The Spurgeon Series 1857 & 1858. Charles H. Spurgeon

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ be to you: this promise is yours. You may have been the worst of men; but if you have faith in Christ those sins are all forgiven, and you may take this promise to be yours for ever. But if you are self-righteous, self-sufficient, ungodly, careless, worldly, there is no such promise for you: you are in the snare, you shall be there, and you shall perish, unless you repent; for it is written “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” May God save you from perishing, by giving you an interest in the blood of Christ! and to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be glory for ever and ever.

      The Fruitless Vine

      No. 125-3:145. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Evening, March 22, 1857, By C. H. Spurgeon, At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

      And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, — “Son of man, How is the vine tree better than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?” {Ezekiel 15:1,2}

      1. The Jewish nation had arrogant ideas about themselves; when they sinned against God, they supposed that on account of the superior sanctity of their forefathers, or by reason of some special sanctity in themselves, they would be delivered — sin as they pleased. In consequence of the infinite mercy of Jehovah, which he had displayed towards them, in delivering them out of so many distresses, they gradually came to imagine that they were the favourite children of providence, and that God could by no means ever cast them away. God, therefore, in order to humble their pride, tells them that they in themselves were nothing more than any other nation; and he asks them what there was about them to recommend them? “I have often called you a vine; I have planted you, and nurtured you in a very fruitful hill, but now you bring forth no fruit; what is there in you that I should continue to favour you? If you imagine there is anything about you more than about any other nation, you are mightily mistaken.” “How is the vine tree better than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest.”

      2. Let us remember, that these things might be said, without implying that God in the least degree alters his eternal purpose towards any chosen vessel of mercy; for the Israelitish nation was not chosen to eternal salvation, as a nation, but chosen to special privileges; — a type and shadow of that eternal personal election, which Christ has given to his Church. From his own elect Church, God will never withdraw his love; but from the outward and visible church he sometimes may. From his own people he never will take away his affection; but from professors, from those who merely stand in his people’s external condition, and are not his children, he may, yes, and he will, withdraw every token of his favour. God humbles Israel, by reminding them that they had nothing which other nations had not, — that in fact they were a contemptible nation, not worthy to be set side by side with the cedar of Lebanon, or with the oak of Samaria; they were of no use, they were worthless, unless they brought forth fruit for him. He checks their pride, and humbles them, with the parable we have here before us.

      3. Beloved, we shall, by God’s help, use this parable for ourselves, and learn two lessons from it. The first shall be a lesson of humility for saints; and the second, a lesson of searching for all who are professors.

      4. I. First, here is A LESSON OF HUMILITY for all of you who have “tasted that the Lord is gracious.” “How is the vine tree better than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?”

      5. In looking upon all the various trees, we observe, that the vine is distinguished among them — so that, in the old parable of Jotham, the trees waited upon the vine tree, and said to it, “Come and reign over us.” But merely looking at the vine, without regard to its fruitfulness, we would not see any kingship in it over other trees. In size, form, beauty, or utility, it has not the slightest advantage. We can do nothing with the wood of the vine. “Shall wood be taken from it to do any work? or will men make a peg from it to hang a vessel on it?” It is a useless plant apart from its fruitfulness. We sometimes see it in beauty, trained up by the side of our walls, and in the east it might be seen in all its luxuriance, and great care is bestowed in its training; but leave the vine to itself and consider it apart from its fruitfulness, it is the most insignificant and despicable of all things that bear the name of trees. Now, beloved, this is for the humbling of God’s people. They are called God’s vine; but what are they by nature more than others? Others are as good as they; yes, some others are even greater and better than they are. They, by God’s goodness, have become fruitful, having been planted in a good soil; the Lord has trained them upon the walls of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit for his glory. But what are they without their God? What are they without the continual influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them? Are they not the least among the sons of men, and the most to be despised of those that have been brought forth from women? Look upon this, believer.

      What was there in you to merit esteem,

      Or give the Creator delight?

      Yes, look upon yourself as you are now. Does your conscience not reproach you? Do your thousand wanderings not stand before you, and tell you that you are unworthy to be called his son? Does not the weakness of your mental power, the frailty of your moral power, your continual unbelief, and your perpetual backsliding from God, tell you that you are less than the least of all saints? And if he has made you anything, are you not by it taught that it is grace, free sovereign grace, which has made you to differ? Should any here, supposing themselves to be the children of God, imagine that there is some reason in them why they should have been chosen, let them know that as yet they are in the dark concerning the first principles of grace, and have not yet learned the gospel. If ever they had known the gospel, they would, on the other hand, confess that they were less than the least — the offscouring of all things — unworthy, ill-deserving, undeserving, and hell deserving, and ascribe it all to distinguishing grace, which has made them to differ; and to discriminating love which has chosen them out from the rest of the world. Great Christian, you would have been a great sinner if God had not made you to differ. Oh! you who are valiant for truth, you would have been as valiant for the devil if grace had not laid hold upon you. A seat in heaven shall one day be yours; but a chain in hell would have been yours if grace had not changed you. You can now sing about his love, but a licentious song might have been on your lips if grace had not washed you in the blood of Jesus. You are now sanctified; you are quickened, you are justified; but what would you have been tonight if it had not been for the interposition of the divine hand? There is not a crime you might not have committed; there is not a folly into which you might not have run. Even murder itself you might have committed if grace had not kept you. You shall be like the angels; but you would have been like the devil if you had not been changed by grace. Therefore, never be proud; all your garments you have from above; rags were your only inheritance. Do not be proud, though you have a large estate, a wide domain of grace; you have not one single thing to call your own, except your sin and misery. You are now wrapped in the golden righteousness of the Saviour, and accepted in the garments of the Beloved, but you would have been buried under the black mountain of sin, and clothed with the filthy rags of unrighteousness, if he had not changed you. And are you proud? Do you exalt yourself? Oh! strange mystery, that you, who have borrowed everything, should exalt yourself; that you, who have nothing of your own, but have still to draw upon grace, should be proud; a poor pensioner dependent upon the bounty of your Saviour, and yet proud; one who has a life which can only live by fresh streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud! Go, hang your pride upon the gallows, as high as Haman; hang it there to rot, and stand you beneath, and curse it to all eternity; for surely of all things most to be cursed and despised is the pride of a Christian. He of all men has ten thousand times more reason than any other to be humble, and walk lowly with his God, and kindly and humbly towards his fellow creatures. Let this then humble you, Christian, that the vine tree is nothing more than any other tree, except for the fruitfulness which God has given it.

      6. II. But now here comes A LESSON OF SEARCH. As the vine without its fruit is useless and worthless; so, too, the СКАЧАТЬ