the earth reeling beneath their feet and the heavens, themselves, on fire, they will beg the rocks to fall on them and the hills to hide them from the face of Him that sits upon the Throne—and from the wrath of the Lamb! Go, you guilty one!

Sit still and hold your tongue—and bring your rebellious heart to submission! Shall the flax contend with the fire, or the stubble fight with the flame? What can you do in warring with your Maker? Sit alone and keep silent, next, from all claims of merit. I know that the tendency of the human heart is to say, "I am no worse than other people. I am a good Chapel-going, Church-going, Psalm-singing person! I give to the poor, I say my prayers and attend to all that sort of thing. Until you are like a vessel turned upside down and drained of every drop of human merit, there is no hope of salvation for you!

You must sit alone and keep silent about those good works of yours, for they are all a lie and you know it. You have never done a good work in your life—you have either spoiled it by your selfish motives before it, or by some carelessness in it, or by some vainglorious pride after it.

At the best, you are nothing but a boasting Pharisee, and though you may wash the outside of your cup and platter, yet your heart is full of wickedness and your soul is steeped in sin. O man, talk no more so exceeding proudly, but sit still and hold your tongue about merit and what you think you deserve before the holy God! There is no way of mercy for any of us until we shut our mouths and utter not a single boastful word, but stand guiltily silent before the Lord.

I think it is well, too, when a poor sin-burdened soul is silent before God and unable to make any bold speeches. I recollect that when I was first seeking the Lord, I heard some good people talking about their confidence in God. I had to hold my tongue, for I could not say a word about that matter. I heard a young friend say that he had found Christ, but I had to hold my tongue, for I knew that I had not found Him. And even after I had found Him, there were times when I dared not say so. May the Lord, in great mercy, make us all to have such hearts, and He shall have all the praise!

There are two things I shall speak of as I may be helped by the Holy Spirit. First, Christ looked upon is very lovely— "His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers. There are some who listen to Christ's Gospel and they do well. But those who also look with eyes of love upon His sacred Person. Those who contemplate not only what He says but what He is. Those who delight to know not only what He taught but what He is who taught it—these are they who have penetrated yet further into the mysteries of Christ. Note that these saints first see their Lord's loveliness and then they say concerning Him, "His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.

I suppose, first, because every part of Christ is inexpressibly delightful. Take any portion of His Countenance that you may and it has surpassing beauty about it. The spouse had already spoken about her Beloved's head, locks and eyes—now she mentions His cheeks. Any sight of Christ is delightful—a single passing glimpse of Him is a foretaste of Heaven, the beginning of Paradise! Though you see but little of Christ, yet if it is Christ whom you really see, that sight will save you! Though you see Christ, as it were, with but one eye, and though that eye is dim, and though that dim eye is filled with tears, yet if you do but see Him at all, that sight will save you—and just in proportion as you are able to see Him, your delight will increase!

A sight of Him in anycapacity and under any form has great richness of sweetness in it. Think for a moment what is meant by a sight of, "His cheeks. Though you may not perceive the brightness of the lightning flashes of His eyes, which are as a flame of fire. Though you may scarcely be able to imagine, at present, what will be the Glory of His Second Advent—yet if you can but see the cheeks that He gave to the smiters—if you do but know something of Him as the suffering Savior, you shall find that there is inexpressible delight in Him and, with the spouse, you will say, "His cheeks are as a bed of spices.

But, I think the saints see great loveliness in those parts of Christ which have been most despised. Just now I mentioned the cheek as one of those parts of Christ's blessed body that were exposed to special shame, as Isaiah foretold, using, by Inspiration, the very words of the Messiah in His agony—"I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting. If we could but gaze upon His face as it is in Glory, what a subject of meditation it would be to think that ever the spit of cruel mockers did run down those blessed cheeks—that infinite loveliness was insulted with inconceivable contempt—the holy face of the Incarnate Son of God distained with the accursed spit of brutal men!

Can you really believe it possible that it should have been so? Yes, you know that it was so, yet, is it not sad to think that His dear face, which is as the sun shining in his strength, which is, indeed, the very Heaven of heavens, the light of the Temple of God above—is it not sad to think that His face should have been spit upon for your sake and because of your sin and your iniquity?

Alas, that each of us had a part in that shameful deed—. Who with spittle vile Profaned Your sacred brow? Or whose unpitying scourge has made Your precious blood to flow? Oh, spare and pardon me, my Lord,. O glorious love, that He should be willing, even, to stoop to this terrible depth of ignominy that He might lift us up to dwell with Him on high! So, I say again, every part of Christ is lovely, but that which has been most despised and most subjected to suffering and shame for us is the peculiar subject of our delightful contemplation.

And next, my Brothers and Sisters, those parts of Christ in which we do not immediately see any special office or use are, nevertheless, peculiarly lovely to the saints. I can gaze by faith on the brow of Him who plans for me and admire His infinite wisdom. I can think of the eyes of Him who looks in love upon me and bless Him for His care. I can praise the lips that speak for me in Heaven and that speak to me upon earth—and I can bless the matchless eloquence that never ceases to plead for me and with me. But as for the cheeks of Christ, what do they do for me?

