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Sermon Index Classics, featuring the vintage audio sermons

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from the past century.

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Welcome again to Sermon Index, and today's program

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featuring some of the best sermons preached in

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the last century.

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This program is provided by the Ministry of

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Sermon Index.

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For more messages, log on to our website,

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www.SermonIndex.com.

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Now, here's today's program.

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A sermon by Robert Murray McChain.

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The Mental Agonies of Hell.

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But I keep under my body, and bring

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it into subjection, lest, by any means, when

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I approach to others, I myself should be

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a castaway.

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First Corinthians 9, 27.

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First, observe.

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The manner in which Paul sought the kingdom

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of heaven.

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Verse 26.

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I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so

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fight I not as one that beats the

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air.

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Although Paul wrote these words, he had a

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full assurance of heavenly love.

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It was many years after his conversion on

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his way to Damascus, and I am sure

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if anyone had assurance of his conversion, it

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was the Apostle Paul.

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I am in a straight betwixt the two,

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having a desire to depart and be with

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Christ, which is far better.

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Philippians 1, 23.

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We are confident, I say, in willing rather

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to be absent from the body and to

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be present with the Lord.

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Second Corinthians 5, 28.

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And you remember that sweet saying, There is

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laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

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Second Timothy 4, 8.

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Yet for all that, Paul sought the kingdom

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of heaven as if he had been running

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a race.

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He was as anxious seeking it after his

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conversion as he had been before it.

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There are many people who, after conversion, sit

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down as it were all over.

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They think they need do no more, but

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it was not so with Paul.

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The second thing I desire you to notice

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from these words is one important effort Paul

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made.

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It was this, I keep under my body

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and bring it into subjection.

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Paul had noticed it in the Grecian games,

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and men who ran and wrestled were temperate

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in all things.

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Now Paul said, This is what I will

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do in running my race.

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There are some Christians, I fear, who will

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not do so much for an incorruptible crown

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as the Grecian racer did for a corruptible

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one.

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The children of the world are wiser in

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their generation than the children of light.

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Luke 16, 8.

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There is too much pampering of the body,

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and then Satan gets the advantage.

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There is a third truth I wish you

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to notice.

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The reason of Paul's anxiety and care was

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that by any means, when I have preached

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to others, I myself should be a castaway.

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I have told you, brethren, already, that Paul

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had a very clear sight of his conversion.

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He knew that he was in Christ, and

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that none could pluck him out of his

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hand.

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Yet for all that, Paul was afraid lest

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he should be a castaway.

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Paul knew that, though he was a minister,

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yet if he gave way to the flesh,

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if he lived after the flesh, he would

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be a castaway.

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He knew that many who seemed Christ's had

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yet fallen away.

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Judas he knew was a castaway.

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Paul felt that which I have sometimes expressed

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to you, if he lived after the flesh,

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he would die.

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Paul knew quite well that there is an

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indissoluble connection between a wicked life and hell,

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and oh, it was this that made him

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temperate in all things.

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At present I mean to speak to you

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principally on the meaning of the word castaway.

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In some previous times I have spoken to

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you on the subject of an eternal hell,

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on the worms that never die, and the

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fire that is never quenched, but there is

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one part of the subject I have passed

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over, namely, the mental agonies of hell, and

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that is a castaway.

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The word castaway is supposed to be taken

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from workers of metals.

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You know there is part of the metal

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which comes out of the furnace which is

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called droth, which is of no manner of

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use, and is cast away.

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The same word is sometimes translated reprobate.

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Those of you in this congregation who will

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be cast away will be found to be

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but droth.

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Reprobate silver shall men call them, Jeremiah 6,

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verse 30.

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I will show you first that wicked men

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will be cast away from Christ.

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It is written, Depart from me ye cursed,

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Matthew 25, 41.

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Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from

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the presence of the Lord, and from the

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glory of his power, 2 Thessalonians 1, verse

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9.

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I say that those in this congregation who

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shall be found on that day to be

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impenitent shall be cast away.

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They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from

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the presence of the Lord.

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Unconverted men in this world are often very

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near Christ.

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Christ often comes to the door of unconverted

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men.

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Behold, I stand at the door and knock,

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Revelation 3, verse 20.

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Yet he sometimes comes so near that he

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stretches out his hands.

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All day long have I stretched out my

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hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people.

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Romans 10, verse 21.

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Yea, I believe that sometimes you feel Christ

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is near.

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I believe that sometimes you feel that Christ

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is knocking on your door.

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But, O, it will be a change in

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that day.

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Christ will say, Depart from me.

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Christ will no more seek your soul.

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Christ will no more knock at your door.

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Christ will no more stretch out his hands

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all day long to you.

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You will never hear his voice more calling

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on you to turn.

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You will never get one offer more of

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Christ.

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You will be cast away.

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Christ is a way to the Father.

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But the door will then be shut against

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you forever and ever.

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And the shutting of the door will echo

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through all the caverns of hell.

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The wicked and impenitent in this congregation will

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be cast away from God.

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In one sense, the wicked will never be

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away from God because God feels heaven, earth,

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and hell.

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Job says, Hell is naked before him, and

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destruction hath no covering.

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And it is said in Proverbs 15, verse

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1, Hell and destruction are before the Lord.

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In one sense, then, the wicked will never

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be away from God.

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It was he that kindled hell.

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The breath of the Lord like a stream

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of brimstone doth kindle it, Isaiah 10, 33.

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But still it is true, you will be

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cast away from God.

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You will be cast away from the relative

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enjoyments of God.

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Man's chief end is to glorify God and

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to enjoy him forever.

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God says to believers, I will be their

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God and they shall be my people, 2

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Corinthians 6, 16.

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He said to Abraham, I am thy shield

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and thy exceeding great reward, Genesis 15, 1.

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Asaph sings, God is the strength of my

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heart and my portion forever, Psalm 73, 26.

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Ah, this is a portion of believers.

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We can look up to heaven and say,

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This God is our God forever and ever.

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Psalm 48, 14.

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God said to the Levites, Thou shalt have

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no inheritance among them.

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I am thy inheritance, Numbers 18, 20.

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But that will not be the case with

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those in this congregation who will be cast

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away.

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You will be cast away from the fruition

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of God.

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The attributes of God will minister no joy

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to you.

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It is true, you cannot get far enough

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away from God now.

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You cannot bear to be left alone with

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God for five minutes.

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But oh, it will be hell for all

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that to be separated from him.

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It will be the hell of hells to

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be separated from God.

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You will not only be cast away from

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God, but from the favor of God.

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It is said, In thy favor is life.

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Ah, child of God, say, what would you

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sell this favor of God for?

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Ah, the favor of God can lighten up

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the pale cheek of the dying saint with

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terrific brightness and can make him rejoice even

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on the scaffold and the stake.

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But sinner, you will be cast away from

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the favor of God.

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God will send you nothing but the black

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cloud of his frown forever and ever.

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And you will be cast away from the

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blessing of God.

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God makes everything blessed to us.

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Our friends are blessed to us.

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Our food and our raiment are blessed by

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him.

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But he can make these things minister no

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blessedness, even though we be in possession of

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them.

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And this will be the case with those

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of you who will be cast away.

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God will take away all blessedness from you.

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I come to show you, brethren, that the

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wicked will be cast away by the Spirit.

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It is the Spirit that is the author

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of joy in the unconverted, and it is

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he that keeps them from sin.

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There are three ways by which God the

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Spirit keeps wicked men from sin.

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He does so by ordinances.

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He makes them a band on their wickedness.

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Family worship is a great band on the

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wicked.

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The ordinance of the preached word is a

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great means of keeping men from open acts

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of wickedness.

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You have the terror of the law and

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the sweet winning invitations of the gospel to

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keep you from sin, though they may not

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save you.

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And again, brethren, the Spirit works very much

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through providence.

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You may notice that a wicked man would

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go further into sin were he not restrained

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by providence.

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God brings poverty so that he is not

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able to go into those expensive vices that

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he would otherwise do.

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And God lays sickness on him or on

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his child, which keeps him from sin.

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Now these things are all owing to the

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restrained grace of God.

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There is a third way, that is, by

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convictions.

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I believe there are none here who have

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not had some convictions of sin.

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Now God makes use of these convictions in

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order to restrain you.

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He keeps you back from going into those

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fearful debaucheries into which you would otherwise fall.

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But, O brethren, do you remember the scripture,

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My spirit shall not always strive with man,

276
00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:45,760
Genesis 6, verse 3.

277
00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:47,960
He is striving with you now, but there

278
00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:49,580
is a time coming when he will no

279
00:10:49,580 --> 00:10:50,820
more strive with you.

280
00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:52,960
It may not be during your life, yet

281
00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:54,720
it will be immediately at death.

282
00:10:55,140 --> 00:10:57,920
All my friends, you will have no ordinances

283
00:10:57,920 --> 00:10:58,780
in hell.

284
00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:01,220
There will be no family worship in hell.

285
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,160
There will be no singing praises in hell.

286
00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:06,340
There will be no preaching in hell.

287
00:11:06,340 --> 00:11:08,720
Some of you will ruin your service now,

288
00:11:08,820 --> 00:11:10,260
but you will have none in hell.

289
00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,380
And there will be no more providences in

290
00:11:12,380 --> 00:11:12,800
hell.

291
00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:15,520
There will be no sickness in hell.

292
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,340
And there will be no more convictions in

293
00:11:18,340 --> 00:11:18,780
hell.

294
00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:22,440
The Spirit will not strive with you in

295
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:22,880
hell.

296
00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:25,300
O then, brethren, what an awful state you

297
00:11:25,300 --> 00:11:27,680
will be in when the Spirit casts you

298
00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:28,240
away.

299
00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:30,700
Read the first chapter of Romans and see

300
00:11:30,700 --> 00:11:32,520
what a man becomes when God the Spirit

301
00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:33,360
gives him over.

302
00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,940
Think what your families would become if the

303
00:11:35,940 --> 00:11:37,440
Spirit were to give them over.

304
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:39,440
What a town this would be if the

305
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:40,620
Spirit were to give it over.

306
00:11:40,980 --> 00:11:43,340
What murders, wickedness, and so on would you

307
00:11:43,340 --> 00:11:44,780
hear of before tomorrow?

308
00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,620
I know of a godly man in London

309
00:11:47,620 --> 00:11:50,660
who, every morning, thanks God for restraining the

310
00:11:50,660 --> 00:11:50,920
wicked.

311
00:11:51,420 --> 00:11:53,340
And often at the breakfast table I have

312
00:11:53,340 --> 00:11:55,520
heard him say, Where would we have been

313
00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,720
this morning if God had not restrained the

314
00:11:57,720 --> 00:11:57,940
wicked?

315
00:11:57,940 --> 00:12:00,160
But, O, when you will go away from

316
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:01,860
this world, the Spirit will give you over

317
00:12:01,860 --> 00:12:03,900
to your own heart's lusts.

318
00:12:04,020 --> 00:12:05,700
Then you will blaspheme God.

319
00:12:05,980 --> 00:12:07,960
Then you will have no more any fear

320
00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:09,540
of losing your character.

321
00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:11,380
And, O, that will be misery.

322
00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:13,620
It is an evil thing and a bitter

323
00:12:13,620 --> 00:12:14,820
to sin against God.

324
00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,000
Jeremiah 2.19 It is not only evil,

325
00:12:18,220 --> 00:12:18,880
but bitter.

326
00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:21,200
The way of transgressors is hard.

327
00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,280
Proverbs 13.15 You say stolen waters are

328
00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,760
sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

329
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,160
Proverbs 9.17 But you will find out

330
00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:32,980
that sin is the hardest master.

331
00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:34,980
It is an evil thing and a bitter.

332
00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,060
And you will find that the very sin

333
00:12:37,060 --> 00:12:39,220
you wore beneath your tongue now is a

334
00:12:39,220 --> 00:12:41,440
sweet morsel, will yet be your curse.

335
00:12:41,740 --> 00:12:44,000
The lust of drink and passion will rage

336
00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:45,600
within you, and that forever.

337
00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,120
All your lusts that are now pent up

338
00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,900
in your little bosom will burst out like

339
00:12:50,900 --> 00:12:53,040
a volcano, and there will be nothing to

340
00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:53,920
subdue them.

341
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:56,300
Were there no lake of fire, that would

342
00:12:56,300 --> 00:12:57,320
be hell enough.

343
00:12:57,980 --> 00:13:00,280
To be a castaway is to be cast

344
00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,760
away from all God's holy creatures.

345
00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:05,160
Now the state of wicked men is awful,

346
00:13:05,380 --> 00:13:07,800
but there are some pleasant ingredients in the

347
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:08,100
cup.

348
00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,260
All God's holy creatures are anxious about you.

349
00:13:11,540 --> 00:13:13,400
The angels are anxious about you.

350
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,260
If they are present here, it is to

351
00:13:15,260 --> 00:13:17,260
watch if a tear fall from your eye

352
00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:19,080
or a prayer falter on your lips.

353
00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,800
And all regaining men take an interest in

354
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:22,140
you.

355
00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:24,280
We know that we were once as you

356
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:24,640
are.

