The Spurgeon Series 1855 & 1856. Charles H. Spurgeon
and his cross, I tremble for you. Oh, fiercer than a lion on his prey, is love when once incensed. Oh, despisers! I warn you of that day when the placid brow of the Man of Sorrows shall be knit with frowns; when the eye which once was moistened by dew drops of pity, shall flash lightning on its enemies; and the hand, which once was nailed to the cross for our redemption, shall grasp the thunderbolt for your damnation; while the mouth which once said, “Come to me, you weary,” shall pronounce in words louder and more terrible than the voice of the thunder, “Depart you cursed!” Sinners! you may think it a trifle to sin against the Man of Nazareth, but you shall find that in so doing you have offended the Man who shall judge the earth in righteousness; and for your rebellion you shall endure waves of torment in the eternal ocean of wrath. From that doom may God deliver you! But I warn you of it. You have all read the story of the lady, who, on her marriage day stepped up stairs, and seeing an old chest, in her fun and frolic stepped inside, thinking to hide herself an hour, that her friends might hunt for her; but a spring lock lay in ambush there, and fastened her down for ever; nor did they ever find her, until years had passed, when moving that old lumbering chest, they found the bones of a skeleton, with here and there a jewelled ring and some fair thing. She had sprung in there in pleasantry and mirth, but was locked in for ever. Young man! take heed that you are not locked in for ever by your sins. One jovial glass — it is all. “One moment’s step.” So said she. But there a secret lock lays in ambush. One turn into that house of ill fame — one wandering from the paths of rectitude — that is all. Oh, sinner! it is all. But do you know what that all is? To be fastened down for ever. Oh! if you would shun this, listen to me, awhile — for I have but one moment more — I tell you yet again of the Man who was “chosen from the people.”
21. You proud ones! I have a word for you. You delicate ones, whose footsteps must not touch the ground! you who look down in scorn upon your fellow mortals — proud worms despising your fellow worms, because you are somewhat more showily dressed! What do you think of this? The man of the people is to save you, if you are saved at all. The Christ of the crowd — the Christ of the masses — the Christ of the people — he is to be your Saviour! You must stoop, proud man! You must bow, proud lady! You must lay aside your pomp, or else you will never be saved; for the Saviour of the people must be your Saviour.
22. But to the poor trembling sinner, whose pride is gone, I repeat the comforting assurance. Would you shun sin? Would you avoid the curse? My Master tells me to say this morning, — “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I remember the saying of a good old saint. Some one was talking about the mercy and love of Jesus, and concluded by saying, “Ah, is it not astonishing?” She said, “No, not at all.” But they said it was. “Why,” she said, “it is just like him: it is just like him!” You say, can you believe such a thing of a person? “Oh yes!” it may be said, “that is just his nature.” So you, perhaps, cannot believe that Christ would save you, guilty creature as you are. I tell you it is just like him. He saved Saul — he saved me — he may save you. Yes, what is more, he will save you. For whoever comes to him, he will in no wise cast out.
{a} Adz: A carpenter’s or cooper’s tool, like an axe with the blade set at right angles to the handle and curving inwards towards it; used for cutting or slicing away the surface of wood. OED.
{b} Crozier: One who bears a cross before an archbishop. OED.
{c} Pluralities: A benefice or living held concurrently with another or others; plural, two or more benefices held together. OED.
{d} Ormuz: A city on the Persian Gulf famous for pearls. See Explorer http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/HIG_HOR/HORMUZ_Hurmuz_Ormuz_Ormus_.html
{e} Goel: Hebrew for kinsman redeemer
The Peculiar Sleep Of The Beloved
No. 12-1:85. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, March 4, 1855, By C. H. Spurgeon, At Exeter Hall, Strand.
For so he gives his beloved sleep. {Psalms 127:2}
1. The sleep of the body is the gift of God. So said Homer of old, when he described it as descending from the clouds, and resting on the tents of the warriors around old Troy. And so sang Virgil, when he spoke of Palinurus falling asleep upon the prow of the ship. Sleep is the gift of God. We think that we lay our heads upon our pillows, and compose our bodies in a peaceful posture, and that, therefore, we naturally and necessarily sleep. But it is not so. Sleep is the gift of God; and not a man would close his eyes, if God did not put his fingers on his eyelids; nor the Almighty send a soft and balmy influence over his frame which lulled his thoughts into quiescence, making him enter into that blissful state of rest which we call sleep. True, there are some drugs and narcotics by which men can poison themselves almost to death, and then call it sleep; but the sleep of the healthy body is the gift of God. He bestows it; he rocks the cradle for us every night; he draws the curtain of darkness; he bids the sun shut up his burning eyes; and then he comes and says, “Sleep, sleep, my child; I give you sleep.” Have you not known what it is at times to lie upon your bed and strive to slumber? and as it is said of Darius, so might it be said of you: “The king sent for his musicians, but his sleep went from him.” You have attempted it, but you could not do it; it is beyond your power to procure a healthy repose. You imagine if you fix your mind upon a certain subject until it shall engross your attention, you will then sleep; but you find yourself unable to do so. Ten thousand things drive through your brain as if the whole earth were agitated before you. You see all things you ever beheld dancing in a wild phantasmagoria before your eyes. You close your eyes, but still you see; and there are things in your ear, and head, and brain, which will not let you sleep. It is God alone, who alike seals up the sea boy’s eyes upon the giddy mast, and gives the monarch rest: for with all appliances and means to boot, he could not rest without the aid of God. It is God who steeps the mind in Lethe, {a} and bids us slumber, that our bodies may be refreshed, so that for tomorrow’s toil we may rise recruited and strengthened. Oh my friends, how thankful should we be for sleep. Sleep is the best physician that I know of. Sleep has healed more pains of wearied bones than the most eminent physicians upon earth. It is the best medicine; the choicest thing of all the names which are written in all the lists of pharmacy. There is nothing like sleep! What a mercy it is that it belongs alike to all! God does not make sleep the boon of the rich man, he does not give it merely to the noble, or the rich, so that they can keep it as a peculiar luxury for themselves; but he bestows it upon all. Yes, if there is a difference, the sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much. He who toils, sleeps all the sounder for his toil. While luxurious effeminacy cannot rest, tossing itself from side to side upon a bed of eider down, the hard working labourer, with his strong and powerful limbs, worn out and tired, throws himself upon his hard couch and sleeps: and waking, thanks God that he has been refreshed. You do not know, my friends, how much you owe to God, that he gives you rest at night. If you had sleepless nights, you would then value the blessing. If for weeks you lay tossing on your weary bed, you then would thank God for this favour. But as it is the gift of God, it is a gift most precious, one that cannot be valued until it is taken away; yes, even then we cannot appreciate it as we ought.
2. The Psalmist says there are some men who deny themselves sleep. For purposes of gain, or ambition, they rise up early and sit up late. Some of us who are here present may have been guilty of the same thing. We have risen early in the morning that we might turn over the ponderous volume, in order to acquire knowledge; we have sat at night until our burned out lamp has scolded us, and told us that the sun was rising; while our eyes have ached, our brain has throbbed, our heart has palpitated. We have been weary and worn out; we have risen up early, and sat up late, and have in that way come to eat the bread of sorrow. Many of you business men are toiling in that style. We do not condemn you for it; we do not forbid rising up early and sitting up late; but we remind you of this text: — “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he gives his beloved sleep.” And it is of this sleep, that God gives to his beloved, that we mean to speak this morning, as God shall help us — a sleep peculiar to the children of God — a sleep which he gives to “his beloved.”
3. Sleep is sometimes used in a bad sense in the Word of God, to express the condition of carnal and worldly