What peculiar function have they to perform? I fear that we are all too apt to ask concerning Christ, "How is this to work for our advantage and how is that to turn out for our profit? If there is an abstruse doctrine, as we think it, that does not appear to have a practical outlook, are we, therefore, never to speak of it?

If we cannot see that we derive comfort, or profit, or sanctification from some teaching which may be high, mysterious, sublime, so that we do not see whereunto it tends, yet, Beloved, are we to refuse to think of it? Until the question, "Cui bono? Do you care only for the lips that speak to you? Have you no love for the cheeks that are silent? Do you care for nothing but for the eyes that are watching over you? If there comes to you nothing from those cheeks of your Lord, yet shall they not be to you, "as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers"?

The fact is, we are not to judge concerning Christ in any such fashion as this. On the contrary, if there is any duty which Christ has commanded, but which, instead of seeming to be easy and profitable to us, is hard and requires that we should give so much that Judas will cry out, "To what purpose is this waste? Let the cheeks that seem to have no special office to fulfill—let that part of Christ or of Christianity that seems to serve no end that we can see—be, nevertheless, precious to us! These are His cheeks, therefore are they precious to me! This duty is a command from Hm, therefore I must perform it!

And this doctrine, of which I do not see the practical end, is, nevertheless, a doctrine of His teaching—therefore I accept it with delight! But further, Beloved children of God, the followers of Christ have an intense admiration, an almost infinite love for that part of Christ by which they are able to commune with Him and, perhaps, that is one reason why His cheeks are here mentioned.

The cheek is the place of fellowship where we exchange tokens of love. What a blessing it is that Christ should have had a cheek for the lips of love to approach and to kiss! What a privilege it is that it always should be possible for a loving heart to express its affection to Christ! If He had accepted us and then put us right away from Him and said, "There, you may love Me, but you must never tell Me of it. If He had taken Himself away to the ivory palaces and had shut the door and if, when we tried to gaze up at Him, He only looked down upon us with His countenance "as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars," but never stooped to where we were, that He might commune with us, and that we might tell Him the story of our love—He would not be half as sweet to us as He is now!

Many of you know what it is to pray right into His very ear in the time of your sorrow and you also know what it is to speak right into His ear in the hour of your joy! And, sometimes, when you have been alone with Him now I am talking of the deep things of Christ, of the pearls which are not to be cast before swine —you know that He has heard what you have said to Him. You have been as certainly assured that He has been listening to your declaration as if, like Peter, you had heard Him ask, "Do you love Me?

You also rejoiced that you could go forth into the world and do something that He would see you do, something that you did not do for the sake of the Church, much less for your own sake, but which you did all for Him, just as you would give Him the kisses of love upon His own cheeks, which are, "as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers. Those of you who have been in communion with Christ know what I mean and you know that anything by which you come into close contact with Christ is very, very delightful to you.

How greatly we rejoice to think of Christ's Humanity because we feel that it brings Him very near to us! He is our Brother! He feels what we feel and through His Humanity this wondrous Man is next of kin to us! He who is truly God is also our near Kinsman, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh! How the blessed doctrine of the union of the saints with Christ delights us as we remember that "we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones"!

How the wondrous Truth of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit charms us because the same Spirit that rested upon Him also rests upon us!

Limiting God - Charles Spurgeon Audio Sermons

And the holy oil that was first poured upon Him, who is the Head, descends even to us who are as the hem of the garment that reaches to the ground! It is the same Spirit that is upon Him that is upon us and so, again, we are one with Him. Does not this Truth of God also make prayer very sweet as the means of getting to Christ? And does it not make praise very sweet as another means of communicating with Christ?

And oh, though some put the sacred Table of the Lord out of its proper place, yet to the communion of the body of Christ, it is a dear and blessed ordinance! Often do we know Him in the breaking of bread when we have not recognized Him, even though He has talked with us by the way. So, you see, the saints delight in those Truths concerning Christ which enable them to have fellowship with Him and thus they realize what the spouse meant when she said, "His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.

I have thus tried to show you that the saints see great beauty in Christ when they look upon Him. But now I have to remind you that saints also labor to tell others of the loveliness of Christ when they look upon Him. In this blessed service, however, they must, in part, labor in vain, for, as we have often sung—.

Paul has not told us much of what He heard in Paradise, though he told all he could tell after he had been caught up to the third Heaven. He "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful or possible for a man to utter. One might be content to have only a dry crust and to lie in an underground dungeon for the rest of one's life, if one might but gaze on His blessed face, for once, and hear Him say, "I have loved you with an everlasting love.

You would be so dazzled, so astonished, so amazed at the Glory of Christ that, perhaps, you might never be able to speak at all! The spouse, however, in our text tries to speak of the loveliness of Christ by comparisons. She cannot do it with one emblem—she must have two concerning His cheeks—they are "as a bed of spices," "as sweet flowers.

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Notice, in the metaphors used by the spouse, that there is a blending of sweetness and beauty—"as a bed of spices"—there is sweetness.