357
00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:27,520
David says, Rivers of water run down my

358
00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,720
eyes because they keep not thy law.

359
00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,480
Psalm 119.136 And it is the same

360
00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:34,900
with God's children now.

361
00:13:35,420 --> 00:13:36,940
I believe there is not a child of

362
00:13:36,940 --> 00:13:38,740
God in this place that does not weep

363
00:13:38,740 --> 00:13:39,400
for you.

364
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,800
And my brethren, Christ has pity for men

365
00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:42,300
and women.

366
00:13:42,740 --> 00:13:45,100
And then ministers pity you and seek your

367
00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:45,660
conversion.

368
00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:48,460
But oh, how different it will be when

369
00:13:48,460 --> 00:13:49,880
the day of grace is over.

370
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,340
You will be cast away by the angels.

371
00:13:52,460 --> 00:13:53,860
They will pity you no more.

372
00:13:54,180 --> 00:13:55,720
They will know that the number of the

373
00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:56,660
elect is sealed.

374
00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:58,860
The redeemed will no more pity you.

375
00:13:58,980 --> 00:14:00,880
They will see you enter into the eternal

376
00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:01,480
fire.

377
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,460
And they will not put up one prayer

378
00:14:03,460 --> 00:14:04,220
for you.

379
00:14:04,580 --> 00:14:06,740
And ministers will give up pleading for you

380
00:14:06,740 --> 00:14:08,740
when Christ casts you away.

381
00:14:09,220 --> 00:14:10,460
We cannot hold you.

382
00:14:10,780 --> 00:14:12,880
When he casts you away, you will not

383
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:14,660
have our invitation anymore.

384
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,600
Alas, brethren, I believe that even the devil

385
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:18,880
will cast you away.

386
00:14:19,420 --> 00:14:21,000
Ah, it is true, he gives you now

387
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,020
many a sweet word.

388
00:14:22,140 --> 00:14:25,120
He says, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread

389
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,080
eaten in secret is pleasant.

390
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,580
But oh, then the devil himself will not

391
00:14:29,580 --> 00:14:30,600
bear your company.

392
00:14:31,020 --> 00:14:32,800
You will be cast away even by your

393
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:33,200
friends.

394
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,300
If you are beside them in hell, they

395
00:14:35,300 --> 00:14:36,740
will cast you from them.

396
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,060
Oh, none in heaven or hell will pity

397
00:14:39,060 --> 00:14:39,420
you.

398
00:14:39,740 --> 00:14:41,440
This is to be lost.

399
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:43,500
This is to be a cast away.

400
00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,380
I have just one word more.

401
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:48,750
It is the complete misery of the unconverted.

402
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,360
You will be cast away by yourself.

403
00:14:51,780 --> 00:14:54,260
I believe this is what suicide tries to

404
00:14:54,260 --> 00:14:55,200
do in this world.

405
00:14:55,580 --> 00:14:58,020
They try to cast themselves away from themselves.

406
00:14:58,160 --> 00:14:59,700
And therefore, it is said of the damned,

407
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,000
They will seek death, but it will flee

408
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:02,800
from them.

409
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,280
You know, dear friends, that unconverted men are

410
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,360
often very complacent in this world.

411
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,320
Your money gives you a great deal of

412
00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:09,620
pleasure.

413
00:15:09,740 --> 00:15:12,100
And your friends and acquaintances gives you pleasure.

414
00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:14,280
But oh, that will not always be the

415
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:14,680
case.

416
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:16,960
There is a day coming when every unconverted

417
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,580
man in his congregation would rid himself of

418
00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:20,760
himself if he could.

419
00:15:21,220 --> 00:15:23,020
You will then understand that the law of

420
00:15:23,020 --> 00:15:24,300
God is unalterable.

421
00:15:24,740 --> 00:15:26,640
You will then understand that God and you

422
00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:27,360
are enemies.

423
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,060
Your understanding will be a torment to you.

424
00:15:31,420 --> 00:15:33,740
You will eternally hate what God loves and

425
00:15:33,740 --> 00:15:35,560
eternally love what God hates.

426
00:15:35,940 --> 00:15:38,020
And then your conscience will be like a

427
00:15:38,020 --> 00:15:40,700
hungry lion as soon as that day God's

428
00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:43,300
vice-regent in the soul will cry out

429
00:15:43,300 --> 00:15:44,560
and will not be quiet.

430
00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:46,920
And oh, my brethren, your affections that are

431
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,100
now so pleasant to you, they will be

432
00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:49,820
your torment.

433
00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:52,300
I believe that even hell will not take

434
00:15:52,300 --> 00:15:53,940
affections out of your heart.

435
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,260
But ah, that will be your torment.

436
00:15:56,780 --> 00:15:58,840
Often you hear a wicked man say, I

437
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,200
am a good father, I love my children.

438
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:03,200
But ah, if they are in hell, it

439
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,220
will be your torment that you brought them

440
00:16:05,220 --> 00:16:05,640
there.

441
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,200
Or if they are in heaven, it will

442
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:08,880
be your torment that they will have no

443
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:09,940
pity for you.

444
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,200
And brethren, your memory that is now so

445
00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:14,180
sweet to you will be the worst of

446
00:16:14,180 --> 00:16:14,620
all.

447
00:16:14,740 --> 00:16:17,000
You will remember your sins of sin.

448
00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:19,460
You will remember your misspent Sabbath.

449
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,580
You will remember your lying lips.

450
00:16:21,740 --> 00:16:24,740
You will remember your minister's voice warning and

451
00:16:24,740 --> 00:16:26,280
intruding you to be saved.

452
00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:28,760
Memory will sting like an adder.

453
00:16:29,500 --> 00:16:32,340
Oh, brethren, I believe you will loathe yourselves.

454
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:34,540
You will try to tear that memory out

455
00:16:34,540 --> 00:16:36,340
of your bosom even if it were possible.

456
00:16:36,740 --> 00:16:39,160
Oh, you will exclaim, would that the whole

457
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,000
soul would go out of being.

458
00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:42,480
This is to be lost.

459
00:16:42,580 --> 00:16:44,640
You will be cast away by God.

460
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,020
You will be cast away by Christ.

461
00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,240
You will be cast away by the Spirit.

462
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,700
You will be cast away by all God's

463
00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:52,460
holy creatures.

464
00:16:52,940 --> 00:16:54,940
You will be cast away by devils.

465
00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,340
You will be cast away by yourself.

466
00:16:58,260 --> 00:17:00,180
And now, my brethren, I would apply this

467
00:17:00,180 --> 00:17:01,000
to yourselves.

468
00:17:01,420 --> 00:17:03,560
Those of you who are godly, learn to

469
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,660
be as earnest as Paul was to keep

470
00:17:05,660 --> 00:17:08,400
under the body and bring it into subjection.

471
00:17:08,819 --> 00:17:11,099
And those of you who are ungodly, those

472
00:17:11,099 --> 00:17:13,040
of you who are ungodly men under my

473
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,819
ministry, oh, if I had a voice that

474
00:17:15,819 --> 00:17:17,920
could reach your inmost soul, I would use

475
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:18,160
it.

476
00:17:18,260 --> 00:17:20,839
You think I am exaggerating this, but ah,

477
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,060
you little know who can endure the power

478
00:17:24,060 --> 00:17:25,300
of thy wrath.

479
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:27,820
I have not mentioned the furnace of fire.

480
00:17:28,100 --> 00:17:30,520
I have not spoken of God's raining snares,

481
00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:33,160
fire and brimstone on the wicked, but ah,

482
00:17:33,340 --> 00:17:36,040
if there were no bodily agonies, what will

483
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,040
the mental agonies of hell be?

484
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:40,460
But oh, whence these two meet, what will

485
00:17:40,460 --> 00:17:40,900
it be?

486
00:17:41,260 --> 00:17:42,660
Oh, what will it be to have all

487
00:17:42,660 --> 00:17:44,400
the wrath of God poured out on your

488
00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,800
soul and body and yet never to annihilate

489
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:47,240
you?

490
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:48,980
Ah, then you will know what it is

491
00:17:48,980 --> 00:17:50,220
to be a castaway.

492
00:17:50,660 --> 00:17:52,380
And if you would not be a castaway,

493
00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:54,480
cleave close to God.

494
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,960
Finally, dear brothers and sisters, learn from this

495
00:17:57,960 --> 00:17:59,560
the love of Christ to you and me.

496
00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:01,800
He bore all that is contained in being

497
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,120
a castaway in order that we might be

498
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:04,720
saved.

499
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,540
Ah, poor sinner, Jesus is willing to rescue

500
00:18:07,540 --> 00:18:07,980
you.

501
00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:09,360
Many of you are old.

502
00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:11,200
Many of you will die before the year

503
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:11,760
is done.

504
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,480
Come then to Christ, for oh, soon it

505
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:15,460
will be too late.

506
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,240
Soon the door will be shut forever.

507
00:18:18,900 --> 00:18:20,800
May God bless His own word.

508
00:18:21,140 --> 00:18:21,520
Amen.

509
00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,420
Robert Murray McChain preached on the Sabbath forenoon

510
00:18:26,420 --> 00:18:31,380
the 15th of January, 1842, narrated by Tom

511
00:18:31,380 --> 00:18:31,920
Sullivan.

512
00:18:34,170 --> 00:18:35,090
The soul winner.

513
00:18:35,610 --> 00:18:37,290
What is it to win a soul?

514
00:18:38,090 --> 00:18:40,690
I propose, dear brethren, if God shall enable

515
00:18:40,690 --> 00:18:42,370
me to give you a short course of

516
00:18:42,370 --> 00:18:45,170
lectures under the general head of the soul

517
00:18:45,170 --> 00:18:45,530
winner.

518
00:18:46,150 --> 00:18:48,390
Soul winning is the chief business of the

519
00:18:48,390 --> 00:18:49,450
Christian minister.

520
00:18:49,930 --> 00:18:51,970
Indeed, it should be the main pursuit of

521
00:18:51,970 --> 00:18:52,910
every true believer.

522
00:18:53,530 --> 00:18:56,090
We should each say with Simon Peter I

523
00:18:56,090 --> 00:18:58,930
go a fishing, and with Paul our aim

524
00:18:58,930 --> 00:19:01,530
should be that I might by all means

525
00:19:01,530 --> 00:19:02,390
say some.

526
00:19:02,930 --> 00:19:05,890
We shall commence our discourses upon this subject

527
00:19:05,890 --> 00:19:08,670
by considering the question what is it to

528
00:19:08,670 --> 00:19:09,350
win a soul?

529
00:19:10,210 --> 00:19:13,090
This may be instructively answered by describing what

530
00:19:13,090 --> 00:19:13,870
it is not.

531
00:19:14,070 --> 00:19:15,690
We do not regard it to be soul

532
00:19:15,690 --> 00:19:18,630
winning to steal members out of churches already

533
00:19:18,630 --> 00:19:22,430
established and train them to utter our particular

534
00:19:22,430 --> 00:19:23,390
shibboleth.

535
00:19:23,770 --> 00:19:26,390
We aim rather at bringing souls to Christ

536
00:19:26,390 --> 00:19:29,190
than at making conflicts to our synagogue.

537
00:19:29,810 --> 00:19:32,190
There are chief stealers abroad concerning whom I

538
00:19:32,190 --> 00:19:33,970
will say nothing except that they are not

539
00:19:33,970 --> 00:19:36,390
brethren, or at least they do not act

540
00:19:36,390 --> 00:19:37,670
in a brotherly fashion.

541
00:19:38,290 --> 00:19:40,310
To their own master they must stand or

542
00:19:40,310 --> 00:19:40,670
fall.

543
00:19:41,210 --> 00:19:43,430
We count it utter meanness to build up

544
00:19:43,430 --> 00:19:45,630
our own houses with the ruins of our

545
00:19:45,630 --> 00:19:46,730
neighbors' mansions.

546
00:19:47,210 --> 00:19:50,070
We infinitely prefer to quarry for ourselves.

547
00:19:50,390 --> 00:19:52,310
I hope we all sympathize in the large

548
00:19:52,310 --> 00:19:54,670
-hearted spirit of Dr. Chalmers who, when it

549
00:19:54,670 --> 00:19:56,370
was said that such and such an effort

550
00:19:56,370 --> 00:19:59,330
would not be beneficial to the special interests

551
00:19:59,330 --> 00:20:02,170
of the free church of Scotland, although it

552
00:20:02,170 --> 00:20:04,450
might promote the general religion of the land,

553
00:20:04,570 --> 00:20:07,190
said, What is a free church compared with

554
00:20:07,190 --> 00:20:09,170
the Christian good of the people of Scotland?

555
00:20:09,970 --> 00:20:11,830
What indeed is any church or what are

556
00:20:11,830 --> 00:20:14,530
all the churches put together as mere organizations

557
00:20:14,530 --> 00:20:16,850
as they stand in conflict with the moral

558
00:20:16,850 --> 00:20:19,790
and spiritual advantage of the nation if they

559
00:20:19,790 --> 00:20:21,210
impede the kingdom of Christ?

