The Spurgeon Series 1855 & 1856. Charles H. Spurgeon
he chastens,” and scourges every son whom he has chosen. His people must suffer; therefore, expect it Christian; if you are a child of God, believe it, look for it, and when it comes say, “Well suffering, I foresaw you; you are no stranger, I have looked for you continually.” You cannot tell how much it will lighten your trials, if you await them with resignation. In fact, make it a wonder if you get through a day easily. If you remain a week without persecution, think it a remarkable thing; and if you should, perchance, live a month without heaving a sigh from your inmost heart, think it a miracle of miracles. But when the trouble comes, say, “Ah! this is what I looked for; it is marked on the chart to heaven; the rock is put down; I will sail confidently by it; my Master has not deceived me.”
Why should I complain of want or distress,
Temptation or pain? he told me no less.
4. But why must the Christian expect trouble? Why must he expect the sufferings of Christ to abound in him? Stand here a moment, my brother, and I will show you four reasons why you must endure trial. First look upward, then look downward, then look around you, and then look within you; and you will see four reasons why the sufferings of Christ should abound in you.
5. Look upward. Do you see your heavenly Father, a pure and holy being, spotless, just, perfect? Do you know that you are one day to be like him? Do you think that you will easily come to be conformed to his image? Will you not require much furnace work, much grinding in the mill of trouble, much breaking with the pestle in the mortar of affliction, much being broken under the wheels of agony? Do you think it will be an easy thing for your heart to become as pure as God is? Do you think you can so soon get rid of your corruptions, and become perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect?
6. Lift up your eye again; do you discern those bright spirits clad in white, purer than alabaster, more chaste, more fair than Parian {a} marble? Behold them as they stand in glory. Ask them from where their victory came. Some of them will tell you they swam through seas of blood. Behold the scars of honour on their brows; see, some of them lift up their hands and tell you they were once consumed in fire; while others were slain by the sword, torn in pieces by wild beasts; were destitute, afflicted, tormented. Oh you noble army of martyrs, you glorious hosts of the living God. Must you swim through seas of blood, and shall I hope to ride to heaven wrapped in furs and ermine? Did you endure suffering, and shall I be pampered with the luxuries of this world? Did you fight and then reign, and must I reign without a battle? Oh, no. By God’s help I will expect that as you suffered so must I, and as through much tribulation you entered the kingdom of heaven, so shall I.
7. Next, Christian, turn your eyes downward. Do you know what foes you have beneath your feet? Hell and its lions are against you. You were once a servant of Satan, and no king will willingly lose his subjects. Do you think that Satan is pleased with you? Why, you have changed your country. You were once a liege servant of Apollyon, but now you have become a good soldier of Jesus Christ; and do you think the devil is pleased with you? I tell you no. If you had seen Satan the moment you were converted, you would have beheld a wondrous scene. As soon as you gave your heart to Christ, Satan spread his bat-like wings: down he flew into hell, and summoning all his counsellors, he said “Sons of the pit, true heirs of darkness, you who before were clad in light, but who fell with me from high dignities, another of my servants has forsaken me; I have lost another of my family; he is gone over to the side of the Lord of Hosts. Oh you, my companions, you fellow helpers of the powers of darkness, leave no stone unturned to destroy him. I bid you all hurl all your fiercest darts at him; plague him; let hell dogs bark at him; let fiends besiege him; give him no rest, harass him to the death; let the fumes of our corrupt and burning lake ever rise in his nostrils; persecute him; the man is a traitor; give him no peace; since I cannot have him here to bind him in chains of adamant, since I never can have him here to torment and afflict him, as long as you can, until his dying day, I bid you howl at him; until he crosses the river, afflict him, grieve him, torment him; for the wretch has turned against me, and become a servant of the Lord.” Such may have been the scene in hell, that very day when you did love the Lord. And do you think Satan loves you better now? Ah! no. He will always be at you, for your enemy, “like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour.” Expect trouble therefore, Christian, when you look beneath you.
8. Then, man of God, look around you. Do not be asleep. Open your eyes, and look around you. Where are you? Is that man a friend next to you? No; you are in an enemy’s country. This is a wicked world. Half the people, I suppose, profess to be irreligious, and those who profess to be pious, often are not. “Cursed is he that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm.” — “Blessed is he that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” — “As for men of low degree, they are vanity”; the voice of the crowd is not worth having; and as for “men of high degree, they are a lie,” which is worse still. The world is not to be trusted in, not to be relied upon. The true Christian treads it beneath his feet, with “all that earth calls good or great.” Look around you my brother; you will see some good hearts, strong and valiant; you will see some true souls, sincere and honest; you will see some faithful lovers of Christ; but I tell you oh child of light, that where you meet one sincere man, you will meet twenty hypocrites; where you will find one that will lead you to heaven, you will find a score who would push you to hell. You are in a land of enemies, not of friends. Never believe the world is good for much. Many people have burned their fingers by taking hold of it. Many a man has been injured by putting his hand into a nest of the rattlesnake — the world; thinking that the dazzling hues of the sleeping serpent were securities from harm. Oh Christian! the world is not your friend. If it is, then you are not God’s friend; for he who is the friend of the world is the enemy of God; and he who is despised by men, is often loved by Jehovah. You are in an enemy’s country, man: therefore, expect trouble: expect that the man who “eats your bread will lift up his heel against you”; expect that you shall be estranged from those who love you; be assured that, since you are in the land of the foe, you shall find foes everywhere. When you sleep, think that you sleep on the battlefield; when you walk believe that there is an ambush in every hedge. Oh! take heed, take heed: this is no good world to shut your eyes in. Look around you, man; and when you are upon the watchtower, reckon surely that trouble comes.
9. But then, look within you. There is a little world in here, which is quite enough to give us trouble. A Roman once said he wished he had a window to his heart, that all people might see what was going on there. I am very glad I do have one; if I had, I would shut it up as closely as Apsley House used to be; I would take care to have all the shutters closed. Most of us would have great need of shutters if we had such a window. However, for one moment, peep into the window of your heart, to observe what is there. Sin is there — original sin and corruption; and, what is more, self is still within. Ah! if you had no devil to tempt you, you would tempt yourself; if there were no enemies to fight you, you would be your worst foe; if there were no world, still you would be bad enough; for “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Look within you, believer; know that you bear a cancer in your very vitals; that you carry within you a bombshell, ready to burst at the slightest spark of temptation; know that you have inside your heart an evil thing, a coiled up viper, ready to sting you and bring you into trouble, and pain, and misery unutterable. Take heed of your heart, Christian; and when you find sorrow, trouble, and care, look within and say, “Truly, I may well deserve this, considering the evil heart of unbelief which I carry about within me.” Now do you see, brother Christian? No hope to escape trouble, is there. What shall we do then? There is no chance for us. We must bear suffering and affliction; therefore, let us endure it cheerfully. Some of us are the officers in God’s regiments, and we are the target of all the riflemen of the enemy. Standing forward, we have to bear all the shots. What a mercy it is that not one of God’s officers ever fall in battle! God always keeps them. When the arrows fly fast, the shield of faith catches them all; and when the enemy is most angry, God is most pleased. So, we care for nothing, the world may go on, the devil may revile, flesh may rise; “for we are more than conquerors through him that has loved us.” Therefore, all honour be to God alone. Expect suffering — this is our first point.
10. II. Now, secondly, there is A DISTINCTION TO BE NOTICED. Our sufferings are said to be the