The Spurgeon Series 1859 & 1860. Charles H. Spurgeon
lest my faith degenerate into presumption, and so I perish by my own hand.” Cry out to God, that he would not forsake you in your business, in your family; that he would not forsake you either upon your bed by night, or in your business by day. And may God grant, when you and I shall come to the end of this year, we may have a good testimony to tell concerning the faithfulness of God in having answered our prayers, and having fulfilled his promise.
27. Now this day I would crave a part in your prayers. My dear friends, I am confident that God will perfect what concerns me. There has been a work done in this place, and God has blessed the congregation; but the work is not perfect yet. It is not enough to rouse other ministers to preach the word. I hope I shall never, while I live, cease to have another project always in hand. When one thing is done, we will do something else. If we have tried to make ministers more diligent in preaching, we must try to make the churches more earnest in praying. When we have built our new chapel, we must build something else; we must always have something in hand. If I have preached the Gospel in England, it must be my privilege to preach it across the sea yet; and when I have preached it there, I must solicit a longer leave of absence that I may preach it in other countries, and act as a missionary throughout the nations. I am confident that God will perfect what concerns me; I rely on that. Do I therefore say that you need not pray? Oh, no. Pray that he would not forsake the work of his own hands. This work is not from our own hands. This labour of love is not mine, but God’s. I have done nothing, except as the instrument; he has done it all. Oh, my dear friends, you who love me, as a brother in Christ, and as your pastor in the church, go home and plead with God for me this day and henceforth, that he would not forsake his work; but that the fire which has been kindled here may run along the ground, until all England shall be in a blaze with a revival of grace and godliness. Do not be content to warm your hands at the sparks of this fire. Ask that the breath of God’s Spirit may blow the sparks across the sea, that other lands may catch the flames, until the whole earth burning as a holocaust to heaven, shall be accepted as a whole burnt offering before the throne of God Most High.
28. “May the Lord bless you, and keep you, and cause his face to shine upon you and lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace,” and to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, shall be glory for ever!
{a} Potosi is a city, the capital of the department of Potosi in Bolivia. It is claimed to be the highest city in the world at a nominal 4,090 m (13,420 feet). It lies beneath the Cerro de Potosi — sometimes referred to as the Cerro Rico (“rich mountain”) — a mountain popularly conceived of as being “made of” silver ore, which has always dominated the city. See Explorer “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potos%C3%AD”
{b} The Golconda diamond mines are located in south central India in what today is the state of Hyderabad. This region was the first known source for rough diamonds from approxiamtely the 4th century B.C. until 1730 when diamonds were discovered in Brazil. The defining characteristics of Golconda diamonds and what sets them apart and in a class by themselves are their incredible transparency, “whiteness,” and purity. See Explorer “http://www.diamondvues.com/2005/08/golconda_diamon.html”
Perfection In Faith
No. 232-5:59. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Evening, January 2, 1859, By C. H. Spurgeon, At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
For by one offering he has perfected for ever those who are sanctified. {Hebrews 10:14}
1. Think of this morning’s text — “The Lord WILL perfect what concerns me.” Is it not very grateful to observe, that what is just in one part of Scripture presented to us as a matter of faith, is in another place stated as a matter of fact? Think of this evening’s text — “He HAS perfected us for ever.” This morning we went downwards, from faith to prayer. After having said in confidence, “The Lord will perfect what concerns me,” we meekly besought him — “Do not forsake the works of your own hands,” — sinking as it were to a lower note in the scale of music. Then we beheld perfection in the dim obscurity of the future, like the sun veiled behind a cloud. Our faith rested on it as a thing at present unseen, our hearts yearned after it as an inheritance yet in reserve for us. Now tonight, this perfection is brought near to us, a thing accomplished, as an ever present fact, whose eternal reality shines upon us with unclouded lustre. It is thus I read this verse — “By one offering our Lord Jesus Christ HAS perfected for ever those who are sanctified.”
2. I have been turning this text over, and over, and over in my mind, and praying about it, and looking into it, and seeking illumination from the Holy Spirit; but it was a long time before I was clear about its exact meaning. It is very easy to select a meaning, and then to say, that is what the text means, and very easy also to look at something which lies upon the surface; but I am not quite so sure that after several hours of meditation any brother would be able to ascertain what is the Spirit’s mind in this particular verse, “By one offering Christ has perfected for ever those who are sanctified.” When I was trying to find out what this meant, I thought I would read the chapters before it, and if I should happen to find out any word that should seem to be the key to this verse, I would then under the Spirit’s guidance, seek to open this lock and mystery with the key which was furnished to me there. Well, I read the chapters, and I did find out a word which seemed to me to explain all of this verse. You must have patience with me, while I try to show you what I think it means; and then I think it will stand out in a very clear and glorious light.
3. First, the condition of the child of God — what he is. He is a sanctified person: “Those who are sanctified.” Secondly, what Christ has done for him; “He has perfected for ever those who are sanctified.”
4. I. First, then, THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE HERE INTENDED, UNDER THE TERM “SANCTIFIED”; they are described as sanctified people. What does this mean? We usually say there are two meanings to the term “sanctified.” One is, “set apart.” God has set apart his people from before the foundation of the world, to be his chosen and peculiar inheritance. We are sanctified by God the Father. There is a second meaning, which does not imply the decree of the Father, but the work of the Holy Spirit. We are sanctified in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit when he subdues our corruptions, imparts to us graces, and leads us onward in the divine walk and life of faith. But the word here, I think, includes both of these senses; and I must try if I can to find an example which will embrace them both. And what is the apostle speaking about? In the ninth chapter he is speaking about the tabernacle, and the lampstand, and the table, and the shewbread, and the sanctuary, and the golden censor, and the ark of the covenant overlaid with gold and the pot of manna; he is talking about priests, and about priestly things, and holy things; and he is declaring that all these things of which he speaks were sanctified things, but that though they were sanctified things, they needed to be made perfect by the sprinkling of blood. Now, I believe, the sanctification of our text is to be understood in this sense. There were certain golden vessels that were used in the sanctuary which were never used for anything else but for the service of God. They were set apart, they were made holy, and they were kept strictly to be the vessels of the sanctuary of the Lord God. They were sanctified things. Again, in the sanctuary there were people who did nothing else except wait upon the Lord. These were consecrated for their offices; for God chose the tribe of Levi, and out of the tribe of Levi he chose the house of Aaron. These people were chosen, and then they were prepared. They underwent certain ceremonies, and various washings, and so they were made ceremonially holy; and therefore these priests were sanctified people, because they were set apart, dedicated and reserved for the special service of the Lord God. Now, brethren, that is just what you and I are, and what we ought to be. We are sanctified people: that is to say, we are chosen by God to be the peculiar vessels which he will use in pouring out his mercy, and to be the special priests whom he shall employ in his divine worship in this world. No man had any right to take wine for his own drinking, and drink it out of the golden cups of the sanctuary. If he did so, he did it to his own destruction — witness Belshazzar. He took the cups, and the golden lampstands, and so forth, and used them in his debaucheries, and lo! he was swept away, and the handwriting on the wall foretold