560
00:20:21,210 --> 00:20:24,110
It is because God blesses men through the

561
00:20:24,110 --> 00:20:26,550
churches that we desire to see them prosper,

562
00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:28,650
and not merely for the sake of the

563
00:20:28,650 --> 00:20:29,710
churches themselves.

564
00:20:30,290 --> 00:20:32,570
There is such a thing as selfishness in

565
00:20:32,570 --> 00:20:35,550
our eagerness for the aggrandizement of our own

566
00:20:35,550 --> 00:20:38,190
party, and from this evil spirit may grace

567
00:20:38,190 --> 00:20:39,130
deliver us.

568
00:20:39,730 --> 00:20:42,170
The increase of the kingdom is more to

569
00:20:42,170 --> 00:20:44,410
be desired than the growth of a clan.

570
00:20:45,010 --> 00:20:46,570
We would do a great deal to make

571
00:20:46,570 --> 00:20:49,090
a paedo-baptist brother into a baptist, for

572
00:20:49,090 --> 00:20:50,990
we value our Lord's ordinance.

573
00:20:51,570 --> 00:20:53,630
We would labor earnestly to raise a believer

574
00:20:53,630 --> 00:20:56,390
in salvation by free will into a believer

575
00:20:56,390 --> 00:20:59,310
in salvation by grace, for we long to

576
00:20:59,310 --> 00:21:01,950
see all religious teaching built upon the solid

577
00:21:01,950 --> 00:21:04,490
rock of truth and not upon the sand

578
00:21:04,490 --> 00:21:05,430
of imagination.

579
00:21:06,010 --> 00:21:08,390
But at the same time our grand object

580
00:21:08,390 --> 00:21:11,130
is not the revision of opinions but the

581
00:21:11,130 --> 00:21:12,790
regeneration of natures.

582
00:21:13,470 --> 00:21:15,550
We would bring men to Christ and not

583
00:21:15,550 --> 00:21:18,070
to our peculiar views of Christianity.

584
00:21:18,610 --> 00:21:21,210
Our first care must be that the sheep

585
00:21:21,210 --> 00:21:23,190
should be gathered to the Great Shepherd.

586
00:21:23,670 --> 00:21:26,130
There will be time enough afterwards to secure

587
00:21:26,130 --> 00:21:29,170
them for our various folds, to make proselytes

588
00:21:29,890 --> 00:21:32,970
as a suitable labor for Pharisees, to beget

589
00:21:32,970 --> 00:21:35,090
men into God as the honorable aim of

590
00:21:35,090 --> 00:21:36,490
ministers of Christ.

591
00:21:37,770 --> 00:21:39,870
In the next place we do not consider

592
00:21:39,870 --> 00:21:42,890
soul winning to be accomplished by hurriedly inscribing

593
00:21:42,890 --> 00:21:45,670
more names upon our church wall in order

594
00:21:45,670 --> 00:21:47,510
to show a good increase at the end

595
00:21:47,510 --> 00:21:48,190
of the year.

596
00:21:48,690 --> 00:21:50,690
This is easily done if there are brethren

597
00:21:50,690 --> 00:21:53,170
who use great pains, not to say arts,

598
00:21:53,270 --> 00:21:54,210
to effect it.

599
00:21:54,650 --> 00:21:56,670
But if it be regarded as the alpha

600
00:21:56,670 --> 00:21:59,550
and omega of a minister's efforts the result

601
00:21:59,550 --> 00:22:00,590
will be deplorable.

602
00:22:01,270 --> 00:22:03,770
By all means let us bring true converts

603
00:22:03,770 --> 00:22:05,870
into the church for it is a part

604
00:22:05,870 --> 00:22:07,750
of our work to teach them to observe

605
00:22:07,750 --> 00:22:10,490
all things whatsoever Christ has commanded them.

606
00:22:11,070 --> 00:22:12,590
But still this is to be done to

607
00:22:12,590 --> 00:22:15,550
disciples and not to mere professors, and if

608
00:22:15,550 --> 00:22:17,390
care be not used we may do more

609
00:22:17,390 --> 00:22:18,950
harm than good at this point.

610
00:22:19,310 --> 00:22:21,930
To introduce unconverted persons to the church is

611
00:22:21,930 --> 00:22:24,550
to weaken and degrade it, and therefore an

612
00:22:24,550 --> 00:22:26,650
apparent gain may be a real loss.

613
00:22:27,270 --> 00:22:30,110
I am not among those who decry statistics,

614
00:22:30,210 --> 00:22:32,230
nor do I consider that they are productive

615
00:22:32,230 --> 00:22:34,370
of all manner of evil, for they do

616
00:22:34,370 --> 00:22:36,830
much good if they are accurate, and if

617
00:22:36,830 --> 00:22:38,070
men use them lawfully.

618
00:22:38,790 --> 00:22:40,250
It is a good thing for people to

619
00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:42,810
see the nakedness of the land through statistics

620
00:22:42,810 --> 00:22:45,130
of decrees that they may be driven on

621
00:22:45,130 --> 00:22:48,050
their knees before the Lord to seek prosperity.

622
00:22:48,830 --> 00:22:50,450
And on the other hand it is by

623
00:22:50,450 --> 00:22:52,310
no means an evil thing for workers to

624
00:22:52,310 --> 00:22:54,850
be encouraged by having some account of results

625
00:22:54,850 --> 00:22:56,110
set before them.

626
00:22:56,470 --> 00:22:58,610
I should be very sorry if the practice

627
00:22:58,610 --> 00:23:01,250
of adding up and deducting and giving in

628
00:23:01,250 --> 00:23:03,570
the net result were to be abandoned for

629
00:23:03,570 --> 00:23:05,530
it must be right to know our numerical

630
00:23:05,530 --> 00:23:06,190
condition.

631
00:23:06,730 --> 00:23:08,550
It has been noticed that those who object

632
00:23:08,550 --> 00:23:11,650
to the process are often brethren whose unsatisfactory

633
00:23:11,650 --> 00:23:14,150
reports should somewhat humiliate them.

634
00:23:14,630 --> 00:23:16,330
This is not always so, but it is

635
00:23:16,330 --> 00:23:17,850
suspiciously frequent.

636
00:23:18,610 --> 00:23:20,210
I heard of a report of a church

637
00:23:20,210 --> 00:23:22,050
the other day in which the minister, who

638
00:23:22,050 --> 00:23:24,070
is well known to have reduced his congregation

639
00:23:24,070 --> 00:23:28,030
to nothing, somewhat cleverly wrote, Our church is

640
00:23:28,030 --> 00:23:28,750
looking up.

641
00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:30,590
When he was questioned with regard to this

642
00:23:30,590 --> 00:23:33,570
statement he replied, Everybody knows that the church

643
00:23:33,570 --> 00:23:35,390
is on its back and it cannot do

644
00:23:35,390 --> 00:23:36,970
anything else but look up.

645
00:23:37,390 --> 00:23:39,430
When churches are looking up in that way

646
00:23:39,430 --> 00:23:42,630
their pastors generally say that statistics are very

647
00:23:42,630 --> 00:23:45,470
delusive things and that you cannot tabulate the

648
00:23:45,470 --> 00:23:47,790
work of the Spirit and calculate the prosperity

649
00:23:47,790 --> 00:23:49,230
of a church by figures.

650
00:23:49,690 --> 00:23:51,830
The fact is you can reckon very correctly

651
00:23:51,830 --> 00:23:53,870
if the figures are honest and if all

652
00:23:53,870 --> 00:23:56,990
circumstances are taken into consideration if there is

653
00:23:56,990 --> 00:23:57,870
no increase.

654
00:23:57,870 --> 00:24:01,510
You may calculate with considerable accuracy that there

655
00:24:01,510 --> 00:24:03,650
is not much being done and if there

656
00:24:03,650 --> 00:24:07,070
is clear decrease among a growing population you

657
00:24:07,070 --> 00:24:08,910
may reckon that the prayers of the people

658
00:24:08,910 --> 00:24:11,370
and the preaching of the minister are not

659
00:24:11,370 --> 00:24:13,290
of the most powerful kind.

660
00:24:13,850 --> 00:24:16,350
But still, all hurry to get members into

661
00:24:16,350 --> 00:24:19,350
the church is most mischievous both to the

662
00:24:19,350 --> 00:24:21,350
church and to the supposed converts.

663
00:24:21,950 --> 00:24:24,210
I remember very well several young men who

664
00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:26,810
were of a good moral character and religiously

665
00:24:26,810 --> 00:24:29,670
hopeful but instead of searching their hearts and

666
00:24:29,670 --> 00:24:32,030
aiming at their real conversion the pastor never

667
00:24:32,030 --> 00:24:33,950
gave them any rest until he had persuaded

668
00:24:33,950 --> 00:24:35,270
them to make a profession.

669
00:24:36,090 --> 00:24:37,530
He thought that they would be under more

670
00:24:37,530 --> 00:24:40,270
bonds to holy things if they professed religion

671
00:24:40,270 --> 00:24:42,790
and he felt quite safe in pressing them

672
00:24:42,790 --> 00:24:44,150
for they were so hopeful.

673
00:24:46,010 --> 00:24:48,790
He imagined that to discourage them by vigilant

674
00:24:48,790 --> 00:24:51,930
examination might drive them away and so to

675
00:24:51,930 --> 00:24:54,130
secure them he made them hypocrites.

676
00:24:54,750 --> 00:24:56,690
These young men are at the present time

677
00:24:56,690 --> 00:24:58,530
much further off from the church of God

678
00:24:58,530 --> 00:24:59,870
than they would have been if they had

679
00:24:59,870 --> 00:25:02,090
been affronted by being kept in their proper

680
00:25:02,090 --> 00:25:04,770
places and warned that they were not converted

681
00:25:04,770 --> 00:25:05,570
to God.

682
00:25:05,890 --> 00:25:07,910
It is a serious injury to a person

683
00:25:07,910 --> 00:25:09,670
to receive him into the number of the

684
00:25:09,670 --> 00:25:11,910
faithful unless there is good reason to believe

685
00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:13,530
that he is really regenerate.

686
00:25:13,890 --> 00:25:15,490
I am sure it is so for I

687
00:25:15,490 --> 00:25:17,250
speak after careful observation.

688
00:25:17,910 --> 00:25:19,790
Some of the most glaring sinners known to

689
00:25:19,790 --> 00:25:21,850
me were once members of a church and

690
00:25:21,850 --> 00:25:23,510
were, as I believe, led to make a

691
00:25:23,510 --> 00:25:26,990
profession by undue pressure well meant but ill

692
00:25:26,990 --> 00:25:27,650
judged.

693
00:25:28,310 --> 00:25:30,850
Do not therefore consider that soul winning is

694
00:25:30,850 --> 00:25:33,290
or can be secured by the multiplication of

695
00:25:33,290 --> 00:25:35,830
baptisms and the swelling of the size of

696
00:25:35,830 --> 00:25:39,070
your church what may these dispatches from the

697
00:25:39,070 --> 00:25:39,510
battlefield.

698
00:25:40,310 --> 00:25:43,510
Last night fourteen souls were under conviction fifteen

699
00:25:43,510 --> 00:25:46,670
were justified and eight received full sanctification.

700
00:25:46,670 --> 00:25:49,870
I am worried of this public bragging this

701
00:25:49,870 --> 00:25:53,830
counting of unhatched chickens this exhibition of doubtful

702
00:25:53,830 --> 00:25:54,490
spoils.

703
00:25:55,390 --> 00:25:58,070
Lay aside such numberings of the people such

704
00:25:58,070 --> 00:26:00,790
idle pretense of certifying in half a minute

705
00:26:00,790 --> 00:26:02,670
that which will need the testing of a

706
00:26:02,670 --> 00:26:03,090
lifetime.

707
00:26:03,790 --> 00:26:05,810
Hope for the best that in your highest

708
00:26:05,810 --> 00:26:07,570
excitements be reasonable.

709
00:26:08,410 --> 00:26:10,630
Inquiry rooms are all very well but if

710
00:26:10,630 --> 00:26:13,070
they lead to idle boastings they will grieve

711
00:26:13,070 --> 00:26:15,910
the Holy Spirit and work abounding evil.

712
00:26:17,230 --> 00:26:19,350
Nor is it soul winning dear friends, merely

713
00:26:19,350 --> 00:26:20,950
to create excitement.

714
00:26:21,190 --> 00:26:23,490
Excitement will accompany every great movement.

715
00:26:23,690 --> 00:26:26,050
We might justly question whether the movement is

716
00:26:26,050 --> 00:26:28,610
earnest and powerful if it was quiet and

717
00:26:28,610 --> 00:26:31,010
serene as a drawing room Bible reading.

718
00:26:31,650 --> 00:26:34,170
You cannot very well blast great rocks without

719
00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:36,950
the sound of explosions nor fight a battle

720
00:26:36,950 --> 00:26:39,150
and keep everybody as quiet as a mouse.

721
00:26:39,550 --> 00:26:41,390
On a dry day a carriage is not

722
00:26:41,390 --> 00:26:43,370
moving much along the road unless there is

723
00:26:43,370 --> 00:26:44,730
some noise and dust.

724
00:26:45,150 --> 00:26:47,650
Friction and stir are the natural result of

725
00:26:47,650 --> 00:26:48,810
force and motion.

726
00:26:49,250 --> 00:26:51,010
So when the Spirit of God is abroad

727
00:26:51,010 --> 00:26:53,390
and men's minds are stirred, there must and

728
00:26:53,390 --> 00:26:56,230
will be certain visible signs of the movement,

729
00:26:56,690 --> 00:26:59,350
although these must never be confounded with the

730
00:26:59,350 --> 00:27:00,310
movement itself.

731
00:27:00,770 --> 00:27:02,970
If people imagine that to make a dust

732
00:27:02,970 --> 00:27:04,790
is the object aimed at by the rolling

733
00:27:04,790 --> 00:27:06,850
of a carriage they can take a broom

734
00:27:06,850 --> 00:27:09,150
and very soon raise as much dust as

735
00:27:09,150 --> 00:27:11,770
fifty coaches but they will be committing a

736
00:27:11,770 --> 00:27:14,070
nuisance rather than conferring a benefit.

737
00:27:14,650 --> 00:27:17,670
Excitement is as incidental as the dust, but

738
00:27:17,670 --> 00:27:19,190
it is not for one moment to be

739
00:27:19,190 --> 00:27:20,150
aimed at.

740
00:27:20,510 --> 00:27:22,350
When the woman swept her house she did

741
00:27:22,350 --> 00:27:23,910
it to find her money and not for

742
00:27:23,910 --> 00:27:25,630
the sake of raising a cloud.

743
00:27:26,290 --> 00:27:28,470
Do not aim at sensation and effect.

744
00:27:28,690 --> 00:27:31,630
Flowing tears and strained eyes, sobs and outcries,

745
00:27:31,770 --> 00:27:34,450
crowded after meetings, and all kinds of confusions

746
00:27:34,450 --> 00:27:36,670
may occur and may be borne with as

747
00:27:36,670 --> 00:27:38,950
concomitments of genuine feeling.

748
00:27:39,630 --> 00:27:41,570
But pray do not plan their production.

749
00:27:42,250 --> 00:27:44,390
It very often happens that the converse that

750
00:27:44,390 --> 00:27:46,770
are born in excitement die when the excitement

751
00:27:46,770 --> 00:27:47,450
is over.

752
00:27:47,970 --> 00:27:49,870
They are like certain insects which are the

753
00:27:49,870 --> 00:27:52,370
product of an exceedingly warm day and die

754
00:27:52,370 --> 00:27:53,770
when the sun goes down.

755
00:27:54,450 --> 00:27:57,730
Certain converse live like salamanders in the fire,

756
00:27:57,930 --> 00:27:59,970
but they expire at a reasonable temperature.

757
00:28:00,650 --> 00:28:02,810
I delight not in a religion which needs

758
00:28:02,810 --> 00:28:04,350
or creates a hot head.

759
00:28:04,470 --> 00:28:07,350
Give me the godliness which flourishes upon Calvary

760
00:28:07,350 --> 00:28:09,310
rather than upon Vesuvius.

761
00:28:09,890 --> 00:28:12,490
The utmost zeal for Christ is consistent with

762
00:28:12,490 --> 00:28:13,830
common sense and reason.

763
00:28:14,370 --> 00:28:17,370
Raving, ranting, and fanaticism are products of another

764
00:28:17,370 --> 00:28:19,470
zeal which is not according to knowledge.

765
00:28:20,070 --> 00:28:21,990
We would prepare men for the chamber of

766
00:28:21,990 --> 00:28:24,210
communion and not for the padded room at

767
00:28:24,210 --> 00:28:24,770
bedlam.

768
00:28:25,410 --> 00:28:27,290
No one is more sorry than I that

769
00:28:27,290 --> 00:28:29,330
such a caution as this should be needful,

770
00:28:29,510 --> 00:28:32,410
but remembering the vagaries of certain wild revivalists

771
00:28:33,010 --> 00:28:35,710
I cannot say less and I might say

772
00:28:35,710 --> 00:28:36,830
a great deal more.

773
00:28:37,690 --> 00:28:39,290
What is the real winning of a soul

774
00:28:39,290 --> 00:28:40,130
for God?

775
00:28:40,450 --> 00:28:42,850
So far as this is done by instrumentality,

776
00:28:43,090 --> 00:28:44,990
what are the processes by which a soul

777
00:28:44,990 --> 00:28:46,830
is led to God and to salvation?

778
00:28:47,470 --> 00:28:49,730
I take it that one of its main

779
00:28:49,730 --> 00:28:52,830
operations consists in instructing a man that he

780
00:28:52,830 --> 00:28:54,270
may know the truth of God.

781
00:28:54,850 --> 00:28:57,030
Instruction by the gospel is the commencement of

782
00:28:57,030 --> 00:28:59,110
a real work upon men's minds.

783
00:28:59,670 --> 00:29:02,730
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing

784
00:29:02,730 --> 00:29:04,410
them in the name of the Father, and

785
00:29:04,410 --> 00:29:06,350
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,

786
00:29:06,770 --> 00:29:09,490
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I

787
00:29:09,490 --> 00:29:10,450
have commanded you.

788
00:29:10,750 --> 00:29:12,910
And lo, I am with you always, even

789
00:29:12,910 --> 00:29:14,330
unto the end of the world.

790
00:29:15,250 --> 00:29:18,230
Teaching begins the work and crowns it too.

791
00:29:19,650 --> 00:29:22,890
The gospel according to Isaiah is, Incline your

792
00:29:22,890 --> 00:29:25,190
ear and come unto me, here in your

793
00:29:25,190 --> 00:29:26,430
soul shall live.

794
00:29:26,790 --> 00:29:28,830
It is ours, then, to give men something

795
00:29:28,830 --> 00:29:32,310
worth their hearing, in fact, to instruct them.

796
00:29:32,670 --> 00:29:34,850
We are sent to evangelize or to preach

797
00:29:34,850 --> 00:29:37,250
the gospel to every creature, and that is

798
00:29:37,250 --> 00:29:39,190
not done unless we teach them the great

799
00:29:39,190 --> 00:29:40,410
truths of revelation.

800
00:29:41,150 --> 00:29:42,650
The gospel is good news.

801
00:29:42,810 --> 00:29:44,850
To listen to some preachers you would imagine

802
00:29:44,850 --> 00:29:46,970
that the gospel was a pinch of sacred

803
00:29:46,970 --> 00:29:49,870
snuff to make them wake up, or a

804
00:29:49,870 --> 00:29:52,890
bottle of ardent spirits to excite their brains.

805
00:29:53,230 --> 00:29:54,710
It is nothing of the kind.

806
00:29:55,010 --> 00:29:55,810
It is news.

807
00:29:55,810 --> 00:29:58,010
There is information in it.

808
00:29:58,390 --> 00:30:00,870
There is instruction in it concerning matters which

809
00:30:00,870 --> 00:30:03,470
men need to know and statements in it

810
00:30:03,470 --> 00:30:05,730
calculated to bless those who hear it.

811
00:30:06,130 --> 00:30:08,750
It is not a magical incantation or a

812
00:30:08,750 --> 00:30:11,950
charm whose force consists in the collection of

813
00:30:11,950 --> 00:30:12,470
sounds.

814
00:30:12,910 --> 00:30:15,110
It is a revelation of facts and truths

815
00:30:15,110 --> 00:30:17,010
which require knowledge and belief.

816
00:30:17,490 --> 00:30:19,750
The gospel is a reasonable system and it

817
00:30:19,750 --> 00:30:21,470
appeals to men's understanding.

818
00:30:22,230 --> 00:30:24,150
It is a matter of thought and consideration

819
00:30:24,150 --> 00:30:26,710
and it appeals to the conscience and the

820
00:30:26,710 --> 00:30:28,030
reflecting powers.

821
00:30:28,590 --> 00:30:30,850
If we do not teach men something we

822
00:30:30,850 --> 00:30:32,210
may shout, Believe!

823
00:30:32,690 --> 00:30:33,070
Believe!

824
00:30:33,570 --> 00:30:33,870
Believe!

825
00:30:34,490 --> 00:30:35,830
But what are they to believe?

826
00:30:36,290 --> 00:30:40,150
Each exhortation requires a corresponding instruction or it

827
00:30:40,150 --> 00:30:41,090
will mean nothing.

828
00:30:41,550 --> 00:30:43,310
Escape from what?

829
00:30:43,670 --> 00:30:45,930
This requires for its answer the doctrine of

830
00:30:45,930 --> 00:30:47,150
the punishment of sin.

831
00:30:47,690 --> 00:30:49,350
Fly, but wither.

832
00:30:49,350 --> 00:30:52,630
Then you must preach Christ and his wounds.

833
00:30:52,750 --> 00:30:55,810
Yea, and declare doctrine of atonement by sacrifice.

834
00:30:56,550 --> 00:30:58,150
Repent of what?

835
00:30:58,530 --> 00:31:00,850
Here you must answer such questions as What

836
00:31:00,850 --> 00:31:01,410
is sin?

837
00:31:01,710 --> 00:31:03,170
What is the evil of sin?

838
00:31:03,490 --> 00:31:05,470
What are the consequences of sin?

839
00:31:06,430 --> 00:31:07,150
Be converted.

840
00:31:07,830 --> 00:31:09,290
But what is it to be converted?

841
00:31:09,750 --> 00:31:11,550
By what power can we be converted?

842
00:31:11,890 --> 00:31:12,770
What from?

843
00:31:13,010 --> 00:31:13,670
What to?

844
00:31:14,090 --> 00:31:16,490
The field of instruction is wide if men

845
00:31:16,490 --> 00:31:18,410
are to be made to know the truth

846
00:31:18,410 --> 00:31:19,370
which saves.

847
00:31:19,790 --> 00:31:21,450
Does the soul be without knowledge?

848
00:31:21,570 --> 00:31:23,810
It is not good, and it is ours

849
00:31:23,810 --> 00:31:26,150
as the Lord's instruments to make men so

850
00:31:26,150 --> 00:31:27,990
to know the truth that they may believe

851
00:31:27,990 --> 00:31:29,550
it and feel its power.

852
00:31:30,230 --> 00:31:31,790
We are not to try and save men

853
00:31:31,790 --> 00:31:33,390
in the dark, but in the power of

854
00:31:33,390 --> 00:31:35,290
the Holy Ghost we are to seek to

855
00:31:35,290 --> 00:31:37,310
turn them from darkness to light.

856
00:31:39,190 --> 00:31:41,430
Do not believe, dear friends, that when you

857
00:31:41,430 --> 00:31:45,210
go into revival meetings or special evangelistic services

858
00:31:45,210 --> 00:31:47,390
you are to leave out the doctrines of

859
00:31:47,390 --> 00:31:49,970
the gospel, for you are then to proclaim

860
00:31:49,970 --> 00:31:52,650
the doctrines of grace rather more than less.

861
00:31:53,090 --> 00:31:57,630
Teach gospel doctrines clearly, affectionately, simply, and plainly,

862
00:31:57,930 --> 00:32:00,290
and especially those truths which have a present

863
00:32:00,290 --> 00:32:03,410
and practical bearing upon man's condition and God's

864
00:32:03,410 --> 00:32:03,830
grace.

865
00:32:03,950 --> 00:32:06,350
Some enthusiasts would seem to have imbibed the

866
00:32:06,350 --> 00:32:08,450
notion that as soon as a minister addresses

867
00:32:08,450 --> 00:32:11,690
the unconverted he should deliberately contradict his usual

868
00:32:11,690 --> 00:32:14,950
doctrinal discourses because it is supposed that there

869
00:32:14,950 --> 00:32:17,010
will be no conversions if he preaches the

870
00:32:17,010 --> 00:32:18,350
whole counsel of God.

871
00:32:18,570 --> 00:32:21,130
It just comes to this, brethren, it is

872
00:32:21,130 --> 00:32:23,330
supposed that we are to conceal truth and

873
00:32:23,330 --> 00:32:25,670
utter a half-falsehood in order to save

874
00:32:25,670 --> 00:32:26,230
souls.

875
00:32:26,670 --> 00:32:28,330
We are to speak the truth in God's

876
00:32:28,330 --> 00:32:31,310
people because they will not hear anything else.

877
00:32:31,470 --> 00:32:33,610
But we are to weedle sinners into faith

878
00:32:33,610 --> 00:32:36,210
by exaggerating one part of the truth and

879
00:32:36,210 --> 00:32:38,710
hiding the rest until a more convenient season.

880
00:32:38,710 --> 00:32:41,410
This is a strange theory and yet many

881
00:32:41,410 --> 00:32:42,170
endorse it.

882
00:32:42,610 --> 00:32:44,650
According to them, we may preach the redemption

883
00:32:44,650 --> 00:32:47,790
of a chosen number to God's people but

884
00:32:47,790 --> 00:32:50,570
universal redemption must be our doctrine when we

885
00:32:50,570 --> 00:32:52,530
speak with the outside world.

886
00:32:52,930 --> 00:32:55,010
We are to tell believers that salvation is

887
00:32:55,010 --> 00:32:57,050
all of grace but sinners are to be

888
00:32:57,050 --> 00:32:58,850
spoken with as if they were to save

889
00:32:58,850 --> 00:32:59,510
themselves.

890
00:33:00,270 --> 00:33:02,450
We are to inform Christians that God the

891
00:33:02,450 --> 00:33:05,270
Holy Spirit alone can convert but when we

892
00:33:05,270 --> 00:33:07,450
talk with the unsaved the Holy Ghost is

893
00:33:07,450 --> 00:33:08,770
scarcely to be named.

894
00:33:09,150 --> 00:33:11,210
We have not so learned Christ.

895
00:33:11,790 --> 00:33:14,010
Thus others have done let them be our

896
00:33:14,010 --> 00:33:16,010
beacons and not our examples.

897
00:33:16,810 --> 00:33:18,730
He who sent us to win souls neither

898
00:33:18,730 --> 00:33:21,650
permits us to invent falsehoods or to suppress

899
00:33:21,650 --> 00:33:22,490
truth.

900
00:33:22,990 --> 00:33:25,490
His work can be done without such suspicious

901
00:33:25,490 --> 00:33:26,370
methods.

902
00:33:27,570 --> 00:33:29,850
Perhaps some of you will reply, but still

903
00:33:29,850 --> 00:33:32,150
God is blessed to have statements and wild

904
00:33:32,150 --> 00:33:32,930
assertions.

905
00:33:33,370 --> 00:33:34,790
Be not quite so sure.

906
00:33:34,790 --> 00:33:37,110
I venture to assert that God does not

907
00:33:37,110 --> 00:33:38,210
bless falsehood.

908
00:33:38,550 --> 00:33:40,350
He may bless a truth which is mixed

909
00:33:40,350 --> 00:33:43,190
up with error, but much more a blessing

910
00:33:43,190 --> 00:33:44,890
would have come if the preaching had been

911
00:33:44,890 --> 00:33:46,790
more in accordance with his own word.

912
00:33:47,170 --> 00:33:50,090
I cannot admit that the Lord blesses evangelistic

913
00:33:50,090 --> 00:33:53,050
Jesuitism and the suppression of truth is not

914
00:33:53,050 --> 00:33:55,890
too harshly named when I so describe it.

915
00:33:56,570 --> 00:33:58,610
The withholding of the doctrine of the total

916
00:33:58,610 --> 00:34:01,610
depravity of man has wrought serious mischief to

917
00:34:01,610 --> 00:34:03,870
many who have listened to a certain kind

918
00:34:03,870 --> 00:34:04,450
of preaching.

919
00:34:05,010 --> 00:34:06,970
These people do not get a true healing

920
00:34:06,970 --> 00:34:09,250
because they do not know the disease under

921
00:34:09,250 --> 00:34:10,370
which they are suffering.

922
00:34:10,989 --> 00:34:13,610
They are never truly clothed because nothing is

923
00:34:13,610 --> 00:34:15,310
done toward stripping them.

924
00:34:15,750 --> 00:34:17,850
In many ministries there is not enough of

925
00:34:17,850 --> 00:34:20,610
probing the heart than arousing the conscience by

926
00:34:20,610 --> 00:34:24,130
the revelation of man's alienation from God and

927
00:34:24,130 --> 00:34:26,710
by the declaration of the selfishness and the

928
00:34:26,710 --> 00:34:28,210
wickedness of such a state.

929
00:34:28,590 --> 00:34:30,610
Men need to be told that except divine

930
00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:33,130
grace shall bring them out of their enmity

931
00:34:33,130 --> 00:34:36,489
to God they must eternally perish and they

932
00:34:36,489 --> 00:34:38,530
must be reminded of the sovereignty of God

933
00:34:38,530 --> 00:34:40,469
that he is not obliged to bring them

934
00:34:40,469 --> 00:34:42,370
out of this state that he would be

935
00:34:42,370 --> 00:34:44,170
right and just if he left them in

936
00:34:44,170 --> 00:34:46,670
such a condition that they have no merit

937
00:34:46,670 --> 00:34:49,290
to plead before him and no claims upon

938
00:34:49,290 --> 00:34:51,270
him but that if they are to be

939
00:34:51,270 --> 00:34:53,190
saved it must be by grace and by

940
00:34:53,190 --> 00:34:54,130
grace alone.

941
00:34:54,550 --> 00:34:57,430
The preacher's work is to throw sinners down

942
00:34:57,430 --> 00:35:00,550
in utter helplessness that they may be compelled

943
00:35:00,550 --> 00:35:02,570
to look up to him alone who can

944
00:35:02,570 --> 00:35:03,410
help them.

945
00:35:04,490 --> 00:35:06,190
To try to win a soul for Christ

946
00:35:06,190 --> 00:35:08,430
by keeping that soul in ignorance of any

947
00:35:08,430 --> 00:35:10,410
truth is contrary to the mind of the

948
00:35:10,410 --> 00:35:12,710
spirit and to endeavor to save men by

949
00:35:12,710 --> 00:35:17,010
mere claptrap or excitement or oratorical display is

950
00:35:17,010 --> 00:35:18,630
as foolish as to hope to hold an

951
00:35:18,630 --> 00:35:20,770
angel with a bird line or lure a

952
00:35:20,770 --> 00:35:21,970
star with music.

953
00:35:22,430 --> 00:35:25,230
The best attraction in the gospel is its

954
00:35:25,230 --> 00:35:25,710
purity.

955
00:35:26,950 --> 00:35:29,550
The weapon with which the Lord conquers men

956
00:35:29,550 --> 00:35:31,350
is the truth as it is in Jesus.

957
00:35:31,870 --> 00:35:34,170
The gospel will be found equal to every

958
00:35:34,170 --> 00:35:37,330
emergency, an arrow which can pierce the hardest

959
00:35:37,330 --> 00:35:40,190
heart, a bomb which will heal the deadliest

960
00:35:40,190 --> 00:35:40,730
wound.

961
00:35:41,090 --> 00:35:42,970
Preach it and preach nothing else.

962
00:35:43,110 --> 00:35:46,010
Rely implicitly upon the old old gospel.

963
00:35:46,530 --> 00:35:48,570
You need no other nets when you fish

964
00:35:48,570 --> 00:35:49,150
for men.

965
00:35:49,550 --> 00:35:51,430
Those your master has given you are strong

966
00:35:51,430 --> 00:35:53,770
enough for the great fishes and have meshes

967
00:35:53,770 --> 00:35:55,790
fine enough to hold the little ones.

968
00:35:56,410 --> 00:35:58,610
Spread these nets and know others and you

969
00:35:58,610 --> 00:36:00,770
need not fear the fulfillment of his word.

970
00:36:01,110 --> 00:36:02,990
I will make you fishers of men.

971
00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:08,760
Secondly, to win a soul it is necessary

972
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:11,260
not only to instruct our hearer and make

973
00:36:11,260 --> 00:36:13,240
him know the truth but to impress him

974
00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:14,600
so that he may feel it.

975
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,980
A purely didactic ministry which should always appeal

976
00:36:17,980 --> 00:36:20,800
to the understanding and should leave the emotions

977
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,640
untouched would certainly be a limping ministry.

978
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,860
The legs of the lame are not equal

979
00:36:25,860 --> 00:36:28,680
says Solomon and the unequal legs of some

980
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:30,260
ministries cripple them.

981
00:36:30,780 --> 00:36:32,600
We have seen such a one limping about

982
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,740
with a long doctrinal leg but a very

983
00:36:34,740 --> 00:36:36,300
short emotional leg.

984
00:36:36,700 --> 00:36:38,500
It is a horrible thing for a man

985
00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:40,640
to be so doctrinal that he can speak

986
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,900
cruelly of the doom of the wicked so

987
00:36:42,900 --> 00:36:44,760
that if he does not actually praise God

988
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:46,840
for it, it costs him no anguish of

989
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:48,740
heart to think of the ruins of millions

990
00:36:48,740 --> 00:36:49,600
of our race.

991
00:36:49,740 --> 00:36:50,560
This is horrible.

992
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:52,460
I hate to hear the tears of the

993
00:36:52,460 --> 00:36:55,780
Lord proclaimed by men whose hard visages, harsh

994
00:36:55,780 --> 00:36:59,000
tones, and unfeeling spirit betray a sort of

995
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,600
doctrinal desiccation.

996
00:37:01,020 --> 00:37:03,120
All the milk of human kindness is dried

997
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:04,220
out of them.

998
00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,440
Having no feeling himself such a preacher creates

999
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,620
none and the people sit and listen while

1000
00:37:09,620 --> 00:37:12,880
he keeps to dry lifeless statements until they

1001
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:15,520
come to value him for being sound and

1002
00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,100
they themselves come to be sound too and

1003
00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:20,820
I need not add sound to sleep also

1004
00:37:20,820 --> 00:37:23,780
or what life they have spent in sniffing

1005
00:37:23,780 --> 00:37:26,940
out heresy and making earnest men offenders for

1006
00:37:26,940 --> 00:37:27,540
a word.

1007
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,000
Into the Spirit may we never be baptized.

1008
00:37:32,900 --> 00:37:35,060
Whatever I believe or do not believe, the

1009
00:37:35,060 --> 00:37:37,400
command to love my neighbor as myself still

1010
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,280
retains its claim upon me and God forbid

1011
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,140
that any views or opinions should so contract

1012
00:37:43,140 --> 00:37:45,320
my soul and harden my heart as to

1013
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,480
make me forget this law of love.

1014
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,720
The love of God is first, but this

1015
00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:52,160
by no means lessens the obligation of love

1016
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:52,940
to man.

1017
00:37:53,100 --> 00:37:55,800
In fact the first command includes the second.

1018
00:37:56,300 --> 00:37:58,920
We are to seek our neighbor's conversion because

1019
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,700
we love him and we are to speak

1020
00:38:00,700 --> 00:38:03,040
to him in loving terms of God's loving

1021
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:07,100
gospel because our heart desires his eternal good.

1022
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,260
A sinner has a heart as well as

1023
00:38:09,260 --> 00:38:09,760
a head.

1024
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,460
A sinner has emotions as well as thoughts

1025
00:38:12,460 --> 00:38:14,280
and we must appeal to both.

1026
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,060
A sinner will never be converted until his

1027
00:38:17,060 --> 00:38:18,200
emotions are stirred.

1028
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,920
Unless he feels sorrow for sin and unless

1029
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:22,900
he has some measure of joy in the

1030
00:38:22,900 --> 00:38:25,640
reception of the word, you cannot have much

1031
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:26,520
hope of him.

1032
00:38:26,860 --> 00:38:29,380
The truth must soak into the soul and

1033
00:38:29,380 --> 00:38:30,980
dye it with its own color.

1034
00:38:31,500 --> 00:38:33,340
The word must be like a strong wind

1035
00:38:33,340 --> 00:38:35,760
sweeping through the whole heart and swaying the

1036
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,380
whole man, even as a field of ripening

1037
00:38:38,380 --> 00:38:40,460
corn weighs in the summer breeze.

1038
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,960
Religion without emotion is religion without life.

1039
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,620
But still we must find how these emotions

1040
00:38:46,620 --> 00:38:47,640
are caused.

1041
00:38:48,100 --> 00:38:50,140
Do not play upon the mind by exciting

1042
00:38:50,140 --> 00:38:51,940
feelings which are not spiritual.

1043
00:38:52,460 --> 00:38:55,520
Some preachers are very fond of introducing funerals

1044
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:58,540
and dying children into their discourses and they

1045
00:38:58,540 --> 00:39:01,260
make the people weep through sheer natural affection.

1046
00:39:01,860 --> 00:39:03,980
This may lead up to something better, but

1047
00:39:03,980 --> 00:39:05,820
in itself what is its value?

1048
00:39:06,300 --> 00:39:08,060
What is the good of opening up a

1049
00:39:08,060 --> 00:39:10,100
mother's grief or a widow's sorrows?

1050
00:39:10,420 --> 00:39:12,400
I do not believe that our merciful Lord

1051
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:14,200
has sent us to make men weep over

1052
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,320
their departed relatives by digging anew their graves

1053
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:20,940
and rehearsing past scenes of bereavement and woe.

1054
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:22,080
Why should he?

1055
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,720
It is granted that you may profitably employ

1056
00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:27,200
the deathbed of a departing Christian or of

1057
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,500
a dying sinner for proof of the rest

1058
00:39:29,500 --> 00:39:31,280
of faith in the one case and the

1059
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:33,680
terror of conscience in the other, but it

1060
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:35,560
is out of a fact proved and not

1061
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:37,760
out of the illustration itself that the good

1062
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:38,600
must arise.

1063
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:42,280
Natural grief is of no service in itself.

1064
00:39:42,500 --> 00:39:44,560
Indeed, we look upon it as a distraction

1065
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,320
from higher thoughts and as a prize too

1066
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,360
great to exact from tender hearts, unless we

1067
00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:54,020
can repay them by engrafting lasting spiritual impressions

1068
00:39:54,020 --> 00:39:56,240
upon the stock of natural affection.

1069
00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,060
It was a very splendid oration, full of

1070
00:40:00,060 --> 00:40:01,960
pathos, as one who heard it.

1071
00:40:02,340 --> 00:40:04,800
Yes, but what is the practical outcome of

1072
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:05,920
this pathos?

1073
00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:08,600
A young preacher once remarked, Were you not

1074
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,200
greatly struck to see so large a congregation

1075
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:11,740
weeping?

1076
00:40:12,340 --> 00:40:14,520
Yes, it is judicious, friend, but I was

1077
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:16,960
more struck with the reflection that they probably

1078
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:18,720
would have wept more at a play.

1079
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,000
Exactly so, and the weeping in both cases

1080
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,820
may be equally valueless.

1081
00:40:24,260 --> 00:40:26,300
I saw a girl on board a steamboat

1082
00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:28,220
reading a book and crying as if her

1083
00:40:28,220 --> 00:40:30,640
heart would break, but when I glanced at

1084
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:32,400
the volume I saw that it was one

1085
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,080
of those silly yellow-covered novels which load

1086
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:36,520
our railway book stalls.

1087
00:40:36,980 --> 00:40:39,340
Her tears were a sheer waste of moisture,

1088
00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:41,560
and so are those which are produced by

1089
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:44,880
mere pulpit tell-telling and deathbed painting.

1090
00:40:47,340 --> 00:40:49,280
If humans will weep over their sins and

1091
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,000
after Jesus, let their tears flow in rivers.

1092
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:54,140
But if the object of their sorrow is

1093
00:40:54,140 --> 00:40:56,680
merely natural and not at all spiritual, what

1094
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:58,900
good is done by setting them weeping?

1095
00:40:59,380 --> 00:41:01,440
There might be some virtue in making people

1096
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,880
joyful, for there is sorrow enough in the

1097
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,520
world, and the more we can promote cheerfulness,

1098
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,720
the better, but what is the use of

1099
00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:10,420
creating needless misery?

1100
00:41:10,820 --> 00:41:12,240
What right have you to go through the

1101
00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:15,060
world precking everybody with your lancet just to

1102
00:41:15,060 --> 00:41:16,600
show your skill in surgery?

1103
00:41:17,740 --> 00:41:20,600
A true physician only makes incisions in order

1104
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,680
to effect cures, and a wise minister only

1105
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,700
excites painful emotions in men's minds with the

1106
00:41:26,700 --> 00:41:29,460
distinct object of blessing their souls.

1107
00:41:29,940 --> 00:41:31,920
You and I must continue to drive at

1108
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,260
men's hearts till they are broken, and then

1109
00:41:34,260 --> 00:41:37,220
we must go on preaching Christ crucified till

1110
00:41:37,220 --> 00:41:39,420
their hearts are bound up, and when this

1111
00:41:39,420 --> 00:41:41,920
is accomplished we must continue to proclaim the

1112
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,220
gospel till their whole nature is brought into

1113
00:41:44,220 --> 00:41:46,620
subjection to the gospel of Christ.

1114
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,580
Even in these preliminaries you will be made

1115
00:41:49,580 --> 00:41:51,360
to feel the need of the Holy Ghost

1116
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:53,640
to work with you and by you, but

1117
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:55,900
this need will still be more evident when

1118
00:41:55,900 --> 00:41:58,180
we advance a step further and speak of

1119
00:41:58,180 --> 00:42:00,080
the new birth itself in which the Holy

1120
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,340
Spirit works in a style and manner most

1121
00:42:02,340 --> 00:42:03,020
divine.

1122
00:42:03,900 --> 00:42:06,960
I have already insisted upon instruction and impression

1123
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:09,500
as most needful to soul winning, but these

1124
00:42:09,500 --> 00:42:10,260
are not all.

1125
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:12,840
They are, indeed, only means to the desired

1126
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:13,360
end.

1127
00:42:13,820 --> 00:42:15,760
A far greater work must be done before

1128
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:16,960
a man is saved.

1129
00:42:17,260 --> 00:42:19,380
A wonder of divine grace must be wrought

1130
00:42:19,380 --> 00:42:22,660
upon the soul, far transcending anything which can

1131
00:42:22,660 --> 00:42:25,080
be accomplished by the power of man.

1132
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:27,560
Of all whom we would faint when for

1133
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:29,700
Jesus it is true, except a man be

1134
00:42:29,700 --> 00:42:31,620
born again he cannot see the kingdom of

1135
00:42:31,620 --> 00:42:32,100
God.

1136
00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:35,240
The Holy Ghost must work regeneration in the

1137
00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:37,100
objects of our love, or they never can

1138
00:42:37,100 --> 00:42:39,200
become possessors of eternal happiness.

1139
00:42:39,780 --> 00:42:41,700
They must be quickened into a new life,

1140
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:44,240
and they must become new creatures in Christ

1141
00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:44,660
Jesus.

1142
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,500
The same energy which accomplishes resurrection and creation

1143
00:42:48,500 --> 00:42:51,360
must put forth all its power upon them.

1144
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:53,320
Nothing short of this can meet the case.

1145
00:42:53,940 --> 00:42:55,900
They must be born again from above.

1146
00:42:55,900 --> 00:42:58,420
This might seem at first sight to put

1147
00:42:58,420 --> 00:43:01,980
human instrumentality together out of the field, but

1148
00:43:01,980 --> 00:43:03,960
on turning to the Scriptures we find nothing

1149
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,780
to justify such an inference and much of

1150
00:43:06,780 --> 00:43:08,380
quite an opposite tendency.

1151
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:10,920
There we certainly find the Lord to be

1152
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:12,880
all in all, but we find no hint

1153
00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:14,960
that the use of means must therefore be

1154
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:16,040
dispensed with.

1155
00:43:17,540 --> 00:43:20,340
The Lord Supreme Majesty in power is seen

1156
00:43:20,340 --> 00:43:22,680
all the more gloriously because he works by

1157
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:23,140
means.

1158
00:43:23,140 --> 00:43:25,280
He is so great that he is not

1159
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:27,720
afraid to put honor upon the instruments he

1160
00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:30,600
employs by speaking of them in high terms

1161
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:32,820
and imputing to them great influence.

1162
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:35,620
It is certainly possible to say too little

1163
00:43:35,620 --> 00:43:36,660
of the Holy Spirit.

1164
00:43:37,020 --> 00:43:38,580
Indeed, I fear this is one of the

1165
00:43:38,580 --> 00:43:41,140
crying sins of the age, but yet that

1166
00:43:41,140 --> 00:43:44,740
infallible word, which always rightly balances truth while

1167
00:43:44,740 --> 00:43:47,780
it magnifies the Holy Ghost, does not speak

1168
00:43:47,780 --> 00:43:49,880
lightly of the men by whom he works.

1169
00:43:50,580 --> 00:43:52,420
God does not think his own honor to

1170
00:43:52,420 --> 00:43:54,520
be so questionable that it can only be

1171
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,920
maintained by decrying the human agent.

1172
00:43:58,660 --> 00:44:01,060
There are two passages in the epistles which,

1173
00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:03,240
when put together, have often amazed me.

1174
00:44:03,700 --> 00:44:06,400
Paul compares himself both to a father and

1175
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,380
to a mother in the matter of the

1176
00:44:08,380 --> 00:44:09,000
new birth.

1177
00:44:09,300 --> 00:44:11,400
He says of one convert, whom I have

1178
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:14,060
begotten in my bonds, and of a whole

1179
00:44:14,060 --> 00:44:16,320
church, he says, my little children of whom

1180
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:19,720
I travail in birth, until Christ be formed

1181
00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:20,580
in you.

1182
00:44:24,630 --> 00:44:27,190
This is going very far, indeed much further

1183
00:44:27,190 --> 00:44:29,990
than modern orthodoxy would permit the most useful

1184
00:44:29,990 --> 00:44:32,870
minister to venture, and yet it is language

1185
00:44:32,870 --> 00:44:35,610
sanctioned, yea, dictated by the Spirit of God

1186
00:44:35,610 --> 00:44:37,970
himself, and therefore it is not to be

1187
00:44:37,970 --> 00:44:38,490
criticized.

1188
00:44:39,310 --> 00:44:42,770
Such mysterious power does God infuse into the

1189
00:44:42,770 --> 00:44:45,750
instrumentality which he ordains that we are called

1190
00:44:45,750 --> 00:44:49,130
laborers together with God, and this at once

1191
00:44:49,130 --> 00:44:51,590
the source of our responsibility and the ground

1192
00:44:51,590 --> 00:44:52,310
of our hope.

1193
00:44:53,450 --> 00:44:56,170
Regeneration, or the new birth, works a change

1194
00:44:56,170 --> 00:44:57,990
in the whole nature of man, and so

1195
00:44:57,990 --> 00:45:00,770
far as we can judge, its essence lies

1196
00:45:00,770 --> 00:45:03,410
in the implantation and creation of a new

1197
00:45:03,410 --> 00:45:05,070
principle within the man.

1198
00:45:05,590 --> 00:45:07,530
The Holy Ghost creates in us a new,

1199
00:45:07,830 --> 00:45:10,650
heavenly and immortal nature, which is known in

1200
00:45:10,650 --> 00:45:13,370
Scripture as the Spirit by way of distinction

1201
00:45:13,370 --> 00:45:14,470
from the soul.

1202
00:45:14,590 --> 00:45:17,010
Our theory of regeneration is that man in

1203
00:45:17,010 --> 00:45:19,670
his fallen nature consists only of body and

1204
00:45:19,670 --> 00:45:22,050
soul, and that when he is regenerated there

1205
00:45:22,050 --> 00:45:23,810
is created in him a new and higher

1206
00:45:23,810 --> 00:45:24,350
nature.

1207
00:45:24,870 --> 00:45:26,990
The Spirit, which is a spark from the

1208
00:45:26,990 --> 00:45:30,250
everlasting fire of God's life and love, this

1209
00:45:30,250 --> 00:45:32,990
falls into the heart and abides there, and

1210
00:45:32,990 --> 00:45:35,950
makes its receiver a partaker of the divine

1211
00:45:35,950 --> 00:45:36,510
nature.

1212
00:45:37,390 --> 00:45:40,030
Then forward a man consists of three parts,

1213
00:45:40,150 --> 00:45:42,470
body, soul, and spirit, and the Spirit is

1214
00:45:42,470 --> 00:45:44,170
the reigning power of the three.

1215
00:45:44,650 --> 00:45:47,570
You will all remember that memorable chapter upon

1216
00:45:47,570 --> 00:45:50,950
the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, where the distinction

1217
00:45:50,950 --> 00:45:53,550
is well brought out in the original, and

1218
00:45:53,550 --> 00:45:55,770
may even be perceived in our version.

1219
00:45:55,990 --> 00:45:58,650
The passage rendered, It is sown a natural

1220
00:45:58,650 --> 00:46:00,370
body, and so on might be read, it

1221
00:46:00,370 --> 00:46:02,970
is sown a soulish body, it is raised

1222
00:46:02,970 --> 00:46:04,210
a spiritual body.

1223
00:46:05,690 --> 00:46:07,810
There is a soulish body, and there is

1224
00:46:07,810 --> 00:46:09,930
a spiritual body, and so it is written,

1225
00:46:10,290 --> 00:46:12,690
The first man Adam was made a living

1226
00:46:12,690 --> 00:46:15,190
soul, the last Adam was made a quickening

1227
00:46:15,190 --> 00:46:15,770
spirit.

1228
00:46:16,250 --> 00:46:18,770
Albeit that was not first, which is spiritual,

1229
00:46:18,990 --> 00:46:21,330
but that which is soulish, and afterward that

1230
00:46:21,330 --> 00:46:22,170
which is spiritual.

1231
00:46:22,730 --> 00:46:24,970
We are first in a natural or soulish

1232
00:46:24,970 --> 00:46:27,850
stage of being, like the first Adam, and

1233
00:46:27,850 --> 00:46:30,230
then in regeneration we enter into a new

1234
00:46:30,230 --> 00:46:32,810
condition, and we become possessors of the life

1235
00:46:32,810 --> 00:46:33,650
-giving Spirit.

1236
00:46:34,530 --> 00:46:36,610
Without this Spirit no man can see or

1237
00:46:36,610 --> 00:46:38,190
enter the kingdom of heaven.

1238
00:46:38,690 --> 00:46:41,050
It must therefore be our intense desire that

1239
00:46:41,050 --> 00:46:43,450
the Holy Spirit should visit our ears and

1240
00:46:43,450 --> 00:46:45,890
create them anew, that He would come down

1241
00:46:45,890 --> 00:46:48,490
upon these dry bones and breathe eternal life

1242
00:46:48,490 --> 00:46:49,890
into the dead in sin.

1243
00:46:50,330 --> 00:46:52,350
Till this is done they can never receive

1244
00:46:52,350 --> 00:46:55,150
the truth, for the natural man receives not

1245
00:46:55,150 --> 00:46:57,010
the things of the Spirit of God for

1246
00:46:57,010 --> 00:47:00,490
their foolishness to him, neither can he know

1247
00:47:00,490 --> 00:47:02,890
them because they are spiritually discerned.

1248
00:47:03,250 --> 00:47:05,710
The carnal mind is enmity against God, for

1249
00:47:05,710 --> 00:47:07,310
it is not subject to the law of

1250
00:47:07,310 --> 00:47:09,090
God, neither indeed can be.

1251
00:47:09,530 --> 00:47:11,990
A new and heavenly mind must be created

1252
00:47:11,990 --> 00:47:15,030
by omnipotence, or the man must abide in

1253
00:47:15,030 --> 00:47:15,670
death.

1254
00:47:15,870 --> 00:47:17,890
You see then that we have before us

1255
00:47:17,890 --> 00:47:19,750
a mighty work, for which we are of

1256
00:47:19,750 --> 00:47:21,530
ourselves totally incapable.

1257
00:47:22,410 --> 00:47:24,550
No minister living can save a soul, nor

1258
00:47:24,550 --> 00:47:26,370
can all of us together, nor all the

1259
00:47:26,370 --> 00:47:28,890
saints on earth or in heaven work regeneration

1260
00:47:28,890 --> 00:47:30,250
in a single person.

1261
00:47:30,910 --> 00:47:33,010
The whole business on our part is the

1262
00:47:33,010 --> 00:47:36,290
height of absurdity, unless we regard ourselves as

1263
00:47:36,290 --> 00:47:38,250
used by the Holy Ghost and filled with

1264
00:47:38,250 --> 00:47:39,130
His power.

1265
00:47:39,670 --> 00:47:41,990
On the other hand, the marvels of regeneration

1266
00:47:41,990 --> 00:47:45,110
which attend our ministry are the best seals

1267
00:47:45,110 --> 00:47:47,090
and witnesses of our commission.

1268
00:47:47,770 --> 00:47:50,070
Whereas the apostles could appeal to the miracles

1269
00:47:50,070 --> 00:47:52,630
of Christ and to those which they wrought

1270
00:47:52,630 --> 00:47:54,990
in His name, we appeal to the miracles

1271
00:47:54,990 --> 00:47:57,070
of the Holy Ghost, which are as divine

1272
00:47:57,070 --> 00:47:58,850
and as real as those of our Lord

1273
00:47:58,850 --> 00:47:59,450
Himself.

1274
00:48:01,030 --> 00:48:03,230
These miracles are the creation of a new

1275
00:48:03,230 --> 00:48:05,270
life in the human bosom, and the total

1276
00:48:05,270 --> 00:48:07,350
change of the whole being of those upon

1277
00:48:07,350 --> 00:48:09,310
whom the Spirit descends.

1278
00:48:10,010 --> 00:48:12,550
As this God-begotten spiritual life in men

1279
00:48:12,550 --> 00:48:14,290
is a mystery, we shall speak to more

1280
00:48:14,290 --> 00:48:16,710
practical effect if we dwell upon the signs

1281
00:48:16,710 --> 00:48:18,630
following and accompanying it.

1282
00:48:18,950 --> 00:48:20,950
For these are the things we must aim

1283
00:48:20,950 --> 00:48:21,430
at.

1284
00:48:21,810 --> 00:48:24,670
First, regeneration will be shown in conviction of

1285
00:48:24,670 --> 00:48:26,870
sin, this we believe to be an indispensable

1286
00:48:26,870 --> 00:48:28,710
mark of the Spirit's work.

1287
00:48:29,250 --> 00:48:30,950
The new life as it enters the heart

1288
00:48:30,950 --> 00:48:33,750
causes intense inward pain as one of its

1289
00:48:33,750 --> 00:48:34,690
first effects.

1290
00:48:35,290 --> 00:48:37,670
Though nowadays we hear of persons being healed

1291
00:48:37,670 --> 00:48:39,790
before they have been wounded and brought into

1292
00:48:39,790 --> 00:48:43,910
a certainty of justification without ever having lamented

1293
00:48:43,910 --> 00:48:47,090
their condemnation, we are very dubious as to

1294
00:48:47,090 --> 00:48:49,850
the value of such healings and justifyings.

1295
00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:54,900
The style of things is not according to

1296
00:48:54,900 --> 00:48:55,520
the truth.

1297
00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:57,920
God never clothes men until He has first

1298
00:48:57,920 --> 00:48:59,960
stripped them, nor does He quicken them by

1299
00:48:59,960 --> 00:49:02,320
the gospel till first they are slain by

1300
00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:02,900
the law.

1301
00:49:04,100 --> 00:49:06,240
When you meet with persons in whom there

1302
00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:09,000
is no trace of conviction of sin, you

1303
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:10,660
may be quite sure that they have not

1304
00:49:10,660 --> 00:49:12,660
been wrought upon by the Holy Spirit.

1305
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:15,040
For when He has come, He will reprove

1306
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:17,720
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and

1307
00:49:17,720 --> 00:49:18,320
of judgment.

1308
00:49:18,940 --> 00:49:20,820
When the Spirit of the Lord breathes on

1309
00:49:20,820 --> 00:49:23,000
us, He withers all the glory of man,

1310
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:24,700
which is but as a flower of the

1311
00:49:24,700 --> 00:49:26,940
grass, and then He reveals a higher and

1312
00:49:26,940 --> 00:49:27,900
abiding glory.

1313
00:49:28,420 --> 00:49:30,460
Do not be astonished if you find this

1314
00:49:30,460 --> 00:49:32,780
conviction of sin to be very acute and

1315
00:49:32,780 --> 00:49:33,240
alarming.

1316
00:49:33,860 --> 00:49:35,540
But on the other hand, do not condemn

1317
00:49:35,540 --> 00:49:37,480
those in whom it is less intense.

1318
00:49:37,860 --> 00:49:39,780
For so long as sin is mourned over,

1319
00:49:39,940 --> 00:49:43,160
confessed, forsaken, and abhorred, you have an evident

1320
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:44,240
fruit of the Spirit.

1321
00:49:44,740 --> 00:49:46,780
Much of the horror and unbelief which goes

1322
00:49:46,780 --> 00:49:48,800
with conviction is not of the Spirit of

1323
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:51,580
God, but comes of Satan or corrupt nature.

1324
00:49:52,020 --> 00:49:53,860
Yet there must be true and deep conviction

1325
00:49:53,860 --> 00:49:56,180
of sin, and this a preacher must labor

1326
00:49:56,180 --> 00:49:56,980
to produce.

1327
00:49:57,060 --> 00:49:59,020
For where this is not felt, a new

1328
00:49:59,020 --> 00:50:00,940
birth has not taken place.

1329
00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:05,160
Equally certain is it that the true conversion

1330
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,200
may be known by the exhibition of a

1331
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:09,060
simple faith in Jesus Christ.

1332
00:50:09,540 --> 00:50:11,200
You know not that I speak unto you

1333
00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:13,620
of that, for you yourselves are fully persuaded

1334
00:50:13,620 --> 00:50:14,280
of it.

1335
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:17,000
The production of faith is the very center

1336
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:18,680
of the target at which you aim.

1337
00:50:19,140 --> 00:50:20,740
The proof to you that you have won

1338
00:50:20,740 --> 00:50:23,000
the man's soul for Jesus is never before

1339
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,700
you, till he is done with himself in

1340
00:50:25,700 --> 00:50:28,060
his own merits, and is closed in with

1341
00:50:28,060 --> 00:50:28,620
Christ.

1342
00:50:29,100 --> 00:50:31,280
Great care must be taken that this faith

1343
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:34,540
is exercised upon Christ for a complete salvation,

1344
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:36,540
and not for a part of it.

1345
00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:38,720
Numbers of persons think that the Lord Jesus

1346
00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:41,180
is available for the pardon of past sin,

1347
00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:43,120
but they cannot trust Him for the preservation

1348
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:44,120
in the future.

1349
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:47,300
They trust for years past, but not for

1350
00:50:47,300 --> 00:50:50,440
years to come, whereas no such subdivision of

1351
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:52,700
salvation is ever spoken of in Scripture as

1352
00:50:52,700 --> 00:50:53,860
the work of Christ.

1353
00:50:53,860 --> 00:50:56,800
Either He bore all our sins, or none,

1354
00:50:57,080 --> 00:50:59,200
and He either saves us once for all,

1355
00:50:59,260 --> 00:51:00,060
or not at all.

1356
00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:02,780
His death can never be repeated, and it

1357
00:51:02,780 --> 00:51:05,460
must have made expiation for the future sin

1358
00:51:05,460 --> 00:51:09,020
of believers, or they are lost, since no

1359
00:51:09,020 --> 00:51:11,680
further atonement can be supposed, and future sin

1360
00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:12,900
is certain to be committed.

1361
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:14,700
Blessed be His name!

1362
00:51:14,780 --> 00:51:17,480
By Him all the believers are justified from

1363
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:18,380
all things.

1364
00:51:18,900 --> 00:51:21,680
Salvation by grace is eternal salvation.

1365
00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:24,540
Sinners must commit their souls to the keeping

1366
00:51:24,540 --> 00:51:26,000
of Christ to all eternity.

1367
00:51:26,540 --> 00:51:27,880
How else are they saved?

1368
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:28,320
Men!

1369
00:51:28,940 --> 00:51:31,280
Alas, according to the teaching of some, believers

1370
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:33,240
are only saved in part, and for the

1371
00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:36,120
rest must depend upon their future endeavors.

1372
00:51:36,700 --> 00:51:37,740
Is this the gospel?

1373
00:51:38,060 --> 00:51:39,220
I trow not.

1374
00:51:39,720 --> 00:51:42,500
Jimmy Wine's faith trusts the whole Christ for

1375
00:51:42,500 --> 00:51:43,580
the whole of salvation.

1376
00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:46,120
Is it any wonder that many converts fall

1377
00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:47,860
away when in fact they were never taught

1378
00:51:47,860 --> 00:51:51,120
to exercise faith in Jesus for eternal salvation,

1379
00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:53,500
but only for temporary conversion?

1380
00:51:54,220 --> 00:51:57,440
A faulty exhibition of Christ begets a faulty

1381
00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:00,020
faith, and when this pines away in its

1382
00:52:00,020 --> 00:52:03,020
own imbecility, who is to blame for it?

1383
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:05,940
According to their faith, so it is unto

1384
00:52:05,940 --> 00:52:06,500
them.

1385
00:52:06,900 --> 00:52:09,520
The preterm possessor of a partial faith must

1386
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:11,720
unitedly bear the blame of the failure when

1387
00:52:11,720 --> 00:52:14,520
their poor mutilated trust comes to a breakdown.

1388
00:52:15,380 --> 00:52:18,040
I would more earnestly insist upon this, because

1389
00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:20,280
a semi-legal way of believing is so

1390
00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:20,880
common.

1391
00:52:21,380 --> 00:52:23,840
We must urge the trembling sinner to trust

1392
00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:26,080
wholly in the Spirit, and be made perfect

1393
00:52:26,080 --> 00:52:26,920
by the flesh.

1394
00:52:27,460 --> 00:52:30,040
He will surely walk by faith as to

1395
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:32,260
the past, and then by works as to

1396
00:52:32,260 --> 00:52:34,480
the future, and this will be fatal.

1397
00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:37,920
True faith in Jesus receives eternal life and

1398
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:41,720
sees perfect salvation in Him, whose one sacrifice

1399
00:52:41,720 --> 00:52:43,900
is sanctified to people of God once for

1400
00:52:43,900 --> 00:52:44,280
all.

1401
00:52:44,660 --> 00:52:47,560
The sense of being saved, completely saved in

1402
00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:50,740
Christ Jesus, is not, as some suppose, a

1403
00:52:50,740 --> 00:52:53,480
source of carnal security in the enemy of

1404
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:55,480
holy zeal, but the very reverse.

1405
00:52:55,960 --> 00:52:58,400
Delivered from the fear which makes the salvation

1406
00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:01,180
of self a more immediate object than salvation

1407
00:53:01,180 --> 00:53:04,480
from self, and inspired by holy gratitude to

1408
00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:07,960
his Redeemer, the regenerated man becomes capable of

1409
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:10,800
virtue, and is filled with an enthusiasm for

1410
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:11,740
God's glory.

1411
00:53:12,240 --> 00:53:14,880
While trembling under a sense of insecurity, a

1412
00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:16,800
man gives his chief thought to his own

1413
00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:20,320
interests, but planted firmly on the rock of

1414
00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:22,600
ages, he has time and heart to utter

1415
00:53:22,600 --> 00:53:24,500
the new song which the Lord has put

1416
00:53:24,500 --> 00:53:26,500
into his mouth, and then is his moral

1417
00:53:26,500 --> 00:53:29,360
salvation complete, for self is no longer the

1418
00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:30,500
Lord of his being.

1419
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:33,500
Rest not content till you see clear evidence

1420
00:53:33,500 --> 00:53:36,660
in your converts of a simple, sincere, and

1421
00:53:36,660 --> 00:53:38,660
decided faith in the Lord Jesus.

1422
00:53:39,580 --> 00:53:43,000
Together with undivided faith in Jesus Christ, there

1423
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:45,440
must also be unfeigned repentance of sin.

1424
00:53:46,300 --> 00:53:48,900
Repentance is an old-fashioned word, not much

1425
00:53:48,900 --> 00:53:51,020
used by modern revivalists.

1426
00:53:51,680 --> 00:53:53,540
Oh, said a minister to me one day,

1427
00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:55,300
it only means a change of mind.

1428
00:53:55,520 --> 00:53:57,980
This was thought to be a profound observation.

1429
00:53:58,500 --> 00:54:00,360
Only a change of mind, but what a

1430
00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:00,920
change!

1431
00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:03,300
A change of mind with regard to everything.

1432
00:54:03,940 --> 00:54:05,800
Instead of saying it is only a change

1433
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:07,500
of mind, it seems to me more truthful

1434
00:54:07,500 --> 00:54:09,500
to say it is a great and deep

1435
00:54:09,500 --> 00:54:12,400
change, even a change of the mind itself.

1436
00:54:12,840 --> 00:54:15,140
But whatever the literal Greek word may mean,

1437
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:17,200
repentance is no trifle.

1438
00:54:17,580 --> 00:54:19,540
You will not find a better definition of

1439
00:54:19,540 --> 00:54:21,240
it than the one given in the children's

1440
00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:21,640
hymn.

1441
00:54:22,240 --> 00:54:24,980
Repentance is to leave the sins we loved

1442
00:54:24,980 --> 00:54:28,200
before, and show that we in earnest grieve

1443
00:54:28,200 --> 00:54:29,920
by doing so no more.

1444
00:54:30,760 --> 00:54:33,520
True conversion is in all men attended by

1445
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:35,300
a sense of sin which we have spoken

1446
00:54:35,300 --> 00:54:36,840
of under the head of conviction.

1447
00:54:37,420 --> 00:54:40,000
By a sorrow for sin, or holy grief

1448
00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:41,200
at having committed it.

1449
00:54:41,500 --> 00:54:43,540
By a hatred of sin, which proves that

1450
00:54:43,540 --> 00:54:45,040
its dominion is ended.

1451
00:54:45,420 --> 00:54:48,200
And by a practical turning from sin, which

1452
00:54:48,200 --> 00:54:49,960
shows that the life within the soul is

1453
00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:51,860
operating upon the life without.

1454
00:54:52,460 --> 00:54:55,500
True belief and true repentance are twins, and

1455
00:54:55,500 --> 00:54:57,380
would be idle to attempt to say which

1456
00:54:57,380 --> 00:54:58,420
is born first.

1457
00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:00,480
All the spokes of a wheel move at

1458
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:02,320
once when the wheel moves, and so all

1459
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:05,620
the graces commence action when regeneration is wrought

1460
00:55:05,620 --> 00:55:06,820
by the Holy Ghost.

1461
00:55:07,600 --> 00:55:09,760
Repentance, however, there must be.

1462
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:12,260
No sinner looks to the Savior with a

1463
00:55:12,260 --> 00:55:14,200
dry eye or a hard heart.

1464
00:55:14,660 --> 00:55:17,380
Aim therefore at heart-breaking and bringing home

1465
00:55:17,380 --> 00:55:20,360
condemnation to the conscience, and weaning the mind

1466
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:21,040
from sin.

1467
00:55:21,380 --> 00:55:23,300
And be not content till the whole mind

1468
00:55:23,300 --> 00:55:26,180
is deeply and vitally changed in reference to

1469
00:55:26,180 --> 00:55:26,740
sin.

1470
00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:30,520
Another proof of the conquest of a soul

1471
00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:32,020
for Christ will be found in a real

1472
00:55:32,020 --> 00:55:33,000
change of life.

1473
00:55:33,220 --> 00:55:35,060
If a man does not live differently from

1474
00:55:35,060 --> 00:55:36,720
what he did before, both at home and

1475
00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:39,240
abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of,

1476
00:55:39,300 --> 00:55:40,900
and his conversion is a fiction.

1477
00:55:41,660 --> 00:55:44,000
Not only action and language, but spirit and

1478
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:45,360
temper must be changed.

1479
00:55:45,900 --> 00:55:48,220
But, says someone, grace is often grafted on

1480
00:55:48,220 --> 00:55:49,280
a crab stock.

1481
00:55:49,740 --> 00:55:51,180
I know it is, but what is the

1482
00:55:51,180 --> 00:55:52,100
fruit of the grafting?

1483
00:55:52,660 --> 00:55:54,780
The fruit will be like the graft, and

1484
00:55:54,780 --> 00:55:57,140
not after the nature of the original stem.

1485
00:55:57,740 --> 00:55:59,900
But, says another, I have an awful temper,

1486
00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:01,880
and all of a sudden it overcomes me.

1487
00:56:01,880 --> 00:56:04,000
My anger is soon over, and I feel

1488
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:05,060
very penitent.

1489
00:56:05,540 --> 00:56:07,860
Though I cannot control myself, I am quite

1490
00:56:07,860 --> 00:56:09,100
sure I am a Christian.

1491
00:56:10,320 --> 00:56:12,220
Not so fast, my friend, or I may

1492
00:56:12,220 --> 00:56:14,060
answer that I am quite as sure the

1493
00:56:14,060 --> 00:56:14,700
other way.

1494
00:56:14,860 --> 00:56:16,620
What is the use of your soon cooling,

1495
00:56:16,940 --> 00:56:18,980
if in two or three moments you scald

1496
00:56:18,980 --> 00:56:20,020
all around you?

1497
00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:22,020
If a man stabs me in a fury,

1498
00:56:22,120 --> 00:56:23,680
it will not heal my wound to see

1499
00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:25,360
him grieving over his madness.

1500
00:56:26,300 --> 00:56:28,420
Hasty temper must be conquered, and the whole

1501
00:56:28,420 --> 00:56:30,600
man must be renewed, or conversion will be

1502
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:31,140
questionable.

1503
00:56:32,060 --> 00:56:33,620
We are not to hold up a modified

1504
00:56:33,620 --> 00:56:35,960
holiness before our people and say, You will

1505
00:56:35,960 --> 00:56:38,120
be all right if you reach that standard.

1506
00:56:38,700 --> 00:56:40,940
The Scripture says, He that commits sin is

1507
00:56:40,940 --> 00:56:41,600
of the devil.

1508
00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:44,240
Abiding under the power of any known sin

1509
00:56:44,240 --> 00:56:46,860
is a mark of our being servants of

1510
00:56:46,860 --> 00:56:47,240
sin.

1511
00:56:47,440 --> 00:56:49,180
For his servants you are, to whom you

1512
00:56:49,180 --> 00:56:49,620
obey.

1513
00:56:50,060 --> 00:56:51,700
I do not learn the boasts of a

1514
00:56:51,700 --> 00:56:53,780
man who harbors within himself the love of

1515
00:56:53,780 --> 00:56:54,740
any transgression.

1516
00:56:55,080 --> 00:56:56,980
He may feel what he likes, and believe

1517
00:56:56,980 --> 00:56:57,640
what he likes.

1518
00:56:57,640 --> 00:56:59,360
He is steeled in the gull of bitterness

1519
00:56:59,360 --> 00:57:02,300
and the bonds of iniquity, while a single

1520
00:57:02,300 --> 00:57:04,180
sin rules his heart and life.

1521
00:57:05,260 --> 00:57:08,000
True regeneration implants the hatred of all evil,

1522
00:57:08,320 --> 00:57:10,320
and where one's sin is delighted in, the

1523
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:12,440
evidence is fatal to a sound hope.

1524
00:57:13,140 --> 00:57:15,020
A man need not take a dozen poisons

1525
00:57:15,020 --> 00:57:17,780
to destroy his life, one is quite sufficient.

1526
00:57:19,820 --> 00:57:22,100
There must be a harmony between the life

1527
00:57:22,100 --> 00:57:22,840
and the profession.

1528
00:57:23,380 --> 00:57:26,040
A Christian professes to renounce sin, and if

1529
00:57:26,040 --> 00:57:27,940
he does not do so, his very name

1530
00:57:27,940 --> 00:57:29,420
is an imposture.

1531
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:32,260
A drunken man came up to Roland Hill

1532
00:57:32,260 --> 00:57:34,000
one day, and said, I am one of

1533
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:35,480
your converts, Mr. Hill.

1534
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:38,240
I dare say you are, replied that shrewd

1535
00:57:38,240 --> 00:57:40,460
and sensible preacher, but you are none of

1536
00:57:40,460 --> 00:57:42,140
the Lords, for you would not be drunk.

1537
00:57:42,960 --> 00:57:45,080
To this practical task we must bring all

1538
00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:45,620
our work.

1539
00:57:46,020 --> 00:57:48,120
In our converts we must also see true

1540
00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:50,420
prayer, which is a vital breath of godliness.

1541
00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:52,520
If there is no prayer, you may be

1542
00:57:52,520 --> 00:57:54,320
quite sure the soul is dead.

1543
00:57:54,900 --> 00:57:56,560
We are not to urge men to pray

1544
00:57:56,560 --> 00:57:58,620
as though it were the great gospel duty,

1545
00:57:59,020 --> 00:58:01,300
and the one prescribed way of salvation for

1546
00:58:01,300 --> 00:58:03,440
our chief message is belief on the Lord

1547
00:58:03,440 --> 00:58:04,400
Jesus Christ.

1548
00:58:04,680 --> 00:58:06,540
It is easy to put prayer into its

1549
00:58:06,540 --> 00:58:08,020
wrong place, and make it out to be

1550
00:58:08,020 --> 00:58:09,520
a kind of work by which men are

1551
00:58:09,520 --> 00:58:12,060
to live, but this you will, I trust,

1552
00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:13,480
most carefully avoid.

1553
00:58:14,020 --> 00:58:16,620
Faith is a great gospel grace, but still

1554
00:58:16,620 --> 00:58:19,120
we cannot forget that true faith always prays,

1555
00:58:19,140 --> 00:58:20,900
and when a man professes faith in the

1556
00:58:20,900 --> 00:58:23,020
Lord Jesus, and yet does not cry to

1557
00:58:23,020 --> 00:58:25,900
the Lord daily, we dare not believe in

1558
00:58:25,900 --> 00:58:27,380
his faith or his conversion.

1559
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:30,800
The Holy Ghost's evidence by which he convinced

1560
00:58:30,800 --> 00:58:33,980
Ananias of Paul's conversion was not, behold he

1561
00:58:33,980 --> 00:58:37,060
talks loudly of his joys and feelings, but

1562
00:58:37,060 --> 00:58:38,420
behold he prayeth.

1563
00:58:39,720 --> 00:58:42,680
And that prayer was earnest, heartbroken confession and

1564
00:58:42,680 --> 00:58:43,620
supplication.

1565
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:45,900
O to see the sure evidence in all

1566
00:58:45,900 --> 00:58:47,860
who profess to be our converts.

1567
00:58:49,700 --> 00:58:51,980
There must also be a willingness to obey

1568
00:58:51,980 --> 00:58:53,500
the Lord in all his commandments.

1569
00:58:53,940 --> 00:58:55,540
It is a shameful thing for a man

1570
00:58:55,540 --> 00:58:58,120
to profess discipleship and yet refuse to learn

1571
00:58:58,120 --> 00:59:01,040
his Lord's will upon certain points, or even

1572
00:59:01,040 --> 00:59:03,500
dare to decline obedience when that will is

1573
00:59:03,500 --> 00:59:03,880
known.

1574
00:59:04,300 --> 00:59:05,720
How can a man be a disciple of

1575
00:59:05,720 --> 00:59:08,340
Christ when he openly lives in disobedience to

1576
00:59:08,340 --> 00:59:08,800
him?

1577
00:59:09,180 --> 00:59:12,440
If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares

1578
00:59:12,440 --> 00:59:14,200
that he knows his Lord's will, but does

1579
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,540
not mean to attend to it, you are

1580
00:59:16,540 --> 00:59:19,160
not to pamper his presumption, but it is

1581
00:59:19,160 --> 00:59:21,040
your duty to assure him that he is

1582
00:59:21,040 --> 00:59:22,340
not saved.

1583
00:59:22,720 --> 00:59:24,620
Has not the Lord said, He that taketh

1584
00:59:24,620 --> 00:59:26,660
not up his cross and cometh after me

1585
00:59:26,660 --> 00:59:27,920
cannot be my disciple?

1586
00:59:28,900 --> 00:59:31,160
Mistakes as to what the Lord's will may

1587
00:59:31,160 --> 00:59:33,440
be are to be tenderly corrected.

1588
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:37,840
But anything like willful disobedience is fatal.

1589
00:59:38,220 --> 00:59:40,220
To tolerate it would be treason to him

1590
00:59:40,220 --> 00:59:41,120
that sent us.

1591
00:59:41,320 --> 00:59:43,120
Our prayer is that you have been blessed

1592
00:59:43,120 --> 00:59:44,860
and encouraged by this sermon.

1593
00:59:45,240 --> 00:59:47,600
To download full sermons go to our website

1594
00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:51,060
www.sermonindex.com